Seldon Crisis

Rockin' Into the Night

2009-06-23T23:01:00.005-04:00

For a birthday treat to myself this year, I bought a ticket for Merriweather Post Pavillion to see some great classic rock bands of the 80's. I try to see at least one "oldies" concert each year, and this one had a super lineup of artists.

First off was .38 Special, with three guitarists, one bass, one drummer, and one keyboardist. Their biggest known hit is probably "Hold On Loosely", which they used as their closing number. However, I was surprised at the number of other songs they performed that I also recognized. I guess I didn't realize how many hits they actually had. Here was their setlist for the night (with songs I knew in italics):

Rockin' Into the Night
Twentieth Century Fox
Back Where You Belong
Wild-Eyed Southern Boys
Fantasy Girl
an 80's medley of various hits, including:
- Teacher, Teacher
- Stone Cold Believer
- Like No Other Night
- Second Chance (great song, by the way)
- Caught Up In You
Hold On Loosely

All in all, a great way to start off the night. They played for about 45 minutes and then big the crowd good night. The stagehands quickly tore down their setup, and put together the Styx set pieces. This was the band I had really come to see, as I was a big fan during the 80's. It was a five-piece, with two guitars, one bass, one keys, and one drummer. Keyboardist Lawrence Gowan had a cool keyboard that rotated 360 degrees on a platform, so that he could play it while walking around in a circle. He was quite the showman, playing the keys behind his back on certain songs. Singer/guitarists Tommy Shaw and James Young were also obviously having a good time, trading song vocals and guitar solos back and forth. All the singing and tight harmonies were top notch, and I knew every single song they performed. Their setlist for the night included the following:

Miss America
Too Much Time On My Hands
The Grand Illusion
Lorelei
I Am the Walrus
Crystal Ball
Suite Madame
Fooling Yourself
Come Sail Away
Blue Collar Man (encore)
Renegade (encore)

After their encore, they threw Styx frisbees, beach balls, t-shirts, guitar picks, and other stuff into the audience. Lawrence introduced all the band, took their pictures with a Polaroid camera, and tossed the pics into the audience as well. Fun times indeed.

Closing the night was REO Speedwagon. Of the three bands, this was my least favorite. I knew maybe three of their songs, including "Time For Me To Fly" (because this was chosen to be my high school Class of '82 graduation song). Ack. Anyway, their set comprised the following tunes:

Don't Let Him Go
Take It On the Run
Keep Pushin'
Golden Country
Can't Fight This Feelin'
(didn't catch this song as I needed a bathroom break)
Time For Me to Fly

By then, it was close to 10:30, and I decided to bail early. They only had one other song I knew -- "Keep On Loving You" -- but I didn't feel like waiting around 'til the end for them to sing it. I'm sure they would use that as their closer. Anyway, quite an enjoyable night of classic rock goodness.

Number 1900

2009-05-23T17:21:00.004-04:00

As movie #1900 was approaching, I (as always) try to make it one that is "worthy". It was almost the new Star Trek movie, but I instead tried to time it so it would coincide with the latest Terminator flick. So Friday evening, I joined my buddies Joe and Josh for a late showing of the fourth in this series. I've been very disappointed with most of my May movies (Wolverine, Star Trek, etc.) so this time I purposely tried to not over-analyze the movie, but rather tried to enjoy it for pure entertainment reasons. To that end, I was successful. It doesn't hold a candle to Cameron's first two films in the franchise, but it held my interest, and the action scenes were a treat.

Late Night in the Middle of the Day

2009-04-22T09:21:00.003-04:00

The Daughter and I recently visited our friend Jeff in California for five days of Spring Break goodness. We hit the beach, did some shopping, revisited Disneyland, saw some movies... However, the "big" event was attending the live taping of the Chelsea Lately show. The Daughter is a big fan of said show, and I was able to score free tix for the Monday taping. It seemed strange attending a late night talk show at 3:30 in the afternoon. For some reason, I always assumed that shows like "The Tonight Show" and "Late Night with David Letterman" actually took place in the evening. But no, there we were, standing in line with a bunch of other people, hoping to get in. You see, having tickets was not a guarantee of entrance. The Daughter was three weeks away from being 18, but the ticket clearly stated that you must be 18 or older to get in. Also, the ticket informed us that we had to dress "stylishly hip". Hopefully, they would find my "I'm With Stupid" t-shirt, scruffy jeans, and flip-flops "hip". Nah, I didn't want to risk not getting in, so I pulled out my "ultra-hip" outfit reserved for such purposes. The good news was they didn't check The Daughter's ID, and they must have thought all three of us were dressed appropriately, because they let us in. Big joke there, since you never even see the audience on the actual show. Geesh.

The most amusing part of the show was the fellow whom I dubbed "The Clap Nazi". This fellow had the job of making the audience clap, hoot, holler, and make other appropriate sounds of laughter based on his directions. After a couple of trial runs, where I literally clapped so hard my hands began to bleed, we were informed that we were only giving him 70%. How disappointing. He also told us we were to laugh regardless of whether we thought a joke was funny or not. So much for democratic laughter. Why not use a laugh-track and be done with it? Actually, I have a sneaking feeling they probably do add a laugh track if needed.

What I found most surprising was that the show we taped was actually going to air that same night. That's a pretty fast turn-around. I figured it would take at least a week or two to air, but I guess that show wants to be "in the now". When we watched the show on television that evening, we think we saw a glimpse of the tops of our heads during a quick boom camera dolly over the audience. Hollywood, here we come!

Farewell to Sydney

2008-12-31T17:38:00.005-05:00

I found out today that our faithful Shihtzu Sydney passed away in her sleep last night. For reasons too long to explain here, she was given to a friend back in '97.

Rest in peace, Sydney. You were a great dog.

Sydney and her younger "sister", Daisy.

Kelli playing with Sydney.

EQN III Comes To An End

2008-12-02T20:54:00.003-05:00

Alas. After many nights of playing Neverwinter Nights 2 (a private game hosted on my buddy Andy's home computer), our Epic Quest of Nerdness III has come to a close. We defeated the big bad last night after an epic and lengthy battle. A grand time was had by all, especially my character Krag the Barbarian. Here's a sweet pic of Krag posing with one of the local dungeon denizens (who actually turned out to be rather helpful, despite his rather ominous appearance).

"Who's the Master!?"

2008-08-29T18:54:00.003-04:00

For a rare few of us, we know that the answer to that question is... "Sho' Nuff!!" Usually yelled in a very loud voice. I heard today that actor Julius Carry died this past Tuesday due to pancreatic cancer. I only know of him through two film roles, but oh! what roles they were. The first and foremost is the aforementioned "The Last Dragon", where he played the uber-baddie Sho' Nuff whose goal was to defeat the young upstart Bruce Leroy.

Greatest. Martial-arts villain. Ever.

My second favorite Carry role was that of Lord Bowler, friend and fellow bounty hunter of Brisco County Jr., of the canceled-too-soon television series "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." Seeing Carry and Bruce Campbell play off of each other was a rare treat indeed.

