Portrait Of Daddy

Miranda drew this picture of Daddy over the break. It's really cool to see her talents grow (see Startling Likeness Methinks posted March 11, 2008).
I think she really captured my buff physique - don't you?

Today We Went To The Brooklyn Chidren's Museum

We Brought Harold In For A Landing...

... Planted Green Vegetables...

... Did Some Gardening...

... Played In The Babbling Brook...

... Made Some African Art...

... And Took A Spin On A Scooter

The Kids Enjoy The Warm Weather...

... And Explored Nature (Brooklyn style)

Miranda (right) and her friend Rachel

Swingin'

Zachy and Miranda enjoyed the hammock swing at our friend Chris's house, while we were there for a Christmas visit. They totally dug the cookies too!

Miranda At The Park On Christmas

Zachy At The Park On Christmas

The Tree, Prior To The Onslaught

Reindeer Spotted In Brooklyn

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all peace on Earth.
Lots of love,
The Miller Gang

A Visit From Grandma & Grandpa

The Notorious Miller Gang

Since I do most all of the picture taking, I have very few of me with the kids. This one comes courtesy of Grandma Fredi.

Too Cute To Keep To Myself

Zach At The Dentist's Office

Zachy did a great job of saying "ah" and found lots of interesting things to play with.

Miranda At The Dentist's Office

Miranda said she felt like a movie star.

Panda Ponytail

Taken last Sunday - here Miranda sports a George Washington style ponytail, lovingly crafted by Daddy, as she eats a cheese doodle.

Throwing Snowballs At Daddy

Miranda Walking Home From School

Miranda Being Shy

Zachy - Deep In Thought.

Ultraman

Thanks to a conversation with a coworker, I recently had the chance to climb aboard Mr. Peabody's Way-back Machine and be whisked back to the after school TV viewing of my grade school days. Long before anyone had even heard of "cable," the shows that caused me to run home after school were Speed Racer, Kung Fu, Star Trek and of course Ultraman. Sadly, having compared notes with my contemporaries in the many places I have since called home, it seems that the English dubbed version of this unique production was not widely broadcast here in the U.S., being relegated to the vague syndication practices of the UHF stations of that era. But in this modern era of DVD boxed sets, if you are the type of person (like myself) that digs a good old Godzilla movie, you really owe it to yourself to check out Ultraman.

Let's face it, what is not to like about two guys in rubber monster suits, stomping around on a scale model of Tokyo (complete with the requisite shots of fleeing Japanese peasants with chickens in wire cages, clutched under their trembling arms), generally beating the shit out of each other? The cheesy special effects of tank, artillery, mortar and assorted ray-gun fire just adds to the enjoyment.

The premise of this series goes something like this: Science Patrol member Shin Hayata was flying his plane and a red sphere of light crashes into him, killing him. The sphere turns out to be the transport for a red-and-silver giant being called Ultraman. Feeling remorse for killing the human, he merges his essence with Hayata to revive him. In return, Hayata serves as the human form for this being, and when danger threatens, he raises the Beta Capsule and transforms to Ultraman to save the day.

One of the best and campiest features of the Ultraman series was the use of various monster costumes, known as kaiju in Japan, which were often wildly imaginative almost to (and sometimes well past) the point of the ridiculous. The monsters and other roving meanies were played by famous stunt actor Haruo Nakajima, who played the original Godzilla. His apprentice, Bin Furuya starred as Ultraman. Nakajima had a martial arts background, though from appearances not a very accomplished one, and used it to create a sense of drama in order to be effective in costumes that had little potential to show emotion.

The storyline begins in the near future, as referenced from the mid-1960s. In episode 22, "My Home Is Earth", it is definitively established that the series takes place in the early 1990s, as a plaque shown at the end of the episode displays the current year as being 1993 - now you know. Sinister aliens and giant monsters constantly threaten civilization during this period, much as they do in reality today. The only Earth organization equipped to handle these disasters is the Science Special Search Party (SSSP), a special police force with branches all over the world, and equipped with high-tech weapons and vehicles, as well as extensive scientific and engineering facilities, including hi-tech, room-sized computers with lots of reel-to-reel magnetic tape drives (so f*cking groovy!). The branch of the Science Patrol that is the focus is located in Tokyo, Japan. Led by Captain "Cap" Muramatsu (shortened to "Captain Mura" in the dubbed English-language version), the Science Patrol is always ready to protect the Earth from rampaging monsters, but sometimes finds itself over-matched. When the situation becomes desperate, Hayata, the Patrol's most capable member, holds the key to salvation in the form of a talisman called the "Beta Capsule", which, when ignited, allows him to transform secretly into the amazing, pointy-headed, super-humanoid-powered giant from space—Ultraman.

While active as Ultraman, Hayata's human body goes into a type of deep coma, much like mine does after a heavy holiday dinner with lots of butter and gravy, reviving only after the threat has been neutralized and Ultraman departs. Victory is never assured, however, as Ultraman's powers - his very life force - comes from rapidly depleted, stored solar energy - kind of like the Chevy Volt. At the beginning of each transformation from Hayata-to-Ultraman, the warning light on the giant's chest begins as a steady blue color. Yet as Ultraman exerts himself, the Color Timer changes to red, then blinks - slowly at first, then with increasing rapidity - as his energy reserves get closer to exhaustion. A voice-over narration reminds the viewer—beginning with episode 2 and for each episode thereafter (remember the voice-over in Speed Racer who told us each time the Racer X appeared the he was "really Speed's older brother Rex who ran away from home years ago"? Same dealio.) - if Ultraman ever reaches the point of total energy depletion, he "will never rise again."

Finally, after years of faithful viewing, in episode 39: "Farewell Ultraman," Ultraman fights an enemy called Zetton, who employs a weapon Ultraman had not expected - one which damages his blink-o-meter and disables his ability to measure his power supply. As a result, Ultraman stays in his form too long and collapses into a dormant state. Fortunately despite this loss, the Science Patrol's members are able to defeat Zetton on their own. When Zoffy (nice name, huh?), Ultraman's superior, comes to retrieve the fallen hero, Ultraman pleads for Hayata's life and offers his life completely, so that Hayata may live as a normal man. Zoffy then says he brought two lives and that he will give one to Hayata. He then separates them, giving Hayata new life, but Hayata seems to have no memory between the time he first hit Ultraman's ship and his standing outside Patrol Headquarters as he watches Zoffy take Ultraman home. At the very end, a voice-over states that Ultraman would return and Hayata retained his Beta Capsule as he awaited Ultraman's return.

I'm still waiting.

Behold, I Bring You Tidings Of Great Joy

Look up at the sky Monday night to see a bright cosmic frown. The planets Jupiter and Venus will briefly align to form (nearly upside down) two eyes and a frowning mouth in the southwest.
In what’s called a planetary conjunction, the two planets —the brightest in the night sky — will appear extremely close, separated by only the width of a finger held at arm’s length. They won’t be this close together and well-placed for evening viewing again until May 2013.
In fact, some astronomers think a similar alignment of the planets on June 17 in the year 2 BC is behind biblical accounts of the Star of Bethlehem present during Christ’s birth. The bright planets would have appeared so close together they could have been taken as a single shining star.

Peaceandlove