The Hobbit

Greg and I continued our Middle Earth film tradition and viewed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Which was excellent. Very pleased with how the film turned out and our cinematic experience watching it. Just before the troll encounter the power went out in all the theaters for about ten minutes. But the film resumed with little problem.

The first one, Fellowship of the Ring, was viewed by us in St. Louis. We drove all night after work on a Wednesday. Met mom and dad as they were going to work. We slept for a few hours and then got up and went to the film. Completely blown away. We repeated this the next year. The third movie we watched in different circumstances. I suspect we'll be able to repeat this for the next two films as our boys will still be too young to watch these in the theater.

owl

I went to retrieve my phone from the car in the garage and for the first time in Willis East I heard an owl hooting from the darkness.

protect your heart - SinFest

WEEN Coffee Break on 89.3

89.3 The Current has a daily feature at 9:30 every morning. The Coffee Break is a half hour or so of songs based on a theme. Sometimes the theme is pre-determined based on a news headline, sometimes it's from a listener's suggestion. As soon as Jill Riley and Steve Seel define the theme there is no getting through the phone lines as people request appropriate songs in a flurry.

This week we've had WEEN appear TWICE!

Tuesday's theme was about medicine or medication. ZOLOFT came up as the 2nd pick...

In honor of last evening's Presidential debates where Big Bird was a topic for some reason, today's theme was songs featuring goofy voices. The first song out of the gates...

It's always a treat when ya hear WEEN on the radio.

rilly good

From that one kid who is usually goofing around more than the rest. And when they're quiet it's a bad sign. But this time...

Too Majestic - None Shall See Me And Live

Too Majestic - None Shall See Me And Live:

a Résumé is just a Character Sheet for real life

I just finished updating my résumé when I realized...



A résumé is just an RPG character sheet for real life...

just sayin...

Resume Jeffry Willis

CPAP and Beacon Light by WEEN

Strap on that Jammy Pack....

Fuel it up...

'Cause I'm gone...

:(

I cancelled my subscription to any comics I had them pulling for me at The Source today. You can give them a list of comics and as they get them, they'll pull the requested copy from the new stock and store it in a bin for your convenience. I've been using this service for over 7 years. Today I called them and had them disperse any issues I might have had in there and cancel my list.

Partly because I feel a shift from comics to roleplaying games. That's one reason. Another is The Source recently moved it's location. They're now in a nicer and more spacious facility. While that is great, there honestly is part of me that feels not at home in this new place. I miss the old weird store. Also, I've been saving money for GenCon instead of spending it on comics. Also, comics have been not very good lately. Also, I've been finding better, older comics for cheaper at Half Price Books.

Also, I've probably taken another inevitable step away from childhood. I hate that one the most.

Kory Stamper knows Danielson

Somewhere I once stumbled upon an attractive nerd girl with a tiny bit of a following on the web- This was Kory Stamper who was one of the Merriam-Webster lexicographers who appear in their fascinating YouTube videos. I made a 'Crush of the Day' thread on my message board featuring her vids and moved on with a subscription to that channel.

The Merriam-Webster website has a fun feature where they select a Word of the Day. Yesterday's word was menagerie which caught my notice as I had just watched the two-part episodes of the original Star Trek with that word as their titles. I wanted to leave a clever comment about this word for other possible Trek fans, but couldn't find a comment link anywhere on the site. What I did find lead me down an interesting train of thought.

I fond Kory Stamper' blog. I will now quote my inquiry to show you where this went next:

1. jeffrywith1e

   May 23, 2012 at 8:38 am

   Kory, I have a question for you based on a thin hunch- and if I’m wrong it could be completely meaningless…..

   Have you heard of the band called the Danielson Famile? If so, have you met them or do you know them?

   Here’s the line of thought-
   1. Your last name is Stamper
   2. You are with Merriam-Webster
   3. The Merriam-Webster Podcast’s theme song is credited to Joshua Stamper- relatively safe assumption that this could be a spouse or sibling
   4. Copyright with New Jerusalem Music
   5. New Jerusalem Music is heavily associated with the wonderful and crazy band Danielson Famile.
   6. Therefore… if Kory knows Joshua in any way… then there’s a chance she’s met the folks at New Jerusalem and there the chances of her knowing the band would seem pretty good.

