August 30, 2004
Sporting News
Well, this weekend was the last of the month, meaning it was time for another trip to Wisconsin for some training with Mr. McDaniel, a 5th degree black belt. We trained for about 3 hours on Sunday and it was quite a workout. After countless executions of patterns and a fair number of flying kicks, I was sucking wind like I hadn't in a long time, and came near passing out at one point. All of which I consider a good thing, because I need to be pushing myself to my limits. Mr. McD had some very valuable input to help me with my testing requirements, and said he thought 2 of my 3 patterns were sufficiently ready for testing. Since I had essentially been learning these on my own (without guidance from a high rank), it was very important to get that kind of validation, and to know I was on the right track.
The original plan was for me to test to III Degree in November along with a large group from Wisconsin, but then my back decided to screw me over and I lost a lot of training time. It looks like the new date is January 29, and rather than testing in Wisconsin, it will actually be held at our school here in Minnesota. That is great, not only for its convenience, but because all of the students that I train with will have a chance to see a black belt test, which is not something that happens everyday. It's 5 months away, but I still need to train very hard from now until then to be at the level I want to be at when testing rolls around...
OK, so the Olympics are over. I'm glad I watched some of it, just because I hadn't in years. Honestly, I think the part I enjoyed the most was the men's singles final for table tennis. Those guys were insane. However, what really struck me towards the end of the games was the sudden onset of anti-Americanism. I know exactly when it started - it was right after that male Russian gymnast did a sweet routine on the high bar and got (unfairly) judged with a low score. The fans booed lustily (and justifiably) for awhile. Next up was American Paul Hamm, and they didn't really stop booing when he got up there. He had to delay his routine until the booing stopped. Hamm did a good routine, but not as good as the other guy - and got scored higher. You could argue that the crowd's booing of Hamm was really just carryover from the Russian, but that wouldn't explain how Hamm got booed on the medal stand, long after the actual routines were done. It was all very strange, and it's almost like when the high bar thing happened, the fans simultaneously thought: "oh, now I remember! I'm supposed to hate the Americans! Let's blame this on them! boooooooo!"
That one event seemed to blow the lid off, and all of the sudden it was the "Let's Hate On America" Games. The next day the female Russian gymnast Khorkina says in an interview that the only reason she lost the all-around gold was because she wasn't American, and there was a conspiracy to award an American the top prize. Then the men's 200m race was delayed for like 5 minutes while the fans booed, particularly at the three Americans favored to sweep the event. Why were the booing, you ask? Anyone's guess. Add on to all of this the intense hatred of the Dream Team, and it really started to piss me off.
However, the whole Olympic fiasco just made me realize why the world hates us. It has nothing to do with our policies, our President, or our culture. It is because we are the Los Angeles Lakers of the world (or, for the baseball fans, the Yankees). Basically, we're the best at everything we do - while that makes your home fans happy, eventually everyone else will turn against you and pull for the underdogs just to see something different. It is cold, hard jealousy - and anyone who denies it is lying to themselves. It also makes us an easy target for blame, even for things that have nothing to do with us - for example, the whole "American conspiracy" thing from that dumb gymnast. It's easy: facing a difficult problem? feeling like a failure? Just blame the Americans, and everyone will agree with you!
Finally, this kind of snuck up on me, but the US Open started today. Many people (OK, only Americans) say it's the best Grand Slam of the year. What I like best are the night matches under the lights - it's an amazing environment in tennis, only rivaled by Centre Court at Wimbledon. There should be some excellent tennis, with Federer, Roddick and Agassi all in top form. For those not very interested in tennis, there's always Maria Sharapova to look at...
August 24, 2004
Dive In
Well, somehow I managed to wake myself up at the god-forsaken hour of 6:00 AM in order to get to my canine implant viewing in time. All in all it was a fascinating experience. The first thing we noticed is how low-key the research laboratory is. I had never been to the research center before, and no wonder - it's nearly impossible to find if you don't know it's there. Even if you find it, you wouldn't know what it was - while it does have the company's name on it, nothing suggests that it's an animal research center. Smart move, in order to keep the PETA-type crazies away. Anyways, we were ushered in, changed into scrubs, then went into the operating room...
