Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something "Blu"

With the wedding coming up shortly, things are beginning to take shape.
I made Hotness's bridal bouquet and I'm taking care of the music.
I also need to get some appetizers whipped up (I have the stuff for one, but still trying to decide on what the other will be), and I'm working on the decorations... although we aren't going crazy with that. Just something to make the place look more "wedding-like".

I have my suit all ready and Hotness picked up her dress last weekend, so those are out of the way.

This is our last weekend to "take it easy", as next weekend will begin the final hours to the event.
Friday night we have a wedding shower to go to. Saturday night is the ballet. Sunday I will be getting the chairs and dropping off the decorations. Monday I'll be getting the appetizers made and setting up the chairs and decorations I dropped off earlier. Tuesday will be... let's see... um....
Oh yeah! The actual wedding.

As the day approaches, we have been asked by different people, "What would we like to have as a wedding gift?"
Hotness and I have different opinions about this.
I feel that we really don't need anything, as we've been together for so long and already have the things we need. Plus, with the economy the way it is, I don't want people to feel they HAVE to spend money on us.
Hotness feels that if people would like to get presents, we should let them. Some people really want to express their happiness for us by getting us a gift, so we shouldn't stop them and make them feel unappreciated.
So we're basically leaving it up to the individual as to whether they want to buy a gift, but it's certainly not necessary.

Now, having said that, we received our first wedding gift in the mail on Friday.
It was from my good friend Imperfect and his wife.
They got us a Blu-ray disc player!

I've been on the fence about getting one.
I was perfectly happy with the DVD player we currently had and didn't see the need for spending more money to upgrade just yet. But on the other hand, I did have a nice, new HDTV that wasn't living up to it's full potential and with Blu-ray discs being released at lower prices than standard DVDs, it was beginning to sway me over.

I would've been happy to wait until our wedding day to open their present, but due to some packaging SNAFUs, we decided to open it early.
We opened the box and... TAA-DAA!!! A beautiful, Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray player was inside!
So yesterday, I made a trip down south to Fry's to pick up the HDMI cable (and a Blu-ray disc, 'cause... Heck! Why not?) as well as some LAN cable to connect it to the interwebs.

I got back home and proceeded to hook it all up.
There was an update for the firmware, so I took care of that right away and then afterwards I went about setting up the adjustments (i.e. video output, audio, brightness, on screen language, etc...).

Unfortunately, my surround sound DVD player did not have an HDMI input.
That would have been the best option. So instead, I had to use regular co-axial plugs.
But to be totally honest, I can't see that it makes a bunch of difference to my ears. My "home theater" isn't that big and my ears aren't that discerning when it comes to sound. So I'm happy it works.
I did have HDMI inputs on the TV, so I plugged the Blu-ray player directly into it.

Then I went and tried out a few standard DVDs to see if the picture quality was any better.
I noticed it was a bit sharper, but almost a bit "over compensating", so I'll have to tweak the settings a bit more (or just use the regular DVD player).

Then I put in the new disc I bought. I got "The Blue Man Group: How To Be A Megastar Live!"
This had special significance on a couple of levels.
First: Being our first "Blu-ray" disc, why not get the "Blue Man Group"?
And Second: This was the same concert tour I went to see with Imperfect a few years back, and since he got us the player it seemed appropriate.
This was by far a H-U-G-E difference in visual quality. I really didn't expect it to be, but I was amazed. Even Hotness said "Wow, that's really clear and what an amazing picture!".
So I'm totally glad to have it have it and especially happy that they got us such a nice gift.
Thank you both again!

In other news....
Nothing new to report in the job-search, although I hope to have something exciting to say in the not-to-distant future.

The Emerald City Comic Con is only a few weeks away. I'm excited and nervous at the same time for it to happen. There are so many cool new guests (Stan Lee, Leonard Nimoy) and awesome returning guests (Terry Moore, Whilce Portacio). It's also expected to be the BIGGEST show yet, which means there's going to be a LOT of hard work to do while it's happening.
Last year was a tough one, so hopefully this year we'll be better prepared. Hotness and I are sharing a hotel room for three nights (instead of two, like in previous years), so that'll help in not having to travel back right away after the second day of the show. We can relax one evening and take our time leaving on Monday.

Babysitting is still happening quite a bit and despite catching the occasional "bug" from the kids, has been a lot of fun. Being "Uncle Ferretnick" is a blast.

Well, that catches us up again for now.
I apologize for the sparse postings, but until something happens that's worth "blogging" about, I tend to just let things slide on here.
With the wedding and conventions coming up I should have more to talk about.

Ya'll be good now!

Being A Local Tourist

On Wednesday I took a break from my standard schedule and headed into Seattle for a "job search / ticket purchase / walkaround town" day of adventure.

I called up 2.0's girlfriend to see if she'd like to join me.

She's currently looking for work as well and since I was heading into town to buy her a ticket for the opera as part of a trade we made (she's joining Hotness & I in January), I thought she might like to join me. Plus, I always like having company when I drive to Seattle.

It turned out she had a job interview that day... in Seattle.

So joining me into the city was a double-treat for her, as her car was not driveable that day and she'd been planning to take the bus.

We met up around 10:00 a.m. and drove to the Big City.

Her interview was at 11:00 and I needed to kill some time while she was there, so I went to the Uwajimaya store and looked around. (There's ALWAYS lots of stuff to look at there)

I ended up buying a DVD of some classic kung-fu action by the legendary Shaw Brothers.

It was "The 5 Deadly Venoms" and I'm still trying to find time to sit and watch it. I'm really excited to see it.

After the interview, we went to Seattle Center so I could pick up her ticket.

The ballet and the opera share the same venue, but apparently they do not share the same ticket office. We had to go about a mile and a half uptown to get the extra opera ticket.

We decided to hold off on that, as there was other stuff we wanted to do.

So we took the monorail to Westlake Center and then walked to Pike Place Market.

There were some businesses in that area that I wanted to check out and I wanted to wander around town since it was a nice day.

Unfortunately, my trip into Seattle to look for a job turned into a wasted effort, as everybody I went to see only took applications online. It didn't do me any good to actually drive into the city and try to apply in person.

