A Web Journal from Bush, Louisiana, USA
Since April 2003
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From USA Today: The business side of entertainment on display at the networks. ABout some of my faves: I knew about Eli Stone being canceled but I'm very disappointed to see Life in the "Gone or nearly dead" column and also very surprised and disappointed to see Chuck "On the bubble". I suppose there's only room on TV for reality shows and talk shows these days. I loathe both.
The Saints and the State of Louisiana have a big press conference scheduled for this morning to announce an agreement. By all accounts, it looks like a good deal for everyone. Anxious to see what the Saints will do when the economic environment improves and this deal doesn't look as good any more or when some other NFL team gets an extra cookie from their city. I really wasn't always this cynical.
About today's QOTD: She claims her dad was the Zodiac killer.
Quote of the Day
He kept telling me he was sick and he killed many, many people. I had no idea.
Quote from said blog: "Anyway, 70 stadiums were submitted to host and both the Superdome in New Orleans and Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge are among the venues that could nab World Cup matches."
I delve into politics here about once a year. Today is it. I'm not all that political but I'll go ahead and say I'm unimpressed by Arlen Specter's big switch from R to D. It's not all that uncommon. Ronald Reagan switched from D to R. Locally, Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer switched from D to R while in office. I think it cost him his job. Louisiana Congressman Billy Tauzin also switched from D to R right after the 1994 Gingrich-led R sweep. That one bears a little resemblance to Specter's in that he wanted to be on the side that's ahead. I view most of these as expedient and devoid of principle. I can understand disappointment in your party. Geez, who hasn't been disappointed in their party? How that translates into jumping to the side you've been fighting against all your life, particularly when they've just become the majority ... let's just say I'm not buying the Quote of the Day.
Quote from said blog: "Sponsored by York Barbell Company, the museum has 8,000 square feet of floor space. You'll see the vast and rich history of the weightlifting sport from as early as Greek Olympic events to the modern rise of female strength athletes."
When we saw him on this same tour, he did this little intro as he was telling us about who he was and where he was from. It was very sweet but the band didn't join in when we saw it. Not a great recording but I like the beginning.
Quote from said blog: "The name conjured up all sorts of images. Hundreds of cats, two eccentric old women--the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis--decayed grandeur; a cinema verité movie of the same name; condemnation by the health department; ghosts in the attic; an eerie, dilapidated, romantic oceanside hideaway in the midst of an exclusive, perfectly manicured oasis of well-to-do in East Hampton."
HBO's Grey Gardens was what I watched yesterday afternoon rather than the excitement at Talladega. Grey Gardens is a film about Big Edie and Little Edie Beale. I had very limited knowledge of the two women and the story. The lives of socialites have never held much interest for me. What made these lives a little bit different was their family ties to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and a documentary of the same name that received critical acclaim. The making of the documentary is depicted in the HBO film. The HBO version will probably also receive critical acclaim but I found it to be a downer. It was difficult to get past the almost unbearably pathetic nature of their lives. I thought Drew Barrymore was a tad over-the-top with her accent and portrayal but then I saw a snippet of the real Little Edie Beale. She does OK with it and I guess I'm glad I saw it but I think I'd have rather watched the race at Talladega.
Quote of the Day
I guess we'll do this until somebody gets killed and then we'll change it, but that's the way it is.
Quote from said blog: "The wrecks and injuries at Talladega prove it's time for drivers and NASCAR to sit down and talk about changes, Lee Spencer says."
A few Sunday draft notes: The Saints continued their defensive makeover with two more defensive selections with their two picks today so far. That makes at least 5 defensive acquisitions this offseason and I expect a good many of their rookie free agents will be from that side of the ball, too. From this, we can acknowledge the Saints at least recognize their deficiencies. To be fair, they have for the last three offseasons. The players they acquired just didn't work out with the notable exception of linebacker Jonathan Vilma.
About overall top pick Matthew Stafford: I've seen him play a few times at Georgia. In no way did I ever envision him as an overall number one. I hope it works out for the Lions but I'm not seeing it right now.
About Vikings first round selection Percy Harvin: Having seen him play at Florida many, many times, I can attest with no equivocation whatsoever that the guy has skills. He ate LSU's lunch more than once. He tested positive for marijuana at the recent scouting combine and many are attributing that to youthful indiscretion. I hope that to be true. If he was just coming out of college as a non-athlete, no one would ever know this about him unless he is someday caught by the police and he'd have chances to grow out of it in relative anonymity. That is not the case in his chosen profession. He'll have constant scrutiny and he'll be tested frequently. The Vikes will keep tabs on him as best they can during the season but it's easier then. It's more difficult during the offseason, when these guys have lots of time on their hands and their days are mostly filled with taking out the garbage, playing video games, and going to the mall, that the impulse to do something a little more exciting comes up and these guys have a lot of money to salve that impulse. Some unsolicited, unwanted advice from CrabAppleLane for Percy Harvin and others like him: Your hard work and ability have gotten you this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and people are rooting for you to succeed. If you squander it, you'll regret it your entire life but no one else will care. Many guys have done it and there's nothing good or original about it. Don't be one of those guys.
