Despite giving up on my books for the year, I made it more than halfway. 26, to be exact, with jPod finishing up 2006's reading.
This year, I plan on doing it again. Stay tuned for a more in-depth post about this very thing.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
HEY MORON, SLOW DOWN!
Days like yesterday make me truly question just how much reasoning end decision-making it takes lo survive long enough to get a driver's license.
It's not often that I'll go off on an insanely-angry rant. Granted, there have been some, end from time to time, they've been real doozies. Still, it's far from the norm.
However, the mess that I saw on the roads yesterday needs to be addressed. I mean, honestly, how have they made it this far into winter?
For those uneducated in the ways of writer, it goes like this - it snows, it warms up, melting the snow, then it cools down, freezing the water into ice. Then, snow falls, coating the ice with a skiff of snow. Further driving polishes the ice, making traction
a precious commodity, at best.
You might think that I wouldn't have to explain this but it is the internet and there are people who haven't experienced snowfall before. Also, I feel that I need to be extra-explicit for those drivers who have spent countless winters in Edmonton end JUST DON'T GET IT!
Days like yesterday, where the roads are treacherous and visibility is poor are not the right times to try that cool driving stunt you just saw on Youtube. Conditions like last night are not the right place for impatience, reckless hurrying or
this inane sense of entitlement you get from driving your brand-new Lexus, Just because your car is nicer doesn't mean that your desire for expediency supersedes my right-of-way. Back of the bus, Gus. And SUV-boy, this is reality, not Pole Position. Swervy-swervy doesn't go over so well with those of us whose vehicles weren't designed by the military. Pick the lane you need and stay there. Please.
See? I can be polite.
It's not often that I'll go off on an insanely-angry rant. Granted, there have been some, end from time to time, they've been real doozies. Still, it's far from the norm.
However, the mess that I saw on the roads yesterday needs to be addressed. I mean, honestly, how have they made it this far into winter?
For those uneducated in the ways of writer, it goes like this - it snows, it warms up, melting the snow, then it cools down, freezing the water into ice. Then, snow falls, coating the ice with a skiff of snow. Further driving polishes the ice, making traction
a precious commodity, at best.
You might think that I wouldn't have to explain this but it is the internet and there are people who haven't experienced snowfall before. Also, I feel that I need to be extra-explicit for those drivers who have spent countless winters in Edmonton end JUST DON'T GET IT!
Days like yesterday, where the roads are treacherous and visibility is poor are not the right times to try that cool driving stunt you just saw on Youtube. Conditions like last night are not the right place for impatience, reckless hurrying or
this inane sense of entitlement you get from driving your brand-new Lexus, Just because your car is nicer doesn't mean that your desire for expediency supersedes my right-of-way. Back of the bus, Gus. And SUV-boy, this is reality, not Pole Position. Swervy-swervy doesn't go over so well with those of us whose vehicles weren't designed by the military. Pick the lane you need and stay there. Please.
See? I can be polite.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Monday morning musings
Thank God the Oakland Raiders are a worse team (by several orders) than the Houston Texans No matter what Houston did to try and hand the game to the Raiders, Oakland played the perfect gentleman, handing it right back.
Fumbles on three consecutive offensive snaps tells me one thing about David Carr. He's afraid. At no other point in Texans history have I actually wanted to see Carr replaced but there's a first time for everything. Hearing mention that Carr was not getting the job done in crunch-time, I made a point of paying attention at the times I thought were crucial. He did not complete a single pass when it was important. Van Pelt isn't the answer any more than the Sarge, so I don't see Carr losing his job this year, and I hope he gives me some cause for hope down the stretch because this game just made me sad.
The defense was made of stone today, though, and that was the difference. My boy, Glenn Earl looked good, and this looks like the unit that the Texans will come to rely on in this latest rebuilding stint. DeMeco Ryans won the DROY this week, in my opinion. He's everywhere, he's everything and the defense would be worse than
ordinary without him.
Welcome back, Jerome Mathis. Take away his one average return and he starts us off on our own 4, then the Raiders 3. Can't say he isn't exciting. Wynn was good, too, with the fake trick play. Brown sounded good, except the one miss, but Stanley needs
to be replaced.
It was nice to hear about Ron Dayne doing more than hurting O-Linemen. If I had a game ball for offense, he would definitely get it.
In the end, it was nice to see a win, but this game left me with more questions than answers.
-Who are the Houston Texans? Are they tying the record for consecutive completions, or are they struggling to break zero passing yards on the day?
-Are they giving up a record 22 straight completions or are they forcing 5 turnovers?
-Who is David Carr? Is he the Texans' future or is be the embarrassing past?
-Is the offensive-line improving Or are they still taking baby steps? Or are they backpedaling as quickly as they can?
At this point, your guess is probably as good as Gary Kubiak's.
Fumbles on three consecutive offensive snaps tells me one thing about David Carr. He's afraid. At no other point in Texans history have I actually wanted to see Carr replaced but there's a first time for everything. Hearing mention that Carr was not getting the job done in crunch-time, I made a point of paying attention at the times I thought were crucial. He did not complete a single pass when it was important. Van Pelt isn't the answer any more than the Sarge, so I don't see Carr losing his job this year, and I hope he gives me some cause for hope down the stretch because this game just made me sad.
The defense was made of stone today, though, and that was the difference. My boy, Glenn Earl looked good, and this looks like the unit that the Texans will come to rely on in this latest rebuilding stint. DeMeco Ryans won the DROY this week, in my opinion. He's everywhere, he's everything and the defense would be worse than
ordinary without him.
Welcome back, Jerome Mathis. Take away his one average return and he starts us off on our own 4, then the Raiders 3. Can't say he isn't exciting. Wynn was good, too, with the fake trick play. Brown sounded good, except the one miss, but Stanley needs
to be replaced.
It was nice to hear about Ron Dayne doing more than hurting O-Linemen. If I had a game ball for offense, he would definitely get it.
In the end, it was nice to see a win, but this game left me with more questions than answers.
-Who are the Houston Texans? Are they tying the record for consecutive completions, or are they struggling to break zero passing yards on the day?
-Are they giving up a record 22 straight completions or are they forcing 5 turnovers?
-Who is David Carr? Is he the Texans' future or is be the embarrassing past?
-Is the offensive-line improving Or are they still taking baby steps? Or are they backpedaling as quickly as they can?
At this point, your guess is probably as good as Gary Kubiak's.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
Blog my tablet - or - Friday Night Tablet Bloggin'
So.. it's Friday night and I'm writing yet another blog entry. This one, though, is in my handwriting.
That's right, I've got my Tablet back.
So, before you know it, the rest of my software will be installed and I'll be a tabletizing demon.
NOTE: This blog was posted Monday morning because of a delay in setting up my wireless router. It was still written Friday night.
That's right, I've got my Tablet back.
So, before you know it, the rest of my software will be installed and I'll be a tabletizing demon.
NOTE: This blog was posted Monday morning because of a delay in setting up my wireless router. It was still written Friday night.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
100th Post Spectacular
As I said before, this is likely way too self-centred, but I don't care. It's my blog, my post and your right not to read it.
Blog! The Blogging Blogger's Blogged!
This was my second attempt at a web-presence (therevolution.net/liam) and, in hindsight, this is a much easier one to maintain. In general, I just spout off about the internet.
Three teeth, one low, low price
I do my fair share of post-extraction whining
Milk in the tooth-hole and other horror stories
More whining, but it sure did hurt.
Into the bowels of the bowels of the library
Ah, the library book sale. I'd been to one in Lethbridge before, but it wasn't on the same level. Not even close.
Sean broke his alarm clock
Sean told me how and why he'd broken his alarm clock and I fictionalized it, although, according to the comments I received, it wasn't too far from the truth.
THE EVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED
My rant against the proliferation of gratuitous sexuality in the media. Probably nothing original or different from what's been written thousands of times before, but it was genuinely felt.
Father's Day
Is there any holiday (other than Mother's Day) that is as richly-deserved as Father's Day?
Wake-up Call
A pre-natal scare taught me that nothing is as scary as the unknown.
Old Neighbour, New Neighbour
Since we moved in the middle of August, I haven't been Rob's neighbour physically, but we're still Beaver leaders together and he'll always be my neighbour, at heart.
Baptism by... um... God?!
I saw Father Roger this weekend, after a summer where he was in Ontario, doing some scholarly stuff. It was nice to see him again.
Two roads diverged in a wood and I- umm...
I was sick of not having anything new to report on the lack of promotion, so I posted this to get it out. It still didn't make the waiting any better or easier.
Something Else
I like this story. It made me happy to write about pining without actually pining.
100 things? Really? Wow.
This post was a marathon. I now know how hard it is to come up with 100 things about myself. At some point I should review these and find out how many are still true.
My Books
What else? They're my books, although this list is disgustingly out-of-date.
Slowps from the slopes
An updatey-type post. "35 Squat-thrust" penance. Ah, I'm such a card.
The Annual Great Halliburton Summer Picnic
More than just about anything, I miss the Picnic from Halliburton.
The Family Dog
Arr, Jack, you're a rogue and you'll never change. Thank God.
Damn Rights, You're Sorry!
Wow, so much rage. I'm so glad I like my job, now.
Hockey Cancelled Due To Pansy Participants. Next Week Cancelled Due To Pedicure
I never did go back and play with those guys.
How did I get so behind - or Schrodinger's catsup
A long updatey-type post.
Software Development
I could have made that program so much simpler if I'd known what I know now. Still, it works… or did, anyway.
The Johnstone House/A fairly innocuous laundry room, unt…/And this is the tree that we see whe…
Three posts dedicated to a photo-tour of the condo.
Lillian
Good ol' Lillian. A constant joy.
I'm just about even with those bastards
I still haven't replaced the sweats, but I got a backpack (BACKPACK!) for Father's day.
A study in contrast
Now Preston and Lillian look identical when they grin.
Seizure
Just going over this post, I cringe. Thank goodness that part is over.
Back at work
Wow. After all the stewing over whether or not I would get the promotion, my reaction to the positive news was surprisingly underwhelming.
BisonWeb
And Team BisonWeb continues to spread its influence to all the dustiest corners of the World Wide Web.
42-10
This game is easier to read about when I consider it was against the eventual Super Bowl runners-up, but then I remember that it was Loserville and I just feel worse.
Battle of Alberta
I am an MS Paint Wizard.
Phenobaby no more!
Lillian came through that one like a champion.
Super Mario Bros: The End
A time-waster, but I enjoyed writing it.
Nicholas Johnstone: Game Designer
This one still makes me chuckle from time to time.
Required Cognates
Preparation for the next post.