However... the day was not a total loss as the two of us had a great time walking around Pike Place and looking in the shops.

We had lunch at a pasta bar in Post Alley. She picked up a present at the (ORIGINAL) Starbuck's shop. We went to the Great Wind-Up Shop. We stopped in at Golden Age Collectibles. And many, many other places.

It was a really fun day.

Then we headed back up north, where I dropped her off with her boyfriend and she caught a ride home with him.

Later that evening, we all met up again at the Comic Stop and hung out until after closing when we all went out for dinner afterwards.

Thursday & Friday were sort of uneventful, but tonight Hotness and I have another ballet to attend.

This one is "Director's Choice", so there are lots of smaller works with a lot of diversity to them.

I'm looking forward to it as there is usaully one 'stand-out performance' which makes the whole evening worthwhile.

After that, perhaps a late-night nibble at Pomodoro.

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

I hadn't posted my Halloween costume from this year yet, so for those of you who missed it, here it is:

I intended to go as "The Fly" from the 50's sci-fi film, but never got around to finishing the mask for it.

Since I had all the major components of the costume, I opted for a 'mad scientist' instead.

And here was Hotness:

Me-ow, baby!

Well, that's all for now.

I'll be back soon when I have more to alk about about.

Comedy, Tragedy & Babysitting

A lot happens in between the posts here.

My last entry was on Wednesday the 23rd, and since then I have done a lot stuff that kept me from the computer.

Thursday started out with work as usual. Nothing exciting there.
But that evening, I had plans to meet up with Elwood and go see Christopher Titus at the Snoqualmie Casino.

I left right from work and got to his house to pick him up, then we grabbed a bite at a local Mexican place before heading to the Casino.

That place is freakin' H-U-G-E!
I'm not a gambler, so I don't spend a lot of time checking out casinos. My only other experience was back when I saw ZZ Top and G-rod & I stopped into the Muckleshoot Casino before the show. It was kind of dark inside and not a place I thought I'd find myself coming to again.
But the Snoqualmie Casino was really nice.

The show opened with Duane Goad who was pretty funny and great start to the main act that was billed.
Then Christopher Titus got on stage and started in.
Most of his performance came from his "Love is Evol" tour, which I'd seen on TV a while back.
It was just as hilarious to see it live and he really does a good job.

We both stayed around for a bit after the show. Elwood tried his hand at one of the poker tables, while I walked around and looked at everything.

I dropped him off afterwards and got home myself sometime around 11:30-midnight.

I didn't have to work that Friday, so I took advantage of being able to sleep in. Which was really nice after getting home so late.
My big plan for the day was to go babysit my niece and nephew that afternoon.

I got there around 1:00 p.m. and my niece met me outside looking like this:

She said she got all "fancied up" because her uncle was coming over.
(She's been on a "Fancy Nancy" kick lately)

Her brother was asleep when I got there, so the two of us had a late lunch, walked around in the backyard, read a book and dressed up Barbies. (Yes... you read that right. I dressed up Barbies.)
When her brother finally woke up, we went to the park where I kept them entertained and out of their mom & dad's hair until 5:00 p.m.

Then we all came back and by that time Uncle Ferretnick was pooped!

I came home and made dinner and watched "Shoot 'Em Up" before falling asleep early and going to bed. (In that order!)
-------------------

Saturday found me up shortly after the sun was up (so much for sleeping in again).
I bummed around the house for a bit and decided I wanted to get out of the house instead of sitting inside all day.

I took off for Bellevue to see if Uwajimaya had any Ultraman toys (which they didn't. Well, not what I was looking for anyway).

Then I drove up to Lynnwood and picked up comics where I ran into Technogreek, back from his recent Euro-trip.

It was starting to get later in the day and I needed to get back pronto, as Hotness and I had tickets for the ballet that night.

Got home. Showered and shaved. Ironed my clothes for the evening and took back off out the door.
Traffic was good for a Saturday evening, so we made it in plenty of time.

The evening's performance was "Romeo & Juliet".
This was a more modern and minimalist version of the production, with music by Prokofiev (who's best known for his children's piece "Peter & the Wolf")
We'd seen this version before, and thought it was... okay.
Actually, I think that Hotness liked it more than I did. But I'm more of a classicist and enjoy the version with the elaborate sets and music by Tchaikovsky.

This production, while very well done and well-performed by the dancers, just didn't hold my interest. Especially the second time around.
We ended up leaving after the first part during the intermission and coming home.
We got home and went straight to bed to sleep.

Sunday was a do-nothing day.
We did some shopping for a project I wanted to start on, but I've had to give up on it for now.
I have this great idea visualized in my mind, but when it comes down to making it a reality I need to work on it some more and get it fleshed-out better.

That evening we had dinner with our neighbor and watched some TV with him.


And that brings us up-to-date to today.
Back at work again and nothing exciting to talk about.

The Weekend In Review

I have temporarily lost access to the interwebs from my house. Otherwise I'd have posted about what went on this weekend, you know.... while it was STILL the weekend.

Oh well. Whatever.
Hotness will be coming back home tomorrow and she has all the info to call the people who can fix our connection. I'll just use my connection at work for now.

So anywhoooo.......
Hotness took off to see her mom on Friday.
I came home that evening after work and picked up the mail. In the mailbox were my copies of Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus and Fanboys.
I fed the cat. Got dinner for myself (some tacos! Yum!) and sat down to watch MSvsGO.

Alright before I go into details, we ALL know that this movie isn't going to be the summer blockbuster to beat all blockbusters. It was a 'direct-to-video' release, fer cryin' out loud!
So my expectations were set low to begin with.

The acting is cheesy, but Debbie Gibson (or, Deborah as she's calling herself now) does a fairly decent job. She's no great actress, but she actually does okay in this film.
Lorenzo Lamas plays a government jerk, so not much of an acting stretch for him.