About Raiders first round selection Darrius Heyward-Bey: Looks like Al Davis wants to go back to old Raider football. He's got a burner now at wide receiver to go along with the big arm of Jamarcus Russell. Dumb. The guy's hands are suspect. The first priority of a wide receiver is to "receive". He might make a few plays for the Raiders but that philosophy of "run and throw deep" just doesn't work any more.
I offer one from the back deck today before we go off to do some furniture shopping. This lizard below was fighting with a smaller one when I came out earlier this morning. At first, I thought maybe it was a mating ritual but it was pretty violent so I'm guessing it was a territorial dispute. When I came out to finish whatever coffee I had left, he also came out and spent the next half-hour racing up and down the deck, probably in a territorial dispute with me. I've got news for him. The deck belongs to me ... but he can hang out here if he wants.
CrabAppleLane lizard on deck - April 26, 2009
About the QOTD: My 4yr old nephew caught a nice size fish. The name of the fish is pronounced "Shoe Pick" and my friend, Dave, has some competition.
137 days until football season ...
Quote of the Day
The fish is called a "choupique"- which is actually the Cajun name for it.
Quote from said blog: "The new app would be installed by the deadline, but on a single pc at each store and the stores would not get a choice as to which one. Cue the general pissing and moaning from the stores..."
Ed Wallace's piece in MSNBC via Business Week about General Motors is a perspective I don't see much of right now. It's a nice change of pace from the relentless GM-bashing. It's hard to argue with the thrust of his thesis:
Frankly, from a financial viewpoint, neither the auto industry nor the airline industry makes any sense at all. Too much money, too high a structure for fixed expenses, too much room for error in future planning, forced to constantly lower your prices to that of your weakest competitor, and a public that can desert you overnight when the economy contracts.
GM will survive in some form. The other side of whatever they end up doing will probably be a leaner, meaner, and more profitable GM. I'm not at all sure anyone there knows how to run such a company, though.
Love the Saints first round selection. They can go take a nap now. They don't have any more picks today, have no need to call anyone because they don't have anything to offer, and no one will be calling them. Jenkins has been bandied about as the most likely and logical choice for the Saints for some time now. I'm glad they didn't feel the need to thumb their nose at it just because it was too predictable/safe/conventional/defensive/whatever.
Decided to go sit on the back deck for a few minutes with the camera. It is one of my favorite things. Enjoy.
CrabAppleLane Cardinal and Indigo Bunting - April 25, 2009
Just chillin' in the CrabAppleLane Backyard - April 25, 2009
CrabAppleLane Indigo Bunting - April 25, 2009
CrabAppleLane Cardinal and Indigo Bunting - April 25, 2009
Quote of the Day
We'll take the car down the highways
We won't get fooled by the bad days
And all the money we took from the last one
Clean your bloody nose in the bathroom.
This painting, believed to be a 1910 self-portrait by Adolf Hitler, sold for about 10,000 pounds ($14,600) on Thursday. Its buyer said he planned to hang it in his home or office.
A lot of people say they don't care what people think. Few of them actually mean it. I think that guy does really mean it. For what it's worth, I don't think much of him.
Helen A.S. Popkin is fast becoming one of my favorite writers in cyberspace. She knows the internet and her stuff is always well-written.
I think about this city and all the places we lay down a part of ourselves knowing that we'll find it again; knowing that it's been kept in trust at the barbershop, where the who of who we are doesn't really matter, only the length of our hair and the unruliness of our beard and the stories we tell to the people who work in the mirror.
The NFL Draft should be an exciting time for a professional football fan. The NFL Draft this Saturday is easily one of the least anticipated in New Orleans Saints history. As of right now, their first round pick is their only pick on the first day. They gave up their 2nd round pick for tight end Jeremy Shockey and their 3rd rounder for middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma. Too early to rate Shockey a bust but he hasn't lived up to his side of the trade. Vilma turned in a great season and was rewarded with a new contract. This situation is not likely to improve. They have almost nothing to offer this year and offering up picks from next year's draft for anyone available this year would hardly be an improvement. Unless a decent offer comes up for them to trade down, I think I want to see the Saints take cornerback/safety Malcolm Jenkins from Ohio State in the first round.
