April 2004 Archives
Watched a classic Dick Van Dyke last night that Patsy had recorded earlier in the day. I did not remember that episode although I know I must have seen it. The first 5 minutes of it is comedy of the highest order. I defy anyone not to laugh. If you have TiVo or UltimateTV, set it to record that one. You will not be disappointed. Full moneyback guarantee from CrabAppleLane if you are.
I made the call to the insurance company about my stolen truck and gave them all of the information they needed. They said an adjuster would be calling. Patsy talked to the adjuster. So now, we wait. If it’s not recovered in 30 days, I turn over the title and all keys for a settlement check. I have no idea how much it will be for. I would prefer the truck be recovered with only minor damage but that may be asking a lot. Temporary arrangements have been made for me to get back and forth from work.
Oh, and dialup internet access sucks!
CrabAppleLane will have to get an award case for its award. Thanks, Susie!
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “There's so much I could say about this one photo -- but no explanation needed."
I agree. No explanation needed. Go see for yourself. -Rob
Sustained a substantial setback yesterday when my truck was stolen from work. I got a police item number and I’ll be calling my insurance company this morning. It does not look good. The only happy ending would be a recovery. I do hold out some hope for that for reasons I won’t go into here. If it’s not recovered, I don’t know what I’m going to do. To say this comes at a bad time is an understatement. I can’t image a good time for this sort of thing but I can surely imagine better times than now. We’ll figure something out.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “As you are all likely very well aware I make no attempts to keep my blog secret from anyone in my real life. My parents read it, my dad has been known to comment and hit on the forever lickable Erica, I have co-workers - both past and present - that read it. My best friends from my childhood read Kazoofus regularly. My sister has printed and mailed posts to my grandmother."
I haven’t kept this one secret, either. It’s managed to do that on its own. Doesn’t concern me either way. Posted about it here. -Rob
Interesting things they’re doing with tickets to major events these days. The ticket below was scanned by a handheld device by the attendant at the gate, not torn as in the not-so-long-ago old days. This leaves the ticket intact for a collector (A group I do not belong to) and it probably cuts down on ticket fraud, too. It undoubtedly also gave them a much quicker and more accurate attendance count.
About the game: They pushed the start time back to 7:45PM to accommodate the Hornets-Heat NBA Playoff game being held in the New Orleans Arena right next door. Our group arrived in the 3rd inning and I could only stay through the 6th inning on a work night but it was a fun game and a pretty nice crowd. LSU and Tulane are old rivals going back to the 1890's. LSU has the premier college baseball program in the country and a large following. Tulane has a very good baseball program and that has made for a great series over the last few years.
Blog of the day (Courtesy of Sheila) here.
Quote from said blog: "Okay, so the fact that I got to a million without any bloodshed is surprising enough, sure, but the question is: what the hell am I going to do next?"
One million! Wow! Congrats! -Rob
Yeah, this will be a lasting trend! What? They’re going to try to make it on talent alone? I doubt it. Except for Jennifer Garner, I’d bet almost anything there’s a Janet Jackson incident in the future of many of those girls careers. Garner has a lot more going for her than just her beauty.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “What should have been one great movie ended up being one good movie and one slightly above average movie."
I disagree, of course. I think some expected too much. I agree with his assessment that Volume One was better but I would rate them as great and very good. -Rob
Miss you
Love,
Robbie
Watched Basic last night, starring John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson. Very, very difficult to keep up with but not as bad as Roger Ebert says. A movie like this is only as good as the villain. John Travolta can do bad guys. Samuel L Jackson can do bad guys. Let’s just say they chose the wrong bad guy for this movie. It’s a movie best seen on DVD or with TiVo/UltimateTV because you’ll find yourself going “What?” a lot. Best to replay and ponder those moments. I think I enjoyed it anyway.
The Saints did me proud over the weekend. The first two players they chose were at positions where they already have good players. That is exactly what I expected them to do. Told you so! Still, it wasn’t all bad for the Saints. The draft was strongest where the Saints are strongest (Assuming it’s safe to say an 8-8 team is strong anywhere) so it wasn’t likely to be a great draft for them anyway and they did make a good trade with the Redskins. Give credit where credit is due.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “If you're like me, these benefits of easy living are as foreign to you as a layman's tour of Bangkok's Floating Market. In fact, it's so nice here that I got caught up in a quixotic moment of daydreaming about simplifying my life and relocating... until I ordered a "deli" sandwich from room service."
