The Franklin Hypothesis

So the second round of apocalyptic events came through this past week.  Instead of fake prophecy this most recent rash came in the form of natural "disasters." With the earthquake hitting the capital followed quickly by Hurricane Irene, it was a memorable week.  So I'm not confused as insensitive to the people that were deeply affected by the recent storms, be it power outages, flooding or even with loss of loved ones, that is not the case.  I'm merely looking at the situation from my own point of view, which was thankfully unaffected by Mother Nature's hissy fit.

If it were more serious here I imagine I'd resort to something along the lines of the image posted here tonight.  Seriously, I'd have a hard time without constant internet and video streaming access.  First World Problems, right?

Again, several years late, I found a show that I highly recommend the rest of you all try.  We've been watching Breaking Bad from its beginning here at the Manor, and I can understand why Bryan Cranston won so many awards for it.  Both main characters are equal parts repulsive and lovable without finding themselves falling into familiar stereotypes.  AMC's done a good job lately of picking the right projects, or maybe it's something about letting the projects do a bit more of what they would like.  It's hard to tell.

Either way, enjoy this week and the long weekend approaching no matter what your plans, or lack thereof, may be.

Punch it, Chewie!

Power Leveling!

Taking the old adage I've heard from those with more smarts that I do, I try to make myself mostly presentable when it's time to get stuff done.  That being said, imagine going to your office and seeing people dressed as racecar drivers, artists, athletes, etc.  It made me think for a second how I would dress myself into a new career path, and before the thought even finished forming I knew it would go down exactly as it appears to your left.

Luckily, I don't own a bullwhip or the other various pieces that would make a killer likeness.  If I was in possession, you can bet that I would spend minutes every morning staring at them fighting not to head into the world making a fool of myself.  Or who knows, maybe the gear is all that's keeping me from finding artifacts and evil Nazis trying to get their hands on them before me.

This week went by at lightspeed, and I'm grateful for that.  Keeping up that pace would not be appreciated come the weekend though, so fingers crossed we can kick our collective feet up and enjoy the peace for however long we can grab it.  Take care of yourselves, I won't be able to until I grow those superpowers I sent away for.

Punch it, Chewie!

The Dark Supervisor

Batman is timeless. He's the eternal struggle against evil and dance that must be played to avoid becoming what you hate most. And then it started.

It came along innocently enough.  Robin, grief-stricken over the loss of this family joined the fold.  Then Bat-Girl, and Huntress, then Robin became Nightwing so we needed another Robin.  Catwoman became a buddy and showed up to help once in awhile.

It all just added up to Batman in charge of his own little crew instead of out wrestling with his demons on his own.  I understand that the "mirror" of well-adjusted heroes can be helpful in showing how much of a loner he is, but it also does him a disservice.  With all the voices in his head, Batman doesn't have the chance to brood and run things down as much without angering his little brat pack.  I think his reboot should remove most of his sidekicks and bring him back to the shining example in the dark. /Batman rant

Recently watched all of the Mad Max movies.  It's a shame they turned him into a repetitive loner who was continually drawn into social situations.  For what they were, the entertainment value was still high.  I would recommend checking out The Road Warrior at least.  I wasn't a huge fan of Beyond Thunderdome, with or without Tina Turner.

Alright, let's keep our heads down and just push our way through this week.

Punch it, Chewie!

Based On Imaginary Reality

If I ever built a treehouse, it would be with the proper load-bearing materials to support myself and whatever I wanted to bring up there.  Kids would only possibly be allowed, so I'm grateful I don't have any.

On another note, I was convinced to put a small fireplace in the background of the imaginary treehouse.  I tried to argue that it doesn't make sense for a fireplace to be lit inside a wooden structure, sitting in a tree.  As you can see, I am unable to stick to my guns.

For one reason or another I got nostalgic remembering a few funny Ryan Dunn moments from the Viva la Bam show, so of course now I'm sucked into watching the entire thing, mindless as it may be.  What I find to be the most sad is that I'm not sure Bam was playing a character for his fake reality show and he really does have that level of d-baggery in him to the core.  Dunn was always my favorite of those guys so it's terrible he's done but from what we've seen it's amazing that he was the first to go from the Jackass crew.

Another weekend looms ahead! Only this looming is different from the normal looming because it's neither menacing nor making some kind of quilt.  Enjoy it and we'll see you around the bend.

Punch it, Chewie!

Mutant Weightlifter

So what happens when you pack a few hundred pounds of metal onto the human skeleton?  Well for a normal person I'd like to think the image to the left would be a decent start.

To up the nerd just a bit, it does make sense that Wolverine is fine with lifting his claws and skeleton constantly because of his mutant healing factor which would help him break down and rebuild his muscle tissue extremely quickly.

