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Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Darth Sacrifice
"But I have to save you."
"You already have...my son."
Dun. Dun! DUNNNNN!!!!!
***SPOILER ALERT!!!***
So, yep, we rounded out the Star Wars epic by watching the sixth and final installment, Return of the Jedi. Or ROTJ in chat rooms and comic book conventions. You know, I've never been to a comic book convention. They have a stigma, obviously. Always been afraid of catching whatever they're emitting. And that was wrong. They might be pretty sweet. But, that's a whole different blog post. Let's stick to the game plan. And that plan is ROTJ.
That little back and forth dialogue up top was between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, after Luke almost succumbed to the Dark Side and put a steady beatdown on Vader. His anger got the best of him. It also didn't help matters that Emperor Palpatine was all in his ear provoking him and telling him the Rebellion was about to be crushed along with all his friends. Also, maybe didn't help that Vader was pretty twisted and sparked fear in everyone throughout the galaxy. Yea, all those things, led to a lightsaber whipping and a hand chopping off.
But, it was that hand of Vader's getting booted off the show that stopped Luke's descent into darkness. Luke lowered his lightsaber and looked at his own hand - which was a robot hand now also - and was reminded that he was trucking down the same wicked path his father skipped down long ago. Not a good road to travel. No gas stations. Bad restaurants. Heavy traffic. The whole nine.
Needless to say, the Emperor was a tad non-plussed and started Zeus'ing out with the lightning bolts. After a few moments, Vader, with mixed feelings now towards light and dark, after seeing his own son nearly make the same mistakes he did, opted for risking his own life and picking up the Emperor and tossing him into an exhaust shaft. (As we watched this, A remarked that it looked like either screaming demons or lost souls that blew back up from the shaft as the Emperor died. Maybe George Lucas was hinting at something. A little Easter egg for the adults in the audience? Something I certainly never noticed as a kid. Anyhoo...)
So, Vader gave his own life, his life-preserving cybersuit fried State Fair-style due to the Emperor's electricity, to save Luke. Thus, in the end, redeeming himself and becoming one with the Force...
Sacrifice brought him peace. I wonder what I could sacrifice, or let go of, in order to bring on some peace. Hm...
"You already have...my son."
Dun. Dun! DUNNNNN!!!!!
***SPOILER ALERT!!!***
So, yep, we rounded out the Star Wars epic by watching the sixth and final installment, Return of the Jedi. Or ROTJ in chat rooms and comic book conventions. You know, I've never been to a comic book convention. They have a stigma, obviously. Always been afraid of catching whatever they're emitting. And that was wrong. They might be pretty sweet. But, that's a whole different blog post. Let's stick to the game plan. And that plan is ROTJ.
That little back and forth dialogue up top was between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, after Luke almost succumbed to the Dark Side and put a steady beatdown on Vader. His anger got the best of him. It also didn't help matters that Emperor Palpatine was all in his ear provoking him and telling him the Rebellion was about to be crushed along with all his friends. Also, maybe didn't help that Vader was pretty twisted and sparked fear in everyone throughout the galaxy. Yea, all those things, led to a lightsaber whipping and a hand chopping off.
But, it was that hand of Vader's getting booted off the show that stopped Luke's descent into darkness. Luke lowered his lightsaber and looked at his own hand - which was a robot hand now also - and was reminded that he was trucking down the same wicked path his father skipped down long ago. Not a good road to travel. No gas stations. Bad restaurants. Heavy traffic. The whole nine.
Needless to say, the Emperor was a tad non-plussed and started Zeus'ing out with the lightning bolts. After a few moments, Vader, with mixed feelings now towards light and dark, after seeing his own son nearly make the same mistakes he did, opted for risking his own life and picking up the Emperor and tossing him into an exhaust shaft. (As we watched this, A remarked that it looked like either screaming demons or lost souls that blew back up from the shaft as the Emperor died. Maybe George Lucas was hinting at something. A little Easter egg for the adults in the audience? Something I certainly never noticed as a kid. Anyhoo...)
So, Vader gave his own life, his life-preserving cybersuit fried State Fair-style due to the Emperor's electricity, to save Luke. Thus, in the end, redeeming himself and becoming one with the Force...
