One Small Step for Marc-Kind

The main thing I did this weekend was install a storm door, and I have a message for the good people at the Larson Door Company: Try to write better instructions! The door itself is great, but it doesn't look like they proof-read the directions at all. My least favorite part is that it has you take several measurements in step one, then several steps later says : "Cut bar according to measurements taken in step 1." Well, we took several measurements, and there's only one cut to be made. I mean, I'm an engineer and all so I can figure it out, but come on. And throw in a few more pictures! It's not actually done yet, but today's a travel day, so maybe I can finish it up before I head to Chicago.

The main reason I write today is to brag a little, I guess. Saturday I ran 6 miles in 54 minutes without ever stopping to walk. This is a new personal best for me, and afterwards I felt really, really worn out. I'm finding that distance running is as much mental as anything else- on 4 mile run days, I'm wiped out after 4 miles. I guess if you go into it shooting for 6 miles, you kind of accept it. But I'll tell you that I think I'm going to do this marathon relay with Kate, then maybe one real 26.2 mile marathon, then I'm done. It's not that I don't like doing it, the training just takes so much time. I'd like to settle into a routine of like 3 miles a day, then a 10k on Saturdays. I could deal with that. Also, distance running has taught me why runners put band aids on their nipples.

The Chronic(What?)les of Narnia

I know, welcome to last week. But, in case anyone out there hasn't seen this yet, check out the "Lazy Sunday" music video from Saturday Night Live. I figure if I'm going to reference it in the new header I should make provisions for people to watch it if they want. I didn't see it first run, but all of my SNL watching friends were talking about it on Monday. I haven't watched SNL regularly since college for a couple reasons: First, it's on way to late (actually, the people I know who do watch it tape it for later), and second, it's just not that funny anymore. SNL has always been cyclical- it gets really funny, then all the good people leave, then it sucks for a while, it gradually gets better, and repeat. I think we're in year 2 of the current funk.

That said, this little rap video is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while. What I find the most amusing is that more effort, thought and wit went into it than 90% of the schlock you can see on 106 & Park. Seriously- rappers everywhere should take notes.

So, whether or not I start watching Saturday Night Live again has yet to be seen, but this is a good start.

Lily Picture

I'm being sneaky. I think Kate should have a profile picture on Blogger, but she hasn't done one yet, so I'm going to post this adorable picture of our cat Lily, set it as her photo, and see if she notices. Of course, this will all be blown if she reads this blog, but what are you gonna do?

Colts Confetti

This didn't occur to me as something I should post until I talked about it yesterday to the great amusement by my co-workers.

When the Colts scored their first touchdown on New Year's day, several little confetti cannons went off all around the dome. First, it scared the crap out of me because up in our nosebleed seats we were only like 20 feet away from them and they're actually kind of loud. Second, now I know what that noise is. I've seen several different teams play at several different venues, and when the home team scores a touchdown there's this quick boom-boom, boom-boom, boom-boom sound. It's even in my Madden video game, but I had no idea what it was. But now I know.

Anyway, after they go off there's all kinds of smoke and confetti in the air, so of course I'm trying to catch a piece of it (it's strips of blue and white paper that are about 1" wide by 3" long) because Kate loves to make scrapbooks and shadow boxes and stuff. The air currents inside the RCA Dome are weird, so the confetti just kept floating around right outside my reach, mocking me in my futile attempts. I wasn't going to jump or anything, because I swear those bleachers are at like a 45-degree angle, and it was a long way down. You can kind of see it in our engagement photo. So I kind of give up, and like magic, a piece wafts down in front of my face. I instantly grab it and victoriously thrust it in the air like Kunta Kinte with his newborn son, yelling "Yes! See Kate? EAT THAT!" She gives me her tried and true "You're the biggest loser I've ever known" look and points to the people behind us, who are laughing uncontrollably. Being laughed at in public isn't all that new for me, so she explains further: Apparently the dude behind me was watching me try in vain to snag some confetti, grabbed a piece out of the air, then sneakily dropped it in front of my face.

I said something about damn Kate for ruining my moment, but oh well, life goes on. I still have the tainted piece of confetti at home, where it will probably join our tickets in a shadowbox of lies.

Home Sick

Yeah, I'm still sick. I'm home from work today, which ends my Cal Ripken-like streak of not missing work or school for illness. The last time was in the fall of 2000, when I missed a week of my co-op at Honeywell because I had mono. I think of this as "the lost month of August." When you sleep 20 hours a day, time really flies. So all in all, I was sick for my week off between semesters, one week of work, then I worked half-days for a week before everything was back to normal. The annoying part was that people would say "Wow, it must have been nice to have a month off." These people have never had mono.
Anyway, prior to that the last time I missed a day was in 7th grade, when I missed like 8 days of school for various reasons. From 8th grade on I was the proud recipient of the perfect attendance award. I think they're up in the attice with other school-type awards.
Actually, I was on my deathbed once during my freshman year at Purdue. I still went to class, and actually marched with the band during the game against Illinois, a sporting event I have absolutely no recollection of. The only thing I remember was almost passing out during inspection. My vision didn't just fade out to white or black like on TV, it actually went white and purple. I guess I just don't have that kind of dedication anymore. Plus, I have tons of sick time.

