I reserved the latest Harry Potter book at the NY Public Library. Just picked it up today. There were 800 reservable copies, and I was 200th on the queue. Of course, I reserved it back in January...
I have just begun to read it, and am pleased to find that it is shorter than the last book (there was a trend where each volume had been getting longer and longer). The biggest problem with these books? I know how it's going to end. They're all unsolveable mysteries. Making matters worse, since there's magic in the world, anything can happen. Anything! Oh, the ceiling turned into cotton candy? It's magic! Look, that man has six arms! Magic. Let's turn back time... You get the picture.
I also hope there isn't much about a Quidditch match. What a stupid game. Maybe it should be an Olympic sport.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Ribfest
I can't believe my last post to the blog was about feces as a means for electrical power. It appears as well, that my "Yankees won't make the playoffs" prediction may not come true after all.
About a month back, I had the pleasure of attending Nashua, NH's annual rib-fest. Here, you pay admission to a little outdoor fair and then can purchase ribs from a bunch of vendors. The session is held on the grounds of Anhauser Busch's factory in Nashua. While the ribs were tasty, here are some photos from the day that have nothing to do with ribs - the clydesdales and a stunt plane that flew over the site.
And yes, I got the itis.
Doesn't it look like this horse is in prison? So sad.
Stunt planes are fun.
About a month back, I had the pleasure of attending Nashua, NH's annual rib-fest. Here, you pay admission to a little outdoor fair and then can purchase ribs from a bunch of vendors. The session is held on the grounds of Anhauser Busch's factory in Nashua. While the ribs were tasty, here are some photos from the day that have nothing to do with ribs - the clydesdales and a stunt plane that flew over the site.
And yes, I got the itis.
Doesn't it look like this horse is in prison? So sad.
Stunt planes are fun.
Monday, July 18, 2005
Poop Power?
I don't know if this is cool or gross but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to work in a biogas plant.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Cleveland Indians vs. New York Yankees - 7/8/05
I'm falling behind with posts to the blog.
I still have 100+ photos from China that need to be posted here, and some things from the Nashua, NH Rib Fest a while back that also need to make it up here. Then I also would like to do a Best of / Worst of the first year of KFB. For now, enjoy some shots from the rainy Indians / Yankees game. Actually, it was raining early but cleared up to a nice night. Also, it turns out to be my second victory this season.
Chien-Ming Wang. This may have been his last start of the year, depending on the DL situation. I have also seen Kevin Brown, Mike Mussina, Randy Johnson, and Carl Pavano pitch this year, so pretty much all the regular starting pitchers.
The theme of today's photos is, players who weren't on the Yankees back in April when I saw a ton of games. For example, center fielder Melky Cabrera.
Melky Cabrera has a silly looking photo for his shot on the big screen.
No Tony Womack here! It's Robinson Cano.
Coco Crisp of the Indians. You couldn't make up a better name.
Ah, Tier Reserved, my favorite place to sit.
I still have 100+ photos from China that need to be posted here, and some things from the Nashua, NH Rib Fest a while back that also need to make it up here. Then I also would like to do a Best of / Worst of the first year of KFB. For now, enjoy some shots from the rainy Indians / Yankees game. Actually, it was raining early but cleared up to a nice night. Also, it turns out to be my second victory this season.
Chien-Ming Wang. This may have been his last start of the year, depending on the DL situation. I have also seen Kevin Brown, Mike Mussina, Randy Johnson, and Carl Pavano pitch this year, so pretty much all the regular starting pitchers.
The theme of today's photos is, players who weren't on the Yankees back in April when I saw a ton of games. For example, center fielder Melky Cabrera.
Melky Cabrera has a silly looking photo for his shot on the big screen.
No Tony Womack here! It's Robinson Cano.
Coco Crisp of the Indians. You couldn't make up a better name.
Ah, Tier Reserved, my favorite place to sit.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Monday, July 11, 2005
Newsstands and US News
I was looking around for a magazine today, and couldn't find it anywhere. I stopped by about four or five of the corner newsstands asking for the magazine, and none of them had it. In fact, several of them looked at me as if they had never heard of the magazine. Then I realized that these newsstands only carry porn and cigarettes. I hadn't ever noticed that before.
