New Words in a New Morning

This morning Abigail woke up and was making various noises so we got up and brought her to bed with us.
I said, “Can you say, ‘Good Morning?'”
She said, “Morning.”
I said back, “Can you say, ‘I’m Awake.'”
She said, “Wake.”

What a treat!
This little girl is so much fun.
She gets excited about the dogs and really likes it when they bark.
However, she really likes the cat which she calls ‘kittycat’, and sometimes ‘duck.’
I don’t know if she calls it that because she forgets, or if she just likes ducks, too.

Anyway, we love having fun with our little girl, and we’re having a great time in IN.

Resting in Him,

Randy “Abby’s Dad” Peterman

The Boy Who Could Do It Better

A Completely Bogus Interview

In an effort to connect with the underground film industry I have interviewed
Simon Jackson, an amateur director who, while not from New Zealand, says
he likes kiwis (with the skin peeled).
Simon says that he was really disappointed with the way Peter Jackson filmed
the Lord of the Rings trilogy and hopes to shoot his own version that
follows more closely to the books by the original author.
Jackson’s goal is to be able to use the Camcorder he got for Christmas last year
and the money that his grandma gives him each year for the holidays to buy
props, and special effects kits.
He’s hoping he can use his high school’s Macintosh computers for some CGI work.
Being 17 his means are limited, but he hopes to make up for that with raw talent
and the passion that young actors can deliver.

rp.com:

Simon, we understand that you’re upset that Peter Jackson and his writers
hacked the books up and used a great story as a backdrop for their own work,
is that what motivated you to start filming your own trilogy?

Simon:

Yeah, when I saw the first movie and saw that they cast Liv Tyler as an elf I
said to myself, “You can’t do that to the woman I love!
You cheapen her.”
Dude, it’s like this: you have to use names and faces that people don’t
recognize, otherwise people have a hard time seeing the movie for the movie.
Take Agent Smith [Ed.: from the Matrix] for example, if you remove his
glasses, and add some pointy ears, he’s still Agent Smith.
I want to make my movie fresh, and without the stigmata [sic] of Keanu Reeves.
And Sauruman totally used his moves from Star Wars Episode 2 in LOTR, which
cheapened both movies.

rp.com

So you have a thing for Liv Tyler?

Simon:

Um, yeah.
As if everyone doesn’t think she’s the hottest thing since Julia Roberts, she was
my first crush.
Liv is so talented, I think that after I release my version of the movie
she’ll hear about me and maybe I’ll have a chance with her.
You’ve got to have your goals.

rp.com:

So tell us what you plan to do for special effects and things like horses, and Orcs?

Simon:

Well, this kid I know at school uses flash to make really cool animations,
kinda like Homestar Runner.
I think that with enough time we can make pretty cool sequences and the anime
look that we can get with flash will really enhance the independent feel of
the film.
I know that WETA used Massive [Ed.: a computer program that creates
special effects characters], but I think that the keyframe technology of
flash lends itself to a more edgy feel.

rp.com:

So what things would you tell other, young, aspiring directors?

Simon:

I’d tell them to go out there, and start now, forget movie school, get a camera
and get out there, the ‘net is changing the way people can get movies, and
watch them.
When I’m done I’m thinking about getting my own domain and just distributing
that way.
Or maybe I’ll put it on Kazaa.
That way people thinking that they’re getting a ripped version of LOTR will
get mine and I’ll be able to get into the eye of the public.

rp.com:

Don’t you mean, “The Public eye?”

Simon:

Whatever.

rp.com:

One last question: When you showed us the clip of one of the battle scenes you
filmed the guys with Chewbacca masks running around yelling, “I’m an Orc,
I’ll get you!” [Ed.: should have been yelling, “I’m a dork!”]
really seemed odd and we thought, um, crumby.
Why did you use that?

Simon:

Dude!
Don’t make fun of me, I’m working really hard on this, and I haven’t gotten my Christmas money yet!
Oh, shoot, my mom just called me to go takeout the trash.
But you wait, when I’m done with this it’ll be way cool!

rp.com:

Thanks for the interview Simon, we’ll, uh, look forward to seeing your rendition
of LOTR, hopefully your parents have a good attorney for the legal issues
that you’ll have publishing a copyrighted work.

Vacationing on Sunday

Today was a pretty relaxed day, I was so tired from lack of sleep
(Abby didn’t sleep well last night, again).
I went back to bed around 10 and took about an hours nap.
Afterwards I tried to help John set up his new office desk, except that Bush Manufacturing put holes (pre-drilled) that were way out of
alignment.
Later Jessica went with John and ‘the girls’ (Kelsey and Kristin) to see
The Nutcracker.

