ESPN.com: Page 2 : More cowbell: Quick hits: "Second, have you noticed that Katie is the first contestant in the history of the show who has actually managed to gain weight as the season rolls along?"
Made me laugh out loud today.
Friday, April 29, 2005
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Hitting to all fields...
- I've said before I have an issue with the Pringles situation here in Florida. First of all, no ranch Pringles. Instead, they have some weird flavors like jalapeno and that crap. Latest travesty: Pringles can with Survivor logo yet NO Survivor triva on each chip. WTF is up with that?
- I've got my Episode III tickets. Both Court and I are taking the day off.
- Cat and dog were actually laying near each other on the bed the other day. Here comes the apocalypse.
- Saw 'Fever Pitch' over the weekend. I agree with the Sports Guy's review. Too much of the parts with the fans in the stands at Fenway just wouldn't have happened at a real game.
- Chad Fox looked like his arm exploded during the end of last night's Cub game. Hopefully that wasn't a career-ender.
That is all.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
First...I just saw John Mabry fly out to center with Rollen on first, thus ending a potential Cardinals comeback and giving the Cubs a 3-1 victory tonight--Which is good.
Anyway, great day today. Got a lot done at the customer site. Things went very well. We had a great customer contact onsite, and I'll say it every day of the week...having a great contact onsite is 95% of the job.
After work we headed out to pick up another Motorolan whom my two colleagues here also knew. Very nice guy who works in Mexico City. For dinner we went to a great place that was right across from Christopher's Columbus' house down here.
Absolutely amazing. It's in an area of the known as the 'spanish zone' (though I may be messing that up) and there's a lot of neat architecture around there. They really know how to make government buildings down here...almost every one looks like the Field Museum. There are a number of high-rise buildings which resemble a high-rise apartment that's just off of 83 back home...basically a rectangular shape rising up into the sky with a lot of symmetrical balconies jutting out...they kind of look like a game-in-progress Jenga stack, if you've ever played that. Very neat.
The people are VERY friendly. I think I've heard 'muchacho' and 'hermano' a million times today. Wherever there's parking there's usually a guy or two hanging around. If you give them a tip they'll watch your car and make sure nobody messes with it. I'm surprised they don't have this in Chicago. (though maybe they do)
There are far more beggars and such in Chicago. Here I've only seen one, really, and he was a little boy who we saw on our way from the airport yesterday. One of my colleagues said that it's hard to give because that just encourages it, but he felt bad and gave anyway. There are a lot of street vendors selling food and stuff. We also saw a dog at the Avis office which was just kind of hanging around outside. He made me think of Hooper though he looked nothing like him, besides being black. A cat running around outside the place we ate today made me think of Boots.
We passed a school letting out on the way to our late lunch. All the kids were in uniforms. I'm not sure if that is the norm down here but if it is, more power to them. I'm sure a ton of problems don't even come up at all with a system like that.
Someone who has been here before had mentioned there were a lot of armed people on the streets. The only people that are armed here (that I have seen) are in uniform, so that's cool. I have seen them with shotguns and M-16s (I think) but this was around the Presidential Palace (very nice, and amazing to see) so that's understandable I think.
On our way to and from dinner we drove on the coast, and along the coast is a HUGE wall...something like 40-50 feet tall I'd say. Very thick too. It was build to protect the city from pirates. I'm telling you, this whole area there looked like it was plucked from Tortuga and the 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. I've really never seen anything that was REAL like that in my life. I kinda wish I had taken my camera but I kind of got warned away from taking anything valueable and looking too much like a tourist. There are also a lot of beautiful statues and monuments here as well.
One thing I am noticing...my high school spanish is making *something* of a resurrgence. If my colleagues are speaking slowly enough (which they do, as they are both non-native spanish speakers) I can understand somewhat of what they are saying. Together with hand movements and stuff I probably understand about 30-40% of it which is not too bad. They don't speak Spanish to me, but they do to people here that don't speak English. (or prefer Spanish)
A long day today, but it was a productive one. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as productive.
Anyway, great day today. Got a lot done at the customer site. Things went very well. We had a great customer contact onsite, and I'll say it every day of the week...having a great contact onsite is 95% of the job.
After work we headed out to pick up another Motorolan whom my two colleagues here also knew. Very nice guy who works in Mexico City. For dinner we went to a great place that was right across from Christopher's Columbus' house down here.
Absolutely amazing. It's in an area of the known as the 'spanish zone' (though I may be messing that up) and there's a lot of neat architecture around there. They really know how to make government buildings down here...almost every one looks like the Field Museum. There are a number of high-rise buildings which resemble a high-rise apartment that's just off of 83 back home...basically a rectangular shape rising up into the sky with a lot of symmetrical balconies jutting out...they kind of look like a game-in-progress Jenga stack, if you've ever played that. Very neat.
