vanhalen1970

( So the bulk of my news ) comes from the brief exposure to Morning Edition I get on the drive to work, perhaps a little of Marketplace on the way home (generally not), the various industry related news that I am able to access from the aggregaters which I am subscribed to at work (where I get to hold the 'slightly reasonable-liberal-minority' point of view), the news which I get from @Breaking News on Twitter (not on the phone feed) & other cute feeds which my friends post on Twitter.

I can't exactly remember the first time in which I was able to see a clip from The Rachael Maddow Show on MSNBC, but I believe it had something to do with the out-going Bush administration still trying to claim that Iraq was a threat to the world security...
...anyway, I love the presentation then, and now I REALLY love it when she talks about the upcoming Republican protest/holiday:

</div>

I can not wait to play this up at work.
I will bring a few celebratory teas & drink it ALL DAY LONG!


If for some reason the embedding doesn't work, try <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908#30145811">here.</a>

Damn, I started this then ScribeFire ate it... always annoying.

A few thoughts I have had for a couple of months.

1) ( For the Cthulhu oriented.. )

2)( For the Steampunk fans:  )

3) ( Belief: )

4) ( Money, money, money )

5)( Crazy )

6) ( Entertainment )

7) ( Bands & music )
8) ( Cuts )

According to Jason (& his version of this), the books listed below are important in some way. Or, perhaps, they just tell you about your friends’ taste in books.

Whatever! It’s a meme, take it for what it is.

Instructions:

1) Look at the list and put an ‘x’ after those you have read.
2) Add a ‘+’ to the ones you LOVE.
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.
4) Tally your total at the bottom.

How many have you read?

( Read more... )

Another meme stolen (originally from Facebook, which I am shifting to LiveJournal)

1. You can ONLY answer Yes or No!
2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone messages or comments you and Asks!

"Now, here's what you're supposed to do... And please do not spoil the Fun. Copy and paste this into your notes , delete my answers, type in your answers and tag as many of your friends as you'd like to. Then see what happens."

Kissed any one of your facebook LiveJournal friends? Yes
Been arrested? Yes
Kissed someone you didn't like? No
Slept in until 5 PM? Yes
Fallen asleep at work/school? Yes
Held a snake? Yes
Ran a red light? Yes
Been suspended from school? No
Totaled your car/motorbike in an accident? No
Been fired from a job? Yes
Sang karaoke? Yes
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? Yes
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? Yes
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes
Kissed in the rain? Yes
Sang in the shower? Yes
Sat on a rooftop? Yes
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? No
Broken a bone? Yes
Shaved your head? No
Blacked out from drinking? No
Played a prank on someone? Yes
Felt like killing someone? Yes
Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? Yes
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? No
Been in a band? Yes
Shot a gun? Yes
Tripped on mushrooms? No
Donated Blood? Yes
Eaten alligator meat? Yes
Eaten cheesecake? Yes
Still love someone you shouldn't? Yes
Believe in love? Yes
Sleep on a certain side of the bed? Yes
Believe in fate? No
Believe that things "happen for a reason"? No
Held a grudge for longer than a year? Yes
Hid a secret for a long period of time? Yes
Miss someone on your facebook LiveJournal list of friends? Yes
Changed the oil in your vehicle? No
Threw up after riding a roller coaster? No

Describe me in one word- just one single word. Positive or negative.

-Leave your word in a comment before looking at what words others have used.

-Copy and paste the meme to your journal to find out how people describe you when limited to one word, or not.

Mightygodking came up with a handy-dandy nerdiness quantification system. Go through the list and bold your highest level of nerdiness!



BATMAN

Not Nerdy: Going to see The Dark Knight in a theater.
Slightly Nerdy: Dressing up as the Joker for Halloween (Heath Ledger version)
Fairly Nerdy: Buying Batman comics other than Year One or The Dark Knight Returns
Nerdy: Dressing up as the Joker for Halloween (Cesar Romero version)
Really Nerdy: Writing Batman fan fiction
Dangerously Nerdy: Writing Batman fan fiction where he has sex with Alfred.

