Happy Valentine's Day

You Rock. Yes, You.

Playing with Legos and a camera

Today it is hot. The little thermometer on my computer says it is 98F and the air conditioning says it believes the computer since it (the A/C) hasn't had a break all day. So, since I didn't have to work today, it was a day spent in the house. Well, mostly. See, it's been very dry here this summer. (How dry is it?) It's so dry the grass is wonderful shade of brown and slightly unpleasant to walk on.

Anyway, I was bored and I told my son to get a couple of Lego minifigs so we can set up some kind of photo shoot with them. This is what came of that.

The first one I tried to make it look like he was stranded in the desert. Minus the sand, of course. 

Then I found a little hole in the ground so I shoved one of the guys in there and did these. 

Yes, I'm a dork. And now I'm hot. 

Sometimes there is something in your house that you walk past and you just have to go back and take a picture of it. This is one of those times.

I didn't dress Worf this way, my daughter did. It made me laugh. I hope it does the same for you.

Happy New Year!

"Dude, no! That's Tabasco!"

Oh, well. Happy New Year anyway.

Post Christmas Post

So, yes, Christmas is over. I remember always being so bummed when Christmas was all over as a kid. Sure, I had all the toys to play with, but the anticipation was all gone. Also, school was just around the corner. Now it's more of a relief when Christmas is over, especially when you have to host Christmas day. We don't cook all that much, and since it was Christmas we couldn't order out, so that makes us worry a little bit. Luckily my mom brought a ham that just had to be heated up, we made some pasta (I can do that) and we had some au gratin potatoes that needed to be cooked in the oven. Easy as pie. Speaking of pie, as usual we had way too many desserts.

Yes, that is a present cake with and edible bow. No, I didn't make it. See above.

But, what is Christmas about if not to over-indulge in treats? Oh yeah, gifts. I got to stay up until 1:30am on Christmas Eve to put together our daughter's Barbie townhouse. See, Toys R Us were nice enough to ship it to us in the regular box so when I picked up the kids from school one day it was sitting in front of the door for her to see. We tried to play it off that it might not be for here, but she wouldn't have it. Luckily, a friend at work came up with the idea that I put it together the night before and leave a note from Santa saying he had to drop it off early so his elves could come and put it together. She totally bought it. Kids.

The kids did let us sleep a little late on Christmas which was nice, but that meant Jenn and I were scrambling around all day to get things ready. I had actually just come home from picking up sushi, for an appetizer, when my mom and sister showed up. Of course my mom's first words were about the driveway being slippery, but she came early to get the ham going, so what could I say? Overall it worked out well. I think everyone had a good time.

On to other stuff. Because everyone else was doing it, I started a Tumblr blog. Or is it just a Tumblr? I don't know what all I'm going to put up there, but if this space is any indication, you know it is going to be awesome.

Also, if anyone is interested in joining our Flickr group go here and send me a message and I'll put you in. It's not an every day thing, but at least once a week. It should be fun; it was last year.

That's all for now. Happy New Year!

Normally Worf wouldn't be caught dead in this car...

Also, he would never let the girl drive. It's not the Klingon way. But, Barbie is a superstar you know.

It doesn't matter anyway. Look at Barbie. She's not even looking at him. She's tired of the Klingon jealousy and all the talk about honor, etc.

I think she spied Ken off to her left. Someone is going to be whipping out his bat'leth soon...

Weekend Assignment #292:The Oldest thing

This week Karen wants to know what kind of old stuff we have in our houses. It's kind of like that show where you find old stuff in your house and hope it's going to make you a millionaire. That's not going to happen here.

Weekend Assignment: #292: What is the oldest thing in your house or apartment?

By far the oldest thing in our house is one of my coins. I'm not a big collector, but I have a few things I've picked up since I was a kid. A few I got through the mail, but most of what I have I got through the regular money circulation channels. I used to wait tables, that is the best way to get a lot of change. Especially when you work in a restaurant that caters to old people. It was not unusual to get a tip of 78 cents. At least this was the before people had easy access to tip calculators, I probably would have been given pennies cut in half if that were the case.

Anyway, my oldest coin is a 1895 Indian Head Penny. As you can see, it has seen better days; about 41,600, or so. Exciting isn't it? Imagine, this coin has gained about 5000 percent in value since it was made. Of course, since the value started at 1 cent it's not that big of a deal. I wish I had a ten dollar bill laying around that had gained the same value.

