Today has been an exceedingly long one for me and for whatever reason, I am in an incredibly bad mood.
To top things off, I'm working the overnight shift tonight. I'm going to go have a nap and see if I'm a little more pleasant in a few hours...
Saturday, August 30, 2008
These Are All Real
I found this great list via Dubious Quality yesterday. It's a top 15 list of images you'd think were photoshopped but aren't.
Here's a prime example.
Speaking of which, Cracked.com is really good these days. I used to read the magazine waaaaay back when I was a kid but the online portion is fantastic for adults.
Here's a prime example.
Speaking of which, Cracked.com is really good these days. I used to read the magazine waaaaay back when I was a kid but the online portion is fantastic for adults.
Friday, August 29, 2008
My Pokemans!
Garrett has been on a bit of a Pokémon kick of late, which was probably not helped by the fact that when we were cleaning out some bags of toys given to us by one of Julie's co-workers, we found a bunch of relatively cool Pokémon toys and cards, which he has grown quite attached to.
(Phew, how's THAT for a run-on sentence?)
Anyway, I think it's time to cut things out after tonight. I was giving Garrett a good-night kiss when he said, "My Pokemans. Let me show you them!"
Either he's surfing the net FAR too much for his own good or he's been listening to me whenever I mutter that around him.
(Phew, how's THAT for a run-on sentence?)
Anyway, I think it's time to cut things out after tonight. I was giving Garrett a good-night kiss when he said, "My Pokemans. Let me show you them!"
Either he's surfing the net FAR too much for his own good or he's been listening to me whenever I mutter that around him.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Where Are Frank And Gordon When You Need Them?
I've had to call Bell twice this week to try to figure out why my internet connection keeps flaking out.
In the past I'd have to reset my router every month or two when it would just stop sending a signal to the net. No biggie. But twice this week I've had instances where the net just went down for 20 minute or longer and no amount of switch-flicking would rectify the situation. It would eventually reconnect to the net but the second incident in as many days had me thinking that my modem was dying.
I finally talked to someone higher up the food chain at Bell than the lowly Tech Support weenies and they ran a few other tests that seemed to verify that the modem was dying. On the upside, that means I'll have a new modem in a day or two. On the downside, I have to hope that my net connection stays stable for two more days.
Oh well. At least I fixed this before I head out of town next week!
In the past I'd have to reset my router every month or two when it would just stop sending a signal to the net. No biggie. But twice this week I've had instances where the net just went down for 20 minute or longer and no amount of switch-flicking would rectify the situation. It would eventually reconnect to the net but the second incident in as many days had me thinking that my modem was dying.
I finally talked to someone higher up the food chain at Bell than the lowly Tech Support weenies and they ran a few other tests that seemed to verify that the modem was dying. On the upside, that means I'll have a new modem in a day or two. On the downside, I have to hope that my net connection stays stable for two more days.
Oh well. At least I fixed this before I head out of town next week!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Must Avoid Spousal Death Stare
I've been having fun warping Garrett's mind of late, though Julie seems less than impressed with my efforts.
Example 1
Did you see the closing ceremonies of the Olympics yesterday? Remember when they were about to douse the torch and there was some young chap holding a scroll that represented the events of the past 14 days?
I did my damnedest to convince Garrett that he was actually a wizard reading a spell that would put out the torch's unholy fire.
Julie was not amused.
Example 2
I took the kids out to Hillsburg today to go for a walk along the little trail that we go on from time to time. It's a nice flat path that used to be an old railway line and is now used by bikers and hikers in the area that don't want something as treacherous as the Bruce Trail.
Garrett brought his zombie kit, which is a toy from McDonalds that is, in Garrett's mind, a set of pens, a spy camera and a pair of zombie-killing guns. The whole time we walked through the woods this morning, he was peering into the darkened underbrush, scouring the woods to ensure that his sister was safe from any encroaching zombie hordes.
We got to the part of the trail that went past the lake and I told him that the zombies couldn't get us because they can't swim.
To which he said, "If the zombies go in the water, then their blood will make the water turn into bloody water."
Sigh. I just told him not to drink the bloody zombie water...
It didn't help that this guy had biked past us when we started the hike and then we couldn't see him after a while. I told Garrett that we couldn't see him because the zombies got him.
"Oh... did the zombies smash up his bike?"
