Life In The Future

Marvel at the astounding inventions that people will have in the world of tomorrow!

A funny video about life in the year 2000 as if it were filmed back in the 50's.


(via the Presurfer)

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.

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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.....

Investments For Suckers

Remember these?

Some of my favorite lines from this clip:
Girl: "... and if the fad ever dies out..."
Boy: "Which we all know will NEVER happen!"

Woman: "... and I found him. And he's uncut...."


Here's a funny article about them as well.



Ha ha ha!!!
Good thing I'm investing in comic books. I'll never have to worry about losing money on them. They're a sure bet to my financial future!

" I Thought These Things Smelled Bad On The Outside"

Hey!

Remember this little nugget of joy from ThinkGeek back on April 1st?

It was only a joke, but a very well-received one. So much so that some folks were going to to even try and make their own 'cause they thought it was so cool.

But check out this:

Tiny frozen Luke inside a dead Tauntaun as a craft project.

(more pictures here)

It's for an art gallery showing at the Bear and Bird Boutique in Florida this coming July.

The showing is called "Stitch Wars" and according to the site's description, it's a "group art exhibition featuring amazing handmade goods inspired by the most fabulous space opera ever made".

I'm sold. Who wants to vacation in Florida during mid-July through August? (Wait... Summer in Florida? On second thought, I'll pass)

(via Super Punch a few days ago)

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But wait! That's not all!

As if that wasn't enough geektacular news for you, check out this custom Nintendo Wii.

The case has been modified into a Metroid Wii:

(Lots of different pictures of it here)

(also via Super Punch)

Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus Update

On a whim I checked to see if Amazon.com had gotten more copies of the movie in.

They now list it as available for pre-order, instead of sold-out.

So I pre-ordered it.

It should be released on next Tuesday (05/26/09) and I should have it in my stinky, sweaty hands about a week later. (I opted for free shipping, so they'll take their time getting it out to me).

Whenever ya'll are ready for a triple-feature weekend of:

Machine Girl

Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus

and

Calamari Wrestler

... you just let me know, okay?

Go On, Take The Money And Run

A New Zealand couple withdraw money and fled after the bank accidently deposits $10,000,000 NZ ($6.1 Mil U.S.) into their account.

They are believed to have left the country and Intrpol has been contacted to help in an International search for the two people.

They might also want to call Billy Mack. He's a detective down in Texas and he knows just exactly what the facts is.

He won't let those two escape justice.

He also makes his living off of the people's taxes.

I would think that both of them headed down South and are still running today.

If he hurries, he might catch 'em!