I'll be rewatching "The Last Dragon" this weekend in his memory, if only to remind me why one should never yell "Why don't you sit down and shut up!" in a crowded movie theatre when The Shogun of Harlem is present.

A True Seldon Crisis

2008-08-07T19:25:00.003-04:00

bittersweet - adj. - pleasant but tinged with sadness

The Daughter headed off to college today.

I won't see her again until Thanksgiving.

I'm sure the full gravitas of this won't hit me for a few days.

Number 1800

2008-06-27T22:51:00.002-04:00

Back in September of 2007, I saw movie number 1700. After seven long months, I finally made it to movie number 1800. As of three days ago, I was only at number 1796, so in order to make the new Angelina Jolie movie Wanted number 1800, I needed to watch one movie each night leading up to Friday. They were... Superhero Movie, The Orphanage, and In Bruges. All in all, Wanted was a flawed, but entertaining movie. It had some great action sequences, and Ms. Jolie is still stunning as ever, even when her face is covered in blood. Now when are they coming out with a Wii game where you can use the Wiimote as a gun and practice curving your bullets?

The U.K. is O.K.

2008-06-21T23:38:00.005-04:00

The daughter and I finally took the great post-graduation vacation to Great Britain. I'm still busy sorting the pics, but here's a preview: Kevin at Stonehenge

Pomp and Circumstance

2008-05-30T23:01:00.002-04:00

Congratulations, Kelli!! You made it!!

Manly Men With Power Tools

2008-05-22T23:41:00.004-04:00

Earlier this year, my friend Jeff flew back to Maryland in order to prep his mom's house for sale, and also to complete the work on his prize '53 Studebaker. I drove down to help on one hot Wednesday in April, and was able to perform manly feats with a power sander -- thus proving to The Daughter that I am not inept in the Art of Car Restoration. The two pics below capture the proof for all to see.

Grinding off a door handle bolt

Ahhhh, nothin' like grindin' metal in the hot sun!

The Passing of a Legend

2008-04-06T23:46:00.002-04:00

Charton Heston 1924-2008

I Am An Oscar Meyer Wiener

2008-02-26T17:19:00.002-05:00

Well, the 80th annual Academy Awards are over, which means the annual Oscar Pool me and my friends have every year is over as well. The sad news is that even after being the only one in the pool to select Peter and the Wolf as Best Animated Short and Tilda Swinton for Best Supporting Actress (which both won), I still wound up coming in second place! So, congratulations Joan! She successfully chose sixteen correctly, whereas I only got fourteen. Well, there's always next year. I'm still scratching my head as to why garbage like "Transformers" gets multiple noms, yet "300" wasn't nominated for anything!

Elvis Sighting!

2007-12-18T21:36:00.000-05:00

Our church recently had a weekend Christmas event called "Two Nights in December", comprising of the singing of carols, choir numbers, dance, three TSO tunes from the band, and yes, even The King himself made an appearance. No, not that King. I'm talkin' Elvis, man! Here's yours truly all dressed up and ready to belt out that holiday favorite, "Blue Christmas". Thank ya vury muuuuuch. You can also check out the video on YouTube.

Halloween Fun

2007-11-03T16:55:00.000-04:00

We had an awesome Halloween bash at my place this year, and costumes were not optional. Here's me as the Phantom of the Opera, and The Daughter as a Faerie Princess.

A (Long) Poker Story

2007-10-15T20:01:00.004-04:00

Wil Wheaton, I want my seven hours back :)

Yeah, Wil. I'm talkin' to you. I read your blog regularly, and thus it was that I found out about the PokerStars Bloggers Online Tourney this past Sunday. Normally, I wouldn't have been able to play, as (1) I only have $3.47 left in my PokerStars account, and (2) ever since the Idiot^^^^^ Internet Gambling Law went into effect earlier this year, I haven't been able to play any online poker. However, this tourney was within my price range, as it was FREE. Plus, I happened to have that Sunday afternoon open, so sign me up!

Since it was a freeroll tourney, there were no cash prizes, per se. Instead, anyone who made it to the final 81 players would win "stuff", ranging from duffel bags, to iPods, to paid entries to bigger and badder future tournaments. You can check out the entire prize payouts here, if interested. I looked over the list, and decided that due to recent incessant whining from The Daughter about her ancient 8GB iPod Mini, I would attempt to appease her by winning either the 80GB or 160GB iPod. And, of course, that XBOX 360 was lookin' pretty sweet as well. Just about the only prize I couldn't care less about was the 10th place bubble "gag" prize of all 33 poker books that PokerStars has on their site. And during the course of the game, it appeared that I wasn't the only one who wondered whose bright idea it was to have that as the consolation prize for just missing the final table.

Anyway, I wasn't sure how many blogging poker players there were out there in the world, so I had no idea whether I'd be playing against a field of hundreds or thousands. Turns out at showtime, 1337 card gamblers showed up at the field of honor -- a number I found humorously appropriate.

Needless to say, with that many entrants, I figured that (a) I probably didn't stand a chance of getting to the prize level, and (b) even if I did, this tourney was going to last at least over eight hours. However, I was determined to play my best, and take it as far as I could go. And if I got lucky, maybe I'd even get seated at the same table as Mr. Wheaton.

Well, the game started, and I played reasonably well for a few hours. After a bit, I checked the stats and noticed that (a) I had a decent size stack, (b) we were down to just 367 players, and (c) Wil had been knocked out of the tourney already. At that point, my goal was to at least make it to the top 81 (although I wasn't too keen about winning a duffle bag and deck of cards). From there on, I kept track of my position in the leader board. That's one great thing about online poker: you have instant information on your stack size relative to all other players. So here's the play by play. Each line will be how many hours into the tourney we are, my chip position, and any comments about the previous hand. The times are approximate.

3:00 36 out of 367
3:10 62 out of 238
3:20 50 out of 201 (my AK beats 99 on an all-in)
3:30 56 out of 188 (break #3)
3:50 38 out of 174
4:00 9 out of 154

Notice that big jump. I had K9 suited, somebody gave a semi-raise, and I called. The flop came AK6, so I was worried about my opponent having an Ace. But he checked, so I checked as well. Maybe he is slowplaying his Ace, I think. Anyway, the turn brings a 9, giving me two pair. He bets a hunk, and I go all-in. He has more chips than me, and goes in the tank. After about a minute, he finally calls with... 22! Huh!? Not what I expected at all. The river is a blank, so double me up, baby!! And now, I'm one of the big stacks in this tourney. Maybe I have a shot at making the prize level after all!

4:10 17 out of 127
4:30 21 out of 117
4:50 36 out of 109
5:10 28 out of 99 (almost there!)

Overall, I'm very happy with my play in this tourney. Every time that I've gone all-in against another player, I've always been ahead preflop. Sure, suckouts will occur. They're part of the game. But even if I lose to a suckout, I can at least take consolation in the fact that I went all-in with the better hand.

