Posted on Shows

Jack Mangans Deadpan #189: Santa Thing

My sincerest, most reformed-Scrooge-like gratitude to the cast for their wonderful readings. I knew they’d each do well, but holy crap, they still exceeded my wildest expectations.

In order of appearance:
The Elf and primary narrator: Justa J0e.
Danielle: Ryah Deines, aka The Energizer Bunny
James Miller: Me, Jack Mangan
The Santa Thing: Lejon Johnson
DMS Supervisor: Jack Hosley

This story is also available in episode #52 of the wonderful Horror Addicts podcast.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

696 thoughts on “Jack Mangans Deadpan #189: Santa Thing”

  5. EssBee,

    Back to last week – Alright, we can call it even on books with getting you into the Sword of Truth.

    Actually, I need to get back into that series and finish it, now that I’m caught up on 80+ hours of Brandon Sanderson audio books.

    You are going to check out Way of Kings, aren’t you?

    [chuckles evily to self]

  6. Now, for this week.

    I am somewhat concerned at the preponderance of negative reviews for the new Tron movie. Granted, I wasn’t expecting a perfect story and acting. It’s not going to keep me from going to see it and the critics and I have often disagreed.

  17. Hey Deadpan.

    Downloading the episode now. Judging from what Jack wrote, I won’t be doing show notes. Jack seems to have covered it all. 😉

  18. BTW Jack. Next week show notes will be a little later. Hubby will be off and I plan to sleep in every day until the new year.

    The week between Christmas and New Year I’m off so you may not get show notes at all.

  21. Morning Flan…er….Pan

    EssBee get you some back help! I hopes ye feel better. NOW LADY NOW!

    Damn fine ep, Jack! Great story, great readings.

    That will be all of my positive postings today. Much too jolly…

  30. Just had an uncomfortable visit to a coffee shop.

    Put my bag on the chair and joined the queue, get my drink and this bloke had set opposite where my bag was even though there were empty tables.

    Bollox I thought, sat down and started watching a video.

    The next half hour was filled with uncomfortable stares and cups being put down harder than they should be.

  41. Hola, Pan.

    This is a public, “Awesome to see you” to Jack and sorry I’m distracted right after a match. It takes time to come down from the “get him, he has your ball!!!” mentality.

    Jack’s chillin’s are adorable BTW!

  68. The killer in this movie feels unappreciated and that his girlfriend is taking him for granted. He wants her to start doing her fair share of the killing

  72. “you can talk if you want but I personally have much better things I can do with my mouth”

    And yes, she meant exactly what you’re thinking

  76. Would you believe it? They’re having sex again. This time on the hood of a car in the rain

    I’m only a half hour into this movie and there has been thre sex scenes already

  87. “There’s been more sex scenes than bodies in this movie. Honest”

    Well if it’s the same two bodies involved in multiply sex scenes, then I suppose that would be possible.

  94. Stupid racists. Idris Alba is literally a god. The only problem I have with him playing that role is that he’ll have too many clothes on.

  106. I was stunned while reading wikipedea, that in Iceland, there are still some followers of the Norse Gods.

    Still no Ragnarok, that Fenris is the slouch of bad guys..

  115. I sent some things direct to a number of friends from on line ordering. I just noticed that I forgot to put from me and hubby on one of the messages (just wrote to: the recipient. I guess I’ll have to watch and see if anybody I know gets an anonymous package so I can own up to it.

  119. I’m feeling very Christmassy right now. I’ve got my tree lights and the lights on my banisters on, I have Christmas music playing, and the snow is gently falling. I think it’s time for some hot chocolate with marshmallows

  125. Here’s the deal, Van. I will often write the subject and body of my e-mails first. I don’t know why, it’s just one of my quirks. When I’m ready to send I’ll hit “J” then tab to automatically fill in the rest of the e-mail. Then I hit send. Unfortunately, depending upon who I’ve sent to more often that week, the auto-fill will either be Jack or John. I sometimes don’t pay attention and just hit send, it goes to whomever (I once had an e-mail meant for Jack go to my father-in-law who is also named Jack)

    I don’t do it too often. And I think everybody’s at the point now that they just shrug and let me know it went to the wrong person. *shrug*

  165. Rhettro, the first handful are wonderful. Then, not so much.

    Bunny, I THINK that two men would be focused more on something in the shape of a 1, but I’m not an expert . . .

