SWCrusaders Haven

Signs and Portents

2010-10-08T19:18:00.000-07:00

Wow - its been a year since I last posted on my blog. Of course in that year all sorts of things have occurred. I'm at the tail end of a divorce, I've moved into an apartment. I may even have a new girlfriend! Work is going well, we're currently dealing with what passes for a major catastrophe in Arizona - hail in Phoenix. Still 4500 claims for 25 adjusters is rough.

But why Signs and Portents? I've been struggling with getting the cell bill under control and it's been epic. I had to go into the T-Mobile store to discuss this (and thanks Shawn) to get some of it under control. Another guy wandered in and we got to talking. He then gave me a couple of free tickets to the home and garden show! Nice right? Well since I had managed to save $80.00 off my phone bill I decided to grab dinner. I wandered into Trader Joes and then decided I wanted sushi. Unfortunately their Sushi looked awful. So I was wandering back to the car and noticed - a sushi restaurant! So I got fresh sushi! And Miso Soup!

So why Signs and Portents? I think I see Signs and Portents everywhere, much to the ridicule of my friend Matt the Nihilist. Tonight was a sign to me that I am moving myself in the right direction. I don't believe in God (capital G) but I do believe in a being greater than myself. Is he/She/It interested in my individual life? Nope. But I feel that the universe moves and wraps itself around me and I should at least try and listen.

Hopefully I'll be posting more on here. Life moves along and so do I!

My Masquerade Mask - Step by Step

2009-11-02T17:29:00.000-08:00

So on Wednesday I learnt I got free tickets to the Boys and Girls Club Formal Masquerade. I immediately decided no store-bought mask would be good enough for me, I would make my own. With two and a half days to figure out, build and hopefully not screw up my mask the quest was on! First of all Denise and I visited the local Halloween store. She bought a cute little cat mask and I bought a V for Vendetta mask to use as the base for my mask. I then purchased some pre-made paper-mache stuff. I already had some wire to work on it with. Here is the setup:

Yes thats right, Winston was supervising. I had originally wanted to make a skull with actual teeth on it, and had I more time I'm sure I could've done that but I went with the old standby - a horny devil!

Ok so what happened was that I originally had two full horns built but while applying the paper-mache the second horn got unstuck and was already covered in paper-mache. By this time this stuff was all over the place so I decided to just toss the second horn and make a 'broken' horn. This was inspired by 'broken tusk' from the Aliens Vs Predator comic. Again time intervened as I would have loved to have made this smoother but had to stick with the lump looks. Friday night came and so I had to paint it!

I went with metallic red with a dry brush of metallic gold. I added some 'mystic' symbols (oooohhhhhhh) and painted the horns ivory. So here is the final product on me:

Vegas - such as it is.

2009-10-17T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well I went to Vegas. Had a funnish time. Stayed at the Excalibur. Room was ok, but it was cheap so no complaints really and the bed was ok. In case you haven't been to Vegas here is the outside of Excalibur:

And we had a really nice view from the window too.

Got (nearly) free tickets to 'The Lion King' because I went to a timeshare seminar. Seminar was ok. Denise loved 'The Lion King' I was more lukewarm. There was just something about it that didn't set me on fire. I'm guessing knowing the whole story in advance was something that killed the anticipation for me and while I was impressed with the creativity of the costuming and recreating the scenes from the movie it felt... I dunno, kind of forced? Here is a picture of the costumes as an example (not taken by me of course).

We also ate out at a brazilian restaurant, where the meat is served to you on skewers by wandering servers. Very Very good, but quite pricey. We didn't make any money on the slots of course, and on the way back to Tucson my car broke down between Wikieup(sp?) and Wickenburg in an isolated stretch of roadway. We eventually got towed to Wickenburg, spent the night and then got driven to Tucson by my sister-in-law Lynn today. My car is still there as the parts won't come in to get it repaired until Monday, when we will have to drive back up and pick it up. Yay. On a more light note I took a picture of myself at the most photographed spot in Las Vegas (according to vegas.com).

OMG - A New Post - RINCON BABY

2009-10-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

So I spent two days at RINCON and met geek legend Wil Weaton, former ensign Crusher, and now totally recovered. I also played a few new games, some good and some bad. We played an awesome game called Junta on Friday night. We are the seedy leaders of a banana republique. Here are some cellphone pictures from the game:

Matt as the Admiral of the Navy

New Buddy Pi (his nickname) as the Geralissimo of the first Army

New Buddy Erik as the Generalissimo of the second Army

Game runner Bill as the Commander of the Air Force

Me as the Minister of the Secret Police (We're your friends!)
Just FYI - The hats don't normally come with the game, but I can't imagine playing without them!

Unfortunately the picture of JJ as El Presidente didn't turn out. A seemingly meek young guy we used him as a puppet president - until he won the game the end by squirreling away a ton of the foreign aid money in his swiss bank account.
To prove that Wil Weaton was there here is another picture:

He is beardedly watching a nifty new game we later played called Castle Panic, a fun little game that i can highly recommend even for not-so-serious gamers.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/43443

Then Matt and I stayed late Saturday night to play rockband with Wil. Matt didn't get an opportunity to play, but I played an amazing song I'd never heard of called 're:your brains'. Heres the link, be preparted to laugh - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOlznuyPOeM

And heres a picture (cellphone pix don't handle the dark too well).

New Zealand Lost

2009-06-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

I am in mourning. I just watched New Zealand (deservedly) lose to France. I am increasingly less enamoured of my national rugby team. Its not because they seem to lose more often than I remember them doing, its because they seem to care less. I discussed this with Mark, our wonderful scottish host who agreed that the New Zealand team seemed much more commited and just flat out better when rugby was amateur. I think that the elan and honor of playing for the All Blacks just seems to not be as important to current players as it used to be. They commit less and don't seem as motivated as they used to be. I used to be able to say, even when they lost, that the All Blacks were the best team in the world. When they lost before it wasn't because they gave less than 100% or played poorly, its just that the other team was simply better than them on the day. Todays game was lost because the motivation and urgency just wasn't there and the kicker was simply sub-par. They don't do the fundamentals well and are too obsessed with providing razzle-dazzle, they don't realize that you can do the razzle-dazzle only when you have excelled at the fundamentals. A key thing to me is passing out of the tackle. The All Blacks used to do amazing passes out of the tackle and its something I never see any more. RIP New Zealand rugby? I hope not.

