a notion deep inside

New Year, New Goal

2012-01-02T19:50:00.001-08:00

Get down to 200 pounds by my 50th birthday... March 4, 2013...

Today, I weigh 251... that's 51 pounds in roughly 60 weeks... that's doable, I think.

My job now is pretty sedentary, so that's a problem. But I've set myself a goal of walking at work everyday, and for every day I work from home--or during weekends--I'm going to use the new XBox 360 Kinect to work out. I've got the UCF Trainer "game"... I tried the Kinect Adventures today and it kicked my ass--full sweat, out of breath, and calves now sore--so this UFC thing should do the trick... IF I CAN KEEP UP WITH IT.

I also have a calorie counter app on my phone... my goal for January is 2000 cals per day, then drop the cals per day down 50 cals a day for each week until I get to 1500 cals per day sometime in April.

Time to do this...

I'm baaaaack....

2010-04-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

Kinda.

The Shakespeare Project is running strong.

I lost my job, the paying one at least.

Lisa has told me to write a book, and I've started outlining it.

And though I didn't want to restart any of the old blogs... I just might have to:

Hope Pedaler

hulu... damn you again

2009-11-10T14:54:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm getting sucked into another new show. Ridiculous. Feather-light. Silly at times. But Fun.

Castle.

And it doesn't hurt that the leads are attractive and have smokin' hot chemistry.

long time no write

2009-11-03T11:14:00.000-08:00

sorry... life has been crazy, and all the "free" writing time has gone toward the Shakespeare project... which is going well...

UCLA football not so much...

Mold... interestingly... it's the roof, but more on that later...

the issue today of which I need to rant is: GRADES

a little over a year ago, I wrote the following:

Kyle sat out the game two Thursdays ago for grades (just one game, but I think it made an impression... grades are up and he's back in the pool).

This year is worse.

Yes, I know he's taking four Honors/AP classes... I know they're harder. (thank god for the extra grade points in Euro and Bio... I could at least look at the GPA and not feel that bad... well, that is until today)

I don't know the full extent of the damage of today's grade check (as his Bio teacher doesn't post grades online... but given his percentage for the last three weeks has hovered at 80% and "she lost" an assignment of his, I'll assume it's less than 80%)...

so that would go:
European History AP: B (four percent lower over the course of the last two weeks, and only two percent away from a C: 82%)
Biology Honors/AP (only kids with A/B at the end of the quarter can qualify for AP): C (tentatively, see above)
French 2: B (the only class he's showing improvement in... over the last two weeks, an increase of 7 percent... it had been a C two weeks ago, now 82%)
Algebra 2Honors: D (holy fuck, folks... 69%... down three percent from last week... his last three assignment/grades in that class are F [missing assignment], C, and F [test])
English 2Honors: C (at 72% [down one percent from last week], it's just way too freaking close to a D)
Water Polo: A+ (woofuckinhoo)

His social life has just disappeared. Party on Saturday night... oh, think again, my son.

Water polo? I'm not sure. The coach said playing time would be jeopardized by a D... I'm wondering if he's going to look at this week's grades...

Social is a given... it's gone. I'd like to say today's water polo game (the penultimate game of league before a CIF title run, and one of the few varsity games he'll see time in this season, since it's against quite possibly the worst team in the league) will disappear as well. But Lisa and I have made an agreement that we're going to focus mainly on social restrictions. But I feel like a hypocrite on this one. He's supposed to dress out with varsity on the CIF playoff run and I know he'll see no time in games since he's the backup and our first stringer is really good... so he won't be PLAYING... but who am I kidding?... he should sit.

Last night, we had a long talk with Kyle about all this (just like the one we had two weeks ago... and last week's grades were mostly improved... does that mean we have to have this talk every fucking week?).

My take is that he drop the honors classes and take college prep, where he'll feel more success. (of course, the risk is that he will feel that he won't have to work as hard, and we'll have the same shitty grades in worse classes) The honors classes were only there (in my opinion) to get him into a good school straight after graduation. I no longer have that delusion. So why honors? I see no reason.

He doesn't want to drop the classes, though. I think partly because he'll see this as a failure. But it's my hunch that this is only a secondary reason. The REAL reason is that these classes are where his friends are... and we're back to the social life.

sigh... looks like another talk tonight...

glad Pa's out of town...

the freakin' price you pay

2009-10-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

from Philly earlier this week

One of my favorite songs of all time... hasn't been played in concert since The River tour 28 years ago... I get chills watching it...

But just across the county line, a stranger passing through put up a sign
That counts the men fallen away to the price you pay,
and girl before the end of the day,
I'm gonna tear it down and throw it away

and if that wasn't enough... the night before he played this gem, also not played for 28 years...

I remember hearing this the first time I saw him back in October of 80... jeez, nearly 29 years THIS WEEK... he introduced it this way:

"Now this is a story of unrequited love..." The crowd sighed a long "ahhhhh." To which Bruce responded, "Aw, man, you don't even know what that means..."

I did, as all high schoolers do... and it was freaking awesome...

classic kid moment of the day

2009-10-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

Jack comes down to go to school wearing shorts.

Lisa reminds him that it's going to be cool today.

"You didn't tell me," he says.

"Yes, I did... before your shower" is Lisa's reply.

pause

"Yeah, but you didn't YELL IT AT ME."

uh, ok...

As he's heading off in a huff, I call him back... "What?" he asks exasperated.

"I LOVE YOU," I yell.

He is not amused.

in ben I trust

2009-10-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

Looks like it could be a "rebuilding" (read: loooooong) basketball season, too... but I've got faith in Howland... we'll be OK...

ma

2009-10-14T15:21:00.000-07:00

Ma would have turned 77 today.

Probably not, of course. Given her cancer three years ago, there's no way she would be alive today... not even under the best of circumstances.

Is that why I'm not as sad as I've been in the past? Or will it hit me later, when we go to the harbor?

[of course, I've been in what I was assuming a sinus-induced funk for the last four days... could it be something else? I don't think so...]

eye tooth...

2009-10-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

this could be cool

2009-10-09T05:56:00.000-07:00

yeah, I know it's got Zac Efron... but it's about Orson Welles' 1937 production of Caesar...

Me and Orson Welles - Theatrical Trailer | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

bruce at giants stadium

2009-10-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

thanks to my buddy Kev for the heads-up:

http://music-mix.ew.com/2009/10/01/bruce-springsteen-wrecking-ball/

Bruce Springsteen performs his new song Wrecking Ball at Giants Stadium

And it that wasn't enough... he looks to do the Born to Run, Darkness, and Born in the USA albums in sequence over the course of the next few nights... damn.... and I'm stuck here on the west coast...

ok, so I'm a Gleek

2009-10-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

I admit it... I'm hooked (even though last night's wasn't great)...

Glee is my new favorite show:

I'd add last night's "Somebody to Love"... but Hulu's page for last night's episode isn't responding... am NOT the only one geeking on Glee?

-----------------------------------------

UPDATE: finally got through...

ma

2009-09-28T06:22:00.000-07:00

Today would have been Ma and Pa's anniversary. It's early, Pa has taken Kyle to early morning polo practice, then he's heading down to the harbor. Her birthday's coming up in just over two weeks.

This coming weekend is the local Relay for Life... Kyle is participating through his high school... I've given him an assignment to find out how to get a candle for Ma.

For the first time, with all this types of events and thoughts converging, I don't feel like crying... maybe I can ease off the meds... (it didn't work so well about six months ago... so I'm a little leery....)

riddle me this

2009-09-27T15:24:00.001-07:00

$UC loses to UW, drops from 3 to 12, then after a completely lackluster win against lowly Wazzu (sorry, Diana), they climb to 7.

UW, which had been unranked, rockets to 24 after beating $UC, then falls out of the top 25 after falling to Stanford.

Cal, which had been ranked 6, loses to (OK, gets killed by) Oregon, and drops all the way to 24.

Oregon, which had been unranked, beats Cal and rockets all the way to 16.

$UC (3-1): number 7
Oregon (3-1): number 16
Cal (3-1): number 24

Stanford (3-1, but 2-0 in the Pac-10): unranked (but with enough votes to get to number 35

UCLA (3-0, and the only team in the Pac-10 with an unblemished record): unranked (but with enough votes to get to number 30)

WTF

karma's a bitch, petey

2009-09-23T06:42:00.001-07:00

So the national media is finally starting to question the coaching messiah that is petey carroll. No, not for NCAA rules violations (those will be a looooong time coming, given the cash cow that $UC is...)... but for his, er, coaching.

From the Sporting News (article 1):

From the Sporting News (article 2):

Of course, more losses like the one against UDub, and they won't be a perennial title contender, their cash cow status may dissolve, and the NCAA might just come a-callin'...

cage dancers... really?

