Omphaloskepsis  -

+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Wowsers...

Something you don't want to see on a machine with only two users logged in (both of them, you):
load average: 708.37, 685.22, 544.48

This appears to mostly be the result of a runaway vi process, which had sucked up 5021 minutes of CPU time in the past three and a half days.

I suppose I wouldn't've had this problem, had I been using emacs. :-)

davidh

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Mark Schultz in Concert

The following is my report about the Mark Schultz concert in Galesburg. . . (more)

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Going to Galesburg

Tomorrow night, I'll be at the Mark Schultz concert at the Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg. I'll be on the main floor, in seat F-5 [Link warning: large image], if any readers are also going and would like to say hi.

davidh

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Moore mockumentary includes local lie

[Story based on tonight's News 25 10:00pm broadcast.]
It looks like the long list of falsehoods from the so-called "documentary" Fahrenheit 9/11 has a Central Illinois connection: The Pantagraph, Bloomington-Normal's newspaper, is shown briefly in the movie with the headline "Latest Florida recount shows Gore won election". The deceit is that the page shown in the film never appeared in the newspaper; rather, the title of a letter to the editor was Photoshopped to appear to be a major headline at the top of the page.

This is not simply an issue of resizing for the big screen; Moore uses the title of an opinion piece and represents it to be from a news story. But I suppose that fits the overall style of this drama, which represents itself as a documentary.

davidh

[Edit 7/30] Here's a link to The Pantagraph's article on the story, from columnist Bill Flick.
[Edit #2 7/30] Here are links to the original Bill Flick columns: July 16, July 23.

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Mike and Mac start blogging...

Mike Dimmick and Tom McIntyre, news anchors at WEEK-25 in Peoria, will soon be blogging at http://weeklink.blogspot.com/, according to a news story from tonight's 10:00 news. Mac actually mis-stated the URL as "www.weeklink.com" (which is actually a vacation-planning website) during the story, though the on-screen URL was correct. The site currently has only one test post.

The "hook" for the story was that bloggers were welcomed at the Democratic National Convention along with "traditional" journalists, but the story's focus was on The Peoria Pundit's Bill Dennis, who scours local media websites for Peoria-related news, and comments on it. Bill also regularly posts pictures of scantily-clad women, which he says he uses to increase the number of visitors to his site: "The more hits I get, the better I like it. So if I put pictures of pretty girls on here and people come and see, that's fine with me... maybe they'll stay and read an article." Sure, Bill. And I'm sure Playboy gets a lot of people turning the page and going "Oh, look, a story about the capital gains tax." :-)

davidh

+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Shifting schedules

Next Thursday, I start a new training class at work. I'm looking forward to it... I like learning new things, and this class in particular will teach me how to do some pretty nifty stuff.

What I'm not looking forward to so much is the start time: 8:00 AM. Yes, on occasion, I've had to go into work "early" for meetings and such. But I'm really used to my (appx.) 10:00-6:30 work schedule, and having to go in two hours earlier--which means waking up two hours earlier, which in turn (and in theory) means going to bed two hours earlier--for a few weeks is going to be tough.

I'm going to try to get started on the new schedule now, so that by the time the class begins next week, my body will have gotten used to the earlier schedule and I will be alert and ready to learn when I go in on Thursday. So the plan, starting tonight, is to go to bed by 11:00pm each night (even on the weekend). So, no more Late Night with Conan O'Brien for a while... and no late-night chats with friends. Sorry, guys.

The upside to the new schedule is that I will have more free time in the evenings, which means that, among other things, I'll be able to stop by Acme Comics on new comics day, instead of waiting for the weekend, and I'll be able to get caught up a bit in my reading.

davidh

+ 0 - 4 | § ¶My Upcoming Week, July 26-Aug. 1

Monday

Work

Trip to Bloomington

No specific TV plans

Tuesday

Work

Last Comic Standing: Final Showdown

(possibly, tape-delayed) Forensic Files on Court TV -- TV Guide's description: "A murder in Peoria, Ill. is investigated."

