The True Terror of the Season

     Serious subject time: we have to talk about a subject that casts a pall over us all.....

PET COSTUMES

I usually glance over them with a faintly amused eye, but this year, they came onto my radar and aroused both ire and pity because of this:

Slave Leia Cat Costume

My Niece in law(is that a thing?) had the best comment on this
"doesn't it need like three more bras?"

He'll freeze before he reaches the first marker

Then I'll see you in hell!

Judge him not by his size

Odie Wan Kenodie

Drop the Chalupas

Yo Quiero Taco Bell
also...is dressing a chihuahua like this racially insensitive?

That Armors too strong for blasters!

bet he'll get tangled in his leash though...,

And oh so many others


What there are not are bird costumes. I have spoken at length with Tango about this and he has confided in me. The reason there are no bird costumes is because they would all have to come with several boxes of band-aids.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Update: What Tango actually said was "you step up" for which a closer translation would be "there are not enough band-aids in the world"

Mysterious Symbols

     Sam bought a bed. She had been sleeping on a camp bed, upgraded to a sofa bed. the change was needed, and she is getting better rest, but I was studying the symbols on the box, and I am pretty damn sure we moved it wrong

so the first one seems pretty self-explanatory: LIFT- we did that

but it appears it was to be lifted with telekinesis, and we did not do that. or possibly the force- remember- size matters not

while lifting it, it appears one should use an umbrella to protect oneself and the box from goblets full of lightning

now I am familiar with a goblet of fire, but goblets full of lightning...? I may have that one wrong.

Echoes from Another Being

      Spoiler Alert- I have a parrot. That is really no secret, if you have been paying the slightest attention to this blog.

     My constant amazement, and I am sure the amazement of any other Parronts out there is how my words are returned to me and in what form.

     I recently posted a list of everything I could think of that Tango says, and that is just the words- He also imitates the sound of water dripping to let me know he wants anything from a shower to a fresh bowl of water. He also imitates the sound of the Velcro on my cell phone case for dark and secret purposes of his own.

     Last night he hit me with a new echo, and I had to share. So to give a little history, I taught him early on that if he is on my shoulder and I am going to bend over or move suddenly, that "hang on" means to make sure he is in a secure spot and watch for changes. Needless to say, he does so, otherwise I could not be said to have "taught" this. I mentioned in my prior post that "come on" from him means he wants me to pick him up and Uber him around the house on my shoulder.

     Last night at the outset of one of these trips he ran over, leaped onto my arm and said "Hang on" as distinctly as you please.

    Side Note: my roommate heard him laugh for the first time Sunday. Tango has a sharp, infectious laugh- sort of a "Henh!..... henh!.... henh!" and he can pretty much always get me laughing, which gets him laughing harder. Sam heard this..."Is that him laughing?" Yep. "that's hysterical!"

     And get this- it is real laughter- not just him imitating what is going on- he has figured out that this is how humans express glee (not Glee), and when he finds something funny, he expresses it the same way.

     Tango- each day is a new adventure and a new experience. A new chance to tell him "No, you cannot eat the book"

Divorcery

    Divorcery or Annivorcery. According to the urban dictionary they both mean the same thing, the anniversay of a divorce- and one year ago today, my divorce was declared final by the county it was filed in. I spent it picking up GFL book 5 at the post office, buying PC parts, and a thrift store trip, followed by laundry(not Landry- that would be weird), all with my ex, now roommate. Mostly, we got along. Some might think me weird and cynical for thinking of the day as a celebration. Others might understand the celebration and be flabbergasted at the fact that I am in a living arrangement with my ex

      We keep friendly for the birds

     Oh, and I read some Louis L'amour stories today, too

Top Three Answers...

     ....To how my Roommates bird, Aldo ended up on Optimus Primes Trailer

3: She Just "Swooped" in there

2: Let her Light our Darkest Hour, until Aldo are One

1: Because it was her Choice, and Freedom is the Right of Aldo Sentient Beings

She chose Optimus to protect her from the terrible, horrible no good huge box. Smart birdie

Evolution

     This is the not-even-rumored ultra-rare EXCLUSIVE Drift Evolutions Pack. It is so exclusive that it's not even a Toys'R'us exclusive...only a Toys'R'Me exclusive

Kidding- there is no such pack. This is Generations Drift from 2010 and Age of Extinction Drift from 2014. I missed Drift first time around, bought Blurr instead from the same mold. then I read the IDW Drift comic and started hunting for him on Ebay. He's been called a Mary Sue Character, but I do not find him so. He is however, an interesting moral case- kind of a zealot for whichever side will accept him.

