Maybe I'm just not that into you ....

It's Pride weekend here in Denver and throughout most the country, and while our celebration is one of the largest in the U.S. I feel a bit *meh* about the whole thing this year.

Maybe it's the insomnia that even an ambien could alieve talking or maybe it's that I'm just not really happy with myself these days, but I think I will sit this year's festivities out. I will toast those who have gone before me making the Pride celebration even possible and reflect on my life whilst reading a book ( ok my iPad ) ...

and while I'm toasting ,  I will that the Gods that I picked a perfect time to take 5 days off of work ...

In brightest day, in blackest night ...

Very rarely do I go to a movie opening day anymore. I hate the crowds, the people who think they're watching the movie in their living room and have to yell out to the theater every little thing that happens onscreen, the fight for at least one armrest ( or the one-chair-between-everyone-lest-we-appear-gay rule ).  

But the hype for Green Lantern got to me ( and the fact that I could see Ryan Reynolds semi-naked ). So I dragged the b/f & roomie with me to see it.

Thoughts ?  

1) Not as "meh" as Super 8

2) Not as forgetful as Thor

3) Did I mention Ryan Reynolds semi-naked ?? 

4) I still can't wait for Cap'n America & Harry Potter ....

Movie Gumbo ...

I LOVE gumbo .....

and I really liked Super 8.  A movie made up from a stew of better and more memorable films; a little of this movie , a dash of that one , sprinkle liberally with fond memories & there you have it.  

This movie felt like one that I had missed as a 12-13 year old , right down to the film grain. Kids right outta The Goonies , at times the suspense right out of Jaws, and the  monster right outta Cloverfield. It might have tried a little too hard to tug at the heart strings ( trying to get the E.T. vibe ) but it didn't quite earn that ..... still I would definitely recommend it to anyone who isn't into Superheroes , Sequels or bad Rom-Coms.

Why I love and hate having a smartphone - The Oatmeal

via theoatmeal.com

-- amen --

United - Old vs New(ish)

Taken at Denver International Airport

new hat ...

Taken at Fraggle Rock

Sunday / Funday ...

Something fun to start off your Sunday with a smile ....

 

GUMBALL WARS : 

 

Gumball Wars from Scott Thierauf on Vimeo.

Paul Revere's Ride ...

Saying this woman is dumber than a box of hair would be an insult to hair ...  

I think she missed this day in grade-school civics class :

Paul Revere's Ride / Henry Wadsworth Longfellow  ~

 

Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, "If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower as a signal light,-- One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm." Then he said "Good-night!" and with muffled oar Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore, Just as the moon rose over the bay, Where swinging wide at her moorings lay The Somerset, British man-of-war; A phantom ship, with each mast and spar Across the moon like a prison bar, And a huge black hulk, that was magnified By its own reflection in the tide. Meanwhile, his friend through alley and street Wanders and watches, with eager ears, Till in the silence around him he hears The muster of men at the barrack door, The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet, And the measured tread of the grenadiers, Marching down to their boats on the shore. Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread, To the belfry chamber overhead, And startled the pigeons from their perch On the sombre rafters, that round him made Masses and moving shapes of shade,-- By the trembling ladder, steep and tall, To the highest window in the wall, Where he paused to listen and look down A moment on the roofs of the town And the moonlight flowing over all. Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead, In their night encampment on the hill, Wrapped in silence so deep and still That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread, The watchful night-wind, as it went Creeping along from tent to tent, And seeming to whisper, "All is well!" A moment only he feels the spell Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread Of the lonely belfry and the dead; For suddenly all his thoughts are bent On a shadowy something far away, Where the river widens to meet the bay,-- A line of black that bends and floats On the rising tide like a bridge of boats. Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere. Now he patted his horse's side, Now he gazed at the landscape far and near, Then, impetuous, stamped the earth, And turned and tightened his saddle girth; But mostly he watched with eager search The belfry tower of the Old North Church, As it rose above the graves on the hill, Lonely and spectral and sombre and still. And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height A glimmer, and then a gleam of light! He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight A second lamp in the belfry burns. A hurry of hoofs in a village street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet; That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night; And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, Kindled the land into flame with its heat. He has left the village and mounted the steep, And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep, Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides; And under the alders that skirt its edge, Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge, Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides. It was twelve by the village clock When he crossed the bridge into Medford town. He heard the crowing of the cock, And the barking of the farmer's dog, And felt the damp of the river fog, That rises after the sun goes down. It was one by the village clock, When he galloped into Lexington. He saw the gilded weathercock Swim in the moonlight as he passed, And the meeting-house windows, black and bare, Gaze at him with a spectral glare, As if they already stood aghast At the bloody work they would look upon. It was two by the village clock, When he came to the bridge in Concord town. He heard the bleating of the flock, And the twitter of birds among the trees, And felt the breath of the morning breeze Blowing over the meadow brown. And one was safe and asleep in his bed Who at the bridge would be first to fall, Who that day would be lying dead, Pierced by a British musket ball. You know the rest. In the books you have read How the British Regulars fired and fled,--- How the farmers gave them ball for ball, >From behind each fence and farmyard wall, Chasing the redcoats down the lane, Then crossing the fields to emerge again Under the trees at the turn of the road, And only pausing to fire and load. So through the night rode Paul Revere; And so through the night went his cry of alarm To every Middlesex village and farm,--- A cry of defiance, and not of fear, A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, And a word that shall echo for evermore! For, borne on the night-wind of the Past, Through all our history, to the last, In the hour of darkness and peril and need, The people will waken and listen to hear The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed, And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

