Have Fursuit, Will Travel

TOO HOT!

2009-09-05T00:37:00.000-07:00

Conan Obrien wasn't kidding last week on the tonight show when he said people jumped in fires in LA to cool off D:

I've been down in SoCal since Thursday afternoon for the North American Reptile Breeder's Conference and Trade Show in Anaheim. It's at the Anaheim Convention Center, 2 blocks away from the entrance to Disney Land. Didn't get to go to Disney Land this time, since I went in January. I did hit up Downtown Disney and caught the fire works both Friday and Saturday. The fashion district in LA was sooo hot on Thursday. Standing on the pavement the temp was 110, in the air it was about 100 D: I wish I could of done more of the fashion district and gotten some hip t-shirts on the cheap, but the air temp was soo hot I just rushed to get the fur I needed and got out of there.

Friday Cro and I hit up the South Coast Plaza Mall, which apparently is like the ritziest mall in the country (and also the 3rd biggest in the country). While the decor inside the mall was very plain, the mall its self was filled with very high end botiques and coutier agents. The Tiffany's was HUGE, Bloomies had a fur coat department, I sooo wanted that silver/brown fox stole that carried a $2,000 price tag. I also liked some of their black mink coats. The mannequins in the Georgio Armani store were VERY creepy.

Since all of what needed to be accomplished on Thursday, Friday was open to interpretation. We (Cro and I) spent the majority of the day at this mall to stay cool since it was 97 degrees today in the Anaheim area and the mall is free to window shop. Tomorrow is packing up, going to 7-11 to get more ice for the ice chest and getting to the show early. We will probably get to the show around 8:30-9 am. Show opens its doors at 10 am. If you are one of the first people in the line at the door, you usually get free stuffs. It pays to get there early. I want to get Kathy and Bill Love's autograph, try and get Nigel Marvin's autograph again and hopefully Brian from BHB reptile's autograph too.

Once we're done with the show it's time to drive back home :<

Adventure time!

2009-07-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been really wanting to go to an old fashoined type soda fountain. As few far and inbetween these places are, they do still exist! I thought there was only 2 left in California - one just opened up a month ago in South Lake Tahoe (soda jerk and all), but turns out there's one in SF!

http://www.stfrancisfountainsf.com/

Turns out this place does exist! Although, I will still take the trip to South Lake Tahoe eventually. The place opened up in 1918 and the inside and outside is circa 1948. They also offer vanilla soy ice cream in substitute of real ice cream (so Cro can enjoy concotions since he has a milk protien allergy) and an extensive vegan style comfort food menu. When the place was bought by new owners in 2002, they wanted to cater to the growing hipster population in South SF. They did right and the hipsters come here to enjoy food and fountain confectionary. If I would of know of this place yesterday I would have gone. I'll go next time I go to SF and report back with my findings.

Ingrid NewKirk's Last WIll and Testament

2009-03-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

I learned about this via the Internets. For those of you who don't know, Ingrid Newkirk is President of PETA. Her will weaves tales of her muscles being used as meat for people, and her hide being used fo purses. Her feet will become umbrella stands. One eye will go to the US Environmental Protection Agency so they'll always know that she is watching them. One hand will be mounted on a plaque in a "thumbs up" postions and given to those who do good for PETA's Agenda. One hand will be mounted in a "thumbs down" position and shall be given to those who exploid animals. Her finger will go to the owner of Barnum and Baily's Circus, so that the public can see her accusing them of exlpoiting animals. I believe that the owners will proudly display this, people will pay money to see it. P.T. Barnum is drooling in his grave right now.

I find this all fascinating and it shows you how irrational PETA is. I say that we behead 100 chickens on the day of her death, as a sacrafice to PETA's testament. I love nuggest, and in the eyes of PETA, a chicken is just as important as a human.

Her will is published here: http://www.peta.org/feat/newkirk/will.html

DIRECTIONS FOR THE DISPOSITION OF THE REMAINS OF INGRID NEWKIRK

As someone who has dedicated a part of my life to the alleviation of animal suffering in various parts of the world, it is my wish that upon my death, my body be used to further that same goal. It is with this purpose in mind that I make the following directions and designations relating to the disposition of my final remains. I make these directions and designations after thorough consideration and pursuant to my firm belief in the purposes for which they are made.

