In other news Dan asked me to build him a Video Editing Computer. I convinced him to pick up the new T1600 E-Machine. So last night I installed the Firewire Card/Memory/100 G Hard Drive and Software he wanted. He also wanted 20 G’s of data from one of is other machines transferred over. The E-Machine and XP Home took like a duck to water without a single hiccup. The South Koreans are really coming around. Full System: Athlon 1.6 Ghz runnng XP Home 40G + 100G Hard drives 512 M DDR Ram 16x CDR Firewire / USB 2.0 Final Cost $700
Old Friend Andy Muckle is accepting a job in New York and is moving sometime next month. Jeff and I are scouring our old videos to find any footage so we can make a montage for a farewell party. Should be fun.
MINORITY REPORT (3.9 of 5) This was good, good atmosphere, good story (most of Dick-s are), good acting, good chases. A fun romp through the TIMECOP future. So why is it not the greatest Steven Spielberg Movie ever. It-s soulless. He tried with the Pre-Cog going through the Tom-s son-s life in the attic. But the was the closest it ever gets. Tom and Colin were the only ones working hard here. Everyone else was window dressing. This was at Regal in one of the Big Four (Note to self: I like white people in theaters)
FROM HELL (4 of 5) I really like this movie. The Hughes brothers showed that they can direct a non-black film. And do it with the same styles that got them there. Johnny Depp was his usual good, But the rest of the cast was excellent. Coltrane and Holm threw together some of their best work. Visual intriguing, perfectly paced, and just gory enough to top the jack the ripper flicks to date. Good job boys. If you didn-t read the comic book then the turns the film takes are unique and fascinating. Deb didn-t think the ending was satisfying, but just like spider-man (she didn-t like that ending either) I though it was perfect. Saw this one on DSS so of course the sound, aspect ratio, projection and seats were perfect, he he.
WINDTALKERS (3 of 5) It was good, but suffered from the exceptional WE WERE SOLDIERS and BLACK HAWK DOWN coming out before it. It seemed more like a paintball movie then a gritty war flick. Everyone walked through their characters, and made them very uninteresting, although the Slater/Whitehorse connection was very good. Most of the battles lacked the Woo punch I am used too. So the movie seems like anyone could direct it. I hate to say it, but Mike Bay could have made this an exceptional movie. I didn-t feel cheated because I loved old-time war movies. And that-s what this was: a late 50s early 60s Audie Murphy flick. Saw this at the AMC Galleria, projection and sound was good, seats (as always) were bad.
SATURDAY - Deb made me breakfast Saturday morning, she is getting used to the Optifast,(Check her journal on the main page) but I still feel guilty eating around her. Then off we went to Minority Report.
SUNDAY- After Phil and Jen cancelled our ICC meeting. Deb and I went shopping. Picked up a IR remote for the PS2 (Want to start using it as my main DVD player), a hair dryer, and found a great bike for Deb. A Huffy 26- 6-Speed Cruiser-$99 at Target.
Drove to Menifee on Friday at noon to hook up with the ‘Dog Catcher’. Chatted with ‘The Coach’ for a while then off we went to Boulder City for father’s day with the pops. This is the second annual Beat-your-father-like-a-rented-mule-golf-tourney. Strangely enough Dad and Lynne were in Los Angeles for a meeting with friends when we arrived in Boulder City. So ‘The Dog Catcher’ and I went to the casino to get some grub and to gamble. Turned my 5 bucks into $25. Doesn’t seem like much’but I was on a nickel machine’Slots of fun is BACK!!! Had some grub (Steak and Caesar salad) and headed home for some Dennis Miller( Pakcanistan..man that was funny) and some snoozing. Next Morn we went into Henderson for some stuff and we got back, Dad and Lynne were home.
Golf Year 2: The night before we all decided that the ass-whooping that Jeff and I laid on the old folks needed to be avenged. So the team of Dad and Mike would stay together. And my new partner would be Lynne (replacing Jeff). Fearing Lynne, the old fogies wanted to handicap us’.12 strokes or Shoot from the black tees. Since it was Best ball, I voted for shoot from the black. It was a good choice; Lynne and I went ahead by 2 on the 4th hole and held on to that lead till the end. Lunch on the losers’ Mexican. Food was ok but the Spicy Bean Dip with the chips was out of this world. Two bowls of chips and Two Pacifico’s and I was done.
