amazing news yesterday

This changes EVERYTHING! :D

Time to call DirecTV

DOSE :: Story: "The New York Post's Page Six reported Tuesday the cable network has not only picked up the cancelled show, it has ordered 26 more episodes. The news supports recent Internet rumblings about producers hammering out a deal with Showtime execs. "


(actually, I'll just make the change online, natch)

Computer Fact or Fiction? - Yahoo! News

Computer Fact or Fiction? - Yahoo! News: "Your little helper will never tell you, because he or she is too polite, but no one likes being the 'computer kid' to the extended family or neighborhood."


heh heh

eamus catuli

Had the home inspection for the new house yesterday morning at 9:30a. Of course, Cubs tickets went on sale at 10a and I've only been looking forward to that for months.

Anyways, everything was ok with the house and I headed to work to get in virtual lines in the cubs' "virtual waiting room". In the end, I was able to get tickets to three games, Cubs/Braves, Cubs/Nationals, Cubs/Astros and I'm also in one some Cubs/Cards tickets that we got as a group at work. That'll be a blast!

CNN.com - Bush blames lab's funding shortfall on mix-up - Feb 21, 2006

CNN.com - Bush blames lab's funding shortfall on mix-up - Feb 21, 2006

What a total joke.

soft serve

The Digital Bits - We Know DVD!: "Patton will include an introduction and audio commentary by filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola"

gah, another double dip.

barking up the right tree

you know it's sad when even the dog has the sense to go upstairs and go to bed.

rot it out

Jr znl abg unir sbhaq n ubhfr, ohg V fher nz qbar ybbxvat.

Chicago Sun-Times :: Winter Games 2006

Chicago Sun-Times :: Winter Games 2006

So far, it looks like Bode Miller isn't doing the 'put up' part of 'put up or shut up'. In discussing him yesterday, I had heard someone say "He doesn't care about the medals, he just wants to ski!"--seemingly the ultimate 'bad boy' creedo. I think it sounds pretty stupid.

If you don't care about winning a medal, then why go? If you just want to ski, go to damn Aspen or something.

CNN.com - Two dead in Pakistan rioting - Feb 14, 2006

CNN.com - Two dead in Pakistan rioting - Feb 14, 2006: "CNN is not showing the negative caricatures of the likeness of the Prophet Mohammed because the network believes its role is to cover the events surrounding the publication of the cartoons while not unnecessarily adding fuel to the controversy itself."

But let's keep showing pictures every time somebody burns an American flag? Come on now.

It's one or the other. Either show pictures of this kind of stuff, or don't.

oh, yeah...

You Should Drive a Ford Shelby Mustang Cobra

You have an extreme need for speed, even when you're not in a hurry. And while your flying by, you don't want to look like every other car on the road!

What 2007 Car Should You Drive?

Hitting to all fields...

• House hunting continues. We'll be out looking again tomorrow and maybe Sunday.


• The Ricky Gervais podcast is hilarious.


• I have pretty much abandoned all radio listening in order to listen to podcasts over my mp3 CD player in the car.


• Cubs tickets go on sale Feb 24th. I've already got some dates picked out. We'll see how that goes, when it comes.


• I'm reading my new hardcovers in anticipation of taking the new paperbacks on the plane to Moscow. Current plans are Chicago-->Brussels-->Moscow and then back to Chicago through a country I can't remember right now. Hopefully I will *not* have to go to Romania from Moscow.


• Starting in on Veronica Mars Season Two. Good stuff.


• Super Bowl was uneventful save the MacGyver VISA commercial.


• Heart-shaped pizza at Barnaby's on V-day, yo.

That's all for now.

Post's Tony Kornheiser Gets Hot 'Monday Night' Date

Post's Tony Kornheiser Gets Hot 'Monday Night' Date: "At the same time, however, he could not recall broadcasting a live game. 'I've never done this,' he said. 'It seems daunting. I could be a disaster.'"

I'll definitely start watching MNF again.

CNN.com - Iran invites cartoons on Holocaust - Feb 7, 2006

CNN.com - Iran invites cartoons on Holocaust - Feb 7, 2006: "A prominent Iranian newspaper says it is going to hold a competition for cartoons on the Holocaust to test whether the West will apply the principle of freedom of expression to the Nazi genocide against Jews as it did to the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed."

Well, somehow I doubt any embassies will be attacked.

WhyPod?

Isn't it funny that I want an iPod even though I wouldn't use it at all probably?

A loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butter

The complete text of an email I sent to Jewel's customer care website last night:

A short time ago I returned from this Jewel. I returned without any groceries. When I went to checkout I was told that they were having problems. Eventually they made repeated announcements that they couldn't take credit or debit payments...later this was extended to cash as well as *everything* stopped working with every register. After waiting for 20 minutes or so (I had deli meat) I decided to just give up and leave, and many people did the same. I noticed while this was going on that customers kept entering the store. By the time I had left, thankfully, they were telling people about their problem so they wouldn't have to waste their time. I'm writing because I'm pretty amazed that Jewel had no backup system in place to meet this kind of challenge. I found it very hard to believe.

Big thanks go to Shell who brought me home a piece of apple pie because she knew I was in a really bad mood.

Two Words

Hollywood Is Calling: "Dennis Haskins "

Shell, I think I just found your birthday gift.

you talk tv

Was thinking the other day...there are an awful lot of shows that I (or Court) watch that won't be around next year.