Heres tui the parrot with his reaction Frances defeat of England in the rugby world cup, but I'm sure Tui reacted the same way today;

Poppys Wedding

2009-06-07T11:20:00.000-07:00

Its been a little while since my last post, I was meaning to post about my birthday party but I do want to put the pictures up of the awesome cake matt made and everyone who was there when I do that, so the post about Poppys wedding will come first! Denise and I attended Poppys wedding yesterday, Poppy is a sweet girl I work with at Geico. We attended the ceremony at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, which was an interesting ceremony (I have never attended a High Catholic wedding ceremony before) and then we killed time at Sakura before heading to the El Conquistador resort for the reception. Denise and I missed the resort and almost drove off the end of the road before turning around and heading back. The reception was a blast and good fun was had by all. We had a nice dinner and an open bar, which I made liberal use of. Denise got to put faces to all the names of the people I work with and she enjoyed chatting with everyone there. Everyone was very friendly to her, which I appreciated a lot. I got to meet some partners who I didn't know, including Poppys new husband Tom, who is a great guy, as well as Marlenes boyfriend Jerry (I think that was his name) who was hilarious and a ton of fun to be around. Poppys dress was gorgeous, and everyone dressed nice. I did look suave and sophisticated in my suit if I do say so myself and Denise was radiant in the red dress she wore to our rededication ceremony. I'm sure I made a bit of an idiot of myself, but how else would I act? And certainly Cassie aka Grits picked opportune times to declare things loudly that when taken out of context sounded hilarious. All in all it was a ton of fun, and I certainly hope Poppys honeymoon to Disneyworld is as much fun for her. For me, its back to work Monday. Yay.

Home Alone

2009-05-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

So I'm taking care of the animals until Wednesday while my wife tours her friend from Australia around the state. Its wierd being by myself, with the ever present Winston farts to keep me company. It gives you time to think about things, whats going on, are robbers that look like Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern going to break in etc. I'm heading back to work tomorrow pretty much over my painful experience Thursday, have to play catchup again as well. Its been nice having Rick with us, I have given him the obligatory amount of crap for being Australian and hes put up with it good-naturedly. Winston loves him and he loves Winston (as do all who meet my idiotic, hyper loving dog). Next month is looking busy with two birthdays (one my own), a wedding to attend and another doctors visit all in the first week. It will be a stressful week for many reasons, but I'm hoping I pull through fine and don't make an idiot of myself.

Inside and Out

2009-05-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

Well I've just had my cystoscopy and I can still walk (kind of). It was, without a doubt one of the most purely painful experiences of my life. The doctor actually had to tell me to start deep breathing as I started reacting rather umm.... loudly to the pain. No video to my (and Denise and Julies) eternal dissapointment. The prognosis was good, but apparently I have the prostate of a 50 year old, and its larger than normal. Thats whats been causing my issues. The doctor says I can take some meds to shrink it a bit or I can just put up with it. I haven't made my mind up, I'm already on enough medications and I'd really rather not add another one. I have discovered that peeing feels like peeing pure napalm (just like that special ability from HoL!). Gaven is staying with us tonight and I am glad he didn't hear me belt out the F word the first time I went. Anyway its been a pretty horrible day all the way around so I'm gonna go crash.

The Big Day

2009-05-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well tomorrow is the big day for my Cystoscopy. I'm not terribly worried about the results, just how painful its going to be. Denise on the other hand is freaking out a little bit. I should have some feedback as to how it went posted tomorrow night.

Star Trek Imax with Gaven

2009-05-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

So my 'grandson' Gavens folks actually let us take him up to Phoenix to go see Star Trek on the imax screen (my second viewing). The drive up was relatively peacefull and we stopped at the Mills Mall for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe which is a favorite of Gavens. A rain-forest themed restaurant complete with animatronic animals its a little pricey but I downloaded a $10.00 off coupon so it wasn't that bad. We walked around the Mall a bit and it was plain to see how the economic downturn was affecting things here. Closed stores, fewer people and all the stores were running 50% off sales. If I'd been a little flusher I would've bought some clothes! Anyway heres a short video of the 'Thunderstorm' that occurs ever 5-10 minutes or so at the restaurant (which is why its pretty dark).

So after the movie we took off for the movie theatre. The only Imax in Phoenix that was showing it was the AMC Deer Valley 30, and I have to give a pretty negative review here. The theatre screen was only marginally larger than a regular one, not the huge Imax that I was looking for. The film was awesome (again) and its the first film in ages that I have gone to see twice. Gaven said he really enjoyed it, although he was a riggle-monkey during the showing. We stopped at Target on the way out so Gaven could spend $14.00 spending money he had brought with him. After much tooing and froing Gaven purchased some Pokemon cards and a Bionicle. I bought a starter and two boosters of this Pirates game that seemed cute (they were on special). As we dropped him off I took a quick snap of Gaven, so here is the newly minted Star Trek fan!

Hudson Said What?

2009-05-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

Every so often you'll find something glorious on youtube. This is it for me. I actually laughed.

Star Trek First Impressions

2009-05-07T21:51:00.001-07:00

I will strive to make this spoiler free, but I guarantee nothing. This is my first thoughts after getting home from the film. First thing - SEE IT. Ignoring the Star Trek name, this is first and foremost a great sci-fi action film. You need know nothing about Star Trek to enjoy the movie, but for the fan there are so many fist pump in the air moments you will give the movie applause at the end. I want to go over each character a bit here to highlight how they impacted the movie.

Bruce Greenwood as Captain Christopher Pike. To non-fans this will be a bit of a throw away character, playing the Liam Neeson patented 'Wise Teacher' role. But to Star Trek fans its great to see an awesome character actor like Greenwood playing the first Captain of the Enterprise. He lends the requisite nobility and self sacrifice such a character needs, and by the end of the film has a much more successful character arc than the character originally had on the TV show. Good, but not outstanding acting from Greenwood.

Chris Pine as James T Kirk. This was the make or break for the film. It lived or died by how Chris Pine made the character his own. Thank GOD he did. No Shatner mannerisms here, Pine captures the cocky swagger of Kirk without even looking like trying. He maintains the physicality of the character (who seems to get the shit kicked out of him several times in the film) and adds in the charisma that needs to be there for you to believe that he can be an effective leader. A win for the film, and the reason the film works as a whole. Plus according to my wife, a mega-hottie (I just don't see it).

