Well I’m heading home this morning. Finally. It’s been a weird trip.

Interestingly enough it turns out I’m going to miss Basil here in Chicago by about an hour.

Who is Basil? Well he’s the Code-Writing-Party-Donkey, of course.

But that’s not the right question.

The right question is really Where is Basil?

And that will take a little bit of explanation.

You see there are a bunch of us Bloggy type folks who hang out on Tuesday nights over at Successful-Blog for Open Comments Night. It is just a time of sharing ideas. Some of us do get more than a little on the silly side, though.

Ben Yoskovitz is one of the folks who usually hangs with us. Ben has a tendency to show up late and even when he’s able to spell his own name right he often makes excuses about how he’s trying to keep an eye on the donkey that writes code for his web site. Well we’re a naturally curious lot so folks wanted to know more about the donkey.

And Ben is very creative and would throw in little anecdotes about the donkey and what he was up to. Ben really should have been one of the Stooges – really he’s sillier than I am, at least to my way of thinking.

Anyway we all decided we knew the donkey about well enough that he should have a name. We went round and round about it. I lobbied long and hard for Jack. I thought it was a perfect, if unimaginative, name for an… um, I mean a donkey.

Fortunately, in the interest of family friendliness, I was resoundly overruled. Somehow we were on the subject of Fawlty Towers we got talking about the characters. Basil is the name of the main character in that show played by John Cleese. Ben suggested Basil as a proper name for a code writing party donkey and it stuck.

Well in honor of a successful donkey naming Ben decided to run a contest with the prize being the DVD set of the Fawlty Towers show. His creative juices got flowing and he thought it would be really cool if the prize could be enjoyed by more folks than just the winner. A prize in perpetuity, so to speak.

Did I mention Ben is creative?

Anyway he pushed Basil out the door along with the DVD’s with the idea that they would spend a week with a winner then move on to another location to spend the next week with someone else.

I think Ben just got tired of cleaning up after the donkey.

But Ben started up a web site to track Basil’s progress. And he has invited anyone who would like to participate (and get a chance to view the Fawlty Towers DVD’s) to join the list.

Since I was there from the beginning, before Basil knew Jack so to speak, and since I like to laugh (I remember Fawlty Tower being totally hysterical) I signed up as soon as I got wind of the whole thing.

At the moment Basil is on a train from Stanford, Connecticut up here to see Liz in Chicago. They say his train should get in before my flight leaves.

It is all very silly, but it is going to be a very good time. Lot’s of laughs. And a chance to learn about new places as people report back on what Basil does when he visits them. In fact Basil is heading to Savannah to stay with us next.

Oh. I probably should let Gorgeous know that we are going to be having a quadruped houseguest in the next week or so. We’ll need to stock up on our hay and other fodder (especially carrots). It is a good thing she’s still got her Veterinary Technician certification. We may be needing it!

Anyway I’m off to the airport myself this morning. Check out Where is Basil? to keep up on his progress as he travels around the world donkey style.

Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Gorgeous and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean last night. I don’t often go to see movies on opening weekend because I’m not so much into crowds but a number of factors converged and out we went.

The original idea was to catch a matinee and then some dinner. But even with 6 or so screens showing the movie here in Savannah shows were sold out about 3 hours in advance so we bought our tickets and then went to the Macaroni Grill for some eats.

The movie was fun. Not great. Not quite as good as the first one, I thought. As we were walking out Gorgeous asked me what I thought. On a ten scale I gave it about a 4.5. It looks like they are planning on making three movies in this series. The first one stands on its own but this one needs the third a little too much. I suspect the third film will be a much more satisfying movie going experience than this one was.

Gorgeous said that the movie was a bit too “slimy” for her tastes. Looking at the way they chose to portray Davy Jones and his crew, she’s got a good point.

The second movie didn’t have as much of the great dialogue and banter that the first had. And it seems they tried to make it up with more action scenes. Fortunately they kept the humor flowing only they used the context of the action and sight gags more than the dialogue.

That may work better for some, but I’m a word man. I go for the witty dialogue.

