It's Worked So Far.....

Janko's about to take the court in his 4th round match against Rainer Schuettler. So far, every time I've posted a picture of him, he's won. Highly doubtful it's because of this, but superstitions abound. Janko's favored in this match, so hopefully it will be a cakewalk for him.

Edit 1:21pm: AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH! DAMN DAMN DAMN!

Round 3

Janko tries to make the 4th round at Wimbledon today for the 2nd time. His opponent this round is Dmitry Tursunov. He's ranked a little lower than Roddick, and by Tipsy's own admission that he doesn't try as hard when he's up against a lower ranked player I feel a touch of forboding here. Still, I will have my fingers crossed, and my camera ready for when he come to NY for the Open this August.

Tipsy Vs. A-Rod

I've done a bit of soul-searching, and as much as I would love to see Roddick advance to another Grand Slam Championship, he just cannot break my love for Tipsy. So when the two play on Thursday, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for Janko to make it to the 3rd round.

Should this feat fail, at least he is in the 2nd round of the doubles, so hope is still alive there also.

Edit (6/26 3:15pm) YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

Go Tipsy!

My favorite tennis player, Janko Tipsarevic, has his first singles match today at Wimbledon. Fingers crossed!

Edit (4:06pm): YES! Janko won his first match 7-6 6-4 6-2. Next up is Andy Roddick. I'm going to be so conflicted over this one. I want both to make it to the end, yet now only one can. Soul searching is required to determine who I want to win more.

Insanity

AHHHHHH! 1 sister, 1 brother-in-law, 1 two year old, 1 two month old and 1 giant mess. How will I survive to Thursday? Can't even get to movies....tv...and barely internet.

THWACK!

I just found out that this is the student I've been tutoring for the past few weeks. I changed the names in the article to initials (and removed addresses), just to be nice; but they are public information. He does get points for originality for choosing a wrench as the possible weapon. And he's been nothing but super respectful with me.


Rye high school student accused of threatening principal with wrench

RYE - A high school junior is accused of threatening his principal with a pipe wrench after the teen was told he couldn't attend the prom, police said.

CA, 17, has been charged with third-degree criminal trespass, third-degree menacing and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon with the intent to use it, all misdemeanors, said Lt. JV of the Rye police.

CA had met Friday with the principal of Rye High School, JR, to discuss whether he would be allowed to attend the school's junior prom that night. CA was serving a three-day suspension after pulling a chair out from underneath a teacher's aide and causing her to fall.

When CA was told he was banned from the prom, he left the school and returned 20 minutes later with a 2 1/2 -foot pipe wrench, the kind used to open fire hydrants, Lt. JV said. CA joined the Rye City Fire Department as a junior volunteer member in January.

The school psychologist saw CA pacing with the wrench outside the principal's office and asked the teen to come to his office. The principal joined them, as the psychologist tried to coax CA into surrendering the wrench, Lt. JV said.

"At that time, the young man raised the pipe wrench above his head in a threatening manner toward the principal," Lt. JV said. "Ultimately he turned over the weapon to the psychologist."

CA was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital for mental evaluation before school officials notified police. The teen was arraigned on charges Friday night and released on $500 bail.

Superintendent ES of the Rye City School District said "based on the threat of violence, he has been suspended again," pending a school hearing scheduled for next week.

"It certainly isn't something that happens very often," ES said of the alleged threat. "From time to time, there are young people that make poor decisions in response to anger and frustration."

ES said CA couldn't be expelled from school under state law, but could be given a lengthy suspension. He said it's possible CA could be suspended up to a year, meaning he would receive school instruction at home.

JD, a fire inspector and lieutenant with the Fire Department, said neither volunteers nor career firefighters are issued fire hydrant wrenches by the department. He said he thought the fire chief would suspend CA, pending the outcome of the charges.

"He's always been respectful and nice around me, but I don't know what he's like in the classroom," JD said. "Obviously as he demonstrated here, he is not ready to be a member of our service."

A call to CA's home was not returned. The teen did not respond to an e-mail message.

Summer Fun

The school year is drawing to a close here in NY in just a few scant weeks, and it's looking quite likely that I won't have a job in a district for next year before that happens.

I have an opportunity to drive a cab for a family friend's company over the summer, that might prove to be fun for a bit, I always enhoy meeting new people.

