Random thoughts

Hi everyone... just a few random thoughts and a couple of links for you...

• A reminder that the Lima Classic is approaching - sign your foursome up at your earliest convenience.
• I have the largest wallet imaginable. Not based on monetary value, but sheer size. I can't even sit on it anymore. It ends up in my bag or on the front seat of my car. Is that normal? Call me Costanza.
• Speaking of Seinfeld, is there any show that even comes close? Man, that show is funny.
• Ok, I will say that I think 30 Rock is super funny, and enjoyable. The first season wasn't laugh-out-loud funny (perhaps because we didn't have any history yet) and I used to refer to it as an "enjoyable half hour watching TV". Now, however, I can't stop laughing.
• I'm coaching my daughter's T-ball team... what fun. The kids are having a blast, even if they have ABSOLUTELY NOT IDEA WHAT GAME THEY ARE PLAYING. Seriously, for those of us who follow baseball, we know the rules inside and out. We just "know" that you throw to first when they are men on 1st and 3rd with two outs. These kids have no clue! It has really opened my eyes up to how complicated the game really is. No wonder kids like playing soccer. You just run and kick the ball.

Update on the Yankees - always love to include links when they lose: http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/as-halladay-silences-yanks-wang-nears-return/

App issues with the Iphone: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/technology/13jailbreak.html?_r=1&hp

We are still sending out shuttles? Really? Am I the only one who doesn't pay attention to what Nasa is doing? Should I? http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/05/13/space.shuttle/index.html

I can't explain how geeky Twitter is... check out some additional information about "Gwitter"
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/gwibber-the-everything-client/

Advertising has gone nuts!

Ok... I have had it up to here (hand is a foot over my head) with companies trying to squeeze revenue by selling ads for every single uncluttered area possible. I'm probably the last person to be writing about this (being employed as a marketing "expert" and all) but it is driving me nuts!

For instance... the other night I was watching my beloved Red Sox on NESN (presented in HD by WB Mason) and could help notice how many advterising messages we are bombarded with while watching sports. The field itself has tons of advertising, of course, which we are all subject to while watching the game on TV. In addition, there is the "TV-only" ads that show up behind the batter's box that are visible while the pitcher is pitching to the batter. Then there is the "Amica K-zone" which shows if the pitch was a strike or ball. (Good thing Amica is making the K-zone possible, because I didn't just watch the pitcher throw the ball, see the ball caught by the catcher in relation to the strike zone, and witness the "ball/strike" call by the umpire. By the way, umpires must just HATE those K-zone things... they make a call and then the networks immediately show the world if the umpire was right or made an error. You've got to think the inventor of the K-zone is sitting in his house every night wondering if the creaking he hears is just the wind or some disgruntled (out of work!) umpire looking to settle the score.) The video scoreboard between innings is sponsored by someone, the running scoreboard banner that shows during the game at the top or bottom of the screen is sponsored, the pre-game show, post-game show, the post-post game show, and now the worst! In the middle of the game - DURING THE GAME - NESN had some quick advertising (I think it was for Budweiser) graphics show on the screen. They were not the classic: "This game is sponsored by... Budweiser (logo flashes), Century 21 (logo flashes), Levitra (logo flashed, I get nauseous)" but an actual 8 second animated ad that in the middle of the screen about 2 seconds before the pitcher threw the ball. The announcers were not even talking about it - it was like some genius in the sales department thought, "hey, we probably have 16 seconds between when the catcher throws the ball back to the pitcher and the next pitch... why don't we try to squeeze in a few ads?" I couldn't believe it. When does a smart marketing executive come up with a way to show 2 or 3 commercials at the same time? I'm surprised this hasn't been attempted... split the screen and show Irish Spring on one side and Honey Bunches of Oats on the other. Wouldn't that work? I guess the issue would be the audio portion, but isn't that what surround sound is for?

Ok... so TV has advertising (although let me point out that we PAY for television... remember the good old days when advertising was necessary for the networks because we got TV for FREE over the airwaves. Cable TV comes around and starts CHARGING us to watch it, and STILL shows advertising) so I guess we have to live with it, but now I'm getting fed up with the Internet. My fantasy baseball league on CBSSportsline.com (not an ad) is a PAY league. What I mean is that we (our league) pay $150 or so to use the CBS online technology to manage our league. So, we PAY to use the website (unlike the many free sites you can use to play fantasy baseball). I was checking my team the other day and saw ads for Holiday Inn ON MY TEAM PAGE! IN THE PAGE! No, these were not banner ads, they were not ads on the side of the screen, there was a Holiday Inn logo about 1 inch (200 pixels) from MY TEAM's LOGO! Are you kidding me?! The Holiday Inn advertising is all over the screen, regardless of what page you are using within your league. Unbelievable. I would expect it from a free site, but not a pay site. You can't get away from these organizations cramming ad messaging down your throat.

