Do People Really Do That?

I was playing around with Face Book a little bit just now and I came across something interesting. I have received and sent flair and other things to friends, but today I tried to send something to Jessica and came across a snag. I was going to send an "I love you" bear to her (I know, I am sweet) and I saw it cost 100 gift points. Thinking that gift pioints were something that I would just have, I proceeded only to find that you have to buy gift points. This is new to me because I have received paranormal gear and flair, as well as other free gifts, so I thought that all gifts are free on Face Book. Usually, when you send things, you get the ability to send things yourself. Anyway, you really need to pay money for gift points. Weird. Face Book is fun and all, but I am not going to pay money on a social site. Is that weird?

A Sci Fi Summer

OK. I admit it. I am a sci-fi geek. I am not as bad as some people who may dress up in Star Wars garb, but I enjoy sci-fi TV, movies, and books. The next few months are looking to have some high quality sci-fi movies coming out. I am looking forward to:

Star Trek: JJ Abrams is taking a crack at the Star Trek franchise. The trailers look great. I just hope Sylar as Spock does not cause too much of a distraction for me. Due out May 8th

Watchmen: I have to be honest, I don't know much about this comic book/ graphic novel. However, the trailers look terrific. The effects look good and the story line sounds intriguing. The TV has been flooded with Watchmen trailers, so I hope it is not one of this movies that sucks beyond the trailers.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Wolvie is my favorite X-man. I am not totally in love with Hugh Jackman and Wolverine, but the trailers I saw for the movie so far look good. Anyway, It is about Wolverine origins, which is always interesting. It looks like they are trying to make out Wolverine and Sabretooth as brothers or something. We'll see how they adapt this story to film.

Terminator Salvation : I've like the Terminator seeries since the beginning and really like the TV show (Sarah Connor Chronicles) so I was pretty psyched about Salvation. I think Christian Bale is John Connor (also plays Batman). I like him, but am not really a fan of one actor taking on more than one major icon in movies. Much like I am not thrilled about Syler and Spock being the same actor. Still, Salvation is about the story after Judgement Day. The machines are running amuck and the human resistance is starting to fight back.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - What do I need to say about this? If you haven't read the book, DO IT!!!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Michael Bay again. Ungh. I liked the first movie, but am not looking forward to Revenge of the Fallen. I guess I will watch it, but the trailer I saw looked like a bad Roger Rabbit knock off. You remember Roger Rabbit? The live action mobie with cartoons added in? Well, the Transformers trailer I saw looked like a cartoon with real people thrown in the mix. I don't mean ILM kick ass animation, I mean old school cartoons with prople thrown in. It may suck.

I want to catch all of these in the theater. Terminator can wait until DVD, but I think that the rest should be seen on the big screen. What else do I need to see this summer?

Xbox Revisited

So, lately I have been getting a little tired of the same old same old Xbox games I have been playing. Mostly because I play shooters online non-stop. I played Halo 3 for the longest time, then moved on to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and lately Call of Duty: World at War. I played the solo games, of course, but my main game was the multi player action. Fun times. I guess I am getting tired of the multi player stuff. So, I am taking a bit of a break. I went back to Halo 3 and played the solo game on Heroic, which is one step higher than the normal difficulty level. I guess I am better at shooters now because I breezed through it. Now, I am going through Bioshock again. It is another shooter. Fun times. I don't know what I am going to do if a new game doesn't catch my attention soon. I was thinking about getting Guitar Hero or Rock Band , but I don't if I would like them. I may play Dead Rising again or Fable 2. It's weird, I have Left 4 Dead and Quake Wars, but they really don't seem to be doing much for me. Any new or cool games I should check out?

