New York Nortons

I just can’t bring myself to call the Georgia Bulldogs “Dawgs.” I always feel like I’m redneck fraud when I write it, and someone will eventually call me out. “You ain’t no redneck, boy.” So, I will put this aside aside and get to my original point. I was at the UGA/GT game this weekend. It was so much sweeter to watch this game and Reggie Ball’s 4th straight implosion than my last game at Sanford Stadium… Vanderbilt.

I was so disappointed with our team after the Kentucky loss. I expected us to finish our season 6-6 with a losing SEC record, but the Bulldogs surprised me. They pulled off upsets over Auburn and Georgia Tech. Redemption! And we may have a shot at the Chick-fil-a Bowl… my fingers are crossed, dawg!

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Ashley and I are huge Lost fans. It is really the only show that I absolutely must watch every week. There are other shows that I enjoy, but I never feel compelled to watch them as soon as they air thanks in large part to Tivo. College football is really the only exception to this rule.

I was a bit disappointed and frustrated last night after watching the 6th and final episode for this mini-season for a couple reasons. The first and most frustrating reason is that the show is not schedule to return until Feb 7. The reason for this super extended break is because ABC in all of their TV scheduling savvy decided that this is the best way to ensure high ratings and capture the early TV season numbers – see this USA Today article for more. That does leave hard core fans like us – fans who visit Lost forums, discuss crazy theories, listen to Lost podcasts, etc – with nothing for 3 months. I wish they could have just started lost in January the way 24 does, but that’s just my opinion. The second reason is simply that they didn’t really resolve anything in this mini-season (with the exception of killing off Mr. Ekko who was one of my favorite characters.) I guess we do know that Kate picked Sawyer, but they are still in the same predicament they were in before… maybe worse.

On a positive note, it’s good to see Locke back in hunter form. “Look to the North, John”

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If you are the first person to comment with the correct name of all three people in this picture, you will get a genuine check for 1 US dollar that you can redeem for cash at your nearest bank (provided you have an account with them.)

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And now with some interesting offerings from Google, it’s getting easier. I’m writing this post using Google Docs . I can then simply configure my blog settings in Google and send posts directly from it. Google Docs allows me to add collaborators, so Ashley and I can edit posts at the same time.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that I’ll take full advantage of this gain in productivity. Everyone knows that I have not been the most loyal blogger in the world, and I tend to overlook writing about stuff that you care about (namely, what life is like in New York.) I think it’s mostly because life in New York is fairly routine. I take the subway to work, sit in front of a computer for 8 hours a day writing Java or Perl or C# or whatever is needed for a project. Then I take the subway home, try to work out, eat, and spend time working on my personal projects or watching TV. The routine has taken a pretty fun turn this week though because we got a Macbook – Barney – which is SO much faster than our iMac (although I am still fond of Homer.)

I’ll throw this out there to keep you interested. I’m currently working on a redesign for this site because the current look is getting a little old. I promise to give the blog a clean and modern look, and we’ll all be happy. No promises that the new look will be soon. I have to figure out the Wordpress Theme Editor first.

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I’ve taken the first step toward becoming an official dolphin trainer. Now, I just need a marine biology degree and several years of experience cleaning dolphin pools and entertaining small children.

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I’m not going to dwell on yesterday very much, but I really appreciate the tribute in light. I took this picture from the roof of our apartment. The light goes as high as you can see.

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We were there in Arthur Ashe Stadium for Agassi’s final match. It was a very moving moment when he bowed to the crowd for the last time. Becker, his opponent, passed on the spotlight and said that all the praise should be on Agassi. Read more about Agassi’s farewell on Nytimes.com.

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We just got back from a wonderful vacation in Seattle and Orcas Island. Here’s a quick trip photo montage for those of you who are interested. Click “Read More” for the rest of the pics.

Read more…

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Ashley and I enjoy watching movies. We try to watch a movie every week or so. And we’ve decided that we’ll share our thoughts here. After all, it’s our blog. And since it’s our blog and it’s about our lives in New York, I’m going to point out instances in recent movies that have something to do with us and/or New York. I’m sure that Ashley will also eventually chip in with her thoughts. I’ll start with the most recent first since it’s the least hazy in my semi-senile memory.

The Devil Wears Prada

Yes, I saw this movie. That doesn’t make me less of a man, does it? Despite the misperception I had when I envisioned a movie made from a chick lit book, I actually enjoyed this. The movie light and humorous and fortunately it never bogged down in the cliche plotlines that go with “romantic comedies.” I was amazed by Meryl Streep. I commented that if she was in a movie with Johnny Depp and she was playing a male character and Deep was playing a female character, they could pull it off. She’s just that good… and Johnny is just that girlish… I mean talented.

Another plus for the movie was that I saw them filming it and almost got a piece of Anne Hathaway’s birthday cake. I saw them sing Anne “Happy Birthday” and then film crew started lining up for cake. I got in the back of the line for a few seconds before chickening out and walking away. I did wish Anne a happy birthday though.

In one of the sweeping panoramas of the city, you can actually see our apartment building in downtown New York. This isn’t the only recent movie where you can see the apartment building, but I’ll get to the others when it’s their turn.

Pirates of the Caribbean – The Dead Man’s Chest

There’s nothing in the movie that directly ties it to New York. However, last year when we first moved to New York, we were visiting the South Street Seaport and noticed that there was a party occurring on one of the old ships in the harbor. Being the curious and friendly people we are, we asked the security guard what was up. They were having a party for the directors, producers, and other financiers of Pirates of the Caribbean. Later, they unfurled a banner of the movie from the ship’s mast.

The movie itself was fun and definitely worth watching, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the original. There was a lot of great swashbuckling, sword fighting, undead monkies, etc, etc, but the novelty of the first movie wasn’t there. I also thought that Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) was drab and boring unlike the first movie where she carried a lot more weight. Johnny Depp was brillant as usual, but he owns Jack Sparrow. And they left us hanging with the ending until Pirates III comes out next year.

Superman Returns

Watching Superman Returns was like watching the original Superman for me. And I respect Brandon Routh for playing Christopher Reeves playing Superman. I mean there is no better role model to emulate if you are going to portray Superman.

And yes, you can see our apartment when Superman first flies over downtown New York. So, that’s 3 for three with the New York connection for movies we’ve seen this summer.

An Inconvenient Truth

This is the last one I’m going to mention because I’m getting tired of writing.  This was an eye opening film, and I believe that everyone who is the least bit concerned about the future of our planet should go see it.  Al Gore breaks everything down as simply as possible so that by the time you leave you understand how dramatic the changes to our atmosphere are.  He point out that despite the fact that there are great natural fluctuations in the earth’s temperature, the level of carbon in the atmosphere is the highest in the world’s history by an exponential amount.

The movie focused primarily on teaching about the problem, but Al also gave advice on how we can stem the problem.  Check out http://www.climatecrisis.net – a website tied to the film with information about you can do to help.

And sadly, yes, there is a picture of downtown NY.  It’s a picture of what Manhattan would look like if ocean level’s rise by 7 inches, and it shows all of downtown NY under water.

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I’ve written about Net Neutrality before, and I added that odd “Save the Internet” button on the right. And you’re wondering what in the world I’m talking about… the Internet is just a series of tubes, right? Anyway, the Daily Show had a great explanation of Internet Neutrality by the “I’m a PC” guy – John Hodgeman.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YedWtX9tKE[/video]

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