Get Smart

I was avoiding that movie like the plague.  I had been a HUGE fan of the TV series, and I didn’t want to see anything that might make me wince with pain at their attempt to recreate the show.

My cousin Rob was over the house last week and told us that he and his family went to see it, and they said it was the most hilarious movie they had ever seen.

Well, Tracy, Tom, and I, ventured off to see Get Smart this evening.  While I was expecting more laughs, there was one thing that I certainly was NOT expecting to see.  A good movie.  I was oh so wrong.

I felt that the movie was extremely well done; they paid just enough homage to the original without going overboard (and causing that wincing feeling); and there were sufficient laughs (to cause tears to roll down the eyes and stomach pains — that’s when you know it’s a good quality laugh) and more action than I expected to see.

At first I didn’t think the character that played Maxwell Smart was true to the original… But as the movie progressed I saw more and more of THE Maxwell Smart in him.

The Chief was played to perfection to Alan Arkin and he nearly stole the movie with his performance.

If you haven’t seen the movie yet, go see it in the theater before it comes out on DVD.

First Tiger. And Now…

BOO!

You saw Tiger as a child…

Remember these pictures 20 years from now:

Happy 5th Birthday to Matthew!!

Dear Matthew,

I can’t believe it’s already been five years since you came in to our lives.

What a blessing you have truly been.

Happy 5^th Birthday!!

What to do About the All-Star Game?

I have to say that last night’s/this mornings Major League Baseball All-Star Game was a great game!  Well played (except for the National League’s 2nd Baseman, Uggla (sp?  However you spell it, it WAS ugly!!)), and exciting right to the bitter end.  Thankfully it ended before we had David Wright and J.D. Drew pitching for their respective leagues — and with the World Series home-field advantage on the line no less.

The game did go until past 1:00AM EDT.  The stands were more than 75% empty at that time… I bet all children had fallen asleep (and if children cannot watch this game — don’t get me started on the World’s Series starting times — then where will our future fans come from?).  So, let’s put our collective minds together and solve this “problem”.

I’ve heard a few ideas bandied about today on how the All-Star game can be improved.  I think it was a GREAT game!!  And I would only have one suggestion which I hadn’t heard anywhere else.  I think that 15-innings is a good maximum.  This way the Managers can manage their benches and pitching staffs.

If the game is still tied after 15 innings, there would be a Home Run hitting contest.  Each league would assign five batters, and supply their own pitcher (could be a coach), and have a little shoot-out — like they do in Soccer, Hockey, and NCAA Football.  If it’s still tied after each league goes through their five sluggers it goes in to Sudden Death and a new player comes up for each league.

A players turn ends when he gets three outs (where an out is any pitch swung at that doesn’t clear the outfield fence on a fly in fair territory (i.e. a Home Run!).  Total number of Home Runs would decide the winner of the game and determine which league has home field advantage in the World Series.

What are your thoughts?

Long Island’s Top Websites List

If you haven’t checked this out yet, and if you own a website, blog, or Forum, that’s based in or  is about Long Island, NY, and you want to increase not only traffic to you site, or just see how your site stacks up to all the others out there, check out Long Island’s Top Websites List.

It’s FREE to join.

After you join you have to add a little HTML code (provided for you) to your site, and then encourage your viewers to click on it to “VOTE for YOUR Site”.  You’ll be brought to the ranking pages which list all the registered websites.

It’s Not Ok…

***  WARNING!  This post is NOT for the faint of heart  ***

***  WARNING!  This post is NOT for the faint of heart  ***

***  WARNING!  This post is NOT for the faint of heart  ***

I have to trust that if you’ve read this far you’ve been duly notified of the upcoming nature of this post, and you’ve expressed your Constitutional rights to read on.  We can no longer be held responsible for any reaction you might encounter either expressly or without written consent of Major League Baseball and its affiliates  (oops, wrong copywrite).  In plain English, if you throw up, we’re not responsible.  Reader Beware and all that Jazz.

This is your last chance to exit this thread…

So, it’s not, or it’s SNOT.  That is the question.  And the answer is it is.  After feeling all great yesterday the great SNOT machine roared it’s ugly head this morning (my hair really is a fright in the morning), and I’m headed back to my second favorite place on Earth, the Doctors Office.  In case you were wondering, EVERY other place on Earth is tied for first.

Perhaps it really wasn’t a virus amongst us… and I doubt it’s a fungus… but perhaps a nice bacteria with a very cute sounding name that can be anhilated by medicine and not the hocus-pocus of time that a virus requires.  If you can’t cure something with medicine, well, that’s just a recipe for more research I say.  Can’t cure a virus?  That’s lame.  C’mon researchers.  Hop to it!  That little diatribe had nothing to do with my currect circumstance as I’m guessing I have something along with the virus (Doctor’s are never wrong, right?), and the virus was just masking it (that would be some bizarre Halloween outfit).  With bated breath we wait for the new diagnosis.

Just remember these three sage words of advice that I offer you for free (assuming you have no co-pay, otherwise, please head directly to PayPal and remit the co-pay before proceeding), “Don’t stop breathing”.

