spidey saturday

Today has been a good day so far. I had two things on my agenda to do and they are already done. One was write a talk for Sunday and I got that one finished by 10:30 this morning. The second was to finish coloring my ED the Business warrior comic for my Zuda submission. Finished that around two today. I'm feeling really good about my accomplishments for this Saturday. I did not waste it like most Saturdays. I also colored a promo for ED the Business Warrior and colored an older spider-man I drew. All and all it's been an excellent day. So for your enjoyment here is my colored spider-man. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

can we fish

Change is a part of life. There is to views on this. Either people can change or they can’t. Once I heard that people can only change 24% or was it 12%. I don’t know. I think we all have the ability to change. I don’t know if we can have a full 180 change, but I know it’s possible. I have gone through a couple of changes throughout the years. Most of them would be considered small unimportant changes, but I might not view them that way. One of these big ones in my mind happened last year. I gave up soda for about two or three months. That was a different experience. Every time I went to get fast food I couldn’t get anything to drink. They would have light lemonade, which taste like crap. I hate light lemonade. After that time I finally gave back into soda. The only difference is I don’t drink the same soda as I did before I gave it up. I use to drink the dark colas. I loved me some Dr. Pepper. Now I don’t really want to drink the dark colas. I’m not as drawn to them as I use to be. Now I’m more a Mountain Dew person. This is really weird. Before my leaving of soda I wouldn’t touch mountain dew. I hated that soda. If you ask my wife now that’s the only soda I drink. If I go to the gas station to get a soda it’s a mountain dew. I have no clue why this is. I rather not touch the dark sodas and go for the light green goodness. I don’t drink as much soda as I did before but it’s still a weird change. It like my taste buds changed. I have no clue why.

Another change I went through was over my honeymoon. My wife wanted to eat at a seafood restaurant on our honeymoon since we were right next to the ocean. I personally can’t stand the taste of fish. I haven’t even eaten a fish stick before that for at least a decade. The last time I at any seafood was at a work function and I got super sick afterwards. Not the first time I got sick from eating seafood either. I decide it was time to give it a try again. I ordered the fish and chips. I didn’t get sick, I actually enjoyed the fish. It tasted really good. It wasn’t something I was going to start craving, at least that’s what I thought. Now we eat bread fish paddies at least once a week if not more. Plus we make some fries with them, that never hurts. I would have to say my taste buds do change. I can’t say for sure if people can change, but their taste buds can. In fact I’m feeling like some fish and chips with a mountain dew right now. I’m not going to eat it because it’s too early to eat lunch.

the fear is rational

Lately my wife and I been watching a new TV show on DVD called Fringe. This show is crazy, it’s like a new X-Files, but cooler; mainly because it’s not about aliens, but about humans and the science that should be impossible. One episode has this freaky intro; well almost all of them have freaky intros. This intro called to one of my more irrational fears, the fear of butterflies. I hate butterflies; I’ve always hated those winged freaks. They are one of the scariest looking bugs out there, they are not beautiful. Well in the beginning of the episode a random character was killed by butterflies. Proving that butterflies are evil and will try to kill us all someday.

a pop culture mass murder

In this world there are few things I know. There are many things I wish I knew, but I’m too lazy to search them out. I would like to know about physics and how the sun works, but that would take too much effort. What doesn’t take much effort on my part is pop culture. I’m driven to it. Television, Movies, Music, Comics. I love that stuff. I’m not the most knowledgeable about anyone of those subjects, but I like to think that I know more than a couple people. Although at the same time I probably don’t. One example would be my old roommate. He knew everything about sports and sitcoms. It was crazy how much he knew. He could school anyone on sitcoms knowledge. It made my little knowledge feel small. Yet here I am still alive and married. Today I wanted to look at music and give a list of some bands I listen to and maybe why. In no correct order here are the bands I like.

1. New Found Glory – If you need a good helping of pop punk music these are the guys. They don’t disappoint. Sure they had one album that was a little emo, but they came back to their pop punk roots for their newest album. Best album by them would be their EP Tip of the Iceberg. It has three original amazing songs and three cover songs.

2. Matt and Kim – This is a new favorite of mine. They’re a nice two person band with synthesizers and drum kit. They have two albums out right now, The Grand is the better of the two CDs. I’m not sure how to categorize them other then cool.

3. Vampire Weekend – I think New England prep school every time I hear their music. I have no clue how else to describe them. Two summers ago I had to have at least one of their tracks on all my mix CDs, I’m not into them that much anymore, but their new album is good.

