New Years Eve, For Reals This Time

A new year is upon us. Let's make the impossible possible. Follow the advice of Eric Cartman.

It's New Years Eve, Eve!

How shall we celebrate?

I know! With these old New Years countdowns!

Think about how much has changed over these years. Think of all that's remained the same. Think of all that needs to change. Think of all the coulda, woulda, shoulda moments. Don't make these mistakes again this year! Make the changes, even if you think they're wrong. Do it!

Did I Forget to do This Yesterday?

What with all the working, not working, going places, seeing faces, not going places, not seeing faces, & lack of consistent sleep I don't recall. Oh well.

Anyway, I was at this restaurant yesterday. The lamb stuffed jalapeno poppers were really good.

Today I was looking around the Letters of Note site. I also saw this letter posted on Twitter was a letter from Bob Monkhouse wrote to his wife. It was very simple, but very well written. I don't have a way with words like that. I wish I did, but then I'd run into the problem of not having anyone to say them to.

Well, that's not technically true; I could say whatever I want to anyone I want. But then you get all the problems that come from speaking your mind, unfiltered.

The long & the short of it is, is that I am fascinated, baffled, disgusted, frightened of, and yet hopelessly enamored by people.

Maybe one day I'll join them.

Back to the Grind

Christmas is over, new years is coming, but for now it's business as usual. To work and to drudgery.

Here's some Reggie Watts to leaven the mundanity of the day

Home.....?

For now, Charlotte is my home. And after far too much time spent in an airport, I am home. To bed. To sleep. At least until the neighbors start being assholes.

It's Christmas!

So curl up in front of the fire, and enjoy!

Advent Calendar: Day 32

This is it. Christmas Eve. Tomorrow is Christmas. 

So join me in my own tradition of watching the 1951 adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, Scrooge. It is quite arguably the best one ever done (excluding the Muppet one). 

Advent Calendar: Day 31

A Festivus for the rest of us!

Advent Calendar: Day 30

Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, complete and in all of it's 1970's goodness.

Advent Calendar: Day 29

Some winter/Christmas games.

Snowball!

Rocket Santa 2

Wake up the Box 5

Factory Balls: Christmas Edition

Cargo Bridge Christmas Pack

Advent Calendar: Day 28

A Christmas link roundup.

Some stuff from Mental Floss. here here & here

The 12 Awkward Days of Christmas

An article from The Week discussing the injuries from Home Alone.

Den of Geek has their list of the best and worst adaptations of A Christmas Carol. 

And, assuming the world doesn't end, let's all celebrate the winter solstice with some waffles. Duncan MacLeod (of the clan MacLeod) was actually born on the winter solstice. Not really. Well, he is a fictional character. Still, he is immortal & has inside him the blood of kings (yeah!).

I'm a little surprised it took me this long to reference Highlander. Maybe the world really is ending...

Advent Calendar: Day 27

The greatest Christmas song ever. Also the most bizarre duet ever.

Advent Calendar: Day 26

Krampus time!

Though, the Krampus day has already passed, it wouldn't be Christmas without delving into the dark Germanic/Bavarian/Prussian tradition of the horned beast. In short, the Krampus rides along with Santa to punish all the bad little boys and girls. He is, in essence, the anti-Santa. More information can be found at Krampus.com

There are also some nice drawings done of the Krampus here, including this one by Mister Hope.

Here is a great slide show of the Krampus "festivities" that go on in some German towns. Some of them could be a little unsettling. 

Advent Calendar: Day 25

The Vicar of Dibley Christmas special.

Advent Calendar: Day 24

Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean

Advent Calendar: Day 23

Oh, so many Christmas parties.

Here's a list of some songs to play.

This one isn't in on it, but it is one of my personal favorites.

Advent Calendar: Days 21 & 22

Partially because I forgot, but mostly because I didn't want to be in my apartment since my neighbors are asshats, this wasn't done yesterday. So here's a 2fer.

First it's a Christmas episode of Good Eats.

And here's some cookie recipes. Here. Here. And here is a video link for it.

And here is a roaring fire for you to virtually warm up in front of. 

Advent Calendar: Day 20

Charlie Brown Christmas special.

Because of all the Charlie Brown in the world, I'm the Charlie Brown-iest. 

Advent Calendar: Day 19

Are You Being Served Christmas episodes

Advent Calendar: Day 18

Up for work in a few hours, so this is a quick one. A song by Australian comedian/musician Tim Minchin called White Wine in the Sun

Advent Calendar: Day 17

What's Christmas time without a little bit of shopping at a Christmas sale?

Tagline: "Good Stuff Cheap"

Ollie's has everything, from discounted mattresses, to unique chip flavors (like hot dog).

That's right...Condensed cream of crab soup....

