Omphaloskepsis  -

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Joan of Arcadia/Voyager crossover dream

Certainly among the oddest crossovers. I only remember the last couple of scenes, and a general sense of what had gone before. Read on to find out what happened. . . (more)

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Plan for Saturday

Here's how I expect things to go. . . (more)

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Waking, geekery, and more home improvement

Miscellaneous items...

* When I woke up a couple days ago, I nearly got a cramp in my left leg. Fortunately, I noticed the little "twinge" just before the cramp usually hits, and quickly flexed my foot upwards, stopping it in its tracks. Close call!

* When I woke up this morning, I was in the middle of a most intriguing dream. Unfortunately, within just a few moments, about the only thing that I could recall was that I and a group of people were working together on something. I do know it was a very interesting something, because I remember thinking "Ooh, this would make a great blog post." just after I woke up. Question: Does this mean I'm addicted to blogging? :-)

* Tonight's Survivor and CSI were pushed back an hour due to the President's news conference. So rather than missing Survivor because I was working late, I got to see them both. Yay!

* Going to Spring Offensive at ICC this weekend. Spring Offensive is a gaming convention; it's supposed to go all day Saturday and Sunday. I'll have to leave around 3:30 to head over to Bradley for the away team to see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. There are supposed to be about fifteen Psi Phi'ers going to the show, and only three cars... so that should be a trip reminiscent of the Star Trek Generations trip in 1994. IIRC, we squeezed seven people into one car that day, and three of us were, uh, significantly-sized guys.

* Next home repair/improvement project: The bathroom. Things to do include: Get the wall tile repaired; get the towel bar back up; replace the tub surround; fix the cold water knob in the shower; get other side of the light fixture fixed.

davidh

+ 4 - 0 | § ¶More new dollar coin designs on the way?

Susan B. Anthony? Flopped. Sacagawea? Flopped.

Perhaps Congress thinks the reason these coins weren't a popular success isn't, as commonly believed, that America doesn't like dollar coins at all, but rather that America simply isn't ready for women on its coins. That might explain why they're taking a different approach to the next dollar coin. Taking a cue from the popular 50 State Quarters project and the barely-noticed Westward Journal Nickels project, their next attempt will feature men (at least through 2016). The men in question? The Presidents of the United States.

Each year, there will be four different designs, one for each President in the order in which they served. (This article doesn't mention whether Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President, will receive two different designs, or if they will consolidate them and do 21-25 in the sixth year.)

It seems very likely that this plan will move forward, as the vote passed 422-6 in the House of Representatives.

davidh

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶A prayer request...

...for my friend Jim McCain, who is undergoing surgery this morning. May the surgery be a success, and he have a swift recovery.

davidh

[Update 4/26 4:30pm: I've gotten word that the surgery went fine.]

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Do the Hustle...

...the Kung Fu Hustle, that is. :-)

My new glasses, in combination with the absolutely huge screen at the Rave, made for an incredible view from a purely technical standpoint. Fortunately, the content was worthy of the technical merit. I don't normally go for martial arts movies, but since this one was a comedy, I decided to give it a shot. I found it to be quite amusing, and I enjoyed it a great deal.

This was the first martial arts movie I've seen in the theater, I believe. (Jon, who saw KFH with me, suggested that The Matrix was a martial arts movie, but I see that more as science fiction movie, with a side helping of martial arts.) It's also the first non-Aramaic foreign film I've seen in the theater. :-)

Jon suggested that Shaolin Soccer is better than Kung Fu Hustle. This, of course, means I must now see this other movie.

davidh

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶My Upcoming Week, Apr. 25-May 1

Monday

Work

(perhaps) Whose Line is it Anyway?

24: "Day 4: 1:00 A.M.-2:00 A.M."

Medium: "Being Mrs. O'Leary's Cow"

Tuesday

Work

NCIS: "Red Cell"

Veronica Mars: "M.A.D."

Wednesday

Work

Alias: "A Clean Conscience"

CSI: NY: "Supply and Demand"

Psi Phi meeting

Thursday

Work

Survivor

CSI: CSI: "Committed"

Friday

Work

Star Trek: Enterprise: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" (part 2 of 2)

JAG: "Fair Winds and Following Seas" (series finale)

Numb3rs: "Sacrifice" (guest stars Elizabeth Dennehy (ST:TNG), Bruce Davison (X-Men), Jonathan Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock))

Saturday

Probably going to see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with Psi Phi

No television plans

Sunday

Church

The Simpsons (two episodes)

Family Guy (second series premiere/fourth season premiere)

American Dad (second episode)

davidh

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Saturday of nothing

Remember all those grand plans I had in the last post? Not a one of them happened. I woke up with a really bad headache, and spent much of the day in bed.

