Picture This

Night of the Living Vegans

Yesterday I was watching one of my latest Netflix arrivals: Zombie Honeymoon. Let me just start by letting you all know that it was pretty awful. Campy but not the fun campy of such great zombie classics as Dead Alive and Undead.

One aspect of the movie got me to thinking, though: the zombie (who retains his intelligence--boo hiss!) was originally a vegan. Obviously not something I think can be explored well in a zombie flick (they're supposed to be mindless, mofos), but it got me to wondering how interesting it would be to see a vampire flick where a vegan is transformed into a vampire and has to deal with the conflict of their desires to be vegan and their body's new urge for blood. I imagine it would just be tortuous.

Tonight we expect Chris and Chrissy over to enjoy dinner and Final Destination 3 with us. We're really looking forward to the "Choose Your Own Adventure" feature of the disc which allows us to play God with the characters as we watch it.

Harry Potter and the Bareback Horseman

It seems Daniel Radcliff (good ol' Harry Potter himself) is going to be doing nudity in the play Equus in the not too distant future.

I remember doing Equus from high school and it's definitely not a family production. I sure hope no parents take their kiddies expecting child friendly hijinks.

Rock Out With Your Rooster Out

I have this crazy sad addiction to reality tv shows (though I'm just as pretentious about which are good and which are utter shite) and last year while I was in the hospital I discovered Rock Star: INXS and was hooked. The musical choices and the performances were far and above anything I'd made myself sit through on American Idol--a lot more rock, a lot more energy and soul.

So this year, when the show came back for a second season, with a band generated from scratch (w/ Tommy Lee, Gilby Clark and Jason Newstead, called "SUpernova") I decided I'd still give it a go, even if the new band seemed contrived.

I've been fully loving it. A lot more strong performances a lot earlier on. Right now I'm really digging on two of the ladies: Dilana and Storm Large--hot performances and pleasant to look at.

Rock on.

Something Weekend This Way Went

This past weekend we were able to secure babysitting for both Friday and Saturday night so we could celebrate the combo of Ian returning for a visit and saying farewell to Kenn, who is moving to New York on Wednesday.

I had a lot of excited anticipation for this weekend. And I did have a lot of fun.

Friday night the major group of us (plus Chris, sadly minus Chrissy) convened at the University Bar. While there, Denise tried her first Bay Breeze (which are tasty, but not as much as my drink of choice) and eventually got rather foolish. Enough that she needed to spend an hour outside catching some air and resting, watched over ably by Chris to make sure she was ok (thanks, my friend).

Later, at the Towne Lounge, I convinced Phil yet again that I'm a Candian (despite having had this argument with him times before, and coming clean about not being Canadian after winning each time) and caught him in a logic trap where he had to admit that either Canadians were better than Americans or he was still an upstanding and righteous Mormon. Rather than ever be pegged upstanding or righteous in his childhood religion, he ceded the floor to Canada.

Ian that night was really being somewhat annoying and uncomfortable to be around.

Saturday was the farewell party for Kenn, held at Devon's apartment. It was fun, and Chrissy got to come along this time (yay), but not too fun, as I was designated driver boy. Eventually Denise needed food, and Chris wanted food, so I took the four of us to Denise's favorite taco joint and we ate. Denise and I went back to the party after dropping Chris and Chrissy off at home, only to find that the revelers there had gotten much more faced while we were gone and were leaving for food .. which we had just come back from. Ian was being very incoherent and a tad creepy and so we just decided to call it an earlyish night and went home.

Kenn I'm going to miss. This weekend, seeing Ian again after he's been gone these two months, I don't know. He kind of creeped me out and I was a bit uncomfortable being around him.

Saturday day also had Hero Clix and swimming, and Sunday had some misadventures where I was supposed to go to a movie with Ian and Kenn, but they forgot me (after calling to say they were coming to get me), and I ended up going to the movies instead with Robert (reviewed below).

Senor Super, or something like that

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So yesterday I watched Superman Returns in Spanish (yes, Spanish). I have to say, without the bad dialogue and bad acting completely ruining the movie for me, I still really disliked it.

Here you go, Drew

Here we have Denise in the bathing suit that Chris calls her "X-Men Bathing Suit." I think he calls it this because it's black and sleek, like the costumes from the movies with just the slight colour accents. Me, I think it looks more like "aquatic Abbey Chase from Danger Girl."

Either way, she looks great in it.

