Ok, not entirely, but sort of. The process of refinancing a condo (or house, or any form of real estate) involves an appraisal. Mr Appraisal came by yesterday and was nice enough (after spending a few minutes with the dogs at my suggestion--once you become their friend they will forget you exist and let you be). My condo was clean for the first time in ages, and he poked around here and there. My condo does have issues; there's the laundry room ceiling, the carpet near the door (thanks, Denny!) and my garage (though that is not my fault, but the fault of the jackass neighbors).

Today I get my appraisal back: 20% appreciation in 5 years. My condo's not even one of the nice ones in the neighborhood--it needs work, which is why I'm refinancing.

I'm not bragging, but I have to share. This is not the sort of thing that happens to me! This happens to friends, or friends of friends. Not me. I keep thinking that he's going to come back and take a closer look at something and take it down several grand.

Woo.

Labels: divorcee acres, homestead

Commission OKs Bellevue mall revamp

This mall opened the day we moved into our Bellevue homestead. It would be nice if I could get the hell out of Bellevue on the day it closes, but this is not likely

Labels: divorcee acres

I've been watching the State a lot lately. Last month at the New Media Expo I won a $15 iTunes gift card from the kind folks at Technorama and used it to buy the five episodes of The State that are available for purchase.

Oh sure, people complain that they don't have the original music. The thing is, the funny's still there. Plus there's this gem I had totally forgotten about: Forever. Everything about it is fantastic (if you're wondering about David Wain getting taken out, well, it's a running gag through the whole episode), and pay special attention to Ken Marino's closeup; this is the funniest part of the whole thing. Forget Barry and Levon, Doug, and Louie. This is it.

Labels: television

getting ready for 52.

Labels: podcast, schmoovecast

Boobs, weiners, and butts

Labels: podcast, schmoovecast

Yes,i know it's supposed to be a cat but it's black, has pointy ears, a tail that curls over its back, and a red collar. Therefore i will call it the Flash Dog statue.

If you haven't seen Lone Star then you're missing something for sure. Back in he college days this was one of our slacker movie night choices, mainly due to the presence of Matthew McConaughey. I don't want to spoil, but I want you to put this in your Netflix queue, DVR it, or even go to your local library and get a copy. In fact, I notice that it's on one of the Starz channels within the next couple of weeks.

Come back here and discuss it. What I want you to do is watch the entire film, then go back to the courthouse scene and notice how much they tell you about the rest of the movie. Again, not going to spoil here. There is so much to talk about! Like the significance of the name of Mercedes's restaurant.

Labels: film class, movies

If you're wondering how I get such random movies on my DVR it's because I tend to just surf the listings looking for interesting stuff. Sometimes I just get a yen to see a specific movie and search for it on the listings. With that said, let's soldier on and review some of the films I watched over the weekend.

• Jesus Camp. If this movie doesn't scare you, then you aren't paying attention. Let me state here for the record I am a Christian and do not begrudge anyone their choice of worship, so I'm not hating. What's scary is the ages of these kids, seeing them entranced. I don't doubt that kids are smart, but how much of it is freedom of choice and how much of it is scaring the children into submission? Are they soldiers for Christ because they want to share his love or because they're terrified of the consequences (seeing the children collapsing in tears during sermons calling for those who have fallen away from God are particularly disturbing)? It's an interesting study and will be even more interesting when I can watch it again since my Netflix copy was scratched terribly and skipped over several parts. I think it's completely appropriate to do a follow up every so often a la Apted. Ten years would do. Look to the bonus features for an interesting segment from a Ted Haggard sermon.


• Film Crew: Hollywood After Dark. And why not. It's some folks from MST3K (Mike, Kevin, and Bill) doing what they do best. It's a movie starring Rue McClanahan as a burlesque dancer (yes, she does mention the movie in her auto-bio, and after you read the section about this movie you'll scrutinize it for what Rue reveals, and you'll definitely be able to tell). So I should like this, right? I didn't. I don't know if it was the movie they watched or if it was their commentary, but I just wasn't that into it. I don't want to get in a Mike v Joel argument because it's silly, and remember that Mike was a head writer when Joel was the host. So maybe I'll like the other Film Crew offerings. This one not so much.