So far two days on the couch have given me plenty of time to watch movies- I feel that my TV has really earned it's money. Most notably I was able to watch the entire Indiana Jones trilogy for the first time in my adult life. I probably haven't seen the first 2 in at last 15 years, but I've seen the Last Crusade about 20 times, with a few viewings a in the last couple years. Kate, on the other hand, claims to have seen them all but remembered nothing while we watched them. So, as an adult, I've made a few observations that I didn't notice as a kid.

Raiders of the Lost Ark: You have to respect the original. I was pretty young at the time, but as I understand this movie sort of set a new standard in movie pacing, as well as the whole "searching for ancient treasure" genre. Like so many great films, it doesn't stand out so much when compared to modern movies, but at the time a lot of these ideas were new. Plus, now Kate knows the origin of like 10 Family Guy references.

The Temple of Doom: By contrast, this movie was worse than I remembered. Why? Two words: Kate Capshaw. It's hard to tell where the awfulness lies- was she that bad an actor, or was the Willie character supposed to be that useless and annoying? She really serves no purpose in the movie, other than being the worst attempt at comic relief until Jar Jar Binks came along. A bad movie character is the worst when it affects other great characters. When Indy is now in love with Willie, I'm thinking "Indy, what is your problem? This girl's annoying!" The whole Capshaw thing makes more sense when you know that she's married to Spielberg, but apparently they weren't married until well after the film.
Willie aside, I think the main problem with the movie is that they broke the formula. Instead of Indiana Jones doing a little research, following clues and finding treasure, we just have a random "Indy is now in India where a village asks for help then he finds an evil cult running a child labor mine." I mean come on, he's not even fighting the Nazis! Also, Kate put it very well by saying "They don't explain anything in this one" meaning that in the first one, they tell you that the Ark is powerful because of X, Y, and Z. In the third movie, the grail does this, because of X, Y, and Z. In this installment, it's just "Oh look, the guy is still alive after having his heart ripped out. Hmm." and "Drinking the blood makes you a zombie. But getting burned with a torch fixes it. Okay." Apparently I will accept one and only supernatural event per movie. More than that and it just seems too fake.
Still a good movie, but it was definitely the sophomore slump.

The Last Crusade: Ah, the Last Crusade. One of my all-time favorites. This shows what happens with so many trilogies: There's a first one, and it does very well. They make a second, but they misunderstand what was great about the first one. Then with the third one, they get the balance right again.
I won't go too far into this movie, because I could talk all day. It's not flawless, but it brings back great characters (Sallah and Marcus) that weren't even mentioned in the 2nd movie, and adds Sean Connery as a great compliment to Indy. Plus, I think this one has arguably the best action sequences, and the best humor. Even the intro with young Indiana Jones was great. So, yeah. My favorite.

Indiana Jones 4: No, no, no, please God, no. Do not let this movie happen. The Last Crusade was so great, do not sully it with a crappy sequel. Without even mentioning that Harrison Ford is way too old, there's just no reason for this movie. I have a bad feeling that it will be like Terminator 3. Terminator 2 was such a great movie, and everything was wrapped up so well. Why mess with that? Damn Hollywood and their money-grubbing. Indiana Jones 4 is destined to join the list of sequels I refuse to acknowledge, along with T3, Alien 3, Matrix Revolutions, Jurassic Park 2/3 (the movie, not the book, which was great) and others I can't think of right now. Actually, I really agree with this guy, whose page I just found.

I have many more thoughts on sequels, but it's high time I got back to the couch.

Can't Decide?

So last night Kate and I were at the grocery store. Since I thought I was getting sick (and I was, because today I feel like crap) I wanted to buy some orange juice. Tropicana makes an "Immunity Defense" orange juice that seemed like a good idea. Whether or not it helps your immune system I don't know, but it makes me feel better.
The orange juice was on sale, 2 for $4. So I grabbed one of the immunity defense. We then had this exchange:
Marc: "What kind do you want?"
Kate: "I don't care."
Marc: (Moves hand to immunity orange juice)
Kate: "I prefer the light orange juice."
Marc: (Moves hand to light orange juice)
Kate: "But I'm not going to drink any."
Marc: (Moves hand to immunity orange juice)
Kate: "It's just so much better for you."
Marc: (Moves hand to light orange juice)
Kate: "No, get what you want."
Marc: (Moves hand to immunity orange juice)
Kate: "It would be good for you to try the light."
Marc: "Which one do you want me to grab?"
Kate: "I don't care Marc. Jeez, just make a decision!"

And yet, if you spend enough time with us you will hear Kate talk about how I can never make a decision. In fact, I hear many women complaining that their husbands can't make a decision, and I have a pretty strong feeling that they all have exchanges like the one above.
I don't remember which orange juice we bought. I could go upstairs and look, but that seems like a lot of work.

Mega Hairs?

Sure, I'll periodically click the "Next Blog" button just to see what others around the world are blogging about. But check out this one. It says:

"My friend was saying that a beautician told her that she never wears open toed sandals because there is a chance that if you have an open hair follicle, someone else's hair can accidentally implant itself and start growing, as long as it has still got the root attached. If you've ever found a strange long hair that appeared to have grown overnight then this could have happened."

Now I don't believe that for a second. But man, is that a disgusting thought. Sure I periodically get those giant long arm hairs, but I always figured it was from standing too close to the microwave or something. Gross.

Oh, and it's my sister's Birthday today. Happy 25th Carly!