1,425 thoughts on “Undeadpan

  1. So I finally get a wired xbox 360 controller so I could actually play Spelunky (I don’t have a enough fingers for keyboard play) , turns out the the way the screen updates on my laptop gives me an headache after extended play.

    Ah well.

  2. Reporting on correct Show. Ugh

    Who is ISIS??

    In other news, congrats to Mike Modano, I would kiss him if I knew it would not get apprehended.

  3. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia-weapon-1578808.html

    For the TL;DR set (which includes me, since I skimmed it):

    “The Central Intelligence Agency used American modern art – including the works of such artists as Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko – as a weapon in the Cold War.”

    “Why did the CIA support them? Because in the propaganda war with the Soviet Union, this new artistic movement could be held up as proof of the creativity, the intellectual freedom, and the cultural power of the US. Russian art, strapped into the communist ideological straitjacket, could not compete.”

  4. BTW – I jumped well last weekend.
    Went 2.90m (9’6″ – ish) and took 2nd in the “Don’t you think you are really to old to be doing this?” division!

    I have another meet this weekend. I think I have a real shot at 3.05m

  5. Next work travel for me is Houston July 14 โ€“ July 18 or so. Not so far from where Mr. From Texas resides. Let me know if you (or anyone that just happens to be in the Houston area) want to have dinner or something. I will be working at the airport and will not have a rental car, so I can only go where the public transportation (if any exists in that area) goes.

  6. Vonnegut’s Cats Cradle is 99p on kindle, I’m tempted.

    triple Cross is playing on the TV:

    Yul Brynner looks snazzy in a German uniform.

    Romy Schneider was a looker in 1967

    Gert Frobe is Gert Frobe

    Christopher Plummer looks very young.

  7. Although tempting, I did not run away to become an Eddie Izzard groupie. I did however go bowling and play miniature golf for work. This job is definitely different than my last :).

  8. I bought Cat’s Cradle for Kindle.

    Thankfully my phone doesn’t ‘t smell as bad as the library copy of CC I read years ago.

  9. I present for your consideration as I just watched a pair of movies yesterday:

    A mere 25 years ago (gads I’m old!), the movie “Dr. Alien” presents a 1998 sex symbol in the form of Judy Landers:

    http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/283/c/9/judy_landers_by_koqueen1-d6pzoo8.jpg

    By 2002’s American Psycho II: All American Girl (and certainly until now) the body type of someone like Mila Kunis is considered a sex symbol:

    http://img.fark.net/images/cache/850/J/Jy/fark_JyucZrhOEVIIO66FGrtfKyVJ1KI.jpg?t=umUuaI_KJ8uIloa5eohIKw&f=1404100800

    When (and why) did we, as a culture, loose the concept that hips are sexy? Somewhere along the way, our society decided that shape in women is only allowed in the chest. I lament for the loss of beautiful bodies and apologize to anyone that finds this a sexist (I am an asshat after all) post. Maybe we need a set of public service announcements modeled after old Wendy’s commercials with someone yelling “where’s the hips?”

  10. Well, after weeks of playing with it, I have decided the quality of this audio book is beyond repair. I think it would have taken me less time to have the thing completely re-recorded than it took for me to reach this conclusion.

    *sigh*

  11. Your crap joke for the day:

    “You never surprise me” a woman moaned one day to her long suffering husband.
    “Buy me a surprise for my birthday. Something that can accelerate from 0 to 150 in under 4 seconds, …… and I’d prefer a blue one!”, she hinted.
    Happy and excited she was counting down the days for her birthday.
    And finally she got the beautiful present her husband had thoughtfully chosen for her …..

    A BLUE BATHROOM SCALE

        • โ€œHeโ€™s a rebooted Mad Max, but itโ€™s a new interpretation.โ€

          So I have no trouble with them doing a re-imagining of this film … but if it is a different film, why not just give it a different name? Why couldn’t they drop the “Mad MAx” and just call it “Furry Road” ?

          Things that make you go “Hmmmmm”.

  12. Just following up from above – there won’t be any wedding bells for us. We’re pretty happy with what we have. We can still celebrate the news in October!

  13. Catching up to Van’s Eli Wallach obituary post from yesterday:

    I only just realized he was “The Ugly” from “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.” Possibly one of the most iconic performances of all time. RIP, Il Cattivo.

    • Just reading in the latest Ansible that Eli wrote in his autobiography he got more mail for playing Mr Freeze in the 60’s Batman than for any other role in his career.

