Thursday, May 31, 2012

Happy Birthday to me!

Another year older and I really don't want anything for presents. Guess that's a good thing because it shows I have whatever I need.

I remember feeling sorry for Dad as the years went by and he wasn't getting any good gifts (in my opinion) for his birthday, Father's Day or Xmas. But what I've come to find out is it really doesn't matter what you get! All that matters is Faith, Family and Friends and I have plenty of that here!

I'm thankful for living so close to a great church an incredible family and wonderful friends. (here and abroad!) I love my life, love my job and couldn't think of anything more I'd need.

On my birthday today I'd like to thank all of you as well. The blog's been one of my favorite things to keep up with these past few years. Thanks for continuing to check in!

So what am I doing today? Um... work, then going to bed.

Yep! Sounds like another great birthday!!

Have an awesome day folks!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Pic post from the con! (2)

 Adam West and Burt Ward Q&A
James Marsters Q&A

Dallas Comic Con (4)

I got a brief clip of Adam West while the "guards" weren't looking!

Dallas Comic Con (3)

Unfortunantly, I forgot to get some video with Burt Ward's the autograph we got! Oh well, come by the house sometime...they're all up on the wall.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Pic post from con! (1)




Dallas Comic Con (2)


Dallas Comic Con (1)

Last weekend we went to the Dallas Comic Con. Here's a few videos showing some of the things we got...

Monday, May 28, 2012

Happy Memorial Day

Once again Memorial Day is upon us. (is this year going by fast or is it just me?)

Regardless, have a great day! And if you're grilling...send me an invite!!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

How Twilight should end...


Pick your favorite ending....

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Pain

What Megan finds funny...

Friday, May 25, 2012

Dragon Con bound

Looks like my next quest is Dragon Con this Labor Day. Why? Here's a few folks who'll be there that I can't wait to see: 1) Twilight Creations Inc (board game company, creator of Zombies!!!) 2) Red Letter Media (Star Wars YouTube reviews and web show Half in the Bag) 3) Cary Elwes (Princess Bride) 4) Kevin J Anderson (author) 5) Timothy Zahn (author) 6) Michael Stackpole (author) 7) RA Salvatore (author) and many more! Even though I hate Atlanta, this guest list should make things worth it!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Good ideas for TV Shows

So Hollywood's hurting on coming up with new TV shows? I've got a couple of ideas that may do well if given a chance. Ghostbuesters
Dan Akroyd has been trying relentlessly to get a Ghostbusters 3 on to the big screen, but the project is all but dead with Bill Murrey refusing to reprise his role. And though a movie without Bill would'nt fly in theaters, as a TV show it may do well. Imagine this; Akroyd is the boss of Ghostbuesters Inc several years after the movies take place. He has a new group of guys helping him out as they travel around New York city fighting the members of the undead! It's like Supernatural with a name brand attached, perfect! Shadow of the Bat
Bruce Wayne's parents are dead, now watch young Bruce as he travels the globe in search of fighting and detective skills that will eventually lead him to become Batman. It's like Smallville but without the "heartfelt" sissy Clark. EXCELLENT! He could come across a young Ra's ah ghul, Victor and Nora Fries along with maybe a trip thru Smallville and meeting a young Clark Kent! It could also take a page out of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and have an older Batman reminiscing about the old days. Sounds like something more than myself would watch! Star Wars: The Darkstryder Campaign
Lucas put ideas for a Star Wars TV show to rest for the time being and who knows what he had in mind...but it was probably terrible. Never fear, for I have the perfect idea! Years ago West End Games came out with a role playing game with a great story titled the Darkstryder Campaign. A couple of years after the events of Return of the Jedi, a rag-tag group of Rebels are sent on a mission into unknown space to capture a sinister Moff on the run and find out anything they of the mysterious Darkstryder technology the Moff has on his hands. There were plenty of books made, chalked full of adventures to go on for at least 4 seasons. It's Star Wars meets Star Trek as they also come across new planets and races while in unknown space. I'd love to see this show on TV, not only would it restore my shattered faith in George Lucas, but it would also be a #1 show on television regardless of it's "Star Wars" title! Harvest Moon
Sort of my own idea after watching John Carpenter's "Vampires" years ago. Though the story was a complete bore, the principle of having a team of "Hunters" intrigued me enough to make out my own outline for a tv series. A team of werewolf hunters are formed to eliminate the lycan race before the prophesied "Harvest Moon" a moon so strong it would keep the werewolf in their permanent wolf state forever, letting them take over the world with moderate ease. The team assembled comes with a few extra surprises. For instance, one of them turns out to be a vampire who's infiltrated their group to help assist their quest as well as become a benefit to the vampire race who wants to end the race of the lycans, their only rivals towards world domination. With team dynamics, recurring villains and a great story line, this series would take off for sure. So what about you? Any good ideas for Hollywood to take to the bank?

