Alright, I know I'm supposed to be off for the week...

But Star Wars news is high level! They've announced the Title of Episode III!! Star Wars: Episode III | Special Announcement: Episode III Title Personally, I like their choice. I could've sworn they would've gone with something like "Birth of The Empire" or something, but they made a great choice, that ties in well with the original three.

Oh, and One More Thing...

I forgot to mention that late last night, I did a mass posting over at My Photoblog. Enjoy!

And the Hiatus Shall Begin Today...(Well, Maybe)

Alright, so we leave tomorrow around noon for Watkins Glen, where Michelle, Josiah and I will be camping with all of Michelle's siblings, her parents, and all of the nieces and nephews. Close to 20 people, so it should be fun. It seems like every time we go on a trip, the stress level is highest on the day we leave, mostly because I'm a Master Procrastinator. This time should be different, since I've spent the better part of the last three days really "getting ready" for the trip. Yesterday I felt a really good sense of accomplishment, since I was able to get our car carrier ready, by attaching the strap brackets, and the straps all by myself. Given my uncanny ability to screw all things mechanical up, this went surprisingly smooth. What's neat is that as I've gotten older and been forced to do more "manly" things, I've gotten a little bit better at it. Once we get in the house, should anything break, I might at least try to fix it before I call in the professionals. Sure, I'm no MacGyver, but I'm getting there. But anyway, I've been packing like a madman, getting all of the dry food, dry goods, camping gear and miscellaneous items shoved into my all too small Kia Rio. It's gonna be a little bit of a tight squeeze, but I think we'll do alright. Reading List The summer is really my heaviest reading time, not sure why, but television and movies are strictly an autumn, winter and spring thing. But summer is a time to engage my mind. This year, I'm bringing four books and two magazines with me: The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien - Having never really read the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, despite numerous attempts, I never really thought I'd get into this. But, thanks to my cousin Mike, I figured I'd give it a whirl. It's deliberatly slow, methodic in it's pacing, and written more like an encyclopedia than a work of fiction. It took a little bit to get into, but I'm about a third of the way there. Since it's sort of absorbing, I had to bring something else with me to balance it out. The Regulators by Richard Bachman - I've read this one before, but when I read it the first time it was my initiation into the mind of Stephen King's alter ego. Now, having two of his other books under my belt, I've decided to give this one a shot again. Also, since I found out that this is a Dark Tower tie-in, I figured I'd go back. It's uber-creepy, surprising in it's violence, but a fun, fast read. I got it out of the library on Wednesday, and I'm already half done. Black House by Stephen King & Peter Straub - Another book tied into King's Dark Tower series. It's the sequel to The Talisman, but I've been told that the need to read the prequel is minimal to enjoy this one. I've read half of the prequel, but couldn't finish it before the due date. I'm sure I'll go back, but this one was on sale at Wal*Mart. The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning - I got this for five bucks from Christian Book Distributors along with Manning's latest The Signature of Jesus. I've always wanted to read this one, given it's approval by Rich Mullins, one of my heroes. So I'm bringing it along, and I might tap into it should fiction lose my interest sometime during the week. I've also got the latest issue of the Pentecostal Evangel and the fiction issue of World Magazine. Surprisingly enough, no comics are in my reading list. Not even anything comic book related. I neglected to get The Watchmen out of the library for my annual camping trip read, and I meant to pick up a copy of Wizard Magazine. There's still time, though... Signing Off For Now So there you have it folks, I'll be off for a little while. I'll have my cell with me, so if I get a signal, I might audio post a few times. But this week is about resting, so I might not even worry about my blog. Either way, I hope all four or five of you enjoy your week. So, until next Sunday - Lata.

Things I learned on my most recent trip home...

I've been going back to my hometown quite frequently in the past two months, for reasons I'd rather not divulge here. Yesterday was another of those trips, and I learned a couple of things.... 1) Some things Never Change After lunch at my favorite sub shop in the North Country, I went to the convenience store that I used to frequent during high school. Sure, they've done some minor renovations, but the same lady is behind the counter, the same crappy country music is blaring, and although they're not necessarily the same, there's still about a dozen obnoxious kids hanging out there. I almost got teary eyed thinking "I used to be one of you..." 2) Gas is Cheaper Everywhere But Rochester Why is it I can drive on the thruway and pay ten cents less for gas per gallon then at the corner store by my house? Why is it that gas in Syracuse costs around 8 cents per gallon less? Why is Rochester such a suckfest for gas prices? 3) Road Construction Sucks Alright, so I didn't learn that yesterday, but I didn't want to list only two things.