STAR WARS

Not Nerdy: Seeing the movies
Slightly Nerdy: Owning a toy lightsaber
Fairly Nerdy: Learning to play the Cantina Song on your musical instrument of choice
Nerdy: Knowing in which “expanded universe” novel Admiral Ackbar dies
Really Nerdy: Membership in a Stormtrooper fan brigade
Dangerously Nerdy: Defending the idea of Jar Jar Binks

HARRY POTTER

Not Nerdy: You read the books
Slightly Nerdy: You liked all of the books
Fairly Nerdy: You own a wand
Nerdy: You read fanfic that “fixes Rowling’s mistakes”
Really Nerdy: You are a fan of “wizard rock”
Dangerously Nerdy: You have an alternate “Hogwarts persona”

MAGIC: THE GATHERING

Not Nerdy: “They still make that? I played it when I was in high school for a bit, but never got into it”
Slightly Nerdy: “Yeah, it was fun, but I couldn’t keep up with all the expansions so I sold my cards”
Fairly Nerdy: “Do you mind if I use a proxy for Nicol Bolas? I mean, he’s forty bucks”
Nerdy: “You haven’t really played this game until you play draft; it’s how the game is meant to be played”
Really Nerdy: “Okay, if we’re all supposed to be planeswalkers, how come there are planeswalker cards? Am I Ajani? I don’t feel like a lion-man”
Dangerously Nerdy: “I’ve tested this deck against all comers and now all I need is to win free airfare and I’m on my way to the World Championships in Tokyo”

H.P. LOVECRAFT

Not Nerdy: Recognizing the name “Cthulhu”
Slightly Nerdy: Knowing the proper pronunciation of “Cthulhu”
Fairly Nerdy: Owning a Cthulhu plushie.
Nerdy: Running a Call of Cthulhu campaign
Really Nerdy: Organizing a chapter of the Campus Crusade For Cthulhu
Dangerously Nerdy: Actually reading any of Lovecraft’s stories

NERD TELEVISION

Not Nerdy: Lost
Slightly Nerdy: Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Fairly Nerdy: Battlestar Galactica
Nerdy: Stargate: Atlantis
Really Nerdy: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Dangerously Nerdy: The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.

STAR TREK

Not Nerdy: The Next Generation
Slightly Nerdy: Deep Space Nine
Fairly Nerdy: the one where Picard rides a dune buggy
Nerdy: any of the novels
Really Nerdy: owning a phaser
Dangerously Nerdy: speaking fluent Klingon

COMPUTER USE

Not Nerdy: Macs
Slightly Nerdy: Knowing how to use Windows rather than just knowing “how to do emails”
Fairly Nerdy: Knowing the actual reasons Windows sucks
Nerdy: Anything to do with Linux
Really Nerdy: Getting all of the coding jokes in XKCD
Dangerously Nerdy: “I’m bringing BeOS back!”

Well, I had previously started a post after the new year reviewing the last year.

Now that it is well into February, I am letting that go. All those who are shocked, please comment on that.

*listens to the crickets chirp*
Ah, I appreciate honesty like that.

I have been enticed by a fiendfriend into a browser based game called Tribal Wars. It is a bit of a time sink, which breaks up the day at work (when I get to the available computers to log in) and isn't terribly demanding.
Also, with my complaining on Twitter about the impending crash of the home computer & my subsequent loss of fun links & stuff, Binderodaemons recommended Tumblr to me for quick link storage. So I have a Tumblr page now and am slowly moving links which I treasure over there. VnHaln.tumblr.com
Minus the porn, of course.

I still have yet to break through the Catholic conditioning which results in me keeping some parts of sex private.  It, of course, doesn't help that with the transplanting of my life that I am working on not offending the friends, partial friends & potentially future friends that I am meeting.
I mean, lets be honest... nobody wants to have the experience which Brad & Tim had back in the early days of the House of Dice. Calmly clicking through the various downloaded porn on the computer & then running across something which Rob had saved on the computer just for the fun of it. Something like amputee porn, or worse.

But because I know that Tim was exposed to that, making jokes or references short of that mark is certainly 'in bounds' around him. He has seen worse.
Just as long as I am not making them around his kids.

I don't yet know where the lines are down here and am not wanting to cause offense.

Ah well, the pitfalls of a move away from one's comfort zone.

