Blog Girl and I bought the Heroes Complete First Season DVD set this weekend and are looking forward to watching it in its entirety to refresh our memories before the second season begins on September 24th!

Monday morning Blog Girl and I were up bright and early so she could drop me off at the airport on her way to the Mouse’s corporate offices. I had done almost all my packing the night before and gathered all my remaining items and we were out the door and at the airport 2 hours before the flight departed. We kissed on the curb in front of the departing flight level and I went inside with my baggage and got in line, happy to have everything going so smoothly. Some 5 minutes later when I stepped up to the ticket counter the young lady took my e-ticket, greeted me and asked, “May I see a picture ID, please?” I reached to my back pocket for my wallet and as my hand closed on empty space my stomach simultaneously gave me that sinking feeling that you dread having. I had forgotten my wallet!!

I stepped out of line, pulled out my cell and called BG and we quickly worked out a plan; she would return home, retrieve my wallet and bring it to me at the spot we kissed. Here is one of those (many) reasons I adore her; though this would probably make her late to work she never uttered one word of unpleasantness or displayed any kind of bad attitude. When I thanked her profusely later when she handed me the wallet, she said “You would have done the same for me”. Yes, I would have…just not as nicely. Thank you, ma chérie.

Other than that self-imposed glitch, everything else went very smooth. my flight arrived 10 minutes early, and even though I had to wait in line almost an hour, the folks at the car rental desk were gracious and helpful (I ended up with a Hyundai Sonora, a nice car that even has a sunroof which I haven’t tried out yet). I arrived at my hotel at 1:30pm and they were adamant that I could not check in until 3pm, so I grabbed some lunch and then went to the office to meet folks and get started on some paperwork and training. When I got off at 5pm I drove the 15 minutes to my hotel and checked in without a hitch. My room is a suite with a front room that has a 32″ TV in an entertainment center on the front wall, a three-person sofa on the left wall with an end table and a stuffed upright chair cornered to the sofa. The right wall has a two-seat dining table then a small sink, mini-fridge and microwave. Opposite the little kitchen area is my bathroom and then the back room is the bedroom with a king-size bed, nightstands, spacious closet and a set of drawers with another 32″ TV on top facing the bed. The back wall is a double window that gives me a beautiful view of…the front parking lot. Oh well, lol. Best of all, the rooms have wireless Internet!

I went back out after getting everything unpacked and hung up and/or put in drawers to buy a few groceries, then came back to the room ate dinner and sat down to watch TV. More on that later.

Work is going well. There is a lot of training, reading of policies and practices and classes to attend. Friday I get to drive to Americus, GA for a big press conference that will involve both of the U.S. Senators from Georgia and several U.S. Representatives, a mayor, etc. I just have to “shadow” one of my trainers, keep my eyes and ears open and my mouth shut, lol. But I have a LOT to learn in a month and while I am enjoying it, I am mentally exhausted at the end of the day. Tomorrow I’m going to try and start using the hotel’s fitness center for an hour each night to de-stress. Amazingly, they have no pool! I was looking forward to swimming while here.

This is not as hard on me (I’m a cave-dweller, remember?) as it is on BG, because of my hermit-like ways, but it’s still lonely here without her. Fortunately, we have a cell phone plan that allows unlimited cell to cell calls and long-distance that is free all the time, because we have been logging a lot of hours on the phone. Last night we chatted on webcams for about an hour and it was nice for both of us to see each other. Technology definitely makes being apart easier to take. Plus I’ve been in e-mail contact with lots of friends and loved ones (keep them coming!) and spent some time talking to my oldest friend, Dave, on the phone last night.

I noticed tonight, while watching the news on WSB-TV (the ABC affiliate) that former Orlando TV reporter Ross Cavitt is working here in Atlanta for WSB-TV. I always enjoyed Ross’ space shuttle program reporting and it was nice to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar city.

Speaking of seeing a familiar face, I also saw John Morgan doing a commercial for Morgan & Morgan, which I thought only had offices throughout Florida, but apparently has expanded. I almost felt at home!

Finally, this was in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper under their “The Vent” section (similar to the Orlando Sentinel’s “Ticked Off” column) which was in response to an article a few days ago about people moving to the Peach State, and made me laugh out loud;

“Floridians are now moving to Atlanta? Just what we need - more Yankees”

I keep telling Vanna White that I’m a happily married Masked Blogger, but she just keeps on flirting with me. It’s sad, really.

First, I want to thank Beth W. of MegaCon 2007 for issuing press passes to The Masked Blogger and his associate ZenGrrl. We enjoyed covering various aspects of the Con and the access that the press passes allowed us. I’m already thinking about adding video coverage for next year’s MegaCon. Thank you, Beth.

