Another week gone by. I have no idea where the time goes. I'm currently working on finishing up a project that I started sometime around Gage's birth. I hope to have it completely done by Sunday, although my time tables never seem to quite work out. I also need to install the new light in the dryer room, as well as clear up the books in the library. In addition to that I'm working on some calculations for a friend and numerous other projects that seem to just suck time right out of my life. One day I hope to get a handle on all of this stuff.
At the moment, I'm reeling from two different time related items. One, Gage is four months old already. One third of a year has passed since he was born. He's already lived through his first full season. He had his four month check-up this morning and all is well. He's in the 75th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight. He also gets to start on cereal. I wanted him to have Golden Grahams, but the doctor seems to think that the rice cereal is more appropriate for his age. I reluctantly agreed. I still think he could at least handle Fruity Pebbles or something. He also got a complete set of shots so I'm sure he'll be a cranky little boy this evening.
The second piece of time related information that is kind of mind boggling is the fact that Terri and I will celebrate our 12th anniversary tomorrow. So much has happened in the past twelve years both within our lives and in the world in general. One thing hasn't changed too much. George Bush was President then, and he's President now. Ok, different man, different plan. We've made friends, lost friends, made enemies, turned enemies to friends, created families, watched loved ones pass on, watched new life spring up in it's place and all the other stuff that rolls on in 12 years. I guess I'm sort of sentimental, but still in love. I, like everyone else I know, am amazed that she's stayed with me all these years.
This could go either way, I think. However, this is still incredibly iffy. Mostly because of her. She's flaky at best and I don't see the homespun quality that June had coming out in her acting. Hopefully, I'll be surprised. I did notice an odd connection with Joaquin that I never realized before. Hopefully I won't end up in a mental breakdown like his purported one on the set of the movie. Of course my brother didn't die of a drug overdose. In fact, my brother is all set to become a father really soon. Which reminds me that I owe him a phone call. Nothing like blogging to remind you of family obligations.
Tomorrow, I'm planning on blowing off work and relaxing on my anniversary. Then we're going to turn the little one over to Grammy, head to the restaurant for early dinner reservations and then it's over to Heinz Field to see Mia, Joy, and Julie in one of their last games. I'm going to miss watching them play. It's almost, not quite, but pretty close, as good as hockey. Which, if the morons in charge keep at it the way they are, I won't see any of this year. Which, while it sucks for me and other hockey fans, means that Gage's first hockey game will have to be postponed. We had plans to get tickets to the home opener and really introduce him correctly to the game. I think Alison is the only one that I know that's happy with no hockey this year. She'll tell you that it's because she and Matt now have Tivo and she would be subjected to more games than usual, but the real reason is that she watched some of the playoffs with Matt last year and she's starting to convert. Slowly, but surely, we'll reel her to our side. No hockey also means that Nathan's first hockey game will be postponed. I think the newest reality program should include the owner's rep and player's rep on skates with the "enforcers" skating around them. Everytime they make another stupid assumption about the game...WHAM...up against the boards. A concussion or two later and we'll have this thing wrapped up in time to get a 75 game season in.
I guess that's enough for today. My insane project is almost over so that's one nice thing to look forward to.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Ok, again I have to apologize for taking so long to update. Mostly it's because I'm still in mourning over what looks to be a complete and total loss of hockey this season. I wonder if I can blame the whole thing on Barry Melrose. Ok, maybe not the whole thing since he and I actually agree, but it's ESPN's bad commentating and his suits that keep the TV ratings down. That and the fact that ESPN only shows about 1/6 of the teams in the league if they show games at all.
Ok, enough about hockey (see, even I'm starting to write off the season and I'm the eternal hockey optimist. I'm still convinced that Lord Stanley is coming home to Pittsburgh every year.)
Well lots of stuff has happened since I last posted, that's for sure. Read Dwight's blog for a decent account of the terror of Ivan that went through Pittsburgh. I won't even try to describe what went on here in town. I'm just thankful that the majority of the people I know made it through unscathed with their personal belongings intact.
