As someone who considers the original Ghostbusters one of my three favorite movies of all time, I went into the theater this morning with a bit of apprehension. Yes, the semi-negative press that had been inundating this movie practically since it was cast, was a pall of the worst kind. Fortunately, my worries were salved as I can definitely state, at least to my personal enjoyment, that Ghostbusters is definitely its own movie and one that has its own fun separate and different from the original. Seeing it in 3D always helps.

First, the matter of the four main characters. I was worried that they were going to shoehorn them into the "Peter Venkman", "Ray Stantz", "Egon Spengler" and "Winston Zeddemore" roles hard. Nothing could be further from the truth. The new Ghostbusters have their own individual personalities, and that certainly makes this a whole different entity. You can't even work Leslie Jones into the Winston Zeddemore character, because she's far, far more fleshed out than Ernie Hudson was in his role. Everyone gets their own generous helping of screentime, too. Everyone shines in their own way.

Secondly, the technological aspect of the Ghostbusters movie. They really went above and beyond when it came to not only designing the main power packs, but there's... lots of other toys that get brought into the fray. Whoever had to come up with the new ghost-catching weapons had an absolute blast, because they get used heavy in the climax, and it's a real treat to see if all go down in... 3D. Always see it in 3D if you can.

Lastly, the matter of the main villain. Not quite as strong as the setup from the original Ghostbusters, but he's lightyears better than Vigo the Carpathian in the sequel. Plus, they bring out all the stops in the climax, and some of the individual ghosts that show up are rather spectacularly done. I read a review saying that they weren't sure where the $144 million all went to. Trust me, it went into the special effects. I can attest to that. The finale definitely goes over the top in that regard.

I definitely gives this the Siskel & Ebert thumbs up. It entertained me much, much more than I thought I would be going into it. Plus, you'll want to stick around during and after the credits, to see some extra little bits. Plus a little teaser for the sequel. Actually, a big teaser. ^_^

This is a quick little note to let you all know that  lei-lani and  umpherio's comic page auction for their YCH entitled, "Divers' Delight" ends tonight at midnight EST. More information can be found right here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/20419864/

So head on over and check it out before it ends! ^_^

As I've been cobbling together my pictures and the pictures of my siblings into a digital catalog, so my mother will have a nice clean CD instead of a gajillion odd pictures, I've come to realize just how more exciting birthdays are before you become an adult. All your friends are around, you get a nice big cake of your choice of flavor, even the shape of your choice when you're reeeeeeally young. It's a major production. Then as you get older, and friends move away, they become less of a production. You start to realize just how old you're getting, you don't have the circle of friends to celebrate with, and it becomes more of a family celebration. And that's pretty much what today was.

Regrettably, ending my vacation a day before my birthday was probably not the wisest move, but things happen. Spending the entire day digging out from underneath the massive pile of work that had accumulated upon leaving, was not terribly fun. And without a shovel to do it with. Luckily nothing terrible transpired while I was away. I was very grateful to those of you who wished me birthday blessings. Even my brother, who tends be more morose than he needs to be, wished me a happy birthday before I went off to work. Somehow I managed to get through the day without invoking any major catastrophes, and went to the parents' house for dinner. We'd decided to celebrate my birthday on Saturday, because it fit our schedules better. So I had my mother's excellent meatloaf, potatoes, grapes and Drumsticks. The ice cream kind of Drumsticks. Then I went downstairs to get into another evening of Intermediate Accounting 1.

*pad* *pad* *pad* *SQUISH* This is what happens when you walk in the basement with the lights nearly off. My parents' cat Charlie has a life ambition of twice a day, consuming his food as fast as his jaws and stomach will accommodate it. This also makes him hypersensitive to throwing it up just as rapidly. So yes, I went home with one sock. Nothing like having that one set moment to remember your birthday by! It's the Cat Vomit Birthday. Already chalked.

