In the news 03/29/2010

I saw in an article today at Yahoo!News with the following headline:

Naked Erykah Badu video at Kennedy site stirs controversy

Click for article while it lasts.

I won't spend a lot of time on it but I don't think what Erykah Badu was appropriate.

It's not how she or her people didn't get the proper permits to film. It's not how she basically disrespected the site of the Kennedy assassination.

My problem with what she did is she stripped naked when there were children present. About 2:55 in the video here, you can see Erykah passes by a young boy, a very young girl and two adults I'll assume are their parents. The mother looks at Erykah and kind of pulls back on her daughter who is trying to enjoy the nice day, sightseeing. The mother then kind of pulls back on the son. She's not in good focus but it looks like the mother gives one of those "what-in-the-hell-is-going-on" looks.

Anyway, the song is just okay in my opinion. I don't know what she was really trying to say other than look how I can offend children. Good protesters don't offend or involve children. To me, that's where you lose all respect for whatever message you are trying to convey.

Baby...a Justin Bieber song

My kids were watching Nick's Kid's Choice Awards this weekend. I walked in on Justin Bieber's performance of "Baby."

For me personally, I wasn't impressed. It has nothing to do with his age. It had more to do with the annoying repetitiveness of the song. It's not his fault because that seems to be all the rage: see songs by the Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna, Beyonce, or many other four-phrase-hit-wonder bands. The RIAA blames file-sharing for the downfall of the CD but they should actually take a personal inventory on how many "real" and "good" artists they have these days. I can personally listen to a song just for the beat for maybe 10-20 times and then the words start to creep in to my mind and I begin thinking, "Why the hell do I like this song again?" About that time is when the interest for that song wanes and I move on...in actual time, that's probably 3-7 days. Done!

Anyway, I give Justin props for talent. I don't mean his lyrical ability (if he actually writes his songs). I mean according to his Wiki he taught himself how to play piano, guitar, drums and trumpet. That's talent. His voice isn't bad but for the repetitive lyrics and the bullshit "love" songs from a kid that's 16 years old, I find it hard to get into his music.

Now, yes, I am not in his target demographic...WAY above it...but I would hope our kids have a better understanding and love of music than crap like this. I know. I know. They don't quite have that grasp but I can hope.

Anyway, if you get a chance to Google his performance, you will be sorely disappointed as was I. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that he's just another white boy that wants to be "black" too? (I tend not to care what the PC term should be). Yeah, he kept pulling up his "baggy" pants during his performance...and that was pointed out by my oldest!

The Trinity River Project

I went to lunch with my niece last Friday. We hadn't seen each other in some time even though she works less than a block away from me in another campus building.

Yeah, that's the kind of family I have. I help them out. They move on. I don't hear from them again until they need help again. Luckily for this niece, the help I've provided her has not been monetary and she hasn't been ungrateful. Although she hasn't called or come by in a few months, she didn't expect anything from me other than what I provided, she was totally embarrassed by her situation and she was thanking and thankful for us on a daily basis. That's what I expect. I would like a little more than sporadic contact but that's something I can overlook since she was trying to work on her situation.

Anyway, we were driving to Chipotle and she made the comment about driving across the bridge over the Trinity River near downtown Dallas (on I35, I think). I think her exact comment was, "I could smell the water while I was driving over it and it smelled like shit!"

I responded, "And they want to 'beautify' this area into a park and shit!? WTF ever!"

Anyway, I thought it was funny to once again hear the "public-at-large's" opinion on what the city of Dallas think is a necessary thing. It almost is like Dallas is trying to be like Fort Worth's area of I30 and University. I don't think that's going to happen though.

Nine Lives (2002)

Nine Lives (2002). I just watched this movie last night on Hulu. You can check it out here, really you want to...NOT!

I really didn't expect too much out of the movie, especially since it had Paris Hilton in it, but I did have hopes of gratuitous nudity to make up for a shitty movie. I was very disappointed.

Without nudity, the story line was dumb and previously done. The cinematography was lame. The acting was the worst. But I sat through the whole thing. I have to. It's one of those things that I just can't leave a movie incomplete. I think out of the 100s of movies I've seen that there is probably only 1-2 if any at all that I could not, did not watch in its entirety.

FINAL VERDICT: If you like to torture yourself such as I, then have a go at it. It's free torture. Otherwise, you can pass and revel in the knowledge that I suffer through these shitty movies so you don't have to.

