Surviving the School Holidays

On July 25, 2022August 1, 2022 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Children, Parents

I want to talk about the school holidays, in particular surviving them. Why? Would you like to take a guess?

Term 3 of the school year has started today for thousands of children across the country, here in New Zealand. They are going back to school, after coming off a nice relaxing two week holiday. They have enjoyed swimming at the beach, having water fights, and eating ice cream to cool off; is what you would say if it was the Summer/Christmas holidays.

We have not just had those holidays. Oh no, the school holidays the kids have just experienced have been in the middle of Winter. You know, the rain, the cold, the snow, gloves, beanies, and puffer jackets. That Winter.

Now before I go any further, this is not me complaining about spending time with UMC1 and UMC2. That’s not it at all. This is all about, “It’s freezing, it’s been raining for five straight days, the kids are fighting again, so how do I survive the holidays, without using alcohol?” That is a very interesting question.

The Winter school holidays are brutal, seriously, they’re really mean. And it’s not just one factor that creates this carnage. A lot of charming things all add up to this sanity breaking experience.

Let’s set the scene in the Some Geek Told Me house, shall we? Our house is very small. I feel extremely bad for people entering it for the first time, and believing they have entered a very large walk-in wardrobe. I have to shatter that image and explain that what they’re looking at, is exactly the entire house.

Because of this, they are not many places you can actually escape to in the house, that’s away from everybody else. UMC1 and UMC2 are still learning what the words alone and privacy, actually mean.

Our only heating system in the house is a log burner, which is located in the lounge, which is connected to the kitchen, because it’s basically one room. This is where we have been living, in front of the fire. Classy.

Let’s check the weather report today. What’s this?! We’re going to have a high of 6 °C today? That’s so warm, let’s have a barbeque!; say nobody ever! The horrible weather has had a huge impact on this small family.

It would be raining or having just recently rained or quite cold outside, UMC1 and UMC2 would cut their losses, and refuse to leave the house. Even at 8 am, they would basically declare, because of the weather, the day would be a write off for them.

Their arguments were that, “It’s too wet! or It’s too cold.” Even when the few times it stopping raining or became a lot warmer; nope, they were not leaving the house.

This brings us to pyjamas. After stating that they were not leaving the house for the day, this meant UMC1 and UMC2 would be staying in their pyjamas. For the whole day. It puts all of your parenting skills to the test, to convince your children to change out of their pyjamas, knowing you’re going to fail, like Superman under a red sun.

11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm, and on it would march. We would feel defeated some days, knowing the boys never left the house, or never changed out of their pyjamas. On other days however, jobs had to be done outside in the big, wide, scary world.

An example of an upcoming disaster would be going to the supermarket. You’re running out of food, so you try to convince the kids to go with you. Their answer is no, because, well of course it’s going to be no. They’re too busy playing with Lego or fighting, to go to the supermarket.

That would mean leaving the house or worse, changing into regular clothes! So we did whatever a normal parent does: we offered bribes. Some Kinder chocolate here, a McDonalds hash brown there, or hot chips everywhere! Anything to leave the house, even to drive to the port and back!

After being cooped up in our tiny house because of the weather, with no escape from anybody, you just wanted to leave and see the outside world. And if you needed to bribe the kids to do it, well, you would never be judged by me.

Sometimes their response was basically, “What’s in it for us?” Unbelievable. Of course, they would always accept the bribe, but they would tease you a little bit. How far can we push Mum and Dad, before they break forever?

I had mentioned something previously, but I need to expand on it. Because of the cruddy weather, we have been inside a lot. Cramped conditions added to terrible weather, equals fighting.

Should we spin the Wheel of Misfortune to reveal what the children will be fighting about for the next four minutes?

Will be it be because UMC1 touched UMC2’s bed?

Will be it be because UMC2 looked at UMC1’s robot?

Will be it because, while sitting on the couch, UMC1 and UMC2’s elbows touched?

No, today’s answer is because someone is using someone else’s Lego!

I swear, they do actually get along. However over the last two weeks, their fighting has branched out into new fields like space on a couch, the number of crackers on a plate, the longer someone sleeps, and of course, is UMC1 or UMC2, the greatest Lego builder of all time!

On one dreary and rainy day, I mentioned to my wife that the boys had been doing really well. There had been no fighting, everybody was working together and sharing; it was awesome. I jinxed it, because UMC1 and UMC2 must have been listening, and quickly realised they needed to get their fighting quota in for the day, and promptly starting arguing about whether James was a better steam engine than Thomas.

The last two weeks have been tough and our parenting skills have been tested, failed, retested and succeeded. Anyway, how do you cope with your children during school holidays and terrible weather?

In other news, our dog injured his right front leg, while jumping up onto our bed last week. This has resulted in all of us, giving him some extra attention, which he is loving. So I’m off to rub his belly, before he starts getting angry. Thanks for reading, pat your dog, and I’ll see you next week.