Zachary Quinto as Spock. Well, he certainly looks the part right? The problem here is that he has to share screen time with the original Spock Leonard Nimoy. He doesn't have the necessary gravitas to convey the same level of solemnity Nimoy originally brought to the part. Workmanlike, but not exceptional. Good but not great.

Karl 'Badass Mofo' Urban as Leonard 'Bones' McCoy. Ok, I may be a patriotic kiwi but somewhere Deforest Kelly is smiling down on Mr Urban because quite frankly he nails the character more than anyone else in the movie. He *is* McCoy complete with bugging out eyes and 'I'm a doctor not a....' lines, delivered with aplomb and wit. Almost steals every single scene he is in. The next film needs to include him more as he is the heart of the three main characters (Kirk being the balls and Spock the brain obviously). Sensational.

Sulu, Uhura, Scotty and Chekov are all important and popular characters in their own right. Each performed well by their requisite actors. In the original show a romance between Uhura and Spock was often hinted at, but it blown up significantly in the movie. Sulu is given a good sword-fight scene and not much else to do, Chekov seems to have more screen time! And Simon Pegg as Scotty enters the film late and is almost exclusively used as comic relief. But since he is so damn funny it doesn't matter. And that brings us to.....

Eric Bana as Nero. Star Trek films live and die by their villains. The Wrath of Khan is so good because Ricardo Montalban is electric as Khan. Nero is a good, but not great villain. Far more three dimensional than most movie villains (you sympathize with him and understand his reasoning behind why he's doing what he's doing) I think that may actually undercut the character a bit. He doesn't kill a character he has no reason to leave alive, and he maroons someone he should've obviously kept close to him. Bana does his best with the character, imbuing him with a sense of wounded pride and obsession. In fact this characters motivations are very close to Khans in Star Trek II and he does suffer somewhat in the comparison. He is a Macguffin in the truest sense. He exists only to make the plot possible and to 'reset' the Star Trek universe to free it from the restraints of canon. Which is what allows the script writers to kill off whole planets which would normally be sacrosanct and to let characters live who should die.

So that's it. Good film, great spaceship battles, lots of explosions, pretty green skinned women in lingerie (yay!) and fisticuffs. What more do you want from Star Trek really?

I need more practice at Diplomacy

2009-05-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

Or so my friend Lori advised me. Short people are mean. I went to a Diplomacy game at Matts High School on Saturday and got the worst of all possible draws - I got Austria-Hungary (which sucked) and Damon got Turkey (which put the nail in my coffin). In hindsite I should've gone after him guns blazing but since Damon and I traditionally ally with each other in a sort of gentlemans pact (as apposed to the way Matt and I tear into each other like a lion eating a Gazelle) i allied with him. When the inevitable stab occurred it was no surprise and Damon was very 'Aww Shucks' about it, as was I. It was inevitable due to the positions of our countries. We're now playing Diplomacy on Facebook and having a blast, I drew England - YAY! Its my favorite country to play in just about any game if I have the option. I'm an anglophile, not as much as my friend Tee, but pretty close. Things have gone OK after the first game year. France suckered their way into the English Channel in a way that I will be sure to copy if I ever play France, but I have builds going in. Matt Scrivner and are looking more and more like we will have a solid alliance. Why do I have this sense of foreboding? For those of you who are unfamiliar with Diplomacy here is the game board:

The rules are fairly simple, its the diplomatic aspect of dealing and doubledealing that make the game interesting. If you would like to know more about this unique game (No luck involved) the wiki article is here. It is the bearded King of boardgames as far as I'm concerned. When people ask me about playing Risk I always think "Why would I play the Tween of boardgames when I can play Diplomacy?".

Inspiration

2009-04-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

So Tee posted on her facebook a video she found inspirational. It wasn't really to my tastes so I posted up a link to 'Where the Hell is Matt' which speaks to the part of me that really wants to be optimistic about the future of humanity. However just under than was a music video I had favorited a while ago, a song called 'The Bards Song'. Written and performed by German Power Metal (You heard me right) band Blind Guardians this song speaks to me on many different levels. I always love it when a band (especially a heavy metal band) does a song of a different style and totally kicks ass at it. My favorite Metallica song is 'Nothing else matters', and its also the couples song for me and Denise. So yes, I love the ballads as much as the next sad stupidly romantic (in the classic sense of the term) guy. So with no further ado, here is Blind Guardian and 'The Bards Song'.

HAPPY MEXICO DAY

2009-04-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

Well, Denise and I went around to Matts friend Martys house for mexico day. The concept of mexico day is that its like a trip to mexico for people too lazy to actually drive there. You eat Carne Asada (marinated roast beef to you gringos) and Pollo Asada (same but with chicken) on the grill. You drink Corona or Dos Equis or for cheapos like me Caguama (yes yes, I know its not even mexican). You hop in Martys pool and show off your white skin. When the sun is shining I am the only male object you can see from space, I'm that reflective. That didn't stop me getting in the pool and drinking some beers. I had a great time and totally enjoy a lot of Matts friends, with a special shout out to Chris and her husband Matt. Looks like we'll be going to see a midnight showing of Star Trek with them which should be a blast. I consumed a couple more beers than I normally do (much to the frowns of the little lady), but I at least didn't start taking pictures of my nipples to send via cellphone to his friends (Hi Matt!). Otherwise a good time was had by all. Something which did not continue into today for some of us; Denise got the flu (unrelated I believe) and Matt was *ahem* a little sick this morning.

Mens Health

2009-04-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

So I just had my second prostate exam ever, both in the last month. I'm feeling like I've been abducted by aliens. I've been having issues, 'passing water' as it used to be called in polite conversation, for the last six months. After my doctor diagnosed a urinary tract infection they put me on antibiotics but no change. I went to the specialist today, a doctor Patel. Very competant and authoritative and despite spending more time than I would've liked checking my prostate I'm still going back. No problems there though (which is a relief) since I would normally be way too young to have any issues. Next step according to the doc is a Cystoscopy which is scheduled for a month from now. Go ahead click the link and if you're a guy be prepared to wince. I'm not particularly keen on the procedure but it would be nice to get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep for the first time in 6 months. This issue coinciding with other issues in my life have made the last three months particularly hellish for me, so I'm willing to endure quite a bit to get it taken care of. I've been operating with less sleep than I would like, and no sleep makes Mike grumpier than average with average being grumpy from the seven dwarves.

Saturday night is all right for boardgaming - and burgers

2009-04-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

Another Saturday, another round of boardgaming at Matts. A great dinner of burgers and Matts wife Julie pulled out the fryer and started frying everything she could. The candy bars she friend were so freakin good and yet so freakin bad for me! It was a good night with good friends.

