Scotto's Wall Scrawls

Good news first..

Not MS, bone cancer or problem affecting the spinal cord. Bad news is more issues with my back resulting from the event at BBCL back when I was a page there ages ago.

Getting a follow-up MRI, but initial X-Ray shows this.

( Read the rest of this entry » )

Originally published at The Scotto Grotto. You can comment here or there.

Flickr dump of recent pictures -

Llamas, Newt, Pye with little water drops on his face, a neighbor's race car, atw man watches kong devour fay, a seated gangster werewolf, and Baltimore at night.



Contemplating a netflix set-top box for streaming movies over the internet or from the desktop pc.

1 year ago - clown-vacuum voice post, late for metro, polishing up my ability with bash, november style lunch, whizkids closing business

2 years ago - noose dream, stick shifts and safety belts, logical fallacies, autumn remains, DIET GRAPE RETURNS!, perfervid,

3 years ago - punch buggy, meeting, craig james white, typo on sheet, work misc

4 years ago - LED clothes, K&K mime, Clavicus loves his pastry, doom patrol, quizzes, x-ing, newt pic, Red knows the score, cybermen, scotto avie

pictures taken 2 years ago - newt with the palm cam

5 years ago - bro call, sammich heartburn, remote control jargon, Eid, promenade in the park, FF movie looks like poop, comic book torrents, CoH sued by Marvel

6 years ago - Butterflies, Christ, Wind and Dexterity, my journal is in popular science, phonepost, back on call

7 years ago - expensive minis, misc whims, wacky news, bob hope

8 years ago - I live near blimps, medicine poll, Bad Elder Caucasian Dudes, marvel misfits

9 years ago - Des tries to take on the hive, whoville test, aok, Robbo's last week

I love the Bromo Seltzer arts tower in Baltimore. I'd love to do one of the open studio tours sometime - they seem to open up about once a month.

http://www.bromoseltzertower.com/

Today was pretty straightforward - worked, physical therapy (felt pretty darn good, this go'round) and then... LONG HOLIDAY WEEKEND!

Hooray! Hope you have a lovely next few days, dear journal - my posting may be sporadic or delayed a bit, depending on how slackerly or shopperly we're all feeling in the Grotto.

Just heard about the gaming thing up at Johns Hopkins is happening this weekend. Maybe I can wrangle swinging by there after going to lunch at paper moon with BHK and Alice. If anyone is in the area and of a mind, maybe we could have a little visit, too. I wanted to maybe get a little game time in with Cath and Haas, but schedules didn't work out for us - maybe this is a happy medium. Note to self, send a facebook invite.

Maybe BHK and I will get in a round of GURPS space? (noon to 5 - likely not. Lunch date, and all) Or at least a game of chrononauts or something in freeplay time. Maybe I should bring Hive or something small and portable to play..I wouldn't mind a quick game of werewolf or chez geek.

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1 year ago - a year away form acim, ninjas on the subway, meat, commodes, dining out, jimmy and amanda, veggie folk get picked on by chefs

2 years ago - grab a bagel and go!, swap shop, flushed away

• Pictures taken - Vizcaya and etc

3 years ago - poorhouse w/liz, monkey beer, gg mood theme,newt pics

4 years ago - bro issues, newtie love, lost, getting it,link sponsor

5 years ago - TG poll, paid links began, GP recovers, Twistyland

6 years ago - better living through chemistry, Jude Law a bad papa, French comics, wolfsonian

7 years ago - Evil news, EL Dildo Bandito!, went out with Dave & Cathi

8 years ago - Rush, Bee-man

08/08/08 08:08:08... PM

Nice day at work today - we took a field trip to the Port of Baltimore and a CSX location.

Some piccies - click to embiggen, as always, dear journal.

. . . . .

Nifty container lifts, a burned out building that was used in Enemy of the State, and some giant bumpers.

Got home, and... had some dinner! BHK made an awesome dinner of pizza and salad yum-noms!

Additionally, the video card installed, quick as a wink, while the pizza was being put to the last heating phase.

The 8800 GT is at *least* 4x faster than my old ati x1600 , and I haven't had any of the hot pixel problems so far now. The old ati x1600 still plays games pretty well. Maybe I'll put it in my server just to have a backup game device.

