TV Tuesday for November 9th

I'm going to see The Incredibles in two hours! Sorry, where was I?

That's right, time for this week's TV Tuesday.

1. Do you watch political coverage? If so, how much?
I watch lots of Fox News, many the political news shows. Maybe 5 or 6 hours a week, depending on my schedule and what is happening.

2. Does political coverage effect how you vote?
Not really. It did confirm for me why I voted the way I did, however.

3. Do you think the up to the minute coverage of returns effects those who haven't yet voted?
There are some people who will let it decide if they get out and vote or not. I've heard it really did when the networks called Florida for Gore 4 years ago and the polls in the panhandle hadn't closed yet. But there are plenty of people like me who will vote no matter what.

~Bonus~ Do you think there should be guidelines for political ads? For example, banning putting other candidates down.
The biggest one I'd like to see? Ads must be 100% truthful. They can not say or insinuate anything that can't be backed up by facts. And they facts must be verified by the other political party. I think that would make for some very interesting ads next go around.

Relaxing, but Unprofitable

That's how my weekend was. How about yours?

I was going to hit my paper hard this weekend, reading through the books I got in the library and at least formulating the outline for the paper for my class.

Instead, I came in to play ultimate Frisbee. There were only six of us, but we did play for about 20 minutes. Then I went home and finished my book. And tried to cut my hair in something other then a straight buzz. After an hour of it getting worse and worse, I gave up and shaved it off. Tried to go see The Incredibles with my roommates but at 2:30 it was sold out until 10:15. So we wound up going out to play miniture golf instead. Which was really nice. It's the first time all four of us have done something other then hang out in the condo together.

Sunday was church. And I didn't get anything done in the afternoon, either. So now I'm stuck with a pile of books I need to start reading through tonight. We'll see if it happens.

I did get my Christmas list put together for my parents. They only ask for it two weeks ago.

But I have this fan fic idea that has taken over my brain. All stemming from the Jim and Dan fight thread over at Zap's. I've hardly been able to think about anything else all day, which is amazing considering how much work I've gotten done. Still, when Tom goes to bed early, I won't have any choice but to join Benjamin and Drew in the living room studying.

Ah, the joys of peer pressure.

Word Association for November 7th

Welcome to this week's word association.

1. Small Talk:: Chit Chat
2. Evidence:: Clues
3. Drifting:: Topics
4. Hostage:: Rescue
5. Beauty:: and the Beast
6. Automatic:: Garage Door Opener
7. Asking for it:: Behaving Badly
8. Visene:: Know Nothing
9. No strings attached:: Pinnochio
10. Frizz:: Bad Hair Day

TGIF!

Of course, I've got major plans this weekend. I plan to go home and work on my paper for my class. It'll be a thrill a minute this weekend, let me tell you.

I just hope I have the self-controll to sit down and actually write it. :) Or at least read the books I checked out to use for research purposes.

See, I have a couple hours of TV yet to watch from the week (hoping to knock those out tonight.) And I have 80 pages left in my book. And you can bet that finishing Fall into Death will be a major requirement this weekend. Probably finish it before I start working on the paper tomorrow.

One thing in my advantage is the weather. It's supposed to be cold and rainy tomorrow. The kind of day to make you stay inside. On the other hand, I usually want to curl up with a good book. And I've got a couple fan fic ideas swirling around my head like you wouldn't believe. Not to mention two reviews I've been wanting to write for over a week now. Three once I finish my book.

In other news, my guitar strings stayed on last night. And my guitar strings stayed tuned while we played, too. Always major pluses and always something I worry about when I've just changed my strings. Especially after Tuesday night.

So, I've managed to write a post about what I want to get done this weekend with one paragraph about what I've been up to the last couple of days. Think that about sums things up right now. Have a good one.

Thursday Threesome for November 4th

Welcome to this week's Thursday Threesome, brought to us by Disney and The Back Porch. (Yes, I know A. A. Milne actually wrote the Winnie the Pooh books. But the title that we're using here is from Disney, hence the reason I went with them.)

