Ridureyu's House of Madness: Finding the Graveyard Duck Since 1988!

Me and My Caffeine

2006-05-05T02:58:00.000-07:00

Understand, I drink tea rather often, sometimes a little soda, and I'll take a normal coffee from time to time. Thus, I'm not exactly unfamilar with caffeine.

Well, tonight was one of my graduate classes, and I felt really tired beforehand. So, I said to myself, "I think I should get some coffee."

That's fine, right?

"Hm, I think I'll try something new. Why, that drink looks good!"

The name of "that drink" was, "HURRICANE."

Yes, I tried a coffee called "HURRICANE."

So, what happened in class?

I listened, took notes, contributed when the class was supposed to speak....

fidgeted...

...caught myself beginning to hum quietly (nobody else noticed)...

...nearly knocked down some books...

...And finally, right when class had ended, I noticed something.
As well as taking notes, I had been creating an image on my computer.
Yes, I did not consciously realize that I was creating a picture using MSPaint. Well, I was, and here it is:

Warning: HUGE image link!

This is now my current desktop image.

So what else happened? I took a long route driving home (Going waaay out of my way to go to the local FLGS, ramble at the guy behind the counter, and buy some cardless Gnome Fighters),
came home, and then had a caffeine headache for about an hour.

What's the moral of this story?

The HURRICANE is too much. Just a little bit too much.

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME NEWS!

2006-04-02T18:48:00.000-07:00

As you all know, I have a sister. I tend to mention her from time to time (once in a while). Well, I have another - here is a closeup photo of her hand:

Do you see anything significant?

THAT'S RIGHT! SHE'S ENGAGED!!!

As of 9:45 this morning, my sister is engaged to be married! And it couldn't be to a better guy!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!

Duane designed the ring himself. The diamond is actually such high quality that you would need a microscope o find any flaws.

Here are some pictures from the announcement:

I swear I'm gonna do something with this blog

2006-01-19T00:53:00.000-08:00

In the meantime, CLICK THIS LINK if you're brave. If you're REALLY brave, Click THIS one instead

Why Blog Posts Have Been Sparse Lately:

2005-12-19T14:52:00.000-08:00

H521 Modern European History

15 Textbooks

Book Review 1 A 100 92.18 10%
Book Review 2 A 100 93.86 10%
Book Review 3 A 100 94.06 10%
Book Review 4 A 100 93.5 10%
Book Review 5 A 100 94.44 10%
Comparative Essay A 100 93.89 15%
Historiographical Essay A 100 94.21 25%
Discussion A 100 92.39 10%

(EDIT: Added Material)

WOAH

I now present to you an installment of REALLY WEIRD THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE.

I just got my grades back today from this last graduate semester - I got a 4.0. A's in everything. Obviously, I was pretty jazzed, so I started to call up some concerned friends and family about the grades.

I was about 4/5ths of the way down the relevant phone list when I accidentally misdialed a number:

(unfamiliar voice) "Hello?"

Me: "I just got my grades in, and... wait a second, I think I got a wrong number."

Voice: "Um, this is Gary."

Me: "Hi, Gary - yeah, I think it might be a wrong number - um, Gary what?"

Him: "Gary Gygax."

MOMENT OF SILENCE

Me: "Wait a second... Gary... Gygax?"

Gary: "Yes, from D&D."

MOMENT OF SILENCE

Me: "Wow, well, um, Merry Christmas! This is quite a wrong number."

Gary: *laughs* "Merry Christmas to you, too!"

Me: "Wow, I hadn't expected that. Well, sorry about the wrong number, and have a good week!"

Gary: "You too!" *laughs more*

CALL ENDED.

I checked, and it WAS a wrong number I dialed, not some friend playing a trick on me. I also checked the wonderful internet phone directories, and the number that I dialed belongs to a Gygax, Gary in Wisconsin.

Now, how's THAT for a coincidence?

In case you don't know, Gary Gygax and David Arneson are the guys who invented Dungeons & Dragons.

(EDIT) PROOF! -Gary Gygax acknowledged the phone call on an internet message forum.

KING KONG

2005-12-15T16:32:00.000-08:00

I just saw the movie this morning....

...Understand, the 1933 King Kong is one of my absolute favorite films EVER, and the 1972 movie is one of my absolute LEAST favorite films. We don't discuss "The Mighty Kong," either. So, I was a little bit apprehensive going into this movie.

I was blown away. I left the theater speechless. The movie was.... wow. Just wow. Now, for some specifics.

"They used CGI! CGI is soulless!"

Not true. It's not the medium, but HOW you use it. I've seen some pretty soulless animatronics, stop-motion, and men in suits before. While I agree that the original King Kong was fantastic, stop-motion would NOT have worked in this new movie. CGI has now reached the point where it can be seamless - the graphics for Kong were so good that I honestly couldn't tell that it was CGI most of the time. The few times that I did, it didn't detract from the experience - after all, you can REALLY tell that the 1933 Kong was a stop-motion model. CGI was used in such a way in this movie that I could feel the same heartfelt breath of life that was in the original movie.

"But they're differing too much form the original movie! Why is it inaccurate?"

If you really think that a remake should be frame by frame, look at the 1998 remake of Psycho. See how bad it was? Okay. This movie is different form the original. what this movie is NOT is the preachy, dated, tereotypical, stupid 1972 movie. This film captures the SPIRIT of the original - captures the adventure movie, the commentary on society, the tragedy, the ape-meets-girl love story, the depth of the characters... it was really fantastic. Peter Jackson has come a long way since The Frighteners.

"But Jack Black's not a serious actor! He's a comedian!"

Right. Tom Hanks is a comedian, why are they casting him in serious roles? And what's with putting Robin Williams in serious movies? Come ON!
*ahem*
Actually, Jack Black impresed me beyond all measure. He turned Carl Denham into a three-dimensional character hwo you cared about - he wasn't a pale stareotype or a caricature, he was a flawed human being who went through some genuine character development by the end of the film.

"There's too much action. The old movie had a T-Rex fight, so peter Jackson made THREE?!?! Come on, that's silly!"

It was also a very good, riveting scene that wasn't unbelievable or "in your face EXTREEEEEEME." Remember the Cave Troll in LOTR? Similarly, Peter Jackson made this an excellent scene.

"Why didn't they follow the same monsters as the original? Why make up things like that stampede or the bugs?"

Well, do you really want to see a carnivorous brontosaurus and stegosaurus? I thought not. The roaches, leeches, etc. were in a way in the original print (as spiders, lizards, and ants), but that footage was cut. I'm surprised not everyone here has heard of it.

"What the heck did they do to the natives?"

They were realistic, that's what. Not every primitive society is a noble Savage utoipia of love, peace, and happiness. The nativdes on Skull island live in an environment of death and blood. Likewise, their religion seems to be about as vicious as the Aztec religions. All they know is killing, so it's no surprise that they act the way they do.

"But you can't recreate the original!"

Exactly. That is why this is not a frame-by-frame remake of the original.

Sure, there were a few tiny flaws, but there was nothing that I had to apologize for. It's simply amazing. Amazing.

And that's my two cents.

POLYGAMY

2005-11-20T20:01:00.000-08:00

Now I know I've got your attention.

Evidently, someone in my church has started teaching polygamy recently. Please note that I am in no way connected to Mormonism, nor do I live in Utah. And yet, there he is. This unnamed individual's plan is to marry about fifty mail-order brides and raise an "army of sons" to "run his businesses."

You know those little privately-owned ATM machines that show up from time to time? He owns about five of them.

And apparently needs fifty sons for that.

