Saturday, July 30, 2005
Strange Visitor from Another World
The Summer of Invisible Ben marches on, and I continue to squander it. Sleeping late (I really need a new alarm clock. Using the sun just isn't working out.),going to the library to study chemistry, borrowing movies from the library, and then watching them at night. It's something of a vicious cycle, generally interrupted by the occasional pub trivia game or personal errand. With August nearly here, I suppose lesson planning will also have to come into play, but I'll probably wait until after my chemistry exam next week before that kicks into gear.
All the same however, a break in routine is almost always welcome once one has dug himself into a rut, and that's why I was so glad to receive an e-mail the other day from Deep Throat. No, not the Watergate Deep Throat: my friend from high school whose dynamic frisbee style earned him that laryngological nickname. Apparently, he would be in town on Friday and was interested in grabbing lunch and catching up on old times. I had a Jay Sherman moment as I checked my schedule ("Manic...depressive...manic...depressive..."), and quickly decided to e-mail him back in the affirmative.
Which is why if you checked on my location on Friday afternoon, you would have discovered me in the Invisible Benmobile searching the streets of downtown for a lone man wearing sunglasses. After picking Throat up, we drove to my favorite gastropub only to discover it is closed for lunch. So then it was to the south end of town for delicious cheesesteaks. I taught Throat how to order properly (wiz-wit'), though he still refused to accept the merits of cheese whiz on a steak and went for provolone. He soon received a greasy comeuppance for his choice of cheese however when the sandwich dripped what seemed to be several tons of juices on his shirt. And this was powerful grease. Not like that crap you might see up north. This grease'll swallow ya whole!
After a brief tour of the city and a cool, refreshing water ice, it was back to the Invisible Penthouse where we hung out, attempted to defeat the grease that had eaten Throat's shirt, and trounced the computer in a game of Ultimate Risk. Then it was off once more to the gastropub for dinner. Of course, no one could have known there would be a flood. You know you're in trouble when biblical style disasters are standing between you and your dinner. A water main break had left a miniature pond for several blocks around the restaurant and no cars were permitted to drive anywhere past the police line. But, all was not lost. We parked on an open side street, and braved the dangers to get to the pub.
While Throat enjoyed the cask-aged ales and boar chops and I chowed down on duck salad and fried oysters (it's a gastropub after all!), we caught up on old times. The core group of my high school friends still keeps in close touch and live near each other in Boston, and although I had been up to visit in March, since I started teaching, Throat was the first of their lot to drop down here and check on the fort, as it were. In fact, save for a few sporadic instant messages, lately I have heard next to nothing from the rest of them. So it's good to know the Skiing Chemist, Mathman, Ramblin' Dave, Caseator, and the rest are all still alive and doing well. After dinner, we returned to my place for dessert. I had made fudge for an event held the previous evening and still had leftovers. Throat approved, which was something of a compliment coming from a gourmand such as himself.
We both had early appointments the following morning, so it was soon off to bed. Throat had a wedding to get to and I was due for a trip to the shore. I can't really speak for the wedding, but the shore was actually a lot of fun. And this despite the fact that I burn up quicker than flash paper in a stove factory. The water was comfortable and because I am legally blind sans glasses, I couldn't see the jellyfish over which everyone else kept panicking. Beach frisbee was a lot of fun, even if my forehand kept getting caught up by the winds. Oh, and we played Uno, and kept score, which really teaches you to use those Draw 2's right quickly or risk getting penalized for your hesitation. Returned home exhausted and sunburned (nothing worse than a burnt scalp) and after watching some television, collapsed.
The next day, Throat returned back to the city following the wedding. I had no idea there were regulation Beer Pong tables out there, complete with cup holders, but apparently these things exist and they had them at the party. Which tells you something, I think about the sophistication of the whole affair. I always find it odd to hear that friends of mine are getting married. Weren't we just in high school? Things are moving faster all the time, I guess. Throat and I went off to my old elementary school to throw the Frisbee around. Forehand worked a lot better without beach winds to blow it off course. Sadly, I didn't feel quite as comfortable diving as I had on the sand, but every field has its pluses and minuses. We had just enough time following frisbee to get ready for dinner at a fancy sushi restaurant (run by and named for an Iron Chef, no less). The tempura rock shrimp and salmon roll I got were good, but paled somewhat in comparison to Throat's yellowtail pastrami (home cured for 12 days before serving!) and sea bass. We both got very good desserts: a wasabi tiramisu and a citrus panna cotta (a custard like dish served with a strawberry-pineapple salsa and cherry sherbet).
On the walk back to the car we discovered that the city's African-American history museum is a mere stone's throw away from a federal detention center. A bit of irony to wrap up the weekend, as Throat was now minutes away from missing the airport shuttle. I dropped him off and then went to pub trivia where yet again my team fell victim to the raging round robin. But it was still good fun. Especially since one of the people in attendance had played frisbee with Throat in college, earning the nickname Statutory. I doubt he'll mention that to the students he'll be teaching in New York come September.
I found out later that Throat did miss the shuttle, but caught a later train and was able to get home safely, and just in time for a trip to Minnesota. Busy, busy, busy those Bostonians. Always something going on. It's good they can sometimes take time out from their schedules to check up on old friends down south.
