Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Category: General Cogitation Page 21 of 40

Genie, You’re Free

By

On August 12, 2014

In General Cogitation

rip-robin-williamsThe title and image of this post was originally a tweet sent out by The Academy (@TheAcademy). It’s simplicity and message is so brilliant that I had to use it for my post to a great man. It’s amazing how the death of a famous Hollywood actor, like Robin Williams, seems to have such a profound impact me. I truly feel sincerely devastated by his passing, and I never knew him personally and he never knew I even existed. I don’t feel this way about every Hollywood actor that passes away, but Robin Williams’ passing is different. I’ve been watching him since I was a kid. I grew up with him in my living room every week as if he were a relative or close family friend.

“Mork & Mindy” was one of my all time favorite shows growing up. He had me on the floor laughing in every episode and even today I could watch that show over and over and still laugh just as hard. His movies are timeless, from Aladdin to Hook, Mrs Doubtfire, Good Morning Vietnam, Good Will Hunting … I loved so many of his films! His role as the Genie in Aladdin is one of the reasons that movie is one of my favorite Disney movies. I loved hearing about how most of his lines in the movie Father’s Day was adlibbed and I have a fond memory of watching Good Morning, Vietnam in French class back in high school. I was at Purdue when he was on one of his comedy tours. A bunch of my friends and I went to see him at the Elliott Hall of Music on Purdue’s campus and it is one of my fondest college memories.

I was surprised to learn back when he was filming Good Morning, Vietnam that he was taking medication for manic depression. I mean, how could a man that provided the world with so much humor, be so sad?? Depression is a frightening and awful disease of the mind. It leaves friends and family and fans feeling so helpless when they learn of tragedies such as the taking of ones life. We all wonder what we could have done to demonstrate how much Robin William was loved; how much he inspired all of us to laugh everyday, especially when life was at its most difficult. The Apple “What will your verse be” commercials he lent his voice to even felt inspirational.

I think I will be going on a Robin Williams movie binge for a while. I don’t know any other way to honor the memory of such an amazing person. I will pray that I will one day see him in that great comedy club in the sky.

RIP Robin Williams, you will be missed more then you can possibly imagine.

50 Years Of Mustang

By

On July 17, 2014

In General Cogitation

1964_ford_mustang_convertibleIf you had your choice to own any car in the world, regardless of cost, insurance, maintenance, etc, what would you choose? I wonder how many people would pick the fastest car, or the most modern, luxury vehicle on the market. Aston Martin, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz and Rolls Royce are some of the most luxurious cars out there. I would pick none of those! Personally, I would either want a 64 1/2 convertible or a 67 Shelby GT-350, aka “Eleanor” (I would have a very difficult time choosing between those).

Fifty years ago Ford started the Mustang with the 64 1/2. There used to be a 64 1/2 white convertible, with blue leather interior in the family (like the one in the picture). I remember taking rides in it as a kid. We couldn’t go very fast because my mother blew the engine out long before I was born, but it was a sweet machine. Man what I wouldn’t give to have that car back!! My love for the Mustang started with that car. Then I saw the remake of “Gone In 60 Seconds” and that’s when “Eleanor” made the list of dream cars I would love to own.

It’s amazing that a car has become so iconic that Ford is still producing them even 50 years later and people are still buying them. I don’t know enough about cars to answer this, perhaps somebody does, but what other automobile brand has lasted 50 years, and is still manufactured? I imagine it has to be quite a small and elite group. I think most of the newer models of the Mustang have been pretty nice. I think Ford has been doing the Mustang name justice with some of the old school body designs; though I hope they never touch the body designs from the 90s. They were quite horrid.

I hope to one day own a Mustang. It will probably be my fun car. It would be great to get that 64 1/2 back we had in the family, though I wouldn’t mind getting my own “Eleanor”. Unfortunately, on a recent episode of “What’s My Car Worth” on the Velocity network, 1967 Shelby GT-350 Mustangs start at $80,000 up to over $100,000. In fact the 67 Shelby GT-350 in Britney Blue went for 80 grand at auction on that particular episode.

I guess that’s why they are called “dream cars”, the price tag (or odds of locating one), can only happen in one’s dreams.

Happy 50th Birthday, Ford Mustang.

/cheers

My First Hurricane

By

On July 6, 2014

In General Cogitation

arthur_ocmdI wasn’t really in the worst part of the storm. I was in Ocean City, Maryland which was just on the very, very edge of Hurricane Arthur. My in-laws had another sandy vacation for the family, this time in the penthouse on the 17th floor of a place on the beach in Ocean City. I don’t know what it is about fireworks on the beach that makes the 4th of July so much more spectacular. (If you have access to the gallery on the family website you can see some of the pictures I took).

The picture on the left is taken from the balcony that overlooked the beach on the day that Hurricane Arthur was moving north of the Carolina’s. The worst that we really got of the storm were some high winds (which were only about 25-30 mph) and a bunch of rain. Be that as it may, it is the closest I have come to being in an actual hurricane.

I’m not really a beach person, something about sand getting everywhere, but there is plenty of other things to do in Ocean City, MD that even I enjoyed. Of course I got an opportunity to grill out which I always enjoy doing with the ocean splashing in the background. The boardwalk is kind of fun to walk, granted there are quite a few people there that like to do the same thing. There are so many putt-putt courses you could literally play a different course every day of the week.

