What day is this?

It's Free Comic Book Day!

2009-05-02T09:44:00.002-04:00

As most of you already know today is Free Comic Book Day. If you're a fan or not, you should check it out. I plan to go to my favorite shop, Secret Headquarters, and get a few. Then I'll be seeing X-men Origins:Wolverine.

Earlier in the week the film was getting mixed reviews but as of yesterday, the reviews have gotten worse. I just block them out. Honestly the trailer has been kind of lackluster to me except for a few cool moments. Then again the Batman Begins trailer wasn't all the spectacular and that film ended up being awesome. I think a problem today is that film trailer pack to much of the good stuff from the movies, so when you end up seeing the film you get the "been there done that vibe".

I'm still excited about Wolverine, though. I loved the first two X-men films. The 3rd wasn't great but had a lot of cool little moments. I'm hoping for that with Wolverine as well. I like that some mutants that weren't used in the other films will get a chance to shine here. In particular Gambit and Deadpool. Two of my favorites. These two seem to be polarizing between long-time X fans. I'm not sure about Deadpool's following, I know that Gambit is either loved or hated.

I'm looking forward to see how they are in the film. So far the casting for both characters seem to be good. I've been a big fan of Ryan Reynolds since his Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place days. He's very funny and has proven to be able to handle action scenes (Blade Trinity and Smoking Aces). The combination of comedy and action is exactly what Deadpool is about.

Then there's Taylor Kitsch who plays Gambit. So far Kitsch's biggest role has been Tim Riggins from the Friday Night Lights TV series. Of all of the characters on the show (which I haven't watched since early in the show's second season) he was one of the best. The character is when I think of it very Gambit-esque. From the scenes I've seen, he looks like he was a good choice.

Finally, I might as well talk about the star of the show, Wolverine. A lot of comic readers feel like he is overexposed. He might be. For a while the character was in a lot of comics. I was among those who were tired of him. But you know what, he's a good character. He has that mysterious past factor going for him. He's also a bit of an outsider. He is a good guy but with an edge. His solo adventures are always fun. His stories with the X-men are great too. When he's teamed up with non-mutant heroes like Spider-man, well you're in for a treat. As far as the movies go, Hugh Jackman has really made this character his own. I can't think of another unknown actor who has taken a hugely popular character and just deliver an amazing performance. For that matter be able to carry an action movie of a popular franchise.

I've just psyched myself up. I'll be posting a review later.

Shock of the day

2009-04-22T00:30:00.002-04:00

Today was pretty normal except for one thing. I got a shock early this morning. My friend's sister's ex-boyfriend passed away recently. They had dated for a few months and just broken up about two weeks ago.

I don't know the details other than he had diabetes and was a pretty private person. Apparently he had some set backs in his health over the past week and hadn't really brought it up. My friend's sister went to check on him last night or this morning because no one had heard from him in a while. He didn't answer the door so she called the sheriff's department to open it up. I'm assuming she was still there when they found him. I can't remotely imagine what she's going through right now.

I met this guy about three weeks ago, briefly at a spring football game at FSU. I had no idea he had severe health problems. He was also 27, my age.

I have known people who've died before but it was always expected. I wouldn't say I "knew" this person but it was still a surprise.

My day has been good but every now and then my mind drifts to this young man and his family and my friend's sister. Apparently he was not real communicative with his family either.

I'm not going to go into the whole "life is short" or "make sure you tell your family you love them" speeches. We've heard that countless times. This is just the one event/story that has stuck with me today. It's given me quite a bit to think about and consider.

Cupcakes!

2009-04-20T19:36:00.003-04:00

At the end of the day my brother sends me a link to a place he wants to visit when we go to Chicago, Molly's Cupcakes. Looking at the menu throws a craving on me like no other for a cupcake. It was major.

I never think about it but I love cupcakes. Sure it's like a regular cake but better. It's really just the right amount and if you have one more you won't be considered a pig. At least I don't consider it to be an act of gluttony. Now if you went for a second piece of cake, forget about it.

I got off work right at five and headed straight for the one place I knew I could get an above average cupcake, The Cake Shop. I was under the gun here. They close at 5:30 and since I had downtown traffic I knew this was a close to impossible mission. With the windows rolled down and the music blaring I navigated my way through the bumper to bumper traffic. I made touchdown at exactly 5:25 p.m. I got my cupcake, well two.

Then I remembered I needed milk. So a quick stop at the grocery store and I had it. I told myself I should eat dinner first and then I could indulge. Well after getting dinner started, unloading the dishwasher, making a sandwich for tomorrow and talking to my brother on the phone, I had to have one. I did and it was breathtaking. As a result I didn't eat much of my spaghetti which is ok because I don't really like spaghetti. It's just something easy to make and there's usually enough for leftovers.

I was going to write about playing golf on Saturday. But who wants to hear about how I had a great time and still shot a 124? I'd rather hear the story about the guy who raced time and got a cupcake.

Quick hits

2009-04-16T18:54:00.002-04:00

I've slacked off on blogging. No particular reason. I have stuff to blog about just didn't feel like it. So here's some quick hits of what's been going on.

This Legislative Session has been weird. Not too many late nights. I've still been busy during the day. It also seems to be going by fast. It might be that everyone if focusing on the budget and not other issues.

I've been out to an actual club a few times now. It's not something I did in college. I have had some fun experiences and some not so fun experiences. Fun experience: random girl buying me a shot for no reason- twice! Not so fun experience: Driving two really drunk friends home. Both of who could barely walk straight and are twice my size. That was a new experience for them too.

I'm planning on taking a vacation to Chicago in May with my brother and his girlfriend. I'm looking forward to it. We've got our hotel and flight reservations already set.

I got excited about the Master's tournament this past weekend so I went to the driving range twice. I'm playing golf with some friends this Saturday.

Out of sheer boredom this week I made a twitter site. It's been fun though.

This weekend is the Tallahassee Film Festival. I plan to kill a lot of time there this weekend.

It's only Tuesday!

2009-02-17T22:21:00.002-05:00

Tuesday is typically a throw away day. But I'm having a great time. The work day was typical. I pulled my weight when I had to.

My friend called me to go have Mexican food for dinner. Which I was already thinking about. We tried a place that was under new ownership. It was good but just like every other Mexican place in town. Another friend met us there. It was good times.

We're back at my place just the one friend and I. I have to go to work tomorrow but I'm already drinking more than I should. I'm having a good time. We're watching Sideways which is about wine and an indie film but it's totally a guy movie. I relate to the main character, Miles. It feels like a Friday. But it's not. Anyways, I'm having fun. I'm also looking forward to work tomorrow. The one day of the week I should be there.

Get Lost!

2009-01-21T20:36:00.004-05:00

One of the best shows on television returns tonight. That's right, Lost is back. We get two hours of weirdness. Three if you count the recap special which I have on as background noise.

If you don't remember what's happened the past four seasons you can also read this recap: http://jgoat.blogspot.com/2009/01/lost-023-refresher-updated.html.

I'm No Gamer

2009-01-19T16:53:00.002-05:00

The past few days I've been playing some video games. Not many just a few. Let me start by saying that while I have been known to play until my brain turns to jelly and my thumbs go numb I am not what you call a video game expert.

I own a Wii and only 3 games, Guitar Hero 3, Guitar Hero World Tour and Wii Sports. Sadly I don't play as much as I like. I get distracted by other things. Plus I've beaten both Guitar Heroes and well those and the Wii sports are more fun to play with other people. Also as I get older I have to be in the mood to play. I'll get in a video game mood and play for about a week. After that I'm through.

This weekend I got the chance to play some games at my friend, Trey's house. He bought a used PS2 and has numerous games. Plus he has four controllers which means good times. Saturday I played Marvel Ultimate Alliance with Trey, his wife and their nephew. That was a lot of fun. I've been wanting to play that game for a long time now. It was cool that we got to each be a different hero with different abilities. Plus it has all sort of cool things right from the comics, that makes it even that much more fun for a geek like me. Sunday I went back over and played some Tekken Tag and Twisted Metal. Both were fun. I realized video games are more fun when you play with others. Usually people that are about as good as you are better. I've played with people who are experts and well the fun runs out quickly.