  14. Van, we’re watching a British cop show on Hulu – Bailey and Scott or something. Why do those women call each other “cock”?

  15. Your crap joke for the day:

    A customer was continually bothering the waiter in a restaurant. First, he asked that the air conditioning be turned up because he was too cold, then he asked that it be turned down because he was too hot, and so it went for about a half an hour.Surprisingly, the waiter was very patient. He walked back and forth and never once got angry. Finally, a second customer asked the waiter why he didn’t throw out the pest.”Oh, I don’t care,” said the waiter with a smile. “We don’t even have an air conditioner.”

  16. So the BBC are going to do a reading of ‘I Am Legend’ on Sunday (split into two parts).

    At least it should end properly…

  17. Your Crap joke for very early on a Sunday:

    According to a study in the new scientist magazine
    women talk almost three times more than men. This is because the first two times men are not
    Fucking listening..

  18. Greetings from BritishFest, a brand-new geek convention here in Omaha! TARDIS dresses, Fourth Doctor scarves, and steampunk outfits abound.

    Unrelated Thought: A Pinata Full of Scorpions would be a good name for a death metal band. (This Unrelated Thought brought to you by Cards Against Humanity.)

    Good night, geeks.

  19. Morning Pan

    My Boo is completely moved out of their apartment and it has been made spotless. The inspection is today, then they can take their time unpacking. Boo and I both pushed ourselves so we are both planning to to nothing today. My nothing consists of video games and reading. Not sure what her nothing is. Probably sleeping until noon, then then same thing as me.

    I was going to to dome grocery shopping today but decided “screw it”. I’ll do it tomorrow.

    Hubby is still in Atlanta and will be until Wednesday.

    I guess I should get dressed now.

  20. Finally got my car battery charged, installed, started the car … and oil poured out the bottom as something failed catastrophically in the engine.
    Got that cleaned up off the driveway and decided to mow the yard. It started raining.
    Finally stopped raining, so I hurriedly got the mower back out to try and get the lawn mowing in, between rain showers … immediately threw a drive belt off the mower. Have now spent an hour laying on the ground trying to force the belt back on or get the damned pulley bolt loosened. Neither has occurred.
    #havingoneofTHOSEdays

  21. “Lavendar Fields Forever.”

    We cut our own lavendar bouquet, as we strolled amongst the purple-hued, fragrant fields of eastern Arizona high country.

    There were bees. Lots and lots of bees. Apparently, they were drunk on lavendar juice.

  22. Crap joke for the day:

    A man and a little boy entered a barbershop together. After the man received the full treatment – shave, shampoo, manicure, haircut, etc. – he placed the boy in the chair.”I’m goin’ to buy a green tie to wear for the parade,” he said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”When the boy’s haircut was completed and the man still hadn’t returned, the barber said, “Looks like your daddy’s forgotten all about you.” “That wasn’t my daddy,” said the boy. “He just walked up, took me by the hand and said, ‘Come on, son, we’re gonna get a free haircut!'”

  23. You know what I haven’t done in a very, very long time? And,you know what I decided to do when hubby is out of town so I couldn’t call to help?

    Lock myself out of the house.

    It’s shaping up to be that kind of Monday *sigh*

  24. wow.
    – Justice Ginsberg called the majority’s finding “a decision of startling breadth,” saying that the ruling means “commercial enterprises … can opt out of ANY law (saving only tax laws) they judge incompatible with their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

    I can’t wait for a Muslim business owner to step up to the plate and take a swing at this one.

  25. On the DVD front, that Captain Phillips movie was pretty exciting.
    (This is the Tom Hanks movie about a harrowing Somali pirate encounter, not to be confused with Captain Ron, about the wacky hijinks of Martin Short on a boat with Kurt Russell.)

  26. Watched “WWZ” on Netflix last night.
    I found it to be an about average zombie film.
    I was entertained but then again I had not read the book(Graphic Novel?) so I had no expectations.

  27. So I was dragged to see A Million Ways To Die In the West with my Mom.

    I laughed alot. Very remindful of Spaceballs but with the 2014 vulgarity of Seth McFarlane.

    And fart jokes.

  28. Just watched “Iron Sky”.
    It was okay. Kind of a mess, but a fun little action pic with some nice visuals.
    On a scale of 1 – 5 I’d give it a 3.
    Well actually maybe a 2.5 but I’ll throw in an extra .5 for villainesses in leather.

