Archive for July, 2010

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Good Actors, Bad Movies


17 Jul

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Posted in Movies | Comments Off

Does anyone else hate it when you see that one of your favorite actors is going to be in a movie you do not want to see? Or if that actor is starring with another actor you really dislike?

Mark Wahlbergh is returning to action comedy. This makes me incredibly excited because I loved the Big Hit. I’ve been waiting for him to return to the genre. But, he’s paired with Will Ferrell. Ferrell’s not funny; he’s annoying.

Also, Paul Rudd and Bruce Greenwood will be in Dinner for Schmucks, but really, Dinner for Schmucks?

What’s a girl to do?

Running the numbers


15 Jul

Posted in Budgeting, Finances, Work | Comments Off

A friend of mine just got a job offer where compensation is base plus commission. Since she is in sales, this is pretty standard. Since she is the primary earner in her family, though, it can be a bit scary.

The company has given her two offers. The first with a low (especially for her) base, but a high commission percentage. The second offer has a much higher base (still not what she had been making) but a significantly lower commission percentage.

I ran the numbers to find the break even point, and I have to say, play the percentages.

A House Full of Books


14 Jul

Posted in Authors & Books, Home Ownership, Reading | Comments Off

Growing up, there were books shelves in almost every room in our house. Nowadays, there are books in every room of my house, too, even if there aren’t shelves to store them on.

We don’t take our books back to the used book store. Perhaps we should, but we don’t. So we have this idea to get a bookshelf for our living room that is the free to good home shelf. This way any time our friends come over, they can leave with a book. Of course, knowing our friends, they’d start bringing books to put on the shelf, too.

My Favorite Books – A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny


13 Jul

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Posted in A Night in the Lonesome October, Authors & Books, Roger Zelazny | Comments Off

I loved the Amber series, especially the Corwin books, but my favorite Zelazny novel is A Night in the Lonesome October. When the story is being told by Jack the Ripper’s dog, Snuff, what’s not to love?

Jack and Snuff are players in a game. All the players begin to congregate into one neighborhood at the start of October. Snuff spends his time meeting other animal companions and trying to figure out who is in the game and who is not. But he doesn’t know what side anyone is on. And come the night of the event, anything can happen.

Bejeweled Blitz


10 Jul

Posted in Games | 1 Comment »

Hello, my name is Erin, and I’m an addict. I’ve been playing Bejeweled since the 90s. For years, I played the game as it was intended to be played, casually.

Then came Bejeweled Blitz. Not only was it Bejeweled in handy 1 minute increments so, but it kept score. I had friends who played. Then my dad and my brother started playing, and I was lost.

Now, I have rules for how often I can spend my coins (I have over 200,000), know the schedule for free boosts, and can lose hours to the game. Casual has left the building.

Thank you, Judge Tauro


09 Jul

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Posted in Discrimination, Gay Marriage | Comments Off

This is what we have a non-elected judiciary for. To say that sometimes, what is popular is not right, that the majority does not have the right to enslave the minority.

The Constitution does not recognize classes of citizens. The federal government doesn’t care if a state allows preteens to marry. Procreation is not a requirement for or of heterosexual marriage.

This is a broad ruling. I fear the Supreme Court does not have the fortitude to uphold it. But today, today Judge Joseph Tauro, a 79 year old, Nixon appointed federal judge, is my hero.

Thank you, Your Honor.

Weather and D&D Encounters: Dark Sun (3)


08 Jul

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Posted in Dungeons & Dragons, Role Playing Games | Comments Off

It’s like Seattle has turned in to Athas. Well, maybe not, Seattle is 95 today, and asphalt is definitely a blight, but we’re supposed cool down soon. Athas, on the other hand is a desert world, where it goes from 120 to below 0 as night falls. And blight is caused by the misuse of arcane magic.

Currently I’m holed up in my room with a fan trying to keep cool, keeping the monster dogs at bay and trying to rest, while our D&D Encounters characters have been trapped in an Ankheg hole, taking an extended rest and leveling up.

D&D 4e: Bloodstone Pass


07 Jul

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Bloodstone Pass was never officially turned in to a 4e module, but apparently the new rules make converting old modules fairly easy. We’ve been playing the Bloodstone Pass game for a few months now, and are only one (maybe two) sessions away from wrapping up the first module.

Last session, two of the player characters died (thank goodness for the rod of resurrection) and our troops were demoralized by having to kill their own (un)dead grandmothers. We’ve killed the spy, the sorcerer, and the high priest. We’ve bloodied the general. Will we survive our battle with the Grandfather of Assassins?

Another Money Rant


06 Jul

Posted in Finances | Comments Off

According to Miss Manners, it is vulgar to discuss money. I’ve said it before- this attitude is what gets us into financial messes (personal and nationwide). You can’t make a good decision in a vacuum. But if no one discusses finances because it is vulgar or rude, then no one can make an informed decision.

I do not go around telling everyone how much I make or telling people how to manager their money, but if you want to have a conversation about it, I’m game. We have to talk about money if we’re going to make smart money decisions.

The Last Airbender (movie)


05 Jul

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Posted in Movies | Comments Off

I liked The Last Airbender. Yes, there were problems, but there are going to be problems when fitting eight hours of material into under two hours. I would have been happier if they had made the movie fifteen minutes longer, or even cut a few minutes out from the final battle, in order to give a little more time to the friendship that develops between Ang, Katara, and Sokka, but it still worked.

The narration detracted from the movie, especially since they were showing us the same things that were being said.

However, Sokka and Uncle Ihro were absolute highlights.

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