Last night at another friends house I played some Grand Theft Auto 4 which is fun and then I played Conan the Barbarian. I believe GTA was on PS3 and Conan was for Xbox 360. Conan isn't a great game but it's fun. It's pretty simple. All you do is hack people up and save half naked women. What's not to like? Also my friend was playing some rock music in the background that went well with the action. In particular Here I Go Again by White Snake and Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas are great Conan songs if you know anything about Conan.

Today I haven't done much. I rented Iron Man for my Wii. It's pretty cool and easy which is good for me. I'll probably play some more after I finish this post. There wasn't much of a point except to talk about my experience with video games.

Hump day

2009-01-14T20:49:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I last posted. I don't want to drop the ball on this thing like I did last time. I just haven't felt like blogging.

The past few weeks have really crept by. This week has gone by much quicker. At the Legislature we're at the end of a depressing special session (budget cuts). The committee I work for had a meeting today. It went surprisingly well. I'm always tired after committee meetings though. I think it's because I'm sitting around Senators who do whatever they want and the audience is mostly lobbyist who also do what they want so I have to be alert for an hour or two. Then I have to go back to my office and report out all of the details of the meeting, mostly data entry type stuff but it requires detail. Even after doing this for almost three years it's still exhausting.

After work I met my parents at Outback. It had been a while since I've been there. The last few times I've been it hadn't been great but tonight was good. Must've been because I was tired and hungry. I also had a Foster's beer for the first time. It was pretty good. Similar to a Miller or a Bud.

The rest of my week has been going ok. I've seen three good movies three days in a row. Sunday I watched Almost Famous. It had been a while since I've seen it. It's still one of my all time favorite movies. Monday I saw Slumdog Millionaire. That is a terrific film. It has such a great story to it. Last night I saw Gran Torino. That was excellent was well. It probably was one of my favorite Clint Eastwood films.

Good Eating

2009-01-06T19:13:00.001-05:00

My dinner was a success. Everything was delicious. The potato salad was a big surprise. The pesto worked perfectly on the steak. It looks like I might have a new go to dish.

There's a First Time for Everything

2009-01-05T23:19:00.002-05:00

Tonight I did something I've never done. I prepared a few things for tomorrow night's dinner. Instead of trying to do it all at once tomorrow I went ahead and took care of a few things.

First I made homemade pesto in my new food processor. That was actually fun. Then I got some potatoes boiling for a blue cheese potato salad I've been wanting to try. While the potatoes were cooking I cut up a sirloin steak and seasoned it with salt, pepper and the pesto. I plan to skewer the cubes I cut up and grill it tomorrow. I then mixed all of the ingredients for the potato salad and put it in the fridge to cool. All the flavors should come together overnight and give it a good taste, hopefully. Oh and before that I went to the store and bought all the ingredients I didn't already have at home. Tomorrow I also plan to cook some asparagus in my new grilling skillet.

Not sure if I'll do this again or not. I was pretty tired when I started around 9 p.m. and I'm more tired now.

The World is Yours

2009-01-04T12:30:00.004-05:00

Last night I watched the film Scarface. It was my second time seeing the film all the way through. The firs time was when I bought it in 2003. This is a film that has always been hyped up to me. As with the first viewing, I still feel the movie is overrated.

Unless something else comes along, The Godfather part 1 will always be the gangster film which I measure all other gangster films. Scarface has it's moments but it is no Godfather. Now I don't think it was ever intended to be the next Godfather, maybe it was. I didn't get that vibe.

The film to me is over the top in just about everything. As a result it is extremely dated. All of the music and clothing scream 80s. That's not a bad thing but it takes away from giving the film a timeless feel.

The acting is very over the top. Pacino overacts in every scene. Of course that is the essence of Tony Montana. He's an extreme person. Some scenes it works but others just feel silly. The best scenes to me were when Tony had a blank, glazed over look on his face. Those moments show the character is out of his element. He's either trying to process his situation or he's just not thinking about anything.

To me it's best to watch this movie as a time capsule. That is, view it as a slice of an extreme and extravagant lifestyle from a time period that has since passed. It's also a good study in greed and what it is capable of. That is what I believe has given this film a cult status. People seem to be fascinated by greed and this lifestyle of extravagance. And I suppose to some extent the story of an immigrant who achieves success by force has it's appeal as well.

While the film has it's moments and is by no means a bad movie, it doesn't work for me. The film has a long running time that just drags at times. It also feels choppy in progression. As I mentioned the flashiness of everything is distracting. I also feel some elements could have been explored more. Halfway through the film Tony sees a blimp that says "The World is Yours". This is after he takes over crime boss Frank's empire. It obviously has an impact on Tony. We see it again at the end of the film when Tony meets his fate. I think if we had seen that phrase in some form or fashion at the beginning of the film it would have given Tony a more clear goal we could follow. This showing up in the middle kind of felt like it came out of nowhere. This guy started with nothing and worked his way up. I think "the World is Yours" could have been a nice touch at the beginning of the film and then again in the middle after he's at full power then again at the end.

It will probably be a few more years before I see it again. Maybe my views on it will change or maybe not.

Productive Day

2009-01-02T23:14:00.003-05:00

I went to bed last night around 1 a.m. This morning I woke up at 7:30 a.m. on my day off and ran errands.

First I went to get an oil change. I really do not like doing that. I'm always afraid that there'll be something wrong with the car. And as most of you know getting cars fixed can be expensive. My car is still new, I've only had it a little over a year now. Fortunately there were no problems. I then went to my next stop.

Which was getting my tires rotated and balanced. I go to a different spot for this because I get free rotations and balancing, for life! That took a while but they had free coffee.

Finally, I got my car washed. That was it for the car. I then went to the store to get stuff for dinner and some band aides, because I don't have any. I had knocked a chunk of skin out of my pinkie the other day and since then I keep hitting it on stuff. The band aides protect it, a little bit.

I went to the comic shop today. Always a good time. Today I picked up; Avengers the Initiative, Secret Invasion Requiem, Green Lantern, Wolverine, Justice Society America, and a new series call Incognito (look for a write up for that series very soon).

The rest of the day was good. I took a nap. Went to the dry cleaner. Cooked dinner. Drank Tequila. Went to Barnes & Noble. Rented a game for the Wii, Spider-man: Web of Shadows.

I've spent the last few hours playing the game. It's ok. I like flicking the web remote and suddenly I'm swinging on spider webs. Very cool. It's probably one of the better Spider-man games I've played. It made me wish I was still getting the Spider-man comic. I dropped it over the Summer because I wasn't enjoying it, but apparently it's gotten better.

Another bit of news, I got through the career mode on Guitar Hero World Tour today! It's a fun game. The new multi player function makes for some good times. However this time around the developers went for quantity over quality. We have more features, more songs and more instruments. But the song selection is weak. There some good songs but they aren't necessarily fun to play. Some are too easy and other's are too hard. Still it's a quality game. I think Guitar Hero 3 is still the best of the series.

I have a bit of a dilemma. Well not really. I got a message via myspace from a friend who I went to elementary and middle school with. But I haven't seen in 10 years or maybe longer. I had found him on myspace 2 years ago and corresponded some. But that last time was two years ago. His message wished me a happy new year and said to look him up the next time I'm in Pensacola (my former home town). I said I would. I don't get back much because none of my family lives there any more.

Here's the dilemma. I'd like to see this guy and he still sees some of the people I went to elementary and middle school with. All of whom I haven't seen in 10 years. It'd be great. He didn't invite me per say to come this weekend. But I'm half tempted to drive over tomorrow, just for the night and see what happens. My brother has been going out with his girlfriend the past few nights and has plans with her again for tomorrow. the rest of my friends all already doing stuff and usually don't call me anyways. I tend to be the initiator for everything. I have to be out of the house tomorrow night anyways because my bro's gf is coming over for dinner. So why not do a road trip? I really don't know if it'd be worth it but then again I don't have anything better to do.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T02:01:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a happy new year. I just got finished hosting a party. It was a different group than who I'm used to hanging out with. There was plenty of booze and food to go around. All in all it was a good time.

Not much else happened today. I guess I mean yesterday since it's already 2 a.m. here! I got off work early. I cleaned the house up and finally watched the Big Lebowski. It was as great as I remembered. I always catch something new everytime I see it. Also it's one you can leave one and casually watch and enjoy pretty much any scene.