Sacrifice brought him peace. I wonder what I could sacrifice, or let go of, in order to bring on some peace. Hm...
Saturday, October 9, 2010
keep the change
Okay. I have been wanting the kiddos to learn that money, she does-a not-a grow-a on-a trees-a. Trips to Target and trips to the dollar store are one and the same to the younger'uns. A dollar Star Wars guy at one store is the same as a $35 Star Wars toy at the next. I mean, why wouldn't they be? They're both the same kinda toy. That's the mentality. Of the kids. And people who have never heard of mark-ups, overhead, monopolies, capitalism and child labor. Can you believe the prices Walgreens and CVS charge for their toys? One word: brainmelt.
So, E always like to vacuum. Pretty sweet, huh? Yea, and he also likes money. The jingly kind mostly. Because two pennies is way better than one dollar. Duh.
If he ever sees change laying around - and sometime just outta the blue - he will ask,"Can you give me money?" To which I usually smile and hand him a dime or quarter or something and off he goes, happy as a clam. (Side note: How does one tell if a clam is actually happy or not?)
Anyhoo...so today. Change on my desk. E spots it. Game over. He wants some. This time, I tell him that money has to be earned. That you must work in order to get money. Trying to lay the groundwork for an honest wage earner in the future here. And since he just vacuumed my office I was like:
"See? And since you just vacuumed in here, you earned this money. Do you understand what I mean?"
To which he sort of nodded and mumbled something, then ran out of the room excitedly yelling out that I gave him money. So...maybe I planted a knowledge seed in there somewhere. He's a smart cookie. He already knows who all the main Star Wars dudes are. Show him a picture, he'll show you a name. Holla.
So, E always like to vacuum. Pretty sweet, huh? Yea, and he also likes money. The jingly kind mostly. Because two pennies is way better than one dollar. Duh.
If he ever sees change laying around - and sometime just outta the blue - he will ask,"Can you give me money?" To which I usually smile and hand him a dime or quarter or something and off he goes, happy as a clam. (Side note: How does one tell if a clam is actually happy or not?)
Anyhoo...so today. Change on my desk. E spots it. Game over. He wants some. This time, I tell him that money has to be earned. That you must work in order to get money. Trying to lay the groundwork for an honest wage earner in the future here. And since he just vacuumed my office I was like:
"See? And since you just vacuumed in here, you earned this money. Do you understand what I mean?"
To which he sort of nodded and mumbled something, then ran out of the room excitedly yelling out that I gave him money. So...maybe I planted a knowledge seed in there somewhere. He's a smart cookie. He already knows who all the main Star Wars dudes are. Show him a picture, he'll show you a name. Holla.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Lessons with Superheroes
Not sure why we sweat the small stuff. Maybe because it tends to accumulate into a snowball of many small stuffs as we let stuff slide and avoid the issues. But, it's like Superman sweating fraily human guy Lex Luthor. Yea, he means evil business, but Superman can't be worried about Lex 24/7 and him planning a ruckus. That's living in a world of hypotheticals and what-ifs. That's pretty much not living.
title: "which one of us is the superhero again?"
medium: pen cap on Samsung Caliber screen
Okay, so we no longer sweat the small stuff. Doesn't mean it won't poke it's small ugly head up now and again. However, this time, you take it as it comes. Don't ignore - or avoid - it. Call out the small stuff before he hollers at his other small stuff buddies and the whole thing turns into a gang war. Then...you punch it in the face - metaphorically speaking - like Batman throwing fists with The Joker. Boom. Pow. Done.
title: "order 66. knuckle sandwich, plain."
medium: pen cap on Samsung Caliber screen
title: "which one of us is the superhero again?"
medium: pen cap on Samsung Caliber screen
Okay, so we no longer sweat the small stuff. Doesn't mean it won't poke it's small ugly head up now and again. However, this time, you take it as it comes. Don't ignore - or avoid - it. Call out the small stuff before he hollers at his other small stuff buddies and the whole thing turns into a gang war. Then...you punch it in the face - metaphorically speaking - like Batman throwing fists with The Joker. Boom. Pow. Done.
title: "order 66. knuckle sandwich, plain."
medium: pen cap on Samsung Caliber screen
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Flu Talk with Brennan
Well, I got the flu. Joy. Yesterday I wallowed in pain complete with the jimmylegs, but today - today! - I am getting stuff done. First off, I finally got my Boba Fett flash drive that I will store my scripts inside like he's carbonite. Check it out...