Instead, I will relate a little bit of story from this month.
So, after last month's rent fiasco (short version... we wrote a check, which we never do for rent & the doofuses in the office here, because they probably had a us renting for half of January & couldn't get their shit together re: the new lease for January 1, didn't cash it immediately & were expecting a second rent check from us... resulting in eviction notice #1. When we straightened that out, they then didn't cash the check for a week, resulting an a bounced rent check & eviction notce #2) we have been watching the checking account pretty regularly...
When out purchasing materials for a project at The Wife's job, the purchas was denied... becase a charge for $89.41 was applied to the account from some one we didn't know.
So, I started the process of reversing the charge, which includes a police report. I had this done in record time when all of a sudden, a bottle of pills arrives in the mail. After some checking, we found that a little sneaky company called Inner BoddyHealth decided that The Wife needed a refill of the dietary supliment that she ordered 6 months ago & paid the shipping with a credit card.
After a terse phone call, with the words "Attorney General" used, the account was closed & the pills were returned... we are still awaiting a refund... so the police report is still open & we are prepared to contest the charge.
Halfway through, we recieved new debit cards due to the security concern with Heartland...so I am waiting to see the refund before closing the police report.
Anyway, last weekend was a trip to the inaccurately named Dallas World Aquarium. A nice little place, a little crowded for The Wife (who has a slight difficulty with crowds) but good company, meaning Electrobat, Armored Mind, CheapS1utSaviour, Crashbot, Vampymissk & Dawaoiser & several others who are not LJ people. A nice time was had & The Wife took pictures, which I will make sure are distributed and approved before provided for general consumption. Then dinner at the Iron Cactus & a trip back home.

This weekend, I am staining the project for The Wife's work... one coat done, some scratching & another coat to go.

Also, a trip to Circut City occured, with a couple of things purchased & a few others earmarked for the next trip when the accounts are straightened out.

Another post to follow RSN: (Real Soon Now)
Which in this case = today... I have to do a couple of things first.

From [info]galileo669 & [info]Casselsander...

As the Filmspotting guys would say, this is my "Star Wars Memorial List", probably to be dubbed the "Lord of the Rings" list in my case:

1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times: "My Favorite Year"
2. Name a movie that you've seen multiple times in a theater: "LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring"
3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie: Johnny Depp
4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie: Sarah Jessica Parker
5. Name a movie that you can quote from: (just one?) "Running Scared" (1986)
6. Name a movie musical that you know all the lyrics to all the songs: "South Pacific" (more because I played in the pit orchestra for three separate productions of the f-er.)
7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with: “White Christmas"
8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see: "Good Will Hunting"
9. Name an unusual movie that you own: "The Call of Cthulhu", the HPLHS did a silent movie version of it... quite good.
10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops: Robin Williams
11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in?: Yes
12. Ever made out in a movie?: Yes
13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven't gotten around to it: "The Godfather"
14. Ever walked out of a movie?: No
15. Name a movie that made you cry: "E.T: the Extra Terrestrial"
16. Popcorn?: Yes
17. How often do you go to the movies?: About twice a month until recently.
18. What's the last movie you saw in the theater?: "Hellboy II: The Golden Army".
19. What is your favorite/preferred genre of movie?: Fantastic-horror or Horrific-Fantasy.
20. What was the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?: "The Shaggy D.A.", although my mother tells me that I was taken to "Blue Water, White Death" when I was a toddler.

It is a little out of season, but I am a little behind.

This, from <a href="http://www.mikeoliveri.com/2008/11/13/horror-flick-meme/">Mike Oliveri's blog</a> is a list of the top 50 horror movies as determined by Metro.co.us and then the bolded titles are the ones I have not seen.

I figure I am doing reasonably well in the genre, but the things I am missing are pretty glaring.

