Halloween 2009

Thanks to Grandma Berger we didn't have to go costume shopping this year. Trick-or-treating began too late for Phoeb-a-rino to unleash her brand of devilry on south-western Georgia. Thanks to a long afternoon nap, however, she was able to surprise Mthr. M-G on her homecoming.

This post makes 31 for October. Yay, me!

November will be lighter, but I promise something at least once a week.

penguin_poet: OUT!

Photo Fun with Phoebe, Son!

I'm all for encouraging reading at a young age. Reading at the dinner table is a little iffy, though. Here I am trying to find out how her day went. Did she have fun at her Halloween party at school? Did she make an art project? Nothing. She wouldn't take her nose out of 7th Son: Descent by J. C. Hutchins. No consideration for my desire for conversation!

I need Mthr. M-G back.

Spider Baby

Netflix is awesome. Where else can you B-movie horror gold like Spider Baby? The subtitle is The Maddest Story Ever Told and with Lon Chaney, Jr. singing the opening title song, it delivers.

Made for $65,000 in 1964 it was finally released in 1968 due to financial backers declaring bankruptcy. The movie is weird and wonderful. It has to be. It's about an inbred family with a degenerative mental disease. The titular character is introduced as she is playing "spider" with an unwitting delivery man. She throws a net over him and repeatedly stabs him with two kitchen knives. TA-DAAA!

This is what happens when Mthr. M-G fills the DVR with horror movies and leaves town. Not wanting to watch those without her, I have to find my own cinematic fun. Back to Netflix!

Haunted by Crafts

We are very near the end of the month. Thanksgiving is close enough to start smelling in the air. As such, the Phoebster's daycare sent home a family art project.

Penguin Postings is proud to present the S******* Family Turkey Feather. It will be joining the feathers of other families on the tail of the daycare's Thanksgiving turkey. Ours was a rush job I'll admit. We only employed wax crayons for our decorating medium. We did stick to the rules everyone participated and I think we caught the family's personality.

Be on the look out for an update when the entire bird is assembled.

Speaking of updates, I guess someone hacked my blog yesterday. *wink* Who knew a fictional character from a recently published novel could hack a blog? I'll bet J. C. Hutchins did.

Haunted by Tr[CONTENT OVERRIDE: KILROY2.0 IS HERE!!!]

I was watching and episode of Transforers: Energon with the Phoebster and I found that there were some deep philosophical points to be made.

First of all the idea that the heroes, the Autobots poses a "spark of combination" that allows them to combine with there fellows making them stronger then the two individuals together: a gestault. This plays against our western ideal of rugged individualism.

Next, we have Starscream's resurection. Being a villian this is

>>> [WARNING ::: DATABASE ERROR ::: CONTENT OVERRIDE ::: SOURCE: EXTERNAL] <<<

> source terminal location: UNKNOWN
> source terminal identity: UNAVAILABLE
> source login information: ENCRYPTED
> message begins

the post you are now reading is designed to dull your senses to THE TRUTH. do not live the life of the worker bee, the cog, the well-oiled piston in the MACHINE OF DECEIT!

there is a grand CONSPIRACY afoot. you have been taught to believe that you are UNIQUE, one of a kind. THIS IS NOT TRUE. long ago, a cabal of scientists created technologies to ensure that ANYONE'S MIND AND BODY can be duplicated.

human cloning isn't NEAR. it's already HERE. discover the truth at http://JChutchins.net

you are being DECEIVED. break free from the cogs, flee the hive, become A PROPHET OF THE TRUTH!

kilroy2. was here ... kilroy2.0 is everywhere

>>> [CONTENT OVERRIDE CEASES ::: DATABASE STATUS: RECOVERING] <<<

that the series is available on DVD, I think you ought to check it out. The preceding series, Transformers: Armada, is also out on DVD in two volumes.

Enjoy the philosophy lesson!