  29. Final movie of the evening was “Odd Thomas”
    Took a while to get going, had an awful lot of set-up to get you into it’s world but by the last third it sucked you in.
    Worth a viewing.

  30. Crap joke for the day:

    On the sixth day God turned to the Archangel Gabriel and said, ‘Today I am going to create a land called Canada. It will be a land of outstanding natural beauty; it shall have tall majestic mountains full of mountain goats and eagles, and beautiful sparkly lakes bountiful with carp and trout. There shall be forests full of elk and moose, high cliffs overlooking sandy beaches with an abundance of sea life, and rivers stocked with salmon.’God continued, ‘I shall make the land rich in oil so to make the inhabitants prosper, I shall call these inhabitants Canadians, they shall be known as the most friendly people on the earth.’..’But Lord,’ responded Gabriel, ‘don’t you think you are being too generous to these Canadians?’..’No, not really.’ God replied……….’Just wait and see the neighbours I am going to give them.’

    • Will read… but I remember not too far back bemoaning the fact that I heard Sleigh Bells on a Honda commercial, Quieens of the Stone Age on T-Mobile, Tegan and Sara on M&M’s…etc. It all makes sense now.

  31. On an unrelated note, what’s happening in New York? It’s not where hubby’s coming from but the Airport board show three flights coming from there as cancelled

  32. Dallas Buyers Club was definitely a bleak experience, but worth enduring once. I can certainly see why Matthew McConahdjtbdsoanabfbfejsbaghey won the Best Actor Oscar. Wow.

    Goodnight :McConahdjtbdsoanabfbfejsbaghey:

  33. Well it’s looking like this weekend and following week plan just went up in smoke.

    Ah well I shan’t miss the midge bites.

  34. Here’s a homebrew question for those in the know: I’m attempting a clone of Sam Adams Summer Ale this weekend but can’t find Grains of Paradise. Has anyone brewed with black pepper? Advisable or not?

  35. http://www.people.com/article/bethany-townsend-bikini-colostomy-bag-crohns-disease-inspiring-viral

    So, this is all over my Facebook feed. It is an interesting and eye-catching story. I have mixed feelings about her decision, but mostly, I think it is courageous to tell her story and to make a discreet and not-so-pleasant topic, public.

    Butโ€ฆ Im guessing her pic is airbrushed and those ostomy bags were put on 5 minutes before she took the picture. (and I will leave it at that, so as not to go into disgusting poop talk)

    thoughts?

    • My $0.02: she shouldn’t be shamed for wearing a bikini.

      Are people really making a big deal of this? No one should object to her wearing it in public, unless she’s coming over and emptying the bag on or near their stuff. I suppose her actions could lead to further cultural awareness and acceptance of something most of us automatically find repulsive. . . So sure, give her some points for that.

    • I’m not sure it’s any big deal.
      Does she WANT to wear a bikini? Then wear the bikini.
      No one wears something like that to begin with if they are really worried about what others think.
      If you don’t care what other people might think about seeing you in a bikini, why should the bags or only having one arm or a having a giant birth mark make you feel differently about wearing the bikini?

      • I think the short answer is that people, in general, are just plain mean. And we, at least in this country, are shallow and self-centered and mean.

  36. On a related note, I told hubby we need an orange tabby named spot. He looked at me with a straight face and said, “but then the horse wouldn’t know what to do.”

    I nearly fell down laughing.

  37. Your crap joke for the day:

    Father William, the old priest, made it a practice to visit the parish school one day a week. He walked into the 4th grade class, where the children were studying the states, and asked them how many states they could name. They came up with about 40 names. Father William jokingly told them that in his day students knew the names of all the states.One lad raised his hand and said, ‘Yes sir, but in those days there were only 13 states.

  38. Stumbled upon “Independence Day” on the TV while the extended family was over enjoying my tasty burgers for the 4th.

    Our commentary was a lot of “Oh, he was in this?” and “Man, they look so young!”

    • We were watching Captain America, and I noticed that Dr. Who’s current companion is one of the dates at the start of the movie. I also forgot there was a nice Raiders of the Lost Ark homage too.

  39. Finally (for now) – got to listen to the latest unDeadpan episode. I’m all in for a “Helluva Deadpan Palooza” for Big Trouble in Little China.

