July 31, 2006
Ktreva had her favorite, the ever so rare Tangier Shrine Corvette Patrol 1962 Vette in Cadillac Royal Heather Amethyst. Only 13 of these cars were built, and one of the only surviving ones is on display at the museum. Now you could say she likes it because itÂ’s a classic, or it looks greatÂ… but truth be told itÂ’s because I donÂ’t care what color they say it is, it looks pink and Ktreva likes the color pink.
Me on the other hand stuck with my favorite. They did not have the 1992 Corvette ZR-1, but they did have a couple of the 1991 models, which is close enough. This was the car that I lusted after when I was a senior in High School and through out college. It was the first car I remember actually drooling over.
.jpg)
After the Corvette Museum we took Clone into his first cave, but not just any cave. The Lost River Cave. ItÂ’s an underground river that runs through a cave. You get to view the sites by riding in a boat.
.jpg)
IÂ’ve visited numerous caves in my lifetime, but I have never taken an underground boat ride before last week. There was a lot of history to this cave, and we had a good guide that not only liked to talk, but also at least sounded like he knew what he was talking about. Clone also developed an affinity towards caves. This was just the first of three we went into, including Mammoth Cave and Outlaw Cave. If it was up to Clone IÂ’m sure we would have visited many more.
Ktreva had a chance to go horseback riding. Since Clone was too young to go, and I have a strong hatred of horses, we stayed back while she took Boopie out on the open trail. While we were waiting Clone saw a chair lift for an Alpine slide. He didnÂ’t care about the slide; he just wanted to ride the chair. Can you guess what Clone and I got to do, thatÂ’s right, ride the chair lift. We also went go-carting and ate ice cream.
When Ktreva and Boopie finished their trail ride, we all went to Guntown Mountain. Which had a Wild West town on top of one a “mountain” (aka really big hill as none of these were actual mountains.) They had a chairlift to get to the top, which of course Clone loved. Maybe it was because we were there in the middle of the week, but it wasn’t that busy. They had some gunfights, a magic show and a couple of other shows they put on. There was a Can-can show that I dragged the family to. Boopie wasn’t all that interested at first, until he saw what it was. Hey pretty girls kicking up their legs showing off their petticoats and stockings are enough to get any teenage boy interested. At the end of the show the girls where selling off their garters if you wanted one. I didn’t buy one because my wife was sitting there with me and I didn’t feel like getting into that kind of trouble. Boopie was too shy to go up and get one, but not Clone. Heck no, he loved it; he went up paid his money and removed a garter from the girl of his choice.
.jpg)
ThatÂ’s my boy!
We had a lot of fun in Cave Country Kentucky, we spent two days there and where only able to do a handful of the attractions that we would have liked to have done. Including only one of the Mammoth Cave tours. The one tour we took there lasted for four hours and only traversed about three quarters of a mile of this huge cavern.
There is a lot of fun to be had in this region of Kentucky. All of the above attractions where with in 30 minutes of where we stayed, and many of them where in the same town. We enjoyed every minute of our visit there.
Tomorrow I will go into our next part of our trip and my visit to the Holy Land, the Jack Daniels Distillery.
Posted by: Contagion at
07:30 PM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 786 words, total size 5 kb.
July 30, 2006
Ogre won last year, IÂ’m wondering if heÂ’ll be able to repeat his performance.
Posted by: Contagion at
05:36 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 110 words, total size 1 kb.
Happy Belated Birthday Tammie!
Posted by: Contagion at
01:17 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 36 words, total size 1 kb.
We left bright and early Sunday morning for our first destination, Lafayette, Indiana. Our first stop was the Tippecanoe Battlefield. Unlike when Ktreva and I were here last February, the weather was nice enough for us to want to walk the battlefield. Well, it was nice enough for me to make the family walk the battlefield. We walked the entire field. Even parts of it where there were no markers. I didnÂ’t realize that when we started the walk, fortunately we avoided all the poison ivy.
Ktreva, Boopie and Clone in front of the Tippecanoe memorial monument.
