Geek vs. Nerd

Just to set the record straight, there is a big difference between being a "geek"* and being a "nerd"*.

I will admit to being a geek, but I have taken a test and proven myself to be far below the Nerd Standard.
Observe:

You Are 28% Nerdy

You're a little nerdy, but no one would ever call you a nerd. You sometimes get into nerdy things, but only after they've become a part of mainstream culture.

How Nerdy Are You?

And to be fair, Hotness took the same test with even better results:

You Are 16% Nerdy

You are definitely not nerdy - in fact, you probably don't know any nerds. You probably care a little too much about your image. No one will know if you secretly watch Star Trek reruns!

So there you have it.

Yea verily, we will let our Geek Flag fly, but never mistake us for being nerds.

--------------------------------------------------

* Geek
Not to be confused with Nerd. A geek does not have to be smart, a Geek is someone who is generaly not athletic, and enjoys Video Games; Comic Books; being on the internet, and etc.

* Nerd
A person who gains pleasure from amassing large quantities of knowledge about subjects often too detailed or complicated for most other people to be bothered with.

Often mistaken for Geeks, who aspire to become nerds, yet lack the intelligence, and end up giving nerds a bad name due to their poor social skills. Non-nerds are often scared of nerds, due to their detailed knowledge, and therefore seemingly high levels of intelligence - and subsequently denegrate them as much as possible as often as possible.

Nerds exist covertly within the fabric of society, often choosing to 'nerd it up' in private or in the company of fellow nerds. It is for this reason they are feared the most - unlike geeks, who are easily identified, nerds can only be found out when casual conversation reaches a subject that they like nerding.

(both definitions via the Urban Dictionary)

Geektacular

I'm always behind the times when the cool stuff gets announced, so I'm sorry if you already knew about this...

Coming up in about a month (November 2007) some folks at Nikko in Japan are selling a replica of R2-D2 that has a CD/DVD player, iPod hook-up, audio input/output connectors, USB and memory card slots, integrated speakers, and a projector to display images or movies onto a screen.

Plus, it's remote-controlled so you can make it roll around wherever you choose while it "boops" & "beeps" with real Artoo sounds from the movies.

They announced it last January, but I just saw an article on it this last week.

They're only going to make a limited number of about 1000 of these, so if you want to get one you'd better hurry. They're pretty pricey too, at about $2500 or so.

There's an article about them here, but go to the Nikko website and check out the specs for it.

This thing looks awesome!

If I wasn't already broke from buying comic books, I'd get one.

Free Flight

I wish that were me right now.........

Vertigo

I don't know what's going lately. I seem to be having a recurrence of the motion-sickness I had on Saturday last week.
I've been feeling on the cusp of crummy for the last few days.
The best way to describe to it is like a lingering 'hang-over', which would be a logical explanation.... if I'd been drinking alcohol lately.

Anyway, I had planned on a different topic but since I've been feeling like this I haven't had the chance get to it.
I hope this is temporary. I hate this feeling of almost nausea.

Make A Difference

I was just wasting some time while it's slow during the afternoon at work.
I found out that REI has a link on their website to help you find an organization to offer your time as a volunteer.

I did a quick search and found over 200 ways to volunteer my time within 20 miles of my home. (Imagine if I were willing to go a little further)
Heck, I found out I could spend an afternoon or evening hiding so that a Search & Rescue dog could find me as part of it's training. That sounds like fun!

Anyway, if you've been thinking of helping out, but don't know where to go or what you might be interested in, check it out.
It's Nation-wide, so you're not limited to finding something in Washington State only.

Better Than Average

55%

It appears that I have a pretty good (slim, but good) chance of surviving if we should get over-run with zombies.

If you take the test, let me know how you fare. Maybe we could team up and improve our over-all odds.

55%

Birthday Party - redux

Oh, I almost forgot!
The birthday boy tried to steal away with Hotness during his birthday bash.

Boy, first he tries to sneak his way into 1st place, then he tries to steal my girl.

I gotta watch out for this guy!

Birthday Party

On Friday Technogreek celebrated his 30th birthday! Happy Birthday fella!

To honor the occasion, a group of us got together on Saturday and made it a day to remember with him.
First up: Racing, followed by some fine Mexican eatin', and completed by playing video games.


We were to race go-karts at K1 Speed in Bellevue.
Hotness & I got there early so we played some pool and waited until the rest of the gang showed up.
Here's Montana Slim putting the moves on the table:

After a while, everyone started trickling in and we got ready to race.
The K1 Speed crew is friendly and safety-conscious. We were given a brief review of what the flags mean, how warnings are given and all that. Then they showed us the karts and explained how they handle.
After that we got our helmets on and got ready to race!
(The 'sock-head' ninja gang!)


