Sky writing in Dallas

I don't think I've ever seen planes sky write in real life. I've seen it in the movies and cartoons but never in person...until last Sunday afternoon.

This was the scene my kids came yelling for me to come see mid-afternoon. I forget what it fully said but the end of it said, "Visit MyrtleBeach.com." It was pretty cool to see in person. Very impressive. It looked like the entire message covered at least a 1/2 mile or so. The wind made it cross the sky while they were "writing" and it was gone almost as quickly as they produced it. The planes flew in parallel and did a great job with the timing of the smoke to spell the words. Pretty cool thing to see with or without but especially with the kids!

Almost there...almost there...

Today was my last official class day of my undergraduate career. Now it's finals weeks. I have one next week then one the following week and then finally graduation day! I CANNOT WAIT! As I think I've posted plenty of times, it's been a long, LONG journey!

I look forward to sleeping in because I will no longer have to go into work early to make up the time I'm in class. I look forward to not having to slightly stress about the assignment/homework that's due.

I wish I would have an entire summer off like most "normal" undergraduates but it's not going to happen for someone at my age! I do have three weeks off planned during the summer but that's based on vacation time earned from my job and not just for being done with schooling.

What does the future old for me next? I'm still going to work. I'm still going to be a husband and father. I just have a degree now. I'd like to change careers but I'm not leaving my current employment until I know what plans my children have for college. I wouldn't mind remaining working at my college job but not in the same position. I would like to move to another position on campus but it'll have to be a good opportunity for me to give up the semi-cush job I currently have. I'm just done with information technology and would like to expand my knowledge and experience as much as possible before I hit mid-century age!

Sara Jean Underwood

There has been quite a few posts referencing Sara Jean Underwood. Most of the time it's about her in the most scantily glad outfit she could find. Not a problem in my book but there are some haters out there...even some of them are male. WTF kind of males, I don't know but they are there. My thought is to just enjoy the hotness while it lasts. Reminds me a lot of when Megan Fox hit the "everything hotness" links on the Internet. Also, I'm sure the Attack of the Show program is loving her bringing viewers in even if it's just for her.

So, here's a link to today's images courtesy of Egotastic. These are for Men's Fitness Magazine. Funny thing is I don't consider her "fit" in the sense of what most people consider fit: tone, muscular, aerobic, etc., nor is she a man so WTF is she doing in Men's Fitness? Again, I'll enjoy the photos but anything else is just on the side of ridiculous.

I predict within the near future she will pose fully nude for free or for Playboy. I don't really care which. In fact, I'd be happy if someone hacked her phone because I know she has some self-shot nudes on it! Ha!

UPDATE: Well, shit! A quick search on Egotastic and I found these and these.

Spartacus: Vengeance (a Starz original series)

Spartacus: Vengeance. I just finished watching the final episode of this series and I feel empty. I feel like I want to continue the series now and not wait until whatever comes next!

Overall I think this chapter of the series was pretty good. I'm addicted to the complete series so far but sometimes I wish they were consistent with the "reality" of war. There were times where I was like "WTF?" and others when I was like "What BS!" A few things in particular irritated me.

First, I have no idea how Ashur is still alive after the first "Blood and Sand" since "Gods of the Arena" was technically a prequel. He was a sneaky, wounded weakling of the House of Batiatus' ludus in "Sand" and didn't do much fighting in or out of the colosseum during "Arena" as a gladiator or anything else. Then in "Vengeance," he become this force to be reckoned with in the art of fighting. How many times he had "almost died" moments and others when he was kicking ass and taking names of not only Roman soldiers but some of Spartacus' army. To that I say, "Bull-fucking-shit!" He's a mouse...keep him as such. [Spoiler alert!]: I'm glad Ashur finally got his head removed, literally, but it was too damn late to finally happen in episode 10.

