Drew's Brave New World

For All of Those Christmas Geeks Out There

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:10:38 PST

A simple gingerbread house is not enough for some people. What about a gingerbread AT-AT from Star Wars? Some people are way too cool. Or have way too much spare time...More examples at the link below...

Geekologie [Mmmm, Delicious Gingerbread Geekery]

Brave New World 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 07:01:49 PST

As you've probably been able to tell, life's been busy and the blogging has been scant. I've been having way to much fun playing Dungeons and Dragons Tiny Adventures on Facebook and amusing myself with my different status updates that I haven't had much time to think about posting stuff here. Well, those things plus doing research, creating and maintaining databases (MS Access is evil!!!!) and just generally bumming around. I'm rethinking how I want to do this whole blogging thing. I was going to give it up but after seeing Ariania Huffington on The Daily Show, I began to rethink it. That plus seeing Katr's wicked cool new blog, made me get a bit of the blogging bug back. So we'll see how it goes and what end's up happening...should be interesting...or maybe it won't be...

Inigo Montoya, Jedi Master

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:27:19 PST

This shouldn't be nearly as cool as I think it is...either that or I'm just geeky and kind of lame.

Odd Juxtaposition

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:47:34 PST

I feel that there might be multiple ways to interpret "Toys for Tots" at a leather bar. Not that I wouldn't go...

Damn You Limoncello

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:58:47 PST

I was going to try and make a conscious effort to participate in NaBloPoMo this year, even though I missed November 1st and 2nd. And because of the election and, several shots of Limoncello, I didn't get to post on the 4th.

Last night was kind of crazy. But this morning, I'm a little torn inside. And its not because of the beer, lemon flavored liqueur, vodka and cranberry ginger ale or pizza at 3 in the morning. But more on that later. Time to cover a class.

Jock, I Am Not

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:55:55 PST

Tonight, the volleyball playoffs began for our grad student team. Us geeks, yeah, we are not overly athletic. While some people on the team are naturally talented when it comes to sports (not me), we haven't been able to get our act together enough to win games. Our record was like 1 and 42 entering tonight's competition. Of course, the league's whipping boys (us) had to play the league's undefeated team. Having played them before, I knew two things about them. The girls on the team serve HARD. And second and most importantly, the guys are hot. I mean so hot that I enjoy the hand slap ritual after a game a little too much.

Anyhow...whether it was the change in the Cosmos or some other karmatic event, we put up a hell of a fight. Spikes, serves and various other tips seemed to go our way. We lost the first game, but stayed close enough to scare them and have the one unattractive boy whining about the officiating. Always a good sign. After exploiting the studs' weaknesses, we took the second game rather easily. That forced a tie-breaker in which we were tied but in we lost after a rather anticlimactic dink into the net (no, I didn't do it). All in all, it was a great match even though we lost. My contribution was, however, managing the substitutions to make sure we kept strength in at all times and then touching the ball a grand total of 6 times, 3 of which were on my serves. Oh yeah. I'm a jockish stud.

In other related athletic news, my bowling team is in next to last place and contemplating a name change from "The Flaming Palins" to "Thank God We're Damn Cute." We've also discussed the possibility of bowling shirts. The shirt under discussion is seen below. I think its missing something though...

Electing Guilty Pleasures to Office

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:45:35 PDT

Generally, I like to think of myself as a semi-informed voter. I try not to let one issue, position or emotion affect me vote one way or the other, particularly in national elections. But local or state elections are slightly different and this one time, I'm voting with my hormones instead of knowing a damn thing about the issues. "Baby" Joe Mesi is running for an open state senate seat and, baby, he has my vote. God knows I have a soft spot in my heart for big lugs and he's gotta be one of the biggest lugs ever. If Palin is Caribou Barbie, he's gotta be Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Ken.

Joe Mesi for State Senate

Holla at Yo Boys?

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:17:57 PDT

I'm really not sure how I feel about this odd mash of Gwen Stefani and the Soggy Bottom Boys from Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. Yet somehow, I think it works, on some level. I'm sure the Mormon Tabernacle Choir/50 Cent combo is soon to follow.

via Crooks & Liars

This Should Be Interesting

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:02:56 PDT

So only three members of my bowling team, the Flaming Palins, can be there tonight and my teammates and I have been struggling to come up with a sub. The only person I knew who really bowled was Gaydar Malfunction Guy. I asked him this afternoon and, being a boring grad student, he accepted. Before he accepted I asked him, "You realize this is a, um, gay league, right? Because some guys might have a problem with that."