The Amazing Race

Wednesday

Work

The Drew Carey Show: Two new episodes

Thursday

Work

Last Comic Standing: Results show

Whose Line is it Anyway?

Friday

Work

Mark Schultz in Concert, Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg

Stargate SG-1: "Zero Hour" (tape-delayed)

Stargate: Atlantis: "Thirty-Eight Minutes" (tape-delayed)

Saturday

Whose Line is it Anyway? -- new episodes move to Saturdays

The 4400: "Becoming" (since I missed the episode on 7/25)

Sunday

Church

The 4400: "Trial by Fire"

The Dead Zone: "Speak Now"

I'm sure you realize by now that taking in the mail, taking out the garbage, and reading other people's blogs are omitted from this list.

davidh

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Would you like to play a game?

I went to FlatCon in Bloomington today, my first gaming convention. I had intended on only going as an observer, but I was sort of recruited into a game of Savage World, specifically the "Sticks and Stones" version. I played an ancient Homo sapiens named Buggem. Among the other players were a semi-intelligent lizard creature, two other sapiens, and a couple of Neanderthals. We were sent by the village shaman to go to a nearby volcano. About half of the planned story was cut out, though, because four of the characters had a bit of a misunderstanding, and they spent about an hour attacking each other instead of exploring. Eventually, Kevin's character and mine went deeper into the cave, and the others put aside their differences and followed suit.

At the end of the day, I met Brian Sebby and Ravi Duvvuri from IMSA. (I don't think I've ever met Ravi before (though I sort of know him on-line) and we weren't actually introduced, so he probably didn't know who I was unless Brian told him after I'd gone.) Then I went over to Liz's and hung out with Dad and her (and her very large but very friendly dog, Brutus) for a while, before heading home.

davidh

+ 1 - 3 | § ¶"It's a bird, it's a plane, it's... oh, yeah, it's a plane."

I went to the Prairie Air Show Saturday with Ryan and his dad, who came down from Rockford ("ROCKFORD!"). Lots of fun.

We met at the Student Center at Bradley, in case any other Psi Phi members in the Peoria area wanted to come. But nobody else showed up, so I went in their car (since there's a parking fee). We went through town to get to the airport, down Washington, but I think the only time I'd gone that way before was a couple years ago, when I was getting car insurance at the airport CEFCU office, and I needed a MapQuest map to find my way there. (Other paths I've taken include going down MLKJ Drive and taking I-74 West to get onto I-474 East.) Anyway, we missed the turnoff, and ended up going a few miles too far out of town, all the way to Mapleton, before we realized that nothing at all looked familiar and it really seemed that the airport used to be closer than this. Along the journey, we discussed a number of things, such as white-water rafting in Colorado (Ryan's dad strongly recommends Echo Canyon).

Well, we finally arrived, and got a nice close parking place. It was fairly nice weather... slightly cooler than I prefer at times, but much better than last year, which was unbearably hot. We looked at the static exhibits (a variety of military planes and helicopters), and walked through a couple of big cargo planes (apparently a C-5 Galaxy and a C-130 Hercules, according to the website). I got to go in the cockpit of one of them, which was pretty neat.

Then we got to the main act: the aerobatics. There were several different types of planes doing spins or rolls, going really fast or slow, and generally performing assorted interesting tricks. Lots of fun. The Blue Angels came out and did some most impressive maneuvers, synchronized and otherwise. I liked it.

The food, as always, was hideously overpriced. For example, a cup of Pepsi cost $2.50, when the equivalent 12 oz. can would've cost less than 25¢ in a 24-pack. Of course, no outside food or drink was allowed inside. I didn't get a Pepsi, but I did have some $4 chicken nuggets (eqv. $2 at McDonald's), a $5 pepperoni mini-pizza (eqv. $4.06 at work, except not as good), and a $5 funnel cake (eqv. $5 at a carnival).

