Simpsons in Seattle

Out of a small number of store, a local 7-Eleven store in my area (Seattle), has been converted into a Kwik-e-Mart.

Pictures: Flickr Search for Seattle area
Story: 7-Elevens transform in 'Simpsons' promotion

Check out (and click on for a larger picture)

Checked out the local 7-11 to see any Simpson changes.
One was the change from Slurpee to Squishee brand.
Tried the special flavor of Blue 'Woo Hoo!' Vanilla. Which was good.

Went to see the Transformer movie the other day and they had
this 3D stand up of the Simpson characters.
This is a picture of me taken by a friend.

Some Comic-Con info I found out.

22 days till the convention.

1. There will be a FedEx or UPS (not sure at this time) in the convention center. Big items or some posters you don't want tote back home. Just send them back home.
2. Pack with one carry on, unpack at the hotel and have a empty bag for the convention.

My new DVR.

Some differences I have noticed with my new DVR built in to my cable box from my old TiVo.

• Search function is about the same.
• The TiVo will store 30 min of live TV and will erase the time from the end, keeping a full 30 min. With the DVR on normal cable, it will keep 15 min. After 15 min it will erase the 15 min and start over again.
• With the TiVo, you can set a search for a name and if it found it a show description, it would record the show automatically.
• The guide on the TiVo would have about 2 - 3 weeks available. The DVR has about 1 week (so far, looks it may still be downloading).
• With the DVR, no phone jack is required. The guide come from the cable.
• With the DVR, when you delete a show, it is gone. With a software update a while back, the TiVo would place the deleted show in a trash folder and when needed delete the show.
• With the DVR it does show the percent of space you have left. (Something I like.)
  

I like my TiVo system, but it bit the dust and stop working (see prev post) and I did not want to spend any more money than I needed for a replacement. The unit I got from my cable company is about $12.00 per month (and no equipment to purchase) and the TiVo had a monthly cost for the guide of about $15.00 per month (and the equipment has to be purchased).

TiVo makes a good system and is included Direct TV systems (I think), which I do not have. I did not want to fork out any more money than a I had. At this point I am saving money.

My TiVo is dead.

This last Tuursday I came home, did a few thing on the computer. I sat down and turned on the tv, it had a black screen. I tried the TiVo remote, nothing happened. So I reset the unit (I unpluged it). It came back with "Welcome. Powering up...".

I gave it some time it did not change. I reset it again and went to bed. I got up and went to work. I checked on it again when I got home. The same screen. It was dead. There was no warning sign for this problem. With what I had save on the TiVo unit were only a few odds and end I was saving for later, which I will try to catch up on later.
Any fix would cost money. So I check up on some info on the Comcast web site on their DVRs. It was not much more than the cost of the TiVo monthly cost and there is no cost for the equipment. It also saved some space, down from 2 unit to 1 combo unit. One thing I will miss is the TiVo remote. It had a great layout.

The name of your boat?

On the way to lunch with the parents this last Sunday I saw a boat being towed on the freeway. The name caught my eye more than any thing else. The was in a nice large font. The name was "Bite Me".
I can hear the conversation. "So you got a new boat. Did you get a chance to name it yet? You did. Whats the name. What? So don't tell me then."

Two dungeon games.

While going thru my copy of Newtype USA, I came across 2 games.
Etrian Odyssey and Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground.

Etrian Odyssey (DS) - "Etrian Odyssey is a turn-based role-playing game like any other, but it sports one heck of a mean streak to elevate it above the crowd." With this game you are respondible for the map of the dungeons with the DS touch screen.

Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground (PSP) - "Design a dungeon so that creatures will inhabit it and you can kill them and steal their treasure. "

Hawaiian Potluck

The first day of Summer and we had a Hawaiian style potluck.
That alot of food. Thats was some good eats.

The Two-Hour Star Wars Holiday Special in only Five Minutes!

The Link: The Two-Hour Star Wars Holiday Special in only Five Minutes!

Our HERO game tangents.

Here are some of the off topics that came up durring on HERO RPG game on 6/15/07:

1. HERO Dice
2. Disney owed properties.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. After the credits ran there was a scene that said "10 Years Later" with a last clip.
4. Dragonflight 2007

Size

The Ghost Rider move came out today on DVD and as a promo Best Buy is give away with the DVD the full mini version of the Ghost Rider Visual Guide from DK. I purchased the full size a while back and is pictured for the size. The promo is the full book in a 6 in by 7.5 in size (just about the size of a DVD) with only a few small changes I can see. The promo has no slip cover, the "Ghost Rider" name is not in gold and Best Buy put their logo in the bottom right corner.

