.


Weekly Video Selection
Drew's Photo-A-Day
Allison's Photos

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Ellis and Flynn...

Allison sent me this link a couple of days ago and since then I've read the site, watched the interviews and the trailer. Ellis Paul has written a song for this movie and so has Flynn and there is a snippet of the song on the website. The website I am talking about is for a move called The Legend of Lucy Keyes the Lost Child of Wachusett Mountain. Apparently this is a fairly famous legend in the western part of the state. I had heard nothing of it till Allison sent me the link. The story is about a 4 year old Lucy Keyes who disappeared in the woods on the South side of Wachusett Mountain. A local filmmaker John Stimpson has researched the legend and has made a modern movie with ties to the legend and it sounds like it will be a very interesting movie. John Stimpson has also produced a 14 minute movie called The Winter People, the concept of this movie is that spirits inhabit the houses of people how close them up during the winter on... Cape Cod. I would really like to see that one, the trailer looks eerie. Check out the websites.

The Legend of Lucy Keyes the Lost Child of Wachusett Mountain

The Winter People

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Lost Update...

Well I just watched the newest episode of LOST. It was a Locke-centric episode. Again a great episode. And the previews of next week hint at a character dying. It would be highly unlikely that a character would die, who was hinted at dying in the preview. Won't happen. We'll find out next week.

Current Poll results for who will die before the season ends.

Who will die before the season ends.
Jack18 %
(2 votes)
Sayid0 %
(0 votes)
Charlie9 %
(1 votes)
Hurley0 %
(0 votes)
Sawyer0 %
(0 votes)
Michael0 %
(0 votes)
Locke9 %
(1 votes)
Boone18 %
(2 votes)
Walt9 %
(1 votes)
Jin27 %
(3 votes)
Kate0 %
(0 votes)
Claire0 %
(0 votes)
Shannon0 %
(0 votes)
Sun0 %
(0 votes)
Rose0 %
(0 votes)
French Lady9 % (1 votes)
Total votes11

Free Christopher Concert....

Last night Allison and I along with Allison's friend Jen went to the Lyon's Den at Wheaton College to see Christopher Williams. We haven't seen Christopher for two years, not since he fell in love and moved away to Nashville and recently (4 months ago) he got married, congratulations! So we were excited to see Christopher, so excited in fact that we moved space and time in our minds so that the show would start at 8:00pm instead of the intended 9:00pm. Actually we just didn't check the correct time and got there super early so we went to Legend's and got some dessert and came back to the Lyon's Den at 8:15.

We walked in and the place was empty, we went up to the counter to ask how much tickets were and to our great surprise they were FREE!!! I forget how much I miss college some days with all the free entertainment on campus through Student activities. Well their Student Activities Fee was our gain. We squished into a loveseat and stayed wedged there for the entire show. We got to watch Christopher warm up and talk with him a bit, he is a fun guy.

The night's entertainment started with a student C.J. Adams and his friend Sasha. They played some original songs and a cover of a band called Dispatch and a cover of Mr. Big's hit song, the name of which escapes me at the moment. [The song is "To Be With You." ~Allison.]

Then Christopher took the stage and he was non-stop fun, he played a bunch of songs and then talked and played through some songs, told us that it is imperative that before you spend you life with someone you take a 32 day road trip. I think that 6 trips to PA together and a tandem kayak trip should give us an exemption.

We were the only non students there and people asked Allison if she knew him because everyone was confused as to why we were there. I guess we stood out. It was a great night and I got Allison the new CD and she got it signed by Christopher.

Christopher did this project called Cdub's Photo-A-Day. He took one picture each day and posted it on his site. I'm going to do that for my 31st year of life. So starting next Saturday (the 9th) I will be posting an original picture each day for an entire year through the MoBlog (the place where the lovefest pictures live) and then adding them here. So if you see a post by Loveprime with a picture then that is me. (My lovefest name, a take on Optimus Prime.)

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Tuesday....

Just some random notes for Tuesday morning. I'm working from home today so I am up early. Duncan knocked the windowshade and made it fly open this morning around 5:30. So much for sleeping in a bit.

I want to congratulate my friend Patrick on his recent engagement. Patrick we are so happy for you.

I have added a few more web comics that I have been reading, namely Real Life Comics, It's Walky and Shortpacked. Real Life Comics is basically about the cartoonist Greg Dean and his roommates and their lives. Greg recently revamped the website and added an archive to all the old comics. They are pretty funny. It's Walky started out about some roommates and then spiraled into an epic comic about a secret governemtn alien fighting organization and it had lots of twists and turns throughout. Shortpacked started out about toy collecting and now it is about people who work in a toy store.

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Happy Birthday Tara!

It is my sister Tara's Birthday today.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone! Got a full day ahead. Church with Mom and Dad and Tara and Erik then heading to Fitchburg to pick up eva and John and bring them up to Marcia and Dan's.

Have a Happy Easter and play today's trivia game. Bible Trivia.

Also my friend Andrea has been known to rock in a corner saying over and over, bunnies and eggs in reference to Easter. Why do we hide Easter eggs. Here is the theory:

There were 12 apostles.
There are 12 eggs in a dozen.

Almost always one of the eggs is cracked.... Judas. The Judas egg.

I'm still working on the theory about the eggs being colored and hidden. Where the rabbit comes in I'm also still working on that, but the egg theory is sound all the way.

