Fox Trot Does Portal

I love comics, and I love portal. Fox Trot has he knack of integrating many of the things I love into it's panels. Hope you enjoy.

Mitchell Park - Milwaukee, WI

Now that the weather is finally getting better, I decided to take my kids to the great outdoors. Have not been to Mitchell Park since I was a kid. Love the hills.


Not much of a view off into the distance, but it's still better than a stick in the eye. I kid though, Mitchell Park can be a great place to visit.


Of course there is nothing more interesting to do at Mitchell Park than to visit the Botanical Gardens. You are going to love this place!

Next: Mitchell Park Domes

Bond Live at the Royal Albert Hall

The Bond Live DVD features Haylie Ecker (1st Violin), Eos Chater (2nd Violin), Tania Davis (Viola) and Gay-Yee Westerhoff (Cello).

Initial thoughts:
When one has decided to retire for the evening, sitting in their favourite chair with their favourite cocktail and listening to Bond, it's difficult to not feel transported to a wonderful magical world. I had such an experience the other evening. Yet, I wasn't travelling with 007; on an Indian expedition; dodging the Mafia or mourning a Russian peddler. No, I was at the Royal Albert Hall reliving the day of September 20th, 2000. This is the day Bond recorded their live, world premier performance of Born. Granted, the DVD may be 10 years old but it shouldn't be missed. It simply suggests something else which I'll touch upon later.




The songs of note:
-'Quixote' starts the performance and is one of their signature songs from 'Born'.
-Haylie & Eos perform in 'Duel'; one of my personal favourites, in part because of the pizzicato.
-'Oceanic' is a much slower song, but performed as lovely as ever.
-'Alexander the Great' energizes the concert.
-Fate predicts you'll like 'Kismet' from the talented Gay-Yee.
-Eos presents her 'Bella Donna'. You'll like it.... or ELSE!
-'Korobushka' is a fantastic song which really demonstrates what they group can do and you'll be drawn into their performance.
-Meanwhile, 'The 1812' is a very moving and inspiring song and you'll soon feel the energy Bond puts into it.
-Closing the evening is 'Victory', one of the most recognizable songs of the 'Born' album.
-As a special treat, the foursome also perform the theme to 'Dallas' as well as 'James Bond'. (You might call it Bond on Bond).

Constructive Criticisms:
In reality, there isn't much to complain about. When Bond members address the audience they are not as clear as they could be. Some of the camera effects were dizzying and should have been done without. Personally, I would have started the set with 'Victory' or made it one of the first few songs and closed with 'Korobushka'. 'The 1812' and their 'Victory-Carnival Mix' would then be perfect as the encore set.

Special Features:
1.) The DVD includes bonus videos. One a live performance of 'Viva', the other a recorded version of 'Wintersun'.
2.) Interviews with all four original Bond members.
3.) Photos
4.) Bond Quiz. Completing the quiz rewards you with a special prize, and receiving 100% rewards you with another special prize. Have fun.

Summing It All Up:
Bond Live is a great treat and a MUST for any Bond fan. However, it brings up a point I hinted at earlier. It's been ten years since this was produced. In the interim, they have released several more CD's and Elspeth Hanson has replaced Haylie. With the upcoming release of a new album, perhaps it's time for another live DVD. Whether another concert is released or not, I'm looking forward to the next time Bond transports me to a wonderful magical world with the help of their enchanting music.

When Jillian Left

Jillian, Jillian,

fare thee well.

Jillian, Jillian,

you put them through hell.

You showed they had guts,

You showed they had glory.

Till they broke down and cried,

as they told you their story.

To quit was no option,

as so many found.

You drove even harder,

till they puked on the ground.

You got in their face,

you stood on their backs.

you kept them inspired,

when they tried to relax.

You reminded them all,

it was more than a game.

I'll still watch when you're gone,

but it won't be the same.