1.The Exorcist. William Friedkin (1973)
2.The Shining. Stanley Kubrick (1980)
3.Alien. Ridley Scott (1979)
4.The Silence of the Lambs. Jonathan Demme (1991)
5. Saw. James Wan (2004)
6.Halloween. John Carpenter (1978)
7.A Nightmare on Elm Street. Wes Craven (1984)
8.Ring (Ringu). Hideo Nakata (1998)
9.The Wicker Man. Robin Hardy (1973)
10.The Omen. Richard Donner (1976)
11.The Birds. Alfred Hitchcock (1963)
12.The Thing. John Carpenter (1982)
13.Lost Boys. Joel Schumacher (1987)
14.Dawn of the Dead. George A Romero (1978)
15.The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Tobe Hooper (1974)
16.Jaws. Steven Spielberg (1975)
17.The Blair Witch Project. Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez (1999)
18.An American Werewolf in London. John Landis (1981)
19.Se7en. David Fincher (1995)
20.Poltergeist. Tobe Hooper (1982)
21.The Amityville Horror. Stuart Rosenberg (1979)
22.Candyman. Bernard Rose (1992)
23.Scream. Wes Craven (1996)
24.Carrie. Brian De Palma (1976)
25.Friday the 13th. Sean S Cunningham (1980)
26.Final Destination. James Wong (2000)
27.The Evil Dead. Sam Raimi (1981)
28.Hellraiser. Clive Barker (1987)
29.Hostel. Eli Roth (2005)
30.Salem’s Lot. Mikael Salomon (2004)
31.The Descent. Neil Marshall (2005)
32.The Hills Have Eyes. Wes Craven (1977)
33.Wolf Creek. Greg McLean (2005)
34.Misery. Rob Reiner (1991)
35.Rosemary’s Baby. Roman Polanski (1968)
36.Child’s Play. Tom Holland (1989)
37.The Orphanage. Juan Antonio Bayona (2008)
38.The Entity. Sidney J Furie (1981)
39.Nosferatu. FW Murnau (1922)
40.Night of the Living Dead. George A. Romero (1968)
41.House on Haunted Hill. William Malone (2000)
42.The Haunting. Robert Wise (1963)
43.It. Tommy Lee Wallace (1990)
44.Audition. Takashi Miike (1999)
45.The Changeling. Peter Medak (1980)
46.The Mist. Frank Darabont (2008)
47.Suspiria. Dario Argento (1977)
48.The Vanishing. George Sluizer (1993)
49.Shutter. Masayuki Ochiai (2008)
50.Planet Terror. Robert Rodriguez (2007)

Comment and I will...

a) Tell you why I friend-ed you.

b) Associate you with something -- a song, color, photo, etc.

c) Tell you something I like about you.

d) Tell you a memory I have of you.

e) Ask you something I've wanted to know about you.

f) Tell you my favorite user-pic from your list.

In return, you should post this on your own LiveJournal, but I will not require it.

A cute meme from Barthir:

First Witch:Thrice the brinded car hath mew'd.

Second Witch: Thrice and once the hedge-pig whin'd.

Third Witch: Harper cries: 'Tis time, 'tis time.

First Witch: Round about the cauldron go.
In the poison'd entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights hast thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got.
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot.

All: Double, Double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Second Witch: Fillet of a fenny snake
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog.
Woll of bat, and tongeu of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

All: Double, Double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Third Witch: Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witches' mummy, maw and gulf
Of the racin'd salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark,
Liver of blaspheming Jew,
Gall of goat, and slips of yew,
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse,
Nose of Tuck, and Tartar's lips,
Finger of birth-strangled babe,
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab,
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingredients of our cauldron.

All: Double, Double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Second Witch: Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

Enter Hecate, and the other three Witches

Hecate: O, well done! I commend your pains,
And everyone shall share i’ the gains.
And now about the cauldron sing,
Like elves and fairies in a ring,
Enchanting all that you put in.

Music and a song[:] Black spirits.


SECOND WITCH: By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes:
Open, locks,
Whoever knocks!

Enter Macbeth

MACBETH: How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags!
What are you doing?

ALL: A deed without a name.

So, a week ago I called a friend of mine a slacker & an amateur after he posted his list of games.

He challenged me back to post my list.
To be clear, my comments were not only from my experience as a gamer, but from having sat in the house of The Leptopus for a collective weeks on end. He is truly the master.

Ok, we will start with copying Dave's list and removing things I don't have.
(as a note: Dave, you only have 117. The Excel Paste method listed in your comments ends up counting a notation of (I don't have this expansion) which isn't really having the game.)

