I did like that they repeatedly brought up and joked about Lundgren's rather impressive, real life academic background.

That was one of my favorite elements of the film.

Having gone through a similar experience with yellow labs, you may be rather surprised with how quickly your new puppy picks up obedience cues from their elder.  With our second puppy housetraining took a day or two (no, I'm not exaggerating - once Nala was disciplined for peeing in the house and saw that both she and Simba were praised for going outside, she more or less gave me that look that said, "Oh, well why didn't you say that was where you wanted me to go?").  Simba also immediately took Nala under his wing, sleeping right next to her crate at night, curling up next to her when she'd pass out from exhaustion in the middle of the floor, and he lets her get away with anything when they play together.  As they both must wait for the "okay" command to eat whenever we place their food on the floor, it took one meal to teach Nala the program.  She literally watched what Simba did and then imitated him, watching him the entire time, and after the "okay" she only started eating after he did. 

The initial sleepless nights, multiple visits home to provide restroom relief (unless you go the piddle pads route), and constant supervision for the first few weeks is not easy by any stretch, but you will find that your new puppy will pick up so much from your more mature dog and you'll also see that they will often entertain themselves whenever you need a short break.

While it may sound ridiculous, having two dogs really isn't any harder than having one, outside of having to buy twice as much food, twice as many toys, and clean up twice as much waste.

Best of luck and feel free to ask any questions you might have.   

Super 8 came available on streaming this weekend. It was a little bit better than I expected. Enjoyable.

Nice.  Been wanting to check it out.  There are a few new entries on Netflix I need to catch up on, Super 8 included. 

Hoskin's is an actor's actor.  Sorry to hear about this.  I've always enjoyed his work.  He's one of those rare character actors that could bounce between hero and villain with believability. 

One of my absolute favorite Hoskins performances was his role in Unleashed.  Superb.

Saw this last night with my brother-in-law.  I'm not sure I enjoyed it as much as the original.  The one-liners were even more painfully bad than the first film (I know it's part of the genre, but it seemed too forced this time around), the action was fast but not necessarily action-packed, but overall it was still fun.  I enjoyed it, but I guess some of the positive reviews raised my expectations a little too much. 

Van Damme seemed to steal the show for me.  Norris was fun, but Van Damme looked like he was really having fun in his role.

"Flaky layers" are usually a fairly substantial indicator that medical attention is warranted.

Damnit.  I had hoped this would be an easy pass.  It actually sounds like quite a bit of fun.  Odds are my brother-in-law may pick it up, and if so I can always borrow it later.  When I have time.  Which by the look of things now that pharmacy school has started, will be never again.   

That just looks horrible.  Action didn't look great, none of the characters stood out, and the plot just seemed stupid.

I'd say the same of the original as it hasn't aged well.  I thought the trailer looked like it might rejuvinate the storyline.  I wouldn't say the trailer was enough to motivate an actual theater ticket purchase, but if it were to wind up on Netflix I might give it a try.  I've certainly had my fill of the original though.

First day of pharmacy school.  Went with the one-strap.

Remember to make fun of anyone that tries hard. If someone gives you any lip, punch them in the face.

I actually already punched a kid because he was gay.  I mean I punched him and...he turned out to be gay afterwards.  And that was on the first day.

The dean is now one gay black kid getting punched in the face away from a nervous breakdown.

I just noticed that this thread popped back up again.  After finishing most of my backlog I needed something new and my brother-in-law lent me his copy of RDR.  I had never played it before, fearing I wouldn't enjoy the western setting, but so far I can't get enough of it.  I'm at about 30% completion, not yet in Mexico, and continuing to have a blast.  I also can't help but feel like I'm playing a virtual storyline of Hell on Wheels.  Bohannon and Marston are eerily similar and the game features a number of set pieces that resemble Hell on Wheels fairly closely, but as HoW came long after RDR I can't help but wonder if the show's creators were fans of the game. 

Really enjoying it so far, have loved some of the various surprises, and many of the characters are interesting to say the least. 

Once I got settled in my new apartment, did some grocery shopping, and felt confident in being ready for today's orientation, I spent a majority of Sunday playing Red Dead Redemption.  That was it.

First day of pharmacy school.  Went with the one-strap.

[Skyrim]

there isn't much left to choose from except for Skyrim, but I probably won't get into that until after I get a better feel for how demanding the semester will be. 

Oh, I'm sure school will be a breeze.  You'll have plenty of time for roaming around Skyrim. 