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"A lady noticed her computer was running slower after she had brought her computer in to be repaired. She took the computer to a second repair shop where they found that one of the problems was that her webcam would turn on whenever it detected her around and was taking photos and uploading it to a website. The repair technician that installed the software has done this to at least 10 women and has photos of at least one undressing."

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1 year ago - waiting for 8/8/8, goads have lived in house next door for 23+ years, north beach, emily coming pic, HOT out, coward/cowherd origins, Oshi with icehouse

2 years ago - priceline beats expedia, register to vote, Chinese Ghost Festival, exfoliate/defoliate, hangin' round the ceiling, walkabout/geocache plans

3 years ago - meetings, school restarts, club shuffle, thank you - sim-sim-salabim, danny the street, vidcam hacks, google total, unf. kids books, How bona to vada your eek!, teacher, miami storm pic

4 years ago - Bro health care, lj post issues, losing some gentleness, scotto-flaws& nice things, vintage newspaper strips, no jack black as GL, funw/google searches, older archives, deep sea images, phone safe,keylogger, slowed chipmunks, JL cartoon, character makeups, europreart

5 years ago - Teen Titans, Antidepressants, narghile, steve burns, ebonics, red kryptonite poll, bro health

6 years ago - ZIM!, fun fact, fumbuckery, added newt pic to bio, after he shocked me, site reboot that didn't come to fruition

7 years ago - some thoughts about gamers/negative side, including a dragon-con flashback (that caused some upset in the role-players community), who in a crowd?, Upside-down, RPG poll, caterwaul, Name Generator, dinos in your region, Wally Caught stealing, begins the end of the WDB era at IMT.

8 years ago - grumpy, in general and regarding TV

Well, the drive-in was really something.

BHK and I had a wonderful time! Let's see... We got there at about 6:50 pm, and left at about 3:45 am. We got home at just about 5:15 am, to hear my alarm clock going off. That underlined the fact that I'd been awake for just a smidgen over 24 hours. (I left with BHK for the movies right from work yesterday.)

We bought an outside food permit for the car, but still hit the snack bar really hard. So much for a healthy diet this weekend. Between BHK and I, consumed were a bunch of egg rolls, a mega-tub o' corn, corn dogs, cream cheese & jalapeno poppers, fried cheese sticks, a home made chipwich ice cream sammich (likely my fave item). We brought 2-liters of home-mixed Arnold Palmers (made with blueberry iced tea) and an additional 2-liter of diet cherry Pepsi. Neither bottle survived, given the salty food we ate... fortunately the day's heat dissipated as the sun set.

Next time, I suspect we'll bring dagwoods, and just grab corn and ice cream at the snack bar... a little bit healthier, at least.

We waited until sundown for the movie to start - that was about 8:45 or so. The playground was cleared out once the movies started rolling.

Opened with the national anthem, and a promo to "Attend your house of worship regularly". First thoughts, the projectionist / owner really likes to gab and play with the audience. He went over the rules and regulations about turning off running lights, etc.... a real homey and comfortable family atmosphere.

Warner Brothers Cartoon - "Beanstalk Bunny" A classic, to be sure. This and all of the shorts had awesome cartoon elements, all featured things you can't show on TV anymore... smoking, violence on women and children, etc.

First feature - Kung Fu Panda. I enjoyed it, though the celebrity voices seemed pretty under-utilized. When it looked like the movie was winding down, I went to grab our popcorn... it was a good thing that I left when I did, as it took about 20 minutes in line to get corn and bring it back. I returned to the end credits, where folks were invited to flash headlights to the kung-fu fighting theme at the end. I liked the extra little movie-bit after the credits, too.

Then - Kit for Kat - Sylvester and Kitten stuck out in the cold, with Elmer taking them in. Not as great as Beanstalk bunny, but it was pretty dang funny, regardless.

There was no Watchmen Trailer on Batman! but we did get to see trailers for Ice Castles with (I can't remember the last time I heard the name Lynn-Holly Johnson - For Your Eyes Only, maybe?), a pause for a marriage proposal, and a preview of Mr. Quilp (a musical version of The Old Curiosity Shop ).

