Linkage time!
:: I don't know what's going on with the whole multicolored Lanterns thing, except that it keeps reminding me of the Care Bears crossed with Skittles. (Great line. I read some Green Lantern comics in advance of the movie coming out this past summer, and one of them -- Blackest Night -- just had all these Lanterns running around in every possible color, doing battle against seemingly the entire DC universe-turned-zombie. I found the whole thing very odd.)
:: Thank you overalls, thank you very much. I didn’t realize you were a lesbian uniform, or go to closet staple for women who like other women. You’d think I would’ve tossed them or at least tried to trade them back in for something at Buffalo Exchange. But no, I didn’t. (New blog I randomly found. I don't get the whole "overalls equals lesbian" thing, but what do I know?)
:: The nice thing about showing up at the office three quarters of an hour before anyone else is that if you come in looking like death itself, there's no-one there to see it and you can clean yourself up a bit.
:: I've been living inside my head with all of this. I can pinpoint the time when our relationship took a turn. (Jane wears her heart on her sleeve in a pretty amazing way. I'm terrified about ever having my relationship with The Daughter ever devolve like this, and it takes a lot of courage to write about it publicly.)
:: I'm trying to be mindful about focusing more on what's RIGHT than what's uncomfortable. I truly do have a whole lot of blessing going on all around me. Still, it's just hard to be positive when you are hurting.
:: What bliss to open every window in the house and let that fragrant, "it's-almost-autumn-air" waft through. (Huh...Mental Multivitamin disappeared from my blogroll. I must have inadvertently removed it during a reorganization at some point. Rectifying this as soon as I finish collating links for this post!)
:: It was there, in that cold, sterile, metallic doctor's office, as the list of foods I could no longer eat hit my ears with a dull thud and fell to the floor, a useless pile of past pleasures at my feet, that my world, much like the bottom of my food pyramid, dropped out from under me. I pouted. I sobbed. I screamed and yelled and cursed at every Dunkin Donuts I passed. I didn't feel lucky. I felt hungry. (This blog, it turns out, belongs to...umm, let me figure this out...well, it's my cousin's (on my father's side) daughter. What is that, then? Second cousin? Is that how that works? I have next to zero knowledge of the workings of genealogy. Anyway, the main focus on her blog is her requirement to adhere to a gluten-free diet. I had never heard of such a thing until I worked at The Store and met a woman, a co-worker, who is likewise culinarily restricted. Fascinating stuff, and she's a decent writer, too! Apparently wordsmithing is in my gene pool. I hope I don't have some distant cousin I've never met (except for online) out there somewhere laboring on a space opera novel....)
:: During the flight of Apollo 11, in the constant sunlight between the earth and the moon, it was necessary for us to control the temperature of our spacecraft by a slow rotation not unlike that of a chicken on a barbecue spit. As we turned, the earth and the moon alternately appeared in our windows. We had our choice. We could look toward the Moon, toward Mars, toward our future in space — toward the new Indies — or we could look back toward the Earth, our home, with its problems spawned over more than a millennium of human occupancy. (So writes Command Module pilot Michael Collins, some months after the first moon landing. Please don't stop looking toward space!)
More next week!
The personal blog of author Kelly Sedinger, chronicling the adventures of one overalls-clad wanderer.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Bills 38, Raiders 35
Wow, what a game! It very nearly ended up as a Bills loss, but alas for our lovely Raiders fan....
This game was one of those wonderful heart-stoppers that are so fun to watch...fun and maddening, as you watch each team drive home the killing stroke only to allow the opponent to get back up and keep fighting. This was a game that validates that old chestnut of football commentary: "I think the last team to score might win!"
The Bills looked bad for most of the first half, which after two games might well be shaping up as a pattern. Poor running defense combined with a Ryan Fitzpatrick interception led to the Raiders taking a 21-3 lead into halftime (would have been 21-6, had the Raiders not blocked a Bills field goal as time expired). But in the second half, the Bills came right back, scoring 21 straight points for a 24-21 lead. Then the Raiders made it 28-24. Then the Bills made it 31-28. Then the Raiders made it 35-31. And then the Bills, with fifteen seconds or so left, made it 38-35. And then the Raiders put up a Hail Mary as the clock expired, which came down in a crowd of players; luckily it was a Bill (rookie Da'Norris Searcy) who made the catch, securing the win.
It was a game of huge offensive plays on both sides, with some amazing catches. It was also a game of colossal errors for the Raiders, who seemed to commit penalty after penalty at times.
Random thoughts about the game:
:: Some folks are saying things on Twitter like "The Bills are actually fun to watch again!" But for my money, they started getting fun to watch again last year. They seem to have the same kind of approach to the game with a bit more experience and a bit more talent. I still think they're a way off from being a consistent winner, but I do not think they're several years off, anymore. But last year, for the most part they were usually entertaining and they teased fans a lot before losing because they simply didn't have enough talent. Late in the year, injuries took their toll so they ended up closing the year with a couple of blowout losses, but for the most part, they were a calm, collected, never-quit-fighting team last year too. It's just that this year they're better. How much better? Well, in the words of Chris Berman, "That's why they play the games."
:: Stevie Johnson continues to be a beast who lays it all out on the field, every time. The Bills can not let him get to the free agent market after the season. Come on, guys -- extend him already! (I have a feeling they will at some point. They are already talking with Ryan Fitzpatrick, and they seem to be taking a "talk to one guy at a time" approach to this stuff.)
:: Fred Jackson is just astonishing. He just is. Everybody knows it. But CJ Spiller seems to be settling in and figuring things out, too. I'm thrilled to have this one-two-punch at running back.
:: I felt kind of bad for the Raiders when they took an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty after the Bills scored a touchdown, and their coach (Hue Jackson) threw the challenge flag. Yes, he's a head coach, so he should know that the NFL is automatically reviewing all scoring plays now, which makes those plays "unchallengable". But still, that's a brand new rule and he's a rookie head coach, so...well, sucks to be him. I sympathize. (But not much. It's still football, folks!)
:: But also on the topic of Raiders and penalties, I'm no expert, but there were an awful lot of Raider hits on Ryan Fitzpatrick that really looked to me like late hits/roughing the passer's. All went uncalled. He took quite a few pops after the ball had been out of his hands for almost an entire 'Mississippi'.
:: On the go-ahead touchdown from Fitzpatrick to David Nelson, wow...I can't believe the Raiders let somebody get that wide open. Seriously, there were about five yards of space on either side of Nelson before you saw a Raider. Ouch. Apparently their defensive plan for that play relied on getting a sack, because they either didn't try coverage or they blew the coverage. Yipes.
:: With two wins already, the Bills are virtually eliminated from the Andrew Luck sweepstakes, unless they lose every game they have left (unlikely) or this is one of those years where the NFL's worst record goes to a team with three or four wins (also highly unlikely). Right now, I'm thinking that the Draft brings the best available right or left tackle to the Bills. (More likely right, on the basis of Demetrius Bell being off to a not-bad start this year.)
:: CBS's coverage was a mixed bag. The announcers were just kind of there, but apparently now it's a Big Frakking Deal now whenever any NFL player comes from Harvard. This just gets annoying. I know, you have to fill up airtime, but Ye Gods.
:: Also, CBS continues to irritate with their "camera shots from the area of the game" thing that they do when they come back from commercial breaks. As usual, we get the same shot of Niagara Falls that everybody who has ever watched a football game from Buffalo has seen, with the announcers saying "Ah yes, the magical splendor of Niagara Falls, thirty miles down the road from Buffalo!" or some such thing. Then, next time, we get the same shot of a guy in the kitchen at the Anchor Bar tossing chicken wings in hot sauce that everybody who has ever watched a football game from Buffalo has seen, with the announcers saying "Ah yes, they're making Buffalo wings [nobody here calls them Buffalo wings!] at the legendary Anchor Bar where they were invented!". Annoying. It bugs me every time, because NFL cities are cities, and each one has lots of cool stuff about that nobody knows about.
So, later on, they have a shot from Buffalo's Naval and Military Park, with a big old shot of the USS The Sullivans, which really impressed the hell out of me. I really think that CBS (and FOX, if they do the same thing -- I don't recall if they do!) should allow cities to pick where they take these shots, so they can get a little free publicity for area attractions. The only problem with the Naval Park shot? This time, the announcers didn't say anything! Couldn't they come up with a scripted sentence or two, like, "There's downtown Buffalo and their Naval and Military Park, where several decommissioned ships from our nation's Navy reside for tours. Lots of great history here in Buffalo!" Ugh.
:: Next week the New England Patriots come to town. Do I like the Bills' chances? Actually, I do. Sure, the Bills have lost fifteen in a row to the Pats, and they're 2-20 against them since the 2000 season, but there's this odd pattern that always seems to happen in both games, no matter whether the first game is in New England or in Buffalo. What happens is that the Bills play the Pats really hard the first time they see them, sometimes even nursing a lead well into the fourth quarter, before losing a tough one; then, the second time they see them, the Patriots just...well, they beat the crap out of 'em. It's kind of weird. So, will the Bills actually beat the Patriots? Enhhhh...I don't think so. I don't think they're ready to take that step yet, I'm sorry to say. I'd love for them to do so; I'd love for them to beat the Pats at least once while St. Tom the Overrated is under center for them. But I think that may have to wait for next year.
But, like Chris Berman always says, and like I quoted above already, "That's why they play the games!"
:: Whoa! Commercials for Hawaii Five-0's season premiere tomorrow night, and Terry O'Quinn is joining the cast? SQUEEEE!! Terry O'Quinn always makes things better by just being there. He doesn't even have to have dialogue.
OK, that's about it. Will my poor pie-faced football fan next week at last be wearing a Patriots hoodie? Here's hoping!
This game was one of those wonderful heart-stoppers that are so fun to watch...fun and maddening, as you watch each team drive home the killing stroke only to allow the opponent to get back up and keep fighting. This was a game that validates that old chestnut of football commentary: "I think the last team to score might win!"
The Bills looked bad for most of the first half, which after two games might well be shaping up as a pattern. Poor running defense combined with a Ryan Fitzpatrick interception led to the Raiders taking a 21-3 lead into halftime (would have been 21-6, had the Raiders not blocked a Bills field goal as time expired). But in the second half, the Bills came right back, scoring 21 straight points for a 24-21 lead. Then the Raiders made it 28-24. Then the Bills made it 31-28. Then the Raiders made it 35-31. And then the Bills, with fifteen seconds or so left, made it 38-35. And then the Raiders put up a Hail Mary as the clock expired, which came down in a crowd of players; luckily it was a Bill (rookie Da'Norris Searcy) who made the catch, securing the win.
It was a game of huge offensive plays on both sides, with some amazing catches. It was also a game of colossal errors for the Raiders, who seemed to commit penalty after penalty at times.
Random thoughts about the game:
:: Some folks are saying things on Twitter like "The Bills are actually fun to watch again!" But for my money, they started getting fun to watch again last year. They seem to have the same kind of approach to the game with a bit more experience and a bit more talent. I still think they're a way off from being a consistent winner, but I do not think they're several years off, anymore. But last year, for the most part they were usually entertaining and they teased fans a lot before losing because they simply didn't have enough talent. Late in the year, injuries took their toll so they ended up closing the year with a couple of blowout losses, but for the most part, they were a calm, collected, never-quit-fighting team last year too. It's just that this year they're better. How much better? Well, in the words of Chris Berman, "That's why they play the games."
