‘Star Wars – Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader’ – Chapter 51

Another crazy busy week, but things are starting to look up.  Especially considering that I moved back into my classroom as of today and I got almost all of my shopping done for Christmas for my wife today as well.  As if things weren’t good enough yet, the kids got a chance to watch the “Indiana Jones” series with me today.  Apparently they haven’t watched the whole series yet.  I don’t know how they could live in my house without having watched those movies!  Anyway, lots happened this week, so let me take it one day at a time yet again.

On Saturday, Heather had to work in the morning and later found out she had to work that night as well, right up until the time it was time for the orchestra to go on.  Luckily, she made it over to East Middle School in time to watch the BCO Orchestra and she event made it there in time to hear my off stage solo.  We got the auditorium back together for my classes this past week.  Even though I only had a few more days in the auditorium, I couldn’t afford to not teach during that time frame.  I had to make sure that I could get my classroom back together on the stage.  We did that in record time and then headed to the cafeteria and had a great time at our social.  On Sunday, the kids had orchestra and I continued to watch some TV and try to catch up on last weekend’s TV watching by watching things like “Undercover Boss” , “Grimm”, and “Dracula” and started to get caught up on my favorite shows.  I even watched the St. Louis Rams game live today.  That doesn’t happen very often.  Monday was a typical work day.  I had work and it was a half day and on the second half of the day, I headed over to West Middle School and worked on our curriculum and pre and post tests for school.  On Tuesday I went to work and was able to come home and relax on Tuesday night.  I worked on getting together some podcasts and then started to work on projects in the shop.  In particular, I worked on Gonk.  I am hoping to have him done by the end of this long weekend.  That’s the hope anyway.

Wednesday was a day that I had off from school.  I got a lot done on Wednesday.  Gonk started to get a full on paint job and I started to work on some Mando weapons that Gary wanted me to make for his Mandalorian costume.  He had a great concept for some prop guns and I think they are going to look spectacular when they are done.  Heather went out to work and on her way home, she picked up some groceries for Thursday’s Thanksgiving dinner.  Thursday was Thanksgiving and it was a day to try and relax and get things done at home.  I continued to work on Gonk while I watched the football games.  One of the games was a blow out, the other game was an actual game with some cliffhangers and all.  Then that night we kept up the Crissman family tradition and sat down as a family and watched “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”.  But we all went to bed early on Thursday because we knew today would be a rough day.

Then there was Friday.  Today was crazy busy, but all in good ways!  We got up at six o’clock this morning.  And while everyone else was fighting the crowds to get the best Christmas gifts for their loved ones, my loved ones were helping me move back into my classroom so I can start class with a smooth transition on Monday.  Not only were we able to set up my room and a majority of my posters and put things back together.  I was very happy and it we got it all done in about four hours, which has got to be some kind of record!  Meanwhile, Heather had work for a majority of the day.  So, the youngest two kids decided to go Christmas shopping with me.  We dropped Ruth off to work and then headed out into the shopping world.

It was crazy shopping out there on Black Friday.  But, we got some good deals and I think my wife is going to be extremely happy with all the gifts we found for her.  Both big and small.  I will say that for the first time since we have been shopping, we were able to stay local and find all of the items we were looking for, which is a small miracle.  We usually end up going to Syracuse or Scranton.  But we didn’t have to today.  We got all that done plus some extra shopping for my wife.  We came home and Heather had ordered pizza from Bella’s Pizza.  We finished eating pizza and then went downstairs and watched “Indiana Jones And The Temple of Doom” and “Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark” while we wrapped Christmas gifts.

Okay, let’s talk about Chapter 51 of “Star Wars – Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader” by James Luceno……

GalaxyCast #105

Well, another crazy week has gone by and another one is right around the corner.  I keep telling myself that if I just get through this week, the next week will be that much easier.  Yet somehow that never works out.  LOL!  But I’m still taking it one day at a time and I think it is working for me and I’m starting to calm down at least a little bit.  I have been displaced from my classroom at work and the good news is that I now know that I will be back in my classroom just after Thanksgiving Break.  That will help me quite a bit because it will help to get me back into a routine and will help me organize myself a little bit.  But that’s something for another time.  Let me handle this week in the order that things happened.