I also watched the Emmy's and can't for the life of me figure out what made them pair up Mos Def and Tony Shalhoub as presenters. I think they were the last two picked at recess or something. I'm not sure I liked the reality tint to the Emmy's with the control booth on stage, but I did enjoy the acceptance speech of the director (who, incidentally, won for the Oscars while taking care of the Emmys)
One of the little idiosyncrasies that I have in my professional career has been music. My first professional job afforded me the ability to listen to music (at a reasonable volume, and it was a reasonable volume so I was allowed) while I worked. Making the choice of what to listen to everyday became quite difficult after about a week and a half. So, I adopted this philosophy. I wanted to use my ability to listen to music at work to my advantage by listening to all of my music. So, starting with Alcohol Funnycar in my Alternative CD's, I went from one genre to another until I had finished with my CDs. Then I started on my cassingles and moved on to my cassettes. By the time I had left Lycos, I hadn't quite finished my cassingles. At my second job, I didn't even make it through the CDs. Now, I have progressed through my CD's, cassingles, and I started on cassettes.
Now, I told you that boring ass piece of information to relate a little about my current office. In the Comedy (Sung) genre of my cassettes are my "Weird Al" Yankovic albums. Al has apparently been to my office. Lyrics for Dare to be Stupid, Eat It, Fat, and Girls Just Want to Have Lunch all reek of having been written with my co-workers in mind. It was a little difficult to explain why I was seemingly laughing at nothing for most of the afternoon.
Another thing that has to be a sure sign of the end of the world and might even be eligible for the Fraught watch is "never ending popcorn shrimp HERE!!!! What the hell is that all about? Internation House of PANCAKES! When I think of pancakes and potential toppings for pancakes, I come up with chocolate chip, banana, blueberry, etc. Not trout, tuna, or shrimp. This is just another case of restaurants over-extending their menus to accomodate the fat-ass american who can't decide what to order so he/she gets one of everything. This ranks right up there with Atkin's Approved Menus. Hey, Atkins ain't approving nothing. He's dead. Deceased. Shuffled off this mortal coil. He's bleedin' demised. He's an ex-human. Those menus are almost as bad as the Italian food here.
Anyway, that's enough for today. It's getting late and I can't even console myself with a west coast hockey game. Though I will say it was a beautiful sight to watch Mario skate with the World Cup trophy. If the USA can't win, at least I got to see a superstar hoist the trophy.
I almost forgot to mention this show that I watched a few days ago. All in all, I was pleased with the majority of the choices. Number one was a given and most likely had the rest of the show's concept created around it. However, there were some nice surprises. Harper Valley PTA isn't a clear cut choice, but it certainly was funny to see it make the top five. One of my favorite songs for something like that has to be Toby Keith's, "How Do You Like Me Now." Which oddly enough is a song I don't own. So, months after Tom asks the question, I finally have an answer. It was interesting that they went with 40 and not 50, but still a good show. I couldn't think of any complete, smack yourself in the head yelling duh, absences from the list, but maybe you might.
And, how can I forget what today is? Today is perhaps one of the most memorable days in recent memory for people around my generation. It's the day the DVD world gains three new releases. Releases the people have waited for since DVD was in its infancy. Yes, Star Wars Episodes IV, V, and VI (the original three) came out today. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait til tomorrow to pick up my set and with Gage around, who knows how long it will take to make it through them, but they will become permanent editions to my DVD library less than 24 hours from now. That I can pretty much guarantee, unless of course I end up bleedin' demised between now and then.
Ok, enough about hockey (see, even I'm starting to write off the season and I'm the eternal hockey optimist. I'm still convinced that Lord Stanley is coming home to Pittsburgh every year.)
Well lots of stuff has happened since I last posted, that's for sure. Read Dwight's blog for a decent account of the terror of Ivan that went through Pittsburgh. I won't even try to describe what went on here in town. I'm just thankful that the majority of the people I know made it through unscathed with their personal belongings intact.
