Sunday, May 31, 2009

Stowaway's Birthday

My dear Stowaway turned the tender age of 24 today. Ahhh, to be so young again and the opportunity to make even bigger and more stupid mistakes but I digress.

Since Movado was leaving town Saturday night, we opted for a Saturday afternoon celebration. It was a good turn-out. We had Movado, Madog, deTag, Steve, Liz, Alex, Powder Monkey, Zach and Stephanie, me and the birthday boy.

We met for lunch at Shane's Rib Shack (the Original) and then it was off to Jesse's for Oreo ice cream cake and presents. Afterward, we watched the recently released on DVD Fanboys that Steve had brought.

Good times had by all.

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H2: Bunny Crew Movie Night

Friday night, I headed over to Michael's for movie night with the H2 Bunny Crew. All those wonderful people that made huge contributions of H2 information and pictures. There was the master-mind Michael, his lovely wife Stephanie, the beautiful Leigh-Anne, the laid back Johnathan and the ever hyper (but lovable) Brandon.

It was a wonderfully relaxing evening. We sat around talking, playing Rock Band on Michael's xBox 360 and, of course, watching Rob Zombie's Halloween. Unfortunately, there aren't any pictures from the evening.

501st: Star Wars at the CNN Center

Last Thursday, I took the day off work to take my mother to the doctor's office in Buckhead. It just happened that the Republic Commando's from the Ga. Garrison were helping out Cartoon Network with a community outreach fair. Mom and I decided to drop by for a couple of minutes, which really turned into a hour and a half. It was a good event and even mom got into the action.

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The commando's had a good time with lots of photo-op's....



I have 2 funny video's but I can't get them loaded until tomorrow. I will post those later....

H2: Dimenson Horror Channel

There is now a Dimension Horror Channel on YouTube. It has all the latest and greatest H2 clip. Go subscribe and become a 'friend'. Below is one of the behind-the-scene clips.


Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Must Plan!

OK, so now that Disney has changed their policy and reduced the number of days out that you can make dinner reservations from 180 to 90, I'm going through planning withdrawal. Normally, about this time, I'd be in the throes of park and dinner reservation planning but NOOOOOO - not this year. So to fill the void, I've decided to work on some D*C planning. Primarily, the Thursday Night Dinner. This is really the only sit down and relax dinner that ever happens for me at D*C so I try to pick a decent place. Below is a list I have compiled. Please review and give me your opinions and let me know if I have overlooked a good dinner option that is within walking distance of the Marriott Marquis.

You don't have to be going to D*C to join us for dinner and you don't have to be doing either to give me your opinion. Thanks!

Here is the list thus far:

Max Lager's Wood Grill & Brewery

Ray's in the City

Trader Vic's

Azio

Hsu's Chinese

Benihana

Gibney's Pub

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Silver Scream Picture Show: The Creature from the Black Lagoon

OK, this is a strange trip how I ended up at the Silver Scream Spook Show last night.

It started the first day that Zombie was in Covington filming H2. I happened to stop by the Square that morning to take pictures of the 'set' and props. It was all but deserted so I ran around and was looking at everything. One of the 'props' that caught my eye was a retro spook show poster/flyer. I took a close up picture and included in my first H2 post. Even then, I mentioned I wanted one of those flyer's (which I did snag off the set). It didn't take long before several readers let me know that it was a legit poster from a show that happens every month at The Plaza Theater.

Fast forward to the H2 Phantom Jam shoot for H2. The hubby was an extra and met all kinds of great people. The group that coordinated and did makeup was the crew from the 'Silver Scream Spook Show'!

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Fast forward a little more to Micheal's Fan-tom Jam Wrap Party. Here I had the opportunity to meet some of these wonderful (and amazing talented) people.

Finally, the hubby decided we would make it a point to go this month. After all, it was 'The Creature from the Black Lagoon' in 3D! So off we went.

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The show was phenomenal and I will admit, I think I am hooked. We already have next month's on the calendar.

It is reminiscent of the old shlock horror movie host shows. The 'ghost host with the most', Prof. Morte, and his side kick Retch are not only entertaining but have a quick wit for anything the audience may throw at them. One of my favorite bits (and I know I cannot get it word-for-word)

Prof.Morte:
"You know the Plaza Theater is now a non-profit. That means you can make donations. That means you can work off your DUI here! No more picking up trash off the side of the road. You can pick up trash after the Rocky Horror Picture Show."

Ok, so maybe you had to be there but it was funny!

Pandora and and Persephone add beauty and talent to the stage. I loved Pandora's themed dress and admire Persephone's talent. It takes a lot to get in front of a crowd and perform but to make yourself look oh-so-less-than-perfect on stage takes more and she was fantastic! Mumbobo, all I can say is that watching him chase the squirrels was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time and Blast-Off Burlesque was sizzling! I thought the goldfish outfits were so ingenious.