...this is him trying to take on Luke Skywalker...
...and this is him after. Bad move, Boba. Notice the usb thingy! Sweet!
And earlier today, I snapped a photo of Kami in her new festive seasonal Halloween shirt, shown here:
She is so a stylish pup. Have you ever seen a better jack o'lantern tshirt model? Then here's her Halloween costume:
Um, excuse me, did someone call for Batgirl?
Yep, even my pup is into superheroes. Speaking of which, not that this is a movie review blog, but the new Batman and Superman: Apocalypse straight-to-video cartoon....not great. Not so much. The drawings were all weird. Their faces had too many lines in them, like the inker was trying to make them look like chronic steroid abusers. Superman's arms looked like tree trunks in blue spandex. How does he explain that as Clark Kent? It just didn't look right. Yea, it's a cartoon, but even then, come on dude!
And the premise? What?! Okay, it was based on some graphic novel that was some fanboy's illicit dream come true, but I mean...I'm a fan, too...and I was waiting for the good stuff to actually happen up until the end credits. And the problem is, I like the DVDs they put out. It just seems lately they are trying too hard. Either way, keep pumping those superhero movies out you producers, you!
Okay, I'm done. Too much Advil and too much time on my hands today. My role model advice: save your cash and take the kids outside. The sun misses them.
...this is him trying to take on Luke Skywalker...
...and this is him after. Bad move, Boba. Notice the usb thingy! Sweet!
And earlier today, I snapped a photo of Kami in her new festive seasonal Halloween shirt, shown here:
She is so a stylish pup. Have you ever seen a better jack o'lantern tshirt model? Then here's her Halloween costume:
Um, excuse me, did someone call for Batgirl?
Yep, even my pup is into superheroes. Speaking of which, not that this is a movie review blog, but the new Batman and Superman: Apocalypse straight-to-video cartoon....not great. Not so much. The drawings were all weird. Their faces had too many lines in them, like the inker was trying to make them look like chronic steroid abusers. Superman's arms looked like tree trunks in blue spandex. How does he explain that as Clark Kent? It just didn't look right. Yea, it's a cartoon, but even then, come on dude!
And the premise? What?! Okay, it was based on some graphic novel that was some fanboy's illicit dream come true, but I mean...I'm a fan, too...and I was waiting for the good stuff to actually happen up until the end credits. And the problem is, I like the DVDs they put out. It just seems lately they are trying too hard. Either way, keep pumping those superhero movies out you producers, you!
Okay, I'm done. Too much Advil and too much time on my hands today. My role model advice: save your cash and take the kids outside. The sun misses them.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
a rebuilding weekend
What a weekend. So as a flat tire's on the mend at Discount Tire, and the clock's ticking down to kick-off, we walk into a random Dollar General and see that the only action figure they have in the toy aisle is the exact GI Joe guy I was looking for to give to a friend of mine for his bday because the GI Joe dude's nickname's the same as my buddy's name. It was so random. Like I was willed to go there. I mean because we were getting the flat fixed in the same shopping center as the DG anyway, so we were already placed there.
We thought, "Hey, Dollar General. That's for us." And we went in. It was eerie. I have looked for that toy in three other stores with no luck, and here the dude is, waiting on me. Just chillin'. On the shelf next to a cap gun and a Batman yoyo. (Yes, we already have that yoyo for the kids. Like...three of them.) And, when I scooped the GI Joe dude up...no lie, my and A's fave song by Rob Thomas starts to jam over the speakers. Word.
Speaking of which....drum roll.... It was A's birthday this Saturday - I bought her a Barnes & Noble Nook (she loves it!) - so we celebrated early with drinks and the TX/OU debacle at a buddy's house. Ugh. Could the game have been more disappointing? Let's call it a rebuilding year, my fellow Longhorn fans. We'll call it that and look forward down the road. Never looking back. A. Rebuilding. Year.
