Catch Up

I was looking over the old blogs and realized that I had neglected to mention something. On March 13th my second son “Owen” was born. The birth went fantastic though we had a issue or two once we got to recovery involving my wife…But all are well now ( Touch wood). My eldest son is now 6 and is a good big brother so far.
Transformers has taken up a lot of my son’s interest but I should note that he spent a heck of a lot of time playing Star Wars Lego’s this weekend.
We have been to some places since the 13th, Brandywine River Museum, Camden Aquarium and Hagley Powder mills ( Birthplace of Dupont). Most of my Movie watching has been On-Demand lately and I haven’t done any Re-enactments since January…but my Wife has allowed me to go away two weekends for a LARP and I am thankful for that.
I missed both Cold Wars and Historicon this year but hopefully next time I go my eldest son can come along for the ride.

Well I think that’s about it

Old Photo Repost

Im putting this up because I think the old one was lost to the switch over.

WOW!!!

Boy I havent been here in a while. I have been posting alot of stuff on my threads blog but have Neglected the old Jalopy....well I guess I had better dust her off and check under the hood.

The SCI FI Chanel…Modern Slavery?

Ok I just need to know one thing….does the Sci Fi channel practice slavery? In the past I have ranted about their really really bad movies, the ones they make in eastern Europe for 20 dollars but now I am wondering if they are more evil then I thought.

Case in point…Claudia Black…First off and for the record, she’s not hard to look at, But I now believe that at some point SFC bought her…she appears in everything they do.
First there was Farscape, loved her in that, then she pops up in Stargate SG1. I stopped and thought “what the ….” But I let it go. Now this week she was in the Dresden Files!! Sweet Potato Pie! People she is being held against her will!! What next, a lead in the latest bad Nazi Gargoyle movie? Or is she doomed to be eaten by a Giant Mutant Vole. Hear me Sci Fi Channel!!! Let her go!!! Free Her!!!!
So the question is, how much did SFC pay for her and How much would they sell her for?

Surviving in the Battlestar Galactica Universe

First off…Everyone is a Cylon, they may not be, but to play it safe just treat them like they are. Your wife, boyhood friend Twin Brother… All Cylons. If you prepare your self, we won’t have to waist time with the “Oh My Gods..” and “I don’t Fracking believe it” scenes…EVERYONE IS A CYLON.

Learn to fly…Apparently anyone can walk onto the flight deck and climb into a Viper ( See Civilian Apollo in season Finally ) so it wont hurt having that avenue of escape open to you.
STAY AWAY FROM CALI!!! If something bad is going to happen its going to happen to or around her. Don’t even be on the same ship…flee, leap into space without a space suit to get away from her…you stand a better chance of surviving.

Padme!!! What are you thinking?

Ok, in the past I have spoken about my 5 year olds love of star wars and how he loves the Lego star wars game. Well to celebrate the birth of his little brother we bought him the other game that deals with the first three movies ( PM, AOTC, ROTS). Now the game has a bright spot, you can watch Jar- Jar die over and over again…and that makes me happy, but like the other game, for my son to get into the spirit of things he has to watch the movie dealing with the chapter he is playing.

So one night we find our selves watching “Attack of the Clones”, not my favorite so I am watching with sarcastic colored glasses on…that’s when it hits me, WHAT THE HECK IS PADME THINKING!!!.

So she’s all “ we cant do this” and “its not right” while she shows up for dinner wearing a leather corset and collar around her neck ??? Then there is my favorite dress, the one she wears on Tatooine when Anakin returns from killing the Tusken Raiders… You know, the scene in the garage. Now watch that scene and look at that dress and ask your self…does the neck line form a arrow pointing down…TO A TARGET?????
I am not even going to go into her choice of clothing for Anakin’s mom’s funereal, maybe it was the only clean thing she had left.

“ There will be no Ewoks in my house!!!!”