2009-09-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

all I can say is:

VEGAS NEEDS A FOOTBALL TEAM

STAT!

can you EVEN imagine the "entertainment" for the "cheap seats" there???

yowza

poll - ish joke

2009-09-21T06:31:00.001-07:00

OK, so the Bruins beat K-State (by 14, beating the ever-growing spread... Can't believe Vegas was so right on the money... but more on the victory later). AND the Trojies of Southern Cal (yeah, I love callin' 'em that, since they hate it so much that they sent out a press release telling media outlets that it's either SC, USC, Southern California, etc. ... screw 'em)... yeah, Southern Cal lost to Washington (Can't believe Vegas got that one so wrong).

So the polls come out, and SC took its tumble down the charts from 3 to 12. Understandable. But guess who's in the AP Top 25?

It's not us.

U-Dub. A 2-1 U-Dub at #24.

We're 3-0 and we're (if you count the votes) ranked 30th. UCLA 3-0, and behind TEN 2-1 teams (Oklahoma, VaTech, Southern Cal, da Ohio State Uni, OK State, FSU, BYU, UGA, U-Dub, Nebraska, and Georgia Tech). With a bye week this week, and our next games at 2-1 Stanford, then home for the 2-1 Ducks... I figure we'll have to be 6-0 (which means winning both those games, PLUS beating Cal at the Rose Bowl on October 17) before we get a sniff at the Top 25.

Polls. Gotta hate 'em.

[by the way, Lisa still says 12-0... which means we'll get to 6-0... but I'm pretty sure we won't get to 6-0 (Best is just too damn good)... let alone 12-0... so I don't think we'll see the Top 25 until sometime in 2011...]

Regardless...

we looked all right Saturday night... not that we were there... Lisa and I were both sick at the end of last week, so we tailgated in the living room (after I missed Gaslight Anthem AGAIN... dammit).

Craft looked improved over last year (how could he not be?), but he still scares me every time he throws. Defense looked good. Running game looked good. But we have GOT to do something about the stupid penalties. But that's what bye weeks are for, right?

---------------------------

on the weird front:

U-Dub and Wazzu both won Saturday... the last time that happened was Sept 8, 2007. Utah and BYU both lost on Saturday... that last time that happened was...

you guessed it:

Sept. 8, 2007.

Weird, huh?

today's line

2009-09-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

12.5 points... and we haven't announced a qb... damn, it's a world turned upside-down.

Not that I'm sure we'll be there in person to see it. Lisa and I are both feeling under the weather, she slightly better than I... slight fever, sore throat, headache, body aches, nasal issues... last night, I sweated like a dog in bed, and I feel a bit better this morning, but I've been feeling fairly good every morning, only to hit a wall about 2pm... we'll see how it goes today

vegas on crack

2009-09-17T06:07:00.000-07:00

are the oddsmakers in Vegas on crack? Sunday, we were 10 point favorites to beat K-State. Then we found out about Prince's jaw. By Tuesday, the line was up to 10.5 points. Then Neu suspended four players (all talent guys, all contributors, including one starter). And today the spread is up to 12... wtf?

and, Jim, you're right... it is BREE-HO... that's what I thought I typed yesterday, but obviously not... maybe I'm on crack, too

football

2009-09-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

ok, it's a busy week, as I have to catch up from a long weekend away... I'll try to write about the experience (suffice to say: best tailgaiting travel experience ever), but may not get the chance right away... but here's a couple of mantras for today:

don't mess with Neu: he'll bench your ass... Viney, Knox, Carroll, and Presley all benched for the K-State game this Saturday... the usual unspecified "team rule violation"... but suspensions... guess that's how Neu handles problems "internally"... which cannot be said for the $CUm (where Petey has them run an extra bleacher... which can be put off to the end of the season or run by a graduate coaching assistant)... btw, I'm not going to miss Viney (the only starter of the four) much: I'm tired of watching him get picked on and burned by receivers and getting knocked on his ass by runners...

how do you say that: BRAY-HO ... after months of calling the kid anything from Bruh-howt to bray-hoot... now I've got it... hopefully, we'll get a chance to hear it a lot from the PA announcer Saturday night.

wear your freakin' mouthpiece: nuffsed

an artist's dream

2009-09-09T06:34:00.000-07:00

Jack had a dream last night:

there was a planet that had cartoons living on it... a rocket shot out of it and landed on earth... and the cartoons came and lived on earth... and I could draw things in the air and they would come to life. I drew a plane, and it was there. I drew a cloud, and it was there. And I drew my best Barack Obama, and he was there.

[that last reference I'm sure comes from the fact that during yesterday's school speech, Jackson drew the President behind a podium, mic in front of him, his head tilted and the hand outstreteched and pointing in the Obama fashion]

I didn't ask if his power made him king of the cartoons.

-------------------------

UPDATE:

here's the drawing Jack did yesterday:

loving Bruin Football

2009-09-08T19:47:00.000-07:00

Saturday was wonderful, wicket hot, but wonderful... the frosh acquitted themselves admirably, and the senior showed their leadership (particularly ATV)...

the future looks really bright

ATV

2009-09-04T06:20:00.001-07:00

for a nice alternative to D(umbf)uck Blount -- see below -- check out these articles / stories on a GREAT college football player, Alterraun Verner:

here's a link to the story

and check this out:

oh, and he is one nice kid... here's a pic of ATV and Jack from two years ago...

here's a link to that pic on Lisa's Facebook page

And where does he go to SCHOOL?

The best damn university in the world, baby

U (clap clap clap) C (clap clap clap) L (clap clap clap) A (clap clap clap)

UCLA!

let it end

2009-09-04T06:08:00.000-07:00

the thuggishness, I mean

last night's display by the Ducks was dismal, and I'm not just talking about their play... I mean their "player" Blount. He had run his mouth off-season on how the Ducks owed Boise State an "ass-whoopin'" for their cheap shot on Masoli in last year's game.

well, kid, don't let your mouth write checks your body/talent can't cash

I'm sure his bulletin-board fodder quote was given back to him at the end of last night's game... right before he sucker-punched the kid from Boise State (and kids, a lesson to all of you: KEEP YOUR HELMET ON UNTIL YOU'RE IN THE TUNNEL!).

Hey, first-year coach Chip Kelly and A.D. Mike Bellotti: revoke that kid's scholie.

Hey, new Pac-Ten commish, Larry Scott: ban that thug from our conference.

Ugly field

Uglier uniforms

Ugliest behavior I can remember from the Pac-Ten (those boys from "the U" in Miami still take the cake for overall atrocities in college football, though... and the $Cum? we'll leave them to the courts)

let it begin

2009-09-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

college football kicks off tonight

the ugliest uniforms (the Ducks) on the ugliest field (Boise State... blue... really, BLUE?)... glad I'll be watching it in hi-def

no word yet on Saturday's game... could still be postponed or moved (I hope for neither... 'specially since I still have nightmares about the last time we had a game postponed... I still hate hurricanes, Miami, and the name George[s])

----------------------------
UPDATE (noon): the game is ON... gotta get spray water bottles to keep cool... 90's the forecast... let's play some football
----------------------------

if it goes off as scheduled, the high is supposed to be 90... which means probably closer to a century in the Bowl... egads... we need to pick up spray water bottles...

speaking of tailgating (we weren't but go with me here, folks)...

if money were no object:

and

Let the season begin...

(nothing can ruin this weekend [not even a letter from Coastline's lawyer)]

No, TJ, Reading YOUR Column is a Brutal Experience

2009-09-01T05:45:00.000-07:00

TJ Simers is a tool.

rubbing my hands in giddy anticipation

2009-08-31T06:37:00.000-07:00

if fall is the most wonderful time of the year,
then this Saturday is its ground zero, its epicenter

kick-off is at 4:30... figure we'll leave Hueneme by 9, set up our tailgate before 11, lunch it until 2:30 or 3, then walk the outskirts of the Rose Bowl and drink it all in...

yesterday, I went through the tailgate kit, and we're good to go for this weekend...

there is NOTHING like the first home game of the season... I usually cannot wipe the smile off my face until after kickoff (and if we play well, then much later than that)...

despite the fact that my DBA at work has done something to the data server that renders my project dead on arrival, all I have to do is think about Saturday, and the edges of my mouth curl upward slightly...

fall

2009-08-28T06:15:00.000-07:00

there's so much to love about this time of year

school starting
the beginning of football season
(back when I was a kid, the beginning of a television season)
the beginning of water polo season
did I mention the start of football season?

but here in SoCal, it's also the beginning of the hot, dry, Santa Ana wind season

and that can mean only one thing:

fires

our thoughts to all our friends (and Bruin Brethren) out there... hang in there

football... 9 days

2009-08-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

Read the Times this morning... after its usual slobbering over $Cum, this was interesting.

by Chris Erskine

Across town, meanwhile, UCLA is having its big fall scrimmage, two hours later, in the cool shadows of Drake Stadium. The good-looking Bruins fans all look like extras for "Gossip Girl." California, I swear. . . .

Anyway, the UCLA scrimmage is more wide open, partly due to some arm tackling on defense, partly due to the squirrel rifle that resides atop the shoulder of Kevin Prince. Quarterbacks are royalty in football, and Coach Rick Neuheisel has finally found Alfred the Great. That kid Nick Crissman looked pretty good too.

