odor in the court

2005.06.30 23.13

Flew to Houston Tuesday night. Endured grueling three hour delay for departure which saw us waiting 47th in line to take off. Gawd! I was sitting in a row all by myself -- minor bonus. I arrived in Houston and resolved my first major task -- locating my missing keys. In fact, the stupid keys had been with me the entire freakin' time while I was in Philly simply hidden away in a suitcase pocket. Durh. My absent-mindedness will never wear off completely. I need a yellow disclaimer sticker attached to me to let people know about that. You know, like those stickers in new cars that say the air bags will kill you if you do this or that wrong. I thought they were supposed to save you, but apparently not.

My DeLorean and Eclipse have been parked face-to-face in my car-port garage thing during my time away. The Eclipse was exposed to two terrible things: 1) The elements and 2) This homeless orange cat and its neurotic kitten. These cats have taken up residence outside the kitchen and are of the ''Hey, let's stick around and see if the blonde dude (my housesitter Daniel) will keep feeding us.'' He is officially a cat-person. There. I've said it. The cats left a generous amount of their hair all over my convertible top. Ick. I fear that the cat may have used the cover as a scratching post as well. My solution to this dilemma was to rent out two more 10x20 enclosed units at the storage place where my Batmobile is kept. I'll take dust over cat hair any day.

My time in court was well spent. I went to my office in Houston and did some work there until 5:20 PM. I figured I could drive the seven miles to the courthouse in 40 minutes. Wrong. I made it there in 50. I do not heart Houston traffic. It wasn't a problem, at least, and I got my ''Failure to Appear'' dismissed and the ''Illegal Turn'' ticket will be resolved in 90 days when I take defensive driving yet again. I'd talk more about the strange cast of characters that they had in the courthouse that evening, but I can summarize using these ten words: stupid, ignorant, moronic, discourteous, stubborn, ignorant (yes, I know I already used this one, but it is so dead on), dumb, ditzy, doozy, and dozey. I will not miss my time spent there. I drove home and then saw THE WAR OF THE WORLDS after having dinner with my dad and Parker. Great movie! So much tension. I think a few things happened in there storywise that I disagreed with (what happens to Tim Robbins' character, specifically), but other than that small gripe, I enjoyed the film immensely. Bring a special someone and you will most likely get clawed and clenched through the whole thing. Lucky for me, my dad kept his hands to himself.

i can't move my legs!

2005.06.25 17.58

Had a rough leg workout this morning although, like a trooper, I forged onward and did as I was told. I suspect I will be limping around in the next few days as a result. The last time I did legs was around four weeks ago and, despite mucho pain, I canvassed Northern Liberties later the same day trying to find a place to stay instead of at the hotel (too expensive) or at friend's house (too intrusive) or on the street (too streety). I'm working out twice a week with a few bouts of cardio here and there. Trying to increase my protein intake to improve my muscle mass. My work week has also been very intensive with a few twelve hours days here and there which affects the intake of the protein. I'm working around that by acquiring multiple Detour protein bars. You know you want one.

I figured out a way to park for free at the Holiday Inn. They gave me a green hanging tag when I asked for cheap parking. It's not blatantly obvious that it has since expired and I'm no longer a resident. I still park there on occasion and play ''I Live At The Hotel'' guy. I know I'm gonna get the express elevator to hell someday.

batman memories

2005.06.21 9.40

Last Wednesday night, I visited the IMAX in King of Prussia to see BATMAN BEGINS. The quickie review? Loved it! The one thing that bothered me was the fact that the director of photography chose to film nearly all of the fight sequences in a tight close-up. Other than that -- the direction, design, acting... practically everything is right on the mark and quite entertaining. This is a movie about Batman and the other characters are the supporting players. That's a new take on things. Even though the film didn't do the boffo box office that the studio was hoping for, I pray that they'll make a couple of sequels using the same team. So, go see it and thank me later.