The magazine I was looking for? US News and World Report. Nobody carries this thing. It's like the black sheep of news magazines. More newsstands had The Economist (which is like the British hippie cousin of news magazines). It makes you realize how US News has been able to turn the "Top 10" list into a year-long publication. There's top colleges, grad schools and hospitals. When will they come out with "America's Top Religions?" They would be able to have all sorts of categories, like "miracles performed," "martyrs," and "fundraising." The best categories, of course, would be "selectivity" and "reputation."
The magazine I was looking for? US News and World Report. Nobody carries this thing. It's like the black sheep of news magazines. More newsstands had The Economist (which is like the British hippie cousin of news magazines). It makes you realize how US News has been able to turn the "Top 10" list into a year-long publication. There's top colleges, grad schools and hospitals. When will they come out with "America's Top Religions?" They would be able to have all sorts of categories, like "miracles performed," "martyrs," and "fundraising." The best categories, of course, would be "selectivity" and "reputation."
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Sandwiches Without Bread
Imagine: Roast beef, bacon, melted cheddar cheese, BBQ sauce and ranch dressing...
Sounds like a great sandwich, right?
Nope, it's a Quiznos salad!
Here's another: Black Angus steak, bleucheese crumbles and balsamic vinaigrette. Tasty!
I'm amused by the "healthy" options at these fast food chains, like salads at McDonald's and Wendy's that include fried chicken on them, but this is a bit much, isn't it? Quiznos suggests, of course, that these salads are low carb, and thus more healthy. Here's the facts: if it sounds like something I'd like, it's probably not healthy.
Sounds like a great sandwich, right?
Nope, it's a Quiznos salad!
Here's another: Black Angus steak, bleucheese crumbles and balsamic vinaigrette. Tasty!
I'm amused by the "healthy" options at these fast food chains, like salads at McDonald's and Wendy's that include fried chicken on them, but this is a bit much, isn't it? Quiznos suggests, of course, that these salads are low carb, and thus more healthy. Here's the facts: if it sounds like something I'd like, it's probably not healthy.
Terror Alert Color Coding System
We all know this one -- Orange means "heightened alert," red means "under attack," and so forth. Does anyone know how much it cost to come up with this thing? I was just wondering what the going rate was for color-coded alert systems.
Friday, July 08, 2005
My Entrance Music Please...
I have always thought that various people require entrance music, much like wrestlers.
The only three I've come up with are:
Members of a wedding party to the wedding reception
Judges into a court room
Surgeons entering the operating room for surgery
But I'm sure there are other instances where it would be appropriate, and I'm just missing them.
The only three I've come up with are:
Members of a wedding party to the wedding reception
Judges into a court room
Surgeons entering the operating room for surgery
But I'm sure there are other instances where it would be appropriate, and I'm just missing them.
Baseball - Out of the Olympics
Baseball and softball have been eliminated as Olympic events. I guess it's not a great shock since nobody in Europe plays these sports, but yet they're quite popular in the US, Latin America and Asia. I've always thought the IOC had a bit of European bias, and this confirms my suspicions.
Reasons baseball was eliminated?
Cost - building baseball and softball stadiums were too costly and weren't utilized after games in host cities. Good point, although the article mentions that the IOC considered adding golf as a medal sport. Golf courses aren't costly to build? Not to mention, if you want to televise something more boring than baseball, then golf is a good choice.
Another reason cited was recent problems in MLB with steroids, and the lack of professional players in the Olympics. This seems contradictory, since if all the MLB players are using steroids, why would you want them in the Olympics? Most importantly, I thought the Olympics were an amateur event. I know pro basketball players go to the Olympics, as do pro tennis players and many other professionals in other sports. This is disappointing. Sure, it would be nice to see MLB players make it to the games, but the whole point of the Olympics is to give the amateurs a chance to shine.
