Vet - Part Two

After our visit to the vet yesterday we found out that Daisy needed one of her teeth pulled so we had to drop her off and leave her there. Last time we did this it was horrible as she gives you that look like you are abandoning her and I was not looking forward to doing it again. Luckily this time Harry was here and actually did the leaving.

As soon as we get near the building she started to whimper. When we walk in she was whimpering and when they came to take her away she was not moving, she was holding her ground and wasn't going to budge. Harry had to pick her up and walk her to the back. It's tough leaving her because we know she was abused by her former owners and you don't want to cause any more trauma for your dog but we also knew that in order for her to feel better she had to get that tooth removed.

Well four hours later we go to pick her up and she can't wait to get out of there. She had shaved her right leg to start and IV so now she has a bald spot but she seems much happier now.

This visit cost $400+ along with yesterdays visit $350+ so in two days we spent $750+ on Daisy.. but what are you going to do.. she's part of the family, luckily we don't spend money like this on a regular bases.

So now she should be good until her regular check up in October.

With Apologies to Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury published a novel in 1962 called Something Wicked This Way Comes, that was turned into a movie at some point in the '80s. It involves a traveling carnival that is, well, wicked. And what does this have to do with amusement parks? Take a look at the picture at the top of this post and I'll give you three guesses!

I grew up in Chicago and still live close by. We are the land of disappearing amusement parks. There used to be a place called Santa's Village. There used to be a place called Old Chicago, one of the first indoor amusement parks ever. There is still a place called Kiddieland, but not for long. And last but not least, there was once a place called Riverview, and the picture above is from that particular park.

I loved the place as a kid. It had rollercoasters with names like The Wild Mouse, The Bobs, and especially The Fireball. It had an Aladdin's Castle, as can be seen in the picture, and it also had something called The Rotor, where riders entered a space not unlike an angel food cake tube pan (although the walls didn't curve in) and enjoyed the dubious privelege of being stuck to the wall by centrifugal force as the entire room spun faster and faster while the floor dropped from under your feet. Great stuff! There had even been an old-time freak show there. As a kid, I thought the park was magical.

As I got older, I began to understand words like "seamy" and "tawdry" and "tired" and even "unkempt." Maybe things were changing as I was growing up, and the litter along the walks, the cigarette butts, the beer bottles stashed away behind the benches had been there all along and were just becoming more obvious. I really don't know. But the last time I went there, I realized it would be the last time I went there because the feel of the place was becoming somewhat uncomfortable, like a pair of shabby and gravel-worn shoes, tired enough to be cast away, finally. Riverview became that kind of place for me.

I suppose, being a writer and afficionado of the supernatural, it would figure that Ray Bradbury's traveling nightmare of a carnival, run by Mr. Dark, would make me think of an amusement park from my own childhood. To be fair, I do remember some fun times at that place. They had a great merry-go-round (that went to Six Flags in Georgia) and featured a ferris wheel that offered a great view of the city from the top of it. Still, I sometimes wonder if having a Riverview Park in my past is one reason that to this day, amusement parks are not among my favorite ways to amuse myself.

"By the pricking of my thumbs..."


In the mood for a good ghost story? Buy my latest, Hunting Spirits, at QuakeMe.com, a division of Echelon Press, here!
http://www.echelonpress.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=10_32_36

Vet

Today we took Daisy to the Vet, she looked as if she was losing weight and very lethargic, but the real reason we were taking her is that she broke one of her tooth's in half and we wanted to see what needed to be done.

We get there and of course she is terrified of the Vets. But we manage to drag her in the front door. We weight her and find out that she actually has gained about three pounds... so much for losing weight. We are seen by the doctor and he says her weight is being re-distributed around her body. He said the reason she is always tired is because partly the heat and secondly the bad tooth is painful. He said the nerve is exposed and has to be really painful. They asked that we bring her back tomorrow and drop her off so they can extract the bad tooth. So he gave her a shot for the pain and drew some blood to make sure everything was functioning properly.

Left the Vet with a $350+ bill... Ugh!!!

Cedar Point & The Gigacoaster

It's Amazing how amusement parks leave an indelible memory isn't it? You're there with family, friends, maybe a date you're interested in... The excitement of being with wonderful people combined with adrenaline fueled rides somehow is the epitome of having a good time. Cedar Point amusement park is located in Sandusky Ohio with is about an hour and a half drive from Cleveland. I've only had the pleasure of visiting this place once, but the memories last to this day. All sense of the outside world is left behind at the gates of Cedar Point. It provides the escape of all escapes where work, school, stress, or whatever is troubling you just melts away as you're surrounded with nothing but carnival food, games and best of all, roller coasters.

Cedar Point is the second largest amusement park in the nation, boasting the wolrd's most roller coasters at 17 over 300+ acres of land. This place is huge and you can literally get lost in it. Well, that's the idea right? My favorite roller coaster was the Millennium Force which reaches 310 feet in the air giving you a strange yet beautiful view of Lake Eerie which the park stands directly next to. When you reach the precipice, you are dropped at a 45 degree angle at a top speed of 93 miles an hour! It was so large and fast that they renamed it a "gigacoaster". On my first trip on this beast I remember looking around and I wasn't sure where I was. In fact I turned to my dad and said, "This is awesome, but I'm disoriented." Now THAT is a roller coaster!


Since I was there, they've built the Wicked Twister, Top Thrill Dragster
and The Maverick which all push the roller coaster world to new levels. If you're in Ohio and feel the need to get away from it all as well as increase your heart rate, Cedar Point is the place for you.

Nick Valentino's debut novel, Thomas Riley comes out October 2009 on Echelon Press.
http://nickvalentino.blogspot.com

Taking the Bar. Hope I pass.

FYI, I'm on bar hiatus. It's day 3--wish me belated luck (this was scheduled in advance). I'll be back in August. Miss ya.

Fontaine Ferry - Gone, But Not Forgotten

Fontaine Ferry, or Fountain Ferry as we all called it (Didn't find out differently until a couple of years ago), was a blast! We'd load – and I do mean, LOAD – two or three cars and drive the 25 miles to Louisville's old theme park at least twice every summer. The designer of Palisades Park in New York conceived the idea for Fontaine Ferry. It opened in 1905 and closed in 1969. (Oops! Guess I just gave away my age.)

