... the IT man in LibraryLand
So, much has happened in the realm of The Tales since last post. Many catch-ups have occurred and One shall attempt to document them to One's usual fastidious level of accuracy.
On the Monday before Cup Day, One continued to catch-up with ones Hawaiian shirts, having too long neglected them until their recent resurrection for conference. The jealousy from co-workers manifest itself as an air of disdain and a pretended scoffing at one's sense of fashion.
There was a catch-up with Big J in the form of her return from extended leave to attend a three hour strategic reporting and specific duties realignment meeting. I guess she has to have hobbies in her leisure time.
In an effort to catch-up on our role-playing game progress deficit Pirate Dave ran Badger, Sneaky Pete and One through our weekly game until the early am. The deficit is now reduced to only several years.
Attending the annual SLUG conference with Sidekick afforded one the opportunity to catch up with Sis, MoneyM, and others in several entirely networky and educational bar and restaurant settings.
In preparation for Bomber Babe's big move to One's old desk at One's old branch, One had to undertake a cleanup of boxes underneath and draws full of spare parts. A nostalgic catchup with vitally kept spare 2005 technology ensued.
Hulk and One had a catch-up and board games with Miasmakat after it was revealed to Hulk that there was a trampoline there and it became mandatory to attend.
The evening then held a grand catch up at the 10th wedding anniversary soiree for Zombie Monkey. Having arrived post speeches it was hard for one to tell it apart from just a big piss up.
In any case, while one missed The Real Greg Dean, one was able to have a grand catch-up with the ZM himself as well as the first for 7 years catch-up with Illuminated G, Amoeba for our first catch-up in... months, and a 12 years in the making catch-up with Shreen.
Of course Illuminated G was up to his old conspiratorial tricks trying to claim that he and Shreen had never attended One's university at the same time - while my memory clearing has them both in the same group of uni friends, I shall not be a fool for your conspiracy!!
The final catch-up of not was for the farewelling of LibraryBFF heading back to whence she came as her stint as resources ends, and BomberBabe heading to new horizons. It was also for welcoming Mr Prada into the resources - and possibly BFF - role, and Big J attended for the culinary catch-up opportunity.
Phew, now One is caught-up on the catching-up.
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Showing posts with label Zombie Monkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zombie Monkey. Show all posts
Playing Millennium Falcon the Right Way
Nothing makes a father's heart sing more than hearing the phrase,
To find out that one has apparently been missing out all these years on the true majesty that such an undertaking could become is a gift beyond compare. Thank you Hulk for opening my eyes.
And thank you Zombie Monkey for that long ago gift of said Millennium Falcon.
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"Dad, I want to play Milenum Falcon".
To find out that one has apparently been missing out all these years on the true majesty that such an undertaking could become is a gift beyond compare. Thank you Hulk for opening my eyes.
And thank you Zombie Monkey for that long ago gift of said Millennium Falcon.
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Take Hulk to Work Day
(Settle down Zombie Monkey, this isn't a superhero-related post!)
So, two days ago one undertook an expedition with Hulk to the furthest reaches of the city in a long planned visit to one's locations of daily toil, various.
The plan may sound grand but rest assured I had Salsa Girl's full support in leaving her Hulk-less for most of the day.
Leaving at the bright and early, finally fully dressed and everything packed, stroke of half ten we played "Daddy why is that car next to us?" for our hour long journey.
Upon arrival we were beset by besotted librarians all cooing and oohing at the level of cuteness on display. Hulk received her fair share of compliments too.
Once the likes of Bomber Babe, Lord of the Small Fries, Big J, The Administrator, Groovy Spirits, and sundry others had received critical exposure levels we moved on to the next branch.
This was a more relaxed experience with Country Girl, Sidekick, and of course Days of our Libraries, all being wowed.
After a short long-rambling-walk to a nearby park and back, we were off again to our final destination.
