Friday, December 12, 2008

50 Random Things

My friend Carla posted this on another site, and since I am trying to put off all the things I need to do today I thought I would answer the questions here.


1. Do you like cheese? I love cheese! Especially Dubliner Irish Cheddar or Aged Gruyere.
2. Have you ever smoked? No. Smoke gives me a terrible headache.
3. Do you own a gun? No - I don't like guns.
4. Do you like listening to Christmas music? I love listening to Christmas music.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? I'm always a nervous wreck before doctor's appointments.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? I like Kosher hot dogs. I will eat reguar hot dogs as long as I don't think about what's in them.
7. Favorite Christmas song? "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Hot tea, usually PG Tips or English Breakfast Tea
9. Can you do push ups? Not very many.
10. Who is your favorite Grey's Anatomy Character? McDreamy, of course (I always picture him doing the African Anteater Dance, though.)

11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My wedding ring, my Winged Heart ring, or a locket that was my grandmother's.
12. Favorite hobby? Playing video games or reading
13. Do you eat "exotic" foods? Well, I like lots of things like sushi and Thai food, but I don't like "weird" things like escargot or bugs - although chocolate covered crickets do taste almost exactly like Kit Kats.
14. Do you have A.D.D.? No.
15. What one trait do you hate about yourself? I'm not sure . . . maybe the fact that I'm always second guessing myself. No, wait - umm, I'm not sure.


16. Middle Name? Elizabeth
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? I wish it had snowed here last night. I need to be cleaning. I ought to go shopping later (but I don't want to).
18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday? Milk, bread, and Plum Honey Lavender yogurt.
19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, tea, milk.

20. Current worry right now? Whether I will finish everthing I need to before my family visits on Monday. I don't think I will.


21. Current hate? The way time crawls when you want it to hurry yet flies by when you don't want it to.
22. Favorite place to be? Well I would have said the Adventurers Club, but since it isn't an option now I will just say either home or Orlando.
23. How did you bring in the New Year? Watching a movie marathon with Caradorn.
24. Where would you like to go? Right now, Orlando. Eventually - lots of places, especially Ireland and Japan.
25. Name three people who will complete this? I have no idea.

26. Do you own flip flops? Yes, for the beach, but I never wear them and keep losing them.
27. What shirt are you wearing? A Snoopy T-shirt that says "Girls Love Bad Boys"
28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? No.
29. Can you whistle? Yes, but I can't do that neat loud whistle with my fingers.
30. Favorite color? Red

31. Would you be a pirate? I am a pirate!
32. What songs do you sing in the shower? Usually either songs from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Once More With Feeling" musical or from "Wicked". (Very badly, of course)
33. Favorite girl's name? I don't think I have one. I like mine, though.
34. Favorite boy's name? The Kidd's name, of course.
35. What's in your pocket right now? My cell phone.

36. Last thing that made you laugh? Something on the "Epic Fail" website.
37. Best bed sheets as a child? Kermit the Frog sheets.
38. Worst injury you've ever had? I chipped a bone in my wrist while juggling. I've been lucky so far!
39. Do you love where you live? I really like it, but I don't think I love it.
40. How many TVs do you have in your house? 5

41. Who is your loudest friend? Loudest . . . that would have to be Frank!
42. How many dogs do you have? Two
43. Does someone have a crush on you? I hope Caradorn does.
45. What is your favorite book? Lots of favorites - too many to list.

46. What is your favorite candy? Toffee Crisp bars or Kinder Eggs.
47. Do you know all the words to the Fresh Prince theme song? Sadly, yes.
48. What song do you want played at your funeral? "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from Spamalot, and "The Parting Glass" (an Irish folk song).
49. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Channel surfing while trying to sleep.
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? I wondered if it had snowed. It hadn't. : (

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

I don't feel any older

So yesterday was my birthday. I've hit that age where I can now officially say I'm in my mid thirties. I guess I should be unhappy about it, but I don't feel any older. Of course, I already felt pretty old so that's a good thing. Well, I feel old physically. Mentally, not so much. Mentally I'm still just as immature as ever. Which is also a good thing, I think!

My friend Jack () sent me the nicest birthday wish on that other social networking site - he said he hoped my birthday consisted of nothing but Animal Crossing and Adventurers Club memories. Obviously he knows me pretty well, since those are two of my favorite things! And in fact I did end up playing Animal Crossing for quite a while yesterday. One of my animal neighbors on the game baked a cake for my character, and everyone else sent cards or gifts. Today it's snowing on the game, and fishing is always good when it snows, so I will have to play more tonight.

As for the Adventurers Club - I did think about it quite a bit yesterday. I was at Walt Disney World for my last three birthdays, and would have been there again this year if they hadn't closed the Club. Last year, we got to see Snoopy in 'It's a Wonderful Life' on the day before my birthday. I'm looking forward to seeing him in another role as soon as possible. And it was around this time last year that I finally realized how hilarious Blondie's version of Hathaway Browne really was. He sang part of 'That's Amore' to me at the Hoopla on my birthday and I still think of him every time I hear that song. So even though I missed the Club this year, I did enjoy the memories. And who knows - maybe next year I'll be able to see some of the Adventurers performing again on my birthday. Maybe there will even be a new Adventurers Club for me to enjoy.

All in all, yesterday was a very good day. Caradorn and I spent the day together. We played some video games, did some Christmas shopping and decorated a bit more for Christmas, and he even baked me some of his famous, award winning Pumpkin Bread for breakfast! We didn't do everything we had planned - the birthday Kungaloosh will have to wait till the weekend - but we still had fun.

Today, it's back to the usual grind. I've been so busy lately, and that won't get better for at least another week. My grandfather will be visiting my home for the very first time next wek and I want to finish a bunch of projects around he house before he gets here. Plus there are presents to wrap - and buy! - and decorating to finish. Also, I'm in a closed beta on the PS3 and I want to spend a little time on there today because it goes to open beta tomorrow and I'm sure it will be mobbed. And there are lots of other things I need to do, as well - it seems like everything is going on at once. But that's okay. At least I will feel like I really accomplished something if I finish everything I need to do.

And if I finish everything soon, then I can sit back and enjoy my belated birthday Kungaloosh this weekend. And given that it's supposed to finally get cold, maybe I can snuggle up in the new Snoopy sweatshirt that Caradorn got me and watch Christmas specials and enjoy the snow they're saying we might get. That would be a great belated birthday gift!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Animal Crossing

I've not been online much lately because I've been spending much of my free time playing Animal Crossing: City Folk on the Wii. If you played either Animal Crossing for the gamecube or for the DS then you know what to expect from the Wii version. If you have not played it before, it probably doesn't sound like the sort of game that would appeal to adults. In the Animal Crossing games, you play as a character that moves to a town inhabited by animals. There's no real end goal to the game, except those that you set for yourself. There are lots of fish and bugs to catch, a museum to stock, and errands to run. Plus hundreds of items to collect and lots of neighbors and special visitors to interact with and befriend. It sounds like a game for children, but it is strangely addictive.

One of the best things about the game is that things happen in real time. After I post this I'll get back to Krakatoa (our town on the game; you name your town yourself) so that my character, Skurvy, can do some fishing. I want to sell a few more fish tonight before the town store closes. Plus, one of our villagers thinks he lost his keys in the river and needs me to find them so he can get back into his house. On Thursday afternoon we'll be fighting over the Wii so we all have the chance to steal utensils to give to a nervous turkey in exchange for furniture. (We will try to each collect the whole set, but whatever pieces we don't get Thursday we can't get until next Thanksgiving!)

I had never even considered getting the Gamecube version until my sister and brother in law gave it to us for Christmas a few years ago. We weren't too sure about it but tried playing it anyway, and then we played it every day for a year. We bought the Wii the day it came out just so we'd be sure to have one when Animal Crossing Wii finally was released. We've really enjoyed this one so far, and the addition of Wii Speak is a nice touch. Now when friends visit our town to fish or deliver fruit we can talk instead of having to type at each other.

This is just one of those games that can't be adequately described - you really have to play it to understand the appeal. Be warned, though - if you do play you may also become addicted.

(For any of you that are playing - Send me your friend codes! Our native fruit is Pears, though we now have a few orange, peach, and apple trees. So far our cherry trees keep dying and we don't have coconuts, though I might be getting a couple later this evening.)

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Have a good Thanksgiving

This time of year always makes me nostalgic. This year, especially, I find myself thinking of old friends - partly because I'm starting to reconnect with some of them thanks to Myspace and Facebook. I had lost track of many of my friends from high school and college, and I'm glad to be getting back in touch with them again. (That means you, Jack!! )

One friend that I always think of at this time every year is Fred. In addition to being one of my best friends during high school and even during college, Fred was also my first boyfriend. We dated off and on throughout high school. In college we each moved on to other serious relationships but we stayed close friends. It was Fred who encouraged me to date Caradorn after I found out that Caradorn was divorced - I had always said I wouldn't get involved with someone who had been married, but Fred saw that I loved Caradorn and convinced me to give the relationship a chance.

I thought that Fred and I would be friends for the rest of our lives.

I still consider him a friend, but we don't talk anymore. We haven't for years. Fred's wife, Ann, doesn't like me . . . but of course I don't really blame her. As much as I like to say that Caradorn should keep in touch with all his old friends, I would probably be uncomfortable if he still had a close friendship with one of his exes. Still, if Fred and I had wanted to be together we wouldn't have been dating other people, so I hoped that eventually Ann would accept my presence in Fred's life. I hoped that eventually Ann and I would become friends. I hoped that Fred would refuse to cut me out of his life if Ann made him choose between us. I chose to end a relationship with a guy who objected to my friendships with Fred and a few other guys, and hoped that Fred would value our friendship enough to do the same if necessary.

And of course I was to blame, too - the nail in the coffin of our friendship, I think, was the fact that I didn't tell him I was getting married until after the fact. He knew I was engaged, but I didn't tell him when the wedding was because we were only having family there . . . he found out that Caradorn and I were married from a classmate that went to Caradorn's church. Not the right way for a friend to hear that kind of news!

