Spider-Man World Tour: Hindi Style!

My apologies, my posts are going to be even more sporadic than usual in the coming weeks. How is that possible, you ask? Nobody likes a wise arse, is my answer.

I've started online college courses again. I'm hoping to be done with my bachelor's degree sometime this fall. We'll see.

In the meantime, we rejoin Spider-Man on his whirlwind international tour. Today's stop: India!

Spider-Man World Tour Layover in NYC

Spider-Man takes a brief rest from his World Tour to quench his thirst. Er, their thirst. He - er - they must really lika the juice.



And what's a bunch of Spider-Men without a Superman, princess, Dracula, dog, and two monkeys thrown into the mix?

It Comes As No Surprise to Anyone

Here's what you already knew.

TV Reviews

Yup, I don't like to toot my own horn, so I'll let some random site with no credibility do it for me!

Happy St. Patrick's Day (and other unrelated asides)

So yeah, happy drink-a-bunch-of-green-beer and puke magic on the sidewalk! Actually, I'm pretty sure almost everyone that reads this thing doesn't drink. We celebrated Shamrock Day and the first day of Spring by also celebrating a good friend's baptism at Sweetwater Tavern. That's right, Drunken Ribeye. If I'm not going to get drunk, why not get my dinner drunk? After a quick second trip to the grill, my steak was perfect. I still have yet to eat a more flavorful steak than theirs.

Congrats, Paul!

Completely Unrelated and Actually Longer than the Main Entry Dept.
Stacy and I have spent the last couple of days catching up on some of our recorded television shows, specifically, Pushing Daisies.

Let me give you a little background. Pushing Daisies was created by Brian Fuller, the same man that created Dead Like Me for Showtime. We loved that show. It was about a girl with no life to speak of that finds, upon flaming death by rocketing space toilet debris, that she is now a grim reaper. She meets other reapers, who treat this supernatural job like a, well, job. The high-concept is as quirky as it sounds, made even more quirky by the cast and situations throughout the series. It was a joy to watch and left us wanting more every week.

Unfortunately, Showtime only aired two seasons before giving Dead Like Me the scythe.

Mr. Fuller next graced us with an even shorter-lived series on Fox, this one called Wonderfalls. It featured a hapless girl in a dead-end job at a gift shop atop Niagra Falls avoiding the successes the rest of her family had made. A brief 'sode in the first episode revealed that she could talk to inanimate objects, or rather, inanimate objects could talk to her. They would do so at increasingly entertaining times, often pestering her until she did some seemingly random or counter-productive act that would always wind up for the betterment of her life or the lives of those around her.

Again, high concept was brought masterfully to fruition by Brian Fuller's talent and skill as the charmingly quirky show progressed. given that it was a great show with a fantasy theme aired on Fox could only mean one thing, of course. Cancellation. This time after a mere three episodes. We managed to see nine episodes aired (according to www.tv.com, I remember fewer) before the show was fully taken off the air. Mercifully, the DVD that came out early the next year contained all of the filmed episodes, 13 or 14 in all.

Now, ABC brings us Pushing Daisies. A high concept series if there ever was one. This time, our protagonist is a pie maker (played by Wonderfall's protagonist's on-screen brother) with the unique ability to bring any dead thing to life by merely touching it. However, if he touches it again, it will die again, this time forever. The other and more worrisome caveat is that if a thing is kept alive longer than a minute, then something (or someone) must die in its place. Nature loves balance, I suppose. The first part of his ability has led us to the best charming quirk of this quirk-filled show, his inability to share any intimate contact with his childhood and current sweetheart, whom he had to bring back to life in the first episode. This leads to many adorable, sometimes almost sickeningly, scenes as the two of them find new ways to express their affection. I say almost sickeningly because I'm a big softy and Fuller often manages to offset the schmaltz with appropriate reactions from the hardened knitting detective (the pie-maker's partner) and the love-lorn waitress (pining for the pie-maker *choke*!)

Now with the concept out of the way, how is the show itself? Just as good as I'd expect it to be, delivered with panache, style, and a vibrant dream-like color palette by Mr. Fuller. I found myself throughout the episodes exclaiming, "she's so darned cute!" of the pie-maker's sweetheart, or, "I love watching Emerson!" as the knitting detective tried to abrasively escape the conversations that cropped up around him, or, "I love Olive!" even though she's vying for an obviously smitten pie-maker's heart, or, "Swoozie Kurtz is hilarious!" as childhood sweetheart's grieving aunts, Vivian and Lilly, reminisced about synchronized mermaid swimming, or, "The narrator is perfect!"