This weekend, as I lay sleeping late on Saturday, my Son came bounding into the room. He had drawn a picture he wished to show me. My blood ran cold as I looked down at the sheet of paper and its masterful illustrations for he had drawn… Ewoks!!
First there was a Ewok in a red shirt carrying a spear, which he made sure I understood was him, then there was wicket ( he made me guess what one was wicket) with his little sling about to wrap around his head and finally a little guy with a bow.
My initial thought was to rip up the picture in front of his 5 year old eyes and send him off to his room until he was 12, but this seemed to harsh, so I let the whole thing slide. Over the period of the day the picture grew in its grandeur, a ATST was soon being crushed by logs, a Scout trooper flew his speeder bike and a Storm trooper tried to defend himself ( A legion of his best troops…yeah right).
I was considering institution that I could send him to, to help de-program him, to help him over come this Ewoktosis that he was suffering….but that’s when it occurred to me. My son was probably the exact audience that those furry little terrorist were designed to appeal to…so after simmering down I resigned myself to wait patently for this phase to pass.
….But if I start seeing pictures of Jar-Jar, all bets are off!!! Were going to the wood-shed!!!

How not to be “father of the year”…

Ok, yesterday I blogged about my son and the Star Wars Lego’s game…at the time I did not know the near tragedy that I had unleashed.

Flashback….March 6th, 0630 hours
I set out to leave for work, the wind was blowing hard as I pulled on my coat. I was surprised by the wait of the garment when I remembered I had placed my son’s game boy that contained his Game boy Star wars lego game ( though not as loved as the PC version, he like to play it while on the way to school) in my pocket the day before when I had picked him up. My thoughts soon turned to the garbage can that I had to take out and how it would fair in the strong wind, so I set the game boy down on the roof of my jeep and set off to secure the the garbage can. When I felt that task had been accomplished sufficiently I hoped in my Jeep and drove off to work…already late.

Flashback….March 6th, 1400 hours
My wife phoned me at work to say she was home and that everything was fine with her. Then she mentioned that she had told my son he could play his game boy on the way home since it was still in my jacket. My head began to swim, like in a bad movie, I saw myself placing the game boy atop my Jeep over and over again, in slow motion, in bizarre angles, from the perspective of the poor game boy followed by the Mental scream shot that pulls back from my tortured face. I had forgotten my sons game boy on the roof of my Jeep when I pulled out that morning.


All Attempts to located the poor device were fruitless and at 4:00 I had to face my child and tell him of the unforgivable act his father was guilty of. You got to love 5 year olds, he took it in stride, asked my a million and one “why didn’t you…” and “ you could have…” questions without anger or sadness. In fact it was he who simply said “ I guess we can order one on line” but so guilt ridden was I that I had to stop at Best Buy and get him a new one on the way home. We couldn’t find his Star Wars lego game at the stores we stopped at, and we’ll have to order that on line but he is ok with that.
When we got home he hoped onto the PC and got enough points to buy Boba Fett ( all before bath time) so he was as pleased as punch. I felt so bad for losing his game, I was convinced he would be upset, but he wasn’t, he took the whole thing better then I did, you got to love him.