It's been years since we had any contact, though I do see his parents occasionally. We were always better friends than "significant others" and I often wish we had never dated, because then maybe we would still be friends today. This time of year I always sort of wish that we could revive our friendship again. After all, Thanksgiving saved our relationship once before.

We had a volatile relationship in high school. We were constantly arguing and breaking up, only to get right back together again. After a particularly ugly breakup, we didn't speak for quite a while. I thought he owed me an apology and he thought I owed him one and neither of us would bend. It was just before Thanksgiving vacation, and I was lugging my stuff out of the band room after school, when we passed in the parking lot. And even though I am horribly stubborn most of the time, I just couldn't take the silence between us any longer and I missed him terribly and so as I passed him I said "Have a good Thanksgiving".

It wasn't much but apparently that was enough, because he called me a few days later and we were best friends - and dating - again. We still had our arguments, and of course we ended up breaking up for good, but for the most part we stayed friends for years after that.

It's been years since we spoke last, and I do still think of him. When I heard that the Ventures had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame my first thought was that I had to tell Fred - they were one of his favorite groups. Every time I go see Aerosmith I think of him, because we used to go see them together. And every year when I hang my Snoopy ornaments on the tree I am reminded that he gave me my first one because I used to call him "Snoopy".

Caradorn only knew Fred for a little while, but he liked him. I think they would be good friends now if Fred and I had stayed friends. When I am reminded of him I often wonder if things would be different now if we had never dated. I would gladly give up having dated him if it meant we could have kept our friendship. I would much rather still have him as a friend.

So Fred - if you're out there. . . I hope you and your family are well, and happy. I hope that your life so far has turned out the way you wanted it to.

And I hope you have a good Thanksgiving.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Bermuda Triangle of Socks

I do not understand where all the socks in this house go. The Kidd has a band concert tonight and has to wear black socks, and they are gone. All socks seems to disappear around here. I know it isn't the washer or dryer eating them, because I saw the socks in question just the other day. They were with the other clean clothes, and I remember setting them with The Kidd's other clothes to put away. Now they are gone.

Half of my socks have also vanished. The ones I can find are usually mismatched, which is especially odd because I normally buy the same kind and yet they somehow seem to have been replaced by socks that are different but similar.

Caradorn doesn't seem to be losing his but he has way more than we do so maybe he just doesn't realize that he has fewer than before.

Maybe one of the animals is dragging them away somewhere and someday we'll find a giant nest of socks hidden behind some piece of furniture. Darth does constantly attempt to drag blankets away somewhere, and socks are much easier to carry off, so maybe I need to keep a better eye on him.

Now I have to go buy more black socks before tonight, and I have too many other things to do! I have to find and charge the video camera, clean the guest room since my parents will be visiting, make the kitchen look a little less like it should be condemned . . . plus so many other things that there is no hope that I will finish it all. These socks may be the last straw- I might have some kind of breakdown and spend the rest of my life just staring blankly and muttering about missing socks. Either that or I'll start carrying them with me everywhere so they can't wander off. Or something. I'll figure it out tonight, if I make it through the rest of the day. Wish me luck!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Accentuate the Positive

The XM channel switch happened at a minute before midnight (eastern time). It was sad listening to the channels that were being killed off - they were all playing songs about endings - "Closing Time", "Last Dance", "My Heart Will Go On", "So Hard To Say Goodbye to Yesterday", "Sing Me to Heaven" . . .you get the idea. Except for the few that were angry, and they were sort of funny (in a sad way), especially the one that played "How to kill a Radio Consultant".

I got concerned for a second when the 40s went silent, but then it came back. The first song they played after the switch was "Accentuate the Positive". :) Sirius didn't have a comparable channel, so I am really hoping that they will keep channel 4 the same as it has been. Most of the other merging channels are switching to Sirius DJs and playlists. It's hard to tell, so far, if the 40's on 4 will change much, but I'll be listening often so hopefully I'll get an idea soon of whether it's changed. They are already doing the "XM/Sirius" station identifications instead of just XM. I know lots of DJs and programming people were let go, which I hate. I just hope the music on the channels I like doesn't suffer.

Cinemagic changed from channel 27 to 76. The screen says that 76 is indeed Cinemagic, but apparently it's off the air right now. I hope that's sorted out by morning. I'm anxious to hear if it still sounds like Cinemagic! (ETA- No Cinamagic until January 2! They're using the bandwidth for a Christmas channel. I'll have to wait till then to see how it's changed.)

The first Christmas channel, Holly, has started. I do love Christmas music but I won't listen to it till Thanksgiving. I am glad they brought it back. There will be several other Christmas channels starting soon, and I am looking forward to seeing if they bring back all of the ones that they had last year. There was one that mostly had weird/humorous Christmas songs, and I heard a couple of songs from the Adventurers Club on there last year, so I am especially hoping that one returns.

There are a few new channels available now that I am interested in (like "Radio Margaritaville" and "Siriusly Sinatra"), but overall I much would rather have XM back instead of XM/Sirius. Still, I'll give it a chance. If the channels I love have changed too much then I will just cancel my subscription. I hope it doesn't come to that, though. Even though I love my Ipod I listen to XM most of the time. I always find new songs to download to my Ipod by listening to it, and I would hate to lose that.

They just did a "Savoy Express" identification on the 40s channel, which makes me feel better. . . it's a really good sign - I was afraid they would have stopped calling it that. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I'll have a better feel for whether it's still the same channel I love. I hope it is!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Where I get my daily dose of humor

There are a few sites that I check daily when I get online. I discovered a couple of them fairly recently and I've enjoyed them, so I thought I would share. So here are a few of my daily reads:

Cake Wrecks- http://www.cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ - A site that shows what happens when cakes go horribly wrong. Some of them aren't that bad, but the ones that are more than make up for it!

I Can Has Cheezburger - http://icanhascheezburger.com/ - Lolcats and other funny pictures.

Failblog - http://failblog.org/ - Pictures of epic fails.

Engrish - http://www.engrish.com/ - Unfortunate (and sometimes bizarre) translations.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Star light, star bright. . .

I love looking at the stars, but I am not great at identifying most constellations. There is one that I can almost always find, though. That was a bad thing, years ago, but now I always have to smile when I see "my" constellation.

I am very interested in outer space in general. That's a good thing, living here in Rocket City - there's a big emphasis on space here. Occasionally they will announce something on our news like a meteor shower, or a time the International Space Station will be visible, and so we'll run outside to peer into the sky to try to see whatever it is. I recently discovered a neat site that forecasts space weather, and I find it completely fascinating.

We can see the stars fairly well from our yard. Certainly much better than you can in most larger cities. We were a bit spoiled by living in Tucson, though. There is a fairly major observatory on a mountain overlooking Tucson, and so the entire city kept it's lights dim at night. It was sort of shocking at first - it seems so dark there. We did eventually get used to it, and we loved being able to see the stars so clearly. During the summer they would set up a telescope at the Desert Museum and we enjoyed being able to see the rings of Saturn and other details much more clearly than we ever could when we were growing up in Tennessee. We have a telescope now, though we rarely use it. I would like to start using it more often - I think The Kidd would really enjoy it.

When I was growing up, the only constellations I really knew about were the Big and Little Dippers. When I got to high school I learned more about the different constellations in physics class, and at the end of the unit about outer space we had to do a photography project. I still remember the assignment. To get full credit, we had to work with a partner to take pictures of the following: The circumpolar constellations, the moon rising, and any ten constellations (which we had to identify).

It was freezing the night that my then-boyfriend Fred and I set out to take all of the pictures we needed. We had to wait for a clear night, of course, and in Tennessee the clearest nights are always the coldest. We had an old camera that my dad had picked up while he was in Vietnam - we couldn't use just any camera, because we had to be able to control the shutter speed. We set the camera up on a tripod and tried to use the attachment that allowed us to take pictures without shaking the camera - but it promptly broke. We spent what seemed like forever soldering it back together and then started taking our pictures.

We did the moon first - we had to take multiple exposures in the same frame to show the moon rising over the course of the evening. Next we did the circumpolar constellations. Finally we started taking pictures of every constellation we could see. We were freaking out by this time, because it had gotten really late and we had reserved the darkroom for the next day so we had to finish the project, no matter what. By the end we were frantically taking random pictures of the sky. We were sure that between all of the pictures we had taken we would easily have far more than ten good shots of different constellations that we could identify.

The next day we went to the darkroom to develop our pictures. Neither of us had ever used a darkroom before and I was horribly afraid that we would somehow ruin our film, but it went surprisingly well. We had planned to only develop the pictures we needed for the assignment but we ended up doing them all. When the picture were finally ready we went home to identify them and choose the ones to turn in. The moon picture turned out great, and so did the one of the Circumpolar Constellations circling just above the horizon. We also had several great shots of Fred's dog, Foxxy. Plus one picture of the two of us that I didn't even remember taking and one picture of Fred's dad.

All the rest were constellations. We identified the first one quickly - it was Cassiopeia. The next one was, too. The third one was harder to figure out - until we turned it sideways and realized it was also Cassiopeia. I still remember taking the pictures . . . we took pictures in every direction, of every part of the sky we could see. I still can't understand how it happened, but every single constellation picture was of Cassiopeia. We didn't get one picture of any other constellation except the ones in the shot of the Circumpolar Constellations, and since that picture was of them in motion it was worthless as a specific constellation shot.

Fortunately we weren't the only ones who had that problem, though we were the only people who got Cassiopeia. There was a booming black market trade in pictures at school the next day. Thanks to lots of trades we ended up with all the pictures we needed, and if our instructor ever noticed that everyone seemed to have the same pictures of some of the constellations she never said anything about it.