5:30 35 out of 91 (break #4)
6:00 33 out of 83 (we're about to go hand-to-hand as we reach the prize level)
6:20 33 out of 75 (yay!! I'm assured of a duffle bag!)
6:50 37 out of 67

Sometime during this point, I send an email out to my fellow poker buddies, telling them if they wanted to, they could come cheer me on from the rail. Shortly thereafter, both 8-2 Mike and 8-2 MathMan show up online, and give me some encouragement within the chat window.

7:20 14 out of 55
7:22 8 out of 53

Two monster hands back to back put me in the drivers seat. Somebody goes all-in with KJo, and I call and win holding AQo. On the very next hand, I call another all-in bet of KQs holding A9o, and my Ace holds up again. Woot!

7:30 12 out of 48

I lose a painful hand that shows why poker is a cruel, cruel game. I call an all-in bet, hoping once again that the power of the Ace will assure me victory. I hold A8. My opponent show TT. Well, the flop comes xx8, and I get a little excited with my extra outs that just materialized. The turn brings a glorious Ace, giving me two pair and a near lock on this hand. In fact, just as I say to myself that the only way I can lose is if another Ten hits on the river, the fickle poker gods naturally deliver one of the two remaining Tens, giving him Trips and leaving me shaking my head in disgust.

7:40 14 out of 46 (hand-to-hand play to see who gets the last duffle bag)
7:45 13 out of 42 (no duffle bag for me! iPod Nanos, baby!)
8:00 14 out of 38
8:20 26 out of 34 (80GB iPod territory!)

I take a big hit and lose a bunch of chips. Some guy raised a bit, I reraise a sizeable amount holding AJs, but he calls. Hmmmmm. Flop comes low-low-low rainbow. I check, and he bets a huge hunk o' chips. I go in the tank, but eventually force myself to fold.

Plus, I'm getting hungry, as I haven't eaten since my 1pm lunch. I make some phone calls to neighbors, to see if they can bring me some food, since (a) my cubboards are bare, and (b) with five minute breaks, that's not much time to run to the nearby Subway to grab a sub. Nobody picks up their cell, so I play on. However, I'm very happy, because I succeeded in my mission to win The Daughter her much coveted iPod. Now, I'll try to get her the 160GB one instead!

8:30 27 out of 28 (break #4, and we're hand-to-hand again)
8:50 18 out of 27 (woo hoo! 160GB iPod is mine!)

At this point, several thoughts started growing in my mind. Part of my brain was telling me that I had succeeded in winning a nice iPod. Therefore, I should push all my stack in holding the Hammer, lose, and go get a much-needed burger to celebrate. However, another part of my brain -- the ethical/competitive poker part -- was telling me that I should press on. Losing on purpose would give a random player a boatload of chips "for free". It would be like throwing a game. I thought of Bruce Willis' boxer character in Pulp Fiction, who even after taking money to throw a fight, his competitive nature took hold during the actual match, and he clobbered his unworthy opponent.

I decided that if I was going to lose, it was at least going to be on a marginal hand, not complete dreck. Something like a low pocket pair, or maybe QT suited. If I lost with such a hand, I could at least hold my head up high, and be happy with my iPod.

9:00 16 out of 25
9:10 17 out of 23
9:20 10 out of 21

That last hand should have put me out with my iPod. I held A9 suited in hearts, and called an all-in bet, who showed KT. I was ahead preflop, but the flop came KK6. I resigned myself that I fought the good fight, but the journey was indeed over. However, when the turn showed the 8 of hearts, it was then that I realized that one of the flopped Kings was also a heart. Hmmmm. If the river brings another heart that isn't the Six or Ten, I'll beat his trip Kings with a runner-runner Flush. And of course, the Four of hearts hits, knocking him out and putting me back in the pack.

I try to call The Daughter to see if she wants me to bail out to get the iPod, or press on to win the XBOX 360. She doesn't pick up (naturally, 'cause it's a school night and she's already getting ready for bed), so I have to figure out what to do. Being a gamer, I decide to go for the XBOX.

9:25 15 out of 19
9:30 14 out of 17 (XBOX 360, baby!)
9:35 13 out of 15
9:40 11 out of 14
9:50 12 out of 12

Okay. At this point, I realize that I must lose if I want to win the XBOX. I truly don't want to make the final table, and I definitely don't want to be bubble boy and win the set of 33 books. I decide to call an all-in bet with the truly horrible hand of J4 offsuit, which loses, as expected.

As soon as the hand is over, I am sent to the tournament leader board. I scan it for a second. I look at the name at 11th place. I don't see my name there. I get a horrible knot in my stomach. I look one line higher, and next to 10th place, I see the name "Kevicool".

I haven't won an iPod. I haven't won an XBOX.

I've won a set of 33 poker books.

Three of which I already own. Two more that I've borrowed from a friend and read.

I sit there in stunned silence for a minute or two, realizing that I've just spent seven hours playing poker, only to win the one prize I absolutely did not want to win. I head out to cool down and eat a much needed burger at a nearby Wendy's.

I'm still not sure what happened, exactly. I am 100% sure that I was the shortest stack of all remaining players. Obviously, another player at the other table also must have went all-in and lost at the same time I did. However, if I was indeed the shortest stack, I should have gotten 11th, and he should have received 10th. I've emailed PokerStars, requesting a play-by-play of those last few hands to sort things out. We'll see if they send me the hand results so I can figure out the events that transpired in that final moment.

This just in... Here's what Brad from PokerStars informed me recently regarding what exactly happened:

You, indeed, had the lowest chip stack but you didn't bust at the same time as ZeRat11. Your confusion is likely based on the fact the game didn't go hand for hand until ZeRat busted out. You got your chips in on the very next hand. There was never real hand-for-hand action. ZeRat11 busted and your chips went in on the very next hand. It all went very fast because there was only one hand played hand-for-hand and that was the one on which you went out.

So, thanks again, Wil! Seven hours work for 33 poker books. And I owe it all to you :)

Rest assured that when I receive them, I'll be sure to place "Just A Geek proudly in the middle of the stack.

And yes, the next evening, I did go to the local Apple store to buy The Daughter her much deserved iPod.

----------

After the fact update! Well, January rolled around and I had still not received my wonderful poker books. Not that I was complaining; but I had planned on trying to sell them or give them away as gifts/bustout prizes. After contacting PokerStars, and getting passed around to four different people, I finally had an email exchange where I subtlely (ok, not so subtlely) hinted that I'd much prefer an XBOX360 Elite over the books. And lo! much to my wonderous surprise, they were more than happy to oblige! Much rejoicing ensued! Five days later, a nice pitch black XBOX360 Elite gaming system arrived at my office, and I'm been enjoying such gaming gems as Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, and more recently, Tomb Raider: Underworld.

So thanks, Wil! Stop by anytime you're in the Maryland area if you wanna game on a platform you tangentially helped me to win!

Arrakis. Dune. Desert Planet.

