DAY THREE: Phoenix to Albuquerque

On May 31, 2008, we spent the day in Phoenix, visiting friends and family. On June 1, we began the journey to Albuquerque, NM.

--------------------

J: All right, here we are. It is 9:30 on a Sunday...Sunday, June 1. I think.
S: OH! [the front panel on the driver's side dashboard fell off as she did something]
J: And Sarah just took off the front panel. Should be OK. It is Sunday...June 1...and we're about to leave. We've gotta fix this first, hang on.
--------------------
J: All right, well, it's still 10:30 [actually 9:30...the clock in the truck was set an hour ahead, I screwed up] on a Sunday, June 1. We're heading for Albuquerque. With us today is Lili, joining us.
S: Yay! Lili!
J: She is...well, I don't know how she is, we'll see. Here we go. We're saying goodbye. Sarah's adjusting everything. Car's in...vehicle's in drive. We've got 400+ miles to Albuquerque and we'll be making updates along the way. So...say goodbye, Sarah.
S: Bye Sarah.
--------------------
S: All right, so we are heading...now, just got onto I-17 North, which is what we're going to be taking up through to Flagstaff, or something like that, as Jesse knows better than I.
J: Flagstaff, yeah.
S: Yeah. Aaand Lili is here in her crate, behaving very nicely. And I can't take her out because she's supposed to stay in there and she's got her flea stuff on. And I am saying goodbye to Phoenix. I shall miss Phoenix. I was talking to Jesse about how it saddens me that it took me so very long to realize how much I love the desert. But I really do. And then Jesse made the comment that is very easy to love the desert when you are in an air conditioned vehicle or house. And I totally agree with him. But I shall miss the mountains and I shall miss the views and I shall miss the layout of Phoenix and our friends here but I know we'll get to see them again eventually. So, signing off.
--------------------
S: So, we're on our way to Prescott, and so far we have seen...oh, it is 10:40, and so far we have seen roads like Horse Thief Basin, Bumblebee Trail...
J: No, that's just Bumblebee.
S: Bumblebee. Bumblebee. And Bloody Basin Road is what we are coming up on now. These are all remnants of the Old West. It's rather interesting to think of the implications arising from how these names began. And we are yet again stuck behind the Flying J. We were stuck behind them on the uphill climb, and they were flashing yellow. We couldn't pass them because everyone else was passing everybody. And then, as soon as we got onto flatter road, they passed us.
J: We passed them...
S: Well, we passed them first, and then they passed us. And we're like...yeah. We follow you when you're down. Apparently, you just want us to follow you always. And this Flying J thing is just not as pretty as the Northwest...
J: North American.
S: North American blue truck we got to follow most of the way on Friday. So...I think we're hoping to, you know, not have to deal with them sometime soon.
J: Yet another reason to dislike the Flying J!
S: As Jesse says, yet another reason to dislike the Flying J. So. All right. Signing off.
--------------------
S: Also, not five minutes later, just wanted to comment, Lili got a little panty when we had to turn off the A/C and go up the hill. I don't think she liked that, but she's doing better now. And Jesse also reminded me earlier of the last time we took this trip. A certain trip to Sedona a couple years ago. [Our honeymoon!] Signing off.
--------------------
S: So, we just talked to Candi, and we are now in this...oh, it's 11:05, and we are now in Verde Valley? Yes. And we're passing, you know, Payson and Cottonwood, and we're going to hopefully meet up with Candi for lunch. And it's just beautiful. We can see all these mesas, um, like mountain mesas...It's just very very beautiful, and it's getting really nice and green. We just passed through some wooded mountains, which was kind of cool, so... All right, signing off.

