Stare at the page this guy links to. I dare you. Then after about a minute, look away.

***

This article is about a year old, but it still makes a valid point. But what do I care, I'm killing the newspaper industry by reading webcomics anyway.

Mediocrity

It's pretty bad when you keep thinking you've posted and are three days out from your previous post...

Sunday was a lazy day of Jennifer watching football, and me playing on the computer.

Yesterday was a slow day, and the week looks to be about the same.

I did laundry last night...

I take solace in the knowledge that I'm taking Friday off.

Wondrous Well

First off you will excuse the typing. I will try to spell check, but I'm doing this post with just one eye open. Pom got mad at me and swatted me across the face. either it was from too much petting, or she was mad that we were gone all day. Either way, she just missed my eye. So the scratch starts halfway between my hairline and my eye and goes about a quarter inch onto my eye lid just above the eye.

Ow.

But the reason why we were gone all day was our visit to the renaissance Faire in Casa de Fruita.

it was hot thee today. Jennifer said that it reminded her of the times in the old Blackpoint Forest location in Novato. My shirt got soaked with sweat, and I've got some serious salt stains on it. I'll get some pictures when it is completely dry tomorrow.

But the day was fun, we bought things, drank a little, but not too much, and saw some shows. We met some nice people, and enjoyed each other's company.

We'll be going next weekend with some other people, and I'm sure we'll see more performances.

National Comic Book Day

So my friend the comic book was born 41 years ago today and I'd like to wish him a happy...

Oh, wait... that's John. John was born 41 years ago today. So Happy Birthday to him. We'll be going out drinking well with others tonight.

But yes, also, today has been designated as National Comic Book Day. Yeah, whatever.

In other fun news, check this feathered dinosaur. And the claws on that thing. That's just awesome.

Also, this is how you deal with anti-geek aunties. I love his guiding technique.

Seeing Red

I'm not sure why, but Pom sees red.

One day I came home, and she had gotten into Jennifer's crocheting thread (essentially cotton yarn). Now of course cats love yarn, but which one did she play with leaving a trail of unwound ball from the media room down the hall, through the library and dining room, and out into the garage? The red one.

I just rolled the ball back up and nothing happened for a while.

Then a couple years ago, Jennifer was making party items out of red leather string. Pom had made cat toys out of leather shoelaces (for topsiders), but these red lengths fascinated her. So the left over piece became her new toy. Then after the party, the leftover pieces got cannibalized into a kitty flogger (only 7 tails though).

Then last night Jennifer was laying on the floor, and I was rubbing her head. Pom became fascinated with Jennifer's red hair moving ever so slightly. She hunkered down and watched, tail twitching, and then she pounced on the hair. She clawed at it a bit, and then bit it with a bit of licking thrown in.

It was a lot like how she cleans her tail. It was like she was playing the Jennifer's tail... that's stuck on her head.

Weekend

Saturday night was really fun. A scorpion bowl for four was all I had. It lasted the few hours we were at Forbidden Island, and between that, fries, and their spicy chicken bites, I was happy.

Sunday was full of driving around looking for things. Light Bulbs. Power strips. Multi-plugs. The correct light bulbs. Hair products. Batteries.

I was excited when I saw that GE had begun making Reveal compact fluorescent bulbs. Jennifer doesn't like the yellow cast that regular fluorescent bulbs give off. And I've been saying, how hard would it be to just color the glass a bit. So when I saw them at Target I was excited. However, as it turns out, while they are more blue than regular fluorescent bulbs, they are not as blue as the incandescent.

So today I get to take them back. So much for that surprise.

Seven Hours - No More

It would seem that I have a very powerful internal timer/alarm clock.

Last night the last thing I saw before I closed my eyes was the LED project of my clock onto the ceiling showing 1:00 AM.

Aside from letting Pom out around 6:00, I slept through the night.

Finally, it seemed light enough that I woke up, and then I looked at the ceiling.

8:00 AM.

Seven hours.

Frak.

Tweet

Yeah, I know.

But I thought it'd give me somewhere to put what I'm listening to while I'm at the computer.

So that's all my tweets will be. Besides it'll be more visual for my own part to see just how eclectic my listening tastes are.

Meh.

Music and Memory

So today I've had three songs so far come on my iPod that make me think of people from my past.



"Michelle" by The Beatles - A girl I was fascinated with in college, and I believe was named for this song. One a related note, my first crush (in second grade) was on a girl named after The Beach Boys song "Barbara Ann".



