Blog Archives - The Land of the Weird

The Land of the Weird

Lights

11/30/2019

I love this time of year. We just put up most of our Christmas lights around the house. All that we are missing is the tree and some of our outside lights. Right now, everything looks festive and jubilant.

Especially since the sun is down for such a large portion of the day, these lights really brighten my spirits. I'm always a bit sad to see them come down (sometime in April). I have them all on timers so they come on when I get up in the morning, turn off for a bit while the sun is up, and are on again until about midnight (which makes for a good incentive to go to bed before then).

The lights also brighten my mood in cold weather--not that it's been that cold lately. While I am tired of the rain and warmer temperatures, I am taking some comfort in our current weather forecast, which indicates we might see a nice blanket of snow soon. Seeing the colors from our lights reflect off the white snow is another one of the joys in my life.

Sure, putting up the lights might have been a mistake considering how my shoulder has complained since. However, I'll take the trade-off if it means have more light in my life.

Black Friday 2019

11/29/2019

Connor and I were up and out early to be at Freddy’s by the time the doors opened. When we got there, it was clear we weren’t in the first hundred customers (who received free gift cards) as the line wrapped around until the two entrance lines intermingled. The store was packed and difficult to navigate, especially since so many people took full sized carts into the electronics area, but everyone was polite—friendly even.

We left from there and headed to Walmart. I found a lot of low-priced movies, but not a lot of employees. There was only one check lane (and no self-checkouts) open when we were ready to go despite there being about twelve people in line. My guess is that they had a light schedule to dealing with needing a larger staff last night.

We returned to Freddy’s and met up with Janelle and Rowen. Janelle had a few things for us to get before she had to work. We headed home soon after. However, we went back one more time at Janelle’s request to have the boys pick out LEGOs that they wanted for Christmas.

All told, as we didn’t have any major purchases this year, I think we spent less than we have the past few years, but I still had fun.

Thanksgiving 2019

11/28/2019

We had a pleasant day. Although we were a little tired since we were up until 1am dealing with pies, everything turned out really well and more than made up for a bit of sleep deprivation. We also had a couple of visiting moose (sadly, one with an arrow hanging from her back right side) who shared a Thanksgiving mean one our yard and compost area.

I think that Chloé enjoyed her first Thanksgiving. When seeing the food spread out on the table, she commented that her teachers in her English classes said American Thanksgivings looked like that, but nobody believed them. She was excited to share pictures with her family and friends.

The meal was wonderful and will be providing delicious leftovers for days to come. All of the pies—which includes two pumpkin pies, a caramel Dutch apple, and Janelle’s famous dark chocolate meringue—turned out beautifully.

After dinner, Chloé left with another host family to Anchorage to experience a full American Black Friday. Meanwhile, after cleaning up, the rest of us played a couple of board games and are now heading to bed. We are getting up early: me and the boys for Black Friday shopping, and Janelle for Black Friday working.

I am thankful for so many things this year. Having this day go so well is certainly one of them.

Shoulder Pain

11/27/2019

I tossed a ball (underhanded, even) for Starbuck last night and immediately knew that something was wrong. I've had problems with my shoulder before, and it has since given me reminders that I shouldn't take it for granted. Sometimes, it settles back down after a good night's rest. Unfortunately, that was not the case this time.

Instead, I was up for a large portion of the night, unable to get comfortable. This made me start the day grouchy, tired, and in pain. With the help of ibuprofen and an icy-hot wrap, I made it through the school day.

As long as I don't lift my arm up directly in front of me, I don't have any sharp stabs of pain. I can even raise my arm if I do so carefully from the side. The difficulty is that a low level pain radiates out from my shoulder no matter which way I have it.

The biggest issue is that I'm a baby when it comes to pain. It makes me particularly short-tempered and impatient. It also makes me prone to make more mistakes as my concentration on any given task tends to waiver.

Hopefully, the problem works itself out quickly. I really don't want to end up in a sling again.

Service Industry

11/26/2019

Few people in our society get less love than those who work in our consumer service industry. While there are plenty of memes thanking (and deservedly so) police, medical care, fire, military for working during this Thanksgiving holiday, consumer service workers are suspiciously absent from them. Yet they will be out there too, working rather than being with their families let alone enjoying this nice 4-day weekend.

