Wednesday, July 23, 2008
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in.
- Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, apparently from Kenny's "hippie" days from Wikipedia:
Have you still not seen Futurama? Seriously? Fine, I get that you saw a couple episodes and they weren't that funny. Not all of them are non-stop laughs. If you enjoy laughing then please set your Tivo to record the "Roswell that Ends Well" episode. I, and the Emmy folks, love it! It won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (less than one hour). Plus the episode lays ground work for future (yes I know, past) Futurama episodes. I know I've talked about Futurama and this episode before, but it's great.
J and I went to go see the 2004 Tony award winning musical Avenue Q at the Peace Center on Saturday. Thanks to Craigslist and the nice lady for selling us her tickets and that they were real. Really great seats too, orchestra level, row O (15th row) and right smack dab in the middle. It's a tale of an English major trying to make it in NYC, finding a job, a place to live, love and its trials, and the whole cast of characters too. Gary Coleman as the superintendent was particularly funny. Gary receiving a motorboat from a slutty puppet was one of my personal highlights from the show. The touring cast did a great job although they were hard to hear at times. My personal favorite was Seth Rettberg and yes that's just because his name is Seth. Here are photos for the cast. Kelli Sawyer also impressed when she had a dialog by herself using two voices and two puppets. Since it was a 2004 production, the references were a hair outdated but still funny and they even got in a Dubya jab right there at the end which was received very well in this bastion of die hard republicans (although with a 26% approval rating, I can see why). We even ran into some friends before the show and then went out for drinks afterward. They live in Greenville (where the Peace Center is) so it isn't really strange but we always run into them during events, like the Art is Fear (okay, it's really Artisphere but I like my way better) show. I'm not sure if I ever gave them car nicknames but we'll see.
Off to write, analyze, process and work!
Feeling that the Minstrels were not offering the success they wanted, Rogers and fellow members Mike Settle, Terry Williams and Thelma Camacho left the group. They formed The First Edition in 1967 (later renamed "Kenny Rogers and The First Edition"). They chalked up a string of hits on both the pop and country charts, including "Somethings Burnin", "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town", "Reuben James" and "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)." In his First Edition days, Rogers had something of a hippie image, with long brown hair, an earring, and pink sunglasses. Known affectionately in retrospect as "Hippie Kenny", Rogers had a much smoother vocal style than in his later career.I've never tried his chicken but I hear he makes a mean bird. Youtube of the song from a Smothers Brothers appearance.
Have you still not seen Futurama? Seriously? Fine, I get that you saw a couple episodes and they weren't that funny. Not all of them are non-stop laughs. If you enjoy laughing then please set your Tivo to record the "Roswell that Ends Well" episode. I, and the Emmy folks, love it! It won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (less than one hour). Plus the episode lays ground work for future (yes I know, past) Futurama episodes. I know I've talked about Futurama and this episode before, but it's great.
J and I went to go see the 2004 Tony award winning musical Avenue Q at the Peace Center on Saturday. Thanks to Craigslist and the nice lady for selling us her tickets and that they were real. Really great seats too, orchestra level, row O (15th row) and right smack dab in the middle. It's a tale of an English major trying to make it in NYC, finding a job, a place to live, love and its trials, and the whole cast of characters too. Gary Coleman as the superintendent was particularly funny. Gary receiving a motorboat from a slutty puppet was one of my personal highlights from the show. The touring cast did a great job although they were hard to hear at times. My personal favorite was Seth Rettberg and yes that's just because his name is Seth. Here are photos for the cast. Kelli Sawyer also impressed when she had a dialog by herself using two voices and two puppets. Since it was a 2004 production, the references were a hair outdated but still funny and they even got in a Dubya jab right there at the end which was received very well in this bastion of die hard republicans (although with a 26% approval rating, I can see why). We even ran into some friends before the show and then went out for drinks afterward. They live in Greenville (where the Peace Center is) so it isn't really strange but we always run into them during events, like the Art is Fear (okay, it's really Artisphere but I like my way better) show. I'm not sure if I ever gave them car nicknames but we'll see.
Off to write, analyze, process and work!
Labels: Futurama, Greenville, music, Seth blogs, The Big Lebowski
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Large kickle; hold the tickle!
- Bender as he's being trained by Leela to fight Destructor in the Ultimate Robot Fighting League, from the "Raging Bender" episode of Futurama. I love that episode because Bender and Leela are great and Hermes gets a brain slug and speaks in monotone the whole episode.
