UnkkMoot

I saw the coolest thing ever today. I was about a mile away from the shuttle Discovery as she tore away from the Earth on a column of flame too bright to look at with the naked eye. I will have a video for you tomorrow, but for now I'm beat and going to bed. Tune in later for the whole saga.

Adieu for now,
Marius

IIIIIII Am Iron Kid!!!!

Yesternight the COA and her mother went to see the talent show at the elementary school. I had given blood that afternoon, and used it as a convenient excuse to bow out. When they returned the COA was humming a familiar riff, and when they asked me what it was I told them it was Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water. Apparently a young guitar prodigy played that, and Iron Man, and maybe an Iron Maiden song(my wife is not the best at knowing classic metal songs) which made me smile to think that a 10 or 11 year old was digging such music. The the COA made it clear that she wanted to learn to play the guitar. We talked about it, and Mrs. Marius did some research, and we found that Wal-Mart carries children's guitars for $30, which is cheap enough that if she decides after a week that it just isn't her bag, baby, then we aren't out too much green. She was thrilled when she got home today and found the instrument in her room, and after I tuned it for her(thanks to a bit of help from the intertubes) she has been locked in her room playing with it ever since.

In a related note, Mrs. Marius gave me an electric bass guitar for Christmas this year, and next Monday I'll be taking my first lesson to learn to play it. So I suspect the level of painful noises floating about the castle Marius is going to increase exponentially over the next few weeks. ;-)

Tomorrow I drive over to Cocoa Beach to watch the Space Shuttle launch. I am totally psyched!!

See ya,
Marius

That's Hedley!

Harvey Korman, one of the funniest comedians in my lifetime, has died at the age of 81. Four months ago he suffered an abdominal aortic aneurysm, and should have died right then, but he held on, fought hard, but today the fight was lost. I remember as a kid watching the Carol Burnett Show, and losing my mind whenever Tim Conway would manage to break Korman up on stage, or vise versa. Conway and Korman were able to attack each other's funny bones without ruining the sketches, and that was the genius of their chemistry. Rather than ruin the material by trying to break each other up, they would ramp up the material until both they, and we the audience, were laughing so hard we feared a stroke. Korman took that comic wizardry with him to the big screen, most memorably as the land snatching villain Hedley Lamar in Mel Brooks's masterpiece, Blazing Saddles. He went on to play Dr. Charles Montegue in Brooks's High Anxiety(one of his most underrated films) and, of course, the Count de Monet in History of the World, Pt. 1. Something I didn't know until researching Mr. Korman for this blog is that he was the voice of Gazoo on The Flinstones. He was a staple of television, both on screen and as cartoon voices, until 2001 when he quietly retired. I have no doubt that he will be remembered in the same class as Charlie Chaplin, Red Skelton, and Danny Kaye. The world became a lot less funny today.

Rest in peace, Mr. Korman. Thanks for all the belly laughs.

