Jumping ship

As much as I loved this blog site, Blogger (as a free service) is just too unreliable and kind of annoying.

It's often down, slow or just plain clunky. Since I don't have all day to sit around and wait for the site to let me on - despite as much time it may often appear that I have to kill, I decided to try a "cheap" pay blog service to help me with this endeavour.

Plus... I'm always game for new things, right? Who knows... maybe I'll come back to this site sometime if I decide that the other blogging tool is just as annoying. For now, though, I'm going to stop posting on this site and start posting on TypePad.

The URL is very similar to this one. Just substitue "blogspot" with "typepad"

GO TO
http://zombiegrrrl.typepad.com/

Please update your RSS feeds and/or bookmarks.

SMOOOCH!

guess that rental

So.. tonight I was browsing my On-Demand Cable rental options for something to watch.

Of the many I had to choose from, I only previewed a few and finally made my choice. Of the ones listed below, which do you think I rented?

The Libert1ne: stars J0hnny Depp. The story of John Wilmot (Depp), a.k.a. the Earl of Rochester, a 17th century poet who famously drank and debauched his way to an early grave, only to earn posthumous critical acclaim for his life's work.



Holl0w Man 2: stars Christian S1ater. A Seattle detective (Peter Facinelli) and a biologist (Laura Regan) find themselves the targets of murder from an invisible assassin (Christian Slater) gone rogue, as well as the government forces who caused him to become invisible.


Bachelor Party Massacre: Nobody you know stars. A serial killer is on the loose and a group of friends are about to find out just how deadly she can can be! During the course of a bachelor party in an isolated bar high up in the mountains a group of young men and beautiful dancers are slowly hunted down by a vicious killer with a lust for blood.


Lost: stars Dean Ca1n . Trapped in a maze of endless desert highways, bound by a vital deadline, and pursued by an unseen menace ... Jeremy Stanton (Cain) is about to take the longest ride of his life. He will learn that when you reach the crossroads of life ... you must be careful which way you turn.


Severed: stars Paul Campbel1 (Billy from "Batt1estar Ga1actica"). Experimentation by a multi-national forestry company goes disastrously wrong, transforming a disparate group of loggers and environmental activists into the "infected" -- ravenous, zombie-like creatures who prey upon the few terrified survivors.


The New W0rld: stars C0lin Farre11. When 17th century explorer John Smith (Farre11) and a few men go up the river to trade with the Indians, he befriends the princess Pocahontas and they fall in love.



So... which one do you think I watched???

When office buildings attack!

Or... when they throw a "tenant appreciation bbq" anyway.

Yesterday was our building's annual event. The "hot" food was overcooked cruise-ship-buffet-type bricks, but the salads and such were good. No booze, though. We're not in California anymore, I guess.

The best part of the event was the inflated basketball bungee court. Two players go in, get tied to each other by a rope that runs through a giant inflated pillar. Here are two of my officemates battling it out. You'll see what I mean. Heh.

Stuck in my head

What song is stuck in my head today? Why "Eve of Destruction," of course. I'm sure you know the song. It's been remade dozens of times.

Last night I heard a version of it on "Eureka" and immediatley flashed back to the many years ago when I first hear the song. I couldn't place it at first, but thanks to W1kipedia, my memory was refreshed.

The version I'm most familiar with is by J0ey Scarbury, which played repeatedly in the original airing of the "Greatest American Her0" episode "0peration Spoil Sport." Think I could find this version anywhere? Nooooo. Apparently - due to rights issues - the song does not appear in the DVD version of the episode (which is stupid b/c it's a key part of the episode) AND isn't part of the soundtrack with all the other Scarbury tunes. Sigh.

Why isn't everything ever recorded instantly available in electronic form??

Y0uTube "almost" has it. Ok, not really, but if it'll ever get posted somewhere I figure it'll be there. This is as close as I could get.

The original version by Barry McGu1re:



And Scarbury's theme to "American Her0."


No. I don't get obsessed about stupid random things. What would make you think that? Oh, and if by SOME chance you have the Scarbury version, do sent it to me. :)

make up your minds, people!

Stupid scientist types. There's 9. No 12. No 8. They're just trying to sell new textbooks. ;)
--
Scientists decide Pluto’s no longer a planet

Historic new guidelines approved by astronomers in Prague

PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.

