Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Just a quick post tonight cause I'm trying to get asleep at a reasonable hour so I can get into work earlier so that I can get out of work earlier. This weekend I'm planning on spending one whole day cleaning my apartment. It's bad even by my standards. Also I might be going to karaoke tomorrow. I might even sing. And I know of someone who, if she still reads my blog, will read that last sentence and cringe.
I see the ads for this and, although seeing Scarlett and Natalie playing sisters in a movie might seem like a great thing. After recently watching the entire first season of The Tudors, I'm not sure if anyone other than this Natalie playing her would be the same.
One more thing, this blog is one of my new favorite websites. There are times I really do miss living around Pittsburgh.
I see the ads for this and, although seeing Scarlett and Natalie playing sisters in a movie might seem like a great thing. After recently watching the entire first season of The Tudors, I'm not sure if anyone other than this Natalie playing her would be the same.
One more thing, this blog is one of my new favorite websites. There are times I really do miss living around Pittsburgh.
Labels: apartment, favorite sites, Pittsburgh, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Tudors, weekend plans
Monday, February 18, 2008
Yeah, I know I said I'd blog more and it's been two weeks since my last post. But first of all, it took less than two weeks after getting comcast, a mere 5 days after getting my digital cable box hooked up, to have my cable and internet go out. Also, this weekend was a three-day weekend, so I decided to take a trip back to Western PA. The weekend before I was just lazy. I got up on Sunday in time to go watch the Penguins play the Flyers on tv. On that saturday, I didn't get out of bed until 4pm. I got caught up in a Ninja Warrior marathon. And last week I actually had a social life. I also finally got use out of the snow tires I got put on months ago. So last Tuesday when the roads were bad and people were getting into accidents, I actually had no problems driving.
While I was back home this weekend, I got my taxes done. I found out I need to look at paystubs better. According to my w-2, the company I was a contractor for for 6 months was paying my state tax to PA and not NJ. So one state owes me a bunch of money and another state I owe. I apparently had looked at the amount of state taxes on my paystub, but not the state it was going to.
Anyway, I'm on a deadline for wednesday at work, so my social life will be on hold til thursday, but things are looking up.
I think I'll wrap up this post by stating future blog topics, because then I'll be able to remember and it might be also force me to actually write it. Future post will hopefully include one that is a review of audiobooks I've listened to. (Bydaway, I got The Rosewood Casket by Sharyn McCrumb last month on eMusic.) Also commentary about something I heard on the radio that PETA was blaming the state of the Spears sisters on them having meat in their diets.
While I was back home this weekend, I got my taxes done. I found out I need to look at paystubs better. According to my w-2, the company I was a contractor for for 6 months was paying my state tax to PA and not NJ. So one state owes me a bunch of money and another state I owe. I apparently had looked at the amount of state taxes on my paystub, but not the state it was going to.
Anyway, I'm on a deadline for wednesday at work, so my social life will be on hold til thursday, but things are looking up.
I think I'll wrap up this post by stating future blog topics, because then I'll be able to remember and it might be also force me to actually write it. Future post will hopefully include one that is a review of audiobooks I've listened to. (Bydaway, I got The Rosewood Casket by Sharyn McCrumb last month on eMusic.) Also commentary about something I heard on the radio that PETA was blaming the state of the Spears sisters on them having meat in their diets.
Labels: blogging, car, Comcast, driving in winter, emusic, taxes, work
Monday, February 04, 2008
Watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off on tv right now. Seen it many times. One of the all times great teen movies. One thing that I started wondering about. In the restaurant scene, Ferris picks a reservation out of the book and claim to be that person, Abe Froman. The maitre d' doesn't believe him and they have to convince him. Finally, they gets seated. So my question is: what happens when the real Abe Froman shows up? Did they luck out and choose someone who doesn't show up? Did they someone call Froman and cancel the reservation? I don't know. My guess is it's a big-ass plothole that they hope nobody would notice.
One thing I really hate is prerecorded political calls. Last november, I went away for a long weekend and when I got back, my answering machine was literally filled with political messages. In 2004, I got calls from everybody from Hillary Clinton to Joe Piscopo. (In fact, I got multiple identical recorded calls from both of them. As if one wasn't annoying enough.) The worst thing about them is, unlike telemarketing calls, you can't get them to take your name off your list since they're recordings. Also, they don't fall under the Do-Not-Call lists. There is a bill going through the PA state legislature that fixes that last thing. Unfortunately, I live in NJ.
Anyway, tomorrow is the primary in NJ and I haven't gotten any calls. I think it's because it's a primary and candidates will be calling those who are in their party. When I registered to vote in NJ, I was told you can wait til primary to choose your party. I moved to Jersey in the summer of 2004 so I was in PA during the last presidential primary. I thought I voted in atleast one of the last three primaries, but I don't recall ever choosing a party. So today, I went online to double-check the whole choosing your party at the polls thing. The NJ Dept. of Elections page had a lot of info about voting, but only said that you had to pick a party to vote in the primary. It didn't say anything about choosing one at the polls. I finally found confirmation on a website for New Jersey Republicans who support Obama.
This brings me back to prerecorded political phone calls. I came home and there was a message on my machine. It started out like the standard annoying political recording, but actually turned out to be a good one. It was a NJ elections official calling to let unaffiliated voters know they can choose a party and vote in the primary.
Anyway, the point of the last couple paragraphs is that I actually got a good political recorded phone call.