Wow, can this team fly. Tailback Johnathan Franklin rips off a 60-yard run, then Damien Thigpen returns a punt 70 yards. Or was it a kickoff? By gawd, it was both.

Trying to tackle Thigpen is like trying to tackle ghosts. What a thing to do to your defense on the 15th day of a grueling camp. A couple of the linebackers looked as if they were practicing breathing exercises from Lamaze.

UCLA doesn't start classes till, what, Halloween? The Bruins schedule isn't exactly full of puff pastries, but neither does it seem stacked against them. Were I a student, I might be tempted to come back early, for this is an explosive team. Games will resemble sprint-car races, and if that scary-young offensive line can protect Prince's blind side, there's no telling what kind of damage the Bruins will do to Cal.

After the scrimmage is over, Neuheisel grabs the microphone the way he used to throttle quarterbacks. He still has that John Denver face, round as a dinner plate and full of sun -- the happy mug of someone who eeks out a living in the great outdoors.

"With your help, we're going to get there sooner rather than later," he tells the crowd.

At UCLA, sooner could be sooner than you think.

I don't want to get too excited...

too late

bruce

2009-08-26T08:09:00.001-07:00

why can't he play a SoCal show on this leg of the tour?

check out some of the songs he's sung in only the first FOUR nights of the second US leg of the tour:

Murder Incorporated
Something in the Night
Raise Your Hand
Mountain of Love
Sha La La
My Love Will Not Let You Down
Jackson Cage
Point Blank
Raise Your Hand
Burning Love
For You
Backstreets
Heat Wave (instrumental)
I'm Goin' Down
You Never Can Tell
Janey Don't You Lose Heart
Hang on Sloopy
Growin' Up
Spirit in the Night
Rendezvous
Summertime Blues
Two Hearts
Because the Night

And the third show was a whopper: 29 songs, and 2 hours and 55 minutes...

We need another SoCal show!!!

school

2009-08-26T08:02:00.001-07:00

yesterday was the first day of school for Jack and Lisa

Kyle's Hell Week hits midstride (classes begin next Tuesday)

and I've been looking at online Masters of English programs...

nothin' like learnin'...

11 days

2009-08-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

till football...

The O-Line is the big question mark... TWO true frosh, a JuCo transfer, and a kid from Colorado are all slated to start... hope the can open holes and stop Prince from ending up on his ass.

But what's exciting is the young (and I mean YOUNG) speedsters...

This could be cool (and it could also mean a hefty learning curve this season).

football, you bet

2009-08-21T06:15:00.001-07:00

great story on our new QB, Kevin Prince in the LA Times today...

The thought of Chow down on the sidelines.... yeah, baby...

I
CANNOT
WAIT
UNTIL
SEPT 5

can't believe

2009-08-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of years back, I read "The Blind Side" which is this great non-fiction book that cross-cuts between the evolution of the offensive left tackle position and the story of Michael Ohre, a kid from Tennessee. It's a great read (and the story is turning out really well, as Ohre was a first-round draft pick this spring).

A couple of weeks back, I saw in the Entertainment Weekly fall movie preview that there's a film version coming out this November. Instantly, I began worrying.

Then I started to watch the trailer...

and I got really worried as the first part of it is all about Sandra Bullock's character (his "adopted" mom)... but then as the trailer progressed, I was more and more impressed by what I saw.

And knowing how good the book was, and how good it made me feel, I even got a little misty-eyed over the damn thing.

Can't wait for this movie now...

slight worries

2009-08-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

I'm not digging the string of O-line injury reports coming out of the Bruins' summer camp... man, if we can't open holes for the running game, our QB (a frosh!) will be running, too... and we know that's a bad thing from last year (20 int, anyone?)

like I have enough time for three blogs

2009-08-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

this one

The Bill / Shakespeare Project (which is taking more and more time, as it's one of the things going down now that I'm neither hating nor dreading)

and....

wait for it

wait

for

it

the return of the Home Addition Adventure (fuckin' Fred....)

AND football season's about to begin... like I have time to sleep, let alone to work out...

sigh.

wouldn't it be nice

2009-08-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

if we could send our teens away, and then have them come back only when they aren't insuffereable little brats?

I'm sure they could survive on their own, since they already know everything, right?

Not looking forward to this school year because I don't think our new sophomore has got the "wise" part of "wise fool" moniker down...

UFUCFB

2009-08-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

While it's always nice to NOT see $CUM on the cover of the Sports Silly-strated college football preview issue, we're subjected to this?

repeat after me

Ugliest
Fucking
Unis
in
College
Football

Can't wait to see my Bruin Blue on the cover... I give it another year... near the end of next season, when we bump the mustard and ketchup out of the Pac-10 AND BCS races...

----

at least the centers got some cover photo love (my HS position)...

no news

2009-08-11T10:21:00.000-07:00

Allen from Coastline just called again. He says that he's got a request to their supplier to see their order records, because they don't order M type pipes. But--fancy this--their supplier is on vacation until "around the end of the month."

He's also sending Frank to pick up the blueprints; I reiterated that he can look at the blueprints, and he may take a copy of the salient page, but I will not be relinquishing the plans.

He repeats over and over how much Fred and they want to make this right... but they need to see the order info.

I say that while I appreciate their due diligence, the fact of the matter remains that there is still type M pipe down there. He responds by saying that that may be the case, but if they didn't order the type M, how could they have installed it.

I respond by reminding him (or rather since he is new, MINDING him) that this was a complete rebuild, save for a wall, and that they had to have installed it. He returns to the "I'm new" excuse and repeats again that Fred wants to make this problem go away.

Whatever. The fuckers are slippery, again....

It my be time to re-open the Home Addition Adventure blog...

contractor

2009-08-10T10:31:00.001-07:00

just got a call from a guy at Coastline, saying they just now received the letter (riiiiiight).

They intend to send out a plumber this week to take a look at the pipes to see about the type used.

great

------------------------------

Update: "Allen" called back... they're sending Frank out today to look at blueprints. We have only one copy. I'm making a copy of the section on page 2-0 that discusses L type pipe. I'll let him take a look at the full plan, and he can take the partial copy, but there's no way in hell he's taking any more than that...

more updates later...

UPDATE:
It's now near 8 at night and Fred's plumber just left (he only arrived around 7)... he sees both L and M under the house. More disturbingly, he's found not only copper but galvanized steel as well. He's going to return that info to Fred, and he says that we'll need to "work it out" and then he gave me a salute that I could only read as "good fucking luck"...

Frank never showed.

joy

2009-08-10T08:40:00.001-07:00

The morning started off with my usual posting to Facebook, a song lyric from Lone Justice, which got me going to YouTube for some old LJ and Maria McKee videos... but on one of the page was a link to this one... a performance that hasn't left my mind since I first saw it...

"a woman can be tough" ... no freakin' lie

I'm teary-eyed now, thinking not only about my mom, but also the mom of a friend of ours--recently diagnosed with Stage IV, and not expected to last more than a year--and another family friend--another mother who passed away last week.

Be tough, indeed.

contactors and plumbers and lawyers, oh my

2009-08-07T15:40:00.000-07:00

just talked to a "lawyer acquaintance" of mine...

she's given me the lowdown.

since Fred did not respond to our certified letter requesting a response to our request that he do something about the type M pipe, she wants me to do the following:

check the engineering plans, see what they specify
contact the engineer and have him check under the house to see if it matches the plans

have the plumber come down and document the changes he's made and the type of pipe used

the lawyer can then turn these documents into a legal declaration

check the permits to see who the plumber was

FILE CLAIMS against both bonds, both contractor and plumber

FILE COMPLAINT through CSLB

looks like we have work to do...

I sit around getting older...

2009-08-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

oh my freaking god...

on the cover of freaking AARP Magazine

the hurt locked

2009-08-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

Lisa and Jack are out of town. I took Pa to see "The Hurt Locker" last night (Kyle went to see "I Love You, Beth Cooper" with a water polo team-mate instead, but I think it was more the girls they hugged goodbye to when we picked them up...

Anyway...

Magnificent. Incredible. Suspenseful. It is very very good.

It does hit some narrative issues in the Act Three, but the bomb sequences were as suspenseful as any I've seen.

HIGHLY recommended.

bw

I did not go to med school

2009-08-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

and thus my experimental self-weening off the Wellbutrin did not go as successfully as I hoped... I reigned in my usage from 1xAM/2xPM to 1/1 on Wednesday, and by yesterday Lisa had noticed a change (I thought I was just grumpy, but she saw the detachment ... so I'm back to 1/2 again...

on the plus side: Dead Snow (even in a badly dubbed version) rocked...

NOTHING like Nazi Zombies!

Julia, yes... Julie, not so much

2009-07-31T08:43:00.000-07:00

We saw Julie and Julia last night.

Dinner was great, at a place called the Blue Plate...

[if I'm talking about dinner, what do you think my feeling as to the movie?]

It was a more-than-sold-out show... and the crowd was... OLD. I mean, really old.

OK, so... the movie...

