Bits

Leafs still suck, our Mayor and his lapdogs are still idiots, and I still have no idea what my final photography project will be.

Leafs - 8-0?? 8-0?????? WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Yah, it's Boston. Yah, they own us. Still 8-0?? You can't throw the whole season in ONE game guys! You have to lose them one at a time! Damned Leafs can't even lose right.

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OK Blue Jays!

Brett Lawrie's spring training numbers? 9 games, 23 AB, 5 runs, 14 hits, 6 doubles, 1 triple, 8 RBI, 1 walk, 1 strike out, 5 stolen bases, .609 avg, .625 OBP, .957 SLG!

Out with a groin strain.  Pulled himself from the game. All indications are he's a full-throttle player but a smart kid. Has superstar written all over him.

--------

Hey, let's say you really tied yourself to a failing plan for subways, but your council has all the evidence that supports light rail transit instead, and the citizens of your city are slowly swinging that way because they have brains and can see the evidence.

Do you

A) Provide feasible counter-evidence supporting subways as a better long-term solution, along with at least a bare-bones plan for funding the subway?

B) Enter into an intelligent debate in an attempt to find a workable compromise between the plans.

C) Call the latest commissioned report "hogwash", without any evidence, because it 100% supports LRT development as the best option even when money isn't taken into account. Then have one of your lackey councillors hand out pictures of LRT crashes to the opposition, including pictures of a couple that died in one, considering that some sort of evidence that subways are better.

If you said C, then you may be qualified to be Mayor of Toronto! Actually, no, you aren't qualified, you're an idiot who might get elected by people who were too lazy to spend 5 seconds looking beyond your obviously empty promises.

Remember kids - things crash! You know what crashes more? Cars! Also bikes. And planes. And people running, or walking but not looking where they're going.  Oh, and subways sometimes. Devastatingly so.

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Final project is due in a couple weeks for the latest photography class. Subject - whatever the hell I want.  Just make it look purdy.

Except I have no idea what I want to do.  Poker night last semester didn't work as I wanted. So I'm hesitant to set up a whole scene again.

My latest thought was origami.  I have a rather kick-ass Zombiegami book I got for Christmas, with coloured papers and complex designs.  My first attempt from it half worked out, but if I actually started folding when not watching TV, I imagine I could get a nice little paper zombie apocalypse going... a couple set pieces and it could be something interesting.

Yah, I'm liking that more all the time. It's good to type things out.

How To Go Out of Business

I have a carbonator at home that I use to make my own soda. It works simply enough, insert bottle of water, blast with CO2. But the canisters need to be replaced from time-to-time.

And they're specific to the brand.

So I have to visit a local store to swap them. I give them my old one and some money, they give me a new full one. Simple enough, except that stores that are part of the program are few and far between in these parts. If I was in the States, any Williams-Sonoma would do.

I was thrilled a while back when I found a store that had just started carrying them within walking distance of me. On Friday, I decided to pay them a visit and swap my canister. A friend of mine has a similar system (same company) and decided to come with to swap her canister as well.

We walked in, and she grabbed a flavour syrup while I went to the cash. I pulled out my canister and said I wanted to swap. The owner reached behind the counter and pulled out a replacement. Then my friend pulled out her canister, an older model, but still on the plan. He balked, saying, "We don't do that company."

"It's the same company."

"No it isn't, this is Soda Stream, that is Soda Club."

"Soda Stream is Soda Club's new name - same company, same plan."

"Well, I don't have those canisters."

"That's fine, we want one of the new ones. The company website says they're exchangeable."

"Well, I don't know if I can, I'll have to check."

"Okay, fine."

At this point, my friend puts away her canister and decides to put back the flavour syrup, as she has no use for it without a working carbonator. The owner says, "You aren't going to buy that?"

"No, there's no point."

And he starts to put away MY replacement.

"Wait, I'm still exchanging my canister."

"No, I only have 6, not enough to bother."

"What? You don't want my money?"

"I don't care. It's not worth my time, I only have enough for serious customers."

I start to lose it a little.