My Rosario Dawson Episode

Tonight (well, technically yesterday--Sunday night) Robert and I saw Clerks II. I'm avoiding most urges to spoil it right now. The short of it: not perfect, but I really enjoyed it. If you're a fan of the franchise, I think you'll be happy with it.

What I really want to talk about is how I only just now realized that I think Rosario Dawson is h-o-t hot. Tramped out in Sin City didn't make me realize this. Ditto Josie and the Pussycats (you know you liked it too, Tara Reid aside). In some part, I think it's because I saw her in her first role, in theatres, in the movie Kids and since that movie scarred me a little, I hadn't been able to appreciate her physicality as well as I might have otherwise. Now though, at exactly the scene where she's dancing, I've come to realize she's nice to look at. It also helps that she doesn't look like one of those pinch-faced size zero anorexic actresses that populate Hollywood. Ladies, curves are pretty. Embrace them.

Postscript: Who here is watching Psych on USA? That show is fucking hilarious. It surpassed all of my expectations for it.

Wherein I answer Aimee's Questions

1. Since I've decided it'd be lovely to toss my responsibilities aside with reckless abandon (not forever, mind you), take to the skies (well, right after I've conviced myself that flying is a cool thing) and discover all the wonderful places that aren't here, I'm going to recycle one of Drew's questions and toss it your way--If, on my quest for discovery, I happened to find myself within your realm, what's the one thing that I must see and/or do while I'm there? And why?


This one's a little mundane, and hopefully unexpected by anyone reading this: you should take in a movie at the Pageant movie theatre. They cater only to independant film and they have couches for seating. I love the Pageant.

2. What main character flaw in other people just drives you absolutely out of your mind? And in yourself?

Dishonest people really get my goat. As do people who work to bring bad tidings into other peoples' lives.

The character flaw I honestly hate most about myself is my lack of motivation & self esteem. I wonder where I'd be in the timeline of your fifth question if I were better motivated and liked myself more.

3. I'm a lover not a fighter, but I will admit that there are times I do enjoy a good fight, that is, provided the subject is one worth fighting for. What's worth a good fight for you?

My children. My wife. My friends. I once threw away a (crappy) really well paying job over the poor treatment another worker had received.

4. Your children all have beautifully unique names (and you may have explained this in the past, but I'd be most appreciative if you'd humor me and do it again--please), why did you and your lovely wife choose to be unique when it came to names as opposed to choosing more traditional or common names?

This one is really simple: we didn't want our kids to be one of thirty Davids, Mikes, Jennys and Marys in their classes -- ever.They're bound to someday have a phase where they hate the names we gave them and wish we'd made them more "normal" but I hope they live their lives loving their uniqueness as human beings and embrace the uniqueness of their names.

On a side note, Denise and I were actually chatting just slightly about names for a future child (no, we are not pregnant. Of this I am certain). Right now I'm revisiting an old desire to name the kids after concepts (like peace, harmony and freedom) and in my own whimsy am growing more and more attached to names derivitive of a certain Biblical list -- for a boy: Wray (I expect those who jones over Middle and Old English, like Adj, to get our usage of the "y" as it was used then, as the "th" symbol, making the boy's name "Wrath") and for a girl: Pryd.

5. Every person, whether they admit it or not, wants to somehow leave their mark on the world, to be remembered for something they did in this life that will impact others long after they're gone. So tell me, Evan, what mark would you like to make, what do you want to be remembered for long after you're gone?

In all honesty, I want to be remembered as a good and loving (and loved) husband and father (and grandfather, and great-great grandfather, and great-great-great grandfather, and ...).

At various points throughout my life I've seriously wanted or pursued a career as a writer of fiction, poetry and/or comic books (I'd even been signed to and written two issues of a western comic for an Indy company that fell through before they truly began); as a vocalist for a punk band (without two lungs I have lost any hope of ever living this life) and of acting.

5 Questions for Chrissy

1. Chrissy, your blog is titled West Coast High. Why?

2. If you discovered the cure for one of the major diseases (AIDS, Cancer, Alzheimer's, etc.) but the development of the cure would somehow require the complete annihilation of a aplant or animal species, what would you do?

3. You and Chris have a lot of entertainment commonalities. I know well where your tastes in film differ, and fairly well musically. Where, aside from his comic reading, do your tastes in reading differ? Is there a novel or author that is a favorite of yours that he can't stand?

4. In your estimation, what are your best and worst qualities?

5. What's your favorite country and why?

5 Questions for Aimee

I've been lax in getting these questions done for Aimee and Chrissy. TIme to get past that (and this is also why I haven't nagged Drew yet for not answering the questions I posed him).