• Freaky Friday. When I told mom I watched it she asked which one. I said the good one, then had to state which good one (I think the remake is every bit as good as the original, and if you haters disagree you can suck it. It was back when Lohan still had promise.). Sure, I've seen this movie many times but have recently discovered Patsy Kelly through the magical network of TCM. If you can find it check out "There Goes My Heart." It isn't available on Netflix but if you really want to you can find a copy. It's a cute movie about an heiress who runs away, gets a job, falls in love, etc. Patsy Kelly plays the stranger who takes in the heiress in "There Goes My Heart"--well, she plays the friend quite often actually; I saw her playing best friend to Marion Davies in a bleh comedy. She's a brunette after all, and brunettes are always the best friend (no hate mail, that is a JOKE). She frequently pops up in TCM gems and displays a sassy, wisecracking comic style that makes me wonder why she isn't better known. What this all has to do with Freaky Friday is that she plays the frumpy, drunken housekeeper Mrs Schmauss. I've seen enough of her as an ingenue, now it was time to see her advanced in life. She doesn't disappoint.


• Modern Girls. Ok, this was one of those random movies I found by surfing listings. I mistook TMC for TCM and, in addition, love to see movies about 1980s LA nightlife. That's really all I can say. It was short. The dude from "Just One of the Guys" plays a dual role ("Where do you get off having tits?"). That's about it. Crazy costumes and hair. OH! Early on they play a tiny bit of "Dancin" by a then lesser known Chris Isaak and Silvertone. Pretty much the only highlight of the film.

Labels: movies

See also:

Disneyland 2007 Flickr Set
California! Part 1: The Arrival
California! Part 2: The Magic Kingdom
California! Part 3: California Adventure
California! Part 4: Mom goes home

Portable Media Expo? Podcast Expo? New Media Expo? A rose by any other name would be just as tedious.

Not entirely tedious; I learned a lot that will help at work with our new podcast. I got some free goodies. I saw some semi-famous faces.

I saw a live recording of The Radio Adventures of Dr Floyd which was lots of fun! Frank Conniff was there as one of the guest stars, so I did a little tiny bit of geeking out. I didn't actually meet him, but I did get to see the show and loved it. I stuck around for a hilarious taping of Technorama; I was a contestant on their game show and won a cool prize. Perhaps they will post the video soon. If not, I'll tell more. Well, what there is to tell--I was distracted by my need to pee and thought I was going to end up having a Fergie moment.

I spotted Dawn, Drew, Nick Starr, and Adam Curry standing around at an evening event. I didn't chat with any of them, but from afar that Dawn has some gorgeous skin. I spotted a few other folks I won't name here, and I probably saw quite a few folks who I wouldn't recognize by face but because they weren't wearing a clearly visible badge or a shirt advertising their show I didn't recognize them.

I did have a minor issue at a social event over the weekend. There is a podcast I love, I've recommended it, and I was in close proximity to this podcaster. I kind of recognized the podcaster and sneaked a look at the badge. Podcaster saw me do this and gave me a "yeah, bitch, it's me" kind of smirk. You know, the kind of look you get from someone who's really full of him/herself? Like Podcaster was too good to talk to a commoner such as myself. I really wanted to talk to Podcaster since it's one of my favorite shows, but no, I was really put off. This has kind of soured me on Podcaster. Podcaster's shows are lined up in my ipod, and I really have no desire to listen to them.

One morning over an overpriced breakfast I heard a familiar NPR voice at a nearby table. Now THIS is what should happen at a podcasting conference--recognizing the voice before the face. No, it wasn't Bob Edwards. You would've seen the news reports if it had been.

I'm glad I went, but I was also glad to leave. I had a layover in Las Vegas and did a tiny bit of bad-odds gambling at the airport slots. the wonderful Kelly Jo picked me up in the wee hours and drove me home.

Next year in Vegas.

Labels: podcast, vacation

See also:

Disneyland 2007 Flickr Set
California! Part 1: The Arrival
California! Part 2: The Magic Kingdom
California! Part 3: California Adventure

California! Part 5: The Expo

I do encourage you to look at the flickr page because there were lots of breakfast pics that I am just not going to publish here.

We started with an early morning breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen! I will spare details, but all you can eat breakfast combined with character interaction is always fun.

THen it was time for mom to leave. We took a slow walk back to our hotel cutting through the Disneyland Hotel and the Paradise Pier. The rose garden was getting prepped for a wedding so it was absolutely lovely, the Paradise Pier is just, eh. I pity the fools who spend money on this hotel when we paid less than half that and were only a quarter mile further.

