Another good year....

Despair.com

Not so extreme...

I was sadly disappointed yesterday to find that one of my favorite "not so extreme" phrases is actually a real word. The word of the day for Sept. 21, 2005 at webster.com was "whelm". (As in, not overwhelmed - just whelmed...)

My other favorite "not so extreme" phrase: Most of a sudden.

Reminiscing Star Wars

So, it's late... or maybe it's a few weeks early :) Anyway, I spent some time today thinking about my favorite comment made by an Episode III viewer and the lamest comment made by an Episode III viewer. I will not use their real names as I want to save both of them some dignity.... (If their names hit the comments there's nothing I can do about that... *wink* )

Favorite:

This person knew that I was a Star Wars fan and had just seen Episode III (and had never seen any of the others). Suddenly very excited about the movies, he asked me which he should see next. Should he start with I and II or go for IV, V, and VI. Although I like I and II more than anybody else I know, I, of course, had to say IV. Of course he asked what the title of it was (which of course insued a philosophical debate within myself). But then he also wanted to know what the names of the other five were. I told him the names in episode order. When I got to Episode VI, he exclaimed:

RETURN OF THE JEDI?!?!!! They come back how COOL is that! I thought they were gone for sure!


Lamest:

This person seemed to be very intersted in seeing Episode III as he was the organizer of the gathering (which happened to be the 4th time that I saw it). He is also a BIG movie fan, so he's obviously able to suspend reality for a while - I mean he liked The Matrix. Anyway - I digress, we're all coming out of the theater talking about what we liked about the movie.... And he can't say anything positive.... I gave up arguing with him when he said:

What was up with the twins? Wasn't it just a little too "convenient" that they had two kids?

Where can you possibly go with that statement? "Have you seen Star Wars?" "You realize that these are 'prequels' right?" "OH MY! THAT MEANS THAT VADER IS LUKE'S FATHER!!!!"

If I Care...

For those few people that remember "Real People" on NBC in the early 80s, here's one for the books - an actual sign with dead letters - not a doctored photo. Good ol' PacifiCare (aka IfICare...) This ranks 2nd on my list. My favorite blank-out sign was in the mid-90s, when Discovery Zone became the Overy Zone. Spelled wrong, but still pretty funny. Too bad they went out of business shortly after that point. Coincidence?

Colorado Quarters

Finalists (yeah - it'll be a broken link in about a year - sorry...)

I realize that this post is about 4 months late, but I didn't have a blog in May and I hadn't seen the Colorado quarters myself until this morning. This is why I think that Governor Bill Owens made the right selection:

• 1. Only about 10% of our state population has even been to Mesa Verde
• 2. We don't want everybody to associate Colorado and Columbine on our state quarter. I know it's a beautiful flower, but you and I both know that why it was placed on the quarter was political. It's like New York using the World Trade Center - it's a nice tribute, but it's not what you want people to think of when they look at the quarter. (The 'C' from the Colorado flag might have helped this one too.)
• 3. "Pikes Peak or Bust" is a special rodeo/festival in Colorado Springs. To the rest of the state and nation, the phrase reminds us of the cover to the "Oregon Trail" games - yes, Oregon.
• 4. (This is the one he chose.)
• 5. The skier was a nice touch, but even fewer people than have been to Mesa Verde know about the 10th Mountain Division.

So, although Longs Peak is a little random, (I do like the Evans touch from the "Centennial State" quarter), it was the best option. It's not like it says "Visit Estes Park" on it, which is the impression I get from most of the other quarters. #2 would have been really good too, but with some minor changes, which isn't what Owens was wanting...

Thoughts on speed limits...

I am curious as to why driving south is so much more unsafe than driving north. For the section of I25 between exit 191 and Lincoln Ave. northbound has a speed limit of 75 and southbound has a speed limit of 55. The next three miles are 65 north and 55 south. Are the afraid that since "south" is "down" on the map, that gravity might cause people to accelerate and they might fly off when they hit the equator? Is there more wildlife on the west side of the highway? Are people leaving Denver generally worse drivers than those leaving Castle Rock? I wrote to C-DOT about this issue once several months ago and they never posted a new speed limit sign, nor did they reply to my email, so I must believe that "south" is inherently more dangerous...

The section of I25 from Orchard to exit 191 is a joke with speeds anyway. The flow of traffic is 75 for this whole stretch. And so with the new impeding traffic law, it is now actually impossible to drive legally on this stretch (a cop's dream!) - 75 is breaking one law (the more obvious, posted law) - 55 is breaking another law (and risking life and limb). So, if we can get everybody to drive 120 on that stretch, it's "legal" because it is the "flow of traffic"?

We may as well just be honest and take down all of our highway speed limits signs and post "reasonable and prudent" like they do in Montana. If nobody's going to follow them and nobody's going to enforce them, why waste the raw materials on signage?

Our kids?

So do you think this is what our kids will look like?

“640K ought to be enough for anybody.” - Bill Gates?

This quote exists on the internet and people like to point out how little foresight Mr. Gates had in that situation. However, according to everything2.org/?node_id=91182, Bill refuted this quote in a January, 19, 1996 article in the New York Times saying “I've said some stupid things and some wrong things, but not that.” The article on the everything2.org website ends by quoting Mr. Gates “Meanwhile, I keep bumping into that silly quotation attributed to me that says 640K of memory is enough. There's never a citation; the quotation just floats like a rumor, repeated again and again." It is a great article about the importance of citing sources and providing proof for your statements. The ironic part is that searching nytimes.com for any of these quotes comes up void. That’s right, it’s entirely possible that Bill Gates never said that he never said that quote about 640K.

Who cries...

A sad commentary about the slaughtering of these innocents. When will it end?

Video

So, tell me again....

What is the selling point of Malt-o-Meal cereals? It comes in a bag so they don't have to pay for marketing.... Um, hate to say this, but Kroger brand comes in a box so the pantry is still organized AND it is cheaper.... Hmm....

I never understood...

There are some Bible verses that I don't think I fully understood until I had kids.

Psalm 73:21-23
Psalm 131:2
Isaiah 64:6
John 3:3-4
Deuteronomy 10:16
Genesis 7:9-10