Hank Ilesic
"This is the stupidest f#cking post ever!"‹punt› -Hank Ilesic
Lest We Forget
Remembrance Day is coming up right away, again. This time, I at least have my uniform.
If God were a typist
Few things are nicer than new electronics. I still love my keyboard.
Well, it's official
Last season was, to quote Gregg Easterbrook, "Cover-your-eyes awful." This season is better so far, even if I can't see much better than 6-10 or 7-9.
Boys, We’ve Hit the Jackpot
I wonder how that cream would taste right now…
Blast from the Past
A semi-fictional story about a turning-point in my life.
Another oldie
a.k.a. Liam tries his hand at ensemble-cast mystery/detective story.
Lillian's Baptism
So much to look forward to.
Not exactly on the Christmas list, but...
Ahh, Fingers… I miss your personality, but not your late-night hijinx.
Annual Goal
a.k.a. "Down in Flames, the Liam Johnstone story"
Song of Susannah
A book report.
Yesterday, I learned that one of my co-workers was...
It's still true. I wonder if that guy ever got a clue.
The Magician's Nephew
Another book report.
A Feast for Crows
Another book report.
Minigoal #2
If I'd had time to keep this up, minigoals would have been the way to go. Ah well… maybe next time.
Stupid Sprite!
At least I've replaced the Prydain Chronicles.
The Dark Tower
Another book report.
So, yeah, the car
Mom gave us her car and I blogged about it.
Welcome to "The Fold"
More reading goal postings
Memories of Ice
Another book report.
Three years?!
Sentimental reminiscence of meeting my wife.
Three New Books as Stories Unfold
I didn't want to read sado-pseudo-porn, so I gave up on Kushiel and crew.
Anansi Boys
Another book report.
Shaman's Crossing
Another book report.
Winter Camp as seen by a Leader of Beavers
My synopsis of 2006 Winter Camp.
Valentine's Day
I defend the "Romantic Holiday".
Minigoal update or: As the Slacker Turns
More goal-speak.
Queen of Demons
Another book report.
A New Job: I'll really be "Intuit"
Turning a corner. A big one.
Resigned To It
Quitting sucks.
"I quit." "You're fired."
Firing people is worse.
At Least the Milkshake was Tasty
A car crash outside my home interrupted some sweet frozen treat.
This Time Next Week
The final farewell to Halliburton.
A little family history for you
Auntie Anne and Cousin Mike let me know about some family history.
See? Sharp.
A fairly standard updatey-post with some funny hand-stabbing comments.
WHAT?!
Haiku error messages.
California Dreamin'
Pre-California jitters.
Once more, into the books
Another library book sale, this time with synopses/justification for each book.
Now, was that so hard?
A review of turning 30.
The 2006 Texans Draft
A review of the Texans' draft.
Milestone Number One Reached, Four Days Late
Goal stuff.
With the first pick of the franchise's first draft, the Texans pick...
Review of the Texans' first draft.
But That Was Long Ago
Reminiscences of my University time.
Canceled
50 books was too much for this year.
My Pod, i-Poddius
Gushing over new technology. [since broken]
Innovation meets technology
Gushing over new technology. [since broken]
Distraction by Bat and Jeff
One of the many stories I've concocted to mould my son.
The Eye of the World
Another book report.
Intuit Spotlight Award
Yay me!
Updates, updates, updates
Updatey-type post
Wizard of Earthsea
Another book report.
Keyless entry? Sure..
What happens when brute force wins out over stupidity.
How Can it Only Have Been a Week?
An unpublished post chronicling the shift in perspective over a week of house-hunting.
Weekend Updates -- WITHOUT Dennis Miller
Updates on buying a house.
A Change in the Wind
Philosophical murmurings
Mr. Darwin's Shooter
Another book report.
101 in 1001 -- in the spirit of ripping my wife off
101 goals in 1001 days
The Wizard of Oz
Movie review
Backseat Quarterback
Another book report.
Week 1 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Lamentable loss.
Week 2 vs. the Colts (or – This Sh!t’s Getting Old, Fast)
Disastrous outing.
Week 3 With no Rose-Coloured Glasses
Record-settingly bad.
Broken tablet, broken heart
Alas, my tablet is broken and on its way to repair.
Blog! The Blogging Blogger's Blogged!
This was my second attempt at a web-presence (therevolution.net/liam) and, in hindsight, this is a much easier one to maintain. In general, I just spout off about the internet.
Three teeth, one low, low price
I do my fair share of post-extraction whining
Milk in the tooth-hole and other horror stories
More whining, but it sure did hurt.
Into the bowels of the bowels of the library
Ah, the library book sale. I'd been to one in Lethbridge before, but it wasn't on the same level. Not even close.
Sean broke his alarm clock
Sean told me how and why he'd broken his alarm clock and I fictionalized it, although, according to the comments I received, it wasn't too far from the truth.
THE EVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED
My rant against the proliferation of gratuitous sexuality in the media. Probably nothing original or different from what's been written thousands of times before, but it was genuinely felt.
Father's Day
Is there any holiday (other than Mother's Day) that is as richly-deserved as Father's Day?
Wake-up Call
A pre-natal scare taught me that nothing is as scary as the unknown.
Old Neighbour, New Neighbour
Since we moved in the middle of August, I haven't been Rob's neighbour physically, but we're still Beaver leaders together and he'll always be my neighbour, at heart.
Baptism by... um... God?!
I saw Father Roger this weekend, after a summer where he was in Ontario, doing some scholarly stuff. It was nice to see him again.
Two roads diverged in a wood and I- umm...
I was sick of not having anything new to report on the lack of promotion, so I posted this to get it out. It still didn't make the waiting any better or easier.
Something Else
I like this story. It made me happy to write about pining without actually pining.
100 things? Really? Wow.
This post was a marathon. I now know how hard it is to come up with 100 things about myself. At some point I should review these and find out how many are still true.
My Books
What else? They're my books, although this list is disgustingly out-of-date.
Slowps from the slopes
An updatey-type post. "35 Squat-thrust" penance. Ah, I'm such a card.
The Annual Great Halliburton Summer Picnic
More than just about anything, I miss the Picnic from Halliburton.
The Family Dog
Arr, Jack, you're a rogue and you'll never change. Thank God.
Damn Rights, You're Sorry!
Wow, so much rage. I'm so glad I like my job, now.
Hockey Cancelled Due To Pansy Participants. Next Week Cancelled Due To Pedicure
I never did go back and play with those guys.
How did I get so behind - or Schrodinger's catsup
A long updatey-type post.
Software Development
I could have made that program so much simpler if I'd known what I know now. Still, it works… or did, anyway.
The Johnstone House/A fairly innocuous laundry room, unt…/And this is the tree that we see whe…
Three posts dedicated to a photo-tour of the condo.
Lillian
Good ol' Lillian. A constant joy.
I'm just about even with those bastards
I still haven't replaced the sweats, but I got a backpack (BACKPACK!) for Father's day.
A study in contrast
Now Preston and Lillian look identical when they grin.
Seizure
Just going over this post, I cringe. Thank goodness that part is over.
Back at work
Wow. After all the stewing over whether or not I would get the promotion, my reaction to the positive news was surprisingly underwhelming.
BisonWeb
And Team BisonWeb continues to spread its influence to all the dustiest corners of the World Wide Web.
42-10
This game is easier to read about when I consider it was against the eventual Super Bowl runners-up, but then I remember that it was Loserville and I just feel worse.
Battle of Alberta
I am an MS Paint Wizard.
Phenobaby no more!
Lillian came through that one like a champion.
Super Mario Bros: The End
A time-waster, but I enjoyed writing it.
Nicholas Johnstone: Game Designer
This one still makes me chuckle from time to time.
Required Cognates
Preparation for the next post.
Hank Ilesic
"This is the stupidest f#cking post ever!"‹punt› -Hank Ilesic
Lest We Forget
Remembrance Day is coming up right away, again. This time, I at least have my uniform.
If God were a typist
Few things are nicer than new electronics. I still love my keyboard.
Well, it's official
Last season was, to quote Gregg Easterbrook, "Cover-your-eyes awful." This season is better so far, even if I can't see much better than 6-10 or 7-9.
Boys, We’ve Hit the Jackpot
I wonder how that cream would taste right now…
Blast from the Past
A semi-fictional story about a turning-point in my life.
Another oldie
a.k.a. Liam tries his hand at ensemble-cast mystery/detective story.
Lillian's Baptism
So much to look forward to.
Not exactly on the Christmas list, but...
Ahh, Fingers… I miss your personality, but not your late-night hijinx.
Annual Goal
a.k.a. "Down in Flames, the Liam Johnstone story"
Song of Susannah
A book report.
Yesterday, I learned that one of my co-workers was...
It's still true. I wonder if that guy ever got a clue.
The Magician's Nephew
Another book report.
A Feast for Crows
Another book report.
Minigoal #2
If I'd had time to keep this up, minigoals would have been the way to go. Ah well… maybe next time.
Stupid Sprite!
At least I've replaced the Prydain Chronicles.
The Dark Tower
Another book report.
So, yeah, the car
Mom gave us her car and I blogged about it.
Welcome to "The Fold"
More reading goal postings
Memories of Ice
Another book report.
Three years?!
Sentimental reminiscence of meeting my wife.
Three New Books as Stories Unfold
I didn't want to read sado-pseudo-porn, so I gave up on Kushiel and crew.
Anansi Boys
Another book report.
Shaman's Crossing
Another book report.
Winter Camp as seen by a Leader of Beavers
My synopsis of 2006 Winter Camp.
Valentine's Day
I defend the "Romantic Holiday".
Minigoal update or: As the Slacker Turns
More goal-speak.
Queen of Demons
Another book report.
A New Job: I'll really be "Intuit"
Turning a corner. A big one.
Resigned To It
Quitting sucks.
"I quit." "You're fired."
Firing people is worse.
At Least the Milkshake was Tasty
A car crash outside my home interrupted some sweet frozen treat.
This Time Next Week
The final farewell to Halliburton.
A little family history for you
Auntie Anne and Cousin Mike let me know about some family history.
See? Sharp.
A fairly standard updatey-post with some funny hand-stabbing comments.
WHAT?!
Haiku error messages.
California Dreamin'
Pre-California jitters.
Once more, into the books
Another library book sale, this time with synopses/justification for each book.
Now, was that so hard?
A review of turning 30.
The 2006 Texans Draft
A review of the Texans' draft.
Milestone Number One Reached, Four Days Late
Goal stuff.
With the first pick of the franchise's first draft, the Texans pick...
Review of the Texans' first draft.
But That Was Long Ago
Reminiscences of my University time.
Canceled
50 books was too much for this year.