After the show, we waited out in the car for quite a while as the parking lot emptied. Since the Rockford cable company doesn't show the Sci-Fi Channel, we went to my place afterward, where I showed Ryan and his Dad the pilot episode of Stargate: Atlantis on tape. After seeing the first one-hour episode of the show, re-watching the pilot was a little more interesting, since I knew the characters better.

Anyway, that was my day.

davidh

+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Updates

Two updates to recent blog entries:

1) ABC pulled the two episodes of Whose Line is it Anyway? last night, instead airing a repeat of some other program.

2) Jorja Fox has been re-hired for CSI: CSI, and talks are underway for George Eads to be re-hired as well. So much for "just employees".

davidh

+ 1 - 5 | § ¶Enterprise season 4 details

A lot of information about the fourth season of Star Trek: Enterprise has been released at startrek.com. If you prefer to avoid all spoilers, turn back now. Otherwise, read on to get my summary of the news and my thoughts about it. . . (more)

+ 4 - 0 | § ¶Super-sized small

McDonald's has finally eliminated the old "small" orange juice.

Several months ago, McDonald's OJ naming scheme changed, so that what had been the medium was now the "small", and what had been the large was now the "medium". (I don't know if there is a new "large", but if there is, I'm guessing it's about a half-gallon.) The old small was no longer listed on the menu, but you could still order it if you knew the secret code word: "child-size". Yes, it felt a bit demeaning, ordering a "child-size orange juice" with my breakfast, but at least I could still get a comfortable-sized drink at a somewhat reasonable price.

But when I went to place my order this morning at the one on Main St., I was told by a manager that they no longer sell the child-size orange juice, that the "small" was the smallest they sold. It's 33 cents more expensive, after tax, for more orange juice than I prefer to drink in a morning. (Also, since it takes longer to drink the larger amount, the last bit tends to be fairly warm by the time I get to it.)

So, it looks like I'll be skipping the drink in the future, and just be bringing a can of Pepsi from home.

davidh

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶RIP, Jerry Goldsmith

Jerry Goldsmith, February 10, 1929-July 21, 2004

Composer Jerry Goldsmith composed music for, among other things, the first, fifth, eighth, ninth, and tenth Star Trek movies; The Mummy; both Gremlins movies; Total Recall; Alien and Aliens; Logan's Run; the theme songs for Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager; and Wagon Train, the TV show that Gene Roddenberry sold Star Trek to NBC as a "to the stars" version of.

davidh

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Full House

Lots of visitors tonight... Along with Joel and me, Elizabeth, Gordo, and his girlfriend, Amanda [I think] came downstairs to watch Shrek on DVD. I've seen the movie before, but it's been quite a while, and it was fun to watch again, especially since I would like to see Shrek 2 at some point before it leaves theaters.

Adding a bit of discomfort to the many guests is a somewhat broken air conditioner. I'm not sure what's wrong with it... it started making some funny noises a few days ago. There is still some airflow, and I cleaned the filter to make sure that wasn't adding to the problem, but it's really quite annoying. I've been keeping the front and back windows open to get some airflow, but on a hot, muggy, and fairly still day like today, that doesn't help much at all. I've got the AC on right now, but I'll probably have to turn it off before I go to bed due to the noise. On the other hand, the airflow does act as whitenoise, so with a floor muffling the sound further, maybe it won't be so bad.

I updated the long-term upcoming calendar earlier today, to include the season premiere dates of several shows that I'd like to watch. Enterprise won't be back until October 8, and Tru Calling will be even later, premiering the first week of November sweeps. I also updated the index to my blog to make it more current (as of right now, it goes through yesterday's entries; I'll update it with this one soon), and to make it a bit more consistent. There are still some improvements to be made, but there's nothing urgent.

Well, the heat is making me pretty tired, so I'm off to bed now.

davidh

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Bunnies, bunnies, it must be bunnies!