I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous 2009. I plan to keep blogging this time around. So add me to your blog role!

Also I decided I liked the look of my old blog so I went back to it.

Going with the Flow

2008-12-31T08:52:00.000-05:00

After reading some comments from last night's post I realized I came across at the end sounding like a drone. Well I'm a state employee so in a way I am a drone. :P But I was asked what kind of place would the world be if everyone went with the flow? Well a boring place.

I do believe that we should not always go with the flow. Bucking the system every now and then is a good thing. It gets people thinking about how things could be done differently. When I posted last night that you should go with the flow and not take life too seriously, I didn't mean to imply you should blindly walk through life.

With my job there's a lot of rule and procedures. I have to go with that flow because most of it is set in the statutes. We have a lot of deadlines and well most elected officials don't really follow those deadlines. There's rules in place for those occurences. It's a stressful situation at times. People tend to get stressed when this sort of thing comes up. What I do is just follow what guidelines are in place and guess what? It works out. The key is to stay calm which is difficult.

This is an example of when going with the flow works. Maybe going with the flow isn't the best description to use. Maybe rolling with it is better. Or riding it out to the end, perhaps?

As far as not taking things to seriously, I don't believe you should. I think you should hold dear the things that matter. Take things seriously that matter to you. But worrying over mundane thing is not the way to go. I've found in my short life that things usually work themselves out in the end. We usually learn a lesson on how to deal with similiar circumstances in the future.

I think we can learn something from the Dude, from Big Lebowski. But we don't want to be ultra complacent like him. I want to thank my two internet friends for bringing this issue to my attention. It made me think what I said through. And gave me the opportunity to write it all out. Which is what this blogging thing is all about.

New Look

2008-12-30T20:53:00.000-05:00

I've spent the last 45 minutes messing around with my blog look. I'm sporting lime green now with three of my favorite movie characters of all time at the top of the page. What does everybody think?

After spending an hour looking at Big Lebowski Pictures, I think I'm going to watch that movie. It's been a while since I've seen it. I remember when I first saw it. It was about 4 1/2 years ago maybe a longer. I ran into a guy the state agency I worked for did business with. He was visiting from Tampa and I randomly ran into him in a Borders bookstore and talked to him for a long time about books and movies. He was/is a cool guy. At that time he'd been a quadriplegic for about 10 years. He lead a successful life and was an all around good guy.

Anyways, he got talking to me about the Big Lebowski and how much he loved it. He recommended to me that I should see it. He was into philosophy and into looking at things in different ways. He felt the movie was a guide to life. Or at least had an example of how to approach life, and of course that means living like the Dude. We went our separate ways. I believe this was a Thursday. The next Monday he showed up at the office during the afternoon. He had spent the weekend in town. He had a gift for me. It was the Big Lebowski. He had a letter he wrote as well. It was offering some words of wisdom to me. I was entering my senior year of college and had just moved out of my parents' house. It was the typical letter people give kids that were in my situation. At the time it meant a lot to me. I don't remember what it says and I don't have it anymore. But I still have that movie.

I wonder from time to time what happened to that guy. About a year after that he wasn't working us anymore and someone else took his space. Last I heard which has been a while, he had hit some tough times. Needless to say, that night I went home and watched the movie and loved it. I can't say I agree that it's exactly how you should live your life. But I think we could all be like the Dude. Go with the flow and don't take life so seriously. Because just like in the movie most of what we think is a big deal turns out to not really be a big deal.

Does somebody have the case of the Monday's?

2008-12-29T21:56:00.000-05:00

Working through the holidays is a drag. There's not much going on and nobody is at work. It makes for an almost depressing atmosphere. The work day wasn't completely boring. I had several wrong numbers from people trying to find out what's wrong with their food stamps. I really don't like giving people the run around but I'm not the food stamp office. The main problem is that the state operator is giving out the wrong number. I've talked to the state operator 2 or 3 times but they insist that they do not give out the Senate committee's number out. Of course after I talk to them I get an influx of calls of people looking for food stamps or other types of assistance. Coincidence? I think not. But I do my best to help them. Plus it gives me something to do on slow days.

The rest of the days was fine. I got to leave early, always a plus. I had to check on my parents' house because their out of town. I got some laundry done and I've actually put it up too. It usually sits in my laundry basket for a week before I put it back up.

My brother went out tonight so I was on my own. I tried a new type of frozen burrito. Well, it's new to me. It was surprisingly delicious.

I then watched a movie titled, The Limey. As weird as this might sound I remember reading a review of the film back in 1999 when it came out and have wanted to see it ever since. It's an early film by Steven Soderbergh before he hit it big with Traffic, Erin Brokevich and Ocean's 11. It's a tale of revenge starring a cool as ice Terrance Stamp (the bad guy from Get Smart) as an ex-con trying to find the answers to his estranged daughter's death. Soderbergh used some interesting editing techniques in the film. Some worked some didn't. I enjoyed the film. It wasn't the best film I've ever seen but it had it's moments. Most notably Stamp's performance. That is one cool poster also.

I feel like blogging but don't know what to blog about

2008-12-28T15:53:00.000-05:00

The title sums it up. I haven't posted in a few days. I'd like to tell a funny story but nothing funny has really happened, yet.

I saw a few movies this weekend. Valkyrie starring a one-eyed Tom Cruise and The Spirit.

Valkyrie was actually pretty good. It was distracting that no one spoke in a German accent. The story itself was interesting. It was also intense throughout. The acting wasn't bad either.

The Spirit was not good. I still liked it, sort of. Pieces of this film worked but not all of them. It felt like I was watching a science experiment where there wasn't a set hypothesis to begin with and therefore there wasn't a clear result. But at least now I know what I'm going to be next Halloween.

In other new, I spent most of my Christmas money already. I bought a couple of shirts. I bought some comics out of the $1 bin at a local comic shop. I actually finished up the series, Way of the Rat. I had bought the first story arc a few weeks back and enjoyed it. So I went back and got the rest of the series. I'm looking forward to reading them. The shop didn't have all the issues. I'm still missing 3 or 4 but that'll give me something to look for for the next couple of years.

Christmas breakfast

2008-12-25T20:06:00.000-05:00

In my family we have a tradition. Every Christmas my mom has any family that happens to be in town over for breakfast and to open presents on Christmas morning. It's one we've done ever since I could remember. Well since my brother and I have our own house for the past two years we've asked if we could host it. The past two years we've gotten the same response, no. I feel my mom doesn't want once to encroach on her territory and also she didn't think we could pull it off.

This year all of a sudden she says we could do it. We didn't even ask this year. Later I found out that originally the only people in town this year would be my parents, my grandmother, and my brother. And me of course. So that's a much more manageable crowd. Well this week we got the added surprise that my aunt, uncle and cousin would be here as well. That's a little bit more. My brother and I were up to it. It's only eight people, no big deal. Well mom did what mom's do. Worry about it. I guess she worried that the house wouldn't be clean or we'd under cook the breakfast casserole. Who knows. And well I'm starting to think that my mom and grandma and to some extent my aunt thinks that my brother and I are perpetually 12 years old. Never mind we're in our mid-twenties have full-time jobs, pay a mortgage and other bills.

And after some nagging and seconding guess on her part Christmas morning came. And to her surprise we pulled it off. Everything was nice. The food tasted good. No one got sick. The house was clean-ish. It was a nice Christmas.

Another storyline from this Christmas was the present we got from my grandmother but that's a post for another time...

It's Tuesday

2008-12-23T19:46:00.000-05:00

Before I start I have an update on my co-worker who was in an accident this weekend. Her surgery went well and she's still in ICU. They are expecting to move her to a regular room either Wednesday or Thursday. She's apparently in good spirits though. However, she's got about 14 weeks of therapy ahead of her.

Today got off to a good start. I left my I.D. badge at home. I tried to sneak in the door behind someone but unfortunately I ran into a security guard who made me walk to the front entrance of the capitol in the cold. I set the metal detector off and had to have the wand waved over me. Great start.

The rest of the day was slow. I was busy first thing in the morning but things fell off after that. This is the calm before the storm. January is when it'll really pick up and by March we'll be starting session and keep going nonstop until May.