J.A.Scott

And Then…

It was a quiet and lonely night
As I closed my eyes in thought
Feeling the rush of wind on my face
And then I was scared no more

I was calm and my body went limp
Remembering the joy of youth
All was safe and I was happy
And then I remembered school

I was awkward and dysfunctional
But my friends were just as much
We were ready to take the world
And then I remembered Melinda

Had an embarrassing crush on her
She was my love and desire
But it was false and unrequited
And then I remembered Mary

Our wedding was delightful
Found someone who wanted me
Willing to give her all I could
And then realized it was a scam

And then I remembered all the fights
And then I remembered when she left
And then remembered what I had done
And then I hit the ground

J.A. Scott

Jeffrey Scott's Coffee Klatch - 2

When I did my traveling of last year, I feared something was going to happen. I had this realization I was likely going to develop the travel bug. Not surprising, it has hit me and I'm desperately trying to decide where I want to go next. Last year I was in Mexico, London and Paris. How do you top that? I likely won't get as much travel in this year, but would still like to go somewhere decent. This year my problem is I'd like to take my kids somewhere but overseas is out of the question. Most likely it'll be somewhere fairly close, like Mall of America, as we did last year. But I don't want to repeat that. So now I must think of somewhere cool to take the kids, and at the same time plan a trip for myself. You'd think traveling would be boring, but I rather enjoyed it. Where have you traveled alone?
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In lieu of an interview this week I've decided to do a game review.

Not sure if there are any other game players in my audience, but I do enjoy my games from time to time, why else would I have purchased the PS3? Oh, that's right; the Blue-Ray player. Seriously though, I used to be addicted to games, especially online games. Anyone remember Evercrack? Oops, I meant Everquest. Fortunately I'm much older and have more important things like my writing to keep me busy. But I'm digressing, on to the game review.

If you love creating your own personalized character, you'll love this game. If you love interacting with other characters in the DC Universe, you'll love this game. If you like to play as a villain, you'll love this game. The character creating is great and lots of choices are available such as powers, and movement type. I am slightly (this is a very slight complaint) disappointed in the outfits available. Don't get me wrong, there are many, just not as many as I'd have liked. Of course, if you have a particular hero you'd like to pattern yourself after you have that option. Or if none are available, and you are creative enough you can do so yourself. As a big time Legion of Super Hero fan, I've created a Brainiac 5 and Sun Boy characters. Possibly more on the way, I enjoy creating characters as much as I enjoy playing the game.

Once you finally get into the game, you'll be given various missions from the heroes and villains of the game. As can be expected, the more missions you go on, the more experience you get, the higher in level you become. There are options for joining with others in a group or creating a League. If you love super heroes, online games or the DC Universe I'd highly suggest playing the game.

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Today's musical guest is 5 for Fighting, "Superman (It's Not Easy)"
Enjoy


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So what did you watch this week? Maybe I'll cover it here, if not feel free to leave a comment on what you think was awesome to watch this week.

"The Amazing Race"

"V" -

"Biggest Loser" -

"Parenthood" -

"Survivor" -

"Office" -

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"The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown." - Carl Sagan

Jeffrey Scott's Coffee Klatch

Welcome to the first episode of 'Jeffrey Scott's Coffee Klatch'. So what is the coffee klatch? It's a great way to start your Friday morning and weekend. A little rag on happenings of the past week, musical guests, videos, reviews, guests, jokes and/or water cooler chat. You never know what you might find here.

Guests? Do you run a podcast, own a website or have some project you'd like to promote? Contact me and we can set something up. Essentially, I'd like to produce a transcribed interview, highlighting various projects people are working on, the websites where people can find them and other contact information they may want to share.

I hope you enjoy the first edition. Have a seat, pour yourself a fresh cup of coffee and enjoy the show.

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Being the first episode, I thought it might be fun to do an interview of myself to try and give others an example of how exactly I'd like to produce the interviews. Also, it'll give everyone a chance to see who I really am. So without further ado, I'd like to welcome my guest today, me!

