There be reviews here!

Just a regular update to let everyone know there are reviews up over at Television Zombies for the most recent episodes of Dollhouse and The Clone Wars episode 19. Also, #75 of TVZ is a listener call in show, check it out.

Also, I'm going to start posting my reviews here as well. No reason not to. I hope to drive some traffic to TVZ and I get content as well. Win/win.

To that end, here's a treat, review of episode 20 of The Clone Wars as not yet seen on TVZ. (Tantalizing!)

Review: Clone Wars 1.20 - "Innocents of Ryloth"

In "Storm Over Ryloth" we learn the Separatists have taken the twi'lek homeworld, starving the inhabitants and using them as human shields. The Separatists are using Ryloth as a droid reclamation outpost and the operation is run by Wat Tambor, a Techno Union Foreman and lead strategist. He directed Mar Tuuk's blockade as well as a tactical droid's hostage taking in a small twi'lek city.

The blockade broken by Anakin and Ahsoka, General Kenobi and Master Mace Windu begin their surface attack. However, the droid army, led by a rather egotistical tactical droid, have some major artillery in an outlying city, preventing the main Republic force from landing. The canons are surrounded by twi'lek hostages, making them impossible targets of Republic bombing. Kenobi and a few gunships full of clones set down outside the range of the canons and approach on foot. Some lead scouts find a small girl, Numa, who's been left behind. Her involvement is very reminiscent of both the first time Princess Liea met Wicket and the help Newt gave to Ridley in navigating the facility air ducts. Numa is able to lead the clones underneath the city and avoiding most of the droids. Obi-wan sneaks in and uses one of the canons to blast the others. The hostages then rise up and pull the head off the tactical droid. The Republic can now land safely and plan their assault on the Rylothian capital city.

Obi-wan even withheld offering his trademark smirking one liners. In fact, the General showed some impressive Force control during an attack by a few dozen giant, heavy shelled tick-like beasties. "The Force can have a strong impact on the weak minded," was a line he later used talking to Luke about getting past Stormtroopers, but subtle nudges in disposition are nothing compared to drawing a dozen elephant sized, heavily armored and hungry creatures into a dead end and having your clone troopers collapse the walls behind them.

In fact, "subtle" was clearly avoided in "Innocents." As with most of the show, things exist in heavy contrast to each other, likely to appeal to younger audiences. It's never in doubt who the bad guys are, but smaller things like the twi'leks being such bright ranges of colors, but their city being a drab uniform brown; the clones being so cool and calculating but inherently human versus the slapstick buffoonery of the metal and circuit droids; little Numa who weeps at the loss of her home but is unafraid of rushing head long into unknown, possibly droid infested areas.

"Innocents" has the ignoble position of being the second of three installments and as far as confrontations go, it was not as impressive as "Storm Over Ryloth." The numbers were smaller, the battles were more intimate and yet it still conveyed a sense of urgency. What's little known of the twi'lek race is that their chief export is slaves. This makes the Republic's fight on Ryloth a little deeper than what's seen on the surface. Most viewers will understand the Republic's desire to remove the Separatists from their position at the end of the famed Corellian run and return Ryloth to a Republic friendly status, but they're also freeing a people whose main purpose in the galaxy is to be slaves. It's perhaps the one subtlety this episode provided and it would have shown and even deeper understanding from the writers had they mentioned this fact.

Still, a solid episode. Well worth the four and a half green light sabers.

100 Artists Plug

Along with everything else going on, I have to remind people (and myself) that the 100 Artist Project is still going on. In fact it's seen a resurgence in the last couple weeks now that I've got some administrative help.

I'm sure all 12 of you are up and coming artists or persons of importance in the art world, so I'm going to ask you to please spread the word about the project and help get more eyes on it and hopefully more artists involved. It was a surprising success the first time around, but only because I brow beat people and was likely put on hundreds of spam lists. I'd like to get another round going and see if it can carry its momentum into future projects.

Cheers!

ABC Cancels "Life on Mars"

What is it with TV lately?

If you haven't been listening to the Television Zombies podcast, you'd be missing out on some quality debate over the life spans of, what are considered, "cult" TV shows.

Television is undergoing a weird transition where viewers are becoming more liberal with where they view programs and yet the money structure that supports these shows still relies on the numbers of eyes in front of the television when the show airs. What this means is a lot of good programming is being axed because viewers weren't watching it at 8pm on the nose.

That's an oversimplification, obviously. TV ratings have declined since the strike of '07-'08. Shows that were media darlings slipped disastrously and to fill the void networks produced the cheaper and human drama heavy reality shows - even variety and game shows made somewhat of a come back.

But what does this mean for good old fashion hour long dramas? What about sitcoms? Now that we have more choice as to what to watch, networks are being very picky about what they put up and if it doesn't get ridiculously high ratings, the show disappears in a single season, if that. Even shows with big names and major hype aren't safe. My Own Worst Enemy with Christian Slater didn't last 5 episodes. NBC's big expensive Crusoe didn't make it a full series. ABC's Pushing Daisies, arguably one of the most creative shows in the last 10 years, was canceled after two seasons, its last three episodes left unaired. And now Life On Mars is falling victim to the ratings crunch. Oddly enough, it will be allowed to finish its season and wrap up its fledgling storyline, but it's another casualty of an antiquated system.

And why is it antiquated? Digital recording has allowed viewers to tape shows and watch them at will. Network web sites have offered full episodes of shows that just aired. Online movie rentals allow you to stream entire seasons of TV shows. Yet the numbers the networks base the popularity of these shows don't factor these advances in because they aren't as ad revenue based and thus make no money for the network. This is starting to change, but we've lost a lot of good shows and will likely lose more before it's all said and done.

And what replaces these shows? When Life On Mars leaves, something will fill its spot. They'll shuffle the line ups and schedules and I'm sure there will be another Dancing With The Stars to keep us all entertained. We'll have another shallow show about rich people finding love from gold diggers or how a group of people can't find their ass on a map or live together in a disgustingly awesome house. It's pervasive, you can't avoid it and it's truly horrifying to think that the majority of people in the States watch it. People I admire for their taste in literature or film watch American Idol. People who wouldn't be caught dead listening to popular radio watch Survivor.

And why is that? What makes these rubbernecking trainwrecks of shows so popular? Because they are trainwrecks and we can't help watching them. (Well, you can't, I'm prefectedly capable of avoiding them.) But let's make something clear; the shows you see on Discovery Channel, TLC, History Channel, etc. I would not consider Reality TV. I would consider them documentaries or science programming. In fact, those shows SHOULD be called reality TV because they contain information, historical fact, useful scientific principles. An impossibly good looking blonde eating a bug or jumping off a cliff isn't real, it's hyper reality. The only real part of those shows are the people in them an that's debateable.

But the only way we'll get past this is to embrace scripted programming, even if it's one with a laugh track. The only way to tell the networks we're not idiots is to stop watching these shows. If no one tunes in, they can't possibly keep making them. Help me help America's IQ and turn off these shows that celebrate mediocrity and ineptitude. Challenge your mind to follow along with complex stories. And if all else fails, turn it off altogether and find something to read.

Carry on.

Destination Imagination - Behind the Scenes of The Seven Seahorses

First of all, Seven Seahorses is an awesome name. It evokes a certain Kirosawa quality.

Destination Imagination

So here's what LMA and Ms. A have been working on for the past couple months.

Gate Geek

I hate when this happens. You've been warned.

This weekend I caught a showing of Stargate on cable. It's one of my all time favorite movies and despite the regurgitated syndication of television shows it remains a solid science fantasy movie. Even after 15 (yup) years it still holds up a well produced film.

But there's a plot hole I never saw until just now.

For those who haven't seen it (and seriously, how can you be using a computer, the internet or breathing if you haven't) the story revolves around an unearthed piece of ancient technology that opens travel between star systems. A scientist and a group of soldiers take the first ride to a planet on the other side of the galaxy where they find a civilization much like ancient Egypt. It turns out, Ra - the sun god - was an alien. (Later in the television shows he is shown to be of a race called the Ancients. How droll.) This alien used the uncivilized humans to create an empire for himself, essentially creating civilization on Earth. This proves the scientist's theory that the pyramids were created by aliens.

