Taking the Plunge, and Other Random Acts of Insanity

I bet his name is Cliff...

Speaking of living life without a net...

So my Sweet Chris Nicole "took the plunge" on Friday and went and got herself hitched! With our blessing, of course. Here's a few random pics, because, you know... "pictures or it didn't happen!"

The happy couple, in front of the judge (hidden on left) with a buncha paparazzi in the background.

With this ring... you know the rest...

Paul and Chris Waddington

That's my "Serious Father-In-Law" face...

Off to Vegas with ya! Go do that thing married people do.... argue!

So, yeah, it was a nice, quiet affair, with "his and hers" families in attendance. Afterwards we ate a big (and I mean BIG) meal at a local restaurant and sent the happy newlyweds off. 

Shifting gears... I'll call this video Wake Up Call of the Year...

If you don't want to watch it, lemme give you the rundown. Paraglider in the Himalayas, enjoying his first flight there ever... about 30 seconds into the clip, a pair of eagles (?) collide with him, and one gets tangled in his chute. Thank God for the spare, eh? He plummets to a tree-covered hilltop, and miraculously, both he and the bird are ok. Crazy, eh?

I bet he called his wife to tell her how much he loved her, eh?

So I took wifey to see The Avengers, finally... I give it a 7 out of 10. It was a fun ride, all things considered. If you don't think about what you're seeing. Setting aside the whole "alien demi-god arriving to lead an army to conquer the unsuspecting earth" angle, there were things that made my brain explode... worst of it all was the flying aircraft carrier...

So they land a couple of the superheroes on this aircraft carrier in the ocean (where it belongs, eh!), and then these four retractable whirly-engine type things spring out of *somewhere* and rev up... then the entire ship lifts up into the air and flies away, spending the rest of the movie cruising at what looks like 20,000 feet. I had to fight SUPER hard to keep my mind away from this monumentally stupid movie element. Can you imagine what it would take to get a craft that large into the air? A Nimitz Class aircraft carrier, fully loaded, displaces almost 100,000 tons. That entire craft would need to be filled with whatever fuel they'd need, and it would be gone in like 2 minutes. And those four stupid rotor things would tear themselves apart before they even started to make any noticeable lift. And forget about the noise it would generate... no one on board would be able to talk, except with hand signals, and then they'd never be able to hear again, like, ever.

And of course, while airborne, it is attacked by the baddies and one of the whirly engine things is blown off... and the ship stays airborne with only three, slowly losing altitude, because, hey, who needs four, right? It's not like it would pitch right over into an ugly-as-sin barrel roll and plummet right to the earth like a comet or anything...

And don't get me started about the suit that Iron Man wears. I could possibly stretch myself to think that the suit is somehow made of Adamantium, or some other indestructible metal, but regardless of whatever it's made of, how does it prevent the G-forces and the pounds-per-square-inch exerted on the dude's body itself as he crashes into the ground at who-knows-how many hundreds of miles per hour. Some of those impacts would reduce his body to mush inside that awesome suit of his. 

OK, fine, whatever. See? The more I think about it, the lower my score wants to creep. Those were just two of the biggest eye-rollers for me. But, hey, at least it had Scarlett Johansson in it, eh? Hey, don't roll your eyes! It's either her or Gwyneth. The rest of the cast is for y'all ladyfolk to admire.

Anyways, I'm glad I watched it, but I wouldn't have minded waiting for the DVD.

"Yeah, the restroom is in there... just don't look down..."

They built that water-closet over an old elevator shaft... muahahaha! Someone has a twisted sense of humor...

So, on the fantasy book front, I recently read on James Daniel Ross' website that his book "I Know Not" is being edited and revised for re-release, with new cover art and substantially less grammatical gaffs. Plus, he's beginning work on a sequel of sorts! So, cool! If you missed out on my review of it a few months back, read about it, and then grab the book when it's re-released and enjoy it! That is, if you enjoy that sort of thing...

And now...

Words I Hope Never To See In Another Fantasy Book Again (part 6):

• Verdant: This word annoys me to no end. Please don't describe the valley as "lush" and "verdant" anymore! PLEASE!!! 

• Daub and Wattle: Good grief, everywhere I turn, there's another daub and wattle hut being described in some village somewhere. Sometimes, it's written Wattle and Daub, just to mix it up! JUST STOP! 

• Trencher: This one goes along with "rasher"... if I see one more "rasher of bacon" or "trencher full of *something*", I'm going to scream like a little girl with a skinned knee. 

• Magick: Please just spell it regular, without the K. You're not being clever or creative.  You're being annoying, and you need a swift kick to the buttocks.

So, I guess that's it for tonight. Come on, that's enough hot air to satisfy even the staunchest of Dave Aficionados...

Adios for now,

Dave and Wattle