Tag: Misc (Page 7 of 11)

Random Weirdness

March 7, 2006 / DB

We took M. to the Children’s Museum for the first time today. She had a great time, for the most part. Her favorite part was riding on the carrousel. Unfortunately, she spent the next hour saying, “Nay-nay?” which is her way of saying she’d really like to go find those fun horses again than play in the sand. I’ve got some good pics that I’ll try to get posted tomorrow.

I meant to post the stuff below last night, but apparently hit Save rather than Publish. My bad.

Two strange things I felt obligated to share with you, my loyal readers. I’m not sure which is odder, so please log your votes in the comments. Now eat, you jackals.

First, for about the last month, every day when I get on the highway to return to Indy from Bloomington after class, there’s been this guy on the side of the road riding his horse. And I mean right by the side of the road; he’s right up next to the shoulder. That on its own isn’t super strange. It’s a rural area with farms and ranches, and people with horses like to ride them. I guess. I’m a city kid so I can’t be sure about that. What’s weird, though, is that often he’s not just riding. He’s got the horse doing tricks. Most days they’re spinning in circles, like the horse is trying to catch its tail. Seems like an odd place to teach a horse tricks, what with cars zooming by at 80 MPH mere feet away. But the horse seems to dig it and the guy seems pretty proud of what he’s got going on, because, like I said, it’s been happening every day. Weird, and a little distracting. I keep waiting for a speed trap to be right over the next hill, waiting to catch people shaking their heads at that damn horse.

Second, each of the last two Saturdays we’ve received a call that showed up on the Caller ID as “Prison.” A week ago, I was sitting in my office reading and S. was napping when the call came in. I saw the listing and figured it was just another jilted ex-boyfriend of my sister-in-law who’s using our guest room, so I let it go through to voice mail. I checked it a little while later and was greeted by a recorded message that went something like:

“This is a collect call from the Marion County Prison. This call is from:” and a guy named Doug said his name. “The charge for this call is $4 for the first minute, $3 for each additional minute. To accept the call, press one. To decline it, press three. To block future calls from the Marion County Prison, press nine.”

Since it was a message, I couldn’t respond. I felt bad for Doug, since he clearly wasted his Saturday call on the wrong number, but I was also a little concerned Doug might come steal my iPod or M.’s books and blocks when he’s released from his prison stay because we didn’t pick up. This past Saturday, though, another call from “Prison.” This time S. answered so she could select the Block Future Calls option. I guess it’s bad form to live in Hamilton County and get calls from prison inmates. It was again Doug, and again I felt pangs of sadness for him. Maybe he just needs someone to talk to, someone to share his worries and dreams with, someone to help guide him through this troubled time in his life. Instead, he’s left with unanswered calls and his prison girlfriend. Poor guy. Doug, if you have internet access, you’re in my thoughts.

Dead Raccoon

November 7, 2005 / DB

Always interesting what we find in our backyard after a big storm. Normally, lots of small branches and limbs, with the occasional large limb down. All part of the joys of living on a wooded lot. Today, I was out back blowing all the leaves that came down back into the woods. I reached the far corner of the lawn and found a roughly 12 foot long limb lying on the ground. Not surprising given the ferocity of the storms that blew threw Sunday morning. What was surprising, though, was what was on the ground next to the limb. A big, fat, and very dead raccoon. Apparently homeboy was attempting to ride the storm out on the branch when either the wind or lightning tore it loose. He did not seem to tolerate the fall very well. Poor guy. I wish it had been our opossum instead.

Jerseys

October 4, 2005 / DB

I’ve never been big on wearing sports jerseys. But the unveiling of the new Pacers gear last week got me thinking, for a moment, about purchasing one. I was thinking more of something in M’s size but still, I was in that ballpark. Even when the Cowboys were at their height in the early 90s, I never thought of buying an Aikman, Smith, or Irvin jersey. Now a Haley or Woodson one would have been sweet, but still, the thought never crossed my mind.

Basketball jerseys are problematic because of the sleeveless look. Since basketball is played mostly in winter, it’s tough to go running around in your Bulls <a href=”http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/randama01.html”>Mark Randall</a> jersey. Plus, I have skinny arms, so that just makes it more ridiculous.
Baseball jerseys are, to me, the ultimate in wearable sports gear. They clearly identify the team/city. Some, like the Red Sox and Yankees, lack names on the back which brings in the element of only other sports fans will pick up on the significance of certain numbers (A Yankees <a href=”http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers%5Fand%5Fhonorees/hofer%5Fbios/mantle%5Fmickey.htm”>7</a> jersey, or a Sox <a href=”http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/williams_ted.htm”>9</a> jersey, for example). Again though, I never really thought about plunking down the money to purchase a jersey, even back when jerseys were affordable before the retro craze messed with the market.