The "study" that they were conducting was interesting because it was actually multiple studies being performed with the same dog. They actually implanted two devices and four leads (the wires which deliver therapy from the device to the heart) in the same dog. Unfortunately, since it is a long-term (2-5 year) study, extra precautions have to be taken, and we were not allowed to directly view into the chest as the implants were happening. We spent the whole time standing on a side wall next to the operating table. However, from my perspective, I could see plenty of the operation. I must say that it was amazing to watch the surgeons perform their duties in real-life. I mean, I watch this kind of stuff on ER all the time, but it's quite different in person. Obviously they didn't have to do anything too complex (from what I've heard, pacemaker implants are pretty straightforward), but all I could think was how different their job is from mine. I mean, we're both in the "medical field", true, but... I sit at a desk all day and write computer software, while they spend all day on their feet, with tiny, precise instruments, cutting holes in living creatures and then putting them back together again. It felt very surreal to me, and it took me being there in person to realize how difficult a job it is to be a doctor/surgeon.
Anyways, the entire process took about 3 hours - 2 to implant, and then about an hour of monitoring where they basically just took a bunch of impedance measurements on the leads. The interesting thing about the implant, which I didn't know beforehand, is that they perform an operation called "ablation" on the AV node of the heart, which basically means that they destroy the portion of the heart that generates the natural rhythm and makes intrinsic beating possible - in other words, the ablation makes the canine dependent on the pacemaker in order for its heart to function. They said they completed the surgery in record time. Supposedly the ablation is a touch-and-go procedure that can sometimes take hours - they succeeded on the first try this time, and it only took a couple minutes. For those of you worried about the dog, you should know that they are treated extremely well, and usually heal completely within a couple weeks. While the study was educational for me, in retrospect it wasn't exactly the kind of experience I was looking for, because it focused more on leads (which I don't work on) rather than the devices (which I do). Hopefully next time I'll get an opportunity to view a live human implant, which would be amazing. But that's for another day, I guess....
Switching gears... fantasy football kicks off tomorrow! Our draft starts in the morning and will go for two weeks, ending just in time for the first game of the season. That's when the angels dance joyously in heaven to celebrate one of the greatest days of the year. I know some people don't get football, and fantasy football in particular, but for some of us, it's an obsession, an essential part of life. There's no better time of year than football season. If only they'd stagger NFL/NCAA so there could be football all year round, I think I might explode from satisfaction.
Finally, I'm not going to launch into my political diatribe now (for fear of this update getting way too long), but I feel the need to vent somewhat briefly about the Najaf situation in Iraq. We're pussy-footing around this Mosque over there, allowing this terrorist cleric to dictate how this situation is going to play out, all because we're afraid of public perception and we don't want the Muslims to get angry when "the infidels" step foot in the "holy" Mosque. It's this kind of PC crap that drives me up a wall. We are a great and powerful nation, but sometimes we get so short-sighted and incredibly stupid. We are fighting people who would kill all of us if they could. This is the time to take swift, decisive action, not cower and let the situation fester because some people's feelings might get hurt. O'Reilly had a retired general as a guest on his program tonight who was excellent. He said three very true things:
1. First, all of our successful military campaigns have occurred when we empowered our generals and men in the field to get the job done. It's when politicians get in the way that mistakes happen (see: Vietnam). Too true.
2. Second, he said if he was in charge he would use sleeping gas, knock them all out, then send the Iraqis into the mosque to get them out, so that everyone stays happy. I've been thinking and saying this exact thing for weeks now - as I've always said, this country would be in great shape if they'd just put me in charge.
3. Finally, one of his last comments was priceless:
(paraphrasing)
O'Reilly: But don't you think that Al Qaeda is just waiting for us to step foot in that mosque, or set off one explosion inside of it, and that if we do, we'll just have a bigger problem than before with the Muslims?
