![[icon]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/32575855/3755494) |
Destroying thought in order to save it
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| | Subject: | How to rid yourself of your "economic stimulus" check in one easy step | | Time: | 11:21 am |
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| | 1. Buy a new suit. | comments: 7 comments or Leave a comment   |
| KNOW YOUR 1980s DENVER BRONCOS now WITH NEW ICON
This week, a special 10th edition of Know Your 1980s Denver Broncos, with NEW ICON and my favorite 1980s Denver Bronco, #81, Steve Watson.
 Steve joined the team in 1979 as an undrafted free agent, yet went on to become of the best receivers in Broncos history. He remains entrenched in the team's all-time receiving record book, standing at fifth in total yards, seventh in receptions, and eighth in touchdowns. His best year came in 1981, when he posted his career bests in yards and touchdowns and was named to the Pro Bowl.
Steve played in Super Bowl XXI, in which the Broncos were pummeled by the Giants 39-20, and in Super Bowl XXII, in which the Broncos were pummeled by the Washington Native Americans 42-10, although he didn't start the latter game. I'm not sure exactly how much he played in that game, if he was injured or simply demoted, but I believe his presence could have pulled the score to a more respectable 42-17.
So what makes Steve Watson so awesome? Steve is my favorite 1980s Denver Bronco, and second all-time favorite player, behind only Terrell Davis. He was a prominent player on my favorite team, and played wide receiver, a position I wanted to play. (This was before I learned that wide receivers are expected to be able to run fast, eliminating any chance I could play it, and also before I realized that youth football does not have a passing game per se, but rather eleven kids running roughly in the same direction on cue. Both of these factors would cause me to abandon my aspirations to play professional football around the age of 10.) Also of note: my parents turned me on to eating salad by convincing me that Steve Watson ate salad*.
Today Steve continues his work with the team as Associate Head Coach. I have no idea what this title entails, but it might mean that he will ascend to the head coaching position one day when Mike Shanahan disappears under mysterious circumstances. He had spent the previous four years as wide receivers coach.
It was difficult to do lazy internet research on Steve Watson because he has a son also named Steve Watson who plays tight end for Michigan. Also, there is a Steve Watson "footballer" who plays for Sheffield Wednesday, and I officially do not understand soccer team names. This is, in fact, Wikipedia's primary Steve Watson. Whereas my hero Steve Watson was relegated to the Steve Watson (American Football) disambiguation. So it was hard to isolate any of the three football playing Steve Watsons in my ten minutes of fastidious research. But enjoy this video of the 1984 Broncos in pictures, with cheesy 1980s music accompaniment.
*Nowadays I eat salad because I believe George Clooney eats salad. | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Tags: | polls | | Subject: | Grammarmisms | | Time: | 11:04 am |
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| Also I noticed yesterday that the new version of Word recognizes and automatically capitalizes "Wikipedia."
Poll #1181387 Grammarmisms
Open to: All, results viewable to: AllCapitalized? One word or two? Oxford comma? | | comments: 6 comments or Leave a comment |
| My book-reading fiscal year ends April 30. Here is my report, submitted for your approval.
This year I completed 40 books. It would've been more, but the fiscal year ended when I was in the middle of three, and I had to put them all aside to get a fourth read by an interlibrary loan due date. So those will all end up on next year's accounts.
For the third year in a row, a pretty great set of books. I'm still catching up, really, from many years spent in college and grad school, when recreational reading was nigh impossible. So my "to-read" list is still miles long, and contains many books I am very eager to get through. Nor does the list really shrink, so it threatens to remain incomplete even as death grows ever closer.
My favorite new read of the year was probably Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware. It's a graphic novel, but it counts. I'm happy to have done some RE-reading this year, which I hadn't done in a while. I re-read Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed and Asimov's Foundation trilogy, and I'm pleased to report they are both still awesome. Neil Stephenson's Cryptonomicon cemented him as one of my favorite writers, but the man has serious logorrhea. As much as I like him, it's hard to imagine actually undertaking his Baroque Cycle books, which clock in at about 2700 pages. I mean, when it's that or like nine other books, you know?
