I'm not sure if it's a consequence of getting older, and it certainly has nothing to do with what the holiday is supposed to represent. It's everything else about it that makes me crazy. The people in the stores, the pressure to plan out tomorrow making sure to be as inclusive of everyone as you can, and of course then there's the actual family members. As far as I can tell, any plans you make with them prior to the day before Thanksgiving should always be disregarded; they always seem to change at the last minute.
Ah, how I miss the days of my childhood, never having to worry about where or when I had to be somewhere for a family event.
I found this on Joel Spolsky's "Joel on Software" blog...and it's pretty fresh. It's a Google Maps mashup called Walk Score, which, once you supply an address, gives you a list of stores, bars, restaurants, and parks in the area. and, as it's name implies, a "walk score". They are pretty big on getting people to walk places, and identify themselves primarily as a tool to "help homebuyers, renters, and real estate agents find houses and apartments in great neighborhoods."
Our place only got a 58 out of 100 (I believe that's just failing), not surprising since we now live in a suburb. My last place in Eastie got a 75, which leads me to believe whatever algorithm they use to calculate this score doesn't take into account personal safety while walking.
Bust out the Black Sabbath clips - Mike Lowell appears to have come to an agreement with the Red Sox for 3 years. Excellent. Things couldn't have worked out better.
Happy Birthday Al! Sorry the Celtics lost, but the Pats are still undefeated, A-Stupid stayed with the Yankees, and now Mike Lowell gave us some good news today.
We decided it was time to give our facelift, and so last weekend we went out, got some paint and some tiles and went to task. Who knew vinal tiling was this easy?
TLM even found a nice replacement for the whiteboard. Note the coat hooks, er, mega key rack on the bottom.
So it looks like A-Fraud will remain a Yankee after all, and the deal was done without superstar sports agent Scott Boras (haha). Good...he can hit all the home runs he wants, but as long as he's on the Yankees, they will never win a postseason series.
"I like to keep all the people I hate together, so I don't feel conflicted." -TLM on A-Rod staying with the Yankees
I agree. Needless to say many others called up sports radio today and shared the same sentiment. My big question is, why the rush? Wouldn't it have made more sense business wise for A-Broad to hold out until January, like Johnny Damon did? At least another month of shopping himself around was, I think, expected.
Some say he came crawling back because he always wanted to stay with the Yankers (maybe)...that it was his agent who caused all the friction (highly likely). Others will point out that not that many other teams would have been able to afford his hefty price tag (probably true). Still others will claim that he just wants to be on a winning team, a claim to which I respond "...so why is going back to play for the Yankees?".
I think something else is going on here. The Mitchell report is coming out within the next couple of months, and we already know that there are going to be some "big names" on the list, including over 10 current free agents. We also know that those free agents know who they are. Could it be that the big rush to sign a guaranteed contract with a team was, dare I say it, an act of desperation by a man who knows his value is about to go down? Is there a clause somewhere that will let the Yankees opt out of his contract if that's the case? Are purple lips a side-effect of using too many steroids?
Let him play on the Bronx so he can hold them back...while he is still allowed to play.
How cool is that title? "Aquatron" - is it some kind of underwater computer? Might it be an 80's game where you race fish? Perhaps it's a color most men have never heard of.
In fact, the Aquatron was a "Space Age" 8-track stereo put out by Brother in the late 60's / early 70s. I ran into one today when I went over to see Jaz's new place (finally, seeing as how he's been there a year).
The place was nice, and definitely lived up to the description he gave me, including lots of homemade art on the walls, a dance room, and an impressive ready-to-record music room. There was even an office (work is done between painting, dancing and playing music), complete with at least three Macs in sight - laptops and desktops - and it was in this room I saw the Aquatron sitting innocuously on the corner of a table.
It didn't really stand out at first, as there were lots of other interesting objects to look at in the room, but shortly after Jaz pointed out its suction-cup base and hide-away handle, he casually mentioned what I think is its coolest feature (and the reason I'm even posting about it): they have the Aquatron hooked up to play music through Airtunes.
That's right; one can port any music they want to hear directly to this stereo, (thus completely removing the need for 8-track tapes!). In a house where, and I quote, they "don't have cable, man", I find this to be the best use of Airtunes I've seen yet. Nice.
One of the classics is still the best, and is even available as a widget, though I decided to make it a post rather than a permanent part of the site in the name of productivity. Don't waste too much time, you have work to do!
I thought a little levity was in order today. TLM showed me a site a few days ago called icanhascheezburger.com, and I agree with how she described it to me: you may think it's stupid at first, but then you keep looking and you eventually find something hilarious. This is my recent favorite:
I lost a family member today. He'd been sick for a long time and he passed away early this morning in his home. He wasn't a brother or a grandfather, but I knew him, and he knew me.