Ra's slaves revolted and he fled, but he created (or planted) a stargate on Earth and then kidnapped a few thousand humans. On this new planet, Ra outlawed reading and writing to avoid another revolt, but when the scientist and soldiers show up, the slaves revolt again and this time Ra isn't able to run.

It's a neat story, but there's a problem with the technology.

The gate contains 39 symbols or chevrons. It spins around on a free wheel and uses 7 locking mechanisms to hold selected symbols in place. Once you put in the seven correct symbols, the gate opens and you can walk through it to the new location. The way it's described in the movie is problematic in that the scientist says you need seven points to plot a course through space; six for a destination and one for the starting point. There was a cover stone with six symbols on it, but the original team couldn't figure it out until the scientist came in and figured out that the symbols are all star clusters - constellations. The seventh symbol, the point of origin, was a representation of Earth.

Ok, it kind of makes sense if you're watching and aren't thinking about it too much. But I did start thinking and here's my problem.

First: Now I could be wrong on this, but I thought you only needed three "points" to plot a point in space. The intersection of the lines drawn from an X a Y and a Z intersect to give you a point. On a plane this is triangulation, so I'm assuming someone smarter than me looked up how to go about doing this in 3 dimensions. But this leads to my second problem.

You have to use spatial coordinates to plot anything. If I was using the methodology from the movie, I'd have to know six distinct coordinates, which are usually of an X, Y, and Z variety. So that's 18 numbers already, but where am I measuring FROM? On Earth we coordinate using established longitude and latitude lines, and we only need two numbers. But in space are we measuring from Earth? The Sun? The center of the universe? There's a great article on how the TARDIS from Doctor Who moves through space (and time) but I won't get into it here. Needless to say, it's starting to get dodgy because without a frame of reference, even the six points I need to use to find another point are in question. So what do I use? What happened here is whoever wrote and finalized the script wanted to use symbols. It allowed an ancient language expert to join a military venture. So the symbols were tied to star clusters and with out suspension of disbelief, we were baited and switched over the facts that coordinates equal star clusters equal symbols. Symbol one is Orion which is x28, y105 and z254.

Point the third: Even if the coordinate you used was a single star IN that constellation, that star moves. Gates (for the most part) are on planets that move around a star that move within a galaxy that hurtles through the universe. So let's assume you've rationalized the coordinates being a star cluster and that each on is represented by the cluster's dominate star, it would be like plotting a point in your backyard using moths; it'll never be the same. This led me to believe that the symbols are not coordinates at all, but an address. It seems more likely that you could use a group of symbols to find almost a postal location. The gate is there and has a dialing or mailing code so you use other gates to find it. My house doesn't move in relation to other houses in the eyes of the postal service, so sending it to 123 Main St. Austin, TX, 78701 USA will always get it to the right place, no matter how fast you and I plunge through the cosmos. So, we can equate the 7 symbols to and address. That's easier right?

Not so fast, Dr. Jackson. Here is my final point and the one that can't really be resolved. In order to travel to another place, I'm giving you six symbols, based on my location, to represent where I'm going AS WELL AS a seventh symbol representing where I am. Let me say that again using the mailing address analogy. I'm going to mail a package from Austin to Dallas. In order to know where to drive, I need an address. The address is a street number, street name, zip code, city, state, country. Six symbols, right? The seventh is my point of origin. The package is GOING to Dallas, it doesn't need to know my current location to get there, so it's 7th symbol will be "mailbox." Ok, so using the Stargate method of travel, I'd tell my package where to go by addressing it based off things only I can see from Austin (star constellations only I can see from Earth.) If I looked north toward Dallas, I'd see a couple clouds, a building, maybe a few cars. So I'd address my package, "To: Big cloud, little cloud, bank, Chevy, overpass, jogger. From: Me."

That's what Stargate is doing.

It's telling us this gate can open a wormhole to another place by giving it directions to ourselves. The star constellations only make sense if you're on Earth, if you're using them as an address and not coordinates. If you're using coordinates, it only works if you account for drift and a known center of the universe. In short, it doesn't work either way.

Not to mention the fact that if you're using the number of symbols on the wheel as a method of "dialing" a location, you'd be trying forever to figure something out. I used an online permutation calculator so I can't claim my alegebra is right, but of 39 symbols, using 6 as a subset (assuming 1 never changes as a point of origin) you have 137,231,006,679 possible destinations. They explored that in the show and alluded to the idea that there are gates almost everywhere in the universe, but at this point I think they're method for dialing is flawed.

See what happens when I get an itch on my brain like that? You were warned.

Dollhouse et al

Well folks, here it is. The long and ill awaited Joss Whedon product that most fans have given a deathclock like countdown until its demise. The pilot episode was rewritten, parts were re-shot, it was given a Friday time slot and its cast has some of the hardest names to pronounce. In the end, will the show be able to stand on its own amidst the sometimes unwarranted negative press and move toward a stable and regular offering for Fox?

Not based on this first episode.

Read the rest of this review and others as well as news and commentary at Television Zombies dot com.

Also, there's a call in episode coming up. Leave any tv-related questions you can think of at 1-888-204-9591. It's a free voicemail, so it's like leaving an anonymous comment on a web site.

The Kids

DI Painting Day
Originally uploaded by Cheryl Rollman.

So much has gone on lately that I've lost focus as to the nature of this blog: The kids.

I think because the life I live seems crazy, almost reality show like, and the one constant seems to be my kids. Their lives and the changes in their lives seem a normal contrast to the weirdness that pervades life in our house each day. Between people moving in, people dating, people visiting and friendships being made, it's easy to overlook these two little wonders. I think the last time I even mentioned them was back in August at the start of the school year.

Little Miss Austin has become a girl. She's not a tomboy or a toddler or a tween yet, she's a little girl. She likes shows with girls in them, plays video games with cooking and butterflies and loves to wear pink. Her go to accessory is a hair band and she talks about her boyfriend who's not really her boyfriend. As much as I want her to watch Star Wars and play with Lego, she'd rather dress up as a fairy princess and pretend to own a story selling ceramic nicknacks. She loves jumping on the trampoline and collecting shells.

LMA is hitting a growth spurt too. Her knees hurt in the morning and it reminds me of when I was that age how coming down the stairs was a painful exercise. She's still small for her age and when her Destination Imagination group has their meetings, you can see that she's still so small compared to her classmates. But her hair is long and her eyes are big and she does quite well in school. Her latest report card was all A's and she had pulled a few of those grades up with a little hard work and some help from the adults.

G-man is just a card. He usually runs around the house in PJs and squeals a lot at every little thing that catches his eye. He's a happy child but more and more he's picking up habits from his moody big sister. When told he can't have ANOTHER piece of cheese or a bowl of cereal 20 minutes after that bowl of oatmeal, the tears shoot out of his eyes, he cries like he's been kicked and then he runs upstairs - just like his sister. But for the most part he giggles and wants attention and just loves on you like a rambunctious koala.

He's also quite fond of computer games and has taken to them rather quickly. He knows how to play most children site games and as long as we know what he's doing, he's fine to play on his own. We don't let them play all day and after a certain time all TV and games go off, but I'd rather he play some games than watch TV.

Both children play with my Lego as well and it's wonderful to see what they make and how it relates to their personalities. LMA likes to build town things; houses, buildings, small cars, etc. G-man likes to build things with wings and guns and as many people crammed on as possible. They always defy physics too and I think they're sparklingly creative.

Both are adapting well to all the changes in our house. They are well loved, well played with and well cared for. I'm not there as much as I'd like but with three parents, they get a lot of coverage. I know they'd love to go out to eat more and go to more movies and go to themed play area eateries and that's something I feel bad about denying them mainly because of how the economy has hit everyone. We try to make up for it by doing other things like fishing and going to the parks and playgrounds and playing games at home when we can. Ms. A has her hands full with all the DI meetings, but I know the kids love having people over.

We're quite lucky that we're in the neighborhood we're in now. There are a lot of people we know and a lot of them have kids. When we move (if we move) we want to stay in the place we are because the kids, despite all we've thrown at them, seem to be adapting just fine. They are great kids and I could not imagine what would make them better or make me love them more than I already do. With all their kid hang ups and tantrums and other youthful foibles, they are perfect.

