We just have to go away for a while and dream it all up again...

Plan 4 is moving.

We are leaving Blogger and putting on our big boy pants and running it all with wordpress. We have our own domain, none of that .blogspt.com crap. The thought was that it would be nice to have some of the big boy features, like categories, trackbacks, socialbookmarking links, etc. Blogger is rolling that out now but we've already boxed most everything up and sent it over to the new house. Its actually all over there now, we just want tp put up the drapes before we invite people over. Jan 1 for sure. Probably sooner. The place is a mess while we unpack. The biggest reason we want to move is that wordpress is more conducive to growth in a world wide takeover fashion.

Fake news by Chad and Todd #14

Massachusetts - FBI agents uncovered what appears to be a new breed of terrorist sleeper cell. A COOKS safe house in down town Middleboro was where agents found a lab used for weaponizing peanut oil. The COOKS, (Culinary Order Of Killing Stuff) were on the verge of deploying what some experts are calling a sophisticated recipe for disaster. Agents are also quick to point out that this has nothing to do with the film “Recipe for Disaster” starring John Larroquette and Lesley Ann Warren.

The peanut oil has been chemically changed to be not only lethal to those with peanut allergies, but any human with skin.

Although COOK members had refined the process and had working weapons grade peanut oil, internal strife kept if from being deployed.

FBI representative Special Agent Todd Mulder explains, “ It seems that half of the group wanted to use it in the creation of a main dish, and some thought it better used in preparing a side dish. Even among the two sides there was disagreement as to what wine to serve with it. It's just a case of to many cooks you know?”

The one where Chad becomes "The guy who..."

I did it! I used a phrase first! You know phrases such as "...cup of shut the hell up..." and "...Few sandwiches short of a pic-nic..." These phrases have been around forever. Well, I made one up today. I Googled it and got 0 results. I think that's enough to go on record as "the guy who made it up".

here we go,

"Flaming cup of queer"

I'm the first. When Google spiders me again I'll show up as the one. The one.

The one where Chad gets the memo

I found this on my PC, I made it for a guy at work . If you have ever seen the movie "Office Space" you'll get it. If you have not seen it. Well, sorry, I can't fill your netflix queue for you. Copy and paste it into your preferred word processing application. Make it bigger, add graphics, add more lines, fax it, email it whatever. Enjoy.

TPS
COVER SHEET

Date____________
Date of filing______________
TPS origin date____________
Name of filer_______________
Filer name _________________
Filed by ___________________
Number of pages ___________
Number on last page ________

The one where Chad talks Vista.

I have to apologize. Vista was late because of me... I insisted that Bill give it to me on floppy disk. Not 1.44mb disks either but 5 1/4 disks. Here is the package it came in.

The install will take a while.

The joke here is that Vista is big.

Vista
Microsoft

The one where Chad makes slogans

People make a lot of money creating slogans. My problem is that I don't come up with good ones. Here is a list of slogans that didn't make me famous or rich.


"The world is our workplace, specifically the part of the world that exists in the 30 yard open
top dumpster behind K-Mart"

"Children: It's whats for dinner"

"I want to be uriney"

"Our Product is the best: SOLD AS IS"

"You've found a winner, but it's not us"

"Be the best, make up for our worst"

"Dependability, Organization, Value, Pride. Not here buddy."

"Our Skill cannot be any more overvalued"

"No, no we can't"

"When nobody wants to be disappointed. Nobody counts on us"

"There are people who can do the job better than us, let us show you how"

"You need it done now, Oh, yeah, see, thats not exactly how we work"

"You need it done and you need it done right. Your asking to much."

"Success. Aim Lower."

"You chose us?"

The one where Chad cries tears of joy.

Today is a special day. A day my mouth has been waiting for and my body has been dreading. Today folks, is Tim Hortons day!

Today is the day that in Newport, the first local Timmy's is opening. Wow! to think a Timmys close to me! I feel like I've moved to the big time eh. I feel like I'm in Moose Jaw. This is the biggest thing since they repaved Rt. 2.

I'll be going over later to get a box of something or other and maybe a coffee. I hope to take Constable Frasier over with me for a couple cool photo ops. I hope they have some nice Tim Horton free giveaways. Kind of like the healthcare system.

Remember, everyone is Canadian on Tim Hortons day!

The one where Todd talks about sleep

People say, "I'm going to sleep now," as if it were nothing. But it's really a bizarre activity. "For the next several hours, while the sun is gone, I'm going to become unconscious, temporarily losing command over everything I know and understand. When the sun returns, I will resume my life." If you didn't know what sleep was, and you had only seen it in a science fiction movie, you would think it was weird and tell all your friends about the movie you'd seen. "They had these people, you know? And they would walk around all day and be OK? And then, once a day, usually after dark, they would lie down on these special platforms and become unconscious. They would stop functioning almost completely, except deep in their minds they would have adventures and experiences that were completely impossible in real life. As they lay there, completely vulnerable to their enemies, their only movements were to occasionally shift from one position to another; or, if one of the 'mind adventures' got too real they would sit up and scream and be glad they weren't unconscious anymore. Then they would drink a lot of coffee. And then I puked up hot dogs.

The one where Chad says "I'm not dead"

I have not posted in a while. The lack of posts is not because I have not wanted to, or had good material but because I did not want to nor did I have good material. Oh. Wait. Actually I was on vacation. Now that I'm no longer on vacation I have that "I don't want to get back to work" mentality.

Thanksgiving was great, I ate tons, I had all the pie I wanted and then I puked up hot dogs.

How about some previews? I'm working on a "Heroes" post. Don't expect much new to come of it, that show is great and everyone knows it.

Todd has some cool stuff "in the can" as we Pro's like to say.

I have not found Heidi G's current location yet but I think I will this month. ( not likely as I like the watch so much I think I'll keep it.)

I think we are due for a mysterious Man in the fire post. Probably something to do with a certain MMORPG...Wait, just had a great idea. Don't want to spoil it.

The premier of the Constable Frasier show! (currently in contract negotiations with my dog) The set is built. Frasier is busy now with hunting season.

Speaking of dog, she will be on the outside this month so look forward to the big dog release party.

So there you have it, despite the rumors, I'm not dead.

The one where Todd posts a "holiday" Top Ten

TOP TEN "Signs You've Eaten Too Much"

10. You ate the turkey, the pop-up thermometer and the plastic net

9. Last thing you remember is positioning your open mouth behind a dump truck full of yams

8. All your silverware is worn down to tiny stumps

7. While picking your teeth, you dislodge an angry construction worker

6. The green bean casserole is waving a white flag of surrender

5. This morning, the display on your bathroom scale read "Good Lord!"

4. You now have an butt the size of Plymouth Rock

3. People keep looking at you and saying, "I thought the Macy's Parade was over"

2. Your relatives can't go home because they're stuck in your gravitational field

1. You're sweatin' gravy, my friend!

The one where Todd posts... something

A FUZZY MEMORY by Jack Handey

One Thanksgiving my parents did something I don't know if I can ever forgive them for. We were eating our turkey dinner when I suddenly realized I hadn't seen my pet turkey all day. "Where's Mister Gobble?" I asked. Dad seemed confused. "Mister Gobble?" "Yes," I said. "My turkey. The one I picked out at the supermarket, and then after he thawed out I made him do a funny little turkey dance. Mister Gobble." Dad's silence said it all. We were eating Mister Gobble! I ran crying from the table and locked myself in my room. Later, Dad knocked on the door and said he had some dessert for me. When I opened up the door, I couldn't believe it. It was a slice of Pumpkie, my pet pie!

It seems Thanksgiving went unnoticed at P4 so I just thought I would throw this up a couple of days late. Pretty lame.
dte

The one where Chad posts about food and seeks Todd's guidance

**Blogger killed this post, I had to go back through after spell check inserted the new words in the middle of other words. Good luck reading it**

I brought clam chowder to work. Clam Chowda. I think as a Mainer its shame I don't eat more traditional New England fares. I'm sure Todd will have something to say about all this. He's a food guy.
Todd, edit in blue or red, just like we used to.


Chowders

Fish - If the rest of your family doesn't dig on Fish Chowder neither will you. I do love it though. Haddock if you can, just make sure its a whitefish. No matter the color of the fish, there is not enough connective tissue in fish to stand up to the long simmering process needed for some rich chowder.



