The Colts beat the Ravens. I can't believe it.
I can't see New England beating the Chargers tomorrow but if they do, it'll be another show down between the Colts and New England and it'll be in the Colts backyard.
Mmmmm...
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Monday, January 08, 2007
Misfit Utopia
I had a dream about Misfit last night. It was brief, and he basically just rubbed his head into mine like he used to do at night, but it was nice.
I have been thinking about righting a post for myself about the things he used to do so I could look back from time to time and remember. I'm taking that dream as the sign to do so. This is a post mainly for myself but feel free to read it if you like.
Misfit:
-would in the mornings stretch out his back so far he would basically fall over, then drag his back legs across the floor with his front legs about three feet to finally lay on his side all stretched out.
-when it was cool inside would sit on the hot air vent when the air was blowing with a big 'cat grin' on his face
-whenever the front windows were even an inch open would lay on his side and either push the entire screen out with his paw or claw through the screen. Sometimes he was even able to squeeze himself through and out the window.
-whenever he was able to get out would either just roll around on the cement or make a bee line to the grass to eat it. Occasionally he would take off but never too far and always ran back in the door when someone went after him.
-was so determined to get out would sometimes wait 10 or 15 feet from the door until someone opened in then charge full speed at the door. He would literally bounce off people and doors until he either found himself outside or lost his momentum.
-would sit on top of the tv cabinet and wait until the door was opened then bound outside.
-would sit on top of the tv cabinet very tall and proud like and look down on everyone like he owned the house. When I would go to pet him in this mood he would just raise his head further and get a bothered look on his face like the help was touching him.
-didn't like anything on top of the tv cabinet. He would wait until I was up and then get up there, look at me, and whack something off of the cabinet. Then he would peer down at the ground at it, look at me again, and turn away.
-he wouldn't really pur during the day, regardless of how much you pet him. Instead, at night, he would always come up to my room and get on the bed and start needing the sheets with his feet and pur away. He'd pur so much that he would start to drool. Cat drool is fricken nasty and he'd just drool and drool. Then, he'd shake his head really hard and all that crap would go all over the place. Nasty nasty stuff but I miss it.
-speaking of needing the sheets with his feet. He'd pick and spot and do that for a few minutes then walk three feet in a different direction a lay down. Most cats will need a place and then lay on it. Just weird.
-at night he would get his face up in my face and then just kinda ram his head into mine and push it along my face. Cutest thing ever.
-when he would sleep he would usually wrap up into a ball. Sometimes he would kind of fold his paws over his eyes and stretch, it was so cute!
-his entire goal in life was to get outside and eat grass. When I wouldn't let him out he would get all pissy and start to mope. Literally his head would hang down and he'd just walk around the house slowly and shoot glares at me, meowing this really low meow and beating up the other cats.
I'm sure I'll think of more and add on to this.
I have been thinking about righting a post for myself about the things he used to do so I could look back from time to time and remember. I'm taking that dream as the sign to do so. This is a post mainly for myself but feel free to read it if you like.
Misfit:
-would in the mornings stretch out his back so far he would basically fall over, then drag his back legs across the floor with his front legs about three feet to finally lay on his side all stretched out.
-when it was cool inside would sit on the hot air vent when the air was blowing with a big 'cat grin' on his face
-whenever the front windows were even an inch open would lay on his side and either push the entire screen out with his paw or claw through the screen. Sometimes he was even able to squeeze himself through and out the window.
-whenever he was able to get out would either just roll around on the cement or make a bee line to the grass to eat it. Occasionally he would take off but never too far and always ran back in the door when someone went after him.
-was so determined to get out would sometimes wait 10 or 15 feet from the door until someone opened in then charge full speed at the door. He would literally bounce off people and doors until he either found himself outside or lost his momentum.
-would sit on top of the tv cabinet and wait until the door was opened then bound outside.
-would sit on top of the tv cabinet very tall and proud like and look down on everyone like he owned the house. When I would go to pet him in this mood he would just raise his head further and get a bothered look on his face like the help was touching him.
-didn't like anything on top of the tv cabinet. He would wait until I was up and then get up there, look at me, and whack something off of the cabinet. Then he would peer down at the ground at it, look at me again, and turn away.
-he wouldn't really pur during the day, regardless of how much you pet him. Instead, at night, he would always come up to my room and get on the bed and start needing the sheets with his feet and pur away. He'd pur so much that he would start to drool. Cat drool is fricken nasty and he'd just drool and drool. Then, he'd shake his head really hard and all that crap would go all over the place. Nasty nasty stuff but I miss it.