A Night of Near Superhero Proportion

Bowling was pretty fun Thursday. Granted, bowling is usually always fun. I enjoy it more whn I roll 600+ series, which I have been doing lately. My average is 196, which is probably the best I've ever maintained through a whole year. I would like to see it pop up to 200, but I doubt it will happen this late in the season. Anyway, back to Thursday. I was having a rough go at bowling in the first game . I was rolling where I wanted to roll and everything felt good, my ball was just coming up a little soft in the pocket. This means I was too far right of the head pin. In the 7th frame, I think I has a 115, which is about 30 pins behind where I need to be to hit my average. My team was struggling too. We were down about 60 pins. I made a quick change and nailed five strikes in a row and ended up with a 190+ helping my team win by 20. The second game I hit a 200, we won again. The third game I was doing pretty well, but my team was struggling again. We were down significantly. I rolled five more stikes to finish off my game and we ended up losing by only two pins. Damn. A near superhero performance. Still I ended up with a 616 series again, which always makes me happy. We bowl the first place team in our league this week. We are only down 11 points in the standings, so winning would be huge for us. They ae all good bowlers though.

Should I worry?

I have been getting all sorts of magazines lately. Only I don't order magazines. I used to, but I am letting my subscriptions run out. I always would order a magazine, thinking I would read it, but I would get bored or the content would not be very interesting, so I decided to give up on magazines. However, I have been getting several magazines lately. Specifically, Rolling Stone and Spin. Maybe a few others, but I am not sure of all of the titles. Really, I just get them and then throw then in the recycling. My concern is that I may be charged for these somehow. I have not received a bill or any other verification that I would be getting a new subscription. I suspect that Noah may be ordering them under my name thinking that I would just throw them out or give them to him. He never asks about them or for them, so I could be wrong. has anyone ever had problems with magazine subscriptions? Would there be any reason for them to be sent to me without my asking for them?

Lovin' Those Brits

I am seriously starting to enjoy British television a lot lately. I have been a huge fan of Doctor Who ever since the new version of the show has been airing. I also watched a BBC series called Robin Hood, which was pretty good. Recently I found a BBC series called Jeckyll, which was a modern day Jeckell and Hyde story and was pretty good as well. I now have a new BBC infatuation in a show called MI-5. In a nut shell, MI-5 is a spy show. James Bond is a member of MI-6, which deals with international spying and MI-5 focuses only on internal matters in the UK. It has been highly entertaining. The seasons are not very long, only about 7 or 8 shows per season. The stories have been very interesting and there have been some pretty well known guest stars. Giles, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dr. House, from House, and the doctor from Star Trek DS9.

Probably one of the most interesting things I have seen is the show's treatment of America. There have been a few shows regarding visits from Prez Bush and each visit from Dubya had lead to protests by the British people. Granted, I don't like our ex prez either, but I found it a little suprising that protests of our ex president have been central in this show. It makes me wonder if everyone in Europe hates all Americans or just our dumb ass ex prez.

Anyway, if you are looking for a new show to watch, MI-5 has been great fun for me.

Test

I am looking at my blog and I can't see any of the posts. What the?????

Bathroom remodel

We are working on changing around one of our bathrooms this weekend. Actually, Jessica is doing most of the time consuming work while I am working this weekend. I am just planning on taking credit. Just kidding. I am doing the tool work and she is painting. She actually did a pretty good job taking down the old mirror, the old lighting, and the HUGE towel bar mounted to the wall. The job really isn't all that big. It is our half bath that we are fixing up. The towel bar was a little extreme. It was one of those that you could use as a shower towel holder. We bought a new one that is for a hand towel as well as a new shitter paper holder that matches. My biggest thing I wanted was a medicine cabinet. Most of our medicines are in one of our kitchen cupboards, which irritates me beyond belief. I try to get some thing out of the cupboard and five pill bottles fly out at me. Well, not any more! Is it silly that I am excited by nothing more than a medicine cabinet?

