Natural Wavelengths

...but I hate mowing it! Most of last year I paid my son to do it. The first mow this year, I paid him again. It's a win-win because I hate mowing for several reasons (my asthma kicks up so I have to wear a mask, which suffocates me, and our front lawn is on a pretty good slope) and it's one of the few chores my son does around our house... and he gets paid pretty well for it.

But we've had a LOT of rain this past week and the grass has been growing more rapidly than normal. So I decided to mow it this morning. It went better than normal, but was my reminder as to why I hate that chore above most others around the house. And I only got half of the front done before I couldn't breathe.

Blech. Mowing is the suckage.

We watched two films this weekend that by all accounts should have been 5 star and should have deserved the acclaim that was received by the Academy Awards. They should have... but did not - at least not to me.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
This movie had all the aspects of a great film except one: editing. The movie runs 2.5 hours long, but there simply is not 2.5 hours worth of content. There is not even 2 hours worth of content. A good editor could have cut this movie down closer to 1.5 hours and still retained some of the beautiful cinematography and visuals. I think even a 2 hour compromise would have been enough to remove some of the head-nodding boredom while still retaining the film's slower pace. To give you an example, at the 2 hour mark, I had to leave to take my daughter home. I told the others to keep watching, thinking I could always go back and watch what I missed. Twenty minutes later I returned, and learned that I missed very little. A single plot device had occurred, and after a 30 second "catch up", I was right back into things. If the audience can miss twenty straight minutes of your film and not feel like they're lost something - you need to revisit the editing room. Acting was good-to-great, script was fine, the voice-overs were generally good, though seemed a little extensive, and obviously there was plenty of beautiful imagery... but in this case it was too much of a good thing. Re-edit the movie and you've got yourself a fine film.

No Country for Old Men
I was a little trapped by this film. I like the Coen Brothers. I like much of the cast. I like movies that question the state of affairs in the world, especially in terms of grand-sweeping terms (in this case "Violence"). This film won several Academy Awards. What could go wrong? Well, to begin with... nothing. You are placed into the middle of things and you have to spend a little time catching up. That sets a good pace, and in this case doesn't leave you guessing too long. That's a good thing. Multiple stories converge and the pieces to the puzzle really start to fit into place. Beautiful visuals and several action scenes are combined with slower-paced commentaries on the "state of things", which gives substance to the mixture. And so it goes through the entire film, culminating into a non-ending. As the four of us sat in stunned silence, each wanting to mutter a "what the f---?", the credits rolled. Yes, OCOM is a non-ender. And as I stared at the television, I quickly thought of what WOULD have been a good ending for the film. It would have made perfect sense to complete the theme of the movie -- but hey, I didn't write the book. I didn't write the screenplay. Maybe some of the amateur critics are correct about the status of the Hollywood critic scene, and any movie that makes you go "whuuuuuut?" is somehow good. I have to admit I am prone to loving surprise endings, even abrupt ones, but not ALL the time and certainly not when other more viable endings would have at least given the audience something. Maybe I shouldn't fault the Coens, as I haven't read the book and it could be that they were simply being completely faithful to the book. But we all know that the inner monologue from a novel cannot always be correctly translated into visuals, so staying loyal is something a betrayal to the intentions and emotions from a book. The movie was 5 stars until the credits begin to roll, at which point 2 stars slide up the screen with the FIN, leaving it a 3 star with such grand potential.

I've posted on the Stormwolves board, but figured I would put a note here, too. I saw the new estimate for Warhammer Online is Fall of 2008. I plan to give this game a try. I am a fan of the miniatures game, the RPG, and the books (www.blacklibrary.com).

So hopefully we can coordinate servers or whatever and will be able to play with any of you folks trying this game out.

I recently read Steve Martin's "Born Standing Up". The book tracks his life from late childhood through his career in stand-up and just into his transition into films, when he hung up his 'stand-up' shoes for good.

Even if you don't like Steve Martin (I am a fan), you might enjoy tracking the creation of such a star... his motivations as a child, his 'lucky breaks', and how he handled fame once it arrived. He has brushed elbows with some amazing people (even Elvis) and I had a few laugh-out-loud moments. There are snippets from his act, in many cases accompanying the origins of some of the more famous ones. His journey to fame was a long one, filled with several key moments where he almost gave it up for good.

