Musings and chronicles on life, work, film, culture, politics, etc.
31 Jul 2012 Leave a Comment
We will be racing in the Final on Wednesday for a shot at an Olympic Medal.
But let's back up a bit: racing at the Olympics is more than just racing for a medal. Just like every other year--there's a process to medaling, and before you can even think of standing on the podium, or even lining up for the Final, you have to take the necessary steps to…
30 Jul 2012 5 Comments
in society Tags: Advance Fee Fraud, Better Business Bureau, Confidence trick, consumerism, Fraud
I think I’ve unearthed a scam in our area. This afternoon I got a call from the sentry that the Clean Environment Air Duct man was here. Well, I was the only one home and no one had organized an estimate. I called both of my parents and neither was available. I sent the estimator packing as no one authorized or would authorize this service.
He left a card with a big green recycling symbol, no address and no name. He wrote his cell phone number and an illegible name on the card. (Is it Tom or John? Clearly it could be either.)
Just now this guy called back saying that he was here and the homeowners had set up an appointment. Wrong. Neither of my parents set up the appointment and he got a bit aggressive before my mother ended the call. I’m wondering if this is just a scam.
A friend told me that her parents got duped by a traveling fix it guy who noticed their roof had hale damage. Really? How do you notice that from street level? Unfortunately, her parents believed him and paid him a tidy sum and it’s not clear that this guy did any more than bang his hammer on their roof a bit.
Just a couple minutes ago the scam artist, John/Tom at 847-630-5560 of “Clean Environment” Air Duct Specialists called back saying he should have apologized. I agreed, told him we were in the midst of dinner and no interest in any estimates. I wonder who gave them my parents’ information. Could it have been the air conditioning repair people from last month? Could it have been an online source?
30 Jul 2012 2 Comments
Canadian Olympian Medallists honoured (Photo credit: VancityAllie)
You won’t believe it’s a real word, but it’s in the Oxford English Dictionary.
This week’s word is Olympianly. It doesn’t roll off the tongue and I suppose represents a wide range of conduct.
Olympianly, adv.
Pronunciation: Brit. /əˈlɪmpɪənli/, U.S. /əˈlɪmpiənli/, /oʊˈlɪmpiənli/
Forms: also with lower-case initial.
Etymology: < Olympian adj.1 + -ly suffix2.
In an Olympian manner; loftily, condescendingly.
- 1871 Echo 21 June 1/1 The Times..a little too Olympianly,..intimates that Mr. Gladstone’s argument for the Bill ‘perishes on analysis’.
- 1949 Listener 17 Nov. 860/2 Augustus John..has always been olympianly remote, a psychological factor which I think the critic should remember.
- 1975 F. Exley Pages from Cold Island ix. 151 It was..a trumpeting command issued from Wilson’s Olympianly pedantic heights.
- 1999 D. F. Wallace Brief Interviews with Hideous Men 148 Note..that its not like it’s any kind of Olympianly high aesthetic standards that have caused you to toss out 63% of the original octet.
29 Jul 2012 2 Comments
in television
Nominated for 4 Emmy awards, the BBC’s Luther beckoned me from Netflix. I’ve just seen the first two episodes from season 1 and am hooked. Luther’s main character is a London detective who’s we see taunting a known pedophile cum murderer. Did John Luther allow the murder to fall to his death? His superiors, colleagues and ex wife all wonder.
Like Sherlock Holmes and Columbo, the two inspirations for the character, Luther is brilliant. He’s also troubled. His wife has moved on taking a new boyfriend, who’s a much safer, centered cardigan-wearing kind of guy. Luther’s still very much in love and his wife could be too, but she’s just done with the intensity.
Each episode takes viewers to the edge, Luther solves highly violent crimes though deduction and psychologically gets inside the heads of the criminals as no one on the force can. Yet by the end of the pilot episode the criminal, Alice, a genius who planned the perfect murder, starts stalking the cop as she becomes obsessed with Luther and his wife. The tables are turned and Alice pathologically enjoys toying with Luther throughout the series.
29 Jul 2012 Leave a Comment
Here’s how it works:
1. Each week, we’ll provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.
2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use a “postaday2012″ or “postaweek2012″ tag.
28 Jul 2012 3 Comments
in culture, Event, opinion Tags: 2012 Summer Olympics, art, awesome, Benedict Cumberbatch, cheeky, competition, Danny Boyle, Industrial Revolution, international, James Bond, London, Olympic Games, Paul McCartney, Queen Elizabeth 2
Pastoral, merry, cheeky, awesome, puzzling – all describe the Opening Games of London’s 2012 Olympics.
I love the setting of the English countryside, the children’s choirs singing traditional songs, the interspersing of film, literature and music.
I kept thinking of the 2008 Beijing Olympics that raised the bar awfully high. The pageantry and pyrotechnics awed me. I couldn’t get over how precise and in step every drummer and performer was.
Yet watching the London games present the negative aspects of their history, e.g. the poverty and pain caused by the Industrial Revolution’s injustice, the devastation of World War. That was bold. That could not and would not be done in China and thank God the British have the liberty to do so.
The queen was great. Bravo for her participating in a cheeky vignette with James Bond. Not every leader, political or figurehead, would.
There were spots in the London ceremony that I didn’t like. I felt the teen romance portion with the rock music, music that I love, was kind of all over the place. But I’ll live with that as no one bats one out of the park every time and enough of the show did work. Again, I support an artist attempting something bold and Danny Boyle could.
I loved how the young athletes lit the torch, that more than one person did it and that there was a dramatic portrayal of how the old and young interact and share. I’m glad Paul McCartney capped off the night and that everyone sang along. I had expected more British stars and vaguely recall more Canadian celebrities participating in the Vancouver ceremony. I wish that in addition to Hey Jude, McCartney had written a new song for the games. I guess I’m a dreamer, but I bet a song with the theme of international cooperation and competition would sell like hot cakes.
Ah, so now as Benedict Cumberbatch says in this promo: Let the games commence.
27 Jul 2012 12 Comments
in History, Sepia Saturday Tags: Baseball, George Sisler, Library of Congress, New York City, Philadelphia
Take me out to the ball park, take me out to the game . . .
For many baseball is a centerpiece of summer. Even those who aren’t fans like myself, don’t mind an afternoon or night at the ballpark.
Baseball not only entertains today, but offers a slice of nostalgia. Here’s some I found on the Library of Congress‘ Flickr page.
Rube Alring, Philadelphia, LOC 1910s
Rube Aldring played in Philadelphia and New York.
George Sisler, LOC of 1910s
George Sisler played for St. Louis and was called “Gorgeous George” and “Gentleman George.”
27 Jul 2012 15 Comments
in Blogging Challenge, photos Tags: Blogging Challenge, DailyPost, dragon, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Photograph, postaday2012, postaweek2012
Here’s how it works:
1. Each week, we’ll provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.
2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use a “postaday2012″ or “postaweek2012″ tag.
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25 Jul 2012 Leave a Comment
in art, Chicago, culture Tags: downtown, Millennium Park, park, public art, summer
Crown Fountain
25 Jul 2012 Leave a Comment
in blogthings Tags: personality, quiz
You Are a Coconut |
 You are a trustworthy and loyal person. You are a keeper of secrets and confidences.You know that you have to be a friend in order to make friends. And that’s why you have so many great ones. You are warm-hearted, witty, and even irreverent. You have an outrageous sense of humor that gets people laughing.People know they’re going to have a blast when you’re around. You bring the fun! |