This vastly underpopulated building saw us dazzle The Beaumaris Ballerina with advanced toddler-ness before Hulk decided we needed to take much of the library furniture home with us.
Disentangling from that situation I thought I was home free for jumping into the car and zooming home until a nearby playground hove into view and proceeded to engage us in a short half hour play digression.
Eventually we made our way back north to safety - and one of us was even able to sleep for most of the journey home.
All in all about the same amount of work was completed as any given work day.
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So, two days ago one undertook an expedition with Hulk to the furthest reaches of the city in a long planned visit to one's locations of daily toil, various.
The plan may sound grand but rest assured I had Salsa Girl's full support in leaving her Hulk-less for most of the day.
Leaving at the bright and early, finally fully dressed and everything packed, stroke of half ten we played "Daddy why is that car next to us?" for our hour long journey.
Upon arrival we were beset by besotted librarians all cooing and oohing at the level of cuteness on display. Hulk received her fair share of compliments too.
Once the likes of Bomber Babe, Lord of the Small Fries, Big J, The Administrator, Groovy Spirits, and sundry others had received critical exposure levels we moved on to the next branch.
This was a more relaxed experience with Country Girl, Sidekick, and of course Days of our Libraries, all being wowed.
After a short long-rambling-walk to a nearby park and back, we were off again to our final destination.
This vastly underpopulated building saw us dazzle The Beaumaris Ballerina with advanced toddler-ness before Hulk decided we needed to take much of the library furniture home with us.
Disentangling from that situation I thought I was home free for jumping into the car and zooming home until a nearby playground hove into view and proceeded to engage us in a short half hour play digression.
Eventually we made our way back north to safety - and one of us was even able to sleep for most of the journey home.
All in all about the same amount of work was completed as any given work day.
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Endsinger by Jay Kristoff
This hefty volume concludes the Lotus War in a most satisfactory manner.
In fact one's biggest complaint is the back pains caused by lugging it around for nigh on three weeks whilst consuming it.
A solid four star read that has once again inspired many a roleplaying game idea.
Also, given his past commission to create the skyship from the first volume, one cannot wait to see the Zombie Monkey lego rendition of the final climactic battle of thousands upon thousands of troops and giant steampunk robots and demons from the hell pits.
Shouldn't take too long one would think...
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In fact one's biggest complaint is the back pains caused by lugging it around for nigh on three weeks whilst consuming it.
A solid four star read that has once again inspired many a roleplaying game idea.
Also, given his past commission to create the skyship from the first volume, one cannot wait to see the Zombie Monkey lego rendition of the final climactic battle of thousands upon thousands of troops and giant steampunk robots and demons from the hell pits.
Shouldn't take too long one would think...
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The LEGO Party
Last weekend Hulk and I gave Salsa Girl some respite by attending a brick-based soirée.
Our inimitable host was Zombie Monkey and the occasion was the launching of his escape vessel for the escaping from our morally sinking country.
To this end he had created the crew as striking likenesses of many of the attendees.
I'm sure you will all marvel at the artistry he used to capture one’s visage as the ship's superhero in one's guise as Testosterone Man.
Zombie Monkey was also most generous with his Lego spare parts tubs allowing many who had not yet signed on to the crew to create their own likeness - although the sheer number of options was quite daunting.
Hulk herself had the dilemma of her natural blonde hair or a stormtrooper helmet.
FridgePower and Judge Mingus were busy sculpting their likeness while BallBoy created a masterful Darth Vader with pie-shooting canon, on a skateboard, holding a banana.
All in all a great afternoon, even if one's Sunday was filled with Hulk’s playful cries of "What happened to Tosterone Man’s head!"
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A Legion of Parties
And a legion of excuses for lack of posting...
Shall one just briefly enumerate them: the endless work at work, the heat, a cranky and slightly under the weather Hulk, house hunting escapades, and a return to gaming.
So several weekends past saw myself, along with Salsa Girl and Hulk, attend a trio of swell soirees.
