Madri Gras season

Mardi Gras season is upon and (if you don't already) be glad you don't live in Louisiana.

Here's a little secret. I hate Mardi Gras.

Nope. Never liked it to begin with. I'm from Mississippi so growing up we never celebrated it unless I was at my Grandparents on those rare occasions in Mobile when they took us to the parade.

Fun Fact: Mardi Gras started in Mobile AL

But I hate King Cake, think the colors are ugly and the "tradition" of watching a parade just to catch some cheap plastic beads is not appealing to me in the least. But you should see the bozo's down here who practically run over children just to grab a free trinket.

Megan loves the holiday so we go to the parade. I usually sit there, freeze and throw any beads back that I catch. Every year it gets more and more crowded in Monroe, I can only imagine the terror that happens in New Orleans this time as well.

I'm begging St Patty's Day comes early this year!

Febuary Movie Preview

Ok folks, let's see what's in store for next month at the moving picture show shall we?!

 Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny

In all honestly I was so interested in seeing this movie...LAST YEAR. But then it got delayed and delayed and delayed.... and now I don't even care about it anymore.

 Deadpool

Yes. This looks good. I love how Ryan Reynolds has been promoting it too. I'm expecting great things out of this movie. Great things indeed!

 Pride Prejudice and Zombies

This was such a big book when it came out a few years back. Don't know why it took so long to put into a movie. But I saw the other film based off this guys books "Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" and it sucked. I'll be passing on this one as well.

Zoolander 2

Yes. 2 hits in one month! I loved the first one and have high hopes Ben Stiller will ensure this isn't like "Dumb and Dumber To" Looking forward to being entertained on this one as well!

Did I miss anything else coming out next month? Let me know in the comments!

Pensacon 2016!

Well, after yesterday's post I've made the decision we're going to Pensacon again this year. What made up my mind? They announced a few weeks ago one of my favorite authors Troy Denning will be there and that's an opportunity I can't miss!!

Kevin J Anderson and Dave Dorman will be there as well so I'll have at least 2 others to see while I'm there. The rest of the guest? Bah! I'll look around the vendor tables and probably leave early that day.

Should be fun!!

The "Me" update

Jumping off yesterday's post, I realized I haven't done an update on me in quite a while so here goes:

Work is going great! I love it. I'm happy there and hope things continue to stay that way. I've gotten a few projects around the house done and even cleaned out some of the corners to make a little more room in the house. (it's amazing how much junk piles up in your lifetime) Overall things are going well!

Travel plans haven't been decided on this year by me and the Mrs. We've talked about a few things but haven't yet settled on just one. Not sure if I'll be attending any Con's this year. GenCon IS tempting but I'm not sure back to back years would be worth it. As for other cons, there's one I may be going to but I'm still deciding on that as well.

I know I'll be going on the family vacation. Dad bought a beach house this year and it'll be fun to check it out. Other than that, we've talked about Orlando, Chattanooga, California and a cruise but as I said earlier, it's all still up in the air.

A Rangers game is probably in our future too, we just need to decide when to go. 

Where are you going for vacation this year? Any place I should look into while we're making our decision? Let me know!

2016 Keep a journal

One thing I've kept up with ever since my senor year in high school was keeping a journal and I'm glad I have. It allows me to go back and look at what was going on in my life at the time and reflect on the way things are now.

I don't write in it everyday, but it's become a habit to at least write in it once a week unless something interesting happens, then I'll write more frequently.

I know these days folks put stuff up on social media they can look back on but for those more personal things in our lives, I think journals are very important to keep. I'm still using mine from last year but will switch over to another later this year.

I have stacks of these in my closet and (when time allows) I'll shift back thru them every now and again to see what happened in my life. Kinda life how the comics I wrote was a "fantasy" of my real life, the journal reminds me of what it was like going thru struggles or celebrating victories.

It's a worth while thing to do my friends. So start today! Trust me...you'll be glad you did as time moves on.

2016 Diet

Another thing Megan and I started this month was the Ideal Protein diet. Now usually, I'm not for hoping on the band wagon to the latest craze but I have to admit, I've seen some pretty telling results from it.

