oh, the snow...

okay...

hey, everybody! and happy new year's eve!

woke up this morning with every intention of posting this first thing this morning--trouble was, we had no power. for about 6 hours. just came back on and so here is the post and, below, the answers to the "five on friday".

the power was out due to a beautiful snow storm that snuck up on us last night. well, it snuck up on ME--my dad had been saying that they were calling for it all day and warned sharon and i as we were going out for a nice romantic pre-new year's eve dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, anthony's. we weren't out late, but on the way home the snow had started, giving us that cool star wars lightspeed effect as the snow came at us. it really didn't look like it was sticking though, so we weren't worried about any possible accumulation.

this morning, seven inches and no power.

here're some pics.






and here are some of jake enjoying the snow!





and here is kayla enjoying the snow...


hope you're enjoying the snow--wherever you are!

and here, the answers to your
"five for friday"

1. who was the author of such books as galapogas, breakfast of champions, and the sirens of titan?

kurt vonnegut jr.

2. what young actor's earlier roles included having an arrow shoved through his throat in the first "friday the 13th" ?

kevin bacon
(johnny depp was in "nightmare on elm street")

3. what is the drum-like name of the circular membrane that act as a frog's ears?

the timpanic membrane

4. who was the only person to speak in mel brooks' "silent movie" ?

legendary mime, marcel marceau

5. match the 70's comics artist with the book/character he's best known for.
(sorry if some of you are too young...)


1. mike grell e. green lantern

2. curt swan c. superman

3. dick dillin a. justice league of america

4. irv novick b. flash

5. jim aparo d. brave and the bold

smell ya next year!
todd

a bit disappointed...

okay...

i had a whole 'nother blog prepared for today, one that i put together yesterday in advance as i was supposed to be heading toward craig's house today so that sharon and i could have a little christmas of our own with the rousseaus. though we talk on the phone everyday (sometimes twice), i haven't seen the guy in months and am dying to see trish, the johnny, and to see how big my little goddaughter has gotten. and my buddy, oz. we were both really looking forward to it...

unfortunately, my brother--jake's usual babysitter, is going away himself for a couple days and my back-up jakesitters backed out. so we had to cancel. sad.

so here i sit.
i guess i'd better get some work done.

perhapanauts update--man, craig and rico are doing some AWESOME work on the annual--it's almost done! it's so cool to get the pages and see craig bring your ideas to life, but then the two of us become even more excited as rico starts to send in the colors, making everything real, making everything pop! we are so lucky to have that guy on the team! thanks, rico!

here's a random photo of the week. it's a squirrel in moscow. i really don't know why it's ears are so big, but it's pretty cool. do we have squirrels with ears that big? we should get some.



alright. here are your

"five for friday"

1. who was the author of such books as galapogas, breakfast of champions, and the sirens of titan?

2. what young actor's earlier roles included having an arrow shoved through his throat in the first "friday the 13th" ?

3. what is the drum-like name of the circular membrane that act as a frog's ears?

4. who was the only person to speak in mel brooks' "silent movie" ?

5. match the 70's comics artist with the book/character he's best known for.
(sorry if some of you are too young...)


1. mike grell a. justice league of america

2. curt swan b. flash

3. dick dillin c. superman

4. irv novick d. brave and the bold

5. jim aparo e. green lantern

that's it. i'm out.
smell ya later!
todd

back to scary...

okay...

so in looking for more of those "scared of santa" photos this year, i came upon the one below and...it just creeps me out...! yikes!



sometimes photoshop can be used for evil! man, that's just a scary face! for some reason, it reminds me of some of the made-up storybook characters in laurel and hardy's "babes in toyland" (aka "march of the wooden soldiers" 1934)--another long time christmas classic that i forgot to mention last week and haven't caught on tv in years. (maybe because people finally realized that a lot of the make-up effects were terrifying!) i guess back then they were just so excited to create life-sized cats and mice and pigs that the fact that there were human eyes glaring our from those fuzzy faces wasn't as unsettling...



there were boogie men in it too--i remember being kinda scared...

another dubious holiday classic--i remember seeing this as a small kid back in the early 70's--was this masterpiece! you can't go wrong when you put santa up against an invasion of little green men. 1964. crazy!



well, on to other things.
it's comforting to me that we--our little perhapa-family here--were able to offer well-wishes to one another and to enjoy the spirit of the season together, but now that we've covered to peace on earth/good will toward men part. let's get down to it...

whadja get?

i mean, i know we prob'ly all got clothes of some kind, and maybe that was your favorite present, but as this is a forum for all things paranormal, comic book, movie, music, books and magazines, etc. let's hear it, perhapa-gang! whadja get?

lemme know~~
smell ya later!
todd

twelve days

okay...

alison sent this to me and even though i still don't know how to create a link, it is well worth your precious holiday time to cut and paste this and see a wonderful, beautiful, funny, and simply amazing rendition of the twelve days as you've never seen it before!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8&feature=related

thanks, alison!
merry, merry, everybody!
smell ya later~
todd

christmas day

merry christmas eve--scared of santa

>
okay...

as we all settle in for a nice cozy christmas eve,
i thought i'd sign off with a last "scared of santa" gallery
and a wish of peace and love to all of you.










merry christmas.



todd

the (christmas) spirit of film

okay...

so far sharon and i have watched it's a wonderful life and santa claus is comin' to town, rudolph, and a charlie brown christmas, .we saw year without a santa claus, how the grinch stole christmas (we even had the crappy jim carrey version on the other night as we wrapped presents). and last night we watched a new favorite that we found last year, a christmas wish (aka the great rupert-1950-), the story of a poor family that believes they are being sent money from above when the squirrel that lives in their wall starts issuing out $100 bills that the scrooge-like neighbor is squirreling away under his floorboards. it's not really that great and jimmy durante's old vaudeville jokes actually hurt, but the harryhausen-esque animation on rupert, though brief, is some beautiful old-timey movie magic.