Perhaps baseball and softball should be eliminated from the Olympics, but these aren't good reasons to knock them out. Did you know handball was an Olympic event?
Reasons baseball was eliminated?
Cost - building baseball and softball stadiums were too costly and weren't utilized after games in host cities. Good point, although the article mentions that the IOC considered adding golf as a medal sport. Golf courses aren't costly to build? Not to mention, if you want to televise something more boring than baseball, then golf is a good choice.
Another reason cited was recent problems in MLB with steroids, and the lack of professional players in the Olympics. This seems contradictory, since if all the MLB players are using steroids, why would you want them in the Olympics? Most importantly, I thought the Olympics were an amateur event. I know pro basketball players go to the Olympics, as do pro tennis players and many other professionals in other sports. This is disappointing. Sure, it would be nice to see MLB players make it to the games, but the whole point of the Olympics is to give the amateurs a chance to shine.
Perhaps baseball and softball should be eliminated from the Olympics, but these aren't good reasons to knock them out. Did you know handball was an Olympic event?
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Kevin Smith
Every time I see Kevin Smith on television or in a movie, I like him less. Why might that be? It's not like he switched to Scientology or something. Some of the recent appearances of his that I've seen include him talking about comic books or the Superman movie (which he was loosely affiliated with for a while), or him on the Tonight Show talking about his latest projects. Clerks was one of my favorite movies for a while, and I even found Dogma, Mallrats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back hilarious. I thought that it might be due to beginning to “grow up” but I’m not sure that’s the case, since I still get a kick out of mainstays like South Park and Robot Chicken. As far as I can tell, it's not me, it's him.
Monday, July 04, 2005
Tour de France
Lance Armstrong's final Tour de France is as a member of the Discovery Channel Team. This, of course, is probably his tribute to the Simpsons episode, Lemon of Troy.
Bart: Milhouse, you and me will be Omega team, Todd, you and Data are 'Team Strike Force'. Nelson, that leaves you and Martin.
Martin: Team Discovery Channel!
Nelson: Aww... your wussiness better come in handy.
Live 8
I went to the Live 8 show in Philadelphia this past weekend. What is Live 8? It's the sequel to 1985's Live Aid show. This year, the goal was to lobby the upcoming G8 meeting to forgive debt to Africa and increase aid to African countries. There were nine shows that ran concurrently (including one in London that sounded pretty amazing). I don't know much about debt relief for Africa, and the show didn't do much to convince me that I should be in favor of it. But it was a pretty cool experience, with estimated 800,000 people at the show. The NY Times had printed something about 1.5 million people, but I think that was wrong.
We got to the show around 10am and waited in our spot for 2 hrs. Here are some photos from that spot.
This was our view of the concert site, which was on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. The "No Turn on Red" sign and the traffic light were more in our way than expected.
A view of the crowd behind us.
Here is a shot of the statue to the left of us and the crowds.
The best act we saw was Will Smith (who included in his performance a sing-along of the theme song from "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air"). We also saw the Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, Destiny's Child and Kanye West perform. Also at the site, performing later in the day, were Dave Matthews Band, Stevie Wonder, Maroon 5, Linkin Park, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, and Def Leppard. I heard the DMB set, which sounded pretty good, but will have to watch the remainder on the internet. We left since the show was a bit slow between acts, and we were getting hot in the sun. Here are some more photos from the day. I put some arrows on the famous people, since otherwise, it's nearly impossible to tell who they are.
Will Smith, the first emcee.
The Black Eyed Peas.
Jon Bon Jovi. It's a little blurry.
There were just so many people!
The fire department set up these trucks that sprayed water. Pretty cool idea. Fortunately it wasn't too humid on Saturday.
Here's a view from further away of the concert site. It was almost wall-to-wall people from here to the stage.
We got to the show around 10am and waited in our spot for 2 hrs. Here are some photos from that spot.
This was our view of the concert site, which was on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. The "No Turn on Red" sign and the traffic light were more in our way than expected.
A view of the crowd behind us.
Here is a shot of the statue to the left of us and the crowds.