DOMINION

We played a couple games of this popular card game which has become quite the money spinner for Rio Grande games. With a fairly unique concept for a card game (essentially the game is you creating a deck to play with) Its a quick fun game appropriate for gaming begginers. If you are looking to get away from Milton Bradley and start playing *real* games, then this isn't a bad starting point. To put it in context this is the only game that Matts wife Julie joined us for. She had a tendency to not announce what she was doing during her turn and play silently which lead to a hilarious intermission where Matt and Capizzi did a play-by-play for her turns. "Well Matt, I see that Julie is increasing her hand size to play more cards." "Hmmm Capizzi I'm not sure if this startegy will help her in the long run or not, lets see". All done with psuedo football commentator voices. I do recommend card sleeves for the cards though as the constant shuffling required by the game is likely to wear on the game.

AGE OF EMPIRES III

The only new game we played that day, Matt got this for the ridiculously low price of $12.00 from Borders. With all the cool bits it comes with (little plastic men, ships and awesome silver and gold doubloons) he made out like a bandit. Despite the fact that my settlers in the new world got butchered unmercifully by Matt and I got brutalized and came in last I think this is a good game and Matt fell in love with it. He declared it was 'better than Puerto Rico' and that he may even get rid of that game because this was so much better. Apparently the ability to send soldiers into other peoples colonies is what Matt loves. He is a lot more vicious than his sweet exterior would suggest. It took a couple of hours to play, so it isn't too long either. Will definately see the table again. Even Mike Capizzi enjoyed it, mostly because nobody was killing him. However because he let Matt kill me without attacking Matt it gave Matt the game by the victory point swing he got from taking my colonies away from me. Capizzi is just too much of a nice guy. It will be interesting to see how Damons more analytical mind takes this game.

CHICAGO EXPRESS

Hit the table again after last week as Phil had not had the opportunity to play it. In a resounding thrashing I played a masterful game and thrashed everyone. Aren't I good? Capizzi who seems to have a masochistic streak kept a written turn by turn plot of the game as he is fascinated by the interation of the bidding mechanics and how ownership of shares at the beggining of the game affects the game resolution. By the end he was convinced my early ownership of two shares gave me the game and was convinced that this is the key to the game. I disagreed as when I purchased the blue share it was essentially worthless, and by building up that rail line I lured other players into purchasing shares for it. Either way still a fascinating game that will see the table again.

LAST NIGHT ON EARTH

I love this game but the Defend the Mansion scenario is just way too tough. The humans got blitzed around the halfway mark and lost the game as the zombies entered the mansion in sufficent force to win the game. The notable standouts for the game were Phil as the Prom Queen (who was a complete badass) and Matt as the Quarterback. My Sherriffs son was supposed to be the track star but due to my hideous rolling for movement seemed to have eaten three pizzas and drunk 15 beers before the game started. Matts son Alex played the zombies, and was the only happy person at the table after the game finished. This will see the table again, but I'm thinking the get to the pickup scenario is quite superior to the defend the mansion scenario.

Thanks again to Matt and Julie for hosting us. Julie pulled out some photo albums and showed me some picture of both of them when they were 18. Julie looks virtually the same, but Matt had quite the studliness going on back in the day. Maybe his boasting of being a ladies man back then wasn't quite so far fetched!

More Kiwi Music

2009-04-16T22:24:00.001-07:00

I have sent a few people the links to my blog, just to see their reactions, and so I was surfing back through the blog to see what I had posted. Its been an intense emotional year for me so far, and looking back so much has gone on behind the scenes of my life since I started the blog. One of the earliest posts I made was a link to a Headless Chickens song on youtube, a song I love called 'Mr Moon'. For some reason the embed link had no sound so I opened up the youtube site. While watching the (admittedly lame) video, I saw a link to a New Zealand song that always affects me profoundly when I listen to it. I've loved and lost quite a bit in my life and this song (from the very early 90's when I first started dating) has been omnipresent throughout. Its been something I've listened to while dealing with that pain that I think all of us has been through at least once in our lives.

On a lighter note another song by the same band is a cover of a classic 70's song by a band called Formyula. The original is considered to be the number one New Zealand song of all time, but I prefer this cover (thats right, I am a blasphemer). For you Americans out there the band is named after a New Zealand native bird that, you guessed it, tastes just like Mutton.

Now to get ultra-kiwi with another hit from the Muttonbirds. Dominion Road is a road that wends it way through Auckland and this video has a lot of scenes driving down it. Americans beware - scenes of people driving on the left hand side of the road abound. This may make you ill.

And lastly for something completely different. The main reason I remember this song is... well watch the video - Jenny Morris is absolutely smoking in this.... and thats not just her singing!

A Blast From the Past - UPDATED WITH NEW PIX

2009-04-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

Growing up I had a group of friends that I hung out with from early childhood through to the time I left New Zealand. Colin, Darryn and Steve and me were the four/three amigos (it was rare that all four of us were in the same place at the same time since Darryn went to a different school). When I was in Intermediate School I was dropped back a level since I slacked off so severely the previous year. It was there that I met the ultra laid-back Jamie Denton (the tall guy at the back right in the picture below). We got on really well surprisingly and I hung out a lot with him. Within the next few years I also met Desiree Price through Scouts (the stunning brunette in the blue dress). She introduced me to the awesomeness that was Meatloafs Bat out of Hell (on LP!) and I also had a major crush on her for several years. Of course the one time she actually came on to me I was totally oblivious (thats always the way right). She went on to have a long relationship with Nick (the redhead behind her). I couldn't be jealous, Nick was a great guy!. Also in the picture below you'll see the legendary Grant Lusher in his kilt. The man was so stylish he wore boxer shorts *with the same tartan*. After a fairly bitter 5th form ball for me I vowed never to go again, but in my last year at high school these guys convinced me to try it and I had a blast. Hanging out at parties with them was always fun, and allowed me to be myself in a supportive environment. Hell, the first time I ever saw the David Lynch version of Dune was at 3 AM at one of their parties (I was hella drunk, it still wasn't good). I have to thank my good friend Tee King for nagging me into joining facebook, its reminded me of people who have been important to me and who were there for me through some very difficult times (whether they knew it or not).

LOTR SIG FILE

2009-04-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

This is kind of a test. Here is my character on LOTR!

