I’ve been pretty busy… my once regulars will probably have summed as much and faded away, attracted to those that update at least periodically. Thats fair enough. I can’t blame you, or them.

Anyways…

I am still busy. Actually really busy, and likely to get busier.

Bode well for updates? Probably not.

But I can try my best.

But enough of this… why am I so busy?

Well, work is ramping up, and will continue to do so over the next month or so as I temporarily take on extra duties.

I recently installed mounts for two speakers either side of our fireplace in our living room. That was a pretty decent sized project (and I am not talking about off the shelf type mounts - I made these from scratch out of some 1×2 lengths of wood), at least for me, and I got to use some new tools that my father-in-law generously gave to me. Unfortunately, that is just the beginning. Now I need to run speaker wire inside the wall on the other side of the living room, up into the ceiling, across it, and then down the side of the fireplace on the other side of the living room to the speakers. Once I do that we should have 7.1 surround sound from our entertainment center. But that seems like such a long way away, a journey of running wires, navigating studs, crossbars, crawling in attics, banging heads (mine, mostly), trial and error, and probably some mistakes to cover up. Yup, fun fun.

The NASCAR season ended last Sunday. Jimmie Johnson won the Nextel Cup series. Booo.

To celebrate another NASCAR series, I present to you, NASCARgot:

Downloaded the single player pre-release demo of Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare and have played it several times over the past 24 hours. Damn, I should not have done that. Now, I completely desire the game. It looks beautiful, in fact its stunning. The action is relentless. The combat is realistically scary and sometimes makes me forget that I am in the comfort of my office chair. An amazing game. I must have this at some point. MUST.

Some screen captures of me in the thick of battle:

There is a disabled Abrams tank being attacked but enemy forces, your squad is sent to provide support until attack choppers can arrive… but first you have to make your way through the city where your unit is currently located to reach the tank - and time is of the essence because the tank squad is fighting for their lives.

Pinned down, trying to make your way through buildings:

Here’s the a view through the scope of a sniper rifle:

The final battle in the demo reminds me a great deal of scenes in the movie Black Hawk Down. There’s what feels like a over whelming force of enemies, armed with RPGs, AKs and mounted machine guns just drooling at the thought of taking out the tank that you are sent to support.

Amazingly, Call of Duty 4 captures not only intense action, but also incorporates a lot of emotional situations for you to endure. I am thoroughly impressed, even with this tiny glimpse of it.

You can find out more at the Call of Duty 4 website, where you can also find the demo to download. Its on shelves now, so you can also just go out and buy it.

• Unexpected weight loss surgery surprises even the surgeon!
• Review of the upcoming Beowulf movie. Don’t forget that it is opening on November 16th!
• This is just one of the reasons that we keep all of our cats indoors. What a pain in the ass when you are running late for work!
• 3D RSS Reader called Voyage. For those not familiar with RSS, its just a method of syndication - for example, I syndicate my The Scott English Show posts via RSS to anyone that wants to pick them up. The Voyage website is a really neat interface for reading those syndicated feeds
• Inertia.com. When you register a domain name like Inertia, you are really putting yourself at a disadvantage on getting anything ever developed there. These guys have had this domain registered for 10 years now…
• ZOMBO. ANYTHING is possible at zombo.com!
• Nose Pilot. One of the most bizarre animations I have experienced.

• 300: The Board Game!
• Cute photo of Chi Chi the chihuahua enjoying a glamor session (Bonus: What getting an eyebrow makeover looks like when done by a beautician that has her eyebrows shaved and penciled in).
• Cute photo of Tiny the chihuahua making every morsel of dog food count.
• Fourteen personal observations from about Jetson Stamina. Asterisked apostrophes and all.
• Cox + Combes Washington NSFW! He’ll save children but not the British children! (Thanks Crickie)
• Dr Tran’s Quiet Log Time. (Thanks Crickie)
• Beowulf is coming!! (It opens November 16th) I have a feeling that I might be seeing it in 3D on IMAX in the near future. Woot! (Thanks Mom!)
• Call of Duty 4 is in stores now and looks like it would be my new electronic drug of choice, were it not for the fact that my video card smelling like it had been recently fragged (not to mention my budget).

Amusingly, this hits close to home as Keet does exactly this same thing when he thinks its time for you to get up, and I have a baseball bat next to the bed.

Yes, I have a baseball bat next to the bed….

Expect a picture of me with a black eye in the near future.

Jared entered the store while I was in the back looking at the Transmission Fluids. I do not know that his name was Jared, just as I do not know that the names of the store’s two sales staff were Hank and Mike, but it will do for the telling of this tale.

I first noticed Jared as I was standing in front of the counter waiting to check out. He was asking after a part for his car. I stared at the candy lined up in racks against the front of the counter (vaguely wondering what candy had to do with auto parts), and dismissed each brightly packaged bar as containing sugars, chemicals, colorings and preservatives.

Hank, the larger, and stockier of the two sales assistants asked Jared, “What year is it”?

Both Hank and Mike looked like mechanics. The types of blokes that had project cars cluttering up their garages and when they were not covered in grease they were probably eating chips and salsa watching NASCAR on television, washing down the whole experience with a six pack of Bud.

Jared, an African American wearing a sharp set of trousers and shirt, looked guarded when confronted with that question … were these people trying to play a joke on him?

Jared, trying not to sound foolish but sound confident at the same time tentatively ventured, “It’s two thousand and seven… of course.”

A smile crossed my face as Mike came over to serve me.

“No, no, what year is your car?”

“What year is it?”

“Yeah, your car, what year is your car?”

I handed over my credit card.

“Ummm…”

“What year was your car made?”

I signed my receipt, grinning privately.

“Oh, I honestly have no idea.”

I glanced to my left. Hank was showing the utmost patience and Jared looked decidedly embarrassed and uncomfortable.

“Well, let’s go have a look…” Hank gestured out to the parking lot in front of the store.

“Oh, my car is at home”

I walked out of the store with my transmission fluid and smiled. Jared reminded me of myself. Until a few years ago, I really had not known that much about cars. I sympathized with Jared and at the same time, the humor of the situation only served to remind me how far I had come.

As I left the store, I started to walk home as I had left my car there too. Kudos to you Jared, for leaving it when you thought it may not wise to drive. Next time you will know to check for the “year of your car.” Small steps man, small steps.

Ladies and Gentleman and Others!

The Great Pumpkinhead for 2007 has been chosen!

Crickie and I held the 3rd Annual Pumpkin Carve Off recently, and we invited you, our devoted readers to vote on the best pumpkin carvings.

A bit of history before we get into the results this year: Crickie won the first year competition, and I managed a win the second time around. As a result, there was a lot of pressure this year on both of us as we were determined to break the tie.

You, our readers came out in great numbers. We had a fantastic turn out at the voting booths. For that, a big thank you!

The votes came in fast and furious and the results were checked and double checked by both of us. This was the first time that we held the voting in two places - my first time here on The Scott English Show.

And…

We tallied up the results thusly:

Kiss Pumpkins: 11 votes
Leatherface Pumpkins: 11 votes

Ladies and Gentlemen and Others, for the first time in the history of the Annual Pumpkin Carve Off we resulted in a tie! While this momentarily bewildered us - we hadn’t thought that far ahead, and some friendly bickering back and forth, we have both been crowned The Great Pumpkinhead for 2007!!

Here is a picture of me taking a picture of myself having accepted my award:

And now the reveal…

The KISS pumpkins were carved by Crickie:

The Leatherface pumpkin was carved by moi:

Thank you to everyone that voted this year! We both hope to see you again next year!

The Great Irony of Cat Grooming is a universal law, as far as I have been able to ascertain, and it is one that I assert for all of the science and pet journals to pick up thusly:

“Those cats that are not really in need of grooming enjoy it, whereas those that really need it turn into hell spawn and spare no thought at shredding you into ribbons at the mere glint of a comb”

My two short haired cats (Keet and Ming) enjoy being combed. Missile, my long haired ratty cat, gets evil red glowing eyes and hisses and yowls so abyssally that it sends shivers down your spine.