(quote)
Gen. Vallely: Well, they'll get over it, Bill.
Perfect. Absolutely true. If this were a less-serious threat, then all proper sensitivity should be employed. But there are armed, uncooperative terrorists who have taken a mosque hostage, supposedly rigged it with explosives, and will not even cooperate with their own people. Everyone's last concern should be whether or not some American walks into a mosque - they should be angered at those using it as a crutch, and hold them to blame if the situation turns out poorly.
OK, enough ranting. More to come on various topics, but I'll save them for another day...
August 19, 2004
It Ain't Over Till It's Over
Irony is a harsh mistress. A while ago I wrote about my latest encounter with a policeman, and how I got out of a speeding ticket because he was called away to a more pressing emergency. Well, I guess I had it coming to me. Less than a week later, on the day I was heading out from work to get to the color belt testing that I was judging, me and another car got stopped by the highway patrol. I had slowed down a bit and the other guy was actually going faster than me, but he pulled us both over anyways.
Like I mentioned before, tickets don't really bother me and again, I didn't really care if I got one or not. I basically just told the cop to hurry up because I didn't want to be late. This guy was clearly more of a stickler than the other guy - not only did he give me the ticket (at 21 over), but also a no proof of insurance warning (because my insurance card was expired), and even a warning for my window tint! What a jerkoff. The insurance thing will be cleared up by just mailing in a copy of the new insurance card, but the window tint? Come on, that's the stupidest thing ever. I bought the car in Florida (where the tint is legal), and it shouldn't be my fault that the states can't agree on something as simple as the appropriate level of window tinting. He suggested I go to the shop and have it removed, but he can take that suggestion and shove it. I'm out $130 for the ticket, which compared to others I've received, isn't very bad. And it seemed that he did his best to make me late (it took freakin' forever), but I just slid into the testing on time. This is the second time in my life that I've been stopped twice within a week. But if history's on my side, my usual cycle will start over and I won't be pulled over for at least another year or so. Here's hoping for big money and no whammies...
Update on my upcoming Atlanta trip: thanks to some big help from Matt Steele, I've got a ticket to the GT-Clemson game! Not only that, at least 20 of us are heading up there to tailgate like crazy. The game will be 8 PM on Saturday, and we're planning to get up there around Noon. It is stuff like this that I live for! Clemson has been the site of some great memories. My freshman year I rode up there for the game with my buddy Jeff - not only was the game amazing (with GT snagging an amazing victory), but on the way out of the city Jeff got lost, pulled an illegal U-Turn right in front of a cop, and then got pulled over and accused of drunk driving by the (obviously pro-Clemson) officer. Luckily Jeff wasn't drunk and we got out of there without a trip to the big house. Good times...
So, I've really gotten roped into watching the Olympics. It's one of those sporting events that I usually pay absolutely no attention to, but every once in awhile, I will become seriously enthralled by it (sorta like the Tour de France earlier this year). I'm really glad that, despite all the ridiculous speculation from the media about Americans having to walk on eggshells and not being allowed to celebrate (in order to protect our "fragile world perception"), nothing of the sort has happened. Just another example of the media hyping something just to have a story - the whole point is to unite for the purpose of sports, and eliminate politics from the discourse. Anyways, there have been some really awesome moments already. Here are my top 3 so far:
3. American women win the 4x200 freestyle relay by crushing the world record. They really brought out the big guns on this one.
2. Manu Ginobili drains a buzzer-beating basket off the glass while falling away and to the side to propel Argentina to a win in the early rounds of Men's Basketball. Simply put, one of the best shots I've ever seen.
1. Paul Hamm crashes into the judges' table on his vault performance, by all estimations removing him from medal competition in the men's all-around gymnastics competition. Yet he comes immediately back on his final 2 events (parallel and high bar) to score two of the highest apparatus scores of the entire Olympics, and win Gold by the narrowest margin in history. How clutch is this guy? He goes last on the high bar, knowing he needs over an 8.2 to medal - and nails an 8.37?!? This makes my short list of gutsiest and most impressive performances, in any sport, ever.