The Classic Cash Register

This was in the back of my mom's business, but due some clean up and some rearranging. I was told to take possession of this item. I got help and loaded it into my car and took it back to my apartment.

From what I have been told, the cash register was used by by great grandparents in the store they had. From the label on it, it is from the National Cash Register Co. It is electric and stills runs and with a few buttons pushed and the crank twisted the cash drawer will open.

It is a side project to clean this up, to look a little better. Some of the paint is a little flaky.

(note: there are some marble pieces that set in place right over the cash drawer that I have, but not pictured).

Top 10 Wettest U.S. Cities

My brother sent me a link about the Top 10 Wettest U.S. Cities.

"Do you think Seattle is the rainiest city in the United States? Well, think again."

Living in the Seattle I had to read on.

"Mobile, Alabama, actually topped a new list of soggiest cities, with more than 5 feet of rainfall annually, according to a study conducted by San Francisco-based WeatherBill, Inc."

Check out the full text of the article with the following link:

Study Reveals Top 10 Wettest U.S. Cities

Stonehenge: An Anthology Board Game™

I ran across this game via a podcast from Pulp Gamer (Inside Track 018: Joshua Frost of Paizo Publishing). The game is called Stonehenge.

This info is from the Pulp Gamer site:

Stonehenge is in one box with one set of pieces but with five unique set of rules designed by five game designers. These include an Arthurian showdown by Richard Borg, a monumental fire sale by James Ernest, a druidic election by Bruno Faidutti, a magical convocation by Richard Garfield, and an alien chariot race by Mike Selinker.

Here is the web site of the game with additional info.

One game board and five ways to play, with expansions on the way and all for $50.00.

Our HERO game tangents.

Here are some of the off topics that came up during on HERO RPG game on 5/18/07:

1. Hot Wing and Pizza at Jet City Pizza
2. Justice League Unlimited (Season Two: "Destroyer")
3. Austin Powers quote (from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery)

Dr. Evil: You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that cannot be done. Ah, would you remind me what I pay you people for, honestly? Throw me a bone here! What do we have?
Number Two: Sea Bass.
Dr. Evil: [pause] Right.
Number Two: They're mutated sea bass.
Dr. Evil: Are they ill tempered?
Number Two: Absolutely.
Dr. Evil: Oh well, that's a start.

4. Movies (Next, The Invisible, Shrek the Third)
5. Veronica Mars
6. Some of our work stores.

I got the car back from my parents, no ride to the game needed.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my mother (pictured above) at Mother's Day lunch.

What is in that?

While getting some groceries, I noticed two girls around 11 or 12 years old commenting what the ingredients were in a Pop Tart and not in a good way.

The couch and the car.

Dad delivered a leather couch that matches my favorite lounge chair that someone did not want. We did some switching around of the current couch and transferred it back to my parents place for their use. It does not recline like the prev one, but I like it a lot better.
In the truck transferring my old couch, dad stated there was a problem with my Volvo (they are still borrowing my car waiting for a part for their car in the shop). Last weekend I drove my car while my parents came over the bridge to have lunch and a move, I noticed that the pick up when I accelerated was a little off. Tuesday the car loss acceleration, luckily it was near their house and a repair station. Also luckily the cost was not too much, from what dad said, I did offer to pay for it. But declined, saying it was borrowing my car was less that getting a rental car.

Our HERO game tangents.

Here are some of the off topics that came up durring on HERO RPG game on 5/04/07:

1. D.E.B.S. movie and Cleopatra 2525 TV Show
2. Monty Python's Spamalot
3. Dungeons & Dragons cartoon

Dad still had the car due to car in the shop waiting for a part. I got a ride from Norm to our game and a ride home from Bob.

At the ComicCon . . .

Fron this line here, I found out the 'Heroes' Season 1 will be released August 28th.

Also found out:

And for those of you going to Comic Con in July, we've heard there will be some great Heroes things going on.

Something else to add to my to do list at the San Diego ComicCon.

Some work notes.

The other day I had someone call in and say they wanted to check on a payment that was made for $160.00. Ok I say. What is the cell number? I don't know it. Ok, what is the account number? I don't know it. i think the girl said she was from accounting, but she does not have any numbers and wanted to find a needle in hay stack filled with needles. The next question I asked, was 'Do you know the tax id of the company?'. She says, 'I have the last four digits of it'. After talking to her supervisor I was able to pull the needed info from her and after a little more time, find the need account and number.