Next up, dwindle away at my inheritance. Dad bought back the 260Z he had in 80 and has been restoring it. Almost done, but he still want to remove the California smog parts. The last piece, the carbs. Last year I showed him Ebay and other ways to find Z parts online. He got a new catalog and got some stuff from them but the Non-California replacement carbs for an old Z are expensive or hard to find. So today I set him up on Ebay and Ebay payments. After a little searching, we found 240z carbs and manifold with one day left and was currently at the base bid of $100 bucks. After goading from mike-we bid and won it the next day at $102.50. Dad sent his payment with Ebay payments and the unit is on it-s way. Oh well-hope doesn-t get addicted. This is right about the time that Deb called: The refrigerator went out. Now she wasn-t eating food, and we stripped most of it out, but she needed Ice for her shakes. I told her to use an ice chest till I get home.
Next dad had me look over his latest additions to his home theater. The DVD player and a new 6.1 Switcher/Amp from Yamaha. Seemed like a good time for fathers day gifts since my gifts were going to be his first DVDs. (Pearl Harbor and Office Space). Well I popped in the DVD and it did not look good. First of all the Player was set to 16×9 and all the bright spots were bleeding horribly. They couldn-t see it , but I could. To test, I plugged in my PS2 in the front s-vhs plugs of the TV, pristine. After looking in the back I noticed the whole system was wired using composite video and analog lines. The only analog device on the whole system was the VCR. So I went scrounging for S-video and TOSlink cables. After one trip to radio shack all the pieces were in place. The TV looked great! Now for the remote education. The Yamaha remote that came with the amp was crap, but the only one that could control the amp. So I got 6 remotes down to 2. One for the Ultimate TV/DSS and one for everything else. I-m going to try to dig up an old Pronto (Or upgrade mine) and get them down to one simple remote. Dad and lynne were thinking about a new TV, but it looked great once we got it hooked up with the new cables.
Monday morn we headed home, stopped off for some biscuits and gravy and launched into the great unknown (known as Nipton really). Time went really fast, then over the hill from Barstow we saw what looked like a nuclear cloud, and I-15 going right into it. Ummmmmm, mike didn-t want to turn on the radio. so we just went for it. About 5 miles before pass near Wrightwood we couldn-t see the car in front of us through the smoke. Then as we started down, we saw it, a huge fire on both sides of the freeway. Helicopters and planes doing drops, the whole thing. We must of lucked out, cause when we got to Jeff-s we found out the road was closed Saturday and Sunday. And when I started home a few hours later, the signs said it was closed again.
Ahhhh..home sweet home. Deb got home about 5pm and we went to get a new(used fridge) a huge side by side , delivered for $700 (1 year warranty) Tuesday I went to get a water line for the ice maker. After installing, the water started shooting out of the internal filter. So I took it out, bypassed it and the shop wants me to bring it by so he can give me a new one. Going to do that today.
First Clancy book, and the first Clancy for Ben Affleck and Phil Robinson. Phil, you made 2 of the 30 best films of the decade (Field of Dreams and Sneakers) This doesn’t match those but you have beaten of Phillip Noyce’s attempts at Clancy. There were a few hiccups, referencing Clinton when this story really takes place just before him. But that was the only one. Great tension, Great Bomb, Great acting across the board. Ben is Ryan 5 years before Alec’s Ryan and it fits. Harrison did a great Ryan, but was too old for the stories they chose. The latest books ‘Bear and Dragon’ and ‘Debt of Honor’ are more for Harrison age. Hopefully ‘Without Remorse’ is next (No Jack Ryan at all). That is still my favorite and makes ‘Clear and Present Danger’ a better movie and book. Up to the Regal for this one.