My boss let me go home at 3:30. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to tidy up the house. Then I posted my nominations for the 2008 Cappies. What's the Cappies you might ask? Well it's the annual comic book awards that the users on the message board I frequent, the Captain Comics Message Board, vote on annually. Maybe after the first of the year I'll post some of my favorite comic book moments from 2008 along with my favorite movies and some other stuff.

This evening I went to Bonefish with my family. The food was quite good. The company was well....It's the holiday I'll stay positive and leave it there.

Weekend wrap-up

2008-12-22T19:50:00.000-05:00

After my post last Friday I was in a pretty dark mood. I drove around town for a little while and ended up seeing a movie. Of all the movies to choose from I saw Let the Right One in. It's vampire film from Sweeden that told the story for young vampire love and by young I mean both 12 years old. It was actually really good and probably one of my top films of the year.

Saturday my brother and I did some Christmas shopping with my dad then had lunch with our parents. I spent the afternoon watching Wanted and then flipping channels and reading a few comics.

Saturday night we went to Carrabba's with a bunch of friends. It's an annual tradition. It was a lot of fun. There were some awkward moments such as running into our friend's soon to be ex-wife at the pool hall after dinner. But other than that it was fun. The night ended with a few of us going back to my house and watching the American classic, Jackass 2.

Sunday was an extremely lazy day. I played some football yesterday afternoon then ate at my parents.

Today was the kick-off to what will be a long week. Holiday weeks are always slow at work unless you work in retail. I also found out a woman at work (the cougar who kissed me on the cheek last week) was in a very bad car accident. Last I heard she was out of surgery and in ICU. But everything went well but it's going to be a long recovery.

Maybe I'll post some fun stuff this week.

I'm Back!!!

2008-12-19T20:05:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted. Almost a year. Let's see if I can catch everyone up on what's happened.

Well when I last left off I was thinking about asking out a young lady at work out. Well I did. We dated for 5 or 6 months. It was not what I thought it would be. Turned out she was a little bit of a psycho. Most of what she said was never true. Most of what she was a mystery with no rhyme or reason. I tried to let it fizzle out but that didn't work out. I finally dumped her over the phone after not talking to her for two weeks. She actually took it well. I also never told my parents that we were dating. She's not someone they would have approved of, at all. That's pretty low of me, I know and I should probably grow up, eventually. Anyways she didn't go into the military like she said she was. She got another phantom leg injury which sidelined her the first time. Apparently she's unofficially engaged to a guy she's been dating since the summer. I broke up with her in June. Needless to say she got over me, quick. I just found that out this week. Just the tip of the ice berg of what was a weird week but more on that later.

That might have been the biggest development of the year for me. Well it was at least new territory. I went on my annual camping trip with my friends and our old history teacher. It was a blast. We met some girls from Dothan, Alabama. Hilarity ensued. I funneled a beer or two. A girl fell into the fire and bounced out unharmed. We learned a new drinking game. I smoked my first cigarette well first ten actually. Then told my brother about it which made him decide he wanted to smoke. Now he's hooked. I'm a great brother.

Work was mostly a drag. I didn't take any time off during the summer. I did take a week off in October to do some stuff around the house. Next time I take off I'm going somewhere.

My boss took a promotion and now I have a new boss. She started this week. It's been a smooth transition for the most part but still kind of weird.

I also bought a Wii and have played a lot of Guitar Hero. I can't really remember anything else of importance.

Which brings me to the weird week.

First of all it dragged on and on. I feel like today should be Saturday.
I find out my ex is engaged.
Then my brother is more or less dating a girl I've been friends with for 10 years. Who I've been trying to date for years. It was obvious that we were just friends but I kept trying to convince myself there was more. My brother has had less luck than I have in the romance department than I have. So I'm happy for him. But he's being secretive about it. I also know this girl well so I don't know if she views whatever they're doing as "dating". So I'm worried about him. I still feel weirded out by the whole thing.
I met up with a friend I've known for 6 years. There's never been any sort of talk of romance or even an attraction. Her and I are just friends who meet up every few months and talk movies. This time after a few beers at my place she got a little touchy and started with some kissing. It was a side I never seen before. Not wanting either of us to regret anything in the morning I threw up the boundaries. I'm not sure we'll be meeting up anytime soon.
This wasn't a weird moment but a cougar (not the animal) laid a huge kiss on my cheek at work. It felt pretty good and I was able to brag about it to another co-worker who likes to talk about the stupid emails he sends back-and-forth with her. Top that buddy. I realize that was probably not appropriate.

I also realize I'm probably coming off as a jerk in the post. I think I'm in a turning point in my life. It's getting to the point where I think I need to move on. I'm not sure if I should think about going back to school or trying to find a new job or move out of town or state. Or a combination of those options. It'll be tough to pull off in this economy but I'm sure something might work out.

That's it for me. I'll be posting more often. I'll do the typical update stuff and maybe post some comic reviews.

But Honestly

2008-01-21T21:09:00.000-05:00

The long weekend was good, but not long enough. I hit the road on Saturday with my bro to Pensacola, FL. Our mission was to see my favorite rock band ever, the Foo Fighters. The other thing that made this trip interesting was that we used to live in Pensacola for 16 years in fact. But we moved 10 years ago. We used to back quite offten but it's been a while.

We arrived Saturday after surviving the rotten weather on the interstate. We checked in our hotel which was conviently located across the street from where the concert was. We then ventured around town for a bit before dinner. We hit a surf shop that we visited when we lived there. It was actually a different location from the one where we frequented. I remember them having more surf boards and less skateboards. What we discovered was that while there was some new buildings here and there it looked exactly the same. We drove by a school we used to go to. It was the same except that they put dugouts on their baseball field.

We ate a catfish resteraunt that we liked growing up. Still good. We tried to go to the mall but it was closed for an event. We tried to see a movie but the theater that was located in the mall parking lot was long gone. We found another one nearby though. For the record, Rave Theaters are very nice and they need to build on in Tallahassee. We saw Cloverfield, good flick.

Sunday we did more driving around. This time we went to the school we went to for 8 or so years. We also drove by our old house and both sets of grandparents' house. It was weird seeing all of it. It was a big part of our lives but now it seems so distant.

I might as well skip the weird trip down memory lane. Let's discuss the concert. I can honestly say this is probably the best concert I've ever seen. I had a notion that the Foo Fighters would put on a good show and they did. They rocked it out but also played their accoustic stuff as well. It was just a complete show. The opening acts, Against Me and Jimmy Eat World were both really good too. It was actually our fourth time seeing Jimmy Eat World.

The Foo Fighters were great. I sang along to every song. They put some different twists on the songs. They threw in some guitar solos and drum solos here and there. There was also this cat walk that went from the main stage and through the crowd on the floor. The lead singer would walk out on it now and then. Then during the middle of their set he picked up an accoustic guitar and walked down the cat walk. In front of him a smaller stage lowered from the ceiling. The rest of the band followed. There were already intruements and microphones there. This is were they played their accoustic set. The finished off the accoustic set with a great version of my favorite Foo song, Everlong. After a few more songs they went off stage but came back on and played a 3 song encore.

All in all it was a good weekend.

Ping it!

2008-01-10T22:24:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned that I as well as my brother, got a ping pong table for Christmas. I figured we asked for it at some point. I have never been good at ping pong. Mostly because my hand-eye coordination is awful and I'm slightly clumsy.

My roommate set up the ping pong table on Monday. I've been playing some. We were just hitting it back and forth. Then we tried a game or two. I wasn't too good. Last night I went out drinking so I didn't play.

Tonight while my roommate went for a jog I went out to the garage. I was wearing my ipod. I folded one of the sides of the table up and then let that @#$(%* ball have it. I was slightly frustrated by stuff going on. Some of it is stuff I mentioned in an earlier post. It's all my fault. Well I started to finally get the hang of it. My roommie got back and came in the garage holding a paddle. So we hit back and forth. He could tell I had improved. Then we played a game. Actually two. He still beat me. It wasn't as bad. I still suck, no question about it. But even though ping pong is rather intense I am relaxed by it.

My brother mention to my roommate he was sorry that he had to play with me. It probably wasn't much fun, he said. I think my brother will be in for a surprise when he comes home Friday night.