When I pulled into the driveway tonight, I saw two little bunny rabbits next to each other in the front yard, nibbling on the grass, slowly hopping around from one place to the next. Not wanting to bother them, I just stayed in the car, watching them. After a few minutes, one hopped over to the far side of the yard, but then I noticed a third rabbit right up by the front door. It was better camouflaged than the first two... I just happened to look in the right place at the right time to spot it.

They were so cute just sitting there, silently eating the lawn. I wish I'd had a camera.

davidh

+ 1 - 3 | § ¶So long, Nick and Sarah...

According to CNN.com, George Eads and Jorja Fox have both been fired from their jobs as actors on the TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, for not showing up to work for the first day of filming this season. (They play the characters Nick Stokes and Sarah Sidle, respectively.) Reports indicate that they skipped work because they wanted a raise.

On the one hand, I'm sad, because I enjoyed the characters, and I'll miss their interaction with others, and their developing storylines.

On the other hand, it is good to know that actors, despite the celebrity that often comes with the job, are still just employees like the rest of us. Many times, you hear reports about an actor not showing up for work for a few days, and the boss gives into the pressure and gives them a raise. If someone like me tried something like that, they'd be looking for a new job, so why should actors should be given special treatment?

And on the third hand, maybe this situation will allow Eric Szmanda (who plays Greg Sanders) to have a bigger role next season. Greg has been getting more to do in the show over the past year, so seeing more of him would fit with the character's arc.

davidh

+ 0 - 4 | § ¶My Upcoming Week, July 19-26

Monday

Work

No specific TV plans

Tuesday

Work

Last Comic Standing

The Amazing Race

Wednesday

Work

The Drew Carey Show -- two new episodes

Thursday

Work

Whose Line is it Anyway? -- one new episode, one repeat

(Possibly) Legacy: "Jim Maloof" (former mayor of Peoria; profile show on WTVP at 8:30)

Friday

Work

Stargate SG-1: "Lockdown"

Stargate: Atlantis: "Hide and Seek"

Saturday

Prairie Air Show (with Ryan)

No specific TV plans

Sunday

Church

The 4400: "Becoming"

The Dead Zone: "Looking Glass"

The schedule is tentative and subject to change.

davidh

+ 0 - 4 | § ¶Weekend recap

Friday night, went to see I, Robot with Eric, Joe, and Marisa. Charlie (Psi Phi member from a few years ago) was coincidentally at the same showing as us, and sat a row behind us. Quite a good movie. Although I have not read the stories that the movie was "Suggested by", based on what I do know of the stories, it seems that it's closer to the source material than I had been previously informed. (I'd heard that the movie started as an original story, but the studio bought the rights to the title "I, Robot" and renamed one of the characters to match the book--kind of like how Die Hard 3 started as an original story called Simon Says, but the studio changed the main character to be John McClane and made the bad guy a relative of the bad guy from the first movie. That now seems unlikely, given how strongly tied to the plot the Three Laws are.)

The only real flaw that I saw was the product placement. A few places, it was subtle enough, but in two specific places, it was almost as though the characters turned to the camera and said "[Company X] has given us bucketloads of cash. In return, we'd just like to say how truly wonderful [Product Y] is and we'd like to personally recommend that each and every member of the audience go and purchase some today! Now, back to the plot..." However, both of those moments are fairly early on in the film, so as the story progresses, you don't have to worry about real being pulled back out of the movie.

The four of us went to Steak 'n' Shake after that, and talked for, oh... an hour and a half or two hours. Lots of fun stories. I ordered a half-strawberry, half-chocolate-mint shake, but I think I actually got mocha instead of chocolate mint, since I didn't taste any mint, and the receipt said mocha. Oh well... it didn't taste bad. I believe that's three flavor combinations down.

Saturday afternoon, I wandered around the neighborhood, which was having its annual neighborhood garage sale. Most places were shutting down by the time I went out (about 2:30), so I only visited five or six places. However, I did get some good deals... several glasses, mugs, and cups; a little "roll the balls into the holes" maze puzzle, a small Lego set, a generic Tupperware dish with lid, a pretty nice briefcase, and a red mini Grundo from McDonald's, from three different places, for a grand total of $3.40.