"Yes son..."
"Oh..."
When the guy rode past us on his return trip, we had a little victory celebration because that meant that he had escaped the ravenous zombie hordes and we'd probably have a chance of making it out of the woods alive too.
Suffice it to say, when I mentioned this to Julie, I could hear her eyes rolling over the phone...
Example 1
Did you see the closing ceremonies of the Olympics yesterday? Remember when they were about to douse the torch and there was some young chap holding a scroll that represented the events of the past 14 days?
I did my damnedest to convince Garrett that he was actually a wizard reading a spell that would put out the torch's unholy fire.
Julie was not amused.
Example 2
I took the kids out to Hillsburg today to go for a walk along the little trail that we go on from time to time. It's a nice flat path that used to be an old railway line and is now used by bikers and hikers in the area that don't want something as treacherous as the Bruce Trail.
Garrett brought his zombie kit, which is a toy from McDonalds that is, in Garrett's mind, a set of pens, a spy camera and a pair of zombie-killing guns. The whole time we walked through the woods this morning, he was peering into the darkened underbrush, scouring the woods to ensure that his sister was safe from any encroaching zombie hordes.
We got to the part of the trail that went past the lake and I told him that the zombies couldn't get us because they can't swim.
To which he said, "If the zombies go in the water, then their blood will make the water turn into bloody water."
Sigh. I just told him not to drink the bloody zombie water...
It didn't help that this guy had biked past us when we started the hike and then we couldn't see him after a while. I told Garrett that we couldn't see him because the zombies got him.
"Oh... did the zombies smash up his bike?"
"Yes son..."
"Oh..."
When the guy rode past us on his return trip, we had a little victory celebration because that meant that he had escaped the ravenous zombie hordes and we'd probably have a chance of making it out of the woods alive too.
Suffice it to say, when I mentioned this to Julie, I could hear her eyes rolling over the phone...
My Krazy Kidz
Here's Garrett getting a trophy during the medal ceremony at Blast Ball a week ago. I think they finally spelled his name right this time.
Here are a couple of pictures of Kara looking her devilish best.
And this is just to show that Kara has a fine future ahead of her as either a roofer or trapeze artist...
Here are a couple of pictures of Kara looking her devilish best.
And this is just to show that Kara has a fine future ahead of her as either a roofer or trapeze artist...
Gilding The (Evangeline) Lily
Whenever we see a new baby, Julie always starts to mumble things about having another one... Eek!
Though they are rather cute...
Kara thought that Evangeline was a new baby doll for her to play with...
Though they are rather cute...
Kara thought that Evangeline was a new baby doll for her to play with...
Saturday, August 23, 2008
The Dark Side Of Google
I just wanted to share what is probably my favourite strip from the last few weeks worth of various webcomics.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
WARNING! Explicit Post Below!
I swear... well, I try not to, but my kids sure do.
The other day, Garrett was playing with a few of his Spiderman superhero Lego guys and I heard him say, "I'm gonna kick your ass." I did a double-take and listened closer and he said it again.
I asked him what he was saying and he said, "Uh... Nothing."
Upon further grilling, he repeated what he said. I told him that he shouldn't say that word but that he is more than welcome to say, "Kick your butt."
That seemed to make him happy and he spent the rest of the day kicking butt and taking names.
Now Kara... she is saying a few words (the clearest is 'Garrett') but lately it sounds like she's swearing.
I'm not sure what she's trying to say, but she keeps saying something that sounds like "Shit" over and over and over again :) I know that's not what she's actually saying, but anyone who hears her say it has to ask if that's the word she's actually saying.
Sigh. I guess I'll have to stop having our nightly Sopranos screenings before bedtime. (I kid!)
The other day, Garrett was playing with a few of his Spiderman superhero Lego guys and I heard him say, "I'm gonna kick your ass." I did a double-take and listened closer and he said it again.
I asked him what he was saying and he said, "Uh... Nothing."
Upon further grilling, he repeated what he said. I told him that he shouldn't say that word but that he is more than welcome to say, "Kick your butt."
That seemed to make him happy and he spent the rest of the day kicking butt and taking names.
Now Kara... she is saying a few words (the clearest is 'Garrett') but lately it sounds like she's swearing.