That last one is perhaps the most personally jarring for me, since the show is narrated by Jim Dale, the voice behind the audio recordings of most of the Harry Potter books. It's personally jarring because I could not stand the way he narrated many of the characters in the books. I have no such problems here. He's got the cultured British accent and story-telling cadence that showcase the eccentricity, charm, and magic that is Pushing Daisies.

Pushing Daisies is a bittersweet joy to watch. A joy, for the obvious care that is given to craft an engaging fantasy that has yet to disappoint in its nine episodes thus far. Bittersweet, for the knowledge that it is just a snappy reality show pitch away from the chopping block. Pushing Daisies was granted a reprieve after the writer's strike this year. It is getting another chance to dazzle audiences come this Fall. I will certainly be one of those prepared to be dazzled.

If you're interested in keeping truly original programming on the air, especially when the alternative is another reality show, you may want to check out Pushing Daisies for yourself. There are five full episodes on ABC's site. I highly recommend them.

Oh, and if you have a Nielsen's box on your TV, please, please, please don't let this show get canceled. I haven't had nearly enough yet!

Full Episode (with considerably fewer commercials than when first aired!)

Spider-Man: World Tour

Next stop for our globe-hopping wall crawler? Japan!

New Family Portraits!

We finally got around to dragging the kids into the portrait studio this weekend for family portraits. It's been a while since our last set and we wanted to immortalize Stacy's grape hair. We have long learned that Scarlett is in her best mood in the morning, so we made a 10:00 at Kiddie Kandids.

Amazingly enough, our devious plan worked! All three of the girls were on their best behavior. I'm sure that the promise of ice cream if they took good pictures had nothing to do with it. The biggest problem was just getting all three of them to look at the camera and smile at the same time.

It turns out the right combination of a funky-colored duster and rubber ducky squeaks is the key. The unforeseen side affect of said funky-colored duster was Scarlett moving from sitting next to Stacy, to laying on her back, and finally standing in my arms behind Stacy to avoid the dastardly duster's tickling capabilities. Not two to quibble, Stacy and I were happy with the results.

We figured the next task would be much harder to accomplish: all three girls on their stomachs with their chins in their hands. I know what you're thinking, whose chins were in whose hands? We opted to go for the easy shot and had them hold their own. Lazy, I know. In this one, we just couldn't get Scarlett to look at the camera and smile in the same shot. Her long-suffering sisters (did I just say those two terms together?) were giving their best plastered smiles and I feared the entire facade would shatter before we could get a decent shot. Luckily, the photographer caught Scarlett in mid-babble in what approaches a smile in the way a gator approaches breakfast.

For the last three shots, we gave the girls their choices of backdrops and props for individual pictures. Vicki, being Vicki, chose the floweriest one, with flower petals on the ground and flowers in her lap. Yup, she's the tomboy. She even managed to edge in a little bit of a real smile amid the cheese this time.

Zoe, on the other hand, refused to smile when the photographer was anywhere near her camera. Don't get me wrong, she was all smiles the rest of the time, even giggling every now and then (I know many of you that have met Zoe probably think I'm lying, but it's true!) As soon as the photographer would step back from the shot, Zoe's face would approximate happiness in much the same way Kraft Velveeta Cheesefood Product approximates cheese. It's still a cute picture.

Scarlett, possibly the prickliest of the bunch, was uncharacteristically easy. She wanted the same white background with easter bunnies and easter eggs in a basket as props. The biggest problem there was getting her to settle on one or two eggs in her lap and leaving the rest in the basket and the bunnies on the floor. She was very helpful, trying to pick up the bunnies and give them to me, it just didn't make for a cute pose. We finally managed to convince her to leave the rest of the props where they were and sit still. Then came the challenge of getting her to lower the eggs from her chest where they were serving as a makeshift shield from the dreaded tickling duster. Our wily photographer snapped some quick shots in mid-raise and we hastily declared that was it.

All in all, Stacy and I feel that we made out ahead of the kids in that interaction for once. We treated them to frozen custard and us to good old Utah fry sauce at Neilsen's in Vienna.

I'll pop up a slideshow soon. For now, if you want to look at or buy some of the pictures for yourself (we're sending some to family members, so you guys might want to wait a bit first,) you can go here.

Update: Hah! That was quick! Here's yer slideshow thingie:

The Latvian's Strike! (Hail Doom!)

