I had to make a trip to Columbus, Ohio for work today. So the day started out extra early and involved a 3+ hour drive this morning. I started out at 4:50 am to get to the State Capitol between 8:00 and 9:00. The drive was so much fun after getting just 4 hours of sleep last night. I went to bed early but woke up 2 hours later and had trouble getting back to sleep. Warm milk and stuff added does nothing for me.

7 hours of meetings later, and I’m on my way home. Just pulled in and got settled. I don’t think I want to drive anywhere for a while. The day was too long.

I did see lots of deer today included the 5 that thought the road would be a good place to stand just after sunset. I now know that my truck still has good breaks and my reaction time isn’t too shabby. Just one more thing that added to the length of the day. I’m just waiting for the next ‘thing’ to happen. Maybe I should go to bed before it occurs.. Naah, it will still happen.

Good night folks.

If nothing else, last night’s Academy Awards made a strong statement that traditional movie making is still preferable to the rise of technology…. in the eyes of the voters anyway.  Avatar may have earned $567,890,123.45 (that figure may even be low) at the box office but I think it was ultimately the big loser this year at the awards.  I really thing Dr. Doogie’s kick-off to the evening was the low point,  Did anyone else see his song (?) and dance?  If not… you will have to hunt yourself.  Honestly, I thought he was supposed to be good?  But I thought Mr. Baldwin and the ALWAYS hilarious Steve Martin were wonderful!

I knew that the time had come for the first female Best Director  even more so than the first African-American (forgive me if that is un-PC).  But I think the fact that Ms. Bigelow and The Hurt Locker swept the top two categories and was the biggest winner was a bit of a surprise.  However, looking back there have been other examples of David-Goliath at the Oscars.  Does anyone remember 1977 when a little movie called Star Wars was beaten by the less groundbreaking Woody Allen pic, Annie Hall?  Or 1982 when a little guy trying to “Phone Home” lost to Gandhi?  So how do we possibly explain the year of the water-logged boat sinking?!  A fluke!

I was happy to see Star Trek win in one category.  It tied with The Voyage Home (the one with the whales… very high on my list) for the most noms by a movie in the series.  Even The Motion Picture (zzz) got three.  Last night’s Make Up victory was the first win for the 44 year series.

So while I came in 4th in the pool, I did walk away with a nice gift.  The ceramic teddy bear banks are adorable, thanks Carol!  Always a ball worthy of the best Hollywood can throw!

I still had a difficult time voting for Sandra Bullock.  Maybe it’s her low opinion of one of her first on screen performances.  If you can’t be happy about playing the second Bionic Woman (and I’m not talking about the unremarkable series reboot of a few seasons ago) then… and what was with the lipstick… EGAD!

And what happened to the “No thanking” policy?  Not to be outdone by the endless Best Actor/Actress presentations.  So much for saving time.  And apparently, “research” doesn’t always help, right C? 😉

Yes, phase one of my getting back into running a regular role playing game has been completed. The group will comeback for more and maybe even complete the journey. I had a wonderful time. My dice rolling was poor, but that helped the group survive for one more day.

This has been a nice weekend. I got to spend some time with my youngest daughter. We were able to tackle our little corgi and get his nails trimmed. He never likes that, so it is an adventure every time. Maybe next week he can have a bath. I don’t think he minds that nearly as much, but he is 27 lbs of compact muscle.

Lots of fun this weekend…

I know they say that the 3rd time is the charm, but tonight is only my second try. I hope that the gamers will be as ready to play as I am to run this little campaign.

I have been thinking about the many years that I’ve been away from actually running a role playing game. The rules have changed, the characters have changed, but the game has really stayed the same. It is all about the story and how the players (characters) interact with that story.

That being the case, will my recent years on stage allow me to tell a better story? Will my years of telling stories to my children allow be to tell a better story? I think I may know the answer..

Back in college, I was really into D&D, a friend talked me into being on stage. I was so nervous that I got physically sick after every performance. I vowed never to go on stage again. Some time between then and 1996/97 things changed. I got a job and a family. The pressure of the job actually gave me the confidence to get up in front of people to give them my ideas. My life and my family depended on me being able to do this, so I did it. The pressure of my family, made me realize that some things were much more important than some feelings of slight humiliation. The family allowed me to be me in all situations. So in 1996/1997 I tried the stage one more time. I must have enjoyed it since I’ve been doing it every year since then….