The Hard Life of a Puppy II ...

Taken at Fraggle Rock

new decal for the Scooter !!

A 15 letter word meaning ....

... A puzzle consisting of a grid of squares and blanks into which words crossing vertically and horizontally are written according to clues ...

   OK. i am becoming obsessed with crossword puzzles. Especially since I've gotten into them on my iPad.  I used to muddle through the Rocky Mountain News puzzle at work ( when there used to be a paper ) but now , with the iPad,  the USA today app and about a 100 other apps,  you can do them until you become cross-eyed.  

  I've gotten the USA puzzle down to about 15-20 minutes now and think it's time to graduate to the next difficulty level ... not quite the NYT ( that's one for the pro's ) but maybe one of the East Coast papers .... there's a sense of accomplishment when you finish and the little   "congratulations" banner pops up. Plus, it's a great way to spend a Sunday morning; coffee , NPR and a crossword puzzle. 

... and better yet - doing crossword puzzles may help prevent Alzheimer's onset ... 

 

OK. i am becoming obsessed with crossword puzzles. Especially since .....

... and Iris ...

Taken at Fraggle Rock

good year for lilacs ...

Taken at Fraggle Rock

my Christmas Cactus is confused ...

Taken at Fraggle Rock

... the return of ScooterMonkey

I'm a bad blogger.

I've been going through a crisis of self-confidence lately. Why do I even try to do this ?  Who would want to read what I have to say anyway ??  Who do I think I am ?? 

Well .... I realized that I'm not trying to do this for anyone other than me & if some people do read this and find my stream of consciousness ramblings and pictures and political rantings worthwhile, all the better ...

Lately I've been playing around with the new GQ app for my iPad ( mainly because the b/f has a subscription so it's free - kinda ) ... I enjoy reading it , but ... I can't be the only guy that would have a really  hard time paying $200 for a pair of shorts and $600 for shoes , can I ???  I would like to be as "stylish" as the next guy , but I could find better ways to blow a grand.  That said , the app is fun and reminds me of the Esquire app but not quite as flashy. 

Anyhoo , I'm back and I'll try make this fun for me and for you ...

How God is managing the 2011 rapture - The Oatmeal

via theoatmeal.com

beautiful late-spring morning ...

Taken at Fraggle Rock

buon pomeriggio ...

Taken at Fraggle Rock

Happy Saturday

Taken at Fraggle Rock

Fright Night Trailer 2011

via youtube.com

kind of looking forward to this - enjoyed the original ....

Today's Happy Hour - The Bronx cocktail

Taken at Fraggle Rock

Light reflecting on elevator doors ...

Taken at Denver International Airport (DEN) ✈

dinner

Taken at Fraggle Rock

homemade gyros ...( 1st try )

Taken at Fraggle Rock

homemade tzatziki ....

Taken at Fraggle Rock

Ouiser - a portrait ( 1/2 puppy 1/2 muppet )

Taken at Fraggle Rock

Scootn' weather ! - Self Portrait 7

Taken at Little Ivy Chapel

Woayl Redding ...