After the Battlefield we went to the Wolf Park. Unfortunately our favorite guide was out of town that day. We ended up settling on one of the other guides. Don’t get me wrong, they were good, but it’s always better if you have your favorite. Clone wanted to go play with the “big doggies.” After some convincing that A) They were not doggies 2) The wolves probably did not want to play with him D) The people in the cage had training, he was okay with just looking at the “big doggies” play. We did learn why you don’t have pizza delivered to the park. Apparently the wolves loves them some pizza.
I never realized wolves, like humans, would get lazy and order pizza if they didn’t feel like “cooking”.
They tried to do a feeding demonstration, unfortunately after gorging on pizza, they where only interested in sniffing the deer. In fact one wolf sniffed the deer and looked at the handler like, “What, deer again?”
We also were able to see a wolf and bison demonstration. The park put three wolves in with a herd of bison to so the public could see how they interact. This is when we learned that other then pizza, wolves are the number one predator for Granny Smith apples. There were some times when the wolves would approach the bison, only to be driven off by one of the large adults. A whole pack of wolves versus a sick or young bison is a threat. One wolf versus a full-grown bull is just funny to watch. The boys learned about strength in numbers.
The Great Grey Apple Hunter
It was that night we learned of the sniper shootings on the Indiana interstates. In fact one of them was on the interstate we were traveling on. Great! That’s what we need on our vacation. Traveling with a three year old who hates to ride can be tense enough, throw in the big electric signs along the interstate that read, “WARNING! Report any suspicious activity on overpasses to the police” and the radio warnings didn’t help. Fortunately we come through Indiana with out any new ventilation holes in the van.
Monday morning we went to breakfast with Laughing Wolf, who had made it back to town. It was nice being able to visit with him again. It wasnÂ’t until we were back on the road that we realized that we forgot to get a picture of the family with him. We had meant to get one.
More photos and details of our trip will come later. For those of you that are interested in the supernatural, I have some very interesting photos from the Shiloh Battlefield. Right now itÂ’s just good to be back.
Posted by: Contagion at
12:55 PM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 619 words, total size 4 kb.
July 22, 2006
Then itÂ’s off on a weeklong, whirlwind adventure of Kentucky, Tennessee and now Missouri. IÂ’m trying to get a couple of bloggers in those states to come out from their shells, but so far it hasnÂ’t been too promising. I thought the image of a Northerner sweating in the ungodly southern summer heat would be appealing, apparently I was wrong. ThatÂ’s okay, it appeals to my shy and introverted nature.
IÂ’m going to try to make updates when I can, but no promises.
Posted by: Contagion at
03:22 PM
| Comments (6)
| Add Comment
Post contains 231 words, total size 1 kb.
July 20, 2006
After locking the ammo in a safe box. ItÂ’s rated for ammunition and the only key to it is on my key chain. I explained to the boys again, and yes even Clone, firearm safety. Just because he is three doesnÂ’t mean he should not learn about firearm safety. IÂ’m a firm believer that if you donÂ’t mystify firearms, it takes away the allure of them in children. After about a good hour education process I sent the boys to play while I cooked dinner.
I hadn’t been cooking thirty minutes when Clone comes running into the kitchen. Clone, “Dada, Dada, Brother has a gun.” Thinking that Boopie might be playing with the flintlock rifle I gave him for his birthday I come out of the kitchen, in a hurry. Nope, Boopie’s rifle is right where it should be; Boopie has a toy pistol made of metal that looks similar to my .357 revolver.
IÂ’d say I laughed, but I didnÂ’t. I was proud of Clone. He saw what her perceived as a dangerous situation and quickly went to get an adult. That people is proper gun control. The kind that is up to the parent to teach, not the kind where the government outlaws firearms. Oh, and before you ask, All of my firearms are secured and the ammunition is locked away where the boys canÂ’t get to it. So, unless they bring home ammunition from the Day Care, and figured out how to open the gun cases, they would not be able to hurt anyone with themÂ… well unless they started throwing the cases at each other.
