Sweet Freedom

Anybody with allergies knows how aggravating they can be. I’ve usually had a good handle on mine even though the common drugs Allegra, Zyrtec and Claritin no longer had any effect. When I moved to Philadelphia my allergies went into overdrive, never letting up for a second. Soon I found myself stuffed up and sounding like Chucky from Rugrats 24/7 all year round. It took most of the fun out of everything I did, especially when running around, playing football or even sleeping.

Then one day I realized I couldn’t taste or smell anything. Still the allergies? I’m not so sure. My nose also felt strange physically, like something as holding it closed. Either way I needed to get this fixed. Once I got settled in Manayunk I started my search for a new doctor, finding a great one in relatively close proximity. He saw the allergy drugs had little effect but asked if I had been hit in the nose or sustained any facial injury lately. I told him I hadn’t which he was suprised at because he said it appeared I had a deviated septum. Those are usually caused by having it when you’re born or from something like a broken nose.  He recommended that I get a CT scan and see an ENT doctor for further investigation. I finally saw the ENT last Wednesday only to find out I do indeed have a deviated septum and it will require surgery to fix.

The select few I’ve mentioned it to told me how sorry they were I’d need surgery. I, however, am very much looking forward to it. I don’t see it as a big issue because it’s what I need to fix the problem. Had any of the doctors given me a pill as treatment I’d know in the back of my head this wasn’t going to work. I could tell there was something physically wrong and knew it would take more than time and some drug to fix it. Even if it was some condition where they couldn’t correct the problem I still would’ve felt better knowing what it was. So when the ENT said this is your issue and surgery is the answer I was incredibly relieved because that was the dream response for me. Unless anything changes, Monday June 22nd is the day.

Following the procedure I’ll have to take a week off from work to recover. For the next two weeks I’ll be writing down my list of movies to watch. Or maybe I’ll just try to watch every Top Gear episode I can. In the past two weeks I’ve managed to catch up on my Oscar nominated movies including Frost/Nixon, Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler. The last one on my list is Milk which I have rented now. But before I watch it I’m going to go make lunch. And try to taste it.

Minimum Wage

Around lunchtime I was watching I was watching X2 on Blu-Ray for the first since I bought it. I picked it up while I was in State College while I was in town for Blue/White because it was on sale at Best Buy. Not only that but it came with a free ticket to see Wolverine so I wouldn’t have to feel guilty about paying money for it.

About halfway through I started to think about when I saw the movie in theaters. I was a freshman at Penn State Altoona when the movie came out in April of 2003. Jim was my neighbor then and had already established himself as my best friend but when the second semester began we both got new roommates. Mine would be Brian (and Danielle) who I still see on a regular basis. Jim got Drew, or as I called him, Lex Luthor. He did have a villain sort of look, especially with plush monkeys:

Anyway, the Altoona area had two theaters. Since it was Altoona they were across the street from one another, in a Starbucks sort of way. One theater was the trashiest theater I had ever seen. The whole place smelled like stale popcorn, the lobby was a mess, I can’t remember any sort of surround sound, the screens were scratched and falling apart, and everybody that worked there hated their lives. Across the street was a newly built theater complex with stadium seating and pristine conditions. Any of you would have the same first though, why would anybody go to the crappy theater with the new one right across the street? As it turned out, the theaters had the same owner and they were aware of that same question. So what did they do? The nasty theater got the brand new movies and then after a few weeks they went to the sweet theater. If you wanted to see the premiere of anything you would have to see it on a tiny little screen with the volume barely audible. It generally ruined the movie even if it was a good one. I remember seeing Hellboy, Anger Management, Anchorman, and Daredevil there.

NOTE: I would later see The Matrix Revolutions at the theater. When Revolutions came out on DVD I re-watched it thinking that the theater had ruined the movie for me. Nope.

Drew had been with me for a few of those movies and we both realized that there was no way we were going to see X2 on that crappy screen. I didn’t know the area (or the state) that well so it was up to Drew to figure out where we should see it. Drew said he was from Indiana so he’d have it covered. I didn’t know why Indiana would help us out until a week later he specified he was from Indiana, PA. which is about 2 hours from Altoona. Drew said they had just built a fantastic new theater there and that’d be a good spot. I was okay with driving 2 hours each way to see a 2 hour movie for a few reasons. The first is that Drew knew the way so we wouldn’t get lost- this was during pre-affordable GPS times. The second is that Drew had a car and I didn’t so who was I to argue. This also took place during the beginning of online ticket buying through Fandango or similar sites. Either way we agreed we’d buy the tickets online and see an 8:00pm show Friday night, the day it opened. I purchased the tickets online and when Friday hit we got in the car about 2.5 hours early left for Indiana.