Technogreek and myself ready to roll.



The racing was very fun indeed, but unfortunately none of the pictures came out really good of us actually ripping around the track.
We had a qualifying race to get our best time and then another race to determine the winner.
Medals were awarded and pictures taken of the winners.

Look at Technogreek! He's trying to sneak into 1st place. That rascal!

After racing, most everybody was a bit shaky, myself included. We decided to walk over to Tu Casa for a late lunch of Mexican food.
Technogreek and his big birthday smile.

I was feeling pretty nauseous from the race so I came in, gave my order and then waited outside a bit to get some fresh air. It wasn't working. I was getting paler by the second.
Hotness came out to check on me and we decided I'd better get home before I got any sicker.
So she bid us adieu and we headed home (and thus, didn't get to partake of the fine companionship during the food portion of the day).



It was about a 1/2-hour ride back to our house, and every minute I felt worse and worse.
I almost made it home, but at about the last mile my will-power and stomache gave up and motion-sickness finally took over.
I felt rotten. When we pulled into the driveway, it was all I could do to get out of the car, take off my clothes and get into bed.
Hotness said I was asleep and snoring within five minutes.


I napped for about an hour or so, then she came in to check on me.
I was feeling quite a bit better, but I took some Dramamine just to be safe and a couple of aspirin 'cause my head hurt. Then I ate something to put back in my stomache and felt 100% better than I had earlier.

We didn't want to poop out on the birthday boy's big day, so we decided to try again and meet up with them at his brother's place for cake, ice cream and video games.


Thank goodness I was feeling better. The rest of the evening was great fun.
We played some Guitar Hero on the Xbox 360, then some of the gang played Mario Strikers Charged on the Nintendo Wii.



Others played a vicious game of POUNCE.

Finally around 11:00 p.m. or so, Hotness and I called it an evening and said goodbye to everyone.

We drove back home, fed the cat and went to bed.

I'm bummed that the racing made me so sick, but I've found out as I get older that I'm becoming more susceptable to motion-sickness.
At least we had a great time and Technogreek had a 30th B-day to remember!

Weird Al Yankovic

I just got the pictures from the concert we went to last week. (Thanks Joe & Susan!)

I won't bore you with details about the show itself. If you've ever been to a Weird Al concert, you know how fun it is. If you haven't been to one, well.... even if you aren't a fan you should go at least once.

You'll have a great time.

This is my 4th Weird Al concert and Hotness has been three times.

The first time I took her to one she said, "Are you kidding me?"

The second time she went, it was more like "Hmmm, okay."

Then this time when I told her Weird Al was coming to play at the Puyallup she said "We're going, right?"

She still isn't a fan like I am but just knowing that she likes going to see him live is a good indication of how much fun his show is.

We went with our friends Joe & Susan and met up with another friend of their's, Dave.

The five of us got seats in the 20th row, center stage. Pretty darn cool seats!

My camera didn't take any decent pictures so all the ones I'm using came from J & S's camera which took really great shots.

So without further ado, here's some of what we saw:

"It's all About The Pentiums" & "You're Pitiful"

"The Saga Begins" & "YODA"

"Eat It" & "Fat"

"White & Nerdy"

During this song, he played various images on the screen behind him and the band.

Peppered throughout the images were clips of Donny Osmond dancing like an idiot.

It was hilarious.... here see for yourself:

And the ever-popular Seattle-favorite, "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

The Northwest audiences alway go ape-poo when he plays this live.

Anyway, he played almost all of the hits and fan-favorites. The show started at 7:30 and the band played until 10:00..... 2-1/2 hours!

In between costume changes he played his AL TV interviews which were hilarious. (You can find most of them on YouTube.)

Speaking of costume changes, I coulnd't keep track of all the outfits he changed into.

There were a few that I didn't even post, there were THAT many!

Rumour has it that he changes outfits in concert more often than Cher does!

Here we are after the show, hanging around like groupies hoping to get an autograph or a picture (or BOTH!).

L-R: Me, Joe, & Dave

Entertaining = Yes

Music = Awesome

Seats = Great

Value = Worth every penny

Score = 27 stars

Lawsuit City

I'm a little late in mentioning this here, but a Nebraska Senator is trying to sue God.
(Yeah, good luck serving the subpeona!)

Now the Almighty has filed a response.

Dude, give it up. I think God has better lawyers.


09/22/07:
An update to this story.

Coffee?

