Yeah, it's been forever again and I've got all sorts of news and notes I could be updating everybody on ... but instead I'll just share this little thought I had while watching a nature show on Australia with the family the other day.
Praise God I'm not a skink!
Did you know that baby skinks (who often come in pairs) can weigh up to 40% of mama's body weight?
In human terms, that's like giving birth to a set of two-year-old twins.
Ouch.
Showing posts with label TV and Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV and Movies. Show all posts
Sunday, September 9
Tuesday, March 20
Guilty Pleasures
Once upon a time, before I married Adam, I eschewed reality shows as the (mostly) mindless foolishness they are. I saw how the landscape of television had changed since the advent of Survivor and I wasn't impressed.
I can't recall exactly when I discovered that Adam is a bit of a reality series junkie. It may not have been until after we were married. He likes Survivor, American Idol, The Apprentice, Hell's Kitchen, The Bachelor, and probably a dozen more that I can't recall just now. I scoffed. But then I started sitting down to take a look at some of them.
Now, I still can't stand The Bachelor or Survivor, but I'll actually sit contentedly through an episode or two of The Apprentice, and Hell's Kitchen can be quite a bit of fun. I used to watch American Idol regularly before Adam started working nights (and my favorite judges all left the show).
I'll even confess through a sheepish blush that I've actually been counting down the days until Dancing with the Stars came back on for their 14th season, which is only 3 or 4 more than I've watched. The season premier aired last night. I haven't seen it yet, because Adam had to work, so we'll be watching it tonight on Hulu.
I'm not entirely sure what the appeal of the show is. I just find something refreshing about watching usually-pampered celebrities having to work at something that (amazingly, every season) is so much harder than they were expecting. Nobody really wins anything--there's not a cash prize or a charity donation or anything more than a goofy trophy and the privilege of saying, "I won."
It's purely entertainment. Then again, maybe that's what's so appealing. No one has their life changed with a huge influx of cash or a dream job, yet almost everybody talks about how being a part of the experience taught them something about themselves they'd never known before. And if that's not enough, there are lots of sparkly costumes every week.
And, I mean really, what could be more fun that watching macho football players becoming self-actualized while dressed in hot pink sequins?
I can't recall exactly when I discovered that Adam is a bit of a reality series junkie. It may not have been until after we were married. He likes Survivor, American Idol, The Apprentice, Hell's Kitchen, The Bachelor, and probably a dozen more that I can't recall just now. I scoffed. But then I started sitting down to take a look at some of them.
Now, I still can't stand The Bachelor or Survivor, but I'll actually sit contentedly through an episode or two of The Apprentice, and Hell's Kitchen can be quite a bit of fun. I used to watch American Idol regularly before Adam started working nights (and my favorite judges all left the show).
I'll even confess through a sheepish blush that I've actually been counting down the days until Dancing with the Stars came back on for their 14th season, which is only 3 or 4 more than I've watched. The season premier aired last night. I haven't seen it yet, because Adam had to work, so we'll be watching it tonight on Hulu. I'm not entirely sure what the appeal of the show is. I just find something refreshing about watching usually-pampered celebrities having to work at something that (amazingly, every season) is so much harder than they were expecting. Nobody really wins anything--there's not a cash prize or a charity donation or anything more than a goofy trophy and the privilege of saying, "I won."
It's purely entertainment. Then again, maybe that's what's so appealing. No one has their life changed with a huge influx of cash or a dream job, yet almost everybody talks about how being a part of the experience taught them something about themselves they'd never known before. And if that's not enough, there are lots of sparkly costumes every week.
And, I mean really, what could be more fun that watching macho football players becoming self-actualized while dressed in hot pink sequins?
Tuesday, May 10
Monty Python
Someone has declared it Monty Python Status Day on Facebook. While I have a FB account, I'll occasionally "like" something or add a comment, and I somehow managed to accumulate 11 friends, I don't post pictures or status updates and I've never bothered to reset my profile since they decided everything needed to be connected to another FB page. Still, in an attempt to be relevant, I thought I'd share a funny story from my college days as it involves the only Monty Python quote I can ever remember.I was attending a weekend conference at Montreat. I'm linking to the website because they have some lovely pictures of their grounds that are making me all nostalgic for the mountains. Sigh.
Some friends and I (two girls and three guys) were walking from the dining room to the auditorium where our next session was to be held. The guys were talking about Monty Python and the Holy Grail, recounting the conversation between the King of the Swamp Castle and his son, Herbert.
The king reviews the commendable attributes of Herbert's unwanted fiancee, "What's wrong with her? She's beautiful, she's rich, she's got huge ..." He pauses, holding both hands out suggestively in front of his chest.
Just then, we passed another student, a guy we'd never met, headed in the opposite direction. As the guys in our group continued, he quoted right with them, complete with hand gestures, not even breaking stride.