The people are VERY friendly. I think I've heard 'muchacho' and 'hermano' a million times today. Wherever there's parking there's usually a guy or two hanging around. If you give them a tip they'll watch your car and make sure nobody messes with it. I'm surprised they don't have this in Chicago. (though maybe they do)
There are far more beggars and such in Chicago. Here I've only seen one, really, and he was a little boy who we saw on our way from the airport yesterday. One of my colleagues said that it's hard to give because that just encourages it, but he felt bad and gave anyway. There are a lot of street vendors selling food and stuff. We also saw a dog at the Avis office which was just kind of hanging around outside. He made me think of Hooper though he looked nothing like him, besides being black. A cat running around outside the place we ate today made me think of Boots.
We passed a school letting out on the way to our late lunch. All the kids were in uniforms. I'm not sure if that is the norm down here but if it is, more power to them. I'm sure a ton of problems don't even come up at all with a system like that.
Someone who has been here before had mentioned there were a lot of armed people on the streets. The only people that are armed here (that I have seen) are in uniform, so that's cool. I have seen them with shotguns and M-16s (I think) but this was around the Presidential Palace (very nice, and amazing to see) so that's understandable I think.
On our way to and from dinner we drove on the coast, and along the coast is a HUGE wall...something like 40-50 feet tall I'd say. Very thick too. It was build to protect the city from pirates. I'm telling you, this whole area there looked like it was plucked from Tortuga and the 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. I've really never seen anything that was REAL like that in my life. I kinda wish I had taken my camera but I kind of got warned away from taking anything valueable and looking too much like a tourist. There are also a lot of beautiful statues and monuments here as well.
One thing I am noticing...my high school spanish is making *something* of a resurrgence. If my colleagues are speaking slowly enough (which they do, as they are both non-native spanish speakers) I can understand somewhat of what they are saying. Together with hand movements and stuff I probably understand about 30-40% of it which is not too bad. They don't speak Spanish to me, but they do to people here that don't speak English. (or prefer Spanish)
A long day today, but it was a productive one. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as productive.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Well, this is my first post from the Dominican Republic. AKA, the first real other country I've ever been too. I don't count Cozumel or Belize since I didn't need a passport...and I don't count Epcot either.
First impressions...the people seem to be nice. They speak Spanish at first go but if I respond in English that I don't understand (or if I talk to me colleagues from work down here in English around others) they just speak English. The Marriott here is very nice, the equal of any I've been in. Maybe even nicer since it's newer.
I was happy to see the American Embassy like one block away. Don't know why, it was just nice to see it. The Vatian Embassy is also close by. Big day for them today.
Meeting the other two guys downstairs at 8:15am tomorrow. They both speak spanish and are very familiar with the DR so they're real godsends. I don't know what I'd do without them.
After breakfast, it's off to the office. Hopefully everything works out nicely and we have a productive day.
First impressions...the people seem to be nice. They speak Spanish at first go but if I respond in English that I don't understand (or if I talk to me colleagues from work down here in English around others) they just speak English. The Marriott here is very nice, the equal of any I've been in. Maybe even nicer since it's newer.
I was happy to see the American Embassy like one block away. Don't know why, it was just nice to see it. The Vatian Embassy is also close by. Big day for them today.
Meeting the other two guys downstairs at 8:15am tomorrow. They both speak spanish and are very familiar with the DR so they're real godsends. I don't know what I'd do without them.
After breakfast, it's off to the office. Hopefully everything works out nicely and we have a productive day.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
I have something here for you. Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it. He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade like your father did. It's your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster, but an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire.
It just arrived today. I'm still geeking out about it. Court ordered it for me some time ago. It was meant to be a surprise, but that was a secret she couldn't keep. It came this morning and I didn't want to opened it without her around so I asked her to stop by the house before she went on to her show this afternoon. It's amazing. It's a lot heavier than I'd thought. It doesn't work, obviously, but, let me tell you, it feels like it should. I've wanted one my whole life. Absolutely
incredible.
This one, in particular, is Anakin's lightsaber in Episode III. As such, it's the lightsaber Anakin has when he duels Obi-Wan...a fight Obi-Wan eventually wins. He takes Anakin's saber and gives it to Luke in the first Star Wars movie (production wise) "A New Hope". Luke later loses it when he loses his hand in "The Empire Strikes Back". Out of all the sabers Master Replicas has created, this is the one I've wanted the most. It's got the most history. I also have the scaled (smaller) version of Luke's lightsaber from "The Return of the Jedi" that Court had given me as a gift last year.
Very cool.