-speaking of needing the sheets with his feet. He'd pick and spot and do that for a few minutes then walk three feet in a different direction a lay down. Most cats will need a place and then lay on it. Just weird.
-at night he would get his face up in my face and then just kinda ram his head into mine and push it along my face. Cutest thing ever.
-when he would sleep he would usually wrap up into a ball. Sometimes he would kind of fold his paws over his eyes and stretch, it was so cute!
-his entire goal in life was to get outside and eat grass. When I wouldn't let him out he would get all pissy and start to mope. Literally his head would hang down and he'd just walk around the house slowly and shoot glares at me, meowing this really low meow and beating up the other cats.
I'm sure I'll think of more and add on to this.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
The Nature of Belief
There were two other updates below, don't miss them. :)
Anyway, Bunny asked me a good question responding to my 'everything is horrible' post a few days ago that I thought deserved it's own entry. She said, and I quote:
I do, I have. In fact, I love talking to people that are very religious. Not to argue with them, but to understand where they are coming from. I find the vast majority of followers are very pleasent and are fun to talk to and I have no problem with them or their beliefs. They get a lot of strength from it and in some ways I envy that. It is very personal, very sincere and usually very private.
The one's I have problems with are the one's that feel they are superior and/or shove their faith down my throat. The evangelicals. Those are the guys that I read about and am critical of. The ones that force their morality on me and are attempting to force it on the entire country. The ones that are trying to push religion into politics. That is where my criticism comes from and who I rail against. Not religion in general, but religion that ceases to be personal and attempts to become law.
Hope that clarifies things a bit. :)
Anyway, Bunny asked me a good question responding to my 'everything is horrible' post a few days ago that I thought deserved it's own entry. She said, and I quote:
Oh and as devil's advocate: Do you also read things that encourage or positively explain religions or aspects of faith? Or is it just criticisms?
I do, I have. In fact, I love talking to people that are very religious. Not to argue with them, but to understand where they are coming from. I find the vast majority of followers are very pleasent and are fun to talk to and I have no problem with them or their beliefs. They get a lot of strength from it and in some ways I envy that. It is very personal, very sincere and usually very private.
The one's I have problems with are the one's that feel they are superior and/or shove their faith down my throat. The evangelicals. Those are the guys that I read about and am critical of. The ones that force their morality on me and are attempting to force it on the entire country. The ones that are trying to push religion into politics. That is where my criticism comes from and who I rail against. Not religion in general, but religion that ceases to be personal and attempts to become law.
Hope that clarifies things a bit. :)
Update
Phone recovered after it dried out and I finally got my car back late Friday evening. I also finally put Misfit in the ground at my mom's so that is finally all over with. However, I wasn't able to make it to Frankfest so I'm pretty disappointed about that.
You see, a friend of mine I have literally known all my life is an awesome guitarist in Richmond. Well known in the music scene there, a celebrity if you will. His day job his hanging gutters, he's been doing it for years. Well, a few weeks before Turkey Day he fell off a roof and crushed his arm. Compound fracters on both his elbow and forearm. Took three surgeries to fix it up. Luckily there was no nerve damage so he should be able to play guitar again although he'll never have full movement in that arm again.
The pisser was he had no health insurance nor workmen's comp so he is left with HUGE medical bills. So this past Friday (the 1/5/07) a bunch of local bands were having a benefit for him called Frankfest. How cool is that!? And I couldn't get down there because the shop took forever to fix the car. :(
Anyway, so there you go. At least my tire won't fall off.
You see, a friend of mine I have literally known all my life is an awesome guitarist in Richmond. Well known in the music scene there, a celebrity if you will. His day job his hanging gutters, he's been doing it for years. Well, a few weeks before Turkey Day he fell off a roof and crushed his arm. Compound fracters on both his elbow and forearm. Took three surgeries to fix it up. Luckily there was no nerve damage so he should be able to play guitar again although he'll never have full movement in that arm again.
The pisser was he had no health insurance nor workmen's comp so he is left with HUGE medical bills. So this past Friday (the 1/5/07) a bunch of local bands were having a benefit for him called Frankfest. How cool is that!? And I couldn't get down there because the shop took forever to fix the car. :(
Anyway, so there you go. At least my tire won't fall off.