Afterwards we headed home with the best intentions of going out to a movie or something - just as long as that "something" was not out into the craziness that was the bar scene in Dallas on Red River Rivalry weekend. The traffic alone...Lord have mercy! And parking? Heaven help me! I've been in the midst of that bar mess many moons ago, and no part of it is and/or was appealing. Anyhoo, that would have been great, catching a movie and a bite, celebrating my girl's big day and all, but...
That night I got a monster - demonic? - headache and it fired off it's torpedo rocket into my brain like Luke on the Death Star and - BOOM! - I was all sorts of out of it. I think A literally performed an exorcism on me to get the pain to go away. It was totally out of left field...no wait. Left space. It was so random, it came from left outer space. Like beyond Pluto outer space.
Sooner than later, with A pulling conduit duty, piping in some Divine intervention, and a couple magic pills called Advil...I was out. Stone cold passed out. I woke up this morning...oddly okay. Like tip-top. No residual aches and pains. Nothing to say I had a hangover attack. Weird stuff.
So, if anyone were to gleam anything from this post...it's that weird stuff can happen - and the Nook from Barnes & Noble is a sweet, sweet gift to give your loved ones. But weird stuff, yes, happens especially when you want to do something good and positive, like take your girlfriend to dinner and a movie for her birthday.
The idea is, keep tossing good and positive into the world anyway. Once enough of that stuff starts to circulate in the air, the bad will start to dissipate. I mean it has to right? Some law somewhere states something about two objects can't occupy the same space at the same time. I either retained that from school - not likely - or I got that from a SuperFriends cartoon - very likely. Gosh, Bruce Wayne is smart.
We thought, "Hey, Dollar General. That's for us." And we went in. It was eerie. I have looked for that toy in three other stores with no luck, and here the dude is, waiting on me. Just chillin'. On the shelf next to a cap gun and a Batman yoyo. (Yes, we already have that yoyo for the kids. Like...three of them.) And, when I scooped the GI Joe dude up...no lie, my and A's fave song by Rob Thomas starts to jam over the speakers. Word.
Speaking of which....drum roll.... It was A's birthday this Saturday - I bought her a Barnes & Noble Nook (she loves it!) - so we celebrated early with drinks and the TX/OU debacle at a buddy's house. Ugh. Could the game have been more disappointing? Let's call it a rebuilding year, my fellow Longhorn fans. We'll call it that and look forward down the road. Never looking back. A. Rebuilding. Year.
Afterwards we headed home with the best intentions of going out to a movie or something - just as long as that "something" was not out into the craziness that was the bar scene in Dallas on Red River Rivalry weekend. The traffic alone...Lord have mercy! And parking? Heaven help me! I've been in the midst of that bar mess many moons ago, and no part of it is and/or was appealing. Anyhoo, that would have been great, catching a movie and a bite, celebrating my girl's big day and all, but...
That night I got a monster - demonic? - headache and it fired off it's torpedo rocket into my brain like Luke on the Death Star and - BOOM! - I was all sorts of out of it. I think A literally performed an exorcism on me to get the pain to go away. It was totally out of left field...no wait. Left space. It was so random, it came from left outer space. Like beyond Pluto outer space.
Sooner than later, with A pulling conduit duty, piping in some Divine intervention, and a couple magic pills called Advil...I was out. Stone cold passed out. I woke up this morning...oddly okay. Like tip-top. No residual aches and pains. Nothing to say I had a hangover attack. Weird stuff.
So, if anyone were to gleam anything from this post...it's that weird stuff can happen - and the Nook from Barnes & Noble is a sweet, sweet gift to give your loved ones. But weird stuff, yes, happens especially when you want to do something good and positive, like take your girlfriend to dinner and a movie for her birthday.
The idea is, keep tossing good and positive into the world anyway. Once enough of that stuff starts to circulate in the air, the bad will start to dissipate. I mean it has to right? Some law somewhere states something about two objects can't occupy the same space at the same time. I either retained that from school - not likely - or I got that from a SuperFriends cartoon - very likely. Gosh, Bruce Wayne is smart.
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