Courage Campaign

This breaks my heart, that it's come to this.


"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

I know we're all different and we all have different beliefs. I can't make anyone feel something different than what they do. It's not my job to change your faith, alter your moral polarity or convince you one way or the other. But come on, this is turning into qualifying human beings based on a biological trait and that is called bigotry and hate. The only reason I can understand how strongly people are against it is because of how strongly I feel for it. Neither are laden with reason. And thus, can they be given laws?

Big News - The Facts

Most of you may have got the phone call already so this won't come as a big deal, but for the Mr. A side of the family, there was no reason to get a call so have fun hearing about it now.

If you STILL don't know by now (and frankly, what kind of subscriber are you to not have known) Ms. A and I split up a few years ago. Since then we've dated a little but she's been primarily tethered to a woman from Louisiana - thus her blog alias is Miss LA. Clever I know, try to hold back your envy at my epithet prowess.

Last Friday, after much soul searching by Ms. A, the two decided to get married. The date is New Year's Eve of 2009 (I think, might be New Years Day 2010) and they've already started a guest list. The BGF House is all very happy for them. Ms. A spent the evening on the phone to Miss LA's parents and I was beside myself with joy because I remember having to do the same thing with her dad and it sucked. It sucked the wrought off iron. So to see her fret and shift and flit about was the high point of my day. Then Miss LA had to call Ms. A's dad and talk to him. Poor dude, this is the second time he's had to say, "Well it's ok with me, but if you do anything to her, I have guns and I'll be comin' for ya." (No kidding, he actually said something much similar to me. I think he was only 30% kidding.)

Now, this being the great state of Texas, the best thing they can hope for is a committment ceremony. Texas has a ban on gay marriage and will not recognize marriages from other states. It is sadly not singular in its policies and so the girls will have to do with a big party, a friendly minister giving them their blessings from friends and family and that's pretty much it. Oh, and a lot of booze.

The discussion of our official divorce has come up, but in light of the state's lack of recognition to same sex marriage, it's almost not worth it. We're not clinging to anything, it's more of a pragmatic approach to the situation. Divorce filings can be easy, but it impacts a lot of things we're not ready to address yet; taxes, beneficiaries, insurance. Plus, and this is the biggest thing, a divorce impacts our credit - which is shit right now anyway. Purposefully adding to the morass to me is a foolhardy gesture. It's not an excuse, it's a reality. It's a while between now and then and our plan was to shore up as much as we can on our credit, move, then possibly split. That's after I kill Count Rugan. (No? No one?)

This also doesn't affect our living arrangements. As long as my kids are in school and I'm the 2/3 majority bread winner, they will live with me. But, Ms. A takes care of them primarily as she's home during the day, so they will be with her as well. And since Miss LA and Ms. A are now engaged, they will live together. And truth be told, Ms. A is my best friend. I have other friends and acquaintances, but I've known her longer than just about anyone else. We like each other and we like each other's company. To say we HAVE to find new places to live alone just because we're not married seems archaic and counterproductive. Why get two places when you can just funnel all your resources into one home?

So, the reason for the previous post was that they had a fight Sunday and knowing Ms. A the way I do, I was fully expecting her to back out. I know her well enough to recognize the pattern and I'm frankly a bit shocked she hasn't tried to flee. It's a good sign that she's maturing and willing to both accept herself and the situation. But all is good, so that's why the hesitant post.

That's all there is to report. Carry on.

Big News

Reflections on 2008
Originally uploaded by Cheryl Rollman.

Something happened this weekend.

Stay tuned.

Reminder: Reviews Are Up

Just a quick reminder that I'm still doing recaps and reviews for Television Zombies. Fringe started this week and Star Wars: The Clone Wars has been back into its season for a few weeks now. Also coming up, I'll be doing reviews for the Joss Whedon science-action show Dollhouse (which starts February 9th.)

As always, TVZ is covering the best (and sometimes the worst) of pop and cult TV with news, reviews and weekly podcasts. Don't forget to stop by.

We're Moving!

Austin Bats
Originally uploaded by xadrian.

The BGF just got word last night that we'll be in our current abode at the Four Pines at Rollman Manor till the middle of the summer, at which point we'll be relocating. The current choices are The Single Tree Resort and Howdy Howdy Howdy Rock Garden Hotel and Casino.

On the upside, the BGF will be moving as a unit. This time we're going to try to get an extra room so that LMA and G-man have their own rooms, Ms. A and Miss LA have their own room and Your Truly and my excessively geeky trapping have our own room.

On the downside, we're moving. I don't like moving and the last time we did it I dropped a refrigerator on my leg - a hurt that still gives me problems when the cold winds blow off Lake Youraloser. But, we'll be forced to streamline, clean off detrius and unneeded materialism. Translation: We're throwing away a shit-ton of toys.

We're moving in July and were able to get a month to month lease with no raise in rent. We'll be staying in P-ville and the same school district so LMA doesn't move schools. We just need more space and while the house we're in is great and the area is great, we're just pushing saturation levels.

More to come.

Broken Yours Yet?

I didn't make any resolutions this year. I don't think I made any last year. I'm trying to make each day an improvement and to put myself under the kind of pressure as required by one day of atonement would be a debilitating mistake. It's better, in my mind, to make smaller goals that can be accomplished and that work toward a larger change than it is to pin all your self worth and motivation on to a single looming quest at the beginning of the year.

So no I didn't quit smoking.

I didn't resolve to lose more weight (though for some inexplicable reason I've lost ten pounds in a month), I didn't resolve to draw more, drink less, clean/sober/shape up, be nicer to people, be more aggressive/understanding, have more self worth and better self esteem. Nothing like that. To me 2009 will be, as sports teams like to say after a miserable season, a year of rebuilding. We have a good team and we need to give them time to play together and develop those skills.

The BGF is rumbling along as well as can be. Work is unbearable and rare for some, mind numbing but at least steady for others. Like every one else, every where else, the belts are tightening though I don't know what they'll squeeze out. The whole house has officially been sick as well. It was either Strep or a really bad case of almost Strep. G-man got it first right before NYE, and then gave it to his sister. I did my best not to get it but ended up getting it right as Ms. A and Ms. LA came back from Louisiana. Ms. LA was sick for a while. Ms. LA's sister is staying with us until UT opens again for school. We both got it and now Ms. A's got it.

The difference between when mom gets sick and anyone else gets sick is an order of magnitude. There are three (four now) adults in our house so that at any one point, the kids are being looked to, played with, scolded, feed, washed, etc. Between the lot of us, you'd think those not feeling well could take some time to rest. It doesn't happen like that. Even before the advent of the BGF, when Ms. A was sick, she didn't get down time no matter what I did to help. The only thing I could have done better was to have taken the kids to another city for three days. I don't get sick that often but when I do I'm a worthless slug and Ms. A pulls double duty. When she's sick, for whatever reason, she can't get a break to recover.

So this time, even though I was with a sore throat, I felt fine. Good enough that I didn't feel the need to couch and watch Price Is Right for a few days. I had to take off work because I was likely contageous, and one night I had a hard time sleeping, but it's nothing like when Ms. gets sick. She's out of commission for days but still feels the need to clean or do laundry. She and Ms. LA are both home today and I hope Ms. LA is there to tell her to sit down and shut up and get better. I can't while I'm at work.

Carry on.

New Year, New Things

Republic Y-Wing
Originally uploaded by xadrian.

So this is what I've been doing with my time. I had a few drawing commissions that needed to be done, but for the most part, I've been building this.

For those that don't recognize this, or think it only looks vaguely familiar, this is a Republic Y-Wing as seen in the cartoon network show Star Wars: The Clone Wars. If you recall the Y-Wings from the first movie, they were old clunkers, fighter bombers passed their prime but rebuilt over and over again by the Rebel Alliance.

What we see in The Clone Wars are the brand new Y-Wings, new to the Republic and flown by squadrons of clone pilots and at one point Anakin Skywalker. The changes from the old to new is one of style, mostly. Whereas the more recent ships are a hodge-podge of exposed engine works, reduced engine sizes and a removal of the manned turret, the original starfighter was sleek, fully paneled and the turret was manned.