It just arrived today. I'm still geeking out about it. Court ordered it for me some time ago. It was meant to be a surprise, but that was a secret she couldn't keep. It came this morning and I didn't want to opened it without her around so I asked her to stop by the house before she went on to her show this afternoon. It's amazing. It's a lot heavier than I'd thought. It doesn't work, obviously, but, let me tell you, it feels like it should. I've wanted one my whole life. Absolutely
incredible.
This one, in particular, is Anakin's lightsaber in Episode III. As such, it's the lightsaber Anakin has when he duels Obi-Wan...a fight Obi-Wan eventually wins. He takes Anakin's saber and gives it to Luke in the first Star Wars movie (production wise) "A New Hope". Luke later loses it when he loses his hand in "The Empire Strikes Back". Out of all the sabers Master Replicas has created, this is the one I've wanted the most. It's got the most history. I also have the scaled (smaller) version of Luke's lightsaber from "The Return of the Jedi" that Court had given me as a gift last year.
Very cool.
Monday, April 11, 2005
My book arrived today! Mr. Tony even personalized it. I'm really geeking out about it.
Anyways, I did pass 2 yesterday. Some changes from my original plan.
Page 1: Dodgeball (as below)
Page 2: Jurassic Park III with Stan Winston and ILM effects team commentary
Page 3: Old School with Todd Phillips (director) Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson, and Will Farrell commentary.
Page 4's pick (still up in the air) will have to wait until Wednesday night when Court leaves for Miami again for a few days.
Anyways, I did pass 2 yesterday. Some changes from my original plan.
Page 1: Dodgeball (as below)
Page 2: Jurassic Park III with Stan Winston and ILM effects team commentary
Page 3: Old School with Todd Phillips (director) Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson, and Will Farrell commentary.
Page 4's pick (still up in the air) will have to wait until Wednesday night when Court leaves for Miami again for a few days.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Pass 1 done, pizza eaten.
Pass 2...
Page 1: "Dodgeball" with Rawson Thurbur (director), Ben Stiller, and Vince Vaughn commentary.
Page 2 possibilities: "Ghostbusters", "A Knight's Tale", "Lethal Weapon 2" with commentaries.
Page 3: "Old School" with commentary
Page 4: possibilities: "Swingers" or "Untouchables". (with commentaries, of course)
Pass 2...
Page 1: "Dodgeball" with Rawson Thurbur (director), Ben Stiller, and Vince Vaughn commentary.
Page 2 possibilities: "Ghostbusters", "A Knight's Tale", "Lethal Weapon 2" with commentaries.
Page 3: "Old School" with commentary
Page 4: possibilities: "Swingers" or "Untouchables". (with commentaries, of course)
The user interface for the 300+ jukebox DVD player we have is kinda ugly to use. I'll explain why that's relevant for this weekend.
Because of the ugliness, I made a spread of the names and index numbers of all the DVDs currently in the player. Right now, there's 299 DVDs in there. It's not every DVD we own, but the ones we watch the most. Anyway.
This list is in alphabetical order. It's slightly over 4 pages long. Page one starts with "13 going on 30" and ends with "Down with Love". Page 2 starts with "Drive me Crazy" (not mine) and ends with "The Lost World". Page 3 starts with "Maid in Manhattan" (not mine) and ends with "Scream 3". Page 4 starts with "Scrooged" and ends with "X-Men 2". There's a fifth page with only "Young Frankenstein" and "You've Got Mail" on it.
With Court gone this weekend, I thought I'd watch some movies that I usually don't watch because she either doesn't like them or doesn't like commentary tracks. What I thought I would do was pick one DVD per page that I either hadn't seen with commentary (or a particular commentary track) or fav movies I hadn't seen in a while.
Page 1's choice: Dark City (with Roger Ebert commentary)
Page 2's choice: Jersey Girl (Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier, and Jason Mewes commentary)
Page 3's chioce: Ocean's Eleven (Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, and Matt Damon commentary)
Page 4's choice: Terminator 3 (Jonathan Mostow, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, and Kristanna Loken commentary)
That's the first pass anyway. I've already got some titles eyed for pass 2.
And the Papa John's has been ordered.
Because of the ugliness, I made a spread of the names and index numbers of all the DVDs currently in the player. Right now, there's 299 DVDs in there. It's not every DVD we own, but the ones we watch the most. Anyway.
This list is in alphabetical order. It's slightly over 4 pages long. Page one starts with "13 going on 30" and ends with "Down with Love". Page 2 starts with "Drive me Crazy" (not mine) and ends with "The Lost World". Page 3 starts with "Maid in Manhattan" (not mine) and ends with "Scream 3". Page 4 starts with "Scrooged" and ends with "X-Men 2". There's a fifth page with only "Young Frankenstein" and "You've Got Mail" on it.