Posted by: Contagion at
09:30 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 319 words, total size 2 kb.
Let's start with the bottle.
The label has cartoonish drawings on it reminiscent of the Monty Python's Flying Circus. The tag line is "Tempered over burning witches". Funny, but that would explain some things about this beer if it were true. The bottle itself has an interesting leaf and acorn(?) design on it.
I should have known better then trying this beer. I'm not a Monty Python fan, and I've only watched the Holy Grail when I've been drunk. In fact I pretty much dislike Monty Python. Which is a good way to start this review, "In fact I pretty much dislike Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale."
It has a hazy amber coloring to it. Light passes through it, but you can't see what's on the other side of the glass. (This is not necessarily a bad thing; I'm just letting you know what it looks like.) It pours a good head that seems to last. In fact I've been drinking on this beer for 40 minutes and there was still a head on it at the end.
There was a citrus-like aroma to it, with a hint of yeast and hops to it. There is actually a bitter smell to it. (And what the hell is up with all these bitter beers? This is three for three! I'm really getting tired of every beer I drink being a frickin bitter bastich!) Speaking of taste, weak. The first taste isn't bad; very light body to it and soft on the pallet. The original taste is not that bad, but it was weak. Where the bitter comes in is the after-taste. My mouth ended up tasting like it does in the morning after a night of drinking Miller Lite, except it was with in minutes of finishing about a quarter of the beer.
Overall I would rate this beer a 4. It wasn't so bad I won't drink it again, but I definitely won't shell out any of my hard earned cash for it.
Posted by: Contagion at
05:08 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 406 words, total size 2 kb.
July 18, 2006
Friday we arrived to find our friends Will, Red and their daughter, better known as Skye, setting up in the spot next to where we wanted to camp. As it was hotter then all get out, we busted hump to get camp set up. Then we ran into town for dinner and to pick up some supplies. We ate at a restaurant called Coyote Canyon; itÂ’s a steak buffet. The food is decent and reasonably priced. We were sat in a section where the girl clearing the tables looked like she was 16 and 8 months pregnant. She was also the fastest pregnant girl woman on the planet. I would leave the table for three seconds to get something to drink and my plate and flatware would be completely cleared away.
When we got back to camp we were visiting with Will, Red and Skye when another friend of ours, Jim, showed up and set up camp. Great! There is nothing better then re-enacting and being able to camp next to friends. Early on we decided we were not going to dig a fire pit. It was so hot that we didnÂ’t want one, and we had decided we were not going to cook this weekend, so it wasnÂ’t needed. We did have our campfire in a bucket, AKA citronella candle.
Saturday was so hot we spent most of the time sitting around under the shade of a tree talking. Normally I participate in the battle, but I really had no desire to go marching around in 9 yards of dark woolÂ… so I didnÂ’t. During this time it was discovered that Skye has a thing for me. Apparently, realizing I would never leave my beloved Ktreva for her, she went and found a replacement Contagion, A re-enactor from Indiana that also portrays a Scot. It was such a thinly veiled attempt to find herself someone as much like me as possible. All weekend I tried to not lead her on, as I did not return the feelings. However, her young heart knows what it wants and I had to spurn her affections many times. My sexy facial hair was driving her wild.*
The heat on Saturday was so bad that barely any people showed up. Word in camp was that the local news had advised everyone to stay inside if possible, and apparently the public listened. That and I swear the event coordinators are trying to kill this event. Last year they got rid of all the food vendors that truly cater to re-enactors. Fortunately, after much protest, they brought them back. This year it looked like the got rid of a lot of quality vendors and left some that really didnÂ’t need to be there. One of my least favorite vendors attends this event, and they have a lot of crap on their tables all the time. The event coordinators also donÂ’t appear to like variety. They had multiple shops that sold the exact same things, while other vendors that sold unique products werenÂ’t there. I can understand having multiple clothing vendors as they all have different styles and patterned clothes, but did we really need two soap vendors, three wood carvers, and 5 WallyworldÂ’s of the fur trade. (The discount store of fur trade merchants who sells everything from tourist trinkets and pseudo-Native American junk made in Taiwan, to Pakistani knives to cheap get-you-started period clothing.) There where some quality vendors there, but their numbers were thinning out.
