Captain's Log

A New Year's Resolution

2009-01-21T19:46:34Z

Like many hopelessy optimistic folks, I took it upon myself to once again write New Year’s resolutions. To this end, I found myself in the gym yesterday trying to accomplish one of these goals. My goal: to get in good enough shape so that I can do chin-ups unassisted.

My theory behind this is that if I can do a chin-up without killing myself in the process, then I’m at a very good muscle to fat ratio.

That’s the idea anyways. The practice, well… may be a while. Last night, after having neglected going to the gym for several months (in part because I can’t get my gym partner to go anymore), I discovered I was worst off than I was before I joined the gym!!!! Ughhhhhhh!!!

I used to be able to do 3 full sets of chin-ups… with maximum assistance on the chin-up machine of course. The chin-up machine has counter weights that can be used to counter your own body weight, making it so you have to pull up less weight during a chin-up. With a 100 lbs taken off of me (the max you could take off), I could do the chin-ups, albeit slowly.

But not anymore! I could do a couple. But I barely made a complete set.

/sigh

Well alright. No matter. All challenges come with obstacles. If they didn’t, then they wouldn’t be a challenge now would they? So it looks I’ll need to play a little catch up (curse you winter holidays and your delicious candies, turkeys, and hams!!!).

Arrested?!?! Meme :-)

2008-11-14T04:19:00Z

Stealin' it from a friends' list (just another crime ;-) )...

If you saw me in a police car, what would you think I got arrested for?

Answer me, then if you want, post to your own journal and see how many crimes you get accused of.

A sad day, perhaps even a sad year.

2008-11-06T03:27:06Z

I just found out that one of my favorite authors, Michael Crichton, has died. He was the author of many great works including Jurassic Park I & II, Sphere, and Congo. His works were fantastic reads that combined one part science, one part fiction, and a healthy dose of thriller. Many of his books were so popular that they became movies (though often butchered by those Hollywood hacks... case in point, "Jurassic Park II" & "Congo" were very good books). His stories were cautionary tales that more often than not told us about how science and technology wielded carelessly is indeed a dangerous weapon.

His death, in the same year as the death of Gary Gygax and George Carlin, makes this a very disappointing year.

Let's take a moment to mourn a great author.

What is your MPG?

2008-11-05T05:15:08Z

Well at least I do better than my Ford Ranger. :-)

31 miles per gallon

Created by The Car Connection

Get out your decoder ring. :-)

2008-09-23T22:03:45Z

Vs lbh ner ernqvat guvf, guna lbh unir gbb zhpu gvzr ba lbhe unaqf.

Gator vs Raptor

2008-09-23T17:14:33Z

1 minute, 6 seconds

Stress Test

2008-09-18T16:48:05Z

Hey guys,

Recently a coworker and I took a stress test for fun to see how susceptible we were to stress. On a scale of 1 to 100 (where less than 31 is considered good), I scored a 52 (yay me?) But incredibly, my coworker scored a 67!!!!

Then we got to talking and it occurred to us that it seems unlikely that anyone can get below the 31 mark (short of being a Buddhist monk, and even that’s a close one).

But why ponder this, when I can try and find out! So if you guys are up to it, take the below test and let me know what you score. Feel free to PM it to me, add it as a comment, or even as your own blog entry.

***

For each of the below questions, assign one of these values to it…

1 – Almost always
2 – Often
3 – Sometimes
4 – Rarely
5 – Never

___ 1.) I eat at least one balanced meal a day.
___ 2.) I get 7 to 8 hours of sleep at least 4 nights a week.
___ 3.) I give and receive affection regulary.
___ 4.) I have at least one relative I can rely on within 50 miles.
___ 5.) I exercise to the point of perspiration at least twice a week.
___ 6.) I smoke less than half a pack of cigarettes a day.
___ 7.) I drink fewer than 5 alcoholic drinks a week.
___ 8.) I am the appropriate weight for my height.
___ 9.) I have an income adequate to meet basic expenses.
___ 10.) I get strength from my religious beliefs.
___ 11.) I regulary attend club or social activities.
___ 12.) I have a network of friends and acquaintances.
___ 13.) I have one or more friends to confide in about personal matters.
___ 14.) I am in good health (including eyesight, hearing, and teeth).
___ 15.) I speak openly about my feelings when angry or worried.
___ 16.) I have regular conversations with the people I live with about domestic problems
___ 17.) I do something fun at least once a week.
___ 18.) I organize my time effectively.
___ 19.) I drink fewer than 3 cups of coffee, tea, or cola a day.
___ 20.) I take time for myself during the day and enjoy this time.