Watch Falling Skies.  I recommend it for some good entertainment if you haven't already checked it out.  The production value isn't that bad for this kind of a show and the aliens and humans running around are pretty interesting.  We're about to wrap up the first season here at the Manor and I'm excited to see how it all ends up.

I'll be keeping tonight fairly short.  Summer may be nearing it's end but Fall's right around the corner with all it's hoodie goodness.

Punch it, Chewie!

It's Only A Mistake If You Admit It

It was a close one, folks.  The nightmarish images depicted tonight very nearly became my reality last week.  Thankfully the area affected was blend-able as we call it in the biz.  It's been awhile since a mishap was made with hair cuttery, mostly due to the fact that I haven't gone to an actual barber in nearly a decade.  College monetary woes turned into practical habits and I  can't see myself going back to the chair and blue Barbasol-coated combs anytime soon.

Swordfish was on the tele last night and it is an enjoyable if not mindless flick.  Hugh Jackman himself looks much younger without his Wolverine scruff and I find myself just rooting for the guy in whatever movie he's in, even if he's being a jerk a la The Prestige.  Since I have this forum it should also be made clear that, while he did an awesome job at the character, he is just simply too tall to be a good Wolverine.  The runt's supposed to be smaller and thus scrappier than that, but his commitment to the character gives him a pass.

I've also got a new trick for all homeowners out there.  Having a hard time with wet/clumpy grass?  If you have separation between front and back yards and you've been slacking and/or away a lot lately, just mow your front yard and it buys you a few more days neighborhood-guilt-free. We here at the Ranch work smarter, not harder.

Punch it, Chewie!

In Space No One Can Hear Your Boredom

What if a hipster was launched into orbit?  I think that what you see to the left might be very possible.  It's too bad that the space shuttles aren't going to be shooting into space anymore.  It's probably even worse that government contracts are going to start going to corporate entities to fuel our skyward momentum as a species.

I've always wanted to fly into space, even though I know it wouldn't work out even if both the technology and the vast amount of money I would need all magically appeared before me.  I have mild travel anxiety for a three-hour trip from a fairly traumatic (read: not really that bad) experience several years ago that my gut's been working it's way back from.  I can only imagine the negative progress I'd make if I strapped a few million pounds of liquid oxygen to my butt and hit the button.

If you're into gaming, step 1 is to check out League of Legends.  Step 2 is to hang around for a month or so because a new map and what looks to be a pretty fun new game mode will be dropping for public consumption. The game has to rank at the top for free-to-play games from the community I've been able to tag along with.  Good times were had by a few.

Hopefully you're doing well, and if inclined you can let me know how you're doing or how you think I'm doing here by dropping a comment below.

Punch it, Chewie!

Under The Sea!

On one of our miniature vacations, we spotted a few jellyfish and that got me, of course, wondering about how they all got made.  I sure didn't see many features that would attract a potential mate in those creepy little suckers hanging out just under the surface.  Since I'm not about to actually research something I don't know, we of course end up with something close to what you see to the left.

We were able to catch the movie Hall Pass recently, and even though I like Jason Sudeikis it just wasn't enough to make it an enjoyable experience.  The dorkiness factor of Owen Wilson and Sudeikis was over-exaggerated to the point of ridiculous.  To top it all off, the whole premise of 'the only reason you'll appreciate your marriage is if you try to break out of it' was not something I'd want to put in the American public's subconscious.  Ick.

Well, that should just about do it.  With no really appealing releases coming out in the next few weeks I'll be forced to see if there's anything juicy I've overlooked on Netflix.  Everyone enjoy your weekend, there's not many left in the pre-school summer!

Punch it, Chewie!

Industrious And Cute As A Button

They are by no means as handy with construction equipment as the comic tonight suggests, but there's a family of rabbits that have moved into our backyard where a garden used to be.  It's fine with me, I'm not doing anything with the space they're living in I just hoped to get a sub-let deal out of them before they really settle down and start that huge family I'm afraid is coming.

There's not a good segue from that topic to this, so I'm using the classic bait-and-switch where I discuss it while actually providing one.

DC Comics is going to be throwing their entire universe upside down this August by restarting or rebooting virtually every title they carry.  The company will have 52 #1's all premiering in a few weeks, but unlike the Marvel Ultimate Universe won't exist at the same time as the current storylines.  Marvel itself has been a monster lately, dominating both their native print media and the big screen and TV.  DC needed to shake things up and I'm really interested to see how it goes.  I've never been a huge DC follower but between Batman and Green Lantern I'm down to give it a fair chance.

Short update, other nerdly matters await.

Punch it, Chewie!