The Saints and the State of Louisiana are also supposedly hard at work hammering out a long-term agreement to keep the Saints here. Both sides are pretty mum about it but the concerns are well-known. New Orleans is a small market, the Saints need revenue, they think a new taxpayer-funded stadium will cure their ills, the state doesn't want to guarantee revenue to the Saints any more, etc. I doubt anything will be agreed upon until their current agreement is set to expire and there will surely be a public dispute. I'm thinking most professional sports franchise owners wish they had taken sweetheart deals they could have gotten last year or the year before when they had pretty good leverage.
140 days until football season ...
Quote of the Day
What you have is a chaotic situation where the quarterback is going to lose confidence and the fans and the coaching staff are going to get down on him.
Quote from said blog: "One of the things the Arch does well is loom. On a dark day like this, it looms over the Mississippi, threatening to channel the force of lightening across the river into Illinois or some such thing. It's a little threatening, a symbol of something ominous. Caveat visitor."
His name is Patrick Schuster and the only thing I find more awesome than a pitcher throwing a fourth straightno-hitter is that the record is actually six straight no-hitters. Admittedly, high school baseball is like playground baseball in that sometimes you have serious mismatches. The kid is a left-hander and has major league velocity now. He'll go in the first round in June but I hope someone will tell him the story of David Clyde.
Amazing debate on hiring and firing in the comments to this MSNBC article. Part of it that caught my eye:
Because of the state of the economy, there are a lot of qualified people out there looking for jobs. Multiple guests have said on "Your Business" that this is the time to swap out people. If you have someone on your team who is not performing as well as you think he should, replace that person. People are available right now, and they're going cheap.
Wow. Mr Potter would be proud. Not sure hiring qualified people cheap makes for better employees, though. There's a lot of selling going on in the hiring interviews. The potential employees are selling themselves and the employer is selling the position. Best for everyone involved to be as honest as possible. If you claim to be a good worker, be one. If you claim there will be sugar plums if a person does a good job, let there be sugar plums.
Quote of the Day
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan McGuire said Muse initially told a Somali interpreter on April 12, when he was first detained, that he was 16, then that he was 19, then that he was 26.
Quote from said blog: "Prediction: there will be no significant newspapers printed on newsprint in the US by 2012. So, you've got two and a half years before the newspaper industry is going to be doing something else with the news and the ads, or not be there at all. Does that change what you do today if you work in this business?"
A little incongruity with that surviving Somali pirate. Some pictures show him smiling for the cameras. My guess is he has no idea how much trouble he is in. His mother says he's 16 but authorities say he's at least 18. If one can judge by a picture, I think the authorities are right. And then, this from lawyer, Ron Kuby:
I think in this particular case, there's a grave question as to whether America was in violation of principles of truce in warfare on the high seas. This man seemed to come onto the Bainbridge under a flag of truce to negotiate. He was then captured. There is a question whether he is lawfully in American custody and serious questions as to whether he can be prosecuted because of his age.
I don't think this line of defense, if successful, bodes well for pirates in the future although it might get this one a break.
Spectacular pics from Lake Superior via Fish Fear Me.
I missed Michele Obama's USA Today article last week when it came out. Her hopes are reflected in her writing. To me, it seemed fairly harmless. I am absolutely astounded by the comments it generated, though. WOW.
Quote of the Day
It's one issue of bankruptcy, but it's usually a jaw-dropping one for dealers who are already paper thin in the way they're dealing with operations.
Josh Beckett's suspension was reduced from 6 games to 5. What kind of penalty is that for a player who only plays every 5 or 6 games anyway? If you didn't see the play, ESPN has it here. I don't think the pitch got away from him. I think it pretty much went exactly where Beckett wanted it to go. Josh Beckett is a great pitcher by any measure. He is also this generation's Bob Gibson in that he's a power pitcher with a nasty streak. This suspension is a joke. It cost Josh a few bucks but that's it. That said, I agree with this slap on the wrist. The Angels were doing a little gaming, too. They had a guy dancing around on second base and called a last-second timeout that annoys all pitchers. They were trying to get Beckett off of his game. It's within the rules but so is throwing up and in. The next penalty against Beckett will be more severe. This works.
Quote of the Day
I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. Am I supposed to give him a hug? I wasn't really in a hugging mood right then.
I decided to watch Mr Brooks last night. Kevin Costner plays Mr Brooks, a devoted family man and pillar of the community. He is also a serial killer with a full-blown alter ego. He is so organized and so precise in his killing that he is more like a professional hit man but he makes a mistake in the first murders we see that Mr Smith (Dane Cook) decides to capitalize on. Rather than going to the police, he wants to go along with Mr Brooks to his next murder. Mr Smith is in way over his head and should have realized it the second time they met. Demi Moore plays the detective trying to catch Mr Brooks and Danielle Panabaker plays Mr Brooks daughter. They both have stories, too, but I won't reveal them here. The film makers do a decent job of bringing it all together although I think the ending was a little too predictable. It was a lot of fun, though. I liked it.
