Beware the cheap turtle, my friends

Filmhippie and I went to the Mobile flea market this last weekend. We strolled hither and yon for a while, eying hand-me-downs, making baby talk to puppies and making small (and not-so-small) purchases. I found some old D&D (Red box era, some older), she found some books and dishes. We had a good time.

Walking out, we came to a young Asian man with an aquarium full of small, happily swimming, turtles. He introduced them in a thick Alabama accent as red eared sliders (RES), and assured us that they were disease-free (RES can carry salmonella). We could adopt one for the low, low price of $10. We smiled, walked away quickly, and consulted our collective pocketbook and each other.

Filmhippie picked out a turtle.

"I'm running a deal, where you can get a second one for $5, so he will have a buddy." I can't convey the odd lilt he placed on the word "buddy". It was actually somewhat Pauly Shore-esque.

I picked out a turtle.

We got a baggie of food. What kind of food? Pellets! (Got better food later.) We decided against getting a tank, since Filmhippie was prettty sure she had one. We carried them hom in a solo tumbler, provided by the turtle seller.

Once we got back to Filmhippie's place, it turned out that she did not have a tank. We made a temporary home for them with a plastic container and some rocks and water.

Filmhippie kept them for a couple of days, but it turned out that the environment in her house was just too cold for the little guys to be comfortable. She brought them to my place, where I had a larger plastic container ready, with a brick basking platform and enough water that they could comfortably swim.

That was yesterday. I've spent a day and a half researching them online.  The cats spent that much time trying to get up to where the little guys were to research them in person.

After work, I went to the store (I had errands anyway) and bought a starter aquarium. Ten gallon capacity, pump filter, lid. Very important, that last bit. I got a basking platform and some gravel.

The new tank is all set up now, and it looks pretty good. The water's a hair deeper than I would like, but it's ok. The filter doesn't work, I'm not real sure why. I think it has something to do with the fact that the water level is several inches below where the inlet would naturally be. (I tried lengthing the inlet with a piece of hose, but there does not be enough suction. I can get a different filter later.)

It's a sweet setup. Pancho and Lefty seem to be happy.

Hopefully, I can keep them going well. RES can live 25 years in captivity. Eep.

Movie Time!

We went to see Kick Ass last night at the local cinema.

I know, I know, part of that sentence was unnecessary. Of course we went to the local cinema. Where else would we go? We're not rich and famous reviewers who get preview copies (although we could be!) and, we're not gonna hop a plane to go see it somewhere else, so local it has to be.

Anyway, before I was interrupted, I was saying: We went to see Kick Ass. Short review: See it. Longer review to follow.

Kick Ass is set in a world very much like our own. There are no costumed crime fighters, Jedi, living cartoons, demonic fetishists or living robots to be seen. It's a gritty, and somewhat mundane world. It's very home-like.

Into this world comes an average guy. He lost his mom to health problems, he lives with his dad, who has a regular hourly job. He's nerdy and loves his comic books.

Folks, we have our hero.

This simple guy decides one day that the world is shitty, the bad guys have taken over, and he's going to turn the tide. He starts training, and somehow acquires a striped wetsuit (Amazon has everything!) and a couple of batons.

He goes out to fight some crime, turning on some thugs breaking into a car. Things do not go well.

After his release from the hospital, he finds he has a much higher tolerence for pain. He patrols the neighborhood, looking for lost cats and doing general good deeds,, until he steps in to defend a guy being beat up by three thugs. The video of this fight is put on YouTube, and suddenly everyone wants Kick Ass to do something for them. Life is good.

Meanwhile, the local drug lord is losing manpower, product and money to...someone or something. There are rumors that a costumed vigilante is the one ruining his business. Logically, his attention falls on our hero: Kick Ass must die.

(It's at this point that I should tell you the rest of the plot, spoilers and all. If you're interested in the movie at all, or have read the comic, you most likely already know them. If you don't know, you probably don't care, or it's not on your radar. It wasn't on Film Hippie's until I mentioned that Nic Cage is in it. That made the decision to see it instead of How to Train your Dragon possible.)

I'm not going to spoil the rest of the movie. Instead, I'm going to talk a little bit about the movie. It is brutally violent, full of explicit language, blood and gore. There is at least one sex scene, and a little partial nudity. Don't be like the moron behind me and take your kid, please. Just because it's based on a comic book doesn't mean it's a great fit your little one.

I'm no one to rate the camera work or anything, but it looked gritty and real. The costumes were realistic, even when that meant a little ridiculous.

We both enjoyed it quite a bit. It is on our definite buy list. I am sure that film Hippie will talk about it on her blog later.

It was a great night out.

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Murdering a Doctor for Fun and Profit

We played Kill Dr. Lucky the other night. If you are not familiar with this fine game, it is something of a prequel to the time-honored Clue. Instead of acting as detectives looking for the killer of an unfortunate victim (Dr. Lucky in this game, Mr. Boddy in Clue), you're ganking the sumbitch. Or, at least, you are trying.

Much of the game deals with the failures of such attempts. When a player announces an attempt on the life of the good doctor, the other players can (and will) play failure cards to thwart the attempt. Failure takes many forms, from slipping on a banana peel to hearing cryptic music, each of the cards has a little flavor text, making failure interesting.

But, Menty, are there weapons? I don't think I could kill an old man with my bare hands! Of course there are weapons, don't be foolish. There's a spoon and a cannon, a duck decoy, and a bunch of other lethal goodies.

We played the old Cheapass version. I Haven't plunked down the coin for the fancy one from Paizo, but I am considering it. 

It took about an hour to play. Of course, it was the first time for all of us, and I kind of got lucky when I won (almost by accident!)

It's a fun game, a good counterpoint to Clue. Buy it.

In my life news...

I got a new job! More accurately, I was moved from one position to another (labor-intensive to not-so-much) today, with an option to apply for management.

I'm happy, tired, and have to go to sleep for an early morning tomorrow.

See you laters.

This one is late.

My fiancee is trying to convince me that being late can happen from time to time and is ok. I'm not buying it yet.

We went to marriage class tonight. It was informative, without the messiness of being overly interesting. I'm positive I'm losing IQ points when the discussion portion comes around.

But, we had fun before and after class. Before was sandwiches and nachos; After was a walk around Wal-Mart, followed by an impromptu game night. The name of the game we played escapes me, but it was fun. It was a dice thing, trying to get the number of the round 21 times in a round. Time-intensive, but fun.

If anyone is out there, what edition of Dungeons and Dragons is your favorite? More specifically, which one would you choose to teach 20-something ladies new to the game? It looks like I may get a gaming group up, if I can learn a game...

So, it's tomorrow.

I am going to add at least one post to this blog every day. It's a small promise to myself, to keep me in the habit of keeping promises and to get me thinking and writing on a regular basis again.

Note that I didn't say I'd try. I ascribe to the Yoda school of thought on the word try: "Do or do not; there is no try." I'm either going to make it every day, or I won't. I'm not going to give myself the excuse of "well, I tried, but..." Screw that.

Also, I will have more interesting things to say from here on out. About what, you might ask. Games, computers, engaged (and later, married) life, movies, cool stuff online, whatever comes to mind.