Well, almost never. In the late summer of 1990 I was contemplating my fall wardrobe and how to allot money for my shopping trips before I went back to college for my sophomore year. I needed a couple pairs of jeans from the Gap. Black Nikes were an absolute must, as this was the beginning of the black shoes trend. Yet for weeks all I thought about was getting a road grey, Pittsburgh Pirates, Barry Bonds jersey. I mean, I couldn’t sleep at night I was thinking about it so much. I had priced one out at $75. That was serious money for a kid who worked two jobs all summer to finance going to an out-of-state college (admittedly one that is famous for cheap tuition). I attempted to justify it by telling myself I would just get one pair of jeans and the cheapest Nikes I could find instead of the Flights I had my eyes on. I tossed and turned over it for days. In my final weeks of work I would obsess about it as I pulled tax forms at the Federal Records Center and wrapped burritos at Taco Bell. I’ve never been one to be on the cutting edge of fashion. I allow trends to develop, find some maturity, and gain acceptance before I suck it up and make purchases to update my wardrobe. But man, a freaking Bonds jersey would set me apart from everyone else on campus. I’d wear it every day. I’d be known as “the guy in the Bonds jersey.” KU was loaded with Royals homers, plenty of people from St. Louis and Chicago sporting their hometown gear. But someone showing up in a Bonds jersey the summer he was blowing up to the tune of .301, .406, .565, 33 home runs, 114 RBIs, and 52 stolen bases? Forget about it.

Looking back, it’s easy to say that not buying the Bonds jersey and going for the two pairs of jeans, two hooded Gap sweatshirts , and Nike Flights was a mistake. It seemed ridiculous at the time to limit myself to one new shirt to get me to Christmas. But given how Bonds’ career progressed, along with the size of his head, if I was hanging out with some guys over beers and casually mentioned I had a Bonds Pirates jersey I bought in 1990 hanging in my closet, I could do whatever I wanted the rest of the night – puke on myself, knock beers over on everyone, start a fight – and still leave with everyone talking about how fucking cool I was.

I did get some consolation, though. The next fall, my mom took a business trip to Pittsburgh and her clients took her to a Pirates game. The <a href=”http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1990&t=PIT”>Pirates</a> had just clinched their second of three-straight division titles (Bonds, Bonilla, Van Slyke, Drabek, Bell, Belliard, Bream, King, Lind, Alou…sick) so she picked up a division championship shirt I wore around for the next couple years. According to a wise man, the fact the shirt was purchased at the stadium made it much cooler, too.

Monday Randoms

September 25, 2005 / DB

Some kids on campus called me “Sir” last week. I thought my short hair made me look younger, too.

Since I had M. to myself Friday and Sunday, I ended up watching more of the President’s Cup than I cared to. I came to the conclusion that there’s nothing in sports sillier than fans at these “international” golf tournaments. Actually, I should clarify that it is generally the American fans at these events who are silly. The European fans tend to take these events for what they are: exhibitions in which golfers who play together every weekend are divvied up into teams and asked to play in a team format for three days. We Americans, God bless us, take the President’s and Ryder Cups way too seriously. Things nearly got out of hand Friday after a lengthy weather delay, or as fans like to call it, mid-day happy hour. Those fools were amped up. Sports nationalism has it’s place. But come on, all these guys play together on a weekly basis, most of them live in the same handful of neighborhoods in Florida, many of them went to college together, regardless of their nation of birth. Compelling golf at times. Lots of fans who need to get a grip, though.

Tiger Woods was doing his 1980s baseball All-Star game imitation. He had some crazy dye-job going on in his hair and a goatee. Kind of like Frank White and others busting out the white spikes for the mid-summer classic back-in-the-day.

Why is Good Will Hunting always on? Don’t get me wrong, great movie and tons of fun to imitate their accents, but does it need to be on every night? Shouldn’t the rights owners be trying to see/rent DVDs instead of giving it away for free 28 times a month?

Bravo to the Colts and Browns, who played a regulation NFL game in two hours and 40 minutes Sunday. National League pace!

Byron Leftwich is becoming the new Steve McNair. He’s not happy unless he’s limping, bleeding, and barely conscious. Dude doesn’t start playing until his ribs get bruised.