Here’s some final thoughts on MegaCon 2007:

Outside of a seemingly unending variety of Superman tee shirts (I wore 3, a different one each day, myself), there were 2 others that seemed to be very popular; the “Evil Keeps Me Young” black tee shirt with white lettering and the “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted For Roslin” tee shirt which came in a multitude of versions.

But by far the one tee shirt I wanted to buy as a gift for a friend of mine (you know who you are, lol) was the one that proclaimed “Dip me in chocolate and throw me to the lesbians!” Too bad I’m so cheap.

The “celebrity” guests were a good mix this year. Noel Neill, Margot Kidder, Lou Ferrigno, Sean Astin, Kevin Sorbo, Mary McDonnell, and Jamie Barber on the media side and MegaCon Guest of Honor Dick Giordano, Adam Hughes, J.G. Jones, Adam Kubert, Amanda Conner, Barbara Kesel and perennial MegaCon guest, legendary artist George Perez, among many others, made for a slate of guests with something for everyone. I even saw Virgil from WCW and WWE Wrestling at a signing table, but sadly no one was in line to get his autograph.

Speaking of George Perez, the man is still looking absolutely fantastic following the diet and exercise regimen he’s been engaging in to control his diabetes. In fact, he looks like one of the superheroes he draws. And on a cool side note, I just noticed that on his website he excerpted part of my blog entry from my Saturday post.

I believe this is the first time ever that I have attended all 3 days of the Con, usually I have attended either the Friday and Saturday shows or just the Saturday show. Maybe next year I’ll be able to take part in some of the after hours events as well.

I do have to say I was disappointed in some of the disorganization that was apparent. MegaCon is a huge event and the bigger something is the more of a chance there is that something or somethings will go wrong. I thoroughly understand that some guests have to cancel at the last minute, especially when there are blizzards grounding flights. I have no problem with that. I understand that not all of the volunteers will be well informed and so won’t be able to answer your questions, even simple ones. I know that sometimes, last-minute sessions will be thrown together and that, subsequently, presentation media equipment will not be on hand or in working condition. I can see where someone responsible for scheduling a panel session may not know how popular the guests might be and would hold the panel in a room much too small for the eventual throng. I’m aware that programs are printed at the very last minute, in order to be as current as possible, and that as a result there is an increased chance for typographical errors that will list incorrect rooms or times for panels and sessions. I even recognize that someone responsible for printing an official sign may not be educated enough to use the proper form and spelling of a crucial word. But when all of those problems, mistakes and errors (along with some I’m sure I’m not aware of) come together at the same time and location, it can prove frustrating to attendees.

My hat is off to the organizer(s) of MegaCon. As I said, it is a HUGE event and undertaking and it would be impossible for everything to go exactly right. But it seemed that there was a higher incidence of problems at this Con than those I’ve previously attended. MegaCon is such a prestigious convention that I would prefer to see as much of it go right as is possible.

If you’ve never been to a MegaCon, you should definitely make plans to attend. Next year’s MegaCon 2008 takes place on March 6th through the 8th and I’m sure it will be one of the best MegaCons ever.

Today was the final day of MegaCon 2007. As predicted here yesterday, today’s crowds were much smaller. When Michelle and I arrived at 10AM, we had no trouble parking and upon entering the 3rd level of the “C” hall we could look down on the Dealer Room and actually see open floor instead of a solid mass of people.

We decided to take advantage of the relatively quiet Dealer Room to finish our shopping. Michelle wanted to pick up a couple of things for her friends and I had some final things to pick up for family. I limited my shopping to family members who would enjoy the unique offerings of MegaCon and did not even buy anything for myself (though I was sorely tempted to do so) because of trying to save money for our upcoming trip to France. I just kept repeating, “Remember France, remember France” every time I was tempted to pick up a comic, graphic novel, artwork or piece of memorabilia. I also picked up a LOT of freebies, like posters and promotional comics, for Mikey to enjoy.

Frugal shopping caused me to miss a seminar I wanted to attend, “Anatomy of a Pin-up”, and to be late arriving at Mark Simon’s “Thriving Artist” class, but it put us in the room early for the Kevin Sorbo Question and Answer session that was scheduled at the last minute late last night or early this morning) by MegaCon. Thankfully we had checked the update bulletin board (actually looking to see if anything had been cancelled, not added, lol) and found out about the former “Hercules” and “Andromeda” star’s appearance.

