I've actually managed to stick to some of my resolutions from earlier in the month to simplify. The half.com items came down and were all sold in one auction. 33 VHS tapes went for $46, which is actually not bad in this time of DVDs. VHS is going out of style in a big way. Buh-bye.
Christina spent most of the day at work. I was impressed with the way she went in on the weekend to get things done (PhD, here we come!). Then she revealed it was because she had procrastinated earlier in the week. OK, so maybe she doesn't get the same level of brownie points, but she does get some credit for spending a good eleven hours at work on a Sunday.
Her absence made it easy for me to be lazy, but I did manage to do a few things around the house. I packed up some auction goodies (finally got that double-album Lord of the Rings picture disk set out of the house), took care of a number of niggling web projects (there are so many more left to do, though), and burned some calories on the HealthWalker while watching Transformers: The Movie. I thought that the nostalgia value on this one was going to be pretty good, and I wasn't wrong, but I didn't expect my cynicism meter to kick into overdrive the way it did.
First off, the actors in this one are ludicrously high-budget talent. Maybe they weren't at the time (1986), but they seem like high rollers to me now. If the words "Eric Idle as Wreck-Gar" don't start you laughing, something else will mere minutes later, I guarantee. Judd Nelson, Orson Welles, Robert Stack, and Leonard Nimoy round out the A-list talent, and they join cartoon regulars like Casey Kasem and Scatman Crothers as the robots-disguised-as-vehicles-and-whatever-else-appeals-to-kids. Cartoon voice legend Frank Welker is of course on hand to provide laser blasts and whatever else is required of a man who doesn't speak in cartoons, but only provides animal and machine noises. Seriously, look him up. He's huge in the cartoon biz, but I think the only dialogue he's ever done was as the voice of Scooby Doo. I'm probably wrong about that.
Oh right, I was talking about cynicism. Well, about thirty minutes into the movie, a bunch of the Transformers "die." How robots can die of their injuries is beyond me (couldn't you just repair them?), but it happens, and they even turn monochrome when they croak, as if robots who are "dead" suddenly lose the ability to hold a coat of paint. They are replaced by newer, hipper versions of themselves with (get this) new voices. Two birds fall to the ground with one stone as a. the celebrity voices may now take over, leaving behind the familiar actors who provided the original robot voices for the TV series, and b. the toy makers are provided with a bunch of new robot designs to manufacture and sell to the voracious kiddie robot-collecting public. Brilliant marketing.
Wedding Recap - let's wrap this puppy up
Sunday morning was the hardest of all, since it meant the weekend was really coming to an end. Geoffrey and Jennifer were tied up at a schmancy brunch before they left on their honeymoon, so the rest of the family had a brunch of our own at the big beach house. It was mostly easy-cook stuff: bagels, eggs, Pillsbury cinnamon buns, and some Morningstar Farms meatless sausage patties. I'm actually quite fond of these last items; they're spicy enough to fake the saussage experience, although they're quite a bit better (I think) when pan-fried instead of microwaved. When asked about them by my Aunt Pam (a devout Atkins dieter, and I'll admit it works for her), Amy replied that they were "okay." My aunt wasn't fooled, and fired back, "But you're not running out to the grocery store for more." Since then I have learned that "okay" is Amy-speak for "rank."
When we were done with breakfast and packed up, the whole group went for a walk on the beach. It was really nice, since it was a windy day and kind of overcast. The Palmetto Dunes beach was deserted except for us. The beach stretched out an impossibly long way to the water, where we took some pictures and generally enjoyed the company of friends and relatives for a little while longer.
Then it was time to load into the cars and make our separate ways home, which was really difficult. It took about twenty minutes of Christina tugging at my arm and saying "Okay, you," before I walked out the door. Amy and Tanya drove alongside for a bit, during which we encountered a strange phenomenon. The license plate on Tanya's Saturn reads "503 YES," and for a short way they followed behind a car that had the plate "504 NEG." Christina was trying to figure out the relationship between the two cars and what the message might mean before she realized that it was Amy and Tanya in the rear car. A weird coincidence.
A&T followed us down one highway and were supposed to turn down another, but they kept following us past their turn. After a few miles Christina rang them on the cell phone and asked what was up. I guess they were wrapped up in conversation, because they seemed surprised. Off they went at the next exit to turn around and head back for their proper connection.
Our own journey ended about six hours later, after a stop in Brunswick, GA. I got a picture of myself in front of a statuary commemorating the invention of Brunswick stew. I would post it here, except that it doesn't look like I downloaded it to the iBook. The story of Brunswick stew is one I don't need to get into right now either. I'll save it for later this week. We also took a different route home, following a state highway out of Jacksonville and around Orlando, through some really interesting little Florida towns. I especially liked the sushi restaurant with the life-sized statue of a bull out front. Or was it an ox?
So that's it, the story of the wedding weekend. By now you've seen the pictures, experienced the video, bought the lunchbox, eaten the Happy Meal. Thanks for your patience while I got it all down for posterity.
