For those of you who are wondering

The steak was a rousing success.    I actually used directions I got from Mary rather than what my mother had told me to do, and it came out very very good.    I added salt and slathered it in ketchup, and it made a very good meal.    I'll have to keep my eye on the mark down meat next time I am at the store, because this was just too easy.  

Was a relatively quiet evening.   Got invited to hang out with Ian, Lindsey, Jared, Jeff and Terry for one of their nightly LAN parties at Jeff and Jared's trailer.    Normally they are playing multiplayer Civilization 3: Call to Power, but lately they have been playing Unreal Tournament.   It's been too long since I've played that against more than the computer bots, and I was very curious to see how well I fared against Jared, since he is just as addicted to UT as I am.    I held my own, and after he went to bed, and I was just playing against the others I schooled them pretty seriously.    It was fun to play against lives.

I'll try to think of a good psycho survery for tomorrow.  Until then, have a good one.

Posted late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning
October 1, 2003


A Monday without a Hangover.:)

Nope.  No big party this weekend.   Bunch of other things happened though.     First and foremost was the 10th annual Enchanted Skies Star Party.     The skies were flawless for it.    Didn't rain or even see a single cloud in the sky until today after it was over.:)     Secondly was the San Miguel fiesta.    Was kind of dismal this year.    Has been ever since the Bishop declared they couldn' serve alcohol anymore.   So I was only there for a little while.    Not that I have ever drank at a fiesta.    Just because there wasn't a huge crowd and I didn't really see anyone I knew.    All in all it was a very lazy and relaxing weekend.    I was only out and social on Friday night when my boss got the new Ultimate Fighting Championship on pay per view and invited a bunch of us over to watch it.  

This whole mixed martial arts thing has been a new and interesting experience.    I was first told about UFC when it was new, some ten years ago. My friend Eric Heatwole was really into it, and would watch the fights or rent the tapes of past fights.     I was intrigued when he told me what it was all about.  Real, no holds barred fighting.     I never got around to checking it out until recently.    Like so many things in my life, I kind of fell into this by accident.     Last May, I was invited to my boss's house to watch a King of the Cage match.    Pretty much the same thing as UFC, but a different league.   We were watching, because some of Jim's neighbors have a fighter in the family.   Diego Sanchez.   (http://www.4diego.com )  He has had seven fights so far, as is undefeated, and he was supposed to fight that night on KOTC 23: Sin City.    He did fight and win that night, but they didn't end up showing his fight on the broadcast.     I met Diego's family that night, and realized I knew his cousin Phillipe, from when he was a carryout at the store.    As of this week Phillipe is now in Albuquerque, training to follow in his cousin's footsteps.    

I wasn't extremely enthusiastic about this all at first.    Truth be told, a lot of the all out, mixed martial arts fights are very boring to watch, simply because, when anything goes, nine times out of ten, the fighters end up grappling on the mat, and not moving or doing much except trying to out endure each other.    You very seldom see a lot of upfighting with dramatic punches and kicks like the movies, and the fights are seldom very theatric.     They hold my insterest when I watch, simply because I know it's the real thing.    But I wasn't all into it.   That's when my boss decides he wants to design a King of the Cage collectible card game, so yours truly gets stuck with the legwork and graphics.     There are a lot of things on TV I would probably rather watch than a KOTC match, but when I get paid to watch fights at work, you really won't hear me complaining.:)   At any rate, as I started researching fighters and moves and all that happy horseshit, I got more drawn into it.      Now I know of the more famous fighters, and have my personal favorites (Dan "The Bull" Bobish, Dean "The Machine" Lister, Dan Severn, Vernon "Tiger" White, and in UFC, Randy Couture).   Now I am more into it than I was.   So by the time I got to watch the UFC match Friday, and do so for fun without having to work or take extensive notes, it made for an enjoyable evening.

At any rate, tomorrow I go on a new and exciting adventure.    My parents are celebrating their 36th wedding anniversary, so I was told tonight that I would be left to my own devices for dinner.    Sunday, they defrosted the freezer in the garage, and my mother loaded me up with stuff she didn't want to put back in. (And no, there was no turkey. *snicker*)   So she gave me a steak, and a five minute explanation of how to make one.    I may have a new listing to put on my next list of cooking disasters.    But what the hell.   You only live once.   I have two full bottles of ketchup, so I'll have to maul it pretty badly before it's completely uneatable.    And if I get into real trouble, I can always IM my friend Candi.    She is always online, patient and ready to explain simple kitchen tasks to me.:)    Seriously, I hope I figure this out.    Knowing how to make steak would rule.

I'm off to find something useless to do.  Ciao.

Playing on Winamp: Apoptygma Berzerk - Until the End of the World

Quote of the Day: "It looks like he's fighting a CPR dummy"  - Eric (while watching UFC the other night)

Posted early Monday evening
September 29, 2003




Another Psycho Survey:

This weeks theme: SCARF!!!!!!!   Enough said.

1.  You obtain snack food.    You look down and realize you have scarfed the entire package/bag/container/can.    What have you just eaten?

Most often, it's an entire can of Pringles.    When my mother bakes coookies for me, and gives me a bag to take home, like she did this week, sometimes I have finished them before I get home.     Wasn't the case this week, because I was still full from a big dinner, and she gave me a lot, but other times, I take one look at the bag and  . . . SCARF!!!    I also seem to be incapable of stopping once I dive into a pint of Ben & Jerry's. Especially if it's Cherry Garcia.