This was also a side bet with a flickr contact, RocketSeason. I was already in the planning stages, having almost finished my Nebulon Ranger, and the episode of the Clone Wars with these ships had just aired. I wanted to build one so I started looking online for images. I found RocketSeason's Flickr account because he had posted a few images from the show. We' made a friendly bet to see who got done first, I figured he's kick my ass as this is my second ever MOC (my own creation.) However he ran out of the right type of pieces, which I was close to doing. I had to disassemble my Tantive IV model to get the pieces needed for the engine pylons and I went through most of my yellow pieces getting the striping right.

It's an ungainly model. The pylons were a problem to figure out how to attach to the fuselage. At first I had a whole design using rods and interior attachments but in the end it's just attached with a couple 90° arch plates and could fall apart any second. It also doesn't line up right and you can see where the pylons are pulling away. I had to keep it all as light as possible, learning lessons from my last model. But I'm very proud of how it turned out. I need to clean up some areas of the underside and the rear landing gear and the back where the fuselage fades out.

It measures 36 1/2" long and 16" wide and weighs ~4.5lbs. It's easily as big as the official LEGO UCS sets and I won't know until I take it apart, but I'd guess it's roughly 1,000-1,200 pieces. Before anyone asks, no it's too big for me to spend the time making instructions. Plus there's a lot that doesn't fit very well and I'd rather not have people know that I "cheated" a bit.

Other than that, not much going on. Most of the BGF has been in Louisiana so while I've had close to two weeks off, I've spent close to half of that by myself. Well, myself and the kids. I met an old friend from college this last weekend and it was really good to see him. We were best friends in college and did a lot of theater together, liked the same music, played basketball and just generally liked each other's company. When I moved to Texas, it was quick and I don't think a lot of people knew what happened. He was one of them. So over a couple of beers and sandwiches at Central Market while the kids played on the playground, we caught up and it was quite nice. It felt like no time had passed and at the same time I knew that he was only visiting and that the next time we'd talk it would likely be another decade. It's bittersweet, but the realities of time and distance between friends.

I hope everyone had a good holiday season. We all had a lot of time off and relaxed. There was much eating, watching TV, playing Rock Band and a bit of travel to meet family. I'm not terribly excited about 2009 either way. I've developed a very Zen attitude toward life and I will take what life gives me and either use it or ignore it. There are a few things I'm concerned about that will likely shake out in the next few months, but you can't worry about these things until they present themselves to you.

Our house is still happy and vibrant and full of life. It's as much a curse as it is a blessing. This time the girls have been away was peaceful. I was able to watch all three Lord of the Rings movies, draw a few pictures, build a LEGO ship and watch a little football and hockey. It wasn't totally fun and loneliness began creeping in late last night. It'll be good to get the rest of the family back.

I hope 2009 is good to you. The next few years are going to be interesting on every level and I dearly wish for everyone to be able to cope with the changes that are so likely to occur as to require instruction manuals.

Carry on.

Jingle Jangle Mayhem

Card
Originally uploaded by xadrian.

I hope everyone who's celebrated a winter festival or holiday thus far has had a happy and rich time with your friends and family. I hope those celebrating later events are likewise blessed with a plethora of good will and good tidings.

The cast and crew of The Real Life: Pflugerville is doing fairly well. It wouldn't be as exciting without the daily, some times hourly drama we all endure whether it be jobs, family, friends, relationships, children, money, health or ghosts. In fact, if you feel you're in a rut and need something new, I'll have the house mates at the Four Pines carve a spot out for you and you can come hang for a while. I guaranty that inside of a week, you'll have either found peace, the bottom of a few bottles or the inside of a padded cell...or if you're lucky, all three. (That's what we call Tuesday.)

I read back to the beginning of the year to see what I was worried about back then. It's hard to say what kind of year it's been by doing such a retrospective. On the one hand, if your concerns seem trifling it was probably a hard year and you may be surprised you survived at all. On the other hand, it could have seemed like a walk in the park and you may look back fondly as the year you made it, or the year you righted the ship. 2008 was a roller coaster of a year. I always seem to be saying I'm glad the year is over, but in truth it's just an arbitrary number of days and what has happened in the last few months will carry over into 2009. Strife, happiness and reconstruction don't care about seasons or the calendar. The best this time of year can offer is a respite and a chance to take a deep breath before putting your head back under water. That's why we force the cheer and gifts and food and songs, it's like a panicked realization that school's going to start again, that your vacation is short lived, that the pause life seems to take is about to disappear.

That's of course a secular point of view. Even as a non-practicing Catholic I can appreciate the humanity surrounding the end of the year, the desire to start clean, the push through till Spring, the ensconcing oneself in the love of family. Americans may have turned the ancient Pagan holiday into a commercial racket couched in the love for the birth of the messiah du jour, but Yuletide blessings aside, we can all appreciate the changing of the leaves, the start of spring and the warming of our faces and hands. Depending on what you believe, spring came and went and the winters were harsh for 6000x as many years as the central Christian figure has been part of Christmas. The candle oil may have lasted eight days, but humanity has been trying to keep fires lit for much longer. The cycle of light and dark is ingrained on our minds at a genetic level.

So when you see someone who says, "Merry Christmas" or at the most benign, "Happy Holidays," please try to remember that they are just people reaching out into the cold winds and ice of winter wanted to share the cold in order to warm it. Challenging their beliefs isn't going to make your presents any richer, your hot chocolate any warmer or your family any less the drunk idiots. And no one is wishing you a random-holiday-greeting because they want you on their team next Sunday or think you've been overlooked for greatness, they're just hoping you as a human being are safe, happy and want for not.

I'm on about two hours sleep as I write this. That's another experience you should try, get no sleep and then write. I ended up erasing paragraphs about football and planetary exploration and Hollywood's shortcomings. What's here is the most lucid bits I could save. If this is any indication on how 2009 will play out...

...I can't fucking wait.

Happy Holidays, Y'all!

She blinded me...with SCIENCE!

Ms. A's aunt had a stroke last Friday. She's in her sixties and has Alzheimer's (don't know how far along) so this was rather devastating. She's a very sweet little lady, likes mumbling jokes to herself and apparently like's flipping Ms. A the bird.

Ms. A and her mom drove out to see her and see what they could do, if anything, to help. (A side trip to a haunted state hospital in a place called Yorktown will have to be told by Ms. A later. Look for it in her new book, Ah, Fuck I'm Crazy.) When they got there, she was in and out of sleep and remembering who was there. Very average affects of the stroke were evident such as slurred speech, and the loss of movement in her right arm and leg. She wasn't eating much.

It was sad for Ms. A and her mom, as it would be for anyone.

So they went out again the next day and I'd mentioned to Ms. A that it was good that it was a left brain stroke, those tend to recover quicker and easier than right brain strokes. I don't know why, I can't remember - something about the right emotional/egocentric brain prohibiting awareness of what it considers a lost limb. I also knew that most recovery from a stroke comes in the first few days if not hours. While she was there we shared text messages because voice service was spotty. She asked if there was anything they could to help her, any therapy they could suggest to the doctors.

Maybe I should stop and say why she kept asking me questions. Over the summer a coworker had lent me two books. Both were about neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to change the way its mapped) and while both focused on different aspects of the cause of remapping or the attempted behavioral therapy that could be applied, both were solid on the premise that the mind does have a measure of control over the physical landscape of the brain. Volition can cause change in the pathways of your brain, concentration and applied will can cause new pathways to be formed even around damaged areas. It also isn't the age of the person that limits this malleability. Rote and the right methods can enable anyone to overcome a trauma - if you can learn something new, you are altering your cortical mapping.