4. Weezer – They have to be in the list. Since the Blue Album I’ve been in love with these guys. There is just something about them that make me want to scream for joy; although I did lose faith in them after Maladroit. That album was just okay. Then Make Believe came out and I couldn’t care about it. Then the Red Album came out. The only album I never bought. It felt like a downhill fall for so long that I had little hope for Weezer. Then Raditude came out and all was forgiven. I was so good I even started liking the Red Album.

5. Rancid – This spot was the hardest spot to choose. I want to end the list at five but know I can’t. A band that continues to amaze me is Rancid. My favorite album by them is Indestructible. I hated their new album when it came out last year, but after listening to it over and over again, it might be my new favorite album. It’s more of a surf punk feel to it, but it’s amazing.

6. Cake – I don’t care what album as long as it on. They have a sound that is perfect. Okay maybe not perfect, but damn close.

7. The Raveonettes – Lust Lust Lust is an amazing album.

8. NoFX – They’re a beautiful punk sound. Plus they sing about drinking what else could you ask for.

9. Bouncing Souls – Old hard punk or new soft punk doesn’t matter they are amazing.

10. Reel Big Fish – One band that will never die. One band that made me fall in love with ska music. Sure no other ska band is on the list, but that because it’s hard to put a band for one album or one song.

Honorable Mentions:
Jack’s Mannequin, Michael Jackson, Moby, MxPx, Tom Morello, Billy Corgan, Blink 182, Jay-Z, Fort Minor, The Specials, Jimmy Eat World, Kayne West, Kimya Dawson, The Lonely Island, Flight of the Conchords, Lucky Boy Confusion, Billy Joel, The Offspring, and so many more. So many more. There you go Ben, the music i listen to.

starship troopers done wrong again

My sister asked me to go see a movie with her and her husband tonight. They decide to go see the must see movie of the Christmas holiday, no not Sherlock Holmes. That would have been amazing. If you haven’t gone and seen Sherlock Holmes you are an idiot. I mean that in the meanest way possible, because it’s that good of a movie, plus I do have a little man crush on Robert Downey Jr. It’s totally cool, so don’t bring it up. Well I’ve gone off topic. Sherlock Holmes is the best, just go see it. I totally get it if you can’t. Back to the subject, I was talking about the movie I saw this tonight. The movie people are raving over, Avatar.

What can I say about Avatar, that hasn’t already been said? It’s EPIC! Did you see how I capitalized all the letters in epic? That’s how epic it was. On the plus side it wasn’t so EPIC I fell asleep in it. No sir, it’s no Lord of the Rings boring. I fell asleep in all three movies, the first two at the theater and the last one at home. I can’t say I’ve seen all three movie all the way through. Mind you I did go in the middle of the day to see them so I wouldn’t be tired. I’m off topic again. Let’s talk Avatar. The special effect blew my mind away! The world they created was so awesome. The creatures were amazing. I loved the creatures they flew on. Awesome. I actually would have preferred if the movie was all about those flying animals and their riders, but then it wouldn’t have been EPIC and everyone would be sad. We need EPIC! It’s like in King Kong, the Jack Black one, where Kong fights three t-rexes. That was an awesome scene, but the rest of the movie I could do without. In fact they should make an hour and a half movie about Kong fighting t-rexes and that’s it. I would see that movie at least ten times in the theaters. I’m way off topic again.

Avatar was a good movie. I could feel the almost three hours on my butt though. It hurt by the end of the film. I felt the film need to end at about two hours, maybe a little before that, but then you would miss all the awesomeness that the build of the EPIC movie had coming or they could have milked a second film out of it and made a ton more of money. Although they might not have had the same impact if they left a huge cliff hanger like that at the end of the film. Sure it worked for the Empire Strikes Back, but that was back in the day. I digress. I enjoyed watching Avatar. It had amazing special FX that I’ve never seen before. I was amazed at how real everything looked. The story was well written if you haven’t seen Fern Gully. I’m not joking; it’s a live action Fern Gully. So pretty much they just made a live action EPIC version of Fern Gully in space. I hope this doesn’t make you look down on me or the film, because I love Fern Gully. It’s the best complement I could give the film. Now they do depart from it a lot and make Avatar its own thing. It’s a great action film when the action happens too. It’s no Die Hard, but we can’t hold every movie to that standard. So if you’re only going to see one holiday movie this year go see Sherlock Holmes. I think it’s better than Avatar any day of the week.

that's future michael's problem

Life is full of curve balls and I’m not very good at taking them. I’m sitting in my apartment listening to the new Vampire Weekend album, Contra. It’s really good and a great distraction from all the problems I have in my life. I would have to Giving up the Gun is my favorite track on the new album. I really enjoy the sound and lyrics. It’s just good fun. So I was planning on writing this blog since Sunday, but it took a whole new turn after yesterday. I thought I finally had an idea of what I might be doing for a living for awhile on Sunday. I had received a new calling at church as the Finical Clerk. I currently work for an armored car company as a cash teller. I figured that it was a sign that I was supposed to work in banking of some sort. It wasn’t something I loved, but it was something I was good at. I had worked in the budget office at BSU for two years and money was something I was use to working with. I am good with money and counting it. It’s not the most exciting job in the world, but it’s a good job.