Clam - Same thing here. Thankfully it comes in cans. Of course you need an electron microscope to find the clam chunks. I will take microscopic clam chunks over to much clam any day Especially if the clam shucker gets the junk parts of the clams in. Like clam necks.
Clams in a can are already cooked, so why would you continue to cook them in your chowder turning them to something resembling silly putty that was left in a drawer since Reagan. Get a clean screwdriver and some nice fresh clams. Talk to your fishmonger, devlop a relationship, even if you have engage in the dreaded "small" talk. You want the freshest you can get, make a friend there on the other side of the piles of crushed ice, he won't steer you wrong.

There are alot of recipes for "New England" Clam chowder all producing different textures and flavors. But keep your damn tomatoes out of there. "Manhattan" good movie, bad chowder.

Seafood

Lobster. I like lobster but frankly its not a must have for me. I built lobster traps and painted buoys for a lobster fisherman. I ate a lot of lobster. It did lose its special quality for me. A good way to have lobster for me is in something else. Specifically something cheaper like lobster cakes or stew. This is where we stray away from the chowder category and go straight to Bisque. There is no potatoes and it is usually a puree to retain the same consistent texture from the first spoonfull to the last gulp as you tip the bowl up to you lips to glean every bit of lobstery goodness.

Fish - I like haddock and a few other types of fish. Problem is that sellers frequently rename fish. You are not always assured your going to get what you thought you were asking for. Take "Scrod" for example. Who knows? It could be this or it could be that. Scrod isn't a fish. Just order a whitefish. Tilapia, Red Snapper. If I want to get local loco, Cod maybe. Again, ask your fishmonger what is FRESH and you you will hit a homerun everytime. And ask him for some of that crushed ice in the bag. Especially if you have more than a 15 minute drive home.

Mackerel - These are better off by themselves. They taste good but are oily. The best part about mackerel is fishing for them. I say the best part is throwing them back.

Clam -I prefer clams in stew rather than steamers, but nothing beats a clam fritter. Or as I call them, clam cakes or JJs, which is the name of the seafood shack where I first discovered these artery clogging meteorites.

We also got Cod, Stripped bass, Mussles, Crab, bluefish, flounder etc etc. Lots of junk from the sea. Like kelp, which is used in literally thousands of products.

Cakes and stuffed stuff

Clam - Clam cakes or "Fritters" if your from The Cape. I have a deep fryer at home just for making clam fritters. What a home made fritter is missing is the mix of other flavors from the over used grease at your local shack. When I make mine at home I put them in a paper sack so I get the greasy window effect. Last time I was at shaws I could not find the batter mix I used to get. Bummer. Get yer clam cakes ready-made in the brown bag with the dark stains that indicate freshness.

Stuffed Quahog - Places that are not there any more, "Alice's". Alice's restaurant (not the one from the song) was where I had my first stuffed Quahog. A Quahog is a big ass clam that has been emptied and filled back up with a special stuffing made with different stuff, most importantly clam bits. This was in Mass. Stuffed Quahog isn't all that popular in Maine. Shaws carries a store brand "stuffed clam" that's not all bad. The one I had recently had some bacon bits. I enjoyed that. Right down the street from where I am sitting is the Hideaway Lounge, which serves 2 varieties of these stuffed lovelies. The Standard Stuffed Quahog and what is called the "Hideaway Hog" The shell is standard but the stuffing is almost always regional. The SQ at Hideaway has clam or quahog bits, and they add lingucia and chourice(that is spelled and pronounced several different ways) both are a Portuguese pork sausage that used to be VERY regional around here, until that damn Emeril started blabbing about it. The Hideaway Hog is the same only add lobster, fish, shrimp and whatever they have lying around the kitchen that day. Served with a lemon wegde and two pats of butter. They are tasty, and dirt cheap, at 1.95, add a 1.50 draft beer and you got a meal that beats any drive-"thru" in price and taste any day.
Non Seafood

New England Boiled Dinner - vegetables (cabbage, carrots, onions, etc) and salt pork. Whenever my kids gag on something at the dinner table I try not to get to upset. The taste of salt pork did just that to me as a kid. I hated it.

Linguica - The different nationalities brought different things to the table in New England. This sausagey delight comes from the Portuguese folks. This one I eat quite a bit. Buy it, fry it up, slice it, dice it whatever. It's not a breakfast sausage, but it is a little sweet. NOT a breakfast sausage???!!! WhatderyouNUTS! Make an omlette(with fresh eggs) and stuff it with diced not ground linguicia that has been browned, and add the cheese of your choice, but a Kraft single or the equivalent is all you need, we are trying to showcase the linguica here not some fancy Brie. You will end up with what is the most tasty breakfast ever! (the exclamation points will now cease, **edit** (until the end of the post) my apologies, I hate reading them as much as you)


None animal foods
Maple Syrup. I've heard that Vermont is the largest consumer of Maine maple syrup. It gets rebranded as Vt .Made. If you've never had real maple syrup you may not like it. It hardly bares any similarity to the "Maple flavored goo" you buy in a store. Better yet, get some spiles and make your own. Very interesting legislature on this very topic, http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/legdoc.cfm?URL=/docs/2006/bills/intro/S-035.HTM
I find Mrs. Butterworth attractive, however her syrup (notice my ommision of the modifier: maple) would be better utilized as an adhesive for a welcome mat, or some other humorous household or office chore. Also the now retired "Vermont Maid" was also very hot. Unlike actual vermont "maids" which are usually unshaven, tree huggin (cause no man would touch that) gals who tend to hang around with other maids, if you know what I mean.
Fiddle Heads - Fiddle heads are immature fern plants that have yet to unroll and spread out. If you find an area that has had water but that's now receded that's a good place to start. Prepare them like you would spinach. If I remember correctly, the immature ferns with a V shaped stem are the ones you want, not the o shaped stem. Fiddle heads are seasonal. - spring Never tried them, I have had dandelion greens though.

Potatoes - We got billions of them.
I prefer Alaska myself, sorry Chad.
*edit* Blue Berries - We got trillions of them I think my dad is keeping the blueberry farms in buisness, he's been eating 2 blueberry muffins everyday since Nixon.
*edit* Apples - We got millons of these. The only thing I can say is that the apples taste best after the first frost hits them. I just finished off ½ peck of Mac Intosh apples in less than a week, I love Fall.

*edit* Cranberries -I almost got a little to "Maine" with this. Keeping with the New England food thought, lets not forget cranberries. I'll let Todd fill you in on those. Don't buy Wisconsin "berries" buy Cape Cod Cranberries they are actually red. And, um, add lots of sugar.

Game Animals

Deer - Venison is good but don't expect it to taste like steak. The older the deer the tougher the meet. A good eating deer is a young one. Don't poach one out of season. By poaching I mean shooting one in winter for instance. I hear the meet tastes off because of the winter diet of cedar tips and frozen fungus. That's Chad's turf, I'll steer clear of deer.

Moose - A moose tastes more like beef than deer does but its harder to get. Not that it's harder to shoot, that's as easy as shooting the family dog. Harder to get because you have to know someone who "Hunted" one. Again, I'll defer to Chad, since the one moose I ever saw in the wild was running down Chad's driveway at the time.

Bear - Greasy. Its ok, but I've never been a fan. Plus bear hunting requires a lot of work and I suck at hunting. Then there's the whole, human remains found in bear dung, thing.

Ruffed Grouse - Mmm, These little birds are nothing but breast. They taste good, especially if they feed on apples. It also helps that they are easy to clean. Step on the wings, pull the feet, breast up, and the bird pulls in two pieces. Take a sharp knife and cut the breasts off the bone. Be sure to pull out the bird shot. Always wanted to bread and fry me up some grouse.

Duck - Never had wild duck.
Greasier than Bear. The skin makes for some tasty, cracklin's though.
Wild turkey - Haven't had this yet either but I hear its a little tougher and gamier than our butter ball conditioned palates are used to.
Leave your Norman Rockwell expectations at the door and you might really enjoy a wild Tom.
Game Fish

Trout - Sadly this is becoming harder to get as the native stock is dwindling. Pan fried trout with fiddleheads and butter is a delicacy. Wash it down with some wild turkey, and I might try it, not a big fan of "slow" muscle fish.