Dennis Hopper needs better lawyers

Saw an article online today about Dennis Hopper and his failing (failed) health. I feel for the guy. I liked him in many movies and hated him in others.

What caught my attention though was the following:

Last month, a judge ruled that Mrs Hopper must stay at least 10ft (3m) away from her husband after the actor said he wanted to eliminate unnecessary stress.

Really? What the hell kind of safety boundary is 10 feet!?

Sometimes (more often than not) the courts are just plain stupid!

Click here for article while it lasts.

Procrastination pays off!

My theory of "if you procrastinate and avoid studying/working until the last moment, then you can still be successful" has turned out another positive experiment.

I previously posted here about a paper that I should have written over my spring break but didn't. I thought about doing it the weekend before returning to class but didn't. I thought about doing it the Monday or Tuesday before class (which is on Thursday) but didn't. However, I did start it, albeit briefly, at 8:15am Wednesday - the day before it was due. I thought about going to the library after work to further work on it without being distracted because home is full of distractions but didn't. I figured that I would discipline myself to do it at my desk upstairs and avoid all distractions.

I got home about 4:30pm. I decided to postpone continuing on it until 7pm at the latest. I figured I had all the materials I needed for the research. I just needed to put it all down in a meaningful flow on no more than six pages. About 5:45pm, I decided to go ahead and start. Why procrastinate further and keep myself up later than I really want to.

I was disciplined and I finished about 9:45pm. I ended up with almost seven pages exactly but it could have been dwindled to six if I took out a table I had to insert but was needed. I did a quick reread to make sure I covered everything and it sounded logical in form. I made some edits but then I decided that I wasn't going to be too picky on it as it wasn't like a literature paper. I emailed it to myself so I could print two copies of it at work the next morning.

Stupid me started browsing Facebook and then I started surfing porn...what, it helps me relax and decompress...LOL. Before I knew it, the time was like 11:30pm. I finally went to bed, relaxed knowing that I was done with my paper and had no other worries in regards to my school for the next few days. Good times.

Oh yeah, the point of the post, proving my theory.

I got my paper back yesterday. Out of a possible 80 points, I got...wait for it...wait...wait...wait...77 points. Woohoo! Eat that you people that do their work early! Ha! I think the only thing my professor didn't like about my paper was I didn't use headings for the different sections we were required to write about. Personally, I thought it took away from the look and flow of the paper which is why I didn't do it. I did make sure my flow went in order of his requirements in the description of the paper but I guess he wanted to be able to quickly visually see it instead of just feeling the flow.

Next up, another "crit" (photography speak for a critique) on April 7^th for my B&W photography class. A final research paper and group presentation coming up for my management course. The ones for the management course will be done early(ier) versus later. I can't procrastinate too much on those especially when the presentation involves a partner.

Have I mentioned how I hate school!?

Jonesing for another hand gun

I'm thinking about purchasing another pistol for the small, very small, one, collection of mine. I really want to stick with the 9MM ammunition size. That way I don't have to buy more than one size. I already have my 9MM Beretta so matching ammo for the new one would be perfecto.

I've looked at a few sites for critiques and such but have only looked at Academy Sports and Outdoors for pricing, for now. I prefer a local versus Internet dealer so I can actually go touch and feel the piece as well as not feel like I'm going to get suckered from an online purchase. Besides, I know how much paper work I'd have to fill out and I really don't know how that would be done via the Internet. I'm an immediate gratification kind of guy when it comes to my "toys" so purchasing and waiting for an online product is not my ideal plan.

These are the pistolas I have taken a gander at: a Taurus PT-92 for $429.99, a Taurus 24/7 9MM SS for $379.99, and a Smith & Wesson Sigma 9MM for $319.99 at Academy Sports with their photos in respective order below.



I really like the look of the Taurus PT-92. It's modeled after the Beretta and it is a body style I really like. It has smooth lines compared to the others. I did read that the gun shoots well as is said the same for the 24/7 SS. The S&W Sigma 9MM was rated pretty highly by a few gun "experts" but it doesn't look as "pretty" to me as the other two. The Sigma and the 24/7 are rated better for concealed but it's a mute for point for me right now as I don't have my CHL just yet. I'm planning on getting it but it cost a good chunk of change and I really don't know how comfortable the wife and/or kids would be if they knew Daddy was carrying the heat.

