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Friday - Nothing of interest opened at the movies this week, so the group decided to skip it. V and I ended up using a gift certificate we had, and went to La Scala, a very fancy Italian restaurant in the neighborhood. I had red snapper, done to perfection. The presentation was worth a photograph. V had ostrich; she said it tasted like a nice piece of filet mignon. They also offered elk. We shared gazpacho (a chilled tomato and cucumber soup -- excellent for summer) beforehand, and I had a banana chocolate torte for dessert., again it looked as good as it tasted. Afterward, we went shopping for new bedroom furniture to replace our 27-year old set, but no luck so far. I find looking at bedroom sets to be particularly uninspiring for some reason.
—Mike @ 11:30
Quote du jour - "In the 60's people took acid to make the world seem weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it seem normal." -Anonymous
—Mike @ 22:30
A spectacular show - of very close lightning, continuous thunder, hail, 55mph winds and 1½ inches of rain, all in a mere 15 minutes, just passed over us as we safely weathered an official tornado warning. Whew!
—Mike @ 18:12
A reminder - The price of a first class stamp goes up this Sunday, from 34¢ to 37¢.
—Mike @ 21:16
Star Trek: Nemesis - opens on 12/13. The movie trailer debuts tonight on the "Official Star Trek Web Site". Jean Luc Picard and crew return for their fourth film, trying to make peace with the Romulans, who have other plans. Sounds good to me!
—Mike @ 21:09
What does your phone number spell? - There's a web site that can give you some suggestions.
—Mike @ 06:24
The American Tribute - A new American tradition - Beginning this Fourth of July, firework displays in the U.S. may look a little bit different. Read more about "The American Tribute" here.
—Mike @ 16:41
Tablet PCs - are about four months from being introduced. Here's an early review of a model I recently saw.
—Mike @ 06:27
Quote du jour - "Until you own a hybrid, you don't realize how wasteful standard vehicles are."
-Actor Leonardo diCaprio [Time Magazine, 04/29/02]
—Mike @ 21:26
Interesting little invention - These "Tire Minder" replacement valve caps constantly monitor your tire pressure with clear, bright color indicators to indicate when your tire pressure is getting low.
—Mike @ 20:41
Cigarette taxes - NJ is planning to raise taxes on tobacco products to help with the current budget shortfall. One group took out a full-page ad in today's paper opposing the idea and asking people to use their web site to write their state legislators. Personally, I think a higher tobacco tax is a terrific idea. Anything, even taxes, that gets people to think twice about buying these products is the right way to go. With some minor alterations to the suggested letter, I was able to send my own ideas to my representatives.
Summer is here - and it didn't take too long to put together a string of 90-degree days already. We even cranked up the central air for the first time this season. But it's still pleasant enough in the evenings to sit out on the patio and read the mail and newspaper while the birds and squirrels entertain us, and take advantage of the extended daylight hours.
—Mike @ 20:29
Universal cold - This cold-thingy I've been fighting for five days may be starting to wind down. At least that's the prediction from sister-in-law Crys in Virginia, who reports the exact same weird symptoms, only she's running a couple of days ahead of me. Very strange how this hit so many people in so many places at once.
—Mike @ 22:59
Farewell - to columnist Ann Landers, who passed away this weekend, a couple of weeks short of her 84th birthday. She's been an enjoyable personal habit in this household since I got married nearly 27 years ago, when we started the daily paper delivery, and she'll be missed.
—Mike @ 22:56
Rules clarified - I've updated the Rules for the Continental Card Game to remove some points of confusion that were pointed out by John McLeod in England, who keeps track of the many variations of Contract Rummy (and even has a link to my Continental page!).
—Mike @ 20:30
Our neighborhood's 10th annual Block Party -
With thanks to neighbor Jeannie, who organized all the details for all ten years. A great group of folk.
—Mike @ 16:18
A Spielberg masterpiece - We went to see Minority Report starring Tom Cruise this week. I enjoyed this movie very much (wow -- four weeks of positive experiences in a row). It's not a simple movie, but it explains itself very well as it goes, so it won't lose as many people as Vanilla Sky did. It appeals to the audience on many different levels.