Thumbs down to ESPN Sports Reporter “personality” Michael Kay, who Sunday morning mentioned that the New England-Pittsburgh game was vital because the Patriots can’t make it to the Super Bowl without having home field advantage in the playoffs. None of his fellow panelists, Mike Lupica, Jason Whitlock, and John Saunders, called him on the fact the Pats have won two of their three AFC title games on the road. Idiots.

Kudos to CBS for their ad campaign for The Amazing Race. I’ve heard from many people it’s actually a tolerable show, but shouting that it has won the Emmy for Best Reality Show 15 times during every NFL game isn’t exactly the highest of praise. Kind of like King of the Dorks, to use a Farmer Ted term.

AMC showed that American movie classic Fletch Sunday night. I always find it amusing that anytime I see Tim Matheson, I think of him in the role of Alan Stanwyk. Most people just a couple years older than me probably think of him as Otter from Animal House first.

White Trash T-Shirts

July 31, 2005 / DB

I’m never disappointed by the people I see when I’m out and about. There’s always someone acting like a jackass or dressed inappropriately to entertain me. It’s one of the true joys of living in the Midwest. Example: I was at Target Sunday and saw a guy walking around with a shirt that said “<a href=”http://64.77.21.137/cat.asp?flt=320&ltr=A&nav=11&prd=14540″>Jerkmeoff</a>.” I think it’s supposed to be a parody of a Smirnoff shirt. I hope. I guess. I’m by no means a prude and have noted my annoyance with politicians who attempt to ban certain styles of clothing several times in my blogging career, but seriously, what makes a person decide to put this shirt on before they go run their weekend errands? “Well, I’ve got my <a href=”http://www.choiceshirts.com/item/k/a6582e/”>Stars and Bars shirt</a>, my Tony Stewart shirt, but I think I’m going to put my Jerkmeoff shirt on for my trip to Target today. Might help me talk to one of them cute girls they got workin’ there.”

And yes, the person wearing this shirt most definitely had a mullet. Sadly, the odds of seeing someone in a similar shirt in Kansas City is probably equally as high, so I can’t really compare/contrast my old home to my new one here.

Random Bits And Pieces

February 16, 2005 / DB

Why is Liza Minelli always on TV? I did some checking, and while she won an Oscar and is the daughter of famous people, it’s not like she’s done much to generate all the media attention she gets. There are some people that older generations are gaga about, and while people our age may belittle their talent, we at least understand they were once huge stars. I’m not sure I understand what Liza did in her career that makes her so interesting. I was flipping around Monday night and saw her on Larry King or some other show talking about how messed up her life has been. Best I could tell, she’s just a washed up entertainer turned media whore who is willing to talk about drugs, abuse, etc. in order to get on shows. Why can’t she go Elizabeth Taylor and be crazy but remain secluded most of the time?

A bill banning the use of cell phones while driving was killed in committee in the Indiana legislature. People who talk on their phones while driving too slow, fast, too erratically piss me off, but I don’t get legislating against the practice. Studies have shown tuning the radio, changing CDs, lighting a cigarette, and even talking to a passenger are just as distracting to drivers as talking on a cell phone. If we could just get computers to take over our driving like in Minority Report, all problems would be solved.

Daylight Savings Time may or may not make it through the legislature this year. Apparently if they just vote on it, it will pass. But if they get into any discussions, it will fail. I tried to read an article in the Star about it yesterday and that was the general idea I took away from it. I can’t say I understand. I did enjoy one legislator who said his district is evenly split on things like gambling to pay for the Colts stadium, gay marriage ban, but on DST, they run 9-1 against it. “Hell no, hell no again, hell no a thousand times is what people in my district tell me.” Is it really that hard to move your clocks twice a year? I heard a funny description of people who aren’t technically savvy last week. “Flashing 12s.” You know, people who don’t know how to adjust their VCR clocks so they flash 12:00 constantly? I fear my new home state is loaded with those types.

Two New Pet Peeves

December 20, 2004 / DB

1) People who don’t pull forward at red lights. I got stuck in traffic one night last week when I had to go out during the evening rush hour. A trip that normally takes five minutes took over 20 thanks to the normal traffic and added traffic from a nearby mall. At one stop light, I was three cars back and didn’t move during an entire green cycle because the traffic perpendicular to us didn’t move. What annoyed me most, though, were the people in front of me who would leave an entire car length between them and the car in front of them. When I got to my left turn lane, the 2-3 cars in front of me were doing all they could to squeeze together so those of us wanting to get left could slide into that lane. Once I got by them, though, I counted four different cars who left a minimum of six feet between their front bumper and the back bumper of the car preceding them. I’m not saying you have to rear-end people, but at least utilize all the free space so people behind you can get around. Idiots.

