Friday, March 31, 2006
Stud Farm
This is a sign I drive past every Friday on my way to the bank to deposit my paycheck after leaving work. Last Friday two horses were standing at the fence right next to the sign looking like the sorriest bunch of "studs" I'd ever seen.
Sadly, I don't carry my camera around with me 24/7 anymore because I've broken too many of them. So I only carry it around on special occasions when I KNOW there will be good picture taking opportunities. So a lot of the everyday random of life slips past me unless it can be captured on my camera phone. Which means that I ALSO need to remember that I HAVE a camera phone, which is about 5% of the time.
So I brought my camera to work today and did manage to capture the sign and one of the "studs" acting, well...studly, I guess.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Idiocy in America
I came across this news article (well, blog, really) on Google News today and thought I'd share.
Read it here, and then continue.
Finished? Ok, good.
How much of an idiot do you have to be to SUE Apple because you were listening to your iPod too loud? Apparently, a pretty big one. Big enough to WIN said lawsuit, forcing Apple to release an iPod updater that locks volume control on the Nano and Fifth Generation machines.
This is on par with that lady that sued McDonald's for her coffee being too hot and burning her. Its COFFEE lady! You would have BITCHED if it had been too cold, I can almost guarantee it. (I don't remember if the coffee lid wasn't on correctly and that's why it burned her or whatnot, THAT would be different. That's negligence on the employee, but coffee is SUPPOSED to be hot.) Same goes for the people that are suing fast food restaurants because their food made them fat.
News flash people: Lard battered in more lard then fried in FAT = weight gain if you consume it on a regular basis. Did the Burger King and Dairy Queen hold you captive in their palace of thunder thighs and love handles with a gun to your head and say "Consume this Whopper and Dilly Bar or DIE!"???
I don't think so.
I'm so tired of these get-rich-quick lawsuits that the big companies settle on in order to get them out of their hair. We're not winning against Corporate America, we're just looking like jackasses because we're too dumb to realize that you shouldn't use a curling iron while sleeping.
Every warning label on every product we use is put there because someone, somewhere did the one thing it warns against and probably won a big lawsuit for it.
Since when did a lack on common sense equal a bank roll in this country? Its natural selection, people. If you are not smart enough to know better than to turn the volume on your iPod to full capacity, then you DESERVE a loss of hearing. You deserve to need a Belltone at the age of 25 or 30 because you have no COMMON SENSE.
Stop bitching about it and wasting valuable time and resources pursuing a frivolous lawsuit just to show America how asinine you really are.
Do us all a favor, turn your iPod up a little bit louder, sit in the back of the room and keep quiet.
Read it here, and then continue.
Finished? Ok, good.
How much of an idiot do you have to be to SUE Apple because you were listening to your iPod too loud? Apparently, a pretty big one. Big enough to WIN said lawsuit, forcing Apple to release an iPod updater that locks volume control on the Nano and Fifth Generation machines.
This is on par with that lady that sued McDonald's for her coffee being too hot and burning her. Its COFFEE lady! You would have BITCHED if it had been too cold, I can almost guarantee it. (I don't remember if the coffee lid wasn't on correctly and that's why it burned her or whatnot, THAT would be different. That's negligence on the employee, but coffee is SUPPOSED to be hot.) Same goes for the people that are suing fast food restaurants because their food made them fat.
News flash people: Lard battered in more lard then fried in FAT = weight gain if you consume it on a regular basis. Did the Burger King and Dairy Queen hold you captive in their palace of thunder thighs and love handles with a gun to your head and say "Consume this Whopper and Dilly Bar or DIE!"???
I don't think so.
I'm so tired of these get-rich-quick lawsuits that the big companies settle on in order to get them out of their hair. We're not winning against Corporate America, we're just looking like jackasses because we're too dumb to realize that you shouldn't use a curling iron while sleeping.
Every warning label on every product we use is put there because someone, somewhere did the one thing it warns against and probably won a big lawsuit for it.
Since when did a lack on common sense equal a bank roll in this country? Its natural selection, people. If you are not smart enough to know better than to turn the volume on your iPod to full capacity, then you DESERVE a loss of hearing. You deserve to need a Belltone at the age of 25 or 30 because you have no COMMON SENSE.
Stop bitching about it and wasting valuable time and resources pursuing a frivolous lawsuit just to show America how asinine you really are.
Do us all a favor, turn your iPod up a little bit louder, sit in the back of the room and keep quiet.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
So they say its your birthday...
I'm going to be 27 in less than two weeks. (April 10 if you must know) (Its also Brock's birthday TODAY too, so go wish him a happy one.) Double Parentheses, DIG IT!
Sometimes I feel MUCH, MUCH older, and sometimes I feel like there's no WAY I'm in my LATE twenties. I still live a pretty youthful life and remain true to my nerdy roots. I still go see horror movies, comic book movies, I still read comics and create them, I buy action figures and I attend nerdfests AKA conventions. Just take a look at my amazon wishlist to see what type of stuff I'm into (most of it is TOTAL CRAP!). I do like grown up movies too, and everything with Kevin Spacey in it, because he's SO grown-up, you know. Well, that is until he plays Lex Luthor this summer, then its wheels off, I'm sure.
At what point do we turn down the other road, though? At what point do we put away our childish endeavors and say to ourselves "Its time you grew up and bought some mutual funds"? I don't know. I can't see myself EVER not getting excited about some Nightmare Before Christmas toy or statue. I can't see myself EVER not wanting to see the newest nerd movie on opening night.
Does it happen when you have kids? I don't think so. My mom is still a kid at heart. She still dresses up for Halloween and collects Maleficent stuff from the Disney store. I like to think that you become MORE youthful once you have kids. My mom did. She painted with us, she played dress up with us, she helped us dig our toys out of the mud when we would come in, sweaty-faced, crying that one of our Transformers, GI Joes, My Little Ponies and even Barbies (Yes, I DID have Barbies, I still do, in fact!) had lost the fight for survival in our massive mud pond my sister and I had made in the backyard. She performed "major surgery" on our stuffed animals when their ears or arms got torn.
Going to the show the other night put me in a slightly different perspective. I felt kind of OLD being there. There were all of these punk rock and rockabilly kids wandering around this club having a good time and rocking out to the music. Even Laura and Dusti were wanting to go stand RIGHT in front of the stage. I told them to go ahead, but I stayed back. I'm WAY too old to get right up to the stage anymore. (I learned THAT lovely fact at the Beastie Boys concert two years ago.) I still had an awesome time, but in my own way. If a certain band comes to town, I'll still be gung ho and attend the show, but I'm getting to the point where I can't jump up and down, and sing out, get drunk and act crazy. When I go to a show, I'm actually content with just sitting back and listening to the music...so I guess in a way I am growing up in that respect. I'm not even sad about it, I just have more of an appreciation for the music than in the audience atmosphere nowadays.
So as I get closer to the latter half of my twenties and contemplate children, retirement, mortgage payments, big grown-up purchases and the like, I'll just think of my mom and how youthful she remains and remember that just because I'm getting older, it doesn't mean that I have to act like it.
Sometimes I feel MUCH, MUCH older, and sometimes I feel like there's no WAY I'm in my LATE twenties. I still live a pretty youthful life and remain true to my nerdy roots. I still go see horror movies, comic book movies, I still read comics and create them, I buy action figures and I attend nerdfests AKA conventions. Just take a look at my amazon wishlist to see what type of stuff I'm into (most of it is TOTAL CRAP!). I do like grown up movies too, and everything with Kevin Spacey in it, because he's SO grown-up, you know. Well, that is until he plays Lex Luthor this summer, then its wheels off, I'm sure.
At what point do we turn down the other road, though? At what point do we put away our childish endeavors and say to ourselves "Its time you grew up and bought some mutual funds"? I don't know. I can't see myself EVER not getting excited about some Nightmare Before Christmas toy or statue. I can't see myself EVER not wanting to see the newest nerd movie on opening night.
Does it happen when you have kids? I don't think so. My mom is still a kid at heart. She still dresses up for Halloween and collects Maleficent stuff from the Disney store. I like to think that you become MORE youthful once you have kids. My mom did. She painted with us, she played dress up with us, she helped us dig our toys out of the mud when we would come in, sweaty-faced, crying that one of our Transformers, GI Joes, My Little Ponies and even Barbies (Yes, I DID have Barbies, I still do, in fact!) had lost the fight for survival in our massive mud pond my sister and I had made in the backyard. She performed "major surgery" on our stuffed animals when their ears or arms got torn.
Going to the show the other night put me in a slightly different perspective. I felt kind of OLD being there. There were all of these punk rock and rockabilly kids wandering around this club having a good time and rocking out to the music. Even Laura and Dusti were wanting to go stand RIGHT in front of the stage. I told them to go ahead, but I stayed back. I'm WAY too old to get right up to the stage anymore. (I learned THAT lovely fact at the Beastie Boys concert two years ago.) I still had an awesome time, but in my own way. If a certain band comes to town, I'll still be gung ho and attend the show, but I'm getting to the point where I can't jump up and down, and sing out, get drunk and act crazy. When I go to a show, I'm actually content with just sitting back and listening to the music...so I guess in a way I am growing up in that respect. I'm not even sad about it, I just have more of an appreciation for the music than in the audience atmosphere nowadays.
So as I get closer to the latter half of my twenties and contemplate children, retirement, mortgage payments, big grown-up purchases and the like, I'll just think of my mom and how youthful she remains and remember that just because I'm getting older, it doesn't mean that I have to act like it.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Robots is SO FUNNY!
Ben finally scanned in the rad robot drawing that Brock did for me at Staple earlier in the month.
Behold the awesomeness:
Now I have to bake him a batch of chocolate chip cookies. That was the deal, but it was well worth the price.
Behold the awesomeness:
Now I have to bake him a batch of chocolate chip cookies. That was the deal, but it was well worth the price.The Flametrick Subs
So I went to see The Flametrick Subs at Club Clearview in Dallas last night with Laura and her friend Dusti. The show was pretty rad. I've only seen them once before, a couple months back, when they opened up for the Reverend Horton Heat in Ft. Worth. And I must say, I'm sad that I'm only just now partaking in their awesomeness.
Apparently they also play at a bar called the Double Down in Vegas pretty regularly, but I had never heard wind of them when I was still living in Vegas, or had ever seen them play there. They're from Austin so its not TOO much a shock that I'd never heard of them, but all the same, I like them alot and was glad to tag along with the girls to see the show last night. I was able to buy their new CD and their old CD which I'm listening to right now. WOOT.
We had a really good time, Buster Crash even talked to Dusti, though she didn't realize it at first, and then she froze when he called her out on the fact that he has talking to her. It was pretty funny.
