That subject line will only make sense to one person. I don't normally resort to inside jokes here on the blog, but bear with me.
I found the following webcam today. J, it won't appeal to you, but to the rest of the planet, whose hearts are not frozen, it will be a source of much smiling, as it is a live feed of a gaggle of puppies frolicking and rough-housing and just generally being puppies. It's entertaining just on its face, but it also strikes me in another way.
See, I grew up with just one sibling. Just me and my bro. There were many times that we built forts from lamps and blankets (I still remember the smell of the fire we started), or played board games (It's a natural reaction to pound the board from underneath and send the pieces flying all over the room when you lose, OKAY??) or came up with our own games (like Steamroller, which consisted of me rolling over my brother and him barely noticing, then him rolling over me and stopping when his full weight was crushing me into the floor and me trying to breathe - good times). There were also many times that we each we pretended we were only children, which is a whole other post. On the whole, though, there wasn't much in the way of chaos. It was all pretty manageable for my parents.
J, on the other hand, was one of eight siblings. Eight. Madness, right? How did his parents keep from running away? I do not know. As you might imagine, J has some stories from his childhood, and as I watch these puppies, I have to believe it must be a fair representation of his family home at some point. Am I right or am I right?
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Another Amazing Tuesday Recap
So, let's talk about this week's Amazing Race, shall we?
1. Fly to Russia. J and I agreed that Russia would be a cool destination. We'd each like to see it some day. I thought when I saw the instructions, though, that Russia could be challenging race-wise. The language barrier could be a real problem since I wouldn't expect a lot of cabbies and folks on the street to speak English like you might find in other countries. I'm sure Sarah probably speaks Russian - she seemed to speak every other language on this race - but she's gone now.
At the airpot, the Frats had to buy new shoes. J and I still don't understand why they didn't/couldn't just go back to the theater and get their shoes after they'd checked in at the pit stop the day before. If there was some legitimate reason why not, then I agree that they needed something other than slippers to wear the next day, but I'm not sure blowing as much as they did on the shoes from the airport was their only option. The sandals they saw in the store would've worked and weren't they cheaper? Those guys just do not make good decisions.
Travel to the monastery. As often happens with flights, the teams all ended up on the same flight, meaning they basically started off even once they hit the ground in Moscow. As usual, the cabbies made all the difference. That's one of J's frustration with the race is that so much depends on the cabbies you get. The cabbies did spread the teams out as some teams arrived faster than others at the monastery.
Detour: Boots or Borscht. You could probably say alot about this Detour, but honestly nothing is more noteworthy than Dan's complete inability to march. I've never seen anything like it! I mean...it's marching. You just walk and swing your arms. Sure, there's a little kick-out with your leg, but it's really not more complicated than that. J said he'd have thought the guy was making fun of them, except that a million dollars is on the line, so you know he's not - he wouldn't waste the time! I said it reminded me of the Elaine dance on Seinfeld. It was jaw-dropping just how bad he was. And WOW did they waste a lot of time.
Deliver flour. After the Detour, teams had to head to a bakery and unload flour bags. J immediately didn't like the bakery lady. She was pretty unpleasant. I think J would've punched her in the mouth if she'd talked to him the way she did Nick. Hey, man - I'm not condoning violence, I'm just telling you how it would be.
That task would've been really physically exhausting. J and I pondered if there was any strategy you could get going to make it go faster or easier, but in the end, we decided it would just be brute force. Just do it. Get a rhythm going and just keep going until you're done. I was impressed with Andrew's performance on this task considering how horrendous he'd been at the marching. Dallas and Ken were rock stars on this one, though. I think Nick got a little comeuppance in this leg of the race, which he deserved after being a little arrogant when they won the last leg.
I liked seeing Dallas and Toni win the leg. They're a good team. I truly can't believe Andrew and Dan were spared again, though. Nothing but a non-elimination round could've saved them, and that's what happened. Oh well. They live to race for one more week. Surely they'll be gone in the next round. I don't dislike them, but they really are terrible racers - it's just staggering they're still around.
1. Fly to Russia. J and I agreed that Russia would be a cool destination. We'd each like to see it some day. I thought when I saw the instructions, though, that Russia could be challenging race-wise. The language barrier could be a real problem since I wouldn't expect a lot of cabbies and folks on the street to speak English like you might find in other countries. I'm sure Sarah probably speaks Russian - she seemed to speak every other language on this race - but she's gone now.
At the airpot, the Frats had to buy new shoes. J and I still don't understand why they didn't/couldn't just go back to the theater and get their shoes after they'd checked in at the pit stop the day before. If there was some legitimate reason why not, then I agree that they needed something other than slippers to wear the next day, but I'm not sure blowing as much as they did on the shoes from the airport was their only option. The sandals they saw in the store would've worked and weren't they cheaper? Those guys just do not make good decisions.
Travel to the monastery. As often happens with flights, the teams all ended up on the same flight, meaning they basically started off even once they hit the ground in Moscow. As usual, the cabbies made all the difference. That's one of J's frustration with the race is that so much depends on the cabbies you get. The cabbies did spread the teams out as some teams arrived faster than others at the monastery.