:: Stevie Johnson continues to be a beast who lays it all out on the field, every time. The Bills can not let him get to the free agent market after the season. Come on, guys -- extend him already! (I have a feeling they will at some point. They are already talking with Ryan Fitzpatrick, and they seem to be taking a "talk to one guy at a time" approach to this stuff.)
:: Fred Jackson is just astonishing. He just is. Everybody knows it. But CJ Spiller seems to be settling in and figuring things out, too. I'm thrilled to have this one-two-punch at running back.
:: I felt kind of bad for the Raiders when they took an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty after the Bills scored a touchdown, and their coach (Hue Jackson) threw the challenge flag. Yes, he's a head coach, so he should know that the NFL is automatically reviewing all scoring plays now, which makes those plays "unchallengable". But still, that's a brand new rule and he's a rookie head coach, so...well, sucks to be him. I sympathize. (But not much. It's still football, folks!)
:: But also on the topic of Raiders and penalties, I'm no expert, but there were an awful lot of Raider hits on Ryan Fitzpatrick that really looked to me like late hits/roughing the passer's. All went uncalled. He took quite a few pops after the ball had been out of his hands for almost an entire 'Mississippi'.
:: On the go-ahead touchdown from Fitzpatrick to David Nelson, wow...I can't believe the Raiders let somebody get that wide open. Seriously, there were about five yards of space on either side of Nelson before you saw a Raider. Ouch. Apparently their defensive plan for that play relied on getting a sack, because they either didn't try coverage or they blew the coverage. Yipes.
:: With two wins already, the Bills are virtually eliminated from the Andrew Luck sweepstakes, unless they lose every game they have left (unlikely) or this is one of those years where the NFL's worst record goes to a team with three or four wins (also highly unlikely). Right now, I'm thinking that the Draft brings the best available right or left tackle to the Bills. (More likely right, on the basis of Demetrius Bell being off to a not-bad start this year.)
:: CBS's coverage was a mixed bag. The announcers were just kind of there, but apparently now it's a Big Frakking Deal now whenever any NFL player comes from Harvard. This just gets annoying. I know, you have to fill up airtime, but Ye Gods.
:: Also, CBS continues to irritate with their "camera shots from the area of the game" thing that they do when they come back from commercial breaks. As usual, we get the same shot of Niagara Falls that everybody who has ever watched a football game from Buffalo has seen, with the announcers saying "Ah yes, the magical splendor of Niagara Falls, thirty miles down the road from Buffalo!" or some such thing. Then, next time, we get the same shot of a guy in the kitchen at the Anchor Bar tossing chicken wings in hot sauce that everybody who has ever watched a football game from Buffalo has seen, with the announcers saying "Ah yes, they're making Buffalo wings [nobody here calls them Buffalo wings!] at the legendary Anchor Bar where they were invented!". Annoying. It bugs me every time, because NFL cities are cities, and each one has lots of cool stuff about that nobody knows about.
So, later on, they have a shot from Buffalo's Naval and Military Park, with a big old shot of the USS The Sullivans, which really impressed the hell out of me. I really think that CBS (and FOX, if they do the same thing -- I don't recall if they do!) should allow cities to pick where they take these shots, so they can get a little free publicity for area attractions. The only problem with the Naval Park shot? This time, the announcers didn't say anything! Couldn't they come up with a scripted sentence or two, like, "There's downtown Buffalo and their Naval and Military Park, where several decommissioned ships from our nation's Navy reside for tours. Lots of great history here in Buffalo!" Ugh.
:: Next week the New England Patriots come to town. Do I like the Bills' chances? Actually, I do. Sure, the Bills have lost fifteen in a row to the Pats, and they're 2-20 against them since the 2000 season, but there's this odd pattern that always seems to happen in both games, no matter whether the first game is in New England or in Buffalo. What happens is that the Bills play the Pats really hard the first time they see them, sometimes even nursing a lead well into the fourth quarter, before losing a tough one; then, the second time they see them, the Patriots just...well, they beat the crap out of 'em. It's kind of weird. So, will the Bills actually beat the Patriots? Enhhhh...I don't think so. I don't think they're ready to take that step yet, I'm sorry to say. I'd love for them to do so; I'd love for them to beat the Pats at least once while St. Tom the Overrated is under center for them. But I think that may have to wait for next year.
But, like Chris Berman always says, and like I quoted above already, "That's why they play the games!"
:: Whoa! Commercials for Hawaii Five-0's season premiere tomorrow night, and Terry O'Quinn is joining the cast? SQUEEEE!! Terry O'Quinn always makes things better by just being there. He doesn't even have to have dialogue.
OK, that's about it. Will my poor pie-faced football fan next week at last be wearing a Patriots hoodie? Here's hoping!
Hey, that guy looks familiar....
Heh...a self-appointed 'fashion expert' (which are a dime a dozen) pens a rant about how much he hates overalls (with said rants also being a dime a dozen). What's interesting is that he swiped one of my own profile photos with which to make his point, and yet, he neither notified me nor asked my permission. Imagine that. It always amuses me when people fancy themselves edgy or hip, but they don't even have the guts to tell those at whom they are directing their ire.
Sunday Burst of Weird and Awesome!
[Oops...this post went live before I could finish it!]
Oddities and Awesome abound!
:: The greatest insults of musicians, by musicians. Wow, some of these are vicious. How vicious? Well...Anton Newcombe says this of Eric Clapton:
Wow...and that one is only number two on the list.
:: Things Organized Neatly. I don't much go in for high degrees of organization, myself, but I would like to be a bit more organized -- especially in the bookshelves department. But that would require (a) more bookshelves, and (b) more space to put the more bookshelves in.
:: Not a link to anything, but an observation from the past week as the Star Wars Blu-ray release takes hold: it amuses me to note the percentage of fans who rip George Lucas for doing anything other than releasing the films in their original theatrical versions, and then go on to insist that Star Wars Revisited is the definitive version anyway. "Fan edits" are great, but "edits by the guy who actually made and owns the films" are BAD BAD BAD!! Sometimes I note my relative lack of cognitive dissonance regarding Star Wars, and I wonder if I'm doing it wrong.
More next week!
Oddities and Awesome abound!
:: The greatest insults of musicians, by musicians. Wow, some of these are vicious. How vicious? Well...Anton Newcombe says this of Eric Clapton:
“People talk about Eric Clapton. What has he ever done except throw his baby off a f***in’ ledge and write a song about it?”
Wow...and that one is only number two on the list.
:: Things Organized Neatly. I don't much go in for high degrees of organization, myself, but I would like to be a bit more organized -- especially in the bookshelves department. But that would require (a) more bookshelves, and (b) more space to put the more bookshelves in.
:: Not a link to anything, but an observation from the past week as the Star Wars Blu-ray release takes hold: it amuses me to note the percentage of fans who rip George Lucas for doing anything other than releasing the films in their original theatrical versions, and then go on to insist that Star Wars Revisited is the definitive version anyway. "Fan edits" are great, but "edits by the guy who actually made and owns the films" are BAD BAD BAD!! Sometimes I note my relative lack of cognitive dissonance regarding Star Wars, and I wonder if I'm doing it wrong.
More next week!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Saturday Centus
[EDITED 9-18-11 to add a clarification, below.]
Wow, I'm actually on schedule this week! My initial reaction to this week's prompt was "Oh, crap," because we're supposed to take the prompt and work it into a bit of doggerel which can be sung to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". But then the idea came to me, so here it is:
The problem here is that...well, I'm over the word limit, which Jenny set at 32 words plus the prompt. I'm at 37 here, but as far as I can tell, it does fit the tune just fine, so I'm going with it.
Oh and by the way, I was putridly** late with my last two entries, so go ahead and have a look if you so desire, here and here.
* Original rhyming word excised by virtue of this being a kinda-sorta family blog. Only not really. I just thought that would be funny to do.
CLARIFICATION: A reader has apparently badly misread what I wrote above, but I feel I should make absolutely clear that I am in no way disparaging the efforts of childrens' songwriters or the weekly Centus challenge. I am only disparaging my abilities as they pertain to childrens' songwriting (which are, not to put too fine a point on it, pretty much nonexistent.)
Wow, I'm actually on schedule this week! My initial reaction to this week's prompt was "Oh, crap," because we're supposed to take the prompt and work it into a bit of doggerel which can be sung to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". But then the idea came to me, so here it is:
In the autumn there's a floodof folks with their bright red blood!How I love to bite their necks,Sometimes while they're having dinner*,Vampires get to do it all,When the summer turns to fall!
The problem here is that...well, I'm over the word limit, which Jenny set at 32 words plus the prompt. I'm at 37 here, but as far as I can tell, it does fit the tune just fine, so I'm going with it.
Oh and by the way, I was putridly** late with my last two entries, so go ahead and have a look if you so desire, here and here.
* Original rhyming word excised by virtue of this being a kinda-sorta family blog. Only not really. I just thought that would be funny to do.
CLARIFICATION: A reader has apparently badly misread what I wrote above, but I feel I should make absolutely clear that I am in no way disparaging the efforts of childrens' songwriters or the weekly Centus challenge. I am only disparaging my abilities as they pertain to childrens' songwriting (which are, not to put too fine a point on it, pretty much nonexistent.)
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Something for Thursday
I'm feeling like a cheesy 80s ballad today...so, from the movie White Nights, here's Lionel Ritchie with "Say You, Say Me"!
Every decade has its own variety of cheese, but 80s cheese is a world unto itself....
Every decade has its own variety of cheese, but 80s cheese is a world unto itself....
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
A Random Wednesday Conversation Starter
My birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. What should I ask for?
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Charting the Progress
It's been a long time since I wrote about my progress (or lack thereof) on the fiction writing front, so here's an update. This photo is a screengrab of the spreadsheet I use to track the word count of the Novel-in-Progress (code-named, Princesses In SPACE!). I've been trying to hit a personal quota of 500 words a day, which has produced close to 90,000 words as of this writing.
I generally try to aim for chapters that aren't too terribly long, but aren't ridiculously short, either. I've read a few books that had over a hundred chapters that were two or three pages each, and that always bugs me, for some reason -- it just makes the book feel herky-jerky. But the other way -- really long chapters -- doesn't do it for me, either. I'm trying to stick in the middle.
I also had an original goal of keeping my chapters roughly in the same ballpark, in terms of length, but that hasn't worked out quite so well. The early chapters are fairly brief, but they get longer after chapter ten. Maybe this isn't a problem; I don't end chapters for length specifically, but I do try to end them on logical breaking points.
So: I have almost 88,000 words in. Right under that total, I have an entry labeled MMPB and another labeled TWMF. What's this about?
Well, MMPB stands for "Mass Market Paper Back". The publishing industry uses word count as its standard measure for book length, for many good reasons; but sometimes I just find it nice to be able to figure where I am, roughly, if the book was to actually be printed. Now, this can vary a lot with considerations such as the font used and the print size, but I generally assume that a mass-market paperback novel will have roughly 400 words a page. So, that entry is simply the total word count divided by 400.