  40. Just back from spending 5 HOURS at a Catholic wedding/reception.
    I have noticed this before of such events …
    /potentially offensive remark about a specific religion
    … when you take the cork off of all of that bottled up, repressed joy … it’s one a heck of a party!
    /potentially offensive remark about a specific religion

    Fun!

  41. http://comicbook.com/blog/2014/07/06/crystal-clarke-and-pip-anderson-cast-in-star-wars-episode-vii/

    “Crystal Clarke And Pip Andersen Cast In Star Wars Episode VII”

    “British actor Pip Andersen is a skilled practitioner of parkour, a discipline that involves propelling oneself through any given environment with incredible grace and agility.”

    I hereby vow that if Episode VII has Parkour in it, I will personally punch J.J. Abrams in the junk if it’s the last thing I ever do.

  42. I just made my hotel reservation for the Deadpan MMMMMeetup in Denver. I will be coming in to town as early as I can on Sunday morning (because I don’t have any more vacation time I can use, sorry) and leaving on Monday evening. Can’t wait to see y’all! ๐Ÿ™‚

          • I also had an engine start puking oil last week.
            I couldn’t face the music. Just rolled the car back to the side of the driveway, put a cover on it and am pretending it didn’t happen.
            I’m guessing gaskets but you’d have to pull the engine to replace them.
            I’m not ready to face that music.

          • Ah, that is much more a piece of shit situation than mine. I used gasket generically… its actually blowing out anti-freeze… but with my budget that’s enough. Not to mention our main car nees 600$ of work. Boy me hates autos.

            Unfortunately my car is stuck in a supermarket parking lot, so I gotta do somethin.

  43. An anti-war song with a sense of humour:

    CUDDLE

    Oh, cuddle, cuddle, cuddle against the war.
    Use your arms for cuddling; that’s what arms are for.
    Escalation* could be bliss.
    Start off with a cuddle; end up with a kiss.

    Cuddle a Frenchman from gay Paree.
    Sit yourself upon his knee.
    Run your fingers through his hair,
    And leave the rest to laissez-faire.

    Oh, cuddle, cuddle, cuddle against the war.
    Use your arms for cuddling; that’s what arms are for.
    Escalation* could be bliss.
    Start off with a cuddle; end up with a kiss.

    Cuddle a Russian, a peasant hussar.
    Let him show you his samovar.
    They say the Russians all say “nyet.”
    I’ve never had that answer yet.

    Oh, cuddle, cuddle, cuddle against the war.
    Use your arms for cuddling; that’s what arms are for.
    Escalation* could be bliss.
    Start off with a cuddle; end up with a kiss.

    Cuddle an Indian; do it with verve,
    Then you’ll break down that brave’s reserve.
    Get into a big powwow,
    Then he’s bound to show you “how”โ€”

    Oh, cuddle, cuddle, cuddle against the war.
    Use your arms for cuddling; that’s what arms are for.
    Escalation* could be bliss.
    Start off with a cuddle; end up with a kiss.

    Cuddle an Australian, a wizard of Oz,
    On the beach with Santa Claus.
    Rub his back with suntan oils,
    And wait until his billy boils.

    Oh, cuddle, cuddle, cuddle against the war.
    Use your arms for cuddling; that’s what arms are for.
    Escalation* could be bliss.
    Start off with a cuddle; end up with a kiss…

  44. Your crap joke for the day:

    A Bear walks into a bar and asks the barman:

    “Can I have two………………..pints of beer please?”

    The barman replies:

    “Ok but why the big pause?”

    The bear replies:

    “I don’t know I was born this way…”

    • In my experience, a decent set does a good job where you have a droning constant type of noise like on a airplane or train. Not so well at trying to silence annoying coworkers in an open office.

      Also, cheap ones that I’ve had the misfortune to use seem to just crank up their own volume to try to drown out the outside noise, rather than really cancelling anything outside.

    • OMG, I can contribute to 1/3 of this conversation!
      I’ve read the first two Manhattan Projects paperbacks, which I assume are omnibus editions of the periodical comics releases.
      It’s brilliant, bloody, and completely nuts. Sometimes a bit too out there, but still worth your time, if you can tolerate a bit of mania.

  45. http://geektyrant.com/news/geektyrant-vs-dumbledore-vs-gandalf-fantasycon-panel

    How I think a real Dumbledore vs. Gandalf showdown would go:

    Gandalf: Dubledore my old friend. How are things at Hogwarts?

    Dumbledore: A bit of a kerfuffle with the dark one. All worked out in the end though. How about Middle earth?

