Uncle Grayhawk's Front Porch

When I was a boy, nearly 40 years ago, I read my first Avengers comic and wanted to see the Avengers on the big screen.

Last night, the wish of that young boy was fulfilled, and in a near perfect manner.

Joss Whedon again showed his understanding of group dynamics in this movie - an aspect that could have easily made the movie awful if handled incorrectly. Each character gets their time to shine. It was so good to see that not all of the best moments were in the previews.

Lengthwise, I suspect it may be a bit long for some young ones, but most will lose track of time as they're drawn into the movie. As always, make sure you stay until the END of the credits.

I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. If you enjoyed Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, or Captain America; if you are a comics fan; if you are a fan of adventure - you need to see this movie. (Well, maybe not "need" - I mean, you won't die or anything, but go see it. Trust me.)

Oh, and prepare to be a new fan of the Hulk.

So, it's been farrrrr too long since I've done any update of substance.

So here we go. Get some coffee (or beverage of choice) and get comfy.

• Administrivia: Please give a warm welcome to the three newest readers of this little slice of insanity: magsmom, _luaineach, and onezumi. Pull up a chair and help yourself to somethin' to drink. I generally suggest that people read this post if they want to know more about me.
  
• Me: Doing well. I'm in good spirits. Hallowe'en is done, and the planning and prepping for Thanksgiving begins in earnest. I'm feelin' good and looking...well, like myself. Which is to say that I'd lose to Godzilla in a beauty contest, but hey, that's normal, so it's all good. In early to work this AM since the kids are off from school (Teachers Professional Day) and I can drop F off at his after-school care as early as 0700. I'll use the time towards my day off for AnimeUSA later in the month.
  
• I probably don't need to say this to y'all, but it bears repeating: Please, tomorrow, go out and vote. Thank you.
  
• Family: Well, everyone is doing pretty well. The kids are on a bit of a sugar high (Duh!) and are enjoying the long weekend. mousecat0 & B are gearing up for NaNoWriMo; I'm staying out of the way. F was dealing with some sorta low-end stomach bug about half the weekend. No barfing, just stinky gas, gas pains, mild nausea, and the runs.
  
• NaNoWriMo: To everyone who is participating, good luck to you.
  
• Work: We seem to have passed the first milestone. Now for the next big one. After that, things calm down a bit. We hope.
  
• What we've been doing: Well, lessee, it's been over a month since last update. EEP! OK, by week then:
  
  • Sept 27 - Oct 3: Cleaned up from painting the Living room. Went to MD Renaissance Faire. Went to stoooooooo & ginabeth's for football and to celebrate luvmomh's birthday. mousecat0 made an awesome tiramisu for the shindig.
    
  • Oct 4 - 10: My car wouldn't start after getting cup of coffee (connection to starter motor was bad). Total was ~$130. Touched up paint in LR. Replaced trim around front door (had to do the whole thing because I couldn't find matching trim). Cleaned front of condo. Brought Halloween decorations out of storage.
    
  • Oct 11 - 17: Enjoyed day off on the 11th. Car needed jumpstart at work on the 15th. Bought battery for my car and tires for mousecat0's car. Decorated front of condo.
    
  • Oct 18 - 24: Not much other than take long weekend to go to NJ to visit lighthouses (which will get it's own post).
    
  • Oct 25 - 31: Watched horror movies. Had car starter die on me. Had starter replaced. Took F. Christmas List shopping. Gave out candy.
• Gaming: Not too much, not even WoW. I logged on a few times to try for the Headless Horseman's mount, but never got it.
  
• What's coming up: Well, lessee, this week, we're going out to dinner on Thursday to celebrate the birthday of mousecat0 and her sister, then grocery shopping on Saturday for Thanksgiving dinner (the menu for which gets it's own post). Also need to defrost the freezer and rearrange and clean out the fridge. Lots of food coming in. Need space. The following weekend is AnimeUSA, which, while we are attending, we will no longer be staying at the hotel (see auto repairs above). If we can get and keep things cleaned up, then one or more of us may go up to stoooooooo & ginabeth's for football on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
  
• Horror flicks: My son F. doesn't care for them, neither does mousecat0. My daughter B & I watched several over the last few days, most of which she hasn't seen before. I had the joy of introducing her to:
  • Halloween
  • Nightmare on Elm Street
  • Carrie
  • The Wolfman
  • The Amityville Horror
  She seemed to enjoy them, and jumped at the end of Carrie. Like I still do. And I've probably seen it two dozen times.

