Seattle, part one

As promised, stories from Seattle. First up, the Pacific Science Center. One of my faves as a kid (I actually slept over here twice in elementary school), I think it's seen better days. But, it's still the coolest basic science themed attraction I've been to. And they've got 2 IMAX theaters! 2!
They've also got massive squirt guns that teach kids about the scientific definition of work. Much more satisfying than the explanation I got in physics class.
Magnetic tracks for getting ball bearings from point A to point B. They would have been fun, if the ball bearing would actually stay on. Still, we gave it a shot and had a pretty good time of it.
Apparently the worlds largest electric guitar, made appropriately enough by a company called Big Guitars. I don't know how they can back this claim up, though I don't think anyone is going to challenge it any time soon.
The Science Center also has a butterflyarium where regular joes can, for a moment, enter a magical world of lepidopterian delights. One even landed on my hat. The only bummer of the experience was the warning on the way in that we watch our step, as the butterflies like to land on the path, leaving me with images of crushed butterflies throughout the experience.

You haven't really experienced Tic-Tac-Toe until you've used a giant robotic arm to crush your opponent. Looks like these kids are headed toward a cat's game to me.
My nephew performing the famous gyrosopic bike wheel experiment (one of my faves).
I know, this was a fairly cruddy post. Maybe it's because the Science Center didn't live up to my expectation. Probably just nostalgia kicking in. More to follow.

Issues

Like a lot of people, I've been following the Presidential Race pretty closely for what seems like ages. It's almost hard not to, being part of a family where the almost constant political debate is fueled by the clear party lines that can be drawn between its members. So, yeah, I've got caught up in all of this. But I consider myself something of the political black sheep of the family in that I pride myself on the research I do. I'd like to think that I'm not as easily swayed by party rhetoric as the rest of them, that I can detect an ad hominem attack and dismiss it as petty campaigning. But to say that those things don't sway me would be a lie. Politics is a big machine, and sometimes it's much easier to treat it as a black box than to figure out how the cogs mesh. This is the urge I'm constantly trying to resist, which can get tiring. Thankfully, The Daily Show helps keep things real. For example, their take on one of the biggest questions that's been on my mind lately: why are Clinton backers so angry?



Seriously, who's passing out all the Hate-o-rade? I've been underimpressed with Clinton ever since she began asking for the votes in Michigan and Florida to be counted. I suppose there's little value for good sportsmanship when it comes to political battles (though I think there should be), so the way in which she handled her defeat is not surprising, if not personally distasteful. A recent comment on this blog expressed the view that Obama was dividing the Democratic Party. I respectfully disagree. But my question remains: what is at the heart of this division? My best guess is that this division has only a cursory relation to the issues of the election. Too bad issues rarely win elections.

Comments and criticizms are, as always, welcomed. Flamebait will be deleted.

Addendum: M has got me thinking a bit. I get so focused on what I'm looking for that I often don't know what others are looking for. I'd like to invite anyone who is willing to share their feelings on what their ideal candidate would be in the comments. I'm not asking for an explanation of why you like one candidate or the other, but rather I'm asking what your ideal candidate's stance on a particular issue would be (and why's are always appreciated). Might I serve as something of a political sommelier and suggest the issues of the economy, the war and one other issue of your choice?

Boring baseball trivia, with footnotes

I'm sure that I'll tell you more about this later, but while I was in Seattle I saw some baseball. I can't remember how I came across this map today, but I'm glad I did, since it is a fairly unique look at how baseball is laid out in the US and has got me thinking about how unique my beloved Mariners are.
Now, I'm sure that the boundaries are up for discussion. But that's not what I'm thinking about. You hear a lot (especially in Seattle) about East Coast bias, and though some of it is just West Coast Whining, some of it is justified - because most of the teams are in the East. St. Louis was for a long time the westernmost team in Baseball, so let's just draw a line of longitude through it (if you'd like, you can imagine me standing in front of the map, with a t-shirt over my button down, Picture Pages style). This leaves us with 12 teams. If we really want to talk about the West and use the Rocky Mountains as our line of demarcation, we're down to 8 teams. If we take the wayback machine to 1997, Arizona drops out, and turning the dial to 1992 removes the Rockies. In short, I can easily remember a time when there were 6 teams west of the Rockies, 5 of which were in California. Of those 6 teams, only 3 of them originated there, the Giants and Dodgers having arrived from New York in 1958 and the A's having passed through KC on their way from Philadelphia, finally arriving in 1968. Of those three native teams, the Mariners are the youngest (remember, we're back in 1992), arriving in the league in 1977*. Of those 3 teams, 2 were originally owned by entertainers - the Angels by army air force pilot and singing cowboy Gene Autry and the Mariners by the alleged homosexual, communist, draft dodger Danny Kaye**. It's probably why the Angels continue to kick our butts to this day.

