358 thoughts on “83rd Unshow”

  5. Secret Deadpan Santa gift is officially en route to its new owner.

    *rubs hands together maniacally because I know you all think I’ve vanished into the otherworld (aka non-deadpan)*

    I’m still here.
    Good, bad, or otherwise…

  8. I sent my Secret Santa Gift this morning too. Unfortunately, it didn’t give me the choice to say it was a gift so, if something shows up from me, it probably is a SS gift as we are not giving out gifts to anybody else this year (except immediate family)

    *grumble, grumble – stupid job*

    • One contestant on one of the dare shows from a few years ago, claimed he could name any ST:TOS episode if he was told the star date mentioned in that episode.

      …and bloody hell he could.

  11. We were able to shut off enough of our brains to be able to appreciate Battleship for what it was as well. I’ve definitely got to give it props for the visuals and especially the audio. If pressed I’ll confess that I thought it worked better than the transformers movies.

      • This week anyway it will mean less as my in-laws are coming in today. I had actually booked Thursday, Friday & Monday off which is why today is my last day instead of Friday which is cut-off.

        After next week *shrug* You may see more of me as I’ll have more free time. In the new year the job hunt will begin in ernest so we will have to see.

        • I hope all goes well and this doesn’t put you in a hurt or a hurry to find work. Being jobless, thankfully, is something I’ve only ever experienced once in my life. *knock on wood*

          The wife on the other hand…well, that’s a different story. Thankfully I make enough so her income is supplemental.

          • I’ve never been jobless for more than a few days. John and I have talked a fair amount. we are in a similar situation in that hubby makes enough for us to survive on so my income was always that nice icing on the cake. Which is a good thing since I’m not likely to find something as good as I had and will most likely have to go to something part time.

  42. Hey, Pan. I’m looking for tech reviews and thoughts.

    My sister is getting me a Kindle for Christmas. She asked me whether I would prefer a Kindle Fire, or the “paper light” model.

    My #1 priority for this device is that I want to be able to read books outside in bright sunlight.

    Discuss, please!

    • It depends upon what you want to do with it Amy. If you just want to read, the paper light is fine. The Fire is actually a tablet-lite so you can do many other things with it including netflix and Amazon video. *shrug*

      • Thanks, Bunny! Do you have either one?

        So I take it the OS and interface on the paper light version are similar to the Kindle app for third-party devices, with no non-reading software tools, correct?

        I will make a stop at Best Buy today and see if they have any display models I can play with.

    • Will you be distracted from reading by the other things the kindle fire offers?

      Heard an interview with Nick Hornby in which he said that the dramatic decline in e-books sales seems to correlate with the release of the Kindle Fire. When given the choice of reading vs. playing a video game or watching a movie … people defaulted to the games and videos.

      • I won’t lie, when I first got my tablet I wanted to read and surf the web with it. I wound up on youtube and playing angry birds a lot.

        I’ve uninstalled the games and I still youtube from time to time, but I now read comics, web comics, books, and magazines more than anything else

        and visit the deadpan 🙂

        Also, a friend of mine got a Nook for his wife so she could read. She got a netflicks account and it’s her movie device LOL.

        So, yes, make sure you know what you want out of your device. Personally if you want a reading device, get a reading device. If you want a tablet, don’t get a nook or fire. Get a real tablet. Just my two cents.

    • If you want to read in bright sunlight, then get the generic Kindle. Otherwise the color tablets are like having a giant smartphone, which can be a good thing.

      • My husband an I used to have Sony readers but have switched to iPads and love them. With the kindle and ireader app everything is covered as far as that goes too. We have stopped buying physical books & magazines and strictly use the ipads. We gave the readers to our kids.

        • Still running the original iPad, do very little reading on the Pad though, mainly web browsing and watching videos.

          The ripoff prices of many ebooks may be more of a factor in declining sales than having a device that can play videos and games.

  51. Oh, Van……… 🙂

    Another brutal day here, but I’m cautiously optimistic about the progress we (seemed to have) made.

    I hope you’re doing ok today, Bunny. And everyone else too, of course!

    Good tea-time, :mush:

  58. Morning Pan

    Got to sleep in this morning. Hubby is at work and the in-laws are still in bed. I think I’ll take advantage of this brief quiet time to get lost in a book

    CR: Rules of Ascension – David B. Coe

  59. Looks like this Christmas is going to be an episode of “High Definition 2: The Embiggening”.

    Since there can only be one, widescreen, I wonder if Jack would like a 55″ DLP?

    • *manly hugs* JOe.

      As an aside, my wife had arrhythmia and after a couple of out patient surgeries and daily meds she went on to run a marathon. I can’t speak to your dad’s condition, but the state of the art in medical advances should be cause for optimism.

  61. So some are thinking that Sherlock isn’t playing Kahn in that ST movie teaser but Kahn’s sidekick and Peter Weller (not shown in the trailer) is the actor actually playing Kahn.