2007-10-13T22:50:00.000-04:00

During the great "Manly Men" vacation of 2007, not only did we participate in the awesomeness of indoor skydiving, we also journeyed to the barren wastelands of outer Vegas. No, not to find spice or the prophet Muad'Dib. We came to ride. And not a Shai-Hulud either. I'm talkin' dune buggies. Two hours of wild untamed 40mph racing in the Nellis Dunes area. Great fun! Here's a pic of me in my custom speed machine.

And here's the gang takin' a break to refuel (with water, that is)

Breathe, Breathe in the Air...

2007-09-27T01:05:00.000-04:00

On a recent mini-vacation to California, me and four buddies experienced the wonder of indoor skydiving. Here's a short YouTube clip of my simulated freefall excitement!

Number 1700

2007-09-01T21:31:00.000-04:00

Many years ago, when I was between jobs and extremely bored, I decided to try and write down every movie I could remember seeing. I wrote down as many as I could remember, and then got one of those film & video guides in hopes that the films listed and reviewed would jog my memory for those I'd forgotten. I remember the first movie I ever saw, when my mom drove me as a ten-year old to Henry's Theatre in downtown Hagerstown. I remember the first midnight movie I saw with friends at Long Meadow Shopping Center (also in Hagerstown). And like that legendary Sergio Leone film, some movies have been very good, some have been very bad, and some have been very, very ugly.

I knew that I would be seeing movie #1700 this weekend, so it just had to be special. Something magical. Something truly Oscar-worthy.

Balls of Fury is not that movie.

Yes, it's true. I squandered film #1700 on a pretty low-brow comedy; but I had set my expectations extremely low, in order to better appreciate its humour. Plus, it had Christopher Walkin, who simply has to walk onscreen and I start laughing. And upcoming actress Maggie Q was certainly easy on the eyes. And I got to share it with my friends Dan & Becky, which made it ever the more enjoyable. Probably still not worth $9.50 in enjoyment, though. I recommend waiting for the DVD. However it did have one huge redeeming factor.

It made me long for a game of ping pong at my folks' house.

Being A Shmanly Shman

2007-08-26T20:21:00.000-04:00

I learned the word "shman" recently from a friend, as we were discussing things that a man might do that could be considered a bit "feminine". I guess it's a synonym to metrosexual. In any case, each year before The Daughter returns to high school, she always gets her yearly pedicure at a local spa. This weekend as we walked into the nail salon, I had, as usual, my trusty book in hand that I would read during the half hour it would take for her to get her toes the magical treatment that consists of a nice water bath, toenail clipping and filing, foot buffing, and a nice coat of purple polish. However, this time around, a swarm of Asian women descended upon me insisting that I, too, desperately needed a pedicure. This was, of course, something I have never experienced first hand in my entire life. I tried to decline, but these women were adamant that my feet needed, nay, demanded to be pampered, and stat. So, I admit it. I caved. For the next twenty or so minutes, my feet were treated like a rock star. They even used The Daughter's cell phone to snap a (blurry) pic of this historic event. However, rest assured that I will be asserting my manliness once more during an upcoming September vacation, where myself, and other manly men will be participating in those two macho sports of dune buggies and indoor skydiving. Can I hear a Tim "the Tool Man" Taylor simian grunt?

Now About Those Taxes...

2007-07-06T21:34:00.000-04:00

Recently, I discovered that there is a road in Baltimore that bears my name. Guess I'm going to have to send my troops down there to obtain the taxes owed to me from my many subjects :)

I'll Take "Movie Voices" For 200, Alex

2007-07-05T09:35:00.000-04:00

The Daughter and I took in the movie "Ratatouille" over Independance Day, but sadly arrived so late that we were forced to sit in the dreaded front-row seats. However, it was a great movie nonetheless. PIXAR always delivers. However, about halfway through the movie, I nudged her and whispered "I know I recognize the food critic Anton Ego's voice, but I just can't place it." She agreed, and so began the race to identify the actor in question first. After about one minute, Kelli confidently announced a name that I absolutely should have gotten, and I knew that she had won. The student had indeed beaten the master.

I was so proud :)

"...A Three Hour Tour."

2007-06-25T19:01:00.000-04:00

Well, we didn't get shipwrecked on an uncharted desert isle, but we did have a blast on my friend Ken's boat as we cruised around the Annapolis bay for a few hours last Sunday afternoon. The daughter even got to steer the mighty vessel for a bit:

And here's a shot of the rest of the gang enjoyin' the ride while she had the wheel:

Show Me the Funny

2007-06-13T20:57:00.000-04:00

Here's a blast from the past. I visited the parents over the weekend, and spent some time looking through tons of scrapbooks of childhood memorabilia that they saved of mine. Here's a very old Star Wars cartoon I drew when I was probably 15. Looks like Vader found himself a day job at the county fair. Well, I thought it was funny.

"Holy Resolution, Batman!"

2007-06-01T17:59:00.000-04:00

Behold.

The beauty that is the Oppo DV-981HD 1080p Up-Converting DVD Player.

With HDMI (of course).

After doing mucho online research, I placed my order at OPPO and received my new toy in just a short week's time. I even was able to track it all the way from San Jose, to San Francisco, to Hagerstown (!), to White Marsh, and finally to Columbia, thanks to the handy-dandy tracking number they gave me. Plus, as soon as I got home and opened the box, I saw that the player came in its own logo'd slip case cover! Now that's pride in one's product.

I didn't take long at all to pull the plug on my current 480p DVD player, and hook up all the cables for this new sweetness. Plus, they even included a 6' HDMI cable with the player! That's right... the same cable that sells for close to a hundred clams at Best Buy, they included for free. What a great company!

Ah, but what to watch first? I asked the Daughter, and she quickly and quite intelligently replied "Pop in Ben-Hur, and let's watch the chariot race." Oh, yeah. She's my daughter, all right. A few quick menu buttons later, and we were watching crystal clear moving images of Heston and Boyd duking it out in the Circvs Maximvs. Even though my Sony Grand Wega 60" HDTV only handles 1080i (not 1080p), the picture was still noticeably improved over my previous DVD player.

I still love the silver screen, and will never give up on my local Cineplex, but home theatre just keeps getting better and better at the Suffecool household. Hope to have you over to enjoy Sufferama in the near future!

Curiously Addictive

2007-05-20T12:56:00.000-04:00

Altoids + Dark Chocolate. 'Nuf said.

(of course, even tho the pic shows the Peppermint flavor, Cinnamon is the only way to go)

My How Time Flies

2007-04-22T20:51:00.000-04:00

Wow. After looking at my last post date (December!), I just realized that I am one lame blogger. Sorry for the tardiness. I guess I've been busy with lots of other things. Like sorting through my hundreds of pictures from a recent trip to Israel. A very time consuming process, let me assure you. However, I will make time to post at least one pic to my blog. It's a photo of me on top of Masada. I hope to have many more pics on my main website before the year's end. For now, enjoy!

Fortunes in Bed

2006-12-30T18:23:00.000-05:00

A fun little game someone taught me years ago when eating at Chinese restaurants was to add the words "in bed" to the fortune found in your fortune cookie. Here are a few of my favorites:

Your life will be happy and peaceful.

