Hell hath frozen over. Or at least there's quite a chill.

I'm about to admit something that I thought I never would. I am supporting a Republican candidate for President. Wait! PLEASE! Hear me out! So, thanks to a friend of Mike's, I started getting curious about Ron Paul and what he stood for. I did some research, saw some vids online, and was kind of surprised that this dude has some great ideas AND is a Republican. I don't think I'm alone in this particular situation. From what I've gathered, a lot of people who aren't usual Republicans can dig what Dr. Paul is saying. There are a couple issues that I don't agree with him on 100%, but his basic tenets are enough to override that. I'd like to categorize him more as a Constitutionalist. Well, that's what allows me to stay sane, given the fact that I've actually donated money to his campaign -- TWICE. I'm usually not crazy into politics at all. But, whether it's because of the blatant lies, and the down-right theft of our civil liberties that has occurred in our current administration, or whether it's just cuz I'm getting damn old, I want change. I want change, and I'm not afraid to work for it. We need a revolution people! Sunday was the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. Ron Paul's supporters gave him over $6 million to celebrate this fact. I've noticed there is nothing on CNN about this. You might be able to dig and find some news about it somewhere. But, for the most part, it seems like the media is intentionally ignoring him. His Q4 goal was $12 million, and as of this writing, he is at over $18 million. Not bad at all. Anyway, I felt I needed to confess my sin of supporting a republican. But if I can forgive myself, you can forgive me too.

Typed before a LIVE kittie audience

So, I don't think I've mentioned it before, but the Bro and I have become producers at the Public Access Community Television channels here in Austin. What that means is we paid a yearly fee and now we're called "producers". Heh. In order to be able to rent out equipment or use their editing stuff or studios, we have to take classes to become certified in those areas. Everyone begins with TV101. Three evenings of 2-hour classes that could bore you to tears. Most of the talk for this class was what you can and cannot put on public access TV -- what constitutes commercialism and obscenity and all that jazz. Rob and I did discover that pretty much anything we think of is considered officially "obscene". So, while frustrating in a producing sense, it was quite an honor. One night was actually fun. A lady that runs the joint did a class on production planning. She's actually been out there and done real stuff, so she had some good stories. She actually was the producer for Survivor: Malaysia. So, she had all her notebooks from that, and told us some fun tales. That night did go by entirely too fast. The last week of November, we took quite a few classes to try to get them knocked out. We took Basic Cam, Audio, Dub Rack, and Intro to Final Cut Pro. Basic Cam was very useful. It was 3 days of 3-hour classes. Rob and I teamed up, of course, and we got to film each other and be silly. Then people got to watch it. We entertained our instructor, so we felt a sense of accomplishment. Audio was just 2 hours and was mostly about different types of microphones and how to wire up for sound. Dub Rack was also 2 hours and it's just how to use the Dub Rack to do your duplicating and playback, as they don't want you using the cameras for extensive playback. On Saturday and Sunday (1st & 2nd), we took their Intro to Final Cut Pro. I really enjoyed this class, even though the only other student in there besides us, was a bit technologically challenged. Our instructor actually works for Apple, and works with the Final Cut Studio pretty much all day every day. So he knew his stuff. He was also pretty entertaining. Now I want a Mac, dammit. Some of our future classes will be to get Mini Studio Certified, Advanced Cam, perhaps Advanced Final Cut Pro. Eventually we'll do Main Studio too, but we're not overly concerned with it yet, anyway. So, you might be wondering, Pourquoi? Good question. Cuz we want to film the madness in our heads and make people watch it. It'll be good times.