This guy is normally a pretty nice guy - as long as you don't criticize hinduism or scientology. He's a genuine volunteer, and always wants to help - in fact, he forces himself to help in every situation, which usually has disastrous results. once, he helped with the sound system fo rthe church service, and caused the lights to shut off. One time, he tried to fix a drain clog and actually destroyed the piping.

Somehow, I think that this isn't the end of it.

Bloodstains and Oranges

2005-11-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

Here's today's random picture.

Yesterday was amusing. I should have realized how it would go when I woke up, walked into the living room, and the dog immediately vomited on the floor. His diarrhea came later.

There was an issue with a file that I needed for work that hadn't arrived, but that's best left as-is - the humor goes away if I talk about how long it took to actually get the file in an e-mail - and hey, it's office talk. You know, Dilbert.

Although it was kind of funny when I cut my thumb and didn't realize it. Nothing like suddenly noticing all the BLOODSTAINS on your clothing, right?

Lunch was nice. I ate an orange. Then I realized that the orange had gone bad and was FERMENTED.

At least I made it to a gas station after noticing the needls was on E.

And that one soda didn't explode in my face - I managed to angle it away in time.

You know... I love life. If you look at yesterday as having happened to someone else, it becomes hilarious. Anyway, I'll wrap this up with something meaningful - a picture from a coworker's wedding!

Southern California can be Beautiful, you know?

2005-10-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

Sunset or nuclear attack? You be the judge.

Anyway, to try to sum up the last week and a half of my life...

-One friend of mine had a baby. CUTE li'l thing.

-The other friend's six-month-old baby is crawling, babbling, and teething. Also cute.

-I have no babies. Anybody want to help me solve that?

-I've finished several book reviews for my class. Nice reviews - I've also kept up with the reading (16 textbooks), and wow if this isn't teaching me a lot.

-My first slow week at work in a long, long time. Naturally, this means that I can get more homework done.

-We cleaned a lot of debris out of the garage. I think we also found Jimmy Hoffa's corpse in there.

-The Final Fantasy series has great monster design. Just wait until I start posting pictures of the FF Creatures volume 5 figures. Here's a teaser:

Funny thing:

2005-09-25T23:03:00.000-07:00

It's not every day that Anaheim, California has cheaper gas than Pocatello, Idaho.

HA HA HA!

(EDIT) it just dropped to $2.74 today.

Fire in the Sky

2005-09-21T23:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the large images:

But wow, Southern California can be beautiful sometimes. It's rare when you have a double rainbow, but the rest of the sky overshadows the rainbow itself.

Of course, the thunderstorm directly after scared the wits out of my dog. He hid in the closet all night, and refused to be comforted.

Aside from this, we are finally recovering from the summer madness. By "recovering," I mean suddenly sleeping in and sounding like drunks. Just the other day, I said "zombie" instead of volume, and "sun" instead of "phone."

"I need to turn down the zombie."

"The sun keeps ringing."

Need I say more?

I like board games.

2005-09-13T00:34:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let you know.

Machines are stupid.

2005-09-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

Ever have one of those weeks where you just knew everything was going to go wrong?

In the last week, the following household appliances have broken:

Our water filter
Our water heater
My computer's power cable
Our refrigerator
The toaster
Dad

In case you're wondering about the last part, my dad is so tired today that he can't go and preach tomorrow - he was basically a zombie for all of Saturday. We're worried about his health, and I think it might actually be hitting home.

Aside from that, it's been life as usual here. I climbed Mt. Baldy with an old friend who was visiting us - I plan on editing down and posting some of the images. It's really amazing that such a beautiful place exists only an hour away from the house. Of course, hiking up a steep ski slope that consists primarily of loose gravel isn't exactly the smartest thing in the world... but it's fun!!!

So, do I have anything special to add tot oday's post? Anything funny?

Just another image:

VJ Day 60th Anniversary

2005-09-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

For those of you who didn't know or were too distracted to realize, September 2 was the 60th Anniversary of VJ Day, when Japan surrendered and the Allies won World War 2. Nowadays, we like to complain about how nobody ever wins in a war, how we're all doomed to be blown to bits by nuclear weapons, and how America should just stick to its own borders. Let's ignore political debate and look at what September 2 means this year.

-The A-Bomb is 60 years old, and it has been sixty years since a nuclear weapon was used in wartime.

-Adolph Hitler has been dead for over sixty years. He never got to carry out his plan to rule Europe.

-It has been sixty years since Emperor Hirohito told his people that he wasn't God. Many Japanese committed suicide.

-It has been sixty years since Japan was so utterly devastated by war that America, once its enemy, pledged aid. Today, Japan is crowded and rich (recent recessions aside).

-It has been over sixty years since my now-late Grandfather got a purple heart for rescuing wounded men from a kamikazed aircraft carrier.

-It has been sixty years since France and Poland were under German Rule.

-It has been sixty years since we last trusted a communist government to be our allies. Many people have said that we were idiots because Stalin killed many, many more people than Hitler. I would like to point out that Hitler's reign was cut short, and Stalin got to rule until the end of his days.

-It has been sixty years since the last time the entire world was in open war. Not even the Islamic Terrorists have managed to accomplish this.

-Franklin Delano Roosevelt died over sixty years ago.

-It has been sixty years since America became the premier world power after recovering from the Great Depression

-It has been sixty years since the Cold War began, and people first started to seriously work on making Israel a nation again.

-And finally, it has been sixty years since Dr. Seuss drew political cartoons.

Danger: A Dangerous Toy

2005-09-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, I own this toy. No, it's not dangerous.

Anyway, I have a very short rant for today, since there really isn't anything resembling a major life update going on right now. Yes, my statement is baout Hurricane Katrina. I think that anything I say to express grief or sympathy at this will only seem cheap, so I will talk about another issue:

For the Democrats:
HURRICANE KATRINA IS NOT GEORGE BUSH'S FAULT. BUSH DID NOT OPERATE A GIANT WEATHER MACHINE.

For the Republicans:
HURRICANE KATRINA IS NOT HILLARY CLINTON'S FAULT. CLINTON WAS NOT DRILLING HOLES INTO THE LEVEES FOR FUN.

For the Christians:
HURRICANE KATRINA DOES NOT RESEMBLE AN EIGHT-WEEK-OLD FETUS. IT IS NOT MADE OF ANGRY GHOST BABIES.

For the Atheists:
HURRICANE KATRINA IS NOT THE CHRISTIANS' FAULT. MOSES DIED A LONG TIME AGO. (Yes, I am aware that Moses was Jewish. Technically, so is Christianity, so there.)

And to all of you:

STOP MAKING YOUR SIDE LOOK BAD.

Thanks. Please make sure that if you donate to a charity, you donate to a charity that actually uses its money to help hurricane victims. There are a LOT of shysters running around, and you've got to avoid them.

And finally.. have you noticed that I've started picking images randomly?

So, did I get a class?

2005-08-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

See this? It means that I have a class. ONE. FREAKING. CLASS. for the whole semester... BUT I GOT ONE, AT LEAST!!! Now to go buy the 12 required textbooks...

Darn you, Razorbabies! DAAAAAARN YOUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!"

Anyway, I want to spend the rest of the day talking about Ettercaps.

Ettercaps are cool. They're like spiders, but monkeys. SPIDER-MONKEYS, only they don't throw poop! Wouldn't an Ettercap make a good pet? You'd feed it bananas, and it would kill your neighbors! Ettercaps are purple, too. I like purple. Purple purple purple.

the moreys need a vacation...

Must restrain fist of death.

2005-08-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

Now that I've got your attention, time to give a life update!