After a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the cosmos, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930. The new definition of what is — and isn’t — a planet fills a centuries-old black hole for scientists who have labored since Copernicus without one. [...more...]

I'm really trying

To like this new show, "Eureka" on SciFi. It's kinda cute and the lead actor is VERY cute so...

I just fear that it'll go the way of "Smallville." Sure, that show has lasted many seasons now, but it's still about those damned meteor rocks. What's the trouble in this episode? Oh, someone nut-job with super-human abilities is effected by the kryptonite meteor rocks. Oh.. of course!

Argh. That got so old, so fast. Tom Welling is fun to watch and all, but not that fun.

I'm REALLY hoping this show can do something more than that.... but it might not be able to.

You can see the full pilot episode on SciFi's website.

Here's a long (and not sure if it's "authorized' based on the lame voiceover and music) promo:

the cacti are blooming again!

We got word that the cacti that Mudge and I left in California with D and J are blooming again! The last couple of years the mega tall one (it's taller than me) blooms in the Fall. Last year it was October.

D sent word that the flowers smell super amazing and are as big as ever. I'm so glad we left them in such good hands.

Here are the picts she sent. Thank you D!

um...

Somehow I doubt that this kitty is as impaired as they say. It's still harmless fun, though. And what's with the biohazard stickers?

scheduling is hard

So we're trying to get a "regular" girls' night going. It's tough to coordinate schedules, though. Thursdays are good for some, but not others. Wednesday is the same thing. Yadda yadda yadda. Same old story.

We may end up with one Friday a month or something. What may happen, really, is that those of us who can meet will and whenever. Maybe G00gle calendar can help us schedule... but maybe not. It would take folks actually updating availability and such for that to work. ;)

These are the girls. Aren't they lovely? What's more amazing is that I met them all at work.

pumps on a plane

Penis pump mistaken for b0mb at TSA airport screening

Mardin Azad Amin found himself in a tight squeeze last week when security at O'Hare Airport discovered a suspicious-looking object in his luggage. So Amin, 29, handled the delicate situation this way: He told security the object was a b0mb, Cook County prosecutors said. The security guard then asked Amin to repeat what he'd said to a supervisor. This time, Amin was chuckling as he spoke, prosecutors said. In fact, Amin was trying to disguise the fact that the black object -- resembling a grenade -- was a component for a penis pump. ...
--
Ahh. It makes me wax nostalgic for the old days when the crazy San Fran group of friends would smuggle a penis pump into our friend Sta's suitcase before she'd go away on a business trip. I think one time she made it to LA with the thing. I believe that the pump eventually met with a cruel death so as to stop the madness ... until a replacement was purchased for a white elephant party. God only knows where that one is now. The game got so wicked at one point, who knows? It might be in MY bag right now. THAT would be a great trick. Or not ... depending on the TSA agent.

dear cousin ge0rge

Please don't kill yourself on this thing. You will be getting married next spring, so pllleeease be sure to a least refrain from riding it within two months of the wedding. That way, if you break something (knock wood) the cast might be off by then. You're crazy, but I'll come watch if you race again. :)

--
My beloved cousin purchased something to remind him of his youth. In his younger days, he raced dirt bikes. He got hurt quite a bit from what I recall. A pretty good collar bone break ended his career (or at least slowed it down considerably) if I remember right.

Now that he's thirty(mumble) I hope he's grown "safer" in his old age - or at least that his fiance will keep him reigned in enough so he doesn't seriously injure himself. Knock wood again.

separated at birth?

So I have to comment on how much I think this guy from "Big Brother A11-Stars" looks like Bryan. Seriously. I've only seen probably 5 minutes total of the show, but each time this guy is shown I am struck by how much I think he and Bryan were separated at birth.

Is it the nose? The forehead? The gleam in the eyes? You decide.


Left is Myke from the show. Right is Bryan.

Naturally, I think Bryan is much cuter.

now THIS is wrong

Rattlers freed in "Snakes on a Plane" theater prank

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Life imitating art is all very well. Unless, that is, it's a movie about deadly snakes on the rampage.