On the lighter side, I did get a set of Bose Noise-Cancelling Headphones, and a couple dress shirts with a tie to match. Not a bad day when you think about it. Another year in the books, and I've got a nice Italian dinner to look forward to on Saturday. Might still ask for my cake. You're only as young as you feel. ^_^


Current Musak:

From my mother's recollection, I was born sometime in the 5:00pm hour, so I technically have a little more time to go yet. But since I just popped back from vacation, and I may not get this out until late tomorrow night, I figured this was a good a time as any.

And not only me, but you also need to head over to  marbles page and wish the bun a very Happy Birthday as well. He also has June 8th as his birthday, and turns 36 years old.

Heading out tomorrow night to eat at a place that I've never tried yet. Wish I knew what that was. Oh well, I have time to figure it out. ;)

I honestly never expected to hit these heights when I started all those years ago. I just wanted a fun place to house my artwork, and after all these years, I seem to have amassed a healthy amount of people who enjoy watching the continuing adventures of a hugely-busted nerdy mousegirl, a satyr with curls down to his keister, and his dark, dark panther form. Not to mention a menagerie of other assorted house guests, sexual partners and others who enjoy making periodic appearances too numerous to mention. Thank you all for watching, chatting, journaling and suggesting things for my characters to do and have done to them. Onward to 5000 watchers, and whatever that brings in the coming years. ^_^

Now that I've cleaned out my wallet with another six-month payment for my tuition, I'm looking at saving towards putting toward a new computer. Given that it doesn't make sense to not meet or even better, exceed specifications for the new VR systems being introduced, I'm getting nudges that I should be looking at having my upcoming PC liquid cooled as opposed to traditional air cooling. Knowing almost nothing about liquid cooling, I appeal to you, my more knowledgeable watchers for some assistance in learning about the advantages and disadvantages of having my system water cooled.

1. Is it necessary to have my upcoming and much faster Core I-7 liquid cooled? Will air cooling suffice?

2. I've heard that liquid cooling increases the noise quotient, yet my new PC probably will be most likely without 5.25" drives for sound deadening. Is this even an issue? I do prefer quieter PCs.

3. What are the advantages of liquid cooling over air cooling?

I have a pretty long time before I assemble everything, but I figured I'd get started on the couple things I'm a little fuzzy on right now. Your help would be a tremendous boon. Thank you. :3


EDIT: I suppose it might help if I listed the current setup I'm looking at. I was perusing some websites to see about making sure I had the correct specifications to handle the Oculus Rift or other VR systems, and I came across this one: http://www.octopusrift.com/building.....imate-rift-pc/

Half of the components, especially the motherboard and video card are newer versions of ones that I currently have. I thought that was a good sign. It was the liquid cooled components that threw me for a curve. Hence, this journal.

Once upon a time, there was a very delicious cookie, called the Mallomar. Labeled as the ultimate "S'mores" cookie, these chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker delights were a treat to those who could get their hands on a package. Unfortunately, these cookies were held captive in the kingdom of Nabisco, which refused to let their western neighbors partake in the glory that their eastern counterparts could easily obtain. Bastards. Nevertheless... several brave souls decided to fight back against the tyranny of Nabisco, and thus was born... the MALLOMARS CHALLENGE!!!

So basically, the challenge is this. Due to a major difficulty in obtaining them for myself without incurring serious shipping costs,  lei-lani found a very close copycat recipe for Mallomars cookies, and we're going to make them this weekend. But with a small catch... we want you to judge who made the better cookie! We're going to post pictures of our cookies when we're finished, and we'd like you to favorite one or the other. Or both, if you so choose. The winner of the contest at the end of April, gets the choice of the following:

Lani has an adorable idea of an art picture in mind with Aidan and Leilani in a kitchen, making these S'mores cookies - however Leilani has gotten a bit messy with the chocolate and marshmallow goo, all over her face, paws, cleavage, thighs, and Aidan has stopped working and is staring at her in complete, utter shock. Orrrrr... Aidan is the one covered in chocolate and marshmallow goo, and Leilani has stopped working, and is looking at him lustfully.

We're not going to specify whose cookies are whose, so no one will know until the end of the contest. But we thought this was a fun way to make something that we have a hard time getting, and probably will end up making a better version anyway. So we hope you'll take part in this fun little challenge. Pictures to come following this weekend.

