scottobear | Entries tagged with movies

Cookout on the porch with in-laws - burgers on the grill, baked potato, Brussels sprouts, lemon meringue pie

Very nice night - warm, a few lightning bugs are making appearances already.

Getting a wee bit tired of all the hype that twitter is getting. (Mine is usually just a link relocator or an automated alert mechanism for larger journal posts)

Lilacs are booming and are fragrant.

UPS battery needs to be replaced on the main computer.

Jonah Hex movie info.

Sex Attacks based on Bat Demon.

Men in parts of Tanzania's main city, Dar es Salaam, are living in fear of a night-time sex attacker.

A BBC correspondent says the attacks are being blamed by some on a demon called "Popo Bawa" meaning winged bat.

Some men are staying awake or sleeping in groups outside their homes. Others are smearing themselves with pig's oil, believing this repels attacks.

Reports of the demon's existence have been common for many years in Zanzibar, where locals claim it originated.

The BBC's John Ngahyoma in Dar es Salaam says not many people actually believe that the demon exists and there have been no sightings.

But Mbaruku Ibrahim, who hails from Zanzibar, says the story of the demon is common there and people in his village on Pemba island sleep beside a huge fire outside their houses whenever it is said to appear.

The story goes that the bat is able to transform itself into a man at night and it has also been blamed for rapes of women.

Sheikh Yahya Hussein, a prominent astrologer in Tanzania, claims that the demon is a spirit that is unleashed by witches to torment their opponents.

Belief in witchcraft and superstitions is widespread in Tanzania, especially in rural areas.

1 year ago - lego robot monkey, puzzles, cabbage soup, wind up robots

2 years ago - calvert coworkers, 6 months thoughts, palm doodles, mr mind, pollen

3 years ago - world history, folkvine, pocket charger, jw cordon

4 years ago - Egyptian origins, clown confession, big brown bear, trix returns to simplicity, hugs, fleet week, chitchat w myid8myego, kind entry, country bears movie, human gene in rice, funeral dance, FL gun law self defense, energy crisis, Cheney & Abadullah

5 years ago - Godchecker's Mythology Encyclopedia, Andy Griffith factoid, CS out, Cute Newt Pic

6 years ago - seafood fest, gift exchange

7 years ago - Foomy goes poof, nifty human tricks, Quick little story, full moon thoughts, Prof. Eben Norton Horsford.

8 years ago - bricolage, misc news, email tags, lj burp, uck, how to catch a polar bear, prezzies

Current Mood: full
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: Lost s01-ep17 ... in translation (hurley's batteries just died)

Day was a blur. Let's see -

We were up late last night - stayed nestled in bed until about 10am when we realized I had to be to the doc's by 11 in order to get my shots. (Doing it a week early, so I can skip next weekend - City-wide yard sale is something we want to hit early!

Got shots, and BHK showed me the menu to a local BBQ shack that she and the mom-in-law went to for lunch yesterday. I of course got the fried clams, which were very tasty. Most entertaining food was cornbread in the shape of a pickup truck - eaten before photographed. I'll snap the next one - it was very tasty.

We went on a little shopping expedition with the in-laws - K-mart for plants in the garden - bok choy, broccoli, cabbage - picked up some robin's eggs and nonpareils - kept the eggs (candy-coated, chocolate covered malted milk balls) and gave biscuits and non-p's to the inlaws. got more pot pie squares and tomato sauce for a future meal or two, as well.

Visited Compter Renaissance, and they really didn't have any tech that was newer than circa 1995. so much for me getting a memory upgrade or car charger for the EEE. While at K-mart, I looked into a power inverter for the love cube - all of the $30 ones were out, and the $80 was a bit too spendy for me.. not going to run a chainsaw or a fridge just yet.

Saw puppies in baby cribs again. Guy insisted that dogs I'm allergic to are hypoallergenic. Just because it doesn't shed much doesn't mean I'm not allergic.

Got home, rested a smidgen, and we had buffalo shrimp salad for dinner. I went into the other room to fix our router's security since Comcast reset it - noticed that they had the router to go to only one computer at a time. (ip locked) - fixed router, it' snow called "Green Glow" for springtime, and is passworded.

I got sick about 10 minutes after resetting the router. could be the shrimp, or just the fact that I overate - I scarfed down a lot of baked potato.

We did lights out from 8:30-9:30pm as part of an energy saving gesture called earth hour .

And now, the in-laws have gone home - We watched the Thomas Crown Affair . Not the best flick in the world - first time i had seen it all at once. Surprising that they're making a sequel next year, 11 years later. Newton was a little trickster tonight and got all sweet at Larry, and then made an effort to smack the glasses off his face.

G'nite, dear journal! A little soda-pop to soothe the stomach, and it's off to bed!

1 year ago - alice's bar exam party, smothers brothers, eating policy, assorted piccies of my office, newt and pye getting along, doodled voice post, bus stop pic of spring,

2 years ago - nice folks at the county, cherry blossoms, spring started - pear trees, BHK into reality tv, EPC a flop, adam & tennis, easter coming up.

3 years ago - code template, interest cloud, pda cam dies, p&B in german, song tapper, bus on fire doodle

4 years ago - easter manatee, complimented, server/servant, spliced people, germs

5 years ago - Lj then and now (I spend less time now), bro, ice cream cake, Smokey & the Bandit

6 years ago - bro got me some Godzilla movies at the gift store up the road.

7 years ago - minority report poll, breakfast with Danny, grabber rabbit meme spreads, Words describing animal traits, Ketchup packet bear, Klaatu's speech, scary dream, link-to poll

8 years ago - babelizer, mushy-feelings, book-burning

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: kashmir - curse of being a girl

Slow to get up - Aiee monday, indeed. It took me a good hour or two to shake off the morning sleepies.

