Trip to PA (and aftermath)
Two weeks ago, on Friday morning (the 16th), Mom and I headed out for PA to spend the weekend with my big brother Peter (wolfchylde) and Tony (tonybbb). We first took our car to Jiffy Lube for an oil change, but when it was finished, we almost didn't head out, because of a misalignment with the air filter, which kept us in the middle of the street for 15 minutes, until one of the Jiffy Lube guys rushed over and fixed it immediately! I was pretty thankful for that. We meant to head out at about 11AM, but were just slightly late, heading out at 12 noon.
On our way up there, when we were in Maryland, it was unbelievably cold (when Mom and I stopped off at Burger King for dinner; I had the delicious and spicy Angry Whopper), and was pretty much getting ready to snow! We finally got to PA on Friday evening, where we met up with Peter and Tony for dinner at Henning's. I was more interested in having a desert than too much dinner (a peanut butter sundae). When we got back to their home, I watched cable on their Verizon FIOS system. It's still incredible! Peter and Tony's cats, Oliver and Roxy, are a little grown up, and both are no more than a year old! (Oliver's the older one.) Every time I see Roxy, I sometimes think of either Felix the Cat, or Mittens from Bolt (I still owe my readers a review of that film!). :)
On Saturday, Mom, Peter, Tony and I had lunch at a neat diner. We might have gone to some other places to shop around, IIRC. Later that night, a friend of Peter's came over (forgot his name, but it begins with an S). Since Peter was too tired to socialize, he asked me to show his copies of videos I made for him to his friend (including Ultraseven X and Tomica Hero Rescue Force). He really enjoyed them, especially Rescue Force, which Peter copied for him later on. While we watched Ultraseven X, Mom made us chili for dinner.
Sunday, Mom, Peter, Tony and I went to Philadelphia to meet Ingrid (chaoslin) and Robert (madcurry) at a neat restaurant in Chinatown. The food there was really good (it was a buffet-style table serving)! After we finished, we went over to Ingrid & Robert's house, and hung out there for a couple of hours. I chatted with Robert, as usual. He's planning to redo his comic-book project into a video game! I look forward to how it turns out. Of course, I also showed Robert my recent art stuff, including new Rekira stuff. He saw that I did a sketch for a Rekira puppet, and was so awe-inspired that he told me that making the Rekira puppet should be one of my biggest goals this year!
Later, in Ingrid & Robert's living room, everyone is gathered to watch some Blu-Rays on the PS3, as a demonstration of their total audio-visual awesomeness. We watched the first few minutes of Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd, and we then watched the whole film of Disney's Sleeping Beauty. All I can say is, it has never looked better! It's in its original Super Technirama 70 aspect ratio (2.55:1), and there was so much detail I missed since I saw it on VHS! It's absolutely incredible. We also all talked about the film, and discussed how the film's true protagonist underall was Merryweather, because she had the most development of all the characters. That was an interesting observation! After we got home, I spent the rest of the night watching the James Bond film Thunderball on TV.
After we had brunch at the same diner, Mom and I left on Monday afternoon. It was very snowy that time, but we got home safely (even if our car got all dirty on the outside!). We also took home with us Peter & Tony's old entertainment unit for their TV set (since they already got a better one). This one really went with our TV & DVD player really well! I missed the Powerpuff Girls anniversary special, unfortunately (we got home almost a half hour after it ended), but I'll manage somehow.
Ironically, I came home with a cold and a case of larynxitis. That's clearing up by now, but the past two weeks were almost miserable. But as I recovered, I'm still enjoying the new setup in our apartment. A lot roomier! Life has been a lot different since Grandma passed away, but it's still good.
I've got more stuff to share shortly.
On our way up there, when we were in Maryland, it was unbelievably cold (when Mom and I stopped off at Burger King for dinner; I had the delicious and spicy Angry Whopper), and was pretty much getting ready to snow! We finally got to PA on Friday evening, where we met up with Peter and Tony for dinner at Henning's. I was more interested in having a desert than too much dinner (a peanut butter sundae). When we got back to their home, I watched cable on their Verizon FIOS system. It's still incredible! Peter and Tony's cats, Oliver and Roxy, are a little grown up, and both are no more than a year old! (Oliver's the older one.) Every time I see Roxy, I sometimes think of either Felix the Cat, or Mittens from Bolt (I still owe my readers a review of that film!). :)
On Saturday, Mom, Peter, Tony and I had lunch at a neat diner. We might have gone to some other places to shop around, IIRC. Later that night, a friend of Peter's came over (forgot his name, but it begins with an S). Since Peter was too tired to socialize, he asked me to show his copies of videos I made for him to his friend (including Ultraseven X and Tomica Hero Rescue Force). He really enjoyed them, especially Rescue Force, which Peter copied for him later on. While we watched Ultraseven X, Mom made us chili for dinner.
Sunday, Mom, Peter, Tony and I went to Philadelphia to meet Ingrid (chaoslin) and Robert (madcurry) at a neat restaurant in Chinatown. The food there was really good (it was a buffet-style table serving)! After we finished, we went over to Ingrid & Robert's house, and hung out there for a couple of hours. I chatted with Robert, as usual. He's planning to redo his comic-book project into a video game! I look forward to how it turns out. Of course, I also showed Robert my recent art stuff, including new Rekira stuff. He saw that I did a sketch for a Rekira puppet, and was so awe-inspired that he told me that making the Rekira puppet should be one of my biggest goals this year!
Later, in Ingrid & Robert's living room, everyone is gathered to watch some Blu-Rays on the PS3, as a demonstration of their total audio-visual awesomeness. We watched the first few minutes of Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd, and we then watched the whole film of Disney's Sleeping Beauty. All I can say is, it has never looked better! It's in its original Super Technirama 70 aspect ratio (2.55:1), and there was so much detail I missed since I saw it on VHS! It's absolutely incredible. We also all talked about the film, and discussed how the film's true protagonist underall was Merryweather, because she had the most development of all the characters. That was an interesting observation! After we got home, I spent the rest of the night watching the James Bond film Thunderball on TV.
After we had brunch at the same diner, Mom and I left on Monday afternoon. It was very snowy that time, but we got home safely (even if our car got all dirty on the outside!). We also took home with us Peter & Tony's old entertainment unit for their TV set (since they already got a better one). This one really went with our TV & DVD player really well! I missed the Powerpuff Girls anniversary special, unfortunately (we got home almost a half hour after it ended), but I'll manage somehow.
Ironically, I came home with a cold and a case of larynxitis. That's clearing up by now, but the past two weeks were almost miserable. But as I recovered, I'm still enjoying the new setup in our apartment. A lot roomier! Life has been a lot different since Grandma passed away, but it's still good.
I've got more stuff to share shortly.