  166. Hubby’s birthday is on Saturday. I got him a .5 kg (approx 1 lb.) box if licorice allsorts and a romantic card with kissing Teddy bears on it

  191. Night Pan: SGU Canceled? I would have kept watching but this is how i felt about it:

    SG1 = WinXP. good performer, always a fan fav, long run and lasting power
    SGA = Win7. add some new stuff keep the stuff that worked good update
    SGU= WinVista. starts out neat but when you get a bit deeper you use it because your stuck.

    I know the time line is off but win98 had to many problems to fit.

  192. UHF and The Third Man have arrived in the mail today from Blockbuster…well, at my place anyway. I can’t make that claim for everyone, I’m afraid.

  194. ^ I feel a great disturbance in the Internet. As if a million fanfiction writers suddenly cried out in rage and frustration at their voices suddenly being silenced.

    Seriously, I’m genuinely worried now. A large proportion of the fanfiction-writing community over at LiveJournal has depended on Delicious for years as a means of indexing and keeping track of fanfiction requests and responses. I certainly hope there is a comparable bookmarking service in existence that they can all move to.

  196. Just went and checked one of the fanfiction communities that relies on Delicious. They’re aware of what’s going on and already discussing alternatives. So far, they seem to be leaning toward a service called Diigo. Looks like they’re well on their way to working things out. I am relieved.

  205. Watched the possible pilot of a Dirk Gently series. This episode was loosely (Bladerunner loosely) on the first Dirk Gently book.

    Was pleasant enough, the changed plot was midly interesting if not as wacky as the book’s.

  210. NS: Hopefully you’ll survive your wounds.

    My plans for the day…

    “Well the weather outside is frightful
    But beer is so delightful
    So until it begins to snow
    Let me brew, let me brew, let me brew”

  217. Hey Pan.

    While I think it’s great that we have hired someone to shovel our walk this year, I question their wisdom at doing this at 3:00 in the morning. Especially when it includes the back deck which is right beside our bedroom window.

    I was not a happy bunny

  221. Good Morning Pan…
    This season has been a busy one for me and I apologize for not making my appearances as I should. But Wander Radio Productions is busy with production stuff… and Christmas Shopping…

  226. “At what point does having sex with your guitar cross the line from being “weird” to “sexy” ?”

    Oh that’s easy.
    When a woman has sex with a guitar, that’s sexy.
    When a man has sex with a guitar, that’s weird.

  227. Dirk Gently series would be great, but they would have to get the character down pat for it to be a success. I would imagine that writing well for that character (as opposed to simply making him”quirky”) will be quite the challenge.

  234. Haha. Nice ash, ash.

    I just got THE COOLEST gift from Sly B. It’s customized Jones sodas with Buffy characters. The 6-pack includes:

    Willow’s Green Apple Witch’s Brew
    Buffy’s Blue Bubblegum
    Giles’ Grape Potion
    Twilight’s Old Moon Orange & Cream
    (SPOILER ALERT:) Dawn’s A Centaur! Root Beer
    Xander’s Strawberry Lime Elixer

    This is so great that I might have to post a photo!

  237. For those who didn’t see this on Facebook… I took this picture of the soda fountain machine in the Wendy’s where I picked up breakfast for the team this morning.

    http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs733.ash1/162734_469981856687_715066687_6195167_2476483_n.jpg

    srsly cool.

    106 total flavor options… You press the brand, then like all the flavor choices come up. I had Fanta Zero grape and cherry mixed! NOM

    Alon (my friend who joined me on my journey) tried peach Sprite and Peach Fanta.

  239. ^You can borrow my set of comics, NS, if you wanna work out a postage situation with me – you know how to reach me, I think?

    They’re fantastic!

  244. Van: I am on facebook. As a matter of fact I think it was you that just replied to my status claiming to be a mystery, wraped in an enigma, wraped in bacon, soaked in beer, and then finally being dipped in cheese before consumption.

    By the way, what are rennies?

