Penny Stock

O.A.R. 34th & 8th Preview Site

I just got this e-mail from Everfine Records:

We are excited to announce the launch of the 34th & 8th Preview Site. Check out www.ofarevolution.com/348/ to sample music from the new album, as well as view video clips and photos from the bonus DVD.

First of all, check out the dude in the middle of the picture- that is my kids' Uncle Benj (also Greg's brother and my brother-in-law). Cool pic or what? Second- the video clips look great. It seems like they captured the concert sound better than they did for the In Between Now and Then DVD. Also the audio clips of the CD are great. I recommend this preview for all those curious about O.A.R.'s music and to whet the appetite of those thinking about buying or pre-ordering the CD. Any way- let me know what you think.

New Star Wars Title

For those who care, or those who used to care:

SAN DIEGO, California (AP) -- The final "Star Wars" prequel is just "Episode III" no more. Lucasfilm announced its new title Saturday: "Revenge of the Sith."

FULL STORY

Stupid title in my opinion. Too many NERD/STAR WARS correlations. But than again, who isn't making those connections?

Ken Jennings Statistics

Because I can't get enough of this guy, I have to post about Ken Jennings (i.e., THE JG) yet another time.

Via tvgameshows.net, Canadian statistician Andy Saunders has caluclated some stats on Ken Jennings' Jeopardy wins to date:

Games Played: 37
Total Winnings: $1,246,660

Correct Answers: 1,292*
Answers Attempted: 1,400*
Percent Correct: .929*
* - not including Final Jeopardy!

First Ring-ins: 1,263
Pct. First of All Clues Read: .601

Daily Doubles Correct: 67
Daily Doubles Attempted: 78
Percent Correct: .859

Avg. Wager Per Daily Double: 3,458
Total Net Gain on Daily Doubles: $193,699
Average Net Gain per Daily Double: $2,483
Avg. Score after Jeopardy!: $9,649
Avg. Lead after Jeopardy!: $5,959
Avg. Score after Double Jeopardy!: $30,478
Avg. Lead after Double Jeopardy!: $21,846

Pct. of Games Locked Up after Double J!: .865 (32 of 37)

Final Jeopardy! Correct Answers: 25
Final Jeopardy! Attempts: 37
Percent Correct: .676
Avg. Final Jeopardy! Wager: $7,363

High Game: $52,000 (July 9, 12 & 22)
Low Game: $14,000 (July 6)

Avg. Daily Winnings: $33,694

This Land

Here is a funny video on jibjab.com that really puts this whole election into perspective. Enjoy. (click on the pic of Bush and Kerry to watch)

Parking Meter Mistake

JOHANNESBURG, S. Africa (Reuters) -- A South African woman mistakenly plunked a 100-year-old gold coin worth more than $1,000 into a parking meter while shopping without her glasses, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

FULL STORY

Hmm, reminds me of the time I put in a 20 dollar ticket into a 25 dollar box at a Chinese auction I was at last year. They wouldn't let me take it out. Yep, this is definitely the same way that woman must feel (insert sarcasm here please). I am still smarting from that experience...

The JG

ESPN.com has a great article on Ken Jennings (a.k.a., The Jeopardy Guy or The JG).

Here is an excerpt:

There's something comforting about seeing the JG's smiling, Stepford mug every night, and the way he shakes his head in disbelief as Trebek announces his absurd money total. (Of course, the number should be higher. Isn't this streak 10 times more impressive than someone rattling off 10 answers on Regis' Millionaire show?) Maybe he's boring; maybe he's unlikable. But like the truly great ones, he raises his game when it matters. Who else can you count on to do that these days?

Read the whole article for a good laugh. It's all so true.

Posted by peninah at 01:57 PM | Comments (1)

Argh

I just got this e-mail:

I am getting a lot of messages from your email which my server has deleted files due to probable viruses. Have other people mentioned this to you?
For the time being can you please delete our email from any address book that you have to prevent this from continuing?

I am not sure why I am annoyed by this, but I am. I don't think the tone of voice in the e-mail was malicious in any way- it just irked me. Maybe because like the rest of the world, I get around 5 e-mails a day from accounts of people who I know and they contain viruses. I am not an expert in computers but I know enough not to open random attachments and I delete these e-mails right away- whether I know the sender or not. I occasionally e-mail the sender and ask if they sent me an attachment I should be opening and they usually tell me they didn't. I guess it bothers me that there are people who are still naive about the goings on of e-mail, the internet etc. that continue to open these e-mails and then blame me for "sending" the viruses to them. I don't know. I am probably overreacting. I am just irritated.

Fictional Baltimore

My mother just sent me this link to a quiz in the Baltimore Sun about fictional Baltimore.

This is a perfect segue for one of my most recent gripes. I watched the long gone Baltimore based show, Homicide: Life on the Street for the first time a few weeks ago. Then, while Greg and I were in NY, I tuned into a newer B-more based show on HBO called The Wire.