However, walking around in the heat lugging a briefcase around took its toll on me, and I developed a fairly bad headache. So I went to bed around 4 or so, and woke up around 10, feeling a lot better. Elizabeth was here, and she, Joel, and I watched several episodes of Family Guy while eating a pepperoni pizza.

Sunday, after church, I was about to leave for lunch when I learned that Kevin was not feeling well, and thus would not be able to meet me for lunch. So I stayed home, made another pepperoni pizza, and watched the pilot and first-aired episodes of Firefly twice, once normally, once with commentary.

(Oh, and for the record, the only day this past week (Monday-Sunday) that I had no type of pepperoni pizza was Friday. Although I had been exaggerating a bit for comic effect in the davidh FAQ, I decided to go with a pepperonier-than-average diet this week.)

Planned yet for today: Watch The 4400 and The Dead Zone, post my "My Upcoming Week" post for the next week, and go to bed. Plus supper at some point. Not pepperoni pizza. :-)

davidh

+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Those crazy drivers!

I encountered two crazy drivers this evening. Well, perhaps more than that, but these two stood out.

First, as I was walking to my car from work at the end of the day, a truck with a company logo (I don't remember which company), which had been at a full stop at a red light, pulled out into the intersection and made a left turn. Fortunately, there was no cross-traffic at the time, but I was very surprised. I've seen red lights run before, but most of the time, the car never even stops--either they are racing to get through just as the light turns red, or they simply do not see the light. This, on the other hand, was clearly premeditated, and had there been a police officer nearby, I can't see any "oops"-type excuse getting the driver out of a ticket. I suppose I should have been a good citizen by writing down the vehicle's information to reporting it later, but I wanted to get to Acme before they closed at 6:00, and it was already 5:40, so I shirked my duty and continued on toward my car.

I got to Acme Comics just a couple minutes before closing, picked up the new Star Trek Communicator magazine, and went to pull out of the parking lot. This next part may be hard to visualize if you don't know their parking lot, so I'll briefly describe it. The parking lot in from of Acme is fairly small, but it's attached to a lot with a neighboring business. They share an entrance/exit, and though there are not delineated lanes, there's enough room for three lanes... the far left (as you're facing outward) being used to come in, the middle to leave and turn left, and the right to leave and turn right. Well, coming from the adjoining parking lot was one car, which pulled into approximately the middle lane, in order to turn left. I sort of pulled in behind it, but due to the smallness of the parking lot, I was sort of behind it at a 45-degree angle to the right.

Well, while I was waiting for the guy in front of me to go, a van pulled in from the other parking lot (which was on the left, lookout out from the entrance/exit), and it was behind the first car at a 45-degree angle to the left. Well, the car in front turns left, and the van tries to pull forward, although I, being legitimately ahead of it, pull forward first. So now the van pulls into the incoming lane (even though it's outgoing, and pulls even further forward than I am, so that it can *turn right*, when I clearly have my turn signal on signifying my intention to turn left, directly into the path the van wishes to take. I edge out *even further*, so that I am now just slightly into the street itself, and finally the stupid driver realizes that he has lost and that I am victorious. I turn left from the left turn lane, he turns right from the oncoming traffic lane, and I head home.

I was interrupted midway through the previous paragraph when I left to go see I, Robot (about which I will likely post later). However, on the way to the theater, I saw one of those "racing to get through just as the light turns red" runnings of said-colored light. One car was already in the intersection when the light turned red, and the next car, following about a second behind the first, entered the intersection after the light rufesced. I, of course, waited until the light subsequently viresced to go through.

davidh

+ 1 - 3 | § ¶for (int i = 1; 2 >= i; i++);

I am now the proud owner of a two forint piece, a Hungarian coin which is worth approximately $0.0096, or just a teeny bit less than a penny. I found it in the Little Caesar's parking lot last night (as predicted, I did indeed buy a pepperoni pizza). I would not have found it if I had been driving... I walked there and back, since it's just a 5.375-minute walk. (Variations for the amount of traffic driving down Sterling, and thus the amount of time I have to wait before I can cross the road, can increase or decrease the duration of the trip, but that was my average this time.)