TWMF? Well...this is purely a conceit of mine, just an effort to try to remind myself not to get too long-winded in telling this tale. This bit of division yields to me the rough whereabouts of my story as compared with Patrick Rothfuss's The Wise Man's Fear, which is a really long book. TWMF, then, refers to the page I would be on if my book were printed like the Advance Review Copy I have of Rothfuss's doorstop of a novel. Luckily I'm nowhere near where he ended up for length, and I'm unlikely to get there. I hope to have the first draft, when it's complete, somewhere between 160,000 and 180,000 words. Maybe less, if that's the way the story unfolds.
So, there we go. Hooray for Space Princesses!
Random Observations
Just some stuff that's in my head:
:: Everybody hates on Mondays, but for my money, Tuesdays are far more likely to offer up a Giant Bowl of Suck. Tuesdays are just irritating. Everybody gears up for Mondays, because they're depressing by definition, but Tuesdays? They just sit there in the tall grass, waiting to ambush you. Tuesdays are the nadir of the week. You're still close enough to the previous weekend to remember whatever good times you had to see end to go back to work, and you're too far from the next weekend to take solace. Tuesdays are just nothing but grind.
:: I don't know if I'm going to bother watching the finale of Hell's Kitchen. The show is just awful, what with the continuing, and increasingly inexplicable, presence of Elise.
:: In the "Hey, that's never happened before!" department, I got blocked by someone on Flickr! This was really odd. I've never been blocked before, ever. I only noticed because I added her as a contact just the other day, and today I noticed she wasn't showing up on my Contacts page. Weird! I've been defriended on Facebook and I'm sure I've been unfollowed on Blogger, Twitter, and Tumblr, but I tend to not notice these things...I have no idea what my numbers are, in terms of followers, on any of the services that have followers in the first place. I'm kind of intrigued as to what it was about me that turned this person off; I can only assume she took a cursory look at my photostream and concluded that I'm some kind of creepy fetishist. Oh well!
:: I have zero idea of what I want for my birthday this year. And I feel like I should be taking advantage, because I'm hitting one of the Nice Round Numbers.
Specifically, now, some food thoughts:
:: I've been consuming fruit smoothies in a big way of late. My method is this: I throw in a cup or so of ice cubes, followed by a scoop of protein powder (if I've just returned from working out, otherwise I omit the protein powder), then roughly half a cup of milk and half-to-two-thirds a cup of vanilla yogurt. Then I add fruit: usually I throw in a banana, followed either by a peach or two or a blend of berries, mostly strawberry or blueberry. Then I let the blender work its magic, and drink.
My problem, of course, is that the stuff I've been making my smoothies with will very shortly be out of season, and thus either unavailable or too expensive to keep on hand. We're heading into apple season...so, do apples make decent smoothies? I will report back once I've found out, but an apple cinnamon smoothie sounds awesome, doesn't it?
:: I'm also giving more and more thought to vegetarianism. Not as an entire lifestyle, but I'm liking the idea of going meatless one or two times a week. I am already eating several vegetarian meals each week, so doing this won't be a problem. I imagine that beans will have a major presence. I need to start reading some recipes!
:: But no, I won't be giving up meat entirely. Never! And by way of evidence, here's a recent meal I had: a pancetta, Romaine, and tomato sandwich on a sub roll:
Oh, this was heavenly.
:: I have officially come around on fresh tomatoes. I love 'em now. I hated them when I was a kid, but I gradually learned to accept them on sandwiches and burgers and tomato slices on pizza. I'm not sure I'll ever sit and eat tomato slices all by themselves, but otherwise, I'm becoming tomato-obsessed. It's too bad our balcony gets so little sunlight during the summer; we can't grow any tomatoes!
:: Oh, and I discovered hummus last week. I had a hummus, tomato, and leaf lettuce sandwich for lunch one day that was amazing.
OK, that's about it for random blathering....
:: Everybody hates on Mondays, but for my money, Tuesdays are far more likely to offer up a Giant Bowl of Suck. Tuesdays are just irritating. Everybody gears up for Mondays, because they're depressing by definition, but Tuesdays? They just sit there in the tall grass, waiting to ambush you. Tuesdays are the nadir of the week. You're still close enough to the previous weekend to remember whatever good times you had to see end to go back to work, and you're too far from the next weekend to take solace. Tuesdays are just nothing but grind.
:: I don't know if I'm going to bother watching the finale of Hell's Kitchen. The show is just awful, what with the continuing, and increasingly inexplicable, presence of Elise.
:: In the "Hey, that's never happened before!" department, I got blocked by someone on Flickr! This was really odd. I've never been blocked before, ever. I only noticed because I added her as a contact just the other day, and today I noticed she wasn't showing up on my Contacts page. Weird! I've been defriended on Facebook and I'm sure I've been unfollowed on Blogger, Twitter, and Tumblr, but I tend to not notice these things...I have no idea what my numbers are, in terms of followers, on any of the services that have followers in the first place. I'm kind of intrigued as to what it was about me that turned this person off; I can only assume she took a cursory look at my photostream and concluded that I'm some kind of creepy fetishist. Oh well!
:: I have zero idea of what I want for my birthday this year. And I feel like I should be taking advantage, because I'm hitting one of the Nice Round Numbers.
Specifically, now, some food thoughts:
:: I've been consuming fruit smoothies in a big way of late. My method is this: I throw in a cup or so of ice cubes, followed by a scoop of protein powder (if I've just returned from working out, otherwise I omit the protein powder), then roughly half a cup of milk and half-to-two-thirds a cup of vanilla yogurt. Then I add fruit: usually I throw in a banana, followed either by a peach or two or a blend of berries, mostly strawberry or blueberry. Then I let the blender work its magic, and drink.
My problem, of course, is that the stuff I've been making my smoothies with will very shortly be out of season, and thus either unavailable or too expensive to keep on hand. We're heading into apple season...so, do apples make decent smoothies? I will report back once I've found out, but an apple cinnamon smoothie sounds awesome, doesn't it?
:: I'm also giving more and more thought to vegetarianism. Not as an entire lifestyle, but I'm liking the idea of going meatless one or two times a week. I am already eating several vegetarian meals each week, so doing this won't be a problem. I imagine that beans will have a major presence. I need to start reading some recipes!
:: But no, I won't be giving up meat entirely. Never! And by way of evidence, here's a recent meal I had: a pancetta, Romaine, and tomato sandwich on a sub roll:
Oh, this was heavenly.
:: I have officially come around on fresh tomatoes. I love 'em now. I hated them when I was a kid, but I gradually learned to accept them on sandwiches and burgers and tomato slices on pizza. I'm not sure I'll ever sit and eat tomato slices all by themselves, but otherwise, I'm becoming tomato-obsessed. It's too bad our balcony gets so little sunlight during the summer; we can't grow any tomatoes!
:: Oh, and I discovered hummus last week. I had a hummus, tomato, and leaf lettuce sandwich for lunch one day that was amazing.
OK, that's about it for random blathering....
Saturday Centus (Tuesday edition)
OK, with this week's prompt I am officially caught up. Huzzah! And thus it's time for some morbid humor:
This was inspired by an awful song my pastor taught all the young kids at Vacation Bible School, called "Baby Shark". Oh well, at least I got some nice microfiction out of it!Sally was hungry, but Mother wouldn't let her eat yet. Mother said she had a surprise for Sally, something wonderful. And Sally loved surprises, so even though she was hungry, she followed Mother dutifully until they reached their lunch destination. Sally looked at the bounty spread out before her, and gasped in awe."I hope you're still hungry," Mother said."I am!" Sally quivered with excitement. "Mother, may I?""You may!""Hooray!"And with a powerful swish of her tail, Sally the Shark launched herself toward the crowd of surfers. "I'll try one of the pink ones first," she thought.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Answers the Sixth!
Continuing to answers the questions from Ask Me Anything! August 2011 (yeah, I'm going well into September with the answers. At the rate I'm going, I'll still be answering when Ask Me Anything! February 2012 rolls around!).
Anyhoo, as always, Roger has a bunch of good queries.
Do you tend toward melancholy or depression? If so, are you aware of what triggers it? And what do you do to overcome it?
Depression? No. Not that I know of, anyway. Melancholy? Sometimes. Maybe I tend toward melancholy a bit more often than most other folks, but I'm not sure if that's the case. One thing I've learned through the years is that it's really not that easy to know what other people are feeling. It seems that every time I hear about a suicide, some close friend or family member of the person will say something to the effect of "He/she always seemed so happy."
I don't dislike melancholy, per se, but for me, I tend to get into quiet, meditative moods where I'm just thinking about all kinds of stuff. Not particularly deep thoughts, per se, but I do tend to easily get involved in my own thought-world...and one thing I've discovered about myself is that my face, left to its own devices, tends to default to an expression that looks...well, sour, or annoyed, or sad, or miserable, or any similarly negative emotion. I wish I had a nickel for every time someone asked me "Hey, what's wrong?" or "Wow, you look pissed!" when I was not feeling anything remotely like those things.
And that leads me to another thing: the expectation that people have to look happy at all times, or there's something wrong. It's like there's an expectation for people to be grinning all the time. I smile plenty, I laugh a lot, and I'm really not unhappy in general (obviously, the less I think about Republicans, the better). I just don't have a naturally happy looking face, so I have to strive for looking artificially happy. Maybe I should just paint on a clown smile every morning and be done with it!
(Not really. Clowns, for the most part, give me the willies.)
Do you still want to buy a home or has the financial nonsense made you wary?
We want to buy one. For many various reasons, we just can't seem to get our shit together quite to that degree. But I wonder if it's not just a matter of saying, "Oh, hell with it, let's just pull the trigger and get this done." Lots of folks own homes who are financially no better off than we are, and it's not like we're teetering on the brink of destitution here.
I'm not sure we'd really approach home ownership as an investment, anyway. We'd want a place to live, a place where we can grow our own fruits and vegetables, where we can plant trees and have privacy, where we can hook a surround-sound system up to the teevee and watch Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings in massive sound. (Well, maybe that last one's for me, only.)
I think we'll own a home in the next couple of years. I hope, anyway.
Would you appear on The Amazing Race? Another 'reality' show?
Probably not, but if I was to appear on a reality show, TAR would be the one, I think. It just looks like so much fun, traveling the world. I don't think I'd do well on Survivor, and with my luck, I'd manage to get on the show during Boston Rob's next appearance, and nobody would listen to my pleas to vote his ass off the very first time we go to Tribal Council. I think that Big Brother just looks stupid. And while I like to cook and make good food for my family, I am nowhere near good enough of a cook to go on either Hell's Kitchen or Master Chef. But hey, maybe I can find some kind of really nifty antique doodad to take on Pawn Stars!
I know you love your wife, and all that, but [Oh dear! -Ed.]: In your fantasy world (or before you met The Wife), what physical characteristics were you most attracted to?
Oh God, I hope she's not reading this! I've always liked red-heads, but I think every guy likes red-heads, so that's not a big one. Long hair is wonderful, and The Wife had long hair when I met her (and for a number of years after that), but she eventually cut it short (except for another fairly brief period of longer hair in 2007 or thereabouts) because of her restaurant management jobs, which had "restrained and up off the collar" restrictions. Eventually she got sick of having to spend time putting her hair up every day, so she went short. Which is just fine with me, really -- The Wife is beautiful no matter what!