The best act we saw was Will Smith (who included in his performance a sing-along of the theme song from "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air"). We also saw the Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, Destiny's Child and Kanye West perform. Also at the site, performing later in the day, were Dave Matthews Band, Stevie Wonder, Maroon 5, Linkin Park, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, and Def Leppard. I heard the DMB set, which sounded pretty good, but will have to watch the remainder on the internet. We left since the show was a bit slow between acts, and we were getting hot in the sun. Here are some more photos from the day. I put some arrows on the famous people, since otherwise, it's nearly impossible to tell who they are.
Will Smith, the first emcee.
The Black Eyed Peas.
Jon Bon Jovi. It's a little blurry.
There were just so many people!
The fire department set up these trucks that sprayed water. Pretty cool idea. Fortunately it wasn't too humid on Saturday.
Here's a view from further away of the concert site. It was almost wall-to-wall people from here to the stage.
Friday, July 01, 2005
How to Tell You Have a Gambling Problem
How can you tell you have a gambling problem? When you start placing bets on which city will host the Olympic games. New York, incidentally, is a long shot at 25-1. This makes me wonder if the same agencies have over/unders for death tolls in major earthquakes and natural disasters.
Prediction: Tom Cruise is not the last "heart throb" movie star to say something crazy or controversial
Throwing this into the prediction section.
Tom Cruise recently came under fire for his strong statements against psychiatrists and antidepressant medication. For some reason, this reminded me of some of the strong statements Mel Gibson had been making about Christianity and social issues while promoting his last film (I believe it was a little movie about a carpenter).
These are all "heart throb" male movie stars who now, with a lot of works under their belts, have expressed stronger opinions about things and are portrayed by the media as "losing it" a little bit. This will happen again. Colin Farrell and Brad Pitt, watch out.
This, by the way, excludes people like Tim Robbins, who are outspoken about their politics, but never really made it to "heart throb" status. Richard Gere is a borderline case, I don't know if his Tibet statements are as well publicized as Cruise or Gibson, but he certainly likes to have opinions!
Let this also be a lesson to future celebrities and pretty people in general: For the most part, the public doesn't want to hear anything you say that's supposed to be intellectual. Most likely, ugly intellectuals will ridicule you even if you make sense because they are jealous of you. So just look pretty.
Tom Cruise recently came under fire for his strong statements against psychiatrists and antidepressant medication. For some reason, this reminded me of some of the strong statements Mel Gibson had been making about Christianity and social issues while promoting his last film (I believe it was a little movie about a carpenter).
These are all "heart throb" male movie stars who now, with a lot of works under their belts, have expressed stronger opinions about things and are portrayed by the media as "losing it" a little bit. This will happen again. Colin Farrell and Brad Pitt, watch out.
This, by the way, excludes people like Tim Robbins, who are outspoken about their politics, but never really made it to "heart throb" status. Richard Gere is a borderline case, I don't know if his Tibet statements are as well publicized as Cruise or Gibson, but he certainly likes to have opinions!
Let this also be a lesson to future celebrities and pretty people in general: For the most part, the public doesn't want to hear anything you say that's supposed to be intellectual. Most likely, ugly intellectuals will ridicule you even if you make sense because they are jealous of you. So just look pretty.
Review: Alice in Chains: MTV Unplugged
Alice In Chains: MTV Unplugged
1996, Sony Music Entertainment, Inc
Vocals - Layne Staley
Guitar - Jerry Cantrell
Bass - Mike Inez
Drums - Sean Kinney
Collecting all those Pepsi iTunes caps paid off, as I was able to receive this album for free (and the cost of 13 bottles of Diet Pepsi).
This is only the fourth complete album I have ever purchased online. It's a bit hard to do, since I am so attached to liner notes and the total package. Unfortunately, the problem is, the more I like the album, the more I want the liners, so in the end I try to choose albums that I don't know much about or I'd like to try. The other three albums I had purchased were all Foo Fighters albums, and I got them for $5 each after Real had their $0.50 song promotion.