Amoeba Wars
Aquire
Arkham Horror
Arkham Horror: 2nd edition
Arkham Horror: Curse of the Dark Pharaoh
Arkham Horror: The Dunwich Expansion
Arkham Horror: The Yellow Sign
Assasins
Atlanteon
Auction
Backgammon
Bang
Bang!
Bang!: High Noon
Bang!: Dodge City
Bang!: A Fistful of Cards (all part of the Bang! Bullet)
Battle Cry
Blood Bowl
Blood Bowl: Dungeon Bowl Expansion
Bohnanza
Bosworth
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Candyland
Cathedral
Chainsaw Warrior
Checkers
Chess
Chess: 4 player board
Chill: Black Moor Mannor
Chrononauts
Chrononauts: The American Revolution
Clue
The Collector
Corruption
Clue
Cults Across America
Curosoe's Planet
Devil's Triangle
Diceland
Diceland: Deep White Sea
Diceland: Extra Space
Diskwars:
Diskwars: Moon Over Thelgrim
Diskwars: Wastelands
Diskwars: Waiqar's Path
Diskwars: Broken Shadows
Dragon Delta
Drakon
Elements
Formula de: tracks #19 & 20
Fortress America
Feudal
Fury of Dracula
Fury of Dracula - 2nd edition
Gangsters
Gecko-opoly
Go
House on Haunted Hill
Husker-Du
Iron Dragon
Jenga
Kill Dr. Lucky
Kill Dr. Lucky: Craignorack Expansion
Knightmare chess: 2nd edition
Last Will & Testament of Mary Ann Burg
Life
Lord of the Fries
Lord of the Rings Boardgame, The
Lunch Money
Lunch Money 2:
Mille Bornes
Monopoly (multiple copies)
Monsters Menace America
Mr. President
Munchkin
Munchkin 2: Unnatural Axe
Munchkin Bites
Notre Dame
Pandemic
Parchessi
Parts Unknown
Past Lives
Pente
Plague & Pestilence
Quo Vadis?
Rail Baron
Railroad Tycoon: The Board Game (half in french!)
Renfield
R.I.P.
RoboRally
RoboRally: Armed and Dangerous
RoboRally: Crash and Burn
Rollout
Rummicub
Scattegories
Set
Settlers of Cattan:
Settlers of Cattan: 5 & 6 Player Expansion
Settlers of Cattan: Knights & Cities Expansion
Sorry
Squad Leader
Squad Leader Advanced
Star Wars: The Queen's Gambit
Starfarers of Cattan
Stop Thief
Sword & Skull
Talisman
The Farming Game: 2nd Edition
The Hills Rise Wild!
The Magnificent Race
Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride: 1910 expansion
Titan
Unspeakable Words
Vampire: Prince of the City
Wizard War
Wizards
Yahtzee

That ties the number and I am certain that I have more which I am forgetting @ this time.

I believe that I have lived in this state a sufficient amount of time to propose a new social experiment.

This is what I would like everyone to do:
1) Take an hour or so from a day, make it a day where you don't have to be anywhere and don't have any real grocery shopping to do.

2) Go to a non-local grocery store for you. DO NOT go to the store you regularly patronize.

3) Grab a cart when you enter the store and wander around putting a few non-cool/frozen items in it. A loaf of bread, some pop, a couple boxes of crackers, maybe some paper products. Make it look real.

4) Take it to a location in the store which is badly laid out.

5) (and here it the clincher) look up as if you have remembered something down an aisle and walk away from the cart.

6) Exit the store, re-enter the store and start from #1 again. Make sure to leave your subsequent carts in different locations, but make sure you pass near the previous ones to see your progress.

I believe that within 20 or 30 minutes that you will have congested traffic around your little left-over carts so badly that no one will be able to move around the store.

I have noticed that people don't mind just wandering away from their damned shopping carts, even when they are in the middle of the freakin' lane.
Nor do they want to touch anyone's stuff...

Let me know what you think, or what you observe.

*no music this evening other than the clack clack of a laptop being repaired*

OK.
First: no apologies.
*Damn, that makes me want to listen to Type O*

Second: The Wife has arrived, so life is beginning to stagger back to its normal pace. At her encouragement, as a self described "small town girl in the big city", the third floor apartment is a bit of a workout, but will certainly help keep the pounds off from the large Texan size dinners. (Damn, these people charge a lot for a meal, but sometimes they feed you the proper amount for your money.)

Third: Work is becoming manageable, which makes me believe that I will survive. Although I am still behind, which I am beginning to accept as a constant situation, I believe that I am smart enough, strong enough and darn it... people like me.