Your genuine talent will find its way to success.

You are the center of every group's attention.

You are talented in many ways.

You are an exciting and inspiring person.

You have great physical powers and an iron concentration.

You will always get what you want through your charm and personality.

Now is a good time to try something new.

You will be awarded a great honor.

Your skills and talents will be called on in unusual areas.

Get your mind set -- confidence will lead you on.

Take no risks with your reputation.

You will soon be receiving sound spoken advice.

You will have no problems in your home.

Your most memorable dream will come true.

Do something unusual tomorrow.

Not Very Heroic, But Hey, Whatever Works

2006-12-17T21:27:00.000-05:00

Every Wednesday evening (well, maybe not every, but as often as possible) for the past year, me and two buddies have been getting our inner geek on by playing the computer game Neverwinter Nights into the wee hours of the night. My pal in D.C. hosted a server on his computer, so it was just we three heroes against the evil hordes that threatened the once peaceful city of Neverwinter. Well, last Wednesday our "Epic Quest of Nerdness" came to a close when we reached the final big bad boss -- a rather imposing monster chick going by the moniker of Queen Morag. Check her out in all her evil splendor within the screenshot below.
Once we entered her lair and started laying the smackdown on her, we found to our dismay that nothing we did had absolutely any effect on her. Swords, magic, and Holy Hand Grenades were all shaken off like a summer breeze. It was then that we realized that her praying minions (seen on the right) were each granting her protection from various attacks. So as long as the dude praying for "protection against swords" was alive and praying, no sword could touch her foul hide. Okay, now the only problem was that if we tried to whack on her minions, it left us at her mercy as she easily could pick us off one by one. Time and time again we all were killed, and we had to restart the battle, only to lose once more. It was then that "Fig", the third of our party, suggested that perhaps we could lure her out of the room, and then rush by her quickly (she moved rather slowly) back into the room, and then shut the door on her. That way, we could whomp on her praying minions with ease, and once all her protection was gone, we could open the door and take her down quickly. "Yeah, like that will work", I thought. "The biggest baddest monster in the whole game will be foiled by the fact that she can't turn a freeking doorknob." Well, we tried it.

It worked.

The biggest baddest monster was defeated because she was doorknob challenged. After taking down six or her eight minions, we opened the door where Morag had been patiently waiting outside. Actually, she had gotten bored and wandered further down the hall, forcing us to taunt her into returning back into our room. Once there, my Druid character zapped her with a Harm spell, which she promptly failed her saving throw, dropping her down a whopping 192 hit points in one fell swoop. From there, a few more blows of damage and it was all she wrote. O, Happy Day! Neverwinter was safe once more!

So remember, kiddies. A door can be your friend.

Not A Turkey, But Will An Eagle Do?

2006-11-27T22:16:00.000-05:00

About two weeks ago, twenty men (mostly from my church) ventured down slightly south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for one last glorious chance to take mighty swings at a tiny white ball. The group of men attending has grown from year to year, but this was the first time that I joined them on their outing. As an added bonus, my dad (also a golfer) was going to be joining us as well. We were supposed to play four straight days from Monday thru Thursday, but torrential downpours on Tuesday kept this fair-weather golfer safely dry and warm in the condo. My game actually improved during the course of the week; and since we were playing "best ball", that meant that more and more of my shots were being used. The best hole of the week for me had to be on a short par 4, during our last day there. I crushed a monster drive for about 210 yards, leaving a short 150 yards to the pin. We decided to use my ball, and Dan plopped one safely on the green, so I felt it was safe to "go for the gold". My iron shot wasn't the most beautiful to behold (it had a rather low arc, instead of a nice high parabola), but the important thing was where the ball wound up once it stopped rolling:
So close. So very close.

Where was Carl Spackler and his gopher-destroying dynamite when I needed him??

The More Things Change, The More Things Stay the Same

2006-11-11T21:45:00.000-05:00

Recently, it became time for me to renew my passport. I got my original one back in April of 1997, so my new one comes almost ten years afterwards. In order to obtain it, I had to mail the old one in so it could be officially cancelled. I didn't think they would return it when they mailed me my new one, but they did. I guess what surprised me the most was that even with a span of ten years, the photos were eerily similar. The same pose. The same hair. The same expression.

I have the feeling I won't be able to say the same thing after another ten years.

Worth the Wait

2006-10-15T16:25:00.000-04:00

Here are two pics from my church's Grand Opening and Dedication ceremony that occurred a few weeks ago. After meeting (for what seemed like an eternity) in River Hill High School, our new building located in Covenant Park (along with the SAC) is now complete and open for worship! Praise the Lord!

Leading worship with the Covenant Praise Band.

Face painting a butterfly during the Grand Opening

Sunday Night Musings

2006-09-17T20:11:00.000-04:00

I'm feelin' lazy tonight, so this one will be less thoughtful prose and more stream-of-consciousness.

I thought I might be heading to New York in October, which got me to thinking about which Broadway shows I might try to take in while there. The relatively new musical "Wicked" sounded interesting, so I decided to give the book a whirl firsthand before deciding. Every now and then, you pick up a book and just simply can't put it down. It's that good. It's that amazing. It's truly a work of sheer genius.

"Wicked" is not that book.

How could an author take such a cool concept, and write such a terribly cheerless and yawn-inducing story? I truly kept waiting for it to get better, but page after page after page, it continually failed to deliver anything worth reading. If the musical is remotely similar to this piece of dreck, I'll think I'd rather go see "Spamalot".

The WCOOP is going on now. I tried my hand in a 500 FPP satellite to Event #8 (limit H.O.R.S.E. tourney), but wound up busting out #46 from a field of 168. I was happy with my play, though. I may try another freeroll tourney in Limit Stud8 if I can stay awake.

The Daughter has recently found the joys of 35mm photography, so she's been busy snapping black and white photos with my 1988 Minota SLR. She has a good eye for composition. Here's one she took of a statue in our neighborhood:

I recently replaced my album version of one of the all-time best movie original soundtrack scores ever written with a CD version. Yep, we're talkin' Conan the Barbarian by Basil Poledouris. And my favorite track happens to bear the humorously suggestive title "The Orgy". I can't help it. That tune is infectious. It has a Ravel's "Boléro" feel to it. I'm sure Jenny Miles would have liked it :)

Sadly, my days of being a "piano-sitter" are soon to end. Over the past few years, a friend of mine has been "storing" his very nice piano at my house while his house was being built. By "storing", I mean it has been sitting prominently in my living room, looking very stylish, and getting much use from both myself and The Daughter. But alas, his home is built, the movers are coming, and I will soon have a somewhat large "space" to fill once it is gone. Perhaps I'll use the extra space for another mermaid lamp.

That's a joke, O Daughter :)

What Kevin Really Needs

2006-08-17T22:56:00.000-04:00

One of the joys (pitfalls?) of the internet is searching for something, finding a completely different article that catches your interest, clicking on it to read, then seeing another unrelated article which you also click on and read, and so on, and so on, until eighteen clicks later, you are so far down the hyperlink chain you can't remember what you were looking for in the first place, but you sure found some cool stuff along the way!