These days the only constellation that I can always find and identify is Cassiopeia. If she's visible at all, I see her almost as soon as I step outside. It irritated me at first that I couldn't seem to remember all the other constellations. Even the ones I can identify on paper or in pictures I can't always find in the sky, but I know that I can almost always count on seeing Cassiopeia if I look up into the night sky.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

No Matter Who Wins Today

I voted this morning. I expected to have to spend a long time in line, but even though there were long lines at our polling place we did not have to wait long. We were in and out of there in fifteen minutes. Now we just have to wait to hear the results. I'm interested in several of the local races, but of course I am most anxious to see who will be our next President.

This election has been far uglier than I have ever seen before. People have been downright hateful about the candidate that they don't support - and about the people who do support that candidate. There have been cries of racism, sexism, and lots of other "-isms". Some people have been saying that they'll be glad when it's all over tomorrow. I think that's naive. I think there's a good chance that things will get even uglier before they finally get better. The aftermath of the last two elections was prety horrible, and given the hideous lead-up to this one I think it's a safe bet that the aftermath of this one will be even worse. There will be gloating and complaining, and insults will fly. It will be quite a while before people are willing to put all this behind them and unite as one nation again.

I hope that the candidate that I chose to vote for will be our next President, but I realize that he might not be. Regardless of who wins, we will have a new President in January. I may or may not agree with him, I may or may not believe he was a good choice, but I will respect the fact that he holds the highest office in this country. If I don't agree with his politics then I will work harder to see that his opponent is elected in 2012. If he does or says things that I disagree with while he is in office I will feel free to express my opinion about that. I will argue the issues, but I will not insult the person himself. I may not like or respect the person who is elected today, but I have a great repect for the office of President of the United States. I think whoever holds that position deserves to be treated with respect while he is in office. If you hope that he is defeated in the next election, if you disagree vehemently with his politics, even if you want to see him impeached, he still deserves to be treated with the respect that is due the office. Disagree with him all you want, as vocally as you want, but be polite about it.

Tomorrow, if my candidate is not the winner, I will respect the fact that a large part of this country wanted his opponent to be our next President. I will disagree with their choice, but I will still respect it. I may argue the issues with them over then next four years, but I will not insult them personally. I will not insult the man they selected to lead our nation, though I may argue against the choices he makes.

I hope if my candidate is the victor that the supporters of his opponent will show me, and my candidate, the same respect. I hope that they will respect my choice just as I will respect theirs. Regardless of the outcome tonight, I hope that we can unite as one nation in January as our new President is sworn into office.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Not that there’s anything wrong with that

On Friday Caradorn sent me a text that said "Joe Perry came out today." I just sat there looking at the phone trying to make the words make sense. First I thought maybe I was thinking of the wrong Joe Perry, that there was some other Joe Perry somewhere that I ought to have heard of that would have come out.

Finally I decided that he must actually be talking about the Joe Perry. I love Aerosmith - I go see them in concert every chance I get. I turn into a silly fangirl when they first come out on stage, jumping up and down and squealing. It's really sad, but I'm sure they're used to that sort of thing.

Other celebrities I like have come out before, and it doesn't really matter to me. Unless it's someone I'm actually romantically interested in I figure it doesn't matter who else they'd be interested in. So when Neil Patrick Harris and T. R. Knight came out I didn't consider it big news. I wasn't terribly surprised about either of them, though.

Joe Perry, on the other hand, is another story. I kept looking at the text and trying to figure out how I could have had no idea that he was gay. I just didn't believe it at all.

Finally I got the next text from Caradorn, which said " . . . in support of John McCain."

I found that almost as shocking as the first text. Aren't all those rocker types supposed to be all liberal? But at least he's still interested in girls, so the crush I had on him years ago wasn't a completely lost cause.

I'm somewhat relieved. Now I can still threaten to run off with Joe Perry someday if I catch Caradorn eyeing some redhead. :)

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Little Big Planet

You may have noticed that I have not been posting much for the last few days. I've been busy. We got the call Friday night that our copy of Little Big Planet would be at Gamestop on Saturday. So it was early! Well, really it was late, because it didn't come out on Oct. 21 as it was supposed to. (Boo!) But it came out before Oct. 27, which was the new date. (Yay!) So I'm not sure whether I'm still irritated that they delayed it or impressed that they replaced the original disks so quickly. Maybe both. Either way, we have the game now and we love it!

Caradorn, The Kidd and I played for around 8 hours on Saturday and another 8 hours on Sunday. The only reason we didn't play more was that real life kept interfering. (Grumble, grumble.) The controls are easy and intuitive, the levels are challenging but not impossible, the Sackboys are adorable, the soundtrack is catchy . . . so far I have no complaints. None of us have even tried to get online yet, which is just as well because they turned the servers on yesterday and back off today - lots of lags and glitches, apparently, but Story Mode should keep us occupied for quite a while. We also have not tried to design any of our own levels yet, but I'm coming up with lots of ideas and I'll probably start doing that soon.

I've watched videos of other player created levels on youtube and some of them look almost as good as the Media Molecule created levels. This game has the potential to last a loooooooooooooong time with all of the user generated content that will be shared. The story mode is really only a small part of the game, but it's a really good small part so far. LBP definitely gets my vote for Game of the Year at this point. . . it has completely lived up to all the hype and I feel like we've barely scratched the surface so far.

I'm still looking forward to Animal Crossing, which comes out in a little over two weeks. I don't know what I'm going to do when it gets here, though - I don't have enough time for all these games and real life. Maybe I'll just go without sleep for a while to buy myself more gaming hours.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Little Big Delay

One of the biggest reasons that we got our PS3 was so we could play Little Big Planet as soon as it was released. As soon as we heard about it we knew we would buy it. It looks like it's a great game. It is a four player co-op game (or can be, at least - it can also be competitive) and it's hard to find games that we can all cooperate on. Plus, it's such a cute game, which apparently is off-putting to some but I love things that are cute. (I don't love obnoxiously over-the-top cute and sickeningly sweet, but I do love cute.)

It has already won awards, and the reviews so far have been great: "A must own game", "a five out of five", "the reason to buy a PS3". Other than a few small critiques of the controls I haven't really heard any complaints yet. Everyone who was chosen for the beta fell in love with the game.

For months we have been counting down to today. And finally the day is here! But Little Big Planet is not.

I was doing the rounds of all the sites I read on Friday when I saw the headlines announcing that Little Big Planet would be delayed in Europe. A few minutes later the other reports began to trickle in. Little Planet was delayed globally, and it was all because of two lines of lyrics in the backgound music of one of the stages. The Singing Safari stage, to be specific. The lyrics aren't even in English, and I think most people wouldn't even realize that they were actually words. Someone did, though, and more importantly he realized that they were actually two lines from the Qur'an. Apparently this is a very bad thing. The lyrics themselves aren't particularly offensive, though they don't really fit the game all that well.

At the 18th second of the level, the line says "Every soul shall have the taste of death". At second 27, the line is "All that is on earth will perish". Not exactly cheery, but certainly unoffensive. And not exactly a unique concept, either - the same basic idea can be found in many other songs, as well as other books and movies. Though I don't know for sure, I would be shocked if the same concept didn't also appear in most other religious texts.

Muslims are supposedly offended by this because the Qur'an is their holy text and shouldn't be set to music or included as part of a game. I say supposedly because some people are saying that Muslims themselves often set lines of the text to music. So some Muslims are offended, and Sony was afraid that more would be so they recalled all copies of the game - which were already waiting at the stores for the release this week - and they are releasing new copies starting next week.

I have two problems with this.

The first is that a recall was completely unnecessary. Media Molecule, who made the game, had a Day 0 patch ready before the recall was announced. They could have released the patch when the game servers went live and required everyone to download it. Sony found that solution to be unacceptable because not everyone has internet access, though they could easily have sent replacement disks to the 2 people who have PS3s and don't have access to Playstation Network.

The other problem I have with this is more complicated. I am bothered by the fact that Sony was so quick to delay the game to avoid offending Muslims. It's not the fact that they are changing the game that bothers me. Certainly if people are offended by such an inconsequential part of the game then changing it makes sense. I believe that the only reason they want to destroy all of the affected disks is because those that are offended are Muslims. I think that a few extremists have made people afraid to offend Muslims. There are extremists in almost every group, and right now Muslim extremists are getting lots of press. Because of this, it seems to me that a double standard has developed. Companies who don't care if they offend most groups will fall all over themselves to avoid offending Muslims.

Ideally, no one would be ever be offended, but that's really not possible. People can be offended by almost anything, and in fact it seems some people look for reasons to take offense to everything. The problem is that most companies, especially those that make video games, don't seem to care if they offend most groups - as long as Muslims are not offended. I've seen games that are offensive to almost everyone - Christians and Jews, Gay and Straight, Black and White - but not Muslims. I think it should be all or nothing. Once you put one group off limits, then offending everyone else seems wrong to me.

It's sort of like South Park. Everything they do on that show is offensive to someone, but the whole thing is so over the top, and they are such "equal opportunity offenders", that it is funny to me. If they were to put one group off limits then the rest of the show would seem far more offensive.

And again, the background music of this one stage of the game is not a crucial part of the game. I don't mind a bit that they are changing it. I just think they should have used the Day 0 patch rather than issuing a recall.

I still intend to buy Little Big Planet, of course. I'm impressed that there will supposedly only be a one week delay before we can get our copy. I'm frustrated and irritated that there is a delay at all, though. The patch that Media Molecule made would have solved the problem much more quickly and efficiently. And I can't help but feel that they would not have delayed the game if I had been offended because they had included something from my religion. But maybe I'm just being cynical. I hope they would have gone to all this trouble and expense if it had been a Christian or a Jew that was offended because quotes from the Bible or Torah had inadvertently been included.

And I hope that the delay will really only be a week, because I'm anxious to start building my own Adventurers Club themed levels!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Vote for Blondie!

The amazingly talented Blondie is asking his fans for help. He and his wife have created a video that is now in the top ten of the "High Five on the High Seas" contest. The winner gets to cruise with the Barenaked Ladies and Gaelic Storm, among other bands. I will be terribly jealous if they win but I will also be quite happy for them.