The drive OUT of Deep Ellum was another story...For some reason, Dallas Police seem to think its a GOOD idea to block off EVERY avenue OUT of Deep Ellum (to control traffic, so they say) making it almost impossible to get out of there! The ONE street they keep open got closed off last night for some emergency that involved an ambulance and about 7 cop cars. There was also NO ONE directing traffic, so it was a free for all trying to get to a street that we could drive on to take us back to the freeway home. I know that crime is WAY up in Deep Ellum now, but if they didn't block off the streets and make all the drunks MAD that they and their (hopefully) designated drivers can't get the hell OUT when the places shut down, trapping us there when all we want to do is go home, there may not be THAT much of an issue.
That's all I'm saying...
But we had a great time otherwise, we didn't get gyped out of $10(!) to park by leaving one lot and finding a better lit, better kept, cheaper parking spot, we got into the club for fairly cheap (I LOVE being over 21) and the show was cool. If you've never heard of The Flametrick Subs, check them out. I posted the remaining pics from the night in my photo gallery. Check them out, they are under the "Parties & Fun" section. You KNOW you want to.
Apparently they also play at a bar called the Double Down in Vegas pretty regularly, but I had never heard wind of them when I was still living in Vegas, or had ever seen them play there. They're from Austin so its not TOO much a shock that I'd never heard of them, but all the same, I like them alot and was glad to tag along with the girls to see the show last night. I was able to buy their new CD and their old CD which I'm listening to right now. WOOT.We had a really good time, Buster Crash even talked to Dusti, though she didn't realize it at first, and then she froze when he called her out on the fact that he has talking to her. It was pretty funny.
The drive OUT of Deep Ellum was another story...For some reason, Dallas Police seem to think its a GOOD idea to block off EVERY avenue OUT of Deep Ellum (to control traffic, so they say) making it almost impossible to get out of there! The ONE street they keep open got closed off last night for some emergency that involved an ambulance and about 7 cop cars. There was also NO ONE directing traffic, so it was a free for all trying to get to a street that we could drive on to take us back to the freeway home. I know that crime is WAY up in Deep Ellum now, but if they didn't block off the streets and make all the drunks MAD that they and their (hopefully) designated drivers can't get the hell OUT when the places shut down, trapping us there when all we want to do is go home, there may not be THAT much of an issue.
That's all I'm saying...
But we had a great time otherwise, we didn't get gyped out of $10(!) to park by leaving one lot and finding a better lit, better kept, cheaper parking spot, we got into the club for fairly cheap (I LOVE being over 21) and the show was cool. If you've never heard of The Flametrick Subs, check them out. I posted the remaining pics from the night in my photo gallery. Check them out, they are under the "Parties & Fun" section. You KNOW you want to.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Website Updates
I've updated my portfolio with some new Villains art. I posted some images from my work on issue #2 and a pinup that Benjamin has done for the series as well.
Enjoy!
Cl-Cl-Click it OUT.
Enjoy!
Cl-Cl-Click it OUT.
Friday, March 24, 2006
"why do mexicans love the nightmare before christmas"
I don't always check my stats on my site, but sometimes I do, just to see if there really ARE people looking at my website...
Along with stats of where someone is while looking at my site, the U.S., Australia, England, France, Germany, I also get paths of how people got to my site. Whether via a link from a friends site, search engine, or they just happened upon it by accident. (Apparently there is an outlaw named Ben Hall from Australia because we get a TON of hits from people searching for "Ben Hall" Down Under.)
One such search that sent someone to my little space for ramblings was one that is the title of this blog:
"why do mexicans love the nightmare before christmas"
I almost spit out my water I was drinking when I saw THAT one. Oddly enough, I had written about eating at a Mexican restaurant AND the Nightmare Before Christmas in one month and my site came up under that search. Even MORE odd, I DO happen to be Mexican (well, half anyway, I've got quite a bit of Viking in me as well) and I DO LOVE the Nightmare Before Christmas. How funny that someone would happen upon my site looking for something that doesn't appear to be there to the naked eye, but upon further digging, has been there all along.
So, I'll try and answer this question, hopefully the person that found me looking for that answer will be satisfied with it.
I think the reason that Mexicans like NBX so much is because of the symbolism of death not being the end, but just another leg of the journey. Our holiday of Dia de los Muertos (or Day of the Dead to you gringos) is all about celebrating death and remembering family members that have passed. The first day of the holiday occurs on Halloween, which is where its at in NBX, right? Alot of the imagery of NBX is reminiscent of the Day of the Dead holiday. The folks that live in Halloweentown take their job very seriously, and so do us Mexicans. Apparently, we are obsessed with Death and so are the people in Halloweentown. Plus, all the skeletons on the Hangman's Tree and in Oogie Boogie's lair look VERY similar to the calacas and paper mache skeletons that are a staple of the holiday.
So that's why I think Mexicans love the Nightmare Before Christmas so much. At least, that's part of why THIS Mexican does. I hope this helped you, whoever you are, out there that found my site and were curious about this little known phenomenon. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
¡Adiós, los amigos! ¡Véale luego!
Along with stats of where someone is while looking at my site, the U.S., Australia, England, France, Germany, I also get paths of how people got to my site. Whether via a link from a friends site, search engine, or they just happened upon it by accident. (Apparently there is an outlaw named Ben Hall from Australia because we get a TON of hits from people searching for "Ben Hall" Down Under.)
One such search that sent someone to my little space for ramblings was one that is the title of this blog:
"why do mexicans love the nightmare before christmas"
I almost spit out my water I was drinking when I saw THAT one. Oddly enough, I had written about eating at a Mexican restaurant AND the Nightmare Before Christmas in one month and my site came up under that search. Even MORE odd, I DO happen to be Mexican (well, half anyway, I've got quite a bit of Viking in me as well) and I DO LOVE the Nightmare Before Christmas. How funny that someone would happen upon my site looking for something that doesn't appear to be there to the naked eye, but upon further digging, has been there all along.
So, I'll try and answer this question, hopefully the person that found me looking for that answer will be satisfied with it.
I think the reason that Mexicans like NBX so much is because of the symbolism of death not being the end, but just another leg of the journey. Our holiday of Dia de los Muertos (or Day of the Dead to you gringos) is all about celebrating death and remembering family members that have passed. The first day of the holiday occurs on Halloween, which is where its at in NBX, right? Alot of the imagery of NBX is reminiscent of the Day of the Dead holiday. The folks that live in Halloweentown take their job very seriously, and so do us Mexicans. Apparently, we are obsessed with Death and so are the people in Halloweentown. Plus, all the skeletons on the Hangman's Tree and in Oogie Boogie's lair look VERY similar to the calacas and paper mache skeletons that are a staple of the holiday.
So that's why I think Mexicans love the Nightmare Before Christmas so much. At least, that's part of why THIS Mexican does. I hope this helped you, whoever you are, out there that found my site and were curious about this little known phenomenon. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
¡Adiós, los amigos! ¡Véale luego!
An Awesome Night was HAD.
So Ben and I had the screening of the Beastie Boys concert movie last night. And I must say, it was, indeed, awesome! I owe Ben $10 since I HAD to get there early because I was afraid that there were going to be tons of people there and we'd have to fight for a seat. He said NO one would show up for it, so I bet him $10 that there would be a line.
We were the first people there at 7:30. The movie started at 8.
*sigh*
Part of me was happy, because that would mean less of a chance for me to go apeshit on someone for breaking my cardinal rules of movie etiquette. But part of me was also sad because this meant that I was in a minority of fans in this area for the Beastie Boys. Where were all the people that were at the show with me in October of 2004? Did they not know about this? We ended up seeing the movie with about 10 other people. So there were at least SOME fans out there. We also saw the movie in a relatively out of the way theatre, so not many people would choose to go there, I can only guess.
There was a pre-movie short called "A Day in the Life of Nathaniel Hornblower", who directed the flick (Hornblower is really Adam Yauch AKA MCA of the BBoys, just in case you didn't know). The part of Hornblower for the short, though, was played by David Cross, which had me cracking up by itself. Imagine him with red curly hair, lederhosen, on cross country skis, in the fall, on the streets of New York. I don't think they are showing the short when the movie opens nationwide, but I'm hoping its on the DVD later, because it was funny as hell.
The premise of the movie is 50 fans are given 50 cameras to shoot the October 9, 2004 concert at Madison Square Garden (I can only gather that was the date by the date/time stamp some of the camcorders had throughout the movie). It was just like being at the show live, except I wasn't deaf when I left, and I hadn't been throttled by other fans the entire time. Though I think the guy sitting behind us WAS high because he was laughing at really inappropriate intervals and when he DID laugh, it was a high-pitched Joker-esque laugh that went on FOREVER making me half-wish that we had chosen different seats.
At one point during the movie, one fan took his camera to the bathroom during the concert which was, thankfully, not as well documented as it could have been. There were a few fan moments that were artfully and comedically pieced together that had us laughing out loud as well. It made me think of how un-selfconscious people become when they are really getting into the music of one of their favorite artists, and how now these certain people will be forever immortalized as "That Girl" and "That Guy" on the DVD. Also, another fan caught Ben Stiller rocking out to the show. They caught up with Ben later on with his wife, Marsha Brady, and they gushed about the show.
All in all, it was a really cool movie, though I wouldn't say it was for everyone. If you would never attend a Beastie Boys concert (or never want to watch any concert on film), then this movie isn't for you, because that is basically what the movie is, a concert. But if you love the BBoys, as much as I do, then check this movie out when it hits theatres on March 31st.
We were the first people there at 7:30. The movie started at 8.
*sigh*
Part of me was happy, because that would mean less of a chance for me to go apeshit on someone for breaking my cardinal rules of movie etiquette. But part of me was also sad because this meant that I was in a minority of fans in this area for the Beastie Boys. Where were all the people that were at the show with me in October of 2004? Did they not know about this? We ended up seeing the movie with about 10 other people. So there were at least SOME fans out there. We also saw the movie in a relatively out of the way theatre, so not many people would choose to go there, I can only guess.
There was a pre-movie short called "A Day in the Life of Nathaniel Hornblower", who directed the flick (Hornblower is really Adam Yauch AKA MCA of the BBoys, just in case you didn't know). The part of Hornblower for the short, though, was played by David Cross, which had me cracking up by itself. Imagine him with red curly hair, lederhosen, on cross country skis, in the fall, on the streets of New York. I don't think they are showing the short when the movie opens nationwide, but I'm hoping its on the DVD later, because it was funny as hell.
The premise of the movie is 50 fans are given 50 cameras to shoot the October 9, 2004 concert at Madison Square Garden (I can only gather that was the date by the date/time stamp some of the camcorders had throughout the movie). It was just like being at the show live, except I wasn't deaf when I left, and I hadn't been throttled by other fans the entire time. Though I think the guy sitting behind us WAS high because he was laughing at really inappropriate intervals and when he DID laugh, it was a high-pitched Joker-esque laugh that went on FOREVER making me half-wish that we had chosen different seats.
