Cat in a can!

Wendy sent me these pics that her friend took of a cat that got into a bit of trouble by digging through their trash. Could this be a new species of Bermsloth?

But is it art?

I've been drawing a lot lately and since it's nearing the Halloween season, my drawings have been pretty creepy. But here they are in all of their eerie goodness. Click on a pic to see a larger version.

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Crash, Boom, Bam!

Wendy and I were awoken once again by a thunderous crash above or bedroom last night. Yes, the constant raining for the past two days had saturated our neighbors maple tree enough to bring a huge limb crashing to the earth. Well - not quite the earth, not before taking a detour anyway! The branch hit our roof, exploded into several two foot long chunks, then rained down onto our central air unit, bathing it in a coat of sludge and bark, before finally embedding itself like a knife into the ground.

The last time this happened, a branch went clear through our roof! The sad thing is that I almost expected it. The maple trees are big and old, and it has been extremely dry this season. So when I heard that it was going to rain for days on end and have high winds, I knew that something bad was going to happen.

So after the 4:15am awakening, we went outside to check out the damage. Wendy held the flashlight while I climbed up an aluminum ladder to the roof in the rain. It was slippery, wet, cold and I was only half awake. But I couldn't see any damage to the roof. Supposedly we still have a few more days of constant rain, so who knows what the future will bring.

If I build it, they will scream.

I've been working on my Halloween costume for this year quite a bit over the past two weeks. Its starting to come together, but I'm starting to doubt whether I'll get it done in time for Halloween. I showed some preliminary designs for it a month or so ago, but the costume has since transformed from a "goat-man" to a "Grim Reaper."

According to my initial calculations, the entire suit will be roughly 10 feet tall and have a reach of about 6 feet. I'll post more photos as the project develops this week.

Fright Fest 2007

We had our annual Halloween party for my daughter and despite my initial reservations, I think she gad a blast. As many of you know, we've always tried to go all out for her Halloween parties. They're typically full of props, scares and food. But the past two years have been smaller events.

This years party had me all stressed out. I had neglected every part of it from the planning, the set up , and the final execution. But luckily it all worked out in the end.

This seasons party began with big plans of elaborate scares involving a complicated set up about a fictional goat-man. This would have included the construction of a website, dvd invitations and a major costume construction. But neither time nor "gumption" allowed these steps to happen.

We were so behind this year that we didn't even get around to inviting people until the week of the party. The consequences of this was a lack of attendees. As a matter of fact, only one person showed up to celebrate with us. This really bummed me out, but I think that this little party ended up being more fun in the end.

But the night was beset with problems. We had intended on roasting hotdogs and smores over an open fire and watching horror movies outside. But the high winds didn't allow for a fire at first, and the VCR that I hooked up to the television crapped out right before the party started. Luckily I had left early to set things up and still had time to call Wendy. Since she was still at home, she was able to bring another VCR and things worked out fine.

I don't know why, but there was something really cool about sitting outside in the cold October air and watching a horror movie. We had the TV placed outside near the woods and the edge of a field, about 20 feet from the fire.

And even though only one of my daughters friends came to the party, it was plenty busy with grandparents and other relatives. I think the highlight of my night was watching my mother's expressions while she watched the original "Scream" movie.

It also seemed like my daughter really enjoyed it. Maybe it was because she didn't have to try and spend time with a bunch of guests, and she could just hang out with one.

Hmm.... Maybe this will be the template for all of the future parties.

Here is a shot of what little decorating we did this year. You can see the TV and VCR on the right of the photo. Not too spooky in the daylight.

The girls as they were watching the horror movie, and a close-up of the fire that I thought turned out neat.

The girls and my Mother-In-law Karen.

A case of the Wednesdays.

Two guys making small talk in the Men’s room on a Wednesday Morning:

Guy 1: “Well, at least it’s halfway done.”

Guy 2: “Yeah, its been a long week already hasn’t it?”

Guy 1: “No. Not really. I was talking about my life.”

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The Faces of USB 2.0.

