smacky and bucky

Henry's 3-month anniversary since his open-heart surgery was July 16. I can't tell you how happy I am that it went by unnoticed, because it went by unnoticed because it's such a nonissue now! He's a normal healthy little boy with so much energy that he burns like a star all day until he passes out at night. He exhausts us, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Yeah, the Volkswagen Beetle comes with a bud vase. Mine holds a micronaut.

"I've got to get to Sector 7G to fight Emperor Zurg!" (We watch Toy Story daily at our house now!)

Last year I bought a group of autographed hockey cards for about $5 because I wanted one particular card. The rest just came with the package and I put them in a box with the rest. Fast-forward one year and what has changed? Well, the Caps lost in the second round of the playoffs and their interim coach Dale Hunter decided he wanted to return home to Canada rather than coach the Caps for a full season.

Well, the general manager must have decided that if a former player can get the team into the second round of the playoffs, many former players would take them even further! And that's why this coming season has these guys in their coaching lineup:

From L to R: New head coach Adam Oates, new assistant coach Calle Johansson, and associate goalie coach Olaf Kolzig

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Yep, all three played multiple years for the Washington Capitals sometime since 1990. And it turned out that I had autographed cards of all of them.All included in the $5 purchase from last year.

Man, I am just... tired of everything.

Sorry for the vaguebooking. It gets better(?)

Blah.

I say this without a hint of sarcasm: Good for her! She probably could have pitched a stupid reality show and made some quick cash being followed by cameras (seriously, the Two Coreys? Scott Biao?) but she's really going to a four-year college to major in computer science.

This little guy was in the box with the other Star Wars figures:

"Biddi-biddi-biddi. What's up, Buck?"

I loved the Buck Rogers TV show when I was a kid. I picked it up cheap on DVD a few years ago at Wal-Mart and sold it on Amazon after watching three episodes. Wow, does it NOT hold up. It's very much a product of the late '70s post-Star Wars world. But Mego released some cool figures from the show. I never had Wilma (sad face) but I have a very clear memory about the Buck Rogers figure (since lost who knows where, sadly): I was at the county library with my parents and I had to go to the bathroom. I was wearing overalls (God help me, I was wearing overalls) and Buck was in the front bib pocket. I undid the two straps and the "bib" part flopped down, depositing Buck directly into the toilet. Oops!

Twikki was welcomed into the Star Wars figure world with open arms (stretched out in front like zombies since the SW figures' arms didn't bend at the elbows!) and he had many adventures with the other droids. He also looked good with the other droids the jawas dragged around. Of course we didn't have an Uncle Owen figure back then, so the "purchase of the droids" scene couldn't be reenacted with 100% complete accuracy!

I remember being confused by the two names. As an adult, "Sand Person" sounds like a racist name those Mos Eisley aholes would probably use. The same dipshits who have a prejudice against robots hanging around bars.

I have two of these guys from my childhood. The other one is missing his head (again, I promise I wasn't a vicious child! I just played with the Star Wars figs a LOT.

I'll do a small aside next time about the little guy on the right there!

Looking at these today, I'm super impressed by the quality. Still sturdy plastic about 35 years later (holy moly, time marches on, huh???) and nice details like the pouches molded onto the body. And 5 points of articulation were all we needed, and we liked it!

First... the BOX:



I don't know ANYTHING about guns or ammunition. I've fired a few guns at a friend's house in the country years ago, and I have a healthy fear of their killing power. But that's it. The box belonged to my father. He was in Vietnam and also the Army Reserves for years and years after that. (He's still alive, by the way. I don't mean to make it sound like he's gone.) All the Star Wars figs of mine got put into that box, probably by him, at one point, so I just took the box when I moved out for good.

Now, the first fig, chosen comepletely by virtue of him being at the top of the pile, is... (no drumroll needed since I gave the answer in the blog post title!): X-Wing Suit Luke Skywalker!

This guy came out early in the series. Probably late Star Wars (I believe that's most likely. Not in the original 12, but in the first 18 figs, I'd bet without bothering to look it up). I was young enough to have been taken to see Star Wars by my mother and never having seen a single commercial for it. I vaguely recall thinking "Star Wars?" Of course I also recall my mother taking me to see E.T., and that title meant nothing to me either. Did I not watch commercials unless they were for sugar-filled cereals as a child???

I do recall that Luke here was a bathtub staple. He fought Vader many times in the tub. And his poor face. That is not just the result of regular wear and tear, I'm sorry to say. No, Luke here had his face carved into with a pen knife a little bit. I was trying to make him look like he'd been in a battle on Hoth, after the wampa got him. Sorry Luke. I promise I wasn't like Sid from Toy Story! I smashed a few Matchbox cars with a hammer to make them look wrecked, but I was generally careful with my toys. I just took artistic license with Luke's face.

A friend mentioned purchasing some vintage Star Wars figures recently, and it reminded me that I have all of mine in an ammunition box in the basement. I thought it might be a fun exercise to photograph each and tell a little story or memory with it. Here's a shot of the open box:

Wow, where ya been? Well, the crazy storm that blew through on Friday, June 29, knocked out power to our neighborhood. We spent a warm night in the house, then left for the river the next morning. Through the neighborhood listserv, we learned power was restored late Tuesday evening, after several more days with temps in the upper 90s. I telecommuted Monday and Tuesday, thanks to understanding bosses in similar situations.

Wednesday was good food and fireworks.

I had already planned to take Thursday and Friday as vacation days, so that was that. We know the other house is going to be not exactly cool, and today it's supposed to be 104 degrees! So we're planning on returning early tomorrow. I will empty the fridge and freezer of all the nasty spoiled food and try to cool the house a bit before Monday rolls around and it's back to the real world.