Now I won't ever have to worry about a 7-10 split....

So I went shopping yesterday, looking for something new and exciting for our Camping Trip, and alas, I found this: Bowling Dice It's so cool. And so distracting. I wonder if I'll have time to roll a couple of frames before working on my bicycle. Is this how Gamblers feel?

Another Hiatus On It's Way...

Well, looks like I'll be taking another short hiatus starting Monday, for about 10 days. I'll be camping with my family and going to two days of Kingdom Bound after that. So, unless I have a way to call on my cell and make audio posts, I'll take lots of notes and pictures so I can update. Tonight I'm on my way to Syracuse and then Watertown in the morning. I won't be able to blog until tomorrow night or Friday. Which, really isn't too bad, considering I don't have much to say right now. But who knows what kind of difference a day will make?

Dream Computer

I just priced my dream IBook on http://www.mac.com and the price came out to: $2,346.95 Not too bad, considering that includes a printer, MacOffice, and Final Cut Express besides the laptop itself. Now, anybody got a spare $2,346.95 they wanna give me?

I, Critic

I took advantage of a child free evening and went to see I, Robot tonight. Can't say I was extremely blown away (I mean, after seeing Spider-Man 2 it'll take a lot to really blow me away...) but it was still a fun movie, to say the least. First off, I've never read the classic Isaac Asimov book that the movie was, as the end credits point out, suggested by. (Maybe that's a new way to cop out for screwing around with a classic story's structure and characters when adapting to film? I dunno...) So, I came into this movie knowing very little about the Asimov theory of Robots and Robotic Law. Basically, I was hoping for eye popping animation and stuff blowing up. I mean, isn't that what movies are all about these days? Will Smith plays himself - no...not himself... he plays the same character he's played since Independence Day, but this time he's a "rogue cop", who doesn't trust robots. Evidently, since this is the future, Robots are like, household appliances. But, when I think about it, why spend the thousands of dollars on a robot to wash the dishes when I either have a kid to do them, or a three hundred dollar machine to do them instead? Sorry, rabbit trail. Don't want to go into a semantics argument when talking about a Will Smith movie. The four or five remaining "DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince" fans might suffer aneurysms at the thought of a word so complex as "semantics" or "rabbit". Anyway, so Will Smith plays a "rogue cop" in the tradition of Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon or Jim Belushi in K9. Seriously, I half expected ol' Will to either rap his way out of a car accident or complain to his partner that he was "getting too old" for this stuff. But no, instead we're treated with several tired "ex-wife" jokes, and Will's constant pandering for the camera. Will's not a great actor - he's good, I think he was wonderful as Ali, but he just doesn't seem right in this role. Where's Kurt Russell when you need him? The plot itself is well written, lots of fun twists, and there's some funny interaction between Will and several robots. Despite it's excellent action sequences, it wasn't exactly deep and philosophical, which I would venture to say that Asimov was trying to do with his original story. There are a few poignant moments, but they are few and far between. But, besides all of the criticism, I liked the film. It's not terrible, but it's not great. It sets out to entertain the audience and it succeeds at it. Will it be met with rave reviews by Asimov loyalists? I don't know. But for novices like myself, it did it's job at least satisfacory. And that's a passing grade, right? *** out of *****

Psychic or Psychotic Connection?

The Coolest Lame Show Ever

R*I*P* Weezie Jefferson

Windows out? MacOS in? YOU Decide!!!

Dreaming of Uncle Jesse

A DVD Must Have For Wrestling Fans

IE out - Firefox In

I decided after being warned by the Dept. of Homeland Security about the frailty of security with Internet Explorer that I should switch browsers. So I went to Mozilla and got me Firefox. I'm liking it so far... Soundtrack: Starflyer 59 - Everybody Makes Mistakes

Immediate Reaction to Spider-Man 2