Work and other stuff

2008-01-07T20:24:00.000-05:00

This will just be random stuff tonight. I apologize for not posting more recently. I've had writer's block, sort of.

So I've been back to work for a week now. It's still hard to be motivated after being off for a week and a half at Christmas. We're busy this week so I guess I have no choice. All I can think about is going to the Foo Fighters concert next weekend in Pensacola. That will be awesome.

I'm thinking about asking out this girl at work. I've almost convinced myself to do it. I'm not good at that sort of thing (asking girls out). I think I'll do it. I usually chicken out. We'll see what happens.

My roommates back. He was gone for almost a month but he's back now. He cleaned up the garage and set up the ping pong table so that rules. I tried it out. I suck and need a lot of practice. I thanked him by taking him to dinner at Cabo's. It's a local resteraunt. It was delicous.

Good Night and Good Luck.

Comic Reviews for the last week of December!!

2008-01-02T22:13:00.000-05:00

So we're in 2008 now but I still have a few comics from 2007 that still need some reviewing. This is also the end of the weekly comic reviews. Starting this month I'll be getting my comics once a month, maybe every other week. We'll see. So at either the beginning or end of the month I'll do a monthly review. Also as a special treat all of the comics I read were good and none will get less than a 3 star review.

Avengers the Initiative #8: This is one of my favorite titles right now. It's also one of the best new series of 2007. For those of you not in the know this series is about the training camp for all government registered super heroes in the Marvel Universe. For the first 7, actually 8 if you count the annual we've seen lies and more lies from the "heroes" running this training facility. Most of the recruits aren't too good either. However, this issue is when everything is starting to fall apart. How? We don't know yet. All we know is that long time hero, scientist and wife beater Hank Pym aka Yellow Jacket running for his life at microscopic size through all sorts of death and destruction. We see a flash back of sorts of the beginning of the initiative up to a week before the begining of the issue. The issue ends with Yellow Jacket staring up at the reason of the mayhem. Who is it? I don't know. It's some crazy looking guy with KIA engraved on his chest. I could go on and on about this series. THe writer, Dan Slott, does a great job of adding more and more charcters to this series with each issue. Some old some new. He gives each one a distinct voice and you never feel like you're missing anything. The unique art by Stefano Caselli is a nice touch that completes this series. ****

X-men #206: This is chapter nine of the Messiah CompleX. This story will end in January after four more chapters. The X-men are still in a pickle. Some have died, some are wounded, some are lost. This issue ends with a possible betrayal by Bishop who had not been seen in this story as of yet. Of course we won't know if he has betrayed his team untill the next issue. But the last page with Bishop standing over the bodies of Cable and Forge with a gleam in his eye holding a smoking guns signs are pointing to traitor. ****

Giant Size Avengers #1: This is an big comic with little odds and ends stories from the various periods in the Avengers' long history. The stories are being shared by three current Avngers' members; The Wasp, Ms. Marvel, and the Black Widow. All three who are in bikinis most of the time. The various stories are all light and fun. Probably the best of the lot involves Spider-man getting a crash course in what it means to be an Avenger by Captain America and Iron Man. This issue also has reprints of some classic Avengers stories as well. ***1/2

Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps: Secret Files #1: After the few months of the Sinestro Corps story in the pages of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps we get this comic filling us in on all the characters invovled with Green Lantern. I usually pass these issue that tell you about characters and fill you in on other things associated with a particular character. However there are tons of artists involved with this issue. So each character is drawn by a different person. They also get a quick blurb so you're not reading a whole page about some random alien with a green lantern ring. There is also a comic about Morro, the crypt keeper for the Green Lanterns, in the middle of the issue. It's an enjoyable read for anyone wanting to keep up with Green Lantern after reading the Sinestro Corps story. ****

Green Lantern #26: This week was a Green Lantern double whammy. We follow several Lanterns dealing with the after shock of the Sinestro war. We also see the beginnings of the Guardians of the Galaxy's newest project, the Alpha Lanterns. Geoff Johns does a great job with keeping the title interesting. Artist Mike McKone is a great replacement for previous artist, Ivan Reiss. ***1/2

Countdown #18: After months and months, Ray Palmer has been found! One main story of this series was the search for Ray Palmer, the Atom. Ray has been missing since issue 7 of Idenity Crisis in 2005. He is aparantly the only one who can stop the Great Disaster from happening. What is the Great Disaster? We don't know exactly. But the Atom is the only one who can stop it. This issue we see where Ray has been this whole time. We get a great little character piece on an already intersting character. This is one of the first payoffs of Countdown. Here's to hoping that they continue. ****

Book of the Week

Amazing Spider-man #545: I never thought I would enjoy the last chapter of One More Day. What has been a whiney, angst ridden chapter of Spider-man's history finally is over. So is apparently is the marriage of Peter Parker & Mary Jane. They sold their marriage to Mephisto, a devil, to save the life of Aunt May who was shot by a sniper gunning for Peter. While I don't like this in the least this issue was good. It had some emotional depth. It also sets up for a promising chapter in the life of Peter Parker. He's single again, Aunt May is alive and nobody knows he's Spider-man. Also he and everyone else doesn't know that he was ever married to Mary Jane. I think a lot of people think that this is the new status quo for Spider-man. It is, for now. This month starts Brand New Day. There will only be one Spider-man title, Amazing Spider-man, and it will ship 3 times a month. Each month features a different creative team. If you want my opinion, I think it will be great. I also think that something will happen after about a year and everything will go back to the way it was. This issue also marks the end of writer, J. Michael Strazynsenki's long run on Amazing Spider-man. He's been on the series since 2001. *****

Look out for next month when I do my monthly reviews. I'll throw in some graphic novel reviews and maybe some reviews of older comics.

Well gang that's it, for now.

I'm baaaaaaaaaack

2008-01-01T19:06:00.000-05:00

After a weekend with the family, I have returned. Unfortunately I have to go back to work tomorrow. Oh well, such is life.

I had a fairly decent time in Savannah with my family this weekend. Savannah's a neat place. There's a lot of history and the town is kept up pretty nice. The buildings in the historic section are pretty cool. There's also a lot of town squares with statutes. We ate at some good places as well. Including Lady & Sons which is owned by Paula Deen of Food Network fame. It was pretty good southern cooking. The best place had to be Uncle Bubba's which is owned by Paula's brother, Bubba. It's seafood and boy was it good.

The downer was the fact I went with my parents. Not saying this to be mean or anything. Well, a little bit. I haven't been on vacation with them in a few years. I've been on my own for a while now so I got use to doing my own thing on my own time. Plus my mom still thinks my brother and I are twelve. It was just little things like having to wait for them to catch up. It wasn't horrible just annoying.

New Year's eve in Jacksonville with my Aunt's family was eh. My cousin is just annoying. He's 13 but acts like he's 6. His parents really don't do much to correct him so he runs the show. I'm usually a nervous wreck after I leave there. We did eat at a Japenese steak house that was quite good. Those places are always fun.

I might post some comic reviews later tonight. I read some pretty good comics while on vacation. So you have something to look forward to. I also hope everyone had a good New Years.

This is it....for now.

2007-12-28T00:27:00.000-05:00

This will be my last post for a while. Well, just the weekend. I'll be on my trip to Savannah then to Jacksonville with my family. I won't be near a computer so I'll update when I get back. I'm sure I'll have one or two or ten stories to share. I'll be getting new comics tomorrow so I'll have reviews as well.

Today, I saw the Kite Runner. It was a pretty good film but did not have the same impact on me as the book did. If you have not read the Kite Runner, I recommend it. It's one of the best books I have ever read.

I also sat around my house today. I usually like to go places but figured I would only spend money so I stayed put. It was pretty boring.

One of my friends came over for dinner. We watched some TV. I introduced him to Army of Darkness. Well, it was the last 15 minutes. But 15 minutes of that movies is better than nothing. We saw a rerun of My Name is Earl. It was actually really, really funny.

Then we shot some pool. I really suck at pool. But it was still fun. He's hit a rough patch in his life right now so it was good to talk. We've all hit rough patches in our lives before. I hit one two years ago when I didn't have a job for 3 months. I was pretty depressed. I mentioned that to him. Apparently, I hid it well because I showed no signs of depression.