2) All the people at the Colts game last night who brought signs counting down the number of TD passes Peyton Manning had thrown so far this season. There were roughly 55,000 people at the Dome last night. I think pretty much 100% of them knew how close Manning was to catching Dan Marino on the all-time list, and even though this is Indiana, I think most people could keep track of how many TD passes he threw over the course of the game. Did all these people who brought countdown signs to the game really think they were providing some kind of community service to help people around them who might have lost track? Maybe it’s simpler than that. Maybe this was how people tried to make themselves more a part of the event. As if being there wasn’t enough, they’ll now how a sign the rest of their life that allows them to take some measure of ownership of Manning’s record. Regardless, I don’t get it. In general I don’t think you should hold up signs at professional sporting events if you’re over the age of 12. You’re generally not as clever as you think you are, you’re ripping off someone else’s idea (like all the people with the D and fence signs), or you’re just trying to draw attention to yourself. Then again, perhaps I should just be happy my fellow Hoosier state residents weren’t tossing beers at Ray Lewis all night.

Monday Morning

December 6, 2004 / DB

Some assorted thoughts as I prepare to start the final study push for the GRE.

I picked the right time to take the GRE. The last ten days have very much felt like finals week back in college. I did actually have a couple decent semesters as an undergrad, believe it or not. The semesters when I had gone to class consistently, began the month of December with an A or B in each class, and had a plan for studying were always kind of fun. I’m definitely a person that works best with a deadline looming in the near future. I always enjoyed knowing I had ten days to write three papers and study for four finals. I loved the days when I’d wake at 8:00 AM, study until noon, maybe go play some hoops for an hour to blow off some stress, come back and study for another six hours, eat dinner and hang out for awhile, then hit the books again until after midnight. I enjoyed being able to close the door to my room, load up the CD player, and not be bothered for hours because my roommates were all doing the exact same thing. Things are a little different now with a wife and kid, but there is a familiar feeling about all of this.

I took the “official” practice tests last Friday. The practice tests I had been taking before those were all paper-based. These were computer-based and supposed to adjust like the real test. The GRE is adaptive, so as you submit correct answers, the questions get progressively more difficult. When you miss an answer, you get an easier question. Because of that, no two GREs are alike, which is kind of strange. Anyway, I have a rather lofty goal on the verbal side and got exactly that goal score on both practice tests Friday. My math goal was originally less stellar, but with all the studying I’ve done, I now expect to get a higher score, regardless of whether that’s realistic or not. My math scores Friday were right in line with my original expectations. I’d like to do better, though. I talked to Mr. Beardslee Saturday and he said he would look forward to a blog entry Wednesday when I return from the testing center. I’ll post something quickly if I got good scores. If I didn’t do so hot, you may have to wait awhile!

BCS. I’ll talk more about this later in the week, but I’m so glad an undefeated team is getting screwed. In a perfect world, Auburn wins big in the Sugar Bowl so we have another split championship. I’ve got some harsh words for the idiots who vote in polls and didn’t see Cal play until this past week, too.

The baseball steroids story is another thing I’ll have to devote some time to. I’m quite torn on the issue. In general, I find steroids and other banned supplements to be bad. I wonder what the difference is, though, between banned substances and heavily regulated supplements that have been approved. Don’t they all help an athlete recover during his/her training sessions rather than provide a measurable on-the-field benefit? Why was Andro legal until 1999 but suddenly banned after? Safety concerns, right, not some sudden realization that it makes people like Mark McGuire hit the ball farther? Isn’t the only real difference between what’s allowed and what’s banned a long-term health issue rather than a benefit issue? I’ll have to think all this through and try to get something more lengthy put together.

I know it’s tough to fill 100,000 seats, and LA fans are notoriously front-running, but wasn’t it odd to see the crowd at the USC-UCLA game be probably 2/3 USC fans? It was a UCLA home game, right? Something tells me at least 1/2 of the people wearing maroon and yellow would have been wearing light blue and yellow if it was the Bruins who were 11-0 and not the Trojans. LA fan sucks.