The excitement from walking into the impressive front entrance was second-to-none. We'd all run to the roller coaster first (I was reminded by friend, Pat, that it was called The Comet). Or rather, Pat and everyone else would run. I'd walk since it wasn't my favorite thing to ride, but to admit I got queasy going up and down...up and down...up and around the tracks, was not an option. Besides, a snow cone would usually settle my stomach. And, if that didn't work, cotton candy would do the trick.


The place I remember most is the Hilarity Hall, the funhouse. From the crazy mirrors that made you look short and squatty, tall as a beanpole, or just plain weird, to the spinning "Sugar Bowl," and the double slides. Simple attractions, but we loved them.

Rounding out my top faves were the Skooter Cars (bumper cars), the Ferris Wheel and the Ghost Train.

By 21st century theme park standards like Disney World, Universal, and even Six Flags, Fontaine Ferry was pretty tame, but it still holds some of my fondest memories. If you have special memories of this Kentuckiana park, let us know.

Fontaine Ferry Park

WHAS Coverage and Memories

Mary Cunningham is the author of the award-winning series, Cynthia's Attic. Book Four, "The Magician's Castle" will be out in DEC 2009 (Quake - Echelon Press).

Mary Cunningham Books
Quake

For a limited time: Buy Ghost Light and also receive a FREE copy of THE MISSING LOCKET, book one in the Cynthia's Attic Fantasy Adventure series with your download. (both stories are in the Ghost Light file.)

Too Good To Be True

And it continues... I got an email from our home specialist informing me that they could not complete the loan because of an FHA case number issue. It seems that the house had an appraisal done back in June of 2008 and there was a case number issued thru FHA. Well that is the case number they were using for our loan (don't ask me why) but it's the wrong number and now we can not get final loan approval until this is taken care of. And of course it will take 5 to 7 business days to cancel that case number and issue a new one for our loan.

I then emailed my loan specialist and asked if this means that our loan was approved. Here is what she wrote. "Correct. This is what the underwriter said: The loan is fully approved, subject to case # issue being resolved So the good news is our loan is fully approved but we just have to wait a week for this case # issue to be resolved.

Of course I'm not going to celebrate just yet.. I won't celebrate until I sign the final papers and have the keys in my hand.. I don't want to get excited but it tough not being a little excited that this long horrible process is almost over. (Famous last words).

The BIG Water Slide!

The slide in the picture is on the dock of our lake. Water runs down it continually and it always gives you a fast ride. This is the only kind of slide I had ever been on, until I visited my first water park in Branson, MO.
The time was the seventies and giant water slides had just come into popularity. I had never been on one, or even seen one. My sister lived near Branson that summer while her hubby was in law school. They invited our family out for a weekend. She talked excitedly about the huge, new water slide.
We parked our car and approached from the top side. I still couldn't see the entire length of the slide. We got in line. When it was my turn to sit down on a rubber mat, I decided it was too scary for my 5-yr-old daughter to ride alone. So....I sat down, swiveled around and had my little girl sit between my legs. I had planned to turn BACK around and push off....but something happened! When little Stephanie sat down and I hugged her tightly to my body, I must have slightly pushed us backwards.
It was all it took! Off we went, cascading down the huge drop BACKWARDS. I was never so scared in my entire life. I had no idea what was coming. I didn't know if you were supposed to duck under bridges or such, so I lay down and held onto my little girl with all my might.
We shot like a bullet down hills and around corners, going what seemed like 100mph. Keep in mind: it was my first slide adventure, I had my child with me, I had no idea what was coming, and WE WERE DOING THE WHOLE THING HEADFIRST AND BACKWARDS!!
People along the route cheered us on. They thought we were daredevils!! I vaguely recall my husband yelling as we zoomed by, "Be Careful!" Yeah, right. You can really be careful when you are shooting down a slide upside down and backwards.
After what seemed an eternity, we landed in a pool of water. I think I breathed for the first time since we left the launch pad. People clapped and said things like,"Wow! You're sure brave. I've never thought of trying it that way!" I glared at them.
Little Stephanie looked up at me and said, "That was fun, Mommy. Can we do it again?"
We didn't.

And it Continues

Today there are several new developments regarding the Loan Documents. This morning we were waiting to hear from the Loan Specialist about the Gift Letter for the Down Payment on the loan. Normally that letter should be good enough, but we did send them the "wire" transfer document and was hoping this would suffice.. Well no surprise here they did not accept it and wanted a bank statement from Harry's bank. That was it.. we had hit a wall. There was no way of getting Harry's bank statement and I was hoping this wasn't going to be the thing that would make them decline the loan. After a few hours of major stress I asked Harry if he had an older bank statement and sure enough he had one that was over five years old. But it did have his name and account number on it and I was hoping this would be proof enough. So I made a PDF of it and sent it to our loan specialist.

Hours pass and I'm stressed out when I get an email informing me that the underwriter accepted the bank statement and that we have finally fulfilled all our requirements for the loan with one exception... they were having a problem verifying my employment. I immediately called my boss Darla and asked if she had been contacted, she said now. I contacted the loan specialist and she said they had been trying for two days to get a hold of her and left messages. I emailed my loan specialist and gave her Darla's cell phone and then got an email back informing me that they can't call cell phones. So I called my boss again and she said she hadn't gotten any message and gives me an alternate number. I tell her to stay at her desk and that I will let the loan specialist know and she'll call her now. So I did so and she called but said she left a message. I call Darla and she says she's calling the woman now. I finally get an email from my loan specialist informing that she had verified my employment and that everything is done and we should be hearing about our final approval either tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. Now we wait and see what happens. I don't want to get my hopes up.. I'm I can't help but get excited that we are almost done.

Greg Aronowitz - Master SFX

My friend Greg Aronowitz ( a master at SFX making) who I videotaped for a week while he made the weapons for The Guild music video.

He is doing a new project and he wants to share the process with his fans. So he asked for my help. I suggested that he create a blog where he can post pictures and video of the processes. So today I set up his Blog.. and posted his first day on creating Zombies masks.. you can check it out here.