1. Upon my death, it is my wish that my body be used in a manner that draws attention to needless animal suffering and exploitation. To accomplish this, I direct that my body be donated to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 501 Front Street, Norfolk, Virginia 23510, to be used in whatever manner it chooses in order to accomplish the specified purpose, with the hope that most of my body will be put to use in the United States, with parts also dispatched to awaken the public consciousness of governments and citizens in the United Kingdom, where I was born, in India, my beloved childhood home, and in Canada, Germany, and France.

2. While the final decision as to the use of my body remains with PETA, I make the following suggested directions:

a. That the “meat” of my body, or a portion thereof, be used for a human barbecue, to remind the world that the meat of a corpse is all flesh, regardless of whether it comes from a human being or another animal, and that flesh foods are not needed;

b. That my skin, or a portion thereof, be removed and made into leather products, such as purses, to remind the world that human skin and the skin of other animals is the same and that neither is “fabric” nor needed, and that some skin be tacked up outside the Indian Leather Fair each year to serve as a reminder of the government’s need to abate the suffering of Indian bullocks who, after a life of extreme and involuntary servitude, as I have seen firsthand, are exported all over the world in this form;

c. That in remembrance of the elephant-foot umbrella stands and tiger rugs I saw, as a child, offered for sale by merchants at Connaught Place in Delhi, my feet be removed and umbrella stands or other ornamentation be made from them, as a reminder of the depravity of killing innocent animals, such as elephants, in order that we might use their body parts for household items and decorations;

d. That one of my eyes be removed, mounted, and delivered to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a reminder that PETA will continue to be watching the agency until it stops poisoning and torturing animals in useless and cruel experiments; that the other is to be used as PETA sees fit;

e. That my pointing finger be delivered to Kenneth Feld, owner of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, or to a circus museum to stand as the “Greatest Accusation on Earth” on behalf of the countless elephants, lions, tigers, bears, and other animals who have been kidnapped from their families and removed from their homelands in India, Thailand, Africa, and South America and deprived of all that is natural and pleasant to them, abused, and forced into involuntary servitude for the sake of cheap entertainment;

f. That my liver be vacuum-packed and shipped, in whole or in part, to France, to there be used in a public appeal to persuade shoppers not to support the vile practice of force-feeding geese and ducks for foie gras;

g. That one of my ears be removed, mounted, and sent to the Canadian Parliament to assist them in hearing, for the first time perhaps, the screams of the seals, bears, raccoons, foxes, and minks bludgeoned, trapped, and sometimes skinned alive for their pelts; that the other ear be removed, preserved, and displayed outside the Deonar abattoir in Mumbai to remind all who do business there that the screams of the cattle who are slaughtered within its walls are heard around the world;

h. That one of my thumbs be removed, mounted upwards on a plaque, and sent to the person or institution that, in the year of my death or thereabouts, PETA decides has done the most to promote alternatives to the use and abuse of animals in any area of their exploitation;

i. That one of my thumbs be mounted in a downward position and sent to the person or institution that, in the year of my death or thereabouts, has gone against the changing tide of societal opinion and frightened and hurt animals in some egregious manner;

j. That a little part of my heart be buried near the racetrack at Hockenheim, preferably near the Ferrari pits, where Michael Shumacher raced in and won the German Grand Prix;

k. That anything else be done with my body that PETA believes will serve to draw attention to and so abate the plight of exploited animals.

3. As a resident of Virginia, and pursuant to Virginia law, including
§ 54.1-2825 of the Virginia Code, I designate PETA as the “person” who shall make arrangements for carrying out the directions contained in this document for the disposition of my remains upon my death. If, at any time, PETA is unable or unwilling to carry out these directions, I designate, in the alternative, Daniel Mathews as the individual who shall make arrangements for carrying out the directions contained in this document for the disposition of my remains upon my death. If Daniel Mathews is unable or unwilling to carry out these directions as required, I authorize either of the two listed “persons” in this paragraph to designate a third party to make arrangements for carrying out the directions contained in this document for the disposition of my remains upon my death.

4. While I prefer that my directions be first executed in the United States, I also direct that parts of my body be transported to the United Kingdom, of which I also am a citizen, and to India, my beloved spiritual home, to be executed there. If my directions cannot be executed in any of these countries, I authorize the transport of my remains to any location where my disposition directions, in whole or in part, may be lawfully executed.