I offer two from the CrabAppleLane backyard on this very wet Sunday.
CrabAppleLane sidewalk - Love that shade of blue - April 19, 2009
Looking for some dry seed at the CrabAppleLane feeder - April 19, 2009
Quote of the Day
It was fun, I thought, until I saw you kill them. And I have never, ever, felt a rush that like, ever.
Quote from said blog: ""Mr. Brooks" is a delightfully twisted and intelligent movie, and writer/director Bruce Evans deserves lots of kudos for creating such an impressive, engrossing murder story."
So we were a little bored. It's been raining most of the day and we both had a large dose of cabin fever. Glad we went to the French Quarter Festival yesterday instead of today or tomorrow. Patsy says she feels like some oyster artichoke dip from Isabella's Pizzeria. Theirs is the best because they put shrimp in it and serve it with strips of garlic pita bread but we decided on Columbia Street Tap Room instead because we've never had it there and because it was a little closer. We also also split a club sandwich. Wandered around the city a little afterward and took some pictures. The clock in the second picture has stopped. No lightning or DeLorean was seen. These two images were taken at about 9PM tonight.
Window shopping - Covington, LA - April 18, 2009
Covington, LA - Tammany Trace Trail Head - April 18, 2009
About today's QOTD: I like the way North Korea worded their statement. I thought the "even a bit" part was a nice touch.
Quote of the Day
The revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK are always keeping themselves fully ready to go into action any moment to mercilessly punish anyone who encroaches upon the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK even a bit.
Quote from said blog: "Hey robot fans. Here is a video that I was the first and only person to discover on the Internet. I know that it says there are almost 900,000 views, but that is just because I have watched it that many times."
Patsy and I took in the French Quarter Festival today with her sister and our neighbor. We love this festival and try to go every year. For the most part, it's put on by locals for locals although tourists show up in force and are quite welcome to join in. All of the performers are from Louisiana and most of the festival is run by local volunteers. I hope to try my hand at that next year.
We hooked up with some of Patsy's cousins on arrival. They were at the Louis-Louis Pavilion Stage, so named for famous New Orleans sons, Louis Armstrong and Louis Prima. After a short visit, Patsy and I set out on our own before it got too crowded. Once we got in Jackson Square, the food smell just overwhelmed us. Time for Muriel's Crawfish and Goat Cheese Crepes. They were better than ever this year and are just out of this world. This was a good move on our part. By the time Patsy's sister and our neighbor got there, the line at Muriel's was ridiculous. We also had some Shrimp Regue from Antoine's that was excellent.
We made a pit stop at Jean Lafitte State Park after lunch. We always go there when we're in the French Quarter. Aside from being a really nice facility, you can get away from the crowd, sit for a while, and recharge the batteries a bit.
The weather held up. No rain and reasonable temps but we had a very stiff wind with us all day. Still, we had a good day. It is a great, great festival.
Quote from said blog: "As the federal government moves to institute salary caps for Wall Street executives, an increasing number of assholes are seeking employment elsewhere, a study confirmed today."
Today, it comes from George Will. He's railing against or maybe just lamenting the prevalent wearing of jeans in America:
Jeans come prewashed and acid-treated to make them look like what they are not -- authentic work clothes for horny-handed sons of toil and the soil. Denim on the bourgeoisie is, Akst says, the wardrobe equivalent of driving a Hummer to a Whole Foods store -- discordant.
And
Denim is the infantile uniform of a nation in which entertainment frequently features childlike adults ("Seinfeld," "Two and a Half Men") and cartoons for adults ("King of the Hill"). Seventy-five percent of American "gamers" -- people who play video games -- are older than 18 and nevertheless are allowed to vote.
What can I say? I own and wear jeans on occasion. They're comfortable.
I'll leave it to others to decide if yesterday's tea parties were a success. One of the local ones was held at the Mandeville Yacht Club. Wonder if the attendees were wearing jeans. There's probably a better joke there but I'll leave that for others, too.
Quote of the Day
SO I COVERED THE KNOXVILLE TEA PARTY LIVE, with an experimental (I kludged it together myself!) wireless broadband camera rig consisting of a JVC pro DV camera firewired into my Macbook Pro, then connecting to PJTV studios over iChat using a Verizon broadband card.
Had some plans this afternoon but the nice weather and the view from the back deck just was too much to overcome. Took a few pictures of the wildlife activity. It was the four Blue Jays fighting with themselves and with the other nearby wildlife that provided the bulk of the entertainment. My favorite pic is the last one. The Blue Jay in the upper right corner had just buzzed the squirrel in the lower left corner.