Cancelled:

• The West Wing


• Justice League Unlimited


• Charmed (Court)


• 7th Heaven (Court)


• Arrested Development


• Threshold (cancelled earlier this season)

Might not be back (or just not a lock and not confirmed back):

• Veronica Mars


• Smallville


• Numb3rs


• Invasion

I wonder what I'll do with all the extra time I'll have.

RIP crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger

20 years ago, today.

I believe I had that one

Oprah says Frey �betrayed millions of readers� - BOOKS - MSNBC.com: "Oprah Winfrey challenged author James Frey over his disputed memoir, asking him on a live telecast of her show Thursday to explain why he �felt the need to lie.�"

Danger! Danger!

I've just now found out that Morley Candy's Peanut Butter Block and World's Finest chocolate bars with almond, two of my favorite candies from my youth, are available online.

This can't be good.

Gain for Channel 9 is loss for Channel 50

Gain for Channel 9 is loss for Channel 50

Good. The signal for Channel 9 is much clearer and crisper than UPN.

Since the demise of 'Enterprise', the only UPN show I watch is 'Veronica Mars'. It'll be nice to see it alongside 'Smallville'...especially since Veronica and Chloe are virtual twins by looks and nature.

The power of positive drinking

I was feeling sick this morning, my friend and I went downstairs to the caf to get something to drink. I was going to get some orange juice. When I opened the cooler thing, they had the regular 'no pulp' stuff I usually get and they also had some that was marked 'immunity defense'. It says it 'promotes a healthy immune system with Antioxidants, C, E, & Selenium'. Now of course, Selenium, one of my favs on the periodic table (good old #34), was a definite eye-catcher. Anyways, I picked it up.

I think it's actually making me feel better. Freaky.

Ford to cut up to 30,000 jobs

Ford to cut up to 30,000 jobs: "Reacting to news of the job cuts, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said: 'Anytime someone loses a job we're concerned about it, we're concerned about the community.'

However, McClellan said overall the economy 'is going strong.'"


uh...huh.

CNN.com - Bush tells abortion foes, 'We will prevail' - Jan 23, 2006: "'This is a cause that appeals to the conscience of our citizens and is rooted in America's deepest principle,' the president said. 'And history tells us that with such a cause we will prevail.'"

yeah, this is gonna turn out well.

Had an ok weekend. Court had to work both days and well into both nights. I went over to work on a family member's PC on Saturday. Grandma took us out to dinner to a nice local place and we had a good time. Sunday I did some runnind around I had to do and some shopping. I still haven't replaced my right rear turn signal light which is out and has been for a week.

I watched the pilot episode of SeaQuest last night. It was great to see it again after such a long time. I think I hadn't seen it since it originally aired and that was over 10 years ago. I'm looking forward to continuing the season and picking up seasons 2 and 3 when they come out. I've also got The Flash but haven't started that up yet.

We're going to start house stuff this weekend. I think I'm going to take Monday off too. We'll see.

ESPN.com: Page 2 : Welcome to the glossary: "The game where you've won too many games in a row during a season, and the PlayStation activates that 'There's no f------ way you're winning this game' chip."

This happened to me with Madden the other day. The Bucs actually recovered two onside kicks during the game, the second one happening with no time on the clock and they ran it all the way back for the game-winning TD.

An offer I couldn't refuse

Had a call from cousin Beth last night. All is well with them...she and the hub had a 'date night' where they went to 'The Melting Pot' which is always nice. After a bit, she said she had something to ask me. She said that George and her had decided to ask Court and I if we would be Braiden's Godparents! How cool is that?

I've never been anything like that to anybody. Court is Tyler's Godmother. I actually have yet to tell Court, since she is busy at work at the moment and I talked to Beth pretty late last night. (still early in AZ though)

I think it's amazing, and a fantastic honor. I can't wait to meet the kid! :)

Gear Live | CES 2006 Video: TiVo Series 3 Video Interview, First Look

It will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.

MiceAge.com: "(Disney was advising people to arrive by 4:30)"


Yes, and welcome to why the last time I did that is the LAST I will do that.

ESPN.com: Page 2 : Pain, suffering ... misery: "But when the Lions won the overtime coin toss against the Bears in 2002, elected to kick and then watched the Bears drive for the game-winning field goal"

I was at this game. We actually thought that the Bears had won the toss. I didn't find out the Lions did until we got home.

Ivy Chat: "So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good Night!"

Korey is gone.

Long live Juan Pierre.

Life on Mars

Had a nice weekend. Met my Dad for breakfast with his cousin and her family. They're nice people from my Dad's side that I don't see all the time. They're probably the only people from his family (aside from his half-brother's family) that live in Illinois. They live out in Grayslake. On the way there we passed the Moto Libertyville facility.

On Sunday, I did absolutely nothing, and I loved it. Over the weekend I started watching "Veronica Mars", which has been collected on the (formerly upstairs) Tivo for the past season and a half. I had thought about forgetting all about it and deleting it all, but I decided to watch. I'm glad I did. It's a great show. I'm looking forward to finishing out the second half of the first season.

I've just heard Spanish being spoken for the first time since we left FL.

Seems odd to hear everybody everywhere speaking English.

This week's fark hero tag goes to my sister, who set the Tivo to record the return of 'Scrubs' for me on Tuesday. She recorded both episodes, and they were both new. Bravo!

Orange you glad I didn't say Banana?

Heading to Jewel last night, I picked up some orange juice. I was a little suprised to see that it was like $4.59 (or something) for the two quart carton of Tropicana. That was more than it usually is, I thought.

Then, I thought again.