At one point during the movie, one fan took his camera to the bathroom during the concert which was, thankfully, not as well documented as it could have been. There were a few fan moments that were artfully and comedically pieced together that had us laughing out loud as well. It made me think of how un-selfconscious people become when they are really getting into the music of one of their favorite artists, and how now these certain people will be forever immortalized as "That Girl" and "That Guy" on the DVD. Also, another fan caught Ben Stiller rocking out to the show. They caught up with Ben later on with his wife, Marsha Brady, and they gushed about the show.
All in all, it was a really cool movie, though I wouldn't say it was for everyone. If you would never attend a Beastie Boys concert (or never want to watch any concert on film), then this movie isn't for you, because that is basically what the movie is, a concert. But if you love the BBoys, as much as I do, then check this movie out when it hits theatres on March 31st.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
An Awesome Night is Ahead...
Tonight at 8pm I know where I'll be. I'll be here. Watching this.
You guys know how much of a NERD I am about the Beastie Boys that I'll gladly and gleefully pay money to see a movie, about a concert that they gave at Madison Square Garden, shot by 50 fans with 50 cameras.
I saw them perform live for the first time in my life (Damn you for breaking your leg and canceling your Vegas show all those years ago, Mike D!) a couple years ago at the American Airlines center in Dallas. And it was so rad, I can't even tell you.
I know I'm probably the only person in my circle that gives a crap (except my sister and Gina), I'm just glad that Ben will tag along with me (he likes the B Boys too, but I doubt if given a choice he would choose to go to this) to this nerdiest of nerdy evenings with my favorite group of guys.
I'll give a full wrap up tomorrow after I witness the awesomeness of the three MCs and one DJ.
You guys know how much of a NERD I am about the Beastie Boys that I'll gladly and gleefully pay money to see a movie, about a concert that they gave at Madison Square Garden, shot by 50 fans with 50 cameras.
I saw them perform live for the first time in my life (Damn you for breaking your leg and canceling your Vegas show all those years ago, Mike D!) a couple years ago at the American Airlines center in Dallas. And it was so rad, I can't even tell you.
I know I'm probably the only person in my circle that gives a crap (except my sister and Gina), I'm just glad that Ben will tag along with me (he likes the B Boys too, but I doubt if given a choice he would choose to go to this) to this nerdiest of nerdy evenings with my favorite group of guys.
I'll give a full wrap up tomorrow after I witness the awesomeness of the three MCs and one DJ.
Monday, March 20, 2006
M for Movie Etiquette
Coming down from the movie high that was V for Vendetta, and also because there is possibly some really awesome news on the horizon, Ben and I decided to go out on a date with dinner and a movie.
The dinner part was fun, the movie part, not so much.
Now most of you know by now how much of a movie Nazi I am when it comes to cell phones, talking, crying babies and other jerkoff behavior. Tonight, however, Ben caught the Nazi bug and, with me in tow, he walked out of his first movie EVER and demanded our money back.
We went to see Ultraviolet starring Milla Jovovich. I had heard about this movie prior to seeing the trailer for it, and was excited about it at first because it was written and directed by Kurt Wimmer. Wimmer also wrote and directed the intelligent, thought provoking and kickass Equilibrium, starring Christian Bale. I had high hopes, that is, until I saw the trailer. My immediate gut reaction was, Resident Evil (virus, Milla) meets the Matrix (bullet time sequences and gravity defying stunts) meets Kill Bill (hot chick with samurai swords killing a bunch of dudes) meets 1984 (bleak future where the government rules things and hates its people). SO not something I would want to see, because that's just too many cliches and ripoffs of other flicks for my taste. Plus, I know Josh will disagree with me here, Milla Jovovich CAN'T ACT. She also has to get naked in EVERY movie she's in, no matter what! (Which I wouldn't care so much about if it had ANYTHING to do with the plot and served a purpose, I don't really care about nudity in movies, but gratuitous nudity burns my toast.)
So anyway, Ben still wanted to see this movie even though I thought it had CRAPTASTIC CRAPFEST written all over it, and I obliged him. We get in, its a Monday night, not a lot of people in the theatre, so it seems promising as far as THAT goes...at first.
The previews roll and this family comes in and sits down in the row RIGHT behind us and immediately serenades us with popcorn munching, candy wrapper ripping, talking, coughing and baby crying.
That's right. Baby crying. My Number One with a Bullet Pet Peeve at the movies.
The movie starts with some pretty awesome credits. All comic book covers by artists that even Ben couldn't recognize but really liked. So we were kind of getting less defensive about the whole thing. But once the movie actually started, (to coin Lori) it was wheels off.
Milla starts out with this monotone monologue about what the hell is going on as we're thrown into this garbled mess of a secret ops mission. Half of which I miss because of the baby behind us COUGHING into Ben's HAIR. So I had to keep turning around and delivering the stink eye to the oblivious parents. It also didn't help that the sound kept cutting in and out, the camera angles were wonky and the filmmakers were trying a soft "blur" effect on the characters employed with shoddy CGI backgrounds to give the movie the look of leftover soup.
About 40 minutes into the movie Ben leans into me and says, "Do you want to stay for the rest of this movie?"
To which I reply "Hell no."
"I can't take it anymore. I want out."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"Then let's get the hell out of here."
We stand up and give a Care Bear STARE of Stink to the annoying parents behind us and walk out. The minute we get out of the theatre we both burst out with a tapestry of curse words and a diatribe about letting kids into movies that aren't G or PG rated. We make our way to the Guest Services booth and let the manager lady there know that:
We want our money back. The manager is super awesome and gives us free movie coupons and apologizes and sends one of the ushers in to take care of the business.
Feeling better, we walk to our car to complain to each other some more about this most horrid of movie experiences. This was the first time that Ben has EVER walked out of a movie. So that is saying A LOT. He'll sit through mountains of crap for the sake of cinema, so you know if he throws in the towel at a movie that I was chomping at the bit.
I implore movie goers everywhere, PLEASE PLEASE leave your kid at HOME when you go to the movies unless you're there to see Curious George or something similar. Movie tickets cost WAY too much to piss off the other patrons in the theatre that have paid their way to see the movie as well by you having NO respect for anyone but yourself and bringing your kid to the theatre.
I also wish that the movie theatres weren't so lax about this. This problem would not exist if the people selling the tickets simply refused admission to someone trying to get into a rated R or PG-13 movie with tots in tow. And if the people simply buy tickets for another movie, then there should be ushers that check the movies as they start or right after they start to not only check for kids in movies that are not appropriate for them, but also to make sure that the SOUND is working!
So in case I haven't made myself PERFECTLY clear, DO NOT waste your money on Ultraviolet. Its 88 minutes of your life that you will NEVER get back.
The dinner part was fun, the movie part, not so much.
Now most of you know by now how much of a movie Nazi I am when it comes to cell phones, talking, crying babies and other jerkoff behavior. Tonight, however, Ben caught the Nazi bug and, with me in tow, he walked out of his first movie EVER and demanded our money back.
We went to see Ultraviolet starring Milla Jovovich. I had heard about this movie prior to seeing the trailer for it, and was excited about it at first because it was written and directed by Kurt Wimmer. Wimmer also wrote and directed the intelligent, thought provoking and kickass Equilibrium, starring Christian Bale. I had high hopes, that is, until I saw the trailer. My immediate gut reaction was, Resident Evil (virus, Milla) meets the Matrix (bullet time sequences and gravity defying stunts) meets Kill Bill (hot chick with samurai swords killing a bunch of dudes) meets 1984 (bleak future where the government rules things and hates its people). SO not something I would want to see, because that's just too many cliches and ripoffs of other flicks for my taste. Plus, I know Josh will disagree with me here, Milla Jovovich CAN'T ACT. She also has to get naked in EVERY movie she's in, no matter what! (Which I wouldn't care so much about if it had ANYTHING to do with the plot and served a purpose, I don't really care about nudity in movies, but gratuitous nudity burns my toast.)
So anyway, Ben still wanted to see this movie even though I thought it had CRAPTASTIC CRAPFEST written all over it, and I obliged him. We get in, its a Monday night, not a lot of people in the theatre, so it seems promising as far as THAT goes...at first.
The previews roll and this family comes in and sits down in the row RIGHT behind us and immediately serenades us with popcorn munching, candy wrapper ripping, talking, coughing and baby crying.
That's right. Baby crying. My Number One with a Bullet Pet Peeve at the movies.
The movie starts with some pretty awesome credits. All comic book covers by artists that even Ben couldn't recognize but really liked. So we were kind of getting less defensive about the whole thing. But once the movie actually started, (to coin Lori) it was wheels off.
Milla starts out with this monotone monologue about what the hell is going on as we're thrown into this garbled mess of a secret ops mission. Half of which I miss because of the baby behind us COUGHING into Ben's HAIR. So I had to keep turning around and delivering the stink eye to the oblivious parents. It also didn't help that the sound kept cutting in and out, the camera angles were wonky and the filmmakers were trying a soft "blur" effect on the characters employed with shoddy CGI backgrounds to give the movie the look of leftover soup.
About 40 minutes into the movie Ben leans into me and says, "Do you want to stay for the rest of this movie?"
To which I reply "Hell no."
"I can't take it anymore. I want out."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"Then let's get the hell out of here."
We stand up and give a Care Bear STARE of Stink to the annoying parents behind us and walk out. The minute we get out of the theatre we both burst out with a tapestry of curse words and a diatribe about letting kids into movies that aren't G or PG rated. We make our way to the Guest Services booth and let the manager lady there know that:
- The sound is cutting out.
- There's a snot nosed kid that's crying and coughing and carrying on in the theatre.
- The movie SUCKS.
We want our money back. The manager is super awesome and gives us free movie coupons and apologizes and sends one of the ushers in to take care of the business.
Feeling better, we walk to our car to complain to each other some more about this most horrid of movie experiences. This was the first time that Ben has EVER walked out of a movie. So that is saying A LOT. He'll sit through mountains of crap for the sake of cinema, so you know if he throws in the towel at a movie that I was chomping at the bit.
I implore movie goers everywhere, PLEASE PLEASE leave your kid at HOME when you go to the movies unless you're there to see Curious George or something similar. Movie tickets cost WAY too much to piss off the other patrons in the theatre that have paid their way to see the movie as well by you having NO respect for anyone but yourself and bringing your kid to the theatre.
I also wish that the movie theatres weren't so lax about this. This problem would not exist if the people selling the tickets simply refused admission to someone trying to get into a rated R or PG-13 movie with tots in tow. And if the people simply buy tickets for another movie, then there should be ushers that check the movies as they start or right after they start to not only check for kids in movies that are not appropriate for them, but also to make sure that the SOUND is working!
So in case I haven't made myself PERFECTLY clear, DO NOT waste your money on Ultraviolet. Its 88 minutes of your life that you will NEVER get back.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
V for Vendetta
Two movie opinions in the span of a couple hours?!? I know! I can't believe it myself! And yet, here we are.
I JUST got home from seeing this movie. Ben's finishing up a painting so I thought I'd write about it, while I'm keeping him company, while its still fresh in my mind.