Saturday night was spent again sitting around the “campfire” again telling stories and just enjoying the camaraderie of good friends. Sunday was pretty much a repeat of Saturday, only with a better breeze so we weren’t as hot.
Technically we didnÂ’t get rained on this weekend, but we might as well have. I had wet canvas. It was so humid that before dark, dew had started setting in the grass. By morning when we woke up, you could see the moisture on the inside of the tents and flies. When I stepped under my fly Sunday morning, I thought it was raining. Then I noticed it was the dew dripping off the tent onto me.
We had a good time, despite the fact that my inner organs are well done. What made this event fun was seeing all of our friends and socializing with other re-enactors. If it werenÂ’t for them, this even would have been a bust. The hot temperatures may have had a hand in the lack of public and activities, but I think the event coordinators really did a lot of damage too. At least three times over the weekend some inner squabbling between the committee members was discussed with in earshot of the public and participants. I just hope they get their act together and not drive the event into the ground. If it keeps going this way, I think there will be only three years more before we quit going.
For pictures of this event, check out the Spoon and Blade. more...
Posted by: Contagion at
06:19 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 921 words, total size 5 kb.
July 17, 2006
Over the weekend we (meaning I) did have some fun with it. We were camped with some re-enacting friends and all of them where getting skeeved out over the “Vast disgustingness” that was my facial hair. In the mornings I had food that had gravy, Saturday it was biscuits and Gravy and Sunday it was country friend steak and Eggs that had gravy. At one point someone applauded me for grooming my facial hair during my meal. They said they had seen others that would just leave the food in their facial hair; I at least made an attempt to wipe away what was caught in it. I had to explain I was not wiping the food away; I was using my hand to rub it in. That way it would hold the hairs in place and then later I could suck on it to get the flavor. Then I demonstrated by placing my beard in my mouth and sucking on it.
In the afternoon on Saturday I noticed there was something floating in the bottom of my water. I showed it to Red and we both decided that it looked like sugar floating in the bottom of a cup. When I got down to it, I discovered it was flourÂ… from the gravy. It had washed out of my facial hair into the cup. This of course received a collective gag from everyone around me.
IÂ’ve had a lot of fun with it, but it was time to go. That and yesterday was KtrevaÂ’s birthday. SheÂ’s 29 Version 7. The only thing she really wanted for her birthday was for me to trim my facial hair. How could I say no?
Although I do have to admit every time over the weekend when someone caught me sucking on it, and they would gag, it made me laugh. Especially when I said, “MMMmmm, Bacon” and the group looked over thinking I was eating bacon only to see my mustache in my mouth.
Posted by: Contagion at
04:15 PM
| Comments (7)
| Add Comment
Post contains 388 words, total size 2 kb.
My wife and I were heading back from our re-enactment. Clone didnÂ’t come with to this event; instead he stayed with my sister. She lives in Bloomington and we met halfway between Rockford and Bloomington at a town called Oglesby, we were picking up Clone there. We had just turned off of 80 heading south on 39 when we ran into a traffic jam. GREAT! I love traffic on major highways. It was moving slowly, so at least it wasnÂ’t a stand still. There was a squad car blocking the road directing people to the right line. Then there was another directing people off the road completely, not onto the shoulder, but into the grassy ditch alongside the road. More emergency vehicles where arriving as we waited to get through.
I couldnÂ’t see what had happened at this point. I made the comment that I was glad we were in my truck, because it was better suited for off-roading then KtrevaÂ’s mini-van is. Okay, my truck was built for off-roading. It wasnÂ’t until we got close did I see what happened. Fortunately, the Digital Camera was in the cab of the truck. Ktreva snapped these pictures.
