Harry Potter & The

I was on the phone chatting with Cora the other night (duh) when I mentioned that Daniel Radcliffe, star of the Harry Potter movies,  looked a little "off" in the pictures I saw on the Tribune's website.  I wondered if he was starring in a vampire movie or something.

I have "liberated" the following picture from the Tribune site:

(Getty Images photo by Tim Whitby / July 7, 2009)

 

And I know have an unfortunate thought of him now getting arrested in a porn theatre for playing with his "magic wand."

 

I will never think of the spells 'Erecto', 'Engorgio', or 'Aguamenti',' the same way again.

 

EVER!

$ign$ Of The Time$

Okay, I've resisted writing a Michael Jackson post until after he was buried.  And in fairness, this isn't really about him.  But, here are some of my thoughts.

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T-SHIRTS – Michael Jackson died late on Thursday afternoon, June 25th.  On Sunday afternoon, June 28th, about 72 hours later, while we were at the Taste of Chicago, Cora and I saw people wearing different styles of Michael Jackson Tribute T-Shirts.

  These weren't crappy, home made iron on things that people made on their ink jet printers.  These were quality t-shirts with well done graphics and looked to be on reasonable quality cotton.

Think about that.  Less than 72 hour for someone to design, silk screen, and distribute the shirts.  Not sure if I should be impressed or repulsed.  And I wonder if it's like obituaries, where they have them ready to go, and all you need to do is add a date or something, and start the production run.

I bet in the last week and a half, the t-shirt guys have made more money off of Michael than his record label has in years up to that point.  And I'm not sure I feel good about that, either.

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MEDIA – I'm almost starting to wonder if the "leadership" in Iran had Michael assassinated, in order to swing the media spot light off of them.  If they did, it worked.  I'm pretty sure I know how I feel about the media coverage of this whole affair.  I've been desperately trying to avoid this sideshow, but it's not easy.

So, I've distracted myself with the whole Steve McNair thing, instead.  As a Steeler's fan, I often rooted against the Oiler/Titan/Raven QB, but with respect.  This is a real shame.

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PRODUCTIVITY – During the memorial service, our internet connection at work was super slow with people streaming the video feeds.  Really?  You can't watch at home?  It took me forever to try to navigate around my vendor's sight looking up the status on an issue.  I finally gave up and did something else.

Our crack networking team shrugged and went back to talking about the Tour de France.  Thanks guys.

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VICTIM STATUS – Michael Jackson was not a victim of his celebrity.  Michael Jackson was a victim of Michael Jackson.  He was an adult who chose to live his life not grounded in the real world that you and I know.  He had lots and lots of enablers, I'll give you that.  But he was an adult who made choices, and he should be used as a cautionary tale in the celebrity world:  This could happen to you.  Sadly, I fear too many wouldn't think it was such a bad deal.

Plentifuller Pleasure Than A Pallet of Primates

Monday, after work, a group of us headed out to see a show.  Not a movie.  Not a play, exactly.

A show.

One of my co-workers is married to an actor, and they have been involved with a theater company called "Barrel of Monkeys" for years.  It's a theater group that does workshops in the Chicago Public Schools where they teach the kids creative writing work shops.  After the workshops, they take the stories, songs, poems, etc. that the kids write, and rework them into sketches that they then perform for the kids.  And then they perform them for the public (they are a charity, and the money from the shows funds the workshops).

As much as possible, they leave the story as the kids wrote it, but then they embellish it.  And since it's based on what the kids wrote, the stuff can get a little trippy.

They turned this "Buy one – Get one – Free" into a fun round.

The theater where the show is performed is in a neighborhood called Andersonville.  It's the neighboring neighborhood to mine, just a little north east of me.  While it would be within walking distance, it would be a good hike.  But since after the show we went out with some of the cast (like I said, the co-worker's husband was in the show), walking wasn't so much of an option at midnight.

If you're in visiting Chicago with kids on a Monday, I would definitely recommend this.

A Once In A Life TIME

July 8th, 2009.  Just past half past midnight.

12:34:56 7/8/9

Yes, I'm a geek.  So?

