Is it just me?

Any time I don't really enjoy something that seems universally praised, I have a bad habit of asking myself: did I just not get it? But then I also sometimes wonder: when art is so widely praised, is it because others have asked themselves that same question, and continue said praise so as to avoid looking like they didn't get it?

I call this the Thin Red Line syndrome.

I have shades of this syndrome after finishing The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss. I really liked Leo, one of the main characters, but have to admit to being tired of the lots-of-different-storylines-coming-together-at-the-end thing that seems to have plagued literature in recent years. I was not overly impressed by the book as a whole, and certainly never found myself "vertiginously excit[ed]," but again, maybe you have to be a critic to get that excited about a novel? Tough call.

For me, I'll give this book a C+; I finished it, and I enjoyed looking at the world through Leo's eyes, but overall, I feel this book is overhyped.

[yawn]

What happened this year? There are always some fun upsets and buzzer beaters in the first round, but I don't remember a year of March Madness where the Final Four and championship games were all so god-awful boring. Twenty-point routs I expect in a 1-16 matchup, not in the Final Four.

But no worries, NCAA...we'll be back next year.

WOW!

Just watched the season finale of The Shield (we taped it last week, and are just now getting around to it...I realize this makes me sound incredibly old, but I just can't stay up that late to watch it, and we don't have TiVo...damn it!), and I still believe that it is consistently the best drama on television. I realize that there is another show that some people may vote for in that category, but I don't have HBO, so my voting field is narrower.

Can't wait for next season.

George Who?

Yeah, I had never heard of them either, but they have certainly made all of us take notice. Here is their athletic site, here is their university's main page, and here is a historical information page where you can learn more about the man behind the name.

How to kill your office copier AND win your office pool

Ahhh...so this is how to win in March.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Three more down...

Finished the Dublin (California) St. Pat's Day 5K yesterday; the good news is that I (a) finished, (b) am not too sore this morning, and (c) got the cool t-shirt I can send to my brother. The not-as-good news is that I was not in top form: I mananged to run the first mile, as usual, but then was in some somewhat serious ankle/leg pain for the second and part of the third mile. I have been using the recent weather as a great excuse not to get out and run in the mornings for the past several weeks leading up to yesterday's race, and it showed.

Time to step it up if I'm going to be ready for May.

Hey, Malkovich! You suck!

Is this real? If it was any other actor, I would automatically say yes, but Malkovich...?

p.s. if you are looking at this while at work, don't click on the t-shirt models...not something you want people to see over your shoulder.

Worst. Bracket. Ever.

"Eh." That was my general feeling yesterday when we watched the Brackets get announced, and realized that NONE of the teams in the dance that we would like to see are in our region. Is that looking a gift horse dead in his smelly mouth? Maybe. Am I still thrilled that next week I will be seeing some Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games live? You bet.

But do I wish that we were going to have a chance to see several other teams in person? Yeah.

Hell, I was even hoping to see the Scooby Doos.

Drink and Fight!

WAY too funny, and her willingness to do this is a large part of the reason I think Natalie is fantastic. WHAT?!

No Shining Moment

My Colonels, who won the OVC tournament last year and thus secured their first NCAA tournament bid in decades, got stomped in the opening round of the OVC tournament last night, thus ending their hopes for a return to the Big Dance.

Travis, why did you leave?

About time!

Finally, our pets will start earning their keep! They have been sleeping and eating for free long enough; it's about time they became contributing members of the household.

Not Chalmers

I had some free time this evening, and started trying to track down the answer to a question I had while watching Avenue Q last week at the Wynn: did the producers of this show have to pay Gary Coleman to keep him from suing them?

In the course of trying to track down that answer, I found this fascinating site that, for anyone who wants the purest distillation of a celebrity's Q Rating into dollars (and said celebrity's willingness to talk to you for said dollars), is truly fun to search through.

By the way, I haven't found my answer yet, but given that Gary's speaking fees don't even come in at the $5K level, my guess is the producers of the show probably gave Gary some sandwiches...and told him no, he could not play himself!

A Movie Slowly

About a year ago, I was excited to see a preview for a movie version of Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly, allegedly coming out last summer/fall. I really enjoyed the book, and was interested in seeing how they would use a combination of live-action and animation to differentiate between the split personalities of the lead character. I waited.

And waited.

Here we are, well into 2006, and still no movie. I found this article that explains some of the problems they were (and are still) having; even if you haven't heard of the book, it is an interesting look at the nexus that increasingly exists between film making as an art and as a technical process (as well as the studio process that funds both, and how their constraints affect the overall project). An interesting read.