--------------------
J: So, at 12:08 in the PM, we are in Flagstaff, AZ, 493.9 miles away from El Cajon, CA, and we're stopping for lunch. We're going to be meeting Candi at a McDonald's here, and then we're going to get some gas, and I'm sure Lili is aching to get out of her crate, so we're going to go take her out. So. Yay. See you in a little bit. Talk to you in a little bit. Bye.
--------------------
J: All right, it is 1:22 in the PM, just changed to 1:23. We are...losing chips. We are on our way. We're going to go stop and get gas, and then we're going to hit the road to Albuquerque. YAAAY!
--------------------
S: All right, so, we are filled up with gas...
J: Trying to get out of the parking lot!
S: And food, trying to get out of the parking lot from the gas station, and going on our way to Albuquerque from Flagstaff. All right, bye. Oh! And we just pulled up behind another Budget truck, which is also towing a car, except their car is on one of those big dollies, and it has, um, some sort of..
J: Cover.
S: Cover on the car. But this is kind of funny. Two Budget trucks and two tow cars. Signing off.
--------------------
S: OK, I forgot to say it is now 1:45, and we are leaving Flagstaff, and I forgot to say that at the gas station, a truck pulled up next to us, and I liked it because it had a pretty blue metallic, um, front end, and the truck driver saw me and Lili, because I had Lili out, and he waved at us and smiled at us. And then when he went to go do something with his truck, which was kind of cool because he took the cover off and was doing stuff, and I don't know what he was doing. But anyway, I spotted that he had this pretty pretty piebald pit bull in his cab. She looked very nice. She had eyes the color of Lili, and she was white and red like Lili's red. And she was very curious about Lili, and Lili was semi-curious about her, but also kind of timid. And, anyway, when the truck driver left, we waved at him and he waved at us, and that was cool, because it's just another sign that truck drivers are very friendly.
J: Please note that Sarah actually waved when she said that. [because visuals do so much to enhance the audio]
S: OK. Signing off.
--------------------
S: All right, so we made just a quick stop in Holbrook, AZ, in a Chevron station with no bathroom. It's 3:10 Arizona time. And across the street is a dinosaur. Not a real one, just...
J: Standing over its prey.
S: A large one, standing over its prey, mouth bared menacingly. And we just took a little break. We needed to stretch our legs. Jesse took Lili on a little walk, took some pictures, so...all right. Signing off.
--------------------
S: All right. We are approaching, and it is 4:15, but now we're...going...
J: Oh, hey! It took us a whole hour to cross the state line!
S: [pause] OK. We are in the Land of Enchantment, in New Mexico, and instead of 4:15, it is now 5:15, because we have just changed the time. So. Whoo! We're finally in New Mexico! Land of Enchantment! And, eventually, we will be getting to Albuquerque. We've been rather amused at the sight of all the many many many touristy trading post areas along the way, and have not stopped at one of them. Yay us. So, there you go. [For a listing of some of the touristy trading post areas along the way, see the Bloglish Eleven] And we're in quite a pretty valley, with lots of rock formations, kind of like Sedona with the pretty red rocks and the canyon type looking...uh...so...
J: I'm not impressed with New Mexico's highway system.
S: Heh. It's under construction right now, so Jesse says he's not impressed with their highway system yet. But he may very well be so. And we've just passed about the, I don't know, tenth dry river bed we've seen today. So, signing off.
--------------------
S: All right, so we are in Gallup, NM, currently turning onto Route 66. It is 5:30 PM, New Mexico time, and now we are on Route 66. And we will be here until we pull off at the Love's gas station. Signing off.
--------------------
J: Sarah's too nice to document my idiocy, but here I am. I, uh...leaving the gas station, we went the wrong way on Interstate 40. We were heading west for about 7 miles. I realized it as soon as I got on the interstate, but there wasn't an exit for seven miles. There was an official turn off, uh, which was for official use only that I pulled off on and, um...there wasn't an exit, so I had to keep going. So I finally made my exit, and um, finally found an exit...had to go under a bridge that was the exact clearance that I needed for this vehicle, the exact minimum clearance I needed for this truck. So, that was good. And then I was grabbing the tape player to record my idiocy and I missed the exit again, so I had to do a u-turn and go back. Fortunately, I was on a service road and not on the interstate when I had to do my u-turn.
S: That guy had to do the same thing.
J: Yes. There was a car in front of me that did the same thing. Anyway, it is now 6:00 New Mexico time. We are backtracking, and we will be heading towards Albuquerque now, so hopefully there will be no more problems. So...yeah. Bye.
--------------------
S: I just want to add that I think he handled things remarkably well, but if that's the only thing that goes wrong on this leg of the trip, then I am happy. Signing off.
--------------------
S: It is 8:05, New Mexico time, and I just realized that the mountains I had been seeing in the distance are the Sandia mountains, which of course means watermelon in Spanish, and they are the mountains that surround Albuquerque. And now that we are coming up over a little hill, we can kind of see the city of Albuquerque in the distance. So I guess that's not really a valley because the mountains really only seem to go around one side. Um...but anyway, yeah, we're basically almost here! And our exit, which is 159A, is about 10 exits away.
J: Or 10 miles.
S: 10 miles, Jesse says. So, we're almost here, and the sun is setting, in the process of doing so, and we're making...we made pretty good time today. Signing out.
--------------------
S: All right, we are at the Quality Inn and Suites in Albuquerque. It's kind of downtown area. Not seeing much to eat right now, but I guess we can ask at the front desk. Signing off. Oh, it is 8:18 PM.
J: And 832.9 miles.
S: And we are at 832.9 miles into our trip. Yes. Signing off.

So ends Day Three. Here are some pictures from the journey.

Camelback Mountain, Phoenix.

Lili poses next to the truck tire.

The Hickles are on their way.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! RUN!!!!!!!

On the road again.

The road to Flagstaff.

More horizon shots.

The road goes ever on and on...

Getting close to Flagstaff.

Lili taking a turn with the driving. She's a little frustrated that she can't reach the pedals.

A dinosaur feasting near Holbrook, AZ.

Southwestern scenery.

I can almost see Wile E. Coyote now.

Jagged cliffs.

The Sandia Peaks, which tower over Albuquerque. We made it! See you next time for the trip to Oklahoma City!