Speaking of Hamm - what a small world. Apparently the guy is from Waukesha, WI. That's where I've been going to train in Wisconsin several times over the last year for tournaments and black belt classes! It's a really small city - certainly some of the people I've met over there must know this guy. I don't know if he still lives there, but if he does, I wouldn't be surprised to run into him while I was in town...
OK, that's it for now. Be forewarned - I've been gearing up for a political rant, and I think it's in store for my next entry. Stay tuned...
August 17, 2004
Movie Review: American Beauty (1999)
|
|
The film primarily follows the story of the Burnham family - on the surface, they are the model family. Lester (Kevin Spacey) is a capable advertising executive, Carolyn is a successful real estate agent, and Jane, though reserved, is stable at the very least. But as Lester's (terrific) opening monologue reveals, things are not as they seem in the Burnham household. In reality, Lester and Carolyn's marriage is in shambles, Carolyn ignores him, Lester hates his job, and Jane hates both her parents for awkwardly trying to involve themselves in her adolescent life. This sounds much more like the typical American family.
Two nearly-simultaneous events throw the family (and all those around them) onto a disastrous course. First, Lester meets his daughter's friend Angela. Sexually frustrated and in need of some sort of stimulation to break out of his marital stagnancy, he is suddenly interested in her to the point of obsession (which only embarasses Jane and increases the void between father and daughter). Second, a new family moves in next door, who are wildly different from the Burnham's. Frank Fitts (played to perfection by the amazing Chris Cooper) is a Marine, and to him, his job doesn't end when he gets home - he rules his home with an iron fist. His wife, submissive by nature, is little more than a whisper and a shadow in the home, while their son Ricky is a troubled yet introspective teenager with a penchant for trying to capture the essence of beauty on videotape. Yet, as with the Burnham family, not all is clear upon first glance of the Fitts...
The film explores human emotion, and does it flawlessly - every word spoken by each character is so precisely chosen that it is eerily real. Just look at the Burnham family. Lester is our protagonist, and represents the everyman of the story - you can't help but cheer when he quits his job, understand his obsession with unspeakable beauty, and chuckle appreciatively at his dinner outbursts. His daughter Jane is real too, yet in a different way - she perfectly portrays the outcast teenager, ashamed of her parents, alienated from her friends, alone with her problems and feelings of emptiness. Carolyn, on the other hand, doesn't have a real bone in her body - her entire life is a fabrication - but Annette Bening pulls off the part so flawlessly that you can't help but recognize her self-serving behavior. It may not be pretty, but it's part of the reality of life.
There are some serious themes explored here - the search for beauty, the need for companionship and love, but most importantly, how we all have secrets that we try to hide but inevitably find their way to the surface. There is plenty of dark humor in the movie, but ultimately it is a tragic tale of how families can be ruined. Lester's journey toward rediscovery is so enjoyable, so hilarious, that you can't help but root for him as he acts as the mouthpiece of reason. Yet in the end, the darkness around him catches up with him, as it does with all the characters - and it is this dichotomy of humor and drama that makes the movie so timeless. Real life is not all laughs, and not all tears - it is a healthy (and sometimes unpredictible) mix of both, and that is exactly what happens in "American Beauty".
There is nothing about this film which is not enjoyable. It just misses my mark of perfection, only because I reserve the highest tier of my rankings for movies which personally and profoundly move me, or are enjoyable to the point that I could watch them endlessly. While it did not move me on such a level, it is nonetheless a phenomenal achievement, a landmark of filmmaking for the 1990s. "American Beauty" might just as well have been named "American Tragedy" - it captures both so perfectly and eloquently that there's not much reason to go looking elsewhere for better examples.
August 16, 2004
Anticipation
Excellent news - not only am I going to be coming into Atlanta for the GT Career Fair, but I was able to plan my trip so that I am arriving the Friday before the Fair. It just so happens that that is the weekend of the GT/Clemson football game, but it's an away game, so now I'm on a mission to get a ticket. It shouldn't be that hard, especially considering neither one of those programs will be a marquis draw this year - but I just found about nearly 20 of my friends are going, so if I can find a way in, it should be a blast.