2.  You go to one of your favorite restaurants with unlimited funds.   And before you know it . . . SCARF!   What have you just eaten?

This can depend on how hungry I am.    When really hungry, I can go to McDonald's and get a number 4 super-sized extra value meal, and also get a six piece Chicken McNuggets with loads of barbecue sauce.     When I go to Arby's hungry and well funded, I end up with two Big Montana's, a large order of cheddar fries, a large drink and a large Jamoca shake.     My worst instance of a scarf attack at Subway was the time I couldn't decide what I wanted, so I ended up getting a footlong double meat pizza sub, and a foot long double meat meatball sub, and devouring them both inside of an hour, while we watched the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on video.    I spend about an hour laying on the floor trying not to move very much.   I'm probably the worst with pizza.    I have, on more than one occassion killed an entire large pepperoni pizza by myself.    I can only do that though, if it's thin crust.   Really hungry with a pan pizza, I can only manage five or six slices.    Seven if I'm ravenous.   Now when I actually go to sit down for a meal at Pizza Hut, I end up taking most of the pizza home with me, because before I have pizza, I have a salad, an order of cheese sticks or garlic bread with cheese, and seriously abuse the free refills on the soda.   So by the time the pizza is put on the table, I have room for maybe two slices before I'm full.

3.   You are at a big family dinner for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, or some similar occasion.    And sure enough, once the giant home cooked feast is put on the table . . . .SCARF!    What have you just eaten, and how nuts did you go?

I never walk away from a meal like this at my family's having had less than three plate fulls of food.    I'll start the first off with a lot of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, and stuffing, killed with gravy.   On the edge of the first plate, I'll make room for sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce.   After that is done, I'll load up the second plate with the cooked vegetables and stuff I didn't have room for the first time around, along with a large portion of salad.    After plate two, plate three is all about seconds on what was on plate one.     After this, I often excuse myself to go lay down on the couch for a while to let everything settle so that I have room for dessert.     After dessert, it's straight back to the couch where I usually manage to drift off for a very satisfying nap.    Especially if my father or brother has started a large fire in the fireplace.    This usually gets me out of KP, but I'm never completely off the hook.    After my mother and aunts have cleaned all the dishes and put everything away, I am yanked off the couch to join them for a family walk around the N.M. Tech campus.     One year I pulled an act of premeditated stupidity and decided I would go back home really fast to get my roommate's pit bull and take him along for the walk.     He had been alone all day, and was so excited about the prospect of going for a walk with all these exciting people, that he ended up taking me for a drag.

4.   Dream SCARF.   You can go anywhere, and have anything.    Where do you go, and what do you scarf?

I would go to Beau Jeau's Pizzeria in Idaho Springs, Colorado.    I would order a three pound pizza (yes, you order it there by the pound).   I'd order the two inch thick crust, with the pot of honey to dip it in, once you have finished a slice.   I would have them use their best tomato sauce, and at least three different kinds of cheese.     Then I would have them load it up with pepperoni, canadian bacon, mushrooms, olives and sausage.   Chase it all down with a root beer in one of their large glasses that looks like a canning jar with a handle.  

5.   Cooking for yourself.    You make something, and you just can't help but finish it.   What did you scarf?

I very seldom cook a box of macaroni and cheese and not finish the entire thing.    And I never cook myself a package of hot dogs without finishing the entire thing.     I also seem to be very good at killing an entire loaf of bread once I start snacking on toast.  

6.   Convenience Store Gourmet.     You've just loaded up at the neighborhood Circle K or 7-11 because you are really hungry.   What have you just scarfed?

If I decided I want a hot meal, a well financed trip to the convenience store means a jumbo hot dog with cheese and ketchup, a large tray of nachos, and a couple French bread pizzas, along with a two liter bottle of either Mountain Dew or Vanilla Coke.     If I decide I want a hot meal for home, it's a frozen pizza, a box of cookies, and a bottle of soda.      If it's for snacks it's a bag of chips, a can of bean dip, a two liter bottle of soda, and either cookies or twinkies; sometimes a can of ravioli for later.  

7.   And for those of you survey takers who are wondering. . . .

I don't get heartburn, I don't have ulcers, I don't have digestive trouble, I am not even borderline diabetic, my tested cholesterol level is 142, and my non-stimulant blood pressure is usually about 97/77.  I'm fine.   I may die of liver failure from my heavy drinking days, but I'm fine from the way I eat.:)


Posted very, very late Wednesday night/Thursday morning.
September 25, 2003



Once Upon a Time in New Mexico . . .

. . . Eric when to see a movie.    It was called Once Upon A Time in Mexico.    Since Eric was such a huge fan of the frist two movies in this series, El Mariachi and Desperado, there was no way he was going to miss this one.     He loved it of course.    It was a nice surprise and treat for him this week for getting so much done over the last few days.

