UConn James

"[sNIFFFF] Are these made of hickory or did Jose loan these to the horse guard again?? [sNIFFFFFF]"

Link

And as a corollary, I think Federer is kind of tired. As they put up the graphic after his wife Mirka gave birth last year, the last father to win any major, iirc was Rod Laver. Granted that tennis is a younger man's game and that by default any man old enough to be having kids has lost a step... but it also plays into new responsibilities, new priorities and such. I have to chime in that I am a huge Wimbledon fan, to go on top of being a majors fan. Those are special fortnights. I haven't been disappointed by a Wimbledon final in a while. That one with Roddick a couple of years ago (the year after the epic Nadal-Federer one) went five sets, he wasn't broken until the final game/set/match, and he gave his all. I don't know what match anybody else was watching. That was a great one, maybe only to the one the year before.

I'm going to be looking into getting rid of the landline phone from AT&T with the number we've had since time out of mind. But, as I understand (and I have a cousin who's done it), you can keep the number and transfer it to a cell phone. That way you don't lose connection to people who only have that number. Just go first through whichever company you're switching to. Phone companies are keen on winding down their landline services due to the decline in popularity and the cost of upkeep of the lines. So, I think we're going to switch to DSL w/o phoneline (and double the connection speed; they just recently have this service in our area) and switch the phone number to a $10/mo. tack-on for an existing Verizon family plan --- and with all this, it'll ~ be the same or less costwise. It's just going to be a little tricky trying to coordinate it.... You know, my mum's side of the family had a dairy farm in WNY with a party line. My grandparents both died in the last few years (at 96 and 88) and so it goes like that Yeats poem that "things fall apart, the center cannot hold." My uncle, who kept on the farm, actually lost the old # when he converted to a cell phone. My sh--head of a cousin (nephew to said uncle) said he'd save it, and then for whatever reason, didn't. They still received calls from relations in Holland all those years, but now with the loss of the number they're out of touch.

Nadal, at the end of his run, is probably going to be the best ever. Agreed on the Federer points. For those of us who are antenna-only, ESPN3.com is awesome. This year, I only caught one match in the two weeks online, but it's awesome that it's there. Same deal as the NHL, tennis is SO much better in HDTV. You know, besides Nadal picking at the rear end of his shorts....

And they both make loads of money on a legacy by tantalizing fans and perpetually re-releasing incremental-improvement (based on the physical medium delivered to the masses, and saying nothing of the writing/acting in the prequels) versions of their products. In the case of SW: VHS, VHS with 1997 edits, VHS with 2004 edits. Only then after 10 years of DVD profligacy and he'd drained the VHS market fully did Lucas release DVDs. And then came out in original versions, 1997 edits versions, 2004 extended edits versions, Blu-rays will finally be released this fall, then 3-D Blu-ray will be released whenever those sales drop off.

It is legal in Oregon, Washington state, and Montana per a recent ruling by the state supreme court.

As an irrevocable reproduction control measure, tho....

If anyone's seen Frontline's "The Suicide Tourist," that's the kind of grace and some measure of dignity in which one should be allowed to leave this world. Gov't allows better treatment for our dogs through veterinarians than people through doctors when it's clear that things are going rapidly downhill. There are awesome things possible now, where the body can be manipulated and they can rob Peter to pay Paul. But medicalized longevity only makes The End harder and more drawn-out once you hit the wall with a terminal condition and there's little or nothing more they can do for you. I don't know enough about Kevorkian specifically to make much comment, but he forced a conversation in this country that we all need to consider, and either way, not judge other people based on what they believe is right. Link

Why are you intent on making a generality applicable to someone in particular?

Condolences, mead. SILENTLY A FLOWER BLOOMS In silence it falls away; Yet here now, at this moment, at this place, the whole of the flower, the whole of the world is blooming. This is the talk of the flower, the truth of the blossom. The glory of eternal life is shining here. - Abbot Zenkei Shibayama Roshi

Winner.

The storms (so far) have skirted the CT-MA border, just to our north by about 10 miles.