At any rate, in an effort to begin being more punctual with this sort of thing, I will now press on (and if you find yourself wanting to be interviewed with 5 questions, just ask).

As the title suggests, these particular questions are for Aimee. And Aimee, I hope you can forgive my pulling out the big guns.

1. Your blog is called the Twisted Minds of Aimee and Angie but as I read through it, your mind doesn't really seem overly twisted to me (which is meant to be a compliment), nor does Angie's (though she does post much less frequently). So I would like to know why the two of you chose that name for your blog?

2. One thing I've noticed you don't blog very much about is religion. What are your personal religious beliefs and are they the same as those you were raised with or have they devloped separately from the rest of your family?

3. One of the clearest things about you is your total devotion to your son. You're a great mother, but are also on record as not planning to have another ever. What led to your decision to not have another child?

4. What exactly is your job? As much as you can legally say if there are non disclosure agreements involved.

5. I'm a massive movie snob and the answer to this might be the most important answer you can give. What is your all time favorite movie and why?

Summer Reading

I have a buttload of books to read. Throughout the year I buy new books to read during vacations, and always buy more than I'm actually able to complete during said vacation ...

I just finished a book titled Deadline by Steven Cooper.

This book, fiction, is about a television news reporter who is busy investigating four different controversial stories in preparation for February sweeps. In the process of this, he gets murdered. The reporter narrates the novel from beyond the grave.

Overall, the writing itself was done well enough to get me to finish the book without feeling as if my time was wasted, but not compelling enough to make me try to read it in one sitting or to read it as quickly as possible (and much better than my first summer read, which I did not complete it was so poorly written).

I felt the plot was too busy. Easily two of the reporter's news threads could have been dropped (and it showed through how poorly they were attended in the writing anyhow). Too busy, but not confusing. It could have done with just a little more tightening. Also, throughout the novel is the occasional chapter where the narrator discusses the afterlife (in this reality, those who die become stars and can visit people's dreams) -- a post-modern twist I could have done with a lot less of. It was crucial to the book in the end, allowing him to solve his own murder and communicate the evidence to someone still alive in the plot, but still overdone.

Anyhow, I'd give it a solid C. Nothing to spend money on, but if you've nothing else to do and have a library card, it wouldn't be the worst read of your life.

Denise and I are both reading the next book at the same time: Go Ask Malice -- a Slayer's Diary. The author's name escapes me at the moment. It's written as a journal kept by the character of Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. I'm, not far into it as yet, but I will say that the author seems to have most of Faith's voice down well.

Punker Than You

When I first met our friend Paul, he had a mohawk (he's a drummer in a punk band, a rockabilly band and a cover band so it fir his mystique I suppose). Laziness has caused him to grow it out. I'm digressing...

Lash and I have always thought it was pretty cool, and when Chris mentioned that our friend John should get one a couple weeks ago, it really pushed the thought forward more in Lash's mind. At first he was a little bummed because he'll have to get it shaved off before school starts up again, but then he was enthusiastic about having it again, and so now here we are with Lash's new 'do.

July Photosplosion

Anniversary

Saturday was the one year anniversary of my cancer surgery. I celebrated by lots of swimming, some weight lifting and watching a godawful Netflix flick--a Thai horror movie that made Hostel look like the Teletubbies.

Saturday day I also had to run the latest HeroClix marquee at the comic shop. Aeia and Lash played--and took 2nd and 3rd places respectively. All had a good time.

Lash is sporting a cool new haircut--I'll post pics some time later this week.

I'm off shortly to relax in front of the a/c (it's damn hot) and watch some bad reality TV and/or Psych.

Be excellent to each other.

Couch Critic

Ah blessed Netflix and your snazzy movies.

For some time I wanted to see Broken Flowers, the Bill Murray movie from last year, but hadn't gotten around to it. When it arrived Friday, it arrived broken, so I reported the problem to Netflix and they had the replacement in my box Saturday. Awesome service. So I got around to watching it today. I'm kinda (read: very) disappoited. Ah well. Although, wow, I never would have guessed that girl from Invasion was old enough to do that.

I also got a cheesy Thai horror flick (the name escapes me at the moment) that I'm hoping to double feature at Chris' this weekend with his copy (that we've been repeatedly postponing the viewing of) of the Japanese inspiration for the upcoming movie Pulse and have a nice big B-movie scarefest.

