T-Hybrid

It's not shenanigans. News outlets claim victories for candidates at 0% many times. It happened on many occasions during primaries and in the previous 2 elections it happened multiple times. It's their rush to beat out every other news outlet. I remember those times. And I thought the mess in 2000 was leading networks to do a better job of not actually calling anything until the polls had closed across the country.

While this is in regards to today's election, this is not a political thread. I just happened to see this report when I booted up my email this evening. Yes. Your eyes aren't decieving you. With 0% of the precincts reporting, MSN has declared Obama the winner in Vermont. This is why the Horse-Race mentality the media takes into every election season drives me crazy. I mean...C'MON. Even Wikipedia demands better references than that.

Only if you help set up and tear down at concerts.

Rock Band 2 drops on the 360 in about a week or so. One of the biggest new features is the ability to take the original Band World Tour online. So now I won't need to rock the Voxtar (Single player using guitar and mic at the same time) to get through it on my own. But I need a few good men (or women) to help fill out the band. I'm not sure of the details, so I dunno if this can work with more than four...but one thing I know is that now band members will be able to switch between instruments. I'd have guitar and bass covered. Not too sure on drums and definately not vocals yet. So I'm looking for people who can play guitar, drums, and vocals on Expert. I'd pretty much be available to play one or two nights a week (for a few hours at a time), so I'm flexible schedule wise. Anybody interested?

I'm not ashamed to admit that is an artist's rendering.

Just to clear up the airwaves a bit due to some recent confusion. Hapori Tohu (not me) Tohru (also not me....I've lost weight) Tohru Honda (definately not me...despite April Fool's jokes suggesting otherwise) Torhu Hybrid (me) Though I do see that Honda and I share similiar fashion sense (color wise, not the whole...skirt...thing)

This is the first thing I thought of.

So walked into Wal-Mart to grab some cleaning supplies, and I noticed that they were completely out of Mistika. But they had just put out what I'm guessing is the last few Phantoka they had in stock. Thankfully they had both Kopaka and Pohatu, and thankfully were still charging only $9.49/ I then stopped by Target and grabbed a spare Onua. So now I have my traditional Pa-Tahian Toa, and didn't have to surrender any current sets or pay anything extra for old ones. I managed to beat the system, without having to cheat the system. It's a moral victory.

I knew the price increase was coming down the road, but I didn't expect stores to actually do it. The Phantoka are now rotting on store shelves because of it.

So I built my annual Pa-Tahi Toa (this gen would be the return of Khultak and Rangi), and I've run into a problem. I want to buy replacement Toa...but the Phantoka at most stores have had their prices increased to $12.99 to match the Mistika. Seriously? That's so not cool LEGO. Wal-Mart still has them at the old $9.99, but they only have Pohatu and I also need a new Kopaka. Onua's not as much a problem, but for them to up the price on sets that have been out for months? I was in the Lego Imagination Center at Mall of America a few weeks ago and the Phantoka were still only $9.99. Are they being INSTRUCTED to increase the price as the new sets in...or are store just being ##### about it? And yes, I did check the shelf space. The tag says "Phant" as opposed to the "Misti" tags, so it is being repriced. I've thought about doing...things...that would be slightly dishonest. Like buying two Pohatu's from Wal-Mart and then returning one to Target in place of a Kopaka. I'm not proud, but at the same time...it's just riddiculous. I bit on the $12.99 for the Mistika. But now you want to take old sets and increase their price by almost 30%? Very uncool.

Takanuva's head is a standard Toa head piece and a Kanohi. But it's resting on top of a VERY large body. (Twice the height of Toa Ignika. I don't know how they could've fixed it, and I haven't purchased a set of this size in a while to know if it's typical (I'd wager Maxilos would suffer from this same problem. That seems awefully convenient. Though I suppose since Takanuva was once a Matoran it could be explained that way.

