Hastings, Wal-mart, and lots of other places are having a midnight release party for the Blue-Ray DVD release of the complete Star Wars saga. Along with the festivities, Sarah even prodded Russ into purchasing a more authentic-looking lightsaber for one of Russ's former costumes, and now his collection (and training) is more complete. Russ has even been invited by the local 501st to attend (dressed up, of course) in one of his former Star Wars Halloween costumes for the local Hastings gathering. He's elected to wear his personally-crafted Sith Lord costume. We will bring the camera and hopefully get some snapshots of the promotion party along with some of the other 501st members. May the force be with you!
Post-edit: Russ broke down in the middle of the excitement and bought himself a copy with all 41+ hours of extended features & feature-ettes. It's only too bad we don't own a blue-ray player. Yet.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Another one bites the dust...
A few days ago, Russ woke up early in the morning to blog about some things that were mulling around in his head. He pulled out what he's been affectionately referring to as the mini-lappy (a fairly decently powerful netbook) that has survived his heavy gaming, role-play & regular use for the last 2 years. In the middle of collecting his thoughts, a glitch somehow wiped out the master boot record for starting the PC into windows. Needless to say, Russ got a little upset in not being able to access his files, books & web bookmarks, music, movies, photos & games on a regular basis. He's attempted restoring the glitched data with recovery disks & flash drives - but so far, no dice. His only consolation is that he's already upgraded to a nicer wider-screen-and-better-graphics laptop for only a few hundred dollars more and has already began backing up his new files & settings. Lesson learned: Archive & update on a regular basis!
On a side note: There may still be hope. Russ is still attempting other methods of resurrecting the missing boot file. If successful, he will be donating his machine (after copying his files to an external backup drive) to his wife who seriously needs a laptop upgrade herself. Not to mention so that the 2 of them can sit in bed & play their favorite multiplayer game side-by-side each other.
On a side note: There may still be hope. Russ is still attempting other methods of resurrecting the missing boot file. If successful, he will be donating his machine (after copying his files to an external backup drive) to his wife who seriously needs a laptop upgrade herself. Not to mention so that the 2 of them can sit in bed & play their favorite multiplayer game side-by-side each other.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Hoppi berfdea...
Russ decided to take the day off work to celebrate his birthday. We had gooey cinnamon rolls for breakfast, Russ opened his birthday present (a gold copy of Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, which we found out we could not play on his N64 due to needing more memory), after shopping we went to eat lunch at Famous Dave's Barbecue and got stuffed. We really pigged-out!
And as is customary in our group, we usually have a party with everyone as well as a role-play gaming session. We ended our year-long campaign with a really good chapter tying up most loose ends in the story and a hint of what may be to come. We ate pizza, cake, rootbeer & ice cream for dinner. Russ's cake read, "Happy birthday Oars/Garodus/Russ... whatever" and had a Lion-o action figure from the 80's cartoon Thundercats on top. Russ's characters he plays are so memorable it's sometimes hard & confusing to separate him from the toon!
And as is customary in our group, we usually have a party with everyone as well as a role-play gaming session. We ended our year-long campaign with a really good chapter tying up most loose ends in the story and a hint of what may be to come. We ate pizza, cake, rootbeer & ice cream for dinner. Russ's cake read, "Happy birthday Oars/Garodus/Russ... whatever" and had a Lion-o action figure from the 80's cartoon Thundercats on top. Russ's characters he plays are so memorable it's sometimes hard & confusing to separate him from the toon!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Spelunking in Idaho???
On the way home they stopped off for some much needed groceries to replenish their lost liquids from the afternoon's activities as well as get some supplies for their car's problems. They stopped by their grandparents house (on Russ's side) but they weren't home so they left all the cupboards open (a family joke) and a funny note & a present for them. Grandma loves to make cookies so they left a bunch of chocolate covered raisins for grammy to make cookies from, as if some visiting doormice left a trail of "doodies".
Thursday, August 18, 2011
The Umpire Strikes back... or "Take me out to the Darth game...
"Take me out with the crowd,
Buy me a lightsaber & clones that attack,
I don't care if we ever go back,
'Cause let's root, root, root for the home team
If they don't win, it's a shame -
For it's One! Two! Three strikes, you're Out!
At the old Darth Game!"
Just before Russ got off work today, he was informed by a friend & co-worker that it was Star Wars Night at the ballpark, and another co-worker handed him her tickets because she would not be able to attend. Score!
So he called the wife & left her a message on her cell, then drove immediately home. They ate dinner as quick as they could and dressed themselves in some of Russ's old halloween costumes and proceeded to the park to catch the opening pitch by Darth Vader. Unfortunately they arrived a bit late, but were able to see both Darth Vader and a Tie Fighter Pilot in full mock-up uniforms who saluted Russ in his clone trooper costume as well as a stormtrooper in a full set of armor from the local 501st legion. They wandered around during parts of the game saying hello to kids and signing autographs. Russ was like a kid in a candy store, geeking out. The 501st even approached him once commenting that when he was ready to upgrade his costume to something more realistic they were there to assist. Total geekery!