"Yeah, that's fine. Why would I care?"

Why indeed? It's going to be a full time job keeping the old geezers (and some of the young ones) off of him. Jesus.

Child Abuse

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:28:53 PDT

Dear God. I have friends who sell antiques/junk on eBay. And with the economy the way that it is, they've decided to pull out every option they possibly can to get bids. Even the disgustingly cute option. Meet my 'brother', Frankie, modeling a vintage Halloween costume. Gotta hand it to him. He can wear a hat like nobody's business.

Maverick Update

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:41:07 PDT

Father Geoff Farrow has begun a blog to chronicle his experience since speaking out against Prop 8. The first post entitled How It Began is the transcript of this past Sunday's homily which has been widely published on the Internet.

No On Prop 8 - Donations Needed!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:23:19 PDT

Donations are desperately needed for the movement against Prop 8 in California. I donated last night and encourage those of you who can do to so.

ALERT: Donations Against Proposition 8 Desperately Needed [towleroad]
CA: Prop 8 support bolstered in dramatic turnaround [Pam's House Blend]

Maverick Redefined

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:41:54 PDT

Maverick: (mav′ər ik, mav′rik) noun

an unbranded animal, esp. a strayed calf
Informal a person who takes an independent stand, as in politics, from that of a party or group

The term maverick has been kicked around quite a bit in the last year and thanks to Tina Fey we even have the adjective form of it, mavericky. Woo hoo. But quite frankly, I'm not overly impressed by having the term co-opted by someone such as Governor "I tolerate you with all my heart" Palin. So allow me to present a real maverick, Father Geoffrey Farrow of Fresno, CA. In his homily on Sunday, he spoke out against Proposition 8 which would ban same sex couples from having the opportunity to legally marry. What makes him a maverick is the fact he was acting against his local bishops who have encouraged all of their priests to promote voting yes on Prop 8 amongst their congregations. In his words, "At what point do you cease to be an agent for healing and growth and become an accomplice of injustice?" With that in his heart, he delivered his homily on Sunday, knowing full well that Sunday's Mass may be the last he performs in his 23 years of being a priest. A local ABC affiliate was there at the Mass (video is available) and talked with some parishners and Father Farrow. In addition to his statement, he also came out to the reporter, noting that his sexuality was secondary to the issue at hand, an issue which deals with the basic civil rights and human dignity.

The text of Father Farrow's homily is below:
As most of you know, I was appointed pastor here at the Newman Center on April 15th of this year. When I arrived, I set out to address a series of various projects to repair our facilities. To date, most of these deferred maintenance items have been addressed. In the middle of dealing with contractors, the parish finance committee, the building department of the diocese, neighbors, etc., I received a FAX from the bishop's office on the 30th of June. It was the bishop's pastoral letter for the month of July.

This single FAX threw my whole summer, and in fact, my whole life into a turmoil. Recently, I was speaking with some of our parishioners who advocate for the ordination of women. In the course of our conversation, a question arose which has haunted me: "At what point do you cease to be an agent for healing and growth and become an accomplice of injustice?" By asking all of the pastors of the Diocese of Fresno to promote Catholics to vote "Yes" on Proposition 8, the bishop has placed me in a moral predicament.

In his "Pastoral," the bishop states: "Marriage is much more than simply two persons loving each other. Marriage is naturally, socially, and biologically, directed to bringing forth life."

Actually, there are TWO ends to marriage: 1) Unitive and 2) Procreative. The unitive end of marriage is simply a union of love and life. The Procreative end is, of course, to create new life. It is important to understand that the unitive end of marriage is sufficient for a valid marriage. The Church sanctions, and considers a sacrament, the marriage of elderly heterosexual couples who are biologically incapable of reproduction. So, if two people of different genders who are incapable of reproduction can enter into a valid marriage, then why is that two people of the same gender, who are incapable of reproduction, cannot enter into a valid marriage.