BSG Revelations and the Dollhouse

So, last night's BSG episode was pretty informative. We learned a lot about the Cylons and their origins. It turns out Tigh's wife, Ellen, is also a Cylon, which we learned last week. The most interesting thing to me is that Cavil, or a Cavil model, knew all of the final five Cylons. When Ellen resurrected, a Cavil was there with a centurion in a room that looked like a cell. It is my guess that only one Cavil was designated to know the truth about the final five in case one of them died and they resurrected. Kind of like a caretaker. Otherwise, it would have implied that all of the Cavils knew who the final five were and still allowed Saul to be tortured and still fracked Ellen while watching the other five lead the resistance. I have to believe that only one Cavil knew of the final five's identities, or the show would lose a bit of credibility for me. I guess it is not unreasonable that all of the Cavils knew who the five were, because he was quite vocal about the others not learning their identities, but again, if Cavil knew that Ellen and Saul were Cylons, his actions on New Caprica would not make much sense.

We also learned that, apparently, the final five were the first five in the Cylon family tree. They created models one through seven. This being the case, if Cavil knew about Ellen, it would be like he was fracking his mom. Iew. Anyway, we learned a lot about the 'skin jobs' last night. It was not an exciting episode, but it was informative.

I also watched Dollhouse last night. I am undecided about my feelings towards Joss' latest attempt at a TV show. I LOVED Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, so I think my expectations about Dollhouse may be a bit high. The show has an interesting concept. People enter the program, get their minds wiped clean of all but the most basic memories and thoughts, and basically become puppets that can have any memories and skill sets downloaded into them. At first, I thought it would be some government project, like creating super spies, but it is more like a high tech whore house. If you want a hot woman for the weekend that has all of your likes, dislikes, sexual preferences, and is basically your ideal, you can rent one. If you need someone that can kick ass and be the perfect bodyguard for a specific situation, you can rent one. Anyway, the pilot was entertaining and interesting, but I am not sure how long Dollhouse will last. Joss' main problem is that he pushed the boundaries of TV and doesn't just make different versions of CSI. So the typical TV watching American sheep don't seem to get him. I do though and I hope Dollhouse stays around for a while.

Posting Pics

I added some new pictures to my Flickr site. There are some of my team's bowling shirts. We wore them last night to some pretty good reactions. Some of the other teams made fun a little because we were all wearing the same thing, but I think they were just jealous. Some strangers, including a VERY cute girl, said they liked them. We didn't bowl great, but the shirts added some fun to the evening.

There are a few pictures of my completed poker table online too. I was really suprised at how relatively easy ti was to put together. I would say, all in all, the production too about five hours and cost me a little over $200. I took some crap last night from my poker buddies about how I made a Barney table. I think that the purple felt looks good. "Tight" I think the kids are saying these days.

There are also pictures from Gabe's birthday. It seems like all of the pictures of Gabe show him making weird faces or closing his eyes. He had a good time though. Oh and cute pictures of Ally. No, not cute....adorable! And here's Ally and Noah with Brutus. I think Gabe finds people in suits, like Brutus and Mickey Mouse, a bit creepy. Ge was a little leary of Brutus and steared clear of Goofy when we were at Disney.

Anyway, enjoy!

Can you believe he's 7?

It seems like just yesterday that I was crapping my pants at the thought of fatherhood. I'm sure I felt like every first time parent: full of doubt, fear, and a general sense of holy-crap-what-do-I-do-now? Fun times. I finally got used to the idea, then excited, and then elated to see my little boy. That was seven years ago. Am I really that old? Jessica had to work on Gabe's actual birthday, but I made him a cake and he asked for cheese burgers for dinner. We got him a few presents, some Transformers and Bakugons (some weird ball creature things that turn into robots) and he seemed happy. Yesterday, we continued the celebration by taking the kids to Dave and Busters. It is an arcade typle place that has a lot of games you can win tickets for prizes. Gabe had a blast, so it was well worth the trip. It was a good few days.

A Pleasant Suprise

In an attempt to find new and exciting things to get via NetFlix, I tried out Stargate Atlantis. I had seen the movie Stargate and thought it was OK, but I had never seen any of the shows. I am glad to say that Atlantis has been hugely satisfying to me. I thought about getting Stargate SG1, but something about seeing McGayver every episode turned me off to the show. Maybe I will have to try it later. Anyway, Atlantis is a great Sci-fi drama with a good story and good effects. It has become a show that I am excited to watch.