Because we couldn't leave the Spanish speaking world go without this "masterpiece"

I am a little disappointed that there wasn't any wadded beef or malk. Maybe next time.

Advent Calendar: Day 16

Some QI Christmas

Advent Calendar: Day 15

Some more Christmas Songs

Advent Calendar: Day 14

A DMX rendition of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Advent Calendar: Day 13

A Garfield Christmas Special

A Garfield Christmas Special from Josh Richard on Vimeo.

Also check out Garfield Minus Garfield.

Advent Calendar: Day 12

Some Sinatra Christmas Songs

Advent Calendar: Day 11

Father Ted Christmas Special

Father Ted (S02E11) A Christmassy Ted by freestreamingmedia

Advent Calendar: Day 10

Jeremy Lyons 12 Days of Christmas

Advent Calendar: Day 9

Advent Calendar: Day 8

A Muppet Family Christmas.

This always makes me think of someone. She's not around anymore. Nothing bad, it's just one of those times that life kinda gets in the way of living, so to speak. Another regret. One of many.

But this isn't the place or time for that - it's Christmas! Let's have some fun & forget about these things, if only for a little while.

Advent Calendar: Day 7

Get it while it's here!

Advent Calendar: Day 6

Some Christmas Numbers from the History Channel.

There's also a lot more stuff on there regarding the history and traditions of Christmas and how they came to be celebrated the way they are today, like here and here.

Advent Calendar: Day 5

Here are 16 terrible Christmas cards over at Funny or Die.

Some others at Smoosh.com (some do overlap, but that's how you can tell they're truly bad).

Here's one you can buy over at theoatmeal.com

And of course, failblog's Sketchy Santas.

Advent Calendar: Day 4

A lesser known, or seldom heard Christmas Song Mix

Advent Calendar: Day 3

Because apparently it hasn't been sucked dry yet, here's some Christmas Gangnam Style mash-ups.

Why? 

Well, I suppose in this day in age, I'm pretty sure this would have happened a lot sooner had Gangnam Style and Christmas occurred a lot closer. Actually, where was the Thanksgiving Gangnam Style? No dancing turkeys? Pilgrims? Native Americans? Cans of cranberry sauce? 

Internet, you let me down. 

Advent Calendar: Day 2

Here's a little Christmas diddy from The Darkness.

2 things:

1. Bells end (or bell end) is UK slang which roughly translates as "penis head"
2. Lead singer Justin Hawkins looks a lot like a guy I went to college with. Like, almost identical. 

Advent Calendar: Day 1

I'm not waiting for December to come around to start an advent calendar. I'm doing it now!

Here's Paul McCartney's Christmas classic, Wonderful Christmastime

And here's a parody of it:

Happy Thanksgiving

Yeah, I know

I don't care that Thanksgiving hasn't come yet. I don't care that people hate this stuff. It will always be one of my favorites. Even if I'm not totally sure all the ingredients are 100% natural.

That's right - fruit cake

Zoo TV

What? This Again?!

It's almost like an everyday thing, this blog(?)....

Um, Yeah

I don't know. So, yeah, here's this.

Chili

Con Carne

I made chili. It's probably going to be better tomorrow. Chili is weird like that. 

THe "con carne"

Everybody in the pool

Raiding the spice cabinet  

Pot of goodness

I Agree

Mini Chicken Pot Pie

And 1 Normal Pot Pie

Followed (well, kinda followed) a recipe, & it all turned out pretty well. Not as great success, but successful enough. 

The filling

The dough

Fill'd

Problem #1: not enough dough...

Problem #2: too much filling

Problem Solver

Covered & off to oven

The leftovers

Only mostly a mess

Success? Success!

Bonus Success!

Cooking

I'm going to try to make some mini chicken pot pies tomorrow, mostly following this recipe, but I might try to incorporate some other ones as well. There was this recipe that looks pretty good. I hadn't thought of using those biscuits; instead I'm using actual pie crust.

I'll be making chili at some point as well. It'll be 3 bean chili. Maybe some meat, maybe not. Last time I made it with meat, you couldn't taste it. And Tim Tebow was traded to the Jets. So this could go either way.

And Thanksgiving is coming up soon. I'd like to make some pretty awesome mashed potatoes. Uncle Phil would love them.

Unless I get called into work. I hate work. But I love making money.

Who's Up For Some Van Halen?

Oh, I Don't Know

like.....


whatever....


and stuff.....

The Jets Are Terrible

From top to bottom. 

And that's that. 

'Nother Weddin'

So many weddings, so little time.

Even though it's a fitted & tailored suit, I will forever have arms longer than any sleeve. 

That's right - blue shoes. It's a thing called style. You either got it, or you don't.

The ceremony.

The party 

The parting gift. 

I also tweeted this while waiting for the ceremony to start. And lo and behold:

Just a reminder here:

Great day, or greatest day? 