Dave Arneson RIP

2009-04-09T11:38:00.000-07:00

It is one of my sad life experiences to have gone to Gencon the year Gary Gygax died. A year earlier and I would've gotten to meet him. And now the co-creator of DnD Dave Arneson has also passed away. Dungeons and Dragons formed a critical part of my young life. My parents, I'm sure, will always regret buying me the Red Box Basic DnD set for my birthday but I will never forget that seminal moment in my gaming life. Walking into my bedroom on my birthday (7 or 8? That I can't remember!) and seeing the sun shine down on my bed, and there right in the middle the pure red boxy goodness. Back then being an Elf was a character class, and clerics still sucked. I remember years later finding some of the stuff I had written back then and laughing at how I didn't quite grab the rules. Before long I graduated to Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and then spread out into many other roleplaying games, but DnD is still my first love. Theres nothing better than killing monsters and looting their corpses! As a roleplayer its like wherever I went I had an instant group of friends to join. When I was at high school in my first year, a priest came to tell all the roleplayers that DnD was evil. We all attended and I sat down the front with my friends. The room was packed and the cool seventh form roleplayers sat up the back. That included one Cam Banks who literally two decades later I was to bump into at Gencon. The lucky guy works for Margaret Weis and writes novels (I bought his book - it was good, go cam!). Anyway it was then I realized I was part of a larger fraternity of roleplayers. Six years later and the guy came back to lambast us for our demon worshipping ways and I was sitting up the back with my friends. The room was still packed and as I looked down at the next generation of roleplayers I remember feeling good that I was leaving it in good hands at my High School. Even after moving to the USA it was easy to make friends here - find the nearest gaming store and there you go. There is a camaraderie amongst roleplayers that I think comes from a sense of uniqueness and shared adversity. I escaped into roleplaying with my friends during so very hard times in my teenage years, and the shared friendship of those guys helped me pull through some touch and go moments then. Roleplaying is now less of an escape for me than it was when I younger and more of an excuse to spend quality time with the friends who are important parts of my life. None of that would've happened if one day Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson hadn't looked at a tabletop wargame and thought 'Wouldn't it cool to have just one soldier, and make them a unique and interesting individual and.... roleplay them?". And so a geek legend was born.

Order of the stick memorial to Dave Arneson:

Order of the stick memorial to Gary Gygax:

UPDATE:

CNNs obituary for Dave Arneson

Boardgame Report

2009-04-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

Well the group played several games last night and three I played for the first time. Heres some initial reports.

CHICAGO EXPRESS

When Matt announced were playing a train game I reacted in abject horror. Even suggesting "Its a lot like Imperial" didn't get me excited. And then I played. Yes, I am converted, I can actually like a train game. Sure I've played 'ticket to ride' but haven't we all? Its like 'the first hit is free' for non-gamers. I advanced the opinion while playing 'Chicago Express' that 'Ticket to Ride' is a girls boardgame. Unless you really want to there is very little chances of tension between players and backstabbing. Not so in 'Chicago Express'. One thing Matt commented on and I agree with is that the format of the game encourages alliances between players that are tenuous. Its in your best interests to help people who have also invested in the trainlines that you have shares in, but you don't want to help them too much. A good game that should see the table again.

RACE FOR THE GALAXY

I'd played this once before and barely remember what all the freaking symbols meant. Probably the single most complex non-ccg card game out there, Race thoroughly confused Capizzi and Josh and it was obvious from the mid-point that Matt was going to crush everyone. A game I need to play more to get the real hang of.

BOHNANZA

A silly little card game that Matts wife Julie joined in for. Terrific filler game a lot of fun. A game where you plant different kinds of beans? Awesome. And I'm not just saying that because I won by beating Matt by 1 gold either!

GAMMARAUDERS

Ahhhhhh, it hit the table for the first time for me in over a decade and a half. A fun game, especially since three of us placed our fortresses right next to each other (a fact I initially whined about but which made the game far more vicious). We played for 2-3 hours and then called it in order to get one more game in, but I already have more of a grasp of the game now than I did when I was a teenager. Back when I played then the game would stretch for several hours as everyone did their best to win individually but after playing it as a more mature player the key is to attack bases with more than one bioborg - so alliances are key to this game.

LAST NIGHT ON EARTH

I had thought that Gammarauders would be my highlight for the night but 'Last Night' stole its thunder easily. Matt advised that he liked this more than 'Betrayal at house on the Hill', and even Phil advised that this "might" be true. We had a blast running the get to the pickup scenario. Both Mikes (me and Capizzi) ran through characters quickly, in fact only Phils charcater the tough as nails Female Detective survived the entire game. It got tense as every time someone found the keys to the pickup or got the gasoline they got surrounded and butchered by zombies. Eventually Phil got both and ran to the vehicle while the Sherrifs son (who had seen his father devoured) and the uber-tough Vietnam Vet short-order cook lured the zombies away from the pickup so Phil could gas it. My farmers daughter was trying to find another can of gas so Phil could continue to use the chainsaw if any of the zombies got close. Eventually the Sherrifs son joined his father in the ranks of the zombies and Joshs replacement character the Priest jumped absurdly fast into the pickup. Capizzis heroic short-order cook has lured almost half the zombies on the board away and as my Farmers Daughter jumped in the pickup I said we should wait for him. Unfortunately Capizzi rolled a one for movement when he needed a four or better and before our horrified gazes he was ripped to pieces. Biting back tears we drove off into the darkness......

Here is my Farmers Daughter fighting off a zombie in the game (or it could be at gencon 07, I'm not sure which).

And the academy award goes to.....

2009-04-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

Me! Matt has convinced me to try out for community theater. And I'm not even going to get drunk first! Of course as soon as I decide to let it all hang out, the very next show is a freakin musical. As most of you know my singing voice is like a male banshee - if you are sober when you hear it you age 10 years. If you're drunk, then so am I and I'm probably singing either 'You've lost that loving feeling' or 'Bad to the bone'. Either of those are survivable given a decent amount of hard liquor being consumed by everyone.

What science fiction writer am I?

2009-03-28T20:19:00.001-07:00

Well I saw this on Marcuse's blog and had to take it myself (he was Asimov, of course). I punched in my answers to 11 questions and this is what popped up:

I am:

Robert A. Heinlein

Beginning with technological action stories and progressing to epics with religious overtones, this take-no-prisoners writer racked up some huge sales numbers.

Which science fiction writer are you?