Made it to work with time to spare, I was welcomed by Franklin-cat - I'm going to get treats for him later.

Batman Brave & the Bold continues to be exceptional - I really liked the recent Joker's 50's design is ... also "brake, choke, throttle, " my kind of car! comment was perfect.

Speaking of Throttle - Comcast returned - didn't call BHK to let her know they had come by - seems they had throttled down our connection because they couldn't figure out how to properly bill us? What? Anyhow, it is back up to speed now. Just as well - Verison's service isn't in our area - our only other alternative is satellite-type stuff - Hughes net. That's the price we pay for living in a rural-ish area, I guess!

Grabbed subs, did $2 worth of scratch-off tickets (and won$2! - broke even), and headed home to watch Hancock tonight - I thought it was pretty enjoyable, all told. I think the thing was to not expect "meteor man - drunk hero" throughout the whole film. I do have to wonder about the other super though... why was Hancock the only person being a hero? Just seeing the movie made me wonder if a Damage Control film was a viable thing - a ton of collateral damage.

I just figured out the cartoon I was whistling the song to earlier (singing to pyewacket and newt) - An Itch in Time - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-zA16E-_NY about 1:30 into the video

1 year ago - atw easter, palm doodle, becoming jane, easter island, open source options

2 years ago - saw 300 with BHK and TM, supper at chevy's

3 years ago - six comments per entry, dark organic secrets, working rocket boots, no 'e's, hurricane names, ape & kitty,

4 years ago - superhero idea, prvt brokentoy on pavement, bandwidth pull, eclipse, DOJ presentation, Digicam RIP

5 years ago - Bubba Ho-Tep, Bro info, RI annoying

6 years ago - Season poll, spring rains

7 years ago - Newtie Mer, grabby bunny, text-m's, Pirate disfigurement poll, clever robber, outside reading sources online

8 years ago - sql, free pulp novels online

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: random song from an old cartoon in my head "There'll Be Food around the Corner"

Cable guy came by this morning to evaluate our Internet - he replaced the line from the pole to our house, and the box on the pole - looks better, but they're sending out another truck on Monday to evaluate some more. I'm just glad it's not an "inside the house" issue. I suspect with so many folks using Verizon around here, we may be the only Comcast people using that particular line. (side edit, spellchecker wanted to change "Comcast" to "compost". I feel the same way. )

While waiting for the cable guy, BHK tuned in to Twilight and I watched it with her. It was about what I expected. The lead characters didn't do much for me - I saw no "sizzle" and they weren't particularly attractive. There was certainly a powerful Mary Sue vibe going on. I'd say I liked the wolf tribe folks most of the lot of 'em, and I think BHK liked the little emo-haircut news-kid.

After the pole-climber was done, we headed out for the day - First got my shots in record time - (BHK and Kendall's Mom chatted, so it seemed more quickly that I thought) - Instead of our usual walk around town, I thought it'd be nice to take BHK to Annapolis and just hoof it there for a bit.

Did a lot of window shopping and people-watching. Rather than getting lunch, we just sort of nibbled at the assorted stops along the way. Split a bagel here, a cookie there, a coffee somewhere else.

Stopped off at third eye comics - picked up vol 1 of Planetary and the Essential Dr. Strange . (BHK grabbed The New York Four - being an NYU grad and all) They guys at Third Eye are always willing to lend a hand, and can recommend stuff that they think I'll like - so far, so good! I'm not a huge Warren Ellis fan, but planetary has a lot of good stuff in it - and I've always dug Dr. Strange.

Passed by an estate sale - lots of nifty antiques - I think it gave BHK the idea to do a distressed dresser in the bedroom.

K-mart of the walking dead - Got some solar-charged tiki lights for the porch walkway. The employees and customers were more than a little frightening - red-eyed and many doing the thorozine shuffle. Contemplated lawn furniture for spring, and decided against it, as it was too rickety for me to be sitting on for any extended period.

Visited the local hardware store to look for a bracket to hang the bell from my dad's boat up - may return there next week.

Paused at a school yard sale (raising money for the band to go to Canada) - we got some baked goods - a crazy-colored cupcake (see below), and a brownie... BHK also snagged a hot dog, and bought her mom some orange glasses - perfect for a margarita sometime. I obtained another webcam - this one was only $1 after BHK haggled it down from $2. We'll see if it works later this month. Also seen below are the ATW man playing ping pong, a found travel bug (trailer on the bio lab at the same yard sale) and an advertisement that stopped BHK in her tracks. PUPPIES IN BABY CRIBS.

BHK loved the Puggle , but I was a bigger fan of the Brussels Griffon not as cute, but it had a fantastic and playful personality - a little "tough guy". It's a good thing I'm still very allergic to the critters, or something probably would've come home with us.

The in-laws met with us later on, and we did supper at Adam's Ribs - a onion loaf was bit greasy, but the veggies were good, and the service excellent.

Finished up Twilight when we got home... a lovely full day.

1 year ago - back better, lj content strike, colorwars, lunch with Adam & Eric, windy, lunchtime rendesvous redux

2 years ago - work review, cakery cookies, steve jobs on music, spore coming

3 years ago - sleepyhead, ren-festige, Chacarron again, comic-book picture, condo commando, network named elements, Sandra Day O'Connor comments on right-wingers, star wars concept pics, don't walk through words, political profile quiz

4 years ago - Fragments, Chatted a cutie, BEAR TRAP/ PUNCH!, homeopathy=placebo, ref desk, giant sea monkeys, walkabout pics, rhemish, Parallel Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy

5 years ago - local search sillies, copyright disclaimer, zombie minis, missed bro

6 years ago - palm pic, whiskerliscious-fuzzy-paw newt-pic, cat eaters, the coffee song, interviewed @ starmark

7 years ago - radiology, reading lensmen books, riker in trouble for DVDing, corpse Tupperware, Elisabeth, and a bunch of dead links.