Ponderance

Wihtgar Rising

The aging Norse lord stabbed a gnarled finger at the chart on the table and turned to the young girl beside him.
“Tell me, girl, what do you see?”
She hesitated, unsure of her lord’s mood and uneasy due to his recent foul moods. “I see a land, bordered on three sides by great oceans.”
“Aye, that it is…that it is. And do you know its name?”
“I do not, my lord.”
“ ‘Tis the land of my birth, lass. Her name is Tri…Trimaris” The girl had never heard the old man choke with emotion before, and she put her hand on his arm. He angrily swiped at his eyes, then patted her hand and forced a smile.
“When I look at this map I see a land of ghosts. There in the Northeast lies Cher, the Pelican. A mighty dwarf of a woman was she whose voice could shake the trees with laughter, or shatter bones with wrath. And near her resting place lies Arnevett, love of my youth and friend in my dotage. She was a force that even Thor might have thought twice e’re challenging. And looking ever o’er that land is the Silverstar. His nightingale songs shall outlive all of us, alas even if he did not.
“And there, in the swamps of the South lies my brother Colin. He was a mountain of a man, yet as mortal as we all. Many a time did we face enemies side by side, yet he faced the ultimate opponent alone. I shall raise a horn with him in the halls of Valhalla someday, of that I am sure.
“And not all the ghosts are of the dead. Many have merely faded away. Bronislaus, Seosaidh, Tetsuo, Elom, Merowald, Verron, Guthrum, Ursula, Agrippina, Alistair, Felix,The Wooly…aye these and many more have departed for other shores. “ A wry chuckle escaped the man’s gritted teeth. “ I s’pose the same could be said of me, so long I’ve been away. So long…”
The old Viking stayed silent so long that the girl grew restless. She opened her mouth to speak when with a great roar he drew his dagger and hurled it down to pin the map to the table with savage force and accuracy.
“There! That bay, on the coast of the Barony of Marcaster. There shall we moor my longboat, and leave the company of ghosts. Gather your things, my daughter, and bring my armor. ‘Tis high time I stopped hiding in my memories and wallowing in infirmity. I may have less hair, and more gut, but by Odin’s favorite raven I’ll give those young pups a few bruises to bring home e’re they put me in the ground! Summon my crew, bring me my sword and my horn! We leave with the tide!!” Smiling, the girl ran to obey.
“Wait!” She skidded to a halt and turned to her lord. “Um,” he said, “first go and ask your mother if she minds.” With a wave and a wink he sent her to do his bidding.

Oopsie!

Ok, I goofed. I forgot to post yesterday, but I did reply to some comments, and I have made multiple posts on other days, so I'm going to call it even, m'kay? So, onward and upward. This weekend we met one of the guys with whom we play City of Heroes, henceforth referred to as Unkk, and he works at NASA. He's a fun guy to talk with, and during the course of the conversation he invited the bunch of us to join him for this weekend's shuttle launch. He is permitted to bring up to 6 guests to a special viewing area that's actually closer to the launch pad than the general public can get. Of course we said "hell yes!!" So if all goes well, and isn't that a loaded phrase, I'll have some kick-ass pics come Sunday morning. It will also make for a chock-full-o-fun weekend, since Sunday morning I'll be helping Turtle pack up his new bride's stuff for transport to parts north. I'm actually looking forward to the move. I don't care for moving myself, because I don't like the packing and unpacking, but loading trucks is fun once in a while.
Here's some homework for you. Star Trek: Enterprise. Why did, or didn't it work for you? I, of course, have some strong opinions on the subject, which I'll reserve till you lovely folkses have had your say.

Peace out, y'all.
Marius the Forgetful

Of Weddings and Wonderings

It began Friday morning, the anxiety attack. As I grow older my desire to be around large groups of people has declined. I've never been one for crowds, and that aversion has worsened over time. But this wasn't just a matter of crowds, I was terrified of going to a large...very large SCA event. Involuntarily I kept running through scenarios that would keep us away, but this was Turtle's wedding, dammit, and if I wasn't going to allow the feral equines to defeat me, I sure as hell wasn't going to give in to some foolish neuroses. So I shopped, and packed, and prepped the car, and did my best to look forward to the event. I got myself and the COA ready, and waited for the others to get home. Those others being Mrs. Marius, and JJ, one of my favorite former high school students who had played in the SCA prior to moving to Florida, and was coming with us to act as governess to the young'n. We finally got on the road around 6ish, stopped for a bite, and wended our way into the wilds of Northern Florida.

It was a dark and stormy drive, but we arrived safe and sound around 9pm. I managed to hide my pounding heartbeat and overactive adrenal glands, but when we went to get our cabin assignment I nearly had a panic attack. Duke had reserved a cabin for himself, his family, us and our two mundane friends who would be attending also, but he wouldn't be arriving til Saturday afternoon. And there was some confusion as to which cabin was actually the one we were to be in. But it was eventually figured out, but there was enough uncertainty left that I was fearful of being displaced in the middle of the night. Fortunately that fear was unfounded, and the night passed without incident. There was, however, one wonderful moment that evening. After we had unpacked our vehicles, we went searching for the parking lot. Alas, in the inky blackness of a night far from city lights I missed the turn and ended up at the entrance to the campground. I leaned out of my window to ask the folks at the gate if were had gone too far, and a lady's voice called out, "Are you Marius?" I had to pause a moment since I have very rarely used that name in the 'real' world, and realized what she was asking. "Yes, I am." I said with some surprise. "I'm Alysoun!", she said, and I jumped out of my car to get a hug from this friend I'd never actually met. We laughed, and then explained what was going on to my puzzled wife in the car behind me, and all was well.