    Seriously folks.   If you are a fan of Robert Rodriguez, see this movie.   If you are a fan of Antonio Banderas, see this movie.   If you are a fan of Johnny Depp, see this movie.    If you are a fan of Salma Hayek, see this movie.  If you are a fan of a movie with great gunplay and action, see this movie.   If you have just had one of those days and need to watch a movie with excessive and pointless violence, and a whole lot of dying, see this movie.    It gets an Eric resounding two bullets up.:)   One of these days, I am just going to have to track down a costume like Antonio wears for this movie and Desperado.   He is just too cool.    And of couse, one of these days, I want to have all the guns he packs too.:)

    It just occurred to me to tonight, that this has been a good year for movies, at least for me.   Not only have their been a lot of good movies that I've liked, I've actually made it to the theater to see most of the ones that I've wanted to see.     I had to pass up a trip to see SWAT because of my studying.    I was a very good boy that night, because the temptation was strong <g>.    And I never got to see Pirates of the Caribbean.   But I won't be too upset if I have to wait until that one makes it to video.     I won't really have to worry about making it up to see
Matrix Revolutions or The Return of the King.     I'll either 1) go on our office trip when we take a day off from work to go up together or 2) have a new job and finances won't be an issue.     Hopefully the latter.:)   If I stay after it like I have recently, two shouldn't be a stretch.

   At any rate, I have a sudden urge to leap into a first person shooter.   Go figure.   I'm horribly predictable once you get to know me.:)  


Posted late Wednesday night
September 24, 2003


Another Monday, another hangover conquered.

    There was another impromptu Microcosm concert last Friday at Lance's house, and it ended up turning into another rager.      From what I remember, it was a great deal of fun.:)    My friend Ian got a keg of beer from the local brewpub, and we all got raging drunk.    It was pretty potent stuff, and beat the shit out of the usual kegs of Budweiser that turn up all too frequently.    At various points in the night, I remember getting into interesting discussions about religion and politics, dancing around the living room to very loud Midnight Oil and Godflesh, teaching some girl to Vienese Waltz out in the yard, and voluteering to get flattened in a late night martial arts demonstration.     Got home about six in the morning, and didn't wake up until four the following afternoon.    Was feeling awfully fragile for the rest of the weekend.
    Despite the fact that I got so polluted, it has actually been a very productive few days.    Last night I got fully registered with Microsoft with my rating, and joined the MCP professionals site.   Today I talked to my resume writer, and with another evening of work, that should all be ready to go.  And today, I actually got up at a reasonable hour and got all sorts of errands taken care of before work, now that my boss finally remembered to pay us.    It feels weird to have so much taken care of and to have a guilt free evening of slacking off.:)  But I think I could get used to this.   Might have to try being useful as a human being more often.:)    Now that I can shamelessly waste time until tomorrow, I'm going to find some frivolous project to immerse myself in.

Posted early Monday evening.
September 22, 2003



Psycho Survery.

    I was talking about music with Anna the other night, and our conversation took an amusing tangent.   It occurs to me that whereas I listen to a lot of stuff that would give people seizures, I have something common with a lot of the music fans on the various Trixie sites.    I share a loathing of many of the new popular performers that I would only laughingly refer to as artists.  So this weeks theme is: If you had the opportunity to confront the following celebrities and tell them anything you wanted without fear of repercussion, what would you say?


1. Britney Spears

I'm not your number one fan yet, but remember me when your career slumps and you try to make a comeback doing porn.

2. Christina Aguilera

What are your hourly rates?

3. Avril Lavigne

You are very cute.  Is it true that you sing?

4.  The Backstreet Boys

So tell me, when are we going to get a boy band with an honest name, like The New Pedophiles on the Block?

5.  Limp Bizkit

I think the first part of your name very accurately describes your sound.


All I can think of for now.   I'm sure there are more so called pop artists that deserve words of contempt or sarcasm, but I seldom bother to learn who they all are.    Have a good Wednesday.

Posted Wednesday Evening
September 17, 2003





Monday and My Hangover is Finally Gone

    Had a rather uneventful weekend.    The highlight was a big party I was invited to Saturday night, where Microcosm was on to jam again, along with two other bands.     It was an interesting scene.
    The party itself was on a farm about eight miles north of town, in the little village of Lemitar.   From how it had been described to me, I had originally thought this was going to be a different kind of party.   It turned out to be a birthday party for two middle-aged people and their little crowd, and most of the young people in attendance came because the bands had invited them.    
    I enjoy hanging out with this particular crowd of 40 and 50 somethings when I get the chance.   They are very laid back and easy going, and fun to party with.    They party much like that have been ever since they were in high school.    They still listen to old school classic and blues rock like it never went out of style.     You are guaranteed to hear some really loud Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix, and Satana, along with a lot of other bands of that nature that I haven't even heard of that sound just as good.     They can still drink like fish, so the parties are always well supplied with alcohol.     And this particular crowd doesn't throw a party without good food.     The day before, they dug a hole and in it, carefully wrapped with aluminum foil, burlap bags and bailing wire, they cooked up A LOT of meat, including several full turkeys, probably fifty pounds of ribs and brisquet, and some lamb and goat from animals that had been slaughtered the day before.    This was all set out on a table with a large pot of cooked vegetables and potatoes.   A New Mexico version of a clam bake or Hawaiian Lulau, I suppose.:)  The cook was this old Mexican guy who was very eager to feed me, so he actually went into the pit to pull out a freshly cooked turkey for me.     It was very good.
    The bands came on, and I was already pretty buzzed by then.   Microcosm was a hit.    I had to laugh though.   When everyone heard they were a punk band, this crowd of old school rock fans let the band know that they were no strangers to punk, and started shouting out requests for punk songs by the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, the Damned, the Cramps and the Dead Kennedys.    Old rock fans rule.:)   I think if any little shit had tried to request "punk" like Nirvana or Avril what's her name, they would have ended up in the pit with the roasting meat.:)   When Microcosm finished up their set, for their last song, some people decided they had to mosh, so while I sat nearby happily drinking a beer, they started a moss pit with four people and a dog.   And yes, the dog really seemed into it.:)  
    The next band was a yet another collection of the various extremely talented, but very lazy musicians in this town that shuffle between bands like someone shuffling cards.     Unlike most of the other bands, they weren't a cover band, and had an hour long set of original blues rock songs. I found them to be very talented musicians, but their songs were relatively uninspired and somewhat bland.    What I enjoyed the most about their set is when the singer, and old friend of mine that finally got out of prison last year, quoted some "worthless animal facts" that he had written down, between the songs.     He was bored in prison a lot, so he taught himself a lot, and read a lot.     After the show I went up to give him a few more animals facts to use during their next show.
    The last band was actually people from this old crowd, and they were already trashed, but jammed through some old school cover tunes, like CCR.     By this time everyone was really drunk, and having a good time.    
    It is reaching that part of the year when the daytime temperature and nightime temperature can differ as much as 40 degrees, so it got pretty chilly after dark.    So after the second band finished, I pretty much roamed off to the fire they built to warm up a little bit, and after I warmed up, I roamed off about ten feet, and marveled at the clear NM sky.   Checked out the constellations and Mars.    
    Finally got a ride home around one in the morning.    Didn't realize how drunk I was until I woke up the next day with an astounding hangover. But I got over it, and while sitting around late Sunday afternoon, IMing with Kate and Mary, I had a sudden story inspiration.     So that kept me occupied until I roamed off to bed.    Just posted the story this evening.   Sometimes I crack myself up.:)
    That's all for this weekend update.   Hopefully in another day or two, I'll come up with a new psycho survey. Ciao.


