Christmas time post

I feel like I should make a special xmas post. Just because xmas is awesome and also because my cat is giving me weird looks and carrying on a silent, creepy vigil by the couch. I think Santa got to her. May be if I put up a menorah she'd back off. Anyway, I love Christmas. One of my favorite holidays. I am proud to say that I'm one of the few who are impervious to the incessant ramblings of Christmas songs being played over and again through store-wide speakers. That makes me feel all warm inside. It allows me to point at the scrooges and grinches and laugh at them for allowing themselves to get down in the dumps during the time of year where you're supposed to be happy and joyful. Those people are as irritating as the people who go to Disneyland and whine about it the whole time. Come on! It's the happiest freaking place on earth for crying out loud! Ya, it's totally fake and does not represent the outside world, but I'm not going to pay big bucks to visit a fantastical slum where a person in a big ol' mickey costume gets gunned down by a bunch of irate chipmunks on the corner of Mainstreet.

I have always loved Christmas because my grandma goes all out with her decorations every year. I have loved it since I was a kid. I totally enjoy putting up all of the lights and garlands and then sitting back and lighting it up at the end of the day. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I've decided that when I have a house of my own, I'm going to be "That Guy" every year. I'll probably take liberties with it of course. For instance: I would have a totally animatronic set of SAMs (Surface to air missles) swiveling in the middle of my lawn. They'd be complete with reindeer skull decals on their nose cones. It would be awesome. A bank of search lights, training their massive beams on the sky might be a nice touch too. Oh, to dream.

I've done my fair share of arts and crafts this season too. Christmas time is usually the time where my family gets together and works on little Christmas crafts to decorate the house with. The last couple of years have been filled with those lighted wooden Christmas trees and snow men. Those were fun. This year is full of Nutcrackers. I decided to go a little further with it though. A regular nutcracker is too boring after all. Why not make a zombie nutcracker? Not only that, but what fun is it to keep the finished product for myself right? Here's what I came up with:


These are the bite marks.


Again


Since it's already a Christmas time abomination, why not put it in a box that totally does not fit the season. I was definitely playing on the whole Nightmare Before Christmas thing with it. The bats on the lid look retarded because it was a last minute addition and I was working with a fatty paint pen. Detail work was too hard. That's why they look like long blobs.


That's what I presented at the Burn's white elephant gift exchange. I'm kind of sad that a student I really didn't know well got it because he didn't have any knowledge of my reputation. He kind of hid it away and split right after, so that kind of bummed me out too, but hey, I enjoyed making it. I've got some other nutcrackers lying around too so I can mess around with those for the rest of the season. In any case; I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas and a splendid New Year. Salud.

My first hunting trip.

As some of you may know, I left on a hunting trip 2 thursdays ago. I took off on a plane to the great state of Minnesota where I stayed with my great uncle and talked about the good times we had in Canada. The next day, my dad and I drove around 4 hours down to Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin to meet up with my grandpa, cousin, and cousin's fiance at the hunting ground. We hiked around for awhile and got acquainted with our stands while they gave us the rundown.

The next day, we woke up at 4 a.m., had breakfast and then headed out to the hunting grounds. We walked up to our stand in complete darkness, got situated and waited. That is probably the worst part about it. Sitting up in a mini bench attached to a tree, 10 feet up in the air, staring at trees for hours is boring. The view is amazing and all, but seriously, there is only so much you can take.

Around 10 a.m., it finally became worth it. We suddenly heard a shot ring out from the other side of the hunting grounds. My dad correctly identified it as the crack of my Grandpa's .35 lever action. I turned to see my dad staring down the shooting lane off to my right. Right after that, you could hear the deer running through the forest. I turned to see my dad aiming down the shooting lane. As I shifted to face the lane, the deer finally appeared. A group of around 7 or so deer suddenly stopped in middle of our lane.

