As I write this I am trying out three different weather gadgets on my desktop sidebar to see which one I will keep.  Right now Accuweather says 74° (okay, I just right-clicked and selected options to see which one it was and it updated itself), MSN says 76° (jumped to 79° after I checked its options!), and the Weather Channel was at 79° and just hopped up to 81°.  Well it seems that the Weather Channel one gets points for changing on its own, but which one is right? If I could just find the answer to that I would know which one to keep.  The Weather Channel one, by the way, also loses points for having its logo blatantly on the gadget while the other two conserve space a little better, but then again it has more options.  Sigh.  Until these three, I had used WeatherBug, which not only let me choose the location but also what thermometer I wanted to use in the area from a list of 8-10.  Unfortunately for some reason, after restarting the computer it would no longer connect to wherever it got its info from.  And reading the comments it would seem that I wasn’t the only one with this problem.  So here I am looking for a working gadget.  Well, if I don’t like these three there are always more on the gadget website- seems weather gadgets are a dime a dozen.

This Vista sidebar is pretty nice.  At first it had a little slideshow viewer, a clock, and an RSS headline reader (100 headlines, four at a time, and only the first few words of each one?  No thanks!) in addition to its own weather gadget (similar to the MSN one, but less frills).  I replaced the weather gadget, left the clock gadget- a pretty realistic looking analog clock by the way, and removed the other two.  I also downloaded a CPU/RAM meter and a wireless networking meter, the latter of which is waiting on the bench for me to get a wireless router.  There are also stock tools, search tools, and a lot more for the sidebar.  There are even some mini-games that can be installed.

Well, looking at the weather gadgets again, the accuweather was three degrees below the next higher one, but once again I had to manually update it so this one is probably gone.  However, the other two are at a three degree difference themselves- so which is right??  Sigh.

Well, if I happened to waste your time with this post I just have this to say- sorry, no refunds! 😛

Today being that day that someone ages a year older (not necessarily wiser), I got several emails wishing me a happy birthday… one from an area radio station informing me to listen at 6.50 AM for my name. I also knew that our local station has a birthday quiz at 6.45. I set my alarm a little earlier than usual (I could always go back to sleep). The question posed: “Who played the role of Kevin in the American Pie films?” I knew that it was not Jason Biggs who played the lead, Jim. I must admit that I had enough time to go to imdb to find the answer. After learning that Thomas Ian Nicholas played the part in the original trilogy of films, I rolled over, dialed the phone number, and rather groggily gave the answer. Apparently, Courtney understood me enough since I won a certificate to one of our local coffee shops (I believe there are two).

I will not comment on American Pie, but on another film that Mr. Nicholas was the adolescent star of. In Rookie of the Year, Thomas starred as Henry, a young kid who has a little league accident that gives him the world’s greatest pitching arm. Who should discover him but the lackluster Chicago Cubs (this was 1993… not the phenomenal team of today) baseball team. Cliches abound but the movie is fun to watch for the whole family (if memory serves). John Candy was in the press box. Was Harry still with us or could he not be persuaded to step in front of the screen? If Bob Ueker could do it, why not?

So, a nice birthday present. Hopefully, I have other equally memorable events to post about later.

Currently (as I write this), my top read posts contain two posts I wrote about books. If I look at the posts from the last 10 days, I find posts about books take 4 of the top 10 spots. I just found this fascinating. In fact one of my best few days in blogging (most visitors in a 24 hour period) came after I wrote about my favorite books.

This got me thinking. If I’m not in a play, I tend to read a great deal. Recently my tastes have been stuck in Science Fiction and Mysteries, but I will read different things at different times. Really different at some times, during my high school days I read 4 different encyclopedia sets from A to Z. Ok, one of them was a children’s set I read again, but I did read it during High School.

Anyway, I was thinking I need to take my reading in a new direction. So if you have a book you really like, please respond. I’m going to try to read as many as I can. I’m a quick reader, so depending on the list, it may not take too long.

Yes, this is another one of those posts designed to change lurkers into responders…..

Recent books I’ve read ….

Why did it have to be Snakes (Mysteries of Indiana Jones) Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weinberg

The Early Asimov — Isaac Asimov

Sherlock Holmes and the case of Sabina Hall L. B. Greenwood

and re-reading A Morbid Taste for Bones — Ellis Peters

Sort of…

Years ago, one of my favorite things to watch was the series “Mystery” on PBS. I’m not even sure they have that on anymore, but I enjoyed it when it was on. This series generally brought classic fiction mystery novels to television. Hosted at one time by Vincent Price and then Diana Rigg, this series brought to the screen books and stories like Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot and a favorite of mine Brother Cadfael.

I had not read any of the Cadfael mysteries before seeing them on TV. I had read most if not all of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, and quite a few Miss Marples and Poirots. Since I knew the good treatment the BBC gave the other mystery stories, I was pretty sure that Cadfael would be no different.

As a pleasant surprise, I found that I was correct. I read the many Cadfael novels starting with “A Morbid Taste for Bones”. This was the first PBS/BBC show I saw on Cadfael, and it was also the very first book. Good of them to keep the chronology of the books. After that first show, and reading the first book I tried to read the books before watching the shows on PBS. Generally a very good match of book story to TV story. The characters had the same depth in both instances. They did add a little thing here or there, but it didn’t affect the story telling or change the feeling and meaning of the original story. If you can find these shows (I’ve seen them on Cable every now and then) check them out. If not check out the books from the library. The author is Ellis Peters.

Now what brought this all up? Well the topic of one of my previous posts reminded me of the first story. I just had to read it again. I may finish it tomorrow when my daughter is at rehearsals.