Most of my memories of him come from my childhood. He and his wife would always be at family gatherings, and they would even host a Christmas party every year that seemingly everyone went to. I also remember my mother taking me on many, many summer trips out to a house he owned with his brother on a lake, where I learned how to swim.
I would never have to refer to an aunt or my mother and ask "What's his name again?", and I had heard many stories from my parents and others about him, though I never really got a chance to have a good conversation with him in my adult life.
I would see his wife, my 2nd cousin, at weddings and milestone birthday parties, but he was always not well enough to be there in person. I would ask about him and she would give me honest answers, then I'd say something like "Tell him I said hello."
More recently she'd suggest I come over for a visit, and though I always meant to, I never did. Never, that is, until two days ago when I went with my mother and my aunt and saw him nearing the end of his life.
He was mostly in a daze and wasn't able to talk much. All we could really do was talk to him, hold his hand, and ultimately say goodbye.
...
While we were there I saw lots of the things he had crafted around the house. This was his hobby and a big part of his life, and I never knew this about him. He had hand-made decorations everywhere, and I was even shown his workshop. It made me realize I could've known him a lot more, and likewise he could've known me a lot more too. I could've told him about how I met my fiancée, or how I play in a baseball league, or even just how I have my own blog.
I never had the chance to get to know him better, to know him as more than a figure from my childhood or a character in a family story. I never made the time to go and see him, and I should have.
It may sound cliché, but it should never be the case that you "don't have time". If there is something you mean to do, something you want to do, you make the time.
I can remember the first time I signed into Yahoo messenger all those years ago. I encouraged many of my friends to sign up for a Yahoo account just so they could use this wonderful new technology with me. In fact, I remember seeing recently a TXT somewhere on a backup disc that contained a transcript of a chat with AL-9000 (yeah, I was geeky then, too).
Then along came AIM. "Meh, who needs more than one of these things anyway?" I thought to myself, "Besides, all my friends are on Yahoo".
Such was not the case for too long, especially after the introduction of iChat. Even I, an ardent AOL hater, signed up for a free AIM account just so I could use this new IM client. Eventually, a dilemma evolved: how do I monitor all of my Buddy Lists at once? A better question: is there an easier way to monitor them all without having to open up all of these programs.
In fact, many people wondered the same thing, and consequently many solutions have sprung up over the years. My new personal discovery: Meebo. Not only do they allow for AIM, Yahoo, MSN, GoogleTalk, ICQ, and Jabber accounts, but they also have a nifty feature called MeeboMe that lets you put a "live chat" box (or whatever you want to call it) right on your blog (um, take a look to the right). Any visitor who wants to drop a line or chat love can do so through the Meebo widget, and it's as if they were on your buddy list.
You don't download Meebo; it's web-based and you let it stay open somewhere on your screen. Besides that the only downside I can see so far is no audio/video chat, but that's not uncommon. Oh, and let's hope you don't get MeeboMe'd to death from randoms who want to tell you how awesome your blog is....we do have actual jobs and work to do, after all.
So I stumble upon this site called BustedTees and almost immediately my inner adolescent manifests itself and I'm thinking not only about which of these I'd wear, but also of all those shirts I used to own. I had quite a collection, albeit in high school. Among those I can remember were a black Huckleberry Hound shirt, a "Don't Have a Cow, Man" Bart Simpson tee, a Speedy Gonzales shirt...I even had an original black Phillie's Blunt shirt (that wasn't telegraphing anything to the police, noooooo).
As I'm about to add to my cart a red shirt featuring a chimp in a beret with the words "Viva La Evolution", TLM walks in. I think to myself, "Great"...who better to enjoy a little online shopping with me? Instead, I'm told "I would rather you get something more age-appropriate. You can quote me on that." (see below!). Well, all it took was another look at their online catalog until we found something she thought was worth buying: a tee that read "Jesse and the Rippers", a reference (obviously) to the band John Stamos fronted in the TV show "Full House".
"I would rather you get something more age-appropriate." -TLM
So, is TLM right? Are these shirts meant to be worn only by high-schoolers and people born in the 90's? There were definitely some that I would guess people that young wouldn't understand, yet still there does seem something weird about wearing something that said "Leave Lindsay a-Lohan" or had a picture of William Shakespeare and the phrase "Prose before Hos". Should I live with reckless abandon and buy a few?
Hmmmm....maybe I'll just buy a few as "Christmas presents"...
Part 2 of 2...otherwise known as the top half. Before we continue: Number 6 is a tie. Ok, so some may think a tie in a top 10 list (or 12, whatever) is cheating, but when coming up with the shows I wanted to include, I could only trim it down to 13...and since it's my blog I say ties are allowed.