The big surprise was that my mom was going to ride in a freakin TOWNCAR back to Ontario. I was going to do some cleanup at the parks. I sprinted across W Katella in front of her fancy schmancy transport waving a final goodbye.

Let's see: Tower again, the awful Mulholland Madness (tear that shit down now! why is this ride still there?), It's Tough to be a Bug (always cute), and a quick pic with Miss De Vil

I also spotted some nuns wandering around. I later saw them in line for Nemo.

I went to the Magic Kingdom for a little more cleanup. More pirates of course. I managed to do a lot in Fantasyland as well, including the permanently long lined Peter Pan. I finally figured out why the Matterhorn is so well loved, and in my travels through Tomorrowland I finally ran into Buzz!


I did one last ride on Pirates and said goodbye to the castle. It was time to move across the county to the Doubletree. I did decide to splurge and take a cab back to Stovall's. It was a cheap ride (woo!) and then I waited for the shuttle.

I wish I could remember my Super Shuttle driver's name, but he was chatty. We discussed our costs of living and I though he was going to pass out when I told him the price of my condo.

I made it to the Doubletree. The desk clerk gave me two cookies (I told him that I'd been looking forward to it all day), I ordered room service (first time ever!), and it was bedtime.

Labels: disneyland, vacation

See also:

Disneyland 2007 Flickr Set
California! Part 1: The Arrival
California! Part 2: The Magic Kingdom

California! Part 4: Mom goes home
California! Part 5: The Expo

Having learned our lesson we weren't there too early. Besides, California Adventure never seems to have a line for entry so we did a little moseying. I had to return a shirt to the World of Disney, problem was the dude didn't give me my receipt (even though I specifically asked "receipt in the bag?" and he specifically said "yes") so I got a merchandise credit. Fun fun fun!

It should go without saying, but will not, that our first ride was the Tower of Terror. Our second ride was the Tower of Terror. Listen, I could go on but I think you know what I'm saying. We love the Tower, and on our first ride my mom reached over and grabbed my arm. She sensed that her daughter was in danger. Isn't this sweet? I should've bought the picture. i think she was a little surprised by the first drop.

It was at this time that I bought my new handbag. It's cute, I'm sure you'll see it one day.

Next was Monsters Inc which had some wonderful theming. I've heard the ride isn't so good and it is just another dark ride, but the queue is extremely well themed and the ride is cute. Don't be a hater.

The Animation area is very cool. Last time we got there after everything closed so this time we made a point to check out Turtle Talk. I've heard it's great but this is from people with children, I didn't know how my adult, child-fearing self wouldn't like it as much. Mom was selected to talk with Crush, and I think this was the highlight of our trip. It's interactive and fun, I highly recommend. Then Sorcerer's Workshop which is also a ton of fun! We could've spent forever in the Animation area but we knew this was mom's last day so it was time to move on.

Let's see.

• Waited forever for the Sunwheel. It's fun, but this is probably the last time unless it's a no-line day.


• Mom went crazy about California Screamin. I have to admit it's tons of fun but that many times back to back can not be healthy for children and other living things.


• Soarin' is a lot more fun when you don't wait 20 minutes!


• I love the Tortilla/Sourdough tours. This is the only time you'll get something for free at Disneyland so savor it.


• Nashvillians will get a kick out of the river raft ride in CA: The Grizzly River Run. It's a little more fun than the old Opryland version, but I kept calling it the Grizzly River Rampage. Old habits die hard.

I should also note that I've never seen Golden Dreams, but no big loss. During this time of year it was changed to Golden Screams and outside several villains gather for photo ops. Mom wanted to meet the wicked witch but she was scared.

After the CM did a protection spell the witch decided it was ok and posed.

Golden Screams is a cute show where they have an award show to determine which villain has the best scream. It's a cute show and the tween boy they chose was absolutely mortified.

Having conquered the Adventure we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. We rode the train around the park and saw cute little themed areas that you wouldn't see otherwise. More Pirates, more Space Mountain, more Buzz Lightyear. We had some minor drama with dinner but ended up at the Plaza Inn. It was time to leave so we waited for the Monorail.

Labels: disneyland, vacation

See also:

Disneyland 2007 Flickr Set
California! Part 1: The Arrival

California! Part 3: California Adventure
California! Part 4: Mom goes home
California! Part 5: The Expo

This is going to be long and picture heavy.