*For those nitpickers out there, 1969 marked the arrival of the short-lived Seattle Pilots, who, after one solitary season of play, were moved to Milwaukee by none other than comissioner-to-be Bud Selig despite plenty of legal attempts to keep them there. For awhile it was unclear where the team would be for the 1970 season, and their gear was being held in Provo, oddly enough. Sound familar to other recent Seattle sports news? Problems with the Pilots stadium were even part of the problem. Let's just hope that ClayClay doesn't someday become the commisioner of the NBA, or else we're all screwed. Oops, might be too late (put this photo with this caption).

**Shocking, I know. I never accused him of anything.

Almost better than warm milk

Just back from Seattle and realizing that 5 days is just enough time to time warp my body 3 hours. Decided I'd try posting something since I can't stand warm milk. I suppose that I could give you the travel log, but I haven't passed the pics from the camera to the computer, so that will have to wait. What I can tell you is that I came home with a heavier bag than I left with, having stolen several things from my parents house and having been gifted others. And yes, I decided to steal from my parents' religious library and opted for Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I figured as long as I'm putting my soul in hock for this, I might as well make it worth it. See if you can figure that logic out. I'm afraid I can't.
I'm perhaps most excited about the fact that my parents lent me their copy of the HBO John Adams miniseries, which I have yet to see and which you all are welcome to join me in watching. I also received an antique harmonica, but I'm afraid that's not on the program. All in all, it was a good trip, that has left me with one of the queasiest stomachs that I've had in a long time and the inability to sleep. There goes that faulty logic again...

Deep questions

I'm heading home tomorrow for a few days, and I suddenly find myself embroiled in a philosophical debate: does stealing religious books from my parents collection have a net positive or negative effect? Or is it a wash? Or was this post just an excuse to impress you with my very average photoshop skills?

Pimping the Woo

In case you didn't know this (and you probably didn't), I have way more music on my computer than my hard drive will allow. How did I do this? Well... first I cannibalized my old laptop for it's hard drive, then I bought an external enclosure for it... following me? Basically, I carry around this little had drive with me wherever I go, and for being a little drive it sure is a big pain in the tookus. It does give me access to about 20GB of music without gobbling up that much space on my hard drive, but if I ever plug my iPod in to my computer without first plugging in my hard drive... look out. Error after error after error. So, it's a mixed blessing.

My buddy Woo has come up with a better solution, especially if you happen to have one of those iPhone thingies. Basically, he's written a bit of software called ooTunes that will let you access your entire music collection anywhere you can get an internet connection. Pretty cool, huh? I wouldn't have to pack around that silly hard drive anymore. And if that weren't enough, those of you cool enough to own an iPhone can use it on that as well. Did I mention that it will also play streamed radio on your iPhone (including Pandora, last.fm, etc.)?

Yes, of course I'm trying to sell you on the idea (so is he, by the way, for $19.99). I'm doing it for 2 great reasons: 1) Woo is a friend of mine, and 2) Woo is a friend of mine who wrote a great piece of software. Check it out. Seriously. If you have a computer at home and want to listen to your music at work, this is the way to go. Woo's a super nice guy, so if you've got any questions, I'm sure he'd be happy to help.

Charlize, Scarlett, Gwyneth or Grace? Does it matter?

