Happiness is a new recliner...

In our house, we kind of have a habit we gently call "collecting".

We define it as when you buy more than three of something you are collecting that thing.

Well yesterday we obtained recliner number EIGHT! Yes folks I said we now have eight recliners. Granted we have six in the Home Theater (ver 1.2).

Yesterdays new recliner is a beautiful, dark red, leather, Lazy boy recliner. It is soft and warm and so comfortable it is a nap waiting to happen. We put it in the great room as my main butt parking zone. The recliner it replaced was moved to the master bedroom so I can put my socks on in super comfort.

-- Man do I love Craigslist!

History Quietly Moves

Paul Tibbets, the first Atomic Bomb mission commander, passed away today at his home in Columbus, Ohio, aged 92.

I have made several haunting visits to the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian.

The five-ton "Little Boy" bomb was dropped on the morning of 6 August 1945, killing about 140,000 Japanese.

On the 60th anniversary of the bombing, the three surviving crew members of the Enola Gay - named after Tibbet's mother - said they had "no regrets".

-- Wow. What a life...

Schindler's List

Only 14 years too late, I finally got to see Schindler's List.

--Yep, it was great, as expected.

Score!!

Brenda scored another deer trophy this week! That brings the collection up to 3 deer, 2 bears, 1 bobcat, a duck and a phesant!!

--Man the dust was amazing!

Las Vegas Fun!

I Love Freecycle

This weekend I set up a Nintendo 64 for my son. We got it for free on Freecycle!

Freecycle.org is an excellent concept. It keeps perfectly useful items out of the landfills and in good use. Today someone is picking up an old telescope we have that is perfect for an 8 year old girl, who is going to get it. BR offered some Barbie's this weekend that will make a kid very happy.

We got a king sized bed frame this weekend also. Totally free. Right in the neighborhood.

--We've met nice neighbors tool!

Steam Train Fun

Back to school night

I feel old.

I am older than ALL of my daughters teachers.

--Some don't seem old enough to vote!!

War and Peace

I don't normally blog about politics because it is a divider. I have strong opinions on very contentious issues. My opinions vary far and wide and hold something to piss off pretty much everyone.

This week I have found myself thinking about Iraq. I have come to some harsh conclusions.

Let me detail a series of events:

The House and Senate didn't declare war.

They simply voted that the President "Could Act" if he saw fit.

Cowards all

The President "Acts"

Troops roll in, kicking ass and talking names.

Politicians say on Day One that it will be another Vietnam and the War won't be over until Iraq surrenders

Saddam declares Iraq will never surrender.

The Media has a field day broadcasting from tanks

Iraq Surrenders in 17 days

Iraq soldiers surpass the French in the "Quick to Surrender" department

Entire units begin to surrender to recon patrols

Saddam flees on foot having never made any evacuation plans in his hubris

Even though Iraq has surrendered politicians state the War isn't over until Saddam is brought to justice

Saddam is found hiding in a hole

He was tried, convicted and hung by his own people

Politicians say the War isn't over until elections take place

Elections take place (twice now)

Turnout is 3 times better that the last US election

Politicians say the War isn't over until the Iraq leader of al-Qaeda, al-Zarqawi is killed

None of the predicted waves of terror attacks happen in the US

al-Zarqawi is killed

Some are saying the War won't be won until Osama bin Ladin is dead (Reminder: OBL is Saudi Arabian)

Now the War (that wasn't a war) won't be won until ALL our troops are home...

While our politicians are dicking around our generals have had a good time testing all their new weapon systems. As far as they are concerned it's the safest war ever. 700 dead soldiers a year is nothing to them. It will take 78 years to reach the American soldier body count of Vietnam.

--Face it people. This War was won long ago. We are losing the Peace... Because or leaders can't work together.

Robert Jordan died

His real name was James Oliver Rigby, jr., suffered from a rare blood disease and died at the medical university of South Carolina.

‘The Eye of the World’ was Jordan's first fantasy novel, and it proved to be a hit. The book was published in 1990 and sold millions of copies. It began the hit series, ‘Wheel of Time.’ He published 11 more books and was working on The last in the series at the time he died.

--Jordan is survived by Harriet McDougal Rigby, his wife.

8 Years Ago Today

On this day, eight years ago, a magnetic anomaly due to a nuclear waste buildup on the Moon hurtled our only natural satellite out of Earth orbit. All hands on Moonbase Alpha were presumed lost.

--I remember that future...

It's September 11th again...

It's odd when 9-11 comes around every year. The events of that dark day changed so many things in my life. Some of those changes led to my meeting Brenda. This is the true definition of bitter sweet.

At 8:46AM I found myself looking at the clock.

-- sigh.

It's magic... Movie magic!

The Home Theater 1.3 upgrade was installed today: DVD library shelves.

The alcove where the shelves are installed is eight feet wide (96 inches) and has nine shelves. I have over 500 DVDs and it fills just over three shelves. My collection looks pitiful! At least they are all in one place and in order!

Plus, plenty of room to grow!!

--Making my Christmas list now!

Summer is Over

So the summer is over already.

Time for the kids to head back to school. Time for the new fall TV seasons to begin. Time to put away my white shoes and belt...

We just got back from an excellent visit to Western NY to see Brenda's parents. We had a great time. We saw old friends, ate way too much and we had a very nice time with the parents. Last night we were just hanging out with them on the porch talking, laughing playing with the dog and making comments on how hot the divorced woman is across the street (her daughter too). Richards eyes are not going bad!!

Brenda didn't know I was watching her.

She catches me sometimes, but not last night. She didn't know how bright she was glowing as she laughed. I am sure her parents could see how happy she was. How beautiful she was as the sun went down behind her.

--I am also sure they have no idea what Mikes Hard Lemonade is!

Roadtrip!

We are headed to our hometown this weekend for a visit to the In-Laws!

I am actually looking forward to The trip! I am going to love seeing Brenda's family as well as some old friends from college and even High School! We are having a get together at one of our old haunts on Saturday night! I love visiting the old neighborhood. The trees are getting sooo BIG!!

I love traveling with Brenda, staying in hotels, camping and even driving!

-- And eating at Waffle House!!

Blogging for the long haul

I have several friends that have blogs.

Some have just started, some have had them for years. Some are topic based, some are simple on-line diaries, and some are even fiction.

I have seen many blogs go though an interesting lifecycle. Excited and prolific at first and then eventually they blog about what they had for dinner.

--Blog away blogmeisters!!

Going Shooting This Weekend

A friend of mine is coming out this weekend to join me for a monthly run to the shooting range at Clark Brothers. I think it is going to be shotguns and .22s this weekend for me. We need to be ready for the Zombies when they come!

I will need to buy another case of clay pigeons!!

--Brenda kinda dropped the last case...

Amazing

It is a Music packed Sunday in Marty's World! I saw this video on YouTube and was VERY impressed.

Imogen Heap sings "Just For Now" live and alone. A beautiful juggling act with an advanced audio sampler.

--I will be buying some new CDs.

Marty's MCR Adventure

Today I am going to see My Chemical Romance and Linkin Park as part of the Projekt Revolution tour. I am excited about going to the concert with my son Gray (11 years old). He is getting his mohawk died purple as I type this!

The tour is focusing on the suburban genres of emo, goth and metal. There is no hip hop in this tour (thankfully).

--Let's hope it doesn't get rained out!

We are ready for Zombies!