I know that I haven't been posting recently, but I've been too tired to post - and the recent events have been: GUESTS/WORK/GUESTS/WORK/GUESTS/TOYS

See?

Matt Sinclair is visiting, but the poor guy chose an insanely chaotic week to come over.

Anyway, this week I had my first week of xlasses at California State University, Fullerton! So, after parking and spending $300 on textbooks, I sat down in a classroom and awaited my first class.

Dr, McLain, whom I had met with before, walked into the classroom, looked at me, and then said, "What are you doing here? This is an undergraduate class!"

So, it seems that there was a SLIGHT ERROR in my registration. For the last two days I have been trying to access their on-line server for registration - the server was full, of course. Finally, I went straight to the campus this morning to try another route.

After an hour and a half of parking, and another hour and a half of returning textbooks, I managed to wheedle phone and office numbers of several of the history faculty, and spent much of the day tracking them down and trying to get into their (all full) classes. I am about to head back to campus tonight to attend a class and petition to join.

So, that's the way things are today - funfunfun, eh?

Cars and Food

2005-08-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

I had forgotten that my car is white. Di dI tell you that? I had resigned myself to the odd, mottled, dingy grayish color that comes form not having it washed in over a month. It was also about a month due to have its oil change, but I couldn't manage to schedule either bit of maintenance for it.

Finally, I just woke up at 7:00 AM, and did everything before anybody else woke up. Now, my car runs smooth and happily, and is bright, gleaming WHITE again!

In other news, we had a massive banquet today. I will post the pictures, although this may cause your browsers to screw up more than usual:

I had a gourmet meal.

My father, a gourmet chef, prepared a special meal for some old friends who were visiting him - namely, the couple who inspired him when he was a teenager. Suthy and Rodena McClaine are great people, let me tell you that. Just so you know, everything here is homemade.

The appetizer before the meal: Three kinds of caviar with egg, sour creme, chives, and onions

The meal started with corn soup flavored with crab meat and avocado. Sadly, I did not think to take a picture of the soup (it was yellow). HOWEVER.....

The salad was truly unique. Raspberries on puff pastry that was filled with light cheese and flavored like pear, and garnished with pine nuts. You have no idea how refreshing this tastes.

Yes, there was wine with the meal - we had water, champagne (flavored with peach schnapps) and red wine.

Before the next course, we were given a little pallette-cleansing treat - raspberry and mango sorbet with dried coconut, served in an eggshell.

The main course was incredible. Smoked salmon, asparagus, and mashed parsnip - yes, that's parsnip, not mashed potatoes!

The dessert was TRULY fantastic. Homemade Creme Brulee topped with caramel. This is easily one of the smoothest, most refreshing desserts I've ever had in my life.

And that, my friends, is a meal.

Let's Have a Great Showtime!

2005-07-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

Read This Thread
I hope you have a fast connection. Remember those big posts I've made describing things like Guilty Gear or H.P. Lovecraft? This one is HUGE.

Anyway, I have finally finished registering for Cal State Fullerton. I'm paid and everything.

The Clonetrooper is doing a great imitation of how I felt at the beginning of the week concerning cleaning my room.
And yet, as of today... IT IS CLEAN.
You don't understand - while I was in college, it became a storage room. more recently, the furniture was removed. I moved SO MUCH stuff out of there, and threw out literally 10-15 heaping bags of garbage (mostly paper and cardboard waste). And IT IS DONE. DONE.

So, that's today - today was genuinely a GOOD DAY, and honestly was much-needed. I'll leave you with this image:

The heat is driving us nuts (and I had a birthday)

2005-07-25T01:11:00.000-07:00

If anybody wonders why I haven't been posting anything, I think it's ismple:

THE HEAT IS DRIVING EVERYBODY CRAZY.

Seriously - logical people are being illogical. Quiet people are getting angry. And for some reason, I suddenly have no ambition. graaagh.

Yes, this is real. It was aired sometime in the 1960s.

Anyway, I had a birthday on the 20th! I turned 24, in fact. The day was pretty quiet - we saw Fantastic Four, had some excellent food, and enjoyed the day. On the day AFTER, everyone at work threw me a party! earlier today, people were still giving me cards - this honestly surprised me. The best news, however, is that I finally have a new digital camera!

Yes, you heard me. A CAMERA THAT IS NOT HALF-BROKEN.

I swear, I'm keeping this one in a safe when I'm not using it.

So, finally... watch out for the heat. It'll drive you nuts.

Pants!!!! I want a decent pair of pants!!!

2005-07-12T00:30:00.000-07:00

Well, today was surreal.

It started perfectly normally - I arrived at the office, and went to work. Now, I have access to our on-line bank records (long story), so I usually print them out for our accountant. Have you ever had it where you were really tired, and you just phrased things strangely? Like when you said "could you... get... the thing..." when you meant "Fetch the mail for me?" Well, our accountant walked into my office, and she said, "John, could you... do the deed... for me."

There are about 50 bad ways to take that statement. The least of which is murder.

Of course, it was shortly after that when my pants split a seam. Underneath the zipper. At work. On a Monday, when I don't go home until at least 9:00 PM. Safety pins are a good thing.

And finally, a less funny note. On the way home, at the last real turn before reaching the small local streets, I had stopped at the red light and was about to turn when a truck came barrelling through the intersection, lost control, and crashed into a parked car. Another car slammed on the brakes, but still plowed into the truck, sending it flipping through the air. Debris was everywhere. I don't know if anybody died in the accident (we were shooed through), but I do know that if I had been a few seconds earlier, I would have been in the accident, and probably dead now. Thank God for the way that He works things out in this world.

So... how was YOUR day?

Final Vacation Post (Read Below)

2005-06-30T13:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I CAN'T fix the spacing. Somebody mentioned a float attribute? How do I change that?

Anyway, where we left off on the road trip:

After leaving the Redmonds, we had to drive east to Pocatello, Idaho - literally on the other side of the state. I want to again repeat that Idaho is gorgeous. Several of my pictures demonstrate this, but you really have to see it to believe it - and the towns with populations of 400/300/200/100 aren't that bad, either. About midway through, we managed to snag ourselves another driver - Steve, whose debut performance was when he tagged along with John & Brandon that one time we got lost in Malibu, and ended up at a Hindu temple.

So, after driving past the funnel cloud, we made it to Pocatello - an empty college town. Jeremiah McCarroll lives in a downstairs basement, and is hoping for a job. it was kind of sad that we could only stay overnight, and we're all considering giving him more company next year.

And then Brandon looked out the window to where some poor random girl was unloading her car. He began to make comments about how he should marry her - i.e., run out from the building shouting "MARRY ME!!!!" When she suddenly opened the trunk and climbed in! Naturally, this inspired the rest of us to peer at the window. Then she saw us, and we jumped down out of sight with much loud shouting.

Do I have to mention that the car disappeared in under ten seconds?

So, we spent the evening playing Lord of the Rings Risk. I love killing hobbits. Killing hobbits is fun. I still lost, though.

After leaving, the three of us motored through Utah - since absolutely nothing happened during those four hours (except for being mobbed by Mormons with shotguns, but that's another story entirely), and Arizona didn't have much, either. However, this leaves out Nevada, and Las Vegas.

Brandon: "John, what's a Flamingo dancer?"

Me: "It's not a pink bird."

Upon reaching my house (After dropping off poor, beleagured Steve), we realized that we had travelled over 900 miles in one day.

In conclusion, this was actually a great vacation - I look forward to trying to plan one like this next year, if at all possible. Maybe I'll have more free days, then.

Testing again...

2005-06-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

Has the phantom problem repaired itself again?

