Category: Personal

The Great Tomsoni – 1934-2019

DSC_0282.jpgOn March 9, 2019, the art of magic lost a legend. Sure, more people may have seen Penn & Teller or David Copperfield or Criss Angel or Lance Burton, but all of them acknowledged Johnny Thompson as a true master of the field.

I had the pleasure of knowing and spending some time with him when I was living in Las Vegas, and I certainly have my stories to share, but the following words, by people who knew him far better than I, are a perfect tribute.

Rest easy, Great. You did good work. Continue reading “The Great Tomsoni – 1934-2019” →

Writing for Star Trek

liaisonsSo a few weeks ago, my dad asked me to write down the story of how I ended up working for Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was taking a class on the show through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNLV (which is an amazing program and one I wrote about a few years back). To be honest, I was pretty excited and honored he wanted to show me off! So anyway, here’s the story: Continue reading “Writing for Star Trek” →

An Impromptu Day at the Zoo

IMG_3446.JPGWhen we got up this morning, we had a choice to make. We could do our normal Sunday activities, which would involve work, or we could have a bit of a family day.

Now, to be honest, family days are hard to come by, mostly because work is not only ever-present, but increasing and increasingly complex. At any given point, I’ve got at least three different sets of job responsibilities so taking time off isn’t easy. Continue reading “An Impromptu Day at the Zoo” →

Is There a Perfect Order to Watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Movies?

Well… there might be?

Or there might not.

The truth of the matter is that with Avengers Endgame showing up in less than a month, an event which is the culmination of 11 years and 21 feature films, a lot of people, including me, are trying to catch up and reinvesitigate everything leading up to this momentous occasion. All of which led me to wonder what is the best way to deal with the rewatch (not to mention that at some point in the future, I’ll be doing it all over again with Monki, I hope) Continue reading “Is There a Perfect Order to Watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Movies?” →

Coffee and Rain, Postcards and Plays

 

IMG_3410March 12 &13, 2019

Tuesday was my last full day and I had only made one plan for the afternoon to meet a friend and Lin had tickets for me to see a show that night, so I figured this was a day on my own. I was up and out of the house before Lin knew I was gone.

I had arranged to meet my friend Ian near the South Kensington station so I headed that way. I found a place just outside the station called Muriel’s and treated myself to a “Little English” breakfast while I wrote out a few postcards and watched the rain fall outside. This is what my vacation was all about. I wasn’t rushing around to see stuff and take in all the sights and wonders of a new place, instead I was just relaxing, watching the world go by. It was wonderful. Continue reading “Coffee and Rain, Postcards and Plays” →

Spirits and Giant Squids,Geeks and Shipwrecks

 

IMG_3403.JPGMarch 11, 2019

Monday morning started off too early for Lin. Naturally, the hazards of living with a small child and having to get up early on a daily basis means no matter what time I go to bed, I get up at what, for some people, is an unreasonable hour. But being the trooper (trouper?) she is, she was up before 9am and ran out to the local bakery to get some fresh bread then fixed us both some eggs (Gordon Ramsey recipe and it was skanu!) and toast for breakfast. Continue reading “Spirits and Giant Squids,Geeks and Shipwrecks” →

Cursed Children, EasyBuses, and other adventures

IMG_3375March 10, 2019

A few weeks back, I was getting pretty ragged. I was exhausted, working on various projects, and hadn’t had a real break from anything in about 8 months. It also turned out that due to a scheduling thing at work, I could have a week off from work. It was at this point Rasa, my ever supportive wife, said, in essence, get the hell out! After debating for a bit, and looking at options, I booked a three-day getaway to London, where I could stay with my sister from another mister, Lin. Continue reading “Cursed Children, EasyBuses, and other adventures” →

He’s such a Character

IMG_3276A long time ago, I used to go to a Tuesday night pub quiz. Through the quiz, I ended up meeting Virginija Rupainienė, who is the director of Panemunes Primary School. Knowing I’m a native English speaker, she asked me if I wouldn’t mind coming and judging an English competition at her school. Not a problem. I’d done that before back in Hungary. Continue reading “He’s such a Character” →

Audiobooks – a good listen

man wearing black headphones beside train rail
Photo by Burst on Pexels.com

So it’s no secret I love to read. Over the last decade or so, I’ve also picked up the audiobook habit. If I’m walking around the streets, or on the bus on the way to work, odds are I’ve got my headphones in and I’m listening to a book. Over at Goodreads, you can see my audiobook list (as of right now, at almost 400 books long), which has a number of classics I’ve always wanted to read but never got around to or wasn’t able to get into in text form. I’ll also pick up dramatized productions and old radio shows. Continue reading “Audiobooks – a good listen” →

A Magical Date Night

06594241-D336-47F2-A0C7-A8CA8F9952B4.JPGA few months back, I saw that The Illusionists, a touring mega magic show which happened to feature Kevin James, an old friend from Vegas, would be hitting Vilnius in early March. This was a cool bit of news. I immediately reached out to see if Kevin would have a chance to meet up for coffee while they were in town. Of course, since it was still a ways in the future, we agreed to talk as it got closer.  Continue reading “A Magical Date Night” →

Clown Trip | David Magazine

53063706_2375440049156706_2322080356414521344_nWhile I’ve written about my various trips with Aga-Boom on here, my personal blog, before, this time I’m writing about the trips for someone else. My latest David Magazine piece, Clown Trip: Breaking the Language Barrier One Smile at a Time, takes the wider perspective and involves what it means to make people laugh without language.

10 Gorgeous Retro Board Games Based on Sci-Fi Classics

So lately, I’ve been backing games on Kickstarter (well, games and books). I’m not even sure why, since we don’t really play games at home at the moment. Sure, I’m hoping once we move into a bigger place, and actually have a table, that will change. Plus, I’m hoping that once Monki gets a little older she’ll want to play some games and we can have some family fun outside of the TV. Continue reading “10 Gorgeous Retro Board Games Based on Sci-Fi Classics” →

Harlem Globetrotters

IMG_3229Sunday morning Feb 24, I got a message from a friend asking if we were doing anything that night. Seems he had some extra tickets to see the Harlem Globetrotters at Žalgiris Arena and would we like them. My first impulse was to decline. We had no one to watch Monki and I really didn’t want to go alone. But then Rasa and I talked about it and said “why not take her along?” So I accepted the tickets and we suddenly had plans for the evening. Continue reading “Harlem Globetrotters” →

Drive past the cemetery, not into it.

automobile-automotive-car-1386649This week was filled with a couple of firsts for us. The first first was that my friend Dove bought herself a new car and we took her old one off her hands. This is our first car as a family and it’s a pretty big deal for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it means Rasa gets to drive again. Continue reading “Drive past the cemetery, not into it.” →