8 years ago - IMT politics, and so on

Current Mood: thirsty
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: Wind rushing past the wall outside

Franklin (the outdoor cat who lives near my office) followed me a bit this morning to work, I stopped to give him some love - he's a sweetheart. I made sure to wash my hands very carefully - don't want to allergy myself too much, or possibly bring back feline leukemia to the boys at home. I should start bringing Franklin a little treat or something.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottobear/archives/date-posted/2009/03/19/

If I'm not careful, BHK is going to make me adopt him and bring him home. Plenty of little hellcats at the house already, but I'm a soft touch.

--

Though I am of no particular religious faith of my own, I don't mind when others express belief... to a degree. Riding the green line into work this morning, a wall-eyed lady was shrieking out hosannas and praise the lords intermixed with some tuneless chant-like singing. she had headphones on, but I suspect that they were just props so she could ramble loudly.

I've seen this from assorted people, numerous times - usually on the bus, but the train here and the tri-rail back in Fort Lauderdale. Why are folks permitted to holler at the top of their lungs while I'm confined to the same space as they are? I think that the train is better for just making a lot of noise without repercussions, because it's less likely that it'll stop and eject the person.

(They won't shut up - all I want to do is nap)

I've been "witnessed" to at least 4 times, maybe more while on the bus. I've noticed that the best thing to do is just be quiet and let it pass, because the folks doing it are generally more than a little unhinged already - I don't want someone flipping out too much.. it seems like they run out of gas after about 15 minutes (which seems like an hour) and then start again maybe 5 minutes after that.

There needs to be some sort of code of ethics - if I'm trapped with a person that is at the minimum causing sound pollution that I don't want, or at maximum is a foamy-mouthed looney, I get upset. I was fantasizing about picking up a tranquilizer dart gun somewhere for the bulk of the noise.

See also about 11 months ago
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In a similar vein, I don't mind being trapped on a bus with folks talking a little loudly on the phone if it's a language I don't know... if it's English, it bugs me, but if it's something very exotic (something Asian or African - not too uncommon in DC area) I don't mind nearly so much. German, French, Creole and Spanish is fairly annoying too, for some reason. (if I'm in a movie theater, however, it's easy for me to leave and get an attendant.)

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The ride home on the train was easier on my ears.

Called Comcast about some service - if they slack on me too much, I think we'll just cut that internet cord, and go to hughes-net or some other provider.

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Tasty buffalo "chicken" salad for dinner tonight - and I had the rare beer - (Michelob Lime/cactus - good, light fare).

BHK and I are giving up on Castle, I think - 2 episodes, and neither had the grabbing power. Going to give Better Off Ted another chance, but I suspect the quirkyness is already too stiff for real fun, and it'll get switched off, too.

Our netflix came in, in time for the weekend - Hancock and Run, Fat Boy, Run . My hopes aren't too high - If I'm entertained, that'll do the trick.

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1 year ago - coloring eggs, haiku, atari, victorian chewie, Dro who an insane lsd junkie, obama race speech

2 years ago - newt and pye on cam, first day at county, Ze:The Show is over, squid vs yellow submarine,

3 years ago - condo area pic with duck, i don't like cricket

4 years ago - Lunsford, Atlantis, car crash test, voice post

5 years ago - club 977, Wine & Food, itunes, lj spam, Fri-5, nearby donations,First hint of New Dr Who, Newt big-head pic, color associations

6 years ago - heat, bad job recruiter, UT

7 years ago - city relic quiz, got into an argument with Astley, work nonsense, happy ending

8 years ago - awake but paralyzed for surgery, com ideas, animal eyes

Current Mood: stressed
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: Some chef-reality show on in the background

[Error: unknown template qotd] I really liked Disney movies as a kid - I didn't get to watch many over and over, though - I would guess that the stuff that came on the Wonderful World of Disney werethose that got the most replay value.

Of that lot, I'd have to go with Donald in Mathemagic land, though it's not really a movie.. Maybe Blackbeard's Ghost or possibly the Scarecrow.
Neither are really my favorite now, but I still hold them in a place of nostalgia.

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: green line, washington dc

Happy PI day! To celebrate, we went out for pancakes at the Main Ingredient with Duncan, J, and Sean. A nice time, and we piddled around the stationary store next door to digest afterward. (Picked up a set of cute barrettes for BHK!)

For the record, Pyewacket could care less if it was PI day, Pie day or Pye-day.

Midday, we headed home, swung by the candy store and got our mail, a brief stop at Coffee, Tea & Whimsy for a wine-tasting (well, I was there for the snacks), picked up some crabby crackers, a loaf of italian brad and some pasta sauce, spent $10 to support breast cancer awareness (BHK got a homemade pin, I got a sleeve of sugar cookies)

and watched Mr. Meaty. BHK said that it's like that show is in my head... episodes today were about Zombies and a Planet of the Apes sort of parody.. the show just hits things right on the nose. Thanks, Canada!

This evening, we had a minimalist supper (nibbles above), and watched the 2008 Bangkok Dangerous - I was a little disappointed, and BHK was more so.

BHK enjoyed the Sex in the City movie in part tow of our "flush out our old netflix" film fest more, and I thought it was a passable chick flick based on a girl's TV show, but not much more than that.

1 year ago - Dinner with Cathy & Dave, "the good life" pic, gardening, ad-free basic accounts go bye-bye, icehouse design, eats

2 years ago - kitty feeding, the host, no cable modem yet.