Detour: Boots or Borscht. You could probably say alot about this Detour, but honestly nothing is more noteworthy than Dan's complete inability to march. I've never seen anything like it! I mean...it's marching. You just walk and swing your arms. Sure, there's a little kick-out with your leg, but it's really not more complicated than that. J said he'd have thought the guy was making fun of them, except that a million dollars is on the line, so you know he's not - he wouldn't waste the time! I said it reminded me of the Elaine dance on Seinfeld. It was jaw-dropping just how bad he was. And WOW did they waste a lot of time.
Deliver flour. After the Detour, teams had to head to a bakery and unload flour bags. J immediately didn't like the bakery lady. She was pretty unpleasant. I think J would've punched her in the mouth if she'd talked to him the way she did Nick. Hey, man - I'm not condoning violence, I'm just telling you how it would be.
That task would've been really physically exhausting. J and I pondered if there was any strategy you could get going to make it go faster or easier, but in the end, we decided it would just be brute force. Just do it. Get a rhythm going and just keep going until you're done. I was impressed with Andrew's performance on this task considering how horrendous he'd been at the marching. Dallas and Ken were rock stars on this one, though. I think Nick got a little comeuppance in this leg of the race, which he deserved after being a little arrogant when they won the last leg.
I liked seeing Dallas and Toni win the leg. They're a good team. I truly can't believe Andrew and Dan were spared again, though. Nothing but a non-elimination round could've saved them, and that's what happened. Oh well. They live to race for one more week. Surely they'll be gone in the next round. I don't dislike them, but they really are terrible racers - it's just staggering they're still around.
Monday, November 24, 2008
"God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."
Well, it's almost turkey day - just a few more days to go! I am very much looking forward to a couple of days off with my loved ones - just food, football and people I love. Good times!
I thought I'd share a little holiday humor from my youth with you. Not that I want my blog to become just a constant stream of my favorite videos, but this is just classic for anyone who grew up in the 80s. One of my favorite shows was WKRP in Cincinnatti, and they had a Thanksgiving episode that anyone who watched it will never forget. If you've never seen it, it's a little on the cruel side, but if you've seen it before, you know that the station manager in a later scene is just beside himself about making a very, very stupid mistake about turkeys. You can probably guess from my subject line what the mistake was. Knowing that doesn't ruin the humor of this scene, though, which primarily rests on the delivery of the actor playing Les Nessman. That character was just gold. Take it away, Les!
I thought I'd share a little holiday humor from my youth with you. Not that I want my blog to become just a constant stream of my favorite videos, but this is just classic for anyone who grew up in the 80s. One of my favorite shows was WKRP in Cincinnatti, and they had a Thanksgiving episode that anyone who watched it will never forget. If you've never seen it, it's a little on the cruel side, but if you've seen it before, you know that the station manager in a later scene is just beside himself about making a very, very stupid mistake about turkeys. You can probably guess from my subject line what the mistake was. Knowing that doesn't ruin the humor of this scene, though, which primarily rests on the delivery of the actor playing Les Nessman. That character was just gold. Take it away, Les!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Cartoon Excellence Friday!
Okay, I got no feedback whatsoever on the Space Ghost cartoon last week. I may try another episode of that with you guys later, but for now, let's try something else.
Another little gem that I used to watch on Adult Swim was a cartoon called Home Movies. The main character was a kid named Brendan who made movies with his two best friends. He wrote scripts and they acted them out and filmed them with his camcorder. The cartoon was basically about these kids and their lives, and you usually saw footage from their movies, but there were peripheral characters that also sometimes took center stage. It sounds kind of boring, but it was actually really well done, with great characters, and you could imagine being these kids and making the movies yourself when you were a kid (we didn't have camcorders when I was a kid, but my friends and I dressed up all the time and had imaginary worlds - we played Charlies Angels alot as I recall...but I digress).
The clip I picked for today actually centers on one of the peripheral characters - the kids' soccer coach, Coach McGuirk. I freakin' love this character. He's hilarious! Even though the kids aren't as present in this episode, you get a real sense of the humor of this show. I hope you like it!
Another little gem that I used to watch on Adult Swim was a cartoon called Home Movies. The main character was a kid named Brendan who made movies with his two best friends. He wrote scripts and they acted them out and filmed them with his camcorder. The cartoon was basically about these kids and their lives, and you usually saw footage from their movies, but there were peripheral characters that also sometimes took center stage. It sounds kind of boring, but it was actually really well done, with great characters, and you could imagine being these kids and making the movies yourself when you were a kid (we didn't have camcorders when I was a kid, but my friends and I dressed up all the time and had imaginary worlds - we played Charlies Angels alot as I recall...but I digress).
The clip I picked for today actually centers on one of the peripheral characters - the kids' soccer coach, Coach McGuirk. I freakin' love this character. He's hilarious! Even though the kids aren't as present in this episode, you get a real sense of the humor of this show. I hope you like it!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
In my email...
The Heart Hospital of Austin would like to recruit me as a Respiratory Therapist. I am not a respiratory therapist. Nor do I play one on TV. I could, however, use one about now. The evil that is my cold will not abate.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Finally, the Amazing Race recap
Okay, it's taken me a few days, but let's talk about The Amazing Race!
This week was a great pleasure for me. The Divorcees being gone was really nice, and I couldn't have been happier with the outcome. But let's take it step by step.