Speaking of football - I figured that since I'm making a little more dough this year, I might as well splurge a bit - so I ordered the ESPN Game Plan college football package for my Dish Network. Not only does this mean I'll be getting about 15 extra football games each week, but combined with my DVR recording device, the possibilities are endless. I think I could literally waste myself away watching football this year, if I chose to. I can see it now, my Saturdays are going to be like Peter from Office Space: "I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything I thought it would be". Indeed...
Another interesting opportunity I have coming up is work-related. Next Monday I will have the chance to view live a real implant of one of our medical devices! Unfortunately, it won't be an implant on a human patient (it's really difficult to get in on that kind of situation), but it will be a real device in a live subject. Some may cringe at the thought of this, but I'm really looking forward to it - I've seen several such implants on video, but never in person. Plus, I will get to spend time with real doctors doing the implantation and should have opportunities to ask them some questions to better understand their perspective. It should be really fascinating.
So my sister lived through her first hurricane last week. One of the nice things about living in Jacksonville all my life was that it is naturally protected from hurricanes and tropical storms by the nearby Gulf Coast. In my 18 years there, we always got hurricane warnings, but never a one actually hit in-town. (of course, that didn't stop people from stockpiling like madmen and acting like the apocalypse was approaching). But Sara moved to Orlando for college 2 years ago, which is pretty much asking for more hurricane exposure. Charley went through there with (I believe) Category 3 strength. Luckily she was OK, though she did say her building was shaking like crazy during the storm, trees were down everywhere, and power/cable/internet was lacking for a long while. It could have been a lot worse. Please pray for those in South Florida dealing with the aftermath of the storm.
Finally, on a more somber note - my team got some difficult news today. First, some backstory: one of our team members has been struggling the last couple of months, because the feature we're working on is not really his strong suit - it's a sprawling, complex piece of software that is not easy to work on. Several of us have been trying to help him along but he's definitely had a hard time of it. Well, last week, all of the sudden he would leave for long periods of time to attend "meetings". It was noticeable because we were in the middle of preparing for something important, and could have used his help - but it seemed like he had at least one meeting a day, that ran 2-3 hours. He never told us what they were, only that they were with his manager. Then he took a personal holiday on Friday.
I feared the worst, and I was pretty much right - he pulled aside our team today and told us that he was pursuing a "career transition" because he didn't feel that what he was doing now was right for him. Apparently he has 3 months to find something new, either inside the company or out, or else... Anyways, I feel bad for the guy, because he's no nice and certainly tries hard, even if it doesn't always work out. I mean, I guess I could imagine myself in his position, 20 years from now - how demoralizing and difficult would that be, to try to find a new line of work, when you've been doing something your whole career? On the one hand, it seems too harsh, but on the other, I can understand the need to keep the brightest minds on the job, especially in an industry as cutthroat as the medical field. I'm making a promise to myself right now that I'll never let that happen to me...
Movie Review: The Warriors (1979)
|
|
The premise of the film is about as simple, yet bizarre, as they come. The story takes place amidst the gang activity and violence of New York in the late-seventies, yet here it is taken to an artistic extreme. In the film, the city is practically owned by gangs - not several powerful ones, but countless bands of misfits confined to their own areas of the city. However, the gangs look as though they were ruled by make-up and costume artists rather than fierce authoritarians - each has a distinct look and "trademark". There are the Gramercy Riffs (the Black Panther-style militants), the Turnbull A.C.s (skinheads), and the Lizzies (the tough grrls), to name a few. Then there are the Warriors, the tough, shirtless, vested band of miscreants that we follow throughout the film.
There is the backstory; here is the plot. The biggest problem the gangs face are one another; it seems that none of them are on friendly terms. However, Cyrus, the leader of the Riffs (the most powerful gang) has devised a plan - one predicated on peace and solidarity against a common enemy, the police. He has invited each gang to send a delegation to the Bronx for a large meeting and (hopefully) the start of a new era of collaboration. However, when tragedy strikes at the meeting and the Warriors are implicated, they frantically try to find their way home - unarmed, in unfamiliar territory, and surrounded by rivals bent on their destruction.