The Summer of Invisible Ben marches on, and I continue to squander it. Sleeping late (I really need a new alarm clock. Using the sun just isn't working out.),going to the library to study chemistry, borrowing movies from the library, and then watching them at night. It's something of a vicious cycle, generally interrupted by the occasional pub trivia game or personal errand. With August nearly here, I suppose lesson planning will also have to come into play, but I'll probably wait until after my chemistry exam next week before that kicks into gear.
All the same however, a break in routine is almost always welcome once one has dug himself into a rut, and that's why I was so glad to receive an e-mail the other day from Deep Throat. No, not the Watergate Deep Throat: my friend from high school whose dynamic frisbee style earned him that laryngological nickname. Apparently, he would be in town on Friday and was interested in grabbing lunch and catching up on old times. I had a Jay Sherman moment as I checked my schedule ("Manic...depressive...manic...depressive..."), and quickly decided to e-mail him back in the affirmative.
Which is why if you checked on my location on Friday afternoon, you would have discovered me in the Invisible Benmobile searching the streets of downtown for a lone man wearing sunglasses. After picking Throat up, we drove to my favorite gastropub only to discover it is closed for lunch. So then it was to the south end of town for delicious cheesesteaks. I taught Throat how to order properly (wiz-wit'), though he still refused to accept the merits of cheese whiz on a steak and went for provolone. He soon received a greasy comeuppance for his choice of cheese however when the sandwich dripped what seemed to be several tons of juices on his shirt. And this was powerful grease. Not like that crap you might see up north. This grease'll swallow ya whole!
After a brief tour of the city and a cool, refreshing water ice, it was back to the Invisible Penthouse where we hung out, attempted to defeat the grease that had eaten Throat's shirt, and trounced the computer in a game of Ultimate Risk. Then it was off once more to the gastropub for dinner. Of course, no one could have known there would be a flood. You know you're in trouble when biblical style disasters are standing between you and your dinner. A water main break had left a miniature pond for several blocks around the restaurant and no cars were permitted to drive anywhere past the police line. But, all was not lost. We parked on an open side street, and braved the dangers to get to the pub.
While Throat enjoyed the cask-aged ales and boar chops and I chowed down on duck salad and fried oysters (it's a gastropub after all!), we caught up on old times. The core group of my high school friends still keeps in close touch and live near each other in Boston, and although I had been up to visit in March, since I started teaching, Throat was the first of their lot to drop down here and check on the fort, as it were. In fact, save for a few sporadic instant messages, lately I have heard next to nothing from the rest of them. So it's good to know the Skiing Chemist, Mathman, Ramblin' Dave, Caseator, and the rest are all still alive and doing well. After dinner, we returned to my place for dessert. I had made fudge for an event held the previous evening and still had leftovers. Throat approved, which was something of a compliment coming from a gourmand such as himself.
We both had early appointments the following morning, so it was soon off to bed. Throat had a wedding to get to and I was due for a trip to the shore. I can't really speak for the wedding, but the shore was actually a lot of fun. And this despite the fact that I burn up quicker than flash paper in a stove factory. The water was comfortable and because I am legally blind sans glasses, I couldn't see the jellyfish over which everyone else kept panicking. Beach frisbee was a lot of fun, even if my forehand kept getting caught up by the winds. Oh, and we played Uno, and kept score, which really teaches you to use those Draw 2's right quickly or risk getting penalized for your hesitation. Returned home exhausted and sunburned (nothing worse than a burnt scalp) and after watching some television, collapsed.
The next day, Throat returned back to the city following the wedding. I had no idea there were regulation Beer Pong tables out there, complete with cup holders, but apparently these things exist and they had them at the party. Which tells you something, I think about the sophistication of the whole affair. I always find it odd to hear that friends of mine are getting married. Weren't we just in high school? Things are moving faster all the time, I guess. Throat and I went off to my old elementary school to throw the Frisbee around. Forehand worked a lot better without beach winds to blow it off course. Sadly, I didn't feel quite as comfortable diving as I had on the sand, but every field has its pluses and minuses. We had just enough time following frisbee to get ready for dinner at a fancy sushi restaurant (run by and named for an Iron Chef, no less). The tempura rock shrimp and salmon roll I got were good, but paled somewhat in comparison to Throat's yellowtail pastrami (home cured for 12 days before serving!) and sea bass. We both got very good desserts: a wasabi tiramisu and a citrus panna cotta (a custard like dish served with a strawberry-pineapple salsa and cherry sherbet).
On the walk back to the car we discovered that the city's African-American history museum is a mere stone's throw away from a federal detention center. A bit of irony to wrap up the weekend, as Throat was now minutes away from missing the airport shuttle. I dropped him off and then went to pub trivia where yet again my team fell victim to the raging round robin. But it was still good fun. Especially since one of the people in attendance had played frisbee with Throat in college, earning the nickname Statutory. I doubt he'll mention that to the students he'll be teaching in New York come September.
I found out later that Throat did miss the shuttle, but caught a later train and was able to get home safely, and just in time for a trip to Minnesota. Busy, busy, busy those Bostonians. Always something going on. It's good they can sometimes take time out from their schedules to check up on old friends down south.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
A Fast Read
Stupid Harry Potter. I go to the bookstore to study chemistry and there's Harry Potter 6, just lying there asking to be read. I figured I could just read a few chapters and then get to work. But no. I arrived around noon and took an hour break in the middle to take notes on kinetics...but by 5:30, I had finished the book.
Damn you, J.K. Rowling and your cliffhanger endings!