Death of Garfield

Twenty years ago this week Garfield creator, Jim Davis, tried something a little weird. The week before Halloween a series of six comic strips were published depicting the titular feline alone in a time he no longer exists. The comics were serious in nature. Their darker tone and lack of humor threw off many fans and raised a lot of questions. Was Garfield dead? Was this an alternate universe? Jim Davis has not been forthcoming with an explanation.

I followed Garfield for many years in elementary school. I had all of the comic collections. I had several plush toys. I taped the television specials. I clipped the newspaper strips. When I started junior high, I abandoned Garfield completely. That would have been a few months before these strips originally ran. I only became aware of them about a year ago.

As one of the lightest comics in print, this is quite an anomaly. I guess Jim Davis felt burned by the fan reaction and stuck to the safe (read boring) stuff since. After thirty-plus years of syndication, and a massive multimedia franchise it's hard to argue against safe comics.

Haunted by the King

This time of year Mthr. M-G lifts her ban on scary movies for a few exceptions. The many adaptations of Stephen King's work are among those exceptions. Our DVR is full of King movies.

King's latest book comes out in just over two weeks. I'm excited. Maybe I'm just buying into the hype, but this one looks really good.

I'm amused by the new-media tie-ins. One of the characters apparently has set up a blog here on Blogger. Many of his followers are actually fake account holders too. (It seems really weird that a blog and its followers would all set up within a week of each other.) I find this all to be amusing because I don't think King can sell that many more books for all the effort. What new-media savvy individual hasn't decided if they're going to pick this up?

Check out www.scarecrowjoe.com!

Haunted by Poe

I admit that I had this in mind when I first heard about NaBloPoMo's October theme. Haunted is the second album by singer songwriter Poe. It is the companion piece to the novel House of Leaves written by her brother, Mark Z. Danielewski. After their father's death, the two of them found a box of audio tapes recorded by their father for them dating back to their early childhood. The separate works were created in response to their father's tapes and released simultaneously.

The album is a wonderful artistic if not commercial work. It includes samples of her fathers recordings and characters from her brother's book. Mthr. M-G and I find the album to be one of the few we listen to from beginning to end rather than in our shuffle of music.

The book remains one of my favorites. Scenes from the novel still haunt me today. The layout of the book helps to tell the story. There are passages where single words are on each page forcing the reader to rapidly turn pages to find out what's going to happen next, thus increasing the tension in a physical sense and enhancing the psychological effect.

I highly recommend experiencing the book and album together. That is if you can handle a great ghost story.

John Carpenter: Hit or Miss

In an effort to acknowledge the fact that I had a theme for October at one point, I will discuss my feelings on the films of John Carpenter. This was provoked by Mthr. M-G renting John Carpenter's Vampires from Netflix. That's right. I'm totally selling her out on this. It was HER idea to rent this "film."

What I like:
Halloween (1978) - a horror classic. To say more would only diminish it.
The Thing (1982) - a great horror movie that is acted very well.
Christine (1983) - a good Stephen King horror movie that wasn't chewed up by Jack Nicholson.
Big Trouble in Little China (1986) - camp-tastic!

What I hate:
Starman (1984) - I don't get how this got a television spin-off. Then again, so did Gung Ho.
They Live (1988) - "Rowdy" Roddy Piper's break out film role. Haven't heard of Mr. Piper outside of wrestling? This is why.
Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992) - Chevy Chase and Daryl Hannah in a movie that doesn't know if it's a comedy, spy thriller, or just crap.
Vampires (1998) - James Woods is a great voice-over actor. He brought all the subtlety he picked up in the sound booth to bare on this live-action dry heave. The info dumps every twenty minutes and Daniel Baldwin as co-star don't help.

I know this is a small slice of the man's filmography. Most of his other movies don't seem good enough for me to like or bad enough for me to like making fun of. I'm just amazed by the extremes of my reactions to this man's professional effort.