As far as other physical characteristics, well...I'm not much of [God, I hate this term! -Ed.] an ass-man, for what that's worth. And I don't tend to like overly skinny women; flesh makes me happy and curves are awesome.
And a nice smile, of course. The Wife's got me covered there, too -- her smile makes me all kinds of happy.
Is there a question you won't answer, not because of your own sense of privacy, but because of someone else's?
Well, I sure had to be careful with that last one, didn't I! I suppose that there's a galaxy of such questions that I wouldn't answer, all of which deal with my family members. Basically, I'd shy away from any question that doesn't focus on me, since I can then gauge how much of myself I want to reveal (and if I decide to reveal less than I'm asked, I cover that with jokes and verbosity). So yes, I do consider others in phrasing my answers. (Luckily, this is almost never a concern here -- in all the iterations of Ask Me Anything!, I can't recall a single question that actually made me uncomfortable in the answering.)
I'd also note that there are questions that I genuinely expect to get asked every time I do this, and none of those "Hey, will this be the time that X gets asked!" questions has yet to show up!
More to come! Another post or two ought to do it. Great questions, folks!
Anyhoo, as always, Roger has a bunch of good queries.
Do you tend toward melancholy or depression? If so, are you aware of what triggers it? And what do you do to overcome it?
Depression? No. Not that I know of, anyway. Melancholy? Sometimes. Maybe I tend toward melancholy a bit more often than most other folks, but I'm not sure if that's the case. One thing I've learned through the years is that it's really not that easy to know what other people are feeling. It seems that every time I hear about a suicide, some close friend or family member of the person will say something to the effect of "He/she always seemed so happy."
I don't dislike melancholy, per se, but for me, I tend to get into quiet, meditative moods where I'm just thinking about all kinds of stuff. Not particularly deep thoughts, per se, but I do tend to easily get involved in my own thought-world...and one thing I've discovered about myself is that my face, left to its own devices, tends to default to an expression that looks...well, sour, or annoyed, or sad, or miserable, or any similarly negative emotion. I wish I had a nickel for every time someone asked me "Hey, what's wrong?" or "Wow, you look pissed!" when I was not feeling anything remotely like those things.
And that leads me to another thing: the expectation that people have to look happy at all times, or there's something wrong. It's like there's an expectation for people to be grinning all the time. I smile plenty, I laugh a lot, and I'm really not unhappy in general (obviously, the less I think about Republicans, the better). I just don't have a naturally happy looking face, so I have to strive for looking artificially happy. Maybe I should just paint on a clown smile every morning and be done with it!
(Not really. Clowns, for the most part, give me the willies.)
Do you still want to buy a home or has the financial nonsense made you wary?
We want to buy one. For many various reasons, we just can't seem to get our shit together quite to that degree. But I wonder if it's not just a matter of saying, "Oh, hell with it, let's just pull the trigger and get this done." Lots of folks own homes who are financially no better off than we are, and it's not like we're teetering on the brink of destitution here.
I'm not sure we'd really approach home ownership as an investment, anyway. We'd want a place to live, a place where we can grow our own fruits and vegetables, where we can plant trees and have privacy, where we can hook a surround-sound system up to the teevee and watch Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings in massive sound. (Well, maybe that last one's for me, only.)
I think we'll own a home in the next couple of years. I hope, anyway.
Would you appear on The Amazing Race? Another 'reality' show?
Probably not, but if I was to appear on a reality show, TAR would be the one, I think. It just looks like so much fun, traveling the world. I don't think I'd do well on Survivor, and with my luck, I'd manage to get on the show during Boston Rob's next appearance, and nobody would listen to my pleas to vote his ass off the very first time we go to Tribal Council. I think that Big Brother just looks stupid. And while I like to cook and make good food for my family, I am nowhere near good enough of a cook to go on either Hell's Kitchen or Master Chef. But hey, maybe I can find some kind of really nifty antique doodad to take on Pawn Stars!
I know you love your wife, and all that, but [Oh dear! -Ed.]: In your fantasy world (or before you met The Wife), what physical characteristics were you most attracted to?
Oh God, I hope she's not reading this! I've always liked red-heads, but I think every guy likes red-heads, so that's not a big one. Long hair is wonderful, and The Wife had long hair when I met her (and for a number of years after that), but she eventually cut it short (except for another fairly brief period of longer hair in 2007 or thereabouts) because of her restaurant management jobs, which had "restrained and up off the collar" restrictions. Eventually she got sick of having to spend time putting her hair up every day, so she went short. Which is just fine with me, really -- The Wife is beautiful no matter what!
As far as other physical characteristics, well...I'm not much of [God, I hate this term! -Ed.] an ass-man, for what that's worth. And I don't tend to like overly skinny women; flesh makes me happy and curves are awesome.
And a nice smile, of course. The Wife's got me covered there, too -- her smile makes me all kinds of happy.
Is there a question you won't answer, not because of your own sense of privacy, but because of someone else's?
Well, I sure had to be careful with that last one, didn't I! I suppose that there's a galaxy of such questions that I wouldn't answer, all of which deal with my family members. Basically, I'd shy away from any question that doesn't focus on me, since I can then gauge how much of myself I want to reveal (and if I decide to reveal less than I'm asked, I cover that with jokes and verbosity). So yes, I do consider others in phrasing my answers. (Luckily, this is almost never a concern here -- in all the iterations of Ask Me Anything!, I can't recall a single question that actually made me uncomfortable in the answering.)
I'd also note that there are questions that I genuinely expect to get asked every time I do this, and none of those "Hey, will this be the time that X gets asked!" questions has yet to show up!
More to come! Another post or two ought to do it. Great questions, folks!
Bills 41, Chiefs 7
Last season, in keeping with my general liking of pies in faces, I decorated my football posts with this picture every time the Bills lost:
I'll still be using this one this year, but I'll be modifying it whenever the Bills actually win. So, here's to our poor lovely Chiefs fan!
Yeah, it's a bit infantile, but what can I say? We're talking about a sport that has big guys putting on contact gear and slamming into one another at high speeds.
So anyway, what about the Bills' 41-7 dismantling of the Chiefs?
:: After a rough first series or two, Ryan Fitzpatrick settled down nicely, completing 17 of 26 passes for 208 yards and 4 touchdowns. That's a great day. And he spread the wealth around, throwing a TD each to receivers Stevie Johnson and Donald Jones, and the other two to tight end Scott Chandler. Fitzpatrick didn't have any of those "OMG please don't get picked off" throws that he seemed to air out once per game last year, either. This guy is certainly making the most of the opportunity he's getting in Buffalo.
:: And Scott Chandler? A tight end who catches the ball? And whose catches are clutch catches, including multiple scores? We haven't seen that in Buffalo since the days of Pete Metzelaars. It got to the point with him that the Chiefs were devoting lots of attention to him, which allowed other guys to get open. I can't overstate how much I am praying that this is a harbinger of what this guy can do on a regular basis. A good tight end can make so many good things happen for an offense. I've often wondered if quarterbacks like JP Losman and Trent Edwards might have developed differently had they had a decent tight end to dump the ball on and draw attention away from receivers.
:: The defense looked quite a bit more stout today, but it still has some way to go. They certainly showed that they're susceptible to the hurry-up offense.
:: Fred Jackson continues to amaze. He's just a fantastic player. I don't think he ever fails to pick up positive yardage, and there were several plays today where he ran into a pile of Chief defenders and single-handedly pushed the pile back as he forced them to yield a few more yards. What a player. I hope he's got a few years left in him. He's old for a running back in terms of years, but he's only been in the NFL for a couple of years, so in terms of mileage, he's still in his prime.
:: For Bills fans hoping that the team can still finish with the top pick in the draft and get Andrew Luck (assuming his stock doesn't drop due to a bad season), this victory doesn't help. Over the last ten years, the teams that wound up with the top pick averaged just 1.7 wins a season. The Bills are halfway to screwing themselves out of Andrew Luck!
Next week, the Bills open at home against the Raiders, a team which seems to be highly regarded for reasons I don't quite understand. They were 8-8 last year, but it was a very odd 8-8 -- they went 6-0 in their division, but 2-6 outside it. We'll see. Bring 'em on!
I'll still be using this one this year, but I'll be modifying it whenever the Bills actually win. So, here's to our poor lovely Chiefs fan!
So anyway, what about the Bills' 41-7 dismantling of the Chiefs?
:: After a rough first series or two, Ryan Fitzpatrick settled down nicely, completing 17 of 26 passes for 208 yards and 4 touchdowns. That's a great day. And he spread the wealth around, throwing a TD each to receivers Stevie Johnson and Donald Jones, and the other two to tight end Scott Chandler. Fitzpatrick didn't have any of those "OMG please don't get picked off" throws that he seemed to air out once per game last year, either. This guy is certainly making the most of the opportunity he's getting in Buffalo.
:: And Scott Chandler? A tight end who catches the ball? And whose catches are clutch catches, including multiple scores? We haven't seen that in Buffalo since the days of Pete Metzelaars. It got to the point with him that the Chiefs were devoting lots of attention to him, which allowed other guys to get open. I can't overstate how much I am praying that this is a harbinger of what this guy can do on a regular basis. A good tight end can make so many good things happen for an offense. I've often wondered if quarterbacks like JP Losman and Trent Edwards might have developed differently had they had a decent tight end to dump the ball on and draw attention away from receivers.
:: The defense looked quite a bit more stout today, but it still has some way to go. They certainly showed that they're susceptible to the hurry-up offense.
:: Fred Jackson continues to amaze. He's just a fantastic player. I don't think he ever fails to pick up positive yardage, and there were several plays today where he ran into a pile of Chief defenders and single-handedly pushed the pile back as he forced them to yield a few more yards. What a player. I hope he's got a few years left in him. He's old for a running back in terms of years, but he's only been in the NFL for a couple of years, so in terms of mileage, he's still in his prime.
:: For Bills fans hoping that the team can still finish with the top pick in the draft and get Andrew Luck (assuming his stock doesn't drop due to a bad season), this victory doesn't help. Over the last ten years, the teams that wound up with the top pick averaged just 1.7 wins a season. The Bills are halfway to screwing themselves out of Andrew Luck!
Next week, the Bills open at home against the Raiders, a team which seems to be highly regarded for reasons I don't quite understand. They were 8-8 last year, but it was a very odd 8-8 -- they went 6-0 in their division, but 2-6 outside it. We'll see. Bring 'em on!
Saturday Centus: Football Edition!
I'm actually nine days late with this one. I was stumped for quite a while, but then a really goofy idea came to me, and here it is.
Yup...it's football season! And it's time for my general rundown of thoughts on the season that just launched yesterday (actually last Thursday, but there it is).
How good will the Buffalo Bills be? Well, they won't be all that great. But I don't think they'll be a train wreck either, unless injuries rip giant holes in their offensive line. (This is, sadly, not beyond the realm of possibility.) I expect better defense and, as long as everybody stays healthy, an offense that will be better than most expect. I look at this team and frankly I see, with an average amount of good luck, a 7-9 team. And while 7-9 is annoyingly similar to what we've seen from the Bills most years of late, in this case 7-9 would be an improvement. We'll see what happens.