Then yesterday I got a call from my boss. He called to let me know a competitor was moving into the Boise market and taking our largest account. The company had to scale back because of this, 40% of people were losing their jobs. We had till the end of February when the other company would take over the operation. I’m not just out of a job. I at least have a month and a half to find a new one. He said that they would give me a good recommendation if I wanted to work for the competitor. I haven’t decided if I want to work in banking anymore. Most people at my job have known for a week now, I learned yesterday on the phone. I don’t know if I’ll want to continue on in banking or actually do something fun. Plus I doubt they’ll treat me as good as my last job. As boring as my job is they treat me better than any other job I’ve ever had. Even with being laid off I only have good things to say about them. They want to make sure their employees are taken care of even if it is giving them away. I have a lot of things to think about, but I do have a job till March. So I’ll let future Michael worry about, it his problem not mine. (I’m kidding; the job search is so on.)

jolly roger

My home is no longer a safe harbor for people. We are sailing the Jolly Roger! Well not sailing it as much as having it as a doormat. It’s the cow’s meow. I guess it’s still safe to come to our house, but we are pirates now, so be warned. I looked up the Jolly Roger on wiki and found out ours is not the most common one out there. It wasn’t flown Black Beard. Our Jolly Roger was flown by Richard Worley. He was one of the first to fly the skull and cross bones. Now the McLeans are walking on his flag to clean our feet. This could turn out bad if you believe in ghost. No one wants a pirate to come back and haunt them. Insert scary noise like thunder. I guess that’s a risk Allison and I will have to take.

magical forest mustaches

The honeymoon has ended. We are no longer in the wild lush woods of California. The memories are fading of the massive trees that dot the dark blue sea side. There are few things you can take with you as you leave a land of warmth and beauty. The crisp warm air had a most feel to it. You could smell the salt from the sea miles away. Walking on the docks, you could smell the distinct odor of fresh fish being brought in. The magic of a honeymoon it lingers on in my mind. Highway one to 17 mile, filed with trees. Trees so tall they dwarfed anything we had in our desert home. Windy roads that made Allison scared in the dark. Turning left and right with the trees looming over as to hide any sign of civilization. How I missed my home driving through the dark back roads. The honeymoon crying out to never end; to seek out a land where the grass is lush and green. To look back on older memories of when I lived in a forest before. A magical honeymoon that could only bring our love closer. Watching the sea otters eat their breakfast and wondering if you had enough to eat before your long journey. Seeing how the beauties of jelly fish swim up close and from a distance. Wondering if when you hold your love close to your body that you could look as amazing as jelly fish swimming in the open water. The multicolor patterns of the jellyfish illuminating my mind. Making me try even harder to remember every breath I take as I see my own beauty walk across the hotel room. A honeymoon that will never be forgotten, ending too soon. You can only take home your memories and a mustache.

don't call me ralph

Three days into my honeymoon. What a great time. Allison and I have traveled all the way from freezing Idaho to the warm coast of California. What a beautiful change. My wife already asked me if we should go technology free. I was like what? I can’t live without my tech. I love my wife, but I’m addicted to my facebook and cell phone. I’ve been posting so many updates on facebook, that I can’t help myself. I never have anything to say, but this weekend I’m going to so many magical places with my wife. Why not let everyone else in. I’m no perfect husband, but I’m not Ralph. I would never threaten to punch my wife to the moon.

The trip took a two day driving trip. I know I’m weak compared to most McLeans. They would have made the 13 hours trip in one day, but I didn’t want to cross the Sierras at night. Having never driven the route before I felt it would be safer to travel all during daylight hours. I didn’t want to kill my beautiful bride two months into our marriage. That would be the worst.

The first night we stopped in the lovely city of Reno. We stayed at the Silver Legacy Casino. It was a large tower with a globe in front of it. Reno is a dirty little city. I don’t care what people think, it is. Luckily we only stayed one night.





Then yesterday we crossed the great state of California to make it to Monterey. We got here around five. We walked down to the bay right after that, which took about a half an hour. It was beautiful. I totally recommend coming here. The area is amazing. So that’s the honeymoon so far. An adventure that is worthy of the honeymoon.





Well were off to see some more ocean.