The objections which are raised at this point are taken from Sacred Scripture. Scripture scholars reveal the problematic nature of attempting to use passages from the Hebrew Scriptures as an argument against same gender relationships. Essentially, these scriptures are addressing the cultic practices in which sex with temple prostitutes was part of an act of worshiping Pagan gods. With regard to the Pauline epistles, John J. McNeill, in his book: "The Church and the Homosexual," makes the following point: "The persons referred to in Romans 1:26 are probably not homosexuals that is, those who are psychologically inclined toward their own sex-since they are portrayed as 'abandoning their natural customs.'" The Pauline epistles do not explicitly treat the question of homosexual activity between two persons who share a homosexual orientation, and as such cannot be read as explicitly condemning such behavior. Therefore, same gender sex by two individuals with same sex orientation is not "abandoning their natural custom."

In 1973, as a result of a greater understanding of human psychology, the American Psychological Association declassified homosexuality as a mental illness. In 1975, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (the Church's watchdog for orthodoxy) produced a document entitled: "Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics." In this document, they made the most remarkable statement. They stated that there are "homosexuals who are such because of some kind of innate instinct." While these statements are hardly glowing affirmations of gay and lesbian persons, they represent a watershed in human perception and understanding of gay and lesbian people.

These new insights have occurred as a result of the birth and development of the science of psychology and understanding of brain development in the 19th and 20th centuries. The California Supreme Court cited and quoted an amicus brief filed by the APA in the Court's opinion issued on May 15, 2008 that struck down California's ban on same sex marriage. Specifically, the court relied on the APA's brief in concluding that the very nature of sexual orientation is related to the gender of partners to whom one is attracted, so that prohibiting same sex marriage discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation, rather than just imposing disparate burdens on gay people.

In directing the faithful to vote "Yes" on Proposition 8, the California Bishops are not merely entering the political arena, they are ignoring the advances and insights of neurology, psychology and the very statements made by the Church itself that homosexuality is innate (i.e. orientation). In doing this, they are making a statement which has a direct, and damaging, effect on some of the people who may be sitting in the pews next to you today. The statement made by the bishop reaffirms the feelings of exclusion and alienation that are suffered by individuals and their loved ones who have left the Church over this very issue. Imagine what hearing such damaging words at Mass does to an adolescent who has just discovered that he/she is gay/lesbian? What is the hierarchy saying to him/her? What are they demanding from that individual? What would it have meant to you personally to hear from the pulpit at church that you could never date? Never fall in love, never kiss or hold hands with another person? Never be able to marry? How would you view yourself? How would others hearing those same words be directed to view you? How would you view your life and your future? How would you feel when you saw a car with a "Yes on 8" bumper sticker? When you overheard someone in a public place use the word "faggot?"

I remember the first time I heard that word, faggot, I was hanging out with my cousins. They all played on the football team of the Catholic high school in our town. One of them spat out the word in the form of a curse. I was just a kid in the 5th grade, I'd never heard the word before, and so I asked: "What's a faggot?" A faggot is a guy who likes other guys, was the curt reply. Now pause. Think. What would those words mean to someone in junior high school who discovers that he/she is attracted to people of their same gender? The greatest fear that he/she would have is that they would be rejected by the people they love the most-their family. So, their solution is to try to pass as straight, deceive, and in effect-lie. Of course, this leads ultimately to self loathing. It should come as little surprise that gay teenagers have elevated suicide rates. According to the Center for Disease Control's Youth Risk Behavior Survey (1999), 33% of gay youth will attempt suicide.

The bishop states: "The Church has spoken out constantly that those with a homosexual orientation must be respected with the dignity of every child of God. Every individual is created in the image and likeness of God and should never be subjected to prejudice or hatred." A pious thought uttered by a cleric, robbed of any substantive meaning, as the executioner begins his work. Only a few select people actually read those documents. What most Catholics hear about being gay or lesbian at their parish church is--silence. A numbing silence, which slowly and insidiously tells them, "You don't belong here, this is not for you, and you are not welcome." It is not the crude overt vulgarity of some churches. But rather, it is the coldness of a maitre d' who simply won't seat you, or the club which has put you on a waiting list with no intention of allowing you to join. And simply asks you to wait in polite almost, apologetic tones.

In effect, the bishops are asking gay and lesbian people to live their lives alone. Why? Who does this benefit? How exactly is society helped by singling out a minority and excluding them from the union of love and life, which is marriage? How is marriage protected by intimidating gay and lesbian people into loveless and lonely lives? What is accomplished by this? Worse still, is to intimidate a gay or lesbian person into a heterosexual marriage, which is doomed from its inception, and makes two victims instead of one by this hurtful "theology." This "theology," which is parroted by clerics in polished tones from pulpits, produces the very prejudice and hatred in our society which they claim to abhor.