The first was Legion2's birthday bash for the gamer crowd, although disappointingly with no gaming occurring.
Despite that on us flaw a great time was had by all.
ElfBoy was there with Lil' Trucker running amok, as was Mr Magpie (no relation) with his little barrackers. Badger and Gavman were absent any spawn and Pirate Dave was at an inconvenient family do across town.
Salsa Girl and I ended the event by rushing off to inspect some potential property - our leaving causing the whole shindig to wrap up as it obviously couldn't sustain itself without our overwhelming presence.
From our inspection we made our way to FridgePower's self-organised surprise party. I think she fooled herself right up until the party began.
Hulk did not allow us to linger to long but one did manage to catch up with fridge herself as well as Judge Mingus and an unanticipated Zombie Monkey.
The next day was the traditional family party in honour of oneself and Legion2. The event was rather more niece and grand child focused than one really deserves for ones day of honour, but they are all so cute one can't really compete.
Well once again you are all updated on the happenings of the tales and once again I promise to keep to my weekly-ish publishing schedule so keep watching the skies for my next posting...
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Shall one just briefly enumerate them: the endless work at work, the heat, a cranky and slightly under the weather Hulk, house hunting escapades, and a return to gaming.
So several weekends past saw myself, along with Salsa Girl and Hulk, attend a trio of swell soirees.
The first was Legion2's birthday bash for the gamer crowd, although disappointingly with no gaming occurring.
Despite that on us flaw a great time was had by all.
ElfBoy was there with Lil' Trucker running amok, as was Mr Magpie (no relation) with his little barrackers. Badger and Gavman were absent any spawn and Pirate Dave was at an inconvenient family do across town.
Salsa Girl and I ended the event by rushing off to inspect some potential property - our leaving causing the whole shindig to wrap up as it obviously couldn't sustain itself without our overwhelming presence.
From our inspection we made our way to FridgePower's self-organised surprise party. I think she fooled herself right up until the party began.
Hulk did not allow us to linger to long but one did manage to catch up with fridge herself as well as Judge Mingus and an unanticipated Zombie Monkey.
The next day was the traditional family party in honour of oneself and Legion2. The event was rather more niece and grand child focused than one really deserves for ones day of honour, but they are all so cute one can't really compete.
Well once again you are all updated on the happenings of the tales and once again I promise to keep to my weekly-ish publishing schedule so keep watching the skies for my next posting...
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Hulk - The Early Weeks
When one began composing this post it was rather naively entitles - Hulk, the Early Days.
Well since then the piecemeal nature at which one was able to add ones brilliant thoughts to the draft had made me believe that I was looking at having to re title it as - Hulk. Year One. While one would surely have enjoyed basking in the kudos this would have brought from such graphical story telling literati as Zombie Monkey and The Real Greg Dean, it has eventuated that my deadline has stretched out to mere weeks.
In any case many are the things that have occurred during the earlydays weeks of the time of Hulk.
One has been head down in reading materials wide and sundry - finishing long bookmark-laden tomes and making visible progress on one's to-be-read stacks, various. In fact all but the nigh insurmountable penultimate Wheel of Tedium volume have fallen beneath the scythe of my reading gaze.
One has had occasion to watch many a late night movie and has begun filling in may of the glaring holes in ones experience of the past few decades cinema. For example one now knows that Tom Hanks gets off the island.
One has even managed to make some small steps of progress in ones gaming projects in a way that may even make Fantomas believe that they could become real when one next attends the Tuesday Knights.
One has had several meetings in passing with Salsa Girl and even shared several meals.
Of course there has been some time spent with young Hulk. Why we've had special daddy-daughter time watching the mighty pies (and another team that looks similar but seems to have lost the mighty bit).
We also tried our hand at bonding over some solo gaming - managing to see off those pesky Persians at Thermopylae and winning the Battle of the Five Armies for the Orcs.
