Minor Status Update

It's been along, eventful week.

Inventory week, which means putting ducks in a row all in the name of not getting yelled at every other day for the next six months.

There was Jeopardy testing, and your old pal Tommy might end up on syndicated TV, looking to make a fool of himself in front of millions.

And there was general insomnia, which was a by product of the two previously mentioned items.

I'm goofy tired.  Hence:

A month or so ago, the local Drive-In Movie Theater, in an effort to upgrade projection equipment and move into the Digital Age, was selling season passes.  I, looking to keep a cool little business open, if only to assuage my overblown sense of nostalgia, thought this was a great idea.  I went in with the Southern Martyr to purchase a pass.  It went a few weeks with no response.  A concern noted in correspondence with the theater.  I'd actually decided to go pick up passes in person, rather than trying again with the SASE method I've not used since the early 1990's.

Well, I checked my mail today.

I got my pass in the mail, in an envelope addressed by my own hand.

My first reaction, however, was not that I'd gotten my tickets.

It's that somehow, I'd accidentally mailed the letter to myself, instead of the theater.

Brain no thing so good.

Loopy tired.

Keep it out of your butts, campers.  And I'll see you at the Drive-In.

Come to Work, America

Every now and then, I realize that my job is to find new and interesting ways to trick people making $8 an hour care.  And I laugh.

Keep rolling that boulder...

The Listens, This Day 11 April 2013

Wrote a bit, and did some dishes.  This is what I listened to in the meantime:

"South Australia"      The Pogues
"Gine Fare"       Toubab Krewe
"Paranoia in B Major"            The Avett Brothers
"Black Fly"       Lindi Ortega
"People are Strange"          Echo and the Bunnymen
"Brain Damage"      The Waifs
"Rise to Me"      the Decemberists
"Sixteen"      Iggy Pop
"Single Girl"         The Dirt Daubers
"Dig Gravedigger Dig"    Corb Lund
"Time Flies"      Weezer
"Latimer's Mercy"      Ozzy Osbourne
"I Go To Extremes"       Billy Joel
"Seven Bridges Road"         Dolly Parton
"Joe Bean"        Johnny Cash
"Near Wild Heaven"         R.E.M.
"Don't Worry Baby"      The Beach Boys
"Down in the Willow Garden"        the Chieftains

Marty

Final Four Weekend

Wandered into Final Four weekend, in college basketball.  It's been a fun tournament, Kevin Ware's gruesome legbreak aside.  Took the first four days off, burning a personal day, and spent them largely reading and watching basketball.  Watched more basketball that weekend than I probably had in the previous two seasons combined.  It's one of my favorite sports times of the year.  I've got a thing for single-elimination tournaments, anyway, and for that Thursday and Friday, you've got 32 games, all of which are of moderate importance.

Dig heading out someplace with a million TV's to find a vantage point where you can watch as many as possible all at the same time.

And, of course I play a couple of brackets.  I usually never get close to winning--my pick set is usually decimated by the end of the first weekend of the tournament.  This year was some different--I wandered into the second weekend with 6 out of my 8 Elite 8 teams still active, and all of my Final Four, in the bracket where I picked with my heart.

And by "picked with my heart" I mean I rocked back on my season's worth of basketball expertise, which usually meant catching a Tennessee basketball game once a week or so (valuable, considering they and most of their opponents in the SEC did not make the field of 68), a smattering of a WAC or a PAC-12 games when I was getting home at 11:45 PM from work.  Those, combined with the highlights on SportsCenter were the extent of my knowledge in this or any other season, of late.

I was thinking about that, thinking I'd do just as well to flip a coin for every game.

Well, I put my money where my mouth is, with that thought.

I paid another $5 and loaded up another bracket.  For every contest, I flipped a coin (a nice shiny, relatively new 2012 model honoring Alaska with Denali on the back).  My method was:  Top seed got heads, Low seed tails.  The whole process took maybe nine minutes.

