This last weekend was quite the entertaining event. It all started when I was at my desk and I jumped up on my chair to take a look at something. Not to worry, I have done this thousands of times before. Well the thousandth and one time seems to be the charm as I lost my footing and did a free fall towards the floor, back first. Normally this wouldn’t be so bad except that my foot was still firmly attached to the chair. In an effort to protect itself from my fall the chair rotated out of the way, taking my foot with it, leaving me with nothing to land on except the floor. It’s ok though, my tailbone seems to have cushioned my fall.

So now my ankle is twisted, my ass is throbbing, pain is shooting into every nerve on my body. I manage to crawl back up to a sitting position in my traitorous chair trying desperately to catch my breath. I notice that I am a little dizzy and woozy still so I try and control my breathing……

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No longer dizzy or woozy I pull my self up from the floor under the desk and wonder how my computer ended up on its side. Wait what? How the computer ended up on its side? Better question, how did I end up on the floor again? Apparently the woozy feeling was the start of me blacking out. But wait, it gets better. As I blacked out I apparently fell forward knocking my head on the desk hard enough to give me a huge welt and knot on my forehead, I fell down and must have knocked the computer over with my FACE as I had a nice sized gash in my lip. Some where along the line I managed to skin my elbow but who knows when that happened.

As I lay on the ground and try and catch my breath, again, I am perplexed at the chain of events that happened in the last 10 min. I call Sarah and have her pick me up so we can go visit the urgent care clinic. (the only way I will ever go to an actual emergency room is if I am doing it in two separate cars. Think about it). The doctor looks at the egg growing out of my forehead and starts the concussion tests. “So you hit your head and blacked out?”

“No, I blacked out and THEN hit my head. Could you look at the ankle please?”

After she was done poking at my butt to ensure I hadn’t broken my tailbone (I didn’t but it was bruised pretty bad), she x-rayed the ankle and wrapped it up, handed me crutches and said to spend the weekend on the couch playing Grand Theft Auto. Ok so she didn’t say the GTA part, but that’s what I heard. Sadly, that’s not what was to happen.

Lee and Missy were coming in and the plan was to hit up DC and do the walking tour. When I told the Doctor this she looked at me like I had another head growing out of my forehead. (Which, at the time, it felt like I was). After spending all of Friday laid up, I wrapped up the ankle, walked gingerly, used the crutches and bought a cane and managed to get through the whole weekend.

Saturday was the DC trip and we hit all the spots on the mall. We ended up eating at Biddys Irish pub in Dupont Circle (which was just a hotel bar). Sunday we played pool and say Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

So here is the weird thing. After the accident on Friday, the whole weekend was just a blur as it shot by so fast. I remember all the stuff we did, and going to visit with Doc and Diz. But it was like “What weekend?”

There is a media available today that is rife with extreme violence and sexually explicit content! The worst part about this content is that is it freely available to children of varying age. To test this, my 15 year old son walked into a store, picked up off the shelf, and purchased something with depictions of brutal murder and implied sexual depravity.

It was a book.

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian was written in 1932 by Robert E. Howard. It depicts the very violent and graphic adventures of Conan the Barbarian, whom I am sure many of you remember from the popular films featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movies, by the way, are also rated R by the MPAA. While I have not read the entire book, I did get through quite a few passages and found many scenes where Conan is viciously attacking various people, chopping of limbs and heads, graphic depictions of blood and violence, and the implied sexual demeaning of women. Now I know that this isn’t much to go on without reading the whole thing, but I am not here to review the book only to show that there are books that contain such things.

I am getting a little ahead of myself here. Let’s back up and see how this all started.

I am a gamer. I enjoy all kind of games. My current game shelf has everything from racing games to table tennis. Lately I have been playing the latest craze, Grand Theft Auto IV. Now, on top of being a gamer I am also a parent. My son, Andrew, is 15 now and has lived with me on a full time basis since he was 12. Because of the mix of the two I tend to pay attention to all the hype of “video games are a threat to our children!” Most of the time I laugh and point when people like Jack Thompson or Glen Beck get up on their high horse and bash developers of games because they are “murder simulators” and how games like Doom and GTA have caused the death of so many people.

Most of the time I laugh.

The rest of the time I am floored by the ignorance. I see the reports of school shootings and street murders and take note that the people that commit these acts were troubled to begin with. I look over at my son and wonder, for an instant, could he do something like that? Then I shake off the webs of deception and realize that, 1: I am a good parent that is involved with my child’s hobbies and activities. 2: I review many of the things he does to make sure they are appropriate for him. 3: I educate him on why certain things are not appropriate. This is called responsible parenting.