Well, if images are okay...

2005-06-30T00:54:00.000-07:00

I might as well post a big one.

Okay, it's not the images.

2005-06-24T23:20:00.000-07:00

any other ideas?

This test will quit after a few posts

2005-06-24T23:05:00.000-07:00

just trying.

Trying again

2005-06-24T22:57:00.000-07:00

THere's a theory that something in my sidebar (the title to a post?) is messing with my blog. let's see if I can push it down.

Testing...

2005-06-24T22:51:00.000-07:00

Is the spacing still bad?

Wha?

2005-06-24T00:43:00.000-07:00

Can anyone explain to me what just happened to my blog? The spacing is off.

Starcrossed Lunatics

2005-06-24T00:19:00.000-07:00

Tom Cruise Kills Oprah Winfrey

You know, I always knew that Tom Cruise was a Sith lord. But then, Scientology can Do that to you. Seriously.

Whenever somebody asks me about celebrirty so-and-so's relationship with somebody else, or whether or not I think somebody is guilty or innocent, I have a very simple answer for that.

It doesn't matter. They are insane.

Seriously. California is the world's biggest insane asylum (with the possible exception of Japan). Of course, this means that living here is more fun than not, but still - I really don't get the obsession over celebrities' personal lives. It's like poking a crippled boy with a stick. I mean, isn't it a given that they're nuts?

By the way, the Crusader's Club section of the faithdefenders.com site is now up - for paying members only, however. Still, it's nice to get that project off my back.

In conclusion, I guess that I will simply pursue my dream career:

ALLIGATOR TOSSING CHAMPIONSHIP, HERE I COME!

:-(

2005-06-22T00:04:00.000-07:00

Ginny Eating Popcorn

Ginny the Rat has died:-(

I'm sorry for the short post, but that's why. She passed away after a terrible fight with a tumor. So, let's all observe a moment of silence for the rodent.

I promise to be funny next time, mmkay?

Magic carpet ride!

2005-06-12T23:39:00.000-07:00

Ah, yes. The Road Trip was great. We spent most of our time in Idaho, and now I feel that I know the state inside and out.

Jason and Andrea Redmond seem to be making a pretty good life for themselves - this made me glad. The town where they live, Moscow, Idaho, is a quaint old-style town that I wish I had gotten more pictures of. It reminds me of Carlisle back in Pennsylvania. It's also a college town, and thus has some rather... unique characteristics.

For one thing, the leading hobby in the town seems to be Warhammer.

Jason gave Brandon and me coupon books that Idaho State U. was giving out. We noticed in about ten seconds that the coupons weren't just for fast-food. To quote:

Brandon: "Jason, shouldn't you be the one who uses these?"

Jason: "Quiet, you."

And then there was Tri-State, "Idaho's Most Interesting Store." I love this store. When you enter, if you look to your left you will see palletes STACKED with ammunition. To your right is a collection of pesticides and herbicides, and a poster titled "How To Start Your Home Brewery." directly ahead are riding crops and horseshoes, and upstairs is an entire section devoted to tents.

I love this store.

They wouldn't sell Brandon the type of gun he wanted at the hunting shop. Apparently, there are some sticky situations involved in selling a Californian an assault rifle. They also won't sell anything related to a 50 caliber rifle - which is sad, because those are great for hunting squirrels.

The school itself seems normal for a college. No, really. We ran into a guy who apparently decided to "improve' his bike by taking off the front wheel and riding it like a unicycle. When he took his shirt off, we knew that we had to get a picture of him. brandon has the photos, and they will eventually be posted here.

In short, Moscow is a nice little town in Idaho - genuinely refreshing when contrasted with, say, Anaheim.

Oh, and I added about ten new photos to My Photo Journal today. more of the trip!

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!

2005-06-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

I HAVE RETURNED WITH MANY GREAT BLESSINGS

...or something.

Well, Brandon and I just finished a road trip that covered roughly 4,000 miles - from California to Oregon to three places in Idaho and then back down through Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California again. So many things happened in this trip that I think I'll take many, many blog posts to talk about them. First of all, though, i IMPLORE you to check out My Photo Journal for a look at SOME of the photos that I took on this trip. There are about two or three pages' worth up already, and I will continually add more.

Today's post is going to be about a few little observations that I had early in the trip.

I know the I-5 as a highly congested ten-lane stretch of Freeway going through Los Angeles that I have to drive through to go to work. Last week, I got to see it as a two-lane road in the middle of the northern woods.

Apparently, I have Freak-Invisibility. All of the weird drunks harrassed Brandon, but never even noticed me. brandon developed a useful incantation whidh seemed to ward them off, though. Namely:

"Hey, you big crap-lobster! Why don't you pick on somebody my size?"

It took the fight right out of 'em.

Also, as we progressed further and further into the woods, we began to find some very interesting road signs.

$500 FINE FOR THROWING FLAMING OBJECTS OUT OF THE WINDOW

SHOW CAUTION WHEN FLASHING

LITTER AND IT WILL HURT

Oh, yeah.

Anyway, Matt Sinclair lives in a gorgeous house bordering the ocean waaaay up in northern Oregon. In Oregon, it's affordable. In California, it would cost a mint... do you detect a bit of jealousy here? Still, the sheer amount of beauty is thoroughly incredible - if only my camera were not in the process of falling apart for the whole week (I still got some really good pictures).

Well, that's today's installment... the next one will probably deal with idaho, and time on the road.

ROAD TRIP!!!!

2005-06-03T01:32:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that today's post is so short - I'm EXHAUSTED. Basically, for the last week I've been going crazy trying to get my work done in time for a short vacation. Brandon Cox (aka Chairman Mao) and I are going on a road trip this week. We are going to drive to Oregon to visit Matt Sinclair (The Bearded Maniac), and then to Idaho to see Jason & Andrea Redmond (Bonnie & Clyde) and Jeremiah McCarroll (the Human Calculator). I will give a much better post when I return. I promise.

Meanwhile, here is the rabbit that invaded our space the other week - ain't he a darling? (he also refused to sit still to be photographed).

Da Bunny

The Pope is in DA HIZHOUSE!!!!!!!!!

2005-05-26T23:49:00.000-07:00

I now present to you...

The Search For the Pope

This is, without a doubt, one of the LONGEST action figure cartoons/diorama stories that you'll ever see. Now, before you read it, I have a couple of things to say:

1. Yes, I know that the pictures are big. Hope your connection is good.

2. If you're Roman Catholic, don't be offended. Just laugh at it and enjoy yourself.

3. I used MSpaint for the entire thing. PH33R my MSPaint skillz.

And with that, I leave you to enjoy... THE SEARCH FOR THE POPE!

Also, here's a cool cover to a King of Fighters comic:

Get you the hot bullets of shotgun to die!

2005-05-22T23:46:00.000-07:00

There. Now that I've gotten your attention, I am here to say that the weekend has been SHEER CHAOS. It has had elements of the following:

1. Sudden Saturday Panic at the office, in which I discovered that I was not needed only after I arrived.

2. Lots of cleaning craziness.

3. The discovery of RABBITS hopping around the street.

4. Scotty learning a new attack: Butt-fu. When agitated, he will swing his rear end so as to clobber me with it.

5. Ruthanne's cool and awesome music recital.

Anyway, I'm also working on another big action figure cartoon - I WILL post it when it's finished. I just need another good topic to write about besides the typical journal stuff. Any suggestions?

Anakin got Owned

2005-05-20T00:21:00.000-07:00

Can anyone guess what movie I saw today?

Some people love Revenge of the Sith, some people hate it, others found it to be so-so.

I love it.

I seriously love this movie.