DAY ONE: El Cajon to Phoenix

This log begins at the Budget Truck rental site in El Cajon, CA on Friday, May 30, 2008. J indicates me (Jesse), and S indicates my wife (Sarah). On this leg, we were joined by Sarah's mom, Mary Ellen (M). Notes added during posting are bracketed and italicized.
--------------------
J: All right, so here it is. It's 11:43, we're about to take off, heading for Phoenix.
S: Heading for Phoenix and missing Abi [one of Sarah's best friends] already.
J: We know that Lili's [our dachshund, who went to Phoenix the previous Sunday with Sarah's sister Heather to get out of the way of all the packing] waiting on the other end though, so that'll soften the blow somewhat, I'm sure.
S: Hopefully.
J: And here comes Mary Ellen, so we're just about ready to go. We'll be providing periodic updates as we go along, and, uh, hopefully I'll get this transcribed on the blog sometime. Bye.
--------------------
J: All right, take two. After the great seat belt escapade [we were missing one of the buckles - it was stuck behind the seat]. It's 11:46. We're taking off, I'm handing off to Sarah.
S: Yes, so I'm supposed to narrate about yesterday, which was packing day, which was not fun for anyone. It was a lot of work, and in the middle of the work, my glasses broke. Yes, you heard right, my glasses were on my face, and I was walking, and I looked down, and half of them fell off while the other one stayed on.
[blank spot on the tape]
S: Yeah. That wasn't good. So I ended up having to fork out money for new glasses last night, and that was a pain 'cause it took me away from all the activity that was going on. And my computer cord got lost, and I didn't know it until this morning, but my husband found it, and that was great. And we are much better now, even though I still miss Abi very much. And now we are on our way, and we are not allowed to back up the truck. Bye.
M: You should mention everybody that..[cut off]
--------------------
S: OK, so Mom would like to know who all helped yesterday. Um, Abi helped me, and Abi's kids helped me to not break down too much, aaand...
M: Kira and...
J: Kira and Tanis.
S: Kira and Tanis, yes. And Megan was there helping keep them entertained. She was at the loading place, but she got bored.
M: She worked hard.
S: She worked hard until she got bored.
M: Really worked hard.
S: And then she wanted to go home. And so she came with us to the eyeglasses place. And now we are leaving the mall. The mall where my friends and I met for coffee. And for good bible talk female time. And the mall we went to movies with. Bye mall. OK, and other people who helped were Shannon and Sara Stiner, and they were both very very hard workers, and their daughter Megan, as previously said. Aaand...then after I left, George Cullins and his son Zach came, and they were also very big help. Aaaand Albert Calvedores and was also very big help. This is all while I was not here. There.
M: Steve.
S: Oh, and Steve Dill, and he was a great big help too. He helped clean afterwards and that was wonderful. And then, by the time we got back, everyone was already eating pizza. Actually, they'd eaten it, and then I got some pizza, and that was good 'cause I was hungry. And then we finished up and said goodbye to some people, and we will miss the Cullinses and we will miss the Dills and we will miss the Stiners...and I will miss Abi. And I'm going to end this now so we have some tape for later.
--------------------
J: It's now 1:13. We just made it out of the mountains. Just thought I'd bring a brief update. Everyone else seems to be napping. Oh well. It's just me. Um, doing fine. Guess we're going to stop in El Centro for some food.
S: I'm not napping, I was just resting my head on my mommy.
J: OK. Sarah's not napping, she's just resting her head on her mommy. So. We'll, uh, catch up in El Centro.
--------------------
J: All right, 1:46, El Centro, McDonald's, hairy parking job, but we made it. So. We're going to go eat now.
S: Yep.
--------------------
[weird sounds that sound like the tape speeding up, and the Lord of the Rings audiobook being read in the background...I don't know if someone was trying to record and failed, or what]
--------------------
S: Hello! And we are just crossing the state line into Arizona.
J: Hooray!
S: It is officially 3:40 PM, and we have had to say goodbye to California for a very long time. And that is sad. But now we're in Arizona, and soon I will get to see Lili, and that is what is keeping my spirits up right now. And, also that we are listening to the first volume of the Lord of the Rings...
J: The Fellowship.
S: ...which is pretty cool...
J: The Fellowship.
S: ...while my mom is sleeping.
J: The Fellowship.
S: Yes. Jesse says it's The Fellowship of the Ring.
J: Book One.
S: I did know that.
J: Book One.
S: It's Book One, and apparently he wants to get all the information down.
--------------------
S: OK, quick update at 4:30. We just left Burger King in Yuma where we stopped for bathroom breaks and yummy shakes. On our way to Phoenix.
--------------------
J: Well, it's five til seven. We're in Buckeye, Arizona. Stopping for gas. Uh...we'll, uh...yeah. We're almost there. Looking forward to it. I gotta call my parents now. Say hi Sarah.
S: Hi Sarah.
J: Thank you.
--------------------
S: OK. 7:13 PM. Leaving Buckeye on our way to Phoenix to see my sister and my dog, Lili.
J: Just spent $153 on gas!
S: Yeah, that was expensive. If you didn't hear that, it was $153 on gas. Yeeah. OK.
--------------------
S: [in the background] I'm going to call Abi. [various clunks, Mary Ellen saying something in the background, truck turning on. I think this is when Mary Ellen wanted to see if the lights were working]
J: I can't hear what you're...I CAN'T HEAR IT! [maybe she was asking to see the turn signals here? Beeping, then truck turns off] What time is it?
S: 8:00.
M: Want to hand me that towel 'cause that's something I can wash...
--------------------
J: Well, apparently I was recording through all that testing the lights thing [aha! I was right!], but it's 8:00, aaand 352.8 miles later, we have arrived at, uh, the Cholla Street house, the Morrow household.
S: We're here to see Lili!
J: And, and others, but, uh...
S: And my sister!
J: Yeah, so, successful day. We made it, one piece. Took us a looong time, but we're here. All right, so we'll, uh, talk again later.