My girlfriend and I looked at one another and just shook our heads. Later we outlined our plan for peace on earth through Monty Python, sure that we could bring world leaders together with big bowls of popcorn to laugh, rather than fight, over "huge ... tracts of land."
Tuesday, April 5
Glory Hallelujah!
I am pleased to announce that after much frustration and searching the internet for answers, I got our wireless connection working (and secured) again. Hoorah!!
If anybody out there has similar troubles, or just in case I need to find them again, let me share the websites that I found most helpful for resetting the wireless router.
For setting up the router from scratch, I used a tutorial from TopBits.com called How to Setup a Linksys Router. That got the wireless signal broadcasting.
In order to secure the signal, I followed the instructions from Microsoft in their article 5 steps: How to set up your home wireless network. This offered more information about what was important to change from the factory settings and the rest of the options that I didn't need to worry about.
Now that everything is back in place, I'm off to watch Dancing with the Stars on Hulu with Adam in the living room. No more huddling around the computer desk in the office. Yay!
If anybody out there has similar troubles, or just in case I need to find them again, let me share the websites that I found most helpful for resetting the wireless router.
For setting up the router from scratch, I used a tutorial from TopBits.com called How to Setup a Linksys Router. That got the wireless signal broadcasting.
In order to secure the signal, I followed the instructions from Microsoft in their article 5 steps: How to set up your home wireless network. This offered more information about what was important to change from the factory settings and the rest of the options that I didn't need to worry about.
Now that everything is back in place, I'm off to watch Dancing with the Stars on Hulu with Adam in the living room. No more huddling around the computer desk in the office. Yay!
Wednesday, November 3
Election Rants
I'm generally not a news junkie, but I have this weird thing for watching election returns. In 2000, Election Day coincided with my birthday. I was house-sitting for my brother that week and spent the whole night glued to the television as though they were going to suddenly announce a winner at 4:00 AM. I had a similar fixation on the impeachment hearings during the Clinton administration. I was in grad school at the time and spent many a morbidly fascinated afternoon glued to C-SPAN while I corrected papers for the classes I TAed.
Given this propensity I seem to have for dramatic politics, I suppose it's not surprising that I spent my whole evening last night watching election returns. In fact, I probably shouldn't have found it odd that I was frustrated when the local NBC affiliate ended their broadcast day at 1:35 AM--right in the middle of a comment from some national pundit or other. Actually, until I moved here, I didn't even realize that stations still went off the air at night. In Chicago, the broadcast day never ends, it just turns into an infomercial marathon. But that's a rant for a different day.
While spending an inordinate number of hours last evening listening to newscasters, political commentators, and random professors from local colleges invited to offer their expertise on the current political climate, one of the main points I heard repeated again and again was that voters were overwhelmingly electing Republican candidates to the U.S. House and at the state level, yet they had allowed Democrats to maintain a small majority in the Senate. Nearly everyone I saw on TV seemed obliged to comment on this.
Now, I recognize it is significant which party holds the majority of seats in congress, especially when one party has the majority in both houses. However, the main point that the whole collection of talking heads seemed to be making was how this seemed to show some sort of indecisiveness on the part of the voters, that the country was not sending an across-the-board conservative mandate. Really? Surely I'm not the only one who did the math, am I?
Let's start with the House. There are 435 representatives in the house, each elected to a 2-year term, so every seat could potentially have changed parties. If the Republicans win the projected 243 seats, that would mean that voters chose a Republican candidate 56% of the time.
Now let's look at the gubernatorial races (because it gives me an excuse to use the word "gubernatorial"). Elections for governor were held in 37 of the 50 states. Republican candidates won in at least 21 of those 37 races, or 57% of the time.
Finally, let's consider the Senate races. This is where the political pundits have me confused. Each state has two senators and senate terms are six years long, so every two years about one-third of the senate seats are contested. A few races are still too close to call, including a real barn burner in Alaska where a write-in candidate may actually come away with a majority of the votes, but let's assume the Republicans win 24 of the 37 seats up for election. That would mean voters chose a Republican candidate 65% of the time.
Now let's look at those numbers again:
Five minutes of simple division makes it seem pretty obvious to me that voters not only were clear about their choices, but that results of the Senate races were even more overwhelmingly Republican-biased than the House or gubernatorial offices. The only reason the Senate maintains their Democratic majority is because they have nearly twice the number of Democratic Senators whose terms are continuing as Republicans (40 and 23, respectively).
It really makes me wonder: How on earth would these political commentators manage if we actually had a viable third party in this country?
Given this propensity I seem to have for dramatic politics, I suppose it's not surprising that I spent my whole evening last night watching election returns. In fact, I probably shouldn't have found it odd that I was frustrated when the local NBC affiliate ended their broadcast day at 1:35 AM--right in the middle of a comment from some national pundit or other. Actually, until I moved here, I didn't even realize that stations still went off the air at night. In Chicago, the broadcast day never ends, it just turns into an infomercial marathon. But that's a rant for a different day.