So... The Dark Knight. I liked it, but *really* didn't think it lived up to the hype. I feel that the movie was good, but maybe a 30-45 minutes too long. I think the ol' Two-face element was excellent, and would've worked better in a more developed movie of its own. The Joker was good, but certainly not an Oscar-worthy performance in my opinion... however.. I didn't much care for "No Country for Old Men" at all, and that won two Oscars last year. Heath Ledger did a good job, but he really isn't my idea of the Joker - I think more in terms of bright, surreal colors amongst the dark and gritty Gotham backdrop. This version was a good villain, and genuinely creepy... but not what I think of when I think "Joker". Bale's Batman was... more like scenery than an actor. He portrayed Bruce Wayne well enough, but his "bat-voice" grated on my nerves more than the one he used in the first movie. I liked the newer costume, and the motorcycle... the tech-sonar bit was OK, but it didn't jazz me like it did some. I certainly don't think it's my favorite Superhero movie... or even in my top 5. Probably my top 10, but then, how many good superhero movies are there?

After the Big BM passed... more intermission commercials for food... the snack bar closed at 1:30am, so it was pretty much a 10-minute warning.

Freaky Bic Shaver sponsored movie ad. very surreal.. "we're all disposable here" - I remembered seeing it at the midnight movie express, back when I went to the town center mall in Palm Beach. Very Nostalgic for me, and I wish I could find a copy of the video on the web, but it was about the same time as this one. also shown were all sorts of lobby animations for snacks.

Then - Three bears in "Bee-Deviled Bruin." I've always loved the 3 bears... the sawed-off runt of a father being a loudmouth and violent guy... but you can understand why, given his family life.

Last movie of the evening, starting at 1:30ish - Get Smart. Cute movie.. and loyal enough to the source material. I liked Hymie's cameo, but wasn't crazy about Smart's back story - however, it was good to seem him as semi-competent, as opposed to a complete bumbler.

All in all, I think that both BHK and I had a great time. We're going to try and lure the in-laws and Adam (and a date, if he wants to bring one) to the next show. I'm hoping it's the Wanted / Hellboy / Mummy 3 combo that was hinted at - I'll know on Wednesday, when they announce the lineup.

Anyhow - after we slept for about 4 hours, 9am came, and it was time to go get my shots - did and done, then headed to Trott's for corn... Adam's Birthday is tomorrow, and we've got to have the corn!

Vegged out and rested much of the day - The new Monk was sad to me, as it's a memorial episode... the mystery itself was no great shakes, but they gave the actor a nice mention and some due. Psych was maybe a bit too family-dramatic and less zany as usual, but I expect it'll be back on par come next week.

Last but not least, we finally caught Pirates of the Caribbean 3 - I liked it more than the 2nd one, which suffered a bit from "back to the future-bridge story" syndrome.

That Taco salad was mega-tasty... I 'm not sure why we did cheese crackers for dinner with that good stuff in the fridge... I'm too worn out to use the microwave, I suspect. Hitting the bricks early tonight... until later, dear journal.

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1 year ago - Alan's Rug, NF upgrade, being a mobile landmark, friends base, panel van dream, clothes shopping, chore wars, lj counts

2 years ago - day moving fast, stop motion video, minimum wage variances, pumpernickel, 2-word meme, a-z meme, dvd decrypter, World Party - Ship Of Fools,

3 years ago - danny, bro, top40, riverwalk autostitched, farcry, sneak peak at Pirates of the Carib2: Davy Jones

4 years ago - Pictures, Newtcam, flipper, Miami population, picasa, alligator as weapon, flash, TMBG, Franco-Prussian war, TU, amber alert/web, php rant, meat hooking, ADP uppity

5 years ago - freeflow, dream, Superman, heart in hand, bear attacks sub

6 years ago - caving dreams, piracy, anagram server, no-longer newt-time icon, irrational deodorant mixing fear, fun hidden camera show, monopoly variants, true porn clerk stories, phobias, paperback cover gallery, 100 years of jell-o ads, missing scary link pic

7 years ago - carom, evil news, fave monopoly token poll, rude awakening, OTR, impressed with flash, and feelin' romantic

8 years ago - zoe's bday and loverlips adds

Say! Flickr does video! How long has that been going on? Oh. Not Long at all.

Let's see here.( Read more... )No sound on these, it seems... or maybe it's just this cellphone format. I'll have to try camera avi and mov to be sure.

