Quantum Mechanix

Want to check out a new toy/collector company that maybe you haven't heard of yet? Try Quantum Mechanix. They specialize in Serenity, BSG, Stargate, Star Trek, & what they call Black Market Beagles. If you are looking for something that your collector friend probably doesn't have, these guys are a great place to check. Entertainment Earth usually carries most of their items for distribution & purchase. The pic is of what they call a "Little Frakkin Toaster". Retailing for $69.95, Quantum Mechanix anticipate the Cylon Centurion Little Frakkin' Toaster Animated Maquette will be available 09.15.09.

To be the first to get in on any preorder opportunities, be sure to sign up for their newsletter at http://insider.qmxonline.com.

Art Asylum T2 Cyberdyne Assault 4 pack

Check out the mini-mates from Art Asylum from Terminator 2.

You get: Cybernetic T-800

Sarah Connor

Scorched Endoskeleton

Myles Dyson

These will be available at the San Diego Comic Con. Around these parts I would check also at Hastings, Spencer's Gifts, & Hot Topic. Perhaps Gamestop.

Alex Ross Art for sale

Alex Ross changed the look of comics in the 90's. He gave a realism to the characters that no one else had ever quite been able to capture. He sells his sketches & paintings over at Alexrossart.com. The one below is the one I want. It has all the heroes I grew up with on TV. Unfortunately I don't have $25,000. If you want to invest in art, Alex Ross is a good place to start.

Jury Duty & Michael Jackson

So, all of the publicity surrounding Michael Jackson's death has led me to ponder all of the people who are aggressively posting negative and spiteful comments about the deceased Pop Icon. Most of these people seem to still be under the impression that the man was a child molester. It's as if they have no knowledge of the fact that he was tried by a jury of his peers and all charges were dismissed. There simply wasn't any evidence that he had done the things that he was accused of. He wasn't on trial for being weird or eccentric or even mentally stunted. If that had been the case I have no doubt the jury would have found him guilty easily. I wonder how many of these angry hate spewing individuals have ever served on a jury? Serving on a jury and hearing the evidence is much different than just hearing what a case is about. With the O.J. trial we all watched & many of us felt that it was a failure of the system, but does that mean that every high profile case is? No one but the people in the court room hear all of the evidence brought forth. He didn't just settle, he was acquitted and rather quickly. He was cleared. Both of the times that I have been called to jury duty, I have been excited to do my duty as an American. I choose not to join the service (Marines, Navy, Army, National Guard) because I do not want to kill anyone. So what can I do to serve my country? When called to jury duty, do not give false excuses & try to get out of it. Stand up & do my duty. I also look at voting in my local elections and all things brought to a ballot as an important part of my duty as an American citizen. So I wonder about these people right now, posting hateful comments, calling a man who obviously had problems, a child molester, when he has been cleared and exonerated. I wonder, have they been on a jury? Do they understand how the system works? Do they realize that one can be called into a case simply because the judge determines there is reasonable cause to hear what evidence, if any, one side has against the other? I also wonder if they understand that the parents of the children whom were said to be the victims, knowingly left their children with a man whom the whole world had already seen accused once of molestation. They knew & yet they made an informed decision to leave their children with a 40 something year old man that they didn't even know. Doesn't that seem strange? Isn't that behavior just as odd? Doesn't that speak volumes as to the type of people these were? In reality, no one will ever know who Michael Jackson really was except for those closest to him. I'm sure who the media machine made him out to be & who he really was is very different. For me, he broke down color barriers and painted my childhood with wonderful memories & laughter. For that I thank him. He did much charity work throughout his life. He gave back much. Yet despite all of this there are people right now, somewhere, posting how happy they are that this sick twisted child molester is dead. I just wonder...who ARE these people & have they ever served?

Gentle Giant San Diego Comic Con Exclusive

If you are lucky enough to be going to Comic Con this year Gentle Giant has some awesome exclusives. A McQuarrie Boba Fett Mini Bust, Richard Harris Dumbledore mini bust, Darth Vader Helmet Pink edition (pictured above) in support of the Susan G. Koman Foundation, A black Hole Stormtrooper statue, And two Halo classics busts on in pink & the other in chief green. Gentle Giant is opening pre-orders for pickup to the Premier Guild members on June 22nd at 10 am (PST). If there are quantities still available, pre-orders for pick up will be opened to the general public on July 1st. ALL pre-orders for pick up will close on July 10th at 10 pm (PST).