My Pod, i-Poddius
Gushing over new technology. [since broken]
Innovation meets technology
Gushing over new technology. [since broken]
Distraction by Bat and Jeff
One of the many stories I've concocted to mould my son.
The Eye of the World
Another book report.
Intuit Spotlight Award
Yay me!
Updates, updates, updates
Updatey-type post
Wizard of Earthsea
Another book report.
Keyless entry? Sure..
What happens when brute force wins out over stupidity.
How Can it Only Have Been a Week?
An unpublished post chronicling the shift in perspective over a week of house-hunting.
Weekend Updates -- WITHOUT Dennis Miller
Updates on buying a house.
A Change in the Wind
Philosophical murmurings
Mr. Darwin's Shooter
Another book report.
101 in 1001 -- in the spirit of ripping my wife off
101 goals in 1001 days
The Wizard of Oz
Movie review
Backseat Quarterback
Another book report.
Week 1 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Lamentable loss.
Week 2 vs. the Colts (or – This Sh!t’s Getting Old, Fast)
Disastrous outing.
Week 3 With no Rose-Coloured Glasses
Record-settingly bad.
Broken tablet, broken heart
Alas, my tablet is broken and on its way to repair.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Broken tablet, broken heart
The very day that I started looking into some of the things that people are doing with Tablet PCs (some of the more interesting are meeting note-taking, signing faxes, various art projects and photo-manipulation), I got a horrible phone call from my wife, telling me that the computer would not start up.
I got home that night and discovered, to my horror, that the tablet would not load a sys file. Not too worrisome. I have tech support, I have several avenues for system restore, and I have a wealth of knowledge, both on the internet and in my head for file-recovery.
I called tech support and after trying some things, we discovered that the only possibility was a destructive restore. I mentally shrugged, being a veteran of computer holocausts* and just wanting the computer to work so I could start getting into some of the things I'd researched.
*holocaust - a sacrifice completely consumed by fire; burnt offering.
The next day, compiling- and deploying-time (really quite a bit of my time is spent waiting for the changes that I've made to compile and deploy on a web server -- take, for instance, this blog-entry -- it was made during various compile-and-deploy sessions) was spent pulling files off of the tablet with the use of a knoppix live-Linux CD, onto my USB Flash Drive and onto the work computer. These are burned onto a CD. I managed to recover about 85% of my wanted files, pretty good for a kaputz hard drive.
Then came the challenge of restoring the computer. I started off with the restore CDs that shipped with the computer, but they failed. They could not see the hard drive. Then I tried with an MSDN copy of Windows XP Tablet edition. That didn't work either, for the same reason. Then I tried a Win 98 startup CD. I used this, and created an appropriate partition on the hard drive. Then I went to format the drive. 28 hours later, the computer was still trying to recover lost allocation units, leading me to the conclusion that the hard drive is irretrievably broken.
Fortunately, I have warranty, and Gateway is sending a coffin with which I may ship the carcass of my dead computer back to them. They will revive it with Frankensteinian precision, and ship it back to me, similarly free-of-charge and I will once again have a computer that accepts penly input.
God, I miss that machine. (Cinderella's You Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone plays in the background)
Next up: the 100th post spectacular in which I revisit my posts. A self-serving, narcissistic look at the past year and a half.
I got home that night and discovered, to my horror, that the tablet would not load a sys file. Not too worrisome. I have tech support, I have several avenues for system restore, and I have a wealth of knowledge, both on the internet and in my head for file-recovery.
I called tech support and after trying some things, we discovered that the only possibility was a destructive restore. I mentally shrugged, being a veteran of computer holocausts* and just wanting the computer to work so I could start getting into some of the things I'd researched.
*holocaust - a sacrifice completely consumed by fire; burnt offering.
The next day, compiling- and deploying-time (really quite a bit of my time is spent waiting for the changes that I've made to compile and deploy on a web server -- take, for instance, this blog-entry -- it was made during various compile-and-deploy sessions) was spent pulling files off of the tablet with the use of a knoppix live-Linux CD, onto my USB Flash Drive and onto the work computer. These are burned onto a CD. I managed to recover about 85% of my wanted files, pretty good for a kaputz hard drive.
Then came the challenge of restoring the computer. I started off with the restore CDs that shipped with the computer, but they failed. They could not see the hard drive. Then I tried with an MSDN copy of Windows XP Tablet edition. That didn't work either, for the same reason. Then I tried a Win 98 startup CD. I used this, and created an appropriate partition on the hard drive. Then I went to format the drive. 28 hours later, the computer was still trying to recover lost allocation units, leading me to the conclusion that the hard drive is irretrievably broken.
Fortunately, I have warranty, and Gateway is sending a coffin with which I may ship the carcass of my dead computer back to them. They will revive it with Frankensteinian precision, and ship it back to me, similarly free-of-charge and I will once again have a computer that accepts penly input.
God, I miss that machine. (Cinderella's You Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone plays in the background)
Next up: the 100th post spectacular in which I revisit my posts. A self-serving, narcissistic look at the past year and a half.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Week 3 With no Rose-Coloured Glasses
Optimism was high as David Carr drove the team down to an early score. However, Washington drove right back and tied it up. I wondered how the team would respond.
Now I know.
I’ve put off writing this until Thursday, because I honestly didn’t know what to write. Who is responsible for the attrocious defensive play that resulted in yet another heart-breaking loss, this time at the hands of the Washington Redskins?
Generally, I would put that decision in the hands of management. I’m not the guy who determines who plays and who doesn’t play, I’m not paying anyone’s paycheque, my annual fieldpass subscription aside. I have my opinions as to who has played well and who has not played well, but as I said, I will defer to the experts who hold the clipboards, parse videotape, know what people are supposed to be doing, and get to make these decisions.
That said, those people have said that they accept the blame for this debacle. I refuse to follow my initial instinct and see it as the coaches throwing themselves on the grenade of scrutiny. If Gary Kubiak accepts the blame for the urine-poor play of the team, then he’s to blame. I’m still going to think that Ceandris Brown, Thomas “Big Yards” Johnson, Mario Williams, Morlon Greenwood and various others on the defense need to step it up big-time, but I don’t blame them for the loss.
That falls squarely on the coaches. If they are not properly preparing the players to play, which is basically what they’ve been saying, then they need to change their approach. If they can’t get the team ready to play, then they should be replaced.
I realize that replacing the coaching staff mid-season in their first year is not realistic, it’s harsh and it’s unfair. And I’m not going to carve Kubiak’s name into a piece of pink soap, but Kubiak himself has said that he’s failing. I’m not going to blame the players that this coaching staff thought were good enough to play. If they’re not good enough, they shouldn’t have made the team. And I refuse to believe that this team is so across-the-board bad that setting bad yardage records is, not only in reach, but seeming like an inevitability.
If the players are not good enough to play, Kubiak should not be taking the blame for preparedness, and I don’t think he would. In my opinion, it looks bad on him (not that anything in an 0-3 start with 450+ yards against/game would look good) but it’s not classy, it’s arrogant, to think that he’s bulletproof enough to be able to take the blame and keep going.
Enough with the negativity.
THE GOOD
David Carr continued to improve, in my opinion. Despite what sounded like heavy pressure, he was sacked only once, and threw what sounded like a pressure interception. (Andre Ware said, anyway, that he didn’t have room to step up)
Shantee Orr could have had a defensive score.
Glenn Earl continued his goal-line stalking ways. He was an overturned call away from another turnover in the red-zone. (That puts him at 1 with 2 taken away) He’s starting to emerge as more than a solid starter, I think. People who have seen the games can feel free to disagree, of course.
Andre Johnson had a MONSTER game. It’s nice to see him doing what he’s supposed to be doing. He sounds like a man among boys, as it should be.
Mark Bruener got ANOTHER touchdown catch. I like that. Not quite as much as I would like to see Joppru in there, but it’s not like Jop would have gotten more points for the touchdowns.
Did anyone other than Dunta Robinson make a tackle in the second half? I swear, that guy was all over the field. Looks like he was embarrassed by his effort in the week before.
THE BAD
Thomas Johnson. Did this guy get cut? I don’t like him. I hear he has good work-ethic but COME ON! We lost six points and probably gave up a scoring drive on two of his antics. I’m tired of him.
22/22 – Can’t we get an incompletion? Can’t we hit him as he’s throwing to knock it off-line? GOOD GOD, DEFENSE, yell while he’s throwing, at least!
30-yard draw-play. I have no way of telling whose fault this was by the play-by-play on the radio, so I choose to blame EVERYONE.
91,74,82,70 – these were the drives that resulted in touchdowns. Make a freaking stop. We don’t need 3-and-out every time, but what about 5-and-out, 8-and-out, something?!
I think Houston can beat Miami on Sunday. Whether they will or not, I’m not sure. I’ll be there, though, listening, loving it, and hoping for Houston.
GO TEXANS!
Now I know.
I’ve put off writing this until Thursday, because I honestly didn’t know what to write. Who is responsible for the attrocious defensive play that resulted in yet another heart-breaking loss, this time at the hands of the Washington Redskins?
Generally, I would put that decision in the hands of management. I’m not the guy who determines who plays and who doesn’t play, I’m not paying anyone’s paycheque, my annual fieldpass subscription aside. I have my opinions as to who has played well and who has not played well, but as I said, I will defer to the experts who hold the clipboards, parse videotape, know what people are supposed to be doing, and get to make these decisions.
That said, those people have said that they accept the blame for this debacle. I refuse to follow my initial instinct and see it as the coaches throwing themselves on the grenade of scrutiny. If Gary Kubiak accepts the blame for the urine-poor play of the team, then he’s to blame. I’m still going to think that Ceandris Brown, Thomas “Big Yards” Johnson, Mario Williams, Morlon Greenwood and various others on the defense need to step it up big-time, but I don’t blame them for the loss.
That falls squarely on the coaches. If they are not properly preparing the players to play, which is basically what they’ve been saying, then they need to change their approach. If they can’t get the team ready to play, then they should be replaced.
I realize that replacing the coaching staff mid-season in their first year is not realistic, it’s harsh and it’s unfair. And I’m not going to carve Kubiak’s name into a piece of pink soap, but Kubiak himself has said that he’s failing. I’m not going to blame the players that this coaching staff thought were good enough to play. If they’re not good enough, they shouldn’t have made the team. And I refuse to believe that this team is so across-the-board bad that setting bad yardage records is, not only in reach, but seeming like an inevitability.
If the players are not good enough to play, Kubiak should not be taking the blame for preparedness, and I don’t think he would. In my opinion, it looks bad on him (not that anything in an 0-3 start with 450+ yards against/game would look good) but it’s not classy, it’s arrogant, to think that he’s bulletproof enough to be able to take the blame and keep going.