On Thursday, I was granted the honor of hosting QueenBeth once again in Philly. There were no front row Madonna shows this time around, but I think we did okay. On Thursday we made a valiant attempt to watch the first episode of Wonder Woman: Season 3. My brain was hurting for sleep, so I couldn't make it all the way through. Either that or I can't stand any show which features Leif Garret in a primary role. Friday night brought on Cuban food at El Cuba Libre and then onward to The Bridge Theater off 40th to see BATMAN BEGINS once again. Loved it the second time, too. Take the hint. The next day it was off to South Street and Famous' deli for lunch. That evening we hopped on an Amtrak train heading for New York and visited a wax museum and a Broadway show. What Broadway show, you ask? Monty Python's Spamalot. Tim Curry. David Hyde-Pierce. Not bad a bad cast, if you ask me. I was thoroughly entertained by the additional magic they'd created. If you have the means, I highly recommend the Spamalot. Took the night train back into Philly and Beth was off the next morning to here next adventure in Boston. On a boat. I hope that's fun.

Speaking of boats, I *just* heard one of those Real American Genius Bud Lite commercials on the radio this morning. Today's featured genius was Mr. Afraid of the Ocean guy. Now, I'm not saying that I'm afraid of the ocean, but the fact that you can drown in it kind of puts a damper on things for me. I'll stick to terra firma, thank you very much.

superman memories

2005.06.11 10.42

Before I last left Houston, I captured two more samples of deleted scenes from my 1982 copy of the ABC presentation of SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE. In the first scene, the military reacts to the missiles going haywire all of a sudden. The sequence starts off with a general asking if the bomb can be knocked down to which the lieutenant replies ''Function negative, Sir!'' This piece picks up right after the general says: ''My God!'' You will be interested to know that John Ratzenburger (the guy from Cheers, not the guy from the Vatican) plays the lieutenant. They show him pushing buttons and looking exasperated. The scene then shifts to the Pentagon and eventually ends up on a golf course where the president of the United States is stuck in a dirt trap.

This second short and sweet additional dialog occurs when Lex is in his library researching whether or not kryptonite might have fallen to earth at some point. This was pre-Smallville on the WB, of course. If he'd gone to Smallville there should have been tons of it to go around. Otis and Miss Teschmacher argue when Otis presents something as if he first mentioned it, and Miss T. declares that she already said that. I know, it's not that interesting a piece of deleted dialog, but it does make you think about getting your lines cut. Good times.

bird on a wireless

2005.06.07 22.24

Even though I'm staying at a Holiday Inn with free wireless internet access, I haven't had any internet goodness for a long time. My bed also had a crack in the frame which gave it an annoying dip. After minor begging and crying, the staff finally agreed to move me from the 7th floor to the 5th floor right across from the elevator. Apparently the elevator is the secret location for the wireless transmitter. The signal in my new room is crazy strong, and the bed is crazy flat. This room is designed for older folks as it has a lot of extra space, extra handles on walls, and an extra weird shower stall. I'm looking forward to using that, actually. It took me all of 10 minutes to move out of the old and into the new. Expect more updates.

I have to return to Houston late Tuesday the 28th so that on Wednesday the 29th I can make my 6 PM court appearance. Sucks! I moved my LasikPlus appointment to that day, as well. It'll be three months since I went under the LASIK knife for my treatment. I'm very comfortable with the new eyes. My right eye is slightly off (maybe 20/30 or 20/40) and my left eye is sharp as a tack (20/20 at least). I hope I'll get to have the right eye adjusted again so The Bionic Eye can return. I see a lot better in darker conditions that I did before. Halos and starbursts at night aren't really as distressing as they once were. I don't think they've really dissipated but the giant degree of change my eyes went through so I could see without assistance generally causes the effect. I don't really care. At this point it has only been 70 days so it's still way too early for me to figure this is permanent. I love being able to see when I wake up. I love not having to keep track of glasses. I swear I was losing my glasses all the time. Now I can get lost in the woods and fall down and not get trapped and die from exposure to the elements. Good to know. The reason why I'm only staying for the one day is that I want to return to Philadelphia and get ready for Live Eight. The price is right (free).

All is going well with the client. I love the project and expanding my skillz and magic programming powerz. It's good. It isn't as hot as it would be if I were still in Houston, so bonus. I did 15 minutes on the elliptical and then a mile on the treadmill with a 10 degree pitch. Nice. Girls at the gym – so hot. How to talk to them? Impossible. Maybe if I dressed up as a treadmill or elliptical repair man.