... Among other stuff, the Queen gave the newlyweds a bunch of new titles of nobility, which is what royals give each other on special occasions instead of personalized coffee mugs. William and Katherine are now the newly minted Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Earl and Countess of Strathearn, and Baron and Baroness of Carrickfergus. I wonder if they have to assume their new duties as Baron and Baroness of Carrickfergus right away. It would be a shame if their honeymoon was interrupted by a call that there was a plumbing problem somewhere in Carrickfergus. ... ~ Randi Rhodes my goddess

re-post from The Rude Pundit

4/28/2011

One More Goddamn Birther Post:
Here's the thing about Donald Trump: you can call him a "puke-sucking, human-shaped lump of shit who jacks off while getting fucked in the ass by sweaty sumo wrestlers" and he'd just thank you for the attention. So there's nothing bad you can say about the lying garbage heap because he doesn't care. What you can say is that anyone who gave a goddamn what he has to say about anything any time is a fucking imbecile. If you take your political advice from the man who "fired" LaToya Jackson from a fake job on a shitty TV show with a straight face, then you pretty much deserve whatever terrible things are coming your way.

Yesterday, we were greeted to the media version of a police stop and frisk. For the crime of presidenting while black, Barack Obama was forced to prove his innocence. The whole spectacle of the release of the so-called "long-form" birth certificate and Obama's speech after was degrading to all of us. In one way, the White House paid a ransom to the racists who were constantly attacking him. In another, it was a rather masterful political move by the White House: let's call a bluff and demonstrate just how irrational these fuckers are. Oh, and let's get a shitload of sympathy from the the left, who have been kicking our asses lately. Because this liberal Obama critic felt nothing but sympathy for the man yesterday for being told, as others have eloquently put it, to show us your papers. What a childish nation we are.

How mind-boggling is this? And how sadly not unexpected. And what's also sadly not unexpected is the reaction from the birthers. It's a forgery, it's not enough, it needs to go through forensics testing, what about his grades, what about his Social Security number, what about his Muslim connections, what about, what about, show us, show us. Seriously, could you guys just start saying, "That uppity nigger should be lynched"? Could you say that you're all het up because he looked at Hillary Clinton funny? Could you just stop pretending that anything else - anything else - is going on here other than that you hate black people with power? Because what you're doing is asking someone to prove shit when you don't have a scintilla of real evidence to support the crime you're accusing Obama of committing. What's next? Dig up his dead father to get DNA samples?

Shit, could Obama just get an intern to blow him in the Oval Office? Because, at this point, that fucking debacle makes sense. Hell, calling Bill Clinton a coke-snorting murderer just seems quaint.

Last night, the Rude Pundit was driven to MSNBC in a very big SUV that lacked a bar. The chauffeur asked what the Rude Pundit was going to talk about on the news network. When he said the birth certificate nonsense, the chauffeur went on about how it's a fake, how Obama "lies" all the time. "Every word out of his mouth is a lie," he said when the Rude Pundit asked him for one example. So of course the birth certificate was another lie. "Why did he keep it secret? What does he not release his marks in school?" the driver went on. He parroted every conspiracy website, every Fox "news" bullshit meme, every talk radio talking point: Obama gets all his power from illegal immigrants; Obama uses Chicago-style political tactics (which really just means "Democrats not acting like pussies"); and, of course, of course, Obama is a Muslim who is obviously attempting to destroy America with tactics straight out of Mein Kampf. Oh, and liberals want to kill all their enemies. It was fucking surreal.

So, yeah, we have a bigger birth certificate. But those who despise the president for existing don't give a happy monkey fuck and will continue to challenge Obama's legitimacy until he declares he is white. Otherwise, if they accepted the birth certificate and moved the fuck on, they'd have to deal with "issues" and use their so-called "brains."

By the way, on the way home, the same driver was bemoaning the treatment of Sarah Palin's children by the media. When the Rude Pundit pointed out how right-wingers talked about Chelsea Clinton, the driver said, "Well, she has terrible parents. And she was kind of ugly."

By the way, the one thing the Rude Pundit and the chauffeur agreed on was, as he put it, "Donald Trump is an ass."

// posted by Rude One @ 11:42 AMShareThis

via rudepundit.blogspot.com

I love this guys writing - I wish I could write like him ...

Happy Hour ( with thanks to Rachel Maddow )

Taken at Fraggle Rock

Roxie - a portrait

Taken at Fraggle Rock

Blog Challenge ...