"Seriously?? I come here, wanting to PAY YOU for a product, and now you're telling me no? Why?"

"Because you're being difficult."

"I'M being difficult? All we asked was if you could exchange this, and when you said you had to check, we said okay."

"My distributor is very difficult, he won't do it."

"You don't know that. So now you're not even going to check? You can log on to the website right now."

"No."

"Fine, you don't want our business, you won't get it."

"Good. Go someplace else. I'm sick of this product. It's for misers."

"Excuse me? Now you're judging your customers? I bought one of everything on this shelf last time I was here, and you've guaranteed you won't see another dime from me."

"Fine, go to another store."

"I will."

I'm not unreasonable, neither is my friend. At "I'll have to check", we accepted that. For some reason, he then decided that if MY FRIEND wasn't spending an extra $7, then I wouldn't be served either.

So fuck Pepper Mill at Hazelton Lanes. The owner obviously wants to see his overpriced kitchen gadget store go under. He'll undoubtedly blame the customers, not the godawful customer service.

On the upside, this lead me to check for other sources, and some even closer to me have opened up recently. So not only did this asswipe's attitude lead me to stop visiting his store, but has led me to other stores! I'm sure the owners there will be grateful for the business he's sent them.

Anyone who's seen my kitchen, and the room next to it, and the closet, and the pantry, might be aware of my affinity for kitchen gadgets and utensils and appliances... not the asshole running the shop at Pepper Mill though.

Oh, and it turns out he was right - store owners can't exchange for the old ones, it has to be done directly - but he wasn't even willing to check, changed his story at least 3 times, and was incomprehensibly rude. Quality service from top to bottom. But hey, at least the people at Soda Stream were friendly and helpful when I called.

There Are Rules

Let's blow the dust off this here space, shall we? Proxy dodginess makes for infrequent posting it seems.

There are rules in life that we shouldn't need to be told about. We learn them from experience or common sense. If you spill the jar of candies, you deny it was you. Even if you're sitting in the middle of the confectionery catastrophe with broken shards of candy jar in your hand.

You don't tell your mom you were "playing doctor" with the girl next door. Although it becomes difficult to lie about when her parents call asking about the sloppy sutures and botched appendectomy.

And for guys, there's one we should all know - you stagger positions at urinals dammit. If there are 5 urinals on the wall, you take 1, 3, and 5. You don't stand next to someone if the ability to put a space between you exists. You don't take 2 or 4 as a first choice because it fucks up the system for everyone else. And you definitely don't compliment the guy next to you on his watch.

A Walk

It's become a tad colder here in Toronto of late. Almost as if it's seasonal. Phrases like "wind chill" are being heard frequently these days.

I was walking home last night, and had opted to bundle up. Coat done up, scarf wrapped up to my nose, and ears covered. I'm fighting with a cold you see, and didn't want to offer it more ammunition.

The thing about that configuration is that all my breath gets funneled upwards. Being a warm-blooded creature, my breath is hot in comparison to the outside temperature. Being myopic, I've been known to wear glasses. This was the case last night.

So the glasses instantly fogged up, causing a near-complete lack of vision. I dropped my head and peered over the rims of my spectacles and saw the world through the usual vaseline smear that is my near-sightedness. Without some sort of corrective lens in place, my vision is at best, rudimentary. Colours and the roughest ideas of shapes are visible.

So I had a choice, the fogged-up non-vision of my glasses, the blurry impressionism of my warped eyes, or I could take my nose out of my scarf.

I didn't have enough tissue left for the last option to be pleasant. Besides, I knew the walk home like the back of my hand, and after listening to talk about the role of absences in film, I figured this would be an interesting way to see the world.

So I walked, peering over my frames at the blurred surroundings I passed. People I couldn't discern from the dark background until they were a few feet away, and whose faces I'd never see, passed me by, seeing their world clearly. Cars became moving headlights, and my eyes were constantly watching the ground in front of me for splotches of shadow that could be ice. At one point, I nearly got angry at a parking meter for not moving, until I realized what it was.