Onesome: Winnie the Pooh-- What was your favorite book series as a kid? Was there one you tried to find the complete set to read? ...or maybe just one book you remember well?
Any guesses? Why yes, I'd say Trixie Belden. Had to get all of them. And as an adult I've started collecting more of them. And I still read them.

Twosome: and the-- holidays are just around the corner? Are you ready for things? ...or are you too immersed in life to even think about it?
I'm looking forward to them, but my class is catching up with me. I've got to get my paper written before Thanksgiving or it will be late. And my parents are probably very upset that I haven't come up with a wish list yet for Christmas, but I haven't had time to do that, either.

Threesome: Blustery Day-- Hey, what do you like to do on a stormy day when you're not working or in school? Do you curl up with a book? Watch TV? Bake? How do you pass the time when you don't feel like going "out in it"?
A walk in the rain followed by curling up and reading a good book or watching a good movie would make for a perfect rainy day for me.

Victory!

Ok, so I don't think it's been any secret that I support Bush. I am thrilled by the results of yesterday's election. This time, Bush won the popular vote (by more then Clinton ever did) and the electoral college.

Guess we should have seen this coming. After all, the Red Sox did win this year, so obviously previously held superstitions about football teams and kid's votes in mock elections weren't meant to hold up. Heck, even mine didn't hold together. I've been pointing out that the only other time we've had father/son Presidents was John Adams and John Quincy Adams, both of whom served only one term. Now we have Bush I, who only served one term. Yet this predictor meant nothing as well.

Frankly, I think the thing I'm happiest about is that we have a winner. I was so worried that things were such a mess that we wouldn't know the outcome for weeks just like last time. I must say my respect for Senator Kerry grew by leaps and bounds today. We listened to his concession speech on the radio here at work, and it was very gracious. Probably the best thing I heard out of him all year because it was well thought out and seemed honest.

Of course, I can't help but gloat some. I've gone back to the Amazon Customer Review Board to watch the Democrats over there loose it. And sure enough, they are so distraught about how stupid the rest of the country could be. I'm taking this as a personal victory over them. And yet another one is threatening to move to Canada. Either move or don't, but don't say you will if you don't mean it. I'm sick of people leaving a country because of their side loosing an election. And I'm also gloating over Dan Rather and Michael Moore. Seems more people saw through the lies then you thought they would, huh?

Ok, I'm done now. I'm really happy, can you tell?

The thing is, most of those who read this who disagree with me are from the Trixie community. And there we've kept with our normal civil selves. Of course, we've pretty much ignored the issue completely, but even when we did discuss it at Zap's it managed to be decent. Unlike four years ago. So for those in the Trixie community, know this was not meant at you in any way. It was meant for those Democrats who think conservatives are stupid idiots who need to be told how to think.

Had a condo full to watch the results come in last night. They had to leave at 11:30 when Fox News had called it 269 to 242 for Bush. We'd been waiting for over an hour to see Bush finally go to victory with Nevada and New Mexico both looking promising. I felt like I was in that old Mary Tyler Moore episode. "A trend is definitely developing." I stayed up until 12:30 when I couldn't stay awake any more. Then when I got up this morning, I found out things hadn't changed. :) I think no one wanted to call it for Bush too early after what happened last time. When class was over this morning, we found out that Kerry had called Bush to concede. That will go futher then anything else toward smoothing over boundries.

Ok, on to other topics. I am an idiot. :) (And one who was just complaining about being called one.) I was trying to restring my guitar last night, and the strings kept slipping out. Took it into a music store today and had to be shown how to do it. So now, after wasting hours, it's done. So I will be able to play my guitar tomorrow night. Now, if I can just figure out what happened to my tool to help crank the knobs, I'll really be happy.

And I got a massive leg cramp last night for no reason I could tell. I was rolling over and it hit me. My leg is still sore and it's 13 hours later. Hope it doesn't happen again tonight.

TV Tuesday and other Things

I've voted today. Have you?

Starting off today's post is today's TV Tuesday. This week, reality shows.