So ends the first day of our journey. Some pictures for your enjoyment.

Left to right - George C., Zach C., me. Loading day.

Me and Kira. That's my hat, and Sarah gave her the shirt. I took the hat back.

Abi and Tanis (he's the short one).

Me driving in California.

More California rocks.

Sand dunes in California, just before Yuma.

Self-portrait by Sarah.

Entering Phoenix at sunset (the sun's the other way).

COMING SOON: Day Two on the road - Phoenix to Albuquerque!

We're Here

The wife and I made it safely to Champaign last Wednesday. I'm just now getting to the write up. We kept an audio log on our journey, a journey that spanned seven states over the course of six days. I'll be transcribing that and posting it exclusively on The Bloglish Blog. Other blogs should be up and running again soon.

Moving

I'll be moving to Illinois in the next weeks with my wife and dog. As a result, I'll be away from the blog for a while (not that I've been around it that much recently). Hopefully, I'll get you an update when we get our internet hooked up.

April Links

OK, so it's May 10. Sorry. Here are the links from April.

APRIL 1 - If you need some help with next year's April Fool's Day, try this.
APRIL 5 - Join here and pick up books for free! (I joined a few years ago, but I haven't ever really done much with it)
APRIL 7 - Ever notice how many twins there are in the entertainment industry? No? Well, here are some comparisons.
APRIL 14 - If you would like to know what would happen if an asteroid of any size were to hit the earth at any speed, and the chances of this, check here.
APRIL 18 - Be a monkey, kick a ball. My personal best is 4547 meters.
APRIL 19 - Call 'em aphorisms, call 'em cliches - fine 'em here.
APRIL 26 - People laugh at me because I like to keep up with how many days old I am (10738). Well, apparently, I'm not the only one.
APRIL 30 - Everything you never really wanted to know, and probably still won't!

So there. Go back and see the March links if you want.

Once Upon A Time

A new story is up on Bloglish Tales. Once Upon A Time. It's my attempt at a fairy tale.

Issues Inspired By Thank You For Smoking

I just watched Thank You For Smoking, and I have a couple of things to say.

First of all, I HATE PAN AND SCAN. I got this DVD from the library, and they don't tell you if you're getting widescreen or full screen. It used to be that you always got full screen. I remember the first widescreen movie I saw on video was 2001, and I found those black bars distracting. However, as time went on, I started noticing how movies changed in full screen from their original versions. My first memory of noticing the phenomenon was watching Ghostbusters on TV. There's a scene when the Ghostbusters are in the elevator, three wide. The camera has to keep panning to see them all, even cuts so it looks like different shots. However, in the original version, it's all one shot. The camera doesn't move, and thus it isn't distracting, and doesn't spoil the joke.

The reason for full screen was the different ratio of the TV versus movies. It was basically re-editing the movie so it would fit, and now it drives me crazy. Even after I decided for myself that widescreen was the best way to watch movies on TV, people I knew were still insisting on fullscreen. "Widescreen makes the picture too small," they would complain. True, but in full screen, you don't see everything. Bigger picture=less picture.

So, to Thank You For Smoking. The DVD I got from the library was full screen. HOWEVER, it kept switching between full screen and widescreen, which they seem to do in re-editing when it is determined that nothing can be left out. My question is, what's the point? If there are scenes that must have widescreen, why bother with full screen? Argh.

Second point - having just read the book recently, I found it interesting some of the substitutions that were and weren't made between the two. For example, in the book, Nick Naylor goes on Oprah. For the movie, it was the fictional talk show "Joan", hosted by Joan Lunden. Naylor's life is threatened on Larry King in the book, Dennis Miller in the movie. Now, maybe Oprah and King weren't available, but some of the product changes were interesting. In the book, they made a big stink about Camel cigarettes and their mascot; however, the label that appears in the movie (in passing) is Alpaca. When Naylor goes to Hollywood in the book, he and Jeff plan to incorporate smoking into the scenes with two fictional actors; in the movie, it's Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones. In the book, it's the Tumbleweeds Man who's dying of cancer; in the book, it's the Marlboro Man. Possibly others, but I just noticed it.