I was thinking that if I can't get into a school for next year. I might try the field of journalism or publishing. I do have a M.A. in English, so it might be enough to get my foot in, then see what happens from there.

Is there anyone reading this with knowledge of either field and what possibilities there might be out there for me?

Tutoring Frustrations

Ugh......now that the school year here in NY is winding down, all the problem students/parents seem to be finding their way to my schedule. Let's see....

Student #1. Didn't bother to show up for 6 weeks in a row, never answered the phone if I called and wouldn't return messages. Then she calls the company and says that now she really wants to work so she passes for the year. I had her transferred to another tutor.

Student #2. For the past 3 weeks, has refused to get out of bed to come to tutoring. One time, I even had to go to his bedroom and try to cajole him to come. No luck. and kind of creepy. The parent &/or relative just stands there and asks him to get out of bed, but he just says no and they just shrug. They threaten to take away his video games, but they don't know the systems, so they don't know which components to take. I'm not for child abuse, but if I ever have a child who pulls that, I guarantee that he/she will be gotten out of bed for the tutor.

Student #3. The one student I could trust, catches the flu. No clue when he'll be better.

Student/Parent#4. I've been calling them to set up an appointment for the past week, yet no one has called me back yet. Looks like she'll fail too.

Student/Parent#5. The information for the student comes from the school. This family gave the school 3 different numbers. 2 don't work anymore and the third is for a local bank that no one for the family works for. So no way to contact them.

Student/Parent#6. I called this parent today to set up an appointment, but she does not speak English, only Spanish. I took French in high school, so I had no way to convey to her what I was calling for, so she hung up on me. Now don't accuse me of being immigrant phobic, I don't know the backstory of this family, so I can't pass judgement, I'm solely coming at this from the point that I have to tutor this student for two weeks and administer an exam, yet short of constantly calling the house till I get someone else, I have no way of setting up an appointment.

The next 2 weeks should prove interesting.

Patti LuPone in Gypsy

WOW. Just WOW.

Anyone do Accomplice?

This one is for my NYC readers. I was wondering if any one has taken part in the Accomplice show. It looks like a lot of fun, but $65 is a little steep for me to try it blind. Has anyone done it? Is it worth it?

International Idiocy: May the Force be with You Edition

May the Force be with You

This story is just too funny. Nothing I can say could possibly do it justice. Box of wine.....love it.

FDot breaks down "Speed Racer"

Directed by: Larry and Andy Wachowski

Written by: Larry and Andy Wachowski

Starring: Emile Hirsch, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Christina Ricci, an annoying monkey

The Short of it: Good beginning, good ending, bloated middle

The Long of it: Full disclosure here: My friend knows the night manager of a local theatre, so I've been seeing a number of movies recently for free, Speed Racer included. I believe that when one sees a movie for free, it does alter slightly one's perception of a movie. I'm a bit more forgiving of a movie when I don't have to shell out $11 to see it.

Speed Racer actually starts off quite well, quickly setting up the main character and his motivations. Much has already been said about the visuals of the movie, so I can't add much to that discussion. However, while they certainly are something to behold, by the end they just become part of the movie; there's no more WOW factor about the visuals at the end. The first 40 minutes zip by quite quickly, as the rest of the Racer family is introduced and the character arcs are set up. At the 40 minute mark, however, is when the movie takes a turn for the worse.

Speed has been approached by a large corporation about racing for them. Speed wants to maintain his Independence and chooses not to sign. This is where the villain of the piece launches into a large discussion about racing and how it's always operated and how certain races affect the stock prices of companies and the machinations that went into certain racer to enable takeover bids and........my god I got lost listening to this. If this movie was rated PG-13, I might buy into a more complex description, but this is quite obviously a PG movie aimed at 10 year old, and what 10year old is interested in a minutes long discussion about the stock market?

That scene was just the precursor to an incredibly bloated middle section. The audience is treated to about 40 minutes of screen time on a cross country race only to serve a plot point that could have been wrapped up in 5. This was the main issue I had with the film. Slice off 45 minutes and Speed Racer would have been a great film, but it looks like the editor fell asleep. 135 minutes for a children's movie not about Harry Potter is a dicey proposition. The other main bloat issue was Spirtle and his monkey. I am aware that in the TV show these 2 served virtually the same purpose, but here they just detract from the story. While Speed is hearing about stock takeover bids, Spirtle and the monkey go on a candy eating spree at the company's headquarters, then take a joyride around on a cart until they are finally caught. What does that scene have to do with the movie. Nothing. It's just total filler, no doubt included to make young people laugh. Maybe it does, but it's scenes like this that just added to the running time. At least have Spirtle spot something or perform some task that will actually assist Speed Racer later on, but instead, he and the monkey are just comic relief that serve no purpose to the overall story.