5. I authorize the person carrying out these directions to deviate from them in any manner he or she deems appropriate to further the purpose expressed herein. If any provision or provisions of this document shall be held to be invalid, illegal, unenforceable, or in conflict with the law of any jurisdiction, the validity, legality, and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby.

______________________ _______________
INGRID NEWKIRK DATE

NOTARY PUBLIC:

SIGN: ________________________ (SEAL)

WITNESSES

The foregoing document was published, declared, and signed by Ingrid Newkirk, in our presence, and we subscribe it in her presence, and in the presence of each other.

______________________ _______________
WITNESS (SIGN) DATE

______________________
WITNESS (PRINT)

______________________ _______________
WITNESS (SIGN) DATE

______________________
WITNESS (PRINT)

ACCEPTANCE BY DESIGNATED PERSONS

PETA

I have read and fully understand the contents of this document. I accept the designation as the person to carry out the directions set forth herein and will comply with those directions to the best of my ability.

For People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals:

_________________________ ____________________
MARY BETH SWEETLAND DATE
Senior Vice President
PETA

NOTARY PUBLIC:

SIGN: ________________________ (SEAL)

DANIEL MATHEWS

I have read and fully understand the contents of this document. Should the conditions precedent be met, I accept the designation as the person to carry out the directions set forth herein and will comply with those directions to the best of my ability.

______________________ ____________________
DANIEL MATHEWS DATE

NOTARY PUBLIC:

SIGN: ________________________ (SEAL)

The Art of Haggling

2009-03-13T22:58:00.000-07:00

One thing I enjoy in life is haggling. I went down to the LA Fashion District yesterday to get fur for up and coming projects. LA Fashion District is a magical land to me. People of different ethenic people stand outside their shops waiting for you to walk by. If you stop and look at something that catches your eye, they'll begin to talk about said fabric. If you say, this isn't the color I want, then they start to haggle with you.

If you pull out a list of what fur you want, their eyes light up with glee- you're a serious shopper. They then began to talk some serious deals with you.

One of my favorite places to get fur is City Fabrics. The Indian sees your list and asks you what colors you wants, or how many yards off the bat. I say that I'm looking for a very specific color. He then shows me a fur I like, and starts talking down. Just keep replying with, "I don't need this color" or "it's nice... but not quite what I need" and he'll give you a deal. I got one fur I needed for a project for $10 a yard!! Normally this stuff retails for $30 if you get it online, plus shipping.

There's other shops too, each block has shops with nothing but beads, or nothing but t-shirts. It's wonderful. The fashion district is wholesalers, with a different genre on each block that caters to the proprietors of retail stores. Next time I go back there, I'm paying 3 dollars for all day parking and exploring the entire place.

In other news, the gila monster was shipped out today, just in time for Furry Weekend Atlanta.

Legend of the Crystal Skull

2009-02-17T21:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday on redtailboas.com some one posted a picture of their baby boa around a bottle of vodka. This brand caught my attention and I promptly went to their website: Crystal Head Vodka. Not only does Dan Akroyd advertise the vodka, he himself created it. The Canadian-based actor also sells a variety of Canadian wines. Crystal Head was launched in select states in back in October.

Ghost Buster or not, the allure of owning a skull bottle appealed to my hyena senses. Ok, if the vodka tasted bad I'd just mix it in some tasty alcoholic mixes and I'd still have the bottle. Triple filtered through silicate crystals- what's the point of that? The Crystal Head website didn't reveal where to purchase such a confectionery. I searched on the internet, and heard BevMo! carried Crystal Head in their stores. The BevMo! website revealed that they were sold out.

Still hopeful, I journeyed to the BevMo! only a couple of miles away. After a quick glance at their vodka section, they had 2 left! I snatched one. I took it home and proceeded to try the vodka. Just a plain shot, so I could taste it. It burned a fair bit, but had a creamy smoothness to it. It's decent vodka.

*****************************************************

I wrote this when I first purchased the bottle. While I don't like the taste of it by itself, it makes HELLA GUD mixed drinks. Crystal Head makes amazing Cosmopolitans and the like. I had a cosmo with crystal head, and then a few without. There is no comparison. The cos with CH was extremely smooth and I couldn't taste the vodka at all. 1 shot CH to 2 shots Cran-Ras juice with some lemon over crushed ice.

However CH is much more expensive that Smirnoff, so I will just use it for special occasions.

Snake Tower

2009-02-08T21:33:00.000-08:00

Here is my overdue post about Snake Tower.