Remember, Gentle Giant requires that you be be logged into your account to activate order links.

Additional Comic Con details will be sent out and posted on Gentle Giant's site as Comic Con approaches.

So even if you don't make it to the Con, you might still get a shot at some of the exclusives. I'm hoping for that Pink Vader helmet myself.

Go here to see all the cool stuff!

Christopher Reeve Superman Statue

Was Christopher your favorite Superman? If so, now you can have his super likeness in your collection. Hand-painted & limited to 4,000 pieces this 12 1/2-inches tall x 5 1/2-inches wide x 3 3/4-inches long statue on a base that measures approximately 3/4-inches tall x 6 1/2-inches in diameter can be yours for around $180.00. Go check it out here.

Cryptozoology Set

Here's a fun set for any of your science or PhD friends. Entertainment Earth has them for $14.99 a set here.

Happy Summer!

Well, Happy Summer & Happy Father's Day to all you Dad's who have managed to stick around for your children. It is reaching close to 100 degrees here & thankfully it seems that Waggoner's did indeed fix the air. It is positively frosty in here right now. The pic is of the gauge that they use to determine whether or not your coolant is low. According to the HVAC guy, Shawn, this says my coolant was indeed low. He put more in, we kicked the unit on, & it is as cool as can be inside now. Thanks, Waggoner's. I hope everyone stays cool, has a great Father's Day, & enjoys the summer sun!

Waggoner's Heat & Air continued...

So, at around 10:30 am Waggoner's called & said they were sending Shawn/Sean out to the house. That made me happy. It wasn't incredibly hot yet. I would also probably not end up missing a whole day of work. Excellent. Shawn showed up, asked great questions, I told him what was going on & he suspected that Charles just hadn't filled the coolant. Now, Charles was the last guy they sent out. It was his first day on his own after graduating in May. He was nice & very meticulous but apparently messed up when he cleaned the outside unit coils before checking the coolant levels and output. The coils being wet made them read wrong according to Shawn/Sean. So he charged the unit up with coolant, readjusted the condensate line inside to more of an angle for better dripping & declared that it should be 100% good to go. I still have to wonder about no one even looking at the coil on the inside of the unit. I'm no HVAC expert, but Dr. Zarkloff on Youtube seems to check the inside coil most of the time. However, he is up north & the units seem a little easier to access. I just hope it is taken care of for good. Overall, I have to say my Waggoner's experience wasn't bad. The woman who answers the phone, Leann, is very nice & gets right on things. Charles was nice & it was his first day without one of the other guys helping him out. I hate my first day in a new job. It's so nerve racking. When I called back they were on it & seem to have the problem fixed in less than 24 hrs. Not bad. It didn't cost anything additional for them to come out, as well it shouldn't, and everyone was professional & courteous. If the unit is really fixed & good to go then I would most assuredly recommend these guys. I let you know how it goes.

Waggoner's Heating & Air Conditioning part 2

So, wanna know how that $130.00 inspect my heat/air unit went? You know, the one where they run all the tests & inspect everything so you don't have to worry about your unit freezing up when it's 95 to 100 degrees outside. Here are some pictures for you.







I think I want my $130.00 back. I called them. They told me to shut the unit OFF & they will be here tomorrow afternoon. It's 80 Degrees in the house now. To be continued....

Doro Pesch

If you have never heard of Doro then you are obviously not a real metalhead. At least not an 80's metalhead. Though, even if you weren't born in the 70's, & you're into metal, you should know the name Doro Pesch. Long story short, she is the Queen of Metal. Oh, some of you may try to argue that point, but you can't win. If it wasn't for Doro Pesch, there might not be a female lead for Arch Enemy. If it wasn't for Doro Pesch there probably wouldn't be any female presence in metal. She has shown what it takes to be a successful rocker in good times & bad, never ceasing to put out excellent head banging tunes. She is generous to her fans, almost always signing autographs & chatting. She believes in the metal community and gives it 110%, if not more. If you are wondering why you haven't heard of her, it is probably because she is from Germany. That's right, the mecca of all things Metal. Wacken Open Air Festival anyone? My point here is this: If you haven't heard her, you should. If you like metal, that is. Now she's not a screamer like Angela Gassow from Arch Enemy, but she can carry a mean tune. Sometimes she's soft & sometimes she's hard. Sometimes she's dark, but there is usually some positive spin on things. If you like Fantasy Metal, Manowar, Judas Priest, Nightwish, Iced Earth, Hammerfall, or bands like Ozzy, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Cinderella, Dio, Def Leppard, Poison or even Iron Maiden, Megadeth, or Helloween I urge you to go pay for Doro's music. You won't be sorry. She tours the US about every two or three years. Her newest Album came out Jan 30, this year and is called "Fear No Evil". I highly recommend "Love Me In Black" as well. "Classic Diamonds" is a sort of best of the best recorded with a classical orchestra. If you want to start at the beginning her albums when she was in the band "Warlock" are awesome. Her solo debut was titled "Force Majeure" and still rocks today. If you love Metal don't let the Queen of Metal be what's missing from your headbanging collection. Get her on itunes or go here: Amazon , CD Universe , or Half.com .

