R.I.P. Bradley

You couldn't have asked for a better dog than Bradley. He was so good to us and so friendly to others. Our kids loved him like another brother. We will miss him so much!

Huh, what?

For 24 years this family portrait has graced my parents' home, and for 24 years I still can't help to think that I look like a deer in the headlights. (I'm the dapper young lad on the right)

Christmas Cube

It's nice to be reminded that as nerdy as I am, there is always someone nerdier. A guy at my work has a 5x5, 6x6 and 7x7 rubik's cube at his desk, so I took the 6x6 and made it look Christmasy. Happy Holidays!

Filling Up

I filled up my car for under $18 today! The Costco near my work had gas for only $1.509 a gallon. In this time of thanks I'm grateful for low gas prices and the ability to fill up my tank without using a Grant or Benjamin.

My nerdiest blog EVER!

What happens when you mix heavy metal music + video games? You get a band named DragonForce. Seriously, DragonForce? Ugh. The lead singer looks like Weird Al Yankovic, but without the glasses and longer hair. All of the band members have ridiculously long hair. I thought big hair bands died off in the early 90's when Grunge music hit. Anyways, these guys sing about stuff that you might find on the iPod of the hero from the Legend of Zelda. The lyrics are stupid, but harmless. But here's the cool part about these guys, I don't know that I've ever seen two guys play the guitar faster! I wouldn't recommend watching the whole video unless you're a glutton for nerdyness, but let it load for a sec and fast forward to about the 3:20 mark. You'll see the two guitarists jam out for about a minute with the fastest fingerwork I've seen. That part is cool. It makes me want to play Guitar Hero 3 where that song on expert level is over 7 minutes and nearly 4000 notes long. So sit back, enjoy some heavy metal mario rock and eat some turkey!

The Assault

The assault usually happens during the hours of 1am to 5am. Being as quiet as ghost and moving like lightning, a small shadowy form comes closer and closer to us. Then it begins. First the dog. Then a monkey. Next a wolf. Finally a hippo. Then with some effort the largest piece of ammo hits us, the animal blanket. Ultimately the ascension begins with some sounds of effort. Once the small being has scaled the impressively large height that is our bed, he carefully gathers his belongings and settles in between us. While some assaults result in the expulsion of the attacker back to whence he came, more often than not it isn't until when the sun comes up that anything happens.

And for all you parents out there you know exactly what I'm talking about. You're enjoying a nice restful sleep when all of a sudden the sound of your little one is right next to you expecting you to take them up and have them lay by you. In general I'm of the mindset that unless they are sick or scared they should go back to their bed. But there is that other side of me that says that if I want him to go back to bed that means that I have to get up and do it.

Super Awesome Birthday Card

Last week I celebrated my 33rd birthday with my family. I got some extremely cool items that I had been wanting for some time, but I think this was one of the best things EVER! Jesse made this picture in his Kindergarten class and was so excited to give it to me. The picture is of Darth Vader, but he had to draw the head blue so that I could see his eyes. He also pointed out that in between his legs was his cape, and he's holding a red lightsaber. Under the H and A of Happy Birthday he drew a party hat, because Vader likes to party too. After we opened the presents we went to Bountiful and had dinner at Robintino's. All in all it was a great day!

Electoral Map by County

I heard about his map from one of the talking heads on the radio and wanted to see it for myself. We obviously know who the next president will be, but this give a better picture of who voted for him. I think Oklahoma was 100% for McCain, making it the most Republican state in the union.

Thoughts on voting

Within the next 36 hours the United States of America will have a new President. The day after we'll begin hearing who will be running for the 2012 election. After the longest presidential campaign in history I'd like to see some changes for the next one.

• If you are a governor, senator or congressman and would like to run for president, please quit your day job. It is not right that you get to leave your job and show up every now and then for a vote when the rest of us have to show up everyday for our jobs and have to put in extra hours or effort if we want to be considered for a promotion.
• I think candidates should have 2 months for their exploratory committee to determine their viability. That would take place between September and October of the year before the election. Candidates can then announce that they are officially running for the Office of President 1 year before the election will be held.
• There should be 100% full disclosure of the candidate's background, that includes birth record, military record, driving record, health records, thesis papers, tax records, employment history, criminal record and any other record that they may have. I don't want any surprises or unknowns with the person that I will give my vote for.
• When it is all said and done, respect and support the new President. I am disgusted with how so many people absolutely hate and revile our current President. I think the new guy, whoever it is and whatever party he represents, should be given a blank sheet. If he screws up in the first four years, then kick him out and get someone else in there.
• And lastly, when it comes time to actually place your vote, you absolutely have to be a US citizen, you have to show positive ID, and I think there needs to be a voter registration database that is constantly updated so that people that have no business voting, can't, and that those that can vote can know that their vote is counted, is accurate, and is safe from tampering.

I'm not sure how much of that will ever happen, but I think there needs to be some good positive change on how we elect our officials. But until then I will just vote, wait, and gear up for the next election...

Daylight Savings Time is Drawing Near, Get Your Hoe Ready!

OK, so Daylight Savings happened really early this morning, but who's complaining? It gave me another hour to play Super Mario Galaxy. :)

In the 1780's Benjamin Franklin proposed to Parisian that in order to save money on candles they should go to bed earlier and wake up earlier, thus his famous phrase "Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise". It would be until early in the 20th century that a man named William Willett would propose daylight savings time that the US finally adopting in 1918 during WWI.

Please disregard this blog!!! Daylight Savings now happens on the first Sunday in November. My VCR lied to me. Now I'm late to church!

If I bag it, I should get it cheaper.

A few years ago I had my first encounter with this infernal machine. I hated it. I even had a friendly employee try to walk me through it, but it still took 3 times longer than if said employee would have just grabbed my groceries and did it herself. I just felt that when I go get food I should at least have someone efficient help me be able to buy it. The only positive thing about those stupid machines is that it has allowed me to buy certain things discretely without worrying that the cashier was going to give me a silly smirk or glaring glance. Flash forward a few years to today and I'm able to whip through the self checkout lane in no time flat. And then it hit me, I am working for the company I shop at and I am not getting recompensed for it. I'm working for free, and that's crap! The self checkout machines are ways that these companies get to show their uncustomer service and just have you do their work. For that reason I think that if I am going to scan and bag my own groceries or whatever I buy and have to do everything myself I should at least get a discount. Even 1% off would be appreciated. I had to go through hours of training and learn their systems to gain the proficiency that I have now, but I am not getting rewarded, no salary, no bonus, no 401k.