Anyway, these will probably be shelved as "things Jay wants but probably won't get for some time" along with my PS3 Slim, Pontoon and/or Waverunner, and other things.

Ah, to win the Texas Lotto...but I'd have to actually play, huh!?

Archer on F/X

Occasionally I've seen this show, Archer, on the F/X channel. I don't know its regular broadcast day and time but I do know that the short scenes I've randomly seen are funny as shit! I didn't make it a point to find out so I could watch it regularly because already don't have the time to watch the shows I currently TiVo on a consistent basis.

You can see the 1^st six episodes of the 1^st season on Hulu here. Or you can see them on the F/X website.

I've been watching them at work. YES, at work! Because my boss came to me earlier this afternoon and asked me, "Have you ever heard of this show on F/X called 'Archer'?" I thought it was funny how I just saw the end of an episode the night before last and said, "Why yes, I have. And it's hilarious." She continued to say that a friend of hers wanted her to watch it to see if she was crazy for thinking it was funny. Her friend didn't know if it was because her husband found it so hysterical and she was amused by his response or if she really and truly thought it was funny herself.

I told my boss that it is really kind of guy slapstick humor but she likes that sort of thing (she liked The Hangover, Super Bad, and such stupid-but-funny movies like these) so she would probably find it funny.

I've only gotten to the start of episode three because of freaking work interruptions but I'm okay with that as I know I can watch them online...for now.

So, check it out. See how you like it. Let the good folks at Absent-Minded Jay know what you think.

Agassi versus Sampras - The Boo Hoo Name Calling Saga

So there's some new-old rivalry talk going on about Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. You can see a video of what sparked it here and the corresponding article here and a short one here where Sampras says he's "saddened by Andre's comments." Boo fucking hoo!

I think people are blowing this out of proportion. Pete made a jab at Andre with the pigeon-toe walk and he asked Andre if he had a response and kind of goaded him into it. They both have egos. Just because Andre tends to be more audible about his, doesn't mean Pete hasn't done or thought the same.

Andre came up with the first thing that came to his mind...the bad tipper. It was a little over-the-top only in the sense that it really had nothing to do with Pete's on-court persona. Pete made fun of Andre's walk that he does on court, during matches. Tipping or lack of happens before or after the matches.

Misplaced jab? More than slightly but yes. Out of line? Not really. Both were very funny albeit a little personal. In my opinion it came down to how he responded and I think Pete got the best and final jab in with the near-headshot-rocket service that Agassi almost didn't dodge.

The media should let it go. Fans should comment once and then let it go.

We remember "celebrities" for certain things like their personality, their persona, their performance, their clothes, or attitude on and off their "stage."

Let it go people! Let it go!

And that's all I got to say about that.

The new "A Nightmare on Elm Street"

Apparently remakes are all the rage in Hollyweird these days. No previously shot film is safe from the possibility of being rehashed into someone else's vision.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is the newest...victim. The original Nightmare was pretty good. I saw this when I was like 14 or something and it kept my ass from entering any boiler room looking areas. It was also before TiVo so the too-quick frames of Nancy (aka Heather Langenkamp) being pulled underwater, nude, when she fell asleep in her bathtub were tough to see but well worth slow-mo on the VCR.

Anyway, it was the hit-and-typically-miss sequels that followed. Dream Warriors was sort of acceptable for about 3-5 minutes because I got to see the nurse's big boobs which was quickly ruined when she started lashing out worm-tongues to hold the guy to the bed posts. We thought it was all over with I think flick #6 called Freddy's Dead. WRONG!

Of course, I will rent the movie once it comes out on DVD. It's a sort of self-punishment I like to put myself through, I guess. As long as it's not costly for me, I'll watch just about any movie just to see what it was about and to say, "I've seen it."

The new movie looks like it has some decent scenes and such but I'm not fully sold on Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger. From the trailer, he just doesn't seem to have that eerie voice or look (he looks scarier without make-up) like Robert Englund. Jackie sounds like a smoker such as he did in Watchmen.

We'll just have to wait and see what the flick brings us once it premieres.

Chevy Volt

Saw an article about the Chevy Volt. A plug-in electric car.

It's a novel concept but isn't plugging in the car going to tax the house power which in turn will make the power plants churn more which in turn will cause more air pollution? So is that still considered a 'clean' automobile?

I'm not an engineer but it seems like a logical theory to me.