  62. Just talked to my mom.

    They tried shocking my dad’s heart back into rythym but it didn’t work. He’s a big Brubeck fan as well so maybe they just don’t recognize a good 5/4 beat when they hear it. (music geek joke)
    Not sure what they do next but they have a heart cath scheduled for tomorrow.

    meh

  64. Later today I’m going to make the dough for gingerbread cookies. Tomorrow we’ll make that as well as decorate the tree and house. Hubby even booked the day off work so, between us, the in-laws and boo and her fiancée, I expect a full house filled wi holiday cheer tomorrow

  68. So my ex-employer Lockheed sent me a check today for some mysterious reason known only to them. I went through an emotional roller coaster that started with doubt (this looks like a check but probably isn’t), to excitement (holy crap, it really is a check) to hysterically amused and bewildered(the check was for $0.00). WTF Lockheed… WTF?

  75. Everyone: Thanks so much for your thoughts on tablets. I decided to go with the basic Kindle. I really do just want to read books on it. :happy:

    Congrats to EssBee, and hugs and happy thoughts to Bunny and Justa J0e.

    Bunny: I can’t wait until I get a day of holiday cheer. I haven’t had one yet this year. I will probably have one on the 16th and/or 17th. (I have to have cookies ready for a cookie exchange that’s happening at noon on the 18th.)

    Good night, Pan.

  79. Well, the new rig is working well, but seems to have some issues resuming from sleep mode. I guess I need to try some things tonight to see if it fixes the issue.

    • Coincidentally and completely unrelated to the Oatmeal comic, I had a long discussion with my son this morning about Nikolai Tesla’s life and legacy. He’s very distraught about the raw deal that Tesla got. I tried to explain that Tesla still had a great life of working with a researching cool stuff that he loved. Forget about the government and Edison stealing his ideas; he woke up every day excited to go to the office. And even if he was unsung in his day, we now honor and revere him, with 20/20 hindsight.
      Good discussion. I may have a future energy researcher on my hands.

  96. So, it was another night with wacky dreams…

    This time, my dream was like an episode of Sons of Anarchy. My favorite parts:

    1. My sister had a new baby, & we are all at a restaurant (celebrating?) and I say to her, ” I dont even know the name of your new baby girl.” … and I walk away.

    2. Before we all left the house (which seemed to be located in the countryside due to the wide open land and the giant red barn on the property, my house was raided by my ‘brothers’ and two dead bodies were discovered in the bathtub.

    3. After I tell my sister that I dont know her baby (or even seem to care), I leave and end up walking on the streets of Jamaica, trying to locate my parked car, and it appears it had been stolen. So I go to a nighclub and grab my gay friend, Jason. He impersonates my boyfriend, so neither of us are attacked on the mob-ridden streets (of Jamaica?) and we hunt for my car.

    Still not found.

    Snooze alarm goes off. . .

  99. So, we finally made it to the end (and then the rest of the endings) of Return of the King, completing the saga just in time for The Hobbit.

    In the final, final scene of the final ending, when Sam returns home and greets his daughter, his wife Rosie comes out holding the younger child, to which my daughter says: “Wow, that one has Frodo’s hair.”

    …

    Makes you wonder his REAL reason for sailing off into the West…

  104. My demon hunter just mowed through hell’s minions and I arrived at the final confrontation with the Big D himself way faster than with my Barbarian. However, while my Barbarian hardly broke a sweat defeating Diablo, the Demon Hunter is having problems. I guess I need to formulate a different strategy.

  108. Well, that’s it then. We’re going to wait until tomorrow night to release the next episode. It’s mostly done, just a little bit more to do.

    If nothing else, we can pad the week’s comment numbers.

    • Memories of watching Andy Stewart on TV seeing in the New Year and being bored silly and playing with an Evel Knievel stunt bike toy and being told to stop as I was making too much noise.

  117. I really dislike the new iTunes. I greatly miss not seeing the size and play time for individual albums when I’m looking through playlists. And it doesn’t remember my selection when I switch back and forth.
    *sigh*

  120. Today’s movie is Silent House.

    The DVR write up : Their summer cottage vandalized by squatters during the off-season, Sarah, her father, and her uncle begin the laborious process of cleaning the place up when noises from within hint they are not alone in this chilling horror flick

  192. The movie is over. I understand what it was trying to say but it failed utterly in its presentation. There was no feeling of tension at all. There were no thrills or chills. Some movies, knowing the story isn’t doing it will add a few jump out scenes to try to scare you that way. This movie, nada. Nothing. All I felt was meh

  193. 1. “All I felt was meh” – – I need this printed on a t-shirt.

    2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1324323/Cheap-reading-glasses-ready-readers-cost-1-damage-sight.html – Any thoughts/experiences pertaining to off-the-shelf reading glasses?

    3. Tsuro! My Tsecret Tsanta gift has arrived. Thanks tso much, TsEB! http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/09/tsuro-the-game-of-the-path-is-the-game-for-you/

    4. “Overreacting” from Brad Sucks is a great tune.

    • 2. I use cheap reading glasses but they are low level (1.5). As for walking in to things, I only wear them for reading. Anything at a distance is clear without them so I don’t wear them when I don’t need them. Go figure.

      3. Tsuro is one of our favourite games

  196. Rest easy, DPSS package has arrived in Texas. Many thanks.

    And, coincidentally, the gift I’m sending out also arrived today. Which confused the hell outta me as my receiving gift and sending gift share a theme and I actually considered the gift I received as the one I was going to send.

    Scared me into thinking that I had accidentally placed an order I didn’t intend. So, I get Christmas thrills and Halloween frights all rolled into one.

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