Rain, Rain

or

Until I met a man who had no feet

Reporting in from my new cube in Schaumburg. First day 'back' and everything is going good. I need to get my badge flashed or something so it can open the doors around here. We'll see how soon I get around to doing that.

Got some nice news from Court this morning. her commute only took a half hour. We'll see if that holds up. Hopefully so.

The truck delivered our stuff yesterday. The driver called me right when I finished getting dressed and I called Court and we met there. My FIL and MIL came too, with their Escape. This would be the first in a recurring theme of bringing an SUV to offload stuff.

On looking at the storage space we'd gotten, my FIL said he didn't think it would be big enough. Originally, we'd gotten one that would be big enough...unfortunately, that one was on a row that the 53' truck would not be able to reach. (suprise)

We ended up getting a smalller unit on the main row. Yesterday, we went ahead and got another one. We ended up needed both, though neither was packed very tightly nor was the second one completely full. The only casualties in the move were the leg of a kitchen chair (broken completely off) and my and my FIL's coats, which had some weird stuff on them from leaning against the side of the unit. My MIL was able to wash them both though so they weren't stained forever.

It poured rain at times...I had a clipboard from the driver to mark off their numbers that they put on each of our pieces...all the while my FIL was trying to keep an eye out for *our* number which we put on all our boxes. There were some things we didn't want to be stored in the (possibly) freezing cold so he was keeping a look out so we could put them off to the side. Our papers were drenched and the endless calling out of different numbers was a ton of fun, as you can imagine. There's one big pack of pictures that we haven't been able to locate...hopefully it's just buried in the back of the first unit.

We took our TVs to my Mom's place...the 32" is heavy as hell and was a total pain in the ass to get into the house...thanks to Don and my FIL for helping with that. It weighs a ton. I was amazed to see one of the movers carry it by himself out of the truck and into my FIL's SUV. It's got to weigh a bulky 200lbs.

Anyway, in the end, it all worked out. Hopefully everything got here in working condition and wasn't damaged or anything. I didn't see anything aggrevious or anything.

Trip to China looks to have been pospoted until February, which is nice. Having it this week was just too much stuff going on. Court leaves for FL in a few hours. I'm taking her to the airport during lunch. We'll all miss her and look forward to seeing her when she gets back.


One last thing...on leaving the storage unit at one point, in the cold, pouring rain, I was thinking of how miserable it was to have rained while we had to do all this stuff. Then, I saw a guy biking down the street. This was a cold, pouring ass rain. He could only be doing it becaues he had to. I felt a little stupid bitching about my day when I saw how his was going.

Merry Christmas!

Fair Winds and Following Seas

or

Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Well, it's down to tonight. Tonight is the last night we'll spend in our house here. I'll miss it a lot. It's a great house and I really liked living here. Our family is relocating up to IL and hopefully after a short while we'll find someplace up there in IL that'll be just as good (if not better) than what we've all had here.

The movers come tomorrow. This whole weekend was very hectic. We'll be all set once they get here.

We'll spend tomorrow night at a HoJo and leave for IL on Wednesday right after the closing on the house is complete.

Might be a few days before I update again.

CNN.com - Robert Novak leaving CNN - Dec 16, 2005: "Commentator Robert Novak, who hasn't been seen on CNN since swearing and storming off the set in August, will leave the network after 25 years and join Fox News Channel as a contributor next month"

Novak going to Fox News...no big suprise. In the 'Crossfire' days, I have to say that the Right wasn't helped much by Novak. He seemed a little aged and bumbling at times, particularly when set against Paul Begala.

Church & State || National Jewish Democratic Council: "Democratic members asked the Republican author of the resolution, Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA), if she would permit the symbols of Chanukah and other holidays to be included in the protection of the resolution -- and she refused."

Boy, this is a crazy world we live in.

I found this to be a great capper to it all.

Dingell’s HOLIDAY Jingle for O’Reilly and House GOP

Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (MI-15) recited the following poem on the floor of the US House of Representatives concerning House Resolution 579, which expressed the sense of the House of Representatives that the symbols and traditions of Christmas should be protected. “Preserving Christmas” has been a frequent topic for conservative talk show hosts, including Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly:

‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the House

No bills were passed ‘bout which Fox News could grouse;

Tax cuts for the wealthy were passed with great cheer,

So vacations in St. Barts soon would be near;

Katrina kids were nestled all snug in motel beds,

While visions of school and home danced in their heads;

In Iraq our soldiers needed supplies and a plan,

Plus nuclear weapons were being built in Iran;

Gas prices shot up, consumer confidence fell;

Americans feared we were on a fast track to…well…

Wait--- we need a distraction--- something divisive and wily;

A fabrication straight from the mouth of O’Reilly

We can pretend that Christmas is under attack

Hold a vote to save it--- then pat ourselves on the back;

Silent Night, First Noel, Away in the Manger

Wake up Congress, they’re in no danger!

This time of year we see Christmas every where we go,

From churches, to homes, to schools, and yes…even Costco;

What we have is an attempt to divide and destroy,

When this is the season to unite us with joy

At Christmas time we’re taught to unite,

We don’t need a made-up reason to fight

So on O’Reilly, on Hannity, on Coulter, and those right wing blogs;

You should just sit back, relax…have a few egg nogs!

‘Tis the holiday season: enjoy it a pinch

With all our real problems, do we honestly need another Grinch?

So to my friends and my colleagues I say with delight,

A merry Christmas to all,

and to Bill O’Reilly…Happy Holidays.