I'll be heading back there soon, in a (perhaps futile) attempt to keep my sleep cycle from getting too far out of whack.

davidh

+ 0 - 4 | § ¶Bah, puny receptacle!

My mailbox has fallen apart.

Specifically, the box attached to the front of my house has fallen off, and is sitting on my front step. Also, with the front of the house not keeping the lid from going back too far, it also has fallen off.

I tried putting it back up, but it isn't as easy as you might think. There's a screw and a washer inside the box, but the holes in the back of the mailbox don't seem to match up with the holes in the façade. Then again, I've only tried fixing it on my way out to work or just as I'm arriving home. I'm going to try to get it back in its proper location tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, I'm not sure what else is going on. Other plans have come up for Joe. I'll probably work on locating those recordings for the other project, as well as finishing up the list. Then maybe I'll watch several episodes of Greg the Bunny. Or update my blog index. Or do some laundry. Or try to do some yard work (the guy originally scheduled for Monday, then rescheduled for Wednesday, never did show up). Or... well, I'm sure I'll figure something out. :-)

davidh

+ 0 - 4 | § ¶4/21 done list (was: to-do list)

Got done:
[misc] Pay water bill
[misc] Pay electricity/gas bill
[this site] Post two new cover images from Marco
[work] Finish correcting links
[this site] Post new back cover blurb from Marco
[personal] Get home in time for Tru Calling
[personal] Go to bed early for work in the morning

Saved for tomorrow:
[misc] Get list mailed out
[misc] Get monthly charts mailed out
[misc] Send invoice
[misc] Find recordings for other project
[work] Add new process (didn't get needed info)

davidh

[last updated 10:57pm]

+ 1 - 3 | § ¶4/20 done list (was: Today's to-do list)

Stuff I got done:
[work] Get process site ready
[this site] Post new SCE stuff from Keith
[this site] Post new excerpt from Margaret
[this site] Post new banner from Todd
[personal] Set VCR
[psiphi] Go to Psi Phi meeting
[psiphi] Get sci-fi news printed out for meeting
[psiphi] Get movie-of-the-week printed out for meeting
[psiphi] Bring RM tape for K to meeting

Stuff that has changed:
[personal] Get home by 6:30 for yard stuff (home by 6:30, but yard guy not here; reschedule again?)

Stuff that I didn't get done
[misc] Get list mailed out
[misc] Get monthly charts mailed out
[misc] Send invoice
[misc] Find recordings for other project
[misc] Pay water bill
[misc] Pay electricity/gas bill
[this site] Post two new cover images from Marco

davidh

[last updated 1:56am 4/21]

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶My Upcoming Week, Apr. 18-24

Monday

Work

Yard suggestion appointment

(perhaps) Whose Line is it Anyway?

24: "Day 4: 12:00 Midnight-1:00 A.M."

CSI: Miami: "Killer Date"

Tuesday

Work

NCIS: "Forced Entry" (repeat, but it might be new to me)

Veronica Mars: "Hot Dogs"

Wednesday

Work

No television plans

Psi Phi meeting

Thursday

Work

Survivor

Tru Calling: "Enough" (perhaps tape delay)

CSI: CSI: "Hollywood Brass" (perhaps)

Friday

Work

Joan of Arcadia: "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (season finale)

Star Trek: Enterprise: "In a Mirror, Darkly" (tape delay) (part 1 of 2)

JAG: "Dream Team"

Numb3rs: "Dirty Bomb"

Saturday

Hanging out with Joe

No television plans

Sunday

Church

No television plans

davidh

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶I can see clearly now...

I picked up my new glasses at Sears today. They look rather similar to my old pair, but the difference in what I can see is just astonishing. It's as though I used to see 320x200, and now I see 1600x1200. I could see the word "pick-up" on a sign at the other end of the store! I could see small print from several feet away without squinting! I had no idea what I was missing.

