BIG NEWS!!

As of about 10 a.m this morning, Chrissy and I are engaged! Yaaayy!! Here's how it went:

Chrissy just got a new job, and her last day at the old place was 12/15. She doesn't start the new place until 12/28. So she was already planning to take some time off and spend some time in Jersey at her mom's place. I am going up to Jersey for Christmas weekend. Instead of taking two cars, we were meeting her mom & sister 1/2 way and I was handing off Chrissy & Buddy (the cat). Before we left the apartment, I suggested she use the facilities since she had a long ride. While she was in there, I put the ring, in the open case, into the cat carrier and closed the door. When she came out, I handed her the cat and asked her to put him in the carrier. She put the carrier on the couch, opened the door, took a step back and gasped. She asked, "Is that for me?" I said, "Yes." She gasped again and took another step back. I picked up the ring and held it out to her. Her face turned red and tears began swelling in her eyes. She was near hyperventilating/laughing/crying, so I waited until her breathing regulated and said, "Will you marry me?" She shrieked, took another step back and turned away with her face in her hands. After a few seconds of hysterics, she realized she hadn't answered, so she turned back around and said, "OH! Yes! YES!!"

So, as of now, the date is set for November 5, 2005! Yaaayyy!!

So much for that...

Guess the Redskins don't mean jack shit when it comes to the presidential election.

Redskins Loss Portends Kerry Victory

Yahoo! News - Does Redskins Loss Portend Kerry Victory?

Ok. The Skins have done their part. Let's keep the streak alive! I know, I said last week that I wanted the streak to be broken. But that was when the outcome of the game was still in doubt. I wanted to have my cake & eat it, too. Of course, I never did like that expression; if you don't have the cake, how can you eat it? You can't eat a cake that is in someone else's possession... Anyway, I only wanted the streak broken so both the Redskins and Kerry could win. Now I want the streak to stay intact since the Redskins already lost. GO KERRY!!

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Sports (Winning Tradition)

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Sports (Winning Tradition)

For the love of GOD, let this be a streak that is broken this year! I suppose I must say, though, that, given the choice, I'll have to say let the 'Skins lose this weekend. We're talking one game versus four years...

Superman!!

Warner Bros. Pictures Casts Brandon Routh as Superman
It's official! Brandon Routh (rhymes with "mouth," I think) will play Superman!! I have no clue whether this guy has the chops to BE the Man of Steel, but he certainly looks the part. Much more so than Josh "Hollywood Homicide" Hartnett. We shall see. I have faith in Bryan Singer's ability to bring a comic book to life on the big screen. :-)

TV

Well, I'm watching the series premiere of CSI: NY. So far, so good. Although, I just noticed a flaw in the first half. They take a picture of a woman at an unknown location. In the background, they have the height of two buildings and her height and triangulate her location. Only problem is that they use her height of 5'-9" to triangulate even though she's bent over blowing a kiss to whoever took the picture, which means she would have been shorter than 5'-9". Ah well. Suspension of disbelief, I guess.

I think I liked the season premiere of Smallville better. Clark (Kal-El, actually) actually flew! Despite the mandate of the creators at the beginning of the series of "No cape, No flight," he flew in tonight's episode. Also the arrival of Lois Lane. And an appearance by Margot Kidder. Interestingly enough, there was a good Clark/bad Clark fight scene very similar to that in Superman III which starred Annette O'Toole (who plays Martha Kent on Smallville) as Lana Lang.

Finally... and I have been avoiding this... What the F--- happened to the Skins this weekend? It was like I wasn't watching a Joe Gibbs-coached team. They looked great in the first quarter. After that, they fell apart! I just don't know. Hopefully, Gibbs can kick some sense into them by Monday night's game against the Cowboys. I don't hold out too much hope, though. Unfortunately, thay always seem to go to pieces against Dallas. We shall see. HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!!

Still a fan....

Grrrrrrr....