The first 3 in the group stood still, staring directly at us. The rest were totally oblivious to the cross-hairs hovering over their hearts. Without hesitation I pulled the trigger. My dad fired at his deer almost exactly at the same time. The deer scattered at that moment. I tracked my deer as it was in flight and fired an "eff you" shot after it. Apparently it wasn't necessary.

Probably the greatest part of the whole hunt was seeing my deer topple over 20 or so feet from where I shot it. We found the blood trail and followed it for kicks to where my deer lay. We found it in a break of trees with a nice clean wound right behind his front leg. Right in the heart. We found the blood trail for my dad's deer and found that one a good ways off. His was a lot bigger than mine.

We ended up going hunting another 2 days but didn't see any other deer. So we got lucky just seeing that group. All in all, out of the 5 guys on the trip, we only filled 3 tags. 2 of which were from the city slickers! So it was an awesome trip and I'm pretty much psyched that I brought something down my first time.

We don't really have many pictures of the deer, but we do have some video of me getting elbow deep in one of them! I figured nobody would want to see that.

West Bank Story

Today in one of my religion classes, my professor showed us this little 20 or so minute long video called West Bank story. We are studying Jew and Muslim relations in class right now, so he thought it was kind of fitting, even though it was funny. I thought some of you guys might enjoy it as much as I did.



If you don't already know, relations between Muslim Palestinians and Jews have been strained for ages. Both sides have been committing all sorts of atrocities. each side, of course, feels justified and it almost feels like there is no end to the violence in sight. I'm hopeful that a resolution will be reached in the future, however. I know there are people on both sides who are working for peace.

Confirmation that I'm a trouble maker.

I have a tendency to get into trouble. Usually, I get into more trouble when I'm partnered with one of my familiar cohorts however, I do get into some big trouble on my own from time to time. I think today counts as one of those days.

After Church today, I had decided to meet up with my buddy Paddy and his sickly sister over at H. Salts for some good fish and chips and chicken strips. On the way there, I happen to be verbally harassed by a student leaning out of the window of his sister's car. Not being one to let a show of disrespect slide, I brought out my handy dandy air powered, foam nerf ball firing cannon of destruction. I chose to use the most harmless looking one for good reason. So as they passed, I lobbed a small green foam ball across the street at them. I hit them of course. It was awful gratifying. So I carried on with my business being satisfied and fully prepared for an equally satisfying meal.

I got to H. Salts without incident. No trouble there. I ordered my meal and sat down to eat and chit chat with Paddy and his sister. Good times were had. Now, while I'm in the process of eating my 3rd chicken strip, 2 cops casually stroll through the door. They lean against the trash cans and ask who's truck that is out front. I ask if they were talking about the white truck. They were not. That's when I caught a glimpse of the two squad cars surrounding my vehicle.

I told them it was my car and asked what the problem was. One continues to casually recline against the trash receptacle as her partner approaches to turn on the intimidation. I'm kind of surprised I kept my cool. He inquires as to my business with the car I shot at. Of course I'm a little surprised, but I tell them straight up that I knew them and it was a nerf gun. As soon as the word nerf gun left my lips, the other officer rolled her eyes and radioed dispatch. Apparently someone had called me in and possibly tailed me. I apologized of course, and they made sure I would never do it again. As they walked out, the third officer who was hanging outside the doors looked a little disappointed. I guess they expected me to put up a fight. No doubt they could tell I was Italian.

Of course more good times were had, as well as joking about how smoothly and speedily the Downey Police department pulled 2 squad cars to respond to a foam related drive-by. I didn't know Downey cops took that seriously. I guess I'll have to be careful when I nerf in Downey.

In case you all were wondering, this is what I choose to use when I do a drive-by:

100th Post!!

Woo! 100th blogpost! Let's start this thing off with a bang! So for the last couple of months I have been working on a little comic just for fun especially for this occasion. It has been the most fun time I've had drawing in a long time. Doing this has inspired me to do more, so expect more of these little things to come, except not normally this long. This took a ridiculous amount of time, considering I'm a busy guy again.