The roads were empty and the weather was nice before it got dark. About halfway there on a highway we saw lots of flashing lights and flares ahead. We came to a stop and a police officer approached the car, he said there was an 18-wheeler that flipped over up ahead and the highway was closed. He said we’d have to take the exit right here and use the back roads to our destination. Drew didn’t know the area that we were in and neither did the officer when we asked. Luckily Drew had a few maps in the glove box so we took the exit and I slowly maneuvered us around some town in Central PA. We were stopped for about 10 minutes talking to the officer so we were already starting to fall behind. Not only did we have to get to the theater but it’d for sure be sold out. The fact that we had tickets already made it more complicated rather than easier because we had to see that show (all others were sold out) and could get stuck with bad seats.

Somehow I got Drew back to the highway a few exits farther and it was past the accident. We hopped back on and were able to make the movie. We ended up with pretty good seats as well, just in time to see the first preview of The Matrix Reloaded. We both loved the movie and talked about it the entire two hour drive back, walking in a little bit after 12:30pm. Everybody else thought we were crazy for doing all that just to see a movie but we both knew X2 was going to be something special. Not only that but when you’re in Altoona a road trip to anywhere is appealing.

So to wrap out this X-Men story…

Before I end this I wanted to add a link a great story called “Are you ‘app-noxious’?“. While it applies to anybody with a PDA it focuses on Apple’s iPhone and their users. The article begins with the reason I’m posting this… the truth: “iPhone, other mobile apps can turn enthusiasts into annoying know-it-alls”.

Duane Hoffmann / msnbc.com

Let The Right One In

So it’s done. It’s been over a month and I am just barely able to write about it. Jay Cutler is now a Chicago Bear and Dave Grohl is the new Denver Broncos quarterback. Him or Chris Simms. So Dave Grohl is the new quarterback. I sure hope Josh McDaniels knows what he’s doing. It’s a fact that part of the Cutler deal was getting Orton back in return so hopefully he’ll pull through for us. I don’t see Orton being the long term solution but as long as he can win games for McDaniels they will both have a chance. Their futures are definitely tied to one another.

And what did we do with the draft to help improve the Denver Broncos defense? We draft Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno with our first pick. My opinion is that it’ll be nice to have a star running back again… but that’s basically turning a frown upside down.

Listzomania

It’s been a home improvement month for me, trying to fix up everything I can do make the apartment look nicer. Something I had always wanted to do was mount a flat screen on a wall. My first HDTV was a 50″ 720P Hitachi rear projection so that was out of the question. Even if I had a flat screen at my previous apartment I’m not sure I trusted the walls. 

When I moved to Manayunk I decided I wanted a new TV. Production was stopped on all LCD Rear Projection TV’s,  so I knew the value of mine was about to drop. Because of the economy many places have been offering amazing deals on big screens so I knew this was a good time. I knew exactly what TV I wanted because there is no comparison with Samsung’s right now, especially regarding price. I promptly put my TV on Craigslist and within 15 minutes somebody called. Within 24 hours of posting the ad somebody had paid and picked it up from my apartment. The only problem is that the new TV wasn’t arriving for another week. I honestly didn’t think somebody would buy my TV for what I had asked, let alone within one day. Things worked in my favor because the new TV arrived earlier than expected. Here she is, the Samsung LN52A650:

Soon I was enjoying the beauty that this TV provides. But it was still sitting on the stand, not on the wall. After a few weeks I realized this baby was going up no matter what. I finally bought myself my own wireless power drill (not Binford sadly) and a mounting kid. I also thought about what would help enhance watching the TV. I had almost everything I needed: the TV, the A/V receiver, the speakers, soon the mount- but there still was something missing. So I invested in some LED’s and the best around are the Cyron’s (No, not Cylons…). I had to hook up the LED system before the TV went on the wall so this was all about timing. Once again everything worked out and I got everything at the same time. I installed the LED’s and mounted the TV on the wall all in one big move.

Everything was hooked up and ready to go. But I needed it to be night before I could see what the LED’s were going to do. And before I knew it… darkness. Here were the results:

The cost of the entire project was under $200. Believe it or not the cost of the LED’s were more than the wall mount for the TV. I was incredibly pleased with the result and took me less than a day to do it all.