3 years ago - sleepy, newt playing and chitty chatting, palm doodle, wifi hotsync, safety ape, sex offenders, mulligrubs

4 years ago - hello tomorrow, Robots movie, found art pictures, alligator sounds/swamp witch, silly putty, pi day, IR webcam hack, free fonts, tallyhall, ashes scattered, polar bears, open records, memory meme

5 years ago - subpages broken, Shazam!, Dead Like Me, CS sucks as a tech, vamp game

6 years ago - walkabout pics, lovieness, got unreal server hopping

7 years ago - mush, Roman tub, dreams of owning a pet grooming store, insurance woes, and palm doodles

8 years ago - Happy b'day kundalinidreams (no longer ljing), Dkmfkmkglklkgbkvbkbv,looking for a job as demagogue...(I'll still take it, if anyone's wanting), happy unbirthday to me, uck!, edit this page (now dead),sop, a timeline of Scotto history,veggie lo mein, muppet trivia, and Rolf singing you and I and George

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: Eric Lindell - Lay Back Down

We woke very slowly today- it was a pretty exhausting day yesterday, and this morning.

Grabbed a bagel and a bowl of cereal and took a nice walk up to the bay - it was 80 degrees at our house, but the wind off of the bay (once we made it down there) made it feel about 65. Thank goodness for cold water! BHK prefers the warm, I'm sure... but I was certainly refreshed by the bay breeze.

Finished the season finale of Burn Notice - There were some odd elements for the charater, but I suspect next season will be good too. To put it in spoiler sand hero terms - I sort of figured he had a code vs killing, and his hunteds got bought up or down, depending on how you look at it. My favorite line of the show was his mom's - "How are they going to find me in Miami? A 60-year-old bleach blond? That doesn't exactly narrow it down"

After that, I caught the end of Willie Dynamite- pleasantly awful. I had it on in the background while I worked on the computer.

My Flickr upload program was slow, so here are more mardi gras pics from yesterday - rolled over at midnight, so these are labeled 3/8/09.

Also of note are a couple more Newton pictures, and I like the shot of Chris with her hands in the air. I may make the "scotto-hand-mask" picture an icon... not sure.

1 year ago - Drive about with pictures - oysters and architecture, puzzle missing 1 piece!

2 years ago - wanted to see 300. (That'll teach me.), elf defense for undies thief

3 years ago - jojo, fib answers, garfield minus voice balloons, coral springs walkabout,

4 years ago - Millennium Spheres, new dr who, dice quiz, Earth2/We3, Jack benny, Donner party, Karma?, bittorrent

5 years ago - motorcycle Chernobyl tour, led mug, jk to revise hp, dan tech slips, bluto song, haiku

6 years ago - palm pics travel, WWII thoughts, site down

7 years ago - Newtosill, Daffy duck, Morning here, dreams, poem tag, bubblegum alley, cute animals

8 years ago - The bed, Cool old comic books, disclaimer, OJ

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: End credits to Willie Dynamite

I played a little bit of Fallout 3 this afternoon while waiting for the in-laws to show up for supper - pigs in blankets!

Once they got here, I got a telephone call from my mom - just gabbed a bit, but when I came back out, the in-laws were ready to take off. I guess they weren't too into The Fall. BHK and I liked it - I really enjoyed just staring through it - nifty costumes and sets.

Photos from this evening. Featuring snow that looks like ping pong balls in the light of a flash, blue lit room due to pausing the tv, and a phantom kiss from BHK due to a long shutter opening. Also seen is the "Rosy Glow" due to light diffraction outside.

Funny to me that we get more snow on the first day of March than the rest of winter combined. Looks like about 8 inches tonight... powdery, no crust... like confectioners sugar with some glitter tossed in for effect. Maybe tomorrow will be a "Snow Day" and I can work from home!

1 year ago - outsider art museum with BHK and David, pictures, poe's burial site, cheeburger w/ larry

2 years ago - newt and pye's distant relative - Kiddo - the transatlantic airship kitty, GP, tina, gaming, and 2003, transfusion song

3 years ago - memes & links, dino pic, windows live pigs in space mefi, hop sing, haha ray

4 years ago - torn mime video awesome, zombie-like news story, book, idiopathic, Japanese Macaque, choicepoint data theft, duckie bath, yahoo video, kaleidoscope, mapper of doom, viva broward pictures

5 years ago - Blueberry Doughnuts, Meme, Factoid and so on

6 years ago - Dorky-Newt explanation, Vet Visit, AI 20 questions, TV schedule

7 years ago - Evil proggy struggle, baby critters, folks getting fired over weblogs, palm piccies

8 years ago - why wiccans suck

Current Mood: It's Snowing!!!
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: Bananaphone for some reason!

Hooray for Having the Day off! Thanks, Presidents!

Slept in for a bit, but not too long. Up at about 9am and then we frittered around until about 1 - played more indiana jones lego, and hung out. We decided to hit the 4pm showing of Coraline in 3-D - but before we left, Larry swung by - he needed me to reset the password on an old laptop he had. Found a great utility to do that - boot from CD, run a little line of code, and presto- reset. I'm keeping the CD in my library in case I'll need it again - I have little doubt that it's a one-shot item, given the number of computer users in my life.

Anyhow, we went to Annapolis to catch Coroline [corrected form Caraline!]- it was a great movie, very immersive, and the story was nicely spooky, but kid-ish. I wouldn't have trouble taking my neice and nephew to go see it - they're 11 and 6. BHK and I noshed on a big tub of corn and diet-soda, so we weren't too hungry for dinner after the flick. We headed home, waved to the ATW man (skiing at the moment) and got comfy on the couch.