Movie chain AMC Entertainment Inc. said pranksters at one of its Phoenix theaters released two live diamondback rattlesnakes during a showing of the film "Snakes on a Plane" last Friday. No one was injured.

AMC spokeswoman Melanie Bell said, "One was found in the parking lot during the show, and the other in the movie theater. They were both removed, and no one was harmed."

The snakes were later released in the desert.

Bell had no further details.

The movie stars Samuel L. Jackson, and spins a yarn about a crate-load of escaped snakes that run amok on an airline flight, attacking passengers and crew.

"There were kids at the show, and it was actually very reckless," Russ Johnson, the president of the Phoenix Herpetological Society told Reuters.

"The snakes' bite carries a powerful venom that could have seriously injured someone," he added.

I'm so ronery

so ronery and sadwy arone.

It's 9:06am and noboby's in the office yet. When I got here an hour ago for my now regular Monday/Wednesday 8:30am call, I had to unlock the door and turn on the lights. The call ended early and now I'm feeling like I'm here REALLY early since not a soul is here yet. It's especially odd since my regular routine is to stroll in around 10am when everyone seems hard at work.

Soon I'm sure it'll all be abuzz, but for now I think I may wonder down to the cafe to get a diet coke.

Pillows galore

Yesterday I finished the curtains for Julesy. We hung them up and everything! I didn't take a picture of them... yet. Oh, I will, though.

Today I finished her pillows. I would have finished them earlier, but we hadn't bought the stuffing so the pillows were sad fabric squares until now.

She's going away this week, but I'm hoping I can get them to her before she leaves so she can come home to color and fluffy comfie things. If not, then, well, this post will just have to serve as a cruel tease for her. :)

rare movie double header

On Friday, I went a little crazy with my friend Lawra. We took in a movie double-header! We had agreed to see "The Descent" - a wonderful scary film that promised lots of gore, but the only local place it was playing had one showing at 10:05pm. So, we decided to get nutty and take in another flick before that one.

Instead of hurting our brains with two scary films, we chose to see the very not-at-all-scary but hysterically funny "Little Miss Sunshine" with Steve Carell, Greg Kinnear, and Toni Collette. Oh.. my... god. This movie is brilliant. Steve Carell is brilliant. The little girl (she was also in "Signs") was terribly wonderful too. I may need to see this movie again when it comes out on DVD. I was seriously laughing through more than half of the film. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Afterwards, so we weren't all a-glow with feel-goodiness, we saw "The Descent" as planned. Heh. It's totally my kind of film. It had been released in Europe last year and was a major success. For good reason. Sure, it's got some standard "why-the-hell-would-they-go- exploring-in-a-giant-dark-cave" premise, but a) it's about a group of women .. no men, b) said women never feel the need to randomly take off their tops or shower at inappropriate moments, c) the first half of the film isn't about the scary "things" in the cave - it's about the women dealing with their own demons, d) some of the most intense shots are of the women trying to navigate through tomb-like sections of the cave - very effectively conveying an intense feeling of claustrophobia that sets the mood for the "things" to come.

Yes... I liked it. So did Lawra - even though she screamed like someone stabbed her through the eye when the creatures are finally revealed... which, naturally, made me laugh for about 10 minutes.

It's rare that I see a film that I'd recommend, but it's astronomically rare that I'd see two films I'd recommend. But, here we are. I highly recommend both -- for very different reasons, of course.

Ecto blogging tool draw-back

The only one I've encountered so far is image uploading.

The help menu says "This feature is only available for weblog systems that use the MovableType API (this includes BlogWare, Drupal, MovableType, Nucleus, TypePad, WordPress)." ... That means, it's not available yet for Blogger. Nuts!!

The Ecto support site says:
"Although Blogger support image upload via the control panel, it's not supported in their Atom API. It is forthcoming, though, so when Blogger adds image upload in their Atom API, I'll be supporting it in ecto as well."

Dammit Blogger, support it in your Atom API! (whatever that means)

Sure, I could switch over to Typepad or another type of blogging site, but they'd charge me money, plus I'm not ready to jump ship just yet. I like having everything in one place.

So.. close.. to perfectly useful. Yet, so far. I may still purchase the program (I'm using the "trial" now) and await the update. It's less of a certainty now, though.