Yesterday morning, before I was talking like a pirate, Hotness woke me up for work.
I had forgotten that she was working from home this day, so it seemd rather odd that she woke me up rather late (about 45 minutes after I normally get up) and asked me if I'd like some coffee before I left.

Now let me back up and explain a couple of things.
1) Even on days that she works from home, she hardly ever makes coffee at home. She always goes into town and gets her morning java at the local shop and then comes back.
2) On the rare occasion that she doesn't go into town, she makes a cup of instant coffee. Never brewed fresh.

So as I was still trying to wake up, I asked, "You mean... brewed coffee? From the coffee maker?"
"Yeah. How many scoops do I use?", she replied (she hasn't used our new maker yet. Only me).
"Uh... three scoops. That'll make it kinda strong, but I like it and you haven't said you don't like it when I make it" I told her.
Off she went, into the kitchen to go brew up a pot.

I staggered out of bed, got my clothes on and wandered into my office (to post yesterday's blog entry, no less!) and it dawned on me that she was working from home today when I saw her office door open and her computer on.
So I'm typing away when suddenly I hear "Honey, the coffee's done..... but I think I did something wrong."

Into the kitchen I go to see what damage has been done.
There on the counter is her cup and the coffee maker. She was standing in front of it.
"So what did you do?" I asked.
"I don't know. It brewed but when I took the pot off, the filter came out. It just fell right out of the maker" she said, "I don't know what I did."

I'm looking at the maker, the counter, her cup.... I can't see anything wrong. I've got a puzzled look on my face, so she says, "The grounds stayed in the filter. They didn't get in the cup. It's the weirdest thing."
I still can't figure out what she did.
Then I looked over to the right and saw the filter basket laying there.
"Uh... when did you take this out?' I asked her.
"What? That? That's supposed to go into the maker?" she answered.

To cut to the chase, she'd put the filter into the machine but not in the filter basket.
When the coffee pot was on the maker, it held the filter in place. But once you removed the pot......

This is why Hotness isn't allowed in the kitchen. It's just a dangerous place with too many moving parts.

Talk Like A Pirate Day

Arrrh! Today be INTERNATIONAL Talk Like A Pirate Day.

(And if ye don't believe me, ye can walk to plank.... or check it out yourself here, here and here)

So get out yer eye-patch, polish up yer hook and drink rum 'til it be runnin' out yer ears.

It's time to make with the yo-ho-ho and have a good time!

Be sure to pepper yer conversations with lots of "pirate talk" (but be sure to stay away from any booty that you can't claim rightfully).

And here to help you with the "Five A's" is Ol' Chumbucket and Cap'n Slappy:

So avast! Take heart ye swabs and have a good time!
And if ye find yerself in behind bars come tomorrow morning... all the better!


(You can also join a local pirate crew if yore in the Pacific Northwest and do some good for the locals)

Ask Ferretnick

I got this email in my inbox at work today, and thought it was a good topic to cover here on the blog.
It came from a good friend of mine and made me chuckle when I read it.
Here's our email conversation:
--------------------------------
"Is 'fat bottomed girls' a bad term? I have this song playing on my computer. You think is wrong to play in a room full of women?"

Hmmm…. good question.
I’ll break it down into three parts and answer it.

>> Is “fat bottomed girls” a bad term?
That depends on who it is directed at.
It’s not necessarily a “bad term”, but some people (mainly women) might find it offensive. Others, might like the fact that somebody notices that they have some “junk in the trunk”. For example: Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Alba, Sofia Vergara , or Keyra Augustina.

>> I have this song playing on my computer.
Is it playing loud, or do you have head phones on?
Unless they don’t like the band QUEEN, I can’t see that it would be a problem. Especially if it’s playing quietly and not a nuisance.

>> You think is wrong to play in a room full of women?
If I remember right, I don’t think you have any women in your office that have anything to worry about.
Again, I think if they didn’t like the band they’d be more inclined to not like the song, but not be offended by what it’s about.

All that being said, if you feel awkward about playing it in the office… then don’t. Better safe than sorry, especially since you work in a law firm.






Song lyrics | Fat Bottomed Girls lyrics

Here Kitty, Kitty

A fearful feline that was stuck in a tree for a week, clinging to branches several stories high, was finally blasted to safety with a high-pressure fire hose.

I really would've liked to have been there to see this.

Hey Look! A Survey!

I guess I forgot to mention that (to your right) I've put up a little survey.
Nothing spectacular, but just wanted to get people's opinion on random "stuff".

This one is about pickles.
Why?
'Cause I felt like it, that's all.