As a reward, here's a picture of Otis in the bathtub, where he likes to hang out when we're not using it.
Christina spent most of the day at work. I was impressed with the way she went in on the weekend to get things done (PhD, here we come!). Then she revealed it was because she had procrastinated earlier in the week. OK, so maybe she doesn't get the same level of brownie points, but she does get some credit for spending a good eleven hours at work on a Sunday.
Her absence made it easy for me to be lazy, but I did manage to do a few things around the house. I packed up some auction goodies (finally got that double-album Lord of the Rings picture disk set out of the house), took care of a number of niggling web projects (there are so many more left to do, though), and burned some calories on the HealthWalker while watching Transformers: The Movie. I thought that the nostalgia value on this one was going to be pretty good, and I wasn't wrong, but I didn't expect my cynicism meter to kick into overdrive the way it did.
First off, the actors in this one are ludicrously high-budget talent. Maybe they weren't at the time (1986), but they seem like high rollers to me now. If the words "Eric Idle as Wreck-Gar" don't start you laughing, something else will mere minutes later, I guarantee. Judd Nelson, Orson Welles, Robert Stack, and Leonard Nimoy round out the A-list talent, and they join cartoon regulars like Casey Kasem and Scatman Crothers as the robots-disguised-as-vehicles-and-whatever-else-appeals-to-kids. Cartoon voice legend Frank Welker is of course on hand to provide laser blasts and whatever else is required of a man who doesn't speak in cartoons, but only provides animal and machine noises. Seriously, look him up. He's huge in the cartoon biz, but I think the only dialogue he's ever done was as the voice of Scooby Doo. I'm probably wrong about that.
Oh right, I was talking about cynicism. Well, about thirty minutes into the movie, a bunch of the Transformers "die." How robots can die of their injuries is beyond me (couldn't you just repair them?), but it happens, and they even turn monochrome when they croak, as if robots who are "dead" suddenly lose the ability to hold a coat of paint. They are replaced by newer, hipper versions of themselves with (get this) new voices. Two birds fall to the ground with one stone as a. the celebrity voices may now take over, leaving behind the familiar actors who provided the original robot voices for the TV series, and b. the toy makers are provided with a bunch of new robot designs to manufacture and sell to the voracious kiddie robot-collecting public. Brilliant marketing.
Wedding Recap - let's wrap this puppy up
Sunday morning was the hardest of all, since it meant the weekend was really coming to an end. Geoffrey and Jennifer were tied up at a schmancy brunch before they left on their honeymoon, so the rest of the family had a brunch of our own at the big beach house. It was mostly easy-cook stuff: bagels, eggs, Pillsbury cinnamon buns, and some Morningstar Farms meatless sausage patties. I'm actually quite fond of these last items; they're spicy enough to fake the saussage experience, although they're quite a bit better (I think) when pan-fried instead of microwaved. When asked about them by my Aunt Pam (a devout Atkins dieter, and I'll admit it works for her), Amy replied that they were "okay." My aunt wasn't fooled, and fired back, "But you're not running out to the grocery store for more." Since then I have learned that "okay" is Amy-speak for "rank."
When we were done with breakfast and packed up, the whole group went for a walk on the beach. It was really nice, since it was a windy day and kind of overcast. The Palmetto Dunes beach was deserted except for us. The beach stretched out an impossibly long way to the water, where we took some pictures and generally enjoyed the company of friends and relatives for a little while longer.
Then it was time to load into the cars and make our separate ways home, which was really difficult. It took about twenty minutes of Christina tugging at my arm and saying "Okay, you," before I walked out the door. Amy and Tanya drove alongside for a bit, during which we encountered a strange phenomenon. The license plate on Tanya's Saturn reads "503 YES," and for a short way they followed behind a car that had the plate "504 NEG." Christina was trying to figure out the relationship between the two cars and what the message might mean before she realized that it was Amy and Tanya in the rear car. A weird coincidence.
A&T followed us down one highway and were supposed to turn down another, but they kept following us past their turn. After a few miles Christina rang them on the cell phone and asked what was up. I guess they were wrapped up in conversation, because they seemed surprised. Off they went at the next exit to turn around and head back for their proper connection.
Our own journey ended about six hours later, after a stop in Brunswick, GA. I got a picture of myself in front of a statuary commemorating the invention of Brunswick stew. I would post it here, except that it doesn't look like I downloaded it to the iBook. The story of Brunswick stew is one I don't need to get into right now either. I'll save it for later this week. We also took a different route home, following a state highway out of Jacksonville and around Orlando, through some really interesting little Florida towns. I especially liked the sushi restaurant with the life-sized statue of a bull out front. Or was it an ox?
So that's it, the story of the wedding weekend. By now you've seen the pictures, experienced the video, bought the lunchbox, eaten the Happy Meal. Thanks for your patience while I got it all down for posterity.
As a reward, here's a picture of Otis in the bathtub, where he likes to hang out when we're not using it.
Next time: Buckaroo Banzai – I don't get it.
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