You're going to hit me again, aren't you?

Yes. Yes I am, J.J.

EDIT: I had the YouTube video embeded here to play right off the site, but because the < EMBED > tag doesn't require a closing tag and Blogspot requires it to show the video, there's a conflict and it wont' display. So instead, here's a link to what was supposed to be playing right now. how very anticlimatic.

Check out some of the other great promos like Mr. Chapel's Rules of Etiquette

Next phase is complete

I mentioned in the previous post that the backyard will be in 3 phases. We completed phase 2 this last weekend just in time for it to cool down outside and us get sick. Blech!

Still, we're thrilled with how it turned out and i thought i'd post a picture. So, here you go:


by the way, if the above picture of the pictures in the previous post don't show up or all you see is a small gray box, you should be albe to right click in the box and click 'view picture' and it'll show you. The pics show sometimes and sometimes they don't.

There is a 3rd phase, but that won't happen this year. Who knows. After this, we're ready to quit spending money on home improvements.

Late Summer updates

after what seems like a year long summer, things are finally getting back to a settled state. work is chugging along nicely and the weather finally broke. we've received a good amount of rain in the last few days of which we were in dire need. the grass is turning green again and the dogs are out frolicking and digging their way out of the back yard. i don't know whether i'd mentioned this in an earlier post, but Bullitt, the puppy has taken to digging holes all over the yard. she's a puppy and she's bored and she's an impatient and very smart breed which all adds to the digging. she's dug her way out of the back yard a half dozen times. if we're at the house, it's funny to look out the front window and see your puppy sitting under the tree in the front yard. what's not funny is receiving a call from a neighbor to tell us that she's sitting in the front yard and we have to leave work to go get her. because of this, my wife and i have been beating our heads over how to keep the little shithead in the back yard. in our attempt to do so and make what used to be a nice grassy area (which is now a mudpit full of potholes), we've started landscaping the backyard. the backyard renovation will be in three phases and we've finished phase 1.

Here's a before picture:



and here's an after picture:


The after picture is still a little incomplete. We've got the red stone running around the beds on both sides and we're going to have to buy another dozen bags of white pebble to fill in the walkway a little more. And we've discovered a few things during this transition. Texas ground is rocky and full of clay and junk. We also uncovered unbroken glass bottles, crushed beer cans, the tail light to a 57 ford and a ton of rock and cement.

i wasn't thrilled about finding out that my house was a dumping ground for the builders, but i've heard of this happening before, so i wasn't really surprised. The other thing i learned, was that flagstone is heavy. I personally moved 2200 lbs of flagstone from the bed of my truck to the backyard. That's well over a ton of rock. a ton.
We've also lined that entire area with black plastic to keep anything from growing up thru and also with chicken wire to keep Bullitt from digging down in. Phase 2 of this is in the area directly to the left and behind the pics which we're turning into a sitting area with a bench and the rest of the flagstone and pebble, complete with a fountain and some nicely potted plants or trees. Phase 3 includes a path at the other end of the above picture that leads up under the tree in the yard with yet more flagstone and another seating area (we like to sit a lot) under the tree. Once it's done, it'll look great. Until then, Bullitt will continue to eat white pebbles and track mud into our house.

On another fun note, our water heater is about done. We're having to get a new one installed. Too much sediment and 11 years of work = time to replace. The idea of the tankless heater was cool, but cost of install doesn't seem to outweigh a normal heater and gas bills just yet. And i've discovered that our insurance doesn't cover a tankless, along with all the additional parts they nickel and dime you to death with. Maybe on the next house.

I mentioned in a previous post about going back to church. I made the mistake, one sunday morning, of asking the pastor about their website. I was trying to find some information and he jokingly said, 'why, do you design them?'. I made the mistake of answering. So, after almost two months of work, Narrow Trail Cowboy Church has a new webstie. I've got to quit doing this to myself.

Aside from that, school goes well for both my wife and son. She likes it. He doesn't. I tried my hand again at world of warcraft and it lasted for about a week. I got really bored with it. A buddy of mine suggested i join them in Everquest 2. This, I'm really enjoying. The game is just like WoW, but not so cartoony and a more advanced gameplay. It looks like it could last me for a while. I know that NWN is being released this month, which i know i'll want to play.