Home Loan - MIA

As you guys can tell from the title of the Blog Post. The Loan Documents are still Missing In Action!! No surprise here. I would have been shocked me if BofA had managed to get the loan documents together today as promised. Meanwhile it has been 70+ days and they still haven't gotten their act together, which doesn’t really surprise me.

Our Realtor got involved today, she first called our so called Loan Specialist and of course she didn’t get a hold of her, so she left a message and was expected she didn’t call back. She then called the woman she had talked to on Friday, who was very helpful but didn't know much about our loan. , she managed to get the phone number of the supervisor of our loan specialist. Of course she didn't not answer but Mary our Realtor left a message and said she wasn't mean but clear that we were upset and the slowness of their process. Maybe a half hour later Cindy, our so called Loan Specialist, started answering our emails that we have be sending to her for the past several weeks.

Suddenly all the documents we had all sent in were now approved. The only thing that came back as pending was the Private Road Maintenance Agreement. Mary than emailed them the CA Law for a second time, that in essence states, that certain easements exists. These easements are a irrevocable part of the title and supersede and Private Agreements. That’s what Harry's has been saying from the beginning, as a private agreement is not the way things are being done in rural/agricultural areas and on the other hand such private agreements are not even worth the cost of the paper they are printed on. The Loan Specialist then forwarded that to the Underwriter and we got the info back that this was good enough. So it looked like everyone was done and we were on our way to home ownership... well not quite.

Later we got another email from our Loan Specialist telling us that the Underwriter wanted proof from where the funds of the down payment are coming. We had done a gift letter stating that the money came from Harry's bank account and that it was a gift and I was not expected to pay it back. Normally this is good enough but for some reason BofA wanted Harry's bank statement showing the amount being transferred. We of course can't get Harry's bank statement since he hasn't been back to Austria for over five years. We did find out that the Underwriter wanted to see Harry's name with the amount of the gift. So I printed out the "wire" transfer info which had Harry's name and gift amount. I was hoping this would suffice. This is the last thing we need to deal with before closing on the house which is suppose to happen in two days. Now we wait and see if they will accept this. If it's not one thing it's another.. just wish this would all be over.

Are We Being Amused?

Let’s get this out of the way first. The term “amusement park.” Kind of an anachronism, don’t you think? I get “theme” park—that works in many cases. But I hardly call being dropped thirteen stories straight down a pitch black elevator shaft simply amusing. No, this is something that SCARES THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUTTA ME! (And that was the tamest, most acceptable way I could put it, without the actual desired expletives.)

I’m talking about Disney’s California Adventure’s “Tower of Terror,” of course. “Terror” doesn’t begin to cut it, for me. Got talked into this amusing torture a few years ago, and I’m still quivering at the core. Stephen King once commented that he simply wrote about the various things that scare people; our basic, instinctual fears. Well, Mr. King and several thrill ride designers have something in common. Disney’s “Hollywood Tower Hotel” elevator moves both vertically and horizontally, and is controlled by a randomized computer program. That, in itself, is enough to scare many people.

What scares you? Obviously, for me, it’s the drop. The fear of freefalling. Disney calls it a "delirious drop." I'll say! I also can’t take Splash Mountain at Disneyland (take the WDS virtual ride at You Tube.) That moment of unrestrained weightlessness, terrifying to me, simply enraptures others. For some, audio-animatronics are the stuff of nightmares. Think the massive, bellowing King Kong* at the Universal Studios Tour or the mechanical, computerized “JAWS” that leaps at the tram on the same ride. (I’ll admit to once jumping onto my boyfriend’s lap at the sight of the great white snapping his bloody, deadly jaws.)

Roller coasters are another breed. Twisting, turning, climbing, racing downhill, hell-bent on bucking off its intrepid riders. I’m not a conventional coaster fan, but I do love thematic coasters-in-disguise such as Space Mountain, Big Thunder and the Matterhorn.

So come on, what’s your bugaboo? What ride leaves you quaking, shaking and leaving the lights on at night? Or do you simply just enjoy being amused…

Pam Ripling is the author of middle-grade mystery, LOCKER SHOCK! Buy it at Quake, Fictionwise or Amazon today! E-book version now available for your Kindle! Visit Pam at www.BeaconStreetBooks.com.

ps - You "amusement park" fanatics will be happy to note that the aforementioned King Kong attraction, which was badly damaged during a studio fire last year, is being rebuilt. Story about plans for the upgraded 3D ape here.

Oh, the Horror of FUN!

I'm working in a whole new genre for me—horror. I love this genre—books, movies, art—all of those wonderfully spine-tingling images have always drawn me to them like they were chocolate.

Mystery Walk is the first book I read by Robert McCammon. One of my favorite scenes is about a haunted carnival ride. People have died over and over, their souls left to haunt the ride and our hero can see and hear them. Awesome sequence.

One of my first favorite movies in this genre (that I was allowed to watch) was The Fury. This is about a father determined to save his son from the government folks wanting to exploit his psychic abilities. At the end, the boy causes the ride to spin off its base, loaded with people. (Trailer for the Fury)

Another "theme park gone bad" film I totally loved was WestWorld. This is Terminator meets Clint Eastwood in a really twisted way!

My personal favorite ride is the Zipper. When the cage really spins, I can't stop laughing, it's so much fun. I always remember these scenes however, and I think this adds to my thrill. For the price of a few perforated tickets, I can experience the fun over and over again.

What's your favorite ride and why?


J.R. Turner is the author of the Extreme Hauntings series. The first book, DFF: Dead Friends Forever is available at Amazon.com, Kindle, Fictionwise, and Echelon Press.com

Comic Con Day Four - Final Day

Today was the final day of Comic Con. Again I had a list of panels to do but since Will was here I really wanted to hang with him as we were only did about 1/3 of the floor yesterday. So we got up and got ready. I had to wake up Ethan as we had to check out. So we all left the hotel a little after 9am. I checked out and we packed everything into our cars and got a taxi to drive us to the convention center. We got to the con about 9:45am and started in the hall where we left off. What was fun about doing the hall with Will is he enjoys visiting every table and is so friendly and chats with everyone. So I got to see things I would normally just walk by and not give a second glance at.
At lunch time we picked up some food from the convention center cafe. After lunch we did a little more floor and then Will wanted to do another VO panel. He went upstairs and I headed to The Guild booth to visit. Once his panel was over we continued to walk the floor and finally finished the entire floor around 4pm.