Snake tower is a stack of 221 Vision cages purchased in early October, 2008 in Riverside, Ca. I found an ad on Kingsnake.com that had 5 vision cages for $300 ($60 a cage). This is a very good deal, considering most used Vision cages of that model sell for $100. New they are $140-150. Unfortunately at the time, I didn't have an extra $300 lying around. 2 weeks later I did, and the cages were still available! Vision cages can stack on one another, taking up much less space than aquariums. The 1 piece molded plastic design is durable and MUCH lighter than glass or wood enclosures. The cages would also give the corn snakes a HUGE upgrade in square floor space.

Cro and I drove all the way to Anaheim, CA, stayed the night then the next day drove to Riverside. The guy didn't have a voice mail, so I had to keep dialing (even though I told him what time I would pick up the cages). At first he wasn't home, he said it would take him half an hour to get to his apartment. Fine with me, I was still en route. Half an hour later he calls once again, saying he's home. I told him I was just 15-20 minutes away. 15 minutes later he calls back, saying he has to go to work "suddenly" 0.O. Luckily his "cousin" would be there.

Arriving at his apartment, his "cousin" answers the door. I go inside and see all 5 cages. They are still dirty- the guy never cleaned them out as he said he would; meh. Then I see that 3 of the cages had locks on them and indeed were locked. I asked the dude if he had the keys, but he didn't. Perplexed I asked him how he was able to use the cages. He tells me that they didn't because of the locks and they just sat in storage. Ok...

Apparently the guy I'm buying the cages from and his "cousin" both work in the apartment complex, and their boss (the landlady) was in and wanted them to work that day. The landlady also said they had too many reptiles, so they are downsizing their collection. I give the dude his money and am BARELY able to fit 5 cages into the Subaru- it was a hard game of Tetris. We then start driving; wood chips are sucked out of the vents in the cages are start flying around the car. The Subaru became a mobile snow globe. I gave Cro the bright idea to start looking for a cheap coin operated car wash with a vacuum. After driving down the main road for 25 minutes into a rather poor neighborhood, we found a gas station with such amenities. The sliding glass doors were popped out of their tracks and the locks were slid off. Then the nasty soiled wood chips were vacuumed up, as well as the inside of the car. No more snow globe. We then drove home.

Later on we went to IKEA and got some stick on LED lights and put those in the cage. LED lights don't get hot, so no worries about burning the snakes. Some Vision cage models have inserts for fluorescent lights, but this model does not. Snake tower also features 2 probe thermometers, one for the corns and one for the boas, to keep an eye of the temperatures.

I'm trying to get one more 221 model to stack onto Snake Tower where Pepper will go (until I'm able to get a 421D Boaphile, or a used 4 foot Vision or stackable Neodesha cage for her). Right now Pepper is stationed in a glass aquarium I got off of Craig's List when I moved out here to put a corn snake in. Once I aquire the Boaphile cage, Pizza (male Peachy-Line aberrant super salmon boa) can call that cage home until he's about 3 years old and too big for it. There's enough room to fit a 6th cage on the stack. Pizza and Noodles (baby boas born in July of 2008) share the top cage that I divided into 2 cages, a heat pad runs along the middle of the cage.

One day I hope to get radiant heat panels and a digital thermostat. Radiant heat panels are infrared heat panels that go inside the enclosure and are water proof. They don't get hot enough to burn the snake and use much less energy than a heat pad does. Heat pads heat both up and down. Radiant heat panels only heat down (directional heating) no wasted energy. The downside? They are pricey. A RHP for the corn snake cages is $65 a piece, but come with a 10-year warranty. That's the next project for snake tower!

New Suit v. Old Suit

2009-01-28T01:16:00.000-08:00

Thursday morning I arrived at Further Confusion and saw shiny new fursuits. I realized how crappy my old one was, so instead of fixing it up, a newer one was constructed. Thursday afternoon at approximately 4:00 pm PST I started making a new fursuit. I did not finish until Friday morning at 9:30 am. It's not a new suit entirely, I kept the old feet and hands (but will make new ones shortly) but made a new head, bodysuit and tail. Quite a feat of endurance especially for it being all done in 17 hours. There's still some details to be tweaked on the head, such as adding teeth, sprucing up around the jaw, and adjusting the neck. Over all though, I'm pleased.