I know, blah blah blah. So after she asked if there was anything they could do on their own, I suggested something I remembered about the use of mirrors. I have to say now that it wasn't even a stroke patient I'd read about, but an amputee. The Phantoms in the Brain book had studies where patients with phantom limb would have severe pain from a clenched fist in their non-existent hand. Being unable to send a motor relay to that hand, the sensory receptors were constantly firing saying the fist was clenched. They still don't know why it happens; areas around the "closed off" part of the brain trying to exert control, nerve endings damaged in the trauma stuck in a state of pain, etc. But an experimental procedure was to take a mirror and situate it in front of the patient and then ask them to move both arms. The trick is the person sees their good arm move and its reflection looks like the other arm. The brain understands it's sending a signal to the arm, the eyes confirm that and thus the brain thinks there's a working arm. What this did was to allow the patient to clench his fist and then release it and the phantom painful clench disappeared. (It came back after a while, but successive sessions allowed him to control the pain and eventually it was gone.)

So, I suggested finding a mirror and putting in front of her and tell her to move both arms. She'll see "both" arms move, the brain is tricked into thinking that arm moves and is able to re-map that area accordingly. The biggest issue you run into with trying to recover motion from a stroke is the patient's understanding of their body image. If they logically think they have no control over their arm, it takes a monstrous amount of will to overcome that. The brain is a stubborn bastard.

However, I think what they did in the hospital room was backwards from what I had envisioned. (The danger of 140 character physical therapy.) I had thought if you put the mirror so the person saw their good arm and its reflection, that if you said to lift both arms and you see both arms move, that's where the trickery comes from. However, they blocked off her good arm and made two bad arms. Then placed objects in front of her and told her to grab them. She tried to use her left arm and they kept holding it down, but seeing the reflection of her left arm and the comprehension that THAT arm should work, she was able to start moving her right arm. By the time they left, she could slide pennies around on the table tray, pick them up, point her toes, move her feet, flap her wings and flip Ms. A off.

She said it gave her hope that she'd get back to how she was. She was so excited and worked up that the nurse came in to check her heart monitor, thinking she was either having problems or the battery on the machine was going out. When she saw what was going on, she said to limit it to just a few minutes at a time so she can rest.

It made me feel good that I'd read these books. I enjoyed them so much but have had to sheepishly cast down my eyes and shuffle my feet while getting blank stares from people . I might as well be saying I like the feel of pudding on my skin but only when someone reads Russian poetry to me in the dark. It's weird and nerdy but dammit I like learning and how often does this happen where you read something for fun and it ends up helping someone.

While I was reading them, a coworker was telling me about her husband and his dyslexia and I'd suggested looking up some behavioral therapy. There have been cases where they take children with the disorder and slow down every day speech. Dyslexia isn't your brain's inability to see correctly, it's a hearing problem. At some point during infancy, when your brain is sorting new sights and sounds, if there's any hearing problem (early ear infections for example) there could be a problem in hearing what speech sounds like. Sounds come in packets, let's say 2-3ms long. It's how you learn to talk, you hear a sound and repeat it. When you get the hang of it, it's a solid pathway and you don't have to think so hard about it. When there's damage to this pathway, shorter sounds are lost. If your brain can only handle sounds greater than 5ms, you lose shorter sounds such as quick consonants. Since you can't hear the sounds, you don't have a frame of reference when that sound is applied to a visual symbol; letters. The word may be C-A-T, but all you hear is "at." Your brain does its best (being the stubborn bastard it is) to fill in the gap with like-sounding letters or even create its own.

They've been able to successfully treat this (I think something bug-fuck crazy like 90% of the time) by playing slowed recordings. The pitch is the same, but the recording has been stretched so patients finally can hear the sounds they may not have heard before. Pairing these new sounds with their corresponding symbols, helps the brain remap and inside of a couple months, the dyslexia is diminished if not cured. Isn't that freakin' awesome? Come on! After all you've heard about medical advances with surgeries and drugs and lengthy psychoanalytical therapies, isn't it great to know how simple some of these treatments are? Who knows how long Ms. A's aunt could have gone without being able to regain her hand. It could have recovered on its own, or she could have sat with a useless arm for the rest of her life. I think it's great we were able to help her.

I'm not letting this go to my head. I was glad to help, but I realize I'm just a messenger. I didn't do the treatment. I didn't go to medical school and become a neurophysiologist. I didn't write the books. I'm also not condoning applying everything you read to your own problems, especially if they are possibly life-threatening. I still feel bad that her heart rate and blood pressure went up - adding a coronary to the list would have been a tragedy. But what I do recommend, and none too highly, is to read. There's a brilliant world out there in which people are discovering new things every minute. Every once in a while you should put down the mysteries or romance or fantasy novels and read something scientific just to mix it up. A closed mind is an empty one.

Besides, you'll never know if what you learn could help make someone's life better.

Cheers.

The War On...Atheism?

As per usual, it's that time of year when I start getting all jittery and mouth-frothing at the complete lack of decency we sometimes show our fellow human beings. In this, the nexus of cross creed winter celebrations, it just absolutely snows me that after all this time we can still be so closed-minded.

The debate is, the state capital building in Olympia, WA had an Atheist sign up saying there are no gods or angels or demons and at this time of year remember that religion is bad. Someone stole it, a few days later it shows up. Now the pundits are all over this as part of their War on Christmas and I'm frankly a little tired of it. We've gone from subverting a spiritual time of year into a commercial enterprise, to turning that commercial enterprise into beltway, cable news talking points. Doesn't anyone want to just drink egg nog, sleep in and play with toys? Doesn't anyone want to ensconce themselves in the warmth of family and friendship, a few tokens of thankfulness and sing about the promise of spring? There are so many things to like about this time of year that I have a hard time understanding why people get so enraged.

Plus, let's be honest. Pagan does not equal Atheist. Atheist is literally someone who has no belief system that involves gods or goddesses. They are not Pagans. Pagans have all sorts of gods and goddesses. They have two big ones in fact. Solstice to a Pagan is the returning of the Sun King born from the Goddess. Is that something an Atheist is going to get behind? "Sorry, no gods for me thanks. Accept those green ones over there, yeah those. With the antlers."

This belies a larger point that we've become a collection of squabbling rodents, too focused on what's in our hands to realize that we're failing at being a sentient race - maybe the only one. Is it really so hard to look someone in the face and just be amazed at how different they are and how wonderful that is? Is it so hard to know that for every worry, idea, sorrow, joy or pain you've felt, that the very next person you see has had the same feelings? And that every person they see does too. And every one they see and so on until you understand that there is not one person on this Earth that does not at some point feel pain, sadness, loneliness, companionship or appreciation? What kind of existence must it be to look at your neighbor or coworker or random stranger and just be appalled at how much they aren't like you. We need to go back to the old definition of strange, that of remarkable, unusual, extraordinary or curious and worry less about unfamiliar and unaccustomed. Different is exciting. Different is new and fun. If we as a species feared the new so much, we'd have never left the caves, taken the boats across the seas, strapped ourselves to a bomb and shot it into space. Different is what makes us human.

Different is the reason we fight wars, and burn people alive, and slaughter millions. So it's not perfect, but can you imagine a life without it?

So the next time you feel the urge to turn your nose up because someone doesn't believe in Jesus, the next time you want to turn your back on a person because they haven't read the same books as you, the next time you want to rail against a petty issue involving decorations, try doing the exact opposite and see how it makes you feel. Listen to them, ask questions and try to understand their point of view. You don't have to believe it yourself, but if both of you stop and understand each other, you won't have to fight over a sign in a building.

Ciao.

Music Awakening

Ok kids, twitter/tiny url/porn snafu notwithstanding, we have a Facebook group for our CD exchange club.

Music Awakening

I'll be the first to admit, I'm not a music buff, but I love singing along to good tunes. This will be a good experience for me at the very least, and I hope you find it interesting as well.

We're still sorting things out, but if you want to be involved, either drop me a line and I'll get you added (somehow) or send a message to jennie_z on facebook.

Happy Friday!

CD Exchange Club

An online friend has suggested doing a good ol' fashioned CD exchange, tentatively called the Music Awakening. Remember making mix tapes for people back in the day? That's the idea only with CDs.

Yes with sites like Slacker and Pandora you can get a mix of music on demand, but unless you're crafty, you can't play them in your car or keep them once you hear them. Plus, I like seeing what people put together, it gives a little insight into them as a person. And if you're lucky they'll dress it up with cover art and inserts and lyrics. At the very least you'll get some new music.