Wrap up of the fall season / My top shows: Daily Show – Still the best news (fake) show on TV Alias – Great new addition to television. A smart version of Le Femme Nikita. Great season finale. Thank god they choose a brunette this time. Jennifer is great, and owns the role. Below is a picture from the upcoming movie-Daredevil- where she plays the baddie-Elektra- X-Files- The end came and was nothing too special. But it was a great End. Hopefully more movies will be made. I think the 4 person ensemble will work well. But it-s up to Carter to start the engines again. Season 2 was still the bomb. Wong/Morgan/Bowman and Nutter fine-tuned that season into the best TV had to offer. They have been living off of that year ever since. West Wing- Still the best writing of any show. It is neat to see them try to integrate Republican policy into a Democratic White House in an attempt current. The Shield- Darker version of NYPD blue set in L.A. Chiklis is perfect. Best actor will be coming his way.
A Few Movies I saw last week.
Bad Company (2.8 of 5) – Well-it was in focus. Joel Schumacher still sucks-sorry Joel. You have not made a commercial viable film since-A Time to Kill- and before that-Flatliners- You raped Batman, made a dark film (8mm) way to dark, God only know what you were doing with Tigerland and Flawless. And you still have no idea how to shoot a fight scene. That said, Chris was good, Tony is to old for something like this, And the CIA still looks stupid. This year-s-Spy Game- and-Sum of all Fears- are ten times the movie this is. Went to the Bridge for this one.
Sum of All Fears (3.9 of 5) – My first Clancy book, and the first Clancy for Ben Affleck and Phil Robinson. Phil, you made 2 of the 30 best films of the decade (Field of Dreams and Sneakers) This doesn-t match those but you have beaten of Phillip Noyce-s attempts at Clancy. There were a few hiccups, referencing Clinton when this story really takes place just before him. But that was the only one. Great tension, Great Bomb, Great acting across the board. Ben is Ryan 5 years before Alec-s Ryan-and it fits. Harrison did a great Ryan, but was too old for the stories they chose. The latest books-Bear and Dragon- and-Debt of Honor- are more for Harrison age. Hopefully-Without Remorse- is next (No Jack Ryan at all). That is still my favorite and makes-Clear and Present Danger- a better movie and book. Up to the Regal for this one.
Ahhhhh! Laughlin. Howdy folks, First report since the Laughlin trip. Well I walked out to my car Thursday morning to see a ticket on the windshield. No front License Plate and No tags. 90 Bucks. I have registration, but the sticker was stolen at work 4 month ago (I forgot to cut it when I put it on) so basically this omen tells me what will unfold this weekend. Friday – All packed up ready to go, uneventful till we reach Bullhead city, AZ to get gas. I go back to the trailer and noticed the tread is coming of the tire. Tube inside so it is still inflated. Only 2 miles to go and it-s 1am so I leave it be, it should make it to the water tomorrow morning. We stay at the Flamingo in Laughlin. Up the next morning at 9 and off to the lake-after 200 feet ..the tire blows. I pulled over and change the tire with the spare. But I didn-t notice the stem was in backwards, and I bent it trying to install the tire. Pumped it up at the gas station, and went to the lake. Overcast hot (98) but not as bad as last year. After everything was set-up and blown up, I sat down for about 2 hours to catch my breath. Man, I am fat and out of shape. First night was fine, Cool, Quiet, 4:20 and fireworks (had a few left over from Powell last year) Next morning everyone arrives. No clouds cover so we got to 100 today. About three we realize that our little Scuba plans to Cabinsite Cove was going to be cancelled. Jeff lent his scuba equipment to his father in-law the week before and the weights never made it back to the scuba bag. No weights – no sink. So we went out about 100 yards in our own cove and he held onto a rock. So the AVON, engine and gas were never used. That night it cooled off quicker and we both sleep well. Deb was handling the heat a lot better this time, No rash no sunburn. The next morning, it all went wrong. Jeff was coming down to the lake to pick us up around 9am. I packed everything up and noticed the tire we replaced was flat-all the way to the point of breaking the bead. When Jeff got there we tried a few things-but ended up driving to Wal-Mart. And leaving Deb there with no shade. And as it turned out, no sunscreen either. When we got back with the tire, Deb was in bad shape. Very bad decision on my part leaving her there. Heat rashes on her arms and a little burnt on the shoulders. We loaded up and headed to the hotel. Got showers and hit the road. Not much traffic til we got 20 miles out of Barstow. And when the flow started up again. Jeff and I passed a slow truck and you guessed it..We were pulled over for speeding. 72 Miles an hour in a 70 zone, seemed ticky-tack till we read that vehicles with trailers cant go over 55-duh! All in all, a good trip. I took no pictures but Jeff and Andy did. So when I get those-I will post.