I also watched the Emmy's and can't for the life of me figure out what made them pair up Mos Def and Tony Shalhoub as presenters. I think they were the last two picked at recess or something. I'm not sure I liked the reality tint to the Emmy's with the control booth on stage, but I did enjoy the acceptance speech of the director (who, incidentally, won for the Oscars while taking care of the Emmys)
One of the little idiosyncrasies that I have in my professional career has been music. My first professional job afforded me the ability to listen to music (at a reasonable volume, and it was a reasonable volume so I was allowed) while I worked. Making the choice of what to listen to everyday became quite difficult after about a week and a half. So, I adopted this philosophy. I wanted to use my ability to listen to music at work to my advantage by listening to all of my music. So, starting with Alcohol Funnycar in my Alternative CD's, I went from one genre to another until I had finished with my CDs. Then I started on my cassingles and moved on to my cassettes. By the time I had left Lycos, I hadn't quite finished my cassingles. At my second job, I didn't even make it through the CDs. Now, I have progressed through my CD's, cassingles, and I started on cassettes.
Now, I told you that boring ass piece of information to relate a little about my current office. In the Comedy (Sung) genre of my cassettes are my "Weird Al" Yankovic albums. Al has apparently been to my office. Lyrics for Dare to be Stupid, Eat It, Fat, and Girls Just Want to Have Lunch all reek of having been written with my co-workers in mind. It was a little difficult to explain why I was seemingly laughing at nothing for most of the afternoon.
Another thing that has to be a sure sign of the end of the world and might even be eligible for the Fraught watch is "never ending popcorn shrimp HERE!!!! What the hell is that all about? Internation House of PANCAKES! When I think of pancakes and potential toppings for pancakes, I come up with chocolate chip, banana, blueberry, etc. Not trout, tuna, or shrimp. This is just another case of restaurants over-extending their menus to accomodate the fat-ass american who can't decide what to order so he/she gets one of everything. This ranks right up there with Atkin's Approved Menus. Hey, Atkins ain't approving nothing. He's dead. Deceased. Shuffled off this mortal coil. He's bleedin' demised. He's an ex-human. Those menus are almost as bad as the Italian food here.
Anyway, that's enough for today. It's getting late and I can't even console myself with a west coast hockey game. Though I will say it was a beautiful sight to watch Mario skate with the World Cup trophy. If the USA can't win, at least I got to see a superstar hoist the trophy.
I almost forgot to mention this show that I watched a few days ago. All in all, I was pleased with the majority of the choices. Number one was a given and most likely had the rest of the show's concept created around it. However, there were some nice surprises. Harper Valley PTA isn't a clear cut choice, but it certainly was funny to see it make the top five. One of my favorite songs for something like that has to be Toby Keith's, "How Do You Like Me Now." Which oddly enough is a song I don't own. So, months after Tom asks the question, I finally have an answer. It was interesting that they went with 40 and not 50, but still a good show. I couldn't think of any complete, smack yourself in the head yelling duh, absences from the list, but maybe you might.
And, how can I forget what today is? Today is perhaps one of the most memorable days in recent memory for people around my generation. It's the day the DVD world gains three new releases. Releases the people have waited for since DVD was in its infancy. Yes, Star Wars Episodes IV, V, and VI (the original three) came out today. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait til tomorrow to pick up my set and with Gage around, who knows how long it will take to make it through them, but they will become permanent editions to my DVD library less than 24 hours from now. That I can pretty much guarantee, unless of course I end up bleedin' demised between now and then.
Friday, September 10, 2004
Thought I'd get this out of the way while I had a little time (and skipping out on completing the rest of my work here on Friday afternoon.)
My picks for the LaPlaca Open just in case you cared why I chose what I chose. And as a side note, I'm sad that I don't get to whomp on Joe this year. However, I am hoping to beat Mike, and Craig who only beat me by a point and Dwight who beat me by three points. Anyway, without further ado...
10. LAX (NBC)- Smoke 'em if you got folks, this plane's goin' down. Neither of the two main stars can really carry a show and I can't see the interaction between Heather and Blair being all that good. I mean Blair used up all her good stuff with Jo.
9. Veronica Mars (UPN)- Nancy Drew on Acid. Don't get me wrong, I like Enrico, but ex-sheriff/private eye? I don't think so. And a high school girl sleuthing in a town with big secrets, can we say Pasadena?
8. Dr. Vegas (CBS)- Place your bets, place your bets 12-7 this one goes to TV heaven. Too similar to Las Vegas on NBC. Joey Pants failed once on CBS, Tom Sizemore might be in jail by mid-season and Rob Lowe is always hit or miss.