If there was a way I could automatically port all of my posts from Blogger to another blog site, I just might consider switching (mostly b/c Blogger has been very slow to connect the last few weeks .. eh, you get what you pay for). Until then, I'll stick with the free blog.

post flash

The zombies flashed in SF yesterday! There are lots of shots up on Flickr, of course.

This one is my fav:

There are several things I love about this picture.
From left to right:

1. The girl in the black and grey shirt looks like my friend Raychel. Though I don't think it is, it amuses me to think she "might" have gone.
2. The guy in the back center is wearing a Threadless "I *heart* shooting zombies" t-shirt! (It's next on my list to purchase)
3. The mob is in front of a Sc1entology info table. "Free Stress Test" everyone! Soo purrrfect.

For other fun zombie mob pictures see:
Flickr tags: zombiemob and zombiemobsf

one more post

and for those of you who may ask, I finally went back to embedding the YouTube videos instead of just posting links and pictures because I'm now using the Camino browser and am no longer having the issues I was previously with viewing them.

now.. I must remove myself from the computer for tonight.

candyman

This is my FAVORITE skit from "Malc0lm in the Middle" (yes, I've watched that show for a while).

It's so random it's brilliant. The only thing I'll tell you is that the oldest son of the family was sent to military school. This is a scene from his time there.

oh and..

I'm so completely digging this Ecto blogging tool that I just wanna come up with more to talk about!

It's got so many features! At first the way it was laying out pictures was annoying, but a little monkeying around and it's all good.

One of the silly features is that it'll tell you what I'm listening to in iTunes and links to Amazon things that I choose. Here's what I'm currently enjoying (a fav from a bunch of new things Julesy gave me):

Lounge from the album "Breath From Another" by Esthero
"Breath from Another" (Esthero)

New contract, new digs and complete access

As I mentioned earlier, this week I started my new contract with the legal department at my company. It's roughly for the same hours (under 40), but with more money - which is good. It's still not a full-time gig with benefits, but I wasn't really looking for that when I started. In fact, with the NYC trip earlier this week, I've already nearly maxed out my hours for the week so I'll be working just a couple of hours from home tomorrow and friday! Woo whoo! Eventually I'd like the benefits, though. More money would be good too. :)

At work, someone with a office recently quit ... and guess who swiped her office? ME! You guessed it. Now I even have an office! It's "officially" temporary until someone new is hired to replace the other "director"-type, but with the corporate re-org, even the VP of our group thinks that won't be for months from now. By then, who knows how our office as a whole will look?

Today I also put in for a card key and a key to our interior door even! Craziness. I have a regular conference call now at 8:30am Monday and Wednesdays and I nearly freaked this morning out of fear that no one would be in the office yet ... freaked b/c my cell phone was dead so taking the call from my car as a last resort wasn't even an option.

Oh.. and one more silly work thing - the IT department FINALLY figured out what was wrong with my system "access" that prevented me from reading work email remotely. It's been a huge pain in my ass since I first started six months ago. I must have said the magic code words this week when I pleaded with them yet again.

Now, if I can just convince them that I know what I'm talking about maybe I'll get to keep these things for a while. (knock wood)

pranks

Stupid YouTube. There are so many addictive videos.

This one made me giggle lots:




This one is pretty good too:

First book review

Sure, it's a book about movies... but still! I had to READ something! :)

It's a book on disaster films. Just in time for "Snakes on a Plane" to come out. I must go see that film. It'll hurt -- a lot -- but so few films actually can scare me that it might be worth it just for the thrill of it.

See my review of "Disaster Movies" here.

I'm waiting for #13, of course

It'll be the eeeeevil planet. :)

----
Nine no longer: Panel declares 12 planets

The solar system has 12 planets.

That is the conclusion, to be announced today, of an international panel formed to devise a scientific definition of a planet and settle an increasingly intense dispute over whether Pluto qualifies. The panel suggests retaining Pluto and immediately adding three new planets to the nine that are familiar to any schoolchild: Ceres, currently considered a large asteroid; Charon, now considered a moon of Pluto; and Xena, a recently discovered object that is larger than Pluto. [more]

one giant leap for idiots

One small step for man,' 700-box tape loss for NASA
Original recordings of Apollo moon missions are missing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. government has misplaced the original recording of the first moon landing, including astronaut Neil Armstrong's famous "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," a NASA spokesman said on Monday.