There have been visit from relatives various, a handful of friends, and late night hallucinations of the interesting kind.
As predicted by FridgePower one has been able to indulge in the ancient art of poo smearing - although much of the training I undertook cleaning up after The Tiger has gone to waste as there has been a suspicious lack of any positing (the nice word for baby vomiting) particularly of the furball kind.
In amongst all this Legion2 and the BrotherStealer have seen fit to try and steal my hard-earned spotlight by delivering their second a full six weeks early. One can only be glad that Freeloading Mum and Handy Dad have been away all this time so there would be no unseemly squabbling for the favour that is rightfully mine.
In any case this disjointed report has brought you up to date with the trials and tribulations we have been undergoing for the past fewdays weeks.
It only gets easier from here they tell me.
And then they snigger.
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Well since then the piecemeal nature at which one was able to add ones brilliant thoughts to the draft had made me believe that I was looking at having to re title it as - Hulk. Year One. While one would surely have enjoyed basking in the kudos this would have brought from such graphical story telling literati as Zombie Monkey and The Real Greg Dean, it has eventuated that my deadline has stretched out to mere weeks.
In any case many are the things that have occurred during the early
One has been head down in reading materials wide and sundry - finishing long bookmark-laden tomes and making visible progress on one's to-be-read stacks, various. In fact all but the nigh insurmountable penultimate Wheel of Tedium volume have fallen beneath the scythe of my reading gaze.
One has had occasion to watch many a late night movie and has begun filling in may of the glaring holes in ones experience of the past few decades cinema. For example one now knows that Tom Hanks gets off the island.
One has even managed to make some small steps of progress in ones gaming projects in a way that may even make Fantomas believe that they could become real when one next attends the Tuesday Knights.
One has had several meetings in passing with Salsa Girl and even shared several meals.
Of course there has been some time spent with young Hulk. Why we've had special daddy-daughter time watching the mighty pies (and another team that looks similar but seems to have lost the mighty bit).
 |
| Hulk unable to bear the skill errors. |
There have been visit from relatives various, a handful of friends, and late night hallucinations of the interesting kind.
As predicted by FridgePower one has been able to indulge in the ancient art of poo smearing - although much of the training I undertook cleaning up after The Tiger has gone to waste as there has been a suspicious lack of any positing (the nice word for baby vomiting) particularly of the furball kind.
In amongst all this Legion2 and the BrotherStealer have seen fit to try and steal my hard-earned spotlight by delivering their second a full six weeks early. One can only be glad that Freeloading Mum and Handy Dad have been away all this time so there would be no unseemly squabbling for the favour that is rightfully mine.
In any case this disjointed report has brought you up to date with the trials and tribulations we have been undergoing for the past few
It only gets easier from here they tell me.
And then they snigger.
.
The Lorax
So it was with some little trepidation that one took Salsa Girl to a showing of this motion picture over the Easter Long Long Weekend.
One, of course, expects that the resulting product of any adaption from literature will not be able to match ones previous experience of said work. So with that in mind we watched, we enjoyed, and we came away with a three star rating in mind.
Now, unlike The Bastard, I am not one to launch into a shuddering spasms of fear at the mere hint of a musical number but even I wonder at the obsession with adding musical numbers to nigh all animation.
Still that is not my biggest quibble with the movie, mostly I was disappointed with the addition of a framing story that was non-existent in the original work - understandable to a certain extent - however when said framing story encompasses fully one third of the movie while major parts of the books plot are compressed into "and then it was all over" type voiceovers, I can only shake my head.
The moral compass of this extra story is all over the place - only save the world if it gets you the girl, capitalism and environment destruction is bad because we say it is, look at all the cool gadgets and great lifestyle we have... I better stop this before it becomes a rant of Zombie Monkey proportions.
Also, of the several creatures named in Suess's original creation only the titular character (snigger) is named in the film; the style of many of the characters is changed to a standard animation film human, presumably to fit better with the standard animation film plots that are spun through the framing story.