Yet again, another brilliant idea of mine (so modest) gets developed by others. From a recent news article about the war on spam by AOL and Microsoft, among others: "Several proposals by Microsoft and others would allow Internet providers to check that a message from joe@example.com actually comes from example.com's server computers. Messages that do not match up could be safely rejected as spam. The technology would be invisible to everyday users."

This is exactly what I have been saying for years about fighting spam.

Catching up

Ok, so it's been over two weeks since I posted. Part of the reason is that I was at the beach for a week! :-) Wildwood Crest, NJ. It was wonderful! Chrissy, her sister Noelle, our friend Eleanor and I spent five fabulous days and four fun-filled nights at the beautiful Commander by the Sea Motel! It was actually very nice. It's pretty much a no-frills motel, but clean and friendly. Beautiful weather and very relaxing. It was a shame to have to come back to work...

REDSKINS!!! Yaaayyy!!! Skins won the season opener! Gibbs is back, baby! I think we could have done better. Offense floundered a bit in the beginning of the 2nd 1/2. I was very impressed by Mark Brunell. I think he will be a great asset to the team. He brought a sense of on-field leadership that has been severely lacking with this team for a while. I hope Ramsey plays it smart and absorbs everything he can from Brunell. He could learn a lot.

NASCAR Chase for the Cup is on. It's like playoffs for NASCAR. I'm actually impressed with it. I was wary of the new points system at first. Now that I've seen it in action, I think I like it. It's made it pretty exciting for late in the season.

Think that's about it for now. Guess I didn't miss much...

Oliver Oliver Oliver Oliverrrrrrrr The Humanzee!

Oliver Oliver Oliver Oliverrrrrrrr The Humanzee!

Damn you, Elliot Siegel! I don't know where he found it, but Elliot (morning DJ on DC101) plays this music on occasion when he's trying to fill air time when he's doing something that he can't put on the air. I checked out the other things on the site and they're fairly boring, but Oliver is catchy as hell. Once I hear it or even think about it, it gets stuck in my head. (click on "Flash Animation")

Aye caramba

Well, it's been a while since I've had a chance to update my blog. As my family and many of my friends know, this is the reason why: on Sunday, August 8, I was traveling southbound on Route 2 in Glen Burnie. I was on my way home from getting my hair cut. I was stopped at the traffic light at Route 648 when I was rear-ended by a guy in a Silver Dodge pick-up truck. It's the first time I've been in a real auto accident. So I spent the next two days calling insurance companies, visiting doctors, staying home from work (so it hasn't been all bad), laying in bed with a heating pad and watching movies (ditto). After two days of staying home, I went back to work. However, since I have had to go to follow-up visits to my doctor, and 3 visits per week to the chiropractor/physical therapist, it's been a major pain. I've had to leave work early to fight traffic in a rental car in order to make it to the doctors.

I'm pretty much close to normal now. I've got my car back. Of course, I now have to fight with Enterprise Rent-a-Car and the insurance company (Geico) because I got my car back on Friday, was out of town on Saturday, Enterprise is closed on Sunday, and there were 3 accidents on the way home from work yesterday (so I missed my doctor's appointment, too). Therefore, I was unable to return the rental until today. Now Enterprise wants to charge me for the extra days. My view on this is that the only reason I have to put up with any of this is because their insured rear-ended me at... a... red... light.... If I can't make it to Enterprise for two weeks, well, that's just too friggin' bad. I refuse to pay money out of my pocket so that they can be convenienced.

New 'Bushism' Born at Bill Signing

Well... at least he's finally being honest!

Yahoo! News - New 'Bushism' Born at Bill Signing

Sports notes

Ok, I'm not a big sports nut, but I have a few sports-related items.

