Hey Gramps, where you goin' with that gun in your hand.

So, Chicago has this statute outlawing the possession of handguns.  Seems the criminals don't want to go along with this:
 

An 80-year-old Chicago man shot and killed an armed man who broke into his two-story house in a pre-dawn home invasion Wednesday on the city's West Side.

At about 5:20 a.m., the homeowner and his wife, also in her 80s, discovered the intruder entering their home through a back door. The homeowner, who had a gun, confronted and killed the burglar on the doorstep, police said. Cops said the intruder also fired his gun during the struggle.

Read the whole story here.


Good thing the homeowner didn't abide by the statute either.  Like I always say; the day they make it illegal to own a handgun here, is the day I go out and buy one.

Peace.  (Through superior firepower.)

SWAGGER WAGON

LOST!!! It's all so clear to me now!

Wow.  Just wow.  Last night’s episode of Lost cleared up EVERYTHING for me.  It’s all so obvious now. 

My predictions based on what we learned last night:

Benjamin Linus will take off that incredibly realistic mask, revealing that he is an alien reptile that wants to eat all the humans on the island.  Hurley WILL eat the smoke monster, which will at first seem like a good thing, until it emerges from his other end and actually becomes even more dangerous (now that it has a sulfurous stench that doesn’t kill you, but makes you wish it had).  Jack and Sawyer will realize their true feelings for each other and build a little bungalow for two, right next to the light house so they can wake up and enjoy each morning sunrise together.  Kate will realize that she no longer serves any purpose and will simply wink out of existence.  Sun and Jinn will come back, their survival due to the Dharma shark which happened to swim by and neatly bite Sun’s leg off, thus freeing her, after which a friendly sea turtle gives them a piggy back ride to shore.  Kate will pop back into existence just long enough to shoot them both in the head for no reason.  Desmond will become a professional wrestler in the alt-time world, wearing a brown and yellow polka-dotted mask and going by the name of the Tootsie-Roll Bandit.  John Locke will put on a tuxedo and top hat, wheel himself to the nearest street corner, and gyrate around in his wheel chair for money.  He will collect about thirty-eight cents during his first week and then go back to substitute teaching, his dream of being a tap-dancing-street-performer forever crushed.  Vincent the dog will become the star of a sitcom spin-off called: Lost: A dog: goes by the name of Vincent. He will win an Emmy and go on to feature films.  Charles Widmore will spontaneously combust.

Watch and see how right I am.

Frank Frazetta

Frank died yesterday, but I just now found out.  The man WAS fantasy art.  Rest in peace, Sensei.

Foo Fighters - The Pretender

What if I say this song doesn't make much sense...(but I like it anyway)?  Jackson Browne did it better, of course, but this version is good too.  Only one thing bothers me.  Where's the Kool-Aid guy at the end of this video?  Kept waiting for him to come out, but he never did.  Oh well.

Disney Pics

 

This giant coke refreshes by opening and spraying a mist on whoever is standing nearby.

 

Don't know how I got this effect, but I call it green boys.  

You can see the giant magician's hat in the background.

This is my new favorite picture of the boys.  We were in the spinning tea cups.

  Mad Hatter something or other.

  

Staci, getting in touch with her Asian roots.  Domo!

 

This was technically Caleb's first roller coaster, though he quickly moved on to bigger and faster things.

Friends from Vidalia.

 

 Fireworks every night.  We took several of the castle, but this is my favorite because of the varied colors.  Some of my other pictures are more dramatic.  I may post some of those later.

 

Just love this!  Magical.

What a great trip.  Can't put up all the photos, but here are some of my favorites.  Caleb really surprised us.  He was a lot different this time around, as in -  not scared or overly cautious.  Got on his first roller coaster (the mine train, whatever it's called) and the fastest roller coaster I've ever been on.  Aerosmith's Rock and Roll Roller Coaster.   Above is a photo of it that I got from the internet.  It's of the entrance to the ride.  The rest of these photos, either I or my wife took.  I heard that it's zero to sixty in two seconds.  Don't know if that's true, but I'm inclined to believe it.

We happened to be there the same time as some of our friends from Vidalia, so the kids got to meet up with some of their friends.  That was cool.  We hit all four parks.  Did fireworks, parades, and various shows.  The Lights, Camera, Action stunt show was incredible. We saw celebrities (yes, that is the real Green Army Guy from Toy Story, even got his autograph to prove it).  And we rode too many rides to count.  

I can hardly wait till go again.

All I want to know...

Is how in the world do you defeat Count Dooku on Lego Star Wars.  Dern!

The Crossing -- Ecstasy

First snake of the season

We were on the way to the movies yesterday (boy's night out), when we saw the first snake of spring crossing the road.  Since this was close to the house and the snake was heading into a yard where I know kids often play, I had to do something I hate doing.  I ran over his head.  It was a rattlesnake, about two feet long probably.  You could hear the rattles after I ran over it's back.  It was buzzing like crazy, then I changed direction and ran over the head.  Sorry little Crotalus adamanteus.  You were just in the wrong place buddy.

Crotalus adamanteus

Latin for "Rattle" and "Diamondlike" respectively

Incidentally, the movie we were going to see was about people and reptiles at odds with each other.  "How to train your dragon".  It ended a lot better than our story did.

Scouts!