The lack of Suessian rhyme is a sad exclusion but understandable - although a nod or two to it would have been nice.
Still it was a reasonable two star film and I give it the three because, well, it is The Lorax after all.
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One, of course, expects that the resulting product of any adaption from literature will not be able to match ones previous experience of said work. So with that in mind we watched, we enjoyed, and we came away with a three star rating in mind.
Now, unlike The Bastard, I am not one to launch into a shuddering spasms of fear at the mere hint of a musical number but even I wonder at the obsession with adding musical numbers to nigh all animation.
Still that is not my biggest quibble with the movie, mostly I was disappointed with the addition of a framing story that was non-existent in the original work - understandable to a certain extent - however when said framing story encompasses fully one third of the movie while major parts of the books plot are compressed into "and then it was all over" type voiceovers, I can only shake my head.
The moral compass of this extra story is all over the place - only save the world if it gets you the girl, capitalism and environment destruction is bad because we say it is, look at all the cool gadgets and great lifestyle we have... I better stop this before it becomes a rant of Zombie Monkey proportions.
Also, of the several creatures named in Suess's original creation only the titular character (snigger) is named in the film; the style of many of the characters is changed to a standard animation film human, presumably to fit better with the standard animation film plots that are spun through the framing story.
The lack of Suessian rhyme is a sad exclusion but understandable - although a nod or two to it would have been nice.
Still it was a reasonable two star film and I give it the three because, well, it is The Lorax after all.
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Bachelor night with Illuminated G
Yesterday, after an all morning meeting and the necessary extended lunch, it was not long before it was evening and I was heading off to the last minute Bachelor drinks for Illuminated G.
Of course since he has three children and twenty years in the relationship it could be argued that he said goodbye to his bachelorship a long time ago. However we still deigned to celebrate the occasion.
Also in attendance were Legion2, and Zombie Monkey whom it was good to catch up with again for the first time in ages.
The most disturbing part of the evening , however, was my uncovering of the conspiracy of deception that surrounded me. After a few drinks into the evening a further guest arrived who had also been at The Viking Hatted Wedding. Some short discussion later and the floodgates of memory opened and I realised many of Illuminated G and his friends knew The Viking Hat GM's best man from their uni days.
The obvious conclusion is that I was at the centre of a conspiracy to psychologically adjust me ala The Game (the movie not the thing you just lost) or as in a Philip K Dick (teehee) novel where they had run out of actors and had begun re-using them not realising that my keen perceptive senses would allow me to tie all the threads together and expose their plan before it could be completed.
Or maybe it's just a small world after all...
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Of course since he has three children and twenty years in the relationship it could be argued that he said goodbye to his bachelorship a long time ago. However we still deigned to celebrate the occasion.
Also in attendance were Legion2, and Zombie Monkey whom it was good to catch up with again for the first time in ages.
The most disturbing part of the evening , however, was my uncovering of the conspiracy of deception that surrounded me. After a few drinks into the evening a further guest arrived who had also been at The Viking Hatted Wedding. Some short discussion later and the floodgates of memory opened and I realised many of Illuminated G and his friends knew The Viking Hat GM's best man from their uni days.
The obvious conclusion is that I was at the centre of a conspiracy to psychologically adjust me ala The Game (the movie not the thing you just lost) or as in a Philip K Dick (teehee) novel where they had run out of actors and had begun re-using them not realising that my keen perceptive senses would allow me to tie all the threads together and expose their plan before it could be completed.
Or maybe it's just a small world after all...
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... The Manga Marathon
This Easter has seen another of Alecto's traditional anime watching festivals. This years took place over 11 hours of Good Friday with Swing, Hemy and another also in attendance.
This time we were watching Azumanga Daioh a cute one about the lives of a group of girls during their three years as high-school classmates. Alecto had a bountiful table of nibbles on hand so the only disappointment was the lack of giant fighting robots in the anime itself.