Deal of the Week by the Numbers

30-day trial for FYE's Backstage Pass program: Free with DVD deposit

FYE exclusive Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Steelcase retail price: $35.99 plus tax

Sale price: $24.99 plus tax

minus $5.00 deposit: $19.99 plus tax

minus $5.00 coupon from Backstage Pass: $14.99 plus tax

Balance on $20.00 FYE gift card (with Backstage Pass enrollment) after DVD purchase: $2.89

Rebate for Steelbook purchase: $3.00

Therefore: I paid $5.35 to reserve this DVD. I used a $0.41 $0.44 stamp to mail in the rebate. ($5.76 $5.79 total for those still playing along.) I'll be getting $3.00 back from FYE and I still have $2.89 in credit at FYE.

Basically, I was GIVEN this exclusive DVD and 13 10 cents.

UPDATE: My wonderful mother-in-law pointed out that first class postage for a 1 oz or less letter is now $0.44. With the nearly-as-wonderful Forever stamps, however, I COULD have spent just $0.41 to mail in my rebate. I didn't, but I COULD have.

Sick Baby

Spending the entirety of your evening trying to console an inconsolable child is draining.

Sorry I don't have more entertaining stuff to write about, but I need to be quick so I can get Mthr. M-G to bed so that at least one of will be ready to face the day.

Phoebe getting sick from the kids at daycare is getting really old.

Read It!

Panic cleaning the house can really take it out of you. Go to lol cats for some funny.

The Best Book You Haven't Read

Next Tuesday, one of my favorite novels will finally come out in print. But wait! How can it be a favorite if it hasn't been released? The answer is that the author, J. C. Hutchins, wasn't content waiting for traditional publishers to buy his baby. He gave it away for free as a podcast. He did such a good job not only writing the book, but reading and marketing as well, that he got himself a major following.

His following was significant enough for a traditional publisher to finally take notice. St. Martin's Press will be bringing the first of J. C.'s trilogy about a team of clones tracking down their deranged progenitor before he can bring his nightmare vision of the world to life.

J. C. is one of the nicest guys on the Internet and hasn't forgotten where he's come from. He continues to give away his work for free even on the eve of its for-cash release. Go to jchutchins.net to learn more about the man, or to 7thsonnovel.com to get the audio book and its sequels FOR FREE. Then buy the book on October 27th.

I Wish I was a Lego Ninja

Sometimes you just have to step back and admire the handiwork of others.

Optimus Prime in his Generation 1 form executed in Lego. Wow!

Check out more here.

Welcome, Fall!

Today was chilly enough to wear a hoodie sweatshirt indoors and brave the fireplace.

Turns out, we don't have a gas fireplace. We do have an ash chute that leads to the basement. We don't have a cover for said chute. That means there's potential for a basement fire. We have an old baking sheet over it now. We do have a new fire extinguisher. We don't have a fireplace screen. We do have one on order. Until it arrives, we're only burning artificial logs. Less popping and sparking. It's a little smokey. We'll have a chimney sweep come and step in time, or something.

For now, I'll enjoy the fire, the wine, and the company.

A Taste of the Old Country--er, ah Town

Few people outside of Kenosha may have even heard of European baked potato pizza from Roger & Marv's SuperValu. I haven't lived in K-Town for eight years, but the memory of the pizza was itching at my taste buds this afternoon. A trip to a local grocer, and half an hour of preparation later, and I was able to scratch that itch.

For those of you outside of Kenosha's loving arms, here's my approximation of the original.

Start with a par-baked pizza crust lightly brushed with olive oil, lightly coated with sour cream and sprinkled with black pepper, garlic powder and minced onion. Top with a generous amount of mozzarella cheese. Crowd on baked potato slices, green onion, and cooked bacon. Now bake that bad boy in a 450 degree oven for ten minutes or until the cheese you can see is golden.

Don't be weirded out. Give it a try!

A Bizarro Evening

We got invited to SGTC's athletics booster dinner. Knowing my own athletic prowess, you may be shocked to hear that I actually passed the invite on to Mthr. M-G. Even though it started after Phoeb-a-roo's bed time WE WENT!