Stupid Harry Potter. I go to the bookstore to study chemistry and there's Harry Potter 6, just lying there asking to be read. I figured I could just read a few chapters and then get to work. But no. I arrived around noon and took an hour break in the middle to take notes on kinetics...but by 5:30, I had finished the book.
Damn you, J.K. Rowling and your cliffhanger endings!
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
E-mail Update
Not that many of you take advantage of the InvisiblE-mail, but for those of you who do, take note. I have decided to get with the times and switch over from a hotmail account (invisibleben@hotmail.com) to a shiny new Gmail account (theinvisibleben@gmail.com).
I'll still check the old e-mail from time to time, but the link to the right has been updated. So g-mail me at your convenience!
Not that many of you take advantage of the InvisiblE-mail, but for those of you who do, take note. I have decided to get with the times and switch over from a hotmail account (invisibleben@hotmail.com) to a shiny new Gmail account (theinvisibleben@gmail.com).
I'll still check the old e-mail from time to time, but the link to the right has been updated. So g-mail me at your convenience!
Monday, July 18, 2005
Stuck in my Car Hole
One benefit of living in an apartment building, as opposed to renting a flat, is that I have the option of reserving a spot in the building's underground garage. And believe me, during the winter it is a wonderful thing not to have to scrape off the ice from the windshield or worry about digging out a parking spot on the street. I have never had a reason to complain about my parking accommodations since I moved in here about a year ago.
But then yesterday, the thunderstorms came. They didn't seem particularly serious, but wouldn't you know it? One of those lightning bolts strikes a transformer, and bam all power is down. Now, moving beyond the obvious convenience of having access to television, a computer, and so forth, on a rainy day, this meant air conditioning was no longer an option. Or, you know, lights. All in all, it made sense to leave until things were going to be fixed. And fortunately enough, it being Sunday, I had pub trivia already planned.
So, I walk from the 18th floor down to the basement, and am pleasantly surprised to see that the underground hallway to the garage has lighting. Emergency generators! And hey, look, there are lights in the garage. Well...half of the garage. The half farther away from the garage door.
Yes, wouldn't you know it? They have emergency generators powering the laundry room, but not the garage doors. So, if I needed to do laundry during a blackout, I'd have somewhere to go. But in the event of a medical emergency that required driving to the hospital...no luck. And no one in maintenance seemed to know a way around the problem either, which is rather disheartening.
I basically resigned myself not to attending the game, but then a phone call from a team mate meant that I could catch a ride. Just so that I could show up and discover that due to the bad weather, pub trivia was canceled. And when I got home? Still no power for a few hours.
But at least now I can blog about it, so there we are.
One benefit of living in an apartment building, as opposed to renting a flat, is that I have the option of reserving a spot in the building's underground garage. And believe me, during the winter it is a wonderful thing not to have to scrape off the ice from the windshield or worry about digging out a parking spot on the street. I have never had a reason to complain about my parking accommodations since I moved in here about a year ago.
But then yesterday, the thunderstorms came. They didn't seem particularly serious, but wouldn't you know it? One of those lightning bolts strikes a transformer, and bam all power is down. Now, moving beyond the obvious convenience of having access to television, a computer, and so forth, on a rainy day, this meant air conditioning was no longer an option. Or, you know, lights. All in all, it made sense to leave until things were going to be fixed. And fortunately enough, it being Sunday, I had pub trivia already planned.
So, I walk from the 18th floor down to the basement, and am pleasantly surprised to see that the underground hallway to the garage has lighting. Emergency generators! And hey, look, there are lights in the garage. Well...half of the garage. The half farther away from the garage door.
Yes, wouldn't you know it? They have emergency generators powering the laundry room, but not the garage doors. So, if I needed to do laundry during a blackout, I'd have somewhere to go. But in the event of a medical emergency that required driving to the hospital...no luck. And no one in maintenance seemed to know a way around the problem either, which is rather disheartening.
I basically resigned myself not to attending the game, but then a phone call from a team mate meant that I could catch a ride. Just so that I could show up and discover that due to the bad weather, pub trivia was canceled. And when I got home? Still no power for a few hours.
But at least now I can blog about it, so there we are.
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Harry Potter and the Information Superhighway
A long time ago there was an ordinary (dare I say, Muggle) professor of science at a local school of um...wizardry. Yeah, wizardry. And this professor needed to become certified in um...potions...before teaching the course to a bunch of third-years come September. Now normally, he would study for his exams at the local book emporium, but unfortunately at midnight this morning the latest exciting volume outlining the life of that remarkable young wizard, Harry Potter, was released. And now, I fear, the whole place will be crazier than a hippogriff in a wand shop. Or something.
In any event, the New York Times review of the latest Potter text as "the darkest and most unsettling yet." Which if memory serves is what they have been saying since the Goblet of Fire. One wonders exactly how dark things are going to get by the end of Book 7. "This book is so very terrifying," I imagine the reviews beginning, "that small children, the elderly, and those with heart problems have been forbidden by the Surgeon General from even considering reading Chapters 26-28 which contain images so disturbing that J.K. Rowling herself has been consigned to an asylum for a psychiatric evaluation."
But you will not to imagine about the plot or content of Book 6...not anymore. Because even if you don't own the book or have access to an unreserved copy and your local bookstore, you can already find summaries of the first 17 chapters on Wikipedia. That's right. The book has been out since midnight. And in the past 11 or so hours, more than half the book's plot is available for you right now. For free. Not quite as well-crafted as Rowling's original, no doubt. But the facts are there for all to see.