It was during one of these rabbit hunts that I came across this cool little internet game that I just had to try out. Kudos to whoever thought it up in the first place. Basically, bring up Google and search for "{your first name} needs". Be sure to type the quotes in the search string as well. Then list the first ten matches that you find for some amusing insight. Here's what I got when I typed in "Kevin needs":

1. Kevin needs a picture -- I'm so tired of waiting (see #7)
2. Kevin needs his friends to constantly tell him he's the best -- I didn't realize I was so insecure
3. Kevin needs expert witnesses -- I sense litigation in my future
4. Kevin needs to get a real job -- Hmmm. Perhaps #6 is pointing the way
5. Kevin needs a director -- Yes! They are finally filming my screenplay!!
6. Kevin needs to get pimp lessons from Big C -- Yeah, that Big C is da master!
7. Kevin needs sleep on Flickr -- perhaps I'll post your picture from #1
8. Kevin needs a jail cell or counseling -- I guess that's why I also need #3
9. Kevin needs a vacation -- ah, finally some true wisdom!
10. Kevin needs help -- perhaps the truest insight of the lot :)

Next week, we find out what "Kevin loves", and what "Kevin was killed by".

Hard Crash

2006-08-13T14:25:00.000-04:00

I had two crashes this past week - one physical and one mental. The physical was my synthesizer, which suddenly decided to hang when I saved a newly added patch for one of my rock band songs. After waiting for over ten minutes in a locked state, I was forced to do a power cycle, and was greeted with the cheery message "User sequences corrupt. Must reset." Yes, all my 60+ patches and sequences had been lost. And of course, there was no backup. Nothing is more frustrating than having to redo a ton of lost work.

My second crash was caused by an recent email. No, not a computer virus. Rather, unexpected words from a friend that have been causing me to re-evaluate parts of my life, my motives, and my actions. I expect this introspection to be an ongoing process over the next few months. It is not a pleasant task. In perspective, keying in all my synth patches again doesn't seem as bad now.

"Ants Marching"

2006-08-01T22:17:00.000-04:00

All the little ants are marching
Red and black antennae waving
-- Dave Matthews Band

I arrived back home after a week working at the annual PVAC (Performing and Visual Arts Camp) for youth, only to find hundreds of small invaders in my kitchen. Yes, the intense summer heat had forced entire colonies of Tapinoma sessile into my home. Those who know me well, know that I can stand just about any type of creature in my house, but ants do not fall into that category. Noah must have had great restraint to resist the urge to simply squash the happy ant couple on his boat when he had the chance. Anyway, even though I could have gone for the quick fix with a blast of Raid, I realized I needed a more permanent solution. So sometime tomorrow, the local exterminator will be arriving to lay the smackdown on the multiple colonies that have taken up residence within these hallowed walls. I've been told that repeat visits will be required to assure their doom. Thinking on this today, I reflected on how this parallels the journey to remove unwanted habits in one's life. Many times, we yearn for the "quick fix". However, the truth of the matter is that constant diligence is required, perhaps over an entire lifetime, to keep the enemy from regaining a foothold. And like my ants, just as soon as one is squashed, another can appear shortly thereafter. I guess even this bit of unpleasantness can be used to teach an object lesson.

May all your summers be ant-free.

You Will Watch This Nudity, And You Will Like It

2006-07-16T17:29:00.000-04:00

Last week, a court judge ruled that companies that resell or rent custom DVDs that have been scrubbed of potentially offensive content (i.e. profanity, nudity, etc.) are violating U.S. copyright laws, and are therefore illegal. That means that companies such as Clean Flicks are out of a job. As I understand Hollywood's argument, they have their panties all in a bunch because they dislike "other people" (e.g. non-Hollywood types) mucking around with their "art". The studios and directors say they made a film a certain way, and by golly, nobody is going to sell a different version to the public. Nevermind the fact that movies viewed on regular television usually begin with those magic words "This film has been edited for content." Or that films shown on airline flights are typically edited to be "kid friendly". Or that six months after the DVD release of a particular blockbuster film, a special "Director's Cut" version of the DVD is also released. It's not like companies like Clean Flicks were ripping the studios off by buying just one retail DVD, making their edits, and then turning around and selling hundreds of their own custom copies like some Asian bootlegger. No, if a customer wanted a scrubbed DVD, said customer must first buy the DVD through proper channels like a good consumer, mail said DVD to the scrubbing company, and five days later they get a scrubbed version of the movie in their mailbox. Hollywood got their money for the DVD purchase, and the scrubbing company got a small profit for their service. And little Junior gets to watch "Titanic" without seeing Kate Winslet naked. So what's the harm in that, right? Apparently, a lot, or so ruled Judge Matsch.

Eventually, I believe Hollywood will catch on. They are already championing the Clear Play technology, which allows a special DVD player to filter original store-bought DVDs "on the fly", based on parameters you set. It was not targeted in the recent court ruling, because their technology does not involve creating an altered copy of a movie. I have not seen it work in action, but apparently it has a fine level of granularity regarding the level of filtering. I guess that means you can set your "vulgarity" filter to mute out the big profanities like the F-bomb, but keep the "lesser" ones such as "hell" or "damn". Or throw them all out. Or keep 'em in. You have the power. Although I have a feeling if you turned all the filters on while watching something like "South Park: The Movie", the screen would be blank and the audio muted for practically the entire film :) Heck, the DVD player would probably explode from a nervous breakdown.

Here's an interesting scenario I discussed with some movie friends a few years ago. When I watch "Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope" on DVD at my house, I always fast forward through that horrible new Jabba/Han Solo scene. Every. Single. Time. I have effectively "edited" the film. If I had the technology and time, perhaps I would burn my own version with that scene excised. While I was at it, I would also make sure that Han shoots first, like he's supposed to. Perhaps I would tinker even more. Maybe I feel that the camera lingers just a little too long on that severed alien arm that Obi-Wan cuts off in the cantina. So I shorten the scene, or perhaps remove it altogether. Maybe I object to Obi-Wan's use of an explicative when he tells Luke that his uncle "was afraid he might follow old Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade", so I edit the audio track to remove this "offensive" profanity. I remake the movie into a form that suits my tastes and needs, burn a new disc, throw away the Lucas version, and play my "vastly superior" version in my home from now on. Do I have the right to do this? Sure, I made the edit primarily for my own viewing pleasure, but what if I show this version to my friends when they come over to watch "A New Hope" on my jumbo widescreen television? What if some of them like my "improvements", and they ask me to burn a disc for them as well? They've already bought the Lucas version legally from a store, so it's not like they're getting it for free off the internet, or buying some three dollar bootleg copy available on a New York street corner. Let's take it even further. Suppose one of my rich friends with waaaay too much time on his hands decides that he wants to be in the movie. He has taught himself CGI modeling, and purchased all the cool software that the pros use for his dual 8.6Ghz Mac. He creates a few of his own TIE-Fighter and X-Wing battle scenes, that actually look as good as the stuff Lucas' ILM created. He also films himself as an X-Wing pilot, combines it with his custom CGI footage, and creates this fantastic new five-minute sequence, which he inserts seamlessly into the Lucas version. To someone not familiar with the original 1977 version, they wouldn't have a clue that the film had been modified. Is this legal? Should this be legal? Could he show his modified Star Wars to other friends and relatives? What if they liked it so much, they also wanted a copy (to replace their existing ones, of course, so nobody can cry about pirating). Can he do that? Imagine hundreds of people creating their own edited versions of Star Wars. They are duplicated, and over time, distributed to friends, families, and fans. Ten years later, when you are your buddies are hanging at a friend's house watching Episode IV, will you all be scratching your heads, wondering "Where the heck is the scene with the X-Wing pilot Jimbo?", or "I could have swore Obi-Wan said a different line there!". All because their are hundreds, if not thousands, of different edited version of Star Wars out there.