In a Red State

Just got an automated call from the 'Florida for the Preservation of Marriage' coalition or whatever wanting to inform me about important things going on with the 'Preservation of Marriage Ammendment'.

I can only assume this is to drum up support for an ammendment that would ban gay marriage in the United States under the auspices of 'preserving' the 'traditional' meaning of 'marriage'.

Yeah...it's time to go.

Kongfrontation

We went to see King Kong last night. Beforehand we had a nice dinner at Earl of Sandwich. I had wanted Chili's but Court said that they have Chili's in IL and it'd be our last time eating at EoS for a while so we went there.

It was an 8pm showing. I enjoyed the film, though like some others I felt it was a big long. I think there were several scenes in the first third of the movie that could have been cut. Also, I felt the spider/insect attack scene could have been trimmed some.

A lot of great visuals. This film has one of the most amazing sequences I've ever seen , Kong vs. 3 T-rex, and one of the dumbest, a brontosaurus stampede and subsequent pile up.

Kong looked fantastic, I have to say. I feel the T-rex bar (set by Jurassic Park) was not really met here...only because I think the full-size (animatronic) T-rex in JP was so astounding.

I liked the actors in their rolls. Brody did a nice job, I thought. Naomi Watts was a great Ann Darrow. I even liked seeing Kyle Chandler (an old 'Early Edition' favorite) though I was a bit puzzled by his character since he goes from a coward--->hero--->coward during the course of the film. If there was a weak point in casting I thought it was probably Jack Black...though Black's normal theatrics lent themselves well to the role at times.

There were a few clunker lines like the first mate (a character I was sad to see go) giving Jimmy advice, something like "You've got to get an education, Jimmy! That's what's important!"

There were a few times where the suspension of disbelief just did not work for me. Ann climbing to the top (yes, the TOP as in look up and there's only sky and look around you and there's nothing) of the Empire State Building and standing there with nothing to hold on to...Jack doing the same thing and the both of them standing on the top of one of the tallest buildings in the world like they were standing in the middle of a Target parking lot. Also, when Jack rescues Ann he grabs the foot of a giant bat-like creature that flies them down from Kong's lookout point...that's a little harder to believe than the rest of the movie.

They definitely made Kong a more sympathetic character. It'd be hard to watch a certain 'ice skating' scene and not feel something for him. I didn't get teary or cry or anything at the end, but it was sad. Makes you wish they'd just left Kong alone on that island.

At one point you see some Kong-ish skeletons at Kong's lookout point were kind of an indication that a sequel might be possible at some point.

The visuals of the Kong's rampage through New York were amazing. I felt the planes looked a little fake (why not use real biplanes and cut them in somehow?) but the city itself looked *Amazing*.

I'd give it a 7. I just think that the way the beginning was dragged out detracts from the film too much.

Movie & TV News @ IMDb.com - Studio Briefing: "the two sides are also discussing the possibility of Disney buying Pixar outright and, in effect making it Disney's animated division"


This would be the smartest decision Disney has made in YEARS.

I have seen the Falcon, and it is mine.

During her 'day after Thanksgiving' shopping, Court picked up the LEGO Millennium Falcon. It was half price so she got it at $50. Originally it was for me, but later she decided against it and was going to sell it to a friend so that friend could give it as a gift for somebody else. Of course, I was surprised to see it in the loot when she came back from shopping and even more surprised that it wasn't for me. Anyways.

Time passes...

The Falcon is still in her car. I ask her why it's still there and she said she keeps forgetting to give it to the friend.

Time passes...

It is still there.

Time passes...

Still there.

Time passes...

Then, last weekend, we exchange gifts with our Florida friends, and it's also a 'last goodbye' of sorts since some we won't again before we move. In loading the stuff into the car, I see it again.

Me: "Ok. I've seen that one too many times. It is mine now."


And it'll be put together once we get back to IL and situated.


EDIT

I should ammend this story to state that I had told Court multiple (dozens of) times that I didn't want it because I'd never have room for it even though I really did want it.

Heard in our house yesterday...

Court: "Things are so crazy, it's like I think it's Thursday when it's Wednesday."

Me: "Uh...actually it's Tuesday."

Baby on Board

Belated congrats to Cousin Beth and her husband George on the birth of their son Braiden Alexander, born Dec 10, 2005 10:45am (mountain time) 7lbs 12oz 21.25 inches.

Lots of love to the newest member of our family!

Yahoo! TV News & Gossip -: "At least on Fox. Producer Brian Grazer told CNN last week that he is working feverishly to move the sitcom to another home.

'I think we'll get picked up by some other network, possibly,' he said. 'You never know."

We can but hope.

CNN.com - Snow storms freeze center of country - Dec 8, 2005

Old Man Winter is bringing his A-game.

He'll find me ready.

The Sign of Four

FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE

Ace Hardware guy
Central Service Tech at Alexian
White Hen Pantry man
Whatever it is I do now

FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER
The Empire Strikes Back
The Shawshank Redemption
The Untouchables
Office Space


FOUR CITIES/TOWNS YOU'VE LIVED IN
Bartlett, IL
Carol Stream, IL
Elk Grove Village, IL
Orlando, FL

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH
Smallville
Stargate SG-1
The Office
Battlestar Galactica

FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION
Orlando, FL (har har)
Las Vegas, NV
San Francisco, CA
Anaheim, CA


FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY
my sister's blog
The Ravensoft EF Board
Trekbbs
CNN.com


FOUR OF YOUR FAVOURITE FOODS
Porkchops and applesauce (that's swell)
Ham and cheese on rye (no seeds)
Barnaby's Pizza (coming soon to a meal near me)
peanut butter and banana (don't knock it til you try it baby)



FOUR PLACES YOU'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW
asleep
on this tour
Cub game
Bears game

National Geographic: Remembering Pearl Harbor

Another generation's 9/11.