UPDATE: The downside of Wikipedia (as someone once said of democracy) is that it relies on the people. So sometimes you'll find chapter summaries like this one: "Harry accidentally meets George Bush senior while leaving a toilet. The American president suddenly turns into Monsieur Volde-merde, a french criminal." Harry accidentally meets George Bush senior while leaving a toilet. The American president suddenly turns into Monsieur Volde-merde, a french criminal." This will almost certainly be corrected within the next few minutes...but it's still amusing.
UPDATE 2: Further adventures with Wikipedia: Warning, this updates have graphic langauge and may not be suitable for anyone.
A long time ago there was an ordinary (dare I say, Muggle) professor of science at a local school of um...wizardry. Yeah, wizardry. And this professor needed to become certified in um...potions...before teaching the course to a bunch of third-years come September. Now normally, he would study for his exams at the local book emporium, but unfortunately at midnight this morning the latest exciting volume outlining the life of that remarkable young wizard, Harry Potter, was released. And now, I fear, the whole place will be crazier than a hippogriff in a wand shop. Or something.
In any event, the New York Times review of the latest Potter text as "the darkest and most unsettling yet." Which if memory serves is what they have been saying since the Goblet of Fire. One wonders exactly how dark things are going to get by the end of Book 7. "This book is so very terrifying," I imagine the reviews beginning, "that small children, the elderly, and those with heart problems have been forbidden by the Surgeon General from even considering reading Chapters 26-28 which contain images so disturbing that J.K. Rowling herself has been consigned to an asylum for a psychiatric evaluation."
But you will not to imagine about the plot or content of Book 6...not anymore. Because even if you don't own the book or have access to an unreserved copy and your local bookstore, you can already find summaries of the first 17 chapters on Wikipedia. That's right. The book has been out since midnight. And in the past 11 or so hours, more than half the book's plot is available for you right now. For free. Not quite as well-crafted as Rowling's original, no doubt. But the facts are there for all to see.
UPDATE: The downside of Wikipedia (as someone once said of democracy) is that it relies on the people. So sometimes you'll find chapter summaries like this one: "Harry accidentally meets George Bush senior while leaving a toilet. The American president suddenly turns into Monsieur Volde-merde, a french criminal." Harry accidentally meets George Bush senior while leaving a toilet. The American president suddenly turns into Monsieur Volde-merde, a french criminal." This will almost certainly be corrected within the next few minutes...but it's still amusing.
UPDATE 2: Further adventures with Wikipedia: Warning, this updates have graphic langauge and may not be suitable for anyone.
-
Chapter 18: Birthday Surprises
EAT MY BALLS
-
Chapter 20: Lord Voldemort's Request
Harry Potter is killed at Lord Voldemort's request, but is later brought back to life by Hermione's stew. Yeah, and cows are flying...
-
Chapter 24: Sectumsempra
loltheinternet
-
Chapter 28: Flight of the Prince
pleaseupdate
-
Chapter 30: The White Tomb
[Chapter summary]
THEN THEY ALL HAVE BUTTSEX. THE END.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Krimpet
For those of you wondering what a chocolate labradoodle looks like:
(Aren't you glad blogger now has an official "upload images" option?)
For those of you wondering what a chocolate labradoodle looks like:
(Aren't you glad blogger now has an official "upload images" option?)
Thursday, July 14, 2005
A Life in the Day
So those of you who have kept pace with this blog or with me for more than a year know that today, in addition to being the anniversary of the Mariner 4 Mars flyby, John Adams' passage of the Sedition Acts, and Hank Aaron's joining the 500 home run club is my birthday. A quick check in the Invisible Archive indicates that last year I spent a lot of time musing over the relative significance (or lack thereof) of the day. A year later, I can't say that I've fully reconciled my feelings of sentimentality towards the occasion and the realization that in the grand scheme of things, birthdays are nothing more than an odometer clicking between miles. Earth goes around the sun and so it goes... (poo-too-weet!)
Ok, cheesy Vonnegut references aside, it was 24 years ago today that Invisible Ben first hit the scene. 24 is not a particularly interesting birthday, although 24 itself is an interesting number. In addition to being the sum of two primes (11+13), it is also 4! (That's 4 factorial...not an overly agitated 4.) Thanks to the networking geniuses at Fox, I also know that 24 is the number of hours in a day. So if we were to compress my life so far into the course of a typical day, it would look something like this:
12:00 AM-1:00 AM: 0 Years Old (1981)
Major Life Skills: Crawling, Holding my breath until I turned blue.
Favorite Song: "Turkey in the Straw"
Main Hobby: Sleeping, Getting pushed on a swing
1:00 AM-2:00 AM: 1 Years Old (1982)
Major Life Skills: Walking, Falling down, Nonsensical rambling (and I just kept on going with it...)
Favorite TV Show: Sesame Street
Strange new interests: Doors, pine cones
2:00 AM-3:00 AM: 2 Years Old (1983)
Major Life Skills: Reading, Walking without falling down as much.
Favorite Books: The Cat in the Hat, Are You My Mother?
