Fall TV Starts Again

The new fall line-up brings mixed feelings for me. On one hand, I’m excited for my returning favorites; CSI (LV & NY, I'll watch Miami if there's nothing else on), NCIS, House, Chuck, Criminal Minds, Numbers… On the other hand, we’re going to be subjected to the stupid shows that won’t die. Please don’t be offended if I ‘dis’ one of your favorites. It’s not an attack on you, and eventually, you’ll get over it.

90210 is coming back as the “next generation”. The only positive I can find here is that at least Tori Spelling isn’t on this version. I’m not any more likely to watch it, but at least she won’t be in the commercials. Personally, I think 90210 is the combined IQ of all the show’s viewers.

Dexter moved from HBO to the cable stations. Oh, joy. Moral of this story: it’s okay to be a serial killer as long as you target other serial killers. That sounds like a positive family message. Gather the children, the show's about to start.

My biggest pet peeve with the TV line-up has to be all the variations on the Reality TV theme. I don’t want to watch reality. I want to get away from reality, that’s why I watch TV. And let's be honest here. Reality TV is about as "real" as professional wrestling. Some of the ‘gems’ that are coming back this season:

Moment of Truth (2nd season). Whose dumb idea was this? Let’s hook people up to a lie detector and see how they respond to stupid questions. At least Who Wants to be a Millionaire had some play-along value. Anyone who has taken behavioral psychology should be able to condition themselves into beating a "lie" detector. I'm fairly certain my 9-year-old nephew could do it right now.

____’s Next Top Model. Canada wouldn’t go in with the US war on terror, but we will jump on any ratings bandwagon that rolls through town. I think someone should tie the models down and make them eat a real meal. “No thanks, I just had a grape. I couldn’t possibly eat another bite.”

_____ Idol (8th season in the US, 6th in Canada. I hate 'em both). AKA, “The One-hit Wonders”. If you haven’t been religiously watching the show since its inception, could you name more than three winners? Sure, Kelly Clarkson is doing well, but she would’ve made it without the show. And Canadian Idol? Please, like any of them have a chance of doing more than their one gratuitous song written by someone else with talent and handed to them on a silver platter. Ever notice how many follow-up hits they have? I really hate it when someone from Alberta is on the show because then I have to hear about it everywhere. Bumper stickers, newspapers, radio, autograph signings… Seriously. When 'whatsizname' from Medicine Hat was on, no one in the city could use their debit/credit machines for 2 hours after the show because all the lines were tied up from people calling in to vote. I say let natural selection take its course and have them get record contracts the old fashioned way.

Dancing with the Stars (7th season). I would rather watch a wildlife documentary on feral chickens. Imagine a British voice-over, if you will (all wildlife documentaries are narrated by someone with an accent). “Here comes Chester, he’s the leader of the flock. Oh no! He’s charging the cameraman! Hurry! Get back in the truck!” Seriously, way better than a bunch of celebrities trying to rekindle their flickering flame of popularity.

Survivor (17th season). For the love of all things good and holy, let this die! Do you really think any of this isn’t staged from the beginning? It’s just coincidence that, other than the token players, everyone looks good in skimpy swimwear, right? I’m so tired of hearing people talk about the “shocking twist” they have every season. “Did you watch Survivor last night?” “I know! I can’t believe they combined the tribes!” “Really, I did not see that coming!” Seriously, it was barely a twist when it happened the first time.

Signs I Travel Too Often

1. I walked into the hotel in Calgary Monday night just before 11:00, and the guy at the desk threw his arms up and said, "Finally! I was wondering if you were ever going to make it."

2. After the staff meeting and working in the office until nearly 8:00 PM, the only thing that sounded good to eat was a Costco hotdog. I did branch out a bit and get a chocolate sundae for dessert... cheaper and bigger than the DQ variety. I started out only two blocks away from Red Lobster, The Keg, and Olive Garden and had to drive past Tony Roma's, Montana's, and Boston Pizza just to get to Costco.