It took around 12.5 hours to make the head to the point it is right now. That's almost the exact same amount of time I put into making my second head (the head I used to wear). My first head is never mentioned because I spend about 20 hours on it, and it came out very crappy, but it's your first head. You make it, then you destroy it and you improve on your mistakes. Anyhow, this is the look I was going for in my first fursuit, but never got there due to my weak skills.

Here is the old suit, as seen at Anthrocon 2007:

And here is the shiny new suit as seen at Further Confusion 2009. (Note, the feet were made in November 2007.):

The Eye of Argon

2009-01-27T22:38:00.001-08:00

I recently went to a furry convention where they made this into a game. For those who don't know, the Eye of Argon is a sci-fi story of a barbian named Grignr (grig-ner) who is an Ecordian, because he's from the planet Ecordia.

The story was written by a 16 year-old boy in 1970. It was published in a fanzine and then passed around in different magazines mocked for it's writing before being made into a parlor game. You sit in a circle and read the story out loud. People play the characters and act out the story as it's read.

Every time some one laughs out loud, even a small chuckle, the story is passed and a new person reads it. Have some fun with it and make it into a drinking game! Every time the reader laughs, you take a drink. They story will be more fun that way. Anyways. The Eye of Argon is the most celebrated worst piece of prose ever. Here's the story, I say try it with your friends, it can be fun.

The Eye of Argon

I'm Doing My Part! Waging war against arachnids:

2009-01-21T19:57:00.000-08:00

Today I did my part and started a mighty battle against an evasive colony of arachnids. As much as I adore spiders (one day I wish to have a Goliath Bird-Eating Spider as a pet) this colony was not welcome.

My new snake Pepper has mites apparently. She acquired them from her previous housing situation, a pet shop in Arizona. How did I discover this? She'd been trying to soak in her small water dish. I replaced it with a large one where she could fit her entire body, and an hour later she took refuge in it. Next I fed her a rat (because it was the day to feed her) and she got crap and rat blood in her water. After she went into her "house" (a sprite box that acts as a hide on the warm side) to digest her food, I changed the water. On close inspection I noticed a mature mite in there and a bunch of nymphs. A mature mite is half the size of a mature flea, they are small blood sucking parasites. Later on that night I spotted another mite in the bedding, which I killed.

Taking the initiative, Cro picked up some Provent-a-Mite aresol spray on the way home from work. Hands down, this is the best and stuff in the industry. It contains 0.5% (half of a percent) of Permethirn and has an insect grown regulator. Permethrin is used in cat and dog flea shampoo as the active ingredient. It kills the bug by giving it a seizure. The insect growth regulator doesn't allow the nymphs or eggs to mature either. The price of this death-inducing spray is $22.00 plus tax at the East Bay Vivarium, but well worth it. One bottle will last for a long time, and you're not wasting money on cheap treatments that don't work as well and could potentially harm your expensive reptiles.

Taking the steps needed, I cleaned out Pepper's cage with bleach. Her sprite box and bedding got tossed in the trash. Once the cage was dry, you lay down some newspaper as bedding (can't use shredded or chipped wood as it gives the mites somewhere to hide). Then you spray the bedding with Provent-a-Mite and wait 2 hours before putting the water dish and snake back in the enclosure.

Pepper's new hide is a Dr. Pepper box. This agent will kill and prevent mites for up to a month. By the way, to treat the snake, you place them in a container of warm water with an added tablespoon of Dawn Dish Detergent and let them soak. The Dawn breaks the surface tension of the water and won't allow air bubbles to stick to your snake (that the mites can use to breathe). Topical treatments of chemicals or oils can dry out your snakes skin and cause problems.

Now pepper is back in her cage getting warmed up. It's a bit bland in there because of the newspaper. In a month she can go back to aspen bedding. Provent-a-Mite can also kill and prevent black widows and camel spiders.

Next post will probably be about Snake Tower.

Dreaming of Boas

2009-01-20T22:46:00.000-08:00

Thursday January 1st - Saturday January 3rd 2009 I took a road trip down to SoCal. For Christmas I asked for a ticket to DisneyLand, the happiest place on earth! I really wanted to go while the Christmas lights were still up. January 1st, Cro and I hit the road, since it was a Thursday.

1) NEVER travel in California on a Friday or a Sunday. Rush hour starts at 2 pm and lasts until 10 pm. People leave both the Bay Area and LA on friday. People go back on Sunday.