I only got to enjoy this directly for a few minutes before I got my eyes dilated, and the final portion of the exam (looking for any damage to the eye) was conducted. It was weird... my eyes looked like an anime character's afterward. :-)

I didn't have this done at my first appointment, because dilation makes your eyes very sensitive to light for a few hours afterward, and you're not supposed to drive during that time. This time, I brought Joe with me, so he drove me away. I was given some goofy-looking "temporary sunglasses" to wear outside to keep the sun from burning my retinas. (They look kind of like these disposable sunglasses, except they roll up in a cylinder and hug the temples of the head, being worn between the eyes and the glasses, rather than having cardboard temples and earpieces.) Fortunately, several hours have passed, and my eyes seem to be back to normal.

I think I'm going to take up the hobby of looking at things, now that I can actually see them.

davidh

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Newspaper Follow-up

So, Tuesday's newspaper story has gotten me a lot of new visitors. Of course, many may be one-time visits, but perhaps a few of you will stick around.

What effect has the story had? Let's see...

(more)

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶As featured in the Peoria Journal Star

If this is your first visit, you probably read Scott Hilyard's "Something to Say", a feature article about Peoria-area bloggers in April 12th's Peoria Journal Star. Welcome!

As the article says, I generally just blog about my life. Sometimes that's mundane stuff; sometimes it's interesting stuff. Occasionally I post news or items of local interest. From time to time I'll perform an experiment, such as seeing whether clerks and cashiers recognize the golden dollar, and post the results here. And every once in a while, I'll just be completely silly.

Some of the posts referred to in the article include: planning the Psi Phi Reunion, what I intend to watch on television, roof repairs (part 1, 2, 3, and 4), an explanation of "Omphaloskepsis", post 300, and of course, post 200.

If you'd like to sample the variety of other posts I've made, here are a few of interest:

• Sacagawean Experiment (3/15/05)
• Something trivial (2/16/05)
• Normally I wouldn't post this, but... (1/20/05)
• Abducted by Geeks (12/30/04)
• An old-fashioned cookout (11/7/04)
• Electoral ponderings (10/30/04)
• Local churches vandalized, robbed (10/14/04)
• Psi Phi Reunion: Day 0, Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 (9/16/04-9/19/04)
• Ten Years Ago Today (8/23/04)
• General Rules for My Blog (8/4/04)
• Mark Schultz in Concert (7/31/04)
• Grab Bag (7/14/04)
• Once More, With Hobbits (4/26/04)

The other bloggers mentioned in Scott's article are Huts Erickson's "Pizza the Huts", Pam Hazzard's "Lollygaggin'", and Bill Dennis's "Peoria Pundit". I read Peoria Pundit nearly daily; the others, less often, but I do try to catch up occasionally.

davidh

--
Update 12:02pm: I just discovered that a 9"x6" photograph of me was also included with the article in the print version of the newspaper. I'm wearing my green Psi Phi <geek> shirt. The photo shows much more of my basement than I'd expected... you can see Legos and Puzz3Ds and boxes... oh, so many boxes. Now I really wish I'd taken some time to clean up ahead of time. Oh well.

The caption for the photo reads:

For David Henderson, blogging lets him share his adventures, great thoughts and calendar of events with the world. Henderson says he's got a steady group of 50 people who check his writings every week at www. psiphi.org/cgi/blog. Henderson, a computer programmer by trade, says it's a way for his friends in the science fiction club and his Star Trek books discussion site to keep up to date with his doings.

I don't think I actually used the phrase "great thoughts"... my thoughts tend to be more along the line of "nifty". :-) Here are links to the science fiction club and the Star Trek books discussion site.

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Assorted links

A real-life Capulet and Montague story in Florida. Let's hope this one ends better than Shakespeare's version.

On being a gay conservative. Good quotes: "As gays, we are stigmatized by certain social conservatives who are unwilling to recognize that many of us strive to live our lives with the same -- or similar -- values as the most pious Christians. [...] As conservatives, we are stigmatized by many on the left who assume that being a part of some minority, be it one of race, religion, or sexual orientation, requires one to adopt the principles of contemporary American liberalism, which includes strong and frequent critiques of all forms of American conservatism, even those which are not anti-gay." (punctuation altered from original). Personally, I've gotten more grief from gays because I'm conservative than vice versa, but everybody's experiences are different.