First leg, fly to Kazakhstan. There is only one reason in the world that this country was included in this race. Borat. No one on the planet would know that country existed if not for that guy, so I really think they ought to be providing him with some kind of lifetime stipend, just as a thank you. That aside, the main storyline of this leg seemed to be the growing flirtation between Starr and Dallas. Seeing as the race is almost over, I can't get too invested in that, so whatevuh. It's a little late in the game to be trying to build that into too much.
Chicken factory. This was another one of those times where the task made their various flight times pretty much a moot point. They all just caught up to one another, regardless of the flights they took, because the factory didn't open until 7:30. That's got to be frustrating for the teams in the lead. The Roadblock with the chickens didn't look too bad. I'm sure the smell was atrocious, though. I drove by a chicken factory once and almost gagged, and these people were right in among the animals. No one mentioned that though.
This is also where the Fast Forward came into play. As soon as they said what it would be, I told J that Terence would never make it. I laughed in triumph as he pussed out and finally gave up. Here's the thing about that challenge. If you're a vegetarian, then be committed to that. Tell your racing partner before you ever start the race that you're not going to do any eating challenges involving meat. So if that comes up, you guys know immediately to bail or get some kind of alternate game plan. Don't sit there talking about how you haven't eaten meat in 15 years, vacillating about doing it, then abandon what is supposedly a principle for you, then gag and whine through it, wasting time, until you eventually say you can't do it. They weren't in any real danger of losing this leg, so the Fast Forward wasn't that important for them, but he sat there wasting time and whining like always and didn't even finish.
At one point, Sarah said "No one is tougher than us!" And J and I both said, "No one is tougher than YOU, Sarah. Everyone is tougher than Terence." I loved how both of the girls finished their plates first. And for the record, I probably wouldn't have been as tough as both of those girls. I might have been able to finish if I had to, for a million bucks, but I wouldn't have been the first one finished. The eating challenges would definitely be my Achilles heel in The Amazing Race!
Crane trucks to Mongol warriors. What was that about anyway? Crane trucks? Those eagles were *beautiful* though! Very impressive.
Detour: Play Like Mad or Act Like Fools. I'm suprised that not one team attempted the Play Like Mad. The cow thing was cute, though. You could have a lot of fun with that, as Dallas did. He and his mom really do work together well. It was an interesting comparison seeing how they managed the costume and getting around versus Tina and Ken. As usual, she just seemed to boss him around. I laughed when she kept screwing up. I really don't see how that guy can choose to stay with her when this is all over. She doesn't treat him like an equal partner at all. And I have no idea how Andrew and Dan are still in this thing. I like those guys. They're nice. But they're terrible racers. They really should go out in the next round. It's just wrong if they end up in the finale.
In the end, it was Terence and Sarah that were eliminated this round. It's too bad for Sarah, because she's a good racer. Terence, well, I think we all know how I feel about him. It sounds like they're happy to stay together now that it's over. I should be happy for them, but I really think she could do better. But if she wants to date a whiney girl-man, then I guess she's getting what she wants, so to each his own. Me, I like the J-man.
This week was a great pleasure for me. The Divorcees being gone was really nice, and I couldn't have been happier with the outcome. But let's take it step by step.
First leg, fly to Kazakhstan. There is only one reason in the world that this country was included in this race. Borat. No one on the planet would know that country existed if not for that guy, so I really think they ought to be providing him with some kind of lifetime stipend, just as a thank you. That aside, the main storyline of this leg seemed to be the growing flirtation between Starr and Dallas. Seeing as the race is almost over, I can't get too invested in that, so whatevuh. It's a little late in the game to be trying to build that into too much.
Chicken factory. This was another one of those times where the task made their various flight times pretty much a moot point. They all just caught up to one another, regardless of the flights they took, because the factory didn't open until 7:30. That's got to be frustrating for the teams in the lead. The Roadblock with the chickens didn't look too bad. I'm sure the smell was atrocious, though. I drove by a chicken factory once and almost gagged, and these people were right in among the animals. No one mentioned that though.
This is also where the Fast Forward came into play. As soon as they said what it would be, I told J that Terence would never make it. I laughed in triumph as he pussed out and finally gave up. Here's the thing about that challenge. If you're a vegetarian, then be committed to that. Tell your racing partner before you ever start the race that you're not going to do any eating challenges involving meat. So if that comes up, you guys know immediately to bail or get some kind of alternate game plan. Don't sit there talking about how you haven't eaten meat in 15 years, vacillating about doing it, then abandon what is supposedly a principle for you, then gag and whine through it, wasting time, until you eventually say you can't do it. They weren't in any real danger of losing this leg, so the Fast Forward wasn't that important for them, but he sat there wasting time and whining like always and didn't even finish.
At one point, Sarah said "No one is tougher than us!" And J and I both said, "No one is tougher than YOU, Sarah. Everyone is tougher than Terence." I loved how both of the girls finished their plates first. And for the record, I probably wouldn't have been as tough as both of those girls. I might have been able to finish if I had to, for a million bucks, but I wouldn't have been the first one finished. The eating challenges would definitely be my Achilles heel in The Amazing Race!
