Didn’t have much to say last night, so I didn’t say it. Tonight? Pretty much the same.
We received the second disc (of 4) of the British TV show Life on Mars yesterday. We watched the first episode yesterday, there are only 2 on each disc, and today we watched the second. After finishing the two episodes we investigated the extras, of which there was just one, The Return of Life on Mars. We decided to watch it and were greeted with this disclaimer: SPOILER WARNING This documentary contains discussions about key plots and events taking place during Life on Mars series 2.
Mmmmmm…oh, what the heck, let’s watch it anyway. After about 20 minutes they started showing scenes of shows that we hadn’t yet seen. We watched for about ten more minutes before the producers started explaining how Episode 7 was setting up for the series final show that we turned it off not wanting to have the ending spoiled. What the heck were they thinking by putting this sort of thing on the first disc? I know at least they warned us, but shouldn’t this have been on the last disc?
I burned a copy of the documentary to save for watching after we’ve seen all eight episodes. Turns out it is only 45 minutes long, so we have just 15 minutes more to see, but it will be the right thing to wait for it.
Task bars & email & short cuts, OH MY!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GWQgb015Lc&start=105
Funny, I don’t remember this video included in my copy of the operating system. Probably because I had the 13 floppy disk version of it. I have thoughtfully cued the video up to the 1:45 mark so you can get right to the worlds first Cyber Comedy starring Jennifer Anniston & Mathew Perry. Let me know how many seconds you can take of it. My buddy Mark was still using 95 to run the CNC program upload/download system in the back of the plant until just about 6 months ago.
Its raining in Beantown so the FRS’s game against Seattle was postponed, they’ll play two tomorrow. This means quite possibly they will lose ground in the standings without even playing a game.
While shuffling through Netflix’s Instant Watch titles looking for tonight’s dinner theater I found available, Cosmos, Carl Sagan’s ode to humans and their understanding of the known universe. Perfect. Or so I thought.
I remember being mesmerized when watching it 30 years ago. But tonight we couldn’t finish watching the whole first 60 minute installment. Part of it was, what were state of the art special effects in 1980 seem almost cheesy in 2010. Another part of it was the narration. What to me did sound earnest and enthusiastic back then, sounds only marginally less annoying than that guy who does the those Comcast commercials with Shaquille O’Neal. Donna put it best when she said, “Its like being in a high school science class.”
With the failure to finish Cosmos, that made us bat .500 over the weekend for torrented and instant watch entertainment. We also didn’t finish Episode 1 of the Americanized version of Life on Mars and the failed marriage movie, Serious Moonlight, with Tim Hutton and Meg Ryan.
We did finish a second failed marriage movie, Did You Hear About the Morgans? Even with the predictable plot, the one dimensional Hugh Grant and the ever so annoying Sarah Jessica Parker we both enjoyed it.
We both also enjoyed TiMER, a little quirky sci fi I want to get married flick and an alcoholic hit man falls in love movie entitled You Kill Me which ended up winning the best movie of the weekend award.
We did our grocery shopping this evening and on the way to Kroger the Emperor passed the 111,000 mile mark. By the time we got home and I checked on the Red Sox they were losing nine to nothing after three innings. Didn’t bother to waste my time listening to the game, so I went into the living room and Donna and I watched the eighth and last episode of Series 1 of Life on Mars.
After that, hoping for some sort of miracle comeback I checked in on the FRS and was excited to see that they had scored two whole runs, unfortunately the Blue Jays had scored 7 more runs making the final score 16-2.
Oh, and Dustin Pedroia’s return to the starting line up lasted all of three games, he went back on the disabled list today. I don’t know what they will have say over at Baseball Prospectus tomorrow, but I’m marking down the Sox’s chances at the playoffs at about 10%. (This morning they stood at 20%)
Go Rays!
Sputnik 5. Fifty years ago today, the Soviet Union launched the Korabl-Sputnik 2 spacecraft carrying two dogs named Belka and Strelka, along with mice, rats and flies into space. Everyone came back alive.
Sort of Happy Birthday to Gene Roddenberry who passed away in 1991 and would have been 89 today. A former member of the LAPD and freelance writer finally hit the big time after his second TV show was canceled by NBC in 1969, but the fictional Star Trek universe Roddenberry created has spanned over four decades, producing five television series, 700 episodes and eleven films, with a twelfth film currently in development and scheduled for a 2012 release.
Other birthdays for August 19th, Orville Wright 1871, Coco Chanel 1883, William Jefferson Clinton 1946, Jonathan Frakes 1952 and Jason Starr 1967.
Today’s strip of the Soxaholic centers around a couple FRS fans chatting on the phone about how now that the Sox are starting a nice home stand after a rocky road trip they should have an easier time catching Tampa and making the playoffs. In the second to the last panel one says to the other, “We’re kidding ourselves aren’t we?” The punchline in the last panel is this post’s title, “Like Lindsay Lohan coming out of rehab.”
The way they have been playing lately I haven’t been kidding myself. Often when you are watching a baseball game you can pick the winner, sometimes it is really obvious, like one team having an eight run lead, while in close games the winner can be foretold by the intangibles, line drives just squeaking by fielders or bloops landing just out of reach, etc. This can be extrapolated to whole seasons as well, and in this Red Sox season they just can’t catch a break (as long as you don’t count Jacoby Ellsbury’s ribs.) According to the math wizards over at the Baseball Prospectus, as of today, the FRS only have a 26.98664% of making the playoffs.
Today at work I verbally threatened to stop listening to them to a couple people, but I guess I’m too much of a fan to jump off the bandwagon because here I am in front of the PC listening to the WEEI broadcast. And right now I’m glad I did because they are beating the Angels 6-0 in the sixth.
Also I might have totally missed a rarity in the baseball world. If you have ever been to a minor league baseball game, invariably the PA guy will play the sound of breaking glass when a player fouls a ball out of the stadium towards the parking lot, so the crowd will think the ball broke a car window. Well tonight, Red Sox outfielder, Darnell McDonald hit a home run over the Green Monster in left field and actually did break a window in a car parked on Lansdowne Street. Quick thinking announcer Joe Castiglione, after making the home run call said, “I guess he is going to have to call 1-800-GIANT,” giving radio broadcast sponsor Giant Glass, who’s slogan is, “Who you gonna call when your windshields busted?” an extra, but very appropriate plug.