Heroes Theory

It all goes back to 1938, and a little known project called “Neue Dämmerung” under the leadership of Dr Vanso Faust. Faust was investigating Accelerated Evolutionary Development (AED) under the Reich’s Ministry of science. Though most files on Faust’s work were destroyed, what is known at this time is that he was supplied 500 “Subjects” from the Mauthausen Concentration Camp ( the camps records record the transportation and return receipt’s are signed by Faust himself…CIA Archives) and that none of these subjects were ever seen again.
Some insight was gained via a interview with a Hauptstrumfuhrer Johan Strump, conducted in 1946 at a POW camp in Austria. Strump was in charge of a guard detail assigned to Faust. He claims to have observed subjects being injected with large doses of what the doctor informed him was a “evolutionary accelerant”. The effect caused the subjects to Scream in pain and physical effects were varied per batch, anywhere from rapid mortification to the liquefaction of the soft tissue. Strump also notes that the screams had such a effect on staff that Faust took the precaution of destroying the subjects voice box before experimentation.
Strump states that by 1942 the Doctor had apparently made significant headway, Party officials’ began to visit the lab ( Located in the Black Forest outside of Stauffen, Germany) climaxing in a visit from the Fuhrer and Himmler in late January of 1943. Strump was not privy to what transpired but does report that they seemed to have left well pleased.
It was reported shortly after that Faust visited OFLAG XVII – A outside Edelsbach Austria. There, according to the camps records, Flu vaccine was administered to 20 Patents. All 20 were from different nationalities. The camps records record the deaths of 11 of the 20 shortly afterward.
Strump then stated that he escorted the doctor to a Wehrmacht Hospital outside Munich. He states that he injected 10 wounded officers with a “Vaccine”. A search of the facilities records showed no such work. Strump stated he believed that ones name was “Luhrmann”, a search of this name turned up nothing however it is intresting to note that a Hauptmann Hans Lindermann was recovering from wounds received on the eastern front in the hospital at this time…He was a Knights cross winner and Father to Fredrich Lindermann, known today to the intelligence services as Frederick Linderman of Las Vegas Nevada.
Strump was murdered in the POW camp before any additional information could be obtained. Allied bombing of the “Neue Dammerung” facility in late 43 was believed to have Killed Faust and his assistants, However it is important to note, U-543 has listed on its manifest “Experimental Materials, Stauffen, Germany” before it embarks on its trip to Japan in early 1945.
After the capitulation of Japan, allied intelligence services search for the material transported, the only evidence of its existence that could be found was a signed naval manifest, the signature was of a Captain Isoroku Nakamura. A interrogation of this officer revealed only that he supervised loading the box onto a truck, and knew nothing more. It most be noted that the service records of this officer were never found and a rumor exists that he was a member of “Unit 731”.
After the war, CIA records show some activity around the name Faust within the Odessa organization and it is believed he may have survived the bombing and fled to South America. Certain documents shared by MI6 and revealed latter in KGB archives indicate the possibility of a small network of scientist based in South America and Japan continuing work that they considered to be linked to Neue Dammerung. Our own government sponsored a project called “New Dawn” ( a literal translation) in the 50’s reportedly utilizing some of the same research as Faust, however no documentation on this can be found, rumor suggests that aerial delivery testing took place at some point but again it most be stressed that no evidence of this exists. The names of the Allied officers that survived the injections remains classified however it is believed they returned to their respective countries with out any long term effects. As per the request of the head office, research reveals no Petrelli imprisoned in OFLAG XVII at the time of the experiment, however, a search of French military records reveals a Captain Jacques Du Fountaine, who is the father of Angela Du Fountaine who married Thomas Petrelli. No records of Concentration camp survivors can be found, though it was noted that after the 1943 bombing, a extensive search of the near by Black Forest was conducted.

What The…..

Ok…as stated before, I am a big Sci-fi geek, as such, I happen to watch Battlestar Galactica on Sci Fi. I think the show is great...but that may change.

I thought last nights episode was pretty good, Starbuck has dreams that leads to her suiciding her viper into a storm on a gas giant. If that’s the case I am OK, or if she is magically teleported somewhere because of her special destiny etc…Im ok with that. I will not be OK with her waking up on a Cylon Resurrection ship as one of the unseen models of the Cylons. That will bug me.

This is a Test

They just moved me to Google...I think, so this is testing to see if everything works.

Clockmaker

Huzzah for Heroes…

OK, it’s the best show on Network television. It also seems as though they read my blog from last week and cut down on some of the commercials, however there still seems to be a lot of them ( Ok ok I know they don’t read this blog, no one does, but hey a guy can dream).
Future Hiro delivers his message to the Mymic who returns to the Artists studio. Hiro and Ando are dropped off in the desert and have a argument, Ando leaves. While he waits to order waffles, Hiro sees The Eagle land outside, The Eagle has escaped Skyler ( in a really cool flight scene), and ends up giving him a ride to Las Vegas. Miror Image’s husband escapes the police and is back in town, he has powers to. Miracle Girls father brain wipes the quarterback and she tells dad some of what has been going on. The cop returns home, everything seems to be going well as he uses his powers to please his wife however, maybe because he is tired, the thoughts of others overwhelm him while he is in a store. The Mimic uses his powers to finish a painting by the artist that shows the dead cheerleader. Hiro, the artist and Daniel now know they must save her. GREAT SHOW!!!

Heroes….

Heroes….

First, I loved the episode, but first… Commercials!!!!!! I am now of the opinion that each episode is 20 minutes long and that there is at least as much commercial content as show. I know I may be exaggerating, but there appears to be a excruciating amount of ad’s. In the immortal words of America’s for most folk poet, Mr. Charles Brown “ARRRRRRRRRGGGG!”.

