smacky and bucky

Tonight is the first episode of Lost in about NINE months. Of course, due to the writers' strike, we only get eight episodes this season, so I don't have time for haters. I didn't watch the second season of Heroes, so there's very little of this type of stuff out there now. I am very much looking forward to watching it tonight.

Long time between posts! Don't start calling me Kate (C'mon, she doesn't read this!). Work has been busy this week. I have three books all coming together at the same time, which is exciting and makes me feel really productive, but it's also a lot to handle.

The cut on my finger is closing up (yay). I removed the band aid Monday evening and it started bleeding again, so I had to give it a few more days.

I did a mile on the treadmill after work yesterday. Yep, just one mile, but it was at a jog. I can't decide to go for time (at least 20 minutes) or distance (2 miles is next short-term goal). I'm just trying to get a little exercise in here and there between sitting at a desk at work and a sofa at home. I quit smoking over a year ago, so I can finally exercise and not feel like a lung is trying to work its way out of my chest. I guess I'll just try to keep a schedule of three times a week for a while and see how it feels.

Someone in my office just handed me this:


Freeze-Dried Astronaut Ice Cream. She received it in a box from NASA, no less. Those NASA folks, using ice cream as a marketing gimmick. In a roundabout way I bought this with my tax dollars, so yeah, I deserve it! Between this and GW's planned tax refund ($1,200 for a couple) we're just rolling in the spoils of government, aren't we? Woo!

You know what hurts? When I was emptying the dishwasher this morning, one of the fancy knives had something on it, specks of dried chicken meat or something(?). I tried rinsing it off. Nope. Tried scrubbing it with a sponge. Nope. I looked around under the sink and found a Brillo pad (the kind that activates in water and has soap in it) and started scrubbing the knife. I was going the length of the blade, but then I started scrubbing up and down at a particularly stubborn piece of something... and of course I ran the blade over my right index finger.

It was some type of French blade, super sharp, and one slice was enough. I pressed down to hold the slice together, and eventually it stopped bleeding enough to get two band-aids on it.

NASA Photo Shows Human-like Figure on Mars

The best part? He walks with the same lanky gate of this beloved '60s icon:



Dude's just strolling down the mountain, minding his own business, and the Mars rover takes his picture without asking.

Yikes! I just noticed I spelled the first word in my last post "mutlimedia." I've fixed it. Sheesh.

Not a lot happening. I still have a new range hood to install. Might get it done next weekend, when my brother-in-law comes down. They're going to Atlantic City this weekend, and we're awaiting their report. Is it good practice for Vegas, or just a redneck gambling spot, prettied up by Donald Trump (so everything looks fake Roman, because that says class, baby!)? We'll hear soon.


Oh! This Saturday, the second season of Torchwood begins on BBC America. We're only a few weeks behind airings of the program in the UK this time, due to the fact that the show was BBC America's highest rated program ever. And the guy that played Spike on Buffy is in this season, if you need further enticement. The first season was just released stateside as well, though I haven't picked it up yet. Too bad it didn't come out a few weeks earlier, when it would have been Christmas gift fodder.

Currently reading this. Written by someone who knew and liked him, but it isn't just myth-making. Good stuff so far.

We watched No Country for Old Men the other night. It deserves the Oscar nominations it received, though I felt like a dolt and had to go online later and google: "Explain the ending of No Country for Old Men." Found two good interpretations and combined them in my mind. Wonder how the book is? I have too many books to read now to add it to the pile. Maybe I'll grab a used copy after people rush to buy the new edition with the movie actors on the cover after the movie wins a bunch of awards.

Great weekend. Friday night we decided to use the $50 gift card we had for Ruth's Chris Steak House. This location is on the top floor of an office building. The windows face National Airport (I can't make myself call it Ronald Reagan National Airport, since no one does), which doesn't sound romantic, but watching planes take off and land and sailboats floating down the Potomac as the sun sets and all the lights start twinkling... it was very pretty. The food was excellent too. I had lunch Sunday with the leftovers.

Saturday we drove up to Maryland to help L's sister and brother-in-law set up their wireless network. They'd been still using dial-up, and the sad thing was they didn't need to be, since they had already purchased the router and such. They're like that. They owned a Tivo for three years before they removed it from the box and figured out how to hook it up! Since it took most of the day to get everything working (router, setting up two laptops, hooking two game systems to their big TV) they treated us to lunch (Mexican) and dinner (Italian).