You may or may not know this about me, but I am a fan of 80's pop music. Not all of it. Some of it grates on my nerves as much as the next Jon, but there are quite a few hits that I dig.

Very few do I dig more than Europe's "Final Countdown." The pumping rock beat, the guitar riffs reaching climactic crescendos, the ear-drum-kicking solos, all of it. Well, almost all of it. The vocals are a little reedy and dated.

I also love symphony. Symphony with a beat is even better. The surprisingly aesthetically pleasing string quartet, Bond, is constantly in my playlist, as are other orchestral-based ear-rockers such as E.S. Posthumus and various movie scores.

What would happen if you put the two together, though?

Enter Latvia (Hail Doom!) the closest thing we'll ever get to Dr. Doom's homeland of Latveria. Rather, enter the Latvian Symphony Orchestra (Hail Doom!) and their own trio. This collection of mop-haired musicians manage to strum and bow their way through the most stirring rendition of "Final Countdown" I've ever heard. Don't believe me? Take a listen for yourself.



If you can watch that, complete with every stirring solo and riff lovingly reproduced in glorious symphonic sound and tell me it wasn't awesome, then you're either deaf, or have no soul, or both. I'm not going to rule that out.

Now if only I can find a symphonic recording of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing"

Thanks to bwe.tv for the drop!

I just Can't Wait for French Batman

This video is every bit of awesome that its name implies.
ITALIAN SPIDER-MAN!

They gave us Mario, it's only fair that we give them something in return.

March, Still Working on that Customer (dis)Service

March continues the theme started in February of sticking it to the customer.

The Smell of Poop, OR, Good Morning, Daddy!

Stacy had a women's conference this morning. She left early this morning to pick up a friend of ours, Karen, and meet some others before the conference. That means I was on daddy duty this morning. No big deal, the kids usually watch cartoons and munch on breakfast until I feel human and alive enough to drag myself out of bed. Yup, Father of the Year award, here I come!

So, this morning proceeds just like any other. I snooze, interrupted every fifteen minutes or two every time the girls see something noteworthy on TV. "Dad, can we get that movie?" or, "Daddy, can I have that toy?" or, "Dad, we have that!" or my favorite, "Daddy, look! Spongebob/Timmy/Hannah/Mickey/miscellaneous animated character did something!"

Even better? "Daddy, Scarlett got poop on the pillow!"

There's not many statements that will clear the fuzz from my mind faster than that one. I cleared the blurriness from my eyes to see Scarlett slouched between the foot board and the mattress with that, "I don't know what the big deal is" expression. Right next to her was the offending pillow. Believe you me, offending was the least of it. At least Scarlett was courteous enough to pull the pillowcase off first, because you know, it's much easier to clean a pillow than a pillowcase! I'll spare you the grisly details and just give you with this:

yup, a lot like this, only more brown.

I got Scarlett cleaned up in a jiffy. I'm still a little confused, though. She didn't leak out and she didn't have anything on her hands. I'm really not sure how she managed to
get it from her diaper to the pillow. That's right, my daughter is a poop magician. If only I could harness her power for good!

As I brought her back into the room to put her on the bed, I felt something wet at my feet.
Dreading what I'd find, I dragged my eyes down to the floor to see a puddle of apple juice that Blue was happily lapping up off the carpet. Both Zoe and Scarlett's juice boxes were lying on the floor, as crushed as wine grapes under the feet of burly Italian wine makers, only with less staining.

I finished cleaning that up and was just about to drop back into bed when I noticed a big wet spot on another one of my pillows. Sometimes I wonder how many times I'll be able to roll my eyes to the back of my head before they just give up and stay that way.

I performed the obligatory sniff test to figure out what the mystery fluid was. This one is going to go down through the ages as a mystery, though. It wasn't apple juice, it wasn't pee, it wasn't as scentless as water, but it also wasn't unpleasant. I don't know. I shrugged, dropped another pillow on top (no, not the poop pillow) and dropped Scarlett on top of that. I figured if any more random fluids leak out of her, it'd be on on a pillow that was already desecrated.

So yeah, that was my morning.

Here, for those of you completely uninterested in the travails of raising toddlers, but completely interested in badass robot fights, I give you something completely unrelated!



Sorry for the autoplay, It's built into the player.

Jumper: A Study in Physics

OK, this isn't really a study in imaginary physics, but my long-awaited return to the realm of online movie reviews. Why do I do it? Because all the other critics out there suck, that's why! Now lissen' up, I'mabouta lay some good quality reviewin' on yer eyes!