Home Ownership part 3???

So the air conditioner was acting weird on Friday, so I called Waggoner's to come do the twice a year check of my system. For $130.00, a certified HVAC fellow will come out, look at my system & tell me the good & bad news. This $130.00 is good for 2 visits. One in the spring & one in the fall. He is coming out today after 1pm. Let's hope it is mostly good news. I have been watching Dr. Zarkloff for quite a while now, and am fairly certain I will know if I am being told a bunch of crap. We shall see. I read a good review for Waggoner's online so I'm hoping I went with the best choice.

In other news, the Xena mobile, also known as Argo & the soon to be J-wing Star Wars fan car, is back up & running after finally finding the parts I needed at a Salvage Yard, Carey's Triple C, on Eastern in OKC. $15.00 worth of pulley wheels & bolts & she's ready to go. I drove her to work today! Now to get the design going for the paint job on her. I also finally got those brakes in the Rebel. It was so easy it was ridiculous. If you have a Honda Rebel & need front brake pads replaced, I can so do that for you, or show you how. Easier than pie.

Still ongoing is the roof and the ceiling fan. The ceiling fan all comes down to bracing & the extreme heat in the attic. I am dripping in under 5 minutes up there. The bracing is going to be tough because of the support boards located just above where the fan is. It might be easier just to move where the fan is located now & patch up the hole in the ceiling. The roof is me just not knowing who else to call. I know, I just need to call. I don't know why I worry so much.

T & I decided to extend the patio as well. Lol! Like we didn't have enough going on. I think it is going to look awesome once it's done. I'll try & get pics up soon. Well, wish me luck today with the air conditioner.

Steve Wiebe & Donkey Kong

Go to: G4 Wiebe Record Attempt right now to see Steve try to break the Donkey Kong World Record. Go check out "King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" if you want to watch an interesting flick about the world record attempts. The guy that currently holds it is a egomaniac. Obviously the documentary style flick is slightly slanted, but seriously, the guy Steve is trying to beat is, well, full of himself. It's a really great flick. Right now though, go watch Steve & cheer him on!

Can't catch up

So this weekend I was supposed to do some serious catch-up. I still need bolts & a pulley for the Buick's water pump, the ceiling fan installed & supported with a brace & possibly grounded, new wipers & oil for the Lincoln, the roof guys to come out & give me an estimate, the yard mowed, the vacuum cleaner ran, the dishes done, laundry...Ahhh!!!! I had one of the worst allergy attacks ever Saturday. As soon as I woke up I started sneezing my head off & it didn't quite all day. I felt terrible & ended up taking an Allegra, which I hate to take any type of drugs but this was one of those times, and passed out by 9pm. I got absolutely nothing done. I was so frustrated. Even a little bit angry. It feels like something keeps working against me & I am getting really tired of it. Sunday I kept trying to wake up but was groggy and drugged feeling from the Allegra, one of the reasons I hate taking stuff, and didn't get up until almost 1pm. I did manage to do all the dishes, sneeze, vacuum, sneeze, help with laundry, sneeze, get oil & wipers for the Lincoln, sneeze, clean the garage, sneeze, reorganize the shed/barn, sneeze, get all the fall/winter clothes put away, sneeze, yard mowed & weed eaten, sneeze, help T with the patio addition, sneeze, & shower. I still feel yucky & continue to sneeze. I usually do this in April. In June it is absolutely driving me insane. I have stuff to do! Still, I got some stuff accomplished. T & I went & saw Angels & Demons on Friday night. It was pretty good. Not as much fun as Da Vinci Code, but still entertaining. Up is next.