I am also excited that seasons 2 and 3 of Doctor Who are available to watch online via NetFlix.com. I added them to my online queue, so that means that I can watch the episodes online through my Xbox on my flatscreen TV. I forgot how truely great these seasons of Doctor Who have been to watch. I am delighted to revisit them. Wheeping angels, Daleks, The Master......enough said.

I think I am going to try to build a poker table

I have a few folding poker table tops, but have wanted a "real" poker table for some time. The table tops that I have have room for 8, but they don't really fit my kitchen table and aren't the best quality. My friend Mike builds poker table tops that you can put on a table that are pretty neat, but I kind of want to make one of my own. I looked online and found buildyourownpokertables.com which has some pretty good step by step instructions for the table. It is pretty much how I expected. You cut out the shape you want, cover it, and put on your bumper around the edge. It looks like you can also add cup holders and other things if you want. I am going to have to print out the specs and maybe ask my friend Mike for some help. The way he does it is a little different. His tables are modular so you can make the table into an eight seater or a ten seater. They are very nice, but I want to try to make my own. His bumpers are wood and I want to try to make mine with foam and leather. My one concern is that I want to make only a table top so that I can put it on my kitchen table when I have a game, but I fear that these instructions may make a really heavy table top. I will need to think it through and see what happens.

Finally, a GOOD BSG Episode

Over the last few episodes, my favorite show, Battlestar Galactica, has basically be stinking up my television. It has been a great disappointment over the past few weeks. The plot slowed, the drama became watered down, and any action was almost absent. The big reveals and cliffhangers were boring and not very shocking. Last week was OK, finding out a few odd secrets here and there, but last night's episode was finally back up to par with the episodes that have made BSG stand above all other shows on TV (in my opinion, of course). There was action, plot twists, drama, and all around BSG goodness. I am finally interested in what is going to happen next and was on the edge of my seat for almost the whole show. I'm not going to get into any details, but there is some serious doubt on who may live and who may die next episode. YIKES. I really don't have any idea how this show may end. I hope it finishes up as well as it started. I can still watch the BSG premiere mini series and be riveted.

Dreams or Nightmares? You decide.

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you are stuck in one of your old 'college' or 'high school' type jobs? You know. The kind of jobs that you work so that you can eat and buy stuff while in school. Well, I had one of those dreams last night. I was waiting tables at Friendly's. It was weird. It wasn't a terrible dream with mosters after me or anything like that, but I was waiting tables in a busy dining room with all of the customers from hell in my section. If you ever waited tables, my section was filled with all of the people that run you ragged and then tip you a dime. Theone that stands out, probably because she was predominant in the dream, was a little old lady. The elderly are notorious bad tippers no matter how good the service may be. Anyway, she had me running back and checking ingredients on things she was considering ordering, she was changing tables every five minutes, she was back in the kitchen harassing the cooks, and basically being a pain in the ass. The dream turned funny when she was asking me if an ice cream treat she wanted contained any ice cream. She was sitting in the deep fryer basket at the time. By the time I came back to show her the box of ice cream to prove to her that there was, in fact, ice cream included, she was gone. Then I was forced to work with teeny bopper girls that were trying to hog all the tables and I wasn't making any money. Thankfully, I woke up. All in all, although it wasn't a terrifying dream, I think I would prefer dreaming of zombies trying to eat my brains.

It wasn't as bad as a really bad Friendly's dream I had a long time ago. I was the cook and there was a time stamp that the waitresses used to show when the orders were put in to the kitchen. The bad dream came in when we finished cooking all of the orders, were getting ready to close up, and more orders were time stamped. I didn't see the orders, I just hear that terrible stamping sound. This went on for a while and really made me have a bad nights sleep. That was years ago. Anyway, I wonder why I had a dream about a place I worked at over ten years ago.

