communication breakdown

Patriots Win

OK, so Super Bowl Sunday is rapidly approaching. Is that important, you ask? What kind of question is that! How many occasions do you know of that will cause men to run to the store to buy a TV they can't possibly afford, only to return it the next day? How many times do you hear people talk about how much they are looking forward to a barrage of commercials? How many events do you know of that would cause people to sell their firstborn child for a ticket? (OK, I wouldn't actually do that, but if I had the opportunity, I would at least consider it). Face it, it is a marquee moment, a yearly phenomenon, the quintessential American spectacle. It's one of the many reasons this country is so great. Maybe we could put an end to terrorism by offering them all box seats. Scoff all you want, but it just might work...

Call me crazy, but I chose my Super Bowl viewing location based on TV quality. My buddy Rob has a 60-inch widescreen HDTV. I can just see it sitting there, quietly saying "Watch me" all day long. Something about the Super Bowl just requires the most optimal viewing environment you can find anywhere. I'm looking forward to a beautifully-played game, but just as importantly, a beautiful-looking one.

If the title of this blog didn't give it away, I fully expect the Patriots to win this game. That's based on years of admiration for the team and their organization, not last-minute bandwagon-jumping. In fact, the blog title is an inside joke between me and my buddy Adam. (I guess it's about to be an outside joke, once I tell you) Back in 2002, when the Patriots and the Rams played on Super Sunday, the odds were stacked heavily in St. Louis' favor. I remember watching the game over at the fraternity house, and I'm pretty sure nobody else in the whole place thought New England had a chance. I was dead sure the Patriots were going to pull it off - classic David vs. Goliath. I think Adam just picked a random team and decided to pull for them, so the two of us represented the New England contingent of the room. We basically ran back and forth yelling "Patriots Win!" throughout the game, regardless of the score. Funny stuff. Those of you who know your history know that the Patriots won, marking the beginning of the football dynasty they've had for the last several years. We've been saying it ever since, and it ain't stopping now.

The downside to the game, of course, is that it marks the end of the football season. The day after the Super Bowl is one of the most depressing of the year - right up there with the day after Christmas, the day you return to work from vacation, and the day that the season premiere of American Idol airs. Only thing that makes it bearable is that tennis is in full swing again, and the French Open will be coming up soon. Thank God for a year-long sport! The tennis professionals have long complained that the season is too long and drawn-out, but the way I see it, as long as I'm constantly entertained, then everything is A-OK.

One last topic related to the Super Bowl that I want to discuss. Have you seen how much thrashing the city of Jacksonville is getting as the Host City? Essentially, everyone who is down there is talking about how badly prepared the city is, and how it doesn't have the "feel" of a Super Bowl city. People like Tony Kornheiser and Bill Simmons are trashing it up-and-down. So how do I feel about this, you ask? As a former resident of Jacksonville for 18 years, I'm appalled, right? Not one bit. I totally agree with everything they are saying. Jacksonville is not a Super Bowl city by any stretch of the imagination. It's not fun - at all. No entertainment culture, no good weather, no big claims to fame, no "big city" feel - I've been saying this crap for years. These are precisely the reasons I left and won't ever move back. When you host the Super Bowl, you open yourself up to criticism - especially a city like that with a lot to prove. If they had done a good job and really prepped the city well, then we would all have to tip our hat to them. But, come on - 300 cabs to cover the entire city for Super Bowl weekend? I'm just glad I didn't end up getting a ticket, because it will be pandamonium there by the end of the week.