Today I DVR'd Honey I Shrunk the Kids for my kids, as they requested it and have never seen it. Saving that one for the next lazy day we have.

I keep getting a bad feeling about the latest Pirates of the Caribbean. Not sure yet how I plan to deal with that one.

Latest musical rotations for Chris:

Taking Back Sunday: You're So Last Summer, and Makedamnsure

Fall Out Boy: pretty much everything. Ditto that Relient K and Hawthorne Heights.

Baked

Spent the last holiday weekend doing a ginormous amount of swimming and BBQing with my family and the family Taylor. I also taught their oldest how to HeroClix on the 4th, and think I may have created another plastic game addict, as he and Lash actually would make the choice to stop swimming in order to play the game. Ah well, variety is good for them and this at least flexes their mental muscles with some basic math and strategy.

I am sunburned. My upper half is red. The higher up my body you go, the redder my body becomes. Refreshingly, I'm not actually in much pain, so I'm hoping for the first real good tan I've had in years.

CGeffingI makes for better flight than wires

I am just returning from seeing Superman Returns with the Taylors, Robert, Kenn, Lash and Aeia. Lash and Aeia, and the Taylor children, really enjoyed the movie and this makes me happy. Lash's favorite part was when the villain shot Superman in the eye and his eye stopped the bullet.

To Odalisquek and others, I do spoil aspects of the new movie below, so read on with that forwarning or watch the movie first or whatever.

I did try really very hard to like this movie. It is absolutely no secret to those who know me and my taste for comic books that I hate, absolutely hate, the character of Superman. I'm going to surprise these very same people right now as I type this: while I hate Superman, Superman the Movie, and Superman II are among my favorite movies. I love them. They stand up to the test of time. They're iconic in their idealistic qualities. Watching them brings me joy.

And so, armed with intentional ignorance of most spoilers, and armed with hope, despite my declaration that I would hate the movie, I went to it praying to love it. I hate hate hated Superman Returns. I have many reasons for hating this movie, and would be happy to enumerate them later. Right now, I want to focus on just one thing that really boiled me at the moment: Supertoddler.

On a television show, typically the introduction of the cute little kid is a guaranteed death knell. Aside from the fact that this movie will likely make enough bank to warrant a sequel or two, Supertoddler is and was a big mistake.

Why?

Well, for starters, it takes your attention away from the center of the film, and if you don't know what that is, re-read the title of the film off of your ticket stubs, folks. From the moment Supertoddler is introduced, you spend too much time fully not immersed in the film as you consciously wait for them to state unequivocally whether Supertoddler is actually Supertoddler or not. Then, once they do so, by having Supertoddler kill someone with a piano (nice that he saves mommy, yes, but where's the emotional trauma for an under five year old murdering someone? I hope for a therapy subplot in the inevitable sequel) you spend the rest of the movie waiting for Supertoddler to do something else super. And this movie created so many instances where you sit rigin waiting for the damned kid to do the next supertastic thing. It ruined the movie.

With very few exceptions, it seems to me that there aren't many kids out there who are actually good actors (which in and of itself is fine--they are kids and need time to grow and develope their craft). This kid had to have graduated from the Jake Lloyd school of acting. He gets to rescue Superman by pointing out his drowning presence with the same emotional weight as Anakin Skywalker telling Padme Amidala she looks like an angel.

When Superman plowed Lois in Superman II he did it, presumably and hopefully repeatedly, while his DNA was altered to remove his powers. So, ah, why does the kid even have 'em? And if the kid does have superpowers like those, why does he have so many health issues? Supertoddler has athsma?

Kids grow up. Actor-wise, they're going to need to do the next movie quickly or have another significant span of time pass in the continuity of the films again, or get a new actor for the kid because he already had problems passing for five as it was.

I tried, people. I wanted to like this movie.


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My Week

Our cable is on the fritz, which really blows. It keeps turning itself on and off whenever I fast forward a DVR show, change channel, change volume, turn it on... sigh.

Superman opened yesterday and while I'm avoiding further spoilers before I see it, I vow not to like it at all once I do. No one can take my hatred of Superman away from me.

I'm hoping for something fun to happen this weekend. Right now I've no concrete plans, but even if we do nothing more than a buttload of swimming, I'll be happy.

A new HeroClix set came out yesterday as well. We really couldn't afford it but we bought a bunch anyway and Lash and I have been having a fun time playing with it.