I'm starting to catch the new fall tv shows and i'm digging most of what i'm seeing. Blade ended well for a summer show and now i'm looking forward to some new shows (Standoff, Kidnapped) and some old stand-bys (Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Prison Break, 24, etc).

I've got my hands full.

$12, 540.00

This looks like a lot of money. And it is.

for a motherboard.

fer fuck's sake, they want twelve grand for my motherboard. not mine specifically, but a replacement of mine. i've had issues for the last three months of my box freezing and then not rebooting because it wasn't finding an OS. i yank off the case door and discovered that the connections from my SATA drives are coming loose at the mobo. this freaked me out at first, but after it started happening once a week, it just started pissing me off.

so i head out to Frys and CompUSA and find out that the pinset this board supports isn't made any longer.

i built this box less than a year ago.

so i head back out to newegg.com where i bought all the pieces to build the box with and find out that every mobo of this pinset is out of stock. the companies don't make them any longer and thus, don't support them.

i built this box less than a year ago.

i found one listing of it on amazon, used...

$12, 540

Who the hell are you?

I'm the guy that's gonna save yer ass...

This was the role Henry Rollins was made for.

Feast

The boys are back in town

Yes, I'm talking about God's team, but no, I'm not talking about the Dallas Cowboys. I'm referring to the MacManus brothers. Norman Reedus was recently interviewd by the Suicide Girls about the future of the Boondock Saints and Norman has confirmed that there will be a new movie and most of the cast of the previous movie will be back. Troy Duffy has rewritten the script and Norman claims it's great. Read on!

Edit: The above link is to a post that reported on the original interview which was done by Suicide Girls. The interview is worth checking out on SG as Norman not only gives more juicy tidbits about the second Saints film, but some good information on a few other recent films he's done.

Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?

Any self respecting movie geek will recognize this quote.

But you'll get to hear this quote again in new form when Eidos releases the game version of Resevoir Dogs late this october. Madsen has lent his likeness and voice (and he doesn't sound happy that he was the only one returning to do so), but it looks to be a GTA like game to freely run around and recreate the bank heist at your own will. Gamespot has the first trailer for the game and an interview with the man himself right here.

Look, i ordered coffee. Now we've been here a long fucking time and she's only filled my cup three times. When i order coffee, i want it filled six times.

Fight Science

On Sunday night, we caught a new show on the National Geographic channel called Fight Science. The purpose of this show is to take the best fighters in the world and scientifically measure the true power and strength of their actions. The fighters included boxing, jiu jitsu, ninjitsu, karate as well as another half dozen fighting styles and most weapon styles that these fighters use.

Using crash test dummies hooked up to computers, the scientists were able to measure the true strength and power that a fighter made upon impact with the dummy. Now, the movies make this look bad and very inaccurate, but the fighters were able to hit and kick with full force and the outcome made us shudder. For instance, one of the fighters that specialized in Muay Thai fighting measured one of the sport's main impact hits, a thigh to the chest. This was by far, the hardest hitting impact which was the equivalent of a car crash at 35 mph. Think about that.

They also spent the second half of the two hour show on weapons, their impact and how efficient they are. This included weapons like swords, shuriken and nunchuks.

We sat wide eyed for two hours like kids in a candy shop while the scientific results were produced proving that the human body is the most complex weapon ever created.

Catch this show at its next viewing.

IT HAS BEGUN!

Shang Tsung said it, but it's been rolling through my head all morning.

queue tecno music and KMFDM

I doubt Shang was referring to the 4th grade, but in our case, the fight to top all begins next monday. The short kid gets to finally do something other than sleep in until 1PM and play Tribes until midnight. Man, do i remember the lazy days of summer. If I'm lucky, I get to be lazy for about 20 minutes on sunday afternoon around 4 until it's time to mow the yard or start prepping dinner. But knowing school is beginning means getting everyone back on a normal schedule. Sleeping, working, eating, whatever which is a relief for me.

To top that off, my wife has gone back to college, full time. She's also working full time and trying to manage me, the boy and two dogs on top of that. She's pretty worn thin by the end of the day, but she's excited. In four short years, she'll get her degree in theology. It's bad enought that she's head and shoulders smarter than me, but now she'll have proof of it. Thus far, she's read Genesis and I've actually learned things about this book, from her, that i'd never have known. Like, did you know that God's name was Bert? Bert Rodgers, III

What if God was one of us has more truth to it than we all thought...