P90X - The Proof, The "Restarted" -- Started

Started P90X again on Tuesday, March 9^th.

I talked the wife into doing it with me. We started Tuesday because she works all day on Monday from 8:30am - 10:30pm. I told her we could claim that as her "off" night (7^th day) so she would not have to work out at 11:30pm. I may or may not do Stretch X or relax X. I don't know yet.

My wife's not athletic at all. She's not very coordinated either. She's fucking smart as shit though so it makes up for her lack of physical prowess. :-) I'm glad she was interested in participating though. She's lost a good bit of weight doing her Weight Watcher's. She's thinner but she's not really tone, at all. I don't mind but she's made comments about needing to tone and yada, yada, yada. Now granted, P90X probably isn't the program she should jump into as a non-athlete but I figured that if she could do some of it, she could eventually do more of it, and then maybe even do all of it (Yes, I am an optimist at times). It's also nice that Master Tony includes variations of the exercises for those people not as athletically inclined as others.

So, DAY ONE - CHEST & BACK started out well. I do enjoy the workout once I get started. It's just getting started that is the tough part, in all things, for me.

• The warm up began and the wife wasn't properly prepared with her breast support. When we began to jog in place, she could have gotten black eyes. She made a note for next time to wear better support. She snapped at me a few times when I commented on her form but I was only trying to stress what Master Tony says about good form and "quality over quantity." She quipped back at me when we were doing arm circles with fingers up stating that I wasn't doing them very big. I said because I know what's coming up and I'm pacing myself. Warm up done and we didn't kill each other and neither one of us collapsed.

I'm not commenting on every exercise as I forget them but I will include all similar ones together and an occasional individual one...maybe.

• Push-ups are not my forte and they weren't even close for the wife. I was pleasantly surprised though that I didn't have the embarrassing quantity or quality this time as I did the first go round back in September. No excuses, but I have a very hurt wrist like a carpal may be out of place in my right hand so it was very painful to do push-ups. I still did them. The wife on the other hand had a little more trouble. She did the knee push-ups. Not many of them but she tried and she did some. It's a start.
• Pull-ups were a little easier for her as I use bands. They are 30-lb bands. What that means really I don't know but they were the most "weighted" bands I could find. I don't have a pull-up bar and we do this in my two-car garage so I don't have a door jam to put one up anyway if I had one. Besides, the bands were like $25 and the pull-up bars + installation materials would cost me well over that.

  Anyway, the wife enjoyed the pull-ups a little more as there isn't as much weight force up on the arms (thanks to the bands) compared to the weight applied from push-ups. Not to minimize but it is easier to pull 30 lbs up and down versus your own body weight when just starting a work out.

We didn't do Ab Ripper X. The wife stated that the C & B routine was enough for her on her first day ever of exercising. I could have done it without her but I was lacking some motivation.

DAY TWO - PLYOMETRICS came and went. The wife wasn't looking forward to it to begin with but I told her we had to stick to the routine. We were kind of busy that day and it just kind of lapsed us by. I like Plyometrics but I justified skipping it because I just played tennis Saturday and Sunday morning for about 5 hours. I figured that was pretty comparable to Plyometrics.

DAY THREE - SHOULDERS & ARMS was another difficult one to schedule. Again, we were very busy but finally found some time about 8:30pm when the doorbell rang. It was her best friend that she hadn't seen in a while. I had a feeling she wasn't going to leave anytime soon. I waited and waited for her to leave but they had some "girl gossip" to catch up on so I decided to go workout on my own. I completed S & A but the wife did not finish her visit until a little before I was done. Once again, I skipped Ab Ripper X because I was too tired and demotivated!

------------ INTERRUPTION ------------

I started this post a few days ago but due to many interruptions I never finished. So I will truncate, fast-forward, summarize.

Days 4, 5, and 6 were a bust. Neither of us did Yoga on day 4. The weather was just too good. The kids had friends over and we all just kind of hung out and then I started a fire pit fire where the kids could roast marshmallows. It was a busy day for the family so Yoga was put on the shelf.

Legs & Back on day 5 never happened either. It was too, too nice of a day to spend indoors. Day 5 falls on Saturday which is my for-sure tennis day (Sunday is usually last minute optional) as long as the weather is nice. I did play four hours of really good tennis, running down balls (legs) to hit them with a forehand or backhand (back/core). The play was a 4.0 rating for sure except for my partner's occasional (many) flubs! I figured it was a good enough justification to not do L & B as well since I'm usually a little rickety after tennis. LOL!