These are people who are often working for our convenience and at their severe inconvenience with little in the way of recognition. Instead, they are often treated horribly by "entitled" customers who are looking for someone that they can bully. Any inconvenience (real or imagined) to customers seems to make some that feel that they have the license to be cruel to those who they believe are of a lower social status than them.

Meanwhile, these employees are often given bizarre and shifting schedules, few (if any) sick or vacation days, mind-numbingly dull tasks, and chronic injuries due to repetitive stress tasks. Worse, they are often maligned in public realms as being stupid or lazy (and some are, but I've found that true in all professions). That they are paid less than a living wage is itself a travesty; that people publicly decry and insult them for wanting better is a sad commentary on our society.

Now, I plan on going shopping on Black Friday (although I do refuse to do so on Thanksgiving itself). When I do so, I try to cheerful, friendly, and polite. They deserve at least that much.

Thanksgiving Week

11/25/2019

It is looking like this might end up being a better week than I had planned. I've been watching the weather which keeps switching the forecast between snow and rain in the next few days, but it looks like it might be edging towards snow. At last check, they were projecting 4 to 8 inches Wednesday night. While I sympathize with those who are traveling for this holiday, I think a half a foot of snow sounds pretty good right now.

Janelle has Thanksgiving off for the first time in about five years. Hopefully we can spend the day doing things together (other than just cooking, dishes, and shovelling). It will be a little odd as this is our first Thanksgiving without Trevor since he was born. However, it is also Chloe's first Thanksgiving, so that sort of balances out.

We will all head to bed early so we can hit Freddy's right when it opens on Black Friday. Janelle doesn't have the super-early shift, so she wants to get some shopping in before her (still early) shift starts. Chloe and the boys will be following along. It might be a bit early for Rowen, but we didn't want to leave him home by himself either and both Chloe and Connor want to go out.

Following that, we get out the Christmas decorations. It's been getting dark here, and the Christmas lights really make this time of year more bearable. I like the holiday spirit that they bring.

Just thinking about this week puts me into a thankful mindset.

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

11/24/2019

Today's mass celebration has quite the title. Our pastor informed us today that this feast is one of the newer ones established by the Catholic Church, having been created in 1925 by Pope Pius XI (Pope Paul VI would later revise the feast in 1969 to its present title and place on the calendar). It was formed in particular as a response to the fanatical nationalism that had continued despite the conclusion of World War I and as a response to the growing power of communism which promoted atheism as well as allegiance to the state above all things.

The feast brings the focus of the Church at the end of its liturgical calendar to the power of Christ. Unlike so many world leaders, Christ's power is not about compulsion or dominance, but rather about love and acceptance. Our pastor reminded us today to not put our faith in a world leader, especially one who demands obedience and unquestioning loyalty. He warned against ignoring the evils that a leader does just because that leader does good things as well.

This is difficult in a world where people often feel like their only choices are between two evils. In such cases, we need to make the best choice that we can; however, doing so does not then justify our turning a blind eye to faults and misdeeds of the lesser evil that we chose. We are to look to Christ as our guide and to do our best to follow the path He has given us.

Star Wars Marathon

11/23/2019

My birthday is one month away. As has been my tradition for over a decade, I plan on holding a movie marathon to celebrate. Considering that The Rise of Skywalker--which is supposed to wrap up the Skywalker saga--will have just come out a couple of days earlier, I figured that this would be a good year to revisit all of the Star Wars movies. Personally, I plan to watch The Rise of Skywalker on the day it opens, watch all of the movies around my birthday, and then watch the final movie again soon after Christmas (assuming I like it enough to see it twice).

While it is technically possible to watch all 10 of movies that precede The Rise of Skywalker in a single day, I'm not sure that is an entirely wise idea. Instead, I am breaking them into two sessions with the Prequels and Solo being shown on the day before my birthday (Sunday the 22nd) and starting from Rogue One to continue through The Fall of the Jedi on my birthday. I'm particularly looking forward to watching the end of Rogue One move directly to A New Hope.