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Wedding updates

So today we have been busy here with the wedding plans. We've been printing out the Save The Dates and will be mailing them out Monday, I think.

But today Allison and I worked on our registry. We went to Target and played with the bar code scanning gun and picked out a few things. We'll probably register at Macy's also for some of the remaining things.

And we did some other couple type things like get a joint checking account too.

For our Registry just search on our names.

I couldn't register for this but I'd add it if I could.

There goes the neighborhood....

Our new neighbors are almost finished moving in. Welcome home Tara and Erik. And of course Daisy and Taylor too.

Friday, March 25, 2005

Link for Uncle Rich and Grandpa Rick

Here is a link to some nice photos of horses that my co-worker Joanne took on her recent trip to Lexington, KY. Joanne also keeps a blog and she takes many pictures on her trips. She is way more detailed in her descriptions of her photos. It's like being on the trip too, which is pretty cool. She's got some great photos from Venice as well.

Joanne's Trip to the Horse Farm.

Joanne's Blog

I've added Joanne's Blog link to the Blogs of note section.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Sideways

Tonight Allison and I went to the Route One Cinema Pub and saw Sideways. Sideways was a pretty good movie. There was great dialogue and also some laugh out loud funny parts. Thomas Hayden Church was a riot and Paul Giamatti has some fantastic expressions. I'd reccomend that you take a chance and see this movie.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Greetings from Jasper, IN.

Well, I'm in Jasper, IN. Observing demos all day today. Last night went out with the group to the German-American restaurant next door, Schnider-bank or something. It was really good food, tried a bunch of German-American meals with a sampler. Also very good beer.

Happy Birthday Uncle Murph and Cousin Haley!

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Sunday, Sunday...

Today we headed home from New Hampshire. Dad and I went to the Motorcycles of Manchester Open House. It was pretty sparse. Yeah there were tons of motorcycles but not much else to keep us there. No BBQ and entertainment. Oh well. Headed to Indiana tomorrow. Will post from the road.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Which Harry Potter Alter Ego are you?

So I was closest to Harry Potter and Prof. Lupin. Who are you? Leave me a comment?


You scored as .

Harry Potter

90%

Remus Lupin

90%

Ron Weasley

85%

Severus Snape

80%

Sirius Black

75%

Hermione Granger

70%

Ginny Weasley

65%

Draco Malfoy

60%

Albus Dumbledore

55%

Lord Voldemort

30%

Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...?
created with QuizFarm.com

Which Religion suits you?

Okay so I tried this religion quiz. Apparently I am best suited for is Buddhism. Interesting. I wonder how they compile the answers given. So, what religion are you best suited for, according to this quiz? Leave me a comment with your answer.

You scored as Buddhism. Your beliefs most closely resemble those of Buddhism. Do more research on Buddhism and possibly consider becoming Buddhist, if you are not already.

In Buddhism, there are Four Noble Truths: (1) Life is suffering. (2) All suffering is caused by ignorance of the nature of reality and the craving, attachment, and grasping that result from such ignorance. (3) Suffering can be ended by overcoming ignorance and attachment. (4) The path to the suppression of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right-mindedness, and right contemplation. These eight are usually divided into three categories that base the Buddhist faith: morality, wisdom, and samadhi, or concentration. In Buddhism, there is no hierarchy, nor caste system; the Buddha taught that one's spiritual worth is not based on birth.

Buddhism

67%

Islam

67%

Judaism

58%

Hinduism

54%

Paganism

54%

Christianity

50%

agnosticism

50%

Satanism

50%

atheism

46%

Which religion is the right one for you? (new version)
created with QuizFarm.com

Blogging the Big Buffett Ticket Blitz

This morning Allison, Dan and I went to Filenese for our annual wait in line for Buffett Tickets. We dispersed ourselves among the line and got our tickets. My number was 426 the number called was 422, Yeah! That means that everyone after 422 is closer to the front of the line. I gave the ticket to Dan and headed back to the house to get tickets online.

Blasted Ticketmaster, may you wait forever and then tell you that since you have two sessions open you can't buy tickets. Evil I tell you Evil!!!! Is it my fault that I want to get tickets for both days and there is no option to buy tickets for both days. I tried every single number combination on each day and now luck! Arrgh!

Arrgh! I was not able to get tickets online from ticketmaster. I hate them and their crappy system! And their high fees and crappy service.

Allison and I saw this great license plate on our way to Filenes. Except it was a New Hampshire one.



Update: Dan was 3rd in line and only able to get ONE ticket!! One ticket. How can such a thing happen. The ticketmaster system is terrible!

Update 2: Well come to find out there were at least 3 other concerts being sold this morning at 10:00am. Ticketmaster logic, also crappy. And when Dan got in to get the tickets, which was 10:25 because the first two people in line screwed it up for everyone else in line. Here is how you screw it up for everyone else in line.

1. Make sure your head is directly up you ass. *Important step.
2. Try and pick a specific location in Tweeter for your tickets.
3. Argue with the genius running the ticketing machine.
4. Have the wrong form of payment.
5. Argue more.
6. Complain.
7. Walk out with the only 8 tickets sold at this Filenes.
8. Complain more.
9. Hopefully get smacked by Karma in the near future.
(Okay not really one of the steps but I'd certainly like to see it.)