CrabAppleLane Grackle - April 15, 2009
CrabAppleLane Red-Bellied Woodpecker - April 15, 2009
CrabAppleLane Indigo Bunting - April 15, 2009
Blue Jays - April 15, 2009
Blue Jays - Closeup - April 15, 2009
On the lookout for wild Blue Jays - April 15, 2009
Before Larry Bird took over the name, there was Mark "The Bird" Fidrych. ESPN Classic replayed a Tigers-Yankees baseball game from 1976 last night as a tribute to The Bird, who recently passed away. I wish I'd known they were going to do that. I only got to see a couple of innings. I got to see him play one time that year. It was on ABC's Monday Night Baseball. The game they replayed last night might very well have even been the game I saw. Fidrych is one of the players on a long list of baseball's colorful, eccentric characters. Football and basketball try to reign in eccentric behavior with their players and for good reason. Most of those players have never figured out the difference between colorful/eccentric and obnoxious/ugly. I digress. Some say the Bird's antics would wear thin in today's 24/7ESPN/Internet sports world. I couldn't disagree more. Fidrych was just as much a joy to watch last night as he was 33 years ago. Man, did he ever have a motor. He'd get the ball from the catcher, say a few choice words to himself and the ball, and go into his windup. When the inning was over, he ran to the dugout at full speed. He was also known to get on his hands and knees to groom the pitcher's mound and chase errant food wrappers all over the infield between pitches. His career was too short. His life was too short. R.I.P., Mark.
148 days until football season ...
Quote of the Day
That ball had a hit in it, so I want to get it back in the ball bag and goof around with the other balls there. Maybe it'll learn some sense and come out as a popup next time.
I was there on a muggy Friday night with 42,000 other fans as he mowed down the mighty New York Yankees 2-0. All the while chasing hot dog wrapers and talking to the baseball.
Quote from said blog: "There's no denying that the Warrendale neighborhood, and indeed all of Michigan, has a variety of problems at the moment. There's new group on Facebook called the Warrendale Prayer Warriors that is doing what they can."
So our cat, Casey, has a bladder or urinary tract problem. She's had it before. The treatment used to be oral antibiotics. Giving Casey oral ANYTHING is unpleasant for her, the person trying to get it in her mouth, and the four or five people needed to hold her down. She is so good at fighting it off that only a fraction of it gets in. Today, the vet offered an antibiotic injection that lasts for two weeks. Costs about $20 more than the oral antibiotics but she doesn't object nearly as much and it's over in just a second. SOLD. We were running out of bandages anyway.
Quote of the Day
A passenger landed a twin-engine plane at Southwest Florida International Airport on Sunday after the pilot died in flight, saving himself and four others.
Quote from said blog: "A good friend argued with me at lunch today that there was no way the U.S. Navy was going to be effective in suppressing piracy off the coast of Somalia."
I offer a few images from CrabAppleLane on this glorious Easter Sunday. There will be no images of the hundreds of dead termites throughout our house this morning. It is termite swarming season. They swarm every year around this time. They get in your house and promptly die. We'll be vacuuming them up for a few days and that will be that. Still, yuck.
CrabAppleLane Iris - April 12, 2009
The reds start blooming when the purples are finishing up. These irises have been coming up every year on their own since 1995
Priscilla at the Post Office - April 12, 2009
Patsy has nicknamed the red finish mower "The Post Office" because Priscilla rubs on it every time we go for a walk. Get it? She's leaving messages for the other critters in the yard.
OK, let's go - April 12, 2009
Priscilla will be 20 on Wednesday
CrabAppleLane Garden - April 12, 2009
Basil and a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law
CrabAppleLane Tomato Garden - April 12, 2009
They had a good week. Good mix of rain and sunshine.
151 days until football season ...
Quote of the Day
On a mundane morning in late summer in Paris, the impossible happened. The Mona Lisa vanished.
So EBay is selling stolen goods and I don't think that surprises anyone. So do pawn shops and probably more than a few mainstream businesses. What bothers Carl Mortished of the London Times about EBay is basically the same thing that bothers the RIAA and the MPAA about the illegal sale of their products. Basically, they're too good at it. Or, as he puts it:
It is too efficient a conduit.
Well, yeah.
152 days until football season ...
Quote of the Day
Call in the airstrike
Tell them to make the drop
And now she ate a cycle
No one but you can stop
Would it be fair to say that you're in love with love?
And is that enough?
Quote from said blog: "Earlimart frontman Aaron Espinoza flinches a bit when you ask about "Mentor Tormentor," the title of the band's
fifth album, as if you were going to slap his hand with a ruler for the rhyme and wordplay."
I guess The Guardian doesn't have much to do. In an article called "Pirates v US navy", they give a tale of the tape assessment of the standoff. What a silly thing to do.