For those who don't know, Julie and Julia is based on two true stories: the first of Julia Child (think of her as Rachel Ray before there was a Food Network... though I think she may have been closer to Alton Brown). The second is the story of Julia Powell, a temp worker in New York, who in 2002 set forth on the daunting prospect of cooking every one of over 500 recipes in Child's cookbook tome, Mastering the Art of French Cooking over the course of a single year... and to blog about her experiences.

If that mission sounds familiar, it's because I based the Bill / Shakespeare Project partly on it: for us, 36 plays in 36 months... I didn't want to rush to read all the plays in one year because I wanted to talk about each in depth.

Now, Julie's blog was turned into a book, and now this movie, or well, half this movie.

And at this point, I've got to warn you... I'm going to be spoiling the movie... so SPOILER ALERT.

So: SPOILER ALERT... you've been warned.

So the movie... as I hinted before, half the movie is based on the Julie Powell, the other on the life of Julia Child (or at least the 1945 through 1962 portion of it). And one half is much funnier, much more entertaining, and just plain better than the other.... and the good half is NOT Powell's half. Her story just didn't have... heft. It's not that her story isn't important, it is... it provides a wonderful counterpoint to what is happening to Julia in HER half. But Godfather, Part II this ain't... Meryl Streep is incredible, really channelling the six-foot-two chef (but comically so, not fully disappearing a la Sophie's Choice)... And her story is interesting. On the flip side, Amy Adams is fine. She is. And she's so damn cute. But her story, Julie's story, just can't match the Julia story.

The two stories and characters have some neat parallels... female government worker finds meaning in life through cooking... nice husbands... struggle to find fame/fulfillment. But here's the thing: I've read the first couple of chapters in the Powell book... it's a fun read, engaging and conversational. And it opens with a discussion of Powell's fertility (I believe still unused), and one of the film's interesting aspects is Julia's desire but seeming inability to have children (played as subtext in two very strong moments--one at the beginning of the film, as she and her husband Paul walk the streets of Paris, and she sees and for a moment is distracted by the sight of a baby carriage, the other about two-thirds of the way through the film when she breaks down after receiving a letter informing her that her sister, newly married, is now pregnant). It's good stuff, but the film completely ignores Julie's fertility. For a film that is trying to make parallels between the two women, it seems a bizarre lapse.

The two other lapses in storytelling also occur in the Julie storyline. There's a ridiculous (and by now pretty cliched) scene with Julie having lunch with her friends... they're all powerful women who must talk on their phones and use their PDAs at lunch, all while our cute Julie sits ignored (did I mention Amy Adams is soooooo cute?)... the other lapse occurs in the last ten minutes of the film. After Julie's blog wins her attention and offers of publication, she learns that Julia (now nearing 90) is NOT a fan of the blog. Julie goes into a bit of a tailspin over this, but then nothing comes of it (well, one thing: while she bemoans the situation, she's wearing nothing but her husband's shirt, showcasing her really nice legs and butt). So why bring it up at all? It could set up a possible conflict... or better yet, maybe a chance for the two to meet. But nothing happens. And it doesn't work... and it certainly doesn't help the end of the film, which feels flat.

Julie finishes the project, maybe gets published and visits the Julia exhibit at the Smithsonian. Julia gets published and receives a copy of her book arives in the mail. Fade to black. That's it. There's no resolution because there's nothing really to resolve. There's not a lot of conflict.

Julia's story, while fascinating, is not suspenseful. Ephron chooses to focus on her learning to cook and the writing of her cookbook... but since we know who she is, we know she publshed the book, we know she fnished the book... heck, if she didn't finish the book, the whole Julie section wouldn't exist. So there's no suspense.

And for the Julie story... there's really no suspense there, either. We're watching the movie that comes from her book, which wouldn't exist if she didn't accomplish her goal. The only sense of confict is a minor marital spat... but that's resolved pretty easily and NEVER felt like it would be anythng more that a movie contrivance.

I almost get the feelng that this is what happened: Nora Ephron gets the rights to this internet sensation and book by Julie Powell, but in the process of turning it into a screenplay realizes there's really no story there, so she begins a parallel story structure with Julia's story. But Julia's personality just overpowers everything else.

Don't get me wrong: it's not that I wasn't entertained. I was. I was just hoping for more.

It's not a great movie. I'm not sure it's even a good movie. But I did laugh. A lot. At half of it.

tonight

2009-07-30T06:52:00.001-07:00

Julie and Julia in advanced screening at the American Cinematheque in Santa Monica.

Can't wait. The Julie/Julia Project was the launch pad for my own The Bill / Shakespeare Project. I like Nora Ephrom as a writer and a director. Meryl Streep is the finest actress of our generation.

And Amy Adams?

oooooh, baby... she's hot but so damned cute!

vampires do suck

2009-07-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

hmmmm, I never thought about it this way, but maybe one my favorite shows of all time--Buffy the Vampire Slayer--is the reason why I find 99% of all the new wave of vampire pop (culture) boring, insipid... safe.

sadness

2009-07-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

this weekend we made an impromptu family trip to LA to do the tourist-y things we don't do since we live in the area. We stayed at the Bonaventure, rode those outside elevators, played at the pool, ate at Tito's Tacos (not as good as Lisa and I remember), went to LACMA, and saw G-Force at the El Cap (whoa, that's a bad movie).

At the LACMA, we checked out the Japanese art pavilion. Lot of emotion there, but I kept it under wraps... after we went to Little Tokyo... visited a shop with a lot of Ma memories... it was tough, but I didn't crack.

Yesterday, when we got back, I checked Facebook (yeah, I'm a little addicted, but at least I didn't take my laptop with us on the trip). A former student from Oxy had be-friended me about a month or so back, had told me how much my class meant to her, and had said that she was looking forward to the Shakespeare project. It was a very nice letter.

Last night, I had a message from my inbox from her account. Only it wasn't from her; it was from her husband, saying she had passed away on July 3, while in Arizona. I looked at her profile... it was heartbreaking:

XXX go to leave 2 help move and I have a flat....ugh. its so hot out and the day will drag. Missing my man ;(
July 2 at 3:09pm

then strand comments

FRIEND Where are you?
July 2 at 3:28pm

HUSBAND That sucks. Iv changed flats out there in 120 degrees. It not fun. LUVU. Baby.
July 2 at 6:18pm

FRIEND 2 lady when do you come home anyways?
July 2 at 11:15pm

XXX I am in Fort Mohave Arizon until this Sunday. We will have been here for 3 weeks. The time has gone fast but when it comes to the night and my man is not beside me it has been forever.
July 3 at 1:34am

FRIEND 2 I miss you TammyLoooo!!!!!!
July 7 at 9:54pm

Then, starting on July 4, comments of support for the husband on her passing, and posts of memories and condolences...

So last night, I responded to the message her husband sent:

I am so sorry to hear of her passing.

I lost my mom a few years back and it hit me hard... I don't know what I would do if I lost my Lisa. I hope you're doing OK.

I know we don't know each other, but if you need anything (even if it's just to vent and rant and purge the heaviness), please let me know... I'll do what I can.

Hang in there...

bw

I well up, but I'm not crying. That's a good sign, right? Maybe I can throttle down on the Wellbutrin... or not.

cannot. wait. for. football.

2009-07-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

44th in the nation... I can live with that (just enough under the radar to sneak up on some folk)... exxxxxxcellent

July 22, 2009

Shakespeare: the Monster Mash-Up Edition

2009-07-21T07:41:00.000-07:00

OK, don't know how many of you have heard of Seth Grahame-Smith's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or his projected follow-up, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but now's there's another classic v. monster mash-up on the horizon:

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

So it's got me to thinking:

[What about a Shakespearean monster mash-up?]

Which play? What monster?

My wife Lisa's vote is for vampires (she's devoured the Twilight novels [though with less and less enthusiasm] as well was the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris (the source for HBO's True Blood) and the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books by Laurell K. Hamilton), with maybe Friar Laurence being a blood sucker himself (the potion he gives Juliet is just to incapacitate her before he turns her... and when he finds Romeo in the chamber, he is touched by their romanticism and turns them both)... it might just work.

In "all my spare time," I might even play around with the idea...

ah, that Mary-Louise...

2009-07-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

ah, you know I love me a little Mary-Louise Parker... but YOWZA...

Makes one hungry, don't it?

And if that wasn't enough to float my boat, as it were... Bruce-Tramps will enjoy THIS.

fall

2009-07-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

about 30 min. ago, Pa fell.

He's not hurt (well, maybe his pride). I'm trying not to see too much into it, but he's not helping. He keeps using the term "my first fall" as if there will be many to come.

We may need to be a little more diligent keeping an eye on him...

christmas in july

2009-07-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

so funny, it's not even funny... oh, yeah, it is...

2009-07-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

Things to say during sex...

kinda funny... on a couple of levels

2009-07-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

ok, quick confession... always had a thing for Alicia Silverstone... something about that mouth...