Favorite animated movie: Winnie the Pooh
3:00 AM-4:00 AM: 3 Years Old (1984)
Major Life Skills: Ignoring newly arrived (and painfully adorable) younger sister, Writing my name (messily)
Favorite global superpower: Oceania
Favorite Care Bear: Grumpy
4:00 AM-5:00 AM: 4 Years Old (1985)
Major Life Skills: Blocks (building things and destroying them), Bicycle riding with training wheels
Major Deficiencies: Artistic ability, refusal to color inside the lines
Favorite Comic Strip: Calvin and Hobbes
5:00 AM-6:00 AM: 5 Years Old (1986)
Major Life Skills: Paleontology, Arm breaking (stupid training wheels got caught in a pothole!)
Life Altering Moments: My first day of kindergarten, the death of Optimus Prime
Earliest sports memory: Attending a Phillies game at Veteran's Stadium
6:00 AM-7:00 AM: 6 Years Old (1987)
Major Life Skills: Bicycle riding (without training wheels), Fundamental math facts (after a lot of practice)
New favorite continent: Australia
Least favorite dish: Tuna a la King
7:00 AM-8:00 AM: 7 Years Old (1988)
Major Life Skills: Astronomy, Baseball, Typing
Deeply wanted: A Nintendo Enterntainment System (8 bit)
Hero: Phillies 3rd baseman Mike Schmidt...and then he retired.
8:00 AM-9:00 AM: 8 Years Old (1989)
Major Life Skills: A detailed appreciation of Greek mythology...ok, this was not a life skill. Esp. not in 3rd grade.
Earliest memory of potential for paradox in film: Back to the Future - Part II in the theaters.
Stores open near my house at the time that are no longer around: Bradlee's, Caldor, and that restaurant specializing in pie...
9:00 AM-10:00 AM: 9 Years Old (1990)
Major Life Skills: A brief interest in astrology, street hockey
Newfound appreciation for: Lobsters and other non-kosher dishes.
Wait...they took that off the air?: No more ALF? Mr. Belvedere? You Can't Do That on Television?
10:00 AM-11:00 AM: 10 Years Old (1991)
Major Life Skills: Sledding, Commodore 64 computer gaming
Creepy Coincidence: John Heinz's helicopter crash over the playground at my old elementary school.
Fun new word to spell: Schwartzkopf
11:00 AM-12:00 PM: 11 Years Old (1992)
Major Life Skills: Playing the trumpet, Carmen Sandiego computer games
Distinct cinema memories: Home Alone 2, Aladdin
Musical taste ranged towards: Billy Joel, Beach Boys, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Weird Al Yankovic
12:00 PM-1:00 PM: 12 Years Old (1993)
Major Life Skills: Geography comes into its own, amateur radio
I got to meet...: TV's own Alex Trebek!
Hey cool!: A new Star Trek series. Not quite as awesome as Time Trax or Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, but it shows promise!
1:00 PM-2:00 PM: 13 Years Old (1994)
Major Life Skills: Reading Hebrew, singing in the school chorus, boomerang throwing
My Torah portion: Korach-the tale of a rebellious Levite who attempted to overthrow Moses
First movie with a website: Stargate (deemed too strange at the time to EVER make a TV series)
2:00 PM-3:00 PM: 14 Years Old (1995)
Major Life Skills: Gilbert and Sullivan patter songs, Magic: The Gathering (yeah...I admit it.)
Inspiration for patter songs: Gilda Radner's appearance on the Muppet Show.
THAC0 stands for: To hit armor class 0.
3:00 PM-4:00 PM: 15 Years Old (1996)
Major Life Skills: Ultimate frisbee, winning televised high school trivia competitions
Which was cooler...: Sengir Vampires or Serra Angels? The world may never know.
You do not smoke a...: Messerschmitt
What I thought was a great movie: Independence Day
4:00 PM-5:00 PM: 16 Years Old (1997)
Major Life Skills: Driving!, Seizing control of high school extracurricular activities
Nerdiest television interest: Babylon 5.
And we all learned to hate: Leonardo diCaprio and Celine Dion
5:00 PM-6:00 PM: 17 Years Old (1998)
Major Life Skills: Precalculus, Spanish
Must See TV: Still had Seinfeld and therefore did not entirely suck.
Definition remains hazy: What does "is" mean?
6:00 PM-7:00 PM: 18 Years Old (1999)
Major Life Skills: College bowl, brief interest in carilloning
Newfound appreciation for: C. Montgomery Burns, Nick Carraway, the tables down at Mory's
Egyptian canopic guardian of the intestine: Qebschesnef
7:00 PM-8:00 PM: 19 Years Old (2000)
Major Life Skills: Humor writing, a capella singing
Y2K Bug: Kinda fizzled out.
Harry Potter, Book 4: Very dense for a children's book.
8:00 PM-9:00 PM: 20 Years Old (2001)
Major Life Skills: Phone interviews (for radio news stories), serious paper writing, German
What the hell?: The flew planes...into...and...Damn.
Dude!: Fellowship of the Ring is awesome. You totally have to check it out!
9:00 PM-10:00 PM: 21 Years Old (2002)
Major Life Skills: Legal drinking, game show hosting, Super Smash Bros. Melee
Say goodnight: To Uncle Miltie, A Man Called Horse, and Zira...that damned dirty ape.
My shortlived archnemesis: Señor Essay
10:00 PM-11:00 PM: 22 Years Old (2003)
Major Life Skills: Teaching social studies...or physics...or English as a second language...or math...or physical science. Oh, and blogging.
Interesting new synonyms: smart and ignorant
New neighbors: The friendly crack dealer across the street, the stoop sitters down the road.
