The Night I Came Home!

You probably haven't noticed my absence as of late, but I did something that was long overdue (say about eight to ten years) and something I've been dreaming about (literally) a lot in the past few months: I went home. 

Being back in Santa Cruz, California and seeing the streets that have been etched into my brain (after living there since birth to 22 years old), smelling the ocean throughout the entire town, feeling the winds and the water upon my face, and experiencing the sensation of simply being there, it's almost indescribable.

Despite my admiration for nomads (something I doubt I'll ever become), where I lay my head is not home! See, I've always missed my home... a place that I once thought I could do without. And though I didn't show it much, the smells from my home town beaches brought it all forcefully flowing back.

I grew up here in the water. I would ride my bike down a few blocks to the beach, nearly every single day for years, back when I was just a uncool pre-sparkling vampire. I was so quick and accustomed to the train bridge (the one featured in The Lost Boys and a few other films) that I could actually run across the thing every single time I crossed it. 

Maybe that doesn't sound too impressive, but there's nothing but air between those steps above that eighty foot riverbed. If I slipped up I'd snap my leg in half easily, and it never happened. Because I was born there and walked it, then ran it hundreds of times.

I didn't get a chance to do that again in my old age, but I got to enjoy the warm summer nights that I fondly remember. And while it was a pretty lackluster 4'th of July, due to new laws in place, a pretty good time was had by all the Mexicans their eyebrow-less girlfriends.

Some of the best games in the world:

(MIA were Altered Beasts, Bad Dudes, Killer Instinct and P.O.W.)

An old favorite (Black Lemonade!) along with a new one (TruBlood!): 

But seriously, these are some nasty ass drinks. Stay away.

Here's a shot of some of the beers I was unlucky enough to pick up for my trip back:

And finally, here's a shot of yours un-truly... livin' it up on the beach, bitches:

I was pretty blitzed, and as always, roped off from the general public.

If I die young: Bury me in liquor! Lay me down on a... bed of bottles.

 Sink me in the ABV, I'm gone. Chug me away with the laughs of a Drunkard...

uh oh...

Just scored some kick ass brews.

I've been looking for HoptimuM, not too long now, but for what seems like an eternity in my brain - to the point where even typing this now it feels as if I had been destined to do so. Then I find it not one minute away at the liquor store up the hill. Oh, somebody was trying to hide it quite well. Maybe until they could scrape enough dough to buy the other three from the four pack. But I'm the defective detective motherfucker and I sniff out then snuff out beers like this! In other words, I took it upon myself to buy that three pack and the four pack next to it, on the spot. All the while gloating over the imaginary gentleman that attempted to hide this treasure from me. The fuck you think you are Mr. Buy one bottle now and hide the rest!? For shame.

Alright, so what we got here from Right to Left is a Four Pack of Sierra Nevada HoptimuM, three more bottles and a bottle of Old Rasputin, Firestone's Sucaba Barrel-Aged Barley Wine and a four pack containing two more bottles of Old Rasputin (I drank the fourth bottle before checkout) and two bottles of Dogfish Head World Wide Stout. A beautiful sight, if I may say so myself. -_-

Three New Patches.

Check out these three new shoulder patches that I got.

Oh, and don't mind the other stuff! I just put that there.

Nightmare Before Christmas Coffin-Shaped Playing Cards

Hey! Check out this set of Nightmare Before Christmas Coffin-Shaped Playing Cards that just came in the mail from the Disney Rewards Club. I had about 775 points from joining their movie club a while back and while they don't really have a lot of things in the rewards that I'm particularly fond of, I did see this and said to myself (something along the lines of) "Oh fuck yea!"

It's a perfect mix of three things that I absolutely love:

Tim Burton's stop motion animated film, Playing cards, and that traditional old-school Coffin shape.

It comes with a shitty little dry-erase score board and a pen that will probably dry up in a day or two...
yeah, but the cards come in this coffin shaped semi-hard plastic case that the cards fit in and it's great.

Testing out my new Nikon Coolpix S6200

My old digicam is something like ten years old. It's OK, but runs on AA batteries and is shit for anything close-up. So I figured it was about time to upgrade (Thanks Ashton!), what with me taking so many pictures and all lately. I'm pretty strapped but I got a decent model for a low price and it's capable of capturing a lot of detail (such as Cyberverse Commander Class Megatron's face, which is roughly half the size of my pinky fingernail). That review is coming a bit later. I'm still working on figuring it all out, and I've dumped about over 90% of the pictures I've taken so far.

Trinkets

I've learned a few things though: 1) I take better pics when I'm buzzed, as instead of shaking, I simply wobble slightly. 2) My apartment is dusty as fuck. 3) Getting a sharp detailed near 100% accurate photo without the flash ruining everything is hard as shit! Perhaps I should have bothered to read the instructions... nah. and 4) I'm never going to grow up.

My computer desk

Southern Tier Bottles (Still missing a few)

Soundwave and Ravage

Dusty ass Leader Skywarp

RoTF Starcream

Chest-burster Barricade

A few CDs

Hopefully with this new camera I'll be able to get some of these figure reviews off the ground. And perhaps I'll slowly get better at taking pictures altogether. Who knows. Click on the pics for greater detail.

A few new Blu-Rays, and some old DVDs.

