Hellboy II: The Golden Army

broderic on July 14, 2008

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

While TheSeed was sleeping and Marge was fighting to keep awake, I was struggling to block the headache induced by new car fumes. We were all trying to watch Hellboy II.

This one had a lot more action. It was quicker paced and it had more laughs. I was missing that one dude from the first movie, but he was written out because he stood out like a sore thumb. Hellboy is still a great character and Ron Perlman is the perfect actor for that role. Abe Sapien gets no love from the writers, but watching it you would’ve guessed the ending anyway since it will always be that way for fate-intwined twins. Johann Krauss was hilarious. He is a cartoon character what with the voice of Ludwig von Drake!

I don’t know if this was del Tormo’s Hellboy or Mignola’s. I can’t imagine Mignola writing something featuring that menagerie of creatures. They were all too vivid. I haven’t read the Hellboy comics too much, but they don’t seem to dabble in ancient mythological history of elves, but of Lovecraftian design. The monsters were more del Tormo.

3 of 5 stars.

Cycling With No Safety Net

broderic on July 13, 2008

You know I bought a couple of new rides this year. I had to pick up the old one at my mom’s. Since my main bike is illin’ with a broken spoke, I had to go on a ride with the single speed PaddyWagon. One gear. And I think there were some slight hills from my home to my mom’s.

I thought about it yesterday and was slightly apprehensive. Can I climb the hills without my granny/low gear? The route is releatively flat, but the only one that would’ve been scary was the hill on Walnut. I think it’s about 0.2 miles but probably a good 6-8% grade.

So, I get on the road with the PaddyWagon, and it takes a while to warm up. It’s a slight uphill on Pleasant and I’m panting a little bit. Hmmm. Nothing bad for a bit. Once I get on Gwynnbrook, it’s a steady climb, but I keep a nice tempo and speed of about 13 mph. I get to the hill on Walnut, and grind up it, out of the saddle, and feeling it, but I make it through. Not bad without any lower gearing.

Maybe, I should ride my normal ride without the low gear safety net? I’ll see…

Quote of the Day [7.13.08]

broderic on July 13, 2008

“It must be very strange to be President Bush. A man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius, he can’t get anyone to notice. He is like a great painter or musician who is ahead of his time, and who unveils one masterpiece after another to a reception that, when not bored, is hostile.”

John Hinderaker, PowerLine Blog, July 28, 2005

Link of the Day [7.13.08]

broderic on July 13, 2008

When I was a wee lass living on Cedarhurst Drive, I had a birthday party in which I received a model kit of the USS New Jersey. It was an easy thing to assemble, and I loved to look at it and play with it with my army men.

One day my older brother got the HMS Hood as a model kit. I have no idea why. So we tried to put it together, but failed miserably. We didn’t understand the concept of glue. The hull never stayed together properly as we tried to assemble it. Then we hit on a brilliant plan. (I would like to say he did, but I have to include myself as a source of blame in this dunce affair.) We decided to melt the plastic together. For this, we used matches.

“Hold the hull together,” he said, “while I hold the match underneath it and melt the two sides.” Brilliant last words.

As you can tell, it turned into a disaster. The flame burned through the plastic putting a big hole in the hull. My brother became so mad at the outcome that he snatched the model from my hands and snapped it in two.

There went our model ship building craze as we knew that we didn’t have the patience to build one.

Yet, thirty years later, I feel like building model ships. Here’s a link to one that would be cool. I guess I have to learn what modeling is all about.

http://www.hlj.com/product/FUJ42145

Historical footnote: the HMS Hood was sunk in naval combat with the German battleship, Bismark, on May 24, 1941.

Big in Japan

broderic on July 12, 2008

IPhone looks to be a winner in Japan. All those naysayers seemed to be wrong as there are lines as long as there are here in the states.

(Read before DaringFireball linked it)

That New Car Smell

broderic on July 12, 2008

It’s killing me. Way overpowering.

Things I’ve learned buying a new car.

Purchasing options a la carte makes it fun. It can also be expensive.

Taxes suck and makes your car more pricier than you imagined it to be. They also reduce the number of options you can choose as you want to keep the car on budget and affordable.

Owning a car has many hidden costs. The tires. The maintenance. Not to mention gas and insurance. Owning two cars, the costs aren’t so hidden. Twice the gas. Twice the insurance. Half as fun to own.

Watch for extensive hard sell at the close for extended warranty. Or life time tires. Or extra road side assistance. You feel that your pressing your luck when ignoring those options. Especially, that damn lifetime of tires!

Watching really does make the pot not boil. I can’t believe how slow the last few weeks went. Really slow. Down payment on May 31. The days crawled by. On board a ship on June 18. The days inch forward. In the States on June 28. In the dealership on July 4. In my hands on the 11th. Those days in between were interminably long.

Am I going to be Senor Detailer again?

Why won’t that new car smell go away!?

Quote of the Day [7.12.08]

broderic on July 12, 2008

Chickity china the chinese chicken
You have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin
Watchin x-files with no lights on, were dans la maison
I hope the smoking mans in this one

“One Week,” Bare Naked Ladies