And now to head out and make sure I have all the necessary ingredients. The challenge is ON!

Everyone's favorite h'otta and popular FA writer  lei-lani's house has gone into foreclosure again, and needs your help very badly to keep it. She's trying to raise $20,000 to keep the banks off her back, and she needs commissions to do this. For those that haven't read her amazing stories, please head over to her page and take a read. If you like what you read, please send her a note and commission a story from her. Every little bit helps. More information can be had here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7453322/

Thank you. ^_^

Why is it now, that I'm on a heated diet to lose the last 15 pounds to get into this wonderful leather pants of mine, that I'm being hit on ALL SIDES with these incredibly tasty recipes? Honestly, here's a little sampling of what's staring me in the face until I get to my target weight:

4-Way Cake Pops - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/137500594851281235/
Pizza Pot Pies - http://www.recipelink.com/msgbrd/bo.....SEP/18683.html
Restaurant Style Homemade Salsa - http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/.....t-style-salsa/
Old School Pizza Sauce - http://www.bestrecipesevar.com/old-.....l-pizza-sauce/ (To be honest, I've made this. It's the best. ^_^ )
Pull-Apart Pizza Bread - https://www.facebook.com/BuzzFeedFo.....8108912869000/
Easy Fried Pies - http://hoosierhomemade.com/easy-fried-pies-recipe/
Meatball Bubble Biscuits - http://www.joyfulscribblings.com/20.....bble-biscuits/

I am NOT actively looking for these recipes. They're just entering my viewing through pure accident. And now I have to pin them and think about them while I remain a good boy and eat healthy. :P

I didn't even know he was battling cancer, but he has apparently lost the battle. Not only a legendary musical artist, but an actor, writer and producer. He will be missed sorely. :(

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne.....-artist-854364

For those haven't tasted the greatness that is In 'N Out Burger, I offer this... no wait. This might or might not be the greatest thing since sliced bread. In 'N Out Burger is the greatest fast food on the west coast. Sorry, haven't been to Shake Shack yet. So this concoction... might be even greater. Or it might be a total gastronomic disaster.

I'd still like a slice to see. Check it out for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7frlmr9Fq30

For those that haven't seen the classic Red Peters comedy bit, hop on over and check it out for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR3EiIO22GQ

Slightly NSFW for indecent language, reindeer asses and inappropriate references to hamster sexuality.

And for everybody, I hope you're having yourselves a Merry Christmas! ^_^

This is the first time I've been able to sit down at a working computer since late afternoon Tuesday. Tuesday at noon, the Pacific Northwest was hit by a sizable storm, but nothing quite like the one that my city of Spokane received. The winds picked up in the mid-afternoon, and as they crested to 45-50 miles an hour with 60-70 gusts, power in the city started going out one after another. By 5 pm, pretty much the entire city was completely out of power. Power poles were snapped in half, trees were in pieces all over roads, or worse, plunged into houses. I work at a large retirement community, and fortunately, we have two backup generators that were keeping hall and entry lights on, and a tiny bit of power to keep the main refrigerators running. I didn't leave until 9pm that night, and what I saw when I left the front door was one of the most surreal moments of my life.

You take a lot of things for granted in life, and adequate lighting is certainly one of them. I walked out the door into sheer, total blackness. Not only was the retirement community devoid of light, but everywhere as far as the eye can see was out of light as well. I had to walk 500 meters to the employee parking lot, with absolutely nothing to guide me except my own knowledge of whether the sidewalks were. No moon light, no nothing. Just pure inky blackness. And making sure the path I was going, hopefully didn't have any felled trees crossing it. Driving the 3 miles home was another fun moment, because I had to dodge trees and downed power lines, even on the major roads that I took. Not a single light to be found, save for my headlights and the few headlights of other drivers. Craaaaaazy.

I was one of the fortunate ones. I had power back on by 4am the following morning. Knew it when my bathroom fan started blaring. That's one good thing about being immediately adjacent to a very large grocery store. They're usually one of the first to get power restored, because people need food. Especially when their refrigerators go out for an extended time. Too bad my internet power hasn't been restored yet. I'm having to write this on my recently restored parents' computer.