The funny thing... while I know Amica is sponsoring the K-zone, there is no chance in hell that I'm going to call Amica for insurance. By the way, I can't explain how funny and ironic I find the Levitra and Viagra commercials. The way they portray these 40+ people trying to get busy makes me laugh. I'm not going to go into it now, but I find the need (and the huge sales) of these drugs simply ironic given how sex-driven males are in their 20's. Ok, enough of that for one day.

Earthday...?

One more random tangent for your day... yesterday was Earthday 2009. I think it came and went with very little fanfare - at least in the corporate world. I didn't see anything major happen except for the update "Google" logo. But, I'm sure that there was a lot of work going on as I definitely feel the world is starting to embrace the "greener" way of life. A few observations - and feel free to comment with your own observations or if you disagree with mine...

- I think we have actually become MORE of a disposable society. My God, how many D&D coffee cups have I thrown away? And for those responsible companies like Starbucks (ok, their marketing is more responsible) why don't they do the obvious stuff to promote being green? Like, get rid of those stupid sleeves to hold your paper coffee cup. People, suck it up. Why do you need to have a cardboard sleeve over your coffee cup? Too hot for you? Tough. Also, couldn't they install "recycling" containers for napkins and used cups? There must be some better solutions.

- Everything is plastic. I try to recycle as best as possible, but when 76.567% of my plastic waste is NOT recyclable (ie, it is labeled as recyclable, but no community outside of southern California has facilities to recycle is - so therefor it is about as recyclable as nuclear waste) it ends up in the dump (well, "transfer station"). Listen, I buy a lot of Barbie dolls (for my daughter... and collecting... hey, deal with it) and they are all encased in plastic. What can you do?

- Nobody wants kids toys back... I donate the toys when I can, but nobody wants to take the 1,786 stuffed animals. What do you do with them? They are still fine. I mean, they are still lovable poodles filled with soft stuff. How about we figure out what to do with that!!?

- How are we going to recycle 10,000,000 Webkinz 10 years from now?? That is the solution we need! Paper bio-degrades during a good rainstorm, but Coco the Monkey Webkinz is eternal.

- Speaking of paper... why is it so important that we recycle that? Isn't paper made from trees? Aren't trees regularly grown in forests? Conceivable - and call me crazy - we have an unlimited supply of paper. If I want to throw the McDonald's napkin (made with 34% post consumer material) on the ground, isn't it going disintegrate naturally during rain storms? Ok, maybe in 3 weeks? Everyone talks about going "digital" to save the environment. Aren't computers essentially made of plastic, plutonium, and mercury? Listen, my Dad has 10 Commodore 64 computers in his basement. What is he going to do with those? We churn out millions of computer components each year - to go green, I guess - and yet when those components are old or dated they get thrown away... and sometimes with hazardous materials in them. I still don't get the argument... we should be printing EVERYTHING on paper and recycling the computers!

- Small thing... but we build tons of cars every year. Why haven't people figured out how to recycle cars? They are all the same - 4 wheels, seats, gas tank... and on that same token, why does EVERY car have to have different components? I know this sounds Socialist and anti-American, but why do all my cars have to use different windshield wipers? Honestly!? I don't get it. It doesn't get more basic than the windshield wiper. It is metal, plastic, and some rubber and it goes across your windshield and wipes away the rain. Why doesn't the wiper on the BMW fit on the Hyundai? Are BMW owners such snobs that they don't want to use the same windshield wiper as my mother-in-law? That seems like the biggest no-brainer in the auto-industry. Standardize the windshield wiper. Save the planet! Have one manufacturer make one type. Then we can recycle them! If a car gets into a crash, take off the wipers and donate them to the needy to put on their Kia! Think about it! We could do the same with door lock knobs, and overhead light switches, and power window buttons. Every car has an Emergency Light switch - you know, the red triangle - why can't this be the same button across the board? Why does there need to be 10 manufacturers making different buttons for each make and model? How many buttons is that?! What if we don't use the buttons?! Where do they go!?