Drift on TFWiki

Behold, the Eternal Glory...

     There may be those out there saying..."Finally he will shut up about his lost G1 transfomers..." and I will, about one of them. Last Thursday, at Toys 'R'Us, I found him, and he came home with me.

     I had initial misgivings about this toy-pros and cons both, which I list here. These were based on the initial images from toyfair 2014

Pro: 

1. Leader Class(big)
2. it's Jetfire
3. Cartoon accurate face with battle-mask add-on

Con:

1. Leader Class-(can be gimmicked up instead of being a good transformation)
2. False Chest
3. Vac-metalized weapons(possibly as a substitute for things like engineering and quality)

     But I bought him. and I'm happy with him- the false chest is not so bad, gives him a G1 cartoon robot mode, while his alt-mode looks more like th Valkyrie fighter or the F14 Tomcat that inspired it- kind of the best of both worlds- 

     His transformation is not as complex as it could be, but I'm happy with it. I was worried it was going to be a flip over, robot is there sort of thing, and there is a lot more to it than that

     So here he is- part scientist, part, warrior, part mercenary doom-bringer(Bay-verse version)

He towers over Ultra class Silverbolt

while not being much larger in plane-form

Jhiaxus

     When I picked him off the peg, my first thought was "my god you're orange" and my second thought was "did I say that aloud?"

     He's a sort of don't-call-me-mad-for-having-the-courage-to-dare-all-for-science character, free of faction, and indeed anything resembling conscience. As mentor to Shockwave...well, you get the picture

A re-use and re-tool of the armada starscream mold, here he is

     My pictures don't do justice to how very orange he is. Like protect you hunting or in traffic orange. No one would ever get shot hunting wearing a vest made of Jhiaxus.

     Of course the deer would be saying..."my god that's orange"

Nightbeat

     First: lets get out of the way he made this NSFW list:

     Another in a series of toys I never had the earlier versions of, the TF wiki says this about him: 

Nightbeat, a self-declared detective, loves mystery, suspense, and conspiracy. When Nightbeat is on the trail for clues, nothing else matters. This monomania has famously gotten him into trouble over his head more times than he can count, yet in the face of adversity, he remains cool, confident, and even irreverent. He has insulted creatures many times his size and committed huge faux-pas to uncover the truth. It is not so much that Nightbeat is brave, but more that, when the thrill of the hunt has him, he will not be denied.

There is Pro and Con here. I got the impression the original intent was to use the reveal the shield Jazz mold for this, but instead the 30th anniversary deluxe Bumblebee was used. The Jazz figure is in my opinion, a superior one. The Bumblebee kind of cheats and uses a false chest instead of flipping part of the hood over. On the Pro side, the color, the remolded head and the slightly harder plastic really benefit the figure and make it hold together better

     Overall, happy with the purchase

A Touch of Artwork

     I put this together this weekend as a way to illustrate my feelings going into the weekend. I feel a bit better coming out because I played a lot and goofed off more. Also, some new finds which will be in upcoming posts. Stay tuned, faithful readers

Tool Man

     Interesting experience today- I went down to pick up my mail from my PO Box and was getting into my car when I heard: "Excuse me sir- can I ask you a question?" from a man approaching from down the street

     We all know what to expect- anything from a spare-change request on up to an offer to get right with The Lord (and I am satisfied with that particular relationship). I am however, constitutionally inclined to listen to such requests, even if I intend to say no, no thank you, or no spare change

     I got asked for tools: "do you carry tools? I need a wrench or something to get this bolt undone" and he pointed to a UHaul trailer across the street and down the block. Several possible responses flicked rapid fire across my mind, but I do carry tools in my car. I wasn't a Boy Scout but I made it as far as Webelos.

I pulled my car across the street, produced a ratchet set(not a Ratchet Set) and let them break the bolt loose, to unload kids stuff from within the trailer

     What was interesting was the reactions I got- apparently they were not actually expecting to get any help. They kept thanking me, and one man asked me if I was a vet- the implication being I suppose that only a serviceman would help out. Another man, well dressed, and not toting stuff-I assume he hired the other two- said in New York no one would have even looked at them, much less helped. He praised Colorado goodness and neighborly spirit

     I just figured if you have tools, help out- I have been helped out when I didn't have a tool on me. It's just what you do.