You're right.  Who am I kidding?  Modesty isn't one of my strongsuits, anyway.  My wife, brother-in-law, and I all watch a lot of Big Bang Theory together, and before parting ways this morning they both joked that I will likely be the Sheldon of my group of roommates.  Only I don't think they were joking.   

I already have a foreign roommate (from Switzerland), so I've got my Raj, with me we have a Sheldon, so all that's left is a McCoy and we could have ourselves an away team.   

[Red Dead Redemption]

I have to finish moving some remaining things into my grad apartment in Tucson, then I think I'll "christen" my den of solitude by enjoying a few frosty cold ones and continuing on with Red Dead Redemption.  After finishing most of my backlog following surgery, there isn't much left to choose from except for Skyrim, but I probably won't get into that until after I get a better feel for how demanding the semester will be. 

I may also try to get some MP MW3 or BlOps in with friends to ease into the feeling of solitude associated with starting a graduate semester almost two hours from home. 

Feeling a combinatinon of            and of course  all thrown into one.  Guess that sums up to

I've apparently spent too much time in the "This is Fun Part 3" thread as I read this title as "time to download some snuff."   

I need a nap.

I just started playing Red Dead Redemption for the first  time and it seems to have rekindled my interest in Hell on Wheels.  I'm thinking about trying to get through the first season over the next few days in anticipation of Sunday's Season 2 premier. 

My brother-in-law recently moved to Arizona with his entire Xbox 360 game collection, providing me access to titles I may have missed or didn't feel were worthy of a full-price purchase, and he has a copy of the original Borderlands.  Is the SP worthy of a playthrough and likely to motivate interest in the sequel?  I just started Red Dead Redemption and am enjoying it more than I had anticipated, but I keep wondering about Borderlands.  

I also have a Steam copy courtesy of Purge as well.   

My sincerest and most heartfelt condolences, Arclight. 

I have two dogs of my own, both raised by me from 6-weeks-old to their current ages of 5 and 6 1/2, and this weekend I will be moving 90 minutes away to begin my pharmacy curriculum.  They will be in wonderful hands as my wife and brother in law will care for them in my absence, but the true challenge will be not having my dogs to care for me.  While weekend trips home should obviously involve some desire to see my wife, I'm a bit embarassed to say that I may be even more anxious to see my dogs.

I cannot imagine your grief or even begin to grasp your loss.  While it is of little consolation now, the last 11 years with Strider have enriched your life more than many will ever know, and you will forever be better for it. 

My deepest sympathy.     

It looks like the MMA film "Warrior" was just recently added.  I've been interested in watching it, so I'm happy to see it appear on Netflix.

Decided to go the cost-effective route.  Picked up a refurbished "old" 360, so I'm able to use my current 120GB hard drive, all associated connection hardware, and with trade-ins I only paid $100 out of pocket and that included a 2-year warranty.  Works for me as I'm already back online with zero downtime for what it would have cost for me to send in my broken Xbox for repairs. 

New laptop, new wallpaper:

Nothing.   

[winter]

Apolo Ohno has been doing clips for them as well.

I had to google that name just to make sure you weren't making it up.

 

Ok, seriously, NBC? Interview with winter Olympic snowboarder Shaun White, his thoughts on the $%#@ trampoline event?!  Clips of him attempting fencing?! How about showing some of the actual fencing event???!!?!

NBC's coverage has been awful since day 1.  Exclusive rights to such a broad collection of events only hurts the viewer due to one company's inability to provide sufficient coverage, despite NBC's multiple channels.  And even when events are taking place live, we're "treated" to inverviews and flashbacks rather than to the event itself.  NBC has gotten a big WTF from me throughout the games.   

My new favorite song:  PSY's "Gangnam Style"

Yo lock, rock it gangnam style! 

Phelps wins the 200m Individual Medley with Lochte second

We won't get to see the race until "primetime" on tape delay.  Not that I need to watch it now.   

Well, it has been a good run.

My last RROD was back in July of 2007 and I got a replacement Xbox in August of the same year.  That Xbox has lasted almost exactly five years, but today unfortunately marks its inevitable demise (three weeks shy of its 5-year anniversary).  A few days ago Force Unleashed II froze and the screen scrambled, so I turned it off and moved on to other things.  Out of curiosity I turned my Xbox back on this morning and my suspicions were unfortunately validated.  The three RROD lit up as anticipated.

As I've gotten my money's worth and then some with five long years of uninterrupted gaming (which was technically even longer as my replacement was still under warranty back in 2007), rather than opt to have my Xbox repaired for a fee, I think I am going to purchase a new 250GB model which should easily take me into the next generation of consoles.