Sounds exciting, right? Well, it would be, if it wasn't paper-thin in its execution. The first problem is that there is absolutely no character development. With the exception of Cyrus, who really is a very minor player, I can't name a single character - especially any of the Warriors, who we follow for 90 minutes! There is no attempt to give them any purpose, individuality, or meaning - they are united by the single purpose of returning home, and that's all we ever learn about them. The next problem are the gangs themselves - not only are they laughable in their ridiculous getups, but they never seem to pose a real threat to the Warriors' return. One group lets them run right by because they are supposedly stunned by a molotov cocktail that one of the Warriors throws their way. What kind of a hardcore gang member is stopped in his tracks by a little fire???
Then there are the plot holes, which I'm trying my best to overlook. First, you won't convince me that a New York City gang does not know how the subway works. There is an early scene where they're trying to decipher the maps, but it just seems ridiculous. Speaking of the subway, it always seems to show up at the exact time they need it to. The policeman are your typical dumb, slow, bad-guy-bullet firing incompetents, who pose less of a threat than the other gangs. All of it was conveniently written to allow the plot to flow smoothly.
There just wasn't much to appreciate about this film. I never cared one bit about any of the characters - not to mention their acting performances, which were wooden at best. The plot is cheesy, and the gangs are even cheesier. The music is decent, and sadly this movie will probably best be remembered as the debut of "In the City" by Joe Walsh, which runs over the closing credits. Cult films are love-them-or-hate-them affairs, and with this particular movie, I'm in the latter category. I think this is a movie that has aged poorly; while it might have had a lot of appeal to the late-70s crowd, against any standards of film quality it falls far short.
August 13, 2004
Movie Reviews: Monster (2003)
|
|
She enters a nearby bar to have a last drink and meets a young lady named Selby, which is where her luck starts to turn around. The two women hit it off after an awkward beginning, and form the start of a budding relationship. But it's not that easy for Aileen, who has never had anything come easy to her - she has scraped through life as a hooker, and is currently broke. The film follows the two characters as they struggle to make a new beginning for themselves together. But Aileen cannot escape her past, and she finds herself doing horrible things in order to secure a future for her and Selby. As Wuornos herself says in the film, eventually your past catches up with you...
The centerpiece of this film is Charlize Theron as Wuornos, and what a tremendous job she does. The best actors can seemlessly take on a role and execute it with such perfection that, at some point in the film, you forget that you're watching an actor. With the help of some excellent make-up work, the radiant Theron is skilfully transformed into the hardened, washed-up prostitute. The rest of the transformation is provided by Theron's incredible display of acting prowess. Who knew that she had such a performance in her? She captures the essence of Aileen Wuornos perfectly - bitterness towards the world for her bad circumstances, hatred toward men for their awful treatment of her, and a disregard for rules or any other facet of the status quo. Her anger is real, not over-the-top, and you can sense her joy when she experiences her first good friendship in a long time. It's not easy to portray the progression of a woman from suicidal loser to sociopathic serial-killer, yet Charlize Theron does it masterfully.
The movie rests on her shoulders, and she carries it admirably, but unfortunately the only redeeming factor of the film is to appreciate the job that she does. There are very few characters, with the film being dominated by Selby and Aileen. Selby's character is difficult to understand, and the writers don't allow her to become a well-developed character so that we can identify with her. For the most part she seems to be there just to build Aileen's character, while Selby plays second fiddle. The ending is not particularly satisfying, and frankly, I didn't even find the basic storyline to be that engaging. I only found myself intrigued by Theron's portrayal of this troubled woman.