Posted late Monday Night/Early Tuesday Morning.
September 16th, 2003



Dear Mr. Terrorist:

    A lot of people are sad today because of what you pulled two years ago.   And rightfully so.   I was saddened by what happened too.    But that was two years ago, and a lot has happened since then.     And today, I am in a good mood, and feeling pretty happy.      

    Since you pulled this stunt, the twelve brave men of the A team with the 5th Special Forces group touched down in your haven in Afghanistan as Task Force 555 "Triple Nickel".    They called in air strikes, and helped your enemies in the Northern Alliance, and in six shorts weeks retook Kabul and drove you from your haven.      Since then, the operators of Task Force Dagger have relentless hunted you down, and have driven you to a feral life of living in caves, and never staying in the same place twice.      Since you pulled this stunt we have invaded and taken control of Iraq, and shut down your training camps there and access to chemical weapons.    Since then, your brutal and sick allies, Saddam's sons where cornered, gunned down and burned with TOW anti-tank missiles.

     As I speak to you here today, my dear friend John sits in a missile silo at Malmstrom Air Force base, ready to turn a key and incinerate you or anyone else who attacks the US,  with a hydrogen bomb.     He will see to it that there is nothing left of you so big as an atom.      As I speak, my friend Trever keeps the engines running and systems operational on the U.S.S. Ponce in case we decide to send Marines after you instead of nukes.    And my friend Matt will insure that the helicopters that carry troops from ship to shore are in good working order.    

     As I speak to you today, my father and other great scientific minds aren't thinking about you at all.   They are exploring the mysteries of the cosmos, and engaged in research and learning for the sake of learning.     My old friends at the store smiled and gossiped with me as I bought some burritos and a bottle of Mountain Dew for lunch.     As I speak to you, millions of Americans went to work, and went on with their lives, doing whatever it was they wanted or needed to do.     As I speak to you we all did more than sit around in a cave, thinking about hurting people and waiting to for an Al-Jazerra camera crew to come by so that we could send empty threats.  

    As I speak to you today, I tell you that I don't consider you anything but the murdering animals that you are.    You are not the voice of Islam to me, or the voice of any of kind of truth.     You don't speak for the Iranian coach that led our team to the best season we ever had in all the years I played sooccer.    You don't speak for the saintly Dr. "Abba" Maiga I see every day who is always nice and accepting to me and everyone he sees and deals with.     You don't speak for the followers of Islam I saw on Sixty Minutes in the nation of Qatar, where the new ruler is working day and night to make things better for his people, and to bring reform to his nation, so that women can vote and get an education, and so that everyone can have what they want and need.     When you speak, I only hear the voice of sick and sad cowards, envious of what they don't have, and killing, like spoiled, feral children to deal with this jealousy.

    Today I enjoyed another day in my little vacation that I feel I have earned after studying all summer to pass tests and get my rating and make my life better.    Today I smiled at the fact that during my little vacation, I have played some of my favorite computer games, hung out with my friends and completed four new stories about my favorite fictional girl detective.    Today I worked on a new card game we are inventing at the office.     Today I had a good laugh with my friend Lance about some of the amusing lyrics from the punk band Crass that we were listening to.    Today I looked forward to being able to chat online again tonight with all of my great friends that I have been talking to a lot lately, like Anna, and Mary and Jenni and Candi.     Today I looked forward to a meeting I am going to take part in tonight, where the only thing we will conspire about is how to make a really fun night for everyone during our online Halloween party where we will share ghost stories with one another and have fun.  Today I thought about the things I have done to make my life better, and the possibilities in store for my future because of what I have done.

