Where are we going to go today?

[:.CONTACT ME.:]
Any comments, questions or thoughts about the blog,
drop me a line.

[:.FAVORITE QUOTES.:]

8-11-03
"Since we no longer have the right to shoot trespassers on sight, we now reserve the right to viciously mock their clothes and haircuts. Until they cry and run home to their mommies. Long live the first amendment."
-Daniel Hill

2-5-04
"Maybe it's not the Grim Reaper. Maybe it's the Grim Rapper. Maybe it's just some guy that comes for ya and goes like 'Yo yo yo! It's time to go. You've lost all your fluids, your vitals sapped. Time to get ready for the big dirt nap.'"
-Robin Williams

2-19-04
"So Maine is cold. I think it was named Maine, which I believe is Indian for "Cold as your girlfriends feet in December". Pretty, but chilly."
-Melissa McCue

5-27-04
"If you try to take a cat apart to see how it works, the first thing you have in your hands is a nonworking cat."
-Douglas Adams

[::.PLACES TO GO.::]

OTHER BLOGS

ObeeWife!
So... this is "Mad Stylin"

Melissa!
In The Key of Q

Coach Yoda!
It's Time to Make the Fencers

ADD In Action

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Rainbow Heron
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Usenet Newsgroups
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Online Poetry Site
Poetry.com





Comments by: YACCS

 
THERE AND BACK AGAIN
No, I haven't seen Return of the King yet. I'm going Monday morning. But the original title for the post was just "Back Again".

I'm back. (And front and sideways. And a top and a bottom.) Enjoyed (mostly) a few days off.

Christmas Eve was spent with my family. Had a really nice time. From my nephews, I got pictures of them. From my sister and bro-in-law, got The Matrix and Matrix Reloaded, plus a bunch of candy and popcorn. My other sister provided gift certificates so that Aerri and I could go out to dinner and a movie. Dad got me this really nice sweater. And the major surprise was the other gift from Dad. For me and my sisters, he created a print from the company he works at Letterworks Art. It's a print that says "Mom" with pictures of her in the letters. I'll post a image of it, when I can. It looks REALLY nice. I've just got to figure out a place to hang it.

Christmas Day, I was supposed to head over to Aerri's parents' place and spend the day with them, but last weekend, my girlfriend gave me an early Christmas present of the cold she had, which finally delivered itself to me late Christmas Eve night. So I ended up staying home sick on Christmas Day.

Day after Christmas I was feeling better, so my other half came over. Brought presents, chicken soup, and other assorted illness cures. Her parents got me a personal CD player, and her sister got me a small assortment of aftershaves and body sprays. Good smelling stinky stuff. And I finally got to see my doublet! Very VERY nifty!! Very nicely done. As soon as I have a picture, I'll post it.

Saturday, we went and played a MechWarrior game with her cousin. Lots of fun, and got a bunch of free figures. Free figures are always good. Then we headed out to a flea market and wandered around there for a little while. Then dinner with her parents.

And today I'm back at work. Yay. On the plus side, it's a short week, and I'm heading down to Columbus for New Years.

I hope everybody else also had a good week/weekend.

And on a completely different note, I've updated R.U.M., so go forth and check it out. You REALLY want to go do that. Trust me. <---------------- Link over thataway.

posted by Obee at 9:44 PM

 
ODD RANDOM THOUGHT
If an actor breaks their tailbone while filming a movie, could the director then say they literally busted their ass to get the movie done?

posted by Obee at 10:46 PM

 
WHY?? WWWHHHHHYYYYYY??

Wasn't once enough?

Haven't they done enough damage?

Why must they torture us this way?

What have we ever done to them?

Does their evil know no boundaries??

They're producing Scooby Doo 2.

NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

posted by Obee at 1:38 AM

 
RANDOM HOLIDAY THOUGHT
Was the little drummer boy out and about because his mother was sick of him practicing his ba-rump-a-bump-bump in the house all day?

posted by Obee at 2:59 AM

 
MINOR ANNOYANCES
I've had a Waldenbooks Preferred Reader card for a number of years now. I first got it sometime back in high school as a birthday present, and it's been renewed for me every year since. I love this card. 10% off pretty much anything in the store, plus for every 100 points, you get a free $5 gift certificate ($1=1 point). Needless to say, (though I'm saying it anyways) I've saved quite a bit and gotten quite a few free gift certificates over the years.

I had a coupon for 15% off one item, and since I was getting a couple of books for the nubbins for their birthday and christmas, I decided to get something for me as well. (Very well, if you must know: The Cheerios Counting Book and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See board book for the boys, and Star Trek: New Frontier: No Limits for me.) Came to somewhere around $30. I could have picked these up in the next day or two, but today was the most convient day for me to get them.

So when I open up my email a little while ago, what do I see? An email from Waldenbooks, with a link to a coupon:
Preferred Reader
DOUBLE POINTS
On Your Entire Purchase with This Coupon
DECEMBER 12-18 ONLY!

Couldn't they have sent this out a day or two ago??? I could have waited and gotten my stuff. If I had, I would have gotten double points. These people had to wait until the day before the coupon is good, on the day I go shopping, before sending me the coupon.

So if you're planning on stopping by the bookstore in the next week, let me know. I'll send you a copy of the email with the coupon, and you can pretend to be a sibling of mine, and I'll get more points, and you'll get 10% off.
And, as an added bonus, if you spend enough (with the coupon) that it gets me a $5 gift certificate, I'll share it with you.

posted by Obee at 1:01 AM

 
MERCY!
Just saw this over on Yahoo News.

At least it might give out of work Elvis impersonators something to do.

posted by Obee at 12:09 AM

 
REPEAT REQUEST
Still looking for those trained monkeys.

They've got to be available somewhere.

posted by Obee at 11:57 PM

 
THEY FIGURED IT OUT
Happened to see this. It's a breakdown on what it would cost if you were to actually buy all the gifts from the song The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Kind of interesting.

No dear, don't even think about asking, you're not getting anything from here.

posted by Obee at 3:09 AM

 
WOW
Happy Blogiversary to me!
Happy Blogiversary to me!
Happy Blogiversary!
Happy Blogiversary!
Happy Blogiversary to me!

I've been doing this for 2 years now. Kinda hard to believe.

Been through a bunch of changes here on the blog, and also had a lot of things happen IRL.

Kinda wonder what the next 2 years will bring.

posted by Obee at 11:28 AM

 
OOOOOOHHH, WHAT THE HELL...
Just 'cause we've got somebody else to finally join in on this.....

MINE!

We'll see how many we can get up to this time. Last time we got to 104 total comments, with 12 of the "non-mine" type. I increased the number of posts that show up, so this will stay on the page longer, since I'm updating a little more frequently.

posted by Obee at 12:05 AM

 
ODD RANDOM THOUGHT
With as windy as it's been in Cleveland for the past day or so, is it making a mime's job easier?

posted by Obee at 8:49 PM

 
I LOVE PRICE WARS!
BP gas station by my house: $1.4something last weekend.
$1.32 this past Wednesday.
$1.27 on Friday.
$1.25 on Saturday.
$1.23 on Sunday (and today).

I hope it stays like this for a while.
(Probably won't, but I can hope.)

posted by Obee at 8:47 PM

 
TRAINED MONKEYS
Is it too much to ask for some trained monkeys?

Not a lot. Just a couple.

Is that too much to ask for?

posted by Obee at 8:06 PM

 
GOBBLE GOBBLE
Last post for the week. So anybody logging on Thursday or Friday to see something new are a little out of luck. I'll be back some time either Sunday or Monday.

Happy Turkey Day to every one!!

Eat all you want (but save room for desert)!

posted by Obee at 2:16 AM

 
AH HA!
I just had a wonderful idea for a commercial this holiday season. It'll be for a popular brand of home/office computers, to the tune of a popular Christmas song.

We'll call it Carol of the Dells.

posted by Obee at 8:06 PM

 
EEEWWWWWW!
This is just wrong on soooo many levels. Turkey and gravy flavored soda. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong! And might I add, eeewwwww!!

Yeah Melissa, I saw this first, then got your email. Nice to know we think along the same lines. :)

posted by Obee at 6:30 PM

 
A SLIGHT DEPARTURE
Taking a slight departure here from the normal tone of this blog, and talking about something a bit more serious.

Some of you may or may not have heard this, but earlier in the year, the South African version of Sesame Street added a Muppet that was HIV-positive.

A news story earlier today announced that UNICEF was adding the Muppet, named Kami, as a spokesman (spokesMuppet?) about the topic.

My question is, about the Muppet in general not just the news story from today, will Kami eventually run the full course of the disease?
One day, will she go from being HIV-positive to actually having AIDS?
Will there be days when she can't play because she's too weak?
Will they (have they) dealt with her taking medication?
If/when a cure comes about, will she receive the cure? If so, how long till she receives it?

Just some of my random questions about it. I wish that I could actually see the show, just to see how they deal with this.

posted by Obee at 1:26 AM

 
I'VE FOUND IT!
I meant to post this a couple of weeks ago, when I first read the article, but didn't get around to it. So you're getting it now.

I have found the casket I want to be buried in.

A couple of weeks ago, MSN.com had an article (see link above) about funerals, and how, nowadays, people are doing things differently.

And then they provided me with the idea of what I want for my casket.

I think it goes well with the balloons I want, rather than flowers.

posted by Obee at 8:59 PM

 
THEY SHOULD DO THIS MORE OFTEN
Got this in my daily newsletter, under the Weird New Of The Day section. Maybe more elections should be decided this way?

WASHINGTON TERRACE, Utah - Mark Allen has won his third term as mayor of Washington Terrace, Utah, thanks to a roll of the dice. He and challenger Robert Garside tied in a November fourth election with 724 votes each. Utah law says tie votes must be decided by drawing lots. Usually that means anything from flipping a coin to drawing a name out of a hat. But the city recorder says they felt that rolling dice was a more fair way to make a choice. So with a quick flick of their wrists, Allen rolled a four and a one Friday - beating Garside's roll of a pair of two's. Both candidates says they consider the outcome of the race fair. Washington Terrace is about 33 miles north of Salt Lake City.

posted by Obee at 10:56 PM

 
ODD RANDOM THOUGHT
If Albert Einstein had done stand-up comedy, what would his material have been like?

posted by Obee at 2:48 PM

 
OH, WHY NOT?
Been a little bit. Time for a new word association....

CHRISTMAS


(I'll probably be changing the comments text soon. Should I go with a holiday theme, or something else entirely?)

posted by Obee at 12:49 AM

 
'TIS THE SEASON...
Today, I got my first official confirmation that the Christmas season is upon us.

No, it's not the Christmas decorations everywhere. I've been seeing those since the beginning of October.