While they were there Abby said ‘night-night’ for the first time.
Karen said it to her and she replied it back… it was sweet.
Abby’s had multiple firsts at each of the grandparents’ houses and its been neat.
It’s cool being a dad.
Karen and I had a good talk while Abby was down.
One thing is for sure (and Karen will tell you this when you meet her) – she
doesn’t hold anything back.
Her honesty about what she’s thinking is always good, she tells me when I’m being
too technical, or theological, or any of the other things I get too
detailed on.
It keeps me grounded.

Tonight the plan is to play several games.
Games are often the centerpiece of our evenings here, which is great, because I
really enjoy games.
I hope that having practice with Empire Earth will help me win at Risk (Mission Risk).
When I married Jessica I had no clear idea of how to play Risk, John has
indoctrinated me 🙂

Resting in Him,

Randy Peterman

We Made It!

We have officially arrived in IN.
Abby is having quite a time being treated to the attention, and is pretty upset that she can’t open all of the presents yet.
Since I’m here I may not be able to update the blog too often, but as I have time I’ll do my best.

John and Karen have redone much of their downstairs area and have re-arranged things. It looks real nice.
OK, I better not be too distracted by the computer or I’ll get in trouble 🙂

Resting in Him,

Randy “Voyager” Peterman

Empire Earth

Last night
Tony
Nuzzi
and I played Empire Earth together for some time.
We experienced a few technical difficulties, but over all had a fun
experience.
However, we didn’t get to finish because we had to go to bed.
We’re getting ready to go to Indiana tomorrow, and we’re looking forward to
the fun we’ll have there.
The snow that I think is there should be fun for Abby, but only if she’s
feeling better, she’s been running about with a slight cough.

Tonight I’m going to try to get some more pictures of Abby up, and maybe
even some footage of Abby opening presents.
She’s become quite the accomplished actress, a drama queen, by most accounts.
The best part is her overly exaggerated “Hi’s and Bye’s.”
The worst part is the dropping to the floor when she doesn’t get what she
wants.

Well, I must go to work and then to my chiropractor’s appointment.
Have a blessed day and a blessed Holiday season.
May the peace of Christ dwell in you richly today and every day!
One last thing: I should be able to put up articles remotely, but I won’t be
able to put pictures up until after we get back home.

Resting in Him,

Randy “Pixelator” Peterman

Too Early to Tell

You may not be a Lord of the Rings Fan, but if you’re like me you are always curious about movie takings (box office revenue).
One site to check out for a daily tracking is
Box Office Mojo.
What’s fascinating is that they have all of the weekly statistics up for all
of the movies.

That’s all for now,

Randy “Stats Man” Peterman

Boggy Day

Due to some private things that took place last night I’m pooped again today.
It’s the holiday season and I’m so distracted by work, the issue that came up
last night, and the fact that the leaves are finally turning fall colors
here that it doesn’t feel like Christmas yet.
Maybe I’m just so used to snow from Nevada, or at least ice and cold weather
here (we’ve had that previous winters at least) that it just feels sort of
‘ho-hum’.
Jessica of course tries to keep things festive and Abigail is so cute opening
presents that its hard not to smile really big (we’re opening presents
early because we won’t be in town for Christmas and we’re surely not going
to haul them to Indiana and then back down).

Other More Happy Things

  • I’d like to also point out that
    FeedDemon
    is just nearly out.
  • We watched Freaky Friday last night and enjoyed it.
    It’s not mediocre, or bad enough, to go in my reviews section.
    Sometimes I had a hard time remembering that each person was really
    just the actor, and not really switched around, which means that they
    did a good job.
  • The US is not going
    to torture Saddam Hussein.
    Well, not technically any way, we’re going to interrogate him for hours
    and days, we’re going to make him watch videos of people being
    killed by his men, and we’re going to make him have to wear a tutu.
    OK, that last part is made up.

Resting in Him,

Randy Peterman

Mrs. Potato Head

Jessica is all excited about some starchy movie that’s been released on DVD
this week, Freaky Fry Day.
It sounds like a bad teenie bopper movie about some teens who work at a fast
food joint and discover that their deep fat frier is creating monsters
that will take over the world if they don’t figure out the write mixture
of other fast food chemicals to counter the morbid fat.
However, I’m actually an informed individual and I know the movie is really
just a straight to the store take-off of Toy Story.

This of course looks like its going to try to ride on the coat tails of
another smash food hit, Lord of the (Onion) Rings.
You’d think this sort of trash wouldn’t sell but apparently the American
public is not discerning in its eating patterns or entertainment.
That’s of course not a big surprise, I mean we’re on Survivor 6 (or is this
600? I haven’t watched a full episode before).
Technically if you want to see people survive make them eat
only fast food for weeks at a time and watch what happens
to them.
It could be more tolling than the latest strain of the flu.

