Premiere Week--The Rest

Here are some more of the shows I watched during premiere week--the good, the bad, and the awful?

--BOSTON LEGAL
I have loved this show from the beginning. Who but William Shatner could play Denny Crane? No one, of course--the part was made for him to play. James Spader as Alan Shore is just sleazy enough to hate, but with some good qualities so that you don't hate him TOO much. The two of them together is always a lot of fun--just the thought of them dressed as flamingos is enough to make me laugh out loud. Now we come to the first show of the fourth season and I must confess I was disappointed. As has happened in the past, many of the characters from last year are gone. I really miss Denise and Brad and I even miss Claire a bit--her and Clarence/Clarice were good together. I'm not thrilled with the new characters and am not completely sold on John Larroquette--even though I have loved him as an actor since Night Court. I didn't see any real reason for the show to be expanded to 90 minutes--it just seemed too dragged out. I won't give up on this show until it completely 'jumps the shark,' and I hope it gets back on track soon. I love it best when it is being completely and totally silly. (And how silly was it to see Alan dressed in his 'Lennon sisters' dress, smoking a cigar and drinking his drink?)

--LIFE
This was just plain weird. I get that the main character was in prison unfairly. I get that he made a lot of money when he sued. I also get that he is a cop again so he can find out who set him up. What I don't get are his 'Zen' moments--which are really off the wall. I also don't get why it wasn't revealed till the end of the episode that he was set up to go to prison. Why not let it come out sooner? Of course, you have his partner who 'doesn't want to be his partner, but she screwed up, so this is her punishment.' This, of course, leads to her superior who wants her to 'watch' him and report any improprieties, so that he can be gotten rid of. Which she is willing to do, but by the end of the episode, she has a change of heart. This all has been done to death on many other shows. (And it is a bit confusing, too. I'm sure you can see that! :)) I probably will watch this one more time, but I don't think it will be around too long.

--DIRTY SEXY MONEY
Here we have Dynasty and Dallas updated for the 21st century. I'm not quite sold on it--I really don't do nighttime soaps. (Or daytime, for that matter.) This might be a fun show, but I have a feeling it won't be for me. Again, I will try another episode, but it probably will not be on my 'to watch' list.

--UGLY BETTY
Last year I loved this show. Unfortunately, after the premiere, this might be my this year's Desperate Housewives, along with (possibly) Heroes. I get caught up in the hype of some of these shows and then they can't hold me for the duration. I won't give up on this show just yet, but it just isn't the same. I'm tired of so many of the storylines and characters. Come on, when is Daniel going to grow up? When is Bradford going to see through Wilhemina? When are Henry and Betty going to--FINALLY--get together? And the plot twist that was just added: Alexis doesn't remember she IS Alexis--she thinks she is still ALEX! Okay, enough.

--MOONLIGHT
I LOVE sci-fi/fantasy/supernatural shows. This is why I watch/have watched The Dresden Files, Stargate: Atlantis, Supernatural, Eureka, Farscape, Firefly, etc. This is why I had to watch Moonlight. Here we have a vampire who is a private investigator. And that is the premise of the show. While I think Supernatural and The Dresden Files did 'supernatural' better, I will stick with this show for awhile. I have liked Jason Dohring since he was on Veronica Mars (he plays another vampire, Josef, in the show) AND Alex O'Loughlin (who plays the main character) is some nice eye candy, so what better reason to watch a show for an hour? :)

Only Two More To Go!

After tonight's game, there are only two more pre-season games and THEN. THE. SEASON. STARTS!!!! It's about time. It doesn't look like I will get to see any more games until the season opener next Wednesday.

Anyway, the Wings won over Tampa Bay 3-2 in a shootout. I thought I was going to get to see the entire team play tonight, but that wasn't to be. Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, among others, didn't play. However, I did get to see some of the prospects and there are a few I think will, eventually, make it. I can see what they see/saw in Grigorenko---while I don't think he would be ready to be on the team permanently starting Wednesday, if he works at it, he POSSIBLY could make the cut in November. The guy has some mighty nice moves. I also like Ritola, but with his getting hit below the eye and not coming back to the game, I didn't get to watch him past the first period. I really think he has potential. I would think he will be going to Grand Rapids for the year. Filppula seems to be showing a confidence and maturity that he didn't have last year. He will have his break-out year either this season or next. I still think he will be a star. Only five more days--I can't wait.