Now… The episode progressed the story line further, The Policeman woke up in Skyler’s lab with Scary bald guy, they apparently are experimenting on our poor friend. The Cheerleader… Or “Miracle girl” …wakes up in the morgue, escapes and latter takes her revenge on the serial rapist Quarterback by crashing a car into a wall. Las Vegas mom, or maybe “Mirror Image” or “Darkside” intertwines with the politician “the Eagle” when it appears as though he is set up by Skyler. We actually get to see “Darkside” emerge when the mom is threatened. The Eagle is captures (let this be a lesson to all would be super heroes… Don’t cheat on your wives). I had previously stated that I thought that the Eagles brother could only fly when he was around his brother, partially correct, he seems to be able to absorb the powers or “mimic” those of someone he is around. Hiro…Oh my god! By far my favorite Character, the one that is so desperately trying to embrace his gift and the one who is oddly learning to control his power the best. He and Ando are in Vegas where Ando talks Hiro into using his power to help them gamble against Hiro’s best judgment, they win but are thrown out ( I loved the Rain Man scene on the escalator) and Hiro ends up taking a fist to the jaw. The end scene we get a glimpse of Hiro from the future, all cooled up, dressed in black, Samurai sword on his back, no glasses, hair slicked back and no trace of a accent, he comes and delivers a message from the future to Daniel ( whom he drops the line about not being used to seeing Daniel without his scar…Cool). We see a cool scene with artist guy as he gets whacked out on goof balls and paints the future, I loved the dream/painting effect. The show is very comic booky and that’s what I love about it.

Update

Well I didn’t get a chance to watch Jericho so no update this week. We found out on Monday that we are having a boy, everything looked fine. We have started talking about names, My son suggested Peanut Butter and oddly, the good NASCAR name of Jimmy Brian, My wife didn’t like the name Tucker although Collin was liked by all. We’ll go at it a little more and see what we come up with.
Last Weekend I attended a WWI event, The Somme, It was a emersion event, that means we lived in the trenches for 24 hours straight. Heck it even rained for us and was cold as heck. They really went out of there way for the full experience, they feed us in the line, had a mail call and a Rum ration. Doing a event like this every now and then helps you realize what they went through, If its hard for us after 24 hours imagine what it was like for them doing it for real.

This Week on Heroes…

Wow, the show is still delivering the goods. Ok The Cheerleader, her creepy dad dropped her off for a prep rally, the Local football hero tries to have his way with her and she falls on a branch that impales her head… we think she is dead… until the cornier removes the branch ( can you say EWWWWWWW). The Cop who hears voices, proves he is innocent and is asked to help the FBI investigate, while on the way down to talk to the little girl he saved last week they discover the villain has dropped by, they thwart his kidnapping attempt, the cop saves the female detective by triple tapping the bad guy… not to worry, the guy pops back up and disappears. The flying brothers, the younger brother desperately wants to embrace his gift but can not, the older denies it and tries to hide it, my feeling is they can only fly when they are together but we will see. HIRO, by far my favorite plot line, the Japanese man who can control time ( sort of ) convinces his friend of his powers and they set off to the U.S. to save us all. I love the way this character has whole heartily embraced his gift, the humor of the situation and the seriousness of their quest. Artist Guy, poor artist guy, whats he have to do to be believed, for the love of Mike this guy has painted buses exploding and all matter of events that come to happen and his girl friend is all “ It’s the dope” Would someone PLEASE believe the poor artist guy!! Indian guy found the apartment of the chap he thinks killed his father ( also the psycho-super-killer the FBI is hunting and the cheerleaders pop) The apartment has the tell tale hidden room with interior by “Psycho’s –R- Us” but is swept clean by the time he can bring the police. Las Vegas Mom with the real dark ( talking real real dark) side, she buries the bodies and at the end of the episode is taken by a cop to meet the guy who sent the killers from episode one… me thinks the desert will soon have more holes. The bad guy may have a friend… super villain II… A bald guy who I think knocked out the cop-mind-reader.