Then we rented Curb Your Enthusiasm which I have never seen. I've only watched two episodes but it's hilarious. Blockbuster only has season 3 but it's ok. The Blockbuster I go to doesn't have a lot of things that maybe they should have like Goodfellas. That's a story for another time.

Friends and other musings

2007-12-26T22:57:00.000-05:00

I ran into an old friend today. It's a weird thing when you run into old friends. This was someone who was one of my first friends when I moved to Tallahassee. After high school graduation I would see this person around the community college we went to. We remained pretty good friends. I still consider this person a friend, I suppose. We lost contact after I went to FSU and he went off somewhere else. He was at the bookstore today. I said hi. We spoke for a few moments about what we were doing with our lives. Then I went off one way and he went the other. It was a strange experience. I guess that's what happens though. We build friendships then life happens, we move on to another stage and build new friendships.

Recently I've run into people I went to high school with. It feels like I just graduated from high school. I should have more to say to these people. But it's been 6 years almost 7.

This is about as deep as I'll get for now.

In other news, I bought the new Killers cd today. It's pretty good for an album that is full of b-sides and cover songs. I also bought two books today as well. We'll see if I read them. I got the Road by Cormac McCarthy and The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. I also went back to the comic shop today to dig through the 3 for $1 bin. I got 30 X-men comics this time to bulk up my X-men collection. The owner was having a half off sale on his regular back issues. So I got some Amazing Spider-man issues. So I got 37 comics for $20, not too shabby. I also believe that I purchased my oldest comic to-date. Amazing Spider-man #204 from 1980.

It's Christmas!

2007-12-25T14:13:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is having a great day today. I sure am. Well, right now I have a headache and I'm kind of tired. Other than that everything is dandy.

Actually, I've been great ever since I got off of work on Friday. I'll be off untill January 2nd. I'm looking forward to it. I've got some stuff I have to do though, like clean up my garage to make way for my brother and mine's new ping pong table. It was our big present from my parents this year. I'm looking forward to some pinging and ponging soon.

The weekend was good. I took my cousin to see National Treasure 2 which was fun. Saturday night we went to Carraba's with some friends. That was a lot of fun. Carraba's is always a fun place to go with a group. Also Saturday my brother and I went a little crazy at the comic book store. The owner had bought a collection from someone earlier in the week and put all of it in his 3 for a $1 bin. My brother doesn't buy single issues but saw that there was a whole lot of Cable (he's an X-men character) comics so he got all of them. I always look for anything Spider-man and there were about 30 of those so I grabbed them.

We also did some shopping with my dad for Christmas. I can't think of everything we did. It was just a good weekend. We did see Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox story. That was really funny. I tried raw oysters for the first time yesterday. Good stuff. I don't like oysters any other way but they are good raw.

Christmas today was good. I got a good haul. But Christmas isn't about getting is it? I gave a pretty good haul too. We had breakfast and opened gifts at my parents' this morning. The hung out for a while. My brother has to go back to Ocala this afternoon and I might go to a movie tonight. Who knows.

Comic Reviews for week of 12/17/07

2007-12-21T19:19:00.000-05:00

What If? Civil War : Most of us know the outcome of Marvel's Super Hero Civil War. If you don't, the pro-registration side won. What we get in this issue is two possible scenerios of what could have happened. It's pretty much by the numbers and boring. In my opinion Marvel took the best route with Civil War. I was hoping for something a little more exciting. There were two covers available, I got the cooler one with Iron Man in red, white and blue armor. We find that it's really Captain America. Word to the wise, skip this one. *

Justice League of America #16: I honestly have no idea what this issue was about. I think it's a fill in before the next story arc. I think it sets elements for a story in the future. The art was good. JLA has been dissapointing. When the new writer, Dwayne McDuffie, took over the series showed some promise but after the first story arc went out with a wimper I've lost hope again. There's a back-up story in here which is always a nice treat. It's a Christmas tale featuring Red Arrow. It was just ok. I would have like to have seen a Christmas story featuring the entire team. **1/2

Countdown #19: This series overall is mediocre. Hopefully, it will have counted down to something worthwile. This series also has it's ups and downs. This issue was actually good. Even though it focused some of the more boring stories it was still good. All of the scenes with Jimmy Olsen were great, even the ending with him making out with the hot bug alien girl. A bonus is the two page villain origin stories. This week's was the Scarecrow. ***

Metamorpho Year One #6 of 6: After 6 issues we finally have the conclusion to the origin of Metamorpho the element man. I was hoping for a little more from this. Basically we get our hero accepting who he is reluctantly. He also rejects an offer to join the Justice League. Which was interesting. What this did was make me want some more Metamorpho adventures. This series did a good job exploring the character. Next time I would like to see something like Metamorpho on a long adventure instead of run ins with different 2nd rate villains and trying to find a cure for his condition. ***

Marvel Holiday Special: This Marvel Holiday Special featured 3 Christmas themed stories. The feature story was the best. In all honesty it was silly but still fun. It starred Wolverine and Spider-man fighting a disgruntled mall santa who found a Sentinel. The banter between Wolverine and Spider-man was hilarious and the ending was excellent. The other two stories featured much lesser known Marvel characters and were forgetable. However, there was a scene in the last story about the meaning of Christmas featuring the Silver Surfer I found pretty funny. ***1/2

Book of the Week

New X-men 45: This is chapter 8 of the Messiah CompleX cross over. This X-men crossover has yet to dissapoint me. Each part moves a decent pace and is easy to follow. This week features a battle between The new X-force team and Lady Deathstrike and her minions. The battle is pretty brutal. There's some good character moments here. The X-men regroup after the attack on the mansion and prepare to go into battle. Cyclops is emerging as the main character here. He hasn't seen much action yet but by the end of this I'm sure he will. *****

Well that's it. It was kind of a lack luster week for me. Next week we'll have the conclusion to the Spider-man event "One More Day" and my favorite Avengers the Initiative.

Cry of the Beta(s)

2007-12-20T20:45:00.000-05:00

I bought a new beta fish for my office this week. He's red and his name is Flash. Before Flash was Speck. Before Speck was Pete. Before Pete was Ninja. Before Ninja was the fish with no name. That's five beta fish all purchased between 2004-2007. So as you can see I don't have the best of luck with these things.

First off betas are intersting creatures. They come when you tap on the glass. They also swim around and show off their fins and pretty colors. So they are kind of neat. Why do I keep buying these things? We'll get to that.

The first fish was purchased after I moved into my first apartment. I could never think of a name for him. He died three weeks later from mysterious causes.

The next was purchased a year later. His name was Ninja. Why? My psychotic cousin named him. Ninja was pretty good but he died four weeks later. Actually he kicked it the day before my friend Trey got married. Was this a bad omen? Not yet.

The next one was purchased a few years later. His name was Pete and he came in a vase with a Peace Lilly. It was when I started my current job. Things were going well untill I changed his water. I dumped out most of the water and then filled the vase back up with Pete in there. I forgot he was in there and for some reason thought I was washing dishes. So I used hot water. Pete was freaking out. He was spazing and his gills looked like they were going to burst. I forgot what I did but he survived. Then a few weeks later some books knocked the vase over and it shattered. I rescued Pete and put him in my coffee mug with some water. Well, third time's a charm. I cleaned his bowl out and put him back in there. I apparantly put too much water in there because it went up to were the plant was in the vase. It cut off the air. So he drowned.

I then bought Speck. Who was a crown fin beta. He lasted a while. All Summer in fact. Then Tuesday I was cleaning out his bowl. I poured the water in the sink. I was going to catch him in the cup I keep him in when I clean the bowl. Well, Speck swam a little quicker than usual and before I could catch him, he went down the drain.

Now I have Flash. How long will he live? Place your bets now.

Why do I keep trying with these? I obviously have no business taking care of a live creature. A friend recently observed that I like the fish and it amuses me. But I realize it's replaceable if anything were to happen to it. So I can always get another. If I were to get any other sort of animal that took more care and provided more companionship, I probably couldn't handle it if it died. Or something like that. So a fish has something to do with my deep seeded commentment issues? I doubt it.

I'm going to do my best to keep Flash living. If he dies. Well, I'll buy a new one. You might not want me to pet sit.