Today i had this training for 3 hours starting at 9am, yea. I got in at 8:15 and got on the phones at 8:30. My morning break was 15 min later at 8:45. The time come around and right before I walk away, I get a email and they cancel the training due to service level. Taken my morning break already, I do not get another one till my lunch at noon. That bad planning. (Venting ending . . . .)

Our HERO game tangents.

Here are some of the off topics that came up durring on HERO RPG game on 4/27/07:

1. Name changes with cell companies.
2. Buffy and Angel series.

Dad still had the car due to car in the shop. I got a ride from Norm and a ride back from Bob.

At the ComicCon . . .

I found a press release for the direct to DVD movie of Babylon 5: The Lost Tales.

Marketing Support
Babylon 5: The Lost Tales will be supported by extensive national media campaign including TV and Online advertising. Marketing support will also include significant presence at the San Diego ComicCon. Online podcasts and a completely new redesigned website will also deliver significant awareness.

I read the part in red and say to myself, 'I am going the be there. I can check this out.' So, that is my plan. When I am there I will see if I can track them down. Get the DVD and maybe a autograph.

The water flows.

Last night it started with a ring around the sink. I think the sink has a clog. I find the drano and follow the directions. About a hour later I hear running water, like the tub was left running and over flowed. But it was not the tub, but the sink. Water was flowing up the drain, over flowed the sink and getting the floor soaked. First, glab my extra towels and apply then to the floor. Next, grab a large jar and start bailing the water from the sink to the tub. After a little time, it stoped and the clean up started. The pipe from the sink was removed and clean. I am not really sure where the water came from, the water was flowing from the drain. I had run a load of close in the washer. Could the be it? Is the washer drain connected to the sink? I will be keeping a eye out on the that sink from now on.

Update (5/1/07): After one more overflow today, the problem was fixed while I was at work by Roto Rooter. There was a clog somewhere in the line that directed some/most/all of the water from my new up stares neighbors. When I got home there was just a little clean up to do and some wet towels to deposit in the washer.

The change in the game.

Tonight we took a night off from our Hero Game and played some board games. To start out, my parent's car craped out and they borrowed my car for 4 days now. I got a ride with Norm and Gwen, then meet up with Bob. We then headed over to Red Robin to get some food. We then played 2 games. With night end, I got a ride back home with Bob.


Carcassonne - Game 1

Super Munchkin - Game 2

To open a podcast.

It was not my voice, but a question I had email into Chuck and Lonnie of the Dragon Landing Inn Podcast. It appears in the opening of the podcast for Bravo 78 episode. It was read and answered. (FYI: My screen name is MrWhite). Yea me (again).

Sakura-Con 2007

I want to start out by saying that getting sick sucks. Sakura-Con was last weekend. I hitched a ride with a friend to the Con. It did start with a 1 hour and 45 min stand in line. It was not too bad, i had planed on some wait. I did bring my PSP and iPod to kill some time. People in costume were abundant as you can tell in the picture that I took and others. One good did happen while in line, got a free con t-shirt. The dealer room was great. I did a lot of looking and bought a few Tachikoma toy figures, Dragon Ball figures and a Drsgon Quest toy. Seen here. I saw my frind Rich and stoped by the video room a few times. By 6pm I was ready to go, I was not feeling good. I got home in good time and crashed out. I ended up recovering that weekend and next two work days.

Check out the photo group for the Sakura-Con 2007 pictures, some are mine:

Our HERO game tangents.

Here are some of the off topics that came up durring on HERO RPG game on 4/13/07:

1. Ghost in the Shell (Movie)
2. Java dice roller in our game.
3. Wonder Twins in the Super Friends TV cartoon.
4. My little Tachikoma toy figure I got at Sakura-Con last week.
5. After the game ended reviewed some pictures Norm took at Sakura-Con last week. See all the pictures here.

Wacky news

The German army sent a draft notice to a four-week-old baby named Lucio, ordering him to report for duty within the next 10 days, before realising it had blundered.

A spokesman for the army said the notice had been sent erroneously because a clerk typed in the wrong date of birth for the boy from Aubstadt, in southern Germany.

“It was an accident,” an army spokesman told Reuters.

“Somebody entered the wrong number into a computer. There was no harm done.

"We realised the error the same day and called up the family to tell them to throw the notice away when it arrived.”

New Source.

Happy Easter.

DVD to cash.

I had some old DVDs that I did not want, that I bought the full set on or got the special edition of a old DVD. I cashed the out at my local DVD/CD store for $44.00, which was around $2 - 5 each for the lot. Cleared up some space and added some cash to my pockets.