I NEVER expected to enjoy a Star wars movie this much - it's one of the first times that I can ever remember a movie outdoing its own hype (or at least the hype that I made up for it). I'm trying not to give spoilers... trying...

...GAH! I'll give spoilers in a week or two, when everybody's seen it. I'll post funny pics and stuff.

In other news, my mother got her cast today - it's neon creen! SIGN IT.

And finally, a non-spoiler about Revenge of the Sith: You get a quick two-second cameo that proves that there are indeed Neimoidian soldiers - they don't just use droids. of course, they have an action figure. Here's my opinion on it:

What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse.

2005-05-18T00:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, this lady does exist.

Now, with that out of the way, it's time for today's report.

My mom broke her ankle!

My MOMMY!

yes, at 23, I am still allowed to call her "mommy" and give her a hug. You got a problem with that? The ankle is fractured, but not separated. She's getting a cast and a wheelchair tomorrow. We have been PAMPERING her all day - seeing her in pain breaks my heart, you see. Of course, she's going to take the opportunity to be pampered, too - by the way, can I have four volunteers to make and carry a Royal Litter for her? Anything for momma.

My dad scared the wits out of us by going grocery shopping at the Ralphs under a mile away... and being gone for over an hour. It turned out that he made some side trips, but not before I combed the town looking for him. It WAS late at night, and all.

Well, was there any good news? Just little things - I got a rug for my office, which is nice. One of my coworkers won a trip to Las Vegas... right after he won a $1,000 shopping spree elsewhere. That's cool.

Anyway, I should hopefully get back to my usual hyperactively strange postings in no time - for one thing, STAR WARS is upon us!

And finally, who likes the new look? I FINALLY found a template that lets me post wider images, and I have sidebar links up - you can check out a few websites, my figuretoons, or the blogs of friends, family, people I went to college with, and others. Now you can see that I am not the only one with a wacky blog name. Not even remotely.

In conclusion, I'm going to repost an image from much earlier in this blog. So, which is weirder? Leopaldon, or that lady at the beginning of this post?

Blonde Joke

2005-05-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

Normally, I don't do this, but This Blonde Joke is awesome.

kermit Cortez

2005-05-17T01:42:00.000-07:00

Kermit the Conquistador?
(EDIT: LINK FIXED)

At least, that's the first thing I thought when I saw the figure.

Today was my dear mom's 57th Birthday - we took her shopping all around town, showered her with present, and gave her a backrub. words do not express how much I love my mommy - she's just plain awesome.

We also had a mushroom feast yesterday - everything from Morels to Chantorelles, and even a little bit of Truffle in there. It was one of the best feasts that I've ever had in my life, and could only be made better if they included that mushroom that makes you grow big and break bricks with your fist and stuff.

We also finished the Spiritual Gifts conference, which takes more work off my shoulder... dangit, I'm running out of things to say again. So, here's a picture of my friend boxing a cactus:

The cactus won.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho! It's Late at Work I Stay!

2005-05-12T01:27:00.000-07:00

So, I worked kind of late today. I got home sometime around 11:00 PM. We have that conference to prepare for, and for some reason the lecture notes/syllabus kept GAINING more errors every time I'd go over it! Microsoft Word: BAD. Still, it eventually ended, and I came home.

As an update, Tim came back to work today! He's gonna take a short leave and be on Disability pay for a while, but he's looking and sounding MUCH better now. This is a good thing, folks.

My sister had a few issues with the musicians - apparently, one of them decided to have a nervous breakdown in front of all of the others.

And to top off today's chaos, I almost had a car accident. A bus decided that it was time to switch lanes without warning and without a turn signal, and I had to swerve into another lane to avoid getting killed. Can I stay home tomorrow? Please?

Now, there are things that I wanted to add to my last post. Namely, that even the recent Justice League cartoon has been copying Lovecraft - in the episode, "The terror Beyond," that is. if anyone has this, or the Ghostbusters episode, please contact me!

The Call of Ichultu

Seriously, though - "Icthultu?" And as if that weren't already honest enough, the Superfriends were attacked by Practically all of Lovecraft's bestiary. Cthulhu, Dagon, even a Gug - it's good to see old celebrities back on TV, isn't it?

And to be honest, avoid movies directly "based on" Lovecraft's work. They usually suck. What's funny is that the Lovecraftian video games - Eternal darkness, for example - portray the basic feel of those stories far better. A good example of this is the fact that the Alone in the Dark video games are terrifying, while the movie was complete, utter trash. Actually, the movie wasn't Lovecraftian.

And that's that. A few more details here, a few more there. I might post more if I can think of something next time. I'm just too danged tired right now.

Also, here is H. P. Lovecraft's Entire Library On-Line

Cthulhu Fhtagn!

2005-05-10T00:29:00.000-07:00

Since nothing interesting has been going on lately, I've decided to fill you in on another one of my many myriad geeky interests. Note: Because my blog only allows me narrow margins without knocking everything out of whack (anybody who knows how to fix this, please tell me!), several images will simply be linked to instead of overtly shown.
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937)

H. P. Lovecraft was a sci-fi/horror author in the 1910's, '20s, and '30s. Although in his lifetime he never got published very much outside of pulp magazines - in fact, his work is still osmewhat obscure - he is an incredibly influential figure in the world of fiction. before we talk about his wonderful, wonderful monsters, here's a short discussion on the man himself.

H. P. Lovecraft had a nasty childhood, an abusive mother, and died in his forties due to complications brought on by malnutrition (he lived like a bachelor, and didn't eat right). Obviously, he wasn't exactly the most cheerful person. In fact, upon reading some of his letters (yes, even his personal correspondence got published), a basic list of what he hated can very easily be compiled:

America
Western Culture
Foreigners
Non-white people
White people
Humanity
Family
People who want to be friends
Dogs
Fish
Religion
His own appearance
Women
Marriage
Children
Adults
Games
Happy Fiction

Likewise, a list of what H. P. Lovecraft loved can also be summed up:

World-destroying monsters.

See what I mean?

Now, as a writer, Lovecraft wasn't perfect - to be honest, he suffered from a terminal case of Adjectivitis, and his stories were often composed primarily of build-up with a very weak climax. However, that is not what he is remembered for. Lovecraft is remembered for his imagination.

Try to put yourself in the 1910-1930 mindset. In all of the science fiction that was available, just about the strangest, most foreign thing that you could possibly think of were the martians from War of the Worlds. And then you read a story that describes a beast somewhat like this:

Cthulhu

That's Cthulhu, Lovecraft's most famous monster, and incidentally the star of The Call of Cthulhu, which is also his most famous story. Cthulhu is one of the "Elder Beings," a race of demon/alien/gods that roamed the earth billions of years before the first humans climbed out of the muck. Cthulhu itself sleeps under the submerged city of R'yleh, and will one day awaken to drive all men insane and end the world. There is a cult dedicated to awakening the Beast, and an investigation of this group culminating in a premature yet temporary revival of Cthulhu is the plot of the story.

He's big.

Does the idea of an evil-cult-out-to-reawaken/release-ancient-apocalypse-beast-with-tentacles sound familiar to you?

Like, oh, 25% of all science fiction or horror?