Mr. Sorbo is a very personable actor who enjoys making puns at every opportunity. The audience was mostly composed of females who no doubt used to watch “Hercules” to see Mr. Sorbo’s muscular physique which was often showcased on the show, or gaze at his handsome visage. But he proved to be more than a pretty face with his quick wit and detailed answers to questions that were posed. Personally I only watched perhaps 3 episodes of “Hercules”, which I found to be more or less silly, and despite my best efforts I could never develop an interest in “Andromeda”, though I thought Mr. Sorbo was excellent in the late Gene Roddenberry’s story that was originally written back in the ’60’s. As he put it, “I went from Herc to Kirk”. All in all, this was a very enjoyable question and answer session and it was kind of Mr. Sorbo to agree to such a session without it being previously scheduled.

Then we moved to the room next door to watch “Arne Starr Presents”, which is Arne’s regular offering at every MegaCon. Arne is a working actor, comic book writer and artist and regularly shows the latest trailers and previews of upcoming films. as well as sharing news about current industry news. Here’s a list of the trailers we got to see during the 90 minute presentation:

Bug

Dead Silence

Disturbia

Black Snake Moan

Grind House

The Reaping

Are We Done Yet?

Pride

Hot Fuzz

The Lookout

Zodiac

Reno 911

Ocean’s 13

TMNT

The Kingdom

Live Free or Die Hard

The Number 23

The Invisible

The Last Mimzy

Sunshine

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

300

Ghost Rider

Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer

Transformers

Spider-Man 3

Rather than take the time to link each of the above titles, I’m going to suggest you Google them if you want to check the official movie sites. Some of the trailers I have already seen in theaters or on TV, but many of them I had not and there are now a few extra films that I plan to add to my movie-going schedule.

After that it was time for me to say “Goodbye” to MegaCon 2007, while Michelle remained to check out the final panels and do an interview with Lloyd Kaufman of Troma fame. I’m sure if you check out her site or Orlando MetroBlog, you’ll find her latest views on MegaCon 2007.

Tomorrow I’ll have some final thoughts about this year’s MegaCon. Hope to see you then.

“….Underdog is here!”

When I was a kid I enjoyed watching the cartoon “Underdog”, who was, in his secret identity, lovable shoeshine boy until he opened the secret compartment on his ring and took the concealed pill that would transform him into the caped canine with the gift to rhyme.

Over a year ago I heard that Disney Studios was planning on producing a live-action version of the classical cartoon and thought, “No way will this fly” but the studio just released some publicity photos and…well I may have to fit this into my Summer movie schedule after all for a trip down memory lane.

Here’s the studio plot description:

After an accident in the mysterious lab of maniacal scientist Dr. Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage), an ordinary beagle unexpectedly finds himself with unimaginable powers and the ability to speak. Armed with a fetching superhero costume, Underdog (voiced by comedian Jason Lee) vows to protect the beleaguered citizens of Capitol City and, in particular, one beautiful spaniel named Polly Purebread (voiced by Academy Award® nominee Amy Adams). When a sinister plot by Barsinister and his overgrown henchman Cad (Patrick Warburton) threatens to destroy Capitol City only Underdog can save the day.

Underdog opens in theaters across the country this Summer, with the hilarious tag line of “One Nation, Under Dog”.

I’m lying here in bed in the BlogCave coughing my lungs up (oops, one just landed on the keyboard. Give me a second here to put it back in). At least I’m not suffering from the sore throat that felt like I must have swallowed hydrochloric acid and a nose that basically became a mucus faucet stuck on “open”, as I was for the previous 3 days this crap has been in my body.

We took down the Christmas decorations and tree today and got everything put back in the attic or hauled to the curb. That took about 2 hours and I was completely worn out the rest of the day. Slept about 5 hours in the afternoon and don’t have much of an appetite (good start for the upcoming diet/exercise program), but I’m not as achy feeling as I have been.

The required bed rest has given me a chance to read one of my Christmas gift books, Wally’s World, and I may even get to finish one more other book before the end of 2006.

Some sort of morbid curiosity (my friend Jenn will know about that particular kind of curiosity) made me half-sit, half-lie on the couch last night at 10pm watching the circus on CNN regarding Saddam Hussein’s execution. Commentators made the statement that “Hussein and his two co-conspirators were being hanged for their role in the 1982 Dujail massacre, in which 148 Iraqis were killed”.

That got me to thinking…the shrub and his two co-conspirators, Donald and Dick, are responsible for the deaths of almost 3,000 American soldiers and the wounding of tens of thousands more. That doesn’t count American contractors, soldiers from countries in the “coalition of the willing” (or their civilians who are in the country) or even the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens who have been killed.