I ticked off six more Hugo winners from the list. (Le Guin and Asimov were winners but they were re-reads, so already tallied.) I've got aboout 30 to go, and seem to get through about 5-7 a year. So I think I'm going to have to postpone the Hugo Award Winner completion party until probably early 2013. I'll let you know.
( The list )
Oh yeah, if any of you are on GoodReads, hit me up on the friend-o-matic. | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Ouch | | Time: | 11:58 am |
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| This morning I went to the dentist and was punished for not being a good flosser.
Everyone remember to floss tonight. | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | The upcoming helium crisis? | | Time: | 02:12 pm |
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| From Wired:
"1 Although helium is the second-most-plentiful element in the cosmos — it's synthesized in stars by nuclear fusion — Earth is running short of the noble gas. Extracted from natural gas, our supply accumulated in the planet's crust over billions of years — the result of radioactive decay. One-third of that stash lies in the Texas panhandle, and if it continues to be consumed at the current rate, it'll be gone in nine years."
Weird. I kinda think we can just make more (with SCIENCE), but the presumption is that it's more expensive to do so.
Also I thought this gallery of pictures of people recreating pictures of themselves as kids was interesting. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Of marginal interest | | Time: | 04:51 pm |
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| Today, Thursday, for me, is Friday. Because I'm taking tomorrow, Friday, off, making it my Saturday. But it's not that great because I'm working Saturday and Sunday, so those will be like Monday and Tuesday. Anyway, I plan to spend my Saturday (your Friday) sleeping a lot and reading, and will probably watch a somewhat meaningless Pirates-Cubs game mid-day just because it's on TV and I can.
So on Monday, which I guess for me will be like Wednesday, I have jury duty. JURY DUTY. I have never actually had jury duty before. The one other time I was drawn I had just moved out of the county so I got out of it (very conveniently, wouldn't you agree?).
I recently gave up on Metroid Prime 2: Echoes because I couldn't beat one of the major bosses near the end. The internet tells me there is only a bit more gameplay after this creature before fighting the actual endgame boss, which is presumably even more difficult. Granted, I only gave this boss maybe five tries. The salient point here is that I exhibited the same behavior towards Metroid Prime (the first). I got to the end boss, couldn't beat him in a handful of tries, and never felt altogether compelled to work harder at it. I enjoy the exploring part of these games, but I guess I don't have the patience anymore to devote a lot of time to defeating frustrating bosses. Since I've arrived at the end (or virtually the end) of the game anyway, there's little incentive to struggling to defeat the boss when there's no reward of further exploration.
So instead I'm playing Adventures of Lolo 2 on wii virtual console. But I'm stuck on that too. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | I'm happy The Office is back, but I request more Creed and more Kevin | | Time: | 04:06 pm |
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| "The reason I wanted to write about yetis in the first place is that they fascinate me. They live exactly the life I want to lead. They rarely interact with humans, they live in the forest, and once in a while they pop up in pictures from your camping trip. The only difference is that I don’t want to have hair all over like that. My father was a hairy guy and it didn’t really do him any good. I prefer to be smooth. Other than that, sign me up for life as a yeti."
(From Creed Thoughts.) | | comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Some things that aren't so interesting I shouldn't be talking about them online | | Time: | 04:07 pm |
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| *I'm thinking of taking up either Strat-o-matic baseball or Baseball Mogul, baseball simulation games designed mostly for one player. But I'm concerned either one will cause permanent damage to my ability to socialize.
*I was leading the work March Madness pool from Days 2-18. Only the tournament lasts 19 days. I got the ultimate outcome wrong and was swallowed up by those who did not. I wouldn't complain except as a pool Commissioner leading the pool for almost the entire duration, I was subject to various accusations of having rigged the outcome. So, I came to feel it was my destiny to take everyone's money and destroy everyone's trust. Then this didn't happen, and I feel empty, somehow.