On Saturday, the two youngest kids and I were involved in the Star Wars at Strong Museum of Play event up in Rochester, NY.  It was loads of fun.  The kids could not get over how many pictures were taken of them and how many people actually came to the event.  I knew it would be crazy, but they weren’t really that prepared for that many people.  We then watched “Heart of an Empire” after the event and I have to say that is a great movie.  If you haven’t seen the video, find it, buy it, and watch it!  It explains why we costume at each and every event.  It was so touching, my daughter and I started balling during the middle of the movie.  After that, we went to the dinner after the event and then went back to my parents’ house.

On Sunday, we got up and went to church at the Webster Presbyterian Church with my parents and then ate breakfast out at a local diner.  After breakfast, we went home, packed up and headed back home.  We made it home just in time to unload the car and get Austin to his recording for BYSO.  I watched part of the St. Louis Rams game and got things ready for the week.  That night, Heather and I watched “Boardwalk Empire” and “The Walking Dead” along with “The Amazing Race” and then went to bed.  Monday was a typical work day and after school I had a meeting.  I then went home and had dinner with the family and while I graded papers, I tried to catch up on TV watching from the weekend and then watched “How I Met Your Mother”, “2 Broke Girls”, “Mike and Molly”, and “Moms” before heading to bed.

Tuesday was another typical work day and that night we had our last BCO rehearsal before we had our official rehearsal at East Middle before the actual concert there this weekend.  Wednesday was my day where I didn’t have too much going on.  I worked and came home and made sure Ruth got to work at Wendy’s as well.  On Thursday I started to prep things for tonight and this weekend.  But I had to be at West the second half of the day, so I had to work through my lunch hour to make it happen.  But I got the job done and last night’s rehearsal went very well.  Today was another busy day.  I had my job and as soon as I got done, I raced home and picked up Austin and loaded up the van for the dance tonight.  We then headed over to East Middle School and STAR Productions DJ’d the first dance of the year tonight and things went really well.  It was a busy night and a busy week.  But I had more things going on next week that would make it busy as well.

Okay, no reading tonight.  Instead, it’s time to listen to Episode #105 of the GalaxyCast Podcast.  Head on over to the GalaxyCast Website and check it out.  Again, I have to thank Gary Boughton and Ian Palmer for being my co-hosts and to Mike Wilkerson and the Two Guys Talking Podcast Network for all their effort  and support over the years.  MAY THE FORCE BE WITH THOSE WHO LISTEN!

‘Star Wars – Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader’ – Chapter 50

Well, the weeks seem to be flying by and I still feel like things are extremely out of control as far as what I can and cannot control at this point.  Those that know me well, know that I need to feel in control and when I don’t feel in control, I start to go a little bit “loopy” and lately I’ve felt quite loopy.  I’m trying to deal with the situations around me and my philosophy right now is to just take it one day at a time.  This past week we had an extra day off and I have to say that I enjoyed having another day at home and I am working anxiously to get things done that are on my work bench at home.  My bench is full of all sorts of projects and it actually annoys me when the bench is full of projects and I feel like I’m not getting anything done when those projects don’t come off the bench.  I have a lot I want to get done, and no time to get any of it done.  I also wanted to get things together for this weekend and then I have to look ahead to next weekend.