I guess I should be glad I didn't spring for the Tyson fight last Friday. He apparently put up a good fight for 3 rounds, but got knocked out in the 4th. It's looking like the end of his boxing career. It's a shame he got so messed up over the years. I think he had potential to be one of the true greats in the sport. However, he squandered his talent and now has a rape conviction and $38M in debt under his (non-championship) belt. I don't understand how someone can make an estimated $400M and, as of three months ago, only have $1,250 and a Hummer SUV to show for it. "Tyson owes money to at least 246 creditors, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Screen Actors Guild and dozens of doctors, lawyers and accountants. Tyson owes his ex-wife, Monica Turner, almost $9 million from their divorce, and he hasn't paid $19.4 million in taxes to the IRS, Britain and five states." Schlabach, Mark. "The Punch Line? A Knockout Debt." The Washington Post, July 24, 2004. Bizarre...

In other sports news, the Redskins are starting training camp. The current plan is to have Brunell & Ramsey alternate in pre-season. Brunell will start on opening day. I think this is a smart move. I know, big surprise that Gibbs is being smart. I think the Skins have a real chance to kick some major booty this season. I am very excited. I am especially excited that I have tickets for the Eagles game on my birthday! :-) Yaaayyy!!!

In NASCAR news, Jimmie Johnson got fined $10K for putting a sign in front of a Power Ade bottle on top of his car after winning the Pocono race this past weekend. Power Ade is made by Coca Cola and Johnson has an exclusive sponsorship with Pepsi. So when a NASCAR official put a Power Ade bottle on top of his car after the race, he put a Lowe's sign (is primary sponsor)in front of the bottle. The only problem is that the President of NASCAR said two weeks ago that drivers could not do that. This is another think I like about NASCAR. If a driver breaks the rules, they get fined. That is why you don't have drivers who are rapists, murderers and drug dealers. NASCAR doesn't put up with it!

John Kerry

Well, I thought his speech on Thursday was very intelligent. Very well-written. My only problem, other than the length, was that I thought he over-invoked the military service. I thought it was fine that he brought it up, even repeatedly, it was just a bit much. It was funny when he said we will "double our special forces to conduct terrorist operations... anti-terrorist operations." :-)

Attack on Advertising Provider Jams High-Traffic Web Sites

Finally! Hackers do something useful! About time they go after people responsible for pop-up advertising. Now, if these people would put all that brainpower toward a solution for getting rid of spam email....

Attack on Advertising Provider Jams High-Traffic Web Sites (TechNews.com)

Redskins

Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington on the acquisition of rookie Sean Taylor:  "Let him be a rookie, let him learn, give him the opportunity to be a rookie," Arrington said. "And if he exceeds that, then whoop-de-do, that's a great thing, but if he doesn't, then he's a rookie and he has to learn what it is to be a professional in this league and that takes a while. . . ."

That is one of best sports quotes I've heard in quite a while!  I hope the QB controversy settles itself.  If Ramsey is smart, he will keep his ego in check and learn as much as he can from veteran Brunell in the time Brunell has left in the league.  If he does that, by the time Brunell retires in a few years, I think Ramsey can step up and be one of the best QBs in the league!  I have the feeling his ego won't allow him to do that, though...

I have said before and will say again (although I know Gail disagrees) that I think NFL rookies should be paid league minimum for at least 2-3 years.  Once they have proven themselves, they can hold out an negotiate contracts.  I think it is complete BS that an unproven college athelete can get drafted, hold out, and get a $15M signing bonus when they haven't even proven that they can compete on a professional level!  The game is becoming all about ego and not about the game.

P.S.  Joe Schmoe 2 on Spike TV tonight!  Yaaayy!!  The return of Bryce, the Stalker!  :-)

Rescue Me

Wow.  I just got done watching the premiere of Rescue Me on the F/X network.  It was co-written and produced by Denis Leary, who starred in it as well.  It was fantastic.  Very touching, very funny, well written.  I highly recommend it.

Oh.  I've been watching The Daily Show, too, lately.  Jon Stewart hosts it on Comedy Central.  It is presented very much like a serious news show, but pokes fun at the absurdity of today's headlines.  The funniest part is that they play clips and soundbites of what people (politicians, mostly) actually say.  They don't alter the sound or put words in people's mouths.  They just compile the dumbest quotes from the news of the day!