So I finally found the Superbit of Bram Stoker's Dracula! In a used book store, brand new and sealed for $4 no less. I've been not-so-much searching for this one for the last few years, every time I walk into a shop I'll browse around the D's in new and used. I started to think I'd never come across the thing, and was beginning to go quite mad as Jayson from GhoulBasement kept talking about the damn thing every six months or so. There it is next to my new, colorful blu-ray edition. I also snagged a new Jean Rolllin film that I haven't seen yet. And of course, thanks to Jayson (once again), ended up cracking and ordered my first new disc online in the last year or so: Synapse's Limited blu-ray of Intruder with the special DVD-R Workprint (#365/500).

Here's some of my favorite films above: Darkness The Vampire Version 2-Disc with Slipcover and reversible sleeve. Both Street Trash releases (one with Viper stickers and one with a pretty cool documentary on the film). The Region 3 Army of Darkness and a Promotional copy of PIG that I found used with the ever elusive "Why God Permits Evil" book still inside! Also, Best Buy 2-Disc Exclusives of Dead Pit and Beyond the Door.

Subconscious Cruelty was my 500th DVD. Still haven't watched it *Lowers head in shame* In My Skin is a great, sexy and disturbing flick. HENRY and Man Bites Dog of course, are both immortal classics.

There's my Limited Numbered edition of Murder Set Pieces UNCUT (#72 out of 150). That AFTERMATH is in fact the Red Edition with the old graphic cover. Unearthed sent me both covers for some reason which I'm quite glad as I do love the new artwork. That Cat in the Brain disc has the Lenticular cover (hard to tell from the photo). And of course, there's the 2-Disc of Last House on Dead End Street!

And finally in this batch of photos there's my Signed version of Brian Paulin's FETUS. And all the Signed Snuff Editions of the August Underground films: August Underground (#581/1000), Mordum (#513/1000) and Penance (#627/1000). I better get to watching Philosophy of a Knife too.

Don't forget to dust off your dirty shelves!

Check out my Darts! ... oh, and future posts too.

I've got some upcoming Events that I'd like you all to know about, if you can call what I do to be eventful...

First off, I'm going to be doing this fairly big Sierra Nevada series of brew reviews (a lot of their special stuff). Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale was the first Ale that I ever tried, back when I was doing intern work for an independent aspiring video game company run by stoner, earth-loving hippies with a taste for the good shit. I was fifteen, got bored, raided their fridge and chugged the last three of the leftover six pack in one large plastic cup. For a non-paying job, sitting in a dark room stoned all the time and playing on Photoshop for hours while nobody bothered me, it was pretty sweet. Once they pushed their drug-loving founder out and tried to go "corporate" in a new, totally not as cool building, things went completely downhill. I stayed for a few weeks but ended up getting the fuck out of there. The change in attitude was bullshit. No more trips (LSD, Cinema, Coffee House... you name it.) No more beer and smoke during work, and the music had to be approved. Motivation meetings? I think not, bitches. The place crumbled shortly afterwards.

Secondly, I've noticed by visiting the liquor store time and time again lately (each day) that Christmas seem to be coming upon us. So therefore, I declare: Tis The Season To Get Fucked Up! I've been collecting a small arsenal of festive seasonal snowy brews which I'll be doing a little series on. No telling how it's all going to end up. I got cut short with my Halloween pumpkin brew reviews because the area couldn't keep me knee deep in the variety of it all. But I'm not trying for any records, I just want to find and drink the best damn beers I can stumble upon.

Third and fourth ... I've got some upcoming Artwork that (when I finish it) I'll be showing off. There are previews in this very post with the pictures of my new darts. And (back to beer) I'm also going to be trying all four of the new Samuel Adams Single Batch bombers that just came out: Third Voyage, The Vixen, Griffin's Bow and Tasman Red. They all look pretty interesting to say the least. Nice artwork too. Until then I'll probably not be doing much besides hanging at the pub practicing my darts and drinking.

Oh hey, did I mention that I got a new set of darts!? I left my two sets of darts back home when I traveled afar, and it's been about ten years since. Probably not necessary to tell anyone, but I'm a bit of a barfly now. Never been to a bar before 2009. I'm a relatively quiet guy, bit of a loner(that's an Understatement!), but my friends are loud and have been around. There's a lady who owns the bar I go to. Well, I started shooting for a while with my friend's darts and joined a competition even though I totally suck! One day I decided to try the house darts and shot considerably better. I asked the owner if I could buy them. She told me no, and I left unhappy.

It wasn't a few days later that I got a phone call and was told that there was something waiting for me at the pub. A cold beer is good enough... but when I got there, I was presented with this new set of darts, straight from our lady owner. Her gift, to me. She wasn't there at the time. As I sat there drinking my beers, I just kinda stared at them. Words to describe this feeling came to be most difficult. Some people call it happiness, I suppose. I've not really done anything but be around. But she did this incredibly gracious thing for me, even though we don't know each other too well. When I talked to her about it she insisted that it was very much a gift and that I should keep on being me. It's been a long time since I felt something so warm inside that I was in disbelief.

[Notes: The pic doesn't feature the original stems, which were long, black and cheap. I bought shorter, red-colored spinners. My friend bought me the two extra sets of flights.]