Know the feeling. Pondered leaving Louisiana over the years. The thing I would miss the most is the food. Some of it simply can’t be gotten elsewhere. -Rob
Love,
Rob
I went and saw Kill Bill: Volume Two last night. I think I liked the first one better but this one was also a hoot. This is film making purely for fun. Although I think it was a good idea to release this film in two volumes, it really is one story. However, the story, the action, the acting, and the dialogue is only incidental. This is a film about making film. I am waiting for the two films to be released as a Box Set DVD Director’s Cut Special Edition or some such before I purchase it but I will surely have them both. And if Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman want to make another movie together, I'm in.
Happy ANZAC Day to all my Australian and New Zealand friends! See Fi's lovely tribute to her grandfather to find out what ANZAC Day is about.
Yesterday I downloaded Mozilla. I’ve been told by some that it is the end-all of internet browsers. I’ve tried them all now, I think. I started out on the internet on Mozilla, then went to Netscape Navigator, and then Netscape Communicator. Each version got bigger and more robust. The last version I have of Communicator is Version 4.7 which I downloaded several years ago when it came out. That version just quits working, sends a trouble report, and restarts itself two or three times per session and I have never figured out why nor will I waste any more time on it. Two or three weeks of that were enough for me. I tried IE when that started and I have had no such trouble. I have been with IE ever since.
I started up Mozilla after I installed it and all was familiar to me. I pointed it at CrabAppleLane Blog. Everything was out of place. I tried a few other pages. Some looked the same as before, some didn’t. Mozilla is now just taking up space before I delete it. I may tinker with it again in the near future but I may not. At least, it didn't quit working on me. Undoubtedly, some web pages don’t look right because there are design problems on the page. The thing is those pages are not likely to change. They probably look fine to their author in his/her browser and it is most likely the author is using Internet Explorer.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Or, I can write two blogs, but then I'd have two blogs nobody read, which is twice as many blogs nobody reads than I have now. (Lovely sentence structure, eh?)"
This photo is a topic for the last couple of days at two of my favorite haunts, Pitcherlady and Burnt Toast. The link came from Pitcherlady. I absolutely respect their views but mine are a bit different.
To me, this is simply “business is business”. The photographer works for Maytag Aircraft. Maytag Aircraft has a undoubtedly lucrative contract with the Pentagon, which includes the no photos stipulation. The photographer violated the contract, which her employer probably sees as a threat to future lucrative contracts. Never, ever mess with the money! I can’t imagine any company in any field not doing the same. Yet, I am a bit curious why the photographer’s husband was fired from the same company. No reason was given.
That said, I also think the Pentagon is intentionally getting some mileage out of this. Let’s face it. There is nothing undignified or disgraceful about the photo. Nothing! The Pentagon would have us believe that, “See, this is all we’re hiding.”. That, I don’t buy.
The war in Iraq is a risky foreign policy experiment. I think it is a worthwhile endeavor and I know many disagree about that. The American people should be fully informed of the benefits and the costs and I would really like to see a little more honesty from the leaders, pro and anti.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Someone came to Spinneyhead from a Google search for nude umist, which I thought was going to be a bit scary until I clicked on this link (NSFW, it's an online portolio for a glamour model). Does anyone know this woman? Just out of, y'know, curiousity."
Yesterday, the story was that as many as 3000 died in the North Korean train crash. As of this writing, the number is 54. By the end of today, the number will undoubtedly be different. Early reports from any major catastrophe/event are always so wildly off that I don’t know why I read them at all but read them I do.
Remember the early reports of September 11, the first day of the first Gulf War, or the San Francisco earthquake of 1989? All ridiculously far off of the accuracy scale. I wonder why they feel the need to put numbers out even though they must know they can’t be accurate. Who came up with 3000 and what could they have based it on? Is the 54 now somehow diminished because it isn’t 3000? I think it is because now people will tend to say, “It isn’t as bad as first thought”. A train collision with 54 dead or 22 dead or whatever the final number ends up being is bad enough.
I’m not a big fan of “blogging about blogging" any more but I thought I’d break that self-imposed rule and mention that one year ago, I ended an entry with the Blog of the Day for the first time. It became a daily routine a few days later. The idea was for the readers here (Most of whom only knew about CrabAppleLane Blog from me) to see what else people were doing with blogs. The BOTD generally is one I find unique, funny, profound, articulate, or not. Some have been named twice but I now deliberately try not to duplicate. Most of the blogs listed to the right have been named in the past year.
