Happy Birthday SirKenLord

A "third of my life" he says to me...well, better than half I say.

Have a good one Ken. See you next weekend for Super Bowl XLII...
 

Burns Night

"Auld Lang Syne"...in this country it's one of the most commonly known songs, of which most people know all of five words. It can be heard at New Year's parties and on the streets when the clock strikes midnight on December 31st each year, but where does it come from? Who wrote it?

The answer is Robert Burns, a Scottish poet who lived in the late 1700's and is generally regarded as the man in that country. Besides "Auld Lang Syne", he wrote many other highly regarded poems and even collected folk stories and songs from around Scotland for preservation, and in some cases like "Scots Wha Hae" (the unofficial Scottish national anthem for a long time), inspiration.

Burns is so highly regarded that Scottish emigrants (and fans of his poetry too, I suppose) all over the world come together on or around the anniversary of his birth, January 25th, to celebrate in what's become known as "Burns Night". The celebration is fairly elaborate, and sometimes very formal, a testament to how highly Burns is still regarded.

There is always a meal shared by all attendants called the "Burns Supper", unsurprisingly. A loose outline of the supper's order of events is outlined at Wikipedia (hopefully by people who actually go to these things). I found the Selkirk Grace, commonly said before the meal, particularly fun to read for whatever reason:

"Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit."

-the Selkirk Grace

So eat some haggis, have a shot or 3 of some good Scotch Whiskey, and end the night with a good rendition of "Auld Lang Syne".

But please, make sure to learn the words first...

Heath Ledger Dead at 28

Heath Ledger, who almost won an Oscar for his performance in "Brokeback Mountain", was found dead in his apartment today. So far all that's being said is that it's possibly a drug related death.

For many, Ledger's introduction came in the teen flick "10 Things I Hate About You", though personally I saw him in the movies "The Patriot" and "The Four Feathers" first. He plays the Joker in the new Batman movie coming out this summer, "The Dark Knight", one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2008.
 

Pats are 18-0: Arizona (and History), Here We Come

So it'll be the Pats versus the Giants for Super Bowl XLII, and we all know that there'll be an overly excessive amount of hype between now and the big game in two weeks, so I'll keep this short.

So what happened yesterday? Well, the Patriots proved they can win even when their All-Pro quarterback is having a bad day and their number one receiver is limited to one catch. The Chargers proved they can still hang with the big boys even with LT limited to just two carries and their QB had surgery just before the game. The Giants proved they can overcome not one but two shanks late in the game to win a ticket to the Super Bowl in overtime (luckily for the other LT, Lawrence Tynes, it was with a field goal). Lastly, Brett Favre proved even a man in the twilight of a glorious career can still give away big football games.

We also learned that LT isn't the only player to hate on the Pats; Chargers center Nick Hardwick went off about patriots DE Richard Seymour, ranting:

"There are 10 (bleeping) good players on that team. But Richard Seymour is a dirty, cheap, little pompous (expletive)."

"He’s cheap and dirty and the head man just let him get away with it the whole time. They’ve got 10 great players on that team and when Jarvis Green comes on the field, they’ve got 11 great players who compete how you’re supposed to play. But Richard Seymour is the biggest (expletive) I’ve ever played."

"Head slapping, foot stomping in the pile, running by and throwing punches in your back. He’s a (expletive)...There were a lot of things he did. There’s a field goal where he was stomping feet. Who stomps feet? And the officials weren’t doing anything about it. He plays like a punk."

-Nick Hardwick, San Diego Chargers starting Center

Sorry Nick. Your (bleeping)(expletive) excuses aren't going to change the outcome of the game yesterday. Maybe next year.

On a small tangent, what is this business of Paul Pierce congratulating Plaxico Burress and other Giants players at Madison Square Garden this afternoon? I suppose New York sports fans need something to cheer about, but seriously, Paul, seriously...
 

Sweet Lemons Thai Restaurant

Every Friday night TLM and I make it a point to go out together..."date night" if you will. This week we ate at a restaurant she had heard of but neither of us had been to called Sweet Lemons Thai Restaurant. It's a Thai food place (duh) in Weymouth which apparently has received good reviews and just become a chain (um, the other location is in Weymouth too).

I and my stomach were a little tentative at first, as I'd had a buffet lunch at an Indian food place earlier, but I was immediately put at ease by the establishment's decor and arrangement. The service was very polite and attentive, and merely the fact that the paper on the ends of the straws of our drinks were folded into little flowers serve as testament to their careful consideration of diner experience.

Though I should have probably started with some kind of Pad Thai dish as it was the first time we were eating there, I opted for the Drunken Noodle with chicken instead, and was not disappointed. It wasn't overly spicy nor overly veggie, and there was no shortage of well seasoned chicken to be had. All in all, it did not disappoint.