Second, the consistency of how quickly someone is killed by a sword one time versus someone else another is lacking. I mean how many times have we seen Spartacus, Crixus or one of the other "free" slaves slice a Roman soldier through their armor through their gut and they are near dead or dead afterwards. But then certain characters last a little longer when the same style of slicing and dicing is used on them. For instance, Crixus was captured and was to fight for his life (and ultimate death) in the arena. He is sliced and looks like stabbed a few times where you think he is a goner but then Spartacus and his crew show up to rescue him. Crixus fights his way out of the arena on his own two feet...miraculously recovered/cured. There's another scene in episode 8 or 9 where there's this Egyptian hired hand working with the Romans who survives such a strike...twice. First, Oenomaus/Doctore is fighting the Egyptian and he slices and dices this guy pretty well. As he should, because he's a former gladiator and trainer of winning gladiators such as Gannicus, Crixus and Spartacus. All of a sudden the Egyptian fights back and stabs Oenomaus in the hand then follows through to push the knife to his eye. Oenomaus doesn't die but he is now wounded. A few weeks pass and we're in episode 10. The final all-out-attack on the Roman camp by Spartacus' army. Oenomaus and the Egyptian meet again. Oenomaus once again does well against the Egyptian. Some scenes later and the Egyptian impales Oenomaus in the gut with a sword. Gannicus rages. Gannicus slices the Egyptian in the abdomen, he's not wearing armor, and the Egyptian is still able to fight back strong enough. Again, this is not consistent with when they slice and dice the Roman soldiers through their armor and they are totally/mostly incapacitated. I'm just asking for some consistency.

Thirdly, more spoiler alerts: Mira is killed near the beginning of episode 10. She's impaled by a battle axe thrown by one of the Roman soldiers during a failed attempt by some not-so-smart members of Spartacus' merry men...and women. Before her death, she's learned to use a bow fairly well. The consistency falters when she can hit some guys in whatever place she choses in other scenes with no problem but then others she mishits in an arm or overshoots or some shit like that. She supposedly has fairly good eyesight because she's warned many of the army of people about to attack but somehow she missed the big, fucking battle axe that is thrown at Spartacus. Spartacus dodges out of the way just in time to see it impale Mira in the upper left chest to shoulder area. That's gotta suck!

Anyway, I obviously overlooked things like these because I watched the entire series and the other two. It's just, damn, I wish sometimes the content editors would do their freaking job!

For some reason, I feel like Liam McIntyre/Spartacus is not masculine/manly/battle-torn enough to come across as a true gladiator compared to Andy Whitfield/Spartacus. Maybe it's because Andy was first but who knows.

Anyhow, I recommend the series purely for the graphic nature of the storytelling.

Dishonored - Video Game Trailer

This looks pretty damn sweet. Just like the comments say, it's a mix of many games. Hopefully, it turns out as good as the animated trailer.

Tuna looks like "tuna"

Sent by Super Jay from his HTC Evo Shift on the Super Jay Network from Sprint!

Diet Coke Mobile

Door from Dallas to Taos

 

What's the point of a paywall?

So, this may not be true for all online newspapers but what's the point of forcing people to pay for an online subscription when there is always some "free" outlet to get the story?

Case in point. I'm on the RSS feed for the Dallas News. I added it when the online paper was "free." Now, I mainly see the headlines and a few lines of the story before it expects me to "get Subscriber content" upon opening/paying for an account. Anyway, this story was was of the headlines in my Dallas News RSS:

Wylie man's invention turns trash into building blocks for Third World homes

I was more curious about it and I'll be damned if I'm paying for "news." So I Googled it. Turn out NBCDFW.com had it for free (here).

So again, why charge people for what is essentially able to be found for "free" somewhere else? It's not a very good or smart business model...unless, you bet your money on those idiots that will pay for it. Which I'm sure they did, there are, and that's why they do.

How time has flown by...

In a little over a week, it'll be spring break for the undergraduate classes. I'm not for certain but I think this means that basically half the spring semester will be completed.

I briefly attended the graduation fair last week. I really don't need anything other than the cap and gown. Announcements are too damn expensive through the campus or the campus vendor. I'm not having my purchases funded by a rich mother and/or father. I don't need a year book and I don't need a class ring. If the ring wasn't ringing up to the tune of about $800 I wouldn't mind getting one but that's three car payments for me. I'd much rather be three car payments down than owe $800 more to some other business!