And here is what your scores mean…

20 – 30: You did it! Somehow you live a life not prone to stress. Congradulations you dirty rat (I’m envious :-) )! So how do you do it?

31 - 40: You’re vulnerable to stress. Probably not telling you anything new, am I? :-)

41 – 50: Seriously vulnerable to stress.

51 – 60: ???? Don’t know. They don’t actually list this range on the chart for some reason. Yet this is where my score lands. Go figure.

61-100: Extremely vulnerable.

100+: Redo your math you silly wabbit! There are only 20 questions and the highest you can score is 5!

Dragon-Con 2008 Review

2008-09-16T00:27:04Z

Dragon-Con Review 2008

It’s that time again. The time when yours truly reviews his experience at the latest gaming convention. Or in this case, Sci-Fi convention.

At the end of last month, I traveled to the exotic lands of Atlanta, GA for Dragon-Con.

Now for that much anticipated moment, a review of the games I played. Plus, a bonus commentary of an exhibit I visited that had nothing to do with the con.

Game: The X-Men Go to Hollywood!!
Game System: Marvel Super Heroes Classic RPG

This was a weird game that used a very old and classic system… the original Marvel Super Hero game system. Talk about nostalgia!

The overall premise of the game was… different. Basically, X-Men characters from different time streams were taken from their respective streams and put into movies as the main characters… without their powers. We then had to figure out what was going on, escape the movies, and then together as a team of X-men who have never seen each other before, fight our way out of a strange world.

It was a very impromptu game. We all got to choose 2 action movies and then the DM would take turns running us through a randomly selected movie from the list we gave him. And this lead to an interesting game, but not one I’d play again. Because basically, what’s the point of playing a Marvel Superhero if you can’t use your powers though over half the game? And not too mention, for the first half of the game when everyone is in their own movies, we all had to just wait as the GM went to each person one by one and ran their characters through the movie.

Game: Whisper In The Dark
Game System: Dark Heresy

I’ve always wanted to play in this game system because I like the world of Warhammer 40K and this the RPG based on that world. For those of you who don’t know, Warhammer 40K takes place in a bleak distant future. In this future, the universe is ruled by a near god-like emperor. There is no democracy. There are no individual rights. For humanity, there is only the Emperor and what he wishes. And all the different races of the universe are at constant war with each other (everybody hates everybody else). And in the case of humans in particular, often at war with themselves.

And it’s in this world that my team and I get to explore the mysteries of an abandoned space station. Well, not quite abandoned, as we unfortunately found out. It seems as though the geniuses conducting experiments on that station ended up halfway porting in this demon like deity who killed or mutated everyone on the station. And not being a big fan of only existing partially in this universe, was looking for a way of finishing the job.

Fortunately we managed to banish the demon and blow up the station (and surprisingly in that order… despite my suggestion of “Dudes, let just blow this joint literally! Forget fighting the demon god!” :-) ).

This game was not bad. But could have been better. For one, the DM could have shown a bit more enthusiasm (I’m guessing he was one of those DMs who’s just running the game so he can get into the con for free). And I probably would have liked the game better if I had my choice of characters (I got to the game late because the guy organizing events allowed the game to start early).

Game: Bug Stompers are Us
Game System: Shockforce Warengine

Basically the guy who ran it took the movie “Predator” and based it on the Shockforce Warengine. Most of the players there took on the roles of various marines from the movie (I got to play Arnold since I was the only person who actually had a ticket for that game… also the only person to eligible to get the $5 token awarded as a prize for winning).

The overall goal of the game was to make it to the helicopter rendezvous with more survivors then trophies the predator collects (the trophies of course being our own heads). At first we were overly cautious. We hid behind shrubbery and barely moved. In fact the guy running the game was predicting we were going to lose since the predator could pick us off whenever he wanted.