3. Dawn can go to Subway and check the schedule for five minutes and get mauled by the kids upon her return. Granted, Alaina will do that when Dawn comes out of the bedroom (or bathroom, or office...). I have to be gone for at least 2-3 days before I get a "hi, daddy" from Rhys who is downstairs playing on the computer. He usually waves as he says it, too.

4. I never completely unpack my suitcase when I get home, I just take out the dirty laundry. There's a good chance I'll just be packing it up again within 10 days anyway.

5. I still get Christmas cards (and calendars) from the hotel in Medicine Hat, and I haven't really stayed there in 2 years. They still remember me at the desk...

6. When they give me my room number at the front desk, 60% of the time I can tell if it's a really good room (417, that's the one with the big jet tub... 112, that's the nice suite with the 2nd TV, 305, that's in the corner, good thing they have a network jack in the room because the WiFi signal sucks...).

7. At least twice a year I can send Dawn to Great Falls for two nights on the hotel points I have accumulated since her last trip. And that's even around my occassional FutureShop gift card I cash in between the trips.

I Love Lego

I know, I shouldn’t just spring those kinds of surprises on people until I’ve had a chance to prepare them a little. But let’s face it, there may be three of you reading this right now who didn’t already know that. I realize I am leaving myself wide-open to the mockings that will follow, just as surely as rain follows a car wash. I can’t expect to get out unscathed if I have 4 shelves of Star Wars Lego in my office, now can I (I don’t count the very top shelf with the Star Destroyer).

I still remember getting my first Lego set, a space ship (naturally). We were visiting my Aunt Vada and her family, somehow I was allowed to get a toy (can’t remember if I had saved up or if it was a treat), and it was all downhill from there. I remember stripping it down and reassembling it repeatedly. It must be a testament to my fascination with Lego that I didn’t lose any of the pieces. I could probably still build that model from memory, and believe me, I have the parts. Ever since then, I’ve been a lot easier to shop for.

And then along came Star Wars Lego. Where was this when I was growing up? Seriously, I could never get anything to look like an X-Wing and I just didn’t have the parts I needed to make a TIE fighter. Fortunately, I got over that childhood trauma and have been slowly growing my collection. And now thanks to the wonders of eBay and bricklink.com, I have the tools to modify my existing models and to create new ones. This has opened up a whole new world for me. If this were a Disney movie, this would be the point where everyone would be singing along to a completely impromptu-yet-perfectly-choreographed musical number.

I started out just tweaking my ships (taking out the spring-loaded missiles, adding improved functionality, removing dumb features) and then branched out into building new from scratch. My first original creation was Darth Vader’s Sith starfighter, patterned after the Hasbro model. Then I made a red TIE interceptor which, according to the Expanded Universe, was used by the Emperor’s Royal Guards. I built Obiwan’s red starfighter from Episode III. I have photos of all my sets on Facebook if you're really curious. Yes, I’m that much of a geek. Other parents post photos of their children. Not me.

My current project is to finish modifying Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced into a more movie-friendly version. The original kit was all blue and black, so I’m replacing the blue with grey pieces and made the rear of the ship longer. The parts I need to complete my masterpiece are on their way from Michigan right now.

This is how it looked before I started tinkering. See how much blue they used?? Crazy. And it had a flip-top hatch that made it difficult to get Darth Vader in and out.

This is my progress so far. Now the whole cockpit opens, which is much easier. I brought the front out a little, almost have all the blue replaced, the back is longer like it should be. Once I get the rest of the parts, all the greys will match, for those who were worried about that.

Anyhow, I'm not laboring under any dilusion that anyone is still reading. I expect I lost most of you when you realized this whole thing really was about Lego. Part of me just wanted to see if I could do a whole entry just on Lego. Dawn will be so proud of me :)

Quick update

I just realized it has been over a month since I last posted, so I thought I'd put something up so I don't get kicked out of the blog society. I know, Michael hasn't updated his blog in four months... but he's a lawyer and is probably in tight with the blog enforcers. I don't have that kind of connection, so I'm playing it safe.