I'm not sure what she's trying to say, but she keeps saying something that sounds like "Shit" over and over and over again :) I know that's not what she's actually saying, but anyone who hears her say it has to ask if that's the word she's actually saying.
Sigh. I guess I'll have to stop having our nightly Sopranos screenings before bedtime. (I kid!)
Mmm... Firefly...
Woohoo! I just saw the announcement that Firefly will be released on Blu-Ray come this fall. Yummy.
That is all.
That is all.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Too Human Is Fun
I picked up the first game of the fall rush yesterday. I've had a good summer, only getting the occasional $5-10 downloadable game, so I rewarded myself with the Diablo-esque excursion into cyber-Norse mythology known as Too Human yesterday.
Of course, if you're following the reviews, it's scoring quite low. That said, I think they must be playing a different game than I am. This game is doing exactly what I want it to do... let me kill lots of monster robots with my overpowered medic and find loot galore.
I like this gif, despite the fact that I think the review scores are overly harsh.
Of course, if you're following the reviews, it's scoring quite low. That said, I think they must be playing a different game than I am. This game is doing exactly what I want it to do... let me kill lots of monster robots with my overpowered medic and find loot galore.
I like this gif, despite the fact that I think the review scores are overly harsh.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Star Wars: Clone Wars
I saw this today with my friends and Garrett. I will say that I liked the look of the film, at least on a technical level. And the battle scenes were cool, though much more limited in scope than I'd hoped. Plus I didn't care for the fact that instead of seeing all sorts of Jedi doing crazy things for 2 hours, you're stuck watching Anakin and Punky Brewster go tromping around in a plot that might have been sufficient for a 22 minute cartoon episode but not for an hour and 40 minute movie.
And don't get me started on the 'roger roger' battle droids. They did have some truly funny scenes but most of the time I just wanted to throttle whoever decided that a bunch of robots whose sole purpose IS WARFARE would act that incompetently. Of course, I can see who they must have put in charge of the Stormtrooper School Of Marksmanship after seeing those droids miss a clone trooper AT POINT BLANK RANGE.
While I didn't like Ziro and thought that his character and the entire scene with Amidala was pointless, I liked the look of both Ziro and the black-light bar that he owned. Again, on the artistic/technical side of things, I thought the movie was great. The way that everything had a painted look, from the backgrounds to the textures on the characters and even the control panels... I loved that. But I just felt empty after watching the movie, esp. because I'd hoped that it could have been so much more.
It's still a million times better than the entire prequel trilogy, but still so lacking from what it could have been. I think I'd basically pinned my hopes on this movie essentially being a 3D adaptation of the Tartakovsky series and unfortunately, it wasn't.
ACTUALLY, what really pissed me off was the fact that General Grievous wasn't in the movie at all. He was mentioned in passing once, but that was it.
Oh, they also changed the opening fanfare just enough to have it be very jarring to those of us who are used to the big opening to, well, EVERY STAR WARS MOVIE EVER...
I didn't mind the fact that they got rid of the crawling text at the beginning and replaced it with a newsreel-style voice-over but the fanfare just sounded wrong.
And don't get me started on the 'roger roger' battle droids. They did have some truly funny scenes but most of the time I just wanted to throttle whoever decided that a bunch of robots whose sole purpose IS WARFARE would act that incompetently. Of course, I can see who they must have put in charge of the Stormtrooper School Of Marksmanship after seeing those droids miss a clone trooper AT POINT BLANK RANGE.
While I didn't like Ziro and thought that his character and the entire scene with Amidala was pointless, I liked the look of both Ziro and the black-light bar that he owned. Again, on the artistic/technical side of things, I thought the movie was great. The way that everything had a painted look, from the backgrounds to the textures on the characters and even the control panels... I loved that. But I just felt empty after watching the movie, esp. because I'd hoped that it could have been so much more.
It's still a million times better than the entire prequel trilogy, but still so lacking from what it could have been. I think I'd basically pinned my hopes on this movie essentially being a 3D adaptation of the Tartakovsky series and unfortunately, it wasn't.
ACTUALLY, what really pissed me off was the fact that General Grievous wasn't in the movie at all. He was mentioned in passing once, but that was it.
Oh, they also changed the opening fanfare just enough to have it be very jarring to those of us who are used to the big opening to, well, EVERY STAR WARS MOVIE EVER...