No, it's not the frigid winds and snow flurries that have been blowing through the Cleveland area for the past two days. (Side note. With all the howling wind, does it make a mime's job easier?)

No, it's not the ubiquitous, repetitive (and ultimately annoying) Christmas songs that get played on the radio over and over again. Those should be coming on, roughly, sometime at the end of next week.

No, my official confirmation that the Christmas season has descended occurred as I walking walking into the grocery store to pick up a couple of things before work. I'm maybe two dozen steps from the entrance, and I hear something. I look over across the street, and sure enough, there it is, accompanied by the familiar clang-alang-alang-alang-alang (sound effects vary upon location and vigorousness).

Ladies and gentlemen, the Salvation Army has arrived.

Soooo.... Merry Christmas everyone!
(Only 42 days 'till it's here.)

posted by Obee at 10:44 PM

 
BAD?
Here at work, I was just walking past a cube where a couple of unused monitors are sitting. There was a new one added with a sticky note on top that just said BAD?
My response:
It's an okay album by Michael Jackson. Many prefer "Thriller" instead.

Remind me again why idle hands are the devil's workshop?

posted by Obee at 11:39 PM

 
WHADDA YA THINK?
Just curious if anybody pays any attention to my revolving saying under QUOTH THE RAVEN.
Yes? No?
Seen any that you particularly like or find amusing?
(I currently have just under 60, and every so often add another one or two.)

posted by Obee at 2:25 AM

 
WHICH WAY DID HE GO? WHICH WAY DID HE GO?
I was fencing out in Kent on Saturday. Earlier in the week, Melissa (Hi there! How'd you do in saber, by the way?) had emailed me and asked if I was coming from Cleveland or from Columbus. The following was my response. It kind of sprang out of nowhere.

And now, the drive is near;
And so I face the final turn-in.
My friend, I'll say it clear,
I'll drive a pace, of which I'm certain.

I've got a tank that's full.
I'll travel the I-480 highway;
But more, much more than this,
I'm coming from my way!


It helps to picture as being sung by John Cleese like at the end of the George of the Jungle movie. (For those who haven't seen it, Cleese plays the Ape named Ape. The version of "My Way" is sort of a Vegas-like rock version.)

posted by Obee at 5:10 PM

 
WHEN GOOD SONGS GO BAD
Some of you may remember back at the beginning of the year, when I was pumping up the group Evanescence, and especially the song Bring Me To Life.
I was on my way home from work Thursday night when the song came on the air. Only it wasn't being performed by Evanescence. It was being performed by some woman (didn't hear her name). And it wasn't the normal version, with the driving, pounding instruments and the vocals with the right amount of intensity. Nope, it was some sort of breathy, torchy, lounge act, "artistic interpretation" version.
The lyrics are of someone who's dead inside, someone at their lowest point, someone with nowhere else to go but up, and they need help getting there. "Bring me to life. Wake me up inside. Save me from the nothing I've become." And with the original you feel that. You hear the desperation. You want to go up to the person and say "What do you need? What can I do?"
With this new version, this artsy-fartsy, "It's a popular song so I'm going to make a cover of it because I can" version, you want to go up to the person, poke 'em on the shoulder and go "Wake up. Time to get out of bed. You're alarm's been going off for ten minutes now. You're going to be late. The shower's free."

It's like Bring Me To Life Lite: 2/3 the lyrics, 1/3 the song.

posted by Obee at 4:11 PM

 
ANOTHER GREAT IDEA
I know, I know, I've had "great" ideas in the past. This one actually is a great idea though. Okay, maybe not great, but still a pretty good one. We all know that one of the biggest pains about owning a car is the maintainence, whether the regular stuff, or the unexpected. Whether it's the time it takes to get things done, or the cost, whether we do it ourself or not, it's still kind of a pain. And probably one of the biggest pains is the standard 3 month/3000 mile oil change. I had an idea to take away at least some of that pain: at home oil changes. You call the company up, and they come out to your house and change your oil. You don't need to worry about finding the time to get to some place to have them change your oil, you don't need to worry about finding the time to try and do it yourself. They come to your house, and you can keep on going with your life, while it gets taken care of for you.

This actually occurred to me awhile ago, when I was driving back up from Columbus, and I saw a truck on the freeway. It was for a service company that did that sort of thing for businesses. I don't remember exactly what the company was, or what the did, but I remember seeing something about service like that on the truck.
And I was reminded of my idea the other week, when I was changing the oil in my car, and the car was winning. (I finally got the oil changed though.)

If I actually had the skills and knowledge to pull this off, I might almost think about trying to launch a business like this. Unfortunately, the best I can do is change the oil on my car. I could probably adapt that to most other Toyota makes and models, but I'm not sure about anything beyond that.
Maybe one day I'll be able to start the company and run it, and let others do the dirty work.

11-2-03 HELLO PEOPLE!!
Okay, direct question time, since nobody has said anything yet. Is this a good idea? If you had something like this available to you, would you make use of it?

posted by Obee at 12:40 AM

 
GHOST WORLD
At work, I periodically run certain reports for one of my coworkers, as requested. It's been about 5 months or so since the last time I've run the reports, and I need to run multiple reports for each month. So, today, I get the request to run and print the reports. The print jobs combined are amounting to a few thousand sheets of paper. So after all the print jobs are finished and I delivered them to my coworker's cube, I left the following note on top of the stack:
I AM COMMUNING WITH THE SPIRITS OF DEAD TREES TO FIND OUT WHICH ONES YOU KILLED FOR THESE PRINT JOBS, AND WILL SEND THE APPROPRIATE GHOSTS TO HAUNT YOU WHEN I HAVE CORRECTLY IDENTIFIED THEM.
HAVE A NICE DAY.

posted by Obee at 12:22 AM

 
FOR THE LONGEST TIME
I was listening to the Billy Joel song For The Longest Time and it struck how perfect it would be for a Muppet version. There's bass playing in the background, so we can have Floyd. The backup vocal can be provided by the guys from Seasame Street, the ones that always do (did?) the song where all the words rhyme. You had the one guy with the long white hair and beard, who would always pop in the screen from some weird angle, while the other 3 or 4 where harmonizing in the background. Those guys. We'll use them for the background vocals. For the lead, I figure on Gonzo. A) I like Gonzo, and B) it just seems very much like a Gonzo type of song.
What do the rest of you think?

posted by Obee at 2:56 AM

 
I HAVE NO TITLE AND I MUST BLOG
I know, I know, no posts last week. But hey, there are nifty new updates along the side. My links are now opening in a new window, they're all centered rather than right aligned, I've got the revolving saying (hit refresh a time or two if you haven't already). Hopefully I'll get the image working soon.

Let's see...
Was fencing last weekend. It was an epee tournament in Columbus at the replica of the Santa Maria (Christoper Columbus' ship). We had the regular tournament right on the dock, and a 1-touch tourny on the ship itself. My pool bouts were okay. Could have done a bit better, but overall, not too terrible. I won my first DE 15-10. I lost my second DE 15-8. I don't feel too badly about that, since my second DE was against the person seeded first going into the DEs, and who ended up fourth. I ended up 17th out of 20 in the tournament. A 1-touch is pretty much what it sounds like, you get touched and you're out. I won my first bout there, and then double touched out in my second bout. Interestingly enough, my second bout was against the person I lost my DE too. Hey, I might have been taken out, but I took somebody with me. It was a fun day overall.

This past weekend, I went and saw Kill Bill. It was pretty good. A bit weird at times, but not too bad. Definately not a movie for everybody though. If you've seen Quentin Tarantino's movies before, and didn't like them, don't bother going to see this one. Tarantino fans will really like it, I think. I do want to catch it again, preferably at a daytime show. I had people on both sides and behind me talking during the movie. Directly on my right, I had people talking, but they actually shut up when I shhhhush'ed them. (Unlike, saaaay, a couple of audience members at Seabiscuit ;D ) Unfortunately, the people on my left were a couple of seats over, so I couldn't say anything to them without making more noise than they were. And then there's something that really annoyed me. After the movie was over and I'm getting up to leave, I look at the aisle. Heading down the aisle was a kid maybe about 10-11 years old. This is *NOT* a movie you take a 10 year old kid to see. Hellooo??? It's an R-rated movie. (A well earned R too, I might add.) What sort of moron takes a kid that age to an R-rated movie called Kill Bill? It ain't frickin' Disney, and it's pretty bloody obvious why. Hell, you don't even have to see the movie to realize that it's not something kids should see. Seeing a kid that old there makes you realize why society's in the shape it's in.

posted by Obee at 2:55 AM

 
WHAT'S IN A NAME
Since I go by ObeeKris around here, and that's probably what a number of people think of me as, you may be wonder where the name of Pinky came from. Well, grab a drink, pull up a chair, and I'll tell you about it.
Let us take a journey back in time, nearly a decade ago (nine years ago, actually). Within the past day or two, I've made the acquintance of a rather cute, long haired brunette, and we've become fast friends. In the midst of a conversation about something or other, she looks over at me and says "Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky?" I, without missing a beat (and in a reasonably good imitation of Pinky's voice), respond with "I think so Brain, but me and Pippi Longstocking? What would the children look like? Narf!" With other people present for this conversation, we promptly receive nicknames to which we are both still known to this day.

Not quite as epic as you were expecting, huh?

posted by Obee at 2:10 AM

 
ANOTHER GREAT IDEA
I was just emailling RH, when I came up with another great idea, this time for a new TV show. It's a take-off of a current one, a popular home redecorating show. We'll call it Trading Webpages. Two teams and a webdesigner redo each other's website. Should be a big hit on Tech TV.

posted by Obee at 12:59 AM

 
WEEKEND FUN TIMES
Had a fun time this weekend.
On Saturday, went out to the Ohio Renaissance Festival with my girlfriend and Melissa. (Discount tickets are a fun thing, especially when they include a ticket for 1 entree, 1 drink, 1 dessert, and $2 off a souvenir, plus entry into the fair.) We were wandering around, and had a bunch of fun. We only managed to catch two shows, a "Hey Nunnie Nunnie" show (a two "nun" comedy team), and a mud pit show. We did some shopping too. I got myself a new shirt and pair of pants. And I've got a doublet coming as an early Christmas present. (A doublet is basically a medieval/Renaissance style vest.) My girlfriend wanted a new bodice, so we stopped into a place she's bought from before, Journeyman Leather. She and Melissa are in there trying on bodices, so I'm just kind of standing around, looking at the different designs they can do. One of the booth people comes up behind me, carrying a doublet, and pretty much sticks my arms through it. We decide that I look pretty good in one (Yeah, I'll admit it, I did), so my girlfriend tells me to pick out a design for the back, and she'll get it for me. So I'm standing there, trying to figure out what the heck sort of design I want. They had a nice frog design, and one with a wild unicorn on it, but I still wasn't sure. Since one of my nicknames is Pinky, I ask if they can do that. They tell me they can do better than that, they can give me Pinky rampant, which, I think, will look kind of like this, but with Pinky, instead of the lion. It'll be a few weeks before they're done, but once I get it, I'll post a picture of it so everybody can see. My doublet is black, with green trim. Pinky will be done in light grey, with pick accents at the nose and ears. Aerri and I also managed to highly amuse Melissa, because of the way we interact with each other. Yes Melissa, that's how we act most of the time. :)
Sunday I had to work, but I managed to get out early enough that I got to see Pirates of the Caribbean again. Oh yeah, I also picked up the soundtrack the other day. I definitely recommend it. Very good stuff.

posted by Obee at 10:53 PM

 
ODD RANDOM THOUGHT
If whales were pirates, would they make somebody walk the plankton?

posted by Obee at 7:32 PM

 
JOTD
A judge grew tired of seeing the same town drunk in front of his bench. One day the judge glared down at the man, who was still intoxicated, and thundered "It is the sentence of this court that you be taken from here to a place of execution and there hanged by the neck until DEAD."