You Mean I WON'T Talk Finn?

My great-grandmother--the only one I knew--died when I was 9 years old. She was in her 70s. To a young child, as I was, she was very old. She was a very short woman, standing only 4'9" tall. She also was, by ANYONE'S definition, fat--she couldn't have weighed much less than 200 pounds. And she spoke only Finnish, as she had been born in Finland. (But why she didn't learn English is a mystery--she lived in the US for about 60 years!) For some reason or other, she was my true example of an old lady--as if I didn't KNOW any others. (For all I can recall, maybe I DIDN'T know any other women as old as she was.)

As a child, I believed that every woman, when she became 'old', would suddenly become short, fat, and speak only Finnish.

I was a strange child. :)

Premiere Week

We're halfway through premiere week and there have been some mighty interesting shows. So far: (there might be spoilers--beware!)

--HEROES
I'm not all that sure whether I will be watching this year. I'm kind of afraid this show will go the way of Desperate Housewives for me: get caught up in the hype the first year and get extremely bored within a couple of episodes of the start of the second year. I really didn't come away from Monday's episode with the 'I can't WAIT to see what is going to happen next!' feeling that will keep me tuning in for the rest of the season. I will give it a couple of more weeks and see if I will give it up or not.

--JOURNEYMAN
The jury is still out on this one. Really, now, hasn't EVERY sci-fi show done the 'go back in time' bit? And there have even been ENTIRE shows with the same premise as this one: Quantum Leap and Early Edition. I found the show to be a bit confusing--I think they were trying to give too much information in too short of a time. The fact that he saw and talked to his 'dead' fiancee when he went back in time was a bit of a twist from all of the other time travel shows. That little fact is enough for me to give it a few more chances before I make up my mind about sticking through the entire season.

--CHUCK
Okay, I rather stumbled onto this one. I had no intentions of watching this show. As I have said many times, I 'time-shift' all of my TV watching--the only things I watch in real time are the news (rarely) and time-killer programs (re-runs, junk TV.) So, I had the recorders going for the shows I wanted to see on Monday and happened to have the channel on where Chuck was shown, so I started to watch. All I have to say is this: if the rest of the shows are as funny as the first one, then I. AM. HOOKED! This show is funny and entertaining--and I'm glad I watched it.

--HOUSE
What can I say about one of the best shows on TV? I was a bit disappointed in some of last year's story lines--HATED the one with the cop--and I wasn't sure how things would go this year. I just have to say I am so happy I didn't write the show off! If the first episode and the previews for next week are any indication, then this will be a great year. House using a janitor to bounce his thoughts off of (AND the janitor playing at being Dr. Buffer), Wilson kidnapping House's guitar (and him saying--in a slightly gangsterish voice--how a guitar squeals when you tighten the strings too much), and House kidnapping one of Wilson's patients were all great, funny bits to a really good episode. Next week and House beginning his interviews--a six week interview, how great will THAT be--and his having his old team appearing in hallucinations will combine for a very interesting episode. Can't wait!

--CANE
Oh, my, gosh! HOW BAD WAS THIS SHOW??? It was all 'been there, done that' with a Spanish accent! I came VERY close to not watching the entire episode--and I wish I hadn't. Way too much happened--the head of the family with 6 months to live, him not telling his kids, him giving control of the company to someone that is NOT his own son, the son wanting revenge, a rival family, a killing, AND mix in drugs, illegal aliens, and Cuba, and you have the show. That is one hour of my life I will never get back again. And the previews for the coming episodes were just as bad, if not worse. They certainly made me happy with my decision to not watch any more of this show. Unless this becomes a guilty pleasure for a lot of people, I don't see it lasting too long.