11:00 PM-12:00 AM: 23 Years Old (2004)
Major Life Skills: Nanotechnology research, pub trivia
On a scale of 1-10, student respect level is: 5 (which is good...before it was a 3)
What I learned in the movies: Tritium is very precious, and it looks like a solid gold sphere.
The next day: 12:00 AM-1:00 AM: 24 Years Old (2005)
Major Life Skills: To be determined...
Current Age?: 8,760 days. We can only wonder what will happen tomorrow...
Thanks to all the well-wishers, esp. the Invisible Mom and Dad without whom none of this would be possible. And a happy Bastille Day to all.
So those of you who have kept pace with this blog or with me for more than a year know that today, in addition to being the anniversary of the Mariner 4 Mars flyby, John Adams' passage of the Sedition Acts, and Hank Aaron's joining the 500 home run club is my birthday. A quick check in the Invisible Archive indicates that last year I spent a lot of time musing over the relative significance (or lack thereof) of the day. A year later, I can't say that I've fully reconciled my feelings of sentimentality towards the occasion and the realization that in the grand scheme of things, birthdays are nothing more than an odometer clicking between miles. Earth goes around the sun and so it goes... (poo-too-weet!)
Ok, cheesy Vonnegut references aside, it was 24 years ago today that Invisible Ben first hit the scene. 24 is not a particularly interesting birthday, although 24 itself is an interesting number. In addition to being the sum of two primes (11+13), it is also 4! (That's 4 factorial...not an overly agitated 4.) Thanks to the networking geniuses at Fox, I also know that 24 is the number of hours in a day. So if we were to compress my life so far into the course of a typical day, it would look something like this:
12:00 AM-1:00 AM: 0 Years Old (1981)
Major Life Skills: Crawling, Holding my breath until I turned blue.
Favorite Song: "Turkey in the Straw"
Main Hobby: Sleeping, Getting pushed on a swing
1:00 AM-2:00 AM: 1 Years Old (1982)
Major Life Skills: Walking, Falling down, Nonsensical rambling (and I just kept on going with it...)
Favorite TV Show: Sesame Street
Strange new interests: Doors, pine cones
2:00 AM-3:00 AM: 2 Years Old (1983)
Major Life Skills: Reading, Walking without falling down as much.
Favorite Books: The Cat in the Hat, Are You My Mother?
Favorite animated movie: Winnie the Pooh
3:00 AM-4:00 AM: 3 Years Old (1984)
Major Life Skills: Ignoring newly arrived (and painfully adorable) younger sister, Writing my name (messily)
Favorite global superpower: Oceania
Favorite Care Bear: Grumpy
4:00 AM-5:00 AM: 4 Years Old (1985)
Major Life Skills: Blocks (building things and destroying them), Bicycle riding with training wheels
Major Deficiencies: Artistic ability, refusal to color inside the lines
Favorite Comic Strip: Calvin and Hobbes
5:00 AM-6:00 AM: 5 Years Old (1986)
Major Life Skills: Paleontology, Arm breaking (stupid training wheels got caught in a pothole!)
Life Altering Moments: My first day of kindergarten, the death of Optimus Prime
Earliest sports memory: Attending a Phillies game at Veteran's Stadium
6:00 AM-7:00 AM: 6 Years Old (1987)
Major Life Skills: Bicycle riding (without training wheels), Fundamental math facts (after a lot of practice)
New favorite continent: Australia
Least favorite dish: Tuna a la King
7:00 AM-8:00 AM: 7 Years Old (1988)
Major Life Skills: Astronomy, Baseball, Typing
Deeply wanted: A Nintendo Enterntainment System (8 bit)
Hero: Phillies 3rd baseman Mike Schmidt...and then he retired.
8:00 AM-9:00 AM: 8 Years Old (1989)
Major Life Skills: A detailed appreciation of Greek mythology...ok, this was not a life skill. Esp. not in 3rd grade.
Earliest memory of potential for paradox in film: Back to the Future - Part II in the theaters.
Stores open near my house at the time that are no longer around: Bradlee's, Caldor, and that restaurant specializing in pie...
9:00 AM-10:00 AM: 9 Years Old (1990)
Major Life Skills: A brief interest in astrology, street hockey
Newfound appreciation for: Lobsters and other non-kosher dishes.
Wait...they took that off the air?: No more ALF? Mr. Belvedere? You Can't Do That on Television?
10:00 AM-11:00 AM: 10 Years Old (1991)
Major Life Skills: Sledding, Commodore 64 computer gaming
Creepy Coincidence: John Heinz's helicopter crash over the playground at my old elementary school.
Fun new word to spell: Schwartzkopf
11:00 AM-12:00 PM: 11 Years Old (1992)
Major Life Skills: Playing the trumpet, Carmen Sandiego computer games
Distinct cinema memories: Home Alone 2, Aladdin
Musical taste ranged towards: Billy Joel, Beach Boys, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Weird Al Yankovic
12:00 PM-1:00 PM: 12 Years Old (1993)
Major Life Skills: Geography comes into its own, amateur radio
I got to meet...: TV's own Alex Trebek!
Hey cool!: A new Star Trek series. Not quite as awesome as Time Trax or Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, but it shows promise!
