The Zombieslayer

Anyone make ‘em?

Mine was to watch more sunsets with Mrs. Z.

Got back from vacation in Santa Barbara.  Most people don’t realize just how big California is.  San Francisco is about 340 miles from Santa Barbara.  That’s farther than New York City to Portland, Maine, and you’re crossing several states doing that trip.

We did all the tourist stuff, like hit several beaches, a really nice park on top of a hill, visited family and friends (I used to live down there), dinner on the Santa Barbara pier, etc.  We also hit two museums.  The latter one allows you to take pictures as long as you don’t use your flash.

Here are a pair or Roman statues.  I was unimpressed by the Greek ones for as good as the Greeks were with other aspects of art, their sculpture paled in comparison to the Romans.

The next 3 are French statues done in the 19th century. I thought these ones were excellent. The first two pics are Diana and the last one was something about a vanquished warrior. An angel carries away a dead dude. Pretty cool stuff.

Next are two Japanese guardians. I thought these were cool.

And lastly, I’ve always had a thing for Ancient Egyptian stuff. The first one represents a Horus falcon . The second one is a carving in stone. What’s really amazing is that these things are over 3000 years old and still in pretty good condition.

After writing a few doomsday pieces on overpopulation, I was thinking I need to mention some stuff I like.

The Slow Food movement. Although not a formal member, I follow a lot of the philosophy of it. Eat organic, heirloom foods. Eat traditional and local food. Don’t eat fast food.

Walking everywhere. If it’s not raining or snowing, why drive to the supermarket if you can walk there? I have no problem walking home carrying a gallon of milk in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other. Neither does my wife or my son. There’s a reason we’re in good shape, and it has nothing to do with genetics and everything to do with our attitudes about wasting resources.

Donald Driver, Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Kampman, and Charles Woodson - my favorite Packers. Driver because of his commitment to excellence (no, the Raiders can’t use that any more because they’re a joke and it has become just as stupid as certain corporate slogans). Rodgers because he has been humble through the whole Brett Favre thing and proved it with his abilities instead of his mouth. Kampman because he simply works harder than anyone else. And Woodson because he’s like Deion Sanders but without the ego. Yes, I still root for Favre to succeed, unless he’s playing the Packers.*

Nightwish and Opeth - the two most talented bands out there today. Both from Scandinavia (by the four country, not three country definition). I’m thinking when it comes to music right now, Scandinavia is where it’s at. Most of my fave bands now are from there.

I’m currently reading Watership Down. Loved the movie. Now finally bought the book.

Our apartment.  We live downtown so we can walk everywhere.  I religiously go to the Farmers’ Market every Sunday morning and stock up on fruits and veggies.  Instead of centering the food around meat, it’s pretty even now.

One of the things I’m really loving are heirloom tomatoes.  I love slicing them up and salting the slices.  Very few things taste better than fresh heirloom tomatoes and salt.

We even go vegetarian one or two days a week.  With apartment living, our costs are way down.  Meat is expensive and cutting it out one or two days a week saves a lot.  Plus, we have yet to break $50 for our electric bill.  Yet another thing to love about living in a small apartment instead of a big house.

So tell me, what are you liking now?

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* I got money on both the Packers and the Vikings to win it all.

People complain about Favre being a prima donna. So what? So was General Patton, one of my other heroes. As a Sound Engineer (recording only), I’ve worked with musicians who never even released a CD and still had bigger egos than Brett Favre.

Prima donnas and divas don’t bother me as long as they treat me with respect. If they don’t, I simply refuse to work with them.

I’m going to see the Harry Potter 6 movie today and will link the review to this post when I get back.  In the meantime, I’m a Slytherin.

Why? No, I’m not a bad guy.  I’m a good guy.  But let’s look at the four houses…

From Wikipedia, Gryffindor values courage, bravery, daring, nerve and chivalry.  I don’t value courage and bravery.  Those will get you killed.  Yes, if someone I loved was in trouble, I’d risk my life to help them.  But that’s a given.  So would just about anyone else.