--REAPER
I was quite hesitant about this show. Come on now, a show about a guy whose parents sold his soul to the devil even before he was born? AND it is a comedy? But I figured I'd give it a try and I'm glad I did. I found it quite funny. On his 21st birthday, Sam finds out that his soul belongs to the devil. Of course, his parents didn't come right out and tell him until some weird things started to happen--among them, the devil appearing in the backseat of his car while he was driving. Now this 'devil wanting your soul' storyline has a bit of a twist: the devil doesn't want Sam in hell, he just wants him on earth doing a job. The job? Finding souls that escaped hell and sending them back where they belong. All well and good, right? Maybe, but he also has a couple of friends that want to help, and they aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer! (I still have to laugh over the eyebrows that were drawn on Ben with the Magic Marker after his own were burnt off. It was a very funny sight gag.)

When I watch TV, read a book, listen to music, see a movie, etc, I do it so that I can be entertained. I don't analyze in terms of symbolism or psychological/sociological meanings, or any other ways that 'intellectuals' do. I. JUST. WANT. TO. BE. ENTERTAINED. PERIOD. I don't care if the jokes are old or I have seen them before--if they are funny, then I will laugh. A story line can be one I have seen on another show, but, again, if it is good, I will enjoy it. So far, I seem to have picked entertaining shows to watch. I hope the rest of my picks will be as good.

After I watch Dirty Sexy Money, Life, and Moonlight, I will write my impressions of those shows. I hope at least one of them will be good.

Saturday's Game

The Wings won 5-2 against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins last night. YAY!! Zetterberg was in good form: he had two goals and two assists. Good to see him back.

Seems as if the rest of the games will be played with the whole team--so far, they have been playing half of the team at a time. THIS will make it seem more like the season has started. Of course, many of the players will not be on the roster once October rolls around, but it will be good for Z and Datsyuk to be playing during the same game. While the 'Euro Twins' won't be playing on the same line together--at least for now--they will probably do the penalty kill together. Will be interesting to see how well they do without each other--I think they'll do fine, but time will tell.

Phone Calls

Sunday morning. Before noon. The phone rings. Uh, oh, NOT good. I let K answer. His nephew, the father of The Nephew who is staying with us, was in an ATV accident. He was airlifted to a hospital in Duluth. From what little we know, he has multiple broken bones--not sure about what else is wrong. He is in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery, but it will be long in coming. K's sister--the mother of the injured one--will probably have to put off her yearly winter get-away-from-the-snow vacation this year to take care of him. I ALWAYS hate early on the day phone calls--they NEVER are good news.

In The News

--I DO kind of think the police were overreacting, but if they weren't tech geeks, I'm sure it could have looked quite suspicious. I am talking about the girl at the Boston airport who wore the 'art piece' consisting of a black hooded sweatshirt, a circuit board, and some wiring. Listen, if she is as smart as they are saying, she should have known how it is a VERY different world today after 9/11. But then, smart people have NEVER been know for their common sense! Here's the whole story.

--While I REALLY wish he would just fall off the face of the earth, I have to make a comment on the OJ thing. I'm afraid he might get away with another one. A story came out saying that the room where the 'incident' went down was wired and now some say that he was 'set up.' Great. All he needs is to hire another high-priced sack of shit--oops, I meant lawyer--with all of the money he has hidden away, and he will come out of this free and clear. Once again. If you must, here is the story.

--So now, after all these years, Dan Rather has decided to crawl out from the rock he's been hiding under and defend his honor. Yup, he is suing CBS for $70 million because HE tried to bring down Bush with false documents. Of course, his suit is for being dismissed wrongly, but still. Of course, CBS, the White House, Republicans, big business, big government, and I'm sure, the little old lady down the street, all conspired to get Dan Rather discredited. And he is doing this for the little people. As he said on Larry King, "What I'm trying to do in my wee small way is to say to people...big government and big corporations have far too much influence and are intimidating." Give it up, Dan, it was time for you to move one. Pull up your big boy panties and deal with it. You got caught. Here's the story.

--Now we have cribs made in China being recalled. Is this scary, or what? I like getting a bargain just as much as the next guy, but really! It just might be time we all suck it up and start paying a bit higher prices for things Made in America! The story is here.

--Rudy Giuliani has never really done much for me. Granted, he did a good job after 9/11, but other than that he really was off my radar. (I don't live in New York City, or New York state for that matter, so why would I care about their mayor?) Anyway, he was giving a talk to the NRA on Friday and HE. ANSWERED. HIS. CELLPHONE. DURING. THE. TALK. Excuse me?? After watching the video, it just seemed too much like a political moment to me. Any thoughts? You can read the story here and the video is down the page on the left.