If you are so inclined, please check out the video . . . and then cast a vote for them! You can vote daily until Oct. 24, so vote often! He's given all of us Adventurers so many hours of entertainment and laughter, and this is our chance to return the favor. The video can be found at the following link. It is the one entitled "1st Annual Epcot International FIVE and Wine Festival" by Karl O. The voting does require a quick registration, but Karl has assured us that they will not be sending any spam.

Thanks, and Kungaloosh!

http://highfiveonthehighseas. shipsanddip. com

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

I feel like such a fraud

I've said before that I am a bit of a geek, but I have some things to confess. Sadly, they might take my "Geek" title away from me after I admit these things.

I don't like comic books and I won't watch "Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan".

There. I've said it. I feel so much better now!

Before you discount me completely and consider me a total non-geek, let me explain. First, the comic book thing. I had a bit of a scare yesterday when we passed our local comic book shop and I saw a "For Lease" sign out front. It turns out that another store in that strip mall has closed, but The Deep (our comic book store) is still open. It got me to thinking, though, that I very rarely buy or read comic books. There are a few that I collect but not that many. Overall, comic books really irritate me. It's because I read quite fast - too fast, really; I read the last Harry Potter book in under 6 hours and that was with breaks to grab more kleenex (there were some sad parts) and snacks. When I read a comic book I finish it in only a few minutes and then I have to wait a month to find out what happens next. I hate that! I would much rather wait until the graphic novel comes out and read the whole storyline at once. Or at least wait and read all of the comics in that storyline in one sitting. So it's very rare that you'll see me sit down to read a comic book, though I do enjoy the stories. I don't like all the different storylines that go on, though - I do much prefer it when there is one accepted universe for a story rather than the multiple (and often conflicting) storylines in the comic universes.

[Here is where I should admit another shameful secret - I don't like to start to read a long ongoing series of books until it's finished. (The exception being the Harry Potter books.) That started when Stephen King was hit by a car before finishing the "Dark Tower" series. What if he had died?! We would never know how it was supposed to end! As a result I refused to read "The Wheel of Time" series even though Caradorn wants me to. Finally I was about ready to go on and start them anyway but I held off a little longer. And you know what happened? Robert Jordan died, that's what happened! I stilll haven't read the series and I might not. Supposedly he left instructions and someone else is going to finish the story. If they ever do, then I'll read the books.]

I do love Star Trek. I willl admit to not being a real Trekkie - I can't name all of the episodes and the dates they aired, and "DS9" is my favorite of the Trek shows. (Followed by Next Gen, then Voyager, then the original, then Enterprise.) I like the TV shows more than the movies, but I do enjoy most of the movies. I'm really excited about "Star Trek: Nemesis". I do admit to finding the whole Save the Whales (Collect the whole set!) thing cheesy, but I'll still watch the movie. I refuse to watch "Wrath of Khan" ever. You can't make me watch it. I hate it. I do have a good reason, though. When I was younger my dad used to take me to see the Star Trek and Star Wars movies in the theaters and so when "Wrath of Khan" came out we went to see it. The scene with the earwigs absolutely terrified me, and it didn't help that my ear was hurting a little bit. By the time I went to bed that night after watching the movie my ear was really hurting and I had nightmares all night that there was an earwig burrowing into my ear. When I woke up the next morning I was even more terrified because my ear hurt really badly and my pillow had a big wet spot on it. I was convinced that there really was an earwig eating my brain. My mom took me to the doctor and it turned out that I had an ear infection and my eardrum had ruptured. Talk about bad timing! I still feel sick even thinking about the movie and I just can't bring myself to watch it. The few times I've stumbled across it on television I almost ran out of the room and my ears started hurting. I'm sure it's a great movie but I don't think there's any way I will ever watch it again.

In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I should add that I like "Star Wars" better than "Star Trek", though I didn't love the newer trilogy. And I do think the Ewoks are cute (I'm sorry! They're just so fuzzy and adorable!) but I hate Jar Jar Binks, so that should help a little bit.

I hope you don't think too badly of me because of these shortcomings. I promise I usually embrace all other things geeky. Hopefully they won't kick me out of geekdom just because I finally admitted my failings to the world!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Underneath the moon in Florida

We're still here at the beach and are heading out for a walk in a few minutes but since they just fixed the router here in our condo I thought I'd post a quick update.

Did you know there's such a thing as a Mole Crab? I've seen their shells often but today we finally saw a live one. It looks like a cross between a horseshoe crab and a lobster, and it's a tannish white color. Apparently some of them are bioluminescent, but it was light when we saw the one earlier so I don't know if the ones here are or not. Maybe we'll dig one up while we are walking and find out.

Also, did you know that there are octopi that live along the Gulf coast? I didn't, but one of the wives from the work group caught one today. I was about to start marching up and down the beach with a "Free the cephalopod" sign, because I was afraid they were going to hurt it, but it escaped.

A fish adopted us today and followed us around for a while. It stayed right by my shoulder for a long time, and I felt bad when we went back up on the shore. Hopefully he found someone else to keep him company.

I had forgotten how much more active the dolphins are on this part of the beach. On our vacations we stay further down the beach and only see the dolphins in the early morning and the early evening. On the island where we stay for work trips (which is where we are now) we see them all day. I sit on my bed and drink tea every morning and look out the glass doors and watch the dolphins jumping. I wish I could do that every day but we don't have too many dolphins in Rocket City, which is a shame. I've gotten a few pictures of them but no good ones yet - maybe tomorrow.

No Gypsy Moth sightings yet, though we have seen some F-15s. I've been hoping to see some Warthogs but we rarely see those here. We do sometimes see the Blue Angels, but none yet this time. We have seen lots of other interesting planes, though.

I saw some shooting stars the first night, so of course I had to make some wishes. They haven't come true yet but of course they will (isn't that a requirement of wishes made on shooting stars?) so I'll just have to be patient. I think I even saw one breaking up fairly close to us (a meteor, not a wish), though I'm not sure - all the others I've seen have been a brilliant greenish yellow, and the thing I saw the other night was a silvery blue. It was pretty, whatever it was. Hopefully we'll see more tonight.

Time to go walk. I wish I could go swim - the water is beautiful with the moon reflecting on it. The waves look like liquid silver. I don't swim in the gulf after dark anymore, though. I haven't since the unfortunate Jellyfish Across the Eyelids Incident. I only swim in the gulf when it's light enough to see the jellyfish. I don't ever want to dive into one again! Fortunately, unless it's storming, the water here is clear enough to see everything.

I'll let you know if we see any bioluminescent mole crabs!

Monday, October 06, 2008

It's still Florida - just a different part

I was supposed to be at Disney World right now. We had initially planned to go there not once but twice this month. Once for a family vacation during fall break and once for an Adults only trip at the end of the month for the Tower of Terror 13K.

Obviously we are not there after all. Once they announced the closure of the Adventurers Club we decided not to renew our premium annual passes. We also decided not to go back again until The Kidd's band trip in the spring. Even though I don't have any desire to stay in a Disney owned hotel again any time soon, and even though I don't want to set foot into the shops and restaurants at Downtown Disney again, I do still like the parks and I sort of wish we were planning another trip. This is the first time that I can remember when I haven't already known when my next family trip to WDW would be. And even though we will probably still plan frequent trips to do non-Disney things in Orlando, I miss the idea of always dashing off to WDW. Most of the changes there lately have not been improvements, so it wouldn't be the same even if we were still going there as often. It's just sad to me to see this family tradition ending, but I guess that means we'll just have to start some new traditions to replace that one.

This weekend there's a Black Ship Sky concert in Orlando that I really want to go to. Of course we wouldn't have done that anyway on a family trip since even though I'm sure The Kidd would like to go he's not old enough for that yet. (And I'd prefer to think for a while longer that he wouldn't understand all of their lyrics!) Still, it's times like this that I wish we lived closer to Orlando even without the Adventurers Club. I'd love to be there to cheer on Black Ship Sky in the Battle of the Bands.

We will be in Florida for part of the week, just not the Orlando part. It turns out that Caradorn has to go to the beach for work. (Really, I'm not kidding. He actually does.) I wouldn't want him to be lonely so The Kidd and I are going to sacrifice our time to go keep him company. And of course we'll have to come up with something to do with our time while he's in meetings, so I guess we might have to swim or hang out on the beach while we wait for him to finish with work.

Oddly, we might still see another Adventurer there - last time we were at the beach, Andre, one of the former bartenders from the Club, was working at a place across the street from one of our favorite Irish pubs. We'll have to keep an eye out for him.

Time to get to work finishing trip preparations, I guess. I'm still hoping to finish Lego Batman later today but I have quite a bit to do before I can play. And then later this week I'll be relaxing on the beach in Florida. We do see lots of interesting planes flying over the beach we go to - and Hathaway Browne won't be spending all his time at the Adventurers Club anymore, so maybe I'll spot the Gypsy Moth flying over the beach!

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Even better than Pizza Day

Today we are having a Pajama Day. We don't actually spend the entire day in our Pajamas - but we could, if we wanted to. On Pajama Day we stay home all day. We don't go anywhere at all, and no one comes over. We don't answer the door at all. We don't do any work around the house or yard, we don't run errands - we don't do anything at all except the things we really want to do. That means a whole day of lounging around, playing video games (and board games and cards) or watching movies. And surfing online, obviously.

We don't do this very often, but it's one of my favorite ways to spend a day. We don't even cook on days like this. We went to Fresh Market last night to stock up on some our favorite things, and we have leftover Thai food, so we don't even have to worry about figuring out what to eat.

Tomorrow it's back to life as usual and we will have to be productive again, but today I'm going to enjoy an entire day of doing nothing but whatever sounds most appealing.

Friday, October 03, 2008

They haven’t carried me away yet

I was reminded today that I haven't posted an update lately about our bizarre Africanized Butterfly infestation. They haven't gone away - if anything, there are more now than there were. I think Becky summed it up best when she got here the other day. I opened the front door to find her staring around the porch. She stood there and then said "Well, it's like 'Silence of the Lambs' out here!" And it really is kind of creepy out there at night, with all of those cocoons hanging everywhere.