Does not match.

Today at work I talked to a woman named Joy, but there was no joy in her voice.

A change in rent.

This last Saturday I got a letter about renewing my rent for my current apartment. Apparently there was rent increase from my current rent of $920 to $975. The place is in a good location, was remodeled last year and is still affordable. Papers were signed for a 10 month lease.

What I did today.

Today I saw the movie TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), which was a great movie, at the 11:05 am to get the lower cost, which is around $9.00 for prine time. Great movie. One thing I saw at the end of the movie in Splinter room, on a shelf was that time travel specter in the 3rd movie. After the movie I got some food and played Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords on my PSP. And them I went over to the Games Workshop to have a look around. Its close to where I live , but I have never been in there. I did find a good color (Desert Yellow) to use for some minis I am painting.

Time frame. Update

I check the GeekLable.com today and low and behold our picture has been posted on the GeekLable Fan Photos page. It took a while, but there it is.

From when I sent the photo, Feb 25th to today, Mar 31st. It took around 35 days to get the photo posted.

Our HERO game tangents.

Here are some of the off topics that came up durring on HERO RPG game on 3/24/07:

1. Deep Space Nine episode: Trials and Tribble-ations

In our game Bob's character, Darbor said something along as this: When Bashir and O'Brien ask Worf why 23rd Century Klingons look so different he will only tell them "it was a bad time in our history... we do not discuss it with outsiders".

2. South Park episode: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

3. Bob's character new dog: the size and name of it.

4. The flash game of Desktop Tower Defence
started a Group Scoreboard under the name "Luckless"

My Anime Rant

Watched the Pokemon movie, Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, that was Cartoon Network tonight and was sorry to see a good chunk of the movie missing. I saw the Japanese version of the movie the movie opened with a good overview of the Pokemon world which was about 4 to 5 minutes. That was missing. Then the next shot was with the Pokemon Ranger rescuing the Pokemon egg from the pirate ship which was about 10 to 15 minutes. That was also missing. From what I could tell the movie did not suffer from the cut shots, the scenes were in the original Japanese version, why were they not kept. I do not know why the movie was not kept whole. The only reason I can possibly see is it was cut for time. The movie was given 2 and a half hour, but the movie only used 2 hours and 10 minutes. The other 20 or so minutes were used to a different cartoon show.

Thats my story and I am sticking with it.

The Flight

Meet up with Rich and JP after work to get our tickets for the flight to San Diego Comic Con. After some food we head over to my place. Rich started with a flight the would work. Next JP, with a little work, was able to find the matching flight (thru Orbitz). Last , was me. Found the need flight to match the others (no trouble finding it) and booked the flight. Step two complete.

Room. Check.
Flight, there and back. Check.

Time frame.

GeekLable make a great shirt, it has held up to a few washing so far. I had given our game group (of 3 including me) a GeekLable shirt. On one game day I got everyone to put on the shirt and was able to snap a picture.



From what GeekLable's Web site says, "Have a fan photo you'd line to share?". So I did. I email the photo on February 25th and got this email responce on March 6th:

Hey heath,

Thanks for the awesome photo! Sorry not to get it online sooner. Hopefully, I have it online in the next day or two.

jay

Jay Lynn

President

Geeklabel, Inc.

www.geeklabel.com

As of today, March 18th, it has not shown up yet on their photo page. You say 2 days, it should be posted there in around the 2 day. It has been 12 day, it should be posted by now.

Thats my rant and I am sticking to it for now. ;-)

300 the movie.

Some info on "300":

Time Warner Inc.'s battle epic "300'' was the highest-grossing movie for a second straight weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters, taking in $31.2 million.

The movie topped Sandra Bullock's "Premonition,'' which opened in third place with $18 million, and Universal Pictures' ``Dead Silence,'' which debuted fourth with $7.7 million, box- office tracker Media By Numbers LLC said in a statement today. ``Wild Hogs'' retained second place, taking in $18.8 million in its third week of release.

``300'' last week broke the record for a March opening, taking in $70 million. While receipts fell 56 percent this week, the movie has now made $127.5 million since its March 9 release and is the biggest-grossing film this year for Warner Bros., which may have its second number-one debut of 2007 when ``Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' opens next weekend.

The full story is at Bloomberg.com

To paint or not to paint.

