Save Thoth! Save Halloween!

Our poor Buddy-Cat (that's one of Thoth's nicknames) is not feeling well. After getting a vaccine booster on Saturday, he has had some poo issues since Sunday - not good times. He is eating a little less, too, but that is understandable. He also went outside briefly, so there is tha chance that it might be a parasite instead of a vaccine allergy. Either way, hopefully he will feel better soon since as a black cat this is his favorite time of year.

Speaking of which, I would like to support Melissa of The Bert Show in her effort to Save Halloween. Aside from craft stores and places that discreetly sell decorations (I understand planning ahead) I do NOT want to see anything related to Christmas prior to November. Preferably, this stuff would be limited to December or at least Black Friday. But I invite anyone to boycott stores that put up Christmas decorations prior to the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Lazy Day

Slept in. Played with cat. Played with Wii Fit. Checked out prices for cake for GTBAA - it's the 100th year of the Georgia Tech Band. Went to PetSmart; looked at kitties. Went by Best Buy; looked at Wii stuff and cameras. Ran into Jimmy. Ate at Scalini's. Caught a nap (which is why I'm up so late now). Came home and watched VT beat Nebraska. Learned that Bama gave the Dawgs a beating. Played some RRR. Good day.

I finished RRR's story mode, so I think I've unlocked all the games. Now there's all of these challenges to unlock, which I'm not sure how to do quite yet. I have all but one of the jukebox songs unlocked; I particularly like the "Rave" (get it?) original: The Butcher Deejay.

Oh yeah, and for you SB and HR fans, StrongBad answered his 200th sbemail recently. StrongBad's head looked a little big, and the episode was underwhelming; however, sbemail #199.5 was pretty good.

Final note: I stumbled across Peter Hirschberg's site. This guy is living the dream of every kid who went to the video arcade. He has his own arcade. You're thinking, "Cool, he has his a few games in his basement." Not quite. He has an entire building, with about 70 video arcade games. Simply amazing. I'm thinking - congrats to me, right? - that we could take a side trip around Thanksgiving when we go to New York. Oh yeah, I think that will be necessary.

Nixie has Go-Go-Juice

For those outside of the Atlanta area... we have a shortage of gasoline. More than half the stations are out, and that's the good times. Lines are incredibly long in the morning and evening hours, so I set out at 10pm and went to a QuikTrip that I thought would have have a bit of petrol. Nope. So I turn left and... my last light-bar of my guage goes out. 18 or so miles to go. No problem. I even pass the next station with gas and head toward the next station that is equally far from home for the next QT. I'll take 22 cents less per gallon since I had to go by that station anyway and I had an entire tank to fill. So there it is: $3.97 per gallon and only about 10 people in line. But the price wasn't even that important; it was just having some gas. And after putting off getting any gas for 18 days, Nixie finally had a full tank!

I was so glad that I directed a few cars to open spaces before I left.

Thanks QuikTrip!

Get Fit!

We purchased a Wii Fit this weekend. Even though the Fit disc it comes with is not the usual game you might expect from a console, it is still fun and enjoyable. I particularly like the soccer ball heading and ski jumping balance games. Doing some of the easier stretches and balance, I could feel a little strain (not painful) in my ankles, so I think that this could be very beneficial as I've seriously injured my ankles from time to time.

I still may need to get my heel and my toe checked out. One of my cousins recently had a ruptured Achille's Tendon: Ouchies!

Oh yeah, back to Wii. We also also bought the first Rayman's Raving Rabbids. It's fun, but I'm racing through the games; in a short afternoon, I played through 56% of the games. I like the story aspect it has, which the second lacks, but from what I experienced at the Seattle wedding, the group experience is sorely lacking compared to RRR2. At least we got it for cheap. Some of the graphics are worse, but some of the games are more fun and silly. Ahhh, cow throwing. Bottom line, RRR for solo play, RRR2 for group play.

Heroes in a few hours! Woo hoo!

My first three pledges!

I've gotten 3 pledges so far for the "Dig for the Cure" campaign, and I haven't really tried. I'll be a little more assertive this week. 14 days left.

And to make it even better, the Yellow Jackets won their ACC opener over Clemson who was picked to win the conference! Too bad I didn't get to see it, though. They also won over Florida A&M, so now Tech is (9-2) which is comperable to several top 25 teams. Keep it up, ladies!

Aside, can someone explain to me why Clemson is playing the same easy team three days in a row? Talk about boosting your record.

Dig for the Cure

I picked up my Georgia Tech Volleyball season tickets! While I was there, I met with one of the assistant coaches to collect forms to help the "Dig for the Cure" campaign. Here's part of a flyer I created:

The Georgia Tech Volleyball Team is partnering with the Atlanta Chapter of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Breast Cancer Foundation in an effort to raise awareness and funds to help fight the cause of breast cancer.

The Yellow Jackets will "Dig for the Cure" October 3rd against the Florida State Seminoles in Georgia Tech's home conference (ACC) opener. The team is hoping for pledges on a “per dig” basis or as a flat donation.

Having been indirectly touched by cancer - a few survivors, and one not so fortunate (luv ya clcm!) - and being a huge fan of GTVB, this means a lot to me. So... if you would like to contribute, please contact me.