During the day it's very pleasant, with all the butterflies fluttering all over the place. We seem to have reached an understanding with them. I've been rescuing them when they are about to get eaten or stepped on, and they seem to have decided not to attack us. Today when I was walking out to my car one of them fluttered over in front of my face and when I held out my hand it landed on my fingertips. I'm going to assume that means we have a truce.

But he’s married!

I really, really have a problem with people who are interested in married people. As far as I am concerned, if someone is married they are Off Limits. Completely. Think you have feelings for them? Get over it. They are married. They are not available. Forget it and move on.

When Caradorn and I were newly married he was active in several different sports and I often went to the games to watch him play. At one volleyball game there was a pack of girls sitting next to me who kept talking about one of the players. They were giggling over him and talking about how cute he was. Eventually I realized that it was Caradorn they were discussing. I found it funny, at first. They weren't being at all subtle about it, but Caradorn (being his usual self) was totally oblivious about all of it. At some point during all the giggling one of the girls realized that he was wearing a wedding ring and I would have thought that would have been the end of it, but no. (Bonus points if you just heard that in a Snoopy/Fletcher accent. I did!)

They kept right on, and each time he would glance in our direction they'd giggle more and squeal "Oh, he looked at you!" or "Look! He's checking you out!" at each other. It was rapidly becoming less amusing, because now they knew he was married and they still were trying to catch his eye. It wasn't until the end of the game, when he came over and starting talking to me, that they realized I was his wife. Only one of them looked at all embarrassed; the others just glared at me. Caradorn never noticed any of it and was shocked (and didn't entirely believe me) when I told him about it.

On our last few visits to the Adventurers Club I noticed something similar going on. There was a gaggle of girls there, and one of them (who we dubbed "Stalker Girl") seemed to have a crush on one of the actors. They were really giggly about it and being very silly, and at first it wasn't that weird, but as the evening continued it got odd. It started to seem like more than just a casual crush. Stalker Girl kept staring at him and the group was making all kinds of comments about their interactions. Of course there was the chorus of "He's looking at you!" and "He's totally in love with you!" but then there were also comments about the fact that he was being a jerk because he didn't speak to her at one point. At another point they were calling him mentally ill because he wasn't as nice to her as he sometimes was.

Now if you were to overhear some of my comments at the Club you might wonder about me, I suppose, because as I've mentioned I often joke about Hathaway Browne. Caradorn and I would often talk about our plans for the next day while we were at the Club, and I would often agree to whatever plans we had come up with and then add " . . . unless Hathaway asks me to run away with him before that." Or I'd joke that he'd be on his own if Fletcher needed any help with his artifact. Of course we both knew I was just joking, but I guess it's possible that someone who didn't know us might have thought I was serious. I really doubt it, though - I think it was obvious that we were kidding. So it's possible that I misunderstood these girls and it was all just innocent fun, but I really don't think so.

It was weird and would have made me somewhat uncomfortable anyway, but it was much worse since I know the actor is married. There is a possiblity that the girls don't know he is married, but I suspect that they do. From what Stalker Girl was saying it sounds like she has really researched him. She seemed to know quite a bit about his personal life and if I knew he was married then I would imagine someone who was setting out to learn as much as they could about him would certainly know it too.

Even if he wasn't married it would have struck me as strange that they were talking about him the way they were. I think Stalker Girl actually thinks he's interested in her. The problem is that he flirts with lots of people at the Club. It's obviously nothing personal - it's just how his character behaves. Stalker Girl seemed to be taking it awfully seriously and really seemed angry when he wasn't paying as much attention to her as she thought he should. I got the impression she was really desperate for attention - she seemed to read far too much into it when his character interacted with her. I know big groups of girls do thrive on drama, so maybe it was all just silliness and they'll get over it now that the Club is closed. Maybe the old "out of sight,out of mind" thing will hold true and Stalker Girl will move on to a new obsession.

And maybe I was just overly conscious of it because I know the cast does have problems with stalkers sometimes. Maybe it's just a silly crush and she has no idea that he's married. Or maybe she really is madly in love with him and doesn't know he is married, and she would leave him alone if she knew. However, I really think she does know he's married and just doesn't care.

To be fair, I guess it's possible that he really is interested in her. I would be completely shocked if that turned out to be the case, though. I don't really know him but I know enough about him to believe that he is a good person. I really like him and I would be crushed to find out he was the kind of jerk who would cheat on his wife - but he doesn't seem remotely like that kind of person. I don't think he would be interested in anyone other than his wife. I think he's like Caradorn, and is just oblivious to the fact that he's the object of Stalker Girl's affections.

Hopefully now that the Club is closed Stalker Girl will find someone else to fixate on. If not, I hope she at least leaves the actor alone. I would hate to think that he'd be stuck dealing with Stalker Girl just because he's such a good actor that she believed it was real when his character was nice to her.

Plus, if he's running away with anyone it's totally going to be me. As long as he's willing to stay in character as Hathaway Browne, that is!

Thursday, October 02, 2008

It breaks my heart

I knew I shouldn't watch it, but of course I did anyway.

I've loved the Adventurers Club so much for the last few years, and gotten so much happiness from it, that I guess in a way I felt that I owed it to the Club to mourn it properly. So I watched.

It creeps up on me sometimes - I'll see something or hear something that reminds me of the Club or one of the cast members and then I remember yet again that there's no "next time" any longer. I can't look forward to seeing Snoopy as Hathaway or Blondie as Otis again. But overall my life is fairly happy and I have lots of ways to keep occupied and to keep myself from dwelling on the loss of the Club.

Still, I've been checking youtube to see when the videos of The End would start to show up. I saw Otis celebrate his Balderdash victory and it didn't bother me, though I do have mixed feelings about Emil not winning that last competition. The one video I was most anxious to see was Snoopy singing his last Hoopla song, but of course it was also the one I thought would upset me the most. I knew he had sung "When You Go" by Jonathan Coulton. The song makes me sad even when Jonathan sings it . . . he's usually so funny and it's such a serious song that the impact is even stronger than it would be coming from some other singer. Once I heard that Snoopy had sung it as Emil I found it even sadder, and I sat there on Saturday night (or rather early Sunday morning) listening to it and getting all teary because the Club had closed.

The video of Snoopy singing "When You Go" showed up on youtube today. I knew it would make me sad to watch it, but I still had to. I didn't get teary over it.

I flat out cried instead.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN3XDPCh1II

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Quick! Run to the store!

It's Tuesday, and we all know what that means. New DVDs! For someone who doesn't like shopping, I do seem to buy lots of things. Movies, music, books, games, watches, pajamas and action figures are the things I buy most often. (Yes, action figures. I've already admitted to being a geek and being very juvenile - what do you expect?!) I have very little self control when it comes to all of those.

Today I have to head over to Target because Iron Man is out. Target has a neat case for it that looks like the Iron Man mask, so of course we have to get that! I'm going to get the Blu-ray version because it's just such a pretty movie. ;) If you haven't seen Iron Man yet, go buy it! You'll love it. If you have? Go buy it! You know you want to watch it again!

In other news:

-We had fun at Big Spring Jam. .38 Special was my favorite act - they were really good. Sister Hazel did a cover of "Your Love" and it was uncanny how much it sounded like the original. I had to hop online as soon as we got home to be sure that none of them had been members of The Outfield, but they weren't. I'm sure we'll go back next year, unless "Con-Galoosh" actually happens that weekend. That's the Adventurers Club Con that some people are trying to plan. If that works out we may have to do that instead.

-Maybe by next year we'll be celebrating the new Adventurers Club. I'm not giving up hope yet. As sorry as I was to miss the End of the Club (for now) I think I'm glad we didn't go. I couldn't have listened to Snoopy singing Jonathan Coultons "When You Go" without crying. (I couldn't listen to Jonathan singing it without crying once I heard that Snoopy had sung it!) I have mixed feelings about the fact that Otis won the final Cup. On one hand, I would have voted for Emil just because that's what the cast wanted. On the other hand, I see why everyone wanted Otis to win. I don't think it would have happened if anyone else had been Otis, but everyone loves Blondie so much and his Otis is a crowd favorite.

-I'm not happy that so many people are using the Adventurers real names now. It's one thing when they use the names in public themselves, like a couple of them here on Myspace, but some are very private and I can't imagine they want everyone posting their names everywhere. Maybe I would feel differently if I hadn't already known the names of my favorites, because it does certainly make it easier to follow their work when you know their names. Still, I intend to keep using nicknames until/unless they make it clear that they would prefer to be referred to by name.

-I was relieved to hear that most of my very favorite Adventurers are staying with Disney. Though I don't intend to set foot in Downtown Disney again (with the possible exception of DisneyQuest as long as it's there), I do still love the parks and I'm sure we'll keep going to them while we're in Orlando. It will be nice to see Blondie, Lancelot, Blade, Cheeks and Snoopy there. And maybe Disney is trying to be sure they still have the cast on hand for when they bring back the Club! (I know, I know, but if I'm in denial just let me stay there.) Plus, I was really afraid they'd leave Orlando entirely and I would hate that. Now that I know what great actors they are I want to see them perform more!

-Tonight on XPlay they're giving away beta keys for Little Big Planet so I'm hoping to get one. I'm looking forward to that game.

-Rock Band 2 seems much easier than Rock Band did. This past weekend Moustache Hat unlocked quite a bit and 5 starred most songs. We even played on "expert" some and didn't fail! I still don't see how real drummers do it - my arms felt like noodles after we played.

-New Weird Al song! He just posted a blog that he'll have a new song on itunes next week. Yay! I love Weird Al.

-It finally feels like fall. The high here on Thursday is supposed to be in the 60s. I love fall weather. I also love fall foods, and now I have the mad urge to start cooking soups and stews and pumpkin flavored everything. I've already started decorating for Halloween, even though it's much too early for that. I did notice that a few stores are already putting Christmas stuff out, which seems crazy. Can't we just enjoy fall for a while first?!