This weekend was amazing! Friday was spent packing and straightening the house and then hanging out with Drs. Protege and Acura and their parents who were in town for graduation. Yes it kinda sucked celebrating something that I was also supposed to be partaking in but it will still happen. PERSEVERANCE! NEVER GIVE UP! It was cool seeing their parents again since the last time was their wedding last year. We're taking care of their cats while they're up in CT revisiting their folks after the 'rents were down here last week. Apparently lots of golf is on the schedule for Dr. Protege, I'm not sure what Dr. Acura will be doing but I'm sure she'll enjoy it.
Then woke up early Sat. and drove to Greenville to get J a haircut and I ate breakfast and walked around and realized that there isn't much open in the West End of G'ville before 10 am. I guess Starbucks but they can't scramble an egg and put it on a nice bagel for me, nor do I want them too. T'would be nice but more work for Barista Brat and her fellow baristas. (She runs a good blog and her archives are great but she doesn't update much) We'll revisit the breakfast theme later. Yes I LOVE breakfast and can eat it whenever, therefore I love any place that serves breakfast all the time, or at least past 11 am.
Enjoyed the Reedy River Park(Falls Park apparently) and learned some interesting facts about Greenville and the river thanks to some educational plaques scattered around the park. There were some walkers and joggers and kids but not many people at all. I can see why morning people like the mornings so much, all the night people are asleep and everything is so tranquil. As I sat on a bench, river adjacent, I got to see a robin root for a worm and then fed it to his lady bird who was sitting on the nest and presumably some eggs too.
Walked back to the car and listened to some tunes while I waited for J. Back in the car we made our way back to Clemson to load up the car and head off to Drift Atlanta! Well after eating lunch, we both took an impromptu nap and didn't leave at 1 like I wanted but 2:15 was good enough. We show up at 3:30 and there's tire smoke a-plenty. We drop off the car, grab the camera and go watch the slideways smokey action for awhile. Then we head down to the pits for some freebies, info and the spectacle. Also this is when you get a good chance to meet and talk to the drivers. After qualifying, all the cars came back to the pits to get some new rubber and get some food and liquid into the drivers. I finally got to meet Tanner Foust! Hooray! I've been a fan of his ever since I started following rally and got to watch him progress from the Production GT class where he battled Matt Johnson up to the big HP Open class cars and battle Matt again and take on the Subaru Rally Team's Ken Block and Travis Pastrana. Unfortunately Rally America doesn't have a rally in the SouthEast so Drift Atlanta is the closest they get to Clemson, so it's a great chance for me to meet some great rally drivers, Tanner Foust, Stephan Verdier and Rhys Millen, and then get to watch them drift like mad. Congrats to Rhys for winning the 2008 Drift Atlanta stop also! That Kiwi can drive!
Tanner told me he started ice driving and then moved on to rallying. Ice? Oh, right ice, on the roads and not just in the freezer. I need to experience a real winter one of these days and see what people are talking about with snow for months on end and freezing weather on a regular basis.
To save a bit of money, J and I decided to camp in front of Road Atlanta after all the drifting. It's such a clusterfuck leaving Road Atlanta with all those people. If you show up late you have to park far away and they let the lots closer to the gate out first and there's only one exit for all these cars. So instead of sitting in the car for no less than 30 minutes, we hung out by the car, snacked some and watched all the cars sit in traffic.
After all that we found a nice tree to park under and camp for the night. I put the tarp down and thanks to this event, I learned to fold the edges of the tarp UNDERNEATH the tent. Since this was car camping, we went all out. First went my sleeping pad, then a thick sleeping bag, then both our nice backpacking sleeping bags, then our 3 pillows and then a lovely purple fleece sleeping bag. It was very plush and comfy. We got ready for bed and were talking and then it started raining. Then there was lightening and thunder. I counted and it was roughly 5 miles away assuming my weather math was correct. It was nice sleeping in a tent in the rain and not waking up with a wet sleeping bag and wet pillow. The mud when we woke up was epic. And this was not regular mud. It was red Georgia clay mud that stains whatever it gets near. My flip flops were not up to the job of keeping my feet clean and after loading the car and luckily having enough plastic bags for all the nasty wet, muddy gear, I set off in search of a water faucet or spigot. I did not find one, so I proceeded to channel my inner hippie/homeless guy and washed my feet and flip flops in a relatively clean puddle. Then it was off to Atlanta!
