Someone as great as Leslie Nielsen is worthy of a bit more indulgence in his career...
A role model for straight-faced comics everywhere.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
More Than One Way To Make A Point
"Don't worry, be happy." - Bobby McFerrin
"Don't suffer future pain. Take care of business here and now." - crooked cop from Law & Order: CI
"Don't suffer future pain. Take care of business here and now." - crooked cop from Law & Order: CI
Sunday, November 28, 2010
RIP Leslie Nielsen
In memory of our dearly departed comic friend Leslie Nielsen... one of his all-time great lines.
Scattergories
The McDonalds tend to play fast and loose with the rules of the game.
Under the letter B.
Things in a park: Big Bullies.
Things that jump/bounce: Unless the entire brood was born invalid, I contend that Bambi's Babies must be accurate.
Under the letter I.
Farm animals: Irritated chickens.
Under the letter E:
Crimes: Eating the Elderly.
A literary debate broke out for the letter O:
Book titles: Old Man and the Ocean.
Likewise, I was overruled under the letter K that "Karate Hour with Jim" was a legit T.V. show, or that "Kettleworms" was an actual type of insect (though for the life of me, I don't know how else worms in a kettle would otherwise be described in conversation).
Moods turned ugly around the table when Mom and Dena agreed that "New Guinea" and "NASA" were tropical places, but not "North Dakota." Ask the scientists at the Arctic Circle!
Fortunately, Jack called in from California right around then. He was able to provide final rulings on several items. Thanksgiving was saved.
Under the letter B.
Things in a park: Big Bullies.
Things that jump/bounce: Unless the entire brood was born invalid, I contend that Bambi's Babies must be accurate.
Under the letter I.
Farm animals: Irritated chickens.
Under the letter E:
Crimes: Eating the Elderly.
A literary debate broke out for the letter O:
Book titles: Old Man and the Ocean.
Likewise, I was overruled under the letter K that "Karate Hour with Jim" was a legit T.V. show, or that "Kettleworms" was an actual type of insect (though for the life of me, I don't know how else worms in a kettle would otherwise be described in conversation).
Moods turned ugly around the table when Mom and Dena agreed that "New Guinea" and "NASA" were tropical places, but not "North Dakota." Ask the scientists at the Arctic Circle!
Fortunately, Jack called in from California right around then. He was able to provide final rulings on several items. Thanksgiving was saved.
Found In A Novelty Magazine
"Some people are like Slinkies. Not really good for much, but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs."
Megamind
Will Ferrell's voice stars in this animated twist on a superhero tale. It spins the tale of a mostly inept supervillain launched from the same dying planet as his arch enemy (or is it arch hero?) Metro Man (played by Brad Pitt, whose voice sounds different from the way I last remember it). After stunning Metro City and T.V. reporter Roxanne Ritchi (played by Tina Fey) by actually killing Metro Man, Megamind embarks on a melancholy journey of unopposed domination. Despised and unchallenged, he decides to create a new superhero from Metro Man's DNA, which leads to unexpected complications. The bungling and endearing blue evildoer eventually sorts things out as only fairy tales can - the city is spared from destruction, and the hero gets the girl.
Don't pitch in for the 3D version, but give it a try at the theater if you'd like something to accompany dinner and could use a smile. The quaint perspective gives it some fresh character, and it's not as corny as, say, Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie of years ago. Evil minions, quirky technological gadgets and just enough pratfalls keep the movie moving along breezily to its conclusion.
Don't pitch in for the 3D version, but give it a try at the theater if you'd like something to accompany dinner and could use a smile. The quaint perspective gives it some fresh character, and it's not as corny as, say, Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie of years ago. Evil minions, quirky technological gadgets and just enough pratfalls keep the movie moving along breezily to its conclusion.
High/Low Week 47, 2010
I once missed a wide open layup in a playoff game that ended up being the difference in a loss. That kind of gaffe ties a knot in the gut and temporarily paralyzing sense of helplessness that's salved only by the passage of time. This week was a quaint reminder of that sensation as a simple work deadline established three months ago got missed by a week and was published companywide. That layup occurred about ten years ago. Thankfully this incident will rinse off more quickly now that the antidote is known - chin up, face forward, keep playing hard and good times will roll again.
The poisonous nature of negative thoughts ended up sapping some of the joy out of a properly satisfying experience. Coaching a team to a twenty-five point win is about as good as it gets, but it's easy to get caught up in the slacked second-half defense or the turnovers that kept perfection at bay. In the post-game locker room debriefing I mustered only an assent about a few bad shots rather than adding any number of highlights that had launched our season off to a good start. Fortunately it was a three-game tourney, and I brought the right mix of energy to the remaining games, which was especially useful in the championship game loss.