Update: One of our best and brightest. Damn.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “See, my parents are cool.
Kinda.
Sometimes.
Okay, not really.
They are just weird. But they know they are. So that's cool."
The NFL Draft is Saturday. I doubt seriously that I will watch much, if any, of it. My team, the New Orleans Saints, almost always frustrates or disappoints me on draft day but by Monday I’m trying to look at the bright side. Hope springs eternal for most Saints fans. I will peruse the first and second rounds afterwards for wide receivers and running backs taken to see if any of them merit consideration for my fantasy football teams. I will be sorely disappointed if the Saints grab any players at those positions in the first two rounds. Watch as they do just that! They need help at just about every position but those two.
The current Saints pundits all say the Saints have the talent to win in the NFL. If that’s so, why be optimistic about this season? If talent, alone, doesn’t win and none of the other factors have changed, why expect a different result this season? Two years ago, they started fast and faded. Last year, they started slow and never caught up. What will it be this year?
A worthwhile endeavor from the Venomous One.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “But, to my surprise, I still feel pretty peaceful though. I haven't hurt or even killed anybody yet, but that is only because nobody from the cable company came over....yet."
Short on time this morning but here are a few links you may have missed.
Ilyka on September 11.
Goldie is back from vacation. A stellar cast filled in for her.
Resignation perhaps? Is that a step towards or away? Will it ever matter?
Everybody off of blogspot now, please! Can't link effectively to you.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Omigawd! I just heard that the Arabs Hate Us! Who woulda thunk it?"
Slow computer, dial-up internet access, and Windows 2000: Those three things conspired against me this morning. I started IE6 this morning and it went to the Microsoft Update page. I scanned for updates and found there were five available to me. This one was my personal favorite this morning:
KB835732: Multiple security issues have been identified that could allow an attacker to compromise a computer running Windows and gain complete control over it.
I reviewed the five and none of them were going to be outrageously long downloads so I proceeded. That was a 12-minute procedure via dial-up. It gets better. I closed all of my applications and waited for them to install. That procedure took 35 minutes on my poor 233-mhz machine.
OK, I admit that my computer barely has the minimum requirements to run Windows (Once nicknamed Windoze) 2000. I switched a few years ago because Windows 98 SE could not run on my machine for more than 20-30 minutes without freezing up, crashing (If you like blue screen, you’d have loved my computer on Windows 98 SE), or spontaneously rebooting. You have not lived until your computer reboots while its in the middle of a number-crunching application (Fantasy football programs).
Whatever happened to efficiency in programming? First, Windows tries to be all things to all people. Then, you add a few 3rd party programs and nine hundred Microsoft patches of one variety or another and I don’t think it’s possible for this behemoth to be efficient. Of course, A 3.0-ghz machine can run even inefficient programs quickly. I suppose a new computer is in order. As my former brother-in-law used to say, “Just add it to the list”.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “A lot lately. And it's not good for me to get pissed off, so I sometimes avoid blogging about it. Composing a note being somehow more intense-making than simple reading a post on another blog and thinking, "@#$%>^<&*(?!""
From USA Today:
The cease-fire was called partly to answer Iraqi officials' concerns that the heavy casualties in the city were fueling anti-American anger.
This seems a bit unfair to me. It would seem that the people of Iraq should also be angry at the thugs who hide amongst the citizens but I also wonder how many citizens are harboring thugs against their will and how many are harboring them willingly. My only concern these days is for the safety of those marines.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “I’m back, now sporting a fabulous Wordpress installation. I hope everything works as it should. I still have some tweaks to work out, plus I want to incorporate the extended entry hack, but for the most part all my stuff is converted."
This entry didn’t start out as a LinkFest but somehow turned into one.
Anil Dash has an interesting take on new bloggers and blogging, in general below.
So when I see disparaging of "unpopular" or low-flow weblogs or the use of someone's readership as a barometer of their legitimacy, credibility or importance, and I have to strongly object. Popularity is easy. What matters is that you connect.
This hardly-read blogger will take it a bit further. I don’t have a single reason for blogging and I don’t really worry about connecting. As I said over at Ilyka Damen’s: If they come, they come. If not, the echo’s cool, too.