How I love the Fertile Valleys!

That's what my Spanish dictionary says "Las Vegas" actually means. Huh.

We just got back from our latest Vegas escapade, and it was a great trip. We got upgraded to a suite at our hotel, which included both a whirlpool jacuzzi and fantastic view right down the Strip. We saw a hilarious show, which made me laugh out loud (as well as question my career path; I should have been a puppeteer!) for the whole shortened production. And of course, we ate way too much.

But best of all, we played a lot of poker. In the five tournaments we managed to play in, I made the final table three times, with one money finish (3rd). My better half made two final tables, with one money finish (also 3rd). But best of all, if you add up all of our buy-ins, and then balance that against our winnings, we lost a grand total of $13 dollars. Between the two of us. Over three days, or about 11 hours of total playing time.

That's a win in my book.

So close...

Played in an online poker tournament last night, and did really well...but not well enough. Managed to make it to fourth place; good, right? The painful part? Prize money was only awarded to the top three.

I think I would have rather been put out in 256th place and gotten the extra sleep.

Same reason Seinfeld returned the blazer...

Last night's episode of Lost [WARNING: that link has spoilers, but also some cool side notes, esp. about the waitress!] reminded me of why I not only love this show, but the whole stranded-on-an-island motif ala Lord of the Flies: how much of our behavior is influenced/controlled by laws and society, and how much is influenced by our own moral code? More to the point: if the laws were not enforced, would you still obey them?

The show has done a wonderful job of filling in the backstories, but I am pleased to see that since we now know everyone a little better, we are moving forward. After all, by my count, these people have lived on this island for about two months now, and while I (somewhat) believe that the immediate shock of the plane crash and the instinct for survival may have allowed the island dwellers to work together for a while, the frayed edges are finally starting to poke out, and that is where I think this show is going to go to a whole new level of interesting.

Flying away on a wing and a prayer...

My brother has been awarded the highest honor in the Louisville Fire Department, and at least two local newspapers were on hand to report the story. Both articles include pictures, and even though the Louisville article is more about the fire department as a whole (as opposed to the local Bardstown article that is just about Brian), I won't hold it against them.

I am not sure what I am more proud of: my brother's actions in the line of duty, or his sweet new 'stache!

Louisville Courier-Journal: Firefighters honored for valiant work

The Kentucky Standard: Local man becomes Louisville fire hero

BTW, I'm more proud of his actions...but that 'stache comes in a close second!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

I celebrated Chinese New Year yesterday by completing the Chinatown YMCA Year of the Dog 5K, and I am pleased to say that it went as planned: ran the first mile, walked the second, and ran the third. I did this one about five minutes faster than the one back in November, which probably doesn't mean a whole lot (this one had a couple of downhill parts), but it made me feel good (esp. after the corresponding uphill parts).

What didn't make me feel as good was the large number of dogs with race numbers...who beat me. This particularly cheeky husky kept glancing back at me with this look that seemed to say, "Really? That's the best you've got? I've had five litters of puppies, for Christ's sake!" Bitch.

And we live on Av...Goodnight!

Earlier this week, I was reading this article in Newsweek about the failure of Broadway shows in Vegas, and how new and existing shows are "trimming down," meaning they are cutting out intermissions and even editing out some content to get the overall running time down to an all-American hour and half. I mentioned this to my wife, and we agreed that we sure hope things are okay for our trip in February, since we've already purchased tix to see Avenue Q.

Guess who called yesterday? A helpful operator from the Wynn, asking us which other performance we'd rather see, since they are canceling the one we reserved, cutting the number of shows they perform per week, and eliminating the intermission. The operator assured us that they are not losing content, but of course, I've never seen the show, so how the hell would I know, anyway?

Those puppets are going to get a piece of my mind. Excuse me...Felt Americans.

Strutting with Ron

Added some good 70s funk to my iPod this weekend. Groovy.

This morning, while I was coming up out of the BART and walking down the gray streets of Oakland, the random song that popped up was "Superfly," by Curtis Mayfield. Groovier.

Now, if you've seen the movie, you know that it (like Shaft before it) starts with Ron O'Neal strutting down the gray streets of New York. Super groovy.

Am I super fly? No. Am I even a little fly? Probably not. But did I strut just a little as I listened to the song, imagining myself in the lead role as the credits rolled by, and therefore, for one shining moment, was myself a little groovy? You bet.