Poetic Justice
Anyone that knows me knows I hate the Cowboys (NFL - Football). You also know that I like football. Football has a way of surprising you. The Cowboy/Seahawks game last night is a prime example.
Some backstory first. Early in the season the Cowboys were struggling with their quarterback. Whether to injury or desperation (I can't recall) a rookie named Tony Romo got his chance. He started lighting it up and suddenly the Cowboys were kicking ass. Very good QB, too bad he plays for Dallas.
Anyway, they manage to make it to the wild card playoff game last night against Seattle. They get the lead and it looks like they are going to win. 5 point game. The Seachickens score a touchdown but miss the 2-point coversion, so it is a one point Seattle lead (21 - 20). The cowboys get the ball and drive all the way to the 11 or so. All they need is a field goal to win the game. They throw for the in-zone on third down and the Seahawks stop them but it looks like the Cowboys got a first down on the one yard line. However, on review they didn't make it so they have to kick the field goal from 1.5 yard line. Chip shot, nothing to it. Cowboys are going to get the field goal and win the game. Here comes the poetic justic.
Romo, the savior of the Cowboys season, is the holder for the three-point kick. Has been all year and hasn't made any mistakes. The snap is made, and Romo screws it up! He fumbled the snap, makes a break for the in-zone, Seahawks tackle him. Game over! Ha ha ha! Romo screwed the Cowboys! It was FANTASTIC!
Yay Football!
Some backstory first. Early in the season the Cowboys were struggling with their quarterback. Whether to injury or desperation (I can't recall) a rookie named Tony Romo got his chance. He started lighting it up and suddenly the Cowboys were kicking ass. Very good QB, too bad he plays for Dallas.
Anyway, they manage to make it to the wild card playoff game last night against Seattle. They get the lead and it looks like they are going to win. 5 point game. The Seachickens score a touchdown but miss the 2-point coversion, so it is a one point Seattle lead (21 - 20). The cowboys get the ball and drive all the way to the 11 or so. All they need is a field goal to win the game. They throw for the in-zone on third down and the Seahawks stop them but it looks like the Cowboys got a first down on the one yard line. However, on review they didn't make it so they have to kick the field goal from 1.5 yard line. Chip shot, nothing to it. Cowboys are going to get the field goal and win the game. Here comes the poetic justic.
Romo, the savior of the Cowboys season, is the holder for the three-point kick. Has been all year and hasn't made any mistakes. The snap is made, and Romo screws it up! He fumbled the snap, makes a break for the in-zone, Seahawks tackle him. Game over! Ha ha ha! Romo screwed the Cowboys! It was FANTASTIC!
Yay Football!
Thursday, January 04, 2007
What Is Pissing Me Off Today - Part 5
Haven't done one of these for a while but I'm really fed up.
I had to get up at 9 am this morning. I know, to most of you that doesn't seem too bad but that is like 3 hours before I usually get up, plus I went to bed at 2 am so that didn't help. I had to get up that early in order to take my car to the shop because one of the ball bearings seems to be going out. I want them to check it out before I make a trip to Richmond for Frankfest (more on that later). So I figure taking it in that early would allow them to get it in early, right? Wrong! I just called them at 3:30 pm and they STILL hadn't done anything with it. Why the hell did I get up so damn early if they weren't going to do anything with it until this afternoon? That's the first thing.
After I drop the car off I go home. I'm up for a little while checking email and the like then I decide I'm going to take a nap. I go upstairs with a glass of water and my phone (in case they actually call). The cat (Mimic) likes to stick his nose in the glass and drink the water so I set my phone on top of it like I usually do when I have my phone up there (usually I leave it downstairs). Well, and I'm sure you see this coming, I f'ing knock the phone in the water and the water onto the floor. When I finally got the phone out of the glass water just gushed out of it. GUSHED I say! I dried it off best I could and took the battery out and let it dry whilst I napped. I woke up a few hours later and stuck the battery back in. Every light on the phone came on (including the light they laughably call a 'flash' for the camera) and it just vibrated. That is all it does now. I'm still hoping it'll dry out and work again but as of this moment a glass of water fried my $600 phone. Damn it.
Back to the car. Since they dicked around all day doing god knows what if they have to order a part to fix it they'll have to wait until tomorrow to order it, which means the part won't show up until next week, which'll fuck this weekend for me. I'll need to rent or borrow a car or something so I can see Margo and go to Frankfest.