I think that's all I've got for now.

Remember: You woke up on the proper side of the grass this morning. By definition, that makes today a good day.

Peas. Out.

Convention Countdown
Anime USA: 11 Days!

And remember that worrying about H1N1 will do more to shorten your lifespan than the actual flu will.

Hey, happy Friday Eve Day! Hope everyone is doing well. I'm doing reasonably well this morning. A little sleepy, but that's in large part because I haven't gone to sleep before 1 am either of the last two nights. Oh, it's all my own damn fault, so no sympathy requested or required, just explaining where I'm at.

So, how about a quick bullet list o' doom!

• Administrivia: Welcome to hopefulspirit & ruaalien2 who found me through a friending frenzy held on hopefulspirit's LJ. Pull up a chair and help yourself to somethin' to drink. I generally suggest that people read this post if they want to know more about me.
  
• Family: mousecat0 is still trying to kick her cough. She's spending the next 4 work days at one of the buildings she manages overseeing some work being done. Words can't express how thrilled she is. Kids still enjoying school, but not homework. We're all a little disappointed by the turnaround in the forecasted weather for the weekend, but figure that it happened specifically because we canceled our plans. That's ok, because we have other...
  
• Weekend plans: Friday night is F.'s first Cub Scout Pack Meeting, which is also a picnic being held at one of the local parks. Saturday, we'll do a bit of cleaning, then some shopping for fall/halloween decor and some other organizational stuff. On the way home, we'll get some pizza and then make a movie night out of it. Probably start with Jason and the Argonauts and go from there. Sunday, F & I are helping staff a table to recruit more cub scouts around 10:45 am, then we'll head up to stoooooooo & ginabeth's for football. Speaking of which...
  
• Football: Ah yes, the season has started. And not one week into the season, and my beloved Philadelphia Eagles are already in a bind. Yeah, we beat the Carolina Panthers, but our franchise QB, Donovan McNabb, got hurt. And with Vick suspended for at least one more week, it's no wonder that the team signed Jeff Garcia. They had to. They needed someone to back up Kevin Kolb. Whatever. I don't have much hope that they will beat the New Orleans Saints, but we shall see. In other football news and thoughts:
  • I think that the loss of Brian Urlacher will have a bigger effect on the Chicago Bears defense than the loss of Troy Polamalu (doo doo dedoo doo) will on the Pittsburgh Steelers Defense.
    
  • Anyone who didn't see this coming from T.O., raise your hand. ::looks:: Yeah, that's what I thought. No hands.
    
  • Looking at the weeks games, I don't see many compelling ones:
    • Steelers at Bears: Good defense on both sides; expect this to be a defensive struggle
    • Raiders at Chiefs: This could decide who ends up last in the NFL
    • Vikings at Lions: How will rookie Matt Stafford do against an actual defense?
    • Patriots at Jets: Same thing, substitute Mark Sanchez for Stafford.
• Gaming: Played some WoW over the last two nights. Some guild drama occurred in my absence. Otherwise, I still seem to be able to play my Retadin well.
  
• It seems that an fair number of you want me to perform experiments on myself in the name of "Science". Fine. So be it. The orders for the Dungeons & Dragons Soda and the M:tG soda are placed. Anyone want to help with the testing?
  
• X-Entertainment has begun their annual Halloween Countdown!!! Check it out for all kinds of Halloween Fun!
  
• Speaking of Holidays, I'm starting to collect recipes that sound interesting for use with Thanksgiving dinner. I need to test them before then. Maybe I should do a bunch and invite people for tastings...

OK, I think that's all for now. I need to go change out backup tapes.

Remember: You woke up on the proper side of the grass this morning. By definition, that makes this a good day.

