This was the 4th of July where it rained the entire damnable day. Still, got together with  shoulung and my father, fixing a dinner of beer bratwurst and snack foods from the Frito Lay corporation. (never liked Brats as a kid, though it didn't help that all we had back then were those terrible corpse-white things)

The weather cleared up in the evening enough we tried to catch a local fireworks show, hoping for enough of a window in the rain for it to go but.... nope.

All in all, not a bad day all things considered. Now to catch a rerun of on of the national 4th shows, because TV fireworks are better than no fireworks at all.

...

Oh, and I'm not at Anthrocon this year.


P.S. Catching "A Capitol Fourth" on PBS. I'm convinced that TV directors must believe that fireworks are one of the most boring things in creation. They seem to want to show everything but - the host, the band, the singer, the reacting crowd, landmarks, interesting trash on the ground, what have you. I'm not sure I've ever seen fireworks coverage on TV that was worth a damn. Not hard to see why I vastly prefer seeing them in person, inconveniences be damned.

P.P.S. Got to see the fireworks finally, as the rained-out show was postponed to tonight. Good show with a decent view on the action. Only downside was the cool humid night air made the thick smoke really hang around, obscuring some of the fireworks, especially when they were poured on thick for the finale. Another interesting thing is right after the finale little scraps of paper drifted down on my dad and I. I'm guessing that stuff may have come from the rocket casings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPnY2NjSjrg&feature=player_embedded

As a toy and pop culture junkie, This looks like a mess-load of fun.

Whether one is produced in connection to the film, or I have to build one myself, I shall have that Lego chick. I already got some 1980s astronauts.

It's been a theme this week, seemingly. Mid-week, I attended the funeral of a co-worker and friend of my father. Even though I didn't have a strong connection to the man, I found myself getting a bit emotional anyway, perhaps even more than at my own Mother's funeral. Much of it came from identifying with friends and family of the deceased and their loss, though my tiny touch of depression didn't hurt either.

As mentioned earlier, my Mother is deceased, so for the last few years, Mother's Day has been represented by bringing flowers to her grave. Afterward I lightened the mood by ,together with my Father and  shoulung (a mother in SL, I might add) for dinner and a movie (Iron Man 3 - pretty good.)

It's been a theme this week, seemingly. Mid-week, I attended the funeral of a co-worker and friend of my father. Even though I didn't have a strong connection to the man, I found myself getting a bit emotional anyway, perhaps even more than at my own Mother's funeral. Much of it came from identifying with friends and family of the deceased and their loss, though my tiny touch of depression didn't hurt either.

As mentioned earlier, my Mother is deceased, so for the last few years, Mother's Day has been represented by bringing flowers to her grave. Afterward I lightened the mood by ,together with my Father and  shoulung (a mother in SL, I might add) for dinner and a movie (Iron Man 3 - pretty good.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/13/arts/television/jonathan-winters-comedian-dies-at-87.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

I am full-on honored to share a home town with him.

http://teamcoco.com/video/conan-hig.....ea-new-arsenal

For what it's worth, I am not a drinker, especially not a beer drinker. To me, most if not all beer ranges from "super terrible" to "fairly inoffensive". Still, out of curiosity I tried a bottle of Guinness for the first time recently.

Is it supposed to taste like liquid cigarette butts?

You may or may not be aware there exist live-action porn parodies of various cartoons, including, but not limited to - Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Simpsons, Smurfs, Family Guy, all kinds of superheroes, and even American Dad (yes, someone dresses up like Roger).

I think this might be the one that signifies the end times, however.

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/cartoon-.....ody-76917.html

If you've been watching, you know I've been playing around with graphics on my tablet. In the interests of putting some more time into learning and practicing, I thought I'd ask here for possible pic ideas. Just reply to this journal with your ideas (and I hope I won't feel forced to hide your comments )

There's been a lot of sadness in the world, from deaths to apocalyptic predictions to piracy to smashed car doors, but it's still a special and hopefully joyous time of year regardless.

Merry Christmas and all your other fine seasonal celebrations. Here, have a link or two.

http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_.....-possible_p17/

http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/.....christmas-day/

Just passing this along, in the rare chance anyone might want to purchase some swag from me

My merch store: http://www.printfection.com/esproductions


More free shipping starts right now!

Use the coupon code below for your own order and then share it with everyone one you know or even people you don't. Enjoy!

Coupon Code: DecShip2012
Discount: Free Standard Shipping on orders $50+
Dates: Today, December 7 - Monday, December 10

Disclaimer: Please enter coupon code DecShip2012 before completing checkout. Discount is applied to Standard Shipping ONLY and does not include taxes, products, or additional charges. Must have a minimum subtotal of $50. This offer may not be combined with other offers. Coupons valid from 12/07/2012 to 12/10/2012 11:59 pm Mountain Time.