Friday Evening Psychedelic Grooving

A'round

A shopping cart full of wine. Hopefully it's stuff that's being restocked and not somebody's cart. Although I know more than a handful of people that would do such a thing.

Blurry Photo by BlurryPhotoApp5000

 Hmm....what?

Fit for a dandy!

Wednesday Evening Classic Rock MIx

Weapon of Choice

Tricycle

Fatboy Slim - "Weapon of choice" from Sterntag Film on Vimeo.

Time to Make the Donuts

Back to work at 5 tomorrow morning. Now, all I need to do is get upstairs dog to shut up, and we'll be gravy. 

Sunday Evening Slow Jams

*Not to be confused with this website.*

Nah, I'm just messing with you! Here's some heavy metal.

Yes......Yes!

I finally did it. I got them.

 So now I can have these.

And, as a bonus, apparently this is still a thing. Good for them.

Burrito-Time Watch 2012

Something that is far more important to me than any election:

When will it be Burrito Time?

Did I get to the store today? Did I have time to get over there? Was I successful in getting tortilla's? What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

Well, to be frank, nope.

I've been at work most of the day, and I'm due to go back there early tomorrow morning. So maybe I'll pick something up tomorrow. For now, I'm tired. I'm tempted to have a beer and call it a day, but I know I'd be asleep halfway through it. Maybe some of this will keep me up a little while longer.

Burrito-Time Fail

I was all set to make burritos tonight. I get home from the store. I got the meat. I got the cheese. I got the salsa. I got everything. Or so I thought. What didn't I get?

Tortillas.

Without tortillas to wrap it up in, I might as well be eating a taco salad.

And I don't want a taco salad.

So, instead, I'm having pizza.

To quote the Sugar Hill Gang

Say, if your girl starts acting up, then you take her friend

Hallowe'en

Go get some candy.

Short

I got Assassin's Creed III.

I'm playing it.

So there.

The Winds of Thor are Blowing...

...Cold

Here, at least. The wind is strong and bitter. Kinda like how some people like their coffee. The hurricane is ripping through the north east like a spoiled child tearing a part a room in a tantrum. In the mountains, west of here and a bit north, there's a blizzard.

But us, here in Charlotte, we're on the outside looking in, counting our blessings. My parents have been without power since 7:30. Cell phone reception is getting worse and worse. New York is mostly under water. It wont be long before looting starts.

Still, tomorrow is another day. And things can be fixed or rebuilt.

Hopefully there's still a Halloween on Wednesday. It should really be moved to the last Saturday in October, but that's another discussion for another day.

Thanksgiving in October?

I'll allow it!

Beers Around the World

Because it's a whole lot easier and cheaper than actually traveling to these places.

Italy

Russia

Turkey

Germany

United Kingdom

Too Tired to Sleep

So I'm going to watch some stuff instead. It'll probably be close to 4:30 when I finally lay down in bed. I probably still wont fall asleep. Maybe I'll start baking something. There's a 24hr Wallmart or two around here somewhere. I could go shopping. I do need ink for my printer.

 I'm also drinking a pretty awesome Oreo milkshake.

-boom- milkshake

I could also try to win a fantasy football game by attempting to improve my roster. But then again, I'd probably do more harm than good.

Anyway, I'm off to be absurd or something to that effect. I leave you with these words from Jack Handy:

Love can sweep you off your feet and carry you along in a way you've never known before. But the ride always ends, and you end up feeling lonely and bitter. Wait. It's not love I'm describing. I'm thinking of a monorail.  

G'night

Tired

Mentally more so than physically tired. Halloween is coming up soon. So check THIS out for some pumpkin carvings. And HERE are some drinks you could make.

And now for rest.

I'm Busier Than Usual

And it's not really doing the things that I want to be doing. But we soldier on...

I did want to write another "band post" talking about the bass player. Mostly to talk about John Entwistle and his bass play on The Real Me (he also did the horns, I believe). Then I thought something about Red Dwarf, including where I went wrong in trying to get people to watch it. Or there might have been some more comedy/stand-up stuff, some more art, some more grumblings bout the NY Jets, and so on.

But for now, I need to get going somewhere, so here's something from youtube.

Around

"Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains, but she could not even get her head though the doorway; `and even if my head would go through,' thought poor Alice, `it would be of very little use without my shoulders.' " 

-Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

(Yes my arms are almost identical to Robin Williams's arms.)  

Life? Don't talk to me about life.

The location of the Arch-Villains Exchange and Security Office. 

I had no idea the Guild of Calamitous Intent was so close to work. That explains a lot.

Y'know What's Funny?

Being bad at your job isn't enough to get you fired, but pointing out that someone is bad at their job is enough to get labeled an insubordinate, criticizing elitist.

No, wait. That's not funny. That's a load of Grade A Bullshit.

You know what is funny? This is