Tag Archives: graypumpkin

9236 – Saturday

After work yesterday, we intended to visit to Larry’s School and watch The Scarlet Pimpernel. No such luck- timing was against us, so we just grabbed some Mama Lucia’s pasta, and went home.

I’ve had very restless sleep lately, maybe getting only 2 or 3 good hours in a night. I’m hoping to play a little catch-up this weekend, and get my body back into a reasonable schedule.

Hard to say for sure, because it is dang nice outside lately.



BHK trotted out Hacienda today, and we played the analog (rather than online ) version.. she beat me soundly (by >40 points!), but now I have a better grip on the rules. She’ll continue to beat me, no doubt, but it’ll be more of a challenge for her.

Still waiting to spring Wishes Were Fishes… maybe tomorrow!


So… what ever happened to the Doom Patrol Movie, anyway? The TBA was set for 2008 . Hm. Says 2009 here. (They bought the rights in 2006.)

Ah Well, it’d be hard for me to see Cliff Steele and Negative Man (plus whatever other combo they dream up) in a live-action setting. Too surreal, maybe.

I’m still all for it, in almost any permutation, as long as it has Robotman, and Monsieur Mallah & The Brain. (Of course, I’d prefer Grant Morrison’s Team of Crazy Jane, Rebis, Robotman, The Chief (Not the Head) and with backup of Dorothy Spinner, Joshua Clay and Danny the Street, if possible.) Please leave all of the Rachel Pollack aping of Morrison’s run out, especially how she snuffed out Cliff and Jane’s relationship.

Sure, while I’m at it, hire me as an extra for a million dollars a day, plus craft service.

Side Note – it was rather neat to see a Larry Trainor cameo in Justice League: New Frontier.

Doom Patrol and GP’s more oddball games were some of my favorites – Z-squad, FOCUS and the like (Even HHH, for its brief existence) added a touch of the sinister and surreal to otherwise fairly boring fare. Funny how back in the day I’d have enjoyed identifying with Cliff or Josh, or even RPing an analogue – Rebis would be something too alien or powerful to be anything but a GM device, I think.. unless you were playing a very low powered one, and just let the ref take control every here and again. (Of which I’m also not too partial – I prefer to play my own characters.)
Best times were with miniMAX, but Zero, Run-around Sue and Le Grenouille were not too bad for a one or “two shot” quickie. I hear that they’re doing a Brave & the Bold cartoon – teaming Batman up with an assortment of “Hero of the week” types – Green Arrow, Blue Beetle, Aquaman, and whoever else they can toss in there. Funny about no mention of Superman. I really like the look of the art – silver-agey – kid friendly but still cool. Maybe they’ll work in elongated man or the Martian Manhunter, for a nice light hearted but solid detective episode. Looks like Batman will be in every episode, so it’s unlikely I’ll ge t acool Hawkman / Atom story, but who knows where it’ll go if successful? I really dug the Justice League and the transition it took to JLU – maybe lightning can strike twice.

Those were some of my most enjoyable games, GP running while Kat and I played – solid “Buddy Movie” dynamic, with plenty of time to get characterization and limelight in for everyone, every episode. Green Lantern & Dr. Mid-nite (I always wanted to see her Doc Mid-nite get together with Robin – perfect wholesome super-couple, miniMAX & Ghost, Trism & Kyoko (with sidekicks). I miss those games, sometimes – it was good, clean fun – you didn’t have to beat something up every session, and it wasn’t a bunch of fan wank, either.



1 year ago – rainy day, auto-deploy lj, tk experiments fail, small town feel

2 years ago – Newt in Zefrank’s video, yoink doodle, met with gp and kat, cool gifitis, squishie photos, kev at gimo, mady at chem lab, ab fired

3 years ago – new semagic, video shoot pics, RI calls me mouthy, neon sign, carrot flowers, robot guards

4 years ago – wanting a long weekend, GP mentions a detente, CoH, Butterflies of NA

5 years ago – Power out silence, ut2k3, there.com fun.

6 years ago – angry kid, baha men, freedom force, sniffing around for the girlie, Kidalicious gets a new Baby!

7 years ago – identifying with Sam the Sheepdog, people in your neighborhood poll, livejournal observation, chupacabra sightings upGeotarget





9233 – Wednesday –

Midweek already! How’d that happen? No complaints, mind you, dear journal.

At just about noontime yesterday I used Shazam! as an expletive of surprise. Without irony, or mocking Cap’n Marvel / Gomer Pyle.

What’s happening to my brain?

I don’t know.

So I wrote a Haiku.

Shazam! I exclaimed.
I looked to my left and right.
there was no lightning.


Now, I want an animal cracker. Or better, a box of animal crackers. Higher on the food chain, the better. Except for gorillas. I’d like some gorillas.

BHK made a really yummy giant salad for supper – Chris and Larry came over, but they stuck to cheesy-toast and hot dogs. More salad for me! 😀



While throwing earworms around on Kat‘s journal, I had to dig with the cruellest barb to GPGilligan’s Island Incidental Music. I did it to myself.. now I’ve got a mix of Gilligan and Flock of Seagulls – I Ran lodged firmly in my noggin.



50 things I’ve done meme continues with #48- I…

48.’have traced my family tree a bit, here and there, and have had a great deal of footwork done for me by a Mormon cousin. It seems that I’m related to Benita Falkenhayn, also known as Baroness von Berg. I quite enjoy finding little tidbits here and there, though my father’s side has a lot of pre-1920s Bavarian aristocracy and military, most understandably didn’t make it when the Nazis came to power. I’ve got a few fun folks in there… not too many horse thieves, but a lot of men and women who married into money and power. Benita was surely one who chose a bit poorly.