While spending an inordinate number of hours last evening listening to newscasters, political commentators, and random professors from local colleges invited to offer their expertise on the current political climate, one of the main points I heard repeated again and again was that voters were overwhelmingly electing Republican candidates to the U.S. House and at the state level, yet they had allowed Democrats to maintain a small majority in the Senate. Nearly everyone I saw on TV seemed obliged to comment on this.
Now, I recognize it is significant which party holds the majority of seats in congress, especially when one party has the majority in both houses. However, the main point that the whole collection of talking heads seemed to be making was how this seemed to show some sort of indecisiveness on the part of the voters, that the country was not sending an across-the-board conservative mandate. Really? Surely I'm not the only one who did the math, am I?
Let's start with the House. There are 435 representatives in the house, each elected to a 2-year term, so every seat could potentially have changed parties. If the Republicans win the projected 243 seats, that would mean that voters chose a Republican candidate 56% of the time.
Now let's look at the gubernatorial races (because it gives me an excuse to use the word "gubernatorial"). Elections for governor were held in 37 of the 50 states. Republican candidates won in at least 21 of those 37 races, or 57% of the time.
Finally, let's consider the Senate races. This is where the political pundits have me confused. Each state has two senators and senate terms are six years long, so every two years about one-third of the senate seats are contested. A few races are still too close to call, including a real barn burner in Alaska where a write-in candidate may actually come away with a majority of the votes, but let's assume the Republicans win 24 of the 37 seats up for election. That would mean voters chose a Republican candidate 65% of the time.
Now let's look at those numbers again:
Five minutes of simple division makes it seem pretty obvious to me that voters not only were clear about their choices, but that results of the Senate races were even more overwhelmingly Republican-biased than the House or gubernatorial offices. The only reason the Senate maintains their Democratic majority is because they have nearly twice the number of Democratic Senators whose terms are continuing as Republicans (40 and 23, respectively).
It really makes me wonder: How on earth would these political commentators manage if we actually had a viable third party in this country?
Tuesday, March 16
The Digital Gap
We're working our way through a free trial of Netflix this month. Rosi has been asking to see more movies through their instant online viewer, so I queued up Jetsons: The Movie for us to watch together.
As it loaded, she asked me what it was. I told her it was a cartoon. I also mentioned that it was something I used to watch when I was about her age.
"Did you watch it on this site?" She asked.
"No," I replied. "They didn't have the internet when I was your age."
"Oh," she responded. "Did you watch it on Hulu?"
As it loaded, she asked me what it was. I told her it was a cartoon. I also mentioned that it was something I used to watch when I was about her age.
"Did you watch it on this site?" She asked.
"No," I replied. "They didn't have the internet when I was your age."
"Oh," she responded. "Did you watch it on Hulu?"
Sunday, February 14
Best Quote of the Olympics, So Far
Bob Costas said this Friday night during the opening ceremonies. It made me laugh out loud.
Canadians as a group are among the friendliest most welcoming people on earth, but I don't see anything incompatible with saying, "Hello, welcome. We're very friendly. We're glad you're here. We want you to enjoy yourselves. And now we'd also like to kick your butt."
Thursday, January 21
Do You Like Cartoons?
Are you interested in buying some unique comic and animation art for a good cause?
Check out this eBay auction.
For more on Matt's story, read here.
Check out this eBay auction.
For more on Matt's story, read here.
Friday, December 25
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like the Ice Planet Hoth
Greetings from the Rebel Base!
We've been under winter weather warnings for the past two days and there's now a blizzard warning in effect through noon tomorrow. Interstates 29 and 90 have been closed through most of the state since 7:00 last night. Snow accumulations are predicted to be up to 20 inches, with drifts up to 6 feet. When they start measuring the snow in feet, I'm on the lookout for AT-ATs.
**This officially ends all the Star Wars references. I don't want to have to look anything else up on Wookieepedia**
Because of the heavy snow, we canceled our Christmas Eve plans to drive through town munching on caramel corn and looking at the holiday lights. Rosi was very disappointed.
We are still planning a Christmas Day carol sing around the piano. She's been learning a number of songs lately--mostly from me, but a few of unknown origin (somebody taught her Jingle Bells, but it wasn't me). Her latest favorite is "Arthur Harold Angels Sing" or as she calls it, "Glowy to the Newborn King."
Meanwhile, we're getting our traditional Christmas chicken ready along with garlic mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. The baby is asleep and Rosie is munching on oranges that arrived yesterday by FedEx, fresh from my sister's tree in Phoenix.
Merry Christmas to all!