Seems Like It Will Never End

The Wings won over the Penguins last night 1-0. Even though they were playing at home, I didn't get to see the game. Will this pre-season never end? The end-all, be-all to hockey (Crosby) wasn't there, so I suppose THAT is the reason it went into overtime AND the reason the Wings won. :) The regular season will start soon enough--just can't wait for the next 11 days to pass.

I went to NHL Center Ice Online to watch the game and they NOW ask for you to register. The pre-season games--supposedly--are free, but I am very hesitant to register. The regular Center Ice Online package is $149 a year and I have no need or want to get it, so I REALLY don't want to sign up for ANYTHING, free or not! I'm sure it is a way to get your email address so they can flood your mailbox with offers, and I just don't need any junk.

On another hockey note: there now is talk about changing the schedule for next year. THANK GOODNESS!!! It is just absolutely ridiculous when we don't get to see the teams from the east--especially the rest of the original six! Hopefully a change will help the Wings with their travel schedule--those west coast trips are really hard. We'll have to stupidity Bettman will pull out of his ass this time--I sure hope he doesn't screw it up too badly.

Storm Rules

The Mother gave me the gift that keeps on giving when I was a child: a fear of thunderstorms. I don't do well during them and I do even worse when I am by myself. Tonight we have a high wind advisory and a tornado watch--along with severe thunderstorms. And K is on night shift, so I get to experience all of this by myself. I am so lucky.

I am not quite as crazy during thunderstorms as I used to be--but I still have rules that have to be followed while the weather is bad. Gone is the rule that states: ALL electrical objects--except for the refrigerator and kitchen range--MUST be unplugged during a thunderstorm. However, I still have my list of rules:

1) NO running of water during a thunderstorm. This means no showers, doing dishes, laundry, etc, or washing hands. Water--after all--is a great conductor of electricity.

2) The computer WILL BE OFF during a storm.

3) NO talking on the phone.

4) Avoid the kitchen and bathroom--water and metal abound in the two rooms. This equals great electrical conductors!

5) I will not sleep in our antique brass bed during a storm. Brass=metal=bad. (So maybe brass WOULDN'T attract lightening--DON'T care.)

6) I will avoid the cat--fur=static=bad.

7) I stay away from windows. Windows let the lightening see me and then it can 'get' me.

That may be it for my rules, but I'm sure I will remember more. While people in other parts of the country will look on me as completely crazy, I am what I am. Add the tornado watch and I am on the verge of a panic attack. For those who regularly go through tornado watches/warnings, you have no idea what this does to me. We get thunderstorms, but rarely do we have tornado WATCHES or WARNINGS. In all my years, we probably have had actual tornadoes less than a dozen times in the entire UP. This does NOT make for a very happy cmk, I'll tell ya! I will close this post now and go and maybe find something to help me cope--an adult beverage or six might do the trick! :)

So They Didn't Win

I watched the Wings lose to the Wild 3-2 tonight. Okay...no big deal. It was, after all, a pre-season game.

Once again I was sitting and wondering who the hell the announcers were talking about when they were calling play-by-play. Well, that is what pre-season games are--a chance for the 'wanna bes' to make the team. There were a couple that were a bit impressive, but for the most part the entire game sucked big time. The players really didn't have their timing down right--many passes to 'nobody there.' There was a lot of fast skating, but not a lot of things happening. The Wild scored all of their goals on the power play--not good. Detroit really has to work on the penalty kill.

All of the Detroit players tonight were different from the ones the other night. Zetterberg was doing impossible moves--as usual--but didn't get any points. Filppula looks like he might be a bit faster than last year--and that certainly can't hurt. No points from him, either. At 5'9" (maybe), Hudler is almost invisible--but I think he could put up the numbers if he can get enough playing time. And Cleary left the ice with a rib injury--no word on if anything is broken. Oh, yay--first Rafalski with the hip flexor injury and now Cleary. I sure hope this isn't a year of injuries.