    Today I am happy and in a good mood.   Today I lived another day of my life, which I consider to be full of all kinds of wonderful things and wonderful people.     And nothing you have done or said can or will take that away from me.     You didn't and won't bring me down.    You don't have that power over me.  

    I hear you on the news with your hate and venom.   I hear you say that your goals in life are to bring fear and dread and a sense of terror to your enemies and the infidels.    *Yawn*.    If I had a buck for every time you said something like that, I wouldn't need to work.     But you know what?  You aren't doing a very good job.    You must not be very good terrorists, because I'm not terrified, and I'm not afraid of you.   I suppose it would be a waste of my breath to tell you to give it up.    So I won't.    You'll get yours in the end.    All I will say is, if I am suppose to be living in fear of you, you are going to have to try a whole lot harder than you are.    But then again, if you were capable of working hard at anything besides killing and murder, you may have been able to build yourself your own wonderful life instead of feeling like you have to kill other people because they have built a wonderful life for themselves.     Happy September 11, Mr. Terrorist.     If you have the good fortune to see them before they send you back to Allah, give my regards to Delta Force.  


Posted early Thursday evening,
September 11, 2003.




Edward Teller  1908 -2003
"Of all the people who knew a great deal about the hyrdogen bomb, I was the only advocate of it.   And that I think is my contribution.    Not that I invented it.   Others would have.  And others in the Soviet Union did." - Edward Teller

"I continued to like better to work on pure science. But this had to be done, and as long as it had to be done, and I could contribute, I did.  And I was never sorry for having done it ." - Edward Teller

"You scientists are to blame for the weapons.   But if you won't work on weapons now, the freedom of the world will be lost." - Franklin D. Rosevelt
 Teller



At 7:14 AM, on November 1st, 1952 on the Elugelab ("Flora") Island at the Enewetak Atoll, a new age was ushered in when mankind successfully recreated the power of the sun by detonating the worlds first fusion or hydrogen bomb during the Mike test of Operation Ivy.     The 80 ton device used an atomic bomb trigger, with the fission detonation occurring behind a uranium tamper.   In the few extra millionths of a second it took the fission blast to evaporate this tamper and get to what was behind it, sufficient temperatures were achieved to create nuclear fusion, in the lithium hydride the tamper was protecting.    The deuterium and tritium isotopes in the lithium hydride were heated to sufficient temperatures to cause the nuclei of the respective atoms to overcome electromagnetism and be smashed together despite having like positive charges.    The collision occurred with sufficient energy to overcome the strong nuclear force and create a helium nuclei, and release tremendous amounts of energy.     The blast instantly achieved temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun, and the resulting force released was ten megatons, or the equivalent of ten million tons of TNT.       The thermonuclear age had begun.

Ivy Mike  

Work continued, until the technology was available to keep the lithium hyrdide in a dry cell, in what has become known as the Teller/Ulam design. This design enabled hydrogen bombs to be built in much smaller packages that could be dropped by bombers or pitched around the world in twenty mintues by ballistic missile.     The introduction of the dry cell had an unexpected result.    Once fusion was achieved, the temperatures soared to the  point where fusion occured even with the enriched lithium in the dry  cell, creating a three stage, fission, fusion, fusion weapon.    And when the yeild was sufficiently high, there was sufficient energy to create fission in the uranium tamper, even if the tamper was not bomb grade ore, creating the very deadly three stage fission, fusion, fission weapons of tremendous power.   No where was this more apparent than in the Castle Bravo test.    Designed as a low megaton bomb, the unexpected extra fusion turned the blast into a runaway, and a very close call for the scientists nearby.     Instead of a low megaton blast, the blast proved to be a whopping fifteen megatons, and became the largest nuclear device ever set off by America.    A friend of mine in high school was the son of one of the telemetry technicians for that test.

Castle Bravo   

History is filled with figures that put their scientific knowledge to use with the goal of creating weapons so terrifying that wars would end quickly because of being so one-sided, or that people would be afraid to fight.     Figures like Archimedes, Dr. Richard Gatling and Hiram Maxim were people such as this.    Instead, mankind simply soaked up these weapons, all too eager to put them to use to do their terrible work.      This all changed when Teller pushed for the development of the hydrogen bomb.    He did what others had to try to do and failed.    He created a weapon that made war too terrible to fight.    And for the first time it worked.   The prospect of a war fought with hydrogen bombs was so terrifying, that for the frist time in human history, mankind backed down.     Teller built a weapon not to be used.    Teller built a weapon so that no oned had to use it.    Teller started a war that had to be fought with diplomacy and detterence.    Teller created a weapon that made mankind think twice before plunging into another world war.    Teller had fled a Europe that was about to be overrun by the Nazis.   Teller had seen and knew all too well what happens when people decide not get along and when people like Hilter decide that they can take what they want, by conquest and force.    Teller found a way to stop even the most determined conqueor.    Teller gave a weapon to the free world that made the consequences of attacking us unthinkable to even madmen like Hitler or Stalin.  