We've been under winter weather warnings for the past two days and there's now a blizzard warning in effect through noon tomorrow. Interstates 29 and 90 have been closed through most of the state since 7:00 last night. Snow accumulations are predicted to be up to 20 inches, with drifts up to 6 feet. When they start measuring the snow in feet, I'm on the lookout for AT-ATs.
**This officially ends all the Star Wars references. I don't want to have to look anything else up on Wookieepedia**
Because of the heavy snow, we canceled our Christmas Eve plans to drive through town munching on caramel corn and looking at the holiday lights. Rosi was very disappointed.
We are still planning a Christmas Day carol sing around the piano. She's been learning a number of songs lately--mostly from me, but a few of unknown origin (somebody taught her Jingle Bells, but it wasn't me). Her latest favorite is "Arthur Harold Angels Sing" or as she calls it, "Glowy to the Newborn King."
Meanwhile, we're getting our traditional Christmas chicken ready along with garlic mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. The baby is asleep and Rosie is munching on oranges that arrived yesterday by FedEx, fresh from my sister's tree in Phoenix.
Merry Christmas to all!
Sunday, October 18
Memo to My Favorite Football Team
RE: Your long-distance fans
My friends,
I have been a fan of the Chicago Bears since I was 10 years old and watched you beat the pants off the Patriots. When I moved to New York a couple of years later, I showed my team spirit by designing a piñata in the shape of William "Refrigerator" Perry for Spanish class. You played in one Monday night game late that season. In my honor, you lost to the 49ers 41-0. Thanks.
Oh, and the boy whose locker was next to mine was a Niners fan. Yes, he lorded the outcome of that game over me the rest of the school year.
A dozen years later, I had the opportunity to move back to Chicago. I was overjoyed to be able to watch every game of the season! And I did watch nearly all the games for the next decade, including Superbowl XLI, which at least started out well.
One year ago, I had to drive a rental truck full of my things away from Illinois for the second time. I quickly discovered that, though the move was to South Dakota, I had landed smack dab in Viking country. And, no, I can't believe they had the audacity to sign Brett Favre either.
So far this season, I've been able to watch two complete Bears games as carried on national TV. Those would be your two losses so far.
I understand you are a hometown team and I appreciate that you want to save your best play for your local fans. But, please, keep in mind that some of your fans, for various reason, can't be local. We still want to watch you win!
Thank you for taking the time to consider those of us who support your franchise, even when we no longer live in your fine city. Oh, and have a nice flight home from Atlanta. Maybe you could practice holding on to the football while you're on the plane.
My friends,
I have been a fan of the Chicago Bears since I was 10 years old and watched you beat the pants off the Patriots. When I moved to New York a couple of years later, I showed my team spirit by designing a piñata in the shape of William "Refrigerator" Perry for Spanish class. You played in one Monday night game late that season. In my honor, you lost to the 49ers 41-0. Thanks.
Oh, and the boy whose locker was next to mine was a Niners fan. Yes, he lorded the outcome of that game over me the rest of the school year.
A dozen years later, I had the opportunity to move back to Chicago. I was overjoyed to be able to watch every game of the season! And I did watch nearly all the games for the next decade, including Superbowl XLI, which at least started out well.
One year ago, I had to drive a rental truck full of my things away from Illinois for the second time. I quickly discovered that, though the move was to South Dakota, I had landed smack dab in Viking country. And, no, I can't believe they had the audacity to sign Brett Favre either.
So far this season, I've been able to watch two complete Bears games as carried on national TV. Those would be your two losses so far.
I understand you are a hometown team and I appreciate that you want to save your best play for your local fans. But, please, keep in mind that some of your fans, for various reason, can't be local. We still want to watch you win!
Thank you for taking the time to consider those of us who support your franchise, even when we no longer live in your fine city. Oh, and have a nice flight home from Atlanta. Maybe you could practice holding on to the football while you're on the plane.
Saturday, September 5
Hooray for Football
Football season is fast approaching. I actually looked up the schedule for preseason well in advance this year, unlike some years previous. Unfortunately, my own reminders to myself that a game would be on a particular evening didn't keep me from missing all but a single quarter of the preseason action. Even without my help, the Bears managed to pull off a 3-1 record. Not too shabby. Too bad they don't count yet.
I am excited for the opening game. For one thing, it's on national TV, which means I'll actually be able to see it! Plus, it's a Bears-Packers game. Those are always good. Even when very little happens on the field, they are still fun games to watch.
Maybe this year we can make it back to the playoffs. I'll be able to see those games. Come on Bears, keep your fans happy. Win more games! Pretty please?
I am excited for the opening game. For one thing, it's on national TV, which means I'll actually be able to see it! Plus, it's a Bears-Packers game. Those are always good. Even when very little happens on the field, they are still fun games to watch.
Maybe this year we can make it back to the playoffs. I'll be able to see those games. Come on Bears, keep your fans happy. Win more games! Pretty please?