I picked up the book “Grand Theft Childhood”. This is one of the latest books on childhood behavior and violent video games. It’s not what you would expect though. This one, unlike all the ones that most of the politicians use, has FACTS! As I was sitting on the couch reading, I began to think about some of the different ratings systems that are in place. Movies have the MPAA, Games have the ESRB, and even many Comic Books had the Comics Code Authority. I looked over at one of the shelves and noticed a book that Sarah and Andrew had been talking about, “World War Z”. I know the basic premise of the book and new that it had a lot of violence and gore. (It is about Zombies you know). So I decided to test something. I walked over to the DVD shelf and grabbed a copy of “Full Metal Jacket”, from the game shelf I picked up “”, and the book “WWZ”. I trudged upstairs to where Andrew was reading a few comic books. (“Blue Beetle” I believe) I handed him the items and had the following conversation.

(handing game first)”Where is the rating on this game?”

(reading the front cover)”Umm, it’s M for Mature”

“And why is it rated that?”

“Because of graphic Violence and language”

“Ok then, (taking back game and handing movie) Where is the rating on this?”

(He pondered the box for a bit and found the rating on the back in small print) “It’s rated R”

“And why?”

“Well, since I haven’t seen it, I can assume that it’s because of violence and language”

“Good, now this. (hands the book) where is the rating on this?”

(This part threw him off as he scanned the inside and outside of the book) “Ummm there isn’t one?”

“Ok now, of the three of these things, which has the more graphic violence and language?”

“Hands down, the book”

Now, Andrew loves to read. He almost always has a book he is working on. There are times where he gets so engrossed in a book that he will zone out of reality for a while and even lose track of time. He tears through books very fast but can still spend hours upon hours lost in the story. This train of thought got me wondering. I know the guys at the local Game store and I know that they won’t sell anything to Andrew that is not age appropriate (or at least they check with me first). What about the local book store?

This leads us up to the experiment. I picked out the Conan book because I knew of the content of it. I also knew that the movie adaptation was rated R (even though it was barely adapted from the book). We located the book and I gave Andrew some money and told him to go buy it. I went somewhere else in the store so I could not be associated with him. I didn’t want to give the appearance that I was there and approving. Andrew walked up to the counter and bought the book with the sales attendant not even batting an eye at the content.

On the way home we looked through the book and noticed many illustrations of barely clothed women (angled as to not be too revealing), severed body parts and varying degrees of violence. Granted I had only read a few passages, the text was much more graphic than I had seen in some “Friday The 13th” movies. This was sold to a 15 year old.

Now I am not saying that we should be banning books or anything of the sort. All I am pointing out is that these political media junkies are wasting my time on my TV telling me about the horrors of video game violence and how these underage children are buying games that are rated above their age level. Meanwhile a child can go out and pick up any number of books that have the same, if not worse, content. Does this mean that we should start assigning a rating system to books? Of course not. We have the first amendment here which allows for the freedom of speech! This has worked for us for countless years/decades. As we have grown as a society we have seen countless efforts to ban various types of media and it always turns out the same way, the media grows into a part of our society whether we would like it to or not. Then some new form comes out and the efforts focus on that until the process repeats itself.

The media junkies will always be there. When the holodeck is created I am sure there will be a Jack Thompson Jr that will attack it because it “blurs the lines between reality and fiction” and he will proclaim “this isn’t the type of entertainment that we grew up with, this will be harmful to the children, and it’s not like the fictional games we knew like GTA”. I guess the real point I am trying to get at here is that we are at the next stage of evolution for media. When I was a kid, we had video games. It became a part of my life and carried with me into adulthood. It started small enough back when we had our atari’s and coleco-visions as kids and is coming to a head now. Now, the same people I grew up with are starting to make games tailored to me and my current age and it’s viewed as immoral. When I was growing up, Video games were something for kids and the adults didn’t really understand it. (Think back to when Rock and Roll was invented, kids understood, adults didn’t).

A long rant made short, we really shouldn’t be listening to the media junkies, but sadly, people will. We shouldn’t be banning and punishing, we should be learning and educating. We shouldn’t hide the games from our kids. We should be reviewing them and explaining why the child shouldn’t play it. Learn to find the games that kids should be playing, and play it with them. Does this mean I am going to let Andrew play GTAIV? Nope, but I will explain to him what it is in the game I find inappropriate for him and why it is as such.

When we got home, Andrew set out to read some of his new book. He came back downstairs in shock. He had only skimmed a few chapters but had already found a scene where Conan was attacking a ship and cleaving limb from limb. At the end of the encounter the ship’s captain, a female, came up to Conan, threw off all her clothes, and begged Conan to “Claim her with his fierce love”. This threw Andrew off and even raised the thought in his own head of “Should I be reading this?” It was right then and there that I knew I had done a good job. In educating him on what was appropriate and non appropriate, I instilled on him about what he should or should not be looking at. He set the book down and went back to his Blue Beetle comic.