It's a funny day to write this, because 19 years ago to the day today, we had an ice storm in Spokane that matched this one for pure numbers of houses out of power. I missed that one, as I was living in California at the time. Looks like I didn't miss this one. As of now, probably a little less than half the households in the city are still without power. Regrettably, my work is still among those. Going to be another exciting day of playing doorman and resident dog walker tomorrow. Hard to do accounts payable when your computers are all down. ^_^

Do I really have to explain this? Do I?

I didn't think so. ^_^

So get your butts over to their Kickstarter page and help bring it back:

https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....rce=newsletter

They're already at $1.5 million of their $2 million goal, and they're shooting for $5.5 million to film 12 episodes. They'll get it done, but every little nickel helps.

*slams his fist against a huge red button with the word "VENT" on it.

We are now in vent mode, vent mode is engaged. Okay... about four months ago, I decided to get off the corporate merry-go-round, and get my ass into a career that will guarantee myself a high-paying, stable position. Namely, I've decided to get my accounting degree and sometimes in the next 2 to 3 years, move into my father's private CPA practice. He's 70 now, and wanting to downsize his hours to work mostly just in tax season. Rather than paying the exorbitant fees with going to my alma mater, I decided to try the online route, and enroll at Western Governors University. To my shock, they waived 60% of my classwork from my prior Marketing degree. Hallelujah! I figured I could bang this out by next summer, and then spend the summer studying for the CPA exam.

Only one of my four courses I'm enrolled in now, has anything to do with accounting. One is project management, one is business writing, one is spreadsheets. Not too difficult, any of them. They waived Accounting 1 for me, so I'm taking Accounting 2, despite not having taken any accounting courses since 1992. My present job is accounts payable, so I have a smattering of work experience that will help me. The problem now, is what I call the 'Algebra Principle'. I'm sure most of you who graduated from high school took algebra, and wondered at one time or fifty, 'What the hell am I going to do with this in real life?'. The correct answer to that, is 'jack-squat'. Algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, chemistry, physics... most of the higher level math and science classes, will help 99.99% of most people in real life absolutely never. And that's the wall I ran into tonight.

I was studying up on discounted notes receivable, and asked my father, a 40-year certified public accountant, a question regarding a 60-day note for $15,000, a 12% discount rate. And I asked him whether or not this was used in his line or work, presently or previously. He responded with, 'Absolutely never.' He immediately noticed the look of incredulity on my face, and said, 'Just remember 75% of everything on the CPA Exam, CPA's never use.' Oh great. So I'm back in high school, studying things that will have absolutely no bearing on anything I'm going to do in the future.

*sighs* Yes... yes I know that most of what you do in college prepares you for the future in much the same way that driving a car prepares you to fly a commercial jet. A little piece here, a little piece there, and when you're done, you go right into your internship/primary job, and they teach you the things you really need to know. But there's nothing more entertaining than spending three hours a night of my time, learning things that will be completely useless in my upcoming employment. Hell, that damn joke of a spreadsheet class is probably going to educate me more about things I need to know, than this lousy accounting course. Can't wait to see what the upcoming courses on taxation will tell me.

I will get through this, and I will get through this in less than a calendar year's time. The great thing about online coursework, is that once you finish a course, you just plug a new one into your schedule and fire it up. But I thought there would be something more useful out of the first damn accounting course, than things that have absolutely no bearing in becoming a CPA. Even worse, the CPA exam is apparently chockful of useless knowledge I'm supposed to know with nothing to do with what an actual CPA does. Good thing my father used to teach CPA Exam prep courses. I'm going to need it.

Love college. *slams his fist again into the "VENT" button* Love it soooooo much. Vent mode is now disengaged. You may return to your previously scheduled programming.

Me, I'm going to play some Dark Souls 2. :P

Everyone's favorite FA and SoFurry writer  lei-lani has now joined the ranks of Huffington Post bloggers, with her own space on the website!

You can find her here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paola-k-amaras/ with quite a few articles on dreams, and quite a few articles about life in general.