Click to Enlarge
Click to Enlarge
My first thought was, “Holy crap, the concrete buckled from the heat.” Today I called the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and spoke with a person there regarding the incident. She advised me that the concrete had not buckled, but had exploded from the heat. She explained that buckling takes time to happen. On really hot days, the roadway can expand fast with no release, that when the pressure builds up enough it will literally explode. That is what happened here on 39. She said it happened twice yesterday, once around 1:00 PM and again around 5:00 PM (which is when we drove by).
Based on the time of the incident, we had to have arrived on the seen with in minutes of it happening. That makes me real happy that we didnÂ’t get out of there any sooner. Once we got past the bad pavement there was a line of vehicles from full ton pick up trucks pulling a trailer to Dodge Neons on the shoulder with everything from flat tires to what appeared to be broken axels and radiators. If you look at the pictures you can see it was about a 1 and a half-foot high ridge in the road.
After picking up Clone we had to head back that way. We had stopped to get gas and eat, so it was about an hour later when we drove back. They had road crews there working on it; unfortunately the traffic was still backed up. They were now directing them through the ditch in the median around the bad section of road.
Posted by: Contagion at
12:48 PM
| Comments (6)
| Add Comment
Post contains 510 words, total size 3 kb.
July 13, 2006
First matter of business to get out of the way, weather. There is a 60% chance of rain on Friday; there is only a 20% chance of rain the rest of the weekend. ThatÂ’s not too bad. Anyone want to wager that itÂ’s going to rain sometime Saturday or Sunday? I canÂ’t have an event that it doesnÂ’t rain on me! Actually this weekend IÂ’d probably welcome the rain, it is supposed to have a high in the 90Â’s, low in the 70Â’s with about 68% humidity. ThatÂ’s right, itÂ’s going to be ball sticky hot. At this event last year I had a case of heat stroke due to marching in 95-degree weather in dark wool. It would have been improper of a gentleman to take off his waistcoat in public, and since that weekend I was portraying a gentleman (ItÂ’s cooler then wearing my hunters frock!), I didnÂ’t dare go improper!
I love this event; I have a lot of fun every year. Unfortunately, if I want to fight in the battle, I have to fight with the Brits. The French and the Indians have such a large contingency at this event that the Brits are outnumbered 3-1. They look for as many people as possible to fight with the Brits. It also doesnÂ’t help that one of the largest British encampments is generally so hung over on Sunday that letting them fight would be like giving a straight razor to a retarded 9 year old. You know someone is going to get hurt.
Plus this event has one of the best battle scenarios I’ve ever done. They have two battles during the day. The first is called “The Woods Walk” They re-enact the battle from Last of the Mohicans when the English are leaving Fort William Henry and are ambushed by the Natives. Except here it’s the public with English guards being attacked by the French and Indians. It’s fun to play in and to just observe. The public gets to be right in the middle of the fighting. No other re-enactment I’ve heard of does that. If you’re in the area of Bourbonnais, IL this weekend and want to check out a little history, I’d recommend the visit just for the first battle.
Posted by: Contagion at
07:19 PM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 442 words, total size 3 kb.
July 12, 2006
But not just any movies, five movies one should not watch before going on the family vacation. The Hills Have Eyes, Wrong Turn, House of Wax, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the granddaddy, worst nightmare of trips gone wrong moviesÂ… Deliverance. Watching these movies I made some rules for our upcoming trip.
1) Always stop to get gas before you get below a quarter of a tank. You never know what “helpful” attendant you’ll find when you’re forced to stop and the run down gas station that time and proper repairs has forgot.
2) If you have no choice but to stop at the “Not so friendly” gas station. Don’t take directions or short cut tips from the attendant. No good comes from that.
3) When traveling, stick to roads that are on the official Rand McNally map you own. If you donÂ’t have a map with you, never mind, you should die. What the hell kind of moron goes on a road trip with out a map? WaitÂ… I think we have the answers in the movies listed above.