The best exchange that I remember from last night is when Elizabeth tells Captain Jack that, “There will come a moment when you will have the chance to do the right thing.”

To which Captain Jack responds with his usual Devil-may-care attitude, “I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by.”

And that seemed to be the central theme of the movie to me: Doing the right thing. Several of the characters face decisions through out the film. Some make good choices and others don’t. Some stay true to our expectations of them and some surprise us.

Sort of like real life.

Most of us face moments when we struggle with that very issue our whole lives. Even Paul struggled with that sort of thing himself. He said

I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate.

From that perspective he had quite a bit in common with the characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean. I think most of us do too.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Powered by Qumana

OK. So Ken seems to think I’m thinking too hard on a holiday weekend here. I can dig it.

Since I’m on call today and have to do some work, and Gorgeous and I agreed to paint the study in what time I do have available today, I’m just going to leave you with a little levity to make you smile.

Dilbert is one of my favorite comics and Saturday’s definitely was right down my alley. Before you click on the link, you should know that it involves a new character named “Stinky Pete”.

OK. Here’s the link to the Dilbert strip from Saturday.

The fact that I found it totally hysterical says something about the twisted nature of my mind.

You have been warned!

Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Steve Remington is going about finding a logo for his blog, Why My Blog Stinks, in an interesting and fun way. He’s having a contest.

Steve offered up $100 of his own cash and a permanent link to the winner. He ended up with 18 submissions. I think some are definitely better than others. Some are really good. Some are a little stinky, if you know what I mean.

Before you go check out the logos, take a couple of moments to read his About page. The premise behind his blog is a little different. I’ve been following the blog since shortly after it started up and I’ve found tons of great insight on the subject of blogging there.

Then you can help pick Steve’s new logo! Just go to the poll on the right sidebar and click on your favorite.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Powered by Qumana

Well, it seems I’m not the only Superhero out there. A few of the guys have taken the quiz. (And why is it just guys? Hmm…)

Here’s what we’ve got so far:

Kevin Bowman is Green Lantern (and where I first saw the quiz.)

David Turner is Superman

Tadd Grandstaff is The Flash

And as we all know, it appears Spiderman is my alter ego.

So it would appear that folks can rest easy because we have the Superhero spectrum covered.

Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Goof off online during my lunch break and I find out I shoulda been Spiderman. Who’da thunk it?

Spider-Man 80% Hulk 75% Green Lantern 70% Superman 65% Iron Man 45% Supergirl 40% The Flash 40% Batman 40% Wonder Woman 35% Robin 30% Catwoman 30%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the “Which Superhero are you?” quiz…

With great power comes
great responsibility.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

There are some mornings like today, when I’m heading down to Jacksonville for work, that I wake up and have Steppenwolf’s song Born to Be Wild bouncing around in my head. I guess it’s my brain’s way of waking up and getting ready to hit the highway.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror first thing after I woke up, which is a pretty scary thing, actually, hair going every which way and all. Gorgeous reminds me that any day I still have hair is one I should consider a good hair day.

But I also saw the old ratty t-shirt that I slept in. I’ve had it for over 20 years now. Gorgeous has tried to get rid of it, more than once I think. But I won’t let her even though it all stretched out, has more than a few holes, and the places where there are no holes are threadbare.

My grandmother gave it to me and it has this Far Side cartoon on it. Grandma was into Far Side when Gary Larson was drawing the cartoon. She gave me the coffee mug too. I still have it along with a few others. Good stuff.

Grandma’s a cool lady.

But it got me to thinking. Why are we often so attached to stuff?

I mean I won’t let my wife throw out a very worn out old t-shirt. I say its because my grandmother gave it to me. But I haven’t seen her in years. Why is it I haven’t prioritized her enough to make the trek to New York to see her more often?

Why do we have a tendency to value stuff more than people?

Talk about having messed up priorities! We have this natural bent to treasure our things and treat people around us like trash. Do I really love my t-shirt more than my Grandma?

Sheesh!

The Bible has a bunch to say to folks like me who may fixate on stuff. Paul said this:

I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple–in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things–your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out.