Cleaning, Finding and Movie Stars

Yea! After only an hour of looking I found a few things I was looking for... rec club ID and a couple credit cards. And if nothing else, my car and my bedroom are a little cleaner. I guess it feels good to accomplish the little things, except for me it's a big thing, so go me! At the same time, I feel like a total loser that I cannot keep up with my crap. I'm getting better, honest!

I finished watching Cold Mountain with my honey tonight. It's films like that that make me feel better about the world I live in. Really - it's not as bad as it could be. And it was a great film. My only issue with it was the number of cameos... I get it, the producer/director/casting agent has connections, now stop interrupting my train of thought with, "Oh hey, that's Giovanni or Cillian or Ray or that guy from My Name is Earl!" and let me enjoy the movie again. Sometimes I wish movie actors would be limited to 3 roles in their lifetime; after that, you must do something else.

Well, it is late/early...zzzz...I need to rest so I can make it tomorrow.

Burn After Viewing

Well, maybe my expectations were a bit high, but I must say that I was a bit disappointed with the latest Coen Bros. venture. It was another "get money quick, the wrong way" movie, like a lighter, more idiotic version of Fargo... but not nearly as good. Well, it's hard to top Fargo, a movie that SHOULD HAVE won the Oscar that year.

The movie is basically a case study in what happens when idiots and self absorbed numb skulls interact. The characters and acting (or intentional overacting) were fine. And it definitely had its moments - there were quite a few moments of hard laughter. Unfortunately, the story was messy and the timing was uneven. A few times I found myself wondering when it would really kick into gear; it was like being in a car that continually backfires.

So for those wanting to take in a great comedy by the Coens might want to either reconsider or just lower your expectations. Like I said, perhaps mine were a bit too high. Still, in some of the worst weeks of movie box office history, this may be worth checking out. Id rating: B-.

On the Edge, But Not Edgy

Fringe is on the fringe of good - I want it to be - but I'm not impressed yet. The opening pilot felt forced, like a D&D dungeon master persuading the group's characters to band together for the first time, and like the start of Bionic Woman. "You just went through some horrible, wierd crap and your boyfriend died... now, come work for me." And as some fellow Maniacs pointed out, the characters aren't eccentric enough to fill the plot light episodes. Okay, maybe the doctor is, but we'll need more than a mad scientist.

The Pattern - I expected there to be some over-arching storyline, but I did not expect it to be revealed so soon, nor so obviously. So do you think this is part of The Pattern? And it seems that it will be pervasive to all episodes without stories that stand alone. Whether that is good or bad waits to be seen.

Still, it is intriguing enough to check out for a few more weeks, and it definitely beats most TV slop. Id rating: B-.

Time to go see Burn After Reading... for FREE!

Lost in Translation: Japanese Game Show Style

So, last night, I arrived home too late to jump into Fringe, the new Sci-Fi show on Fox, but I did catch Hole in the Wall. I'm a big fan of the youtube clips of the Japanese version by Fuji TV (search for Human Tetris, 6 is particularly good), but Fox and Fremantle North America (producers) failed again to capture the charm of a foreign show for an American audience.

What did they do right?

Costumes - right down to the over emphasized bulges. Perfect.

Countdown - 3, 2, 1. Good job not screwing THAT up.

What did they get wrong? A lot.

The hosts. Dude - what are you doing up there? Chick - turn down the glam including that hair, and calm down.

Mood - Hole in the Wall is too focused on the competition. Maybe the Japanese are playing for money, but it looks like they're a bunch of adults (I've heard some are comedians) reliving their early teen years and having a good, but rediculous time. The American humor mostly came from flaming gay stereotypes. Not just that, but much like the new American Gladiators, it feels over-produced.

The walls - A lot of the Japanese humor is not the funny moves to get through the moderately difficult holes, but how they react to the nearly impossible ones. Or how they try to scramble off the wall when they get stuck.

The set - It's a minor item, but silly and cheap is funnier than slick and stylish.

Now, I've heard the Japanese adults are normally much more reserved than Americans and so is through things like these shows that they are able to let loose, so maybe we're not uptight enough to start with, but dang - lighten up, don't try so hard and have fun.

And worst of all, they show way too many clips of future episodes at the end, including the fat girl. Okay, I get how that's supposed to be funny, but it's seesm like a one shot deal, and well, now it's ruined. Id rating: D+.

And yes, the irony that the movie Lost in Translation, a favorite of mine, takes place in Japan was intentional.

First Impressions (redux)

I find myself thinking about one thing or another rather frequently, so deeply in fact that I lose track of my surroundings, entering a dream-like state - not a good thing while driving but it usually doesn't last more than a couple seconds. Admittedly, too often I am overly critical about my actions, causing what I'll call guilt spasms. So, I plan to put my thoughts down so that I may more objectively reflect upon my reflections of myself and the world around me, and hopefully I may bend myself more to my liking.

And yes, while I realize the title sounds like something our current President might say, I like it in that it sounds intelligent and ignorant at the same time, while describing a common state of being for myself:

re·flec·ture [ri-flek-cher] - n.

1. the state of being or condition of oneself while reflecting.
2. the loss of awareness of one's surroundings while deep in thought.

[Origin: 2007.12.04, DAB; see REFLECT, -URE]