dead zone season 4

2005.05.31 15.23

I'm back in Phila for the summer. I got some bonding time with my cars and took care of that nasty warrant thingy. The only car that I've got valid insurance for is the DeLorean, so I got a lot of fun out of that. On Saturday there was much goofing off and some playing at Gladiators in Sugarland. On Sunday the goofing off continued unabated and I hung out with Shawn and Parker for some movie night. The Specials. One time see. I liked it, but it was just eh. I worked out with my sister on Monday (cardio). First time at a 24 Hour Fitness. I liked it except they're even more pushy about forcing guests to talk to someone about signing up than Bally's is. That's what makes those gyms sucky to me. I know they need people to join in order to stay in business, but find another way to solicit me. This is a quicky entry, and I'll end this one like I've done the others -- with blatant promotion of something I'm excited about. The Dead Zone: Season Four starts in just under two weeks on the USA Network. I'd lend you a copy of my Season One DVD (as soon as QueenBeth finishes holding it hostage!). Heh.

back in the sad dull

2005.05.27 11.24

I'm headin' back to Texas for what appears to be three days chock full of isolated thunderstorms. I can't wait! Bring on the rain, b****es! Anyway, yeah, I'm coming back home for a short while. I'll pet my doggy. I'll see the family. My dad is in Europe somewhere this week. Paris? Rome? I'm not sure which. I need to take a vacation this year. I want to go to Japan or some country in Asia. That's unexplored Super Genius territory. Maybe I'll make a commercial for whiskey while I'm there. Or not. Okay, I don't really have a lot to say. I'm still at the Holiday Inn on 4th and Arch. I did back and chest yesterday and Spider-Man is lookin' good. If I can convince my body to stay awake long enough, I may make an attempt at visiting Number's Night Club tonight. One of these days I'm going to go on a Strike-Out Frenzy where I just hit on as many girls as possible and keep striking out until one of them doesn't turn me down. I'll definitely need a wing-man for that. Volunteers?

Batman Begins

resident evil

2005.05.26 9.56

My AMEX bill is crazy high due to my expenses this month. That tends to leave me with a sense of impending doom until I pay it off every month. I'm not a big fan of doing expenses, but the fact that it lifts the doom off me does help matters. I have been trying to lock down a place to stay that isn't a hotel. During May the rates have been terrible due to proms, graduations, weddings and the beginning of the tourist season. If you can manage to book 30 days in a row, you *may* be able to get $59 a day. All the long term stay places were booked through the summer, and places like the Resident ''Evil'' Inn were asking $159 a day. What's the point of my whining about all this? Because I think I found a place to stay in a nice neighborhood near my old stomping grounds. In truth, I only stomped when I had snow on my feet. Stupid snow! I'll post more details as they become available. In the meantime, here's a cool picture of Christian Bale as Batman.

early in the morning

2005.05.24 5.42

This past weekend I saw three films: REVENGE OF THE SITH, ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM, and MONSTER-IN-LAW. I couldn't find anyone willing to see SITH with me on opening day (something I've done ever since EMPIRE STRIKES BACK came out in 1980). Here's the blog entry I wrote with my Blackberry while I was sitting in the theater waiting for the show to start. If you've got 'em, smoke 'em.

I'm sitting on the first row if the sdtadium seating at the Plymouth Meeting 12 theater -- the same place I saw ATTACK OF THE CLONES in 2002. This will be the last Star Wars movie I ever see. Woo -- that's kind of a cool thought. I believe I've seen all of the films on opening day except the first film. I need to check with the parents about an estimation of when that happened. I bought tickets for the 9 o'clock show but I am sitting in the 7:45 auditorium. Is that bad? There was no giant line to get in although it is filling up. I have managed to keep the plot of SITH somewhat unknown other than what is obvious and what's been in the commercials. A guy I work with in Houston is the absolute master at keeping himself in the dark and avoiding spoilers whenever possible. I don't have that kind of willpower. Oh! The video previews are going now. I talked to my dad before getting in to the show. He'll be seeing SITH tomorrow. It really is getting packed. Hmmm. That's the way I like it. Movie Watcher Network pre-show countdown is on. Holy crap! In the last 45 seconds an enormous number Last Possible Minute people have poured in. This is gonna be one of those shout at the screen movies, I believe. I guess I'll put my blackberry away now and will report back later with my customary short but sweet and to the point review.
As far as my review of SITH? I loved it. It wasn't perfect -- especially some of the terrible dialog -- but you can't beat the action! Lucas has it down to a science. Tension? Thrills? Excitement? All there. Jar Jar Binks doesn't speak. Nice touch. Maybe he invented Jar Jar just so he wouldn't be able to talk in this film. The contrast between Episode I and Episode III is quite stark if you hold them side by side. I believe Lucas was doing some on the job training when he started directing again. SITH is his senior thesis. I would like to see Darth Vader do more talking and killing, but I digress. Go see it. Go to Burger King and buy a Star Wars kids meal, and wonder why they sell toys for a PG-13 film that are designed for little kids ages 3 to 5.