Third - the movie was better for me the second time. It's different than the book, but it's still very good.

And as a sidebar, I know I'm late on the April links. Maybe I'll get 'em up tomorrow.

Books

A roundup of some of the things I've been reading recently:

• BONE: This is a series of graphic comic books by Jeff Smith that were published between 1991 and 2004. It follows the Bone cousins (Phoncible, Smiley, and Fone Bone), who have been cast out of Boneville and find themselves lost in a valley. They end up getting involved in a war with rat creatures and other unfriendly beasts. It's fantasy, and very well told. There's a good sense of humor about the series, though the tone does get much more serious and scary as the series progresses. There are nine collected volumes available published in black and white (the original version) and colored (though only the first seven are currently available in color), as well as a 1300+ page collection of the entire series in original B&W. It's very much aimed at younger readers, but there's a lot for everyone to enjoy. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys fantasy. (I hear a movie is being planned. Originally, Nickelodeon Studios were going to do it, but their plan was to use child actors for all the voices and to include pop songs by artists like Britney Spears and N'Sync. Thankfully, Jeff Smith hated the idea, so now the project is with Warner Bros.)
• ONE CHILD - When I was in college, I took a class about emotional and behavioral disorders. The books assigned by our teacher were all by Torey Hayden, an educator who has chronicled her adventures with some of her more challenging students over the years. The first one we had to read was One Child, the story of Hayden and a six-year old named Sheila who was awaiting placement in the state hospital for burning a three-year old boy. The story is about how Torey broke through her shell and helped her start to achieve her potential. It's a beautiful, if disturbing book. I recently reread the book, and am currently rereading the follow-up, The Tiger's Child, which tells of Hayden meeting Sheila again while working on One Child. It really helps complete the story of the first book, especially since we find out that there was more going on we never found out in One Child. Hayden has a website where you can find out more, and even find out where the people in all her books are now.
• THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS - I'm actually listening to this one on audiobook right now, but I've read it before. This is by C.S. Lewis, author of the Narnia stories, and is a collection of letters from one demon (named Screwtape) to his nephew, a junior tempter named Wormwood who is trying to procure the soul of a young man. The book is a very well thought out treatise on the intricacies of temptation and vice, and I wonder what a letter about me would look like. Read, think, laugh (the chapter where the young man finds his true love is very funny), and enjoy.

Happy reading.

TMBG vs. WAY

For our new musical selections, may I present two of my favorites - They Might Be Giants and Weird Al Yankovic. First off, let me say that I'm limited in my choices as to what is legally accessible online. Some of these songs aren't necessarily my favorites, but I still like 'em enough to put them here.

From They Might Be Giants:

• Doctor Worm - Of course.
• Man, It's So Loud In Here - A techno offering.
• Older - A realistic look at aging.
• Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - This was the first TMBG song I heard, on an episode of Tiny Toons.
• Boss Of Me - The theme song to Malcolm In The Middle.
• Particle Man - The second TMBG song I heard, on the same episode of Tiny Toons.
• Spy - A TMBG espionage song.
• Dead - Philosophical, yes. Strange, yes. TMBG, absolutely.
• Alphabet of Nations - I never knew West Xylophone existed, but they even have a web site.
• The Mesopotamians - From TMBG's latest album.
• Whistling In The Dark - Fun, bouncy, strange.
• Birdhouse In Your Soul - If you ever wondered what went on in the mind of a night light.

From Weird Al Yankovic:

• Smells Like Nirvana - Al's parody of Nirvana.
• Pancreas - A tribute to Brian Wilson and an underappreciated organ.
• Trigger Happy - A style parody of the Beach Boys.
• White and Nerdy - A parody of Chamillionaire, and Al's most recent hit.
• Spatula City - And now, a word from our sponsors, courtesy of UHF.
• Alternative Polka - A polka medley of alternative music from the mid-90s.
• EBay - The Backstreet Boys meet Weird Al. Check out the vibrato at the end.
• You're Pitiful - James Blunt's record label wouldn't give Al permission to release this on an album, though Blunt did. Al subsequently released it for free on the internet.
• Dare To Be Stupid - A style parody of Devo.
• It's All About The Pentiums - Al takes on Puff Daddy.
• One More Minute - Doo-wop.
• Don't Download This Song - Al's tribute to tribute songs.

Previous playlists can be found on the posts for January 28 and February 28, 2008. I guess I broke tradition by posting this one on the 18th, huh.

Ambushed

A new one on Bloglish Tales...it's called "Ambushed", and part I can be found here. Whenever I watch one of those stupid hidden camera shows, I feel very sorry for the people who are the victims. I see them getting humiliated on national television, and they're just supposed to laugh and be a good sport about it. I can't imagine the extra humiliation they get from people that know them. So, I wrote this story about a victim, and tried to present the negative effect the show had on his life. It's probably a little dark for some people, but there you go. Some of the pranks I originally came up with did not make it into the published draft, either because they were stupid, or obvious, or plagiarized from other sources. I hope the final result is at least semi-original (thanks to my wife for helping me with the taxi scene, which was really dumb in my original outline).

