Biggest Loser, green shells, father's day, and more...

We're very behind in our blog posts. Our apologies to the 23 15 4 of you who check this blog on a frequent basis to see what exciting things are all "the haps" in our lives.

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My first Father's Day was awesome. Katie already wrote a little bit, and we keep meaning to take pictures of the goodies I got, but it's apparent by now we're never going to get around to it.

I got the original Indiana Jones movies on DVD from Carter, as well as a Lego sculpture that says "#1 Dad." I think his mom helped him with it ;)
Katie got me a Lego set, money to spend on parts for projects we're working on for BrickCon in October, and Batman Begins and Superman Returns on DVD (neither of which she had seen before!) Way to start off the Father's Day gift giving with a bang, guys!

PS: Oh yeah, and the Bakers got me Oakley sunglasses with Bluetooth attachment. Just in time, too: California law requires drivers to use cell phones hands-free, now.

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Click me!
Ahhhh, the infamous green shell. In the earliest Mario games, Koopa Troopa (they looked like turtles) walked around, and if you ran into them you died. But by making Mario jump on top of them, they turned into shells that would then bounce around off of objects: again, if they hit you, you died.


Original Koopa Troopa alongside a more recent incarnation

The useful thing about the Green Shell was that you could jump on it and direct it at enemies, which would then strike them and knock them out. Hitting a sequence of enemies would result in higher points and a 1up life reward. This leads to the truly awesome "turtle tip trick," which is a popular and famous technique used in the original Super Mario Bros game to obtain 999 (infinite) lives. In more recent games like Mario Kart, the green shell is an item you can throw at people to strike their kart.

So, why am I giving you all this background on the Green Shell? Because I have one.

I attended the Anime Expo on Saturday at the LA Convention Center to help do some video work for one of my teachers. Even got to wear a press badge and everything. Before working, however, I had some time to kill, so I walked around the main floor of the con. At one store I found this plush green shell that made game-accurate sounds effects from the game, and wanted it almost immediately. See, this item was only ever available in Japan, and importing one would cost a bunch. But this store had them on sale for under retail price, and I even talked them down a couple dollars and they dropped the tax. Katie was skeptical about my purchase as I told her about it over the phone, but when I came home with it and the fun ensued, she was convinced: this thing is awesome!


Carter agrees.


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Our Biggest Loser competition hasn't been going so well. Communication is almost nil, a couple people dropped out, and instead of shedding weight Katie and I have gained. So this past weekend we finally resolved to get with the program and be serious about our weight loss, get back on track, and meet our goals. We will post new updates here about the latest phase of our battle of the bulge. Our goal date is October 1st, just in time for our trip to Seattle.

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Is Lost back yet? I miss it already...
Good thing we've got The Mole back to comfort us for a little while.