Now back to gaming. I am now a much more confident person than I was in the early 80’s into the 90’s. I’m not afraid of making a fool of myself. I know I can tell a story or two. My gut feeling is that I will be able to run the game better than I did before. Should be fun.

My body is now telling me it is very tired. I’m going to hope that going to bed now, I will get a full night’s sleep. If I wake up too early, I have the milk and vanilla to heat up. That was it wasn’t it? Nutmeg, cinnamon?

Now I lay me down to sleep, but forgot to wash my dirty feet. If I die before I wake, I pray they Lord my soul to take. Please don’t send me to the pits of hell, because of the way my feet still smell. Good night all, an early Friday night after a long week…

Fellow Tangenteers posted youtube.com videos recently sharing some of their favorite music – that made me think about a country artist from the 80’s I used to enjoy named Sylvia.  She’s come out with recent material, but my favorites of hers were from the early 80’s.  I was able to find a few of her songs and still enjoy her beautiful voice as an adult (however cheesily 80’s some of the lyrics might be), but I’m still looking for the following songs by Sylvia:

So Complete, The Mill Song (Everybody’s Got a Dream), Who’s Kidding Who, Tonight I’m Gettin’ Friendly With The Blues, Gone But Not Forgotten, and Jason.

I was able to find two Sylvia videos on youtube.com –  dig the “super-cool” video and sound effects in Snapshot and the totally 80’s bopping in “Nobody”.  Does anyone else remember Sylvia?  I was thinking Mary might even have a cassette tape I can borrow 😉

Snapshot – 1983:

Nobody – 1982:

I don’t think I would try it on ice cream. I picked up some cheap chicken strips last week and the first batch I made I was a bit underwhelmed. Today I loaded them up with melted cheese and Hot Salsa. Much better this time.

But really, I didn’t want to talk/write about cooking. Did you ever notice that some things are just better when combined with something else. A warm and sunny day is better than a cold and sunny day. Even though we like the sunny day part, the warmth adds something to it. Add to that a day off and the ability to spend it in the warmth and sun you get something better. Add in some good friends or family. Some fun things to do. You almost have a vacation…

Sometimes adding things doesn’t make it better. Sometimes it is worse. (try the salsa with Ice cream and let me know what you think.)

And there are the times you know what you want to add to something, but it just isn’t available. Things could be better. So much better. You know it would be, but the situation does not allow the addition of that item.

All this is life. We live with what we have. We take the good and the bad. Try to combine things to make it better. Try to tolerate when things don’t go quite right. And hope that we have the combinations that make life better.

The return of the high school musical.  It has been years and long over due!  I’m sure there is some talent still in the school.  I remember the days when the musical was one of the highlights of the school year!  I may only vaguely remember seeing The Wizard of Oz back in the late 70s but I don’t think I have missed either being an audience member, in the cast, or helping in other regards of all the others.  I remember Carousel (my favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein show), Music Man,  Finian’s Rainbow, and many others.

March 18th-20th, my alma mater will once again present You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.  I remember the last time the school performed it.  My two oldest brothers were in the chorus.  For the new staging, there will be a nostalgic feel.  Schroeder’s piano is being donated by the person who built it and had the role 25 years ago!  The mother of the actor and I reminisced the other day at the store.  Her daughter played Peppermint Patty.  Maybe would have been nice to have a show never done before at the school but at least the interest is there for the future.

A few posts ago, I was pondering the popularity of the extremely cool acapella group  Straight No Chaser and came across a website full of information, song samples, and discography.  I also discovered that a new song-filled recording is about to drop.  And quite remarkably this little group was organized on a college campus just to our west.

Check out this video that brings back great memories of performing with America’s Finest Singing Machine!  Just don’t ask me if it is better performed by a chorus of 80 or a small ensemble… just a bit biased.

Ok, some people won’t find this funny, but I did. I think my daughter the Star Wars fan should see this one.

Try this, it won’t embed. It is a 5 second film called “Mommy Knows Best”

This was fun too…

https://youtube.com/embed/MKdGaGuggw0