It is just unfortunate that my current console died as I manage expenses associated with beginning a new semester (new laptop, new TV for my grad apartment, academic supplies, housing supplies, etc).  Hopefully as it is a sanity-maintaining necessity, I can successfully justify the cost to my wife. 

Wish me luck.   

No one's claiming that "most decorated" = "best ever." 

People are, though, and I think they're who zincs and I are in disagreement with more than you. "He's the greatest athlete of all time!!1!!!!eleven!!!!" and all that.

I can see disagreeing with calling him the "greatest of all time," but the meh attitude toward his achievement through qualifying his medals based upon relay participation is ridiculous.

Imagine if there was also Olympic free throw competitions, Olympic H.O.R.S.E., Olympic 1 on 1, and Olympic trick shot competitions. Suddenly an amazing basketball player is 4 times as decorated as he previously would have been.

Ridiculous.  No relay event is the Olympic equivalent of H.O.R.S.E.  If you want to extend the argument to that level, substitute a lesser athlete than Phelps into any of his gold medal relay races and the result would be far from the same.  Relay races aren't unskilled events allowing for medal repetition. 

He's a successful swimmer, sure, but I think what zinckiwi means is that his gloriousness is a bit overblown because he happens to be an awesome athlete in a sport that happens to have a lot of medals for very similar activities. 

Yes, thanks Wonderpug A javelin thrower who won gold in every Olympics for 20 straight years, and thus entirely dominated his sport, would still be sitting on a "mere" half a dozen medals. Just saying that the number won isn't the end-all, be-all of the measure of success.

And no one here is claiming that either.  While swimming offers more events, Phelps still had to swim in all of those events and place in them to earn his "most decorated" honor.  No one's claiming that "most decorated" = "best ever."  But to trivialize the achievement or downplay it seems ridiculous given what has been accomplished.  The media, on the other hand, will dramatize or exaggerate almost anything.

Let's also not forget that all those medals are not from solo events.  He's lucky he has teammates that also happen to kick ass as well.  Personally, I think they should only count solo medals in this tally.

Are other medals for team events any less "earned" by the individual and therefore exceptions to overall tally?  Team gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, water polo, etc?  What about track-and-field relays?  Sure, Phelps earned a number of medals as a team, but each participant earns a medal for victory.  "Most medals" does not imply "most individual medals. 

I fail to see how 19 Olympic medals can be downplayed merely because of the event or category.

Usually for something like this I would actually speak to the boss in person, rather than an email.

This. Once you have discussed it verbally, follow it up with an email to make sure that everything is in writing and you have a paper trail you can follow if anything changes in the future.

That is why I originally put it in email.  I like it in writing.  If he wants to say no I would like ti written down. 

Right, but this kind of thing is something that should be addressed in person first. You can always tell him that you're going to follow it up with an email for your records or something like that.

As many have said, it's the order in which you approach the change.  Discussion then followed by email documentation would be ideal. 

It makes me nauseous.

Are you sure that's not just the Chick-fil-a?

It irritates me that people equate medal count with success. Michael Phelps is "a swimmer".

 

Yes, he is "a swimmer," the most successful swimmer in Olympic history.  I fail to see how medal count does not indicate his success and absolute domination of the sport.  

If you're arguing whether he is the best "athlete" in Olympic history, that of course is a matter of debate.  But in terms of his specialty, he has no equal.  I never suggested that he was the best athlete ever, but he is definitely the most decorated.

It's been brought to my attention that I've been a little solitary in my recovery as of late.  In part due to a disappointing post-op appointment, and in part due to feeling a bit solitary with the wife traveling, no ability to leave the house other than to go for walks around the neighborhood (still not cleared to drive), and friends busy with work and personal responsibilities.

To be clear, my post-op appointment was fine in terms of my ongoing recovery.  My surgeon made it a point to let me know that my recovery has been ridiculously fast due in no small part to my level of fitness and strength going into the surgery, but my impatience makes me want to recover even faster.  But, despite my body recovering pretty quickly, the trauma in my throat and spine still needs time to heal.  I went in to my post-op hoping to get clearance to drive, to start to incorporate more strength training back into my recovery (body weight stuff like push-ups, pull-ups, bodyweight squats, etc), but I'm still not cleared to drive, and I can't do any more than continue with daily walks around the neighborhood.    He did have a point though when he said it's only been three weeks since surgery. 

I also have started to suffer from numbness and tingling in my shoulder, bicep, anterior forearm, and hand, all associated with the disc above the one I had replaced.  Right now we're waiting to see if the symptoms persist.  The C5-6 disc could just be a little beat up from surgery and inflammation could be causing a minor impingement, but if symptoms continue I may need a new MRI and potential treatment in the future.  For now it's "wait and see."

