This red panda doesn't look very happy but she is only wrestling with her sibling, like cats sometimes do. See?
Have you been over to Starwars.com lately? They have a whole scene up from the Clone Wars movie that you can watch. Nearly as cool as this Clonie Bear Mistytang did for me!
Last night, driving home from The Dark Knight, Michelle told me she had never seen Batman (Tim Burton, 1989 ). So we rectified that tonight. After 19 years I guess it's okay to say that movie is a little dated. I still remember the overjoyedness that followed seeing that movie for the first time with Jon. I wonder what 14-year-old Homie Bear would have thought of The Dark Knight. As much as I loved it as a 33-year-old adult, I'm glad I got to grow up in a simpler time when Burton's vision was seen as revolutionary and cutting edge. Maybe my dad thought the same thing about Adam West.

I wasn't even gone for that long- 12 days- but everything seemed so different when I got home. First there was all the grass in the front lawn that never used to be there. Very nice- and my wife and mother-in-law did all the grunt work. Did I mention my wife is pregnant? Pretty much Superwoman. Then there was the matter of the toothbrushes. Teethbrush? Someone must have rotated the toothbrush holder while I was away because I grabbed the one in the space where mine normally is and turns out it was not mine. When vengeful Superwife confronted me I could only laugh while she smited me. Not the first time and probably not the last, right?
Anyways, a friend of ours is on the E-ville Roller Derby team (I only just now got that E-ville is evil!) and today we went and saw a scrimmage- very cool! You should check them out.
And tomorrow- the froggies! Yes, again.

Skyline = lotsa skeeters + crazy wind + no bears + ten tons of kickass
It was a great hike, perfect weather. Amazing view at the top. Why didn't you come along? Michelle of course was regretfully exempted on account of pregnant. But it was the best surprise ever when I got back to Hinton and she was there waiting. Otherwise this would be day 9 of a 12-day non-Michelle stretch. And that doesn't kick any tons of ass.

I'm off to hike the Skyline Trail tomorrow. My wife is scared I will be eaten by a bear. I am more scared of the Joker!

Chapter 9 (click here to go back to the beginning)

Of course, Dart had to go see if it was raining frogs right now. It wasn't. Nevertheless he had high hopes and vigilantly scanned the horizon until Callie came to see if he was alright. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Nothing. So what do we do when it rains?" "Mostly we wait for the rain to stop." "That's it? Isn't there anything fun we can do?" "Well, we could play a game- try and guess when the rain will stop." "I guess now." "Nope." "Now." "Sorry." "Well then definitely now." "Wrong again." Eighty-three incorrect guesses later, Dart decided this was a dumb game. "There must be something we can do?" Callie remembered her own days as a froglet, when every day was an adventure, every discovery amazing, and every game life or death. Sometimes sitting around telling stories and waiting for the sun to come out just wasn't any fun. Sometimes a frog just wanted to get out there and jump around. Besides, it might be a good idea to be creative and give Dart something to do lest he start thinking about his parents. "I know," she said. "Do you want to go see the rock monster?" "Rock monster?" "Yeah, it's a big rock that looks exactly like a monster. Wise old frogs like Rana say it's just a harmless piece of rock that happens to look like a monster, but I know better . . ." Dart urged her to go on. She paused just long enough to make him bounce up and down. "The rain brings it to life. Briefly. Long enough for it to feed." "What does it eat?" "Froglets, of course. And it doesn't matter what kind of froglets, either. I think it like poison ones best of all. Since it's made out of rock it doesn't really worry about poison too much. But don't worry- it can't stand red-eyes like me. So if you want, I can take you there." "Uh, why? Wouldn't it just be better to stay safe? I thought you said that just because most eaters will leave me alone that I should still try to keep away from them." "Yeah, mostly that's true, but. But." Callie tried to think of a convincing reason. She breifly considered telling Dart it would grant him a wish but she realized there was no way to make good on such an empty promise. Telling stories, embellishing the facts was one thing, but outright lying was a bad habit to get into. "are you telling me you're too scared? That's fine. We can stay here and wait for it to stop raining. I don't mind. Either way." "No, I'm not scared! No way! Don't you remember how I chased off that spider? Did I look scared to you? I'll chase the rock monster the same way. Yeah, I'm not scared. More like, let's go right now!" To prove how unscared he was, Dart took off into the forest. Callie laughed and called after him, "Wrong way Mr. Smarty-Darty. Come with me, I know the way." Callie headed off in the opposite direction. Dart followed, marveling at how dim and gloomy the rainforest floor was. Spying a froglet-sized mud puddle, he detoured into it, splashing mud all over his blue skin. Presently he remembered the task at hand, which was hunting monsters, not playing in the mud. He looked up. Callie was nowhere to be seen. "Callie?" he called. No answer. Well, she was heading in that direction, so Dart decided to try to catch up. He didn't notice the shape that detached itself from a waterlogged aloe. It crept up behind him, moving silently. Dart slowed down. Still no sign of Callie. He called her name a few times. How could she have left him behind? Was she that absent-minded? Couldn't she pay attention to what she was doing? Dart felt a tingling sensation in his tympani. He turned around. "BOO!" Callie jumped out at him, just like the first time they met, and the sight of her varihued belly was startling amid the gray drabness of the weather. Dart screamed. Callie laughed. "You went right by me! When will you learn?" Dart was embarrassed. And a little annoyed with Callie. "That wasn't nice." "Sorry- I couldn't resist. You were trying so hard to be brave even though you were obviously scared . . . " "I wasn't scared!" "Yes you were, and that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that, especially since you were willing to go anyway. I respect that. You're a brave little guy, even when you're scared." "Really?" "Yeah. Yeah, really. But maybe I should tell something. There isn't actually a rock monster, you know. It's just a game, something to do. A little harmless adventure. I mean, there is a rock that looks exactly like a hideous monster that eats froglets, but it's just a rock." Dart was relieved, but also disappointed. He had to admit he was having fun. "Can we still go see it anyways? Just for fun?" "Of course! Let's go!"
___________________________________________________________________________
So how long has it been? Too long. I was hoping to get some new writing done this week while on vacation but I was too busy. But I typed this up, I think I wrote it over a month ago, because I wanted to post something before I went away to work again.
It'll probably be a while before you see a new chapter. Slowly but surely.
Anyways, this chapter is dedicated to Travis Hanson, one of my favorite artists ever, who did that Homie Bear with froggies pic for me.
For a soundtrack, I think Rock Lobster by the B-52s would be cool, if only because I don't think another opportunity to use that song will come up in the course of this story.