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I give it a thumbs up with five gold stars!

I saw a lot of familiar faces in the crowd and even got to speak to a few people. I saw Toxic Doc after the movie and he showed me his latest ink. He won one of the tattoo gift certificates at the Fan-tom Jam.

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And we had to have a little bit of fun with the life-sized creature before we left. Here is a rare picture that I am actually in!

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Shawn and his lovely wife.
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I highly recommend that you go out to The Plaza Theater's website and join the email list. They are Atlanta's only independently owned theater and always have different and interesting events going on. After all, that is one of the main places I heard about the extras casting call for H2! I promise you will not regret it!

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Saturday, May 23, 2009

Stormtrooper at the Braves and Trivia Nights: Catching Up!

Sorry I have been absent lately. I had some medical issues last week and have spent this week catching up with stuff from last week. I need less stuff!

Now to catch up the blog! Hmmmm, we have had two Trivia Nights, we'll save save those for last. Don't like to dwell on it so I will start with Zach, Josh and Kyle's trip to Turner Field. You remember Zach. He is our Star Wars Sports guy. He arranged for the 501st to appear at a GSU game and was the first of the Crew to wear a TK helmet at a Thrashers game. Well, this past week he donned the TK helmet for a Braves game. Here are some pictures from their adventure along with an email Zach sent to me.

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TK at the Braves. Horrible game. Lots of kids and others wanting pictures though.

Got on the big screen. Twice. In fact, the first time, it was really REALLY long. I ran out of dance moves so I looked at my "watch" and gestured that I was done.

I'll try to get Braves Vision to get a copy of the tape. I think it's possible.

One of the coolest things was when I got my picture with Homer the Brave (mascot) and he dragged us off into the bowels of Cartoon Network. They have a photo-op area with the background being Clone Wars.

Neato. Oh, it was retro hat give away too.




And my favorite picture: Kyle, Zach and Josh.

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Trivia Night for the last two weeks. All I have to say is good food, great friends and really, REALLY crappy trivia. The pictures tell it all.

Darrell, Kyle, Alex, Jed, Jesse and Zach

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There some new people at the last Trivia Night so please forgive if I get names wrong or mis-spelled. Just let me know, Jesse.

Jed, Darrell, Alex, Jesse, Katherine, Kyle and Mike. Blaine didn't make the picture.

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We are working on Mike's sad face.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

GARF Visit: 2009

This past Saturday, I spent the day at the Renn Faire with Jesse, Kyle, Steve, Liz, deTag, Hal and Anita. I was lucky enough to run into Jay Finch at the end of the day at the Pub sing. Darrell had a 501st event downtown at The Sweet Auburn Festival.

It was a good time. Since I was solo, I just followed the crowd and enjoyed myself. We watched the Lipizzan Stallions and, of course, the Ded Bob Show. I also had the opportunity to see Cast in Bronze where carillon music is performed on over five tons of cast bronze bells. The rest of the crew went to the last joust of the day while I sat in the Pub for the Pub Sing. I just cannot stomach the Hanlon-Lee’s after working so closely with the real jousters of Pendragon.

Throughout the day there was much snacking, walking, browsing and silliness.



Liz brought her new Dragon Puppet Coco. She was a hit with the Renn Faire folks and other patrons alike…



And, as customary, the last group photo of the day. Yes, there are two. If you look real close, you will notice that I took one with deTag on the left and he took one with me on the left. Thanks deTag!


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Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Trivia Night: Mellow Mushroom

The night of shame. Obviously we know more about Irish/St. Patrick's Day trivia than Mexican/Cinco de Mayo trivia. Round one went great. Round two was pretty good. In round three, we started slipping and we finished off with a perfect 0 (not counting the bonus question) in round four. We came in fourth - no gift certificate.

The one highlight of the evening, Alex and his lime...

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I will leave you with the picture of shame...

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Better luck next week!

The Big Bang Theory



The latest and greatest of shows on television today.

I have Jesse** to thank for this one. He bought the first season on DVD and forced me to watch every on of them over a 3 night period. It may sound like pure torture but instead it was pure goodness!

CBS describes the show as…

Leonard and Sheldon are brilliant physicists, the kind of "beautiful minds" that understand how the universe works. But none of that genius helps them interact with people, especially women. All this begins to change when a free-spirited beauty named Penny moves in next door. Sheldon, Leonard's roommate, is quite content spending his nights playing Klingon Boggle with their socially dysfunctional friends, fellow CalTech scientists Wolowitz and Koothrappali. However, Leonard sees in Penny a whole new universe of possibilities... including love.