Will was able to grab a photo with Felicia as they were finishing there final autograph session. Other Guildies started to show up as the hall was closing at 5pm and the Con would be over. Everyone wanted to meet up one more time to say our final goodbyes. While we were waiting another Knights of the Guild fan found me. Nightscream is her screen name. We chatted for a bit before we said our goodbyes.

We all said our final goodbyes and Will, Ethan and I went back to our cars, made some peanut butter sandwiches for the ride home and started the trip back up north to home. I dropped off Ethan around 9pm and made it home by 10pm. Comic con was awesome but man it was good to be home.

Crazy food

My husband has told me that, if I ever got pregnant, he would know immediately, because I'd start eating like a normal person. I have very creative tastes in food, mainly centering around condiments. Of course, most of my foods make people a little nauseous; a soup made of cottage cheese and salsa, mashed potatoes and mustard, cheddar slices dipped in tomato juice, spaghetti and pickles...you get the idea. But a few of my snacks have actually won rather universal popularity, so I figured I would share them with you. They're simple enough that you don't need to make it into an 'official' recipe format.

For the first, all you have to do is combine cottage cheese with a fair amount of pitted green olives (try to estimate 1 per bite). Mix well, then eat with Ritz crackers (Ritz crackers are crucial; don't try generic Ritz or anything crazy like that). This can actually replace a meal, and it's quite healthy; be careful though, because it's low in calories, but high in salt.

The second is my favorite, for a couple reasons, not least that this is a filling, practically zero calorie alternative to chips and dip. Peel and slice a small cucumber (crosswise, so you get little disks). Then, either put salsa into a bowl on the side and use the slices to dip, or arrange the cukes on a plate and pour salsa over them. For an additional flavor twist (but keep in mind, it'll raise the amount of calories in this snack) mix feta cheese into the salsa.
Hope you enjoy my strange snacks!


Buy Jacquelyn's YA Fantasy novel at Amazon.com or from Quake Direct!

Copper Reflections

Still life is not my first subject choice, but every now and then there is this urge to try my hand.

Brilliant New York artist, Susan Martin Spar, always posts the most incredible still life paintings. So I thought, let me try again. With a bit of help from a fellow artist (we were lucky enough to use our wonderful teacher, Margie Johnson's studio while she was visiting her son in Australia), we set up this grouping.

I think I really wanted to try again because of the incredible reflections in the copper kettle. A spare bottle of red wine was found to round off the setting, which we promptly drank when I had finished.

Comic Con Day Three

Today was the first day that I was scheduled to actually work at The Guild booth. It was also the only day that had a panel that I absolutely wanted to see "V" . Also my good buddy Will was driving in to hang with me the last two days... so I was excited to see him.

So Ethan and I got up and did our normally morning thing, but instead of walking to the convention center we got a taxi. Got to the con around 9:30am. Headed to the The Guild booth. Once I got there Kim we prepping for a signing at the Browncoats booth. So I helped with that. She also informed me that they didn't need me today to work the booth. So instead I helped carry stuff over to the Browncoats table but more important was Felicia Day's bodyguard.. okay not really my since the Browncoats table is all the way on the other side of the hall I was in charge of preventing fans from stopping her as whenever Felicia was out on the floor people would constantly stop her. So with Kim on one side and me on the other we navigated the crowds and got Felicia to the Browncoats table in time and only got stopped a few times.

After the signing I took the stuff back to the Guild booth. I should have gotten in line for V now as it was about three hours before the panel but my buddy Will was not here yet and I had his pass and couldn't get into a line because I couldn't get out to give him his pass when he arrived. I also didn't want to wait three hours in line for a panel as I had heard that the line was already super long at this time and there was no guarantee that I would get in anyways. So instead I hooked up with some Guildies, Dani, Eva, Lydia, and Nas and headed out to Cafe Diem for lunch. (Cafe Diem is a fictitious cafe on Eureka that they created in a building down the street from the con.)
A few more Guildies joined us for lunch, Luis and Fernie. During lunch an old friend of mine just happened to run into me. CJ it was great seeing you, wish would spent more time together. Towards the end of lunch my buddy Will called and said he had arrived. So I directed him to the Cafe and we hooked up.

After lunch I spent the rest of the day with Will roaming around the convention center as this was Will's first Comic Con. We did the floor and he even did a VO panel. We had a great time and Will who I knew was a little geeky turned out to be an even bigger geek then I thought and I love him even more for it.After the floor closed at 7pm Will and I headed upstairs to attend the Legend of Neil panel. Of course there was a line but because I had worked on the show I was able to get Will and I in with the cast and crew so we got some decent seats. We watched the first three episodes of season two and then the panel including Sandeep and Felicia. It was a lot of fun. We then let with a bunch of Guildies and headed down to fifth street to find a place to eat. Every place was so busy and the wait were crazy so we continued to walk further down the road until we got to TGI Friday and was told the wait would be 20 minutes.. well about an hour later we finally sat down for dinner.

After dinner Will and I went back to his car and drove to the hotel, luckily we found a parking space on the street right behind my jeep. So we parked and went back to the hotel. By this time it was almost 1am and we were tired. We hung out a bit and chatted and waited for Ethan to get back as he was moving to the room next door in with Brian as Will was bunking with me. I think we finally went to bed around 2am and had to be up at 8am to do the final do of Con.

Bayou Bakery NOT Coming to Clarendon

News from Metrocurean via Twitter (@metrocurean via the PR rep) says Bayou Bakery isn't opening in the old Murky spot, as we originally thought/hoped. The p'ship between the Lib Tav Folks and the Bayou folks dissolved. We know how that goes--under NY law, p'ships automatically terminate at the death or resignation of any partner, absent contrary agreement.

What?

Anyway, Bayou Bakery is still going to open...somewhere else. And the Lib Tav crew will set something else (I have no clue what) in the Murky spot.