I'm not much for the whole Black Friday/Cyber Monday phenomenon, but apparently Printfection is, and they have a new coupon code for the season, so if you were looking for some of my merch for a holiday gift, this might help a little.

My Printfection store: http://www.printfection.com/esproductions

Coupon Code: 2012SuperFree
Discount: Free Super Saver, International & Canadian Airmail Shipping on orders $30+
Dates: Friday, November 23 - Monday, November 26

Disclaimer: Please enter coupon code 2012SuperFree before completing checkout. Discount is applied to Super Saver, International & Canadian Airmail ONLY and does not include taxes, products, or additional charges. Must have a minimum subtotal of $30. This offer may not be combined with other offers. Coupons valid from 11/23/2012 to 11/26/2012 11:59 pm Mountain Time.

It's (US) Thanksgiving morning as I write this, I enjoy it (in a sense) as it's one of the rare times I cook anything more complex than Hamburger Helper. Dinner guests will include my Father and Shou Lung (oh, and the dogs - everyone eats on Thanksgiving!). Traditional dishes include turkey (just a turkey breast - we don't have enough people to polish off a whole bird) stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, and pumpkin pie. Less traditional selections include croissants, potato pancakes (actually this is because I had the mix sitting around and needed the opportunity to get rid of it) and Baklava (because Baklava is awesome anywhere, anytime)

Hope everyone who celebrates has a good Thanksgiving Day, and avoids getting trampled for a cheap Blu-Ray player over the weekend.

beware of mild spoilers

Went to see Ralphy-boy Sunday with friends. I enjoyed the film quite a lot, thanks in no small part to the video game references and character cameos, recalling films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the Toy Story series. Along with the world, the story runs on video game logic ("you need X to do Y, which causes Z to happen"), which works given the nature of the film. The humor comes off childish at times (in B4 "LOL Disney kids film!") but the inherent immaturity of some of the characters along with the underlying sincerity of the voice acting make it work better than it seems like it should. If I had complaints, one would be that the plot tries to bring a few too many threads together for the climax, like superhero movie ending in "3". I also wish the movie didn't have to spend so much time in "Sugar Rush" land. The plot kinda requires it, but after all the variety in the first act, spending most of the rest in one saccharine world feels a bit constrained. Still, the film was a lot of fun, with just enough depth and emotion that you don't feel too shallow for watching. I recommend it, maybe even moreso if I was more broadly versed in the gaming world.

(spoilery) notes:
Like Toy Story, the game characters may have their own little ecosystem, but they work for the benefit of the players, and we are shown the terrible consequences of when a game is shut down/unplugged. Again like Toy Story, this brings up the questions of what happens in the long term, given that nothing lasts forever. Seems unlikely this will be explored in potential sequels the way Toy Story did.

I liked "Hero's Duty's" interpretation of the 'first person shooter' from the perspective of the game characters.

This is the first film I'm aware of where Diet Coke and Mentos are major plot points. (I'm not aware of them shooting frickin' FIRE when they come together in real life though. )

Dig Dug, Pooka, and Fygar showed up. Now if someone can point out if Pengo and the Sno-Bees are in there somewhere too, I can die happy.

The short cartoon "Paperman" that preceded the film is almost worth the price of admission in itself. I'd love to see a 'making of' on that one to get an idea where the drawn stuff ends and the CGI stuff begins. I've never seen something so seamlessly smooth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZEL1hda9K8


Not quite up there with the old Kids' WB promo where Batman sings the Jigglypuff song to Robin, but not bad.

Also, "Megatron's Hub" sounds vaguely dirty.

(please enjoy this shallow distraction from coastal tragedy)

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3846814/

When I was a kid I was all about dinosaurs, as many kids are. Triceratops was my favorite, though not necessarily for these sorts of reasons. (I was like - eight )

It has surprisingly little to do with ponies though. It does have quite a bit with allowing me to relive many of my favorite nostalgia moments, whether it be the cheeseball goodness of the 1980s Transformers and G.I. Joe cartoons, the probably coke-fueled antics of a young Robin Williams in Mork and Mindy, of the '90s Batman animated series, AKA one of the best things ever made by humans.

My most recent HUB happiness comes from 2008 nostalgia, with them (re)airing the "Transformers: Animated" series. Even better that it's available in widescreen HD, though it wasn't in it's original Cartoon Network airing (even though it was created in widescreen.) TF:A is kind of a divisive show, being kinda light and cartoony as an alternative to the Michael Bay movies, and many 'serious' fans didn't like that. All I know is, while I wasn't sure about the series starting out, I was totally sold at this moment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKRB8aAfK7A

Thanks, HUB!