The story starts out kind of quick and takes off without a lot of explaining and quickly jumps from one scene to the next.
For example: Debbie Gibson is a marine biologist studying whales off the Alaska Coast. (And by the way... apparently Hammerhead sharks, moray eels and hard corals also can be found off the coast w-a-y up north there).
There's an accident... caused by the military, go figure... that releases the creatures.
After that we're suddenly in California looking at a dead, beached whale while an oil drilling platform is attacked off the Japanese coast. All of this takes place in about 24 hours.

The one lone survivor from the Japanese attack is jailed in a FEDERAL prison, for reasons that never get explained, but yet he gets to talk to a civilian scientist about "what happened out there".
The prisoner draws a very detailed picture of the creature, despite it being night time when the attack happened and the entire oil platform crumbling and falling into the sea... with him on it.

The military (ours, of course) is already out hunting down this rougue monster (even though they don't know what it is) and after just one attempt to kill it, decide that this is way beyond their field of expertise. (The U.S. Military backs down after trying... and failing.. to blow up a big shark in the middle of International waters?) now it's time to call in the "experts". Those of course being Ms. Gibson, her renegade biology professor and the Japanese scientist who got detailed descriptions of a creature he couldn't identify from a survivor that was being held in a FEDERAL prison and yet was able to fly to the United States to share the "classified" information.

They discover something that "just might work" to capture the beasties and then they are off into the big wide Pacific Ocean to capture a shark that is big enough to take a bite out of the Golden Gate Bridge and can leap into the air to catch a jumbo jet.

Anyway, you can see how this is going so I'll stop there.
It's dorky and hokey and everything you'd expect from something of this (low) caliber a film.

One thing that really did bother me about the film, was the computer animation sequences were constantly recycled.
The used the same scenes every time they showed the shark. The octopus didn't have much of an appearance, but the few it had were also the same repeated scenes.
The submersible craft that they used in the beginning of the film to study whales looks exactly like the submersible craft that the military employs to hunt down the animals.
So that got old really quick.

The movie is only 90 minutes long, so it only seems like you've lost years of your life watching it.

After that movie was done, I popped in Fanboys.
This movie was laugh-out-loud funny. There are a metric ton of Star Wars references as well as other pop culture topics. There are also quite a few cameo appearances in it. For instance: William Shatner, Carrie Fisher, Ray Park, Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes, and a few others.
Also Seth Rogan plays two roles in the film. One is a nerdy Star Trek "trekker" (NOT "trekkie!) and the other is a redneckish, Star Wars-loving pimp.

It didn't get a lot of good reviews when it came out, so it didn't last long in the theaters. But it was definitely worth watching and a good way to make up for having seen the earlier DVD.

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

On Saturday, I had a double-dose of the ballet. My niece (4 yrs. old, by the way) had her very first ballet recital early in the day. I went and watched her dance (or rather, she didn't after she got on stage and became too shy in front of everyone).
Then I hustled home to shower, shave, and get ready for the ballet in Seattle that evening.

With Hotness being out of town I was left with an extra ticket. I had already purchased one extra because we we're bringing a friend with us, but now I had two.

I talked her boyfriend into joining us for the evening. She really wanted him to go, but he was trying to avoid it if he could. He & I texted back-and-forth and I talked him into going, after I told him the two of them could have my season ticket seats... for FREE.

He kept it a secret from her about him going, and she didn't know about it until he got dressed and told her he was coming along. Needless to say she was happy.

The ballet itself was a mixed bag of pieces.

There was a contemporary dance. A more modern dance. And a classical dance. So really we got to see a little of everything. I won't bore you the details about the individual pieces and sum it up like this: The first one was contemporary and in my opinion, way too long. It was accompanied by a piano. At first it was nice but after a while the "plinky plinky" of the piano get to be irritating and the dances all seemed alike. This one just didn't interest me.

The second one was very short and very modern. It involved only two dancers and was quite interesting to see them both interact.

The last piece was more of a classical piece and ended with about 50 ballerinas on the stage at one time. Quite a spectacle to see!

So the last two pieces more than made up for the hum-drum (in my opinion) of the first one.

Afterwards the three of us walked to Dick's for a burger and to wait for traffic to clear out before we went to Pomodoro for appetizers and flaming desserts.
We ate and had a wonderful time.
When the evening finally ended, I think I got home shortly before 2 a.m.

I slept in until the cat woke me up and then stumbled around the house for the better part of Sunday. I didn't really get anything accomplished, but it was nice to not have to be anywhere and just relax.

That was pretty much my weekend.
How was yours?

Hallmark Has A Card For Everything

I'm a bachelor again this weekend.
Hotness took off this morning to spend time with her mother one more time.

I used to call her mom every week or so (more often when the cancer started taking over) to just talk and make her laugh and to catch up on things that she wasn't sure she should tell her daughter. I'd filter the information and relay it to Hotness. (Her mom could be a bit dramatic, so it was always best to 'temper' what she had to say)
I haven't been able to do that in a while. In fact, the last time I got to talk to her was the weekend that Hotness and I got engaged (over a couple of months ago now). After that, her health got worse and she moved out of her house and into a nursing home for 24-hour care.

I'd been meaning to send her a card to cheer her up and let her know I was still thinking about her, but things would side-track me and I'd never take time to do it.
So last night, before Hotness was going to leave for her trip, I went to the local Hallmark shop to get a couple of cards for her to deliver for me when she got there.

I looked and looked until I found what I thought expressed the feelings I wanted to convey.
One was a humorous card about surrounding yourself with friends. The other was a sympathy card, which is kind of weird to buy BEFORE someone is dead let alone give it to the person who is the subject of the sympathy... but whatever.

I went up to the counter to pay and the cashier asked if I'd found everything I was looking for.
Instead of just saying "Yes I did. Thank you", I said "Well actually not quite, but these will do".
"Oh. Well can I help you find something more appropriate?" she asked.
"I don't know. It's kind of complicated. I was trying to find a card for my future mother-in-law who has terminal cancer. I don't think you have a card for anything like that" I replied.
She said, "As a matter fact, we do have a few cards that deal with sensitive subjects, including a few that relate to cancer. They're over here", and she directed me to an end cap with a few topical cards of diverse subjects.

