Lord of the Trilogies

Mary and I got through watching the last disc of the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition on Wednesday night. All I can say is "Wow." That was a fantastic trilogy. Of course, it did take us about two weeks to make our way through the six DVDs/11 hours worth of movie. But it was worth it.

So many good scenes from the book were added to the final product. Most importantly for me, the Faramir character is somewhat rescued from the hack job that was done to him in the theatrical presentation. And including the "Mouth of Sauron" scene before the final battle in Return of the King was also crucial, just to see Gandalf actually go into despair when they are tricked into thinking Frodo had perished on the way to Mount Doom. I also enjoyed seeing Saruman's character restored (and then killed off on screen) for the final film, even if Peter Jackson took serious liberties with the manner of his death.

Finally, while watching these movies, I noticed that there were a lot of "Kevin Bacon game" trilogy connections flowing through Lord of the Rings:

Hugo Weaving -- Lord of the Rings and Matrix trilogies
Christopher Lee -- Lord of the Rings and Star Wars (II and III) trilogies
Ian McKellen -- Lord of the Rings and X-Men trilogies
Orlando Bloom -- Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean trilogies

The difference, of course, is that all those other trilogies had some serious flaws. Lord of the Rings really didn't.

Okay... enough wasting time. I have to get ready to go to Pittsburgh for the weekend.

ACC Football Update:   still looking terrible

A few days ago, I meant to point out that week 3 for the ACC was no better than the first two awful weeks.

Maryland led off by losing badly to West Virginia in a game that was over before the first quarter even ended as WVU shot out to a four touchdown lead. Boston College needed overtime to slip past BYU playing in Boston. Miami got destroyed by Louisville. Virginia lost at home to Western Michigan. North Carolina, playing at home, barely eeked out a win over Furman. And N.C. State got walloped by Southern Miss.

All in all, it's been a real horror show for the ACC over the past three weeks.

Perpetual Motion

I haven't had time to even catch my breath since Wednesday night. I worked 11 and 12 hour days on Thursday and Friday. I then left at 5:45am Saturday for sectionals down in southern Maryland. I got home late Sunday and basically just showered and went to bed. I then worked almost 11 hours yesterday before rushing over to the 9:30 Club to catch the Black Crowes show with Joe. And now I'm in for a 12 hour day today at work. Crazy crazy crazy.

As for sectionals, we had a pretty nice weekend. We needed to finish in the top 5 of the 8 teams to advance to regionals and we placed third. We spanked a few teams and then after losing a hotly contested battle in semis, we got a nice close win over Bond in the third place game. All in all, a good weekend was had. I feel like I played very well on Saturday and also in the 3rd place game on Sunday afternoon. Just wish I had been more of a positive contributor in the semifinal game on Sunday morning.

And the Black Crowes last night were also excellent. It seemed like a strange show for the Crowes with more time devoted to cover tunes and jamming than I expected, but most everything was still very well played. Considering the alternative plan available for last night (watching the Steelers lose miserably, 9-0, on Monday Night Football), I think standing 30 feet away from the Black Crowes for three hours was definitely the better option for us!

I think we can all rest easier now

The "Penis in the Microwave" case covered here back in February has been resolved.

My friend Joe has a new and improved shoulder



I was with this guy when a totally fake play brawl along Route 193 in College Park led to real cops chasing us down the road. I've seen this man jump into an industrial size dumpster full of glass while working for University of Maryland Residential Facilities. And I've seen this man shot in the neck by a laser-guided pepper spray pellet gun while celebrating the Terps' national championship.

And now, finally, Joe has a Maryland tattoo to go along with his Pittsburgh ones.

Go Terps!

Die stingrays die!

Seriously, though, this is pretty messed up.

An unexpected guest appearance at practice yesterday

We had a regular BRDM practice yesterday afternoon at the Polo fields. For the uninitiated, that's the open space along Independence Avenue in the area between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. As practice wound down, we could hear the live music playing from over on the mall. The 9/11 fifth anniversary extravaganza was underway.   [as an aside, how people think song and dance seems like a good way to commemorate 9/11 is a big mystery to me]

At about the same time, guess who showed up to practice??

Fred fucking Phelps and his small band of devoted followers, a.k.a. the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, a.k.a. a bunch of imbeciles that are mostly just Phelps's family and friends. They were demonstrating at the 9/11 fifth anniversary thing, waiving their "God Hates Fags," "America Is Doomed," "Priests Rape Boys," and "God Hates America" signs. There they were, spreading their lovely message of hate only a couple hundred yards away. And I was caught completely unprepared... didn't even have an egg to hurl in their direction.

Protesting the funerals of American military personnel killed in action in Afghanistan and Iraq, claiming the deaths are the result of the government's support of homosexuality. Blaming 9/11 on gay and lesbian Americans. Rejoicing in the catastrophe that was Katrina, claiming to be cheering on God's wrath. Preaching that "God is no longer with America, but is now America's Enemy. God Himself is now America's Terrorist." Yes, Fred Phelps is truly one of history's all-time greatest assholes. And there he was, at BRDM practice.


9-12-06 UPDATE -- After taking a couple looks at the picture of Fred Phelps displayed on the Wikipedia page linked above, I realized who it reminded me of:   That creepy, old bad guy character from the film Poltergeist II.   I think that's pretty funny and also quite fitting.

Reverend Phelps, meet Reverend Kane.




9-13-06 UPDATE -- In addition to the evil twin side-by-side I put together above, I also found a good already-composed one elsewhere.