Last weekend we were in Swainsboro for Cameron's eagle ceremony.  It was a real pleasure to be there and see him attain the highest rank of Scouting.  Cameron is my wife's first cousin, only seventeen, and we got to spend a little time with him before the ceremony.  He's doing the whole getting ready for college thing.  I think his High School Prom is this weekend.  Four young men became eagles that night and the ceremony started with a slideshow that showed their progression from Tiger Cubs all the way through Scouting.  It got me thinking about my boys and how quickly they'll grow up.  In ten short years Caleb will be the same age as Cameron is now.  Scares me a little, in that I don't want to mess this parenting thing up.  Anyway, Cameron's parents obviously did a whole lot of things right.  He's a fine young man, he's worked hard, and they should all be proud.  Here's a wonderful photo we were able to get at the reception:

Congratulations Cameron!

After the loooong silence...

I feel you out there, my legions of readers, as you wonder; "What has become of Crotalus?"  "Why isn't he blogging more?"  "Oh when will this dearth of awe-inspiring prose ever end???"

Well, the answer to that last question is: Right now!

As I write this, the boys are in bed and the good wife is curled up with a book.  There are no immediate vacation plans or transitions to muddle through, so, even though we've been busy, I see a settling on the horizon. 

To update the goings on we've just got back from Disney World.  Oh yes, it was glorious!  And there will be a post forthcoming.  I have also been writing a little, though not here.  I've got a short story sitting in the slush pile over at Apex and Abyss (speculative fiction webzine), and an article sent to a local magazine editor.  (A first person plug for the local Scouting program.)  The first submission I'm not going to bet on, but I feel pretty good about the second. 

Some randomness to follow:

My four year old described God recently as being 'sneaky', since you can't see Him.  He also has been getting pretty deep with the theological questions:  "Why did God make mokitos?" (after one had bit him on the leg), and "Are there little dogs in heaven?"  (Yes, but no cats.)

Caleb has some more artwork in the upcoming Autism Art show at Elements Bistro.  By the way, if you are ever near Lyons, Georgia (right next door to Vidalia) and want some fine dining, then Elements will completely blow you away.  I can honestly say I have never eaten better food.  You will pay a little more than mid-scale restaurant (I'm talking Ruby Tuesday's or some such), but man is it worth it.  The seared Ahi Tuna is unbelievable, and the Cowboy cut ribeye is 16 ounces of perfection. 

You know, I think we are fated to see semi-celebrities every time we go to Disney.  The first time we went, I saw a dude that bore an uncanny resemblance to Shooter Jennings.  Then a few weeks later I look at his tour dates and yep, he was in Orlando the same time as us.  This time my wife saw Dog, the Bounty Hunter.  His son and entourage were with him, so there was no doubt on this one. 

Awright, I'm going to bed now.  Peace out.

Autism Awareness Month

A post written by my wife:

My child was diagnosed with autism in August of 2007, but I knew before then that he had autism. I knew when he did not answer when I called his name. I knew when he couldn’t ask me for a cup of milk to drink. I knew when he had intense tantrums every day. I knew when he couldn’t understand what I was saying. I knew when he wouldn’t look at me.

I knew my child was going to be OK when he was receiving speech therapy and started talking in sentences. I knew he was going to be OK when he received early intervention and started pretending to be a superhero. I knew he was going to be OK when he went to school and was learning to read. I knew he was going to be OK when he made a friend.

I knew I was going to be OK when I accepted that he is different and that just because his brain works differently doesn’t mean he can’t live a full life.

What's new?

So we finally made it through the last grueling six weeks of night shift.  I also have some other great news:

I rarely talk about work here at AKT, but I'm making the rare exception today.  A few weeks ago a position opened up in our department and I looked it over.  It seemed like something well suited to my strengths and prior experience, so I threw my hat in the ring and what do you know, I got a promotion.

This means moving out of the hourly ranks and back into a salaried position.  It's also a great opportunity to build my career, in that it could lead to other promotions later on.  In fact, most people who move into this position move over into others after a few years.  We'll see how that goes, for now I'm just excited about learning some new things and working more closely with the other specialists in our department. I will also  be interfacing with people I've never met, so that's something else to look forward to.

I'm also thrilled that I finally feel like I have my feet back under me.  God has indeed blessed our family and this, for me at least, was a huge one, in that it gives me a big boost of confidence and a new sense of achievement.  Come Monday I'll have my own personal space again (something I haven't had since I left Merck). 

So rejoice with me!

Peace,
Crotalus

ONE MORE WEEK!

Of outage that is. 

You can do it Charlie Brown. 

Now let me go get a few hours' sleep before nightshift.


Peace.

Mid-Outage drawing

We are a little over halfway through the outage, and boy are we getting tire of it at our house.  I've been on nights all outage long, so while the family is asleep I'm up.  It makes little sense to switch my sleep around on my off days (Thurs and Fri), so I just stay up all night while they sleep.  Soon I'll wake the boys, get them off to school, and finally go to bed.  I'll get up when they come home.  Tonight I'll get to be with them while we go to Statesboro to get some frames for our family portraits.  Lord, please help me to be alert and 'on' while I'm with them.  And give us a good time of enjoying each other.  Amen.


I read a bit last night, folded a little bit of laundry, watched 'That Metal Show', and drew a few drawings.  Here's one I did, that is very Buscema-ish.  I call it 'Reclaimed'.  It depicts Jesus coming back for His church, and also mimics a crucifixion pose.  For some reason He looks angry.  Maybe just the warrior side of Him coming out.  Anyway, here it is:

There is something about my art that is always kind of 'in your face'.  I'm about as subtle as a brick. Oh well.  My art will probably never hang on many living room walls, for obvious reasons, but I like it.