Early in the month, a storm with high-speed winds blew through (heh), taking out power for several hours and knocking down several tree limbs, some of which snagged or pinned down wires strung across the back yard. I've been through this before, so I spent the next few days cutting wood and freeing up the lines. Unfortunately this time, the freed lines didn't spring back into place, instead laying slack a few inches off the ground, or even on the ground. While looking bad, it wasn't much of an issue yet (kinda fun to see the dogs vaulting over the wires while running around). That night the stress proved too much for the cable, and the internet and cable TV was lost. I called the cable company to get somebody out to fix things, but no one was available to come out for three days. (what with the aforementioned storms causing similar problems all over the place.)

I didn't find myself bothered by the situation as much as I thought I might, coping a bit better than previous times I've been cable&net-free for extended periods. I did borrow a cup of internets from  shoulung to make sure the FAD update went up without incident, but otherwise went back to my memories of the first two-thirds of my life, before infinite net-based distraction, and mostly just getting things done. I probably did the work I'd normally take at least a full week to do in those three days. I wasn't totally without distraction and entertainment. I scavenged a 1970s-grade antenna so the TV could get local programming (I should mention I really miss the days when shitty reception just gave you static, as opposed to MPEG artifact freak-outs) and plowed through some of my backlog of unwatched DVR and the Toy Story 3 Blu-Ray, along with music, games, and old magazines. Time away from the internet was kinda relaxing in that context. Anyway, I'm back, along with the downside of dealing with the buildup of three days of mails, messages, and FA submissions.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/27/tech/.....html?hpt=hp_c3

Still play on the 7800 from time to time. Hadn't really considered before that I'm only seven months older than the game company of legend.

I think I prefer the earlier working title of "The Bear and the Bow", however.

In my general opinion, a solid and very pretty film. The overall feel of it comes off a bit different from most previous Pixar movies, and there's enough variables here that I'm not sure quite what to attribute that to. My guess would be that this is Pixar's first fairy-tale film, 'princess film' if you will, and the nature and setting invites comparisons to earlier fairy tale movies, or more recent CG flicks like 'Tangled', 'How to Train your Dragon', and even the 'Shrek' series, so it's already well-traveled ground. "Brave"'s biggest failing as I see it is the story and its underlying message is kind of basic and predictable, lacking the depth of many Pixar films. (nowhere near a "Cars 2" shallowness, however). That may or may not be intentionally related to the fairy tale film nature. And now a few notes/highlights:

* I shudder to think how much budget and processor cycles went solely to the production of hair..

* The antics of the various Scottish clans-people were nutty and fun. I found the 'beefcake Scotsman' strangely hilarious if only for the reason that he barely moves at all through the entire film.

* Good luck finding an animated movie with Scottish-accented characters that doesn't have either Billy Connoly or Craig Ferguson working on it.

* The Crafty Carver's 'voicemail system' was pretty damn funny.

* For that matter, I'm thinking the Carver/Witch has a bear obsession. Nearly everything she makes are bears - or turn people into bears.

* The handling of 'momma bear' was great, with her being herself as much as possible within the confines of a bear form.

* I also like how they avoided having any talking animals in the movie. OK, there is one, but that's a special case.

* If you're planning to see the film, you might wanna stay 'til after the credits for a short extra scene. KInda like the 'shawarma scene' after "Avengers", it's nothing to lose sleep over if you missed it, but it's a cute tie-in to a little detail from earlier in the movie.

Thankfully the fortune cookie I got a week or two ago which said "You will soon take a very pleasant and successful trip." was not just talking out its ass.

Drove in with Shou Lung on Thursday, with the confidence in my previous travel experiences thwarted for the second year by highway 279 no doing what it used to do years ago. Gotta remember that stuff, or at least not assume I always know better than Google maps.

I stayed at the Omni again this year. Nifty hotel, but involves a lot of walking over the course of the con weekend, which is getting rougher on my heavy 40-year-old frame. I find I'm not bouncing back from the late nights and miniscule amounts of sleep involved with con-going the way I used to. I quoted a lot of movies over AC, and all the quotes were "I'm getting too old for this shit."