1:00 PM-2:00 PM: 13 Years Old (1994)
Major Life Skills: Reading Hebrew, singing in the school chorus, boomerang throwing
My Torah portion: Korach-the tale of a rebellious Levite who attempted to overthrow Moses
First movie with a website: Stargate (deemed too strange at the time to EVER make a TV series)
2:00 PM-3:00 PM: 14 Years Old (1995)
Major Life Skills: Gilbert and Sullivan patter songs, Magic: The Gathering (yeah...I admit it.)
Inspiration for patter songs: Gilda Radner's appearance on the Muppet Show.
THAC0 stands for: To hit armor class 0.
3:00 PM-4:00 PM: 15 Years Old (1996)
Major Life Skills: Ultimate frisbee, winning televised high school trivia competitions
Which was cooler...: Sengir Vampires or Serra Angels? The world may never know.
You do not smoke a...: Messerschmitt
What I thought was a great movie: Independence Day
4:00 PM-5:00 PM: 16 Years Old (1997)
Major Life Skills: Driving!, Seizing control of high school extracurricular activities
Nerdiest television interest: Babylon 5.
And we all learned to hate: Leonardo diCaprio and Celine Dion
5:00 PM-6:00 PM: 17 Years Old (1998)
Major Life Skills: Precalculus, Spanish
Must See TV: Still had Seinfeld and therefore did not entirely suck.
Definition remains hazy: What does "is" mean?
6:00 PM-7:00 PM: 18 Years Old (1999)
Major Life Skills: College bowl, brief interest in carilloning
Newfound appreciation for: C. Montgomery Burns, Nick Carraway, the tables down at Mory's
Egyptian canopic guardian of the intestine: Qebschesnef
7:00 PM-8:00 PM: 19 Years Old (2000)
Major Life Skills: Humor writing, a capella singing
Y2K Bug: Kinda fizzled out.
Harry Potter, Book 4: Very dense for a children's book.
8:00 PM-9:00 PM: 20 Years Old (2001)
Major Life Skills: Phone interviews (for radio news stories), serious paper writing, German
What the hell?: The flew planes...into...and...Damn.
Dude!: Fellowship of the Ring is awesome. You totally have to check it out!
9:00 PM-10:00 PM: 21 Years Old (2002)
Major Life Skills: Legal drinking, game show hosting, Super Smash Bros. Melee
Say goodnight: To Uncle Miltie, A Man Called Horse, and Zira...that damned dirty ape.
My shortlived archnemesis: Señor Essay
10:00 PM-11:00 PM: 22 Years Old (2003)
Major Life Skills: Teaching social studies...or physics...or English as a second language...or math...or physical science. Oh, and blogging.
Interesting new synonyms: smart and ignorant
New neighbors: The friendly crack dealer across the street, the stoop sitters down the road.
11:00 PM-12:00 AM: 23 Years Old (2004)
Major Life Skills: Nanotechnology research, pub trivia
On a scale of 1-10, student respect level is: 5 (which is good...before it was a 3)
What I learned in the movies: Tritium is very precious, and it looks like a solid gold sphere.
The next day: 12:00 AM-1:00 AM: 24 Years Old (2005)
Major Life Skills: To be determined...
Current Age?: 8,760 days. We can only wonder what will happen tomorrow...
Thanks to all the well-wishers, esp. the Invisible Mom and Dad without whom none of this would be possible. And a happy Bastille Day to all.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Random Summer Thoughts
1. Summertime...and this blogger is lazy. Between my broken alarm clock and its tendency to turn itself off and reset the clock to midnight rather than wake me up on time and the lack of official commitments, I have been sleeping more (which is good) but later (which is generally bad).
2. This is not to imply that I have done nothing with my time. I've spent a lot of the early part of my summer studying for a certification test in chemistry. I can now distinguish effectively between molarity and molality, provide the electron configuration of damn near any atom I see fit, and properly pronounce and solve problems involving "nucular" half-life. But I'm still gonna get thrown off by kinetics, acid-base reactions, and VSEPR unless I crack down, so I'll be hitting the library later today.
3. Speaking of the library, I can not recommend libraries enough as a source of summer reading/viewing/listening. Why pay money for these things? There are libraries out there with growing DVD collections! This summer alone, I have gotten to watch Spartacus, Scent of a Woman (hoo-hah!), and Hidalgo. Yeah...I don't know what I was thinking on that last one either.
4. Science studying and movie viewing aside, my biggest new summer past time is pub trivia. I went to three separate games last week. Sadly, placed no higher than second. But the game continues...and maybe I'll win another golf shirt based on my knowledge of children's literature. (Roald Dahl is awesome, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.)
5. While Dahl is fresh on my mind, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory looks interesting and worth seeing in the theaters. Granted, Gene Wilder's performance as Wonka was damn near perfect, but the rest of that film was...not. I'm very curious to see what Burton can pull off with a script that's closer to the original source material.
6. To recap: Charlie + Chocolate Factory = worth seeing in theaters.
Fantastic 4 = not.
Ebert gave it one star. Even my comic book loving friends could muster up only a half-hearted review. This is not a proud day for geeks.
7. From the "things not worth seeing" file: Delaware. A friend of mine had tickets to a baseball game in Baltimore and we ended up having to drive through the nation's second-smallest state to get there. At one point we were trapped behind a bus that said "Delaware Express Tours." Considering the state is about the size of a postage stamp, how fast can you really tour it without missing the whole thing?