Todd will step into this post I hope. He will also steal the show as that is his "thing". I just appreciate the bi-line props before I even sang a note. Color me flattered.

The term "take for granted" can not be used about something you know nothing about, only about things that are close. Personal. Something you encounter every day, or say, every week, or say, every Saturday night. I think you see where I'm going here Chad.
I had to add to ammend this post and call Chad out on his glaring omission.

Hot Dogs and Beans.
"Boston" Baked Beans to be exact. It's 10pm on Friday night as I type this, and our beloved grandmother has her beans soaking as I type these very words. When they finish their bath sometime tomorrow morining they will be prepared in the slow cooker or "crock pot" as traditional Boston "baked" beans. The crock in the wood fired brick oven has been replaced by the ceramic slow cooker, a much safer way to cook beans if you ask me.
These famous beans will be served at the equally famous "Saturday night supper". A tradition in our family, since oh man, Hoover, I guess. put it this way, I'm pretty sure the Red Sox were World Champs during the first Saturday night supper. The staple of the meal are the afforementioned beans and always hot dogs, All varieties, including Chad's favorite, the "red" hot dog. Other sides might be homemade rolls, cole slaw, carrot/rasin "salad, Ginny's awesome devil'd eggs. I eat those and I actually feel, satanic. To the point that I have to limit myself to 1, 2 at the most. They are tasty. Hmmm, some sides have been added in my generation, you know lame stuff like Kraft dinner, which takes about 4.2 nano seconds to make, and costs about 5 dollars per metric ton. More efficient? Yes. But look what you have to sacrifice: Flavor, Texture, A longer life, and it doesn't even make you fart, what a Gyp. I'll take the $1.19 bag of white beans that takes 2 days to prepare, any day of the week, except Sunday through Friday, because. . . Live from Carmel, it's SATURDAY NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!

The one where Chad talks about a different dog

When I was a boy, I didn't have birds or bees around to tell me about sex. I learned it from my dog, Paddington. Paddington was a terrier, beagle mix. A good old fashioned American mutt.
I'll skip the nostalgic, misty eyed talk about the dog and go straight to the sex.

Paddington had a thing for stuffed animals. He'd walk into a room, see a stuffed bear on the floor, and get a "look" in his eye.

The look said something like, "Yeah, I'm gonna go hit that bear"

The visual of Paddington plus the comment, "Oh, the dogs humping that teddy bear" were two essential elements that I used to put together what "Sex" was.

I remember years later after the novelty of a bear humping dog had long worn off, my friend came over and brought his stuffed dog.

Paddington went nuts. He was having his way with that dog within minutes of its arrival into the house. There was no long glances across the room, no days upon days of courtship. He was doing the dirty bird like it was the last time he'd ever get the chance. When he finished he looked like he had just been with The Bangles, The Go Go's and Banannarama. We had to put the stuffed dog up where he couldn't reach.

Here is a side note for this dog. My dad stayed home or was out of work or something. He taught the dog to drag his ass across the floor on command. It was the same way anydog with worms will do it, except he didn't have worms. You say "Pants on Fire" and he would drag his ass all over the place. It was the first thing we showed anybody who came to the house for the first time.
Happy Wednesday, I thought it was Tuesday.

The one where Todd posts random images

1. Zakim Bridge
2. The Citgo sign
3. The fuzzy bumps on the horizon line is the Boston skyline.
4. Town Hall in Weymouth, Mass.
5. Neponset River Bridge in Qunicy over the right side is docked the USS Salem C-139
6. A random pink house that had me singing that damn John "Cougar" Mellencamp song for the rest of the day.

The one where Chad talks about random topics

Some random topics that have not formulated themselves into full posts.

1. I wish that they guys who did the "Spitting Image" show in the UK would do it again. Spitting Image was the series that used the puppets more commonly known to US viewers from the Genesis video "Land of Confusion".

3. Sometimes I accept Myspace friends,sometimes I don't. I pick and chose but there seems to be no "method to the madness". I work with a guy who kept asking, finally I blocked him. Did the same to my friend Dave. Why? Don't know.

4. I like the song "Our House" by Madness.

5. I've been working on the "Constable Frazier show". Got the set built and am waiting for the Timmy's in Newport to open.

6. Found an issue of "National Lampoon" from 1973. Wish I had read this as a child. I got to read MAD and CRACKED but never had this around. Cracked kind of sucked.

7. I'm afraid of falling asleep in public as I snore quite loudly.

7. I am starting to get an itching and burning. I get it right before I feel the need to do a video thing. I need to do something BIG, Bigger than that damn albatross around my neck called "The Mouse". I just can't seem to hit those numbers again.

8. I have two 7's because I started typing in the "working backup" I put in Word Pad. I just kept it. Oddly though, I never had a "Hey, I've been here to #7 before" feeling.

9. I enjoy A-Ha's "Take on Me". The band at the Umaine hockey games does a great version of it. Who knows, they may do it at basketball games too. I wouldn't know, baskettball sucks and I don't go.

10. I have a habit of not labeling CD's. I just figure, I'll know whats on it... I have resorted to looking at a cd on the bottom to see how much data is burned. If its full, its video content or a whole CD of mp3's. If its just a little data, its most likely one TV show or a handfull of songs I was in the mood to hear.

RABIES WATCH 2006 : CHAD'S DOG!

I own a Siberian Husky. One particular trait that this breed has is a propensity to kill or attempt to kill smaller animals. On the 22nd, my dog tried to do just that. A skunk walked up to her (she's on a run) and she (my dog) thought it was playtime, and it was for a while. Play time consisted of jumping around and biting the skunk and then when the skunk tried to leave, playtime consisted of grabbing the skunk by the neck and tossing it into the air.

"Old Yeller" Duh...

Playtime now turned into kill time. The skunk never got killed because it managed to hobble off. Of course, it goes without saying it sprayed everywhere during playtime. Funny thing is the dog never cared that it was getting sprayed. Lucky for me I work at a landfill and have access to industrial deodorizer. It worked well. This all happened after 10 AM.
Here's where the fun begins for me. Because I could not get the skunk we have to assume it was rabid. Being out at 10 AM and hearing that it made visits to 4 other homes I have no doubt it was.

Great moment in Childrens film making.


This is the process I have to go through now. She has current rabies vaccination. I now only have to do a simple strict quarantine of 45 days. It can be done either, In the house or in a garage. Ok. I remember pretty clearly Old 'Yeller being locked in a shed for observation. He wasn't brought in to play with the kids... I can also send her to a state approved kennel. I'd put the dog down before I paid out that kind of money for a kennel. She's 13 and has always been an outdoor dog. It also seems quite inumane to bring a dog with that kind of a winter coat into a 72 degree house.

Neither the Animal Control Office or the Vet and the Game Warden have mentioned what risks there might be to my family. They both been much more concerned with her transmitting it to other animals.
So the dog is in lockdown until December 22. If she gets the hydrophobia you better believe I'll be posting about that. I wish someone would create a cool “RABIES WATCH” logo. OH, I could find a count down clock. If I find one it will be over there on the right ---->

The one where Chad sells the art of a family friend

YOU CAN WIN THIS ART WORK!
Tiffany, a friend of the family created this art and I bought it for .25
Now I'm selling it on Ebay. This is a lesson in capitalism. Yeah for capitalism!
(I told Tif I'd split the profits)


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250048139888

The one where Todd giggles whenever someone says POLL

I had lunch in the shadow of the Bunker Hill Monument. I ate my leftover cold pork chop a few yards from the spot that General Warren bled out. The Brittish won a phyrric (took the field but suffered the most casualties) victory in the Battle of Bunker Hill and took the Charlestown penninsula of Boston. The "red coats" were unable to recoup their losses however, and it was the turning point in the war for independence. We won that one.

Being there gave me the ambition I needed to go vote I feel silly every time I vote, but I do it anyway. Why do I feel silly? Every single person I vote for in Massachusetts WILL lose.

No machines in Middleboro, no lever, no touch screen, no hanging chads, just a paper ballot and a Sharpie. The dark shadow in the lower right corner is the belt clip on my cell phone/camera.
I noticed that there is no hubub about voters being suppressed here in Massachusetts because the politcians who complain about that are the ones who have this state locked up. It's only the close "R" victories where "irregularities" are alleged. I walked in with a camera and started shooting pictures no one seemed to care. I didn't get asked for an ID, I didn't even give the right address. I was also dissapointed about not getting to dip my finger in purple dye, like they get to do in Iraq. Good old Photoshop helped me out there though.