Crane trucks to Mongol warriors. What was that about anyway? Crane trucks? Those eagles were *beautiful* though! Very impressive.
Detour: Play Like Mad or Act Like Fools. I'm suprised that not one team attempted the Play Like Mad. The cow thing was cute, though. You could have a lot of fun with that, as Dallas did. He and his mom really do work together well. It was an interesting comparison seeing how they managed the costume and getting around versus Tina and Ken. As usual, she just seemed to boss him around. I laughed when she kept screwing up. I really don't see how that guy can choose to stay with her when this is all over. She doesn't treat him like an equal partner at all. And I have no idea how Andrew and Dan are still in this thing. I like those guys. They're nice. But they're terrible racers. They really should go out in the next round. It's just wrong if they end up in the finale.
In the end, it was Terence and Sarah that were eliminated this round. It's too bad for Sarah, because she's a good racer. Terence, well, I think we all know how I feel about him. It sounds like they're happy to stay together now that it's over. I should be happy for them, but I really think she could do better. But if she wants to date a whiney girl-man, then I guess she's getting what she wants, so to each his own. Me, I like the J-man.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
When it rains, it pours...
and I won't be able to dry my wet clothes. Sorry for yet another delay on the TAR recap, but another fantastic development on the homefront has reared its head. My dryer has gone out.
It's the heating element, and probably I could get it fixed, but this dryer was my parents' dryer a million years ago, and I salvaged it about 10 years ago from this same problem by changing out the heating element, and it seems like maybe it's just time to let this dryer go to that great appliance salvage yard in the sky. I'm not exaggerating that this dryer is probably 40 years old. I'd say 30, but I think that's being generous. J opened up the back yesterday to see if he thought he could fix it, and aside from 10 years worth of dust bunnies, he didn't find much useful back there. It seemed like a lot of work that he wasn't terribly sure of, and in this day and age, I have to ask myself if the thing is even remotely energy efficient. I have to guess not.
So, it's off to Lowe's this weekend for a new, hopefully more energy efficient dryer. I'll do some research online but does anyone have any recent experience with buying a new dryer that they'd like to share? Any suggestions on models to stay away from or ones that they just love? I'm all ears!
It's the heating element, and probably I could get it fixed, but this dryer was my parents' dryer a million years ago, and I salvaged it about 10 years ago from this same problem by changing out the heating element, and it seems like maybe it's just time to let this dryer go to that great appliance salvage yard in the sky. I'm not exaggerating that this dryer is probably 40 years old. I'd say 30, but I think that's being generous. J opened up the back yesterday to see if he thought he could fix it, and aside from 10 years worth of dust bunnies, he didn't find much useful back there. It seemed like a lot of work that he wasn't terribly sure of, and in this day and age, I have to ask myself if the thing is even remotely energy efficient. I have to guess not.
So, it's off to Lowe's this weekend for a new, hopefully more energy efficient dryer. I'll do some research online but does anyone have any recent experience with buying a new dryer that they'd like to share? Any suggestions on models to stay away from or ones that they just love? I'm all ears!
Monday, November 17, 2008
I was "that" shopper.
I'll hit you up with a TAR recap tomorrow. First I must confess that yesterday, at the grocery store, I was "that" shopper.
J and I went grocery shopping with a full list, which is of course madness on the Sunday after a payday to begin with. I'm not really sure what we were thinking except that we needed food, and I work a 40-hour a week job trapped in an office, so grocery shopping at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday isn't really an option for me. So, off to HEB we went with our list, chock full "must have" items.
We did pretty well with the actual shopping part. We got a system going where we'd go to a section, find a relatively out of the way spot, then one of us would camp out with the cart while the other would run the gauntlet of other shoppers picking out what we needed from that aisle/section. I'd then cross off the acquired items on the list and figure out what to get next based on what aisles we were coming up. This is all complicated by the fact that I keep a running total of what we're spending - yes, I write down the price of each item we're buying with the new total as each item hits the cart. Anal? Perhaps. But girlfren lives on a budget. I didn't acquire my mansion on the hill and my many show dogs and priceless porcelain whatnots by grocery shopping willy nilly with no idea how much money is flying out of my wallet. (Note: I do not own show dogs. Or that other stuff.)
Anyway, we managed to get all of our items in a reasonable timeframe. And then we went to check out. This is where things went off the rails. I placed all my coupons (yeah, I use coupons - see the statement above about my mansion) on the little check-writing stand where the checkout lady could see them. She scanned everything, then hit total - somehow blindly not seeing all my coupons, even though I'd nudged them at her twice. So, I pointed them out, and she began to scan. Something didn't scan right. This always happens, and the cashiers always just enter it manually and move on. Not this lady. She proceeded to dig through each bag until she found the appropriate item. "You got the wrong size on this conditioner." Awesome.
J said he'd run back and get the right one, because I really did need the conditioner, and I really wanted the $2 off. He jets off, and she continues. Another bad scan. She stops. She asks if we got TWO Old Spice items - yes, we did (I tell her what) - ah, yes, she remembers, so she enters in manually. She continues. Damn it to hell if a third bad scan doesn't come up. "Didn't you want the free 2-liter soda on this coupon?" CRAP! I *did* want that free soda! Aaaargh! And J isn't back yet with the replacement conditioner. "Can I just run and go get it?" Sure.
