Mom was interred today at Barrancas National Cemetery just a few plots away from her parents, an almost unbelievable bit of fortune. She would not have asked for a better resting place. It was good to see the family and friends that turned out to pay their respects, but the last 48 hours has been very stressful and I am beat. Once again, a very heartfelt and deep thanks to all who have extended their well wishes, condolences, and assistance. We'll be staying with dad awhile longer before taking off, helping him with stuff around the house - so will let folks know when we get back home.

We reached Pensacola safe and sound, and met with family and well wishers. We'll be staying with my family for at least a week. My mom passed away peacefully in her sleep late last night, surrounded by family and loved ones. I had been lucky enough to talk to her before she fell into unresponsiveness and tell her I love her. Services will be Tuesday night with a Wed burial. Again, a very, very deep and heartfelt thanks to all who have passed along well wishes and sympathies. I am working on a severe lack of sleep, so pardon me if I ramble or am unresponsive for a bit. Thanks again everyone, I'll need your strength over the new few days.

My mom passed away last night at 10:30pm CST after a long battle with lung cancer. She had been unresponsive for about 24-48 before hand, so I suppose one can say she went quietly. Me and Seaweed are traveling to Pensacola today to be with family and for the services, so I will be unavailable for a spell. Thanks to all of you who have offered your support and strength these last few weeks, it has been a tremendous help to us.

That's is what the doctors told my dad today. I got back home yesterday, and when it looks like she's a few days away we'll head back down to spend the last days with her...

First of, thanks to everyone for the prayers and well wishes. My mom is doing much better now, though still not "good." She is out of ICCU and set up in a normal room and being treated with antibiotics for her infections. When well enough, she will be entering a hospice center with the goal of getting her strong enough to come back to the house. Everyone in the family still harbors fears that the final endgame may not be long coming, but this bullet was dodged by the narrowest of margins. We'll be heading back home Sunday, barring any new emergencies, and will let folks know when we get back. Again, a big thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers, they meant the world to us.

Mom took a turn for the worse yesterday and we nearly lost her. Her condition is not good and she could still go either way. In Pensacola now with Seaweed, and will keep you posted. Apologies for being on even less than usual, but you know why...

My younger sister called earlier to let me know mom is not doing very well. They may be bringing in hospice soon. It could be weeks or years still, but it's not looking very good. So if I am a little quiet or do not immediately respond to IMs, I hope you'll understand.

....I stayed and just saw Weird Al in concert with Seaweed. No doubt about it, I came out ahead on this one - it was an awesome show.

*we zoom inside Timber's head to get his reaction to Pixar's latest...hmmm, awfully roomy in here...*

Joy: Isn't this the BEST? I LOVE Pixar films, they're so wonderful and charming and fun!

Sadness: But they always make you cry, like the time that...

Fear: STOP! No spoilers, we don't want to make anyone mad at us.

Disgust: Yeah, bad enough we're a grown man with no kids going to see an animated film, ugh....

Anger: GREAT! Thank you Pixar! You've manipulated our emotions AGAIN!!! First the opening montage from "Up!", and now this....

Yeah, that about sums it up....

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZMBMO06/ref=s9_psimh_gw_p63_d0_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=11QZE4QX7F11587P1BZT&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2079475242&pf_rd_i=desktop

Heck, I did not even know about this until I started looking around Amazon yesterday. Looking forward to this, but it's a shame it's an XBox exclusive - everyone should have a chance to walk down this memory lane...

I just got an XBone. I have succumbed to the dark side. But did score 2 free games with it, and have a year to pay it off, so not too bad a deal....

XBox 360 and PS3 owners - shell out the $$ to upgrade or be left out in the cold. Don't worry though, you have a year to do it - most of the good shit doesn't come out til 2016.
WiiU and 3DS owners - you're good. But you still have to wait for Zelda.

Ok, let me sum it up so far...

Jurassic Park is one of my all-time favorite movies. I saw it 7 times in the theater and still love it just as much as the first time I saw it. It balanced wonder and scares beautifully.

The sequels were......disappointing. Lost world could not recapture the wonder or the scares, and its only innovative part was the final 30 minutes when the T-Rex runs loose around San Fransisco. Had they made that a good chunk of the movie they would have been onto something. JP 3 stepped back in the right direction, but again it missed the wonder of the world created in the original movie. Every time it came to a scene that might capture some of it they rushed through it to get to the next set piece. (Hell, even the score was rehashed and sped up at points). And face it, most of us were totally rooting for Dr. Satler and Dr. Grant to hook up, -leading off the movie by showing that they didn't just let the air out of the sails right from the start.