The book is an easy read, and not particularly long. But I found it well worth the time.

Highlander: The Source.

This is a movie based on the characters from the tv show. I was never a big fan, but Tracy loved the show (especially Methos). So, despite the poor reviews on Netflix, she just HAD to watch it! :) And I just couldn't let her endure alone...

This will be one of the few movies that I will give a single star on Netflix. It was quite terrible. The plot was bad, the story was incredibly weak, the special effects were enough to roll your eyes, and even the music was laughable. I occupied myself by pointing out all the criticisms as they came up, but was afraid that would get old with Tracy. She encouraged me, saying that we should find SOME way to get some enjoyment out of the experience.

Don't waste your time on this stinker unless you are really drunk, really high, or so bored that you need to play MST2K in your living room.

I highly recommend this book, even if you aren't particularly a fan of "zombie novels". It is written from the perspective of a post-war investigative committee chairperson. He has collected all of these stories from around the world following a world war where zombies nearly take over the world. Since so many of the stories were edited from his official report, he was advised to write a book... which is effectively what you are reading. It is a fresh approach, both in presentation and in covering the story AFTER the zombie menace has been addressed. The stories are intelligent and capture more of a world view, rather than that of a single survivalists as so many zombie books approach the subject. I've heard rumors of a movie in the planning stages.

It is by far the best book that I've read in the genre. I find it much better written than some of the other leading zombie novelists. I'm a little surprised that some of the 'popular'
zombie writers are as popular as they are. Maybe it's because the genre is particularly filled with poor writers, so even the mediocre writers are heralded. I don't know. Reading some of the current batch of writers makes me think I'd have a shot with "Harvey".

Regardless, I definitely recommend Max Brooks and his "World War Z"!

Let it be known that I am a true Dolphin's fan. I continue to proudly wear my jacket around town, despite having won NO games this year. You don't find out the true sports fans until their team sucks.

On a good note, we have a shot to win this week! It's a tie game in the 4th and we're getting the ball back.

:)

For those of you that have heard the song all your life but never actually known the lyrics, I give you... Danny Boy (by Frederick Weatherly)!

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.

And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.
And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

Having just watched a few episodes of one of my favorite television shows, I thought I'd try to make a list of my top ten television shows of all time.  I doubt I'll get it right the first time, and I'm not even going to try to put them in order.  I left off cartoons and things like sports or news shows, including only network-type shows.  Here is a list of my favorite tv shows (as I can place them at least right now):

* Babylon 5 - I remember when the pilot first aired, and I have to admit I was a bit confused.  I even stopped watching during the first season just because it was a bit more complex than I could keep up with.  But I picked it up again sometime during the second season, and watched it pretty well.  But it wasn't until I started watching the reruns that the brilliance of the show really came out to me and by the time the DVDs were (finally) released, I became a true fan.  As you'll see this "missed it the first time, but fell in love afterwards" becomes a recurring theme.  B5 is an amazing show, and I never have a problem popping in the DVDs to watch it again and again.

* Firefly - I completely missed Firefly when it was on FOX.  It would be a blessing as I found out later, because I bought the DVD set purely on recommendation of friends and... what a spectacular show.  Buying the DVDs was a great move, so I could see the episodes not only in the proper order, but after the first couple of shows I know that I would have *hated* to wait week after week for the show to air on television.

* Arrested Development - Another brilliant show, with a constant barrage of one-liners and "smart humor". This is one of the most well-written show I have ever seen in terms of flow and fluidity, with no downtimes or pauses in fun.

* Taxi - Another wonderful cast.  I watched this show avidly for most of its run, and it never lost its appeal to me.  I will sit and watch an episode of this show any time I flip by it.  The character interaction was wonderful and the writing terrific.

* The Twilight Zone - This is a defining show for me on many levels.  The oddity.  The creativity.  The twists and turns - sometimes humorous, sometimes sad, sometimes just plain eerie - all combined for a show I will sit for weekends and watch whenever a marathon is running.  I would own the DVD set if it weren't currently so expensive.