I misestimated the speed of traffic on my way to the pizzeria, so I got stuck in the middle lane (left turns in both directions) for several seconds as a wave of cars from Forrest Hill passed by. That was a bit scary, though obviously I survived to tell the tale. On my way back, I decided to wait until there was a nice long opening in traffic in both directions, so I could make it all the way across at once. On the whole, I think I prefer the not-facing-imminent-death-via-collision scenario.

davidh

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Sci-Fi Emmy Nominations, 2003-2004

Sci-Fi shows (and sci-fi-ish shows, like "24" and "The Simpsons") got quite a few nominations this year. . . (more)

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Grab Bag

A number of miscellaneous items...

I got my copy of Vulcan's Soul, Book I: Exodus yesterday. Fabulous cover, even better than the on-line version. My only disappointment is that I have to wait until I finish Worlds of Deep Space Nine, Volume I: Cardassia, Andor before I can begin this one.

I locked myself out of the house Sunday morning, and I had to wake Joel up to get back in. (Sorry, Joel!)

The 4400 is a very intriguing show... but with three former DS9 writers on staff, I'm not at all surprised. This one is definitely going on my must-watch list. There are only four episodes left, but since it set new records for the USA network, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the show get picked up as a continuing series.

Speaking of new series, if you've watched my "My Upcoming Week" posts, you've probably noticed a few shows drop off. North Shore, as I predicted, was not as interesting as The O.C., due to the general lack of geeky characters, so I didn't watch that one past the pilot episode. Quintuplets I gave two episodes, but unfortunately I have discovered that it is absolutely the unfunniest sitcom I've ever seen (and I will (reluctantly) admit to once watching an episode of Homeboys in Outer Space). Considering how much I liked Andy Richter Controls the Universe, I was quite surprised. I shall waste no more time on it.

Regarding another show, Last Comic Standing, I was happy to see Ant go. He was slightly funnier than Quintuplets, but that's really not saying much. Pretty much every joke and story of his was about gay stereotypes and how he fit them. According to rumor, it was the inclusion of Ant in the final cast that set Drew Carey and Brett Butler (two of the celebrity judges) off, since he got in when comedians that the judges thought were funnier did not. I'm guessing that he only got in as the "token gay". Note to network execs: If you're going to include people for tokenism, at least make sure they've got the talent to back it up.

Number of days so far this work week that I've not had pepperoni pizza: zero. Monday, I had two pepperoni pizza Hot Pockets for supper. Tuesday, I had a mini deep dish pepperoni pizza at work for lunch. Today, I had two slices of pepperoni pizza at work for lunch. Tomorrow, I might have a Little Caesar's pepperoni pizza for supper. Friday... well, we'll see. :-)

Some movies coming out in the next few months that I might like to see in the theater: I, Robot (planning on seeing this Friday night with Eric and some other folks); Catwoman (opening July 23... looks like it should be good); The Village (opening July 30... I haven't been disappointed yet by M. Night Shyamalan; hopefully this will not buck the trend); Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (opening September 17... appears to be sort of film-noir-y, yet sci-fi-ey as well); Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (opening December 17... I don't know a lot about the books, but they seem to be somewhat popular). There are other movies coming out that might be interesting... I'll figure out whether they're theater-worthy as more info is released about them.

Hmm... I guess that's enough randomness for now.

davidh

+ 4 - 0 | § ¶The Return of the Titans

Or, at least, of titan. After being unable to log in since July 1, last night, I was finally able to log in to the shell server at IMSA. Once in, I found people who had been logged in for days. I eventually discovered the reason I had been locked out--after restoring the machine (after an unauthorized intrusion--not that intrusions are generally authorized), somebody had forgotten to restore one of the groups to validgroups.login. Faculty and staff, school administrators, current students, and graduates could log in, but non-graduates, such as myself, could not.

