The story of Terry Tate is funny. You see, in many ways my old boss at Nextel was the original OLB – a former outside linebacker at USC, he had a game day intensity about him most times. They have updated the shorts, so if you dug the original, there is now more Terry fun. For best results, download to your hard drive and save as a Windows movie. The streaming media get hit pretty hard and the buffering will drive you crazy.Terry Tate, Office Linebacker
Academy Awards
I am about nine months behind on movies, but anyway:
Complete list of 75th annual Academy Award nominations
I am happy that Queen Latifah got a nod. She is a pretty cool lady. Otherwise, no real surprises here. Some folks have talked about the obvious abscence of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” It did get a screenwriting nomination but nothing else. But really, people, just because a movie makes a truck load of cash doesn’t automatically mean that it is worthy of best picture.
With the Academy Awards comes the annual Oscar ™ party. Hmmmm. I think this year’s annual bash at the neighbors’ needs a theme. I propose “Casablanca.” A great movie and a great theme to work from. Just a suggestion to Mark and Robert, our annual hosts.
In the head
Listening to:
The jazz bop king is a soundtrack of life.
The Rising is a powerful album and helps with the year I have had
His two newest albums are on par with his best stuff of the 1960s.
Reading:
Currently on volume two of this dark, violent, young adult fantasy series
Kind of a “get to know your Muslim neighbors guide” by the Nobel Laureate
Google blasting
I picked up an issue of Harper’s on the coffee table the other day. From the October issue, in their Readings section that had a piece on Google. They typed in the phrase “People ask me all the time” into the Google search engine and then posted the results. Very amusing. Some of the gold:
“People ask me all the time how I did it, but what they really want to know is how they can do it, too.”
“People ask me all the time, ‘Bob just what is it exactly that you DO?'”
“People ask me all the time, why I’m so weird.”
“People ask me all the time what goes on in the car.”
“People ask me all the time to explain the one technique to blow their partner’s mind.”
Well, you get the point. It goes on and on. And yes, Google is amazing. I have given myself at least an associate’s degree in basic computer programming and networking over the past few months just by typing in questions into Google and searching for the answers.
But what is really available on Google. Today, that will be the challenge. I think a few choice cliche’ phrase searches are in order. I think I will start with the phrase “Don’t be so melodramatic” and see what comes up.
“Cancer is bleak.”. “You don’t have cancer.”. “Psychomelanoma. Untreatable.”. “You are so melodramatic. It’s tiresome.”
“Jesse, don’t be so melodramatic. There’s no way a small blip in the comings and goings in PC Lala-land compares to the risk of one human life much less a carload of them.”
“Don’t be so melodramatic. I still love you, and I think I’ll probably marry you some day and have your child. But right now I don’t want to be tied down when there’s so many possibilities to explore.”
“Don’t be so melodramatic. You’re not washed up, you’re
just bogged down.”. “Oh, yes, thank you. It’s all so clear to me now.
“Really Pilar, don’t be so melodramatic.” Ivy crossed the room and put on her favorite perfume,
” Don’t be so melodramatic. The Ds occupy half the Senate. They can block any
court nomination they want to. They won’t. They’re so darn polite”
Hannah pulled the quilt over her legs again. “Oh don�t be so melodramatic. It�s just life, Kiley. That�s all. People fall in and out of love every day. It�s no big deal.”
“And, finally, don’t be so melodramatic: Our relations with
China are messy partly because we worry too much about them”
Dog Nerd
Okay, I have shared a severe bit of nerdiness already, so it isn’t too much to go further. Besides chess, the Bee Gees and the very fact I have created a self-obsessive blog, I have spent the better part of the Tuesday and Wednesday watching the rebroadcast of the Westminster Dog Show.I dig the dog show. Always have. A few thoughts. Joe Garagiola used to host the show every year. He was replaced with Mark McEwan, the former CBS weatherman. Not bad, but in terms of pure geekiness, I thought that it would be hard to beat ol’ Joe. But McEwan did a fine geeky job. His broadcast partner, David Frei, was a bit annoying, however. Standing there proudly displaying his Denver Broncos Super Bowl ring as he does the doggy-do play-by-play was a bit surreal. The former Football PR flack turned dog show competitor (the term he used all the time was “Breeder/ Owner/Handler”
– as if it were a coveted role.) referred to the dogs as “fabulous” on more occassions than you might expect a world champion football dude would.
