The Brady Bunch
No, this post is not REALLY about the Brady Bunch. It was just that, in reflecting this morning upon this past weekend, I realized that we were quite like the Brady Bunch, cramming 9 people into once living abode. Of course, ours was only a 2 bedroom apartment and not a 4 bedroom house. Still, the events of this weekend could have made quite the sitcom - or reality tv show, but only on MTV due to the sheer amounts of beer consumed in a three day period.
We now know what our fridge WILL FIT 110 beers (though 60 of them were cans, to be fair). And that just got us through 3 hours for Friday night (saturday morning).
needless to say, i'm tired today. another day off would have helped.
In the spirit of the title of this post, I have discovered a
quiz which tells you which Brady Bunch character YOU are.
My results:
You are Jan. Without you, Marcia and Cindy would
kill each other.
Which Brady Bunch character are you? brought to you by QuizillaThis quiz really sucks, by the way.
I may be a fan, but I'm not this dumb
Star Wars Fans Maimed in Lightsaber Mishap
Two British Star Wars fans sustained critical injuries after constructing their own lightsabers from fluorescent light tubes filled with liquid fuel.
Silly, stupid people.
Something about the name George?
Courtesy of my friend Jeni:
Yah, the "You're so beautiful" exchange has been quoted as a contender for "worst dialogue of the year" award by almost every critic, although my personal favorite critique came from a critic noting Bail Organa's comment that he and his wife have been thinking about adopting a child: "Thanks, Senator Needless Exposition!"
"There were times when I issued a threat to tie George up and make him repeat his own dialogue."
--Harrison Ford on making Star Wars.
"Acting in this movie, I felt like a raisin in a gigantic fruit salad. And I didn't even know who the coconuts or cantaloupes were."
--Mark Hamill
"They don't exactly give you a course in acting in a science fiction movie. At one point I'm supposed to react to seeing my planet blow up. You know, there go my parents, my record collection, everything. What do I see? A hand waving to tell me where to look."
--Carrie Fisher
Harrison Ford's quote is my personal favorite. Fortunately for the original trilogy, the actors were savvy enough to change the dialogue whenever possible.
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In other news --- we just got our unrated cut of "Team America: World Police" and watched it the other day. wow. I thought the puppet-sex-scene was jaw-dropping in the RATED version.....
More Hamburgers and More Vader
Last night, I finally saw "Revenge of the Sith" (I make it sound like it's been out for weeks, but having grown up a Star Wars fanatic (not to the point of ever dressing like a character (okay, that's not true - in high school we once performed the cantina song and I was dressed as a Jawa (yes, I KNOW there are no Jawas in the cantina, but it's the best I could do on short notice AND the best I could do and still be able to play an english horn!))), it took me a long time to finally see it.
Overall, I was pretty impressed. Aside from some cheesy dialogue ("anakin, you're breaking my heart!"), the story developed and played out well, the acting from Ewan (Obi Wan) and Ian (Palpatine/Darth Sidious) was excellent, and the fight scenes were great (i'm particularly fond of all of the action that R2D2 got!). Visually, the movie was pretty amazing as well. If only dear old George had not been on such an ego trip and had let someone GOOD direct...
Still, I was happy with how it turned out. I'm sure before it leaves the theaters, I will be seeing it again.
Regarding hamburgers, we went to Fuddruckers last night before the show. Despite being aware of Fuddruckers my whole life (and living relatively near one), I had never been there before. I got a buffalo burger with mushrooms and cheese. MMM...Buffalo...*drool*. I have to say I was a bit scared by the mounds of condements though. Something about towering heaps of salsa, onions, tomatoes, and pickles makes me feel ***weirded out***.
All in all, it was a good Monday night. I can't complain.
Hamburgers and some Vader
"Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" opens in Pittsburgh tomorrow. I won't be seeing it for a while. *sigh* Having grown up with the original Star Wars Trilogy (seriously, I can't tell you how many times I had seen those movies before the age of 10!), I am excited about this film. True, George Lucas has done some dumbass things in this prequel series (though none dumber than JarJar Binks), and his tailoring of the original trilogy to be more consistant with the new trilogy seems a bit backwards to me (as a good friend said to me, he needs to learn to respect his fans), I've still enjoyed the back-story and the kickass fight scenes (yes, Yoda really is a badass -- it gives me hope for when I once again fall below the towering heights of 5 feet tall in my old age).
To get you all in the mood:
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Here is an amusing, and moderately disturbing story, which Coco-nan the BarConian (maker of crazy CoConut cake) sent to me about
Hyperactive Bob, the smart system which alerts fast food workers as to what the next customer is most likely to order, based on the car he/she is driving.