Missing twelve days of notesfiles, particularly =alt.jarf, I had a very lengthy seq session. But right in the middle of it, my connection dropped, and I had to begin anew! Fortunately, autoseq has a useful -o timespec option, so I first skipped to the last post I'd read, then after finishing, went back a couple hours to get any posts that had been made in that time.

To the 95% of readers to whom this last paragraph makes about much sense as ancient Sumerian, I apologize. To the other 5%, congratulations on your ancient Sumerian skills!

davidh

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Rerouting

One of the pains of the Upgrade 74 project is that things keep changing. You just get used to one set of shortcuts, and suddenly you have to find another one. This happened to me last week.

Since the Gale Ave. entrances to I-74 have been closed for the past few months, I've had to go down University to get to an on-ramp. Recently, as the University Street bridge has been widened, traffic has been squeezed into one lane in each direction, which can be really slow during rush hour (and still fairly slow, even slightly after rush hour, which is when I usually go into work). For a few days, the eastbound on-ramp from southbound University was closed, so I had to go around down Sterling, to Main Street, then back up University to use the on-ramp going the other direction. Well, one day last week, I did this, and I found that the original on-ramp had been re-opened, and the exit in the other direction was now closed! So I had to go north on University for a couple blocks until I could turn around and go back to the original detour route. Cost me about 20 minutes getting to work that day.

It sure will be nice when I-74 reconstruction is finished... in 2006. But will I even still be in Peoria in 2006, to reap the benefits?

davidh

(This is Day One in my latest attempt to publish at least one entry a day for a complete week.)

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶My Upcoming Week, July 12-18

Monday

Work

No specific TV plans

Tuesday

Work

Last Comic Standing: New episode at 8 (skipping repeat at 7)

The Amazing Race: New episode

Wednesday

Work

The Drew Carey Show: Two new episodes

Thursday

Work

No specific TV plans

Friday

Work

I, Robot with Eric and others (No relation to the Asimov story, except the title and the name of one of the characters)

Stargate: Atlantis: "Rising" (tape-delayed, or maybe second showing)

Saturday

No specific plans

Sunday

Church

Lunch with Kevin at Par·a·Dice

The Dead Zone: "No Questions Asked"

The 4400: "The New and Improved CM"

Following convention, things unexpected, things spontaneous, and things secret are not included here.

davidh

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶The davidh FAQ list

A few frequently-asked questions about me... (more)

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Big Brother-less

Well, after missing the first two episodes, and realizing that it's going to be on in the same timeslots as new episodes of Last Comic Standing and Whose Line is it Anyway?, it looks like I won't be watching Big Brother this summer.

No big loss... althought the "live" aspect of BB is a little more fun than some other game shows, it's really not as interesting as, say, Survivor.

davidh

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶My Upcoming Week, July 5-11

Monday

No work!

From Stargate to Atlantis: A Sci-Fi Lowdown

Tuesday

Work

Last Comic Standing -- two episodes

Big Brother and The Amazing Race -- during commercial breaks on Last Comic Standing

Wednesday

Work

The Drew Carey Show -- two new episodes

Thursday

Work

Whose Line is it Anyway? -- one new episode, one repeat

Big Brother -- during commercial breaks on Whose Line

Friday

Work

Stargate SG-1: "New Order" TV movie (season premiere)

Saturday

The Amazing Race

Sunday

Church

The 4400: "Pilot" on USA -- six-part mini-series, with the first two parts airing together here.

As protocol dictates, such things as feeding the cat, feeding myself, and feeding stories to the rumor mills are excluded from this list.

davidh

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Weekend recap: Slinging, ushering, barbecuing, gazing, struggling, chatting, driving

Here's a look at some of the things that happened this weekend. . . (more)

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Whose Dream is it, Anyway?

Unusual dream last night. . . (more)