The Bills dumped some salaries in the offseason, by doing things like trading Lee Evans to the Ravens for a 4th-round pick next year and by not resigning free agents like Paul Poszluzny (no idea how to spell that) and Donte Whitner. Interestingly, every player the Bills let go is one who has been generally ripped for being overrated at best while they were here, but now that they're gone, fans are taking the opposite tack, ripping the Bills for dumping salary! My simple response is, "How badly are the Bills likely to miss these guys?" If the answer is "Not very badly", then I'm thinking, "Then let 'em go." The Bills seem to have stopped throwing money at average players, which is good. Right now it leaves them with an awful lot of cap room, but so what? Now they can figure out which of their young guys they want to sign to long-term deals and have the room to do it.
Fans and media also ripped the Bills for not signing more than a couple free agents, none of whom are really marquee players. Again I say, So what? Everyone agrees that the Bills are lacking in talent across the board and need to really hit on a number of draft picks in order to build a nucleus of winning talent for the future. That being the case, it makes sense not to throw money at free agents on a team that's unlikely to win much to begin with. That's been the Wsahington Redskins approach, and it has not produced good results down there. I don't want to do that here, either.
So anyway: with a total "best-case" scenario, I can see the Bills eking out a 9-7 record, but "total best-case" scenarios obviously never happen. I'm thinking they'll be in the 6-10 or 7-9 range. We'll see.
I won't bother predicting the rest of the divisions, but I will make a Super Bowl pick: Packers over Ravens. I think the Ravens are ready to step forward and knock off the Steelers, who will likely have a down year (for them, anyway). And I think that the Packers are the best-equipped-to-repeat team I've seen since the 2004 Patriots.
Other random predictions:
:: Assuming Andrew Luck doesn't have a crappy season that doesn't send his draft stock into freefall, I expect him to end up either in Cincinnati or Washington.
:: I don't think that Peyton Manning has more than two years left.
:: I would not be at all surprised to see Tom Brady start to show signs of physical decline this year. (This would, of course, make me happy.) I would also say that if St. Tom the Overrated is to ever win another ring, it has to be this year. If he doesn't win his fourth ring this year, he won't win it ever.
:: I am not nearly as sold on the Jets as everybody else is. Mark Sanchez doesn't impress me all that much.
:: Nor am I convinced that the Eagles are going to be great, although I do think they'll win that division.
:: The Bills will conform to their usual pattern versus the Patriots: they'll play them close but lose the first one, and get their arses kicked in the second one. Oh well.
That's about it. Let there be football!
"Hey, Joe!""Frank! Hey Tom, this is Frank. New on our floor, so I invited him to watch the game.""Fine," said Tom. "Come on in. Chips and snacks on the table, beer in the cooler and fridge. Pizza's almost ready."Tom went to the kitchen."He made pizza?""Yeah, well, don't get excited. He makes pizza depending on how good he thinks the team is."Tom came back in, pizza in hand. Frank looked at it."What kind of a pizza is this?!" he said."Peanut butter and anchovy," Tom said."Gonna be a long season?" Frank asked."Yup," said Tom and Joe.
Yup...it's football season! And it's time for my general rundown of thoughts on the season that just launched yesterday (actually last Thursday, but there it is).
How good will the Buffalo Bills be? Well, they won't be all that great. But I don't think they'll be a train wreck either, unless injuries rip giant holes in their offensive line. (This is, sadly, not beyond the realm of possibility.) I expect better defense and, as long as everybody stays healthy, an offense that will be better than most expect. I look at this team and frankly I see, with an average amount of good luck, a 7-9 team. And while 7-9 is annoyingly similar to what we've seen from the Bills most years of late, in this case 7-9 would be an improvement. We'll see what happens.
The Bills dumped some salaries in the offseason, by doing things like trading Lee Evans to the Ravens for a 4th-round pick next year and by not resigning free agents like Paul Poszluzny (no idea how to spell that) and Donte Whitner. Interestingly, every player the Bills let go is one who has been generally ripped for being overrated at best while they were here, but now that they're gone, fans are taking the opposite tack, ripping the Bills for dumping salary! My simple response is, "How badly are the Bills likely to miss these guys?" If the answer is "Not very badly", then I'm thinking, "Then let 'em go." The Bills seem to have stopped throwing money at average players, which is good. Right now it leaves them with an awful lot of cap room, but so what? Now they can figure out which of their young guys they want to sign to long-term deals and have the room to do it.
Fans and media also ripped the Bills for not signing more than a couple free agents, none of whom are really marquee players. Again I say, So what? Everyone agrees that the Bills are lacking in talent across the board and need to really hit on a number of draft picks in order to build a nucleus of winning talent for the future. That being the case, it makes sense not to throw money at free agents on a team that's unlikely to win much to begin with. That's been the Wsahington Redskins approach, and it has not produced good results down there. I don't want to do that here, either.
So anyway: with a total "best-case" scenario, I can see the Bills eking out a 9-7 record, but "total best-case" scenarios obviously never happen. I'm thinking they'll be in the 6-10 or 7-9 range. We'll see.
I won't bother predicting the rest of the divisions, but I will make a Super Bowl pick: Packers over Ravens. I think the Ravens are ready to step forward and knock off the Steelers, who will likely have a down year (for them, anyway). And I think that the Packers are the best-equipped-to-repeat team I've seen since the 2004 Patriots.
Other random predictions:
:: Assuming Andrew Luck doesn't have a crappy season that doesn't send his draft stock into freefall, I expect him to end up either in Cincinnati or Washington.
:: I don't think that Peyton Manning has more than two years left.
:: I would not be at all surprised to see Tom Brady start to show signs of physical decline this year. (This would, of course, make me happy.) I would also say that if St. Tom the Overrated is to ever win another ring, it has to be this year. If he doesn't win his fourth ring this year, he won't win it ever.
:: I am not nearly as sold on the Jets as everybody else is. Mark Sanchez doesn't impress me all that much.
:: Nor am I convinced that the Eagles are going to be great, although I do think they'll win that division.
:: The Bills will conform to their usual pattern versus the Patriots: they'll play them close but lose the first one, and get their arses kicked in the second one. Oh well.
That's about it. Let there be football!
Sentential Links #260
Linkage!
:: If you do Niagara Falls, you HAVE to do the Maid of the Mist. I think it's the law; maybe it's in the Constitution. (I've never done the Maid of the Mist! Oh noes!)
:: “Governor, what myth does the Superman story retell? I’ll give you a hint: his adopted human parents also had the initials J and M.”
:: It's not the jeans or tee shirt that bothers me, it's the terrible execution with which Superman is drawn. It's unpleasant to look at.
:: This is a really great comic in all respects, except that the Blue Jeans Superman costume is stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. Every time I see it in a panel I am reminded that I am reading a Superman comic where Superman is dressed like a dork. (Ooooh, dueling impressions of the same comic book! Cool!)
:: Now, I'm a single guy -- I know, I know, "You're single? A guy who spends a lot of his time writing about Funky Winkerbean? We are thoroughly shocked!" -- but even I know that maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't preface your marriage proposal by continuing to talk constantly about your dead first wife. (I am such a sucker for Funky Winkerbean mockery!)
:: Wonder Woman vs Sea Monsters is an entirely appropriate ascendant sign for me. If there was anything that combated my interest in exciting adventure fiction as a kid, it was pretty, strong-willed girls. Other than the girls becoming women, not much has changed since then.
:: Strange. The things that remain.
More next week!
:: If you do Niagara Falls, you HAVE to do the Maid of the Mist. I think it's the law; maybe it's in the Constitution. (I've never done the Maid of the Mist! Oh noes!)
:: “Governor, what myth does the Superman story retell? I’ll give you a hint: his adopted human parents also had the initials J and M.”
:: It's not the jeans or tee shirt that bothers me, it's the terrible execution with which Superman is drawn. It's unpleasant to look at.
:: This is a really great comic in all respects, except that the Blue Jeans Superman costume is stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. Every time I see it in a panel I am reminded that I am reading a Superman comic where Superman is dressed like a dork. (Ooooh, dueling impressions of the same comic book! Cool!)
:: Now, I'm a single guy -- I know, I know, "You're single? A guy who spends a lot of his time writing about Funky Winkerbean? We are thoroughly shocked!" -- but even I know that maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't preface your marriage proposal by continuing to talk constantly about your dead first wife. (I am such a sucker for Funky Winkerbean mockery!)
:: Wonder Woman vs Sea Monsters is an entirely appropriate ascendant sign for me. If there was anything that combated my interest in exciting adventure fiction as a kid, it was pretty, strong-willed girls. Other than the girls becoming women, not much has changed since then.
:: Strange. The things that remain.
More next week!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
"The City of Dead Works" (an annual repost)
I re-post this every year on this date. It is the first piece of fiction I wrote after 9-11-01.
There is never any rest for me, the Ferryman of the Dead.
I pole my barge across the black waters and up to the pier. So many wait this time, many more than usual. I wonder what has happened, what event has sent me this many. "Come aboard," I say. "I will take your coin for passage." One by one they file past me, each handing to me the coin that they never knew they had. It is the coin which determines where they shall be taken to rest, its metal shaped and determined by life. The coins of these dead are gold, every one of them purest gold. Six thousand come aboard my barge, and each has passage for the farthest and greatest of destinations. In that moment I know that something truly dark has happened; the gold coins are always forged in moments of darkness. I am the Ferryman. I can give them no answers to what lies behind their haunted, questioning eyes. I can only take them on this, the last of all journeys.
When they are all aboard I take up the pole and push away from the pier. The barge always feels the same, no matter how many stand upon its decks. Whether six or six thousand, it is all the same to me. I guide us out onto the River Styx. Some of the people look worried, but there is no need for fear. This river can do them no harm. They are already dead.
This is to be a long journey, I know – it always is, to this destination. As I guide the barge through the black waters, I look on the faces of those who have come to me. As different as these people all look, they all have the same expressions of shock, disbelief, and withering sadness. Here is a man of business, talking into a cell phone. He is trying to call someone, anyone, who will tell him that it’s all a dream, that it didn’t happen, that he didn’t die in a blast of fire, smoke, glass and steel. There is a mother who is explaining to her daughter that they won’t be going to Disneyland after all. And there, a group of firemen stand together, realizing that soon they will meet all their brothers-in-arms who have gone into the infernos before them. So many now – colleagues once in business and now colleagues in death, people who have never before met but now have the gravest thing in common. As the current takes hold, I look back at the pier. There are more gathering there. There are always more. They will wait. Time does not exist for the dead.
"Please," a young man says as he turns to me, "I have to go home to my daughters."
"You are going home now," I reply. "To the home where all eventually return." Two black rocks slide past on either side, the rocks that mark the passage of the circling Styx.
"This can’t be," a woman cries out. "My mother needs me."
"She will be with you soon enough."
"When?" Her voice pleads, and yet there is no solace that is mine to give.
"I cannot say," I reply. "The Ferryman has no hand in Fate."
The tears come then, tears from the six thousand that run over the gunwales and into the river which has been fed by tears for centuries. All tears are born in the River Styx.
"Where will you take us?" someone asks.
"To the place you are promised," I answer. I recall the words of a poet: Will there be beds for all who seek? Yea, beds for all who come.