This weekend is the Star Wars at Strong Museum Event.  I had plans on staying the whole weekend, but Austin has a taping for the BYSO on Sunday, so we have to not attend the Sunday of the event and only go for Saturday.  Last weekend, for the first time in quite some time, I actually missed an Albany Comic Con.  I just have not been in a position to be able to take off to a Con like that on a weekend.  And Heather finally got her van back and we are still playing “catch up” at home trying to get things back together with her being “immobile” for over a month.  It wasn’t easy to make this house work that way and we made it work.  Now, as if I haven’t had enough kicks in the rear end this year, we find out there is a weak spot on our roof.  We want to get it repaired, but time is of the essence.  And with winter getting upon us, we need to search for a contractor to get it done rather quick.

Then there’s my job.  I will never talk about specifics when it comes to my job.  But I will say to all of my friends out there that you need to pray about the employees at my job.  There are things going on there that are stressful for all of us.  We need your thoughts and your prayers as things are getting more difficult.  On the flip side, Heather is really starting to enjoy her job and is starting to really get into the job.  There are moments when she is really tired because of the amount of hours she is working, but she enjoys the job.  The kids are excited as they are getting ready for All County auditions and their winter concerts are approaching rather quickly upon us.  It is amazing how quick Thanksgiving and even Christmas are approaching upon us.  Tonight, I had plans on making it Rochester on time to get to the Strong Museum for the kids and I to do a walkthrough, but traffic in Syracuse decided that wasn’t going to happen.  So, we stopped at the mall after dealing with an accident and decided to just go straight to my parents’ house and deal with the event tomorrow.

Okay, let’s talk about Chapter 50 of “Star Wars – Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader” by James Luceno……

‘Star Wars – Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader’ – Chapter 49

Well, this past week has been crazy still!  I can’t say how much you start to realize that you take something for granted until that object is taken away.  We have not had our van for over three weeks now and I gotta say that my wife was about to crack this week.  I think we are both starting to loose it simply because of the lack of sleep that both of us have.  I have been getting up early to help get her to work and she has not been able to get home at a reasonable time to get a quick nap between shifts, which helps her to recharge her batteries to continue going for the day.  Our prayer is that we can get the van back before next weekend, otherwise I have to cancel on a major 501st event, and it would be awful if I had to do that.  I realize that life comes first, but I hate cancelling on major events especially with not much notice.  Besides, I have been looking forward to that event.

This week was crazy and it all culminated in a bad day at work today.  My day was so stressful today at work that I pretty much forgot everything that happened last weekend and everything that happened this past week.  My wife came today after work, picked me up, and took me out right away.  We went to the movie theater and got tickets to “Thor: The Dark World”.  We then went over to Applebee’s and had dinner along with some drinks and then went back to the theater and watched the movie.  We then came home and going through all of that actually got me to forget some of my awful day.  Now, I want to talk about “Thor: The Dark World” for a little bit, so if you don’t want any spoilers, don’t read the rest of this blog, skip to the bottom and read the review:

So, after seeing Thor tonight, there were a lot of questions that came to mind when dealing with Thor in the movies, versus Thor in the comic books.  And there is one glaring difference – Thor in the comic books actually wears his helmet and it makes him look like Thor.  Thor in the movie, never seems to wear his helmet and it makes him look extremely wimpy as a character.  Thor is supposed to look like a God on the warpath that is ready to fight at any time, yet the Thor that we see on the screen looks nice and “dreamy” for all the girls out there, but when is Thor finally going to be marketed to the men and not all the women out there.  Sorry girls, I know Thor looks all dreamy with his long hair waving in the wind, but without his helmet, he just does NOT look like Thor to me or any other guy for that matter.  On to other things.  This storyline had me baffled.  I expected a continuation of some of the storyline from “The Avengers” and at least some sort of reference to the post credit scene which included the use of the Super Skrull.  Where were the veiled references?  Where were the Avengers references.  There was one, only one reference and again, there were massively missed opportunities.  On the flip side of that, as a stand alone movie, the storyline was interesting and at least kept me involved in the movie the whole way through.  I liked some of the comedy and I really appreciated how the role of Loki was written into the movie and the storyline.  As I watched this movie all I could think was that the movie was more about Loki than it was about Thor and I like the fact that he was used as much as he was.  It was not an awful movie, but it did not have me clamoring for another Thor movie anytime soon.  Honestly, the best part of the movie was including The Collector in one of the post credit scenes to imply that The Collector may be involved in another Marvel movie somewhere along the line.