Sidenote, we had a really yum dinner at Restaurant 3 (or I guess 3 Bar & Grill?) last night--they lowered their prices a little, took the stick out of their patootie, and now they rock.

Not Sure What
3211 Wilson Blvd
Metro: Orange Line to Clarendon

Comic Con Day Two

This was the BIG GUILD DAY... it was the day of the Guild panel and huge announcements were being made. Today I got up and felt pretty good. I got a good five hours sleep and didn't seem to have a hangover. Ethan and I got up and rushed out as we wanted to get to the convention center as The Guild panel was at 10:30am but we knew there would be a line and I have to say we were not disappointed. When I got there I saw Ethan pretty far back in the line but I told him I would see if I could find Dani and the other guildies and sure enough they were about 20 or so folks back from the front so Ethan and I kind of slipped into line with them. I was told I would have a saved seat because I was going to video tape it. So the line went on and on and they finally opened the doors. The Guildies found pretty good seats as I went looking for my assigned seat. I was in the second row right in the middle. I met up with Michele Boyd and her parents, they are very sweet people. I noticed a seat next to Michele's Mom and asked if I could take as I would be front row center, the perfect spot to video the panel from. A few moments later the Whedon clan walked in.. that's right Jed and Maurissa who worked on the music video and next to them the master himself.. Joss Whedon. So I was sitting four seats away from him, I tried to not get all giddy but it was tough. Once everyone was seated the panel started Kim Evey (producer) came out and introduce a very special video that was exclusive to Comic Con. Of course I knew it was The music video but once it started the crowd went crazy. The laughed, clapped, cheered and applauded in all the right places. Once it was over Kim introduced the cast and they all came out in their Avatar outfits with their weapons.

Once the cast was out and seated Kim went on to introduce the world premiere of the first episode of Season Three. Again the crowd ate it up, laughed, cheered and applauded in all the right spaces and then at the very end when the second big surprise was revealed, you could hear the intact of breath from the 500 + attendees. A close up on the face of Wil Wheaton and then a pull out the introduce the rival Guild Axis of Anarchy... then To Be Continued... the crowd went crazy as Kim brought out Wil Wheaton who joined the panel.

After Wil come out Kim Evey brought up another guy who was with Dark Horse Comic and he announced that The Guild was getting it's own comic book. That is was mainly deal with the lives of The Guild's Avatars in game. Of course the crowd went crazy with excitement.

After that they finished the panel with a Q & A where we found out that Jeff Lewis and his wife who were recently married plan on getting married in game. Felicia is trying to level up her priest so she can marry them. The panel finished up and we started to head out. Come to find out that the room we were in only held 500 people and when Kim and Felicia asked for a bigger room they were told that they were just a webseries and didn't need the space. Well we had over 1100 people line up. We could have filled a room double the size and still have to turn people away. Let's hope Comic Con officials took notice.

Today I swore that I would stay away from the Guild Booth as I really wanted to walk the floor. But after the panel I decided to head over to the booth and glad I did as it was pretty busy and it was being maned by just one person. So I helped out a bit until it slowed down. I then grabbed some lunch from the cafe in the hall. It's convenient but costs lots of money. After lunch I finally was able to walk around the floor and take pictures of folks in costume and see all the cool stuff coming out next year. I also got to meet a Treks in Sci fi online friend that I have talked to for years her name is Desi and even though we didn't get to spend a ton of time together she was very sweet and a pleasure to talk to. I still didn't do any panels and when the hall closed at 7pm Ethan and I went back to Nicky Rottens for some dinner. Ethan being young wanted to go out and party. But I had been out past midnight the past few nights and even though I had been invited to an exclusive Roddenberry/Star Trek party and Jinx party I decided instead to head back to the hotel for some much needed rest. A few hours later Ethan showed up as the Jinx party was hot and crowded. We hung out and chatted for a bit before heading to bed.

This was a huge day for The Guild and I was happy to be part of it.

Mr. Hibachi Out, Chez Manelle In

Not sure what awaits me here, but I guess I'll find out when I get back. Crepes? Croque monsieurs? Maybe comedy club/tiki bar/bad fake European-inspired food? (Re comedy club, see here).

Goodbye Mr. Hibachi, hello Chez Manelle. Hope you are worth saying hello to.

No news yet (from me at least) who is going into the Marriott space at Adams & Clarendon.

Chez Manelle, coming soon to
2313 Wilson Blvd
Metro: Orange Line to Courthouse

Comic Con Day One

The day didn't start off to well.. our hotel room was super hot and had no air conditioner (That's what I get for going cheap) so I got very little sleep but I was excited for the con. I had already picked up my pass last night so I didn't have to deal with the crowds/lines to get the pass which made me very happy. Ethan and I headed out at 9am and arrived at the convention center around 9:30am. When we entered we went our own ways as Ethan wanted to check out a panel. I headed over to The Guild booth to say hi. I was not scheduled to work. I had a long list of panels that I wanted to see but they were not a priority. When I got to the table one of the guys who was working it wanted to go see our friends (Jared) panel. I too wanted to see it but the crowds were so bad and I was a bit tired so I told him I would stay and watch the table instead and he could go to the panel. Well after the panel they never came back, I assume he did lunch and stuff, by the time he returned it was 2:15 and his shift was over at 2:30 so I said I would stay and wait for the replacement. So I spent from 9:30am to 2:30pm at The Guild booth. It was alot of fun as I got to meet a bunch of Guild fans and a few Knights of the Guild fans. When I was relived I went and had some lunch and decided to walk the dealer room floor. Thursday was so jammed pack it felt like a Saturday. After a few hours of taking pictures and check out the floor I headed back to The Guild booth.. it became a center for the Guild fandom where folks would come together and meet up. It was so crowded there that I wound up staying at the guild booth the rest of the day until 6pm.