My Mother's Red Hat w/Alicia Silverstone & Alanis Morissette from Alicia Silverstone

it's funny as a satire, but that title... red hat... heh heh

tired

2009-07-15T06:56:00.000-07:00

stayed up way too late last night using the overripe bananas that were turning black to make bread... at least I know what's for breakfast.

Kyle went to see HP6 at midnight... I can only imagine how tired he'll be after water polo practice this morning (he's already there and it's 7 now)...

geeky giddiness

2009-07-14T06:16:00.001-07:00

My OED (Oxford English Dictionary) on CD-ROM came yesterday... installed it last night... it totally rocks... I'm such a geek

CHROME

2009-07-13T07:29:00.001-07:00

rocks... I'm loving the new google chrome browser... using it now...

getting out of dodge

2009-07-10T07:28:00.001-07:00

headin' to LA for the weekend with Lisa...

cannot wait for tomorrow night...

typical

2009-07-10T05:31:00.001-07:00

before heading out for a nice weekend away with Lisa, a little story from The Sporting News:

don't know what I find funnier,
the prospect yet another arrest for a trOJie (with no team-sanctioned punishment),
or
Carroll being "on vacation" when questions need answering...

how long will his vacation last with the NCAA sniffing around?

a confession

2009-07-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

My parents, when I was but a wee English major at the best damn university in the world, bought for me the "compact" edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. It reduced every page of the 20-volume OED to one-quarter size, and put them into to two really heavy volumes. It came complete with magnifying glass... no lie.

Even with my glasses AND said magnifying glass, I can no longer read my copy of the OED.

The 20-volume set costs over $6200 in blue leather, and over a grand for basic hardcover. The online version is a $295 annual subscription. The CD-ROM is a single payment of $295.

Guess which one I just bought to help out with my Shakespeare project?

[hint, I won't need to pay but once, or make room on the bookshelf!]

both sides now... let's move on

2009-07-08T11:37:00.000-07:00

Sharpton, shut your yap about a postage stamp for MJ... if it's meant to be, then it will happen after the proscribed 5-year waiting period.

Jackson family, do we really need ANOTHER memorial service in London next month? Really?

And Peter King, shut the hell up ... don't know whether the comments made this weekend were for a possible NY Senate run or something bigger in 2012 (fat freakin' chance, buddy), but your "pervert" and "low-life" statements made outside an American Legion hall were pure grandstanding...

Not that he doesn't have a point with which I agree: do I want the media blitz to be over? sure. Do I think he was a grade-A whackjob? Yeah... gotta cop to that. Do I wish the deaths of servicemen and -women (and cops, firefighters, etc [and teachers, too, King... you left them out, oh yeah, they don't fit into your blue-collar push]) were afforded the same kind of universal tribute? You bet your ass, and in a perfect world that would be the case. But this isn't a perfect world. In this imperfect world, Jackson was acquitted of the abuse charge, so let's tone down the "child molester... pedophile" statements, as if they were proven in a court of law.

All of this is a vain attempt for a second-rate politico to cash in on the public fascination of the items that matter not in the big scheme of things.

So can we put the Jackson stuff, both overblown, hyperbolic tributes and diatribes, into the coffin with him. Puh-lease...

WASPs

2009-07-07T16:07:00.000-07:00

This is a GREAT story, lost from our history books about the Greatest Generation...

money pit?

2009-07-07T05:58:00.000-07:00

OK, so we dropped the six grand (and now as I write this, I realize I didn't write about this earlier) last month to put in a new sewer line under the driveway and front yard... we've put off the Ace Duraflow for the time-being (another 9K just is too painful), but it's coming.

On Friday, we discovered mold in the closet. The LIAR, FR(uckh)E(a)D said it was our issue, as it's been over a year.

On Saturday, we found that one of our external outlets no longer work.

Last night, our bathroom toilet did the glub-glub-glub thing again (something that the first 800 outlay was supposed to fix).

Calls today to the plumber and electrician...

and why, exactly, did we buy a house? or rebuild a house?

catch-up

2009-07-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

Macbeth rocked on Friday (full review is the theBillShakespeareProject.com podcast for this week.

The Fourth was nice... fairly mellow... great food and drink.

Yesterday took us to the beach (and my legs got sunburned... never took off my sweatshirt)... but last night I hit a wall and was in bed by 8pm.

And today, I've felt sicker than a dog (gastronomically) and lightheaded... may just curl up in bed here in a few... but I want to wait to hear how Jack's first day at writer's camp went...

oh, please, oh please ohpleaseoh

2009-07-02T06:43:00.001-07:00

July 2, 2009

what odor?

2009-07-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

is it just me or does Billy Mays sound like Chris Farley?

just close your eyes and listen...

it's like an SNL sketch...

I've rubbed myself with dog shit, a dead squirrel, fraternity boy vomit, then rubbed myself with a skunk, but one squirt of What Odor? and I smell like... well, nothing, because I now have no odor!

uh, right....

another crazy week

2009-06-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

yesterday: Kyle polo (the number one varsity goalie is out of town this week, so Kyle's going to get a chance to shine [as opposed to get lit up like a Christmas tree, like he has the last couple of weeks... he doesn't do well with little/no warm-up]... and last night he did: nine saves, only two allowed, a steal and some GREAT passing)

today: Jack polo practice, Kyle polo

tomorrow: the Shakespeare project begins, Kyle polo, Jack polo practice

Thursday: Jack polo practice, Kyle polo (maybe)

Friday: Shakespeare (the Scottish play) under the stars...

and I'm trying to do some painting as well...

crazy

Gaslight Anthem and Bruce

2009-06-29T14:12:00.001-07:00

Oh, to have been in Merry Ol' England last week:

goodbye to GG

2009-06-29T06:49:00.000-07:00

Saturday was GG's "Remembrance" ... it was very nice. Family, friends... it felt OK... it didn't seem to dredge up too many emotions.

I kinda wish we had done one for Ma... Pa had said that she didn't want one, so we didn't.

But, as Lisa says, the memorial is not for the departed... it's for the living, a way to grieve, a way to say goodbye. We didn't get that. Is that one of the reasons I was (am?) depressed?

I feel fine now, the meds are working fine... but when the prescription ran out a few months back, I spiraled down into the funk, so I'm not fine (though I may feel it)... thank goodness for modern pharmaceuticals.

Bruins drafted

2009-06-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

Holiday fell to 17... not surprised. Had he lived up to the hype, he would have been lottery. But as it is, I really believe his career will be hard-pressed to match the 21st guy in the draft: Darren Collison... he's the man

boomerang

2009-06-25T06:59:00.000-07:00

It's summer, so the boys bought outdoor toys... including a foam boomerang and a three-pronged foam pseudo-boomerang. The last couple of days we've spent a little time messing around with them, not really getting them to work correctly.

But just before lunch yesterday, Kyle discovered the secret... and Jack is catching on, as well. So we went on-line and bought some new things from boomerangs.com (not kidding)... when we printed out the receipt, we found this statement at the top:

There is a strong competitive boomerang scene in the US which you can take part in by joining www.USBA.org

You know me, give me a link and I gotta click it.

OMG, it's like Dodgeball and the Ocho... There are video player profiles and everything...

Listen to the voice-over... it IS straight out of Dodgeball

But still pretty cool... we can't wait for our new boomerangs to arrive!

next year's Oscar race

2009-06-25T06:56:00.000-07:00

just got a little more exciting (at least the Best Picture category)...

In a pretty bold move for the staid Academy, they've increased the number of nominees in the top category from five to TEN... if Up doesn't get a nomination now, the process really is hosed...

hulu better watch its back...

2009-06-24T06:41:00.000-07:00

looks like TimeWorthless (er, Time Warner) and Comcast are teaming up to fight what they consider to be the most pressing evil in the world today:

hulu

on the plus side, I'm not sure they can succeed, given TW's track record...

kate plus eight minus jon

2009-06-23T07:25:00.000-07:00

TLC was the catalyst, but these two were dysfunctional to start.

Though Lisa liked to watch the show, I couldn't stand it... I found no pleasure in watching emasculation week after week... in the short segments I could bring myself to watch, I kept wanting him to stand up for himself.

Looks like the only way he could stand up was by lying down (or maybe he likes it standing up).

Coming soon: Jon joins the cast of HBO's "Cathouse: the series"... and after TLC's ratings plummet, Kate will be relegated to the Game Show Network's new series "Ballbusting with Kate"... or she could take over the Janice role in the next iteration of "I'm a Celebrity... get me out of here!" ... or maybe we could get a MMA steel cage death match thing goin' with Octomom....

fiction 101 redux (or, rather, three minute fiction)

2009-06-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

NPR is hosting a contest:

Three Minute Fiction

It's time to dust off the Fiction 101 submission, and put it to work!

father's day

2009-06-22T06:36:00.000-07:00

It was a great dad's day yesterday:

breakfast at Smokey's BBQ

nap

cleaned house, hung UCLA stuff on the wall, helped Kyle move his bed

nachos for lunch

"The Proposal" with the family... pretty good... not Oscar-bait, but well-done romantic comedy

Souplantation for dinner...

good day

-------------------

Just listened to this as a podcast... great father's day stuff from the Weinbergs...

craziness begins

2009-06-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

GG died, what, 2 months ago, but next weekend is the "remembrance" (don't call it a "memorial service" ... Lisa's mom doesn't like that... why? who knows... but now I've got LL Cool J going through my head: Don't call it a comeback...).