4) If you are forced to take a road that is not on the map (I canÂ’t figure out why this would happen) and your vehicle breaks down. Walk BACK the way you came. Do not walk in the direction you were heading. Sure the gas station might be a mile ahead, over the hill and around the curve, but then again so could a dead end, flesh eating mutants, psychopaths or homosexual hillbillies. At least going back the way you came you know how far you have to go and that there is something there.
5) Try not to split up from your family and/or friends. Remember there is strength in numbers. Or if you donÂ’t like the people you are traveling with very much, you have distractions. All you have to do is hamstring one of them so you can get away.
6) If you do split up, donÂ’t send your strongest off in one party and leave the weakest by themselves. Think about it, your separating out the weakest, easiest pickings for them. This is exactly what predators want you to do. Darwin has taught us plenty about this practice.
7) If something goes wrong, itÂ’s best to not stop and watch as your now x-friend is being eaten. They died for a reason; so you could escape. DonÂ’t let them die in vain!
Panic is your enemy. Screaming, yelling, shouting, crying and overall catatonic states are not going to save your arse from being lunchÂ… or other unpleasant uses.
9) Firearms have limited ammunition. Shooting blindly into the dark or into the air is doing nothing more then wasting ammunition. YouÂ’ll be sorry you did that when you go to shoot something right before it gets you and the gun dry fires.
10) If you have a firearm or bow, shoot when you have the best chance of hitting something. IE if you are watching your now x-friend being eaten, shoot then! DonÂ’t watch, then scream, then start to run, then shoot while being chased. YouÂ’re chances of hitting are much better if you shoot while you and your target are stationary.
There we go. I think if for some reason youÂ’re traveling and are forced to take a detour on Missing Tourist Highway, you will at least have a fighting chance in hell of getting out of there unmolested if you follow these tips. If you donÂ’t follow them, then I hope they make a movie about your sorry arse. The only thing better then a good zombie movie is tourist-killing movies.
And when you are packing for your trip, the question shouldn’t be, “Do we take the gun or leave it at home.” No, it should be, “How much ammo and spare magazines should I bring.”
Posted by: Contagion at
05:29 PM
| Comments (12)
| Add Comment
Post contains 717 words, total size 4 kb.
July 10, 2006
And even though itÂ’s satire, I completely and honestly agree with number 5.
5. And now a note to parents: If you dress up your 6 to 15 old girls like hookers, porn stars and Britney Spears, and drag them through Wal-Mart, you should go to prison.They are not 28.
They're freakin' kids.Are you actually TRYING to find kidnappers, stalkers, and child molesters by trolling for them with your offspring as bait, or are you just that f**king stupid and amoral.
I’ve seen way too many young girls, or as I’ve taken to calling them “Probate ho-bait” (Probationary hookers in training) walking around showing off their stuff. Well, okay their pre-development stuff. If I had daughters, and thank the powers that be that I don’t, (Boys make trouble, girls bring it home) there is no chance in hell I would let her out of the house dressed anything like that. The last thing I would want is some 48 year old balding virgin sitting in his bathroom rubbing one off to the mental image of my 12 year old daughter. Apparently some people like the thought of their daughters as cock-candy.
Posted by: Contagion at
07:48 AM
| Comments (6)
| Add Comment
Post contains 242 words, total size 2 kb.
July 09, 2006
WeÂ’re supposed to get T1G something for his birthday heÂ’d like. Well IÂ’m not sure in his present state he could hand the Honeybears.
So I though I would get him this instead. At least he can drink what he makes!
I'm just really hoping he doesn't kick me in the dick when he sobers up to realize he's received a Jack Daniel's enema.
Posted by: Contagion at
12:23 AM
| Comments (10)
| Add Comment
Post contains 143 words, total size 1 kb.
July 08, 2006
As for the facial hair, it has been two months. Now, normally when I trim my facial hair I keep it short, about a quarter of an inch. Right now, it is about 1.5 inches long. The beard is longer then the mustache.