The drunk promptly fainted.

The court bailiff commenced to reviving the man, and looked up at the judge, at which time the judge shrugged and responded "I've always wanted to do that."


posted by Obee at 1:55 AM

 
LOOKEE OVER THERE
Well, I have another website I'm slowly at work on. You can get to it here. I was looking for some place where I could post pictures and images of mine. So I finally decided to set one up. It's slowly under construction. I'm building it pretty much from scratch, so the look will probably change from time to time. Let me know what you think. I'll have a link to it over on the left side of the blog, and let you know when I update it.
And for those where were wonder what my post from Sept. 4th meant, about the drawing, you can see a copy of it there.

Addition, 9-24-03
I've just put up the most recent picture I have of my nephews. It's about a month old. They are cute and getting cuter each day!

posted by Obee at 2:37 AM

 
WHO GOES THERE?
Once more with the pirates theme. This time, you can find your pirate name here. Mine is:
Black Harry Rackham
Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

What be your pirate name?


posted by Obee at 3:35 PM

 
WHAT'S THAT YE SAY?
Been a little bit, so time once again for word association. What the heck we'll keep it with the theme of the week:

PIRATES

posted by Obee at 8:51 PM

 
ANOTHER BRILLIANT IDEA
I just had a great idea, something to make me millions. It's a new collectable card game, based on one of the current hot ones, but for a different market, a group that normally isn't targeted for something like this. I present: Fogey-Oh!© (The Card Game For Grandparents!) You've got your settings cards: house, apartment, nursing home, living with adult child, etc; your different power-ups cards: daily vitamins, iron pills, heart pills, ginko biloba, etc; and don't forget the combat and weapon cards: canes, walkers, pictures of the grandchildren, wheelchair chicken, cafeteria food fight; the cards you can play against your opponents: forget name, incontinence, lose room key, get lost in own house, lose at Bingo.
You could even cross it over with a collectable card game aimed at music lovers: Polkamon! "I choose you, Welkichu!"
I can hear the cash registers ringing up the sales now!

(Oooooooh, I'm gonna get in trouble for this. I have no doubt that my afterlife will be long and very very warm. :D )

Somehow I have the feeling that, though it came to me as a joke, the Fogey-Oh!© idea is actually marketable and saleable, so I'm applying a copyright to the name, just to be on the safe side of things.

posted by Obee at 1:37 AM

 
AVAST THERE, ME HEARTIES!
Finally got to see Pirates of the Caribbean this weekend. Excellent movie!! (I'm not really going to talk too much about details of the movie, since I'm not sure who has and hasn't seen it, and I don't want to ruin anything for those who haven't seen it yet.)
Off the top of my head, I can't think of any parts of the movie that I had a problem with. Great casting. Johnny Depp looks like he's just having a ball the entire time. The fight choreography was fantastic, especially the duel between Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. The pirates, despite being a bunch of thoroughly rotten and unlikeable guys, or maybe because of it, are a bunch of almost likeable guys. A pretty decent story and script. And the special effects are outstanding. Absolutely incredible. All in all, one of the best movies I've seen in awhile.

Oh yeah, and unlike a bunch of other people, I didn't have any problems with the monkey.

Me, I think I'll follow Ray Stevens' example of how to be a pirate from The Pirate Song.

And on the subject of pirates, don't forget that this Friday, September 19th, is Talk Like A Pirate Day.

posted by Obee at 9:49 PM

 
IT CAME FROM THE BRIDE LAGOON
I get a daily newsletter in my email, with horoscopes and jokes and links to interesting websites. The following link came from the newsletter. In just a couple of weeks, my friend Melissa is getting married. (Congrats!) Regular readers and commenters here know Melissa, since she's one of the aforementioned regular readers and commenters. When I saw the link I just had to follow it, and it just made me think of Melissa. Don't take it personal, Melissa, you'll see why when you go to the site. (Though I hope your sense of taste is much better than anything here.) Enjoy what the bride wore...


Addition 9-16-03 This probably isn't something I'll normally say, but personally, I really like the title of this post. I find it amusing, but then, that's just me.

posted by Obee at 11:13 PM

 
A LITTLE POLL
Well, as you may have noticed, comments are back! Yaay!!

Now I have a little poll for everybody. Since I've made two mentions of them (several months apart) here on my website (three if you count this one), my girlfriend seems to feel that I have an obsession with trunk monkeys. So I ask you, my readers: Do *you* think I have a trunk monkey obsession?

posted by Obee at 3:15 AM

 
FOR THOSE WHO WERE WONDERING
The drawing was framed and given over the weekend. It was much enjoyed and appreciated, and as far as I know, is displayed on the desk at work.

posted by Obee at 2:56 AM

 
I CAN HEAR THE THEME MUSIC NOW
To quote from Will Smith: "I have got to get me one of these!" It's a car that's also a boat. "The name is Bond. James Bond." One minute, you're on the road, the next, cruising down the Thames River in hot pursuit. Or in my case, the Cuyahoga River. Throw in a trunk monkey, and you're all set.

A comment about comments. Unfortunately, the site that hosts my comments is down until next Monday evening. Their server crashed, and they won't have a replacement up and running until then. They'll be back soon though. Hopefully, none of the old comments got lost.

posted by Obee at 11:49 PM

 
A VALIANT ATTEMPT, AT ANY RATE
Okay so I didn't quite make it on a post a day in August. I think I did reasonably well, though. I could have been worse about my efforts. Granted, I could have been a bit better, but I could have been worse too.

Oh, and about my newest quote. It's from this past Friday's Get Fuzzy. It doesn't really have a more significant meaning other than it's a great non sequitur. Not that it's a Non Sequitur, just a non sequitur. Have I confused anyone yet, or should I try harder?
Update:
According to my girlfriend, the Get Fuzzy quote is actually from an old Steve Martin routine. I haven't confirmed that for myself yet, but if/when I do, I'll correct the attribution. Until then, I'll leave it as it is.

posted by Obee at 8:59 PM

 
TEMPUS FUGIT
It's amazing how fast time has gone this year. The boys are now 8 1/2 months old. I've been dating my girlfriend for almost 6 months, and we've known each other for 9 years (we met sometime in the second half of August, but before the 25th. I don't remember the exact date. And one of these days I'll actually get around to telling the story of how we met.)

And mom died 6 months ago today. Six months. Where the hell has it gone? Where the hell does time go in general? It seems like each day, individually, just drags on and on at times. But looking back, the collection of days has just gone by. That *whooshing* sound you hear is Time flapping its little wings as it goes speeding off past us. The mocking laughter echoing eerily around you is the omniscient cackle of Mother Nature who knows that it another six months, I'll be wondering where the hell a year has gone.

Six months. And we can't do anything about it.

posted by Obee at 3:38 AM

 
Haven't been very inspired for blogging this week, even though I still owe the story about Aerri's fencing experience, plus what we did last weekend, plus I still need to update RUM about the baptism. Don't know why, just haven't felt like blogging much. As that's also the case today, I'll carry through on my promise/threat from awhile ago:

Didn't have lunch today. Woke up around 1:30-2PM-ish. Munched on a few potato chips when I got to work. Dinner was from Panera, and was half a turkey breast sandwich, with lettuce and tomato, on a sourdough baguette, and a bowl of chicken noodle soup, with some sort of sticky roll.

posted by Obee at 12:19 AM

 
JOKE OF THE DAY
Why don't Italians like Jehovah's Witnesses?
Italians don't like *any* witnesses.

posted by Obee at 12:16 AM

 
A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
For all those who, for whatever the reason, object to eating any green vegetables:
All we are saying, is give peas a chance.

posted by Obee at 3:45 AM

 
WELL, THAT WAS INTERESTING
Yes, I know I'm behind on my updates. Last Wednesday I wasn't up for one, and rather than giving you another "This is not a real post" post, I just decided not to do one. Thursday was the infamous power outage, with which I'm sure you're all familiar. Sunday I only worked a half day, and didn't get a chance to update. But hey, I'm here now.