I, of course, LOVE Sheldon! After all, he gets the best lines!

Sheldon Cooper Quotations - Season 1
This list is courtesy of sheldonshirts.com

Season 1, Episode 1 (Pilot)

Well, today we tried masturbating for money.

Yes, it tells us that you participate in the mass cultural delusion that the sun’s apparent position relative to arbitrarily defined constellations at the time of your birth somehow affects your personality.

Season 1, Episode 2 (The Big Bran Hypothesis)

Ah gravity, thou art a heartless bitch.

I am truly sorry for what happened last night. I take full responsibility and I hope it won’t color your opinion of Leonard, who is not only a wonderful guy but also, I hear, a gentle and thorough lover.

Season 1, Episode 3 (The Fuzzy Boots Corollary)

At least now you can retrieve the black box from the twisted smoldering wreckage that was once your fantasy of dating her and analyze the data so that you don't crash into geek mountain again.

I think that you have as much of a chance of having a sexual relationship with Penny as the Hubble Telescope does of discovering at the center of every black hole is little man with a flashlight searching for a circuit breaker.

Season 1, Episode 4 (The Luminous Fish Effect)

Oh, I'm sorry. Did I insult you? Is your body mass somehow tied into your self worth?

Season 1, Episode 5 (The Hamburger Postulate)

Do you realize I may have to share a Nobel Prize with your booty call?

Of course I'm listening. Blah blah, hopeless Penny delusion, blah blah blah.

Season 1, Episode 7 (The Dumpling Paradox)

I'll watch the last 24 minutes of Doctor Who, although at this point it's more like Doctor Why Bother.

No, I’m going to ask him to choose between sex and Halo 3. As far as I know, sex has not been upgraded to include high-def graphics and enhanced weapon systems.

Season 1, Episode 8 (The Grasshopper Experiment)

I understand, but it was between you and the Museum of Natural History, and frankly, you don't have dinosaurs.

Season 1, Episode 9 (The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization)

Forget your suit. Look at my arms flailing. I'm like a flamingo on Ritalin.

Well, there's always the possibility that a trash can spontaneously formed around the letter, but Occam's Razor would suggest that someone threw it out.

Season 1, Episode 10 (The Loobenfeld Decay)

I don’t guess. As a scientist I reach conclusions based on observation and experimentation. Although, as I’m saying this, it occurs to me that you may have been employing a rhetorical device, rendering my response moot.

Season 1, Episode 11 (The Pancake Batter Anomaly)

We have no idea what pathogen Typhoid Penny’s introduced into our environment. And having never been to Nebraska I’m relatively certain that I have no Corn Husking antibodies.

Obviously you're not well-suited for three-dimensional chess. Perhaps three-dimensional Candyland would be your speed.

Season 1, Episode 12 (The Jerusalem Duality)

While Mr. Kim, by virtue of youth and naiveté, has fallen prey to the inexplicable need for human contact, let me step in and assure you that my research will go on uninterrupted, and that social relationships will continue to baffle and repulse me.

Engineering: where the noble semi-skilled laborers execute the vision of those who think and dream. Hello, Ooompa-Loompas of science.

Season 1, Episode 13 (The Bat Jar Conjecture)

Yes, well, I’m polymerized tree sap and you’re an inorganic adhesive, so whatever verbal projectile you launch in my direction is reflected off of me, returns to its original trajectory and adheres to you.

At this point I should inform you that I intend to form my own team and destroy the molecular bonds that bind your very matter together and reduce the resulting particular chaos to tears. One more thing. It’s on, bitch.

Season 1, Episode 14 (The Nerdvana Annihilation)

I disagree. Your inability to successfully woo Penny long predates your acquisition of the time machine. That failure clearly stands on its own.

In a Venn diagram, that would be an individual located at the intersection of the sets “no longer want my Time Machine” and “need 800 dollars”.

Season 1, Episode 15 (The Shiksa Indeterminacy)

They were not “friends”. They were imaginary colleagues.

Season 1, Episode 16 (The Peanut Reaction)

What twelve year old boy wants a motorized dirt bike?

What computer do you have? And please don't say "a white one."

Season 1, Episode 17 (The Tangerine Factor)

Actually, I thought the first two renditions were far more compelling. Previously, I felt sympathy for the Leonard character. Now I just find him to be whiny and annoying.

A few personal observations...

1) It makes you feel smart when you actually catch AND understand one of Sheldon's physicists comeback's and observations.

2) It helps to watch with a chemist that can tell what molecule is being represented on Leonard's shirt.

The show comes on CBS, Mondays @ 8pm. The bad news, next week in the season finale!

**Jesse = 62.7% Sheldon.