Thursday, July 23
I'm Beginning to Understand
While I've been sick with the Martian Flu (that's my best guess--it's certainly been the longest, most annoying illness I've had in years), I haven't been feeling much movement from the little person growing inside. In fact, I was starting to get worried. This week, as I'm finally recovering, he's stared moving again. A lot. Like, to the point that it's distracting and occasionally painful. And I'm still only halfway to term.
This experience has brought me a little more understanding for a particular group of women. To tell you who they are takes some explaining, though.
Back in January, the Discovery Health channel ran a special called "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant." They've rerun it a few times since. With each airing, I've seen a flurry of posts to various forums about how mothers just don't believe this could really happen and these women must be in complete denial not to even realize they were carrying a child.
I never got that attitude. I've been pregnant. Several times. Once, I was even charting my cycle (daily taking my temperature and checking for changes in cervical fluid to let me know when I might be fertile), and still I missed a pregnancy until I'd miscarried at 9 weeks. And this was after I'd had a child and knew what early pregnancy felt like. Even in late pregnancy with my daughter, I could see how, if you hadn't already known you were pregnant, you could dismiss the wiggles and squirms I felt as a bad case of gas.
I've mentioned before that when I was pregnant with my daughter, I had what they call an anterior placenta. That means the placenta was attached in the front, between me and flailing fetal limbs. Now that I don't have an anterior placenta, I can honestly tell you the experience is totally different. While I was pregnant with my daughter, I didn't feel any for-sure baby movements until I was about 26 weeks along (that's 6 months, for those of you who don't want to do the math). The books tell you that first-time moms generally start to feel baby's movements about 18 weeks (or 4 months), and those who already have children will feel movements slightly earlier.
As you may remember, I started feeling movements with this little one about 6 weeks ago. Now that his wriggles are becoming more defined, there are definite punches or kicks that could hardly be mistaken for gas bubbles. Adam's been laughing at me this week because I keep talking to the baby, telling him to cut it out and quit trying to burrow into my hip socket or out through the uterine wall.
In all this, I'm finally starting to recognize how, if this has been your only experience with pregnancy, this unmistakable jabbing, it would be hard to see that anyone might mistake them for something else, anything else.
This experience has brought me a little more understanding for a particular group of women. To tell you who they are takes some explaining, though.
Back in January, the Discovery Health channel ran a special called "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant." They've rerun it a few times since. With each airing, I've seen a flurry of posts to various forums about how mothers just don't believe this could really happen and these women must be in complete denial not to even realize they were carrying a child.
I never got that attitude. I've been pregnant. Several times. Once, I was even charting my cycle (daily taking my temperature and checking for changes in cervical fluid to let me know when I might be fertile), and still I missed a pregnancy until I'd miscarried at 9 weeks. And this was after I'd had a child and knew what early pregnancy felt like. Even in late pregnancy with my daughter, I could see how, if you hadn't already known you were pregnant, you could dismiss the wiggles and squirms I felt as a bad case of gas.
I've mentioned before that when I was pregnant with my daughter, I had what they call an anterior placenta. That means the placenta was attached in the front, between me and flailing fetal limbs. Now that I don't have an anterior placenta, I can honestly tell you the experience is totally different. While I was pregnant with my daughter, I didn't feel any for-sure baby movements until I was about 26 weeks along (that's 6 months, for those of you who don't want to do the math). The books tell you that first-time moms generally start to feel baby's movements about 18 weeks (or 4 months), and those who already have children will feel movements slightly earlier.
As you may remember, I started feeling movements with this little one about 6 weeks ago. Now that his wriggles are becoming more defined, there are definite punches or kicks that could hardly be mistaken for gas bubbles. Adam's been laughing at me this week because I keep talking to the baby, telling him to cut it out and quit trying to burrow into my hip socket or out through the uterine wall.
In all this, I'm finally starting to recognize how, if this has been your only experience with pregnancy, this unmistakable jabbing, it would be hard to see that anyone might mistake them for something else, anything else.
Friday, April 3
Hellish Dates
I never watched reality shows before I met Adam. He got me started on American Idol, which we watched faithfully for about three seasons before our schedule interfered. He also got me started on Hell's Kitchen.
Last spring, we decided we were watching too much television and we needed to give it up. Ironically, that was the week after Easter. I felt like we spent too many hours simply vegging out in front of the TV and not enough on productive pursuits and interactive involvement as a couple and as a family. So, we threw out our rabbit ears and limited ourselves to watching DVDs.
I knew Adam would be missing the final few episodes of the season for Hell's Kitchen, and I was somewhat bummed on his behalf. I didn't mind watching a carefully selected show or three, it was the mindless evenings we wasted staring at whatever was on that bothered me. About that time, I discovered Hulu. Actually, I'm pretty sure I read about it on a blog somewhere as part of Works for Me Wednesday. I checked out the site and saw that they had episodes of Hell's Kitchen. I e-mailed the link to Adam, telling him I knew he'd really like to see how it all turned out.