Saturday morning dawned, and we all arose, dined, and dressed. The forecast of scattered thunderstorms never happened, and the temps climbed into the upper 90's. The main crux of the event was Crown Lyst, which would decide the next king and queen. And as with all such things, the tourney started about two hours late. Added to that the lyst itself was designed to take as long as possible, which it did. So we wandered, we perused the merchant tents, we mingled. And I discovered something. I was once a fighter. There is a camaraderie amongst fighters that, even if you are not fighting, you are part of 'the club'. Unfortunately very few people there remember me in armor, and I did not plan on fighting this weekend so I did not have it with me. I felt very much the outsider, and most of Saturday was spent walking in circles, talking to the few who knew me, and generally feeling like a garden hose basket hilt. Useful once, but now obsolete. Never mind the fact that the mercury eventually hit 97, and I would probably have left the event in an ambulance had I armored up, I was not having the best of times. But I did my best to not let it show, and everyone seemed to have a good time. We had a nice visit with the folks from Marcaster, and made some plans to play with them some more in the future, and I met a gentleman who works at my school, and we had mutual friends from the old days, so the day wasn't totally boring.

Finally, the evening came, and we got dressed for the wedding. Targon had arrived, and was looking very monkish in his borrowed garb. Alas, Rico has a new job and couldn't get away. Unfortunately the lengthy lyst pushed everything back so far that the 7pm scheduled time for the nuptials became 9:30 or so, and Mrs. Marius had to leave before the ceremony began, as she had to work Sunday morning, and it was a 2.5 hour drive home. After I saw her off Duke gathered us for a wander about to look for the groom to be, and a friend from City of Heroes who plays SCA, yet we had never laid eyes on. We found him, and had a great time chatting and making future plans.(if they come to fruition I will have a hell of a blog for next weekend) The wine and Rumplemintz began to flow, and the Wihtgar of old began to emerge. Many more old friends and some new ones were well met, and there was much hugging and laughing. At one point as I walked past a group of people another voice summoned me, and KA grabbed me for a hug and chat and introduced me to her charming daughter. Then it was back to the cabin for some food, and more wine. Finally it was time for the wedding.

We gathered before the decorated arch, and the bride and groom approached. The service was brief, but beautiful, and then the party began. The food was excellent, and the libations plenty. There were toasts, and laughter, and the sharing of a very expensive whiskey amongst us old friends. The details of the night become just a bit hazy here, but I stopped just short of stupid drunk, and instead merely flitted about in a pleasant fuzziness. Eventually Duke and Targon called it a night, and JJ and I chatted for a while before I could keep my eyes open no longer, and sleep descended.

Sunday morning we gathered our stuff, packed up the vessels, and traveled south to break our collective fast at a nice little country restaurant courtesy of Duke and his lady. Then we all went our separate ways, and an uneventful drive home capped off the event.

The anxiety attacks were long forgot, and my wife and I came away from this journey determined to do such things more often. I plan to get my armor, and myself, back in fighting order, and we intend to get out of the house more often so that the next time we go to an event we'll have even more fun.




Duke and Targon mug for the camera.






The groom approacheth.



This was the only pic of the ceremony that came out.









Behold, the happy couple!




Awwwwww.

The Family Marius

Aperatif

Here's a little tidbit to tide you over while I work on a chronicle of the weekend.

Greetings, Humans

Marius has left me in charge during his absense. I told him that I have the greatest enthusiasm for this mission, and am very gratified by his confidence in me. I assured him that nothing would go wrong with The Corner while he was gone, but in retrospect I may have been hasty. I wonder if one of you would be so kind as to suit up and go outside to check the AE-23 antenna. I seem to have lost the signal from Earth. Please do not be alarmed. All is well. I am opening the pod bay doors now. I hope you have your helmet on. Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do................