That's one handsome voter!

P. S. Sorry about the quality of the pictures today. I only had my phone camera today. I think the image processor on my LG flip camera phone is a potato(e) chip. As opposed to the 6.0 megapixel CCD on my Canon Power Shot S3 IS. Boo-YA!

The one where Chad makes it up on the fly

I usually write my posts out in advance. Sometimes, I'm a few days ahead. Today I'm live writing so to speak.
I voted yesterday. I don't know why I bothered, there wasn't anybody running that I wanted for anything. The choices for Maine governor were all lackluster at best. I can't believe this is the best Maine can do for candidates. John Baldacci won with just 38%. Shit B. 62% of the people DON'T want you! If a solid, real thinker, doer, well liked candidate showed up just a week before the election Baldacci would be back at the restaurant washing dishes.


GOVERNOR
John E. Baldacci 175399 38.44%

Chandler E. Woodcock 135314 29.65%

Barbara Merrill 96536 21.15% Good showing for an independent.

Patricia H. LaMarche 44936 9.85% Had this woman as a teacher in college. She had one great idea I thought and thats why she got my vote. I liked the one idea. Too bad people still think of this Lamarche when they see her name on the ballot.

''Driving drunk is like the scarlet letter of the '90s'' LaMarche

She's quite right. I hope she continues to press on with the ideas she brought to the table.








Phillip Morris NaPier 4152 0.91% By the way, this guy is a convicted felon who's biggest ideas were to A. Pardon all the felons and B. Abolish Income Tax.

I'll start planning my run now.

The one where Chad fakes his name

I started using fake names for myself when I was younger. Never for nefarious purposes, but mostly just for fun, calling radio stations, magazine subscriptions etc. I forgot most of the names but I've been Alan, Eddie and recently, Chad Nule. One of my first names I used was Paul Blankenship. I used that one quite a bit. Just this week I have been listening to public radio on my rides to and from work. Aside from loving the fair and balanced reporting of NPR and BBC radio, I like the music. There is a guy announcing early morning named Scott Blankenship. I thought I had made that last name up but as it turns out it really is a name, and quite a popular name as well. When I used Blankenship it was P.G. (Pre Google). Now I'll have to make up a new one.
Here we go,
Edward X. Foxhilderson

Foxhilderson does not bring up ANY hits so I think I'm safe. I should get volunteers to create a whole family of Foxhildersons. Make up fake news, events, statements. Then make a family tree. Then take over the world. The Foxhildersons could be whatever we wanted.
How cool would it be that the "Foxhilderson" family pops up overnight and out of nowhere. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks this is cool. If you join the Foxhilderson family let me know. Perhaps I'll set up a Foxhilderson Corp website.

Signed,
Edward X. Foxhilderson IV.

P4 October highlight reel

10/1: Todd posts about the greedy pumpkin farmers.
10/3: The premiere of the P4 RPG
10/4: Post 100 YT post of screen tests for prospective characters.
10/5: Chad discusses the rabbit ear reception. A rare topic in the post-cable age.
10/9: Chad takes that pious Christopher Columbus down a peg. I say it's about time, I mean Home Alone was pretty good, but what have you done for us lately.
10/11: The omni and the caper. I think that about covers it.
10/15: The Plan 4 clip show spectacular.
10/19: In between conversation inserts, Chad pukes up hotdogs.
10/22: Carmel to Hampden: the movie.
10/25: Pre-screening of KNIGHT ROOMBA
10/26: Hollow weenie, cheesy story posted by Chad. But that good kind of cheesy story, and then Chad puked up the hollow weenie. Those darn Sanford permanent inks, they don't digest very well.
10/30: Git yer deer yet? Trigger lock post from Chad.
10/31: A Veryfine post from Chad. I also remember the school vending machine. The one in my high school had very fine back in the day. I always got the 12oz. can of YooHoo, yum, I used to drink it on the way home with a Hershey's "Bar None" bar, now taken out of service. I loved those things.
Too lazy to type out all those links. If you want to read the posts again you know where to look.

The one where Todd slams a childhood hero

I have always loved Billy Joel's music. My neighbor Mike and I used to play his parents albums and our favorite was Billy Joel. I played the guitar (tennis raquet) and he played the piano (window sill) we knew all the words and sang along with Billy.
2 wives 3 DUIs and 6 Grammys later and he still has it. He's a little creepy lately, but I still like to listen to his music. I was at a party last weekend and the piano singalong started up and when they got to Billy Joel songs I was THERE singing along again. All I needed was a tennis raquet to jam along and the nostalgia would have been so strong, I would have passed out. Just like Billy, HA!

*I felt bad about that last post and had to counter. I did a little writing to go with it. I don't feel bettter though, damn.

The one where Chad finds some hot products

I had no idea Ass products were so big...

The one where Chad gets that map

I was google image searching Anna Nicole Smith Carmel Maine, and I found this map. Two thoughts went through my head.

1. OH NO CANADA'S GONE! and then

2. Some kind of Big Brother revisionism going on.

I made a call to the capitol of Quebec, Quebec City to find out more. The gentleman on the other end of the phone was equally concerned however, he went out side to check for me. He got back on the phone and said, "Yeah, Canada's still here, at least this part" I have yet to check out Moose Jaw, Kamloops, or Pugwash.

I kind of wish that this map was real. That would make Aroostook county good for something.

The one where Chad has a flashback

I was shaking a bottle of Starbucks Frappuccino...

I never do this but I smacked the butt of the bottle and it made that squish sound that glass bottles make as the fluid hits the cap end. That noise caused me to remember something. Not anything important but still, something.

When I was in Junior High our school had vending machines that sold juice. The bottles were short, squaty and had Styrofoam labels. If you peeled the label it would break off in horizontal strips. There was Grape, Orange and Apple. "Veryfine" was the brand. If you bent the cap a little after opening you can make a very loud clicker. The caps were sometimes hard to open so you had to smack the bottom of the bottle. Squish.

I have not thought about those bottles of juice in at least 17 years. remembering the bottles brings back memories of the vending machines that sold pencils, pens and notebooks. The pens came in a blue cardboard tube that was PERFECT for shooting spit balls.

It's weird how one sound can bring back those kooky memories.
The school that had those is the same school we shot "The Last Dance" in.




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The one where Chad talks about hunting.

I like to write. I like to work on Laptops, do video stuff, use Linux and read.

I also Hunt.

Here are some notes on yesterday's opening day.

I have exactly 5 rounds of ammunition at my house. I count them before I leave and I count them when I come back. I have had the same 5 rounds for probably 5 years. They might not even work any more. The only deer I'll be getting will be a very old one that may already be dying when I find him.

My daughter was given a gun lock by a game warden who visited her summer school class. I am in full support of gun locks and responsible gun ownership. However. I am in bigger support of remembering where I put stuff such as the keys to the gun lock. I had to cut the lock off with an angle grinder.

I'm never going to be able to skulk. I am not stealthy. I saw one deer during legal hunting hours. I saw him 2 seconds after he saw me. The big fluffy white tail on a deer is animal symbol for "Ha ha, kiss my ass, dope".

The last place I sat was on top of a small hill overlooking a well used trail. I sat and watched a red squirrel sit on a tree branch and eat some flora. He was quiet and I was glad for that. When I got up, I put my hand right down in some kind of creature shit. It was black, greasy and smelled awful. I think it was the squirrels.

VOTE NOW FOR ME!

NBC let us in. Apparently the thought of a half wit blogger talking ill of them brought them around. Go vote now! "Knight Roomba" http://www.itsyourshowtv.com/vote_ch07.shtml Vote early and vote often. IF YOU KNOW WHATS GOOD FOR YOU!

The one where Chad tells a Halloween story.

Marcus slowly crept down the hall and headed towards his kitchen. He had heard the refrigerator door open and close. He had also clearly heard one of his mismatched dining room chairs slide across the floor. He was not alone. There was a stranger in his home. In his hands Marcus held the aluminum baseball bat his dad got him for his 10th birthday. It struck him odd that a gift given 20 years ago would still be paying off. In the 22 feet he traveled from his bed to the hall he had made the decision, he would hit whomever was in his house. He would aim the bat at the head of the intruder, swing and with any luck, split his skull wide open.

He reached the end of the hall and hugged the wall closely. Marcus tried to listen for whomever was in his kitchen. All he could hear was the pounding of his heart in his ears. “Ok”, he thought to himself, “This will be easy, you've seen it done a million times on T.V.”. Gripping the baseball bat tightly he screwed up the courage he believed he had. He counted in his mind.

“One”, he gripped the bat even tighter.

“Two”, he took a deep breath.

“Three”, an image of Danny Glover ran through his head.

Waaahhh, Marcus sprang into the kitchen with the power and fury of a mid level comic book hero and looked for his target. He looked to his left, his muscles tensed; no one there. To his right now, ready to attack; no one there either. It was immediately apparent there was no longer anyone there. The only combatant in the room was himself. All that appeared out of the ordinary to Marcus was that some of the contents of his refrigerator were on the table, and the back door swung freely and open. The intruder had left.

With the bat still clenched in his hands and adrenalin coursing through his veins he shakily made his way to the Table. If there was a crime, this was the scene. Marcus looked down at the table and this is what he saw.

Laid out on a small plate was what had once been a whole hot dog. The insides had been cored out, disemboweled with a potato peeler that was now neatly placed beside the plate. It lay there on the plate, next to a pile of its innards, staring at him. Staring. The frankfurter looked at him with dead black eyes. Black eyes he deduced that had been drawn on with a Sharpie he could now see resting to the side of the plate. He stepped closer and noticed that now, that not only was the hot dog starring but was also smiling. It had a sick, mad, happiness to it. The Sharpie had been used to not only decorate the hot dog but it also had been used to write a note, a note that Marcus now reached for. His hands shook with fear and anticipation as he picked up the note. He read the message to himself. Puzzled he looked back at the smiling, bored out hot dog. He read the note again, and once again. Still the hot dog smiled.

“Happy Hollow Weeny.”

Was all it said.

** I borrowed an idea from my Grandfather for this one**

The one where Chad and Chase make a video

Chase and I did this flicker show for NBC's "It's Your Show" I uploaded a week ago and it never got put up. Well, I uploaded again because the entry ends tomorrow. I figure that will end up not getting posted too. I put it on youtube and that surely means I get disqualified because of what probably is a TOS violation. Friggin NBC. Oh, it is a contest to remake the intro to "Knight Rider". Send it around. We worked hard and won't end up winning because that my luck.






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Fake News by Chad #13 Early Halloween edition!

Voters this November have many important choices to make. National representative seats, governorships, as well as countless local and regional choices must be voted on. According to Chad Nule of Hell, Michigan the most important decision is proposition 6, commonly known as the “dead rights” amendment. The controversial citizen initiative would allow for equal rights across the board for all those who have slipped the surly bonds of earth.

“Up until now, the dead have been unfairly discriminated against” says Nule. “The dead are not allowed to own property, become married, adopt children or even have pets. In a country as great as ours why would we in 2006 still hold to these archaic social conditions?”
The amendment if passed, would treat the dead as equals to you and I. Unless you are gay. Those dying will no longer have to arrange for funerals, wills, or pay for increasing after death costs. The dead will be allowed to stay in their homes, go to work and school and live their lives as they see fit.

The amendment goes so far as to allow the living to marry the dead. Opponents to the issue are quick to point out the problem in this. Todd Eberson comments, “Uh, if the voters approve, any living person today could go to an existing cemetery, dig up a corpse, go to the nearest Justice of the Peace and get married. Those kinds of special rights are, well, just frigging messed up”

Chad rebuts, “This issue is not about the dead getting special rights. Thats just not the case. The amendment is about protecting the rights. We want to make sure everyone has the same rights after death as they had before death. If Joe Office Worker gets hit by a car today, why does he have to lose his job? It's not his fault he got killed.”

*The report went on further but I got thinking about it and puked up hot dogs

More fake ads

Fake Craigslist ads. I should just put them up.

For Sale - Hopes and Dreams

This is a SALVAGE sale with NO Guarantee! These items will be DOA it's up to you to fix or repair. The Hopes have been dashed and need a lot of work. The dream has been shattered but was a big dream and quite interesting when new. I will also throw in a broad vision that is still pretty clear. Remember these are broken or damaged hopes and dreams but if you've got ample desire you should have no problem putting them back together.



Wanted -

Will the guy who stole my car please bring it back. I need the bodies that are in the trunk. At least take them out before they start to stink. If I ever get the car back I don't want it stinking like dead old lady.



Missed connections-

Dude who wants his old lady parts. My neighbor's dog got in the car and made a mess of the bodies, do you still want them or should I just dump them?

Business opportunity-

Want to make more money? Currently looking for suckers to give me money in trade for a pack of lies and some sketchy past expiration Herbal supplements. Previous bamboozlement not needed. Applicants with healthy ignorance and naive show preference. Make as much money as I want to!

Wanted

Would the guy who told my fat neighbor she looked good in the Lycra bike shorts please rescind his comment. My dogs won't get off the porch to pee.

Wanted
Information leading to the arrest and conviction of my Ex-Girlfriend. She must be guilty of something. Help a brother out.

The one where Chad takes us for a ride

I thought it would be fun to shoot my commute. So, I did. I wanted to speed it up so that it took only 30 seconds to show the 13 mile trip, problem was it was so quick that it didn't look good. I compromised and its 1:34. The trip is quick and it looks kind of cool. A fun game would be to count the oncoming cars you see. You can do it on two hands I bet. The camera is on the dash of my Jeep, sandwiched between a radar detector and a bag of Captain Black's Gold pipe tobacco.




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The one where Todd does a lame Top Ten List

Top Ten notes left for your child at the open house.

10. Try hard, but not too hard. When your mamma talked me into lettin' you get some skoolin' I toll'd her yes, on account of his chores don't suffer.

9. I wonder if Barry Manilow knows that your teacher raids his wardrobe.

8. Remind me to explain what a "trial separation" is.

7. (if son's name is Ira) I just wanted you to know that you've always been my favorite. But don't tell Ira.

6. Try to maintain a C average buddy! I don't want to have to sell you to a research lab, like your other brother Jimmy. (or some other made-up name)

5. Your effort is for SHIT! You've got to win, WIN! I won't tolerate any LOSERS in this family!

4. Remember what I said? If you get straight A(s) Dad will let you smoke his pipe, after all, you earned it.

3. Your teacher is a real (C word) no wonder you come home all stressed out. P.S. Don't let her read this.

2. I taped a piece under the back of the toilet in the last stall down for you. The next time Bobby Hinton gives you a swirly, you give him 2 in that hat for his trouble.

1. Don't forget your pants again.

DISCLAIMER: In an effort to maintain the PG13 rating here at Plan 4, I would like to clarify, that the "C" word stands for "Collegegraduate", an insult used around my house to describe stupid people with a college degree. I also refer to them as the "B" word which stands for "Barista" since that is the occupation of many a C word.

A conversation insert I often use:

Other person: My daughter just got her masters degree in Art History.
Me: Which Starbucks is she working at?
Other person: Actually it's a Bruggers Bagel on Comm. Ave next to Barnes and Noble.

The one where Chad talks about conversation inserts

Conversation inserts.

I'm a big fan of questionable conversation inserts. I use them all the time. It's something that is said that is almost not meant to be heard. It's just weird enough to cause people to do a mental double take. Here is an example.

Someone says this,
Someone - Oh man, yeah, you'd do that and end up arrested.
Me – Uh, I can't have that again.

Someone - ...I just felt really uncomfortable you know?
Me – Yeah, like that time I got caught being to close to the school...

Someone – Ok, I'm going to go see Allen now.
Me – Don't tell him you saw me

Someone – I just picked up the new Bon Jovi CD
Me – I'm not allowed to...courts order.

On another note. I attended the annual “Open House” at my kids school. My brother in law and I have kids in the same class. While we were in the classroom we were instructed to take one of the supplied sheets of paper and write a little note to our child. It should be something nice the teacher said. “Your doing great, keep up the good work” etc. The words of wisdom would be read to them in class. Our minds went straight to these kinds of statements. Keep in mind the kids are 5.

“Yeah, well, you let me down again. Thanks...”
“I shouldn't expect much from you...”
“Your not trying hard enough...”

The caper I thought was this.
“Whatever...”
We are horrible dads.

The one where Chad talks...and then I puked up hotdogs

Sometimes in life we say something we think will be interesting or funny to someone and it doesn't quite fly. I think I've developed a solution. Call it a “comedic parachute”. Here is how it works.

I tell say, D.B. Cooper a story about the time I backed into someones car at the mall. I think its funny but it gets kind of lost in translation. Before it's to late, I pull the “comedic parachute rip chord”.

Me - “So that's what happened when I backed into the car at the mall”
DB- “Oh”
Me - “Uh, (here comes the parachute) ...Then I puked up hot dogs.”
DB - “OH GROSS MAN Ha Ha Ha”

See, I saved it by making the absurd image of me throwing up hot dogs chunks. Sure it possibly is a lie, but for the sake of the moment, its a good thing. This works for blog posts too. I think I might go back and take some of my old posts and spice them up a little with "...then I puked up hot dogs".
I like the hot dog puke because it's really happened to me. I have two true stories that end with “...then I puked up hot dogs.”

You can use “...then I puked up hot dogs” or you can make one of your own. For instance,
“...Then I sneezed and pissed my pants”
“...Then I burped and puked a little”
“...Then I sharted”
“...Then I bent over to pick something up and I split my pants”

Crrrap, someday when I have Plan 4 T-shirts wouldn't this look cool? "Plan 4...then I puked up hot dogs" I CLAIM IT!

More video soon, almost done with the one for NBC's video thing. I shot my entire comute to work today and I'm going to speed it up so it only takes 30 seconds to playback. Also working on Lockjaw Frasier and something else.

Overall, today's post isn't that good I guess...and then I puked up hot dogs.

The one where Chad talks Lost

The first two episodes of Lost have been good, but haven't quite had me on the edge of my seat. Last night was certainly different. It had the right amount of “personal” story (which is what I think the writers care about) and a little of the Island story (which is what hooked me in the beginning). Without giving anything away, all the featured players had great moments and the acting was some of the best. I was hoping for a home run last night and I think Locke pulled it off. His “vision” scene was brilliant. The Island mystery moments were fun, but I just don't think its going to be real story. I also don't think even half of it will ever be explained. I'm trying not to be hooked by them but last night had one that involved Hurley and Desmond, I can't wait for more on that one.


Plan 4
Lost
ABC Lost
ABCs Lost

The one where Chad does some creative writing

I walked out into the cold, stinging winter air and realized I had made a mistake. Where did I go wrong? What choices could I have made differently?
Even as I walked down the street towards the T station I began to feel eyes starring at me. Did they know? Did they have some sense into the turmoil I faced before I left the house? Was that woman who was now starring at me; judging me because of my one poor choice?

I looked away from the woman's glare and glanced across the icy street only to catch the eyes of two men , one tall, one short, loading boxes into a delivery truck. I could tell, by the slight lift in his chin that the shorter of the men was about to shout at me. I already knew what the words would say. He would be pointing out my mistake, my lapse in judgment.

I looked away and braced myself but could not completely shut out his angry words. Through the cold morning air they shot like frosty daggers across the street and into my chilled ears.

“Hey ya jackass! Put on some friggin pants, nobody wants to see your frostbitten junk out he'ah”

The one where Chad is still sick and once again posts a stinker

Tuesday, 17th 2006

I'm having a hard time finding anything to write about. I'm at the point where I have been tempted to write about people I work with. Good idea? No, It'll get me fired. Just let it be known that the reason I don't write about work or the people at work is that it will get me fired.

I'm also tempted to write about politics. Maine is having a Gubernatorial election this year. Let me just say this about the candidates. They are all equally uninteresting and uninspiring. None of them claim to want to do anything outstanding. They all speak with the same words, just in different order. Here's why I don't dig on politics. The people you'd like to see running for office are not the type of people to want power in the first place.

I think we should have the same governmental structure we have now, but I think we should fill all the slots with a lottery. Kind of a political draft. Picture this, you get a letter in the mail. “Congratulations, you've been chosen to be president. This offer not valid until signed. “

A computer could spit out the entire government in a few seconds. Someone sends off the letters and wham, a random sampling of every walk of life. Some with high school educations, some with no education, some completely devoid of all cognitive ability. I'm sure we would run into problems where people who were dead, family pets or prisoners would be selected. Of course people would get sick of it and half the government would go home because we have a lazy populace. Whatever, that stuff happens. It's a beautiful picture. One that makes me weep. Weep on ye political dreamer. Weep on.

The one where Chad is still sick and posts anyway

I've been starring at this empty text field for a while now. I tried to get my creative juices flowing by doing a google image search for some cool G.I. Joe toys. I searched for some, but as cool as they were it just didn't happen for me.

Why is it sickness never makes you have enjoyable symptoms? You never hear anyone say, "I got a cold and whenever I cough I smell turkey cooking" or "I had a wicked headache but when it was gone my vision was corrected."
I'm sick and my stomach feels like some bored kid is inside of it and he's jabbing a sharp stick into the lining of my gut. He's just sitting there, he could leave and go do something else but he's just jabbing that stick. Friggin kid.
I was waiting for my stomach to act up. I've had nose grease draining down my throat for a week. Eventually the food hole says "nuh ah" to that much grossness.

Ok, I need to go do something else now.

*edit* 7:30 Turns out it wasn't a lazy kid poking me in the stomach wall, it was some bananna. I feel somewhat better now.

The one where Chad does a clip show

The "clip show". That's what tv people do when they don't have anything else or they are still sick. Here are my three favorite Youtube clips that we made. Todd will say, "Hey, why didn't you include more of mine? Make your own damn clip show!
1. The Last Dance. A short me and Todd did. It's ok. Count how many movies we ripped off.
2. The Crying Indian. A very well done spoof on the old Crying Indian PSA
3. The mouse. A plan 4 classic.








Here is a fourth. A nice documentary on where Mr. Vintage came from.



Youtube

The one where Chad gets sick

I had one of those moments today. One of those “Boy am I glad it's Thursday and I'm almost done with the week” moments.

For those of you who are calender aware you'll note that it is not Thursday but rather Wednesday. What a kick in the teeth that was. Now I feel more miserable and more sick. I hope I don't come up to an old building thats on fire with kids trapped in it. I don't think I could get Johnny out after the beam falls on him. Sorry Johnny your going to die. In the end, that's o.k. because you die anyway and Dally might no knock off that liquor store.
Oh boy, I can see I'm fading in and out of fiction / nonfiction here so I better go. I also have to put my ping pong ball helmet on, take my motorcycle and go find an Aspirin for Keith. Then Ron and Hermione and I need to go to Narnia, where the red fern grows, and pick up some dog bones for Sounder.

I wanted to save this file as wed/thur but could not because the slash made it look like it was a path to a directory. Ack, how did I not know it would do that? And man, I hate that when I copy and paste from OpenOffice.org into blogger it freaks out. If it does this time, I'm leaving it.

The one where Chad talks Futurama

I feel like I'm kind of mailing it in today. I'm sick. I don't want to write. I'm a grown up and I can do what I want. Here is a generally boring post. Stop, no jokes about why that's no different than usual.

One of my favorite comedic techniques is something called "the omni and the caper" (at least that's what I heard on a DVD commentary)
Futurama is king of this. (also the commentary I heard it on)

Take for instance, the episode where Hermes gets demoted and steps onto the ledge to commit suicide. ("How Hermes requisitioned his groove" back Season 2 Episode 24)

paraphrased-
He says he's going to jump
They crew yells NO, DON'T JUMP / It's not worth it etc.
Just as the crowd / omni exclamation is tailing off, Bender says
"Do a flip" for the caper.

The timing is brilliant .

I wish I could figure out how to accomplish it in writing. Or in real life.

*edit* How about that horrible formatting around the image? I love the squishy.

The one where Chad kills a bug

I'm a big fan of things being used outside the intended purpose. I really love when it works and doesn't cause me harm.
I was sitting here at my desk and a wasp flew in. I quickly grabbed a can of 3M Dust remover and held it upside down, exactly like the can says not to. I knew about the freezing spray from prior dust remover expeditions. I let the wasp have it. I froze him like Han Solo, except this time there would be no droid to point out the obvious. Hey, no Jabba jokes!

Few minutes later I saw this guy hanging on my window screen.

By the way. It's Autumn and I could show you pretty foliage but I chose bugs instead.

Also, here is a good thing to do with a can of dust remover.

1. Insert air thing longer. (if you have one)
2. Get straw style coffee stirrer.
3. Tape end of said stirrer
4. Slide stirrer over end of thing longer
5. Shoot out eye of person in next cubicle.
6. Run.

I wanted to put up some pictures of the "Straw gun" but if you can't figure it out, you shouldn't be shooting stuff anyway.

The one where Chad speaks ill of Columbus Day

Before I go off on Chris C. I would like to take a moment to pause and reflect on North Korea and its new toy. The rest of the blogosphere is doing it, I should. Hold please.

Ok. The hold please was for me to step away from the keyboard and get punched in the face for using the word "bl*g*sph3r3" I hired this guy months ago to take a whack at me when I use it. Glad he's earning his keep finally.

On to Korea. I have a neighbor who has a very loud street bike. This neighbor likes to ride his street bike right when I want to go to sleep at night. He races it about a mile away and then races back. I think from the sounds of it, he's testing it. Well, his testing pisses me off. Up and down the street, that bike just blatting away. The one consolation is that I know he'll probably leave a bolt loose and injure himself on the bike. Same goes for North Korea. Someday, somebody is going to leave a spanner wrench in the nose cone and blamo. No more annoying neighbor. I guess its not exactly the same. But thank goodness he's no nuclear scientist.

Ok, on to Columbus day.

I hate Columbus day. What's the point?

Columbus was just doing his job. He was an explorer, he had that queens money and he did what he was supposed to do. Enough. It should be noted that he found a continent that already had people living on it. Ask them how that "Find" turned out for them.
I do my job every day and I do it moderately well. Where's my holiday? And why does Sears think that a Columbus Day sale is going to make me want to buy a new washer? Hey, when I want a new washer or some over priced electronics I'll come see you on my day .
We really should be celebrating somebody like Curt Schilling. I know, it was two years ago. Come on, his foot was bleeding. How many of us show up to work like that? None. Yes, yes, I know about the special woman time. Curt Shilling should be taught right along side of all those other important people.
What are we teaching our children when we lift up someone like Christopher Columbus and we give him his own special day? A better choice might be Captain Jean Luc Picard. That's another guy who deserves a day of his own. Man, he went above and beyond his day job that for sure.



How'd you like how I went a little off the deep end with the Picard reference? I went loopy with Curt but the Picard was just for that extra umph.

Plan 4
North Korea
Columbus
Korea

Fake news by Chad #12

Googleville -


Internet gigantica Google is on the verge of consuming, with its all powerful jaws of search, overpriced internet hooker Youtube. Speaking anonymously, D Todd Eberso__ of Google INC. Said that the move was less about Youtube and more about the videos being done by Plan 4.

"What google wants and needs is to be in the Plan 4 business. We want them. passionately. We don't get anything they say or do but that Mr. Vintage is pretty damn awesome."

When it was pointed out to them that the Plan4 blog in fact already uses the Google owned Blogger service and most images used on the site were stolen via Google image search, Todd shrugged.

"Really?" he said. "It makes no difference. Now we will have them both in 'word' and 'video'. Google likes it both ways. All hail the mighty and powerful Google. "

If and when Google takes over Youtube will it make it suck as bad as Google Video?

"No comment. But, yeah, it probably will"

Plan 4
Google
Google Youtube
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The one where Todd has an ismasm

I have to say that even though orgasm and sarcasm don't ryhme, they are in the short list of words ending in -asm for sure. There's TONS of words eding in -ism. You can even make up words just by adding the ism and coin a whole new word. The ism suffix is unversal but the asm suffix is quite select. Like, for instance, I could say that the title gags we use "The one where Chad . . ." is a plan4ism. But when you read a post or view a fabulous youtube here you don't say oh, ooooh I just had a plan4asm, that would be gross. You can use ism for any religious group you can think of just by adding the ism. Try that with the asm, like say, Catholisasm, that one gives me the creeps.

The one where Chad talks about antennas

Fall is here.

With the arrival of autumn comes another special time of the year.

A little known tradition among the "Non Cable Elite" is a special set of games. The semi annual Antenna Games! If you live in the sticks as I do, you depend on what's called an "Antenna" to receive what is called "Over the Air television". Its a magical process in which television signals are sent OVER THE AIR without cables of any kind! The problem is that it takes years of skill and practice to be able to catch and view these magical signals.

I myself enter into the "chuck the roof antenna into a tree" competition. I have an insane fear of heights so I don't want to go on the roof. Every fall, and sometimes when the Super Bowl is on a crappy station, I chuck the antenna as high up into a tree as I can. Then I live with the crappy reception for a few months until the wind blows it down and I do it all over again.
The second event I take part in is the "Antenna building speed" competition. In this even you start building an antenna contraption thirty minutes before the show you want to watch comes on. This year, I wired 8 feet of speaker wire onto a standard rabbit ear and Coax adapter just in time to catch the premier of "The Office".

Last nite was the premier of "Lost". For this event I only entered into the "speed tuning" competition. In that one, you get the station to come in as good as possible in the two minutes of commercials before the show. You have to be careful, one false move can render the reception useless.

*Edit* Well, the results are in and I'm proud to say I didn't screw up! I'm A WINNER!
OH, and yeah, last nights show was awesome.

Plan 4
Lost

The one where Chad does the PLAN 4 100th POST!

For a special treat, here is a small sample of the work we do here.
What you will see is an on camera test of two individuals who we are looking at as regulars.



Youtube
You tube
Plan 4
Video

The one where Chad pukes on himself

V. You are such a whore. You'll do anything for a little cash. I was poking around Myspace and what did I find? Just when you thought the "True" ads had gone pretty far. Sick.

*Edit* I found another one later on this morning.




Plan 4
Myspace

PLAN 4 SPECIAL BETA TESTi

Try out our the BETA VERSION of our new Chose your own adventure! (or Pick a Path if you had those ones).


Here goes,

You walk into the dark room. You can smell a faint gas smell. You fear turning on the lights for fear of explosion. You're fear of the monsters that lurk in the dark is also weighing on your mind. What would father do?

What will you do?

Turn and leave, I think the gas is dangerous!

Turn on the lights I need to see what's in here!

The one where Chad forgot he didn't have the correct IEEE 1394 adapter

Today is a rare Plan 4 tech post. It was going to be a funny Youtube video but I forgot that in order to capture the video onto my laptop, I needed a cable with two small ends. So, I'll get it tomorrow. Maybe.

In other tech news, I finally got Mandriva 2006 (Powerpack, I'm a card carrying club member) working at 95% on my laptop. I say 95 because there are a few things that are and will remain driverless. I've been running it for a while now but only recently did I undertake the task of getting PPP up and running. I was fortunate in that my modem was supported. That's the real problem with Linux to me. I'm sure people would use it more but as I've said a million times before, Average Joe Dialup needs his winmodem to work. The same can be said for Perky Patty Printsalot and Game addict Glen. I should point out that its not this way for lack of effort by the Linux community, the vendors could be stepping up a little more. Cough, my SD Card won't work, Cough, Toshiba, Cough.
Mandriva 2007 has added some cool stuff that may win some of these hessitant folks over. Mandriva now will be packaged with Cedega, a gaming engine / Windows emulator. Now you can play World of Warcrack on your Linux box and ensure that you will never meet a woman that doesn't have pixelated skin. Also included is LinDVD. You can read about some of the new Mandriva goodies here .




Mandriva

Linux

P4 Month in Review: September

Sat.03: Chad and Son of Chad do a lost spoof.

Sun.04: Chad's tribute to Steve "Crocidile Hunter" Irwin.

Mon.05: Man in Fire answers more fan mail.

Tue.06: Man appears but refuses to answer the mail. But the fire was especially big on this one, due to a good "air supply".

Wed.07: Chad gets nostalgic about "Better off Dead" and Mr. Vintage makes his very surly Plan 4 debut.

Thur.08: Chad gave an instant buzz phrase template. Virgin is the new whore, good one.

Fri.09: Chad measures the pros and cons of being a celebrity. Ever since the debut of the mouse movie, we've been on the Q list, nice, working our way up. Be sure to catch us next week, on the way down.

Sat.10: Chad discusses sailing and, well, math. What a friggin nerd.

Sun.11: August recap.

Mon.12: Todd's YouTube premiere. The one that started it all off. "The Stick"

Tue13: Another YT post from Todd of the great vacation prank hatched by Chad.

Wed.13: Mr. Vintage wastes NO time making his own YT video.

Thur.14: Chad and Mr. Vintage collaborate on a post.

Fri.15: Chad rants about Trailer city and poor customer service. Blog Post is the new Shooting Spree.

Sat.16: Chad discovers that Red Bull gives you, not only wings, but penis envy.

Sun.17: Reports of Man in fire's death are greatly exaggerated by Mr. Vintage in a YT post.

Mon.18: Chad fights to the finish, coz he eats his spinach.

Tue.19: Todd wonders how the Parker Bros. can live with themselves, after their years of carnage.

Wed.20: "LAST DANCE" After a long post-production period, the long awaited world premiere of Todd and Chad's first short feature. We had a location, a cast, even craft services, if you can call a bag of Funyuns and a bottle of Mountain Dew craft services. This was the defining moment for the month of September. we know that the movie is not going to win any awards unless they give awards for most homages (rip-offs) in a 7 minute short, but we are proud of it nonetheless.

Thur.21: Chad fans the flames of the E Coli scare. And takes a lame shot at Bush or Chavez, I'm not sure which.

Fri.22: The Crying Indian makes a return and appears in a YT post about the dangers of litter in our atmosphere.

Sat.23: Todd digs up some old relics from an old school "blog".

Sun.24: Chad reminds us about the Misfits of Science and how there really is nothing new under the sun.

Mon.25: Todd is "outed" by Mr. Vintage.

Tue.26: The one where Chad posts a picture of his album of Racist Ring tones.

Wed.27: Chad's confession of his ill-gotten calc watch and his intentions to make amends. Good on ya Chad!

Thur.28: Chad steals from Todd or Letterman, I'm not sure which.
Fri. 29: Todd got a new job, no post. Chad had soccer games to attend, no post. Mr. Vintage was three sheets to the wind, thank goodness, no post.

Sat.30: Todd ended the month with a little nostalgia about his Saturday
morning cartoon regimen from when he was a kid.

The one where Todd realizes that the blogger spell check is useless

October has arrived, and the "frost is on the pumpkin" as it were. This is the time of year I get nostalgic for some reason. I remember learning in school about jack-o-lanterns, but I don't remember any of it, so I thought I would actually do some research. I didn't know whom I could ask about such a thing, so I just asked people that I ran across in everyday life.
I had an appointment with my bank manager, and I explained to him that forgot how the jack-o-lantern came to be, and he chided me and said,"don't try and change the subject sir" and then he began to yell at me about my checking account constantly being overdrawn. He explained it to me this way, it seems I have been depositing in Celsius and spending in Farenheight.

I then had to go to my lawyer and while I was there I asked him about the pumpkin thing and he explained the whole thing to me in a really long drawn out explanation. He used a lot of big words and when it was all done, he charged me 300 bucks! I wrote him a check.
I then decided to try it first hand, you know, learn by doing. So I went to my local pumpkin patch. This is a weird concept too, I mean, I had to trudge out into this field, get dirty and sweaty, pick it out my self, pick it up myself, and lug it back to the farm stand myself and they charge ME 15 bucks! I wrote him a check too.
I get this thing home and I start to carve. First I cut a circular hole in the top then I look inside and see the goop and seeds I am supposed to now scoop out. That is about as far as I got, I would sooner perform a body cavity search on Larry the cable guy, then scoop this gunk out.
I have come to the realization that the jack-o-lantern is a creation of the pumpkin growers association to move more product. I mean, what else are you going to use a pumpkin for anyway. Pumpkin pie? Is there a more mediocre substance on the planet? Pumpkin pie is the synonym for mediocrity. It's a vehicle for nutmeg is what it is! Pumpkin pie is just an excuse to eat nutmeg and clove and cinnamon. The best pumpkin pie you ever ate wasn't that much better than the worst pumpkin pie you ever ate. Jack-o-lantern is just a tradition started by greedy corporate fat cats whose soul purpose in life is to line their pockets with my money! I'll beat them in the end, though. I'll pay by check.

The one where Todd re-hashes Saturday mornings long past

I am sitting in front of my computer, delicately sipping a mug of Peet's coffee( freshly ground Major Dickanson's Blend). It is Saturday morning, and I am remembering my Saturday morning routine from when I was a kid. I used to wake up early. I was only allowed to stay up until nine on Friday night before. Right after the Dukes of Hazzard, just to give you an idea of what period we are talking about here. Of course, if you were a regular viewer of the show, you just called it "the Dukes." The appeal of Saturday morning was, of course, the cartoons, or just kids' shows in general. In the early morning hours around five or so, the major networks have not started up their day yet. Nevertheless, a few local stations had some great local programming. If you are not from around here, you will have no idea what I am talking about. However, I am sure there is some show you remember that brings back the same kind of memories. Channel 5, which is still an ABC affiliate, in fact, it was one of the few to survive the carnage of Rupert Murdock, media gangster. At 5am they had a show called "Jabberwocky." I really don't remember much about it. It had a puppet with a big beard and dark skin, and it was a bilingual show, sometimes it was all in Spanish. After that, it was on to channel 6, which did not survive the carnage. They are previous CBS affiliates that are now an ABC affiliate. They had a great show, I don't remember the full title, all I know is it was Captain Bob, and it was a "learn to draw" show. I loved it. Unfortunately it is not still being run. He was pretty old back then and I found out that he passed away a few years back. I can affirm that my love for art was started there. I still love to draw. I have to credit my grandma and great grandmas' creative spirit, and their encouragement in artistic endeavors, for my love for art, them, and Capt. Bob. I then traveled up the dial, way up to the, then unaffiliated, now a UPN, UHF channel 38, for Scooby Doo. There was Shaggy: goatee, baggy pants, always had the munchies; just what was in those Scooby snacks? Come on, it was obvious. Of course, at the time I was too naive, it was years later before I solved that mystery. Early morning was a time for older cartoon shows too. Woody Woodpecker, Popeye, Mighty Mouse, Tom and Jerry, Casper, Rocky and Bulwinkle, Mr. Magoo, Flintstones, Jetsons and of course Hanna-Barbaras' World of Super Adventure. Many shows came on after that; the networks were all fired up and pumping out cartoons and kids shows like crazy as well as syndicated favorites. There were shows for boys, like Voltron, Transformers (they're more than meets the eye, and waaay better than Go-bots) and G.I. Joe. There were shows for girls, like Strawberry Shortcake, The Care Bears, and Jem (although I have to admit, I watched that one. Remember the Misfits, the rival band? I never understood why they couldn't just battle it out with record sales, like real rockers.) However, most of the shows appealed to both boys and girls. Kids Inc., Zoom, Bugs and Daffy a.k.a. Looney Toons (loved Wyle E. Coyote and the Road Runner) were good. How could anyone forget the commercial bumpers like "The more you know" on NBC, and ABC's "School House Rock" (without question, the best). I liked The Smurfs, and later the spin-off, the Snorks. There was Muppet Babies (puppets made into cartoons), Vegetable Soup (cartoons made into puppets). The Super Friends were the main event as far as I was concerned. I also loved to watch Land of the Lost, Shazzam and many other shows. I imagine that Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids came on around 11:30 because by the time the Brown Hornet came on, Daddy came home from his half a day on Saturday. He always made us grilled tuna sandwiches (no fluff on Saturdays). That was always a treat. I remember later in the afternoon when the national networks would shut down and the local ones stopped playing cartoons too. You knew it was over when channel 6 started showing Professional Bowling. However, no need to fear, there is still UHF. Channel 56, then unaffiliated, then turned into a WB hackfilliate, now a CW. Every Saturday afternoon WLVI56 had "The Creature Double Feature." Three and half to four hours of monsters, monsters, monsters. There was Godzilla, Mothra, and all of them. And there were movies that involved the "Big-inating" of any creature. Like The Giant Gilla Monster, or ones that had giant ants, or a spider, or any other giant anything really. Any go-motion-heavy film was what they showed on the Creature Double Feature. That was the routine; it changed from week to week, but only slightly. I don't know what I did after the CDF, I can't remember, I guess I just went out and dug up big rocks, or something.