Thursday was quite interesting. I was playing Diablo II on my computer at home when the power went out. (I'm just glad I wasn't very far into the section I was on, or I would have been *really* annoyed.) I wander downstairs and find out from my neighbor that it's multi-state sort of occurance. Okay. Bonus: I got my freezer defrosted. (It's a small thing, but at least something minorly positive came out of this.) So I get to work at about my normal time. Obviously, there's no power there, either. My boss hangs around for a little bit, in case the power comes back up, but finally leaves about 7pm. I was going to stay until midnight, in case power comes on, and we can reboot our systems and still get some things done. I had a book with me, so I was sitting, reading by the sunlight coming in through one of the windows. Fortunately, somebody had a battery powered radio, so I was listening to that too. Our building has some of those battery powered emergency lights, so at about 9ish, when I'm not getting any light through the window, I go sit under one of those and keep reading for awhile. At about 10:15 or so, that one goes out. Doesn't fade out, or slowly start getting dimmer or anything like that, just lit one minute, out the next. I mosey on over to the only other working light. Out building has about 4 or 5 of them, but only two were working that night. (I hope they get new batteries/recharged, in case we should lose power again. We're heading into fall storm season, and we've had at least one other time, since I've worked here, that power has gone out.) I did have a couple of flashlights, so I wasn't totally in the dark; at least, not yet I wasn't. Roughly 11, the other light fails. Again, no warning, on one minute, out the next. The only light in the building, not from a flashlight, is from an "Exit" sign; otherwise it's pitch black. Quite a weird feeling/experience. And I've still got an hour before I can leave. Tried reading by the flashlight, but that didn't last too long. Finally just kinda walked around for a little while, listening to the radio. Midnight comes and I leave. Driving home was a different experience too, but I only live about 10 minutes from work, so it wasn't too bad. We did have one working phone at work, so I talked to my girlfriend. I was orginally planning on heading down to visit Friday afternoon, but since power was out, and water quality and availablity was iffy, I headed down at 1:30. I stayed that long just in case power came back, and I had to head back into work. But it didn't, so Columbus bound I was. I don't know when power was finally restored to either home or work, but I think it was sometime Friday morning. Had fun with the girlfriend over the weekend, but that's tomorrow's post. I hope nobody else was affected to badly or weirdly by the power, or lack there of.

posted by Obee at 3:30 AM

 
OOOOH, INSPIRING, INNIT?
Unfortunately, there's no major update today. Don't feel particularly inspired for writing at the moment. Hopefully tomorrow will produce better results.

posted by Obee at 2:07 AM

 
WEEKEND FUN AND GAMES
Well, with Friday being Aerri's birthday, she managed to convince me to go down to Columbus Thursday night/Friday morning after work. So we had all day Friday together. It was pretty much just one of those "lazy day, enjoy the day" sort of things. We headed out to Easton Town Center, which is sort of a mall/shopping complex sort of thing. We had lunch at PF Chang's, then went and hung out and played games at Gameworks for awhile. (We won two really big teddy bears, which we gave to the nubbins as baptism presents, since that was on Sunday. I'll talk about that one in R.U.M. in the next day or two.) Her roommate joined us when they finished work, and we went and saw League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It wasn't too bad. It's a good movie for when you're in the mood for an action flick, without too heavy of plot. Nothing incredibly stand-out about it, but nothing that really drags it down, either. Sean Connery was good in it. Saturday we went over to her parents' house. Her dad had to work, so we pretty much hung out with her mom. We went and saw Seabiscuit. Note: never go see a movie about horses with two horse people. The movie itself was actually better than I expected (even with the running commentary by two people sitting next to me who shall remain nameless). The story's as much about the owner, trainer and jockey as it is about the horse, all set against the backdrop of the Great Depression. After the movie, we went out to dinner at Damon's, which was really good, since I haven't been there for awhile. Then we headed back to her mom's house, and ended up watching the rest of For The Boys which happened to be playing. Sunday was the boys' baptism. Went to that and then the party for a little while, then I went to work, and Aerri went back home. All in all, a good weekend.

posted by Obee at 2:40 AM

 
WEEKEND UPDATE
Don't really have time for my weekend report tonight, so I'll give all the details tomorrow night.

posted by Obee at 8:38 PM

 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Since technically it is now Friday, it's now my girlfriend's birthday. Sooooo:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!!

posted by Obee at 12:30 AM

 
BEEN AWHILE FOR THIS
It's been awhile since we've done a word association so that's what we'll do today. Just the regular word association, just give the first word that pops into your head. And today's word is: heeeeere lizard lizard

LIZARD


posted by Obee at 12:13 AM

 
SPECIAL NOTICE!! SPECIAL NOTICE!!
ARRRGGGHH!! I almost forgot to tell everybody this. I haven't forgotten, just forgotten to mention to you guys. My girlfriend's birthday is this Friday. Repeat, my girlfriend's birthday is Friday, August 8th. If you go into the comments section, she's provided her email address.

Note:
Since she happened to bring it up, (thank you for bringing it up, Love) my girlfriend is the same age I am. For those of you who know how old I am, you now know how old my girlfriend is. For those who don't, weeellll, there are ways to find out my age.
Aren't you sorry you mentioned it now, Dear? :D

posted by Obee at 11:15 PM

 
REALLY ODD RANDOM THOUGHT
If bulls were to take up archery, would they shoot at the peopleseye?

posted by Obee at 11:06 PM

 
And this is really today's post
TUG ON HIS CAPE! TUG ON HIS CAPE!
The other day, I’m driving up from Columbus on my way to work, and I’ve got my Jim Croce CD playing. For those who don’t know, Jim Croce wrote and performed, among many other songs, Time In A Bottle,Operator (That’s Not The Way It Feels), Bad Bad Leroy Brown and You Don’t Mess Around With Jim. So Jim comes on and it gets to the refrain, which goes:
“You don’t tug on Superman’s cape.
You don’t spit into the wind.
You don’t pull the mask on that old Lone Ranger,
And you don’t mess around with Jim.”
Okay, I can see the point about spitting into the wind. And about pulling the mask of the Lone Ranger, ‘cause he’ll just get pissed; he’s wearing the mask for a reason. (Side note. Why's he called the LONE Ranger if he rides around with Tonto??) But what’s wrong with tugging the cape of Superman? What’s he going to do to you? He’s one of the Good Guys. Heck, he’s THE Good Guy. It’s not like he’ll fry you with his heat vision, or freeze you with his super breath, or pound your skull in or something. So what’s the worst that can happen. For example, let’s say somebody walks up to Superman and tugs on the cape. He’ll probably ask what they want. They keep tugging, he’ll probably ask them to stop. They tug some more, he’ll probably grab the cape out of their hands. They tug again, he’ll probably just float up out of arm’s length. He’ll probably be lecturing the person the whole time too. It’s not like he’s going to hock a big old lugie on their head. And then he’ll just fly off.
Now, if you were tugging on Batman’s cape, that could lead to some problems.
Yes, these road trips provide me with a lot of time to think. Maybe too much time to think.


posted by Obee at 10:52 PM

 
This was supposed to be Tuesday’s post, but because of some technical difficulties, I can’t get to it until today.
NO KIDDING
So I’m in the grocery store the other day, and they got a spinner rack with CDs on it. I was flipping through, seeing if there was anything interesting or worth picking up. I come across a soundtrack for the movie Mr. Wrong, starring Ellen Dengeres. All I can think is “It’s starring Ellen Dengeres. Any man for her is going to be Mr. Wrong.”


posted by Obee at 10:51 PM

 
Argh! My first week of trying to do something daily and I'm already behind. This was supposed to appear on Monday, it was started on Monday, but I got busy at work and didn't get a chance to finish. It was finished on Tuesday, but I ran into technical problems.
OOOOOH, PRETTY
Well, I've got quite an impressive bruise on my arm. (No, it's not from my girlfriend for that crack about her driving.) I was in a tournament last weekend. I’m pretty sure it’s an epee bruise, based upon the size of it. It’s currently about the size of a half dollar. At one point, I had roughly 5 different colors in it too, but it’s finally calmed down a bit, so that’s it sort of got this yellowish ring around the edges of it, and changes to red/purple closer to the center. The center of the bruise is my regular skin color. It was a rather nifty looking thing, definitely worthy of a picture, but unfortunately, I didn’t get one. I figure it should still be around in another week. The funny thing is, I’ve got another, much smaller bruise right above it. The smaller bruise is actually the one that hurts when I press or bump it. The big one, nothing.
My results ran from so-so to terrible, depending on the weapon. I ended up fencing all three weapons. I know, I normally don’t fence epee, but they needed 2 more people to increase the rating level of the tourny, so I said that if they couldn’t get them, I’d sign up. Obviously, they didn’t get the people they needed. I had originally only planned on fencing saber and foil.
Saber, the first event, I did about expected, ending up 7th out of 8, about my normal spot.
Epee, the second event, I finished 21st out of 25, which really isn’t too bad, since it’s the first time I’ve actually fenced epee in a tournament, and maybe the third or forth time I’ve even used an epee at all.
Foil I did god-awful in. Bottom of the pile, 19th out of 19. During my pool, I didn’t get one touch. Not one. I came close for one, literally a breath away, but missed. I was fencing Ricky, who I’ve fenced before, and who I know can beat me, but I usually end up getting at least a touch or two in pools, and a decent number during DEs. So I parry and send a riposte at him. I see my foil point actually touch his lame. At that exact moment I’m touching him, he inhales, cause my point to fall short. It was totally a matter of timing, and not something he did deliberately, since he was just as surprised as I was.
So the day was so-so for me. The really interesting part comes up:

My girlfriend fenced that day.

Would you like to tell the story dear, or should I?

posted by Obee at 10:51 PM

 
THANK YOU MASTER! MAY I LIFT ANOTHER?
Yesterday was one of those ever easy, fun, and stress- and pain- free days. Yesterday was moving day! Not for me though. We moved Aerri and one of her roommates to a new apartment. She's still in Columbus, so we're not closer to each other. Well, maybe closer by about 5 minutes or so, since she moved northward, but not really significantly closer. (Hey Love, now you can make it to Cleveland in 1 hour and 25 minutes, rather than 1 hour and 30 minutes. :D [I'm gonna be hurt for that one]) It didn't go too badly. It didn't rain, which is always good. It was hot though (over 80). We had Aerri's mom volunteer with her pickup, which has a cap on the bed, which is always helpful. It's a good sized truck, so we can carry more, so it probably saved us a load or two. THANKS MOM!! We also had one of her old roommates, Tracy, help out with the loading and unloading. He's a big guy, which is another bonus when moving. Between all of us moving, we carried over two beds and frames, two desks, a couple of dressers, five or six bookcases, a computer, a microwave, a tv, and I don't know how many boxes. A long day, with a *lot* of work. Fortunately the complex Aerri moved into has a swimming pool. So when we were done, Tracy, Aerri, and I went swimming. Lordy did that water feel nice! After swimming for a bit, we went out to dinner at BD's Mongolian Barbeque (all-you-can-eat is always a good thing after a day like that) then came home and crashed. A long, busy day, but fortunately a productive one.

posted by Obee at 6:21 PM

 
A REAL UPDATE!
As promised.
So I've finally finished that big book that everybody seems to be reading. Yes, I've finally got through the book about a teenage boy's culinary adventures in the capital city of the state of Arizona. Yes, I've finally read..... Harry Porter Orders in Phoenix. It's nice to see Roweling has returned to her original concept for the books. Not many people know this, but the first book, and the series, was supposed to take place in a London bakery. Thus we would have had Harry Porter and the Sorceror's Scone. It would have been followed by book 2 where we learn about candy and gum and breath mints in Harry Porter and the Chamber of Sucrets. Book 3 would have had Harry receiving anonymous gifts of baked goods, shaped into all sorts of interesting items. Harry would have to figure out who is trying to poison him, and why, in Harry Porter and the Prisoner's Marzipan. Book 4 would have taken an unusual turn, in addition to getting Harry to the States and setting up book 5, in that Harry would have been meeting a Native American who tempts Harry to drink in Harry Porter and the Goblets of Firewater.
I'll post my review of the book some time next week, becuase I know somebody here is still reading through it (or at least she was last time we mentioned the subject) and I don't want to spoil anything.