I got new shirts in the mail today from Threadless Tees (linked on the right). Lovely tees; extremely slow shipping (ordered the tees approx one month ago).

To all of the people who remembered my birthday--you rock. To those who didn't--you don't (though those who didn't know are still ok).

Peace to all my peeps, and I hope Drew is having a blast in Amsterdam.

Aimee and Chrissy, I haven't forgot that I owe you each five questions, and they'll be coming eventually.

Bleh. Hack. Ick. and I'm Melting

I currently have a cold, specifically I have a sore throat. It's also hot as hades and I feel miserable.

Le sigh.

Netflixed Shopgirl and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang this week. Loved them. Netflixed Jesus is Magic and Breakfast on Pluto. Lame and too all over the place, respectively. Cillian Murphy does make an ok looking lady though when he's all blonded up.

Birthed

This past Saturday we did some of our birthday celebrating at the home of Chris and Chrissy where we spent the day swimming and playing a little Munchkin and ate a butt-load of barbecue. I splurged and had some shark steak and bbq chicken. Tasty tasty goodness. After that a couple margaritas and then Denise and I were able to head home, leaving Lash and Aeia with them for a relatively kid-free night alone.

Sunday I got some very nice homemade cards and letters from the kids, and then we nerdgamed for a few hours. Afterwards, Kenn took me out to dinner at La Familia for some great Mexican food.

Over-all, a tasty birthday weekend all-around.

Movied

So I did see the remake of the Omen, and the general nature of remakes being somewhat less than the original aside, I rather enjoyed it.

Next up, though I'm still a bit loathe to say it, Superman Returns.

5 Questions for Drew

I have now to put together five questions of my to ask of Drew. As I've done this before, my biggest trepidation is not thinking of any "good" serious ones, as I obviously used those up the first time ... as if such a statement were truly possible.

So here, in no particular order are five questions for Drew:

1. You recently blogged about personal themesongs. In your blog, you quote a song from Sesame Street but you never actually say what you think your theme song might be. So, if I were to ask you to choose one song to be your theme song, what would it be?

2. If you had to spend one week as a woman, in what way(s) might you spend that week differently than you would normally?

3. What is your favorite live action movie adapted from a comic book, and why (i.e. no animation or "original" superhero movies like Incredibles or Sky High)?

4. You've lost a substantial amount of weight this past year; what's been the biggest change in your life as a result?

5. We've gone into why Kitty Pryde is my favorite comic book character some months ago--why is she such a favorite character of yours?

June Photogasm

Generic Title Thursday

We've been beset by ants. I need to find the source of them so that I can snuff them out like ... well, you know.

Three days until my birthday. The big three-two. This means this blog had its two year birthday a few days ago and I totally missed it. Happy belated birthday, blog! I can't wait for it to be potty trained. Blog diapers are so messy.

I finally finished watching Angels in America today (never read or seen the play). Over-all, I enjoyed it. Mary Louise Parker was especially entertaining. I loved when she asked why, if Mormons are called Mormons because it was the angel Moroni who gave Joseph Smith the Golden Tablets, why are they called Mormons instead of Morons?

Speaking of Morons, despite my checking the box declaring that I was not, in fact, me (i.o.w. I lied) in the "are you the David Peterson we have on record as being a member of our church?" letter they sent me, and my subsequent turning away of the missionaries when they were then sent to check up on me, I received a birthday card in the mail from our local Bishop. They're relentless.

I plan to spend my birthday eve eve with friends having a dandy time of it, along with a repeat of same or similar on birthday eve. We'll see. Bummer there're no good new movies this weekend; I traditionally do a movie on my birthday weekend.

Classified

I Am A: Chaotic Good Elf Bard Fighter

Alignment:
Chaotic Good characters are independent types with a strong belief in the value of goodness. They have little use for governments and other forces of order, and will generally do their own things, without heed to such groups.

Race:
Elves are the eldest of all races, although they are generally a bit smaller than humans. They are generally well-cultured, artistic, easy-going, and because of their long lives, unconcerned with day-to-day activities that other races frequently concern themselves with. Elves are, effectively, immortal, although they can be killed. After a thousand years or so, they simply pass on to the next plane of existance.

Primary Class:
Bards are the entertainers. They sing, dance, and play instruments to make other people happy, and, frequently, make money. They also tend to dabble in magic a bit.

Secondary Class:
Fighters are the warriors. They use weapons to accomplish their goals. This isn't to say that they aren't intelligent, but that they do, in fact, believe that violence is frequently the answer.