Lisa's two twin sisters (and the 8-week granddaughter of one of them) are coming out on Monday. The brothers and their families are coming down later in the week. Stress will rise, Lisa will be on edge. Luckily, Pa will be out of town in Laughlin Monday-Friday, so he'll either miss the drama or only the prelude to Vesuvius. I kinda want him to leave Wednesday and come back Sunday, so he'll miss it all, but no, that wouldn't be cool.

Jack has a water polo game at 12:20 and the mem-- er, REMEMBRANCE is at 1. Pa reminded me just an hour ago, that there's a JV tournament on Saturday and Sunday, so it may even be crazier than projected (Kyle's coach wants him at EVERYTHING, both varsity and JV... in high school water polo, the varsity plays before the JV, so if Kyle doesn't get time in the varsity game, then he'll see the majority of time in the JV... so it looks as if the coach wants to get him varsity playing time [but at this point doesn't see Kyle as supplanting the senior goalie's starting spot... he has a month to do that IF it's going to happen]).

Yeah, crazy (Almost Famous quote alert... thank you, Ben Fong Torres)

a beginning and some pauses

2009-06-18T06:03:00.001-07:00

So I launched The Bill / Shakespeare Project... check it out.

That's the beginning. The pauses come from our basketball team: injuries have struck both returner Drew Gordon and incoming frosh Taylor Honeycutt. We're going to be thin enough as it is (with some projecting a third place finish in next year's strong Pac-10. Damn, I hope recovery comes quckly.

-------------------------

And just when you think YOUR teenager makes bad decisions...

Wow, Kyle's not such an idiot, after all... (just kidding, not about the NOT being an idiot, about being an idiot... oh, you know what I mean...)

the spider and the fly

2009-06-17T13:52:00.000-07:00

OK, I've been away again for a while...

And while I was gone, this happened:

I've been waiting for a PETA response, but they've been (surprisingly) silent.

---------------

In other news, I'm starting up a new blog.

The Bill/Shakespeare Project

Think of it as being like Julie/Julia, only instead of recipes, we're going to do plays.

Don't know how it will affect this blog... I'll try to do both, but we'll see...

I'll post a link tomorrow.

nooooooo

2009-06-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

the school year is coming to an end... and the boys are about to invade my office space for the next two and a half months...

I can't wait for

It's the most wonderful time of the year.... (school and college football, baby)

Timmah!

2009-06-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

Ah, where does one begin?

from ESPN:

How much will the NCAA look at Floyd as a sacrificial lamb in the wake of a major investigation that involves football and basketball? Was this move pushed by USC so that when it's in front of the committee on infractions it can show that it took corrective action to avoid a charge of lack of institutional control?

from Fox Sports:

the likely truth: USC did not technically ask Floyd to resign. But the school made Floyd's office seat so uncomfortable, it might as well have been made of burning nails.

When Arizona called, USC did not renegotiate his contract. Floyd landed star recruit Renardo Sidney, then suddenly stopped recruiting him. It was pretty obvious that USC had told Floyd he couldn't take Sidney. Tim Floyd does not suddenly walk away from one of the top recruits in the country.

Garrett wanted Floyd gone, and Floyd knew it. So Garrett and USC pulled one of the top recruits in the country away from him.

Does anybody think USC would have done the same to Pete Carroll? Make no mistake: Tim Floyd made his own professional deathbed. If Floyd was truly innocent, of course he would speak up for himself. He wouldn't just resign.

Instead, Floyd leaves because USC had to sacrifice somebody. More than three years have passed since Yahoo Sports reported that an agent paid Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush well into six figures while Bush played for the Trojans. That case is still pending. It has become quite obvious that USC would like that case to pend for another few centuries.

(and even) from the LA Times:

Tim Floyd submitted his resignation Tuesday and Athletic Director Mike Garrett accepted it so fast he probably got a paper cut snapping it out of the fax machine.

The good news, of course, is that it's only the fall of USC basketball, leaving the all-important work of preserving, defending and protecting the constitution of USC football.
...
Remember, like we said, in the end, it's only Tim Floyd who's leaving and it's only USC basketball being asked to take a long walk in a dark alley.

USC football opens at home against San Jose State on Sept. 5.

from me:

Good fuckin' riddance.

Nurse Jackie

2009-06-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

Went over to the Coreys last night to watch the first episode of Weeds and caught the premiere of Nurse Jackie.

Very dark, VERY funny.

SPOILER ALERT

The opening (with its reference to Eliot's "Love Song..."), depicting both her bad back and her consequent addiction to pain-killers (she snorts the granules from the capsules) felt pretty real... but it had me thinking, "Where's the funny?"

That was only increased by the opening medical sequence in which we see her prowess (and the ineptitude of the ER doc...) which ends in the patient's death. Uh, but where's the funny?

That begins with her forging of his organ donor card (yeah, I know, it doesn't sound funny, but it was, ironically so [especially with its followup with his family])... and her followup with the inept doc (and his bizarre sexual gesture Tourett's).

Zoe the new nurse... funny... then it was great to see Anne Deveare Smith working again... "Quiet and Mean... those are my people." ... Jackie-pharmacist-sex with the bad back... [the fact that it's with the actor who was Carmella Soprano's priest makes it ]even funnier... (but when the sex begins to look like she's whoring herself out for pain meds, it goes dark again...)... then darkly comic again "Puke away from the ear, Zoe"... her lunch with the English doctor was hilarious ("Dr. Cooper grabbed my tit today." "Did your tit make the first move?"...the discussion of healing=nurses and cutting up bodies=doctors... the reluctance to save the choking old woman)... third-degree burns on the scrotum (and Zoe's phone-picture taking of it... the ironic "I like to have a clear head." ... ) ... then the dead patient's girlfriend sends us back into dark territory, as does a scumbag prostitute cutter... then the ear in the toilet brings us darkly back into the funny... "cole slaw"... dating a severed head... "I think you're a saint..."

But the final twist... her daughters and (WTF?) husband? Brilliant.

The episode was tightly written:
The final St. Augustine discussion links back to the beginning and its discussion of "those with the greatest capacity for good are those with the greatest capacity for evil."
The pancakes from loving significant others.
Her "saintliness" vs. her infidelity.
Her prowess vs. her mistakes.

"Make me good, God, but not yet."

For your (edited) enjoyment:

It was damn good. Not The Soprano's good, not Deadwood good, not The Wire good... but pretty damn good.

first go's

2009-06-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

Here's the sonnet version:

The graveyard rasp, looked to the source.
Bloodshot eyes opened, and he asked from bed,
"Your shift again already, nurse?" "Of course."
"I used to have a story, but--" he said.

"No audience. My wife, with raven hair,
My everything, then disappeared, was gone.
Detective I hired, but found her nowhere.
This blackhaired beauty, too, abandoned me.

If only I could see her 'gain tonight.
There she is! Now behind you, I can see
Through you, a ghost transparent, is her light."
"I'm here," I said. He closed his eyes, now free.

I cried, and held and squeezed my husband's hand
And watched as he slipped from my life again.

And the prose version:

A graveyard rasp, and his eyes opened. "Your shift again already, nurse?"

I smiled: "Of course, honey."

"I used to have a story, but...” Eyes lost. “Now, no audience."

"Tell me."

"My wife was my everything. Then she was gone. I hired a detective. Even she, too, vanished. If only I could see my life again.”

Eyes cleared.

"There she is! Behind you… I can see through you. A ghost transparent. She--"

"I'm here," I said.

He closed his eyes, now free.

I cried, and held and squeezed my husband's hand and watched as he slipped from my life again.

-------------------

I have a title I absolutely hate: Portrait of the Artist as a Dying Old Man
Yuck... I really need to change it.

I'm not happy with either version, either (though I'm closer to satisfaction with the sonnet, but that's 109 words)... if I had 201 words, I think I could have nailed this... I'll need to put it away for a while and see if I can do something with that prose version (it's at exactly 101)...

----------------------
UPDATE: I'm thinking about "CJD" as a title... cryptic, but also the acronym for a type of Alzheimer's-like dementia...

writing

2009-06-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

the VC Reporter is having a writing contest: Fiction 101... a story in 101 words or less.

Have been batting around an idea for a couple of months now, but it was more novelistic ... but thinking about using the conclusion of it for this contest.

In the middle of the night, an idea struck me: a sonnet has around 100 words... if I could write the story as a sonnet, a real experiment, it would--by its very constraints--force me to hone my language. While the contest accepts no poetry, I could then loosen the chains that bound the piece for 100 words... it's not going to be easy...

the above is TEN WORDS OVER THE LIMIT...

can't wait until fall

2009-06-04T06:08:00.000-07:00

(like I'd be able to anyway)

Matt Hayes from the Sporting News names UCLA the top team on the rise for 09, projecting us to go from our dismal 4-8 record last year to a 9-4 record this year.