First, it's an excellent action sci-fi story that takes place in the future, and once again, the special effects are dazzling. Many of the effects are things that are easily believable in a future world. You can tell a lot of thought went into what devices to portray.
Second, it's a great whodunit movie that keeps you guessing throughout, primarily because not only do you not know whodunit, you also don't quite know what was done!
Third, it's a thinking movie. The plot brings up some very obvious questions about how much freedom and privacy society is willing to relinquish in order to attain a greater degree of security (questions that are not only pertinent to the future).
Finally, teens will like it on a fourth level: plenty of gross-out scenes, from rolling eyeballs to "sick-sticks" that the future cops use to make someone instantly vomit.
All in all, a very clever movie. The ultimate test: I had no problem staying awake, despite fighting off some low-grade cold the last couple of days (over half the movie group is fighting something similar; thank goodness for Efidac 24).
—Mike @ 14:19
Eyeing lying - The Mayo Clinic has developed a lie detector based on facial thermal imaging. Right now, it only in a lab, but with 83% accuracy and no specialists required to run the equipment, accelerated development may bring them to the mainstream within a couple of years.
—Mike @ 13:04
Thoughts of terrorist attacks keeping you up at night? - Apparently, potassium iodide tablets are selling at a brisk pace these days, and like most things, purchase information can be found online.
—Mike @ 16:36
Let the spammees do the work - From one of Napster's co-founders comes a clever new (free) product called SpamNet, a promising step in the fight against spam e-mail. It lets the recipients of spam identify the offending messages, and then any other subscriber who gets that message will automatically have it moved into a spam folder. Users are rated on their successful identification of spam, so incorrectly marking a message as spam will make it less likely that user's decisions will affect others in the future.
—Mike @ 06:17
Super-model-naut? - Cindy Crawford mulls space trip... now that would spark interest in the space program!
—Mike @ 15:43
Smoking even worse than thought... - Tobacco smoke is even more cancerous than previously thought, for both smokers and nonsmokers who breathe in the fumes, causing cancer in many more parts of the body than previously believed, according to a comprehensive review of medical studies by researchers at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the first time an organization with global sweep has reached that conclusion.
—Mike @ 15:40
Those aliens are back - At least 70 farm animals have been found dissected, mutilated and drained of blood on remote plains in Argentina, surrounded by charred grass with no signs of blood stains.
—Mike @ 06:21
Quote du jour - "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power."
-Abraham Lincoln
—Mike @ 21:43
It's getting harder to separate the bad guys from the bad guys - Three men have been arrested for extorting money from people who visited a child pornography web site. The men allegedly visited chat rooms and offered what appeared to be a link to a web site. When people clicked on it, they received an e-mail message that said "Going to Jail." The message said the group was going to report their activity to the police, but they would keep the information private for payment. If convicted of conspiracy and extortion through interstate commerce, the men could face sentences of up to seven years and fines of up to $500,000.
—Mike @ 13:21
Fill 'er up, with zinc pellets? - A company named Metallic Power has completed tests of the world's first refuelable on-road zinc fuel cell powered vehicle.
—Mike @ 06:28
Frontier House - Just finished watching a tape of the 6-hour PBS series Frontier House, which we recorded when it was broadcast a couple of months ago. I didn't start out thinking I'd find it very interesting, but found myself getting more and more drawn into it. Three families were chosen from among 5,000 who applied to spend five months in Montana, living as the original homesteaders did back in 1883, to see if modern folks still have what it took to make it back then. With enough training to give them the basic skills of surviving off the land, it made for some fascinating TV. In the end, every viewer cannot help but gain new insights and an appreciation for how modern life in the 21st century affords us so many miraculous technological advantages, yet at the same time creates some very unnatural challenges in staying connected with each other, and remembering what's important in life. If you ever get the chance, watch this series. It's even for sale, here.