* SOAP - I consider this show on par with Arrested Development (or vice versa if you prefer).  The writing for the show was always exciting and fun, mixing wackiness with sly humor.  And like AD, there were long running story elements wrapped up each week into tiny bundles of stand-alone joy, often with a cliffhanger or two (similar to the shows that SOAP parodied).

* Quantum Leap - The content, the story, the fun and serious, this show was just great. And who doesn't love Sam and Al?

* Newhart - I love Bob Newhart and his humor.  I could probably just as easily put "The Bob Newhart" show here, but I feel more attached to Newhart.

* Get Smart - What can I say?  I am a big fan of Maxwell and Agent 99.  The writing for the show was terrific, and the characters a joy to watch.  I keep seeing the ad for the DVDs go on sale, but so far have resisted buying them. 

* The Addams Family - See a pattern?  Comedies, Sci-Fi and Odd shows.  Well, this one is an odd show and a comedy!  I really am sad that this show was only on for such a brief time.  I still love the concept of the show and in some ways it is an inspiration to me with some of my stories.  Da-da-da-dum! *snap snap*




Honorable Mentions:
* Newsradio - The cast in this show is perfect.  This is one of the shows that likely isn't on a lot of other lists, but one that I enjoyed enough to buy the DVDs.  I am a huge Phil Hartman fan and I found his role a pure joy to watch - but the rest of the cast was equally great in my opinion.  I know the last season, after Phil's death, was weak and certainly not up to par with the rest of the show's run, but considering the circumstances I can't fault the show for that.  This was on my top ten list for a long time until I remembered the Addams Family.  So I guess this show would be #11 all time favorite.


* X-Files - Might be in the top ten had things finished out more cleanly.  As it was, when David left the show, things went downhill and the show, while still in its prime, seemed to grasp at stories and the character dynamics were never the same.

* Odd Couple - Oscar and Felix are wonderful characters, and the inerpersonal relationships were always humorous, while still allowing you to care about the two of them and their circle of friends.  I guess one reason this isn't in my top ten is I always felt this was more of "my dad's show", and no matter how much I liked it that it was a little bit outside my own generation.  I know that likely doesn't make sense, but that's about the only way I can explain it.

* Cheers /Frasier - I loved both of these shows, and will still watch them in reruns.  Both would be in my top twenty (likely the top 15), but I don't quite have the draw to them that I do some other shows.  It was close, but had to move them to honorable mention status.

* Northern Exposure - I loved the first several seasons of this show, but it was another one that just got too stretched by the time the last season finally wrapped up.  It became a bit too odd and the storylines began to loose me.  The characters were great and written creatively, but it lost me at the time it probably should have been wrapping up.

* Bewitched - I had such a huge crush on Samantha, and loved all the characters.  Well, except switching Darrins, which I didn't like at all.  It didn't ruin the show, but it was a negative for certain.  I'll still watch the reruns if I catch them on.

* Wings - Another great show with wonderful writing.  It is certainly in my top twenty, but I don't feel so inclined to watch reruns if I catch them on.

* Seinfeld - Tracy can tell you, I still watch this show twice a night virtually every night of the week in reruns.  I still laugh, even when I've seen an episode several times already.

* Night Court - I had this in my top ten at one point, but I didn't watch it quite fanatically enough to feel like it's in my top ten all time favorites.  The cast was fantastic and I did watch it (for the most part) from beginning to end.

* Barney Miller - Another wonderful cast.  Looking back, I cannot put my finger on a single reason I love this show so much, but I watched it week in and week out, and again in re-runs.  I don't have the DVDs, but might have to get them just to watch the show again.

* Hogan's Heroes - I don't have much to say about this show.  It was unique in so many ways, and I always found it a joy to watch.

* Moonlighting - Had the show ended a bit earlier, it would probably be in or near my top ten list.  But the show fizzled out near the end and went on after the magic was gone.  Brilliantly written show, though.

* Drew Cary Show - Another great cast with a lot of creative shows.  Hey, when you have Shirley Jones as Drew's love interest - you can't be all wrong (esp when Danny B shows up as her son!)

* WKRP in Cincinnati - Great cast, fun dialog and an amazing amount of goofiness went into this brilliant show.

* Alice - Can you believe I watched this show quite loyally?  I had a thing for Linda Lavin.  :)  But maybe you can put One Day At A Time in here too, since I had a thing for Valerie Bertinelli.

