Sunday – 06 June 2021 Kids can delightful, laughter-inducing angels of joy.
They can also be emissaries from the deepest pits of Hell.
And sometimes they can be both, within a matter of minutes. Seriously. The change can be as fickle and swift as the direction from which the wind blows.
Something that people – usually those who’ve had a kid or two before you – neglect to tell you is about the vigor with which kids sometimes glom onto new things, like toys, games, TV shows, or music.
Our ladies are BIG FANS of the L.O.L Surprise Dolls line of toys, for example.
And, NO, I’m not giving them flak for that, given that I have an ever-growing collection of dollsaction figures “photography subjects.” I’m self-aware enough to realize how hypocritical that would be.
Likewise, they have become big supporters of our Nintendo Switch, especially when they ask me to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
And when I say “ask me to play,” I actually mean “get me to play so that they can tell me what to do/where to go in the game.”
I won’t even go into how they’ve binged TV shows that catch their interest, but I will say that I had NO IDEA how many “magical girl,” Sailor Moon-esque series there were and I’m sure that we’ve only barely scratched the surface there.
And, music…? Same brand, different flavor.
I should have known that something was up when I started listening to Jungle’s Busy Earnin’ and they effectively put it on solid repeat on our smart speaker.
But I didn’t.
Perhaps I should have gotten a clue when they did the same thing with Just Loud’s Soul Train.
Nope.
Ghostbusters (I’m Not Afraid), by Fallout Boy? Still nope.
Sucker, by the Jonas Brothers? I might have started to get an inkling of an idea. Maybe.
What can I say, I’m a slow learner sometimes.
The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights?
Okay, by this time, I finally managed to find two brain cells to rub together and come up with “a clue.”
Their latest infatuation has been Dua Lipa. Mostly Levitating…
…but they have branched out a bit and will just tell the smart speaker to shuffle her songs. And it’s not just playing her songs, but randomly breaking out into song, like they’re on Fame or in Enchanted. Repeatedly.
At this point, I might as well just save some money and quit my Spotify and Amazon Music subscriptions because I have in-home, stereophonic singing. On repeat. Sometimes with the added benefit of dancing.
Saturday – 23 January 2021
I spent a bit of last evening chatting with my brother-in-law, John, and my nieces. We hadn’t chatted in many months, possibly not since before the pandemic hit.
It was fun to be able to see/hear of my Niece 1’s advances into geeky nerd-dom, which I fully support. During one part of our chat, she asked about the action figures visible on shelves on the wall behind me. There was a lot of “Wow…,” as I showed her those and explained to her that there were even more in the bookcase below the shelves. At one point, she noted that Black Widow was her favorite figure; I went to pull out two figures (classic comic and Endgame versions) and with a total pre-teen deadpan, she said, “Uncle Rob… don’t flex on me.” Which cracked me up.
Niece 2 perked up at this point, asking me if I had THIS figure and THAT figure. I showed her the ones she asked for. She was happy.
The Niece 3 was delighted just to show me her Baby Yoda and to inform me that it was “Upside-down Day,” as she rotated the iPad they were on so that she would appear upside-down. I also got to explain to her where Venom came from and how he was “related” to Spider-Man.
Niece 1 may have gotten a bit of flexing revenge as we were closing out our conversation and I was talking with John. She asked if I played “Breath of the Wild” and I told her that I didn’t have a Switch. She just walked away with a grin. I’ll give her that one. This time.
It was nice to have an opportunity to see and chat with them, as they are far away and schedule alignment doesn’t always work out.
Tuesday – 17 October 2020 Just so you know, the irony is not lost on me.
That moment when you realize that the thing you joked about and maybe even mocked a bit becomes something you own.
But, I’m getting ahead of myself…
Back in the 90s, my friend, Christine, was a pretty big fan of Saban’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. As any good friend would, I gave her a fair bit of good-natured grief about it, over the years. But, I also got it: MMPR was one of her warm, fuzzy, happy places, much like some comics were – and still are – for me.
So, you can imagine how stupidly and ironically funny it is to me that I would be able to take this picture. At home. Thirty-odd years later.
