From Killing Bigfoot to Decapitating Earbuds....

[captainsblog]

Just another couple of days (mostly not) at the office.

Things return to semi-normal tomorrow, bright and early with court first thing and appointments and court throughout the week.  This two-days-on/one-day-off followed by two-days-on/two-days-off routine is distracting as anything. But it has resulted in me having more time for film, sporting events and remembering (or not remembering) birthdays.

I did pick up the adaptation of Austen's Mansfield Park that I'd tracked down Friday, and we watched it Friday night.  Well done, with a very young Johnny Lee Miller in a starring role and a very old Harold Pinter as the crotchety old Lord of the Manor.  Also, Hugh Bonneville playing a much younger and stupider landed gentry than the Downton crowd is used to.  I did get a kick out of the unintended double feature it became part of: our library had it right next to this, um, somewhat different genre:



Then again, maybe not that different, what with Sam Elliott makin' the ladies swoon and the introduction of zombies to the Jane Austen Universe.  We're saving it for later; tonight, we'll watch both ends of the Doctor Who season-opening two-parter which started a bit too late for us on New Year's Night.

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Last night was interrupted by a series of sporting events.  Earlier in the day, the Sabres (who'd moved their game into the early afternoon so more than three people would show up) somehow held onto a once-three-goal lead and came out winning 3-2.  Then, Da Bills.  A first half of almost perfect play turned into a second half collapse, a last-second kick to send the game to overtime, and then Houston's quarterback avoiding an onrush of defenders and getting a pass out to a last-gasp receiver (ironically, a former Bill),  who caught it and set them up for the Texan-winning field goal.  But the night ended well after I turned in, as the hated Patriots lost their first-round playoff game, Tom Brady's career possibly ending by throwing a pick-six interception.

I had limited opportunities to hear all of this, unfortunately:



This is why I am not allowed to run with scissors.

I wanted to listen to the Bills' home announcers during the game rather than the network stooges on ABC/ESPN (one named, I am not making this up, "Booger"). That means using a small portable AM-FM radio that I keep solely for this purpose. (The avaricious NFL does not allow its teams’ radio affiliates to livestream the games.) The radio has no speaker, so earbuds are required.

I live to kill earbuds. Step on them, leave them hanging outside car doors, tangle them in tree branches, drown them in sinks. But I’m lucky in that I only need one of a pair to work; due to a childhood hearing loss on one side, I can clip off the first-killed bud and keep on listening.

After my most recent dual kill, Eleanor donated a set with one bud that had died a more natural death. After a commercial break, I put one in my good ear, heard no sound, and decided to vasectomize the thing on the spot. Snip snip...

Only to discover that the power on the radio was off.  I still had a 50/50 chance that I hadn't chopped off the working one. But like me with gambling in general, I did not choose wisely.

And so, to Wegmans to Wegmans, to buy a new pair. Maybe I can find one 50% off:P

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We'll check in with Emily today. Friday was her 28th birthday, and she will hopefully be getting the gift card to Michael's that we mailed to her for it.  Tomorrow marks, or mostly for me does not mark, 104 years since my father came into the world.  I have little good to remember him by, and this comic I just saw is one of the reasons I say that.  Eleanor's father was much like the dad in this strip: ours most definitely was not:



Our own roof blew a minor gasket during a New Year's Eve downpour; a neighbor had patched around the bathroom vent and replaced some very old materials around it, but this rain, and the angle of the vent on the roof, were a bad combination that his fix could not avoid. We did confirm there was no rot around it, so given the recent downpours of expenses for car and water heater, we're holding off on it for now.  (It's held up fine during some more ordinary recent rainstorms.)  And I'm happy to say that when the time comes, Emily will be perfectly adept at getting up there to fix things- thanks to her mother and Eleanor's father, not me or mine.

Comments

[sturgeonslawyer]

I think you will really enjoy "The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then The Bigfoot." Its title isn't exactly misleading, but it isn't anything like what the title suggests to most people.

[warriorsavant]

Love the cartoon. One of my fears is that I won't live long enough to see the kids get to that stage.

I think in one of your recent posts you mentioned the new season of Dr. Who has started? I haven't quite finished the last season (I really don't watch much), but should go see if the new one got recorded. Any feedback on it?

[captainsblog]

I liked what the first two episodes did. My biggest complaint was they tried cramming too much into the allotted time- the spy-spoofy main story, the big reveal, the special guests (characters and actors both) packed all through.