So you can see that because Dan was 3 people after those first two morons he wasn't getting any tickets, not to mention that the guy in front of him was getting tickets for U2 and not Buffett and also the Ticketmaster said that they took Discover, and American Express but when Dan went to pay they told him that they didn't take those cards. People! Get your stories straight!

Buying Buffett tickets should be like waiting in line for soup from the soup nazi.

1. Walk up to counter.
2. Say, "8 Tickets, either day, any section, anywhere."
3. Present Payment
4. Retrieve tickets from mouth breather at register.
5. That's it!



Rant Over.
So we are looking for Buffett tickets now. And any good parrothead will not try and make a profit on them by selling them to us.

Friday, March 18, 2005

Goodbye Tigey

If you have been reading The Mows web comic strip daily then you probably already know. Jay Dyke's cat Tigerlily passed away on March 16. Tigerlily was the inspiration for the character of Tigey in the Mows web comic strip. We want Jay to know that we know what it is like to lose a beloved pet. You are in our thoughts. Puma will look out for Tigey now. He can play with Kip too.

Hug your pets.

Donate to a local animal shelter.

G-Mail

Google has opened the floodgates on their new e-mail system. G-mail had been at beta status up till the other day and the only way to get in was through an invite. Well now it is open to everyone. I got myself a G-mail account. If you act fast then maybe that name that you've been searching for may still be available. Go to www.google.com.

Also you may have noticed that I added a couple of new web comics to the webtainment links section. I added two comics by the same guy, one is called Shortpacked and it is about toy collecting. Allison figured that the guy just followed me around and wrote down what I did. The second is called It's Walky. Basically about a couple of roommates in college. Both are funny. Enjoy.

I'm also adding another one called Martin's Misdirection. It is about a struggling magician. The first 55 strips are not online anymore. They were collected into a book and are now being sold on the site. From a business perspective that is good because if you are someone who needs to read something from the beginning you are gonna want to buy that book.

Also I added a link to 8 Legged Entertainment. If is a flash animation TV show in the vein of Good Eats, but hosted by an accident prone Octopus called Tako (which is Japanese for octopus for you sushi fans). The episodes actually give you good information about cooking as well as recipes and other tips. Enjoy.

Oh, and I've discovered the joys of changing colors and fonts on posts. In case you didn't notice.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Post Saint Patrick's Day Meal

Ah, that Corned Beef and Cabbage. My favorite meal a year. I think I look so forward to it because I know I will only have it once a year. This year the corned beef was once again excellent. I don't think you can possibly screw it up with a crock pot but what can I say it was good. And the cheapest piece ever, and it was the leanest piece of corned beef I've yet made. A 4.1lb point brisket for $4.11. Add to it some carrots and cabbage and potatoes and we are talking a $12.00 meal that fed Allison, myself, my parents, my sister and her husband, and there were left-overs. Fantastic. Dad picked up some Guinness and some Harp and Allison got a soda bread from the Depot, what a great meal.

I was so excited to eat the meal that I didn't even get a picture of it. Sorry derek.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Hello Everyone!

Saint Patrick's Day is here! It is one of my favorite holidays. Does everyone have their green on? I certainly hope so. It's gonna be hard to concentrate whilst thinking about corned beef and cabbage for dinner tonight. Allison and I set up the corned beef brisket in the crock pot this morning and are letting it go on low all day. It has become our Saint Patrick's Day tradition. And Allison just checked in, she has set the crock pot on low. Boiled corned beef awaits me for dinner. Yeah!

Here's a Food Network recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage.

Also, today is my cousin Nick's birthday! Happy Birthday Nick!
(I'm going to try and be good about remembering birthdays and anniversaries here on the blog.)

Vatican appoints official Da Vinci Code debunker

The Vatican has appointed Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Archbishop of Genoa and a possible successor to the Pope to be the offical debunker of the Da Vinci Code.

Didn't that book come out TWO YEARS ago!

Disclaimer: I mean no disrespect to the Vatican but I want to point out that the response was how shall I put it, speedy. I personally liked the book. It was entertaining, but not something to base your faith on. I suppose that a response needs to come out officially because there are alot of stupid people out there that take a work of fiction at face value. I mean, look how many people died while looking for that necklace that the old lady dropped into the ocean at the end of Titanic. That was a true story right? Actually I know of no one searching for the necklace from Titanic, let alone dying but I wouldn't put it past some people to try.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Generators...

Found a couple of new generators out there. Remember my post about the church sign generator, well I found a couple more.

and of course

If you make a particularly funny one of these please send it to me.

Quick news blip: Buffett and Alton Brown

Okay just got a flash of news from two friends.

Biggest news: Jimmy Buffett is coming back to Tweeter, Ack, Great Woods.

Tour Dates
-Thanks Peter

Other news, or rather a site to check out.
For you Alton Brown/Good Eats fans there is a good eats fan website. Of course there is!

Good Eats Fan Page
- Thanks Andrea

But after checking it out I found something very fun.

8Legged.com

The only food show hosted by an appetizer.

Entertain Your Brain...

Every once in a while I come across something that is actually intelligent and not just entertaining. While checking out the web comic Questionable Content this morning I came across a link to this website by Richard Garlikov which illustrates how the Socratic method of teaching, (asking questions) can be used to teach third graders binary arithmetic. After further exploration I find that he has a whole website of Educational and Philosophical Writings. If the rest of the articles are as interesting as the Socratic Method of Teaching then you will truly entertain your brain.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

A Great Batman Movie....