So go figure, I return to the blogs after a long hiatus...and what should happen but two days later I come across the full assortment of Mistika, Takanuva, and vehicles sitting on the shelves in Wal-Mart. The Makuta Mistika look amazing. Excellent variety in design. But judging from the containers for the Toa...not so much there. Now, I've only purchased Onua Mistika at the moment. I would've bought more, but I'm a bit short on fun money this time of the month (rent and car payment come due about this time). They also had Leader Megatron, Supreme Optimus (both from TF: Animated) and several new Classics 2.0...so I had to grab Onuva, Takanuva and run before I ended up blowing over $100 on toys. Takanuva is a solid design, though he has a pinhead. It's a huge turn-off that distracts from the rest of what's a REALLY good set. I could do with more gold and less generic silver/black...but I guess there's a story reason for it all. It's funny seeing him absoltuely dwarf Toa Ignika. Onua is a great set...but definately not worth $12. At all. He seems less "fancy" than the Phantoka, and I really don't "feel" Onua when I look at him. Kopaka, Pohatu, and Lewa don't suffer from this...but Onua's not recognizable at all. I could say the same for Gali and Tahu. I'll eventually get them...but I may wait for sales/coupons. And I haven't bought villian canisters since the...oh man...was it the Vahki? I bought Irnakk, but I don't count that since I didn't buy the other Piraka. I'm tempted to do that with the Mistika (maybe even Phantoka), but at that price? The big question though, what do I do about Khultak and Rangi? Traditionally I've purchased an extra white, black and brown/orange Toa to build them. But they're split between the two lines this year (white and orange are Phantoka while black is Mistika). If I mix in parts from the Makuta I'll be tempted to buy them all, that wouldn't be good in the least. Once I finish the Mistika collection, I may end up reviewing them in more detail.

What did you think of the violence in Batman comparred to Hulk? I think for the most part Hulk was fairly tame (it looks like they edited the part where you actually see Hulk kicking what's his name across the field)

Yeah, it's been a LONG while. I've been busy with a combination of Tuesday volleyball leagues and the beautiful summer weather. A buddy of mine also got married earlier this month. I was in the party, which meant I got to help out in the proceedings. There's pics in certain "books" if you catch my drift, not many of them. Lots of movies. Here's a quick recap... The Dark Knight: Awesome. Best movie I've seen this summer. Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker is incredible. Nolan has managed to really dig Batman out of the gutter that was the last two movies before Batman Begins. Even going back to watch the much more grounded Batman and Batman Returns doesn't seem the same these days. The Incredible Hulk: Again, an upgrade over Ang Lee's debacle from earlier this millennia. But comparred to fellow Avenger Iron Man, it's just not the same. Bruce Banner's not nearly as interesting as Tony Start. But Edward Norton does a good job as Banner. But if they're able to actually put together this Avenger movie using the original cast members from the different films...I'm going to be there on opening day! Get Smart: I like Steve Carrel, and I loved Get Smart when I was growing up. Together they make an entertaining film that manages to bring back fond memories of the original series. The plot was a bit predictable, and it suffers from "Hey is that Patrick Warburton?!" Syndrome...but only at the end. In other news, and cause for even further delays in enjoyment...I am currently fighting to have my car exchanged under Minnesota Lemon Laws. Brake issues have been ongoing since February, and after getting pushed around by one dealer and then leaving a second with the issue still present, I now have to start this long and incredibly taxing process. Because they're more than eager to help you when you buy the thing...but once something goes wrong they're nowhere to be found. Updates as they become available. I'll try to keep them fairly upbeat and profanity-free.

Yeah, I was disappointed with that first scene as well.

I've seen two movies over the last 7 days. Iron Man and now Indiana Jones. Go see Iron Man. If you like super hero movies, this one is for you. It's just as good as the first Spiderman. Robert Downey Jr. is amazing as Stark, and the mix of humor, drama and action is just right. Indiana Jones on the other hand...oh man did they make some mistakes there. I'm not a diehard Jones fan, in fact I only recently had a chance to watch the movies during some marathons on various channels. But even in my brief experiences with the series, I can tell something was msot definately not right with this installment. I can't specifically say where, but you'll feel it almost immediately when it happens. There's some great action, and Shia LeBouf ain't too bad as Mutt Williams...but there's a specific point in the movie where things take a turn. And after that I just couldn't get the movie to "sit" if you catch my drift. So in summation, Iron Man great...Indiana Jones not so much. ....oh, and stay after the credits for Iron Man. It's worth it. I didn't really bother with Jones.

