An Arizona Cheesehead's Thoughts

Ya know, it used to be that I recorded everything on my DVR then watched my shows at my leisure. No more. I have too many programs that I now feel compelled to watch the same night they air. That compulsion is all due to the internet. It's impossible to avoid spoilers for shows like Game Of Thrones, Mad Men and Doctor Who unless I stay completely off the web which is just not within my makeup to do. But, that's not the only reason I have to watch. There are a bunch of ongoing commentaries and reviews of shows and I have to read every one of them. Right away. AV Club, Huffington Post, Vulture, Grantland, HitFix...I scour them for their recaps, interviews and gifs from the shows. I must know every little thing about every character But, it doesn't stop there. I then read the recap of the recaps. And, the recap of the best comments on the recaps. There's still more to Bob Benson, I just know it It's crazy obsessive but I'm not alone. At one p...

We were engaged in our monthly Trivia competition at the Elks on Wednesday and the questions were, well, fairly dated. I was the one carrying up our answers and had to offer a comment on many of them. Mostly to defend our lack of the correct answer. One of the questions was, "What were the names of the original members of the Supremes?" OK, we had Diana Ross right away. Dave said Mary Wells and then, well, we drew a complete blank. I suggested throwing out common names from the 60s to see if any of them triggered a response. No dice. When I turned in our answer, the folks running the show said, "You got that one for sure, right?" I think that since we're Parrot Heads, they assume we know all music. My response was, "That was a little before my time." That's when my own logic was thrown back at me. "Well, Bach and Beethoven were before my time and I know them," is what the woman reading the questions said. Damn, that hurt. I...

I think it's ironic that I posted this  rant  recently on my blog and referenced Star Wars and you'll agree with me when you hear the story. We were having our bi-weekly IT meeting and one of the guys pulled a chair over the tile. He was trying to be obnoxious and draw it out slowly because it's really loud. Yeah, pretty much like that. So, I said, "It sounds like a wookie." And, someone asked. "What's a wookie?" Oh, no, she didn't! We all looked at her in dumbfounded shock then I held up my hand and said, "I can't talk to you any more." Seriously? I don't care that you're a whippersnapper, how do you not know what a wookie is? Chewie is part of our damn culture! The fact that you work in IT makes it even more shameful. Sigh. It's really the IT part that's most disappointing. I get in when I have to explain to my Parrot Head friends about Star Trek, Lord Of The Rings and Battlestar Galactica but,...

He Was Pretty Steven and I got to see Man Of Steel last night at a sneak peek viewing. That was interesting in itself. Apparently, they made some deal with Walmart so that their customers had a chance to see the movie early. There were cast and crew interviews and a direct "So glad you Walmart customers are here with us" message. Shorty scored us two passes so we got in for free. I have to admit, I probably wouldn't have seen the movie in the theater without that "free" part. However, it did make my expectations low so anything decent was going to be a pleasant surprise. Overall, it was just that. Decent. Not horrible, not spectacular. The Decent There was a lot of time spent on Krypton. It was an interesting visualization that was clearly, er, inspired, by other sci-fi movies. Someone with more time on their hands than me needs to ID all the "inspired" parts. I'll give a hint - start with Star Wars 1, 2 and 3 and Flash Gordon....

I was listening to the 60s on 6 when I saw the song name I Want Candy by a group called The Strangeloves. It made me think of Bow Wow Wow's version right away just by the name. Then, the song started and it was THE SAME SONG! How did I not know that the Bow Wow Wow's version was a cover? I can't even use the excuse that the original came out in 1965 so I couldn't possibly remember it because I hate when people parade their younger age like a badge of ignorance honor when it comes to cultural or world events. "I wasn't born in 1977 so I've never seen the original Star Wars (and I think it's unreasonable of you to expect me to have seen it or know anything about it)." Yeah, well I wasn't born when the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan but I know about it. Now, you kids get off of my lawn! The tune was actually covered several times. And, for another trivia tidbit, was written by the same guys who wrote My Boyfriend's Back . Here's t...

There are two subjects guaranteed to start a conversation in our department. Nerd culture and food. Yes, we are the stereotypical IT group. Yesterday, there was a representative from Costco onsite trying to sell memberships. They come periodically and always bring a Costco sheet cake. If you've never had a Costco cake, they are bomb diggity! One my way out to lunch, I walked by the conference room where the cake was sitting there in all of its fat and sugar laden glory. The rep tried to entice me in but I stood firm. Yay, me! When I came back from lunch, the rep was gone and the cake was in our lunchroom. I told myself, if there's a corner left, I'll have it. Otherwise, I'll pass. Damn, there were two corners left. Boo, me! But, I only took one so maybe a little Yay, me is still applicable. We had this cake but without wishing Noah well. My desk is at the far end of the aisle and it was like my team members could smell the cake. They prairie dogged up out o...

Phred Parrot spent a little time at a Houston spa (also known as Susan's house) after we got back from Belize. He got re-stuffed, blinged up and came home with a new wardrobe. He looked mighty spiffy, in fact! Susan's a Birder and one of the additions to Phred's look was a pink feather. I couldn't tell you for the life of me what kind of bird it came from but I think it was from Belize. The main point is that it was important to Susan to put it on him. While we were frolicking in Rocky Point over Memorial Day Weekend, I noticed something that made my heart skip a beat. Something's not quite right... The feather was missing! My first thought was, "Please let someone else be responsible for the loss." So, I went through a bunch of pictures from the weekend before hoping that it was lost on Charlie and Vicki's watch. (I admit, not one of my finer moments.) The feather was there in most of them but there were some iffy pictures towards the end...