You know what it is? This bad crap happens like this when I start reading critics of religion. I'm going to have to stop reading about that shit. Damn it. It's so fascinating though! Arg.
So far, this year sucks.
I had to get up at 9 am this morning. I know, to most of you that doesn't seem too bad but that is like 3 hours before I usually get up, plus I went to bed at 2 am so that didn't help. I had to get up that early in order to take my car to the shop because one of the ball bearings seems to be going out. I want them to check it out before I make a trip to Richmond for Frankfest (more on that later). So I figure taking it in that early would allow them to get it in early, right? Wrong! I just called them at 3:30 pm and they STILL hadn't done anything with it. Why the hell did I get up so damn early if they weren't going to do anything with it until this afternoon? That's the first thing.
After I drop the car off I go home. I'm up for a little while checking email and the like then I decide I'm going to take a nap. I go upstairs with a glass of water and my phone (in case they actually call). The cat (Mimic) likes to stick his nose in the glass and drink the water so I set my phone on top of it like I usually do when I have my phone up there (usually I leave it downstairs). Well, and I'm sure you see this coming, I f'ing knock the phone in the water and the water onto the floor. When I finally got the phone out of the glass water just gushed out of it. GUSHED I say! I dried it off best I could and took the battery out and let it dry whilst I napped. I woke up a few hours later and stuck the battery back in. Every light on the phone came on (including the light they laughably call a 'flash' for the camera) and it just vibrated. That is all it does now. I'm still hoping it'll dry out and work again but as of this moment a glass of water fried my $600 phone. Damn it.
Back to the car. Since they dicked around all day doing god knows what if they have to order a part to fix it they'll have to wait until tomorrow to order it, which means the part won't show up until next week, which'll fuck this weekend for me. I'll need to rent or borrow a car or something so I can see Margo and go to Frankfest.
You know what it is? This bad crap happens like this when I start reading critics of religion. I'm going to have to stop reading about that shit. Damn it. It's so fascinating though! Arg.
So far, this year sucks.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
R.I.P. Misfit
On the last day of 2006 Misfit was found dead. :(
He was my favoritest cat ever and will be sorely missed.
He was my favoritest cat ever and will be sorely missed.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Monday, December 11, 2006
Update!!!
Ok, I'm going to break this up over several posts.
First and foremost, I am now dating a wonderful woman named Margo. Her and I are a lot alike (is that a good or bad thing?) all the way to having Birthdays 26 hours from each other (I'm June 9th and she is June 10th). It's fantastic. I really click with her and things are, for the most part, very smooth and easy going. Good stuff! Totally in love! (how mushy.)
She lives northeast of Baltimore about an hour so she is about two hours from me. Totally worth the commute. :)
Second, Christmas is a coming and I need to figure out my plans. So you Hagerstownian people, what are our plans? I don't even know if you all (Kris, Ben, Jamie, Bert, Chrissy, etc) even read this thing anymore but if you do, let me know if and when you are going to be in town in the comments or email me so we can come up with a plan. It'd be cool for us all to get together again since we missed out last year.
Third, I got some stories that'll slip out over time I'm sure. They involve various things such as Haunted Forrests, camping in 17 degree weather, dropping a kid on his head (not my fault!), a close call with cat death (everyone is ok), and the Search for the Perfect X-Mas Tree. Good stuff.
Finally, anyone know where this quote comes from: 'Awesome Pink Velvety Ball of Whip Ass'? Cracks me up.
First and foremost, I am now dating a wonderful woman named Margo. Her and I are a lot alike (is that a good or bad thing?) all the way to having Birthdays 26 hours from each other (I'm June 9th and she is June 10th). It's fantastic. I really click with her and things are, for the most part, very smooth and easy going. Good stuff! Totally in love! (how mushy.)
She lives northeast of Baltimore about an hour so she is about two hours from me. Totally worth the commute. :)
Second, Christmas is a coming and I need to figure out my plans. So you Hagerstownian people, what are our plans? I don't even know if you all (Kris, Ben, Jamie, Bert, Chrissy, etc) even read this thing anymore but if you do, let me know if and when you are going to be in town in the comments or email me so we can come up with a plan. It'd be cool for us all to get together again since we missed out last year.
Third, I got some stories that'll slip out over time I'm sure. They involve various things such as Haunted Forrests, camping in 17 degree weather, dropping a kid on his head (not my fault!), a close call with cat death (everyone is ok), and the Search for the Perfect X-Mas Tree. Good stuff.