*Dresden Files / Battlestar Galactica - These shows are still on the air, so it's always possible something will happen to turn me off of them.  But for now, I watch them regularly and always look forward to the next episode.  Either could potentially move into the top ten - but I will have to reserve that decision for when they are done with their run.

I love this movie!  I don't know that it will rank as the best movie ever on my 'list', or even in the top ten, but it's certainly at least on the good side of the list.  I'll likely be picking it up soon.  Will Ferrell's typical humor is muted for this film, which is a wonderful change of pace.  There comes a time when an actor must branch out and try something new - succeed or fail - and in this movie Will has succeeded.

The commercials/trailers for this film are misleading.  They push the comedy aspects and completely neglect the tragedy and drama.  This is a shame, because the film succeeds in its comic element, but not in the ways illustrated in the trailers.

This film is a reassurance of the goodness still left in humanity.  But even the "feel good" elements of the film are not overblown.  It's a little bit comedy, a little bit tragedy, and in the end as a viewer I didn't really give a damn to worry about the best category of the movie.

As with any film, it might not be an enjoyment to all.  That's the simple nature of entertainment.  But I find the intentions and motivations of the film to succeed in all levels and that is why I highly recommend it.

See - I didn't even give anything away!  :)

They have a new feature called "Watch Now".  It is included in the normal membership price.  You download a small add-in for WMP and you can watch movies immediately on your computer.  No waiting in queue, no waiting for shipping.  I watched two movies this morning while waiting on testing things to go through.

The quality is quite good!  The selection is limited, but you can go directly to the movies already in your queue and watch those that are available.  Of my 480+ queue, I'd say maybe 24 were available, but I'm sure they will continue to add more to the list.  This is nice for me, since a lot of movies are ones that I want to see and Tracy has no interest in seeing.  Also, I can run them in the background as I work, pausing or rewinding as necessary.  And it's good for Netflix because they save the hassle of sending them to me.  I think it's a great idea, and will help me get my huge queue down to a more reasonable size.

Kudos!

I know that movies, like any form of entertainment, have value based on the individual impacted.  One person loves a painting while another thinks it looks like a mess.  One person likes country while another likes rock.  One man's trash is another man's treasure, right?

I've considered myself pretty eclectic.  I can enjoy modern sculpture and classic paintings.  I like a lot of different types of music, from rock to reggae and from classical to country.  Don't get me wrong - I don't like everything by any means!  There are always a few things in any genre that does nothing for me, and some things I downright hate.

When it comes to movies, I am a huge fan of a lot of different styles.  Anyone that has seen my personal DVD collection can tell you it is not only very large, but quite a cross section of interests.  And I don't have even close to the number of movies I would like to have.  My Netflix queue is kept constantly filled, with always more than 450 and often pushing the maximum limit of 500 allowed.  And many of those same people who could confirm my love of movies can tell you I'm pretty adaptable.  I do not usually get harsh about my opinions of movies, giving 3 of 5 stars to movies I should probably give 2 or 1.  I try to find good things in any movie I watch.  Perhaps it is some ingrained "hope" I have for any story I read/watch, or perhaps it is because I just don't like being too harsh in my judgments.  If I can at least understand what a writer/director/producer was shooting for in a film's story, I try to give a glimmer of credit.

I don't have many movies that I hate.  In fact, the only two that really come to mind are "Mac & Me" and "The Piano".  "Mac & Me" is simply a horrible film, a poor clone of ET that comes across as a two hour commercial for every pop-culture brand from the 80's (McDonald's, Coke, etc).  "The Piano" hit me with so much pretentious artistic vomit that even the positive things I generally point out in movies is completely lost.  I don't even understand why I hate "The Piano" as much as I do, and perhaps I need to re-rent it someday just to verify if some of my dislike is artificial.

But I've got to tell you, I just watched "Babel" and it sucks.  It doesn't suck nearly as bad as "Mac & Me", and I will likely not even put it in category with "The Piano", but I truly had some higher expectations considering all the critical acclaim it received for the Golden Globes and Academy Awards (another smear for me with "The Piano", since it won a jaw-dropping best picture award).