   Or my whole theory lands in the grass way out in left field.

   Reply
   • korystamper

     May 23, 2012 at 11:22 am

     Wow, that’s some serious sleuthing. Should I be worried that you’ve put this much thought into my connections with Danielson?

     The quick answer is yes, HOME RUN, I absolutely know the Danielson Famile and all the fine people at New Jerusalem Music & Sounds Familyre Records. (I’m also a big fan of Joshua Stamper, seeing as how I’m his wife).

     Reply
     • jeffrywith1e

       May 24, 2012 at 8:00 am

       That’s awesome! It wasn’t much thought- (other than making sure my grammar was correct whilst trying to communicate with a lexicographer (did I use ‘whilst’ correctly!?!)). It was a flash thought. It took way more time composing the question than it did to come to the conclusion. The moment I saw Joshua Stamper and New Jerusalem I thought you probably had heard of Danielson. Not many have. And fewer actually like them. My brother and I love the band and were even able to see them once in Minneapolis.

       I’m a big fan of these strange little coincidences.

       Well, now I have another question. You said you absolutely know them. Do you like them? They are an acquired taste as far as music styles go. Of the people I’ve met who’ve heard, or heard of them, or I’ve attempted to introduce Danielson to- few love them and most despise them.

       Reply
       • korystamper

         May 24, 2012 at 8:47 am

         I do like Danielson! Definitely an acquired taste, but I am rather fond of odd things.
     • jeffrywith1e

       May 24, 2012 at 8:04 am

       BTW, I’ve been looking around and listening to some of Joshua’s music online. This is some good stuff. I’m a fan now, too. Different reason than yours, however.

       Reply

So there we have it. Kory and her husband, Joshua are very closely connected to our beloved Danielson Famile.

I love these strange coincidences.

Jacks is a little gamer

I DMed my son in his first RPG experience last night just before bedtime. It ended up being one encounter- the party vs four ghosts in the Haunted Woods. The party encounters a friendly pack of wolves who lead them to the edge of the woods where four ghosts attack. Mom's archer, Tessa, and Dad's NPC wizard, Skytheen, helped Jack's swordsman/knight, Oko, defeat the ghosts. The archer was slimed, but in the end the party won. The chilly creepiness of the woods lifted and the trees whispered their thanks and then pointed in the direction the party needed to go to find the evil Frog Wizard they set out to defeat.

We played the very simple rpgKids game which was perfect for Jack's level of understanding and experience. It's a very nice little package with four great adventures, maps, character counters and everything needed.

  

Star Wars

Jack and Maggie and I watched Star Wars: Episode IV today (the original version).

Bolero

I've been listening to a lot of classical music lately. Especially at work while dispatching buses. Pop music and the like (usually 89.3 the Current) is intolerable for some reason while working. More epic classical seems to work well. Lately, in particular I've been fond of Maurice Ravel's Bolero.



An interesting note about Bolero, elements of this piece were used in the music for the famous fight scene in the original Star Trek episode Amok Time, where Kirk and Spock fight each other because Spock's betrothed wife picked Kirk as her champion.

The Gregory Brothers

The Gregory Brothers are Michael Gregory, Andrew Gregory, Evan Gregory, and Sarah Fullen Gregory (Evan's wife). The band has been described as Country & Soul, Folk & Roll. They've become relatively well known on the internet because of their brilliant soundbite autotuning which become meme hits under the name Michael's screenname- Schmoyoho.

What seems unrealized are the handful of original songs the group has recorded.
Check out some of their other original songs at this link.
Check out their official website.
And check out these songs from YouTube:

Cities 97 played Gotye

Here we go. Cities 97 advertises that they are all about new music which I cannot disagree with more. Sure they play songs that haven't been around very long. But they play those songs every two hours.

Now Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know has been getting some good airtime on 89.3 The Current- but we're talking maybe twice in 24 hours. Today I heard the song for the first time on 97. That can only mean we're about to hear it to death.

Who cares?

Well, this is the song that Spud introduced to me last summer as mentioned in a previous post. It sparked my minor obsession with the guest vocalist in the song, Kimbra.