Enough with the negativity.
THE GOOD
David Carr continued to improve, in my opinion. Despite what sounded like heavy pressure, he was sacked only once, and threw what sounded like a pressure interception. (Andre Ware said, anyway, that he didn’t have room to step up)
Shantee Orr could have had a defensive score.
Glenn Earl continued his goal-line stalking ways. He was an overturned call away from another turnover in the red-zone. (That puts him at 1 with 2 taken away) He’s starting to emerge as more than a solid starter, I think. People who have seen the games can feel free to disagree, of course.
Andre Johnson had a MONSTER game. It’s nice to see him doing what he’s supposed to be doing. He sounds like a man among boys, as it should be.
Mark Bruener got ANOTHER touchdown catch. I like that. Not quite as much as I would like to see Joppru in there, but it’s not like Jop would have gotten more points for the touchdowns.
Did anyone other than Dunta Robinson make a tackle in the second half? I swear, that guy was all over the field. Looks like he was embarrassed by his effort in the week before.
THE BAD
Thomas Johnson. Did this guy get cut? I don’t like him. I hear he has good work-ethic but COME ON! We lost six points and probably gave up a scoring drive on two of his antics. I’m tired of him.
22/22 – Can’t we get an incompletion? Can’t we hit him as he’s throwing to knock it off-line? GOOD GOD, DEFENSE, yell while he’s throwing, at least!
30-yard draw-play. I have no way of telling whose fault this was by the play-by-play on the radio, so I choose to blame EVERYONE.
91,74,82,70 – these were the drives that resulted in touchdowns. Make a freaking stop. We don’t need 3-and-out every time, but what about 5-and-out, 8-and-out, something?!
I think Houston can beat Miami on Sunday. Whether they will or not, I’m not sure. I’ll be there, though, listening, loving it, and hoping for Houston.
GO TEXANS!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Week 2 vs. the Colts (or – This Sh!t’s Getting Old, Fast)
What can I say about week 2 of the NFL season? Well, I missed the start of the game. I was outside with my son, kicking a soccer ball.
When I got inside I kinda wished I hadn’t. It was 14-0 before I sat down and as I started the NFL Fieldpass radio, I heard Wali Lundy fumble the ball. Would we see the same uninspired football we’ve come to know and expect when the Texans were down big against a powerhouse?
Kinda.
It was nice to see the offense keep on trying. I understand that the majority of the offense came against a prevent defense, and that the team had basically no chance, coming back against the Colts after basically handing them a bunch of points, but I was encouraged that Johnson, Moulds, Daniels, Bruener and especially Carr went out there in the fourth quarter, down by a bunch, and didn’t hang their heads. The defense, however, should be ashamed of what happened to them.
With that in mind (and keeping in mind that I know only what I heard on the radio):
Positives:
Pressure on the quarterback. It sounded like there was a lot more activity in the backfield.
Weaver against the run. I heard a couple of times when he had the runner for a loss.
Travis Johnson. All I heard from the radio guys was positive about him. Maybe it wasn’t a blown pick after all. (Time will tell)
Glen Earl. Two drive-killing plays in one drive. He can’t help that there was a penalty on his INT.
Samkon Gado. I know, this is a reach, but it sounded like he was comfortable back there and he knew where to be. Pretty good for a first game.
David Carr. (just wait… just wait) Four incompletions in a game, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Sure, it was in garbage time, but it happened. That cannot be denied. It sounded like he was making some throws down the field (the touchdown to Daniels sticks out) and when he didn’t have time, he was making the right decisions.
Playcalling in the 4th quarter. Again, it was against a defense trying not to lose, but the playcalling was aggressive, it got the team down the field and put points on the board.
Negatives:
Defensive coverage. I know, nobody can cover Peyton Manning teams. That’s not an excuse. 400 yards, 43 points. That’s just disgusting. These guys should hang their heads in shame (after the game, of course).
CC Brown. What the hell, buddy? Where’s the ball going? Where are you going? How the heck can you defend the pass when you’re five yards off the line of scrimmage? It just seemed like he had his head turned the wrong way all game.
Dunta Robinson. I don’t like to think that he would give up on a play, but it sounds like he did. Grow up, Dunta. Sure, you have to trust your teammates, but that’s no reason to give up when things don’t go right.
Charles Spencer. I’m not saying he didn’t play well. We lost him for the season. We have the worst offensive line in the league and we just lost the most important part of our line. I don’t know what else to say about that.
Ron Dayne. Nice job, sh!thead. I’m just kidding. He apparently ran pretty hard. He just ran at the wrong guy. (For those who don’t know, he put Spencer out for the year by breaking his leg)
Wali Lundy. I guess my expectations were just way too high for this guy. He was a sixth round pick. What was I expecting? Mike Anderson? And that fumble was just a killer.
David Carr. (That’s right) 3 fumbles in a game is unacceptable. I don’t care how they came, I don’t care what the situation is. You can’t spot a team like that Colts any points.
Playcalling through the rest of the game. 14 pass attempts through three quarters, when you're down by 14 before you can blink is just unacceptable. Granted, I understand the need to keep Peyton Manning off the field, but you have to do something to keep up with them, especially when you're down. If you can't run the ball (and all accounts I've looked at show me they couldn't), air it out, and let some things happen.
I guess what’s next is the Washington Redskins, but it seems like the Texans are their own worst enemy right now. I know it’s a cliché, but they have to stop fighting the ball. I would like to see them calm down and actually play the game.
If what has happened continues, Santana Moss is going to have a field day against the Texans. I can only hope they come out and play well, win or lose, for the whole game.
GO TEXANS.
When I got inside I kinda wished I hadn’t. It was 14-0 before I sat down and as I started the NFL Fieldpass radio, I heard Wali Lundy fumble the ball. Would we see the same uninspired football we’ve come to know and expect when the Texans were down big against a powerhouse?
Kinda.
It was nice to see the offense keep on trying. I understand that the majority of the offense came against a prevent defense, and that the team had basically no chance, coming back against the Colts after basically handing them a bunch of points, but I was encouraged that Johnson, Moulds, Daniels, Bruener and especially Carr went out there in the fourth quarter, down by a bunch, and didn’t hang their heads. The defense, however, should be ashamed of what happened to them.
With that in mind (and keeping in mind that I know only what I heard on the radio):
Positives:
Pressure on the quarterback. It sounded like there was a lot more activity in the backfield.
Weaver against the run. I heard a couple of times when he had the runner for a loss.
Travis Johnson. All I heard from the radio guys was positive about him. Maybe it wasn’t a blown pick after all. (Time will tell)
Glen Earl. Two drive-killing plays in one drive. He can’t help that there was a penalty on his INT.
Samkon Gado. I know, this is a reach, but it sounded like he was comfortable back there and he knew where to be. Pretty good for a first game.
David Carr. (just wait… just wait) Four incompletions in a game, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Sure, it was in garbage time, but it happened. That cannot be denied. It sounded like he was making some throws down the field (the touchdown to Daniels sticks out) and when he didn’t have time, he was making the right decisions.
Playcalling in the 4th quarter. Again, it was against a defense trying not to lose, but the playcalling was aggressive, it got the team down the field and put points on the board.
Negatives:
Defensive coverage. I know, nobody can cover Peyton Manning teams. That’s not an excuse. 400 yards, 43 points. That’s just disgusting. These guys should hang their heads in shame (after the game, of course).
CC Brown. What the hell, buddy? Where’s the ball going? Where are you going? How the heck can you defend the pass when you’re five yards off the line of scrimmage? It just seemed like he had his head turned the wrong way all game.
Dunta Robinson. I don’t like to think that he would give up on a play, but it sounds like he did. Grow up, Dunta. Sure, you have to trust your teammates, but that’s no reason to give up when things don’t go right.
Charles Spencer. I’m not saying he didn’t play well. We lost him for the season. We have the worst offensive line in the league and we just lost the most important part of our line. I don’t know what else to say about that.
Ron Dayne. Nice job, sh!thead. I’m just kidding. He apparently ran pretty hard. He just ran at the wrong guy. (For those who don’t know, he put Spencer out for the year by breaking his leg)
Wali Lundy. I guess my expectations were just way too high for this guy. He was a sixth round pick. What was I expecting? Mike Anderson? And that fumble was just a killer.
David Carr. (That’s right) 3 fumbles in a game is unacceptable. I don’t care how they came, I don’t care what the situation is. You can’t spot a team like that Colts any points.
Playcalling through the rest of the game. 14 pass attempts through three quarters, when you're down by 14 before you can blink is just unacceptable. Granted, I understand the need to keep Peyton Manning off the field, but you have to do something to keep up with them, especially when you're down. If you can't run the ball (and all accounts I've looked at show me they couldn't), air it out, and let some things happen.
I guess what’s next is the Washington Redskins, but it seems like the Texans are their own worst enemy right now. I know it’s a cliché, but they have to stop fighting the ball. I would like to see them calm down and actually play the game.
If what has happened continues, Santana Moss is going to have a field day against the Texans. I can only hope they come out and play well, win or lose, for the whole game.
GO TEXANS.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Week 1 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
My thoughts from listening to the game on FieldPass:
1. The Zone Blocking system is designed to open up cutback lanes and give the RB some room to make a play or two. I didn’t hear a single time where that was open. One of the backs found some room with a toss, but that was about it. Obviously, Philadelphia knew what to expect and J. Johnson found a way to counter it with defensive-line gap-discipline. His line also sounded like it was a lot better than Sherman’s.
2. It sounded like Carr had a good grasp of the offense and what Kubiak wanted him to do. There were some cases where he was waiting and waiting, but they were less than I would have thought. This gives me some cause for optimism. He had some brain farts around the goal-line and the results were very last-year-esque (tackle for loss, sack, sack). So that’s something to work on.
3. Eric Moulds and Andre Johnson are awesome! What a combination. And as the running game gets it together, these two are going to bust out huge.
4. I didn’t hear Joppru’s name at all. (Looking at NFL.com’s gamecenter confirms it). I’m sure he played special teams, but it would have been nice to see him get a few reps.
5. Why in the world was Lewis Sanders on the one Philadelphia Eagles receiver that did anything long? Granted, one of those long completions was said to be over Dunta, but McNabb and Reid saw something, obviously, and exploited it all day, with Sanders bringing up the rear constantly.
6. In the first half, Houston’s radio sideline reporter said that Mario wasn’t getting pressure by himself, but that there was a lot more activity than before. I don’t know what that means, but it sounds impressive, I guess. I heard a play where Babin and Peek met McNabb in the backfield and McNabb had to throw an incomplete pass. It’s nice to hear, but whenever they used the playaction (who the heck should Philadelphia’s play-action fool?) McNabb had all day to throw. That sounds like a case of too much thinking and not enough single-minded devotion to the elimination of an opposing quarterback.