Sticking to the comics theme yesterday I attended a comics discussion get together organised by The Real Greg Dean and attended by myself and Zombie Monkey. We had a good chat and some great food and booze from the venue. We wrapped up just after Doom showed up claiming it was his local cafe. Personally I am concerned that there is some sort of blog appearance stalking going on.
The final piece in the comics puzzle is my finishing reading the novelisation of the computer game of Dredd vs Death of Judge Dredd of the 2000AD comic. I quite enjoyed it as the writing was easy to read and it captured the feel of the comic.
Reading this book did give me the dilemma earlier in the week of deciding which was the geekier reading material for the work lunch room - a comics novelisation or a RPG supplement? I went with the RPG supplement figuring it would look more like a non-fiction text book and protect me from awkward questions.
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This time we were watching Azumanga Daioh a cute one about the lives of a group of girls during their three years as high-school classmates. Alecto had a bountiful table of nibbles on hand so the only disappointment was the lack of giant fighting robots in the anime itself.
Sticking to the comics theme yesterday I attended a comics discussion get together organised by The Real Greg Dean and attended by myself and Zombie Monkey. We had a good chat and some great food and booze from the venue. We wrapped up just after Doom showed up claiming it was his local cafe. Personally I am concerned that there is some sort of blog appearance stalking going on.
The final piece in the comics puzzle is my finishing reading the novelisation of the computer game of Dredd vs Death of Judge Dredd of the 2000AD comic. I quite enjoyed it as the writing was easy to read and it captured the feel of the comic.
Reading this book did give me the dilemma earlier in the week of deciding which was the geekier reading material for the work lunch room - a comics novelisation or a RPG supplement? I went with the RPG supplement figuring it would look more like a non-fiction text book and protect me from awkward questions.
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... The Trials of Vodka Parties and Man Colds
Since Saturday I have been struggling under the debilitating effects of a yet another Man-Cold, this time in the Summer edition.
Something about late nights and taking improper care of oneself allows the opportunistic Man-Cold to take hold I guess.
In any case, despite my hardship, I made my appearance at Zombie Monkey's vodka-themed birthday do on Saturday eve - I must say that Vodka made a much better theme than the Dalek Porn of his previous do a couple of years back, but I digress.
Despite my Man-Cold-Summer-Edition keeping me to one and a half free vodkas I had a delightful time. I was peripherally involved in a religious discussion The Composer and Scary Adam; had a measuring contest about injured knees and fitness regimes with Geisha Girl (inexplicably I lost); had a short gaming conversation with an anonymous minor-level nemesis of The Viking Hat GM; caught up with Hemy's goings on and even uncharacteristically left before the end of both the party and the snacks.
Surprisingly the vodka did nothing for my Man-Cold so I was forced to take it easy all day Sunday. I decided Monday was needed as a precaution as well before dragging myself in to work today for some quiet air-conditioned time in the extreme heat.
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Something about late nights and taking improper care of oneself allows the opportunistic Man-Cold to take hold I guess.
In any case, despite my hardship, I made my appearance at Zombie Monkey's vodka-themed birthday do on Saturday eve - I must say that Vodka made a much better theme than the Dalek Porn of his previous do a couple of years back, but I digress.
Despite my Man-Cold-Summer-Edition keeping me to one and a half free vodkas I had a delightful time. I was peripherally involved in a religious discussion The Composer and Scary Adam; had a measuring contest about injured knees and fitness regimes with Geisha Girl (inexplicably I lost); had a short gaming conversation with an anonymous minor-level nemesis of The Viking Hat GM; caught up with Hemy's goings on and even uncharacteristically left before the end of both the party and the snacks.
Surprisingly the vodka did nothing for my Man-Cold so I was forced to take it easy all day Sunday. I decided Monday was needed as a precaution as well before dragging myself in to work today for some quiet air-conditioned time in the extreme heat.
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