*Speaking of not winning, our pub trivia team has now gone through a pretty substantial stretch of not winning. We were consistently winning and placing in the beginning, but haven't done better than second or third for a few months, and often not that well. Our adversaries seem to be gaining strength and consistency. For my part, despite being degreed in the sciences, and an information professional in the sciences, I feel that I am not reliably able to answer science trivia questions. Clearly there is a significant difference between the type of science information I need to work with on a daily basis, and what tends to come up in pub trivia. Nevertheless, it wouldn't hurt for me to find a way to memorize the periodic table. | | comments: 7 comments or Leave a comment |
| KNOW YOUR 1980s DENVER BRONCOS
This week, head athletic trainer Steve "Greek" Antonopulos.
 Steve joined the Broncos in 1976 as an assistant trainer. He became head athletic trainer in 1980, and holds the same position today, extending his tenure with the team to more than 30 years.
Steve was with the team for all six of their Super Bowl appearances, including their four early pummelings in Super Bowls XII, XXI, XXII, and XXIV, and their later victories in Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII. Steve's expert handling of Terrell Davis' migraine headache during Super Bowl XXXII enabled TD to come back strong in the second half and lead the Broncos to their first championship.
So what makes Steve Antonopulos so awesome? His longetivity with the team has spanned several decades and hundreds of players. It has been said that he taped "500,000 ankles" in his time (ridiculously high, but you get the idea). During the season, Steve works 80+ hours a week to attend to a roster full of strains, sprains, scrapes, and snaps.
Today Steve continues his work with the team, managing a large training staff and attending to the daily medical needs of a professional football squad. He is generally recognized as one of the better trainers in the league. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Wow. That's much better. Everyone can enjoy that! | | Time: | 03:50 pm |
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| I had orange soda at lunch. This was the first time I had had such in a very long time.
Please note: orange soda does not taste like oranges. It tastes like orange soda. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | EVEN MORE icon love | | Time: | 10:45 am |
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| I also did this yesterday, but here's more why not. This time via ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) quesrah:
Talked about this one yesterday, it's Hum's You'd Prefer an Astronaut. What didn't I say yesterday? It's probably my third favorite album ever. I could get very wistful about itI miss Hum. Except when their music gets co-opted for Cadillac commercials. Then I don't know what to think, except that I might be getting old.
Magritte's "The Voice of Space." I have a poster of this, too. I have no idea what it means or symbolizes. I just like it. It's a lot like typical random science fiction art where there's some sort of crazy machine in the wrong setting.
Dom DiMaggio, AKA "The Little Professor." I use this pretty much whenever I talk about sports, because it's pretty representative of my nerd love of sports. Dom was geeky, short, and wore glasses (compare to his brother Joe, who married Marilyn Monroe, fer cryin out loud). But he was still a good athlete and a great player. I just did some reading on him and he's still alive at 90, and made quite a bit of money in business post-baseball. Neat.
otterkin was making icons one day and I asked for one. So this was my reward. Apparently I mention science fiction or science non-fiction on occasion.
From Amelie. After the whole movie and all of her strategems, she finally gets him close and this scene beautifully draws out the inevitable smooching. I mostly use the icon to connote some kind of reward. Or whenever I talk about stalking Audrey Tautou. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Icon love | | Time: | 12:04 pm |
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| Via zulkey:
1. Reply to this post, and I will pick five of your icons.
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will create a never-ending cycle of icon idolatry.
This is the album cover to Hum's You'd Prefer an Astronaut. One of the two great records from my favorite band. I don't know what they're trying to say with this abstract zebra-on-green image; in my understanding none of the songs are about zebras. This icon gets used for any discussion of music, pretty much. Or zebras, when they come up.
From this flier, which I truly dearly love. I'm not sure what context I might use this icon in (honestly not sure I've ever used it) until maybe when I get a dog and make dog posts, which is at least a year away.
This is from Rushmore, in the quick bit where Dirk is the Mexican representative in mock UN. I like sombreros, and I like that it's comically large on this geeky white kid's head.
The symbol of Donald Pleasance's fascist Omega society in Warrior of the Lost World, my favorite Mystery Science Theater episode. I use this for posts in the MST3K community.