President Ratu Josefa Iloilo announced in a nationally broadcast radio address that he had abolished the constitution, assumed all governing power and revoked all judicial appointments.
Alrighty then.
About today's QOTD: I suppose Goodyear Firestone would say this is where the rubber meets the road.
Quote of the Day
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., a leading critic of the domestic auto industry's management during congressional debate last year who tried to force UAW pay cuts, now is fighting like a Michigan Democrat to keep a General Motors plant open in his home state.
Quote from said blog: "But I have to concede the hype about Twitter seems to be getting out of control. Everywhere you turn, there's a story about Twitter."
Gave Twitter a quick glance here during the prep for Hurricane Gustav. will probably never give it the time it needs. -Rob
About today's QOTD: I always assumed those "extremist websites" that are monitored and quoted in the news all of the time were on servers outside of America. Not so. According to the Washington Post, some of them are based here. What struck me about that piece, though, was this:
For more than a year, the militant group used the site to rally its followers and keep a running tally of suicide bombings, rocket attacks and raids against U.S. and allied troops. The cost of the service: roughly $70 a month, payable by credit card.
Amateur detective Rob just can't get past the "payable by credit card" part. Do these guys really use credit cards for this sort of activity? If they're paying $70 per month just to put up a couple of pages and links, they're paying way too much. Hopefully, our guys are getting at them in other ways, too.
Quote of the Day
The relatively cheap expense and high quality of U.S. servers seems to attract jihadists
Quote from said blog: "There are prophecies and oracles from around the world that all seem to point to December 21, 2012 as New World Age ( World is not going to end but millions of people will die in the process of New Age Transition)."
Above is one of the great scenes from one of the great movies, Blade Runner. Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) and Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) have spent the previous 5 minutes trying to kill each other. Deckard was beaten and dangling from the rooftop of the building by his fingers (Two of them broken by Roy). When he finally let go, Roy inexplicably saved him. Shown above is the scene that follows. More on that in a moment.
I bought the Blade Runner VHS tape as a gift for my dad. I don't know how long it took for movies to make it to video then but it was longer than it is now so I'm guessing this was 1983 or early 1984. Blade Runner was released in 1982. I don't remember if it was a birthday or Christmas present. We had no VCR of our own then (We got our first in 1984) and did not know that people rented movies rather than bought them. "New release" VHS movies were expensive then. I think we paid about $40 for this one but there were others going for $100. I think Dad watched it once, put it away, and never watched it again. I watched it, myself, after he did. I didn't think much of it the first time I saw it, either. To me, it was just a standard sci-fi action flick. All of this is a long way of saying that this was the original theatrical release and I'm not sure if I ever gave it back to Dad.
Many years later, I was up late at night and Blade Runner: The Director's Cut came on HBO/Showtime/Whatever but it was at an odd time. What I mean by odd is that it didn't start on the half-hour like most movies do. I figured I'd watch it until the top of the hour and switch to something else. That didn't happen. Something clicked in my pea brain this time and I was hooked. Maybe it was the time of night or the zero distractions but I was totally engrossed. It was awesome.
Some time after this, my brother-in-law asked if I still had the VHS tape. He's a big fan of the film and the book. He also knows a lot of the trivia surrounding the making of the film. I asked why he'd want to watch the VHS when the DC was out on DVD. He said the VHS is the original theatrical release and has Rick Deckard's narration throughout. Ridley Scott, the director, removed the narration for the DC. It had been a long time between my viewings of the original, when I didn't think much of it, and the DC, which I thought was awesome. I had not watched the original start-to-finish again since that first time but what had always intrigued me in my many subsequent viewings of the DC was why Roy saved Deckard near the end. They were trying to kill each other. Why save him?
In an email exchange with my brother-in-law the other day, I asked him if there was an explanation in the book. I haven't read it but he has. He didn't remember if there was an equivalent moment in the book. He then said he agreed with Deckard and then went on for a moment but again, something in my pea brain clicked. What? Deckard? I hadn't seen the finish of the original since that first time. That was at least 25 years ago and I didn't think the film was all that memorable then. I finally did watch it just the other night and there it was. Rick Deckard, himself, offered up an explanation via narration. I love how he alternates between calling Roy him and it. He does that with Rachel, too, when he asks Tyrell "how can it not know what it is" at the beginning but then falls in love with "her". If you're still with me, that's what the Quote of the Day is all about. I listened to it at least 10 times to make sure I had it right. It is Rick Deckard's opinion on why Roy saved him and all I can say is WOW.
Although I love the quote, I don't view this as the final word on the matter. Deckard is a mess. He survives the story not so much with "the old magic" as pure luck. He was in over his head from the beginning, makes mistakes, and is overmatched against all of the replicants, especially the two men, Leon and Roy. His opinion is worth more than mine, though. Enjoy.
