Cool Hybrid

For some time I have been thinking that my next car will be a hybrid.  I like the efficiency and feel that it is a good thing to support and buy.  Now they are starting to do sports cars.  I would love to test drive one and see how it handles. 

DAOC

Well, I finally took the plunge and did it.  I joined Cadre, which is one of the main rvr guilds on Nimue.  For the first time in a long time, I had fun.  I died, but that is the life of Vexilli Dirteater ;)

In about 2 and half hours, I got about 6400 realm points, which is not bad.  We took a keep from Albion and taught them the value of fighting for it. 

What I think is so funny is that I joined and there were a ton of folks that I already know over there.  Chynna; Yerlo; Grimmwolf; Ceig and others have made there home there.  Seems like a ton of the old guard of Nimue is living there now at least the ones that still play.

Interesting Tidbits

Well here are my collected interesting tidbits from last week...

1. I was the youngest person trying to help people register by at least 2 decades on Saturday.  We did get some folks to register when I was there.  It was interesting because they all shared why they were registering. 

2. Strazinski (sp?  Babylon 5 creator) is thinking of doing a new Star Trek series, but only if he has sole creative control.  AMEN.  Anything that jetisons Berman and his crew is good in my book.  Speaking of that Berman should not be involved in a new Star Trek movie.  Hasn't that hack done enough to kill the series?  I am not a huge Star Trek fan, but there can be good science fiction there if done right.  We saw that in both Next Gen and DS9, but of late it has been terrible. 

3. I like the idea of the new Batman.  I think Christian Bales is a good fit and I think it will make for a good movie.

4. Terry Gilliam's new film "The Brothers Grimm", should be interesting with both Matt Damon and Heath Ledger playing the lead roles.   I like Gilliam and it should be an interesting take on the writers I hope.

5. House of Representatives passed the Marriage Protection Act, which strips Federal Courts of the right to question the Defense of Marriage Act and prohibits the right to appeal this law in any federal court.   I dont understand how this is more important than anything else that needs to be done.  We still dont have a budget; the Law of the Sea has not been renewed and that is a CRITICAL treaty which every expert says must be done; we still havent funded any more money for the troops we have abandoned in Iraq. 

Those are some random tidbits for the day...

Voting...

Well, I have decided to volunteer time on both election day as an officer of election and also to help register folks to vote.  I strongly believe that the greatest crime and negligence in America today is that fact that people dont get out and vote. 

I know there are a ton of excuses why not, but none are better than the reason that you should.  That reason is: Because you can.    In a world where most people dont get to vote, it is a crime to throw away all the blood, sweat and tears that got us the ability to vote. 

Out of a whole year, we spend less than one day voting if you include looking at the issues and being at least marginally informed.  If you dont want to vote for, vote against.  You will never find the perfect candidate, they dont exist. 

Anything other excuse is a cop out in my opinion.   I know this is harsh, but it doesnt take that long.  I used to be more understanding, but when less than 30% of the electorate votes then it is time to change my opinion.  Just a fact, there are over 500,000 inactive voters on Virginia's election rolls as of July of this year.  That number can change an election. 

Below are some voter registration links

Fairfax County, Virginia

League of Women Voters

Choose or Lose

Virginia Board of Elections

Underdark

Well,  we wrapped up the high level campaign and will be starting the Underdark one soon.  I am really looking forward to this as I think it will be fun.  The characters will be different and I hope to do the dming differently than I have ever done.  I really want the players to step up and drive the adventure by only giving them end results that I want I hope they will do it. 
 
Here is hoping...

Politics of Fear...

It is nothing new, but it really ticks me off to see it be used.

I hate the fact that the Republican Party has sunk so low that they only dwell in the politics of fear. They put out warnings and say they may have to call off elections in November because of terrorism. We MUST never ever call off or postpone elections. Then they win. We have had elections through 2 world wars and a civil war. What infuriates me more is that when pressed for supporting details, they dont have any. They only have this shadowy something. Everytime they do something it is because of the "War on Terror". They have no more idea on what is going on than I do.

They use fear like a scalpel to cut and divide people. I am not a conspiracy person, but I am a student of history and too often I have seen it over and over again. Dont get me wrong, the Democrats do it too, but the Republicans of late have taken it to a high art.

I say no more living in fear. I say that we get rid of fear mongers. They have become the boy who cried wolf.

Politics...

Okay this was really funny. Fair warning...it is political.

Not a song, but another good one.

Sting/Annie Lennox

OMG...What a fantastic show. Annie Lennox sounded wonderful. Sting was great. The stage for both performers was incredible. It was an incredible evening. Chris and I had a wonderful time. The two of them performed "Together" as their one joint song (kind of wish they had done more duos).

Also if you are out in Manassas, you must eat at Okra's. Really fabulous food. Well worth it. They have done a really nice job of updating Old Town Manassas.

Weekend

Well, the weekend is almost over with. It was decent in summation. Here is a day by day.

Saturday = played COH and DAOC some. Couldnt really get into either. Very frustrated and lonely in DAOC cause most of the folks I know have left or gone to other guilds. I hate animists. I hate animists. Went food shopping with Chris. Did up steamed crabs for lunch and chicken fajitas for dinner. All in all was a good food day. Did a bunch of prep work for Spyke's forth shindig.

Sunday = Woke up not feeling great and that continued all day long. In between the rain and such, we got over to Spyke's place. He had really gone all out. Loved the Tiki stuff. Everyone else arrived. Kidder did some nice drinks. You know that doesnt go far enough...Kidder made some fan-bleeping-tastic drinks. Some people made pronouncements that caused a stir. If people want something so bad, they need to bring it or mention that they specifically want it. That is just me, but then it seems like the two of them get along like water and oil. It was great to chat with Sam, she is a really great person. Had a chance to chat with Gary too as I drove him over and he is a good guy too. Met Dorf and he seemed like a nice enough guy, we didnt chat much(to be fair, he was dropped in the middle of a bunch of people that know each other fairly well). All in all, it was a good day, but I wound up going home early cause I felt like death warmed over several times.

Monday = Slept most of the day still feeling blecky. Had the game and that is about it. Anthony dug up this epic monster that was just brutal and we still havent beaten it. Hopefully next week.

Tuesday = Woke up to roll into work so they can restock the vending machines for CS. Hopefully the guy will be quick about it. After that I will hit Borders to return a video and probably go to Hole In the Wall. No clue what else is on the plate for today.

Wed = Movie Day

Wow! A double header for movies yesterday.

In the morning, I saw Spiderman2 with the company and I have to say it ROCKED! It was so bang on that I still cant stop gushing over it. From the Alex Ross intro paintings to the credits at the end, that has to be one if not the best comic movie ever made. They had screen shots that emulated old covers. They showed off some more of Spidey's other villains in their pre-villain stage. There were some extremely cool cameos. You must see this movie! You must see this movie! SIDE NOTE: Something that I think is extremely cool about the company I work for is that they do these movie outings. Something I think that I would have always wanted to do if I had the money.

Later that evening, I decided to see Troy on the spur of the moment. I liked it as well, but for different reasons. I thought Brad Pitt made a great Achilles. I like the way that they handled that legendary character. He was the epitome of the perfect warrior and they made that evident without beating it to death. I do think they should have made the gods more of a force, but then you run the risk of being Clash of the Titans. It is an epic scale movie and I am glad I saw it on the big screen.

It was a good day...