The James Webb Space Telescope: Awesomeness worth $10 billion

On July 18, 2022July 25, 2022 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Science

I once again want to talk about the James Webb Space Telescope. Why? Well strap yourself in, because I’ve been geeking out. Back in January, I gushed over the launch of the JWST, while trying very poorly to explain how important and magnificent the JWST will be to humanity.

The JWST’s main function is to capture and see images in infrared. This is because infrared wavelengths are longer than visible light that we can see; thus making it invisible to us. By allowing the JWST to see in infrared, the telescope will be able to detect and see different cosmic objects, that are too far away for us to see with visible light.

This is a great time to mention that JWST’s first images were released recently, and they did not disappoint. I’m swiping right here. The JWST images are more gorgeous, than you can shake a stick at, on your best stick shaking day.

You may have already seen these images, but please just humour me. The truth is, I just want to stare at them. As sad as it is, these images are bringing me a lot of joygasms. WTF?! This is awesome!

With the descriptions of the images, I’ve tried to give a brief explanation of them. Can’t promise the explanations are good though!

One thing quick thing we need to sort before we start: what is a light-year? It sounds like it could be a measurement of time, but it’s not; it’s about distance. A light-year is the distance light can travel in a vacuum, within a single year. Light travels at 299,792,458 metres per second, (you can round it up to 300,000,000 m/s) so a light-year is 9.46 trillion kilometres (9.46×10¹² km).

To put this in perspective, the distance between the Sun and the Earth is around 150,000,000 km. The light travelling from the Sun towards Earth is travelling at the speed of light, which is 300,000,000 m/s or 300,000 km/s. This means the distance from the Sun to the Earth, is just over 8 light-minutes.

Earth’s second closest star, Proxima Centauri, is 4.2 light-years away. Space is big.

SMACS 0723 aka Webb’s First Deep Field

To start the ball rolling, this image; just like the Hubble Deep Field photo, is greater than the sum of all of its parts. This is a cluster of galaxies called SMACS J0723.3–7327, but SMAC 0723 works just as fine.

SMAC 0723 is over 4 billion light-years from Earth, and this image is remarkable for four reasons.

1.) From what I understand, every dot, blob, or smear of light in this image, is actually a galaxy, filled with millions of stars, and hundred of millions of exoplanets.

2.) The area of space in the image, is about the size of a grain of sand, where a person standing on Earth, held it out at arm’s length.

3.) Due to the huge size and combined mass of this galaxy cluster, it is distorting space-time. This allows light to be bent around it, thus it acts like a lens, so we can see distant galaxies at a greater magnification. This is known as gravitational lensing.

4.) The JWST has some pretty cool instruments on board. The NIRCam and NIRSpec, have helped to reveal information about one of the galaxies in the image. The analysis of the galaxy’s light, shows it to be red shifted and about 13.1 billion years old. The age of the universe is about 13.8 billions years old. We are looking at a galaxy that, quite possibly, was only created around 700 million years after the Big Bang. This is mind blowing.

Southern Ring Nebula

This Planetary Nebula is 2,000 light-years away. It’s not a planet, but rather a collection of gas and dust, blown away from a Red Giant star as it died. With the image on the right, do you see a small white dot in the centre? That’s the White Dwarf star, and that’s what remains from the Red Giant’s death. For me, that looks like a hot mess. It’s gorgeous.

Stephan’s Quintet

This image is quite literally, out of this galaxy. This is Stephan’s Quintet, which is located around 300 million light-years away. Named after Édouard Stephan, the astronomer that discovered it, this is a galaxy group.

The image consists of four different galaxies; NGC 7320, NGC 7319, NGC 7318, and NGC 731. NGC 7318 is actually two galaxies that are colliding into each other. Which by the way, is exactly what will happen to our Milky Way Galaxy, in about 4.5 billion years, when we collide into the Andromeda Galaxy.

It also pays to understand, there are thousands of other galaxies in the background. You are not entertained?!

Carina Nebula

This is part of the Carina Nebula, that’s called the Cosmic Cliffs. It is near 8,500 light-years away from Earth and is filled with gas and dust. The Carina Nebula is what you would call a stellar nursery. This means it’s a region of space where stars are born, because of the vast amounts of gas and dust that are pulled into it. Once again, another gorgeous image.

Atmosphere Composition of WASP-96 b

Spectrum of a Galaxy’s Composition

These two compositions of an exoplanet’s atmosphere, and of a galaxy’s spectrum, reveals two major things: water and oxygen are more common in the universe, than we first thought. The implications to this data, could already change the way we understand and view the universe.

These images from the JWST are some of the first to be released, with many years of images to come. This telescope is going to create new fields of science, for generations of people to study and learn from. It really is going to change the world. Believe the hype about the JWST.