A black mage character from the original NES Final Fantasy. I dig on the black mages, who cast wicked attack spells, and probably never created a party without one. This is frequently used in discussion of video games. | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| KNOW YOUR 1980s DENVER BRONCOS
This week, #20, Louis Wright.
 Louis is one of the best cornerbacks in Broncos' history. He played from 1975-1986, making 163 starts (seventh all-time for the team), and amassed 26 career interceptions. He made five pro bowls, and was selected by Hall of Fame voters to the 1970s All-Decade Team (which does not preclude him from being a great 1980s Denver Bronco). Yet he is inexplicably one of only a few members of that Team not elected to the Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Broncos' Ring of Fame in 1993.
Louis played in Super Bowl XII, in which the Broncos were pummeled by the Cowboys 27-10, and in Super Bowl XXI, in which the Broncos were pummeled by the Giants 39-20.
So what makes Louis Wright so awesome? He was one of the key members of the Broncos' Orange Crush Defense, which was powerful and terrifying despite being named after soda. He set a high standard for Denver's secondary that was later upheld by players like Steve Atwater.
Today Louis lives in Aurora, Colorado, and is a high school football coach and physical education teacher. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Teh sports | | Time: | 10:20 am |
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| 1. I have three fantasy bases-ball teams this year, but will not be eligible for any major trophy victory awards, as all the leagues are free and Yahoo doesn't give prizes to cheapskates who don't put up any cash up front. So, sadly, no new bobbleheads or plaques this season. Unless I make them myself (!)
2. Also, March Madness time. No school I have ever attended or worked at is in the field, and the Big Sky conference representative is only a 16th-seeded sacrifice to Kansas, so I have little rooting interest. Although I do have anti-rooting interest against Duke and Stanford, so there's that. Duke and the other local team are seeded two and one, respectively, and their outcomes will greatly affect the emotions of many of those around me, including several friends, so I have that to consider. Because I can use their emotional vulnerability to capitalize in the office bracket pool. Nah, I kid because I love. And because I want to win. But it'd be fun if UNC won it, provided I did not have a car parked in Chapel Hill that I wanted kept upright and not on fire.
3. I love Bill Raftery: Onions! | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Why they hate us | | Time: | 09:09 am |
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| On the drive to work, I am passed by someone callously disregarding all other drivers: speeding excessively, through a school zone, and cutting people off. However, they have a "1-20-09: End of an Error" bumper sticker commemorating W's impending departure from office.
Overall, is this a good person or a bad person? | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| KNOW YOUR 1980s DENVER BRONCOS
This week, #54, Keith Bishop.
 Keith is generally recognized as one of the best offensive lineman from Denver's 1980s Super Bowl years. He was drafted by the Broncos in 1980 and played center and guard until his retirement after the 1989 season, meaning he played during every year of the 1980s and gets special recognition as a true 1980s Denver Bronco. He was named to two All-Pro teams and two Pro Bowls, in 1986 and 1987, and was given Bob Peck Memorial Award as the team's most inspirational player in 1987.
Keith played in Super Bowl XXI, in which the Broncos were pummeled by the Giants 39-20, Super Bowl XXII, in which the Broncos were pummeled by the Washington Native Americans 42-10, and Super Bowl XXIV, in which the Broncos were pummeled by the 49ers 55-10.
So what makes Keith Bishop so awesome? He serves as an early example of the style of offensive lineman the Broncos have long favored, in that he is a lighter and quicker player than one would normally find on an NFL offensive line. His playing weight is listed at 260 lbs, which was 20-30 pounds lighter than the typical guard in the 1980s. Yet he was still a very effective blocker, more skillful than simply a giant guy getting in the way. Keith is also known for the famous quote, spoken as the Broncos trailed in the 1986 AFC Championship game, but just before John Elway led the team on The Drive: "We've got 'em right where we want 'em."
Keith went on to become a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration. He has since left that work to return to the team as a coaching intern. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Son of a | | Time: | 10:12 pm |
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| | You know what I like to do at night? Wait for plumbers to show up at my house to fix backups. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
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Destroying thought in order to save it
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