It seems like I've been doing more with Bloglish Tales than any of my other blogs lately. I did just post a new list in the Eleven, but I haven't done anything with Hamville or the Game Zone in a while. I think with Hamville, I'm just recharging my creative juices with other projects. With the Game Zone, I'm trying to find other games I can use. It doesn't help when most of the games in books don't work for the population I want them to work for.

Lots o' shtuff

It's been busy around lately. To recap:

1. We're moving to Illinois at the end of May so I can go to graduate school at Illinois State and so the wife can hopefully go to U of I for library science.
   
2. We found a house to rent for $250 less than what we're paying now.
3. I had jury duty today, and got called with the first group, but the case resolved as we were sitting in the hall and I got to go home.
4. I register for classes tomorrow.
5. Work continues to be hectic.

I haven't been blogging much, what with everything else, but I'll post some more as time goes on.

1000 Blank White Cards

I was going to post this in the Game Zone, but I'm not sure it really works for any of my groups. Possibly Group Three, but I think this game would be better posted here.

1000 Blank White Cards is another game I discovered on BoardgameGeek. It's a public domain game, and all it requires is something to write with and a bunch of index cards. You don't necessarily have to have one thousand, but you may get there eventually.

To begin with, on your very first playing of the game, pass out six blank white cards to each player. Each player then must put three things on the card - a title, an illustration, and an instruction.

• The title should be a brief description of what the card is. It can range from serious (POT OF GOLD) to silly (MEATBALL ATTACK) to meaningless (FIZZLE LUMPKIN).
• The illustration should illustrate what the card is about. If the title was POT OF GOLD, you might draw a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. If the title was MEATBALL ATTACK, you might draw a meatball with fangs. If the title was FIZZLE LUMPKIN...you get the idea. Don't feel like you have to be the world's greatest artist. A stick figure or smiley face is fine. But please put a little effort into it - scribbling on the card is no fun for anyone.
• The instruction is what the players must do now. It can be absolutely anything. +100 points, -200 points, take an extra turn, lose a turn, draw an extra card, jump up and down ten times, bark like a chicken, whatever. It may be a good idea to set a limit on number of points that can be awarded or taken away by a single card, such as +1000 or -1000. You don't have to, though, if you don't want to.

Once the cards have been made and placed face down in the center of the table, the dealer adds four more blank cards per player to the deck, shuffles, and deals five cards to each player. The rest of the deck goes face down in the center of the table.

The player to the dealer's left goes first. First, they draw, then they play. They can play a card on themselves (which they may want to do if it adds points), in which case they'll put the card in front of themselves. They can play a card on anyone else (which they may want to do if the cards takes points away), in which case they'll put the card in front of one of the other players. They can also play the card, but if its usefulness is done after they play it (such as lose a turn or take an extra turn), they discard the card face up next to the draw pile. These cards may not be used again, unless a card comes up that makes them playable again.

During the course of a game, players will come across some of the extra blank cards that were shuffled into the deck. The players may create those cards as the game goes on as they see fit. If someone has given themselves +infinity points or something ridiculous like that, players can create cards for themselves that negate that amount.

When the draw pile is depleted, players no longer draw first, but play their cards one at a time on their turn. When one player runs out of cards, the game is over. Add up all points in front of each player to determine the final score.

However, most serious 1KBWC players don't see this as the end of the game. In the game's epilogue, all cards used in the game are laid out, and each player picks five cards (not their own) that will be used in the next game. Many players say that whoever has the most cards picked at the end of the game is the true winner. The cards that are selected go into a seed deck for the next game, while the other cards can be disposed of or saved for posterity.

In future games, players should only create 3 cards before the game (unless it is their first time). Four cards are still added to the deck for each player in the game.

This is a pretty fun game. I've played it once, trying to nail down the intricacies, and I'm ready to play again.

I apparently didn't learn my lesson

So, a couple of months ago, I posted my jubilation over Duke beating Carolina. Since then, Duke's season went south. Duke lost a few games to bad teams, lost to Carolina in Durham, lost in the second round of the ACC tournament, nearly lost in the first round of the NCAA tourney, then lost for one last time in the second round. Carolina, meanwhile, didn't lose. They won the ACC regular season, the ACC tournament, and the first four rounds of the NCAA tournament by a combined score of 372-271. So, have I learned my lesson about gloating?

NO! Hooray for Kansas!

Seriously. I know Kansas loved beating Roy, and I know all faithful ABC fans like myself were dancing in the streets last night, especially when Carolina a favorite. Actually, I think I heard as many people picking UNC as were picking Kansas or UCLA. I don't think I've heard anyone pick Memphis, though they've proved everyone wrong and I wouldn't be surprised if they won it all. I am picking Kansas now, since my original champ lost (UCLA to Memphis).

Now, it's on to baseball. Go Cubs!