Quote of the Day
I don't know why he saved my life. Maybe in those last moments he loved life more than he ever had before. Not just his life ... anybody's life ... my life. All it wanted were the same answers the rest of us want. Where do I come from? How long have I got? All I could do was sit there and watch him die.
First light this morning is giving me the impression I dodged a bullet last night. The forecast called for a light freeze. My outdoor thermostat, which my wife says is unreliable, still said 40º last night at about 10:30PM so I started thinking the temps are not going to drop fast enough to reach freezing. At 5:30AM this morning, the thermostat said 35º but I'll spray some water on the leaves in the garden this morning just to knock the dew and any potential frost off. I really have no means to cover every plant in the garden so this good fortune, if it is that, saved me the trouble and expense of re-planting.
Congratulations to the North Carolina Tarheels
156 days until football season ...
Quote of the Day
How would you like to be coaching a guy who came back to school when he could have gone, and he has a stress reaction condition?
When one of the characters in Sex and the City handed her iPhone to Carrie, the main character, during one of the many crises, the response was, "I don't know how to work this" and another phone was produced from someone else. I thought that summed up my feelings on the iPhone phenomenon. Virginia Heffernan of the New York Times said it this way:
Actually, the iPhone probably sips, like a lipsticky girl with a vodka drink. It usually does things in a cute way.
I like her take better.
Quote of the Day
If you met Shannon, you'd never guess she had cancer. When I met her, she wore a wig to hide her hair loss. Her hair is back now. She's beautiful. She has the energy of a teenager, and the courage of a Navy Seal.
Quote from said blog: "Not only that North Korea is quite an unusual touristic destination, my route to North Korea was even more unusual - I travelled the whole way from Vienna (Austria) to Pyongyang by train via Slovakia, Ukraine and Russia. And I used a route into North Korea, which is said to be impossible for tourists."
An amazing journey that I would NEVER attempt. -Rob
We lost power for a while this afternoon. It was already shaping up to be a pretty lazy afternoon but that pretty much ground everything to a halt. Electricity was restored about an hour later. Took some pictures whilst I had little else to do.
Priscilla guarding the front door - April 5, 2009
Washington-St Tammany Co-Op at work ... with a chainsaw - April 5, 2009
How we lost power - A tree, not a branch, fell on the power line - April 5, 2009
CrabAppleLane honeysuckle fills the air - April 5, 2009
This piece from Fox News has me curious and I wonder if there will be more down the road about it. A Ron Paul campaign worker was detained at the St Louis airport for reasons unknown and then records the interview with law enforcement officials. One of the comments it generated:
Doesn't make what happened any less ridiculous or frightening. But hearing Frankenstein's fear of his own monster is kind of laughable.
True colors show near the end when the put the picture of the young guy up and ask "is that the face of a terrorist?"
Sounds like Fox News doesn't have much credibility with that guy. That's not the only thing that Fox reporter says that is inflammatory, though. I wonder what he means by "St Louis, Missouri of all places", too. Would have been different if it had been in Gainesville, Florida or Portland, Maine? What really has me curious, though, was how the incident ended. An FBI agent whispered in someone's ear and that was the end of it? You're now free to go? The story sounds fishy.
I offer a few from the CrabAppleLane backyard today.
Gift Tomato Plant - April 5, 2009
This tomato plant and a few others are gifts from a friend that I got Friday. It is from some heirloom seeds that supposedly originated 150 years ago. They were all root bound and slightly yellow. They desperately needed to get in the ground. I planted them Friday night. They look quite a bit better already but they're a little bit behind the rest of the garden. They'll catch up if they stay alive
CrabAppleLane Kitchen Garden - April 5, 2009
Did a little much-needed weeding and mulching yesterday. Had to get on to other things so this garden will get finished another time.
The Clearing Project - April 5, 2009
This is a project I started a few weeks ago. This really should be the third image in the series. My plan is to clear a portion of the area bordered by the two trails you see here. I cut down about 10 trees toward that end a few weeks ago and about 8 more yesterday.
The QOTD is from a song featured in the same episode of Life (Initiative 38) that yesterday's QOTD was featured in.
Quote of the Day
Oh, the world is all around us
But have you noticed me
Yeah, the world has overshadowed me
Quote from said blog: "The only trouble is, all of the mats I can find are those faux-pebble ones or the plain nubby beige ones that scream "a very old lady lives here.""
Started to post something earlier today but just pushed myself away from the desk, went outside, and did the yard. I really need to do that more often. Even with an equipment failure, it was great to be outside today. Breezy and temps in the 70s suits me.
The QOTD is from a song I heard on Life the other night. I discover much more music on TV than I do on radio these days. Can't remember the last time I heard something on the radio that I wanted to buy.