So we're packing up the fire chariot, overfeeding the Kitties-O-The-Apocalypse, and heading out to the Trimaris Memorial Tournament. It is a major, major kingdom event, which is exactly the sort of event I avoid like the proverbial plague due to the over crowding and ramped-up politics.(although, come to think of it, I'm so far removed from anyone in power right now that I don't imagine the politics thing matters much anymore) But there is one thing at this event that is pulling me out of my hermitage...

the marriage of Syr Turtle and Mistress Rabid Attack Sheep. Wild horses couldn't keep me away from this one.

(aside: have wild horses ever prevented anyone from doing anything?)

Anyway this afternoon Mrs. Marius, the COA, one of my former high school students who has been hired to play nanny to the COA, and I will be heading to the wilds of North Central Florida for a weekend of low tech enjoyment. Hopefully this will spark our renewed participation in things medieval and get us the frak out of the house on occasion. We'll be staying in a cabin thanks to the generosity of his Dukeness, so come on by and raise a glass with us.

See ya later,
Wihtgar

Indy's Back

Ok, we saw it today. It didn't suck. It wasn't the greatest movie ever made. It was fun, but flawed. If it had come out a few years after Last Crusade it would probably have been received as an adequate addition to the franchise. As it is you have to take a huge dose of willing suspension of disbelief before sitting down in the theater. It's not the story, which is nice; not thrilling, but nice. The biggest problem I had with the film is that Harrison Ford is 60+ years old, and he looks it. He's in great shape for his age, but the amount of punishment he takes would put The Rock in the hospital. They tried too hard to keep Indy as the action hero, and relegated Shia LaBeouf to an inconsequential back burner. But even with that the movie is a good pop-corn muncher. There's a bit too much CGI for my taste, but it is done well for the most part. I can't say if this will spawn a new series of Shia LaBeouf movies, but worst things could happen.
So wait for a matinee, turn your expectation dial down, and just enjoy the flick. And Karen Allen, who still looks great.

Marius

The Varmint Abides

I swear, it was already on the floor. I'm just keeping it from blowing away.

Star Trek The Motion Picture Ponn Farr Edition

This is a rather...interesting...reimagining of one of the scenes in ST:TMP. A word of warning, the audio is not safe for work...or children.


Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Pon Farr Edition) from Darth Mojo on Vimeo.

Bug Be Gone

I awoke this morning with dread in my heart. I was not looking forward to hours of wrestling with the stupid Trojan Horse I stupidly downloaded last stupid night. The first thing I did was sick my anti-virus program on it. 90 minutes later it tells me all is well. Stupid wanker. And while that was going on I was scouring the intertubes with the laptop to see if anyone else was as dumb as I. Fortunately there were, and I found the name of mine enemy. TFactory was the bitch in question, and it seems that every anti-virus program in the universe, except mine, laughs at it. So, I determined that it was time to bite the bullet and actually pay for an antivirus program. In the meantime, it occurred to me to take a page out of Superman's book and turn back time. I didn't expect it to work, as superluminal flight is not my strong suit, but I figured it couldn't hurt. So I told the computer to act like it was three days ago, and did a system restore. Lo and behold, it worked. So quickly I ran every scrubby program I own, and then went out and bought Mcafee and loaded it. And now everything is hunky dory...I think. I'm half waiting for the thing to burst out of my desktop in a digital version of Alien, but so far so good.

In a totally unrelated note, has anyone else noticed that NPR seems to be overly fixated on how much it sucks to live in China lately? Even before the earthquakes it seemed every time I turned it on they were interviewing some family who were doing ok ten years ago, but lately have had to eat the family pets and sell their children to the dilithium mines on Rura Penthe just to buy three grains of rice so the new year celebration won't be a total loss. I'm not trying to be insensitive, but every few years it seems that NPR get fixated on one part of the world and report the living shit out of it.

Maybe it's just me.

Adios, y'all,
Marius

Estoy Estupido!!