Big Trouble on Big Thunder

Towards the end of day 1 at Disneyland, Jesse and I decided to ride Disney's fast moving train ride Big Thunder. This was probably the longest line we stood in (about 15 minutes) but I assured Jesse that it would be well worth it. We finally got on and began our adventure through the Old West. As we neared the finale of the ride we ascended a small mountain at a nearly 45 degree angle, and stopped. There was an announcement over the speakers that there was a small delay, but that we'd be back on track shortly. About 5 minutes later another announcement came over the speakers that the ride will have to be shut down and asked everyone in line to go. In the meantime Jesse and I were still stuck in the train near the top of the mountain. There were two gentlemen in front of us, I'd say from England, that we started talking with to help pass the time. They had asked if this was common. It wasn't. Finally a few staffers came by and started helping out people of the train. It was a little tricky since we were so high up, but they finally got everyone off. We then got a rare look at a Disneyland ride by walking through the highly detailed decor of the place. Then, to finally get out, we had to walk through the power plant. We entered into a door, went through a long hallway then got to see all the machinery used for the ride. It was pretty cool! I wished I had a camera with us to take a few pics at something I'll probably never see again. Once outside all the passengers went their merry way. I didn't think too much of it since we knew what was going on, but when we finally got back together with Melissa and the now awake Owen, I didn't realize to think that they had no idea what was going on. Melissa was near panic mode and was beginning to assume the worst. We had a happy reunion, was given 2 Fast Pass tickets for our inconvenience, then went on our way back to Space Mountain.

Dark Side Defeated -- for dummies.

I'll try to rewrite my last blog for the Star Wars impaired :)

At Disneyland about once an hour they have a fun event called the Jedi Academy. When it starts a few people dressed up as Jedis (the good guys that can use the Force) and go around asking for volunteers. Jesse was hesitant at first, but after some encouragement he stood up, made some noise, and got picked. Once all the kids were chosen they received a little Jedi cloak and a green lightsaber (sword). The main Jedi (a Jedi master) then began to teach all the kids how to use their lightsaber and a few moves.

After the training was over a few stormtroopers (bad guys dressed in black and white armor) came in while in the background the Imperial March (Main theme from the movie The Empire Strikes back - the best of the Star Wars movies) began to play. The center stage began to rise up with smoke and lights. Darth Vader (the main bad guy in the Star Wars movies) stepped out and began to be menacing to all the Jedis. Then Darth Maul (the main bad guy from Star Wars Episode 1) also came out. The kids then lined up and had a chance to fight either Darth Vader or Darth Maul. Jesse was able to fight Vader. After everyone had a chance the bad guys ran away and the good guys celebrated! All the kids then got a certificate for completing the Jedi Academy and became Jedi Padawans (the lowest level of being a Jedi, Padawan > Knight > Master)

Jesse had a great time doing it, but honestly I was geeking out much more than he was. I had a silly grin on my face the whole time and wished they had something that cool when I was a kid.

Dark Side Defeated!

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...

It was a dark time for the dark side. In a land known as the "Happiest Place on Earth" a group of young Jedi learners began to start their training as defenders of the galaxy. Among those was a young Jesse Sugden, a bright student who was unusually strong in the force.

After starting his lightsaber training in the Jedi academy from Master Windu, Jesse soon would have to put his lessons into practice. Stormtroopers entered into the academy and were soon accompanied by none other than the evil Sith Lord Darth Vader. Vader had a surprise of his own by bringing another Sith Lord Darth Maul. The two menances began taunting the Jedi's and invited the younglings to join them.

Not wanting to join them, Jesse drew out his lightsaber and defended himself then attacked Darth Vader. Realizing that Vader had met his match he and Darth Maul left in defeat. Young Jesse and the other younglings proved their valor and became Jedi Padawans.

Saddest Birthday Song Ever

Owen's Birthday was on Monday and we just had a little family party for him. Little did we know that our big tough guy really really really doesn't like the Birthday song.

Vomit at the Virgin River!

Day 2 of our vacation had us waking up at our hotel in Mesquite, Nevada at a fairly normal time without any incident. Melissa and I slept in a small squishy bed, Jesse had his own bed and Owen was in his travel playpen. We met with Judy Winchester, Melissa's family friend from forever ago, at the breakfast buffet in the casino. This would mark the beginning of way too much food consumption on our vacation. The food was fairly tasty and we all ate our fill. The boys really stocked up on their favorite food watermelon. After breakfast was over I took the boys back to the room to get dressed for a quick dip in the pool before we headed over to the Winchester home. Once we all got to the pool I noticed that it was not your typical pool. I've never been in a more briny chlorinated cesspool in all my days. The water had a super nasty taste to it, which made water from the ocean seem sweet by comparison. We played in it for about half an hour when Jesse accidentally swallowed a bit of it. He reacted by returning all of the morning's meal back into the pool in a steady stream of puke. I was horrified at the sight but more worried about Jesse's well being. In the meantime the life guard had cleared out the pool and instructed us to get out and keep an eye out on Jesse. I'm glad we finally left as that was just a poor place to swim in to begin with. We got back to the hotel room, scraped the brine and chlorine from our bodies, and got ready. More than likely the hotel just had the pool filtered for a few hours, added more chlorine, and called it good. I don't think we'll be going back into those waters...

Back from vacation

Last Saturday we returned from a week long vacation we took to Nevada, Arizona and California. The highlight of the trip was the three days we spent at Disneyland. It was way fun and I was amazed at how much technology that place has compared to our local amusement park Lagoon. Overall we all had a great time and I'll try to highlight some of our more interesting events when possible.

