Kitkowskiland!

So my best bro Nikolai Sergei “Serge” Usack is making some moves. I’m so excited for him that I wanted to share.

First, his Milwaukee-based Eco construction company has just made some huge waves, the city alderman is doing backflips over the project, and issued city-wide press releases on their new projects.

This is what Pragmatic Construction is making next over on 2800 N. Pierce St, Milwaukee:

More pics over here:

http://www.pragmaticconstruction.com/elementaltownhomes.html

And to follow it up, in October the date has been set for he and his wife Anna to adopt Chia-Yu Hu from China (Taiwan, actually):

More pics: http://benusack.smugmug.com/gallery/2634056#139136539

Rock on, Bro!

-Andy

UPDATE: OH MY GOD, A VIDEO!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZH6SaROFBk 

So my favorite show in the world is the Merrell MOC, “jungle color”:

I got my first pair right outside of GenCon (a gaming convention) a couple years back, and have worn them for everything from work, to walking, to hikes, to even running. They just are so much more comfortable, and offer even more support than running shoes. Anyway, mine are now worn to the point that they’re falling apart.

They’re size 10, but when I got a similar paid but a slightly different model on eBay in size 10, it turns out that they were too small. My foot is about 10.5-11, it turns out. Crazy thing is, for all other model of Merrell shoes, 10.5 will fit me, but for this model alone, size 10 is the better fit. So to make sure I didn’t screw up again, I decided to try out some Mocs (as well as look for sandals, as my old 5-year pair are falling apart too) at the local department store before Orie and I went out for dinner.

Turns out that my confirmation was correct: For all shoes, my size is size 10.5, even with other Merell shoes. But for this MOC style, my size is 10 or my foot slides around inside. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the Jungle color, just the black color which looks too hot to wear in NC. So I decided to try on some sandals.

I asked to try on two different models, and the rep came back with those models plus a third: “I don’t know if you saw, but we also have ECCO sandals. Here’s a pair.” OK, sure, the guy was trying to make a buck by offering a sandal that was twice the price that I was looking at. However, after last summer (see my Gatlinburg posts) and trying on dozens of brands and styles of hiking boot, the Swiss brand ECCO was the best, most comfortable yet sturdy fit, and the boots I bought, while a bit pricey, are the best pair of boots that I ever owned. I beat the hell out of them in the last few months and they are still pristine and fit like a glove without having to break them in over years like Timberlands.

ECCO made sandals? I had no idea. So I slid one on… It was like stepping into Foot Sex. I’ve worn sandals since I was 14 or so, probably had at about 7 pairs at some point or other in my life. These were hands down the most comfortable sandals I’ve ever worn. I had no choice but to pick them up there rather than price-hunt on eBay: The salesman totally nailed that sale, and I saluted him with that purchase.

Today I went on a brief hike with Orie: A few mile circle over at Umstead park on some worn but solid trails (I didn’t want to do anything crazy without ankle support) to see if they needed any “breaking in”. Nope, walking around in them felt like walking around in 4-year-old sneakers. They were again a bit pricey, but worth it. Crafted sandals like these will last me years.

Other news: Went to the Fondue Restaurant near my house for the first time (”The Melting Pot”). It was a lot better than I expected, but I think for the price it’s definitely a “once a year” kind of place. The other day I had the Korean BBQ set with my coworker-friend Steve at the Other Korean Place near work, and that was awesome.

I think in a bit I’ll have to categorize my local restaurant experiences so that my friends can keep in the know for what is good in the area.

So my buddy Clinton R Nixon (The “R” stands for “Indomitable”) is writing this game called “INUMA”, which is an Ainu word meaning “Treasure”. The game comes in a treasure box and has the following:

Three booklets: One tells you how to play the game, another tells you how to build a world, and the third is a directed scrapbook to detail your shared world and characters.

Glass beads, in several colors: Clear, Blue, Red and Yellow. About 25 each.

A bag to hold the beads.

A number of colored cubes: Two sides blue, two sides yellow, two sides red.

I won’t go into detail about the game itself (save that it was fun as hell), but the game has this setting creation element that is awesome.

Together everyone creates an equal number of Protagonists, Antagonists, and “Anchors” (people that fit in the middle: Important background characters with no direction towards either Good or Evil). When you play, there has to be at least one Protagonist, Antagonist and Anchor.  As you play the game, saying “Let’s get together and tell another story of The World of Anubis Sky” or whatever, you decide from your pool of characters which ones you want to play, who plays what, etc. Then you decide what aspects of the world/setting you’re going to focus on, and which elements from the setting are going to take center stage.

Every element of the character creation process was awesome, and then playing it out afterwards was magical.

If the idea of “True Story Game” is appealing to you, definitely check this one out when it comes out later (this year, IIRC). For me, it scratches some major gaming itches with roleplaying.

I just did my taxes the other day.  My Federal and State returns were accepted.

It turns out, the government owes me a lot of money.