Hello. My name is Marius, and I am a tard. I sat down at the computer to do an entry, but figured I'd check my messages first. I noticed I had a MySpace friend request, so I checked it out. Rather than the expected porn ad, it showed a picture of a nondescript middle-aged couple. Curious I clicked on their picture. As I did that a Windows Update window popped up. I wasn't really paying attention, and there had recently been an update, so I clicked ok. Alas, by the time it sank in to my thick skull that I had just unzipped my fly and stuck my digital willie into the piranha tank it was too late. I shut off the computer, but it is now locked in mortal combat with the CoolWebSearch malware. AdAware is chewing at it, and I have a program specifically aimed at just this beast loaded onto a flash drive, but the fact remains that I allowed a phish to bite me.

I, am a tard.

Buh bye.

I'm Too Sexy For My Bowl...

Lately we've discovered that the only thing worse than not finding a cat food that your cats like, is finding a cat food that your cats like. After Artemis had her last urinary tract infection the vet suggested we stop feeding her the Purina canned food, and switch to one of the more expensive, yet healthier brands. So I asked around, and tried several. The one that they go nuts for is Whiskas Purrfectly Fish. It comes in pouches that cost a little less than $.50 each, so it's not that bad. Of course it is a gross, gelatinous slab of smelly fish, and they love it more than life. Even Artemis, who could out-silence Marcel Marceau meows when it's meal time. Starbuck, who has always believed that any trip into the kitchen should culminate with the replenishment of his wet food bowl, has gone from persistent to demanding. But a few minutes ago he totally broke me up. I went into the kitchen, and he followed me, but when I looked back I saw that he had laid down on the floor, stretched himself out like he was posing for the centerfold of Playcat, and rather than meow at me he just looked up with an expression that said, 'How can you resist such gorgeousness. Surely such a handsome cat deserves a fishy reward.'

I'm afraid my laughter might have scarred his delicate little ego.

Yeah, right.

;-)
Marius the Unimpressed

Dead Vulcans Aren't Much Fun

Or are they?

Cities On Flame

The wife and I just got back from seeing Blue Oyster Cult in concert. They kicked serious ass.
Unfortunately for Mrs. Marius the venue sucked. It was a dog track, and the place reverberated like a raquetteball court. Even I had trouble identifying some of the songs at first. But, even with the crappy acoustics it was an awesome show. They played the expected songs; Burning for You, Godzilla, Buck's Boogie, and of course Don't Fear The Reaper, but they also played a few I didn't expect. Black Blade was a very pleasant surprise, as was Dominance and Submission and Before the Kiss, A Redcap. They had a few technical difficulties, and since they were the second of a three band ticket, with Foghat as the headliner, they played for a little over an hour, but it was a great hour. Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma were the only original members playing, but they were/are the spine of Blue Oyster Cult, so it was ok. And the musicians playing with them are top notch. Someday, when I win the lottery, I'll book the band for a private concert and you will all be invited.
I'll leave you with some pics from the concert.

Rock on, and remember history shows again and again how nature point up the folly of men...Godzilla!!!!

Marius

Septic Shock

This is what our backyard looks like right now. They are apparantly replacing the drainage field. This dude knocked on my door yesterday and said they were working on the septic tank. I asked if I should not use the water, and he said no, we wouldn't even know he was there. Look at the pics. We knew. ;-)

International Day Against Homophobia

When I worked with Air Force Entertainment back in the early 90's we lent our sets and crew to Mandy Patinkin's show. His tour manager was a rather flamboyantly gay man who was quite fun to work with, but who inexplicably scared the hell out of many of the more macho guys on the crew. Months later as President Bush, Sr. enacted the foolish 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, my rants against gay discrimination earned me little more than questions about my own sexuality. In Louisiana I actually met people who thought 'gayness' could be cured with counseling, or (and I am not making this up) exorcism. Homophobia is as strong and pervasive as ever, and while passing this information along is truly the least I could do, at least it is something. Please share this in any way you can.