Estante Nuevo

     From this


comes this:

Tango helped with the top two shelves, and then lost all patience

75% Retirement

     Friday evening I planned to take a drive and ended up fighting a flat tire off and putting on a donut spare instead. Back in 2009 I bought 4 new tires for my Honda, not the used tires I had run other cars off of

     Real new tires, like an adult

     But time passed- and the tread, well it just got thinner. In 2012, I had a blowout on the highway and had to do a warranty replacement one of the rear tires, as well as replacing a lug bolt that got broken due to being overtightened by the last place that rotated my tires. Flash foward over many miles of road to oct 2014, when I am staring at a flat on the front, and pricking my fingers on steel belts sticking out of the tire as I try to remove it

     I let the tires get bad- it's safe to say that I know my car is not really composed of Self-Regenerating Molecular Armor so parts are gonna wear out in 5 years. And the plan was always to get tires before winter. Just didn't wanna do it this weekend

     It's been an odd week; full of ups and downs, and things that could have been terrible that turned out merely bad, and survivable. On sept 24th, I got a call from my bank asking me about some charges with my debit card that were not mine- they hit me for a substantial amount,(> $400) rent was in doubt for a bit, but the bank fixed things up in short order. So rent got paid, and I thought: "Tires next payday!"

     My Civic thought "No, lets do this friday night, so you can spend a chunk of Saturday morning finding a tire shop that will give you a straight answer on the phone" I was  not going to travel tire shop to tire shop on a temporary spare.

     So Saturday morning was a trip to Discount Tires, for three new pieces of rubber. I'm happy and upseet about the purchase. As anyone who ever bought them will tell you, tires cost $$$. even used ones are pricey. But my little Honda rides like a dream now, ,and handles beautifully. I'm looking forward to going back for tire #4

Retirement ain't so bad

 

interesting fun fact: if you put on only partial new tires, they will put them on the back, even on a front wheel drive car. this seems couterintuitive, but apparently it's all about hydroplaning. I know this to be true, beacuse they had a diagram in the shop where what appeared to be a ghost with thyroid issues illustrated the point. Also according to the diagram, new tires are supposed to be blue, old ones are gray. I may have been ripped off, because my new ones are black

Putting Bones to Rest

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

If you are a bones fan and have not watched the first episode of season 10

TURN BACK NOW!

I make no more warnings or apologies-proceed at your own peril

     I have been a faithful watcher of Bones up to now- the following is my farewell letter to the show, and why I can't see it any more

     It's not the gore, it's not the graphic depictions of human remains. I have not grown a late-life queasy gut. It is that they threw away a character they had been developing over season after season for what seems to me to be a cheap moment of Pathos

Let me pause for a second to add that this is my perception, and mine alone...but I am the one writing this, so it's my opinion we'll be hearing

     Dr Lance Coulson...um Sweets- why the hell did I call him Coulson? We'll cover that. Sweets Dies in the first episode of season 10,, and I was...unmoved. I loved Sweets's character development, over the course of his time on the show. So why was I unmoved? Because they threw him away. They set up a situation where he had vital evidence he was bringing back, and someone ambushed him. Reasonable. did they need to kill him off? No, not really. I'm calling shenanigans and bad storytelling, and this is why. Shortly before they killed him off, they revealed that he was going to be a father.

     They played the daddy card, which when played in a hand with the widowed mommy card jerks the heartstrings of most of the audience members. If they have an ounce of human feeling left. Or unless they can see through the storytelling to see the cheap trick behind it

     Now the story behind the actors departure is that he is moving on to other projects- fine and dandy (or fine, but maybe not dandy) I can respect that, and an actor moving on to the next phase of his career

     Here is my problem, in a nutshell- they did it before, with Vincent Nigel-Murray. It's like a group of writers were sitting around saying "What do we do? Kill someone? get someone pregnant? Hey, what if we..."

     Here is my problem, in another nutshell

     Seen it before, and done better- Dr Lance Coulson...ok, Agent Phil Coulson- the difference being that Coulsons death in "the Avengers" serves a purpose and unites a fragmented team. Sweets Death serves no such narrative purpose, and as such, seems a desperate ploy. 

     They could have just made Sweets last words "sorry boss, the guy rabbited" and had done with it.

     Also, on the subject, Fury arriving to hear Coulsons last words before the medical team arrives makes sense, since Fury found him...I'm still not sure why Booth and Brennan arrived before the damn ambulance for Sweets

     Sloppy

     Bye, Bones- I will find another show to fill that time we spent together. I'm a little sad, but I'm not going to give in to pity-watching you