A couple of last-minute chores to do - folding laundry and such, and we watched the season finale of Dr. Who... not bad. I liked seeing the army of companions / spinoff folks all working together.

Dinner was tasty remainder of the matzo ball Soup and pair of quorn patties with munster cheese for dinner. After the Who, we caught up with an episode or two of Ugly Betty.

It's a "school night", so off to bed early for me! until later, dear journal.

1 year ago - grab a bagel and go, Baltimore Trip to B&O museum w/inlaws - pic link, lolcats bible, annapolis

2 years ago - Amy visit, mac & cheese, fluxx and movie

3 years ago - eye close poll, work bail, boosh, canal discovery, compusa check?, gg

4 years ago - Jill Gone, BK & GO, JLU, Newt's treat, mel-fade begins

5 years ago - Scotto on the enchanted path, bigfoot conference, Florida photos, Newt on his back

6 years ago - mickey gas mask, donkey kong jr, google bought blogger, mere-vallie, Scotto shop-palm, palm pic of the SG building, odd news

7 years ago - bloody mary mythos, feel poll, newt ill, rainy day, movie poll, fu-style, alphebetica cyberia

8 years ago - Haiku arena, weird al's wishlist

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: Daleks waving plungers in my head

Valentine's Day! BHK got peanut butter chocolates and a couple of cards from me... I got a wonderful couple of cards, a dragon kite with a wingspan is as wide as I am tall, [edit- added a spiffy sea monster video game for the wii] and some very spiffy coupons.

BHK and I curled up on the couch and played a little lego indiana jones on the wii (checked out form the library), but then the in-laws rang us up - No time for love, Dr. Jones!

We went with the in-laws to get a spot of lunch at Clarke's Landing (Great view, and the best seafood place we've been to - plus, it was free - Valentine's gift from the in-laws) and then onward to Leonardtown (home of ol' Witches Rock ), and visited a local gallery and used bookstore before heading back to headquarters. BHK got a couple of cookbooks, a pair of green cylindrical earrings, black-eyed susan seeds and some Chick-lit. We got Larry a book on Southern Pacific Railroad, and a Lou Reid CD. I just enjoyed roaming aorund with my sweetie, drinking a hot cup of Earl Gray tea and taking in some nifty stenciled graffiti.

When we (in-laws and all) got home, we watched the Nancy Drew Movie (BHK loved it, and I thought it was cute, too.)

Now we're watching the Lost in Austen miniseries, and I'm about ready for bed. BHK and Larry are already out cold, and Chris is not long to follow.

--
So, Yelp sells review placement?

"Stoppelman said Yelp doesn't strong-arm merchants and that the site's sponsorship program -- its main source of revenue -- doesn't offer "pay for play" to advertisers.

Tell that to Tom Mulvihill, owner of Thai Issan restaurant in Cerritos. He received a letter from Yelp last summer informing him that his business had earned a rating of four stars out of five.

Shortly afterward, Mulvihill said he received a call from a Yelp saleswoman urging him to pay a minimum of $150 a month for sponsorship.

"She said sponsorship would allow us to hide the negative reviews and elevate the positive ones," he recalled.

Well, if that's the case, how can they be considered even remotely valid? I've removed links from my site, and am considering what my alternatives are in the review arena.
--

1 year ago - V-day, awesome superhero toy collection in one blister pack, metro assaults, 2 new dinos, waterboarding underestimated, sourcetv, list of famous $cientologists

2 years ago - stayed in for ice storm smashes our fence, ice pictures

3 years ago - Sand dollar, interjection poll, Miami cloud art, bro drama, Bang!

4 years ago - dream, war tuning, slacker, torrent tv, gm-ginger kitties, questions meme, christo, newt stalking pic, zefrank's st. val history, whims-cute card, work peeve

5 years ago - V-day, hippie visit results, Nefertiti documentary mostly drama - not much document, cheese doodle sculpture, anonymous reviewer bug amazon

6 years ago - got the nordis gig, palm pics

7 years ago - n V-day poetry, JB figures out about SA & Me, wandering pics

8 years ago - How Do I Love Thee?, I resemble Dan Conner, Men cause the mutations, tea room & old TV, TMBG lyric

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: Lost in Austen vs EEE clicks on my laptop, vs gentle snores from the family.

Had to get up extra early this morning, to be sure I could make it in to work on time. Snow has melted to form extra-scary and slick ice on the roads and sidewalks outside.

The replacement Clie I got back in march died - bidding for a new one on ebay. I'll have to make a point to recover my old data - shouldn't be a problem, since I last backed it up a day or two ago. The only hassle will be re-installing my 3rd party stuff. Astronomer, isilo reader, and tealpaint are really the only items I'll want back right away. If those bids don't go through, I may look into a Nokia N810 or possibly a Asus EEE for the same cost as a Birthday Prezzie to myself.

Not a great day today, but tomorrow will be better. Off to a rough start, and a really rough time at work about 4pm. BHK collected more estimates on the Love Cube's repair, and remains doubtful that insurance will pay the bill. Chris is looking into options on her side of things.

BHK made calzones - her first attempt, and they were delicious. (Mine had broccoli, veggie meatballs, and assorted cheeses in there). Technically, I guess they were stromboli, as she put a little sauce inside the dough, but not a huge amount. I still had some on the side to dip into.

We watched the first half of the Heartbreak Kid, and now we're calling it a night.

Until later, dear journal.