This movie was fantastic. This is the first time, that I can recall, that I've been to the movies where I haven't ONCE checked my watch while in the theatre. I don't know why I always have to check my watch while in a movie, I just do. I also usually find out exactly how many minutes the movie is so that when I DO check my watch I'll know exactly how much time the movie has left and how long I think it will take to wrap up the story line. Even if I'm in love with the movie I will still check my watch.
But not tonight.
THAT is how good it was.
It helped that I absolutely adore Natalie Portman, I love Hugo Weaving and, of course, John Hurt (though he was a bastard in this, but such a good one!!) so the time seemed to fly by.
With all the comic movies being made now that are "mainstream", though I loathe that term, its refreshing to see some of the lesser known, and probably less popular among the masses, stories being told onscreen. It really helps, in my opinion, to spread awareness that comics have more of a story to tell than a man in tights saving the city. Though the man in tights saving the city is what first got me into reading comics, its these other types of stories that I continue to read comics, and hopefully its because of these other types of stories that more people will pick up their own comics and enrich their lives in the way I have. While my love for Batman will never fade, its refreshing that for every X-Men, there's a Sin City, for every (sigh, oh Jessica Alba, how you've tainted everything sacred I hold in hopes of casting in comic book movies) Fantastic Four, there's a Hellboy, and for every Superman, there's a V for Vendetta.
Please go see this movie, you'll feel better that you did. This is the best movie I've seen this year, hands down.
I JUST got home from seeing this movie. Ben's finishing up a painting so I thought I'd write about it, while I'm keeping him company, while its still fresh in my mind.
This movie was fantastic. This is the first time, that I can recall, that I've been to the movies where I haven't ONCE checked my watch while in the theatre. I don't know why I always have to check my watch while in a movie, I just do. I also usually find out exactly how many minutes the movie is so that when I DO check my watch I'll know exactly how much time the movie has left and how long I think it will take to wrap up the story line. Even if I'm in love with the movie I will still check my watch.
But not tonight.
THAT is how good it was.
It helped that I absolutely adore Natalie Portman, I love Hugo Weaving and, of course, John Hurt (though he was a bastard in this, but such a good one!!) so the time seemed to fly by.
With all the comic movies being made now that are "mainstream", though I loathe that term, its refreshing to see some of the lesser known, and probably less popular among the masses, stories being told onscreen. It really helps, in my opinion, to spread awareness that comics have more of a story to tell than a man in tights saving the city. Though the man in tights saving the city is what first got me into reading comics, its these other types of stories that I continue to read comics, and hopefully its because of these other types of stories that more people will pick up their own comics and enrich their lives in the way I have. While my love for Batman will never fade, its refreshing that for every X-Men, there's a Sin City, for every (sigh, oh Jessica Alba, how you've tainted everything sacred I hold in hopes of casting in comic book movies) Fantastic Four, there's a Hellboy, and for every Superman, there's a V for Vendetta.
Please go see this movie, you'll feel better that you did. This is the best movie I've seen this year, hands down.
Second star to the right and straight on till morning.
Last night while trying to get some comic work done I thought I'd put in one of my blockbuster movies and have it playing in the background because I didn't think it would be a movie that I would have to pay close attention to in order to get the gist of it. Boy, was I wrong.
Last night I watched Finding Neverland. Thankfully I was told ahead of time by my friend, Tam, that this was going to be a "crying" movie, another reason to have it playing in the background so my waterworks wouldn't flow so freely. Well, about 10 minutes into the film I had abandoned my work and was fully enthralled by this wonderful movie.
This movie is about the playwright, J.M. Barrie (played by the superb Johhny Depp), and the family he meets whose boys help him to create the story of Peter Pan. The little boy that plays Peter is also the same little boy that plays Charlie Bucket in last year's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Depp and he's just so cute that I wanted to take a bite out of him throughout the movie, even if he was being very standoffish to Depp's J.M. Barrie in the beginning. Kate Winslet plays their mother, who has an unnamed illness that she refuses to seek treatment for.
Little did I know how MUCH of a "crying" movie this was going to turn out to be.
The visuals in this movie are just fantastic, and if you're a fan of Disney's Peter Pan (as I am) and of the story of Peter Pan in general, its just awesome to sit and realize where the story of Peter Pan comes from in these children and their adventures. So I would recommend this movie to anyone and everyone. But be warned, you will CRY, oh yes, you will CRY.
And CRY.
And CRY...
And CRY...
At least I did.
*Spoilers here, Folks.*
Not to sound like a broken record, but of course, everyone pulls from their own pain with these type of movies and when the boy's mother dies from her illness the following conversation that Peter has with Jim Barrie struck a chord with me.
Peter says, "It's just, I thought she'd always be here."
And he asks Jim Barrie "Why did she have to die?" to which he replies, "I don't know." Its a conversation I've had with myself time and time again. I did always think that she would be here. It never occurred to me that she wouldn't. I was almost 22 years old, I'd seen enough of the world, and I was and still AM a wreck about it. This child couldn't be more than 7 or 8. Its unimaginable for me to think of how hard it would be for this child to lose his mother and father so close together.
The movie ends with Jim getting part guardianship of the boys with their grandmother and he agrees to take care of them, so at least there's SOME happiness to the ending, unlike The DAMN Notebook, but I was still a wreck by the end of this one too.
I cried in Ben's arms for another 15 minutes about the whole thing because I thought that I was on the right track and that I was letting go. He told me that letting go doesn't mean forgetting and it doesn't mean that I have to stop showing emotion about it. Its still comes back so fresh sometimes in the most unlikely (and very likely) of places, but that doesn't mean that I can't stay on my path.
So after the movie was over I needed a dose of comedy, BIG TIME, so I popped in our DVD of The Brothers Grimm. Another STELLAR movie which I recommend EVERYONE go out and buy right now! If you like dry, British humor, Monty Python and Terry Gilliam, then you must own this movie. You must!
Well, this WAS supposed to be a movie opinion, but it ended up being something else...well anyway, if you haven't seen Finding Neverland, I would recommend seeing it. Its an enchanting movie that I'd like to own. I'd put it on the shelf next to Big Fish so that I can watch it again, but maybe only once a year.
Last night I watched Finding Neverland. Thankfully I was told ahead of time by my friend, Tam, that this was going to be a "crying" movie, another reason to have it playing in the background so my waterworks wouldn't flow so freely. Well, about 10 minutes into the film I had abandoned my work and was fully enthralled by this wonderful movie.
This movie is about the playwright, J.M. Barrie (played by the superb Johhny Depp), and the family he meets whose boys help him to create the story of Peter Pan. The little boy that plays Peter is also the same little boy that plays Charlie Bucket in last year's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Depp and he's just so cute that I wanted to take a bite out of him throughout the movie, even if he was being very standoffish to Depp's J.M. Barrie in the beginning. Kate Winslet plays their mother, who has an unnamed illness that she refuses to seek treatment for.
Little did I know how MUCH of a "crying" movie this was going to turn out to be.
The visuals in this movie are just fantastic, and if you're a fan of Disney's Peter Pan (as I am) and of the story of Peter Pan in general, its just awesome to sit and realize where the story of Peter Pan comes from in these children and their adventures. So I would recommend this movie to anyone and everyone. But be warned, you will CRY, oh yes, you will CRY.
And CRY.
And CRY...
And CRY...
At least I did.
*Spoilers here, Folks.*
Not to sound like a broken record, but of course, everyone pulls from their own pain with these type of movies and when the boy's mother dies from her illness the following conversation that Peter has with Jim Barrie struck a chord with me.
Peter says, "It's just, I thought she'd always be here."
And he asks Jim Barrie "Why did she have to die?" to which he replies, "I don't know." Its a conversation I've had with myself time and time again. I did always think that she would be here. It never occurred to me that she wouldn't. I was almost 22 years old, I'd seen enough of the world, and I was and still AM a wreck about it. This child couldn't be more than 7 or 8. Its unimaginable for me to think of how hard it would be for this child to lose his mother and father so close together.
The movie ends with Jim getting part guardianship of the boys with their grandmother and he agrees to take care of them, so at least there's SOME happiness to the ending, unlike The DAMN Notebook, but I was still a wreck by the end of this one too.
I cried in Ben's arms for another 15 minutes about the whole thing because I thought that I was on the right track and that I was letting go. He told me that letting go doesn't mean forgetting and it doesn't mean that I have to stop showing emotion about it. Its still comes back so fresh sometimes in the most unlikely (and very likely) of places, but that doesn't mean that I can't stay on my path.
So after the movie was over I needed a dose of comedy, BIG TIME, so I popped in our DVD of The Brothers Grimm. Another STELLAR movie which I recommend EVERYONE go out and buy right now! If you like dry, British humor, Monty Python and Terry Gilliam, then you must own this movie. You must!
Well, this WAS supposed to be a movie opinion, but it ended up being something else...well anyway, if you haven't seen Finding Neverland, I would recommend seeing it. Its an enchanting movie that I'd like to own. I'd put it on the shelf next to Big Fish so that I can watch it again, but maybe only once a year.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Even GOD doesn't get up this early.
This morning completes week one of my plan to let go and follow the road to a healthier me. I've lost 5 pounds and feel spectacular. Ben is a little groggy getting up with me at the butt crack of dawn (6 AM!! I know some of you may scoff at this, but we're night owls and this is WAY too early for us) but he's been a real sport about it. Our cats, not so much. Chewie takes to biting us (this is NEW behavior, you say?) as we try to don our sweats and Fizzgig just gives us the stink-eye by having the lights on so early.
I have a really good workout DVD that I've done in the past but the host is REALLY annoying and I just don't like working out in my house. I like to get outside in the fresh air because we spend so much time indoors working as it is. So we started going to this park that's close to our house to do our morning jog. At 6 AM the park is virtually empty, so Ben and I can enjoy a nice jog with no one else to bother us, because we're really anti-social in the morning. At 6:45 AM when we're almost done with our jog, this park becomes a DOG PARK. Which would be fine, we like dogs, but we get the feeling that we're not really wanted at this park when these doggy dayrunners show up because they kind of give us dirty looks when they see that we have no dogs.
I can just feel them thinking, "Hey you new kids, where's your pint-size pooch? Don't have one, then get the hell out of here!", all the while smiling at us with their mouths but not with their eyes. Oh they say "Morning" to us as we go bye, but only AFTER we say it first. We usually leave the park by 7 AM anyway, so its not a big deal, but they are all usually meandering around their cars in the parking lot at that time so we kind of just tuck our tails and run to our car as fast as we can and high tail it out of there before the mob mentality can REALLY kick in.
My other secret desire to get outside and go to a park stems from my love of all the wildlife we get to see on our jog. This park has a large duck pond that makes me giggle like a school girl every time we pass it, come on, you KNOW you love ducks. One morning I AM going to come equipped with some bread to feed them, I swear. There's also rabbits, squirrels, skunks and raccoons roaming the woods (or so the signs say), not to mention tons of different birds besides the ducks.