Yep, that’s right… I have added all five of the Quick-Change Color Kids to my tiny plastic friends.
It started with the Pink Ranger, as a figure to use with Gwenpool and Ghost-Spider for my Wednesday #CapesAndCoffee posts. (Because “On Wednesdays, we wear pink.” Duh.) Then, I wound up getting the Blue Ranger, because I have a horrible song-related pun in my head that’s eventually going to work its way out. Next up, the Yellow Ranger. She was fiendishly hard to find when released – and I also still had no interest in getting her when originally released – but word got out that a local clearance center wound up with a dozen or so, and I thought, “Why not,” and picked up two. That turned out to be a fortuitous move, as a friend who collects figures had a Yellow Ranger with a bad paint job. I offered up my extra Ranger… for which he traded me the Black Ranger.
Damn. Now I had four-fifths of the team, I couldn’t let that go. So I wound up ordering the Red Ranger last week.
Yeah, I know.
Fast forward to this past Saturday: I’m up early with Evie and, after a trip outside to let her use the loo and run around a bit, we were hanging out on the sofa. I was surfing channels and wound up hitting Shout Factory TV. And there it was: Super Sentai Zyuranger – the show from which Saban’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was… derived, if not born. (If you’re not familiar with the “how” and “why,” check out the MMPR episode of The Toys That Made Us.) And I watched about half of an episode. It was the introduction of the Green Ranger. In SSZ, the Green Ranger turns out to be the brother of the Red Ranger, as opposed to a relatively random kid chosen to foil the Rangers’ efforts.
So, here we are. I will also freely admit that I’m debating whether or not to add the Green Ranger to the Color Guard, at this point.
But, as I said above: The irony is not lost on me.
Monday – 26 October 2020 I guess they’ve really been more “ellipses” than “circles,” but let’s not get too pedantic here. Regardless, as of 7:00 AM EDT this morning, I have completed fifty of them. “Them” being orbits of the sun.
The best part: It doesn’t feel like it’s been fifty years.
Playgrounds say “youthful,” right?!
In the last fifty years (that still sounds really weird…), I’ve been able to do a lot of amazing things. I look forward to discovering and doing a lot more.
I need to bring up kids, for a minute. (Don’t worry, this stays with the “circle theme.”) Becoming a parent has been a highly educational experience. And I don’t mean helping them with schoolwork while they are distance learning, either. I mean in terms of seeing things “for the first time,” again. (See? brought it back right there.) The most recent example of this came over the weekend:
I’ve had an old game, X-Men Legends, on my mind, since referencing it in a “Capes and Coffee” post a couple of weeks ago. So, I unearthed my Xbox – my Gen1 Xbox – Friday night. After a little searching, I found my copy of Legends… along with the 2001 Spider-Man game, X-Men: Next Dimension, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance.
I fired up X-Men: Next Dimension first, because… X-Men fighting game! That was a slog. Not just the play, but also the graphics – they were far from “high definition.” That didn’t stop me for playing for an hour or more before going to bed.
Saturday, I played a little bit of Legends.
And that’s when Vanessa came out to see what I was doing, eyes wide as if to ask “What is THIS videogame goodness that I have not seen or played before…?!” She asked if she could play and I let her. She was over the moon. While I had a nostalgic fondness for the game, she was discovering it for the first time. (I make a point of not typically telling the ladies “how” to play games, so they have to learn on their own and also have the experience of playing without me just walking them through games.) Vanessa did ask me to help her get past Mystique at one point; I obliged.
Sunday afternoon saw both ladies playing – handing off the controller at first and later playing co-op, after they had unlocked another character. Both of them discovering new things.
And having fun.
And I’ve had fun “replaying” the game, albeit vicariously.
These two young ladies keep me – and Sara – on our toes. And I don’t really think that we’d want it any other way.