Undercover Brother (3.1 of 5) – The seventies, Blaxploitation movies and star wars. I was a teen, but remember Coffey and Shaft and the jokes in Kentucky Fried Movie. (Friend of the family was in the film so I got to see it before I was 18..he he) Well-they all come back in a OK Austin powers spoof. A lot of the jokes are inspired in a Blazing Saddles kind of way, but the overall film needed some polish for it to surpass films like Baseketball. I got the same about of laughs from both. This film needed to be-R- and a little less PC. Doogie and Chapelle were wonderful, everyone else just glided through it.
SW-Episode II (Digital) (4 of 5) – Yes, attempt number three, Mann-s Chinese theater in Hollywood. DLP made the Scenes jump off the screen, Nice and sharp-seemed a little dark. Sound at the theater was great as always, but the acoustic in that place still sucks… probably from the time they built it (echo was nasty) It was a group outing with dinner at Buca Di Beppo-s in Universal city and the movie. Group: Me, Deb, Jeff, Sandy, Phil Jen, Ben, Ben-s Brother, Susanne, Andy M (Moving to NY next month), Kevin K, and rob and J9 showed up at the movie too.
2 Days to Optifast Day One : I will post Debs round ONE (strange and unintended pun) tomorrow.
Been a long week. Projector is up- DVDO Line-Doubler working perfectly. Two small snags: The red tube seems to have water stains (probably from coolant) on the lens. It-s not bad but it makes a section of the screen appear a little out of focus. The other problem is the blue tube. It has slight burn-in. The tube was run at 80% of the entire tube (Zoomed in). So the outside is 20 percent in brighter than the middle. I run the TV at 70% of the tube for my 4:3 viewing. So I never notice it. But when I expand the image to 16×9 for the DVDs and Laserdiscs the far edges glow blue. Only way to fix that is a new tube. Other than that, everything focused and converged perfectly. The image is twice the quality of my Sharpvision 37U so I am very happy. Next up-clean the red lens (Got to open the case) and get a new blue tube (but not this month).
Off to Laughlin this Thursday for camping/scuba/tubing/beer and sun. Boat and trailer are ready. Rest will be done tomorrow. Tight group this time, only 9 people are going. Movie: Insomnia (3.8 of 5) Chris Nolan does a good job on a remake of a sub-par 6-year-old Scandinavian movie. I guess this proves that if you cant get distribution for your foreign film, sell the plot to the Americans. The story uses-UNFORGIVEN- as a base for the there-are-no-good-guys story. The acting was perfect, but you don-t really like anybody-except Dooley. The visuals were very good, you learn to hate the sun. Could not get over the fact that someone built a house at water level on a glacier lake. One break-off and the house would be gone.
Well well well you Sith MF’s, Attack of the Clones came out yesterday. But i was lucky enough to get a call on Tuesday from deb inviting me to an advance screening sponsored by Frito-Lay at 6:30pm on Wednesday. Whoo Hoo.