That is how influential Lovecraft's fiction was. His descriptions of the myriad monsters almost always left details to the imagination, but Cthulhu is one of the most concretely-described, mainly because of an idol of the demon that's central to the story's plot. This image is pretty ismilar to the rough (and sloppy) sketch that Lovecraft himself drew of the idol.
The Idol

Cthulhu is very popular. See that little video game picture at the beginning of this post? Those are from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (the Cthulhu enemies' names were swapped with another's in the American version, but the Japanese version kept them intact). Cthulhu also appeared in a Ghostbusters episode, titled Collect Call of Cthulhu:

He has also starred in a line of plush toys:

And an upcoming action figure:

The perfect Christmas Present

Now, obviously, there were more monsters than Cthulhu in Lovecraft's stories. The Shoggoths were mounds of eyes and tentacles, The Deep Ones were fishmen mutants that worshipped Dagon, there was a radioactive demon from a meteor, a fungus vampire beneath a house, the childbearing Shub-Niggurath, the chaotic Nyarlathotep, and Yog-Sothoth's two half-human children, which are so horrific in design that nobody seems to want to draw them. Cthulhu is actually one of the least-chaotic of all of the monster designs, as evidenced by such creatures as this "Elder Thing:"

And finally, because no discussion of Lovecraft can be complete without it, here is a picture of a member of the Great Race of Yith, which was far more advanced and intelligent than humans until they were wiped out by hyper-evolved beetles:

I love this author.

(EDIT) I am also going to add this - several artists' interpretation sof Yog-Sothot. Yog was never described, but his second "son" "looked more like him." Basically, all of these pictures are equally valid in their own way - although nothing any less chaotic would fit the beast WARNING: These are disturbing.
Yog-Sothoth

(ONE MORE EDIT)

I can't believe that I forgot to mention this. Ever hear of the "Necronomicron?" You know the random book-of-the-dead thing that's used in nearly every horror movie ever made? Well, GUESS WHO INVENTED IT?

Hint: It's not the exploding ninja.

Lovecraft's rendition of the book was that it was compiled/written by the Mad Arab Abdul Alhazred, and contains info on all of the different ancient things that are the focus of Lovecraft's stories. The book itself doesn't have any magical powers, and in fact there are plenty of copies in different libraries - but it's the TEXT that's important.

And there you have it.

Walk like a Chicken

2005-05-06T23:17:00.000-07:00

It's true. General Grievous walks like a chicken. I saw a short video clip of how he appears in Star Wars: Episode 3 today, and that was the first thing that came to mind - heck, his head bobs and everything! Mind you, I still think that the character is the apex of cool, even if he will forever remind me of McNuggets.

In keeping with the Star Warsy theme today, I got the soundtrack for episode 3.

I love it.

I absolutely love it.

Honestly, this music is outstanding - it's just as complex, foreboding, fast-paced, and grand as you could possibly hope for from the movie. the new "final battle" theme easily outdoes Duel of the Fates from Episode 1.

Now, we all remember how Episode 1's soundtrack spoiled everybody with "Qui-Gon's Noble End" and "Qui-Gon's Funeral," so the first question on everybody's mind is, "does this soundtrack spoil anything?"

Actually, I was quite amazed at how many plot twists were listed. of special note is track 10, "Yoda's Death," which is followed by track 11, "The Birth of Clone Yoda." Also something to mention is "Darth Vader is a Robot Who Kills Anakin," "Sidious meets Palpatine," and "Mace Windu Becomes the Emperor."

Just kidding.

Honestly, the soundtrack doesn't spoil anything that was either mentioned specifically in the regular trilogy or is given away in the trailers and advertisements. I noticed that in death-specific tracks, they usually went for "destiny" or maybe "battle," which is smart. Most track titles are pretty vague, like "General Grievous," or "Palpatine's Dark Teachings."

Would I suggest the soundtrack? Definitely. It is a lot darker than anything else that we've seen from Star Wars, but it still fits the series perfectly. I am so hyped for this movie.

And finally, here's a picture of the Most Evil Thing in the World. If you've ever played Metroid, you will know exactly what I am talking about.

Congraturation!

2005-05-04T22:07:00.000-07:00

"What's that?" You say? "An ad?"
Well, sort of. Please realize that the original ad was animated, and those bears were all bouncing up and down like rubber balls.

That, my friend, is the face of Disturbing.

I have a slight update on Tim - he's doing better, and it looks like the stroke might not have very many permanent effects. however, he is still in the hospital. In other news, we got our desperately-needed refinancing today at work! Now we can PAY OUR BILLS and enjoy other such luxuries!

besides that, I'm a little tired. Work is really, REALLY exhausting. Here is a picture of me doing my job:

Good News and Bad News...

2005-05-03T00:13:00.000-07:00

Spiiiider Man... where are you going?
The link from my last post has been fixed.

Now, the news.

I have good news and bad news. So... I'll give the bad news first.

Tim Owen, one of my coworkers and a really good friend, had a stroke this morning. We don't know how serious it was, but he's in the hospital, his speech is very slurred, and there is some paralysis. For the religious people who read this, pray for him. Please? I'll update when his condition changes.

Now, the good news:

I got my money back! The bank refunded the amount that was stolen from me last Friday... and locked my account so that no money can go in or out. This means that my paycheck that day was refunded, and I spent several days with $4 to my name. Wonderfully, though, I managed to get them to lift the lock, and life is back to normal for a little while.

My dad is feeling better! Still in pain, but definitely getting healthier.

And I gave a presentation - a book review on The Hidden History of the Historic Fundamentalists. Basically, I gave a 20-minute lecture complete with two handouts and time to answer questions. Considering that the chaos this week meant that I had two hours to prepare for it... well, everybody told me that it went really well, and they thought that I had spent a few weeks getting ready, so I guess it was a success.

And finally, I just want to say this. I believe that children are our future, unless we stop them now before it is too late.

Don't Look at the Death Star!

2005-05-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's obvious by now that the titles of my blog posts are modified versions of weird video game/cartoon quotations. Most of them are from Castlevania 2 (Graveyard Duck, Deborah Cliff, etc.). here's a good link to a lot of the zany dialogue from that game:

Castlevania 2

Anyway, with that out of the way, since there is no real news, I've decided not to end this post with an image, but rather a link to a song. Remember the Sesame Street-esque "Electric Company?" They guest-starred Spider-Man on a number of occasions. here is his theme song from that show:

Spiiiider Man... where are you going?

We Now Prossess Dracula's Rib

2005-05-01T00:47:00.000-07:00

The new website went up today!

Two days ahead of schedule!

http://www.faithdefenders.com

ANYWAY, obviously there is much joy and jubilation in the land.

In other news - something that I let my sister cover in her blog ( http://trinsan.livejournal.com ) (SOMEBODY NEEDS TO TELL ME HOW TO ADD THESE LINKS TO THE SIDEBAR), my dad's hernia operation yesterday went well - despite the fact that he had four hernias. He's recovering nicely, but in a lot of pain. The doctor told him that he's not allowed to lift more than five lbs... but he's too helpful for his own good. We have to practically tie him to the ground.

However, we have help.

Colin P. Akridge, who has been aclose and dear friend of our family for longer than I have been alive, has come by for a visit. It's absolutely wonderful to see him again, and it's also great that he will help keep my dad out of trouble! Colin is basically Uncle Remus in look, personality, and accent (this is not an exaggeration), and that's a wonderful thing. The Song of the South is my dad's favorite movie - and it is NOT RACIST.
For one thing, it's post-slavery. Remus is a sharecropper. Also, there were happy black people in the South. Sure, there were a lot of unhappy and oppressed ones, but even some slaves led decent lives - go look in any historical record. I'm not justifying slavery by any means (it was a wicked, horrible thing), but realize that not every slave was mistreated Roots-style. In-house slaves were often treated more or less like hired help, and some were basically members of the family. After slaver was abolished, Sharecroppers were only marginally treated better for the most part, but again this does not mean that EVERYBODY was mean to them. The Song of the South just happens to be based in a house that treated the sharecroppers decently.