Walking Hand In Hand With My Gal

So, as I teased you a few days ago, last Sunday when Cora was here.  As we left the Taste of Chicago, it was such a way too nice of a night to just head to the CTA and go home.  So, we crossed over Lake Shore Drive and headed up the lake front path, and strolled hand in hand along the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan

Due for a need for a bathroom break, (like we were going to use the Port-O-Potties at the Taste), we ambled over to Navy Pier.  On our way in, Cora got a chance to say, "Hi, Bob" to a statue of Mr. Newhart.  (The original show was set in Chicago). At the Pier, we spent a little time relaxing in the Crystal Gardens, a beautiful and tranquil spot, with lush tropical plants and leaping and splashing water features.  And we had the chance to just sit for a while.  And just BE together.  We'd spent so much of the trip DOING it was nice BEING.After a bit, we continued up the lake front for a while, past beaches with their swimmers, as walkers, runners, bladers, and bikers whizzed around us.  We didn't care.  And really barely noticed.  Cora had mentioned a few times, how the shoreline reminded her of Honolulu.  City on one side of the shore, and massive expanse of blue water on the other.  Was she ever in for a surprise.

At Oak Street Beach, they have planed palm trees.  I was too busy watching Cora take pictures to capture any of my own, so here's one from Photobucket.The sun was setting behind the skyscrapers, and everything was just kissed with oranges and golds.  It was magical.  Umm… did I just say "magical" and "kissed" right there?  I think I did.  :-)

Monday morning was a great lay about morning. Cora's flight wasn't until 8:00 pm, so we had plenty of time to lounge.  Eventually, we did get up and go for a walk.  And for those of you looking for a little "wild beaver action" (*Cough*JJ*Cough*) , look what we spotted along the shores of the mighty Chicago River.

But after lunch, it was time for the whole packing, and heading to the airport thing.  And that really sucked.  As I watched her disappear down the security line I thought "What a great ASS on that girl It's only 3.5 weeks until I see her again."

Wyoming Comes Thru – Followers – I'm a Cheater

Don't worry, I'll get back to telling you about the wonderfully romantic stroll the beautiful and talented Cora and I took along Lake Michigan soon, but with the long weekend and all, I didn't want it to get missed while you were in the emergency room, hoping they can re-attach you thumb after that M-80 incident.

Not that you can skip reading this blog entry.  The fate of the free world just may depend upon you reading (AND COMMENTING) on the life changing information contained within.

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I know you all have been waiting with baited breath (and you always bait your breathed when fishing for compliments) to hear the results of my desperate attempt to get a blog hit from that elusive state of Wyoming, as chronicled HERE.  Well, I am please to report that just a few days after that post, I got a hit from Gillette, Wyoming.

If had nothing to do with the post, however.

They Googled "realistic sex art" and found THIS post.

But a win's a win.  Now to get Luxembourg…

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Recently picked up a few gnu followers, which pushed me up to 71.  It's not like I'm on some kind of followers hunt.  But I do enjoy and appreciate you stopping by.  And those of you who drop a comment.  I have a special place in my heart for you.

So with no further ado, I'd like to welcome:

just a girl...	Kensi
Lana	Critty Critty Bang

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I have a confession to make.  I've been cheating on you.  And I plan to keep doing it.

And Cora knows about it.

And she watched me do it.

I've started a "Family Blog" for myself, my parents, siblings, cousins, etc.  I still don't think they've figured it out exactly yet, but I'm going to keep it up.  It's a place for us to leave news, write down old family oral history stories, etc.

I'm keeping the two blogs very separate (even using different Google accounts).  I even made them even look a little different.  Sure, sometimes I will cross post but I won't ever link the two.  I have been thinking about this for a long time.  I have even suggested doing this very thing to other bloggers who were worried about having people they know find their "real" blogs, and then feeling trapped into not being able to write what they want.  I made sure I told the family that I would be checking analytics to make sure that they weren't popping up over here.  Also, I had to come clean on how I actually met Cora, and so I was sort of trapped.

So, if you get a random comment from some "Eric" guy who happens to look like me, I must have forgotten to switch accounts.

