just procrastinating

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

JC
I finally caught The Passion of the Christ on cable the other night. I'd like to say that I'm the kind of person whose reaction to a powerful film like that would be something profound, and perhaps even re-energize my faith. In fact though, I'm the kind of person whose only insight was to suggest that Jesus would have had better abs in real life.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Wilco
Wilco came through Charlottesville last night and the wife and I decided to go check them out. Charlottesville has this new pavillion just off the downtown mall and have been getting increasingly better acts. We went to the Spin Doctors and Blues Traveller last fall and they hadn't quite got the sound right in the pavillion, but Wilco sounded great last night. Wilco isn't the kind of band that you would say, "Those guys so fucking rocked", more of a relaxed "I was really enjoying the music" kind of band. They played some new stuff and some stuff off of albums that I do not own, but pretty much everything sounded good.

Since my wife is eight months pregnant, we decided that someday we will have to tell the little one that Wilco is the first show she ever went to when she had ears, since I suppose she was around for Blues Traveler but probably wasn't quite aware of it.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Buffet/Bond
Exciting times here in Charlottesville as the the local Chi-Chis reluctantly came to the conclusion that the 80s are over and has closed. In it's place they have decided to go back a decade and put in a "Cheesburger in Paradise", which however cheesy, sounds kind of fun. I once heard an interview of Jimmy Buffett who said that somehow he managed to tap into a certain segment of the population's everyday need for escapism and it has carried him pretty far. And I thought, yeah, you know, I listen to those songs and I think of being on a beach in Florida or Mexico with a Pina Colada or a Corona in my hand.

But back to the whole escapism thing. On the hard drive of my DVR I have Dr. No, Goldfinger, From Russia with Love, Thunderball and You Only Live Twice, which, I suppose are there as my go to movies for escapism. I used to watch this video of Raiders of the Lost Ark back in high school all the time as well. It's the same thing really: after a boring day of spreadsheets and meetings, maybe I could be like James Bond?

Thursday, April 13, 2006

ATF Clowns
I'm feeling a bit less safe these days, not because of terrorists, but because of the assclowns that are being hired to protect us from them. This story from the University of Georgia could have turned out a lot worse. Some kid dresses up as a ninja. A dimwitted ATF agent on campus for "Project Safe Neighborhoods" seminar thinks it looks suspicious, so they tackle him and cuff him.
After telling agents he only had his keys, wallet and cell phone on him, Ransom said the agent pinning him to the ground responded that, being trained officers, they would not mistake any of those items for a gun.

The victim here, Jeremy Ransom, is fine having a bruise on his back is thinking about suing. I hope he does.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Thank You For Smoking
My parents were in town this weekend and we decided to see Thank You for Smoking on a rainy Saturday. Finally, a movie comes out where I can stand up and say with pride, "The book was better." But the movie was good too, a solid 3 stars out of 4.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Today
So Katie Couric is leaving the Today show and headed off to read the news at CBS? I do think the Today show could use some new blood, but I still kind of like Katie Couric despite our political differences. Of course, NBC decided to go with the even older Meredith Vieira, which shows how on the ball that network is. I'm sure she will end up like Deborah Norville: short tenure, universally despised. Or not, I'm not even sure which one from "The View" she is.

The other candidates were Campbell Brown, Natalie Morales, Ann Curry. Ann Curry is nice enough, but there is something missing there, maybe her sense of humor? Natalie Morales is OK, but she sure is scrawny. I'm not sure if the newlywed Campbell Brown is up for the job either. I've criticized her in the past but I've warmed up to her recently. The one thing that Campbell has that Katie doesn't: Campbell can read the news with the best of them; Katie, I'm not so sure. NBS should have just swung for the fences and went with the sometime correspondent and super hot Maria Menounos.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Fun Fact
Speaking of time, this is pretty cool, via Reason's Hit and Run:
On Wednesday of this week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be: 01:02:03 04/05/06.

That won't ever happen again.

Actually, this kind of thing terrifies me. I'm off to get some duct tape and milk.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Daylight Savings Time
Here is an article in the National Review by some idiot who doesn't like Daylight Savings Time (DST). I couldn't disagree more. This is the best time of the year: you come home and the sun is up for a few more hours to go play tennis or go for a walk. It's great.

Ultimately, besides the tax cuts, one of the most useful pieces of legislation our President has signed is to extend Daylight Savings Time. Next year DST will be starting on March 11, and from now on will be the second sunday in March to the first Sunday in November from now on. It's only another month or so, but I'll take it.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Spring
I was walking around the mall in Richmond yesterday with my fall/winter/spring jacket on and I was sweating, while everyone else was wearing shorts. For good reason I guess—it was 77 degrees. I guess just can't adapt as fast as other people, mostly because I can't stand putting stuff in my pants pockets, and my coat is great for comfortably fitting my wallet, phone and keys. Not to mention change: that annoying jingly-jangly sound, the imbalance and the loss of the element of surpise. I go out of my way to have little or no change on me, whether that means overtipping the people at Starbucks, leaving pennies at the counter or dropping it into the pocket of an unsuspecting wife. But anyway, except for that, it's nice that it's getting warmer.


 
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