A couple weeks back I went bowling.  For the sake of updating my records...


2009
January: 96 - 113 - 134  (343)
March: 94 - 120 - 108  (322)
November: 118 - 135 - 96  (349)

2010
January: 95 - 109 - 123  (327)

I thought the first game was chock full of suck, but I guess it was fairly typical night for me. 

One of these days I'll get around to writing up my dream Apple product.  Dunno if I would call it the iPod Life or the iMemory, but there is something I would love to be able to do that I can't.  But that's for another post. 

This one is a look into my iTunes Top 50.  Now, because I've only had this laptop for a year this list is something like 11 months worth of data.  But, I like thinking about lists and records and this is fun for me, so these are the 50 songs I have listened to the most often through iTunes.  

1. "Roll to the Middle", by Sara Groves
2. "Identity Theft", by Nellie McKay
3. "Maybe There's a Loving God", by Sara Groves
4. "You Do", by Aimee Mann
5. "Teenage Dirtbag", by Girls Aloud
6. "I Like You So Much Better When You`re Naked", by Ida Maria
7. "The Ballad of Mary Magdalene", by Cry Cry Cry
8. "Anything, Anything (I'll Give You)", by Dramarama
9. "Got You (Where I Want You)", by The Flys
10. "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now", by Joss Stone
11. "The World Should Revolve Around Me", by Little Jackie
12. "Strength Through Music", by Amanda Palmer
13. "Her Man", by Gary Allan
14. "Coin-Operated Boy", by The Dresden Dolls
15. "That's Not My Name", by The Ting Tings
16. "Good Day", by Jewel
17. "Life In A Northern Town [Live]", by Sugarland
18. "Zero", by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
19. "The More Boys I Meet", by Carrie Underwood
20. "Nightshift", by Commodores
21. "Across the Universe", by Fiona Apple
22. "Save Me", by Aimee Mann
23. "Insensitive, by Jann Arden
24. "Wednesday", by Tori Amos
25. "Leeds United", by Amanda Palmer
26. "As Cool as I Am", by Dar Williams
27. "Let Him Fly", by Dixie Chicks
28. "Kiss With A Fist", by Florence + The Machine
29. "Heavy Cross", by The Gossip
30. "Image", by Maria Isa
31. "As Is", by Ani DiFranco
32. "God Only Knows", by The Beach Boys
33. "Teen for God", by Dar Williams
34. "Everybody Knows", by Dixie Chicks
35. "Put Your Hands on Me", by Joss Stone
36. "I Tried To Rock You But You Only Roll", by Leona Naess
37. "Natalie's Rap", by The Lonely Island
38. "Fidelity", by Regina Spektor
39. "Less Like Scars", by Sara Groves
40. "I'm On Fire", by Bat For Lashes
41. "Bruises", by Chairlift
42. "Stephenville, TX", by Jewel
43. "Riot Poof", by Tori Amos
44. "'Tis Of Thee", by Ani DiFranco
45. "The Mustard", by Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Original Cast
46. "Wasted", by Carrie Underwood
47. "Top of the World", by Dixie Chicks
48. "Life Ain't Always Beautiful", by Gary Allan
49. "Cold Song", by Jewel
50. "Downtown Train",by Tom Waits

The only real surprises here for me is the inclusion of "Leeds United", which is probably my least favorite Amanda Palmer song, and the lack of Jennifer Knapp (and the lack of particular Tori Amos songs) - but I guess the key is that this is based on the last year and not the last ten. 

I woke up this morning to a message in my Facebook inbox.  
Seriously?! 

I've been in Minnesota for just about eighteen years, but yes, yes I did live on Staten Island as a child, and yes, I do recognize the name of the guy who sent me that message.  

My childhood in New York was a peculiar thing and very different from Minnesota, though this may do with the difference between a small town and the city.  Growing up all my friends were the neighborhood kids.  Danny, Joey, Cassius, Walter, Chad, Mikey (both of them), and even Jon from around the corner (plus sort of Kelly and Rosa, but they were girls).  Except for Jon, everyone was in the same half block radius.  In Minnesota there was one kid my age on my block.  Friends came from your class (and arguably from different classes).  But, in Minnesota I was in a very small town and the whole set up was different. 

But...just...wow.