So - a quick update on my "new" job, for any who might be interested. I don't think I've written about it since my first post back in Atlanta. Honestly, things are going really well. It's quite a change having a project all to myself, where I am responsible for its planning, scheduling, development, testing, etc. It's like a baptism by fire which is helping me learn a lot. The tradeoff there is that I don't get to work directly much with the rest of my team, but that is a short-term issue that will change once we start working on other projects. We just hired another one of my fraternity brothers, which is awesome, because it's yet another familiar face in the office, and means I'll have the chance to spend more time with him. Plus I know he's happy about it because it's a step up career-wise and should present him with more of a challenge. The only thing I'm not crazy about right now is that, because of some personnel changes, I'm also maintaining a project that was originally written by someone else. It just got submitted to testing, and the testers are finding lots of bugs, which means I get to fix them, even though I didn't do that application in the first place, and it's not my code. For those of you who aren't software developers, let me just say that this is a programmer's nightmare - it's just about the least enjoyable thing you can do. Making matters worse is the fact that this other application is considered higher-priority than my own, meaning I basically have to drop what I'm doing on my own project, and focus all my efforts on this other one. Luckily it's only a temporary solution until they decide who will be handling this other project in the long-term.

A couple of miscellaneous thoughts to wrap up:

• I want to comment about the Iraq Elections. Several things are noteworthy here. First of all, the fact that it was essentially conducted without any major attacks is completely unbelievable. From what the experts on both sides of the aisle were saying in the weeks leading up to it, I didn't even expect the elections to happen, let alone go so well. You've got to give credit to the American military and Iraqi police force for a job marvelously done. The other note is about the Iraqi people. We talk so much in America about how much we love democracy, love our right to vote, and so on - and I think we do. But I'd like to know how many of us would go out to vote if we knew there was a very good chance we'd be shot on the way to the polls. I'll be honest with you - I'm not sure I would go. If you're honest with yourself, you're probably saying the same thing. However, for Iraq to have (by some accounts) over 70% turnout - I don't even know what to say. I'm so impressed and awestruck by their courage and dedication to their country. I really hope this is the turning point in Iraq's future - though I believe it's foolish to think the attacks will stop altogether, I think the citizens have sent a clear message that they will prevail, and I hope they do.
• I've been buying way too many DVDs lately. My only two requirements for buying a movie are that it is on my wish list, and that the cost is around $10 or less (unless it is some kind of very special edition). And not just any movie makes it on my wish list - only those that I really love, or consider to be important for me to own, make the cut. Lately it seems that I've just found really good deals on a bunch of them. Check out my purchases since Christmas:
  • 24: Season One
  • City of God
  • Dazed and Confused
  • Gosford Park
  • The Happy Gilmore / Billy Madison Collection
  • The Joe Schmoe Show: Season One
  • The Stanley Kubrick Collection
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
  • Matchstick Men
  • Millennium: The Complete First Season
  • Mulholland Dr.
  • Pleasantville
  • Punch-Drunk Love
  • Rain Man
  • Raising Arizona
  • Scent of a Woman
  • There's Something About Mary
  • The Truman Show
  • U-571
  • What About Bob?

  Moral of the story: I need to stop buying movies. At least for a little while...

• One of my fraternity brothers (Derek) is a little strange. There are countless stories that I could use to illustrate this, but one of the most revealing is a recent development. Apparently, Derek is a big fan of Back to the Future (and let's be honest, who isn't?). He's so big of a fan, in fact, that he decided to replicate the DeLorean from the movie. And I don't mean build a toy car for his mantle, either. I'm talking about a DeLorean. A real one. Have a look for yourself. Apparently he spent a considerable amount of time, going through the movie by frames, getting every detail right. He's even got some outfits from the movie, though I'm not sure if he bought those or made them. On one hand, you gotta admire the dedication. On the other, think what that money could have done for starving third-world children, or even for the "Get Shaun an M3 Fund". I am accepting donations for that, by the way...

One final comment - I would like to ask for you to please pray for my mother Mary. Since before Christmas she has been having trouble with her hand, and after finally going to the doctor after Christmas, they diagnosed it as some weird sort of tendonitis. Since then it's become extremely painful and she has had to take off work since then. They said it would be a very slow recovery process, and even now it is extremely sore and she has no mobility in the arm. Please pray for a reasonably quick recovery. I know sitting at home and not working is killing her, not to mention the pain from the hand. Thank you in advance for your prayers...