7. Commando Nanny (WB)- Yes sir Major Dad sir, whoops wrong show. If McRaney's health holds out, it has a slim chance, but I'm guessing it will be AWOL very soon. Especially since they can't seem to get the leading man straight. That coupled with the fact that it's based on the life of the guy that brought us this shit and I hope it not only fails, but sucks out all this guy's money so he can't produce any more crappy television.
6. Jack & Bobby (WB)- Does anyone else think Kennedy's when they hear the premise of this show. Two kids being raised and one will eventually be President? Hopefully they won't keep hyping that fact or it will drive the show into the ground faster than being sat on by Ted Kennedy.
5. Rodney (ABC) - The generic Roseanne, which is like saying I'll have the generic's generic or something like that. He's not as good as a comedian and the premise makes it sound like Hayseed Seinfeld. This might have a shot at the time slot after Reba on the WB, but not on ABC.
4. Clubhouse (CBS)- Strike Three, you're out. Lots of star power, Dean Cain, Christopher Lloyd, Mare Winningham, Kirsten Storms, but nowhere to go with it. First off, the premise is Baseball which starts with B. What else starts with B? BORING. My other gripe with this show is the fact that Kirsten Storms has played a squeaky clean blonde in everything else she's been in. Now, all of a sudden I'm supposed to buy her as the "rebellious" older sister? What's she going to do get strawberry blonde highlights?
3. Listen Up (CBS)- Jason Alexander...what else is there to say? I heard a radio personality say that one of the many flaws in this show (too many to list actually) is the fact that although this is loosely based on Tony Kornheiser, the real Tony has more charisma and charm than Alexander. The other main thing this has going against it is the two-fold. The second banana trying to play leading man and the Seinfeld curse. Come to think of it, why didn't I rank this higher?
2. Complete/Common Savages (ABC)- Terminated/Fired/Cancelled? The fact that they can't get the name right doesn't give them much to cheer about. With no women present on the show at the moment, what's the point? Are they going for the young gay crowd? Somehow I doubt teenage girls are going to flock to this show. And Erik Von Detten is like a mini-LaPlaca in his own right.
1. North Shore (Fox)- The North Shore, soon will be making another run, promising something for everyone. The Love Boat on land. I'm guessing Charo checks in by episode 7 and everything is cancelled by a tidal wave or an earthquake shortly thereafter.
Ok, that's my picks for this year. All newcomers, who, in my opinion, aren't worth the tape they're transferred to. Feel free to pick a fight if you'd like, I'll be sure to jab back.
My picks for the LaPlaca Open just in case you cared why I chose what I chose. And as a side note, I'm sad that I don't get to whomp on Joe this year. However, I am hoping to beat Mike, and Craig who only beat me by a point and Dwight who beat me by three points. Anyway, without further ado...
10. LAX (NBC)- Smoke 'em if you got folks, this plane's goin' down. Neither of the two main stars can really carry a show and I can't see the interaction between Heather and Blair being all that good. I mean Blair used up all her good stuff with Jo.
9. Veronica Mars (UPN)- Nancy Drew on Acid. Don't get me wrong, I like Enrico, but ex-sheriff/private eye? I don't think so. And a high school girl sleuthing in a town with big secrets, can we say Pasadena?
8. Dr. Vegas (CBS)- Place your bets, place your bets 12-7 this one goes to TV heaven. Too similar to Las Vegas on NBC. Joey Pants failed once on CBS, Tom Sizemore might be in jail by mid-season and Rob Lowe is always hit or miss.
7. Commando Nanny (WB)- Yes sir Major Dad sir, whoops wrong show. If McRaney's health holds out, it has a slim chance, but I'm guessing it will be AWOL very soon. Especially since they can't seem to get the leading man straight. That coupled with the fact that it's based on the life of the guy that brought us this shit and I hope it not only fails, but sucks out all this guy's money so he can't produce any more crappy television.
6. Jack & Bobby (WB)- Does anyone else think Kennedy's when they hear the premise of this show. Two kids being raised and one will eventually be President? Hopefully they won't keep hyping that fact or it will drive the show into the ground faster than being sat on by Ted Kennedy.