It was pointed out to me that it was quite easy to miss it.

She Was A Stone Cold Killer

Many girls (and even a few boys) have idolized her since she rose to fame back in 1959.
But little did those youngsters know about her dark side.

Yes, I'm talking about Barbie.

She dominated the doll world by slaying her competition.
And with constant plasic surgery, no-one could pin the crime on her as they couldn't ID her in a line-up of possible suspects.

Well, her crimes have finally caught up to her and now it's time for her to face the music.
Barbie has a date to "ride the lightning". Sit on "Old Sparky's" lap.
You know.... die by electrocution.

Here's a photo of her after her arrest:

Notice the glassy stare that is typical of alcohol and drug addicts.
She's even smiling as the police haul her away, probably thinking she would still get away with her crimes.

Beware The Lipstick!

I was thinking about getting a dog when our cat finally goes on to the great litterbox in the sky.
But then I saw this......


I guess I'll have to think again.
At least cats don't hump your leg.

Poor kid!

Office Rats

This one's for you G-rod!

Office rats





(thanks to Presurfer)

Mariners vs. Tampa Bay

Alrighty.... coffee has been brewed, I'm still in my PJ's, and lot's of stuff to blog about so let's get started.

Hotness & I were invited to go see a Mariners game on Thursday night.

Neither of us are sports fans, but what helped to seal the deal on us going was that our seats were not just ordinary seats. We got to watch the game from the All-Star Club Suite.

I've been to Safeco Field a few times to watch the Mariners play, but always in the regular seats.
(Again, I'm not a sports fan, but I do enjoy watching the game in person. Eating a hot dog and peanuts and cheering with the crowd is part of the Great American Pastime.)

Holy freaking cow, was it awesome! These seats were incredible.

When you get to the suite, they punch your ticket and give you a hand stamp. You have to have BOTH in order to leave and come back in again. (You can't just show your ticket or your stamp. If you don't have have both, you aren't getting in again.) This prevents a lot of people from "finding a ticket" and making their way into the suite uninvited.

Once you're inside it's like Fantasy Island. Women wave palm fronds at you to keep you cool, while others feed you peeled grapes.... well, okay no. Not really.
But EVERYTHING inside is gratis (except for alcohol).


There was a buffet (see picture above) that had:
4 kinds of salad
Tortilla chips with 3 kinds of salsa
A fresh fruit and vegetable tray
Salmon patties
Chimichangas and taquitos
Pizza
Stir-fried vegetables and Jasmine rice
...and a "chef" who was carving up BBQ'd pork w/ a hoisin sauce
Not to mention the ubiquitous hot dogs that any self-respecting ball park would offer along with WARMED peanuts and fresh popcorn and all-you-can-drink soda.
There was also a seperate dessert buffet with;
Cheesecake
Chocolate pie
Cookies
and soft-serve ice-cream with your choice of Hot Fudge sauce, caramel sauce, or glazed walnut topping. (And you could eat the ice-cream out of a little Mariners batting hat bowl!)

Then, after you get your food, you can either sit inside at a table or go out to your seat which has a table in front of it.


That first picture is my seat (before I sat my big butt in it). It was leather and oh-so comfy!
The other picture is who we went to the game with. (l-r; Hotness's boss, his wife, and of course... Hotness)
You can also sort of see the table that was in front of our seats.

Here is our view of the game:


(#1 - pre-game) (#2 - during the game)

We also got a nice view of the Seattle skyline above the top of the stadium.


Here I am enjoying my FREE, Official Mariner Stadium dog, and a goofy picture of Hotness & I enjoying ourselves.


Anyway, we stayed and watched as the Mariners got spanked for 7 innings and thought "Well, maybe we should leave to get out before it's gets a lot later and so we don't have to fight traffic getting home". And then we scored a run, so then we thought "Hmmm, let's see what happens in the first half of the next inning".

We ended up staying for all 9 innings as the Mariners managed to come up from behind and win the game 8-7.

So not only did we have awesome seats, great food, and a terrific view of the game, but we also got to see the Mariners win at home.

I DEFINITELY plan on doing this again!
____________________________________

On Friday after work, I drove over to Lynnwood and payed a visit to Aaron to introduce him to the wonder that is "Guitar Hero".

We kicked around for a bit while the kids ate dinner and he showed me his new boat and stuff, then we plugged in the PS2 and started playing the game.

It was a big hit, especially with the young 'uns.
Here's Aaron playing with his son (who wanted to play with the 'Spidah-man 'tar').

And the other two joining in on the fun.