He watched the rest on the season online and even began watching a few other shows. Meanwhile, the summer passed and football season started. We repealed the moratorium on television watching and we bought a new set of rabbit ears. We watched football on Sundays (when it was on, *sniff*), but we still don't watch much else on our TV besides movies. Then the new season of Hell's Kitchen came on couple of months ago.
I missed the first episode or two, but one night as Adam was about to start the show, he asked if I'd like to watch it with him. I said, "Sure," and we started watching the rest of the season together. It's become sort of a weekly togetherness ritual for us. On one of the nights that Adam gets home a bit earlier, we put our daughter to bed, snuggle up on the couch in front of the laptop and watch Gordon Ramsay yell at the hapless would-be executive chefs. It's the closest we get to a date night every week.
This isn't the sort of tradition I would have necessarily thought to start, but it's been really fun. We can watch whichever evening is convenient for us, and, best of all, it's free! If we wanted, we could even go all out and eat homemade gourmet popcorn while we watch. Actually, that sounds good. I might have to make some this weekend.
Last spring, we decided we were watching too much television and we needed to give it up. Ironically, that was the week after Easter. I felt like we spent too many hours simply vegging out in front of the TV and not enough on productive pursuits and interactive involvement as a couple and as a family. So, we threw out our rabbit ears and limited ourselves to watching DVDs.
I knew Adam would be missing the final few episodes of the season for Hell's Kitchen, and I was somewhat bummed on his behalf. I didn't mind watching a carefully selected show or three, it was the mindless evenings we wasted staring at whatever was on that bothered me. About that time, I discovered Hulu. Actually, I'm pretty sure I read about it on a blog somewhere as part of Works for Me Wednesday. I checked out the site and saw that they had episodes of Hell's Kitchen. I e-mailed the link to Adam, telling him I knew he'd really like to see how it all turned out.
He watched the rest on the season online and even began watching a few other shows. Meanwhile, the summer passed and football season started. We repealed the moratorium on television watching and we bought a new set of rabbit ears. We watched football on Sundays (when it was on, *sniff*), but we still don't watch much else on our TV besides movies. Then the new season of Hell's Kitchen came on couple of months ago.
I missed the first episode or two, but one night as Adam was about to start the show, he asked if I'd like to watch it with him. I said, "Sure," and we started watching the rest of the season together. It's become sort of a weekly togetherness ritual for us. On one of the nights that Adam gets home a bit earlier, we put our daughter to bed, snuggle up on the couch in front of the laptop and watch Gordon Ramsay yell at the hapless would-be executive chefs. It's the closest we get to a date night every week.
This isn't the sort of tradition I would have necessarily thought to start, but it's been really fun. We can watch whichever evening is convenient for us, and, best of all, it's free! If we wanted, we could even go all out and eat homemade gourmet popcorn while we watch. Actually, that sounds good. I might have to make some this weekend.
Friday, March 13
Have I Told You Lately ...
... that I love my library? I've started figuring out their online reserve system here (it only took me five months) and it's great. I find a book I want and I can add it to my list. If I want a book right away, I can place a hold on it and the library system will send it from wherever it started out to my local branch, usually within a day or two.
Ooh, and then there are the DVDs. How much more can you ask for than unlimited free DVDs? We have had one or two (or four) that have had some scratches, but for the most part they've played as well as those you would rent from a national chain at nearly $5 a pop--and we get them for a whole week!
I also have free online access to hundreds of audio books, language-learning programs, classic films, children's videos, and research databases. Some of them even allow me to download material and burn it to CD.
Sigh. How did I ever manage for so many years without a library card?
Ooh, and then there are the DVDs. How much more can you ask for than unlimited free DVDs? We have had one or two (or four) that have had some scratches, but for the most part they've played as well as those you would rent from a national chain at nearly $5 a pop--and we get them for a whole week!
I also have free online access to hundreds of audio books, language-learning programs, classic films, children's videos, and research databases. Some of them even allow me to download material and burn it to CD.
Sigh. How did I ever manage for so many years without a library card?
Thursday, March 12
I Completely Forgot
I never told you all how date night went, did I? I decided to take myself a little bloggy vacation and left my poor readers hanging, just wondering what we saw and how we liked it. Sorry.
After extensive searching, I discovered we have four movie theaters in town. Two show first-run films (pretty much the same first run films), one shows second or third run films (as in, by the time they get to the $3.00 theater, they've already been released on DVD), and the other is an IMAX theater that's part of the science museum.