It cost $10 billion to create, which is a hefty price tag. However what we are going to learn from it, is going to be invaluable and priceless to life on our planet, but maybe, just maybe, life out there as well.

Thank you for reading Some Geek Told Me. It keeps me inside and in front of a computer, where my wife can keep an eye on me. Marriage is awesome. Stay away from Sour Cream and Chives, walk your dog, and I’ll see you next week.

My dog’s eating habits are getting strange

On July 11, 2022February 6, 2023 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Animals

I want to talk about my dog, in particular his eating habits. Why? Oh that’s easy, this stuff is bonkers. My dog’s name is Indy,¹and he’s had some interesting eating habits.

When he was a puppy, he would scoop up some of his dog food in his mouth, walk over to someone sitting down or standing, drop the food, and then proceed to eat the food by their feet. Of course Indy would turn round, walk back to his bowl, scoop more food up and repeat the exercise. Not the most effective eating method, was it?

Fast forward to May of this year, I wrote about what life is like living with a dog. In that blog, I mentioned about his current eating habits. For whatever odd reason, we noticed that he had started eating his food from his bowl, by dividing it in half. Indy was eating nearly half of his food each time, which is nothing special; however you could tell what he’s done, because he was literally eating half.

We have tried to determine if there is a pattern to his madness, but every time we think we have unlocked it, he up and changes it. It’s like he understands what we are doing, and is deliberately being a jerk about it.

Anyway, we did what any geeks would do, we started recording his eating habits. We discovered Indy has several different ways to eat his food. He is fed only once a day, always in the morning, and with the same type of dog chow.

For Indy’s eating methods, they cover different starting points: Left, Right, Top, and Bottom. There is also the Centre, when Indy ate from the centre and not from any side; All, when he ate all of his food in one setting; and the Hour Glass method, where he ate from the left and the right, so the food looked like a hour glass.

These are the results:

The percentages work out to be:

Left: 45.88% Right: 40.88% Top: 6.63% Bottom: 3.31% Centre: 0.55% All: 2.21% Hour Glass: 0.55%

So what does this all mean?

1.) My dog is strange, though that’s relative.

2.) Indy is slightly favouring eating from the left side of the bowl (83 days-74 days), though I do have a hypothesis for this. It may have something to do with the Summer months and the door being left open; or it could be some other crazy reason(s).

3.) As the year has progressed, Indy’s eating habits have become more diverse. June was his most diverse month, because the number of times eating from the bottom half of the bowl, was equal to the number of times eating from the right hand side. Very progressive.

4.) So why has Indy actually started eating his food like this? I don’t know. I’m serious, I don’t know. Does he have OCD?

5.) We will continue to monitor his eating habits for the rest of the year, because, you know, why not? At the end of the year, I’ll present our findings for July-December and compare them to January-June. I’m sure some scientist would be interested in the results. Maybe.

Does your dog or pet have any strange eating habits? Please let me know. Alright, that’s it for tonight. Enjoy the blog, walk your dog, and I’ll see you next week.

¹He’s named after Indiana Jones.

Saying Goodbye to a Series: Are You a Quitter?

On July 4, 2022July 11, 2022 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Books, Comics, Literature, Movies, Music, Television

I want to talk about saying goodbye to a series. Why? Over the many times I have travelled around the Sun, this strange event has happened repeatedly. To understand this subject better, you won’t need Herb Powell to build a translator for you, I’ll just try to do a better job at explaining it.

You don’t have to be a geek or nerd to enjoy a series. This could be in the form of comics, novels, television shows, movies, video games, music, or just about anything that is created for people’s enjoyment and entertainment.¹

Now for whatever reason, you love that series. Maybe you have grown up listening to a special artist or band, read all of the books in a saga, played all of the games in a franchise, watched every episode in a tv show, or seen every movie in a series.

Whatever it is, there is something you like watching, listening to, or reading, that…well, makes you happy; like lying in bed, listening to the rain fall on the roof, or eating some some Salt and Vinegar chips, while watching your favourite team win.

Whatever the case, you have a relationship with…and I’m doing to use the word, product, for the purposes of context. You have a relationship with that product; whether it is positive, negative and everything in between.

But here’s the problem: just like the relationships you have with other homo sapiens, every relationship has a beginning and an ending. Just the same as the relationship you have with your product.²

The way I see it, I can think of three different ways the relationship with the product will end.

1.) The product stops creating

The band could split up; the singer retires; the monthly comic book finishes; the tv show screens the final season; the final movie in a trilogy or series is released; the makers of the video game, have discontinued the line; or the last and final book in a saga, is finally released.

It doesn’t matter what the reason is, but the product that you enjoy, will no longer be creating any new content going forward, on a regular basis. Yes, it’s possible that tv shows and movies, could have spin offs; the monthly comic book could come back as a mini-series; the band members could join or create new bands; or the author may decide to explore prequel eras of the saga; but it’s not the same, is it?