Here is what annoys me. These shows take place in Baltimore but there doesn't seem to be a realistic portrayal of Baltimoreans. My biggest problem is the way the people on these shows talk. I know that the Wire has to do with The Baltimore drug scene, but why would you make middle-lower class white folk in Baltimore talk with NY accents? And most of the cops in homicide had heavy Brooklyn accents as well. As a Baltimorean it is hard to hear people who are supposed to be natives of the city talk without any sort of Baltiomore accent. It loses all credibility in my mind. These guys are supposed to be actors. Couldn't someone have done research into the dialect of Bawlmerese and used some of it for his/her role? If they won't put on the Bawlmer drawl, at least don't have any accent, but a New York accent coming from a native Baltimorean is just too much, IMO.

A Matter of Perspective

Greg and I went to NYC in the beginning of this week for a mini-vacation. We had a great time, did some fun stuff and ate some good food (review, Greg?). While we were away, our parents took turns with our kids.

I have a lot of strenghts. Not to toot my own horn, but I am a generally nice person, I have pretty good insight into people, and I have a great memory. However, I am not an organized person. I freely admit it. Would I love to be organized? Yes. Would I love to have a spotless house? Without a doubt, yes. Am I happier when my home is in order? Definitely. It just takes a little bit to get things in disarray for me, yet a whole lot of energy to make it orderly again.

I will preface this next paragraph by saying that even though the topic of this paragraph is my mother in law- it is not a mother in law bashing paragraph (FYI, Greg and I have a weird Stepford kind of relationship with both of our parents/in-laws- while everyone does things that occasionally get on people's nerves, we have an unnaturally great relationship with both of sets of parents and in laws). That having been said- my mother-in-law is the exact opposite of me with organization. She LOVES cleaning and she loves to organize things. What is even better is that she knows I am the way I am and doesn't hold it against me. How odd is that.

Anyway, when we came home from NY, my sister called me up and told me that my mother-in-law had taken her aside and said that she wanted my sister to talk to me about something. My mother in law thought it would be fun/useful to come in one day to organize my closets but didn't want to offend me by suggesting it. My sister (who is similar to me with the organization skills but is lucky enough to have cleaning help 3 times a week) didn't think I would be offended but promised to feel me out about the idea. When asked about this, my reaction was this: I have been wanting to suggest this for the past few years but I thought my mother-in-law would be offended that I was using her! Anyway, I called my mother-in-law up and we had a good laugh and discussed our plan of action to get me organized (for a short time at least).

It is funny how we all have our perspectives and opinions how other people will react to things. So much for my positive quality of good insight into people!

Jeopardy Dude...Again

Alright, I have to revisit the whole Ken Jennings thing.

First, I really like the guy. A lot of people think he looks cocky. Well to answer that- he deserves to look cocky and I honestly think he looks pretty humble.

Second, I still feel really bad for all of his opponents. There has to be some kind of psychological factor that would impact on their game playing skills just knowing how well he has done (that was a huge run on sentence with tons of grammatical errors- Strunk and White would hate me).

Third and finally, here is my prediction: Up until a short time ago there was a 5 game limit on Jeopardy. I predict that a class action lawsuit will be filed by all the 5 time winners against Jeopardy. They will contest that they all could and may have gone as far as Jennings in the game. I guess time will tell...

Funny coincidence

IMPORTANT NOTE: I do not care about the piece of news (or lack thereof) I am about to write about. It is the coincidence that I am writing about.

According to IMDB news: Hollywood actress Demi Moore is reportedly expecting toy boy lover Ashton Kutcher's baby. The Indecent Proposal star, 41, is rumored to be pregnant with 26-year- old Kutcher's child, although her aides have strenuously denied the reports. A source tells British newspaper the Daily Sport, "She is definitely pregnant." Moore - who has three children with second husband Bruce Willis - recently told friends she quit smoking as she was trying for another child. And, Moore and Kutcher plan to get married in September 2004 in a low-key ceremony at Los Angeles' Kabbalah Centre, reports the tabloid.

Once again, I do not care about the news. I just found it funny that Moore's agents are "strenously" denying the reports. It brings me back to one of Moore's famous scenes in one of my alltime favorite movies: A Few Good Men.

Here is how it is played:

Judge: The objection's overruled, counsel
Galloway (Demi Moore): Sir, the defense strenuously objects and requests a meeting in chambers so that his honor might have an opportunity to hear discussion before ruling on the objection.

At recess:

Lt. Weinberg (FYI, my favorite character in the movie): "I strenuously object?" Is that how it's done? Hm? "Objection, your Honor." "Overruled" "No, no. I STRENUOUSLY object." "Oh. You strenuously object. Then I'll take some time and reconsider."

So once again, Demi Moore thinks that if she STRENOUSLY objects/denies something than it must hold more weight. Interesting... I will have to remember that the next time I don't want my kids to do something they want to do.