Apart from that, it is also the birthday of my cousin Beth (preggers, big time!) and my Grandpa Rick (The I to my III).

CNN.com - The many facets of Tookie Williams - Dec 3, 2005: "Williams says he's not the same man who co-founded the Crips, not the man convicted of blowing four people away with a shotgun in 1979 during robberies that netted little more than gas money."

oh yeah? Well those four people you murdered aren't the same either. You know why? BECAUSE THEY'RE DEAD.

Oh Deer

Some time ago some people cut down some of the bigger trees that formed the berm between our backyard area and the pond behind us. Now it's just a loose configuration of bushes. Last night, as I was getting ready to close up the back room, I saw Hooper and Boots staring at something outside. It was a deer. Actually, there were two of them. I asked Court to bring a flashlight and we could see their eyes glow green in the light. It was pretty amazing since they weren't that far away. Now that the berm has been cut down they can go between areas pretty easily. I wouldn't be surprise if one came up to the back door if we put food out. (don't tempt me)

I had seen a deer in the area around that back pond a long time ago when I was looking out our back bedroom's window. Now that Court's seen them too it's proof I'm not nuts. Funny thing was, the father of a family who came by to view the house asked if we'd ever had any 'beasts' in our backyard. heh heh

Bob and David - It's Official!: "Combine that with your sucker appeal to the knee-jerk white Christian patriot in us all who would much rather hear 87 fart jokes than hear a joke in which the President (the current one, not the last one) or the Pope, or Born-Again Christians, or Lee Greenwood get called on their shit for being the hypocrites that they are, and I think we've got a winner!"

Hilarious David Cross hatchet job on one of those idiot 'blue collar' comedy dopes.

Warp Speed ahead...: June 2005: "CKB still top dog!!

Well, Rich G has managed to put together his rig but guess what?? It came up short in the benchmarks when compared to the CKB (CUNSOT Killer Box). His machine scored a measly 8528 on the 3dMark 2003 benchmark, which is less that my 11103. So, there you have it, CKB is still the top dog! Woof! Woof!"

Unfortunately, the 'top dog' has been put to sleep. In what has been termed 'just a slight hiccup' by its owner, the CKB went offline last night due to some kind of internal error. What a damn shame!

Let's all take a moment of silent to reflect on the CKB...ok, that's enough. CUNSOT II reigns supreme once again!

Current CKB 3dMark 2003 score: 0

CNN.com - Wendie Jo Sperber dead of cancer - Dec 1, 2005

Cancer. :(

Amani Toomer - New York Giants - News - NFL - Yahoo! Sports: "Gregg Bell, of the Associated Press, reports the Seattle Seahawks were told by the NFL that referee Larry Nemmers made a couple errors in the Week 12 game against the New York Giants. "

Yes! My old High School principal Larry Nemmers came through with a bogus TD call that gave my boy Toomer some Fantasy Football points! Woo hoo!

Bearing down

Great Bears game yesterday. The Defense dominated the game, so much so that on the Buc's first plays the D stripped the ball and the Bears recovered at the TB 1 yard line. Can't get better field position than that. Orton flew a nice play-action pass to the TE and that was that. He had another nice play on a screen pass later in the game. He's not "winning" games for the Bears, but the important thing is he's definitely not losing them. This team has found a way to win. They score just enough points for the W.

The weekend break was nice. We relaxed all weekend, really. Court had made arragenment for us to eat at the Liberty Tree Tavern in the MK (for my belated BD) and we had a nice dinner there on Saturday night. We had some people drive by the house and take a look and grab some of the fliers that are on the sign, so that's good.

Saturday we finally took that California Adventure litho to a framing place. It had been in its packing tube for almost two and a half years. I was happy to see it wasn't displaying any kind of banding artifacts from being stored that way for so long. It's smaller than I remember. I didn't even really remember what it had looked like, to be honest. It brought back some nice memories of our honeymoon and all. Getting it framed won't cost an arm and a leg either, so that's nice. We went to the same place Disney gets stuff framed at. We should have been going there all along.

Court made a rasberry cheesecake pie last night. It was pretty good. We started to watch the TV movie version of 'The Poseidon Adventure' but got bored with that and watched that 'Three Stooges' TV movie that was on a few years ago...they recently showed it again on AMC and I recorded it on the Tivo.

I put it for my time off work. From December 19th--->the end of the year I'll be off work, barring any trip anywhere that I *have to* go on. Hopefully that particular trip won't happen until January.

I've also started migrating my email to my gmail address. For anybody reading, rgonzale6@bellsouth.net will still be active, but I won't really be checking it other than to see what other newsletters and people need to get my new address. It's a spamcatcher right now since I've made a lot of the changes already. I just need to send out my new address to my friends and stuff. Since bellsouth will be going away once we move we need something for the interim until we get an ISP at the new house.

CNN.com - Review: Run your own studio in 'The Movies' - Nov 23, 2005

Definitely on my Christmas list!