I didn't mind the fact that they got rid of the crawling text at the beginning and replaced it with a newsreel-style voice-over but the fanfare just sounded wrong.
Party... Pizza Party!
There have been a couple of new pizza places opening in Acton over the past month or two and we've found that there is a wide range in quality betwixt the two newest entries in the cheese and tomato wars.
On the one hand, we have Grillers. It opened about a month and a half ago and it is amazing. It's one of those places where you can get a plain old pepperoni and cheese pizza and it not only has more cheese than most places have on their double cheese pizzas, but lots of yummy pepperoni too. That's the indication of a quality pizza place. Add in the fact that their wings are really yummy and the prices are reasonable and you've got a place that has become our default pizza place in town.
On the other hand, we have A George's Great Pizza. It's a new place that just had its grand opening today.
Let me put it this way. They had a special where you got a medium pepperoni pizza, a salad and some dip for $3.99... and we felt like we were ripped off. Garrett and Kara didn't even want to eat their pieces.
It seriously tasted like they'd baked an off-brand freezer pizza from Giant Tiger and put it in a cardboard box for us. It wasn't even at Delissio levels of pizzaness, and that's a pretty low bar to surpass. Suffice it to say, we'll be warning people about this place and won't be ordering from them again!
On the one hand, we have Grillers. It opened about a month and a half ago and it is amazing. It's one of those places where you can get a plain old pepperoni and cheese pizza and it not only has more cheese than most places have on their double cheese pizzas, but lots of yummy pepperoni too. That's the indication of a quality pizza place. Add in the fact that their wings are really yummy and the prices are reasonable and you've got a place that has become our default pizza place in town.
On the other hand, we have A George's Great Pizza. It's a new place that just had its grand opening today.
Let me put it this way. They had a special where you got a medium pepperoni pizza, a salad and some dip for $3.99... and we felt like we were ripped off. Garrett and Kara didn't even want to eat their pieces.
It seriously tasted like they'd baked an off-brand freezer pizza from Giant Tiger and put it in a cardboard box for us. It wasn't even at Delissio levels of pizzaness, and that's a pretty low bar to surpass. Suffice it to say, we'll be warning people about this place and won't be ordering from them again!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Congrats To Dan & Faith!
They had a baby girl just after midnight this morning. Her name is Consuela Ortiz Falava Grace.
Or maybe it isn't... But she is a girl!
Congrats you two. Good luck explaining to Silas that babies don't go back to the hospital after you finish your week rental.
Or maybe it isn't... But she is a girl!
Congrats you two. Good luck explaining to Silas that babies don't go back to the hospital after you finish your week rental.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Welcome To The Future (of 2004)!
Well, this week has seen us rocketed into the year 2004, tech-wise.
First off, I got that iPod on Saturday. I'm so glad I picked up that little unit when I did as I was stuck in a hospital room overnight for two nights for work and listening to podcasts and watching some of the videos really helped me stay awake both nights, esp. since the room was pitch black both nights!
So hooray for the iPod and the ability to actually start to delve into the wonderful world of podcasts in earnest.
Secondly, we finally made the leap from VCR to DVR today. Well, we would have made it last week but Cogeco sent the new receiver to the wrong address (and it wasn't their fault, actually) so I didn't get it until yesterday. I set the thing up today and man, it's NICE.
I'm afraid I've moved into a new recording bracket. The fact that I can set the thing to record series and specify whether it's new or old is genius. I know it's not a new feature, but being able to automate it so it will record Colbert and The Daily Show every night will be so nice!
First off, I got that iPod on Saturday. I'm so glad I picked up that little unit when I did as I was stuck in a hospital room overnight for two nights for work and listening to podcasts and watching some of the videos really helped me stay awake both nights, esp. since the room was pitch black both nights!
So hooray for the iPod and the ability to actually start to delve into the wonderful world of podcasts in earnest.
Secondly, we finally made the leap from VCR to DVR today. Well, we would have made it last week but Cogeco sent the new receiver to the wrong address (and it wasn't their fault, actually) so I didn't get it until yesterday. I set the thing up today and man, it's NICE.
I'm afraid I've moved into a new recording bracket. The fact that I can set the thing to record series and specify whether it's new or old is genius. I know it's not a new feature, but being able to automate it so it will record Colbert and The Daily Show every night will be so nice!
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