Mom lost several pounds and cured her diabetes while on it and folks from our church have not only lost weight from doing it but have managed to keep it off for a whole year!

So Megan and I thought we'd give it a try. I'm about 25 pounds overweight from eating out all the time while on the road this year and am looking to curve that down to what I was at the start of the year. With this diet I can do that and keep it off (as long as I eat responisible and continue my daily work out routine that is)

The diet's very simple to follow. they give you a list of foods you can eat along with protein snacks to help you get by. You cut out ALL sugars (even natural) and let your body pull from fat to keep up. But you have to ensure to eat a lot of protein so it doesn't attack your muscles as well! I have to say it's the easiest diet I've ever done!

Once you've reached your weight goal, it eases you off the plan slowly to let your body adjust to your new weight. This ensures you won't gain it all back when you eventually get off the diet and start eating whatever you want. I love it!

Only a few weeks in and I've already seen improvement. Over the next few months I'll keep ya'll posted on the end result!

Have a good weekend folks!

Mr Fix-it

Last week our garbage disposal broke so I had to replace it with a new one. I had no idea what I was doing and had never done anything like this before, but after a full hour I was able to switch it out with a new one.

I even had to re-wire the plug for the new one because it didn't come with one. (cheap-skates) it was quite a hassle, but I felt a strange sense of accomplishment after it was done. I now know why Dad knew how to do so much when I was younger....he'd figured it out along the way just as I'm doing now.

Kind of wild when I think about it.

Anyway, have you ever tried taking on a home project on your own? What was it like? Did you succeed or fail? And would you try it again?

Me? No way. I hope this disposal last forever! I NEVER want to do this again!

P.S. And Megan won't call me "Mr. Fitx-it" no matter how much I beg her to.

Clean out your Storage room

We all have one and chances are you haven't looked in there since it was first loaded in. But I'm here to tell you....do it.

Go in there, look through boxes, discover things you forgot you had or things from your past that you remember. It's well worth it I guarantee you.

I just did this a few weeks ago and found a lot of stuff from my old college days. Notes, letters, my old math book (which I promised to burn 20 years ago and still haven't done yet but will soon) and several other things that gave me great joy to look at.

I threw a ton of stuff away, have a nicer looking storage room and look forward to going through more closets around the house to see what's in them as well.

It's like having a Treasure Hunt in your house! Trust me, you won't regret it!

Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation

Just finished watching the live action Turtles show that ran from 1997-1998. I was in college when it came out and didn't care for it's childish script but watching it now I have to say it's enjoyable (yet I couldn't suggest anyone watch it)

If you're a BIG turtle fan, this show is fun. It only went 2 seasons and follows the story from the movies. Though the Shredder is hardly in it and it's made for small kids, I still laughed once at each episode.

What changed from the movies first off, was the costumes. It bothered me when I was younger but now I don't mind. Each turtle has a shoulder strap with a letter corresponding to their name. Their mask are each different and their weapons too.

Leo carries one sword, Raph's Sia can attach to make one weapon, Donnie's bo staff is metal and Mikey NEVER uses nun-chucks because they are outlawed in the UK where this was shown. He just has them strapped to his belt the whole time.

It runs a lot like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in that it's mostly dubbed, with goofy sounds thrown in during fight scenes, which make watching it slightly annoying.

Fun fact, they were actually owned by the same company who produced MMPR and even had crossover episodes with the Turtles in Season 2. (both episodes are an added bonus feature in the DVD) Even though it was with the "Space Rangers" it was still a fun show to watch. Maybe my favorite of the whole set.

The biggest disappointed is the addition of Venus De-milo, who a lot of fans still hate to this day. She's a dumb character and I think they knew that after season one because she takes a back seat in a lot of the story lines for season two.

Overall, this show made me miss the movies... which has now got me thinking that now that I've watched this "sequel" series to the 3rd movie, I should watch the movies backwards. That way in the end I can leave on a high note.

Did anyone else watch this series as a kid? What did you think? Or did you even know they made such a show? Megan had no clue when I showed her and was interested until the 2nd episode, when she realized how kiddy the story lines were.