Okay, that's my rant. Anyway, it's good to have Colin Akridge here. He's been one of our best friends for so many years.

I'll wrap this up with another image to celebrate the site:

Spectacular News!

2005-04-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

I finally found the option that lets me allow ANYBODY to post comments - not just blogger users!

Likewise, I need to know - does anybody have a clue on how to post links in the sidebar? Anybody? Anywhere?

And the Heroes Went Into Glory...

2005-04-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

Well, it's over. Not the website itself - no, that's a work in progress. But the mad rush to get it ready for Friday, yes, THAT is over! After a lot (A LOT) of pages submitted, glitches found, errors corrected, and some strangeness involving multimedia, it seems that the site will be ready for launch. Unfortunately, poor James is going to have to reconfigure the whole thing to run smoothly so that when the new site goes live on Monday, it'll be perfect.

I suspect that he will look like this by the end of the week:

So, I'll end today's post with The Subliminal Ball:

How Rude of Me!

2005-04-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

I made that gigantic post, and I forgot to mention James! James is the head webmaster, has programmed our database, and is above me in the ladder-of-command. Thus, he reviews everything I review, AND has to work with glitches. Basically, by the end of the week, he will resemble this:

Please send at least 60% of the relief checks his way. Thanks!

Countdown to Infinite Crisis

2005-04-27T00:38:00.000-07:00

The title of this post is the title of a comic book that just came out, and is leading into a massive series in which DC Comics' heroes all get dark and bloody, and boosts sales for a month only to end with the fanbase finally giving up after seeing happy-go-lucky heroes get shot in the head.

But that's not the reason why it's the title. I picked it because it applies pretty well to this week. ya see, this Monday (May 2) is the official launch date for the new and improved http://www.faithdefenders.com . What's wrong with that? Nothing at all, actually - it just means that everybody in the office has until friday morning to submit any and all content that they are responsible for. In short, the next couple of days will by and large resemble this riveting scene from a Japanese parliamentary debate:

Sorry about the small size, but you get the idea.

Also, I am the "Content Editor." Guess who approves everyone's submitted content?

No, not the fat guy with the beard.

No, not the G.I. Joes.

No, not Cthulhu.

No, not the exploding ninja.

No, not even Merman.

Indeed, not even Merman.

Give up? Why, it's me, of course!

Just to clarify, I love my job a lot. I really do. I just know what state I'll be in when all is said and done.

Can anyone here guess what that state is?

Yes indeed, Hoo-Haa Crazy!

I'll keep you guys updated on how everything holds up. Until then!

Living in the Land of the Not Lost, Just Taking the Scenic Route

2005-04-25T22:58:00.000-07:00

So, I've been taking pictures with my camera. Of course, plenty of them ended up being toy pictures, but that's part of the purpose of this blog, so NYAH! I decided to put them on Photobucket instead because there are a ton. They are of some of my Final Fantasy Creatures, a line of 3" highly-detailed, really nice-looking toys that are blind-packed and severely overpriced. It's better than buying drugs. ANYWAY, here are pictures of four of them: Vegnagun (FFX-2), Nemesis (FFX), Griever (FFVIII), and Neo Bahamut (FFVII). The other little PVC guys are 1" figures used for scale purposes:

Vegnagun's Face
Vegnagun
Vegnagun's Side
Vegnagun Disassembled
The symbol on Vegnagun's Underside (slightly blurry; I couldn't get the camera to focus on something that small)
The Designs on Vegnagun's Knees
Vegnagun's Giger-esque base
Vegnagun's Shimmering, transluscent wings
Vegnagun vs. Strog!
Vegnagun vs. Strog Backlit
The conclusion of the Battle
Nemesis' Face
Nemesis' Face from Another Angle
Nemesis
Side View of Nemesis
Nemesis on a cup
Nemesis' Claw
Nemesis' Torso
Nemesis' Underbelly
The Tassels hanging from Nemesis' Horns
Poor Strog Shouldn't Have Fought Nemesis!
Griever Against the Window
Griever's Face
Griever
This is how small Griever is
Griever's Wings
Griever's" Torso
Griever's Base (gotta love that tail)
Griever vs. A Random PVC
Neo Bahamut
Neo Bahamut close-up
Neo Bahamut's Face
Neo Bahamut's tiny, tiny arm (that's 12 point font in the picture)
Neo Bahamut's Base
Neo Bahamut vs. A Random PVC
Crossed Wings
All three in scale

Well, there you go! If you think that's a lot, try putting down the html for them all!

More like a Grocer than a Burglar

2005-04-20T22:51:00.000-07:00

So I was robbed today.

Nice conversation starter, eh? So, this morning, I checked my checking account to find that it had a dramatically lower amount than I had expected - $960 less, in fact. I ended up on the phone with Wells fargo for a long time, and here's how it works out: Any time that you use a debit or credit card to pay for something, the clerk has the opportunity to steal your number and rob you. Thus, a fraud report is being filed and I will have my money back in about 10 days or so. The good news? I'm going to get my money back. The bad news? I still got robbed! And yes, I will open a new account and transfer the funds there. This just feels creepy.

So, how was the rest of my day? Well, for starters, traffic was insane - people were passing me on the curb, driving over embankments, etc. I also had trouble parking straight today for some reason. My dad spilled a cup of tea into the stove, shorting it out and turning the gas on. Does anybody know where I can go to submit this dya to The Simpsons writers?

Still, when all is said and done, it's really not that bad. All is going to end well, after all.

Popesicles

2005-04-19T23:42:00.000-07:00

Just to explain what the deal was with the Camel Sleeping at Noon, it's a line from this comic: http://hn.iodized.net/16.htm

That was a part of the amusing Howard & Nester nintendo-based ocmics that were run in Nintendo Power, Nintendo's Propaganda magazine. Sometimes you needed to know the games they were talking about, otherwise they were just funny for the sake of it. Here's the full archive:
http://hn.iodized.net/main.htm

Anyway, in other news, I have a short rant about this Pope business. Has anybody noticed how all of the big evangelical pastors like billy Graham have been calling John Paul II "A great evangelist" or "A great evangelical?"

Now, bear with me for a moment. I could go on a long diatribe about throwing away religious convictions for the sake of political correctness, but there's another point that I'd like to bring up. Do any of them realize that they are insulting both protestants and catholics by calling the Pope a Protestant? It's like saying, "The dalai Lama is a good Hindu," "Yasser Arafat was a great Ba'hai," or "Jerry Falwell is an awesome Mormon!"

Anyway, I might as well end this one with an image:

The Camel Sleeps at Noon, but Not in Cleveland.

2005-04-19T00:18:00.000-07:00

What is the price of a good, long vacation? 12-hour workdays consisting of fixing the errors people thought you made but you didn't, only to find that nobody thought you did them but you did. Ain't playing catch-up fun?

Also, I learned about Camel Spiders. May I never learn about them again.

General Grievous is at it again.

Besides this, I have an amusing story tonight that's pretty telling about the state of television these days. We had the volume muted for a little while, you see. We un-muted it, and promptly heard this smashing piece of dialogue:

"Let's be colon buddies!"

With that, we changed the channel.

And finally, here is a picture of actor Michael Berryman with a monster mask.

Baby Crazy

2005-04-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, I promised pictures, and here they are - taken by my lovely and beautiful sister (except for the one of her with the baby.). My camera broke, you see.

http://www.trinsan.com/comfy.jpg

http://www.trinsan.com/sleeping.jpg

http://www.trinsan.com/meandgodson.jpg

http://www.trinsan.com/motherandchild.jpg

Back Home

2005-04-16T18:56:00.000-07:00

http://ridureyu.tripod.com/vacation01.html

So I finally made another one. Unfortunately, my camera is currently broken, so now I need to go get it fixed.