Monday, May 21, 2012

Day at the zoo (4)


Day at the zoo (3)


Day at the zoo (2)


Day at the zoo (1)

I'll be posting a few videos each day this week on our trip to the Jackson Zoo. (Megan's new favorite place to go!)

Hope you enjoy!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Geneva Academy fundraiser this Saturday!

This weekend if you're feeling like some unlimited crawfish, call the church office (or one of the numbers listed above) AND GET YOU SOME!! On sale now, unlimited crawfish $25 a person or $40 a couple! Can't get any better than that! Get your tickets today!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Shows that went on too long

I've talked about TV shows that didn't go long enough, so what about shows that should have stopped when they were ahead? Here are a few: The X-Files
I loved this show. But after the movie it was obvious the writers and Chris Carter knew where to go with the story. Like a story written by JJ Abrams, it started off well thought out, but ended up in misery. I'll say this one should have gone 5 seasons instead of the 9 it dragged us all through. Smallville
I hate Superman, but Clark Kent isn't the reason to watch this show. It was Lex Luthor and by the 6th season this show had dragged on so long even Lex couldn't make it interesting enough. So instead of going the agonizing 10, this one should've left when Michael Rosenaum did. Battlestar Galactica
When I saw the first season, I wanted to buy them all right then and there. I watched season 2 and thought the very same thing. I saw season 3 and I decided to wait and see how things ended before I bought it and by season 4 I was glad I didn't. This show took a nose dive and should've gone 2 seasons (maybe a 3rd if they wrapped things up) By the end of this show, you hated just about everyone and discovered "Man's last chance of survival" was 50% Cylon. Dollhouse
This show went 2 seaons and should've gone 2 episodes, because by then you'd lost all prior respect for Joss Whedon's writing talent. I had such high hopes for this series and I wasn't the only one who saw their hero gone down in flames with this show. What do you think? Any other shows I missed?

Friday, May 11, 2012

The evolution of communication

Remember having a pen pal? Ever heard of a pen pal? I had several and not just the ones they made you write to in school, I had friends all across the nation that I'd send to and receive letters from. Even remembered in school they used to show us the proper way to write one! Nothing felt better than getting a personal letter in the mail. It's a practice that's all but extinct now. So what were the inventions of communication that led up to how we communicate now? Email
When electronic mail hit the scene it exploded in popularity. Everyone was emailing, even me. I loved it because it saved me the price of a stamp and made communication a lot faster. I still had a few pen pals which were still appreciated because they loved writing as much as I did! I remember one of my pen pals and I even having a competition as to who could write the longest letter. I won out at 20 pages! Instant Messenger
A very popular concept when it came out but I didn't do much with it back in the day. AOL was the one that everyone used but I couldn't figure theirs out back then so I just kept with email. Around that time folks were still emailing pretty regularly. Blogs
Then came the blogs. EVERYONE had one. EVERYONE blogged. Most times they had MORE than one! Even business' had one. And all day long all I'd hear when around my friends was if anyone saw what they posted on their blog that day or vice versa about someone else's blog. I even bowed into it towards the end of it's boon. Heh, still do it today, right. I love it actually. It's perfect for me and everything I really like about "social media" but we'll get around to all that later... Social Media sites
MySpace hit and it was all the rage! Believe it or not I was very close to joining the "college" version of it called "Facebook" back then because it was for a smaller market! EVERY single person I knew had one. Someone (Jumping Twinkie) even created a fake one for me at one time. It was so good, he had 7 friend request within the first few hours until I made him shut it down. MySpace was supposed to be FOREVER, but like all things, it's popularity passed and Facebook took it's place. I have to admit, Facebook remaining this popular after so long, beat out my expectations. I once said that Facebook wouldn't last after the year 2012.... whoops! Looks like I was wrong! But it's just not for me. I see my friends constantly on their smart phones checking Facebook all the time at social gatherings. Seeing who tagged them in a photo, liked something they wrote or did, or checked to see what someone's status was at the moment. Bah! Who cares!? The only reason it'd be nice to have one is to keep up on long distance friends but even that isn't enough to garner my interest. Sure I have a Google+ account, but it's small enough for me to know that I don't have to check it constantly for updates. I enjoy the friends I have on it and would love the company if you're interested in getting one as well. But besides that, it's enough social media for me! The ONLY current social site that interest me is Twitter. Twice I've flirted with the idea of getting one only to hear from all my favorite ball players and authors to hear what they have to say. But both times I've started joining, I've backed out, still unsure of if it'd be something I REALLY want. Anyway, that's my spill for today. Have a great weekend folks!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