The soundtrack to my promenade was the voices of those I passed and the noises a city makes on a cold winter night. It was a playlist that was both soothing and revealing. Echoes of John Cage sitting silently at a piano.

Eventually, I was a few blocks from home and decided to drop the scarf and readjust my glasses. I was passing through an area I'd rather be able to see than not. As the fog on my lenses cleared, the remaining, partially-frozen condensation shattered the world into crystalline shapes. Lights sparkled, and reflections were moving bursts. Slowly, the world came into focus around this stained glass filter. The tower that symbolizes my city stood solitary against the night sky in front of me, welcoming me back to the world of the sighted.

I turned a corner, pulled the scarf back up, and returned to the far more interesting world I'd just left. Knowing I had only a block left before the warmth of my home cleared everything back up again.

Sometimes, the world needs to be seen from a different perspective.

Well Rested

I was tired most of last week. This was odd because I got a lot of sleep. I chalked it up to my body finishing off the flu from the weekend before.

Saturday night, around 3am Sunday, I went to bed. I finally got out of bed around 6pm Sunday evening. I wasn't tired any more.

It's always odd to sleep away an entire day. You obviously get very little done (me? two rounds of dishes from the night before, put away laundry, cleaned cat litter, and vegged around). I also completely spaced on the TOC, but congrats to JJOK, actyper, CK, and karmarules for taking down the seats! 10k to JJ and act, 2k to CK and karma. We know CK will put that 2k to use in a bracelet event, but will the others?

I forgot about something else too, but I forget what it was now.

Oh, and congrats to sprstoner on taking in around $200k in sweet, sweet, WSOP ka-ching!

Wasn't this guy using part of the last rent money he had a year ago? Man, what a turnaround.

If I do Atlantic City, it will likely be later in the summer. If I do Vegas, it will either be the 2nd last or last weekend of June. Where should I stay? Near the Rio or near the Strip?

And would it kill UPS to send advance notice of COD charges? I get it, I have to pay sales taxes on the US-purchased order, but my front desk isn't going to pony up $55 for me. I need to leave a cheque. Now everybody has to make a second trip.

Bits

Mookie tonight! Full Tilt, 10pm ET (9pm CT, 8pm MT, 7pm PT), pw: vegas1. 7 shots at BBT4 TOC seat left! Chances of me making the Brit game on Sunday are below slim, so only 6 shots for yours truly.

Skillz went horribly last night... largely because I had a huge case of "meh" going on and didn't give a rat's ass. Oh, and because my trip aces with a better kicker got riverboated.

Tonight? Condo general meeting, which is always aggravating and boring at the same time. At least they're not installing 800k worth of A/C on the roof this year. I should probably open and read the package sometime. Mookie after that, and I may, possibly, be riled up.

Jays lose 2-1 to the Red Sox last night. Pitcher's duel, with Wakefield coming out on top... barely. Tallet continues to impress.

Wings go up 2-0 in the series against the Hawks. Chicagoans, ask yourself honestly - can the Hawks win 4/5 against Detroit?

Speaking of Chicago - I've got an invite to head down that way in June or July for a weekend with a bunch of friends. Still debating if I can swing the time. There's also the possibility of a weekend at a cottage closer to home which is slightly more appealing (nothing against Chi-town, I just like relaxing next to a lake with beer, and seldom get the chance)... I'd ideally like to swing both.

Spinal Tap/The Folksmen - Unwigged and Unplugged tomorrow night! Should be a good show... Tap acoustic could be interesting, no idea how you turn an acoustic performance up to 11.

I've been playing around with High Dynamic Range (HDR) a fair bit these days, some might say too much. But then again, I don't go to the completely unrealistic extremes some do out there. For some reason, I particularly like this shot. It's right on that border of hyper-real and looking computer generated. I like the almost bump-mapped look of the pavement too.



Alright, enough ramblin' for now.

Monday Already

Well, there was a weekend in there somewhere.

Friday was all about Star Trek - got there just as the line started to form, which meant dead-centre primo seats for me and 7 friends.