TLM had the Rad Na with chicken. I'd never actually seen Rad Na before, and it looked good, albeit very green, in the gravy-type broth in which it's served. She said it was tasty, though there was one small incident where she hit something that can only be described as a concentrated hot spice something, prompting her to polish off her drink, her water, and some of mine before her throat started opening up again. Yikes...sounds like my kind of spicy.

The meals were of average cost - $9-10 dollars a meal, though the restaurant did employ one of my biggest pet peeves when eating out: no free refills on sodas. Unless you ask, you find this out only after getting the bill. This was, however, the only negative critique I have of what is sure to become one of our favorite Weymouth spots: the Sweet Lemons Thai Restaurant. After one visit: 3 stars.

Blockbuster Total Suckness

I've been a member of the Blockbuster Total Access movies-by-mail program ever since its inception. The deal seemed too good to be true - at prices comparable to those of Netflix you get movies by mail and then get to return them to a store and swap for other movies while you're waiting for the next ones to come in. They even gave you a bonus movie or game rental each month.

It turns out the deal was too good to be true, I found out after a short time. Blockbuster has upped its prices for the program for the second time (what used to be $18.89 is now $34.99, minus some perks), and it's a service no longer worth paying for at all, particularly in light of Netflix and the new iTunes movie rental service. Maybe Blockbuster was taking too much of a hit with the old prices, maybe they're trying to capitalize on the lack of TV shows thanks to the writers' strike...I don't know.

What I do know is that Blockbuster is a model of extremely poor customer service, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. I received an email informing me that their packages were changing and was brought to a page where I could select which plan I wanted to upgrade to, if any. I went through the process 4 times with 2 different browsers, and yet my plan info still reflected no change. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I sent a nice email "making sure" my plans to continue purchasing their product registered somewhere. I got back no response. I tried a second email, this time mentioning how I hadn't received any DVDs for over half a month. I got a response that told me to make sure my queue had at least 50 selections in it (which it did), and no semblance of a response to the subscription inquiry.

For my third attempt I tried the hardline approach, and pointed out how I felt cheated that I hadn't gotten any movies for almost 3 weeks and that I expected some kind of compensation. I got a coupon for a free rental.

What they're getting is a cancellation of service starting tomorrow and this gleaming review of their service sent out to everyone I know.

---

UPDATE 1.18.08:
This short article at Paris Lemon basically says that Blockbuster's stock is plummeting...and I couldn't be happier.
 

Joy of Tech at Macworld Keynote

I had to at least post one of the many reactions out there...this one was one of the funniest (click on the pic to see the full comic):

Apple Keynote 2008

It would be remiss of me to not mention Steve Job's new announcements at the 2008 Macworld Keynote Address today, particularly that of the "world's thinnest notebook", Apple's new MacBook Air. No, it's not a sneaker with ties to a certain Chicago Bulls hall of famer, it's a laptop designed for nothing but portability and "built for the wireless world".

"Thinnovation" is their key word. Not only is this thing ridiculously small, it's ridiculously light (under 3lbs.). Amazingly, it has no optical drive. It has a USB port and a new DVI port, so you can connect an external if you want, but the really cool feature displayed was the wireless access of a shared optical drive from some other computer nearby.

I'm not in the market for a laptop, but if I were, I'd have to give this some consideration at least.

Another announcement was a (long overdue) iPhone update. No, it still can't play Flash content in Safari, nor can it read my mind yet, but it does now include some useful new features, including the ability to customize your home page and the ability to "pin" where you currently are in Google maps. For a complete overview, check out the iPhone update page.

Everyone seemed to want to get this update at once. I waited a loooooooong time before the servers cleared up enough for me to get this update, but so far it's been fun to play with the new changes.

There is still as of yet any word on Apple's progress on personal androids and flying cars. Damn...
 

10,000 BC - Mammoths and Sabertooths

With no disrespect meant for the made-for-tv classics "Sabertooth" and "Mammoth", it's about time we had a big-budget movie that really showcased these two animals every kid learns about and is fascinated by at an early age...and no, "Ice Age" doesn't count.

The movie's named "10,000 BC", and it's slated for release in early March. In an era where CGI brings us such eye candy as cloned dinosaurs, monsters the size of skyscrapers, aliens destroying international monuments, over the top natural disasters, asteroids exploding near and/or colliding with Earth, and completely virtual characters altogether (see: LOTR, Gollum), writers have finally tapped into that veritable plethora of storylines some call the Pliocene epoch and delivered a flick essentially starring everyone's favorite woolly elephants and really big tigers with the famous smile. Oh, there are people in it too, apparently.

We'll see how good the story is, though I'm not getting my hopes up. I've been wrong before, but this looks to be a movie that will garner more praise for it's computer generated scenes (and probably complaints for it's historical inaccuracy) than it will for its character development or plot.