Oh well, NINJA POWER!!

It's all about the money!

Wee Sing | Little Bunny Foo Foo Part 2

Wee Sing Big Rock Candy Mountains

Finally, this is one that not only we loved (due to Little Bunny Foo Foo) but got all of our friends watching too!

Yep, a bunch of teenagers over at my parents house watching movies that were meant for Charity. The insanity was explainable.

There you have it folks, Wee Sing!

Check them out on YouTube or buy them on Amazon...or forget about them completely and enjoy your weekend!

Wee Sing King Cole's Party Part 1

Wee Sing King Cole's Party

Jeremy's favorite movie from the Wee Sing Library.

This is when we started drinking the Wee Sing Kool Aid.

Wee Sing in Sillyville part 4

Wee Sing in Sillyville

  
Sillyville. At this point you watched them thru with Charity just to see what ridiculous story line they'd come up with.

I found these on DVD online but they don't have that much nostalgic pull over me to get them!

Yet Charity's birthday was last week so hmmmm....belated B-Day gift?

Wee Sing Grandpa's Magical Toys part 3

Wee Sing Grandpa's Magical Toys

Continuing the talk about Wee Sing videos another one she had was about toys. I still remember a lot of the songs today.

That's something NOT to brag about.

Wee Sing Together part 1

Wee Sing Together

Back in the day Wee Sing was what Charity used to watch for years as a kid and had it playing around the house constantly.

Years later I'm kinda fond of it now. Makes me think back to the old days.

So weird!

Record Player

For Xmas I got a Record Player that I love. I've been listening to old records of my parents and look forward to finding more at antique stores.

Listening to them has been great too. I love the sound and even played a few Xmas records on it too. Around the tree listening to it was awesome!

Remember any records you used to listen to as a kid?

Do tell!

80's Ads: Burnin' Key Cars Kidco 1982

Does anyone remember these?!

It's about time!

Congratulations to Mike Piazza! Finally, after 4 years, the voters have come to their senses and elected the best catcher in MLB history!

I love Piazza. 2nd only to Keith Hernandez, he is one of my all time favorite players! I'm happy he finally got the respect he deserved in the game that matters most.

 Now about getting Keith Hernandez in....

New Year's Resolutions

Time once again to set those goals! So today I thought I'd share some of mine!

1) Lose weight (again)

All this travel on the road for work had me gain all the weight I'd lost at the first of the year, so it's time to do it again. This time thankfully, Megan said she'd diet with me, which should make things much easier this time around.

2) Write (again)

I plan on writing more Dinner Theatre shows and who knows what else this year! Murder is Served has gracefully extended their invitation for me to write more shows so the opportunity is there if I want it.

3) Plan a fun vacation

I don't know where and I don't know when, but I really want to do something awesome this year for a vacation. The memories alone are always worth the trip.

4) Expand my hobby

I'd like to go on the look out for more board games. Old and new. Since I'm not spending anymore money on Star Wars books I have extra available to afford further interest into another!

Guess that's all I have for this year. What about you? 

Xmas lights (3)

Well, it's been a great Xmas season and I look forward to the next one!

Have a great day folks!

Xmas Lights (2)

It's amazing all the hard work that goes in to it. And it gets bigger every year!

Xmas Lights

On the 12th and Final day of Xmas I thought I'd show you a few of the lights that go up at a Chiropractor's office down the road.

More videos to come...

January Movie review

Whoops! I let the month go by me again! Oh well, here goes:

 400 Days

Even though, I'm betting everything I know how this movie will end, it still doesn't kill my curiosity to see it. If you haven't already seen the trailer, go ahead and check it out and let me know what you think.

 Kung Fu Panda 3

And when it comes to Redbox I'll rent it....after it's been out a few weeks....and there's nothing better to watch....and when I have down time. But I'll watch it then!

 Moonwalkers

I'm strangely interested in this tell of how the moon landing was "faked" it just may be worth checking out!

The Hateful Eight

I was busy his weekend but I'll be for sure checking it out. Looks good and since I'm not a cop, I don't have to boycott it either!

Did I miss anything else?

Happy New Year!

And we're off...