And did you also know that the NIV version of the bible, the better translated, minus all the "thee" and "thou" stuff actually shows that Bert did, indeed, create his team, the Dallas Cowboys, on the 7th day. And there was much rejoicing!

I know i'm going to hell, but i might as well have fun on the flight there. And i figure going back to church on a regular basis could at least shave off a couple of years till my execution. So yeah, i've been going to church now for a month. In a bar.

I'll let that sink in for a minute.

We're moving along nicely in Titan Quest. Finally got the wife's PC problems fixed and she can play for more than 30 seconds at a time without rebooting. I've also fallen off the wagon after 5 months and reactivated my WoW account. I logged on last night for 5 minutes and was lost. In a fairy wonderland that made me cry. I don't know that i'll have it in me to continue playing, but time will tell. It felt very foreign to me. I've also been playing some old school Tribes with my son a lot lately. He's the junkie right now, playing 19 hours a day, peeing in his cup and eating old danishes he found in the desk drawer. I'm so proud.

And, i've received a job to rebuild an old website. Like before, for a church, but this time, one i'm actually attending. I'm not going to bother trying to explain what a cowboy church is and yes, i know i'm not a cowboy, nor do i like country music, but i like this place. And more importantly, my wife likes it. It's giving us both something we feel has been missing for a long time, so we'll continue until we're asked to put on white gowns, drink red kool-aid and board the mothership.

But i doubt it'll come to that. Most of the guys in the congregation are probably packing anyway and don't look like they'd put up with much shit, so i don't think we've got anything to worry about.

the Inferno, with a twist

Dante's Inferno always has been my favorite book. The ability of a man to write a book over 600 years ago that still intrigues and mystifies us amazes me. I read this book almost yearly and find the description, tortures and Dante's knowledge of the political, economic and religious climate at the time, astounding. And i always wondered if there was a chance to make a movie of this book, it would be equally astounding, if done correctly. Well, i don't know if this qualifies as astounding, but it's being done...

...with marionettes.

Dante’s guide through Hell is the mullet sporting Roman poet Virgil, leading him through Homeland Security, sewage filled rivers, hellish hot tubs, grisly gated communities, and Satanic car dealerships. They meet masses of condemned souls, who’s punishments vary from dancing to techno for eternity, to getting repeatedly chewed up and spit out by Lucifer himself.

Check out the information and pictues of what's being done here.

later gator, cont.

as an addendum to the links below, i want to add one other show.

Battlestar Gallactica [ miniseries, season 1, season 2.o ] - we just watched the miniseries last night and were blown away by it. after years of being disappointed by most of what SciFi has put out, this was a rude awakening. and by rude, i mean bitchin. I've not seen season's 1 or 2, but if it's even a bit as good as the miniseries, you'll love it. and i've heard the seasons are even better. the new cylons rawk!

later gator

for my brother that's headed out on a long trip, you mentioned that you were looking for some movies and TV to watch. Here's a handful of em.

• Firefly - The Complete Series - [ link ] - i guarantee you'll like this one. Make sure to get the 'complete' series to get the added stuff about the show that's worth watching.
• Serenity - [ link ] - movie from the above show. We saw this before embarking on the tv show and this movie is the reason why. If you look around, you can usually find a double pack to get the movie and tv show in one buy.
• 24 - [ season 1, season 2, season 3, season 4, season 5 (hasn't been released yet) ] - i really can't say enough good stuff about this show. Watch the first few episodes and you'll be hooked forever. It's not necessary to watch the seasons in order, but they throw in references from past seasons that make it more enjoyable to watch if you do watch them in order. Let the man crush ensue!
• Lost - [ season 1, season 2 ] - not sure if you ever watched this. It's an acquired taste, but it's easy to get hooked into it. Hey, even Mamma Dee loves the show!
• Alias - [ season 1, season 2, season 3 ] - i think Garner is sexy and you will too after seeing her in some of the outfits she dawns in the first three seasons. There are a total of five seasons, but season's four and five blew. Great action, awesome music and sexay chicks! Oh, and it'll give new meaning to Back in Black...
• The Shield - [ all seasons ] - i know you've seen it, but you don't get a better cop drama than this one.
• Millennium - [ season 1, season 2, season 3 ] - you know how i feel about this series. quite possibly, my all time favorite series ever. Chris Carter and Lance Henrickson are gods!
• The X-Files - [ all seasons, Fight the Future ] - don't bother with seasons 7-9 after Duchovny left. There's maybe half a dozen decent episodes in those 3 season together. I know most relate total geekdom and alien conspiracy quaks with this show, but again, Chris Carter has never done anything better (ok, other than Millennium). Solid stories, phenomenal acting and after a while, you do get drawn into the conspiracy. If you like the show, you'll really dig the movie. And Gillian Anderson demands personal me time.

I linked all of this to Amazon. If you do a little bit of searching, you can usually find all of this stuff used and in top condition for half the price of a brand new copy. Check ebay as well, but make sure you look at the Region number on them before buying. If you take a DVD player over with you, you'll be watching Region 1. Also, if you decide to check out the X-Files dvds, there are two versions of them. One of them runs you about $90 a season, the other about $35 a season. The difference is the cheaper ones don't include the extras, they're just the episodes.

I'll leave you with that for now. it should tide you over for quite a while.

good luck and be safe.

it's that time of the year again

i made a joke in a previous comment about being able to set my watch by my allergies. once a year, my head goes into fits and i go into sneezing fits, snot parties and long, sleepless nights. that issue has been somewhat amended by my daily intake of loratadine. so looking for something else to set my clock by, i stumbled across a listing of local summertime concerts that replaced my drug usage.

Without fail, every summer, Dave Matthews visits our little town and puts on his yearly concert and rakes in the cash. Before you think i'm just bitching cause it's that time of the month, i'll tell you that i saw Mr. Matthews in concert about 4 years ago. I was dating one of his fans and i ended up at the concert to appease her need to prove that Dave was the best musician and concert putter-onner that ever existed. I've never cared for Dave's music and seeing him live didn't change that opinion.

I'm just wondering when these slack-jawed, pot-smoking, hemp-wearing kids are gonna catch on that they've got a ticket for the same concert from 1992-2006. Dave obviously knows what he's doing. He puts out an album every couple of years and most of the time, it's not even new material. Every second or third release is new. In between, it's a new concert album that replays the same stuff, different order than his previous release.

i guess i don't really have an issue, per se, here. I'm just shaking my head and rolling my eyes when i see concert tickets go on sale for his annual concert.

Pure genius or utter insanity?

I think it's a toss-up, depending on your perspective or just your love/hate feeling towards Faith No More, but Mike Patton, genius or loon, made an impact on the rock scene in the early 90s. The group wasn't fully appreciated until long after it's demise and Mike's gone on to bigger and other things, but it's hard not to appreciate a group who brought you songs like the radio friendly, Epic, the mocking and enjoyable We Care A Lot and the ever wonderful Midlife Crisis. Not to mention, who else would take the strangely cool candy bar commercial and incorporate it into their set?

Raiders of the Lost Memories

Anyone who knows me knows that Raiders will always be my favorite movie of all time. it beats all else, but rumors of an impending 4th movie has been floating around the internet for well over 5 years. Ford is getting to old to do anything but play his own dad and now there's rumor that the 4th movie will feature Natalie Portman as Indy's daughter, thought by many to be his love child with Marion (on that i'll fated night on Katanga's ship). Karen Allen was at a recent showing of Raiders up in NYC and was asked about the franchise. She was quoted as saying that Lucas and Speilberg had put together a reunion of past characters including Marion. She was later seen taking a big bag of cash, offstage...

As much as i love these films, i think the world is a better place without some half-assed, long-put-together script and bad excuse for a movie just so Lucas/Speilberg can gold plate their toilet paper rolls. They quit caring years ago and that's evident if you've seen a star wars movie in the last decade or Speilberg's last. . . well, i guess he hasn't done anything lately.

Give it a rest and let Indy die a peaceful death. But if you're up for some amusing comments and backlash, check out this post over at Ain't it Cool about the Portman rumor. It's nice to know i'm not the only one who thinks this is a load of crap.