1. Do you watch reality shows? Which ones?
Survivor and The Amazing Race are the only ones I watch on a regular basis. Faithfully watched The Mole when it was on. Most of the others have no appeal for me whatsoever. I like the competition factor of these shows and most of the others seem to be excuses for people to make fools of themselves on TV. At least these two have things going on beside that. :)

2. What's your favorite all time reality show?
I'm going to have to go with The Amazing Race. That's the only show I'd actually love to be on. Can't wait for it to come back in two weeks, even if it's on opposite Veronica Mars.

3. Do you feel "reality" shows are real or are they faked?
I think they're real while being manipulated by the producers to make a good show. I mean, every leg of TAR finds all the teams on even footing or close to it. And they mix things up on Survivor enough that you never quite know until the end what will happen. Not to mention the way things are edited give us heros and villians. So yes, the outcome is real, but what we see if fake to make for a better/more engaging story.

~Bonus~ If your life was a reality show what would it be called? What would be the story line that kept people coming back?
Can't really think of anything. I've often said my life is a soap opera, but I really don't think anyone would want to watch it on TV.

~Bonus 2~ If you could create a reality show of your choosing what would it be about?
Maybe a combination of The Amazing Race with a literary theme. You must race to author's birthplaces based solely on titles of their books.

Can you tell I'm not feeling super creative today?

And now, it's been forever since I did any of the other kind of quizes, so I thought I'd steal a couple. First up, from Anna:

You Are a Social Blogger!
Your blog is more of a semi-private affair for your friends. It's how you keep in touch... sharing stories, jokes, and pics.

What kind of blogger are you?

No surprise there.

But can anyone tell me if it's me or blogger that messes up these things every time I take them now? The pictures always come up horrid and throw off the rest of my post.

In 1975 (the year you were born)

Gerald Ford is president of the US Evacuation of US civilians from Saigon as Communist forces complete takeover of South Vietnam FBI agents capture Patty Hearst, who is indicted and convicted of bank robbery Teamster Jimmy Hoffa disappears without a trace Marines rescue the crew of the American ship the Mayaguez near Vietnam First Lady Betty Ford says in an interview that she thinks her children have tried marijuana Natalie Imbruglia, Drew Barrymore, David Beckham, Enrique Iglesias, Angelina Jolie, and Tiger Woods are born Cincinnati Reds win the World Series Pittsburgh Steelers win Superbowl IX Philadelphia Flyers win the Stanley Cup Production begins on Star Wars Jaws and The Rocky Horror Picture Show are the top grossing films Soul Train premieres on television in the United States "The Way We Were" (performed by Barbara Streisand) wins the Grammy for best song Saturday Night Live and Wheel of Fortune premiere

What Happened the Year You Were Born?

Some of this I knew. Some I didn't care about. Like the sports stuff. :)

And now, two weeks after she posted it, via Aleta, comes this quiz.

"You are just as interesting as your weblog!"

You have an interesting weblog and an equally interesting life. You don't need to exaggerate to make your stories sound exciting. They already are. You have a small circle of friends, both online and offline, and they all love having you around. You're an all around nice person and the best friend anyone could ever imagine having.

The Happiest Place on Earth

That's where I spent Saturday. Not that I've recovered from it yet. :)

I was supposed to meet Matt, Casey, and Stephanie at Master's early Saturday morning. Like 6:45 AM. I got here about 6:55. Something about leaving when I was supposed to be arriving. Anyway, we headed down and arrived at the park at 8 AM. And started waiting. Angelique ran into a detour that got her there much later then she had planned, but we were finally all set and headed into the park.

I was afraid it would be a nightmare on some of the big rides since Matterhorn was closed and Space Mountain is still under major renovations. But it was the least crowded it's ever been. We hit everything we wanted to at least once. Except for the Snow White musical. I just couldn't get anyone but Casey on my side for that one. We only used the Fast Pass a few times since most of the time it was just as fast to walk onto the ride. Don't think we waited longer the 15 minutes for most things, although we did wait 40 minutes for Indiana Jones the second time around. They were out of Fast Pass, so we decided waiting was the best option.

Highlights? Screaming at all the wrong times. And getting directly on Alice in Wonderland thanks to the ladies paying attention to a worker offering us a short cut through the exit line.