  247. Sorry for the butchering of old song lyrics, I blame the weather.

    CJ: Cool soda fountain, where’s the flying car button on it?

    Essbee: RE: Buffy comics, is the entire comic series considered season 8? or are there multiple seasons?

  251. After 146 reviews, TRON: Legacy has a 46% on Rotten Tomatoes.

    After 36 reviews on Metacritic it has a 51.

    Folks, that aint good. Im hoping (praying) its one of those critical duds that the fans will still love.

  256. I still want to see Tron. I’m going in with the notion that the visual spectacle is its main purpose, much like the movie version of 2001. My dreams may still get crushed, but there it is.

  261. Hi guys. Been a while. Crazy around here and not a lot of fun. But at least, for me, the holidays start after today. 🙂

    As for Tron, it sounds like it is much better than the original. I think too many people, including critics, have high expectations. I’m certainly not expecting an Oscar worthy film. I think I’m going to be very happy with what is there from what I’ve heard of.

    And, as other people have mentioned, the soundtrack is probably the best thing from the movie. Next to the eye candy. 🙂

  286. Some shots from the “Dawn of Man” sequence were removed and a new scene was inserted where an ape pauses with the bone it is about to use as a tool. The new scene was a low-angle shot of the monolith, done in order to portray and clarify the connection between the man-ape using the tool and the monolith.
    Some shots of Frank Poole jogging in the centrifuge were removed.
    An entire sequence of several shots in which Dave Bowman searches for the replacement antenna part in storage was removed.
    A scene where HAL severs radio communication between the “Discovery” and Poole’s pod before killing him was removed. This scene explains a line that stayed in the film in which Bowman addresses HAL on the subject.
    Some shots of Poole’s space walk before he is killed were removed.

    http://www.liveforfilms.com/2010/12/17/lost-footage-from-2001-a-space-odyssey-has-been-found-in-a-salt-mine/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+liveforfilms/qdPt+(Live+for+Films)&utm_content=Twitter

    This extremely long and dull post brought to you by 2001: A Space Odddddyssssssssey

  301. I was actually going to joke that there was even more footage to add to to the endless “Dawn of Man” sequence. . . . But Lo confirms that that’s exactly the case. Cripes.

    My mind is going, Dave. I can feel it.

  338. Good luck Jack! How many levels down are you going? There’s a nice snack bar on the 7th but you don’t want to take the direct route to get there.

  341. Here’s how much of a nerd I am: This was my thought process while reading Rhettro’s last post:

    Rhettro wrote: “Good luck Jack! How many levels down are you going?”
    I thought: “Dream levels?”
    Rhettro wrote: “There’s a nice snack bar on the 7th”
    I thought: “Oh. Levels of hell. Dante’s Inferno, not Inception.”

    ….although now I feel a temptation to write Deadpan Bar/Inception crossover fic.

  347. HA! Roger Ebery sez:

    “”When “2001” was in theaters, there were fans who got stoned and sneaked in during the intermission for the sound-and-light trip. I hesitate to suggest that for “Tron: Legacy,” but the plot won’t suffer.””

  358. Dear Secret Santa,

    YOU BEAUTIFUL BASTARD!!!
    You know the way to my heart through my stomach. I shall relish these like I have never had them before… cause I havent!!!!!!