Our first stop was the West Egg Cafe for brunch. It's next to a construction site so they offer free valet parking, which was really nice. So here J and I are in the clothes we wore yesterday and with fresh tent hair and head inside. It's full of bright colored walls and pipes and lovely works of art scattered around the space. I felt we actually fit in a little bit even if we were a tad stinky. The place was packed too! It was a 45 minute wait (closer to 30 min. probably) and we showed up at 11:15ish. We scoped out the dessert case, their cookies are big enough to feed a ravenous badger and only $1.75! We did not try their $2 Coca-Cola cupcakes which are award-winning I'm told. The host took our name and told us we could hang out in the garage around the corner. Wha? Garage? We walk past all the free ATL literature (Creative Loafing, etc...) and find ourselves in a garage complete with huge sliding bay door that has been converted into a waiting room with comfy chairs and stools. The only thing it needed was a small bookshelf with some books to read while you wait. The guy with the Falcons polo shirt and black Crocs complete with Atlanta Falcon and skull trinkets made me laugh.
Our table for two was ready and we sat down and ordered a chai latte for J and a cappuccino for me. Both were delicious and ready fairly quickly for how busy they were. I ordered the Peachtree Platter, two eggs any way (scrambled), cheddar monterey jack grits, a biscuit, fried green tomatoes and brown sugar bacon. J had the Westside Turkey Club, sweet tea basted turkey, swiss, bacon, cranberry dijon mustard on freshly baked white bread. Hers was very good and I will attempt to baste some turkey in tea in the future. Mine was good but the menu didn't state "roasted garlic grits" and my taste buds were quite offended at that surprise. I don't usually like garlic in my breakfast foods but they were good after I realized what I was eating. The tomatoes and eggs were very good, but let me tell you about the biscuit and the bacon. The biscuit was warm, light and sooooo good. I tossed some egg and bacon in there and had one of the best bacon, egg & cheese biscuits ever. I don't know how they make the brown sugar bacon (I'm guessing, and will attempt, they dredge the bacon in brown sugar before frying) but it was deliciously fatty and sweet and ooey gooey. It wasn't crisp so I used a fork and knife but the flavor more than made up for not being able to solidly pick it up. It was smokey and sweet and I want some more. NOW! Next time we go there, I might get the eggs again but biscuits and bacon will definitely be on my plate. A huge thanks to Jennifer Johnson and chef Patric Bell for the fun and funky atmosphere and delicious hearty breakfast! They open at 7 am on the weekdays, 8 am on the weekends and close at 4 pm, so don't be late!
With full sated bellies, we drove up Howell Mill Rd. to Atlanta Rocks! Intown. After a quick belay test and 2 daily passes, we were free to climb their 12,000 square feet of climbing awesomeness. A big main bouldering area was complemented by two hidden bouldering caves, and those were surrounded by over 50 ropes and auto-belayers covering the walls. Flat surfaces to faux rock outcroppings will keep any climber of any skill level entertained for a long time. If you need to give your fingers a rest, but still want to work out, they also have a nice gym with weights and treadmills and more (I just glanced over there but didn't go upstairs). After a few hours there, and realizing I'm a solid 5.8 climber and J is a solid 5.7 climber, we exchanged some pants at REI and then made our way home.
Thanks to Formula Drift, Mother Nature, the West Egg Cafe and Atlanta Rocks for a great weekend. Thanks to you for reading, and thanks to Ford and the gas companies for getting us there and back.
This weekend was amazing! Friday was spent packing and straightening the house and then hanging out with Drs. Protege and Acura and their parents who were in town for graduation. Yes it kinda sucked celebrating something that I was also supposed to be partaking in but it will still happen. PERSEVERANCE! NEVER GIVE UP! It was cool seeing their parents again since the last time was their wedding last year. We're taking care of their cats while they're up in CT revisiting their folks after the 'rents were down here last week. Apparently lots of golf is on the schedule for Dr. Protege, I'm not sure what Dr. Acura will be doing but I'm sure she'll enjoy it.
Then woke up early Sat. and drove to Greenville to get J a haircut and I ate breakfast and walked around and realized that there isn't much open in the West End of G'ville before 10 am. I guess Starbucks but they can't scramble an egg and put it on a nice bagel for me, nor do I want them too. T'would be nice but more work for Barista Brat and her fellow baristas. (She runs a good blog and her archives are great but she doesn't update much) We'll revisit the breakfast theme later. Yes I LOVE breakfast and can eat it whenever, therefore I love any place that serves breakfast all the time, or at least past 11 am.