All in all it could be worse or better. I like Heinlein and as one of the few science fiction writers who purposefully wrote for young readers he became an entry door for many to find science fiction as an entertainment medium and inspiration. I have always preferred science fiction to fantasy, as very few fantasy novels break the Tolkien mold. Sci-fi can range far and wide from cold and impersonal (emphasis on the science) to wild stories of heroic adventures in the far future (emphasis on the fiction). Some of my favorite science fiction authors:

David Weber - Yes Matt, I know he's very pedestrian in his writing. Also he tends to take multi-page tangents that don't seem to add to the narrative. However I love military sci-fi and he does write space combat exceptionally well. Sure the honorverse has kind of lost its way (I like the 'Off Armageddon Reef' series a little better these days) but he can still nail it when he hits the battles.

Dan Simmons - The Hyperion Cantos is a masterpiece (the first two books anyway). Illium and Olympos are also sensational. A very literate (in every sense of the word) writer I can highly recommend him if you have never read him. Simmons writes in several genres and I can also highly recommend 'The Terror' a gripping historical horror novel about the disappearance of the Erebus and the Terror in 1845 while trying to force the Northwest passage (that really happened). I recommended this to Matt who isn't as much into history as I am and didn't finish it, but this book gripped and scared the crap out of me (of course I have a very over-eager imagination).

Jack McDevitt - A man who writes adventure novels that just happen to take place in the future his stories grab and just do not let go. Literally begging for movies to be made of his stories I eagerly gobble these whenever one shows up on the library shelves. If you like what they used to call 'cracking yarns' that keep you up into the middle of the night because you *have to know* what happens next, McDevitt is the guy for you.

Robert J Sawyer - A "big issues" writer who writes in a very approachable and easy to read manner, but deals with issues like the existence of god, empathy, the environment and many other subjects. Probably Canada's best still resident sci-fi writer (all his books are set there too). And what can you say about a writer whose main character solves the central issue of the novel by watching 'The Wrath of Khan" and realizing that he needs to think in three dimensions? (Factoring Humanity). His novel Flash Forward is being adapted into an ABC TV show starring Joseph Fiennes and John Cho.

An honorable mention goes to Naomi Novik (yes yes, its more fantasy than science fiction). Her Temeraire series about the Napoleonic wars with dragons is great fun for history buffs (and is yet another history based novel Matt didn't like :-)). The somewhat priggish main character is overshadowed by his ridiculously likable dragon and the historical personages that pop up. Napoleon, Wellington and Admiral Nelson have all shown up and its a blast to see how the tactics of the Napoleonic war change when suddenly there is an air force involved. Of course Napoleon figures out how to use them to maximum advantage (Hey he is Napoleon!).

WATCHMEN - Better late than never

2009-03-26T21:27:00.000-07:00

Yes I know I'm late to this party, but I just saw Watchmen with the little lady. First things first, Denise liked it! Yes, after ten years of marriage she can still surprise me. I need to find a film she'll loathe in order to get her back for making me see Twilight (twice!!!!!! Once on the big screen and once on the small) and Mama Mia (ok ok, I kinda liked that one, and yes, I have turned in my man card). First things first, there will be at least one major spoiler in the below mini-review...

Ok everyone ok? The major thing fans were complaining about was the lack of the squid. Heres Hitler to give the fanboys opinion of this ommision:

Well, I actually disagree with Hitler (imagine that). I found the film worked just as well with the replacement of the squid with Doctor Manhatten himself. The film was 2 and 3/4 hours long and the extra exposition necessary to explain the squid would've added at least 15 minutes to the movie. I certainly don't mind the black freighter sections missing too, as I never enjoyed those in the graphic novel. That said, rumor has it they were filmed and will appear in the DVD. The best thing is that the coolest character in the novel translated perfectly (almost better than he is in the comic). Who could I referring to? Rorschach of course! Jackie Earle Haley absolutely NAILS the character, an essential one for the film to succeed. For while Dreyburg and Jupiter are the most sympathetic characters in both the graphic novel and the film, the story is told from Rorschachs point of view for a reason. He also gets the best line in both the book and the movie, and one that I would love to be able to live up to (but of course never do) "I regret nothing. Have lived life free of compromise, and step now into the shadow without complaint". If I ever do live up to that, its something I'd like on my gravestone (which would be difficult because I intend to be cremated!). The character I was most worried about was Ozymandius, as I simply didn't think Matthew Goode had the physique to carry it off. In the end I think he passed, barely. He managed to convey the distracted air of a man above it all. The last honorable mention (and of course the last laugh) goes to the Comedian played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. He imbues a fairly villainous character with sense of fun that makes you like him no matter how scumy he is.

It does seem obvious that there were some signifigant cuts to the movie (Bubastis just shows up at the end with no introduction at all), but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the graphic novel on the screen and can recommend it to everyone to see, even if they haven't seen the graphic novel. It is three hours long, so make sure you bring a pillow for your butt if you don't have a decently padded one like me!

A Blast from the Past

2009-03-24T18:54:00.000-07:00

I have a story to tell. This story starts with a young man, a child really. Ruggedly handsome already, tall and lean this child is named.... Mike McDonald. This child has a best friend, a young cocky kid with a limp.... oh lets call him Barcus Mone (name changed to protect the not very innocent). Barcus and Mike were inseperable. Barcus would introduce Mike to one of his lifelong friends Marryn Dercer (Name changed to protect the innocent bystander). When they were young Mike even helped Barcus break his arm in an effort to scare their sisters!

Mike had lent his friend an item, an item he loved more than all others of the same kind, and then catastrophe! Barcus and his family moved away.... and Barcus never returned the item. Mike pined for the item for many years. Indeed his friends despaired for lo, Mike would often bitch about it. Over a decade later Mike moved to the USA and married. Nigh instantly the man known as Barcus resurfaced. Some time later Mike and his wife flew to New Zealand and in a fit of regret Barcus was forced to explain he had since... misplaced the item. Despair and woe swept through Mike, but Barcus presented Mike with a present. It was no item, but it was pretty close, so Mike was happy.

Then came the day where Mike was celebrating his 10th wedding anniversary to his lovely wife Denise. His trials and tribulations with Barcus and the item were well known, even here in the USA. His friend (lets call him Satt) produced a wrapped gift. Aha thought Mike, Satt wants a new boardgame and this is his backdoor into getting it. Mike unwrapped the gift as a shaft of sunlight beamed down and a choir of angels sung and beheld.... THE ITEM.

BEHOLD!