1 year ago - BHK pizza, doodles, health-coughing/dentist, hulkout list, lego turns 50

2 years ago - pancakes, men in black, plumbing, chinese food, Janet in Bangladesh, B'day coming

3 years ago - bro vs caller ID, picard vs chunk, countdown meme, flitwick

4 years ago - caregiving mel, applelard announces birth, renoir song, photo of scotto landmarks, newt pic I love, Bosch toys

5 years ago - David Palmer of Jethro Tull converts to Dee Palmer, dabadaba, blob solution

6 years ago - Jell-O death masks, LJ layouts, random photos, Elagabulus

7 years ago - Took a day off With Danny (some non-gothic graveyard pictures), PattonBomb Talk, Giant photo of Newt in Evil Overlord Mode, bad spoonerism humor. First photo of Tinkle pig

8 years ago - Virus hoaxes, Rooting for the Ravens. Little dancing man

Current Mood: ugh.
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: Bananaphone in my head

BHK brought the element in for an alignment at the dealer today. Mechanical issue, it turns out. Insurance should cover it, but it has to be looked over first.

The moon was orbiting pretty close tonight, I nearly banged my head on it. My gut is still out of whack - I may have to go to the doctor tomorrow if this keeps up. Cereal and Milk for dinner - that should soothe a bit.

Pye, birdwatching this morning, as we left the house.

Self-portrait taken at midday today, with a tiny self-portrait inside the phone.
I think I look odd here - overhead lights, I guess. I've lost a little weight, but still working on it.
Note the dueling scar just between cheekbone and beard.

I have an irrational fear of post-getting a tattoo - I figure that as soon as I get one, I'll accidentally scar my body in a way as to make the design appear torn or crooked.

That said, I don't know what sort of tattoo I'd ever get.

--
President Obama retook the oath of office last night because of mistakes the first time around.

Also - PolitiFact has compiled about 500 promises that Barack Obama made during the campaign and is tracking their progress on our Obameter. We rate their status as No Action, In the Works or Stalled. Once we find action is completed, we rate them Promise Kept, Compromise or Promise Broken.
--

1 year ago - busy month, knees and backs, Bill O'Reilly doesn't know about homeless vets, hello kitty counterstrike, Q&A meme

2 years ago - newtcam live, snow pics, reh 101, spidey hits (what killed my youtube acct),

3 years ago - superhero drawing memes, CNY, Bro's situation improved briefly, lost, spidey video views, Sting

4 years ago - Worked late, EN's cable out, sad- sicky mel, busy phone, amber alert, great day to be alive theme

5 years ago - Year of the monkey!, new icons, act like a monkey, a fellow ljers house burns down

6 years ago - honey rant, healing hands, newt pic, cuss control, cold snap

7 years ago - spy ware killer, stab-dream, home school poll, animal noises around the world, sound

8 years ago - IMT stuff, be good, Model of the modern super-criminal, birthday wish

Current Mood: sick
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: Jumper on TV. BHK liked it more than I did. I give it 3 of 5 stars.

Well, the stars were out of alignment this morning - 7 degrees to start, and the ground was frozen an inch thick.

BHK and I slept in a bit, and then I hopped into the shower, to get ready for my appointment at the MVA to get my license - turned on the water and... nothing came out of the nozzle.

It turns out that water solidifies, or "freezes" at certain cold temperatures - sort of like those little cubes you put in drinks to cool lemonade on a hot day.

Water can also freeze in pipes, as well as cube trays, it seems. Lacking water, and the desire to rush to a neighbor or in-laws to bather properly, I opted to instead go another day - Tuesday might be good, given that I have the day off, an everyone will be in DC that day for the inauguration. If they're open, I'll visit. I know they're closed on Monday - MLK day shuts it down.

The neighbors were helpful, offered a torch to melt the ice in the pipes, but we figured we'd wait it out and see.

The in-laws came over, and we assessed the situation - it turns out the water came back at about 11am - so BHK made pancakes for everyone, and I scrubbed up in the now-working shower.

After that, we went outside, and surrounded the drafty parts of the house, and pipe areas with insulation (that's how I know the ground was frozen, and how deep). It seems that the bedroom is benefiting most, upping in temp a few degrees already.

After that, BHK, in-laws, and I watched The Namesake -I liked it a lot - after the in-laws left, BHK and I continued with the The Darjeeling Limited, also pretty good - (I still Prefer The Life Aquatic, but it's a good second to that Anderson film)

Now, it's time for bedski.

1 year ago - MRI, snow, dentist, pizza hangman, psych

2 years ago - pic @ papermoon cafe with Alice and BHK

3 years ago - thick head, bro has coin, iguana / scream like a girl / game show, florida homeless beating, sand game, now with stick men, i am god toon, walking ghost

4 years ago - mel day, dick tracy's alien connection, translations, site search

5 years ago - MM in an arranged wedding, global pals, cow brain burger, celebration(FL) sold, cool supermarket photos

6 years ago - bavarian, Ana at gallery, they wait below, Sappho compliments me, cat piccies, scintillate, firefly

7 years ago - Trimaris, school dream, little suck-a-thumb, James Earl Jones gets called James Earl Ray (Whoops!), Immigrant song, band name poll, Sasha and Misha move away, some silly linkies.

8 years ago - Analog never did print it, Bilbo's Guide to life, textbooks responsible for stupid teens.

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: Monotones - Book of Love

Happy Birthday to Kat (and 3 years of journaling!)

Today, I got my shots, and BHK visited the doc for chest pains- turned out to be muscle-related... knot in her back radiated out to the rib area. Knot is fading considerably now, thankfully.

This afternoon, BHK and I finished Happiness of the Khatkuris, and The Dunwich horror - both were much better than I'd hoped, for totally different but similar reasons. "Bad" horror flicks, that were fun to watch, mostly because BHK was in the room with me while we lounged on the couch and ate chocolate cookies.

After the movie-fest, it was off to Selby with the in-laws - Not bad, but not the best - lots of new folks there - owners out, so the quality was a bit under par, but still good.