The Secret of Twah

Hey, folks, a story just ended its run on Bloglish Tales. It's one of my favorite jokes from when I was younger, and I fleshed it out into a story. It's really funny (to me), and I hope you enjoy it. Go here for the first part, and click on the links at the end of each part for the whole story (there are nine parts in all).

March Links

Here are the wacky websites for March.

MARCH 5 - If you're tired of those porktinis (see January Links), try some of this flavorful beverage.
MARCH 7 - For your cuteness quotient, check out this site for a bunny popularity contest.
MARCH 12 - Tackiness abounds, but if that's for you, then this is for you.
MARCH 14 - Hungry? How about a custom made hot dog? Still hungry?
MARCH 16 - If you ever wanted to know how to build an atomic rocket (according to the sci-fi world), here ya go.
MARCH 17 - Here's the amazing Coors Light Beer Bottle Organ! Could Budweiser do any better?
MARCH 20 - From Roadside America, here's your guide to America's oversized coffee pots.
MARCH 27 - Were you any good at US geography? No? Well, try this challenge to make sure. The best I could do was 47 out of 50, with an average error of 11 miles.
MARCH 28 - Get your air guitars here! With lessons!
MARCH 30 - Those who know me know the obsession with toast. Imagine my joy at finding this.
MARCH 31 - First, listen to this song by They Might Be Giants. Now, go listen to the original (called Why Does The Sun Shine), along with much more edutainment, here.

Also see February Links.

Lost in translation

I frequent the Boardgame Geek website, and I enjoy looking some lists people make. One use recently posted a list about his son who has autism, and sopme of the games the son enjoys. It's very interesting. Through that, one of the comments points to this article, which talks about a woman named Amanda. Amanda has autism has translated some of her thoughts for us who don't speak her language. It references a video, which is what I'm posting here. You may not get it, but give it a try before giving up. Oh, and turn off the blog music first.



This is very interesting to me, as this is the population I work with. The most important point she makes, as I see it, is that her failure to learn our language is seen as a deficit, while our failure to learn her language is seen as being acceptable. We do need to understand that communication is not simply what we understand it to be in our view of things, but other people communicate in different ways.

If you look the video up on YouTube, you'll see that Amanda does respond to people's comments of the video, not all of which are completely positive.

Blogs out the ears!

No, Bloglish is not introducing a new blog. Not yet. However, I did create a new blog at Live Journal this morning as a way to focus my thoughts, meditations, and reflections. I really like the Live Journal method of blogging as it has a feature to post private messages that are only visible to you. And that's what this entire blog is going to be, a private blog that no one else can see. Why am I even telling you this? It may be good for other people that have thoughts they want to put together, but still keep private. The way I see it, this blog will be just for me, with God reading over my shoulder. I'm really going to try to forge a deeper relationship with the big man upstairs.

What brought this on? Well, a combination of several things. I've been having some temper problems lately. Our dog is driving me up the wall. And I feel like there's a lot of things going on in my life that just need more spiritual support. Plus, I was up at 2:30 this morning, wide awake and unable to sleep hardly at all, so I put it together. Rereading it, its pretty coherent for a three o'clock composition. Again, you'll never know.

Just wanted to get that off my chect. I've been taking a bit of a break from blogging recently, but I'm getting restarted. More to come.

It's madness, I tell you! MADNESS!

Ah, March. That blessed time of year when 65 college basketball teams wage war to find out which will claim the title of national champion. In 64 games over three weekends, only one will emerge victorious. The only question is: who will it be?

I really only allow myself to get completely obsessed with one sporting event all year, and that is the NCAA tournament. I mean, I enjoy the Super Bowl and the World Series, but I don't really get obsessed unless my team is in it. That doesn't happen very often...it's one of the problems I encounter being a Cubs fan. But the whole process of the NCAA tournament fascinates me...figuring out who the teams will be, where they'll play, who they'll play, then deciding who will win every game before game one has even tipped off. It's great.

My only real beef with the tournament as it is now is the play-in game. Basically, the two worst teams in the tournament play a game to determine who has the right to get thumped by the overall number one seed in the first round. It's nice to get more schools in the tournament, but I have a problem with putting two small schools that won their conference tournament in this game. The only way these two teams (Coppin State and Mount St. Mary's) will ever make it to the NCAAs is by winning their conference tournaments. So rather than letting them play in the actual tournament, they have to play each other to see which one makes the final 64 and will lose to UNC. It's a stupid system. I say make some of the bubble teams (teams that only got an at-large bid by the skin of their teeth) play each other for a 12 seed if you want, but let the conference champions play in the actual tournament. Yes, Coppin State and Mount St. Mary's have no chance, but let them play. End of rant.

So, with Selection Sunday yesterday, we have a tournament, and I've made my picks. I'm always concerned about advertising them in case I jinx something, but whatever happens happens. I'm going with UCLA over Kansas in the championship game.

Some More Movies

Here's some recommendations of movies I've watched recently. There's quite a range here. Comedy, love story, musical, western.