I didn't find quite what I was hoping to, so I stuck with the original two I had picked out.
But I'll be dipped in cheese fondue. They really DO have a card for every situation.
I think I'm going to have to make it a personal goal to come up with topics that Hallmark hasn't got a card for now.


In the meantime, I've got stuff to do while Hotness is away.
I have some planting to do at the old homestead, so that'll get me outside in the sunshine during the day.
On Saturday late morning I'm going to watch my niece perform in her first ballet dance recital. And that evening I have plans to go to the ballet in Seattle (our last one for this season) with a couple of friends since Hotness won't be here to make it this time.
I'm also expecting a couple of DVD's to arrive in the mail: Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus and Fanboys. If I'm lucky, they'll be waiting in my mailbox for me when I get home this afternoon.

Some tacos, mojitos and two huge sea-beasties beating the crap outta each other. It's gonna be a good evening.....

Something New To Look Forward To

Hey There!
How ya'll been?

I've been away from blogging 'cause there hasn't been anything to really talk about other than my "deck garden" than I'm slowing getting together.
This cool Spring weather is really making things difficult for my 'warm-weather' plants.
Ah well, I'll just keep plugging along and hope for the best.

Hotness and I have one more ballet to attend for this season and then we're finished for this year. (Well, the 2008-2009 season anyway)
We're looking into getting tix for next season, but it's still kind of up in the air right now.

However, I did get tickets for the 2009-2010 season of the Seattle Opera.
They have a big year planned, what with the "Ring" cycle taking place as well this season.
Unfortunately I couldn't afford to include those performances with our subscription, but we are going to see three classics of Italian opera: La Traviata, Il Trovatore, and Falstaff.

I'm looking forward to all three, but especially Il Trovatore.
This one has most of the music that even the non-opera goers are familiar with, including the "Anvil Chorus". Plus our tickets for the weekend of my birthday!

So you can look forward to reading my opera reviews as well as my ones from the ballet.
I know you all will be excited about that.

In other news......
This trailer has been making the rounds on the interwebs:


It looks cheesy as all get-out but you know I'm going to be picking that badboy up.
It came out just yesterday on DVD and had already sold out when I looked on Amazon.com for it.

I'm already hoping there will be a sequel.
Where the octopus is a ninja and wields eight swords while fighting a shark with frickin' lasers on it's head.
That'd be so cool!

Swan Lake & Spearmint

Yesterday Hotness and I took my aunt out for her (early) birthday present to see "Swan Lake" at the ballet.
It's something she's always wanted to see live and never had the chance until now.
She lives further north from us so pretty much our entire day was involved with getting ready, picking her up, driving to Seattle, and taking her back home.
We typically go in the evenings, but since this was a special treat for my aunt, we exchanged our tickets for a matinee performance.

We had a good time and she really enjoyed getting to go to the ballet.

For those unfamiliar with the story of Swan Lake, here's a brief synopsis:
Boy turns 21 and on his birthday a bunch of friends gather to celebrate. His mom (the Queen) gives him a cross bow, 'cause he like to hunt, and reminds him that he also is old enough to get married and will have to pick a bride soon. She will be holding a ball that next evening and he can pick one then.
The boy reluctantly agrees and then he sees a flock of swans in the sky, so he and his buddies take off to go hunting for them.

It's evening and as the swans land on the ground they turn into beautiful maidens.
The boy sees this and can't believe his eyes. He sends the other hunters home and dances with the most beautiful maiden, whom he finds out is the Queen of the maidens.
They have been cursed to live as swans by day, and only allowed to be human when night falls.
The boy is falling in love with the maiden and she tells him that the only way to break the curse is to pledge his faithfulness to her. About that time the wizard who cursed the maidens shows up and takes the Queen maiden away.

The next evening everybody is at the palace and the eligible brides-to-be are presented to the boy, but he's not interested.
Suddenly the wizard appears and with him is the Swan Queen.
Both she and the wizard are rather cold and rude the the boy and his mother, but the boy dances with her and can't believe that she has shown up to the ball.
Things don't seem right, as a vision of the Swan Queen appears to the boy, but he just passes it off and keeps dancing with her.

Finally they boy can't believe his good fortune and pledges his undying love and faithfulness to the young girl only to discover that she was a fake made to look like the Swan Queen and he has now doomed his true love to live with the curse forever.

The ball ends and the boy rushes out into the woods to find his love.
They dance and he begs for forgiveness but it's no good.
Although she forgives him, she is still cursed.
Finally the wizard appears and takes her away and the boy is left alone in his grief.

It's a classic in the ballet repertoire and full of beauty and tragedy.


We drove back north to take my aunt home and then headed home ourselves.
It was early evening, so we went to our neighbor's place and watched the last episode of "Dollhouse". I kind of like this show and hear it's been picked up for a second season, so it'll be cool to see how it develops further when it comes back.

After we were finished, we went back home and what should see in our yard....?

A horse!

It belonged to our neighbor behind us and had 'escaped' it's pasture and found that the grass in our yard was just yummy for grazing. Obviously Hotness was happy to have a horse to have to 'care for', after calling the neighbors and letting them know we'd horse-sit for the night, I coaxed it into our fenced pasture and she filled up the water container for it.

I went to bed shortly after that, but she stayed up for a bit peeking out the window at it.

This morning we got up and the horse was still there, just eating grass.

Hotness got her brushes out and mixed up some bran mash and went outside to have some "horsey-time".

(Why can't I ever come home and find Dita in my yard?!? I'd stay up all night peeking out the window and in the morning I'd go out and brush her hair. I don't think it's fair, I tell you.)

After brushing and feeding the horse, we went into town to have breakfast.

Then we walked to the local hardware store where I picked up some plants to bring back home and pot up.

I got some cilantro because I'm constantly buying it to use at the house. I figured it would probably cost less to just plant my own and harvest it as needed.

I also picked up some chocolate mint and spearmint.

The chocolate mint just smells good and will be good to make tea with.

The spearmint....? Well, that's for making mojitos later when it FINALLY warms up around here.

And that catches us up with what's been happening.

As soon as I get done bloggin' here, I'm going to start packing up my suitcases for my Calgary trip next week.