Time to head out to get Iron Man!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Sometimes we do cry because it's ending

On our last few visits to the Adventurers Club, during the Radiothon, Yvette said "We don't cry because it's ending, we smile because it happened." For the most part we have done that, but today it is difficult. Tonight is the last night that our fellow Adventurers will experience the magic that is the Adventurers Club.

Today I find myself thinking of the Pixar movie "Wall-E". I know that Disney now owns Pixar, but I never think of Pixar movies as being Disney movies and the situation with the Adventurers Club very clearly shows the disconnect between the two companies. On the very day that Pixar's breathtaking masterpiece was released, the Disney company announced the pending closure of the most unique and magical experience offered anywhere. At the same time they were promoting a movie that spells out the dangers of living a life based on mass consumerism and gluttony, they were planning the closure of a unique entertainment option in favor of . . . shops and restaurants. Disney, who was once the paragon of entertainment, is choosing to eliminate interactive experiences in favor of shopping and dining, calling this a "bold new vision". Typically Disney movies hold a lesson for those who watch them. The lesson of Wall-E has been hotly debated - does it encourage us to protect the environment or to forego mass consumerism in favor of experiences? Does it tell us to live life rather than simply observing it? Does it warn of the dangers of choosing the easy way rather than making an effort? In the end, perhaps the lesson Disney wants us to take from "Wall-E" is simple: Do as we say, not as we do.

Tonight, when the doors close following the final Hoopla, the world will become a much less magical place. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to experience the Adventurers Club over the years are well aware of what we are losing. After tonight, the Colonel will no longer lead us in the Club's all purpose salute. Graves the Butler will not induct new members. Hathaway Browne will not charm the ladies. The French Maid and Beezle will not entertain us in the Treasure Room, and Claude and Arnie will not reign over the Mask Room. Otis T. Wren will not spin his tales to lure Hathaway away from the Balderdash Cup. Emil Bleehall will not make the trek from Ohio. The Yakoose will not startle new visitors. Babylonia will not gain new worshippers. Fletcher Hodges will not show us his artifact. Samantha Sterling won't hear Adventure calling her name. And Pamelia Perkins will not tell us "We don't cry because it's ending, we smile because it happened."

We do smile because it happened, and we will for years to come. We will always remember this magical place, and the people we met there, with a smile. We will laugh at the memory of Emil and his pigeons or of the "nude member induction". We smile because we remember the excitement and unpredictability of that wonderful place. We will treasure each moment we spent there.

Today, though, we will cry because it's ending. We cry because something unmatched is vanishing and most people will never realize it. We cry because we are powerless to stop this, though we know what a mistake it is. We cry and we rage because Disney is taking away our favorite place, someplace with no subsitute, and giving us shops and restaurants to replace it. We are angry because Disney is taking the easy path, eliminating unique entertainment in favor of just another mall. We see clearly what a poor choice this is, but there is nothing we can do to prevent it.

Today we mark the passing of something truly magical. Those of us lucky enough to have Adventured there will always feel fortunate to have experienced it. We will smile when we remember the time we spent there. We will always have fond memories of our fellow Adventurers and the Adventures we shared.

For the rest of our lives, we will smile because of the Adventurers Club.

But today, we will cry.

Friday, September 26, 2008

At least he isn’t a Saint Bernard

When we got our dog, Stitch, he was mostly intended to be The Kidd's dog. Somehow that didn't really work out right - I think he's decided he is mostly my dog. He follows me around when I'm home, lies on my feet half the time if I'm sitting still, and sleeps on the floor by my side of the bed for most of the night.

I didn't intend to care about him as much as I do. I had lost my 14 year old Aussie mix, Marc, the year before we got Stitch and then lost my 10 year old cat Newton to kidney failure a year after Stitch joined the family. I wanted another family pet, but did not want to bond that much with another animal for a while. It just about killed me to lose Marc and Newton (who slept on my pillow every night - I still wake up sometimes expecting him to be there) and I didn't want to risk going through that again.

We chose Stitch because Aussies are highly intelligent and very active. We thought he'd be a perfect addition to the family since our Sheltie, Kelly, is very dainty and not very playful. We thought The Kidd would enjoy having a more rough-and-tumble type pet. The Kidd does love Stitch, and Stitch does love The Kidd, but they aren't as inseparable as I expected them to be. When Stitch was still a puppy he seemed to like all of us humans equally. I think Kelly was the family member he loved the most.

Now that he's grown, Stitch seems to like me the most. Which has proved to be a problem for the whole "keeping my distance" thing I had planned to do. I don't think anyone could look at that fuzzy face and puppy dog eyes and not fall in love.

Lately I've discovered a problem. If I am talking, and start to sound upset, it apparently worries Stitch. I've been talking about the Adventurers Club (and how angry I am at Disney) often recently and Stitch doesn't like it one bit. I guess he thinks it's his job to cheer me up, because the second I start to sound upset he immediately climbs on to my lap and tries to lick my face. He weighs 50 pounds! It does usually make me laugh, though, so I guess it works. I've started trying to sound cheerful when I talk about things that make me sad just so I don't end up getting trampled. I think I just end up sounding crazed, though, and Stitch keeps looking at me suspiciously so I think he's starting to figure it out.

I guess I should just be glad that we didn't choose the other breed that I had strongly considered . . . an Irish Wolfhound.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Wow that really doesn’t mean the same thing at all

I keep being shocked when I watch one of our local newscasts because they are promoting an upcoming event, and every time they mention it what I hear is ". . . and be sure to bring the kids to our 'Touch a Drunk Day' . . ."

You'd think I would remember by now that it's actually "Touch a Truck Day". They are going to have lots of different kinds of trucks that kids can climb on and in. I'm sure the kids will enjoy it more than they would enjoy "Touch a Drunk Day". Though with Big Spring Jam coming up this weekend I'm sure there will be ample opportunity for those who want to touch a drunk to do so.

At least it amuses me every time I hear it. I'm a little down today and anything funny is a welcome change. Last night was Snoopy's last night as Hathaway Browne at the Adventurers Club. He was Fletcher for the last time a couple of days ago, and Lancelot is done being Graves. Every day seems to be someone's last night either as a specific character or at the Club as a whole. It's so sad to see it ending!

I think to get my mind off of it I'll go shopping later. Those of you who know me from the message board where I posted my furious rant at Disney about the "We want more shopping" thing know that I don't usually love shopping. However, there are several things I've really been wanting lately and I think today is an excellent day to get them. So hopefully later I'll return victoriously bearing shopping bags containing new fleece to make myself a cozy Snoopy blanket, the "Watchmen" graphic novel, and "Lego Batman" for the 360. (Update - I did get my fleece, book and game! I was good and didn't get the Heroes or Dark Tower graphic novels that I found. Yet, anyway.)

And then this weekend I'll be playing Rock Band 2 with Moustache Hat. Plus going to "Touch a Drunk Day" (otherwise known as the Jam). So despite my sadness over the Club, I do expect to have a good weekend anyway. Maybe we'll even go to European Market and stock up on Kinder candy. It's impossible to be sad with a bag of Kinder candy, a good book, a comfy blanket, good company, and new video games!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Weird Encounters

We had a few weird encounters at the Club over the weekend, including one that is probably the strangest encounter I've had in a long time. I was sitting in the Main Salon, which wasn't horribly crowded yet, and a guy walked past me. As he wandered by (looking a bit unsteady) he leaned toward me and said "I'm more of a butt man, myself."

?

I'm not sure what prompted him to tell me that. Maybe he was trying to assure me that he wasn't looking down my shirt . . . not that I was too worried about that. I didn't respond except to laugh, and he just kept walking.

Later that evening the Club was much more crowded and people were crammed together in the Main Salon like sardines. We were close to an older couple who were there with their daughter and son-in-law. The man started to tell us a long, involved story about a funeral they had to go to and the daughter and her husband groaned and covered their faces. The story turned out to be a series of really bad jokes. The daughter kept apologizing for her dad and said that if we kept listening he'd never stop talking. During all this the mom didn't seem to be paying much attention to what he was saying. She made a few comments about everyone having to stand so close together and getting to know each other very well. Then Snoopy/Hathaway walked by looking quite dashing with his vampire cape on, and the mom (who appeared to be in her mid 60s) said very loudly "There's the cutie! I wouldn't mind being stuck this close to him for a while!" And while staring at him she started muttering things like "Hey, cutie, come on over here!" Her daughter looked absolutely horrified. She said "Mom!" in this really appalled tone of voice and the Mom said "Well have you seen him?!" She looked at me as though waiting for someone to agree with her and so I smiled and nodded. She looked quite happy about that. Then the daughter turned to her husband and said "See? This is why we shouldn't let them drink!"

Caradorn and I were the weird encounter for someone else on Sunday. We had stopped at a gas station when Caradorn spotted a pair of Love Bugs. Love Bugs are these annoying bugs that swarm all over Florida during some parts of the year. For the first time in forever we didn't see any at Disney World and we had really hoped to - The Kidd has to have a collection of 75 different bugs by Christmas and Love Bugs aren't ever found in Rocket City. So when we saw the Love Bugs at the gas station we really wanted to catch them. We were running around the car with a ziplock trying to grab the things. After we finally caught them, Caradorn went in to the station while I sealed up the bag and found someplace to store the bugs for the ride home. Whe he walked in to the station the clerk started laughing and said "You catch the Love Bugs?" Apparently he found us very amusing. Caradorn did explain why we wanted the bugs, but the guy still found it very funny.

Maybe he's blogging about us today! :)

Monday, September 22, 2008

We’ll miss you and we love you, and from all of us - Kungaloosh!

I was so sad when we came back from our last trip to the Adventurers Club a couple of weeks ago. Not that I expected to be happy about the impending closure, but it just felt wrong that we wouldn't be able to go back there again. I started joking on the way home from that trip that there was still time for us to go back one last time, but I didn't really think that it was a possibility. Imagine my surprise when Caradorn told me to pack my bags because we were going back for one more Adventure! I was thrilled!