This year Cory's cheesesteaks across the street from the Westin was replaced with Lesvos Gyros, which was a step up in my opinion. Tasty stuff too (OK, not the soggy fries) - I'm a total lesvian for their gyros. This year I finally got to go to 'Sushi Kim' with Shou and Ken Singshow, and enjoyed some very nice Korean food. Shou attempted suicide by spicy squid. (failed, but liked the meal regardless)

As usual, I spent long stretches trapped behind a dealer table. This year was a little different with my Femisapien robot as 'booth babe', waving around flyers and business cards, decked out in her hastily-produced fursuit made out of stickers and napkins. A common quote among passers-by was "Wait, did that thing just move?" followed by staring to see if it moves again. I sold and signed several copies of my new hardcover Sabrina Online book, enough to make me wish I'd brought along more than I did.

Pittsburgh public perception of furries and Anthrocon is getting more interesting from year to year. I saw a couple local news stories regarding the con, one being the standard "Furries and Anthrocon are here again", and the other being about F(e/u)rnando's being helped out by furries' donations, both very positive in tone. This year I'm seeing more folks being all touristy, taking pictures of the 'suiters, families practically throwing their kids at them for more photos. More panhandlers hanging around to capitalize on the con-goers too.

There was a little confusion with the Omni hotel this year. When checking in I was made an offer to trade my in-high-demand two-bed room reservation for one with a king bed for a discount. Fifty bucks off in exchange for little-to-no added inconvenience worked for me, so I took it. Apparently one hand didn't know what the other was doing, as the room was unknown to housekeeping and other staff through Friday. When the bill came at stay's end, the proposed discount was missing, but then so was one entire day, so... that worked out.

Thanks again to eveyone who stopped by to buy, say hi, talk for a while, draw something for me, have something drawn, just hang out, and everyone else in my not-playing-favorites way. Despite my previous grousing, a great time, all-told. Oh, and congrats to  ebonyleopard and  kayla-na

P.S. Seeing 'Asteroids' played on a convention center wall is pretty awesome.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57411467-235/commodore-founder-jack-tramiel-dies-at-83/?tag=mncol;editorPicks

Jack Tramiel, founder of (the original) Commodore Business Machines died yesterday. Like many 'great men', he was a horrible mean bastard to a lot of people. I've heard stories from his heyday that he would place huge orders to a parts supplier and then stiff them on the bill. The supplier, heavily invested in an unpaid order, would go bankrupt, and Commodore/Tramiel would swoop in an buy them up for a song, gaining the parts he ordered and the facilities to produce them in one shot. He was a big advocate of computers "for the masses", and Commodore under his watch produced the C64, the best-selling single computer model of all time. Tramiel was forced out of Commodore around 1984, in no small part because of his strong intentions to keep the publicly-held corporation as a family business for his sons. Almost immediately after, he took over Atari Corp. from Warner communications and ran it for several years, but without quite the same success as the market changed. An immigrant from Poland, and survivor of Auschwitz and German labor camps in WWII, Jack Tramiel died among family at 83.

I had a Commodore 64 from 1983 to 89, and an Atari 7800. That's my only semi-direct connection. That, and the mindset that computers don't have to cost a couple thousand to be any good.

The last week has been a tiny bit rough. Last Monday while cooking dinner, I dropped a can, a small 5 ounce can of cooking spray on my foot. I must have done so in the most effective way possible, as the pain was impressive, reducing me to an unintentional impression of Peter Griffin's "AHHHHHHH.... tsssssssss... AAHHHHHHH!!" for ten straight minutes. The clonked toe hurt, blackened, and swelled over the next couple days, making it extremely difficult to walk. Things started improving quickly after the toe was lanced and the excess blood drained. I'm doing much better now - no problems with walking or pain now, aside from changing a band-aid every so often. I (not so much) look forward to the toenail eventually dropping off and growing back from scratch over the next few months.

maybe horrifyingly awesome?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPW2ODorU98&feature=player_embedded

Can't possibly be more creepish than that Simpsons one from a while back.

I thought I might call some attention to this Furbuy auction by  sanny

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7419557

and here - http://www.furbuy.com/auctions/1029701.html

Be sure to check it out!


P.S. Dot is doing great now. Done with taking meds and being her usual plush-squeaky-fish-chewing self. Maybe she eats a bit slower, but otherwise great.

Dot, seen here from a few years back - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/479008/

She's about ten years old now, and picked up some tooth problems in that time (my fault at least in part, as I never really thought about dental care for dogs - ever, believing the hype of Milk-Bones' teeth-cleaning ability). Anyway, yesterday she went in to the vet for a cleaning, and to have 5 bad teeth removed. She came through the process with flying colors, but now gets to spend the next several days getting used to her new dental situation, taking pain pills and antibiotics. I'll have to get into canine tooth-brushing as well, to keep this kind of thing from happening again, for both the doggies.