Anyway, this thing is in no way, shape, or form, supposed to be serious. I'm not making some political statement, I just thought it might be a little humorous. It's also pretty random. I hope you enjoy it. You're probably going to have to click on them to get a better look. I don't have the proper software at this time to fix them up. So for now, this is as good as it gets.


I'm sure I'm going to need to explain some things about that comic, but moving on!

I've been taking a trip down memory lane and reading all of my old blogposts. It's actually a ton of fun. I thought I'd highlight a few things while I was at it.


It all started with this: http://cannonball011.blogspot.com/2007/01/this-just-in.html


One of my favorite adventures: http://cannonball011.blogspot.com/2007/05/great-nerf-adventure.html

My favorite project. I never really got pictures of the finished product. I ought to get those from Kevin.: http://cannonball011.blogspot.com/2007/01/my-current-project.html

Weirdest project: http://cannonball011.blogspot.com/2007/01/wii-sight-mark-i.html

Assassin's game winner! : http://assassingame07.blogspot.com/2007/12/winner.html

The greatest thing I've destroyed: http://cannonball011.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-put-it-down.html

Deepest blog post: http://cannonball011.blogspot.com/2009/05/vanity-of-vanities.html



Favorite comment:

"Amy said...

also, benjamin franklin was a douche. great inventor, perhaps, but douche all the way."

What's on my shelf now? The original thread: http://cannonball011.blogspot.com/2008/05/whats-on-my-shelf.html

In alphabetical order by last name of author. (not on my shelf, but for listing purposes. Some of my books are big.) This is a list of books that I have read/plan on reading/finishing. X is for finished, fractions for how much I've read already. Books are in the same series if not spaced.

Dante Alighieri

[ ] Dante's divine comedy: Hell, Purgatory, Paradise

Jane Austen

[1/2] Pride and Prejudice

[ ] Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (partly written by Seth Grahame-Smith)

Rob Bell

[x] Velvet Elvis

[x] Sex God

[x] Jesus wants to save Christians

J.L. Bourne

[x] Day By Day Armageddon

Marcus J. Borg

[ ] Jesus: Uncovering the life, teachings, and relevance of a religious revolutionary.


Terry Brooks

[x] Armageddon's Children
[x] The Elves of Cintra
[x] The Gypsy Morph
[] First King of Shannara
[x] Sword of Shannara
[x] Elfstones of Shannara
[x] Wishsong of Shannara
[x] Scions of Shannara
[x] Druid of Shannara
[x] Elf Queen of Shannara
[X] Talismans of Shannara
[x] Ilse Witch
[x] Antrax
[x] Morgawr
[x] Jarka Ruus
[x] Tanequil
[x] Straken

Max Brooks

[x] The Zombie Survival Guide
[x] World War Z

Dan Brown

[x] Angels and Demons
[1/3] Davinci code. (sooo boring.)

Tobias S. Buckell

[x] Halo: The Cole Protocol

Raymond Chandler

[x] The Big Sleep
[x] The Long Goodbye
[ ] The High Window

Nathan Charlton

[x] Terra Nova: The Search


Tom Clancy

[x] Red Storm Rising

[x] Teeth of the Tiger

[3/4] Red Rabbit (I don't know why I stopped.)

Michael Crichton

[x] Prey
[x] Jurassic Park
[x] The Lost World
[] Andromeda Strain

Ted Dekker

[x] Black
[x] Red
[x] White
[x] Showdown
[x] Saint
[x] Sinner

[ ] Chosen

[ ] Obsessed

[x] Thr3e

William C. Dietz

[x] Halo: The Flood


David Dunwoody

[ ] Empire


Daveed Gardenstein-Ross

[x] My Year inside Radical Islam


Jean Craighead George

[x] My side of the mountain

Bear Heart

[x] The Wind is my mother: The Life and teachings of a native american shaman

Homer

[x] The Iliad and The Odyssey

Brian Jacques

[x] Redwall
[x] Mattimeo
[x] Marlfox
[x] Martin the Warrior
[x] Mossflower
[x] The Legend of Luke
[x] Lord Brocktree
[ ] Salamandastron
[ ] High Rhulain
[ ] Pearls of Lutra