Good stuff

Jericho…Ep.3

Strange tidings last night on Jericho. First Jake didn’t kill anyone, surely a sign of the Apocalypse…oh wait, maybe that was the mushroom clouds, anyway… Secondly, Mr. Hawkins apparently is more then he seems, he climbs into a Rad Suit and goes to a storage bin to grab a mysterious oil drum that he entombs in his basement, He also has crates of weapons in his Storage Bin. The Clockwork theory, one of them at least, He was in on the Nuke plot, he was supposed to plant a Nuke some where and decided against it. The other issue, Jakes friend spends 20 minutes in the rain and is ok, Jakes brother’s Geiger counter barely clicks as they emerge from the shelter. The TV in the Bar picks up a broadcast from China showing a map of the United States, the mayors mysterious illness, Tanks seen on the way to Denver, Downed planes 50 miles outside of the town on the road.
The mystery that is Jake… OK, here we go, he can give a little girl a Tracheotomy, Position and blow explosives, shoot and kill without guilt and oddest of all, he knows how to locate the flight recorder on a airliner and also knows what is needed to listen to it. He did say he had to be back to San Diego in the first episode and there is a Navy Base there…Perhaps he is a SEAL, we will see.

The Post Apocalypse, Tonight on TV….

Well its Wednesday and time for the next episode of Jericho, Time to find out what happens on Day 3 of the Post Apocalypse. By the way….when exactly is the switch over, when does it officially go from being the apocalypse to being the Post Apocalypse?? Is there a scientific formula to figure this out? I have other questions about the Post Apocalypse….

1. How many days off from work do I get for the Apocalypse, is it sick time or does it count as a Holiday? What is the code I have to use in Time tracker?
2. how many days into the P-poc (< my hip new term for the Post apocalypse) do I have to wait before I can get a Mohawk and weld spikes to my car?
3. Do I automatically begin stories with “ In the days before the great flame…”
4. Do I have to register to elect the local Warlord? How does that work? Are we still going to adhere to the electoral college thing?
5. Can I pick my own cool P-poc handle….if so “Cap’um Killah” is so taken baby!!
6. Is there a building code for Thunderdomes? Can I use PVC piping or does it have to be metal? “Two men enter….One man leaves”!!!
7. how long before we can use the expression “ picking the bones of the ancient’s” to describe scavenging.
8. On scavenging… That’s Tax free right?? I don’t have to declare that at the end of the year do I?
9. Does adding spikes, roll bars and slave chains to my Jeep Cherokee mean I have to pay less or more for insurance?
10. How long are those “ The End times Cometh” guys allowed to play the “I told you so” card before I can take legal recourse? ( If said recourse is the utilization of my made to code thunderdome…SO BE IT!!)

And Finally, probably the question that will be asked most by superficial society, Can I pick my own mutation? Will my HMO cover any of that?

WOW!…

Somebody actually responded to my post yesterday about heroes ( with a great link to a Heroes Fan site…Thanks) My first comment, I wish I had a Clockwork handshake to send out. I thought my wife and a few friends were the only ones who even saw this. I had better clean up the streamers and confetti and get back to blogging.

Heroes….

Heroes is a new show on NBC, basically I goes it boils down to the birth of “Super powers". The show has a number of story lines all connected in one way or another. There is the Cheerleader who is indestructible, The Japanese man who can travel through Time, a mother who apparently has a killer dark side, A artist who paints the future, Brothers who can fly and a Indian man who carry’s out the work and research his father started. Lieing under all of this is a hint to a nuclear blast in New York in 3 weeks and the story of a serial killer who appears to be after peoples brains. I like the show so far, It’s a Clockmaker kinda show, that and Jericho. Now me liking it can only mean one thing, Cancellation, lets hope that last long enough to build a audience.

The News…

In the days of yore, we used to read the newspaper, or switch on a radio or TV to catch the news, now we read the news on the internet. Normally I wouldn’t mind, but I have railed about “Online News” before and now I am going to do it again. All last week I had to look and a picture of a guy popping his eyes out on my home page, now Its some freak with long fingernails ( No offense to freaks out there). For the love of Pete, it confirms all my beliefs that the news is a circus, complete with freak show to draw ya in. Forgive me if I care more about our underreported deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan…Yes we still have troops there. Its like every news agency is trying to be a slightly more legitimate National inquirer. Here’s a Idea Yahoo, instead of Long Finger nail lady on your front page, how about the face of the latest soldier to die in the war. I guess Comcast is slightly better as it flashes through a series of eye catching trash….but not to worry, Anna Nicole smith seems to have herself a permanent update box. YARRRRR!