Deity:
Hanali Cenanil is the Chaotic Good elven goddess of love, beauty, and art. She is also known as the Heart of Gold and Lady Goldheart. Her followers delight in creation and youth, and work to spread happiness, love, and beauty. Their preferred weapon is the dagger.

Find out What D&D Character Are You?, courtesy ofNeppyMan (e-mail)

Return of the 5 Question Meme

Drew recently had another go-around with the 5 question meme on his blog, Messages in Bottles. Since I love answering questions so much (oddly, I do) I decided to submit myself to him for further interview (not catching that he required a tag-back, so now I must strive to think of the best 5 questions ever for him ... and I will).

AT any rate, you all probably know the drill: Drew asked me 5 questions, which I post here along with the answers. Any of you who would then like me to ask you 5 questions, has only to post a request that I do so in my comment box.

So here we are, Drew's questions to me, with answers:

1)To the best of my knowledge you still havenÂ’t LEGALLY changed your name, why not?

This question has a lot of answers ... the biggest of them is indecision:

See, when I decided to change my name, I was on the fence as to whether I would also change my last name (I am still on the fence with this one). The primary problem with that being that if I change my last name, I'll need to have the kids' names changed as well (and I suppose Denise's). This would be a very costly process, and one potentially very confusing to the kids. So I hem and haw over getting it done officially. There are two other reasons and they are cost and convenience. Cost is obvious and needs no explanation. Convenience ... well getting my name changed on all of ourdocumentss, all of our bills, our credit card, the bank, schools, government agencies, etc. ... the task is a bit daunting. And so I drag my feet further.

Changing my name's something I'd considered often since Jr. High (back then I wanted to change it to Piotr Rasputin. Ha!) but never fully realize or voiced 'til two summers ago. It'll happen; I just need to get it all squared away properly in my head first.

2)Do you have a favorite conspiracy theory? ( Example: JFKÂ’s death, Area 51, Elvis faked his deathÂ…) If so what? If not, why not?

Does it have to be a conspiracy theory of my own? Lots of people have theirs that I enjoy. A colleague of mine once shared his belief that that there is already a cure for cancer and that the government won't allow it to be made public because cancer healthcare brings too much money into the economy. I've always thought he was a bit crackers, but he had some good points in his argument. One of our former foster children believed that there was a cure for AIDS and that it is kept in some anonymous mailbox in Death Valley for anyone to drive up to and take for themselves. The sister of someone dear to me used to (and maybe still does) believe that people placed listening devices on her and her property with great regularity. My psycho ex Shelley used to believe that pets would tell God on us if they saw us having premarital sex. There were some who believed DC Comics had a mole in our online role playing game because so many of our storylines or plots ended up happening in the comics a year or so later. That one's always been one of my favorites.

Personally, I've given up on conspiracy because the real world is already scary enough as it is.

3)I know you like both Grissom and Batman; do you have a favorite fictional detective- and if so who is s/he?

You're being facetious, right? I hate Batman and am not extremely fond of Grissom ... that said, my favorite fictional detective is most definitely Veronica Mars.

4)You asked me last aroundund if I would KILL Hitler if I couldÂ… reverse that, if there was any one historical person that you could go back in time and SAVE from a crappy death ( give them a vaccine or warn them about a shooting or somethingÂ…) who would you save?

First, if it were the reverse, it woulmoremoree along the lines of "would I save them" not "who would I save," but I quibble. In fact, your wording is more intriguing to me because it saves me from making the moral caveat about how I wouldn't save Person X because it could cause greater damage to historical progression, etc. ... everything you've seen or read in sci fi and all. But your question, leaving out the choice of whether I would or would not requires me to just choose one. And I am very glad you want me to choose just one because it allows me to not worry about political ramifications of not saving buttloads of people (like the 9/11 victims or the victims of the Holocaust) and forces me to focus on just one.

My biggest stumbling point is going to be the "historical" qualifier. I don't know what you'd deem not historic, and I'm going to go a bit off from history textbook for my answer.

But before I do that, could I get a show of hands on people who would choose Jesus? It's purely for my own personal statistical analysis.

OK, I thought about this question the most of all four. My mind actually kept wandering to one place: John Lennon. But it wouldn't commit. Finally, I realized Lennon wouldn't stick for me because, for me, the man had already peaked creatively. Bringing him back would make his family and millions of fans happy (as it should ... but so would the same thing for most any historic figure, no?), but for me--I think we'd already gotten the best work out of him. Is that a bit callous? I think so. But so the fuck what, right?