Teller has now passed from this world.    There is a very long list of people who are more than willing to damn him for his accomplishments and this terrifying thing he brought into the world.     But I'm not going to look at it like these people.  I refuse to.   I'm going to look at the peace that came from the hydrogen bomb, and the fact that I got to grow up in a world that was not consumed with a world war.   I'm going to look at the fact that I was not drafted to be sent to trenches in France, or to the beaches of Normandy or to face an onslaught of tanks coming over the Iron Curtain.   The world is not always the shiny happy place we want it to be, and sometimes we have tough choices to make as to how to cope with the terrible things and terrible people in it.     And the simple truth of the matter is, the hydrogen bomb has killed no one in war.    There has been peace from world war for no other reason than people who want to start shit with us don't want us to drop it on them.    And in this less than perfect world, I think it is the best kind of weapon ever.   Because it's one we never had to use.  

Teller is one of my personal heros.    And wherever he is, if he can hear, all I have to say to him now is Via Con Dios.

Posted very early Thursday morning,
September 11, 2003




Yet another pointless list

Wow.  I'm on a roll tonight.    Thought of yet another stupid list I just have to do.    Been watching a lot of movies during my slack week, and it just got me to thinking.  

Some movies are just very, very quotable.   Some movies are just bristling with fantastic dialog.    There are just some movies you can't help but walk away from without remember a great deal of the cool things the characters said.   So without further ado, I bring you:

Eric's Top Ten Quotable Movies.

10.   10 Things I Hate About You.  
Teen comedy is seldom known for it's great quotes and dialog.    These days it just seems to be elaborate set ups for gross out gags, and lowest common denominator humor.    This movie was different.    It was very engaging, and fun to watch.    And it had a lot of great lines.   Among my favorites:  "My insurance does not cover PMS" and "And Hell is just a sauna"

9.     The Last Boy Scout
Any action movie fan knows the importance of good one liners.    How well one-liners are used can make or break a movie.    And this movie certainly doesn't disappoint.    Screenwriter Shane Black understands the importantace of one-liners and snappy comebacks for heros, and that made this movie the gem that it is.    Among my favorite lines: "We just got our ass kicked by the inventor of Scrabble."

8.     The Long Kiss Goodnight
Another of Shane Black's treasures, I think it's safe to say that this movie was made by the great one-liners.   Plot and production wise, there was little to set this movie apart from countless other action fares.    Had it just depended on the strength of it's story, this probably would have fallen apart.   But the one-liners not only saved this movie, but made it great.    Among my favorite lines: "Careful, or you'll end up with 2.3 kids" and "Yeah, I'm Mormon.  That's why I just smoked three packs of Newports and drank half a fifth of vodka."

7.    Grosse Point Blank
An often overlooked modern day classic, this movie still brings a smile to my face when I watch it, and the one-liners still make me laugh.   It's rare that a movie balances action and comedy so well, but this movie did it, and did it in spades.    Among my favorite lines: "Yeah, T-33s, I took a bath on that one" and "Either that punk is in love with that guys daughter or he has a newfound respect for life."

6.     Tombstone
It's hard to mention this movie without someone in the room quoting one of Val Kilmer's lines as Doc Holiday.    It was a command performance for him and gave the movie much needed humor in all the right places.   Among my favorite lines:  "Why Ike, maybe poker isn't your game.   I know!  Let's have a spelling contest!" and "My hypocracy only goes so far. . ."

5.     Star Wars
Name a fan anywhere that hasn't at some point recited such great lines as "great kid, don't get cocky".   Of all the movies in the saga, this one is still the most quotable.    Among my favorites:  "What an interesting smell you've discovered."

4.    Full Metal Jacket
Probably my favorite Vietnam movie ever, although I like quite a few.    What makes this movie for me is not the fighting, but the opening portion of the movie when the cadets are all in basic training on Paris Island.     The performance by R. Lee Ermy as the grizzled drill seargent made this movie, and he pretty much has a good line every time he opens his mouth.   Among my favorites: "You climb obstacles like old people fuck." and "I didn't know they stacked shit that high."

3.    Sixteen Candles
From a recent email exchange, when Mary and I pretty much quoted the entire movie to one another in the course of an afternoon, I realized just how many great lines this movie has.     Among my favorites:  ". . so grandpa's hyena don't get disturbed"   and "Oh, you know, black and white would just capture the moment. . ."

2.    Ghostbusters
This movie is a collection of great lines.    There is hardly a part in the movie where I am not smiling at one line or another.    IMHO, this is one of the greatest comedies ever made.   Among my favorites: "Dogs and Cats, living together.   Mass hysteria"  and "Let's not upset and disturb Dr. Venkman."

1.    Monty Python's Holy Grail
On page one, chapter one, section one, verse one of the geek handbook, it says you are only a natural born geek if you watch this movie once or twice, and have absorbed enough of the hysterical dialog to be able to quote entire skits and speak along with the entire picture.    Guilty as charged.:)   Among my favorites:  "She turned me into a newt. . . . . I got better."  and "sad days are these when ruffians can go about telling old women, NI!" and "suddenly, the animator had a fatal heart attack. . ."

Okay.  Now I'm really going to shut up for the night.

Posted very early in the AM on Monday.
September 8th, 2003




They call him the Betty Crocker . . .  OF DEATH!

I would at this point like give special thanks to Candi.    She took one look at my list below and gave me a very good and simple recipe to use based on what I had.    So I have spent all weekend baking (yes, baking) for snack food.     I can now make drop buscuits without blowing up the house.   Killed my box of Bisquick, but tomorrow is payday, and I think, come hell or high water, I am getting a pizza.

But this minor triumph in a lifetime of disasters has inspired me to come up with yet another stupid and pointless list.    I proudly present you:

Eric's Top Ten Cooking Disasters.