Fourth: The Wife is beginning to come around.
For the last couple of weeks, she has indicated that it has felt like a vacation with all of her stuff along, which is a little dangerous since I am pretty certain that we will need another income to afford a house that we want and don't have to fix the foundation.
Part of my indication that she is coming around involves her usage of the laptop which she got from J, which resulted in 305 viruses, bad files, Malware & Trojan programs needing to be removed in about 1 week of usage.
At least she was looking a sites which I approve of ;-)
*music fades from Too Late: Frozen to Splendid Isolation - Warren Zevon*

Fifth: I am clearly not drinking enough. No strike that, reverse it. Thank you.
I am not drinking at all really. A couple of beers on the 4th of July & a session of Dirty Pictionary... that was enjoyable, although I seem to have identified myself to everyone around as one of the clear leaders for the local leach/debaucher king.
Oh well.
*Sugar Bullets - Stuart Davis*

So, quick updates before story time.
If you have not checked out Goodreads.com, please do and link to me. I was being quite a little voracious reader before The Wife arrived and I got bogged down in Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. If you can't find me, I don't know why.

I have been encouraged to participate in Twitter, which feels quite a bit like PARTI and ISCA did back in the old days. A nice piece of nostalga from college.

The Wife has established a facebook.com account... I occasionally make her throw things or give people flair over there.

I am jones-ing for a real game. The last thing I played was Notre Dame with S & T (brother of S, but not that S.) I certainly haven't played Arkham in several months and keep being jelouse of Binder playing it all the freakin' time!!
*Hey You - Pink Floyd The Wall*

I have been happy with my upgraded potential for artists I want to see, but am tourqued off that all of the artists which I want to see are making swings through Iowa at this time. FUCK! Although Cowboy Mouth cancelled their show at Gabe's/The Picador. Probably a good thing.
*God Is A Bullet - Concrete Blonde*


Story: So, The Wife's birthday (and subsequent expiration of her driver's license) was the sunday after the move in. We were damned if we were going to go deal with TX DPS while we had friends in town who carried my boxes of crap up the stairs. A quote from I, "Shawn, your games are no longer fun" and "this box? It is filled with nothing but Europe albumns."

Fuck him, but I love him too.
Anyway, so on the Monday after her birthday, we toddle into TX DPS, where they say, "Oh, this expired yesterday. You will now need to take the written and driving tests in order to get a TX license."
No amount of logic for the situation will overcome the bureaucracy of a state which has not yet learned from other states (Example: the citizens of the state of Illinois successfully sued the government when it kept a toll-road open longer than the stated 'to pay for itself'...this is the standard for toll-roads in this state.)
So, The Wife has a plan... I will not divulge it here until it works or fails.
*New York Apartment - Bill Hicks*

Reviews:
No spoilers attached.
*Gorilla, You're a Desperado - Warren Zevon*

Hellboy II: The Goldern Army
Nice, very nice. Two thumbs up, full price in theather, DVD ownership.

IronMan:
Hell YES!
GREAT. Two thumbs up, full price in theather, DVD ownership on release possibly & willing to re-see at full price.

The Incredible Hulk:
Nice, although the chemistry between Ed Norton & Liv Tyler was a little off...
It certainly has scoured the bulk of Ang Lee's version away.
Still a thumb & DVD ownership.
*Hell Yeah - The Bloodhound Gang*

Indian Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:
Nice. Renard complains about the writers being lazy with Marion Ravenwood during certain fights, but I believe he is being overly critical and forgetting the whole genre of High Adventure where this happens.
Still a thumb & DVD ownership. I saw it twice because the wife asked.
*As a note to the SMOG crowd out there: I thought of it first, or at least plotted it out first.*

The Dark Knight:
Despite Mike saying "Dark Knight did not cure the common cold, but it did provide significant male enhancement." I loved this.
The movie is 2.5 hours long... and seems to feel like Superman Returns about 2 hours in, but it is still a great ride.
Two thumbs up, full price, DVD ownership soon after release.
*Shadows of the Night - Pat Benatar*

and before the final story...
Mama Mia:
OK. I agree with Terance Stamp in _Pricilla Queen of the Desert_ "No more fucking ABBA!"
I grew up when that was considered popular music. I know all of the words & the songs.
I still liked the movie.
It is a diabetic coma causing, sugar-laden, musical which isn't the best in the last 10 years.
*Roland Choral - Warren Zevon*

But it doesn't take itself seriously and has touches for those with some college or good high school education. (When was the last time you saw a movie make a joke about a greek chorus?)
It is funny, nasty, well produced & generally well done.
*Hooked On A Feeling - Blue Swede*

Pierce Brosnan gets my "Sir Oliver Reed" award for the musical.
For those who don't get my obscure reference, watch the movie version of "Tommy"
Sir Oliver Reed plays the step-father and if you can carry half of a tune in a bucket, you will understand.