And as a bonus for everybody, since I went so long without posting in July, my goal is to post every day (Sunday through Thursday) throughout August. I won't be posting Friday or Saturday because I normally don't have access to the internet those days. So for the next four weeks, look for 5 posts a week. What are you going to get? Who knows. It may only be what I had for lunch and dinner that day, but you'll get something. We'll see if I can meet my goal.

posted by Obee at 2:43 AM

 
AN UPDATE! AN UPDATE!
This is an update because I promised someone I would update my blog. I promise before the end of the week you'll get an update containing some sort of actual information.
"This is a test, this is only a test. Had this been an actual emergency, we would be fleeing in terror, and you would not be informed."

posted by Obee at 2:36 AM

 
SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT
I want to try something a little different for the next word game. This time around, I'll give a word, and then the next person gives a word starting with the last letter. Doesn't have to be off the top of your head, or the first thing that pops into mind, just a word starting with the last letter. For example, if I were to give the word BEAR, the next person might give ROBOT, and the person after that might give TODAY, then maybe YODA, then maybe ALWAYS, etc. etc. etc. I'll still be doing a word association, but just wanted to try something a little different. And so, our word is:

PENCIL

posted by Obee at 4:07 AM

 
PRESENTS ARE FUN
Got together with the family for dinner to celebrate mine and my younger sister's birthday. For my sister, I got her a copy of the game Set. This was introduced to me by my girlfriend, and I was showing it to my family. My sister in particular was interested in it becuase she's an occupational therapist who works in the Cleveland school system. She saw possibilities for using it with her kids, so I got her a copy. Plus it's just a nifty and fun game.
The fun stuff I got was:
M*A*S*H season 3 on DVD (Yay! One thing from my list!)
Gift cards for Wal-Mart (probably going to get myself a nice big CD wallet) and Tops (local grocery store)
My Preferred Readers card from Waldenbooks renewed (I've probably had a card for a good 10 years or so now. I have yet to renew it myself. It's always been a gift.)
A large bag of BBQ wings (My older sister gets them at one of the local cost saver type clubs. I asked her to pick me up a bag the next time she went. So she got them for me for my birthday. :) I like.)
A coffee table book on Batman. (It's a really nice book. Covers all sorts of things about BM.)

So overall, didn't make out too bad. :)

Also finally got new pictures of the nubbins for work. They're so adorable!!

posted by Obee at 4:01 AM

 
I NEVER KNEW THAT
In my email, I get a daily newsletter. It's got a bunch of different things in it, joke of the day, recipe of the day, weird news, horoscopes (where I get the Horriblescopes from, too, when they send them), and fact of the day, among other things. Here was yesterday's Fact of the Day (I swear, this is *exactly* what they sent):
**Fact Of The Day**
Forty-seven czars are buried within the Kremlin walls. If they run into a high-density area, they will survive, because their high surface area to volume ratio cools them more quickly than the ratio of large objects, and buys them enough time to locate a cold spot.


posted by Obee at 12:34 AM

 
FLOATIN' AROUND THE WEB
Every so often, just for the heck of it, I occassionally put my name into a search program (Yahoo search, MSN search, etc), just to see what pops up. Interestingly enough, a couple of things I've posted on RASSM have shown up elsewhere. This here is something that also was submitted to alt.humor.best-of-usenet. (A.H.B-O-U is a newsgroup where other readers submit pieces they think are really funny. I did not surmit this one myself, and was pleasantly surprised to see it.) It's a little bit of "What if Kevin Smith wrote the Lord of the Rings movie?" This one is something that made it's way over to some discussion board or another. It's kind of a cross between Anakin Skywalker from Episode 2, and Gollum from LOTR.

posted by Obee at 11:22 PM

 
BIRTHDAY GIFT UPDATE

Here's an addition to my gift list. :)

posted by Obee at 3:19 AM

 
ANOTHER BIRTHDAY
Well, more birthday wishes for someone who I don't whether they read the site or not. But today is a friend of mine from Cyrano's Place, Steph. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPH!!!



Today also would have been my Mom's. Happy birthday Mom. I miss you.

posted by Obee at 1:36 AM

 
I LOVE NPR
Gotta love listening to NPR. Where else would you be able to find out about something like this?

posted by Obee at 2:59 AM

 
SAY WHAT
And now for another round of word association. I had considered using "mine" but decided against it. So our next word is:

WINDOW

posted by Obee at 2:24 AM

 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!
Today is my Dad's birthday. Don't know if he reads the blog, but if he does:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

posted by Obee at 1:16 AM

 
I AM WEREWOLF, HEAR ME GROWL
or
IT'S ALL MY GIRLFRIEND'S FAULT
Had another interesting weekend. Friday I helped my dad out with some yard work, putting in a small walkway/stone pathway from the back porch to the rest of the yard. (Note, when doing a project that involves removing large patches of grass, always make sure that the store you're getting materials from actually has the materials in stock. Last minute improvising is not always fun.)
Saturday I headed on down to Columbus. Did lunch with Aerri at a place called BD's Mongolian Barbeque, a rather unique place to have lunch. Went back to her place. She napped, I played Diablo II, a game I have become totally hooked on, thanks to my girlfriend. Even though I'm having big problems with the sound card on my computer at home, I may just hijack her copy of the game, so that I can play at home, and don't have to wait till I visit her to play. Thanks for the addiction, Love.
Saturday evening, went to a roleplaying game. Roleplaying is something I've always wanted to try, but due to one thing or another, never got the chance. Saturday was the first time I've ever played. Had quite a bit of fun. The game we were playing was Werewolf: Wild West, where you're basically a bunch of werewolves running around in the Old West. Fun time. The next game isn't until next month, unfortunately.

posted by Obee at 12:25 AM

 
TIME FLIES
Happy Anniversary to my Honey. It's three months today that we've been dating. Occasionally it seems like it's been a lot longer, but also much less at the same time.

posted by Obee at 9:04 PM

 
HEH HEH HEH
My girlfriend had a wonderfully evil idea the other day. If you're ever out driving and somebody pulls up next to you playing really loud rap or hiphop music, get revenge. Start playing bagpipe music really loud. I recommend The Tartan Terrors One Night Fling CD, starting at track 2.

posted by Obee at 11:10 PM

 
WE FOUND HIM!
Went and saw Finding Nemo on Saturday night, with Aerri and couple of friends. Pixar *definately* has another winner on their hands. As usual, they have a short cartoon before the main feature. I thought For The Birds (in front of Monsters Inc.) was good, but I think this one was better. The animation is top notch, as usual. The shots in the ocean really look like you're *in* the ocean. The script and the story are also very well done. They keep their difficult balance of just the right levels of humor and sentimentality/sadness. The one thing that surprised me about the movie was the opening. It was a bit...... darker (in tone) than any of the previous movies. But an excellent movie all around.

Oh yeah..... "Mine!"

posted by Obee at 3:54 PM

 
HI-YO SILVER, MAZEL TOV!
Had an interesting weekend this past weekend. With the holiday, it ended up being a four day weekend for me.
Friday, went to a middle school with my coach and did a couple of brief intros to fencing. Basically, we had the kids advance, retreat, and lunge, then let a few of them try poking at each other for a little bit. Did dinner with my family over at a family friends' house, which was really nice.
Saturday (busy day #1), me and Aerri went horseback riding. Aerri's mom has a couple of horses, so she's been riding for awhile, but this was my first time on a horse. It's been something I've always wanted to try, and since I'm now dating someone who does ride a horse, it makes things a bit easier. However, we did not ride her mom's horses because of a little incident the weekend before, where one of the horses, Tracker- the one I would've been riding, tried to throw Aerri. So we went down to Mohican State park and a bit 'n' bridle place where you can ride for an hour or so. (Yes, we were a little amused that Aerri has horses she can ride for free, but still paid to do it.) We were up on trail horses that are quite well trained and didn't really cause any problems. Mine, Buddy, had more of a mind of his own though. I was at the end of the line because they said Buddy had a tendency to kick. (He didn't while I was on him.) The rest of the horses in the group were all riding pretty much single file (trying to hide their numbers RH :D). Mine, however insisted on walking off center from everybody else. Either that, or when I was trying to keep him over to the side of the road, he went *all* the way to the side. A section of the road we were walking on had ditches, maybe about 6-7 inches deep, along both sides, and Buddy walked *right* along side the ditch, close enough that it felt like he was going to step into it with his back leg. So when I tried to steer him just a little away from it, he decided to go all the way to the other side of the road, *right* next to the ditch on that side. So naturally I tried to steer him away from that one, and he goes back to the other side of the road. So the two of us are weaving back and forth across the road, like we're drunk or something. It got better when we got onto one of the horse trails though. Then he just followed the rest of the horses. Since it was only an hour walk, we rode for about a half hour, then turned around and went back the way we came. And when we hit that same section of rode, it was the same thing, weaving back and forth. But it was fun, and I'd like to go again at some point. After riding, we went and had dinner with Aerri's mom, then went and saw Matrix Reloaded. Good movie, but not as good as the first one. I think it'll be better once the third movie (Revolutions) comes out in November, since it seems to be more of one BIG movie, rather than two stand alone movies. Kinda like the Lord of the Rings movies, versus the Star Wars movies.
Sunday (busy day #2), we went to my coach's wedding. Why on Sunday? I hear you ask. Because she and her now-husband are Jewish, which makes it a little difficult to do it on Saturday. It was nice. Different than what I'm used to. I've come to the conclusion that I'm converting to Judiasm for the wedding ceremony, then converting back right after. The entire ceremony was only about 15-20 minutes long. Short, sweet, and to the point. A very nice ceremony though. The rabbi explained everything going on, and what it meant, for all us goyim there. Then food and the party. It was a fun time. We did the whole dancing in the big circle thing.
Monday, we really didn't have any major plans, so we decided to go to the Cleveland Zoo. It was nice since it's been a couple of years since the last time I went to the zoo, and the last time Aerri was at the Cleveland zoo was when she was a little girl. Wandered around the zoo for about 5 hours, and saw all the animals. Didn't get a chance to go to the rainforest, since we ran out of time. Hopefully next time. In the fall we're probably going to be taking Ethan and Xavier there, so that should be a fun day.
So that was my busy weekend.

posted by Obee at 12:48 AM

 
AND NOW....
...A word from our sponsor:

ARMADILLO

posted by Obee at 8:12 PM

 
Now, I know there are a couple of you out there who have just come to this realization: "Obee's birthday is a month from this past Sunday, and I don't know what in the world to get him!" With that in mind, I helpfully provide a list of things that you can get me (Yes, I'm shamelessly plugging for presents. :D ):
1) Cash. Cash is always good. :)
2) A CD wallet like this one. Not necessarily this one precisely, but a large capacity one like it.
3) M*A*S*H Season Three on DVD.
4) Highlander Season One on DVD.
5) The Braveheart DVD.
6) The second Braveheart soundtrack. They released two of them, one with a green cover, one with a blue cover. I have the green one already.
7) A CBLDF membership. (Contact me for specific details.)
8) This shirt.
9) This book.
10) This book.
11) Or this book.
Numbers 7 through 11 go to support a worthy cause.
12) The Court Jester on DVD.
13) Gift Certificates for Waldenbooks.
14) A stuffed Gonzo for my car. Here is a TV Guide interview with Gonzo.