With Court gone this weekend, I thought I'd watch some movies that I usually don't watch because she either doesn't like them or doesn't like commentary tracks. What I thought I would do was pick one DVD per page that I either hadn't seen with commentary (or a particular commentary track) or fav movies I hadn't seen in a while.
Page 1's choice: Dark City (with Roger Ebert commentary)
Page 2's choice: Jersey Girl (Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier, and Jason Mewes commentary)
Page 3's chioce: Ocean's Eleven (Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, and Matt Damon commentary)
Page 4's choice: Terminator 3 (Jonathan Mostow, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, and Kristanna Loken commentary)
That's the first pass anyway. I've already got some titles eyed for pass 2.
And the Papa John's has been ordered.
Friday, April 08, 2005
ChicagoSports.com - Caray: Cubs 'embarrassed themselves': "Caray set the tone by saying, 'Ultimately, I think the players embarrassed themselves and embarrassed the team and, fortunately for both Steve and me, we were able to land on our feet at other places where people appreciate our honesty.'
"
Chip Caray's a jerk. Big surprise.
"
Chip Caray's a jerk. Big surprise.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Ok...how cool is this???
Long story short...I sent one of Mr. Tony's books to him so he could sign it for me, and I threw some Cadbury Cream Eggs in there because he'd mentioned he'd liked them.
Long story short...I sent one of Mr. Tony's books to him so he could sign it for me, and I threw some Cadbury Cream Eggs in there because he'd mentioned he'd liked them.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Watched the Illini/UNC game from start--->finish last night. Long story short, Illinois lost.
What is a little longer story, though, is the reason WHY they lost. And it is me. Or, more importantly, something I did. The Illini battled back from 15 pts down to even up with around 2 minutes or so left to go. The Tivo only had about 10 more minutes recording time to go. At that point, I extended the Tivo's recording time by a half-hour to make sure the overtime I was anticipating would get reocorded.
The Illini never. scored. again.
And people say these ticky tack things don't affect the outcome of sporting events.
What is a little longer story, though, is the reason WHY they lost. And it is me. Or, more importantly, something I did. The Illini battled back from 15 pts down to even up with around 2 minutes or so left to go. The Tivo only had about 10 more minutes recording time to go. At that point, I extended the Tivo's recording time by a half-hour to make sure the overtime I was anticipating would get reocorded.
The Illini never. scored. again.
And people say these ticky tack things don't affect the outcome of sporting events.
CNN.com - 'JAG' ending after 10-year run - Apr 5, 2005
I'm kinda glad. If that 'San Diego' episode they did was an example of how they were going to take the show next year I wouldn't have wanted to watch anyway.
I'm kinda glad. If that 'San Diego' episode they did was an example of how they were going to take the show next year I wouldn't have wanted to watch anyway.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Last night at midnight we headed to Target for the 'midnight madness' release of the Episode III action figures and other items.
The loot:
As a member of Starwars.com's hyperspace program I was able to download a pdf of the last sections of a book called 'The Making of Revenge of the Sith'. This was material from the book that chornicled the movie-making process from after the actual book went to press. The material got me so hooked that I purchased the book today. I've only thumbed through parts but it looks absolutely fascinating.
The loot:
As a member of Starwars.com's hyperspace program I was able to download a pdf of the last sections of a book called 'The Making of Revenge of the Sith'. This was material from the book that chornicled the movie-making process from after the actual book went to press. The material got me so hooked that I purchased the book today. I've only thumbed through parts but it looks absolutely fascinating.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Been a busy week at work for me. Possibility of some travel in the next few weeks so we'll see what happens.
Episode III stuff gets released tomorrow so there's a possibility I may head to Wal-mart or Target at midnight tonight to pick up some stuff. What the hell.
Court got off work at noon today (must be nice) and has started 'spring cleaning' since she's off to Miami (I think) on Wednesday and will be gone about a week after which her folks come down. I'm hearing some sort of hammering downstairs and that can't be good.
With my one neighbor in a cast and crutches for some reason and the other neighbor retired I think all three of us are home during the day. I still think they think I'm a hobo or something. Oh well.
Might go to Sea World tomorrow. We'll see. If it's hot I'm staying home.
Episode III stuff gets released tomorrow so there's a possibility I may head to Wal-mart or Target at midnight tonight to pick up some stuff. What the hell.
Court got off work at noon today (must be nice) and has started 'spring cleaning' since she's off to Miami (I think) on Wednesday and will be gone about a week after which her folks come down. I'm hearing some sort of hammering downstairs and that can't be good.
With my one neighbor in a cast and crutches for some reason and the other neighbor retired I think all three of us are home during the day. I still think they think I'm a hobo or something. Oh well.
Might go to Sea World tomorrow. We'll see. If it's hot I'm staying home.
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