Peter also points out that our stuff is temporary:

But when the Day of God’s Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will collapse with a thunderous bang, everything disintegrating in a huge conflagration, earth and all its works exposed to the scrutiny of Judgment.

Don’t get too attached to your stuff. Life is too short and you’ll enjoy it more if you hold your stuff in an open hand.

Gotta hit the road.

Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

This is so cool. I was just able to finalize a way to keep the blog rolling along while I’m gone, just in case I can’t get on a computer over the next couple of days.

So please don’t be too hard on our guest blogger in my absence.

Enjoy!

P.S. I’m not responsible for any retina burns that may have occurred from clicking on the above link. Just take a deep breath, close your eyes and say three times, “Chris will be back soon.”

Enjoy!

Didn’t know it but I needed a good laugh.

I went poking around the Technorati top 100 blogs and I stumbled on a real prize.

Now before you get to the good stuff, we need to make sure you’ve all met Fat Boy & Low Rider. And they seem to be aiming better these days, by the way. Gorgeous (a.k.a. the Cat Whisperer) was right about that one. Thanks for the prayers.

Early on I also made a Case for Cats as more manly pets than dogs. Now I realize the whole thing is debatable, and I might even be a touch insecure about the stereotypical image often associated with male cat owners. But I’m secure enough to write about it here, which says something, doesn’t it?

Anyway I like our cats mostly because they chronically make me laugh. Which brings me back to tonight’s treat.

Stuff On My Cat is a hoot. Mario Garza created this blog in a flash of true brilliance. Cat lovers and cat haters should both love the humiliations these cats endure.

And if these cat’s don’t put a smile on your face, you’ve been dipped in pickle juice!

Now back to work! (At least for me…)

Enjoy!

Gorgeous is out of town. She and the other girls from our small group went down to Fernandina Beach, FL to overnight at a friend’s place. Our friends were out of town so Gorgeous got permission to have a slumber party at their place. It’s a little weird, I know, but our friends tend to be a trusting lot.

Well us guys got talking about the girl’s road trip and decided we should do something manly while they were gone. So we decided congregate at the biggest TV in the group, order pizzas and watch a manly flick. So after we gorged ourselves on Domino’s finest, extra meat, we had the “I don’t know, what do you want to watch” conversation. We eventually narrowed the field to Master and Commander and Serenity. We finally settled on Serenity because more of us had already seen the other flick. It didn’t much matter to me. I brought both finalists.

There’s just something about watching a good manly movie on a big screen with the surround sound really LOUD! The girls just don’t quite seem to appreciate the finer points of actually feeling the explosions rumble in your chest cavity as the sonic pressure squeezes your head until you try to go a little cross-eyed in an attempt to relieve the pressure. Oh, yeah!

I have to remind Gorgeous from time to time of the guy’s perspective: Things that go whoosh and boom are cool. Speed is good. Faster is better. She just shakes her head. Sometimes I get the feeling that her take on that whole thing is that I should just grow up. Can’t really argue much with that.

Anyway she’s out of town so I’m a little short on sleep because I have this tendency to stay up too late when she’s not around. Somehow there’s just not the same incentive to get in bed when she’s gone. Go figure.

And it’s shearing day.

I am way overdue for a hair cut. It’s not so much that my hair’s too long. But the (remarkably few, if I do say so myself) grey ones on the side start to get a little cocky if I don’t keep them in check. It wouldn’t do if I started to look “older.” Then people might actually start to get the idea that maybe I should grow up.

Oh, and I’m starting to get some sideways glances from my neighbors about the lawn. I think I may be the only one on the cul-de-sac that hasn’t cut it yet this season. So I guess I’ll have to brave the gnats and get that chore done today.

And while I’m out for shearing I’m going to swing by and join the Y. Since I’ve been married my shoulders have effectively fallen to my gut. Something must be done! Gotta hang on to my youth as long as possible you know.

Am I a little vain? Perhaps. But life’s too short to get on the express train to the old dirt nap, as my brother in law would say.