The bird is the word

We had a very nice Thanksgiving today. I ran out yesterday and picked up a smoked turkey breast and a mini-ham from Honey Baked Ham, and I got some sides from Boston Market. They went into the fridge and the sides got re-heated today. Also made some of the flakey layers biscuits, which I really liked. Good food and a nice, restful day. We both needed it. Court will be up at 4am (!) tomorrow for ShopFest 2005. I'll be sleeping and probably stay asleep for 6 hours after that. That's too damn early. Even for Call of Duty 2 for $30.

All in all, we're very thankful for our health, safety, (a margin of) success, and they fact that we could all (me, Court, Felis Cattus, and Hoop) be together on this holiday. It'll be our last holiday in this house here in FL.

Hope you all had a nice holiday as well.

Don Surber's Pajamas Media: Ze French Open Post: "AP and UPI reported today that the French government announced that it has raised its terror alert level from 'Run' to 'Hide.' The only two higher levels in France are 'Collaborate' and 'Surrender.'"


heh heh heh

Rocky Mountain Why

Well. Flew out to Denver Sunday night instead of the originally scheduled Monday morning. This kept us from having any kind of birthday dinner, and it also meant that not only would I be away from home for Court's BD, but for part of mine as well. I've resolved that next year I'll just take both days off.

Got into Denver at something like 10:30pm local time...12:30am Eastern. Fun stuff. Tired as hell and when I got in I learned my colleague wanted to meet for breakfast at 6am. Yikes. I figure I was in the hotel for something like 5 hours, all told. Nice.

The talk went ok I guess. Not really my kettle of fish. We'll see how it all plays out. Meeting ended at around 1pm so I headed to Coors Field to take a tour, which was to start at 2pm. It was only supposed to take about ten minutes to get there but being a dope and getting lost helped me stretch it to an hour. Thanks to the landscaper (who pointed me in the right direction) and the gas station lady (who narrowed it down exactly) for their help. In getting lost I passed Invesco Field (huge) and the Six Flags park in Denver.

The field was VERY nice. Beautiful park. There's a continuous row of purple seats around the upper deck that signifies the 'mile high' line. Suites were very nice. This was more of an in-depth baseball tour since Coors Field is only a ballfield, unlike SkyDome which they use for other stuff. We actually got to go into the visitor's locker room at Coors (Cubs have been in here) and into BOTH dugouts. Amazing. We got to walk on the warning track and I actually stepped onto the grass for a step even though we weren't supposed to. How could I resist?

Funny thing is, I came to see the park and get a bat. Guess what? They had sold out of the damn bats. I had to get one that says "Coors Field" in a cheesey type of logo. And it was buy one get one free. And I got a free 2005 Opening Day pennant too. A local sports store I stopped in after the tour had no bats either. I'll have to find one online.

In house selling news, things are moving along. A few people have been in to see it and we've got an offer, which is nice. We'll see what happens.

CNN.com - Tot who died on Disney ride had bad heart - Nov 15, 2005

Very unfortunate.

ESPN.com - NFL - Jesse Jackson calls T.O. suspension 'much too severe'

Oh, deliver us. Please.

Terrell Owens - Philadelphia Eagles - News - NFL - Yahoo! Sports: "Nov 12 NBC10.com report, citing Knight Ridder, reports there is serious backlash at Philadelphia Eagles WR Terrell Owens' agent, Drew Rosenhaus - from his fellow sports agents. Several agents interviewed by reporter Paul Domowitch said the rest of the agents who represent NFL players are 'nauseated' at Rosenhaus. Two sources told Knight Ridder that some of Rosenhaus' current NFL player-clients are looking to dump Rosenhaus after his performance at Wednesday's press conference, Nov. 9, where he took the spotlight away from Owens."


BWAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA



(breathe)

BWAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA

CNN.com - 'Arrested Development' gets the ax - Nov 11, 2005

damn it

Chicago Sun-Times - Season of Sharing

Just got a notification today. The site's been updated for this year.

A Red-Letter Date in the history of Science

Fifty years ago today, Doctor Emmett L. Brown was standing on a toilet trying to hang a clock. He slipped and hit his head. When he came to, he had a vision. A vision of the Flux Capacitor. It's what makes time travel possible.

Chicago Sun-Times - Season of Sharing

This is still up from last year. When its updated for this season, it'll provide a space for you to put in your contact information so you can be sent a child's letter to Santa along with instructions on where the gift can be sent.

I say this, because I have a request. If you live in the Chicago area and happen to see information about this in the paper, please let me know. That'll let me know that I can let them know to send me a letter. Last year, with everything going on I got my letter very late in the month and had to rush in order to get my gift in on time.

Thanks!

the futon critic - the web's best primetime television resource: "...while returning comedy 'The Office' got the thumbs up for three additional episodes, the network announced yesterday."


Woo hoo!

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 9 out of 10 correct!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

Ok, so I don't know a lot about Vermont. Who does?

Must be the season of the witch

Halloween came and went. We only had one group of Trick-or-Treaters, the neighbor kids. We got something like three bags of candy, just in case. We usually don't see a lot of traffic but you never know, right? Anyways, I'm not sure why we got so few. There really aren't that many kids in our neighborhood, I suppose. In retrospect, I probably should have set our outside light to 'always on' for that night rather than just 'motion activated' like normally. Maybe our end of the lot looked a little dark. Who knows?

Anyways, Halloween night we watched the first half of Gremlins, which I hadn't seen in a while. Still holds up nicely, I think. Hoop definitely has his Gizmo moments.