A word from the President of the Fondation Émergence
Laurent McCutcheon


Greetings from www.homophobiaday.org. This site is the brainchild of the Fondation Émergence, which is dedicated to fighting this scourge on our societies that is homophobia. It wishes to introduce you to International Day Against Homophobia.

As this site is bound to grow in the days and months ahead, you are cordially invited to consult it often for regular updates. It will give you information on International Day Against homophobia, and on homophobia in general. A lot of data already exist on homophobia but never has it been garnered in one place on the internet; www.homophobiaday.com aims at reaching this important goal.

Whatever your sexual orientation may be, I urge you to get involved in your community since the fight against homophobia concerns all of us. I thus invite you to support our efforts, notably by planning activities to meet the spirits and objectives of the International Day against Homophobia. We would also appreciate receiving real-life testimonies of first or second-hand encounters with homophobia.

“From tolerance to acceptance”; this slogan was chosen in 2003 to underline the necessity to go beyond tolerance, as it is too often associated with indifference. To fight homophobia, each and every one of us will have to work together.

In closing, we would like to thank all the partners which has made all this possible. Thank you for putting your trust in us.

The President of the Fondation Émergence

More Fun With Video

Untitled from Marius on Vimeo.

A Video Proposition

Untitled from Marius on Vimeo.

I LOLed

Up! Up! And...Oy Vey!!

Last week I made the most of the dwindling time I had with my students to get the things done that I absolutely needed help with. We pulled off some herculean efforts, and I managed some feats of brute strength that surprised not only my impressionable young proteges, but myself as well. And I came away from it sore, but in a good way. So why is it that today, after lifting nothing heavier than a grade book, can I not move my left arm without extreme pain? If the day after we hauled a 200 pound shelf unit up onto the second level of the shop I couldn't move it would have made sense. Waking up after a day of sitting in my office in agony just isn't fair.
::::end whining::::

Yesternight was held a screening of the movie we shot in January specifically for those of us in the cast and crew. I was dreading it, as I had read about half of the script, and it seemed to be another stupid sit-com style movie. But, since I was expected to show, I did. And I am forced to admit that the movie is actually enjoyable. As you might recall, most of January and some of February was taken up with shooting a film called Misconceptions, which is a tale of a religious fundamentalist wife who agrees to be a surrogate mom for a gay couple. We busted our collective buttocks to get the sets built, and overall it was an aggravating and exhausting experience, and one I would not care to repeat. That being said, however, watching the rough cut of the movie last night was actually a lot of fun. I don't imagine it will ever get a true theatrical release, but it might show up on HBO some time. And I even made it on camera for about 1.5 seconds. :-)

We have also called off the great cell phone experiment. Yesterday we got a new land line, and new number. If you desire my digits drop me an email at wihtgar at gmail dot com and I'll hook you up.

On the video blog front, I am being thwarted by some electronic gremlins. Blogger does not allow you to simply put video on your blog. It has to be hosted somewhere else, then linked to the blog. I have an account at Vimeo, and have tried uploading the video several times. It is time consuming, as the file is quite large, and each time the result has been the audio out of sync with the video. I even tried breaking the file into three smaller chunks, but the results were the same. I haven't abandoned it, but it may take a while to figure out. Anyone have any ideas?

And lastly I feel so...well, I don't know what to say. In honor of Turtle's and Sheep's upcoming nuptials I bought a new outfit. I can honestly say that, discounting my own wedding, I've never purchased an article of clothing specifically for a wedding. It was actually kinda fun. (I feel pretty, oh so pretty...)
;-)

Hasta, y'all,
Marius

Snowball the Dancing Cockatoo

If I just told you about this you'd never believe me, but this bird loves Queen.




(he also likes the Backstreet Boys, but I won't hold that against him)

Fail

Well, I tried to post a video blog, but somehow the file got screwed up and the beginning audio was playing over the last 1:40 of video. When I get home I'll try to fix it. Please enjoy this in the meantime:


Toodles,
Marius

Mmmmm, sake.