But then I came up with a bright idea. I explained to my team that we should all just run to the helipad taking different paths (don’t even bother fighting back, just run!). The reasoning: Ole Mr. Predator can’t be everywhere at once. And it worked like a charm! The predator only managed to get two trophies while the rest of the team made it to safety.

Hmmm…. Makes me wonder just how many monster movies would have ended quicker and with more survivors if everyone chose the same tactic.

Camp Counselor: Oh crap! Jason’s back! Let’s all just pile into our vehicles and gun it to the nearest town!

Jason: Dammit! I don’t have a driver’s license!

Game: Complete Mafia: West Coast for d20
Game System: Complete Mafia, a d20 Modern setting

In this game, which uses the d20 Modern system, I played the “Face” for a Las Vegas style, Triad mafia. That’s right, I got to play the bad guy, and I think I played it well. I ended up being the defacto leader of the group and lead the team through several missions that included dumping toxic waste in the desert, terrorizing a John who abused his prostitute, forcing local vendors to buy a truckful of bad pork off of us right before a parade, and getting a couple starlets readdicted to some serious drugs.

The last mission is worthy of note since it ended in disaster. A celebrity boxer came in to the club we were wooing the starlets in and started roughing our team up. He started getting the better of us when the team’s Strong guy pulled out his gun and held it at the boxer’s head. Unfortunately our man had been doing a lot of cocaine. So two critical failures on the dice in a row and ole twitchy ends up blowing the back of the boxer’s head off… right in front of hundreds of witnesses!

Needless to say, we had to beat a hasty retreat and left the country for awhile. :-)

Game(s): “The Hunt at Stella Point” & “Ghosts of the Shaitani”
Game System: Whitestar Fellowship, a d20 variant

I don’t usually sign up for campaign games since they require a small investment (i.e. the purchase of a book or two for the setting). But this one I had to sign up for. One of the games for this setting was to be based on the story of “The Ghost & The Darkness”.

For those of you who don’t know, “The Ghost & The Darkness” is the story of two lions who terrorized a railroad construction crew in Africa towards the end of the 19th century. These lions were smart and developed a taste for man. At night they would sneak their way into the camp and ambush some unlucky men. Often they would not even bother dragging the victim far away and so other sleepers would wake up to the sounds of their friends screaming in bloodcurdling terror just out of sight in the darkness. Before they were found and put down, these beasts had killed 135 men!

And it’s into this world that I decided to enter as Simon Kross, a reporter I created who I loosely based on “Kolchak: The Night Stalker”. And boy was I outclassed. I played him with his camera and simple revolver through a couple adventurers in Africa. The climax of which was a confrontation with some devil lions cut from the same cloth as the two famed ones… and all I had to defend myself was a magic spear! Boy did things look grim for ole Simon.

Yet luck and circumstance was in Simon’s favor (also an unlucky but apparently tasty NPC). Despite the fact that none of my team were fighters, we successfully killed one lion and defeated the bad magic that tainted the other lion.

Needless to say, Simon has some stories to tell when he gets back to his paper!

Overall the game, which was based on the d20 system (but interestingly enough, not d20 Modern), was pretty cool. I like what they did with several of the skills (ex. They condensed Hide & Move Silently into Sneak) and they introduced some new classes which allow for some very flexible skill choices. On the bad side, the game did seem to be a bit too railroaded, even for a con game.

Game: 3rd Annual Heroscape Tournament
Game System: Heroscape System

I’m a good gamer. I can generally hold my own, all things being equal. Unfortunately, not all things were equal this time. At 9am in the morning, after getting a grand total of 4 hours of sleep, I played in a Heroscape tournament. A game I’ve never played before. Which is unfortunately not the same thing I could say for my opponents.

To give you an idea of how unprepared I was for the arse whooping I received, I had to borrow an army from one of the players. Because apparently even though the tournament advertised “No experience required.” and “Armies will be available for selection”, what it really should of said was “Everyone else will be veteran player” and “Armies will be available but everyone else will be bringing their own”.