What can I say? Great pilot episode. Better than TNG, DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise did for their pilots. What's that you say? It's not a series? Oh.

Well then, great first in a long series of movies. Everyone's talked about what a great reboot it is, and I have to agree. Abrams unabashedly said "This is a reboot, deal with it." while not insulting the audience. It has left the future wide open, with changes both subtle and grand. It also showed a ton of respect for what has gone before.

Oh, and Karl Urban = the perfect McCoy. He NAILED it.

Pegg wasn't as Peggish as I feared (Pegg is awesome, but I don't want Shaun as Scotty). Quinto was a good Spock. Pine did a good young, altered Kirk. Uhura and Chekov suddenly have abilities and skills (Chekov = boy genius, Uhura = xenoliguistic specialist, think Hoshi, but already knowing the languages), and Sulu? Well... he can still fence. John Cho was sadly the weakest redo of the characters - too bland, and sometimes I only saw Harold.

I just hope they signed them all for multiple movies, because if they start messing with the cast, it could cause problems with the Trekkies.

And I have no doubt a series will spawn from all this.

Saturday - I woke up at 5pm. I recycled. I made a lemon meringue pie. I threw up more phots on Flickr. I accomplished little else.

Sunday - Mother's day. I went to an interesting, if overlong documentary. I returned home. I cleaned like a maniac. Family came over, we ate, I served my lemon meringue pie. It didn't hold as well as I'd hoped (forgot the butter in the curd), but well enough to still be pie and not lemon soup with crust. I played the $5k PLO and got screwed by terrible beats. Similar things happened in an FTOPS #24 satellite. I uploaded Iceland Day 4 (only 1.5 years after the fact) to Flickr. Hey, at least my place is clean again.

Today? Haven't a clue. Make some dinner, play some RC/PPI at 10pm on Full Tilt, probably do more photo stuff.

Because I'm looking forward to tomorrow. The Yankees come to town for the Jays first real game of the season. Halladay vs Burnett just amps up the game. This should be a great matchup. Field level, 1st base side, but sadly 17 rows back. I'll be sure to take some pictures.

Oh, Jays, still in 1st in the AL. 2nd overall in the league.

Drawing a Blank

I was going to rant about people with expensive cameras who don't know how to use them, but couldn't get it the way I liked it. It was also hard to avoid becoming the pot to their kettle in some places. Maybe another time.

Hot Docs is in town here, and I'm having a hard time getting excited. There doesn't seem to be a Dear Zachary or Look! Up in the Sky! this year that's grabbing me. Still, there's a couple I'll see tonight, and maybe something else will tickle my fancy. I suppose I could seek out something political or economic in nature, but I somehow feel I'd just get angry at the screen.

The one about the meth addict who raises tigers looks cool.

Space (the Candian SyFy, without the budget) is running all 10 Star Trek movies leading up to the premiere of the new reboot. You know what? I forgot how much I liked the old cast. Sure, The Motion Picture is overdone and completely misses the point and heart of the series, but Wrath of Khan and Search For Spock make up for it in spades. Spock's death is still one of the most poignant moments in Sci Fi, if not movies. Possibly Shatner's finest moment too.

I didn't like The Voyage Home the first couple times I saw it, but this time around, I finally appreciate it. It's the first time the cast got a chance to have fun in the movies, and there are some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments in it. Sure, the save the whales message is about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the eye, but if you can overlook that, it's a solid film.

The Final Frontier (V) - well... it still sucks. Some of the jokes work, but some fall with a terrible thud. The "deep" moments are just corny. The message moments are heavy-handed. Shatner's acting is terrible. But I realized one saving grace this time through - the relationship between Spock, McCoy, and Kirk isn't just explored, it's the main theme, and it's actually done pretty well. If it wasn't for Shatner's overacting (and overdirection, and overwriting), they might have been able to pull it off.

I'll likely miss The Undiscovered Country (or catch the midnight repeat), but I recall it being decent. I mean, Captain Sulu, you can't go wrong with that. That, and the fact they acknowledge their age is a big plus for it. Oh, and Kurtwood Smith as the President of the Federation.

