Strange Pieces in the Paper

Some strange things I read in today's paper.

A thirty-year-old bat was found in a mine in Maine. It even had an ID bracelet from 1971! Thirty bat years is the equivalent of a hundred human years.

A man driving a snowmobile in Vermont rammed into a moose. The man was killed (attempts to revive him failed), and the moose was later found. Due to its injuries, a game warden made the decision to kill the animal.

An Entry-Level System

I have been working on an old PC, trying to make it suitable as an entry-level video editing system. I have a ways to go, but it's been fun taking the system apart and putting it back together again. I am learning a lot.

Moving Mia's Pictures

I finally moved the pictures of my daughter to my own domain. This has been "on my TODO list" for quite some time, and I finally got off my butt to do it.

(The pages reside at Tripod, which has pop-up banner ads. I wanted to get rid of the ads. I also wanted an easier URL.)

The hardest part was writing "redirection pages", so that people with book marks to the old location can find the new location. I wrote a small BASH script which I ran in my Cygwin environment to do this.


It took about two hours of time to make sure things are right. If I knew it would only take this long, I would have done this sooner. Of course, the hardest part is starting. Coincidentally, Joel on Software wrote a timely article about the difficulty of simply "starting". Good thoughts here.

Check Engine

While driving to work, my car's "Check Engine" light came on, suddenly and for no discernible reason. When I got to work, I paged through the manual, and it suggested an issue with the emissions. I called the dealership, and I made an appointment (thankfully coinciding with its regular check up).

By the time my appointment rolled around, the light had gone off.

Of course, a few days later, the light went on again. This time, I paged through the AudiWorld.com web pages, and searched the forums. I found multiple entries about the Check Engine light. The most common cause is a a loose gas cap.

So I removed the gas cap, and reseated it. The "Check Engine" light went off the next day.

How in the world did we ever function without the World Wide Web?

Solitaire

Part of what's been keeping me up at night is Solitaire, specifically, the version of Solitaire that comes with Windows. I picked up this game after my brother left it up on the computer while he was up visiting. I asked him about it, and he said he likes to play a few hands, just to pass the time. My wife plays Solitaire all the time on the computer, and now on her Handspring.

The Solitaire Central site says "Though popular, the odds of winning are rather low, perhaps one in thirty hands." I'll say. I played the game nearly two hours, hoping to "win". My wife played the Klondike version on her Handspring for nearly two days (over 100 hands) before she even one even once.

Solitaire is a class of one-player card games known as patience in some countries. I'll say. You have to remain patient as you wait seemingly forever for a winning hand. Now that I know the chances of winning are one in about thirty, I can approach playing this game with a better mindset (i.e. I don't expect to 'win' after only a few hands).

Maybe it's time for me to resume playing with MAME again.

Best Movies Watched in 2001

I also kept track of the movies I watched in 2001. I should point out that I have only watched one movie in the theater in all of 2001: Traffic. The rest were all on DVD (except for The Settlement, on HBO).

Out of this list of 51 movies, my favorite was Swingers. A classic "man discovers self, and becomes comfortable", I loved the setting (Los Angeles), the ambiance (parties, lame lounge acts, restaurants), and the non-stop movie references.

It seems incredible to me to settle on one 'favorite' movie, but I ask myself these questions: Would I watch it again? Did I like the plot? Do I have a favorite scene that I can't get out of my head? Yes to all of this, and more, for Swingers.

I must also announce that in second place, I choose Out of Sight. I thoroughly loved the pace and look of this movie, featuring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. I especially loved the Lopez character, and Clooney and Lopez have tremendous chemistry. For once, the movie will probably be better than the book.

Furthermore, some other areas:

• Best DVD Commentaries: Cast Away, Out of Sight, Clerks
  
  
• Favorite Scenes: Bruce Springsteen in High Fidelity, Clooney and Lopez meeting in the hotel in Out of Sight, Las Vegas scene in Swingers
  
  
• Favorite Male Acting: Tom Cruise, Magnolia
  
  
• Favorite Female Acting: Jennifer Lopez, Out of Sight
  
  
• Favorite "Characters": Jay and Silent Bob (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma)
  
  
• Best Quote: "Take dead aim at the rich guys." (Bill Murray in Rushmore)
  
  
• Best Music: High Fidelity
  
  
• Best Special Effects: Cast Away
  
  
• Finally Glad I Watched: Network, Private Parts, Grosse Pointe Blank, The Crying Game
  
  
• Not So Hot: Bringing Out the Dead, Hollow Man, The Thin Red Line
  

Best Books Read in 2001

I updated the list of books I read in 2001. Only fourteen books, but I read three 800+ page monsters: An American Tragedy, The Sum of All Fears, and The Executioner's Song.

Out of my 2001 reading list, my favorite had to be While I Was Gone, by Sue Miller. This was a book that truly transported me out of my reality, and into the world of Sue Miller's main character, Jo Becker. Told in the first person, the plot involves a murder, the return of a 'stranger', and a marriage hurt by all of the above. Wonderful writing!

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Happy New Year!

Directions

Tonight, outside of Shanghai Village, where I was picking up Chinese food take out, a couple asked me how to get from there to Boston Harbor.