Since the movie I really wanted to see at the $3.00 show had no showtimes after 5:00, I decided we'd go to the cheaper of the two first-run theaters and see the only movie I was remotely interested in there: Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
Eh, it was pretty good. As good as I had expected from a movie called Paul Blart: Mall Cop and starring Kevin James. The story was kind of cute and it made me laugh. Adam felt that the running jokes about being overweight lasted entirely too long into the movie. I thought they did a disservice to people who actually have hypoglycemia (they show him continually eating sugary snacks). There was a bit of a plot twist toward the end and we disagreed whether it was a planned execution or simply an act of opportunism. It's not a film I'd pay to see money again, but if a friend was showing it for movie night, I might go.
Our original plan had been to have dinner after the movie, but the timing didn't work out very well. We'd had a late lunch, so we just went for coffee before the movie and shared a big bucket of popcorn for supper. Healthy? Well, no. Tasty? Oh, yeah!
We definitely need to do this again. Date night should not be only a twice-a-year experience!
After extensive searching, I discovered we have four movie theaters in town. Two show first-run films (pretty much the same first run films), one shows second or third run films (as in, by the time they get to the $3.00 theater, they've already been released on DVD), and the other is an IMAX theater that's part of the science museum.
Since the movie I really wanted to see at the $3.00 show had no showtimes after 5:00, I decided we'd go to the cheaper of the two first-run theaters and see the only movie I was remotely interested in there: Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
Eh, it was pretty good. As good as I had expected from a movie called Paul Blart: Mall Cop and starring Kevin James. The story was kind of cute and it made me laugh. Adam felt that the running jokes about being overweight lasted entirely too long into the movie. I thought they did a disservice to people who actually have hypoglycemia (they show him continually eating sugary snacks). There was a bit of a plot twist toward the end and we disagreed whether it was a planned execution or simply an act of opportunism. It's not a film I'd pay to see money again, but if a friend was showing it for movie night, I might go.
Our original plan had been to have dinner after the movie, but the timing didn't work out very well. We'd had a late lunch, so we just went for coffee before the movie and shared a big bucket of popcorn for supper. Healthy? Well, no. Tasty? Oh, yeah!
We definitely need to do this again. Date night should not be only a twice-a-year experience!
Monday, February 9
That Must Have Been One Awful Shelving Blunder
Okay, I'm weird, but I thought this was really funny. We'll start with the back story as that probably makes it funnier.
I'm working on the computer ... well, mostly just goofing off at this point ... and my daughter is flipping through the channels on the TV (she loves playing with buttons and making stuff happen). I notice as she goes by a couple of networks that President Obama is on. Since it's not a news hour, I surf to Google News and find out he's holding a press conference about the stimulus plan. I click on the CNN coverage. The page I go to has a list of the most popular news stories on the sidebar. The top one reads Liberians facing mass deportation, which isn't funny at all, except that I read it to say Librarians were being deported!
I just couldn't imagine what the librarians could have done to elicit that sort of response from the government.
I'm working on the computer ... well, mostly just goofing off at this point ... and my daughter is flipping through the channels on the TV (she loves playing with buttons and making stuff happen). I notice as she goes by a couple of networks that President Obama is on. Since it's not a news hour, I surf to Google News and find out he's holding a press conference about the stimulus plan. I click on the CNN coverage. The page I go to has a list of the most popular news stories on the sidebar. The top one reads Liberians facing mass deportation, which isn't funny at all, except that I read it to say Librarians were being deported!
I just couldn't imagine what the librarians could have done to elicit that sort of response from the government.
Sunday, January 25
Hey, Mark ... (um, nevermind) ... FREE COOLNESS!
I know most of you who read this blog don't know any more about the web and technology issues than I do, but for the one of two of you who do, maybe you can help me out. I seem to have broken my computer.
I've had no problems watching video ever since I installed my speakers. My daughter has been enjoying the shows on JellyTelly (all free now--check it out!) since the week they started. This week, they added a new section to the site which included links to some of the character/video websites. I clicked on her current favorite and was taken to GodRocks.ca. I was trying to play some of the sample videos there, but could only get the audio to play. I checked the setting on my QuickTime player and it looked like it hadn't been set to play video, just audio. I clicked on the "play video" button, and nothing has worked since.
JellyTelly won't play. Videos I've embedded on my own blog don't even show up. I keep getting this message that I need to install the QuickTime player version 5 or later. I've uninstalled and reinstalled QuickTime twice (both with iTunes and without). I've reinstalled Adobe Flash player (since I think that's what I was using to view JellyTelly videos before). I've reset my Firefox preferences several times. Nothing is working.
Anybody have any ideas?
***Update***
Well, I can't remember what terms I searched to find this page, but I followed the suggestions and something I did must have worked because JellyTelly is back. YAY!!
Now, seriously, all of you who haven't checked it out yet, you need to go watch JellyTelly. They've changed the format slightly so you don't even need to sign up now--it's free for everybody, at least for the next couple of months. They've got some really great little features. I think my favorite is The Bentley Brothers (which my daughter calls "The Medley Brothers"). My favorite song of theirs is the description of 2nd Samuel (see a preview here).