Russ is considering joining both the 501st local and the Rebel Legion locals, but is dubious on how much it would cost him to upgrade his costumes to movie-professional grade.
Status update: both the 501st & the Rebel Legion locals have accepted Russ's application for membership and we're waiting to see what the next step is for event activities and possibly getting his costumes upgraded!
Buy me a lightsaber & clones that attack,
I don't care if we ever go back,
'Cause let's root, root, root for the home team
If they don't win, it's a shame -
For it's One! Two! Three strikes, you're Out!
At the old Darth Game!"
Just before Russ got off work today, he was informed by a friend & co-worker that it was Star Wars Night at the ballpark, and another co-worker handed him her tickets because she would not be able to attend. Score!
So he called the wife & left her a message on her cell, then drove immediately home. They ate dinner as quick as they could and dressed themselves in some of Russ's old halloween costumes and proceeded to the park to catch the opening pitch by Darth Vader. Unfortunately they arrived a bit late, but were able to see both Darth Vader and a Tie Fighter Pilot in full mock-up uniforms who saluted Russ in his clone trooper costume as well as a stormtrooper in a full set of armor from the local 501st legion. They wandered around during parts of the game saying hello to kids and signing autographs. Russ was like a kid in a candy store, geeking out. The 501st even approached him once commenting that when he was ready to upgrade his costume to something more realistic they were there to assist. Total geekery!
Russ is considering joining both the 501st local and the Rebel Legion locals, but is dubious on how much it would cost him to upgrade his costumes to movie-professional grade.
Status update: both the 501st & the Rebel Legion locals have accepted Russ's application for membership and we're waiting to see what the next step is for event activities and possibly getting his costumes upgraded!
Monday, August 15, 2011
intertwining fates or the miracle of destiny
A brief synopsis of how we got together. To quote a Jedi master, "There's always truth from a certain point of view."
Russel's point of view:
I was in-between relationships and feeling not-quite fulfilled in my choice of female friends. I was working a full-time job at a call-center trying to pay back student loans and I met a cute girl who just started interviewing. She was a blonde-brunette and she caught my eye. I gathered the courage to speak up and ask her some questions about herself and her family and we became friends pretty quick. It wasn't long before I invited her to accompany me with my friends in our saturday morning or friday night sci-fi fantasy games. Soon after that, a school dance was on the social calendar and I asked her out. I found out her family lived out where my great-family relatives used to live and picked her up from the old family house. We had a wonderful time dancing - I taught her a few ballroom dancing steps I learned at school and from my mothers instruction. Soon after, she became busy with college classes and we lost contact when I advanced in my job. She sent me an email when she decided to leave Idaho and go serve a mission in Colorado and I attended her farewell. I left my job at the call center for another job at a security company and she and I emailed each other occasionally. Her dad saw me regularly at my new job and apologized for any hard feelings and for any misgivings he may have outwardly shown for his eldest daughter and my courtship. I empathised with him as I feel highly protective of my only sister and he invited me to visit their family a few times in her absence, which I took him up on. My continuing relationships hadn't blossomed like I'd expected, so I felt a change was in order. Before she returned I was invited once more to her homecoming reunion, and we picked up almost where we had left off - playing games together, reading stories together, working together. And we just clicked. Maybe it was a handful of months after she returned that I started a new job working for a new call center some miles away and I'd finally got the courage to propose to her, and she accepted me with all my strengths and all my weaknesses. We made plans to get married & sealed in the temple nearby, and life has been up and down ever since but blissful throughout with her at my side.
Sarah's point of view:
Russ has told you a lot of what has happened, but I will fill in the blanks. It started when I graduated high-school. I was a lost grad student, and I had no idea what I was doing. Looked at a couple different colleges and jobs and decided that I'd fill out an application for a call center job. It paid a lot better than most other jobs and they didn't care what kind of job experience you had, as I'd had very little. I quickly discovered that I hated my job, especially being yelled at over the phone by people I'd never met. After 3 weeks of this torture, I started praying about whether I should look for another line of work and felt that I should stay. I had no clue why as this was really frustrating. A week later, Russ asked me out on a date to a sandwich shop and I felt like an impolite slob since he was a total gentleman. I kept wondering why he didn't talk - because of his silence I felt like i needed to talk even more. I've come to realize he was just nervous and is a natural listener. (He can talk your ear off if the subject arises!) As is written, he invited me to his weekly group of gaming with his friends and it became our weekly "date". I started to get nervous after about 2 months - I must admit that his age had something to do with it. I kept thinking "He's ready to settle down and get married, AND I'M NOT!" Solution: I got enrolled in a year of college. Followed by a mission, and then I felt ready to settle down. And guess who was there a week after I returned? And that is how we met.
So with some Miner (pun intended!) editing between the two of us, we've come to a consensus as how the story of how we got together goes.
And as Paul Harvey commentates, "And now you know - the rest of the story!"