When the hierarchy prohibited artificial birth control, most of the faithful in the United States, Canada and Europe scratched their heads in wonderment and proceeded to ignore them. There is an expression in theology: "the voice of the people is the voice of God." If your son or daughter is gay/lesbian let them know that you love them unconditionally. Let them know that you are not ashamed or embarrassed by them. Guide them as you would your other children to finding true and abiding love. Let them know that marriage is a union of love and life and is possible for them too.

I do not presume to tell you how to vote but I do ask that you pray to the Creator of us all. Think and consider the effects of your vote on others, especially minorities in our society who are sitting next to you in church, and at work. The act of casting a vote takes you a few minutes but it can cause other human beings untold happiness or sorrow for a lifetime. It can grant them hope and acceptance, or it can cause them to lose civil rights. It can be a rebuff to bigotry and hatred, or it can encourage bigotry and hatred. Personally, I am morally compelled to vote "NO" on Proposition 8. It is my hope that the people of California will join with those others around the world such as Canada, Europe and South Africa who welcome their gay and lesbian family members fully into society by granting them the civil right to marry.

I know these words of truth will cost me dearly. But to withhold them, would be far more costly and I would become an accomplice to a moral evil that strips gay and lesbian people not only of their civil rights but of their human dignity as well. Jesus said, "The truth will set you free." He didn't promise that it would be easy or without personal cost to speak that truth.

Welcome to our fold, Father Farrow. And thanks.

Priest's Shocking Revelation [ABC30]
CA: Fresno priest comes out against Prop 8 during Mass [Pam's House Blend]
Fresno, California Priest Comes Out As Gay, Speaks Out Against Prop 8 [towleroad]
Fresno, CA: Catholic Priest Comes Out In Sermon About Proposition 8 [Joe.My.God]

Necessary Debate Materials

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:41:12 PDT

I stopped off this evening to a local grocery store and picked up some necessary accessories for tonight's VP debate. Beer to dumb the senses to how bad Palin's answers are and chocolate to make me feel better when the pundits says she won because she was charming, did better than expected and got Joe Biden to say something stupid. Sigh...

The beer portion consists of a local microbrew from Ellicotville called Pantius Droppus (mainly because its 10% ABV which apparently causes drinkers to drop trau), Vanilla Java Porter (just because that sounds tasty) and Southern Hemisphere Harvest Ale. The two chocolates I selected were Valrhona's Manjari (with some orange peel) and Nirvana's Spicy Aztec (with chilis, almonds, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg).

And for those who haven't seen it, here's a VP debate drinking game and, of course, the Palin Bingo cards.

You Know You're No Longer in Your Twenties When...

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:13:57 PDT

...you find a gray nose hair. Seriously? What kind of crazy assed universe do we live in?

Mid-Afternoon Pick Me Up

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:02:16 PDT

Today has been a really long day. Hell, the last two weeks have been really long. What with 12 credits, independent projects out the ass, being the lackey for a collaborative research group, general emotional distress and being called "Andy" several times, I'm about at my wits end. It's especially noticeable today since the university is celebrating Rosh Hashanah and classes have been canceled since 6 pm last night and will remain so until 6 pm tonight. Basically a free day for Jew and Gentile alike. For most, it meant drinking yourself blind last night and not getting out of bed until at least noon. But alas, not for me. I'm here at the office, using it as a day to catch up, do lab work, meet with people and hunker over my desk until I resemble a question mark. Good times, I know. (I'm done whining now. Honest...)

So far, three things have gotten me through today. First, chicken and pasta in vodka sauce, one of the greatest sauces known to man. Second, I've been replaying both of Tina Fey's impersonations of Sarah Palin. I don't know why, but I can't get enough of it. Any mention of Russia and "shooing them back over the border" just sets me off. And the third thing came across my Google Reader a few minutes ago...Please meet my new husband, Bryan Thomas.

Yeah, I know. Don't you wish you were me and had that to come home to? Oh and you have spittle on the side of your mouth. Wipe that off. Its unsightly.

Having now set this lovable little sports god as my new wallpaper, it gives me another reason to fall asleep with the computer on. Woo hoo. God bless you Kenneth for sharing this. God bless you.

The New Shaved Head in My Life...

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:24:04 PDT

Lately, I've been on a quest for some new music. Oddly enough, I've had contact with several others who are on similar quests. For whatever reason, tonight I found this guy, sexy man Jeffrey Foucault. A very folky and bare bones singer, he's got an incredibly rich voice and, like I said, he's quite nice to look at so in my book he's a total package. Now I just gotta get him touring close to me...and get him away from his wife.

Below are two of his performances. Both are very clear for being live recordings. The first, Northbound 35, is a little long but well worth the commitment. Unfortunately, the audio and video are just off enough to be annoying, but it's still a great song The second, Stripping Cane, is the title track from his 'quintessential' CD. Enjoy. And if anyone out there has any musical suggestions, feel free to post 'em.

Sometimes the Truth Hurts....

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:58:38 PDT

Really? Just for YouTube. I think it should be for any thing posted or commented on Internet-wide.

Listen to Yourself [xkcd]

Because It's Funny and About All My Brain Can Handle Right Now

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:40:08 PDT

I found this last night. Some people will get eaten way before me which may buy me a couple of extra seconds. Of course, the biologist in me wants to point out to the creator that rapters probably didn't have external genitalia per se so "kicking him in his raptor balls" is more an expression of a will to live rather than an actual battle plan. But I digress...

1 minute, 6 seconds

The New Red Head in My Life

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:36:28 PDT

My Cleveland Palin brother, Khakisalmon, has an odd fascination of making mix CDs for his friends so that they can break out of their tight little musical boxes. He's made me two in the past year and both times he hit the my mood and musical needs pretty much spot on. Last weekend, at my request, he made me another two. On one of them was a gorgeous creature named Neko Case. I feel completely musically illiterate at not having heard her before, but now I'm sold (and a little bit in love). I wanted to embed the song Khakisalmon put on the CD for me, Set Out Running, but there's only some live versions on YouTube which, while good, offer too much crowd noise. So I put in Maybe Sparrow off the CD I just bought from iTunes. Damn that girl knows how to sing.

FYI

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:52:26 PDT

Christian singer Ray Boltz comes out of the closet. Better late than never. Below is an excerpt from the article. It is quite well written but I found the passages cited to be especially profound.

Ray Boltz was tired of living a lie.

He’d gotten to a point nearly three years before where he couldn’t continue down the road his life had gone.

His 33-year marriage to ex-wife Carol was, he says, largely a happy one. It produced four children — three daughters and a son who are now between 22 and 32 — but family life and going through the motions of being straight had grown so wearying to Boltz, he was in a serious depression, had been in therapy for years, was on Prozac and other anti-depressants and had been, for a time, suicidal.

“I thought I hid it really well,” he says. “I didn’t know people could see what I was going through, the darkness and the struggle. After I came out to my family, one of my daughters said she was afraid to walk in my bedroom because she was afraid she’d find me — that I’d done something to myself. And I didn’t even know they’d picked it up.”

The Boltz family remembers Dec. 26, 2004 for two reasons: the tsunami in the Indian Ocean but also the tsunami that their husband and father unleashed when he told them what had been bothering him for so many years.

He hadn’t planned a major announcement — but sitting around the kitchen table at his daughter’s house, Boltz’s son, Philip, asked him what was wrong.

“I thought, ‘Well, I can just do what I always do and hide the truth or I can take a risk and be honest,’” Boltz says. “That day, with the tsunami, has become very symbolic in our family.”

Nobody was sure, at the time, what the ramifications of the revelation would be, least of all Ray.

“It’s hard to say I came out because I didn’t have all the answers. I just admitted what I was struggling with and what I was feeling. It’s hard to go, ‘This is the point where I accepted my sexuality and who I was,’ but I came out to them and shared with them what I’d been going through.”

Continuing to pretend, Boltz says, was no longer an option.

Key Changes [Washington Blade]

Cleveland Adventures Episode 1 - Pie Gallon Is Born

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:47:28 PDT

I believe in karma so when the opportunity presents itself for me to put some positivity into the universe, I generally take advantage. Such an opportunity presented itself this past weekend as my friend, Pavo, was changing apartments in his newly adopted town of Cleveland. Knowing how much I relied upon others for my move to Buffalo, I decided to lend a helping hand. That being said, Saturday afternoon another friend, Tisc, and I hit the road for the journey south.