I got off work at 4:00 and took Tina,John and deb to the Sherman Oak Galleria for the show. We arrived at 5:30 and were the 15th people in line…not to shabby. Let the Trailers begin…..A small rumble on a black screen for 5 seconds..then a stream of green letters from the top..HOLY SHIT!!! The Matrix Reloaded.AHHHHHHHHHHH. Just a teaser but good god..that was coooool!!!..next up Goldmember…Finally…a funny one..the 2 previous teasers were lame. This is a teaser too but much funnier…and a way we go. ATTACK OF THE CLONES: (4.2 of 5) Overall I love this movie, The shear size of the last 45 min is amazing. It’s nice to see CGI just cant be done by people on their mac’s at home. These scenes needed real power to produce. Much like the Jpark series. This movie made E1 better (I like E1 by they way..Jar Jar too..so no flames please) and made E4-6 better too. Everybody has more depth..You know Obiwan not by Ewan..but by Alec..and it all fits together. This helps the movie..and hurts it too…i mean you know the people that dont die..they have to be around for 4,5, and 6. The is the problem with being an adult and seeing this movie..you bring to much baggage. Thats why Lord of the rings suffers a bit….we know the whole story already. But 10 year olds don’t..and thats what makes these films great. What i loved: The size and scope, Bad-ass Yoda layin the smack down, The poor tuskin raiders..he he, Amidala’s Clothes (Deb says she is a cock-tease…i agree) and her nipples for that fact (You will know when you see it) Mace layin the smack-down, but what really caught my eye was 3 shots during the clone landings in the main battle. Georges skill with camera has allways been “Plain” but it works for kevin smith..so i’m not gonna fault him for it. He puts the eye candy in the frame..but doesnt move the camer to much, in the cgi scenes it make the zoom and focus very mechanical. After a while you get used to it..then bam..during the battle..he does a few WARTIME PHOTOGRAPHER shots. Quick natural zooms to other ships landing..out of focus pans…and the like..it worked for me on a whole other level..i thought i was there..on the battlefield..very cool indeed. What I Didn’t Like: First of all..it was fuzzy and the dark scenes had NTSC bands like when your camcorder doesnt have enough light. After some research i found out that all the film prints looked like this because of the Telecine transfer, and that the 60 theaters worldwide that where showing it Digtally didn’t have these problems. So I will see it again in one of these theaters. The love story was too long, Jango needed a better fight, and I wanted a better Tusken Beat-Down. But the thing that bothered me the most…no cheering, sure the yoda fight scene got some..but nothing else did. There wasnt a narrow escape by the M-Falcon while the death star was was exploding around it…or han solo taking out darth just before killing luke…no great tension or release. But besides all that…top notch george…cant wait for E3..you have alot of ground to cover..get those cameras going. As a side note..My nephew jaymes alled me about 7pm on Thursday to try to scoop me on EII (he just saw it), he was very disappointed that i saw it already….the super cool king of movies maintains his crown..Whooo Hoo P.S. seeing it again tonight with other friends, Gonna mount my TV on Saturday, Gonna pick up Regs from Dive and Surf today, and i won a DVDO line doubler from Ebay this morning. So now i have 20 bucks in my pocket…but alot of cool shit…he he
Spidey is out…can’t see it till sunday when i get to San Diego…but i am jazzed.
The REGS i won on ebay..First and Second Stage seem fine…but the Pressure gauge doesn’t work. Could be the gauge/1st Stage HP/HP line. AHHHHHH. I need to take it in to have the Dive n’ Surf Guys check the whole thing anyways. Most important gauge…and it ain’t working’. Deb is coming’ home tonight around 8pm. I am almost out of clothes , so from 6-8 i will do wash. I lost the Ebay bid i had on that SONY M8u camera yesterday..I fell asleep and the winner just bid a dollar over my highest…bastard. Anyways I found another one on EBAY and i bid the same amount (38 bucks) it is currently at $39 but I’m not gonna start the war till it gets closer to closing (Tomorrow). On a surprising note: Ricks Movie Graphics sent me my Reign of Fire Poster: I thought it was back ordered for a week….but it just showed up…coool. I took down the AN Redux poster behind my desk, and put the new one there…..ahhhhhh all is good.
Howdy, Well another weekend gone by…… By Friday my desk was starting to get clean…… Still a way to go. No word yet on my Projector, starting to get antsy. Saw some movies: Scorpion King (3.8 of 5) Fun but medicore..tough to get excited about (Human Quiver was very cool). Rock was good. But Conan the Destroyer and the 2 Mummy movies were better. Saw it at The Bridge in the Directors Theater #2…I like this place more and more each time. Murder by Numbers (3.5 of 5) Interesting but medicore. All of Barbet Schroeder’s film have good actors in un-exciting stories. This is in his top three..but that is not saying much. Since 75% of his films get 2 city releases(LA/NY) or direct to video. Regal Cinema for this one. 4:20 weekend.