I made a offer to Bob, my fellow Hero Game player, that if he found a mini figure that I would paint it. The first one he found was Tolan, Male Druid (2692) of the Dark Heaven Legends line from Reaper Mini. It looks good, but he found a better one, Blackclad Druid (PIP81019) of the Iron Kingdoms line from Privateer Press. He liked this one better, the character is holding a long ax type weapon, which looks it could be converted to a staff weapon which Bob's character mainly uses. Early this week I was planing to sit down and start them. Well, I did sit down and opened the Blackclad Druid figure picked off the biger pieces of the metal on the figure. I went to my craft box (which is where my paints, brushes and tools are) to get the get the files to smoth down the edges. But they were not there, I looked around but still could not find them. I recalled the last time they were used were on some horse mini I purchased a few months ago. I gave it a few days, but sill no luck. Last night I looked from file in the local area, but again no luck. Today a made a trip to American Eagles Hobbies over in Seattle to pick a set of fine files and found a another figure for myself. Now I start to prep the minis and get them painted. Thats my story and I am sticking with it.

The Death of Captain America

A bad day in Marvel history.

The superhero's death in Captain America No. 25 is the latest development in Marvel Comics' long-running "Civil War" story line, in which the American government is cracking down on superheroes, requiring them to register or be declared traitors. Captain America had resisted the government and was killed on his way to trial.

Check out the story here.

Not a good day. Update.

From what has been told to me. Kate will be heading home this Wednesday, while Chad will be going back to work. Kate will also be put back on solid foods.

The state of the game questionaire.

Here is the 2nd email on the state of game of out Hero game we are currently in. My answeres are in red type.

Gentlemen,

It is that time again. Time for your thoughts and comments. I am
BCC'ing everyone again to keep thoughts private.

Character maintenance:

Do you like where you character is right now (as in its development)?
Yes I do.

What new things are you interested in for your character?
As a change, maybe a new little power that we my have. Maybe something strange.

Player's Thoughts:

Just wanted to get some feedback from you two on several things. Sort of a pick-your-brain type of thing. The following are not in any sort of order, just how they came out of my brain:

1. (Most important to me) Are you having fun? Yes I am.
a. What do you like? The story is good, with a battle here and there.
b. What do you hate? Liver. Oh, about the game. Very little. Nothing come to mind at this time.
c. Is there something that can be added, removed, or done
differently to make the game more fun for you? Just to toss out something, maybe have metal be a little more available, so they could be used a little more. The blacksmith and armorer skill will not get to much use. Also maybe some people have a minor power or small ability they could use or have to have a little magic in the area. It posable there is something in the water.

2. Plot hooks. The way I have been running it right now is pretty
controlling of where you go and what happens. At this point, I like the some what controlling path.
a. What things that have happened, or have heard about, in the game did you want to explore in greater detail? A large city is good to explore, and there is those pesky wizards we could pay a visit to. How about the pesky bandits.
b. Any sort of side plots would you like to see in exploring something about or for your character. Some side quest on Vaden's family.
c. Did you still want me to lead you more often that not? Do you want to pursue your own opportunities? Or is there some sort of middle ground that you two want? I like the way it has gone so far along the path you have given us so far.

3. Game mechanics. Rules that we are using in the game.
a. Any rules that you read about (especially the optional ones)
that you want me to include? I am happy with the rule we have currently.
b. Anything in the rules that do not make sense to you? Or that
you think that they is a different interpretation? Nothing that comes to mind. As the item come up in the game, I will give out my 2 cents.
c. Anything that you think is just plain dumb? Nothing that comes to mind at this time.

4. Did you have any other thoughts or comments? How a board game night sometime. Not to replace a RPG day, maybe a Sunday or Wednesday? Or if a break is needed, this is a option.

Thank you for all of your help and for playing in my game.

Norm.

Not a good day.

It has been a week sence this has happened, I wanted to wait for a while frined of the family were told by Chad himself. I read the following email on Saturday Feb 24th, while the email was dated Friday Feb 23rd and this all hapened on Thursday Feb 22nd. This is what he sent me and my parents from Chad (my brother):

Yesterday, Kate was admitted to New York Presbyterian after fainting and having abdominal pains. It turns out that the blood vessel leading to Kate's spleen had ruptured, a condition that went undiagnosed for many hours until she eventually lapsed into unresponsiveness and was rushed into surgery. After suffering massive blood loss, Kate is recovering really well and was breathing on her own just six hours after they closed her up. Unfortunately our daughter was not so lucky. She passed away after a crash C-section in the emergency room. We haven't yet processed the loss fully yet, but we feel amazingly lucky that Kate is alive.

Everything is much better, Kate is still in the hospital resting. She is able move around on her own a little . Kate is recovering nicely and healing at a great rate (according to the doctors, Chad said).