2) There are only 2 roads connecting these cities, I-5 and the 101 highway. If there is an accident on any one of them you're pretty much fucked.

So we got there 10 pm, Thursday night. The hotel was the Quality Inn and Suites in Anaheim. It was 2 blocks from Disneyland, had free waffles in the morning and was $50 a night. The bed had 20 pillows on it, and there was a microwave and refrigerator in the room. Downsides: room was a wee bit small, and ours faced I-5. But the noise wasn't equivalent to having the heater or AC on. Yes it was loud and annoying, but tolerable enough to get some shut-eye. The hotel had really nice landscaping around the rooms. Over by the breakfast area there was a nice eating nook with a fountain and wrought iron work. Unfortunately it was rainy both mornings, so we ate back in the hotel room (which came equipped with a table).

Friday morning, I awoke to the tune of 7 am. I got breakfast for myself and Cro. In side the breakfast room there were approximately 20 people over 300 lbs. sitting down eating waffles. I stared with my hanging open before acquiring pastries and making waffles at the iron station. After waiting for Ms. Orc to finish, I poured the batter into the iron. A couple of Asian people who couldn't read English well enough to go through the motions asked if I could help them. So I showed them how much batter to pour into the cup, how to pour it on the iron properly.

Once our crops were filled, we walked the rainy morning to the main gates of Disney. There were people standing outside the turn styles waiting for the gates to open. Cro and myself stood in line for about 5 minutes then bought our tickets. The park was deserted for the most part, in the morning. The first ride we went on was Start Tours- no wait time at all! I wanted to hit up Space Mountain, but Cro doesn't like roller coasters. We walked around the park and went on Mr. Toad, Roger Rabbit, and a few other smaller rides before taking on Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion which had NO WAIT TIME. Most people don't know, but Mr. Toad is the ONLY ride at DisneyLand that endorses driving under the influence. We had a grand time driving to nowhere in particular.

It was 11:00 am and we were getting hungry. Walking to the main gate, in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle, there was Mickey and other lovable characters along with a band. They were all dancing around having a good time. The characters went off leaving Mickey and the band to march down Main Street. We followed them and watch the rest of the act and the headed to lunch outside the park. Walking out the park gate, the ticket booths were PACKED. The wait to get a ticket to the park was at least an hour @.@ We ate at Quizno's which was just across the street to the park. Thankfully, I got a Quizno's card for Xmas, it paid for lunch! We walked back to the hotel and I put the leftovers in the fridge for later. After going back into the park, the ticket lines were still PACED. Once back insdie we hit up the Indiana Jones ride that Cro was reluctant to do. He thought it was a roller coaster. The line was a wait said 60 minutes, but it was more along the lines of 80. Still worth it though. The park was now all hustle and bustle.

Next we staked out a claim for the 3:30 parade! We saw Bolt, Santa, Evil Stepmother and her daughters. Then we stood inline for Autopia. This is basically driving around some go carts around a rail track. Still fun, as the ride has been there for decades. We tried to sneak in space mountain, but after waiting for an hour, with the line going NOWHERE, we jumped ship. Cro didn't seam disappointed. The time on the line read 90 minutes, but after waiting an hour, we realized the wait time was more like 2.5 hours. So we walked around and saw all the decorations at night, we watched them light the castle, which looks AMAZING covered in 1,000 of shiny lights... shiny...

Then we watched bolt come around for the 2nd time before we went back to the hotel again, so I could remove my contacts. They had been in for about 12 hours at that point. By the way, that day was the day to go, since the park was open until MIDNIGHT! :O I think the rain and the duration that the park was open caused most people to arrive around noon. Luckily most of the rides were done when the park was empty. After coming back from the hotel, we walked around, looking at the blinking lights. Then we finally saw the most amazing fireworks display at 9:30 over the lighted Castle. We left after the fireworks to hit up Down Town Disney, which is free to enter by the way, since it's just shops, bars and restaurants. We went to the main Disney store in search of a Bolt plushie, but they were out :< So we left our magical day at the park COMPLETELY exhausted. We hit the bed and passed out.