While I wasn't overly thrilled with the game, I got a chance to see the 'wanna bes'--which is good. Who knows, some of them might be household words in several years!

Seven more pre-season games--only two of which will be broadcast on our system--and then the season starts. What a wonderful time of year! :)

A Conversation

Me (to K): While we're in Vegas, let's do something we will never forget. Let's renew our wedding vows and have an Elvis impersonator officiate!

K: I definitely don't want an IMPERSONATOR!

Me: Well, the real one is in Arkansas or with Steven King in Maine, so I doubt he'll come just to officiate our renewal.

K (in mock seriousness): Why wouldn't he?


Don't we just have the most STIMULATING conversations? :)

Email Mess

In the early hours of Monday morning, I placed an online order. At 1:01 AM I received the confirmation email from the company. Since that time--a little over 36 hours ago--I have received the EXACT same email more than 125 times! How fun is that?

The very first thing I did was to contact the company, thinking that their auto-replay was screwed up. When they replied back, they blamed my ISP and said I have to get them to fix the problem. So, I decided to do an online chat with tech support for my ISP. (I don't call them if I don't have to--can't deal with the overseas accents.) They deny being the problem and suggested I either block the email or contact the company again. GREAT! If I block the email, I block ALL email from the company and I don't want to do that. So, I sent off another email to the company to see what they have to say.

In the meantime, I also have posted the problem in the Thunderbird (my email program) support forum. I really don't think that's where the problem is, but on the off chance... It just couldn't hurt and someone might have a solution. Such joy.

Medical Update

Today K saw the nephrologist. This, of course, is not the original one who diagnosed his kidney problem--HE no longer is here. K was happy with the doctor--said he was very personable and not a 'kid' like the last one. (The last one was fine, he just looked young enough to be our son--and probably WAS!) After a 45 minute visit and the taking of 4 quarts of blood and half a gallon of pee, the doctor said he will see K again in a year as long as the test results come back fine. This, of course, was good news.

Then, of course, we get to the 'oh, oh' part of what K was told. First, he has to start restricting his protein intake. Protein makes the kidneys work too much, so he has to watch it. Of course, he has to restrict his sodium, too. He has to increase his fruits and vegetables and work towards walking 30 minutes a day. Also, he has been put on one baby aspirin per day. Fine--we can work with this. A bit of a change in lifestyle, but doable. Then K told me the 'rest of the story.' The doctor told him that, eventually, he will probably need a kidney transplant. As we get older, our kidneys begin to lose function and considering K has such a low functioning level (only 30%) to begin with, this is a double whammy for him. So, without trying to borrow trouble, we have the possibility of some big-time medical issues in our future. While I won't allow myself to worry about this, it will, nonetheless, be a part of my life from now on. We never know, do we?

Finally The Day Has Arrived!

Yes, people, today I am a happy woman. Hockey season has started! Well, the pre-season, but same difference. AND the Wings won 6-1 over the Wild. A good day.

Of course, as is my life, it didn't start out all that good. First, I couldn't find the damn game ANYWHERE--to watch OR listen to on the radio! I'm hoping the problems I had were just pre-season ones, cause we are out on the road too often for me not to be able to (at least) listen to the games on the laptop. Thank goodness I have a long list of hockey fan sites and I was able to find the game from a comment in one of the forums. I only missed the first period, so it wasn't all that bad.

Being as it was a pre-season game, a good many of the veteran players were not there. My baby boy didn't play, but it isn't that surprising: he has been nursing a groin injury for a few days, so... It was quite interesting to see the 'wanna-bes' playing. Half the time I didn't even know if the announcer was talking about a Detroit or Minnesota player!

Next game is on Thursday AND it is on TV, so I will be able to watch from the comfort of the living room couch--on the flat screen and in hi-def. YIPPEE!!

Trivia

Here we go--some trivia for a Monday! All of these bits come from the mental_floss book Condensed Knowledge.

--Three Van Gogh paintings are in the top 10 as most expensive ever sold. A portrait of Dr. Gachet sold for $82.5 mil, a self-portrait sold for $65 mil, and Irises sold for $49 mil.

--The Renoir painting Au Moulin de la Galette sold for $78 mil.

--5 diseases mosquitoes spread: malaria, dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever, West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis, yellow fever.

