Phantasmic Links 3.19.07

When a weekend starts out as bad as this one did, it can only get better.

After the mess of ice Winter saw fit to dump on us Friday, Saturday cleanup was a challenge. My car was completely encased, and breaking through the driveway was futile as well, though my dad was out there trying. I managed to clean the car off and make it to the bank to renew a CD and make my 2006 IRA contribution just in time, driving over the blanket of ice.

It was a lazy day spent indoors, and while I played a video game and battled my way through Asgard, my parents watched snow plows and playing children from the windows.

“Now your father's yelling at the guy.”

I hadn't been paying attention, but one statement from my mom got me to pause and get her to repeat the story. Apparently one of our neighbors hired a snow plow, who was pushing the snow from their yard and blocking our driveway. My mom suggested he talk to him, but 77-year-old men who are hard of hearing never simply talk.

“Now he's shoveling again.”

So, I grabbed a shovel and went out to help.

“Get inside. You want the neighbors to laugh at me?”

It was an irrational statement, and he elaborated that he was embarrassed after yelling at the guy who just ignored him, and didn't want them to see us with shovels. Meanwhile, my dad was shoveling and the snow was melted enough that I could clear out behind my car and make it easier to drive my mom to church later. My dad got really irrationally angry that I kept working, stormed inside, then stormed back out and told me I was a “real wiseguy”, and if I couldn't “follow orders” I could just “get the heck out”. Rather than argue, I continued shoveling. He wasn't making any sense, and I could tell it wasn't me he was angry at. When I came inside, he mostly gave me the silent treatment and mumbled things like “this is still my house” under his breath.

After mass, my mom and I picked up some Burger King as we always do. My dad was a little more talkative, but still sulking a little bit. Meanwhile, I returned a call I'd gotten earlier from an old college friend, and learned he was having an impromptu dinner party, sort of an informal housewarming since I hadn't seen him since he moved. It was good to get out for a few hours, and his wife cooked an amazing Indian dinner. I'm not a fan of Indian food, but there was one spicy chicken dish that tasted one thousand times better than it looked and had me coming back for seconds. “Are you expanding your culinary horizons now?” quipped my friend, right before telling everyone a tale I'll never live down, about the time I ordered “Chicken with Broccoli hold the broccoli” from a Chinese restaurant. It wasn't until I got home later that I realized I'd celebrated St. Patrick's Day with fast food, Indian food and donuts. At least the donuts had green frosting in honor of the holiday(I hope).

Even though I had cleared half the driveway on Sunday, I awoke to the sound of a shovel chipping ice. I got up and went out to help my dad, not sure if he was still mad or not. “Work from the ends, and put it over here so it melts,” he instructed, our fight dissolved in the face of father-son teamwork. I found that while a three-inch thick sheet of ice still covered half the driveway, I could get a shovel underneath it and break it into smaller sheets. We made short work of it, exposing the pavement beneath through cooperative efforts. The rest of the day was sunny and peaceful, and I'm now ready to deal with another week of work. But first, here are this week's PHANTASMIC LINKS:

I'm ready to start thinking about the beach. This video of reverse sand castle explosions that Curt sent me is a good start.

This is a horrifying skin condition, not frayed mittens as I first thought. I don't know where B13 found it, but thought I'd share.

On a less gross note, B13 also discovered The real Fortress of Solitude.

How intelligent are you? I got 8 out of 11 right.

Sean posted an awesome comparison between 300 the movie and the original graphic novel. I love how faithful the movie was, and I really need to pick that book up...

Mario and Luigi wander into the wrong city. Video game crossover hilarity ensues.

Did the unicorn crash his truck?

I've seen versions of this before, but they still hold true: 40 things that only happen in the movies.

”Stare at the middle of the strobing lines for 20 seconds and then look away.” I don't feel so on this plane of existence....

UFO Mania sends you and your flying saucer around the globe in an effort to collect humans and bring them home, without dropping them or getting yourself shot down. After that last link, I call this one “Mondays”.

A new species of leopard has been discovered.

Here's one last hilarious one from B13: Jack Bauer vs. Chunk from Goonies.



Have a link to a game, movie, article, or anything else you think might be “phantasmic”? E-mail me and it just might appear in an upcoming PHANTASMIC LINKS!