Hi ho all, Called The people I got the Projector from…they recieved the unit and will fix it on monday. One of the items on my Sharpvision was the Cygnus De-Pixelization Filter ($600 in 1996) it worked wonders. I went to the Cygnus for fun today and found out that my filter will fit on the SONY VPL-10ht LCD projector i have had my eye on for the last year…hmmmmm. So if the the Electrohome can’t get fixed…I saving for a Sony.
Eric Jacoby crashed his database again…after checking it over i found that the same backup tape has been in their server for 2 month, erasing and copying over itself. So gladly blame was spead over multiple people, instead of just me. I sent the dtabase file to Mountech and the repaired it with no problem.
Middle East is still heating up. We are going to have to go back to the crusades to solve this one. Baretta got arrested for killing his wife today. My Office is STILL a mess from the movie. Going to the Opening Night of Avengers Arena Football Tonight…I will try to post some pics. Hope to see Scorpion King this weekendas well. The Number 3 movie on my must see list (REIGN OF FIRE) is supposed to get a trailer this weekend, hopefully i can find it online. All for now……..
Howdy all, Well..I won my E-bay auction for a Electrohome HDTV Projector..
After a week in half it showed up. Powered up at work..seemed fine..didn’t bother converging till i got home. Once home turned on once..then never again. AHHHHHHHH. After a week of phone calls to the guys we nailed it down to a fuse behind the main panel. Once replaced the projector fired up but the green tube just kept flashing on an off. After talkin to the guys in WI, we decided to send it back to see if they could fix it. Shipped it out 2 days ago..should get there by 17th. While the waiting game started up in full swing something else i bid on: “ECP Ceiling Mount” came in. Good condition..ready to roll..all I need is a projector. All is not lost, I am using the old LCD projector from work for the time being..not as good as my sharp, but it does the job. If they cant fix ECP4100 and they give me my money back..I will probably just get the sharpvision fixed. Movies:
Ice Age: (3.5 of 5) Blue sky did a good job, story was cute..but Shrek was more fun.
High Crimes: (2.5 of 5) Lame remake of deb and I’s first movie Double Jeopardy
Big Trouble: (3 of 5) Fun Dave Barry romp. All was fun, but hardly made sense.
Panic Room: (3.8 of 5) Great Thriller, David Fincher is always fun to watch, Dont know where foster got the breasts, but worked for me.
Got a call from the Projector Guys…Unit is fixed and will be shipped out today. Whoo Hooo!
So..another week of waiting..gotta start combing EBAY for a DVDO line doubler. And finding the perfect spot to hang the projector (Hope the ceiling holds) Deb left for Chicago last night. So i 4:20′d and watched the mummy…Coooooooooooool..I should get an update from her today. Greg and Denise called from Nor Cal yesterday..I came across (that is not a pun) a transsexual picture that looks just like Denise, I sent it to Greg..he was amazed..he showed it to Denise..she was shocked. They called to say hi, and to ask who i showed it to…hmmmmm..I wonder…he he. Boobs are to small.. it’s not her. but here is a PG version.
March madness has reared its ugly head again. This is my bad luck time, my period, my PMS. Nothing good every happens in march for me. But hey, I’m still alive, got 5 days left..and havent had to go to the hospital yet…whoo hoo. Anyways….The tax thing didn’t work out, the documentation procedures have changed. So all my friends that went to the place this had a rude awakening. So I just filed 1040EZ to be done with it. Then March Madness Creeps in, My projector went out. I ordered a new bulb ($300) and that didnt work, returned it and got another (From Miami,$400) didnt work either. Tested all the boards and it seem the Ballast board has gone out. Bestec estimates about $600 total. The technology was old and i was questioning thowing another $1000 bucks at it. So I went online to see its worth, about $1000…damn. I have $1000 in the bank that was going to my Credit Cards. But still wasnt sure..the new HDTV projector i wanted, but was gonna wait till i got a house, was still $4200. SO thank you march.