--The largest mammal/animal known is the blue whale. It also is a vegetarian.

--The rhinoceros has skin that is 1-inch-thick.

--Foxglove is a poisonous plant that should probably NOT be a garden where children could get at it. However, the toxic glycoside that foxglove produces is--in low doses--the heart medication digitalis.

--Marie Curie was the first person to ever win two Nobel Prizes.

--Lead pencils DO NOT contain lead. The so-called lead is actually a mixture of graphite and clay.

--Ambergris is the waxy liquid coating the stomachs of sperm whales. When fresh, ambergris is soft, black, and smells awful. When exposed to sun and water, it hardens, becomes lighter colored, and develops a pleasant smell. It is used in perfume as a fixative that keeps the scent from evaporating too quickly. (Synthetics have now taken the place of ambergris--thus eliminating the need to kill whales.)

--Despite what people think, Fort Knox does not have the most gold. The world's largest repository is at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in lower Manhattan. Fort Knox has the second largest amount AND the largest stash owned by the US government. Most of the gold in New York is on deposit from foreign central banks and other institutions.

--The strongest muscle in your body is the tongue.

--A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate.

--A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

--Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.

--Benjamin Franklin liked to sit around naked, usually with the window open for the breeze. In a 1768 letter he described his 'air bath' ritual like this: "I rise early almost every morning, and sit in my chamber, without any clothes whatever, half an hour or an hour, according to the season, either reading or writing."

--Lenin's real name was Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov. Ho Chi Minh was originally named Nguyen Sinh Cung. And Gerald Ford was first christened Leslie King, Jr.

Finally, Justice?

It is being reported that OJ Simpson has been arrested because of the 'sting operation' he and several others participated in in Las Vegas. Hopefully, this will be what, finally, takes that damn smirk off of his face! The full story is here.

UPDATE: OJ will be charged with six counts of robbery, assault, burglary and conspiracy.

Updating My Life

Nothing earth-shattering has been happening around here, but here are some updates:

--I am getting to know my new kitchen range and I have to say, 'I love it!' Now, don't get me wrong, just because I have a new appliance doesn't make me feel as if I actually have to cook EVERY day, but I have used it enough to be well pleased with it. I still am awestruck with the amount of room I have in the ovens/s. I just may have to do some Christmas baking this year! HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!!!!!!!!! I just made a joke! :)

--The Nephew has now finished up his third week with us and it is going well. I THINK we are getting a little more comfortable with each other. He is very quiet and spends most of his time in his room, which is okay with me. I would be just as fine if he wanted to spend time with me/us downstairs, but it is his choice. (He has mentioned to his grandmother--K's sister--that he can't wait to watch hockey on the new TV!) He is easy to please--it hasn't been hard to cook meals and I really don't have to do anything else for him. (Actually, I don't even have to cook for him--he just eats with us if he wants to whenever I DO cook.) With all that said, it still will be nice to have the house to ourselves again after he leaves.

--C is 23 weeks pregnant and seems to be doing well. She is making all the arrangements she can in case of being put on bed rest or if the baby comes early. As she said, why wait till the last minute--her track record ain't that good. Anyway, she only has four more weeks till she reaches the stage where--historically--things start going wrong for her. All we can do is wait and pray for everything to go well.

--A is looking into what her options are for seeing a new doctor because of her infertility. She is trying to accept that she will probably never get pregnant without a doctor's help (if at all), but I think she is fooling herself. I KNOW she is just saying it to try and convince herself. Hopefully, whoever she sees next will be able to give her some hope--we'll have to see.

--One of A's dogs--the female--is now taking DES (synthetic estrogen) for an incontinence problem. They FINALLY figured out her accidents in the house were NOT behavior-related but an actual physical thing. This, of course, will be a life-long thing for the dog. But, an ill animal sure couldn't have a better owner than A--she is going to take care of that dog till she dies of old age!

--Our travel and hotel arrangements for Vegas have been finalized. We will be leaving here on the 16th of October and will be back on the 19th. We have tickets to see Elton John on Thursday and are trying to make up our minds about whether we want to see Cirque Du Soleil, or not. While it isn't my thing, K wants to see Cirque, so I'll go along with it. Who knows, I just might enjoy myself.