5. Rodney (ABC) - The generic Roseanne, which is like saying I'll have the generic's generic or something like that. He's not as good as a comedian and the premise makes it sound like Hayseed Seinfeld. This might have a shot at the time slot after Reba on the WB, but not on ABC.
4. Clubhouse (CBS)- Strike Three, you're out. Lots of star power, Dean Cain, Christopher Lloyd, Mare Winningham, Kirsten Storms, but nowhere to go with it. First off, the premise is Baseball which starts with B. What else starts with B? BORING. My other gripe with this show is the fact that Kirsten Storms has played a squeaky clean blonde in everything else she's been in. Now, all of a sudden I'm supposed to buy her as the "rebellious" older sister? What's she going to do get strawberry blonde highlights?
3. Listen Up (CBS)- Jason Alexander...what else is there to say? I heard a radio personality say that one of the many flaws in this show (too many to list actually) is the fact that although this is loosely based on Tony Kornheiser, the real Tony has more charisma and charm than Alexander. The other main thing this has going against it is the two-fold. The second banana trying to play leading man and the Seinfeld curse. Come to think of it, why didn't I rank this higher?
2. Complete/Common Savages (ABC)- Terminated/Fired/Cancelled? The fact that they can't get the name right doesn't give them much to cheer about. With no women present on the show at the moment, what's the point? Are they going for the young gay crowd? Somehow I doubt teenage girls are going to flock to this show. And Erik Von Detten is like a mini-LaPlaca in his own right.
1. North Shore (Fox)- The North Shore, soon will be making another run, promising something for everyone. The Love Boat on land. I'm guessing Charo checks in by episode 7 and everything is cancelled by a tidal wave or an earthquake shortly thereafter.
Ok, that's my picks for this year. All newcomers, who, in my opinion, aren't worth the tape they're transferred to. Feel free to pick a fight if you'd like, I'll be sure to jab back.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Considering how much I disliked the first movie and skipped two and three,
this scared the crap out of me. I was hoping for a nice Spiderman or Batman. Hell, I would have taken Jack Sparrow (the guy whose page I found the link on was Jack).
Speaking of movies, I saw Old School last night for the first (and most likely last) time. All I have to say is Thank God Jeremy Piven was in that movie. And shame on James Carville for six weeks or so. Ok, that's definitely enough for today.
this scared the crap out of me. I was hoping for a nice Spiderman or Batman. Hell, I would have taken Jack Sparrow (the guy whose page I found the link on was Jack).
Speaking of movies, I saw Old School last night for the first (and most likely last) time. All I have to say is Thank God Jeremy Piven was in that movie. And shame on James Carville for six weeks or so. Ok, that's definitely enough for today.
I can't believe almost a month has passed since I last updated. And, since Susiezy has been bugging me about getting something up, I figured today was as good a day as any. I really hate this project. I hated it last year and I hate it again this year. The only good thing about the entire project is that I don't have to answer to anyone in my office, which means that I could technically blow off a whole day and no one would know. The downside is, there's so much damn work I don't get to slack at all.
Enough about work, work just depresses me and I also don't have any time to job hunt while I'm at work. Which also depresses me. Damn, the next thing you know I'll be on Wellbutrin or something. Actually, I'd probably have to go on Zoloft since that's a Pfizer product and I'd want to make sure that Alison, Matt, and Nathan were supported in my disease. I wonder if I could get workman's comp for a job that caused my depression which caused my inability to work at a job that caused my depression which caused my...well you understand.
Let's see what's happened since I last posted. I went down to the Nascar race in Bristol Tennessee with Mark, Robyn, Robyn's parents and her aunts and uncles. It's always a good time and I'm glad they usually end up with an extra ticket. It was hard being away from Gage for four days, but I managed. I also got to meet Ben Jones during the family festival on Thursday night. He was by far the most cordial and polite celebrity that I've ever met. The races themselves were good, although the new race for the chase or whatever the hell it's called seemed to tame the Bristol race. They ran over 200 laps of green flag racing. That's almost unheard of at Bristol. The night race at Bristol has been described as putting 43 cars into a blender and whoever can make it out wins the race. There were still lots of cars that were running and undented at the end of the race. And, I think it's because no one wanted to make a mistake that would cost them points in the chase thing. It was still a good race. Junior fans were ecstatic.