I got my butt so thoroughly trashed that my opponent felt bad for me and helped me earn a few points!

After that thrashing, I threw in the towel. It was too early in the morning and really didn’t feel like dragging out my defeat and taking on another opponent.

The system itself was fun. I wouldn’t mind playing it again… against folks more my level of experience and possibly at some normal hour after I’ve gotten some rest.

Game: The Love Boat, Cthulhu Cruise
Game System: Call Of Cthulhu

This had to be the best game of the entire Con. I swear, I was on the floor busting a seam the entire game. The group I was hanging with never took the game seriously and constantly cracked jokes.

The premise of the game was that the crew and passengers of the Loveboat were acting very strange. People were developing an unusual passion for chocolate, changing into more fit and ideal versions of their gender, becoming more primal in attitude in and demeanor, and acting much more… ummm… randy shall we say?

A very unusual game to say the least. But somehow fitting for a game run at midnight by a woman who is a phone sex operator (and who at a previous con ran “Gilligan’s Island meets Cthulhu”).

Despite the humorous set up, this was a Cthulhu game (even using the Cthulhu game system). As such, there was an evil force working in the background. And unfortunately, we as the crew of the Loveboat spent so much time goofing off that we failed to stop the evil. But then again, this was a Cthulhu game. We were probably doomed from the start. :-D

This game gave me some ideas. Anyone for an episode of M.A.S.H. guest starring Cthulhu?

Game: Enter the Pygmy Dragon VII: With Six You Get Egg Roll
Game System: D&D v3.5

Okay, this was a weird game. Using the 3.5 D&D system, this game was about a troll bard and his 6 kung-fu master jungle pygmy friends. That’s right. I said “troll bard” and “kung-fu master jungle pygmies”.

Obviously, this game wasn’t meant to take seriously, which nobody did. It was a lot of fun playing a pygmy as we helped our troll friend take down a dark Cthulhian like god in a big whack em, sack em kung fu brawl! Everyone was kung fu fighting. They were as fast lightning.

The Georgia Aquarium

As many of you know, I love the ocean. And I love just about anything to do with the ocean (except, interestingly enough, eating fish… I just never developed a taste for it). So it should be no surprise that I took time to visit the Georgia Aquarium which was within walking distance of the hotel.

On the downside, it was crowded. Seems as though it’s a popular spot to bring the family on the Labor Day holiday (Gee, who would of figured? :-) ). But it was still fun, though smaller than I expected. But I guess size is relative since the aquarium was big enough to be home to 4 beautiful whale sharks! Those creatures were so magnificent that I felt the need to spend money on a t-shirt with them on it and a DVD (which appears to have regional coding or something on it… @#@%$@!).

I got to see these whales be fed, which is a real treat. The way the caretakers feed them is by going out into the water on a raft. She then fills a small colorful fish catching net with plankton and stuff and then drags it around in the water. From the perspective of the audience who sees the action under the water, we see these huge 30 ft long creatures chasing after this small net. If those creatures got irritable just once, or just sneezed, the small boat above them would have been tipped over and its occupant very wet… and swimming in a tank with various types of sharks!

Overall

For the serious gamer, I would not recommend Dragon-Con. Dragon-Con was cool, but the gaming aspect was really only a minor part of it. And the DC administrators treated it as the red-headed step child it was. I had numerous problems registering for games. The online registration window was only two weeks. The system was bad enough that I accidentally got overcharged and then eventually told I hadn’t paid yet (which was very untrue). The ticket line at the con for gamers wasn’t even set up till late. And the overall attitude of the people in charge was a very “We’re just doing this because we have too.” kind of attitude.

But overall, it wasn’t a bad experience. I still had fun. And I might try it again. But next year, if I go, I’ll be doing a lot of things differently. Not the least of which includes not scheduling games for 9am in the morning. And maybe taking the time to tour Atlanta, possibly even find time to goto Savannah.

No Bacon For This Kitty :-)

2008-09-10T03:43:12Z

Sweatin' to the Romantic Comedies?!?!

2008-08-13T04:27:31Z

I love Gold's Gym. They are the only gym I know of that spoils their members with a Cardio Theater. A dark room with a movie screen and a couple dozen cardio machines.