The final project for a group of students at the DAVE school (The Digital Animation & Visual Effects School) was a movie about batman using minimates construction pieces. They actually got Adam West to play Batman. It is a big file but worth watching.

Batman: New Times

Monday, March 14, 2005

This better not suck..

The trailer from Episode III is now available to the general populace, and, well, it really looks awesome. I don't want to get my hopes up that this installment will do justice to the story as a whole and as a movie will stand well on its own, but it really looks like it has promise. And in 2052 when the complete DVD set with all the edits is complete I will finally buy them.

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith - TRAILER

LOST Hiatus Cut Short

Looks like LOST will be back with Episode 19: Deus Ex Machina sooner than I thought. Apparently the schedule has been changed so that the new episode for LOST will be on March 30th instead of April 13th. It also looks like the final two episodes on the season final will be 2.5 hours instead of 2 hours. Awesome!

The full 1st season of LOST will be out on DVD on September 6, 2005. Pre Order It below.



Also completely randomly today I was searching for the definition of adenocarcinoma for a project at work, and I stumbled upon the celebrity dictionary project for Breastcancer.org. Celebrities like Richard Roundtree (Shaft) and Willard Scott lend their voices to the definitions of words related to breast cancer.

Also I have found a new thing called My Calendar which allows me to put up my Calendar and share if with everyone and let people add events to the calendar. It's gonna be a great way to keep up on where I am across the country or where Allison and I are going to be seeing our favorite singers. It is kinda buggy sometimes, I find I have to refresh the interface often.

Real Life Comics

I don't know what happened to Real Life comics, it was working yesterday. Once it comes back check out the comics below.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Another Comic

Okay, I've only read 3 of this guys comics but # three was so appropriate for those who are planning a wedding, namely Allison and I. And it just so happens that this weekend we are working on the save the date cards. So, even funnier.

Check it out.

Real Life Comics - The Guest List

So I kept reading and found this too.

Real Life Comics - The Napkins.

Pot Luck Night

Last night Allison and I hosted a pot luck night with our friends Neil and Andrea and Derek and Michelle. Each couple was responsible for one dish in the meal. Derek and Michelle brought a fantastic salad and some crescent roll breadsticks. Allison made a Mexican Meatloaf and I did Margaritas and a Dilly Ranch Dip, Neil and Andrea brought a key lime pie that Andrea made. As Neil stated, when the discussion turned to what to bring, "I got very quiet". And since the evening centered around good friends and good food, I have photos of each course.



Michelle fills the salad bowls while Derek,
Neil and Andrea pretend to act non-chalant for the camera.



Salad and Margaritas and glowing cat eyes in the background.



Mexican meatloaf and breadsticks. The meatloaf is
overflowing with cheesey goodness. It may not be
too photogenic but man it tasted great.



Andrea's awesome Key Lime Pie.
(see a favorable review on the Blog, no worries,
you always make great desserts Andrea.)


After dinner we all sat around and told stories and then we checked out the Star Wars fan film R.2. the Extra Special Astromech. And then we sat in rapt fascination as Microsoft Dancers kept in perfect rhythm to the music on Windows Media Player. What was pretty amazing was the swing dancers jump jiving and wailing to Rob Zombie's Superbeast. That was a sight to see.

We also got into a discussion about which type of balls were used for which type of bowling pins. I think bowling may be our next adventure together, but can you have little balls and still play with duckpins or just candlepins, a question I'm sure that is waiting to be answered.

Everyone had a good time and no one went home hungry or thirsty as both Margaritas and soda from the Soda Club were made throughout the night.

Friday, March 11, 2005

The Urban Challenge

Its like a Reailty show without the smarmy host.

  • Where: Boston
  • When: Saturday, June 18, 2005
  • What: Unique urban adventure!
  • Who: 2-person teams on foot — grab a friend!
  • How: Take photos of yourselves at each checkpoint
  • How: Solve clever clues to find unmarked checkpoint locations
  • How: Solve clues with any means necessary: call friends, use the Internet, trade with other teams, ask folks on the street…
  • How: Trivia Challenge at start of race determines order — savviest teams get a head start.
  • Why: National champions win $50,000 cash!
  • More Info: Learn more about Urban Challenge

I'd love to do this but I'll be away. Just thought I'd share the info with everyone. Someone might like to go. If you are interested in doing this leave a comment and maybe some folks here will hook up and become a team.

Webtainment - Web Comics

I've created the word webtainment to encompass all those funny and interesting things that one can find on the web to entertain oneself. One aspect of webtainment is that of the web comic. Web comics are growing in popularity through word of mouth of fans. I consider myself a fan of a few web comics and I will give you links and a synopsis of each of the web comics that round out my daily reading.