Is anyone suggesting they face a hangman’s noose?

I didn’t think so.

After kids and grandkids left the BlogCave on Christmas morning, BlogGirl and I proceeded to clean up the living room and kitchen and to check online for movies to go see. BG decided she wasn’t really in the mood for “Rocky Balboa” and we eventually settled on “Eragon” which was showing in the early afternoon.

However, as the time to leave to go to the movie theater draws nearer, the weather worsens and just as we would normally be getting into the BlogMobile, thunderstorms blanket the Orlando and Central Florida area. We decide to forego the movie theater trip and instead stayed in the BlogCave to watch a DVD I had given to BG for Christmas, “The Lake House” starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in a story of love crossing time.

Of course the storm blew through quickly and just as we would have been sitting in a darkened theater to watch “Eragon”, the skies were clear and the sun was peeking through the window. So, later in the afternoon we ventured out to see the movie and then enjoy a meal at Bennigan’s afterward. The movie was “ok”; not great and not horrible, but to be fair I had a headache and (for some reason) was sleepy. Of course, “Eragon” opened at number 6 across the country over the weekend, so maybe “ok” is an accurate review.

Here’s what BlogGirl gave The Masked Blogger for Christmas:

Star Trek The Next Generation - The Complete First Season. This has been on my Amazon Wishlist for years, lol, waiting for the price to come down. I used to have all 7 seasons on VHS video tape (homemade by me with commercials edited out), but when I put this (and the remaining 6 seasons) on my wishlist, I started taping over the shows because I knew that one day I’d be getting all 7 seasons on DVD. Granted, the first season is not this series’ best (Roddenberry was supplying recycled scripts that he originally planned to use years earlier when he wanted to bring back the original Star Trek series, which never happened), but ya gotta have that first season.

Star Trek The Next Generation - The Complete Second Season. Same comment as above, with the exception that, while the stories improved in this season (but wouldn’t really hit their stride until the third season) I hated the replacement of Dr. Crusher.

Amazing Marvel Universe. This is a cool book because it is more than a printed book, it is also an audio book. The book includes 50 of the top happenings within the Marvel Comics universe over the years, with the added bonus of 45 minutes of commentary by the creator of many of the Marvel Universe characters (as well as being the former editor and publisher), Stan Lee.

A MetroBlog Logo Black Tee Shirt. Since I write for Orlando MetroBlog, I thought it would be neat to have one of these and mentioned it to BG a couple of months ago…then promptly forgot about it, so I was surprised to open a box and find this in it. Even more surprising is that this shirt only has the “MB” logo on it, not the word “MetroBlogging”. That means if I want to I can tell everyone the initials stand for Masked Blogger!

Frommer’s Best RV and Tent Campgrounds in the U.S.A. This is a great addition to my library. It’s a book I can use personally for locating camping locations when I go tent camping and one that I can use as a reference professionally for my other writing job. This is almost 1200 pages of site reviews, amenities, fees, photos, directions and maps of almost 5,000 RV and Tent Campgrounds in the continental United States.

Marvel Heroes 2007 Calendar. Every year BG gives me a calendar to hang in my office next to my desk. They are usually either Star Trek, Comic Book or fantasy artist-themed. Sometimes I point out one I would like in the days before Christmas and sometimes she surprises me. This year she really surprised me because she didn’t give me one! That’s right, I didn’t get this gift until the day after Christmas when we were walking through an office supply store and I saw the calendar display and exclaimed, “Hey! You didn’t get me a calendar this year!” It completely slipped her mind. We laughed and she let me pick this one out.

SanDisk Sansa e250 2GB MP3 Player. My newest toy. This one was really a surprise. BlogGirl said, “I wanted to ask you if you wanted one, but I knew you’d say you wouldn’t use it if I did, so I just got it knowing you would use it if you had it”. That’s why she’s my wife, she knows me so well. I can play audio files, video files, listen to FM radio and use it as a digital voice recorder. This might be fun to listen to when I’m hiking, though I usually prefer to listen to the sounds of nature around me…we’ll see. I know I’ll use it when walking for exercise. At least now I can look like all the kids that work in my office. Ok, I won’t really look like them, but I can have this hanging around my neck with the earbuds stuck in my ears like them.

I think that concludes my list of Christmas gifts this year. Now I just need to carve out enough time to enjoy them.

‘Twas the day before Christmas and all through the blog,
The Masked Blogger was bloated from too much egg nog!