Enjoyed the Reedy River Park(Falls Park apparently) and learned some interesting facts about Greenville and the river thanks to some educational plaques scattered around the park. There were some walkers and joggers and kids but not many people at all. I can see why morning people like the mornings so much, all the night people are asleep and everything is so tranquil. As I sat on a bench, river adjacent, I got to see a robin root for a worm and then fed it to his lady bird who was sitting on the nest and presumably some eggs too.
Walked back to the car and listened to some tunes while I waited for J. Back in the car we made our way back to Clemson to load up the car and head off to Drift Atlanta! Well after eating lunch, we both took an impromptu nap and didn't leave at 1 like I wanted but 2:15 was good enough. We show up at 3:30 and there's tire smoke a-plenty. We drop off the car, grab the camera and go watch the slideways smokey action for awhile. Then we head down to the pits for some freebies, info and the spectacle. Also this is when you get a good chance to meet and talk to the drivers. After qualifying, all the cars came back to the pits to get some new rubber and get some food and liquid into the drivers. I finally got to meet Tanner Foust! Hooray! I've been a fan of his ever since I started following rally and got to watch him progress from the Production GT class where he battled Matt Johnson up to the big HP Open class cars and battle Matt again and take on the Subaru Rally Team's Ken Block and Travis Pastrana. Unfortunately Rally America doesn't have a rally in the SouthEast so Drift Atlanta is the closest they get to Clemson, so it's a great chance for me to meet some great rally drivers, Tanner Foust, Stephan Verdier and Rhys Millen, and then get to watch them drift like mad. Congrats to Rhys for winning the 2008 Drift Atlanta stop also! That Kiwi can drive!
Tanner told me he started ice driving and then moved on to rallying. Ice? Oh, right ice, on the roads and not just in the freezer. I need to experience a real winter one of these days and see what people are talking about with snow for months on end and freezing weather on a regular basis.
To save a bit of money, J and I decided to camp in front of Road Atlanta after all the drifting. It's such a clusterfuck leaving Road Atlanta with all those people. If you show up late you have to park far away and they let the lots closer to the gate out first and there's only one exit for all these cars. So instead of sitting in the car for no less than 30 minutes, we hung out by the car, snacked some and watched all the cars sit in traffic.
After all that we found a nice tree to park under and camp for the night. I put the tarp down and thanks to this event, I learned to fold the edges of the tarp UNDERNEATH the tent. Since this was car camping, we went all out. First went my sleeping pad, then a thick sleeping bag, then both our nice backpacking sleeping bags, then our 3 pillows and then a lovely purple fleece sleeping bag. It was very plush and comfy. We got ready for bed and were talking and then it started raining. Then there was lightening and thunder. I counted and it was roughly 5 miles away assuming my weather math was correct. It was nice sleeping in a tent in the rain and not waking up with a wet sleeping bag and wet pillow. The mud when we woke up was epic. And this was not regular mud. It was red Georgia clay mud that stains whatever it gets near. My flip flops were not up to the job of keeping my feet clean and after loading the car and luckily having enough plastic bags for all the nasty wet, muddy gear, I set off in search of a water faucet or spigot. I did not find one, so I proceeded to channel my inner hippie/homeless guy and washed my feet and flip flops in a relatively clean puddle. Then it was off to Atlanta!
Our first stop was the West Egg Cafe for brunch. It's next to a construction site so they offer free valet parking, which was really nice. So here J and I are in the clothes we wore yesterday and with fresh tent hair and head inside. It's full of bright colored walls and pipes and lovely works of art scattered around the space. I felt we actually fit in a little bit even if we were a tad stinky. The place was packed too! It was a 45 minute wait (closer to 30 min. probably) and we showed up at 11:15ish. We scoped out the dessert case, their cookies are big enough to feed a ravenous badger and only $1.75! We did not try their $2 Coca-Cola cupcakes which are award-winning I'm told. The host took our name and told us we could hang out in the garage around the corner. Wha? Garage? We walk past all the free ATL literature (Creative Loafing, etc...) and find ourselves in a garage complete with huge sliding bay door that has been converted into a waiting room with comfy chairs and stools. The only thing it needed was a small bookshelf with some books to read while you wait. The guy with the Falcons polo shirt and black Crocs complete with Atlanta Falcon and skull trinkets made me laugh.