Timothy Keller

[] The Reason for God: Belief in an age of skepticism

Stephen King

[x] Cell


Harold S. Kushner

[1/2] To Life!: A celebration of Jewish being and thinking (good. I think I was working on a good fiction book so I dropped it)

C.S. Lewis

[] The Magician's Nephew (now I recall reading the whole collection when I was younger, but I'm reading them all over again, so I'm not counting the earlier reads)
[x] The Lion, the With, and the Wardrobe
[] The Horse and his boy
[x] Prince Caspian
[] The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
[] The Silver Chair
[x] The Last Battle

[x] Mere Christianity
[x] Screwtape letters
[] The Problem of Pain
[] The Great Divorce
[] Miracles
[] A Grief Observed

Jonathan Maberry

[x] Zombie CSU: The Forensics of The Living Dead

[x] Patient Zero

Ross Macdonald

[ ] The Chill

Eric Nylund

[x] The Fall of Reach
[x] First Strike
[x] Ghosts of Onyx

Frank Peretti

[x] The Visitation

[x] The Oath

[x] This Present Darkness
[x] Piercing the Darkness

Mary Shelley

[x] Frankenstein

Lee Strobel

[] The Case for a Creator

Bram Stoker

[x] Dracula

Joseph Staten

[x] Halo: Contact Harvest

Koushun Takami

[x] Battle Royale

Sun Tzu

[ ] The Art of War

David Wellington

[x] Monster Island
[x] Monster Nation
[ ] Monster Planet

So I guess my collection of books has grown a little bit. This isn't including all of the historical reference books I've got on the bible and the Roman empire and so forth. This also isn't counting the books I've borrowed from other people.

Phew! Well I think that's everything now. These 100th posts have been a real adventure. I love my blog dearly. It's been with me through the good and the bad. Here's to 100 more posts, and I hope you guys all stick around to read them!

Good stuff

So last night was our super awesome L4D Lan party. Pretty much one of the greatest zombie stomping sessions ever! We didn't exactly come out on top every game, or round for that matter, but we still have fun and kicked some butt! Here's a funny little related video that only a few of you will understand.


Good times. Anyway, I've been slacking on the blogging for a while now but this post marks the official 99th blog post. Official because I have a draft or two laying around that I haven't bothered to post because I have no idea what to do with them. So since my next one is going to be the 100th, I thought I'd make it a special one. It'll probably be epically long. So for now, I'll use the rest of this post to put up random stuff as to postpone blog death.
Ok, Kevin found this on the internet and sent it to me. Doggone man. My idea got jacked. Oh well. You guys saw it on my blog first, and some of you even saw the drawings in person first!

Jillian inspired me to put up a music video on here. I will spare you all the girliness and put up some Coldplay and a video that is pretty creative and awesome.

This is what happens...

....When you leave me alone with a pressure washer for too long.I carve my name into stuff. This is the porch out in front of my house. That's not just paint that's peeled off. It's actually into the concrete. Ain't I a stinker?

This week's been pretty good. These last 2 days have been jam packed with adventure so I'm pretty happy about that. I got my packet for the CIY D groups last week so that's pretty cool. If you have never been to CIY then I better fill you in. CIY (Christ In Youth) is a christian camp set at a university every year for highschoolers. We have services and worship and little electives. It's pretty cool. D groups are just our little devotional small groups the students break into after our little service in the mornings. Since I'm going to be leading one it's my job to acquaint myself with the material. I haven't really gotten to far into it just yet but I'm getting there. Just skimming so far. It looks like a ton of fun, and this year marks the first year that I go as a leader rather than a student. Good times all around. Hopefully I'll be able to engage the students for an hour and fifteen minutes. We'll see.