Please do yourself a favor, and go check out her blog. You'll definitely learn a few things. ^_^

 sarichow started watching me today, and I took a look at her in return. I found an artist's gallery that had some really cute, sexy and hot artwork. Mice, especially. Slight bias, and all.

She only has 310 watchers, which is way, way too low for someone of her talents. So head on over, give her a look-see and load up her watchers list. Thank you. ^_^

Now that I think I've got a handle on this Livestreaming thing, I'm going to do another test tonight and show at 8:00pm PST/11:00pm EST "The Usual Suspects". You know it, you love it, come see it. It'll be fun!

http://original.livestream.com/oldtimegallifrey

This is just a friendly and fun little exercise that I'm throwing out to all of my faithful watchers, and it goes something like this. I've had it in my head to visit all of the continental 48 states before I did, and preferably the sooner the better. At the current moment, my tally stands at 17 states. Pretty much all of the western states excluding Colorado, plus Oklahoma and Texas, and five others that I've made plane trips to during the last 15 years; Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Map of the visited states can be seen here: Map Goes Here

I plan on leaving my place of employment in the next two years or so before I begin the process of taking over my father's accounting practice. I think that this is probably the best time to do this master plan. Cashing out my vacation time, and using some saved up funds to start this road trip. The state this would be started from is Washington. Basically, my question is two-fold. Firstly, what path would you all suggest for me to take? Northern most path through the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa and all the way to the northeastern states before heading south? Or southern path through Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas and then down to the southeast states before heading north? And second question, what do you think is the best way to keep my room costs down? I have an excellent tent, so staying at KOAs is a possibility. But if there's a better plan on keeping those costs down, I'm all ears.

Let me know your thoughts on this. Thanks!

To be honest, I had a few doubts on this movie. It had received good reviews, but not quite the ones that GOTG had gotten, and it was trying to sell a character that only the fanboys and fangirls knew about. But I am here to say, that this is my favorite movie of the year so far. This was better than Avengers: Age of Ultron, and it was as good as Mad Max: Fury Road. I just liked this one a touch better. Here's why...

If you've read my previous journal, you know that I'm an unabashed lover of 3D movies. If I'm going to see a movie that's playing in multiple formats, it's always going to be seen in 3D. And I have to acknowledge that Ant-Man has the best usage of the 3D format that I've ever laid eyes on. You actually feel like you're as small as Ant-Man in this movie. This was no half-hearted attempt at throwing out 3D in this movie, they went all-in, and does it ever show. If you have a choice in seeing it in regular format or 3D, provided you can afford it, splurge and see it in glorious 3D. It's worth it. Oh God, is it worth it.

As you've probably heard, this is a heist flick, and I never realized how much I enjoy the genre. I'm definitely going to have to check on more movies in this niche, because I truly enjoyed the setup. Not only a heist flick, but it's also about family, and they created a lot of tension when family was put into the line of fire towards the end of this movie. I generally don't sweat for anything, and I noticed I was sweating after I walked out of the movie. Few movies can do that to me, and this is one of them.

Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll. All of the main actors nailed their parts well, and the supporting actors as well. Not just a tense film, there's a lot of humor in this as well. Without question, one of the funniest movies Marvel has done yet.

And lastly, the two post-movie teasers. One sets up a new Avenger, and the other sets up the next Captain America movie. You will need to make sure and stay for both of them. They're very important.

Two thumbs up! Way up. I'll definitely be going back and watching this a second time in the theaters. The 3D visuals alone demand it, but it's also just a fantastic movie.

Being the ripe old age of 45 years old, my formative music years came at the very start of the era of disco. Admittedly, not the greatest music era, but it led into the start of the MTV era, and I came away from the late 70's with a love for a lot of artists and groups that definitely did not have any disco leanings. Boz Scaggs, Supertramp, Steve Winwood, Poco, Little River Band, Genesis and my still all-time favorite group... Hall and Oates. I get a little snickering even to this day for my professed love for Hall and Oates, but let's set a few things straight. Number one, they have six number one Billboard hits, and 34 Top 100 hits. Number two, they're the best selling duo of all time, with over 80 million records sold worldwide. And number three, Billboard lists them as the #15 artists of all time.