OK, just watched the trailer. Gotta say that this looks similarly good. Definitely lots of comedy value there, but it's a different sort of comedy --- a wittier, dry humor --- that lives inside a drama, as opposed to being entirely comedic real estate where it's anything for a laugh. Based on what I've seen, Ferrell's better movies are ones in which he had no part in the ideation/pre-production/writing. "Everything Must Go" is based on a short story by Raymond Carver.

The Thanksgiving weekend games are typically (and maybe officially?) throwback uni games. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the case for that weekend --- we've had the '64-'65 throwbacks, but they would now probably be considered too close to the upcoming current set; and with the Donahoe atrocities just dumped, the only substantially different unis are the Super Bowl era set.

I'm also wondering about "Everything Must Go." Ferrell really surprised me in "Stranger Than Fiction." The whole concept was great, totally absorbed me, and a big part of it was him breaking away from from his usual comedy stuff. I haven't watched the trailer yet, but sight unseen, this new one has a lot of potential.

Ramius quite obviously meant that as the "red [helmet with] charging buffalo."

I'm not one for Woody Allen movies, but the mention and some clips on "Ebert Presents..." sparked my interest in "Midnight in Paris." Even if it is Owen Wilson.

If it were in America, they would be drafting 18- to 30-year-olds to do it. Not a doubt in my mind.

Eric isn't wrong. The last uniform unveiling event was for the throwbacks, in 2005. Link.

This date was mentioned by someone on the Chris Creamer site a few weeks ago, actually. ON EDIT: that person said June 25th. Guess they might've nixed it as a Saturday event in favor of a Friday night.... And from all the things they're promoting, it looks like they're only hoping that there to be a CBA deal in place by then. Well, you're sure to be disappointed then. The switch to a white helmet was confirmed in the Bills press release back in Feb.

As I've written in a movie thread, I watched all of the SW movies in order over a few days this past winter, after not having seen the prequels when they came out. You know, it's like one of those bucket list things that in crossing it off, closes a chapter in life. I believe it was "Revenge of the Sith" and yeah, besides Hayden Christensen being a block of wood with a pulse, the prequels weren't as bad as I had heard.

Having this region lose the Hartford Whalers back in the late '90s really sucked. The owner was just hellbent on moving to the South, and many believe that Gary Bettman was no less a part in it. In a ticket drive, they got up to over 15K that last year in Hartford as a sign of good faith that people would come out to save the franchise. Instead, they moved to a barn in North Carolina and drew less than 5K (and many of those were complimentary tickets) the first several seasons. So, I can commiserate with Thrashers fans. But I also commiserate with Winnipeg fans who had their team ripped out from under them too. And, with Winnipeg being a town that supports hockey with a fervor Atlanta will never come close to, I have to say that I'm happy for W-Jets fans. Maybe, just maybe, (especially with a guy here who's pumping money into the Hartford AHL team and putting on an NHL-affiliated hockey-fest back in February at an outdoor stadium) there's some hope at resurrecting the Whale.

I've gotta go with the first, "Sorcerer's Stone" that introduced everything. "The Empire Strikes Back" is everyone's favorite. I don't care what they say. Also, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was the best Indiana Jones. And to consider it was done in '81.... Oh, and it's not a franchise as such, but David Tennant is the best of the 11 regenerated Doctors on "Doctor Who."

Just to clarify a couple of things... there isn't just one strain of Lyme disease or similar afflictions. There are over 300 strains, from hardly any effects to debilitation and death. There's a SERIOUSLY bad strain that centers around the Westover Air Reserve base in Chicopee, Massachusetts, where probably a couple dozen people in a close relative's unit have been infected. It attacks the CNS and everything goes to hell. Especially if you're in the woods or the leaves, use sprays (there are actually some natural lemon ones that work better than DEET and the heavy chemical ones), check yourself over, and give your dog a thorough petting for bumps. Lyme vaccine at the vet is useful for only a few strains. And I'm uncertain that length of time it's been on you increases the possibility of infection. Lyme is bacterial. I guess it makes sense, but it's cold comfort to say 'It's only been there for a day...' when we still know so relatively little about it all. And the medical community and the government haven't helped, because they know full well where this came from (Plum Island) and how much they'd be in the **** both from a compensation and public outrage standpoint if they admit this while they can't treat it. Like Agent Orange, they might come clean one day if/when there's only a statistically acceptable number of patients alive.