As far as reviews of the other films I saw... ENRON was a dry yet entertaining documentary about the rise and fall of a local Houston energy giant. After viewing the film, however, you'll probably view the company as a bunch of lying criminals -- I do. Some of the things they did in order to create artificial demand for things stinks of bad form. Ken Lay and his cronies deserve all the jail time they can get, IMHO. Geez. And on the other side of the fence, MONSTER-IN-LAW is a chick-flick friendly comedy starring J.Fo and J.Lo. I have had a crush on Jane Fonda ever since I first laid eyes on her. My dad owned the soundtrack for BARBARELLA on LP and she was lookin' good on the cover. Mmmm. The supporting cast of MONSTER was great and I felt that all their performances were well in line for the type of movie I was expecting. I saw ENRON and The Ritz Bourse (the arty theater). I saw MONSTER at The Bridge, the New York Prices theater. I had two martinis before the show started which, I'm sure, helped me get over the fact that I was seeing my third movie alone in four days. I bonded with the girl serving hot dogs for three minutes. Good enough for me.
mini-soda

2005.05.16 10.44
Last week I got to work from Minneapolis, Minnesota. I flew into the Minneapolis / St. Paul Airport and drove straight to the Hotel Sofitel. I was supposed to fly in the night before, but I got booted off the preferrable 7 PM Tuesday night flight in lieu of the icky 6 AM Wednesday morning flight. I flew Northwest Airlines, or as I like to call them, Help Us Not Go Bankrupt Airlines. I sat next to a really pretty girl, but she was mainly interested in sleeping and being unconscious and breathing dramatically as she dreamt of doing aerobic exercises. Urgh! I tried to distract myself by concentrating on my book Microserfs. I usually only read when I'm on planes, but I couldn't focus and decided to give up and sleep through the trip. I was still jumpy from Hertz totally whaling on my bill when I turned in my rental car early. Never turn in a car early without warning them. Trust me on this. My travel agent person gave me bad advice about it so I had to beg and plead not be charged $900 for having a rental car for 10 days. Crikey. I still don't know what the outcome of that is. Anyway, I got to the hotel and showered and left for work. I found the corporate office fairly quickly and was super-busy for the next three days thereafter. I had a great dinner at a place called Ike's somewhere in downtown Minneapolis. 40's style restaurant with fast service. My buddy (and coworker) Kevin (see his video in an early blog entry) was with me and my run of sitting next to pretty girls continued. They were yapping so much that it was impossible to slip in a witty response or aside to their conversation. There's nothing like hijacking conversations so you can improve your hookup possibilities. Sadly, no hijacking nor hookups occurred. I went back to the hotel and played with my bidet for a few hours, then fell asleep. Good times.

I got a ticket on April 9, 2005 for an illegal left turn I made off Westheimer. I thought I had all my ducks in a row after mailing off my defensive driving goodies, but it turns out I sent them to the wrong courthouse. I've got warrant out for my arrest as a result which could be paid with a $200 fine. The fine for the actual offense is $175. That's a lot of money. I was tipped off that my ducks had drowned by the Three Amigos bonding agency that called me during lunch. For $71, I could post bond and reset my court date. I like the sound of that. I plan to do that when I get back into town as this place is open 10 AM - 3PM on Saturdays and Sundays and 6 AM to midnight Monday through Friday. Hopefully my certified letter sent erroneously to the Harris County Precinct 4 courthouse will be there (it contains a cashiers check for $85 that I will be repurposing for my bonding). The moral of the story? Don't turn left from Westheimer to Shephard.
more superman deleted scenes

2005.05.15 12.51
I've got two more little gems to post from my cache of deleted scenes from Superman: The Movie. The first is a really nice little piece featuring Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure) as he emulates Perry White while speaking to a coworker. Jimmy apparently has some authority over this guy. He is promptly humiliated when Perry asks him for some coffee. Jimmy shrugs it off and delegates the coffee request to the coworker. It's a funny little piece and you do get to see Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder shuttle out of the office after Perry White has given his, ''What are you standing around for? MOVE!'' speech.