Currently being tested in Pittsburgh-area Mickey Ds, Taco Bells, and Burger Kings, Bob also seeks to make predictions based on personal and vehicle demographics—whether it be incoming Escalades full of rappers with Big Mac munchies or minivans full of post-AYSO Happy Meal and orange drink fiends with salad-prone chauffeurs.
Mmm...Big Mac munchies...
The makings of an odd day...
Actually, this odd day began Monday around 4:00 and continued through Tuesday afternoon.
It all started as I was getting ready to leave my office (sadly, it was
not a
dark and stormy night). The doors in our office are very large and very heavy, and my old nemesis inertia was about to strike again. I had pulled my door to start the shutting process, but quickly changed my mind as I realized I had forgotten something (i don't even remember what anymore). So, I turn around and stick out my right hand to stop the door. Sadly, for me, I happened to stick my index finger right through the gap between door and wall (on the side of the door with the hinges), and the evil, monstrous door continued to close and every increasing speed. The result: one squashed finger. It left a lovely gash in my finger, which didn't actually bleed (those last two layers of skin stood their ground!!), but still looked (and still looks) pretty ugly. My finger also got swollen and deformed looking (the swelling favored one side of my finger over the other - very strange...). My coworker found me laying on my floor.
I'm not really THAT big a wimp, but it hurt...A LOT. The concentration of sensory receptors in a person's hand (particularly the fingers) is second only to the number in a person's tongue and lips (for the dexterity required for speech). I also have naturally LOW blood pressure, so the rush of adrenaline and the drop in blood pressure that occur with any kind of pain was a bit much and made me a bit clammy and dizzy. Okay, so I am that big a wimp. Go ahead, laugh...hahaha.
Okay, now you're really going to laugh. After this, I went to the bathroom, preparing to leave for the day. I got into the stall, and what do I do? I pull the door shut on the tip of my LEFT index finger. Of course, this resulted in the tiniest of bruises and no real damage, but I was about ready to kick the door it (or kick myself, except I feared something smashing another finger in the process).
As a result of the finger smooshing, I got a ride home (from the coworker who felt bad for me when she found me laying on my floor (she said that she would have screamed if it had happened to her, so that made me feel a bit less silly)) and I missed a rehearsal. It's hard to play the oboe with a fat, stiff finger. However, as of yesterday morning, much mobility had returned and my finger is fairing much better each day. I got lucky, I think, that the door didn't crush the bone or tendons as much as the skin, fat, and muscle on the top part of my finger. Lucky me! I will be well enough to play in the final rehearsal this friday for the concert this saturday. Crisis averted.
Fear not, that was the longest story of my strange day.
Tuesday morning, I woke up a bit on the late side. I rushed around, got out the door, only to find that they were totally tearing up the street down which I walk to the bus. I had to cross the street and walk on the opposite side as usual, as the large vehicles were literally tearing up the top surface of the road on the other side (this was actually pretty cool to watch).
Enter odd moment #1: The Raccoon.
- As I'm walking down the sidewalk, I look across the street and see a raccoon walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. He's just out for a stroll, not in a hurry, meandering along. This is the first raccoon I've seen in Pittsburgh, though I have been assured they are common around here. This one seemed out of sorts. It was out at 8:15 in the morning, walking down the sidewalk, after all. Strange behavior for a raccoon.
Odd Moment #2: The Bus
- So, I get to the end of the street and have to cross back to catch my bus. However, as I'm trying to figure out how best to get across (remember, road is torn up), my bus drives past. DAMMIT!!
Eh, I caught the next bus. No big deal.
I sit down next to a middle-aged, casually dressed Asian man, who is in the process of preening his finger nails. After I sit down, he seems to become self-conscious of his preening and stops, sitting on his hands. I notice he has nothing with him - no bag, briefcase, coat. He starts to hum, VERY quietly. Can't tell what he's humming - don't care anyway. After a few minutes, he suddenly scratches violently at his arm. Pause. Scratches the other arm. Longer Pause. Begins scratching, with BOTH hands, his chest, arms, neck, upper back. I move to the very edge of my seat, nearly falling into the aisle.
Just as I'm about to stand up, he pulls the chord to get off the bus. Crisis averted again.
Odd Moment 3: The injured man
I get off the bus at my usual stop (which happens to be within about 2 minutes of 4 different, interconnected hospitals). There is a man standing at the stop, waiting for the bus. His pants are covered in quite a bit of dried blood. His hands are bandaged pretty heavily, and he is holding them up near his chest. He appears to tremble slightly and looks as if he might cry.