I went back to playing Grand Theft Auto IV.

Ok so I realize that it’s been a while. I wish I could say that there hasn’t been that much going on but I can’t. There was a TON of stuff. Summary: New Wardrobe, Sarah and I hit 1 year, Trip to Vegas, Rock Band Tourney, GTA IV, Free Comic Book Day, Iron Man, and Andrews Promotion.

Yeah, like I said, Lots!

So let’s start out with the new wardrobe. It all started with a new position that came open at work. It wasn’t much, mostly a few administrative roles added on, but still a good boost to the career. As it was I really needed the boost. The past few years have started to drag a bit and I was starting to get a little bitter. Sadly that showed a bit in the past but over the last 6 months and I had started to pick things back up. Well when it came time for the interview, the new and improved Steve went in and nailed it, but the past Steve still had an effect. I didn’t get the position. This prompted a change in attitude.

I had been wearing jeans and polo’s to work but I could tell that if I wanted to step up the overall attitude change I was going to need more. It was make over time! Sarah grabbed her friend Jesse and we went to the mall to build Steve 3.0. New slacks, new shirts, new shoes, everything! I even managed to go through my current stuff and clean out some of the older stuff. I came away with 8 new pairs of pants, 10 new shirts, 2 new pairs of shoes and 2 new belts (because apparently no one liked my old belt). Now, for the most part this is for work clothes only, but I am trying to step it up over all and work some of them into the rotation for going out and about. Try not to be too surprised if you see some new duds in upcoming pics. I don’t plan on missing out on the next position.

I realize that this next part is about a month late but on April 13th Sarah and I hit our one year mark! It’s great to know that I have found someone like her who really understands me. On Sunday the 13th she got me a Spiderman statue that I had been drooling over for some time now (I think I have all of the symbiote spideys now) and I made her a full dinner from scratch (which is a feat for me). We are both very excited to see what the next year brings. (She will probably leave me sometime next month anyways (inside joke))

So as you can tell from some of the pictures sent to the blog from my phone, I was out in Vegas all last week! I went out for the annual Microsoft Management Summit. The conference was great and showed off a lot of new tech that MS is doing. The setting wasn’t bad either! Unfortunately I was there by myself for the most part and it got kind of lonely sometimes. I did manage to see quite a few shows. Blue Man Group was amazing! Bite was…..Interesting. The Star Trek Experience was fun, but it’s getting a little dated, and the Wax Museum was creepy but entertaining. I did do a fair amount of gambling while there, mostly Texas Hold Em. I only wish I had played better.

At the end of the conference they always hold an “After Party” for the guests. This year they threw together a Rock Band Tournament! I signed up as a random drummer and got placed in with a group of guys. We called our band the “Screaming Weasels”. Well, long story made short, out of 6 bands, we won! I know, I was floored too. For the most part we managed to just stay ahead and finish songs where others just failed. They moved us up to the main stage for the finale in front of about 1000 people. Sadly, the sound system was so loud that it caused a delay on the system from the visuals and it was hard as heck to play. We won by getting 80% through Enter Sandman while the other band only made it to about 10%. For winning we all got a folding chair and a brand new Xbox 360 Pro! (Yes I know, this makes 2)

This is a good thing as I have installed it upstairs and can send Andrew up there while I play Grand Theft Auto IV. I am sure some of you out there would give me crap about purchasing it but, the story is amazing. Honestly think of the movie Scarface. There is a ton of Killing, Sex, Drinking, Swearing, and drug use. I couldn’t even tell you how many people were killed in the movie, to include police officers. The movie is rated R. GTAIV is rated M which is the video game equivalent of R. As a parent, I am policing the content by not allowing Andrew to view it as I do not think it is appropriate for him. I do this because 1: I pay attention to reviews of things, 2: I look at the ratings that things get, and 3: I review thing myself and make the final judgment. This is called responsible parenting. From an Adult point of view, the game is stunning. The Visuals, the story, everything is very well done and it deserves all of the praise it has gotten. It does not deserve all of the admonishment from political figures who haven’t bothered to do the above steps 1-3 to form their own opinion. Nuf said.

Last Saturday was Free Comic Book Day!!! I met up with some of the other 501st guys to costume up at Phoenix Comics over in Leesburg VA. I didn’t go as a trooper though, It was a Comic event, so I went as Batman! Sarah, Andrew and I got done up as Batman, Catwoman, and Spiderman! Overall it was a great appearance! The kids loved us (well most of them, there were a few that got a bit scared of the Batsuit). Andrew stayed in Spidey for a while then switched over to Biker Scout. We had a great time and even raised some money for one of the local children’s funds.

After the event we headed over to the theater to catch Iron Man.

Wow….just wow.

Go see it

Now

And stay through the credits.