As for the Next Gen movies? They generally blew. First Contact is awesome, Generations is confusing and a rehash of themes from the original crew movies, Insurrection just blows, and Nemesis is such a big letdown from what it could have been.

But regardless, they've succeeded where countless trailers, posters, and ads have failed - I'm genuinely excited for the new movie next week.

Oh, did I fail to mention I like Star Trek? Fuck you.

Hmmm, it seems that even when I've got nothing to write, I can fill a page.

Congrats to Joanne and Buddy! Bloggers - building bridges between nations.

Never Could Get the Hang of Thursdays

What's going on with The Mookie this month? Hoy wins? Pauly wins? And now Al wins? I suppose this is all part of the nefarious plan to raise the awareness of the Wednesday ritual. Congrats to Al on a job well done. Way to end it in two consecutive hands with Broadway in both. This time around, we won't have to debate about giving a ToC seat to the organizer. Couldn't have happened to a better guy. Well, okay, it could have happened to ME, but I went out 37th without playing a single hand.

Still haven't seen the Heroes finale. It's sitting at home, waiting to be watched. Tonight! Maybe. If I don't fall asleep or get so wrapped up in chores that I end up cleaning my whole place. Is it sad I only want to watch it so I can rant about it? That I look more forward to bitching about however they messed it up again than actually watching them mess it up?

Where's some new Torchwood or Dr. Who when I need it?

They broke up the Tamil demonstration this morning. Commuters are rejoicing, and war continues in Sri Lanka.

Jays lost 11-3 last night, which means they won't win their 7th straight series. Best they can hope for is a tie. Brian Burres, the rookie who got spanked in the 6th on Saturday, gets the start this afternoon. No idea on the kid - he could be the type to bounce back and buckle down or he could be shaken up and get blown out early. Either way, after giving up 11 runs yesterday and only scoring 3, I expect the Jays to whack around the Royals a bit today.

Blackhawks at Canucks tonight. As I started yesterday, the media's picking up on Luongo vs Khabibulin. I give Luongo the edge here, but the Bulin Wall has a tendency to raise his game when needed. I think the goalie battle overshadows the mounds of talent both of these teams have though.

Now I should go submit LAST year's taxes and get the money the government owes me from then... then I'll work on this year's.

Linkage

A couple quickies. Let's go from angering to cool this time.

First, Betty Brown, Texas State rep, thinks Asian-Americans should change their names so that Americans can understand them. This stems from some fuck ups at a recent election when the morons who put together the registered voters list couldn't get it straight and the IDs of the people who showed up didn't match the incorrect lists. Please note: Asian-AMERICANS should change their names so AMERICANS can understand them. I'm pretty sure that Asian-Americans are still Americans too, especially when they CAN VOTE. Perhaps Betty Brown should change her name to Fucking Moron.

Now, the cool.

Peter Funch set up his camera at various locales in NYC, day after day. He'd take pictures from the same physical place at different times, and then Photoshop the images into composites. The results are awesome. Some of them take a second to figure out the common theme, but they're all pretty cool.

Wonderful Things

Some days, Boing Boing makes my day.

Some teenagers in spain launched a big helium baloon with a digital camera attached for a science class... here are the pictures

Did you know Detroit's in a bit of trouble real estate-wise? Artists are moving in. $100 homes, $500 homes... stripped bare, and being bought by optimists with a vision. This is the sort of true grassroots sort of thing that can change a city. Seems more magnanimous than my plan to start the Ontario Co-operation Project (or OCP for short) where I buy up all of Detroit and create a cyborg police force...

Then there's the clips of Bill O'Reilly reading from his bad porn novel. How this blowhard, or good ol' Rush can be taken seriously by anyone is beyond me.

Of course, there needs to be some slack-jawed disbelief.

Live in Colorado? You can't collect rainwater from your own property. Someone else owns it. Gotta love moronic laws. The reasoning? By holding that water, you're keeping it from reaching the waterways. Nevermind that most rainwater doesn't reach them anyway (absorbed by plants or soil, or evaporated), or that the reason people store grey water is to WATER things, which would have the same effect of it raining.