—Mike @ 21:49
Amateur Rocketeers - A group of rocket jocks, engineers and space enthusiasts hope the next two weeks will put them in the history books with a vehicle that, if successful, would be the first amateur rocket shot into space.
—Mike @ 20:16
How could this happen?? - Paul McCartney is 60 today!
—Mike @ 18:42
Not quite "beam me up" yet - but a tiny step forward, as scientists ‘teleport’ a laser beam across a room.
—Mike @ 06:26
Belief-o-Matic - is a great name for a short, 20-question quiz that supposedly matches your own personal beliefs with those of dozens of established beliefs, churches or religions. If nothing else, it's an interesting exercise to see how you're listed. Interestingly, only 16% of my own beliefs match those of Roman Catholicism, in which I was raised, which I've suspected for a long time. 100% of my answers matched the beliefs of Unitarian Universalism (not that I'm looking for a church to join). Then again, if everyone who shares my own beliefs felt that way about joining a church, how is it that Unitarian Universalism could continue to exist? Wait, I'm starting to enter a logic loop... I know, religion is supposed to be one of those forbidden subjects, but what the hell? (Wait... damn, I don't believe in hell...)
—Mike @ 21:38
What's old is new - Thanks to second cousin Alex in California, and the scrapbook of second cousin Donald in Massachusetts, I now have a "new" photo of my father, George and his parents, taken when he was a young man. It's so strange to get previously unseen pictures of dad, who died 22 years ago this summer. The Internet can be so great... thanks a million, Alex.
—Mike @ 21:14
O, Yucca! -
The yucca plant at the end of our driveway tends to go a little nutsy around the beginning of summer. This year's rains have made it (and it's gardener, V) very happy indeed, as this picture from a few minutes ago shows.
—Mike @ 18:01
Good news in the sports world - Congratulations to the US Men's Soccer Team for advancing to the Quarterfinals in the 2002 World Cup overnight by defeating Mexico 2-0 ("two-nil", as they say), an amazing accomplishment. And congratulations to the NY Mets for taking 2 of the 3 games in this weekend's "Subway Series" with the Yankees. Exciting games all around. Even Tiger Woods is half way to an unprecedented Grand Slam in golf. (Does golf count as a "sport"? :-)
Not a typical Monday - We awoke to the sound of rescue helicopters and traffic helicopters this morning, as a multi-vehicle accident had closed U.S. 22 not too far from our house. That was followed by an overflowing toilet that we didn't discover for about ten minutes, so we spent the first part of our daily routine with towels and the wet vac, mopping up the bathroom floor, the basement carpeting, walls, dropped ceiling -- you get the picture. Running about 45 minutes late now... not a fun way to start the week.
—Mike @ 06:50
Remaining US CEOs Make a Break for it - Band of Roving Chief Executives Spotted Miles from Mexican Border
El Paso, Texas (SatireWire) — Unwilling to wait for their eventual indictments, the 10,000 remaining CEOs of public U.S. companies made a break for it yesterday, heading for the Mexican border, plundering towns and villages along the way, and writing the entire rampage off as a marketing expense.
"They came into my home, made me pay for my own TV, then double-booked the revenues," said Rachel Sanchez of Las Cruces, just north of El Paso. "Right in front of my daughters."
—Mike @ 23:24
Three winning weeks in a row - at the movies, that is. This week's group movie was The Bourne Identity, starring Matt Damon, based on the Robert Ludlum book. I thought it was a strong story, very well done, and definitely recommend it. The group seemed to agree.
Saturday was a good "indoors" day weather-wise, so we spent it with Mom & Al cleaning out closets and some old junk at the lake house. I threw out some old stereo equipment and wired up some new hand-me-downs. A little furniture rearranging and tidying up and voilà! It was time to reward ourselves with dinner, at Ten Railroad Avenue (Spanish & Italian cuisine), where we celebrated Father's Day with a pitcher of sangria and a delicious dinner.
I could do no wrong playing cards this weekend: one of our games of Continental that night nearly broke all kinds of records -- I had only 5 points going into the 7th and final hand, and was within one card of going out, before someone else beat me to it. I still won the game, and tied the family record for "most times out in one game": 5 of 7 hands. Now that I have a laptop, I'm working on updating the statistics for the last few years, and hope to have something published before too long.