The evolution of the phone

Remember phones? No seriously, do you remember them? I remember when my Dad bought my mom an extension cord for her phone so that it could stretch all around the kitchen. I could mummify myself in that cord it was so long! Cordless Phone
And then Dad bought her the cordless phone. The first thing she did was call up a friend and say "Guess where I am? I'm OUTSIDE! Yep, Steve just bought a cordless phone today!" I remember being mind boggled as to how a phone could operate without a cord and before the Verizon guy was even BORN, I was walking down our road on that phone asking my neighborhood friend "Can you hear me now?" Oh yeah, we stretched that 25 foot rule as far until all we heard was static at the other end! Car Phone
Then in the 90's came the car phone. This was simply the most incomprehensible device I'd ever encountered. I could NOT understand how it worked. It was like magic. By the way, if your Dad had one of these phones, you were rich in my book! Cellular Phone
At last came the cell phone and it exploded onto the scene like nothing ever before. You could call anyone, anywhere at anytime. (but texts messages were expensive and you only called people on nights and weekends) Smart Phone
Now your phone can take pictures, take video, search the web, and send thousands of text messages a month for until $20. You have plenty of minutes because you never call anyone anymore, you just text them instead. I don't have one of these yet, I don't know if I'd need to use the web all that much. The games would be nice. I still hate texting people. I'd rather call you for 5 minutes than send you texts for over an hour. But that's me I guess. I'm just old fashioned that way. But isn't it amazing how far phone have come!

Wednesday, May 09, 2012

Book Review Part 3

Time for one more series before I stop. Today I'm talking about the Dune series: Dune
Classic sci-fi this book make you realize why Frank Herbert was considered a huge influence in science fiction. It has an intriguing story that starts you witnessing an assassination plot right at the begining of the book. I won't spoil much but whether you love sci-fi or not, I think this is a book worth your time! Dune Messiah and Children of Dune
Sequels to Dune these talk about what happened to Paul Atriedes and his children that came after. I've heard from a few people they had to stop because the story was too confusing to follow, but I found it was not that complicated just as long as you pay attention while you read and don't let your mind go to sleep. God Emperor of Dune
THIS is where things get wierd. Paul's son Leo turns into a giant worm and has been ruling for thousands of years. Um... yeah. I remember packing this book with me while going on a trip but not having any reading time until my plane on the way back had to make an emergency landing in North Carolina and there was nothing to do that whole day but read the ENTIRE book! So for that reason, I loved it and was thankful for it passing the time for me. This was before cell phones existed so you can imagine how bored the rest of the passengers were that day. Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse Dune
And this is where I started getting lost in the series. Frank's wife had passed away at the time and his story took a strange turn because of it. The story is now ten thousand years in the future (where technology has hardly advanced) the bad guys are now the good guys and the good guys are... well I don't know. It ended on a cliffhanger because Herbert planned to do more but he passed away before he could finish the series, ending the story for years until came... Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune
My favorite author Kevin J Anderson teams up with Frank's son Brian to write an incredible ending to the series. Seriously, these books make it all worth while. Kevin's amazing ability to tell a story once again seals the deal on this one. I don't know how much Brian contributed to the series, but there two make a dynamic duo writing these books! BEST twist ending EVER to series! Other books you have to read are all the new series Kevin and Brian have come out with over the past decade or so. The "House" trilogy as well as all their prequels and "filler" stories that take place in-between the series make for excellent reads. In fact, one of them even had me so scared I had to put the book down and chill out for a while after reading a chapter. Thrilling stuff! K, that's all I have for now. I may have more but I'll save them for another time. C-ya tomorrow folks!