If I had hurt myself (obviously quite badly), had gone to the hospital, and then had to wait for a BUS to get home, I don't think I'd be too happy either.
Odd Moment 4: Work
This is not very interesting, so it will be very brief and unspecific. As I was testing our subject for the day, another subject showed up very confused, thinking he had an appointment. Lots of confusion and craziness ensued. Everything worked out. Not much more to say here.
Odd Moment 5: Intersection of Death
There is an intersection near my building which has been dubbed (by me) the intersection of death. Prior to the policeman being stationed there, we would watch at least a couple accidents a week from our 8th floor offices, looking down on the intersection. I saw at least 2 people get hit my cars there too. So, I'm walking to the gym and waiting to cross the intersection of death. The light turns red. People stop. Stupid lady in a car slowly rolls to the line, appears to be stopping. The light in the other direction turns green. I start to cross. The traffic begins to move. Suddenly, stupid lady in a car decides to turn left, right through the path of a bus, and nearly over my toes. Too bad the light was red, DUMBASS!!!! Much honking occurs. Walking around Oakland is a scary thing.
All in all, I think the raccoon was the strangest moment for me. I honestly stopped and watched it for a few seconds (which could also be why I missed my bus, come to think of it). Very, very bizarre.
Good news
Drug's Effect on Cancer Stuns Doctors While obviously this drug will need to be tested further, the initial results are really promising.
A follow-up to my baseball gripe
Thanks to Brian for sending me
this article on Cubs former closer Latroy Hawkins.
After last Friday's game, I was rather unhappy with the Cubs fans for booing him the way they did. Yes, I was pissed he blew the save - for the 4th time this season. Yes, I was unhappy that they lost. But as I said then, why not boo the whole team for only putting up 2 runs in 9 innings? Why not boo yourselves for being such fair-weathered asshole fans?
Anyway, it just made me mad. I think this article says pretty much what I have thought about Hawkins. And mad kudos to Michael Barrett for being such a classy ball player.
A sample:
"Right now, I'm sure his confidence is down, big time," Baker said. "It has to be down. I don't care who you are, if you're booed the way he's booed, it has to affect you. I was booed every day in [Los Angeles]. As soon as I took my jacket off to go hit, they'd boo. I had my car scratched, gas lamps broken, rocks [thrown] at my house, all kinds of things. Then things changed. The next year I hit 30 home runs and I was on the all-Dodger team."
...
"I feel awful for him," Barrett said. "First of all, I want everyone to know this guy has been a Cub fan his whole life. He's a good pitcher and a great teammate. He wants to win more than anybody on this team. When he goes out there and doesn't pitch well, it hurts us all. We're all behind this guy 100 percent. It's just been baffling."
Doing a little Friday dance
I have been without internet access for too long (over 15 hours!!!). LHPJ's computer has a virus, so we had it shut down last night. My last access to the internet was therefore at work yesterday. And then, I come in this morning, and it takes me nearly 2 hours before I have the time to sit down at my desk and plug into for my fix. The sad thing is, I'm really not even an internet junkie. However, there are a couple of emails I was awaiting, which made not being able to get to them THAT MUCH MORE FRUSTRATING!!!!
Still, today is good. It's Friday, the stupid glands-the-size-of-golf-balls cold-type-thing I had for seems to be packing up and moving out, and I'm looking forward to a weekend spend largely outdoors (hopefully this will include 2 baseball games, a shopping trip to the Strip (for food, that is) plus some running and taking the Panch for a couple of walks (aka 'klaws' when one is around the Panch, as this is a word he knows well).
AND...TOMORROW I GET A FISH SANDWICH!!! I missed out last weekend, as I was in Chicago. That's two weeks and no fish sandwich. The cold sweats and shakes are near at hand!!
Hmm, I also just finished eating my 4th banana in the past 24 hours. Had no choice - they're starting to turn brown (and besides, the hot fudge and icecream were free last night, and the bananas were looking very lonely...).
An ongoing theme here
Well, once again, people keeping wild animals as pets has made the news. This time, they're trying to breed domestic housecats with servals (African wildcats). Come on people!!! I love big wild cats. They're beautiful, and perhaps are sometimes loving and lovable -- BUT THEY ARE NOT TAME!! That means they're unpredictable, intimidating, and dangerous. And most people don't have the know-how to care for them, which makes keeping them not only irresponsible, but cruel.
Yes, these new crossbreed cats are beautiful and probably a lot of fun too, but there is a reason they are illegal in most states.