Kenpo X on day 6 was put off as well. I had a roller hockey game at 5pm that I figured was a good replacement (more of a fat-burning workout for sure) than Kenpo. I had to take the kids to my sister-in-law's because they are on spring break and wanted to see their cousin. By time I got back to Dallas from Keller, I had to get my hockey gear together and head to Addison/Richardson for my game. After the game, I thought about doing Kenpo but I was really tired and had homework to do...which I avoided in the end as well.

So there is the recap of week 1 of "the restart." It wasn't perfect but I am confident that it was okay since I was active. I just wasn't exact to the daily routines. Today, we will start C & B again. We'll see if the wife continues. I actually have to play tennis from around 7pm to 10pm so I may not get it done today. I may have to do two tomorrow or stay up late tonight. Neither is a welcomed thought because of the timing issues, not because of the exercises themselves. For me, it really comes down to being able to do some extensive exercising more often because once-a-week-sometimes-twice tennis is not enough for me. I don't eat a lot but I also don't do as much activity (the level I like and require) as I did when I was younger.

Here's to continued following of Master Tony's routine!

Sweet Disposition by Temper Trap

I keep hearing this song at work every couple of hours on an Internet radio station, 181.FM - The Buzz. I'm connected to it via Winamp and this is the stream property info link: http://scfire-mtc-aa03.stream.aol.com:80/stream/1022 if you want to listen as well.

This song is catching but it's funny that's it's played with a mix of Incubus, 311, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Kings of Leon, Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, No Doubt, Green Day, etc. To me, it just doesn't have the same feel for which I would call "alternative." It's still a good song to hear though.

In case you are interested, here is a link to the song's video as well as you can see other Temper Trap videos on YouTube.

I love a good hamburger...

...as long as it's not overpriced. You should check this blog The Quest for the Ultimate Burger. It's not updated daily which isn't a big deal but they don't give prices at the locations they have visited. Pictures are good as I'm a visual person but I really want to know how much that patty is going to cost met too.

Anyway, I don't know where I came across this web site (it might have been off the Frontburner) but I think it is occasionally helpful (when I remember it) in my selection of where to go for a really good burger.

Avoidance and procrastination

I am currently on spring break.

I have a paper due on March 18^th.

I have had good thoughts and intentions to jump on it and be done with the paper before class starts back on Monday.

I'm not sure that's going to happen today...or tomorrow...or even Sunday.

School sucks.

Avoidance and procrastination in studies is good.

I really need to get it done.

Damn college education!

Sleek Audio earbuds at Fry's Electronics

They cannot be serious! $80 and $200 for EARBUDS!? That's just ridiculously insane! I guess they must be worth it if they sound like full-size headphones or even speakers but I'd be so afraid of ripping the wire out of the ear piece at some point in time that I'd be very pissed if/when it happened. I guess someone buys them or they wouldn't sell them.

...

Annual Performance Review

The name "Annual Performance Review" is a misnomer in many businesses. It leads a person to believe that their potential raise is based on how they have performed their job over the past year. In most work places, it's total bullshit!

I have my review in two weeks. It was supposed to be this past Monday but the boss postponed it due to her unforeseen personal issues...she's got a thing for me. Just kidding. Anyway, I've got some form thingy I have to fill out regarding certain listed criteria that I feel like I am NOT DOING, LEARNING, DOING, EXCELLING, or whatever. More bullshit! The last two sections/questions have to do with my goal #1 and #2.

So, we already know what my raise percentage is. It is 1.5%. Yes, 1.5%. I could take this as I should be glad that I have a job and that I'm getting something. I am glad that I have a job but getting 1.5% is just like getting nothing. For instance, if you make $20,000 and get a 1.5% raise, your new salary would be $20,300. Does that make any significant improvement to your worth? I think not. It could take 3 years or more before you could make it into a higher tax bracket. Maybe if you get 1.5% over next 10-20 years it could show some significant improvement but that's a long damn time.

I guess something is better than nothing perception-wise. I guess it lets the employee know that the company thinks enough of them to try and at least give them a percentage in these tough economic times. I'll give them that.

I'm not really bitter. I'm just making a point. I didn't get a job at a university to make the big bucks. You only make the big bucks as a professor at a university and then it even differentiates depending on for what part of the campus you teach.