Rededication Ceremony

2009-03-22T16:13:00.001-07:00

Denise and I celebrated 10 years of marriage friday with a rededication ceremony. Originally we got married in a church, but Denise has since converted to Wicca and we decided to do a wiccan handfasting instead. The wonderful Matt and Julie let us use their beautiful backyard and we invited a few people we were close to to take part. Julie officiated (and did a GREAT job) and then we all went out to dinner at 'My big fat greek restaurant'. I had a blast and would like to thank everyone who turned up and made the night special for all of us. You can find the group picture below. From left to right: Julie and Matt, Me and Denise, Kyle and Amber, Phil, the lovable logan (who spent the ceremony telling everyone to shhhhh) and his dad Alex.

Here is the altar with the items we used for the ceremony. From top there is the broom we hopped over, the athame we cut each others hair with, the silver candle for the goddess and a hand-made (by Julie) beeswax candle to light all the candles used, a goblet for us to drink wine out of, a triangle to mark the starting and end of the ceremony and the box for us to put the hair in and bury. Lastly came the red ribbon that was wound around our hands in order to handfast us!

MAN GRILL - Yeah Baby

2009-03-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

I spent some of my profit sharing on a new grill as the old one was almost ready to blow up. It speaks to my essential manliness that I can take joy in a new grill like this. No matter how geeky, I know I'm still a real man. Beef is best! In other news Denise and I are celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary on Friday, I will try to post pictures/video up as soon as I can. We're having a short wiccan ceremony to commemorate and then heading out to dinner at 'My Big Fat Greek Restaurant'. Should be a blast!

Frak this - Heres my toaster

2009-03-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

Thats right, i am a proud owner of the Battlestar Galactica Toaster. It toasts a picture of a Centurion on one side of the bread and 'Frak Off' on the other side. My geek cred is up. For more info check out:

http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/detail.php?p=78327&v=sci-fi&SESSID=b5fa5fd9f65e563123947dc0ac062443

I have a new exercise regime

2009-03-05T18:54:00.000-08:00

Nuff Said.

A Belated update - or Geeks Unite

2009-03-03T17:47:00.000-08:00

Better late than never - the day I took Denise to hospital I attended a gaming club function at our local high school (of course this was prior to taking her to hospital). My friend Matt is an English Teacher at Mountain View high school and the patron saint of the gaming club there. I attended once before (and hated/enjoyed a distressing game of diplomacy where matt made the students dance to his tune) and apparently was asked back by the kids. I enjoyed two games of Battlestar Galactica, one with this group;

And one with a some other students. The group above I had to leave early from when Denise called, but under my skilfull presidency I later learned that the humans had prevailed! The fruits of victory are sweet, especially since the humans seem to have a difficult time winning in my gaming group. The earlier game had more students, and we were crushed when I was sold a bad bill of goods by a talented young man who convinced me that another player was a cylon. I should never have believed him (he was playing baltar after all), but this kid was hands down one of the most suspicious acting people I've ever met. So the humans were crushed. The gaming group is both boardgaming and regular (console gaming). Here are some of the kids hitting the consoles hard.Matt (fist raised) also partook in some backstabing himself, along with Damon (stabber) and Mike Capizzi (right onlooker). I have no idea who the poor stabee is, maybe Matt will illuminate us.

And finally I have this - brilliant or just a little scary? I'll let you decide.

Denise is out of hospital and general update

2009-02-26T14:50:00.000-08:00

Denise has been out of hospital for a week or two. I had to take her back last weekend as her veins in her right arm started swelling up and causing extreme pain but she wasn't admitted and they just put her on more antibiotics (her third course in three weeks) and sent home. Shes still in a lot of pain. That combined with some other personal issues have put me in a pretty depressed frame of mind and has prevented me from motivating myself to post here. I have a post I will try to get up over the weekend about the boardgaming club at our local high school my friend Matt is a teacher at. Eventually I want to post some more about the BSG roleplaying game. My neice Amber who is almost a daughter to me is getting married next year in New Orleans and moving there at the end of March so that is my deadline to run the next adventure in the BSG series before she goes, its just been difficult to get myself to do any writing at all. On the plus side I will be attending her wedding on the beach there which should be fun. I will try to update more often as soon as I pull myself out of this funk.

Lack of Posts and Denises Hospital visit

2009-02-09T09:10:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of updates over the last week. I do have a post I want to do about Saturday where I helped Matt at a meeting of his high school boardgame club. I have some pix too to put up. Its good to see the future generation of geeks coming up. When I got home Denise was seriously in pain and I then spent most of the night at the hospital with her. They admitted her and as of today she is still there and still in pain. She has been diagnosed with diverticulitis which is an infection in the walls of her bowel. Shes on antibiotics and painkillers and we're just waiting for that to kick in. For more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diverticulitis

The Best Band Ever?

2009-01-29T17:56:00.001-08:00

Well maybe not, but certainly my new favorite band. What can you say about a band with 140 (!!!!) members on stage at the same time? Globus is big, bold, overblown and epic. In short, a lot like me! I actually plonked down the cash to buy their album. I highly encourage you to do so too (only $8.99 US at amazon.com!). Support a struggling band. Those of you familiar with Immediate music (I'm unsure if I gave these to Darryn or not at gencon when we were swapping music) would like to know Globus is an offshoot of them. Heres a few vids of theirs - some of which will be making an appearance at the second exciting installment of my BSG campaign which I have this second decided to call "Echoes of Erebus". Hot Damn.

I need your opinion

2009-01-27T17:20:00.001-08:00

I'm writing a fictionalized account of our recent BSG RPG game and I'm wondering if you guys would like to see it all as one big chunk or in chapters. I'm thinking chapters simply because its easier to motivate myself to write it. Let me know.

Music to live by

2009-01-23T21:32:00.000-08:00

Like most people I have good days and bad days. When my bad days are really bad I need something to pull me out of my funk. I now have this picture to do this;

But previously I used to watch movies - movies that had badass sound tracks. Just recently I purchased two such films I can highly recommend from amazon.com. The films are 'The Last Starfighter' and 'Explorers', both beloved films from my youth. Marcus, make sure you show your kids these, take it from this old man (you wanker). Check out some of their music below!

However I have to add another film I loved as a kid and still adore now. I believe this film to have the bearded king of all movie soundtracks ever. Composed by soundtrack legend James Horner behold the almighty glory that is KRULL!!!!!!! (Shield your eyes from its glory! You are not worthy!)