I've been thinking an awful lot about Hitchcock movies lately. Staring at the Vertigo poster over my desk every day probably has something to do with it. Be that as it may, I can't quite remember how I came across this Vanity Fair piece, since I don't read Vanity Fair, I figured that since it's germane to my recent inner ramblings I'd share.My personal favorites? All the Grace Kelly recreations and Seth Rogan running from the plane. The Psycho shot is OK, too. The rest are just kind of meh, except for the Marnie shot which I really don't like. Blah, blah, blah. Look at me, I'm an art critic.

D's Hall of Fame Albums

Those of you who graduated high school in the 90s may remember the brief return to mainstream popularity that Mel Tormé enjoyed before his death. Or maybe you don't. Here's a refresher if you're in the latter camp:

Or maybe you'll remember this:


Whether you remember those or not, they made a large enough impression on me to do a music class report on Mr. Tormé. To help facilitate the report, my music teacher lent me an LP of his work entitled Mel Tormé and friends, Live at Marty's. I was lucky enough to find this on CD (after years of looking) despite it's limited pressing and have enjoyed it ever since. It's a great live set from a great performer with some great guests. So, as I'm sure you can guess, I think this disc is fantastic. My copy has been through plenty of wear, tear and restoration so I was glad to hear that the disc has been made available through iTunes and Amazon's MP3 service. It's worth checking out even if you haven't heard the "Velvet Fog" before. Recommended tracks are: "New York State of Mind," "Silly Habits," "Mountain Greenery," and "Love For Sale."

New Yorker, here I come!

I guess this is a result of Shark Week and testimony meeting down time.

Bibliomania!

This past week my little sister was in town. She'd been here once before in high school and managed to get some of the touristy things out of the way, and when she wasn't checking off the rest of the sights, I got to show her a few places that weren't on the list. By far her favorite was Strand (she's a history teacher and obsessed with books). While she was purchasing up quite a bit of the store, I discovered that they had all but one of the Ian Fleming James Bond novels for $4.95 a copy... so I filled in the holes in my collection. Actually, since I only owned From Russia With Love, my collection was mostly holes, but who could pass up a $8-$9 savings per book?
Looks like I've got some reading to do. The only one that they didn't have a t Strand was Moonraker (better the movie, I'm sure), so we headed over to Barnes and Noble to top off my collection, where my sister spotted what is now my favorite bag of all time:

Fantastic, right? If I carry my scriptures to church in it, will they be truthier than other people's?

The Darcy List

If you've never heard of a Darcy List before, don't worry. Not many have. I only coined the term about a year ago. A Darcy List is a place where you can put all of those things that you consider to be undeservingly popular. Now, this isn't supposed to be a list of things that you simply dislike - there are other lists for that. There must be some aspect of them that you find enjoyable, well done or otherwise good for them to be on the list. So basically, you think they're good, but you don't understand why everyone thinks they're "fantastic!" Am I making sense?

If you haven't guessed already, the list is named for Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, of Pride and Prejudice fame. For anyone who has spent any amount of time around the average Mormon female, you'll know that they have an unhealthy obsession with all things Darcy. I know, I'm generalizing here, but I cannot count the number of times that I've seen a girl go weak at the knees thinking of the man, claiming in some way or another that Mr. Darcy is the paragon of romanticism. Quite frankly, I just don't get it.

And it's not like I haven't tried. No, I haven't read the novel (Have you?). But I have seen the BBC version that seems to be the gateway to this obsession. And though I enjoyed it, I quite think that the appeal of Mr. Darcy lies somewhere between his £10,000/year income and Colin Firth's wet shirt. I know, I know. I'm going to hear about that one. I'm prepared. I've even tried pretending that I don't have a Y chromosome, but even then, I can't be sure why he resonates with so many girls I've met. The only things that I can be sure of are: 1) no matter what any female says, were I to act like Darcy, I'd be dropped faster than it would take to explain my good intentions and 2) with the wild popularity of all the versions of this story out there (the BBC adaptation, the 2005 adaptation, the LDS adaptation, pretty much Bridget Jones' Diary, etc.), I'm convinced that you could turn a profit on a version with 2 turds cast as the leads. And it's that conviction, misplaced as it may be, that is at the root of me creating this list.