My point is that why make me jump through the bullshit to get this 1.5%? You already know what percent I'm getting which is NOT based upon my performance. If my performance sucked, I wouldn't be getting the 1.5%. My boss says at least there is some record in my file if she isn't here some where down the road showing what a stellar employee I've been. That's great and all but my thoughts are: write something up, let me review it. If I agree, I'll sign and give back to her to file. If I disagree, then we talk about it. Easy smeasy.

So let's change the term "Annual Performance Review" if it isn't technically based on an employee's performance. It should be called "Based-on-what-we-can-give-you Review."

Jimmy John's

A few of us in the office today decided to order out for lunch. It was a nice day after the short morning rain but we were all still too lazy to go out anywhere. Anyway, we opted for Jimmy John's. I pass this place all the time. It's right next door or two away from the Pizza Hut we order from and about half a block from my local Blockbuster store. I've just never had the desire or reason to give it a try. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.

I ordered The #14 Bootlegger Club. I don't like to waste money on food that I don't feel that I get my money's worth but this was actually a pretty good subwich. I'm not sure how much it cost because the person who took all the orders said I owed $7.00 and that's what I gave. My assumption was it included the subwich and tip but I'm not for sure.

Anyway, it was really tasty with the roast beef and turkey. I also really like the bread it came on. I'm no bread expert but it was some kind of doughy bread. Add the mayonnaise, shredded lettuce and sliced tomatoes and I'd have to say it was a good option.

R.I.P. Corey Haim

Poor Corey. It's all over the web today so I'm sure everyone already knows but Corey Haim is dead.

I remember seeing the two Coreys in many movies. I remember Haim in some good, some alright, some campy, some just plain stupid movies but not totally his fault. He was just making their money and the movie industry was riding their popularity as long as it lasted. Too bad it didn't last too long for either of them. It's weird. I feel like I should type "them" versus "him" when talking about just one of them because they have been associated together for so long.

It amuses me to see these teen stars think that they are the shit (when they actually are) but then when their star has long faded, they still have that entitlement attitude. They just don't realize that they are no longer a part of the "in-crowd" and should stop acting as such.

The thing about Haim was at least he didn't take himself too seriously after the flame died but Feldman was always ranking himself higher than he really was. Feldman also disturbed me with his Michael Jackson obsession. You see Feldman do Jackson moves all the time in some of his movies and then also with his short-lived time as a band.

Anyway, R.I.P. Corey Haim. It was good to know you thru the good and bad.

Miami Vice Complete Series on DVD

Saw this a few days ago on Woot.com

I remember occasionally watching Miami Vice when I was younger but I don't know if I can stand watching that way ugly mug of Tubbs and Crockett really wasn't much better no matter what anyone says [pic]. Not to mention that the "ancient" filmography would be very difficult to watch...all grainy and shit.

Anyway, I just thought it was funny to see this offer and wondered who would really want to buy this.

Icy "waterfall"

Took this from a gas station on our way back home from our trip to Illinois. I believe this was somewhere in Missouri probably south of St. Louis.

Yoda (in sepia)

Bubba's 2-pc dark

Sent on the Super Jay Network from Super Jay's BlackBerry®

Um...Bubba's

Sent on the Super Jay Network from Super Jay's BlackBerry®

Dallas Stars versus Washington Capitals

Hopefully the Dallas Stars will kick it into gear tonight against the Washington Capitals. I doubt it though. The Capitals have the current overall points lead right now and Dallas has given up 17 goals while only scoring 5 in their last three games since the Olympic break. That's a huge skid! It's sad. They have so much potential but the skill just isn't quite there yet.

And the skill that is there isn't being fully used. Modano is still a great player but it looks like he's taking this season in stride and not pushing himself too hard. He still has mad puck-handling skills and break-away speed. It just seems like he's riding the finality of his career and is happy with just going through the motions. I can feel for him and see his side but come on man, go out like a champ!

Then there is Ribeiro. He had a really good, fanciful season a few ago. People have his number now. He hasn't reinvented himself nor does he have the overall grit, moves, style and skill to do so like an Ovechkin and Crosby or Jagr and Forsberg of all. He likes to hog the puck too much and too long in my opinion. Defenders are not chasing him like they used to because they know he's not going to pass or he's not got that new, fancy shot. I guess I've never liked him too much because I thought he was too much of a showboat. He had that one season where we became aware of him after a few seasons of "who is this guy" but now he's been back to so-so. It happens but this is a team sport and let's play like a winning team.