Peas. Out.

Yeah, ok, whatever. As I and others have pointed out, Monday gets a bad rap as the beginning of the work week. I'm just not a morning person.

So, anyway, spent a very enjoyable evening last night. I started out by playing a little WoW, but gave up on that as I was distracted by one of my latest acquisitions from Amazon: Clash of the Titans. Yep, I got my order in yesterday, consisting of:

• Clash of the Titans
• Jason & The Argonauts
• Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus
• You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown
• Godzilla: Final Wars

Good stuff. Plus, need to keep up the cinematic education of my two young geeks.

Found out today that my 90 day eval will be next week. Being as I was also just asked what security classes I've had and am considering taking, either I'm being buffaloed REALLY well or I'm in good shape.

Regarding Michael Jackson: I choose to remember him the way he was in the 80's, before he seemed to go REALLY over the deep end. Plus, if even half of what his father allegedly did to him is true, the deck was stacked against MJ from the beginning. He was a great entertainer, and left a musical legacy behind that will be hard to touch. May he find the peace in the next life he was denied in this one.

Regarding Sarah Palin: I don't know that it matters why she left the governor's seat. She's out, and like all politicians who show disregard for the rights of Americans, she needs to be watched.

Ooops. Lunch break is almost over. TTYL.

Howdy folks.

Yeah, I know I said I'd try to write more, but weekends are difficult for me to write on. I've got stuff to do, dammit! So, here I am. And there you are. And that wierd guy is over in the corner doing...odd things...to his Star...Wars...collectibles...ODEARGHODS! Stop THAT!

::ahem::

OK, seriously, hope everyone is doing well.

As for me, I am. Day 1 of the second week of the new job, and things are going well. Still don't have a badge, or full access, or useful things like that.

I have coffee though. And my 3 liter bottle of water.

Friday night was uneventful, really. Got home, had some dinner, played some WoW.

Saturday, I got up and went to BestWorstBuy to get some movies for the Easter Baskets. The Easter Bunny (or Easter Spider, if you prefer) has been putting movies into the Easter baskets for a few years instead of a lot of candy. Oh sure, there's SOME candy, but not a lot. I picked up Next Avengers for F. and Pokemon Battle Frontier, Vol 2"> for B. I already had Top Gun for mousecat0. Well, once I did that, I met everyone else over at Giant for some grocery shopping, then mousecat0 & B went off for the monthly Chivalry & Sorcery game at MSD HQ, while F. & I went home. We put groceries away and cleaned the living room a bit, then settled down to watch Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. Although it doesn't lose much in translation to the small screen, I'm still glad I say Iron Man in the theater. I also liked Incredible Hulk, but...it seems to suffer from the same damn problem that the comic went through from the late 60s until the early 80s: Predictability.

• Something or someone shows up.
• Hulk comes out.
• Hulk beats on it.
• Hulk gets madder and stronger.
• "HULK IS STRONGEST THERE IS!"
• Antagonist gets crushed.
• Hulk jumps away.
• Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

So, anyway, we had some fun & played around until the girls got home. The kids went to bed, and mousecat0 & I put the baskets together, then I hid the Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs. Sleep beckoned, so I answered it's siren song.

Well, on Sunday, F. was up first, so he got us all up. In my basket was the twin pack of Rocky and Rocky II, as well as some goodies. mousecat0 had, in addition to her movie, had 2 cookbooks (Tis the Season to be Baking: Christmas Reflections and Bread Recipes & Bake And Be Blessed, both by Fr. Dominic Garramone), as well as Chocolate Truffles from Glenstal Abbey, Ireland.

While the kids made sure that the table was ready, I set about preparing Easter brunch, consisting of:

• Homemade kielbasa
• Krakus Polish canned ham
• eggs
• fresh rye bread
• OJ
• milk
• coffee
• butter lamb
• lamb cake

And yes, F & I once again shared the lamb butt. ;-)

Afterwards, we cleaned up, then emptied the pantry. Once empty, mousecat0 & B. cleaned out the area, while F & I disassembled the old shelf unit. I had purchased a wire-frame shelf unit a few weeks ago, and we finally had the chance to put it together. The other advantage, of course, is that we could get rid of canned goods that have since expired (including a box of store brand jello that had a date of June 2002 on it...)