So, what else is on the list? Here are a few items:

• Wicked - Saw it and enjoyed it. Thanks again Janelle. The final number of the first act was wonderful. But franky, I found the plot got a little preachy for me towards the end and lost me. It was good, but I've seen better. I find myself asking the question: if everyone had the same access to theater that New Yorkers do, would it be as popular as it is? I honestly think it wouldn't.
• Pinkberry - Oh boy. Here's a fun one. It's a nice idea, and the product is tasty, but not tasty enough to drop $6 on it. Also, I feel like a 14-year-old Asian teeny bopper when I walk in. Somehow I don't feel like that when I walk in to Beard Papa.
• Continuing on the dessert trend... cupcakes. Loved them as a kid. Still enjoy them. But I've never had a cupcake that "I'd die for." Probably never will. And I don't care if it's buttercream frosting or sour cream frosting or whatever other kind of frosting it is, I'm going to scrape 2/3 of it off, since they always put way to much of it on. Even though you might have heard me tell you that your favorite bakery's cupcake is "so good," I was lying. As long as they are moist and sweet I can't tell them apart.
• Should I complete the trifecta and mention Rice to Riches? Looks like I already did.
• Hiking the Y. Enjoyable the first time, and that was it.
• Michael Bublé. Talented guy. Nice voice. Sinatra was better.

That's all I got right now, and it's surprisingly dessert oriented. Odd. I'm sure that there will be more additions when it's not 2 A.M. and my mind is still thinking about the All Star game. In the spirit of hoping that this idea catches on, I'm recommending that you read Genevieve's blog where she created her own Darcy List. We coordinated that.

Fantastic Fourth

Well, I promised you a 4th of July report, but since I was lazy, I got beat to the punch. Actually, that's good, since now I get to share with you my favorite photos from the trip without all that boring narrative stuff. If you want really good reviews of what actually happened, you might try this post or perhaps this one. Both are very good.

Here's a few goofy still life's to start out with:
H for Hales, I guess?

And some good people shots:



And of course, fireworks. Wouldn't be the 4th without them.





Well, there it is. I'm too lazy to type, I'm sure you don't mind not reading, and I hope you all had a good break!

Placeholder

Excellent 4th. Pictures to come!

Oh, those crazy German art students!

I guess I'm coming in to this a few days late, but have any of you seen this? That photo is pretty bad a... sort of Dirty Harry meets camera nerd. The device's potential for pissing people off or for advertising has caused several hissy fits already, but I'm not much of one to buy into the mob mentality of the internet. It certainly could be used to help wean people off of using their flash, which could be a very good thing.

Here's some more info if you want the lowdown on the tech side of things.

Two Scoops!

Of late, my good buddy Jared has had a link to this as a part of his gchat status message. The following is the log of a conversation we had regarding the aforementioned link. Hopefully, you'll laugh. I sure did.

Dave: Yeah, so how pissed do you think their boss was when they found out they turned the freaking boat around for a box of cereal? "Next time guys, take the box with you."

Jared: I've wondered about that. But if you pause the video at 23 seconds, you'll see just how much they were craving the Raisin Bran. I'm sure the boss would understand if he could see their faces.

Dave: Maybe seeing those faces will make him realize what a bunch of wusses he hired

Jared: They're probably his sons.

Dave: actually, the guys face at 23 seconds make me think that the bran is just finally kicking in.

Jared: Ha ha! That's a very good possibility.

Dave: I was crying I thought that was so funny. Also, I love this comment: "I remember this from my childhood, but I never listened to the lyrics thoroughly. "This tugboat crew has a plan...?" That is so random. Imagine the ad guys sitting around a table with the jingle-writer (like Charlie from Two and a Half Men) saying, "How can we get a story into 30 seconds? How about a tugboat crew?!" Perfect!" Seriously, what is the plan?

Jared: To eat Raisin Bran. Then work. But they abandoned their plan in favor of eating more Raisin Bran.

