Ever since I saw the first trailer back in July of 2009 I’ve been waiting for this weekend. Last night, my daughter and I watched the original “TRON” together and then caught the matinee of “TRON Legacy” this afternoon.
Baseball off-season: training and trades
Usually around this time of year my mind turns to baseball. Spring training is only three months away and I’ve already started planning for my third annual trip out to Arizona in March to see my Cleveland Indians (I’ve already got tickets to two games in-hand!).
But this past week I watched the Rays start to disintegrate before my eyes.
First, Carlos Pena signed with the Chicago Cubs.
Then Carl Crawford was acquired by, ugh, the Boston Red Sox.
And finally Jason Bartlett went back to the San Diego Padres.
OK, yes, that’s only three players (although we lost some pitchers as well) and the Rays still have players like Longoria, Upton, and Zobrist. But it’s still sad to see those other guys move on. Looks like both of my teams will be rebuilding next season (a mode the Indians have been stuck in for quite a while, unfortunately).
Those birds … they’re so angry!
I have been hooked on Angry Birds since I first played the lite version on my iPhone back in April (and then immediately purchased the full version). I started over from scratch when I bought the HD version for my iPad in October. The other week I finally completed all of the released levels with three stars and found 17 golden eggs! Take that, piggies!
Now, someone is trying to broker a peace agreement between the birds and pigs. You can guess how it turns out. 🙂
Rumor has it Angry Birds 2 will be told from the pigs’ point of view (Angry Pigs?) and support multi-player! It might be out by the end of the year … just what I need.
Epcot International Food & Wine Festival
My wife and I were at Disney World for our honeymoon when Epcot held the first International Food & Wine Festival back in 1996. And yet, with all the times we’ve been to Disney World since then (which also was my first time ever), we’ve never been there again during the festival … until this weekend, celebrating its 15th year.
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WIJFR: Watership Down
Set in England’s Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale of adventure, courage and survival follows a band of rabbits on their flight from the intrusion of men and the certain destruction of their home. Led by a stouthearted pair of brothers, they journey forth from their native Sandleford Warren through the harrowing trials posed by predators and adversaries, to a mysterious promised land and a more perfect society.
It’d been a while since my daughter and I read a book together after I abandoned the Redwall series last year. I decided to introduce her to one of my favorite novels from my own childhood, “Watership Down” by Richard Adams, and we just finished it today.
WIJFR: The Ringworld Throne
The human, Louis Wu; the puppeteer known as the Hindmost; Acolyte, son of the Kzin called Chmeee . . . legendary beings brought together once again in the defense of the Ringworld. Something is going on with the Protectors. Incoming spacecraft are being destroyed before they can reach the Ringworld. Vampires are massing. And the Ghouls have their own agenda–if anyone dares approach them to learn. Each race on the Ringworld has always had its own Protector. Now it looks as if the Ringworld itself needs a Protector. But who will sit on the Ringworld Throne?
It’s been almost two years since I read “The Ringworld Engineers” and back then I wrote here that I probably wouldn’t bother with the remaining two books in the series. I probably should have listened to myself, but I just finished “The Ringworld Throne” … the first e-book I’ve read entirely on my new iPad.
MacBook Air(port) cleared by TSA
The original MacBook Air confused the TSA when it was introduced two years ago.
Now, CNN is reporting that the TSA has cleared the new MacBook Air so you don’t have to take it out of your bag for screening:
Apple may wish to avoid comparisons of the MacBook Air to similarly compact but underpowered netbooks. However, like netbooks, Apple’s new laptop is “smaller than a standard-size laptop,” meaning it can stay in a bag, said TSA spokesman Nicholas Kimball.
When I still had my Eee PCs I always had to remove them from my bag when going through security and they were a lot smaller than the new Macbook Air. Granted, they were thicker and that probably affected the x-ray photos, but it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out at the airport checkpoints.
The Evolution of the Geek
I found this on Flowtown via the Nerdist:
In the past, being described as a geek was considered an insult, for it reflected a certain manner of social skills or status. Today, it is used to describe someone impassioned or obsessed by a particular area or interest. This reclamation of “geek” has even gone so far as to filter into commerce, with the ever-popular “Geek Squad” from Best Buy.
I’m not sure I agree with the “ever-popular ‘Geek Squad’ from Best Buy” part, but the flowchart image is great. How many Geek branches can you identify with? I trend mostly to the middle and right side .
Happy Birthday, Dizzy Gillespie!
Famous jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie would have have been 93 today … check out Google’s cool Doodle:
Being a trumpet player myself, I was a big fan of Dizzy, primarily because of his sweet horn and the cheeks (although try as I might I could never play with my cheeks puffed out like that). When I was a freshman in high school I had an upperclassman bully (yes, they exist even in marching band!) take my cornet and bend the bell up (why he did this, I cannot remember). It kinked the bell tube though so of course it wouldn’t play that well. My parents had it repaired but that was pretty much the last straw for that old horn (which I had been playing since grade school) and I ended up getting a new silver Yamaha trumpet (which I still own and occasionally play) so it ended well. 😉
One of my favorite memories of Dizzy was his appearance on The Muppet Show:
Man, that guy could blow! Happy Birthday, Dizzy!