The BOTD has a different take on the same matter.
There’s a spirited debate going on over at Miss Apropos on copyrights, file-swapping, and the like. I already had written some stuff on the subject here so posting it there was fairly easy. She did ask for opinions. If you’ve read this blog before, you know I have opinions.
Posted some old photos yesterday at My Family Blog of the time I rode on the Goodyear Blimp. They could have been posted here but I had already posted a lot of pictures yesterday.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “What a dreary day. The lack of readership is depressing Mr Mouse, Miss Kitty has opted out for the time being, and Bill Bulldog is still recovering from this traumatic episode. I have not found anything on which I feel compelled to comment. However, I am of the opinion that there needs to be some kind of new content in this blog if it is ever to amount to anything amongst the millions and millions of other blogs that also clamor to be seen."
At further risk of alienating my blog friend from Chicago, I offer these pictures taken this morning here at CrabAppleLane. The most charming thing I have heard all week is that her mom didn’t know how to play Solitaire. That’s someone who’s had a rich life.
The bush below, referred to last Sunday as a “bottle brush bush”, is in full bloom now.
Below is a Louisiana Iris that was given to me by my sister, Katie. Previously, these were planted on the spot where the BBB (See above) was. I dug them up and planted them in the pond where they are much, much happier.
The roses below have it going on!
The big leaf magnolia below is also a gift from my sister, Katie. If and when it grows up, it will have banana tree sized leaves and punch bowl sized white flowers.
Below are some chives that somehow survived my tiller. This is the first time they’ve ever matured to bloom.
And, finally, below are two bird houses (Upper right and lower left) I built several years ago. They are both occupied at present. One has a pair of bluebirds nesting and the other has a pair of chickadees. I don’t know which is which and apparently, neither do they. They are constantly squabbling. Since they both pay the same rent, I think it best that I not get involved.
Afternoon Update
Below is a rose basking in the sun. Where’s Bette Midler?
Below is the final stop later this afternoon. Just waiting for the sun to go behind the trees in the west.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “When I was sure she was gone, I rolled over and tried again, only to be pounced upon by a very large, very heavy, very demanding Gryff."
I'm not easily pleased when it comes to reading books. Some time after I had read The Vampire Chronicles, I picked up a book that looked interesting (Yes, I judged the book by its cover). About a third of the way through, I discovered this was a book about vampires. Boring. I’m tired of vampires. I don’t need to read another book about them, see another movie about them, or see them on a cereal box. It’s been done. However, I loved Dracula. It is the best book I ever read. Jonathan Harker’s chilling account of the Count leaving the castle by the window terrified me. And, I also enjoyed The Vampire Chronicles but I no longer care about vampires.
Hard not to like the weather we’ve been having here for the last few days. It is expected to continue through the weekend and I hope to find things to do in it. The hammock hasn’t been used in a few months and the grill hasn’t been used in a few weeks. Hate to have things and not use them. Might be time to finish that book that I’ve picked up and put down many times over the last year.
Happy, happy to Burnt Fuse!
Congratulations to SilverBlue!
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “So today this dream sort of became reality, if you substitute "fancy hipster clothing store" for "really fun water park.""
About 7 years ago, some new neighbors moved in up the highway. Their house is about a quarter of a mile away from ours. They are animal lovers and have rescued many cats and dogs over the years (They had 24 cats at this time, I think). They also had a horse. One day, we saw a little gray cat in our yard. She had a pink collar on but it had gotten tangled on something and was now around her leg and neck. It was a while before we could get close to her but finally we did and we discovered she had a name tag. Her name was Priscilla. We called the numbers and discovered she belonged to the new neighbors. They came and got her and there was a joyous reunion. They really did love this cat and it was easy to see why. She is adorable.
A few days later, there she was again in our yard. We had two cats of our own then so we had cat food in the house and Patsy always fed her and gave her water after we called the owners. They came and got her again. This cycle repeated a few more times and we all just gave in. She wanted to stay with us. It turns out she is quite cantankerous with other cats but also quite meek so she really wasn’t getting enough to eat or enough attention when she was around bigger and stronger cats. The neighbors had lots of cats.
We’ve had her about as as long as those neighbors did now. Today, she is 15 years old. She is still quite feisty. She is also quite charming , quite playful, very spry, and eminently scoop-able. She has gotten a little round since we’ve taken care of her. She likes to eat and now she gets to. She also goes for nice walks with me. She’s part of our family.
