Card Board Tron

In lieu of posting anything of any real deep or meaningful, I present (yet another) link to the fabulous world of Video.

I give you Cardboard Tron

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Sans Sansa, Week 2

My Sansa MP3 never showed up last week, thus defeating my theory. I believed that whenever I misplace something, my normal reaction is to Hulk out. I decided to remain calm and not accuse, even though the evidence appeared as though this was no mere misplacement. I was even able to move money around the various envelopes so that I had enough to replace the device, which was my intention for this weekend.

However, the muffler on Cindy's car had a different plan. Seems the "new" repair shop that we went to last November removed a flex joint between the Catalytic Converter and the muffler. As Uncle Dave use to say "That's a No No." So, the money that was going to the Sansa (along with several other envelopes) ended up going to the car.

Maybe I should just save up from one of those sweet Ipod Touch?

Darth Vader Being A Jerk

Todd, I hope this can help you through your work day!

EniTech Research

Dear Future Guys

Yeah thanks… maybe “hey, theres a big killer robot coming your way soon!” might have been a better warning. You can travel through time and invent cameras that see into the future, but you can’t send one pertinent email or text message? If you guys are our last hope, the human race is hosed.

Find out about the work EniTech has been doing.

Interesting Typography

You need to check this out, great scenes from television and film, told using only typography. I am linking this one for my pal Jay. I can not count the times we have discussed Psycho, and it is perhaps a near perfect horror film.

Good Friday

One of the Bryan traditions to start off the day is to circle up and say a prayer for the day. Cindy and I had started it long before the girls came along, and, as they have gotten older, they have become a part of it. Sure, the prayers are simple, but, it is another touch point before going off in various directions.

This also presents neat opportunities to read scripture without it feeling forced, or fake. This morning, I read John chapter 18 and 19 – The trial and execution of Jesus. For all the attention that Easter Sunday will get, sometimes we over look Good Friday. Without the crucifixion, there could be no resurrection. I do not tend to get overly emotional about things, but, for whatever reason, the magnitude of what was going on in these two chapters hit me like a ton of bricks. By the time we got to "It is finished" all four of us were crying.

What struck me most was the simplicity of what was happening. This simplicity contrasts with how complex I tend to make it. I know that John 3:16 is somewhat cliché, but that is it – that is the Christian gospel.

A Girl's Best Friend

Quiz Rally

This past weekend, Katie (second from the right) participated in her first U.S. Pony Club Quiz Rally. It was an exciting event as it included an overnight stay in a hotel with mom, complete with a swimming pool and watching "Man Vs. Wild" (Katie pronounces Vs as "vee ess," not versus…cute). The Quiz Rally started early Saturday. Her group finished in third place, but, out of the fourteen clubbers in her division, Katie finished fourth. We are proud of her accomplishments!

Megan and Me

So, with Cindy and Katie gone Friday night, Megan and I got to hang out together.

Last night, I asked her where she would like to go for dinner. Without blinking an eye, she replied "Hardees." Seems she likes fried chicken, but, she is quick to clarify that Zesto's is better than Hardee's. After dinner, we settled down to watch "The Bee Movie." Better than I thought it would be, but it still wore thin by the time it was over.

This morning, we struck out for Dunkin Donuts and Fivebucks for a morning sugar rush. We brought it all home, and I scrambled up some eggs to fill out the plate. I wanted to go over to Southern States to identify some broadleaf weeds that are popping up, and that is when I discovered the missing Sansa MP3 player. Taco Bell was on tap for lunch, and "Spiderwick Chronicles" was the afternoon entertainment. It's unusual for food to be such a central theme, but we both agreed that we are stuffed.

Megan wanted to buy Katie a toy for placing third in the Quiz Rally, so after the trip to KB Toys, I think I am done.

El Frito Bandito

Just an update on Bandit.

The owner of the farm, and the former owner of Bandit agree: we ride Bandit too much, and he's gone on strike. Cindy's approach has been musical, ala practicing the violin. So, I believe that there will be a natural decrease in the outings to the farm to let the big boy rest up.

Meanwhile, Katie and Cindy are coming back from Pony Club Quiz Rally, where their club placed third. This was Katie's first club event, and she had an overnight stay in a hotel (always exciting) and got to go swimming. While there, Cindy bought a new saddle for $200.00 after having it checked out by others. Incidentally, we had just begun saving for a saddle, and had been praying for extra jobs to come Cindy's way. Just a week ago, she played for the opening of a Target where she made…$200.00. Talk about blessings!

Sansa on the Lam

Perhaps it was the cavalier attitude by which I was considering putting a bluegrass tribute to AC/DC onto my MP3 player, or perhaps it had just had enough of playing The Dave Ramsey Show, but, whatever the cause, my darling Sansa is nowhere to be found. I took her out with me this morning, listened to a few callers on the DRS, picked up a mocha from Fivebucks and came home. I remember thinking I needed to take her in to recharge her, but…I am not clear as to what actually happened once I got back. All I know is that I have searched where she should be, but I think she has run off.

I am nervous.

Facebook!

What it is good for? Absolutely nothing. Say it again.

I opened up a facebook page, but I have to admit that I just don't get it. Just one more thing to march away time.

String Quartets, Bluegrass Jams and AC/DC

Mot posted about her AC/DC Album. During my General Cinema days, I came to love this album with the group I hung out with at the time. " You Shook Me All Night Long" was the official party starting song.

So, I thought, fantastic, I will download the album from Rhapsody and put it in my Sansa. Alas, there were only four albums where AC/DC appeared: The Last Action Hero, Maximum AC/DC, AC/DC X-Posed: The Interview, and "Back In Baroque: The String Tribute to AC/DC."