Got some new DVDs recently...Batman Begins, which is a great flick. The 'making of' thing on the 'Tumbler' (the new Batmobile) was pretty neat. This thing actually works and it can haul ass. Was amazing to see tooling around the streets of Chicago. Court picked up the Office Space giftset (with mousepad, notepad, pen, red swingline stapler, and some other stuff) and also Revenge of the Sith.

We watched the primary 'Making of' doc on disc 2 of RotS and it was pretty well made, I thought. It basically goes through the different departments that work on a movie and talked about how they contributed to the Anakin/Obi-Wan duel scene. It gave a real voice to the myriad of credits you always see on a movie that are of such length that they all just kinda run together.

Will probably watch RotS tonight...or at least some of the cooler scenes. Once in a while I just crank up the volume on the receiver and dial up a DVD that I know has a sequence where the sound and visuals are just amazing. I'll do the SuperBoots (it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a cat!) dealio to the beginning credits of Superman with the Superman fanfare music, or play the speeder bike chase from Return of the Jedi which has some AMAZING positional sound. Great stuff!

CNN.com - 'Trek' veteran dead at 57 - Nov 2, 2005

I found this very surprising, as I did not even know he had cancer.

I'm not going to wax poetic with things like "it's a great loss" and all that. Obviously, when anyone dies it's a sad and unfortunate thing.

One thing that sticks with me here: cancer. I hope it's beaten one day.

ChicagoSports.com - Backward toss baffles everyone

This was total BS. Mariucci basically got a free challenge by bitching to the officials and getting them to change their call. What a crock.

At least the Bears won. Orton looked great. He threw a bullet at one point to Mushi for a TD that was probably the best thrown pass by a Bears QB in a long time.

Yes, I just pulled a MacGyver and fixed my chair. (didn't have a mullet though)

Miers withdraws court nomination: "WASHINGTON-- Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to be a Supreme Court justice Thursday in the face of stiff opposition and mounting criticism about her qualifications."

I had a feeling this would happen, and it did. Over the past few days things slowly drifted away from the line where her being appointed to the High Court was really going to happen.

A recent exchange tonight:

Court: "You know something? Maybe if I don't watch them, they'll do better. How long have I had the game off for? 15 minutes? They've just scored 4 runs."

Me: "Now you know how my life is."

Yes. Court has now caught my sickness.

ESPN.com - MLB/PLAYOFFS2005 - Guillen apologizes after Sox fan slaps Biggio's wife: "'It was one guy who acted like a 12-year-old, who slapped her upside the head,' said Biggio. 'I'm not going to sit here and hold all the Chicago fans accountable for this for one guy who was acting like an idiot.'"

It's a shame it happened. Biggio's a pretty stand-up guy with his comments, which is nice. Too bad he's a Cub killer.

Wired News: No Longer Safe for Work: Blogs: "'My best understanding is that my company's anti-blog stance is the industry norm'"

I actually understand this stance. At first, when I heard about people getting fired for stuff in their blogs, I thought it was a little odd and that the people involved were just dopes. While that might be the case, I saw something of how problems could occurr while I was sitting in the office up in IL last time I was there.

I noticed a lot of things that I'd thought were funny, particularly about some co-workers, and at first I thought I would blog about it. After thinking about it for about a half-second, I decided not to, for 'fear' it might come back to haunt me somehow.

Now, only one person from work reads my blog, and I trust him 100%. But you never know who else might be watching. (cue Twilight Zone music)

TheIndyChannel.com - News - Scary Halloween Decoration Prompts 911 Call: "'Next year, I think I'm going to get an old car and a dummy,' he said. 'I don't know what we are going to do with Santa, maybe have him in his sleigh in flames.'"


toats hilar.

In related blog post news, the african guy (of Harambe Wildlife Preserve fame, yo!) saying "Seacrest out." as his form of 'goodbye' was the funniest thing I've seen on TV in a long, long, time. If you're not watching "My Name is Earl" (or "The Office", which is funny as hell) you're really missing out.

ESPN.com: Page 2 : The Tommy Maddox Corollary: "3. I'm starting to think that the Baseball Gods just plain hate the Cubs."

Uh...Shell...did I not just say this sentence to you the other day?

My Name Is Earl: Teacher Earl - TV.com: "The gentleman who portrays the African man in this episode portrays the Wildlife Refuge Director in the queue video for Kilamanjaro Safarii at Disney's Animal Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort, in Orlando, Florida."

I KNEW IT! (if this is true)


Miss Jobson, no one in Africa calls them Thompson's gazelles...they are called Tommies! Tom-mies!

ESPN.com: Page 2: "So the pressure's on -- if you're coming to one of the next three signings, bring a witty sentence with you."

I'M TELLING YOU, IF HE HADN'T LOST THAT DAMN NOTEBOOK... :)

Hitting to all fields...

• I am here just about all week.


• I've quickly found that standing at the booth for 7 hours right after spending Friday-Saturday-Sunday shlepping around Disney until late at night is probably not the best gameplan I could have had.


• The Contour (old n'busted) hit 99,000 miles on my way back home yesterday. woo hoo!


• A guy in the booth across from us looks exactly like Mr. Incredible. When I mentioned this to a co-worker he said "Yeah, if he worked at that Insurance company forever."


• My blue Cubs bracelet mysteriously vanished from my wrist between Saturday night and Sunday morning. Sunday, the White Sox won game 5 of the ALCS and are heading to the World Series. Seriously, does ANYONE think that's just a plain old coincidence? Come on now. I ain't crazy.