1.  The Macaroni and Cheese Incident:   People don't believe me when I say I need very, very literal instructions when I cook.   Nothing about cooking or the kitchen is intuitive to me.    When I first dabbled in baking, back in junior high, I was famous for statements like, "What in the hell is a sifter, and what in the hell do you do with it?"    So when making macaroni and cheese for the first time, no one told me that you were supposed to drain it frist. . . .

2.  The Pancake Incident:  I used to be very proficient at making pancakes.   And I always made them from scratch.    With a mix is almost seemed so easy, that I felt it was like cheating.    This is not to say that I didn't experience certain trials and tribulations while learning.   In specific, I used to get a little carried away when trying to flip them, and put a little too much elbow grease into the throw.    Batter doesn't cook very well on the wall. . . .

3. Eric's First Cake:   It was a German chocolate cake.  I got very good at making these back in the day.   Couldn't say the same thing about my first try.    I didn't take the term 'mix thoroughly' seriously enough.    After I baked it, it looked like the punchline to a bad leper joke.    But it still tasted okay. . .

4. Eric's First Layer Cake:   German chocolate cake got boring.   So when I got good at that, I decided it was time to try something more complicated and elaborate.   Hence I tried to bake a double layer cake.    Things went faily well until I pulled the layers out of the oven.   They were more spherical than the recipe called for, and trying to layer them was more like try to stack two basketballs.    It was with some very creative black magic that my mother got them to stack for me.

5. The first week Eric learned to cook Hamburgers:   In my defense, all I can say is that the stove I was using was a gas stove that I think dated back to the Jurrasic historical epoch.   But on that fateful week, I started four, count'em four, grease fires.

6. The Buttermilk Incident:  It was only three months past date.   And I didn't even make the macaroni and cheese with it.  My friend Matt did.  He couldn't finish it.    So I did later.   It wasn't that bad once it was cold.

7. The Macaroni & Cheese of DOOM:   I was very proud of myself.   After being hopelessly stuck on level 20 of Doom 2: Hell on Earth, I finally beat it.   I finally came into the main foyer of the level with enough rockets and power cells to slay the Great Spider and Cyberdemon.   This was about the point that I thought to myself:   "This is a really realistic game.   It even smells like things are burning."    I had to let the pot soak in soapy water for two months before I softened up the hardened soot enough to chisel it out.    Then I scrubbed it down and the pot was good as new.   Still had it up until last year when Lisa took it away from me and threw it out.  

8.  Suicide Grease Bomber:   Let's just say that cooking those pre made hamburger paties in the microwave is a really bad idea.   The grease oozed out of each and every patty, and I never cleaned it.     After killing two boxes of patties like this, my friend went to use the microwave, and found my plate stuck to the glass tray that sat on the bottom of the microwave with about a half inch layer of solid grease.    He calmly commented, "This micro is pretty disgusting Sparky."

9.  Jalapenos with my eggs:   For spending money at the University of Rochester, I got a job in the dining center.    My first semester I did so, they made me an omlet chef that worked the grill for the breakfast crowd.     Learning that job was baptism by fire.    One of my regulars liked jalapenos and when he told me he wanted them in his omlet, he told me to go nuts.    So I did. . .  .   Never tell me to go nuts in a situation like that.:)

10.  Marshmellow Ramen Surprise:   I personally don't consider this a disaster, but many others do.    The scene: I have a care package from the Trixie convention in the Ozarks and box of ramen.      This is the sum total of food in my kitchen.    So I improvise, like I often do.   It really wasn't that bad. . . .

Have a cooking disaster you would like to share?  I'll be looking for the posts.:)


Posted late Sunday Night,
September 7th, 2003





Well, since Jenni's new story pretty much destroyed the mood for writing horror. . . another Psycho Survey.

Maybe I can get myself back into horror mode.:)

1. What, in your opinion, is the scariest movie you have ever seen?

That would be a toss up between The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, The Sixth Sense and the Shining.   The Others, The Entity and a little B movie I bought called Almost Dead rattled me pretty badly too.

2.  What, in your opinion, is the scariest book you have ever read?

Probably The Lurker at the Threshold by H.P. Lovecraft.   Some of his other stories were pretty frightening too.

3.  Freddy vs. Jason?  Who is going to win? (Don't answer if you've seen the movie and already know. :) ).

I'm going to have to go with Freddy.   Jason seems to have some sort of genetic regeneration trait that keeps bringing him back from the grave and fatal injuries, but Freddy can alter reality.   Gives him an edge. (No pun intended).

4.  Have you ever seen a ghost?

Yes.   My old house on 6th St. was haunted.    I'm not sure what was more rattling.   The things the ghost would do, or actually seeing it.   His only fully appeared once.   He looked like a very dark skinned, late middle aged, skinny, hispanic version of Drew Carey.   I woke up one night and saw him sitting in my chair in my room, watching me sleep.   He didn't disappear for several seconds.

5.  Have you ever seen a UFO?

I have seen things in the sky that I could not explain or identify.    I don't think I have ever seen an alien spacecraft, or anything that looked like one.

6.  Would you ever willingly spend the night in a house you were told was very haunted?

Probably.   My curiousity would overcome my dread.   I would take a bottle of vodka and a baseball bat with me though.   Give the vodka to the ghost and use the bat on myself to be able to sleep.    And if that didn't work, try it the other way around.