A bit of history – Benita von Falkenhayn, also known as Baroness von Berg, had the distinction not only of being one of the last people to be legally beheaded by the heading axe in Germany, but also to have been the first female aristocrat to lose her head to the Nazis.


Once the lover of Polish intelligence agent Major Jerzy Sosnowski, Benita put some distance between them by marrying the Baron von Berg. However she and her husband remained on friendly terms with Sosnowski and mingled within the same social circles. Rumors of Sosnowski’s activity in espionage began to surface, although charges were unable to be proven.


In February 1935, the Nazis raided a party at which the Baroness, her husband, and Sosnowski were in attendance. Over fifty people were rushed off to jail and several were released after being cleared of charges of espionage and other crimes. Though secrecy shrouded the Nazi proceedings, it eventually became known that the Baroness von Berg, along with Sosnowski’s mistress Renate von Natzmer, were sentenced to death. On February 18, 1935 both women were taken to the block at Plotzensee Prison in Berlin and decapitated by the axe.


(The ‘heading axe’ , as it was called, was little more than a blunt, primitive chopper which crushed its way through the flesh and vertebrae of the victim as he or she, knelt over the block on which their head lay. The executioners axe did not always cut through on the first strike nor did it often hit its target accurately.)


In 1938, Adolph Hitler decreed that all future executions be done by hanging or guillotine.


Time Magazine Article (for future ref):

 

Time Magazine – Monday, Feb 25, 1935 –


There was scarcely a word in the papers. No one would mention it by telephone or letter, yet everywhere that Germans met last week, behind locked doors where no servants could hear, they talked of nothing else. What had happened to the beautiful Baroness von Berg? Would she be beheaded? Had she already been executed? Was Baron Sosnowski in jail? Had he been sent back to Poland?


For a year details of the story have been leaking out (TIME, Nov. 19). Baron George (“Yurek”) Sosnowski is an extremely handsome young Pole who served gallantly in the Austrian Army, loves women, excitement. Deeply infatuated with him was the beautiful Baroness Benita von Berg, a blonde whose first husband was Richard von Falkenhayn, son of the late great General von Falkenhayn. Berlin society knew that it was to escape the influence of Polish Baron Sosnowski that beauteous, divorced Benita married stolid Baron von Berg. Curiously, all four remained friendly, all went to the same parties. Sosnowski’s parties were enough to set Berlin gossips hissing like snakes. People not invited insisted that there were buckets of champagne, sexual orgies.


About a year ago the mother of a Frau von Natzmer, well-born German girl serving as a secretary in the Ministry of Defense, went to the Ministry to complain that her daughter was being made to work too late at night. The official whose secretary she was knew that she had done very little overtime work. He reported the matter to Nazidom’s secret police.


Last February Baron Sosnowski gave another party, officially for his latest protegee, a dancer. Berlin’s half-world knew what to expect. With glittering eyes they hurried to his apartment. This time a whole cordon of secret police were waiting at the door. Many times had the Baron Sosnowski been suspected of espionage. No charge ever stuck. He blamed his luck on a curious signet ring that he always wore. Several weeks before this last party he lost his ring pulling the Baroness von Berg’s puppy from a canal.


All the guests, over 50, were rushed to jail, many of them kept there for days without a chance to change the evening clothes that they had come in. Then the weeding out started. One of the first to be released was Baroness von Berg’s first husband, von Falkenhayn. He turned out to be a member of the secret police himself.


As iron Nazi secrecy clamped down, the Sosnowski case became a lurid legend, strictly censored in the German Press, totally baffling to correspondents until they were able to tell the U. S. Embassy that languishing in jail and possibly about to be beheaded for “treason” was an inoffensive young U. S. music student, Miss Isobel Lillian Steele. Diplomatic pressure forced Germany to disgorge Miss Steele (TIME, Jan. 7), even the secret police finally admitting that she was guilty of nothing. But the music student had been innocently acquainted with Baroness von Berg, proceeded to spill all sorts of Sosnowski facts, and is now hard at work in a Manhattan hotel dashing off Sosnowskiana for tabloids and writing a book.


In Berlin last week the Sosnowski case finally reached its grim denouement before the People’s Court. This is packed exclusively with Hitler appointees, five of them aviators. Only the Realmleader can alter its judgments, which take precedence over the German Supreme Court, kicked by Nazi New Justice into discard. Normally the People’s Court lets its sentences of death be known only after the guilty heads have been chopped. Last week by a great exception underground Berlin grapevines got out word that the Court had sentenced Baroness von Berg and Frau von Natzmer to death, had let off with life imprisonment Baron Sosnowski and two unnamed female employees of the Defense Ministry. Only one question remained, would the two doomed German women die by the Nazi ax, or by the method to which spies are traditionally privileged, a firing squad?


To find out anything whatever at Plotzensee Prison, even when correspondents arrived armed with official passes, proved almost impossible. Not until the enormous prison hearse drew up and two bodies were slid in, would anyone reconstruct what had been done in the cold, misty dawn.


“They were shot,” said officials at first, then “They were beheaded.” Accustomed to such bare-faced lies, the newshawks patiently pecked for details, finally satisfied themselves that an axing had occurred. With the backs of their heads shaved bald, the Baroness von Berg and Frau von Natzmer were led in coarse, nondescript prison garb to the blood-caked block from which so many heads now roll in the sawdust. The headsman, incongruous in his yellowish celluloid shirtfront, his old silk hat and his red-spotted tailcoat, raised the gleaming ax. Twice it swished down to sever a lovely neck and send the blood of a German woman spouting high. According to Nazis, the Baroness von Berg was the first female aristocrat to lose her head to their New Justice.


 


 


Sadly, I have no known solid connection to Kaspar Hauser.




1 year ago – losing weight, palm doodles, subway buskers, bluetooth, female health, restless sleep, clicks down, bro contact

2 years ago – fiddling with layouts, queen, cute newt on the patio pic, genographic project, wayfaring, logophile, about trees, euro tests, 3d museum, time-travelling chiro

3 years ago – no eclipse, ed-mv/st, The end of Kim Possible, Newton-cat animation, FL sheriff abuse of power

4 years ago – Frog & manatee palm doodle, city of heroes goes to 3 servers, condos, recovery

5 years ago – Babar Mourns, bro stuff, poem/hat

6 years ago – elephant armor, SOP

7 years ago – easter, usa backs out of kyoto protocol, bob ross, GiftiesGeotarget

9229 – Monday – palindrome… May a moody baby doom a yam?

Help me. I have the “One Day At A Time” theme stuck in my head.


This is it! This. Is. It.

This is life, the one you get
So go and have a ball.

This is it! This. Is. It.

Straight ahead and rest assured
You can’t be sure at all.

So while you’re here enjoy the view
Keep on doing what you do
So hold on tight we’ll muddle through
One day at a time, One day at a time.

So up on your feet. Up on your feet
Somewhere there’s music playing.
Don’t you worry none
We’ll just take it like it comes.

One day at a time, one day at a time.
One day at a time, one day at a time.
One day at a time, one day at a time.
One day at a time, one day at a time.



 and I were working on the same frequency this morning, regarding gags about prying the gun from Charlton Heston’s cold, dead, hand.



Body mightily resisted getting out of bed this morning, but I had to do it. Home now… only 4 more days until the next weekend!

Chris drove me to my stop this AM, but BHK picked me up. It’s hard to spend even 8 hours away from her, after I’ve been so spoiled by a 3-day weekend. We zipped to California Tortilla for dindin, and now we’re going to have a lovely night!



It’s getting warmer, and the trees are getting greener every day. Sure, I’ll be hot and sweaty sometime soon.. but then we’ll have fireflies.

Every season has something awesome.



DC pics from Friday for later ref – this area, mostly. Our walk was about 3-4 miles total, but the ground was hilly.. I wonder how much more that added?



S6301821.S6301822.S6301824.S6301823.S6301539.

S6301541.S6301542.S6301543.S6301544.S6301561

S6301562.S6301564.S6301565.S6301566.S6301567.

S6301568.S6301569.S6301570.S6301571.S6301572.
S6301573.S6301574.S6301575.S6301576.S6301580.
S6301581.S6301582.S6301583.S6301584.S6301585.
S6301586.S6301588.S6301590.S6301591.S6301592.
S6301593.S6301594.S6301595.S6301596.S6301597.
S6301598.S6301599.S6301600.S6301601.S6301603.
S6301604.S6301605.S6301607.S6301608.S6301609.
S6301610.S6301611.S6301613.S6301612.S6301614.
S6301615.S6301616.S6301619.S6301620.S6301621.







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1 year ago – old shacks, karaoke, easter bunnies everywhere!, wetter walking or running somewhere?, openoffice easter egg

2 year ago– devo on fridays, lost, icon, SL designing, virus trained to build batteries, false alarm abduction, hurricane stockpile, took over
haikuarena, quizzes

3 years ago– Dr Russell, MASS, undercover brother, kitty cuteness, meet force with force, walkabout pictures, America we stand as one, BCT commercial

4 years ago – +20 min, underage girl charged with child pornography, LSD

5 years ago – creaky, PotC, Bro

6 years ago – put all of oz on my palm, boat name poll, vending machines, Newt activities

7 years ago – laundry, Herb KornfeldGeotarget

9199 – tues

Workity work lived up to its name – there was a lot of hustle today, still catching my breath at the bus stop.


I really want to see the John Adams series, but no HBO. I guess waiting and getting it on Netflix will have to do!


50 things I’ve done meme continues with item 36. I…

36.’was a pretty avid gamer, back in the day. At my peak, I was playing in 4 different groups a week. (Granted, some of the groups had crossover – GP and Kat were in two of ’em) I tended to compartmentalize my buddies back then – for whatever reason, I liked to keep the potatoes separate from the corn and the meat on the plate. Some friends-groups were linked, like GP & Kat, while others rarely even knew I was “gaming around”.

Best gaming group ever was probably with just GP and Kat… “Brave and The Bold” stories. Two heroes, each of us got as much airtime or limelight as we wanted, and precious little lag from pokey party-members. The 4-6 player groups were good too, but when you don’t have to wait so long for a turn in combat or a say in dialogue… it’s the best. My biggest issue with extended groups is dealing with loners (sure, works in comics, but everyone else has to go into standby while they’re off doing their own thing and hogging everyone else’s play time. Best solution for that is probably keeping a character journal, and giving the GM a *brief* list of character developments between sessions. It’s just not polite to go toddling off. I don’t mind it as much when it goes sort of hill street blues style, where groups split off together into 2 teams, dividing and conquering… but that can make things slow,too. 2 to 3 players is about perfect. (4 with a gm).. wait a minute, I think I’ve covered this a bit before.

It’s funny, but I have a mental block about most of PM’s characters I recall Black Lotus (because I ran solos for her), but I don’t remember anything more about harlequin, aside from the name. She had a swordy person, a ninja-y person, a horse-trainer, a shadow controller, some sort of fairy-friend in the Ars Magica game… but most of the names and personality slip my mind.. I think mostly because she kept her characters quite secret, though pretty heavily detailed if you did get a chance to read backstory or . I can remember Doug’s Kit, KW’s Chrysanthemum, and of course Danny’s White Bow and Man of Iron quite clearly, for good or for ill. Tony’s Silver Hammer and Russian Ben Grimm knockoff. All told, everyone had a good time.

Oh- Minglegrin… that was the name I was looking for. I can’t make fun of the name much… character names like miniMAX, Zero, Parabola, Trism, Luhki Hornblower, Doc Firestone, Chuck Hurler – not to mention character names I can’t think of off the top of my head… the albino ape from the earth’s core and the grumpy cop from the paladins game that was paired with Danny’s loony officer.


A very cool Planet of The Apes timeline. (movies, TV episodes, and etc) – GP, you might want this as a character reference!


I Am (No) Scientologist, Will Smith Says – Moviefone – I guess the boycott is off then for Hancock! BHK is happy, I’m sure.


1 year ago – Behind the Mask, Tigger Adopted!, whistle blowers get some clearance,

2 years ago – bethany, st patty plans sacked,

3 years ago – much work, webjay, Danny invite, George, potential condo piccies (many mock the pre-move decor)

4 years ago – Astronaut Jones, Square Bear, speak and spell, Frank R paul, I create an fdle syndicated lj

5 years ago – iwo jima in the rock garden, I start using jarhead, wish for peace

6 years ago – facemaker, cab stacking, poem tag, timeline, roles I’ve filled, cool bunker

7 years ago – cartoon logic that works, alice, I want tasty snack food, lone gunmen, workplace desiresGeotarget

9073 – Wednesday – Heed my warning!

David came by tonight – arrived at about 8pm. He’ll be here through the weekend! Larry came over for a bit and we all had a little powwow after BHK’s tasty supper of faux chicken in real yummy noodles and mixed veg.

Tomorrow after work, I suspect we’ll be jamming a bit at the blue house… Larry and David on guitar, me on bass.. have a few amps over there already, and we can get a little loud if we like.


Hitler, Frankenstein battle for votes in India

Think Barack Hussein Obama has it rough campaigning for president with a name like that? The Illinois senator has nothing on Frankenstein Momin. Or Billy Kid Sangma. Or Adolf Lu Hitler Marak.


Bill Hicks died fourteen years ago yesterday.

From his positive drug story – “Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.”


Random Scotto factoid. I’ve been accused of being a psychic more than a few times.

Ray, you might want to move that, before the kitties knock it over. (Ok, that’s an easy one.. but you… the one in the plaid. Put that down.)


In the vein of yesterday’s garfieldless garfield, see also Lasagna cat.


1 year ago – crazy happy (and I’m crazier happier now!!), mad dvd, mark millar says video games are for pedophiles

2 years ago – apes and mr rogers, whiz, walkies

3 years ago – asked for change at every turn, music and pie, bro maint, striking, long weekends, bk commercial evil, walkabout pictures

4 years ago – Images, missed calls, made an offer on a condo, lj-spam, walkies, matchstick rockets, gorilla basketball

5 years ago – doc, news, Mr. Rogers, eckerds sucks, palm-doodle

6 years ago – OSI closes, tardbucket, 1980 jc penney catalog, 3-minute noir

7 years ago – hurricane names, wacky news, poot, Be courteous, kind and forgivingGeotarget

9029 – wed

Dreamt of the boardwalk coming to life like a Japanese Umbrella Monster. Why? Now I wonder how many 100-year old things are in the house. I’m guessing not much, save for a few books and coins.

BHK made a tasty pseudo-chicken / broccoli / alfredo noodle dish… I scarfed down two full bowls of the stuff… and they were not little bowls. The in-laws invited us to chinese food, but I think that I came out way ahead with what I got.


Nifty Iron Man art meme, reminds me a bit of the batgirl one done way back when… I wonder if GP and/ or Kat will do one? I dig Paul Conrad’s stuff.. and all of ’em are groovy. See Also the Stan Lee Tribute page.


Meme from eryx by way of count marius

1. What bill do you hate paying the most?
Condo side-stuff

2. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner?
With BHK, every dinner is pretty dang romantic! Out, I’d say the greek restaurant before golden compass.

3. Do you regret losing your virginity to who you lost it to?
No.

4. If you could go back and change one thing what would it be?
I don’t know… maybe get better results on my back operations.

5. Name of your first grade teacher?
Mr Adams

6. What do you really want to be doing right now?
Chilling with the Mrs.

7. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Super hero, Cowboy, pirate, army man… the usual. First career choice was tech-guy.

8. How many colleges did you attend?
PBCC, FAU, and Miami – three!

9. Why did you choose the shirt that you have on right now?
BHK handed it to me as I got out of the shower!

10. What are your thoughts on gas prices?
It seems people will pay anything rather than investigate alternate modes of energy and transport.

11. If you could move anywhere and take someone with you where would it be?
BHK and I to a comfy cottage in vermont, maybe? Or even someplace closer to work, but further from fallout.

12. First thought when the alarm went off this morning?
Where’s the snooze button?

13. Last thought before going to sleep last night?
Where’s Pye?

14. Do you miss being a child?
Some parts yes, but mostly no.

and where is 15?

16. What errand/chore do you despise?
Well, not despise, but anything that involves me on my hands and knees, or bending too much… scrubbing floors or ironing is yucky.

17. If you didn’t have to work, would you volunteer?
I would volunteer at a charity (or charities) of my choice, sure!

18. Get up early or sleep in?
Sleep in, usually!

19. What is your favorite cartoon character?
Hm. I dig classic cartoons, like Daffy Duck a lot.

20. Favorite thing to do at night with a girl?
Depends on my mood and the girl!

21. Have you found real love yet?
Absolutely.

22. When did you start feeling old?
I’ve gotten creaky in the back since my teens… but I don’t feel really old.

no 23?

24. Your favorite lunch meat?
Cheeeeeese! Cheddar is always nice.

25. What do you get every time you go into Wal-Mart?
I don’t think that there’s a regular thing… chips and soda, maybe?

26. Beach or lake?
I like lakes a trifle more than the sea… but both are nice. The bay is a happy medium.

27. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual?
Depends on how you define it. I’m certainly in favor of my marriage!

28. Do you own property?
Me and the bank.

29. Favorite guilty pleasure?
Guilty, not so much, but I do like lounging indoors and having a personal day here and again.

30. Favorite movie you wouldn’t want anyone to find out about?
I’m not easily embarrassed.. I do like Adventures in Babysitting, and that could be classified as sort of feeble.

31. What’s your drink?
Diet Cream Soda is tasty! I’ll go for diet cherry pepsi, diet mountian dew or diet grape giant, too.

32. Cowboys or Indians?
In general, Cowboys.

33. Cops or Robbers?
In general, Cops.

34. Who from high school would you like to run in to?
Steve Jacoby, Cameron Scott, Larry Barnes, Mr. Cornell, Driana Maher

35. What radio station is your car radio tuned to right now?
Hard to say, but I’d guess XM radio U-pop, 1940’s or Motown.

36. Norm or Cliff?
Cliff is pretty hard to beat, but I think I’d prefer Norm.

37. Grey’s or ‘The Office?
The Office… never seen Grey’s

38. Worst relationship mistake that you wish you could take back?
Poor behavior around friends in general back in the 90s.

39. Do you like the person that sits directly across from you at work?
Nobody really sits across from me… I guess if I drew an imaginary line from my facing through the office, I’d hit Donna.. she’s cool, I like her.

40. What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
Hmm… Tony Shaloub? Who’s buying?

41. Indoors or Outdoors?
Both, please!

42. Have you ever crashed your vehicle?
i’ve been in a few crashes, and yes, I’ve bumped into another car way back when.

43. Have you ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose?
Yup! outdoor fire out of control.

44. Last book you read?
If Chins could kill. Currently reading Soon I Will Be Invincible and Storm Front depending on if I’m carrying the hardcover or just my palmtop.

45. Do you have a teddy bear?
There’s one in a little bomber jacket and goggles around here somewhere!

46. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth?
Camping along the peace river… not that strange!

47. Somewhere in California you’ve never been and would like to go?
The Tar Pits

48. Do you go to church?
Not religiously, no.

49. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or a new relationship?
Well, I’m happily married, so the career gets the reboot!

50. How old are you?
38


1 year ago – voice post – pretzels and candy corn

2 years ago – mr t happy dance, stayed in watched kong, hobbit house, MLK day, falling sand toy, palm doodle, deadly sins meme

3 years ago – Rainy lazy mel-day, bonnet house, literati with resilience, fictional substances, fooling around with image searches

4 years ago – Cycloptic Goat, Fontifier, Aesop, etc

5 years ago – Newt Pic, Manatees, Harry potter, palm wait at doc, sanctity of life

6 years ago – cool invention poll, thoughts about human rights progressing, magic spell over Taiwan, books read, How to take a punch, and my first notification that I was being published in UA2.

7 years ago – Custard the Dragon, Beautiful and Not-so-beautiful Words, Botticelli reminding me of mah sweetie, Michelanglo on Censorship, and a few dead links. Geotarget

8 years ago – Newt was Neutered!

9032 – mon

Happy Birthday, graypumpkin!
monkeybday

BHK picked up Trauma Center, and it’s pretty darn good… the instruction is sparse, so you learn as you go. I didn’t like that aspect initially, but I rather like it now. You can surely tell it’s an imported game. We played it over dinner – I had spicy lentil soup and BHK that the ale & cheese. Yummy, filling, and just right on a cozy evening at home.


I wonder how a place like this works.
Is it something simple, like marking the rooms with colors that match a wristband?
S6300411


Some more autumnal minipics –
.S6300544 .S6300543 .S6300542


1 year ago – gp bday, no viva broward, condo interrogation, humans b gone, work time fun, afterlife, fallen art

2 years ago – rs promoted to “office manager”, existential supplies, on call, mcd’s veggie Indian fare, gp bday, sketchplanet, tightrope bear, weather rough, creepy doll pic, zodiac killer poll

3 years ago – GP b’day, more office bricolage, image searches, friendy-meme, crime-scene creepy crawlies

4 years ago – RSP poll, Gamma World Memories, How to shave a cat’s nose, FCC shenanigans

5 years ago – Sniper strikes again, weird news, Cool Rubik’s Cube, Bookworm (it’s on my palm, as I type), Nice thoughts, Painting minis, AW community gets uppity. it’s now deleted. Rote 560 with my bike in front, bathy-Newt

6 years ago – Colloidal silver, geek test, memories of my first adrenaline rush, Los Dias de los Muertos, pieces of eight

7 years agomet agent orange, lite brite, 2am french toast run, painted desert dreams Geotarget

8934 – Wednesday!

So, it’s August… only a couple of weeks until BHK’s birthday, Father in-laws birthday, and we’re looking to have Emily over in a weekend – and then the all of the Newsoms over perhaps two weeks after that. Emily is about 5 years old now, and she reminds me of little bit of Wendy, way back when 9even though Wendy was maybe twice that age. I still remember acting like a monkey with

 for her, over a decade ago. Ook ook, extend the upper lip, scratch the noggin and the armpits, do a bowlegged walk… still brings a giggle to the young ladies. I doubt the Wendy would as be amused these days… she’s got to be 21 by now? maybe 22? She’s probably into more “grown-up” pursuits. I wonder how she and Marty are doing?

Thoughts for Emily’s visit.. Baltimore Aquarium, Blink (maybe try Uno?), Walking on the Boardwalk / Beach, Playstation, Fireworks, and the Candy Store. None of those are set in stone and there are other possibilities, too.

Hey, it’s August first! Happy Lughnasadh, the holy day of Lludd!
(If you celebrate it… I don’t generally do so myself, but do like to say the word Lughnasadh. )

To celebrate, here’s an agricultural pic from our garden, taken just this week.

Pepper pic from the garden – looks better large-wallpaper size.
DSCN5893

No relation to the holiday, but also recently seen –

Also seen – Dump trucks while I was riding the subway at about 60mph
DSCN5895

Been busy, have some game and book links, dear journal!

New joystiq review of Icehouse (also Enemy Chocolatier ), and as a result, found a place to play games online in real time.

You’ve got to download a small Java app (gamut ) (though they are working on an HTML implementation), but it’s clean, quick and fun if you can find folks to play with.

Back to reading on my ride in the subway…until I find some tv show that BHK doesn’t want to watch to put on the PSP. just finished Red Nails – getting my pulp fix on. Plenty free and legal to read here. Just scroll down to Howard,( Robert E. )

via uncert

  • “Turning Heat Into Electricity Through Sound”: pretty much what it sounds like. A group in Utah has made a gadget where thermal gradients drive air currents that produce sound waves, which are turned into electrical signals by piezoelectric transducers.
  • “All-Optical Magnetic Recording: a Dutch group has written information onto a magnetic material using polarized light rather than the usual magnetic heads (like in a hard disk). This could potentially allow faster disk writing on smaller scales than can be done with magnets. Just think how small your next iPod could be…

1 year ago – sharks don’t have knees, boiled eggs, yoga, map issues, Dave nose-operation, 4-sec frenzy, Theoi project, FOLEDs, grammar rock, man tosses a car, hungry ghost month, TS Chris

2 years ago – peaceful Sunday, Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla, PB-J time, Grizzly Golf Attack is true, “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.”

3 years ago – Rob Shea Quote, appropriate for E-journals everywhere, I played with mercury, JL meme, music, Dave, Rain, Social entity, first hints at Mike-drama, search shortcuts, albinos of the 19th century, echolocation alarms

4 years ago – crazy dreams, Kate Bush, starmark poops but new gig, writing systems, non-castaways on gilligan’s isle

5 years ago – istockphoto, dead links, Shitou Xiqian, smiled at, fortune cookie, walkerbot, Liver Eatin’ Johnson

6 years ago – hungrybaby, New Apes movie lame, wiseacre, Champions stats for the Shadow, Dwayne Dibley?, Poul Anderson passes away, LJ moves in space

7 years ago – Everway character- wanders the storm pathGeotarget Geotarget

8913 – Thursday

Neighborhood shakeup tonight at about 7pm – A minivan chasing another – apparently the second vehicle had 2-4 people inside with the side doors open and guns showing. The vehicle being chased was honking and swerving all over the place to avoid being shot.

BHK called 911, and the response time was *terrible*, and she was never questioned by the police for a report on the matter. I’ll be investigating that situation more tomorrow after work.

I’m just glad that she’s ok.


Random factoids and semi-specific things about people I know (or knew):

My brother is *really good* at shucking oysters. At least 4-5 times faster than me, or 2-ish times faster than anyone else I’ve ever met in the service industry.

My wife is a superb analyst, and can get to the core of a matter quite swiftly. She’s going to be an awesome lawyer. (and dangerous gamer)

Steve Jacoby has some beautiful children, and has the makings for a pretty cool dad.

Tina keeps a lovely home… everything is crisp and neat, even with a pair of kitties, a bunch of birds, and living the software company lifestyle.

Bruce can make me misty with just a bowl of cheerios .

Ray has a very real skill at blending words and experience into story.

Kathleen has a great memory, to the point of us calling her queen index when we were gaming. If she doesn’t have knowledge, she can find it fast.

Cyn has a fantastic skill at illustration, both on paper and skin.

Doug Wu has a near encyclopedic knowledge of comics from the silver age. Knows more than anyone else I’ve ever met.

Danny is a mill that grinds slowly, but exceedingly fine. He’s a living example of “the devil is in the details.”

Father-in-law is loved by everyone he meets. *Nobody*, and I mean *nobody* has anything sideways to say about him. That’s amazing.. and due to him.

Mother-in-law is a superb cook. Some wicked good queso, for example.

Mother is a master multitasker. I’ve never seen her with too much on her plate.

Wilton is an excellent carpenter – can put all manner of stuff together with quality and speed.


Got a calendar? Circle this date: Sunday, August 12th. Next to the circle write “all night” and “Meteors!” Attach the above to your refrigerator in plain view so you won’t miss the 2007 Perseid meteor shower.


LONDON (Reuters) – Lawyers and judges are to break with centuries-old tradition and cease wearing horse-hair wigs of white fake curls in non-criminal cases, the head of the country’s judiciary announced on Thursday.

The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, said new dress rules would mean the requirement for the wigs, which legal professionals have worn since the 17th century, would not be needed in civil or family court cases.

Wing collars and bands can also be dispensed with in such cases according to the reforms, while judges will need just one gown in future instead of a variety of colourful outfits currently required.
The wigs will still be worn in criminal courts.

“At present High Court judges have no less than five different sets of working dress, depending on the jurisdiction in which they are sitting and the season of the year,” Phillips said in a statement.
“After widespread consultation it has been decided to simplify this.”

A review carried out in 2003 found that more than two thirds of respondents wanted to eliminate the wigs in civil cases, although most said criminal court judges should still wear them.

Opponents of wigs thought they were anachronistic, as well as uncomfortable and expensive.

A shoulder-length ceremonial wig costs more than 1,500 pounds while the shorter ones worn by lawyers cost about 400 pounds each.

However, the idea of abolishing them has been met with disapproval from some lawyers who feel the wigs give them an air of authority as well as anonymity.

“While there will never be unanimity of view about court dress, the desirability of these changes has a broad measure of agreement,” Phillips said.


1 year ago – venture bros good, lj ugly nav bar, bye bye black rhino, angel / shovel / burrito, simulated lost case-630am, Arvis book in comments!

2 years ago – Last Day w/Magda, invisi-bro, chrono-lifting, breakfast foods, zombies invade sca event, crab, autostitch bus, minor drama, commendation

3 years ago – KoL, Bollywood, Patriot Act, Felix the Cat

4 years ago – sleep troubles, Andromeda Strain, 4-legged man , system crash – modem drivers (Service pack 4 for win2k caused Norton trouble) , Stalin vs Hitler comic, newtcam pic, discovered title-tags, strickland a/c die-lemma

5 years ago – more swell chatties, Roanoke (including odd reply from Boughman), Dreams of Lake Conoy with zombie mist, sweet possum sugar, mother goose

6 years ago – Evil news, riposte, dream of the jungle, If I were… meme, time, sleepy, Dumbass Tenochtitlan Saucermen,chat, aura colors, personality disorder test, Louvre

7 years ago – Bad things with April, super power question Geotarget

8878 – taxes and memes and comics, oh my!

Google may digitize Michigan State University’s Comics and Pulp Library. (via beaucoup kevin )

With more than 150,000 items, the Russel B. Nye Popular Culture Collection is a major scholarly resource for the study of popular culture from the 19th century to the present. The initial emphasis was on American popular culture, but materials from other countries are now collected as well. While not the largest of its kind in the nation, MSU’s popular culture collection is one of the most usable because of its early adoption of coherent planning that focuses efforts on a limited number of areas. Prominent in those plans are comic art; popular fiction including dime novels, story magazines, pulps, juvenile series books, detective fiction, mystery fiction, science fiction, western fiction and women’s/romance fiction; popular information materials including almanacs and etiquette manuals; and print materials relating to the popular performing arts. Collection parameters evolve to follow trends in popular fiction, recently expanding to include gay and lesbian pulp fiction. Noteworthy elements of the collection include a nearly complete set of Deadwood Dick dime novels and substantial numbers of Tom Swift and Horatio Alger books. In addition, the Comic Art Collection is a research collection of more than 200,000 pieces serving national and international scholars. The strengths of the comic art collection are U.S. comic books, European comic books, U.S. newspaper strips and works on the history and criticism of comics. Less extensive collections are maintained for African, Asian and Latin American comics; fotonovelas; animation; cartooning; Big Little Books; and comics tie-ins. Materials held include the Yellow Kid beginning in 1895 and the Famous Funnies No. l comic book from 1934. The emphasis is on graphic storytelling in the newspaper comics or newsstand comic book tradition to present a complete picture of what American comics’ readership has seen, especially since the middle of the 20th century.


Why don’t poor people save more money? Because they’re better off not to! At least according to a new study from the National Center for Policy Analysis. The LA Times reports :

Low-income households face “astronomical” penalties for saving, according to the report by the National Center for Policy Analysis. For example, each $1 saved by a single mother earning $15,000 a year could cost her $2.60 in higher taxes and lost government benefits.


I escaped from Starbase Scottobear!

I killed Ambassador Jennylee, Ldy the Dalek, Christin the space pirate, Applelard the awful green thing, Uberbastard the medibot, Inkygypsy the tribble, Suigeneris 56 the awful green thing, Za Pick the psychic agent, Za Distro the tribble, Za Links the cargobot, Hulk Smashy the cargobot and Ambassador Kevin Church.
I salvaged an Evandorkinian artefact, an Acoolsecretaryian artefact, the Log of the USS Creepcake, an FUZZYBUMBLEBEE-160 phaser, an ILLUMINATION-30 plasma rifle, a HERBS-8800 supercomputer, Myid8myego’s commbadge, an MNEWSOM-70 phaser, an FALLENTOAD-60 phaser, an Edbookian deathblade, a Chandraian raygun, a Sedefendendo screwdriver, an Intrepidite screwdriver, a PARKS-9200 supercomputer, Kat78731’s commbadge, the Log of the USS Za Moon, the Log of the USS Fivefootmayhem, a fantasygoatlithium crystal, the Log of the USS Sebab and 331 galacticredits.

Score: 1071

Explore Starbase Scottobear and try to beat this score,
or enter your username to generate and explore your own space adventure…


I’m kind of digging this interactive paper concept.GeotargetVisitor Map

8844 – the ides of may

Ides of may. I miss my pop today – This is the anniversary of his death, but I’m not feeling as melancholy as I have in the past. It has been many years now since he passed away – 18 years, I think – just about half a lifetime ago.

Mom got a call from bro last night – he went before the judge and has 6 months at a work camp. He doesn’t know when he’ll be transferred, but he won’t have probation after that. I’m not sure if he’s getting off easy or hard.

Most of my challenges these days are physical or financial – those can bleed over into the mental, emotional and spiritual sides, but for the most part I’m doing quite well. I really like my new life here – I can understand why so many Florida expatriates have such little desire to return. There are some things that I miss, like the water taxi and a few of my more well-beaten paths around Broward & Dade, but they don’t hold a candle to the new stuff that I’ve been enjoying and looking forward to. Crime concerns are greatly diminished, not counting Baltimore or DC – and the people here have a small-town sort of feel. A lot of very polite and kind folks that are good about making me feel welcome can do wonders for any atmosphere, though the bay is beautiful in and of itself.

BHK and I are watching the dust slowly settle around the house – the blue house is pretty much empty save for a trunk and some light misc. I still have a few things in Florida storage, but aside from my bike, I don’t miss much of anything there. Most of what I miss about Florida is no longer in Florida . I miss gaming with Ray and Kat, but they’re in Texas , now. I miss goofing with Kev, but he’s in Gitmo. I miss hanging with Steve and Brent, but Brent died, and Steve is in Seattle . Doug is in Seattle , too. My Bro is pretty much lost to me.

Danny’s still in Florida , and I miss doing stuff with him. He should be heading out to us this summer during vacation.

BHK got me a Blueberry Vanilla Ice for after work – it was a welcome closure to the work day. Got a haircut in prep for tomorrow’s thing.

blueberry vanilla shaved icemild blueberry vanilla shaved ice


1 year ago – bird flu / monkey pox, walkabout, podcasts, newtcam pics, jack lemmon, hoot, saucermen, exploding pants, bus ride poll, hail,

2 years ago – MP gift, pabst t, won rum, don lapre’s vitamin, personality defect, walkabout pics, monkey at large/safety in numbers, vampire sugar fuel cell, florida medicine is stupid, I smell good

3 years ago – first palm doodle on new palm, wireless sync, pics from houstons (hypno-orb), Library of Alexandria Discovered, Bones Found In Bag At Florida Cemetery

4 years ago – palm doodles, dreams / reflections on the old crew, chicken hawk cards,mailbox mystery, lunar eclipse, first use of publix grocery deliveries,Teen Girl Squad #3

5 years ago – saw waking life, dream thoughts, prep for star wars expedition

6 years ago – evil news, tumor thoughts, astley gives me defective hardware, humors,hunger-poll, Tsarist Russia photos in color, Paid users get fasterservers, Florida JokeGeotargetVisitor Map

8758 – Thursday

Had a pretty straightforward day – Chatted a bit with graypumpkin online about gaming, road trips and whatnot while I was doing online research about gigs and following up on resumes (not to mention found info about MCSE server 2003). BHK helped a great deal by taking care of othe rbusiness out of house, and visited Tina upon her return.


Via brass goggles and fridgemagnet, by way of phillykat

(Strongly suspected to be a relative of Newton and Pyewacket) Kiddo, the first transatlantic cat by airship!

Kiddo, with Melvin Vaniman, chief engineer of airship 'America' - photo used by kind permission of the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC Kiddo’s name is unlikely to be familiar to readers; however, he was the first cat — maybe the only one — to cross the Atlantic Ocean (well, almost) by airship. He was a grey tabby and belonged to one of the crew members of Walter Wellman’s airship America. Wellman (1858-1934) was an American explorer, aeronaut and journalist. In 1910 he and five companions attempted to cross the ocean, leaving from Atlantic City, New Jersey on 15 October that year. Kiddo is said to have stowed away in one of the lifeboats, and really did not enjoy his first experience of flying, mewing and howling and generally getting on the nerves of the first engineer, Melvin Vaniman. The America carried radio equipment — the first aircraft so equipped — and apparently the historic first, in-flight radio message, to a secretary back on land, read: ‘Roy, come and get this goddamn cat!’

Kiddo was unceremoniously stuffed into a canvas bag, with the idea that he would be lowered into a motor-boat beneath the airship; but the weather was too rough to make the transfer and so the cat remained on board. He soon regained his equilibrium and his spirits, and indeed the crew found him ‘more useful than any barometer. You must never cross the Atlantic in an airship without a cat,’ as the navigator Murray Simon put it. ‘He is sitting on the sail of the lifeboat now as I write, washing his face in the sun: a pleasant picture of feline contentment. This cat has always indicated trouble well ahead. Two or three times when we thought we were “in” he gave most decided indications that he knew we would be shortly getting it in the neck.’

The airship broke all records for continuous flight up to that date by remaining in the air for 71½ hours, but unfortunately came down at sea just 475 miles (760 km) short of her destination. The crew, including Kiddo, were rescued by the steamboat Trent, with Simon reminding them that it had been a good idea to bring a cat, as they have nine lives!

A tumultuous welcome awaited them in New York, and Kiddo achieved celebrity status by being displayed for a while in Gimbel’s, one of the leading department stores of the time, where he reclined on soft cushions in a gilded cage.

He retired from aviation to live with Walter Wellman’s daughter, but Vaniman was not so fortunate, as he died when the airship Akron, on which he was making another Atlantic attempt, exploded on 2 July 1912, killing all on board.


Moment of Lyric –

8746 – Sunday

Breakfast with Tina, and then Amy, Bhk and I went to Annapolis again, this time, we saw Ghost Rider! It was a fun movie, if weak in a lot of areas. Good job of camp + comic-book scary. I made the same observations to BHK that Graypumpkin did here, where he also recounts the bizarre synchronicity between north beach an austin life.

(points of Honda Element, Orange-ish and Blackish- kitties, disease, mexican food and loving mates in particular)


Squirrel Tracks by our bridge! They have since turned to water, and remixed nicely.
squirrel tracks! (by our bridge)


1 year ago – compusa saga continues, C&C generals, Li’l Bit 6!, song meme, newtcam up,

2 years ago – Lil Bit #5!, basketball w/danny, netflix du jour, loonatics 2.0

3 years ago – There 2.0, stress

4 years ago – expected last day at FMM, web-subscribers, barbie sex, Nordis hoses me.

5 years ago – Newt wakies, proxo, palm entry, haiku/ D&D class alignment

6 years ago – SOP, Territorial, haiku combatGeotargetVisitor Map