We had a safe trip home from the vacation, and I got to meet little John Daniel Barnickle today - he's an adorable, beautiful, well-mannered baby, and spent much of the time clutching my finger. I'll have images up when I can.

O

2005-04-14T02:01:00.000-07:00

We went to see "O" today. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's one of Cirque de Soleil's shows. How was it? It was beautiful - absolutely gorgeous beyond description. And one of the weirdest things that I have ever seen.

It's a hard concept to grasp, but O utilized the human body as art without becoming sexual or otherwise inappropriate. O itself is centered around water, actually, and the stage itself can rise and submerge when necessary. Really, it's so hard to explain - the experience was overhwelming. So much was constantly happening at once. You could be watching fire-colored contortionists on stage while trapeze artists cavort above, and then suddenly a man in a bathtub floats by with his hat on fire. The sheer beauty of the show has left me speechless, and if you are EVER in Las Vegas, the show is worth MORE than the price of admission!

I see Paris, I see France, I see... Morocco?

2005-04-13T00:29:00.000-07:00

Today we visited the Bellagio, The Paris, and the Aladdin casinos. While the architecture and art there are beautiful, Caesar's Palace is still my favorite.

Again, I urge you to check out http://flickr.com/photos/ridureyu for some nice images (Selected from the 100+ I've taken every day) from this week's vacation. Also, expect another "General Grievous on Vacation" slideshow, with some better-framed images. I'm really getting the hang of this forced perspective thing.

And finally, it's time for the big news: Matt and Julie Barnickle, my good friends, have just had their baby this morning! John Daniel barnickle is 8 1/2 lbs, 24" tall (NOT Long - he's a human being, not a piece of rope!), and about three weeks overdue. We were starting to make "Come out of your room!" jokes. Anyway, mother and baby are both really healthy, and we can't wait until we can go home and absolutely adore the baby.

The General Goes on Vacation

2005-04-11T01:27:00.000-07:00

So, how was our day today? Remember, the whole family is taking a week in Vegas. basically, we visited the Venetian, and had some fun. Actually, the whole story is better told through this:

http://ridureyu.tripod.com/vegas01.html

I also need to upload the video clip of a store magician making the figure levitate. Think of the whole thing like that "travelling Gnome" thing. I experimented to figure out the camera trick, and now I made an excuse to post it. Enjoy!

The Gear Project

2005-04-09T00:41:00.000-07:00

Well, ain't that a strange sight?

This is Leopaldon, the new villain in Guilty Gear Isuka, the latest game in one of my favorite video game franchises. He is also evidence that the man who has been doing the character design for all of the games has finally lost his marbles. There have been signs, of course, with characters like This, This, and This. Not to mention the subtler signs, like A.B.A.'s talking "weapon," or the fact that Bridget is a guy. Now, this isn't to say that all of the characters are insane. For every Robot with a misplaced spike,, there's at least one Holy Knight or vampire who looks just like one of my professors (How are you doing, Dr. Frazer?).

Anyway, http://ggxlol.highervoltage.net/ is where you can take a look at all of the characters, although certain plot-only creations (Like Raven and "That Man") aren't mentioned. And how's my vacation, you asked? We arrived, ate, and are going to bed. TOMORROW is when the reports will begin. For Tomorrow is another day, and we should rejoice and be glad in it!

2005-04-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

I'm going on vacation tomorrow. Obviously, I'll be gone for the whole week, but I will resume posting when I return.

Hit Deborah Cliff With your Head.

2005-04-07T00:05:00.000-07:00

More on the Graveyard Duck: http://www.flyingomelette.com/oddities/oddities4.html

I saw Robots today. great vicuals, some funny humor, predictable plot. It's still an enjoyable movie, but don't be expecting Shakespeare.

2005-04-05T19:57:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love malfunctions?

Image links fixed

2005-04-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

http://ridureyu.tripod.com/yoda-pants.html

All fo the images, here. Enjoy!

Second Attempt

2005-04-05T19:31:00.001-07:00

http://ridureyu.tripod.com/yoda-pants.html

Here are those cartoons I tried to post earlier.

2005-04-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

http://ridureyu.tripod.com/yoda-pants.html

Here are the cartoons from earlier, all organized for your viewing pleasure.

2005-04-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

Why do my sister's blonde friends keep biting me?

Fried Green Kermit

2005-04-05T16:46:00.001-07:00

Well, today was an event. In fact, let's start wiht last night. Our pet rat attacked our pet dog. No, really - the two have never even acknowledged each other's presence before, but last night, Scotty apparently spooked Ginny. So, she bit him in the nose. Both animals ran. Ginny was terrified, but soon calmed down. Scotty was bleeding through his nose! he responded by running around, bleeding on the walls, the floors, the furniture... I got him, held him, stopped the bleeding, and cleaned him up - he cal,med down when I had him. We had to drive to a 24-hour pet emergency clinic. They put him on antibiotics, and said that he'll be fine. Then he started bleeding again after hitting his head against things. All through the night.Needless to say, I was exhausted when I woke up this morning. Of course, I also had an appointment at the gym. Feltina, my trainer, said that I've really been improving... and also that I was kind of spacey today. After that, I had to run, do something at work, run home, shower, change, and go to Cal. State University, Fullerton, for my appointment with my academic advisor.Parking at CSUF is impossible. I drove around the campus twice before I found a space, and the machine for parking licenses took only $1's and quarters... I had $5's. So, after PANHANDLING, I started walking across campus. About a mile and a quarter later, I found the right building. Eight floors up, I found Dr. McLaine's office. We talked for a while, and I have a pretty good idea of what I'll be doing when I make it here.And right now? We're eating dinner with THE PREGNANT FAMILY. understand, all friends must have labels. Julie is thus THE PREGNANT ONE. Seriously. She's about to pop. She's having the baby tomorrow.I'll update next post.

Graveyard Duck?

2005-04-03T23:40:00.000-07:00

Many people have been asking me what the "Graveyard Duck" is. Well, it's the first of what will turn out to be several strange ever-changing titles of my blog. This specific one is about as obscure as you can get:

http://kalliope42.com/Main/pages/graveyardduck.html

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

2005-04-03T15:25:00.000-07:00

Midnight Madness

2005-04-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

Well, I might as well start the blog with an account of the last day or two.

http://forums.kinnikuman.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8354

The action figures for Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith were released today on April 2. Plenty of stores held midnight-opening events, and had exclusive figures. So, at Midnight last night, I went to Toys R Us. I arrived at about 11:00 PM, and was 15th in line. The chaos was HILARIOUS! People were charging the aisles, practically vacuuming up the toys - stockboys had to run to the shelves at a constant rate to keep up! it was a lot of fun, and I went home, preparing for even #2...

...Target was going to give out a special exclusive figure to the first few people at the store when it poened. So, one energy drink and lots of tea later, I was waiting with five other guyus a few hours before the stpore opened. We got our special tickets for the figures, shopped at Wal-Mart next door, and then came back to Target. In the end, I think I got pretty much everything I was looking for - and it was fun. hey, there's only going to be one Episode 3, right?

Now, for the fun parts - I joined a gym recently, and I had two exercise days in a row. Thus, my legs were kind of sore/crippled up all day. Also, I tried taking a short nap this afternoon, and it left me disoriented. Thing is, I still wouldn't trade today for the world. Getting to see other geeky collectors just like me; talking without explaining every term I use.. it was Nerdvana.