Upon My Decree…

Cora – Meet the Parents

Sunday we did not have as much time to lounge around as we did Saturday.  It was "Meet the Parents" Day.After calling my parents to confirm the meeting time, Cora and I once again piled in the car and hit the road.  My parents live in another part of the state, and it's about a 3 hour drive.  We chose a meeting place with good food and that was about 1:15 for me and 1:45 for them.

We pulled in to R Place about 10:00, and parked right behind my parent's van.  Time to face the music.

I had finally disclosed to my parents how Cora and I met through blogging and not through a dating site.  Had to come clean before the big intro.  It was going to come out eventually.

Mom and Dad were already sitting in a corner booth when we got there.  The meeting went well.  Mom didn't ask any questions I was dreading and Dad behaved.  We talked about Cora, and her life, but mom also filled me in on family news, etc.  All-in-all not nearly as scary as I was afreaded it would be.  After breakfast, we all took a walk around Wal-Mart, because that's what you do in rural Illinois to pass the time.

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When we got back to my place, Cora and I crashed out for a couple of hours, and then headed down to the Taste of Chicago, our annual 4th of July food fest.  (It runs for 10 days surrounding the 4th.)  The crowd was decent, even though there were a lot fewer vendor than in past years.  I really enjoyed the alligator sausage.  Cora was able to sample the Ricobene's Breaded Steak Sandwich that I mentioned HERE.  (FYI – If you Google Image Search "ricobene's breaded steak sandwich", that post is the 5th link on the page.  I'm just saying.)  But I think her favorite was the Eli's cheese cake.

And then came the trip home…

Cora – Meet the Friends – II

Saturday came and was a gloriously beautiful day.  Cora and I lounged around and just enjoyed an unhurried morning.  We'd wake up.  Kiss.  Go back to sleep.  Wake up.  Kiss.  Go back to sleep.  For the first time, no place to rush off to.  Nothing to do.  Just to be.

But then Cora got a hunger.  A desire for something that was denied her on her last visit.  The girl NEEDED a CHUBBY WIENER.

Across the street from the Chubby Wiener is a chunk of the Berlin Wall.  Yes, the real wall.  You can sure tell which was the East German and West German sides of this thing.  The area has a very strong German heritage, and the section is located in the Western Brown Line train station.  It's kind of in a corner and as easy to miss, as any 20 ft tall slab of reinforced concrete is going to be. 

And then we went shopping on Lincoln Ave., and Cora found… well, I'll let her tell that part of the story.

Eventually, we were off to visit my friends Laura and John for a party at their place.  While still TECHNICALLY in the "Chicagoland Area", it did take about an 1:45 to get out there.  But, Cora and I chatted and listened to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on CD in preparation for the movie coming out in just a few days.

As we pulled up and were going to park the car, Cora shouted, 'There's GWEN!' (She even managed to include the link in her voice.  Girl's got mad skills.)  They hit it off and chatted quite a bit.  But oddly, things got very hush-hush when ever I got near. 

It was a great party, and plenty of other college people showed up.  And there was even a couple there from a Seattle suburb that was pretty near Cora.

At 10:00, Cora and I decided to turn into pumpkins and head back home.  The drive was fine except it got a little sleepy the last 10 miles or so, but we made it home without incident.

We needed our sleep, because the next morning, I was going to introduce Cora to my parents.

Cora – Meet the Friends - I

Since some of you are new, a quick recap:

I met Cora in the blogosphere in December, and the first comment I ever left her was that I wanted to hide a spy cam in her house, so I could watch her doing erotic exercises.  Obviously, she could not resist my charms, and we started flirting on line.  Then flirting via email.  Then flirting on the phone, until finally we met at the end of April when I flew to Seattle.  She flew here in May.  And she just flew back in last Friday.  (I will be heading out there at the end of July, for those of you keeping score.)

Cora landed here on Friday afternoon, and after much public kissing, even on the "L", we made it to Giordano's for pizza.  On her last visit, Cora at "Chicago Style" deep dish pizza @ Gino's East, so this time I thought I would treat her to "Chicago Style" thin crust pizza.  We also planned to meet up with two of my friends who live in the neighbor, and who met at a party I had about a year ago, my buddy, "Howard" and his girlfriend, who is a follower that will not be named, unless she chooses to out herself.  They are both super cool people.