I tried golfing for the third time in my life. I do think I can really get the hang of it so I may be trying to find a decent set of clubs on Craig’s List to start practicing. I really don’t want to spend a bunch of money on clubs when I’m still learning to play the game. I think playing a round of golf with both of my brother-in-laws during these family vacations could become a great tradition.

It was a great week to spend up in New England, I hope my nieces had as much fun as the rest of us.

Open Season on nook

By

On June 26, 2014

In General Cogitation, Technology

easton1I’ve had a Barnes & Noble nook e-reader since the first year they came out and today I probably have more books on it than I own in printed format. I always knew, however, that Barnes & Noble was struggling with the sales of their nook devices. Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iBook app are just too strong for Barnes & Noble to fight. It sucks because I really like my nook.

Now I read today on CNET that Barnes & Noble will be splitting into two companies, one will be it’s regular retail business and the other their Nook Media business. I think what is most suspicious about this move is that just a few weeks ago it was announced that Samsung will be teaming with Barnes & Noble to provide a new nook using the Samsung Galaxy hardware (named the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook). I suspect that what is really happening here is that Barnes  Noble Nook Media isn’t just splitting off, I think it will become a divestiture in which Samsung will purchase the new company. This just seems to coincidental so mark my words, Samsung will soon be the new parent company of Nook Media.

I just hope that my boring nook e-reader will not become completely obsolete and the sole focus will be just on the nook tablet. Unfortunately, I think I know the answer to that.

Social Media: A Farce For Change

By

On May 27, 2014

In Fulmination, Soapbox

People are funny, especially when it comes to social media. It’s hilarious, and naive, that people think what you post on Facebook or what your profile picture is has any influence on the world. Really, nobody cares. Sure, itsupreme-court-ruling shows that you support a person, cause, group, what have you (in fact I changed mine to a Chik-Fil-A sandwich when they were getting picked on); but the Supreme Court isn’t going to check Facebook statistics before making their final decision. Don’t get me wrong, I strongly encourage folks to support their friends and family, just exercise caution and discretion when you choose to use a public medium such as Facebook and/or Twitter. Personally I think all social media does is perpetuate bullying. Yep, that’s not a typo, it only makes bullying worse. You go online and speak out for or against someone or some group and that word gets around to someone bigger, tougher and less intelligent who may not even have an differing viewpoint and you become a target.

Yes, I agree that the world probably needs to change their perspective on a few things but I really don’t think social media is the catalyst for that change. Everyone is bolder when they sit behind a computer screen but if you think you are causing change only by posting to Facebook, that’s about as effective as walking around with a Post-It note on your shirt. Real change requires real action. Some folks try to write to their congressman and others try to organize awareness events. The one thing I would discourage is getting too overzealous about it. Yes, it’s important to get the word out to make your cause known and to stress its importance but if you keep shoving it in my face day-in and day-out you’re just going to piss me off.

Yes Hollywood, I’m looking at you.

All of you bleeding heart nutjobs in Hollywood don’t need to integrate the social discrepancies into the subtext of every movie and every television show. I already see enough of that in the news and (as you may have guessed by the subject of this rant/soapbox) social media. In fact, the more something is shoved in my face the more I am going to troll about it on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ just because I know it will incite discord. There is nothing more hilarious then causing somebody’s head to explode because of a few lines of text or imgur image on Facebook.

I’ll be honest, my whole point here isn’t to pick on the folks out there that are under the delusion their profile picture will change the world, I’m more worried about the potential that it could be a contributor to bullying. Facebook has become fodder for the bullies. Whether they use it as their method of bullying or if they use the information they see to bully. It doesn’t matter. The point is that social media exacerbates bullying.

If want to show support for your cause or your friend, I get that. I think that is a function of social media; but if you think you can push your personal agenda by changing your profile picture (and urging thousands of others to do the same) in a (feeble) attempt to “show Congress”, that’s just foolishness. A bunch of senators and judges (who probably couldn’t even figure out what they want for lunch) are not going to base their vote on what you or some celebrity tweeted, “Liked”, “+1’d”, etc. Also, claiming to be an activist using such shenanigans is the same thing as claiming your not a virgin because you watch porn.

So good luck with that.

/cheers

Still Sleeping “Normal”

By

On April 25, 2014

In General Cogitation

When you are going to have a baby every person always says the same thing, you will no longer get any sleep. Perhaps that is true for most people, but I’m getting my normal amount of sleep. When I say that I don’t mean that I am ignoring the baby or making my wife handle all of the baby’s crying and fussing. I say that because I already average 5 or 6 hours of sleep anyway. Thanks to college and my well, ingrained gaming habits.

I might go to bed about 9:30 or 10 but I’m usually awake reading or watching tv until nearly midnight because I have never been able to fall asleep when I want to. Usually she needs one of her nightly feedings during that window. Since I’m up, no problem.

When I have finally fallen asleep, I rarely actually stay asleep. In fact I rarely even dream (or if I do, I rarely remember what it was I dream about). So when she wakes up at 2:30 or 3am, its not really a big deal. Now I get up and do something instead of rolling over and trying to go back to sleep.

Then she wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30 … yea, that’s when I get up for work anyway (and on the weekends, that’s usually one of those times that I randomly wake up – similar to the 3am window). So when people tell me that I won’t be getting sleep anymore, it’s mildly humorous because I’m somewhat of a freaking insomniac.

We are entering our second week with the kid and I still do not feel any more exhausted then I have every morning going all the way back before college.

Page 21 of 40

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén