The Innocence of Youth, My Butt...

 
For a little bit of contrast, this is Garrett circa March 2005. Oh, he looks cute, but that was before the corrupting influence of the housecoat and bubblebaths.
 

Eat Your Heart Out, Hugh Hefner

 
Garrett got a new housecoat around Christmas and today was the first day he tried it out. I think he likes it just a BIT too much. He refused to put a top on and muttered something about wanting a pipe.
 

3 Seconds Later The Brainfreeze Hit

 
Need I say more?
 

Does this count as child labour?

Heaven help us. He's learning to multitask.

 

Oh, Me So Tired

I did some quick calculations on how much I worked last week.
From Monday afternoon last week to Monday morning of this week, I worked 69 or so hours.

Bleh.

I had to do 2 night awakes in there too. Yesterday was not a great day for me. At least I had yesterday off from 7am onwards and have today and tomorrow to rest up. I don't think I'll be doing any more night awakes for a little while though. If I didn't have to look after Garrett it would be much more realistic to do the overnights. As it is, I have to try to squeeze in a bit of sleep during his naps and he's not napping much lately.

Gyroid Invasion

Saw this over on VGCats and I am prone to believe it is true. I have far too many gyroids in my little house in Animal Crossing.

Seafood Cake: Live

Anyone remember that great old PS1 game, Parrappa The Rappa?

This guy has done a live version of the Cheap Cheap Cooking Song with a back-up band and everything. It's actually quite cool. Unfortunately, I'm going to have that song stuck in my brain for a week now.

Speaking of games, I finally finished Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. It's a fantastic little game for the DS. I'm not sure what genre you'd put it under. It's a lawyer simulation but it is one of the most delightful little games I've played in some time. Given that it was originally written in Japanese, I have to give some huge kudos to the localization team. The game is almost entirely text based but it has some of the best writing in a game that I have ever seen. The wordplay and crazy verbal gymnastics are great for a linguiphile like me.

Granted, Phoenix Wright is to the legal system what Guitar Hero is to playing in a rock band. But it's a lot of fun.

Oh, I watched The Aristocrats last night. My lord, what a foul movie. It's funny, but unless you have a high tolerance for some of the most depraved things to ever come out of a comedian's mouth, stay FAR, FAR away. As a study of language and shock value, it's amazing.

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What I'm Reading: A bunch of graphic novels, The Complete History Of The Avengers, The Traveller
What I'm Playing: Dragon Quest 8, Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time
What I'm Watching: The Aristocrats, Transporter 2

Weekly Wisdumb: Supplemental

To follow up with my rule from the other day, I ask this question.

Why is it that things that will end up taking a good hour and a half to two hours to deal with always have to start happening about half an hour before the end of your shift?

Sigh. I just got home about 20 minutes ago. I should have been home just after 11pm. Blarg.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-chaaaanges

I'm trying to decide whether to use a new template for ye olde Blog or not.

What say you, noble reader?

Here are a few options.

Number One

Number Two

Number Three

Number Four

Number Five

Drop a line if you like or hate any of those. I personally like the crazy japanese ones, but I'm not sold yet.

Why? Because you asked.

It has come to my attention that several of my faithful readers (both of you) have been wondering if I've taken a blow to the head or have otherwise succumbed to a serious injury due to my lack of commentary on the election campaign and ensuing shenanigans.

Chalk it up to being busy at work, busy chasing after Garrett and spending what free time I have playing the snot out of my DS. Those are about the only excuses I can give for my lack of bile at the goofy stuff that has been going around during the campaign.

Actually, come to think of it, it hasn't really been that crazy of a campaign. We're essentially seeing a repeat of the election we had in 2004 only we have a bit of a track record for Layton and Harper.

Rather than give myself a nice case of carpal tunnel syndrome yammering about what everyone has done wrong and who has done things right (read a newspaper/website/magazine for that), I'm going to give my predictions for tomorrow. And I will do it as though I'm reading from a holy text.

Lo, the Spigot doth proclaimeth thusly.

"Verily, the Conservatives shall rise to power. Yea, they may seem poised to topple the mighty Liberalites, but the power of the Mustachioed One doth splitteth the votes strategically. Minor though their power is, the ascendant Conservatives shall rule the land in a fist made of iron and beef and coated henceforth in the oil of a thousand dead dinosaurs. The Mustachioed One shall wield his power to keep the Conservatives in check, thus balancing the oppositional forces of the fallen Liberalites.

In the distance, a Bloc doth wimper for aid but they hath found themselves on the far side of a vast separation.

And the Greens still won't have a seat in parliament."

So sayeth the Spig.

Yeah, so in plain english:

A minority Conservative government, Liberal opposition and NDP holds the balance of power. The Bloc just does its usual dance and the Greens will come close to electing an MP but still won't take a seat.

If (God help us all) the Conservatives do win a majority, I wouldn't be surprised to see a Liberal defeat much akin to the 1993 election that saw the PC's move from a majority government to about 3 seats. I doubt it will be THAT bad, as Toronto will still be a pretty heavy Liberal stronghold, but if they take a bad turn, it will probably leave most of them out in the cold.

I just doubt it will happen. I think that most Canadians want the Liberals out but don't want the Conservatives in a majority position.

Weekly Wisdumb: The Beginenninging.

In what will hopefully be a long-lived and much maligned tradition, I have decided that Sunday's will be a great time to start the week off with a little tip or observation to help everyone through their day.

Weekly Wisdumb - Week 1

Cool Garrett Says:

Never state aloud the following words at the beginning of a shift,

"Boy, it sure seems quiet around here today."

Only heartache and misery will ensue.

---
What I'm Reading: The Traveller
What I'm Playing: Phoenix Wright, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Dragon Quest 8
What I'm Watching: Serenity, Dracula 2000 (ew)


 

WWCND?

I found a pretty funny site today that contains all sorts of Chuck Norris facts.

For instance, did you know:

Thousands of years ago Chuck Norris came across a bear. It was so terrified that it fled north into the arctic. It was also so terrified that all of its decendents now have white hair.

Chuck Norris uses a night light. Not because Chuck Norris is afraid of the dark, but the dark is afraid of Chuck Norris.

or my personal favourite:

Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.
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What I'm Reading: The Traveller (very cool), Uncle Sam (graphic novel), Attack of the Bacon Robots (Woo! Portable Penny Arcade!)
What I'm Playing: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (What kind of lawyer lets a parrot testify in court?)
What I'm Watching: My Name Is Earl, The National, The Colbert Report

Get A Haircut And Get A Real Job!

(Scroll down a few posts to start the story)

 
Suddenly Garrett woke up, realized that this was all just a CRAZY dream and changed the channel.

 
Much to his chagrin, Garrett realized too late that Ren Faires don't run in the winter. He had been hoodwinked again by his old nemesis, The Pink-Hatted Vixen. She had ensnared him in her web of lies and now had enough snowballs to menace the neighbourhood paper delivery boys whenever they came within range. 

 
Rather than try to explain to his parents about why he lost his job, Garrett decided to run away and join the local Renaissance Faire as a snowball maker and stall mucker. 

 
Don't worry. Nothing was injured except his pride and the pristine safety record held at the Lumberjack Consortium. ISO 9001, my eye!
 

 
Unfortunately, Garrett was sent home before he could even start chopping down trees due to the horrible accident on the way TO the job site.
 

 
Garrett got started on his way to the job site with the help of his friendly pack-mule.
 

 
Unfortunately, seeing how as Garrett hadn't started working yet and had no money, he had to sell his left boot to afford the sled. He was heard mumbling something about soap dishes, paper clips and rubber duckies as he left...

 
Of course, no self-respecting Lumberjack is ready for a day out in the bush without a sled to haul logs on. 

 
After 18 months of freeloading, we decided it was time that Garrett started paying his share of the costs around here. We got him kitted out at the local "Lumberjacks R Us" store and sent him on his way. 

Hooray for Unexpected Amazon Deliveries!

This was kind of unexpected. I've had Attack Of The Bacon Robots on pre-order for about 6 months now. I got home today and in the doorway was a package from Amazon containing:

 
+


The Serenity RPG manual. Woo! Talk about a belated geeky Christmas present to me.

Of course, Julie was annoyed because I'd given her part of her birthday present on Monday and the second part isn't going to be around until late February and here I am getting unexpected books from the sky. Ah well. 

Gamer Widows

Here's a great counterpoint to Evil Avatar.

Gamer Widows.

It's a forum for those people (un)lucky enough to be married to (or dating) someone like me.

Thanks to Codeboy for the linky.

Happy Birthday To Julie!

Yup. It's Julie's birthday. Huzzah!

Now to go and see if Julie will get a pie in the face with her free dessert!

When Teleprompters Go Bad

Did anyone else catch the unravelling of Kevin Newman on tonight's Global National newscast? About 3 stories in, something obviously was happening between the teleprompter that Kevin was reading, the blather going into his earpiece and the miscellaneous bits of paper he kept shuffling around on his desk. He must have spent 5 minutes trying to sort out the confusion, all the while attempting to keep his professional demeanour. The looks of death he was shooting at the poor folk in the control room were priceless.

He also actually addressed the control room ON THE AIR, which I've never seen happen on any newscast, ever.

Ah, ya gotta love live TV.

Must replace sparkplugs in brain

I don't know what it is, but I really haven't been firing on all cylinders since Christmas. I thought I was just tired after a really crazy December at work, but now we're on week 3 of January and I still don't feel 'in the groove', so to speak.

Heck, you've probably noticed the lack of posts lately. I just haven't felt the urge to blog, which is scary. I'm not sick and I'm not even tired. Heck, I've been heading to bed before midnight most nights lately.

Ah ha! It's probably something to do with the wierd pseudo-spring we're having right now. That's what's causing my extended bout of lethargy. That, or Garrett's just wearing me out now that he seems to have given up his afternoon nap.

I guess I have been pretty busy at work too. My supposed days off have seen me working more than not. I don't know.

Anyway, enough belly-aching from me. I'm off to see if I can survive a scheduled bout of freezing rain on my drive to Kitchener to teach a course about driver improvement, which will be followed by my return trek through yucky weather. I hate freezing rain, almost as much as I hate zombie pirate monkies.

Oh, and I'd better see if I can remember the curriculum I'm teaching today. It's only been, what, a year or so since I taught my last course. Not that the stats have changed SINCE 2001!!!

Sigh.

Anyway, I'm going to try to update my blog a bit more. I think I've been using up my daily allotment of words over on the Evil Avatar boards. I've got to cut back on daily game news and discussion with strangers!
---
What I'm Reading: Just finished V For Vendetta, The Monstrous Regiment
What I'm Playing: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Dragon Quest 8
What I'm Watching: 24!!! And a movie about Hitler

beep beep beep beep

Too funny for words...

Has everyone seen this? It's too funny.

The Best Blonde Joke In The World

Purdy Pictures

Check out the CGI Spectacular for some sweet CGI artwork.

That is all. Gotta go curse the Football Gods for running late on the day that 24 is supposed to start.

Looks like Nanites

Did you watch Lost tonight?

If you did, keep reading. Spoilers abound!



Given the confrontation between Eko and the security system, I'm making my prediction today that the Dharma Initiative was involved in nanotech research and that the security system is some kind of cloud of nanites.

Though how a cloud of nanites could pull a person like they did with Locke is a mystery to me. They'd be more likely to just devour a body and leave nothing behind except more nanites.

I'm sure it's why I'm home and not feeling very well

Whatever you do, DO NOT get the Bacon Ranch McChicken sandwich at McDonalds. It is one of the worst pieces of food I've ever had the misfortune of eating. I've felt ill ever since and ended up coming home from work early just because I felt so crappy.

I thought it might be something on par with a Wendy's chicken sandwich, but that just shows you how long it's been since I ate any chicken that wasn't McNuggetized from McD's. The worst part was the ranch sauce. I've had plenty of ranch sauce in my day, and that most definately wasn't ranch sauce. It may have originally been ranch sauce, but it has since transmuted into some kind of inedible substance before being slathered on my slab-o-chicken.

Blech.

I'm hungry, but I'm scared to eat...

Tony The Osteoperosis Spokesman

Today is the first anniversary of Tony's 29th birthday (to quote a good doctor friend of mine).

Everyone should send Tony a lot of milk and calcium supplements to help him keep his bones strong at his advanced age :)

Oh... He's gonna kill me now...

Another post-lottery-win purchase

Dear me...

I think I just found my next keyboard.

BEHOLD! The Optimus!

Any keyboard where EVERY KEY is a standalone LCD display that can be configured to display different things for each application.

Well.

I be excited, I be.

The only problem is that it costs about $300 US. Yeep.

Hence it being something I get AFTER I win the lottery.

Pick D! PICK D!

Hee hee.

I'm doing a survey and I had to put this question on here for a chuckle.

What is Canada's system of government called?
Please select one response only.
A Parliamentary government
B Monarchy
C Democratic process
D Benevolent dictatorship

The Ultimate Showdown Of Ultimate Destiny

How many pop culture references can YOU spot?

Wipe Your Bahamut!

There's a pretty spiffy article over here that delves into the actual mythological/cultural/literary origins of the names of many classic videogame characters. Check it out and learn something!

I'm Going To My Trailer!

After a gruelling round of glamour shots with everyone under the sun, Garrett finally had enough and stormed off the set, leaving his poor cousins languishing on the chair. 

Here's a picture of Garrett first thing on Christmas Morning. Due to a shortage of actual wood, we had to curl up in front of the burning Yule Log on TV to keep warm... 

You know he's up to something...

What is he looking at? Hmm...
 

Guboo The Gnome

I know that all of NOBODY cares about this, but here's a shot of Guboo the Gnome as of this afternoon. 

I need an electrical engineer!

If anyone can follow the mod instructions here, I'd be your new best friend.

Happy Anniversary To Us!

That's right. Today is our 7th anniversary. I believe that means it's the Jellybean Anniversary if you go by the old gifts and the Plasma TV With Home Theatre Anniversary if you are one to follow the new gift chart.

We had a pretty laid back day today. Dave & Kate came over to look after Garrett (THANK YOU!) which allowed us to go buy some containers for Garrett's toys and have lunch at Boston Pizza. And people say we aren't romantics at heart :)

Of course, it being our anniversary, we had some form of precipitation. Thankfully we didn't have to go driving too far today. Blech. At least it's just going to be cloudy and somewhat snowy for the rest of the week instead of freezing rain.

We had a fun New Year's Day party last night with Codeboy & Blitzy. They brought over their Guitar Hero guitar and we jammed for most of the night. I also think I got a few more callouses working on the Hard songs... They're insane!
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What I'm Reading: The Monstrous Regiment
What I'm Playing: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
What I'm Watching: Corner Gas