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YESTERDAY WAS ICE CREAM TRUCK DAY! Winter is now officially over. Per BHK -

End of the week, at last, at last. Back is feeling a bit better... must've slept on it right on Thursday night, for a change! Maybe, if all goes well, we can hit the Carl Barks exhibit in Baltimore. We have midday plans for Saturday (see below), and who knows what Easter Sunday will bring - but if not this weekend, perhaps sometime before the end of the month... I don't have a strong need to visit - the review is not the most complimentary (mainly due to the fact that most of his early stuff that I like is long gone, trashed back in the day)... but if we're in the neighborhood visiting the Art Museum, or the Aquarium, why not? (more on Carl Barks )

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I don't think the the lj content strike is going to make a difference, and I'm more interested in seeing how much of my reading list changes, if at all this weekend. If lj poops out, there are plenty of other sites that offer similar functionality... and my RSS reader will allow me to collect feeds from whoever wants me to read 'em.

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Regarding teamorange - the first colorwar2008 scrimmages will begin in a few days. I'm interested to see what sort of project Ze has in mind. So far, I've found teams blue, verygreen, puce, chartreuse, purple, gold, plaid, red, pink, white, clear and brown in addition to orange. If any other players are reading this, let me know, so I can follow you on twitter! #FF6600, baby! [update: See also - colorwars - there's a team octarine!]

It seems ol' Ze has quite a following - but I knew that. I just hope he uses his mighty net-powers for good, rather than evil.

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Lunch tomorrow with Adam and his twin bro Eric. It's always interesting to see them together, because they were raised in different households. Adam, at his mom's (and more to the point, mostly at Larry & Chris's), Eric at his pop's. Adam seems to be the more together kid, athletic, better in school, less shifty. Eric is the party guy, partying hard, skipping class and spending more time looking to mate than to study; I.e. typical 18-year-old male.

Nature vs Nurture, live and in front. Both are basically good guys, and similar as brothers can be - but hardly duplicates.

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I sneakily added a video to the lunchtime rendezvous entry about a week or so back. Filmed with the palm-cam, the image is warmed, grainy, and silly, not to mention in quicktime format. For some reason, google video doesn't transfer sound properly form the palm video during the conversion, so I'm hosting it in my old lj archive location on my website. Speaking of which, I have a palm doodle there that reflects that there's still a lot of rain happening at the ol' bus stop, but I don't mind.


windy, too, though I don't have that much length anymore, hair-wise.

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Best worth1000 competition in a while. Superhero ModRen some are better than others. I'm partial to this one.

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1 year ago - work review, cakery cookies, steve jobs on music, spore coming

2 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

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

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

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

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

7 years ago - IMT politics, and so on

Woke up bright and early, rip-roarin' and ready to roll. BHK and I had a tasty start of toasted bagels with cream cheese, and chugga-chugga-chugga.

After getting the parents, it was about... 11ish. Well, we didn't lose too much steam - the in-laws were loaded for bear (girl scout cookies, soda-pop, and egg sammiches) we rolled out to our destination... Baltimore!

It was a bit of a drive, but the scenery was lovely, and the company was good... we all chitty-chatted about all manner of small talk.

We arrived at the Aquarium Parking garage at about noon, and headed off to see items lovely and aquatic... but it was not meant to be. The crowd there for the holiday weekend was vast... Chris didn't want to navigate that swarm of roaming tourists. Totally understandable, if a little disappointing.

Upside... we had a secondary plan of action! The B&O Railway Museum! The place is sweet for folks that dig steam / diesel engines, or rail history at all (the B&O is pretty much the birthplace of American Railroading). We got a family membership to last us the year - it turned out the snow collapse of the roundhouse was 5 years ago to the day we returned. There's still a lot of restoration going on to the trains that were hit, but most of them are in beautiful shape. BHK and I got a couple of pressed pennies to add to our collection.

(some of our walkabout pictures on flickr here. - more to follow as I upload and make some shots public that are currently hidden.)

Got pretty tuckered out after 5 or six hours there, filling my brain with train. We headed off to Annapolis for some Cheeburger Cheeburger (they'e getting a lot of play from us lately!) and then home to relax and unwind with the kitties - plans were to hang out and watch a movie with the in-laws, but they were too pooped to pop, so BHK had a lovely night together, instead.

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I can haz The Entire Bible? Man, lolcats! Nice use of your spare time!

I wonder if this will win any converts in one direction or the other?

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1 year ago - Amy visit, mac & cheese, fluxx and movie

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

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

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

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

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

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

papermoon cafe - baltimore