18/03/2012
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Odds and Ends…
After a sunny day, Thunder is rumbling through north eastern Ohio. Am still waiting for the late month snowstorm Ohio is soooo known for. As it stands, it’s going to rain next Friday. That happens to be my 46th year on the face of this place we call Earth.
I am SO seeing the mid-night showing of The Hunger Games because I took the Thursday night off. It’s a safe bet it’s going to be the first blockbuster of the year. Tomorrow I’m going to pick up the other two books and read them next Thursday before I go to see the movie.
In stead of watching the first round of March Madness like I used to, I went back to this coffee shop I used to go to a lot back in the day. It used to be open 24/7 but due to the economy, they cut back their hours. But a very nice alternative to the corporate versions of other coffee bars. And it’s been in the area for almost 20 years. Back in the day before Ohio banned smoking, there was a nice haze of smoke and smell of strong coffee. I’ve kicked that habit a few years ago but there was I time I spent my weekends at the place. I’m glad it’s still there and still kicking. There’s a Starbucks and another local chain coffee shop but I usually get my coffee fix at Speedway. It’s on my way and it’s better coffee. I just like going to Common Grounds because I could chill out, read a book, screw around on the Internet and not have to deal with a bunch of idiots. Back in the day, they used to have pinball machines. Yeah, it’s safe to say I blew a decent amount of cash there.
My cousins in West Virgina are bummed because The Mountaineirs got spanked by Gonzaga. Meanwhile, Ohio State is heading to The Sweet 16 next weekend. I didn’t do any brackets this year. I usually get skunked in the first round. I don’t think Ohio State will advance past The Sweet 16 but hope springs eternal. And now that I have totally bored the female audience with college basketball, we’ll resume our normal programing…
Re watched Enemy Mine today. Cheesy Sci-Fi but a decent story. Another Sci-Fi movie that has a special place in my heart is Battle Beyond The Stars. Pure Cheese but good cheese.
Couldn’t sleep last night so on Scfi I was watching Mars Rising. A series of shows narrated by William Shatner about a future mission to Mars and what it would take to get there. It’s on youtube somewhere but it was an interesting show. Stephen Baxter wrote one the best stories about a mission to Mars called Voyage and to get to Mars we are using Apollo tech and there is no Space Shuttle. A really good read. Ben Bova has written three good books about Mars. I’m rereading Space by James Michener. Good book. Bad mini series. How can you squeeze a 12 hour mini series out of a book that runs close to 1,000 pages? Dumb question because you can’t. The Stand came close but I like the book, both versions, better.
In case you haven’t heard, Fox has cancelled another Sci-Fi show. Yeah, Terra Nova got cut. If it wasn’t for Bones, Fringe, and The Finder (I’d be surprised if it made it to season two. They screwed up The Human Target and we know what happened to that show. And don’t get me started on Firefly or Space: Above And Beyond…) I wouldn’t be watching anything they put on their network. ABC did the same thing a few summers back with Defying Gravity. Again with the exploring fetish I have but I guess I was one of the few that watched it and they cancelled it before airing the episodes they shot. It’s getting to the point where I may just stop watching network TV and just watch either Netflix or read books…
Going to call it a night and watch it rain and enjoy the cool down…
Be carefull out there…
Comments (8)
Happy almost Birthday! Every year in April in Toledo we get a little snow shower and every year someone acts surprised. Beautiful this weekend though!
Don’t hold off on talking basketball on my account. I love sports. While I love the NBA (Go Thunder!) and the NFL, you can’t beat college sports. I love the potential for surprises. (I prefer to watch baseball in person). I think March Madness might just hold a few surprises this year!
Ahhh! Enemy Mine! I’d forgotten about that movie! Dennie Quaid and Lou Gossett Jr. I cried when I saw that. I’m going to have to see if I can find it somewhere to watch. I’ve heard several references to The Last Starfighter and Starman lately. I didn’t think anyone else had seen them but DH and I.
I hope it stays nice for your birthday and you have a great day. The Hunger Games sounds good. Have fun!
@Emme402 - I have the special edtion of The Last Starfighter on DVD somewhere. I need to pick up Starman. Did you catch the series as long as it lasted?
Ah, snowstorms come all year in Ohio, if I remember correctly. I’ve got cousins up that way, right on the edge of the Lake Erie, they’d get feet of snow from October through April. For me, spring snowstorms are like the Spanish Inquisition – I always expect them, but they never show up. Not that I’m complaining!
I’ll have to read what you think of Hunger Games. I’d only vaguely heard of the novel and then I saw the trailer when I went to the movies on Super Bowl Sunday. Not quite sure what to make of it, but people seem to like it. Maybe I’ll read the book – I hate to see movies based on books without reading the book first.
@leaflesstree - Of the books I’ve read, this has a decent chance of me liking it. No special effects to speak of. No flying broonsticks or people morphing into God knows what. Sounds like your cousins live on far eastern part of Ohio. I know the area and that part Ohio gets tons of snow.
@Zoz36 - Yup, they’re like five minutes inside the border. Hmm. The lack of special effects intrigues me. I’ll have to put it on my to-read list.
@leaflesstree - It takes place in the future but it has a 1950′s feel to it. From what I read from the first book, it’s like going from a small USA to New York City There’s going to some special effects but the action and everything else is going to be gritty. So, I’m setting myself for an epic fail…
We watched the Starman series, but I don’t recall it ever coming to an end, so I’m not sure what happened there. I really, really liked that movie a lot. I would be curious to see if Hastings or Sundown has copies of the series or the movie. They would be worth having.