If I think of anything else, I'll happily let y'all know. :D

posted by Obee at 10:09 PM

 
JOKE OF THE DAY
Quasimodo goes to the doctor for his annual check-up.
"Well," the doctor says, "I think there's something wrong with your back."
"How can you tell?"
"Oh, it's just a hunch."

posted by Obee at 12:54 AM

 
AND THE NAME IS.......
Drumroll please!!! The name of the car is:
Gonzo
This is kinda the name I had in mind back when I first announced the little contest, and I never really got anything else that spoke to me. And since I'm sure there are a bunch of you out there going "Why the hell did he pick 'Gonzo' as the name for his car??" allow me to enlighten you. It actually has a twofold reason. As some of you might know, I'm a Muppets' fan. There's always been a particular Muppet that I've had a certain fondness for, and seeing has how they're both blue, the car is partially (and primarily) named for The Great Gonzo. That's the first reason. The second reason will make sense especially to those familiar with the way I drive. As mentioned at some point, my car likes to.... shall we say..... go somewhat rapidly and faster than the other cars around him. With that in mind, 'Gonzo' is also short for Speedy Gonzales (it works if you say the name outloud, okay?).
I have yet to decide if I'll get vanity plates for him or not.

posted by Obee at 11:52 PM

 
SOCK IT TO ME
Our newest word is......

COFFEE

posted by Obee at 7:29 PM

 
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY
Happy Mother's Day to all moms and moms-to-be reading this!!

Happy Mother's Day Mom. I love you.

posted by Obee at 3:24 PM

 
NAME THE CAR PART 2
Well, I figure about another week or so, and then I'll announce the name of the car. So, as of Tuesday May 13th, 9:30pm EST, I will no longer be accepting names for the car. As of yet, I've yet to see one that really calls out to me. So if you've thought of any more, post 'em. If, like some people I can think of (Yes, I'm talking to you Alex) you have read my blog but not yet posted, now is the time to do it. (Actually, the time to start posting was when you first started reading.) Anybody else with any other names for the car out there??

posted by Obee at 8:56 PM

 
I WANT A TRUNK MONKEY
I was down visiting my girlfriend this past weekend. Saturday evening, we're sitting on the couch watching TV when an ad for a local car group comes on. In it, you've got an empty street with a car and a truck, with the truck blocking the progress of the car. The driver from the truck is out of his vehicle and at the car window yelling in at the guy behind the wheel. The guy in the car reaches up and pushes a button label "trunk monkey." The trunk opens up, and out climbs a monkey carrying a tire iron. He comes up on the guy yelling into the car and knocks him over the head with the tire iron. Then they do their little sales pitch for the company. It's really tempting to go to the company next time I'm down for the weekend and ask if they can install a trunk monkey for me. I want a trunk monkey. Not that I've got that situation happening, but I think it would be useful for when I've got people tailgating me on the freeway. Plus, monkeys are cool. Anybody else want a trunk monkey?

Update
5-5-03 8:20pm:
After a bit of searching, I've found a copy of the commercial. The text is a bit different than the Columbus version, but it's still cool. Here it is.

posted by Obee at 5:10 PM

 
NEW WORD
And for our next go around....

SQUIRREL

posted by Obee at 5:30 PM

 
NAME THAT CAR
Lately, I've been thinking that my car could use a name. He seems like he could use one. Yes, I've determined my car is male. For those of you who've forgotten (or don't feel like going back to look it up), he's a 2003 Toyota Corolla, dark blue. I kinda have a name in mind, but I'd like to see what other people come up with first. If you suggest something really nifty that I really like, I'll even give out some sort of prize (besides a bunch of gratitude. ;) ). It'll be something fun, dunno what yet though. If you wish to keep your suggestion private, send me an email. I'll post my final decision in a couple of weeks, depending on how long the discussion in the comments section goes on, or how frequently I receive emails about this. Actually, on second thought, if you post a comment, also send me an email about it. It's a little easier to keep track of that way some times.

Let the games begin!!

posted by Obee at 11:37 PM

 
DRUMROLL PLEASE....
And for round three of word association, the new word is......

SPOON

posted by Obee at 10:35 PM

 
DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION?
I've got someone (not naming any names here, you know who you are) who's questioned, several times, about my feelings. The following is the email I sent in response. Hopefully publishing it for basically the entire world to see will help calm anything in the future:

You've asked, several times, why I loved you. After thinking about it for, oooohhh roughly 10 seconds, this is all I could come up with:

You are one of the most amazing people I've ever met. You are, amongst other things, intelligent, honest, kind, caring, funny, creative, fanciful, whimsical, witty, strong, philosophical, thoughtful, beautiful. You make me feel incredible whenever I'm with you. You fill me up and complete me. Just being around you and with you is intoxicating. Just holding your hand sends shivers down my spine. Sitting on the couch and cuddling with you is a slice of heaven. I live by myself, but I'm no longer alone.

I'm sorry I can't come up with more at the moment, but it's late (3am).


(Didn't think I'd put this up, did you Dearheart? :) I Love You.)

posted by Obee at 1:38 AM

 
AROUND WE GO AGAIN
Well, we've had a request for a new word in the word association game, and since I was kinda thinking that myself, we'll do a new one. Hopefully, I'll get more people to join in this time. (subtle hint subtle hint) And our new word is:

BANANA

posted by Obee at 10:29 PM

 
MIDNIGHT BOREDOM
aka
THE IDEAS OF A TIRED MIND
Late night at work. I'm struck with an idea that sounds at least somewhat interesting. We all know what free association is, right? Someone gives a word or phrase (in this case, ME) and you give the first word or phrase that comes to your mind. We'll try it as an experiment and see how and where it goes. If it goes well, I'll do a new word a week, or something like that. Ready? The word is:

POPCORN

posted by Obee at 1:19 AM

 
WORDS OF REMEMBRANCE FOR DENISE
This is the eulogy my Dad delivered at Mom's funeral:

Last night at the conclusion of the wake for Denise, my cousin Alexis told me to go home and get some sleep. I told her that I couldn't since I was giving the eulogy today. "You are?" she remarked. "Absolutely", I said, "It will be my last chance to get even."

When I was assisting Denise in selecting readings and preparing this funeral liturgy, I told her that I wanted to do this "Words of Remembrance". And being true to form, she proceeded to provide me a list of 3 items she wanted me to cover. (Pull out list)

The first is actually a very simple task. She wanted me to explain her love for butterflies. But I think most people can easily understand and identify with her love. In a butterfly, Denise saw many similarities to herself and her own life. A butterfly does not start its life soaring through the air. It starts as a rather inconspicuous creature that after a while of crawling about, often struggling to stay alive, retreats into a special place. Here in this cocoon it is nurtured until it springs forth a new and most beautiful creature.

It is no surprise that Christianity uses this symbol to symbolize the dying and rising we are each called to experience. And it is obvious that Denise had this experience. In fact, her frequent rising above and beyond all the hindrances her many illnesses caused was as remarkable as a butterfly spreading its wings and flying about. Whenever I see a butterfly, I will always think of Denise and the transformation she made into becoming a most beautiful creature of God.

The 2nd thing on Denise's list was to share a piece of wisdom she greatly treasured and tried to live out. (Pull out strip) When this appeared in the newspaper, she cut it out and saved it so she could reflect on it from time to time. It comes from one of the world's greatest philosophers, a poor little guy, often misunderstood, by the name of Ziggy. Let me share this with you...
Life can be a real trip! It's a journey full of choices. experiences, and new meetings... Sometimes it can throw you so many twists and turns, you lose your way. And sometimes on path ends and we have to turn around and find another. But in all my travels, I've discovered one very important thing about life's journey: Where we begin, where we are now, and where we end up really doesn't matter. What matters most are the loved ones we meet along the way and who make the journey with us.

The 3rd thing on Denise's list was actually more of a small family matter. Denise was very disappointed to find out that all those scenes in the movies where the family gathers after someone has died for the infamous "reading of the will" are just stereotypical fiction. It just doesn't happen that way, so she asked if I would read this piece she had originally planned to have in her will. It says:
To my daughter Cathy, who I promised to remember in my will, "Hi there!"

With all that said and done, I guess it finally is my turn.
First, thanks to Fr. Mark and the other clergy present...

In the past few day, many of you here, along with other family members and friends have offered me, Ellen, Chris and Cathy & Jim your words of comfort & condolence. For these we are very grateful. But the other thing you have shared with us and allowed us to share with you has been our memories of this magnificent woman.

Some memories have been of her kindness and generosity. Some have been of her courage in enduring her many years of health problems and suffering and how not even those could not hinder her joyful spirit. Some memories have been of the blessings she gave us by being a most caring, trusted and loyal friend. Some of these memories were beautiful stories of happy times and laughing. Some were the recalling of rather humorous incidents. (And don't worry, Denise... I didn't share any of those embarrassing stories about you.) Some memories were of her warmth and affection. And some were of her greatest capacity, her deep faith in God.

I've been told that somehow these memories will help comfort us in our grief over such a great loss, and that these memories will be how we hold on to Denise in our minds and our hearts. While I am very grateful for all these beautiful memories that come from our long and beautiful life together, I know it is not the memories of Denise that will be how I, how we, hold on to her. Of all the lessons about life that God has tried to teach me, so many of these lessons coming from this person who was my best friend, the one thing I am certain of is this: The gifts I, and each of us, received from Denise are much, much more than mere memories.

I would wager heavily that not only I, but also most everyone here had been changed for the better because of our relationships with Denise. I am not the same person I was before meeting her. Yes, I know some of you are probably thinking "Thank God for that!"
But, I am not and you are not the same.

Denise touched us all in ways that go far beyond pleasant remembrances. Her Faith, and her Love will go on because she did more than demonstrate these virtues in the way she lived. She brought these Gifts of the Spirit to life in each one of us.