Lennon did, howefinallyially lead me to my ultimate answer: Kurt Cobain. The histomusicmusci history at least, if not cultural and social) figure I would save is Kurt Cobain. Take away the shotgun and introduce the man to some of the better anti-depressants because he still had work to do.

5)Lastly- a serious question. FavoritesÂ… As someone who feels that he was not either of his parents favoritesÂ… how do you deal with the sibling rivalry of Lash, Aeia and Rael?

There is nothing in this life that annoys me to the same degree and severity as does the rivalric bickering between Aeia and Lash. Thankfully, neither of them really express any jealousy of or about Rael yet, but the two of them and their constant bickerjob is enough to make a man go grey young.

And, it is a horrible thing for me to say, but I do have a favorite of my children, but I won't name any names. I will say, though, that I actually give more attention to the other two than I do to my favorite, which is my breverseeverese-favoritist to the worst degree and something I strive to improve constantly.

Summer-Summer-Summertime

It's Wednesday and we have a standing invite to be at Chris and Chrissy's on Wednesdays after school for swimming. It's great having a place for regular swimming, and great friends to do it with. It's also good exercise and I just love the water in general. Both Lash and Aeia are improving their swimming skills dramatically. It's all great and fun and good fellowship.

All of that preface aside, the past three days have been cold and overcast. Yesterday we had a freaking thunderstorm of all things. This is not Mid-June weather for Northern California. Mid-June weather for this part of California is in the upper ninety degrees Fahrenheit, very dry and very sunny.

I hate Al Gore for inventing global warming.

Spent

Yesterday Denise left to take the kidlets to school, and promptly returned with the kids because the van wouldn't start (with the Mustang currently on the disabled list as well, this especially sucked) so we had to get the van towed to a mechanic and have it repaired. And of course, if we had auto repair money to spare the Mustang would already be running.

Argh. Grr.

So, I dipped into my birthday gift money to pay for the repairs.

I'd love to do more than bitch about stuff, but that's pretty much the mood that put me in. How did I cope?

I murdered 39 levels on Gauntlet (in the Midway Arcade Treasures game for PS2) and rewatched the finale of Angel (alas, my darling Wesley ... )

Special thanks to Chrissy for giving me a lift to the shop so that I could pick the van up yesterday. Today is going somewhat better, though Aeia is working very hard to drive me completely insane.

And the Verdicts Are:

So, finally had my follow-up dr's appointment post-physical. Got all my labs back:

The good: Thyroid is ok, liver is ok, kidneys are ok, blodd pressure is good, I'm not diabetic, there's no hepatitis or HIV. I lost 5 pounds.

The bad: apparently my cholesterol is extremely bad.

So, I'm on some med for the cholesterol (I haven't memorized its name yet). He also has me on Ambien for my insomnia and Effexxor (an anti-depressant) for my fatigue, as it's also supposed to help pep me up a bit (not that I would disagree with a depression prognosis, but he actually disagrees with it).

Early Birds

Got my second early birthday gifts yesterday (the first being the new TV). Muchas gracias Drew for the She Hulk book and Reefer Madness dvd. Both are capital S sweet.

To family members who want to give me something, I'm perfectly happy with just a phone call, but if you still want to give presents, I remind you that my Amazon wishlist is linked over on the right & gift certificates for clothes are always keen.

Not Without My Anus'd

Some years ago there was a great South Park twofer where the boys endeavored to find out the identity of Cartman's father. The first part of the two-parter ended on the cliffhanger of the reveal, with the name to be given at the next week's episode.

The next week, however, was April Fool's Day and they pulled one on us by giving us the seminal "Terrence and Phillip: Not Without My Anus" episode instead. The South Park crew caught a good amount of flak over that (I was peeved, but over it quickly enough).

Where is this going, you might ask? So, today I went for my scheduled doctor's appointment to get the results from all the labs from my physical only to find out my doctor wasn't there, wouldn't be there today at all, wasn't going to be there as far back as when I scheduled the appointment last week and "oops, I'm sorry we forgot to call you."

If he weren't the only competent general practitioner in town (as far as my experience goes), I'd go elsewhere after this. As it is, my faith in the profession is floundering again.

6-6-'6

Ooh, it's the "day of the beast."

Grr. Arr.

I kinda want to go watch the remake of the Omen.

Visitations

Of course, I leave out the best part of last weekend while posting about movies and such earlier this week.