Sunday I decided to dust off the treadmill and move it upstairs from the basement into the guest bedroom, where we're more likely to use it. If you've ever seen a treadmill, you know they're not heavy, so much as unwieldy. And the steps to our unfinished basement are narrow. Working alone (when I get it in my head to do something, a little thing like no help isn't going to deter me!) I maneuvered the thing upstairs, one step at a time, and with it tilted forward due to the slanted ceiling in the stairwell. Oh, and the stairs turn 90 degrees at the back door, so I had to work through that too. The move was a success, and the only annoying past was when I scraped my right elbow against the stairwell wall, which for some reason is made of rough plaster like stucco. So it was like running my elbow against sandpaper. Ouch.

Monday we relaxed. We went to the grocery store and got ingredients for dinner (turkey chili). I saw a news item online that Orpheus Records is closing April 1. I've spent a good number of hours (and dollars) there. It's sad, especially in light of the fact that it's not lack of customers that did it, but a building owner who probably wants to turn it into overpriced yuppie condos (The record shop's lease expired and the building owner refuses to renew). I mentioned it to the wife and she looked at me and said "Have fun," knowing I was about to say I thought I'd stop by and see what's up. She smartly declined to some along. The online story I had read mentioned a 30% off sale, but when I got there, the price signs posted around the store were actually 50% off. I picked up quite a few records at $2 each. Quite a few. Seriously, I got a lot of records. I figured it was my last visit there (people have already cleared a lot of items out of the store) since it would be too sad to return and see the place completely picked over.

Last night we had a good dinner and I watched the Terminator show (Laura opted to watch something else).

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For the last several months, Laura and I have been enjoying watching the season DVDs of Bob Newhart (the 1970s series in which he's a psychologist, not the 1980s series in which he runs an inn). We watch one or two episodes now and then before bed. The show has a humor that is really smart and subtle. We were sad to hear that Suzanne Pleshette died over the weekend. She played his wife on the show for the entire six season run. She was also in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.

Oh, and just because I stumbled on it, here's a pic of her looking sultry:

The Associated Press acknowledged Thursday (January 17) that the news service had begun prepping Spears' obituary, as is standard operating procedure at most news organizations once public figures appear to be at risk.

By now, you'd think even the most parasitic star watchers would look at her and say, "Damn, she needs some help." Watching her date a guy who makes a living stalking her, the spiral isn't even amusing in a head shaking way.

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Three-day weekend!

I was busily doing work-type stuff this early afternoon and noticed I had a new work email announcing our office would be closing at 1pm (15 minutes later) due to weather. Snow, sleet, and freezing rain, oh my! It's pretty.

Got home and the dog was super excited to see me early. We played in the backyard.


Here she is next to the tiny snowman we built:

Fox is in the unique position of premiering a new show, based on a very successful franchise, with a built-in audience, during a protracted writers strike. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (I guess they added the Terminator name to the title so people wouldn't think it was a spin-off show starring one of the daughters from Roseanne.) had a two-night premier, Sunday and last night. It's already got a share of geeks slamming it (Ugh, I so dislike the angry, reactionary nerd that hates something with such a passion immediately and has to publicly pray for its demise in message boards...), but as a fan of the movies (I don't own any of them on DVD, but I've seen the first and second movies many times, the third only once) I felt it was faithful to the feel of the movies, especially the second one, with how the action scenes are shot. And it's a hoot seeing those shiny bastards in action again. If you saw the show last night, you know the creepy part I'm thinking of (what's under the motorcycle helmet!). Of course the other great part of the show is Summer Glau as the terminator sent back to protect John Connor, future leader of the rebellion against the robot revolution. Easy on the eyes and quite the fighter.

Fox could have a nice little hit on their hands, if they just don't screw it up. All they have to do is:

(1) Keep the show on the air. I don't care how massive American Idol is, don't put the show on hiatus for eight weeks while you air Idol four times a week. It's the only way it will build an audience (learn from CBS and Jericho what happens when you yank a show off the air for too long). Besides, Idol is a great lead-in show. If 25% of the audience sticks around to watch Terminator, the show will be a big hit!

(2) You've announced Monday at 9 is the regular time slot for the show. Keep it that way. Don't move it around. People are too lazy to search for it.

(3) Keep up the promotion. While Idol is on, every other commercial doesn't need to have Paula Abdul in it. Keep showing commercials with big terminators getting kicked by little Summer. Two things boys love in one scene!

(4) Two words: DVD sales. Keep this show on the air and you'll make big money on DVD sales of complete seasons. I promise to buy it.