7. Five sacks. That’s way too much for this offense to be giving up. I refuse to accept that protection continues to be this big a problem. However, as long as it does, and Carr doesn’t respond to blitzing with long completions and scores, opposing teams will continue to blitz and get gaudy sack numbers.
8. I was excited about how our team played early on and I look forward to more play like that.
9. GO TEXANS!
1. The Zone Blocking system is designed to open up cutback lanes and give the RB some room to make a play or two. I didn’t hear a single time where that was open. One of the backs found some room with a toss, but that was about it. Obviously, Philadelphia knew what to expect and J. Johnson found a way to counter it with defensive-line gap-discipline. His line also sounded like it was a lot better than Sherman’s.
2. It sounded like Carr had a good grasp of the offense and what Kubiak wanted him to do. There were some cases where he was waiting and waiting, but they were less than I would have thought. This gives me some cause for optimism. He had some brain farts around the goal-line and the results were very last-year-esque (tackle for loss, sack, sack). So that’s something to work on.
3. Eric Moulds and Andre Johnson are awesome! What a combination. And as the running game gets it together, these two are going to bust out huge.
4. I didn’t hear Joppru’s name at all. (Looking at NFL.com’s gamecenter confirms it). I’m sure he played special teams, but it would have been nice to see him get a few reps.
5. Why in the world was Lewis Sanders on the one Philadelphia Eagles receiver that did anything long? Granted, one of those long completions was said to be over Dunta, but McNabb and Reid saw something, obviously, and exploited it all day, with Sanders bringing up the rear constantly.
6. In the first half, Houston’s radio sideline reporter said that Mario wasn’t getting pressure by himself, but that there was a lot more activity than before. I don’t know what that means, but it sounds impressive, I guess. I heard a play where Babin and Peek met McNabb in the backfield and McNabb had to throw an incomplete pass. It’s nice to hear, but whenever they used the playaction (who the heck should Philadelphia’s play-action fool?) McNabb had all day to throw. That sounds like a case of too much thinking and not enough single-minded devotion to the elimination of an opposing quarterback.
7. Five sacks. That’s way too much for this offense to be giving up. I refuse to accept that protection continues to be this big a problem. However, as long as it does, and Carr doesn’t respond to blitzing with long completions and scores, opposing teams will continue to blitz and get gaudy sack numbers.
8. I was excited about how our team played early on and I look forward to more play like that.
9. GO TEXANS!
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Backseat Quarterback
Once in awhile, I'll read a book, and it will seem utterly absurd. The premise doesn't work, the writing is bad, the characters are fake, or the frame of reference is just off.
Backseat Quarterback, at first look, seemed to be an absurd book. The archaic language, the outdated name-dropping, and most specifically, the reference to the lifestyle of a professional football player. All these things seemed to me to be completely out of place. This was even knowing that the book was written in the 1960s. Granted, the NFL, pre-merger, did not have the high salaries that are commanded by today's players, but it was hard for me to believe in professional football players, living in the same hotel during the season, playing bridge together. I'm not saying that Perian Conerly is a liar. I truly believe that the events she wrote of in her book took place. It's just hard to see. I couldn't see, for instance, Drew Bledsoe getting together with Jason Witten on Monday nights to play bridge. It just doesn't work for me.
Another thing that struck me was the fact that professional football players, in those days, did not make enough money to retire on. Some of them didn't make enough money to keep from working another job in the offseason. One of the things that has always mystified me about the NFL is how commentators would say, “It's becoming a year-round job for these guys.” All I can think is, 'What else are they going to do? It's not like they have to sell TVs or anything.' When I think of the way the players have it now, compared to the way they're outlined in Backseat Quarterback, it makes me wonder what kind of perspective Bryant Gumbel, Warren Sapp and other mouthpieces have on the history of the league when they spew their venom, Gumbel characterizing Gene Upshaw as a lapdog and Sapp likening the lot of NFL players to slaves. I'm not saying they don't deserve the money they make. Football draws a lot of revenue and the people who generate the revenue should share in it. I'm just saying that because the NFL got a favourable collective bargaining, and because these people have to work for their money, people feel the need to spout off.
This book alludes to some players who ended up sticking around the game after they retired from playing, as broadcasters – Pat Summerall and Frank Gifford to name a notable few. It is my belief now that they didn't step into the broadcast booth because they wanted to stay connected to the game. Or not only that. They did so because they couldn't afford to retire. How crazy is it that former players are having to fight for their pensions when the dollars floating around professional football nowadays are bordering on obscene?
Perian Conerly does an excellent job of chronicling the life of a football player, organizing it into meaningful and digestible chunks and, in the end, she has told a story that culminates with Charlie Conerly's decision to retire. I have read a fair number of books about football players (usually by football players) and this is easily the best one. It makes me sad, a little bit, to realize that those days are gone and the innocence and purity of the game is now so polluted and diluted with the “me me me” attitude and the crime and chemical dependency that any wrongdoings in those days seem almost comedic.
Charlie Conerly died about ten years ago, but given what he went through, his tacit exterior and the ass-kissiness of some of his contemporaries, I would be very interested in hearing what he would have to say about the state of the game nowadays.
Backseat Quarterback, at first look, seemed to be an absurd book. The archaic language, the outdated name-dropping, and most specifically, the reference to the lifestyle of a professional football player. All these things seemed to me to be completely out of place. This was even knowing that the book was written in the 1960s. Granted, the NFL, pre-merger, did not have the high salaries that are commanded by today's players, but it was hard for me to believe in professional football players, living in the same hotel during the season, playing bridge together. I'm not saying that Perian Conerly is a liar. I truly believe that the events she wrote of in her book took place. It's just hard to see. I couldn't see, for instance, Drew Bledsoe getting together with Jason Witten on Monday nights to play bridge. It just doesn't work for me.
Another thing that struck me was the fact that professional football players, in those days, did not make enough money to retire on. Some of them didn't make enough money to keep from working another job in the offseason. One of the things that has always mystified me about the NFL is how commentators would say, “It's becoming a year-round job for these guys.” All I can think is, 'What else are they going to do? It's not like they have to sell TVs or anything.' When I think of the way the players have it now, compared to the way they're outlined in Backseat Quarterback, it makes me wonder what kind of perspective Bryant Gumbel, Warren Sapp and other mouthpieces have on the history of the league when they spew their venom, Gumbel characterizing Gene Upshaw as a lapdog and Sapp likening the lot of NFL players to slaves. I'm not saying they don't deserve the money they make. Football draws a lot of revenue and the people who generate the revenue should share in it. I'm just saying that because the NFL got a favourable collective bargaining, and because these people have to work for their money, people feel the need to spout off.
This book alludes to some players who ended up sticking around the game after they retired from playing, as broadcasters – Pat Summerall and Frank Gifford to name a notable few. It is my belief now that they didn't step into the broadcast booth because they wanted to stay connected to the game. Or not only that. They did so because they couldn't afford to retire. How crazy is it that former players are having to fight for their pensions when the dollars floating around professional football nowadays are bordering on obscene?
Perian Conerly does an excellent job of chronicling the life of a football player, organizing it into meaningful and digestible chunks and, in the end, she has told a story that culminates with Charlie Conerly's decision to retire. I have read a fair number of books about football players (usually by football players) and this is easily the best one. It makes me sad, a little bit, to realize that those days are gone and the innocence and purity of the game is now so polluted and diluted with the “me me me” attitude and the crime and chemical dependency that any wrongdoings in those days seem almost comedic.
Charlie Conerly died about ten years ago, but given what he went through, his tacit exterior and the ass-kissiness of some of his contemporaries, I would be very interested in hearing what he would have to say about the state of the game nowadays.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
The Wizard of Oz
The first thing that I remember when I think about The Wizard of Oz is the yellow-brick road. It begins at a point and spirals out until it's pointed in the direction of the wizard. I'm not sure what this signifies or what it means that they just HAPPENED to have a road begin right where Dorothy just HAPPENED to drop a house on a witch. Maybe it was prophecy. Maybe the munchkins are actually religiously devoted to Dorothy. Anyway...
Whoever played the witch did an amazing job of sounding like someone who would come from a small farming community and still be a really scary witch. The way she talked was not in evil overtones, but the way you would expect to hear a farmwife talk to her neighbour over the fence. This last viewing, I noticed that and was unconvinced of her evil until I remembered how scary the witch was when I was a kid, and I placed it in the concept of being a girl's dream. I guess everyone would talk like they were from a farm if you'd only ever been around farm folk. That said, the witch was brilliant.
How can this movie ever have been intended for children? A house falls on a witch and then her legs shrivel up and disappear. Then, the other witch dies when Dorothy foils a murder attempt on the scarecrow. She shrieks her death cries and what are the children left thinking? Probably something along the lines of, 'I hope daddy has psychiatry covered on his benefits.'
I never got the theme of The Wizard of Oz before this latest viewing. I like to hope that it says something about the time that it was written, rather than seeing it as a truism. A young farmgirl, pining for adventure and a change of scenery, is ripped from her comfortable surroundings, hailed as a hero and hand-delivered an adventure. Along the way, she completes her quest but is left abandoned by the so-called saviour. In the end, she is not permitted to leave until she realizes that everything she’s wanted was in the drab, black-and-white world of Kansas. So, the goal of her quest, rather than the search for some wizard, is a coming-of-age in which she ceases her childish dreaming and learns to appreciate what she has. It’s a charming little twist that comes full-circle to her “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” dreams. The technicolor lure of Oz teaches her that she doesn’t need it.
When I think of movies that are influenced by The Wizard of Oz, The Wiz immediately comes to mind. The only thing I remember about The Wiz is that Michael Jackson played the Scarecrow and was accompanied by “Bacon”, a little puppet sidekick. I’m pretty sure that The Wiz missed the mark but it must have made some money, anyway.
Another medium affected by The Wizard of Oz is books. The Dark Tower, by Stephen King, is the most obvious example of a story touched by Oz. There is the immediate comparison – They go to Kansas and confront the wizard there. I believe one or more characters remark on the similarity. However, the overall story seems to hold the same type of quest that Dorothy undertook. Roland is looking for the tower and collects three friends. They follow a path, the beam, to a confrontation with a menacing villain, the Crimson King, who turns out to have no teeth. The wizard of Oz ends as a dream and, while I wont give you the end of The Dark Tower, many people view it as similarly unsatisfying.
All kinds of Modern Fantasy contains elements that were seen in The Wizard of Oz. The displaced hero, who just wants to go home, the magic item that allows the hero to contend with a foreign world and an enemy which destiny deems he will face. There’s even the idea of an obvious goal which turns out to be a red herring. Fear not, however, because the true meaning of the quest is just around the corner.