Continuing the Sara and Team DiVa train of thought – and returning to the birthday mainline – they made sure that I had a good birthday. They let me sleep in (a bit) this morning. Evie came in and gave me her happy birthday wishes. Sara went to off to work, leaving me at home with Team DiVa and Evie. Later in the day, I went gallivanting around town; I found nothing that I couldn’t absolutely live without, however. Back at home, we had dinner from Macaroni Grill (“Hello, Chicken Marsala!”) and an ice cream cake. And, yes, there were presents:
A new sketchbook,
A gift certificate to my local comic shop,
The new Madden game,
The new Rogue and Pyro Marvel Legends set, and
a candy dispenser that Team DiVa made without our knowledge or assistance!
Yeah, the ladies worked together to make a candy dispenser, based on something they saw in a science video series. They said that it wasn’t quite the same as the one they saw, but this one works pretty well – candy goes in the top and comes out the bottom! We have some precocious kids! (I discovered, after taking this picture, that the candy dispenser was NOT for my birthday, but was a family present. Oh, well. I’m still very proud of them!)
Fun Fact – Something that didn’t dawn on me until last night: I was born on a Monday. And thus, the theme of circles I started this post with has another level of depth.
I would like to thank everyone – and there were a lot of you – who took time out of their day to wish me well as I start another 2?93,000,000 mile trip around the sun. It made the day that much more special to know that people thought enough of me to write or call. So, a very heart-felt “Thank you” to each of you.
As my birthday was on a Saturday, I took Friday off. I even went to the gym. (WHAAAAT!?) Yeah, first time in [REDACTED] that’s happened. Friday night’s soreness spoke to that. Loudly. There was a trip to The Train Shoppe and I took myself out for Chinese food for lunch, as well. Later in the evening, I had dinner with Team DiVa – no SaraRules!, as she had to work – and a few friends.
Saturday included sleeping in, breakfast spaghetti (!), a VERY cool birthday present…
“In brightest day, in blackest night…”
…heading to a hobby shop to pick up more accessories for Action Figure Theatre, and then cake and ice cream with Sara and the ladies.
Sunday started with a dusting of snow (!), once again proving my statement that it usually snows in SLC before November. There were chores to be done, but we also took a trip to the Clark Planetarium.
Not On My Watch
Any Landing You Can Walk Away From…
Into the Unknown
The night was capped with dinner with Sara’s side of the family, MORE cake and ice cream, and Hallowe’en cookie-decorating.
In all, it was an excellent start to 49. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings.
Tuesday – 05 March 2019
It’s happened. Sideshow Collectibles has put out another figure that I’m 99.999% sure will wind up in my display case. Soon. Well, soon-ish. The funny thing is: I wasn’t even aware that it existed until yesterday.
There are two versions: The “Collector’s Edition” and the “Exclusive.” The difference is that the “Exclusive” comes with two additional hands, with brass knuckles rings that spell out “Luke” and “Cage.”
Luke Cage – (c) Sideshow Collectibles
I don’t know that I “need” the knuckle dusters, but the price difference is $5.00 USD, so… *shrug* We’ll see. Either way, it will look just fine next to my Nick Fury.
Today was a “Divide and Conquer” kind of day. Sara took Team DiVa to their swim class, while I represented the family at Salt Lake’s “Families Belong Together” rally.
#FamiliesBelongTogether rally
The rally made an excellent backdrop for today’s #ActionFigureTheatre post.
I got there a too late to march with the other event-goers, but I was there. It would be good if our elected officials actually listened to – and acted upon – Vox Populi, and not just to the talking heads of their respective parties.
That brings up a side note: I’ve recently noticed a fair number of posts going around that say something to the effect of “Neither religion nor politics have ever been a reason to turn my back on a friend.” Isn’t part of the reason that we choose people to be in our circles because they not only share some of our views and perspectives… but also because the have differing ones, as well? What happened to the ability to “agree to disagree?” Or even the seemingly simple ability to have discourse without it devolving into arguments or outrage?
It seems to me As well make our own few circles ’round the block We’ve lost our senses For the higher-level static of talk
“Dog Years,” by Rush (from the album Test For Echo)
After that, I headed to Koko Kitchen to pick up some lunch. I love that place and don’t get there nearly often enough. Back in the car and on to Watchtower Cafe to pick up some liquid motivation. I chatted with Tui a bit about next week’s Salt Lake Gaming Con (Are you going?!) and some of the goings-on there. I’m looking forward to attending.