Lou Dini (brother’s father in law)Died….thank you march
Projector Died…thank you march
WDC moved in and kicked me out of my office…thank you march
My Cousin loses his Job after 12 years..thank you march
An “under the table” client sent in a 1099 in 2000, now the feds want $1300..thank you march
XFL gone..thank you NBC (and march, and WWF shareholders)
The 21st century and the 16th century are about to war…thank you march
My biggest client is sold to a New York Company ….thank y..wait thats not that bad.
But I am used to this by now…hell i have been going though it for over 30 years.
P.S. i dont blame march..I blame myself..but it all kinda happens in march.
On a lighter note..saw some flix:
Resident evil (3.5 of 5) Followed the game perfect (all the way to the end) I still love anderson’s work
Sorority Boys (2.8 of 5) Bad knock-of (a-la Animal House) a few cute perfomances
We Were Soldiers (4 of 5) not quite Black Hawk but a great story of one battle gone wrong.
Blade II (4.5 of 5) Best So far this year..all the violence..all the gore..a true comic book
Showtime (2 of 5) a waste of alot of talent. (at least it was in focus)
Whoa..what a couple of weeks. The rams won on the 20th..so the trip to St. Louis on the 27th was a go! Tony handled all the arrangements, and forwarded all the money. Pics from the game are in the Gallery section. We flew in on a half empty plane and got good seats. Upon arriving a few eagles fans proceeded to arrive in the airport, and spit on the floor (and these were the women). Everything i heard was true..they really are scumbags. Our seats were part of a block purchased by the rampagers group that tony is friends with. We picked our tickets at the same bar as 2 years ago “The Drury”. The “Main Guy” in the group was running late. and we found out later that he fell in front of his hotel, and not only was he not coming tonight…he wouldn’t even make the game. One of the group members was selling these lite up earing that her husband makes…I bought a pair for Deb. We all decided to eat dinner at a steak place down the street in Old St Louis (like the whole city isn’t old). Food was good, met some new, fun people from Sacramento, He owns a bar and has a “Ram Room” upstairs. One of his patrons was there (they call him “Big B”) and man can he down the stuff. Not sure if i saw him sober the whole trip. GAMEDAY we arrived early and headed in. Went to the first stand and got my “SHIRT FROM THE TRIP” and we went inside. The game nerve racking…just like every other game this year. But we won and New Orleans was next.
The week went by fast, as deb and I prepared for a superbowl party. She ordered all kinds of Blue and gold, we had all the flags out and were ready for the game. We play the second annual Suberbowl of Half-Life at work til 12 and headed home for the game. Everybody knows what happened..so i dont need to tell you. Seemed fitting, with September 11th and all, that a team called the Patriots would win. I didnt feel to bad…Becaused i realized…we would be back…the pats wouldn’t. We have most of our players under contract..and the ones that arn’t want another shot..and should sign. Oh Yes…We will return. Thats all for now.. This weekend i have an first appointment with a tax guy. He has done alot for my friends and i want in on the action. If it goes well the last of my bills will be paid off and saving for a house comes next……Whoo Hoo!!
Howdy All, The first week of 2002 has flown by with a few suprises and a STL Ram team that looks perfect. Of the all the playoff teams I only fear Tampa Bay, and they have been palying bad all year…except against us. But all the games will be at home, so i feel good about that. Deb and I went to San Diego over the weekend to hang with mom and see some flix. Saw Kate and Leopold (2 of 5) really uneventful ending. then snuck over to Joe Somebody (4 of 5) a fun disney-like movie with a great ending. So the day wasnt a total loss. The next day we went over to Mike and Dia’s , then all of us went shopping at Fry’s and Best Buy, before heading over to Dave And Busters. There is a new game that just tore me up. It’s called 911…it like time crisis but instead of a duck pedal..it uses motion detectors to sense your body position. When you croutch down..you duck. When you lean..you move to that side. I was sweating after 2 games. I have hit the treadmill a few times to get ready for Mammoth on the 11th-14th. But this kicked my ass in 10 min. I am not ready for Mammoth (looks like a one pass this trip.) Heading Off tonight to see Lord of the Rings again..this time in westwood. Hopefully it will be better than that piss poor showing in PV. Ta Ta for now..I’ll write again when i get back from mammoth.