Story: On last friday, after I was done with work, we went to a local resturaunt & then to the theather, to find all of the showings of The Dark Knight sold out until 11:30. The Wife 'stamped her pretty pink foot' and asked with the cute pouty-lip to see Mama Mia.
I expected that this would occur and figured better bite the bullet now & pre-pay the karma.
*When I Win - Gaelic Storm*
We noticed that the theater was a little warm when we were let in, but I thought it was residual heat from the previous crowd.
10 minutes before the trailers begin, the management wanders in letting everyone in the fully packed theater know that they knew the AC was broken, it wasn't going to get better & we had a choice.
A) leave and get comp tickets for a future showing of the show.
B) stay and get comp tickets for a future show of our choice.

The Wife said we could tough it out & we stayed... so karma paid off with a free showing of The Dark Knight the next day with primo seats since we arrive 1.5 hours before the show to stand in line and were let in with no line. *BWAHAHAHAHAH!*

Oh, I suspect that a lot of my pleasure at the movie was for the Watchman trailer, which looked AWESOME.

Now, my inital statement about the movie, since I am certain my opinion on the trailer/movie's existence will be unpopular.
*The Apple - Bill Cosby*
First: for those of you who have read the INCREDIBLY GOOD WORK of Allan Moore, let me ask you a question.
*Deep Cut - Local H*

How much of the true genius of this work did you catch or get in the first reading? 50%? 60%?
How much more did you appreciate it in the second and subsequent readings? More?
How many people do you believe will seek out the graphic novel as the result of seeing the movie & appreciate more the great subtleties on their readings? A decent number in my opinion... which will make more people enjoy the work more.
Anything wrong with that?
If you haven't read the graphic novel, get thee to a comic store heathens.

Alright, enough for now.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
Next, a small advertisement before plotting.

Ok, so I have at least been consistent with my updates.. sorry all.

Well, as of a week + 3 days ago, I left the shelter of S&S's house, nice people they are and due RSN, and landed at the new abode of Cheaps1utsaviour & her boi. My goal while here is to stay out of the way (which I hear that I am doing a good job at) and to continue to pay my way with favors, house painting & other sundry tasks.

Actually, my long term goal here is to make this the last place I have to stay before moving to a residence of my own. I deeply appreciate generosity which has been extended by my hosts, but I don't think that I could make the move to another house again. It is too disruptive to too many people...

Work: I am making progress at learning more and more about how these things interact.
To give a comparison or thought, about 6 months ago I had honestly been toying with the idea of taking up some esoteric study like watch-making or clock-making just to give me something crazy to do.
Not anymore.

In this position, the phrase "a lot of moving parts" keeps getting used in reference to the things which we need to watch, review, monitor & generally keep track of. It is absolutely correct and has cured me of my desire to tinker with anything terribly detailed for quite sometime.

Social life:
I get to occasionally take trips in the area as Cheaps1utsaviour & the Boi are quite helpful in directing me around, except to WalMart, which seems to allude me.
I went with them on a recent dinner outing, to which I thank them again, and they have been pretty cool about my questions.

Other than that, I miss my wife.

I will get to see her soon though, as she is coming down here for a weekend soon! For the family day celebration by the company. Six Flags!

We has an offer on the house which was dependent on an FHA loan, which was denied for no apparent reason. The woman who made the offer is making an appeal for the property, but we won't hear about that for several weeks.

Beyond that, I am treading water.
I have read my way through about half of the Discworld series since getting down here.

Soon, if things don't change, I will have to make some horrible decisions about life and what I will do with it. Either I will have to get another job in order to pay the rent, the mortgage & living expenses, or I will have to surrender my job and move back to Iowa.

I don't know which I will be happier with.
I really like the job, but the stress of living in two states is beginning to wear on me and missing my wife.
I guess that if I surrendered my job that I could live with going back on the phone for a bit, which I am certain a move back to the Iowa office would entail.
But I really worked pretty hard to get off the phone, I would hate to go back to it.

Hopefully it won't come to that.

Talk to you all again soon.

Nope, not kidding.

Let me back up a bit.

I like the company for which I work. I have for quite a while. There are certain quirks about working for them, but having worked for other companies with worse 1) business plans 2) goals 3) management 4) corporate structures 5) salaries and 6) benefits....I would have to indicate that the big G works for me.
It doesn't work for everyone, but it does work for me.