Realistically, being scared keeps you alive.  I have fear because I want to live.  I don’t want to die until I’m in my 90s (or unless I lose my brain, then I’d want to die earlier).

Hufflepuff, values hard work, loyalty, tolerance, and fair play.  OK, I like this house.  I value hard work, loyalty, and fair play.  Tolerance? No.  I’m a very intolerant person.  Some people piss me off and I have no time for their bullshit, and I’ll call a spade a spade.  So that’s three for four.  Almost a Hufflepuff, but not quite.

Ravenclaw values intelligence, creativity, wit, and wisdom.  I’m almost a Ravenclaw.  Intelligence, I got plenty of that.  Creativity and wit, yup.  That’s me.  Extremely on both parts.  Wisdom? Nope.  I got none of that.  If it wasn’t for my wife, I’d probably be either dead, in jail, or homeless.  So that scratches me from Ravenclaw.

Slytherin house values ambition, cunning, and resourcefulness.  Bingo.  That’s me exactly.  I’m a Slytherin.

It’s just an unfortunate coincidence that to be a successful bad guy, you have to be ambitious and cunning (and resourceful).

Now as proof that not all Slytherins are bad, the most brave wizard of all is a Slytherin.  He sacrificed a heck of a lot more than anyone else did, and that’s really saying something because so many of them sacrificed a lot.  (NOTE: I had his name in there but realized it’s a spoiler so took it out).

Slughorn and Andromeda Tonks are both from there, and Ms. Tonks raised one of my favorite characters (Nymphadora).  More proof that Andromeda is cool is she was Sirius’ favorite cousin, and disowned by the Black family (which is a good thing).  Sirius Black as you probably already know is my favorite Harry Potter character.

Anyways, movie starts in four hours.  I got to buy tickets as soon as those dorks open their ticket window.  Have a Happy Wednesday.

UPDATE - My review is up here.  Don’t worry, I was careful not to give anything away.

I got back early this week, but had so much crap to do.  Now looking for work.  The company I was working at got bought out and the entire team got laid off.  This has all happened before so it’s nothing new to me.  I can’t complain as we got a good severance package and I’m set for awhile at least.  I just don’t want to burn through my excess cash because that excess cash will be taking Mrs. Z on our next vacation.

While in Vegas, I won $2.60 in the slots.  Yes, that’s the extent of my gambling.  I play pennies or nickels just long enough to get the cocktail waitress to get me a free drink or two (always tip them well so they’ll come back fast, and be super polite with them.  That’s my tip to you).

As soon as I’m up, I pull out.  I don’t really gamble.  Well, I take that back.  Yes I do.  I gamble on sports.

Brett Favre will be on the Vikings, and he will kick ass if Childress realizes he has to limit Favre’s throws.   The Vikings have a better than average defense and the best player in the NFL in Adrian Peterson.  To win the Super Bowl, the Vikings need to be a run first, ball control, clock eating team and Favre needs to complete passes and move the chains.  Do that, and the Vikings have as good a shot as anyone.  I put money on them to win it all with 8-1 odds.

The Packers on the other hand need to be more aggressive offensively and need that 3-4 defense to work.  If not, it will be another long season.  I put money on my beloved Packers to win it all with 20-1 odds.

If either team wins the Super Bowl, Mrs. Z gets to go on the cruise of her choice.  So yes, I admit, I do gamble.

With me though, I’m not about the money.  I don’t care about losing a few bucks in the slots because I use the slots for the drinks so I could hit Vegas with a nice buzz.  I actually like Vegas.  It’s tacky and superficial but so what? I can’t be pretentious all the time.

My next vacation though will probably be hitting more states.  I’m at 27 now and got 23 more to go.  I’ve been to a lot of countries, but for me, the bigger priority right now is finishing up my own.  America still is beautiful, but each year it is getting more crowded and with the economy in the slumps, you’d notice a lot more garbage and a lot more taggings everywhere, which is really sad.

Anyways, I’m back.  I got to look for work but between errands and job searching, when I get some breaks, I’ll drop by your blogs.  Hope all is well.