And in all actuality, it didn't pick that laughable a Final Four, at least at the outset.  Those picks:  Duke, Wisconsin, Kansas and Syracuse.  Of course, Wisconsin was upset in the first round by Ole Miss, but 2 of the 4 made it the Elite 8.  And of course, Syracuse made it to the Final Four.

Now, the bracket I picked with my heart, using all that knowledge culled from minutes upon minutes watching basketball?  Like I said, it didn't do badly.  But it was blown up last weekend.  I had picked Miami to win it all, and Marquette ended that dream.  I also had Florida heading to the championship, and Michigan stopped them.  Likewise, I had Ohio State coming out of the Bloody West, a quarter of the bracket where I picked almost nothing right.  Wichita State continued their run there.  The only Final Four participant I picked correctly was Louisville, who, if I pick with my heart, will win it all.  They just seem to be playing the strongest, and most consistently.

The Coin Flip Bracket, however, did something that nobody else in the Money Bracket did.  And that's pick Syracuse to win it all.

Most picked Louisville.

So, it seems I've got a chance to actually win a bracket.  If Wichita State upsets Louisville, and then Syracuse downs Michigan, and goes on to win the thing, I win.

A nice feat, considering that at the moment of this writing, my Coin Flip Bracket sits in dead last, owing to the whimsical nature of its early round picks.  I had Southern picked to beat the 1 seed Gonzaga--something that wasn't nearly so far-fetched when the game was actually played.  For 38 minutes, Southern gave the Zags everything they wanted.  There were also 3 15-seeds picked over their 2 seeds.  Not wise picking, traditionally, though the coin did foresee Gulf Coast upsetting Georgetown.  Likewise, the coin picked Harvard.

Still, there weren't a lot of correct picks in the first or second, or even the third round.  It just happens that, through chance, I find myself rooting for Wichita State and Syracuse, and wanting the Orangemen to win it all.  All so I can take home the princely sum of $185.

Be a good way to start off a vacation.

Anyhoo...heading down to Atlanta for an evening of Cubs & Braves baseball with Shyam.  Have a good weekend, folks....

The Price is Right

Writer Ken Levine runs a fine blog detailing his career out in the Entertainment Industry, among other things. This post is a little different, as it details his daughter's experience during a taping of The Price is Right.  She wasn't a contestant, but her view from the cheap seats made me laugh a bit:

I don't know if it was the psychedelic set, the allure of winning a trampoline, or what, but as soon as I sat in that metal folding chair, I went from mumbling “I hate this” to screaming “PICK THE KAYAK!” in sixty-seconds flat.

The Price is Right still makes me think of days spent home sick from school.

And also of a year or so working third shift, when I would make The Price is Right the equivalent of Late Night.  After Price went off, I'd wander to bed.

I still want to spin that big wheel.  Just once.

You don't try to precision spin.

Just spin for all you're worth.

Boop Boop.

Opening Day Predictions!

A blog entry?  Ye gods....

Just a few thoughts as we wander into another baseball season.  Gonna be another long one. By and large, baseball is a game of slow change.  There are exceptions, but change for a team takes place over the course of seasons, not one offseason.  I say all that to say this:  It's gonna be another long baseball season, campers.  Especially if you're like Tommy, and follow the Cubs.

It'll be a long year, I think, but not one without promise.

Very quickly, my NL Central Predictions, based on very little analysis, along with where I think they'll end up in terms of victories:

1.  Cincinnati    100 wins
2.  St. Louis   92 wins
3.  Milwaukee   81 wins
4.  Pittsburgh    76 wins
5.  Chicago    73 wins

73 wins.  And calling it a major improvement over 2012.  Yeesh.