First up is PVP, PVP was the first web comic I found and it is the one that I really like. Scott Kurtz has created a great cast of characters. Pictured in the image above:

  • Skull: The naive and loveable troll that is an intern at PVP magazine.
  • Cole Richards: The Dad of the bunch and owner and operator of PVP magazine.
  • Robbie: Cole and Brent's college roommate, he and Jase spend all their time drinking beer, eating pizza and playing sports video games, apparently they are supposed to review that genre for the magazine.
  • Jase: Robbie's pal on the couch, the quietest of the bunch but smarter than he looks.
  • Brent Sienna: Very pompous Mac user, Mini Driver, and Starbucks Drinker, also Cole Richard's best friend and Jade Fontaine's boyfriend.
  • Francis Ottoman: Teenage cybergeek, considers himself a l33t gamer in PVP (player vs. Player) video games. Also he is a staunch PC supporter and is constantly overhauling his PC to make it faster and more l33t.
  • Jade Fontaine: Probably the only member of PVP that does actual work. Articles are mostly written for female gamers.

The comic centers around a fictional magazine called PVP and the people who work there. Scott Kurtz is the creator and he weaves pop culture and current events into his comic. There are seven years of archives for this comic. It is well worth the read. Also this comic is the most lucrative of the bunch, in that this is Scott's full time job and he makes money with his web comic. He also can ask for a Palm Treo 650 and someone will get it for him. Yes I am jealous. But I like his stuff and more power to him if he can do that.



Banner I made.


Banner sent to me by Wes.

Next up is one of my newest discoveries, You'll Have That by Wes Molebash. YHT is about 4 months old and you can easily get caught up with the strips and characters. Wes decided to write what he knew and what he knows is that he's 20 something, and recently married. The characters Andy and Katie are recently married 20 somethings. I have found that I identify very much with these characters as well as with the artist, despite being 30 something and only engaged. Wes keeps a blog as well as posting his comics and the thing I love about the blogs of these artists is the insight into the creative process. This is the one web comic that had me laugh out loud on more than one occasion. Wes had no banner up so I had to make the one above. If you are a recently married guy you are gonna want to read this strip.

Update - I e-mailed Wes about his strip and how much I like it. He e-mailed me back, checked out the blog and even played trivia today. What a cool guy. Thanks Wes.

Go read his comic strip!




Wapsi Square is a web comic that I found the other day. There is a good archive here as well. Paul Taylor the artist has created an intricate cast of characters for this web comic. Each with their own unique background stories that are so well crafted. The character development that has occurred within the comic is fantastic. His art is also well done.

The cast: I can't do justice to a write up of his characters so here is the cast page: CAST PAGE

Not only is this comic funny, but it has heart and like I said, great characters.




Questionable content is an interesting comic strip. J. Jacques has created a cast of characters and an incredible amount of sexual tension between his two main characters and some of the secondary characters.

Cast:

  • Marten - Marten is a skinny hipster kid who has an apartment, an anthro-pc (sentient robot) and spends lots of time a coffee shop with his pal Steve. Marten is also a very nice guy.
  • Faye - Faye has a past that we are slowly learning about, she lives with Marten, after she burnt her apartment down while making toast. Faye sends Marten many mixed signals and punches him in his girly arms alot.
  • Dora - Dora owns the coffee shop and makes lots of over the top flirtatous comments, mostly thrown Marten's way but sometimes towards Faye. Dora is actually quiet and scared but hides it by being boisterous around Marten and Faye.
  • Pintsize - Pintsize it the antro-pc. He is comic relief and alot of trouble.
  • Steve - Marten's friend and inventor of the booty dance.
  • Ellen - Steve's jailbait girlfriend, at least for another two weeks till she turns 18.
  • Raven - A girl who was goth and is now indie, she is searching for her identity, she works at the coffee shop.

I've also been reading Niego which isn't exaclty my favorite but it is okay. No banner for them though. The cast is basically made up of slackers and their adventures.

The Mows (like cows) is a web comic about three cats and their guy and girl. Jay Dyke has spent way too much time with his cats. But it makes for some funny comics.

Other comics that I like to read each day are mainstream comics, syndicated comics. Foxtrot is always a funny one. I have every Foxtrot collection that has come out up till 4 years ago, so I'm behind. I should really get back into buying those collections, (after the year moritorium on entertainment purchases). Bill Amend created a great family as a cast of characters, there is the older brother Peter, the middle sister Paige, and the youngest son Jason, mother Andy and father Roger round out the cast. This comic has been around a long time and I've stuck with it since the beginning and it has never disappointed me.

For Better or for Worse is also a comic strip I like to catch each day. I like following the lives of the Pattersons. The thing I really like about this strip is that the characters actually grow up and change.

So that's my little expose of webtainment - the web comic type. I encourage you to check out some of the web comics mentioned here. Some might be for you some might not. One thing to be aware of is that one the internet web comics don't have the same rules as syndicated comics. Some of the language is PG-13, you've been warned. And I only warn you about this because I like to make this blog accessible to everyone.

If you have a favorite web comic that you think I would like please let me know.

Thursday, March 10, 2005

R.2. The Extra-Special Astromech

Star Wars Episode III is not out until May but fans are constantly making movies based on Star Wars. This one is particularly good, it is called R.2. The Extra-Special Astromech. It tells the story of a young George Lucas and his inspiration for Star Wars. Don't miss the special nods to Steven Spielberg and his movies too.

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

I want my Flash TV...