As I was looking through the coins I have, I found some I had forgotten about. Don't worry, I won't bore you with the all of them. I found a few from other countries that I forgot I had. I have some from Israel, Mexico, Sweden, Italy, and the tiniest coin from the Netherlands. Look how small this is compared to our old giant silver dollars.

Isn't it cute? It's like a tiny baby coin. Can you imagine carrying around those tiny things and trying to find it in your pocket to buy a Coke?

Extra Credit: Is there anything from your childhood that you've managed to hang on to all these years?

I have a lot of things from my childhood at my mom's house. The kids have brought a few of them over here. My son had brought my old Star Bird spaceship toy home a long time ago. I loved that thing as a kid.

My, I mean our, new toy

It's a good thing that I have a couple of days off so I can learn how to use our new toy. Here's a picture of it, in case you've never seen a computer before. 

If you look closely, you can see me in the reflection. That is probably about the best picture you are going to get of me here. I look goofy in every shot, I don't want the world to see! 

Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot #25: Birds

Carly is in the mood for some birds this week:

EMPS #25: BIRDS.
Flying BIRDS. Nesting BIRDS. Gooney BIRDS. Looney BIRDS. Real BIRDS. Stuffed BIRDS, both the toy and the sustenance. BIRDS with winter plumage, BIRDS taking a bath. BIRDS and their babies. BIRDS all alone. BIRDS in their houses. Red BIRDS. Black BIRDS. Bald BIRDS. BIRDS on a wire. Real BIRDS. Fake BIRDS. BIRDS.


Unfortunately, there aren't many birds in my area at this time of year. Occasionally I will see some geese, but I didn't have time to go to the areas where they congregate. But, we do have plenty of toy birds in our house.

My daughter really wanted this stuffed penguin a couple of years ago.

Also, don't many people call airplanes birds? Well, how about the Blue Angels?

I don't have any pictures for the extra credit. I don't know the difference between a snow egret and a snow leopard. Go check out Carly's blog for the other entries this week. There might be some pictures of actual birds there.

What kind of animal was this?

I was doing some clean-up today, yes I am off from work, and I came across this former stuffed animal:

My question to you is, what kind of animal do you think it was? Not that it matters much now. Our dog, Qunicy, took a liking to this animal awhile back and it has never been the same. Yes, that is a hole in the side of the head. Makes it harder to guess, doesn't it?

I also came a cross a creepy little doll that was from a Happy Meal, I believe. (Yes, the kids eat McDonald's some times, back off.)

Maybe it is hard to tell in this picture, but the color of the skin and the dead eyes freak me out. I think I have a problem with dolls. Especially those creepy life-like ones.

While I was uploading these pictures I heard Buzz Lightyear announce that he was awake from hyper-sleep and ready for action. At least I know I am not home along with these creepy toys.

Why didn't they have this when I was a kid?

It's been a quiet day so I don't have much to say. But, this is awesome:
I would have loved this as a kid. Heck, I would now. The only problem is that I am very bad at building things and this thing has over 3,900 pieces. It would take me about 6 or 7 years to finish. That includes the time I'd have to wait for some small pieces to work their way through my dog's intestinal tract. You could probably build a real Death Star in the time it would take me to build this thing. I am not very good with my hands.

This is way cooler than any LEGOs we had as a kid. I don't remember anything tied to movies or TV shows. They were only generic cars, planes, and people. Again, not that I was able to build any of these things, I only remember what my brother built.

Anyway, go buy it, and let me know how long it takes to build. Start saving some money , though. It costs 400 big ones. More pictures over at the Lego store. Go. Buy. Now.

A good thing about the new Speed Racer movie

Now that the Speed Racer movie is out it is easy to find Speed Racer merchandise. I found this site the other day at work. It has all kinds of cool Speed Racer gear from the original show, the new movie, and even the new animated show that is on now.

All I really care about is stuff from the original show, though. I loved that show as a kid. I remember I had to be home by four in order to see it on our UHF channel. Yes, I'm talking before we had cable TV. This was back in the mid-70's I think. I watched it all the time. Back then I didn't think that they were slightly weird with all their "oh's" and "ah's," I just liked the Mach 5. What kind of boy wouldn't like a car that is incredibly fast and had saw blades that come out of the front? Sure, the jacks were cool, it could make the car jump, but these saw blades we so sharp they could cut giant trees down while the car traveled over 200 miles per hour!