I'll tell you this: Next time I choose to make nacho fixings or anything that requires refried beans? I'm making my own. We had *6* bags of pinto beans in the pantry. Mainly from Angel Food, and I know they don't go bad...but 6 bags? Oof. That's a bit much.

Finally, we got all that done. mousecat0 & F went to her mother's to feed the cat B watched some of her new Pokemon, and I took a nap. When they got home we got ourselves cleaned up a bit and headed to Hamburger Hamlet for dinner. 2 reasons for that: 1: I forgot to take anything out for dinner and 2: Kids ate free. So, Hamlet it was. So, we came home and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

And now, a few notes:

( On the Amazon Kerfluffle )

( On the so-called 'Tea Parties' )

Going to do Mother's Day dinner at my place again. Not sure how many people we're going to have yet. Definitely 8, maybe 10-13. I'll do the proposed menu as a separate post later, as soon as I figure out what I'm going to do with the asparagus (I cuss, you cuss, we all cuss for asparagus!), as well as what appetizer and dessert I'm doing.

Crap. Just got the following article from tenku_no_shiro via Twitter: Harry Kalas Taken to Hospital Harry is the long-time voice of Phillies baseball.
EDIT: In the time it took me to finish writing and posting this, Harry Kalas has died. My thoughts on this can be found here.ENDEDIT:

That, I think, is all I have for now.

Remember: You woke up on the proper side of the grass this morning. By definition, that makes this a good day.

Peas. Out.

And with it, the wheels spin on and on...

Top o' the morning, folks! Hope the day finds you reasonably hale and hearty!

Yeah, I'm in a fairly good mood this morning. Don't have a particular reason. Just am. Whee!

So, lessee. An update, I suppose. Not much has happened since the last time I set fingers to keyboard to talk about my so-called life.

• Me: Doing well, as usual. Not ill, pants still falling off. Money is weird and tight, but managable. 1 more weeks, and we should be in a much better place, financially, so it will be one more thing off of my mind.
  
• Family: Also doing well. Homework issues are starting to raise their head again with B.; here we go again. Need to nip this in the bud. Things are otherwise going well.
  
• Sports weekend: Phils are 3-1 in the NLCS. WOO! Here's hoping they can wrap this up tonight! My beloved Eagles beat the 49ers! The DeadSkins, Cowgirls, & Gi-Aint's all lost. Bye week this week, then come back to face the Falcons. It is my hope that someone will be reminding the Eagles that there are *4* *FREAKING* *QUARTERS* in each football game, and that they need to *PLAY* *HARD* *IN* *EACH*.
  
• The weekend overall: Quiet. Helped my M-I-L purchase and set up a new TV (32" widescreen flat-panel) on Sat AM. mousecat0 and B. went to a NaNoWriMo meetup Sat. afternoon. M-I-L took us to dinner at Hamburger Hamlet for dinner as payment for the TV help. Sunday was football, as well as trying a vegetable recipe for Thanksgiving. I'll post the recipe later, as I don't have it here, but it was essentially carrots and parsnips tossed with some olive oil and fresh dill, then roasted.
  Had yesterday off, since I work for the feds. Spent the day at home doing some paperwork (for something to be talked about later) and watching House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects (more on those later as well).
  
• WoW: Raided Zul'Gurub with the guild on Fri night. As much fun as I'm having while leveling my Rogue, this reminded me how undergeared my Paladin is. I need better Gear, which means I need to do a lot more work with him. Sigh. The flip side is that my ROgue made around 80 Soothing Turtle soups last night. LOL!
  
• Rob Zombie films: almost 24 hours later, and I dunno how I feel about them. I mean, they are what they are, which is essentially splatter-sploitation films, and on that level, Rob Zombie succeeds. I just...I think I may have broken my own rule about not going into the movie with any expectations higher than sitting back and letting go for 2 hours, because I'm left with the feeling that I somehow expected something a little more. ::sigh:: Still, I'm glad I saw them. Actually, thinking about them a little more, I came up with this:
  
  • House of 1000 Corpses: The last, what, 15 minutes? With the whole underground thing? And the subhumanoids? Didn't work for me. Too strange a turn for the rest of the film.
    