2012 sucked in that it was the first season since 1990 that I didn't catch a Major League game in person.  I live about 2 1/2 hours north of Atlanta, so a catching a game down there isn't out of the question.  Last year's schedule was tough.  Shyam and I did wander down in September for a weekend to catch an Amanda Palmer concert, the same weekend the Nationals were playing down there.  When we bought the tickets, the Sunday game was scheduled for an afternoon start.  ESPN poked its nose in, and moved it to an 8PM start. We'd both been working like botards, so we opted out of the game to come on home.

Cubs are in Atlanta this weekend, so looking right now at wandering down for the Saturday game.   I may be mistaken, but I think Friday may be the home opener for the Braves.  Tickets aren't going for cheap.  May still try to wander down.  Sit in the nosebleeds.  Drink an 8 dollar beer, and come on home that night.  The more I write on this particular entry, the better this idea sounds....

Tennessee Tournament Thoughts

Honest gut feeling?  U. Tennessee's basketball team played themselves out of the Tournament yesterday with their loss to Alabama.  Maybe even with their second half against Mississippi State.  They looked tired.  They looked like they'd somehow lost the momentum that carried them through the second half of the SEC season.  

More than the shaky performances, the inconsistency, and the just plain weird losses to the Georgias of the world that will keep them out of the tournament?

The fact that they play their ball in the SEC.

And this year, that's not every really a knock on the NCAA officials who want to cut Big 10, ACC and Big East teams more slack than they do SEC teams.  

The SEC is filled with a lot of shaky performers.  Even as a fan, I can't sit here and tell you that Tennessee deserves to be in the tournament so much more than Ole Miss, or even Alabama.  I think they're significantly better than Kentucky now that Nerlens is out, but with the big man, I'd have marked Kentucky slightly better than Tennessee.  Lots of Bubble Teams.  Lots.  I don't think any of them are in.  Except maybe Kentucky.  Because they're Kentucky...

A Quote

"No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side. Or you don’t."    ----Stephen King

The Listens, February 15, 2013

Life updates?  

No blogging.

Lot of working.  Botardism runs rampant.

Valentine's Day with Shyam.  Nice to have somebody on it, for the first time in a while.  Supremely cool being in love with your best friend.  

Wrote some today.  What I listened to while I did so:

"Black Water"     Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

"Walk Like a Man"     Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons

"Mississippi Saturday Night"       Old Crow Medicine Show

"Be Not Afraid"      The Dirt Daubers

"Sixteen Tons"      Corb Lund

"School Days Over"      The Chieftains

"Map of the Problematique"      Muse

"Take it In"      The Waifs

"Like a Ship"      Travelling Wilburys

"I Ain't the Same"      Alabama Shakes

"I Go to Extremes"     Billy Joel

"Crazy Little Thing Called Love"    Queen

"Time"      Ozzy Osbourne

Dreams

Yes, I taught my nephew the word Imbecile.

I also taught him to shake his fist and someone and call that person an imbecile.

Will it get him in trouble?

Likely.

If that person knows what the word imbecile means.

I put the chances of that somewhere around 60% that they do know it.  I don't think I'm judging the public too poorly.  I manage a grocery store.  I see a broad cross-section of society's ineptitude.

Why teach my nephew that?

Because I can't teach the dog to say it.

That's my dream.

Not to teach the dog to say "imbecile."

My dream is to teach many dogs to say "imbecile."

Because such things amuse me.  In this case?  It is the idea of an entire town full of dogs wandering around muttering the word "imbecile."

Dreams.

So, I taught my nephew.  It'll have to do, for now.

Happy New Year, and 52 Books

Dear Online Nerd Diary:

I got off work today a little after two.  It ended a 16 day slog that began the Tuesday before Christmas, and didn't a whole lot of time off.  It was punctuated by one of those signature runs where I work 55 hours or so in a 97 hour span.  It makes you goofy, and it's not good for you.

Definitely not good for me, for you see, I am a Sleep Sissy!

My ass needs sleep.

As does the rest of me, one would assume.

Dunno.  Not much.  Six, seven hours.  I don't think that's too much to ask.

