Christmas Ripley
Merry Christmas from Warrant Officer Ripley! ♥
I hope none of you get a gift from a facehugger…
Photo by Brian J Matis, Happy Holidays edit by Lauren
Bah! Humbug! – A Christmas Story
Grumpy-nezer Scrooge
Well, just one more day and we all will have made it through the 3+ month-long “holiday season.” But other than internet shopping, politically correct pleasantries, and the annual contact with distant family members, what is Christmas really about? I mean aside from religion… Because let’s face it, a large amount of celebrants are either A) not religious at all, or B) not celebrating it for the religious connotations. I’m talking about how the season as a whole has evolved, especially within our lifetimes. Now, is that evolution something that is seen across the cultural board, or is it simply growing up? Or is grumpy cat finally rubbing off on all of us? I think one of the lessons we can steal from Mr. Scrooge is that we should take a step back and look at how Christmas has affected our lives with the help of his three ghosts.
Though instead of the ghost of Christmas Past/Present/Future I’d like to think that we could choose whomever we’d like to guide us on our holiday spiritual journey. Mine would be three Doctors… preferably 4, 10, and 13.
Friday Food Porn: Maine Lobster Meets California Cow and Paso Fowl
Maine Lobster with Fran
My good friends Rick and Fran were kind enough to invite me to partake in a feast of Maine Lobster that had just been imported from… well Maine!
The Night Before End Times
‘Twas the night before End Times
And all through the city
No sane man was fearful
Not even a bitty.
The work keys were hung
On the key rack with care
In hopes that the End Times
Meant they would stay there. (more…)
Harry Dresden, Books, Talks, and Creative Motivation
Back in 2008 while I was still living on the East Coast, I was lucky enough to play a part in the student-run SciFi convention known as MadiCon. That spring we were proud to play host to Jim Butcher, New York Times Bestselling author of the Dresden Files. At the time, he had just published the ninth book in his contemporary fantasy/mystery series… and I hadn’t read a single one of them. Not that I wasn’t interested, of course, but I was more along the lines of not-on-the-up-and-up when it came to new(er) books and movies. As a courtesy to our guest of honor, and so that the Con-Chair didn’t have to, I bit the bullet and buckled down to read a book or two before the con.
Harry and Sue
2012, the Apocalypse, and Impromptu “Bucket Lists”
2012: the end of an era… or so some people interpret from the Mayan Calendar. Incorrectly. Or is it? I highly highly highly doubt that the world is going to end on December 21, 2012, but just in case… what do I want to do before the apocalypse happens? What do you want to do? I know that people spend more than half of their lives creating, building , and expanding upon a bucket list (as Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman showed us), but what about for those of us who are still in our 20s and 30s, with (hopefully) well over half a lifetime ahead of us? Of course we have the “oh well I want to go to Egypt/Hawaii/Europe/whatever before I die” because we don’t have the money for it now, along with other goals that require the savings and free time that only come with retirement or winning the lottery. But if the world does end in a week and a half, what do we have to show for it?
That’s where the Impromptu Bucket List comes in. It’s not drunkenly illegal enough to get us thrown in jail if the world does not in fact end, but it is ostentatious enough to puff your chest out and say “HEY! That’s right, I did that!” before whatever fate befalls us at the end of next week. You don’t want to be Steve Buscemi taking out thousands of dollars in loans to blow on hookers before blasting off to stop the asteroid and then owing the loan shark all that money upon your return. You want to be the heroic guy/gal who pulls off the totally story-worthy shit that gets you the fandom you deserve if/when the apocalypse comes. Whether it is a grizzly end that validates our Impromptu Bucket List, or (more likely) and anticlimactic Friday that still validates our Impromptu Bucket List, you’ll still feel good about this upcoming week and a half. Who am I kidding though, unless you work on the weekends what Friday is ever really anticlimactic? Grab some beers after work to celebrate the end of the world! Worst case scenario? Being slightly embarrassed that life still exists and having beers on a Friday night! I mean… worst case scenario: end-of-the-world. Yeah. That’s it. (more…)
Top 10 Guide to (possibly offbeat) Holiday Flicks
With the Xmas season in full swing, it’s only appropriate to put on a few flicks to get into the spirit of the season. So next time you’re stuck with your family and they insist on putting on a “holiday movie” I’ve put together a list of some of my personal favorites that still fall into the “holiday” categories for you to choose from. Maybe you’ll find some on here that you can put in your holiday collection for easy access by the family when they’re itching for the holiday cheer!
10. Edward Scissorhands
Year: 1990
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Vincent Price, Alan Arkin, Anthony Michael Hall
This Burton film begins with a grandmother telling a story about why it always snows on Christmas in their California hometown. Her cookie-cutter culdesac is peppered with a sense of weirdness, like many of Burton’s films, and when a strange young scissor-handed man is brought into town after being found alone in the spooky mansion at the edge of town it brings more than just gossip. She recants to her grandchild the offbeat and unlikely love story between Mr. Scissorhands and a young woman in their quiet 50’s suburban town, and how their love keeps it snowing each Christmas. Sounds sappy, I know, but how sappy can it be with Johnny Depp in a leather body suit and scissors for hands awkwardly falling in love with a blond Winona Ryder teenager? Either way, it’s a Christmas classic for sure! (more…)
Food Friday Haikus (from Thursday’s lazy dinner): A Feast For Your Eyes
We started with wine
Roussanne, Eberle ’06
A lead up to food
Tips For Being a Good College Geek Neighbor (a passive rant)
1. Recognize your surrounding neighbors.
Are they college kids? Is it a family neighborhood? Do they have an Elder God door knocker? Are they cooking up meth in the adjoining garage? These are all important pieces of information to take into consideration after moving into a new place, especially when deciding decor, gaming equipment placement, and bedroom choices. Not to mention making a mental map of what route emergency vehicles would have to take in case of an emergency, fire or otherwise… Who is living near/next to/below/above you is a very key piece of intel when setting up your lair. A variety of factors can influence how you set up your apartment, especially when the focus is for console gaming, computer gaming, LAN hosting, tabletop games, LARPing, etc. Know your neighbors as you would know the dragon boss in your next dungeon. (more…)
LARPing: To Boldly Go…
Captain’s log: Stardate 40247.3
At the edge of the Alpha Quadrant, we’ve picked up a distress beacon coming from a nearby M-Class planet. We initially proceeded with a routine rescue response until our science officer discovered it was not only a beacon of Starfleet design, but it was 17 years old! Could it be? The lost away team of the USS Krofft? We would have to send out the away team for these pour souls that Starfleet has waited 17 years for… and bring those people home!
A Star Trek/70s SciFi LARP for 16 people.
The Industrious Inquisitor 