On the way home, we stopped in at the Great Swamp Greenhouses to take a look at their plants and related items. I've passed by this place for decades without ever knowing it was there, and was amazed at how huge the place is. You can't see any of it from the road (looks like someone's driveway), but it's bigger than a football field, chock full of plants.
Sunday night dinner with Phil was excellent, as always: spinach linguine with shrimp & tomatoes, roasted garlic eggplant, yummy!
—Mike @ 23:18
"Sound healing" - is reportedly helping people recover from all types of ills.
—Mike @ 06:33
Happy 20K Day - My friend Bob is 20,000 days old today (he figured it out all by himself, too)... Father Time salutes you!
—Mike @ 06:31
I like these people - Dealing with Toyota for the last 20 months has been a pleasure so far. Today, I brought my Prius in for its scheduled 22,500 mile maintenance check. All's well, and I still haven't spent a penny on any of these checkups. As I was getting ready to leave, the service manager comes over and says that Toyota isn't satisfied with the wear results they're seeing with the original tires supplied with the Prius, even with properly followed tire rotation and maintenance recommendations. Therefore, they've identified a different manufacturer and would like to provide me a new set of tires at my convenience, all covered under the warranty. Umm, okey-dokey!
—Mike @ 22:02
America's "Greatest Love Stories" - The American Film Institute presented this year's flavor of film collections on TV last night: the top hundred most romantic movies of all time. It was an interesting program, but who voted for this list? Jerry Maguire ("Show me the money!") made the list as a love story, but my favorite, Somewhere In Time, didn't? Oh, puh-lease.
—Mike @ 21:57
What was on? - As part of their 50th anniversary, TV Guide's web site features prime time schedules from the last 50 years -- what a memory jogger!
—Mike @ 21:42
More progress to report from the folks at E Ink - They've just introduced the world's thinnest active matrix display, at just 0.3 mm thick, or half the thickness of a credit card. Commercial introduction of products based on these ultra-thin displays is still about two years away. Here's a photo that demonstrates just how thin they're making these things so far... impressive!
—Mike @ 06:20
Celebratory Exhaustion - Whew! What a weekend! It started with the movie of the week. As I mentioned, I had high hopes for Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, yet I was still pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I thought it was wonderful, with excellent performances all around. I was definitely in a small minority (<5%) of males in the packed theater, but the story held my interest despite the obvious marketing to a female audience. It was a little tough keeping track of which character was who in the three different time periods, but I was able to keep up with it enough, and if I could keep it all straight, anyone can.
Saturday morning, I spent only about 90 minutes at the reunion picnic for our old AT&T VM Support group and, unfortunately, the bulk of the party didn't arrive until later in the day. I had to rush home to change from picnic garb into a suit for our friends Lou & Deb's wedding. The weather couldn't have been better for both a picnic and a wedding -- mid 70s, cloudless calm skies, and low humidity. The ceremony was held in a picturesque gazebo at beautiful Colonial Park, which was in perfect spring bloom. All their friends and family turned out to support them. The AT&T picnic ran until dusk, but we were unable to return to it, since we didn't get home from the wedding until 8pm. If you'd like to see my photos from the wedding, they're located here.
The cocktail hour and reception followed -- what a blast -- one of the best weddings we've been to. These people know how to party! The DJ was excellent, giving instructions for line dancing, picking a good mix of music, and keeping the volume reasonable. And I didn't even have to worry about being out on the dance floor every minute that V wanted to dance -- it was always a free-for-all where anybody could just get out there and dance away.
Today (Sunday), we spent the day at a backyard college graduation party for our friends Sue & Mike's son Jim -- they brought in a company to do a genuine pig roast barbecue, with tents and lights and the whole bit. Another fun time with another fun group of several dozen people. I need sleeeeep now...
—Mike @ 22:31
A new approach to fighting Lyme disease - Wipe out the ticks before they can infect anyone.