Drinking anything out of a glass is difficult. If you watch movies and you see guys with burly facial hair drinking, you will notice that a good portion of the drink runs down their facial hair. In the past I figured it was because they where just sloppy drinkers. Nope, thatÂ’s not the case at all. The facial hair acts as a strainer and barrier. Unwanted chunks canÂ’t get past, however there is a certain amount of fluid that is lost down the front of you. IÂ’ve tried different tactics, but nothing prevents this from happening.
Speaking of the straining aspect. IÂ’ve discovered that I can buy a couple of really good beers and make them last all night, especially after IÂ’ve switched to cheap beer. The flavor of the good beer gets saturated into the facial hair and as you strain the cheaper beer through it, it picks up the flavor.
Speaking of flavor! IÂ’ve found that my new facial hair has saved me on purchasing items such as flavored chips. Last Saturday I had been snacking on Doritos early in the day. That evening as I was licking my lips I noticed that all the flavor dust had attached to my mustache. Much like pollen to a bee. I was able to enjoy the flavor of the Doritos with out eating anymore by sucking on my facial hair!
I thought you might want a demonstration so I re-enacted it for youÂ… hey thatÂ’s what I do, re-enact.
So as you can see the facial hair is coming in just fine. ItÂ’s really taken on the natural red coloring thatÂ’s hard to see when itÂ’s short. ItÂ’s also the last facial hair on my body that does NOT have gray in it.
Posted by: Contagion at
01:01 PM
| Comments (7)
| Add Comment
Post contains 407 words, total size 3 kb.
I had my apprehensions about it, Superman 3 and 4 pretty much made me want to not see anything to do with Superman again. The trailers for Superman Returns made me want to see it. It had a good plot, good action and some great special effects. Brandon Routh, who plays Clark Kent/Superman does an excellent job. He has the mannerisms, speech patterns and facial expressions that are very reminiscent of Christopher Reeve. Who ever decided he was the man for the job, hit the nail on the head. Kevin Spacey owns Lex Luthor. He did a much better job then Gene Hackman. His portrayal of Luthor was not the slapstick bumbler that Hackman did. No, this was an Evil Genius getting his groove on.
As for Kate Bosworth playing Lois Lane, ehÂ… they could have found someone that was a better actress to do the job. I had a hard time believing the inner turmoil in her. She reminded me of a girl I went to High School with. She wanted to be an actress. Every play and musical the school put on, she would try out and get a part in. She was goodÂ… for a High School production. In every play she had the same facial expression and same lack of emotion in her dialogue. That and I donÂ’t find Kate Bosworth particularly attractive. IÂ’m not saying she is ugly, IÂ’m just saying sheÂ’s not my type.
IÂ’m not going to give away any spoilers, so donÂ’t worry about that. But if you havenÂ’t seen this movie yet, itÂ’s well worth the $10.00 to see it
One thing did irritate me, but it had nothing to do with the movie itself. If I'm paying that kind of money to see a movie I don't want to spend 30 minutes watching commercials and previews. The movie was supposed to start at 6:40PM, but the actual movie didn't start until 7:10. I don't mind previews, but we had commercials for cell phone companies, motor companies, soft drinks, etc. I'm not listing which companies, because I don't want to promote them. It pisses me off that I'm paying to watch commercials. If they want to start showing commercials before the damn movie, start showing them before the supposed "Start Time".
Posted by: Contagion at
09:19 AM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 442 words, total size 3 kb.
After a few minutes he took the CD out, gave it to me and said: 'Take a close look at it.' To my surprise the CD was quite cold to hold and it seemed to be heavier than before. At first I could not see anything, but then on the inner edge of the central hole I saw an inscription; an inscription finer than anything I have ever seen before. The inscription shone piercingly bright, and yet remote, as if out of a great depth:
4F6E65204F5320746F2072756C65207468656D20616C6C2C204F6E65204F5320746
F2066696E64207468656D2CDA4F6E65204F5320746F206272696E67207468656D20
616C6C20616E6420696E20746865206461726B6E6573732062696E64207468656D
'I cannot understand the fiery letters,' I said.