    THANK AND YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  362. ':alien:' => 'alien.png',
    ':angel:' => 'angel.png',
    ':angry:' => 'angry.png',
    ':blink:' => 'blink.png',
    ':blush:' => 'blush.png',
    ':cheerful:' => 'cheerful.png',
    ':cool:' => 'cool.png',
    ':cwy:' => 'cwy.png',
    ':devil:' => 'devil.png',
    ':dizzy:' => 'dizzy.png',
    ':ermm:' => 'ermm.png',
    ':face:' => 'face.png',
    ':getlost:' => 'getlost.png',
    ':biggrin:' => 'grin.png',
    ':happy:' => 'happy.png',
    ':heart:' => 'heart.png',
    ':kissing:' => 'kissing.png',
    ':lol:' => 'laughing.png',
    ':ninja:' => 'ninja.png',
    ':pinch:' => 'pinch.png',
    ':pouty:' => 'pouty.png',
    ':sad:' => 'sad.png',
    ':shocked:' => 'shocked.png',
    ':sick:' => 'sick.png',
    ':sideways:' => 'sideways.png',
    ':silly:' => 'silly.png',
    ':sleeping:' => 'sleeping.png',
    ':smile:' => 'smile.png',
    ':tongue:' => 'tongue.png',
    ':unsure:' => 'unsure.png',
    ':w00t:' => 'w00t.png',
    ':wassat:' => 'wassat.png',
    ':whistle:' => 'whistling.png',
    ':wink:' => 'wink.png',
    ':wub:' => 'wub.png',
    ':mush:' => 'mush.png',
    ':metal:' => 'metal.png',
    ':cth:' => 'cthulhu.png',
    ':ftb:' => 'ftb.png',
    ':drevil:' => 'drevil.png',
    ':panties:' => 'panties.png',
    ':pan:' => 'pan.png'

  378. Dug through the comments on the io9 Tron trashing. I think this one captured it best:

    I love when a sequel come along to a film that flopped 30 years ago and everyone jumps on the “this one is nothing like the original masterpiece” bandwagon, as if they were sitting in the theater 30 years ago nodding approvingly at the first film.

    Get over yourselves everyone. The original was a fun sci-fi distraction that everyone grew to love because of it was offbeat and different. Just the fact that this is getting made is thrilling. They could almost show me anything with light cycles and I’ll enjoy myself.

    All the reviews are acting like the original was The Odyssey by Homer when all that was there was a simple traditional portal story with innovative special effects

  383. My daughter is complaining that I won’t take her with me to the airport to pick up my father. He’s flying in tonight and his flight has been delayed more than an hour. I told her I’d wake her up to give him a hug when we got back.

    She says she wants to be there to give him a hug when he gets off the plane. I get to explain that that’s not possible since we can’t wait by the gate for him to get off the plane.

    It hits me that, as a child, that was something I took for granted and it’s something my kids will probably never get to do.

  391. del.icio.us may not be dead after all. Yahoo is looking for a buyer. Judging from the hue and cry raised across the net, I expect some one with a better sense of the web will be happy to take all us users off of Yahoo’s hands.

  392. At this juncture, I feel I should point out that many a classic film were actual flops on initial cinema release, to give one example:

    Bladerunner

    I’ll get my coat…

  393. Well I suppose someone has to get this drunken skype thing started. I am currently available on skype for any who want to ring in. My skype ID is jesse.d.flint

  404. Been busy tonight so this is the first time I’ve been on in a while. I’m up for the skype call, just not tonight. Tomorrow night might work better for me. Does anyone have a preference for a time?

  407. Sooo, listening to Babylon 5 podcast ep. 221, and I’ve realized I have yet to hear a Justin Beiber song. I have never been so thankful to be cut off from main stream media.

    Oh, and now that the skyping is over I’m starting to feel a buzz. I obviously drank my beers in the wrong order.

  409. Okay LR, a beer story for you.

    My batch of “Oktoberfest” finally reached it’s due date yesterday so my buddy and I opened a bottle. While the taste was fine, we both commented on the complete lack of head. We discussed what might have gone wrong with the priming phase.
    So tonight opened a “flip-top” bottle of that Oktoberfest. As soon as I popped the top, a healthy foamy head began spewing from the bottle in a geyser of tasty joy.

    Ah, the fun and inconsistency of “Home Brewing”.

  410. Yeah Joe I’ve been having problems getting a consistent level of carbonation, although I’ve had some recent ideas about that.

    troubleshooting: Assuming both bottles had the same level of carbonation I’d be worried about soap contamination of your bottles. A standard dishwasher soap is going to have chemicals that will screw with head retention, ditto if you ran them in a dishwasher with jetdry or similar product.

    You might want to double check your wash -> sanitize -> bottle cycle if the problem persists for more than one bottle.

  411. CW: Brewmasters ep. 4

    Watching this I started wondering how did people culture yeast for bread a couple of centuries back? I’ve heard lots of theories for beer yeast, but not for bread yeast.