Finally, anyone know where this quote comes from: 'Awesome Pink Velvety Ball of Whip Ass'? Cracks me up.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Risk Assessment and Perception
I've talked about perception before and how I am fascinated by the way people can view the same thing in such different ways. Risk assessment is something else that I find interesting, particularly the way in which small risk items are blown SOOOO out of proportion compared to everyday risks. This is a pretty good article describing exactly that.
Big update coming when I get around to writing it. :)
Big update coming when I get around to writing it. :)
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Holy Crap
Amazing what a major shake up in the power struggle of the US Congress will do to a stubborn President. Rumsfield is stepping down.
It's so fun to watch Bush squirm on his press conference. It's like a little kid getting his lollipop stolen. He suddenly figured out that the tactics aren't working and that maybe Rumsfield isn't the person who should be in charge. It's just totally amazing how unstubborn he became!
What a jackass.
You know what it is? It's nice to see that cocky bastard humbled.
It's so fun to watch Bush squirm on his press conference. It's like a little kid getting his lollipop stolen. He suddenly figured out that the tactics aren't working and that maybe Rumsfield isn't the person who should be in charge. It's just totally amazing how unstubborn he became!
What a jackass.
You know what it is? It's nice to see that cocky bastard humbled.
Democracy Rocks
Well, Bush is going to have a BAD couple of years and it couldn't happen to a more deserving man. Not only did the Dems pick up the 15 seats they needed to take the house and thus the purse strings AND investigation power (finally), at the last count there up to almost 30 seats with 13 still undecided, and most of those leaning Dem. That is HUGE.
Additionally, they are two recounts away from taking the Senate as well and lead in both races. That is even crazier because while the House was pick-up was pretty much expected the Senate seemed pretty unlikely. Yanking boths chambers is pretty much going to shut down the Neocon experiment that has been driving the country into the ground.
The makeup of the takeover is going to be very healthy for the country. What ended up happening is a lot of the crazies that hijacked the Repubs (i.e., the religious right and neocons) were kicked out on their butts and moderate dems came in...several of whom were traditional repubs that switched parties because of how far right the repubs swung since '94. So what you end up with is a more moderate congress. Maybe finally we will get some sanity back into policy
The only downer was that Liberman won...that dudes an ass. While he is probably going to cause problems he can be mitigated as long as the dems control the dialog. The issue with that guy is he kept kissing the neocon's ass and provided 'bi-partisan' support for some of the more screwy legislation such as the torture bill and such. With the dems in control he won't even have the option to be such an ass
So, in a nutshell, regardless of if the Dems pick up the senate or not, Bush's freehand has been shut down and investigations of the more ugly things such as the energy policy and extrodinary rendition can finally be explored. Plus, we may actually start to implement some of the 9/11 Board recommendations and not just pretend to. It's going to be a good couple of years.
Just remember, Politics are a soap opera you can participate in.
Additionally, they are two recounts away from taking the Senate as well and lead in both races. That is even crazier because while the House was pick-up was pretty much expected the Senate seemed pretty unlikely. Yanking boths chambers is pretty much going to shut down the Neocon experiment that has been driving the country into the ground.
The makeup of the takeover is going to be very healthy for the country. What ended up happening is a lot of the crazies that hijacked the Repubs (i.e., the religious right and neocons) were kicked out on their butts and moderate dems came in...several of whom were traditional repubs that switched parties because of how far right the repubs swung since '94. So what you end up with is a more moderate congress. Maybe finally we will get some sanity back into policy
The only downer was that Liberman won...that dudes an ass. While he is probably going to cause problems he can be mitigated as long as the dems control the dialog. The issue with that guy is he kept kissing the neocon's ass and provided 'bi-partisan' support for some of the more screwy legislation such as the torture bill and such. With the dems in control he won't even have the option to be such an ass
So, in a nutshell, regardless of if the Dems pick up the senate or not, Bush's freehand has been shut down and investigations of the more ugly things such as the energy policy and extrodinary rendition can finally be explored. Plus, we may actually start to implement some of the 9/11 Board recommendations and not just pretend to. It's going to be a good couple of years.
Just remember, Politics are a soap opera you can participate in.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
The Day After - Part 2
The previous post was about the forrest, this one is about what I did afterwards. :)
So we all had back to the bonefire, do a group picture, and then start wonderering around to see what other kinds of trouble we can get into. The group of four I was in decided to head to Bethesda to find a bar and do some drinking. The group consisted of a Indian chick, a Pakistani chick, and an Indian dude. It was the same group I went through the forrest with.