• The phrase "This could be the last time..." (in regards to leaving Florida) has now been pulled out more than a few times in order to justify buying some Disney junk. (yes, the Star Tours store stuff was for me, but whatever. This blog isn't about making me look bad)


• I'm considering taking a yellow high-liter to certain passages in the Sportsguy's book (thus breaking my 'no writing in books' rule...yes, I have one) that particularly 'speak' to me.


• My Mom was so excited to go to Chik-Fil-A the other day. Shell, you would have been 'toats embarr'.


• I'm 98% sure that the notebook that the sportsguy lost included a lengthy passage on how witty and profound the thing I asked Shell to have him write in my signed copy of his book was. (I'm pretty sure that's the most awkwardly constructed sentence I've ever written)


• Somebody paged me today asking how to say 'thank you' in Albanian. And I answered.

ESPN.com: Page 2 : The NFL's kitchen sink: "(By the way, I got to the bottom of this 'LT' thing with Tomlinson -- apparently, Tomlinson asked Lawrence Taylor for permission to use the nickname and Taylor agreed. Well, you know what? I don't care. If LeBron James' name was Mebron, we wouldn't call him MJ, right? So I'm not calling Tomlinson LT. From now on, for the purposes of this column, we're calling him 'LDT.' And that's that.)"

I'm sorry, but this was hilarious. For the record, I've always called him LDT. I've had him on my fantasy teams the past two years, luckily enough. The commercial with him holding up some fantasy team's jersey during a fantasy draft and saying "Uh...I need to talk to my agent" is hilarious.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Angels at White Sox

Thanks to Tivo, we could see that the ball was actually caught. But, a win is a win and at this level, you take it.

The thing I hate about this is it's going to be talked about over and over and over on Tony's radio show tomorrow and PTI.

Wait a sec...just realized tomorrow is Yom Kippur. No Tony K on radio or PTI. Well, forget everything I said then.

CNN.com - Idaho on a shoestring -- caves for $5 a night - Oct 12, 2005


psshht. And just who hasn't slept in a cave before?

White House Briefing  News on President George W Bush and the Bush Administration: "'When the questioning turned to Miers, Bush blinked 37 times in a single answer -- along with a lick of the lips, three weight shifts and some serious foot jiggling.'"

This might be another one where you have to register. In summation, basically the President was displaying some pretty bad body language when questioned during a photo-op in New Orleans.

ESPN.com: Page 2: "Right now, somewhere in New York, a five-year-old kid is wondering if the Yankees will win a championship in his lifetime.
-- Dan Bock, Durham, N.C."

heh heh heh

NBC5.com - Sports - White Sox Fans Camp Out For Nothing

oops

Ok, only old ladies buy bouillon cubes.

Can This Nomination Be Justified?

Wow. A great article (by Conservative George Will from the Washington Post) saying basically that Miers does NOT have what it takes for the highest court in the land.

(might require registration...sorry)

Krypto the Super Dog

When I was upstairs earlier tonight Court asked me to bring a small envelope downstairs for her. I called Hooper upstairs, gave him the envelope, and told him to go see 'momma', He took it to her.

True story.

Oscar Winner Cage Becomes Father Again - Yahoo! News: "His wife, Alice Kim Cage, gave birth Monday to a boy, Kal-el Coppola Cage, in New York City, said Cage's Los Angeles-based publicist, Annett Wolf. No other details were available."

Yes, Kal-El. As in the last son of Kryton. As in Clark Kent. As in Superman.

And yes, I joked about doing this the other day. But it was a JOKE.

Trumped

Isn't "I'm guaranteeing a victory" the dumbest thing you can say on a show like The Apprentice?

Hitting to all fields...

• All geared up for 'Serenity' today. Been looking forward to this one for a year or so...pretty much ever since I heard of it. I can't wait.


• Walking Hooper last night an noticed the neighbor breaking new barriers in terms of a shitty parking job. They have two space and one car so of course his minivan is diagonally parked with 3/4 of it in one of his spaces and 1/4 of it in the space of the neighbor next to him


• When I fall asleep in the chair I almost ALWAYS wake up at 4:30am. I wonder what happens at that time to wake me up. It's like clockwork


• The boss's wife had a baby. A boy, their second. Congrats to them!


• Found I'll be manning a convention booth at the Swan (or is it the Dolphin?) October 17-20

More later. Was thinking of posting my thoughts on some of the new TV shows this season.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - White Sox at Tigers

Well, congrats. Now let's see what you guys can do with it. Good luck.

Andrews McMeel Publishing: Press Release - The Complete Calvin and Hobbes: "Fans From Around the World Interview Bill Watterson"

Watterson has pretty much retreated from 'public' life since C&H ended. This is a pretty good interview if you like C&H. Enjoy!

Some of you may have noticed there are several deleted comments in some of my posts. Rest assured, I'm not strangling anybody's freedom of saying whatever they want to say, it's just that an automated blog spam-bot is dropping 'commercials' of a kind as comments to some of my posts. When I see them I delete them.

I'm thinking of instituting a 'prove you're a person when you comment' type thing that blogger has. Basically, you'd have to type in a word that's shown in a picture to prove you're a human being before you comment. We'll see how the spam goes, I guess. If it increases, I'll turn that function on.

Hybrids: Don't buy the hype - Sep. 26, 2005: "Hybrids: Don't buy the hype
Sure, hybrids save gas but they won't save you money. There are smarter ways to go."

An excellent article. We had some small thoughts of getting a Hybrid Ford Escape (mostly, I did) but we decided the price point of a Hybrid over a regular Escape (something like $5K) was too much. Also, we had some concerns about getting it serviced, etc.