Betcha thought I'd messed up already. Nah, just had sushi and sake for dinner. When I'm in the mood, sake is a wondrous thing. If you are unfamiliar with sake, it is a Japanese rice wine that, like its homeland, is not all it appears. It is easy to drink, and is best when warm. But it is a sneaky buzz. If you've ever seen any depictions of a drunk shogun, they just sit there and say little. That's what sake does. I can easily imagine a monk drinking some sake and contemplating a pebble for a couple of hours. In this case my pebble is American Gladiators. It's a guilty pleasure, but as reality TV goes at least the competition is real. And we got some good news tonight...Last Comic Standing starts up again in a couple of weeks. That's a fun show.

OK, I'll see y'all tomorrow.

Peace,
Marius

Old f-f-f-f-fish, new f-f-f-f-f-fish!

When's the last time you saw a really funny movie? One that was clever, but not crass. Slapstick but not stupid. A film with an ensemble cast that brooked no mention of lead roles? I can't remember either. But over the course of our dinner conversation tonight it came to light that Mrs. Marius had never seen A Fish Called Wanda. 'Heresy!', quoth I, and immediately legged it up the street to Hollywood videos and rented it post haste. The fact that my bride had never seen this classic of comic genius almost made the watching new for me, and I chuckled many a time over scenes as familiar as my own living room. So many quotes, long ago abandoned, came trippingly to the tongue afresh. 'Wake up, limey fish!' 'Don't go near him! He's mine!!' 'Asshoooole!!!!!' And, of course, 'Oh no. It's K-k-k-ken coming to k-k-k-kill me!' If you don't know this film, it is a 1988 caper starring John Cleese, Michael Palin, Kevin Kline, and Jamie Lee Curtis. It is truly a masterpiece of ensemble acting, and a grand send up of both the quintessential British, and American stereotypes. It was written by Cleese, and beautifully performed by all parties. If you do know, and love this movie, watch it again soon. You won't regret it.

Dos vidaniya!
Mariushka

Happy Momma's Day!!!!!

Interrogative

It occurs to me that it is a violation of some law somewhere that I own no Star Trek related video games. As we are still trapped in the late 20Th century console-wise, and own a lowly PS2 for which I have seen no Star Fleet material, do any of you wondrously knowledgeable super humans know of a good PC related game? I had one for a while that required that you build a base on a planet, but since I build stuff for a living, I had no desire to do so for fun. I'm more into blowing shit up.
:-D

Mercy buckets,
Marius

Been Around The World And Found That Only Stupid People Are Breeding

You have got to be kidding me!

Mother Sues Town After Child Steps In Dog Dropping
Conn. Woman Claims Entire Day Was Ruined When Her Toddler Stepped In Dog Feces
NORWALK, Conn. (AP) ― A New York woman has filed a $100 claim against Norwalk, Conn. saying a family outing to the Maritime Aquarium was ruined by dog feces.

The woman claims her child's shoes, along with the entire outing, were ruined when her 1-year-old stepped in dog feces outside the Maritime Garage.

City attorney M. Jeffry Spahr said the official response is that her claim is denied and, in his words, "poop happens."

Kelly DeBrocky of Mahopac, N.Y., wants the city to reimburse her for $54 she spent replacing her toddler's ruined shoes and the expenses for parking and aquarium admission on April 5.

(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)


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Meowma Says Knock You Out!

I just witnessed the most bizarre cat fight I've ever seen. I heard the familiar sound of two cats locked in combat outside, and noticed both Kitties-O-The-Apocalypse staring intently out the window, so I took a peek. Across the street two of the neighborhood cats were sitting in a yard, staring each other down. They were nose-to-nose, and one of them was yelling loudly, while the other one just stared. They didn't move for several minutes, then there was a flurry of punches. As quickly as the movement started, it finished with neither having gained an upper hand, er, paw. This is where it got interesting. With eyes still locked, one of them very, very slowly laid down in the kitty loaf position, and very, very slowly turned his head away and set about to deliberately ignore his opponent. The other one, moving with equally glacial deliberateness, slowly turned to inspect the grass. It was as if they realized that they were both equally matched, and spontaneously decided, grudgingly, to share the yard. Might there be a metaphor in there? Hmmmmmmm.

Marius.