We made our way to a bar in Bethesda that didn't card because someone forgot their license (no, it wasn't me). The cool thing about this little group was the diversity. We spent most of the night talking about travel places in southeast asia which was totally fascinating to me. Oh oh oh, and I learned something! We were talking about labels and how Indians and Pakinstaniens aren't really middle eastern or asian and they told that they are desis. And I learned that people just arriving in America are called FOB's (Fresh Off the Boat). :)
So we hung around for maybe a couple hours, enough time for a couple of drinks and some food, then headed out around 1 am because of work the next morning.
There you go. Good times.
So we all had back to the bonefire, do a group picture, and then start wonderering around to see what other kinds of trouble we can get into. The group of four I was in decided to head to Bethesda to find a bar and do some drinking. The group consisted of a Indian chick, a Pakistani chick, and an Indian dude. It was the same group I went through the forrest with.
We made our way to a bar in Bethesda that didn't card because someone forgot their license (no, it wasn't me). The cool thing about this little group was the diversity. We spent most of the night talking about travel places in southeast asia which was totally fascinating to me. Oh oh oh, and I learned something! We were talking about labels and how Indians and Pakinstaniens aren't really middle eastern or asian and they told that they are desis. And I learned that people just arriving in America are called FOB's (Fresh Off the Boat). :)
So we hung around for maybe a couple hours, enough time for a couple of drinks and some food, then headed out around 1 am because of work the next morning.
There you go. Good times.
The Day After
Ok! So I went to the Haunted Forrest last night. The place was just across the river in Maryland so I was able to hop the ferry and get there in 20 minutes. About 56 people showed and we hung outside of the entrance for about an hour while we waited for everyone to show up. Turns out about 8 more people showed up then payed so that took a while to get sorted out as well. At one point all 56 of us were lined up in a line, it felt like grade school again.
We are standing in this line, right, and we hear this screaming and two girls come running out of the forrest like they are afraid for their lives...then right behind them comes this chick dressed all in black on this big ass black arabian horse chasing them. One girl stumbled and the horse kinda pushed her with it's head. It was f'ing awesome!
Finally we have everyone together and our guide (an older dude in a zombie costume) gathers us all around. He starts by saying 'This is your last change to turn around...' and then his cell phone rings and he steps away to take the call. Classic.
He leads us in through the central area which is like a little town. They have about five big ass bonefires with a small fence around each one and benches to sit on for those waiting to be called to hang out at. Around the perimeter are concession stands, bathrooms, a zip line thing about 30 feet in the air, a rock climbing wall to get to the zip line, a haunted hay ride and some other stuff. You can see flames shooting off in the forrest and people screaming and the sound of chainsaws. Good times.
The dude leads us to a private bonefire we paid for back in the forrest a bit. There we hang out for about 10 minutes before our group is called, then we head over to the entrace. We have to split into groups of 4 or 5 to do the trail. I break off with one chick I met at an earlier event and two others I never met before.
The trail itself was pretty cool. It was about a 1/2 mile long and took about 20 minutes or so to work your way through it. It was lit by candle light in little buckets so that they would temporarily blind you and then crap would jump out at you. There was one area where they had all of these really cool pumpkins carved and I was looking real close at one and this dude jumped in front of me and scared the crap out of me. Good stuff.
The end of the train was by far the coolest. I mentioned chain saws? Well, the entire time you are walking the trail you hear these things going and people screaming. I figure there was one guy running around chasing people, right? We get up to this little house where the two trails merge (there were two trails so they could get people through faster) and there are zombies and crap following close behind you. Then out of nowhere like 3 people show up, including the dude right behind us, with real chainsaws minus the rotating blade, and start chasing you. Mass havoc! People running all over the place to get away. They heard you towards an overturned bus with a strobe light going. You make your way through that with people grabbing your legs and slamming on the side of the bus into this scene straight out of Mad Max's Thundedome. Blaringly loud death metal playing, smoke and strobe lights, people jumping out of the corners and crap falling from the ceiling. It was totally awesome.
And then it was over. Most of the trail was kinda blah but the end was fantastic. Definitely doing it again next year.
We are standing in this line, right, and we hear this screaming and two girls come running out of the forrest like they are afraid for their lives...then right behind them comes this chick dressed all in black on this big ass black arabian horse chasing them. One girl stumbled and the horse kinda pushed her with it's head. It was f'ing awesome!