--To make our lives just a touch exciting, K got a letter yesterday informing him that he is on jury duty. For the month of October! Now, he can get a trial on the 1st and be done with it that same day, or he can be put off every day until the 15th--and then get a week long trial! Obviously, he has to try and get his jury duty changed to another month. While I don't think it will be much of a problem, I HOPE it gets resolved quickly. We don't need this to have to worry about.

--K is on long weekend now and I'm hoping the weather will be nice enough so that we can go up north to see the colors. The Nephew said the leaves are changing rapidly, so this might be our only chance. K mentioned going tomorrow, but it is supposed to be cool/cold and windy, so that isn't an option. I want to be able to stand outside and take pictures and I won't want to do so if it is too cold. Monday might be a good option.

And The Excitement Is Building

The Red Wings have left for Traverse City and their week-long training camp. The first pre-season game is five days away. The first regular season game is in a little over three weeks. It's time for hockey, people! And I can't wait. I am a happy camper!

I Don't Do Hair

This is a reworked comment I made to a post over at Doug Bagley's site.

When K was in the Navy, all of the guys did their best to avoid the Navy barbers--because they did such a bad job of cutting hair. Actually, they just buzzed the hair and that is about it. Instead of getting their hair 'cut' for free, most went to private barbershops--K among them. One day there was to be a big inspection--dress blue uniforms, the whole bit--and his hair was too long. There was no time for him to go to the barber--even the Navy barber--so he asked me to trim it up a little bit, which I gladly agreed to do. (I had NO training in hair cutting, but HOW hard could it be?) I took the scissors--NOT hair-cutting scissors, of course--and trimmed the hair over his ears and a little bit in back and he was good to go. I was quite pleased that it didn't look too bad. Besides, he was going to be wearing his hat, so no one would REALLY see what his hair looked like. The inspection went well and a few days later he finally got to the barbershop for a haircut. As the barber began cutting, he remarked to my hubby, "Those Navy barbers sure do a good job of butchering your hair, don't they?" That was the last time I ever cut hair.

9-11

We must NEVER forget.

The Final Straw?

If you haven't heard about Britney's comeback performance at the VMAs, then you have been living under a rock! And if you haven't SEEN the performance, well, here it is:

Now, I really don't want to kick the girl when she's down, but, REALLY! What was she thinking? That is one. bad. performance. I could critique it, but WHY? Where would you start? This just may be the end of her career.

From The 'I'm Surprised I'm Still Alive' Files

True story.

The Brother was always a little bit of a geeky, sort of nervous kid while I was at home. (I wonder how much I had to do with THAT?) This story took place when I was in the 11th grade, or somewhere around then. The Brother would have been in the 6th grade.

One day we had a solar eclipse. That evening, The Boyfriend and I were watching the news when the weather guy--in an attempt to be funny--said, "IF the sun rises tomorrow, it will be at..." For some reason or other--okay, I'm sure it was just to torment him--The Boyfriend and I told The Brother that the weatherman said the sun might not rise the following morning. And we thought no more about it.

At 2:00 AM the following morning, The Brother woke up. He jumped out of bed, screaming, "The sun didn't rise. The sun didn't rise!!!!!!!!!" He ran into The Parents' room and screamed at them. He was white as a sheet and totally out of control in his behavior. Before they could say anything, he ran down the stairs and out the front door to look for the sun. When The Parents finally caught up to him, he was on the verge of hysterics. It took them several minutes to get through to him that the sun NEVER rose at 2:00 AM, so "get the hell back to bed!!!!!"

I don't know WHY The Parents allowed me to live after this. And I don't know how I never woke up. I still laugh hysterically whenever I think about this story.

Police Log

Since I last posted portions of our local police log, not a whole lot of interesting things have happened. There have been calls about nude swimmers, public urinating, and various people passed out/sleeping in public places. Last week there was a call about 'roofers removing the wrong roof.' This was followed--a couple of hours later--by a call about 'roofing contractors being harassed by neighbor.' I REALLY want to know the backstory to THAT one! Yesterday, I finally found something to post, and here is the police log:

11:25 PM: complaint of people playing banjo
(The complainers must have seen 'Deliverance' once too many times--and were really freaked out by the banjo player!)