Our table for two was ready and we sat down and ordered a chai latte for J and a cappuccino for me. Both were delicious and ready fairly quickly for how busy they were. I ordered the Peachtree Platter, two eggs any way (scrambled), cheddar monterey jack grits, a biscuit, fried green tomatoes and brown sugar bacon. J had the Westside Turkey Club, sweet tea basted turkey, swiss, bacon, cranberry dijon mustard on freshly baked white bread. Hers was very good and I will attempt to baste some turkey in tea in the future. Mine was good but the menu didn't state "roasted garlic grits" and my taste buds were quite offended at that surprise. I don't usually like garlic in my breakfast foods but they were good after I realized what I was eating. The tomatoes and eggs were very good, but let me tell you about the biscuit and the bacon. The biscuit was warm, light and sooooo good. I tossed some egg and bacon in there and had one of the best bacon, egg & cheese biscuits ever. I don't know how they make the brown sugar bacon (I'm guessing, and will attempt, they dredge the bacon in brown sugar before frying) but it was deliciously fatty and sweet and ooey gooey. It wasn't crisp so I used a fork and knife but the flavor more than made up for not being able to solidly pick it up. It was smokey and sweet and I want some more. NOW! Next time we go there, I might get the eggs again but biscuits and bacon will definitely be on my plate. A huge thanks to Jennifer Johnson and chef Patric Bell for the fun and funky atmosphere and delicious hearty breakfast! They open at 7 am on the weekdays, 8 am on the weekends and close at 4 pm, so don't be late!
With full sated bellies, we drove up Howell Mill Rd. to Atlanta Rocks! Intown. After a quick belay test and 2 daily passes, we were free to climb their 12,000 square feet of climbing awesomeness. A big main bouldering area was complemented by two hidden bouldering caves, and those were surrounded by over 50 ropes and auto-belayers covering the walls. Flat surfaces to faux rock outcroppings will keep any climber of any skill level entertained for a long time. If you need to give your fingers a rest, but still want to work out, they also have a nice gym with weights and treadmills and more (I just glanced over there but didn't go upstairs). After a few hours there, and realizing I'm a solid 5.8 climber and J is a solid 5.7 climber, we exchanged some pants at REI and then made our way home.
Thanks to Formula Drift, Mother Nature, the West Egg Cafe and Atlanta Rocks for a great weekend. Thanks to you for reading, and thanks to Ford and the gas companies for getting us there and back.
Labels: Breakfast, climbing, drift, Drift Atlanta, Focus, Futurama, restaurant reviews
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
And I thought it was real like pro wrestling, but it's fixed like boxing.
-Fry expressing his disappointment that ultimate robot fighting was rigged, from the "Raging Bender" episode from Futurama's 2nd season.
I'm actually going into Arrested Development withdrawal. I heard someone quote the show and had no idea who said it or what show it was from. Yes it's possible that they misquoted, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
So Dr. Acura and Dr. Protege are both officially PhD holders. They're flying off to Houston to look at houses and Dr. Acura has an interview with one of her bosses.
J had a serious Office Space moment yesterday. She had trouble with one of her tests and 3 or 4 bosses came to her to talk about it. Yes, she received the memo and understands the policy and just forgot this one time to put a cover sheet on her TPS report.
Writing is coming along. I need to up my writing time on the weekends and once I'm done teaching lab (next week is the last day), I hope to up my writing time on the weekdays too.
Cleaning the apartment will happen this weekend. My folks are coming into the country and then into town next Thursday and they'll be here through the weekend. They'll hop the train to the 'Ham early Sun. morning. I think the train leaves here around 6 or 6:30 am.
If anyone is going to be in the area this Saturday, the Clemson Sports Car Club is having a car show on Saturday. It should be fun but obviously we would much rather have an autocross but the head parking Nazi took care of that plan. I'll get pics on Saturday and hopefully show you why we can't autocross in that lot anymore, or at least not a fun course.
I'm actually going into Arrested Development withdrawal. I heard someone quote the show and had no idea who said it or what show it was from. Yes it's possible that they misquoted, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
So Dr. Acura and Dr. Protege are both officially PhD holders. They're flying off to Houston to look at houses and Dr. Acura has an interview with one of her bosses.
J had a serious Office Space moment yesterday. She had trouble with one of her tests and 3 or 4 bosses came to her to talk about it. Yes, she received the memo and understands the policy and just forgot this one time to put a cover sheet on her TPS report.
Writing is coming along. I need to up my writing time on the weekends and once I'm done teaching lab (next week is the last day), I hope to up my writing time on the weekdays too.
