Labor Day Week
Yes, I know technically, it's really just a weekend. But seeing as I only have one day of actual work this week, I've extended it. Why only one day? Well, Monday is a holiday, of course. Tuesday is the one day where I will actually have to work. Wednesday and Thursday I have some off-site training, which means that not only will I not go in to work, but lunch is provided. Woohoo! Then Friday I am taking a vacation day to drive up to Greensburg, PA, for a friend's wedding. Should be a lot of fun. I don't know what is planned for that evening or anything, but there will be people coming from all over. I'll see some people I haven't seen in a couple years, as well as some I haven't seen in about a month. So it should be a lot of fun.
As for this weekend...yesterday, I went downtown and enjoyed some of the fine BBQ at RibAmerica. The ribs were pretty much ridiculously overpriced. Technically, I paid tickets for my ribs....you have to buy tickets, and then use tickets to get your food. I suppose the thought is that people won't think about how much they are spending if they are using tickets instead of money. Didn't really work for me...sometimes being good at math, you actually think about those things. Five tickets? Well, since you get 7 tickets for $10, that means that is a little more than $7. And yes, I did do those calculations in my head. I had plenty of time standing in line to do that. :) Still, they were very good. BBQ that good is hard to find in Indy. I was a little disappointed that they had only one KC BBQ place, and they were nothing special. Sure, they were good, but I know of probably a half dozen places in KC, if not more, that are just as good or better.
After spending a few hours at RibAmerica, I then wnet down the street to Victory Field to take in an Indians game. I had only been to one game so far this season, and thought it was about time I got to another. Especially since the season is almost over (minor league baseball ends about a month before the majors.
In other news....I've been in a movie phase lately. In the past couple weeks, I've seen three. One was a documentary about running an election called "By the People." It followed the Marion County (Indianapolis) Election Board through the 2004 election. really quite interesting. Did you know the acerage age of an election worker is 72? They are run pretty much entirely by volunteers, and pretty much everywhere, they are understaffed. It's amazing how much work goes into running an election. Anyway, I think it will be airing on PBS later this fall, so watch your schedules for it. It was very entertaining and enlightening.
The other movies I have seen are a bit less sophisticated. Still, I was entertained by them. One is, of course, Samuel L. Jackson's "Snakes on a Plane." Now, I won't kid anybody, if Sammy wasn't in this movie, I never would have even considered seeing it. But, that plus the fact that it was actually getting some decent reviews, I thought I'd check it out. And it is a lot of fun. By no means a great movie...don't look for it to be picking up any Golden Globes or Academy Awards...but it doesn't take itself too seriously or try to be something it's not. It just sets out to tell a silly story about snakes on a plane. And it tells it pretty well.
Finally, today I went to see the inspirational football story of Vince Papale, "Invincible," in which a South Philly bartender and substitute teacher goes to an open tryout and ends up making it on the Philadelphia Eagles. Yes, it's a Disney film, but they actually do pretty well with these types of stories (see "The Rookie" with Dennis Quaid, which is a similar story but involves baseball and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays). I would call this the "Hoosiers" of football films. Just an inspiring story. Sure, it's a bit predictable and hits most of the cliches that go along with the genre, but you still cheer for the guy, even if you aren't an Eagles fan. And it features the underrated acting talents of Mark Wahlberg and Greg Kinnear. It certainly got me ready for football season (which opens next weekend)!
Lastly, after a little prodding from my brother, I got myself an X-Box 360 about a week ago. The decision was made a bit easier by Sony's ridiculous asking price for the launch of their new system this fall, the fact that I have virtually no interest in Nintendo's system (and haven't had any interest in anything from them other than their portable systems since the original Nintendo around 1990). So rather than wait over a year for the PS3 price to drop before getting a new system, I just decided to go ahead and get the 360. Pretty happy with it so far.
As for this weekend...yesterday, I went downtown and enjoyed some of the fine BBQ at RibAmerica. The ribs were pretty much ridiculously overpriced. Technically, I paid tickets for my ribs....you have to buy tickets, and then use tickets to get your food. I suppose the thought is that people won't think about how much they are spending if they are using tickets instead of money. Didn't really work for me...sometimes being good at math, you actually think about those things. Five tickets? Well, since you get 7 tickets for $10, that means that is a little more than $7. And yes, I did do those calculations in my head. I had plenty of time standing in line to do that. :) Still, they were very good. BBQ that good is hard to find in Indy. I was a little disappointed that they had only one KC BBQ place, and they were nothing special. Sure, they were good, but I know of probably a half dozen places in KC, if not more, that are just as good or better.
After spending a few hours at RibAmerica, I then wnet down the street to Victory Field to take in an Indians game. I had only been to one game so far this season, and thought it was about time I got to another. Especially since the season is almost over (minor league baseball ends about a month before the majors.
In other news....I've been in a movie phase lately. In the past couple weeks, I've seen three. One was a documentary about running an election called "By the People." It followed the Marion County (Indianapolis) Election Board through the 2004 election. really quite interesting. Did you know the acerage age of an election worker is 72? They are run pretty much entirely by volunteers, and pretty much everywhere, they are understaffed. It's amazing how much work goes into running an election. Anyway, I think it will be airing on PBS later this fall, so watch your schedules for it. It was very entertaining and enlightening.
The other movies I have seen are a bit less sophisticated. Still, I was entertained by them. One is, of course, Samuel L. Jackson's "Snakes on a Plane." Now, I won't kid anybody, if Sammy wasn't in this movie, I never would have even considered seeing it. But, that plus the fact that it was actually getting some decent reviews, I thought I'd check it out. And it is a lot of fun. By no means a great movie...don't look for it to be picking up any Golden Globes or Academy Awards...but it doesn't take itself too seriously or try to be something it's not. It just sets out to tell a silly story about snakes on a plane. And it tells it pretty well.
Finally, today I went to see the inspirational football story of Vince Papale, "Invincible," in which a South Philly bartender and substitute teacher goes to an open tryout and ends up making it on the Philadelphia Eagles. Yes, it's a Disney film, but they actually do pretty well with these types of stories (see "The Rookie" with Dennis Quaid, which is a similar story but involves baseball and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays). I would call this the "Hoosiers" of football films. Just an inspiring story. Sure, it's a bit predictable and hits most of the cliches that go along with the genre, but you still cheer for the guy, even if you aren't an Eagles fan. And it features the underrated acting talents of Mark Wahlberg and Greg Kinnear. It certainly got me ready for football season (which opens next weekend)!
Lastly, after a little prodding from my brother, I got myself an X-Box 360 about a week ago. The decision was made a bit easier by Sony's ridiculous asking price for the launch of their new system this fall, the fact that I have virtually no interest in Nintendo's system (and haven't had any interest in anything from them other than their portable systems since the original Nintendo around 1990). So rather than wait over a year for the PS3 price to drop before getting a new system, I just decided to go ahead and get the 360. Pretty happy with it so far.