Super cool people who are incapable of telling time or answering their cell phones / BlackBerry devices.

They were snogging sleeping and got to the pizza place a little late.  Which was fine.  It let Cora and I talk, and split an order of mozzarella sticks.  And let's face it, issue forth with the Public Displays of Affection.  She's beautiful, and smart, and sexy, and has a beautiful smile, and her lips taste of blueberries.  Why WOULDN'T I want to kiss her?

They eventually show, and the 4 of us sit around, eating pizza (50% sausage / 50% pepperoni), and chatting and having a grand time.  I have no photographic evidence to support this, so you are just going to have to trust me.

It was a short drive from the pizza place to my condo.  We pulled into the garage (more PDA), got Cora's bags out of the hatch (more PDA), took the elevator up to my floor (extreme PDA).  The front door was opened, Cora was carried across the threshold.  Once the door was closed and locked, Cora grabbed my XX01XX and gave it a enthusiastic XX02XX .   We XX03XX  each other as we stumbled into the XX04XX  with XX05XX  and XX06XX  flying.  I XX07XX her sexy XX08XX as we XX09XX on to the XX10XX  and proceeded to XX11XX  like it was going to be outlawed.

*** [Hidden Text] The "Fill In The Blank" goes as follows:
XX01XX = HAND
XX02XX = SHAKE
XX03XX = SEREDANED
XX04XX = LIVING ROOM
XX05XX = COMPLIMENTS
XX06XX = PRAISE
XX07XX = GAZED LOVINGLY INTO
XX08XX = EYES
XX09XX = LOGGED
XX10XX = INTERNET
XX11xx = COMMENTED ON BLOGS

Sorry, not details here.  Use your naughty little imaginations.  Now double it.  You're still not there, but getting closer. ***

Scope & Cora: Face to Facebook

I was tagged with this Facebook quiz by Sass a while ago.  Thought it would be interesting to take with Cora.  So, here are our answers.  You can see we match up fairly well.

Rules:

1. You can ONLY answer Yes or No.
2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone  comments and asks!

Question	Scope	Cora
Kissed any one of your Facebook friends?	Yes	Yes
Been arrested?	No	No
Been in a fight?	Yes	Yes
Fallen fast for someone?	Yes	Yes
Regretted a relationship?	No	Yes
Been in a tornado?	No	No
Fallen asleep at work/school?	No	Yes
Ran a red light?	Yes	Yes
Experienced love at first sight?	Yes	Yes
Totaled your car/motorbike in an accident?	No	Yes
Been fired from a job?	No	No
Fired somebody?	No	No
Sang karaoke?	Yes	No
Pointed a gun at someone?	No	No
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?	Yes	Yes
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose?	No	No
Caught a snowflake on your tongue?	Yes	Yes
Kissed in the rain?	No	No
Swam in the ocean?	Yes	Yes
Been to a concert?	Yes	Yes
Laughed till you cried?	Yes	Yes
Sang in the shower?	Yes	Yes
Smoked a cigar?	No	No
Sat on a rooftop?	Yes	Yes
Smuggled something into another country?	No	No
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes?	No	No
Broken a bone?	Yes	No
Skipped school?	No	Yes
Got a speeding ticket?	Yes	No
Eaten a bug?	No	Yes
Sleepwalked?	No	No
Walked a moonlit beach?	No	No
Rode a motorcycle / dirt bike?	Yes	No
Dumped someone?	Yes	Yes
Seen a baby born?	No	Yes
Lied to avoid a ticket?	No	No
Ridden in a helicopter?	No	No
Shaved your head?	No	No
Played a prank on someone?	Yes	Yes
Hit a home run?	No	No
Felt like killing someone?	Yes	Yes
Cross dressed?	No	Yes
Been falling down drunk?	Yes	No
Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry?	Yes	Yes
Marched/Protested?	No	No
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets?	Yes	No
Puked on an amusement ride?	No	No
Seriously & intentionally boycotted something?	Yes	Yes
Been in a band?	Yes	No
Knitted or crocheted?	Yes	Yes
Been on TV?	No	No
Shot a gun?	Yes	Yes
Skinny dipped?	No	No
Gave someone stitches?	No	No
Eaten whole jalapeno pepper?	Yes	No
Ridden a surfboard?	No	No
Drank straight from a liquor bottle?	Yes	No
Had surgery?	No	Yes
Streaked?	No	No
Taken by ambulance to hospital?	No	No
Tripped on mushrooms?	No	No
Passed out when not drinking?	No	Yes
Peed outside?	Yes	Yes
Donated blood?	No	No
Grabbed electric fence?	Yes	No
Eaten alligator meat?	Yes	Yes
Eaten cheesecake?	Yes	Yes
Eaten a kids' Halloween candy?	No	Yes
Killed an animal when not hunting?	Yes	Yes
Peed your pants in public?	No	No
Snuck into a movie without paying?	No	No
Written graffiti?	Yes	Yes
Still love someone you shouldn't?	No	No
Think about the future?	Yes	Yes
Been in handcuffs?	No	No
Believe in love?	Yes	Yes
Sleep on a certain side of the bed?	Yes	Yes