This movie is unnecessarily confusing.  I enjoy films that flip around the timelines and such... IF THERE IS A JUSTIFIABLE REASON.  But "Babel" has no reason for this - it simply does it to try to keep the audience's attention.  And it fails.

"Babel" is also trying to tie multiple stories together into a single conjoined story. I consider this a very big plus when a film pulls it off.  But here, it does not come off at all. 

** NOTE: SPOILERS FOLLOW **

We have four stories here:
    1. Moroccan family gets a gun to scare off jackals.  The sons are playing around with the rifle and shoot a passing bus that contains...
    2. Husband and wife are trying to get past their problems with the loss of their infant son (SIDS) and are taking a tour of Morocco.  Wife gets shot by kids above.
    3. Nanny of the kids (of the husband and wife) is stuck with the kids because wife has been shot.  The nanny's son is getting married in her home country of Mexico.  She takes them to the wedding, but gets lost in the desert with the kids when trying to return to the US.  She gets deported.
    4. Japanese deaf/mute girl is dealing with the suicide of her mom.  Dad is struggling to connect to her.  She keeps trying to get laid.  Dad (a hunter) indirectly is responsible for the rifle getting to Morocco.

1 & 2 work fine together.  The two stories would have been adequately connected, though a lot of really dumb things are involved with both stories in an attempt to keep the story at a personal level.

3 is absolutely ridiculous when taken out of context of the other stories.  The number of incredibly dumb factors involved with the story are enough to fill a toilet.  When it was all over, this was actually a source of a few jokes, and came across as some sort of not-so-subtle attempt to dig at all these recent Immigration bills aimed at naturalization of Mexicans already living (illegally) in the US.  I'm not saying that a politically motivated story such as this wouldn't (with a lot of tweaking) work as a short film - but it really had no business in this film.  It just came across as roll-your-eyes politicking.

4 should have just been its own story.  I was expecting some true interconnection with the other stories, but the only connection it had was that the dad once had the rifle.  That's it.  If you were making a story about an item that gets passed from one person to the next, then ok... I can see that working.  If the movie were about THE RIFLE, then it would be ok as a mini-story.  But it doesn't.  I think the writer/director just wanted to make a movie about a blind mute Japanese girl who can't deal with the death of her mother.  And it works on several levels as an interesting story.  But it makes no sense with the rest of the movie.  I enjoyed the dynamics of sign language and a language that was foreign to me.  It kept my attention by keeping up with the subtitles and the sign language.  Very bold move.  But that doesn't save the fact that it has nothing to do with the rest of the movie, and it certainly doesn't involve itself with the other stories going on.  In the end, when I realized that the only connection was that dad once owned the rifle, I was left saying "And... who cares?"

I can accept the fact that some people like this movie.  Some people like looking at Maplethorpe (spelling?) pictures.  I don't.  I'm not offended on a spiritual or intellectual level, I just don't find any value in them.  I don't relate shock to art.  And in that regard, I don't find much value in "Babel".  Because I don't think it's enough to just make a movie that emulates some of the filmmaking fads of broken timelines, interconnected stories and extended 'humanistic' scenes.  It's fine if you want to use those elements, but you have to tell a good story, and in the end I saw a decent 1-hour story drug out and twisted around to 2.5 hours of boredom.



ADDENDUM: I should clarify that I do understand the relevance of the title "Babel" and that at least one (if not the main) intention of the story collections was to get across troubles in communication. This is something I should have mentioned at the beginning of this journal entry, since it is such a strongly intended theme. But it still doesn't work, either to help connect the stories or to bridge any previously mentioned gaps. In the end, it still feels that the three stories are far too disjointed to work together.

We're on a bad schedule right now. And what sucks is that I still have to get up early for work. I thought working from home would save a lot of time, but I find I get to sleep maybe 10 minutes longer than I did when I worked in the office. I guess I'm just moving slower - or maybe it's because I have more mini-errands to do before I can actually work. Just logging into VPN takes about 10-15 minutes, when you count the various passwords and logins. Still, I don't think I'd want to work in an office again. There are a few things I miss, sure, but overall the benefits are just too nice working from home.