  412. Just got back from Black Swan…

    Where do I begin? Oh fuck it.. I DONT! This one has to be seen. Period. You’ll love it or you wont get it… theres no middle ground. Portman is fucking beautiful and brilliant. Kunis is wonderful. Vincent Cassel and Barbara Hershey are brilliant and even Winona Ryder is perfect in her limited role. Godammit Aronofsky. Youve made another to keep me up at night, pondering.

  413. I think that was the best episode yet, I get the feeling the show is really starting to get its stride. One of the best things for me watching the show is that it gives me wild ideas to try in my own beers, but don’t worry I’m not going to recreate the chicha beer process.

  415. She can fucking act. LR. The hype is real. Forget her just getting a paycheck in the prequels.. shes usually great. The Professional, Heat, Beautiful Girls… this one is her masterpiece. And shes not great eye candy in this. She had to slim down to the point of gross-skinny for the role.

  416. Same with Mila Kunis, btw. I know both are slim as it is but Im really hoping after filming wrapped they jammed some burgers down their throats.

  421. Good early morning, DP. I’m on vacation, but still am wide awake at 4:30. Go figure!

    Lo, is it thriller scary? I will definitely see it, but am trying to gauge whether Sly B would be into it or not.

    Now for some coffee.

  426. TSH: I haven’t been mentally scarred like that since I had to babysit my sisters through Barney marathons. Now I’m going to spend the rest of the day trying to forget I saw that vid.

  429. I thought the sound was the worst part personally.

    Oh and for anyone curious about the nookColor from Barnes and Noble, my best advice is to wait. It still has several software bugs that need to be fixed.

    More specifically:

    If you’re looking for a mini-tablet computer, then save your money and get an ipad or other device. Unless you like jailbreaking devices.

    If you want an ebook reader with “smartphone extras” then wait 3-6 months, B&N haven’t even started offering additional apps yet.

    On the other hand if all you want is a color ebook reader, then go ahead and get it, though you still might want to wait 2-4 weeks.

  430. I know j0e, I know.

    I went to yoga in hopes of being able to push the memory away. It didn’t help. Hugh won’t stop singing p-i-z-z-a to me. I hate him right now. I also hate the friend who emailed it to me and myself for clicking on it.

    We are pretty happy with our kindle, but wish we could put library books on it. Rumors say that upgrade is coming. We’ll see.

    off for the day now.
    enjoy your day everyone

  449. CD: Milk Stout, Left Hand

    We cleaned and purged and cleaned and set up our new hand-me-down iMac today. Tonight will include a movie – maybe A Single Man, maybe The Road, maybe The Soloist, or maybe a S. African lesbian flick I can’t remember the name of and am too lazy to get up and look at.

  450. CD: 14’er ESB from Avery

    I just got back from a family Christmas party, and now I have some dishes left from yesterday, and would like to get equipment prepped so I can brew again tomorrow.

  464. We watched Prince of Persia earlier today. I enjoyed it but I don’t thunk hubby got as much out of it: “it was ok *shrug*”

    Maybe I got more from it because it was exactly what I thought it would be

  467. Hubby and I downloaded the same app for sports. Why does his android version seem nicer than my iPhone version? His even has video clips. Mine doesn’t have video clips. Why did they make a nice version, by the same group, for android? I think I’m jealous

  480. Night, Bunny.

    Just finished watching our city’s high school football team win the state championship against a team that was highly favored. Probably one of the best football games I can remember seeing.

  483. Each mobile o/s has it pro/cons and if I was being defensive, I would point out we IOS’s get more cool games, but I’m not so I won’t.

  492. Also, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this interesting tidbit.

    So, my new office is sort of tucked away in a back corner. This is nice as I have oodles of privacy.

    The lights in the room are on a sensor and when there is no movement, they go out after 17 minutes. I know it’s 17 minutes because I’ve timed it multiple times.

    My cube walls are high enough that even if I stand up and flail my arms about, I cannot set off the sensor, so I sit in the dark the majority of the time on Saturdays and Sundays. On Mon and Tues, there are people walking through all day so they never go out.