I'll suffer with them to the end of the season but I don't have high hopes for post-season play. They are 11^th in the Western Conference standings vying for to take over the 8^the spot along with the Flames, Blues, Ducks and Wild who are all pretty close to each other in points. Anything can happen but I don't see the grit it takes from the Stars right now not to mention I don't see the play tremendously falling off from the other teams listed.

GO STARS!

P90X - The Proof, The "Restart"

I don't know how long it's been since I stopped (due to injury) but I believe that I am going to start the P90X-perience again this weekend. The problem is that I am still sort of injured and got a new injury to boot.

My ankle is still tender and occasionally stiff. I still play tennis and roller hockey but after the tennis my ankle is usually sore and the bottom of my foot feels like it's cramping. I have to stretch the muscle many times a day even after just sitting while watching television or being on my computer.

My newest injury is my right wrist. I play tennis and I put a lot of spin on my ground strokes with rotating or flicking my wrist. A few many times over the past few years I have mishit a ball and it vibrates the racquet or jams my wrist to a point of a twinge of pain and jarring. I tough through the pain and keep playing as much as I can. Sometimes, more than often, it passes, Other times, it doesn't but I keep playing. I'm male. It's what we do. I'm not saying it is smart. I'm just saying it's just what we do. Anyway, I might have to go get the wrist x-rayed. It's got a little bump between the socket of my thumb and index finger kind of near the middle backside of my hand. The wife thinks it might be a cyst. Some friends think it might be a displace metacarpal. Either way, I'm sure it would be best to get it looked at so I know for sure before they have to just cut it off. :-) My point of mentioning this injury is it makes it difficult to do push-ups because I cannot put too much pressure on it and it doesn't quite have the flexibility to bend like it should without some "enjoyable" pain.

I don't want to wait any longer though. I did enjoy the P90X workouts although I found it kind of difficult to fit in my schedule with having to deal with the wife and kids' schedules as well. I have a goal set in my mind to lose some weight and tone up the muscles before we hit the beach again this summer. It's not that I want to impress anybody else. I just want to feel good about knowing I look fit...for my wife, for my kids as well as for me.

Motivation has been lacking due to the cold but now that the weather is getting somewhat warmer it won't be as demotivating to do the routines in my garage again. It is damn cold in there when the weather is damn cold!

My plan is to start either Saturday night so my 7th day is on a Friday or start Sunday so it is on a Saturday. Either way, it helps to know the 7th day falls on a possible tennis/roller hockey day so I can either Stretch X or Rela-X.

We'll see how it goes. The wife express interest to do it with me. She's good at her weight watchers but wants to tone up and also build stamina and get her heart pumping strong. The problem is she is completely non-athletic. Not that it's a horrible thing but weight watchers doesn't really require any strenuous physical activity (for her anyway, I would be beating myself up sticking to the portion control and such because I lack good discipline).

Anyway, we'll see how motivate we both are this weekend.

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Alice in Wonderland (2010) (the version by Tim Burton). I haven't seen the movie yet. I'm sure I won't until it comes out on DVD like just about all the movies I've seen. I just can't justify paying $10 at a movie theater when I can get it on my Blockbuster queue in a couple of months for almost free.

Anyway, I was just reminded about something I noticed back when the promos for this film first started running and they showed Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.

He looks like Elijah Wood.

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Email humor 03/05/2010

What to do when you are bored at work:

1. Kill a few Flies

2. Put them in the sun to dry for one hour

3. Once they are dry, pick a pencil and paper... Let your imagination flow.

 

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Now You Know And Knowing Is Half The Battle!

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Spring Break Travelers Should Avoid Mexico

This email came across the office wire just moments ago. Apparently, Mexico is NOT the place to be this Spring Break season!

Ninja (2009)

Watched Ninja (2009) tonight. I must say I expected more.

I didn't expect greatness but did expect something a little better. I almost want to say that I'd get as much if not more excitement out of watching American Ninja (1985) again. Some of the action was pretty good while other action was kind of lame.

The premise of the movie is that there is a dojo in Japan where they still train ninjas. Just like American Ninja there is a Japanese ninja who is trained by rite and there is the American ninja who is trained because he has something about him.