Basically what I’m saying, is that the product broke up with you. It hurts, but it’s out of your hands. There will be no new book, album, movie, tv show, or comic book; whatever story the creators of that medium were telling, that story has been told and now, it’s finished.

You also know, if it was up to you, the product and yourself would still be together. All you can do now, is listen to the songs again, reread the saga, play the games again, or binge watch the tv shows and movies; compounded by the blessing and the curse, that you know what happens.

2.) The product is high maintenance

As the stale, old, bread winner of our one income family, this reason is a no-brainer: money. ABBBA and Pink Floyd warned us about this in the 70’s, to various degrees. The loss of a job, extra bills, crossovers, multi-media projects, dwindling savings, or just the slow and steady rise of the product’s cost, could result in you declaring that the product is now, high maintenance; therefore, you can’t afford it anymore.

It sucks, because you love the product, but the product is out of your league now. You could try to figure out a way to keep it: buy less food, give up the gym, or decrease on using electricity.

However when there are children or UMCs involved, you have to admit that you’re the adult, and you need to give up the product for their sake. Bread vs the new book? Electricity vs the new video game?

You’re a parent and you’re doing the best that you can for your kids, so you quit the product to help them. Or until you can afford it again!

3.) You and the product want different things

So we have finally arrived at the most strangest and personal reason, you and your product are no longer together: you’ve lost that loving feeling.

There are so many various situations about why this happens. It can cover the product receiving a new artist, new writer, new direction, new singer, death or return of major characters, new music video, new songs, games becoming easier/harder, storylines getting repeated, bad dialogue, or maybe just the fact that you have moved on from the product.

Whatever it is, the love and the passion you once had for the product, has slowly faded away. It could have been your family’s influence, or your friends, spouse, partner, work mates, or quite honestly, it was you realising that you and the product are travelling down different roads now, and you want something else.

There is no shame in this. I think about my own life and the products that I have quit for different reasons, is probably more than Chuck Norris has executed a roundhouse kick. Wait…that’s physically impossible. You can’t beat Chuck Norris at anything, except receiving roundhouse kicks to the face.

And you’re back in the room. This may sound quite odd, but hey, a geek’s going to do, what a geek’s going to. Every time I have quit a product; whether it involves movies, novels, comics, bands, or tv shows, I feel the need to explain myself.

By this I mean writing an email or letter to the director, author, or whomever it would be, to apologise for leaving the product, and explain why I have done it. I never have though, but the desire is there.

Sometimes it’s extremely easy for me to identify, the reason(s) why I’m not interested in a product anymore, but there are times when it’s the opposite. I’ll know that I’d like to quit the product, however I’m unable to explain why.

I may start second guessing myself over the decision, but if I start doing that, I know it’s over. Throughout my life, my love of music, books, comics, movies, and tv shows has not changed, but the genres have.

My tastes in popular culture have changed, just like me. I’m definitely a work in progress, but I’m still evolving, which means the products that I spend my hard earned money on, have to reflect what makes me happy. Though my taste for Sour Cream and Chives will never, ever change. Ever.

We have now arrived at the point of the conversation where I ask you the question: Are you a quitter? What products were you interested in, but have now left behind? What caused the break up? Please let me know.

Sorry, this was a long one. As usual I have a bad idea, then it spirals out of control. Alright, thanks for reading, walk your dog, and I’ll see you next Monday.

¹Alliteration much?

²Am I the only one that has Closing Time, by Semisonic, as an earworm now?

The Right to Choose: A Global View

On June 27, 2022July 4, 2022 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Children, People, Politics

I want to discuss the elephant in the room. Why? I had something completely different lined up for this blog. It was another half-arsed attempt to be funny, talking about certain aspects of pop culture. However, after the decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court, I felt I needed to write about something else.

Firstly, should a non-American, white male like myself, have an opinion about the state of abortion in the United States of America? To be honest, I’m not smart enough to answer that question.

Ok, so how is abortion viewed around the world then? Good question, but it’s not an easy answer.

Here in New Zealand, abortion was decriminalised through the Abortion Legislation Act 2020, thus removing it from the Crimes Act 1961.

In relation to that, the countries and autonomous jurisdictions that will be discussed, will vary in their U.N. recognition, but also some of them are divided into different states or regions. This of course means what you can do in one part of the country, could be illegal in another part; in regards to the age of the fetus. These include Mexico, Australia (though decriminalised), United Kingdom, and of course, the United States of America.

The reasons for an abortion can be divided into different groups: on request, social and economic, fetal impairment or health, rape, risk to the mother’s health, and risk to the mother’s life. For the context of this blog, miscarriages will not be classified as abortions.

The total number of countries and autonomous jurisdictions discussed is 232.

There are 10 nations (Abkhazia, Andorra, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Madagascar, Malta, Nicaragua, The Philippines, and the Vatican City) where abortion is illegal in all forms; even the risk to the mother’s life.