Armstrong's famous space walk, seen by millions of viewers on July 20, 1969, is among transmissions that NASA has failed to turn up in a year of searching, spokesman Grey Hautaloma said.

"We haven't seen them for quite a while. We've been looking for over a year and they haven't turned up," Hautaloma said.

The tapes also contain data about the health of the astronauts and the condition of the spacecraft. In all, some 700 boxes of transmissions from the Apollo lunar missions are missing, he said.

"I wouldn't say we're worried -- we've got all the data. Everything on the tapes we have in one form or another," Hautaloma said.

NASA has retained copies of the television broadcasts and offers several clips on its Web site.

But those images are of lower quality than the originals stored on the missing magnetic tapes.

Because NASA's equipment was not compatible with TV technology of the day, the original transmissions had to be displayed on a monitor and re-shot by a TV camera for broadcast.

Hautaloma said it is possible the tapes will be unplayable even if they are found, because they have degraded significantly over the years -- a problem common to magnetic tape and other types of recordable media.

The material was held by the National Archives but returned to NASA sometime in the late 1970s, he said.

"We're looking for paperwork to see where they last were," he said.

sweet!

new blog tool!
It looks like I can add other blogs to manage too. :)

Ecto test

badger talked about this desktop blog tool so I thought I'd try it. is this thing on?

zombies flash without me. dammit!

If you're in San Fran this weekend, I STRONGLY urge you to participate in the zombie flash mob!


Sure, I finally know of one in advance and live on the opposite coast. Grumble.


So, you Bay Area types go. Take pictures. Plllleeeeeeaase.

UPDATE:
Here are details just in case anyone feels the hankering for some BRAAAAAAAAAINS!!!!

The details: Saturday, Aug 19th, zombies will be
storming the corner of Market and Sansome at 2:30.
We will then walk/limp/crawl to Powell station by
3:00 and Union Square by 3:30.
See the Map at
http://eatbrains.com/mob2006/images/mobmap.jpg

How to participate: Plant yourself somewhere
along our route. Show up in plain clothes minus anything of value.
Wear a small piece of duct tape (or similar) clearly visible on your torso.
Attract our attention somehow. (screaming "aaaiiieeee! zombies!" is good
for this). We will attack you, cover you with blood, shred
your clothes, and slip you a makeup kit so you can create new zombies.
If you want to show up already in zombie gear, great. Just join the mob
at any time.

Rules - Don't attack people who haven't clearly indicated they want to be attacked.
Don't get blood on things that are tough to clean. See the Map to for
our route. http://eatbrains.com

zombie greeting

well, it's not all it does. you can get letters for anything! :)

Click here to see.

(thanks davee!)

creepy thing

This is a creepy bunny type thing seen in a gifty-type store at the Shore. I couldn't resist taking it's picture. (shudder)

superman eats here

While at the shore, we went out to a swank new restaurant called Daddy 0's. The food was super yummy - from the soup to the desserts. We were all stuffed to the gills afterwards.

Inside it's art deco-ish, colored strictly in red, black and white with crystal lights.

The lights above the tables were impressive... and sharp. The waiter joked that he's stabbed the top of his head more than a few times coming up under it after cleaning a table.

I think they look like something Superman would have at his Fortress of Solitude. Don't you?

week in the sun

Just got back from spending a week at the Jersey shore with my folks. It was a very lovely, relaxing trip. I even got some sun!

Sure, by some sun, I mean I got burned to a crisp my first day out and had to retreat to the shade for the rest of the week, but hey! I got sun! So what if it's nearly completely faded back to white now and/or peeling/itching??

Today it's back to reality. I am hopping on a train this afternoon bound for NYC. I have an 8:30am meeting tomorrow (monday) in the NY office for my company - oh yeah ... I got my new contract! Apparently it's important enough for me to attend in person, so they are putting me up in a hotel for the night. Ain't I fancy? It should be a good trip. The train ride down is nice - longish, but nice. Hopefully I'll get some Fodder work done on the ride. Or... just take a nap.