One more day of holidays for me. Hasn't been all that relaxing, but I am pretty proud of the deck, and the two-foot deep trench I dug (am digging, rather) for the garage's electricity. And I ran for one hour today, a new HB record! I wanted to hit that milestone before I went back to work because next week I am going on a three day hike with my friend Robin (we hiked the Tonquin Valley last year) and the better shape you are in, the more fun hiking up and down the inclines of the Skyline Trail is.
According to page 16 of Schuyler's Monster (great book by Robert Rummel-Hudson whose blog you should bookmark), at this stage of its development our little bean is sporting white fur called lanugo. Rob writes, "No one really seems to know what it does, other than give you a little albino Wookie for a few months." Or, a polar bear cub!
Since I was busy digging a trench in my backyard yesterday, I didn't post any fan art for Hellboy, but let me make up for that a little by directing you to this:
Hellbear by spaghetti016.

I can finally tell you that I'm gonna be a Papa Bear! Woohoo! We will have a little cub sometime around January 21st. I couldn't be prouder. We've known for a few months but obviously it is best to let the first trimester pass before getting too crazy with the public announcements. This morning we went to the doctor and heard the baby's heartbeat, it was so amazing.
A few months ago I was on my way to work, night shift, when Michelle called to say that various signs and wonders caused her to believe that she might possibly be pregnant. Then she hung up so she could take a home pregnancy test while I paced the floor in Hinton. She called back and said it read positive. Then I had to go to work. We were doing some crazy coalminery thing and I couldn't take it anymore so I told my foreman I had to go call my wife and that I would return and finish the job later. Michelle had taken three tests to confirm so it seemed the writing was on the wall.
So, things have been pretty exciting around here although I think Michelle has not been having as much fun as she would like- little cub is already quite naughty and making Mama Bear throw up alla time. It took me a while to learn that cheering every time she vomited was not really appreciated- to me it was just more proof that it was all real.
Yup. Feels pretty great!
And that bear cub artwork was an early deviantArt commission I commished from cme, actually as I recall it was to benefit katrina victims so that was a few years ago now.

The Deck Unleashed!
My Dad came over yesterday and today and together we finished up the deck- still need some railings and better steps but good enough for now! Here's the pictures I promised, with Michelle (the architect and mastermind- nay- overlord!) modeling:



And have you seen the trailer for The Force Unleashed! Sweet! But September? It was originally supposed to come out in May. Since I don't have a Wii it doesn't really matter to me. Though you should know, my birthday is in September!

This is what my deck looks like now! More or less. It still has a few gaps and holes - in fact there is about 5 feet of open space still to be filled in tomorrow as well as niceties like steps and railings, but otherwise it is the Deck Star, a fully armed and operational party station!

Speaking of Death Stars, did you see this crazy Lego Death Star that will be coming out right away? It comes with 3800 pieces! 25 minifigs! Darth Vader's TIE Fighter! $400! Umm, yeah. Costs almost as much as a decent-sized deck.

You should see the gigantic deck we're building. Or rather, trying to build but are being thwarted by the rain. And severe thunderstorm warnings. When it's done I'll put up some pictures. For now all you can see is the frame and lots and lots of mud. Also weeds. On a super hi-def photo you could probably make out some rabbit poo as the local bunnies seem to use our weed garden as a singles bar.
Anyways thanks to all the great folks who have come by to help out, especially Steve and Megan who came all the way from Calgary just to lend a hand.

Anybody who, like me, was an avid comic collector in the 80s will absolutely love this piece by VegetarianGoat of the New Mutants. Jonny, I am looking at you here.

The New Mutants by *VegetarianGoat on deviantART

The New Mutants were the junior class at Xavier's School, kind of the X-Men-in-training who were impatient to get out there and fight bad guys, so of course every issue had them getting out there and fighting bad guys when they should have been staying in their dorms studying.
Their Marvelpedia entry.

It's our happy anniversary today! Three years of marrieds! As far as I can tell, the secret to a happy marriage is always having the maximum amount of fun. Seems to work for us anyways. And it helps when anything you do together is maximum fun simply because you're together.
I love you Sweety Bear!

Happy Canada Day!
Here's a picture I took, or tried to take I should say, of a bunch of baby elk at the mine this morning. We have vast herds of elk on the minesite and mostly they completely ignore us. But they weren't letting me get a good photo of their babies. Understandable. There was a grizzly sighting last night but by the time I got there it was too late, and too dark. Probably she was sitting there looking at me but I couldn't see her. The reason she didn't attack and eat me? Scared.


Anyways, vacation is finally here! Woot! We're not going anywhere this year, just staying at home to build a deck and wire up the garage and stuff. You should drop by and lend a hand, don't you think?