We're not sure how to handle it yet, maybe a monthly theme or just a monthly track list and anyone who messages you can ask for a copy. Or maybe a monthly or bi-weekly pairing where two people just trade mixes.

It's still in the works, but if you're interested, come find me on twitter...

http://twitter.com/xadrian

Or the fab dame who started the idea...

http://twitter.com/jennie_z

Cheers!

Long Weekend

Hebert Family Rock Band
Originally uploaded by Cheryl Rollman.

I left work at around 1pm on Wednesday. I started drinking at 2pm. I didn't get drunk until last night at about 1am.

Now, I'm not saying I spent the Thanksgiving weekend with my veins hooked directly into a brewer's vat, but knowing we were going to have guests, we did spend quite a bit on various beers, wines and liquors. (Pronounced lic OOO rs.) Yet for some inexplicable reason, it wasn't until last night that the effects finally either caught up or my body decided it was done trying to fight it.

So what you see here is what we did all weekend. Ms. NOLA's family was in town and the Friday after Dia de los Gobble Gobble they came over for a few hours of TexMex breakfast tacos, Rock Band and a few card games. It was a brief visit but I gathered that they are fine folk and seemed very genuine and entertaining.

The weekend was capped by some flagged football, a viewing of Wall*E and a marathon of video game fake band-ness. RB2 comes out for the Wii in a couple weeks and I'm fairly excited as the songs we currently have are becoming annoying. I can only play "Say It Ain't So" a few million times before I lose the taste for all things tonal. The good news is, the RB2 Wii version will allow downloads so we can keep the library fresh. Ms. A found a new love for the game this weekend and made sure everyone within 100 yards knew it whether they wanted to or not.

Good times.

So it's back to work for a few weeks until another bit of time off for the Yuletide celebrations. I have a few drawings to get done too, start actually. See, I packed away most of my drawing stuff when I brought out the LEGO, so it's not like I can just quickly roll out a bunch of drawings. First thing's first, have to get X-mas cards done. I seem to start later and later each year, though last time I didn't get it done till the 12th. Let's see if I can beat that. If you'd like a card, let me know via the electronic mailing transit exchange links and I'll make sure to send one off through ye olde fashion postal service.

No I didn't go to Target to get that Star Destroyer...and now I hate myself a little.

Cheers!

Thankful

Black and White Walls
Originally uploaded by Cheryl Rollman.

So much of our lives are spent worrying about the future, over things which we have no control, over people who have their own minds and their own actions. You need to stop as often as possible and gather up all the small wonders in your life and let the smells bring back memories and the sunbeams warm your nap. You need to carry your loved ones in your pocket and always take a lot of pictures.

My life and the life of my family has changed over the years - it changed recently to something nearly unheard of. Through it all I was always able to walk up these stairs and see these faces and remember what it's liked to love and be loved, what it's like to know you have a home no matter where you live and no matter what happens there are people who care about you and want you to be happy.

So it is on this Thanksgiving Eve that I think about the things in my life that really matter and for which I truly grateful. It's been a unique year punctuated by world crisis, American hope and individual struggle. As the end of each year approaches, the mantra always becomes, "Next year will be better." But don't forget the good parts of the year, the good parts of your life. Don't forget that time you found $5 in your old jacket when you needed some gas until pay day. Don't forget that convenience store clerk who always rounds up your change. Don't forget the new friends you made while completing a task you didn't want to do in the beginning.

It's easy to forget the Good Samaritans, the generous, the caring, the nice. It's easy to remember the mean, the cold and the nefarious. All the talk from the neighborhood gossip to the political theater rarely bring up the joyful and kind nature that humans posses. So take this Thanksgiving, give thanks to something new. Parents, we know you're thankful for your kids, be thankful for their teachers and daycare workers. People with jobs, be thankful not that you have a job, but that your boss and his boss and his boss, in this climate, are still paying you and hopefully being decent people. Don't be thankful for the food you're about to eat, be thankful to the people who grew that food, shipped it, packaged it and run the stores from which you bought it.

Mankind needs to stop every once in a while and look at the pictures in its hallway and remember how it got where it is now. We're a violent, warring people by instinct. But if we stop and show others that we're thankful to be included in this world, maybe they'll stop and be thankful for us too.

Happy Thanksgiving.

TVZ Reviews: Fringe

The FBI running an operation against a dock warehouse. A freight truck appears (and looks to be steaming or covered in dust) and the FBI jump it, pull the drivers out and open the back to see a bunch of stuffed pandas. The head agent, Agent Loeb reports to Broyles saying they made a switch. Loeb shows Broyles a file on a Joseph Smith. During the debriefing, the Loeb starts convulsing and is taken to the hospital. The ER team takes paddles to him them opens him up. His heart starts beating normally as they crack and spread and the ER doctors all freeze stupefied as we see inside the chest cavity to what appears to be a toothed, gray growth around the heart.

For the rest, visit www.televisionzombies.com

Like A Kid Again

Nebulon Ranger
Originally uploaded by xadrian.

...only with bigger toys.

For the last few months I've been pulling my old LEGO from the garage, dusting them off (literally, with a toothbrush) and doing all manner of playing, building, sorting, dismantling and generally messing up my room. I finally broke down all the Star Wars sets and had them sorted in a moderately convenient fashion. No sooner did I finish putting the last single 1x1 rounded plate into its bin did I start building a model I've been wanting to do for years. In fact, I'd begun even before all the bits were sorted completely - I'd find pieces I thought I could use and set them aside for later, I'd pull out all the browns I had because I knew it was an uncommon color.

The ship I wanted to build was seen in a Dark Horse Comic series called Tales of the Jedi. It was one of the better Star Wars stories and sadly one of the ones not to get much interest outside of the comic. There was no giant media push, no associated video game or novel or cartoon. My guess is because it was dark, deep and decidedly not cute. I owned the books for a long time but after a few times moving I decided to thin out what few comics I had and thus they were sold to a local shop. Figuring I could use the internet to find images of the ship, these are the two I was able to find.

I thought I had a long road ahead of me. The comic image is decent enough but is full of "comic detail;" the quick pen strokes that fudge the construction bits. (Not their fault.) And the schematic, while useful, had nothing indicating scale and only had the front and left side. I was really concerned my take on this ship wouldn't be as true to the design as I'd have liked and I really wanted to make my first MOC (my own creation) a success. So I was really lucky when I finally stumbled on to this. It was a godsend. I couldn't believe I'd found someone who'd made a model of this and shot it from so many angles. Finding this really energized me and while the shots weren't very detailed, they were good enough to give me an idea of how this needed to be built. (A good example, from the schematics, can YOU tell there are six engines? I couldn't.)

With the project revitalized, I set about getting it built. I realize now I should have taken some progress shots, but what are you gonna do. The next step was to determine size. I wanted to make it minifig scale (for the layperson - minifigs are the LEGO figures) but there were only the Wookieepedia references to length and weight. Given a minifig is 1.5" and a normal human is roughly 1.7m, you can get a basic 1inch=1meter ratio. Meaning this sucker was going to be two and a half feet long and that big ass wing was going to be almost four feet.

I wasn't going to have enough brown.

So I made do with a lot of light and dark gray and did a lot of internal construction with other colors. I started like I do every ship I've ever built by building around the pilot. I was trying to keep it simple, knowing I could always go back and add any greebles I'd want later. (Greebles - small bit of detailing to break up the surface and add visual interest.) But the more I built, the bigger it got and soon I was outside the realm of manageable model to giant UCS (ultimate collector series) sized model. And it was getting unwieldy - the wing itself was so heavy that I had to work on ways to reinforce it to keep it from just separating and falling off. If I were to do it all over, I'd build a different frame first, something that had all it's support based off that huge friggin wing. As it is, I'm fairly certain while the ship sits up on a shelf in the library that it's going to come crashing down and I'm going to lose a ton of parts. (I should move that tonight.)

So I finished this weekend and it came in at roughly 18" long, 36" tall and weighing about 4.5lbs. I'm very proud of it but I'm a little worried that I don't have anywhere to go after this. It's a big model and an obscure ship that (as far as I can tell) no one has built out of LEGO before. What's left to do? More of the same ships over and over again? I have a few ideas for things to build so I'll leave this bad boy together for a while then it'll be time to tear it all apart and start something new.