  • The Devil's Rejects: Again, the end. Well, not quite. The Sheriff didn't so much descend into madness as grind gears towards it. And then the whole "Blaze of Glory" thing...
  
  
• This weekend: Well, on SUnday, my folks are coming down and we will all be going to B&D's Mongolian Grill for dinner to celebrate luvmomh's birthday (late) and mousecat0's Birthday (early). Saturday will probably be quiet, with a little straightening up and relaxation.

I think that's about it for now.

Remember, you woke up on the proper side of the grass this morning. By definition, that means it's a good day.

Peas.

Out.

I know I haven't posted a lot about *me* and the family lately. Part of that is being busy at work, part of that is being tired/listless when I get home. I dunno.

So, anyway, things have been going pretty well the last few weeks.

• Had a great geek day a few weeks ago when we all watched the extended version of LoTR in one day. You have to do that at home. Bathroom breaks are a must.
  
• Gave a presentation at work that was received well.
  
• Got way ahead on a project at work. One of these days, they'll stop being surprised by the fact that I am competent and know what I'm doing. The down side is then they'll expect it. LOL!
  
• Mother's Day: We are once again hosting Mother's Day dinner at our place. My folks will (probably) be coming down and joining us. Dinner will consist of:
  
  • Red pepper scallops
    
  • Herb-Encrusted Roast Leg of Lamb with Garlic Roasted Baby Potatoes
    
  • Glazed Carrots
    
  • Peas with Shallots and Pancetta
    
  • Biscuits
    
  • Frozen Mini Cinnamon Coffee Cheesecakes
  
  
• Not played a lot of WoW of late. Heart ain't been in it.
  
• While mousecat0 & B were at a baby shower, F. & I had a great afternoon watching Monster trucks, America's Funniest Videos, and James Bond movies (Goldeneye and The World Is Not Enough).
  
• In an attempt to get rid of some stuff from our place and make some $$$, we'll be participating in the condo-sponsored yard sale on Saturday. Looks like a good day for it.
  
• B. had her spring choral recital on Friday. The theme was "The 60's". Specifically 1968/69. The kids sang very well.
  
• Very much looking forward to Iron Man.

And I think that's about it for the moment. My thanks to all who responded to my request for cooking tool information.

Wow, it's Monday.  Another Thanksgiving weekend gone in a cloud of turkey, football, pie, and travel.

And you know what?  It was a great weekend.

But before I go into that, I need to do a bit of

Administrivia:  Welcome to moonshadowed , an old friend who has found my LJ,  Hope I don't bore ya too much darlin'...

I've already talked about Thanksgiving day.  Or at least, all I'm going to discuss in public about it.  So let's start with...

( Friday )

( Saturday )

( Sunday )

( Quotes from the weekend )

Finally, I am extremely thankful for a number of things this year:

• mousecat0 , B, & F.
• My job
• My clueless end-users
• My parents, brothers, and sisters in law.
• My family
• The fact that I have a roof over my head, food on my table, and clothes on my back.
• My friends, whether near or far, whether they read this tripe I write or not.

Even though Thanksgiving has come and gone, I would ask one thing  from each and every one of you.  Please, try to remember to be thankful for each and every blessing in your life every day.  Let the people in your life know you are thankful for them.  Let us not give thanks only on Thanksgiving, but every day.

If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings.
--Bing Crosby, Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)

Because I had a previous engagement on Saturday afternoon/evening, I had to beg off a MSD meeting. So, in the morning, I took B. to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the Uptown theater.

I love that place.

We got seats in the balcony in the front row in the center. Where all you see is the screen. No other seats, no other patrons, just 40+ linear feet of screen, right in front of you. A great experience.

As far as the movie goes
( cut for possible spoilers )

Will hopefully be taking F. to see Transformers on Sat. I thnk there's a 2:50 matinee at the Regal in ROckville.