Russel's point of view:
I was in-between relationships and feeling not-quite fulfilled in my choice of female friends. I was working a full-time job at a call-center trying to pay back student loans and I met a cute girl who just started interviewing. She was a blonde-brunette and she caught my eye. I gathered the courage to speak up and ask her some questions about herself and her family and we became friends pretty quick. It wasn't long before I invited her to accompany me with my friends in our saturday morning or friday night sci-fi fantasy games. Soon after that, a school dance was on the social calendar and I asked her out. I found out her family lived out where my great-family relatives used to live and picked her up from the old family house. We had a wonderful time dancing - I taught her a few ballroom dancing steps I learned at school and from my mothers instruction. Soon after, she became busy with college classes and we lost contact when I advanced in my job. She sent me an email when she decided to leave Idaho and go serve a mission in Colorado and I attended her farewell. I left my job at the call center for another job at a security company and she and I emailed each other occasionally. Her dad saw me regularly at my new job and apologized for any hard feelings and for any misgivings he may have outwardly shown for his eldest daughter and my courtship. I empathised with him as I feel highly protective of my only sister and he invited me to visit their family a few times in her absence, which I took him up on. My continuing relationships hadn't blossomed like I'd expected, so I felt a change was in order. Before she returned I was invited once more to her homecoming reunion, and we picked up almost where we had left off - playing games together, reading stories together, working together. And we just clicked. Maybe it was a handful of months after she returned that I started a new job working for a new call center some miles away and I'd finally got the courage to propose to her, and she accepted me with all my strengths and all my weaknesses. We made plans to get married & sealed in the temple nearby, and life has been up and down ever since but blissful throughout with her at my side.
Sarah's point of view:
Russ has told you a lot of what has happened, but I will fill in the blanks. It started when I graduated high-school. I was a lost grad student, and I had no idea what I was doing. Looked at a couple different colleges and jobs and decided that I'd fill out an application for a call center job. It paid a lot better than most other jobs and they didn't care what kind of job experience you had, as I'd had very little. I quickly discovered that I hated my job, especially being yelled at over the phone by people I'd never met. After 3 weeks of this torture, I started praying about whether I should look for another line of work and felt that I should stay. I had no clue why as this was really frustrating. A week later, Russ asked me out on a date to a sandwich shop and I felt like an impolite slob since he was a total gentleman. I kept wondering why he didn't talk - because of his silence I felt like i needed to talk even more. I've come to realize he was just nervous and is a natural listener. (He can talk your ear off if the subject arises!) As is written, he invited me to his weekly group of gaming with his friends and it became our weekly "date". I started to get nervous after about 2 months - I must admit that his age had something to do with it. I kept thinking "He's ready to settle down and get married, AND I'M NOT!" Solution: I got enrolled in a year of college. Followed by a mission, and then I felt ready to settle down. And guess who was there a week after I returned? And that is how we met.
So with some Miner (pun intended!) editing between the two of us, we've come to a consensus as how the story of how we got together goes.
And as Paul Harvey commentates, "And now you know - the rest of the story!"
what links us
http://www.minerclaninidaho.org/
Ask us, and we'll tell you that we're just two kids who met once and became fast friends and over the years have developed our friendship into something more.
We love working hard at our respective jobs and with our talents we've been blessed with and playing even harder at nights and over the weekends and visiting with loved ones and family close by.
Our love of games include boardgames, card games, computer or console games, and multi-player online roleplaying games. As well as the regular dice & pencil/pen-and-paper variety.
Our love of books include fantasy & science fiction.
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000548435027
older blogs - http://russelm.multiply.com
Ask us, and we'll tell you that we're just two kids who met once and became fast friends and over the years have developed our friendship into something more.
We love working hard at our respective jobs and with our talents we've been blessed with and playing even harder at nights and over the weekends and visiting with loved ones and family close by.
Our love of games include boardgames, card games, computer or console games, and multi-player online roleplaying games. As well as the regular dice & pencil/pen-and-paper variety.
Our love of books include fantasy & science fiction.
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000548435027
older blogs - http://russelm.multiply.com
Welcome!
If this is your first visit here, let us say Welcome! Some explanation may be in order.
We are two grown-ups who've known each other for quite a while and love our playfulness and how much we play together. We work hard, we play even harder and just love being together in whatever we do. Hence the "big-kids-at-heart" name.
Someone once told us after we commented to them that where we live in our neighborhood that we still feel like newly-weds, "Don't lose it!" So we've decided whatever we do we wouldn't!
As for the title, this is another play-on-words from a joke a friend of ours sent us once. Once you get to know us, you'll find out that at least one - if not both - of us can be real pun-ny at times.
Well, we think you'll get the idea. If not - read on!
We are two grown-ups who've known each other for quite a while and love our playfulness and how much we play together. We work hard, we play even harder and just love being together in whatever we do. Hence the "big-kids-at-heart" name.
Someone once told us after we commented to them that where we live in our neighborhood that we still feel like newly-weds, "Don't lose it!" So we've decided whatever we do we wouldn't!
As for the title, this is another play-on-words from a joke a friend of ours sent us once. Once you get to know us, you'll find out that at least one - if not both - of us can be real pun-ny at times.
Well, we think you'll get the idea. If not - read on!
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