On a related note, this will be the first meaningful vote I've ever cast in a presidential primary. In the previously three presidential primaries I've been able to vote in, there was only one candidate left in the race when it got to my state. Funny thing is, there is a candidate in both parties I like, so I still have to decide which party to choose.
And to go back to the Ferris Bueller subject for a second, if Sloane Peterson isn't the best movie girlfriend of all time, she's definitely in the top 5.
One thing I really hate is prerecorded political calls. Last november, I went away for a long weekend and when I got back, my answering machine was literally filled with political messages. In 2004, I got calls from everybody from Hillary Clinton to Joe Piscopo. (In fact, I got multiple identical recorded calls from both of them. As if one wasn't annoying enough.) The worst thing about them is, unlike telemarketing calls, you can't get them to take your name off your list since they're recordings. Also, they don't fall under the Do-Not-Call lists. There is a bill going through the PA state legislature that fixes that last thing. Unfortunately, I live in NJ.
Anyway, tomorrow is the primary in NJ and I haven't gotten any calls. I think it's because it's a primary and candidates will be calling those who are in their party. When I registered to vote in NJ, I was told you can wait til primary to choose your party. I moved to Jersey in the summer of 2004 so I was in PA during the last presidential primary. I thought I voted in atleast one of the last three primaries, but I don't recall ever choosing a party. So today, I went online to double-check the whole choosing your party at the polls thing. The NJ Dept. of Elections page had a lot of info about voting, but only said that you had to pick a party to vote in the primary. It didn't say anything about choosing one at the polls. I finally found confirmation on a website for New Jersey Republicans who support Obama.
This brings me back to prerecorded political phone calls. I came home and there was a message on my machine. It started out like the standard annoying political recording, but actually turned out to be a good one. It was a NJ elections official calling to let unaffiliated voters know they can choose a party and vote in the primary.
Anyway, the point of the last couple paragraphs is that I actually got a good political recorded phone call.
On a related note, this will be the first meaningful vote I've ever cast in a presidential primary. In the previously three presidential primaries I've been able to vote in, there was only one candidate left in the race when it got to my state. Funny thing is, there is a candidate in both parties I like, so I still have to decide which party to choose.
And to go back to the Ferris Bueller subject for a second, if Sloane Peterson isn't the best movie girlfriend of all time, she's definitely in the top 5.
Labels: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, prerecorded political calls, presidential election
Sunday, February 03, 2008
I just got back from watching the Super Bowl at a local bar. Not only did the Giants win as I had hoped and predicted, but I won a flat-panel tv during a drawing at halftime.
One thing I've been meaning to post about is rules for sports fandom. I wanted to do a long post about how a person can only have one primary favorite team per sport/league and can have secondary favorites they can root for when they're not playing the primary favorite team. Well, don't know if that long post will ever come, but the discussion came up today when a guy who is known for being a big Redskins fan came wearing a Patriots hat and calling the Pats his team. The Giants fans immediately called him out on this. And there was a lot of trash talking back and forth as the game went back and forth. But when someone suddenly starts claiming to be a big fan of his team only after his real team is out of the playoffs, then he should be called on it. And maybe he caused bad karma that worked against the Pats tonight.
The only thing that didn't go my way tonight is, while I did pick the Giants winning a close game, I had both teams scoring in the 30s. So I totally blew the over/under which likely cost me making the top 3 in my football pool's final standings this year.
On a totally different subject, I saw the new Rambo movie today. It is not cartoonish like the other sequels and it has scenes whose violence is on a level with the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. (And yet there were kids in the theatre. That's a post for another day.) It doesn't try to lighten up Rambo's mood or personality. You could say that Stallone can't act in this movie, but I think he could have acted better, but in reality, anything different would have been wrong, too drastic of a change from the previous movies. Also, I wasn't quite sold on Julie Benz getting Rambo to take action. It worked, but just barely. And I'm glad they didn't try to force a romance there. Anyway, it's a violent action movie. As for most action movies, some suspension of belief is necessary. I give it a rating of worth full price admission.
One thing I've been meaning to post about is rules for sports fandom. I wanted to do a long post about how a person can only have one primary favorite team per sport/league and can have secondary favorites they can root for when they're not playing the primary favorite team. Well, don't know if that long post will ever come, but the discussion came up today when a guy who is known for being a big Redskins fan came wearing a Patriots hat and calling the Pats his team. The Giants fans immediately called him out on this. And there was a lot of trash talking back and forth as the game went back and forth. But when someone suddenly starts claiming to be a big fan of his team only after his real team is out of the playoffs, then he should be called on it. And maybe he caused bad karma that worked against the Pats tonight.
The only thing that didn't go my way tonight is, while I did pick the Giants winning a close game, I had both teams scoring in the 30s. So I totally blew the over/under which likely cost me making the top 3 in my football pool's final standings this year.
On a totally different subject, I saw the new Rambo movie today. It is not cartoonish like the other sequels and it has scenes whose violence is on a level with the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. (And yet there were kids in the theatre. That's a post for another day.) It doesn't try to lighten up Rambo's mood or personality. You could say that Stallone can't act in this movie, but I think he could have acted better, but in reality, anything different would have been wrong, too drastic of a change from the previous movies. Also, I wasn't quite sold on Julie Benz getting Rambo to take action. It worked, but just barely. And I'm glad they didn't try to force a romance there. Anyway, it's a violent action movie. As for most action movies, some suspension of belief is necessary. I give it a rating of worth full price admission.
Labels: football, movies, review, Super Bowl