I take off Tuesday evening, so that leaves me with one day of work and I don't want to try and pack after I come home tomorrow night. All day Tuesday will be spent running the last few errands I need to take care of before I leave, so I hope to get the packing done today and then relax.

I hope you all took advantage of the nice weather this weekend. Hopefully it'll stay around for a few more days.

Until next time.....

Laughs. Tears. And A Ring Was Involved.

Tonight was a rather important night.

The day itself proceeded without too much fanfare, but as evening approached.... well, that's when things started happening.

We had tickets for the ballet tonight.

The evening's performance was four short pieces titled "PNB Broadway Festival".

Each one was a bit more modern than your typical "classical" ballet and based on more contemporary works from the stage and screen.

Normally I'd give you a review of each piece, but I have to say that they were ALL fantastic and very enjoyable. (Well, at least the three pieces we stayed for that is. We cut out after the second intermission and left early)

If you're interested in attending the ballet, but don't want to go to some 'stuffy, old performance' this was very entertaining and well worth the price of admission.

I highly recommend seeing this the next time they present it.

As I mentioned, we left early after the second intermission.

Hotness was getting hungry, so we left before the show got out to head over to Pomodoro and have something to eat.

Mmmm... Calamares a la Plancha and Ravioli de Hummus y Truffa. Muy Bueno!

While we ate, we sat and talked about the performance and just things in general.

Our original plan was to go for appetizers and dessert, but after the appetizers Hotness was quite full so she passed on the dessert while I had their Grand Marnier Chocolate Mousse Cake.

She had a few bites (even though she said she was full), and waited for me to finish.

I had been planning on this evening for quite some time, and so far everything was going according to plan.

First the ballet, then a late dinner, followed by... well hang on. I'm getting to that part.

After I finished the cake, we were ready to pay the bill and go home.

Hotness excused herself to the restroom before we got in the car for our drive back.

While she was in there, I placed a card on the table in front of where she had been sitting.

When she came back and gathered her stuff together, she didn't notice the card as it kind of blended with the tablecloth. (Uh-oh. Not going so well)

As she picked up her things, that's when she saw the card was there. (Whew! Back on schedule!)

"What's this?" she asked.

"What's what?" I said, all innocent like.

"It's a card," she replied.

"Well, I guess you'd better open then," I answered.

So she did.

It was a mushy kind of card. Filled with lots of words that you want to say, but never can get out right. Thank goodness for people who know what you want to say and can do it much better than yourself.

It was about love and finding the person you want to spend your life with.

She got a little teary-eyed and said "Aw, thank you."

"But wait," I said, "That's just the first part. This is the second part", and I pulled a small box out of my coat pocket.

It was a box about... oh, 2 inches square by an inch-and-a-half tall.

Just big enough to hold a ring.

I opened it up in front of her at the table.

She looked at it, then looked at me, looked back at it and her eyes started to get all teary.

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Yes," I said, "Will you marry me?"

By then we were both getting sort of weepy-eyed.

She grabbed the napkin and blotted her eyes and said "Yes!"

"I-I-I..... I don't know what finger I'm supposed to put it on!" she said.

I told her it belongs on her left hand next to her heart on her third finger.

It went on and fit just perfectly.

She is very anxious to show it off, so when you see her, be sure to ask about it.

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

We've been together for 11 years.

It's not that I wanted to drag it out forever and see how long I could string her along.

I just had some issues that I needed to work through before I could bring myself to make that decision for the second time. (My first one was a disaster and left me very bitter for a long time)

But we've been through a lot and we've put up with each other despite all of it.

Recently things had just come to the point where I either needed to make the final step or just never move on.

Only a very small handful of friends knew about this ahead of time. And if you are a friend that I didn't tell in advance, please don't take it personally. I had to keep from having it being revealed to Hotness before I asked.

I had the fortune of getting her dad's blessing year's ago before he died and her mom and I discussed this not long ago, so I had her's as well.

Most recently I received her brother's blessing, so her family approves.

(My mom has been bugging me about it for a while, so I didn't bother to check with her!)

I will keep you updated on when the wedding will be and all that stuff, so stay tuned for further developments......

The Sum Of Many Parts

Racial slurs, foreign food, "priceless" jewels, bacon, fun music, and above all else.... friends.
"What do all those have in common," you ask? Well, I'm about to tell you.

On Friday night after work, I headed over to my buddy Imperfect's house.
We hung out, watched a few trailers for movies coming out and played with his kids for a bit.
Then we took off for Bellevue to meet up with a couple of other friends at Mayuri for Indian food. (This is the place that almost all the Redmond Microsoft workers go to, so it's always packed)
Food was great and I was able to try something new for a change. I typically get the same couple of things whenever I order Indian, but this time we had a couple of 'experts' (read: Indian friends) who I let pick dinner and I discovered something new I liked and can now order. Yay!

Our original plans were to meet up and go to a movie, so after dinner we got back in our cars and headed over to the theater to see "Gran Torino".
I'd heard good things about the movie, but I wasn't all fired-up about seeing it. I just kind of tagged along to spend time with friends. But ten minutes into the movie, after watching Clint Eastwood be a grumpy, scowling, ornery old cuss, I leaned over to Imperfect and said,"Oh. I'm gonna like this movie. I already like his character!"
The movie was really good. Be warned though, if you're easily offended by racial epithets than this movie will make your jaw drop. It's got a lot of them.
Definitely glad I went and saw this though. It was very good.

It was late when I got back home after the movie. We went to a 9:30 p.m. show, so by the time I got home and in bed it was well after 1:00 a.m.
I slept in and did some errands before getting ready for Saturday evening's events.

Hotness was out toodling around doing her own thing, so while she was gone I made some more of the bacon explosion that I tried out a few nights earlier. (You'll see why a little later)
This time I flattened out the sausage and basted it with BBQ sauce and some rub. Then I rolled it up and wrapped the bacon around it.
While it was in the oven, I ironed clothes and took a shower and shaved to get ready for the ballet that evening.

