TSO

It's nice to hear from Z on here once in a while, even if he is not so fond of the whole Twilight phenomenon (note: he likes Buffy the Vampire Slayer... high school girl who falls in love with a vampire who is much, much older than her. Sounds vaguely familiar). For the record, we have not seen New Moon yet. We thought Twilight was, um, awkward.

On Saturday, we got to go see Trans-siberian Orchestra. Wowee, it was fantastic. Very much like I remembered. I haven't been the last 2 years, so it was nice to go back. The first half of the show is like a play of sorts, with a story line, a cheesy narrator, and lots of music along the way. The second half of the show was a showcase of some of their other music, some Christmas, some not. It's an interesting juxtaposition. While they can and definitely do rock out in the first half of the show (think "Christmas Eve Sarajevo"... that's the song you might've heard on the radio that starts with the lovely cello solo of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"), it's mostly a heartwarming, cheesy Christmas story. In the second half, they really go hard core and play a lot of majorly rockin' stuff with lots of lasers and flames and such. Trans-siberian Orchestra actually tours in 2 different groups- 1 hits up the west, and 1 is here in the east. I hadn't seen this cast before, so I was a little nervous. There is this one guy in particular in the other cast that I pretty much adore. The guy in this group did well though, and they put on a great show. Also, the lead violin player with the hot pink electric violin was in the group a couple of the times that I saw the show in Utah, but the last time, she wasn't. Well she must've moved to this group because there she was. Anyway, they are such talented musicians. Some of the stuff they play just blows my mind. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend this show. It's a fun, totally rockin' way to get in the Christmas spirit.

Twilight Review

Edward is a pedophile. Bella is a zoophile.

I think I'll pass on this smut for now.

We won!

So, today I finally went to the hearing for the bogus ticket we got a few months ago. I was nervous. I brought a tie which I put on in the waiting room. Someone else in the waiting room was wearing a t-shirt with a cartoon picture of a really hard-A-looking gun and the text "Original Gangsta." I suddenly didn't feel so nervous.

With good reason. I waited maybe twenty minutes. My hearing lasted approximately five minutes (most of which consisted of me waiting while the official tracked down some papers.)

PPA Hearing Official: Can I see the ticket receipt?
Me: Actually, that's the main reason that I requested this hearing. I never received this ticket. In fact, the first time I heard about it was when I got something in the mail indicating that the fine had been increased due to failure to pay. I don't have the ticket receipt because I never received the actual ticket -- only notices that I had failed to pay it. I believe the officer may have accidentally punched in my plate number instead of another.
PPA Hearing Official: Just a minute. I'll go get a copy of the receipt. (Gets up. Leaves room. Returns about three minutes later, paper in hand.)
PPA Hearing Official: What kind of car do you drive?
Me: It's a Hyundai Accent.
PPA Hearing Official: Not a Toyota?
Me: No. A Hyundai.
PPA Hearing Official: Just a minute. (Walks out of the room. Returns a couple minutes later with another piece of paper.)
PPA Hearing Official: Sign and date this. (Hands me a piece of paper explaining that the ticket has been waved and I owe nothing.)
Me: Thank you. (exit stage left)

I hope the "original gansta" had similarly good fortune.

I love shopping

You all know that I love a good deal.

We have made some good finds in the past couple of weeks. Some are going to be Christmas presents for people so I can't really spill the beans about those, but I can highlight some of the stuff we got for ourselves.

I love shopping at Rite Aid. They have an excellent rebates program. This week was another success. We were running out of body wash and shampoo around here, and we like mouthwash as a little luxury when it goes on a good sale. Well, we got all this stuff pictured, plus a toothbrush and a gallon of milk, for $1.14.

Here's the receipt to prove it.

Not only that but we will be getting $2.99 back in the mail for this purchase, so we actually made a very modest profit. I had to argue with the checker for a while to really work this one out, but I think they got sick of arguing with me and they just humored me. I usually carry all the store's coupon policies with me when I go so that I have proof that I am right about a specific coupon policy, but I didn't happen to have the part I needed this time. I went right home and printed it up and now I will have it for next time.

We hit up the Old Navy outlet at the mall, and they were having a buy one get one free sale on their performance fleece. Then at the checkout stand, the cashier gave us a 30% off coupon which we used on our purchases, so we ended up getting some warm cozy fleece stuff for a fabulous deal.

A Christmas gift that we found for me (shhhhh, pretend like I don't know what I am getting) is this delightful little pair of shoes, which we got for $2.50. No joke. I know, I know, I don't really need any more shoes. But I love them. And they were only $2.50!

And perhaps our favorite deal of the week was on UP. We just saw it for the first time this past week, and of course we loved it. We aren't really big movie buyers (or watchers really), but when we saw this smashing deal, we knew we had to get it. We got a 4 disc combo pack, which includes the Blu Ray (no, we don't have a Blu Ray player, but we might someday), the DVD, a digital copy, and a bonus disc, plus an adventure journal. The total came out the $9.99. Then we have a rebate coming in the mail which makes it come to $5.99!

It's fun to bargain hunt all year, but I really like it at Christmas time because I feel like I can really share the love. Woo hoo!

Haunted Cape May

This was like 3 weeks ago now, but we went on a little getaway to Cape May for the weekend. It was a great time to get away to the shore. Since it's the off season, we got a hotel right on the beach for really cheap.

We drove down there and made it barely in time for our ghost tour. We rode in a trolley around the adorable Victorian-style town and heard ghost stories about various houses and hotels along the way. On the tour, we made a stop at a famous mansion called the Physick Estate (see picture below), which is also haunted apparently.

We were able to walk through some parts of the house, which was gorgeous by the way, and hear some ghost stories there too. It was very fun and festive. We spent the rest of the weekend just enjoying ourselves in spite of a somewhat rainy Saturday. We explored Cape May and the surrounding areas. The fall colors were just stunning. I didn't get a single picture that even begins to do them justice.

New Jersey is called the garden state for a reason. It really is quite pretty. I think I wrote in an earlier post about the wildflowers all over the place when we drove to the shore in the summer.

Anyway, it was a fun little getaway.

Here's a picture of Z with one of the scarecrows they had set up outside the Physick Estate.

And here's our very own proof that Cape May truly is haunted. Warning: horrifying footage

I am honestly not really sure if anyone is reading this regularly or not. This pretty much doubles as my journal so I just kinda do it for my own benefit. But if anyone is still reading, I just wanted to say that yes, I am still alive. I know I haven't written in a bit. Something somewhat more substantial will be coming along soon.

Philly>NYC

I guess I should admit upfront that I know that I'm the only person ever to visit this blog who likes hip-hop, R&B or rap music. Nevertheless, I will bore you all with some thoughts on the subject. (Unless, of course, you have the guts to ignore a rare post written by me.)

Next time you get that New York Jay-Z song stuck in your head, you can substitute the lyrics from this seemingly much more genuine version from NeeKo. I hated the Jay-Z song but I liked this one. I think that the reason is that the Jay-Z song is really all about Jay-Z, not New York. Meanwhile, NeeKo's version is actually about Philly. Then again, perhaps my city preferences are influencing my taste in music....



One of the nice things about being in the World Series is that the city tends to get some more civic pride, including the aforementioned as well as this song about the Phillies that I can't embed from a group called "Guerrilladelphia."

http://www.guerrilladelphia.com/