The second deleted scene is a short piece lopped off after Lex Luthor is given his robe by Otis while still standing in the pool. In the theatrical cut, the scene ends with Otis looking down and grunting as he realizes his mistake. This scene continues as Otis belts out apology after apology and attempts to ring the water out of the robe as Luthor exits the pool.

steve bridges

2005.05.14 20.33
More goodies have been showing up in the Super Genius mailbag in the last week.
From: Steve Bridge <sbridge21@hotmail.com>
To: Mark Shields
Date: May 13, 2005 6:07 PM
Subject: BATMOBILE

Hello my name is Steve and I would like to explain something to you called
POWER TO WEIGHT RATIO. I was reading through your journal and saw that you
don't know what it means. I will even quote you 

[quote snipped]

The person you are talking to was not talking about the phsyical size of the
motor. He was talking about the horsepower. Say the BATMOBILE weighed
6,000lbs. It will take more horespower to move that 6,000lbs around than say
a 3,000lbs BATMOBILE. It works the same for anything. Say you had a
motorcycle and you were going to race a Chevy Suburban with it. The
motorcycle only weighs 600lbs compared to the the Chevy that weights
6,500lbs. Even though the bike has a smaller motor, smaller meaning
horsepower and size of engine, it will go faster because it dosen't have to
move so much weight. He wanted to know the weight and horsepower so he coud
make one that was faster than yours. It is really simple phsyics. I work for
Ford Motor Company in Temecula, Ca. I do alot of front end work on cars and
specialize in automotive electronics. I have built alot of hotrods in my
life and know what I am talking abot. I would love to talk to you more about
this. Or if you have any qusetions please email me back at ---
Sbridge21@hotmail.com
                                                  Steve Bridge


From: Mark Shields
To: Steve Bridge <sbridge21@hotmail.com>
Date: May 14, 2005 2:17 AM
Subject: Re: BATMOBILE

Whatever.



From: Steve Bridge <sbridge21@hotmail.com>
To: Mark Shields
Date: May 14, 2005 2:27 AM
Subject: Re: BATMOBILE

No, not whatever. I am trying to help you, so when you talk to someone about
your car you don't sound like a dumbass. A thanks might have been a better
e-mail to send you f***ing ass****. The people on your sight must know what
they are talking about bceause you are just a little b**** with a cool car
you don't disserve.
Okay, kiddies. Let's first make a list of all of Steve ''Burning'' Bridge's misspellings.

phsyical
horespower
dosen't
coud
phsyics
qusetions
sight
bceause
disserve
Steve, duhhhhhhr.... doooo I nnnnneeeeed tooooo taaaaaalk slooooowly soooo yoooou cannnnn understandddddd Enggggglish? Honestly, I don't care. Really. Fine, you're right about the whole thing. I stand corrected. Now, please, for the love of all that is holy, visit this site.
UPDATE! I replied to his latest email by saying, "Hahaha." Here's what I got back:
From: Steve Bridge <sbridge21@hotmail.com>
To: Mark Shields
Subject: Re: BATMOBILE
Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 18:24:29 -0700

Why do you p*** people off? Is that how you get your kicks? I thought I was 
going to help your dumbass but, it  looks like you don't know even enough to 
type an actual e-mail with a full sentance in it. Holly s***!!!! I just 
realized you are a worthless f***. Sorry, I tried to help a retard like you!
Hey, look at that! Another one for the list. Tsk. That site I mentioned is still waiting for you, Steve-o. (I hope he's ready to become famous for acting like a five year old).

sentance
UPDATE: PART DEUX: Steve wrote me back (surprise!) and claimed that ''SIGHT'' didn't belong on the list because it was spelled correctly. Wow. He sure does know wrong from WRITE! Nyuk nyuk. Surprisingly, Steve also acknowledged that he is in fact only five years old. I figured.
revenge of the fit

2005.05.06 9.09
I revisited by training grounds on Wednesday with a one hour training session with Justin. It was a chest workout and I believe this is what went on during my hour.