When I put all of this together, thinking of how The Wizard of Oz has affected modern fiction, movie-making and children’s nightmares, I couldn’t help but think, ‘Pretty good for a kid’s movie with a singing lion.’
Whoever played the witch did an amazing job of sounding like someone who would come from a small farming community and still be a really scary witch. The way she talked was not in evil overtones, but the way you would expect to hear a farmwife talk to her neighbour over the fence. This last viewing, I noticed that and was unconvinced of her evil until I remembered how scary the witch was when I was a kid, and I placed it in the concept of being a girl's dream. I guess everyone would talk like they were from a farm if you'd only ever been around farm folk. That said, the witch was brilliant.
How can this movie ever have been intended for children? A house falls on a witch and then her legs shrivel up and disappear. Then, the other witch dies when Dorothy foils a murder attempt on the scarecrow. She shrieks her death cries and what are the children left thinking? Probably something along the lines of, 'I hope daddy has psychiatry covered on his benefits.'
I never got the theme of The Wizard of Oz before this latest viewing. I like to hope that it says something about the time that it was written, rather than seeing it as a truism. A young farmgirl, pining for adventure and a change of scenery, is ripped from her comfortable surroundings, hailed as a hero and hand-delivered an adventure. Along the way, she completes her quest but is left abandoned by the so-called saviour. In the end, she is not permitted to leave until she realizes that everything she’s wanted was in the drab, black-and-white world of Kansas. So, the goal of her quest, rather than the search for some wizard, is a coming-of-age in which she ceases her childish dreaming and learns to appreciate what she has. It’s a charming little twist that comes full-circle to her “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” dreams. The technicolor lure of Oz teaches her that she doesn’t need it.
When I think of movies that are influenced by The Wizard of Oz, The Wiz immediately comes to mind. The only thing I remember about The Wiz is that Michael Jackson played the Scarecrow and was accompanied by “Bacon”, a little puppet sidekick. I’m pretty sure that The Wiz missed the mark but it must have made some money, anyway.
Another medium affected by The Wizard of Oz is books. The Dark Tower, by Stephen King, is the most obvious example of a story touched by Oz. There is the immediate comparison – They go to Kansas and confront the wizard there. I believe one or more characters remark on the similarity. However, the overall story seems to hold the same type of quest that Dorothy undertook. Roland is looking for the tower and collects three friends. They follow a path, the beam, to a confrontation with a menacing villain, the Crimson King, who turns out to have no teeth. The wizard of Oz ends as a dream and, while I wont give you the end of The Dark Tower, many people view it as similarly unsatisfying.
All kinds of Modern Fantasy contains elements that were seen in The Wizard of Oz. The displaced hero, who just wants to go home, the magic item that allows the hero to contend with a foreign world and an enemy which destiny deems he will face. There’s even the idea of an obvious goal which turns out to be a red herring. Fear not, however, because the true meaning of the quest is just around the corner.
When I put all of this together, thinking of how The Wizard of Oz has affected modern fiction, movie-making and children’s nightmares, I couldn’t help but think, ‘Pretty good for a kid’s movie with a singing lion.’
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
101 in 1001 -- in the spirit of ripping my wife off
Because I like to take things that other people have done, change them and then pawn them off as my own, here is my list of 101 goals over the next 1001 days. That will put me squarely on Wednesday, May 13, 2009. I'll be 33, and well-ready to be done with this list.
Let me know what you think:
Creative
1. Finish “writing software”
2. Finish my book
3. Finish the dragon story
4. Finish the wedding story
5. Finish the samurai cross-stitch
6. Write one hundred non-updatish blog posts
7. Finish my football stat program
8. Start and finish another cross-stitch project
9. Outline part two of my book
10. Write part two of my book
11. Finish the installer section of my technical blog
12. Finish the Simpsons puzzle
13. Write a mystery story
14. Write a “101 things I’m grateful for” list
15. Write a letter to the editor
16. Get back into journaling
17. Complete all of the writing exercises I promised I’d do (scribe’s, and the two writing books)
18. Develop and deploy an application for PalmOS
19. Write a “101 things that piss me off” list
20. Finish the work on my walking stick
21. Make use of my coffee stir-sticks
22. Actually discuss things in discussion groups
23. Start a “favourite recipes” database – maybe with a simple front end – and keep it up
24. Write five short stories
25. Write five non-fantasy stories (of any length)
26. Write a “Wizard of Oz” writeup
27. Create, launch and maintain a family website
28. Create, launch and maintain a writing website
29. Submit a short story to an online magazine
30. Join an online debate and contribute regularly
Family
31. Take my family on a vacation away from home
32. Finish Narnia with Nick
33. Start and finish Prydain with Nick
34. Adopt the boy
35. Start reading to Lillian
36. Get the oil changed in the car before or on the suggested date/mileage consistently
37. Move into my new house
38. Take my wife out dancing
39. Join the Ridgewood community league
40. Go on at least 1 field trip with Nicholas in grade 1.
41. Daddy-daughter day (once it’s feasible)
42. Dad-Nick day
43. Clean out the car once a month
44. Develop wedding pictures and pick some good ones to hang
45. Walks with lilly and the dog twice a week at least
House
46. Build a dog house
47. Build a shed
48. Turn the storage room into the workshop of my dreams
49. Transform the flex room into a downstairs bathroom with jacuzzi tub
50. Mow the lawn once per week in-season
51. Make sure that everything has a place in the new house
52. Tear down at least one wall in the basement
53. Fix the ceiling fan in the kitchen
54. Install and use Quicken Home Inventory for my home inventory
55. Wire network cables in the new house
56. Hang a clothes line in the back yard
Me
57. Cut my to-read list in half
58. Catch up on all of the book series I am behind on
59. Get down to 220 lbs and stay there
60. Watch the first season of 24
61. Figure out calculus
62. Bake a cake
63. Barbecue some t-bone steaks
64. Write a letter to my former landlady and send it
65. Bring lunches to work daily.
66. Get up with the alarm for a month straight
67. Dedicate at least one day per month to the completion of these 101 in 1001 goals (daily routine aside)
68. Return to playing chess, taking it seriously enough to actually win now and again.
69. Stretch before and after each time I play a sport (pool excluded)
70. Focusing exercises once a week for two months
71. Apply at tigerfish for some freelance transcription work
72. Go canoeing (lake, river – something)
73. Join a committee or some volunteer thing like that at work and follow through
74. Finish either Metroid Prime or Zelda. Windwaker
75. Read the rest of “Lord of the Rings”
76. Buy two new pairs of work pants
77. Buy a pair of jeans that fits
78. Go a week without coffee
79. Go a month without eating out (work cafeteria included)
80. Play tennis
81. Drink water every meal for a month
82. Do engaged encounter weekend help at least twice a year
83. Donate blood
Bike
84. Ride the bike to work every day, weather permitting
85. Get rid of the “grinding” sound my bike makes
86. Tune up my bike (brakes, gears, chain, etc)
87. Long bike trip (details to come)
Organization
88. Completely organize my music
89. Completely organize our movies
90. Scan all of my drawings into the computer
91. Finish cataloging my book collection
92. Do a “Do I really need this?” on my book collection
93. Do a “Do I really need this?” on my CD collection
94. Do a “Do I really need this?” on my movie collection
95. Do a “Do I really need this?” on my clothes
Computer
96. Back up everything that’s necessary on the desktop computer
97. Reformat and reinstall on the desktop
98. Finish entering all the stuff I have on paper into the computer
99. Load all of my cds onto the computer (as MP3s)
100. Organize and store (or discard) every single email (work and home)
101. Finish learning web programming and Jakarta Struts
Let me know what you think:
Creative
1. Finish “writing software”
4. Finish the wedding story
5. Finish the samurai cross-stitch
6. Write one hundred non-updatish blog posts
7. Finish my football stat program
8. Start and finish another cross-stitch project
11. Finish the installer section of my technical blog
12. Finish the Simpsons puzzle
13. Write a mystery story
14. Write a “101 things I’m grateful for” list
15. Write a letter to the editor
16. Get back into journaling
17. Complete all of the writing exercises I promised I’d do (scribe’s, and the two writing books)
18. Develop and deploy an application for PalmOS
19. Write a “101 things that piss me off” list
20. Finish the work on my walking stick
21. Make use of my coffee stir-sticks
23. Start a “favourite recipes” database – maybe with a simple front end – and keep it up
24. Write five short stories
25. Write five non-fantasy stories (of any length)
27. Create, launch and maintain a family website
28. Create, launch and maintain a writing website
Family
32. Finish Narnia with Nick
33. Start and finish Prydain with Nick
34. Adopt the boy
35. Start reading to Lillian
38. Take my wife out dancing
40. Go on at least 1 field trip with Nicholas in grade 1.
41. Daddy-daughter day (once it’s feasible)
43. Clean out the car once a month
44. Develop wedding pictures and pick some good ones to hang
45. Walks with lilly and the dog twice a week at least
House
46. Build a dog house
47. Build a shed
49. Transform the flex room into a downstairs bathroom with jacuzzi tub
50. Mow the lawn once per week in-season
52. Tear down at least one wall in the basement
53. Fix the ceiling fan in the kitchen
54. Install and use Quicken Home Inventory for my home inventory
56. Hang a clothes line in the back yard
Me
57. Cut my to-read list in half
58. Catch up on all of the book series I am behind on
59. Get down to 220 lbs and stay there
61. Figure out calculus
64. Write a letter to my former landlady and send it
65. Bring lunches to work daily.
67. Dedicate at least one day per month to the completion of these 101 in 1001 goals (daily routine aside)
69. Stretch before and after each time I play a sport (pool excluded)
70. Focusing exercises once a week for two months
71. Apply at tigerfish for some freelance transcription work
72. Go canoeing (lake, river – something)
74. Finish either Metroid Prime or Zelda. Windwaker
75. Read the rest of “Lord of the Rings”
78. Go a week without coffee
79. Go a month without eating out (work cafeteria included)
80. Play tennis
81. Drink water every meal for a month
83. Donate blood
Bike
87. Long bike trip (details to come)
Organization
89. Completely organize our movies
90. Scan all of my drawings into the computer
91. Finish cataloging my book collection
95. Do a “Do I really need this?” on my clothes
Computer
98. Finish entering all the stuff I have on paper into the computer
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Mr. Darwin's Shooter
Take a God-fearing Christian, stick him in a boat with Charles Darwin, make them near-constant companions on a wildlife-collecting study and see what it does to the Christian.