I'm sure that by now, the guy behind me, who has unloaded all of his stuff onto the conveyer belt, so he's not in a position to go to another aisle, wants to kill me. To his credit, he does not. I ran through the store, grabbed a bottle of soda (caffeine free root beer, so J can also enjoy it), ran all the way back to the check out line. J is back now, holding two small bottles of the original conditioner I'd picked up and one big bottle of conditioner that's a different color. "They didn't have a big one of the kind you wanted." Of course not. I'm in no position to drag this process out any longer, so I say I'll just take the big bottle of whatever he picked up. We finish this ridiculous process, with me swearing to the guy behind us AND the checkout lady, "I promise I'm never this big of a pain in the ass." They don't look convinced.
We finally got out of the store and headed home with our purchases. When I unloaded everything, I noticed that the big bottle of conditioner was, in fact, shampoo. Of course it was. I'm pretty sure it's because the guy behind us in line put a curse on us. Can't say I blame him.
J and I went grocery shopping with a full list, which is of course madness on the Sunday after a payday to begin with. I'm not really sure what we were thinking except that we needed food, and I work a 40-hour a week job trapped in an office, so grocery shopping at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday isn't really an option for me. So, off to HEB we went with our list, chock full "must have" items.
We did pretty well with the actual shopping part. We got a system going where we'd go to a section, find a relatively out of the way spot, then one of us would camp out with the cart while the other would run the gauntlet of other shoppers picking out what we needed from that aisle/section. I'd then cross off the acquired items on the list and figure out what to get next based on what aisles we were coming up. This is all complicated by the fact that I keep a running total of what we're spending - yes, I write down the price of each item we're buying with the new total as each item hits the cart. Anal? Perhaps. But girlfren lives on a budget. I didn't acquire my mansion on the hill and my many show dogs and priceless porcelain whatnots by grocery shopping willy nilly with no idea how much money is flying out of my wallet. (Note: I do not own show dogs. Or that other stuff.)
Anyway, we managed to get all of our items in a reasonable timeframe. And then we went to check out. This is where things went off the rails. I placed all my coupons (yeah, I use coupons - see the statement above about my mansion) on the little check-writing stand where the checkout lady could see them. She scanned everything, then hit total - somehow blindly not seeing all my coupons, even though I'd nudged them at her twice. So, I pointed them out, and she began to scan. Something didn't scan right. This always happens, and the cashiers always just enter it manually and move on. Not this lady. She proceeded to dig through each bag until she found the appropriate item. "You got the wrong size on this conditioner." Awesome.
J said he'd run back and get the right one, because I really did need the conditioner, and I really wanted the $2 off. He jets off, and she continues. Another bad scan. She stops. She asks if we got TWO Old Spice items - yes, we did (I tell her what) - ah, yes, she remembers, so she enters in manually. She continues. Damn it to hell if a third bad scan doesn't come up. "Didn't you want the free 2-liter soda on this coupon?" CRAP! I *did* want that free soda! Aaaargh! And J isn't back yet with the replacement conditioner. "Can I just run and go get it?" Sure.
I'm sure that by now, the guy behind me, who has unloaded all of his stuff onto the conveyer belt, so he's not in a position to go to another aisle, wants to kill me. To his credit, he does not. I ran through the store, grabbed a bottle of soda (caffeine free root beer, so J can also enjoy it), ran all the way back to the check out line. J is back now, holding two small bottles of the original conditioner I'd picked up and one big bottle of conditioner that's a different color. "They didn't have a big one of the kind you wanted." Of course not. I'm in no position to drag this process out any longer, so I say I'll just take the big bottle of whatever he picked up. We finish this ridiculous process, with me swearing to the guy behind us AND the checkout lady, "I promise I'm never this big of a pain in the ass." They don't look convinced.
We finally got out of the store and headed home with our purchases. When I unloaded everything, I noticed that the big bottle of conditioner was, in fact, shampoo. Of course it was. I'm pretty sure it's because the guy behind us in line put a curse on us. Can't say I blame him.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Cartoon excellence
I'm not a huge cartoon watcher, but I have found a few over the years that connect with my funny bone in just the right way. I have a good sense of humor (or so I'm told) - dry and usually quick, and I really enjoy the occasional smart cartoon that plays to that. I'm not talking about the dark stuff or erotica or anime, and I'm not talking about comic books. I'm talking about actual moving cartoons that an adult with a wry wit can appreciate.
So I thought I'd start a new feature here on the blog where I share clips of my favorite cartoons. Some of these first aired on Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network. They sometimes comes up with some good stuff. They also dole out a lot of crap, though, so I'm by no means a devotee of that block of programming. But there is the occasional gem. Sadly, some of my favorites are no longer running, but the magic of YouTube and the Internet and such means I've been able to track down some of the ones I like best. Hopefully you'll get a kick out of them, too. I may not share an entire episode - just whatever clip of it gives you a good essence of the humor or some particular scene that really cracks me up for whatever reason.