    Gandalf: Much the same old bean. Much the same. Some leaf and wine for you?

    Dumbledore: Certainly.

    Not exactly an interesting showdown, but what would you expect from two wise good old farts?

  46. ugh. Calgon, take me away. And by ‘Calgon’ I mean ‘cocaine’.

    FYI, Ive never done cocaine…but I’m 90% sure if offered I’d do it in an instant.

    • Omg this has been a running meme on the message boards. This guy is drunk… they have the 3rd worst record in baseball and the 4th best attendance. This city supports the team and owner WAY more than they should. So go ahead.. move and see what its like. Douchebag

  47. Fun Fact of the Day!

    Will Rogers was born on Nov. 4th and died in a place crash

    Roy Rogers was born on Nov. 5th.

    Will Rogers is known as “Oklahoma’s First son” and OKC International airport is named after him.
    Harsh?

    There appears to be no relation between the two Rogers

    This Poxie was also born on Nov. 5th. . . in Oklahoma

  48. Just watched Terry Gilliam’s “Baron Von MUUUUUnchausen” again for the first time in about 20 years.
    WOW that is a BIG film!
    … and yeh, it could have been better … but I still think it is a great bit of film making.
    and big. Did I mention BIG!!!!
    Thousands of extras and GIANT sets that he then destroys!
    It’s just so much more impressive when it takes an ARMY of humans to make a visual like that and not just a dozen guys in cubicles working away on computers.

  49. Today on Stuffed Animal Tales:
    Gus asked Dennis what it takes to be a fish out of water.
    Dennis simply looked at Gus and said, “blub blub”. Then fell over laughing.

  50. Mom called.

    She said she was still in bed and calling me from there. I asked why she didn’t wait an hour and call me when she was up. She said it was hot out and she hadn’t decided if she wanted to get out of bed or not. :blink:

    • Not by way of bragging but by way of celebrating what the Romone’s gave us, I can say that I did see them and the experience (for it was very much crowd participation) is one of the memorable highlights from my life.
      Thanks Joey, Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee, Tommy.
      (and adopted Romone – Richard Reinhardt)

        • Would have been the late 80’s/very early 90’s.
          Saw them at an old Steel Mill that had been converted to an amphitheater .
          It was my first encounter with what I could only call a “professional” mosh pit.
          It was PACKED and the slam dancing looked like a riot going on but when ever anyone got knocked to the ground. hands shot out of the crowd and latterly picked them up and set them back on their feet.
          It was like everyone knew that if someone got killed, the party would be over. So some how it stayed just short of actual, major bodily injury.
          Good times!

  51. Today on Stuffed Animal Tales:

    The three bear staged a protest, demanding actual names like the rest of the menagerie. Mouse wanted to join the protest but they wouldn’t let her because, well, she’s a mouse.

  52. Apart from the midges, I can recommend the Scottish highlands to potter around in if you can tear yourself away from the fleshpots of London.

  53. Weekend update – we got to see the new version of Robocop. Definitely a different vision than the original and, while it certainly had some issues (and the original wasn’t exactly Citizen Kane, either) overall I think it worked.

    Where the original had the world of Robocop set many decades into the future from the 1980’s, this one is probably at that same point but the recognition that we are much closer to making such things real and where drone robots are a fact of life. Sort of how Star Trek has to keep becoming more futuristic with each incarnation as the “future” tech of the previous versions is in many ways now in our past tech wise.

    The original seemed focused more criticism of consumerism and featured a corporate run dystopia. Now, those predictions have come true in many ways. This new version I think makes a more serious attempt to address the questions of what makes a man and what limits on liberty are we willing to tolerate.

    Like I say, certainly not perfect, but I think it succeeds more than it fails.

  54. Her. WOW, what a film. A tremendous work of art by Spike Jonze.

    It was fascinating on many levels, yet a minimalistic approach. Bravo acting. I loved this movie!

      • I actually missed it at the cinema and had to get it by other means.

        I enjoyed it and it had a very 60/70’s vibe (the way the future looked) to me.

  55. Today on Stuffed Animal Tales:

    The twins, Hugglie and Snugglie decided they no longer wanted to wear their earrings so requested theirs be removed. Canoose was not as happy when his was removed at the same time.

