ALL of the Stars

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Been a pretty fun week I guess... not sure if I mentioned in past posts that I was nominated for an award at work... but I was completely surprised when I ended up winning it Wednesday. Yup, I basically won an employee of the quarter award. It's one of those things where you work hard, do your best, collaborate with a lot of other great employees who also use their gifts to the best of their abilities on a daily basis... and you think "There's no way I can win this. Very few people know who I am or what I do. They've been here longer. Other nominees are more socialable & more deserving, it's an honor just to be nominated." Then you win... and it's kinda like... "Damn right! It's about time!" Okay, so it was more like "HWHAAAAT???" So yeah, kind of on cloud nine about that thing... but that's not all that happened this week.

Rick Majerus Passed Away - Back in 1999, I was on the practice squad for the University of Utah men's & women's basketball team... so I got to work a little bit with the men's head basketball coach, Mr. Rick Majerus. His grasp of the game of basketball & the strategy behind it was amazing... and his coaching career will show it. From working with the championship winning Marquette team in the 70's to leading the U of U to the national championship game in the 90's, helping players like Andre Miller & Keith Van Horn to take their game to the professional level and so on. Was he the nicest man in the world? I would vote no... then again, a surprising number of celebrities have called me an A$$hole over the years... he probably just did it the most... but hey, that's his style I guess. Even those that loved him would probably say the same. Unfortunately, he was also a large man with a large appetite that didn't pair well with health problems... and unfortunately a tumultuous decade, it finally caught up with him. My deepest condolences to his family... and I hope that he was able to find some peace.

The college football championship is set up as Notre Dame vs Alabama... or the Fightin' Irish vs the Crimson Tide... or as I prefer to look at it, the St. Patrick's Day versus That Time of the Month. It should make for an interesting game... but it's going to be difficult to top the SEC Championship that Alabama played against Georgia to set it up. Pro football has been pretty good today too. A few overtime games... Eagles playing tonight, thought their season is basically done... good times.

Friday night, I put up my Christmas tree... now just need presents for under it...

Saturday, I helped Dizzy with a booth of her amazing creations at a craft fair at the Pinole Senior Center... and it was actually a lot of fun. We set up in the morning, and we were easily the youngest people there by about... 30 years easy. Dizzy made a variety of cool things to sell for reasonably cheap... but unfortunately the weather was REALLY rainy so turnout wasn't the greatest. However, we still made enough to cover expenses for the table, got a great lunch for a $10 donation, even found a few trinkets for a few bucks from other crafters... oh & I got to hang out with my ladyfriend for a few hours on an otherwise rainy day. Here's an early shot of her table before we made a few adjustments... great practice for our next table, wherever that might be.

Saturday night, we watched the highly anticipated "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" starring Rufus Sewell, Benjamin Walker & Dominic Cooper... and from the director of "Wanted" so you know it's historically accurate & obeys the laws of physics & reality. Long story short, it's the story of young Abraham's mother being killed by a man... so he grows up with a heart full of vengeance... and then when he tries to kill the man as a teenager (Walker), he discovers he's a vampire... and then he's saved by a man (Cooper) who becomes his mentor... and trains him to hunt & kill vampires. Now... yes, the story is imaginative & I really liked it because... well, I'm a little crazy & like everybody else I like the idea of Abraham Lincoln hunting vampires (already working on Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter & then collaborate with Rob Zombie on Werewolf Women of the SS). If you're looking for historically accurate telling with minimal plotholes... then by all means watch Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" like I did a few weeks ago. This movie will be full of CGI, action craziness, a little bit of gore, lots of questions regarding plot pionts, and you'll have to stretch a bit to go with the plot point that vampires killed the native Americans & kept slavery intact for so long... but as long as you can get through that, you'll probably enjoy it. It's basically like any other superhero story... just instead of a rich orphan with unlimited funds & cunning becoming Batman, it's an orphan with an axe who hunts vampires & become President. Enjoy! Unrelated, I watched this with Dizzy & Batgirl... and we followed this up with "Expendables 2", the latest episodes of "The Walking Dead" & "Comic Book Men" and then capped off the night with "Land of the Dead." Yeah, it was fitting.

I think that'll do it for tonight. Can't believe it's already December. Better do some Christmas shopping. Have a great week everybody!!!