The transfer station.

I'm injured... I might die...

The other day I was trying to get to our local transfer station (a nice way of saying "dump") and had to connect my utility trailer to my van to haul away this garbage. The trailer was extremely full - I hadn't make a "transfer run" since November. It had stuff from my recent family room renovation, Christmas wrapping and boxes, old pool equipment, a dead body, general trash, among other things. The sucker was HEAVY. So I ended up pinching my thumb while connecting the trailer to my hitch. It hurt quite a bit, but it looked like I was just going to have a bruised nail on the thumb. Onward! To the transfer station!

A couple hours later my thumb was just screaming! Throbbing in pain and starting to swell pretty good. A few hours after that the nail was mostly black and the thumb looked like I had taken a hammer to it. I knew it would probably be ok in a day or two, but I was amazed at the pain that a little pinch caused. I couldn't even sleep because my brain kept focusing on the throbbing.

So why am I telling you this? Because after this little episode I can't even image what a REAL injury must feel like... I mean, I'm no He-Man but I think I handle pain pretty well. (By the way, what ever happened to He-Man? When does his comeback start? Care Bears came back strong. Cabbage Patch Kids staged a revival. GI Joe has a movie coming out this summer! What about He-Man? What about that diabolical Skeletor? Don't even get me started...). When someone gets into a car accident and get real injuries does their body just absorb the pain? My theory is that the body can only deal with x-amount of pain at one time. If you have a whole bunch all at once it get aggregated into "pain" and you deal with that level of pain. When you have only one injury your brain focuses on that pain and it is perceived as greater than it really is... What do you think? I'm pretty sure that I just invented that theory. It is based on real life experience, not some pansy laboratory experiment. Anyway, my thumb feels better today, and I'm gonna use my theory to justify how much it hurt the last two days so you all don't think I'm a total wuss.

By the way, I was leafing through a science book and came across Lou Gehrig's disease. I read up on it... man, that is one crazy illness. I think we've all heard of Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but do you REALLY know what it does? It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

The end game is that the muscles the KEEP YOU ALIVE stop responding to the brain and you literally stop breathing because the lungs stop responding. That, my friends, must be the worst way to die. I can't imagine it. Survival rate is 3 - 5 years. Can yo imagine knowing that in 3 - 5 years your body is just going to stop working?? Sorry to be a downer, but I thought it was interesting to understand exactly what Lou Gehrig's disease actually is since it is so well known in the world - yet most people don't know what it actually is...

Dinosaurs & Writing

So, my son is crazy about dinosaurs. All kinds. He is almost 4 years old and can pronounce the name of every dinosaur that ever lived. He has about 100 different dinosaur toys and he usually plays "dinosaurs and Barbies" with my daughter. In addition to this he loves dinosaur movies. No, not the Land Before Time - he likes Jurassic Park 1, 2, and 3. We watch those movies 7 - 10 times a week. No, he isn't afraid of the movies at all. In fact, he wants me to skip over the "nice" dinosaurs and just right to the T Rex eating the lawyer part. Crazy.

So, after watching these movies over and over I decided to read one of the books by Michael Crichten. I just so happened to have "The Lost World" in my bookshelf. I don't remember where I got it - perhaps from my sister. I never read it, but this seemed like a perfect time to crack it open. Not only did I want to read it so I could explain the movie better to Drew, but I also found the 2nd Jurassic Park movie (The Lost World) to be mediocre compared to the 1st one. It seemed WAY to Hollywood, and I couldn't believe that it was really based on a book (since the 1st one was directly based on Crichten's book and was very well written with a deep story).

Ok... so I read the book and the movie has more in common with this blog than Crichten's book. I did some digging and apparently Steven Spielberg wanted to make a second Jurassic park movie (since they all made so much money on the first one) and wanted Crichten to write a sequel novel with which he could base the movie. Crichten replied that he didn't write sequels, but after some cajoling he ended up writing the book I read. The book was very good. Very good. So good, in fact, that I am now reading a different Crichten book because I enjoyed this one so much (reading "The Sphere", which was also turned into a movie). It is really interesting how LITTLE Spielberg used of the novel in the movie. What was the point of getting Crichten to write the book? Why not just take him out for drinks, get him talking about possible book ideas, and then make the movie with your own story? Really, aside from the fact that there is a "site B" (a second island with dinosaurs) and actual dinosaurs there is very little in common between the book and the movie. Spielberg could have used the story from Ringo Starr's "Caveman" movie and it might have better aligned with the book. Suffice to say, the book was vastly superior to the movie.