At least Speed Racer does pick back up at the end. The final race and especially its finish is done quite well. Even I couldn't help getting excited watching it, even though I knew what the outcome would be. Obviously, everyone got exactly what was coming to them, good or bad.

The Sum Up: The visuals are fantastic, but don't WOW throughout the entire film. The story is needlessly convoluted and contains way too much filler, but the beginning and end of the film shine through and it's an enjoyable enough movie to sit through.

FDot receives a proposal!

It appears that I must exude some amount of sexiness I'm unaware of; for today, I received my first proposal from a total stranger on Myspace. I must admit that on one side it is a touch flattering to receive some attention as its been quite a while since I've had any. Quite a while. However, on the other side, it's a bit creepy. Let's see what I received. My comments will be in italics, plus the names have been changed, though as you'll see, he did a good job of that himself.

Subject: hiya [Hmmm...not technically a word, but OK]

Body:
Hey FDot, how's it going? I'm Bill from the North Bronx---and occasionally Hartsdale. [Two nearby areas, sounds plausible enough]

I was just browsing thru [not correct spelling] profiles of people who live around my area, and I came across yours. I liked what I saw! [How charming. Out of the many random profiles that were looked at, supposedly I'm the one who stood out. Not that he sent similar notes to many others.]

I know its [no apostrophe] strange enough receiving an e-mail from someone you dont [no apostrophe] know, so not having a pic in my profile can't make things any better. [You think? The profile has nothing; supposedly Bill here went to two high schools 23 years apart and had no information about himself listed]

It's just that I'm not "out", so that's why there's no pic. [Um, ??? I know this is a personal decision, but I doubt a picture of yourself on myspace automatically makes you gay.]

If you'd like, I'd send you my pic or i'd [not capitalized] go on webcam for you "live" so you can see me. [Wow, that's inviting. No doubt I'd need my credit card too.]

If you're into it maybe we can chat further on here or on the phone or instant messenger (mine is [redacted] on aim) or something. [Between the offer of chatting on Myspace, the phone and AIM, what is left for something to cover? That sounds ominous.]

I'm a nice guy, goodlooking, I workout 4x/week. [How would I know? You have no picture.]

I'm just a little iddy [iddy?] bit older than u----41. [Ugh. u? Really...YOU was too hard to type. No comment on the age, 41 is ok for me]

I play and teach tennis and I love basketball. I'm a [redacted] too. I saw on ur profile that ur an unemployed [redacted]. Was thay [typo] by choice? [ur...sigh. I redacted the job description just as a caution. No, my unemployment was not by choice, though that's an entirely different story.]

I'm sorry to bother you bother you if ur not interested, but if you are I hope to hear from you real soon man! [How cute, a stutter! At least he calls me a man.]

Joe [Here's where he lost me. If I was really desperate, I might play along and send a response back; but at the beginning of the letter, he said his name was Bill, and suddenly now it's Joe? You don't accidentally type your name incorrectly, I'm not sure what this is, but it's not something I'm going to respond to.]

So it looks like for the time being.....I will remain single.

Gravatar help needed

Does anyone reading this use Gravatar? I've been wanting to change the avatar I use for over 2 weeks. However, the Gravatar site has been down for me since I made that decision. I type in the address and the cursor just spins until the request times out. Same thing if I pull up a cached page from Google and click on a link. Nothing. Does anyone know a way to get into the site; or at least a way to override the Gravatar avatar with an avatar from another site?

The Greatest Worst Comic

A thank you to, of all things, Cracked Magazine for tuning me into this comic strip.

Mark Trail is a comic strip that has been around for just over 60 years. The strip revolves around it's title character, a photojournalist and erstwhile conservationist. He also helps people solve injustices against animals. He has also been in his early 30's for many decades (even Charles Schultz allowed his characters to age a few years).