One our left we approach the Hills of the Damned, an endless stretch of shattered lands which reach away into the blackness. The waters echo with the cries of all those who have been taken to the Hills for the agony they have brought on the living. I consider the bag of six thousand gold coins, and I realize that I will have to journey to the Hills this day. There will be a person, perhaps more, who will pay me with a coin of black tin; but not on this journey. As the hills recede behind us, the unending cries of the damned become fainter and fainter until they are drowned out by the lapping of the waters upon the sides of the boat and the marker stones that we pass. The six thousand fall silent, each realizing that it is not a dream. I would offer solace, but as ever I cannot. I am the Ferryman.
We come around a particularly dark bend, and before us lies a very wide expanse of water, as if the Styx has become an ocean – which in some sense it probably has. And beyond that expanse are the thousands of twinkling lights that I have come to know so well. One man, a fireman, sees them too. "What is that?" he asks.
"It is the City of Dead Works," I reply. The lights of the city glow on the horizon, and every one of the six thousand turns toward them as the Styx impels us onward. As we come ever closer to the city, the glittering lights reflect off the black water.
"I don’t understand," someone else says. "The City of Dead Works?"
"Aye," I reply. "Behold!"
From behind us, golden light: the Sun of the Dead is rising as it always does when the dead come near the City. Above us the firmament is turning purple, then blue; soon the light of the Sun will illuminate the City of Dead Works. As the sky lightens, the true scope of that city becomes plain: it stretches away into the land, farther than any eye could see. Not even the highest-soaring raven, cavorting in the breezes and zephyrs of the dead, could take it all in. It is bigger by far than any one city ever built by the hand of men, because it encompasses some part of all of them. Perhaps it is bigger than all of the cities ever built. Now the sun’s first rays come up behind us, and the first buildings can be seen down by the water.
"That one looks Egyptian," a woman says.
"The Great Library of Alexandria," I tell her. "Once the greatest repository of learning the world had ever seen, now only a memory to the living and a reality only to the dead."
A man points to a building high upon a rock. I nod.
"The Temple of Solomon," I say.
"There are ships in the harbor," says another. Thus for him I name the ships: Arizona, Indianapolis, Lusitania, Bismarck, Wilhelm Gustloff, Cap Arcona. And many, many others. I scan over the impossibly vast city and spot Dresden, as it was; and beside it the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And how many smaller villages, tucked into the hills beyond the City? None can say. The Sun of the Dead shines upon those hills now, and the great stone statues in the likeness of Siddhartha Gautama.
"I don’t understand," a young man says. "Why this City? Why here?"
I only shake my head as we continue to float by the City. I do not point out the fairly small, nondescript office building that sits near the water. It is not a particularly remarkable building; nor was it, really, until the fuse was lit. The six thousand almost don’t recognize it.
Almost.
Not one word is uttered as we slide past the Alfred Murrah Federal Building. Then we turn away from the City of Dead Works, and head again down the waters of the Styx toward distant hills and the place where these people will join their brethren.
"Who lives in that city?" It is a priest in a fireman’s coat.
"No one lives there," I tell him. "The City of Dead Works is not for people. It is for the buildings and the ships. It is for the books and the music, the sculptures and the paintings which are gone forever. It is for everything destroyed by craven people in the name of foolish wars, for everything judged forfeit in the face of transitory desires."
The Styx takes us into the Golden Hills. Soon we will be there, and the six thousand will go where they belong. And then the Styx will complete its circle, taking me back to the pier where more dead await.
"We will be there soon," I say. "Soon we will be at the Elysian Fields, where all heroes go – for that is what you all are. It is what you have bought with your lives, with the shaping of your coins into gold." No one replies. We near the last bend now, and before us lie the Elysian Fields, where peace reigns and where heroes dwell; where all is light and voices are always raised in song. The Sun of the Dead shines warmly on Elysium.
But they do not see it. They, the six thousand, all gaze back behind us upon the City of Dead Works. It will soon be behind us forever as we round the last bend of the River Styx into Elysium. I know they all need one last look upon that City, and I do not grudge them that. For myself, I do not look back; the eyes of the Ferryman are ever forward. But I know. I know that the City of Dead Works is different now. I know that it has changed. I know that the people who come with me now to Elysium, the dead around me, look back on the two soaring towers of steel that now rise above the City where there had been no towers before.
I know these things.
I am the Ferryman of the Dead.
"There was a time when it all went wrong...."
Ten years ago this morning, I was driving to work. My job was in a telesales office for a pharmaceutical distributor. I liked the people in the office immensely, and for what it was, the job was about as good as it could have been; I probably should have realized a lot sooner -- say, before I was fired after a year and a half -- that I'm just not temperamentally suited to sitting at a desk and talking on the phone all day.
But anyway, on that day, I got in the car, turned on the radio, and started driving. I was listening to NPR, and they had broken in to discuss something that had happened fifteen or twenty minutes earlier: an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Details were sketchy at that point, and my first thoughts were "Wow, what is it with that building's bad luck!", remembering the bombing in the parking garage eight years earlier, and that it had to be some twit in a little Cessna or something. It took a while before I realized that it was a passenger jet, which was appalling enough.
Minutes later, the second plane hit, and the already sickened feeling I'd had over a massive calamity already unfolding doubled, not just at the scope of the calamity (two buildings burning now, with no way to stop it), but at the nature of it. Two planes couldn't be pilot error, faulty flight data, or mechanical failure in the worst possible airspace to fail in. By the time I was walking into the office, I knew that my country was under attack.
Everyone already had the radio on, and we stood around, listening in stunned silence. The last guy to arrive at work that day, the guy with the longest drive, walked in five minutes later, and saw everybody standing around; he shot me a puzzled look, so I beckoned him over and told him what had happened. He'd been listening to CDs in the car, had no idea.
Over the next two hours, the news coming over the radio was chaotic, filled with half-reports urgently read by newscasters who said things that later turned out to be false. There was a car bomb that exploded outside the State Department. A passenger jet had been shot down. There were unconfirmed reports of many more missing flights. The President's whereabouts were unknown. And then, a plane had crashed into the Pentagon. That one, alas, was all too true. So were the unconfirmed reports of a plane that had gone down -- nobody was yet sure why -- in rural Pennsylvania. And, about an hour and a half into our work day, a horrified announcer saying, "One of the twin towers has just collapsed."
We made our sales calls that day, but nobody was really much into it. The woman at the desk next to me was a very talkative type, and she spent the day calling her regular customers just to commiserate on the shocking events. We had no teevee in the office, so the radio was all we had. Another co-worker actually went out to lunch with one of her most reliable customers that day, and she came back from Applebee's looking deeply shaken. She'd seen the footage that the rest of us wouldn't see until 6:00 that night.
I took the next week off. We'd scheduled a trip out to Iowa to visit the Wife's extended family. Our paychecks, though, were delivered via FedEx from the home office in Baltimore, so when all air traffic was grounded for days after the attacks, our checks were stuck in Baltimore. My office supervisor came through for me, taking money from her personal savings to pay me the amount of my paycheck. What I remember most from those days after the attacks was looking up and seeing no contrails in the sky.
A lot of my liberal brethren have criticized President Bush's response in those first days after the attacks, from his sitting in the classroom for a few minutes to his flying to Strategic Air Command instead of returning to Washington immediately. I never had a problem with any of the things he did in those first weeks, though, and in all honesty, I think he handled it all as well as a President could have. I found his speeches -- particularly the one before Congress -- masterful. I don't have any illusions about the bipartisanship that briefly came out of 9-11-01; such things cannot last, and I'm not one to sing the praises of bipartisanship much anyway. I tend to think that partisanship is a good thing, because it's through disagreement that constructive conflict can arise. And in any event, what I wish had been sustainable wasn't so much the "bipartisanship", which tends to mean "everybody agreeing on the same policy", but rather that sense of collective Americanism that was too short-lived. "We may disagree, but we are still Americans." I wish we'd kept that spirit, somehow. But again, I don't think we could have.
We hear a lot about how we can "never forget 9-11". It won't be forgotten, but it won't remain vital in our memory, either. It won't, because it can't. It's how things work. The Daughter was just over 2 years old when it happened; she has no active memories of that day, and for her it will always be something somebody told her about. For her, 9-11-01 is history in very much the same way that 11-22-1963 or 12-7-1941 are history for me. Over time, tangible connections to that day will be lost, until all that will remain are chronicles of what happened, and historians will continue to debate why, and what came after. Time and history are relentless. They always have been, and always will be.
Here is a video I made yesterday, using images of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and that field in Pennsylvania, from before, during, and after the attacks. The music here is a piece that has been deeply personal to me since I performed it, as a member of the Wartburg College Concert Band, during my freshman year. It is also the first piece of music I was able to listen to after the attacks.
Those of us who were alive can, and must, remember. Those who come after? Theirs is to hold and honor the history of one of America's wickedest days.
But anyway, on that day, I got in the car, turned on the radio, and started driving. I was listening to NPR, and they had broken in to discuss something that had happened fifteen or twenty minutes earlier: an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Details were sketchy at that point, and my first thoughts were "Wow, what is it with that building's bad luck!", remembering the bombing in the parking garage eight years earlier, and that it had to be some twit in a little Cessna or something. It took a while before I realized that it was a passenger jet, which was appalling enough.
Minutes later, the second plane hit, and the already sickened feeling I'd had over a massive calamity already unfolding doubled, not just at the scope of the calamity (two buildings burning now, with no way to stop it), but at the nature of it. Two planes couldn't be pilot error, faulty flight data, or mechanical failure in the worst possible airspace to fail in. By the time I was walking into the office, I knew that my country was under attack.
Everyone already had the radio on, and we stood around, listening in stunned silence. The last guy to arrive at work that day, the guy with the longest drive, walked in five minutes later, and saw everybody standing around; he shot me a puzzled look, so I beckoned him over and told him what had happened. He'd been listening to CDs in the car, had no idea.
Over the next two hours, the news coming over the radio was chaotic, filled with half-reports urgently read by newscasters who said things that later turned out to be false. There was a car bomb that exploded outside the State Department. A passenger jet had been shot down. There were unconfirmed reports of many more missing flights. The President's whereabouts were unknown. And then, a plane had crashed into the Pentagon. That one, alas, was all too true. So were the unconfirmed reports of a plane that had gone down -- nobody was yet sure why -- in rural Pennsylvania. And, about an hour and a half into our work day, a horrified announcer saying, "One of the twin towers has just collapsed."
We made our sales calls that day, but nobody was really much into it. The woman at the desk next to me was a very talkative type, and she spent the day calling her regular customers just to commiserate on the shocking events. We had no teevee in the office, so the radio was all we had. Another co-worker actually went out to lunch with one of her most reliable customers that day, and she came back from Applebee's looking deeply shaken. She'd seen the footage that the rest of us wouldn't see until 6:00 that night.
I took the next week off. We'd scheduled a trip out to Iowa to visit the Wife's extended family. Our paychecks, though, were delivered via FedEx from the home office in Baltimore, so when all air traffic was grounded for days after the attacks, our checks were stuck in Baltimore. My office supervisor came through for me, taking money from her personal savings to pay me the amount of my paycheck. What I remember most from those days after the attacks was looking up and seeing no contrails in the sky.