A reality show for geeks? Contestants will use folklore, fantasy, and real history to solve complex puzzles, according to the NBC press release. Casting calls are going out in Tampa, Florida; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Chicago, Illinois; Washington, D.C.; and Boston, Massachusetts over the next few weeks. Perhaps I should try out. But it would mean driving in Chicago, and I really don't want to do that again.

Personally relevant in light of my recent Sacagawea dollar recognition experiment--speaking of which, I really need to do a write-up consolidating all of my results--a man in Baltimore, Maryland was arrested for using $2 bills at Best Buy [username: "bselig@dodgeit.com"; password: "bselig"]. Methinks it is time for a second money experiment.

JAG is ending this month, after ten years on TV (on NBC its first season, then CBS for nine more).

A press release about the proposed change to Daylight Savings Time from Rep. Upton (R-MI)'s website.

davidh

+ 3 - 1 | § ¶My Upcoming Week, Apr. 11-17

Monday

Work

(perhaps) Whose Line is it Anyway?

24: "Day 4: 11:00 P.M.-12:00 Midnight"

CSI: Miami: "Sex and Taxes"

Tuesday

Work

NCIS: "Conspiracy Theory"

Veronica Mars: "Weapons of Class Destruction"

Wednesday

Work

Alan Alda in Scientific American Frontiers: "Robot Pals"

Alias: "Pandora"

CSI: NY: "Crimes and Misdemeanors"

Psi Phi meeting

Thursday

Work

Survivor

Tru Calling: "The Last Good Day" (tape delay)

CSI: CSI: "4x4"

Friday

Work

Joan of Arcadia: "Common Thread"

Star Trek: Enterprise: "Bound" (tape delay)

JAG: "Unknown Soldier"

Numb3rs: "Sniper Zero"

Saturday

Cleaning up the yard out with Joe

No television plans

Sunday

Church

American Chopper: "Caterpillar Bike" parts 1 and 2 (on Discovery Channel, 5-7pm)

Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show

davidh

+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Recent recap

Here's what's happened the past few days. . . (more)

+ 2 - 2 | § ¶"Winter Forward, Fall Back"?

That may be the new saying if a bill currently under consideration by the Energy and Commerce Committee of the US House of Representatives is passed. . . (more)

+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Peoria election results

In the battle between candidates which describe themselves as "essential services first" (e.g. spending taxpayer's money on the fire and police departments) and "progressive" (e.g. spending taxpayer's money on private businesses), it appears that the "essential services first" group has made significant growth in the city of Peoria. Incumbent Mayor Dave Ransburg, a "progressive", has been ousted by City Councilman Jim Ardis, an "essential services first" guy; Ransburg got 45% of the vote, to Ardis's 55%. Similarly, in the city's second and third districts, with 55% and 64% of the vote, "essential services first" candidates Barbara Van Auken and Bob Manning defeated "progressive" incumbents Marcella Teplitz and Gale Thetford, respectively.

There was no change in the first, fourth, or fifth districts, with incumbents Clyde Gulley, Bill Spears, and Pat Nichting retaining their positions on the city council. Gulley won a close race with only 53% of the vote, but Spears and Nichting retained their positions handily, with 85% and 80% of the vote in their respective districts.

There were also two non-binding questions on the ballot. The first was whether full nudity should be banned in new and existing strip clubs. 13,321 voters (60.1%) supported the ban, while only 8,077 voters (36.5%) opposed it; 3.3% did not vote. The second was whether the City of Peoria should purchase the local water utility, currently owned by the Illinois American Water Company. There were 17,476 votes (78.9%) against the City purchasing the utility, with 3,899 (17.6%) in favor of the buyout; 3.4% did not vote.

In an interesting turn of events, small town McLean held a vote on whether to prohibit alcohol sales. The results: 153 voted for the ban; 152 voted against it. I wouldn't be surprised if someone wakes up tomorrow morning in McLean with a hangover and realizes he forgot to vote! :-)

The candidates I selected for mayor and city council each won their races. My votes on the questions were in line with a majority of Peoria voters.