There are 62 nations where abortion is illegal, up to and including the risk to the mother’s health.

There are 93 nations where abortion is illegal, up to and including the rape of the mother. Let that sink in. 93 nations say that if you are raped and become pregnant, you are legally required to carry the baby to full term, otherwise it’s a crime. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_law)

Each year around the world, there are an estimated 40-50 million abortions. This equals to approximately 125,000 abortions per day, according to WHO data. (Source: https://www.worldometers.info/abortions/)

Basically this can be summarised here:

Banning abortions, does not stop abortions from happening, no matter where you are in the world. All you are doing is putting the mother at greater risk.
Unintended pregnancy rates are higher in nations that heavily restrict abortion access to women, and lower with nations where abortion support is more accessible and legal.
The percentage of unintended pregnancies that end in abortion, in nations that restrict abortion, have increased over the last 30 years.
The global unintended pregnancy rate, per 1,000 women of reproductive age (15–49), has been decreasing since 1990–1994 from 79 to 64.
Between 1990-1994, the amount of unintended pregnancies ending in abortion was 51%. This remained around the same through 2000–2004; however it then increased to 61% by 2015–2019.
The global abortion rate decreased between 1990–1994 and 2000–2004, but it has returned to the high levels of the 1990s. (Source: https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-worldwide)

If you are feel angry about the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade; if you feel a woman has the right to actually choose what happens to her body; you are not alone.

Regardless of the different boxes and labels we give yourselves and other people, whether its gender, religion, socioeconomic status, or anything else, you are allowed to care about this issue.

So if you do care, what can you do about it?

Identify your local or national abortion organisations or charity groups and donate to them. Regardless of the abortion status in your country, they need your money and support.
Contact your local political representative and ask them, where do they sit on this important issue.
Vote. It’s that simple. Vote to protect the pro-choice laws that exist in your country, or vote to dismantle the anti-abortion laws.

I realise this issue is quite sensitive and important, but before I go, I have to share this video. It’s one of the best videos I have ever seen about the abortion debate, so please watch it. It’s quite long, but it is so worth it.

Thanks for reading and letting me politely rant about this issue. Look after yourselves, I’ll see you next Monday.

Tim Sale: We lost another Tōtara

On June 22, 2022June 27, 2022 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Comics, People

2022 is slowly becoming a crappy year for the comics industry, because another legendary artist has died. On 16th June, Tim Sale passed away in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. He was 66 years old.

I can’t tell you what the first Tim Sale art I ever saw was, but I can sure as hell tell you that I liked it. I loved his work, because it was moody and edgy, but at the same time, it was classical and mythical.

***Batman: The Long Halloween. Art by Tim Sale, DC Comics***

To me, the way Tim used shadows on characters and the background, was an art form on its own. His art kicked so many different types of arse. From Marvel, there was Daredevil: Yellow, Hulk: Gray, Captain America: White and Spider-Man: Blue; which is regarded as one of the best Peter Parker stories ever.

And from DC, there was Superman for all Seasons, Catwoman: When in Rome, and…Batman. The way that Tim drew Batman’s cape, you would think the cape was actually alive and sentient, because of the way it moved.

His work on the various Batman projects was so powerful and mind crunching, that I can only offer this compliment: for me, Batman is synonymous with Tim Sale, like Tim Sale is synonymous with Batman.¹

His work has had an impact on me, and it still does to this day. Thank you, Tim.

Thanks for reading, avoid Sour Cream and Chives, and I’ll see you next Monday.

¹I’m really sorry if I have forgotten to mention any of Tim’s other work.

Why I hate Chilli and Bandit Heeler

On June 21, 2022June 22, 2022 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Children, Parents, Television

I want to talk about Bluey, in particular her quintessential parents, Chilli and Bandit Heeler. Before I go any further, I feel I need to explain who and what Bluey actually is, before Mum and Dad are brought back into the picture.

Bluey, Bluey, Bluey…. I feel millions of parents around the world ¹, would be able to give various explanations, impressions, confessions of love, or expletive laden statements about Bluey, but here is mine.

Bluey is an animated tv show, based on a now, seven year old Blue Heeler puppy, aptly named, Bluey. She lives her now, five year old Red Heeler sister, Bingo. The Heelers sisters have shenanigans left, right and centre, mainly through their dramatic and role playing games.

As the viewer, you get to meet their friends, cousins, uncles, aunties, grandparents, teachers, and other members of the community. To the best of my knowledge; because I have not seen every single episode, every character in the show is some type of dog.

UMC1 and UMC2 love Bluey. UMC2 has a Bluey plate and a new Bluey toothbrush, while UMC1 has a Bluey drink bottle. Recently UMC1 was told at school that Bluey is only for babies, but the four of us will sit down to watch the episodes and laugh together.