—Mike @ 06:25
How do you spell relief? - R-A-I-N. New Jersey's current reservoir levels are in the 80% range, a far cry from the ~40% we were looking at just three months ago. It continues raining as I type this. 'Swunnerful.
—Mike @ 21:34
The newest ballplayer in the family -Jenna joined her brother Joey in the T-Ball league tonight. Additional pictures: Pre-game smile, Press photo, Be one with the dirt, and The cool-down.
—Mike @ 22:54
Fuel Cells come to Yellowstone - Combining two of my favorite subjects: NJ-based H Power Corp. has installed the first cogeneration fuel cell system at Yellowstone's busiest entrance, West Yellowstone, Montana. The system is fueled by propane, and provides electricity to ticket booths and an office, where it powers lights, communication equipment and computers. The system's byproduct heat will be used for space heating.
—Mike @ 06:22
The 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid - now has an updated web site of its own, with an interactive demo.
—Mike @ 20:39
The FeedRoom News Network - One more link worth mentioning on the FeedRoom site provides news stories selected from dozens of local TV stations around the country. Some of them also provide live feeds of press conferences, etc.
—Mike @ 06:32
Another web watcher service - and this one's free. SpyOnIt.com allows you to specify any web sites you'd like to be notified about whenever changes are detected. It will even Instant Message you, if you like.
—Mike @ 21:43
Rules, rules, rules - Every rule you'd ever like to know, from casino games to card games, in one web site: EveryRule.com.
—Mike @ 21:33
"The highest expression of regard and sympathy" - American diplomats have been given 14 sacred cows by Kenyan Masai tribespeople in a gesture of sympathy upon recently learning of the 9/11 attacks.
—Mike @ 21:31
Fuel cell updates - The latest news about fuel cells can be found on this page. There's also a collection of interesting charts on the latest products, and who's working on what, here.
Two weeks in a row? - Just finished watching HBO's "Unlocking the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood", which opens this week. Looks like a fabulous movie, and definitely a winning cast: Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn, James Garner, Ashley Judd, Shirley Knight and many others.
—Mike @ 21:15
Video stories galore - The FeedRoom is a streaming video news service, offering a wide variety of stories in many different categories. For example, here's a story on a PC "even a CEO can use": the Tablet PC. You'll probably want a broadband connection to watch them. They can even deliver a customized sampling of video news stories to you daily via e-mail.
—Mike @ 20:27
Whoosh - The wind was non-stop at the lake this weekend, and the temperatures were about 12 degrees cooler than back at home, but 11 of us made the best of the otherwise beautiful weather, with the traditional windsurfing races, Scrabble games, Continental games, BBQing, lawn-mowing, etc. Jonna's sister Stacey is still up visiting with her three sweet girls. Dang -- forgot to bring my camera for the second weekend in a row.
—Mike @ 21:34
Funny - Spotted this paragraph included with someone's signature file in one of the newsgroups I subscribe to:FINALLY, THE FRENCH DO SOMETHING USEFUL:
The ground war in Afghanistan heated up yesterday when
the Allies revealed plans to airdrop a platoon of crack French
existentialist philosophers into the country to destroy the
morale of Taliban zealots by proving the non-existence of God.
Elements from the feared Jean-Paul Sartre Brigade, or 'Black
Berets', will be parachuted into the combat zones to spread
doubt, despondency and existential anomie among the enemy.
—Mike @ 21:30
Finally! - A good, solid movie that held my interest throughout. First one in too long a time. It's The Sum of All Fears, starring Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman and James Cromwell. If you've read the series of books, you may find it disconcerting that it doesn't follow the book by the same name, nor does it fit in with the chronology of the books. I haven't read the books, and I'm happy to accept the movie as a stand-alone story. It did seem a bit dated, pitting the Russians as nuclear adversaries, and it would have made more sense to make the date of the story earlier than present-day, and Ben Affleck is no Harrison Ford, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Even the Regal Theater finally seems to have their act together, with no major glitches to report.
—Mike @ 10:40
More? - There's additional reading available in the Archives.
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