I was cheering for the Pomeranian. I don’t necessarily like them as a dog, but I figured their day had come and frankly, that dog, to use Frei’s term, was “fabulous.”
But in the end the Kerry Blue Terrier won the show.
Tweaking Blogspot
Okay. Links are up.Changed the template to be easier to read
Fiddled with the Title header.
Now for an explanation of the title.
It is from Walt Whitman. In the preface of Leaves of Grass.
It needs a whole table of its own right here, but that is on the to do list.
poem du jour
Watching the Westminster Dog Show
Knowing that the cat is in the know
I change the channel quickly
The dog’s fur rises, thickly
And brings a new bone for to throw.
How to make a great cup of coffee
The following advice is probably the most important thing that I can impart to you.
1. Use only filtered water. If you can remove the metals and the chlorine from the water, you have already taken a great step in making a better cup of coffee.
2. Next step. Take some time, effort and money and purchase and gold coffee filter. Melitta and several others sell them. I bought mine at Cost Plus but I am sure they can be found nearly everywhere. Paper filters remove the oils and with it the flavor of a lot of the coffee. Plus you are throwing one less thing into the trash with each pot you make.
3. Grind your own beans. Canned or pre-ground coffees lose their flavors very quickly. In the course of several hours your fresh coffee will be nearly flavor less. Buy fresh Arabica beans. Stay away from the name brand ground coffees, as they are a blend of Arabica (flavor) and Robusta (cheap) coffees.
4. Use a decent coffee maker!. Don’t skimp on the coffee maker. Make sure the water is heated to degrees and the warming pad won’t cook the coffee after it sits for more than about 20 minutes. Braun and Black and Decker both make great coffee makers that are recommended by Cooks magazine and Consumer Reports.
5. If you have gotten to this point, you are ready for the next step, roasting your own green beans. Unroasted coffee beans can last for a couple of years. They are half the price of roasted beans. And for the cost of an investment in a coffee maker (about $79.00 or so) you can have the absolutely freshest cup of coffee that you can imagine.
Roast, grind, brew, enjoy.
There are other tips for the more advanced. Store brewed coffee in a carafe or thermos to keep it from cooking on coffee maker burner.
Try using a French press for an intense cup of Joe. (Their only draw back is that often they make only two or three cups at a time, are hard to keep it warm and if the boiling water is too hot you may have ruined the roast before you even get a chance to taste it.)
For more:
Job Hunt
So, the job hunt is looking up a bit. In the past few weeks, I have been able to send out more than a resume or two a week. There are actually job positings! Although in this market that means some fierce competition, but I think I can at least claw my way to the top of the pile.
Sent off three resumes to Nextel this week for three supervisor positions. And several more similar positions were sent off last week. Not my dream job, but I am qualified, so might as well give it a shot.
I have about three weeks of paid unemployment benefits left. Short of getting an extension (which I can’t apply for until the money is gone) the first job that comes along will be my new career. So reach out to your favorite psychic and send me a note on what is in the future, for I can’t fathom it.
Let’s Begin
Okay, this is a sign of my mind. I was walking the dog this afternoon, like I do most every day – promptly at 4:10 or so. I checked the mail as part of that routine and received my bimonthly unemployment check – the hard gritty evidence that my plan “B” isn’t working.
Anyway. As I return home from walking the dog, I discover that aforementioned check is not in its assigned coat pocket.
AAAck. A minor panic.
I quickly deposited the dog and rushed outside to retrace my steps. There it was – right next to the dogs preferred. “poo” station. Ugh. It must have fallen out when I retrieved my doggy doo doo bag to scoop up the malicious mess.
That disaster was barely averted.
Nothing left to do today except deposit check, cook some dinner and settle down for some Buffy the Vampire Slayer action and a trip to Smallville.