Now that I had the setup I wanted, it was time to watch March Madness. I was more excited than usual because I had entered in the firm’s bracket and was actually doing pretty well. I filled out 4 and there were about 100 entered. Not to ruin all the suspense but I ended up winning the pool, my first MM win. It all banked on Michigan St and I don’t know why I had so much faith in them but I’m happy I acted on it. Of course I had them losing to UNC in the championship game- good thing too because there wasn’t an ounce of competition in that game. The scary part for me was getting Michigan St into the championship but they fought their way in. Once they were there I knew I was golden. 

Here are the results (Click on the pictures for full-size):

Overall Results

Points Standings

The Winning Bracket

The Rock Obama

What happened? You made Barack Obama angry. When you make Barack Obama angry, he becomes… The Rock Obama.

This season of Saturday Night Live has been without a doubt the best in a decade. Every episode has performed well above average and I find myself excited for every Saturday. One thing you can bank on is that if Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is hosting, it’s going to be a great episode. He has more than enough charisma to act in anything that comes his way and hosts a live production with ease. He did a great hosting however some of the sketches weren’t as good as they could’ve been. All of that doesn’t matter simply because of the first sketch after the credits. My two cents is that whoever wrote “The Rock Obama” sketch deserves an Emmy. Without a doubt the most clever play on words I’ve heard in a long time. The sketch itself was as funny as you’d think it was, somehow making the everlastingly calm Barack Obama angry enough that he turns into an Incredible Hulk-like figure. It must be noted that Dwayne Johnson’s Obama impression wasn’t half bad either.

The Rock Obama

Believe it or not I’ve been living in Manayunk since mid-November but still haven’t found *the* chinese food place for me. Each place has their own specialty but not one in particular is good across the board. Is this a huge deal? No, not really…  you’d just think it’d be easier than this. Also realized I haven’t been to Golden Phoenix with Dane- and therefor to Niskayuna- for 21 months now.

Going back to television for a second, maybe because of the economy and studios really focusing on their shows, but my opinion is that narrative TV is at it’s best in years. 24 finally returned after a mind-numbingly long time and is far better than it’s previous season. I find it hard to believe season 5 will be topped however this one is making a run so far. Rescue Me will also be returning in a few weeks, also following 24’s lead with a very long hiatus. The same concerns will be shared over Rescue Me as was for 24- has the audience for the show waited? I know a lot of friends who loved 24 but didn’t share any excitement as it was returning. In the end the majority of them still watched and are back into it as if it never left. Though I did pause for a second when I read the headline in the paper the morning of the 24 premiere: “Is Jack Bauer Still Relevant?”. Seems he still is, hopefully Tommy Gavin is as well.

Nathan Fillion is on a new show called “Castle” on ABC that started a few weeks ago. It’s surprisingly good from somebody who isn’t a fan of Law & Order or CSI. Fillion has his moments to shine but for now they’re keeping him within character. He’s definitely just waiting for the right vehicle to break out of. Firefly should’ve been that show, Drive was never going to be that show and it’s possible for Castle to be it. Only time will tell but he’ll get there somehow.

Lost is in full swing as well but I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Let’s just say time travel is featuring prominently. Things are starting to come together as the show begins to wind down as there’s only one more season left. The idea to announce a blueprint and schedule for the rest of the show was a brilliant move. It gives viewers a date to look forward to and understand that if they just hang on until then, everything will be solved. It also guarantees that the show won’t jump the shark and in fact has a plan.

And last but not least that brings us to the series finale of Battlestar Galactica.

Battlestar Galactica - Daybreak: Part 2

On one hand I was incredibly excited for the finale of Battlestar Galactica. In my mind it’s been battling with Lost for possibly the best show to ever air. I knew the end of this show would tell me what Lost would have to do. On the other I was a bit skittish. Series finales often leave a lot unanswered since you only have one or two hours to wrap it up. Look at the two hour finale of The X-Files, possibly one of the worst finale’s I’ve ever seen. It didn’t address anything we really wanted to know and was basically a passive and anticlimactic trail of Fox Mulder. But then look at the finale for Star Trek TNG, “All Good Things”, which is probably the best series finale I’ve ever seen.

Until now?

I have to say, the finale was fantastic. While the major mysteries were solved a few episodes ago, it created the final showdown, concluded it, explained a lot of backstory of the main characters and then ended the series incredibly well- by connecting it to our lives today. One of the best finales ever? Probably. They made every second count either with intense action, clever anecdotes or major reveals. Highly unusual but I was entirely satisfied with what we saw. There were a few things to nitpick but it more than exceeded my expectations. Good work BSG, Lost has a lot of work to do. We’ll know the winner in 2010.

Stay Frosty…