So this brings up two things I wanted to mention in closing. One, if you find any garage sales or online deals with LEGO sets, please let me know. I still plan on trying to get all the Star Wars sets as well as some older space sets, but now it's more for parts than to have a collection. I might get a few in boxes to hang on to. And two, if you have or know where to find cheap (see: free) storage bins, drop me a line. I still have half of my sets to break down but I'm out of bins and most of the parts are in Ziploc bags.

So, that's what I've been doing lately. You?

Remember, remember, the 5th of November.

No I don't plan on blowing up anything with gunpowder, but apparently there's enough emotion in a phone center to blow the doors off. Ms. A volunteered at the Travis County Obama election HQ to make phone calls to get out the vote. Here's her story.

* * *

Last night was one of the most perfect nights I've ever seen. I spent the entire day at the Obama Austin Headquarters downtown volunteering. I called Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Nevada and Alaska. I made over 800 phone calls (on my cell phone) reminding people to vote and telling them where their polling place was. They brought food and drinks and snacks in all day long. I met Lucy Baines Johnson after she spoke to the crowd giving words of encouragement. I shook her hand after she handed out water to those of us that needed to wet our lips a little and right before she got on the phones herself. She said that helping with Obama's campaign was the equivalent of working on her dad's campaign. She said she couldn't think of a better thing to do with her time yesterday. I couldn't think of a better thing to do with mine either. There were about 250 of us there at that time.

I drank over 7 bottles of water. My lips were still chapped and my voice was hoarse.

I had to recharge my phone three times yesterday. 800 phone calls is a lot! Thank goodness for free long distance.

Old people in Pennsylvania can be exceptionally mean. Let me tell you, MEAN. I was cussed out by a 97 year old woman named Estelle. Not even kidding.

At five thirty, Ben picked me up, we grabbed a quick beer downtown and watched the first few returns come in. Then we sped home and I grabbed a quick shower and went back downtown. I got back to the headquarters at 7:30 and got back on the phones, calling Nevada. They were MUCH nicer. I called Nevada until five minutes before their polls closed and then moved on to Alaska, interrupting the calls only to scream and cry when they announced Ohio. The roof nearly came off when Ohio was announced.

There was about 150 of us there when Nevada's polls closed and they announced Ohio.

After I finished about 100 calls to Alaska, I sat on one of the couches and drank a beer (paid for by the Obama campaign) and ate some peanut butter crackers. I'd been keeping to myself mostly, not much time to socialize when there is change to be made. I sat on the couch next to a woman for about five minutes, talking idly about the campaign and some of the reporters on cnn. Then they announced it.

And the roof did come off.

You could hear the screaming for miles.

You could hear the screaming coming from the streets. You could hear cheers from downtown.

I jumped into the air, landing about 10 feet in front of where i'd been standing. When i landed, I was crying. We yelled, cried, screamed and jumped into the air for what seemed like forever. I can still hear it echo. I've never felt such electricity in a room before and never experienced spontaneous contagious emotion.
I turned around and the woman I'd been sitting next to was standing very still, looking very calm with tears streaming down her face as well. We hugged each other and just let go this world of emotions. I'm convinced that if we hadn't been holding on to each other we'd have both been in the floor.

I found out later her name was Jennifer.

After things called down a little, and i'd had another cigarette and beer, I went back to the phones. There is always more work to be done.

I walked back up to the front and made my way to the big screen in time to watch McCain's concession speech. There were no more chairs so I knelt in the floor, the big screen in front of me, behind it, an open door and the view of the Capitol building. I hugged my knees and cried some more. I've never been more proud, if ever proud at all, to be an American. The man sitting in the chair next to me put his hand on my back and said very softly, "its over now. We did it. We don't have to worry about it anymore."

There were close to 200 people in the building when McCain spoke.

I realized that if McCain was giving his concession then Obama would be speaking soon. I packed up as fast as I could and drove 80 mph up I-35 to Pflugerville.

I made it home last night in time to watch Obama take the stage with his family. I woke Rowan up and brought her downstairs to watch it with me. I sat in the floor in front of Miia and next to Rowan and let the tears stream down my face as I watched history walk out of fiction, onto the stage of the American Presidency.

And there is more work to be done. Here we go!

Horse Before the Cart

A wholesome trottin' race
Originally uploaded by xadrian.

So hey...been a while since I wrote anything. So how about some family news.

This won't come as a shock to the family and you all probably know. Last weekend, Ms. A's SO moved in to the house. I want all my readers to know that I'm totally ok with it, and I'll spell it out in detail in just a second. They've been dating a while and the lease was up on her place so after some serious discussion, we agreed that she should move in.

For those just joining us, Ms. A and I have been in a not-married mode for a while, nearly two years. After roughly nine years of marriage and a couple great kids, Ms. A came out (I guess RE-came-out) and we decided to stick together as friends and raise the kids. At some point we'll probably file for an actual divorce but that's just not on the plate now. It's costly, it's not friendly, it's a pain in the ass, we're not doing it. No reason to just now either. I'm not dating anyone and with the two of them, well, we're in Texas so go figure that out for yourself. Ms. A and I are the best of friends and it just doesn't make sense to us to split up the family like that.

So instead, we're adding to it. Here's where the fundies are going to blow a gasket. The kids love this girl (she needs a nickname, Ms. Louisiana?) and I think she's pretty cool as well. She and Ms. A worked together for a long time at a photo portrait company that went bust. Now she works with a catering company and is putting in something like 150 hours a week. Still, it's an extra person in the house to help with things and it's not a bad deal. She brings home food from events, watches and plays with the kids and will eventually help with bills.

It's really not a bad situation, as weird as it may sound. Ms. A and I weren't going to stay together but because it was amicable and I didn't want to split my time driving around with the kids every other weekend, this just works out. Plus, I get the biggest room in the house, I can put my LEGO sets in my room, there's catered food most nights and honestly there's a new circle of friends. (Which is huge for me, I don't seem to have much luck with that.)

I'm ok, the kids are ok, Ms. A is ok. We're all fine. No one has any hard feelings toward each other, it's all just fine. In fact, I've got a serious amount of karma for being so groovy about the whole thing, which I plan on saving with interest for that future time I may need to fly to Rio with that physics student/poet/rollergirl.

I think the worst thing that will happen is there will be people who can't or won't understand what's going on. So far the people we know have been okay with the whole thing, supportive of in fact. But I do expect to get some hate mail or disingenuous writings saying nasty things about the lot of us. Someone's a home wrecker, someone's selfish, someone has no self esteem, blah blah blah. I'll read them all I'm sure, but I'll go ahead and save you the time by saying it's not going to change anything. Lose sleep over it for us, it won't change what we're doing or why or how we feel about it. If you need to make yourself heard in a malevolent way, there's always a political rally where you can tell people what you really feel with a sharpie and some cardboard.

My biggest concern is when I find someone I like and am courageous enough to open my mouth and tell them, the first few words are going to be about this situation and it will be a deal breaker. If they can't handle the situation, I'm not even going to waste my time. It's a fact of my life the same as people with disabled relatives they take care of or college students with dorm mates or folks who've hit hard times who may live with they're parents or siblings. It'll change eventually I'm sure, just not right now.

Moving on!

Speaking of moving, Ms. A's mom has finally moved out of Conroe. Ms. A and her brother and sister helped find her a place out here and got her packed up and moved. There was a bit of travel, a couple weeks staying at Ms. A's brother's house and she even sold her house and car on Craigslist. Isn't that something. So now she's about 10 minutes away (in Pflugerville) and Ms. A is genuinely excited that she's here. It'll be good for both of them.

Election day is just over a week away. If you're in the states and your state has early voting, go do it now. Don't wait, don't put it off. Election day is going to be a fucking nightmare and you don't want to lose your chance to vote or be part of the problem by waiting till the last minute. Get to it early. Also, if you're undecided, don't vote. If you haven't made up your mind by now, just tune into Wheel of Fortune or something and keep your mouth open while you breath.

Thanks for reading all, take care.