The tentative schedule is as follows:
December 22:
12:00 PM - 2:15 PM The Phantom Menace (2h 15m)
2:20 PM - 4:50 PM The Attack of the Clones (2h 30m)
4:55 PM - 7:25 PM The Revenge of the Sith (2h 30m)
7:30 PM - 9:45 PM Solo: A Star Wars Story (2h 15m)

December 23:
8:00 AM - 10:20 AM Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2h 13m)
10:20 AM - 12:20 PM A New Hope (2h 1m)
12:25 AM - 2:30 PM The Empire Strikes Back (2h 4m)
2:35 PM - 4:45 PM The Return of the Jedi (2h 11m)
4:50 PM - 7:05 PM The Force Awakens (2h 18m)
7:10 PM - 9:40 PM The Last Jedi (2h 32m)

I'm quite excited about the idea.

Decade

11/22/2019

I've seen a number of posts about starting a new decade at the end of the year and am reminded of the 2000 millenium controversy. While it is true that a new decade will start at the end of the year (in fact, a new decade started just now ... and now ...), the 203rd decade A.D. does not begin until 2021. Technically, that means of counting decades begins on calendar years that end on a one and go all the way through the years that end on a zero (this is because A.D. [or C.E.] started on year one--there was no year zero).

That said, most people tend to group numbers by the tens column (e.g. the sixties). In this sense, we are just about to leave the teens and enter the twenties. I, for one, am glad to be able to use a decade name--like the twenties--as an identifier again. It was so very strange during the early years of this century (and millenium) when people tried to refer to them as the "aughts" or the "ohs." The teens weren't much better.

I find it fascinating that we are about to enter the twenties as the name "the twenties" has certain connotations in American history and society. I, for one, am hoping that our twenties turn out quite a bit better than the last century's--especially considering how they ended. We have a lot of advantages this time around, but there are some disturbing parallels too.

The Herb Witches

11/21/2019

At the urging of my brother-in-law Bj, we bought a copy of the bizarre--but addictive--board game called The Quacks of Quedlinburg a few weeks ago. Today, its expansion, The Herb Witches, arrived in the mail (this is not a product that is available locally). As a direct result, the boys were up past their bedtime.

My favorite games are games that do not knock people out of the game as it goes, but instead keep everyone occupied the entire way through. This game certainly does that. I also prefer games that do not require long sections of free time to play. As this board game has a limit of nine rounds, the individual sessions can usually be contained in about an hour (once people are familiar with the rules and gameplay). I especially prefer games that can run with at least five players as we often have that many people wanting to play. While the original game only allowed for four, this expansion fixes that one issue by adding a fifth player.

The expansion also adds even more options for play. I am particularly happy with the addition of new rules for the black ingredients and a larger value orange ingredient. The titular herb witches and their coins also add an interesting, and random, new element to the game that will certainly keep it fresh. In short, this expansion really improves upon an already great game.

I can't wait to play it again.

Home Inventory

11/20/2019

Man, did I just fall down a rabbit hole! As people have been asking for gift lists, I've been working on updating the one I keep on my website. All-in-all, I'm pruning a great deal from the list, especially video games--which used to take most of the page. One thing I am interested in adding to the list are movies that I used to own and enjoy that I never managed to get in DVD (let alone Blu-ray) and thus no longer own (e.g. Willow, Freejack, Three Men and a Baby, etc.).

In thinking about it, I realized that I'm not entirely certain which movies I still own. Now, I have them all organized alphabetically in my living room, but it can still take time to look through that collection and find what might be missing--especially with the puzzle table which necessitates either moving the table or crawling under it to get at the back end of the alphabet. Long ago, I started a spreadsheet to track what we owned, but the process was cumbersome and I gave up after a while.

I decided to look at what apps (especially free or low-cost apps) that might be available to help with this process. I especially wanted one that would work by scanning existing barcodes and automatically cataloging the data. It turns out that there are a lot of them out there. Not only that, but it is really difficult to figure out how much one actually has to pay for the app to do what I want.

Some of the top hits were apps that require yearly fees (one was about $50 a year). Others say they have a one-time fee, but--according to online sources--then sneak in fees (such as, you want to store more than 20 items? Pay $5 a year). Some said they had the barcode feature, but could just scan the barcode and record it, not automatically find and catalog information about it. I spent over an hour looking through reviews, rankings, and articles.