Ummm, is that three words or four?  What’s the rule on conjunctions?  Anyone?

I’ll Take the High Road

And some will take the low road.  My Uncle Willy (remember him?  His birthday was just a few days ago), always told me to take the high road.  I don’t recall if ever told my what that’s the correct policy, but he said, “Trust me.  It’s always the road to take”.  Of course I was about five when he told me this, so I just took it for granted that he was right.  And, he always was.  Especially in my eyes.

And it wasn’t the last time that I ever heard him utter those words whenever faced with a moral or ethical decision.  Or, even a decision without such lofty consequences.  It’s the road I’ve always chosen.

I still don’t know why the choice is the high road or the low road.  Well, technically speaking I don’t.  But, of course, I do have some theories.  On the high road you get the most spectacular views.  All the way to the horizon.  Nothing to block your view.  You get to also look down all around and see what you’re surrounded by.  From the high road you can navigate your way to the ultimate goal you set that’s out there on the horizon (you do set goals, don’t you?).

From the low road all you can see is what’s immediately around you.  You really have no idea what lays ahead of you beyond your immediate field of vision.  The connotation of the low road is a drive through the muck and mire.  It’s a reactive rather than a proactive — not that you really have a choice if you’re on the low road.  There’s no where to go but blindly ahead (ever read “Who Moved the Cheese?”… which of course is not to be confused with that all-time classic, “Who Cut the Cheese?”) — mental mindset… and the condemnation is that you’re stuck in your rut and you … well, trust me, isn’t the high road the better road?

Bon Voyage!

What a Day for a Daydream…

Considering all the sleeping I’ve been doing for the past 48 hours I guess they’re technically not day dreams… though some came during the day for sure.  But, do day dreams only occur when one is awake?  Or, can one day dream in one’s sleep assuming one is sleeping during the day?

If I spent more time today awake than asleep than I might have the answer to the above question.  But, since my waking time was spent mostly eating whatever food I could keep down, and any liquids that I could find palatable, and the remaining time dedicated complaining to the fact I still felt tired, and congested, and well  you’re probably tired of reading about it already so I’ll just stop there.

It’s a virus they say.  Some kind of nasty virus that likes to surface at this time of the summer.  What do these viruses do the rest of the year?  The Doc said there’s nothing that can be done except rest, rest, rest.  Which is good, because I’ve become very good at that.  Why can’t I learn to relax and rest when I’m not sick??  Perhaps I wouldn’t get so sick or sick as often if I did.  So this nasty thing is supposed to hang on for three to five day.  Given the three days or so that I had the symptoms before reporting to said Doctors office that means I’m on day five now.  Which means tomorrow I will feel like a million bucks again.  Look out world!  But, first I need a nap

A Pool Should Have Water…

A swimming pool that it is.  Perhaps some external source (be it solar, electric, natural gas, or propane) of heat is permitted, but that’s it.  Certainly not concrete, leaves, acorns (feed those to the Squirrels), rocks, or algae should be present.  And, today we can finally say that our pool contains nothing but heated water!

And oh what a glorious feeling it is to be swimming among the natural mixture of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen.  I didn’t want to get out of the pool.  If this PC was waterproof perhaps I wouldn’t have had to get out.

I discovered a great(?) abdominal exercise while in the pool.  I can already feel a tightening of my muscles (no, not shrinkage smart ass).  I will try to keep this up daily for a few weeks and if there’s visible results (one, then six, and then a 12-pack of abs) I will publish the exercise (who knows - THIS could finally be the key to getting paid for my blogging).

I hope the weather holds up so I can scientifically validate my exercise hypothesis.

Yes, it’s swimming.  And, it’s all in the name of science.  Last one in is a rotten egg!

What Are Sinuses For?

And why isn’t the plural of Sinus, Sinusii?

Seriously, what do your sinuses do?  Besides becoming infected and giving you headaches?  Why can’t they, and shouldn’t they, be classified like tonsils?  USELESS!  In fact sinuses can just get in the way.  Not only am I suffering from self-diagnosed sinusitis right now, but I will also have to go for a C.A.T. scan to determine where my sinuses are (don’t they know???) before I can get Dental Implants.  That’s another something to look forward too.  Thank goodness for Carvel Ice Cream cakes (now THAT is something to look forward to).

Sinuses might have a use… but I don’t know.  And, I don’t feel like researching it.  And, I’ve never heard anyone ever say, “check out the sinuses on that girl”.  Though Tracy has very cute sinuses I must say, she also suffers from the infections of said sinuses.  Are sinuses a ploy by the medical and pharmaceutical company’s to push their medicines and drive tushies on to their examination tables?  How do we know if there’s something that’s being added to our drinking water or our foods (I’ve always been VERY suspicious of MSG), that’s causing these infections and the above fields are reaping the benefits.  At what cost?  Never underestimate the powers of Political Action Committees and Lobbyists.  Though how they ever gave us these two Presidential candidates is beyond me.

Being that I need a conclusion to this post, and nothing is jumping off the keys at me, let me conclude by saying…. Hmmm, a thought just popped in to my fingers.  Did you ever notice the honker on Richard Nixon?  Can I rest my case now?