House features perhaps the most sarcastic character in the history of television, rivaled by only the likes of Archie Bunker. This season there's a slew of new characters in the form of candidates to fill the now-empty House assistant positions (Kumar!). The writers were smart to find ways to keep Omar Epps et. al. in the show while still introducing some much needed new blood into the mix. The most interesting part is that these new characters are systematically being "rejected" as the season moves on...sort of like a reality show.
Speaking of reality shows, no one does it better than the original: Survivor. This year they're in China, and so far it's a great season, full of controversy, drama, innovative challenges, new twists, and plenty of both characters we love and characters we love to hate. James looks unstoppable, albeit unintelligible, so much so that at times the producers give us subtitles. One weird name is gone (Chicken) and the other is becoming a favorite (Frosti). Peih-Gee and Courtney need to go home soon. Denise, the "school lunch lady" from Revere who happens to have a black belt in karate and loves throwing axes and knives, is my current favorite to win.
Any show that is crazy enough to include Tracy Morgan signing "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah", in HD no less, seems sketchy (sorry for the pun), but throw in some witty situations, a ton of one-liners, big name guest stars, Kenneth the Page, and Alec Baldwin (in perhaps his best role ever), and you have a quality show worth catching every week. Only downside for me: 30 Rock is just 30 min. long.
This one is 90% about the characters and 10% about the storylines, but that's fine when you have characters like Henry, Justin, Amanda, Marc, and of course the show's namesake, Betty. Oh, and as TLM may excitedly point out, Posh Spice is guest starring next episode. All of the people you see on the show epitomize some specific aspect of people's personalities in an extreme way, yet we find ourselves able to relate to them all at one point or another - something I think to be maybe the strongest part of the show. On a side note, I'm glad they finally ended Hilda's mourning over the loss of Justin's father (some pretty sad moments in there).
This show is funny, funny, funny, and gets my vote for "most underrated show on television". Every once in a while I'll throw out something I heard Barney or Ted say on a recent episode and three different people within earshot will turn around and smirk knowingly. Every episode makes me laugh and I don't even care anymore who Ted eventually has kids with (ala the show's title).
So suit up and watch this show, because the viewing experience is.....wait for it.....legendary.
The only reason this isn't tops on my list is because it got beaten out by a show everyone I know watches, and that's it. I've been hooked on Heroes since episode 1, and I can't think of any show ever that has a storyline as amorphous almost to the point of being too convoluted yet compelling enough to not lose its viewers. I watch this one as close to broadcast time as I can.
[DISCLAIMER: GEEK ALERT] I subscribe to a podcast about it.
This season Hiro is off fixing history in feudal Japan (he just got back), there is a mysterious villain killing off what is turning out to be a previous generation of heroes (Takezo Kensei / Adam, anyone?), and once again an ominous future is spelled out via a trip to the future by Peter - I think the stat was 93% of the world's population dies. Of course, we were introduced to several new characters, and as of yet no one has been killed off. If you've never seen an episode, it's worth starting at the beginning...of season 1.
This may not be a surprise for many, as it's one of the most popular shows around. As I mentioned in the Heroes blurb, everyone I know watches this, and if you work in an office environment I'm sure you're used to the water-cooler Michael Scott impersonations. This show has become so popular there was even a convention" this year in Scranton, PA (yup, the town agreed to it).
[DISCLAIMER: GEEK ALERT #2] I thought for a moment of tricking TLM into a "vacation" to Pennsylvania around the same time. Then I remembered about the real world.
This year we've seen, among other things, the irrigation room at Schrute Farm, Ryan's promotion and launch of a new website for the company, and Andy's problem with nipple chafing when running (byugh). Will Pam and Jim continue to be an item or will Roy come back? Will Dwight and Angela get back together? Can Darryl reign in Kelly? Can Kelly not annoy the hell out of anyone she's dating? Will Toby (the HR guy) ever find love at all?
In review:
The Office
Heroes
How I Met Your Mother
Ugly Betty
30 Rock
House / Survivor
Chuck
Gossip Girl
Journeyman
My Name Is Earl
The Sarah Silverman Program
Bionic Woman
So there you have it. NBC takes the cake broadcasting 7 out of the 13 shows mentioned, followed by CBS (2), ABC (1), FOX (1), the CW (1) and Comedy Central (1).
Which shows do you think got snubbed? America's Next Top Model? CSI? Bridezillas? Biggest Loser? The Hills, perhaps? Comment away...
Content found on The Neoteric is of no particular genre, topic, or focus, other than it was all at some point, in some way, interesting enough to me to write about.
In light of Google's announcement that 