A. Lot.

This is the biggest return I’m getting from the government ever. Even more than in 2001, where I got something like 4K back.

The problem that I face each year around this time is, “What do I do with this money?” The question literally eats at me for months.

Get a Wii?  Buy a bike to commute to work?

Invest it? Save it for later this year, when I attempt to publish a book?

Look more seriously into house improvements?  Put it down for a car for when Orie starts working again?
And the list goes on. And I gnash my teeth for weeks, impotent to make a decision with this sum.

-Andy

Here’s some things I’ve been watching with Orie:

Idiocracy - Watched it last night, and I thought that this movie is gonna be a total cult hit (”I’m gonna FUCK YOU ALL!”). I actually wanted to see this in the theatres, but right when it looked to release they decided to go straight to DVD. A shame. The movie was originally placed on my radar about a year ago or so because… OK, Luke Wilson is a handsome man, and I was checking on IMDB to see what else he was in.

Quick update on the Zatoichi project (watch all the Zatoichi movies that I possibly can, then rank them):

The multi-disk TV series is very satisfying. Many come right in at an hour, some a little more, and the stories are great and imaginitive. My favorite thusfar (only 5 stories in) is the 2nd one, IIRC:

Basically, Zatoichi is massaging the shoulders of this older woman, a local yakuza gang boss. A bunch of hired mercenaries announce their presence:

“Hello! We are a few ronin travellers. We mean no grudge against you, see, but these guys across town are giving us room, board and money, and asked that we come kill you (the old crimeboss lady and her son).  So… here we are. We apologize that this is happening, but we humbly request you come outside so that we can kill you.”

Well, the crime boss/lady reminded Zatoichi of his mom. Bad sign. He goes outside with the mother and promptly kills all the ronin.  Except for one. The ronin trips, and Zatoichi turns around to finish him off…

And that’s when the bell rings.  It’s 6:00. Zatoichi sheathes his sword and walks away, and the ronin knows he got off lucky.

Why?  Because that ring heralds the anniversary of his mother’s death.  For that day alone, he Will Not Draw Blood.

And it only gets more awesome from there.

That’s THIS ONE, for those with Netflix:
http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?movieid=70040612

I recently watched Zatoichi in Desperation. I didn’t like it much at all, I think it is probably the worst of the movies I’ve seen thusfar. It has some good elements, and it’s definitely much darker than the other flicks, but I have to say it smells like they tried for 90s style Dark/Gothy but back in the 70s.  Among other things, there is:
* Psychadelic flashbacks of an old woman falling off a bridge
* A side-story of a young child and his young sister, both innocent, and horrible things happen to them and they die, without ever being part of the main story
* A gang of thugs molests and diddles the town retard, then beat him up when he ejaculates on them
On the other hand, it does have one of the BEST Zatoichi fights in any of the movies though. I’ll spoil it so you don’t have to go through the above:  Basically, the Bad Guy stabs a harpoon through both of Zatoichi’s hands, effectively fucking them up (”Put your hands on the table or this lady dies” sorts of things).  Then they let him go, so they can follow him and hunt him through the town.  Zatoichi effectively tears off the sleves of his robe, TIES his crippled hands to his sword, holds it in a really awkward way, yet still FUCKS. EVERYONE. UP.

Zatoichi’s Conspiracy, on the other hand, is awesome. http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?movieid=70002454
Not “The Best Thusfar” (I think that will go to Zatoichi the Outlaw for now), but really sweet. Good story, hard moral choices, great battles.  Zatoichi the Outlaw has one element that I haven’t seen in any other Zatoichi flick, yet, and it’s great.

Basically, in all the other flicks, most of the underworld/yakuza (Zatoichi, too, is a member of the underworld) have “heard of Zatoichi”. Heard he was tough, etc, and usually recognize him before they fight.  However, they all fall back to “He’s just a blind guy, GET HIM!”

In Zatoichi the Outlaw, his reputation proceeds him in a way like in none of the other movies. Basically, he goes into a gambling den (as he does in well over half of his flicks, but IIRC he doesn’t do his Dice Trick to deceive the others… I can’t remember now), one where he knows he will eventually shake them down, get them to stop doing Bad Things.  A major boss character runs the den.  Eventually, someone puts two and two together, realizes that this guy must be “THAT Zato-no-Ichi”. EVERYONE gasps and draws back. Zatoichi gets up and starts a dangerous swagger, really playing up the idea that he is a Scary Fucking Badass (because… I mean hell, HE IS). No one screws with him, they let him pass without touching him, and basically spend the next scene cowering with fear (even the Boss) that Zatoichi is in town.

Frankly, it was a refreshing change of pace, and it was about time, too. He tears apart about a hundred dudes in every town he visits, and finally an evil badass boss treats Zatoichi with the amount of fear and respect that he should be getting in every episode. That was a pretty cool thing, IMO.

Anyway, more on the Zatoichi flicks later!

-Andy