The idea, or at least what I thought, is to get your heart going with a really cool action movie. But I have got to wonder about the person who selects movies for my gym. Today I came in and they had "You've Got Mail" playing on the screen!

"You've Got Mail"? Why of course! I mean nothing gets your blood going better than Tom Hanks flirting with Meg Ryan over a laptop. And when I think action movies, "You've Got Mail" is always at the top of my list. I mean Tom Hanks plays such a convincing action hero, I can see him duking it out with Bruce Willis. Can't you? :-D

Hmmm... I wonder what other heart pounding action fliks they'll show.

The English Patient?
The Notebook?
The Bridges of Madison County?

What films do you guys think they are going to choose next?

2008-08-11T03:31:14Z

I just recently saw two ads that made me think. The first was a Crack In The Box ad. I was thinking, that for the first time ever, Crack In The Box has released a sandwich that I won't even eat! And that's saying a lot since I'll eat just about whatever heart choker concotion that franchise will put out.

So what is it that I won't stick in my gullet? It's a Nacho Cheese Burger! That's right. They take a perfectly good burger (well, as about as good as one could expect anyways), and cover it in nacho cheese sauce (probably Rico Cheese). Blechhhhhh!

The other ad I saw, was one for Car Max. They have a commercial where a gas tendent literally charges a man the shirt off his back for gas. So the guy relunctantly takes off his shirt and obliges.

What strikes me funny is, I would love to have some tendent make that offer! I mean seriously, all of my shirts are $20 or less! That's less than half a tank of gas!

I'm a dork afterall!

2008-08-01T04:41:00Z

Today a young lady contacts me on MySpace talking about that quiz I posted in my blog (see last journal entry, "I'm losing my powers!!").

We get to talking back and forth via message. But of course I'm curios who she is, since she has no photos of herself and I don't reckognize anything on her profile. So I ask her flat out if she knows me. This is her response...

"Nope, don't know you. Just looked up 'dork' and saw your profile. :) "

ROFL!!! That was so funny it almost brought tear to my eye!

So I think I'm back now! I'm regained my title as "Dork"! Who knows, maybe you'll find my picture next to dork in the dictionary one of these days (not that that matters... who uses a dictionary nowdays :-) ).

I'm losing my powers!!

2008-07-30T02:16:30Z

I just recently tooks a test on OkCupid and discovered I no longer qualify as a geek, a nerd, or a dork. I... I... Oh god this is so hard to say... I'm...

JOE NORMAL!!!!

Your result for The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test...

Joe Normal

48 % Nerd, 39% Geek, 39% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored less than half in all three, earning you the title of: Joe Normal.

This is not to say that you don't have some Nerd, Geek or Dork inside of you--we all do, and you can see the percentages you have right above. This is just to say that none of those qualities stand out so much as to define you. Sure, you enjoy an episode of Star Trek now and again, and yeah, you kinda enjoyed a few classes back in the day. And, once in a while, you stumble while walking down the street even though there was nothing there to cause you to trip. But, for the most part, you look and act fairly typically, and aren't much of an outcast.

I'd say there's a fair chance someone asked you to take this test. In any event, fairly normal.

Congratulations!

Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

Take The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test at HelloQuizzy

238!!

2008-07-26T06:39:16Z

Holy crap! I just weighted myself on the scale and for the first time in a LOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNGG time, I weighed below 240! Sure, it was only 238. And the second time I stepped on the scale 12 seconds later I somehow gained a pound. But dangit, At least I finally got the scale below 240!

Now maybe the dang thing won't scream "Get that elephant off me!" everytime I step on it. :-D

Dinosaur Runs Amok In Museum!

2008-07-25T04:34:20Z

Ain't this sweet? :-)

Extinct, my ASS! from The Original Joe Fisher on Vimeo.

Interesting Chart

2008-07-18T05:28:11Z

I found this interesting chart on another friend's LJ account (the_weeb).

It basically compares the fat/calorie intake of different foods. For example, apparently one M&M is has the same fat/calories of about a dozen strawberries!

I'm not sure how accurate it is. But it's defiantely gives you something to think about. :-)

Thanks Weeb!

