Merry Christmas!

"And there were in the same country shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them! And they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, “Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings o great joy, which shall be to all my people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ, the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and good will toward men."

The price of Christmas gifts.

My brother has a son and a daughter, both under 4 years of age.  

I try to keep the cost of their presents somewhat equal, so not as to favor one over the other.  Also, I only try to buy them one item.  If I get one two items, and the other one...  Yeah, they don't like that.  

So I see the toy that I want to buy for my nephew at Walmart for $20.  Not bad, but they don't have the one I want for my niece.  So the next day I roll out to Toys R Us.  They have the toy I want for my niece for $20, and they have the toy I want to get my nephew in stock!  But it's running $35.  

Uh, no.  

Purchase my niece's toy, then scoot over to Walmart.  The toy I want to get him has dropped to $10.  What???  I'm all over that.  

On an aside, I took my daughter toy shopping with me.  I specifically told her that we were shopping for her cousins.  Adorable Preciousness did very well.  She did want to play with the toys, but I don't think she did anything unreasonable.  She didn't try to take anything and there was no crying.  However, after we had her cousin's toys she could not quite grasp why we were not going straight to their home to give them their gifts.  

I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas!  

"It's symbolic of his struggle against repression."

"It's symbolic of his struggle against reality."

Bestamvsofalltime "Into The Labyrinth" Anime MV || by Lolligerjoj

Here's one that I enjoy, that I apparently have not shared.  The music is "Into the Labyrinth" by Kraddy.



The anime used are the series Bakemonogatari, Nisemonogatari, and Nekomonogatari.  Visually beautiful animes, but pretty weird.

Computer work.

Some people have issues working on computers.  Either you get it or you don't.  I grew up working on older cars and trucks from the 60's and 70's.  They were simple and I understood them.  Throughout the 80's they introduced a lot of gizmos and gadgets, such as ABS, fuel injection, smog control, et al.  I was never good with electronics and it all intimidated me.  I got lost (and intimidated) on how to work on cars, other than some really basic stuff.

I got tired of having a junky computer, and not being able to afford the computer I wanted.  Someone pointed out to me an article that explained how to build a PC and they did it in a way that made me understand.  I took the challenge and built my machine, and suddenly I felt like I was under the hood of one of the old farm trucks.

I understood.

Oddly enough, that has made me less intimidated about modern car repair and I've been able to figure out stuff that stymied me for the longest time.

Now if car manufacturers would stop riveting items in.  I'm tired of drilling them out.

Why the Hard Sell?

Local "resorts" often try to lure you in to their sales for time shares.  So, you can get a day or so at a resort plus other freebies if you sit through their spiel.  It can be a good trade off.

So we recently got called up for this.  $200 in gift cards, and three days at a resort.  I'm actually up for this because the resort has a lot of stuff and I've always heard good things about it.  Sitting through a two hour sales pitch?  Easy peasy.

But they can't make it easy.  They want my wife on the phone at the same time.  And then they have to transfer us to their sales person.  And the sales person has to "load everything into the computer" Just wasting time and using that time to ask us personal questions.  Normal sales behavior.

I was interested.  I thought my wife would like it.  But they kept pushing for us to come either the last weekend of November or in December.  Really?  We have enough going on during that time frame.  And then they pushed for us to call in sick to work in order to do this.  Uh, no.

How do you loose a sale on a product that the consumer is interested in?  By following a stupid checklist on how to make a sale and then being an asshole to the consumer when they let you know that it won't fit in their time frame.  Easy enough.

Uhh...

I had something to post.

But I forgot what it was.  Completely.

Carry on.

Offcier: 1 Inmate: 0

I found contraband, thus I entered the cell as in accordance to policy.  The inmate came up from behind, entered the cell, and tried to lock himself in the cell with me.

I walked out of the cell.  

The inmate was carried out.  

I know that there are plenty of inmates that are bigger and badder than I am in the jail.  Buddy, you weren't even close.  

Shiny Toy Guns - Ghost Town

And this is tho one that started it all for me.

Mystery Skulls Animated - Ghost

Danse Macabre; Camille Saint-Saëns

   But the hands stopped reaching for them and the spectre made no attempt to block their exit.  He only offered them a sad, tired look.  The children, their fear subsiding, found themselves hesitating despite their instinct to run.

   The floating figure raised his fiddle to his chin and began sliding the bow across its strings.  The music it sang out was old and familiar despite neither child having ever heard it before.  With the chords came memories, though not those of either child.  The lives of those buried played out in notes - the hardships, the loves, the regrets, and the hopes set to song, and that's when the children realized this was not the place of evil the older kids had teased about.  The spirits were not angry and spiteful as the tales of the old men had promised.  The only truth the children had ben told was these ghosts hungered for life, but not to feed.  They wished to be a part of it once more, if only briefly.

   As bony hands clapped in time and the fiddle played, the two children danced through the cemetary for those who could not.



R. K. Milholland

Concrete Blonde - Ghost of a Texas Ladies Man

Yet another one of Concrete Blonde's tunes dealing with "the other side," as you will.



And as I said before, this is the song that started it all off for me.

Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting

Hmm...  I don't think that I've posted any Concrete Blonde music on this site.  Obviously I'll have to change that this Halloween Season.



I first fell in love with Concrete Blonde when I was in undergrad.  I know that their break out hit was "Caroline" but I never really cared for that song.  What got me to buy their first album was that the local radio station played "Ghost of a Texas Ladies Man" on Halloween.  I immediately snagged that album and found that they did a bit of music that I really enjoyed.



Therefore I present to you their pinnacle of their "gothic" sons, "Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)."

Face Your Fears | Anime Expo 2014 Best Drama

Let's start posting some Halloween anime/music a little early.

I work for idiots.

An inmate filed a complaint against me for injuring him during a use of force incident.  As with any use of force incident, reports were written and the videotape was reviewed.  The good news is that my name is not on any of those reports because I WAS OFF ON THE DAY OF THE INCIDENT!!!

I found out about the complaint in briefing.  The Sergeant made the announcement and we all laughed because it was pretty funny in a dark humor sort of way.  And thus I assumed that the whole incident was closed because it was pretty obvious that I had nothing to do with the issue.

So, I get called up to Administration and given the third degree by Internal Investigations and some of the top brass of my agency.  The fact that I was not physically anywhere near the agency seemed to make no impression.  Plus, being IA, they asked about anything and everything just to try to get me to incriminate myself to anything.  I know my job, I know Policy and Procedure, and I know that I do right when I am at work.  It was a wasted fishing expedition for them but a very stressful hour and a half for me.

I work for idiots.

Anime I am currently watching.

I'm currenty watching Love, Chunibyo, & Other Delusions -Heart Throb-.  This is the second season of Love, Chunibyo, & Other Delusions which is also nicknamed Chu-2.  It's actually a pretty good series.  I didn't think that a romantic comedy would be my type of anime, but I'm enjoying it.

Before this, I watched The World God Only Knows and also The Devil is a Part Timer.  I'm waiting for the The World God Only Knows: Goddesses to come available on Hulu.  (The God Only Knows Oriatorio is awesome to listen to!)  I enjoyed The Devil is a Part Timer, but I had issues with the fact that the lead was a genocidal maniac that seemed to turn a new leaf and everyone thought that all was good.

I was having trouble getting into The Irregular at Magic High School.  I'm not a big fan of "sibling love" as it squiks me out.  And the hero was just becoming a type of "I know what to do every time and I'm better than you" type.  It didn't feel like the fights were much of a challenge.  I was hoping that I would like it as it seems to be a long series, but...

I'm currently subscribed to Sword Art Online II and The Awesomes on Netflix.  They are shows that I am enjoying.

I want to find more Anime to watch.  I prefer action and I'm not a big fan of Fan Service.  I'll have to make a list of anime that I've watched before and split it between what I like and dislike later.

Comments available at A View from the Porch.

I saw that Tam left a post open for comments.

Interesting.

No comments so far.  I did not leave a comment.  1) I have nothing intelligent to say on the subject.  2) People who know her and that are more well spoken should use the opportunity, not odd people like I.

I know my animation.

I am a fan of foreign films.  Especially quirky foreign films.  I'm also a fan of foreign music.  And by foreign, I mean by not produced in the USA.  I'm sure someone out there would complain if I did not point that out.

Now, I don't claim to be an expert in any way, shape or form.  I just enjoy what I enjoy and I keep it to myself.  Mostly because I don't know many people who really "get" my interest, or they know so much that I can't keep up with them.  So to sum it up, I'm an amateur foreign film enthusiast and all I really care about is what interests me.

But I like it when my prior knowledge meets up with my current knowledge.  Flipping through Hulu, I ran across a trailer for this french animation.  "Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart."  I saw the backgrounds and the animation and I immediately knew it was dubbed.

Why does this interest me, you ask?  (Other than the fact that it's foreign and that it's animation...)  It's because I recognized it, even though I'd never seen it before.  I did a quick Google search and I was right!

I had run across a video that Dionysos had done of their song ""Tais-Toi Mon Coeur" several years ago.  I remember playing it so often online.  (I'm currently trying to find a good HD version of it online.)  But the fact that I can tie a movie trailer in with a video that I've not watch in several years impresses me greatly.

Would it impress anyone else?  I doubt it.

And Tam has hung up her hat.

Yesterday I noticed that A View from the Porch was locked down.  Turns out that apparently Tam had a stalker.  No Lawyers - Only Guns and Money and Shall Not Be Questioned have info on the incident.

I'm not going to write too much on her decisions to stop posting.  Others can say it better than I.  As a matter of fact, they already have.

What I can say is that View From the Porch stood at the top of my must read daily blog list.  It was always the first blog I read.  The constant updates and excellent writing made it a lot of fun to read.  Her updates will be missed.

 

"A View From The Porch" is blocked.

Oddly enough, A View From The Porch will not open.  It has apparently been set to "This blog is open to invited readers only."

I wonder what happened.  I'm sure that I'll find out soon enough.

I guess if I really wanted to know what is going on, I'd head on over to The Firing Line.  Tam often posts over there, so I'm sure that someone will have the details up quickly.