We were going to Lynnwood first to drop in at the Comic Stop and and congratulate Technogreek and Kyle Stevens on the release of their debut CD collaboration: "Kirby Krackle".
I'd seen Kyle perform some of the songs from the CD live before but I hadn't heard the whole album yet.
Unfortunately, Hotness and I couldn't stay for the concert at the shop. But we did get to meet up with several of our friends from the store including (but not limited to): Elwood, Maimed Man, Dr. Zoltar and his wife, not to mention the aforementioned Technogreek and Kyle Stevens.

I brought a big ol' plate of freshly made bacon explosion which was quickly devoured by everybody fast enough to get some, then we talked with friends for a bit.
We could only stay for a short amount of time, so I bought a copy of the CD and had both the guys sign it before we took off for Seattle.

We got to McCaw Hall with plenty of time to spare, so Hotness got a drink and we sat and watched the people come in.
One thing about attending the arts in the Pacific Northwest; there is no 'hard and fast' rule about how to dress at these things.
You see many folks (particularly older) dressed up for the evening. Your typical evening dress for her and a suit & tie for him.
But you also see lots of jeans and pullovers, tennis shoes and the like.
Sometimes we get the occasional "WTF?" kind of outfit. Case in point last night: There was guy who looked like he just stepped out of the Blue Oyster Bar. He had black leather motorcycle boots, black jeans, black leather jacket, a T-shirt and a biker leather cap.
But hey, it's all good. They're there supporting the arts and that's a good thing.

The evening's performance was three separate pieces under the title "Jewels".
We saw these before about two years ago, and they are more in the classical style with very colorful outfits and different styles of dance to differentiate the pieces.

First up was:


This was a rather slow piece, with light music and very smooth movements.
It's a nice beginning to the set as it moves freely but not distractingly.
Here's principle dancer Louise Nadeau talking about "Emeralds";


We had an intermission after that, and Hotness and I both discovered how hungry we were.
We hadn't really eaten that much during the day and now our tummies were starting to grumble.
We wanted to see the second piece, so we decided to watch it and then decide if we'd stick around for the third piece.

The second dance was:

This is a huge break from the earlier piece.
The movements and sharp and jarring, and very deliberate. Coupled with music by Igor Stravinsky and you get a very different visual experience.
The reason we wanted to stay for this was that our two favorite dancers were performing in it and they are fantastic.

Ariana Lallone is to ballet what Wonder Woman is to comics. Beautiful, graceful and a force to be reckoned with on that stage. She is amazing and has been our favorite performer in all the years we've been attending the ballet.
Jonathan Porretta is somebody you have to see to believe. He moves and whips around on stage like a dervish without ever missing a beat. And he does it with a smile on his face every time.
Here is Jonathan talking about his role in "Rubies":


The final piece was:

There was an intermission between "Rubies" and "Diamonds" but hunger was taking over and to quite honest, after watching Ariana and Jonathan we were quite satisfied and ready to go home.

So we didn't stick around for this piece.

We originally planned on going to Pomodoro for something to eat, but Hotness wanted to find someplace a little closer to home.
So instead we went to Matt's Oyster Lounge in Redmond.
Not wanting to get too full that late at night, we split some appetizers and called it good.

After that, we came home, fed the cat and crawled into bed.
So much packed into just a day and a half and we still have all of today ahead of us.

All Tharp

Last night, Hotness and I attended the first ballet of this year's season of performances.
The night's program was titled "All Tharp" in reference to ballet and dance choreographer, Twyla Tharp, who had come up with two specially commisioned works for Pacific Northwest Ballet this year.

First up was: Opus 111
This was set to a piece of music for string quartet by Brahms, and was sort of a 'modern-classical' style. Lots of flowing movement amongst the dancers, and colorful simple costumes.
We both enjoyed this one for what it was; a simple display of grace and movement. There was no "story" behind this, so it was purely a visual treat to watch.

There was a brief intermission and then we had the next piece: Afternoon Ball
This was a complete contrast to the previous piece we just watched, in that the music was more driving and intense, the costumes were more current and the movements were very quirky and 'angular'.
Again, no real story behind this piece other than it was just a dance performed by 5 different people. However, watching it gave everyone a chance to interpret it in their own way.
As Hotness and I were talking about it afterwards, we had each percieved the performance from a different perspective.
We both really enjoyed this one and hope to see it again in future PNB seasons.

Both of these pieces were specially choreographed for Seattle's own ballet company, so nobody else in the world has seen them performed yet. They were quite a treat and highly recommended!



The last performance was one that PNB has done before: Nine Sinatra Songs
(technically, it was 8 Sinatra songs, since one of them was played twice... but who's counting, right?)
This is quite simply exactly what is sounds like. Different songs by the Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra.
They were ballet interpretations of 50's era dance-styles, each to a different song.

This was very well received the last time the company did this (back in '06) and was rewarded with thunderous applause again this year.
It's a fun piece and very much worth going to see.

The "All Tharp" performance plays through Oct. 5th in Seattle at the McCaw Hall.

Local reviews: Seattle P-I, KUOW 94.9 FM, Seattle Times
_______________________________________________

Afterwards, we met up with Elwood and his wife at Pomodoro for late night nibbles and coffee.
We hadn't been since our last ballet for the previous season (back in June).
It was fun to see them and although it didn't seem like it, we were there for about 3 hours eating and talking and just having a really nice time.

Thanks again for meeting us there you two, and it's definitely our turn next time!

All Robbins

So Seattle hadn't changed in the (less than) 24 hours since we were last there.

Everything still seemed to be in place and we were able to get to the McCaw Hall to see the evening's performance of "All Robbins", which was the season ending performance for the ballet.

I didn't know what to expect, as I couldn't recall many of the pieces we've seen over the years that were choreographed by Jerome Robbins. It turned out to be a very pleasant surprise.

The first piece was titled "Fancy Free".

The theme was about a group of three American sailors on shore leave around 1944.

As they wander about town, picking on each other and looking for a place to have a drink, they see a couple of pretty girls. Since there's three of them and only two girls, the scene turns into which two guys are going to get lucky and which one gets to be the odd man out. They dance and show off, and the girls are suitably impressed, but then they start to fight amongst each other as the girls can't decide which two guys they like best. The fight gets rowdy and the girls leave.