TGIF

Short little note:  In case you haven't heard, Cora is in town this weekend.

So is Gwen.

They will meet on Saturday, at the party where I met Gwen a year ago, which started the chain of events for us meeting.

I'm so FREAK'N HAPPY!

You Cover Shipping. I'll Cover Handling! – NSFW

TECH THORSDAY!

Yesterday I was reading my little tech-blog Gizmodo, when I ran across an earth shattering, game changing scientific breakthrough that I knew I had to tell me readers about.

Especially the ones with really large B(.)(.)Bs.

I know you all remember Gwen's hug me pillow to help women sleep.

And I found a couple of B(.)(.)B pillows and reported them HERE.

But somehow, I think a device that gives the phrase 'the boob tube' all kinds of new meaning trumps them all.

Yup.  That is just a big pile of AWESOME right there.  Okay, TWO piles of awesome in her case.  And Kush Support has a website, so you know it's legitimate.

If any of you ladies out there have tried this or similar products, feel free to pass along any testimonials, especially if that includes pictures or videos.  Not for my viewing pleasure, of course.  But in the name of SCIENCE, woman.  And if you are not in the target demographic for this product, you can still take pictures of things betweens your boobs and send them along.  Unlike those snobs at Kush Support, Scope-Tech does not discriminate where B(.)(.)Bs are concerned.

And see ladies, when your boyfriends, husbands, bum you picked up from the alley and took home, etc. asked you to do THAT ONE THING, they were really thinking about your health and well being.

Wordless Wednesday – Little Green Balls of Death

Phrom Pike's Place Public Purveyors of Phenomenal Phood, pSeattle.

I've Been Sleeping Around

Two weeks ago Sunday, I did laundry, stripped the bed and washed the sheets.  I have many, many sets of sheets, but didn't get around to putting sheets back on the bed right away.  I was solidly in the middle of my Potter-mania and had to get back to the story.  Midnight rolled around, and I walked into the bedroom, looked at the unmade bed, set the alarm, and turned on my heals, and crashed out in the guest room.

Same thing happened Monday.

Last Saturday, I tore my bed apart, trying to figure out why it is squeakier now that it was in my old place.  (Oh hush!  :-)  )  It turns out that one of the wooden supports that the slats sits on is cracked a little, and a little loose.  I'm going to need to get that fixed soon.  But, Saturday night, there I was, crashed out on the guest bed again.

I have been in my condo almost one year now, and until Cora came to visit in late May, I had never slept in the guest room.  Not once.  Now I have slept there 4 nights.  3 within the span of a week.

Is this normal, or am I just a lazy freak who should learn to make his bed as soon as he strips it down?  Sometimes I will crash out on my couch for the night, just because.

Do you ever sleep sleep somewhere other than your bed just to mix it up a little?

[***UPDATE*** For those of you reading this in Reader, I have added a little poll to my sidebar in the blog.  If you wouldn't mind popping over and voting, that would be awesome, thanks.]