'No,' he said 'but I can. The letters are Hex, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of Microsoft, which I shall not utter here. But in common English this is what it says:
One OS to rule them all, One OS to find them,
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
****
A friend of mine sent this to me. I just had to share it. It's probably old, but it made me snicker.
Posted by: Contagion at
08:03 AM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 264 words, total size 2 kb.
July 07, 2006
The best thing is, IÂ’m pretty sure IÂ’m going to score tonight.
Posted by: Contagion at
03:55 PM
| Comments (7)
| Add Comment
Post contains 86 words, total size 1 kb.
July 06, 2006
While the meat was cooking, we set of some totally legal in Illinois fireworks; smoke bombs. Clone had packages and packages of Pop-itz. (The small teardrop shaped pieces of paper that pop when you throw them on the ground). He didnÂ’t quite get the concept at first that they had to hit a hard object to pop, so he was throwing them in the grass and everywhere. After a while he caught on and was having fun making all kinds of noise by throwing the pop-itz around.
Today I discovered that pop-itz and a lawn mower make for an interesting combination. Of course itÂ’s been a couple of weeks since I mowed last. (Yes, I know, donÂ’t even say anything. YouÂ’ll only encourage Ktreva.) That means that all kinds of things where hidden in the grass. Like say 5,243,845 pop-itz. With roughly only about three quarters of them popped. I was pushing the mower through the lawn when I heard what sounded like someone running across bubble wrap. It went on for about 20 seconds and then stopped. I couldnÂ’t figure out what it was at first. Then I noticed all the little white pieces of paper mixed in the cuttings. For the next 3 passes of the mower I would get the same effect. Clone must have dumped 10 boxes of the damn things into the grass.
Posted by: Contagion at
05:27 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 374 words, total size 2 kb.
July 05, 2006
The controversy started with what kind of Dinosaur they had found. Some felt it was an extremely rare (Ie they only have the skull of one other) Nanotyrannus or a juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex (Which is rare in and of itself). After many years of debate (which from what I understand is still on going) it was decided that Jane (What they named the beastie) was in fact a Juvenile T-Rex, 11 years old.
That didnÂ’t subside the excitement around Jane. With roughly 50% of her skeleton preserved, she is the most complete single dinosaur find. Most of the time when we see skeletons in museums they are generally pieced together from different skeletons and have fabricated bones. Scientists from all over the country have come to look at Jane to examine her.
They finished her display last summer, but I have not had a chance to get down there to view her. I had the day alone with Clone and Boopie, Ktreva had to work, so I thought it would be fun to take them to see the dinosaurs. Clone had no idea what I was talking about when I told him where we were going. When we came around the corner and there was Jane, and some other dinosaurs (Including a full size T-rex) he let out a resounding “WOW” that echoed through the museum. Boopie found it neat to finally see the dinosaur that has been in the local and national news. For a small museum, they do have a nice display for the dinosaurs. Then again it is the centerpiece of the museum, and the only display really worth seeing.
After the Natural History Museum, I took the boys next door to the Discovery Center. ItÂ’s a learning area that teaches kids about science through a hands on experience. IE I tricked the kids into learning. While they thought they where playing, they where learning about physics and human development. Even I learned something there. Over the last year, weÂ’ve had a lot of people telling us Clone is big for his age. I just put it off as they didnÂ’t know what they where talking about. While at the Discovery Center they have a development section. There was a wall that you could stand up against and measure your height to that of other people your age. Clone was off the chart for 3 year olds by about an eight of an inch. I guess he is big for his age.
The boys both had a lot of fun at the Discovery Center. Boopie was able to see how fast of a baseball he can pitch, Clone learned that he can make an air cannon out of a vacuum cleaner and some tennis balls. I learned that I really need to protect Mr. Happy and the Goodtime boys better when Clone is trying to make an air cannon out of hoses.
Posted by: Contagion at
07:46 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 641 words, total size 4 kb.
81 queries taking 0.0593 seconds, 289 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