Dave: I don't see that as a very good business model

More NYTimes Related Root Beer News

Back when I posted about my trip to DC, there was one thing that I forgot to mention. I was introduced to a new Root Beer. After posting a bit about my favorite root beers, my faithful tour guide and friend, Jared, began telling me about Sprecher. It's from Wisconsin, but apparently you can get it at just one place in the DC area, and he was nice enough to stock the fridge with it (as well as buying me some Thomas Kemper - he's really a good guy). Anyway, I was surprised to find this morning that the NYTimes wine gurus had taste tested some root beers, and good 'ol Sprecher was at the top of their list.

So, what do I think of it? Well, I liked it enough to try and take a fancy picture of the bottle (and fail). It's smooth and full bodied, and comes in a larger-than-normal bottle, which is nice. I'll definitely ask again for this one next time I'm in DC. And how did my beloved TK rank? Well, it got 2 out of 4 stars, which insn't bad considering the wine tasters only gave Sprecher three. All in all, a good turn out for some very tasty concoctions.

For those of you who still listen to Coldplay

Here's my initial thought about their new album: it's OK.

The tracks that stand out to me the most are incidentally the ones that make up the album title: Viva la Vida (the one Apple chose for the new iPod ad) and Death and All His Friends (which gave me the same sort of 'a-ha!' moment that Fix You did). The silliest thing on the album? Probably the line in the booklet, "Sonic landscapes by Brian Eno." I'd like to see how you quantify a sonic landscape. I bet it looks a lot like sheet music. Runner up: hidden track in the middle of the album.

All in all I don't feel bad about having payed $11. It's Coldplay. Not nearly as revolutionary as the album cover suggests, but enjoyable.

Where you'd least expect it

I never click on ad banners, but today one of them was too hard to resist. It led me to this site, which is so many things all at once - inspirational, touching, poorly-acted, creepy. In a word, brilliant.

Check it out.

A Personal Note

I don't know that it really matters that I say anything about this, but I was shocked when I found out a few minutes ago that Tim Russert has passed away. Growing up in a politically divided home, the only political news show that my parents could agree to watch together was Meet the Press, and I still watch it to this day. To me, he appeared as one of the figures I could trust. He always seemed genuine and full of integrity. Anyway, I know that this seems silly since I don't really know the guy, but the news really saddened me.

Mystery House

This is simply amazing.

Thank you Ikea

As I was waiting for the bus to take me uptown for tacos, I noticed an ad for the new Red Hook Ikea. Most excellent. But, if that weren't enough, they're also offering free water taxi service from Pier 11, which can be used for this as well.

Note: I think every good map should end like those ones do.

Oh crap...

Folks, something terrible just happened. I think my iPod has just died, taking a little bit of my soul with it. Who knew that I could become so attached to such a little object? You see, as I was removing it from my pocket, well... it fell. But only about 1 foot and with the gentlest landing you've ever seen. Now all I've got is a lime green paperweight that will show you the sad iPod if you touch it.

I've been rocking my little green mini for the past 3.2 years, so this might fall under the heading of a mercy killing, except that I'm a graduate student and can't even afford that. Any suggestions folks? I've been getting a lot of sperm bank ads on facebook lately...

nah.

No lawns to mow. Perhaps I could perform amazing feats of computation on the subway. Or maybe I could work at a Subway. While we're at it, I'm not above handouts. Really, it will only take a few. And think of all the times I fixed your computer!

When did I become a crack addict?

So, how was it?

So, in case you're wondering after that last post, the trip to Washington DC was worth it. Not only did I get to relax with some old friends, I got a guided tour of the district from history graduate student Jared. I highly recommend his services.

After briefly seeing the Washington Monument (picture forthcoming, if I can salvage it) and being run away from the White House by security guards (don't worry, they were just closing down the sidewalk for the night), Jared suggested that we check out the World War II memorial. Good suggestion. This is where I began to be glad that I dragged my tripod all the way to DC. The memorial is really beautiful, and highly symbolic but I'm too lazy to explain it here. Feel free to email Jared.Here's another shot, with the Lincoln Memorial in the background.
And while we were there, I decided to snap this shot of the Lincoln Memorial itself.
I had never noticed that the names of all the states are carved into the Memorial, nor had I noticed all the intricate details on the building. Very cool.
And here's where the happy accidents began. Despite every goof in the book, Lincoln managed to turn out OK.
As did this photo.
This is the Korean War memorial. It isn't very big, but it's probably the most haunting. Each of these soldiers are standing in rows and with the lighting, the trees and their facial expressions, they seem both immovable and vulnerable. It's eerie but in a good way.

And that's about it folks. The trip back was comfortable and arrived within a normal amount of time. Maybe I'll work on getting photos from my trip to Boston up soon and get rid of this ugly backlog of things I feel I need to post about. We'll see.

Utterly Pissed Off

Buckle up, kids. This post ain't gonna be happy.

I'm currently halfway through my seventh hour of a 4 hour bus ride to DC. And we're still in New Jersey. I'm on the Bolt Bus, which though comfortable and equipped with outlets and wifi has become my absolute least favorite bus line ever. They've even beaten out that Chinatown one that sold me a ticket to a non-existent bus. Seriously, this is utterly ridiculous. I've already used that free wifi to send two nasty emails to their webmaster (the only contact info available - I'll never get a response). Oh, the irony. We're on pace to arrive in DC around 10 PM, 4.5 hours after we were supposed to get there, making the trip a total of 8.5 hours.

So, how did I get in this situation? Well, taking the bus from midtown we headed to the Lincoln tunnel. Apparently, it was closed. I guess. I'm honestly not really sure. So, our intrepid bus driver circles the block and eventually gets us to the West Side Hwy, where he points us toward the Holland Tunnel. 2 hours later, we're still haven't got there. At 5:30, when I'm supposed to be rolling in to DC, we finally get to the Holland tunnel. Hooray. But here's what I want to know. Why in the hell did this bus driver not know the tunnel was closed? And why did he think it would be a good idea to use the West Side Hwy to get downtown? I mean, something must have been going on because EVRYONE was stuck in traffic, but I think it had more to do with crap on the highway than the tunnel. Who know. But, I'm seriously pissed off.

Around 7:45, we roll in to some Roy Rogers wonderland in southern Jersey and our driver is like, "I know traffic has been hell, but I'm giving you exactly 10 minutes to get some stuff." Thanks. Have I mentioned that we're constantly being passed by semi's? Apparently, this bus only does 45 MPH. I'm so effing pissed. Good thing I thought to bring more than one DVD for the trip...

Speaking of which, we're just passed exit 2 in New Jersey, and I've already spent about an hour surfing the net, watched 2 episodes of Get Smart, 2 movies (Fletch and Ferris Bueller's Day Off), composed a blog post and lost my mind several times over.

Our driver is an ass.

Confessions of an Indy apologist

So, what with all the Indiana Jones quotes I've been putting up, it seems pretty natural that I'd drop a review on you all. Don't worry, I'm keeping this one spoiler free, so feel free to read on. Yeah, I know. Most of you have seen it already.

So, I've seen Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull twice now. Yeah, twice. I guess that says something about what I thought about the movie, but don't make too many assumptions just yet. I decided opening night at the Ziegfeld was as good a place as any to experience Indy 4, and I was constantly geeking out about how it was being shown in digital projection. Turns out I shouldn't have been. The biggest negative impression that I came out with was, "it really could have used some film grain." The digital effects (especially the kooky lighting) mixed with the crystal clear projection just made the movie look so... new. And for an Indy movie, that just didn't fly with me. I was also a little worried by some of the dialog which seemed forced and a generally lightweight feel to the whole event. Thoughts like, "can't these people act?" and, "Indy would have never paused there," flew through my mind more often than I'd like. But, there were also parts where I couldn't help but smile and really feel like I was on another adventure with the coolest PhD ever to grace the screen. Though I didn't feel ripped off, as I left the theater I couldn't help but feel more than a little let down.

But...