Sooo, years later here we are - Jurassic World. In my opinion, it was worth the wait. Granted, it is still not as good as the original, but it really does come close, and is miles ahead of the sequels. This was the natural story progression we should have seen after the original movie. The park is open and full of folks who have no idea what is being cooked up behind the scenes. The characters are thin, but you don't come to these movies for deep humanistic existentialism. Without giving out spoilers, the movie doesn't quite capture the scares of the original, but there are some attempts. Scares are hard to duplicate, especially in similar scenarios, so I cannot completely fault the movie on this. No, where this movie clearly succeeds over the other attempts is the SENSE OF WONDER. There were 2-3 scenes in this movie that stirred emotions in my inner geeky biology nerd that had not been touched since I saw the original in theaters all those years ago.

The movie does have faults - it's too self-referential for it's own good at times, and Vincent D'Onofrio's character might as well have Dino-Chow-Douchebag written in sharpie on his forehead, but in this case they seem like more minor quibbles than real movie-breakers.

If you loved the original and were disappointed with the sequels, I'd urge you to go watch this with tempered expectations and you will come away feeling 22 years younger....


ok, writing this on no sleep for the last 22 hours, so time for go to bed now...

http://www.theguardian.com/film/201.....-of-93-dracula

At 93 it's hard to say this takes me by surprise, but like many 'living legends' it is hard to imagine the day when they will no longer be with us. What he accomplished in his lifetime was not just remarkable, it was staggering. May he rest in peace.

Here is a fun article to remember him by. Just remember, this was written 3 years ago, so he's added even MORE to the list since then... http://www.theguardian.com/film/201.....-of-93-dracula

..... No, really, I just installed new curtains in the living room. We had blinds, but after 7 years they broke on us yesterday. Soooo, to keep the neighbors from being able to peek in and see me looking at all my furry pR0nZ, I tossed up a few curtains this morning. Wonder what my otter will think of them...

So, last night me and Seaweed went out to The Auto Drive-In in Greenwood, SC and caught a double feature.
https://www.25Drivein.com

I have not been to a drive in since I was a wee pup, and the experience was a blast. $8 per adult nets you a double feature. They make all their money on the concessions, which were quite reasonable. I got a very tasty, solid bacon cheeseburger and a large helping of chili cheese fries for $11.99, but most of their fare is cheaper. Drinks are the killer - with $4 for a plastic souvenir cup - but you can get free refills on the sweet tea, which was well done. Popcorn was $2.99 for a tiny bag, or $4.99 for a box, BUT both comes with free refills - so if you opt for popcorn and tea you can fill up rather cheap. Still a HELL of a lot better than a typical theater.

We got their early, ate, and as the sun set the movies began. (One rub, in the summer this means a 9pm starting time, meaning the movies wrap up around 1-2am!) We caught a double feature of Tomorrowland and Avengers: Age of Ultron. We had already seen Ultron, and actually left half way through so we would not fall asleep on the drive back. Now that we know the route to get there and back better we can plan things better next time to stay for both movies.

So, Tomorrowland: My first impression is that I really like this movie. I mean, it's based on a land theme at Disney, yet still has entertaining story and plot, with a lot of nods back to the theme park and the land's orgins. If there is any knock on it, I think it is that the 1st half moves a bit slowly and that if they had tightened it up and used some of that time on the back end of the movie to fill out a few plot elements it could have been a new 'classic' instead of 'very entertaining.' Also, the movie starts out with a narration plot element that never is called upon again or quite wraps up in the film's finale, which makes me wonder why they started with it. Again - editing. I'd give this movie a solid B or B+, but with a tiny bit of editing and a extra scene here or there it could have been a very easy A/A+

So although this is not something we can do that often, I think me and Tina will definitely be doing this again in the near future....

It was a fun movie. Not quite as tight as the original, but very fun. The sense of humor is still there, but I was a little disappointed in the portrayal of Ultron. Not that it was bad, just not what I expected having grown up with some of the classic comics. But for the movie it works ^^ In any case, I recommend it if you liked the first.

Ok, so have made it safely to my folks, and will have a whole 9 days to visit my parental units. I especially wanted to do this considering my mom's health as of late, and I am happy to say she is looking better, sounding stronger, and appears more energetic that I have seen in a long time. Too bad she's not here. Yeah, her magnesium and potassium bottomed out and they stuck her in the hospital, and although she is doing fine she does have an infection they are trying to treat. Now they are also looking at her gall bladder, and if they have to remove that then she might not make it home while we are here. So, yeah, it sucks. It REALLY sucks, but we'll see what happens. As it stands I hope she will be home by this weekend. We shall see...

Oh, and the Monday after I get back, I finally start my day shift position. Whoo-hoo! After 12 years I finally join the real world again, I feel like a Castaway from Gilligan's Island....