Our lovely friends Travis and Michelle, who we haven't seen in two years, came down and stayed with Chris and Chrissy for a couple days and we all got to hang out, swim, play nerd games, etc.

It was all great fun, even though I accidentally cheated at Turbo Cranium and I hope they'll be able to visit more often now that their back on the left coast.

Three Inches of Shrinkage

Yesterday we replaced our stupid tv set. While we could've easily went however many weeks without it, the hardest would've been the lack of late night MTV2 and Fuse background viewing while I read or DVD access for when Robert's home.

At any rate, the plus column has us with a new tv and it's a flat screen. The down side is it's three inches smaller than our old screen.

Regardless, I got to watch the third season premiere of Rescue Me this morning and for that I am happy. *SPOLIER follows*

Janet and Johnny are total bitches. Divorce is one thing, they need to be apart anyway--she's dull, but moving on to his brother like that? Someone needs to break uncle Teddy out of prison and give him another gun.

And why did I never have science teachers like Tommy's nephew's?

Tested pt. 1

Today I had my physical (remember the one I went for last week only to find out had been cancelled).

I have to go back in a week to get the results of my labs (full metabolic work-up, lipds, glucose, HIV, hepatitis, thyroid function, cbc, etc. etc.) so I don't have a complete report as yet.

A concern: despite eating better and eating smaller portions, I've gained weight, which is distressing. I've a referral to a nutritionist to talk about that in early July now. Part of me thinks my Memorial Weekend & Graduation weekend slippages are more to blame than anything.

It turns out that all of the little skin markings I worried over are, to quote him, just signs that I'm getting older. None of them were cause for concern to him and he re-schooled me on what to look for before I get conceerned, and lectured me, the whiteyest guy on the block, on sunblock. I'm sure you're glad to read that my pee looked good. Hooray for fluids! My hearing is great. With my glasses, I'm 20/10; w/o my glasses I'm 20/100. I never woulda guessed--though I still wonder if wearing glasses actually aids in deteriorating my non-glassed vision as it was far from that bad pre-glasses. Blood pressure is good, not great. Breathing is good. He's waiting to see my labs before talking about my recent fatigue issues (recent being the last year or so).

Part 2 in a week.

Praising the death of spoiler and spoiler everywhere.

Yeah, so if you haven't seen X3, and still plan to, don't read this post because while I won't be waxing long over every minute detail, I'm definitely going to spoil a thing or two you likely wouldn't spoiled.

Was it a good movie? Well, not really. Keep in mind, I also didn't think the first two were all that good--however, I suspect people who did enjoy those, and are also comics purists, or just want more characterization for their movie buck, aren't going to particularly like this film.

The movie was heavy on action and effects, at the detriment to fully developing any of the new characters or their relationships with characters from previous movies. While everyone I know seems to really like the second movie, this was actually my biggest gripe with that movie, so seeing it repeated here, different director or no, didn't worsen the experience for me.

That said, this was my favorite of the X-Men trilogy of movies. Why? Because Scott and Jean die. Hallelujah. Truly, to know me at my comic-geek level is to know how much I detest these two characters and am happy to get to see their demise (and if anything really pissed me off about the movie it's that we DON'T get to see Cyclops get destroyed).

All of the characters I wanted dead died. All of those I wanted depowered ended the film powerless.

Couple that with Kitty in extensive use, and Kitty getting to use her brains, and not her powers, to take out Juggernaut, and it made for this being my favorite of the X-trilogy.

So there.

Grr

Our tv just died. No warning, just "poof" and now it refuses to work. When it's plugged in all it does is "ding" repeatedly.

I Hope Jean Grey Dies

I've tried to avoid reading any online spoilers for the movie, but I had read somewhere that a good three members of the main cast are supposed to die in X-Men 3. The kids and I are on our way out the door right now to go see it. I'm hoping Jean & Scott are two of the fatalities--they have enough bad karma coming to them from the comic books.

Ok, I'm really going to get my geek on over Shadowcat and to bitch about her dating Iceman instead of Collossus.

How nerdy is that?

Geek Test

I scored: 36.48915% - Major Geek

+ Geekish Tendencies................................≥09%
++ Geek.............................................≥15%
+++ Total Geek......................................≥25%
++++ Major Geek.....................................≥35%
+++++ Super Geek....................................≥45%
++++++ Extreme Geek.................................≥55%
+++++++ Geek God....................................≥65%
+++++++! Dysfunctional Geek.........................≥75%