Okay, let’s talk about Chapter 49 of “Star Wars-Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader” by James Luceno……

‘Star Wars – Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader’ – Chapter 48

So, before I talk about this week, my buddy Gary Boughton reminded me that I never talked about one of the other major events that I had last week and I want to talk about that quick before I talk about this week.  I had a last minute chance to participate in a “Weird Al” concert with the Garrison Excelsior of the 501st.  It was SO much fun to be able to participate and it was part of my “Con High” from last week that I forgot that it helped to set off my con high.  We practiced the song and then went out and performed with Weird Al and it went off flawlessly.  Then, after the concert, we had a chance to meet up with him, take some photos AND Weird Al signed my Tie Pilot backplate.  That was also AWESOME!  Okay, let’s talk about this week.

Another busy week with a LOT of things going on and I gotta say that the news on the van was not all that good.  As a matter of fact, it got worse and I wasn’t sure how to handle that news as it was. So let me talk about the week.  Saturday was an interesting day and night.  Heather got a piece of work which was okay, but made things a little more difficult because that is when I found out that things were not going to go well.  I got up and took Tara to the store to get some brown sugar to bake chocolate chip cookies and found out that the van was NOT fixed and I knew this was not going to be good news.  Only later would I find out just how bad that news was going to be.  So I came home and told Heather that we needed to ground the van for now.  Later that day, our Aunt showed up and did Ruth’s hair for Homecoming Dance which was tonight for CV.  I decided to take Austin and Tara with me and all of us joined Gary and headed out to Owego for their Zombie Walk.  It was a small Zombie Walk, but for their first year, they had an excellent turn out and I know they are already planning for next year.  We got done and came home.  We then all decided to go out for dinner so we got dinner at “Moe’s”, came home and hung out for a while and then went to bed.
On Sunday, Heather had a morning piece, so I took the kids to church by myself and then we came home and I started to work on my next big project, improving the Gonk droid that I own.  I tore him apart today with plans to rebuild him with all sorts of cool things like running lights, a radar dish, and even a “gonk” sound.  As I did that, I watched the “St. Louis Rams” game from last week and have to admit that I watched the team get out of control and how a coach did NOTHING to get the team back under control.  I don’t know which part of this game was worse.  Losing our star quarterback for the rest of the season, or the fact that our defense is SO out of control that they had several players ejected from the game.  Anyway, after a lot of work and watching some other TV  shows I picked up the kids from Binghamton Youth Symphony Orchestra and then came home.  That night I posted my frustration about our van and a co-worker posted that her husband was a mechanic and that I should check with him.
Well, on Monday, Heather got the van to the mechanic and the news was NOT good.  We had to make the fated “keep it or not keep it” discussion about the van.  We found out the van needed new head gaskets.  Now, anyone that knows anything about vans will tell you that the headgasket is one of the most expensive fixes on a vehicle that you can ask for.  I’m not going to say how much we are paying on here, but it is almost half of what we paid for the van upfront.  Of course, we did get the van for a song and dance.  We had a long discussion about it and decided that we were going to put the work into the van and keep it.  The rest of the week flew by in chaos, but we were lucky that Heather had a friend at work that let her borrow his car for the week which made it easier.  We made it to tonight and the plan was to podcast and then get that car back to the owner in Owego, but we had two people cancel for podcasting, so it actually made it easier on us and Gary rode with me out to Owego and we returned the car, came home and hung out for a while and went to bed.  My parents show up tomorrow and the house is a mess.  We are going to have to do some quick clean-up tomorrow morning.
Okay, let’s talk about Chapter 48 of “Star Wars – Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader” by James Luceno……