Hey folks, a little bit of spam here, but if you enjoy puppets and would love a chance to win a cool one, check out.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8acLQs7iI4 All the details are there, and this dude deserves a good home. Best of luck!

...I have to for a few more weeks. Several events have conspired to push back my start date for my day shift job, BUT, this could be a win-win for me if they wait to start me in about 3 weeks, after my vacation. If they dick me around and try to push it back further, things could get ugly...

Major fail at IHop. Waited for 30 minutes for our order, and when it came they had gotten mine wrong. The waitress offered to change it, but I told her bluntly I did not want to wait another half hour before I got my food. (I ordered fried chicken but they brought me chicken fried steak). I ate the food because I was starved and paid without raising a fuss because, honestly, if I am going to eat it I will pay for it. But I did something I have almost NEVER done before - I left NO tip. I had actually pointed at the picture of the food I wanted on the menu, so there was no need for the mix up, plus the soup that came with the meal was not brought out first, and no offer was made to make up for the mistake other than having me wait another long amount of time for the proper order and hope they get it right that time. I doubt I'll be eating at that IHop again....

Best known for chasing Duke boys and battling Killer Shrews, I always enjoyed his acting and am sad to see him pass.

Ok, first of all my mother is still doing ok. Her new doctor is going to be using a pretty new drug on her that is supposed to target and potentially knock out this type of cancer without the nasty side effects of radiation (which may still be a very real option if this does not work). Waiting to hear more and get the name of the drug from her. Apparently my sisters have already researched it quite a bit and it shows lots of promise....

On a more personal note - and one that may concern my online friends a bit more - my times, they are a changing. In just a few weeks I will (after 12 grueling years) be moving back to 1st shift and assuming a temporary position in HBA (Health and Beauty Aids, my old stomping grounds from my Orlando days). If all works out well, after that I will be offered the position of HBA department manager. The trade offs are:

On the plus side - Daytime shifts, a physically lighter work load, slight pay bump, more time with my significant otter

On the down side - Learning a whole new set of skills, a LOT more responsibility, no set days off, may have to learn to work with a whole different set of pricks (as opposed to the ones I am used to)

I have NO doubt in my ability to learn the job and eventually excel in it, if given the chance - I am just hoping office politics do not come into play and they decide to give it to someone else and are just using me to hold the position until they free them up. Trust me, it's not beneath them to do so...

So my normal chat buddies and friends, you may notice a shift in when you see me pop on. Do not be alarmed or adjust your sets, the program you tuned into has just changed its time slot...

Well, for those who have been following my mother's condition and were reading between the lines - her old doctor gave her 3-6 months. Period. She was retaining a lot of water, bloating her weight to the point to where she had to have oxygen and keeping her inactive. It also was causing her to be very much at risk for congestive heart failure. Her chemo was not working. Things were bleak. Needless to say, my mother is every bit as stubborn as I am, and told the doctor he was an idiot, and immediately changed physicians.

The new doctor ordered a new batch of tests and reviewed her case. Her cancer has NOT spread beyond her lungs, and it is unclear how much of the mass in her lung is cancer vs scar tissue. The chemo she was taking was worse than useless - the new doctor told her it was not effective for what she had and should never had been given to her. He is weening her off her steroids, increased the medicine she takes to get the water off her body, and is looking to get her off her oxygen tank. She's dropped quite a bit of the weight she had gained during her last stay at the hospital and is now back down to what she was before. It turns out they believe there is a 70% chance radiation will work to kill the cancer, but it has some very serious side effects she and her new doctor will be discussing before proceeding. The fact of the matter is, the battle is not over, as far as she is determined it's just beginning, and she's ready to fight.

Work continues to pound and drain me, but there may even be a glimmer of hope there too. Not saying much for now, just keep your fingers crossed.

How about that Gravity Falls mid-season cliffhanger? Is it just me, or is Gravity Falls one of the most un-Disneyesque Disney show since Gargoyles? I'm loving it, and it is only mid way through the 2nd season. I urge anyone who loves quirky, off beat shows with good character development to give it a try.

I watched Big Hero 6 too. It was very well done and an overall good movie. Not as good as How to Train Your Dragon 2 OR The Lego Movie, imho, but it did not shame the Oscar it won.

Off to bed. Nappy time for me. Oh, and don't let Seaweed fool you - I am NOT "Mr Seaweed"...

A genuine and heartfelt Thank You to all who have wished me well. Times were trying enough as it is, but without going into details it's even worse now. As of now I need to keep my calendar completely clear and open. I will not be going to any cons for the foreseeable future, including MFM. I am sorry for anyone who was wanting to meet me there. For those wanting to visit, be aware I may have to travel in a hurry, so keep that in mind. Once again, my deepest thanks to all. If you are a religious person, please keep my mother in your thoughts...