This morning turned out to be a 3 rabbit, 1 (super pissed off and ready to rumble) squirrel, 1 large crane-type bird, 2 cardinal and many ducks day. Not a bad way to start off the work day, if you ask me.
I have a really good workout DVD that I've done in the past but the host is REALLY annoying and I just don't like working out in my house. I like to get outside in the fresh air because we spend so much time indoors working as it is. So we started going to this park that's close to our house to do our morning jog. At 6 AM the park is virtually empty, so Ben and I can enjoy a nice jog with no one else to bother us, because we're really anti-social in the morning. At 6:45 AM when we're almost done with our jog, this park becomes a DOG PARK. Which would be fine, we like dogs, but we get the feeling that we're not really wanted at this park when these doggy dayrunners show up because they kind of give us dirty looks when they see that we have no dogs.
I can just feel them thinking, "Hey you new kids, where's your pint-size pooch? Don't have one, then get the hell out of here!", all the while smiling at us with their mouths but not with their eyes. Oh they say "Morning" to us as we go bye, but only AFTER we say it first. We usually leave the park by 7 AM anyway, so its not a big deal, but they are all usually meandering around their cars in the parking lot at that time so we kind of just tuck our tails and run to our car as fast as we can and high tail it out of there before the mob mentality can REALLY kick in.
My other secret desire to get outside and go to a park stems from my love of all the wildlife we get to see on our jog. This park has a large duck pond that makes me giggle like a school girl every time we pass it, come on, you KNOW you love ducks. One morning I AM going to come equipped with some bread to feed them, I swear. There's also rabbits, squirrels, skunks and raccoons roaming the woods (or so the signs say), not to mention tons of different birds besides the ducks.
This morning turned out to be a 3 rabbit, 1 (super pissed off and ready to rumble) squirrel, 1 large crane-type bird, 2 cardinal and many ducks day. Not a bad way to start off the work day, if you ask me.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Top Ten Most Annoying Alarm Clocks
Just in case you're a lollygagger like myself when it comes to getting the train out of the station in the morning, try using one of these babies as your morning wake-up call:
Clickeroo!
My personal faves are the Clocky, Kuku and Puzzle alarms.
Clickeroo!
My personal faves are the Clocky, Kuku and Puzzle alarms.
The Sky's the Limit...
As you all know, I washed my car this weekend to get it ready to sell. This took a LOT of elbow grease to get her all gussied up for potential buyers. I did a lot of sticker scraping, wheel rim scrubbing and floormat vacuuming. All of this hard labor did come at a small price.
It seems I did a lot of moving and straining in ways that I don't on a regular basis and thoroughly injured my back. I woke up yesterday morning feeling like I had been run over during the night. It was horrible! No jogging in the morning, no easy walks to the can, no comfort at my desk for 8 hours, NOTHING! So when I got home last night the only thing I wanted to do was find my heating pad and veg on the couch.
And I did...
Just.
That.
I love game shows! I used to watch them ALL the time with my gramma. So of course I was sad when I heard about the "Press Your Luck" host dying in a plane crash yesterday. I LOVED Press Your Luck. But I'm getting off subject. There's a game show on NBC called Deal or No Deal going right now hosted by Howie Mandel (a BALD Howie Mandel, which is even funnier) that I'm sort of addicted to. I watch it whenever I can catch it. I have no idea when any tv shows are on (except for the Office and the Biggest Loser when its on), I usually end up lucking into watching something because I'm channel flipping while Ben and I work in our study. So I watched that and then Ben joined me for a little dose of Disney's Sky High. We got this in the mail yesterday from Blockbuster and it was a GODSEND due to my being laid up for the night.
I thought this movie was going to be really cheesy and lame, but it really wasn't. Ben and I were laughing OUT LOUD at some parts of it, mostly because of Bruce Campbell, Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald though. These guys stole the show. I'm a total geek about the Kids in the Hall and Ben's got an unhealthy obsession with Bruce Campbell so we were both really enjoying all the scenes with them in it. The story got to be a little formulaic (I know, what isn't these days?) but it wasn't annoying. I knew where the story was going, but I just sat back and enjoyed the ride to get there.
So if you are in the mood for a fun, family movie with some hilarious scenes from Bruce, David and Kevin, along with an enjoyable plot about super heroes, then I'd suggest renting Sky High. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
It seems I did a lot of moving and straining in ways that I don't on a regular basis and thoroughly injured my back. I woke up yesterday morning feeling like I had been run over during the night. It was horrible! No jogging in the morning, no easy walks to the can, no comfort at my desk for 8 hours, NOTHING! So when I got home last night the only thing I wanted to do was find my heating pad and veg on the couch.
And I did...
Just.
That.
I love game shows! I used to watch them ALL the time with my gramma. So of course I was sad when I heard about the "Press Your Luck" host dying in a plane crash yesterday. I LOVED Press Your Luck. But I'm getting off subject. There's a game show on NBC called Deal or No Deal going right now hosted by Howie Mandel (a BALD Howie Mandel, which is even funnier) that I'm sort of addicted to. I watch it whenever I can catch it. I have no idea when any tv shows are on (except for the Office and the Biggest Loser when its on), I usually end up lucking into watching something because I'm channel flipping while Ben and I work in our study. So I watched that and then Ben joined me for a little dose of Disney's Sky High. We got this in the mail yesterday from Blockbuster and it was a GODSEND due to my being laid up for the night.
I thought this movie was going to be really cheesy and lame, but it really wasn't. Ben and I were laughing OUT LOUD at some parts of it, mostly because of Bruce Campbell, Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald though. These guys stole the show. I'm a total geek about the Kids in the Hall and Ben's got an unhealthy obsession with Bruce Campbell so we were both really enjoying all the scenes with them in it. The story got to be a little formulaic (I know, what isn't these days?) but it wasn't annoying. I knew where the story was going, but I just sat back and enjoyed the ride to get there.
So if you are in the mood for a fun, family movie with some hilarious scenes from Bruce, David and Kevin, along with an enjoyable plot about super heroes, then I'd suggest renting Sky High. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
Monday, March 13, 2006
The Hills Have a Conversation and other nonsense.
Is there a better way to spend a Saturday morning than seeing a horror film filled with mutants deformed by nuclear testing killing hapless travelers? The answer is: I don't think so!
Ben and I took in a matinee of the remake of Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes with our friends, Robert and Ashley. It was pretty funny because Ashley and I were the only two women in the whole theatre. Ok, there were only about 5 other people besides us in the theatre ANYWAY, but we were STILL the only women there. We also contemplated the probability that one of the 5 other people with us was really a serial killer and they were there to take notes, because you know, serial killers often go to the movies by themselves on a Saturday morning. (If you were there and are NOT a serial killer, we weren't talking about you, and if you were there and you ARE a serial killer, please don't kill me, I'm funny!)
So, this new version of the film was pretty good. I haven't seen the original yet (I know, blasphemy!) but it IS on my blockbuster list now and I'll get around to it. Both Robert and Ashley HAD seen the original and they didn't come out of the theatre spitting, so as far as I can tell, they did a pretty decent job on the remake. Robert informed us of some of the changed plot points and subtle differences between the two and they didn't seem glaring or needless. Of course, as in ANY horror movie, there are the scenes where you think, "What the hell are you doing?!?!?", to certain actions by the characters, but I think it was two hours well spent. If you like horror movies, and mutants (not the self cleaning kind) then go see this flick. You'll be REALLY uncomfortable and you'll REALLY appreciate your working limbs.
I guess I'm not that good at movie reviews, because I don't like to talk about the plot and give away anything, so I think I'll just refer to these type of blogs as movie opinions.
We also rented The Conversation staring Gene Hackman. THIS was an awesome movie. Ben read the screenplay of it in college and I'm pretty sure he was told that this was the greatest screenplay ever written or something to that effect, so he's always wanted to see it and has never gotten around to it. Gene Hackman plays a "paranoid and personally-secretive surveillance expert" who gets wrapped up in his latest job and he suspects the people he's bugged are going to be murdered. Its a very intense "smart" movie where you really have to pay attention because the staple of 70's cinema was to trudge along at a sleepy rate to get to the end, so if you aren't paying attention, you'll miss a pivotal plot point. I would recommend ANYONE who hasn't sent this movie to go out and rent it right now! Its one of Francis Ford Coppola's greatest movies and I can't believe that I've never seen it before. Robert Duvall makes a cameo in it and it also stars Harrison Ford and Cindy Williams (yes, THAT Cindy Williams, two years before "Schlemeel, schlemazel, hasenfeffer incorporated!").
So those were the movies we saw this weekend.
In other news, I probably did one of the most painful tasks I've ever done in my LIFE yesterday. I washed my car and removed all of the things that make it MY car to prepare it for the Auto Trader.
That's right, I'm selling my car. I'm tired of spending a gazillion dollars on gas every month for it and its got two doors, SO not cool for when I have kids. Its just too expensive to keep. If it had four doors, I'm sure I could justify keeping it. I won't lie, I LOVE my SUV. I love being above everyone else (well mostly everyone else, I do live in Texas, the ginormous pickup truck capitol of the world), being able to SEE things on the road and I just like the room I have inside the car. But the whole two door thing is the pits. So its time to sell it. I'm a bit hesitant about it though, because one of my best friends' dad sold me this car, and he's since passed away so I feel sad about selling it. I feel that this is the last piece of him that I have left. I grew up with this friend, and her parents are like my parents so it was hard when he died (this is the one that I was a wreck about after seeing Big Fish in the theatre) and I have sentimental attachment to this stupid car.
So if you know anyone that's in the neighborhood to buy a really well kept 2001 Ford Explorer Sport 2DR sport utility for $10,000, drop me a line.
Ben and I took in a matinee of the remake of Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes with our friends, Robert and Ashley. It was pretty funny because Ashley and I were the only two women in the whole theatre. Ok, there were only about 5 other people besides us in the theatre ANYWAY, but we were STILL the only women there. We also contemplated the probability that one of the 5 other people with us was really a serial killer and they were there to take notes, because you know, serial killers often go to the movies by themselves on a Saturday morning. (If you were there and are NOT a serial killer, we weren't talking about you, and if you were there and you ARE a serial killer, please don't kill me, I'm funny!)
So, this new version of the film was pretty good. I haven't seen the original yet (I know, blasphemy!) but it IS on my blockbuster list now and I'll get around to it. Both Robert and Ashley HAD seen the original and they didn't come out of the theatre spitting, so as far as I can tell, they did a pretty decent job on the remake. Robert informed us of some of the changed plot points and subtle differences between the two and they didn't seem glaring or needless. Of course, as in ANY horror movie, there are the scenes where you think, "What the hell are you doing?!?!?", to certain actions by the characters, but I think it was two hours well spent. If you like horror movies, and mutants (not the self cleaning kind) then go see this flick. You'll be REALLY uncomfortable and you'll REALLY appreciate your working limbs.