Finally we have everyone together and our guide (an older dude in a zombie costume) gathers us all around. He starts by saying 'This is your last change to turn around...' and then his cell phone rings and he steps away to take the call. Classic.
He leads us in through the central area which is like a little town. They have about five big ass bonefires with a small fence around each one and benches to sit on for those waiting to be called to hang out at. Around the perimeter are concession stands, bathrooms, a zip line thing about 30 feet in the air, a rock climbing wall to get to the zip line, a haunted hay ride and some other stuff. You can see flames shooting off in the forrest and people screaming and the sound of chainsaws. Good times.
The dude leads us to a private bonefire we paid for back in the forrest a bit. There we hang out for about 10 minutes before our group is called, then we head over to the entrace. We have to split into groups of 4 or 5 to do the trail. I break off with one chick I met at an earlier event and two others I never met before.
The trail itself was pretty cool. It was about a 1/2 mile long and took about 20 minutes or so to work your way through it. It was lit by candle light in little buckets so that they would temporarily blind you and then crap would jump out at you. There was one area where they had all of these really cool pumpkins carved and I was looking real close at one and this dude jumped in front of me and scared the crap out of me. Good stuff.
The end of the train was by far the coolest. I mentioned chain saws? Well, the entire time you are walking the trail you hear these things going and people screaming. I figure there was one guy running around chasing people, right? We get up to this little house where the two trails merge (there were two trails so they could get people through faster) and there are zombies and crap following close behind you. Then out of nowhere like 3 people show up, including the dude right behind us, with real chainsaws minus the rotating blade, and start chasing you. Mass havoc! People running all over the place to get away. They heard you towards an overturned bus with a strobe light going. You make your way through that with people grabbing your legs and slamming on the side of the bus into this scene straight out of Mad Max's Thundedome. Blaringly loud death metal playing, smoke and strobe lights, people jumping out of the corners and crap falling from the ceiling. It was totally awesome.
And then it was over. Most of the trail was kinda blah but the end was fantastic. Definitely doing it again next year.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Halloween Night
What are you all doing for Halloween Night? I'm going to Markoff's Haunted Forest. There is a menu at the top with pics and such.
This thing has me amped up. You have to sign a waiver too. A WAIVER! Wee!
I'm sure I'll have a story or two after this beast.
This thing has me amped up. You have to sign a waiver too. A WAIVER! Wee!
I'm sure I'll have a story or two after this beast.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Opps
So I went to the Maryland vs FSU game yesterday with the Dad, my sister and her husband.
Here is our view:
Anyway, I knew it was going to be windy but it was in the low-60's when I headed out I just tossed on a pull-over windbreaker thing over my shirt. Well, that obviously wasn't enough because the temp dropped like a brick to the mid-40's and the wind was NUTS. So now I'm fighting a stupid cold, trying to kick it before Tuesday night's feastivities.
The game was awesome, though. The last five minutes are why I like football. It was intense. FSU is a hated team by Maryland and beating them has only happened twice in recent memory. Beating them was a BIG DEAL (tm) for us plus it made us Bowl Eligeable for the first time since 2003.
Here was the scene after the game:
Here is our view:
Anyway, I knew it was going to be windy but it was in the low-60's when I headed out I just tossed on a pull-over windbreaker thing over my shirt. Well, that obviously wasn't enough because the temp dropped like a brick to the mid-40's and the wind was NUTS. So now I'm fighting a stupid cold, trying to kick it before Tuesday night's feastivities.
The game was awesome, though. The last five minutes are why I like football. It was intense. FSU is a hated team by Maryland and beating them has only happened twice in recent memory. Beating them was a BIG DEAL (tm) for us plus it made us Bowl Eligeable for the first time since 2003.
Here was the scene after the game:
Monday, October 23, 2006
Weekend Summary
So, here we go. After spending most of the week in a social comma I went out to Happy Hour with the Ashburn Singles Meetup group at Old Dominion brewery. Maybe 15 people showed up? If you remember, the last time I went to the Happy Hour with this group I ended up in a heated discussion with a Christian gal about religion. Anyway, the first part of the night was fun. Some people thought I was from California, partly because of the white streak thing I have going on apparently.
The group split up, some people went home and some people to a different bar to see a band and then over to a different bar afterwards. This all happened around closing time of the brewery around 10 pm. Myself and four others tried the second bar to see if we could hook up with them but there was a cover and the smoke was insane, so we headed over to this big ass bar in a steakhouse instead. We were able to snag a booth.