  56. Drawing to the end of my re-read of “Queen of the Damned”, book 3 of Anne Rice’s Vampire series, and really enjoying the revisit. . . It’s such a richly detailed world with such vibrant characters; this really needs to be the next major Cable TV series.
    I first read the whole thing in the 90s when there were only 5 books, and I know she’s written many more since. Done properly, it could easily go 10 seasons.

  57. So normally I buy color safe bleach for laundry. Well I picked up regular bleach on accident so I had to go back to the store to buy the color safe. Sooooooo as not to confuse the two I labeled one bottle “Colors” and the other “Whites only”.

    Then I realized what I had done…

  58. CD: Lone Start Bock – “The National Beer of Texas”

    Next up in line is Ziegen Bock Amber. I may not have a car to get around Houston, but (dammit) I can still get Texas beer in gas station mini-marts near my hotel.

  59. So that Dawn of the Planet of the Apes of the Legends of the Fall of the Queen of the Children of the Damned of the Apes was not as good as the first — or the original — but still pretty good. Worth it if you liked the first one.

  60. According to our weather person, by this time in July we usually have about 90mm of rain (approx. 4 inches). So far we’ve had 9mm (less than 1/2 an inch), and the temperature has been above average for the entire month.

    I’m ready for it to cool off now.

  61. This is your gentle reminder that we’re planning a summer Palooza for Big Trouble in Little China. Ed had a clever idea for the Palooza name, which escapes me at the moment. . .

    Anyway, that is all. Carry on.

  62. Speaking of this shitty species..

    Coming this July to a Strip near you! Starring Isreal! Starring Palestine! It’s “The Gaza Must be Crazy!”

    • Coincidentally, I heard the song “Fancy” that Weird Al’s latest parody is based on for the first time today. Unsurprisingly, I prefer the parody.

  63. Today on SA tales:

    Cola, being a polar bear, is not use to the heat so asked to be put in the fridge.

    (I told hubby this and the first thing he did was check to see if I did put the bear in the fridge. I’m not sure if that says more about me, or him)

  64. Ok Friday morning “wha?” trivia –

    Name the first movie based on a Marvel comic book. No google! (I’m not counting the 1944 Captain America serial because they were “Timely Comics” back then)

    And go!

  65. Morning Pan

    Last night the weather did it’s best Gordon Sumner impersonation. Personally, I’d prefer it to actually rain.

  66. I am so over-killing this until Van’s head pops or the page 404s

    theatrical film

    noun Movies.
    a film made for exhibition in theaters, as distinguished from one made for television.
    Dictionary.com Unabridged
    Based on the Random House Dictionary, ยฉ Random House, Inc. 2014.

  67. My final say on the matter.

    In the UK at least, the first Marvel character to be seen in the cinemas was Spiderman not Howard the Duck.

    Now I need a rabbits foot.

  68. So talking about comic book charcters, I’m looking for the name of a character who was an alien, had a gem on his forehead that sucked out people’s souls when he lost control, any ideas?

  69. I am off to tilt at windmills again.

    Driving 4 hours to compete in a track meet. The pole-vault is actually tomorrow morning but I am to old to drive 4 hours, get out of a car, and be immediately athletic.

    I shall again try to conquer my white whale … the elusive TEN FEET!

  70. There’s an American on the bus that is actually using ‘dude’, ‘bro’ and ‘man’ in conversation.

    I may have slipped into the Big Lebowski universe.

  71. Morning Pan

    We finally had some rain last night. I don’t think it was enough to save my lawn but still, it’s nice to have the cool down

  72. Today on SA Tales:

    Farmer Puff and Old Man Grey asked why they were on a shelf in the office instead of on the bed with the rest of the menagerie . I don’t think they were satisfied with the answer, “22 stuffed animals on the bed is quiet enough, thank you very much.”

  73. Ack! The rain has decided to make up for lost time. It’s coming down so hard, I have branches coming off my trees.

    … I hope hubby is ok. He’s driving home in this

  74. Greetings from Overland Park, Kansas!

    I’m here on a short, overnight trip to go to KantCon, where I playtested an indie game and painted my own D&D miniature. I also had a delicious dinner with Ditto and T-Cat. Plus, I went for a sunset walk and found my first geocache!

    I listened to the Undeadpan episode on the drive down here. I will make sure to watch Big Trouble in Little China and get my audio in as soon as possible.