Initially he had planned for us to drive down on Saturday and then back home on Sunday, but he ended up working things so we were able to go on Friday instead. The drive usually takes us around 11 hours, with a couple of stops. We made it in 9.5 hours on Friday. (Yes, we were very anxious to to get there!)

We had a great time at the Club. Friday night Blondie was Emil, Lancelot was Hathaway, and Snoopy was Graves. Saturday night Blondie was Graves, Lancelot was Otis and Snoopy was Hathaway. Our other favorite cast members - Yvette, Chipmonk Cheeks, Blade, and more - were there as well. The Club was open from 6:00-2:00 both nights and they were doing extra library shows as well as an extended Hoopla. There were two "Graveseses" and two French maids each night and Emil Bleehall's father was even visiting. We got to celebrate Halloween and Christmas and everyone sang at the Hoopla, which was a nice change.

I was so happy and excited to be back at the Club again that I didn't dwell on it being The End as much this time as last. There were only two moments that got me at all teary this time. The first was during the Christmas show, when Blondie (as Emil) sang "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". That song always gets to me, but seeing Blondie sing it while looking so serious really bothered me. The second moment was on Saturday night. To understand why this one got to me you need to remember that I first fell in love with the Club the night we first saw Snoopy as Hathaway. After the last trip, one reason I didn't feel like it ought to be the end was that I felt like our visits ought to end the way they really began - with Snoopy as Hathaway. On Saturday evening we had seen almost everyone except Snoopy, and the only two characters still unaccounted for were the second Graves and Hathaway Browne. When Hathaway walked in I had to leave the room for a minute - I had so hoped that it would be Snoopy, but it really made it feel like The End that it was him.

There were so many great moments over the course of the two nights. We got to see several songs in person for the first time and some of our favorites one last time. Blondie kept up his streak of making us laugh until we cried every single time we saw him at the Club. When we saw he was Graves on our last night we thought he wouldn't be as funny as usual, but we were wrong - he sang some Queen songs before the Radiothon in what proved to be one of the funniest (and most bizarrely random) moments we ever saw at the Club. I got to see my favorite Beezle during the the Maid's Treasure Room show - I loved hearing that accent again! We also got to see lots of familiar faces in the crowd. . . people I "know" from some of the online groups, people we have seen often during our visits over the last few years, and family and friends of the Adventurers Club cast. Even though I don't actually know many of them, I'll miss seeing all those faces at the Club.

Saturday night during the Hoopla, Hathaway changed his verse during "Oh When the Saints" and said goodbye and "Kungaloosh" to the all Adventurers who were there for the last time. As much as I hate that the Club is closing, this seemed a fitting way for our time at the Club to end. I still believe that Disney will bring back the concept again someday, though it may be greatly changed. I hope that they do it sooner rather than later, and I hope that they bring back the amazingly talented cast that makes the Club the magical place that it is. Whatever happens in the future, though, the Adventurers Club that we have loved so much for the last few years will be gone. I am glad that we got another chance to Adventure there - and this weekend was the perfect way to say goodbye

Blondie and Snoopy always make me laugh - even when they aren’t really there.

Caradorn and I ended up getting back to our hotel room around 2:30 or so yesterday morning after our last night at the Club. It was after 4:00 when I finally fell asleep. At 7:30, Caradorn woke up and found me shaking violently. He thought at first that I was crying and asked me if I was okay but I didn't answer. He was starting to get a bit freaked out. He finally asked me if I was even awake, and even though I still didn't answer him it did finally become obvious that I wasn't crying - I was laughing.

I wasn't awake when he first started talking to me. I have, a couple of times over the years, woken up crying after a particularly sad dream. I've also had entire conversations while still asleep. At least once I woke up screaming after a nightmare. I have never woken up laughing before this, though.

I woke up yesterday morning laughing so hard I couldn't breathe, with tears running down my face. When Caradorn asked if I was awake I couldn't even answer because I was just laughing too hard. He kept asking what was going on and I finally tried to tell him, but it was difficult (what with the not breathing and the hysterical laughter). I managed to gasp out a few words in between shreiks of laughter, which apparently didn't make any sense. Five minutes later I had calmed down enough to try to explain what was so funny.

Just before all this started I had been having a dream about the Adventurers Club, obviously inspired by something I saw there a few hours earlier. Friday and Saturday nights Mailman/Fletcher did something I had not seen at the Club before. It was basically a human version of Marvin Suggs and his Muppaphone.

(For those of you who somehow don't know about Marvin and the Muppaphone - it was a recurring skit on the Muppet Show. Marvin played an instrument like a xylophone which was made up of fuzzy little creatures. He hit them with a mallet so they would make noise. I find this hilarious! I have an action figure of Marvin and his Muppaphone which I love. Yes, I am very juvenile - thanks for noticing.)

So anyway - Fletcher did this skit with people instead of the fuzzy creatures. They sang "Witch Doctor", which Marvin also did on the Muppet Show. Apparently the skit made quite an impression on me because I dreamed about it. In my dream, though, it was slightly different. In the dream, the people involved were standing in two rows. When one was bashed on the head they were all supposed to move over one space - the front row to their left, the back row to their right. The people on the end of the row then went to the other row. The lines were made up of Blondie and some other guests at the Club. Snoopy (as Hathaway) was standing close to the stage watching. When Fletcher hit the participants, instead of doing what they were supposed to do, everyone switched spots randomly. Some people moved two spaces in one direction or the other, some ran in circles around the lines before finding a new spot, some took a step forward or backward - it was chaos. The only person in the lines who didn't move was Blondie, who just stood there with one eyebrow arched. Somehow it was obvious that it was all his fault. Fletcher didn't really react except to keep flailing his mallets.

Snoopy/Hathaway just stood there watching for a second and then said in an exasperated tone of voice "I don't even know what the hell just happened there." And then I woke up, laughing hysterically.

I don't know exactly why I found the dream so funny. Something about the look on Blondie and Snoopy's faces was just hilarious. For the rest of the day, every time I thought of the dream, I started laughing again. I am still chuckling over it today.

I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked yesterday, but it was totally worth it. I wish I could wake up laughing about Blondie and Snoopy every morning!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Keep Marching Along!

If you want to see the Adventurers Club survive in some form, now is the time to make your voice heard! If you haven't signed the petitions, written letters or emails to Disney or sent a map to Iger, please do! Rumor has it that decisions are being made now that will affect the future of the Club. Though there is no longer any doubt that the Adventurers Club will close as of September 28, there still remains the possibility that it may reappear in the future.

The fact that it closing is no reason to give up; there is still a real chance that we may have further opportunities to go Adventuring again. . . but only if we let Disney know how we feel. Please visit http://www.savetheclub.blogspot.com to find out how you can help. Every voice counts!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Life is short, eat dessert first!

My family can sometimes be a bit unusual. We camped out in front of Target to get a Wii, we dash off to Disney World every chance we get, if the ice cream truck comes by before dinner then we get ice cream for dinner and "real" food for dessert. Now we're spending our time making websites, buttons, business cards and writing letters to try to save the Club we love even though our chance of success is small.

We plan for the future and don't just live for today, but we certainly aren't living only for the future. It strikes some people as weird, and I can't count the number of times that people express shock that we always go to midnight book or movie releases, go to every concert we can manage and spend half our free time playing video games. They ask why we do all that - I think they feel we should just grow up already - and I tell them it's just what we enjoy. Truthfully, though, there is a better reason than that.

When I was still in college I came home after giving a bunch of calves their vaccinations and I noticed that my arm felt a little odd. It was slightly red as I stepped into the shower but I wasn't concerned; I figured something at the farm had irritated my skin and it would be fine once I washed it off. I was a little more alarmed by the time I stepped out of the shower - my arm looked like I was wearing a bright red opera glove. Plus, now my fingers were going numb. The rest of the evening passed in a blur. . . I remember going to two doctors offices and our scary local hospital before the frantic drive to a better hospital in Nashville. We made that trip in record time.

As it turns out, I had a blood clot in my arm. Apparently that was just unheard of in someone my age, especially since I wasn't in any of the risk groups.

I was 19 at this point and the doctors involved in my case should have talked to me, but they wouldn't. I looked about 12 at the time, and my parents were there, so everyone sort of ignored me and I didn't really know what was going on. I spent a week in a Nashville hospital. The youngest person on my floor other than me was in his 70s and my doctor was planning to write a paper about me. I was scared and annoyed that no one would tell me what was going on, but I heard enough to get the general idea. They mentioned amputation, they mentioned I might have a stroke, they said I might die. They did tons of tests. My best friend drove 3 hours to visit me every day and kept me sane, but I lay awake every night wondering if I would die or lose my arm. (My boyfriend at the time also visited me once. He was planning to be a missionary and decided that my health crisis was a sign from God - he couldn't marry someone who was too sick to travel all over the world with him, he told me, so he broke up with me.)

And then.

Then, one morning, She came breezing into the room. The Nurse from Hell. She apparently was still in school, and shouldn't have been allowed around patients alone, but there she was. I had just finally dozed off when she came in and opened the window and cheerily announced that it was time to start preparing for my surgery. Um, what surgery?! No one had told me I anything about it, and I told her she must be in the wrong room. She was sure she wasn't and I was almost hysterical since the only surgery that had been mentioned as a possibility was amputating my arm.

She was in the wrong room, thank goodness.

You might think they'd have kept her away from me after that, but no. She came in the next day when they brought me lunch. I was finally off the worst of the meds I'd been on, the one that made everything smell like a skunk to me, and so I could actually smell the food. I said something about the pie smelling good just before she walked out of the room and she stopped and just looked at me for a second. Then she glanced at my chart and IV and my arm, shuffled her feet a little, and said "Yeah, that pie is good. You should eat it first. After all, life is short and you never know . . . well, just eat the dessert first."

And then she left.