And then there's the mother who dared to let her 10-year old son walk 1/3 of a mile to soccer through their neighbourhood... alone! Police came, picked up the boy, and chastised the mother for endangering him. "Hundreds" of people called 911 apparently. That is one densely-packed neighbourhood. Ten... that would be grade 5 or 6? I'd been walking to and from school by myself for at least 3 years by that point, and that was a solid 1/2 mile! This careless, unloving "mother" even gave her son her cell phone so he could call if needed, was going to be 15 minutes behind him, and had walked and driven the route a bunch of times with him beforehand... and let him do this in BROAD DAYLIGHT! IN A SAFE NEIGHBOURHOOD! The nerve! At least the police chief apologized for his idiotic officer.

Maybe next time I should start with the aggravating items...

QOD

From the Quote of the Day Google widget:

I have noticed that the people who are late are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them.
- E. V. Lucas

Part of being sane, is being a little bit crazy.
- Janet Long

I don't have a post to build around this, I just find they both apply to yours truly :).

Most Disgusting Search Yet

I like to see what searches land people on my humble little blog.

The most stomach-turning I've seen so far:

"how many days can you let raw hamburger sit out before it goes bad"

DAYS? Seriously? DAYS?

That's just gross.

Also, I have no idea where to find dominatrices in NYC (I do appreciate the proper pluralization of it though).

A Refreshing -11

I got in from my week in Key West last night right on time. By the time I got to the car, it was an hour after landing, and -11 degrees C. I laughed as I walked the lot, because I found the temperature refreshing and welcome. This after a week where if it was +16 and breezy on the patio, I stayed indoors to avoid the cold.

Anyway, back to the office today, watching the markets continue to tank. We aren't near the bottom yet. As little as a couple weeks ago, I saw a Dow of 7000 as reachable, but sitting around 6900 now, I realize I underestimated. The commercial real estate market hasn't had its major crisis yet, but I don't expect it will be long now.

Right, I had a vacation. My semi-sober ramblings are down there somewhere, and also on Twitter. It was a good trip. Generally delicious food, good drinks, fun people, great weather, good times. I'll get some pictures up once I sort through the 1400 or so I took.

Twitter - I like. The radio show I wake up to today called it the most useless creation of the Internet ever, but they just don't get it. It provides two things - instant availability via SMS, and a forum to put up that thought you just want to share with someone when you find yourself alone. It's not about me caring about what you have to say, it's about me needing to say something, regardless of who reads it.

Or maybe it's just to keep track of bowel movements... beats me.

Macbook - I was told I was addicted to it on the trip. I'd fire it up when I woke up, and again whenever we got back to the suite. I like to think I was just validating my purchase. Actually, I really do like the convenience of a light laptop that is still fully functional, and am glad I bought it.

Anyway, back and facing a full week. Watchmen opens, birthday party, ski outing (heading north of Barrie if any Tuckfards happen to see me on a hill...), and with any luck, I'll pick up some new art for my place while toasting a couple friends who get married on Friday before moving to Australia for a year. That reminds me (the art, not the marrying) that I still haven't picked my free print from Alan yet... I should get on that now that he's selling photos left right and centerfield.

Kinda Cool

Don't know why, but I really liked this pictorial how-to on making a tiny model orange.

Quote of the Day

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
- Herm Albright

Friggin' Kat and Riggs and Waffles

You Scored as II - The High Priestess

The High Priestess is a card of intuition, instinct and hidden knowledge. She knows all your secrets, you can hide nothing from her. Yet you will never know the secrets she herself protects.If well aspected in a Tarot spread, this card can indicate the use of intuition to solve problems; trust to your instincts. If badly aspected, it can mean suppression and ignoring of such instincts - following your head at the expense of your heart.

Although I tied with the Tower, which is apparently all about upheaval and destruction and new beginnings.

You are The Hierophant

Divine Wisdom. Manifestation. Explanation. Teaching.