Happy Birthday, Priscilla!
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Forty ounces of semi-frozen goodness makes the noggin solidify at an alarming rate."
French Quarter Fest is this weekend and I hope to be able to spend some time down there. I love the French Quarter and that festival. Local restaurants (Most French Quarter restaurants are pretty expensive) set up booths offering samples of some of their signature dishes and sometimes even things that are not on their menus at all and at very low prices. All of the dishes run $3-4. For about $20, you can sample five or 6 restaurants. Lunch entrees at Muriel’s, for instance (I’ll frequent this place when I win the Powerball), start at around $12. We got a got a goat cheese ravioli last year for $4 from Muriel’s booth. It was out of this world. I’ll be looking for their booth this year.
Got an email just now from Michael Holden. In the body of the email, it starts
Hi, My name is John,
Is it Michael or John? It got through my spam filters. Another enlargement ad.
The dryer won Round One last night. The heating element was not the problem. The guy at the supply house checked mine (Very nice of him. He was under no obligation to do so) when I brought it in to make sure I got the right new one. Discovered the real problem last night so I’ll be at the same supply house today. I wouldn’t consider going anywhere else now.
Today’s BOTD compliments of KiwiFruit.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “1. My acquaintance is not really a robot! She has feet, not casters."
Entered the exciting world of electric clothes dryer repair last night. I hate moving the washer or drier. Wondrous things are found under it and behind it. I think the heating element is not working. I hope that’s what it is. The thing has one single screw holding it in. It is one that you can hardly see and is extraordinarily hard to get at. About an hour after starting, I got it out. If I can find the element today somewhere, I should be able to install it in half the time it took for me to figure out how to remove it. Surely, a man can dream.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Well its Passover
and I, being devoutly masochistic have decided to prepare a seder for 9 folks in my apartment"
Watched The Missing on PPV yesterday. I think Cate Blanchett is one of the best actresses in film today but this film is only ordinary and is way too long. If it aint on the page, it aint on the stage. Fine performances all around in this film but it just wasn’t enough. Additionally, the movie struck a chord of gritty 19th century realism early with an outhouse scene and another scene where a woman’s last, rotting tooth was pulled but then went off in a supernatural direction later. Bummer.
Truly a lazy day yesterday. The idea was to recharge the batteries after about 10 days of non-stop. Got a good night’s sleep Saturday night but a short night’s sleep last night. Still, I’m not as rundown as usual.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “In view of recent events and all the publicity about the present terrorist threat I expected some delays due to increased security checks. To my surprise I found no signs of any extra checks on this side of The Channel; in fact I found no signs of any security whatsoever. Both the British and French frontier posts were unmanned. I just drove straight through and onto the shuttle."
Not a comforting thought. -Rob
Some Easter Sunday pictures from CrabAppleLane for your dining and dancing pleasure. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter. The subjects of today’s images are all glistening from the raindrops that accompanied the all night thunderstorm we had here in Bush.
The bush below was not blooming when I planted it last year and I had no idea what it would look like. I just wanted a medium-sized bush that wouldn’t block the sun from my tomato garden. I have no idea what it is. My sister-in-law called it a bottle brush bush (Say that three times real fast) but I don’t know if that’s what it really is. Another very pleasant surprise! Does anyone know what this thing is?
Speaking of tomatoes, the bushes below are doing great after only two weeks in the ground. Some have flowers.
If the camellia bush below could talk, I think it would say, “OK, the show’s over, what’s with the pictures?” I just like the new green leaves. This is it in bloom.
Below is a catnip plant. I like to plant these in my garden every year. I admit it. All of our cats are junkies.
Below are some double impatiens I planted a few weeks ago. Around it are the regular impatiens that come up every year by themselves now. I love impatiens. They like poor soil, shade, and water. We have all of that in abundance here in Bush.
Below you see a moth. He has eyeball-shaped markings on his wings to fool predators. I had a whole how-he-met-his-end kind of entry in mind when I stepped into the garden to take his picture. However, as I bent down to get to do so, he moved a wing. He probably fought the thunderstorm all night and was exhausted.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “I also hate that I have to work inside when it's nice outside. I hate stupid drivers. I hate the uncoordinated traffic lights in Harrisonburg. I hate that The Apprentice and CSI are on at the same time. I hate bills. I hate allergies. I hate that gas costs roughly $150 per gallon now. I hate not being able to sleep. I hate getting up early. And I hate that today isn't Friday, so I still have to get up early and go to work tomorrow."