The strip tends to suffer from a few glaring flaws. First, the humans aren't drawn terribly well. There are some body ratio issues. In addition, every evil human in the strip is given sideburns and long hair. Secondly, while the strip follows a story line, every Sunday is devoted to some wonder of nature, effectively killing the momentum of the story. Finally, as it is a nature strip, there are some beautiful drawings of animals, however, the animals are drawn in instead of the humans, causing one to believe that either the humans have transmorgified or that the animals are suddenly capable of speech.

Allow me to show a few examples from the most recent storyline, which involves a pet kidnapping ring.

Here are the kidnappers planning the kidnapping of a puppy. Note the sideburns and ponytail (how evil!) Oddly, the kidnappers appear to be in cahoots with a local sparrow:



The next day shows that perhaps it's the sparrow who is the brains of the outfit:



Here's a Friday strip, where the plan to kidnap the puppy is set in motion:



Here's the Saturday strip, where it looks like the plan might work:



Oh no! Will the puppy fall for the ruse? Quick, let's find out on Sunday, where all comic strips have more room to tell a story:



Yay! The puppy.....uh....what the hell? A MONKEY EATING EAGLE? BAD HAIR DAY? What does this have to do with anything? Did I tune into that show with the Crocodile Hunter's scary looking daughter? Oh well, it turns out that the puppy is indeed kidnapped, so now it's Mark Trail to the rescue! Though for some reason, he lets a wild rabbit do the questioning for him:



And those hands in the final panel? What can he do with those tiny little things?
Notice how in this final example his hands have grown back to a more normal size, but HORRORS, the poor girl's mother has transformed into a goose!



Will Mark Trail be able to find the kidnapped puppy and return him safely? How many more animals are involved with this scheme? Will the girl's mother return from going south for the winter in time to continue being a mother? (At least you could make a nice down pillow from her.) Time will answer all these questions, and I will be happy to bring you the answers to them, provided you don't actually get the comic strip in your newspaper.

Abracadbra!

A thank you to Cracked Magazine for tuning me into this comic strip.

Mark Trail is a comic strip that has been around for over 60 years. The focus of the strip is on the character of Mark Trail, a photojournalist and erswhile conservationist. The stories revolve around animals and the dangers they face. Recently, the strip has been running a story about a pet theft ring, where pets are kidnapped then ransomed back to their owners at high cost. However, the strip suffers from a few flaws.

1. There is no Sunday strip. Excuse me, there is no Sunday strip that forwards the story. Every Sunday strip is a dissertation on some aspect of the animal kingdom, while the story takes a one day break.

2. The drawings of the humans stink. They look about as generic as a humna can be. A sketch artists nightmare.

3. The animals look beautiful, which is good for a comic strip that revolves around animals; however, the animals are sometimes randomly given the foreground in a panel, leading to what appears to be either the transmorgification of the human characters, or animals spouting off random thoughts about a subject.

First, in the midst of the kidnapping sotryline, here is a Sunday strip apropos to nothing.

Just Another Day

As much as I love Cookie Puss.....I much prefer a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. Anything with massive quantities of chocolate will do.

Ok...let's see what has transpired on my birthday in years gone by:

Births:

1908: Eve Arden--good comedienne, love Grease
1923: Al Lewis--Grandpa Munster!
1926: Cloris Leachman--From the down years of The Facts of Life
1946: Bill Plympton--I love The Tune!
1956: Lars Von Trier--Damn you for never finishing The Kingdom
1959: Paul Gross--God, he was hot in Aspen Extreme
1973: Akon--Oh well, bound to be a turkey in the bunch
plus many others

Deaths:

1900: Casey Jones--Choo Choo!
1945: Adolf Hitler--That's right, my birthday killed him.
1989: Sergio Leone--Hmm...need to see more of his films.
2007: Tom Poston--Aww...I loved Newhart.
plus many others I've never heard of

Events:

1812: Louisiana admitted to the U.S.--never been there
1939: World Fair Opens--FDR first president to appear on TV
1993: Birth of the World Wide Web
plus a bunch of observances I've never heard of.

All in all, not a shabby day to have been born!

2 days to another year closer to my death

35 isn't old, right?

20TH CENTURY FOX-----RELEASE THIS ON DVD IMMEDIATELY

T - 4

For some reason, this week has always filled with birthdays for my family and relatives. My father's birthday was today (hard to believe he's been gone for 4 1/2 years...where does the time go?), my cousin was the 28th, my niece is the 29th, I'm on the 30th, and my uncle is May 1st. Must be something about the end of July that makes people frisky.