And then there's my new name. Saturday was Master's day at Disneyland, so they were selling discounted tickets here for a week and plan a couple group meetings for anyone interested. Since I bought 4 of the 5 tickets in the group, four of the five little fliers talking about that stuff came to me. The top one came to Mark Baker, and I thought nothing of it. The other three, however, were addressed to Mark Bark. Naturally, everyone got a kick out of that. :) And instead of going into the trash, I bet those fliers are still around for quite some time.

Normally, my 8 AM to Midnight day in the park kills my legs, but they were hardly tired by the time we were done. I think after last weekend, Disneyland was nothing.

I had forgotten how they changed "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln." The "pre-presentation" includes sending us to 1863 Washington DC. They give us headphones, and all the sound is in them. The amazing thing is how real it is. There's one point when someone is cutting your hair or a fly is buzzing around you. It sounds so real it's creapy.

I have got to get back to CA Adventure, though. It's calling me. I really think I'm going to get an annual pass next year at some point. After all, with the 50th Anniversary next year, I'm sure I'll want to go more then once.

Of course, we got back very late Saturday night/Sunday morning. And, even with the extra hour of sleep, I still haven't recovered sleep wise. I think I'm going to go to bed early tonight. Especially since tomorrow could be a long night, waiting for election results.

Which brings me to my public survice announcement for the day. If you live in the US, tomorrow is election day. GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!! I'm sure (Bush) you've figured out by now (Bush) who I support (BUSH) but the most important thing is to vote. Voter turnout keeps declining, and it's one of the most important freedoms we have in this country. It's how we hold our representatives accountable for their actions in office. So please vote.

Word Association for Oct 31st

Happy Halloween! And now that that's out of the way, time for this week's word association.

1. Right now:: Current
2. Halloween:: Today
3. Provider:: Worker
4. Rescue me:: From Evil
5. Confidence:: I Can Do It
6. Fungus:: Mushroom
7. Candy corn:: Not as good as others claim
8. Reunion:: Class
9. Winner:: Loser
10. Tradition:: Fiddler on the Roof

Hopefully This One Takes

I really did try to post Wednesday. I had a great post all typed up, hit submit, and Blogger decided to go down and loose it for me. :( So I blame them for my lack of a post on Wednesday.

I went to the doctor Tuesday about my cough. Gave me some medicine that seems to be helping, although it's been a little worse today. Maybe because I went to bed last and got up early for class. I'll have to try to go to bed earlier tonight.

Of course, I couldn't start my medicine until Wednesday, so my cough decided to give me one last night to remember it by. Tuesday night I was up half the night trying to cough up a lung. I was beat Wednesday morning, so I skipped class and came into work late. Got some great notes from a student today, which I really appreciate. Basically, this has not been a good week sleep wise. Which is unfortunate since tomorrow is Disney day. Some friends and I are meeting up with Angelique at 8 AM tomorrow. It's always a long day, but tons of fun.

In other news, we had an explosion here on campus Tuesday. No, it wasn't like that. A fire inspector came through Monday and found some chemicals in our science lab that were old. He told us to dispose of them properly. Well, early the next morning, someone else saw the report and paniced. Sent fire trucks and the bomb squad out to take care of those chemicals for us. My understanding is this was an overreaction, but they dug a safe hole and blew them up. Rattled the windows, but that was about all, except for the bad publicity this will give us with our neighbors.

Speaking of bad publicity, I forgot a story from this last weekend. A group of us that were in the same van were having lunch at McDonalds. Many had Bush/Cheney shirts and/or stickers on. I was cleaning up my table when the rest went outside and I heard this one woman comment really loudly, "What is wrong with those people? Are they all brainwashed or something?" I didn't say anything, although I felt like it. Nice tolerance there, lady.

Let's see, what else is going on.

Didn't play guitar last night since I had missed practice Sunday night. But I did put the powerpoint slides together in 20 minutes once the others finally showed up and I found out I needed to. Fortunately, I had brought my disc with that info on it with me. And I had the songbooks in my car as back up if I needed them.

Think that's about it. Have a great weekend, everyone. I know I will. You can't go wrong with Disneyland!