BHK got her big warm coat for our trip to Punxy - she'll be toasty warm while we're there now, I'll wager.

1 year ago - plumber, kat bday, nutshell day

2 years ago - KC's bday, moved a bit, dead and breakfast, hero quiz

3 years ago - illegal to annoy, esp poll 2, superkitty icon, yahoo-webjay, meme, sliders farewell, Japanese spidey full 1st episode, more silly quizzes, dinosaur/archosaur, family watchdog for sex preds, eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

4 years ago - Mel's not fond of my music & helpful to caterpillar, OTR, evilcorp, FBI most wanted, long list meme, word use, that silly video, no conspiracy folks?

5 years ago - Blimp, bail, accents and the start of getting a mortgage, fog of war, newt pic

6 years ago - silly entendres, pygmy cannibals, pyramid mausoleum

7 years ago - gollum toys, prayer wheels, SOP, What's he gots in his pocketses?, gollum poll

8 years ago - supes, lyrics, ghosting

Current Mood: cold
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: 40's on XM

BHK picked me up from work tonight - we pretty much came straight home to a cucumber salad, leftover (but delicious) quiche, and a viewing of the first half The Happiness of of Katakuris - so far, so good.

Farewell, Christmas lights... North Beach is slowly taking them all down. All that remained this morning were the igloo, santa, a reindeer, and one lone tree, where there was once a dozen or so.

Our lights are off, but not yet down - maybe this weekend, the roof will get cleared.

--

Molecular Analysis Confirms Tyrannosaurus Rex's Evolutionary Link To Birds

Putting more meat on the theory that dinosaurs' closest living relatives are modern-day birds, molecular analysis of a shred of 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein -- along with that of 21 modern species -- confirms that dinosaurs share common ancestry with chickens, ostriches, and to a lesser extent, alligators.

--

1 year ago - slept late, work, BHK and I go shopping and on a date to see Juno, easter eggs in I Am Legend, Q&A meme,

2 years ago - Appalachians trip, took it easy and watched tv, ate doggies.

3 years ago - Japanese Spidey, Heroclix for Ambush bug, piggy bank kid, ants guy, palm doodle, andy in jail, walkabout thoughts, bigfoot pic, gamera, grappling hook, boosh

4 years ago - Mel's fingernail falls off, we surf the web, 3.6 million nickels stolen, distance home meme, quarter bin craving, monkeys & crackers, happy feet

5 years ago - dynamic address assigning, Artist under the influence of LSD, My Messy Office

6 years ago - prisoner on the brain, Names, Antarctica, EO-letters

7 years ago - paper models, walkies, coming events, EO-mashnote

8 years ago - paranoia, recorder, odigo

Current Mood: good
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: freaky claymation shrieks of movie people

Newt and Pye have been together for 2 years now. They've blended well. They aren't too aggressive with one another, though they do play rough.

Got an earache last night, I think it's an infection via the crown. Contacted Dr. Wolf, we'll see what he advises.

Went to the in-laws this morning (well, about noontime) for some Breakfast - Larry Poached some eggs, and grilled up some bacon, Chris made crab salad. All served on Xmas English muffins. (Do they call muffins something else in England, and "English muffins" just muffins?)

After eating, we watched Superhero move and I got a call from the Momster - our holiday goodies arrived in her mailbox yesterday. Superhero Movie was Basically a parody of Spider-man, plus a few cameos and Leslie Neilson nonsense.

Larry showed me how to make Preacher cookies - chocolate/oatmeal goodies, with no flour in 'em. Closer to Fudge than a cookie, really.

Good stuff - I've got to practice making these, I think... they're easy, but are good eats.

BHK and I headed home early for some rest - watch some old Christmas episodes of night Court and Wings - I pretty much just Vegged out all weekend.

I'm looking forward to a nice long winter's nap after Tuesday - Vacation (but on-call) from 12/24-01/04!

A few items need to be worked on - biggest ones are file comparing encryption, getting a slacker customer to get on the new system from the old (before the old shuts down totally) and a system map of our network that is up to date.

Maybe a little vitamin B-12 will pick me up. Until later, dear journal!

1 year ago - plan to hit the mutter (haven't yet), National treasure 2 w/ adam & BHK, fear the turtle!, micro size nuclear reactors

2 years ago - more xmas lights, newt and pye in the same house

3 years ago - mighty boosh, 3 ships, hard candy christmas, poohsticks, nestled newt

4 years ago - Mel, swan, count & contessa, bk holiday song, abandoned hospital, scared of santa, octo vs mcd's, net-perv sting

5 years ago - geourl syndication, desperado with monkeys, narnia

6 years ago - surreal gourmet, amazon links, a/c dies

7 years ago - last minute shopping, blah day

8 years ago - crushing, slowness

Current Mood: groggy
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: night court theme

Had a nice night tonight - Shaun came over, though Jay abstained, since Duncan was snoozing so comfortably.

Showed Shaun Fallout 3, and then He, BHK and I did a screening of Hellboy 2 while dining on pizza from a mix. Pizza was yummy - The movie however was not the best - sets and creature designs were nifty, but the story was pretty weak, and resolution was pretty feeble, given that the solution could've and should've ended in the first 2 minutes of the movie. The Corsican Brothers "ow, you hurt my twins" routine is more than a little played out.

I will confess to liking the "young hellboy" flashbacks, and the acrobatics - though the acting was weaker than the first one. Abe was phoning it in a bit.

1 year ago - getting chilly out, snow!, pictures of snowski, flickr photo editor built in, brain games / elebits

2 years ago - weezies grapefruit, newt window-licker pix, Bush & family unplanning
pictures taken - sleepy people and christmas lights, newt licks.