The Mole-men Cometh

206. Sir Vincent Chunnel, a visionary digger
Originally uploaded by xadrian.

It has begun again!

October 21, 2008 marks the continuation of John Hodgman's gift of knowledge. Complete world knowledge, that is. In Areas of My Expertise Hodgman revealed the world of the hoboes, including names for 700 hoboes. Now, with his new compendium, More Information Than You Require we learn of the deranged world below our own world of the strange naked-mole-rat-like people known enigmatically as "The Mole-men".

If you'd like to participate, just head over to the official list, pick out a name, and upload it to Flickr. Once it's on Flickr, add it to our official 700 Mole-men Flickr group to get it to show up on this site. Sound easy? It is!

And of course, thanks to John Hodgman for giving us these fake facts. Be sure to pick up a copy of his new book (and the old one too) for your enjoyment and inspiration.

Vote

Third Time's a Charm Braclet

It's just recently hit the wires and tubes that Connecticut is now the third state to allow same sex couples to be equally recognized under the state constitution.

First off, good for CT! With Cali's ruling in danger of getting a state congressional repeal, it's good the fight is still being fought.

Neither candidate nor their running mates support same sex marriages but 0bamiden does support civil unions and I believe that's important, but it's not going to be enough. Why? Because the country is still being run by and populated with those who believe "marriage" is between a man and a woman. And you know what? That's fine. Believe it, teach it to your kids, practice it, silently admonish others in your own house. I believe prisoners should be sent to the front lines of combat instead of college age kids. I believe the money we spend collectively on advertising and entertainment could, in one year, be funneled into a Globe Foundation that will both find a vaccine for cancer and AIDS AND distribute relief to areas of the world that need it AND solve our renewable energy problem. (Tag line would be, "Suspend your wants for our needs" and OUR would have the globe as the O. Eh? Eh?) I believe that there should be mass transit in every city over 500,000 people to such a degree that even if you had a car you couldn't drive it into the downtown or urban centers. It'd be all sidewalks and trains. And yet some how, these beliefs only impact my brain. I may talk about them with people but they're just MY beliefs, not yours. The slippery slope we run into is we want to live in a world where society is just and fair. We want bad people to be punished and good people to be rewarded. We want children to thrive and old people respected. The problem is, it all comes from which book you read. Our just and fair belief structure comes from religion and not a logical set of rules. And because everyone believes different things, those rules are going to break and be rewritten.

Think about it for a second and let's imagine there's a gargantuan religious society. In this religion there was a prophet who told his followers, say, 4,000 years ago that to eat the fruit from a tomato plant was sinful and wrong. There's something evil about tomatoes, they're used like a vegetable but are classified as a fruit. Pick a side! Over the years, this religion spread and many many people believed in it. So much so there were virtually no tomato growers and those that did plant them kept it quiet. Then this new country was formed and they used their belief system to create a set of rules. There's only a few hundred at first so everyone was in agreement. They all believed in not working on Sunday, being executed if you murdered someone and being hung till death for growing tomatoes. Over the years, as the society changed, people from different lands came into the country. They abided by all the laws as best they could and those that didn't were sent away or punished. Still, quietly and discretely, a group of farmers began growing tomatoes but not selling them. Theses farmers were from somewhere else so they didn't believe a tomato was bad, but wanting to stay within the rules they didn't tell anyone they grew them and had them.

More time passes until eventually this country is comprised of so many different people with so many different view points that things like tomato growing doesn't bother close to half of them. These farmers want to grow tomatoes just as they would corn and wheat, but the law says they can't. Why does the law say they can't? Because 4,000 years ago people were scared of/didn't understand that a tomato was different from other fruits and they were afraid that their god would punish them for eating it or even knowing people who ate it or grew it. Having faith in their beliefs dictated they eschew all things tomato, regardless of the logic because they were afraid of not knowing what happens to them after they die should their life have any tomato stains. The farmers don't believe in everyone else's afterlife and only want the right to grow whatever plants they want, they can't understand that why growing their own food impacts other people who aren't eating it anyway.

This might be a weak (and horrible elongated) metaphor for homosexuality but there are plenty of other stories, gospels, teachings from various holy books that didn't make it into 20th century American, French, Hindu, Shinto law - not because they were any less important to the people at the time, but because over time the people who followed these religions began to realize that it wasn't hurting them or their lives to allow other people to function this way. It always suprised me the most about Christianity's "love thy neighbor" and "live and let live" tenants that homosexuality was such a big deal. It seemed contradictory and hypcritical, which isn't surprising given who God is. If we're made in his image, and his words contradict themselves, it's no wonder we're messed up. But the point I'm trying to make is that something like "marriage" shouldn't be in the hands of the government any more than "football" should. "Marriage" shouldn't be in the hands of your elected officials any more than "Star Wars" should.

The other thing I wanted to bring up was this and I'll try to be brief. Government only recognizes a marriage between a man and a woman. Why? Because it's in the Bible. Ok. So you only recognize things from the Bible. What about handfasting? It's not in the Bible? If I know my Wiccan, it's not "the union of a man and a woman" it's "the joining of two souls." So, are Wiccan/Pagan marriages still legal under the law? There's no book guiding them to only be a man and woman, and it's not in the Bible. I know Pagans are a small subset of a fraction of a lesser group of a minor collection of people, but the premise still stands. Is it fair to legislate something that not all people believe? Majority rules, I agree, but are we still at the point in America where the majority of people believe that two ladies can't live together AND file taxes together AND adopt a child AND make sure that child can be put in a will AND (on and on.) Are the majority of people STILL in the belief that knowing your neighbors are gay is going to be any more detrimental that being in an abusive (but traditional) home?

Yes, the majority still believe that it is SO wrong that you have to make it a law because you can't KILL IT WITH FIRE! The majority would rather know that their daughter is marrying an alcoholic than another daughter. The majority sees nothing wrong with lying and cheating your way into the most coveted political post in the land, but will not vote for you if you believe in same sex marriage.

I'm not saying the majority is stupid...

Wait, yes I am. Grow up, majority.

Holiday Gift Ideas

36. WikiBot, the robot that is edited by volunteers
Originally uploaded by xadrian.

The holidays are coming up, you need that special gift for a niece or nephew, geeky husband, cartoon loving son or daughter and you don't want to get the typical toy that will be discarded after just days of use.

Why not get a customized and inexpensive piece of art that will show how much you care?

Stop by http://robotportrait.blogspot.com and put in a request.

You send a photo, I draw the person as a robot. Or you can just send a word or phrase that I turn into a lovable mechanical cartoon. Each portrait is done either on a 5x7 or 8x10 card and the drawing is recorded and set to music. Prices range from $15 to $30 depending on size. Discounts for multiple drawings.

And for you collectors, there's robot presidents and world leaders already available.

Thanks for looking!

Fringe and Charlie Jade reviews

Brooklyn, NY.  Willie Nelson’s “Crazy” playing in the background as a waitress takes a very specific order for a hairless white dude in a suit.  The man is observing construction across the street through 50’s spy binoculars that give him a very Terminator, highly advanced readout.  He’s also checking a stopwatch and writing notes in a peculiar script.  The waitress asks if it’s Asian because she studied Korean, he just says no.  He then eats his rare roast beef, jalapeno, pepper and tabasco sandwich in about four seconds right before an explosion rocks the construction site.  He calmly pays his bill, dons his fedora and shades and takes his briefcase to the site of the blast.  With shining blue lights around the area he makes a call and says, “It has arrived.”

For the rest head over to Television Zombies.

You can aslo read the latest Charlie Jade review.

Carry on.

Hey Austin, Sorry about your KXAN

7126 - Battle Droid Carrier
Originally uploaded by xadrian.

I know what you must be going through. I'm sure you'll have KXAN back soon enough and I hope you enjoy your slightly extended local coverage of weather and sports.

In the meantime, to cheer you up, here's a LEGO set I have for sale on Craigslist. Even if you're not a collector, you could definitely spend the time you now have by not watching your local NBC news shows building this fine (new in the box) set.

But, if it's not up your alley, at least tell a friend about it. Maybe while you're over at their house in Pflugerville or Kyle watching the debate on NBC tonight.

Carry on!