I'm going to try Libib. It says it's free (nothing about in-app purchases; although I read in one review that you have to pay if you catalog more than 2,000 items); it is supposed to work for movies, books, video games, and others; and it has a scan and go feature for barcodes. It will take a while to inventory everything even with that, but I'm interested in knowing how well this will work.

I might even get my gift list updated.

Hobbs and Shaw

11/19/2019

While the boys managed to see the Fast and Furious spinoff at the theater this summer, Janelle and I only got to see this over-the-top popcorn film this past weekend. As long as I didn't allow my suspension of disbelief into the room while I watched the movie, I loved it. Any time I tried to applied even a modicum of logic, the movie completely fell apart.

This movie is currently (in my view) the epitome of an all-action/no-substance movie. It moves from one amazing scene to another at breakneck speed with humorous lines that are just as fun and preposterous as the action. This star-studded spectacle was enjoyable enough that I know I will see it multiple times.

I do occasionally wonder what my taste in movies says about me as an individual. I am certainly drawn to the summer blockbuster where spectacle trumps substance. Sure, I enjoy thought-provoking dramas, but it's the octane infused thrill rides that consistently draw my attention.

One way or another, I had a blast watching the film and am looking forward to the sure-to-be-in-development sequel.

Shows

11/18/2019

I can wait for new episodes of shows. In fact, despite spoilers, I prefer being able to watch a show at my own pace rather than have it dribbled out week by week. I like having the option to decide to watch one more episode. For this reason, I don't have a strong desire to buy into services like CBS All Access or Disney+. Already, I'm a little concerned about keeping my Netflix subscription (although Stranger Things and the British Baking Show are quite entertaining).

That said, there is an awful lot about Disney+'s Mandalorian on my feed since it came out a week and a half ago. A number of people whose opinions I often agree with are saying that it's the best Star Wars since Return of the Jedi. I find that high praise hard to ignore. Honesty, the fact that I could have the boys watch Darkwing Duck and Talespin is almost enough to pony up the $7 a month for Disney+.

Meanwhile, CBS All Access has the new show Picard coming out soon. Star Trek: Discovery was not enough to lure me to that streaming service (and I was right to be skeptical as I rate the first season lower than Enterprise--I'm still thinking of getting season 2). However, bringing Patrick Stewart and the prime timeline back is a masterful move that is really pulling at me.

Still, I have a couple of shows coming down the pipe that I already have access to watch and am quite interested in seeing. This is especially true for The Expanse's fourth season that comes out in mid December on Amazon Prime. I've loved almost every episode of that show, and have been anxiously awaiting to see what happens after that amazing end to season three.

I am a little more hesitant, yet cautiously excited, for The Witcher and Henry Cavill's (current DCU Superman) performance in it. I'm concerned that this Netflix series will try to outdo Game of Throne's violence and sex, but the story has amazing possibilities. However, it doesn't come out for over another month.

I will say that I'm glad that there has been a revival of science fiction and fantasy shows lately. It's a good time to be a geek. I just don't know if I want to pay for more the privilege.

Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

11/17/2019

Today's readings and homily focused on the idea that apocalyptic passages in the Bible are meant to get us to focus on our everyday lives rather than to have us try and predict the future. As our pastor noted, we've recently lived through a number of apocalyptic predictions (Y2K, 2012, etc.) and the world has continued on. Rather than worry about a possible future, we should work to make a present experience better for ourselves and others.

Unfortunately, we are obsessed about knowing the future. I regularly check the weather to see when the next snow is predicted to come. Many people look to economic reports as a way to predict the outcomes of their investments. We read polls to try and determine the outcomes of future political races. Yet only God knows the true outcome. Placing our faith in these prognostications can sometimes lead to utter dismay, especially if we make poor choices based on what had been predicted to happen.

This does not mean that we should not try to prepare for the future. However, as Paul admonished the Thessalonians, we need to do so by taking action and working in the present rather than standing idly and complaining. There are plenty of people worrying about the future (to varying degrees of validity), but we need more working to build a better today.