7. Halloween.  Fun time of year or just another night?

I love Halloween.   I love how all the shows in syndication start playing their old Halloween episodes.   I love the ghost hunting specials on Discovery and marathons of old cheesy shows like In Search Of.    I love the countdowns on E! and Entertainment Tonight of the scariest movies ever.    I love the horror movie marathons.    And when I have had the energy, time and resources, I have always loved my yearly tradition of playing a Halloween prank.   Some of mine have been really good ones.:)

8.  Being scared.   A fun thrill or an upsetting situation to be avoided?

In small doses, I savor the thrill of being scared from a good movie or book.    But it has to be the right kind of scared.    The more innocent, the <fill in the blank> is going to get me kind of scared is always fun.    When a movie or book is scary in a disturbing way, then I don't enjoy it nearly as much.

9.   Which idea is scarier to you?   Eric cooking, or Eric telling jokes?

For me of course, it's me cooking.   You are reading the blog of the inventor of marshmellow ramen surprise.


10.  Which idea is scarier to you?  Eric having children or Eric getting elected to public office?:)

For me of course, the notion of children is terrifying.   Public office wouldn't be scary for me at least.   I would love being seen during interviews on a red telephone saying, "Push the button and get it over with" and then smiling at the camera and going, "PSYCHE!":)


That's all for tonight folks.

Posted very late Wednesday Night
September 3rd, 2003



Did a quick survey

After taking a complete inventory of the food in my apartment, I compiled the following list:  

    1 Largely full jar of pickles, almost exactly a year old from Lisa's first visit.
    1 Half finished jar of mayonaise, also from said visit
    1 plastic bin with the dregs of shrimp cocktail sauce, from said visit
    1 half eaten can of cranberry sauce with no lid.   About six months old.
    1 bag of very stale hard candy from my friend Bill's wedding in the spring of 2001
    1 box of Bisquick my mother gave me when I first moved in here in May of 2002
    1 container of Morton's salt from about 1997
    1 half finished plastic jar of horseradish from aforementioned visit
    1 half finished jar of shrimp cocktail sauce, also from aforementioned visit
    1 half finished jar of teriyaki sauce from said visit
    1 leaky can of parmessan cheese from a care package Lisa sent in July of 2002
    1 jar with a few dregs of Ranch dressing left from aforementioned visit
    2 boxes of tea bags from Lisa's visit last Christmas
    1 set of full salt and pepper shakers from undetermined point in history
    1 half finished can of Italian style breadcrumbs from aforementioned visit.
    3 bottles of ketchup.

If anyone could tell me how to make a quick and easy delicious meal out of this mess, I would be eternally grateful.:)

Yeah, I'm a bachelor.  Sue me.  Can't get a pizza until pay day.

Posted Wednesday Night
September 3rd, 2003


   
Tueday, and still revelling in boredom.


Was an uneventful day.   Jim is gone from the office for a week, but he left me a pretty serious list of things to do.    It's just much more relaxing when he is not around breathing down eveyone's neck, trying to feel important.     I am still working on helping him design a King of the Cage collectible card game.  So I spent most of the day sorting through brutally violent images from the events to put on cards to sell to kids.:)   At one point my friend Ian wandered in.    His brother had bought him a present, or rather his kid a present.    As a dutiful uncle, he decided that Ian's kid should not be raised without the muppets.   So he bought Ian ten of the fifteen Muppet Show DVDs.    We threw one into one of the office Xbox's and watched a few minutes of it.  I forgot how damn funny those are.   I informed Ian, that at some point in the near future we are going to have a Muppet Show party and marathon through as many of his DVDs as we could.    The only other exciting event was a package showing up from my brother.    Since I had to study for my last test, and couldn't make it up to the Iron Maiden concert in Denver, he sent me one of the new tour shirts.   It's very nice.  

I went by the house to see my mother tonight, but neither she nor my father was home.   I think they were out on one of their nightly walks.   Oh well.  I'll catch up with her tomorrow.  

Without further ado, Mary's Tuesday Two.   Because she rules.

1. Name a moment/incident/storyline in a book that you’ve never been able to forget.

It is a moment in H.P. Lovecraft's classic novel, The Lurker at the Threshold.   There is a point where the cousin of the possessed protagonist and starting to put everything together about the house, and the curse, and how the Ancient Ones are trying to use his possessed cousin to open a gate to another dimension so that the deity Yog-Sothoth can come through to our world and spread evil and mayhem.     He is having a really hard time believing something so fantastic is happening, when the sun sets.   The window to the study has been treated with a special kind of glass, so that when the sun shines through it just right, and just the right time of day, the window shows this other dimension.    The cousin feels werid and looks up.   Looking at him through the window is Cthulhu.    That scene gave me nightmares for weeks.   To make things worse, something happened the very night I first read it.   I was up late alone of course.   My parents had planted an Acacia bush right outside of my window and it had gotten very big.   Whenever the wind blew, some of the branches scratched at the screen on my window.   They acted up that night right on cue.   The next morning I went out and very angrily and maliciously broke the offending branches completely off.

2. What is your favorite first line of a novel?

"Tonight we are going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man."  Joe Haldeman, The Forever War

From a short story:

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all it's contents." H.P. Lovecraft - The Call of Cthulhu


I'm gonna see if I am feeling motivated enough to write.   Serious Sam 2 is being aggravatingly hard.  Ciao.


Posted Tuesday Night
September 2, 2003