But a single performance does not a movie make. Theron surely deserved her Oscar win - but the movie doesn't earn high marks from me. It seems like this might be a growing trend with the Academy, awarding Oscars to actors who play difficult roles in substandard movies. Halle Berry's win for "Monster's Ball" comes to mind immedately (hmm, note the use of Monster in the title there as well). The film merits recognition as perhaps showcasing the best acting performance of the year. But ultimately the movie falls flat due to its shallowness and one-dimensionality.
August 10, 2004
Bizarre Occurrences
OK - I like cold weather as much as the next guy. Really, I do. I left Florida (and won't ever go back) for that particular reason - it's just crazy hot, practically all year long. My ideal temperature is much lower than most people's (somewhere in the 60s, normally), and I love to see some snow in the winter. However - everything in moderation! I left Florida because I got only one season. I'm having the same problem here. Today it barely broke 50 degrees. Who didn't get the memo that it's Summer already! Not just Summer, but the hottest month of the Summer! For a certain portion of the year, I want to feel heat, to sweat, to be able to sunburn, lay out by the pool, hang out in shorts, etc. I'm being robbed of that up here. If this continues throughout the month, and then a bitter winter falls on us - I swear I will be gone next year...
All right, enough with the vitriol. Speaking of leaving, the amount of interest I'm receiving from companies in Atlanta has suddenly spiked dramatically. A while back I mentioned being contacted by Lockheed - that was the only company that had reached me in the last year. Within the past week or so, about 4 companies have contacted me with job opportunities in the Atlanta area. A couple were contract opportunities, and I'm not going to leave a great full-time job for a contract gig. However, at least one or two of the offers were probably worth follow-up consideration. Maybe this is a sign that I should be looking to move back? God has provided for me abundantly up here, maybe He is showing me that he will do the same if the time comes for me to move again. I still struggle with whether or not it was ever in His plan for me to go in the first place. I mean, I thought it was, partly because I felt at peace about it, partly because it seemed the chips kinda fell that way - but maybe I was wrong? I certainly wouldn't be the first to misunderstand the will of God. These are the kinds of things I struggle with all the time...
So Joe Schmo 2 ended today. Skip this paragraph if you don't want to hear any details. The ending was decent - overall, I give the second season a B- (compared to an A for the first). Some have argued that the second season was better - better acted, better premise, etc. This is just not true. There are two reasons for this:
1. Person for person, the first season characters were better. I've never laughed so much as I did whenever Hutch or Kip were on the screen. There were a couple first-season duds, but they were eliminated quickly. On the other hand, there were several decent second-season characters (Bryce, Gerald, Eleanor) - but none quite as memorable. I think the larger cast and different structure hurt this season. There just wasn't enough time to see each character and really bond with them. Or it could just be that the premises for the first set of characters was better.
2. The Schmoes: Matt from Season 1 was the most likable, hilarious, crazy guy ever. You couldn't help but be interested by him. The Season 2 Schmos just weren't as likable. Tim was OK, kinda funny, not nearly as likable. Both of the lady Schmos were personable, but neither had that classic personality like Matt did. He might have been literally a once-in-a-lifetime TV opportunity.
Will they do a JS3? Wait and see, guess. Now it's back to the time of year when none of my favorite shows are currently running. Thank God for daily ER reruns that I record, and football right around the corner...
I had an interesting opportunity today - I represented our team in presenting the feature we've been working on for 5 months to the team of people responsible for making sure everything is correct with it. This was a pretty important group of people, including several higher-ups in the organization. I'm not talking like CEO/CFO level people, but way up from my spot on the totem pole. It was kinda crazy for me, having only been there a year, to be the one explaining the ins-and-outs of this complicated feature. It gave me a whole different perspective - I'm used to looking at things from my point-of-view as a software engineer, but if there's one thing I learned in school, it's that I am never the customer (i.e.: I can never think in the way a physician using our software does). That became painfully evident in this meeting - some of these people are not engineers at all, but work closely with the physicians, so they understand them and their concerns very well. Hearing the comments they were making, and their perspective on certain issues was fascinating. Plus, it was good exposure for me to meet some of these people and to be able to demonstrate my competency with our software. Just another positive career step forward...