We all saw that beautiful relationship she had with God. My faith in God is so much stronger, because Denise helped me learn what it was like to have a true faith. Hers was so great that, not only did I admire it, I wanted to imitate much of it in my own life. Denise used to say that she had some of her best conversations with God while she was in the shower. She also said there were times when during some of these conversations she let God have a good piece of her mind. I, having been on the receiving end of more than one of these types of exchanges with Denise, can tell you it can be a very motivating conversation. (Yeah, me too. -Obee) I doubt if God changed what He was doing after getting one of Denise's dressing-downs. But I know He never left her side and Denise knew that beyond a doubt. She showed us that extraordinary faith in how she faced life and what she did with her life.

Denise helped me become a good husband, father, friend and Christian man because of what I learned from her about what it truly means to love another. If we were to read Paul's famous letter to the Corinthians on Love, we could easily substitute Denise's name wherever the word Love appears:

Denise is patient and kind; never jealous.
Denise is slow to anger... well maybe most of the time on that one.
Denise is never boastful or conceited; she is never rude or selfish.
Denise does not take offense and is not resentful. Denise takes no pleasure in other people's sins but delights in the truth.
Denise is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, to endure whatever comes.

I cannot help but be a much better person having known and lived over 31 years with Denise. I have three children who are indeed very wonderful people because of what they learned from being at their mother's side as infants and as small children and from their conversations with her as teens and young adults. I know they made their mother very proud.

All the calls, notes, visits, meals, cards, emails, prayers, support, help and offers of help the kids and I received during the last several months of Denise's life tell me something: You too were touched and changed by the life of Denise.

I know of no higher honor or greater tribute than to be able to say, what I can say now:
"Denise, a part of who you were, lives on in me and I am thankful that it does because I am a better person because of it."

posted by Obee at 4:00 PM

 
HE LIVES!!
After a rather interesting conversation on the phone last night, I know at least one person around here (besides me) will be highly amused by this.
"Looord have MERCY!!"

* Jesus said: "Love thy neighbor." (Matthew 22:39)
* Elvis said: "Don't be cruel." (RCA, 1956)

* Jesus is the Lord's shepherd.
* Elvis dated Cybill Shepherd.

* Jesus was part of the Trinity.
* Elvis' first band was a trio.

* Jesus walked on water. (Matthew 14:25)
* Elvis surfed. (Blue Hawaii, Paramount, 1965)

* Jesus' entourage, the Apostles, had 12 members.
* Elvis' entourage, the Memphis Mafia, had 12 members.

* Jesus was resurrected.
* Elvis had the famous 1968 "comeback" TV special.

* Jesus said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." (John 7:37)
* Elvis said, "Drinks on me!" (Jailhouse Rock, MGM, 1957)

* Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights.
* Elvis had irregular eating habits. (e.g. 5 banana splits for breakfast)

* Jesus is a Capricorn. (December 25)
* Elvis is a Capricorn. (January 8)

* Matthew was one of Jesus' many biographers. (The Gospel According to Matthew)
* Neil Matthews was one of Elvis' many biographers. (Elvis: A Golden Tribute)

* "[Jesus] countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow." (Matthew 28:3)
* Elvis wore snow-white jumpsuits with lightning bolts.

* Jesus lived in state of grace in a Near Eastern land.
* Elvis lived in Graceland in a nearly eastern state.

* Mary, an important woman in Jesus' life, had an Immaculate Conception.
* Priscilla, an important woman in Elvis' life, went to Immaculate Conception High School.

* Jesus was first and foremost the Son of God.
* Elvis first recorded with Sun Studios, which today are still considered to be his foremost recordings.

* Jesus was the lamb of God.
* Elvis had mutton chop sideburns.

* Jesus' Father is everywhere.
* Elvis' father was a drifter, and moved around quite a bit.

* Jesus was a carpenter.
* Elvis' favorite high school class was wood shop.

* Jesus wore a crown of thorns.
* Elvis wore Royal Crown hair styler.

* Jesus H. Christ has 12 letters.
* Elvis Presley has 12 letters.

* No one knows what the "H" in "Jesus H. Christ" stood for.
* No one was really sure if Elvis' middle name was "Aron" or "Aaron".

* Jesus is often depicted in pictures with a halo that looks like a gold plate.
* Elvis' face is often depicted on a plate with gold trim and sold through TV.

* Jesus said: "Man shall not live by bread alone."
* Elvis liked his sandwiches with peanut butter and bananas.

posted by Obee at 4:07 AM

 
**HORRIBLESCOPES**
Aries:
(March 21-April 19)--You are sick and tired of all this personal hygiene nonsense. Stop combing your hair and brushing your teeth. Stop bathing entirely, and give up deodorants and colognes. You'll find out who your real friends are. Tonight: Hey! Where is everybody?

Taurus:
(April 20-May 20)--You have a rash that makes the worst case of poison ivy on record look like a mosquito bite. You go to the doctor and he gives you a tube of ointment. You are about to learn the four most beautiful words in the English language. "Apply to affected area." Tonight: Buy a 55-gallon drum of the stuff.

Gemini:
(May 21-June 20)--Don't worry about all the "what ifs." Go for "who cares?" In really tight situations, go for "who gives a flying fart!" You will be surprised how this simple change in attitude will help you through the day. Tonight: Take a hike.

Cancer:
(June 21-July 22)--You have all kinds of questions in your mind, but you are afraid to ask because you think people will think you are stupid. Go ahead. Ask questions. No matter how stupid the question, Crab Cakes, you will never exceed the expectations of people around you. Tonight: Inquiring minds want to know.

Leo:
(July 23-Aug. 22)--You've really done it this time, Mane Head. You made such an idiot of yourself with that last screw up that Jerry Springer (himself!) will be calling. But hold out for your own show. The producers would love it! Tonight: A ratings bonanza.

Virgo:
(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)--Moderation? That's for the faint of heart, not for a charismatic Virgo like you. You take it to the limit. And so will the judge. Your trial will generate headlines all over the country. Ask LEO if there's a shot for you on the Springer show! Tonight: Fifteen minutes of fame, coming your way.

Libra:
(Sept. 23-Oct 22)--Here's some advice on your love life, Scale Head. If you are single, consider plastic surgery. If you are married, consider plastic surgery for your mate. Either way, you'll be pleased with the improvement. Tonight: A nose job is just the beginning.

Scorpio:
(Oct. 23-Nov. 21)--Your job sucks rocks, but don't worry about it. Your next job will suck just as badly…with less pay, and no benefits. And your new boss has just voted himself a 100% pay increase. Welcome to corporate America! Tonight: And he gets stock options, too.

Sagittarius:
(Nov. 22-Dec. 21)--Success, power, influence, a great love life. This could be a great day…but not for you, schmucko. Get real! That kind of stuff only happens in the movies, and only if the screenwriters are using controlled substances. Face it. You're a loser. Tonight: Go to the movies…alone.

Capricorn:
(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)--Hey, Goat! I think I've figured out your problem. You've heard of the Midas Touch? Well, you've got the Water Treatment Plant Touch. Don't ask for an explanation. You really don't want to know. Tonight: Wash your hands.

Aquarius:
(Jan. 20-Feb. 18)--If you are single, you're about to step into a definitive relationship. If you are married, you will step into places in your relationship that you never thought you'd achieve. Either way, make sure to clean your shoes. That stuff is hard to get off. Tonight: Ooh! Squishy!

Pisces:
(Feb. 19-March 20)--For you, today is a worst-case scenario. It doesn't matter if you're an innocent bystander. No one will believe you. You take ineptitude to a whole new level. You're clumsy and clueless--you fall down a lot and you don't know why. Tonight: Run away and hide.

Note: HORRIBLESCOPES have no basis in fact, scientific or otherwise. They are written on old Royal typewriters by 37 monkeys who have been locked up in a room for almost six weeks with nothing to live on except corn chips, sardines, peanut butter, and prunes. Read HORRIBLESCOPES at your own risk.

posted by Obee at 1:15 AM

 
RESULTS (urgle)
Had the fencing tournament yesterday morning. Bit of a low turnout for a Cleveland area event. Men's Foil we only had 11 entries. Saber we had 8 entries. (This is actually a good sized saber event around here.) Men's Epee had 10 entries, Women's Foil had 6, and Women's Epee had 5. Normally, a Cleveland area event had about two to three times the number of entries we had (except for saber). My results:
In foil, I ended up 10th. I had a tough pool, and too much mental "white noise" going on in my head. I just couldn't get a good focus going. I fenced okay, it just wasn't "okay" enough.
Saber was a bit better. I finished 6th. I am sporting a couple of bruises on the arm at the moment, but not as many as I had last night. I had a lot of fun, so I may keep doing saber occasionally.

posted by Obee at 5:41 PM

 
I'M BACK
(my life update part 2)
Before continuing with the update about last week, I guess an introduction is in order. Actually, it's really in order since the person I'm introducing plays a large part of the rest of the events of last week. Some of you may have noticed a new person, going by the name Aerrigad, commenting and giving me a hard time. Well, as of last week, said person is my girlfriend. (She says "Hi" to everyone, BTW.) A *very* brief history between the two of us (I'll go into more detail at another time just giving you fair warning Dear :)): Aerrigad and I met about 8 1/2 years ago, during our freshman year at Ashland U. Became rather close friends. I left after a year, but we stayed friends. With distance and time, it faded some. Recently though, (since my car accident, actually) we've started growing closer again. After a few conversations and thinking on both our parts, we've decided to give us a shot as a couple. So I've now got someone very special in my life.
And that's the condensed Reader's Digest version of her and I. Now back to last week.
After everything that happened with the wake and funeral and everything, I had planned to take a couple of days off of work and spend some time with Aerrigad. On Tuesday we headed out to the mall and just bummed around there for awhile, then went and visited her father. He and I tormented her for a little bit :), then we continued on to Columbus, for a Fat Tuesday mass and dinner. Dinner was pretty good.
Wednesday was basically another lazy day. We went out for lunch at a *really* good Chinese place (P.F. Changs; if you've got one near you, go eat there.) then went and saw Shanghai Knights. After SK, we played at GameWorks for awhile. GameWorks is a big video game parlor. Lots of fun stuff to do. (Along the left, under the quote of the day, I've added something new, "Current Mood Ring Color". Basically, for gits and shiggles, Aerri and I each got one when at GameWorks. Just threw up on the blog for the heck of it.) Played there for awhile, then headed back to Aerri's place. It was still a little early, and we decided to watch a movie. One of the people she shares a house with owns the live action version of Scooby Doo. Neither of us had seen it, so I threw it in out of curiousity. OH MY GOD WAS IT BAD!!! It is the *WORST* movie I have seen in a *LOOOONG* time. After about 15-20 minutes, I was ready to turn in off and try something else. But nooooooo. *Somebody*, for some reason, felt the need to torture me, and made me sit through the entire thing. (I'm still trying to figure out a way to erase the experience from my mind and memories. I also need to figure out something to take appropriate revenge with too.)
Thursday, Aerri had to go back to work. I borrowed her car for the day and headed home to pick up some more clothes and pick up my paycheck. Went and fenced at the club for a little bit, then headed back down.
Friday was another day of work. I hung around her place reading for awhile. We went out to dinner for her break (just McDonalds, nothing fancy). Went back to her place and watched a couple of movies. Picked her up from work, then we went and played at GameWorks again for awhile.
Saturday I was supposed to come home. We hung around for awhile at her place, then came up and met my younger sister for dinner. After dinner, Aerri and I went and shot pool for a little while, then she dropped me off at my place.
Sunday I came back to work. Yay. **sounds of a head hitting a desktop echo**
So that's the rest of last week.
This weekend I've got a fencing tournament. It's the club's March of Dimes benefit. Just for the heck of it, I'm also fencing saber, in addition to my normal foil. I'm expecting to total get beat like the proverbial redheaded stepchild, but I don't really care. I'm doing it totally for fun. My results don't really matter to me, so it'll be really interesting to see what happens. Foil I should do pretty well in. I'll let y'all know how it goes.
Bedtime for me now.
"Good night Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are."