we are waiting to watch (the original) miracle on 34th street tonight or towmorrow and ya gotta save a christmas story until a day or two before...and then, thanks to tbs, a little bit here and there all day on christmas!





the one that i made my own tradition about ten years ago--well, with the help of dani--is to watch a christmas carol on christmas eve. and it has to be the one from 1951, in black and white, with alastair sim as the most perfect scrooge there ever was! oh, sure, patrick stewart and george c. scott have turned in some excellent performances as the old skinflint--and i thought magoo was brilliant in his own 1962 version. but it's not half as scary, half as meaningful, until you see sim take ebenezer through his range of emotions in this classic british version. this is christmas--and the best film to fall asleep to on christmas eve...
this should not be missed...



so that's my run-down--what do YOU hafta see for the holidays? and have you gotten to see it yet?

see ya tomorrow!
and smell ya later!
todd

merry christmas!

happy, happy, happy holidays!

okay...

as most people have monday off and most people check this blog out from work, for some, this will be the last blog you see before christmas and, while i will still post something on monday--and prob'ly a little post or two over the weekend so check it out--let me take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy, joyous, and peaceful holiday. it's in the air this time of year and i hope that you will find it in your community, in your friends and family, and in your hearts. i love this time of year and i love the magic that it brings; the caring and the compassion and the love. would that we could keep it all year 'round.
God bless us everyone.

i got these photos months ago and wanted to save them as a kind of gift for christmas.

i think they're just great.













and, not to ignore our kooky paranormal perhapanaut side this holiday season (for some reason i have been transfixed with the biography channel's new paranormal state and ghostly hauntings all this week while wrapping presents and making my christmas card. good creepy stuff. check it out...), here's a little holiday yarn from your true tales to keep you glancing in that dark corner under the christmas tree...

Face-to-Face with an Elf
by K.T.

My story begins with my toddler's sighting. In October of 2003, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, I was out playing on our patio with my 2½-year-old son when he stopped suddenly and asked me: who was the little man sitting on our stone wall? I looked where he was pointing and saw nothing... but the area looked different somehow (shimmery?). I asked him where this man was and he again pointed to that spot and said, "There! Oh, he left now." He seemed so sincere and matter of fact (and the area then looked "normal") that I got a little spooked.

Later, in January 2004, we were again outside playing, this time with my husband, when the most beautiful snow began to fall. It was just coming on to dusk and I said I wanted to take a quick walk in the woods and my husband would watch our son while I went. Anyway, I started through the woods and was somewhat perplexed by how different everything looked. Hard to describe, again shimmery is first word that comes to mind, but I attributed it to all the snow.

As I rounded a bend in the path, I came face-to-face, about three or four feet away, with a little elf-looking man peering right at me from behind a tree. The path takes a nice uphill, so even though he was only about 3½ to 4 feet tall (I later measured tree) we were eye level. I could see his face, neck and one hand (holding onto the tree). It was almost a stereotypical elf: long, pointy ears, long funny-shaped nose, very long fingers and pointy cap. However, it was wearing red clothes and hat, and its skin appeared to be a very light lavender color. I let out a startled "Ooh!" and it jerked back and disappeared; not behind the tree, but literally just disappeared into thin air. At that point I took off and ran the whole way back to my house, I was just so unnerved (and full of adrenaline!). That is the last we ever saw of any "little men," but something I will never forget.


so merry christmas!
happy hannukah!
happy kwanza!
happy festivus!
i'll be back on monday--and maybe before...
but i'll definitely
smell ya later!
todd

picture day

okay...

as christmas approaches and i rush to get presents sent out (on time!) and christmas cards sent out (on time!) and about a thousand other things that i should be doing, i find myself talking to mike and my mom--the two people i am missing the most this holiday season--and keeping them a part of my frantic activities. mom is helping me with gift choices, mike is making me laugh. yes, this is s'posed to be the season of brotherly love and kindness and reaching out to one another with joy and good cheer but four (i'll call them large) jolly people shouldn't congregate in the entrance to target! i mean, stopping short to talk to someone in the mall is dangerous at best, especially at this time of year, but if ya gotta stop, pull to the side folks! these four formed a huddle that blocked things entirely! and they were unconsciously shifting as we tried to get by! while sharon and i (and about 6 other people who just couldn't get around) laughed as inconspicuously as we could, i could hear mike's building bray inside my head and it made it all the funnier.

so, mike...

i got an 'e' the other day from spider-man fan, tellos fan, and HUGE mike fan, vicki tierney, who was sweet enough to send me pictures of her own personal tribute to mike. while matt and i have just been amazed at the incredible (and in some cases a little too touching) pieces that have been sent to us by countless talented and compassionate artistts, vicki's testiment to mike is one that is hard to beat.
as you can see.






and, in the spirit of christmas, and even moreso, the spirit of mike, i offer the following;

Fish Story






apparently, this young buck was a mile and a half off the florida coast swimming to who knows where.
near total exhaustion--no doubt that he would have very shortly drowned--he was caught and brought aboard this fishing boat.
"He was sooo tired and was glad to get into our boat and rest!
And yes, we turned him loose when we got back to shore. Just try beating this Fish Story!"

how wonderful that these guys spotted the deer and then took the time--i'm sure it was hard--to get the little guy up and in and back to shore!
merry christmas!
gotta run!
smell ya later!
todd