I pulled all of my Sunday School posts into a separate blog. On the right, you'll see the listing for "My Sunday School Page". This allows me to express my sarcastic side here without detracting from any of the good stuff over there. I have to apologize to those who made insightful comments on the old posts, I could only move the posts across. The comments were a sad casualty of the split. I had a really interesting experience over the last two weeks in class. We did the 'war chapters' (Alma 43-62), and I love the war chapters. For two weeks in a row, I went in without the lesson manual, just my scriptures and a few quotes on paper. Quite an interesting experience and something I've wanted to try for a long time, but never had the courage to do. I think it worked, I wasn't pelted with rotting fruits or vegetables, didn't get any angry calls from the bishopric... I'm not saying I'm ready to improvise a talk yet, but I might get there someday.

The Venetian hotel

Here I am in Vegas, after killing time all day yesterday before my 7:30 PM flight left Calgary. I managed to get a picture of Chief Mountain as we flew over. I didn't get my camera phone out fast enough to get the front face, but here's an aerial profile view. Not much to it from the American side...

Anyhow, landed in Vegas, stepped off the plane at about 9:30PM and it was still about 36c outside. Found an airport shuttle that was going to the Venetian, the front desk finally found my reservation info, and I was in my room before midnight.

Here are some photos of the room. Apparently, all the rooms are this size (I asked for a smaller one and they said this is the smaller one).

A view from the door. The bathroom is to the immediate right...

Here's view one of the bathroom...

...and view two...

...and the shower, which really weirds me out, even though I'm not sharing the room with anyone.

...standing in the bedroom...

Here's the 'lounge' area, along with the printer/fax/ scanner. The couch made me laugh... everything else in the room is very posh, but they have a hide-a-bed from the 70's. Nice touch.

...and the beds, looking from the lounge.

This room is bigger than some of my missionary apartments (could fit two of the "Love Shack" in here). I'm very much not in my comfort zone here. Even if I were filthy stinkin' rich, I'd still be over at the Comfort Inn (at least they have a microwave in the room).

Vegas is completely wasted on me... I don't gamble, I'm too cheap to see any of the shows that are here (I won't mention that Phantom is playing here... and when I say 'here', I don't just mean in Vegas, I mean here in the hotel), and all the shopping is waayyyy over-priced. Dawn says I'm supposed to enjoy it for her, which is really hard to do without her...

My First Mile!!

I ran my first continuous mile since Grade 10 gym class! I did my usual 2 miles/30 minute workout, but this time I was able to actually run for 1 straight mile. And I did it all while watching the last half hour of Nacho Libre (a motivational movie if ever there was one).

I feel like I could have run longer, but my calves weren't cooperating. I need to suppliment the treadmill with the Bowflex so my legs can keep up with me. My legs are burning, but the rest of me feels really good right now! I take a dramatically different approach to exercise than does my sister... I think it feels good to get a nice healthy sweat going.

Now I'm working towards 2 miles... then three. Then I can start on Day 1 of the actual training program.

New Toy!

Long story short... a friend at work sold me his super-cool treadmill for a really good deal because he got a better one. This thing was still unassembled and in the protective plastic wrap when we picked it up. The 'walkway' (not sure what the technical term is) is long enough that I can do a full stride and still have room. Do let's take a closer look, shall we?

As you can see, it has a little TV monitor built in. We have it hooked up so whatever is showing on the big screen will also show on the little one here (hence, Voyager). We can also hook up a DVD player if we wanted. The workout display can be shown along the bottom of the screen, the right side, or hidden. It shows your distance, time, pulse, calories, and speed.

Here's the "command console" with the quick set buttons for incline and speed, and the program buttons for Cardio, Weight Loss, etc. There's also an input jack for hooking up an MP3 player (sold separately). The thin black strip above the screen? That's the two-speed fan.

So this is our new workout buddy. No excuses on not being able to fit in some exercise. If we have time to watch TV, we can exercise at the same time now. Way cool, I'm super excited to try it out tomorrow!