BLOG CHALLENGE

64 days / 64 questions ..... Grilled Cheesus help me : 

1. Introduce yourself with a recent picture and 15 interesting facts 

2. Meaning behind your blog name 

3. Your first love 

4. Your parents 

5. A song to match your mood 

6. A picture of something that makes you happy 

7. Favorite movies 

8. Something you’re afraid of 

9. Favorite TV shows 

10. Something you don’t leave the house without 

11. Bible verse 

12. Dream house 

13. Something you’re looking forward to 

14. Favorite Place to Eat 

15. Something you miss 

16. Nicknames 

17. Favorite Picture of yourself ALL TIME Why? 

18. Something you’ve learned 

19. Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs 

20. Your Dream Wedding 

21. Something that stresses you out 

22. 3 Wishes 

23. 5 good things that happened since you started the challenge 

24. Your favorite song 

25. Your favorite book 

26. Your favorite quote 

27. A photo that makes you angry/sad 

28. A song that makes you cry (or nearly) 

29. An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.) 

30. A talent of yours 

31. A hobby of yours 

32. A recipe 

33. A website 

34. A YouTube video 

35. Your day, in great detail 

36. Your week, in great detail 

37. This month, in great detail 

38. This year, in great detail 

39. Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days 

40. Something you ate today. 

41. Your idea of the perfect first date. 

42. An animal you’d love to keep as a pet. 

43. The item you last purchased. 

44. Y our favorite place to eat. 

45. A TV show you’re currently addicted to. 

46. Your celebrity crush. 

47. Something you crave a lot. 

48. A letter to someone who has hurt you recently. 

49. A photo of something that means a lot to you. 

50. How have you changed since last year. 

51. Something you could never get tired of doing. 

52. Talk about a regret you have. 

53. Share a story from your childhood. 

54. Explain how you got one of your scars. 

55. How do you think others view you? 

56. A poem you wrote. 

57. Tell us about your best friend. 

58. A talent of yours. 

59. Your deepest fear. 

60. Reveal your most guilty pleasure. 

61. If you have tattoos, show them. If not, talk about the tattoos you want or why you don’t think they are right for you. 

62. Talk about the last “random act of kindness” you encountered. 

63. The last thing that made you cry. 

64. Say something to your 15 year old self. 

How to fix any computer - The Oatmeal

via theoatmeal.com

who needs an IT department ?? lol

safety first ...

Taken at Denver International Airport (DEN) ✈

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Movie Trailers - iTunes

via trailers.apple.com

i'm a sucker for these movies ....

On this episode of Hoarders ...

Ok.  I'll admit it.  I have a problem.

I'm a bag guy ( or murse , or man bag , or ... whatever ) . Hey , even Indy carried a murse ...

I hate stuffing shite in my pockets. Wallet, keys, lip balm, phone.  

Because of that I'm a bag freak. I think I'm on ebags.com more than I'm on Facebook. I'm always on a quest to find that perfect bag.  You know , the one with just the right amount of pockets to size to material to style. Then you have the backpack/messenger/sling/satchel debate... I'll get one that I think I'll like and it's either too small or too big or doesn't have a space for my iPhone/iPad charger or whatever and I'll start my quest all over.

I can't begin to count the number of bags I've bought over the years and then proceeded to tossed into a corner after a couple of months. By now the b/f just rolls his eyes and say "ANOTHER???" and i'll sheepishly smile and try to explain/justify why *this* bag/backpack is just the one I've been looking for.

I fully expect to see a camera crew show up for either Hoarders or Intervention along with my family a counselor and maybe Dr. Drew ...

Because you see , I've just found this great leather satchel ...

See the full gallery on Posterous

Dear Sriracha Rooster Sauce - The Oatmeal

via theoatmeal.com

amen !

Comfort-Food Monday ...

Taken at Fraggle Rock

A Game of Thrones ...

Growing up reading Tolkien , Terry Brooks and Robert Jordan gave me a huge appreciation of fantasy ( both high and low ). But nothing has really grabbed me like the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. 

More "reality" based than Tolkein , but with an underlying current of fantasy/supernatural that really kept me reading. Also enough political intrigue to choke a Koch brother. 

Now HBO has made the first of the series A Game of Thrones into a series , and boy does it look good !   I'm really looking forward to this...

 

 

Game of Thrones Exclusive Preview