Disneyland Trivia

In 1953, Walt Disney created a company that was separate from the Disney Studios called "WED" (for "Walter Elias Disney"). The company was formed in order to take over the design and construction of attractions for Disneyland, so as not to put any additional financial burden on the parent company. The company was later renamed Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), and continues to create, renovate and expand all of the Walt Disney Company's theme parks.

There are more than 20,000 different colors of paint used in Walt Disney World.

There are enough of the famous "Mouse Ear" hats sold each year to cover the head of every man, woman and child in Pittsburgh and enough Disney character T-shirts are sold in Walt Disney World each year to put Mickey Mouse's smiling face on the chest of every person in Chicago.

When Walt Disney World turned 15 years old in 1986, prizes were given out every 15 seconds. Guests were given a ticket upon entering the park that let them know if they won anything from small buttons to full-sized automobiles!

The real town of Marceline, Missouri has a school named after its most famous resident. About 320 children from grades Kindergarten to 5th attend Walt Disney Elementary School. There are other schools bearing the same name in Burbank, California; Alvin Texas; Rochester, New York, and numerous other states.

Walt Disney originally wanted to name Mickey "Mortimer", but his wife Lillian convinced him to change the name during a train ride from New York to California.

Walt Disney, the visionary behind the entire Disney empire, attended only one year of high school.

According to Kodak, 4% of all amateur photographs worldwide are taken at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

By 1978, guests visiting Walt Disney World spent more money on merchandise than on food.

Walt Disney World is the largest supporter of the "Give Kids the World" program, providing over 50,000 tickets a year and special services and wish fulfillment for terminally ill children and their families.

To keep the Magic consistent, the characters that sing during the parades are all lip-synching to prerecorded music. Many of the Cast Members who perform in the parades and shows are often chosen for their looks, personality and ability to dance rather than their singing talent (or lack of any!).

As part of Disney's commitment to the environment and the local community, used and excess building materials are sent to the Orange County Distribution Center, where they are distributed to local non-profit organizations. Construction and demolition waste amounts to around 620 tons (or 1,240,000 pounds) a year.

Both Walt and Roy Disney passed away in the month of December - Walt on December 15, 1966, and and Roy on December 20, 1971, just about 2 months after his brother's dream of Walt Disney World opened its doors to the public.

Walt Disney World welcomes millions of international, and offers numerous amenities to cater to the foreign visitor including telephone information in almost any language, guidebooks to the four major parks written in Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and Japanese, and currency exchanges. Even park Cast Members who speak foreign languages wear a badge with the flag of that country on their name tags to make themselves recognizable and accessible to international guests.

Disney doesn't allow any pets into the theme parks, with the exception of service animals such as guide dogs for the blind, (although pets are welcome at certain locations within Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, such as the full hook-up campsites). So, while you're on vacation, your pet can have a magical time at one of the five Pet Care Kennels, each of which is a member of the American Boarding Kennel Association, found at all four theme parks and the Fort Wilderness Campground.

Mickey Mouse has about 175 different outfits in his wardrobe, including a scuba suit and a tuxedo. Minnie Mouse's massive "walk-in closet" contains about 200 outfits, including a cheerleader costume and various evening gowns.

Disney World bought about 150,000 gallons of paint -- enough to cover nearly 7,500 average sized homes in 2004

Number of miles buses travel annually: nearly 18 million.

If you were to stack all of the buttons used by the Costuming Plant Seam Team in one year, you would have a stack 96 times taller than the height of Cinderella's Castle.

Number of trees, shrubs and flowers on property: more than 7 million

Daily water usage: 15 million gallons 2,000 acres of turf. At three mowings a week, that adds up to 450,000 mower miles per year, or 18 trips around the Earth at the equator.

Largest working wardrobe in the world with more than 1.5 million operational garments in use and over 7,000 different garment types. In addition there are over 2 million pieces of entertainment costumes. Each day the costuming plant processes between 27,000 and 31,000 garments.

More than 50 million soft drinks sold annually.10 million hamburgers, 7 million hot dogs, 9 million pounds of french fries and 300,000 pounds of popcorn sold annually.

Every year, Walt Disney World:
Uses 194,871 miles of toilet tissue
Uses 24,409 miles of paper towels
Uses 319,353 lbs. of chocolate
Uses 1.2 million pounds of watermelon
Uses 741,150 pounds of sugar
Uses 1.8 million pounds of flour
Uses 245,000 pounds of fruit filling
Uses 38,000 pounds of white icing glaze
Uses 2.9 million pounds of eggs
Uses 606,000 pounds of bananas
Uses 510,000 of grapes
Serves more than 1.5 million soft pretzels
Serves more than 639,000 pounds of macaroni and cheese
Orders more than 3.8 million ballpoint pens
Orders more than 337,000 pencils
Uses nearly 148 million sheets of recycled copier paper
Uses 730,102 gallons of bleach
$1.7 million worms are ordered each year to feed animals at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

214,000 bandages were provided to guests during the year 2004

In 2004, Walt Disney World recycled 18,322,000 pounds of paper products.

Random Facts About the Sun

• The Sun appears to be yellow-gold because we view it through Earth’s atmosphere. The Sun’s actual color is more white than yellow.

• The Sun contains 99.9 percent of all matter in our solar system.

• English astronomer James Jeans determined that if you placed a piece of the Sun’s core the size of the head of a pin on Earth, it would still generate enough heat to kill a person 84 miles away.

• The surface gravity of the Sun is 28 times that of Earth. If you weigh 120 pounds on Earth, you would weigh 3,360 pounds on the Sun.

Attempt at salmon, part 2

This past Saturday I tried my hand at salmon once again, but this time with much better results. I was able to get a steal of a deal at Smith's and got a 13 ounce filet of Sockeye salmon for only $3.35. Woot! That's a big chunk o' fish. Instead of wrapping it up in tin foil I just seasoned it with lemon pepper and put it on the top rack of my BBQ. I let it cook about 10 minutes on both sides over med-high heat. After peeling off the skin I let it cook another 10 minutes or so along with a hot dog for Owen. After that we sat down to our meal, both of us drinking out of our Spider-Man cups, and enjoyed a great meal. This time the salmon was a lot more tender, and a better taste to it and was easier to pull apart. Owen had a few bites of it, but wasn't too impressed. After we finished our dinner we went to get some ice cream. Yummy! BTW, I couldn't find a camera to take a picture of it so I used my cell phone, but it didn't quite capture the grandeur of the meal, so just use your imagination :)

More Random Thoughts

I've been meaning to blog more, but just haven't been able to do it so here's just a few thing to tide you over until I can do something nice and flashy.

• Michael Phelps, the now most gold medal winningest athlete ever is every bit the champion he has shown the world to be. He is humble and complementary to his team, yet isn't ashamed of being great. I'm convinced that if people want to be inspired by athletes, look at Olympics.
• Have you ever wondered what would happen if... Today I saw what would have happened had I not met Melissa. Please see the geekshow podcast about Kerry's toy room. That would have been me.
• Speaking of Kerry, today was the Radio From Hell's 5000th broadcast. I used to listen to those guys when I was in Junior High, and here they are now, 22 years later, still being funny and entertaining. I was very pleasantly surprised to hear Mr. West on the show today. Awesome!
• I think I hate socks.
• I finally started to write my own Great American Novel. I've never done such an undertaking before, and I'm not really sure what I'm doing, but I've had a bunch of ideas bouncing around in my head for a few years now and I decided to finally put them on paper. I'm currently on chapter 15 or so with the summaries, so once I finish that I'll start fleshing everything out and see if I can't crank out a three to four hundred page book that millions of people will find fascinating, making me filthy stinking rich so I can finish my elusive Predacon collection.
• I can't wait for my favorite TV shows to come back on. The Office webisodes weren't long enough, Heroes looks excellent, and, sadly, Battlestar Galactica won't return in the fall, but will start again early next year for the series finally.

Attempt at salmon, part 1

A few weeks ago when Melissa went to Cali with her friends I found myself with just Owen and a desire to cook fish. I bought a small filet of salmon and decided to cook in on my BBQ. I've never cooked fish before so I just kind of winged it. I wrapped up the filet with some butter and threw it on. What happened afterwards? It was edible. I think the salad tasted better, but it wasn't horrible. I think I needed to cook it either longer or hotter or both. We'll see.

Epic Fail

Progressive Rummy

I learned how to play Progressive Rummy or PR from my buddy Jake sometime in the early 90's, and that was much akin to learning to swim in the Amazon with piranhas. Jake's family is very even keeled, but slap some cards in front of them and the family dynamic does an about-face, especially his mom Coila. I've never seen such violence in a card game. Anywho, I've taken this game that I learned from Jake and his family and have taught it to my family, who in turn have taught it to many others. There have been many times when Mindy has called me up to ask the order of the rounds, so I decided to make a little cheat sheet and explain the game.

The mechanics of this plays fairly similar to Phase 10, but it can be a lot more hectic and intense. First off, in a group of 4 you'll want to use 2 decks of cards with the jokers. After shuffling the dealer will try to guesstimate the number of cards s/he needs to perfectly deal out 11 cards to each player in the group (in a clockwise fashion). If the dealer got the right amount of cards they will receive -50 points to start the round. The remaining cards are set in the middle with the top card flipped over. During the game you will be completing rounds consisting of sets and runs. A set is 3 of a kind, and since you'll be playing with at least 2 decks you could have the same suit in your set. A run consists of four consecutive cards in the same suite, but you cannot have a King, Ace, Deuce, Three. An Ace may be used after a King or before a Deuce, but not both. A joker may be used as a wild card in either a run or a set. Jokers also have the ability to be reused by other players. Once a player lays down, meaning they have all the cards necessary for the round, other players may be able to take a used Joker on their turn, but only by replacing the Joker with the card it represents, and only in a run. If a Joker is used in a set it is permanently locked and may not be removed. So for example, if my run is 2 3 Joker 5 of hearts and the next player has a 4 of hearts in their hand, on their turn they may replace the Joker with their 4. Again, this can only be done on their turn. Each round every player will have 3 "buys". The card that is facing up may be purchased out of turn by a player at the cost of an additional card. The purchase should be made before the player draws a card. There is also a purchase priority meaning if two people want to buy the same card the person closest in order of the current active player will get the card. If a player uses all three buys they'll have a total of 17 cards in their hand, so use buys wisely. When it's a player's turn they must either draw a card or they can chose the card that is face up. All buying at this point is over. The player decides what to do with the card, then must discard a card from their hand to the face up pile. Once that card is discarded it is available for purchase. Finally, as the name of the game says, if you discard a card that could be used in a pile that someone has laid down someone may yell "Rummy!" and give a card of their choice out of their hand to the player that discarded it.

Round 1 - After the cards are dealt the object is to get 1 set and 1 run. Once you have the cards you need you can chose to lay down on your turn or wait to see if you can lay down all at once. After you lay down you will probably still have several cards in your hand. After others lay down you can add to their piles on your turn. Once a player goes out and has no more cards in their hand the round is over. Everyone tallies up their points and moves to the next round. The points are the following: 2-8 5 points, 9-K 10 points, Ace 20 points, Joker 50 points. Obviously if you go out first you get zero points. The score keeper should have basic math skills. :) Everyone moves on to the next round whether they lay down or not.

Rounds 2-7 - Once you understand how to play the first round it becomes easier to follow the game and begin to develop your style. Round 2 is 2 sets, Round 3 is 2 runs, Round 4 is 3 sets, Round 5 is 2 sets 1 run, Round 6 is 1 set 2 runs and finally Round 7 is 3 runs. The winner is the player with the lowest score. It is possible to end the game with a negative score, but not likely if you play against me. I'm just saying.

So hopefully these instructions were useful, it's always best just to play it with someone who's played before. I've included a little cheat sheet that you can print out and put in your deck o' cards.

Happy Birthday Melissa!!!!

Today is Melissa's Birthday, so to her I want to say how wonderful I think you are and that I'm so blessed and lucky to have you in my life. I love you the mostesterest!!!

Super Slow Motion Punch Fest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgdyBvHdNKY

My favorite is the guy drinking the bottle...

Here's some more slow motion goodness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuTc9-SMKX4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP_BSJ6dCHI&feature=related

Ironin' Man

This seemed a lot funnier the first time I saw it. Still, I though it appropriate being the big Iron Man nerd that I am and the fact that occasionally I help my wife out with the ironing.

Monkey High Five

This morning Jesse came up to me and told me that the coolest people he knows are Gavin, Brody, Spencer and me. (The first two are kids his age, the second is a teenager that helped watch him yesterday) After he said that Owen walked by with his monkey in hand, hit Jesse with it, then walked away. Jesse's response to that was priceless. "I think Owen is cool too, he just gave me a monkey high five."

Draw a house

I heard about this website that allows you to draw a house and then you answer some personality questions. Go to www.drawahouse.com.

Return of the Nerd

A couple of days ago my work treated my team and me to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. It was pretty tasty, especially the key lime cheesecake I had, but to my surprise, across the street was a Night Flights Comics store. While I've been to Hasturs, a place loaded with comics, it also has lots and lots of board/card game stuff there too. This place is strictly comic books and related items. Wow, I had a geek overload. I spent probably an hour in there looking at various titles, back issues, trade paper backs, omnibus collecitons and much much more. I really wanted to buy something but I haven't bought a new comic book in almost 8 years. I stay kind of up to date on comics by reading wikipedia but when confronted with comics hot off the press I have no idea what's going on. And to catch up on the stories I'd need to buy several back issues, but the stories I was interested in didn't have all of them, so dispondantly I was ready to leave there empty handed when I saw a new Spider-Man magazine. It's almost 100 pages of old and new stories with Spider-Man, FF4 and others. I bought it mostly as something I can read with my kids, but also to satiate the comic book nerd in me to read something new. With all the comic book movies coming out this year (the Hulk just came out yesterday) I've been jonesing to get back into it, but then I remember that in my hayday I was spending $20 a week on comics, and most of those have about doubled in price. You can subscribe to all the Marvel comics online for about fifty bucks a month, which isn't too bad of a price if you're a big reader/comic-bookphile.

Tom and Jerry

A few months ago we bought a Tom and Jerry DVD for our kids to watch, but it wasn't until last night that I actually sat through the whole thing. I can't remember the last time I laughed so much at a cartoon! And both the kids love it too! Jesse thinks it's every bit as entertaining as his other shows, Owen likes it because it has a cat. What really amazes me about these cartoons is they are well over 60 years old, but still hold up today. The animation is probably better than what you find with most modern cartoons, especially if you're not a fan of what comes out of Japan. But what I noticed last night more than anything is the music of Tom and Jerry. It's primarily classic music with splashes of Jazz, Latin, Big Band and even Opera. It's unfortunate that every iteration of Tom and Jerry since its initial run severly pales in comparison to the original series, but if you get a chance to watch the old stuff, you'll be very surprised by how good it still is.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

The Commodores had it all wrong. There is nothing easy about Sunday morning if you go to church and have kids. Period.

8 years and counting

Yesterday Melissa and I celebrated our 8th anniversary together! What started off as a last minute blind date has turned into the best thing that ever happened to me. Now it's eight years, two boys, two dogs, too many pounds and a lot more gray hairs later, but I'm still very much in love with my beautiful wife. If these past few years are any indication of what the rest of my existence is going to be like, I'll be a very happy man with my best friend at my side. I love you Babe!!!

Iron Man and Batman

He he.

Iron Man movie review

I've been collecting Iron Man comics since 1987 when I first got into comic books. He's always been one of my favorite characters, so when I heard that they were going to make a movie with him I was very hesitant. I knew he wouldn't get the same treatment as Spider-Man or Batman, but as more and more people signed on to the movie I got a little more hope that the movie would be good. The director is a huge fan, Gwen Paltrow's husband is a big fan (she borrowed his comics to learn about her character). Robert Downey Jr. said he'd make 15 Iron Man movies if he could. ILM signed on to do the visual effects after their fantastic work with Transformers. Then I saw the trailers. Wow. So did it live up to its hype? YES! The great thing about this movie is it did not depend on the special effects to tell the story. Robert Downey Jr, aka Tony Stark, was perfect for the role. In or out of the suit he made the movie great. So did all the other actors too! There wasn't a bad performance, even the robots in the workshop had their moments. This movie was every bit as good as my favorite comic movies X-Men 2, Spider-Man 2 and Batman Begins. If anything SM2 got the boot and good ol' Shellhead stands supreme as best comic book movie of all time. Seriously, for me it was the perfect popcorn movie. The film makers made the story a good update to current events. Originally Tony Stark made the armor during the Vietnam War, but setting it up in the Middle East was well adapted. The Iron Man armor itself sees 3 different version during the movie with the red and gold one seeing screen time about half way through. In current comic books he's on his 27th or so version of his armor. I'm happy with the bad guy they choose for this movie. They kept him tech based and made him great. The original Stark/Stane story concluded in Iron Man 200 (yes I can just name the issue off the top of my head) where Tony made his Silver Centurion version of his armor. Right after that story ended is when I started collecting and reading Iron Man, so for me it was very fun to see the movie have the events that I knew for over 20 years now. So when you watch it, make sure you stay to the end after the credits for an extended scene showing the future of Iron Man, and if you see the Incredible Hulk movie later this summer, Robert Downey will be in that as Tony Stark. Fun Fun.

Just a reminder about Free Comic Book Day

I'm just on my way to go see the Iron Man movie and I remembered that I wanted to remind all y'all that tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day. Go to www.freecomicbookday.com to find the location closest to you. Last year I was able to get about 10 free issues plus some other free crap, so just go and enjoy!!!

Full Throttle for kids?

A few days ago when I filled up my gas tank with my kids' college fund I noticed a radio station was there promoting whatever. I approached them and was met with a friendly staffer who offered me a Full Throttle energy drink. I took it, said thanks, and was on my way. Remembering the ads and commercials of how powerful and great FT was I was anticipating something a little more full of oomph. When I tasted it I was amazed to realize that, to me, Full Throttle tastes like gummy bears. Very nice fruit gummy bears, not the cheap ones, but good quality gummy bears. Now did I feel so full of energy that I could finish my basement in a day? No. Was I able to stay awake for the rest of my shift at work. Sure. So here's my word of advice to the Coca-Cola company. If you're going to make an energy drink and taut it as the overpowered steroid-infused muscle bound tough guy that you think it is, make it taste like something other than a candy beloved by my one year old.

My Mario is better than your Mario

With the recent purchase of the Wii, I asked my brother-in-law if I could borrow his Mario Galaxy game so that we would have something else to play other than the sports game we have. While the controls were very much unlike any other Mario game I've played, after awhile it all seemed second nature. Even Jesse was able to pick up on the controls quickly and even passed a few levels. He made the comment to me yesterday that Uncle Dustin's Mario is better than our Mario. Our Mario is from the Super Mario World version on the Gameboy. Appearantly riding a dinosaur isn't nearly as cool as walking around on little planets. I'm guessing Jesse wouldn't fully appreciate how far Mario has come from his 8-bit days as a plumber.

Wii!!

I'm still amazed that after being out on the market for almost a year and a half, it's still nearly impossible to get a Nintendo Wii, which brings me to my current blog entry. Jesse started his new season of Tee-ball yesterday, but I needed to get him a mitt. Since there is a Wal-Mart about a stones throw away from my work I headed over there on my lunch break. I got the mitt and decided just for kicks to check out the video game selection. At the Nintendo section I noticed a large box that said Wii Sports. Upon further inspection I realized that I was staring at an actual Wii. Just then a friendly employee walked by and asked if I needed anything. Dubiously I asked "Is that a Wii?" He replied "Ya, you want it?" I answered "Ya". You gotta love Wal-Mart.

That night we got it all hooked up and ready to go. It came with the sports game that features tennis, bowling, baseball, golf and boxing. I must say that already I'm not nearly as good at those games as I thought I would be. Bowling, I'm ok, but Jesse is better at me at baseball and Melissa kicked my butt at golf. And tennis. Is there a Mortal Kombat available for the Wii? I'll have to look into that. In the meantime I have to admit that this thing is pretty cool, and it's the first Nintendo console that I've bought since I got the SNES back in 1991. Funny thing is, it was only $50 more than the SNES new, but at least that came with 2 controllers.

Tax Day

With just over 24 hours to spare, Melissa and I finalized our taxes and sent them in. I used to think that taxes were fairly easy to do, just somewhat time consuming. We've always used a tax preparation software to help us (I recommend TaxCut) so it's been pretty easy. This year we had to deal with stock options, and it was such a pain in the butt! Oh well, now I just have to sit back, relax, wait for the refund to come.

The Return of Battlestar Galactica

If you're not watching it, you're missing out on the best show on TV. Don't get me wrong, Heroes is awesome, the Office is king of funny, but this show the best. Period. And, you don't need cable TV to watch it, you can just go to www.scifi.com/bsg and watch it for free! You'll thank me for it, just like I have thanked my older bro. Thanks Steve!

In Memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.

In memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. who died on this day in history, here are some excerpts from his "I have a dream" speech.

• "In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'"


• "It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual."
  "The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people. For many of our white brothers as evidenced by their presence here today have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We can not walk alone."


• "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"


• "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."


• "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will they be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."


• "This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."


• "Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children."


• "Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Laments of a power computer

At my day job I recently received a brand new quad core computer, 3 Gig of RAM, 2 160 GB HD's in a SATA raid, etc, etc, ad nauseum. Sounds great, right? Well, among the new programs I got was Office 2007. I'm a big fan of programs like Excel and OneNote, but this beefy machine for all its quadruple processing muscle, has a hard time rendering my dozen or so graphs that are on one sheet. Appearantly processor #2 doesn't like it when I move graphs around or try to edit them. I've never had this problem even with my home computer which is just a lowly dual core. Maybe my video card is better. It can handle WoW like a champ. I'd hate to think a PCI-e video card in my work computer is being outclassed by a TV tuner card in my home computer. Now, if you understood any of this blog, I'm sorry, you're a geek like me. If not, you're normal and should just be grateful that your mind isn't bothered with such silly minutiae. Actually, I've just been looking for a good reason to use the word "minutiae" (pronounced min-u-sha). Me <---- dork

Random thoughts

The past couple of weeks seemed to have gone by really quickly and I really haven't had the desire to blog much, but now it's late, I need a break, so here are my thoughts in no particular order.

1. First off here's an update on my NCAA bracket at work. I'm in 10th place out of 13 people. I have 7 out of 8 teams that can still make it to the elite eight status. Go me!
2. In the political world I find it frustrating that we have three people running for president that all seem to be less than the ideal. Hillary blantantly lied about landing in Bosnia under sniper fire. Barack has gone to a racist church for 20 years. I'm pretty sure he shares those sentiments to a certain degree. And John McCain, it would be nice if he had more of a back bone and stood for what his party represents. I dislike his wishy-washiness and desire to want to bring both sides together. Screw that! If he wants to get elected then present better ideas than the other folks and have people join him rather than trying to meet people half way. Lead, don't follow and don't try to be everyone's friend.
3. We need to stop calling ourselves African-American or Latino-Americans or any other hyphenated-Americans. You either are or aren't an American. Your skin color may differ, your accent may be different, but if you're a citizen of this country you should be proud of it. I'm not an Anglo-American, a Tall and Big-American, or a Geek-American. I'm an American. Period.
4. I have enjoyed the Olympics ever since 1984 when I got to watch record after record be broken by Carl Lewis. I was only eight, but I watched the games almost non-stop while they were on. That's why for me it's hard to think that this year the Olympics are going to be held in such an oppresive society as China's. Recent events only compound the fact that China does NOT represent the spirit of goodwill and brotherhood that the Olympic Games do. It's not going to happen, but the US should boycott the games this year.
5. I marvel at the strength of those that have lost much but still fight on. To those they have my utmost respect.
6. I learned over Easter weekend that a bad day with your family is still better than a day without them. I had to work some long hours and was not able to be with my family for much of it. Thinking about my wife or my sons always makes me happier when I'm away from them. Which reminds me, we recently made hamburgers for dinner, and when Jesse was putting ketchup on his plate he accidently put on more than he thought. He matter of factly stated "I didn't see that coming!" My beverage would have shot through my nose had I been drinking at the time.
7. Finally, I found a website that allows you to make your own "motivational poster" here. The possibilities are endless.
   
   

March Madness - a necessary evil

When it comes to college basketball, and college sports in general, I'm pretty clueless. I go to an online school which means I don't have a school football or basketball team, unless there is a secret Xbox league I'm unaware of. I don't care much for the University of Utah or BYU, the local powerhouses in the big dance this year, and the one college I do like (Weber State) didn't make it. So naturally I participated in my department's annual college basketball bracket contest. Go UCLA! Yeah, I really don't care who wins as long as I don't come in last place. It is fun to get together with others and see who's winning and who's losing, but I honestly don't care that much, but until it ends in early April I'll wear the psuedo-interested mask of a sports fan that wants not to win, but not to lose. Go March Madness!!!

Other People's Warmth

An office chair looks innocent enough, but it can be the source of one of the most awful experiences you can ever go through: Other People's Warmth. You know the feeling. You have to sit on a chair or toilet seat or something else who's previous occupant just barely left, and when you sit down you feel that warmth that just doesn't feel right. And, it's worse depending on the size of said occupant. What do you do? What can be done? Do we need cooled chairs? More cans of freon? Frosty jeans? Join the OPW club now, and say no to Other People's Warmth.

Happy Pi Day!

Happy 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172535940812848111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196442881097566593344612847564823378678316527120190914564856692346034861045432664821339360726024914127372458700660631558817488152092096282925409171536436789259036001133053054882046652138414695194151160943305727036575959195309218611738193261179310511854807446237996274956735188575272489122793818301194912983367336244065664308602139494639522473719070217986094370277053921717629317675238467481846766940513200056812714526356082778577134275778960917363717872146844090122495343014654958537105079227968925892354201995611212902196086403441815981362977477130996051870721134999999837297804995105973173281609631859502445945534690830264252230825334468503526193118817101000313783875288658753320838142061717766914730359825349042875546873115956286388235378759375195778185778053217122680661300192787661119590921642019893809525720106548586327886593615338182796823030195203530185296899577362259941389124972177528347913151557485724245415069595082953311686172785588907509838175463746493931925506040092770167113900984884012858361603563707660104710181942955596198946767837449448255379774726847104047534646208046684259069491293313677028989152104752162056966024058038150193511253382430035587640247496473263914199272604269922796782354781636009341721641219924586315030286182974555706749838505494588586926995690927210797509302955321165344987202755960236480665499119881834797753566369807426542527862551 Day. Go eat some pie.

Two Milestones Obtained

After months and months of studying Melissa finally passed the last of her tests for her jobs!!! Her last test was yesterday, and she passed it with flying colors! I'm so proud of her and the dedication and hard work she showed to pass these very difficult tests. Way to go Babe!!!

In a completely different context I had a very very minor accomplishment last night while both Melissa and I were playing Guitar Hero. I passed my first song on Hard difficulty. This is no where near as cool or important as what Melissa did, but it was fun :)

Free Comic Book Day

Last year was the first time I had ever heard of it, but every year on the first Saturday of May many comic book stores participate in Free Comic Book Day. I took Jesse to Hastur Comics in Midvale after his soccer game and had a fun time there. Jesse came away with a dozen free comics, including his favorite Spider-Man and Transformers ones that we still read for bedtime. He also got a couple posters and other swag items, so overall we had a great time and my son was able to start his own comic book collection. This year it will be on May 3rd, so go early for the best selection and enjoy some free comics!

mmmmm... roast

Like I need to post another recipe for all the world to see, but I feel very strongly about roast beef. My roast is different than what my mom used to make when I was a kid. I use a crock pot, and it's awesome! So step 1, procure yourself a nice 2-3 pound roast from your local grocery store. When you're ready to cook it try to cut off the big pieces of fat that may be on it. Fat on steaks, good. Fat on roasts, bad. Step 2, in your large crock pot add a pound of baby carrots then about 6 or 7 medium sized potatoes that are peeled and cut up into halves or quarters. Gently place the roast on top of that. Slice an onion about a third the way down so you have some nice onion rings. place those on top of the roast. Fill up the crock pot about 3/4ths the way up with water. Step 3 here you can get creative according to your likes. I like spicy food so I'll use Grill Mates Spicy Steak seasoning. Liberally apply that on the roast, followed by salt and pepper. If spicy isn't your thing then you can use italian seasoning and/or a half a stick of butter.
Step 4, set the temperature to high and let it cook for about 4 hours. After than turn it to low and add water as needed so the top of the roast doesn't dry out. The roast will be very tender when it's done, so pull it out with two pair of tongs. Scoop the potatoes and carrots into a serving bowl and you're good to go! I would recommend serving it with corn, a nice garden salad and chilled fruit punch kool-aid.

It's Leap Day!

Pope Gregory XIII devised the 365-day calendar in 1582, based on how long it takes Earth to orbit the Sun. But it actually takes closer to 365.25 days. So the pope’s people added an extra day of the year every fourth February to compensate for the discrepancy. Want to be even more accurate? Earth circles the Sun in exactly 365.242199 days. To make up for that discrepancy, Leap Year is skipped every three out of four century years not divisible by 400 . . . so 2000 was a leap year, but 1900, 1800, and 1700 weren’t. Please celebrate accordingly.

Pics from my cell phone

I got a new phone last year but wanted totransfer all my old pictures from it, so after several long phone calls to Verizon I got them all uploaded to their picture hosting site. A few days ago I get a notice that they have all been deleted, so a long phone call and half a day later I was able to get them back. I'm not sure this is the best resolution that is available, so just squint a bit and the pictures will look better. Most of them are of Jesse when he was just over a year old.

Blatant Plagiarism!!!

I'm copying this straight from my brother's blog because anything that I might add would just distract from it.



For the rest of the video's go here.

St. Patrick's Day vs. Easter

A few days ago Melissa looked at the calendar and realized that Easter is only 6 days after St. Patrick's day this year. The big question was "Which one should we decorate for?". I don't know that we even have a shamrock or a blarney stone, so Easter will win out easily :) It made me think though why Easter is celebrated on different days each year. It turns out that Easter is a moveable feast that isn't fixed on a Julian or Gregorian calendar but is determined on a lunisolar calendar, like the Hebrew calendar. Thank you wikipedia. The simple answer is Easter falls on the Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox, which is March 21st. Boy, those geniuses at the Nicean council really knew how to make a holiday. Why not just pick the first Sunday of April? Anywho, this means that Easter can be as early as March 22nd or as late as April 25th. This year is the second earliest it could be, in 2011 it will be the second latest. The cycle of Easter dates repeats after exactly 5,700,000 years, with April 19 being the most common date, happening 220,400 times, or 3.9% compared to a mean for all dates of 162,857 times, or 2.9%. So there you have it, please celebrate accordingly.

Down with the Sickness

It started Saturday night with an innocent cough. I'm thinking that since the inversion is here (what happens when cold air traps pollution in the valley) that I'm just feeling it a bit. Sunday was more of the same except Melissa had a fever in the 103 range. To make a long story longer, each day we both got progressively worse. Melissa hasn't gone to work at all this week and I've only done about two days worth of work. I'm just very lucky that neither of our kids have gotten sick. Owen seems more energenic than ever and Jesse has done a great job with helping out at night and getting himself ready. I've let him play my Nintendo DS before he goes to bed. He loves playing the new Mario Bros. I've wanted to add more entries to my diary but I just haven't felt like making the effort to type. I'll try to wrap up a week's worth of thoughts into a paragraph or two.

First thing's first. My wife got me Guitar Hero 80's edition and a wireless guitar. Awesome!!! My favorite song hands down is Only a Lad by Oingo Boingo! Next thought, with the new Indiana Jones movie coming out in May I would hope that all my friends and family that read this, yes all four of you, that we do this thing up right. That means a midnight showing with all the fun stuff that we've done in the past with the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movies. I love big movie midnight premieres. The crowds always have a lot of fun energy, there are lots of people that dress up and then you get to watch a great movie. So I'll take the lead on this one and find out where and when. Just email/call/text me if you want to go. Next up, I want to echo the remarks found in Brad's blog about 101.9 The End. Chunga aka Brett Smith is a loser of epic proportions. I would encourage everyone that listens to that radio station to stop immediately. And lastly, this is a guilty pleasure of mine: Ask a Ninja. Check it out.

The best reason to buy a PS3

I like Star Wars. I like Fighting Games. Soul Caliber IV for the PS3 will have both. Xbox 360 owners get Yoda. Ha ha ha.

Happy Valentine's Day! Here is my list of chick flicks for dudes.

Chick flicks are my wife's favorite form of movie. Not mine so much, but because I try to be a good hubby I'll watch them with her. Fortunately there have been some that I've liked, so here is my top 10 list of chick flicks that dudes can watch and still feel manly. Enjoy.

10- Legally Blonde Reese Witherspoon is a blonde babe with uncanny lawyering skills. Interesting note: Melissa went to school with Matt Davis, the boyfriend that Reese starts the movie with.

9- Sweet Home Alabama Another Reese movie, this time she plays a high powered New York fashion designer that has to go home to Alabama to resolve her past in order to continue with her future.

8- Fools Rush In Salma Hayek and Chandler fall in like, get prego, then fall in love.

7- The Lake House Whoa, it's like Speed but without the bus. Just kidding, but Speed co-stars Keanu Reeve and Sandra Bullock team up for a unique story of friend two strangers living in the same house but separated by time.

6- Kate and Leopold What happens when you go back in time and bring back Wolverine? Appearantly elevators break and Meg Ryan finds true love.

5- Serendipity Ever since Better Off Dead John Cusack has had a special place in my heart. Here he tries to discover if Kate Beckinsale is really his one true love, or should he stay with his fiancee.

4- Miss Congeniality Ah Sandra, While You Were Sleeping would have made Melissa's top 3 but here you'll have to settle for #4. This is really a great movie with fun humor and a nice ending.

3- Just Friends Ryan Reynolds and Amy Smart star in this romatic comedy that I found to be very humorous. Well worth a rent, especially during Christmas time.

2- The Notebook This is perhaps the most tearjerking movie I've seen in a long time. It's a great love story with touching characters and a lot of emotion.

1- 50 First Dates I'm sure you're thinking "Your #1 Chick Flick movie for dudes is an Adam Sandler movie?" and the answer is yes. Of course you have your funny parts, but the over-arching story line is someone that loves someone else so much that he helps her fall in love with him all over again every day. It didn't have the normal Hollywood ending where everything is just fine in the end, he has to do this EVERY SINGLE DAY! I just thought the movie was touching, cute, and shows someone that works on a relationship, not just takes it for granted.

So enjoy Valentine's Day with someone you love, and if you're single, tell your mother that you love her.

I Am Legend vs. The Omega Man

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Thanks to Netflix I recently was able to watch The Omega Man. This was actually the first remake of the movie Last Man on Earth based on the book I Am Legend. The book was originally written in the 50's and was more about zombies and vampires. Having enjoyed the Will Smith version of it (I Am Legend) I thought that the Charleston Heston version would at least be amusing to watch. I was wrong. The Omega Man was a terrible movie to sit through, and though CH has had some great acting performances, this was not one of them. He just seemed so self absorbed it was ridiculous. Then there is the dialog in this movie. It makes the script in Star Wars Episode 2 seem like Shakespeare in comparison. I was able to see a few similarities between the two movies, but hands down "I Am Legend" was so much better. You cared about the Will Smith character, it made more sense how cautious he was during the night, whereas with Charleston you just wish he'd die so you wouldn't have to hear his self-important speeches. And for heaven's sake man, put on a friggin shirt! Uggh, shirtless old men wearing jogging pants should be banned. So there you have it, I Am Legend beats The Omega Man in a landslide!