Well I got my MRI… almost. :-)

2008-07-12T04:34:18Z

Monday I went to the doctors for my MRI. And the verdict after 3 hours, most of it in my undies while wearing a patient gown? Nothing. Zippo. Nada.

No I don’t mean as in they didn’t see anything in the MRI. I mean as in they couldn’t even do an MRI on me!

Why? Well it turns out they’re a little afraid of doing an MRI on me because of this prosthesis that was installed below my eardrum. Which is understandable. Afterall, I’m sure the legal paperwork a clinic would have to dig through when a metal joint gets ripped through a patient’s skull by the strong magnetic forces of the MRI, is a bit tedious. :-D

Instead, after conducting a CAT scan to try and determine what the prosthesis was made of, they decided that they needed the doctor who installed it, to contact them.

This of course wouldn’t normally be a problem. But I got my little bit of hardware installed 15 years ago in a military hospital. Now have you ever tried getting the military to find documents from over a decade ago? I have, and it took me over a year last time to get nowhere!

Oh well. Looks like I need to consult with my current doctor and ask him what he wants to do about my knee sans an MRI.

In the meantime, I hope that dang CAT scan was covered by my insurance…

Ruined... errr... Reunion Ranch

2008-06-06T02:39:41Z

For the first time in years, the department I work for attended a retreat at Reunion Ranch. And I wish I could say it was my pleasure to go along. But frankly, it wasn’t really a pleasure. It was actually rather unimpressive.

Now it is possible I’m a jaded against this place, especially since I just earned my 4rth sprained ankle while trying to climb down into their paddle boat shore area (an area which conveniently has no way to get to without scampering over some boulders). But no, I believe I would of thought of this place as boring no matter what condition I left it in.

For starters, the master of ceremonies was as about as exciting as root canal surgery. You could tell he had done this a million times because he had no energy and sounded like he was reading his words off a cue card. The staff, though good kids, weren’t much better.

They really need to find a better way to pick teams. Basically, they went around handing random color cloth strips to different people. And of course, everyone with the same color was on the same team. This sounds good in theory, but apparently doesn’t work. The teams were so lopsided that they ranged in size from 20 people to 5!

The games were unoriginal and pretty much variations of the same two or three type of games. In fact we never left this one small patch of field for any of the competitions. This was really odd since this the place had everything from basketball courts, to frisbee golf baskets, to volleyball nets! And the most fun thing they could arrange was 3 legged potato sack racing!?!

They did have a pretty good barbecue buffet. But it did lack in selection. And just a few small things would have been great. Like mustard for example. Or at least something more than just Bar-B-Que sauce (the only condiment they had).

Finally, they were nice enough to offer free soda. But not water for some reason. If you wanted a cup of water, you had to get a cup of ice and go over to a water faucet. And I know this wasn’t much effort (‘cept of course, when your ankle is sprained :-) ). But like I said, it’s the small things sometimes. And really, how hard would it of been to have a gallon of water nearby to pour into a cup?

Anyways, if your job is thinking of hosting a team building exercise or some other event, I would recommend they search for some other faculty.

captain_gator @ 2008-05-29T20:44:00

2008-05-30T01:46:37Z

Monster Camp Preview

This brings back memories. I'll probably have to go see this if it comes to Austin. :-)

Scarbarough Faire 2008

2008-05-23T17:24:39Z

Last weekend I had the pleasure of going to Scarbarough Faire with a group of friends. If you’re interested, feel free to read about our exciting weekend below.

Saturday, May 17 :

Prior to this morning, our group decided to take two separate vehicles up to the faire. Four of my friends would try to leave to the faire really early, hopefully arriving at the faire a half hour before the faire even opened.

The other vehicle, which included me, was not so hip on getting up at the crack of dawn to see the faire (figuring it was a vacation, so there was no need to hurry). So we planned on leaving an hour later.

Ironically the first car left late, about 15 minutes before us. Yet somehow they still arrived early. This amazes me because we were going 90 miles an hour and we still showed up sometime after the faire opened! What speed were they flying at?!?!