See You Later, Space Cowboy...

2006-07-01T11:15:00.000-04:00

I'm not what you would call a huge anime fan, but I do like to dabble in a good anime series everynow and then. Of late, I've been enjoying the six-disc DVD set of the anime series Cowboy Bebop. Yeah, I know. Don't let the somewhat silly title turn you off. Anyway, I was watching "session" 22, when suddenly the series took a quite unexpected twist with the departure of two key characters. Then, over a lengthy montage of poignant images, this incredible song, totally perfect for the moment, started playing. I wondered why it had never received any major radio airplay, because it rocks. The song is "Call Me, Call Me" performed by Steve Conte of the Seatbelts. Give a listen to this short snippet, and see if you don't agree.

Deep Thought

2006-06-26T17:22:00.000-04:00

Today I turn 42. That particular number is well-known in the geek community, being given as the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything in Douglas Adams' Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Of course, the two pan-dimensional hyper-intelligent individuals who were present to receive Deep Thought's end result were none too pleased. Loonquawl's response after a moment of stunned silence sums it up nicely: "We're going to get lynched, aren't we?"

Another bit of geek humour that I can no longer use today is this bit of dialogue:
Q. "So, how old are you?"
A. "Twenty-nine." (short pause) "In hexadecimal."

Obviously, if you don't understand hexadecimal notation, you don't get the joke. But alas, the joke is no longer as funny, since an age of "2A" is pretty lame. I wouldn't even know how to pronounce it. Two-Aay? Twenty-Aay??

To embrace the geekness of my new age, I decided to use a parental present of a Best Buy gift card to purchase a somewhat geeky piece of hardware -- a web camera. The Logitech QuickCam Communicate STX, to be specific. Now, when I chat with my friend in Louisiana (who also has a webcam), we can see and talk to each other just like in The Jetsons. Three cheers for technology. Seems like just yesterday, I was typing FORTRAN programs onto punched cards and thinking the 8-color Apple II computer was pretty keen :)

In closing, I can't resist another bit of geek humour. Enjoy.

"There are 10 kinds of people in this world. Those who understand binary notation, and those who don't."

May you all embrace your inner geekness.

First and Goal

2006-06-18T18:04:00.000-04:00

"We're putting the band back together." -- Elwood Blues

Over the past few months, neighbors have experienced mysterious musical emanations coming from my basement every Thursday evening. Yes, myself and four other musically inclined friends of mine have been hard at work, forming yet another band that we hope will soon be playing in a city near you. Whereas my previous band only played classic rock covers, this new band will incorporate songs both old and new. So far, we've been likin' what we're hearin'. We hope our future audience will also. We've almost reached our goal of 40 songs, at which point we should be ready to start testing the club waters. Until then, here are three snippets to give you a taste of things to come:

"I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw
"Vertigo" by U2
"I Wish" by Stevie Wonder

Work and Play

2006-06-10T12:13:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy few weeks as I continued to get acclimated to my new job. Things are going well, and I'm gradually getting the hang of my new duties. However, with this increase in work, I've had to compensate by bumping up the play factor. During my non-work hours, I've amused myself with other activities such as:

Volunteered as a chaperone during my church's annual youth trip to King's Dominion. The longest line was for the Volcano, but it was worth it. And yes, I am still undefeated in Whac-a-Mole.
Enjoyed some fine music at Merriweather Post Pavillion courtesy of Rob Thomas and Natasha Bedingfield. Highlight of the concert was getting props from Natasha regarding our homemade boom box from her "These Words" video. Perhaps if we hadn't been sitting all the way back in row KK, she might have invited The Daughter up onto the stage.

Attended the lovely, yet windy, outdoor wedding of friend and fellow blogger Christinahh.
A friend from Louisiana returned to Maryland for her sister's high school graduation, and asked if I would take some additional modeling pics of her; so we spent Sunday shooting a few rolls at a nearby park and lake dock.

The school year is winding down, and The Daughter is counting down the days until June 15. At that point, she will have much more time to play than I will. I am envious.

My First Day and the End Days

2006-05-16T17:58:00.000-04:00

I successfully survived the first day of employment, and I have cramps in my right hand to prove it, what with all the paperwork signing I performed. We're in the twenty-first century, people! Why must I continue to fill in the same information (name, address, SSN, DOB, yada yada yada) over and over and over again, on form after form after form? Where is our paperless society? Why isn't this information on some sort of scannable RFID chip on my driver's license or something? Sure, there are privacy issues to be addressed; but if the info was encrypted in some fashion with a private key that only I knew, then it would be secure from practically any and all nefarious scanner/hackers. Of course, the downside would be that such a card/chip could be stolen, and then you'd have serious identity theft issues to deal with. To counteract that, and make such a chip "unstealable" (for all intent and purposes), perhaps it could be implanted within the surface skin of your body. Perhaps on your hand. Or forehead. Hmmmmmm. Time to reread the last part of Revelation 13.

T-Minus 18 Hours and Counting

2006-05-14T13:32:00.000-04:00

My forced five-week "vacation" is rapidly coming to a close. Early Monday morning, I'll be getting re-briefed, re-badged, and re-acquainted with the working class. My final days are being spent taking care of The Daughter, who got hit with a nasty sinus infection and has been leaving a trail of Kleenex tissues throughout the home. As I said in my last post, we have no health insurance until June; so instead of getting drugs, she gets a Band-Aid on her nose.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2006-05-04T17:07:00.000-04:00

First, the good.

After a few interviews with local companies looking for programmers, I received an offer letter and signed up with a local tech company. They've been around since 1994 and seem pretty stable. I have some friends that work there; in fact, it was one of them who got me the interview so quickly. Another plus is that their central office is located somewhat close to my home, which means I will have the ability to bicycle to work occasionally for some much needed exercise. I am ashamed to admit that my New Year's Resolution to hit the gym more consistantly has failed miserably, so perhaps biking to work will renew my zest for punishing cardio workouts.

Next, the bad.