Flash animation is quickly becoming more than just a way to get funny time wasting snippets to the masses. There are some really good animators out there using flash for some pretty extensive and well put together stuff. Speaking of Stuff, stuffanimation.com as two great Flash movies, One is called Dude Where's my Lightsaber and the other is Bounty Hunter's Talk Back. DWML is a take on Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure/Bogus Journey, Dude Where's My Car? and Episode II of Star Wars. It is most excellent. BHTB is a behind the music style interview with the Bounty hunters of the Star War's series. It is pretty long and has some great interviews with the Bounty Hunters and some surprise guests.

Check out Flash TV for some other great and not so great Flash animations.

Oliver's Lesson

Well, our little Oliver learned a big lesson this morning. Look before you leap. It's is Ollie's frequent habit to jump into the bathtub after the apartment's human occupants have finished their daily cleaning rituals, so that he can lick up any bit of water left on the tub floor. (I swear we water them daily!)

Somehow I managed to flip the stopper on the drain this morning - it was early and I don't do mornings, okay? So the tub filled with about two inches of water when I showered. I dried off, got dressed and upon my return to the bathroom heard splashing. That's odd, I thought. Then Oliver appeared from behind the curtain and was he looking unhappy! Poor guy's back legs and tush were all wet!!! He'd hopped on in looking to lick some soapy goodness from the bottom of the tub and got a rather wet surprise! I don't think he cared for the attempt to dry him off, either. For the rest of the morning he kept eyeing me like I'd thrown him in or something. It was a very funny adventure - at least for me! I thought some of you might find it funny as well!


Ollie during drier times.

Monday, March 07, 2005

Snowshoe Adventure '05

This past weekend I went up to Woodstock New Hampshire to go snowshoeing with my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Wayne. Tara and Erik also went and I caught a ride with them up to the house that we would stay at on Saturday night. Wayne and Cindy's friend Barbara also joined us as well as Wayne's nephew Jeff and his fiance Melissa.

On Saturday Tara and Erik picked me up at 3:00 (Tara did an 18 mile training run in preparation for the Boston Marathon. - Please see the link at the right to donate) and we shot up to Woodstock to meet up with Wayne and Cindy and Barbara. When we got there we headed out to a nice dinner at the Woodstock Inn Station and Brewery for dinner. The Woodstock Inn Brewery makes their own beer and most are pretty good. I got a red rack ale and a bison burger. Good stuff! We ended up sitting in the exact table that we had last year when I went to the Station with Neil and Andrea and Derek and Michelle and Allison.

After dinner we went back to the house and Jeff and Melissa arrived. We planned out the next morning's activities. We would distribute the food and additional supplies in the morning and be on the road by 8:15am.

On Sunday morning we were up and headed to the Zealand Falls trailhead by 8:15am. With all our gear packed and ready to go we divided up into two cars, Tara and Erik and Jeff and Melissa in one and I went with Wayne and Cindy and Barbara in the van. Wayne and Cindy have a great little Volkswagen van that is also a mini RV, great for camping for two people. We got to the parking lot down 1/2 mile down the road form the trailhead and got our gear together and walked over to the trailhead.

During the winter the trailhead for Zealand falls is actually a road that, in summer, would take you up to the actual trailhead about 4 miles in. Our hike this day was going to be 6.8 miles, all uphill. Tara set the pace and with Erik, Jeff and Melissa in tow they were gone from view in about 20 minutes. Wayne kept up with them as well, I hung back with Cindy and Barbara. I was going to be stopping and taking lots of pictures and could in no way keep up with Tara's marathon training and Erik's long strides.

At about 12:30 we stopped at the actual trailhead and had our lunches. Some turkey sandwiches and some hot chocolate from Wayne and various other snacks that we brought along. Then it was up and off again.

After our stop at the trailhead with 2.8 miles to go, it started to snow. Our pace lessened. Tara and Erik and Jeff and Melissa and Wayne continued on to the foot of the 200 yard straight up incline, upon the top of which, stood the Zealand Falls Hut. Jeff and Melissa went on up to the hut and Tara and Erik and Wayne came back and got our packs. By this time I was welcomed to this help but wanted to continue to carry my pack. Erik assured me that I would be carrying my own pack up to the hut once we got to the 600 foot straight up incline. And he was right.

Once we made it up the hill we took off our snowshoes and dropped our stuff on the front porch and it was time to come in and warm up. With the snow and the exertion from snowshoeing, all of my clothes were soaking wet including my boots. I changed into the clothes for the next day and put on two pairs of socks. I couldn't get warm and the stove wasn't going on until 4:00pm (there is a strict ration of wood for the stove, it is lit at 4:00 and no longer tended to by 9:30pm).

The hut is pretty nice as far as AMC huts go, it has two bunkrooms each with triple bunk beds. I took a middle bunk and unloaded my stuff. Getting out of all my wet clothes. Shoes, Socks, Long underwear, two knee braces, hiking pants, long sleeve wick away shirt, flannel shirt, fleece and winter jacket, (which is still wet I think). I got into the other wick away shirt, new socks and some sleep pants, grabbed two blankets and wrapped up like a mummy in the common room. It took a long time for me to warm up. And I had been drinking water and gatorade the whole trip so I wasn't dehydrated. Just very very cold.

We took out all the food and snacks that we carried in with us, crackers and cheese, goldfish, oatmeal cookies, hot chocolate. It was 3:30 when we got to the hut so we snacked and had hot chocolate and played Farkle, (It is a fun little dice game.) And we hung our wet clothes on these racks that were on pulleys in the common room, it was pretty ingenious too, When the stove was lit the warm air would rise and the clothes were at the perfect height for drying, I also shoved my shoes as close to the stove as possible without them getting melted or set on fire.

