More Obvious News

Rock stars more likely to die prematurely
You mean to tell me that "Live Fast, Die Young" by the Circle Jerks wasn't just a catchy tune, it was a prophecy? Hmmmm... who would have ever put that together. Now if we can just get Britney, Lindsay, and K-Fed to read this.... who am I kidding.... they cant read.

10 years ago...

10 years ago today, my beautiful bride and I went on our first date. After 120 months together, she thinks that she is the lucky one. I have thought about her for 3652 days straight, ( More than that if you count the month it took me to ask her out.) and I am here to tell you that I am the lucky one.

I love you, my Texas Brownie.

On a strange side note, Princess Diana died on our first date. On our second date... Mother Teresa died. We almost called off our third date, for the sake of humanity.

Slammed

Out of the blue, I have become completely buried by projects at work. I am working on a very technical Flash training course at the moment, and as soon as it is done, I have 6 more waiting for me. So this is what Impending Doom feels like.... it's cold and dark here.

If I'm not going to get any work done...

Nobody is! Enjoy, Shuffle!

Video Baby

I bought a new video camera this week, and so far I really love it. It is a MiniDV camera, and it weighs about 1/10 of my old VHS-C camera. The old camera served its purpose very well, but was about 6 years old. I rarely used it, because it was never charged, and didnt hold a charge well when it was. Before our 2nd daughter was born, I tried to get it working better, and it quit completely. So, unfortunately for baby, we have very little video of her first 5 months in the world. Hopefully the ZR-800 will make up for that over the next few years.

Just so you know Consumerreports.org + Epinions.com + Bizrate.com = Good shopping. I don't buy anything without consulting those 3 sites anymore. I saw my camera going on Ebay for about $240 at the low end, and Bizrate found a photo store out of Jersey selling it for $220. So, always look around, as Ebay isnt always the bargain I thought it is...

Posting

While I really like the idea of having a blog, lately I haven't had anything great to talk about. Posting videos always makes me feel like I have cheated, except for the ninja post. I admire people that post to their's everyday, in a since keeping an electronic history of their life. I guess I am stuck in my thinking that I have to have something witty/funny to say before I can post it. I should just jot down my thoughts of the day and move on. I will try that for a while and see how it feels...

Even they thought it was a bad idea.

Violent Femmes embroiled in NY lawsuit

"The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, also accuses Gano of trashing the band's reputation by allowing its signature hit, "Blister in the Sun," to be used in a Wendy's commercial."

The first part (sorta) of the story.

It makes me some what happy that not ALL of them were Corporate Puppets, but on the down side, this will probably tear the band apart if they don't settle things. Maybe not though, The Police played together, and they HATE HATE HATE each other. I just hope they don't take the same path the Talking Heads took.

What a geek believes

I believe that Han shot first. I believe that Ally Sheedy was hotter before Molly Ringwald cleaned her up. I believe in miniatures, models, claymation, and not revealing the shark until you absolutely have to. I believe that George Lucas, for better or for worse, change the way we see the world, each other, and ourselves. And I believe that we will someday reach those stars that he himself made visible. I believe that George Lucas is also a narrow-minded, money-grubbing pig-headed slave to the now, who ought to be locked away from his own creations, lest he do them further harm. I believe that Jean-Luc Picard is the better Starship Captain, but I also believe that James Tiberius Kirk is infinitely cooler. I believe that a child standing in line to buy a book at midnight is fantastic; I believe that reading makes you smart — it’s schools that make you dumb. I believe that any episode of Futurama is better than any program featuring a precocious teenager who’s wise beyond their years. I also believe Buffy the Vampire Slayer to be the sole exception that proves this rule. I believe that comic books are an art form, and will someday be recognized as such. I believe that good shows die too young; and crap shows last too long. I believe that Eddie Izzard is the funniest man alive, an dI don’t care whether you’ve ever heard of him or not — it’s still true. I believe that a girl who likes movies about zombies is hotter than whoever is on the cover of Maxim this month. I believe that Belloch ate that fly, I swear to God that I heard Luke call Leia “Carrie,” and I believe that Samwise Gamgee never quite got the credit he really deserved. I believe in magic, I believe in dreams, I believe in the power of music, movies, and the untold worlds inside an everyday library card. And I do not believe that geeks will inherit the earth; I believe that we already have. --Rick Emerson, AM970 Portland, OR.

Amen to that, my Geek brother.

756...