I've had no problems watching video ever since I installed my speakers. My daughter has been enjoying the shows on JellyTelly (all free now--check it out!) since the week they started. This week, they added a new section to the site which included links to some of the character/video websites. I clicked on her current favorite and was taken to GodRocks.ca. I was trying to play some of the sample videos there, but could only get the audio to play. I checked the setting on my QuickTime player and it looked like it hadn't been set to play video, just audio. I clicked on the "play video" button, and nothing has worked since.
JellyTelly won't play. Videos I've embedded on my own blog don't even show up. I keep getting this message that I need to install the QuickTime player version 5 or later. I've uninstalled and reinstalled QuickTime twice (both with iTunes and without). I've reinstalled Adobe Flash player (since I think that's what I was using to view JellyTelly videos before). I've reset my Firefox preferences several times. Nothing is working.
Anybody have any ideas?
***Update***
Well, I can't remember what terms I searched to find this page, but I followed the suggestions and something I did must have worked because JellyTelly is back. YAY!!
Now, seriously, all of you who haven't checked it out yet, you need to go watch JellyTelly. They've changed the format slightly so you don't even need to sign up now--it's free for everybody, at least for the next couple of months. They've got some really great little features. I think my favorite is The Bentley Brothers (which my daughter calls "The Medley Brothers"). My favorite song of theirs is the description of 2nd Samuel (see a preview here).
Thursday, January 22
Do You Hulu?
TV shows ...
Films ...
Sports ...
Movie Trailers ...
oh, and did I mention ...
FREE!
Check it out.
(N.B. Still not sleeping well here, so the blog forecast is for light, fluffy posting through the weekend)
Films ...
Sports ...
Movie Trailers ...
oh, and did I mention ...
FREE!
Check it out.
(N.B. Still not sleeping well here, so the blog forecast is for light, fluffy posting through the weekend)
Monday, December 29
Eating and Sleeping
The other day, my daughter let me take a nice nap while she watched Mary Poppins. After she came in to wake me up, I asked her if she could tell me the time by looking at the numbers on the clock. I know she can't tell time yet, but she's starting to get a pretty reasonable grasp on numbers, so I figured maybe she could read them to me and I would figure out the time.
The first time I asked, she answered, "Two-eye-forty." Huh?
So, I asked again, "What time is it??"
She responded, "Five-eye-thirty." Of course.
It was only after I'd rubbed the collected sleep out of my eyes that my brain engaged enough to decipher her meaning. When I'd asked her to tell me the numbers, she shared all the symbols on the clock; she was reading the colon as the letter "i".
Later ...
Me: Do you want pasta for dinner?
My daughter: No! I don't like pasta.
Me: Who are you and what have you done with my little girl?
My daughter: Fermat* is a boy, not a girl! thinking for a moment I want chocolate chips.
Me: No, you can't have chocolate for dinner.
My daughter: No ... the other chips, in the lellow bag.
Me: Potato chips?
My daughter: Yeah, potato chips.
Me: No.
*Fermat is one of the characters in the movie Thunderbirds, which she has been obsessed with ever since Adam found it on Hulu a couple of weeks back and watched it with her. Sometimes she is Fermat, sometimes her doll is Fermat, and, lately, she's been calling me Fermat. I try not to answer to it.
The first time I asked, she answered, "Two-eye-forty." Huh?
So, I asked again, "What time is it??"
She responded, "Five-eye-thirty." Of course.
It was only after I'd rubbed the collected sleep out of my eyes that my brain engaged enough to decipher her meaning. When I'd asked her to tell me the numbers, she shared all the symbols on the clock; she was reading the colon as the letter "i".
Later ...
Me: Do you want pasta for dinner?
My daughter: No! I don't like pasta.
Me: Who are you and what have you done with my little girl?
My daughter: Fermat* is a boy, not a girl! thinking for a moment I want chocolate chips.
Me: No, you can't have chocolate for dinner.
My daughter: No ... the other chips, in the lellow bag.
Me: Potato chips?
My daughter: Yeah, potato chips.
Me: No.
*Fermat is one of the characters in the movie Thunderbirds, which she has been obsessed with ever since Adam found it on Hulu a couple of weeks back and watched it with her. Sometimes she is Fermat, sometimes her doll is Fermat, and, lately, she's been calling me Fermat. I try not to answer to it.
Sunday, November 23
My Daughter's Favorite Website
My daughter is absolutely crazy about JellyTelly. This mini-online kids network is really cute, but don't just take our word for it, check it out for yourself!
Isn't it cool? To sign up for your free trial (or to jump straight to a paid subscription) click here.
Isn't it cool? To sign up for your free trial (or to jump straight to a paid subscription) click here.
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