So yes, I grew up listening to lots and lots of Hall and Oates on the radio. Admittedly, I STILL haven't made it to one of their concerts yet, but I'll get to one eventually. I bring out Hall and Oates because of something I found this morning. Sometime back, John Oates released a 'music video' of their classic song, "She's Gone", and well... a few things to mention. This was created in 1973, considerably far before the introduction of MTV. The budget behind this video was probably Daryl's pocket change, it's pretty much non-existent. This was a promotional video for their just-released album "Abandoned Luncheonette", and if you've seen the utterly horrendous Billy Squier music video "Rock Me Tonite", then you're in for a treat. Let's run down the fun things we find in this video...

Our artists in a drugged-out stupor for the entire video? Check!
Daryl in a bathrobe, John in a sleeveless tuxedo? Check!
Daryl smoking a bong? Check!
John doing a guitar solo with flippers? Check!
The road manager in a red-sequined devil costume? Check!

Hall and Oates were, and continue to be, an amazing musical duo. But damn, does this music video stink to high heaven. Oh yes, the woman walking around in the video is Sara, from "Sara Smile". Enjoy. ^_^

After 45 years of eating my dad's barbecue burgers, the gastronomical equivalent in both flavor and appearance of hockey pucks, I took it upon myself this year to teach myself how to make a really good grilled hamburger. I consulted several cooking experts and cookbooks, but I came back to Bobby Flay's book on burgers, fries and shakes. And lo and behold, it did not steer me wrong. Heh... any cow jokes in this journal are entirely unintended. Honest. ^_^

1. Use ground chuck instead of ground beef. It's 80% lean and 20% fat, and if you want a really great tasting burger, the flavor is in the fat. If you can find Angus beef, buy the Angus.

2. Form them into patties very loosely, but not more than 3/4 inch thick. You don't want them squeezed together, as that'll bruise the meat.

3. When the patties are finished, use your thumb and press a large indentation into the middle. This will keep you from pressing them down on the grill, and they'll magically spring back up when cooked.

4. Oh yeah, did I mention about NOT PRESSING THEM DOWN? This is the worst possible thing you can do. It squeezes out all those delicious fatty juices, and turns them into hockey pucks. You want juicy, flavorful burgers.

5. Only season your burgers with salt and pepper. That's all you need.

6. After placing your burgers on the grill, and they have reached the desired cooking texture, turn them once and only once. Season them again.

I swear, not only are these the best homemade burgers we've ever eaten, but they can be even better next time if I find Angus beef. If anybody has anything they want to add to this, please do.

Oh yes, and Happy Fourth of July!

I gave up and tapped out... 1... 2... 3. I broke down and drove to Costco and bought a 41-inch floor fan. 108 degrees yesterday was more than enough to convince me that I'm going to need something else besides a steady air flow from front windows to back windows. This is the one thing I hate about second floor apartments... all the hot air rising from the first floor apartments. 100 degree temperatures for the next two weeks. Nosiree Bob... that's not going to fly without some backup help. XD

So for all of you who down south, especially in the California, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas states... I don't know how you do it without central air conditioning. I mean, I used to live in Lancaster and while it got into the 110's in the summertime, we had central air and first floor living. It's manageable. This 100+ crap in the Pacific Northwest is just not something we're used to. I have a redneck A/C that I'm dragging out of storage, but this damn murderous heat can go away at any time.

Passed on by the always wonderful George Takei, we have a case of an "inappropriate" cake for a three-year-old girl, a cake shop that's "THE DEVIL", and a mom who's taking things way, way over the top in thinking her daughter's christening is ruined by a lewd pair of teddy bears. People get offended at the littlest things. Enjoy.

https://www.distractify.com/shut-up.....2&ts_pid=2

Yep, it was my birthday yesterday. Turned the big 45. Regrettably spent it driving home from CaliFur, so I didn't get to do much except stop in Hanford, CA for a giant ice cream sundae at Superior Ice Cream. (Picture to come later. Damn thing was huge.) Another 410 miles to Portland today, and then 375 to Spokane. Another long drive ahead of me. Goodbye for now, California.