The relationship between my son and my ex is pretty strained. It's so much so that I offered to help pay for a vacation for just the two of them so they could try to reconnect. My son is impatient to grow up, and the concept of "one more year" is just too much for him. But my ex and I realize this is partially due to our letting him experience things earlier than normal - like driving a car. Not that we had a whole lot of choice given her condiition, but still, it started him in early on 'responsible grown-up behavior', so now he wants to do his own thing and he's just about to turn 17. He has been very responsible, given the circumstances, but right now I'm just trying to get him to be patient.

I still have quite a wish list of things I'd like to get both for the house and simply for me. But I've been pretty good overall, considering we're still in la-la land in terms of knowing how the finances will be now that we are paying for the house. I'm just looking for a status quo. And I can't imagine forking over several hundred dollars for grown-up toys (like an xbox-360, the monitor multi-display thingy, or a nice big tv) until we get a bit more income coming in. Income coming in... sounds odd doesn't it?

We installed the last must-have for the house right now: a front porch light. It didn't take too long, and I'm pretty proud of how smoothly it went. It helped having Tracy there, in contrast to my installation of the over-the-garage light when I was alone. Helps having an extra pair of hands.

I'm glad Amazon plastic wraps the goodies inside the box. The UPS guy/gal just leaves crap on the front door and does a pretty poor job of ringing the doorbell / knocking on the door. So we had a package sit out either all morning or for at least a day. There was a big thunderstorm this morning, and the package was halfway drenched. The book inside was completely dry though, thanks to the plastic shrinkwrap. Good job, Amazon.

Papa John's screwed up our order tonight. In the long run they fixed things, but they really screwed it up (charged me an extra $11 and sent chicken wings instead of chicken strips). I know that's trivial stuff, but I'm rambling.

Work has been busy, but at least I can play 15 minutes of x-box, wow, lotr online, or FEAR extraction point during breaks to 'unwind'.

Writing is calling to me in a louder voice. I'm getting excited at thoughts for a couple of my stories (esp Harvey).

I might go to a local Paranormal Society monthly meeting on Saturday. I've been in their mailing list for about 6 months, but I think I'll be free to go this time.

There are a lot of movies I'd like to see in the theaters.

I've got about 4 books in progress right now. Are you guys multi-book readers like me, or do you have to finish your current one to pick up another? I tend to read a chapter at a time. I think I'm called a "bathroom reader" type.

There is an awesome gaming store in one of the local malls. We've only been once, but I'm anxious to go back. Of course, it'd be nice to have a little extra money when I did.

Hope all is well. We're discussing another "Gathering" to any of you that have attended in the past. Stay tuned.

I had a wonderful evening on Valentine's Day. My father and step-mother came over just as I finished work and we headed directly to a very nice restaurant on the riverside in downtown Knoxville. We had a fabulous meal in terms of both the food and the company. I had the prime rib... and I believe it was the best I have ever had grace my palate.

Then we drove a few blocks toward uptown to spend the evening in the Tennessee Theater. It was renovated in 2005 and may I say it looks absolutely gorgeous. This was "the" theater in town when my dad grew up, and it was already considered a historic landmark as I was growing up. We would visit to see classic movies for field trips in school and of course to listen to the Wurlitzer. Yep - this theater not only still has a working Wurlitzer, but they always give a 15-minute or so mini-concert before every show, always ending in the Tennessee Waltz. The nostalgia was really getting to me as I listened.

But the real prize was the movie that followed - "An Affair To Remember". I have loved this movie since the first time I saw it and even own it on DVD. But Tracy had never seen it, my step-mother had never seen it, and my dad couldn't remember if he had seen it (it turns out he had, but really enjoyed seeing it again). The house was packed with a sold-out audience, so I feel fortunate that I thought to pre-order the tickets.

Even though the first reel was so bad you could hardly hear it, and there was 'old film' choppiness and splicing throughout, it was still a wonderful experience. I never thought I'd have the chance to see it on the big screen, so I could look past the faults of the film quality and just simply enjoy the experience. But I will see a newfound interest has surfaced in my DVD from both Tracy and my step-mother. And I don't blame them - because I believe my experience was even better because I already knew the dialog, so a few glitches didn't get in the way at all. I'm just glad they enjoyed it, and want to watch a cleaner version. It's a terrific movie.

As we left, the theater gave out a rose to each lady and a small candy to the gentlemen. What a wonderful ending. Of course, Tracy got my piece of chocolate. :)

It was a wonderful evening that I will remember - always.