Same story, different players. It had some good slicing and dicing here and there but it fell short on the whole ninja-powers.

I don't know. I won't go into it other than saying I just expected something a little more. It's worth watching but only if you can get a friend to pay the rental.

Better trained staff

The kids and I went to On The Border last night. We sat in an older woman's section. Her name was Suzi, I think. She was nice but a little odd.

All started out normal. She approached, bringing us chips and four ramikens of salsa (there were three of us).

She asked what we'd like to drink and we gave our orders. She asked if we'd like some queso and I said, "A cup, please." She said, "Okay," and went on her way.

When she came back and asked if we were ready to order I asked, "Do you have ribs here?" I figured not but thought I'd ask since the kids asked me.

Suzi said, "No, but if you want ribs there is a Chili's down the street that serves ribs."

I told her, "No. They wanted 'The Border' but just had a quick thought of ribs."

I don't know if I'd want my employees promoting another business as a manager. They need to train their people...no matter what business...some helpful cookie-cutter responses.

Suzi should have said something like, "No, we don't serve ribs but our brisket tacos are a good alternative."

I almost was tempted to walk out and telling the manager-on-duty exactly why..."I'm not unhappy. I'm just taking my server's advice to go to Chili's...your competitor!"

Sent on the Super Jay Network from Super Jay's BlackBerry®

Artifacts (2007)

A friend and coworker of mine came into the office today with some movies she had put on and received from her online Blockbuster queue and wanted to know if I would like to watch them. I'll get to the other one once I watch it but the first one I watched is called Artifacts (2007) (Blockbuster spells it this way but IMDB spells it Artefacts).

Anyway, the previews should have been an indication for what was to come. The previews were pretty much "under $30k" movies (if not, they spent too much money) except for one or two (one I remember off the top of my head was Bangkok Dangerous). The other previews look like they'll be fairly lame movies but with the addition of the hot, lead female role getting occasionally (frequently would be better) naked they could be acceptable to suffer through. :-P

Unfortunately, this movie did not provide that added interest of female nudity. In fact, it didn't even really explain what the hell the story was or how it came about. But as the guy at the end says, "We'll meet again. I promise." He lied. If this movie was released in 2007 and it is now 2010. I really don't think we are going to meet again.

It's sad really that they didn't share the bareness of the lead female or even one or two of the supporting female roles. The lead was very attractive and had a good figure. Female victims 1 and 2 weren't too bad either and neither of them glorified us with so much as a cleavage shot.

In my book, if your story line and plot suck or is fairly non-existent, you supplement it with gratuitous female nudity (for the male viewers as the female viewers wouldn't even have picked the movie off the shelf) and a male could overlook the short-sighted writing skills.

Yes, I labored through the movie. Yes, I watched it from 00:00:01 to 01:30:00 or however long it was. I held on for the hope that I'd get a boob shot or something but alas, I was left surfing Facebook while the movie progressed into nothingness.

I would have never seen this movie had it not been for my coworker. In fact, she had no idea why she put it in her queue and she didn't even watch it. See, women are smarter than men.

iPod Classic 160GB

I am so freakin' tempted to buy the 160GB iPod Classic. I don't really need it but 160GB is a whole lot of space for all my ripped albums, photos, and more. It's not badly priced these days either. I should probably get one before it jumps in price because they'll no longer be made and will become a rarity.

I also hate the fact that I'm stuck with using iTunes for this device. Not that I hate it, I just don't use it that often but I have started to try and be more familiar just in case I take the step into iPod-land.

Hmm...must ponder this decision but not for too long.

Popeye "I Yam What I Yam"

Oh geez, I was reading something that talked about the movie Popeye with Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall. I remember seeing this movie as a kid and thought it was very good. It wasn't true to the cartoon (Popeye hated spinach in the movie until he was force-fed by Bluto and found that it made him stronger) but it was still a very good rendition.

Robin Williams was the perfect Popeye and Shelly Duvall was born to play Olive Oyl. The dancing and singing was pretty well done too.

Anyway, enjoy the clip.

iPod Touch 8GB

I'm looking to find a really good deal on an 8GB iPod Touch for my oldest kid.

I did a Google this morning and one of the top links is here. I'm very, very skeptical about it. I've read the description and it all seems like it references an actual 8GB iPod Touch. I'm just leery about the price. $49.99 for a 3rd generation 8GB iPod Touch??

Questionable but it does make you wonder how legit it is.