I sighed, explaining to the couple that Boston is quite a ways from here (ten miles). I sent them straight down Massachusetts Avenue, which (if you follow it carefully from Arlington) will take you through Cambridge, into Harvard Square, then eventually past MIT over the Charles River. "After you cross the river, ask for directions again." They thanked me, and went on their way.

Earlier in the afternoon, Jenn's aunt and family came to visit and of course they asked for some pointers for how to get from my house to the local mall. They at least had a map, so I could direct them a little better than the couple outside the restaurant.

I am now wondering, as I write this, whether the couple managed to get to Boston Harbor. Boston is a mean little city for city driving.

Happiness

I was glad to find yesterday's link to the point about happiness.

When I got my pay check a few weeks ago, attached to it was a note from the president, urging us to stay upbeat during this slight downturn in the market. On the back of the note were the words about being happy now. I subscribe to this thought, but I need to keep reminding myself of this because it's difficult to actually be happy. It's an elusive feeling.

I often think back to my glory days of my school days and ponder the happiness I felt then. I think I'll be doing the same thing when I'm sixty years old, looking back on today and deciding "Boy! I was sure happy back then."

I think the happiness that is suggested by the link is not the pollyanna happiness of fools. It's instead a reminder that life is meant to be difficult. Be happy for the present, for the now. Be happy we're on the journey. And that's not a bad reminder.

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There is no way to Happiness. Happiness is the way.

CPU Fan

I replaced the CPU fan in my computer. Actually, I went the computer store and had a sales person help me with picking out the right fan. The technician pulled out my motherboard, and unhooked the fan from the CPU.

The new fan is so quiet, I almost couldn't believe it was working. The person who rang up the sale ($7.35) walked over to my machine and attached it for me. I booted it up right there to see it in action.

Now that's service! (I did pull apart the machine with my own screwdriver once I got there, to make it easier for them to help.)

Jesus' Birthday

The gifts have been opened and sampled. I have enjoyed the bounty of today's special meal. I relish the idea that I have a few more days off from work. Yet the big memory for me is going to mass in the morning with Jenn and Mia, my baby daughter.

At mass, I am reminded that this day is about Jesus, about God becoming flesh through His birth. It's an important reminder.

Too often, I find myself more and more consumed with the traditional concerns of the holiday season: the cards, the gifts, the tree, the decorations. Those end up becoming the obligations of the season, and I grow weary of it.

It's His birthday today. Let's enjoy that.

Solitaire

Whew! I spent forty minutes trying to "win" the Solitaire game on my PC. I finally got a deck that let me finish. Should I try again? Why not! I'm waiting for Santa...

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Merry Christmas!

The Golf Channel

Horrors! I've lost The Golf Channel in a recent cable listings change. Instead, I now get MSNBC. The golf station is now a 'premium' channel, which I can probably get a la carte, or as part of some other package (on par with ESPNews and CNNSI).

On the side of cable operators, it makes sense to make this change now (in the middle of New England's winter, with no golf in sight for another three months). But I will surely miss it during the heart of the PGA Tour golf season.

Country Music

I listened to country music during my drive home from work tonight. My boss suggested it, and I took him up on it. Every once in a while, I'll listen to the country station for a few days at a time. It had been a while since I did that.

WKLB was doing the "Top Five at Five" and I liked every one of the songs they played. The songs were:

5. Riding with Private Malone (David Ball)
   
   
   This was a tear-jerker of a song, involving the owner of a classic car and the gentle ghost who rides in it.
   
   
4. I Don't Have to Be Me (Until Monday) (Steve Azar)
   
   A very jaunty song about a man who takes Friday off and hits the open road.
   
   
3. I'm Tryin' (Trace Adkins)
   
   A very sad song about how all the singer can do is try, despite everything going against him.
   
   
2. I Wanna Talk About Me (Toby Keith)
   
   My favorite: a country "rap" about how the singer wants to talk about himself instead of just listening to his girlfriend.
   
   
1. The Long Goodbye (Brooks and Dunn)
   
   I didn't hear much of this song, as I was pulling into my driveway, but it was sad. Chances are, I'll hear it tomorrow.

In college, I DJ'd at an alternative music station, and I asked someone there what constitutes 'alternative'. He said that alternative music was music that was different from what you listen to. If you listen to rap, then listen to rock. If you listen to rock, then listen to classical. Tonight, country was my alternative music. And it was good!

Brad Pitt

I take some solace that I am younger than Brad Pitt. He turned 38 today.

I first really noticed Brad in the movie Fight Club. He played his character with such enthusiasm that I took an instant liking to Brad Pitt. When I read that James Gandolfini (who plays Tony of the Sopranos) liked Pitt in Kalifornia, I made it a point to rent it. Brad Pitt was just as crazy in that movie as well ("Reebs. That's beers backwards.")

Yes, he's a "handsome man" (and nothing is wrong with that), but as an actor, he's taken on some non-handsome roles. For some reason, that's quite appealing to me. My favorite Pitt performance is in Twelve Monkeys. It's a Bruce Willis movie, but Pitt stole the scenes with his over-the-top performance as a lunatic.

umali.com

The good news: the umali.com is up for sale. The bad news: The present owner is selling it for $950. C'mon!

Wet and Snowy

A wet, snowy day. The snow flakes were heavy with precipitation. Driving home was an exercise in caution.