Part of the problem with the office in Iowa is that it lacks for job opportunities unless you are wanting to be a Supervisor or Manager of some sort. There are certainly a few jobs which are neither of those, nor their underlings (read: phone associates) but those jobs are currently filled with people who certainly count themselves lucky that they got them and no longer answer a phone all of the time.
The two lovely people in licensing
The two guys on the LAN team
The two people in the command center (see footnote)
The building maintenance man
The Training supervisor & two trainers
The 3 HR specialists and HR manager
The executive assistance to the Office Director
The Monitoring Team (which I am a member of only because I used to be a member of them, was taken off for an extended project and then cobbled back with them in a weird way.)
The consistancy person/agent (who has sort of collected her job in a manner similar to me, but with harder fighting, more acceptance and more credit.)
So, like 20 people in a building with approx 250-300 employees in it.

*looks around*
Hmmmm... either I wouldn't do that person's job if you paid me, which you would have to do when they would be gone and I took it, or I like the people in the jobs that are cool too much to kill them off...
[Footnote: Technically, I could have gotten one of the Command Center jobs, but a friend had been downsized previously out one of those positions, so I hadn't felt secure about the job post when it appeared 4 months after he left the company, it seemed to be...uncertain.}

So, occasionally I look at the Job Post board to see what is available in other offices which are bigger and have more opportunity...in a "see what you are missing by not being willing to move" sort of way, 'cause I love Iowa.

Well, around Halloween, there was a Job Post for something which just screamed me...
and I posted for it.
and I got it...in Dallas, Texas.
Well, shit.
Now I have to move...and only 6 months after purchasing a nice Condo in North Liberty.
Before I posted for the job I talked to The Wife, who was astoundingly supportive (I love her SOOOO much) saying, "I will go where ever you are. I know that you are not really happy with your current job and if moving away from my friends and family is what it takes for you to be happy at work then I will do it." - (a slight paraphrase there, but not much of one.)

So, here we are a couple of months later.
Anyone know anyone who wants a nice Condo in North Liberty? Still under the builders warrenty?

The Wife is currently in the state of Iowa, while I drove down to Texas on January 5th & 6th in order to start work on the 7th.
I am currently staying with the friend mentioned in the footnote above and his wife (lovely people, we will call them S&S) until one of a few things happens.
1) The Condo sells, The Wife gets the movers to load everything into the truck, she takes the cats and arrives at the apartment which we are going to rent after the Condo sells.
2) The female in S&S mentioned above enters her 3rd trimester (yes, they are pregnant with a little girl) and birth is immanent. They are paying back a friend who helped them with housing when they needed it since even with the raise The Wife and I can't afford a mortgage & rent at the same time. (Not that I really know how much I am making now...I just know that it is a raise.)
3) I get tired of the commute, which I am slightly frightened of, and inform The Wife that I will take a second job in order to afford the Mortgage and Rent.
4) There could be a four, but I don't know what it is.

The commute from S&S's house to work is 32 miles, but through some terrible locations, like past the DFW airport and the horrible State Highways 114 & 121... which by themselves are not bad, but they intersect in a very inelegant way with Interstate Highway 635, resulting in terrible traffic jams.

My solution for this? Wake up at 5:30 AM in order to get on the road by 6:15 to drive in relatively light traffic to make it to work by 7 AM.
7 Fucking AM!!!

I am more of a night person, staying up until 3 AM is more my speed.
Shit.

But, 4 days running, I have done this thing.
And 7 out of the 8 trips is has been great.. 35-50 minutes in commute, nothing horrible, no accidents to me or my person.

Today, not so much. Standstill traffic for over 15 minutes until I turned and took advantage of the interstate exit nearby which was totally in the wrong direction, but which got me home before the traffic had started moving again.

I must thank now another friend who moved to the area a few months ago, we will call him D, who loaned me his GPS in order to help me learn my way around. Today, worth it all.

Anyway... I will post when the house is sold.
I will post when I miss my family & family of friends in Iowa.
I will post when I know more and have a place to live that isn't S&S's.
I will post of the expected trips back to Iowa, one in June for a friend's wedding, one for ICON.

I will post when I have answered Johnny's question about Track 1, Side 1.

But I will be happy with the job, because it has cost me to make it happen.