Everyone had a blast. The kids got to stay up past their bedtime (I'm such a bad influence when I'm around).

Aaron and I played until about 10:00 p. m. and then I had to finally call it quits. It had been a long week of late nights and I couldn't stay awake to drive home if I'd played for much longer.
___________________________________

You'll probably have noticed that I didn't mention anything about Wednesday yet.
Well, there was plenty a'happening that day for sure!

Hotness and & joined a couple of friends and went to the Puyallup Fair to see Weird Al Yankovic in concert.

We had an absolute blast, but unfortunately NONE of my pictures came out. So I'm waiting until I get get the pics our friends took (because they got some incredible pictures) before I post my review about the show.

In the meantime, enjoy this picture of my ticket:

_____________________________________

I sort of felt like I was living the life of Technogreek this week!

Be good until I get back!

You Eeeediot!!

A little Ren & Stimpy to keep you occupied until I have something cool to post about (hopefully after tomorrow).
In the meantime......


Play Games at AddictingGames

Directions:
use up or left arrow to elevate the cannon
use down or right arrow to lower cannon
use space bar to fire cannon
for a little "boost" the hit space bar while Stimpy is in the air to make him fart
(landing on powdered toast will recharge the fart meter)

Lazy Weekend

Didn't do a whole heck of alot this weekend.

Saturday I spent at a friend's house and played Heroclix and Guitar Hero with his kids, while he & his wife had a little island get-away.

Got back late, slept in and then lounged around the house for the better part of the day on Sunday.
In the afternoon, Hotness & I went and visited our friend's and their daughter in their new house.


A perfect opportunity to get an embarrassing photo of me:


Sorry there isn't much to tell you.
Some days just aren't as packed with excitement as others.

Nothing But Class, Baby!

" Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" ~ Benjamin Franklin

I remember, back in the day, when crocheted "beer hats" were all the rage.

I wanted one, but my mom just looked at me like "Yeah, you can want one all day. You're NOT getting one".

You can still find directions online on how to make them, so it's nice to know that some skills haven't been bred out of society.

But now they've been updated and you to can have a more "modern" look when you accessorize with beer paraphernalia.

Nothing makes a statement about a person like a cowboy hat made out of a beer box.

Imagine the jealous looks you'll garner from onlookers as you wear it proudly to the next NASCAR race.

It's all about the image, man.

I think I need to get one.

Chupacabra

Another Chupacabra sighting. This one in Texas.
Looks like they're moving North, like the killer bees and fire ants.

It's must be because of global warming.

09/07/07 - I guess they've been in Texas before.

Labels

I just went and added labels to all my earlier posts. (Well, those that have related topics anyway)
If you just started reading this blog and want to catch up on similar topics... now you can!

Except for this post. I don't have a label for it. Sorry.

Freddie Mercury

Today would have been Freddie Mercury's 61st birthday.
I know the day is almost over with, but I would kick myself if I didn't say a little something about him to honor him today.

Flamboyant, over-the-top, out-spoken... say what you will, but the man was a true performer and a crowd pleaser.
He knew how to keep an audience going throughout the whole concert and kept them wanting more.

Here's a little clip of him interacting with the crowd during a concert in Milton Keynes in 1982:



Here's another great performance of him interacting with the crowd during QUEEN's historic concert at Wembley Stadium in '86. You'll have to wait until about the 6-1/2 minute mark for it, though.

He not only sang in a rock band, but also performed with opera singers. To say he was talented is an understatement.

Happy Birthday Freddie. May your soul be in peace.





Donate to the Mercury Phoenix Trust.

Laying Some Pipe

On my voice-mail (while I was camping) I got a message that said: "When you get home, you can help me lay some pipe....".

Well, I can certainly do that! Let me just pack up my gear and head home!

Unfortunately that wasn't what Hotness had in mind.

She had actually had our neighbor come over with a trench-digger and dig a 120 foot trench in exchange for some wood. (No... this wood.)

We spent today putting it all together and burying it in the ground. Ugh! Talk about celebrating LABOR Day!

Putting in the box and attaching the pipe was a snap.

Rolling out 100 ft of pipe into the trench was easy.

Putting a protective "sock" over the end (to keep silt out) was no problem.

But burying it all back up with dirt?

Yeesh! I'm tired just thinking about it!

It needed to be done, though.

There's a creek that runs through our backyard and it used to run-off into the woods and spill out into a swampy area that fed into another creek.

The last couple of years, however, it started to make a new path into our front yard and has been making a muddy mess of one side of it.

Now we can direct the flow and keep it from draining in the front where we're trying to make a pasture.