Cleaning the apartment will happen this weekend. My folks are coming into the country and then into town next Thursday and they'll be here through the weekend. They'll hop the train to the 'Ham early Sun. morning. I think the train leaves here around 6 or 6:30 am.
If anyone is going to be in the area this Saturday, the Clemson Sports Car Club is having a car show on Saturday. It should be fun but obviously we would much rather have an autocross but the head parking Nazi took care of that plan. I'll get pics on Saturday and hopefully show you why we can't autocross in that lot anymore, or at least not a fun course.
Labels: Acura, Arrested Development, autocross, cars, Futurama, Mom and Dad, Protege
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Eeeeaaaaahhhh! But existing is basically all I do!
-Phillip J. Fry from the "Roswell That Ends Well" episode of Futurama, the emmy award winning episode for those impressed by things like that. Caution: Spoilers abound for this episode, so if you haven't seen it and want it to be a surprise, please skip this post.
I abso-freakin'-lutely love Futurama. And am obviously overjoyed that it's coming back. I also love time travel and that particular brand of sci-fi.
Recently I caught Ed Burns starring role in A Sound of Thunder. In a nutshell, Ed is a scientist who helps a corporation give time safaris where rich people travel back in time and kill a dinosaur. The only problems that I saw was that they kept killing the same dinosaur. Different people, different days in the future but the exact same moment in the past. I guess they were going for the "every day has its own future and past" school of thought, which I personally think is bullshit. There's only one timeline so, in my opinion, Ed should've kept running into himself and other customers over and over. Another aspect I wasn't too fond of was the idea that if you change anything in the past, the changes will come in waves in the future. Obviously something went wrong on one of their safaris and all hell broke loose. These "time waves" would come and change a few things instead of everything at once. NO! It happened in the past and just because it took you a few seconds to get back to the future, time still went along from the past to your present so all the changes would be instant, not gradual, but for the movie that would not have worked so time waves and ta da!
The premise of the Futurama episode is that the crew gets zapped into the past (they live in the year 3000) and "tear time a new space hole" and end up in Roswell, NM July 7, 1947. Fry proceeds to try and save his grandfather Enis from destruction and of course hides him in the house that was vaporized by an atomic bomb test. But he still exists and doesn't fade away, so he reasons that Mildred isn't really his grandmother and proceeds to comfort her after the tragic loss of her boyfriend Enis. They hook up and explains to the crew that Mildred isn't his grandmother. They say that she is. Then who is my grandpa?, Fry inquires. Doh, looks like he is his own grandfather. Yikes. This proves to be most useful in other episodes. But it really creates a nice little package of existence for Fry. So bizarre. I HIGHLY recommend this episode.
I abso-freakin'-lutely love Futurama. And am obviously overjoyed that it's coming back. I also love time travel and that particular brand of sci-fi.
Recently I caught Ed Burns starring role in A Sound of Thunder. In a nutshell, Ed is a scientist who helps a corporation give time safaris where rich people travel back in time and kill a dinosaur. The only problems that I saw was that they kept killing the same dinosaur. Different people, different days in the future but the exact same moment in the past. I guess they were going for the "every day has its own future and past" school of thought, which I personally think is bullshit. There's only one timeline so, in my opinion, Ed should've kept running into himself and other customers over and over. Another aspect I wasn't too fond of was the idea that if you change anything in the past, the changes will come in waves in the future. Obviously something went wrong on one of their safaris and all hell broke loose. These "time waves" would come and change a few things instead of everything at once. NO! It happened in the past and just because it took you a few seconds to get back to the future, time still went along from the past to your present so all the changes would be instant, not gradual, but for the movie that would not have worked so time waves and ta da!
The premise of the Futurama episode is that the crew gets zapped into the past (they live in the year 3000) and "tear time a new space hole" and end up in Roswell, NM July 7, 1947. Fry proceeds to try and save his grandfather Enis from destruction and of course hides him in the house that was vaporized by an atomic bomb test. But he still exists and doesn't fade away, so he reasons that Mildred isn't really his grandmother and proceeds to comfort her after the tragic loss of her boyfriend Enis. They hook up and explains to the crew that Mildred isn't his grandmother. They say that she is. Then who is my grandpa?, Fry inquires. Doh, looks like he is his own grandfather. Yikes. This proves to be most useful in other episodes. But it really creates a nice little package of existence for Fry. So bizarre. I HIGHLY recommend this episode.