A lot of folks look back at the 80's and see a vast wasteland in terms of music. But I can look back fondly, going through one of my most influential times (you know, high school) from 80-85 and of course those expanding-your-brain years of college through to 1990. Sure, I can look back and see a lot of crap, but I still can pick apart the era and find some real gems.

One of those gems for me is The Police. It was a group of smart, fun guys and one of my favorite bands from that era. And aside from the actual music, the band represents a lot of personally good times for me. One of the first teen era concerts I attended was The Police, with the Producers as a really fine opening act. Another concert was a real thrill as one of my other favorite bands of the time opened for them - The Fixx. We even went to see Sting's first solo tour. It's hard to go wrong with songs from Dream of the Blue Turtles sprinkled with a liberal dose of Police favorites.

But it was not only the memories of the concerts that fill my mind with joy. I can turn my head to the side as I sit at my desk and fix my gaze upon a cheaply framed, somewhat wrinkled picture of three roommates, long time friends from high school and through college, sitting exactly as the members of Police from their album cover Zenyatta Mondatta. I wish I had a scanner, and I could give you all a laugh. So remind me if you come visit and I'll gladly show you.

And can you believe this? I missed the Grammy's last night, knowing that they were getting together to sing a song. I can't believe it!!! Thank goodness for YouTube.

And today they have announced a WORLD TOUR for their reunion! Wootah! I've contacted the other guys from back in that 80's picture that still hangs on my wall and have told them that WE ARE THERE.

I'm even torturing Tracy with the "Police's Greatest Hits" album.

Life has certainly changed a lot for me since the move. Here are a few that come to mind:

1. It's neat to spend so much time with Tracy. It is also good to see her not so upset as she would often get at work. I know she will eventually find a job and head out again, but I think little things aside, she's happy to get some time to just do "her thing".

2. I'm not stir crazy yet. Working from home keeps me in the house most of the time, and when I get off work I'm happy to jump into something else around here. I'm sure the colder weather has helped temper any yearning for the great outdoors - and things may change come spring. But for now, I don't mind spending so much time here.

3. I could do better in terms of not being distracted during my "work day", but I could be doing worse as well. It is still a learning process.

4. The wood burning stove is awesome! Awesome! It keeps things so toasty downstairs, and Tracy loves it as well. We have a good supply of wood, but I think we'll need to find more before the weather turns completely warm.

5. I have been absolutely horrible about my writing. It has been completely neglected since the move. But it has been calling to me the past two weeks, so I think I'll be planning some more time around it.

6. Evil WoW is partially to blame for my neglecting the writing. I spend too much time in the game. Though I have done better at not playing if I don't feel like it.

7. LotR Online might turn out to be a decent game. Each new build is better than the last. It's a typical MMOG with a few new twists here and there, but nothing dramatic. But there are things I like about it and I do like the pre-order deal. So I'll probably get it.

8. We've started watching Firefly again. We watched Serenity last night and started in on the series today. What a great show.

9. I am on the mailing list for a local Paranormal Research group. I have often had a real interest in the field, especially in terms of those approaching from a scientific approach rather than... well, the typical alternative. But I'm not completely sold yet. Still too much of "the other" stuff that keeps getting dragged in. I might attend one of the monthly meetings to get to know some of them, though. Did I tell anyone I looked into a degree in psychology at Duke with a parapsychology emphasis? I've been told by a lot of folks I should have been a psychologist. Others have said I should just see one regularly. Maybe both are right. It's sort of like the mechanic who has all the broken down cars in his yard.

10. We have too much shit. I am using we in a very general sense. :)

11. A gathering is being discussed on the Stormwolves board. A few of us chatted on teamspeak and have even thought about having two. We want to include the most folks, but know just a single event will ultimately leave some folks out. But we're afraid that planning two will backfire and cause even more folks to not be altogether at the same one. I don't know. Maybe we should plan one, then whoever cannot make it we can try to make a follow-up event. We'll see.

12. I finally got Madden 07. Even though the football season is over, I'm loving it. Maybe next year I can get it when it comes out, instead of waiting so long.