IDIOCRACY: This is the second live action movie directed by Mike Judge, who previously brought you Office Space, King of the Hill, and that intellectual masterpiece known as Beavis and Butthead. It seems to me that B&B influenced a lot of Idiocracy, as most of the characters talked and acted exactly like them. The movie takes the premise that "survival of the fittest" no longer applies to the human species. Our most intelligent people aren't breeding, putting their career first or finding other reasons to wait. Meanwhile, our dumbest people are popping babies out all over the place. So, when Joe (Luke Wilson) and Rita (Maya Rudolph) volunteer for an army hibernation project that goes wrong and end up waking 500 years later, they awaken in a world that has gotten much dumber. Joe was average in our society; now, he's the smartest man in the world. Naturally, the people want him to solve all their problems, which he attempts to do with mixed results. The movie is very funny, and I would recommend it with a warning that the language is very crude.

ONCE: This is an independent film out of Ireland. It has a sweet story about two strangers that meet and literally make beautiful music together. It's a very mellow movie, with no violence or sex, just lots of cursing. The story, however, mostly just serves as a backdrop to the soundtrack, which is incredible. In fact, the movie just seems like one long music video. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova wrote the music, performed it in the movie, and acted. They also performed the song "Falling Slowly" at the Oscars, which deservingly won. It also produced one of the greatest moments in Oscar telecast history. Hansard accepted his award first, but when Irglova stepped up to speak, she was cut off by the orchestra. During the break, the producers decided to give her a second chance to say something (they were ahead of schedule anyway), and she gave a passioned speech about independent music. It was a great moment. Anyway, I'll recommend the movie, but I recommend the music more.

OLIVER!: Oliver! holds a special place in my heart, as I played the role of the Artful Dodger when I was in fifth grade in an adult production of the show (a local reviewer even said I had the most convincing British accent in the show, which still makes me laugh since one of the cast members was actually British). I haven't watched the 1968 movie in a long time, but now I have. It's really quite excellent. The music is wonderful, the choreography is very tight, the cinematography is beautiful, and the performances are mostly superb. The kid who plays Oliver still bothers me, but Ron Moody's Fagin steals the show, while Oliver Reed's Bill Sykes becomes as menacing a villain as there is. If you don't know the story, a runaway orphan named Oliver Twist gets mixed up with some petty criminals on his way to discovering his destiny. It was the last musical before Chicago in 2002 to win the Best Picture Oscar. I highly recommend it.

3:10 TO YUMA: I don't generally like Westerns. Unforgiven was good, if depressing. Blazing Saddles, of course, though that's more of a parody than an actual Western. I can't really count Back To The Future part III as that's technically scifi. I've seen bits and pieces of the spaghetti westerns, and they seemed pretty good. Mostly, Westerns don't do anything for me (am I the only person in the world that didn't like Tombstone? It feels like it sometimes). 3:10 To Yuma was definitely an exception. It's a fascinating story about men tying to transport a notorious outlaw (Ben Wade, played by Russell Crowe) to Contention, where they'll get him on the 3:10 train to Yuma Prison. Unfortunately, Wade's men are after them, and it takes a lot of courage by Dan Evans (Christian Bale) to get him there. It's a powerful movie, and probably unjustly overlooked by the Academy, but I'll recommend. It's very violent, however...just to warn you.

There you go. Enjoy.

TV on DVD

I love TV on DVD. It's the perfect opportunity to get into shows I haven't watched. I'm the type of guy that really doesn't like to come into a TV show in the middle...I don't know the characters or the storyline, and being lost just doesn't add to my enjoyment. That may be why I couldn't get into Jericho...I saw an episode in the middle of the first season, I was lost, I never watched another one. I had a friend that swore it was the greatest thing on TV, but I just couldn't get it.

A couple of TV shows I've been catching up on with DVDs are The Office and Lost. I started both at the beginning of their DVDs, and really got into them that way. Lost is a colossal mind bender, with all kinds of mysteries. I've really enjoyed the way they use flashbacks to build a character's story, and I think it's a really great ensemble show. I've caught up through season three, and now I need to watch the episodes that are on the internet for season four.

I've also really gotten into The Office. It's absolutely hilarious. The characters are very well conceived, and despite their faults, you can't help but root for them, particularly Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute (played by Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson). I'm seven episodes into the third season of that one.

I tried to get into 30 Rock. I got about halfway through the second episode before turning it off. I've heard it got much better later in the first season, and maybe I'll try it again some other time. Tracy McGrady just really annoys me. Another one I tried was Curb Your Enthusiasm, which I only watched one episode of. Larry David was just irritating me too much.

Heroes is a show I have on hold at the library, so I may be getting into that one soon.

I had the good fortune to start watching 24 when it premiered. I watched the first episode, then the second half of the fourth, and I've only missed one episode since (somewhere in Season Four). It is my favorite show, despite the sixth season being terrible.

So, to recap:
GOOD: 24, Lost, The Office
NOT AS GOOD: 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm
TO COME: Heroes