At about 5 or 6 Wayne began to prepare dinner, we had packed in salad and bread and butter and spaghetti and chicken catcitore. Wayne also had three platypus' each filled with Kaluha, Brandy and Creme De Menthe. So we could have a little warmth in our hot chocolate or for powdered milk kahlua sombreroes. Dinner was great and very filling, the eight of use took the table next to the stove and completed dinner and offered the rest of the group what we had left over, (less to take out tomorrow). Then Tara and Cindy and Melissa and Barbara took care of the dishes and Wayne and Erik went and got some more water from the pump up the hill. There were a few other people at the hut including the caretaker, Matt, plus three older gentlemen (who snuck their dishes in with ours and tried it again in the morning.) And two ministers. We played a few more games of Farkle and then went to bed.

Now I had surgery a while back that got rid of my snoring, but when I sleep on my back and am overtired I guess I still snore some. I was lying in bed in that phase when you aren't quite asleep but you kinda are. Well, anyway Erik figured that I was the one snoring so he got up and grabbed my feet. At that moment everyone else who was snoring in the bunk room stopped so he didn't know who was the snorer. I wake up and fumble for my flashlight because I want to know who just grabbed my feet. So then I try and stay awake a while longer while everyone else is snoring and I can hear Erik start to get out of bed again and I know he still thinks it's me snoring. I flick on my flashlight under my chin and say, "It's not me". And then I lay back down, of course when I do this everyone else who is snoring stops. So there is still some doubt that It wasn't me snoring.

The next morning we all got up and had a big pot of oatmeal, some hot chocolate and orange juice. We had Matt take our picture on the porch and then we headed straight down the incline. It wasn't that bad, I thought I'd be sliding on my butt the entire way down but no. Once we were all down and readjusted our gear we set out on the shortcut across the pond and back onto the trail. We left at 8:30am and got to the trailhead 2.8 miles out at 9:45. Downhill all the way baby. Now we were walking back along the road we had taken in the day before and it was hard to imagine that we had walked that same incline just one day earlier.

We made out way back tot he cars by 12:00 and headed back to the house, where we showered and changed out of the wet clothes (snowing again) and headed home. I had a great time this past weekend and really enjoyed the company. I'll be limping for a while because I got a huge blister on each heel. And a little stiffness in my legs but that should go away in a day or too. All in all a great time at the hut.

Here are some pictures of the trip and some links to information about the AMC Zealand Falls Hut.

AMC website

Earthlink website about Zealand Falls Hut

A hiker named Lee Foster

Dartmouth's Site about Zealand Falls

C. Neal's (a caretaker of the hut) Blog


On our way to the Zealand Falls trail in
Wayne and Cindy's Van.


Wayne and Erik get the equipment ready.


The crew gets prepared.


Tara and Erik are Ready to Go.


I'm ready for the trail.


Zealand Cliff?


Wayne is geared up and ready to
continue on after our first break.


Tara, getting some great cross training in.


We gotta get to that little yellow arrow at the bottom.
Onward and upward.


Starting on the road.


A View into the mountains.


A small bridge over a creek.


Cindy and Barbara crossing the bridge.


Transfer of Packs before the last big push.


The Drying Racks.


A Little Rummy.


Hey, who's dishes are these?


Wayne bringing in the water.


A view from the porch of the hut.


The hut sign.


The Snowshoe Crew.


Stop and look at the views.


More views.


Almost halfway out.


My pack is resting by the map.


Four more miles to go?

Karaoke Fun!

Karaoke was much fun on Saturday night. Dinner was tasty, the company was great and the karaoke wasn't bad either! The begining of the evening was dominated by singers from our group, but after a little while others began to join in the fray.

I did take some pictures but couldn't figure out how to get them set up right for Blogging purposes, so I'll have Drew post them when he returns from Snowshoeing.

I spoke with Drew Sunday morning, they had a great dinner Saturday night and were looking forward to getting out on the trail. I'm sure he'll have TONS of details for you! And he'll change the Trivia Topic tomorrow!

For your viewing enjoyment, here are the pictures that Allison took, sorry no snappy titles to these since I wasn't there. I'm working on the snowshoeing post. Many pictures for you tomorrow. - DREW

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Home shoeing...

So I took out the snow shoes, that I rented from EMS, this morning for a test walk. The front lawn had a perfect cover of pristine snow and it was perfect to walk around and practice snow shoeing. I wanted to make sure that I could put on the snow shoes, walk in the snow shoes, and not look like an idiot by falling down right away. So I grabbed my cross country ski poles and popped on the snow shoes, Altitude 30's by Tubbs and I headed out to the front yard. Wow snowshoeing is pretty fun. I can't wait for our hike tomorrow. I was tearing around the front yard and walking up on high areas around the shrubs. Allison came out and took a few pictures. Check them out.


Stomping around the yard.

This is fun!

Too fast for ya Allison!

Everest of the front yard. :-)

Check the VCR..

If you are planning on taping something that you really want to watch. Here's one step that could prevent certain madness. Check to see if the VCR has a tape in it. I missed Robot Chicken because I assumed I had a tape in the VCR. Oh Well.