So it was myself with these four ladies all over 38 with kids. We had some good conversation, even if it did get out of hand a bit from time to time. The funniest thing though was this waitress that was waiting on us. So I was giving her this hard time because of the music that was playing. The music was pretty good at first but it varied widly, I mean it went from Gun's and Rose's to f'ing Paris Hilton, one after the other! So she kept coming back to tell us she put different songs on for us. This prompted the ladies I was with to be convienced that the waitress girl was into me. This also prompted me to do a LOT of blushing. Fricken women.
Ok, so that was Friday night...good 8 hours of fun. Saturday was another social coma. Sunday was the last day of the Ren Faire. I went with Les and two guys I know from various Meetup groups. We spent the entire day wondering around and drinking. It was pretty cool because of the customs that were there. A lot of gay people in drag (never seen them there before) were hanging out and lot of Star Wars outfits. It was pretty cool.
Leslie, being Leslie, got flirty after the drinking and was hanging out with one of the guys we went with. Apparently they both get flirty drinking so they kept wondering off while Kevin and I were making fun of them. Well, at one point they headed over to the bathrooms and Kevin and I were delayed because we were hungry. By the time we got over there they were no where to be seen. We hung around for a bit then gave up and headed to the bar we were ultimately going to end-up at anyway. We sat around there for about 30 minutes before Jim called and asked us where we were. Leslie wasn't with him (arg). So we head over and meet him and I slap him around for not keeping an eye on Leslie. I mean, you gotta keep an eye on that girl when she's been drinking. So I ask them to stay where they are and head out to find Leslie. I was pretty sure would eventually find her way over to the bar in the middle where we were all headed anyway so that is where I went. Low and behold there she was! She was shaken up but all was good. The rest of the day was low key except for the end. Leslie and Jim wondered over to shoot arrows and Kevin and I sat in front of the Dragon's Pub or whatever that one is by the elephants and watched the belly dancers...one of whom was a guy that was just plain scary. :)
So anyway, all in all a good weekend.
The group split up, some people went home and some people to a different bar to see a band and then over to a different bar afterwards. This all happened around closing time of the brewery around 10 pm. Myself and four others tried the second bar to see if we could hook up with them but there was a cover and the smoke was insane, so we headed over to this big ass bar in a steakhouse instead. We were able to snag a booth.
So it was myself with these four ladies all over 38 with kids. We had some good conversation, even if it did get out of hand a bit from time to time. The funniest thing though was this waitress that was waiting on us. So I was giving her this hard time because of the music that was playing. The music was pretty good at first but it varied widly, I mean it went from Gun's and Rose's to f'ing Paris Hilton, one after the other! So she kept coming back to tell us she put different songs on for us. This prompted the ladies I was with to be convienced that the waitress girl was into me. This also prompted me to do a LOT of blushing. Fricken women.
Ok, so that was Friday night...good 8 hours of fun. Saturday was another social coma. Sunday was the last day of the Ren Faire. I went with Les and two guys I know from various Meetup groups. We spent the entire day wondering around and drinking. It was pretty cool because of the customs that were there. A lot of gay people in drag (never seen them there before) were hanging out and lot of Star Wars outfits. It was pretty cool.
Leslie, being Leslie, got flirty after the drinking and was hanging out with one of the guys we went with. Apparently they both get flirty drinking so they kept wondering off while Kevin and I were making fun of them. Well, at one point they headed over to the bathrooms and Kevin and I were delayed because we were hungry. By the time we got over there they were no where to be seen. We hung around for a bit then gave up and headed to the bar we were ultimately going to end-up at anyway. We sat around there for about 30 minutes before Jim called and asked us where we were. Leslie wasn't with him (arg). So we head over and meet him and I slap him around for not keeping an eye on Leslie. I mean, you gotta keep an eye on that girl when she's been drinking. So I ask them to stay where they are and head out to find Leslie. I was pretty sure would eventually find her way over to the bar in the middle where we were all headed anyway so that is where I went. Low and behold there she was! She was shaken up but all was good. The rest of the day was low key except for the end. Leslie and Jim wondered over to shoot arrows and Kevin and I sat in front of the Dragon's Pub or whatever that one is by the elephants and watched the belly dancers...one of whom was a guy that was just plain scary. :)
So anyway, all in all a good weekend.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
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