Anyways, the rest of the day was spent watching shows, buying stuff I really don’t need, and eating faire food. I took a bite out of one of them famous faire turkey legs for the first time. And for the first time, someone took a bite out of me!

That’s right, I was casually walking around talking to a friend when suddenly a vendor bit me! Apparently, she interpreted my shirt which said “Come to the dark side, we have chocolate”, as being an invite to taste me!

Fortunately I’m glad to report that I don’t taste like chocolate. Though I wouldn’t doubt it if I taste like buffalo wings. You are what you eat afterall!

Later that evening, after I got the driver a little lost (darn you Google Maps!), we made it to the hotel. And let me tell you, this hotel was something less than a treat. The rooms looked like they were painted by a 2 year old, the alarm clock didn’t work, we had to lean over on the toilet so as to not to be poked by the toilet paper holder, several lights didn’t work, and the fire alarm was broken (which was a real treat since the room also came with a plug that was duct taped into an extension cord!).

But, at least it was a place to sleep with an A/C and a shower. And really, what more do you need while on vacation?

FYI, the hotel we stayed in was the Knight’s Inn in Waxahachie, TX. Just in case your ever in the area and want to know which hotels to avoid if possible.

Sunday, May 18 :

Sunday started off much the same way. The youngsters from the first car got up at the crack of dawn to get to the faire early. My friend and I, who are in our 30s, weren’t in a hurry, We got up a little bit later and decided to have breakfast nearby before going to the faire.

Eventually we made it back to the faire where I was glad to see one of my friends decided to buy a belly dancer costume which did her justice and she looked great in. I was even inspired to buy her a rose.

But unfortunately, this almost forced me to have to wear a belly dancer costume! Why? Because I told her if she finally broke down and bought it, I’d wear one too!

Fortunately for everyone, one of my friends decided that this would be insulting the vendors since I would obviously have no intention of buying it (I mean seriously, who wants to see my fat butt in a belly dancer costume… ewwwww). So instead, they played dress up with me while one of the vendors kept trying to play with my ta ta’s (weird, huh?).

In the end I actually did buy one of the male costumes. I’m not a 100% sure I wear it very well (what with it basically being a pair of MC Hammer pants and an open vest, and me looking like a troll). But the rest of the group seems to like it. And it only cost $90, which is REALLY cheap for ren faire garb.

We then preceded to attend the act of a professional insulter who my so called friends all chipped in to pay $55 to insult me! But honestly, this didn’t surprise me. They had mentioned the insulters show briefly the day before. And the moment I heard about it, I knew what they were planning.

Good thing for me, I’m no longer a bashful or shy guy. Nor do I embarrass easily anymore. So his insults, while funny, just bounced right off me while I nodded my head and agreed with them. Plus, he used flatualence jokes, which didn’t help his case any. I mean, he was trying to insult someone whose gender has often been known for spontaneously getting into farting competitions! Personally, I think he could of come up with much better insults and I was tempted to pay him an extra $20 to get it right!

Overall, the faire was a lot of fun. I look forward to going again next year. And I might even head to TRF with the same group of wierdos (though I may end up taking my sister there instead… I owe her for the last time when I pretty much ditched her for a girlfriend who was there at the faire).

Where is the elevator? :-D

2008-05-08T01:51:20Z

I would so love to climb this. I'm sure with my bad balance, I'd die in the process. But it would be fun trying!

Barbershop Quartet singing the Ewok's song!!

2008-04-30T04:04:50Z

How Superman Should Have Ended

2008-04-23T00:43:31Z

Your Stripper Song Is

2008-04-12T14:08:13Z

Your Stripper Song Is

Super Freak by Rick James

"That girl is pretty wild now

The girl's a super freak

The kind of girl you read about

In new-wave magazine"

Freaky? Yes. But you're also pretty darn funny.

What Song Should You Strip To?

Lol! Sounds about right for me. :-)

My family doesn’t trust me :-)

2008-04-01T23:23:59Z

Lol! I just checked my answering machine today (been out of town). My mother left me a message saying something to the effect of “Just wanted to let you know that we know tomorrow is April Fools Day and that for 24 hours we won’t be answering any of your phone calls.”

I wonder where they get this devious perception of me? He He He ;-D