Jumper treats us to a fantasy that many of us have dwelt on at one time or another: teleportation. If you haven't dwelt upon it, then try dwelling now. Go ahead. I'll wait. I'm really patient that way. Think about it, the ability to go anywhere at any time. Hey, if you're in a knock-down, drag out fight with an old school rival, why not teleport him/her into a bank vault after hours? Not good enough, you say? You're in a fight to the death with a psychopathic zealot? A quick jaunt to the busy streets of London ought to do just the thing. See that double-decker bus heading your way? Why not take that along for the jump and see how your attacker deals with it? And yes, all of that is just as awesome as it sounds.

OK, OK, that's enough of the violent stuff. How about starting off your day with a sunrise in the Bahamas, breakfast in Paris, hot chocolate/coffee atop Mt. Everest, lunch in Budapest, dinner in Rome, and sunset in Iceland? Yeah, I know, the time frames are all screwed up, but you get the picture. Teleportation is a cool idea, one which had some great moments in X-Men United, but not nearly enough.

Which brings us back to Jumper. I was a bit wary of a movie featuring Hayden "I-killed-them-all-and-I-can't-stop-whining-about-it" Christensen of Episodes II and III fame. Thankfully, he did much better here as David. While his delivery could use more spirit, he was watchable. What do I need to say about Rachel Bilson, Millie besides hubba hubba hubba? (sorry mom) Unfortunately, she was not given the opportunity to show much strength as a victim caught in the crossfire of a secret war. Speaking of the war, leading the other side from the jumpers, the paladins, is our good friend Samuel Mutha F***in' Jackson as Roland (what kind of pansy name is Roland? Ask Samuel Mutha F***in' Jackson and you probably won't think that anymore.) When is it not a pleasure to watch him work? Even when he's on the other side, he's fun to watch. Jamie Bell, who was new to me (but not to fans of Peter Jackson's King Kong,) played a good foil to Christensen as fellow jumper, Griffin. Diane Lane rounds out the notable cast as David's mother, about which I will spill no beans.

Doug Liman, the director of a few of my other favorites including, Swingers, Bourne Identity, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, takes us on a wild ride through David's discovery of his power, his later discovery by the paladins, his mix-up with the hapless Millie, his recruitment of Griffin and final showdown with Roland. All while globe-hopping more than James Bond in his last three movies combined. It is an exciting ride with some good breaks to keep the pace just right. The plot made sense, the dialog was good, the acting was fair, the cinematography was excellent.

What was missing was a little more exposition. Why are the paladins so set on eliminating jumpers? Is it a divine mission or did someone wake up centuries ago and say, "I feel like committing genocide today!" While Roland gives us a little bit of the divine zealot, "Only God should be able to be in all places at once!" We don't get much by way of history beyond tantalizing glimpses of clippings and drawings in Griffin's lair (yes, lair, that's what he called it.)

We also do not get much to make us sympathetic to David. Sure, his childhood wasn't great, but he more than made up for it with a lifestyle most people could only dream of, financed in super-villain style. We're even treated to a scene of him watching flood victims while the voice over intones, "It would take a miracle to get those people out of there." I'm pretty sure a dude teleporting onto a rooftop and zipping a couple of people out qualifies as a miracle.

I would like to have seen more of Bilson, (who wouldn't, eh? Eh? Nod's as good as a wink to a blind bat! Eh? Eh?) Her character served more as a damsel in distress than a strong-willed waitress from Detroit, but in the context of the damsel, she did just fine.

I couldn't help but feeling as we watched, especially towards the end, that this was meant to be the first in a series. Maybe even a movie-theater pilot for a television series later on. Perhaps that's why we were only favored with brief glimpses into what makes this world work. If so, then I'm afraid its rather dismal showing at the box office will keep us from getting any more.

Boy, now it sounds like I didn't like the movie at all! I did! Heck, any movie that refers to Marvel's Team Up not once, but multiple times, is going to get a fair shake from me. The problems I mentioned above are not deal breakers, especially not for an off-season sci-fi action movie. I had a great time suspending my disbelief and munching my popcorn as jumpers jumped, damsels distressed, and paladins-um-paladeded. I'll be picking this movie up for my home collection when it hits DVD.

I give Jumper six out of eight teleportation after-effect swirly thingies on a scale I just made up that doesn't mean anything. Now, for those of you that agree with me on the Bilson topic, here's a bonus.

Oddly Related Note Dept.
Firefox's built-in spell checker tells me teleport should be deportee. What would Bush do for a few jumpers to take care of the illegal alien situation?