What's Up Pussycat?The cats - which can cost from $4,000 to $10,000 - are visually striking with their long necks and oversized ears, and they can be intimidating. They look like little leopards and grow to more than twice the size of normal cats. They love to leap and splash in water, and they don't mind taking long walks on a leash. Some people describe them as dogs in cats' bodies.
...
"For whatever reason, these cats are cats many people would like to have," she said. "There is some sort of wow factor to the 35-pound cat in your Manhattan apartment."
But they come with too many unknowns, she added. "We have no idea what this cat's habitat should be," Ms. Shumann said.
...
"Breeders are creating animals for commercial purposes that would never exist in the natural world," he said. "These hybrid species are threats to the environment and potentially to the families who think they are buying a family pet and could be purchasing a wild animal."
...
"I think they're beautiful," Dr. McDaniel added, but "I'll watch them on the nature channel."
Can you guess...
How much these shoes cost?
What the hell is going on with these shoes anyway? Do people actually WEAR shoes like this????
Seriously, take your best guess at how much they cost. I'll give you a clue - it's pretty ridiculous.
Sorry, no dancing chickens this time
Cannot seem to wake up. Want to go back to bed. Must work. GRRRR....
My weekend out of town was good, overall. The Cubs lost, but it was still awesome going to Wrigley Field to see the game. The crowd there was great (for the most part - I won't go into my rant about the crowd and their booing again), the weather was PERFECT, the company couldn't have been better.
It's probably not a good thing that I'm already counting down the days until my next day off (memorial day), but who doesn't?
As of late, I have been very restless with my job. I've been here nearly two years, which is the longest I have ever had the same full-time job, and I'm just ready for something new. However, there is nothing else out there. I'm just no qualified (at this point) to do anything other than what I'm doing (well, that's not entirely true - there are other jobs here I could do, if I was willing to take a 25% pay cut, which I can't afford as I don't make terribly much to begin with). AND, more importantly, I have no idea what I would want to do even were I qualified to do it.
Any suggestions?
Something absurd for Monday morning
Chicken Ticketed for Crossing the Road
RIDGECREST, Calif. - Linc and Helena Moore may have finally learned the answer to that age-old question: Why did the chicken cross the road? Because the chicken doesn't know jaywalking is illegal.
Kern County Sheriff's Deputy J. Nicholson does know, however. The deputy issued a ticket on March 26 to one of the couple's chickens for impeding traffic on a road in Johannesburg, a rural mining community southeast of Ridgecrest.
Hamburger anyone?
A restaurant in Clearfield, PA has just come out with a
15-pound Hamburger.
Dubbed the Beer Barrel Belly Buster, the burger comes with 10.5 pounds of ground beef, 25 slices of cheese, a head of lettuce, three tomatoes, two onions, a cup-and-a-half each of mayonnaise, relish, ketchup, mustard and banana peppers — and a bun.
One man, who took the challenge of trying to finish it on his own had this to say about it:
"It's a little too much for me to handle," said Steve Hepburn, of Clearfield. "It's like trying to eat half a cow."
For on odd comparison between this story and owls, a person swallowing a 15-pound hamburger whole is akin to an
owl swallowing a field rat. Really think about the relative size of an owl to a field rat.
I love hamburger, but this is a little overboard....
I couldn't find any pictures, but I did find a picture from the same bar of their previous large hamburger, which weighed in at 6 pounds. So, take the hamburger pictured below and add
11 POUNDS to it! Apparently it will feed a family of 10.
**note: girl in picture apparently weighs 100 pounds and this is only a 6 pound burger**
It's almost like Thursday...
Two days of work this week, and then I'm off to Chicago. WOO HOO!!!!
It's a bit strange helping my Mom plan her wedding - somehow it feels...backwards, but still good. She reminds me now of a twenty-something girl planning her first wedding. Seeing her now makes me realize that I don't think I've ever seen her really happy before. Of course, I've seen her having really happy moments - I'm talking more a general-state-of-being kind of happy. To me, she has always been the care-taker - taking care of my sisters and I, the various men in her life, the elderly people in our family (her parents and beyond), her grandchildren. I've done my best to not be one of her charge - to be instead a person she can turn to. Giving your own mother advice is a strange thing - practically an art. And this time, she took my advice (which happened to be the same thing just about EVERYONE else was telling her too, but still...). And so now, she is getting married and has real potential for some long-term happiness with a person who, for once, will take care of her in return. I don't feel like I have to rescue her from her unhappiness anymore. She seems to have found her own way out, and it's better that way. This makes me feel good.