Now the nature of this particular blog is not to confession my love of the show. Remember the title of the blog? It’s time to talk about Chilli and Bandit Heeler.

**Bandit, Bluey, Bingo and Chilli Heeler**

Chilli is Bluey and Bingo’s mother and she also works part-time for security at an airport. She is a Red Heeler, just like Bingo; where as Bandit is a Blue Heeler, just like Bluey. Bandit is also an archaeologist, because apparently he likes to dig up bones.

So why do I hate these two cartoon dogs? Well, hate could be too strong of a word. I feel that Chilli and Bandit are some of the best parents, television has seen in a long time. The case being is that they’re too good. Their parenting skills are so excellent, that real world parents are just going to fail, when compared to Chilli and Bandit; myself included.

The biggest problem is that they somehow set completely unrealistic expectations in the real world. That’s what they do. Chilli and Bandit always have time for the girls. Now like I said before, I haven’t seen every episode, but from the few that I have seen, Bandit has only gone to work twice; but he’s always hanging about at home?!

Bandit never seems to bring work home, or attend any meetings at night; he’s just awesome. It’s the same issue for Chilli as well. She always seems to knows how to sort it out any problem, which is part of the show’s charm, because not everything goes the way it should.

I meant to point out that Bluey would be UMC1 in our house, with Bingo being UMC2. It’s also quite tragic that I find myself being enviousness of two cartoon dogs, because they seem to be far better parents than anybody!

This does make me look at what I do in the weekend, and how much I should be playing with my boys. Damn you, Chilli and Bandit!

My wife and I sit down with the boys, to watch the show with them. We laugh along with the madness, but after the episode, we will have a little talk to ourselves about how that could never be us. Chilli and Bandit are so patient, it sucks.

I fear my patience needs to be renewed every day. It’s a finite source, that somehow it’s regenerated in my sleep; but then again, I’m a parent, so I’m always tired. As soon as I wake up, my patience starts to deteriorate.

I would really like to see a Bluey episode that doesn’t have any children in it. It would just have Chilli and Bandit going about their lives, but following the utter carnage of living with children. Having a scene before the children eat breakfast in the kitchen vs what happened afterwards, would be ideal. Having lots of before and after scenes would be hilarious and would make me feel better about my own parenting.

I don’t know what else I can say, other than the show is amazing; however Bandit and Chilli, make you want to sign up for parenting courses. Oh, I forgot. We now have in our house, the brand new word, dunny. Previously, it was a toilet, but now the boys love using the word dunny, and especially, dunny hands. The word dunny, did not exist in this house until Bluey. Also wars have nearly been declared in this house, because of dunny hands. Thanks Bluey and Bingo. Cheers.

There is one slither of pleasure I do get from the show. It’s the fact I get to say, dude, a lot more often, especially to my wife; because she now calls me, bro, but only when UMC1 and UMC2 can hear. It’s their turn to roll their eyes at us.

Anyway, thanks for letting me rant. I appreciate it. There is a special blog for Wednesday, so please watch out for it. Look after yourselves, and I’ll see you then.

¹The Earth is not flat.

My five favourite Saga covers (So far)

On June 13, 2022August 21, 2023 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Comics

I want to talk about Saga. Why? Well let’s be honest shall we? After my last four blogs about the morally bankrupt Tories, I thought it might be nice to talk about something, that actually makes me happy; like watching rugby, and eating salt and vinegar chips.

After waiting 41 months, Saga is back and I’m pretty stoked.¹For those unlucky people that have no idea what Saga is or what it’s about, I’ll try and keep it brief. Saga is a monthly ²comic book that’s published by Image Comics. It’s written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples, since the release of #1, back in March 2012.

This book is good. Seriously good. The book, Vaughan and Staples, have won multiple Eisner, Harvey, Hugo, and various other comic book awards. I’ve been very blessed that I started reading Saga with #1, so I try to convert anybody to the title. ³

Now I’m not going to bore you with a rant about Saga’s plot or why you really should read it ⁴, however what I am going to discuss, are my five favourite Saga covers. Basically, this is for fun and Fiona Staples is a kick arse artist.

At the time of writing this blog, Saga is on Chapter 59, otherwise known as #59. The covers I’m going to discuss are not ranked by awesomeness, but by the order of their release.

Also, just because certain other covers did not make this list, it’s not because they suck; because they don’t. I just can’t have a list of 59 covers, I need to sleep, eat, work, and play Lego with UMC1 and UMC2.

Sweet as?

Saga #16: November 2013

As soon as I first saw this cover, I liked it. I’m not sure whether it’s because of the contrast of colours, or the image of Upsher and Doff, putting themselves in harm’s way, in search of the truth; or maybe it’s both of them. The cover is a great indicator to their personalities and their motivation.

Also having Upsher writing, “Please Do Not Kill,” on a helmet, is a nice, but funny touch. I love this cover. It’s so striking.