Anyway, I was able to go to a website and order by cap and gown. It's interesting how they ask for my height and weight to order my cap and gown. I guess they have some formula that translates to sizes of S, M, L, XL, etc. based on your height/weight combination. We'll have to see when I pick them up on May 5^th.

So, here's to two and a half months left of my long, tenuous journey.

Madonna...MIA...Super Bowl Halftime Show

I really don't care about the tiff that Madonna may have now with MIA. It's her own damn fault. Madonna wanted to team up with young, edgy "singers/rappers" to make her feel more popular with today's kids. And this is the kind of thanks and appreciation she gets from them. I'm thinking that MIA wouldn't even have been apart of the show or any Super Bowl entertainment if it wasn't for being a part of Madonna's half-time show.

That being said. I didn't watch any of the game. I didn't watch any of the commercials while the game was playing. I didn't watch the pre-game, half-time or post-game shows. I just don't give a shit about football! However, I did watch some commercials from a website's opinion on the 11 best commercials from the Super Bowl. I'd have to say I only like half of them.

Anyway, my point of this post is to wonder why anyone would consider this as attractive! I know. I know. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Inner beauty is just as attractive as outer beauty (or lack there of). I just don't find her attractive and I don't find her music appealing.

You can click here for the article while it lasts.

Oh well. Ces la vie.

The Soda Gallery, Dallas, Texas

This is The Soda Gallery in the Bishop Arts District in Dallas, TX. I believe this is my first and only time to ever visit this area. I must say that I was not impressed with anything there whether it be shops, food, or atmosphere. But I can say I've been there and done that.

I took this picture of the store for a project in my Digital Color Photography class last semester. Someone in my class told me that the Bishop Arts District has a lot of colorful buildings. They lied. In the area around The Soda Gallery, there are probably 15-20 buildings and they ARE NOT COLORFUL. Maybe one or two, but nothing spectacular. I photoshopped this one to make it look better and colorful.

Anyway, The Soda Gallery is a highfalutin convenience store. The well-known, named-brand sodas like Coke, Dr Pepper, Pepsi and their variations are WAY overpriced! They wanted something like $3.50 for a 12 oz. aluminum can of "regular" Coke in the shape of a regular soda pop bottle. RIDICULOUS!

They had some "exotic"-type drinks but I have no frame of reference for pricing on those but I am sure they too are overpriced. They also sold candy. I don't know what kind in particular but I recall seeing it. I just didn't pay too much attention to anything in the store once I found out about the exorbitant prices.

The store, or actual retail space, is colorful. They have some comical graphic tees or iron-ons for T-shirts on the walls and the colorful bottles in the main storefront window (you can see them in the photo) help decorate the place with the way the sun shines through from the outside.

Other than that, this store is passable and I have absolutely NO IDEA how it's been around as long as it has. Oh wait, stupid rich people who don't know the TRUE value of money.

As far as the Bishop Arts District...I think I'll have to go back when I have a little more time. I don't know if it was really that bad or I just didn't get to the right areas or what. I just know I will give it one more chance before I wonder what the hell is wrong with the people that think or even told me that the District was cool.

Speaking of advertisements

I am a Buy.com customer. When they have them, they have some of the best deals. I think most of the prices are pretty good deals but I'm cost-conscious and I compare prices through multiple mediums such as online store, driving to the brick-and-mortar store, eBay, etc. However this is not about that.

I get daily email "deals" from Buy.com and I always browse through them to see what they are. Today, like other days, the specials on lingerie caught my eye. What, I like women in sexy lingerie. Shoot me! Sadly, sometimes, I think that many women probably look better clothed than not. And I'm talking all sizes of women. I've seen some thin, or skinny, or even athletic bodied women that look 100% better in clothing, whether it be gym clothes, business clothes, or lingerie. Of course, EVERYONE looks great in the dark! Anyway...

Here is the link to the lingerie (and models) that kind of crack me up. They are all stunning but they're like eunuchs with the way some of them have had their nipples airbrushed out of the photo.

It's just weird.