Vows, Vittles And Violence

Before delving into our normal weekend recap, I would like to take a moment and wish my brother, Josh and his new wife a lifetime of martial bliss. They wed yesterday afternoon in a cozy little ceremony that was as joyous as it was brief. I love you, bro and I hope you find marriage to be as much a blessing as I have.

And now for the rest of the story…

Friday, we finally had the opportunity to watch 300. Oh man, that movie RAWKED. I intended to do a full blown review, but as I’m very late to the game, I figured it has already been reviewed to near death. Perhaps, when it comes out on video, I’ll address it then.

After the movie, we decided to take a little trip to the casino, but it seems we have used up all of our gambling luck last year. This weekend’s trip marks the umpteenth time we’ve left the casino with nothing to show for our efforts but a thinner wallet. We’ve decided to take a long, long breaking from gambling.

Saturday, we decided to treat ourselves to some Coconut Shrimp and Prime Rib, at Outback Steakhouse. I have to say, this is one of my all time favorite restaurants.

We picked up a few movies and spent the rest of the evening cuddled up on the couch. Can you think of a more splendid way to spend a lazy Saturday? We watched, Smoking Aces, Déjà vu, and Casino Royale. I do intend to give a proper review for all three this week, but suffice it to say, these were all damn good flicks.

Sunday, of course was the big wedding day, so we didn’t do much else. It was good to see two people, so obviously in love, make such a commitment. After the ceremony, we took them out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Those boys cook a mean steak.

Oh, before I forget, if any of you are going to be in my neck of the woods (yes, I’m speaking primarily to my usually silent dozen or so friends who read but never comment) on May 5th, I’m having a watch party and cookout for the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather fight. If you plan on attending shoot me an email or give me a call, so I know how much food to buy. No one leaves the Goodman house hungry. I’m just saying…

So, how did you spend your weekend?

Book Review: The Rising

I finally had a chance to read The Rising by Brian Keene. I have to say, Mr. Keene is one sick, twisted individual…which in this instance is a good thing. “The Color of Death isn’t black…it’s red.”

The Rising is a heart wrenching tale about what a father will do to be there for his son that just so happens to take place amidst the fall of humanity. True, it is a zombie story, but these aren’t your run of the mill, shuffling, groaning, good for nothing but eating brains, living dead. No siree Bob, the dead are rising because the doors of hell have been blown from the hinges and the evil which spews forth has found a way to make use of the recently fallen. Not even animals are safe from the spreading menace.

Synopsis:
The dead are returning to life as zombies. But they're not just flesh-eating ghouls, they're intelligent, capable creatures that are taking on all forms of life: both human and animal. Trapped by the undead, escape seems impossible for Jim Thurmond. But Jim’s young son is alive and in dire peril hundreds of miles away with his ex-wife and her husband. Despite overwhelming odds, Jim vows to find him— or die trying.

Joined by an elderly preacher, a guilt-ridden scientist, and a determined ex-prostitute, Jim embarks on a cross-country rescue mission. They must battle both the living and the living dead. And for Jim and his companions, an even greater evil awaits them at the end of their journey. This is the time of...The Rising.

I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the world Brian built. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good story that grabs you by the…well, let’s go with the seat of the pants here, but you get the picture.


Rating: 5 stars



By the way, Mr. Keene is also a blogger. If you get a chance, mosey on by and check out his blog.

Dar-Wednesday

It’s time for another installment of The Darwin Awards.

(12 April 2004, Netherlands) Certain land animals have evolved over the millennia to use speed in the pursuit of prey or avoidance of predators. The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) can run as fast as 60 mph over the plains of Africa, and the pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) can reach 55 mph over the plains of North America. Humans (Homo sapiens) are not among these animals built for speed. The very fastest human can achieve a maximum sprint of 16 mph for short distances.

So things were bound to go wrong when a 19-year-old male, driving the A67 highway near the Dutch town of Blerick, sought to impress his two passengers by putting his car on cruise control at 20 mph, getting out of the car, and running alongside it. He planned to jump back in and drive on, but the moment his feet hit the ground, he fell over and slammed headfirst into the asphalt. He was admitted to the hospital with severe brain damage, and died the next day.

Transitions

Well, it’s becoming painfully evident that I should have taken an extra day to transition back to days. I made it through work on Monday without incident, but I was dragging big time by early afternoon. I came home, worked out and settled in to watch the new episode of Heroes (I was totally stoked to see I hadn’t missed a single one during my hardship tour). The next thing I know, my wife is trying to wake me up so I can go to bed. I missed the whole episode. It seems my body needed rest and if I wasn’t going to give it any, it was going to take it by force.

So, did anyone watch Heroes last night? Did I miss anything good?

Back In The Saddle

Oh, man it feels good to be home. I spent yesterday doing as little as possible. As I had worked the night before, I needed to stay up all day in an attempt to make the transition back to working days in a single bound. I feel successful in that endeavor, but the day is still young. We’ll have to see how coherent I will be by this afternoon.

I spent the vast majority of the day just hanging out with my wife and son. I can’t think of a better way to spend my time. The only thing from the growing list of “honey dos” I managed to accomplish was getting the boat ready for our first lake visit of the season. We plan to go fishing next weekend and by golly, the boat is in tip top shape for it.

I’m mere minutes from heading out for my next assignment so I had better keep this short for today. It will likely take me a couple of days to get back into the swing of blogging as well.

How did you spend your weekend?

Start Spreading The News

I have one rule in the workplace that is absolute. It was instilled in me during my seldom elaborated on but oft eluded to military stint. The rule? Never ask a man to do something you wouldn’t do yourself. I think every great leader should live and die by this rule. Every once in a while, one is presented with an opportunity to really put their resolution to uphold this rule to the test.

Someone, in their infinite wisdom, decided to mount a pressure transmitter in such a location as to allow it to only be serviced by creatures of the winged variety and madmen. I was fresh out of the ones with wings.

So, there I was swinging about a hundred and twenty feet above the concrete deck, feet planted on a pipe, one hand gripping a run of conduit and the other stretching as far as I could to reach the instrument, when suddenly my phone rang. Now, most people would ignore the phone under such precarious conditions, but twenty one days of less than adequate sleep can sometimes addle one’s decision making process. I loop my arm around another piece of pipe to help keep me upright and dug out the phone.

Caller: “Whatcha doing?”
Me: “Oh…just hanging out. What can I do for you?”
Caller: “Are you in the unit? I hear a lot of background noise.”
Me: “Yeah, it’s pretty windy up here.”
Caller: “You know…you’re not supposed to use cell phones in a unit. It’s dangerous.”
Me: “Reeeally? Dangerous, you say.”
Caller: “You betcha. Why don’t you make your way over to a safe place and call me back.”
Me: “Will do.”

The moral of this story? The most obvious danger isn’t always the one you should worry about.

In other news, my tour of duty in beautiful downtown Baghdad Coffeyville, Kansas is nearly at an end. I received word today I will leave this job on Saturday morning, rest up Sunday and report to my next assignment on Monday morning. Don’t worry, the next one will only consist of eight hour days. That’s right…I’m about to be a proud blogger once again.

So, what have you been up to while I was away?