I guest posted from Australia just this morning courtesy of dramaqueen but I’m back now. That was great fun but the jet lag is another story. Thanks again, Goldie.
This figures to be a long day but I started the morning with a couple of cups of coffee so it is already a better day than yesterday.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “How to get here"
A half-awake attempt at making coffee this morning resulted in my coffee bean grinder breaking down. It was a two-pronged attack. First, I put the whole beans in the coffee maker instead of the coffee bean grinder. The filter was wet. I read somewhere that you should wet your coffee filter before adding your grounds and I have been doing so ever since. I have long forgotten the reasoning but it made sense to me at the time. I should have just thrown those beans away. I didn’t. I took those slightly wet beans and put them into the coffee grinder. That was the fatal error. Do not put wet beans into your coffee grinder. My guess is the owner’s manual says that, too. I’m hoping that it will work again after it dries out. I’ll try it again tonight. If it doesn’t work, I’ll be out looking for a new bean grinder tomorrow. This is a coffee-less morning and I’m not real happy about it.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “So, I have this shirt. I don't have any clue how to describe it to you. The texture and thread count of the shirt aren't really the important part."
Some silly sports commentaries that caught my eye this morning:
Today, on behalf of Major League Baseball fans everywhere, the New York Times (Registration required) took the Yankees to task for opening the season in Japan with a corporate logo on their uniform. The Times didn’t mention the name of the company.
Excerpt: But Major League Baseball crossed an emotional line recently when the venerable New York Yankees showed up in Japan wearing uniforms festooned with the logo of a company that makes photocopiers.
A company that makes photocopiers? I imagine naming the company would have required the Times to receive their usual rate. Something about pots and kettles springs to mind. You know, I wasn’t always this cynical.
“Tiger facing most crucial Masters of his career” according to Jim McCabe. Somehow, I think Tiger Woods will survive regardless of how he does in this or any other golf tournament. He’s already won more tournaments than most golfers will ever win and he is quite financially secure. This is a non-story.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “And the next person who says I shoulda got a Mac will get hit with a water-ballon attack by my faithful Ninja Bat bomb squadron."
Note to the ditzy doodle in the gray Taurus that gave me the dirty look when I went around you this morning: The speed limit right there where we got on the interstate is 70mph but the traffic tends to be in the 75-80mph range. If you insist on merging with that traffic at 30mph, I will get around you any way I can. I don't want to be an impact absorber. The pay is lousy and there isn't much future in it. Sorry.
OK, I’m stoked for Kill Bill: Volume Two. I didn’t really need to hear a great review on it because I was committed to seeing it anyway. I loved Volume One. Ebert and Roeper did their “Thumbs Way Up” spiel about Volume Two and showed some clips. I’m usually a little wary of certain directors getting great reviews. Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee can’t seem to get a bad review but I generally don’t care for their movies. Tarantino is another one who the critics always love but I do like his movies. Unfortunately, this is one I’ll have to see in the theaters while it’s still hot because my entire universe will be talking about it almost immediately after it’s released. Generally, If I’m going to the theater for a movie, I like to catch a matinee a few weeks after it’s released. Saves money and sometimes you have the theater almost to yourself. That theory didn’t work for me for Volume One, however. We were there with one other group who brought an infant. I don’t think the content of the movie bothered the infant too much but the blaring soundtrack did. Volume One was incredibly and appropriately loud.
Big crowds at theaters have at least three loud talkers and the rule is that at least two of them must sit near me. I hate that rule.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Apparently, no one told Mr. Paul "F'Bomb" Anka that his one-week notice was up -- about twenty-five years ago.”
Congrats to the UConn Huskies. I had them on one of my entries to go all the way but I missed way too many early round games to be in contention in the CrabAppleLane March Madness Pool. My three entries finished 7th, 12th, and 32nd. It was a fun pool this season mainly because of the early upsets.
Now that March Madness is over, CrabAppleLane turns its attention to football. What? Too early? I think not. Noticed how I skipped right over baseball? I still love the game but I hate the business. The business side of the NFL is threatening their game, too. MLB owners mostly squabble with the players and umpires and that results in strikes. NFL owners mostly squabble with communities so there haven’t been many strikes. I hate strikes. Considering MLB working conditions, they are ludicrous.