Third shift? Is that like the overnighter? Yowch.

Glad to hear it's a good movie. It's on my list of movies to get out and see this summer. Hopefully sooner than later.

Looking back at the calendar, I haven't been updating or writing much lately. Things have been a bit hectic at work, with a release going out to customers this past weekend. I'm well into my next set of projects, and am getting caught up a bit, so I'm mentally exhausted as well as physically these days when I get home (working out is tough...but it's gotten a bit easier thanks to having some music to listen to rather than nothing). Couple of updates though since I have a chance. One is that I'm in a volleyball league at a local establishment. Co-ed, every Tuesday evening. It's not too much physical activity, and will hopefully help me continue to adjust to being in social situations (getting out of the "gaming mindset" has been interesting, that's for sure). Hopefully I'll have good things to report from that as it goes on. In other news, picked up Mario Kart for the Wii. Initially plugged in the wheel just to try it out, fully intent on switching over to the Wavebird once the novelty wore off. Well it hasn't yet, and I've gotten pretty good at steering. It's more intuitive than I thought, and I've found myself enjoying actually being able to will the kart to turn my moving my body. It also helps you can unlock yourself as a racer. Though after four months of working out I'm a bit disappointed that my virtual self has been designated as a "heavyweight". He's surprisingly good though. Look for my MKWii code to be added in the "Vital Links" tab sometime in the next day or so. That's about it from me for now. Hopefully I'll have some good stories to tell once volleyball starts up.

It was a ton of random odds n' ends. One had some old McDonald's toys. Another had fake plastic bugs. There was one loaded with a small stuffed snake (which was a brief shock until I remembered that any snake in a tube would be long dead). I think one had a poetry book. According to the log somebody borrowed it and then brought it back when they were done reading it. It's amazing how into it some people get.

A buddy of mine invited me to go "Geocaching" with him this weekend. The idea is that you can go online and download coordinates of various caches to a GPS. Then you can drive to some place that's public property (such as a park) and start searching for it. It's government sponsored, and is incredibly popular apparently. Of the 8 he had loaded up for the day, we were able to find 5 (3 of which I spotted thank you very much!). When you find them, you open them up and look at the various trinkets people have put in them. Each one also has a log you can sign before putting it back for the next person. Looking at the logs, there were some caches that were as old as 3 years, which is amazing considering some of the places they've been hidden. I'm slowly trying to get back into shape, so for me the idea of a 4 hour, 7-mile hike was rather daunting. Though my feet were burned out and are STILL sore today, it was a lot of mine. The weather's been beautiful the past few days, which made the hike enjoyable. Saw a few swans hanging out in a lake...but the coolest part was the bald eagle we spotted perched on a log. We were able to get a good look, and I think my friend got a picture. But the coolest part was when it spread its wings and flew over us so we could get a good look at it. I dunno if it's something I could get into on my own, but as a way of just hanging out with people and checking out what nature has to offer...it's a great experience. And the coolest thing is, there are caches hidden all over. Over our 7-mile hike, we never got more than a few miles from a major road or house...yet were in the middle of the woods the hole time! If you ever get a chance, give it a shot. You'll be surprised how interesting it can be just spending some time out in nature.

Thanks for all your help! I finally settled on an iPod, as I know several people with one and all gave great reviews (and will also be great help when learning how to use it). Now I gotta pick out 2000 songs. I have so many!

That was one concern I had, but my sister has an iPod and my family's pretty good about giving her CDs so she can rip the music herself. I'm looking at going through BB, which offers a $20 2-3 year replacement plan. My sister's used hers twice for her iPod, my dad's used his once for his PC. You can either get it fixed, or you "cash-in" the plan and they hand over an entirely new unit (and in 2 years the money I spent on the old one will get me something better) Some other stuff I'm wondering about is how easy is it to get music from respective stores, or how the music files are kept on my PC. I like the idea of keeping my songs as MP3s so I can move them around and use them in difference services on my PC. For example, does the iPod convert a song to AAC format BEFORE it loads it to the player...or does it physical change all my songs to AAC and then copy them?

I've been thinking of getting an iPod or some MP3 player so I can have some music to listen to while working out. Any suggestions or tips I should keep in mind when looking for something?