Frog and Goat

Last night on the Trio channel there was a marathon of Battle of the Network Stars. I saw the very end of 1976 and the very beginning of 1977. Does anyone remember this show? The better-half looked on in amazement for about 2 seconds (he was finishing up dinner preparations–hey, I made the pork chops!) and said he never saw it. This is the man who watched Dallas and the Night Stalker which were too “old” for me but he didn’t watch this cheesy family entertainment–go figure. I remember watching the show when I was a wee one and loving it. Of course, looking back I don’t remember half the shows where the so-called big stars were making their mark. In fact, I don’t remember who half of the stars were. Parker Stevenson was on one of the shows last night and I only had this to say “Parker Stevenson”–I guess you had to hear the dreamy part in my voice.

I finally saw Nemesis over the weekend and liked it. As soon as I finished watching it, I looked it up on imdb.com just to see how much everyone else hated it. There were some good points brought up about the dozen or so inconsistencies in the STNG storyline but c’mon, this is Star Trek we’re talking about. It is probably a good thing that this is the last STNG movie because I’m sick of seeing Data in close-up shots. If he’s so technologically advanced couldn’t Dr. Sung have done a better job on the skin? Yuck.

I finished reading Lake Wobegon Days and I didn’t really like it. I just had to find something to read while waiting for the latest Smithsonian to arrive. I kept trying to hear Garrison Keillor’s voice in my head while reading and I couldn’t do it. That and it was a little long for my money. Speaking of Smithsonian, I think they are dumbing down the magazine. Most of the articles were short and not many conclusions were actually drawn. And, I’m sick and tired of them trying to be so trendy. I bet every month since January there’s been an article that mentions Iraq. And, if there is one more direct or indirect tie-in to a movie I will puke on the magazine. Whatever happened to giving readers in-depth and timeless articles?

Too bad these Cubans got sent home. Don’t we need people with that kind of ingenuity here?

I’m not sure who or what we pissed off in the rain cloud world but enough already with the rain-producing-trauma directed towards us.

Last Friday we wrecked the car because of the rain and last night we spent about an hour mopping and wet/dry vacuuming the basement and garage. It has to rain a-whole-freaking-lot to have water in large streams in our house. At least the basement is still decorated just as it was when the house was built in the early 70s. Which is to say it isn’t like the water really damaged anything…unless, of course, you covet crappy wood paneling. One day we’ll tear everything out and waterproof and then I’ll be ticked if water comes into the basement ever again.

I do have this to say to home builders/contractors….may you experience the same shoddy workmanship in your own homes.

I have that Todd Snider song, 45 Miles, stuck in my head since what happened on Friday night. We were coming back from Charlottesville–had dinner with the PHD sister and her husband. We chased the storms all the way home and were highly entertained by the lightning show. It was entertaining until we got to the spot on 295 where 295 and 95 South meet.

Apparently, the rain had just stopped and there was a lake on the road. We went water skiing in the car. If you know where I mean then you aren’t suprised that swamp water was right in front of the car after we finally came to a stop. In fact, when I opened my eyes I wasn’t sure if we were in the swamp or the median strip. We were so far down the embankment we couldn’t see the road–the State Trooper couldn’t find us until we managed to get a flare lit on the road. After coming to a stop we heard a car go into a skid and my first thought was please don’t come down here on top of us. That car was luckier than we were and continued on down the road.

It isn’t that we weren’t lucky….a few bruises and a strawberry on my right elbow is all the damage we have. The car on the other hand is dead. The Boogamobile is no more. We went to the lot this am and got stuff out of the car and took pictures….

I was reading an article highlighted on Jim Romenesko’s Obscure Store (the site is over in the links area) and, well, who in a million years would have thought that the defendant in the case would be named Peters. Check out the story…

I will stop laughing. I will, really.