    Good night, adventures. :happy:

  75. Got back from my adventures late last night.
    Finally made 10 feet (10′ 1″ to be exact)!

    Had to overcome weather, a back pain (back went out the day before), and the fact that my pole broke on me in warm ups (I had a stiffer one and was able to use it for the meet).
    I did it though.
    yea me

  76. Today on SA Tales:

    Li’l RB was tired of making noise any time he moved so asked for his bell to be removed. Strong Heart told him to be a man and suck it up. This confused RB since he’s a bear, not a man.

  77. How good is the ‘Singles’ soundtrack? 22 years later still sounds fresh, proving good rock n roll stands up even while being labeled.

    Now… if only I could say the same for Nu-Metal

  78. So, Snowpiercer: I recommend it, but then, I like B movies.

    Just saying…. if this movie had come out 30 years ago, the leads would have been Van Damme and Christopher Lambert.

  79. Reading the Baen books FAQ on supported ebook formats is a blast from the past. I’m surprised anybody still used Microsoft Reader LIT format.

  80. I’m looking at thecSquare Enix humble bundle, loads of great (and not so great) games on there that I’ll never get round to play if I bought it.

    #firstworldproblems

  81. So just finished ‘Havana Bay’ by Martin Cruz Smith.

    I’ve only see the film ‘Gorky Park’ based on one of his novels, so this was the first of his novels I actually got round to reading.

    Enjoyed it, slow build up (almost gave up at one point) but once Arkady survives the first murder attempt the plot starts cooking.

    A bit too much exposition near the end from the bad guys (no twirling moustaches though), but I will certainly check out more of Cruz’s novels in the future.

  82. I’m reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. I think this is the first time I’ve actually read this novel. I’m about 25% through and I want you all to know that, so far, it’s nothing like any movie I’ve seen, ever. I’m very disapointed with Hollywood right now.

    • I read that and Dracula back-to-back one year around Halloween. Dracula’s a bit closer, but yeah. . . . in both cases, you can almost picture the 1930s Hollywood mogul with his top hat and monocle, chewing his cigarette holder stem, saying “No, no, THIS is how I want you to make the picture. Mah, see?”

  83. Hi! I’ve been very busy and very absent – miss you all!

    Catching up on memememe:

    -Long remodeling project at our house slowly killing me, but a big step closer to being finished when we were able to haul our appliances back inside after them being outside for 6 weeks waiting on a floor install. NEVER buy flooring from Home Depot.

    -I had a MRI on my shoulder last week and just learned that I have a “very significant rotator cuff tear.” I see a surgeon Friday – looks like I might be in for a few days in the hospital, but trying not to get ahead of myself.

    -I’m going to a funeral today. It’s a co-worker’s father’s funeral. Her mom died around 2 months ago, so super sad.

    -We started watching Orphan Black and LOVE IT. We also are extremely in love with The Fosters.

    /self-absorption

  84. Seeing Local H, Helmet, and Filter tonite. Very excited to see Helmet for first time and Local H again. Not a big Filter fan tho.

    /ME!!!

  85. Morning Pan

    Today I’m not doing the paid job but instead I’m working on silly WWC stuff. How do I get myself into this thing every year?

  86. The wildlife are out in force today. This morning there was a bunny cleaning itself on our lawn. Now there are squirrels playing on our fence. All we need is to see deer walking down the street and the day will be complete.

  87. I need a “Munchken” rules clarification.

    If you have a card that says you can steal an item from another player, does that apply ONLY to an item they have in play … or can you take a card from their hand?

  88. Your crap joke for the day:

    Our teacher asked what my favorite animal was, and I said, “Fried chicken.”

    She said I wasn’t funny, but she couldn’t have been right, because everyone else laughed.

    My parents told me to always tell the truth. I did. Fried chicken is my favorite animal.

    I told my dad what happened, and he said my teacher was probably a member of PETA. He said they love animals ……..very much.

    I do, too. Especially chicken, pork and beef. Anyway, my teacher sent me to the principal’s office.

    I told him what happened, and he laughed, too. Then he told me not to do it again.

    The next day in class my teacher asked me what my favorite live animal was.

    I told her it was chicken. She asked me why, so I told her it was because you could make them into fried chicken.

    She sent me back to the principal’s office. He laughed, and told me not to do it again.

    I don’t understand. My parents taught me to be honest, but my teacher doesn’t like it when I am.

    Today, my teacher asked me to tell her what famous person I admired most.