Mr. Darwin’s Shooter is a fictionalized account of the life of Syms Covington, Darwin’s servant during his days aboard the Beagle, collecting specimens that laid the foundation for The Origin of Species. It involves Covington’s struggle to reconcile his beliefs with what Darwin is showing him about evolution.
The story bounces back and forth between Covington’s time with Darwin and some time in the future when Covington lives in Australia, his odd relationship with Dr. MacCracken, a man who appears to hold the key to Covington’s salvation.
Throughout the story, we learn more and more about Covington, where Darwin remains a distant, somewhat cold member of the gentry. An effort at characterization is made, showing how Darwin moves farther away from his belief in God as he goes deeper in his study of Evolutionary Theory and Natural Selection, but for the most part, he remains the same.
Covington comes of age in the backward-looking chapters. He loses friends, loses himself and falls in love. His charm is in his irrepressible spirit and his willingness to tackle anything that’s asked of him.
The older Covington is stodgy, set in his ways, and inflexible. However, he has an agenda of his own, and when, inevitably, he dies at the end of the story, it is in peace with his creator, and it is seen through his eyes as a reunion with all those he lost at sea.
Mr. Darwin’s Shooter was a pretty large step outside of the kind of books that I normally read – Fantasy, Mystery, Cop-Drama – and I was very pleasantly surprised by both the quality of writing and how moved I was by Covington’s desperate search for salvation and his need for the recognition of his master.
Mr. Darwin’s Shooter is a fictionalized account of the life of Syms Covington, Darwin’s servant during his days aboard the Beagle, collecting specimens that laid the foundation for The Origin of Species. It involves Covington’s struggle to reconcile his beliefs with what Darwin is showing him about evolution.
The story bounces back and forth between Covington’s time with Darwin and some time in the future when Covington lives in Australia, his odd relationship with Dr. MacCracken, a man who appears to hold the key to Covington’s salvation.
Throughout the story, we learn more and more about Covington, where Darwin remains a distant, somewhat cold member of the gentry. An effort at characterization is made, showing how Darwin moves farther away from his belief in God as he goes deeper in his study of Evolutionary Theory and Natural Selection, but for the most part, he remains the same.
Covington comes of age in the backward-looking chapters. He loses friends, loses himself and falls in love. His charm is in his irrepressible spirit and his willingness to tackle anything that’s asked of him.
The older Covington is stodgy, set in his ways, and inflexible. However, he has an agenda of his own, and when, inevitably, he dies at the end of the story, it is in peace with his creator, and it is seen through his eyes as a reunion with all those he lost at sea.
Mr. Darwin’s Shooter was a pretty large step outside of the kind of books that I normally read – Fantasy, Mystery, Cop-Drama – and I was very pleasantly surprised by both the quality of writing and how moved I was by Covington’s desperate search for salvation and his need for the recognition of his master.
A Change in the Wind
A couple of questions: How much do the events of our youth affect us? I’m not talking about the day it was cold and someone made you walk to school. I’m talking about the jarring, I’ve-been-kicked-in-the-stomach-type things that change your perception of life and family.
How much should we let these things continue to affect us, half a lifetime removed from when they actually happened?
Is it reasonable to hope that things will get better by themselves, or is it best to poke at a problem to let some air out?
What happens when the cover falls off? Generally all hell breaks loose.
To make a long story short, I had a fight picked with me, then I was baited into a second fight. I fought back and knocked the cover off a fifteen-year-old secret that’s helped to shape the second half of my life. I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Angry Liam? There is no Angry Liam.
How much should we let these things continue to affect us, half a lifetime removed from when they actually happened?
Is it reasonable to hope that things will get better by themselves, or is it best to poke at a problem to let some air out?
What happens when the cover falls off? Generally all hell breaks loose.
To make a long story short, I had a fight picked with me, then I was baited into a second fight. I fought back and knocked the cover off a fifteen-year-old secret that’s helped to shape the second half of my life. I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Angry Liam? There is no Angry Liam.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Weekend Updates -- WITHOUT Dennis Miller
Below, you will find a hastily-sketched recap of our ho-hum weekend. It starts approximately 3:15 pm Friday afternoon.
I left early to go get condo docs. Drove home to change out of shorts that got ripped during lunch-time soccer. Drove downtown (eventually) to get to Kingsway Asset Management Ltd. Parked stupidly, thinking 102 was 104. Walked 20 min, went up 27 floors on the elevator, was told that the cost was more than I had on me (apparently this is my fault too) and that they don't have spare change, so the ATM in the lobby is not entirely sufficient. I took more money out there, and went hunting for convenience stores. Two (2) packs of sesame snacks later, I walked back to CN building and up 27 floors on the elevator, paid and left. Walked 20 min back to the car, drove to Milennium Place in Sherwood Park to deliver the condo documents to my realtor who was playing hockey with the realtor who needed the documents. That realtor had already left, but mine was still there. Gave him the docs, and left. Drove home. Got stuff ready, and drove back to Sherwood Park to get the Circlewood property inspected by "Handy" Howard MacPherson (my father in law). Then we drove around Sherwood Park, trying to find a property that "Mad" Mary Jane ( my mother in law) had been to, that was for sale. Our mindset was that we were still going to get the circlewood place at this point. I was so sick (I guess with lack of food, lack of sleep, too much sun, not enough water and the high level of stress, it was inevitable) that I was pretty much useless for the rest of the night. This was pretty much the low point for both Kim and I, of the weekend. We stewed the rest of the night, and part of Saturday. Then I got sick of stewing. The laundry-list of shortcomings that Howard sent us, along with the misgivings that Kim and I had about the place (not enough bedrooms, really, only one bathroom, no garage, stuff like that) were staring me in the face. I dragged Kim into a mad scheme to look for more houses in Millwoods, so that we would know how the CIrclewood house compared with the same price point in Millwoods. She agreed, and both our spirits rose immediately. We looked at houses for a couple of hours (mostly driving - I think we saw three houses) and we fell in love with a gorgeous house in Minchau. (if the link doesn't work, let me know and I'll send you some pictures) The owners seemed like great people and they even consented to a "Handy" Howard walkthrough later that night, despite the fact they were having people over for a dinner party.
Howard liked it, despite three major things: The hot water tank and the furnace need to be replaced and the driveway needs to be re-graded or jacked up. (did you know you could jack a driveway up? You can! With MUD!) So, we decided we would offer 3000 below their asking price, fairly confident that they would accept. However, we decided to sleep on it.
The next day, (sunday, for those of you keeping score) I called my realtor and told him we were not getting the Sherwood Park property and told him about this place. Before I finished, he interrupted: "That size, in Millwoods? You're paying 20000 too much." He then proceeded to send me a list of houses that had sold since January that had 18 houses on it. How such a limited sample of house-sales would sway me, I'm not sure. I called the people selling the Minchau house and told them of the realtor's concerns, told them that I needed to do some research and that I would get back to them. I did my research, found nothing on the market that touched this place (rose-coloured glasses aside) for a price less than 5000 dollars less than what we would offer. That 5000 dollars, in my opinion, is what gets us the gorgeous kitchen with the sun-facing windows, the ceramic tile flooring and the peace of mind that Kim is happy with a house, even if it's not in Sherwood Park. Cheap, if you ask me.
After a game of phone tag with Rudy and Laura, we agreed to meet them at 7:30. By the time we left at 9:00, contracts were signed, hope was generated, and I had the best house-shopping experience of my life.
I left early to go get condo docs. Drove home to change out of shorts that got ripped during lunch-time soccer. Drove downtown (eventually) to get to Kingsway Asset Management Ltd. Parked stupidly, thinking 102 was 104. Walked 20 min, went up 27 floors on the elevator, was told that the cost was more than I had on me (apparently this is my fault too) and that they don't have spare change, so the ATM in the lobby is not entirely sufficient. I took more money out there, and went hunting for convenience stores. Two (2) packs of sesame snacks later, I walked back to CN building and up 27 floors on the elevator, paid and left. Walked 20 min back to the car, drove to Milennium Place in Sherwood Park to deliver the condo documents to my realtor who was playing hockey with the realtor who needed the documents. That realtor had already left, but mine was still there. Gave him the docs, and left. Drove home. Got stuff ready, and drove back to Sherwood Park to get the Circlewood property inspected by "Handy" Howard MacPherson (my father in law). Then we drove around Sherwood Park, trying to find a property that "Mad" Mary Jane ( my mother in law) had been to, that was for sale. Our mindset was that we were still going to get the circlewood place at this point. I was so sick (I guess with lack of food, lack of sleep, too much sun, not enough water and the high level of stress, it was inevitable) that I was pretty much useless for the rest of the night. This was pretty much the low point for both Kim and I, of the weekend. We stewed the rest of the night, and part of Saturday. Then I got sick of stewing. The laundry-list of shortcomings that Howard sent us, along with the misgivings that Kim and I had about the place (not enough bedrooms, really, only one bathroom, no garage, stuff like that) were staring me in the face. I dragged Kim into a mad scheme to look for more houses in Millwoods, so that we would know how the CIrclewood house compared with the same price point in Millwoods. She agreed, and both our spirits rose immediately. We looked at houses for a couple of hours (mostly driving - I think we saw three houses) and we fell in love with a gorgeous house in Minchau. (if the link doesn't work, let me know and I'll send you some pictures) The owners seemed like great people and they even consented to a "Handy" Howard walkthrough later that night, despite the fact they were having people over for a dinner party.
Howard liked it, despite three major things: The hot water tank and the furnace need to be replaced and the driveway needs to be re-graded or jacked up. (did you know you could jack a driveway up? You can! With MUD!) So, we decided we would offer 3000 below their asking price, fairly confident that they would accept. However, we decided to sleep on it.
The next day, (sunday, for those of you keeping score) I called my realtor and told him we were not getting the Sherwood Park property and told him about this place. Before I finished, he interrupted: "That size, in Millwoods? You're paying 20000 too much." He then proceeded to send me a list of houses that had sold since January that had 18 houses on it. How such a limited sample of house-sales would sway me, I'm not sure. I called the people selling the Minchau house and told them of the realtor's concerns, told them that I needed to do some research and that I would get back to them. I did my research, found nothing on the market that touched this place (rose-coloured glasses aside) for a price less than 5000 dollars less than what we would offer. That 5000 dollars, in my opinion, is what gets us the gorgeous kitchen with the sun-facing windows, the ceramic tile flooring and the peace of mind that Kim is happy with a house, even if it's not in Sherwood Park. Cheap, if you ask me.
After a game of phone tag with Rudy and Laura, we agreed to meet them at 7:30. By the time we left at 9:00, contracts were signed, hope was generated, and I had the best house-shopping experience of my life.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Keyless entry? Sure..