I have to blame my violin playing wife for this, but, I couldn't resist. And, yes, it was as bad as I thought. But, in just cruising that link to post, I came across another album that made me sit up and say "Hells Bells:" "Back In Bluegrass: The Bluegrass Tribute to AC/DC."

We can still be friends, right Martha?

Stuck in my Head

I hate getting songs stuck in my head. Maybe if I close my eyes and count to 4 I can get rid of this one:

Sweetheart bitterheart now I can't tell you apart
Cosy and cold, put the horse before the cart

Almost Mid-Week

Hi gang!

It seems I have gotten into the habit of starting to write a post, and then decide that I am trying to be too deep for my own good. I end up sending the unfinished post into the bits and bytes of the netherworld that exists when you shut Word down without saving. I have been enjoying reading your posts.

Time change didn't hit me too hard on Sunday, but, it has been killing me all week. If one of Obama's changes for a positive future included the elimination of DST, I would vote for him in a skinny second. Heck, I think I would go if he just promised to move it from Sunday to Saturday. World Peace? Nah. Don't screw with my sleep – you have my undivided attention.

Bad news with Bandit. Seems the guy is just too old. He has been puttering out lately, so we might be looking at our second lease. I have not had as much time out at the farm as my girls, but when I have gone it has been a lot of fun. Something about tacking up the horse … helps me escape for a bit (no pun intended). I will post more about the big boy. Hopefully, it's just a mood thing, but, as I said, he is old.

Star Wars as explained by a 3 year old

This is all kinds of Cute!

Sabotage

Four-hundred years ago, on the planet Earth, workers who felt their livelihood threatened by automation, flung their wooden shoes, called sabo, into the machines to stop them . . . hence the word: sabotage.
Lt. Valeris – Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

I feel that I continue to sabotage my weight loss efforts. I need to re-loose about 20 pounds off of my 6’2 endomorphic frame. I do really well in the morning and afternoon because I am at work. It’s only after dinner do I struggle with the “I’m bored ergo I want to eat.” My downfalls in the past has been an acute addiction to sugary cereals and PB&Js. Last night was some really, really salty Wheat Thins while watching last week’s “Jericho.” Usually, Mondays and Tuesdays are my loosing days with the rest of the week being maintaining days. Fudge.

For LJ - The Duck Reference

Suffer Not…

Last night in small group, the subject of curriculum came up. One parent had asked if it was possible for the church to align curriculum across the church so what the children learned was what the adults were learning. I guess the net goal was to make the "so, what did you learn in church today" question easier to discuss.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deu 6:7

Another parent chimed in. Apparently, their child had been taught that witches were real. You could hear the intake of breath. "Oh, you need to report that, we don't believe that here." I had to raise my hand. "Perhaps," I started, not to sarcastically, "that they read the 'suffer not a witch verse.'"

The SG leader wisely got the discussion back on track. I was not trying to derail the class, but, the subtext of my message was clear (at least to me). Or church's constitution makes no stand on the existence of witches. However, it does make a stand on the authenticity of the bible. Logic (at least what passes for it in my noodle) says "if we believe the bible to be true, and the bible says not to suffer a witch, then, ergo, there must be witches to not be suffered."

You can tell who they are because they weigh the same as a duck.

Ok, so I was being a smart alec. But the point that got lost was it is the parents, not the church, that need to teach the Bible to our children. The Sunday School teachers should be our partners, reinforcing what we have taught our children and not the other way around.

What a Day!!

I left the house for the cinema at 9:30. Put some gas in the car, picked up Tony and got there around 10:15. We claimed some choice seats, but not the coveted 4RC (sorry Jay). The films started promptly at 11:00 and ended about 12 hours later.

Michael Clayton: Of the five, the first was my favorite. Nice story structure and satisfying ending. Excellent Soundtrack.

There Will Be Blood: I was really looking forward to this film, but, in many ways, it might be my least favorite. Make no mistake, the film is a worthy watch and Daniel Day Lewis is fantastic. In between films we had a bit of a talk back with people nearby. I was the only one who thought that Paul and Eli were not brothers as Paul had said, but rather the same people. Eli was a bit off his rocker, and it made me think that Paul must have been his "nicer" personality. In the end, this perplexed me, but made perfect sense that Eli thought that Daniel had made the deal with him, and Daniel reminded him that the deal was made with Paul. Anyways, I want to read Upton Sinclair's "Oil!" which the film was based upon. Brilliant Soundtrack.

Atonement: I was not looking forward to this film. In many ways, it was exactly what I thought it was going to be until the last five minutes. And then it all comes together. Seriously, just wait for the ending. Casting did a fantastic job of matching actresses to Briony in her different ages. The evacuation of Dunkirk was surreal, and has a fantastic uncut (apparently) shot that last nearly three minutes. Favorite Soundtrack featuring a type writer as a percussive instrument.

Juno: Like last year's "Little Miss Sunshine," I am a bit perplexed as to why this film was nominated. I really liked it, but when compared with the other films it seemed out a place. You know, "one of these things is not like the other." kinda different. Otherwise, dialogue was smartly written. Utterly forgettable soundtrack.

No Country for Old Men: I really wished they would have not placed this last in the line up. By the end, I could feel myself nodding off during long stretches of dialogue. Very well written dialogue. It was an interesting story, but I am not sure I got it. At first, it seemed to be a very straight forward crime drama with a relentless assassin armed with a very clever weapon. It settles into a chase film and ends up … well, I can't tell you that. But, it doesn't end in the way you think it will. I really don't think I missed it, I just think I was getting to run down to concentrate. Was there a soundtrack?