ACC Football - just Another Crappy Conference?

The ACC had a pretty awful first week:

Duke and UNC both lost non conference games at home to Richmond and Rutgers. Maryland looked sloppy in an underwhelming win over William & Mary. Boston College almost lost to Central Michigan. Virginia got destroyed by Pitt. And even though Georgia Tech fought hard against Notre Dame, there's also the fact that they had a 10-0 lead just before halftime and couldn't make it stand up.

Unfortunately, things didn't change much in week two:

Wake Forest only beat lowly Duke when a short field goal attempt by Duke to win the game was blocked on the final play. After getting blown out last week, Virginia only squeaked by lowly Wyoming when Wyoming missed an extra point attempt in overtime. N.C. State lost at home to Akron. Maryland won, but was unimpressive and was actually outgained by Middle Tennessee State despite playing at home in College Park. And Florida State, also playing at home, needed two touchdowns in the final seven minutes to avoid an upset attempt by Troy.

Makes me wonder if the ACC is on its way to replacing the Big East in the cellar position on the major conference totem pole?

Happy Football Day!

Woohoo! Football season is finally here.

As for tonight's game -- I'm actually not that worried about Ben Roethlisberger's appendectomy-related absence or Hines Ward's hamstring. Charlie Batch has had a lot of reps with the first team offense lately and he knows a thing or two about playing quarterback in our system. So I don't expect him to go out and lose the game for us. And I don't expect Miami's offense to be able to run away with the game.

So I think it will all come down to whether our offensive line and Willie Parker are able to dictate the flow of the game on the ground. If the Steelers can run the ball, they should win easily. If not, then I guess we'll be hoping to squeak out a 13-10 win.


Additionally, while talking Steelers, I guess I'll point out that a Steelers fan in western Pennsylvania earned #2 billing on Keith Olbermann's Worst Person in the World list the other night on MSNBC:



video link via Crooks and Liars

I'm well on my way to a cool $4.5 million!

Sometimes it's better when the spam filter lets one slip through. This is definitely a top shelf email:

From: frank_morgan03@hotmail.fr
Subject: REPLY URGENTLY PLEASE.

FROM THE DESK OF : DR Frank Morgan.,
AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING SECTION,
AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK ( A.D.B )
OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA-FASO,WEST AFRICA.

Attention Please,

I am Dr Frank Morgan, the Director in charge of Auditing and Accounting section of AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (A.D.B) Ouagadougou Burkina-faso West Africa. With due respect and regard. I have decided to contact you on a business transaction that will be very beneficial to both of us at the end of the transaction .

During our investigation and auditing in this bank, my department came across a very huge sum of money belonging to a deceased person who died in a plane crash and the fund has been dormant in his account with this Bank without any claim of the fund in our custody either from his family or relation before our discovery to this development.

The said amount was U.S $15M ( Fifteen Million United States Dollars). As it may interest you to know, I got your impressive information through internet directory . Meanwhile all the whole arrangement to put claim over this fund as the bonafide next of kin to the deceased, get the required approval and transfer this money to a foreign account has been put in place and directives and needed information will be relayed to you as soon as you indicate your interest and willingness to assist, and also benefit your self to this great business opportunity.

In fact I could have done this deal alone but because of my position in this country as a civil servant(A Banker),we are not allowed to operate a foreign account and would eventually raise an eye brow on my side during the time of transfer because I work in this bank. This is the actual reason why it will require a second party or fellow who will forward claims as the next of kin with affidavit of trust of oath to the Bank and also present a foreign account where he will need the money to be re-transferred into on his request as it may be after due verification and clarification by the correspondent branch of the bank where the whole money will be remitted from to your own designation bank account.

I will not fail to inform you that this transaction is 100% risk free.On smooth conclusion of this transaction, you will be entitled to 30% of the total sum as gratification, while 10% will be set aside to take care of expenses that may arise during the time of transfer and also telephone and internet bills, while 60% will be for me and my coleagues. Please, you have been adviced to keep "Top Secret" as I am still in service and intend to retire from service after we conclude this deal with you.

I will be monitoring the whole situation here in this bank until you confirm the money in your account and ask me to come down to your country for subsequent sharing of the fund according to percentages previously indicated and further investment, either in your country or any country you advice us to invest in. All other necessary vital nformation will be sent to you when I hear from you.

I look forward to receive your phone and fax numbers for easy communication,

Yours faithfully,

Dr Frank Morgan.

Wow. That's awesome that Dr. Morgan was able to get my "impressive information through internet directory." And because he informed me that this transaction is 100% risk free, I know I can count on getting my money soon. I just hope that by posting this message here, I haven't caused any problems for Dr. Morgan since I was "adviced to keep 'Top Secret'" as he is "still in service." I guess I should be hearing from him soon with further details on where to send all my bank account numbers.

Once again, the sandbangs are out in DC

I guess they're not taking any chances after that deluge in late June when we got seven inches of rain in 24 hours and a total of a foot over a few days. The forecast right now says four to eight inches, so hopefully it won't be as bad.

In other news, I wish there was a way to sandbag my ass shut. I ate some of this for lunch yesterday...



... and since then, there's been a continual stream of poisonous gas coming out of me. Seriously, I think I'm on the verge of being arrested for chemical weapons production. It is BAD. And it seems like this is pretty much par for the course when it comes to me eating Zatarain's products. There's something in there that just sets me off. Maybe it's the combination of spices. Or maybe Zatarain's is just high in "Vitamin F."