That's just a little background. While I've listened to all the Alice in Chains studio releases, I am by no means an avid fan of the band, and for some reason, they're one of the Seattle bands that slipped under the radar for me in the '90's. I'm only now starting to appreciate their work.
So it brings me to the Unpluggeed album, which is quite a treat. For the casual fan ilke me, the band breaks out some of their most popular hits, such as Rooster, Would?, Down in a Hole, No Excuses and Heaven Beside You.
The acoustic sound is much smoother than the electric versions of these songs, and Staley's distinctive voice booms over the instrumentals.
I wrote the above about a month ago. This remains my favorite Alice in Chains album. A great addition to my music collection, especially at the cost of a baker's dozen bottles of Pepsi.
Stand Up - Dave Matthews Band Part 2
Previously, I had promised a review of the album
That promise will go unfulfilled. I like this album, and it seems like the band has a jazzier sound than on their last studio recording, "Busted Stuff." At first I didn't think it was a particularly good album, but it's growing on me, and I think it's a strong work overall.
I recently acquired the new album from the Foo Fighters, "In Your Honor." It's got some catchy tunes, but did it really warrant a double CD (total 80 minutes)? It had the same copy protection as the DMB album, and it also wasn't a problem to put on my iPod, despite warnings to the contrary.
That promise will go unfulfilled. I like this album, and it seems like the band has a jazzier sound than on their last studio recording, "Busted Stuff." At first I didn't think it was a particularly good album, but it's growing on me, and I think it's a strong work overall.
I recently acquired the new album from the Foo Fighters, "In Your Honor." It's got some catchy tunes, but did it really warrant a double CD (total 80 minutes)? It had the same copy protection as the DMB album, and it also wasn't a problem to put on my iPod, despite warnings to the contrary.
Batman Begins
A pretty good movie, but for some reason, everything I have to say about it is negative. Am I just a negative person?
Another post from the archives.
An anecdote from the movie. With about a half-hour to go, a guy in front of me had his phone ring for the second time. He took the call and was speaking just loud enough for some of us to hear. The person sitting on my right (a stranger) tapped this man on shoulder, and the following occurred.
Man on Right (MoR): Could you do that outside?
Man on Phone (MoP): I'll be finished in a minute.
*MoR puts hands in air*
*MoP keeps talking for several minutes*
Me: Shut up.
*MoP swings around and points at the MoR*
MoP: YOU don't tell me to shut up! I'm taking this call!
Movie Crowd (MC): SHHHHHHH!
Man off to Side (MotS): You idiots be quiet! [something like this]
Man in Back (MiB): I'm a cop!
*MoP keeps talking on phone but eventually finishes*
Not one of my better moments. I didn't realize what I had done. I didn't want it to sound so mean, but I think I was fortunate that the MoR took the heat for my nasty comment. I was probably the smallest of the three guys (and perhaps, least wily). I had just been trying to pay attention to the movie, and this was the fastest way I could think of to ask him to stop talking without missing anything. I'm not usually one for confrontation but I think because the MoR was willing to ask him to stop, it emboldened me to take action (which, of course, totally backfired).
Another post from the archives.
An anecdote from the movie. With about a half-hour to go, a guy in front of me had his phone ring for the second time. He took the call and was speaking just loud enough for some of us to hear. The person sitting on my right (a stranger) tapped this man on shoulder, and the following occurred.
Man on Right (MoR): Could you do that outside?
Man on Phone (MoP): I'll be finished in a minute.
*MoR puts hands in air*
*MoP keeps talking for several minutes*
Me: Shut up.
*MoP swings around and points at the MoR*
MoP: YOU don't tell me to shut up! I'm taking this call!
Movie Crowd (MC): SHHHHHHH!
Man off to Side (MotS): You idiots be quiet! [something like this]
Man in Back (MiB): I'm a cop!
*MoP keeps talking on phone but eventually finishes*
Not one of my better moments. I didn't realize what I had done. I didn't want it to sound so mean, but I think I was fortunate that the MoR took the heat for my nasty comment. I was probably the smallest of the three guys (and perhaps, least wily). I had just been trying to pay attention to the movie, and this was the fastest way I could think of to ask him to stop talking without missing anything. I'm not usually one for confrontation but I think because the MoR was willing to ask him to stop, it emboldened me to take action (which, of course, totally backfired).