Actually, after I’m done typing this up I’m going to be going to be going to
rent Freaky Friday and I’m going to watch it with Jessica.
I understand that there is some really funny stuff in the movie.
I also understand that my humor is not main stream, which is why
Dave Barry
is a Pulitzer Prize winning writer and I’m a self supported blogger.

Speaking of Dave Barry, I’m reading his most recent (to my knowledge) body of
work, Boogers Are My Beat.
This is great!
It is actually a compilation of his writing for “The Herald,” but they’re
good writings, ones you’d put on your refridgerator when your kid brings
them home with “Good Job!” in red ink on them.
If you don’t have any kids then you might not do this, however if you have
kids you have or will do this, trust me, I have done this lots of times
with my imaginary kids.

The End

I’m so close to the end of the book of “The Revelation of Christ”
(Revelation) in my reading through the New Testament that I can almost
taste it.
I’ve only got a chapter and a half left, I hope to finish tonight.
Next year, I’d like to invite you to read through the Bible with me.
It’ll take dedication and self control, but if we read about 4 chapters a
day we can do it twice in a year.

Resting in Him,

Randy “Is a Really Punny Guy” Peterman

Moral Duty

Today I read on another website about how employees of photo developers
(particularly one hour photoshops) were being put in a bad place because
they were having to develop images of things that were questionable, and
in some cases images of things that are illegal.
The problem was that their employers were telling them to ignore the moral
implications of the images and just develop the images leaving the
photographer to their privacy.
The problem with that lies in the fact that when people are harming other
people, or preparing to harm other people, they should be stopped.
Ignoring something on the grounds that a person has assumed privacy is
irresponsible, and it leads to moral apathy.

Similarly if we had been able to identify that one of the people involved
with the Columbine, Colorado events back in 1999 because they had put some
note in their garbage and somehow that note was discovered by a sanitation
worker, would the information in the note be considered invasion of
privacy if acted upon by legal authorities?
Anyway, I was irritated to hear that and because Walmart is one of the
perpetrators of such policies I’m glad to take my photo business else
where.
Now, I don’t want to play the ‘guilty by association’ game, so if you have
your images developed there, that is fine.
I’m not a political activist, I’m an evangelist for truth and Jesus Christ.
Get your relationship straightened out with Christ, and then we’ll worry
about your camera 🙂

Resting in Him,

Randy “Hot Potato” Peterman

Long Year on Tap

Next year will be a longer year, at least by 24 hours.
That’s right, because on February 29th we’ll get to do more.
This is probably a big deal for union labor since that’s an extra day that
they have to work.
Salaried employees get to give 7-24 more hours of work to their employers for
free.
However, the truth be known we’re so blessed to have the jobs, clothes and
niceties we have in the USA.
After all today the former dictator (AKA
Richard Potato) was found in a dirt hole hiding.
Of course once we found him we gave him a nice warm shower, a medical
check-up, a nice shave (I don’t know if they gave him a razor or an
electric shaver – sharp objects may not be good for him) and a news
conference announcing his capture.
They don’t do that for me at work when I come out of hiding on the
weekends.

But this is America.
And Today in America we opened the Christmas presents we got for each other
before we hit the road (figuratively, we’re flying).
That way we could have a week of playing with toys, things and such before
going somewhere else and playing with more toys and things.
This also allowed us to have a little bit of private, intimate, family time.
Of course family time with Abigail consists of reading short books over and
over and then deciphering some of her hand gestures to figure out if she’s
saying she wants a banana or that there’s a hand grenade in the piccolo –
her sign language is a wee rough.
Anyway, back to the present(s).
Jessica got Indiana Jones and the Temple of DVD’s, some gloves for kneading
bread, Pirates of the Carob Bean, a cutting board, a spatula, and a Creme
Brulee kit (without butane[!?]).
Abby got so much stuff that we had to have an addition added to our second
story apartment, so now our apartment building looks like something out of
an M.C. Escher picture, but at least we can fit all of her toys in her
room.
I got socks, underwear (Sponge Bob Boxers!), a calendar, magnets (words for
the fridge), Cranium, and a Dave Barry book (Boogers are my Beat).
There could have been other things, but frankly I can’t recall, it all
happened so quickly and I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.
Abigail helped unwrap the gifts, in fact if she wasn’t helping unwrap she was
pretty upset.
I think that the next 5-6 years of our lives will be filled with this as our
child(ren) grow(s) up.

So, as I think of overthrown dictators in small holes with $750,000
USD on them, I think of
all of the other Iraqis who are stuck living in their smallish villages,
waiting to see if they’ll be able to turn in another person who’s face
showed up on a list of most wanted men via playing cards.
I am sad for them, not because playing cards encourage gambling and they may
not have the money to lose at the tables, but because I know that they are
right there with their families this Christmas, and when they see a
United States soldier dressed in a red suit they’ll be confused.

Resting in Him,

Randy “Overly Affluent American” Peterman