At least it has a title that's easy to remember, I guess.

Pats are 17-0: Chargers Next

So the Pats took another step towards the Super Bowl (and a perfect season) by beating the Jags in Foxboro yesterday. Brady set another record too, for good measure, this time setting the passing accuracy mark at 92.9% surpassing the previous bests of 91.3% in a regular season game held by Vinny Testaverde and 88% in a playoff game held by Phil Simms (who was a commentator in the booth, by the way).

Moss was essentially a non-factor, though his one catch was a 4th down conversion to keep the first drive alive. I thought lots of players stepped up (as is usually the case), though I give special recognition to our running backs, particularly Kevin Faulk. He may not have had 100 yards like Maroney, but he made big plays when we needed them, and in my opinion is the most underrated part of the Patriots' offense.

Next in line: the Chargers, whom the Pats have beaten once this year already. They just put the finishing touches on a victory over the Colts in Indy, where Peyton Manning and company couldn't find a way to stop a San Diego offense that lost both Phillip Rivers and LaDanian Tomlinson during the game. Nice...

Adam Vinatieri, I told you you were making a mistake.
 

Hancock Trailer

...I'm still not sure why I think this will be funny:

Balls of Fury

So I finally got around to watching "Balls of Fury", the 2007 sophomoric flick billed as "a huge comedy with tiny balls"...and you wonder why TLM didn't want to go see this at the theaters with me.

Well, it exceeded my expectations, and I was surprised my a few things. For example, I had no idea that the movie was essentially a spoof of to-the-death martial arts tournament movies like "Enter the Dragon" and "Mortal Kombat", except it's to-the-death ping-pong. Go figure.

[ On a side note, there's at least one actor who was actually in "Mortal Kombat" (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) and one who should have been (James Hong). ]

The main reason I wanted to see the picture, however, was to watch serious actor turned caricature of himself Christopher Walken play the part of Feng, the sillily evil grand master of the tournament. He did what I expected him to do; that is, talk in the oh-so-recognizable Christopher Walken way and steal the show. It didn't matter what getup he was in (this one was pretty out there), he's still that guy dancing around in the Fatboy Slim video for "Weapon of Choice" (is there anything this guy can't do? Oh, right, talk differently).



Walken had some strong competition, though, from relative newcomer Dan Fogler, who won't be receiving any Oscar nominations anytime soon but still gave a great performance with his deadpan, slapstick, Def Leppard shirt wearing character and hero, Randy Daytona.

I laughed enough to give this one 3 stars, even.

Peculiar People Day 2008

pe⋅cu⋅liar

adjective
strange or odd; unusual

Talk about silly holidays...Today is Peculiar People Day, a day for recognizing those among us who are quirky, bizarre, eccentric, weird, wacky, or maybe just slightly out of the ordinary for whatever reason. We all know (and probably work with) at least one, so be nice to them today, even if their socks don't match or they insist on (inappropriately) being on "hug patrol" all the time (you know who you are).
 

How to Win Friends and Influence People

I was reminded recently of one of my favorite books, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, a staple in any business school's required readings and a must-read for anyone who works with people. Its usefulness extends to anyone, however, and though nothing in the book is necessarily new information, it is presented in a way that comes across clearly and insightfully.

Some might say it's a compendium in basic human psychology, while others might see it as manipulation 101 (the inclusion of the word "Influence" in the title is certainly suggestive). I look at it much more innocently and take it for what it is: one man's advice on how to interact with others. Without a doubt, I recommend reading it, no matter who you are.

The book is broken down into four major sections, and in each one Carnegie presents ideas that seem old-hat, then hammers them home with tons of examples that firm up the real power behind them. At the end of each section he lists off those ideas in a summary he calls "In a Nutshell", meant for easy review. I've been meaning to list these off somewhere for a while now, just so I have somewhere a little more convenient than the book itself to look them over again. So, here are Dale Carnegie's "In a Nutshell" summaries as listed in his book:

---

Fundamental Techniques in
Handling People

1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.

Six ways to make people like you

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

Win people to your way of thinking

1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
2. Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say, "You're wrong."
3. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
4. Begin in a friendly way.
5. Get the other person saying "yes, yes" immediately.
6. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
7. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
8. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
9. Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.
10. Appeal to the nobler motives.
11. Dramatize your ideas.
12. Throw down a challenge.

Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

A leader's job often includes changing your people's attitudes and behavior. Some suggestions to accomplish this:

1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
2. Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.
3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
5. Let the other person save face.
6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be "hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise."
7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
9. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

McCain: How is 35% enough?

How is it that right now, at 9:20pm Tuesday night, I'm listening to John McCain give a victory speech and sites are already giving him New Hampshire with only 35% of the precincts reporting? Where is the math to back this up? Might not the other 65% of the state vote differently?