Saga #34: February 2016

This cover features of my favourite characters from the series: Ghüs. He’s such a cool character, you just want to pick him up and tickle his belly. And of course, he is chilling with Friendo, his walrus creature.

To me, it’s just a simple scene that highlights Ghüs’ personality and his lifestyle. The blurry reflection of the two characters, helps to draw your attention to the beautiful sky in the background. The only thing missing from the cover, is Ghüs’ battle axe. This cover is utterly gorgeous.

Saga #38: September 2016

I have mixed feelings about this cover. On one hand, you get to see the relationship between Hazel and her ghost-babysitter, Izabel. With Izabel’s shape shifting abilities on display, you get to see how much fun the two characters can have with each other, but also how important they actually are. Plus, the use of various shades of pink is quite impressive.

This of course leads us to the other feelings: anger, and grief. Izabel was such an amazing character and being a ghost, you thought she would be safe to protect Hazel, and to be in her life. Wow, we were wrong.

Looking at this stunning cover, I’m reminded of how the characters interconnect with each other; which is the strength of the book. I’m also reminded that sadly, no character in the book is safe.

Saga #39: October 2016

Having the previous issue cover saturated with pink, this cover is surrounded by purple. Petrichor is shown here in all her beautiful detail, with magic lighting the foreground, while darkness is crawling around the edges.

I also think Petrichor paints a haunted image, to go along with the haunted past and her outlook on life. I’m not sure what else I can say about this cover, except that it’s evocative and extremely effective.

Saga #41: January 2017

I found this cover to be fun, because of Alana’s and Marko’s stances. Alana is on brand, by firing a weapon, willing to kill anybody to protect her family. Marko is also reflecting his personality by wielding a shield, like his pacifist nature.

The use of various shades of green, at least to me, brings out some sort of neutrality to the cover, because of the happy couple’s opposite natures. I feel it works. It’s also the last cover, where Alana and Marko are on it together; minus Hazel. It’s just husband and wife, against the galaxy. It’s a cool image.

But then again, what do I know? Nothing, except that Sour Cream and Chives is the worst. I’d rather lick my dog’s paws, than eat any product of that flavour.

In conclusion, these are my five favourite Saga covers. Do you read Saga? What are your favourite covers?

Ok, that’s it from me today. Thanks for reading, wash your hands, look after yourselves, and I’ll see you next Monday.

¹Lying Cat would not have a problem with I just said.

²Saga is one of the few monthly titles I read anymore.

³ I converted my wife to Saga. She saw me reading, what she thought was a soft porn comic book. After explaining the plot and her reading the trades to catch up, we now read the new issue of Saga together, when it arrives by post. Ahhh…romance.

⁴You really should though. Trust me, I’m a geek.

Final score: Johnson’s Tories-211, Morality-148

On June 7, 2022June 13, 2022 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People, Politics

This is a quick follow up from yesterday’s post. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson (It’s been nearly 3 years, but I still have trouble with that statement), faced a no-confidence vote against his own Conservative Party, know as the Tories.

To remove Boris as leader and Prime Minister, over 180 Tory MPs needed to vote against him. I hate to break it to you, but the Tories failed. What a surprise.

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

211 Tory MPs voted for Boris, while 148 Tory MPs voted against him. The result is that he gets to stay at 10 Downing St; for at least the time being.

Even though Boris and the government have stated that this result has given them a victory, so they can continue to level up the UK, it’s just a victory on paper; it’s very thin.

59% of Tory MPs have supported Boris, but 41% don’t. To put it another way, 2 out of every 5 Tory MPs, do not support their own leader. That’s insane.

If this result is truly a victory for Boris, it’s a pyrrhic victory; like the Battle of the Alamo, the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Battle of Hoth, or recently, the Siege of Mariupol. You’ve won the battle, but just so you can lose the war.

This vote is actually the beginning of the end for Boris Johnson and the Tories. They may have survived this round, but the British public will not forget this; especially at the next election.

Thanks for reading Some Geek Told Me. It actually means a lot to me. Look afterwards yourselves, and I’ll see you next Monday.

The Sue Gray Report of the 10 Downing St shenanigans: Part Three

On June 6, 2022June 7, 2022 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People, Politics

Kia ora and welcome to the third part of my tiny blog, looking at the 10 Downing St shenanigans, covered in the Sue Gray report. Today is the final chapter in a trilogy that nobody asked for, because nobody realised how incompetent Boris Johnson’s government truly were.

Actually, I feel that’s a falsehood. I think millions of people realised that, before the report.

This final nugget of haughtiness is quite special, because it’s a 2-for-1 deal; or maybe it’s buy 1, get 1 free. Take your pick of egotism, narcissism, and irresponsible behaviour, from the Tories finest.

Part Three: Double Trouble

On 16th April 2021, 10 Downing St did not just have one gathering, but two! The United Kingdom had moved to Step 2, of lifting restrictions of the second national lockdown. There was still to be no indoor social gathering at people’s homes, but also social distancing needed to be maintained at the work place.