8. From the"things worth seeing" file: Camden Yards...still one of my favorite stadiums (stadia?). Plus I got to meet up with my friend Amanda for the first time since she returned from teaching in Kazakhstan. We devised a new scheme to infiltrate the Peace Corps...for fiendish purposes. (villainous mustache twirl)
9. From the "things I don't want to see, but have to..." file: Dentist. Going today. Really don't want to go, but considering how long it's been since my teeth have been examined, I suppose it's about time. The secret word for today is "novocaine."
10. Oh, and because my Invisible Sister may be reading this somewhere in Europe, I finally got to catch three episodes of the new Battlestar Galactica on Sunday. They showed them on network TV, so that even people without cable could enjoy. And I have to say...I'm impressed. I'm not quite as impressed with it as I was with Firefly...but it's not bad. Edward James Olmos presents a very gritty alternate universe version of Lorne Green's Capt. Adama and the Cylons are now downright creepy.
11. Wrapping up, a quick reminder that summer means more silly posts on random subjects. (Like this one) If you want serious, philosophical discussions, there are plenty of other, more pretentious blogs for you to try.
Cheers.
1. Summertime...and this blogger is lazy. Between my broken alarm clock and its tendency to turn itself off and reset the clock to midnight rather than wake me up on time and the lack of official commitments, I have been sleeping more (which is good) but later (which is generally bad).
2. This is not to imply that I have done nothing with my time. I've spent a lot of the early part of my summer studying for a certification test in chemistry. I can now distinguish effectively between molarity and molality, provide the electron configuration of damn near any atom I see fit, and properly pronounce and solve problems involving "nucular" half-life. But I'm still gonna get thrown off by kinetics, acid-base reactions, and VSEPR unless I crack down, so I'll be hitting the library later today.
3. Speaking of the library, I can not recommend libraries enough as a source of summer reading/viewing/listening. Why pay money for these things? There are libraries out there with growing DVD collections! This summer alone, I have gotten to watch Spartacus, Scent of a Woman (hoo-hah!), and Hidalgo. Yeah...I don't know what I was thinking on that last one either.
4. Science studying and movie viewing aside, my biggest new summer past time is pub trivia. I went to three separate games last week. Sadly, placed no higher than second. But the game continues...and maybe I'll win another golf shirt based on my knowledge of children's literature. (Roald Dahl is awesome, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.)
5. While Dahl is fresh on my mind, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory looks interesting and worth seeing in the theaters. Granted, Gene Wilder's performance as Wonka was damn near perfect, but the rest of that film was...not. I'm very curious to see what Burton can pull off with a script that's closer to the original source material.
6. To recap: Charlie + Chocolate Factory = worth seeing in theaters.
Fantastic 4 = not.
Ebert gave it one star. Even my comic book loving friends could muster up only a half-hearted review. This is not a proud day for geeks.
7. From the "things not worth seeing" file: Delaware. A friend of mine had tickets to a baseball game in Baltimore and we ended up having to drive through the nation's second-smallest state to get there. At one point we were trapped behind a bus that said "Delaware Express Tours." Considering the state is about the size of a postage stamp, how fast can you really tour it without missing the whole thing?
8. From the"things worth seeing" file: Camden Yards...still one of my favorite stadiums (stadia?). Plus I got to meet up with my friend Amanda for the first time since she returned from teaching in Kazakhstan. We devised a new scheme to infiltrate the Peace Corps...for fiendish purposes. (villainous mustache twirl)
9. From the "things I don't want to see, but have to..." file: Dentist. Going today. Really don't want to go, but considering how long it's been since my teeth have been examined, I suppose it's about time. The secret word for today is "novocaine."
10. Oh, and because my Invisible Sister may be reading this somewhere in Europe, I finally got to catch three episodes of the new Battlestar Galactica on Sunday. They showed them on network TV, so that even people without cable could enjoy. And I have to say...I'm impressed. I'm not quite as impressed with it as I was with Firefly...but it's not bad. Edward James Olmos presents a very gritty alternate universe version of Lorne Green's Capt. Adama and the Cylons are now downright creepy.
11. Wrapping up, a quick reminder that summer means more silly posts on random subjects. (Like this one) If you want serious, philosophical discussions, there are plenty of other, more pretentious blogs for you to try.
Cheers.
Friday, July 01, 2005
O'Connor's Out?
Apparently Justice Sandra Day O'Connor just announced her plans to step down from her seat on the Supreme Court. This opens several different cans of worms and leaves President Bush in the unique position to potentially appoint two justices and replace a chief justice before the end of his term. This bodes very well for supporters of the Republican party and less well for everyone else.
The thing that gets me however is that all this time we've been waiting patiently for Rehnquist to step down. Leave it to the Supreme Court though to pull the unexpected move and surprise us all with the news about O'Connor. I wonder if Vegas had odds placed on which justice would step down first. If so, somebody probably made a pretty penny from this one.
Apparently Justice Sandra Day O'Connor just announced her plans to step down from her seat on the Supreme Court. This opens several different cans of worms and leaves President Bush in the unique position to potentially appoint two justices and replace a chief justice before the end of his term. This bodes very well for supporters of the Republican party and less well for everyone else.
The thing that gets me however is that all this time we've been waiting patiently for Rehnquist to step down. Leave it to the Supreme Court though to pull the unexpected move and surprise us all with the news about O'Connor. I wonder if Vegas had odds placed on which justice would step down first. If so, somebody probably made a pretty penny from this one.