posted by Obee at 3:00 AM

 
WORKING AGAIN
Cool!! Got my changes working! Full archives are showing up, plus a few changes to my links, a couple of additions and spacing changes. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Damn I'm good. :)

posted by Obee at 9:12 PM

 
I'M BACK
(my life update part 1)
Well, I'm back. Back home, back at work, back blogging. The past two weeks have been....... interesting, to say the least.
Friday, Feb. 28th we had a bunch of people over my parents' house, sort of like an Irish wake. My Uncle Alan and Aunt Jonnie had flown in from Texas for the wake and funeral. Since the house is only about 15 minutes from the Cleveland airport, myself and my Uncle Steve (who drove in from Dayton) went and picked them up when their flight got in. Uncle Alan has two sons, one a day older than me, Jason, and one 2 years younger, Justin. Since their father came in, they, along with Jason's wife, came over to the house also. My younger sister had a few friends in from out of town, so they were also over the house, plus a few of her friends from in town. And my older sister brought the twins over. So it was a rather packed house, about 20 people or so. The only one who really got drunk was my younger sister. When drunk, she has a tendency to be rather..... talkative (moreso than normal), and she also doesn't censor her thoughts as much, so she pretty much says *whatever* is on her mind at the time. It's quite amusing.
Mom's wake was on Sunday, March 1st, from 2pm to 8pm. And from about 2:20 till roughly 5:30 or so, I did nothing but stand in pretty much one spot and greet people who came to pay their respects. *Three* hours (if not longer) greeting a never ending line of people. I would look over at the door when someone came in, watch as they got in line, and then not see them till they got to me an hour later. For quite awhile, the line was actually stretching out the door of funeral home room. If I had to guess, I would say I saw maybe 300+ people that day. But it's just a guess. Could have easily been more. Shock of the day: Seeing the president and one of the teachers from my high school come. I graduated from Padua Franciscan H.S. in '94, my younger sister in '97. The president I never saw or talked to when I went there. Dunno about my sister. The teacher I never actually had for class, but saw around the halls. I think my sister had a class or two with him, or some activity or something. So towards the end of the evening, about 7:45ish, I'm standing near the doorway, talking to some people. I look up, see two men in the brown robes of Fransican brothers, and my jaw pretty much hits the floor. I'm actually caught speechless for a moment (not an easy thing to do). We've all heard the expression "The last people I expected to see" right? These two wouldn't have even made it on to the *list* of people I wouldn't have expected.
So that's the highlights of the wake.
Funeral was on Monday, March 2nd. If I had to guess, I'd say there were roughly 150 people there. Maybe more. Probably more. Mass was said by 7 priests and 2 deacons. For those unfamiliar with Catholic funeral masses, they're *almost always* said by just 1 priest. And for those that are held on a weekday morning like Mom's was, for the ones I've been to, the average is about 75-100 people show. I actually held up pretty well through it. The hardest part was when Dad gave the eulogy. There were a couple of moments in there that were...... not so easy, but for the most part things were okay. From those I've talked to, they've said Dad's eulogy was perfect.
As for the service at the cemetery. Didn't have it at the gravesite, since there was still snow on the ground. Other than that...... Ugh. I'm happier not repeating something like that for a long time.

That pretty much covers the.....aftermath/result/outcome of things. Next post (in the next day or so) covers a few other things from this past week. Too tired now.

(Oh yeah, before I forget: Happy now DearHeart? I posted.)

posted by Obee at 1:11 AM

 
FINALLY AT REST

For the first time in decades, my mom is finally free of pain in her body. She finally gets to rest.

She was the bravest, strongest, most couragous person I've ever met.

Goodbye Mom. I love you.

posted by Obee at 11:01 PM

 
I'VE SEEN IT
For all those wondering, yes, I've seen Daredevil. Caught it twice opening day, and then just this past weekend with a friend. Not really in much of a movie critic mood at the moment (maybe I'll do a more complete review when I am), but I will say that Colin Farrell is outstanding in it. Michael Clark Duncan was also great.
Biggest complaint is of the CG of DD leaping and swinging between buildings. Some of the wirework in the fight scenes bugged me too. Not too many complaints besides that.
But, all in all, one of the better superhero/comic book movies I've ever seen.

posted by Obee at 10:11 PM

 
JEFF FOXWORTHY IS RIGHT
Jeff Foxworthy was right when he said "a Southern accent is not the world's most intelligent sounding accent." He can get away with it because he's a stand-up comic. But the point was driven home the other day when I heard a commercial for the Dr. Phil TV show. If you haven't heard this guy's voice, go find a clip somewhere and listen. Jeff was so right when he said that.

posted by Obee at 5:24 PM

 
NOTICED SOMETHING INTERESTING
Driving in on my way to work, I noticed something kinda nifty. You can rent trucks from U-Haul that are designed to carry a circus elephant. In front of me on the road was a U-Haul truck with "JUMBO HAULER" on the back door.
**rimshot**

posted by Obee at 9:10 PM

 
JOKE OF THE DAY
Three old men are at the doctor for a memory test. The doctor says to the first old man, "What is three times three?"
"274" was his reply.
The doctor worriedly says to the second man, "It's your turn. What is three times three?"
"Tuesday" replies the second man.
The doctor sadly says to the third man, "Okay, your turn. What's three times three"?
"Nine" says the third man.
"That's great!" exclaims the doctor. "How did you get that"?
"Jeez, Doc, it's pretty simple," says the third man. "I just subtracted 274 from Tuesday."


posted by Obee at 9:06 PM

 
**HORRIBLESCOPES**
Aries:
(March 21-April 19)--You've heard all about it and you wanna check it out. Cloning! Then there'd be two of you, Horn Head. And that would just prove that age-old saying…Idiocy loves company. Tonight: Check out GEMINI.

Taurus:
(April 20-May 20)--You find a sweater on sale at the Wonder Mart. One size fits all. You look at the sweater, then you look at yourself in the mirror. You look at the sweater, you look at yourself. You look at the sweater, you look at yourself. And then you know. Tonight: Labels lie worse than politicians.

Gemini:
(May 21-June 20)--ARIES wants to get cloned? Be afraid. Be very afraid. It's a train wreck about to happen. Set up a diversion. Hand the Ramster a mirror. Say, "Your clone is looking at you!" Horn head will be occupied for hours. Tonight: Buy a bigger mirror.

Cancer:
(June 21-July 22)--Your boss, SAGITTARIUS, is on a tirade, yelling at you and LIBRA. You cringe, you cower, but not because you're afraid. The jerk had a burger with double onions for lunch. What's worse, there's something green stuck to SAG's teeth, and a spit-missile is forming at the corner of Arrow Thrower's mouth. Tonight: Incoming!

Leo:
(June 21-July 22)--Your boss, SAGITTARIUS, is on a tirade, yelling at you and LIBRA. You cringe, you cower, but not because you're afraid. The jerk had a burger with double onions for lunch. What's worse, there's something green stuck to SAG's teeth, and a spit-missile is forming at the corner of Arrow Thrower's mouth. Tonight: Incoming!

Virgo:
(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)--You get an email that will change your life. Earn $100,000 a year in your spare time! It's easy and fun! First, send in $29.95 for the Easy Earning Lesson Book. Then $59.95 for the startup kit. The world will be your oyster! Tonight: Heck, just send them your credit card number.

Libra:
(Sept. 23-Oct 22)--SAGITTARIUS is on a rant. CANCER looks about ready to throw up. But you don't mind. The Old Arrow Tosser can't get to you. Not only do you have earplugs in your ears, your nose is all stuffed up. Pretend to pay attention. Tonight: Nod and smile.

Scorpio:
(Oct. 23-Nov. 21)--You are standing outside. Everybody on the street is looking to the sky and pointing. It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a UFO! You look up, too, and suddenly…plop! It's a bird, all right. Now you know how a windshield feels. Tonight: Tomorrow, wear a hat.

Sagittarius:
(Nov. 22-Dec. 21)--You are the boss. You are in control. CANCER and LIBRA must do as you say. The most important thing in their lives is the sound of your voice. Rant, rave. Make sure they hear you. Get as close to them as possible, and your message will be clear. Tonight: You rule!

Capricorn:
(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)--You are at a matchmaker site on the Internet. You haven't had much luck finding someone, and this is your fourth try. But hold it, Goat. Don't be too honest. Your ability to belch the alphabet might not be as attractive as you think it is. Tonight: Start lying.

Aquarius:
(Jan. 20-Feb. 18)--You find one of those height-to-weight charts and you make an important discovery. According to this chart, Water Bucket, you should either weigh half what the scale says you do, or you should be seven feet tall. Tonight: But "diet" is a four-letter word!

Pisces:
(Feb. 19-March 20)--You take your car in for a tune up, and you are a little worried. Mechanics always try to rip you off, and you're tired of it. But what the mechanic tells you puts you at ease. The only thing you need is turn-signal fluid, and it will only cost $35.95. Tonight: Check out the ads for aluminum siding.

Note: HORRIBLESCOPES have no basis in fact, scientific or otherwise. They are written on old Royal typewriters by 37 monkeys who have been locked up in a room for almost six weeks with nothing to live on except corn chips, sardines, peanut butter, and prunes. Read HORRIBLESCOPES at your own risk.

posted by Obee at 2:49 AM