Year: 2010

Billions & Billions of Words

While shuffling through Netflix’s Instant Watch titles looking for tonight’s dinner theater I found available, Cosmos, Carl Sagan’s ode to humans and their understanding of the known universe. Perfect. Or so I thought.

I remember being mesmerized when watching it 30 years ago. But tonight we couldn’t finish watching the whole first 60 minute installment. Part of it was, what were state of the art special effects in 1980 seem almost cheesy in 2010. Another part of it was the narration. What to me did sound earnest and enthusiastic back then, sounds only marginally less annoying than that guy who does the those Comcast commercials with Shaquille O’Neal. Donna put it best when she said, “Its like being in a high school science class.”

With the failure to finish Cosmos, that made us bat .500 over the weekend for torrented and instant watch entertainment. We also didn’t finish Episode 1 of the Americanized version of Life on Mars and the failed marriage movie, Serious Moonlight, with Tim Hutton and Meg Ryan.

We did finish a second failed marriage movie, Did You Hear About the Morgans? Even with the predictable plot, the one dimensional Hugh Grant and the ever so annoying Sarah Jessica Parker we both enjoyed it.

We both also enjoyed TiMER, a little quirky sci fi I want to get married flick and an alcoholic hit man falls in love movie entitled You Kill Me which ended up winning the best movie of the weekend award.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 799

111,000 Ways To Be Disappointed

We did our grocery shopping this evening and on the way to Kroger the Emperor passed the 111,000 mile mark. By the time we got home and I checked on the Red Sox they were losing nine to nothing after three innings. Didn’t bother to waste my time listening to the game, so I went into the living room and Donna and I watched the eighth and last episode of Series 1 of Life on Mars.

After that, hoping for some sort of miracle comeback I checked in on the FRS and was excited to see that they had scored two whole runs, unfortunately the Blue Jays had scored 7 more runs making the final score 16-2.

Oh, and Dustin Pedroia’s return to the starting line up lasted all of three games, he went back on the disabled list today. I don’t know what they will have say over at Baseball Prospectus tomorrow, but I’m marking down the Sox’s chances at the playoffs at about 10%. (This morning they stood at 20%)

Go Rays!

Started up, went down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 798

Happy Birthday

Sputnik 5. Fifty years ago today, the Soviet Union launched the Korabl-Sputnik 2 spacecraft carrying two dogs named Belka and Strelka, along with mice, rats and flies into space. Everyone came back alive.

Sort of Happy Birthday to Gene Roddenberry who passed away in 1991 and would have been 89 today. A former member of the LAPD and freelance writer finally hit the big time after his second TV show was canceled by NBC in 1969, but the fictional Star Trek universe Roddenberry created has spanned over four decades, producing five television series, 700 episodes and eleven films, with a twelfth film currently in development and scheduled for a 2012 release.

Other birthdays for August 19th, Orville Wright 1871, Coco Chanel 1883, William Jefferson Clinton 1946, Jonathan Frakes 1952 and Jason Starr 1967.

Started up, went down, went up, back down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 795

Like Lindsay Lohan Coming Out Of Rehab

Today’s strip of the Soxaholic centers around a couple FRS fans chatting on the phone about how now that the Sox are starting a nice home stand after a rocky road trip they should have an easier time catching Tampa and making the playoffs. In the second to the last panel one says to the other, “We’re kidding ourselves aren’t we?” The punchline in the last panel is this post’s title, “Like Lindsay Lohan coming out of rehab.”

The way they have been playing lately I haven’t been kidding myself. Often when you are watching a baseball game you can pick the winner, sometimes it is really obvious, like one team having an eight run lead, while in close games the winner can be foretold by the intangibles, line drives just squeaking by fielders or bloops landing just out of reach, etc. This can be extrapolated to whole seasons as well, and in this Red Sox season they just can’t catch a break (as long as you don’t count Jacoby Ellsbury’s ribs.) According to the math wizards over at the Baseball Prospectus, as of today, the FRS only have a 26.98664% of making the playoffs.

Today at work I verbally threatened to stop listening to them to a couple people, but I guess I’m too much of a fan to jump off the bandwagon because here I am in front of the PC listening to the WEEI broadcast. And right now I’m glad I did because they are beating the Angels 6-0 in the sixth.