June 4, 2009

I'd take 7-6... but I'd love 9-4.

More Karma for Timmah

2009-06-03T06:35:00.000-07:00

Wah, Wah, Wah...

Even the Times (the Trojan Times) is hitting the NCAA investigations hard... there must be fire under all that smoke.

Here is a great quote:

"Kansas has two players who would have been NBA lottery picks, Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins, and they are returning to school," USC Coach Tim Floyd said late Monday night, only hours after hearing about Johnson. "Good for them."

"Our guys get an offer from Islamabad and they're gone."

There are jokes to be made about rats re: sinking ships, and Islamabad's safety relative to South Central, but it's just too freaking easy.

No wonder the Times article is accompanied by this photo:

Again, I say, wah wah wah

And as I've said before: it couldn't happen to a more fitting bunch of Unscrupulous Scumbag Cheaters.

UP

2009-06-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

UP is the best film I've seen this year... and I'm counting The Shawshank Redemption, which I saw for the first time only last week.

I'll need another viewing and some time to gather my thoughts for a true review, but suffice to say, there is better storytelling in the first 15 minutes of this film than in 90% of movies made today (the newsreel section and the marriage montage are exceptional: the first visually and with use of a voice-over that gives exposition and foreshadowing, the second without dialogue but nevertheless telling a detailed story, one that is at turns funny, loving, nostalgic, and heartbreaking).

Even without a second viewing (and I do want to see it again in 3D on a big-ass screen), I can say pretty definitively that I think this is the best work Pixar has done (and I'm a HUGE fan of The Incredibles, Wall-E, and Toy Story 2 [not that I think any of the films fails to entertain (hell, I even tear up at the end of Cars)]).

The sad thing is, UP won't even get a SNIFF at an Oscar nomination next spring. Because of the ghetto-ization of animation into its own category, the members of the Academy can rationalize their decision... but it still isn't right (were Benjamin Button or The Reader really better films than Wall-E? seriously, I want to know, as I haven't seen either).

But more on UP later...

plumbing

2009-06-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

want to write about Drag Me to Hell... can't do it
want to write about Night at the Museum 2 (or rather my new crush on Amy Adams and her assets)... can't do it
really want to write about UP... can't do t

not now...

we're in plumbing hell.

we have a leak under the house... just below our bedroom floor

We discovered it late last night as its whooshing sound (which we THOUGHT was the neighbor's hose watering the back yard) was keeping us up. So we turned off the water and went to bed and called our plumber at 7. His guy arrived at 8:15. I walk him through the situation, starting in the bedroom and then outside to the subfloor access (thank goodness we're on a raised foundation). He grabs a flashlight and goes under. Five minutes later he's back.

"I know where the problem is. The problem is I can't get to it."

Huh?

There's a sewage line that makes a c-shaped snaking turn that is in front of the problem... he needs to take out the sewage line to get to the problem... but that way he can straighten out the C and make it all good. But he can't figure out why it's the way it is... I tell him we had the entire house reconstructed around two years ago... maybe they had to do it to make it work. He smiles and shakes his head. ANYWAY, How much? $550 and will take three or so hours. OK, do it.

I hear sawing under the house and fifteen minutes later he's back saying he needs to go and buy some stuff, but first a question:

"So do you have any problems in the back bathroom?"

Well, occasionally we hear a glub-blubl-glub sound in the toilet. You mean other than that?

"Nope, pretty much what I expected."

Why?

"Well, let me show you..."

And he takes me around back where he has the sewage line he's removed laying out on the grass (nicely avoiding the neighbor's dog-dookie... we really need to address this issue, but later). It looks like some Rube Goldberg thing. The plumber has no clue as to why that curve was necessary. But that's not the issue at hand. The issue with our glub-blub-glub problem is that the sewage line from the back of the house going to the main line tilts UP rather than DOWN and so the flow isn't as good.

Great.

And then he asks the question:

"So did you and your contractor end on good terms?"

No, but that was at the end, and by the time we finished the plumbing we were still good. Why?

"Because this (points to the C) and the slope seems to me to be there just to piss someone off."

Fucking Fred and his worthless piece-of-shit outfit.

So it's going to cost another $150 fix the slope... that will solve the glub-blub-glub issue... 150 for peace of mind... I'm cool with that.

Fred's a dick.

But I'm ok... really, I am.

--------------------------------------------

UPDATE (11am):

so, maybe I'm not all right.

Plumber's done. quick and relatively painless: $675. Only his news was more painful.

When I asked if all was good, his reply was "for now."

What?

Seems the contractor used thin-walled type M copper, instead of the standard medium-walled type L. The plumber says only a handyman or a contractor trying to cut costs would use type M.

I asked if the leak was where I thought it was and he said yes. I said that was kinda funny as that bathroom was pre-existing and was already copper-piped. He said that all that pipe from front to back was new M stuff.

WTF. So did they remove the existing pipe and replace it with this shit?

So I asked the plumber if we needed to replace everything. He said we would at some point? When?

"When you start to see leaks in the type M stuff... I can't tell you when it's going to fail, but I wouldn't be surprised if you got another leak somewhere in the next four to six months."

FUCK.

So how much would it cost to replace? We went over the needs: 3 baths (one upstairs), plus kitchen and laundry room. He said it would be around 7K... and that doesn't include the finish work repair to any walls, floors, and tiling that has to be busted out.

FUCK.

Talked about it with Pa. We should do nothing until there's a leak... if the upstairs bath leaks, then we attack that immediately and tear through the ceiling of the first floor instead of through the floor (we'll know where the leak will be because of the water damage in the ceiling). And attack the first floor stuff, piecemeal.

Talked about it with Lisa. She's finally considering lawsuit.

I've got a call into the city to find out what their specs are for minimum requirements in regards to type of copper piping. If it's L, then the City has some explaining to do.

This is fucked.

bad news blog

2009-05-29T09:57:00.001-07:00

don't want this to become that...

The last couple of days have been work-crazy with late nights (but short afternoons). Kyle's spring awards night was Wednesday... JV participation certificate. He seemed all right with no hardware... I was a LITTLE disappointed... the kid who took JV MVP ended up going up to varsity and won a varsity letter... sooooo, is he JV or not? Whatever... I think it lit a fire under Kyle... he made the statement heading out of the library that he was going to challenge the varsity goalie this year (instead of waiting a year on JV and pretty much being anointed in his junior year)... good, hopefully he will follow through and work his ass off this summer--which should be a little freer as he told the SB water polo coaches that he was going to not participate in Summer Polo... he wasn't going to be "the man" on either the elite or "b" JO teams... and since this allows him to pursue Junior Lifeguard status and get a leg up on the Honors English reading... I think it's a good idea... the coaches said that he'd be missed and that he's welcome back any time (and they're expecting him after high school polo is over).

But ANYWAY...

I wanted to write yesterday about Almost Famous... it was HBO the night before... such a great movie... but work craziness kept me from it.

But today, I had planned to skip writing again (and probably skip working out again... for the entire week...), but dad just called from the VA doctor... they're having him stick around as they figure out what tests to run... they think it was whooping cough... something I suggested to him (and Lisa when Kyle's cough was really bad)... but the doc also heard something when listening to his heart... great... so now there's suspense.

I hate suspense.

-----------------------

Pa just called. They're pretty sure it's whooping cough... they're putting him on yet another antibiotic (they promise this one will work). The doc ran a EKG and while the heart looks good, the doc heard fluid building... so they've prescribed a diuretic and a prescription for potassium to replace the potassium that will exit the body because of the diuretic... sigh. The doc says he needs to be near a bathroom for the next day or two...

Hope this all works.

in a funky place

2009-05-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

so that's where I am today...

don't know if it's the post-long-weekend emotional/philosophical hangover (not an alcohol hangover... that was yesterday).

don't know if it's the fact that I'm listening/watching Ricky Jay playing poker on DVD... it's really more fascinating than you'd believe.

listening to some new music (some by a new discovery, Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles; others by the wonderfully witty Scott Miller) isn't taking me out of it.

don't feel like working out, though I really need to, especially given my caloric intake over the weekend.

weird... yesterday, at a party at Kyle's girlfriend's parents' house, we discussed fears (specifically after my falling into the water while trying to go kayaking with Jack)...

if you don't know me, then you don't know I have a fear, a phobia, of water... Kyle pretty much had to jump in (with Haley) to save my ass

so anyway, we discussed fears (my jumping out of an airplane seemed unimaginable to the swimmers on the deck)... and maybe that's why I'm feeling the way I am... (that, and the fact that The Bucket List was on HBO last night)... but I'm thinking about my Bucket List.

more to follow...

tired

2009-05-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

Another late night last night... I love coding Flex... hate coding Flash, and that's killing me right now: the flash movie works locally and on the server when you bring it up on its own... so we know it works as a unit... but when it's called from my Flex app... it doesn't work completely.

WTF

Have a call out to a fellow developer, hopefully he can enlighten me.