Once the hall was closed Ethan and I headed back to the hotel room to get ready for the exclusive Xbox/Guild party. It started at 9:30pm and would go until midnight. We got there a little before 9:30am and because we were within walking distance of the Hard Rock Hotel (where the party was) I decided to drink. Those of you who know me know I'm not a big drinker but this was going to be one exception. So I had a drink and since I was a light weight I got tipsy real quick and to top it off I didn't eat dinner, so the alcohol went right to my head. Of course I had two more drink and was feeling great. I was drunk but not enough to not remember what I did. I was the liaison of "The Guildies" Dani, Jeff, Nas, Luis, Eva and a few others between them and the stars of the Guild. They would ask me to introduce them to Robin or Amy or Felicia. So I spent the night introducing the gang to the Guild cast and others... it was a fun night.. everyone was in a great mood and it was also Sandeeps birthday and man he was plastered, even I could tell that. All in all it was a fun start to Con. After the party Ethan and I stumbled our way back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

So It Begins... Comic Con Day 0

So the day started out pretty good, I finished packing up stuff as I knew I wanted to leave around noon because I had to go pick my a Ethan (Guild intern) from a friends house in San Diego as he was going to be my roommate. So I load up my jeep and get a quick lesson on how to use Harry's GPS. I begin my joureny south but first fill up on gas.

I hit the road and for the most part things go smoothly, there was traffic here and there but nothing like it was last year where it took me 11 hours to get down there. This time it was a little over three hours. I pick up Ethan and then we head furthur into San Diego and to "Little Italy" where our hotel is.

We check in around 4pm and decide to shower and rest for a bit as we didn't have to meet everyone until 5:30pm. The hotel was a healty 30 minute walk. We get to the convention center around 5:45pm and it's packed. Since this was preview night the hall was open from 6pm to 9pm.

Ethan went to find Kim who had his pass while I stood in the "Professional" line to pick up my passes. This line was huge but surprisely took only about a half hour to get thru. Once in I went to the Guild's booth to say hi as I was not suppose to work the booth until the weekend, but as soon as I get there the cast had just started to sign autographes and there was a huge mass of people and I got sucked into helping with crowd control. Three hours later as the hall was closing I was released from my duties. So even though I wasn't schedule to work it was a good thing I was there as they needed all hands on deck for that signing.

During this time I got to meet some very cool Guildie fans, these are folks that I have talked to, either voice or text chat, online. One fan named Ryan reconized me from my avatar, as he was standing in line he asked me about my podcast Knights of the Guild. I was kind of surprised and flattered that someone reconized me. We stuck up a conversation and I gave him some KOTG swag. I didn't have t-shirt on me so I told him to come back and I would give him one of those too. I also got to be long time online buddies Dani, Nas and Eva. We have talked many times in Watchtheguild.com chat forum and it was great to finally meet them face to face.

After the signing we all (Jenni, Stuart, Ethan, Dani, Nas, Eva and a few others) decided to go grab some dinner. As the Con was just let out things were a mad house as we looked for a resturant that we weren't going to have to wait two hours to eat. After several tries and the group almost giving up we found a place called Nicky Rottens' Bar and Burger Joint. They were able to seat us all in like ten minutes. Sean Becker and Ferny Chien joined us along with some other Guildies.. we all chatted and had a great time. Somewhere around midnight the dinner party was over and everyone started to head back to thier hotels as we were all getting up early for the first day of con.

All in all it was a crazy but fun first day.. and this is only the beginning.

Fun-tastic Cuisine!

Teen-Seen has been all about creative food this week- but what about a food you can play with and not get in trouble? Sounds cool huh?


This recipe has been in my family ever since my Dad's grandma won a peanut butter cookie contest with these. We always make them around the holidays. They also became a traditional snack at the Jr. Beta State convention in Myrtle Beach! Oh wait- no instructions? You just dump the ingredients in a bowl and stir?

Basically.

Yep, Peanut Butter Log Cookies are that easy. Dump the ingredients into a bowl. Stir until well blended. Then shape! This is best done on wax paper sprinkled with powdered sugar. Dust your hands with some more powdered sugar, and get your hands dirty! Usually you can get 2 logs that are each about a foot long. Then you top with powdered sugar and stick 'em in the refrigerator. Leave them in there until solid and then slice and enjoy! They're no-bake, all-fun, and completely delicious!

Log cookies are the easiest (and safest) things that I like to make. My dad and I love to whip together AWESOME desserts- cheesecakes, almond roca, chocolate mousse, jellyrolls, ice-cream cakes, ice cream, even creme brulee. You name it, Dad and I have probably made it. When I first started to really cook with my dad, it got to the point that Mom (Regan) cringed when we reached for the sugar in the pantry. Now we've slowed down some, but we still enjoy ourselves when it's our turn in the kitchen.

In my opinion, the most creative food is the one that gives you the most memories. What sorts of family recipes do you have? What's you favorite dessert? Who do you like cooking with most? Interested Teen-Seen readers and I want to know!

Iris Black

My short story, Just One of the Guys, is available on Kindle. For more information about this and other news, go to Sam's Space now!

Home Loan MIA

Well as I had mentioned in previous blogs I was hoping to have everything wrapped up with this home loan before heading down to San Diego... well with Bank of America's track record my hopes were not high so I wasn't really surprised that I haven't heard a thing about the loan all week. Email and phone calls go un-answered. I'm beyond frustrated and upset, I'm at a lose of what do to next.. all I can hope for is everything is approved by Friday as we are set to close the following Wednesday. Wish us luck...

Comic Con Prep

Spent the day making sure I was ready for comic con, printed out my agenda, got all the KOTG swag together and ready to go. Mapped out everything, got phone numbers of Guildies that I'm suppose to met up with. Confirmed my hotel reservation, got money out of the bank, gassed up the jeep and I think I'm ready to drive down to San Diego for a crazy five days of geek heaven.

Waiting Patiently

It's been a while since I did anything for Karin Jurick's wonderful DSFDF blog, but love this guy sitting on his chair outside the office. I have called it 'Waiting Patiently' because it reminded me so much of all our refugees from Zimbabwe and points north, waiting and waiting outside the home office to get refugee status papers from our veeerrry sloooow government department.

I am not 100% happy with it and think I need to tone down the background somewhat, but because I've sent it on to Karin (hopefully in the correct format!) I thought I would post him here as well.

I have also been honoured with another award by the incredible animal portrait artist, Karie-Ann Cooper who lives an idyllic life in rural England! It is the Premio Meme Award and to be honoured in this way by this amazing artist is humbling.

