Further reading from The Book Of Muffin
Try me! I’m Chocolate Chip
Or at least, I would be if I was a muffin. *grin* People who match chocolate chip muffins are modern and fast-paced, if a bit generic. We’re usually go-getters that like flashy new things and socializing. Just don’t try eating us before we’ve baked; raw eggs and baker’s chocolate are a bad mix. *wink*
Take the Muffin Quiz to find out your variety. Quiz created by LJ user Seeking_Insight.
Remember, Muffin is the path to Illumination. No Hot Dog Buns!
It’s a… uhh… bunker! Yeah!
All the Battletech players, Clix players, Warhammer 40K players, and modelers on my friends list need to read today’s Dork Tower.
(hmm… that’s a big chunk of my friends list, isn’t it…)
The House Of Borg
raininva left to head back home a few hours ago. She got to leave work early Friday, so managed to arrive here in time to see the new house in the light. Turns out I picked out a place she approves of, so that’s one less worry for me. Rain’s already posted pictures she took Friday, and we’re planing where to put stuff – at least we know we’ll have room for all our junk. I hope we can start having people over more often now that we have more room.
The weekend felt good, like we squeezed a lot of quality time into 48 hours or so – and this time, I’ll see her again in less than a week, so the missing her is a little more tolerable this time out. It was fun talking about all the plans we are making, and guessing about what’s to come in the future. The one sour note was the 45-minute wait for lunch at the new Red Robin down here – but the management was very apologetic, and comped our food. Our waitress was polite, but a bit spacy, and I’m not sure English was her primary language; apparently, the kitchen staff was completely out of it. Guess they still have bugs in the system to deal with.
I get to spend the week carrying stuff over to the house a few boxes at a time, trying to sort out what I can do without for a week. (The computer, for example, will be one of the last things moved *grin*.) If anyone would like the new address, e-mail me (that isn’t changing) and I’ll pass it along. Same with the phone # once I have one!
The toting begins
Just dropped off the first load of boxes in the new place.
On second look, I like it even more. There’s room for 3 or 4 gaming tables for a party, 1 fewer if we want a PlayStation/DVD group or a chat group. I’ve tentatively claimed the smallest bedroom for my office, and it’s twice the size – I can get back to modeling and miniatures. I’ve found the closest grocery store, a nearby Taco Bell for Rain, and a nearby lingerie store :p And I drove from work to the house in about 17 minutes, so the commute will actually be a little shorter than my current one.
The garage will only fit one car, but we might be using it for storage at first anyway. I’m not sure where the closest Wal-Mart is either, but I do know where to find a movie theater, a Barnes & Noble, and a Best Buy within about 20-25 minutes. All very important.
Happy me!
Mysterious furniture
The house in which I’ve been renting a room has three bedrooms – one occupied by the owner and the other two rented out. Shortly after I gave the owner notice, the renter of the third bedroom disappeared with all her stuff while the rest of us were at work. This morning, as I walked by, I saw a new bed in the otherwise empty room – I hope that means that they’ve found another renter. I felt bad that the owner was losing two monthly rent checks at the same time. He’s a nice guy who didn’t blink at the notion of my attaching a wireless router to his cable modem 🙂 I’ll be dropping off the first load of stuff at the new house tonight.
You are cordially invited
What: Michael & Rain Moving
Where : (from Salem Wood Apartments) 100 Kimball Ave Apt G84 Salem, VA
When: Saturday September 25th show up anytime after 9:00am
Who: Any and all who would like to help
Directions – From 81 take exit 140 and turn right at the stop sign at the bottom of the exit ramp. Follow this road for about 1.5 miles. You will go through a light at Main Street, continue forward. You will go through another light, continue forward. The first street you can turn at after the second light you will make a Left (there is no light or stop sign here). It is Colorado Street. Stay on this street for about a mile or so. You will go through a stop light where the Salem Donut shop is on your right hand side. Continue forward. You will go up and over a small bridge. When you see another stop light coming, there will be a stop sign to the right of the stop light. You need to go forward to the stop sign and not the stop light (There is an Apple Mart on the corner). This is still Colorado Street. Go forward along the sharp turn in the road. There will be a parking lot on your left hand side, right after that is Salem Wood Apartments, turn left into them. We are the very first building on your right hand side, building G.
Things to know – our apartment is on the 3rd floor so stairs are involved. It is 1.5 flights of stairs (one of those set ups a half flight down is the first floor, a half flight up is the second.) We will have tons of drinks for everyone, ice tea, pop, whatever people want. We will also be providing food.
If you could drop us a line if you think you could make it that would be great.
Thanx everyone!!
Review: Starship Exeter
If you don’t have any interest in the original TV Star Trek, or low-budget film-making, you can skip this. A couple months ago, I was reading a back issue of Star Trek Communicator and I found a link to a Trek fan film called Starship Exeter. rattrap posted a similar link not long afterward, and this weekend I got around to downloading and watching this 2002 production.
Let’s start with what they did wrong. The script has a few “well why didn’t the characters do X?” moments. The aliens are a bit oddly acted in places, and the production crew admits to regretting a certain monster model.
That’s all. Everything else is freaking perfect. The costumes are right. The sets are right. The props are right, the sound effects are right, the characters are right out of 2270’s Starfleet. They even made their gorgeous CGI Constitution-class starship wobble at the same place the Enterprise used to wobble in certain shots. I was completely transported (no pun intended) back to a time when a determined humanity was making its mark in the Trek universe, whether alien races liked it or not.
This brings me to another point. Say all you want about certain cheesy aspects of classic Trek, it was one of the most high-budget TV shows of the 60’s – nobody did anything with better production values back then. Starship Exeter is so well-done that if it was showing on cable right now, it could fool you for a moment into thinking that you were watching another Roddenberry spin-off pilot. Low-budget film-making is catching up to Hollywood faster and faster – one reviewer stated that he’d rather watch Exeter than Nemesis.
This was a joy to watch, not just for the nostalgia overload, but as the herald of what’s to come for those of us with DV cameras and a few thousand bucks. I highly recommend it.
Gentlethings, start your engines
While browsing through the list of announced GenCom games, I hit Cthulhu 500, the game that combines Lovecraft with NASCAR.
“Mythos Motor Sports Madness: The Cthulhu 500 card game puts you in the driver’s seat for a frenzied race that mixes the madness of HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos and the insanity of motor sports. Rev up your Satanic Pushcart’s Engine Of The Damned, mount your Radials From Beyond Space And Time, and take a Dreamlands Shortcut to win the race for The Sponsor That Must Not Be Named. The driver in the lead when the Checkered Flag card is drawn celebrates victory by devouring his opponents! 3 to 8 players – Ages 8 and up – 30 to 60 minutes”
Why does this sound like it was target-marketed right at some of the people I game with?