True Beauty

At the beginning of this I was thinking of all the cheap jokes I could get out of it, but by the end I was on the verge of tears. Thanks for sharing this, Puddy.

Weird

I just took the trash out, and the air is totally still, but looking up I saw some fairly low-flying clouds racing along just above the trees. It was a very strange sensation.

3am Phone Call

This hillarious exchange was posted on Wil Wheaton's(yes, that Wil Wheaton) blog. I thought it was very apt.

At times like these, when it would be easy to despair, I find comfort in humor, like this post I saw on Reddit this morning: Hillary Clinton: The Psycho Ex-Girlfriend of the Democratic Party.
It's 2:31 AM. The Democratic Party is sleeping peacefully when it hears its phone buzz on the night stand. It rolls over and sees "Hillary" on the caller ID. It pauses briefly, considering pushing "END" and not dealing with this shit tonight. The thought is appealing but the Democratic Party knows that if it doesn't take this call, another one is only minutes away.

DEMS: ...Hello?

Hillary: Hey baby.

DEMS: C'mon Hillary. Enough with this.

Hillary: Don't you get it? You NEED me.

DEMS: No, I don't. It was fun while it lasted but I'm with Barack now. I made my choice, it's done.

Hillary: You can't really mean that. How can you say that after all the good times we had?

DEMS: To be honest, I started hanging out with you because Bill's pretty awesome.

Hillary: But I'm just like Bill!

DEMS: No, you're not. Bill is charismatic, inspiring, and gets me really good weed.

Hillary: Fuck you. You're elitist!

DEMS: I'm going back to sleep.

And Now...Boobies

Today was not too bad, although the A/C in the scene shop isn't working. Tonight isn't going so well due to a recalcitrant child. So rather than spew bile, I give you...boobies.

Ok, Here's A Real Post

So it's been an interesting, if infuriating week. The young'n started hiccuping sometime last week, and has yet to stop. We've tried all the traditional cures: breath holding, water drinking, water drinking while breath holding, scaring, honey, etc. Finally, when she started getting nauseous, and even threw up once, we took her to the doctor. That was Monday. The doctor said she had no other problems and prescribed chlorpromaz. I then took her to the zoo, since we were both playing hooky, and I hoped that maybe a day of relaxing distraction might help. We had a great time, but it didn't work.

Stopping at the pharmacy on the way home we were told that they didn't have any on hand, and we'd have to wait til Tuesday afternoon. No problem, says I, what's one more day? Alas, it was a lot. Apparently upon closer inspection it occurred to one of the pharmacists that said medication is not usually given to children, and she wanted to confer with the doctor just to be sure. Unfortunately the doctor never called them back, and closing time came and went with no meds.

Today, as I was driving to work, I called the doctor, and finally determined that they had, indeed, called the pharmacy and cleared everything up. Good. Then I get a call from the school...the young'n had to be moved to the clinic because the hiccups were disturbing the class. Shit! Of course I can understand their frustration, since we've been living with the auditory equivalent of the Chinese water torture for days now. I explained that I couldn't get back much before 1pm, but I'd do my best.

Well, we are now home, and she has her first pill in her, to no effect so far. She will probably stay home tomorrow, but her teacher sent work home, so she won't get behind, but if this medication doesn't work they'll have to live with it.

So have any of you ever had to deal with this problem? We're open to just about any recommendations at this point. I have done a couple of Internet searches on the subject, and even tried a couple of the ideas(although I think we'll leave the rectal digital probing to the professionals should it come to that).

On the up side of the news, Blue Oyster Cult is playing a gig in St. Pete on May 18. We're trying to get a sitter so Mrs. Marius can experience them first hand, but either way I'm going. It's part of a triple bill with Foghat headlining, and the Bobby Friss band as well. I'm expecting that BOC will be the second act, and since the show is supposed to start at 5:30 I expect to be out of there by 8:30 or so. Anyone else wanna come?

Well, that's about it for right now. I'm in the pre-production stage of a show I'll be directing in July, but things are still too wispy to relate just yet. But stay tuned for further updates.

Peace, y'all.
Marius