Then I saw it a second time. I'd had a day to mull it over in my mind. It seemed as if every passing hour I grew to like the film better. After all, it was another adventure with Indiana Jones, right? It's not like these things come around all that often anymore. I met with some friends and headed to the Battery Park theater where, mercifully, the film was not digitally projected. Hooray for a dimmer picture and gritty film! Not being so nervous this time, I just sat back and enjoyed. And enjoyed! All the things that I'd had a problem with before just seemed to melt away. Gone were the strange exchanges between Indy and his costars. Gone were the cringes at kooky plot elements (except for one, but that's allowable). Everything just seemed better. Had I become that much of a movie snob? I mean, it's not like this was meant to be Wild Strawberries. This is Indy does B-Movies. Yes, the original three might have been canonized by many (myself included), but I don't think it was ever meant to be anything more than an entertaining movie. And I was entertained.

Of course, this is a debate that will most likely go on for decades. There will be the critics and the apologists. The ending of Last Crusade was a more fitting end to the franchise, for sure. It's going to take me a long while to think of Indiana Jones as a tetralogy rather than a trilogy. And yes, it's my least favorite of the four. But it's still pretty darn fun. If you'll indulge me the use of William Safire's famous term, I'd like to say to all those nattering nabobs of negativism out there one thing: see it one more time, then let's talk.

The telling of tales

Boxcar Dave is a band-wagoneer but I have no regrets. I present to you the inaugural game of Ticket to Ride on my board, played by Jared (Black), Collin (Green) and me (Yellow). Look at those three graceful tracks! Beginning with Helena - Los Angeles, Dallas - New York and Portland - Nashville, I wasn't sure if I had enough for a win. But I picked up some long tracks and made the best of it, barely beating out Collin for the Nashville - Pittsburgh stretch, and coming in just under the wire with Seattle - Helena stretch. Lucky me! What was even luckier was my drawing Seattle - Los Angeles and (ready?) Los Angeles - New York after already having completed them. I also planned to head from Pittsburgh directly to New York, but I wasn't getting the cards and took the jag through DC giving me what I thought to be the longest route. Having just recounted, both Collin and I had 38 trains - meaning we both should have gotten the 10 point bump... meaning we tied! Count for yourself. Which means the person with the most completed routes wins. I got 5. I believe Collin also finished 5 (Saul St. Marie - Nashville, Winnipeg - Houston, Montreal - Atlanta, Duluth - Houston, Seattle - New York) and we're still tied! Which means the player with the longest route card wins - which we both got!

And the rules say nothing more. Folks, I believe we are deadlocked.

Except that I just realized that the scoring is wrong. Having recounted, Collin shorted himself some points. If you add his track score (80), plus his destination score (59) plus his longest train bonus (10) you get 80+59+10 = 149. Adding my track score (71) plus my destination score (66) plus my longest train bonus (10), you get 147! A game that at first I had thought I won, and then thought had ended in a hopeless deadlock I had actually lost by 2 points! The inaugural game!

Collin wins by 2!

Note to self - Pride cometh before the fall. Never photograph a winning game.

Indy quote of the day

"Don't call me Junior!"

Tomorrow at midnight...

Indy quote of the day

Indy took the weekend off, so that he could return the lost Sankara stone to its village. He also made an appearance at Cannes! What a weekend! Good thing he came back alive. But we all knew he would, right? It's like he once told Marcus Brody,

"Besides, you know what a cautious fellow I am."

True, true.

To you JayMoo

Recently, a friend of mine posted some pictures of him with some so-called "celebrities." He thought I was being sarcastic when I told him my pictures with celebs would be knock his socks off. Well, JayMoo, get ready to have your world rocked.

OK, so this one is a bit cheap. I didn't actually meet the guy, I sneaked into the photo. It's still pretty cool though.
Here I am with my buddies James Watson and Francis Crick, better known as the dudes who figured out what DNA looks like. We were all having a pretty good time after that one, so we snapped this little piccy in celebration.
Here I am with one Sir Isaac Newton. If I remember right, I was trying to get a note from him to get out of my Science of Fluxions class. You can tell this is an old photo. I have hair.

I bet your mom knows more of these guys than she does of yours. Consider your world rocked.

Indy quote of the day

OK, today is not strictly an Indy quote, but a Sallah quote. I hear John Rhys-Davies gets asked to say this a lot. Well, we'll say it for him today.

"Asps. Very dangerous. You go first."

6 days.

Indy quote of the day

From Last Crusade:

"Nazis - I hate these guys."