But I'm sure I would be a good father if I ever have kids.

I got an owie!

2007-12-19T13:49:00.000-05:00

I had already posted this morning about my upcoming day. Well, not all of it has happened yet. This morning in the hallway at work a coworker had brought her children to work and they were doing cartwheels for some other coworkers to see. I had just dropped something off and was returning to my office when I was asked to demonstrate my version of a cartwheel. I don't usually back away from a challenge so I did a cartwheel. I pretty bad one. I landed on my butt and my head went to the side. Actually, my head smacked on the corner of a wall.

It jarred me for a second and got up. I looked at everyone. Their mouths were all opened. I said I was fine but then was told I wasn't because I was bleeding. Fortunatley I was next to the men's room and walked in and washed it off. I had a gash on the side of my forehead. I then went to the clinic where they cleaned it up and told me to go to the doctor so they could check it out. Great, I had to leave and sit in a doctor's office for a long time and then get stitches. Plus the whole incident is slightly embarassing.

The doctor's visit went fine. I was only there about and a hour and a half. And no stitches! They used some glue stuff to seal up the wound. I had to get a Tetnis shot though. I think I'll have a bruise from that . So, it's been an eventful day so far. This tops yesterday's incident of murdering my fish, which is for another time. I did get some sympathy points from some of the ladies on the hall. Some even came up to the clinic to check on me. So I've got that going for me.

What day is this, really?

2007-12-19T07:17:00.000-05:00

In the middle of a slow week, I wish it was Friday already. But it's only Wednesday. I have sort of a big day. At work a group of us "adopted" a needy family for Christmas. Basically we got a list and each of us bought a few things from the list. It's stuff that family needed/want. It was mostly things for the children (they have 4). Today I have to deliver the gifts to a person with another agency that set us up with the family. That should be good. Now we just have to see if a bicycle can fit in the trunk of my Jetta.

Even though it's slow there's some work stuff that has to be done. However, with where I work there's a lot of hurry up and wait. So right now I'm waiting. Tonight I'm meeting a friend for coffee. It's someone I knew in community college. We took two photography classes together. We have gone to talking to each other about every two months and it's always about movies/music or pop culture in general. She called me Sunday and I suggested meeting since It's been a while since we've seen eachother. That'll be good too.

Oh, and comics come out today! I'll have reviews up this week. Don't worry it's a shorter list this time.

It's off to work now.

Updates

2007-12-17T20:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I've got a few updates from a few previous posts.

Update 1:
I thought I had fixed the problem with the lights. I was wrong. Wednesday night they went out again. I think it just wasn't meant to be. That's ok though. The neighborhood has enough lights up to make up for ours.

Update 2:
I had posted previously that I was going to Savannah, GA with my family after Christmas. Well now it appears we will be spending New Years with my aunt's family in Jacksonville. Yippee. I'm glad my mom checked with me first to make sure I didn't already have plans. (note sarchasm). I'll get over it.

Update 3:
I'm still sore from football. I also discovered some scratches on my forearm. I'm not sure how I got them.

It's been a week since I started this blog. So far so good. I've gotten a few good comments from people. That's a good sign. I forgot how addictive blogging actually is. I'm having a good time doing this. I hope everyone is enjoying it.

Any Given Sunday

2007-12-16T21:40:00.000-05:00

Ok, this is not a review of the awful Al Pacino/Cameron Diaz film. But it is about football.

My buddies and I got together to play football this afternoon. After a December that has been in the mid 70s to low 80s we decide to play when it's 54 degrees out side. But that's ok, all the running around will warm you up, right?

If you ever want to feel old and out of shape play football with a bunch of kids who are in high school. It's what I do. I still had a few catches and one touchdown. So it wasn't too bad of a day. Actually it was a great day. I always love getting the chance to play some football. I'm pretty horrible but I was not blessed with athletic ability. I guess I will just have to settle for being good looking. Seriously, getting to be outside and running around for a few hours is great. Sure, I'll feel it for the next few days. I'll probably have trouble walking. But it's worth it. Maybe when I'm 40 it won't be worth it but right now it's ok.

We are actually thinking of joining a city league next fall. It will be lot's of fun. Most likely we will all be killed. I have a feeling the people who play are ex college football stars. We'll see if it pans out. I'm good to go. We just have to find a few others committed to the cause.

Next week we'll be out there again. Maybe the weather will be slightly warmer. It could happen. After all this is Florida.

Quick thoughts for Saturday

2007-12-15T23:14:00.000-05:00

I Am Legend is a decent flick. Check it out if you don't have anything better to do.

The Dark Knight is going to be awesome. Heath Ledger makes a great Joker.

The mall is crazy during the holiday season and you have to be psychotic to even go there (I was there today, case-in-point).

Rum with mojito mix is not the same as the real thing.

I am not ready for kids.

Reign Over Me is too melodramatic for an Adam Sandler movie.

Anytime you can get a large pizza for less than $8, it's a good thing.

Buying gifts for people for people who need it gives me a warm feeling inside that a shot Jack Daniels does not provide.

I always find it funny when I finally meet a coworker's spouse.

My foot is falling asleep.

I think I'll have a beer.

Comic Reviews for the week of 12/10/07

2007-12-15T01:14:00.000-05:00

From time-to-time (translated every week) I'll post reviews of comics. I get a few new ones every week. I think it's important that you know who I feel about them. I'll also do movie reviews if I see one that's worth reviewing. I might review other things like books, TV shows, cds and candy bars, you know cool stuff.

This week was a big week for comics, well for me anyways. I'll be reviewing 9 comics so bear with me. Maybe tomorrow we'll discuss import stuff like my life. (All this sarchasm is just a front, I really have no self esteem.) The rating system will be a *. The best will be five * and the worst of course is one *.

Countdown #20: Countdown is a weekly series and is described as the "spine" of the DC universe for this year. Basically it follows mostly 2nd or 3rd string characters through a year and touches on major events happening in the DC universe. I honestly can't remember what happened in this issue. Probably not a good sign. Most of the stories are coming along now. **

Astounding Wolf-man #4: This is by the creator of Invincible which is probably the best super hero comic being published today. Wolf-man is almost the same concept as Invincible. However, after four issues nothing has really been resolved. The fact I can't remember the main character's real name is a sign. There's been no character development. We seem to be getting the same scenerio each issue. It always ends with a cliff hanger but they always seem to be the same. **

Booster Gold #5: This is a great super hero title. This series follows Booster Gold, the jack @$$ of the DC universe. Little does every one know, Booster is actually the greatest hero ever. Each issue Booster, his Robot Skeets, and Time Master Rip Hunter travel through the timeline and fix errors. Booster is the reason that most of the big time heros are still around. Sure he isn't the brightest bulb but he gets the job done. This issue Booster goes back in time to save Batgirl from being crippled by the Joker. He fails. He tries again. He fails. And so. It was a lesson. The incident was supposed to happen and it wasn't supposed to be corrected. All Booster wants to do is go back in time and save his best friend, The Blue Beetle, from being murdered. This lesson was to prove to our hero that some things were destined to happen. However, the last page may prove to be different. This was a fun issue. Well, this is a fun series. ****

Ultimate Iron Man 2 #1: After almost 2 years we finally have the sequel to the origin of Ultimate Iron Man. For those of you who don't know, Ultimate is a line from Marvel Comics. It's a "re-imagining" of all of the Marvel Heroes to fit with the 21st century. This issue picks up right where the first series left off. This issue got the series off to a good start. The artist is new to the title but his style fits. We see a young Tony Stark and his friend, Jim Rhodes, suit up in their armor and go on a mission for the government to kill a terrorist cell. However, the government believes they are borrowing two robots. This was a good issue. It continues the mysterious from the first series. Hopefully after four issues there will be some resolution. ***1/2

Green Arrow & Black Canary #3: This issues we get an explanation of sort about Green Arrows kidnapping and faked death by the Amazons. After the resce mission is successful we are left with a major cliffhanger. This series so far has been ok at best. It has it's moments of fun. Writer, Judd Winnick has a good handle on the title characters. The art by Cliff Chiang is the perfect fit. As a result gives this issue ***