Unless you work SALARIED, IN RETAIL.

I'm not sure about that comma, but you know what?  Fuck it.

Fuck all the commas.

Every last one of them.

Right in that stupid little hangdown thing.

So.  It ended my Holiday Trudge.  

It's a job.

Meh.

It is January 2.

New Year's Resolutions?

Read more.

Trying for 52 books in 2013.

Used to read like a fiend.

While hanging upside down under the Jackson St. Bridge, usually after coaxing some goat, or other small farm animal into my lair for dinner.

Last year, I read somewhere in the range of 20 to 25 books.  Which isn't a bad total, I suppose, except that I probably acquired 50 books.

So, read more.  Watch less crap TV, when I'm at the house.  Read more.  Seems simple.  Average one a week.

Minor thing:  I am including books I listen to, if they're unabridged.  I spent roughly 75 minutes of my day commuting to work.  The State of Tennessee frowns on my reading books while driving.  So, I signed myself up for Audible.  

(A brief parenthetical note on Audbile...I like the selection, and not having to pay 40 bucks for a book I'd like to listen to.  So far, Michael's Chabon's Telegraph Avenue, which was something of a disappointment from Mr. Chabon--my first real disappointing read from him.  Not bad, but nothing to write home about.  A bit of a reflection on 70's Nostalgia, and on growing up, even in your late 30's.  After that, Ernest Cline's Ready Player One, which had come recommended from a couple folks.  A fun, fun read.  I ended up giving copies of the book away for Christmas.  It's a little one-dimensional, but it's a rollercoastery, slobbery ride through 80's Nostalgia).

Both books are something of a re-read, to start out.

The house book is The Hobbit.  Re-reading for the first time since the summer between my fourth and fifth grade years.  Saw Peter Jackson's first flick.  Realized that it's been a quarter century since I'd read the book.  I knew there was quite a bit added in, but couldn't really trust all my recollections as to what.  Most of the way through that one.  Enjoying.

The road listen is Stephen King's Under the Dome, which I'd tried reading when I was given a copy for Christmas a few years back, but never could really get into.  I'm liking the listen, so far, quite a bit more.  Chalking my negative feelings from before to a busy work schedule, or some such Tommyesque bullshit.

Will keep you, Online Nerd Diary, apprised on my goal of reading 52 books in this calendar year....

52 Books for 2013

New Year's Resolutions?

Only 2, and they're pretty much the same resolutions I make every year.

First is to lay off the fast food.  I'm a grownup, goddammit.  Time to eat like it.  Enough said, i reckon.

Second?

How about a book a week for 2013?  Kinda involves less watching useless dreck on teevee, anyway....

World War I: In which I show a staggering knowledge of history

Over on Ye Olde Facebooke, a cousin who teaches asks:

Let's play, "Are you smarter than MY fifth graders?"
Question from tomorrow's test... What events lead to WWI?

To which I respond:

 Well, first there were dinosaurs. Much later, the pyramids were built in Egypt, and then Charlton Heston said "Let My People Go!" Brutus stabbed Caesar on the Ides of March, and tenth graders all the world over would be forced to relive it. Not long after, the wisemen brought gold, frankincense and myrrh to Bethlehem. A few years passed, and William the Conqueror got himself sewn onto the Beyeux Tapestry Not long after Galileo was getting excommunicated the Ayscoughs came to the New World, and they begat us, eventually. There were a couple of major revolutions shortly thereafter (on this continent, and an especially bloody one in France) that started to give people the world over the CRAZY idea that royalty wasn't the end all be all that they'd been made to believe for all these years. Why let these Royals be all Imperialist when We the People could be Imperialists? Long story short, those ideas were allowed to ferment for more than a century until a Yugoslav national assassinated an Austrian archduke who had a name similar to a bull of the stories of my youth...

I'm probably going to get a butt kicking at the next family reunion.  

I usually do...

Best Interview Ever