First "tick" of the year...

Well, I guess I can officially kick off my Midwestern summer. You may be wondering, what kind of tick am I eluding to with the title of this blog entry. Is it the tick of the clock as we approach the summer solstice (which is June 21st BTW)? Is it a new nervous tick that I developed when I think about what my new job responsibilities would be after I am a nurse?

Though either option would have been interesting to talk about, I'm actually referencing a tick of an Arachnida kind.

As I took a shower this evening I felt and odd bump on my lower leg. Upon further inspection I noticed that I had an unwanted visitor upon my integumentary system (I'm referring to my silky smooth skin of course).

For any West Coast readers who have never had the pleasure of having an insect stowaway decide to attach themselves onto you, they look like this:

This was probably the least gross picture I found on the Internet.

Don't worry, its doesn't hurt when it bites. I didn't even notice it until a few hours later. And, as long as the little tick bastard isn't carrying something like Lyme Disease, then I should be OK.

I'm pretty sure I know how I got the tick. I went to go toss the ol'frisbee again with my cousin to bask in the sunshine. I'm also trying to get a little color back into my pale visage while enjoying the weather.

Well, during one toss I decided to try and let it rip and go for the distance. As what usually happens to me, when I try to over do it, I lost all semblance of good throwing mechanics and sent the Frisbee disc flying into the woods. I'm sure the little parasite decided to hop on the Strictor Train when I was climbing through the foliage and brambles to retrieve my disc.

So what did the little 8 legged punkass get for his trouble? Probably a few microliters of my tasty Type O and a flush down the toilet.

So I guess I'll go ahead and officially kick off my summer...have I mentioned it's F'ing humid out here?

I haven't compiled the road trip mileage yet, but I should have it down by Tuesday. I'll blog before I start my latest roadtrip adventure to the East. But, to help you kill some more time, here's a quick review of a few movies, new and old, that I recently saw.

Star Trek


This is definitely a very fun movie. With the advent of the technology that can magically make movies (even current releases) appear directly onto my hard drive at home, I tend to reserve the movie going for large action movies or date nights (gotta keep expenses down in this economy!).

However, with the crush of summer blockbuster type movies that are being released I would definitely give this one a big recommendation. 3 Strictorheads for sure!

Its a very cool new take on the entire Star Trek saga. And I like the way they handled the whole time travel aspect. I may be a J. J. Abrams fan boy, but I do like the direction he is taking with this new cast. I've never been a trekkie and was never really a big fan of the Star Trek universe, but I think I can get on board with this iteration.

I really liked the casting job they did with the new crew. Click here to see what they were actually looking at. Crazy Frenchie.

Terminator Salvation

If you're looking for a decent but mindless summer action movie with robots and explosions (and don't want to wait for Transformers 2) then definitely see this movie. This is actually a good movie to appreciate a theater's sound system. But, as far as story telling, I think it got a little bit confusing to try and figure out who really was the "main" character. Also, since there were already 2 good Terminator movies (I refuse to count the 3rd one, Rise of the Machines, as an actual movie), the confusion of events that take place and space time continuum issues kinda make this movie just so-so.

Downfall (Der Untergang)


While I seriously doubt any of you who are reading would actually sit through a subtitled movie about Hitler's final days, I would still recommend this movie. On a more entertaining note, many folks in cyberspace have used one of Hitler's tirades from the movie to make some pretty entertaining viral clips. Here is my favorite, of course it references Big 12 football. Check it out here.

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

This movie was OK. There are some entertaining parts, but mostly I felt like I was supposed to laugh, but really didn't. There is one awesome redeeming quality of the film, and I'll let you guess.........Yup, Simon Pegg. Funny dude.

This was my favorite scene in the movie. I loved the way the cinematographer was able to capture the lighting reflecting off the pool and the positioning of the water lilies. Amazing. Also, the water was cold.

That's it for me...I'ma go watch a couple more movies tonight. Maybe The Duchess or My Best Friend's Girl.