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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-07-03

  • When did The Learning Channel become The Lunatic Channel? #
  • Why did Benetton go away… but Dress Barn is still here? #
  • "And over the rooftops when the stars prickle the skies, London is sleeping and the Mississippi moon shines…" #
  • Bob Geldof wrote "I Don't Like Mondays" while sitting in the studio of Album 88, Georgia State University's radio station. #
  • Acronis True Image Home 2011 is a pig! #
  • Why does it take longer to install Acronis TI Home 2011 than SP1 for Windows 7? #
  • OMG! Why am I watching "Lynyrd Skynyrd: Behind the Music"??? #
  • Jim Morrison was a stupid, dirty hippie. Good riddance! #
  • OK, I draw the line at ZZ Top! #
  • OMG! My back is KILLING ME! #

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July 4th Memories

On July 4, 1985, my family was in Florida to celebrate Independence Day. We went out to eat that night, and afterwards went to see the fireworks the small Florida town was putting on. I don’t want to say that we were “Big City snobs”, but compared to the fireworks at Lenox Square Mall or Stone Mountain, this little show just didn’t cut it. I remember making everyone laugh as we got into the car afterwards by joking that the fireworks display “must have cost upwards of $25!”.

So we went back to the place we were staying and decided to watch the Braves game. The team always did a massive fireworks display on Independence Day, and TBS always showed it after the game was over. Sure, it would be kind of lame seeing fireworks on TV… but why not? It was 10:30 at night, the beach was dark, the pool was closed and we were all sick and tired of the board games we’d brought.

The only problem was that the game ended up going to 19 innings. Mom, who would end up being the biggest baseball fan in the family, gave up around midnight and went to bed. Dad, sis and I were determined to see the fireworks. Yeah, it was stupid. But it was one of those little things where you’re like “dammit, we’ve waited for five hours to see these stupid fireworks, and we’re gonna see ’em!”.

The really funny thing is all the bizarre stuff that happened in the game. At first, we were pulling for the Braves, our hometown team. But then we started cheering for whoever could end the game first. So when the Braves fell behind in the 18th, we started cheering for the Mets. But then the damnedest thing happened: relief pitcher Rick Camp hit a solo home run to tie the game in the bottom of the 18th. A relief pitcher. Whose lifetime batting average was .074. In fact, it was the only home run of Camp’s career, and it happened at around 3:18 am on July 5.

We were afraid that the sun might come up before the game ended, but the game ended after 19 innings. The Braves lost. Hell, they were running out of skill players by the point, and it looked as though they might start grabbing people out of the stands to pitch! But we got to see the fireworks.

And no, it wasn’t really worth the wait.

Lest you think I’m joking, here’s the box score for the game.

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More Jill Wagner pics

Well, if the log files for this site can be believed, “Jill Wagner” has become one of the most popular search terms for my blog. I can’t say I blame you (although I *do* wish you’d check out some of my Geek Stuff tips or History Blog articles when you’re done with the pics!). So here are a few more pics of Jill from a recent vacation, snagged off her Twitter feed:

Jill Wagner vacation 01
(click to enlarge)

Two more pics after the jump!

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-06-26

  • @Deanoandrews Scott and Bailey is OK once you realize it’s about Scott and Bailey, not their cases. Like an updated Cagney and Lacey. #
  • Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! 🙂 #
  • Well, I always said @ebertchicago was a jerk. So there you go. #
  • Methinks @TimKarr doesn’t understand the concept of “free speech”. #
  • “You love Shake n’ Bake. You used to put it in your coffee.” #
  • A new Yes album, really? #
  • Commencing FB photo dump in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1! #

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Thursday’s News Roundup

– The FBI finally arrested Whitey Bulger yesterday after a 16 year hunt. It only took ten years to track down Bin Laden. What’s next? Finding Jimmy Hoffa?

– The Archbishop of Canterbury was guest editor New Statesman, a position he used to criticize the British government’s austerity measures. Which is funny, because the Archbishop of Canterbury is the last person who should be critical of the leadership of others. The Anglican Communion has imploded on his watch, yet he has time to criticize David Cameron for cutting programs to keep the British government from drowning in debt. It’s like Herbert Hoover complaining about Jimmy Carter’s “leadership skills”.

– North Carolina’s gas tax is set to become the third highest in the nation. Maybe it’s because the state is shrinking (thanks to Jill Wagner for the link!).

– Is Gordon Ramsey’s star waning? So few people turned up to audition for his show MasterChef that producers “enhanced the crowd” by digitally copying the people who did. Nice.

– When a California man’s cable went out, he called Cox Cable and threatened to kill himself. The Cox technician, taking no chances, called the cops on the man.

– Someone is leaving huge bags of vomit outside a Bed Bath & Beyond store in Philadelphia. Police don’t know if the perpetrator(s) have a beef with the chain, or are perhaps paid to dispose of the waste and are just being lazy.