I thought Tom Brokaw ended his run as NBC Nightly News anchor quite well. Tom has always been my favorite and it’s sad to see him go. I rarely watch the evening news as it is. I’m sure I’ll watch even less now. Tom was such a calming voice who always seemed to put things in the proper perspective. In an era where every TV personality is painted into an ideological corner whether they want to be or not, Tom was always firmly in the middle. It was obvious that he had political views. But he never had an agenda and never put his views in front of the news. He treated each politician and newsmaker with respect. He was always concerned equally with challenging accepted notions while respecting the traditions of the past. He never became the story as Dan Rather so often did. It will be interesting to see how the networks treat their news divisions over the next 5-10 years. Might NBC not just spin everything over to MSNBC and pick up coverage on the main network only in times of major news stories? Might ABC or CBS pool resources with CNN and do the same? Perhaps the remaining network will start their own news network. Soon networks will only give us shitty sitcoms and reality programming and we’ll all be watching the Food Network and Seinfeld reruns for our nightly entertainment.

A Couple Interesting Things

November 30, 2004 / DB

First, we don’t have Ken Jennings to kick around anymore. He clearly threw it on Jeopardy. He acted like a thief or a philanderer who has been getting away with his crimes for too long. He seemed uninterested. Downright reckless on the Daily Doubles. I think he was just ready to sign his book/movie deal and get back to a normal life. Come on, how do you miss that Final Jeopardy question? I think he spent the 30 seconds trying to come up with a wrong answer that seemed reasonable so he didn’t get too much grief. My favorite part, though, was the gasping from the crowd. The cameras showed some people giving him a standing ovation when it was obvious his reign had ended. I bet there were people seeping tears of confusion now that all they’ve come to believe in no longer makes sense.
Second, I took my first full-length practice GRE this afternoon. I had been just killing the practice sets on the verbal side while over the weekend I started from scratch on the math since I was feeling totally confused. Naturally, today I nailed the math side and missed far too many verbal questions. I admit, I devoted only 75% of my attention to the verbal questions because I had been doing so well. Easily rectified. The math questions I missed were all simple errors rather than lack of understanding of the subject matter, which makes me feel good. My whole goal is to do as well as possible on the verbal and essay portion, then hope I don’t hurt myself too much with my math score. I can’t really expect a journalism program to take me with a shitty verbal score. Seven days to make sure I hit my goal.
One more thing, I missed the actual interview but understand Dick Vitale has been running around ESPN weighing in on Notre Dame firing Ty Willingham. Why the fuck are they going to him for comments? Because his kid went there and he’s sucked up to them just slightly less than Duke over his career? That somehow gives him special insight? I know, he’s probably had dinner with Willingham, or sat next to him at a fund raiser or something, so he deserves to be heard, right? It’s not like he’s not going to go into a five minute tirade during whatever game he’s doing tonight anyway. Why give him a separate forum? I look forward to hearing the thoughts of Kirk Herbstreit, Trev Alberts, or one of the other ESPN football guys next spring when some big-time college basketball coach is fired. As always, outside of the actual broadcast of games, ESPN sucks.

More Randomness

November 23, 2004 / DB

ABC didn’t exactly take my advice last night, but there was a subtle shot at the haters in the MNF lead-in.
When I’m watching CBS, I see ads for The Amazing Race with the show hyped as “The Emmy Award winner for Best Reality Series”. I’ve watched the show a few times, and like the concept better than pretty much every other reality show. Still, isn’t being called the best reality series kind of like, in Anthony Michael Hall’s words, being called king of the dorks?
Why isn’t it big news anymore when people swim the English Channel? I remember when I was a kid it seemed like it always made the national news when someone crossed the Channel. I checked and 17 people have completed solo swims of the Channel this year. I haven’t heard a news story about a single one of them. I guess now that the Chunnel exists, no one thinks it’s sexy to swim from France to England anymore?
You know what makes me laugh? The ads for Hungry Man frozen dinners. Those are the ads where one guy brags about how his frozen dinner included an entire side of beef, while another guy talks about some rather dainty food he downed. The healthier eating lad is then either blown away by a gentle breeze or knocked over by a child to demonstrate the lack of substance in his meal. These make me laugh because in an age where we know more about the effects of large portions of food on our overall health, Swanson’s is basically calling anyone who doesn’t throw down 1000 calories in a meal a sissy. “Sure, these meals might give you an instant heart attack or provide enough calories to feed a small nation, but you don’t want to be a wimp do you? Come on, eat it!”
Some people across the street put up their Christmas lights and decorations two weeks ago. They flipped the lights on last weekend. I understand putting the decorations up early. People travel over Thanksgiving weekend and this time of year you can never be sure if you’ll get good weather here in the midwest. It makes sense to string the lights when you have a chance. But is it really necessary to turn them on before Thanksgiving? Can’t we celebrate one holiday before we start with the next? With all that in mind, I’ve already had two Peppermint Mochas from Starbucks this season, so perhaps I’m part of the problem too.