For our first installment, I'll share with you a long clip (12 minutes) - it's the weekend after all, right? This is an episode of the show "Space Ghost Coast to Coast." For those who don't know, "Space Ghost" was a cartoon in the 60s. It was your typical superhero cartoon, where he fights all kinds of supervillains, and I've never seen even a single episode, because I'm not 9. "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" was developed in the 90s. For this fantastically funny show, the creators took the Space Ghost character and gave him a talk show - in space. All of his guests are real, live action actors, musicians, comedians, etc. They appear in a screen next to Space Ghost's desk and he interviews them. Except he's an idiot. And his band leader and producer are both alien slaves that are constantly trying to undermine him. It's genius.
In this episode, Space Ghost's guests are Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Bjork. Bjork is a freak in general, so you can guess that she presents rich material for a comedic mind. Anyway, here is the whole episode, "Knifin' Around" - please to enjoy!
So I thought I'd start a new feature here on the blog where I share clips of my favorite cartoons. Some of these first aired on Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network. They sometimes comes up with some good stuff. They also dole out a lot of crap, though, so I'm by no means a devotee of that block of programming. But there is the occasional gem. Sadly, some of my favorites are no longer running, but the magic of YouTube and the Internet and such means I've been able to track down some of the ones I like best. Hopefully you'll get a kick out of them, too. I may not share an entire episode - just whatever clip of it gives you a good essence of the humor or some particular scene that really cracks me up for whatever reason.
For our first installment, I'll share with you a long clip (12 minutes) - it's the weekend after all, right? This is an episode of the show "Space Ghost Coast to Coast." For those who don't know, "Space Ghost" was a cartoon in the 60s. It was your typical superhero cartoon, where he fights all kinds of supervillains, and I've never seen even a single episode, because I'm not 9. "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" was developed in the 90s. For this fantastically funny show, the creators took the Space Ghost character and gave him a talk show - in space. All of his guests are real, live action actors, musicians, comedians, etc. They appear in a screen next to Space Ghost's desk and he interviews them. Except he's an idiot. And his band leader and producer are both alien slaves that are constantly trying to undermine him. It's genius.
In this episode, Space Ghost's guests are Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Bjork. Bjork is a freak in general, so you can guess that she presents rich material for a comedic mind. Anyway, here is the whole episode, "Knifin' Around" - please to enjoy!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
A weekend of nothing...or something
I have nothing to do this weekend. And the prospect makes me giddy.
I really love my busy life. I love all the social things I do, and the band, and my family, and my side projects, but sometimes, you just really need a couple of days where there's *nothing* on the agenda. If you wanted to just sit in front of the TV all day and watch a Bones marathon or doze to a constant stream of college football, you could do that.
Not that you have to be a lump. Maybe this weekend we'll go to a movie. Or I'll finally re-edit the vacation DVD I made of my Alaskan cruise with my parents from a couple of years ago. Or I'll cook something extravagant. Or (and this one I'm really hoping for) J and I will bike through the city one morning and have breakfast at Austin Java and then hit the Farmer's Market and daydream about which high-rise condo we want to live in.
It's wide open, people! We could do nothing. We could do something. It's up to us! No obligations. Man, that's nice.
I really love my busy life. I love all the social things I do, and the band, and my family, and my side projects, but sometimes, you just really need a couple of days where there's *nothing* on the agenda. If you wanted to just sit in front of the TV all day and watch a Bones marathon or doze to a constant stream of college football, you could do that.
Not that you have to be a lump. Maybe this weekend we'll go to a movie. Or I'll finally re-edit the vacation DVD I made of my Alaskan cruise with my parents from a couple of years ago. Or I'll cook something extravagant. Or (and this one I'm really hoping for) J and I will bike through the city one morning and have breakfast at Austin Java and then hit the Farmer's Market and daydream about which high-rise condo we want to live in.
It's wide open, people! We could do nothing. We could do something. It's up to us! No obligations. Man, that's nice.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Splish, splash, I am again takin' a bath!
That glorious elixir of life has been restored to me once again! It flows through my toilet and shower and sinks like a river of...wet...water. Yeah, that kinda fell apart at the end there, but you get the point. My house has water again!
I managed to avoid the plumber option thanks to J and his handyman skills and a whole lotta manual labor on his part on a day when he really felt like ass. I thanked him profusely several times, but he didn't really say much in response, so I'm not sure if he was just wiped out or if he's questioning whether my love is really worth muddy plumbing.
I can tell you that his ability to fix what turned out to be a piss-poorly repaired pipe from when the house was BUILT (Yes, that's right, when the house was under construction, the pipe apparently cracked and instead of replacing it, the fantastico construction workers just did a half-ass repair on it, stuck it back in the ground and then threw a bunch of constrution debris in on top of it - like rebar. I'm sure that's recommended by architectural engineers everywhere.), saved me a great deal of time, money, stress and trouble. So, though my personal gratitude didn't seem to carry much weight last night, I will give some very public gratitude now, nonetheless. Outstanding performance must be recognized. So, giant thanks to J for his hard work, brains and brawn. There's is nothing more awesome than a man who can DO STUFF!!!
I managed to avoid the plumber option thanks to J and his handyman skills and a whole lotta manual labor on his part on a day when he really felt like ass. I thanked him profusely several times, but he didn't really say much in response, so I'm not sure if he was just wiped out or if he's questioning whether my love is really worth muddy plumbing.