The three are left scratching their heads and then apologize to each other and go to have a drink when about that time another pretty girl walks by. Did they learn their lesson.....?

With music by Leonard Bernstein, it was a very upbeat and fun dance piece.

The second piece was "In The Night".

The was a dance performed by six dancers (three pairs of couples).

Each couple represented a different stage of love; tender young love, mature & balanced love, and fiery, passionate love.

Accompanied by just a pianist with selected works by Chopin, it was a very short, and moving piece.

The last piece of work by Robbins, was the showstopper.

It was titled "The Concert (or, The Perils of Everybody)".

The curtain for the stage was designed by Edward Gorey, and the ballet itself is very reminscent if his style of humor.

It's difficult to describe this and convey how much fun it was to watch, but it was truly a fantastic performance by the dancers and a delight for the eyes. If you aren't "into ballet", this could very well win you over. It was laugh-out-loud funny.

The basic premise is this; a group of people attend a concert. Everyone has their own ideas of what the music means as they're listening to it, and so each new piece brings a different vision to the stage.

There's one where a group of ballerinas are off-cue and and uncoordinated, which is a tremendously hard thing to do since their whole life is spent training to be in sync with each other.

Another one involves a guy (a cigar-chomping, sports page reading guy) fluttering about the stage as a butterfly and trying to win the affections of another pretty little butterfly, when suddenly his wife shows up.... Oops!

There were others in this piece that were equally as fun, but I don't want to give them all away.

If you've been sitting on the fence about going to the ballet, then I really recommend attending this one. It is just pure fun.

A couple of reviews from the local paper can be found here and here, if you want to see what the critics had to say and don't want to take my word for it.

Afterwards, we were feeling a bit peckish as usual, so we went to Pomodoro for some post- performance nibbles.

We just had appetizers since we didn't want to fill up and be too full that late at night.

We had the calamari:

Rock shrimp:

and Halibut ceviche:

When we were done we talked with the owners for a bit and then headed home to go to bed since

it was after 1:00 a.m.

Today will be filled with yet more laborious work outside as we try to tame the beast men have named "The Yard". (That is... as long as the rain holds off and it stays dry while we're out there)

A Midsummer's Night Dream

Saturday night Hotness and I attended the ballet to see A Midsummer's Night Dream.
We were both really looking forward to going, as this was the first ballet we attened when we first started getting season tickets, lo these many years ago, and it holds a special place in our hearts as being one of the more fun ones to see.

Unfortunately, we only stayed for the first act (of two).
It may have been a lack of sleep from the previous night on my part, I'm not quite sure.
But once the curtains rose and everything started, we just didn't feel inspired to stay and see the whole thing. It didn't seem as 'magical' to either of us this time around.
All the good parts happen during the first act, so by skipping out during intermission we weren't missing anything.

Thus being earlier in the evening than normal for a ballet night, we skipped our usual post-show meal at Pomodoro on Eastlaske and headed up north to the Comic Stop to drop in, make an appearance and show off our fancy clothes.

It was poker night at Ye Old Comic Stop, so the regular gang was there and welcomed us into the fold.
Palindrome had brought in some home-made cookies that he baked, so Hotness got her fill and was cookied-up for the night.
I browsed the racks (COMIC racks, you perverts!) while some people played poker, and others stood around talking about the upcoming ECCC and all things Jamie Bamber-related.

It was getting late by now and we were getting a bit tired so we left and headed home. This time WITHOUT the added adventure of getting stuck in the snow and having to walk home, thankfully!

--------------------
In other news:
With my recent trips coming up to Calgary Expo and the ECCC happening real soon, I've been trying to avoid everybody that's showing signs of being sick like.... well, like the plague.

I've started a regimen of vitamin C, echinacea w/ zinc, ginsing, and LOTS of tea involvolving detoxifying herbs and immunity boosters.
I'm no Slim Goodbody or anything, but I'll be SUPER-pissed if I wake up the morning before the show and I've gotten the flu.

Ballet Review

Saturday evening Hotness & I went to the ballet.
As I've mentioned before, we have season tickets so we go to whatever pieces are being offered for the season (with the exception of the Nutcracker).

This time it was another night of four separate performances under the title "Director's Choice".
No pictures to accompany this post this time, but I'll keep it short so I don't bore you.

The first performance was called "Sense Of Doubt".
It started off a bit slowly but built up momentum and my interest as the piece continued.
The costumes were very unique and I think added to the dancers moves and the music being played.
It's funny how that kind of stuff kind make a difference, but it does.

There was an intermission and then we had the second piece which was "Fur Alina".
From the program notes, this promised to be a sparse musical piece played on the piano for the dancers.
"Oh great," I thought, "Some 'plinky-plinky' piano music. This'll probably be b-o-r-i-n-g."
It actually surprised me and was quite good.
Well, the dancers were quite good anyway. The music was still rather.... eh, 'plinky-plinky'.

A brief pause and then the third piece we had was called "Vespers".
Performed by all female dancers it was meant to evoke the feeling of "urgency & restraint" (according the PNB website), like one would experience during prayers.
I thought this would be rather cool because of the way they described it, but turned out not to be all that exciting... in my opinion.
It received a very enthusiastic applause from the audience, so again, it's just my opinion. Obviously others at the performance felt differently.

Another intermission and then we had the last piece called "One Flat Thing, Repeated".
This is difficult to say whether I enjoyed it or not.
It was a very interesting piece, but I found myself asking "How does this qualify as ballet and not modern dance?"
It was very organized chaos on the stage.
In a nutshell, the dancers dragged out a bunch of tables and set them up equally spaced on the stage. (Table = 'one flat thing' / bunches of tables = 'reproduced'. See? It kinda makes sense after you've been going for a while like we have)
Then they proceeded to bend, stretch, twirl, jump and all manner of types of movement between, under, over and on top of the tables.
It was amazing to see, but as ballet... it wasn't.
And the music. Yeah, this was probably what kept me from really enjoying the piece all that much. It was very discordant and pounding with no real sense of rhythm.
If you know me, you know that I have a VERY broad sense of taste in music. There is little that I will not listen to. But this music definitely falls into the "nope, don't like it" category for me.
I guess I'm sort of a fuddy-duddy, but this just wasn't quite ballet for me.