Disappointment in a Nerdy Way

I feel a little bad for Jon. He's been eagerly anticipating the third installment of the new animated movies that DC Comics have been releasing, The Judas Contract, featuring the Teen Titans. I understand the sentiment. Not only were the Teen Titans one of Jon's favorite teams growing up, but that particular storyline was very good. DC announced the first three animated movies a couple of years ago. They were to be about the death of Superman, a Justice League movie based on an excellent graphic novel, and The Judas Contract.

They already released the Superman movie, Superman: Doomsday. I picked up my copy of the Justice League one, New Frontier, last night. Not having time to watch the whole thing, since we'd be watching Beowulf (also freshly minted on DVD,) I popped it in long enough to see the coming attractions. Imagine my surprise when I found that instead of The Judas Contract, the next DC animated feature would be Batman: Gotham Knights.

Disappointing, really. As cool as Batman is, he's had plenty of time to hog the animation lime light. He's even had at one animated movie play in the theaters, for Alfred's sake! So, finding out that the next animated movie would be a lead-in to the upcoming live action Batman film, while understandable, was a let down nonetheless.

I can only imagine how disappointed Jon is. That's not all, though. The sneak peak of Gotham Knights confirms what may be Jon's worst fear for the iconic super hero. He's going anime.

Yup, the DVD will feature six separate stories, all animated by different Japanese directors and art houses. That means not just one feature depicted in Jon's most loathed art style, but six!

I'm not averse to anime myself. I enjoy the medium. However, I can't say I'm looking forward to Bruce Wayne's foray into the dense, steamy jungles of Japanese animation. While Jon and I don't share a hatred for all things anime/manga, we do agree that its affect on mainstream American comics is lamentable. Manga, for those who don't know, consists of hyper-exaggerated expressions and movements as well as silly idiosyncrasies such as an abnormally huge drop of sweat on a character's brow when they're frustrated or kitten ears popping up on a character's head if they're being mischievous.

These affectations have their place, they just don't happen to be where Batman is trying to instill fear in the hearts of evil doers or when Superman is trying to stop a nuclear missile from exploding. I guess what I'm saying is that I believe in a segregation of styles. "You've got your manga in my comics!" "You've got your comics in my manga!" It just doesn't work as well as chocolate and peanut butter.

There was a trend recently when exactly that happened. It seemed to hit Marvel comics harder than DC, with manga artists drawing titles such as The Uncanny X-Men. It was Not Good. I think I understand why they did it. Just a glance at your local book store will reveal the densely populated manga section that probably dwarfs the graphic novel shelves. Kids like the manga. Marvel wanted to recapture that demographic. It didn't seem to work, since more traditional art has been gracing the pages of mainstream comics again. I sincerely doubt it will be the last time I see it there, though.

As for the anime stylings of DC, I'm not sure if I'll pick up Batman: Gotham Knights. It's possible that I'm wrong. Batman may lend himself perfectly to the anime genre. It's more probable that the whole thing will blow.

Why MMOs Suck, or Do They?

What's this? A Web Log? A place where I can write thoughts, rants, and commentary? Why, that's brilliant! Why didn't I think of doing this before? What's that? I did? I've been here before? This is my blog? No! Really? Well then, I suppose I should write about something!

This could possibly break my self-imposed fast on MMOs.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I played the grand daddy of MMORPGs, Everquest, for a few years. It wasn't the first, but it was certainly the biggest until World of Warcraft came along. I was out of that world long before then, though.

The appeal of MMORPGs is not hard to define. The idea of a persistent world in which players can develop an avatar, form relationships, and take part in the stories in that virtual space is more than enough to lure in many people. Each MMORPG has its own quirks and features that expound on those basic principles.

A few things soured me on the genre. The biggest one is the implicit requirement to play with others. It may come as a surprise to some people that don't know me, but I'm a loner by nature. Stacy keeps me in circulation so I don't lapse too far, thanks baby. Reaching a point in the game that required me to join a group of complete strangers just to play further only served to encourage me not to play.

"But Scott," I hear you say, "Didn't you have friends that you could play with?"

Yeah, those friends would invariably either play at different times or play to the point where our avatars were no longer able to group together. "Sorry, man. I'll hang out with you for a little while though! Wait, my guild is raiding a dragon's lair, gotta go! Have fun!"

Wheeeee!

"No," you say, "That's not what I was going to say. Why not take that as an opportunity to make new friends, blah, blah, blah?"