We woke up early. We're talking in the 5am hour. Nice, get a jump on the day, right? Not so much, as the park opened at 10am. I figured maybe we could get some breakfast and I could upgrade my ticket since we were up so early. With my gung ho attitude we got there at 7:40 and had to wait until 8:30 for the WDTC to open

because we had purchased 2 day tickets and I decided to stay another day! Meanwhile Lindsay was having some health drama so mom spent time on the phone walking her through it.

I got my ticket sorted out, mom got lindsay to a safe place, we both bought a jamba juice, so we decided might as well wait for regular folks entry.

Then we're in! Tiny castle and all! We head right for Nemo because we've heard SO much about it and that the later in the day the longer the lines and hype hype hype so that's where we go. After about an hour wait (the longest during our trip) we're on! Several minutes later we're off! And unimpressed I might add. It's fine, but the line is too much.

During the line we did get to see the seagulls (MINE! MINE! MINE!) and a little bit of the Jedi training which seemed lame until Mr Darth Vader arrives! The kids kept him at bay so we were safe.

I won't do the big ride by ride, blow by blow trip report, so I'll put in some bullet points here:

• Space Mountain is SO much better here, it's so smooth! The only problem is I don't have a single memory of riding it in 2005. Not a terrible problem, as it was just like the first time, assuming it wasn't the first time.


• I absolutely hate the stupid Haunted Mansion Holiday. For those of you who don't know every year Disneyland puts this huge Nightmare Before Christmas overlay on the Haunted Mansion. It's a classic and they've f'ed it up. I am not happy. I've never been on the Haunted Mansion as GOD intended it.


• Tom Sawyer Island is now the Pirates' Lair. Not too much of a difference, except some of the dioramas in the tunnels (they've added the chest holding Davy Jones's heart!) and a pirate themed band that performs sailor songs. Yes, I stopped and listened to music at Disneyland.


• Didn't there used to be a golden apple at Snow White? It wasn't there. The book was, though, and we stuck around long enough to see the wicked stepmother pop in and out


• Storybookland Canal Boats were closed (insert sad face here)


• We stopped at the Rancho del Zocalo, we were pleasantly surprised! And a little nervous for our stomachs since Big Thunder was to be next.

Too much text. Time for a picture.

Mary and Burt! Not an easy couple of face characters to find, and when you do and there's no line YOU ARE THERE. Those ears light up, by the way. Cute, right?

We were very happy with the addition of Jack Sparrow to Pirates of the Caribbean. It works and the animatronic fits in very well. Again, Pirates CA PWNS Pirates FL.

Toontown closes earlier than the rest of the park but we decided to see if it was still open, and yes, it was! This land is so much fun, so much interactive stuff: talking water fountains, rigged doors, crazy doorbells. We enjoyed Minnie's house

so we decided to check out Mickey's house. Now, we did know that Mickey's house is the place to meet Mickey, but we decided to go through just because it's cute and fun. Imagine our suprise when there we were, face to face with the Mouse.

Having done most of the rides we decided to wait for the parade. We'd seen this parade before but Mom likes them so we waited. It was cute, but again, seen it!

I put my hat down for this picture and when I picked it up I realized tht I had put it down in a puddle. This caused some hat-based issues and it didn't dry out until the next day.

It was time to leave. Dinner at the Jazz Kitchen, mom had her first hurricane, and then we decided to do our shopping at World of Disney.

Then the long walk back. By long I mean a mile or so. So nice being close!

Labels: disneyland, vacation

See also:

Disneyland 2007 Flickr Set

California! Part 2: The Magic Kingdom
California! Part 3: California Adventure
California! Part 4: Mom goes home
California! Part 5: The Expo

Delayed flights! Killer blisters! Cocky podcasters! Free gifts!

I've been back nearly two weeks, but I think I can remember much of what happened. All pictures completely out of order found here on flickr.

Let's start the day before we left, Sunday, September 23. Our Music City Rhythm and Bruisers took on the Tragic City Rollers. I rode the bus with some of the team, coming back in the wee hours of Monday, September 24. Even though we lost it was good times.

Maybe we should go back further. Friday, September 21 I went to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Belcourt. Not the film, the stage production presented by the People's Branch Theatre. It was wonderful, but the point here is that I barely had time to pack but did a fine job. I also barely got a minute of sleep. Sleep is for the little people and I would take advantage of the super long flight for sleeping.

Easier said than done. I put in a half day at work and my father picked us up at work. We got to the airport a little early to find out that our plane was delayed.