"Don't Give Up" by Peter Gabriel - My senior year of high school, I got turned down from all of the universities I applied to. I listened to this with my then girl friend, Kim, and the two helped me through it.



The Extremist by Joe Satriani - I wasn't paying enough attention when this came on to track the song title, but the whole album has importance to me. My friend Steve (SecondLife not The Rooster) drove me to my first and only Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) event in Stockton. He said I could go through his music and choose what to listen to, and I found this album. We left it in and it was the soundtrack for the drive to and from the event. I think this was the point where Steve went from being just an RPG buddy to a full on friend.



There are a lot of other songs that I catch that bring back other memories. Any that were on the radio in early 1984 remind me of Ultima III (which I got for Christmas 1983). Sometimes I'll be in a store and some song will come on over the music system, and I'll turn to Jennifer, and say, "This is an All-Skate." And the music from 1995 to 1997 is embedded in my head from being in grad school.



That's why I love my iPod.

Remixed Trailers

Apparently there a many ways to redo a trailer, but recently, there have been trailers made for modern movies from splices of old classic movies.

The first one I saw was for Ghostbusters.

His first one turned out to be for Forrest Gump.

Now there's one for Raiders of the Lost Ark. Seeing these, it's obvious where Steven Spielberg and George Lucas got their ideas.

Things I Hate

Primarily, waking up at 3:00 and not being able to go back to sleep.

Secondly, managing my iTunes and stupidly having the CTRL key down when de-selecting one song... which then de-selects ALL of my songs. If it weren't for playlists, I'd be totally screwed.

Storytime

After reading this, I don't feel so bad about my thoughts of what I'd do if I heard someone breaking in.

Granted most of mine would be used for stabbing, except for my A. Britton forged sword.

First off a video using They Might Be Giants' newest song. I take issue with SiO2 making cement (acid will show it's mostly CaCO3), and CaSO4 as chalk (again CaCO3), but the rest of the video is fun.



Saturday was a fun day of gaming. It went well enough, but there are bits I could have done better. Sunday was a day of football, and fun.

Until I met the cat outside. I was seeing if Pom was outside,but instead I came across a yearling cat with a bell. We've encountered this cat before, but it meowed and seemed friendly enough. I made noises, and it came over to see me. I picked it up and it purred. And then it got spooked. It twisted and scratched and jumped down.

Did I mention I wasn't wearing a shirt at the time?

I got two short scratches on my right shoulder and two long parallel scratches across my left ribs to my navel. I quickly washed them with alcohol, and when they stopped being dirty (it had been raining, and the paws had been muddy), I followed up with Bactine.

It was painful this washing this morning in the shower.

John Pinette

A few weeks ago (while I was in Marysville), Jennifer called me to tell me she had gotten us free tickets at Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco through Goldstar.

And tonight was the night.

The beginning of the fun was helping Jennifer get ready around today's mutable schedule. She called me at 6:30 had me gather the clothes she was wanting to wear, and get on the road to pick her up at Rockridge BART. She got in the car, I looped around, and then as we're getting on the freeway, she's changing clothes: sundress to jeans and t-shirt.

Cobb's was a nice venue, nowhere near as crowded as Bimbo's. The warm-up was good, followed by Mike Black who was great, and then John Pinette was amazing.

I'd seen his stand-up on Comedy Central long ago, and seen a few of his acting bits (he was on Parker Lewis Can't Lose for a season), and recently Jennifer and I had watched his new DVD. But we were second row of tables tonight, and I laughed so much that I have a headache.

Full of (Inter)Webby Goodness

John's already posted on this, but it's still awesome.

This may end up being a new distraction.

Drilling, Food, and Football

no record setting action today on site. We had a slower rig, and a more laid back crew, but we still managed to get offsite not too much later than expected.

The downer was heading off afterwards, and planning on having Long John Silver's in Vacaville. But when we came off the ramp at Mason, not only was the restaurant closed up, but the Valero it was attached to was closed, and there were all kinds of white USA markings on the ground. I was bummed, and so was Yuko who likes fried food a little too much.

However, we drove on to Travis, and the formerly trashy LJS on North Texas is now a nicely remodelled joint KFC/LJS. The service was wonderful, and the food was just what we wanted.

Then we drove on back tot he office, unloaded, and I prepared for the big evening: The Return of Football Season.

Jennifer had said she wanted lots of food, so we ordered entirely too much food from our favorite Chinese restaurant (Ming's), and then ate nearly too much, and enjoyed and intense game of Steelers vs. Titans.