A short piece

2009-01-23T05:38:00.000-08:00

My friends have been on me to practice my writing (thanks Matt, Sarah and my wife Denise!). I've been doing a few short stories but they're very unpolished and need work. However I wrote a very brief (300 word) piece inspired by a conversation I had with my friend Sarah. We were talking about history and family history in particular when she revealed to me about how not having any history beyond her grandparents affected her (she's african-american). Thinking about that hit me like a thunderbolt and really affected me. You all know I love the study of history and the very idea of not knowing, never being able to know my own families history seemed alien and painful to me. So I wrote this short piece as my take on what it must feel like. I'm certainly open for criticism on this (Matt, entrez ici). The piece is called "No history but what we make".

I have no past. I have only the future. I look back at my parents, my grandparents and beyond them, all I see is the abyss of history. It is a hollow space in my soul, a slack rope tied around my psyche. It is not always noticeable; I don't always think about it. In fact I don't often think seriously about it at all. But like the space beneath a crusted over caldera, it is always there, waiting for the outer layer of my identity to break and for me to fall through into the void of ignorance. Because ignorance it is. My lack of past is artificial, false, created by others. That is what makes it painful, a vise around my senses that squeezes just enough to create a dull ache. You see, I know that I came from somewhere - I just don't know where. That is the crime of having no past, no linkage to those who've come before. That rope around my psyche stretches back into infinity. But unlike others who are in a lit room and can see their forebears who are tied to the rope, my room is dark and the only light is a candle I myself am holding. The room is dark because someone else turned out the lights before I was born. But despite the abyss and the ache I continue on. Because I can light more candles, and pass them up, along the rope, to my children, and my childrens children. I may have no past and only the future, but those who will come after me will have a past. They will have me.

The suit maketh the man

2009-01-19T18:17:00.000-08:00

Ok, here I am in my pimping new suit. Check it out!

This suit will be making a few appearances over the next year or so, Denise and I are renewing our vows for our 10th wedding anniversary, I have a couple of weddings to attend (go Sarah!) and who knows.... I may become a PLAYA!

BSG - Sometimes a great notion (some spoilers towards the end)

2009-01-17T23:11:00.001-08:00

*I will not be revealing who the final cylon is here (it is revealed in the episode), but I will talk about an event I was much more strongly affected by)*
Wow - was that intense or what. Probably the most intense episode of television I've seen in a while. The acting was top notch - as per usual. The standout actor of the episode to me is Michael Hogan. He has really grabbed me every episode he is in and I hope he gets a ton more work after this! Checking his career on IMDB it looks like he's been a character actor for a long time, certainly hes paid his dues. EJO kicks ass as per usual. This guy is so inspirational I just have no words for it. Of course his character is a frakin mess in the episode and it just gets horrendously worse as the episode wears on. To me three important events happen in the show, the first of which is extremely misleading and totally screws with you when you get to the end of the episode and the reveal there. But its the middle event that screwed with me the worst. Battlestar Galactica has not shied away from killing important secondary characters, but the suicide of Dualla completely cold-cocked me. It came out of nowhere, just when things between her and Lee seemed like they were getting back of track. In fact for a while I thought she might be the fifth (the locket she found on the planet could've have her picture in it). The affect it had on the Adamas was pronounced, although ironically it seemed like Bill took it harder. I guess he's had so much to deal with that its not surprising. Anyway I'm excited for next week, and you know what - I do hope this series ends on a happy note. When even D'Anna is depressed enough to look likes shes calling it quits you know that we need a pickmeup.

Heres the canadian ad for next weeks episode (its better than the US ad which doesn't have Tighs hilarious one liner in it).

For an *extremely* interesting article about this episode that includes an interview with Ron Moore click here and then click at the link at the bottom of the article. I couldn't include the article link directly because the URL itself reveals the 5th cylon (stupid really):

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39805

Gavens Birthday

2009-01-16T20:35:00.000-08:00

We hit Takamatsu tonight for Gavens birthday. Aaron, Gaven, Denise and I enjoyed ourself thoroughly with some great food. The cool thing is Gaven asked to go there for his birthday. He'd gone there a few years ago and was entranced. I personally think this is all part of evil mastermind Denises plan to turn Gaven into a Cordon Bleu Chef.

Now anyone can post!

2009-01-16T05:48:00.000-08:00

I found the setting that allows anyone to post anonymously. Go ahead do it. Sit there in your underwear, cheeto crumbs across your chest, illuminated only by the light of the screen and anonymously crush my hopes and dreams.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention Damon!

Ricardo Montalban has passed away.

2009-01-15T05:43:00.001-08:00

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39767

Well this was a nasty surprise for me this morning before what promises to be a fairly crappy day at work. Yesterday I did diversity training all day, little knowing that one of the trailblazers for diversity in movies had passed away. Of course my familiarity with Mr Montelban is as the legendary Star Trek villian Khan. I had just watched Star Trek II a couple of weeks ago and I'm glad I did, because I can grasp more of his performance in my minds eye. I'm sure the near god worship us geeks gave him probably wore after a while, but his performance in this role is so iconic for good reason - like the rest of the film it's totally believable. Khan makes all the decisions and actions he makes for believable and valid reasons for his character, and Mr Montelban transforms a role that I'm sure on paper didn't actually look anywhere near as iconic as it turned out.
For me personally I've just had a few more signs of my age creeping up on me, and this is an unwelcome reminder of where we are all travelling too. Ricardo Montelban will always be the scene-stealing villain to me with the impossibly chiseled chest and the way with words. Whoever your diety is, I'm sure Ricardo is handing out with him/her/it.

A Taste from my home and past.

2009-01-14T21:29:00.000-08:00

And now for something completely different, and me experimenting with embedding. Also an example that you can quite frankly find anything on youtube. This is from a great New Zealand band called 'Headless Chickens' from the early 90s. The sound quality isn't great but this is one of my favorites of theirs. Unfortunately the video itself is rather naff too. Just close your eyes and listen to the music.

A Blog - will wonders never cease.

2009-01-14T20:53:00.000-08:00

A confluence of factors creating a perfect storm leading me to create my own blog. I was inspired by my friend Julies eclectic blog - http://amazingjulesverne.blogspot.com/ and I also wanted to be able to post to my friend Sarahs blog - http://skoodstudio.blogspot.com/ about her terrific and thought provoking artwork. Check her out, shes truly talented! I am hoping to use this blog as an excuse to get some writing in and work out some of my personal demons. Who knows? It may languish or it may flourish.