Anyway, the NFL Draft begins on April 24 and concludes on April 25. The draft is still the cornerstone of a successful NFL franchise and it is an area where the Saints traditionally do poorly. All eyes should be on the New England Patriots. They have something going there that everyone should try to copy. It is the first successful franchise in the free agency age. They’re not successful because of the dollars at their disposal. They are successful because of the brains at their disposal. I measure success in terms of wins, losses, and championships, not in dollars. Not surprisingly, wins and losses have a major, positive impact on dollars and the Pats are doing just fine there, too. Of course, to hear an unsuccessful NFL owner (Particularly the unsuccessful New Orleans NFL owner) tell it, it’s the other way around. The Saints conducted a very successful campaign to drive up season ticket sales last season but then produced a lackluster team. I just don’t know how many more times they can exploit the Saints fans love for their team.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Twenty-five percent of students who take the SATs refuse to identify themselves by race or ethnicity. The growing number of "non-responders" has undercut the validity of data on the achievement gap between races and ethnic groups. In fact, "non-responders" are now the largest minority among SAT takers. I'm a lover of data, but I have to sympathize with young people who refuse to be categorized."
It says here that the UConn Huskies men and women will be going home with basketball national championships.
I don’t think I like that everyone is starting to take credit cards even though I’m not a person who carries much cash. It will be a bit more convenient for me. I think prices will go up because of it and I think businesses will find easier justification for raising prices. Businesses that had to keep their prices in line with their customers cash-carrying habits no longer have that limit. Excerpt from this USA Today article on New York taxis:
People who jump into one of New York City's 12,000 yellow taxicabs will be able to pay their fare with a credit card under a plan announced last week in conjunction with a 26% fare increase.
26% increase! That's OK. You can charge it.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Appeasement never works. You think Europeans would have learned that lesson after World War II, but apparently not. They don't hate Spaniards because Spain has troops in Iraq (but it's interesting that Spaniards have focused on that while still denying that Iraq had any connection to the terrorists); they hate Spaniards because they have occupied al-Andalus for over 500 years. They hate Spaniards because they're not Muslims, just like they hate Americans, and Brits, and even the French, who have had their own Islamofascist threats against rail systems to resolve."
Today’s number is 4. If you’re writing today’s date, it’s 04/04/04. It is a windows open kind of spring day here on Crabapple Lane. CrabAppleLane Blog has the evidence to prove it.
Below left is my first rose this spring. I spotted it blooming Friday but couldn’t get a picture of it until this morning. Not the best image (Need a better camera bad) but it gets the point across. Below right is a bonsai tree that our friends, Guy and Sandra, gave me in October on the occasion of my dad’s death. It is doing surprisingly well and has new growth on it this spring. If I could just keep the raccoons from knocking it over all the time. They dig in my flower pots for something. I’m hoping the new placement next to our stairs away from the flower pots will solve that problem.
The Waldheim blueberry orchard is about a quarter of a mile from our house. He’s retired from some other occupation and has taken up growing things. I’ve bought a good many plants from him over the years. The blueberry bush you see below to the left was planted two or three years ago. When it was planted, it was covered in big, luscious blueberries (Probably two or three pints worth). It was the last bush I planted that day. I went inside and showered and came back out to water it again (Blueberry bushes like water but they can’t soak in it. You have to water them slowly). In the 30 minutes between planting it and coming back to it, all of the blueberries had been picked. I don’t know what kind of critters they were but they had a sweet tooth. That’s OK because I bought them to attract the wildlife although I have been known to pop a few in my mouth every now and then. Below to the right is some white clover we have planted in a good many spots in the yard also in the hopes of attracting wildlife. It doesn’t seem like anything eats it, though. I might have been scammed. I like it anyway.
When we were in New England many years ago, whirly gigs were all the rage. That and saltwater taffy. The whirly gigs were mostly wood and we bought three or four. Because they were wood and cheap, they didn’t really weather very well. They’re all gone now. Below is a whirly gig I bought Friday afternoon. This is probably the first time his wings have stopped whirling.