I have to give credit to the artistic director, however.
He's taken some real chances with the Pacific NW Ballet and tried to appeal to different types of crowds.
While I don't always think that a particular performance is all that great, at least he took the chance to present it and let me make the decision. I've been quite surprised by some of the performances he's offered and each one gives me a deeper appreciation for the dancers' abilities.
We can't always have Swan Lake every year, after all.

That being said, the next performance will be "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
It's more in the classic style and is fantastic. I like it much better than the Nutcracker.
I'm telling you, if you ever want to experience a ballet AND have fun, this'll be it.

After the ballet, we went to Pompodoro for late dinner and then drove home.
Nothing spectacular to report. The food was great as always and I recommend you go there when you get a chance to.
Let me know what you think if you do. And tell them I sent you.
(They know us pretty well there. Just mention "The guy and his girlfriend who brought a bunch of people from a comic book convention". They'll know)

We tried to sleep in late the next morning, but it just didn't work.
The cat walked all over us until somebody finally got up to feed her.
Then Hotness had to go to the barn and tend to her horse while I went and played Heroclix with some friends for the day.

That's about it for the weekend.
Just pretty mellow and laid back.

Romeo et Juliette

On Groundhog's Day, Hotness and I attended the ballet in Seattle.

This performance was Romeo & Juliette with a more modern approach to the choreography by Jean-Christophe Maillot.

The sets were stipped-down in favor of showcasing the dancers' talents, rather than relying on the visual spectacle of a heavily decorated stage.

It was very impressive, but I had a hard time accepting it as a new interpretation of the classic I was used to seeing.

Don't get me wrong! It was still a stellar perfomance by the dancers, but I saw it less as "Romeo & Juliette" and viewed it more as a new piece entirely. Also, the music was different than the previous versions I've heard before.

I'm most familiar with Tchaikovsky when I think of the music, but this one was set to Prokofiev.

In fact, had it not been called Romeo & Juliette, I probably would have enjoyed it more thinking it was something new. It was just hard for me to process what I was seeing now compared to what I have seen traditionally on stage.

Afterwards, we headed over to Pomodoro for a late dinner before going back home.

This time we skipped appetizers in favor of a main dish. Hotness had veal scallopini and I had chicken in a gorganzola and pistachio creme sauce with apricots.

By the time we got back to the house, it was well after 1:00 a.m. and it was all we could do to get into bed before falling over onto the floor.

We're just not night owls like we used to be.

"Caught" on video

I found an excerpt of the dance piece, "Caught", that I mentioned earlier.

It's very brief and really doesn't give you the full visual impact of seeing it live, but at least you can get a taste of what I was talking about.

I hope you like it.



The music is by Robert Fripp.

Ballet

As I mentioned yesterday, Hotness & I attended the ballet last evening.

The performance last night consisted of four separate works under the title "Contemporary Classics", two of which were brand-new to Seattle audiences.

The first one was "AGON", a George Balanchine choreographed piece with music by Igor Stravinsky.

(pictures from PNB website)

It celebrates it's 50th year this year, so it's a popular work for ballet groups.

I enjoy all types of music, including classical, but I find Stravinsky's music too disjointed and rhythmically unbalanced to follow.

Paired with the dancing, I wasn't overwhelmed by this piece and found myself just waiting for it to be over.

Not to say the dancers weren't good, they were very good and it is a hard dance to perform. It just didn't appeal to me.

There was a brief intermission and then we watched "Kiss" followed by "Caught".

"Kiss" involves two dancers suspended by ropes attached to the ceiling and basically is an interpretation of two people being in love.

(Picture from PNB website)

"The dancers reach for each other, skimming slowly across the floor...twisting in airborne pirouettes, soaring as if reaching for heaven together." —Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times

(pictures from PNB website)

It's really a great peice, and while PNB has performed it before, this was the first time I got to see it on stage.

(The last time, I had to watch it on the monitors in the lobby.)

It's not very long, only a few minutes, but it's very moving.

After that, we had a pause and then the curtains opened again for the next piece, "Caught".

"Gravity-defying Caught created quite a stir in the dance world when it premiered in 1982. On a darkened stage, a strobe light illuminates a dancer's perfectly timed leaps, transmitting the striking perception of someone floating through the air." - from the PNB website

(pictures from PNB website)

To say that this one was good is to not give it justice. It was F***ing AWESOME!

I cannot begin to describe how impressive this one was. I tried to find a YouTube video of it, but there wasn't one to be found. It truly has to be seen to be believed!

Once the strobe lights kicked in and the dancer appeared to be "flying", you could feel the electricity in the room as the audience was stunned. Nobody could hold back their applause as he danced and seemed to float in the air.

After he was finished, he recieved a standing ovation from the audience with two curtain calls.

Only a small handful of ballet companies have been given permission to perform this, and Seattle is one of the lucky few. After the audience reaction to it last night, I'm certain we'll be seeing it again.

I can't tell you just how incredible this is, but if you can ever see this performance you will be amazed.

Another intermission and then we had the last piece for the evening, "In The Upper Room".

This was choreographed by Twyla Tharp, and is yet another impressive dance piece.

(images from the web, NOT of PNB dancers)

Off to the side was a fog-machine that filled the stage with 'smoke' and gave the dancers coming from the back the stage the illusion of appearing from out of nowhere.

(picture from the web, NOT of PNB dancers)

It was a great ending for the night's performance and we were glad we stayed for all of it.

You can read the "official review" from the local paper here.

Aftwards, we both went to Pomodoro for a late dinner and coffee.

As usual, we ordered the Calamares a la Plancha, followed by our individual entrees.

Also as usual, we were too stuffed to have dessert. The food is sooooo good!

I keep talking about this place, but seriously... if you're ever in Seattle you gotta go. It is everything a good restaraunt should be; cozy, friendly, intimate, and darn good food!

Our next ballet is after the New Year, which will be "Romeo & Juliet".

Lots of stuff happening in-between, so stay good!