The latest Coming Distractions represents our own little “season finale,” the end of a story arc which has taken the two of us 10 whole months to complete.  Most of that was due to my own frakking laziness.

Took in “Get Him to the Greek” a little while back with Pat and Sarah in town, which is always a recipe for both mirthful giggles and cerebral conversation.

We each had to donate a pint of blood to get into the theater — actually, that’s not a very good metaphor these days since it implies a measure of selflessness. Three years ago, paying 8 bucks for a matinee felt like robbery but without the decency of having a gun involved. When I forked out $10.50 to see a movie last Saturday afternoon, it was like being molested by a hairy S&M fetishist with body drandruff.

Honestly, it’s like movie theaters are taking their cues from the airline industry: charge more, provide less. Is a comfy chair with a retractable drink-holder really worth that much?  It would be different if they still sent around ushers with their lightsaber flashlights to make sure the young father sitting behind me in “Iron Man” kept his five-year-old son quiet, but they’ve cut back on that unnecessary expense in order to pay for more 3D screens.

So, thanks, Regal Cinemas. That’s probably the last chunk of change you’ll get from me.

A few weeks ago was my birthday celebration, and the craziest thing I did involved this place:

Sky High Sports

Please attempt wall-running at your convenience.

Sky High Sports is the name of the place, and it’s basically a trampoline warehouse.  There was the above seen giganimous field of interlocking bouncy mats, a foam pit with gut catapults, and two dodgeball courts, also floored with jump juicers.  It had probably been 15 years since I stepped onto a brain bouncer, and I earned that back in mat burns within the first 5 minutes.  All said, it was a world-class flashback to younger days, which is exactly what half of a birthday celebration should be.

As incredibly fun as that was, the next part of the night was where things got really good.

Our next stop was called The Spot Off Main, a nice-looking billiards bar in the Old Town part of Bellevue.  There we sat, talking, drinking and shooting pool.  It wasn’t until we’d been there for almost three hours that Becky spotted this on the wall:

Spot Off Main Wall

What's that ya say?

That was pretty much it for me.  One quick trip to the counter for a box of chalk, and I found myself drawing (of course) Simon.

Simon on the Wall

He got into a fight with a lawn mower.

Too big, as it turns out.

Then the manager comes up to me and says, “You’re good!”

“Thanks!” (the music was really loud).

“Hey, I’ll buy you and your friends a round if you give me a big WSU Cougar head up there where no one can get at it!”

“Okay!”

WSU Head

WSU is within the house.

That’s just below the ten foot ceiling, so I was up on a stool drawing it, and while the logo might not be exactly right, I feel I captured the spirit of the beast.  Now the Spot Off Main joins Sella’s Calzone & Pizza as places where you can see my art on display. That did a great job of reminding me how great it is to be older, which is exactly what the other half of a birthday celebration should be.

In the same vein of birthdays and art, and as a little something to give the Google crawlbots a reason to send traffic our way, I recently did a piece of art as a birthday present for the venerable King Sheep.

Dr. Horrible

He also has a Masters in Awesomeness.

Fleece out.