X-Factor #26 (Messiah CompleX chapter 7): The seventh chapter of the Messiah CompleX crosser is here. After years of not following X-men comics, I picked up the Messiah CompleX. This has been an exciting crossover that's covered in 4 different X-men titles. Each chapter is written and drawn by that title's regular creative time. The result is great story that moves seamlessly from chapter to chapter. A few years ago an event cut the world's mutant population down to 198, after a few deaths it's even less than that. The mutants now they're dying out. This is where Messiah CompleX comes in. A baby has been born, a mutant baby. The race is on between the good mutants, the bad mutants and the humans who want all mutants dead to get to the baby first. This issue has the x-men assessing the damage after an attack on the mansion. Wolverine and his new X-force team are on the trail of the baby. This issue was good and keeps developling the story and a break neck pace. However, you never feel like you're missing something. The highlight is Cyclops putting Professor X (who's been revealed over the past years to be a manipulative ....) in his place. ****

Ion #1: This is a one-shot tying into the Green Lantern crossover, the Sinestro Corps. This is a one-shot issue about the new bearer of the Ion enity, which is were the Green Lantern rings get their power from (I think this is correct). After some great one-shots involving the Sinestro Coprs, this is a let down. It's not completly horrible, the character development and interaction is good. The art is sloppy. I also found myself skimming this one too. **1/2

Green Lantern Corps #19: This takes place after the end of the Sinestro Corps arc that was taking place in the Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps and various one-shot tie-ins. This issue focuses on what the Green Lantern Corps does after the war with the Sinestro Corps. It also sets up the next story. Mostly good character development. ***

Book of the Week:
Green Lantern #25: After many months of the Sinestro Corps, the war is over. I was slightly peeved that this issue was $4.99. But it turned out to be totally worth it. I don't think I've ever read a more satisfying ending in a comic book as I did in this issue. After starting out the crossover full throttle this issue keeps it going. After having their butts handed to them, the Green Lantern Corps comes through, especially the four earth lanterns. This issue has nothing but action, yet there are great character moments. While this war is over, there is a lot left that there is more to come. Geoff Johns, is probably one of the best super hero writers out there. He really delivers with this story. I was out of breath after I read this issue. The art by Ivan Reiss is great, he does a lot of splash pages in this one. All are great. Probably, the best is the splash revealing the prophecy of a bunch of different lantern corps battling. *****

There you have it.

Road Trip?

2007-12-12T22:58:00.000-05:00

After Christmas I'm going with my family to Savannah, GA for a weekend. It should be fun. However, my dad came up with the crazy idea of going on a road trip to California. We'd have to leave the weekend before Christmas if we wanted to get the most of it since it will take a while to get out there. I am really all for this. The downside is my brother couldn't go because of his work schedule and my mom wouldn't be interested in doing this. Oh, and we would miss Christmas at home and subsequently be shot for doing so when we return. It might be worth it though....

What I do

2007-12-12T01:08:00.000-05:00

I could write about a lot of stuff. I could tell you all about my day at work. But we don't have the time. I also don't want the suicide rate in the country to go up either. I could go on and on about someone who's been getting on my nerves lately but I won't. I'll pretend that if I ignore them they'll go away.

Actually, I will talk about work. I won't go on about my day. Instead I'll just tell you what it is that I do. In case you're curious. I know you're not, just humor me, ok?

I work for the Florida Legislature. To be more specific I work for the Florida Senate. To be even more specific I work for a standing committee within the Florida Senate. I'm what they call an administrative assistant or to use the slang, I'm an A.A. (cool, right?)

Before a bill his passed into law it goes to a committee or more. A committee is made up of about 8 Senators or Representatives depending on what chamber you're in. They meet and hear the bills. THen they vote to pass the bill out. Sometimes they tack amendments on the bill changing it completley or just correcting a drafting error. The bill then goes to another committee or two and finally to the floor where it is voted on by the entire Senate or House then it goes over to the other chamber and is voted on . Then the governor signs it into law. But you know the gist of that from 8th grade civics class right?

Back to the committee. Each committee has a staff. What the staff does is analyze all of the bills that come through. Each committee office has a Staff Director, a few analysts (some of which are attorneys) an A.A., and during session a temporary assistant/receptionist. The staff analyzes each bill for any errors and implications that it might have. There's more to it but I would be doing it a disservice if I tried to explain it.

Let's get to the good stuff. What does a Committee A.A. do? Well I do the typical stuff like ordering from Office Depot and making the copies. But I'm also the office manager. I also have to know the process and the ins and outs of the Legislature. There's a lot of procedures on pretty much everything we do. Maybe the coolest thing, (well I think it's cool) is I get to call the roll for attendance and the votes during each committee meeting. The A.A. is the only staff person who can talk during the meeting that's not a member (that's what we call the Senators/Representatives). I do other stuff like draft amendments on bills and supervise the session assistant. Oh, the other thing. All the A.A.'s in the Senate are middle aged women. I'm the only guy. So how did I get this gig? Well, that's another story for another time. But I do like my job. It's fast paced most of the time. I like to think that it's important. Will I do it for that rest of my life? No. Of course I still haven't decided what I'll do for the rest of my life. Anyways, that's what I do. I do more than what I said, it's just past my bed time. You also got a crash course in state government. There's probably more to that too, or maybe not.

I promise something more entertaining tomorrow. Wednesday is comic book day after all. So maybe my blog will be something about that.

Blown Fuse

2007-12-10T20:51:00.000-05:00

Christmas is a time for joy and other happy type things. It is also a time for some not so happy things also. You all know what I'm talking about. Hanging up the lights. How can something that seems so simple take hours. It also makes you say words that would make a sailor blush.

Saturday morning started out good. I went to the car dealership to get floor mats for my new car. As fate would have it they ordered the wrong ones. So I bought breakfast from McDonalds. When I got home my brother already had the brand new extension ladder out hanging the lights. We got the lights up around the front of the house with little problems. We used the lights from last year thinking they would be fine. We got to the end and opened a box we bought last year to finish off the row. We tested them, all was well. However after everything was plugged in nothing happened.

How could a unused straind of lights not work? Well we unplugged the new straind and plugged the extension cord into the the older lights. They all worked. So we went out for the afternoon and on our way home bought a new box of lights to finish the house off. We put it up. Everything was fine. Then it wasn't. I tried to convince my brother that maybe it was just too much and we should use two extension cords so the lights won't blow a fuse. He wouldn't hear it because he thought the lights weren't pulling that much power. He's in the construction biz so of course he should know.

Well, Sunday we buy more lights. The first set work, at first. Then they don't. My dad came over to see if he could figure it out. We put a new fuse in the lights. Then they worked. We unplugged the extension cord and plugged it back in. They still work. Mission accomplished.

My brother left and went back to Ocala to work yesterday afternoon. That night I plugged the lights in. Everything was fine. Thirty minutes later I went out side and the lights were out. Another blown fuse. So tonight after work I came home. I replaced the fuse again. Then unhooked the lights in a central location. I used one extension cord on half, everything was fine. Then balancing on the porch rail I plugged in another extension cord. Everything worked. At last. I wonder if the neighbors have those problems? They all put their lights up the day after Thanksgiving and all look like the house from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. You think they'd have problems. But no, just the two kids in their twenties with the dinky icicle lights have a crappy luck when it comes to the lights. Or maybe we're just idiots. Oh well, tis the season.

I guess I better go unplugg the lights for the night now.

Let's do this thing.

2007-12-09T22:14:00.000-05:00

Hello! I have this friend. He just started a blog a few weeks ago and has been bugging me to do one. I hope he's happy. Truth is, I was into blogging a few years ago. It was part of a writing assignment in college a few years back. I enjoyed it and actually kept it up for about two years. One thing lead to another and I ran out of stuff to write about. After almost two years of blog silence, I'm back.

My previous blog still exists. I actually was just going to continue that. However, I was unable to log in. I tried the only three passwords I ever use and none of them worked. Oh well I might as well start fresh and this seems like a good place to do it.

I haven't quite decided what the "theme" of this blog will be. It most likely will be whatever comes to my mind. How original, right? Some days might be about work, or my brother, or my roommate, or my love life. Oh wait scratch the last one, I don't have a love life. Most of the times it might be about a movie I've. I'm pretty shallow and don't really like talking about anything serious. It's a problem I'm working. Hopefully, I won't bore you.