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Book Review Part 2

Now I'm going to talk about the series I'm currently re-reading now. (almost finished too)JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth Series: The Hobbit
Great novel. I shiver how they're going to portray it on the big screen. This book was the one that started it all for Tolkien. After this books was released folks were clammering for more and boy did they get it! Fellowship of the Ring
This is where the story flips into high gear and Tolkien's at his best. His poetry (or is it prose?) enriches the overall story so much. Some folks however find it distracting to the overall flow of the series but I disagree. The Two Towers
When I first read this as a kid I titled it "the boring part" of the trilogy. Reading it again, I don't know what I was thinking. The fellowship has broken apart and we dive into each one's adventure as it leaves us on a cliffhanger that makes us want to pick up and begin the 3rd novel right away! Return of the King
This is the one I'm finishing now. I love how it ends in Hobbiton and the mini-adventure they have at the end of the book. After the main story is over it leaves you with a little leftover action that makes you thankful for every moment. I've read this series several times and haven't been bored with it yet! The Simarillion
If you're really into the Lord of the Rings Trilogy already then I suggest you read this book as well. This was the books Tolkien worked on most his life even before the Hobbit! It tells the story of middle-earth and how things came to be. An enthralling read I can assure you. Still want more? The History of Middle Earth collection (12 books series) talks about everything you'd ever want to know about the Tolkien's world. From wonderful stories, to "what if" drafts of the Lord of the Ring series you can read, this has everything a true fan of the books will enjoy. But be warned, even for myself there were some of these novels that began to drag even for me! They're the only books I haven't read more than once. Sure I may try once more someday but that day is a far way off! K, more tomorrow!

Monday, May 07, 2012

Book Review Part 1

I love books. I love reading. I've spoken about Star Wars books before but not about other series I enjoy. I'm taking a few days this week to talk about those series starting with CS Lewis' classic Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe
The first book is probably the most well known of the entire series. No doubt about how well written it was written a truly good way to start an excellent series. Prince Caspian
Given a bad reputation for being "boring" this book is all but that. It takes place not long after the kids first adventure. The movie obviously did not do the novel justice. I just hope people didn't think they book was bad because the movie was. Voyage of the Dawntreader
A fantastic story full of adventure and intrigue! The movie did an ok job of portraying a few aspects of the novel but as always, the book is always better. The Silver Chair
I'm disappointed to hear they were going to stop making these movies because this was one screen adaptation I would've enjoyed seeing. The last time I read through these I really enjoyed the story line. But I guess we'll have to settle for the BBC's version for the mean time. The Magician's Nephew
For a twist CS Lewis take the series to the past in a prequel to the first book. It tells about how the witch came into Narnia, why there's a lamp post and how the wardrobe was made. Great read! The Horse and his Boy
For some reason the series once again stays in the past with a story that took place during the first book while the children were reigning of Kings and Queens of Narnia. I remember as a kid I finished this book in 2 days it was so good! The Last Battle
The final chapter in the series and it lives up to it's name. Amazing symbolism and an incredible story that caps off the series on an all time high! Love the Narnia chronicles? You should also try CS Lewis' Space Trilogy (which happens to have an "unofficial" reference to the origin's of Gandolph from the Lord of the Rings series) I know, weird, but trust me, it's there! More tomorrow folks!