(5) One last thing:

Purists who demand that beers be consumed in their proper glasses will blanch at what I picked up today. While the wife browsed dishes at the Crate & Barrel outlet, I impulse-bought the above glass. It's basically a stemless wine glass, but at 16 ounces, it's the perfect size for beer. That's a Celis White you're looking at. We also went to Cheesetique for the first time. I got a pepper cheese called Dragon's Breath and a 1/4 pound of a salami called nostrano. The sandwich I had for lunch today was awesome.

This afternoon I was in the mood to listen to some Clash, and discovered I only had five songs on the iPod. That wouldn't do, so I fixed it, including Joe Strummer's beautiful rendition of Bob Marley's Redemption Song.



It's been a great Saturday.

Well, because one of you asked for an update...

While the missus, the better half, was deciding what ingredients to combine for dinner, I opened the box for the range hood and started reading the directions. I did this and that, finally stopping at step 12, which called for mounting the hood in place (Don't get dirty. Yes, I said "mount") and completing the wiring. Since the old one is still in place, and there's no hole in the wall yet, it's as far as I could go.

Since deciding where the hole goes is just a matter of holding the hood in place and tracing the rectangle opening on the wall, I'm certain I can have Laura do the outline tracing. In other words, I'm toying with the idea of doing it myself. I have the drill and the jigsaw. I can do it. Just a matter of convincing the wife of that!

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Oh, I wanted to share these from the moment I saw them, but I forgot. At Christmas, all the comic strips make mention of it, even if the strip isn't currently in a holiday story line. This can have unintentionally bizarre results. Here are the Christmas Eve and Christmas day strips of Dick Tracy:

I went to the home improvement store after work yesterday with the supplies list I would need to show the world that I don't need to pay someone $1,200 for a few hours of work. It took a while to find everything, because a woman at the end of the aisle was loudly ranting about how "ever since Hechinger closed the customer service at this place has gotten awful! Someone was going to check on something for me 20 minutes ago!" Fine, you're upset, but why yell at the other people who work there? THEY didn't desert you, though they sure as hell want to now.

I finally got the attention of one of them and got him to confirm the ductwork I was holding was indeed designed for what I wanted to use it for, and not strictly for air conditioning. (It's going to be carrying warm greasy air away from the stove and outside, like when you drive by a fast food place and get a huge whiff of fries). It really makes no sense to have a range hood that simply recirculates the air. True, it has a filter on it that in theory traps the grease in the air, but it doesn't work all that well.

Anyway, boring.

I need one person to help do this job, preferably my father-in-law, or perhaps an illegal alien with extensive ductwork experience (kidding!).

Oh, if you saw season 2 of The Office, you saw the episode with the Dwight Schrute bobblehead:



Well, I have one in my office now:

Look at that shiny beauty! Considering the last one was probably installed in the 1970s, this looks a million times nicer and more modern. Of course no home improvement gig goes off without at least one hitch, and the water lines from the new faucet were 5 inches shorter than the old ones, necessitating a second trip to Home Depot to find not only extenders, but extenders with the correct ends and of the correct diameter. With close to 50 different options, I was fortunate enough to choose correctly the first time and connect the water lines with no further problems.

In "F you" news, we bought a new range hood for above the stove and want to have it vented outside, which is just a matter of cutting a hole in drywall and siding. We had someone stop by yesterday evening to give us an estimate, and he said it would be $1,200! WTF, man? He said, "This is DC." Bitch, we've used your company several times in the past, and you had been fair with the prices then. What the hell now??? Got gambling debts or a new coke habit? Oh well. Time to call Laura's pop to come by and lend a hand. He cut the hole to vent the dryer in the old house, so this should be simple. $1,200. You must be insane. I don't care if I'm calling from the White House, that's bullshit. Can I get a WTF?




Thanks.

Over Christmas break I installed a new faucet in the kitchen at our place at the river. It's actually a simple process and with the right tools and supplies, not a big chore.

When I got home from work yesterday, L announced she wanted to get a new faucet for the bathroom in our weekday pad.

See? That's what happens when you show the least bit of skill at something! That's why men usually play dumb when you ask them to do something! So that's what I'll be doing this afternoon.

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Switching gears... I'm not what you would call a super patriot. I don't immediately think America is morally superior every time we get in a conflict (however small) with another country. And I believe it is possible to support the troops but not the war, regardless of how some people say that is insane (or treasonous! GASP!). I also think it's not unpatriotic to publicly state that your current leader is a douche. I can't stand the mindless drones that spout the empty rhetoric of "Love it or leave it!" and "Speak English!" and "There's a war on Christmas!"