His facebook picture is of a dog (his?), but I see on his Info tab the high school I would have gone to (which is a major factor in why we moved, my parents didn't want me going there).  His friends list shows both Danny and Chad. 

I wonder exactly how my life would have been different if my parents didn't move me from New York after seventh grade.  Wonder if I would have played baseball in high school. 

I'll take "things I didn't expect for $400, Alex"

I should have been watching The Tonight Show before this.  I tuned in to hear Conan rip into his bosses.  From an entertainment perspective, this saga / cluster---- has been worth finding all the clips i could find (Letterman has been particularly brilliant)

What do I get?  Jeff Bridges playing guitar and singing. 

I loved it. 

Ooh!

Ooh!

Ooh!

Got my copy of Mary Kowal's Scenting the Dark and Other Stories!  It's staring down at me from the shelf right now! 

I've got two episodes left of the first season of Torchwood and I've decided that the team is increasingly unfit to do their jobs. 

Jack Harkness is essentially amoral when it comes to accomplishing what he views as his mission.  For him, the ends always justify the means.  So, while he hasn't done anything overly egregious yet on screen, I think the rot starts from the top.  He is half of a good leader in that he is competent and he trusts his team to do their jobs well.  I wouldn't want Jack on the other side, but I'm not sure I really want him on my side either.  

Ianto should have been relieved of duty after the "Cyberwoman" episode.  His betrayal of the organization for personal reasons was egregious and it put not only Torchwood at risk, it nearly unleashed a threat to the entire world - one which we have seen go quite badly on the Dr. Who side.  Equally bad, he threatened Jack by saying that one day Jack will need saving and that Ianto would be there - and not save him.  Ianto has proven himself to be untrustworthy, unreliable, and a future threat.  So, of course he still has his job.

Owen Harper is currently psychologically unfit to do his job after Diana (aviator from the 50's) left.  He is reckless and angry, and in the last episode I watched - borderline suicidal.  While I'm willing to accept that Owen should be given a leave of absence rather than losing his job, he seriously needs a psych evaulation.  He's unstable right now.  

Let's not forget about Suzie - a woman who committed murder as part of her "research" and then tried to kill Jack (semantics, there, she did kill him, but Jack has death issues) and ended up dead herself. 

That leaves Tosh and Gwen.  Tosh has her issues given that she let an alien creature into Torchwood HQ and was willing to betray Torchwood based on what she felt for the alien, and Gwen...Gwen is the one who I generally consider to be the moral center of Torchwood.  Except that she used one of the amnesia pills on her boyfriend so she could confess her unfaithfulness in the hopes that he would forgive her - and then forget that she confessed.  It's a selfish and morally corrupt action - though she still remains (with Tosh, I suppose), the moral center of Torchwood.  

This is a morally corrupt organization that doesn't report to anyone.  Not really.  

I had this conversation with V last night and she said I'm not understanding the point of the show.  I think I do, but that this is a discussion tangential to my actual enjoyment of it. 

I compared the Torchwood organization to the BAU of Criminal Minds - comparing the overall ethical behaviors of each.  She said they were soldiers and not FBI agents, so the comparison didn't hold - but I think that as soldiers, Ianto should be given a dishonorable discharge and the rest of them are questionable.  

Whether or not Torchwood gets the job done, and they seem to, mostly, very few of the members of the team should be on the team.  The problem is that the team doesn't appear to be answerable to anyone and thus they are not accountable for their behavior except to Jack...and he's amoral. 

I don't think I'd want Torchwood on the wall.  But I'd be willing to put the BAU in Torchwood's job. 

I think I just got hit by a bad babelfish translation. 

Back in 2005, before I shifted the focus of my blog to only write about book related stuff, I reviewed the disappointing movie The Sandlot 2.  Yes, I know.  It's a movie that didn't need to be made, and I didn't go into with high expectations, but it still sucked. 

Well, Google Alerts gave me a hit to my name popping up on the internet and it was my review of The Sandlot 2.  Except - from the brief preview in my e-mail, I was a really shitty writer.  Maybe I am, but I have to think that I'm better than
That. 

So, I clicked on the alternate review. 

Oh, hell no. 

My only explanation for this is that someone (or a bot) pulled my review, ran it through babelfish to a different language, and back through to English.  Or something. 