Back in the driver’s seat and (finally) headed home. Sara and the girls were working on an assemble-and-paint model of the solar system. When they’d finished, Diana and I talked about the planets and their orbits… which turned into us asking our Echo about the orbital periods (new phrase for D) of the various planets.
We all enjoyed some downtime and then headed to one of the local libraries and parks. I was thwarted in my attempt to acquire delicious confections from C. Kay Cummings (Curses, foiled again!), as they closed about 20 minutes before we got there. *shakes fist* I poked my head into Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection, but decided that I didn’t need anything today. From there, it was off to dinner.
Post-dinner, I “needed” to stop at one of the local Michael’s. I picked up some props and accessories for Action Figure Theatre. (What?! I put “needed” in quotes. Get off my case!) It’s fun when I go to an arts and crafts store and go to check out with miniatures, because I often get an odd look, raised eyebrow, or even a direct “What are you making with these?” When I explain how they will be put to use, the quizzical expressions usually turn into wide, surprised smiles or laughter. Totally worth it.
One of the books I picked up at the library was a “How to Draw Animals” book for the girls. V picked it up first, but D was the first one to actually put it to use. In the half-ish hour she had before bed for free time, she busted out nine or ten pictures. And, they were good. Really good, especially for first shots. V, not to be outdone, drew a quick picture right before bedtime, which was also very good.
Later? Who knows….? Possibly a movie. Possibly some Overwatch or some other game.
Stray Toasters
Today’s rally reminded me of something my father gave me years ago. And gave me an idea. We’ll see where this goes.
I listened to a lot of Prince yesterday. I regret nothing.
Salt Lake City’s fireworks laws have been recently updated/amended. There’s a period of a few days around July Fourth and Pioneer Day that are designated as legal to shoot off fireworks. Someone needs to tell the people a couple streets over. *grblsnrkx*
I didn’t realize how anxious and excited I am for City of Titans to (finally) drop until talking with a friend about some of my old City of Heroes and City of Villains characters last night.
Monday – 18 September 2017
In alignment with my rationale for #NBNThursday, today has most definitely been “a Monday.” That’s okay, this too shall pass. OK Go said so.
See? Told ya so.
Today started far too early. 5:15 AM early. I was in the office at 6:15. Much respect to those of you who are up, out, and making the doughnuts that early every day. The reason for such an early start was to handle last-minute prep for a week of meetings. In itself, that’s not so bad. It became “not-so-great” on Friday evening when – long after the day had been “done” – I was notified that said meetings were going to start at 10 AM, rather than the 2 PM we had originally been told. In short, our timeline for handling things just had four hours lopped off the top. As there was nothing to be done about it, I simply replied with “We can only do what we can do.” And then, I proceeded to enjoy my weekend.
“Enjoying my weekend” included, but was not limited to:
Judging a game tournament.
Watching the new DuckTales cartoon (and Star Wars: Rebels and Care Bears) with Team DiVa.
Going to the State Fair
Playing too few video games.
Fast forward (or would it be “rewind,” in this case) to this morning. We got the prep work out of the way for the influx of meeting participants with time to spare. Yes, there were a couple of glitches, but on the whole, we were done and life was good.
A few minutes after the presenters got started setting up for the day, we were informed that they were changing the configuration of one of the meeting rooms. Okay, fine. Whatever. Then we were informed “why” they were doing it: In the original configuration, only one of the projectors in that room was activated. That was news to me, but it didn’t preclude them from making the room work. As this news was being relayed, a coworker started laughing to himself. Naturally, I asked why. He proceeded to tell us that he knew of this idiosyncrasy.
I’ll pause here to note that he was here last week when we were setting up the room, but said nothing about it.
::: braincramp :::
Mischief managed. And external ire restrained.
The morning wore in afternoon with out much further ado. Thankfully.