I will in time, think of things to say about me that I haven't already said on my blog, although what Karie-Ann said about herself rings a lot of bells with me. Rather than send it on to individual people, I would dedicate this award to all those wonderful people I interact with on my blog - last count 76! All you amazingly talented artists out there, this one is for you!

Headshots

At the request of some of our fans of Knights of the Guild Jenni and I thought it would be fun to do some "official" pictures for our show. Today I am picking up one of those pictures that we turned into a headshot so we could sign it and Comic Con. I think they turned out pretty good.

Creative Food - It's not what you think!

Chefs get creative with food; the rest of us just eat it, right?

I'm not a chef, but I'm going to suggest a new way of looking at food - in miniature. It's as realistic, as yummy looking, and --- no calories!

I think you'll agree. Check out this amazingly realistic food, and try not to drool!

(The food is dollhouse scale, made of polymer clay. Many of the dishes are smaller than 1" in size!)



* Sam in Searching For A Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery finds some amazing miniatures as she searches for a lost (mini) Van Gogh!

It's Monday

Do I have to be creative - about food - on a Monday? Really?

Ah-well... to be fair it IS mid-morning on a Monday...and when I get peckish - and in need of a snack - I can get very creative.

Fair warning this first list is NOT compiled of healthy foods:

Candy corn and dry roasted peanuts. Fabulous! Add m&m's if you want a choco-rush with it.
Peanut butter and pretzels (I fib to myself and say it's better than the candy corn thing)
Cold pizza (I try to control myself and take the smallest available slice)

In the health conscious category - like when just looking at my jeans makes me wince:

Cottage cheese and grapes
An apple with a slice of cheese or peanut butter
Yogurt with a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips

You might notice a few of my food vices (like coffee) or my fave snacks (of either category) occasionally show up in my books and shorts - all available at Echelon Press or Amazon

Happy Snacking!
Regan

Uluru: To Climb or Not To Climb

Sorry for the recent lack of posts. I've taken a bit of a sebbatical over the last few weeks. Ok, to be honest, I collapsed with exhaustion under an enormous workload, then buggered off to the desert for a while. Leaving aside the horrifying details of embarking upon a desert road trip in a Kia Rio, with my non-English speaking mother-in-law; being fleeced by every sole trader in the Northern Territory, and encountering "Dinky, the Singing Dingo", I'll merely mention that we visited Uluru, then came home to find it at the centre of a cultural stoush about land rights, and whether or not it is acceptable for non-indigenous Australians to climb the rock.

The Northern Territory is, in many ways, a confusing place. Laws exist that actively discriminate between indigenous and non-indigenous Australias. White people find that there are wide tracts of land which they cannot enter without a permit from local elders, whilst in other areas, Aboriginal people may find that they (and they alone) are not allowed to purchase alcohol due to tribal edicts. Tourists at Uluru are faced with a complicated and subtle consideration when they discover that, although a clearly marked climb exists, with requisite safety rails, an array of signs at the bottom of the rock ask that "you respect the wishes of the Anangu people, and do not climb Uluru".

The reason isn't (entirely) one of whether "white" people should be on "black" land - the Anangu people are clear in stating that they are concerned for the safety of climbers, and that deaths or injuries sustained at Uluru cause the local people to experience "great sadness", and a feeling of responsibility for the casualties. Yet, the locals are also angry that the track exists in what is considered to be a sacred place of great spiritual significance. Recent calls have been made that the track be closed, and that visitors be banned from climbing Uluru out of respect for local customs.

I didn't climb Uluru, but it wasn't out of cultural sensitivity (frankly, it looked like a death wish, and before I'd gone fifty metres up, my shoes were slipping against the sheer rock in an alarming fashion). However, it's something that tens of thousands of people, from around the world, do every year. The question of whether they should be allowed to continue to do so is often, falsely, posed as a clear-cut one, by boths sides of the debate. Anti-climbers shrilly insist that cultural sensitivity is paramount, and frequently throw in, for good measure, a reference to the Stolen Generations, Invasion Day, or any other of the numerous and grave injustices against Aborigines over the last two centuries, to back up the point that concessions must be made in the name of reconciliation and cultural respect.

Pro-climbers often fallaciously argue that land cannot be owned, (as it pre-exists its owners, and isn't man made),and claim that the rock is a "national treasure" which all Australians (and foreigners) should be able to access, and decide whether or not to climb. An Editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald described the move to ban climbers from Uluru as "insular", whilst Prime Minister Kevin Rudd opposed the move, claiming that it would be "very sad if... Australians and... our guests from abroad weren't able to enjoy that experience". And whilst nobody is saying it too loudly, closing the climb could have serious effects upon the local tourism industry.

A good part of the argument boils down to whether it is appropriate or fair for the government to make one law for one ethnic group, and another law for the rest. Some Australians have already argued that the permit system of "closed communities" reinforces ethnic and cultural segregation, as well as effectively disenfranchising non-indigenous Australians (about 97.5% of the population) from entering large areas of their home country*. The permit system is often justified on the basis that "we took their land to start with", and therefore non-indigenous people have only a vicarious and fragile right to live in Australia, whilst indigenous groups have an inviolate historical right. For many non-indigenous Australians, this begs the question of where we should be living, as this is the only home we have known. If this country is somebody's sacred, ancestral land, then where on Earth is my sacred, ancestral land? Those of mixed heritage (like myself) don't seem to have much recourse to claim the right to live anywhere, if the right to do so is determined by belonging to a distinct ethnic, cultural and linguistic group.

Considering the extremely long odds on the fact that non-indigenous groups are going to abandon living in Australia**, it doesn't seem useful to perpetuate the idea that some of us have more rights to the land, or are more Australian than others. Being a citizen should be a consideration which trumps all others, including race and culture. True reconciliation can only be achieved when indigenous and non-indigenous people stand together as friends, instead of self-segregating in distrust and misunderstanding. True cultural respect can never be forced by means of a ban.

*Of course, claims to white victimhood in the debate over access to land are generally dismissed as being ridiculous, naive, and ignorant of historical facts - but on the other hand, it's easy to see the way that the policy may be depicted if it were reversed, in that it was white people telling Aboriginal people where they could and could not visit.

** I'd rate this as just slightly more likely than Paris Hilton ever winning an Oscar.

Final Home Inspection

Today we had our final home inspection. This is our last look at the house to make sure they fixed anything that we requested them to fix. It was a full house, seller's were there, seller's agent, her husband, our Realtor, two HUD engineers and a internet guy.

We first had the engineers look at the foundation and get a seal of approval that it was certified, the two guys walked around a few minutes and then said it's good. (cost us $400 for them to do that) but it was needed by the lender so it had to be done.

After that we spoke with the internet guy as this company uses our land for their relay station so send wifi to the valley below. He wanted to make sure we were cool with the set up as it does sit on our land and use our electricity. In return you get free wifi, which may sound good but he said that it's not as fast as Cable or DSL but faster then Dial up. Which I didn't like the sound of that, but that is something will have to deal with.

After all that we did our final walk through and inspected every room and made sure they fixed the few things we had asked them to fix. Everything looked fine so I signed the final home inspection report... now we just wait for the lender to approve the loan.. I hope it's done by Tuesday as I'm heading out to Comic Con on Wednesday.. I'll keep you posted.

The Goofiest Thing...

... That I've ever done.

Well...

I think it's pretty much impossible to narrow down all the goofiest things I've done to just one. So I think I'm just going to stick to broad stories.

Like everyone else, I've tripped over my own feet. In public. With my friends.

Yeah, it's embarrassing, but it's also pretty goofy. Especially when I try to laugh it off and have even tried to say once or twice that I meant to do that. In the end, I don't believe that was a very convincing argument. I think it just made the situation all the more goofier.

Not to mention the multiple times that I've gotten tongue-tied and end up saying something totally off from what I wanted to say. Which, naturally, leads to some very goofy sayings.

Okay, so maybe it's also the most embarrassing things I've done. They sometimes combine to be one-in-the-same.

What about all of you?

What are the goofiest things that you all have done?

Blu-Ray DVD Player

A few days ago our DVD/DVR player died. Harry and I have talked about getting a Blu-Ray but never really saw the need. I mean we got our Big Screen HDTV for Christmas just last year and I knew we would be getting a Blu-Ray one day. Well that day has come. Harry and I headed out to Best Buy to select one. They had about six different ones. One lower end, and one higher end and four in the middle. We opted for a middle one and talking with friends previously we knew a little bit about the machines. So with a little bit more info from the sales person we got a Samsung BD-P1600 DVD Blu-Ray Player (Besides playing Blu-Ray DVD's you can instantly watch movies streamed from Netflix, music from Pandora and enjoy special interactive features with BD-Live 2.0. It's also Wi-Fi compatible, meaning you can buy an USB adaptor to plug into your computer and the machine and you can watch movies off your computer) .

We were going to get a Blu-Ray DVD to play in it but we couldn't figure out a good one to buy. We didn't want to buy DVD's that we already have in SD but couldn't find an HD one.. so we opted to watch a classic TNG episode instead. The colors were brighter and the picture a bit sharper but I'm really looking forward to buy our first HD movie.

False Alarm

This morning I get up sore from my previous night dancing and get the mail. We get one letter from Bank of America. As I read it my heart drop as the letter informed me that the have declined my application for a Home Loan. The sited the reason for doing so as Property is a Manufactured Home. I immediately called my Realtor Mary on the verge of tears and told her my loan was no approved. We she trys to figure out what is going on I noticed the loan number on the page doesn't look right so I check it and they are not the same. What had happen is when I first applied for a loan with BofA I was approved. But when we decided to go for this house in Agua Dulce we couldn't get a traditional loan because it was a manufactured home so we had to get an FHA loan. So they opened another loan account for me, but it looks like they never closed the last one so that is the one that was declined.

So my panic attack was all for nothing.. Thank BofA...

The Goofiest thing I ever did

Bwah! Ha! Ha! Ha!

I'm supposed to blog about the goofiest thing I've ever done? What, that's like trying to find an individual atom in a block of iron, like trying to tell one ant from another, like trying to tell the difference between a Republican and a lobbyist.

Oops, sorry, my political views slipped in there. Must be all the Sarah Palin quitter coverage going on.

Okay, enough of that.

Goofy, huh? I mean, have you SEEN me at an author event? I'm like the definition of goofiness. I swear, if Disney knew about me, they'd hogtie, gag and fly me to Disneyland where I wouldn't have to wear a costume to amuse the kids.

And can we talk about my weird form of chicken dance? My mangling of the English language? I mean, even the way I'm built ... balding, pigeon toed, bow-legged ... my elbows are registered weapons with Homeland Security ... my wife claims I need a beeper when I back up so no one gets killed.

Okay, fine ... let me try and focus on one particular incident. Well, there was that one time back in college when I ... oh, wait ... not exactly PG. Oh, yeah, that time where ... hmmm, not exactly appropriate, either. Wait, once I ... um ...

Never mind. You'll just have to take my word for it. Micky Mouse's friend has nothing on me.

Norm

http://www.fangplace.blogspot.com

(hey, my book comes out soon! Beware, er, watch for it. check it out here http://www.fangface.homestead.com)

Birthday Party / Wrap Party

Tonight after work I went out to Hollywood to celebrate the Birthday of Felicia Day (Creator, writer, actor) of The Guild. It was also our Third Season Wrap Party of The Guild. Since Felicia was home schooled she never experienced her High School Prom so the them of the party was 1980's Prom. I got there a little early but everything was set up and ready to do. Being the BTS person on The Guild of course I had my camera and video camera and was taking a ton of video and pictures. This was a surprise party and boy was Felicia surprised. She didn't have a clue what was about to happen... Kim and Jenni pulled it off with ease. The night was full of drinking, dancing, great company and awesome 80's Music. My Buddy Greg did all the decorations which were incredible. He also did this awesome "Nagel" style panting of Felicia.

You can see a bunch of picture on my Facebook page It was a really fun night, the only down side was Harry wasn't able to join me due to his problem knee that has been acting up lately. But other than that I had a really great time.