Here we go…

10 Downing Street – the official London office of the British Prime Minister

For the third time, I’ll let the report explain the situation:

Two leaving events took place on 16 April 2021. One, the event for James Slack
and the other, an event to mark the departure of a No 10 official. This latter event
was organised on the day, by email which sent at 16.26 by a No 10 official to the
No 10 Digital team, No 10 Press Office, Events & Visits and others.

There was no scheduled time for the event on the invitation. This email invitation included a Microsoft Teams link so that individuals could attend virtually and was called ‘[No 10 official] Leaving Presentation’. The location was the No 10 Digital Team office
which is situated in the basement of No 10.

The Digital team is part of the No 10 Press Office team and there was considerable
overlap in attendance at the two events. The first, for James Slack, began at
approximately 18.30, with speeches in the Press Office. He wished to thank his
team members individually and to set out future direction for the team. It lasted for
around an hour and there were approximately 45 people in total in attendance both
in the office and with a small number online.

Those present in person came from across No 10, including senior officials. Some joined the event virtually. Wine and beer had been bought by staff and was consumed by some during the speeches. Following the speeches, some staff returned to work but others continued chatting and drinking. They remained for some time and were present when the building 35 was being locked down for the evening. Those still present were asked to leave the building by a No 10 custodian.

The group then moved into the No 10 garden. The second event, for the other No 10 official, was held in the offices of the Digital Team in the basement of No 10. It began at approximately the same time as the event for the Director of Communications, at around 18.00, but was smaller in scale, with 15-20 people present, including a special adviser and more junior officials. There were leaving speeches and a presentation.

Wine was available and music was played from a laptop on top of a printer. A number of those present drank excessively. There was mingling between the two events, with some staff moving up and down the stairs in between the basement and the Press Office.

The two groups eventually joined together in the Downing Street garden. Shortly before 21.30, there were over 20 people present in the garden, with a number of bottles of
alcohol.

A number of individuals gathered near a child’s swing/slide in the garden,
damaging it by leaning on and playing with it. This was noticed the next morning
and reported to No 10 staff.

At this time, the custodian staff at No 10 continued to lock down the building. They
noted that groups of individuals had gone into the garden. The group began to
break up and return into the main building at around 21.30.

The No 10 entry logs show that a number of people left No 10 at this point. They
were encouraged by the custodian to use the rear exit of No 10. Some individuals
remained in the building and carried on drinking alcohol until the early hours. Exit
logs indicate that some left after midnight and others between 01.45-02.45. Two
members of staff stayed later still, with one leaving at 03.11 and the last leaving at
04:20.

Wow. Utter madness. Two leaving parties occurred on the same day at 10 Downing St, with alcohol and speeches, which left a child’s playground equipment damaged. My questions about these amateurish and botched social events are as follows:

Did Jacob Rees-Mogg attend any of the gatherings? Was he emailed an invitation by accident?
How bad were the speeches that alcohol was needed to help people survive them?
Did any of the speeches mention that The Batman, was pushed back to October 2021? What were people’s thoughts about this?
How many arses did the custodian(s) have to kick that night?
How many £3 bottles of wine were consumed from the local off license?
Who played DJ for the evening or was it a team effort?
What was the most popular song of the evening? Was it The Gambler, by Kenny Rogers?
When the two groups joined together, was it a turf war, like the Sharks and the Jets, in West Side Story?
Has the person that damaged the swing/slide in the garden, ever been identified? Has Scotland Yard, MI5, James Bond, or Sherlock Holmes opened an investigation yet?
Who were the two staff members that stayed until 3.11 am and 4.20 am? Was Tinder involved?

When thousands of children across the country were unable to attend birthday parties, or invite their friends to their own parties; because they were following the rules, the Tories threw two parties on the same night, at 10 Downing St!

I would say this would be disgraceful behaviour, but that’s an understatement about this shameful mess.

Boris Johnson and the Tories have only apologised to the public, because they were caught. They did not apologise straight after the events. Please remember that at the next general election.

Two things to close with:

1.) Thank you to the photographer(s) for taking the photos on 19th June 2020, and 13th November 2020, during those social events. The Tories look dishonest and hilarious at the same time. The photos are priceless and beautiful.

2.) Boris Johnson will be facing a no-confidence vote by Tory MPs, on 6th June, between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. (UK time). To remove him as leader, over 180 Tory MPs have to vote against him. Here’s hoping those Tory MPs will sack him. We’ll have to wait for the result, but whatever happens, I’ll let you know, because, like I have nothing else to do.

Stay tuned for the result. Until then, thanks for reading, wash your hands, and I’ll see you soon.

PS: I couldn’t resist adding this. I’m very childish.

SOME GEEK TOLD ME

Author: somegeektoldme@gmail.com