Rockin' Out -- Rooster style

So, this past Friday, Mike and I were invited to a Rock Band party. Oh, do not laugh, you haters out there. You cannot imagine how much fun this game is when you get a bunch of people together. After playing it as much as Mike and I have, I have found that I really like the singing. I would have thought that would end up being the last thing I'd want to do. But, I can rock out with some fierce pipes -- at least in my head :D The drums are a lot of fun too, but man they can be difficult. So, the party had an optional dress-up option, that Mike, Ben, and I decided to take. I knew Mike and Ben were gonna be nuts, but I was actually quite surprised at what I managed to do with my hair. It started as an Amy Winehouse meets Sanjaya, and ended up with maybe a little Boy George thrown in. I did some Winehouse eyes, some black lipstick and some pleather pants, with a Prince-like velvety shirty & knee-high boots, natch. Mike & Ben looked like goth metal brothers from hell. It was great. I was a wee bit disappointed at some of the other people's idea of dressing up. A couple other girls were good, but as far as some of the guys... W E A K. If you're gonna rock out with your cock out, play the part! I had a lot of fun. I sang a little, played some drums, and even played the guitar. Drank a number of my pom soda/vodka mixes and ended the evening sitting in the shower while Mike attempted to get my hair out of all the mess I made. The scalp hurt a little in the morning, but pain can accompany such greatness. The next morning (aka afternoon) -- hungover and wobbly -- I was off to Public Access Community Television for some schoolin' in Final Cut Pro.

Gobble Gobble, Hurl & RAWK!!!!

Yes, it must be Thanksgiving I refer to. The day after the game night, Mike and I quickly realized we will most definitely use our dining room table at full capacity -- which is 8. Unfortunately we only had 4 chairs. We went over to Zinger hardware to see if we could at least grab 2 more. I figured we could definitely use them for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. However, I was worried we couldn't get 'em cuz it took 3-months to get the first 4 chairs. But, it never hurts to try. We get there and see 2 of our chairs on the floor, but I wasn't sure if they sell their floor models. They did. They threw some leather cleaner on 'em for us, and we hauled 'em off with our truck. Good to go. Also after game night, it got decided that Thanksgiving would be at our place and we would have 3-4 other people there besides ourselves. I think that was mostly decided because we would be receiving Rock Band two days before Thanksgiving. For Thanksgiving, we ended up having my bro and his wife and Ben, a friend of ours. The food was awesome. We had ham (we hate turkey), green bean casserole, stewed tomatoes (drool), wild rice stuffing, pea salad, Tofurkey & fixin's, my blueberry dessert, and a peanut butter pie that Ben made. Oh, and how could I forget the neverending supply of rolls. Rob must have his rolls & honey butter. Before dinner & after, we rocked out with Rock Band. I think we were up til 2 or something ridiculous with the game. Since the Wednesday before was technically a "friday", we rocked even later with the game, so by the end of the Thanksgiving rock out, most of us were a little burned out on the game. Not completely, just requiring a slight break. It is truly the greatest social game ever. No house should go without one.

Game Night Italiano

Ok, so it's been a couple weeks since it actually occurred. But I wanted to write about it. It was the 2nd pot-luck game night, and the first time Mike and I have had a bunch of people to this house. Hell, maybe even any place we've lived. I've always been kind of embarrassed of our house. Probably without real reason though. Now, I actually love our house, so I feel free to share it with the world. We had people at both of our tables - dining & kitchen. There was tons of food. Italian was probably not the best of themes for a pot-luck cuz you just end up all carb'd up and tired after eating. I made my lasagna, but wasn't totally thrilled with how it turned out. It was good, just not the normal caliber of my lasagna. Some of the other dishes were Chicken Parm, Meatballs, Ziti or Penne (I always get those mixed up), Salad, bread, and some desserts. After eating, Mike and a few others ended up on the Xbox 360 playing Guitar Hero III. The rest of us started with Uno, and then moved to Uno Attack. I think it's safe to say that we had a great time. I provided a Pomegranate Italian Soda/Vodka drink, and it was a whole lot more popular than I had thought it would be. I thought it might be a bit of a "girlie" drink, so I only purchased 3 big bottles of the soda. We also ran out of Vodka at one point, but Mike was nice enough to go get more. Once the Pomegranate Soda was out, a couple people moved on to cranberry juice, but it just wasn't the same. That freakin' drink has turned into my party beverage of choice. It's also a very specific soda. It's the Central Market Italian Soda stuff. Do not fret, you can find it at any HEB if you're lookin'. Game night seemed to open me up a little socially. And especially as far as my house goes. I don't feel like it has to be perfect for anyone to come visit. Still has to be close :D, just not absolutely perfect. See, I'm learning.