Video Fun

All right, videos from today that have impressed me.

So first there's one of Al Franken drawing the United States freehand. I find this pretty impressive. However, whenever I see Al Franken, I picture him dressed up as a Hare Krishna on Saturday Night Live.



Next a cat running it's head under a faucet. I put it in for the WTF factor. Although there are times when Pom does this in a smaller fashion. But usually it's because she's rubbing her head on the faucet while she's getting a drink.

Bleah

A very mediocre day. Not much happened beyond work and working out.

Although I did manage to get my new Renaissance Faire hat personalized.

Perhaps more will be accomplished tomorrow.

District 9

Okay, so I realize that District 9 was originally to be a Halo movie. And I did enjoy the movie as a whole, but the ending left me a little flat.

Did it have to end up as a big video game advertisement? I mean, the guns, the missions, even the token evil corporation with the dark, twisted laboratory?

I liked the film, and it had a lot to say. But the ending was very cliche.

And the last film I watched that had such an obvious "Watch for the Sequel in the Future!" was Hawk the Slayer.

And 3 years? Really? What is this Star Wars?

Scottish Fun

Today we returned to this year's Scottish games in Pleasanton. We saw the regular things: the sheep dogs trials, the birds of prey, and the whiskey tasting.

We laid low on the beers today, and focused on the fun of the whiskey tasting. One of the tables had tasting paired with chocolates. Not something I would normally consider, but it turned out exceptionally well. I had three of the four they were offering. And then I tried some others around the room. We all enjoyed what was out there, and then continued to wander.

We got to see the Wicked Tinkers again, and I got a new hat for the Renaissance Faire, and a new Utilikilt (workman's style).

Lots of pictures here, especially the Peach trying out a new outfit (she ended up getting the brown).

It's the Future!

Okay, this experiment may not have immediately obvious repercussions, but Larry Niven uses them a lot in his Known Space series.

I just try to picture the magnetic fields on the things.

Lazy Weekend

Yesterday, Jennifer and I wandered around the area considering some needs for the home.

Today, we're going to the Scottish Games in Pleasanton with the Sorrellians.

Tomorrow is, as yet, unplanned.

How to Misplace a 6'1" Pink-Haired Woman

Impossible, you might say?

Think again.

It happens all the time while we're shopping.

Not at Costco, of course, there Jennifer sticks close to me because she doesn't want to get separated.

But in other stores? It's practically guaranteed.

I'll get a couple steps ahead of her, then turn around, and suddenly, she is nowhere to be seen. Even in stores where the shelves are only 5 feet tall, it will be the one time she finds something she wants to look at on the bottom shelf.

It does make life an adventure.

Internet fun and City Travels

After reading about the Los Angeles area fires, I wondered what they looked like from space. Gizmodo had a link for me, but then the Boston Globe's Big Picture had a whole series. Beyond the satellite shot, I was amazed by the melted metal and plastic.

Back to Gizmodo, I'm not fully understanding the beginnings of this, but the future applications are squealing geekifying.

***

Monday afternoon, Jennifer shanghaied me from working out to go to San Francisco with her. She's working on an event at a beach, and she wanted me to join her for the exploration of the site. So we drove into the city and went to China Beach. Now of course most of the ride there, I'm thinking of the old Dana Delany-Robert Picardo TV show. But the beach was actually a neat place not far from the Palace of the Legion of Honor.

Then we decided we needed food so we parked at the end of the wharf, near Ghiradelli, and walked down to wharf for food. We got clam chowder in a bread bowl, a crab cocktail, and shrimp cocktail. We also got beer, and felt very ghetto/homeless drinking beer wrapped in paper bags while sitting on benches. But the weather and food was perfect, and we walked if off going on to Pier 39, and then walked back looking in shops and such.

***

Then last night after doing a little errand, Jennifer and I went to Luna Ristorante in Concord. It has got to be one of the best Italian restaurant experiences we have had in a long time. At least since our first night's meal in New York. Jennifer started with a spinach salad, while I had a Ceasar. Then we drank a Gabbiano Chianti (by far the best logo in the wine world), while she had mushroom bruschette and carpaccio, and I had an amazing cioppino in a lobster tomato broth. We'd go again even if we hadn't gotten too full to enjoy their desserts. Plus they've got four ports and a muscat that I'll have to work my way through.

500 Posts

Yeah, and I have a secret.

Life is not Fair

And this story is a perfect example of why.

Although with my luck, I would end up doing as mediocre in this class as I did in music appreciation.