I guess I'm not that good at movie reviews, because I don't like to talk about the plot and give away anything, so I think I'll just refer to these type of blogs as movie opinions.
We also rented The Conversation staring Gene Hackman. THIS was an awesome movie. Ben read the screenplay of it in college and I'm pretty sure he was told that this was the greatest screenplay ever written or something to that effect, so he's always wanted to see it and has never gotten around to it. Gene Hackman plays a "paranoid and personally-secretive surveillance expert" who gets wrapped up in his latest job and he suspects the people he's bugged are going to be murdered. Its a very intense "smart" movie where you really have to pay attention because the staple of 70's cinema was to trudge along at a sleepy rate to get to the end, so if you aren't paying attention, you'll miss a pivotal plot point. I would recommend ANYONE who hasn't sent this movie to go out and rent it right now! Its one of Francis Ford Coppola's greatest movies and I can't believe that I've never seen it before. Robert Duvall makes a cameo in it and it also stars Harrison Ford and Cindy Williams (yes, THAT Cindy Williams, two years before "Schlemeel, schlemazel, hasenfeffer incorporated!").
So those were the movies we saw this weekend.
In other news, I probably did one of the most painful tasks I've ever done in my LIFE yesterday. I washed my car and removed all of the things that make it MY car to prepare it for the Auto Trader.
That's right, I'm selling my car. I'm tired of spending a gazillion dollars on gas every month for it and its got two doors, SO not cool for when I have kids. Its just too expensive to keep. If it had four doors, I'm sure I could justify keeping it. I won't lie, I LOVE my SUV. I love being above everyone else (well mostly everyone else, I do live in Texas, the ginormous pickup truck capitol of the world), being able to SEE things on the road and I just like the room I have inside the car. But the whole two door thing is the pits. So its time to sell it. I'm a bit hesitant about it though, because one of my best friends' dad sold me this car, and he's since passed away so I feel sad about selling it. I feel that this is the last piece of him that I have left. I grew up with this friend, and her parents are like my parents so it was hard when he died (this is the one that I was a wreck about after seeing Big Fish in the theatre) and I have sentimental attachment to this stupid car.
So if you know anyone that's in the neighborhood to buy a really well kept 2001 Ford Explorer Sport 2DR sport utility for $10,000, drop me a line.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Pretty as a picture.
I've uploaded my photo galleries!
WOOT!
Click here if you feel like looking at some recent pics of me, Ben, our friends, our cats and other random goodness.
WOOT!
Click here if you feel like looking at some recent pics of me, Ben, our friends, our cats and other random goodness.
Just Let Go...
I don't like getting too personal with this blog for various reasons. One being I don't want to bore anyone with things that I think are important but others may see as trivial nonsense. (Marlena, stop talking about how worried you are about your cats and be FUNNY already!) This is also a place where I showcase my artwork (if what I do you can call "art") and I like having some type of fourth wall between myself and any readers or potential (HA!) fans, because I don't want to give some opinion I have about something and potentially alienate a reader of one of my comics because of it. But there are some things that go on in my life that I'm sure all 4 of you that read this might care about, be it something deeply personal or what I had for dinner last night (nuked leftover Chinese takeout, if you must know).
I had a revelation last night (well yesterday afternoon, but into last night) that I need to let go of some things. I got an email from one of my oldest friends with some real "blast from the past" pictures of him, my best friend, Gina, and myself in our heyday when Gina still ran her comic book store in Vegas, The Batcave.
Looking at these pictures, something finally clicked for me.
I'm a happy person, anyone who knows me knows this. But there is something missing. My gramma passed away 5 years ago this past February and I've been self-destructing every day since then.
Sure, I've met the most wonderful man and married him, he's given me the greatest life, I have the best of friends and a loving family that would do anything for me. But my gramma is the closest person to me to ever die. I guess because she was there, living with us, since I was 6 months old (after my grandfather died), I have no memory of my life without her in it. She's always been there as one of the many pivotal constants in my life. When she died I was riddled with such guilt, that it was hard to get up and do normal things everyday. I was in Texas, she was in Vegas. My mother was there taking care of her ALONE. I've been punishing myself for that ever since.
Starting today, I made a pact with myself that I was going to let go. I was going to let go of the punishing security blanket that I've slowly wrapped myself in for the last 5 years. I feel like I've woken up from a half-sleep and my mind is groggy but I can feel myself coming out of it.
So as of today, I'm not self-destructing anymore. I want to live to see a ripe old age. I want to see my grandkids and my great-grandkids. I'm not going to dwell on the past and try to bury myself in comfort because I can't figure out a more productive way to cope.
I'm not going to ever forget her, I will continue to see her face and hear her voice in everything I do, but I am going to let go. I know she would have wanted me to.
*I want everyone to know that I'm not talking about suicide here in any way, shape or form. My punishment has been that I've gained A LOT of weight since my grandmother died and its been a security blanket for me. Today I am starting my path to shed that weight so I can be healthy for myself, Ben and our unborn kids.
I had a revelation last night (well yesterday afternoon, but into last night) that I need to let go of some things. I got an email from one of my oldest friends with some real "blast from the past" pictures of him, my best friend, Gina, and myself in our heyday when Gina still ran her comic book store in Vegas, The Batcave.
Looking at these pictures, something finally clicked for me.
I'm a happy person, anyone who knows me knows this. But there is something missing. My gramma passed away 5 years ago this past February and I've been self-destructing every day since then.
Sure, I've met the most wonderful man and married him, he's given me the greatest life, I have the best of friends and a loving family that would do anything for me. But my gramma is the closest person to me to ever die. I guess because she was there, living with us, since I was 6 months old (after my grandfather died), I have no memory of my life without her in it. She's always been there as one of the many pivotal constants in my life. When she died I was riddled with such guilt, that it was hard to get up and do normal things everyday. I was in Texas, she was in Vegas. My mother was there taking care of her ALONE. I've been punishing myself for that ever since.
Starting today, I made a pact with myself that I was going to let go. I was going to let go of the punishing security blanket that I've slowly wrapped myself in for the last 5 years. I feel like I've woken up from a half-sleep and my mind is groggy but I can feel myself coming out of it.
So as of today, I'm not self-destructing anymore. I want to live to see a ripe old age. I want to see my grandkids and my great-grandkids. I'm not going to dwell on the past and try to bury myself in comfort because I can't figure out a more productive way to cope.
I'm not going to ever forget her, I will continue to see her face and hear her voice in everything I do, but I am going to let go. I know she would have wanted me to.
*I want everyone to know that I'm not talking about suicide here in any way, shape or form. My punishment has been that I've gained A LOT of weight since my grandmother died and its been a security blanket for me. Today I am starting my path to shed that weight so I can be healthy for myself, Ben and our unborn kids.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Goodbye Mrs. Superman
Also, on a sadder note, I'd like to take a moment to remember one of the most courageous women of our time. I'm talking about Dana Reeve, wife of Christopher Reeve. I can't even begin to imagine how hard her life has been and what she's gone through. Through it all, though, she never faltered and never gave up.
She's a true hero and we would all do well to take a page from her book and never give up hope and work for what we feel is right and just.
We'll miss you Dana. But I guess Christopher missed you more and needed you to come home.
She's a true hero and we would all do well to take a page from her book and never give up hope and work for what we feel is right and just.
We'll miss you Dana. But I guess Christopher missed you more and needed you to come home.
Pass me the popcorn.
So I've seen a few movies in the last two weeks or so...
Ben and I went to see When a Stranger Calls last week. This is a remake of a 1979 film of the same name that I've never seen. Simple premise, babysitter in the house getting crank calls from a scary dude asking her to check on the children. The movie was OK, PG-13 ratings have sadly killed the slasher flick genre for me because they're trying to get that younger audience in to see the movies, but in the meantime, the adults, like myself and Ben, get gyped because the scares are just not that heartpounding. The movie kind of trudges along until the fateful "The calls are coming from inside the house!" line by the police officer (played by the guy that plays Roy from the US Office TV show, which had me cracking up in the theatre) that the babysitter has been talking to the whole movie. But I will admit that when the shit started hitting the fan and the guy was going after the babysitter I was scared. Not because the movie did an awesome job at conveying fear or that the girl was a good actress or anything. I was scared because all the visuals in the movie were the things that I usually see at night when I'm having one of my "episodes". So I think I got more out of the movie, because my nightmares were on screen, than Ben did. But at the end I wasn't mad that I had paid to see it and wanted the hour and a half of my life back.
We also rented Capturing the Friedmans, which is a documentary about a family torn apart by child abuse allegations. This film was very hard to stomach due to the delicate subject matter and it was mostly put together using the family's own home movies which were very raw and I felt kind of bad watching them. I didn't feel like it was my right to see into the private recesses of this family. It was heart wrenching and parts of it angered me. "Director/producer Andrew Jarecki was in the process of making a documentary about people who work as children's birthday party clowns in New York which led to the discovery of David Friedman's story. David Friedman was considered the most successful of the city's party clowns." I would say this was a good movie to see, but I don't have any desire to see it again. It was very interesting to see all the point of views and how easy it can be to manipulate the truth so that it conforms to one side's beliefs of how the events unfolded. At the end of the movie, I couldn't say one way or the other if the father and son were guilty of their alleged crimes or if they were innocent...judge for yourself by renting this movie.
And last night we took a well deserved break from working and watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which came out on DVD yesterday (yes I'm a nerd that has to buy the movie the DAY it comes out). I'm biased when it comes to Harry Potter because I'm such a fan of the books. I loved this movie, as I loved all the previous movies. My only complaint with this installment of the HP movies is that it seemed a bit rushed at times, I'm sure for time constraints. Since I've read the books I know what's missing from certain scenes and what other things mean when the characters say them (Priori Incantatem anyone?), but I think for people that are going into this movie without that prior knowledge, they may be a bit confused or not as impressed with the movie as I was. I also didn't care for some of the plot points they changed, but I think it was again due to time constraints...I didn't think Harry fighting the dragon in the first challenge needed to be as long and drawn out as it was so that they could remove the whole storyline with Winky the house elf and Barty Crouch...But, they didn't ask me to make the movie, so I guess I'll have to stick with what Hollywood produced. So go rent it, or buy it and watch it, because its just a rad movie.
In other news, I want THIS so freaking bad I can taste it. I also want this, this and this. Damn you Kid Robot, damn you straight to HELL.
Poopshoot.