Maybe you didn't read the paragraph where I said I'm a loner by nature? I've got friends and family. I don't need any more, especially not the kind that are obsessed with an online game like Evercrackquest.

Knowing that there was content in the game I would never see without spending hours and hours doing repetitive actions was even more disappointing to my completist nature. The game got to the point where it was a chore to sign on and kill the same monster over and over until I was strong enough to repeat the process with the next monster. I play games to have fun. When the game is no longer fun, I put it down.

So I put down Everquest. I also decided that the whole MMO lifestyle was not for me. I have other demands on my time that preclude devoting the amount of time required to really explore such games. Give me something like Mario Galaxies where I can play a few levels and turn it off, confident in the fact that when I turn it back on, I'll be able to pick up where I left off and eventually complete the game.

Even better, give me a game like LEGO: Star Wars with replayability that keeps me coming back for more and more. I'm eagerly awaiting LEGO: Batman and LEGO: Indiana Jones. You can imagine why the following article has piqued my long-dormant curiosity in the MMO realm.

LEGO Universe

The idea that I can build anything I can think of in the game and then export it to real life LEGOs alone is enough to get me to try the game out. Even if the MMO part sucks rocks, I could totally get into that part. I just hope they don't withhold the good LEGO bricks for people that complete crazy multi-part quests that require teaming up with complete strangers and performing the same actions over and over again.

Cuz then LEGO Universe can go to ****.

Awesome Ad Deserves Awesome Post

I know lately I've just been a ad whore here, but being a Michael Bay fan and a fan of all things awesome, I feel I need to post this.



Once again, thanks for the drop goes to www.bwe.tv (I know they got it elsewhere, but seriously, if I tracked these things back to their source then I'd just be thanking the creators of the video, and who does that?)

Something to Look Forward To

I don't mean to overshadow the holiday or my sentiments about my wife (see post below,) but there are few words that can express my excitement for what the trailer on this site depicts. The music is still ringing in my ears.



If you can watch that trailer and not be excited, well then we have nothing more to discuss.

Good day.

I said good day!

Valentines Day

I opened my lunch to discover a sweet poem from my wife. Then I sit down to eat and find she's posted another note to me on her blog. I'd remiss (and an utter ass) if I didn't respond in kind. So, those of you that aren't my wife, please excuse me as I wax poetic.

How simple to be happy here in heaven!
After all, one doesn't want for much.
Passion finds its willing partner, ever
Pleased to please with a deft and tender touch.
Yearning is like walking through a valley
Veiled in the loveliness of flowers.
All the beauty of the earth can only
Lead us to the edge of what is ours.
Etched into our love there is a message,
Not of now but of all time and place,
Telling of a truth beyond the passage
In which we move from mystery to grace.
Nor are there signs that such content can be
Except my love for you, and yours for me.

-Nicholas Gordon

I love you, Stacy, now and forever.

Darth Jaffe Joffer, Ruler of Zamunda

This video had me in tears. Some of the dubs don't work too well, but there are some real gems in here.



Thanks for the drop, BWE!

So...Very...Cold

You know that feeling you get when you wake up on a winter morning? The one that makes you wonder if the heater is on at all? You can usually chalk that up to stepping out of your warm blankets and into the comforter-less air. Yeah, not this morning. This morning, with outside temperatures below freezing and my daughters huddled in their coats as we prepared to leave, my beautiful wife thought to check the thermostat. Even though it was set for 65, the temperature was much lower. A quick trip down to the basement revealed that the pilot light for the furnace was out.

Lovely.

I know lighting your own pilot light is dangerous, especially the longer it may have been out, but we decided to try it. There was absolutely no odor of gas around the furnace, even at the very base. I figured it was safe enough. Then, being the certifiable genius I am, (also, not seeing an obvious place to light a pilot,) I decided to read the sticker on the front plate.

WARNING: This furnace is not equipped with a pilot light. It has an electric ignition. DO NOT try to light the furnace manually.

Er, okay.

I took a quick peek at the breaker switches in the next room and noticed that the furnace's switch was tripped. I flipped it and air started pumping through the blower.

Figures.

Now, we just have to figure out why the furnace tripped its circuit breaker.

Unrelated Side Note Dept
Stacy has started a blog of her very own. I've linked it over in the side bar. Check it out!

February, It's all about the customer

Time for your monthly shot of enthusiasm, brought to you by my Despair Inc wall calendar.

Holy Crap!

Thanks to the Tycho from Penny Arcade for dropping this gem. If that kind of tech doesn't appeal to you, then you're probably more interested in the latest product from Blammo: