Preview

Posted on September 13, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
Preview is one of those words that usually implies something good.  Rarely anything bad, and if bad it’s usually ignorable while you wait for something better to come out. 
 
Movies are the same way.  You never hear someone really dreading going to a movie.  OK, if you’re a guy and you’re being dragged off to see Sisterhood of the Steel Magnolias there are certainly a ton of things you’d rather be doing, but if you relax you might enven enjoy watching the chicks in the chick flick.
 
So if you put them both together, you’ve got double-plus good fun.  Movie Preview.  And that’s happening tonight! My main connection, Andy who is not Brian, slipped me a pass for Tim Burton’s new Corpse Bride movie.  Whoo hoo!  Rarely if ever does TB disappoint.  Animated too, like Nightmare before Christmas.  Should be fun. 
 
Really looking forward to it.
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Space

Posted on September 9, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
Watch this space. Something is happening soon.

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Continental

Posted on September 9, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
Phone blog:
Mostly these free breakfasts just suck. Today… Not so bad. Guess the whole
eating healthy thing has additional benefits.
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Color

Posted on August 29, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
Well, it’s complete.  Justin’s Eagle project is all ready to be trampled by an enthusiastic set of elementary school students.
 
As you’ll recall, the project was to create a map of the US on the grounds of local elementary school Famatre.  Justin planned the execution, budgeted it, got funding, prepared a plan and a report, presented it to the county scout officials, and then recruited scouts and Cub scouts to actually do the work.  Took three weekends and a couple of week day sessions. 
 
We ran into one real snag, mild vandalism.  Local kids apparently liked the slicker painted surface and decided to skid their bikes across the map.  We had to do some cleaning and repainting but everything looked great again.  The last thing we did was an impromptu sealing of the map with Thompson’s – took a couple of hours yesterday. 
 
Anyway, you’re not really interested in all these words, you want to see pictures, so here they are.  Justin really has a lot to be proud of, as do his mother and I.
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Map

Posted on August 15, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
Justin is in Boy Scouts, and is actually approaching the ultimate achievement in scouting; The Eagle.  Part of getting to Eagle is a public service project that the boy has to plan, find funding for, write a project proposal report, stand before an approving board to get permission, and then supervise the execution – he’s not supposed to do the project on his totally on his own, a large part of it is about leadership as he’s expected to supervise and direct other scouts.
 
Justin’s project is painting a US Map on the playground of a local school.  That’s where we spent most of Saturday.  Of course the hardest thing as parents is to let the kid do it, not to interfere or change their plans or execution.  Man is that hard. 
 
Anyway, here are some snaps.  The boys put down a template and spray in dots that delineate the states.  Yes folks, it’s all about the vertices. Then they chalk in the lines to make sure things look right, then paint the lines in.  This is just step one.  Step two is filling in the states with color, and then step three is tidying everything up.  And it has to be complete before school starts on the 28th!
 
Great support from the rest of the scouts, everyone had a good time.  
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Parody

Posted on August 6, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
Yeah, I’m a sucker for a good parody.  At first sight this book had me fearing it was an actual sequel, and then upon closer examination laughing at the cover.  By the time I’d read the inside flaps, I knew it was going home with me.  And like the original, it looks like it’s a two hour read at best. 
 
Front flap:
 
Heaven can wait.

In the meantime…why not go to Hell?

Every once in a while a little book comes along that sheds light on our desire for intimacy, our determination to grow spiritually, and our collective yearning to define the boundaries of the soul.

The Five People You Meet in Hell is not that little book.

A sensitive everyman, Edgy works a meaning-less job at a seaside tourist trap. When a freak accident sends him to "the other side," he encounters a series of strangers compelled to explain the meaning of life. Running the gamut from annoying and incoherent to irritating and hard to follow, these individuals all share a basic desire with virtually every other soul in the universe: to make quick money from a made-for-television movie.

The Five People You Meet in Hell is as illuminating as a short-circuited night light and contains all the insight of a chocolate-dipped fortune cookie (with none of the fat). If you’ve ever died, expect to die, know someone who has died, raise alpacas, collect Hummel figurines, breathe air, or enjoy line dancing, you must buy this book. You will never think about thirteen bucks the same way again.

If you experience erections lasting more than four hours, please consult your physician.

 

Back Flap:

Rich Pablum lives in Idaho, where he covers competitive yawning for the Edison County Courier.  He is researching his next book, Ventriloquism for Dummies.

 

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Hot Coffee

Posted on August 2, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
Just a test.  You thought it was something more interesting? 
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Hammock

Posted on July 24, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
Set the hammock up in the front yard, under the shade of the
liquid amber tree, just in front of the porch.  Lovely. Get in it,
lean back, and look up to notice the unpainted roof eves that I’ve been
meaning to get around to finishing…
 
Damn, where’s my paint?  Something weird about me not being able to relax in sight of an unfinished task…
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Headphones

Posted on July 22, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
eVen at an eBay bargain price, even though they were new in box, spending $300 for a pair of headphones sounds pretty crazy at first.  But when you hear new stuff in every song you have in your collection, when all your old albums sound brand new, the price kinda gets spread out over a bunch of new experiences. 
 
It’s sorta like redating a bunch of old girlfriends, only now they’re prettier and nicer.
 
So what are they?  Sennheiser HD 650s.  I was borderline buying a pair of 600s for $300, but when I saw an auction for a new pair the 650s on eBay I figured I’d give it a go.  I just got lucky.
 
The sad thing about new headphones is that you can’t really share them.  Show them to a friend and you only make them upset with their current sound.  Share them for a bit, and there’s still the "ok, give them back now" moment.  Talk about them on your blog, even though they’re totally the most impressive thing you’ve been exposed to and you just want to write a bunch of run-on sentences about how nice they are and how much you’re enjoying yourself with them and how you wish everyone could have a pair and experience what you’re experiencing… well it still comes out sounding like bragging.
 
Oh well…maybe you’ll get yourself a pair and join me in nerdvana.
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Insight

Posted on July 20, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
Want an insight into me?  Listen to the first four bars or so of Jackson Cannery by Ben Folds Five.  That will ALWAYS get me going.  Damn, that’s good piano.  The remaining bars are pretty cool too…
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Button

Posted on July 18, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
This one is just for Debbie and Justin.  Push the button Max!  It’s everywhere!
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Picture

Posted on July 15, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
..says it all…
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Monitors

Posted on July 13, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
Recently got ahold of a semi-free 10" flat-panel display.  What to do with it?  Hey, my video card supports two monitors…
 
Now I’ve got some place to put all that cool Konfabulator stuff that clutters my standard desktop!
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Bike

Posted on July 12, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
Justin went off to Angel Island recently on an overnight camp out/bike excursion.  I got pictures from one of the scoutmasters last week and published them on the BSA 318 site I maintain for the troop.  Here’s a sample with everyone’s favorite tall scout.  Geez that kid is almost as tall as me, but he still only weighs 130 soaking wet.
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Vacations

Posted on July 10, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
 
are always too short. 
 
 
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Shakespeare?

Posted on July 5, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
We’re leaving Bend Oregon this morning on our way to Myrtle Creek Oregon by way of Ashland.  Heard of Ashland? (You certainly haven’t heard of Myrtle Creek!) Yes, Ashland – home to The Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  (http://www.orshakes.org/). 
 
But it’s the wrong time of the year for the big festival doings, so why go out of our way to drive through this sleepy little town?  Well, Ashland is also home to the World Famous Funagain Game Store.  (http://www.funagain.com) One of the most complete and professional web sellers of games also has their brick-and-mortar store in South Ashland.  And if you ask nicely, they let you walk through their warehouse looking for stuff they don’t even have up on their web pages… 
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Sales

Posted on July 3, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
There’s no sales tax in Oregon.  This makes shopping here for a Californian like a permanent 8.25% sale everywhere.  That coupled with sales around the 4th holiday and other bonuses a real deal.  The only problem is the lack of electronics stores.  Sure they’ve got Wal-Mart and Best Buy and Costco, but nothing like Magnolia or even Frys for real depth.  Purchases yesterday were mostly at Barnes and Noble. But hey, 20% off on the item, plus 10% member, plus that phantom 8.25%… it adds up!
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Vacation

Posted on July 2, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
We’re in Bend today.  Nine hour drive yesterday.  Usually we do a book on tape for the drive but this time it was all satellite radio and Podcasts.  Never been to bend?  More info here:  http://www.city-data.com/city/Bend-Oregon.html
 
 
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Neighbors

Posted on June 30, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
The last of the "Five New Homes in Willow Glenn" finally sold so we’ll soon have new neighbors over the back fence.  Lovely home, often thought about buying it myself, would have made the move very easy…
 
Anyway, they’re starting to landscape today – bringing in a back-hoe to dig out a sprinkler system and other things.  Good day to start a week’s vacation if you ask me.
 
Will try blogging from the road via the phone.  If you see blog entries that mention photos that don’t actually show up, that means they’re still messed up in Spaces ability to do that trick.
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Herbie

Posted on June 29, 2005 by Ric Bretschneider
My friend Chuck Farnham is an eccentric.  Certifiable, he made a living and reputation off being eccentric for about a decade. Now it’s just a hobby.  I may get back to that history some day, but let’s talk about last night.
 
Chuck most recently worked for, I’m not making this up, a branch of US Homeland Security.  Again, not going to get into that any deeper than to say due to an on-the-job injury he’s got some time on his hands.  (He’s talking about retraining with the CIA… actually the Culinary Institute of America.)
 
So he bought a 1968 VW Beetle, renovated it, and made himself a Herbie. He drove it over last night.
 
We’ve done a lot of whacky stuff, from videotaping dumpster-diving excursions in Cupertino to some stuff in Las Vegas that will have to wait for the memoirs.  So let’s just say that when he told me he was going to do it I wasn’t really on board. "Yeah Chuck, that will be fun, sure."  However, seeing it… I’m very impressed.  He’d done up all the details, even the custom headlight hoods.  
 
If there’s one thing Mr Farnham knows how to do it’s draw a crowd, and this thing draws a crowd. There were people standing on their lawns checking it out, coming over to admit their love, we have’t had that much neighborhood activity without a patrol car involved in quite a while! In the fading light of evening it was neighborhood photo op time! 
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