Labor day weekend was pretty tame. We headed down to my parent's house for a picnic on Sunday. Then on Monday I hung out with a band that doesn't like to wear pants. What did you think I meant? I mean, I had Gage with me since Terri was working. I got to catch up with Randy, Elizabeth and their daughter Katie who was born in December. And, Susiezy was the only other one that I knew there. I got to feed her addiction by giving her some catalog pages that related to a theme birthday party for Harry Potter.
I saw two commercials since I last posted that have really scared the hell out of me. The first was for these. A decent invention. You don't want soggy fries. The commercial utilized this band's music. More specifically, Cum On Feel The Noize. I haven't seen marketing that twisted in a while.
The second commercial was for this album. Now, I've seen this concept before so I wasn't totally shaken until they started to show some of the tracks. I think the two that almost made me fall off the couch were Bat Out of Hell and Livin' On A Prayer by Meat Loaf and Bon Jovi respectively. I don't really have a good punchline other than the fact they turned those songs into symphonic recordings.
Susiezy actually just sent me this link. Some of these actually scare me. I remember Chernobyl and the Challenger. Baby Jessica was huge news. When the required made for TV movies came out, TV Guide used two pages to show the diameter of the well. And, well, if it fit in TV Guide you know it was small. I think my favorite on the list is 34. Ivan Boesky has never sold stock. He and Milliken made for some interesting discussions in our civics class.
Oh well, that's enough for today. Hopefully I won't wait so long to update next time.
Enough about work, work just depresses me and I also don't have any time to job hunt while I'm at work. Which also depresses me. Damn, the next thing you know I'll be on Wellbutrin or something. Actually, I'd probably have to go on Zoloft since that's a Pfizer product and I'd want to make sure that Alison, Matt, and Nathan were supported in my disease. I wonder if I could get workman's comp for a job that caused my depression which caused my inability to work at a job that caused my depression which caused my...well you understand.
Let's see what's happened since I last posted. I went down to the Nascar race in Bristol Tennessee with Mark, Robyn, Robyn's parents and her aunts and uncles. It's always a good time and I'm glad they usually end up with an extra ticket. It was hard being away from Gage for four days, but I managed. I also got to meet Ben Jones during the family festival on Thursday night. He was by far the most cordial and polite celebrity that I've ever met. The races themselves were good, although the new race for the chase or whatever the hell it's called seemed to tame the Bristol race. They ran over 200 laps of green flag racing. That's almost unheard of at Bristol. The night race at Bristol has been described as putting 43 cars into a blender and whoever can make it out wins the race. There were still lots of cars that were running and undented at the end of the race. And, I think it's because no one wanted to make a mistake that would cost them points in the chase thing. It was still a good race. Junior fans were ecstatic.
Labor day weekend was pretty tame. We headed down to my parent's house for a picnic on Sunday. Then on Monday I hung out with a band that doesn't like to wear pants. What did you think I meant? I mean, I had Gage with me since Terri was working. I got to catch up with Randy, Elizabeth and their daughter Katie who was born in December. And, Susiezy was the only other one that I knew there. I got to feed her addiction by giving her some catalog pages that related to a theme birthday party for Harry Potter.
I saw two commercials since I last posted that have really scared the hell out of me. The first was for these. A decent invention. You don't want soggy fries. The commercial utilized this band's music. More specifically, Cum On Feel The Noize. I haven't seen marketing that twisted in a while.
The second commercial was for this album. Now, I've seen this concept before so I wasn't totally shaken until they started to show some of the tracks. I think the two that almost made me fall off the couch were Bat Out of Hell and Livin' On A Prayer by Meat Loaf and Bon Jovi respectively. I don't really have a good punchline other than the fact they turned those songs into symphonic recordings.
Susiezy actually just sent me this link. Some of these actually scare me. I remember Chernobyl and the Challenger. Baby Jessica was huge news. When the required made for TV movies came out, TV Guide used two pages to show the diameter of the well. And, well, if it fit in TV Guide you know it was small. I think my favorite on the list is 34. Ivan Boesky has never sold stock. He and Milliken made for some interesting discussions in our civics class.
Oh well, that's enough for today. Hopefully I won't wait so long to update next time.