I was struck with a sense of nostalgic sadness. One of the first things that went through my mind upon reading the article was the childhood glee of trips to the TRU in Catonsville with either my mother or father. We may not have gone weekly , but there were definitely a lot of trips there. For me, those were the days of The Adventure People, Micronauts, and electric trains (mostly Tyco, when you could buy a decent train set – or just pieces – at your local toy purveyor). I remember asking my father to drive down “the roller coaster road,” a hilly back road ending at the Toys ‘R’ Us parking lot, which – if you went just fast enough – would send rollercoaster-like butterflies into the pit of your stomach. I remember wandering the aisles of the store, while my mother shopped at a clothing store next door. Hell, I still remember the 1970s commercial jingle – the long version.
Roughly a year ago, there were three (3) TRU locations in the Salt Lake Valley. One closed last November, the other closed a few months ago. The lone remaining store is down the street from my house. Yes, I still go there, but it’s not just for me, these days. Over the past couple of years, I’ve noticed the quantity of some toy lines diminishing, while others have… not-exactly “flourished,” but at least survived. But it hasn’t felt like the same store that I used to visit as a kid for a long time. I’m sure that a fair portion of that is attributable to having gotten older.
There was no mention plans for the chain to close in the article, but like so many things, perhaps its time is nearing an end.
My inner kid still hopes that’s a long way off, though.
But, far more importantly, it’s the second most important day in March (third, depending on when Easter falls): Green Lantern Day!
On Greenest Day…
Of course, there are those (uncreative types, I’d say) who would say that it’s simply “St. Patrick’s Day.” And that’s fine; I’m alright with sharing the day.
Whatever you’re celebrating, I hope that your day is fantastic!
Today was a slightly busier-than-planned day, but still very good. Team DiVa, after sleeping in until after 9:30 on Sunday morning, were up at 7:30 this morning – Diana decided to play with the Kindle, while Vanessa decided that crawling into our bed was her best option. (To be honest, I still appreciate getting kid cuddles when I can, as I know that they won’t last forever.)
After breakfast (cinnamon rolls!), it was a kind of lazy morning… until 10:30, when I got an email from work.
<sarcasm>
Yay.
</sarcasm>
So, I did what any diligent IT guy would do: I made like Kool Moe Dee and I went to work. I got there and looked at the system in question, only to find that there was nothing wrong. At. All.
*grblsnrkx*
Back home in time to surprise Team DiVa with a trip to the theatre to see The LEGO Batman Movie. It was a big hit. (Sara and I enjoyed it, too.) Back home again before heading up to Park City for…
…dinner with Liz, a high school classmate:
With Liz (photobomb by Maya)
We met at the Wasatch Brew Pub in Park City, where Liz and her family are staying this week. It’s the first time we’ve seen each other since high school graduation. We had a nice dinner and caught up a little bit on the last three decades. (Man, it really seems like a long time when you put it that way…)
Diana, Liz, and Vanessa
Liz, Maya, and Michael
Diana, Maya, and Vanessa
After dinner, said our goodbyes and headed back to Salt Lake City. We got little ladies ready for bed, took care of a couple of chores, I caught up on a couple episodes of The Flash, including one that I somehow missed about three weeks ago.
And that brings us to now.
Stray Toasters
I haven’t made any posts about Black History Month, as yet. That said, I’ll just point you to posts from previous years and also suggest that you dig into the rich history on your own…
Friday – 23 December 2016
There are many things that make for a “good day.” The fact that today is Christmas Eve Eve is one. The fact that our office is closed – meaning a long weekend – is another. Other things include, but are not limited to:
Coffee. (If I have to explain this one, we may need to reevaluate our friendship…)
Making a new #morningcoffee post with The Incredibles.
Sleeping in – technically “going back to bed after Sara and Team DiVa headed out for the day,” but you get the gist.
Chatting with friends and family.
Reading comics.
I’ll even throw “going to the gym” (happening shortly) in there, too.