13. Congratulations Colts. Congratulations Manning. I'm glad that you guys won, since my Dolphins were ironically not even close to going to Miami. *drumkick*

14. And on that note, Nick Saban - you really lost me. It wasn't that long ago that you had my full respect. Now... wow, you can't quit kicking yourself in the nuts, can you? It took a long enough time, but I'm glad that I finally have a better understanding of you. I'm glad now that you're gone.

15. Wow, this thing has gotten long. I guess I've been saving things up, eh?

16. I miss a lot of people. It's a shame with all this wonderful technology, cheap cell phone rates, internet chat, email, message boards and all this... and yet I still long to actually see you all in the flesh. No technology will really replace a hug, a kiss, and looking into the face of your friends.

That's enough rambling for now. Maybe this really will get me to break open that usb drive and start typing about Harvey again. I miss him.

And I miss all of you.

~ Drew

Judge rules paper money unfair to blind

I was married for 10 years to a legally blind woman.  I know all too well the problems she faced in this regard.  However, at least she had ways to distinguish the bills (using a loupe).

But I'm still not sure what kind of precedent this ruling sets (assuming it isn't overturned at some point).  Will everything in our lives have to have some sort of distinguishing mark so that the blind can identify it without assistance?  How will the blind be able to remember the potentially millions of "distinguishing marks" on products.  Think of simply going to the grocery store!

I've got mixed feelings about this.  I do believe such distinction would be good when it comes to currency, though a lot depends on HOW they were to distinguish it.  But I am more concerned about the precedent this might set.

The house is ours... pending completion of the closing.

Dec 1 is our set date to close on the house.  We countered back and forth a couple of times, but they accepted our terms and the rest should just be a formality.  We plan to move back to Knoxville in late December if all goes well.

Yay!

Cops served Burger King burgers laced with marijuana

Summary, a couple of cops went through a drive-through, ordered some burgers, and halfway through them discovered they were laced with pot.  They went to the hospital for evaluation, and the "hoodlums" that were behind the prank were arrested.

Case closed?

You'd think.

But no, now the police officers are suing Burger King.  I'm not naive about how the legal system works.  I know how modern America believes that every problem you encounter has to be solved by a lawsuit.  But it still makes me wonder...

ok, if the police department is holding the cops responsible for their bills (which I don't see how they are), then I could see the cops suing BK to make them cover those expenses.

If the police department is paying for the trip to the hospital, then I could see them suing BK to be compensated for said expenses, but it's not the police dept, it's the officers.

"The lawsuit, filed Friday in Bernalillo County, alleges personal
injury, negligence, battery and violation of fair practices. It seeks
unspecified damages along with legal costs."

What the fuck ever.  I'm sorry, but this just reeks of gotta-get-a-buck.

Burger King is responsible for the actions of its employees.  But anyone that isn't living in a vacuum knows the pot-luck variety of employees that folks in such an industry (fast food) has to endure.  I'm not saying that as an excuse to get BK out of paying the hospital bills or whatever, but the factors cited in the article indicate that the cops are just trying to milk this shit for the bucks. 

Is Burger King going to learn a lesson from this lawsuit?  You have to be kidding me.  Nothing will change with this, short of a memo going across to all managers that they have to ensure a "no pot policy", which I am quite sure they already have rules about at the workplace.

I'm glad the kids that did this got caught.  I hope they get more than a slap on the hand.  Having tested the waters of the drug culture in my youth, I know it is sadly easy for people to get some "bad stuff" without their knowledge.  Screw up your own world if you want to, but don't force it onto others.  But then, pranksters rarely think of things like that when they seek a laugh.  And this was all funny at the time, I'm sure.  I'm glad they got caught.

I'm also glad the officers are ok.  While the whole thing might sound pretty funny, there was a real risk, and if nothing else, I'd sure as hell hate to have to rely on some stoned officers showing up if I were in trouble.

If it's about the expenses to the police department, then I'd understand the lawsuit.

But it sure smells like greed to me.

We found another house.  In fact, we found three - and all three rank higher (to me) than the one we got hoodwinked out of last month.

Number 1 choice

It is absolutely beautiful inside, and has been well cared for.  The kitchen is awesome, and we'll have plenty of room to host some future Gathering should we talk folks into coming to Knoxville.  I'll post the others should this fall through or something, but we hope it doesn't.