Well, he did it. Barry Bonds hit number 756 last night. I have to say, I was very happy. After he hit it, he showed the emotion, and respect of the game that I had been looking for, that I had been hoping for. The celebration with his family, the respect given by Willie Mays, and the fact that Barry actually got a little choked up when Hammerin' Hank's video tape congratulating him was shown. In all the interviews I have read and seen since he is showing his human side again. That is what I was looking for, and now I can cheer for Barry Bonds.

Birthday Festivities

I had a very nice Birthday, thanks for asking. I wasn't too crazy about turning 37. The Late 30's. I have no justifications for acting like I'm 24 anymore. The weekend was very relaxing and fun. Saturday was full of house work, so I wouldn't have to do any on my actual Birthday.

At 4pm, my 4 year old daughter and I headed to 1984. I found out my mad Video Game skills do not impress a 4 year old. She would watch for about 2 minutes before wondering off to an adjacent game. Thus taking some of my concentration away from the game. And while a couple of seconds can be taken on the Elevator level of Donkey Kong to regain the attention of a small child, you try to pull that crap on Wave 15 of Robotron, and you my friend have one less life than you did before. Granted the games are "free play" and it doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but when you have become obsessed with getting your name on the High Score Board every time you go, it seriously affects your ability to do so. Finally, she agreed to help me play pinball, she put her fingers on the flipper buttons, and I would push her fingers to activate the buttons. She liked that alot, and launching the ball into the play field was also one of her tasks. We did manage to soundly destroy the High Score on Grand Lizard by 1,200,000 points. We got our button, our free pass for next time, and a sweet new sticker. (Currently affixed to my work monitor).

Sunday, my birthday, I was gently coaxed out of my slumber at 7am by a 45 pound toddler jumping on my belly, and yelling "Happy Birthday, Daddy!". After catching the wind that was knocked out of me, I was met with a lovely assortment of donuts, and chocolate milk. I opened my present of tons of chocolate from Russel Stovers. Later that afternoon, my parents came up from Country Music Hell, and bought us all Ice cream. My beautiful, wonderful bride made me a fantastic dinner, and allowed me to play World of Warcraft from 7pm until Midnight.

***GEEK ALERT **** GEEK ALERT ****
During that 5 hours, my guild and I downed High King Maulgar, his 4 buddies, Gruul the Dragonkiller, Finished up 3 bosses in Karazhan (Attumen the Huntsman, Maiden of Virtue, and Prince Malchezaar) The Prince was kind enough to give me a Birthday present... The Helm of the Fallen Hero, which I quickly cashed in for my first piece of T4 armor Demon Stalker Greathelm So I was a very Happy Dwarf!
*** END GEEK ALERT ****

So, it was a very good day. Lots of relaxing, lots of candy and sweets, lots of love from my family. Maybe 37 isn't all that bad.

Baby Violet

Baby Update... 4 and a half month old drool machine.

Pimp My Video

Ladies and gentlemen... I give you the original video...



And the all NEW PIMPED OUT VERSION.


That is UNCANNY!!!!

Touch the Rainbow!

I am not an avid eater of Skittles candy. It stems from my already being sick the first time I tried them, and puked a rainbow. But when I was shown the following video, I couldn't help but laugh.

glumbert.com - The Modern Day King Midas

I guess thats pretty awesome.

Birthday Bash!

Well, my birthday is less than 2 weeks away. My beautiful bride asked me this morning what I would like to do to celebrate it. So I have been doing some thinking. I really enjoyed what we did last year, which was the subject of my first official post on this blog, going to 1984 arcade. A few years ago, I had a small get together, and had a poker tournament. I was pretty good friends with the "trophy and plaque" department then, and had some custom plaques made for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. They were a big hit, and more coveted than the prize money (in my mind, at least).

While I enjoyed both of those, I was trying to think of something new. But then the thought hit me to sort of combine the two. A Video Game Tournament. Everyone comes to the arcade with me, and we keep track of your best scores of the night, on about 10 games. Come up with some sort of ranking system to determine the winner. That way the wives and/or kids could be part of it too. The poker tournament somehow was a "guy only" thing. It wasn't designed that way, it just worked out that way. I would try to work out some "old school" design for plaques and see if my connections still work. OR..... set it up as a "Beat the Geek" style format. I would play the games and set a score that everyone would have to beat on each game, and then people would get prizes and rewards for "Beating me at my own Game". This would, of course, require me to go to the arcade a few days before hand and see where the bar should be set for each game (double arcade bonus!) You know.... for research purposes.