But, one of the other things that made to day really stand out was receiving an email. More specifically, receiving an email saying that I was having a package delivered. After all, who doesn’t like getting packages? And, especially at Christmastime? Turns out the package was from Sideshow Collectibles. Let me backtrack a bit…
::: Scooby Doo flashback wavy lines :::
Last month, Sideshow tweeted about a contest they were having:
Seemed simple and reasonable enough: Make a board, throw pins on it, hope to win something. And that’s exactly what I did – I selected nineteen figures and statues and cast my lot to the wind. Granted, they have “a few thousand” followers on Pinterest, so I wasn’t really expecting anything to come of it. Fast forward last Friday, I received this message
Hi Rob! We’d like to fulfill your wish for a Green Lantern Sixth Scale figure. Email [redacted] to claim your wish. Happy holidays!
Anyone who has known me for more than about six minutes knows that I’m “a bit” of a Green Lantern fan. Sure, I’m more John Stewart than Hal Jordan these days, but Hal is the GL I grew up with and I have absolutely nothing against him. And there’s that whole “gift horses” thing, too.
I replied to the message and waited. There was a snafu with email, checking to find out what information they needed to ship it, which wasn’t resolved until earlier this week. Given that and knowing what I do about shipping packages around the holidays, I wasn’t sure when it would show up.
::: end flashback :::
A little after 11:30, the doorbell rang. It was my friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man UPS driver. Lo and behold, he had the box from Sideshow. I grinned like a fiend, signed, and thanked him. (I do not recall if there was a “My precious….” in there or not. I hope not, as that would be more-than-slightly embarrassing…) I brought the box downstairs, opened it, and this is what was inside:
The box within the box!
Box and insert
Captain Jordan, I presume…?
So.. many… things to play with!
And, yes, the lantern lights up!
No, really, it lights up!
Let’s just say that my day and Christmas weekend has gotten off to a great start and many thanks to Sideshow Collectibles.
Okay, enough lollygagging. Time to get right on to the friction of the day…
Wednesday – 12 October 2016
Stuff and things and whatnot.
Namaste.
Wait. That’s not a proper post. I really should do one of those someday…
I guess that since I’m logged in, I should make like Nike and “just do it.” Now.
*cracks knuckles*
::: deep breath :::
The past few weeks have been good. Work’s been interesting. The company I work for has been (officially) purchased by a larger entity. So far, things are remaining status quo. I also got to spend about 36 hours on the east coast, thanks to a business trip. I was pleasantly surprised at how “green” things still were – I expected to see far more fall colors. Oh, well. That was only a slight disappointment, to be honest.
Team DiVa continues to astound and entertain me.
There was even a seven-year-anniversary in there, too.
Stray Toasters
Kids really do grow up “so fast…”
A couple of years ago, I had dinner with a high school classmate of mine. It’s about to happen again, as he and his family will be in town nextthis week.
Thursday – 25 February 2016
Another fine day in the valley…
Long story, short version: Stuff. Things. Adventure.
The slightly less-abridged version is: I woke up a little early and did a short workout with dumbbells and a Swiss ball this morning. I went to work , dealt with the usual things, dealt with one not-so-usual-anymore thing, and even wound up having a coworker decide to have “Neal Day” and wear a suit in my honor.
Changing the work dress code, one coworker at a time…
Sara pinged me in the late afternoon to ask if I’d mind picking up Team DiVa, as she had to work late. That also put me in (nominal) charge of figuring out what to do for dinner. I delegated that responsibility to the little ladies. We wound up going to McDonald’s. It wasn’t a total loss, though, as they asked if we could eat there, so they could play in the PlaySpace. (An easy way to make my kids happy? Bet.)
After dinner, we arrived at home a couple minutes before Sara. Sometime between her getting a bite to eat and giving the girls a bath, I fell asleep. Quickly and rather deeply asleep. I missed bath time, but I was up for pre-bedtime prep.
The little ones are now asleep. I have read comics. And, I do believe that there is a nominal amount of gaming in the evening’s future. Selah.
From reactions I’ve seen on Facebook, lots of people are giving credit to Target for DC Super Hero Girls…. which kind of drives me nuts because they are simply a retailer who is carrying the line. For the background of the DC Super Hero Girls initiative, check out this article from Comic Book Resources.