I may not be good, but I'm better than that. 

Just threw down my registration for Fourth Street Fantasy.  I had forgotten that membership rises from $60 to $75 on Jan 1, but thanks to a kind reminder of a livejournal post, now I remember. 

It's as good a time as any to save $15 for something I'm going to do anyway. 

Well, no hot chocolate for me. The entire mall was closed, except for the theater. I drove around for a while after the movie, kinda aimless like.

I came across a Caribou with its lights on and people inside.

Alas, they had just closed.  I was five minutes off from getting a Caribou hot chocolate.

So, here's the deal.  Tomorrow - I'm getting me some hot chocolate.  Mmmmm!

I think that I am going to take myself to see Avatar. I've got a half hour to shower and get over there.

With any luck, the Caribou Coffee in the mall will be open (sorry, workers) and I can get a hot chocolate.

Merry Christmas, all!

The newest weird way people find my blog is from the "I don't read Boing Boing" google search.

Got a bunch of hits from that today.

Still, I don't think that anything will top folks finding my blog via my review of Lori Selke's story "Dead. Nude. Girls." I confess to being more than a little bit squicked at that search and the sheer volume of hits I got from that, even a year after.

...

Um.

...

Seriously, who steals an eight year old laundry basket patched up with duct tape?

Oh, my interview is up at Temple Library Reviews.

That's all.

Well, if you want more - Ninja Assassin was awesome.

I just spent the last two hours or so answering 18 interview questions from Temple Library Reviews for the Reviewer Time feature.

You couldn't tell from livejournal, but I'm a wordy, wordy bastard.

And I just wore myself out.

Criminal Minds tomorrow. Season 5, Episode 2.

Aaah!

Just finished the season four finale of Criminal Minds. I knew what happened to Hotch going into this, but I didn't know how. THAT was not what I expected. I expected THAT to show up in Episode 100, which I have otherwise quite studiously avoided learning anything about that wasn't disclosed in my DVR's episode listing.

Before THAT, Hotch said that he wondered how many times his team could stare into the abyss. I wonder that, too. JJ and Morgan are the two who appear to be candidates to leave the team. JJ doesn't want to be a profiler, so she could do her job for a number of teams. Morgan, whom "and back" leaned heavily on in regards to struggling with doing this job, is the most likely candidate.

I don't think I'm reading too much into the episode, though, because I think there have been small hints at this for a while. I think it really started (for me) when Morgan was told that his name was mentioned for the New York (??) job and Hotch refused to give his recommendation because Morgan is much less willing to put his live in the hands of his team than a leader needs to be.

Morgan's been upwardly mobile his entire career and is more than competent in his job, though I think there can be a solid montage made of Morgan tackling unsubs over the course of the show. He wouldn't be a leader in the mold of Hotch, but he could be a good one. I think he knows this. He's been in the BAU for seven years and eventually he is going to want / need to do something else.

I don't want him off the show (favorite character, despite my love for Garcia), but it makes sense from a character perspective.


Alright, time to dig into my 8 recorded episodes from Season 5. Let's see what happened to Hotch!

I'm catching up, Bear. I think I'll benefit from a re-watch at some point. This show does well in ripping out your heart and kicking it around for a while.

Oh, Muire...

You know, the handling of Kurt's father on Glee is really well done. He's not comfortable with his son being gay and doesn't know how to relate to Kurt at all, but he's as good a father as he knows how to be. He tries.

It's good to see.

I don't remember where I was the other day, but I heard "Nightshift" playing in the overhead music / muzak.

Wistfully, I jammed a little to the music. Quietly and softly, because the song makes me think wistful, quiet, and soft thoughts.

It's right up near the top of my list of the all time most beautiful songs ever.

Ever.

It's one you want to turn down the lights, maybe close your eyes, and just listen. Let it soak over you.


Gonna be some sweet sounds coming down
On the nightshift
I bet you're singing proud
Oh, I bet you'll pull a crowd
Gonna be a long night, it's gonna be all right
On the nightshift
Oh you found another home, I know you're not alone
On the nightshift

That was the sound I made in appreciation of Steven Brust dropping a Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference into Yendi. Naaaah!


Well played, sir. Well played.