Tomorrow should be fun - I get to help judge another TaeKwon-Do color belt testing at our school. It's always fun to see the people you train with get to test and advance in rank. Now, if I only could get back the 2 months I lost because of lower-back troubles. Because of that, I'm likely not going to be testing when I thought I would, in November - I just don't know if I feel comfortable being ready by that point. I probably could test then and do a crappy job, but that's not me - I want to perform to the best of my ability when I test, and really earn it. Because of the lost time, it will likely not be until December or later. Oh well - I should focus less on the date and more on the requirements themselves. Little by little I'm improving on them, but I have a long way to go...
August 7, 2004
Good Days and Bad Days
Well, another birthday has come and gone. Sadly, it was nothing special. I think my actual day of birth is doomed for mediocrity anyways. When I was growing up, it sucked because it was during Summer break so nobody was around (except my closest friends) to celebrate with. Nowadays, I don't really have close friends up here in Minnesota (yet) that I'd go out and celebrate with anyways. I guess the birthdays during college were good - I mean, good birthdays are all about enjoying the company of your friends, and I had no shortage of friends around in college. It was days like yesterday that make me miss them most, and make me resent moving off into oblivion. Oh well - onto more cheerful topics...
I found out last week that I'm going to be part of the Medtronic team that goes to the GT Career Fair! There are about 9 or 10 of us on the overall GT team, and only 4-5 made the Career Fair list, so I'm really fortunate. I have no idea if I'll have time to break away and see some of my friends, but at the very least, it will be nice to be on campus amidst the career frenzy. I think I can be an asset to the company there because I feel I still identify well with graduating seniors, so I'm really looking forward to that trip.
Here's an interesting story about last Thursday night. I'm driving home and one of my friends calls me, and told me that he just got his first speeding ticket. He was pretty bummed about it (though it was only a 10-over violation), so I tried to cheer him up. Anyways, after hanging up with him, not 10 minutes had past by, when I got pulled over myself. I was going at least 20 over on a state highway. The officer didn't even bother trying to be polite or make stupid chit-chat (like some of those morons do) - he was all business. He asks for license/insurance and goes back to his car. He's there about 5 minutes, processing my info. Meanwhile, I'm at peace about the whole thing. I used to get so worked up about tickets (I've probably had about 7), I would get really anxious and tense inside. This time, I was extremely calm. There were several reasons for this:
1. I hadn't had a ticket in two years. I usually get about one a year. For awhile now I've been thinking I was way overdue, so I wasn't in the least surprised when I saw the familiar sight of the red and blue lights. It was just the cycle repeating itself.
2. The monetary effect of tickets no longer bothers me. Frankly, I can afford them.
3. Usually I'm all concerned with trying to be polite, explaining my situation, hoping I can get out of the ticket. But this time, I just accepted it, so I was more calm. I didn't bother trying to suck up to him, or make an excuse (not that he even gave me a chance) - I just sat there, waiting for him to come back so I could get outta there.
So I'm sitting there bored when he finally comes back. I'm expecting the familiar clipboard with the ticket, needing my signature. Instead, he just hands me my license (practically shoves it in my face) and says "I'm gonna warn you to drive safe". I barely heard him, because he kinda said it as he was walking briskly away from my car. Next thing I know, he throws his lights and siren on, and goes flying off. Clearly, some kind of major emergency came up, and he didn't have time to waste on a small-timer like myself. Isn't life ironic? The first time I've not bothered trying to get out of the ticket... and it's the only time I ever have.
In other news - one of my fraternity brothers got married last week here in the Twin Cities and I'm really glad I got to go. His bride is from here but he's from Florida, so his side of the aisle was near empty. Plus, I was the only fraternity brother there (except for his groomsman), so I'm glad I could represent the guys for him. Just another example of how fraternal ties persist beyond the college years...
August 3, 2004
Notification List
For those who are interested, I've added a notification list to my site. Check the sidebar to the left. Just add your email address and you'll get an email whenever I submit a new entry (I'll probably just send out notfications for my "General" entries, not reviews, etc.). Anyways, sign up if you like...