Sometimes I wish they would outlaw the stuff, because I have no willpower when it comes to that sweet nectar of the gods. I have an unopened half-gallon in the refrigerator right now, yet I almost bought another when I was at Publix earlier this morning, “just in case”. Frankly, the only thing that stopped me was that our refrigerator is so full of holiday food that there really is no room for a single egg with which to make the nog.

As has become the norm lately, my schedule has been hectic and full. I received one of those typical “promotions” at work; more responsibility, more workload, same money. Worse than that, it has necessitated leaving the department I have headed for 18 months and the wonderful staff (still the best in the branch, as far as I’m concerned) I had the pleasure of serving with. On the other hand, I am looking forward to the challenges my new position will bring and the broadening of my knowledge base.

There have been very few moments of rest at home either, what with my new writing assignments, wrapping gifts, cooking food for the family dinner tonight at BlogGirl’s parent’s home, getting the BlogCave prepared for tonight and tomorrow morning, running errands that must be completed and driving 2 hours each way yesterday to visit BlogMom who is in the hospital with a severe UTI and dangerously low (so much so that she passed out) blood sugar. The good news is she is due to be released today.

As is our tradition, tomorrow, after the family has left and we have cleaned up the gift wrap debris and the breakfast mess, BlogGirl and I will hop in the Blogmobile and go see a movie. This year we have many choices, which has made the decision making process difficult. The first Christmas Day movie we saw was a Sylvester Stallone movie, “Daylight”, so I (being the traditionalist that I am) would like to see “Rocky Balboa”, but there are other movies that look good too, so we’ll see what we feel like tomorrow.

If you are a “24″ fan, you should watch this cute little Christmas video.

By the way, “24″ will air its season premiere on Sunday, January 14th, 2007. I’ll be getting home from the weekend camping trip with my father-in-law and 3 brothers-in-law that afternoon, so it will be a great homecoming.

And this video is fun to watch, even moreso if you have ever done voice-over or audio narration (the latter which The Masked Blogger has done in the past). Boy, does that bring back memories, lol.

Don’t forget, you can track Santa’s progress at NORAD’s site. Did you know that NORAD (formerly CONAD) got the idea for offering such a service because of a 6 year old who dialed a wrong number looking for Santa? It’s true.

“The tradition began after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. store advertisement for children to call Santa on a special “hotline” included an inadvertently misprinted telephone number. Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief’s operations “hotline.” The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first “Santa” call on Christmas Eve 1955.”

However you celebrate the season, from here in the BlogCave I’d like to wish you a Happy Holiday. Have fun, enjoy family and friends and above all, be safe out there.

Earlier today I was watching “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” and almost fell off the couch when, during an interview with our excuse for a president, George Bush, the two Georges had this exchange:

STEPHANOPOULOS: James Baker says that he’s looking for something between “cut and run” and “stay the course.”

BUSH: Well, hey, listen, we’ve never been “stay the course,” George. We have been…we will complete the mission, we will do our job, and help achieve the goal, but we’re constantly adjusting to tactics. Constantly.

Is this guy serious??? Is he now lying so damn much he can’t even remember the numerous times he’s mouthed the words, “Stay the course” in reference to Iraq? Is he so stupid that he doesn’t think every previous quote from him with those words is going to be cited over the next few days?

I can’t wait to see what Jon Stewart does with this on his next show! LOL!

Here’s just a few examples of how often the shrub has asserted that we must “stay the course”:

July 10, 2003 - “We’re making steady progress,” he said. “A free Iraq will mean a peaceful world. And it’s very important for us to stay the course, and we will stay the course.”

August 30, 2003 - “We will stay the course, we will help this young Iraqi democracy succeed, and victory in Iraq will be a major ideological triumph in the struggle of the 21st century.”

April 13, 2004 - Three times in the same speech “And, yet, we must stay the course, because the end result is in our nation’s interest.”

“And my message today to those in Iraq is: We’ll stay the course; we’ll complete the job. My message to our troops is: We will stay the course and complete the job and you’ll have what you need.”

August 4, 2005 - “We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq.”

August 30, 2006 - “We will stay the course, we will help this young Iraqi democracy succeed, and victory in Iraq will be a major ideological triumph in the struggle of the 21st century.”

And yet today this doofus stated, “Well, hey, listen, we’ve never been “stay the course“, George.”

Hmmmmm…maybe the shrub has decided to “cut and run” from his “stay the course” mantra of the past 3 years.

This is the kind of thing that always happens when Cheney and Rove pull their hands out of Bush’s ass and let him speak without their puppeteering to control his mouth. Now, Tony Snow will have to figure out a way to spin this so his boss doesn’t look like the biggest moron this side of Kim Jong-il.