Labels: Futurama, future, movie
Friday, June 15, 2007
Think intergalactically. Act interplanetary.
That's a bumper sticker from one of my favorite shows. It takes place in the future and is contains some drama.
I moved the first load of stuff over to the new place before work this morning. Basically it was one less trip that we would have to do later and would also give me a chance to make any final demands of the property management people. Yep the old tenants couches and bed frame and desk and coffee table are still there. Great. Oh, and our keys don't work on the deadbolt. Nice. So I ran back by and let them know that they can leave the microwave (I hope it's clean and works) but get the rest of that junk out of my apartment!
I'm not sure what Leon is thinking. He might start freaking out as the apartment gets emptier and emptier but I assured him that we're taking him with us and to not be worried. And he'll be getting a new sister soon, but that'll happen once we get settled.
Oh! As I was leaving there were 2 old doormats laying on the stoop. We have at least one so I threw one of them in the trash. This doormat was either hiding a wasp or was in a relationship with a wasp because it came out of nowhere and stung my calf. Luckily only once and it's a dull pain but I'm still not allergic to bees! Hooray! My leg hurts and I can't remember the last time I was stung by anything, but it's always nice to know that it won't kill me. I guess that means it'll make me stronger but my leg disagrees with that stupid saying.
I can't wait to get the plants over to the new place and get the backyard under control. There is a downed tree but the bamboo that is growing there is gorgeous! It's like a Chinese jungle. All I need are a few panda and I'll be set. There will definitely be pics once everything is up to J's lofty standards. I have standards too but usually hers are higher.
I moved the first load of stuff over to the new place before work this morning. Basically it was one less trip that we would have to do later and would also give me a chance to make any final demands of the property management people. Yep the old tenants couches and bed frame and desk and coffee table are still there. Great. Oh, and our keys don't work on the deadbolt. Nice. So I ran back by and let them know that they can leave the microwave (I hope it's clean and works) but get the rest of that junk out of my apartment!
I'm not sure what Leon is thinking. He might start freaking out as the apartment gets emptier and emptier but I assured him that we're taking him with us and to not be worried. And he'll be getting a new sister soon, but that'll happen once we get settled.
Oh! As I was leaving there were 2 old doormats laying on the stoop. We have at least one so I threw one of them in the trash. This doormat was either hiding a wasp or was in a relationship with a wasp because it came out of nowhere and stung my calf. Luckily only once and it's a dull pain but I'm still not allergic to bees! Hooray! My leg hurts and I can't remember the last time I was stung by anything, but it's always nice to know that it won't kill me. I guess that means it'll make me stronger but my leg disagrees with that stupid saying.
I can't wait to get the plants over to the new place and get the backyard under control. There is a downed tree but the bamboo that is growing there is gorgeous! It's like a Chinese jungle. All I need are a few panda and I'll be set. There will definitely be pics once everything is up to J's lofty standards. I have standards too but usually hers are higher.
Labels: Futurama, moving, wasp sting
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
I have advanced degrees in Murderonomy and Murderology.
- Dr. Zoidberg, from the "Tales of Interest I" episode of Futurama
Big big news in the world of 2WD rallying! A new non-profit organization, the Rallysports Group of America, RSGA, has created the Max Attack Triple Crown Rally Series! Basically it is a prize fund to encourage competition and promote 2WD rallying. Everyone knows Travis Pastrana and his 4WD Subaru, but not many people know the names of nationally competitive 2 wheel drive cars. The prize schedule is:
1st - $2,000
2nd - $1,600
3rd - $1,400
4th - $1,200
5th - $1,000
6th - $800
So very big money when compared to nothing. The reason the RSGA is doing this is because most people get into rallying via 2WD cars. They're cheaper to buy, cheaper to turn into a rally car and they have the ability to teach you how to go fast through turns without the benefit of all your wheels churning at the dirt. Most rallyers will tell you to start in a low powered 2WD car (like a Ford Focus) and learn the proper techniques and how to hold your momentum through the turn and then when you graduate to 4WD, you'll be that much faster.
The other good part about this is it transcends sanctioning bodies. Currently there are 2 premiere rally series in the States, Rally America (what used to be SCCA) and NASA Rallysport. Their schedules don't overlap but they don't really work together either. So hopefully this will at the very least encourage some discussion between the two bodies so that they can realize that they both want the same thing (for rallying to be uber-popular in the US) and that neither one wants to see the other go out of business.