Apostrophe S
I'm going to try and unload a few posts that I had started but never finished up.
For some reason, the usage of the apostrophe s ('s) tends to be confused a lot in English. For example, just the other day, I was in a hospital and saw a sign that read, "Doctor's Only" for an area that had restricted access.
I thought to myself, "I wonder why it is so hard for some people to use properly, it has never been a problem for me."
We just use the apostrophe when someone owns something (Blogman's post) but we do not use it when it is time to make plurals (thousands of Blogmans). Trickier is the its/it's convention, when "its" is posessive and "it's" is for "it is." Tricky, but nothing that the average person can't handle.
Then I kept thinking, that isn't so easy. There's also another wrinkle. What is proper usage of the apostrophe is when it comes to plurals of abbreviations. For example, do I use the apostrophe if I want to say, There aren't that many DVD's that I want to own" or "How many RBI's does he have?"
RBI is a tricky one, is the plural of "Runs batted in" RBI or RBI's?
Which reminds me also of the word "moose." What's the plural of moose? Two moose, or two mooses?
Maybe this stuff isn't as easy as I thought.
For some reason, the usage of the apostrophe s ('s) tends to be confused a lot in English. For example, just the other day, I was in a hospital and saw a sign that read, "Doctor's Only" for an area that had restricted access.
I thought to myself, "I wonder why it is so hard for some people to use properly, it has never been a problem for me."
We just use the apostrophe when someone owns something (Blogman's post) but we do not use it when it is time to make plurals (thousands of Blogmans). Trickier is the its/it's convention, when "its" is posessive and "it's" is for "it is." Tricky, but nothing that the average person can't handle.
Then I kept thinking, that isn't so easy. There's also another wrinkle. What is proper usage of the apostrophe is when it comes to plurals of abbreviations. For example, do I use the apostrophe if I want to say, There aren't that many DVD's that I want to own" or "How many RBI's does he have?"
RBI is a tricky one, is the plural of "Runs batted in" RBI or RBI's?
Which reminds me also of the word "moose." What's the plural of moose? Two moose, or two mooses?
Maybe this stuff isn't as easy as I thought.
China, Part 1
China - one of the few places where being "one in a million" means there will be a few thousand other people like you.
This first photo is from Xi'an, our first major stop in China a few weeks back. The first is from the bell tower of Xi'an, and it's in the old city center. The city has stretched far beyond the city walls. Historically, this city has been an arts and cultural center.
The city was not as commercial as future stops on our trip (Wuhan and Chongqing) nor was it as cosmopolitan as Shanghai. But it was still a nice city, even despite the fact that crossing the street was like being trapped in Frogger, and riding in taxis was like riding Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disney World.
This second photo is of one of the Terra Cotta Soldiers. This particular soldier has been removed from the pit and is on display in a little museum they had. The soldiers are located about one hour away from the city. Apparently they were placed to guard an emperor's tomb, which was later destroyed in a protest. Then about thirty years ago, some farmer found them while digging a well. I believe the farmer does some book signings from time-to-time.
This first photo is from Xi'an, our first major stop in China a few weeks back. The first is from the bell tower of Xi'an, and it's in the old city center. The city has stretched far beyond the city walls. Historically, this city has been an arts and cultural center.
The city was not as commercial as future stops on our trip (Wuhan and Chongqing) nor was it as cosmopolitan as Shanghai. But it was still a nice city, even despite the fact that crossing the street was like being trapped in Frogger, and riding in taxis was like riding Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disney World.
This second photo is of one of the Terra Cotta Soldiers. This particular soldier has been removed from the pit and is on display in a little museum they had. The soldiers are located about one hour away from the city. Apparently they were placed to guard an emperor's tomb, which was later destroyed in a protest. Then about thirty years ago, some farmer found them while digging a well. I believe the farmer does some book signings from time-to-time.
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