2:12 AM: small shrub placed on top of vehicle
(HUH??????)

5:24 PM: mailbox found at wrong address
(Again: HUH??????)

I wonder just HOW much fun the dispatchers have with these calls? Makes the job interesting, for sure.

How Sad

The highlight of my weekend was giving myself a pedicure. And that was because it was NEEDED, not because I wanted to. :)

Hope your weekend was good!

Trivia

News from my world: Nuthin', I tells ya! I got nuthin'!!!!! And because of that, here is another trivia post--courtesy of mental_floss, of course.

--The Grammy's 'Best New Artist' award has seemed to be the kiss of death to whoever received it. A partial list of those being awarded and never being heard from again (or not very often, at least): The Starland Vocal Band, Debby Boone, Rickie Lee Jones, Men At Work, Tracy Chapman, Mark Cohn, Hootie & the Blowfish. (I believe Christopher Cross may be on this list, too.)

--The first professional sportsperson to have his jersey number retired was Lou Gehrig (#4) in 1939.

--In 1982, the rising price of copper made the penny's material more expensive than the penny itself. To remedy the problem, the US Mint began making copper-coated zinc pennies.

--Around the turn of the 19th century, scientists had no way of photographing images under a microscope. Beatrix Potter--of 'Peter Rabbit' fame--did watercolors of fungi for scientific publications. She became a well-respected mycologist and was one of the first scientists to study lichens.

--11 women have received the Nobel Prize in Science.

--8% of the science/engineering PhDs awarded in 1966 were to women. 38% of the degrees in 2005 were awarded to women.

--1999 was the last year that more men than women received science bachelor's degrees in America.

--Danica McKellar, aka 'Winnie' from The Wonder Years, grew up to be a mathematician. She even has a theorem named after her.

--An international group of geneticists has determined that roughly 0.05% of the world's population is directly descended from Genghis Khan.

--Donor 48QAH--a sperm donor at the Fertility Center of California--is thought to have fathered more than 100 children.

--Betsy Ross is one of only a few real people to ever top a Pez dispenser.

--October 24, 2001 is the first time the iPod was mentioned in print--in The New York Times. Barack Obama was mentioned first on February 6, 1990 and Donald Trump was mentioned on January 28, 1973.

--The average human body has enough fat to make 7 bars of soap, enough sugar to fill a jam jar, and enough sulfur to rid a dog of fleas.

--Demodex folliculorum has eight stumpy legs and a tail, is about a third of a millimeter long, and will reside in the warm, oily pits of your hair follicles. Most adults have this mite, usually on the head, but especially in the eyelashes. And, often, they are in nipples. (Excuse me while I go and sterilize myself!)

--If it weren't for the slimy mucous that clings to and lines the walls of your gut, your stomach would readily digest itself.

--A man weighing 200 pounds would provide enough meat to feed 100 cannibals at one sitting.

--Theodore Roosevelt became America's first judo brown belt.

--John Adams--President no. 2--spoke with a lisp because he refused to wear dentures.

--James Madison--no. 4--was only 5'5" tall and weighed 100 pounds.

--James Buchanan--no. 15--was domestic partners with Alabama Senator William R. King for many years. Although there is no hard evidence of a sexual relationship, Buchanan may have been our first gay president.

--James Garfield--no. 22--could simultaneously write Greek with one hand and Latin with the other.

--William McKinley's--no. 25--wife suffered from epilepsy. If she went into a seizure during a dinner party, he would cover her head with a napkin to prevent guests from having to watch her face contort.

--Herbert Hoover--no. 31--didn't like to look at his servants, so he installed a bell system in the White House. Three rings signaled that he was approaching, meaning it was time for them to hide in a closet or behind a bush.

--No.32: During a speech in 1933, an assassin shot at Franklin Delano Roosevelt five times and hit five people surrounding him. One was the mayor of Chicago, who later died.

--No. 38: Gerald Ford was a male model who once was on the cover of Cosmopolitan.

--The job of sniffing out truffles used to be exclusively pigs' domain. Not anymore. Poodles are the choice to hunt truffles these days. Apparently, they are easier to train.