Running behind for our appointment, I called to Kim, "Got the keys?" like I always do.
"Yup," came the reply from the sidewalk.
I locked up, and we went for the appointment.
Close to an hour later, we return, to the shocking realization that the house key was not on the ring.
We decided to try a set of keys that the MacPhersons were holding in trust for us. A short car-ride saw us in Sherwood Park's illustrious outskirts. The keys were transfered, and visiting took place. Thinking ahead, I grabbed a hammer and a slotted screwdriver.
Good thinking, Johnstone. Turns out, they were the old keys from before we changed the knob.
So, twenty minutes with the hammer and screwdriver (and enough noise to outdo the one roofer that actually showed up) and the bits and pieces of what used to be our doorknob filled a Safeway bag.
So now, on my list of accomplishments, which include smashing a leaf-blower to bits, building stairs with a sledge hammer and chainsaw (sounds like you'd undo the stairs with that) and (unintentionally) setting a computer on fire, I can add breaking and entering. Not the crime, but I broke and I entered.
Later.
"Yup," came the reply from the sidewalk.
I locked up, and we went for the appointment.
Close to an hour later, we return, to the shocking realization that the house key was not on the ring.
We decided to try a set of keys that the MacPhersons were holding in trust for us. A short car-ride saw us in Sherwood Park's illustrious outskirts. The keys were transfered, and visiting took place. Thinking ahead, I grabbed a hammer and a slotted screwdriver.
Good thinking, Johnstone. Turns out, they were the old keys from before we changed the knob.
So, twenty minutes with the hammer and screwdriver (and enough noise to outdo the one roofer that actually showed up) and the bits and pieces of what used to be our doorknob filled a Safeway bag.
So now, on my list of accomplishments, which include smashing a leaf-blower to bits, building stairs with a sledge hammer and chainsaw (sounds like you'd undo the stairs with that) and (unintentionally) setting a computer on fire, I can add breaking and entering. Not the crime, but I broke and I entered.
Later.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Wizard of Earthsea
According to Amazon.ca, Wizard of Earthsea was published in 1968. The fact that it's still on the table in fantasy discussion, I think, is pretty impressive.
The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker actually kind of reminds me of this book. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I was playing Zelda while I read it. Or maybe the similarities caused me to pick up the game again while I was reading. I don't know the chronology so I'll just shut up about that.
Sparrowhawk, or Ged, or THE "Wizard of Earthsea" (y'know, the one the whole story's about) learns a little magic from his aunt, saves his village with tricks, becomes a master's disciple and leaves him to go to the Magic Academy on Roke. (This whole story centres around a group of islands Ged refers to as the Archipelago -- I love that word) While in school, he calls up a dark spell he discovered earlier and unleashes his evil shadow. This destroys his confidence in his gift and himself, and he becomes a timid practitioner of the arts.
Unfortunately, the story takes forward-jumps through time that, when I realized they had happened, put me off a little. After one such jump, he has finished school and goes off to meet his destiny.
Along the way, he learns a little something about his powers, his enemy and himself. He meets people who work very well to set up a sequel, and all ends in goodness and happy thoughts.
I'm glad I read this book - as I've said before, I like books on boats, and this one also had a dragon or nine. I don't have any of the other Earthsea books but if they cross my path, I'll definitely pick them up and flip through their pages.
The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker actually kind of reminds me of this book. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I was playing Zelda while I read it. Or maybe the similarities caused me to pick up the game again while I was reading. I don't know the chronology so I'll just shut up about that.
Sparrowhawk, or Ged, or THE "Wizard of Earthsea" (y'know, the one the whole story's about) learns a little magic from his aunt, saves his village with tricks, becomes a master's disciple and leaves him to go to the Magic Academy on Roke. (This whole story centres around a group of islands Ged refers to as the Archipelago -- I love that word) While in school, he calls up a dark spell he discovered earlier and unleashes his evil shadow. This destroys his confidence in his gift and himself, and he becomes a timid practitioner of the arts.
Unfortunately, the story takes forward-jumps through time that, when I realized they had happened, put me off a little. After one such jump, he has finished school and goes off to meet his destiny.
Along the way, he learns a little something about his powers, his enemy and himself. He meets people who work very well to set up a sequel, and all ends in goodness and happy thoughts.
I'm glad I read this book - as I've said before, I like books on boats, and this one also had a dragon or nine. I don't have any of the other Earthsea books but if they cross my path, I'll definitely pick them up and flip through their pages.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Updates, updates, updates
At the risk of offending Dylan with a mundane writing style reminiscent of Schrodinger's Catsup, this is what's up with me---
Life has finally settled down with the marketing release of Quicken Home Inventory [premiermanagerwhatever]. The name they finally settled on was Quicken Home Inventory Manager but it was kicked around and around for a couple of months.
Regardless, the installer was released with a couple of hitches and a lot of late, late nights drinking pop, coffee, watermelon juice, whatever it took to keep my synapses firing.
At the end of last week, Kim took Lillian and Nicholas on a camping trip with her parents to give me room to finish what needed to be finished.
As it turned out, that was documentation which was typed out laboriously in the living room of my townhouse, with TRON, The Hulk, and I-Poddius blaring in the background. (Not all at once, for sure.)
So, QHIM went away (sort of) with a whimper, rather than a mad rush of activity. Unfortunately, the installer shipped with a known issue that will have to be fixed in a future release, despite the fact that I discovered and repaired the bug before the product shipped. Fortunately, I will be staying with QHIM (probably) for the 1.1 release that will likely take place in November.
With that bitter taste in my mouth, I received a little bit of a spanking by way of “areas for growth” where I was told that I needed to be aware how important it was, on code-freeze day, to be available, and also how important it was for me to have been available on the weekend of that code-freeze, to fix the bug (that shipped with the release). I stood my ground, contending that I was available by phone all weekend and that I had slated 6 hours on Saturday for work, which I spent on some externalization design, rather than the bug. If they’d called me Saturday, or even Friday, when they discovered that the bug hadn’t gone away with my most recent attempt at a fix, it would have been dealt with in time, and the installer would have been more acceptable.
I’m not trying to deflect blame – I accept my failure to properly fix the bug and my lack of follow-up when dealing with QA but I am not wholly to blame. My bosses understood my point of view and accepted that and even rewarded me with a Spotlight Award (see previous post) and a comp day off, which I will use on Friday, to do taxes, change the oil in the car and renew my driver’s license.
In non-work news, Lillian is a crawling monster. Rather than rocking back and forth on her hands and knees, and crying out of frustration, she’s actually motoring around the floor, crying when whatever she’s found to get into is taken from her.
Nick has finished another season of soccer, and I completed my first year as an assistant coach. The year was wrapped up at Chuck E. Cheese, where the Skeeballs rolled and I was presented with a Coach shirt and gift certificates for Tim Horton’s and Red Lobster. It was a good season but there was something missing that made last season great. Kim and I used the Red Lobster card for supper when she got back from camping.
Biking to work continues and I’ve even managed to shed some weight. I played soccer, helped cubicle-mate-Dave move and threw the ball around with Sean “King Kong Awesome” Woods, and by Saturday, everything was back to normal. A faster-than-usual recovery for my creaky body.
As a final note, Serenity, the movie based off the series Firefly, was amazing. I’ve never watched Firefly, but I didn’t feel the lack. I just enjoyed the amazing characters and the fun storyline. “You’ve spent your entire life taking care of me. My turn.” - that’s the best line I’ve heard in a very long time.
---End of update… until next time
Life has finally settled down with the marketing release of Quicken Home Inventory [premiermanagerwhatever]. The name they finally settled on was Quicken Home Inventory Manager but it was kicked around and around for a couple of months.
Regardless, the installer was released with a couple of hitches and a lot of late, late nights drinking pop, coffee, watermelon juice, whatever it took to keep my synapses firing.
At the end of last week, Kim took Lillian and Nicholas on a camping trip with her parents to give me room to finish what needed to be finished.
As it turned out, that was documentation which was typed out laboriously in the living room of my townhouse, with TRON, The Hulk, and I-Poddius blaring in the background. (Not all at once, for sure.)
So, QHIM went away (sort of) with a whimper, rather than a mad rush of activity. Unfortunately, the installer shipped with a known issue that will have to be fixed in a future release, despite the fact that I discovered and repaired the bug before the product shipped. Fortunately, I will be staying with QHIM (probably) for the 1.1 release that will likely take place in November.
With that bitter taste in my mouth, I received a little bit of a spanking by way of “areas for growth” where I was told that I needed to be aware how important it was, on code-freeze day, to be available, and also how important it was for me to have been available on the weekend of that code-freeze, to fix the bug (that shipped with the release). I stood my ground, contending that I was available by phone all weekend and that I had slated 6 hours on Saturday for work, which I spent on some externalization design, rather than the bug. If they’d called me Saturday, or even Friday, when they discovered that the bug hadn’t gone away with my most recent attempt at a fix, it would have been dealt with in time, and the installer would have been more acceptable.
I’m not trying to deflect blame – I accept my failure to properly fix the bug and my lack of follow-up when dealing with QA but I am not wholly to blame. My bosses understood my point of view and accepted that and even rewarded me with a Spotlight Award (see previous post) and a comp day off, which I will use on Friday, to do taxes, change the oil in the car and renew my driver’s license.
In non-work news, Lillian is a crawling monster. Rather than rocking back and forth on her hands and knees, and crying out of frustration, she’s actually motoring around the floor, crying when whatever she’s found to get into is taken from her.
Nick has finished another season of soccer, and I completed my first year as an assistant coach. The year was wrapped up at Chuck E. Cheese, where the Skeeballs rolled and I was presented with a Coach shirt and gift certificates for Tim Horton’s and Red Lobster. It was a good season but there was something missing that made last season great. Kim and I used the Red Lobster card for supper when she got back from camping.
Biking to work continues and I’ve even managed to shed some weight. I played soccer, helped cubicle-mate-Dave move and threw the ball around with Sean “King Kong Awesome” Woods, and by Saturday, everything was back to normal. A faster-than-usual recovery for my creaky body.
As a final note, Serenity, the movie based off the series Firefly, was amazing. I’ve never watched Firefly, but I didn’t feel the lack. I just enjoyed the amazing characters and the fun storyline. “You’ve spent your entire life taking care of me. My turn.” - that’s the best line I’ve heard in a very long time.
---End of update… until next time
Intuit Spotlight Award
I found out, on Friday, that I am the recipient of Intuit's prestigious (although not that prestigious, since the person I talked to about it this morning had never heard of it) Spotlight Award. It's nice to know that I've chosen the right field and that they think so too.
Another blog post will be up sometime soon with updates beyond this, but I thought I'd let you all know.
Later.
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