I saw doctors, nurses, and patients smoking outside a hospital yesterday. Well, you can’t smoke inside the hospital! It seems they got that message but not the other one. I’m not an anti-smoking crusader by any stretch of the imagination but it just seemed to me that something was out of kilter with that image. It’s probably just me.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Irishtown - A little town up north west on the Island state of Tasmania. A few houses and gentle winding roads"
Another great photoblog. -Rob
Some blog links for your Final Four Saturday morning. Should be two great games. Doubt I'll see either. Got things to do this evening. It says here UConn and Georgia Tech will advance with UConn taking the big one Monday night.
Simon knows some Americans I know but I must know a great deal more Americans that he doesn’t. Since neither of us have exact numbers, suffice it to say that I think there are more than a “very few exceptions” and that I don’t consider that a “gross generalisation”
Ilyka Damen was inactive for a time just recently. Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging. I can relate because it's starting to happen here, too. However, Ilyka is back now and in top form.
Kiwifruit talks about paths taken. She’s a great storyteller.
Flowers and kittens from So Very Posh.
The always reliable LeeAnn and her great readers having some fun.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “I'll write a few New Orleans stories in the days to come."
A New Orleans blogger with stories of the city! Slam dunk BOTD. -Rob
A year ago today, CrabAppleLane Blog was launched with this less than articulate or profound post. The blog was powered by Greymatter then and only a handful of people were told of its location (It wasn’t linked to the website’s main page until a few days later). I originally envisioned it as a group blog for my friends and family to post whatever was on their mind. Unfortunately, hardly anyone knew what a blog was just one year ago and I had no idea about how to explain it to them (Have you ever tried to explained a blog to someone?). That original idea for a group has been somewhat abandoned although any invitations for posting accounts I sent out may still come to life. This is and has been a very rich and quite humbling experience for me. I’ve made quite a few new friends and I’ve learned a few things. That was not anticipated and they are quite pleasant developments. As I told one of my new blog friends just recently, this is a nice and effective way to chronicle. This modest chronicle is still evolving and I’m still learning.
Thanks!!!
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “The low-fat, high-bandwidth solution to your networked cooking needs is finally here. The George Foreman USB iGrill conveniently connects to your home or office PC using USB 2.0 technology, and provides a sophisticated web-based cooking interface."
Besides being male, this dweeb and I have something else in common. I also had gallstone pancreatitis. Mid November 1995, 2AM: A severe case of what I thought was indigestion wakes me up. I go downstairs and take an Alka Seltzer but the pain doesn’t go away. It had started in the center of my chest but now it was side to side and front to back from my neck down to my waist. After about an hour’s worth of pain and throwing up, the pain subsided a bit. When I tried to lie down, the whole thing started over again. The pain subsided again just in time for me to get ready for work. I had the same problem the next night only more severe. We decided something was wrong and went to the hospital emergency room.
Here’s the fun part. I have my health insurance through Patsy’s employer. Her office had been closed in July and we had no health insurance while she looked for another job. She found her current job in October and signed up for the health insurance as soon as she was able. When I had those attacks, all she had was her plan number which was on her check stub where they had deducted the premium. We had no handbook and no one had told her when the plan took effect so we thought we were covered as soon as they had received the premium. After two days in the hospital where they ran every test they could think of, we found out the plan did not take effect until December 1. We were on the hook for the whole, very substantial amount. After building our house, buying a tractor, and having Patsy out of work for a couple of months that year, we didn’t have any money to speak of. And, after all that, they mis-diagnosed me. The attending physician ignored the ultrasound which indicated the gallstones and decided the attacks were due to alcoholism (I'm not an alcoholic). I still get livid when I think about that and it took us a little over a pretty good year to climb out of that hole.
I had a couple of attacks after that in November but I learned if I sat up perfectly still, the pain would go away after about 30 minutes. After seeing another physician in December with the same, very expensive test results, I had my gall bladder removed in December (The insurance company covered that procedure in full) at another hospital (I will never go to that other hospital again except to visit someone else. If I were to slip and crack my head while there, I swear I will ask to be taken somewhere else.) . Gallstones were the problem. The Ashcroft article mentions that some people are given dietary restrictions after having their gall bladder removed. The dietary instructions from my physician: “Don’t do anything stupid.”. I’ll admit I still have trouble following those instructions sometimes.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “The internet is such an open environment that it will drive the driven to success. The problem is the success can be crushing and confusing...cause great inner conflict."
Another great-titled blog. -Rob
Happy Anniversary, Chuck and Karen!
20 years ago today, I served as Chuck's best man at his wedding in Chicago. I have not been back to Chicago since. I hope to remedy that one day soon.