One cool thing that I learned from this experience (other than the fact that Crichten was a very entertaining writer) was the depth that these authors go to understand what they are writing. The theories and formulas and hypothesis that Crichten used to bring his story to life were pretty interesting. Seemed like a lot of work! I mean, he is writing a totally made up story about dinosaurs on an island, but to make the story seem plausible he backs up the plot with some very convincing science. I don't know to what extent the information was accurate or pseudo-science, but it went a long way to bringing me into the story (and believing it was possible).

Dan Brown's work falls along the same lines. I found myself (while reading the DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons) really wondering if the history he was using to tell the story was REAL, simple HYPOTHESIS, or completely FABRICATED. I still don't know! But, I do know that he must have spent some serious time researching the information for his fiction.

This is why I will focus on writing pure science fiction/fantasy. I can make up whatever I want and nobody can challenge me. What would someone say? "Hey, your elf can't be 7 feet tall" or "Why would a dwarf use a two-handed sword"? No way. I can do whatever I want, with no research what-so-ever. Isn't that what writing is all about anyway? Just making stuff up to entertain? If I wanted to do research I'll stay in my current job.

By the way - speaking of challenging information in a science fiction/fantasy story, have you watched the 1st Jurassic Park lately? Well, I have! And I can't figure out how the T Rex gets into the building at the end of the movie to save the people from the Velociraptors. How did he get in? He couldn't have! But, hey, that's Hollywood.

1st post in a while, and other random things

Sorry people... I haven't been able to post recently because of my lack of ambition. But, hey, I've returned, so sit back and enjoy.

Saw a few movies recently... I'll give you the Lima thoughts...

The Bank Job - just saw this movie the other night. A great movie. Good action and fairly likable characters. Set in London, this movie reminded me of the Guy Ritchie films. Definitely worth a rent.

Batman - the Dark Knight - I'm a little late on this one, as it seems everyone has seen it already, but it was pretty good. I enjoyed it. I will admit, though, that I don't understand the draw of Batman as a super hero. In fact, I'm not sure how Batman survives. He doesn't have any real
"super power", yet he somehow can get beat up and fall 15 stories and not get injured. The newer movies have him in that armor which would appear to totally impact is ability to fight. When you look at all the "super heroes" out now, with REAL powers like the ability to fly, pick up cars, levitate stuff, I just wonder why people like batman. I've watched a bunch of the movies (it seems like Batman is the favorite to make movies) and I don't get the draw. And another thing... I like the idea of making the movies... but when these producers and directors try to make the movie REALISTIC and then have the hero run around in a costume with a cape it just seems silly! Would a superhero really run around the city in a black and red spider outfit? Really? We want to make the movies seem dark and realistic, and then have the hero put on tights to beat the bad guys. Am I the only one that thinks that is dumb?

Tropic Thunder - I was really looking forward to this movie. I bought the DVD from Blockbuster (a used version for $12) instead of renting it. I was disappointed. Don't get me wrong... it was enjoyable... but with all the hype I was expecting Caddyshack meets Full Metal Jacket. All in all it was good, but not amazingly funny. Robert Downey Jr was awesome in the movie, however. He is a great actor, too bad he lost all that time in a drug-induced slumber. He could have really put together a great career if he were sober from 1987 - 2001. Anyway, good movie in general but falls into the Ben Stiller trap... you know, a movie that is really pretty funny but gets kinda stupid at times and stops it from being a classic.

Madagascar 2 - this was a good movie. A good continuation of the 1st movie. I think the beating up of the old woman (who, as being portrayed as a New Yorker I would usually be in favor of) is a little over the top, especially for a kid's movie. Other than that it was really fun. Definitely a keeper.

