That's What She Said

This just made me smile for one minute and 49 seconds straight. I can't wait for new episodes of good TV!!!

Happy Birthday GMo!

Though Genevieve's Oscar picks last night didn't come in quite the way J-Wed's did, there's still reason to celebrate....today is GMo's birthday! Happy birthday....hope it doesn't turn into a case of the Mondays!

A Fun Times Conspiracy Theory - The Ring's Survivor Luck

Submitted for your review: alternate theory as to why the Rings do well in the Survivor draft.

For the first few Survivor: Fun Times seasons, the punishment for having your draftee voted off the island (or in the case of Survivor: China, voted off the gigantic land mass) was to supply dessert the following Thursday.

Since the Rings losing a player would result in a diabetic-friendly dessert (read: cardboard aftertaste) the following week, you all subconsciously hoped that we would do well. Those thoughts not only impacted the draft/selection process for players but also traveled back in time and around the world and impacted the players themselves as the played the game. The really is no force in the world like the collective will of the TNFT group (it's on par with the strong force... also transmitted as gluons).

This subconscious behavior has become habit, as is evident in our success so far (even though we are not doing the dessert thing anymore).

The Luckiest - Survivor Style

Does anyone else think the Ring luck is ridiculously weighted when it comes to Survivor?

Sheesh. Katherine loses a player and picks up a fantastic replacement.

Kevin has the best of the pretty people gang, somehow the least threatening fave who is smart enough to know when to keep his mouth shut.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Survivor producers try to thwart the Ring luck this week only to have Kathleen spend yet one more night on Exile Island, find the stupid idol and return to further strengthen the juggernaut.

Other non Ring thoughts, since I watched delayed version this week and couldn't discuss. Cirie is toast, there is no way her "alliance" lets her get to the merge and there aren't consequences for putting her foot down right now. Too early to make your stand. Are the faves sending Kathleen to Exile so she will find the idol and therefore stick around as a weaker player on the other team, or do they think she won't ever find it?

Congrats to Jenny!

My official congratulations to Weddel J for her victory at the Oscars Watch party last night. Who knew she had so much pop culture knowledge?! Well, I guess we all did, but isn't it nice when all the hard work of studying (reading mags and watching movies in this case) pays off in the end? I hereby crown you queen of Oscar Watch until next year.

Bummer for Atonement and Michael Clayton, both significantly nominated and surprisingly non-awarded. What was it, just one major award between them?

Thanks for the cupcakes, they were tasty!

Happy Birthday Danielle!!!

Woo woo!!

It's Go Time

The Survivor premiere is on Thursday, and we still need to decide how we're going to draft. I think we're all okay waiting for the numbers to dwindle until we'll just have two each. We can choose from the following options for the selection process:

A) Pick numbers to draft two Survivors
B) Randomly pick two Survivors
C) Draft one, randomly pick one

My vote is for C.

Also, Fun Timer and Nebraskan Kim will be making a special appearance at Grand Rapids Fun Times this week, so we will be watching the premiere in only two different places. That's a little better, right?

Barton Broke His Nose

Unfortunately, no, this is not the new title of my first children's book I plan to author.

Yesterday Barton did his best to protect me from rainy traffic patterns and ended up with a smashed hood and broken front fender. All in all, everyone is OK, but I certainly don't recommend getting in a car accident in the rain. I am reliving the stream of thoughts that went through my end in the bizarre circumstance of seeing a large passenger van careen from one side of the freeway to the other.

What is happening? Do I speed up or slow down? Where is that going to ricochet? Am I slowing down fast enough? If I break harder will I slide? Is that a true perpendicular angle? Is anyone behind me?

Needless to say, all of that was overcome with What just happened? and Is anyone hurt? (the answers to which are you hit the van and no, thankfully) but I am struck at how quickly the mind can work. After a few minutes getting cold in the rain, climbing into a tow truck and being rescued by my parents, the day was able to continue.

I still hate airbags and love seatbelts. I am now driving Big Behemoth, my affectionate nickname for my parents old Mercedes, at least until the insurance companies straighten things out and I can get a rental car.

Yikes! Thank goodness for safe Hondas and Chevy vans. It could have been so much worse.

Oh yeah, and boooooo Giants.

Choosing a Candidate

They say you should never discuss politics or religion, but here I am broaching the subject. We talked about candidate-picking quizzes a bit at Fun Times, and I went home and found several options (and took them all). I wanted to pass along the URLs....perhaps they will be helpful at the polls on Tuesday. I'll keep the results in the comments section, so if you don't want to know how much of a commie bastard I am, don't read the comments.

First is my favorite from the last election, from SelectSmart. It gets right to the issues and allows you to provide a priority level for each question: SelectSmart

Next up is the Electoral Compass, which not only shows candidate affinities but also places you on an economic left/right and social progressive/conservative spectrum: Electoral Compass

Next, from a small-town news channel in Illinois, is WQAD's Select a Candidate Quiz. Simple, but still surprisingly accurate.

Next up is my least favorite, USAToday's Candidate Match Game. I didn't really like the questions, but it includes every candidate, including those that dropped out long ago. It's also pretty fun, graphically.

Glassbooth asks you to prioritize the issues, then tailors the questions to the importance you place on each topic.

The last is perhaps the most interesting, and definitely the most unique. It explores the mathematical concepts behind voting in general, and demonstrates that an election result could be changed by the manner in which it's conducted. It's part of Mathematics Awareness Month.

Happy voting!

Celebrity Run-ins

One of my favorite celebrity encounters happened when Kevin and I were in New York. We had ducked into a stationary shop to pick something up, and as we walked back outside, Kevin wasn't looking where he was going and almost ran into someone. "Watch out, Kev," I said. "Don't run over Ethan Hawke." He looked cold (Ethan Hawke, not Kevin).

And, my freshman year of college, I was running on the track with my roommate. This was right after the summer Olympics when the US women's gymnastics team had finally beaten the Russians to win the gold medal. My roommate and I started joking about Kerri Strug, who had injured herself in the course of competition that summer. I started fake limping as I was running and yelling something about Bela Karolyi. We were cracking up about this -- I think I even fell down, clutching my ankle, at one point. And then we heard someone running right behind us on the track. We sort of calmed down, and then Kerri Strug ran past. I knew she had enrolled at UCLA that fall, but I hadn't seen her at all before that moment, and actually never saw her again. I think that was for the best.

I'm a big jerk.