    I have Christmas lights hung in my cube as well so it’s a little extra light. I’m hoping that the one thing I asked for from Santa (a desk lamp) arrives. If not, I’m using this bonus Amex gift card from my employer to buy one for myself. LOL

  502. There is a tree at Tempe Marketplace that I like – I mean not the big huge one.. but .. Lemmie see if I can find the picture I took..

    Nope. Can’t find it while I’m here.. It’ll have to wait.

  504. I have a game confession: Sly B and I got Dragon Age for the PS3 and can’t figure out how to play it . . .

    We’re going for a holiday brunch with family in Denver – have a great day :panties: !

  506. EssBee: I had the same problem. It seems the right thing to do is program tactics for your party. You should only have to intervene occasionally. And when Leliana joins your party set her up to heal.

  507. I must confess, I found tactics in Dragon Age largely useless. More often then not, I had to order a character to do something different as following the tactics ended up getting them into trouble.

  509. Wife and I watched the A-Team movie this afternoon.

    I have to say I found it to be a better reimaging/rebooting of a old show than JJ Abrams Star Trek was.

    I could go for a sequel.

  515. Spent much of today Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, and working on decorating my Neopets account. Our house is full of Christmas cheer and peace. I hope everyone else’s is, too. 🙂

    Good night, mistletoe.

  517. Well judging from the amount of webs revealed in the early morning frost, the new bus shelters support more spiders than the old brick ones.

    /shudder

  526. 4 inches of snow going to start at 3pm and stop tomorrow morning. at least that means it will warm up. we almost never get snow when the temp is under the 20’s

  527. So, one of my co-workers for Christmas gave me Twitter Bird earrings and a Fail Whale bookmark because he says, “You love social media more than anyone I know!”

    :wub:

    I love my co-workers!

  535. I think part of the reason we have that much time off is that is handy to have some shutdown time for maintenance to get some major work done. and we are a private company.

  538. My dad has the next two weeks off (he works for a school district), but today’s Day 1 in the city government’s brand-new office building and two of the regular IT support people are starting their vacations today, so I’m going in to do some volunteer work today.

  539. Thanks jj that reminds me of my oven issue.
    It started working this weekend the clock blinks but it works. We waited on buying that part because it was going to take 15 working day to get, so we where going to check Craig’s list or try looking for a new one. but this will get us by for a while.

  541. Weird. The weather forecast says the temp high 29 low 25. It is currently 10. shouldn’t they be changing the estimate biased on the actual temp? Guess thats why i’m not a weather forecaster.

  548. the censor overlays almost got me in trouble. I nearly fell off my chair because I happen to be sitting the edge of it and while stifling the laughter I almost kick my chair out from under neither me.

  554. Looking like Tron tomorrow for me.

    Will be doing the whole movie pizza thang with nephew.

    Getting a bit concerned that a certain person hasn’t received my DPSS gift, the company said it had sent it out on the 11th.

  562. Teresa and I did our Christmas tradition of watching the Star Trek Next Generation episode where John Luc assumes the personage of Scooge. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0216621/ .

    There’s a scene where the alien (in the role of “The Ghost of Christmas Present”) takes him to a prison, where a prisoner plays the exact flute from the earlier TNG episode “The Inner Light.” Good stuff.

  585. Van, John and I have the same problem. Usually we don’t exchane gifs but buy something for the house instead (last year it was a new tv). We dint want or need anything this year so weren’t going to get anything for eachother. I just saw him perusing the guitar sites so I dragged him to the guitar store this afternoon and made him get something.

    I’m not expecting to get anything myself thus year

  588. I have a question: Why is The Sound of Music considered a holiday classic?

    Don’t get me wrong, I dint have anything against the movie. It’s a cute enough musical. I just don’t understand how it came to be shown every Christmas

  591. Yup, heading that way soon.

    SOM is just one of those weird things that develop. Over here, for a long time it was ‘The Great Escape’. Lost count how many times I’ve seen that movie on during holidays.

  593. I haven’t seen The Great Escape in ages. I wonder if it’s available in streaming?

    BTW, The Third Man came a couple of days ago. Hubby and I will probably watch it over the holidays

  595. Ther is supposed to be a Winter Solistice Lunar Eclipse tonight. It’s too bad it won’t be until after midnight and I have to work tomorrow. I wonder if hubby is going to stay up for it?