That said, I have always had a soft spot for Captain America. Hero of World War II, frozen in a block of ice and reanimated in the present day, he's a man out of time. And he carries a shield, not a gun. The symbolism of that is lost on our current administration, who believe safety can only come with citizens willingly giving up more and more personal freedoms. And the things he can do with that shield. He's fought a raged-up Hulk with it and survived. And check out what he's about to do to Hitler (with scared shitless face in the reflection of the shield):

Yeah, they killed him recently in a well written but still annoying marketing ploy. Hopefully the original will be back. But I read Captain America when all the comics were embracing "dark and gritty" antiheroes like Punisher and Batman. He had a "never give up" spirit I admired. And he quit being Captain America on two occasions in the past when the government tried to rein him in and make him a puppet of the president. He quit and went vigilante, because he's no one's puppet. He loves the country, but doesn't blindly embrace the current administration. And they (Marvel Comics) killed him. You can argue the symbolism of that in a post 9/11 world forever.

We had a relaxing weekend. Stayed in town. Saturday we went to lunch in Springfield and stopped at a small comic shop we came across. I picked up the b&w trade of Power Man and Iron Fist. Was there any better pairing in the history of the entire world? Shaft and a white Kung Fu master fighting petty crime in Harlem. Sweet Christmas!

Saturday evening I was laying on the sofa wondering what to watch on TV when the wife received a text massage (Yeah, I meant message. Oops!) from friends of ours on the other side of DC in Maryland. Were we interested in meeting up at an Irish pub tonight? Yes indeed. We also called another friend who lives up that way and asked her to join us. Had a few Guinnesses, caught up with everyone, watched the Steelers/Jaguars game, listened to a pretty loud acoustic guitar duo, and had a few more Guinnesses. Fun night.

Sunday was for sleeping in. Quick run to the grocery store, then Laura put on a big pot of French onion soup to simmer all day and we pretty much spent the entire day on the sofa. Watched a few episodes from the season 1 Picket Fences DVDs (we're rationing them, since who knows when or if the other seasons will be released?) followed by a recap of Saturday night's Republican/Democrat debates. We're both quietly hoping Hillary will get trounced in the New Hampshire primaries and go away. Between her past with Bill and voting for the War, she's got conservatives and liberals pissed at her, and we're afraid if she's the democratic nominee, we'll have another eight years of Republicans in the White House. And the choices among the front-runners on the Republican side are sort of scary/ creepy.

From De (took a while for me to finish because adding text to a pic was slightly beyond my area of normalcy!):

Instructions:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Add the text to the pic and then post it for all to enjoy.

Here's what I ended up with:


Based on the band name, the smug emo album title, and the pastoral picture, I imagine my band is a Christian pop band (what they call "Praise" music now). Perhaps I 'll have one random crossover hit on Top-40 radio, following in the footsteps of such bands as Jars of Clay and Creed, before people figure out that the "you" in my song "I Want To Do It All For You All Night Long" is actually Jesus, and not the big-breasted blonde in our video. Then our band will be mocked and we'll hit the State Fair circuit, making a comfortable but not flashy living playing middle America.

I started reading one of my Christmas gifts last night (you'll be relieved to know it was a book and not a sweater!).

The book details one man's quest to work as a dishwasher in all 50 states. I first heard about "Dishwasher Pete" Jordan from a segment on the This American Life radio show I heard about 10 years ago. The husband of a fellow Peace Corps volunteer regularly mailed cassettes of the show to her in Burkina, and we'd trade them around. (Why a woman joined the Peace Corps and left her husband at home is a different story I can share if asked).

Back to the book: The book has a definite On the Road feel to it, with Pete getting hit with wanderlust every few weeks and anxious to see what's around the bend in the road. Pete's been on Letterman a few times (his story is certainly odd enough to interest Dave) and I'm sure a two-second search on YouTube will bring up clips. Sigh. OK, hold on... HERE. You can watch both of his appearances. The first from the 1990s (which wasn't actually him! Read the story at the link) and the second from this past summer. I finished half the book last night while the wife watched Virginia Tech lose in the Orange Bowl.

I only took two pictures over my time off, and both with the camera phone:


This is pretty much the entire time: all of us lounging around, watching movies, reading, and napping (the animals read less than we do).


And when the german shepherd of your inlaws (a big but totally friendly dog that is actually afraid of cats) comes to visit, what do you do?

You spend the entire day sleeping in a laundry basket on top of the dryer, safe from all enemies.

Our new year's eve was calm, relaxing, and delicious. L made a great meal, I had a Paulaner Hefe-Weizen beer, quick dip in the hot tub and dried off and comfy in front of the TV to watch Dick Clark count down the new year.