Great low country boil, great girl's basketball team members for company, and great safety precautions taken when a tornado hit the other side of the county all made for a great evening. Just as Phoebeness was deciding to call it quits for the lot of us, we were all escorted to the bathrooms to take shelter. Less than five minutes later we were given the all-clear and went home talking of joining the booster club. (Weird!)

On top of that, Balloon Boy. This is going to be a bumpy bit of media fallout. Good thing my blood pressure medication prescription is current.

It's Heeeeere

Please excuse the Poltergeist paraphrase.

Mthr. M-G finally broke down and convinced herself it was okay to buy herself a seminary graduation/self-care present.

Many of her seminary fellows have done the same thing. They purchased things like flat panel televisions, Wiis, and motorcycles. Not my girl. She got an elliptical trainer.

Zombie Parents

Mthr. M-G and I feel terrible. She has some congestion. I'm running a low-grade fever and achy. We both left work early to rest up so we'd be ready for Phoeb-zilla. She melted down immediately after dinner so we put her to bed right away. We cleared the back bedroom to make room for tomorrow's special delivery. Two hours later; Phoebe's finally asleep, the room is clear, cookies are baked, and Momma and Daddy are DONE.

Artsy Afternoon

Theme be damned. This is too great.

Phoeb-a-loo-la, Mthr. M-G, and I colored with Little Miss' new crayons. Afterward, the ladies decided to play some piano. The play list included some Ben Folds and Billy Joel.

The girls have taste.

Taco Terror

Phoebster has a cold and is taking it out on EVERYONE. Lunch was leftover taco fixin's. Delicious but uninspired; like this post.

Happy birthday, Ben! I could say our lunch was in honor of your favorite meal, but then I'd be lying. Love you, bro'!

On a side note, Marge Simpson will be gracing the cover of November's Playboy. With a new Stephen King short story as well, this may be the first issue I buy. Really, this would be my FIRST TIME buying a Playboy.

Seriously.

So Cute She's Spooky

See what I did there? Theme maintenance and title appropriateness rolled into one. Priceless.

On the subject of being priceless (now, that's a segue!), Phoebe and I were a little under the weather and stayed in all day. Boredom breeds creativity and we wound up making a Phoebe conveyance from a diaper box and a belt. How much did your fun cost?

Also, this post marks October as my most prolific month of posting in 2009. Sad, but true.

"I Don't Drink . . . Wine"

Thank you, Dracula. Thus ends the connection to October's theme. Actually, considering the content of the majority of my recent blogs; this is amazingly on topic. Enough!

Cheap, sweet, slightly fizzy, red wine. Served in a cartoon character glass, there is no greater guilty pleasure. Upon further review, Superman III is a greater guilty pleasure. Although, the wine comes with a twist-off cap. How does that stack up against drunk Superman breaking mirrors with peanuts?

Haunted by Utter Laziness

I need to keep up my daily posting, but instead of doing something clever I watched a new episode of Mythbusters.

Haunted by Entomology

Tomorrow, is Jumpstart's annual Read for the Record event.

Jumpstart unites college students and preschoolers in an effort to equip every child for success. Read more about them at their website.

In an effort to promote their efforts, they have organized these Read for the Record events. On one day hundreds of thousands of people share the joy of read a single book. Last year over 700,000 read Corduroy. This year the goal is one million readers of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Phoeb-a-loo, Mthr. M-G and your blog host have pledged to read. We even have our official campaign book. Join us!

Haunted by Flavor

It will be very difficult for me to lose any weight here. It seems every member of Mthr. M-G's parish is an amazing cook. We have award-winning barbecue, steak night and a bit of heaven called a low country boil. The next men's night will feature fried catfish. The catfish will be caught from a parishioner's pond.

This particular BBQ sandwich come courtesy of the senior warden. Besides being a circuit court judge, the man can do wonders to a Boston Butt.