3 years ago - santa meme, nibbly, cathy strip funny for once, crazy, agnostic human - religious characters, newt hunter, crabby jacks cheap beer

4 years ago - Mel tells me she's a born-again after we get a bit serious (Funny how that turned out, considering), chicken-neck newt piccie, no gloves for taco bell, dead bodies tell stories, 9/11 missile rumor passed around again, South Florida maps and stats, K-mart (I still haven't been in one), who named that disease?, workin' the mojo, Liver Eatin' Johnson

5 years ago - spinach, d20. new landlord, nail clippings, cannibals

6 years ago - more finny-drama, yurt, mini-painting, mouse genome, snacks

7 years ago - Turbid, McNoggin Memories, levitated .net, and the pond poem.

8 years ago - HB vs McNoggin, lovey reasons, supergun, holiday confession

Current Mood: full and sleepy
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: Sixpence None the Richer – Angels We Have Heard On High

Friday!

Date night! Where are we off to? Christmas Lights in Annapolis, I think. I'm looking forward to a nice weekend with BHK - it seem slong overdue.

--
I suspect that JJ Abrams will make it tough for me to interest BHK in the new star Trek movie. (She wasn't too crazy about Cloverfield... or Lost. or Fringe... or.. ) For that matter, I gave up on Season 2 of Lost, episode 1 of Fringe, and Swarm of the Snakehead is more my idea of a fun monster movie than Cloverfield. - all of which fairly split me from most of the Science Fiction fans out there.

However, I still want to see the new trek, even if it is 90210 in outer space, with Winona Ryder, and Bana as a Romulan with a Scottish Accent. I think I've got her sold on the gal who plays uhura and the guy from Harold and kumar.
---
per Kat - Google is hosting LIFE photo archives, free to view & print (as long as you're not trying to making money at it.) http://images.google.com/hosted/lif e
---
If the translation to English is to be trusted, Egypt's strongest man generates 240 horsepower, is medically exempt from working because he might hurt someone in the workplace, and, well, it just gets better from there. Oh, and HE'S NEVER SLEPT. (via delicious ghost)
---

misc thoughts recently, most from today -

Scott is ready for date night!

Scott is impressed by sublimation. (It is a common experience to observe the disappearance of snow from the ground even though the temperature is below the freezing point and liquid water is never present.)

Scott believes that any tool is a weapon if you hold it right. (and vice versa).

Scott frequently prefers leftovers to the first time "put on the plate" food.

Scott loves working on the 11th floor. Snow is falling UP past my window.

Scott wouldn't bother with silver bullets to fight werewolves. Silver buckshot, maybe.

--
Valve was offering Half-Life for just 98¢ in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the company's debut title - I had to pick it up - I'm only a decade behind for not playing it! Even my brother had it for about 2 years, and I just never got around to it.
--

1 year ago - bro out of jail and in seemingly good condition, date night with BHK, movie reviews / possibilities,

2 years ago - pirate scotto pic

3 years ago - red lobster, class struggle, black friday, chubby checker

Pictures - 7942 posts!

4 years ago - pirates, giraffes, incredibles, bro

5 years ago - Marvel Family, Countdown meme, garden pictures

6 years ago - Free audio books, hubcap monsters, discover empanadas nearby, GIMP

7 years ago - cloture, pocketlj, single card tarot spreads, meeting lj folks confirmed

8 years ago - air cools, Young Frankenstein poetry, sleepyhead, country bear jamboree

9 years ago - very basic Newt stats

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: holly on xm!

oh, dear U-pop - how we miss you from our element. soon, you'll be gone due to Christmas music taking your xm car slot... I hope you return after the holidays!

Saw Tropic Thunder tonight - it was better than it might've been, but I was fooled by previews, and didn't get as good a show as expected. Jack Black and Ben Stiller didn't do much for me, but I was impressed by ol' Downey and Nolte. We had a nice Thursday night date, anyhow! BHK got her allotment of popcorn and I enjoyed a soft pretzel and some crunch bar bites.

An analysis of the three major types of gravestone motifs used in eastern Massachusetts during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

The earliest of the three is a winged death's head, with blank eyes and a grinning visage. Earlier versions are quite ornate, but as time passes, they become less elaborate. Sometime during the eighteenth century -- the time varies according to location -- the grim death's head designs are replaced, more or less quickly, by winged cherubs. This design also goes through a gradual simplification of form with time. By the late 1700's or early 1800's, again depending on where you are observing, the cherubs are replaced by stones decorated with a willow tree overhanging a pedestaled urn.

Pay special attention to the graph of the popularity of each motif and the slideshow of example gravestones. (thx, peterme)

1 year ago - bhk sickies, foodness, world without us, good grains

2 years ago - flickr maps, out with TW and saw Pirates, no putt-putt, Rope swing for Danny, It must be love, words that make me laugh, cherry-chocolate milkshake

3 years ago - Katrina new orleans satmaps, on call again, cookies for genetic goodies, big rock candy mountain, elephant prosthesis

4 years ago - More Frances, Dan Snores, Newt Pics, observations.

5 years ago - neurologist, giant lizard in Beirut, grizzlies, Y-chromosome vanishing, work drama, Cathi's dad gets' trach, Egyptology, Ft. Laud ghosts, Scientology

6 years ago - freaky temple, edbook's llamas, Bush behaves a bit, bad dream, Friendly street light.

7 years ago - contretemps , liverish, Rhinestone Cowboy, social lubrication, spiritual/paranormal/xenobiological poll (fascinating results), stopping b/w theft, Anne Heche a loony

8 years ago - No Norton, Supers Gaming, interests, met twinstar & estokes

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: 20714
Current Music: shutting down the house for the night.

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scott von berg

The Scotto Grotto

April 2017

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