    I told her, “Colonel Sanders.” Guess where I am now …

  89. I think it’s safe to say that over the last few days I’ve read more comics then I’ve done over the last 20 years .

  90. Your crap joke for a lazy Sunday:

    Six guys were playing poker when Smith loses $500 on a single hand, clutches his chest and drops dead at the table. Showing respect for their fallen comrade, the other five complete their playing time standing up. Roberts looks around and asks, “Now, who is going to tell the wife?” They draw straws. Rippington, who is always a loser, picks the short one. They tell him to be discreet, be gentle, don’t make a bad situation any worse than it is. “Gentlemen! Discreet? I’m the most discreet man you will ever meet. Discretion is my middle name, leave it to me.” Rippington walks over to the Smith house, knocks on the door, the wife answers, and asks what he wants. Rippington says, “Your husband just lost $500 playing cards.” She hollers, “TELL HIM TO DROP DEAD!” Rippington says, “I’ll tell him.

  91. We watched the movie, Umder the Skin last night. You know, the ScarJo nudie flick.

    I hear it is critically acclaimed. Im guessing its accolades are for her full frontal (& several male counterparts’ parts). It was fascinating to view humanity from an alien’s perspective, but this movie was too dark, had several plot holes, & creepy, unsettling music.

    Bleh.

  92. JW: Extant E2

    Although I’m enjoying the series it really is a classic example how crap TV land is at science.

    The AI boy is told only the strong and the more intelligent survive…yeah the writers should have read up on the humble cockroach.

    • Forwarded that to my Brother-in-law who sold his own genetics firm a few years ago.
      He said these folks are on the up-and-up but it is an overly ambitious project. He figures they will need at least 2 million respondents to statistically get enough humans with this special mutation, in order to do the science.
      Still, in his words “scientifically this is what needs to be done.”

  93. Anyone watched (or is currently streaming) the TV show, The Escape Artist, on PBS or BBC? It stars David Tenant.

    I watched episode 1 and I think I want to continue, but Im on the fence.

  94. Morning Pan

    Had a really rough night last night. I woke up partly through the night because I felt something tickling my arm. Discovered it was a spider walking on me. Those who know me will understand if I spent the rest of the night in either non-sleep or nightmare land.

  95. Try 2…. Forgive if this appears twice. I’ve just finished season 2 of Game of Thrones and have considered picking up the books. For those who have read and watched, how different are they? I expect some differences and I always know that they are two seperate works. Any thoughts?

    • I watched the first 3 seasons before reading the books and then this last season after reading the books. I enjoy watching the show better when I don’t know what’s coming. That being said, I still enjoyed this last season so it’s not one of those situations where you simply can’t enjoy the visual medium if you read the books (like World War Z or Ender’s Game).

  96. Crap joke for the day:

    A lawyer boarded a flight from New York to London with a box of frozen crabs, and asked the blonde flight attendant to take care of them. So she promised to put them in the galley freezer. He advised her he was a lawyer and threatened her what would happen to her if she let them thaw out.
    Shortly before landing in London she announced on P A system,
    “Would the lawyer who gave me the crabs in New York, please raise your hand!”
    Not one went up… So she took them home and ate them.
    There are two lessons here.
    1: Lawyer’s aren’t as smart as they think they are.
    2: Blondes aren’t as dumb as most people think..

  97. I’m sure you guys have seen this –
    “Top doctor dies from Ebola after treating dozens”
    http://news.yahoo.com/west-african-airline-suspends-flights-amid-ebola-131826424.html

    I heard the story on NPR yesterday – He was one of the guys who knew the most about how NOT to get Ebola and didn’t have a clue as to how he got it.
    They said the key to surviving it is early detection and treatment … he didn’t have to go to a doctor to get diagnosed, he IS the doctor. He recognized the signs immediately and put himself in an isolation unit, yet…

    Isn’t this starting to sound like the beginning of one of those “Global Catastrophe” movies where the early signs are there but no one pays much attention to them because it is in some far off remote place.

    Fortunately those re all just fiction movies.
    Right?

      • Preston’s “The Hot Zone” was a non-fiction account of an uncontrolled Ebola outbreak at a lab in Virginia. *Spoiler* The U.S. was not consumed by an evil plague, but that was only because they figured out that the virus couldn’t jump to humans. If it was transmissible, then we would be living Mad Max right now, rather than looking forward to the movie.

    • I thought the same thing, just yesterday at work.
      As a healthcare Professional, I carry a very real fear of microbes and contagents. Maybe this doc became complacent. Sad and SCARY!’, imo!!

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