I got a few cool photos of my x-rays though:

Front view



Side view



My gaming has been rather productive though.  Since surgery I've finished Transformers: War for Cybertron, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Batman: Arkham City, and Gears of War 3.  I finished more games in a little over a week than I have in the past three years.   

For now I can only continue with walks around the neighborhood, and he said I can try out push-ups in small doses, no more than 10 at a time only a few times a day.  I may feel like I can do more, but I'm not cleared to, and absolutely no movements that could even remotely tweak my neck.  I'd be less concerned if pharmacy school didn't start on the 13th.  Day to day is the best I can do for now.

The USA women's gymnastics team won gold for the 1st time since 1996, and Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all time last night, having now earned 19 medals to date (15 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze).  But, he may not be done just yet.   

And now we have people preying on the tragedy:

Man allegedly yells "This is it!" at Batman showing.

I'm just thankful for the Olympics to maintain what little faith I have left in humankind.  Although even that is waning.

Pete, why are the Philthies getting rid of Pence so quickly after giving up so much for him last year?  Makes me nervous!

Mainly it gives us more payroll flexibility next season, plus his inconsistencies and occasional struggles haven't met expectations.  He does well in spurts, but overall it looks like finances are taking priority over emotional leadership.

I like Pence, but it appears the Phillies brass are cutting our losses for 2012 and looking ahead to try to turn things around in 2013.  I guess we can't win every season.  It was a heck of a run while it lasted.

[Rocky]

As a Philadelphian, I am ashamed to have forgotten my absolute favorite series of all time: Rocky.   

Not sure how that happened.  Probably too fixated on recent offerings.

I also really enjoy the Die Hard series. 

Well, I would argue that there is a clean delineation between Star Wars OT and the prequels, which have diminished my appreciation of the OT in absolutely no way.

In that case, Return of the Jedi does diminish my appreciation of the OT, so even ignoring the added installments, RotJ is too flawed for me to include Star Wars in my list of top series.

And again, someone brought up Resident Evil...

I found the claim to be so outlandish that I assumed it to be a joke.  It wasn't?   

Resident Evil by far. I hope they keep putting them until Milla is too old to do them anymore.

By the way you spelled "favorite" wrong.  

I'm more than a little shocked that Resident Evil got mentioned before the original Star Wars trilogy.

Probably because while considering the original triology, one cannot ignore the prequel abominations, inevitably damaging the series as a whole.

For me the same can be said about the Godfather series.  The first two films are cinematic achievements of few equals (if any), but III was so bad as to take the series as a whole off of my list.  If I could ignore III then The Godfather would be an easy choice, but if I cannot ignore III, then the same stipulation applies to the Star Wars series.

The Indiana Jones series might also succumb to this reasoning, with the original trilogy being loved by many, but Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crap having unfortunately tainted the collection as a whole.

The recent Dark Knight series is of course a personal favorite, but I'm going to have to be the first to also mention the Harry Potter series.  While not without its faults, the films as a whole did an amazing job of bringing to life a beloved book franchise.  It is no small feat to translate such popular written content to an accurate portrayal on film, and when considering the look of the set pieces, the authenticity of characters, and matching the emotional impact felt from the original texts, the series filmmakers exceeded all of my personal expectations.  The Harry Potter series is not only a favorite film collection, but a true achievement in the translation from text to big screen.

[Spoiler]

Spoiler for Hiden:

Batman survived a nuclear explosion than a rope and a punch to the spine can cure a broken back.   

 

Well I think it was more that:

Spoiler for Hiden:

he had a dislocated vertebra

.

Spoiler for Hiden:

True but a punch to the back is still kind of a silly cure for a bulging disc. If it was that easy, spinal surgeons would be out of business.   I guess if I can suspend belief enough to believe a guy can run around fighting crime in a bat suit  I can let this go too.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Having recently had disc replacement neurosurgery, I too found this bit in the film slightly implausible.  I'm fairly certain if my surgeon could have merely punched me in the neck while I dangled from a rope he would have opted for that route as it would have been far more efficient than surgery.  Still, having an idea as to what Wayne was coping with, I found his recovery to be emotional and inspiring, however fictional, given the pain and struggle I knew his character to be going through.

There is an inherent suspension of disbelief with superhero films, no matter how grounded in "reality" they attempt to be, and I was perfectly content with the level required to gain complete enjoyment from this Batman installment.  It certainly wasn't enough to ruin the film for me or to warrant criticism, especially since I found Wayne's struggle to be necessary to overcome all that stood in his way.