A lot of my liberal brethren have criticized President Bush's response in those first days after the attacks, from his sitting in the classroom for a few minutes to his flying to Strategic Air Command instead of returning to Washington immediately. I never had a problem with any of the things he did in those first weeks, though, and in all honesty, I think he handled it all as well as a President could have. I found his speeches -- particularly the one before Congress -- masterful. I don't have any illusions about the bipartisanship that briefly came out of 9-11-01; such things cannot last, and I'm not one to sing the praises of bipartisanship much anyway. I tend to think that partisanship is a good thing, because it's through disagreement that constructive conflict can arise. And in any event, what I wish had been sustainable wasn't so much the "bipartisanship", which tends to mean "everybody agreeing on the same policy", but rather that sense of collective Americanism that was too short-lived. "We may disagree, but we are still Americans." I wish we'd kept that spirit, somehow. But again, I don't think we could have.
We hear a lot about how we can "never forget 9-11". It won't be forgotten, but it won't remain vital in our memory, either. It won't, because it can't. It's how things work. The Daughter was just over 2 years old when it happened; she has no active memories of that day, and for her it will always be something somebody told her about. For her, 9-11-01 is history in very much the same way that 11-22-1963 or 12-7-1941 are history for me. Over time, tangible connections to that day will be lost, until all that will remain are chronicles of what happened, and historians will continue to debate why, and what came after. Time and history are relentless. They always have been, and always will be.
Here is a video I made yesterday, using images of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and that field in Pennsylvania, from before, during, and after the attacks. The music here is a piece that has been deeply personal to me since I performed it, as a member of the Wartburg College Concert Band, during my freshman year. It is also the first piece of music I was able to listen to after the attacks.
Those of us who were alive can, and must, remember. Those who come after? Theirs is to hold and honor the history of one of America's wickedest days.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
A tale.
"Who's that guy?"
"Oh, him? He's amazing. You wouldn't believe the stuff he does."
"Like what?"
"Well, he's enormously wealthy because of something he invented. But he doesn't keep any of the money. He gives every penny of it to charity. And he spends all of his free time reading to the blind, rescuing stray dogs and cats, and he invites homeless people into his home so he can feed them and give them a shower so they can be clean-cut when they look for a job."
"Wow, what a great guy! And all that from one invention?"
"Yup."
"What's the invention?"
"Clamshell packaging."
[beat]
"Yeah, f*** that guy."
"I know, right?"
"Oh, him? He's amazing. You wouldn't believe the stuff he does."
"Like what?"
"Well, he's enormously wealthy because of something he invented. But he doesn't keep any of the money. He gives every penny of it to charity. And he spends all of his free time reading to the blind, rescuing stray dogs and cats, and he invites homeless people into his home so he can feed them and give them a shower so they can be clean-cut when they look for a job."
"Wow, what a great guy! And all that from one invention?"
"Yup."
"What's the invention?"
"Clamshell packaging."
[beat]
"Yeah, f*** that guy."
"I know, right?"
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
A Random Wednesday Conversation Starter
Describe your preferred method of eating ice cream, or your ideal ice cream-related dish. Use lots of adjectives.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Is the space opera over when the fat alien lady sings?
How do we get it back? I have no idea, unfortunately. This is because I'm just not sure where the love of space opera initially came from. Space opera was a staple in science fiction well before rocket launches became commonplace, but did space opera as a serious going concern in mass entertainment really exist much before Star Trek or Star Wars? I'm not sure they did. I'm just glad that space opera continues to be big in SF books.Two depressing facts became apparent the other day: 1) NASA is so desperate to get people excited about space travel, they were willing to consider collaborating on the horror mockumentary Apollo 18. 2) The fall 2011 season is the first time there's been no TV show, on any network, featuring people on spaceships, since probably the mid-1980s.What's happened to us? We haven't just lost our space shuttle program, we've lost our zest for space adventure altogether, at least in TV and movies. How can we get our love for space opera back?
I suspect a number of factors, not the least of which is our fairly lame space program right now. But manned space travel isn't going to stop, and if private outfits like the SpaceShipX people or that crazy Virgin guy who likes to spend huge amounts of money on stuff (like spaceships) make headway, I think we may see a resurgence of interest. I remember that line in Apollo 13: "You guys have made going to the Moon about as exciting as a trip to Pittsburgh."
Now, I actually like Pittsburgh and taking trips there, but that's beside the point. One big reason that the space program hasn't done much for firing imaginations over the last batch of years is that the ships haven't been going anyplace new. The spaceships keep going to Low Earth Orbit, and the pictures they send back all look the same. The planet's always the same size, the astronauts floating in zero-grav look the same, it's all the same. Anything new is coming from the robots. Which is fine...it's great, actually...but every time a robot goes someplace new and sends back gigabytes upon gigabytes of fascinating information, it can't help but psychologically pose the question, "Why do we need spaceships at all?"
And without any real reason for people to be there, there's no real reason to tell stories about them, is there?
Another part of the problem is that imaginative storytelling in filmed entertainment seems to be the exclusive province of Fantasy these days, which again is fine, but for every fantasy flick that gets made and becomes a hit, that's a SF movie that's not getting made. Even the resurgence of interest in Star Wars, over the course of the Prequel trilogy, wasn't enough to lead to a Space Opera rebirth in film, because (a) reaction to the Prequels was mixed and (b) folks are starting to see Star Wars as mainly fantasy, anyway.
It seems to me that there is also the Hollywood "copycat" syndrome to blame for all of this. Starting in the late 1990s, the Harry Potter books exploded onto the scene, which then, in 2001, showed up as successful movies. At the same time, The Lord of the Rings arrived onscreen, and the success of both these high quality franchises really primed the fantasy pump. At the same time, the superhero movie became big doings, with Spiderman finally reaching the big screen and Batman returning. I think a part of space opera's fade in Hollywood is partly just because some other stuff came along.
Will space opera come back in a big way? Maybe, maybe not. I don't think it'll ever be gone forever, though, from filmed entertainment. And there's a big bright side here, as well: we know that Hollywood is increasingly unwilling to come up with ideas of its own. Well, when they do want to tackle space opera again, they will find a lot of space opera books waiting to be optioned and turned into movies. What will goose Hollywood into getting back in the space opera mood, however? That, unfortunately, is something I'm not sure of. It might take a space opera equivalent of Harry Potter to do it. Therefore, someone needs to write that. I wonder who might be crazy enough to give that mission a whirl....
Anyway, I don't have any major answers here...but the article is interesting. Check it out, those of you with any passing interest in SF in general or space opera in particular.
"No fate but what we make"
I hadn't watched Terminator 2: Judgment Day in quite a long time, so I picked it up from the library and gave it a whirl. I've only seen the first two Terminator flicks, but I've long counted them among my favorite sci-fi action thrillers, and watching T2 again does nothing to make me think otherwise. This is, simply, a very finely made film.
I discovered a "Special Edition" on the DVD, which I assumed included extra footage. I'm always a sucker for those kinds of things, so that's the version I watched. The additional footage is, altogether, under ten minutes of total screentime. None of it is really essential, but for the most part, the new footage does add some texture and character moments to the movie.
Here are some random thoughts on Terminator 2:
:: I've always wished that the film's publicity campaign had not been so overt about Robert Patrick's T-1000 being the main villain. I remember zero effort being made during the film's original release to conceal this, which is a shame, because the film is clearly constructed to keep you guessing during the first half hour or so. We know that two individuals have been sent back in time, one to kill John Connor and another to protect him. Having seen the original, we'd naturally expect that the one that looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger is the one trying to kill John, so it would come as a surprise when, in the mall scene where the two meet, it turns out that the Schwarzenegger Terminator is actually here to protect John this time.
No such luck, though; the publicity campaign had the T-1000 as the bad guy and the Terminator as the good guy this time out. Oh well.
:: Additional scenes that work well include a reveal that Sarah Connor has been having her "nuclear holocaust" dream repeatedly, at the asylum. We see the dream, right up to the blast, and Connor tells the psychiatrist that the dream is the same every night. This implies that later on in the film, when we see the nuclear holocaust itself, it's also the first time that Sarah Connor is seeing it. Pretty powerful. (This is still one of the most effective "nuclear destruction" sequences ever filmed.)
:: There's another scene where John and Sarah remove the brain chip from the Terminator, and Sarah goes to smash it with a mallet, but John stops her, saying, "If I'm growing up to be a great military leader, then maybe you should listen to my ideas once in a while". The extended bits flesh out the troubled relationship John has had with his mother.
:: That said, there's a goofy scene that has John trying to teach the Terminator to smile. This probably should have remained in someone's archives.
:: T2 originally had a more upbeat ending, with Sarah Connor sitting on a park bench in Washington while John went off to Congress, or something like that. I'm glad that the special edition doesn't restore that ending, choosing instead to keep the ambiguous and haunting final scene of Sarah's narration over the footage of a highway at night speeding by.
:: I'm of mixed mind on Brad Fidel's music. On the one hand, the main theme is pretty iconic and mechanical-sounding. And the growling motif that we hear every time the T-1000 shows up is great stuff. But a lot of the underscore, especially in the action sequences, is just adequate.
:: Boy, is Dr. Dyson's family in for a rough time, huh? Their husband and father is dead, and he's involved in a plot to destroy Cyberdyne Systems. Ouch.
:: T2 is a great example of why pacing and length are not always dependent qualities. T2 is not a short movie -- it's around two-and-a-half hours -- but it is so well paced and so well constructed that there really aren't any spots where it feels as though it's lagging. James Cameron really is one of the best at keeping things going, even over a fairly long haul.
I guess the next thing to do would be to watch Terminator 3, but...I don't know. Anybody seen it? Is it worth the time?
Monday, September 05, 2011
Still testing....
Wow, I'm having to do a lot of testing in Blogger's new interface. Yeesh.
(BTW, for those using the new interface, adding links is easier if you just type your link text into the post, and then highlight that text and click the "Link" button above. The interface will automatically copy the highlighted text into the Link creation dialog box.)
(BTW, for those using the new interface, adding links is easier if you just type your link text into the post, and then highlight that text and click the "Link" button above. The interface will automatically copy the highlighted text into the Link creation dialog box.)
Cool air arrives, HUZZAH!!!
August was typically wonderful, as August usually is; it's by far my favorite of the summer months, being packed with our favorite summer activities and also generally less hot and less humid than July. But even so, I am always grateful when September finally rolls round, because that's when things usually start cooling off a bit more.
Of course, this particular September started off with some abnormally hot weather, but that's OK, since it was a matter of time before it broke, and break it did with today's high temperatures only in the 60s. Which means, after several months in shorts, overalls weather has returned! Let there be dancing in the streets and wearing of the bibs!!
(Yeah, I'm odd. Bite me.)
Answers, the fifth!
No, I haven't forgotten about Ask Me Anything! August 2011. In fact, I'm going to give some more answers now!
:: A reader e-mails: When you were high school, did you ever play a prank on anyone. Or Streak?
Well, as for the latter...no. God, no. No no a thousand times no. I mean, really -- nobody wants to see that, right?