I can tell you that his ability to fix what turned out to be a piss-poorly repaired pipe from when the house was BUILT (Yes, that's right, when the house was under construction, the pipe apparently cracked and instead of replacing it, the fantastico construction workers just did a half-ass repair on it, stuck it back in the ground and then threw a bunch of constrution debris in on top of it - like rebar. I'm sure that's recommended by architectural engineers everywhere.), saved me a great deal of time, money, stress and trouble. So, though my personal gratitude didn't seem to carry much weight last night, I will give some very public gratitude now, nonetheless. Outstanding performance must be recognized. So, giant thanks to J for his hard work, brains and brawn. There's is nothing more awesome than a man who can DO STUFF!!!
Monday, November 10, 2008
I need a couch in my office.
It's a mad house at Chez Suzanne right now. I couldn't cover all of it even if I wanted to, and some of it isn't worth giving the time of day because it ain't no thang but a chicken wang and Suzy Q is ready to leave it all in the dust now, but I'll give you the high points of my really busy weekend.
Friday - Wurstfest!! J and I had a way fun time at Wurstfest (as always) with my friends. J is fighting another cold (how much does that suck - two in a row?), but he's a trooper and always up for a good time, so he soldiered through the ick and muck in his head and lungs and powered through with suprisingly robust performances on the conga line, chicken dance AND the hokey pokey. The man is unstoppable!
Our favorite band this year was the Sauerkrauts. The accordian player is a rock stah, and I want to thank Laurie for "dancing" with me (really we just ran back in forth in dance formation and threw each other around in circles). Thank heaven I have friends who love to have fun and don't care if they look stupid. Makes life so much more enjoyable. Ang and Jason, thanks for making the late trek out - it wouldn't have been the same without you (even if we were ships passing in the night)! And Jimmy, I hope it was a happy, happy birthday. Oy, oy, oy!!
Saturday -
1. Football. Yay for a great win by UT. Boo for OSU letting Tech run all over them. That said, if someone has to be ahead of us in the polls, better Tech than A&M or OU. That Leach is an offensive savant people - it was only a matter of time until Tech had a season like this.
2. Really great gig with the band. Again, I must give props to J who was feeling like crap but still managed to give a great show. You are a pro, baby. And the band is sounding tighter with each passing week - some really fun and exciting times are on the horizon!
Sunday -
1. Amazing Race. I'm so very glad the Divorcess are out, and I'm so chagrined they were wearing UT shirts. I grimaced every time they were on screen with those shirts. I think the next time I'll root for to get oustered is Terence and Sarah. I just can't listen to his whining anymore.
2. Water. We all need it right? Then don't go to my house right now. This one is a low point, instead of a high point. I got a knock on the door yesterday afternoon from my neighbor. Seemed a small lake was forming in my yard and the water meter was spinning like a top. Apparently a pipe has burst in my yard - dammit, dammit, dammit. We had to cut the water off at the meter, and J is taking a run at tracking down where the break is and seeing what exactly we're dealing with. Awesome, no? Ugh. I'll keep you posted.
See what I mean? Each one of those could've been a post in itself, and that's just the stuff that's blog-worthy! What a week! Whew. I need a nap just recapping it. Think that would go over with my boss?
Friday - Wurstfest!! J and I had a way fun time at Wurstfest (as always) with my friends. J is fighting another cold (how much does that suck - two in a row?), but he's a trooper and always up for a good time, so he soldiered through the ick and muck in his head and lungs and powered through with suprisingly robust performances on the conga line, chicken dance AND the hokey pokey. The man is unstoppable!
Our favorite band this year was the Sauerkrauts. The accordian player is a rock stah, and I want to thank Laurie for "dancing" with me (really we just ran back in forth in dance formation and threw each other around in circles). Thank heaven I have friends who love to have fun and don't care if they look stupid. Makes life so much more enjoyable. Ang and Jason, thanks for making the late trek out - it wouldn't have been the same without you (even if we were ships passing in the night)! And Jimmy, I hope it was a happy, happy birthday. Oy, oy, oy!!
Saturday -
1. Football. Yay for a great win by UT. Boo for OSU letting Tech run all over them. That said, if someone has to be ahead of us in the polls, better Tech than A&M or OU. That Leach is an offensive savant people - it was only a matter of time until Tech had a season like this.
2. Really great gig with the band. Again, I must give props to J who was feeling like crap but still managed to give a great show. You are a pro, baby. And the band is sounding tighter with each passing week - some really fun and exciting times are on the horizon!
Sunday -
1. Amazing Race. I'm so very glad the Divorcess are out, and I'm so chagrined they were wearing UT shirts. I grimaced every time they were on screen with those shirts. I think the next time I'll root for to get oustered is Terence and Sarah. I just can't listen to his whining anymore.
2. Water. We all need it right? Then don't go to my house right now. This one is a low point, instead of a high point. I got a knock on the door yesterday afternoon from my neighbor. Seemed a small lake was forming in my yard and the water meter was spinning like a top. Apparently a pipe has burst in my yard - dammit, dammit, dammit. We had to cut the water off at the meter, and J is taking a run at tracking down where the break is and seeing what exactly we're dealing with. Awesome, no? Ugh. I'll keep you posted.