Blogging

Ok, not bad.  12 days since I created my blog and this is my 10th post.  Could do better, could do worse.  This may be turning out to be just a place for me to get out my excitement over various TV & movie projects about which I hear news.  I know Chrissy doesn't mind hearing me get excited about Star Trek and superhero movie news, but after a while, I think her eyes just start to glaze over.  Nothing personal, she just doesn't have the same interest I have in such things.  It's like when she talks about the Civil War.  It is interesting to me and we still talk about it, but I don't the interest level she has.  I will try not to bore everybody by turning this into a mirror site to Cinescape.com or Comics2film.com.

Elsewhere, I tried twice to call my sister Gail yesterday to wish her a happy birthday,  but wasn't able to get through to her.  So... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GAIL!!  Love you BIG!

Good for Superman, bad for X-Men

Well, what was a rumor last week is a done deal this week. Bryan Singer is now the director for Superman. I think it's a great move by Warner Bros. He's got a proven track record with adapting costumed superheroes to the big screen. Unfortunately, this means Fox will most likely get someone else for X-3. Hopefully, they'll get Stephen Norrington, Guillermo Del Toro or someone with a proven record to take over. Maybe Tim Burton will come back! As long as he doesn't bring Nicholas Cage back with him....

Cinescape - Home - Editorial

GOD, I love America!

Only in America would something like this happen. Thanks to modern technology and the internet, everyone around the world can hear about it!
Yahoo! News - Nude Man Covered in Nacho Cheese Arrested

Fantastic Four news

Cinescape - Home - Editorial

Hmmm.... Not sure what I think about this. News so far about this movie have been hit or miss. Tim Story ("Barbershop") got directing duties. Word is that audience testing on his latest movie ("Taxi" with Jimmy "SNL" Fallon & Queen Latifa) scored through the roof. That's why he got the job. Ok, that I can deal with. However, the budget is said to be set at $80-90M. Not much for a summer blockbuster franchise tentpole movie, especially given that 3 of the 4 main characters will be special effects covered for 1/2 their time on screen. Then we get Ioan Gruffudd (british actor - did well playing Lancelot in King Arthur) for Mr. Fantastic and Michael Chiklis (Emmy-winning actor from The Shield) - perfect for Ben Grimm/The Thing. Then Jessica Alba as The Invisible Woman. She's young and hot, but will she hold her own in the part? Don't know. I think the reason so many "comic book" movies have been doing so well is that they are being taken seriously as movies. X-Men and The Hulk had an Oscar-winning directors and X had an Oscar-winning actress. This seems like a bit of stunt casting. We shall see...

Our Vice President

CafePress

"And I'm proud to be an Americaaaaaan!..."

McG off Superman

Thank God! I liked the first Charlie's Angels movie, but I don't think McG is the right person for the upcoming Superman movie. I think casting for the big "S" will be very important for this movie, too. Not sure who they should get, but not Jake Gyllenhall or Josh Hartnett. Last I heard, Anthony Hopkins was still on board as Jor-El (Supes' father - played by the late, great Brando in the '78 Donner Superman). That's good. I'll keep my fingers crossed as they look for a new director.
Cinescape - Home - Editorial

Rock, Paper, Saddam!

Too friggin' funny!
Rock, Paper, Saddam!

Data on Enterprise!

We'll see if it turns out to be true...
Cinescape - Home - Editorial

Angry Alien

Found a new site over the weekend. Seeing as I am still new at this blog thing, I didn't think to add it until I was sending a link to my friend, Katy (who lives over in the UK). She has a collection of quirky links on her personal site and her blog was my inspiration to give it a shot! Thanks, Kate!
Angry Alien Productions

First Post

Well, this is my first attempt at a blog. I've never had one before. As a boy, I never kept a diary, so I'm rather new at this. I'm keeping this brief, as I don't even know if I am posting correctly. Hopefully, this is the start of something big!