The next morning more waffles were had, but I had to stand in line a little longer. We packed the car back up and checked out and drove to Pomona via HWY 10 to the Reptile Super Show. We got to the fairground and had to wait at Gate 9. The gate gestapo would not let us in until she got "the call". We arrived there, second in line. You could not buy tickets here, just waited to get into the show, to but tickets. This was redic, since at San Diego show (run by the same people) you can get your tickets while waiting for the show to open. While waiting, we noted that there was a tattoo show going on at the same time, that's convenient since reptiles and tattoos appeal to the same group of people. A few vendors tried to get in, but unless you had an official Vendor Badge, the gestapo would not let you in. The vendor yelled that he spent $300 on a table and had 500 lbs of snakes in his car freezing. After seeing his table it was not 500 lbs, more like 200, tops. He called the guy in charge of the show and was able to get in, on time. 9:05 am and the gate gestapo still hadn't let us in, "the call" had not come through.

Finally we just charged in at 9:10. We walked quickly to the building and were the second people to buy tickets. We walked around and looked at snakes. I saw 3 that I really liked and thought they were good deals. After an hour, my glucose was crashes and I had to eat. I got my hand stamped and walked to the car to retrieve food. On the way out, the building had become VERY crowed. A woman was bottle feeding her 3 year old in a stroller in the middle of the isle... On the way to the car, we passed a hamburger stand in the fairgrounds. It had a sign that read "Feed a family of 4 for $52 dollars!" are you crazy? The fries alone cost $8, and the hamburgers themselves? $12. The special was for 4 hamburgers, 4 fries and 4 drinks, yikes! We ate some apples and Tricut crackers in the car, along with soda. Feeling refreshed we walked back into the building. The line to get into the reptile show went halfway around the building. Inside was already packed, geeze! I went back to the and one snake I thought was an excellent deal happened to be still there! She was a 4 ft long striped Boa Constrictor for $200. I went ahead and got her. It was either her, or some Vision Cages ($65 per cage) which were both excellent deals. Cro named her Pepper. In addition to her striping, she has a lovely pink base color. We quickly looked around the show again. An old man at the Reptile Depot booth wanted to buy some turtle vitamins or something along those lines. He held up the bottle and proclaimed, "who here takes cash?" What he failed to realize is that the line to check out at the Reptile Depot booth was 30 people long. Poor old man. That's around a 40 minute-1 hour wait, btw. Here's a picture of Pepper:
She's still young. Female Boa Constrictors don't sexually mature until they're around 6 feet (unless it's a dwarf variety). No, they don't get to be 30 feet long, the most is 10. Usually 7-9 feet for females and 5-7 feet for males. Hopefully she can produce some striped babies in the future. She loves soaking in her water dish. She's still in quarantine for now, but soon I'll add her to "Snake Tower". Not bad for $200, as her market value right now is $450.

[Insert Generic First Post]

2009-01-19T22:39:00.000-08:00

I never liked rhetoric, but I do admire this man's beard! Such a feat of human follicular growth takes years to accomplish and hours to groom every day. Why did this man carve his beard into a windmill in the first place? Did his wife of 14 years leave him because of his affinity for facial hair took away attention she was craving? The answer may never be known. Does this man know he's an internet sensation? I don't think Techno Viking ever will.

Speaking of beards, I saw the latest Clint Eastwood movie, Gran Torino today. The movie could be considered some of Eastwood's finest acting and the ending got me off guard. Definitely worth paying $10 to see. Picture Dirty Hairy playing Archie Bunker. That's the movie in a nutshell. Clint's acting is top notch, and I fell in love with the character.

Now if you like guns, Bass Pro Shops had a Pink Ruger .22 for sale on Black Friday. They don't have the gun anymore- just have to wait until next year I guess. I was considering getting that rifle for general home defense purposes . I would defend the homestead with Gay (which would of been her name, since all guns are inheritly female). If another pink rifle comes along, I just may consider it. A couple of nights ago a criminal fleeing the cops jumped into our yard and staked out a claim under the bathroom window. I just happened to be in the bathroom with the window open at the time, so I heard someone jump the fence and pant under the window. I spooked him like Spagett, he tripped over some wooden pallets and jumped the fence that surrounds the back yard into the easement (small field). I think he hid out at the rooftop on the former Adult School that now belongs to the Chinese Church.

I sent the dogs out into the back yard to make sure he was gone. Since then I've been slightly paranoid. The cops came and had their teeny weeny police dog search the back yard. I told them I watched him jump the fence- all three sighed with disappointment that he fled. Hey, I don't want some guy breathing under the window while I'm trying to piss.

Hence, if you see a pink rifle that's reasonably priced, I just might buy it.