My big sis has recently returned to her daily journal.
It makes me happy…
Archive for May, 2006
Once we were little, now we blog
Tuesday, May 9th, 2006The M:I “Saga” Series — a complete history
Monday, May 8th, 2006The Rollin Saga / ELENA / starring Martin Landau and Barbara Luna / Episode 10, Year One / First aired, 12/10/66
The Cinnamon Saga / THE SHORT TAIL SPY / starring Barbara Bain and Hans Gudegast (Eric Braeden) / Episode 14, Year One / First aired, 12/17/66
The Jim Saga / NICOLE / starring Peter Graves and Joan Collins / Episode 73, Year Three / First aired, 3/30/69
The Barney Saga / DEATH SQUAD / starring Greg Morris and Cicely Tyson / Episode 100, Year Four / First aired, 3/15/70
The Paris Saga / MY FRIEND, MY ENEMY / starring Leonard Nimoy and Jill Haworth / Episode 107, Year Five / First aired, 10/25/70
The Dana Saga / THE MISSILE / starring Lesley Ann Warren and John Beck / Episode 119, Year Five / First aired, 1/16/71
The Willy Saga / DOUBLE DEAD / starring Peter Lupus and Irene Tsu / Episode 143, Year Six / First aired, 2/12/71
The Nicholas Saga / THE ASSASSIN / starring Thaao Penghlis / M:I Revival, Episode 32 / First aired, 1/20/90
The Shannon Saga / CHURCH BELLS IN BOGOTA / starring Jane Badler / M:I Revival, Episode 34 / First aired, 2/10/90
The Ethan Saga, Part One / Mission: Impossible / starring Tom Cruise and Emmanuelle Béart / Theatrical release, 1996
The Ethan Saga, Part Two / M:I-2 / starring Tom Cruise and Thandie Newton / Theatrical release, 2000
The Ethan Saga, Part Three / M:I-3 / starring Tom Cruise and Michelle Monaghan / Theatrical release, 2006
M : I : 3
Sunday, May 7th, 2006If you grew up with the original Mission: Impossible concept and sat through two substandard motion picture versions…
If you admire the best aspects of the Alias television series…
If you’re ready for some young IMF team members that Dan Briggs would have been proud to carry in his portfolio…
If you don’t dislike Tom Cruise any more than you do Jennifer Garner…
If you think Ving Rhames is cool…
If you think Lalo Schifrin is even cooler…
Then you’re ready to buy a ticket for the next installment of “The Ethan Saga.”
The Secretariat will disavow any knowledge
Saturday, May 6th, 2006Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Charismatic, Funny Cide, Smarty Jones… There’s been a lot of buzz over the past decade about the emergence of a new Super Horse and Triple Crown Winner. I watched each of those horses win the Derby, but hadn’t experienced the kind of emotion I felt today seeing Barbaro accelerate to his impressive victory. Didn’t even mind waiting another day to catch an M:I:3 matinee.
Various & Sundry, part thirty-eight
Thursday, May 4th, 2006— Last night I did the 30-miler to Stanford and back and felt strong. Back in July of 2005 I did that same ride and I was burnt toast by the time I got home. This is called progress. As a result, my legs felt a bit spent in the pool today, but I almost broke my 300-yard record time anyway. If had the buckers, I’d locate a challenging summer triathlon and go for it. “My favorite thing that makes me happy is… money.” Tell that to the Graybeard Prospector.
— If you can believe Zogby, 20% of 18-24-year-olds think that Germany was our ally in the second World War, and 52% could not name the American president who fought it. OK, the only solution is to produce a new WWII movie blockbuster that drills it into their heads. Here’s the cast—Dennis Quaid as FDR, Hilary Swank as Eleanor, Ed Harris as Ike, Paul Giamatti as Truman, Tim Robbins as MacArthur, Pete Postlethwaite as Montgomery, Ethan Hawke as Ernie Pyle, and Michael Gambon as Winston Churchill. Top that! I know, I know… lots of big battle scenes and pre-deployment consummations.
— I’m starting to see indications of blogging backlash, and maybe you’ve seen the same thing or—Heavens, no!—are part of the lash. Well, if you have any doubts about how constructive blogging can be, check out the way Dr. Weston has integrated it into his teaching at Gruntled Center.
— I had my second meeting with Wilma today and it looks like my having a one-man show at Danville’s Community Arts Center in 2007 is nearly a “done deal.” Stay tuned…
— Take the “Which Superhero are you?” quiz. I am ROBIN!
— BCA got a digital camera for his birthday present. Look out—the torch has passed. I didn’t go to his party. I figured I’d be too intimidated by all the celebrities.
Commander SpaceDork, Esquire
Wednesday, May 3rd, 2006• Other than motorist, you can call him a lot of things, because he just might be the most multi-talented person I’ve ever known—artist, musician, actor, humorist, gamesman, advocate, designer, scientist, thinker—how does someone like that decide what to do? Well, it appears he has decided what to do and what to be called… Writer.
• He expanded my joy of uncle-hood, and has enriched my life with his many discoveries, observations, and creative acts. He jolts my imagination. He makes me ponder, stretch, laugh.
• Of course, he’s brilliant, but also understanding, understandable, considerate, generous, and fun-loving. As we all know, those qualities don’t automatically go together.
• When he was four, he said to me, “My favorite thing that makes me happy is… money.”
• Today, I suppose, his favorite things that make him happy are…
Free words—
one hundred and one at a time, to be precise.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my “NB.” I love you, forever…
New guy in town
Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006My day had bookends by the name of Flint.
I was there at City Hall when he made his early streetscape presentation, and he was still going strong twelve hours later when he spoke to our task force about potential cycling enhancements.
By his own admission, he doesn’t know how to slow down and relax. He’s leaving home to catch a jet at 4:30 am tomorrow morning.
I’ve only known him a few weeks, but long enough to decide I like him, long enough for me to hope he quits smoking, long enough to imagine us working on good projects together.
Sometimes you meet an individual who you know you can learn from, and who you know can learn from you, and you can’t help but wonder how the story unfolds.
Various & Sundry, part thirty-seven
Monday, May 1st, 2006— Month of April workout totals: Swim-4; Bike-6; Run-3; Lift-6; Yoga-7
— We stopped out at the park to watch some of Hayley’s varsity softball game, but she wasn’t having a very good night on the field or at the plate. Cliff and I talked about business. Dana and I needed to leave after a few innings, and Hayley’s team was winning, but it was my hope she’d have a much better j-v game.
— I had to do my utmost to tactfully resist the mushrooming of my Brass Band Festival involvement. It was necessary to remind others why donating creative time is worthwhile to our studio—an opportunity to represent our best ideas to the community. One shouldn’t need to explain that we volunteer for reasons that go beyond the goodness of our hearts, and that the mutual benefit doesn’t work if we end up executing production services for the featured artist.
— Seems like my old chum Scott V and I only touch base this time of year, during our shared birthday season, but nothing wrong with that. A life-long athlete, he’s recovering from disc surgery on his neck and is eager to be back to normal. His goal is to return to the ball diamond as soon as he can. In a month he plans to go fishing in Canada with his Dad and four of his brothers. Sounds like a great getaway—no phones, no TV, with just cold water in the cabins. Dadbo always talked about taking the Dixon brothers on a trip to the “North Woods,” but it never happened. I’m happy to learn Scott is getting to do it, although it makes me sad at the same time.