Get warmed up on the elliptical for 10 minutes at L5 setting
Decline Bench Press: 16 & 12 reps at 90 pounds, then 10, 8, 6 & 4 reps at 110 pounds
Dumbell Bench Press: 4 sets of 10 reps; 25 pounds for rep 1 and 2 then 30 pounds for reps 3 and 4
Dumbell Flies: 4 sets of 10 reps; 15 pounds for rep 1 then 20 pounds for reps 2, 3 & 4
Lever Chest Press: 4 sets of 12 reps at 80 pounds
Pec Deck Flies: 2 sets at 70 pounds until failure (faster! faster!). I did around 27 or 28 each go 'round
On Thursday I had some soreness from the workout (a good thing). I visited Style of Man in Manayunk and got my hair chopped. While I was getting my haircut, I reflected on the fact that I got some flack from my readers about how mean my last entry was. I usually ignore silly emails, but I couldn't resist. I could have had a field day posting all of the emails I received while my car was up for sale on ebay. For example, someone wanted to know if I would be interested in just selling my car's rims. I told them I'd sell them for $9000 and as a bonus I'd throw in a free car.
take one, doh!

2005.05.05 15.25
I've got some video of a buddy of mine in two matches that he participated in recently. Click here for Kevin Grainer Kicking Some A** and Taking Names.
mailbag

2005.05.04 7.32
In today's Super Genius Mailbag, web site visitor VizionzofSpace@aol.com wrote inquiring about my replica batmobile. Here's a transcript of our conversation:
From: VizionzofSpace1@aol.com
To: Mark Shields
Date: May 2, 2005 11:44 PM
Subject: Weight of Bat Car?

How much does the bat car weigh? I am doing research before I contact my
people to build one from scratch, but I would like to know what the car weighs
and how many horses does the engine have?
 
Thanks 
Respectfully,
G



From: Mark Shields
To: VizionzofSpace1@aol.com
Date: May 3, 2005 10:23 AM
Subject: Re: Weight of Bat Car?

Ask me a non-stupid question, and I'll answer it



From: VizionzofSpace1@aol.com
To: Mark Shields
Date: May 3, 2005 3:28 PM
Subject: Re: Weight of Bat Car?

that isn't  a stupid question.....the weight of the car is imperitive to figuring out
the engine needed.... but if you'd like to be a jerk off, then go ahead.........


From: Mark Shields
To: VizionzofSpace1@aol.com
Date: May 3, 2005 4:47 PM
Subject: Re: Weight of Bat Car?

First, it's spelled IMPERATIVE.

Second, you obviously know NOTHING about cars, because if you did
you'd realize that the weight of the car means nothing as far as what
kind of engine you'd put in it.  Why don't you ask me how big the
engine bay is?  At least that would have something to do with how big
an engine you can put in the car.  DUH!

Duhrrrr.  I'm done talking to you.



From: VizionzofSpace1@aol.com
To: Mark Shields
Date: May 3, 2005 4:56 PM
Subject: Re: Weight of Bat Car?

Thanks jerk off.......You'll never work in the film industry again..... 
Have a nice day....



From: Mark Shields
To: VizionzofSpace1@aol.com
Date: May 4, 2005 6:32 AM
Subject: Re: Weight of Bat Car?

I'm telling your daddy that you called me a name!  You'll be so sorry!
Oh no! I'll never work in the film industry... again?

Next!
i'm baaaaaack

2005.05.03 8.23
I arrived at Bush Intercontinental Airport at 5 PM. My dad drove me and dropped me off at the Terminal A passenger drop off. A quick hug later and I was checking in and going through the rigors of the security check-in. It's been only three months since I travelled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it feels like I never really left. The historic district is, well, still historic. The drive down I-76 can get really busy in the morning but you can avoid the traffic by hopping onto East River Drive (a.k.a. Kelly Drive). I'm back at work here at The Client Site™ although this time I'm temporarily sitting near a window. That's a luxury considering we're in the basement. Think about it. Wait for it.

My sister is taking care of Chew Chew. They were considering buying a dog so I figured he'd make a good training dog. My neice is having a blast and really bonding with Chew -- something I hadn't considered at first. That's a good thing. He's getting regular walks and regular hugs. I joked that it's a good thing he's being treated well since I was letting him have full run of the yard with limited run of the house as a result of living with The Cat™. He was having a turf issue with my housesitter's kitty, so he's been limited to the confines of my bedroom and his crate whenever he's been inside. I'm looking for a pet friendly place to stay at while I'm up here. The Holiday Inn is not pet friendly. La Quinta is pet friendly -- but guess how many of those are up on the east coast?