Being off work since April 7, I am quite anxious to start working again. Although I am grateful for the chance to finally have the "spare" time to clean out the basement, repaint The Daughter's bedroom, and practice my golf swing, such activities do not the mortgage pay. Bills there are, and money I have not. And apparently, make one talk like Yoda it does. So, I was muchly saddened when I discovered that the soonest my company could bring me on board would be the middle of May. Even more so when I learned that I wouldn't have medical or dental insurance until the first of June. So, it means a few more weeks of watching the purse strings, and being careful walking down stairs and stepping out of the shower. I've told The Daughter that May is Health-Awareness Month, where one cannot get sick, or sustain any injury that can't be fixed with a band-aid.

Finally, the ugly.

Yes, it's Sam, the winner of the 2005 Ugliest Dog Contest. Not to mention the fact that Sam also won in 2004 and 2003. Alas, Sam went to that great dog pound in the sky last November, so the door is open for another champion of canine grotesquery this year.

Looking at Sam reminds me of an urban legend I used to pass around during my college days. Seems a family picked up a small rodent-like dog at the pound one day, but later in the week were puzzled by the disappearance of their family cat. Upon investigation, it was found that said dog was not a dog at all, but the infamous Peruvian Rat, a most crafty and bloodthirsty carnivore if ever there was. Yes, little Fluffy had been the main course. So be extra cautious when picking up any stray dogs you may find, or you might face a similar fate!

I Think This Definitely Counts

2006-04-15T20:30:00.000-04:00

Ah. How quickly can the winds of change arrive. One day, you're getting ready for a much anticipated and needed vacation to California with The Daughter. Then, the day before you leave, your boss calls you into his office for a "meeting" and you find yourself laid off. A Seldon Crisis of major proportions, to be sure! So the good news is I don't have to use up vacation leave for my trip; but the bad news is I "lose" a week of looking for a new job. Oh well, I refuse to let this little setback spoil our trip out West.

Our flight leaves bright (well, actually dark) and extremely early at 7am Saturday morning, which means trying to drag The Daughter from her deep slumber at 4am. We arrive at BWI, only to be greeted by a cheerful United employee who promptly tells us that our flight has been delayed for three hours. Woo hoo. The Daughter is not amused. Neither is The Father, for that matter. And just an FYI: airport terminal chairs are not known for their high comfort level. I do, however, manage to read over half of The Da Vinci Code whilest I wait. Quite a good read. Pure fiction, of course, but a good thriller nonetheless. Looking forward to the movie.

Finally, our flight departs. We find out that our delay is due to our pilot being forced to meet his mandatory required amount of sleep before flying. Three cheers for the FAA. At least we have a direct flight to LAX. And a well-rested pilot. The Daughter magically turns fifteen three weeks ahead of schedule while we check in, so that we can both sit in an exit row. The onboard movie is Nanny McPhee, which is mildly entertaining and completely predictable. We arrive, pick up our rental car, and drive over to the house of my Best Friend (where we will be staying, for free!!) As we are famished, we hit the mall for some much needed California cuisine. Struggling with jet lag, we are conned into watching a truly horrible "film" on DVD entitled Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter. (Its tagline was "The Power of Christ Impales You!!") We gave it the MST3K treatment, which made it barely watchable. Barely.

California is known for its most excellent weather. Rain is an uncommon occurance, especially after the first of April. So, of course, the weather forecast for the entire week is rain, rain, and more rain. Kind of puts a damper on our plans for Six Flags and Disneyland. We cross our fingers and hope for the best. Sunday we putz around in Long Beach, and hit a large flea market on the way back. The evening is spent watching the movie V for Vendetta at the local cineplex. Gotta love those west coast ticket prices. The movie was enjoyed by all. Natalie Portman can indeed act, when not in a film by George Lucas, that is.

Monday, the Best Friend was off to work, so the day was spent hitting every clothing and shoe store in L.A. with The Daughter. She had a great time. My wallet did not.

Tuesday, we decided to brave the elements and give Six Flags Magic Mountain a try. As it turns out, the looming storm clouds probably kept the typical larger crowds away. The lines were short, and the coasters were plentiful. And the parking was fifteen bucks. The Daughter even braved a coaster that Yours Truly wouldn't even attempt - the standup coaster Riddler's Revenge. We were all extremely miffed that the new coaster, Tsatu, was not yet operational. It looked awesome. High point of the day was me dropping my ATM card into the men's toilet. Yes, after I had just used it. And not yet flushed.

Because the Best Friend needed to leave early Wednesday morning for work, I decided to park the rental car on the street instead of blocking him in his driveway. Of course, when The Daughter and I finally leave (for more shopping) around 11:30am, we see absolutely no other cars on our side of the road. We also see a yellow slip of paper on our car. Yep. Wednesday is street sweeper day from ten to noon. I begrudgingly contribute forty bucks to the City of Lawndale. We spend part of the day checking out the OTIS fashion college, as The Daughter has expressed interest in attending there upon her graduation.

Another quirk of California that took a while getting used to was the concept of "lane splitting". Here I would be, driving down a two lane road with a car on my right, when a motorcycle would suddenly appear between both of us. Very insane technique if you ask me.

On our last day, we took it easy. We watched Ice Age: The Meltdown, and took The Daughter to get a haircut and "lowlights", whatever they may be. Knowledge of the near infinite number of various female hair treatments is truly beyond this straight American male. One might think that "lowlights" would mean a "low" price (as compared to "highlights"), but one would be mistaken. We closed our trip with dinner at - where else? - California Pizza Kitchen. A day out West wouldn't be complete without its own mishap, but this time it hit The Daughter instead of me. Her mouth appliance broke right after dinner, so we had to perform some emergency dental repair with a pair of pliers donated by the Best Friend. Who says dentistry is hard?

Thankfully, the rain that had been promised all week (but did not appear) finally hit as we were leaving for home. Our return flight movie is that Steve Martin classic Cheaper By the Dozen 2, which I easily avoid watching. We finally touchdown, arrive home, and I bask in the pleasure of sleeping on my own bed again. I do not set the alarm. For two more days, I decide I will remain on vacation. Monday will come soon enough, and the job hunting will start with a vengeance. But for now, it will be just like it was in California. Except there is no ocean nearby. And no lane splitting.

Not Sure If This Counts As A Seldon Crisis

2006-04-05T14:33:00.000-04:00

Well, as if I didn't already have enough on my plate, I've decided to give this "blog" thing a try. Blame it on fellow blogger Christinahh, I guess. Although I have no delusions that I will be able to match her witty prose, I will nonetheless endeavor to keep any readers or lurkers entertained as best I can. As I am currently busy preparing for a much-needed vacation with The Daughter, I will keep this first entry short and sweet. More meaty posts are assured upon my return from the West Coast. However, since this is my first entry, I suppose it should contain at least something of significance. Okay, here is a poem (can two lines be considered a poem?) that I wrote years ago.

How silent do the hallways sound,
When footsteps bold cannot be found.

Perhaps that stanza will one day find its way into one of those pocket calendars; the ones that have clever or thought-provoking quotes for each week. If so, well, you read it here first.