What does this mean to me? It means that I need to get back to work on my pre-oral and pass it so I'll get my PhD and then a decent paying job, not have any kids for a bit, and then I will finally get my rally car. Oh yeah, that's the dream baby.
Big big news in the world of 2WD rallying! A new non-profit organization, the Rallysports Group of America, RSGA, has created the Max Attack Triple Crown Rally Series! Basically it is a prize fund to encourage competition and promote 2WD rallying. Everyone knows Travis Pastrana and his 4WD Subaru, but not many people know the names of nationally competitive 2 wheel drive cars. The prize schedule is:
1st - $2,000
2nd - $1,600
3rd - $1,400
4th - $1,200
5th - $1,000
6th - $800
So very big money when compared to nothing. The reason the RSGA is doing this is because most people get into rallying via 2WD cars. They're cheaper to buy, cheaper to turn into a rally car and they have the ability to teach you how to go fast through turns without the benefit of all your wheels churning at the dirt. Most rallyers will tell you to start in a low powered 2WD car (like a Ford Focus) and learn the proper techniques and how to hold your momentum through the turn and then when you graduate to 4WD, you'll be that much faster.
The other good part about this is it transcends sanctioning bodies. Currently there are 2 premiere rally series in the States, Rally America (what used to be SCCA) and NASA Rallysport. Their schedules don't overlap but they don't really work together either. So hopefully this will at the very least encourage some discussion between the two bodies so that they can realize that they both want the same thing (for rallying to be uber-popular in the US) and that neither one wants to see the other go out of business.
What does this mean to me? It means that I need to get back to work on my pre-oral and pass it so I'll get my PhD and then a decent paying job, not have any kids for a bit, and then I will finally get my rally car. Oh yeah, that's the dream baby.
Labels: Futurama, NASA, pre-oral, rally
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Who needs courage when you have.....a gun!
Prof. Farnsworth from one of the "Tales of Interest" episodes of Futurama. I believe the story title was Whizzin' as it was an homage to the Wizard of Oz. The munchkin song went something like this "We resemble but are legally distinct from the lollipop guild, the lollipop guild..." and then Nibbler ate one.
The Tales of Interest always begin with someone asking the Professor's "What If" machine a what if question. That particular one was Leela's desire to know her true home.
We had a postdoc who worked with us who really hated most everything mainstream. Music, clothing (he actually bought a Member's Only jacket off of ebay and wore it, it was awesome), and TV, except for the fact that he watched American Idol. Not all of it mind you, but just the opening shows, I think they're called selection shows, where they chronicle the tales of the nutty wannabes who slept in front of the studio for days or drove 400 miles naked in the snow just for the chance to be ridiculed by whoever the judges are. I assume Simon is still there. Paula? Has she been canned yet? But he would watch the first shows because it's all drama, joy and agony. The contestants who are so unbelievably bad that it's a wonder there friends lied to them and told them to go try out. As I said over in PoP's comment box, it's all trainwrecks and people with actual talent.
So I might be willing to watch American Idol, but I would just be watching it for the wonderfully awful contestants. Kind of like the people who only watch NASCAR for the wrecks. But then once all the contestants are selected, I would stop watching the show because I ultimately don't care whose singles I will be hearing on the radio in the near future. Or whose concerts will be coming to a town near me.
The Tales of Interest always begin with someone asking the Professor's "What If" machine a what if question. That particular one was Leela's desire to know her true home.
We had a postdoc who worked with us who really hated most everything mainstream. Music, clothing (he actually bought a Member's Only jacket off of ebay and wore it, it was awesome), and TV, except for the fact that he watched American Idol. Not all of it mind you, but just the opening shows, I think they're called selection shows, where they chronicle the tales of the nutty wannabes who slept in front of the studio for days or drove 400 miles naked in the snow just for the chance to be ridiculed by whoever the judges are. I assume Simon is still there. Paula? Has she been canned yet? But he would watch the first shows because it's all drama, joy and agony. The contestants who are so unbelievably bad that it's a wonder there friends lied to them and told them to go try out. As I said over in PoP's comment box, it's all trainwrecks and people with actual talent.
So I might be willing to watch American Idol, but I would just be watching it for the wonderfully awful contestants. Kind of like the people who only watch NASCAR for the wrecks. But then once all the contestants are selected, I would stop watching the show because I ultimately don't care whose singles I will be hearing on the radio in the near future. Or whose concerts will be coming to a town near me.
Labels: American Idol, Futurama
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