It was another educational week courtside, as I was employed keeping the shot charts and improved over the weekend in being able to simultaneously study the game while doing so. In wins and losses the team hustled to the end, and role players made key contributions. Losing with grace - such an important life lesson to learn at a young age, and one of the main reasons I got into this gig.
Got some financial affairs in order. I was under the impression that probate court costs of Mom's estate might needlessly consume 5% of its value. Instead it turns out that as long as the assets are relatively simple - bank accounts, mutual funds and a house - then "transfer at death" forms can usually be filled out. In the case of the house, I learned that Mom had placed it into trust with her as trustee, and myself as the successor trustee. With rights of ownership, and sale proceeds distributable equally to Jack and me upon sale, any potential problem seems to have been solved.
The fantasy football team's been rallying recently, now at 6-4 and a game out of the playoffs.
It's nice to have reached a point where I can fairly easily get the heart rate up to 150 beats a minute for a 20-30 minutes at a time on the elliptical machine. As I told someone this week, my cardio goals are almost entirely about heart rate. Target fat-burning zone of 70% of (225 - age) = 130 beats a minute. Not much of an overachiever but am glad to feel like one in this corner of my life!
Thanksgiving. Fifteen years with the Freidingers. A houseful of coaches, athletes, exercisers, investors, increasingly interesting nieces and nephews, and all the food you can eat. The abysmal weather forecasts never quite came true, and the travel conditions to Bloomingdale were ideal. For reasons best left to the pundits to figure out, nowhere do I get better sleep than in my childhood home. With Mom in good spirits and Dena and good health, our threesome celebration is a delightful change-of-pace to the Goodfield bustle for my personality.
December is upon us. Christmas lists are growing, daylight hours are in retreat for only a few more weeks, and the temperatures that hovered below twenty degrees for much of last winter are holding up well enough this deep into the fall. A good time to carry the enthusiasm and grace of this holiday into the next.
The poisonous nature of negative thoughts ended up sapping some of the joy out of a properly satisfying experience. Coaching a team to a twenty-five point win is about as good as it gets, but it's easy to get caught up in the slacked second-half defense or the turnovers that kept perfection at bay. In the post-game locker room debriefing I mustered only an assent about a few bad shots rather than adding any number of highlights that had launched our season off to a good start. Fortunately it was a three-game tourney, and I brought the right mix of energy to the remaining games, which was especially useful in the championship game loss.
It was another educational week courtside, as I was employed keeping the shot charts and improved over the weekend in being able to simultaneously study the game while doing so. In wins and losses the team hustled to the end, and role players made key contributions. Losing with grace - such an important life lesson to learn at a young age, and one of the main reasons I got into this gig.
Got some financial affairs in order. I was under the impression that probate court costs of Mom's estate might needlessly consume 5% of its value. Instead it turns out that as long as the assets are relatively simple - bank accounts, mutual funds and a house - then "transfer at death" forms can usually be filled out. In the case of the house, I learned that Mom had placed it into trust with her as trustee, and myself as the successor trustee. With rights of ownership, and sale proceeds distributable equally to Jack and me upon sale, any potential problem seems to have been solved.
The fantasy football team's been rallying recently, now at 6-4 and a game out of the playoffs.
It's nice to have reached a point where I can fairly easily get the heart rate up to 150 beats a minute for a 20-30 minutes at a time on the elliptical machine. As I told someone this week, my cardio goals are almost entirely about heart rate. Target fat-burning zone of 70% of (225 - age) = 130 beats a minute. Not much of an overachiever but am glad to feel like one in this corner of my life!
Thanksgiving. Fifteen years with the Freidingers. A houseful of coaches, athletes, exercisers, investors, increasingly interesting nieces and nephews, and all the food you can eat. The abysmal weather forecasts never quite came true, and the travel conditions to Bloomingdale were ideal. For reasons best left to the pundits to figure out, nowhere do I get better sleep than in my childhood home. With Mom in good spirits and Dena and good health, our threesome celebration is a delightful change-of-pace to the Goodfield bustle for my personality.
December is upon us. Christmas lists are growing, daylight hours are in retreat for only a few more weeks, and the temperatures that hovered below twenty degrees for much of last winter are holding up well enough this deep into the fall. A good time to carry the enthusiasm and grace of this holiday into the next.
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