Lastly, as you may know, Andrew has been involved in Civil Air Patrol for the last many many months. Well he managed to step it up and made it to Cadet Airman First Class! I am VERY proud of him and even got to pin on his rank! I know it probably doesn’t seem like much to him, but it really meant a lot to me to see him succeed like that and I hope to pin on many more ranks in the future!

Wheew, that was a lot!

The Strat View
Originally uploaded by wizzer2801

The view of the strip from up on the Stratosphere

Bite!
Originally uploaded by wizzer2801

The girls of Bite

BMG!
Originally uploaded by wizzer2801

Rockin it with the Blue Men in Vegas!

10000!!!!

ciprofloxacin 250mg tab

Originally uploaded by wizzer2801

a nice even 10k gamerscore!

I love practical jokes. When I was growing up I would always try and play jokes on my brother and sister. I remember one time we even went as far as to pull the mattress out of a sleeper couch and roll myself and a friend inside (in place of the mattress) and wait for my sister and her friend to come along and sit down, then reach through the couch to scare them.

When I was in Tech School I actually drafted paperwork to have a friend redirected from her current assignment to go to Greenland instead. This involved the paperwork and all of the instructors to be in on the joke. She reported to the TI’s and complained about the new assignment but was relieved when she found out it was a joke.

And that is the key here. When it was all said and done, in the end, it was just a joke. We all had a good laugh about it. She swore revenge and I was all for it. I don’t mind jokes played on me. If they are good ones, I will suffer the humility of being gotten and laugh with the rest of them.

Since all of this, I have come to realize that there is really a time and a place for jokes in the caliber that I enjoy. That time and place is April Fools Day. April 1st comes around once a year and if you know anything about anything you know that if something gets announced on that day, take it with a grain of salt.

Just this year we saw a Project venture between Google and Virgin, Vir-gle, for a mission to Mars. agree on a buyout price, and a full new lineup of Think Geek products. Now, the un-knowing person may think, “MS and Yahoo are merging? I should buy stock!!” But a knowing person would realize that 1: it’s April Fools day, and 2: These people do this all the time.

Yesterday I got a few people. Most of them got a little giggle when it was revealed to be a joke. Some people saw through it right away. I will admit that offing my cat may have been is bad taste, which is why I only let the joke go for about 4 hours. This is certainly not the worst I have done, and it really wasn’t even the worst that I was planning to do. But in the end, it was just a joke, and a reminder that you really shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet, ESPECIALLY on April 1st.

To those who were horribly offended by this joke, I apologize. Yes, it was dipping into the bottom of the humor barrel, but after some of the other things I have pulled, I really was amazed that anyone didn’t see it as a joke.

Charlie is one of the best cats in the whole world. If you don’t believe me, ask anyone who has met him for any length of time. When we found him I was living in Denver at the time and we went to the local shelter to find a cat. He was the loudest cat in the whole place. We took him back into the visiting area and he decided that we were his. That was back in June of 1998 and he was about 2-3 years old. 10 years later I am still very much his staff and he never ceases to amaze me. People are always amazed at how I can talk to him and he listens, he follows instructions (when the outcome benefits him) and is always happy to talk back and carry on the conversation. He is, without a doubt, the best cat in the world.

Don’t worry, all of that is in the present tense, Charlie is still here and doing quite well. That’s the point of the post really. You may recall a few years back when Charlie had a few issues and needed to be rushed to the vet. Well, we took him in for a visit to the new vet since we have moved to check on a few things and just give him a once over. First of all, every Vet Tech in the area came out to see him and comment on how they have never seen another cat that had his coloring and that his personality was just the best. Charlie knows this all to well and will strut his stuff along the counter. The overall exam was good. We were concerned because every now and then he will have some issues passing food and this will cause him throw up a few times. This is usually like once a month. The vet said that it’s normal with the food that he is on and that we can try to introduce some more fiber to his diet.

She took a blood sample (Charlie was very displeased with this process) and said that she was astonished at the levels for his Kidneys. Back in the June 27th 2006 post I mentioned that there are two levels that directly relate to the kidney functions. At that time those levels were extremely high. Well apparently as of now his levels are just 1 point above Medium levels. The vet said that she had never seen a cat come back from such a traumatic event in the way Charlie has. She advised that whatever we were doing we should keep it up. We did introduce some pumpkin mixed into his wet food to give him a little more fiber and help with digestion and we also had them check his urine (currently awaiting results).

Overall Charlie is in great health. After his check on Saturday we took him to Pets Mart and he got to crawl around on the Carpet Trees there, lay across my shoulder while we walked around the store, and be adored by everyone there. He took a walk on the leash around Best Buy and marked his territory there, then came home to curl up by the fire. It was a long day for him and he took the rest. Of course this meant he was wide awake when it came time for US to go to bed. But hey, that’s normal…..for Charlie.