Jeffrey Scott: Welcome to the Coffee Klatch.
Me: Thanks for having me.
Jeffrey Scott: So, are you a coffee drinker?
Me: Like you wouldn't believe. I've even written poems about coffee. (laughs)
Jeffrey Scott: What are you drinking this morning?
Me: I'm in one of my favourite coffee shops at the moment so I just picked up the strongest blend they had. Not sure exactly the brand.
Jeffrey Scott: So you mentioned already you're a poet, do you have any projects in the work?
Me: Not really. I'm always working on my poetry, one day I'd like to produce a collection, right now though I'm concentrating heavily on my blogging.
Jeffrey Scott: Do you have any musical inspirations?
Me: I love music, and love many artists in various genres. My two favourites are 80's and jazz. I love the work of Diana Krall, Mindi Abair, Blondie, Huey Lewis, Sade, Barenaked Ladies and was recently introduced to Tegan and Sara.
Jeffrey Scott: I've noticed a lot of interesting stuff on this blog, do you have any others?
Me: Yes, I do. I have one I call Carrot Sticks & Cottage Cheese, essentially it's dedicated to my zeal for fitness. I've struggled with my weight for many years, I found it a great way to keep myself motivated. And if I can motivate one other person, I'll feel I've done my job.
Jeffrey Scott: So what have been your inspirations for the sight?
Me: If you look at the link address, you'll notice a clue to my motivation. Yes, I'm a big Biggest Loser fan and hope to one day be a "Big Loser" myself.
Jeffrey Scott: Well, thanks for stopping by. Enjoy the coffee, and feel free to help yourself on a baguette on your way out.
Me: Thanks for having me.

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Well, that does it for the interview. It's now time for our musical guest. For reasons that may or may not be apparent, our first musical guest is 'Tegan & Sara' Enjoy! We'll be back with 'Coffee Chat'. A few thoughts on shows I've watched throughout the week.



I'd like to thank Tegan & Sara for the video. If you want to find out more about this group, visit them at their website here: Tegan & Sara.

So what did you watch this week? Maybe I'll cover it here, if not feel free to leave a comment on what you think was awesome to watch this week.

"The Cape" - I'm a sucker for Super Hero TV shows and such but the one thing always troubling me is, is it really that hard to tell who a person is just because they have a mask on their face? I mean especially if they are well known. Faraday meets up with his old partner, and has much dialogue. You're telling me he couldn't tell it was his previous partner? One redeeming feature for me - Summer Glau.

"V" - Usually I hate remakes, I loved the original V. But I have to admit, so far I'm really enjoying this show. So what irritated me this week? Anna essentially holding all the cards lately. She's playing Ryan and now Hobbes like fiddles. I hope they break that storyline because I find it boring. I'm waiting for the full-out fight between the 5th column and the Visitors. Something I love they've done is hire Jane Badler to reprise (sort of) her roll as Diana, who was the main baddie in the first series.

"Biggest Loser" - Congratulations to Arthur for his 20 pound weight loss. They were really focusing on him this episodes and I predicted he was either going to lose a major amount of weight, or be voted out. Nice to see it was the weight loss. He certainly still needs to be on the ranch.

"Survivor" - Yes, once again Survivor has started. This time with a few changes. Boston Rob and Russel have been brought back (I think they'll bring each back till they finally win), and they now have 'Redemption Island' where if you are voted off, you've got a slim chance of making it back to the island (if you are good enough). Kristina was stupid in whom she trusted. Couldn't she tell from the initial chat that Phillip was an idiot? Did you know he was a Federal Agent? I thought I'd mention that in case you happened to miss it. I will say, she was brave not to use the immunity idol, but I assumed she wouldn't have. it should give her an additional three days. I loved Rob telling her to give him the idol and she'll stay. It's probably a good thing for Rob she didn't, because he'd have a bigger target on his back.

"Office" - 'Threat Level Midnight' was hilarious. I loved how they made is as if it were filmed several years ago. I really enjoyed the cameos and the campy feel to it. Of course it wasn't supposed to really be a great film, it was made and produced by Michael Scott after all. Quite a bit of fun, I have to admit. In the film, we learn here the reason behind Goldenface's evil ambitions. "Michael Scarn's most evil adversary who goes around blowing up All-Star games in hopes that the trophies will explode and people will turn gold like him."

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Thanks once again for joining me on this first episode of 'Jeffrey Scott's Coffee Klatch'. Remember to leave a comment with your coffee chat, suggestions for upcoming musical guests or suggestions for real guests. I'll leave you with a little joke, see you next week.