As for pranks in general, not a whole lot. I attempted here and there, but what was weird is that a lot of times people would prank me, but when I turned around and pranked them, you'd think I had thrown tomato sauce on the Pope's robes or something. Sometimes these same kids who loved to prank me would rat me out to teachers if I pranked them, which got kind of old. It was odd...so in general, my pranking never really went beyond hiding people's stuff when they weren't looking. Lame, I know, but I wasn't all that great at this kind of thing. A dull answer, I know!
Glenn asks: Once upon a time America chose to do great things, such as go to the moon. Today we live in a country that has chosen to give up the ability to send people into space. Do you believe that you will see a human on another celestial body in your lifetime? If so, where will that human come from?
I honestly don't know what I think about the human future anymore. Most times I can get myself optimistic, because we usually end up progressing almost despite ourselves, don't we? Who knows what's going to happen in the future to make life better. At least, that's what I keep telling myself in my darker moments -- which have been coming more frequently of late -- when I become almost convinced that my country's priorities and values are forever dooming us to decline.
I still believe that humanity will go to the planets, and maybe even one day to the stars. Will it be Americans? I increasingly doubt it. I'm suspecting China or India will lead the way, and that the US will be the Portugal of space exploration.
Martine asks: What is the meaning of life?
Wow. Now there's a tough question. Do I give it a smart-alecky answer, or do I try to give a genuine answer? Or maybe some combination of each?
Ultimately, I think that life is inherently meaningless, except for whatever meaning we create for it ourselves, out of our values, our principles, the things we choose to do and the things we choose to leave to be done by others. We create meaning by the things we care about, the pursuits we follow. Meaning is a human creation, a human notion...and I don't think that devalues the notion of life having meaning at all.
The problem with this is, of course, that there is an awful disparity amongst our species, in the varying degrees of power individuals have to bring meaning to their lives. For many, 'meaning' basically boils down to little more than survivalism, and I find that deeply saddening. I am also disturbed that for many in positions of power, their concept of meaning depends heavily on assuming that the lives of many others are, for all intents and purposes, meaningless.
So I think that we create the meaning in our lives, but I also think that we are not all-powerful when it comes to creating the meaning in our lives. If that makes sense. I'm not sure that it does.
OK, more answers to come!
Sentential Links #259
Linkage:
:: My first reaction was, What, are they nuts?
:: The evidence, as far as the limitations of the experiment go (that’s important, see below), do not show any effect of cosmic rays on global warming, and say nothing at all about the effect humans are having on the environment.
:: So, on what would have been Billy Preston’s 65th birthday, I’m making a pitch for him to make it into the rock hall as a session musician.
:: Disclaimer: If you don't shave your face or head, this post may not interest you. (Obviously, I have no practical interest in shaving cream, but it's interesting to hear about the concerns of those who do, so....)
:: Also, why were her armpits shaved? I realize I am obsessed with body hair, I have mentioned it before (if you’re a tiresome TMI-type, then consider yourself warned). In the midst of end-of-the-world survival, you … what … take the time to scrape your pits with the rusty edge of a garbage can? You have razors on board? Clearly I was not even focusing on the plot, so obsessed was I with her necklace and perfectly smooth armpits in the middle of an apocalyptic universe. (Heh...this particular movie had an awful lot of potential, story-wise, that went completely wasted for many reasons...and I, of course, didn't notice the shaved-armpit thing. And just like that, I have two shaving-related links in Sentential Links. That must be a first...but I'm not going back to make sure.)
:: Governor Cuomo’s first year in office has been marked by pragmatic success and (except for same-sex marriage legalization) low-drama victories: an on-time budget that left taxes unraised, slashed government workforce, slow balanced approach to hydrofracking and generally competent governance that has left Republicans and Democrats mostly satisfied. The aftermath of Hurricane Irene will test his emergency operation chops, but the flood waters in the North Country and Hudson Valley will eventually recede and he’ll be stronger for it.
:: Of course, ignoring trolls is not always easy, specifically because trolls are angling to get attention in the worst possible way. They want you to engage, and what they do is so obnoxious that you want to engage, if only to mock them. But mocking a troll doesn’t do anything; they can’t be shamed and all they want is a response so they keep doing what they do. Attention is oxygen to the troll. You suffocate them by ignoring them. (Thoughts on how to deal with trolls. I average, maybe, one troll a year here, but you never know....)
More next week!
:: My first reaction was, What, are they nuts?
:: The evidence, as far as the limitations of the experiment go (that’s important, see below), do not show any effect of cosmic rays on global warming, and say nothing at all about the effect humans are having on the environment.
:: So, on what would have been Billy Preston’s 65th birthday, I’m making a pitch for him to make it into the rock hall as a session musician.
:: Disclaimer: If you don't shave your face or head, this post may not interest you. (Obviously, I have no practical interest in shaving cream, but it's interesting to hear about the concerns of those who do, so....)
:: Also, why were her armpits shaved? I realize I am obsessed with body hair, I have mentioned it before (if you’re a tiresome TMI-type, then consider yourself warned). In the midst of end-of-the-world survival, you … what … take the time to scrape your pits with the rusty edge of a garbage can? You have razors on board? Clearly I was not even focusing on the plot, so obsessed was I with her necklace and perfectly smooth armpits in the middle of an apocalyptic universe. (Heh...this particular movie had an awful lot of potential, story-wise, that went completely wasted for many reasons...and I, of course, didn't notice the shaved-armpit thing. And just like that, I have two shaving-related links in Sentential Links. That must be a first...but I'm not going back to make sure.)
:: Governor Cuomo’s first year in office has been marked by pragmatic success and (except for same-sex marriage legalization) low-drama victories: an on-time budget that left taxes unraised, slashed government workforce, slow balanced approach to hydrofracking and generally competent governance that has left Republicans and Democrats mostly satisfied. The aftermath of Hurricane Irene will test his emergency operation chops, but the flood waters in the North Country and Hudson Valley will eventually recede and he’ll be stronger for it.
:: Of course, ignoring trolls is not always easy, specifically because trolls are angling to get attention in the worst possible way. They want you to engage, and what they do is so obnoxious that you want to engage, if only to mock them. But mocking a troll doesn’t do anything; they can’t be shamed and all they want is a response so they keep doing what they do. Attention is oxygen to the troll. You suffocate them by ignoring them. (Thoughts on how to deal with trolls. I average, maybe, one troll a year here, but you never know....)
More next week!
Sunday, September 04, 2011
Hey Blogger!
Nice new interface and everything, but how does scheduling posts work? And why is searching the Blogger Help forum such a monstrous pain in the arse?
Sunday Burst of Weird and Awesome!
Oddities and Awesome abound!!!
:: What a great picture:
(via)
:: The tomato fight to end all tomato fights. This is an annual event in Spain, apparently. Looks kind of gross to me...but then, if it was a pie fight, I'd be booking air fare tomorrow. I prefer my tomatoes on pizza, pasta, sandwiches or salads.
:: Earth and the Moon, as imaged by the Juno spacecraft, from Jupiter:
Via. Why is this important and amazing? No one has said it better than Carl Sagan:
More next week!
:: What a great picture:
(via)
:: The tomato fight to end all tomato fights. This is an annual event in Spain, apparently. Looks kind of gross to me...but then, if it was a pie fight, I'd be booking air fare tomorrow. I prefer my tomatoes on pizza, pasta, sandwiches or salads.
:: Earth and the Moon, as imaged by the Juno spacecraft, from Jupiter:
Via. Why is this important and amazing? No one has said it better than Carl Sagan:
More next week!
Thursday, September 01, 2011
Beatles Song of the Week: "Ob La Di, Ob La Da"
Here's a song that I found enjoyable enough, just a harmless piece of bubble-gum pop music with a nicely infectious beat and the type of easy chorus you can sing under-your-breath to get yourself through the day. And the song certainly is that, but as it's my current Beatles Song I'm Obsessing Over, let's talk a little bit about "Ob La Di, Ob La Da".
One thing I'm quickly learning about the Beatles is that they just don't do a whole lot of standard openings to their songs. This one starts with a piano riff that sounds like a rag-time fanfare before settling downward into the actual key and rhythm of the song. I find that the effect almost makes it seem like what we're hearing is the very end of one song that segues directly into this one. The song uses a lot of different influences (reggae-tinged lyrics and melody combined with a honky-tonk piano), and a lot of external sounds are employed to make the studio recording sound like a raucous live performance.
The lyrics are...well, they're just happy. I can't describe it any other way: "Ob La Di, Ob La Da" just drips happiness. It's not ridiculously sappy happiness, either -- it's just the nice happiness of two people who meet and fall in love and run their barrow in the marketplace while the other sings at night in the band. I can think of few songs that are more devoid of cynicism than this one. I read somewhere that Lennon, Harrison, and Starr all hated this song because it was too light -- a puff piece, really -- but I think that McCartney was really onto something here, and that the song makes a small statement about finding happiness in the small moments of everyday life.
One thing I'm quickly learning about the Beatles is that they just don't do a whole lot of standard openings to their songs. This one starts with a piano riff that sounds like a rag-time fanfare before settling downward into the actual key and rhythm of the song. I find that the effect almost makes it seem like what we're hearing is the very end of one song that segues directly into this one. The song uses a lot of different influences (reggae-tinged lyrics and melody combined with a honky-tonk piano), and a lot of external sounds are employed to make the studio recording sound like a raucous live performance.
The lyrics are...well, they're just happy. I can't describe it any other way: "Ob La Di, Ob La Da" just drips happiness. It's not ridiculously sappy happiness, either -- it's just the nice happiness of two people who meet and fall in love and run their barrow in the marketplace while the other sings at night in the band. I can think of few songs that are more devoid of cynicism than this one. I read somewhere that Lennon, Harrison, and Starr all hated this song because it was too light -- a puff piece, really -- but I think that McCartney was really onto something here, and that the song makes a small statement about finding happiness in the small moments of everyday life.
Desmond has a barrow in the marketplace
Molly is the singer in a band
Desmond say to Molly, girl I like you face
And Molly says this as she takes him by the hand
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da,
Life goes on, bra
La la how the life goes on
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Life goes on, bra
La la how the life goes on
Desmond take a trolley to the jewelers store
Buys a twenty carat golden ring, (rin-ring)
Takes it back to Molly waiting at the door
And as he gives it to her she begins to sing (sin-sing)
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Life goes on, bra
La la how the life goes on
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Life goes on, bra
La la how the life goes on
Yeah, In a couple of years they
have built a home sweet home
With a couple of kids running in the yard
of Desmond and Molly Jones
Happy ever after in the market place
Desmond lets the children lend a hand
Molly stays at home and does her pretty face
And in the evening she's a singer with the band
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Life goes on, bra
La la how the life goes on
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Life goes on, bra
La la how the life goes on
Happy ever after in the market place
Molly lets the children lend a hand
Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face
And in the evening she's a singer with the band
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Life goes on, bra
La la how the life goes on
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Life goes on, bra
La la how the life goes on
And if you want some fun
take Ob-la-di-bla-da
Something for Thursday
On my walks of late, I've been working my way slowly through the Complete Recordings of Howard Shore's magnificent scores to The Lord of the Rings. I continue to be amazed at the musical edifice Shore created for these films. Here is one of the finest musical moments: "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields", specifically the music for the arrival of Rohan and their charge into battle.
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