Ever notice how your USB cables have little faces on them? Here is a collage of the varied faces from cables around home and work. Hey, maybe they should use this for the next Benniton ad.

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Feeling Hoff Hearted.

Yeah, according to this MSNBC article, David hasselhoff is going back into rehab for his alcoholism. I hope he can finally get his life straightened out this time. I mean, Holy Cow! The Hoff is so friggin wasted in this picture that he can't even do that whole "Emo Heart" internet cliche. Stupid Hoff! Everybody knows that emo scene-kids don't drink!

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Not really Funny.

I said this the other day in passing and Captain Alex burst out laughing because he said, quote: “I thought you said something else.”
So here it is..... What’s your opinion? I think he’s sick.

Bad things to say quickly as people walk past #1: “Nobody likes the stench of a giant.”

Yeah....... Alex is quite the sicko.

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Letters. We get letters...

Timaa sent me an email regarding the Halloween Invitation posted on October 5th.

Quoth the Timaaa: “Your Fright Night invite (rhymes) is cool...but did the zombie guy piss himself? I mean I know scary is what we're going for here, but he shouldn't be the one scared, right?

The #2 Sh@t Pipe!

The other day KG3 and I were working on some new Halloween decorations in our basement/workshop. While down there, she pointed out a 2” pvc pipe and asked if that was our sewer line. I told her no and showed her the actual sewer line which is made of iron. then I asked why she thought the other pvc one was the sewer line.

“Because of what it says.” she told me.

“Huh? What does it say?” I asked.

So she took me over and pointed out the pipe shown in the photo. I guess I can understand why she thought that now.

I Goofed!

An office conversation where I screwed up and grovelled with an IT guy for forgiveness last week: (Actual names and places have been changed to protect the innocent.)

History: We have been told repeatedly not to choke up the email systems by trying to send large files in the mail. But I'm a sucker and tried to do it anyway for once, thus choking up my inbox and freezing my email program. I was afraid that i might have messed other people up also, so I went ahead and called my screw-up in.

Me: "I tried to send something HUGE in an email earlier and it didn’t go through. I know, I know......I’m stupid for even trying. But it was like the compulsion to touch the burner after you take the macaroni off of it.

I couldn’t help it! It was like trying not to picture a goat if someone says “Don’t think about goats!”. Like running with sticks! Like drinking just one more beer!! Like eating that pizza that sat out overnight!!! Like throwing rocks at the neighbor kids!!!! Like setting that cat on fire!!!!!

Sorry if it caused any trouble."

IT Guy: "No trouble - I have measures in place to prevent goat farmers such as yourself from crippling or otherwise destroying my email servers. With these measures, I will take over the world.

Be certain to delete it from your Sent Items container, then empty the Trash, otherwise your mailbox may become listless, woozy, and lethargic, and may begin to watch soap operas."

Sanity is the playground of the unimaginative.

Started working on the invitations today. I'm running really behind this year, but they are coming along quite nicely. The text is barely readable, so I know it will need to be reworked, but my illustration looks decent enough (and was quite fun to draw, actually).

Cricket Balls.

Geez!!! I was browsing a new graphic design site and came accross this product. I never knew such a thing existed. Who'd have thought that you could go to the store and buy a tube of cricket balls! How do they harvest those? Who ever does it must have tiny, tiny hands and a dexterity possessed by few. It must be a very small package. Think about it -- thats funny on more than one level.

A duel that will never be.

An office conversation between Captain Alex and I.

Me: You’re always talking about how bad-ass Chuck Norris is, but who do you think is badder, Chuck Norris or Evil Knievel? Evil Knievel jumped the snake canyon you know!!!

Captain Alex: Yeah...... But he used a motorcycle.

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Deck the Walls.

KG3 had a fun time coloring at Chile’s today. I guess you’re supposed to color a page, donate a dollar and they’d hang the drawing up on their walls at the restaurant. Lucky for me, this one didn’t get put up! Notice the comment that my daughter added to the artwork.

It’s good to know that she respects her elders and isn’t ashamed of her parents! Geez, where’d she get that twisted sense of humor.