Posted by: GreyDuck at October 31, 2014 05:43 PM (3m7pZ)
5
No worries. Minor case as it goes, medication should do it just fine. Hopefully it'll keep me going to the gym, I could definitely do with some weight loss.
Posted by: Avatar at October 31, 2014 06:06 PM (ZeBdf)
Attention.... Your Attention Please...
Pond Central's internet connection is down, but for once it isn't my service provider's fault! According to them, the powers-that-be one step above them are having problems. It's supposed to be fixed today (Wednesday), but... yeah, who knows?
I'm at the Old Home Pond as I write this. Hopefully, I'll be up later today and I can get you some sweet, sweet Ben-To! episodic review.
(For me, back to back 11-ish hour days of mostly-babysitting a client data recovery crisis situation. I was almost at the throwing-things stage by 8:30 last night... partly due to my phone degenerating into a useless lump of garbage.)
Posted by: GreyDuck at October 21, 2014 07:12 AM (CUkqs)
Broken Follow-up
The day never did get any better. Pointless from the moment I got up (again) to now, just a complete waste of everything that could have been.
I'm trying to keep The Pond from becoming a "Dear Myspace..." column, but it's hard. Expect some quality this weekend, maybe? Ben-To! Ep10? The Buffaloes of Finland? I have a photoshoot thingy I want to do, but that's really quite involved, surprisingly.
No, not surprisingly at all to anybody who knows me. Remember the Christmas Carol ducks? This'll make that rig look like a cardboard box with flashlights stuck in it. If it's worth overdoing, it's worth really overdoing.
Or it's just as likely I won't get anything done because motivation. We'll see.
1
Just tell yourself that your "photoshoot thingy" is the only thing standing between the U.S. and an Ebola pandemic - that should motivate you. And besides, it's got to be at least as a effective as anything the CDC is doing...
Posted by: Siergen at October 17, 2014 05:08 PM (r3+4f)
2
I've gotten the ducks and F1 cars off the bookshelf, now it's time for moving the books and preparing the battlefield photostudio...
Posted by: Wonderduck at October 17, 2014 07:12 PM (BCjxQ)
3
All of a sudden I got a premonition we are about to get the duck equivalent of mechamusume...
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at October 17, 2014 07:29 PM (+rSRq)
Adventures In Broken Sleep Patterns
Wednesday night, I laid down to take a short nap, intending to get up around 1030pm or so and work on a blog-related matter. I don't remember turning my alarm clock off, but I must have because the next thing I knew, it was 430 in the morning on Thursday.
That was 90 minutes ago, and I'm going back to sleep. However, I can honestly say that I've learned something: once people get something in their minds, they'll never believe it isn't true, particularly when you present them with facts. Perhaps especially when you present them with facts.
Time And Tide
In long-term preparation for a photo project, I had been searching Amazon for a teeny-scale SBD Dauntless model kit. No, not that small, even smaller. Nope, smaller than that. Eventually, I found something that was absolutely perfect: this one from Trumpeter. Exactly what I was looking for, in fact. As it's been literally decades since I last put together a model kit, let alone one as... tiny... as that one, and I could envision the need for a larger Dauntless for one or two of the pictures I had in mind, I found another kit that I could practice with.
Yep, that's right about my speed, even at my best. Well, that's not entirely the case, but in comparison to Marty Suspenders, I was the flash left on the sprue. Anyway, while I was adding the kits to my Amazon basket, along with the usual accoutrements required for such an endeavor, it struck me... I didn't need to order this from Amazon, there's a place in Duckford that likely has it all! So it was with a giddy step and a goofy smile on my face I galumphed my way through the rain to my car. From there, the destination was clear... ROYAL HOBBY!
1
The only good place left near me is the Golden Spike Train Shop. It's another case of been-there-forever and likely to be-there-after-forever.
There used to be another fairly decent Friendly Local Hobby Store, too. It's still there, but has shrunk to mostly just R/C equipment and Model trains.
Posted by: Karl at October 14, 2014 11:48 AM (XhfQr)
2
Some people can work miracles. Where I live there's a rock climbing shop that opened about five years ago. They don't have a website, they don't sell skiing or hiking gear. Rock climbing. They have really good stock and really knowledgeable staff. They are in a major city, a couple of hours drive from the nearest rocks. They are in an upscale part of town where I can't imagine the rent is particularly cheap. Their prices are well below anything on the internet.
I have no idea how they do it, but as long as they continue to sell me my favourite climbing shoes at around 60% of full retail I don't care who they have a pact with.
Posted by: AlanL at October 14, 2014 11:55 PM (UMkg7)
Something Really Completely Different
It's been pretty grim around here of late, and for good reason. To lighten things up a bit, let me introduce you to my latest music/video obsession: World Order!
The music is catchy, but its the dance moves that makes the group stand out. As an added bonus, their front man, Genki Sudo, is a retired mixed martial arts / kickboxing fighter.
As you can imagine, their live show appears to be quite impressive. To the point where I've found myself weeping tears of amazement and regret.
If I hadn't failed in grad school, I could have been doing lighting designs like this. Or not. Who knows? There were tears, let's leave it at that.
My wife and I discovered them some months ago; we think they're wonderful.
If you watch "Machine Civilization," the sequence beginning around 3:20 for the next minute is an astonishing representation of a difference engine by human actors.
Gerard van der Leun might have put this under his 'Japan: Nuked too much or not Enough?' banner, but I think he missed the mark here. I'd sooner watch World Order's worst than Bieber's best.
Mega-duckos to you and yours; we're in that Nihongo-sounding State ("Ohayo!") just to your south...if you find yourself in need of Strong Drink and Much Anime in my pellet-stove-fired basement this winter, let us know!
Posted by: Clayton Barnett at October 10, 2014 05:55 PM (lU4ZJ)
...And We're Back!
According to the Great and Glorious Pixy, one of the servers that MuNu/MeeNuVia reside upon coughed up a memory module and fell over.
Everything seems to be fixed now, so regular service should resume shortly. Don't be totally surprised if things go down while gremlins are stomped on. Thanks for your patience, folks, and all hail Pixy for his efforts on our behalf! A better webmaster/service provider/guy we could not ask for.
#DayOfDredd
Today, October 1st, is The Day Of Dredd, the day all good citizens of Mega-City One rally in support to see our favorite Judge on the big screen again. Now, I'll be honest. I'm not a Dreddhead by any means. I've read some of the stories, and found it to be particularly British in its flavor, in a way that didn't quite resonate with me. However, I found the 2012 movie to be very entertaining, and representative (if not 100% accurate) of the Judge Dredd universe.
I'm not asking you to do anything if you don't want to. However, I am of firm belief that Dredd deserves a good sequel, and if signing the official online petition will help in getting one made, well, there ya go. You know what to do, or don't do, as you will.
Go to www.2000ADonline.com/dreddsequel to sign the official petition today.
Then you will sleep the sleep of the peaceful, for you will not stare into the fist of Dredd today.