All things relating to education, patience, help from superiors.The Hierophant is often considered to be a Guardian Angel.

The Hierophant's purpose is to bring the spiritual down to Earth. Where the High Priestess between her two pillars deals with realms beyond this Earth, the Hierophant (or High Priest) deals with worldly problems. He is well suited to do this because he strives to create harmony and peace in the midst of a crisis. The Hierophant's only problem is that he can be stubborn and hidebound. At his best, he is wise and soothing, at his worst, he is an unbending traditionalist.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Sick Day

So I called in sick yesterday and watched the market massacre from home. That got boring after a while, so I decided to use my time more wisely.

I finally started my taxes (due last April, but they owe me, so no biggie from a legal standpoint), and now I just need to make sure I'm not missing anything (I think I am, but hardly enough to make a difference). I went through some papers. Seems I have a dormant bank account that I should have dealt with 7 months ago. Whoops, I guess I'll pay the $20 to reactivate and maybe shut it down.

I made some Julep Iced Tea (I have the book this recipe came from, it's fantastic).

And I catalogued my DVD collection. I'll make a rough estimate at 235 titles. If you expand the box sets to their individual titles (ie.- the Alien Quadrilogy is actually 4 movies), it's probably more like 250. Kind of disappointing actually. That, and I STILL don't know who the hell has my copy of Harld & Kumar Go to White Castle. I'm about halfway through entering them all into a database.

It was interesting how many times I said, "I own this? Really?" Some were pleasant surprises, others were just surprises. I think I'll need to sit down with A Bothersome Man again. I really liked that film. I also apparently still need to get Vexille... luckily, I do own Ghost in the Shell already (who knew? Not me!).

Oh, and I donked around at some poker... and fared horribly. I'll likely be reloading again soon... shortest time between reloads ever? I truly suck at poker these days.

Video of the Day

This just radiates good vibes.


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Plus, it was cool to see how many of those places I could say "Hey, I stood right there." Not nearly as many as I'd like though.

For Cricket Fans

From the Times of India:

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NEW DELHI: India won by six wickets against Pakistan in the Group B Asia Cup match in Karachi on Thursday. Chasing a target of 300 runs set by Pakistan, India scored 301 runs in 42.1 overs for the loss of four wickets.

Virender Sehwag's splendid innings of 119 runs and Suresh Raina's remarkable knock of 84 runs steered India to victory against the archrivals. For Pakistan, Iftikhar Anjum took two wickets.

This was India's first win against Pakistan in Asia Cup after 1988, and the quickest win for India while chasing 300 runs.

Scorecard

Earlier, electing to bat first, Pakistan set India 300 to chase in the Asia Cup match at the National Stadium.

Pakistan scored 299 for four with skipper Shoaib Malik (125 retired hurt) leading from the front. Malik, who opened the innings, recorded his first hundred as skipper and shared valuable stands of 90 with fellow opener, Salman Butt (35) and 133 with Younis Khan (59) to ensure Pakistan took full advantage of batting first in extremely hot and humid conditions.

After a series of handsome drives, Malik reached his sixth hundred and third against India in the 36th over from 104 balls with 13 fours and one six. He survived two chances in the 39th over when he was dropped on 116 and 121 by Piyush Chawla and Gautam Gambhir from off-spinner Yousuf Pathan.

Butt was the first to go during a mixed day in the field for India when he pulled leg-spinner, Chawla straight to Suresh Raina at mid-wicket after batting for 64 balls and hitting four boundaries.

Younis, who scored his 34th One-day half-century was the second man out, also caught by Raina who took a smart running catch at mid-wicket off Pathan.

After Malik retired hurt, Mohammad Yousuf picked up the pace by hitting five fours from 20 balls while Misbah-ul-Haq contributed an unbeaten 31 from 26 balls.

Yousuf was run out in the 46th over while big hitting Afridi fell in the penultimate over. A crowd of around 25,000 turned out to watch India play a match in Pakistan for the first time since February, 2006.

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Yah, I have no idea what any of that means either.