Ben and I went to see When a Stranger Calls last week. This is a remake of a 1979 film of the same name that I've never seen. Simple premise, babysitter in the house getting crank calls from a scary dude asking her to check on the children. The movie was OK, PG-13 ratings have sadly killed the slasher flick genre for me because they're trying to get that younger audience in to see the movies, but in the meantime, the adults, like myself and Ben, get gyped because the scares are just not that heartpounding. The movie kind of trudges along until the fateful "The calls are coming from inside the house!" line by the police officer (played by the guy that plays Roy from the US Office TV show, which had me cracking up in the theatre) that the babysitter has been talking to the whole movie. But I will admit that when the shit started hitting the fan and the guy was going after the babysitter I was scared. Not because the movie did an awesome job at conveying fear or that the girl was a good actress or anything. I was scared because all the visuals in the movie were the things that I usually see at night when I'm having one of my "episodes". So I think I got more out of the movie, because my nightmares were on screen, than Ben did. But at the end I wasn't mad that I had paid to see it and wanted the hour and a half of my life back.
We also rented Capturing the Friedmans, which is a documentary about a family torn apart by child abuse allegations. This film was very hard to stomach due to the delicate subject matter and it was mostly put together using the family's own home movies which were very raw and I felt kind of bad watching them. I didn't feel like it was my right to see into the private recesses of this family. It was heart wrenching and parts of it angered me. "Director/producer Andrew Jarecki was in the process of making a documentary about people who work as children's birthday party clowns in New York which led to the discovery of David Friedman's story. David Friedman was considered the most successful of the city's party clowns." I would say this was a good movie to see, but I don't have any desire to see it again. It was very interesting to see all the point of views and how easy it can be to manipulate the truth so that it conforms to one side's beliefs of how the events unfolded. At the end of the movie, I couldn't say one way or the other if the father and son were guilty of their alleged crimes or if they were innocent...judge for yourself by renting this movie.
And last night we took a well deserved break from working and watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which came out on DVD yesterday (yes I'm a nerd that has to buy the movie the DAY it comes out). I'm biased when it comes to Harry Potter because I'm such a fan of the books. I loved this movie, as I loved all the previous movies. My only complaint with this installment of the HP movies is that it seemed a bit rushed at times, I'm sure for time constraints. Since I've read the books I know what's missing from certain scenes and what other things mean when the characters say them (Priori Incantatem anyone?), but I think for people that are going into this movie without that prior knowledge, they may be a bit confused or not as impressed with the movie as I was. I also didn't care for some of the plot points they changed, but I think it was again due to time constraints...I didn't think Harry fighting the dragon in the first challenge needed to be as long and drawn out as it was so that they could remove the whole storyline with Winky the house elf and Barty Crouch...But, they didn't ask me to make the movie, so I guess I'll have to stick with what Hollywood produced. So go rent it, or buy it and watch it, because its just a rad movie.
In other news, I want THIS so freaking bad I can taste it. I also want this, this and this. Damn you Kid Robot, damn you straight to HELL.
Poopshoot.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Staple Wrap Up
So Ben and I are back from our whirlwind road trip to the Staple convention in Austin this weekend. It was really fun and we got to meet some really awesome people and see some of our old favorites.
Ben's brother Zach lives in Austin and we were going to stay the night at his house and drive home on Sunday morning, but Ben wasn't feeling all that well so we headed home on Saturday night after the con and I felt like a zombie driving. We did get to meet and greet with some of Zach's friends who worked on A Scanner Darkly (See the trailer here!) with him, but we were sad to go home so early because we then missed out on getting to hang with some of the people we met and also Zach. Some of the Scanner people we met were Melita "Melly" Curphy, who donned the most awesome costume EVER. Visit her at missmonster.com, and check out her awesome work. Sharing a table with Melly was Thomas P. Reidy III, see his stuff at fullofmonkey.com, and his wife Niki, mechanicalbunny.com, both of whom also produce amazing work.
We also met up with Rafael Navarro of Sonambulo fame, he's such a rad guy. If you like Mexican Wrestlers and comics, this will be RIGHT up your alley.
Our good friend Greg Thompson of Hero Camp, and now CBLDF, was there as well. It was good to see him since he just moved away from Texas to New York.
David Hopkins and Brock Rizy were across from the Viper table pumping everyone up for the upcoming Emily Edison due out later this year. Brock has owed me a robot drawing for a while now, which he did for me at the con, I'll post a pic of that as soon as we get it scanned in, its so rad you'll be emailing me asking where you can get a copy, to which I will reply, "NOWHERE! Jealous!?!?"
And of course, we hung out with the incomparable Josh Howard at the Viper booth while signing copies of Dead@17:Protectorate and meeting fans.
It was an awesome weekend and we had a really awesome time. I did take some awesome pics with my spiffy new camera. I was hard at work last night trying to put together a photo gallery for my site (and also test it out for use on some other websites I'm working on. I like to use my site as a test subject for things before committing to them on other people's sites in case they blow up in my face) and its not quite finished yet. Before I reveal it I will give you a sneak peek at the conventions gallery with the 2006 Staple pics and pics from the San Diego Comic Convention of 2005, complete with nerdy captions!!
Clicky! (the gallery starts off with San Diego pics but there's a handy drop down menu if you want to skip right to the Staple pics)
It was a fun time and we had a blast, thanks to everyone that came out, hopefully we'll see you all at CAPE in May!!
EDIT: Oh my god, I forgot about Ronée Garcia Bourgeois representing Arkham Designs and Friends of Lulu!! I'm such a dork! She was so nice and awesome too. It was good to meet her face to face.
I've also single-handedly KILLED the word "awesome" with this entry alone. You can never utter this word again because it is now dead.
Ben's brother Zach lives in Austin and we were going to stay the night at his house and drive home on Sunday morning, but Ben wasn't feeling all that well so we headed home on Saturday night after the con and I felt like a zombie driving. We did get to meet and greet with some of Zach's friends who worked on A Scanner Darkly (See the trailer here!) with him, but we were sad to go home so early because we then missed out on getting to hang with some of the people we met and also Zach. Some of the Scanner people we met were Melita "Melly" Curphy, who donned the most awesome costume EVER. Visit her at missmonster.com, and check out her awesome work. Sharing a table with Melly was Thomas P. Reidy III, see his stuff at fullofmonkey.com, and his wife Niki, mechanicalbunny.com, both of whom also produce amazing work.
We also met up with Rafael Navarro of Sonambulo fame, he's such a rad guy. If you like Mexican Wrestlers and comics, this will be RIGHT up your alley.
Our good friend Greg Thompson of Hero Camp, and now CBLDF, was there as well. It was good to see him since he just moved away from Texas to New York.
David Hopkins and Brock Rizy were across from the Viper table pumping everyone up for the upcoming Emily Edison due out later this year. Brock has owed me a robot drawing for a while now, which he did for me at the con, I'll post a pic of that as soon as we get it scanned in, its so rad you'll be emailing me asking where you can get a copy, to which I will reply, "NOWHERE! Jealous!?!?"
And of course, we hung out with the incomparable Josh Howard at the Viper booth while signing copies of Dead@17:Protectorate and meeting fans.
It was an awesome weekend and we had a really awesome time. I did take some awesome pics with my spiffy new camera. I was hard at work last night trying to put together a photo gallery for my site (and also test it out for use on some other websites I'm working on. I like to use my site as a test subject for things before committing to them on other people's sites in case they blow up in my face) and its not quite finished yet. Before I reveal it I will give you a sneak peek at the conventions gallery with the 2006 Staple pics and pics from the San Diego Comic Convention of 2005, complete with nerdy captions!!
Clicky! (the gallery starts off with San Diego pics but there's a handy drop down menu if you want to skip right to the Staple pics)
It was a fun time and we had a blast, thanks to everyone that came out, hopefully we'll see you all at CAPE in May!!
EDIT: Oh my god, I forgot about Ronée Garcia Bourgeois representing Arkham Designs and Friends of Lulu!! I'm such a dork! She was so nice and awesome too. It was good to meet her face to face.
I've also single-handedly KILLED the word "awesome" with this entry alone. You can never utter this word again because it is now dead.
Friday, March 03, 2006
The Toilet and Secret Saga
I'm going to leave all of you with this lovely entry before I take a brief hiatus to attend Staple in Austin this weekend.
First off, I'd like everyone to go to this website. Post Secret. I'm watching 20/20 right now and they are actually talking about this website. Kudos to Chris for posting this on his blog awhile back and I look at it at least once a week. The 20/20 episode is about secrets, keeping them and betraying them. I started watching it and had to leave the house for the reason for the rest of this entry, and when I got back I caught the last half of the segment about Post Secret. Check it out.
Ah, the toilet seat. A little back story...
When Ben and I bought our house, we lucked into a cute little duplex with two bedrooms and two baths. Its been a really excellent set up since we both work together and have to get up at the same time to get ready for work, it isn't really practical for us to use the same bathroom to get ready. We end up in each other's way and make ourselves run even more late than we already do on a daily basis. The second bathroom solved this dilemma by giving each of us our own space to get ready in each day. We only end up being 10 minutes late to work rather than 20 or 25 if we tried to get ready in the same bathroom. (Our boss really doesn't care when we come in, but we try to get there at 8:30 everyday)
The only problem with our bathrooms were the toilet seats.
A really nice little old lady lived in our house before we bought it and apparently she really liked the "country" look because the toilet seats were made of wood. Wood! On your bare bottom! I felt like we were living in the old colonial days and we should be doing our "business" outside and the door should have a crescent moon cut into it.
We weren't really that concerned with the toilet seats after we moved in because of all the other fun things a new house requires you to purchase, like a lawnmower, new couches and a baker's rack for all the wonderful kitchens appliances we received for our wedding.
About a month ago the toilet seat in Ben's bathroom broke. The hinge that keeps it on the bowl gave out and he was going to go buy a new hinge to put on the seat to fix it. When we got to Lowe's I said, why don't you just get a new toilet seat? They are only $20 and since we both hated the wood seat he decided, yes, that would be a good idea. The toilet seat has made his bathroom look brand new and SO much more inviting...its strange how the smallest thing can make the biggest difference in making a room look like it has entered this century.
So today since we had the day off we decided that it was time to replace my old nasty wood toilet seat with a shiny white one.
A toilet's a toilet right? So we buy the exact same seat we bought for Ben's bathroom. We had a lot of running around to do tonight before going to Austin in the morning, so at about 9:30 when things are settling down for the night Ben goes to replace the toilet seat in "my" bathroom.
"HONEY! Come here!!"
I go running into the bathroom thinking he's just cut himself to ribbons trying to replace the seat only to find him pointing to the offending commode. "Look. LOOK!"
The toilet seat barely covers the top of the bowl.
What the crap? Apparently, I have the "fancy" toilet in my bathroom, since its in the master bedroom and is therefore privy to having a slightly bigger bowl. Holy crap we think, because Ben has already disposed of the wood seat in the trash and I'm SO not about to put my delicate derriere on a toilet seat that's already been in the trash, so getting it back out and putting it back on is NOT an option.
"What time does Lowe's close?"
"I don't know!"
"Get dressed, we gotta go back!"
So we race to the car and speed like demons back to Lowe's to try and get there before they close, praying that they close at 10 and not 9 on Fridays.