I'm getting my gear ready for this weekend's snowshoeing trip to Zealand Falls in Grafton NH. Pictures and a recap should be online by Tuesday. It'll be up to Allison to keep the site updated between now and then. She's going to Spring Karaoke tonight and taking the other camera so there should be pictures from that tomorrow.

Friday, March 04, 2005

Fun Flash Animation site

I found a fun flash animation site toda called Tedi Online. Tedi is a martial arts teddy bear. There are a few flash animation stories on this site. Not alot but they are entertaining and the animation is pretty good. Check out Tedi Online.

BlogPolling

I have found a place where you can set up your own polls for your blog. It is called BlogPolling. I've added a poll to this site for the TV show LOST. Apparently someone will most likely die before the season end. So who is it gonna be.. You can vote on the sidebar. After you vote you will see the results. The poll will be up until April 13, 2005 which is the date of the next Lost Episode.

Parodies...

I found alot of cool parodies for the Transformers G.I. Joe and one for Star Wars. The first site I found was called Me Love Grimlock, it is a flash site that has cartoons that parody the Dinobots from Transformers. The second was called They Might Be Giant Robots. This site has some parodies of Transformers and G.I. Joe., there is a really funny comic about the 80's cartoon lines returning to the mainstream. It is titled Coming Back. The last Transformers one I found was called Stupid Lamborghini Tricks! and is primarily dedicated to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.

The other one I found was called the Wonderful World of Nate and there is a G.I. parody and a Star War's Nintendo parody. Enjoy.

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Six weeks without Lost...

After last nights Hurley-centric episode (finally) there is a six week hiatus between last night's episode and the next new episode on April 13th. Last night's episode was a really good one with three distinct references to Indiana Jones movies. 1. Sawyer calls Walt "Short Round", 2. The rickety rope bridge, and 3. The pressure plate where the idea to replace Hurley''s weight (With What!) on the pressure plate. But luckily Hurley is spry for a big guy.

I wonder how many people rushed out after the show and tried to play the numbers in the lottery, it would have been really freaky if those numbers came up and won. So we see the story moving along and we also see some connections between the islanders. Hurley owned a box company in Tustin, John Locke worked for a box company in... Tustin. Locke built the cradle for Claire, but was it the same cradle that was in her nightmares? I'd have to go back to that episode to double check but I don't think it was the same one.

(UPDATE: The cribs are not the same, the one from the nightmare is was white with a mobile with the toy planes on it "oceanic" toy planes. Doesn't Kate have a toy plane.... Thanks John for confirming my suspicions about the cribs.)

ABC has put up a website for Charlie's Band Driveshaft. There are song samples and a video on the site. And speaking of songs. During last week's episode Hurley was listening to a song on his CD player. It was a song by Damien Rice called Delicate. There is still plenty of speculation out there about the island and the show is gaining popularity and looks like it will be back next season too. I've found Lost to be a great replacement for the hole that was left with the cancellation of Angel.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Book Update

I just finished Al Franken's "Lies and the Lying Liars - Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balance Look at the Right" on CD. Interesting and humorous. He kinda lost me with his ramblings towards the end. There were some really funny parts and some to make you think too.

And I've just started another Dirk Pitt adventure. Inca Gold takes Pitt across South America and the Southwest US. Good book, I liked it alot the first time around, hoping that by reading the books in order I'll gain some more insight into this series and this book. I think I have six more Dirk Pitt Books left in the series. I'm hoping to have them all finished but April, we'll see how my travel schedule works out, because plane/airport time is reading time.

Robot Chicken

What is robot chicken? Robot chicken is a 15 minute show on the cartoon network. It is stop motion animation with action figures. And it is in the vein of Saturday Night Live and Mad TV as sketch comedy. The show is produced by Seth Green. Who is also a huge action figure collector. You may remember the Optimus Prime Public Service Announcement that I posted last week. Well that was a skit from Robot Chicken. Here's some great information about what is sure to be a pop culture sensation.

NPR Interview with Seth Green

The Robot Chicken Line Up

Robot Chicken Episode Guide

Couple more Clips from Robot Chicken

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

10 MPH

The Segway has a special place in my heart, despite it being a weird little device that makes you look really silly while riding it, but man I want to try it. Anyway Dean Kamen has come up with some more variations of the Segway including one with a golf bag and one with huge tires for off roading. Makes me think of that commercial with the guy running around the trails on his invisible bike and then taking a face plant down a hill. Not sure if I want to take a Segway into the woods.

Well there is a guy who has taken a Segway from Seattle to Boston. And made a documentary about it. It is called 10 mph: Dreams: America: Livin' it: Segway. I haven't completely explored the site yet but there are some great pictures from across the country, and since I enjoy taking pictures all over the country I know I'm gonna like these.

New Trivia Tournament Starts Today

Last month's top 10 scorers...

Feb 05

96 players played during the month.

1. dbarryzzz (467 points, 2 wins)
2. ahami (378 points, 2 wins)
3. smartgirl (356 points, 0 wins)
4. Mo (353 points, 1 wins)
5. Fluffy (347 points, 2 wins)
6. abennett48 (345 points, 4 wins)
7. ekstaron (327 points, 2 wins)
8. Emperor Wesley (315 points, 0 wins)
9. triviamonkey (304 points, 0 wins)
10. Chappy (289 points, 2 wins)


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