Also I might have totally missed a rarity in the baseball world. If you have ever been to a minor league baseball game, invariably the PA guy will play the sound of breaking glass when a player fouls a ball out of the stadium towards the parking lot, so the crowd will think the ball broke a car window. Well tonight, Red Sox outfielder, Darnell McDonald hit a home run over the Green Monster in left field and actually did break a window in a car parked on Lansdowne Street. Quick thinking announcer Joe Castiglione, after making the home run call said, “I guess he is going to have to call 1-800-GIANT,” giving radio broadcast sponsor Giant Glass, who’s slogan is, “Who you gonna call when your windshields busted?” an extra, but very appropriate plug.

Started up, went down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 791

Zombieland

This is the explanation for those of you with puzzled looks on your face over the post titles this past week.

Last Monday the FRS had a day game, so in the evening, while Donna surfed her usual cooking, home or reality shows on TV, I decided to watch a movie from my Netflix queue. This movie was there because several of my co workers had seen it and were talking it up as something I just had to see, so to appease them I added it. Now I don’t watch a lot of monster movies to begin with and zombie ones are even at the bottom of that pile, but once I got watching it though, I was hooked. And it turns out it is more of a road trip slash geeky guy wins heart of attractive female romance flick than a zombie movie. Plus nobody told me it was a comedy!

The narrator of the movie is a college student that credits his survival of the zombie apocalypse to the strict adherence of a set of rules, which is where the last 7 titles came from. Not all the rules are actually in the movie, some came from trailers and other promotional items, and the list is not complete. I guess that is why they are going to make a sequel. So we can know what Rule #5 is and #10 and so on.

01. "Cardio"
02. "Double tap"
03. "Beware of bathrooms"
04. "Wear seatbelts"
06. "Cast iron skillet"
07. "Travel light"
08. "Get a kickass partner"
12. "Bounty paper towels"
15. "Bowling Ball"
17. "(Don't) be a hero"
18. "Limber up"
21. "Avoid strip clubs"
22. "When in doubt, know your way out"
29. "The buddy system"
31. "Check the back seat"
32. "Enjoy the little things"
33. "Swiss army knife"

On a side note, I thought that the lead actor/narrator, AKA Columbus, looked familiar and it turns out I had just seen him in another movie a couple of weeks prior. The title of that movie was called Adventureland. I wonder if every movie he will be in will have somethingland in the title? And Little Miss Sunshine is growing up nicely.

As long as you don’t have a weak stomach, sorry Donna, I recommend you see Zombieland. At least once.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 789

Rule #22

“When in doubt, know your way out”

There have been a few times when we have been out geocaching that following this rule would have helped us find our way out of the woods. It is a simple thing to do too, when you exit the vehicle, turn the GPSr to a map page, hold down the button for a couple seconds and hit OK. You have now created a waypoint to help you find your way back to the car.

Trouble is that, like today’s little excursion, most of the time we are no more than 100′ into the trees and it just doesn’t seem to make sense to do it. And because I feel that way and don’t do it, it has never become habit, so that the times it could come in handy, that lifeline isn’t available. Hasn’t got us in trouble. Yet…

We dodged muggles, prejudicial clues and light rain, but not spider webs and briars on our way to 7 finds this morning just north of town. We stopped at seven because that gave us a nice little milestone, 500. If you are a member of the local geocaching cult,when you reach 1,000 finds they present you with an ammo can painted gold. We are not, so maybe I should cover a pill bottle in silver duct tape, present it to ourselves and go hide it somewhere.

Started up, went down, went up, back down, up again, down again, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 788

Rule #1

“Cardio”

Part of it is we have found other interests, part of it is time, part of it is age and when you get right down to it, all those are really the same reason. We used to ride thousands of mile a year, but now we are down to just hundreds. Now we are happy to get out at least on one weekend day and get in a 10-15 mile ride. There is hope that when the weather cools a bit we might stretch the mileage and maybe add a week day commute to the Valve Store. We still like to walk in the woods, but that pales in comparison to the cardio work out you get from bike ride.

Today we managed to get in a dozen miles surrounded by a biscuit breakfast at Popeye’s (whose service still sucks, even in the morning when you are the only customer in the joint.)

Started up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 783