  597. I have something against the Sound of Music. It sucks. There are much better musicals out there. I wish we could make Fiddler on the Roof a Christmas tradition, just for the sake of irony.

  598. I’m going to try and go to bed early and sneak in some sleep before 1:30am so I can get up and watch much of the eclipse before crashing again.

  606. I just tried the following experiment with winter beverages, and I thought it was delicious.

    Amy Bowen’s Version of Borovan*
    Water
    1 peppermint herbal tea bag
    1 packet hot cocoa mix.

    Boil water. Pour into mug. Brew tea. When tea is finished steeping, remove tea bag and immediately stir contents of cocoa mix packet into tea until dissolved. Enjoy.

    *Borovan is a drink they drink in the world of Neopets. It’s asparagus-flavored hot cocoa. I thought peppermint-flavored hot cocoa would be much nicer to drink.

  607. TEB: The activity in your house sounds a lot like the activity in my house nowadays. There are four guitars in the study right now, plus the one that my dad took with him to his lesson tonight. He’s always restringing and otherwise modifying them.

  608. Good evening deadpan, got most of my Christmas shopping done today. And I think I’m going to try and catch the lunar eclipse tonight since it’s nice and clear tonight in OK.

    Amy: Take it to 11 and just grab a mint candy cane off the tree to put into your hot chocolate.

    Oh and for all the lovers out there, if you like Belgian golden ales/trippels try and get to a BJ’s Restaurant/brewpub and try their seasonal Grand Cru. It’s very smooth and delicious.

  609. Not a huge fan of their beers, LostRalph, but I do like me some Grand Cru. (keeping it clean, keeping it clean)

    And, according to the astronomer-folk, the Lunar Eclipse started 1 minute ago. It’s cloudy here, but I’ll let you know what I see.

  613. Clear as day here. The moon is now in full eclipse. I don’t plan on watching it come out the other side (I do have to work tomorrow and it’s nearly 3am). I have taken some (probably crappy) pictures that I will try to share tomorrow. Night :pan:

  619. I’ve just used the inbuilt compass function on the phone to show what direction N is to my nephew.

    Only the second time I’ve used the bloody thing.

  621. Portal for $3.74 – not quite free, but cheap enough that those who haven’t played yet have little excuse to not pick this one up.

  623. Wee doggie. Apparently the powers are greater than I thought. Right after I posted that link, my computer went into full on BSOD. I don’t even remember the last time I’ve had a crash like that.

  629. Good morning!

    We are heading out to see Tangled 3D this morning, then to Bass Pro Shops for some Christmas time fun! Then tonight (weather permitting it looks rainy out) we are gonna drive around and look at Christmas lights! Wheee!

  630. Okay this may be down to the 3D equipment used in the cinema (the specs had a sensor that switched the 3D off during 2D scenes), but thev3D in Tron:Legacy was clashiftheTItans league of naffness.

  632. LR: I don’t know much about guitars either. When we were looking I actually told hubby I liked this one because he didn’t have a red guitar yet.

    Hubby rolled his eyes, then I got a talk about how colour was not a factor when choosing a guitar and the many things that was part of the decision making process *yawn*

  633. Well judging by the active pickups and the floyd rose tremolo, I would say your Hubby’s guitar was made for screaming metal. :metal: The color is nice too.

  634. Yeah Rhett. One of his other guitars has a Floyd Rose and he says it’s actually one of his best guitars.

    As for active pickups, I know at least one other has that too, but I’m not sure about any of the others.

  637. Nothing but clouds visible in the skies over Southern California, so I slept right through the eclipse.

    Usedhair: Ooooooh. Nice pictures!

    Busy day for me today. First, I’m going out in the rain to play Santa Claus for some local families on behalf of the Rotary Club. Then I plan on sending Christmas letters and cards out, then I have a music rehearsal, and then I have a concert to attend in the evening.

  638. And UsedH’s moon is red! that’sa much better view than what I saw.

    Ed, that Wired article is terrifying, in that their nefarious scheme seems inevitable. Imagine paying $0.03 to watch Chocolate Rain.