This is us waiting for the plane at the first gate. Yes, we moved gates three times. We'd get a great seat in the Southwest line and then be forced to move. Two hours late we were on the plane! I did some sleeping! The sort of sleeping where your mouth is hanging open and your mom would take pictures but getting to the camera wasn't easy. It was the first flight I'd been on in a while where there were empty seats--usually every single flight I'm on is packed. We get there, it's windy and nice but a little chillier than we thought! Ontario has a cute little airport but I think next time I'll fly into SNA or, gasp, LAX. We took our shuttle to the Best Western Stovall's Inn over on W Katella and had a lovely room on the first floor near the front. Near the front is important because the closer to the front the closer to Disneyland!

We were hungry. We'd had snack packs on the airplane and pizza at BNA but that was hours ago! We debated on whether or not to walk to Downtown Disney but instead opted for the chain next door, Coco's. The food was good, they had wines (we passed), and a PIE SALE. We called it an early night. We were still running on central time, after all!

Labels: disneyland, vacation

I offer no good explanation for my absence only to say that I'm going to try and come here rather than myspace. With that, let's discuss my shoes.

I don't know why it started, but several months ago I decided I needed new cowboy boots. This meant stopping at western wear shops whenever I could. I had bad luck, and the only "discount" western wear shops had very slim discounts on the good stuff and the boots with deep discounts were mostly crap with nary an organic element in its makeup.

Just a scant few months ago I was on my way up to Knoxville to watch a derby bout. I stopped at a couple of places, mostly crappy pleather boots that would fall apart at the first step. I made note of a few billboards on the way up as I needed to get to my destination. On my way back I decided to stop at a few places. The first had rows and rows of Clarks, but not being a fan I decided to move on. Moving on I discovered French's Shoes in Crossville.

French's is wonderful. You walk in and see a normal, respectable shoe/western store with extremely attentive employees. This can be off-putting but you simply tell them you're just looking and they'll give you room (you may have to do this more than once, as there are many employees and they're all very attentive). You may peruse the regular priced shoes but the prices aren't exactly wonderful, so you wonder why you stopped in the first place, then you see the sign indicating that there are more shoes this a way--it may be upstairs, it may be tucked off to the side. You walk in and see racks and racks of boots and shoes. You look at the prices and the quality of the shoes and think you're in a footwear speakeasy, but this is delightfully legal. An hour later and you're broke but well shod.

French's Shoes is nothing unique, I'm sure there's a nice locally owned rack shoe store near you wher ethe prices are written on the soles in china marker. We have another local place called Marti and Liz that tends to be a little more upscale and little less work- and cowboy-boot oriented. I mean, TJ Marshalls for Less has good shoes, but not like these stores. These are the GOOD shoes. Sometimes they're a little slightly worn or have some other imperfection but they're GOOD. Beyond the valley of 9 West.

My first experience was weird. I saw a sign that said it was a western wear and boot outlet, so I go and find sandals and oxfords. Just all right, but nothing exciting. I mean, good shoes, but I wanted boots, not Clarks. Some how, whether it was a sign in the shop or my eagle eyes (not likely), I learned that the western store was catty-cornered to where I was. Heaven! I found a nice pair of Tony Lamas for a good price.

I knew there were other French's Shoes but wasn't terribly sure where they were. WEll, this past weekend I was on ny way to Chattanooga to visit the grandparents and saw a sign. There was a French's in Murfreesboro right there on the way! I was running late so I knew that it would have to wait, and all I could hope was that it would be open when I was on my way home.

This one also had the rack room though it was hardly as impressive as the one in Crossville but they were giving a $15 discount with the purchase of three pairs. I saw some steel toed Docs that I had to pass by but oh, they were only $69.99. It was difficult. There were Ugg boots which are ugly as sin and NOT MEANT FOR WEAR OUTSIDE OF WINTER but which look really warm. Anyway, now I'm going to share. Forgive the pictures, I don't care for the camera on my new phone. Click on the pic for a larger version.


These are the black shoes I got for work. These wingtips were a little pricy at 39.99 before discount but still cute, so I had to pick them up. I looked online and found them, they typically run $130 on zappos.com. I wore them to work today, very comfy!


You may think these are a little too Little House for me but I like them. They're suede, they're brownish, and the price couldn't be beat. Plus that shoe soul patch is removable.


Ah. Laredo boots! the picture does NOT do them justice. they're colorful, cute, and fun.

Let me know if you have a place like this locally. I'm always interested. They do fly below the radar.

Labels: shoes

Jerry's sitting down.

Ben's sitting down.