Quote of the Day
You've got to choose a wish or command
At the turn of the tide is withering thee
Remember one thing
The dream you can see
Pray to be
Shake this land
We all do what we can
Quote from said blog: "Welcome to the third edition of Carnival of the Arid, kicked off this time with another wonderful photo by the sadly blog-less Richard Schwartz. Another of his photos ends the CotA this month, so be sure and read all the way through!"
You won't get me to dispute that this was a big trade but how about this quote from ESPN's Len Pasquarelli:
But with the Denver Broncos trading quarterback Jay Cutler to Chicago on Thursday, such a deal could be considered among the most significant in NFL history.
I would like to think there have been bigger, more important trades than this one but I can't think of one. Trades in the NFL tend to serve the team giving up the player and wreck the team giving up the draft picks. This one looks like that to me. Sorta like the Saints giving up a 1, 2, and 3 for Steve Walsh, giving up their entire draft and a 1 & 3 the following year to move up and draft Ricky Williams, or what the Vikings gave up for Herschel Walker. Cutler is a decent quarterback but the Bears are a running team. Their best receiver is Devin Hester and he still needs a lot of work. The Broncos got a QB a notch below Cutler in Kyle Orton and some quality draft picks. If the Broncos don't squander those picks, they come out of this much better than the Bears. As for Cutler, his whining didn't go over well in Denver and I expect it's even less welcome in Chicago.
About the QOTD: The writer is talking about the new Yankee Stadium. I don't see myself going to a game there any time soon. That said, I think something must be missing. I think even the new Yankee Stadium must have some bleacher seats in the $10-$50 range.
160 days until football season ...
Quote of the Day
The most expensive individual-game seats go for $2,625 and the cheapest ticket in the lower deck between the bases is $350.
Quote from said blog: "So how will you treat Cutler when he runs out of the tunnel at Mile High that day. Applaud? Boo? What about when he throws a touchdown, or if he lowers his shoulder to try to run over a Denver defensive back (Champ?)? Will you wear your blue or orange No. 6 jersey?"
This entry was the first. I was using Greymatter blogging software then and although it was public, I didn't tell anyone. I had an idea of making this a group thing at first. That idea didn't materialize. The next idea was to just do it and see where it takes me. That's where I am today.
One of the places it took me is to the blogging community. I say blogging community for lack of a better term. I do not say blogosphere. Thought I'd mention a few of the many because more people should be enjoying them like I do.
Pitcherlady has been a joy since almost the beginning here. The OH Bob entry hooked me and I've been going back ever since.
I found Kim a few days/weeks later. I think I actually thought she was the movie star. She had a different picture up then (Clarification update: The picture of Kim peeking over her sunglasses resembled Kim Novak from Vertigo before Jimmy Stewart transformed her into his wife's lookalike. Well, to me, she did. ). We met and had lunch a few years ago at New Orleans Food and Spirits in Covington, LA. She IS a star.
I found Fi sometime late in 2003. The earliest reference I can find here is from November 8, 2003. She was Scorpio Girl then. There was considerable sadness here when she retired that blog but she has since come back as Kiwifruit and is certainly worth the read.
Dave of Fish Fear Me came along via Sheila O'Malley. Blog of the Day almost five years ago. Dave and I met and had lunch the following month when I was in Minneapolis for a family reunion. We've carried on a correspondence on each other's blogs and in email ever since. His standing invitation to take me ice fishing on my arrival in Minneapolis is called by my standing invitation to boil some crawfish for him on his arrival here.
I ran across Doug at Goodboys Nation on Patsy's birthday almost three years ago. We have since met and had lunch at Liuzza's in New Orleans. Liuzza's doesn't take credit cards but they have an ATM machine in the restaurant. My plan was to treat lunch as Dave had for me when I was in Minneapolis and as I had with Kim when she was in Covington. Didn't have quite enough cash and the ATM couldn't read my debit card. My wallet is notoriously hard on magnetic strips and only about half of the machines in town can read it. Doug was gracious and covered the tip. He's supposed to be coming to New Orleans again sometime this year with his better half, Tracy. Hope we can do it again.
The Super Bowl was just two months ago, March Madness comes to a head this weekend, the endless NBA season is still in swing, and Major League Baseball is about to get underway. Therefore, the Sporting News is already picking the final four for the 2009 NFL season. Those other sports are nice but football pays their bills. That they list the Saints as one of the teams is not all that silly but I wouldn't bet a dime on it. The potential is there but they can't seem to play well every week. I don't think they've even won more than three in a row since Sean Payton got here.
About the QOTD: Rasual Butler hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer last night to beat the Sacramento Kings.
Quote from said blog: "Ok, the good news is that the library will be getting a new roof top this summer! The bad news is that this means our summer reading series will not be held on the rooftop."
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