Geeky Stuff Done A Cappella

There are some really great videos of nerdy music on youtube done a cappella. Some of them, particularly the ones where it's the same guy doing each part, are really good. If you haven't seen any of these, they're really worth checking out.

Especially this one, a Star Wars/John Williams tribute. Originally it was done by the a cappella comedy music group Moosebutter, and then it was rerecorded with permission by Corey Vidal. Here's the Vidal version:

I have to wonder if he was as excited about Episode I after he saw it.

This is a more recent video of the theme from the Legend of Zelda video game. This guy has a lot of hats. I like the extra heads that float across the screen and the violin was very well done. This makes me want to bust out the Super Nintendo and play some Link to the Past (arguably the best Zelda game out there).


Then there's a whole Nintendo compalation. This also makes me want to play some Mario, but not as much as I'd spend a few hours playing Zelda right now. I also like how Mortal Kombat is thrown in and the guy shouting "MORTAL KOMBAT!" which is essential to the Mortal Kombat theme.


My appologies to Eric if this was to be the subject of one of his upcoming blog posts. :)

The Editing Process Begins

I've finally started to edit my NaNoWriMo novel. I wanted to let it cool off at least for the month of December so I could distance myself from it a little. I've only been over the first page so far. At this point I'm just reading and taking notes without doing any rewriting, but I wanted to share my mad editing skillz with you all.

From my notes: "¶2 = poop"

I am available for freelance editing if anyone is interested. :)

Won't Somebody Think of the Children!?! - Oh, They Did

Thank (insert diety of choice). I just read an article that said that New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services has removed three-year-old Adolf Hitler Campbell and his two sisters JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell, 1, and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell, 8 months, from their home. Exact reasons for the children's removal was not cited at this time.

You may remember hearing about the Campbells last month when they were in the news because a local ShopRite supermarket refused to inscribe Adolf Hitler's name on his birthday cake.

According to the article, Police, DYFS officials and a court spokeswoman declined to reveal the exact reasons the children were removed from their home, citing confidentiality, but a child protection official indicated it was not because of the children's names. Apparently, the children do not show any signs of physical or sexual abuse.

However, a neighbor did allege to the father, Heath, has some kind of hold over the wife and children, saying the children were only allowed in certain areas of the home and that on some occasions, young Adolf expressed that he did not want to go home.

So I guess we'll see what happens with all of that. When I first heard of the Campbells last month, I couldn't help but feel bad for those children. I mean, talk about setting your kids back from the word go, and then to make it a matter of national interest over a birthday cake, sheesh. Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Campbell could have been loving, but misguided parents. Wow, I can't believe I said that, but I guess you've gotta give people the benefit of the doubt. A celebrity isn't necessarily a bad parent because they name their kid Apple or something dumb like that.

So now the kids are in custody and everyone's mum on the exact reason, and I guess all that anyone can hope for is that the children will be put into a loving and nurturing environment, and that they won't be going from bad to worse. I wonder if there is any precedent for children's names being changed once they're in a foster care system.

Children are so precious and impressionable that it's really tragic when someone does something so fucking retarded like this. I know it's a little rediculous to say that people should have to have a license to breed, like a drivers license, but really, some people should have to go through a screening process or something before they breed.

Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a new and happy life for the Campbell children, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

A Case of the Blahs

I seem to have come down with a serious case of the Blahs, also known as the Meh Malady. It's a combination of a lot of different factors, probably compounded by the weather. Symptoms include a general feeling of malaise, which is followed by self-deprecation at not having done anything to change that, a strong desire to nap forever, and so on. A cure can sometimes be found in the complete annihilation of pixelated aliens or other baddies, however, this cure can be hard to come by when a certain two-year-old wants to chase you around the house or crawl around and bark like a dog, all to his amusement.

So today I have a couple of very funny but not PC in the least videos. This whole series is pretty danged funny, and it was hard to pick out just a couple to show. If I haven't said it before, the people at Mediocre Films are brilliant.

My Desk is a Mess, Not

Last week I let everyone see just how much of a mess my desk is, which included about six months worth of stories that needed to be filed, books piled up in the corner, papers that needed to be sorted/recycled/filed, magazines and other items that needed to be put away. Well, today I took some time and cleaned it all up, so I present you with the "after" shots.

From left to right:

I also fixed my Mighty Mouse problem with a combination of the rolling it around on a damp cloth trick (I used some Orange Clean instead of rubbing alcohol) and the tape trick. Thanks Vince, MWT, and Steve for your suggestions

Sometimes...

...you really, really want to go after certain loved ones with a Nerf Crotchbat.

Kitchen Experimentation, January 11 2009

It was another day for experimentation in the kitchen. Being my first day off in a couple of weeks, and since we still had the crock pot out from last night's dinner, I felt like trying something new. Today we had chicken. Here's what I did:

3 Chicken Breasts - cut into about one inch chunks
3 Medium Potatoes - mostly peeled and cut into about one inch chunks
1/4 Cup Onion - chopped
2-3 Medium Cloves of Garlic - Crushed
1 Can Asparagus
1 Teaspoon Celery Seed
1/2 Teaspoon Rosemary
1/2 Teaspoon Dill
Dash of Salt
1-1/2 Cups Chicken Broth

I put all of this in the crock pot on high heat for about five hours and stirred it every once in a while.

Here's the before shot:

Here's the after shot (not much difference):

It turned out ok. Everything was nice and tender. It also made the house smell nice. Brandi said all she could taste was the asparagus and rosemary. I mostly tasted the rosemary. If I do it again, I will cut back on or eliminate the rosemary and use more dill. Unfortunately, I'm now all out of dill. I love dill on chicken. Grilled chicken with dill and a little celery salt is magnificent.