Kyle's cranky and nervous this morning... another orthodontist's appointment today. Last week's installation of the brackets and the bottom braces and wires had Kyle eating nothing for a day, and only soft foods for another three, and grumpy the entire time (actually more than grumpy... downright hostile at times)... so with today's installation of the upper braces and wire (and possibly the palate expander, too), we're bracing for what could be an incredibly unpleasant weekend (a three-dayer... woo freaking hoo... begin the IV of rum and tequila now please, doctor). He didn't sleep well last night, and he doesn't think he'll be able to sleep much tonight (as was the case last weekend)... so add fatigue to pain.

As for me, yesterday was horrible with this coding issue... the only good point was Jack's Open House... he's doing so much stuff in Spanish... but the really cool thing is that it was the Spanish stuff he was most proud of: he wanted to talk about those items, read those pieces, more than the stuff in Ingles. Pretty damn freakin' cool. And his artwork kicked ass.

But today, it's back to coding hell, with a side trip to Army command bureaucratic purgatory: a conference call with all the commanders whose soldiers are using the app I've built... they're all happy (or at least they were ecstatic during the last call, and I've heard no complaints since), and that's part of the issue... I received two days ago a development roadmap for the next three quarters. I feel like Pacino:

Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in.

Or the Bill Paxton character in Aliens:

And, man, I was short.

I thought we were wrapping up the app, and I'd be able to rejoin my web team brethren... not so much... but at least it's job security... that's a good thing...

right?

crazy

2009-05-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

Work's been crazy... up past midnight last night working...and that after a water polo parents meeting.

Today not much better, though I did work in time for a workout.

Tonight, crazier with Jack's Open House... though Pa's running late getting Kyle home from practice, and I'll have only moments to put together ravioli... all while trying to finish a work thingee... it's compiling as I type... hope it works... otherwise, tonight will not be fun.

Let's see if it works....

wait for it...

wait for it...

still waiting for it...

SHITE... I SUCK... it's going to be a loooong night after Open House, I think.

Damn

ah... work wasted... but fun nevertheless

2009-05-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

from Kyle's English Teacher:

Hello Mr. Walthall,

Thank you so much for your effort to present to our class; however,
It doesn't seem as if we will have a sufficient amount of time to
work your presentation in.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may have created for you.

Have a great day!

Damn that's disappointing... had put together a PPT for the presentation, and was ready to spend a period talking about Romeo and Juliet... At least it was fun to immerse myself in the text again...

Maybe I'll post it (or write about it) later...

Why When How

2009-05-19T06:16:00.000-07:00

can't I find/seem to make time to work out?

This week is hell:
Monday: Kyle SBWPC JO team tryouts; Jack begins Titan water polo
Tuesday: Jack water polo; Lisa has a Principal appreciation dinner; I have a haircut
Wednesday: Kyle tryout; Jack water polo; high school water polo team meeting
Thursday: Jack and Lisa Open House
Friday: Kyle orthodontist appointment; I'm going to RM to discuss Romeo and Juliet with Kyle's honors English class...

When will I fit in working out? (while still getting work done?)

How do people do this?

Driving Me Crazy

2009-05-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

Dad is driving me crazy. He worries me with this damn cough, and then he does something that makes me want to go BERSERK (sorry for the Billy Jack reference).

So he wakes up in the middle of the night in a coughing fit. And he gets on the internet to research sleep apnea, coughing fits, etc. ... as is his hypochondriac want to do. And finds some stuff related to his GERD as well. So now he thinks that's the root cause.

Why? Because....

A while back, he stopped taking his Prevacid.

Why? Because...

well, his bowel movements have been better lately.

Well, was the Prevacid constipating? Or causing diarrhea?

Not sure.

So he just stopped taking it. Great.... so I take the tack our doctor would:

"So how many years of med school have you had?"

When a doctor prescribes a med, you need to take it. You can't just stop taking it willy-nilly because there will be repercussions. Jeez, this is crazy.

Lisa said I didn't go too hard, loud or sarcastic on him ... but he'd damn well better start taking his meds again (he said he has)... and if his cough goes away within the next couple of day, I'm going to give him a HUGE amount of shite... and will bug his constantly about taking his meds. He had me worried, but if this is all because of his own actions... aaarrrghhhhhh!

On the bright side, I hulu'ed the season finale of 30 Rock (and not just because of my crush on Ms. Fey)... it's the best episode of the year... great moments ("I'm a kidney"... the doctor's "opposite" ... "What do you think this is, Wings?")... but it's the guest stars for the episode-ending musical benefit that Rock-ed the most: "international art thief" Declan McManus, er Elvis Costello and others (including the page's "cousin" Clay Aiken):

Just Give a Kidney

Laughing my ass off...

Give the gift of giving
Give it in a giving way...

Listen, when someone starts talking in the middle of a song, you know it's serious

A hand would be an even harder thing to give...

What a line-up: Elvis, Steve Earle, guitar badass Robert Randolph (he's the one singing with Cyndi Lauper, one of the drunk ones), Sheryl Crow (the one getting paid), the Beastie Boys, Wyclef Jean, Moby, Norah Jones (was that her in the really short haircut?).. and a bunch of others...

Yes, they've had quite a year...

------------------------------------------

The Bones finale SUUUUUUUUUUCKED. The only thing good about it was this commercial shoehorned between segments:

shape

2009-05-14T08:22:00.001-07:00

as in getting back into.

Went with Kyle to the gym this morning (445 wake-up, at the gym by 530, home by 650 to see Jack and Lisa off to their field trip). Pretty good workout. But I may need to buy more personal training sessions... I'm not pushing myself as hard as he did on the treadmill.

But I am starting to see results... was back up to 239 when we joined the gym a month ago... now down to 236... three pounds... but those came in the last two weeks... there was no drop in weight those first two weeks, even with change of diet.

My goal is to get my legs and core back enough to get on the bike and have FUN, rather than just go for a ride.

Last night, I took Kyle to water polo practice. We carpool, so we had a full Pilot. One of the kids is obnoxious, that weird and horrible mix of bullshit artist, troublemaker (who thinks he's a joskester), and egomaniac who loves the sound of his own voice. Quite frankly, I'm glad this is the end of spring polo... hopefully, our carpool won't include him in summer... because I don't want to ride with him. Riding with him is pretty far up the list of things I don't want to do... just below:

2) having my eyeballs scooped out with grapefruit spoons, while simultaneously having my scrotum punctured by fondue prongs, all while having a crack addict (high on PCP) wearing boxing gloves perform a root canal on me THROUGH MY ASS

Yeah, he's that obnoxious. On the plus side, as I told Kyle, when we ride with that kid, I'm prouder and prouder of my boys...

begin again (again)

2009-05-13T04:02:00.000-07:00

So why am I up at 4am?

So many things going through my head: Kyle's falling grades, Jack's possible water polo, Pa's continuing cough... and those are just the major ones (minor ones include continuing scandals at the school, er, institution in So.Central; Pauley reconstruction; Star Trek; Romeo and Juliet).

But let's hit the one that had me waking up at one.

Pa's cough has been going on so long, I can't even remember. I think I took him to the ER on Saturday, April 18 (I think that was the date, since I think it was only a week between ER visits, with Kyle's coming on April 25, after the UCLA spring football game). But before the ER visit, it had been a couple of weeks. Over the course of time (though mostly in April), he had three x-rays, was prescribed probably half a dozen cough syrups/expectorants/etc., and seen his doctors (or called them) maybe ten times. No one knows shit (of course, Kyle's substitute pediatrician said the same thing a week ago, prescribed Singular and began the HMO referral process for an Ear/Nose/Throat specialist... in the intervening days, the cough has gotten better/infrequent, though the spasms are still there).

Yesterday, Pa got a new prescription, these are pills. I hope they work.

He stopped going to the gym early in April because of the cough. The cough fatigues him pretty badly. It's gotten to the point where he's sleeping in him chair more than watching TV. And if that wasn't bad enough, it's not the usual sleep in reclining mode, it's sleep sitting up.

Like GG in the past year or so.

So yeah, that's running through my head.... but Kyle's grades are falling, too... back to B's and a C. After all the talk at the end of last semester of this semester being different... uh, not so much.

After getting that off my chest, maybe I can get some rest... probably not.

stuff

2009-04-29T12:54:00.000-07:00

Kyle still feels blechy with recurring coughing fits.

He now has bands around his molars, spacers for braces in just over two weeks.

Lisa has her first personal training session today; hopefully, Saul won't kick her ass like he did mine (I'm afraid she'll bail of she overdoes it).

But seriously, can this woman just SHUT THE FUCK UP?

[uh, actually, under Gerald Ford]

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN): Obama campaign un-American. Wanting the people of Minnesota to be "armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax." Proclaiming her role in Washington, DC, as "a foreign correspondent on enemy lines." Declaring Ted's Kennedy's "Serve America Act," a community service program for young people, "re-education camps." Stating that carbon dioxide is "necessary... to human life."

She's making Daisy look like a freaking rock scientist (in the immortal words of Tara Reid).