(Numbers come from WEEK.)

davidh

+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Workday One: Bridge closing

Well, today was my first day headed to work after the closing of the Murray Baker Bridge. Although I don't have to cross the bridge to get to work, I-74 through Peoria has also undergone some significant changes. . . (more)

+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Humor: Last-minute appeal will not save Star Trek

US Supreme Court rejects bid to keep Enterprise alive

I don't think the author quite got Justices Scalia or Kennedy's voices right, and had I written this story, I would have replaced "writing for the minority" with "writing the lone dissent". But it's still rather amusing.

davidh

+ 1 - 3 | § ¶My Upcoming Week, Apr. 4-10

Monday

Work

(perhaps) Whose Line is it Anyway?

24: "Day 4: 10:00 P.M.-11:00 P.M." (tape delay)

Behind the Scenes: "Mork & Mindy": The Unauthorized Story (on NBC)

Tuesday

Vote in local elections

Work

NCIS: "Chained" (repeat, but I missed it first time around)

Veronica Mars: "Kane's and Abel's"

Wednesday

Work

Eye exam at Sears

The West Wing: "2162 Votes"

[TBA]

Psi Phi meeting

Thursday

Work

Last chance to return rental movie

Survivor

Tru Calling: "In the Dark"

Friday

Work

Joan of Arcadia: "Spring Cleaning"

JAG: "Two Towns"

Saturday

Cleaning up the yard with Joe

No television plans

Sunday

Church

Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show

davidh

+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Busy as a bee

[Edited 4/4/05, two places]
Today (Saturday), I...

* Picked up Joe at the blood bank. I forget whether it was a deposit or a withdrawal.

* Rented Napoleon Dynamite at Family Video. Technically, Joe rented it. I haven't rented a movie in years... if I want to see a movie, generally I buy it. Or borrow it from a friend, in some cases.

* Made an appointment for an eye exam at Sears. Next Wednesday at 5:30pm.

* Purchased two new pairs of jeans, also at Sears. My last remaining pair of wear-outside-worthy jeans had started to develop a hole in an unfortunate location, so I got a couple to replace them. Considered buying another belt to replace my broken one, but decided I could keep switching the belt I wear to work between my slacks and jeans.

* Had lunch at Avanti's. Tried their lasagna for the first time; quite good. Also had some cheddar cheeseballs. I tend to be wary of cheddar... I like some cheddar-flavored things a lot, but others I very strongly dislike. Fortunately, it seems Avanti's uses a kind of cheddar that I do like.

* At Avanti's, referred to Joe as "Hot Lips", after he quoted Major Margaret Houlihan's line "I'm not so think as you drunk I am" from M*A*S*H. Joe was startled by that reference, not previously being aware of the origin of that quote, and he advised me not to ever call him "Hot Lips" again. Sound advice.

* In search of something called "a chocolate soda", went to the place by Circuit City which used to be an ice cream place (they closed, apparently), Udders in the mall, Spotted Cow in Peoria Heights, and eventually Dairy Queen. DQ was able to create one, and I quite enjoyed it.

[Edited to add, #2:]
* While still at the mall, I helped jump-start the car of a family from Missouri.

[Edited to add, #1:]
* Along the way from the mall to Spotted Cow, stopped at Acme Comics to pick up my file. Also signed up to get jms's Dream Police.

* Watched Napoleon Dynamite at my place. Interesting movie. Kinda weird. It had Diedrich Bader (The Drew Carey Show, Office Space) and Jon Gries (The Pretender), the latter of which, when I was watching, made me think "I know that I know him from somewhere, but I'm not sure where", but when I watched the end credits, I recognized the name and made the connection. I did think it was rather odd that most of the characters walked around with blank expressions on their face. I've still got the DVD, which I will need to return by the end of the business day Thursday. I'll probably watch with director's commentary before returning it.

* Destroyed the TV to Goodwill. Hooray!

* Went over to see Eric and Jon. Joe delivered Timesplitters to Eric, and they played it for a while. While they were doing that, though, I got interested in some videos that Jon was watching on his computer. There were the common Flash animations, but also a lot of video clips of various interesting things. Joan stopped by for a while, as did others.

* Drove Joe home, and stayed to watch the second episode of Invasion Iowa, which he'd DVR'ed. I still need to watch my tape of episode(s) 4 (and 5) (depending on whether you count Friday's two-hour showing as one or two episodes). And Joe still needs to watch my tape of episode 3. After that, we'll've both seen the entire mini-series.

* Stopped off at Wal*Mart. I was about five minutes too late to fill up on gas (that shuts down at midnight), but I picked up a few needed groceries.

* Returned home and blogged about today. :-)

davidh