I truly believed I was going to die.

Actually, I was released from the hospital the next day. I spent the next year on unpleasant medication, getting blood tests constantly, but I was okay. They decided that my blood clot was a freak thing caused by practicing flute for hours at a time with my arm in a weird position. These days there are very few reminders that any of that ever happened.

I hated that nurse, and I hope that she never worked with another patient again. But I did learn something from her. (Cue the South Park "I Learned Something Today" music) Life is short. Sometimes tomorrow doesn't come. It's important to make the most of the time you have. Sometimes that means eating ice cream for dinner, and sometimes it means running off to Disney World "just because". Sometimes it means fighting to save a place you love even though the likelihood of success is small. I never want to look back and regret the things I didn't do or the chance I didn't take, because life is short. Sometimes you don't get another chance later to do something. Eat dessert first.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Walt Disney World Resort - Becoming just another mall.

I have been, for years, an unabashed "Disney fan". I have been one of their most vocal supporters. I have defended their sometimes questionable decisions. I have helped people to plan trips and convinced people who weren't "amusement park people" to give Disney a chance. I kept visiting after they took away the Early Entry benefit for Disney Resort guests. I kept visiting as they dumbed down menus to accomodate the Dining Plan. I kept staying on Disney property, and encouraging others to do so, even when it cost far more than other lodging choices. I have repeated to anyone and everyone who would listen that Walt Disney World was more than just the parks, it was a resort destination with so much to do that no trip could be long enough to do it all. I kept visiting both with and without my child, because I chose to spend my vacation dollars supporting my favorite place in the World - the Adventurers Club. But no more.

I'm sad to say that Disney seems to have lost their creative vision, at least outside of the parks. They are closing a uniquely "Disney" entertainment spot to make way for "more shopping and dining". I only eat one meal each evening, and normally I stay awake for quite a while afterwards. According to the bean-counters who appear to be making the decisions at Disney these days I am apparently supposed to shop for the rest of the evening. And that might be okay for a day or two, but not every evening of a 10 day trip. The bean-counters that control Disney World these days seem to have hit on a new money making strategy - "Give the guests no choice but to shop and they'll HAVE to spend more money with us!" And while I do like shopping, I go to Disney World for the entertainment - something they are choosing not to offer anymore.

It's becoming increasingly obvious that Disney doesn't want my business if I want to do anything but shop and eat in the evenings. Those of us who prefer to spend our vacation dollars on experiences, not items, will be left with no choice but to spend our money elsewhere.

So, Disney bean-counters, here's what you'll be losing from my family if you continue along this path:

*Our purchase of three adult premium annual passes every year.
*Seven to ten days of lodging for at least one of our two family Disney trips each year.
*Four to seven days of lodging for each of our two adults-only trips each year.
*Our purchase of tickets to the Party for the Senses each year.
*Our purchase of all meals, snacks and beverages on each of our trips. (Normally including at least one full-service meal each day.)
*Our purchase of all of the beverages we buy at the Adventurers Club each night of our trips.
*The price of any souveniers we buy on premises, particularly at Downtown Disney. Of course, you've made that one easy for us. Thanks to the way you've homogenized the merchandise sold in Disney shops, if you've browsed one Disney owned shop you've browsed them all. And of course all our favorite non-Disney owned shops at Downtown Disney have locations elsewhere that we can and will choose to support.

That's at least $8000 to $10,000 a year. And that's not including the extended family that often travels with us, or the trips when we decide to really splurge.

Of course, for a company the size of yours I realize that we are small potatoes. But what you fail to consider is that there are thousands of other visitors like us (as well as many locals), who have spent their evenings -and dollars- in the clubs on Pleasure Island. And we are a very vocal minority. We have provided positive word of mouth for your company for years, and have been more effective than any advertising that money can buy. You might not mind losing our business, but I'm sure your Orlando area competitors such as Seaworld and Universal will appreciate gaining it. And you may suffer from our loss much more than you realize.

I urge you to reconsider closing all of the clubs on Pleasure Island. In a resort the size of Walt Disney World, surely there is a place for shopping and dining as well as after hours entertainment. The Adventurers Club, in particular, is unique not only on Disney property and in Orlando but everywhere else as well. It has a loyal following despite your lack of advertising and support. Imagine what it could be if you gave it the chance it so richly deserves. Many of us will be voting with our dollars based on your decision in this matter. I certainly hope you strongly consider the mistake you are about to make.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Update

Last week didn't turn out quite like I thought it would, since I was sick for most of the time that The Kidd spent with my parents. Still, Caradorn and I did manage to do a few of the things that we had planned to do. And this weekend was very hectic.

*Caradorn did end up getting the ps3 Metal Gear bundle, though we still haven't hooked it up yet! If we manage to control the jungle that was our yard and still have the energy, we might do that tonight.

*"The Incredible Hulk" was good. I didn't love it as much as "Iron Man", but I did really like it. And there were lots of cute little easter eggs for Hulk fans, from a shot of Bill Bixby and an appearance by Lou Ferrigno to the one crucial line that was missing from the first Hulk movie. My favorite part was the last scene before the credits. We stayed through the credits, of course, and surprisingly there wasn't a scene after them. (Though the scene right before them did seem like more of an after-the-credits kind of thing, so maybe it was originally intended to be afterward.) None of the people I know worked on the movie but I always enjoy reading the credits anyway.

*We finally got our tickets to see Gaelic Storm in Atlanta. I'm really looking forward to it. We haven't seen them since Ellery left last year, and I'm anxious to see the new fiddler. I'm still trying to convince Caradorn that we need to go see them in Birmingham the next night as well!

*Of course, right after we got our Gaelic Storm tickets we found out that Weird Al will be in Knoxville the same day. Grrrrr. Also, the symphony will be performing Video Games Live in Louisville, KY, the day before. It would mean quite a bit of driving, but we might have to go to that anyway. Otherwise we'd have to wait until October to see it in Birmingham. And that would interfere with our family Disney trip!

*Saturday we went to Nashville and Cookeville, and Sunday we went to Knoxville. We got home yesterday evening and you would have thought we'd been gone for a month. The cats acted like they were completely starved for attention.

*It is looking like the XM/Sirius merger might be approved soon. Still no word on what that will mean for subscribers. I just hope that XM channel 4 (1940s) survives - I listen to that almost constantly when I'm home. Well, and Cinemagic, of course. I always look forward to the "Dragonheart" and "Rocketeer" soundtracks!

*I really have my work cut out for me. My parents will be visiting for the Air Show later this month, and Becky and Frank will be here for July 4. I want to finish all of our works-in-progress before their visits. I'm not sure that's even possible, but I do intend to try. Wish me luck! [(See, Becky?! - You're a good influence :)]

Monday, June 02, 2008

At least he doesn't have a chainsaw

At least he doesn’t have a chainsaw


Every morning while I drink my tea I sit in a chair by some windows and watch the birds and critters in my backyard. Sadly, there have been very few hummingbirds so far this year, but the squirrels and chipmunks have been very active, especially this morning. Because of the way my house is oriented, I don't really have to worry about anyone seeing me through the window. Even though three yards do have views of my yard, the trees make it difficult to see my windows.

This morning, though, I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see a guy looking at me from just outside our fence! He wandered away once I looked at him, but came back a minute later waving a large pipe of some kind. A few minutes later a couple of other guys joined him. They appear to be doing something involving the pump for my neighbors' pool. I suppose it's kind of sad, but after the initial shock at making eye contact with the guy faded, my main thought was just relief that he didn't have a chainsaw.

One day over the winter I was home alone and about to let the dogs out into the backyard when I glanced out the window and stopped in shock. There was a man standing under a tree in the backyard, not far from the door, holding a chainsaw. As I stood there gaping at him, he glanced up and saw me . . . and then started revving the thing like someone in a horror movie. I just stood there, trying to figure out what to do. He then starting cutting up a large part of a tree that was lying in the yard. Apparently the neighbor was have a giant pine tree removed, and because it was right against our fence they were lowering the sections into my yard instead of their own.

I was furious. We have locks on the gates into our yard and I would have thought that would convey the message that people aren't welcome there without permission, but they just hopped the fence without even asking or letting us know. Imagine if I had let the dogs out without realizing?! Kelly would have been frantic to get back in the house, but Stitch would have gone after the guy - and dog versus chainsaw just isn't going to end well for anyone.

I couldn't decide what to do, but I was really afraid they were going to damage our trees and I wanted to be sure to document everything, so I stood at the window snapping pictures while I called Caradorn. He went out and talked to them after he got home, and I thought that we had everything settled after that. We gave them permission to use our yard as long as they didn't damage the trees or our fence. They said they'd finish up as soon as possible and be out of our way.

We went out for most of the afternoon and evening, and it was dark when we got home. I grabbed a flashlight to go out and be sure everything was okay, and I was shocked at what I found. Large braches of one of our trees were pinned to the ground under huge pieces of the pine tree. More chunks of the pine were balanced drunkenly against our fence, pushing it slightly outward. We moved what we could but most of the chunks were much too large for us to budge.

By the next morning I was glued to the window waiting for the tree people to get back. I am a very nonconfrontational person most of the time, but at this point I was livid. Just before they showed up I went out to take pictures of the way they had left everything, and I was still doing that as they pulled up. They didn't seem to like that at all, and immediately ran over and stood in front of me. They especially seemed unhappy when I was taking pictures of their company trucks. They wanted to know the problem, so I told them. In great detail. Loudly. One of the guys made the mistake of telling me that they might have no choice but to damage our tree and fence, and that "These things happen". Not smart. By the end they were apologizing profusely, as was the neighbor. They also agreed to pay to replace anything that they damaged.

In the end things worked out okay, but I think I scared my neighbor. And of course I will never use or recommend that tree service - they have shown that they have no respect for personal property.

I don't think these new people will have any reason to come into our yard today, but I notice they keep glancing this way. Hopefully the neighbor has told them to steer clear of me. I'll be keeping an eye on them, though, just in case!