Been There, Done That

I have often daydreamed about making a list of all the roller coasters in the United States, and then seeing how many I could ride in a year, or if I could ride all of them during my life. I remember Jerry Jacob ( the news anchor that resigned and is becoming a Military Field Medic) taking a couple weeks vacation, and visiting all the Springfields he could. I want to say he made it to 14 of them. I thought that was pretty cool. A friend of mine sent me a link to this guy, and I thought it was worthy of sharing here. 171 Starbucks in 24 hours. Repeating only 6 stores is quite impressive, but damn that's a lot of caffeine.

The World Series of My Wife is Awesome!

My beautiful bride and I are addicted to VH1's World Series of Pop Culture. We are pretty good at it. Admittedly, my bride is better at it than I am. ( She got 9 of 11 on the original cast of Beverly Hills 90210, I got maybe 4) This season, after every new show, you can go online and compete against thousands of other trivia buffs, and try to win $2500. You get 25 questions, miss one and your out. Fastest to answer the 25 wins the dough. Last night, she was one of 11,000 competing. She answered #25 correctly in 4 minutes and change. Only 12 other people, TWELVE!, got all 25 right. So, now she had to wait to see if her time would hold up. Unfortunately, some trivia robot finished all 25 in just under 3 minutes. But my beautiful bride got 6th. 6th out of 11,000. She is wicked smart.

More News from Planet Obvious!

Study: Multiple Stab Wounds May Be Harmful To Monkey
Looks like my friends over at "The Onion" feel the same way I do, about stupid research.

And not quite along the same lines, but I can't Stop looking at this picture, even though it freaks me out. No so much planet Obvious, as Planet Moron!
Jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick!!! You're going to want to put some peroxide on that.

Thanks Dr. Obvious!

Women drawn to men with muscles

No SH!T?!? Chicks dig good looking muscular men, over us butter trolls? Thanks for the NEWS!

Seriously, this is what Researchers are studying? Did we CURE CANCER?? WHO THE HELL IS GIVING THESE PEOPLE MONEY FOR THEIR WORK??!!??

Hey, I just did a study that shows plants grow faster during the DAY! Give me a GRANT!

BAHHH!!!!!!

And who is the lazy ass reporter that decided this was news???

754...755!...756?

I don't know why, but part of me hopes that when Barry Bonds gets to 754 home runs, that opposing pitchers either intentionally walk him for the rest of the season, or bean him. The man just doesn't seem to have the graciousness that I would like to have in a Major Baseball Record holder. Big Mark had respect for Maris' record, and Sammy seemed to as well. Hank Aaron went through some serious issues with other people not wanting him to break Ruth's 714, but at least that showed that he had a human side to him. I don't care about the "Steroid" allegations either, just show us some emotion over one of the greatest records in sports.

I LIKE what I like

I was recently told my taste in art is too "Kitschy". I wouldn't mind that, but it was the condescending tone that it was said in that bugged me. So what, if I like my Mass Media Andy Warhol art work, my Keith Haring non-controversial prints, my simple primary Mondrian paintings, and the wackyness of Miró. I also think velvet elvis paintings are kinda cool, and giant tapestries of "Dogs Playing Poker" should be publicly displayed in the best of homes. I love movies about Baseball, even though I hardly follow baseball at all (I blame that on being raised a Royals fan. Ah, 1985.) I eat my sandwiches plain, and my hot dogs cold. While I like all the ingredients in a KFC Mashed Potato Bowl, but I will never order one, because I don't like my food all mixed together. I don't mind if they touch, but that bowl has too much intermingling going on.( I don't like my corn getting to 3rd base with my potatoes, if you know what I mean) I don't drink beer, but can tell you blindly the difference between A&W, Barq's and Dad's Root Beers. (IBC is highly overrated, and priced BTW.) I also like my soda a bit flat. It is not uncommon for me to open a bottle, drink a bit, and then put the lid on it and shake it vigorously a few times. I have left entire 2-liter bottles of Root Beer open all night, just to lose most of the carbonation. A hamburger should NEVER cost more than $4, maybe $5 with bacon and cheese ( I am looking at you, Red Robin!) I have learned the ways of charcoal, and regret not learning them sooner. Mayonayse is the devils condiment, followed closely by mustard. and nothing make me happier than a nice bag of Red Hots. But thats just me. If you dont like what I like that is fine, just don't try and tell me in a way that makes it sound like your half-dead Beatles are better than my Still Rockin' Rolling Stones! (ya, I said it. Suck it, Trebeck)