Haunted by Prehistory

Phoebekins is back in daycare. Throat infection: defeated. She loves school. She has so much fun with the other kids. They have her doing art projects, singing songs and listening to stories.

Here's my favorite art project of hers so far. You know my love of dinosaurs. Well this just launches them into the stratosphere of my affection. How could you help falling for this guy?

On an artistic note, I feel it's necessary to point out that this marks Phoebalicious' first foray into duo-chrome painting. The fact that the sun remains unpainted in the background is evocative of the dinosaurs' eventual doom. Notice, however, the lush green plant in the foreground. This is symbolic of the hope for today. The message here is clear. Do not worry about tomorrow while you have been provided for today.

Amazing! Did I mention that she just turned 15 months last week?

Un-Haunted Animals (at least now)

Today is the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. We get to see Mthr. M-G in clerical action. Nice stole, babe!

She and Fr. Don led a service for the blessing of the animals in the parish garden. They also collected gifts for the local branch of the Humane Society. We donated cleaning supplies thinking most others would give food and treats. The gifts will be delivered tomorrow when Fr. Don and Mthr. M-G bless the animals at the shelter.

What a wonderful way to honor our animal friends! Phoeberoni had fun getting out of the house and seeing all the pets. The mosquitoes had fun nibbling on Phoebe. I had fun feeling guilty about parking her stroller next to the fountain.

UPDATE: Mthr. M-G informs me that she is not wearing a stole in the above photo, but a tippet. Wow, now I know what it's like talking to me about Transformers.

Haunted by Literalism

Literally is one of the most misused words in the English language. Sure, we language lovers also get our hackles up over "irregardless"*; there, their and they're confusion; and apostrophe s as a way to pluralize a noun. Abuse of literally seems to lead to the funniest results.

Some of my favorites:

• "Cars were literally flying down the highway." Why are people complaining that science hasn't brought us the hover car?
• "I literally jumped out of my skin." Ewww!
• "He literally has the sports world by the tail." Is the sports world a dog or a cat? Also, let go of the sports world's tail. That's cruel.

For more fun with literally, check out Literally, A Web Log.

For now, just enjoy that I have photographic evidence that my new job is literally where opportunity and technology intersect.

______________________________________________________

*I don't know why I was surprised to find that Blogger's spell check didn't flag this. It did get ewww though.

Haunted by Illness

haunt-ed (hawn-tid)

–adjective
1.inhabited or frequented by ghosts: a haunted castle.
2.preoccupied, as with an emotion, memory, or idea; obsessed: His haunted
imagination gave him no peace.
3.disturbed; distressed; worried: Haunted by doubt he again turned to law books on the subject.

I think the third definition definitely fits this little vignette.

Little Phoebe has had a throat infection since Tuesday. Mother Monkey-Girl and I are really worried and distressed about our kiddo.

She's on a strict regimen of medications. We have to give her something at least every three hours. That means setting an alarm for 3:00 am to draw syrup into an oral syringe, creeping into your infant daughter's bedroom, pulling out her pacifier and gently squirting medication down her throat without being too disturbing. Then you reset your alarm to do it again at 6:00 am!

I was able to be with the Phoebster all day Wednesday. It was terrible because she was feeling so bad, but it was wonderful to be able to be with her when she so obviously needed it. There's just something about your little girl crawling into your lap and just resting there.

Oh! I nearly forgot. Mercutio has fleas, AND he's allergic to flea bites. Guess who he loves to cuddle up to at night. This guy.

Yup, the third definition does nicely.

This October Penguin Postings Will Be "Haunted"

National Blog Posting Month's theme for October 2009 is "Haunted".

I participated and won the event last year and thought it would be good to try again this year. It's been over two months since my last update and Penguin Postings could use a shot in the arm.

This time I'm even going to try to stick to the theme. The badge on the right is the creation of Tracy Delaney a fellow member of NaBloPoMo.

See you tomorrow and each day of October!