I think my favorite episode was the one with the Mammoth car. It was a three part-er if I remember correctly, I could check the DVD downstairs, too. The car was, well mammoth, but somehow incredibly fast. And, Speed was in danger, of course. I think the mammoth car was stealing gold, or some precious medal. You would think I'd remember exactly if it was my favorite episode, but I haven't watched in a while. Most of the animation we get to watch now is Pixar related. Not that it is a bad thing, it just leaves less time for my shows.

Wait, can I change my favorite episode? It's The Most Dangerous Race, yeah, they weren't good on the title thing. I loved this one because it is so outrageous, and dangerous of course. The race was actually the Alpine Race, which probably should be the title, and at one point in the race they have to cross an abyss by jumping their cars onto these pillars of rock. Well, Speed doesn't quite make it. He almost does, and with his special snow tires and 5000 horsepower (!) you think he is going to make it, but alas, he slides down into the abyss. And, that is the end of the episode. You had to wait until the next day to find out if her survived!

So, you race home to see if Speed is alive. He is, but he is not in good shape. For some reason he can't see. I'm not sure what caused the blindness, maybe it is hysterical blindness, either way he is stuck. Until Racer X (whoisreallyhislonglostbrotherRexRacerwhocrashedhisdad'scargotpissedooffandleft) finds Speed and since Racer X can't use his legs (he's lying) and Speed can't see, the devise a brilliant plan. Speed will drive the race car while Racer X tells him where to go. It's pretty awesome to see Speed driving 250mph and Racer X telling him to turn 45 degrees to the left around the hairpin turn on the cliff that drops off 5,000 feet. I can't remember if they win. They probably do.

Anyway, I may sound like I'm making fun, and I am a little, but I still love the show. It may seem cheesy now, but it will always remind me of good times in my childhood. So, what should I buy in the store?

Oh, I should probably say I'm not sure if I am going to see the movie. It looks like it might make me nauseous. I might rent it though. If you see it let me know what it is like.

Tip of the day

If there are several pieces of tape on the box of a supposedly new toy, it has probably been returned and doesn't work. It's fun explaining it to kids when they are waiting ten minutes for you to set it up, only to say it's broken. It looked like a neat toy, too. Oh, well.

The famous X-ray fish

X-ray fish
Originally uploaded by Mike F.

Yes, I'm supposed to be mowing the lawn but I don't want to get struck by lightning. So, here's the fish from yesterday. You can almost see the house behind us through the fish.

X is for...fish?

My daughter got an alphabet zoo toy for her birthday this weekend. It has 26 (duh) animals, one for each letter of the alphabet. My wife and I found a few that were confusing.

For 'X' they had an x-ray fish. Basically it is a fish that is see through; is there such a thing? For 'N' they have a nightingale. Not too confusing for a kid who has learned 'B' is for bird. They have a uriel for 'U'. I've never heard of a uriel before. It looks like some kind of goat. I could look it up but I'm too lazy. Maybe they should have just done the first half of the alphabet. It might be easier. Who needs the whole alphabet anyway? I rarely use x, y or z.

New Toys

I bought some new toys today. This is my new Garmin GPS trainer. I'm hoping it helps me with pacing. I tend to run too fast, get tired quickly, and want to stop early. This should help keep me on pace. And it's a cool little gadget. I am a big gadget guy.







This in my new driver. Doesn't it look like I can hit really far and straight with it? I hope so. It's last year's model Cleveland Hi Bore XLS. I never buy clubs when they are brand new since they are way too expensive. I had a gift card from last year and one from the company my wife works for as part of the wellness program. I didn't have to use any of my own money. It's like getting it for free. And really, how do you say no to free? You can't.

It's going to be nice tomorrow, so my plan is tolearn how to use the GPS watch tonight and go for a nice run. Unfortunately I have to wait a while to use the golf club. We still have snow here.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I wanted new golf clubs; this is just a start. I need irons as well, but they cost quite a bit more. I'm going to need many more gift cards before I can buy them. So, if anyone has an gift cards for golf stores that you no longer need, send me an e-mail. I can find a good home for them.