Be kind... rewind... Wow, this was a weird movie. I thought the idea was awesome when I saw commercials. Looked like it would be really funny. Instead, it was kind of a borderline depressing movie that was just plain strange. I watched the entire movie (which is more than I can say for the next movie) and was mildly entertained, but it was so far from what I expected that I think I watched more out of morbid curiosity than actual interest. It really didn't even have a good ending since the store owner lost his business anyway. This is the kind of movie that started out as a great idea, the writer starts writing it and about 1/3 of the way in doesn't like the movie any more. Unfortunately, the movie production company already bought it so the writer has to finish it and we end up with a bunch of junk wrapped around a cool idea. I honestly think the people who created the trailers for this movie had to use more creatively that the writer of the actual movie in order to get people interested in this...

Don't Mess With the Zohan - ummm... how about you take your crappy movie and give me back the $3.00 I spent renting it... this was so bad that I turned it off 20 minutes in... maybe I wasn't the target audience. I just couldn't get into this at all... I don't even know what to say, other than "don't mess with this movie".

By the way... I was searching for information about Michael Crichton on Google and came across a fascinating aberration. (At least to me.) You know how Google now starts to give you possible results from your search while you type it in? Kinda like it is guessing what you are asking about? Well, if you type in "Michael" (don't hit enter) here is the list that will show up:

michaels
michael crichton
michael jackson
michael savage
michael jordan
michael buble
michaels coupon
michaels store locator
michael kors
michael phelps

Ok, call me crazy but Michael Crichton is the 2nd thing to show up??? Are we serious??? Of all the important "Michaels" in the world Michael Crichton is the 2nd most important? He is the 2nd most relevant? Wow... in fact, I would suggest that none of the listed are that important, but Michael Cichton? In front of Michael Jordan? Michael Jackson? How about some important Michaels? What about Michael the Archangel? He was pretty special. Or, Michelangelo? I think he was kind of an important guy (ok, that is spelled differently). And let's face it - 3 of the results I listed are for Michael's Craft Store. Wow... what a world we live in.

Hasheem is overated!

Wow... I was watching the (former) #1 UConn Huskies last night and after the game (they lost) I couldn't shake the feeling that UConn's best player, Hasheen Thabeet, is extremely overrated. In fact, one could argue that Jeff Adrien is the Huskies most reliable player.

Aside from being 7'3", I don't see anything special about Hasheem. I'm sure there are basketball purists out there that will gush over his footwork and ability to alter shots in the paint, but he seems extremely rough to me. He doesn't have any offensive game aside from dunks and put backs, and unless you are Shaq in his prime I think that makes you very limited. It amazes me that this guy can't put together a few moves in the paint. He seems utterly useless with the ball.

In fact, even on the defensive end he looks average. Last night DeJuan Blair LIT HIM UP. Not only with dunks but with in your face post play. Blair simply outplayed Hasheem, and really made him look like a guy who has only played for 3 years.

Call it a gut reaction, but I don't see this team going deep unless AJ Price and Adrien shoulder the load. Thabeet is just too raw to be an all-around impact player. I see him changing the game on the defensive end against lesser teams, but against team with solid big-men (like Blair or Haragondy from ND) I think he wilts.

Let's also call out two key players for the Huskies that have been almost invisible as of late... Stanley Robinson probably has the most talent on the team, but he never seems to put it together. He is a bundle of athleticism, but can't seem to get out of his own way. His three-point shot isn't falling, and he usually "blends in" when he's on the floor - which isn't a good thing. The other guy is Craig Austrie. He looks AWFUL last night, and he needs to be a solid contributor - especially with the three-ball - now that Dyson is out for the season. The Huskies don't have any deep threat outside of AJ Price. Austrie can be an effective shooter, but he needs to find his stroke.

On the plus side, I thought freshman Kemba Walker showed no fear while playing meaningful minutes. He needs to work on his defense, but he looked like an effective slasher on offense. I haven't seen evidence of a three-point shot, but he can definitely take the ball to the basket and finish.

Anyway - back to my main point - I don't understand the love affair with Thabeet. He may turn into a solid player down the road, but he is not one right now. On the defensive end he doesn't establish proper position, and he is in love with the blocked shot. He is overzealous in trying to swat the ball, instead of playing solid defense and letting his 7'3" frame become an obstacle. Blocked shots look nice in the highlight reel and on the stat-sheet, but I'd prefer to see him play better fundamentals. On offense, he's just a train wreck.

And one final note - I think Thabeet finished with 4 points, but his only field goal was a dunk in which he was all-alone and received a great pass from Price. He dunked so emphatically you'd think he just made an amazing move and scored his 30th point. Dunks are nice, but I need more than one a game to whet my appetite.