Bowling Blarg

My bowling game is seriously starting to frustrate me. The last two weeks, I am driving myself crazy. I am not sucking completely, and am actually still carrying a 196 average. What is driving me crazy is how inconsistant I am. The last two weeks I rolled over 600 series, but I was all over the spectrum. Last week I started out with a 246 but followed it up with a 160 and then a 190. Last night I started out with a 244 and followed it up with a 150 and then a 215. I am SO frustrated with starting out strong and then taking a dive. My biggest issue is hitting spares. More specifically, the spares on the right hand side of the lane. Even more specifically, the ten pin. I actually got a new ball entirely dedicated to picking up the ten pin. It slides and goes straight instead of hooking. It works perfectly, but I have not had a really good chance practice with it. So, I am still about 50/50 when it comes to the ten pin. This frustrates me to no end. If I were to hit my spares, I would easily have over 200 as my average. SO frustrating!

Poo is great

Well, poo in the potty is great. Alydia has been a great pain in the neck about potty training. We would ask her to try and she would say, 'Tomorrow." or "I will in five days." So finally, I told her that she was wearing underwear from now on and that she had better not mess them up. She has been going on the potty ever since. I am SO psyched! No more buying Pull Ups at $10+ a package. We will be able to afford more stuff for me!

Bloggin' Blahs

I, like Mona, have been pretty bah-humbug about blogging lately. Her reasons, lack of material and using Facebook more, my reasons, lack of material and plain old fasioned laziness. I have facebook too, but don't use it for too much. I just haven't had much in mind for blogging. I lead a boring life, I guess.

I guess I can bitch about TV. I am pretty mad that I am so invested in Lost and BSG. Both shows started out GREAT with mind blowing plots, good acting and great effects. Now, they are kind of pissing in the hay. I watch the Lost premire last night and was SO confused. Maybe I should re-watch the other episodes to try to remember last season, but I don't think it will help. Lost just jumps around too much. If you blink, you miss what is a flash back and what is supposed to be current day. BSG is a little better, but the story has gotten stale and a little boring. I think they are trying to add shockers into the plot to shake things up though like (*****SPOILERS********)

Adama and the prez in bed together and Chief's baby not being Chief's baby. I guess the uprising lead by Gaeda is adding a little bit of interest in the show, but I don't know what can happen in the shows final episodes that will make me feel good about the show's ending. Are they seriously letting the final Cylon reveal to be Sol's dead wife? Boring.

The Next Firefly?

Did anyone know that Joss Whedon, creator of three of my favorite show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly, has a new show coming out in February? It is going to be called Dollhouse and is about a group of people that have their minds wiped regularly and imprinted with new memories for different reasons. It sounds a little weird, but Joss has been TV money in my mind. The show is going to air on Fox, and as usual with Joss' shows that fall out of the main stream, it is already getting the shaft. Fox has been moving the air date around and switching the day the show will run. It is almost they are shelving Dollhouse before it can get going, much like they did to Firefly. I LOVED Firely's short season, so I am DEFINATELY going to give Dollhouse a try. If nothing else, Eliza Dushku will be some nice eye candy. She was in Buffy and made some appearances in Angel. From the commercial I saw, it looks like when she gets her new memories, she is lying nekked on a table with little towels or something covering her naughty parts.

Hey Woody

If you read Woody's blog, you know he is not as excited about 24 as he has been in the past. I guess I can understand why. Last season was a memorable as a fart in the wind. I remember that Jack left the country. Other than that, I don't recall much of the show. 24: Redemption was pretty good, so I decided to DVR the new seacon of 24 for watching on my days off. So far, 24 has been pretty good. I am still amazed by the ease that Jack gets out of jams and gets the bad guys. I don't believe that this sort of thing could happen in real life. I know that there are soldiers that could kill me with a piece of paper if they put their mind to it, but I just can't think that one person could get himself into so many jams and come out alive. Oh well. That is why we have suspension of disbelief. Just because I can't truely believe in Jack living such a blessed life doesn't mean that I can't enjoy the plot twists and turns of the show 24. So Woody, don't be afraid of getting into 24. So far it is pretty good, and there is a hot red head by Jack's side through the first three or four hours.