We get in and Ben goes to return the small seat and I try to go to the back of the store and get the correct one so we don't have to waste any MORE time dealing with this FUBAR situation. Of course the size of seat I need is on the tippy toppest shelf. Its 9:45, they close at 10, so there's not a Lowe's employee in sight. I'm not that short, but I was going to kill myself if I tried to get this thing by myself. Ben comes back to find me wondering what the hell I'm doing back there and he grabs the right one and we're out.
We get home, he installs the new seat and all is right in the world.
Lesson learned? If you need to buy a new toilet seat, measure it first. Or at least take a look at the toilet before you leave and try to notice which of the TWO different size standard toilets you have. Once you buy a toilet seat don't wait until 9:30 at night to install it, do it right when you get home so you know if there's a problem. Also, don't completely destroy the old toilet seat before making sure that the new one is going to work for you. And lastly, if you do end up doing all of the above things wrong and need to go exchange your seat at 9:30 at night, let your husband go get a new seat since he can probably reach the shelf better than you can, and YOU should take the return seat to customer service to get the store credit.
You'll save yourself a lot of grief and have happy potty time always.
Poopshoot.
First off, I'd like everyone to go to this website. Post Secret. I'm watching 20/20 right now and they are actually talking about this website. Kudos to Chris for posting this on his blog awhile back and I look at it at least once a week. The 20/20 episode is about secrets, keeping them and betraying them. I started watching it and had to leave the house for the reason for the rest of this entry, and when I got back I caught the last half of the segment about Post Secret. Check it out.
Ah, the toilet seat. A little back story...
When Ben and I bought our house, we lucked into a cute little duplex with two bedrooms and two baths. Its been a really excellent set up since we both work together and have to get up at the same time to get ready for work, it isn't really practical for us to use the same bathroom to get ready. We end up in each other's way and make ourselves run even more late than we already do on a daily basis. The second bathroom solved this dilemma by giving each of us our own space to get ready in each day. We only end up being 10 minutes late to work rather than 20 or 25 if we tried to get ready in the same bathroom. (Our boss really doesn't care when we come in, but we try to get there at 8:30 everyday)
The only problem with our bathrooms were the toilet seats.
A really nice little old lady lived in our house before we bought it and apparently she really liked the "country" look because the toilet seats were made of wood. Wood! On your bare bottom! I felt like we were living in the old colonial days and we should be doing our "business" outside and the door should have a crescent moon cut into it.
We weren't really that concerned with the toilet seats after we moved in because of all the other fun things a new house requires you to purchase, like a lawnmower, new couches and a baker's rack for all the wonderful kitchens appliances we received for our wedding.
About a month ago the toilet seat in Ben's bathroom broke. The hinge that keeps it on the bowl gave out and he was going to go buy a new hinge to put on the seat to fix it. When we got to Lowe's I said, why don't you just get a new toilet seat? They are only $20 and since we both hated the wood seat he decided, yes, that would be a good idea. The toilet seat has made his bathroom look brand new and SO much more inviting...its strange how the smallest thing can make the biggest difference in making a room look like it has entered this century.
So today since we had the day off we decided that it was time to replace my old nasty wood toilet seat with a shiny white one.
A toilet's a toilet right? So we buy the exact same seat we bought for Ben's bathroom. We had a lot of running around to do tonight before going to Austin in the morning, so at about 9:30 when things are settling down for the night Ben goes to replace the toilet seat in "my" bathroom.
"HONEY! Come here!!"
I go running into the bathroom thinking he's just cut himself to ribbons trying to replace the seat only to find him pointing to the offending commode. "Look. LOOK!"
The toilet seat barely covers the top of the bowl.
What the crap? Apparently, I have the "fancy" toilet in my bathroom, since its in the master bedroom and is therefore privy to having a slightly bigger bowl. Holy crap we think, because Ben has already disposed of the wood seat in the trash and I'm SO not about to put my delicate derriere on a toilet seat that's already been in the trash, so getting it back out and putting it back on is NOT an option.
"What time does Lowe's close?"
"I don't know!"
"Get dressed, we gotta go back!"
So we race to the car and speed like demons back to Lowe's to try and get there before they close, praying that they close at 10 and not 9 on Fridays.
We get in and Ben goes to return the small seat and I try to go to the back of the store and get the correct one so we don't have to waste any MORE time dealing with this FUBAR situation. Of course the size of seat I need is on the tippy toppest shelf. Its 9:45, they close at 10, so there's not a Lowe's employee in sight. I'm not that short, but I was going to kill myself if I tried to get this thing by myself. Ben comes back to find me wondering what the hell I'm doing back there and he grabs the right one and we're out.
We get home, he installs the new seat and all is right in the world.
Lesson learned? If you need to buy a new toilet seat, measure it first. Or at least take a look at the toilet before you leave and try to notice which of the TWO different size standard toilets you have. Once you buy a toilet seat don't wait until 9:30 at night to install it, do it right when you get home so you know if there's a problem. Also, don't completely destroy the old toilet seat before making sure that the new one is going to work for you. And lastly, if you do end up doing all of the above things wrong and need to go exchange your seat at 9:30 at night, let your husband go get a new seat since he can probably reach the shelf better than you can, and YOU should take the return seat to customer service to get the store credit.
You'll save yourself a lot of grief and have happy potty time always.
Poopshoot.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Snoopy on my cat...
Tonight on "Stuff On My Cat" we feature Snoopy and Chewbacca. I got this awesome plush from the Charles M. Schulz Musuem booth at the San Diego Comic Convention last year. Its good to know that my money was put to good use. Poor Snoopy will NEVER be the same...
So let me know what you all think and which picture you think I should send in.
This is what happens when I finish my comic coloring work early.
So let me know what you all think and which picture you think I should send in.
This is what happens when I finish my comic coloring work early.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Stuff on My Cat
Here are the first photos in the "Stuff On My Cat" series. I've got a Snoopy plush and some other random things I'd like to try to put on Chewbacca (since Fizzgig is WILY and won't stand still long enough for me to take her picture, let alone allow me to come near her with a foreign object) before making my final choices to send in to the Stuff On My Cat website.
First, I attempted to introduce Chewie to the skull so he wouldn't run away. You can tell how enthused he is about all this.
Ben then attempted to "place" the skull on Chewie's back...I don't know if these pics will work. I'm not sure if there are rules that disallow pictures where the "stuff" on the cat is being held there by human hands...
So the winner may be his throw down with Hellboy...or possibly Snoopy, when he settles down enough to allow us to torment him some more. If he wasn't so mean all the time, I'd feel a little bit bad for him.
Here's the one shot I got of Fizzgig while all of this was going down. Right after this was taken, she disappeared into a cloud of smoke:
This concludes our session of "Stuff On My Cat". Updates tomorrow. That is if Chewie doesn't kill us in our sleep.
First, I attempted to introduce Chewie to the skull so he wouldn't run away. You can tell how enthused he is about all this.
Ben then attempted to "place" the skull on Chewie's back...I don't know if these pics will work. I'm not sure if there are rules that disallow pictures where the "stuff" on the cat is being held there by human hands...
So the winner may be his throw down with Hellboy...or possibly Snoopy, when he settles down enough to allow us to torment him some more. If he wasn't so mean all the time, I'd feel a little bit bad for him.
Here's the one shot I got of Fizzgig while all of this was going down. Right after this was taken, she disappeared into a cloud of smoke:
This concludes our session of "Stuff On My Cat". Updates tomorrow. That is if Chewie doesn't kill us in our sleep.
Time For Go To Bed...
So technically my next post wasn't about my cats, I guess I should say tomorrow's post will be about that...probably. Sorry, I'm really tired today, don't like it? Too bad bitch-o.
I just figured it was time I mentioned that Ben and I will be attending the Staple Comic Convention in Austin this weekend. We'll be walking the floor and hanging out at the Viper booth, so stop by and say hi if you are in the area. Its cheap to get in so why wouldn't you go?
I'll also be sporting an awesomely rad t-shirt provided to me by my buddies at Arkham Designs (who will also be in attendance at the convention this weekend) in an attempt at shameless self-promotion on their part!!! Check them out, they produce high quality stuff and they are funny as hell. They're on MySpace too (but really, who isn't?).
Also, on May 6th, we will be attending CAPE in Dallas for Free Comic Book Day! Come hang out and have fun with us plus score some free comics too!
I just figured it was time I mentioned that Ben and I will be attending the Staple Comic Convention in Austin this weekend. We'll be walking the floor and hanging out at the Viper booth, so stop by and say hi if you are in the area. Its cheap to get in so why wouldn't you go?
I'll also be sporting an awesomely rad t-shirt provided to me by my buddies at Arkham Designs (who will also be in attendance at the convention this weekend) in an attempt at shameless self-promotion on their part!!! Check them out, they produce high quality stuff and they are funny as hell. They're on MySpace too (but really, who isn't?).
Also, on May 6th, we will be attending CAPE in Dallas for Free Comic Book Day! Come hang out and have fun with us plus score some free comics too!
The Hell Day is Over and why I want to go to New York...
I'm feeling a bit like I'm hungover today because I'm so tired from being at work until 1 am...the Hell day is over for this month (or last month, if you want to get all technical about it). Hopefully that will be the last one, but we'll see.
2 reasons why I want to visit New York in April for my birthday and am thoroughly pissed off that I can't make the trip.
1) Ladytron. Friggin' A. They are doing a world tour (this includes the US for all you non-geography types) and will be playing at the Irving Plaza on April 15th. Five days after my birthday. What the crap? So, if you live in New York (Tom) and are a fan of Ladytron, please go to this show for me and then tell me all about it so I can hate you forever.
2) If I was going to New York in April to see Ladytron, I would also make it a point to see the Broadway revival of one of my favorite musicals EVER, Sweeney Todd. (Jonathan, you are on my shitlist for seeing this last week, by the way) Again, if you live in New York and can see this, please, please do. And then send me a playbook or a t-shirt.
So, instead I have to sit and stew in Texas and be sad for the very unmerriest of birthdays and look at random crap on the internet like Stuff on My Cat. For my next entry, as you can probably guess, I will be taking pictures depicting stuff on my cats...
2 reasons why I want to visit New York in April for my birthday and am thoroughly pissed off that I can't make the trip.
1) Ladytron. Friggin' A. They are doing a world tour (this includes the US for all you non-geography types) and will be playing at the Irving Plaza on April 15th. Five days after my birthday. What the crap? So, if you live in New York (Tom) and are a fan of Ladytron, please go to this show for me and then tell me all about it so I can hate you forever.
2) If I was going to New York in April to see Ladytron, I would also make it a point to see the Broadway revival of one of my favorite musicals EVER, Sweeney Todd. (Jonathan, you are on my shitlist for seeing this last week, by the way) Again, if you live in New York and can see this, please, please do. And then send me a playbook or a t-shirt.
So, instead I have to sit and stew in Texas and be sad for the very unmerriest of birthdays and look at random crap on the internet like Stuff on My Cat. For my next entry, as you can probably guess, I will be taking pictures depicting stuff on my cats...
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