Dave and Timmerie came over for new years eve. We BBQ’d Lobsters and steaks and watch Moulan Rouge. Deb fell asleep during ‘Come What May’ but both of us had seen it before. Did some site changes today: Added Magic Mountain to the gallery page. Combined all the laughlin pics and added eddie to the ferret section. Add 2 new top 10′s (2000 movies and 2001 Movies).
Xmas went well, lots of Rams stuff, and a few item off my WANT LIST Deb and I had a great weekend. Went to Menifee to have christmas with my brothers family..everybody was there and we had a blast. Had to work on the 26th so we came back. Went too Magic Mountain for debs birthday on the 30th. Was raining and the most of the waits on the rides were under 30 min. Jeff and sandy came along as well as my brother jeff and laurie and the kids. I have pics and should post them in the next week or two. After Jeff and Sandy left (round 5pm) we headed to the new ride DEJA VU. The wait was going to be 3 hours..but if we got tickets we were secured a spot before closing. The ride seemed simple..but the shear mass and size made it one of the fastest most enjoyable rides ever (I still love batman the best). Rams spanked the Colts and now look unstoppable…GO RAMS
Got the new Ferret Condo installed in the office. The girls and eddie have taken to it well. Might try to get a ferretCAM setup in the near future so you call all watch them sleep…ohhh big fun. Xmas lists are up in the WANT LIST If you want to add your xmas list to the mix..send it to me. Added new Rams Pics Added New Deb Pics Added New Pics of Me
Let’s see….the good news: Visited dad this weekend, Deb and I and Dad and Lynne saw Oceans 11 (4 of 5) Stricly a fun time for actors…and it works. A joy to watch all those beautful people that can act. Story not as good as THE STING but still a fun ride. I have always been a visually guy when rating movies so Steven Soderberg has dropped to the middle of the pack since giving up on his signature visual style and moved into the “i just wanna keep working mode” It has garnered 2 academy awards nomminations, but i still like style AND substance. not 40′s style and 00′s substance.
Ok..don’t read the rest. This is a Venting-Rant to keep me sane -WARNING- skip the next section.
In advance I apologise to deb and dad. I offend people, thats what i do, originaly (pre 1988) it was to get peoples goat, make life more fun for me. Since that day in Nebraska i turned deliberatly pissing people off to just telling the truth. I spout the truth like there is no tomorrow. And the women in my life have suffered horribly from it. Early in my relationship with deb, I found out the truth needs to be stiffled if i want to hold a relationship with her. So stiffled, is what i have done. Sometimes my silence has done more damage than good. So while i can maintain my armour though all these bombardments of the last couple months, this weekend a few chinks in the armour are starting to show though. My dad gave me a letter to read while I drove home, in it he stated how he was diagnosed with lukemia in 1985 and the treatments have worked well from that time on. But that those treatments have caused Thrombocytopenia, and that requires a spleenectomy. I’m not to worried, but i would think by now he knows that he could come to us with this sort of things. So there is a little stress there. Deb still maintain her feelings about how unconfortable she is around my family members. Something I’m not sure how to handle . My family is judgmental to everyone ,but all members seem to be right down the middle in all other ways: loyalty,income, love and lifestyle. I feel uncomfortable around her family, but it’s because they are different. I dont hate them, but i do make jokes about there lifestyles. Deb asks all the time if she is a bad person, I try to tell her she is not, and all this is in her head. But for some reason it doesn’t sink in. Perhaps it’s the fact that none of my friends come over anymore. And that my family members seem to want to talk to me instead of her. But the fact that I’m still around and our relationship with two of our other friends is stronger than ever doesnt seem to count. Now i’m forcing her to spend the next 2 weeks with my family coupled with arrival of aunt flo. My stress will be high even if nothing happens. So throw that in with everything else (including a 4 thousand dollar server that just wont back up regularly) and the my ‘nothing bothers me’ persona is starting to get cracks. maybe i need to drink more, smoke more weed, run naked into the night screaming..i dont know. I’m sure i will be fine, and my relationship with deb will be too, but right now the xmas season is looking more like a bummer than a joy. See …i told you all not to read this. Happy Holidays – Go Rams