– Ever seen a $156,679 bar tab? Now you can, as someone took a picture of the receipt from when the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins recently visited the Foxwoods Casino.

– Lastly, New York magazine has a good “nostalgia piece” about the 1988 film Heathers. How has it aged? Read the article and find out!

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2011 TV at the Half

The year is almost halfway done. Let’s take a look at what worked on TV so far, what didn’t, and what fell somewhere in between. And let’s wonder why the Brits are kicking the Yanks’ ass in the TV department…

THE EXCELLENT

The Shadow Line (BBC) – A drug kingpin is mysteriously granted a pardon and released from prison… and on his way home he’s shot and killed. This series is about how both sides – the police and the underworld – investigate the crime, and how neither side can claim the moral high ground. This series is already generating comparisons to The Wire, and for good reason: it has a gigantic cast of morally realistic characters in which the police aren’t necessarily “good” and the gangsters not necessarily “bad”. Early episodes have a lot of nice touches. There’s one scene where a pair of police officers have a conversation about the murder at a police station whilst a pair of gangsters simultaneously have a similar conversation at their hideout. The scene is edited so that the police ask a question and the gangsters answer it, or vice versa. It’s not unique, but the length of the scene allows the viewer to learn a great deal of information in a short time, and it’s not too long to be annoying, like an SNL skit. And the cast is full of heavy hitters like Christopher Eccleston (who plays a reluctant successor to the murdered man), Stephen Rea (as “Gatehouse”, a mysterious man behind the scenes) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (as DI Jonah Gabriel, a cop who developed amnesia thanks to a gunshot to the head, and who may not be the “good” cop he thinks he is). Highly recommended.

the_shadow_line

Silk (BBC) – For a British lawyer, there are few honors higher than becoming Queen’s Council. Having the initials “QC” after your name means you can get a job in almost any law firm in the realm, and you’ll probably even be able to pick and choose your clients or causes at will. “Taking silk”, from the distinctive silk robes QCs wear in court, is British legal slang for becoming a QC. This show features two attorneys – Martha Costello (Maxine Peake) and Clive Reader (Rupert Penry-Jones) – fighting to become QCs. There’s also a “case of the week”, as well as lots of gameplaying and backstabbing from other members of the firm, including their respective interns, Nick Slade (Tom Hughes) and Niamh Cranitch (Natalie Dormer, with her natural blonde hair!). The show was created by Peter Moffat, a former barrister and creator of other classic Brit legal dramas like Kavanagh QC, North Square and Criminal Justice. It’s a serious drama that’s also great fun and, according to experts, is quite realistic… except that the actors are generally “too young and pretty” for the average British law firm.

silk

Mad Dogs (Sky) – Four high school friends – John Simm and Philip Glenister from Life on Mars, Marc Warren (Band of Brothers) and Max Beesley (Hotel Babylon, Survivors) – take a trip to Spain to celebrate the early retirement of a fifth friend, Alvo (Ben Chaplin). But all is not what it seems. Alvo is coy about his line of work, and takes a few heated phone calls from his “associates”. When Alvo winds up dead, it’s up to the other four to figure out what’s happened. As the series goes on, the friends become ever more paranoid about Alvo’s “associates” and corrupt local cops.. and you can almost feel the tension coming through your TV set. I almost wanted to hide behind something while watching the last two episodes! And Alvo’s murder scene is one of the creepiest things I’ve ever seen on TV! The series ends abruptly on a cliffhanger… but fear not: season 2 is coming in 2012.

mad_dogs

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-06-19

  • @OfficialKat Happy birthday, Kat! 🙂 #
  • Dallas celebrates LeBron James Day: everyone gets to leave work 12 minutes early today! #
  • Good job, Boston. You beat the British, now you beat British Columbia! #
  • @AngelaSarafyan The egg! 🙂 http://tinyurl.com/2eamv87 #
  • You can't handle the cute! http://t.co/FlI8t19 #
  • Adam Carolla is coming to ATL. I looked at tickets just for kicks: $62.50 ea? No thanks… especially when 25% of that is a service charge! #
  • "You know that talk is cheap, and those rumors ain't nice. And when I fall asleep I don't think I'll survive the night." #

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Quote of the Day

“Nancy Grace, in addition to being the most obnoxious, hate-filled, exploitative wacko bitch anywhere on the public stage, is deeply dishonest, manipulative and phony, and is utterly impervious to shame or guilt over her many instances of malfeasance. The fact that CNN has given that insane harpy a public forum in which to practice her evil, despite the public record of her dishonesty and clear lack of regard for the basic tenets of law, is the greatest indictment of the character of CNN’s management that I can imagine.”

– SDMB member Starving Artist