Pavo said that he only really needed help moving the big stuff (mattress, couch, trapeze, sling, etc.) and when we got there, I was very glad he said that as there was stuff strewn about the apartment and only a limited amount of said strewing end up being in boxes (You know I love you, Pavo!). Mentally, I had prepared myself for such a situation but to be presented with it in full, unorganized techno-color initiated my food/beer response. Plus, Tisc and had already discussed the fact that we were starving on the way down. And thus we came upon our first big challenge, getting three indecisive gays to figure out what restaurant to go to. After 10 belaboured minutes discussing the distinctive flavor of cilantro, Tisc boldly determined we should go to Melt, an establishment that serves only grilled cheese sandwiches and variations on that theme. After thinking hard for a minute or two, we realized that Tisc was brilliant beyond his years and departed for the bar.

Tisc proved to be a wise seer as we had a fantastic meal and a great overall Melt experience. The waitress, a slightly goth/alternative young woman, was rather adorable and extremely open to my flirtatious nature. Why this matters is beyond me, but since my flirting skills with the same sex seem to have completely dried up and withered away, I figured some heterosexual sexual tension was better than none. Upon her recommendation, I selected a combination of smoked turkey seasoned with dry chipotle rub, topped with vodka kraut and smokey gouda, complimented with alternativing drafts of Bell's Two Hearted IPA and Dogfish Head's Pumpkin Ale. By the end of the meal, I was fat, dumb and buzzed. Such a great combination!

As it was too early to go out after our gluttony of beer and cheese, we went back to Pavo's detritus strewn apartment to vegetate and compare porn collections. Not knowing many specifics about porn stars, their progression of tattoos and their prefered sexual position, I mostly grunted an occasional, "Yeah, he's hot" as my turkey and gouda goodness digested in my gut while laying beached whale like on Pavo's yet to be moved couch. Then, the evening took a turn for the worse...

Pavo, unabashed Peace Corps liberal that he is, killed time by having us go get our "Palin names." I shrugged my shoulders, thinking we could determine them by merely naming objects in Pavo's refrigerator (hemp milk, Fakin' Bacon, soy, etc.) but Pavo insisted on using an Internet algorithm. Sigh. Fine...

Pavo had done his once before and came up with the result of "Khaki Salmon Palin". Not overly sexy but kind of amusing when said very quickly (Khakisalmon). Tisc was next. We went through several incarnations of his name until we decided we liked "Spoon Archer Palin" or rather specifically "S. Archer." Rugged, masculine, authoritative, quasi-zodiacesque. Tisc could definitely pull it off.

Then it was my turn. First, Andrew was tried. That resulted in "Rock Crane Palin" which sounded way too much like one of our other friends actual names. Then we went to Drew. "Pie Gallon Palin." Both of my brothers, S. Archer and Khakisalmon, loved it. Hmm, oddly enough, I've been called a lot worse. And as Khakisalmon said, "You'll no doubt make out well at the bars. The leather guys will love you because they'll assume the 'gallon' refers to your shooting capacity and god knows the bears like pie." Sigh. Anything for an icebreaker by the boys. And with that, the three Palin boys, S. Archer, Khakisalmon and Pie Gallon, took the bridge to nowhere and hit the Cleveland bar scene. To be continued...

Happiness Is...

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 08:33:57 PDT

...getting pay checks again! Now I don't have to pay for my Starbuck's in change. Woo hoo. I feel like an adult again.

Frakking Guilty Pleasure Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:22:55 PDT

I have a small obsession with Battlestar Galactica. Ok, perhaps its a large obsession. And for some reason, I want to do most of the cast. Boys AND girls. Crazy, I know, but Starbuck, 6, Sharon and Roslin that's right, the President!) do it for me. Now Helo, Anders, Apollo and even Romo do it for me more, but still it is a beautiful cast. I've finally gone through seasons 1-3 and have seen bits and pieces of 4. YouTube gives this sweet little 8 minute summary and it will tell you what the frak is going on!

I love this clip of Apollo and Starbuck too. First, cause their nekkid. Second because I'm just happy that they finally frakked and told each other how they felt. What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic.

For the Politically Minded Sci-Fi Geeks

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:27:29 PDT

Screw McCain/Palin. I'm all for Tigh/Roslin 2008! They have a plan!!!