Only 1 more week guys. And yes, I must admit that I am a little nervous. Why do you think I'm trying to pump myself up so much?

Indy quote of the day

To Willie Scott:

"Nothing shocks me. I'm a scientist."

Which makes me think, Indiana Jones is probably the coolest PhD ever to grace the silver screen. Oh, and the Ghostbusters. Indiana and the Ghostbusters. Making science cool for over 20 years...

8 more days.

Another Root Beer Related Review

So, I'm trying to get back in to the swing of regular blogging. For some reason, this Finals session really took it out of me. Probably just a bad case of super-super senior-itis. But, last Wednesday I took my last final exam ever and to celebrate, I opened up the bottle of root beer that the kind folks over at Thomas Kemper sent to me. Seriously guys, this is good stuff.

So, as I mentioned before, they've got a new line of cane sugar sweetened sodas coming out (or perhaps they've come out - it's taken me a bit longer to get this review up. Sorry, TK). After living in Mexico and having been treated to 2 years of cane sugared Coke, I realized just how syrupy sodas made with corn sugar really are. So, as soon as I heard they were making the switch, I was raring to try it. After greedily devouring the sample bottles they sent to me (one each of Root Beer, Ginger Ale, and Black Cherry), I can say that this was a step in the right direction.

Thomas Kemper makes the best black cherry soda I've tried, and every time I'm at my local jazz club throwing back a Boylans black cherry, I wish it was a TK. The major advantage that the Thomas Kemper black cherry has had over the Boylans is body. Too many black cherry sodas have good flavor, but not enough body. It's like biting into a cherry that's half-filled with water. I'll admit that I was afraid that in switching to sugar, the TK was going to end up like the Boylans (also cane sugared) - and it kind of did. The flavor is amazing. I still prefer it to any other black cherry soda around, but it seems to have lost something. Smoothness maybe. Roundness. I don't know. But, what it has picked up is a bit of a tart afterbite that wasn't there before. It's this great little reminder that this is a cherry soda right before you move to your next swig. I wasn't expecting that, and it was a nice surprise. So, all in all, I'd have to say that the new black cherry is only marginally better than the old, which is to say it's still pretty dang good.

The second soda I sampled was the ginger ale. Thomas Kemper ginger ale was something of an acquired taste for me. When I bought the big variety packs at Costco, this was always the last flavor to go. It had way too much kick for my liking. It was the only soda I'd ever drank that burned going down. I'm not sure if I've gotten used to it or if the change in formula also took out some of the burn, but this is a REALLY good ginger ale. It's definitely moving up on my priority list. All of the three sodas I tried were lighter tasting, but the ginger ale benefited the most from it. It's not heavy at all. You get this initial ginger bite, and once you swallow, your mouth is free to move on to the next taste. It went really well with the curry I was eating that night.

And finally, the root beer. This stuff is just great. It's just as smooth and tasty as the original recipe, but unlike so many other sodas, it doesn't leave your mouth feeling like the inside of a Slurpee cup. I'd have to say that it did lose some body, but at this point I'm just guessing that's part of kicking out the corn syrup. I loved how it was so much easier to taste the vanilla, which really made me wish I had another bottle to devote to a good float. Oh well. I hear it can be had down in DC, but maybe that's just a rumor to lure me down there...

All in all, I'd have to say that my expectations were happily met. I'm not sure if the switch has some economic back story or if it was purely for the taste, but it's a step in the right direction. With all these changes that keep popping up about one of my favorite products, I've worried that the quality was headed downhill. You know, corporate expansion at the cost of product quality. Well, so far so good. Keep it up TK. And please start distributing to New York. Please?

Indy quote of the day

From the oft maligned Temple of Doom:

"Fortune and glory, kid. Fortune and glory."

9 more days...

Indy quote of the day

Finals are almost done! To help me get back into the swing of blogging, and because I'm SUPER excited about the new Indiana Jones movie (who isn't?), each day I'm going to put up an Indy quote to help me get in the right mood for the movie. I'm going to start us all off with one of my favorites:

"It's not the years honey, it's the mileage."

Only 10 more days...

Oh boy...

Seriously?