See what I mean? Each one of those could've been a post in itself, and that's just the stuff that's blog-worthy! What a week! Whew. I need a nap just recapping it. Think that would go over with my boss?
Friday, November 07, 2008
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Oh shhhhhhhhhttt
So, I promised to tell the story of Murphy's great rebellion, but I've had some other things going on and haven't gotten to the blog. However, I'm carving out time for it RIGHT NOW. So here we go.
It's really more fair to call it a great escape than a rebellion. I've had her more than 2.5 years now, and in all that time, she's always been quite content to stick to the confines of my backyard when she goes out for a little "outside time." She's made the occasional foray into the neighbor's yard, but only rarely. The vast majority of the time, she's just chased bugs or acted as sentinal to her territory, in case the neighbor's cat Rosie makes a visit and needs to be schooled.
But a few weeks ago, I noticed her taking an interest in the upper shelf of the potting bench that sits against the back fence. From that perch, you can see the goings on of the ravine and ranch behind my house. This was not good. The ranch is an enormous temptation to a house lion who feels the need to explore the serengeti, and I've already had one cat killed by some sort of mystery predator back there (a snake is my best guess), so if Murph decided to expand her territory to include the ranch, there was gonna be trouble in River City.
Unfortunately, she did just that. Last week, I saw her perched on the shelf, surveying the landscape, then swish! She was gone. Oh. Crap. I ran outside and climbed on the bench. I saw her making her way down the ravine. I ran back inside, put on tennis shoes, then jumped the fence (it would've taken too long to go around) and went after her. She had already disappeared from sight, and I eventually spotted her on the ranch...behind rusty barbed wire. Super.
I climbed over the barbed wire (only discovering later that I'd scratched myself in several places - yay for peroxide and a semi-recent tetanus shot), managed to scoop her up and got her back home, both of us full of burrs. I was not happy. I told J she couldn't be outside unsupervised, if at all, anymore. He agreed.
A couple of days later, he called me, tension in his voice. He had let her out and was watching her, but he looked away for a moment, and when he looked back, she was gone again. After much searching, he finally found her, on the ranch of course. Oh, and by the way, he mentions, he found a baby rattlesnake in the back yard by the trash can. WHAT?? Great. Just great. I had a rattlesnake in the garage once several years ago, but nothing since then. Okay, that's it, I decreed. She doesn't go out anymore AT ALL.
She's not happy about her new confinement, but she'll get used to it. But there's something I may not get used to. I left for work yesterday, and I heard a thumping sound by my right front tire. I pulled over, and I saw something wrapped up in my wheel. What could that...oh, man, are you kidding me? Another snake. I didn't see a rattle on its tail, but it was a young snake, nonetheless. It had apparently crawled up in the wheel to get warm.
It would appear that we're going to have a snake problem on my property this year. Isn't that just fantastico?
It's really more fair to call it a great escape than a rebellion. I've had her more than 2.5 years now, and in all that time, she's always been quite content to stick to the confines of my backyard when she goes out for a little "outside time." She's made the occasional foray into the neighbor's yard, but only rarely. The vast majority of the time, she's just chased bugs or acted as sentinal to her territory, in case the neighbor's cat Rosie makes a visit and needs to be schooled.
But a few weeks ago, I noticed her taking an interest in the upper shelf of the potting bench that sits against the back fence. From that perch, you can see the goings on of the ravine and ranch behind my house. This was not good. The ranch is an enormous temptation to a house lion who feels the need to explore the serengeti, and I've already had one cat killed by some sort of mystery predator back there (a snake is my best guess), so if Murph decided to expand her territory to include the ranch, there was gonna be trouble in River City.
Unfortunately, she did just that. Last week, I saw her perched on the shelf, surveying the landscape, then swish! She was gone. Oh. Crap. I ran outside and climbed on the bench. I saw her making her way down the ravine. I ran back inside, put on tennis shoes, then jumped the fence (it would've taken too long to go around) and went after her. She had already disappeared from sight, and I eventually spotted her on the ranch...behind rusty barbed wire. Super.
I climbed over the barbed wire (only discovering later that I'd scratched myself in several places - yay for peroxide and a semi-recent tetanus shot), managed to scoop her up and got her back home, both of us full of burrs. I was not happy. I told J she couldn't be outside unsupervised, if at all, anymore. He agreed.
A couple of days later, he called me, tension in his voice. He had let her out and was watching her, but he looked away for a moment, and when he looked back, she was gone again. After much searching, he finally found her, on the ranch of course. Oh, and by the way, he mentions, he found a baby rattlesnake in the back yard by the trash can. WHAT?? Great. Just great. I had a rattlesnake in the garage once several years ago, but nothing since then. Okay, that's it, I decreed. She doesn't go out anymore AT ALL.
She's not happy about her new confinement, but she'll get used to it. But there's something I may not get used to. I left for work yesterday, and I heard a thumping sound by my right front tire. I pulled over, and I saw something wrapped up in my wheel. What could that...oh, man, are you kidding me? Another snake. I didn't see a rattle on its tail, but it was a young snake, nonetheless. It had apparently crawled up in the wheel to get warm.
It would appear that we're going to have a snake problem on my property this year. Isn't that just fantastico?
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