In case you read or see the series. Good reading or watching….

First school news post in a while. 🙂  Apparently a top-rated school district was trying to share the good news in a press conference.  I stress trying as most people watching could only focus on the ironically misspelled sign in the background.  Spellchecker, anyone? 😀  Click the picture for the story.

Tonight was the final night of auditions for The Nerd. I thought they went relatively well had a few more readers there (one other female reader, two more male, and a precocious 9-year-old who stole my part). Then we had the master of inner voices take a stab at reading. I found myself laughing at his antics as I so often do. There were a few sure casting reveals tonight from default. My nephew, Alex, will be Thor for at least half the performances. Clelia will be played by a young woman who I worked with during Little Women who has commitments during a few of the performances working with the local radio station during county fair week. The rest of us have to sit and wait until tomorrow

Following the auditions, Alex and I went and watched the city band perform on the square. Within 15 minutes, he was getting antsy (he was getting antsy after auditions were over wanting to go home… SHEESH). As a reward for waiting, I told him I would take him for ice cream at an awesome stand that sells the best soft-serve homemade. Unfortunately, all I had was enough to get what HE wanted… a medium vanilla shake… how original.

Back to auditions… IF I GET A PART, I would really rather not get the role of Tocky (or is it Ticky). It seems that Thor insisted on practicing his foot stomp on my foot while we were watching the band concert. After an hour of listening to selections ranging from a medley of Duke Ellington to “Selections from Flower Drum Song” and “The King and I ,” I was getting a little tired, too. I really wanted to wait and say hi to a friend who plays in the band but I thought that I would rather not face the growing ire of a 9 year-old.

A hotel receptionist near Norwich, England recently received an unwelcome surprise while she was on the job:

Abbie Hawkins, a hotel receptionist, thought her mobile phone was ringing when she felt vibrations coming from her clothes.

But she later discovered the tiny creature tucked away in the padded pocket of her underwear.

As staff and colleagues crowded around, Miss Hawkins, 19, produced the frightened bat, which was the size of her hand.

She said: “Once I realised it was a bat I was shocked, but then I felt quite sorry for it really.

“It looked very snug in there and I thought how mean I was for disturbing it.”

Miss Hawkins said she got dressed at 7.30am and arrived for work at the Holiday Inn Norwich North, near Norwich International Airport without noticing anything unusual.

“When I was driving to work I felt a slight vibration but I thought it was just my mobile phone in my jacket pocket,” she said.

It was not until her lunch break, at midday when she felt a strange movement inside her bra, which had been hanging on her washing line the previous night.

“I plucked up the courage to investigate and I pulled out a little baby bat. I just lost my breath when I saw it and I did not know what it was at first,” she said.

The teenager’s general manager freed the bat in the hotel garden.

“I keep thinking how could I have not known it was there?” Miss Hawkins said. “I will certainly be checking my bras every morning from now on.”

Jaime Eastham, of the Bat Conservation Trust, said they had never heard of a bat being found in a bra before.

But she said the animals roost anywhere that appears dark and safe.

The only thing I can say is that I am happy for her that it did not decide to have a nibble (sorry). And why would she have thought that the vibration from her cell phone would cause her to think that it would cause her to adjust herself.

I caught the tail-end of a news story the other day…  something about a judge ruling that Pringles are not potato chips.  What in the world?  I wondered why a judge would be ruling on such a thing and also if they’re not potato chips, what are they?  Since I have limited time, I did limited research on the subject, and I found the answer to the first question; see below:

LONDON – Britain’s High Court has ruled that Pringles are not a potato snack, and thus are not subject to value-added tax.

Friday’s ruling by Justice Nicholas Warren is expected to save millions for the manufacturer, Procter & Gamble Co.

Warren overruled a VAT Tribunal decision that Pringles should be subject to the 17.5-percent tax because it met the definition of “potato crisps, potato sticks, potato puffs and similar products made from the potato, or from potato flour, or from potato starch.”

The judge found that Pringles were only 42 percent potato, and thus exempt.

P&G spokeswoman Marina Barker says the company is pleased with the ruling.

Umm…  so what else is in Pringles besides potato?  Do we really want to know?  And while searching for this tidbit of info, I came across another interesting article about my favorite potato chip, er, potato-ish snack food, though maybe I should have posted a link on JustJ’s recent morbid post about the discarding of human bodies…  Ahh, the Internet.  Everything you ever wanted to know and some things you didn’t – all at your fingertips!

Cincinnatti, OH – Dr. Fredric J. Baur was so proud of having designed the container for Pringles potato crisps that he asked his family to bury him in one.

His children honored his request. Part of his remains was buried in a Pringles can – along with a regular urn containing the rest – in his grave at Arlington Memorial Gardens in Springfield Township.

Dr. Baur, a retired organic chemist and food storage technician who specialized in research and development and quality control for Procter & Gamble, died May 4 at Vitas Hospice. The College Hill resident was 89.

Today was the first day I’ve been to a play tryout where I didn’t read for a role. I was just there as a producer. It was kind of fun just sitting there watching others try out. No worries, no trying to figure out a role/persona. I really enjoyed myself. We had some new people trying out for roles, and it is good to get new blood in the theater. We just can’t have the same people in shows over and over again. I’m all for the new people getting parts.

I’m currently listening to the Tigers and Indians baseball game. The big difference is I’m listening to it on the Indian’s Radio network, instead of the Tiger’s Radio Network. I find it strange that the announcers don’t seem to know the Tigers. Maybe it is because I don’t know the other teams as well, but I don’t think the Tiger’s announcers are nearly as bad when it comes to the Cleveland games. I have caught them in other games, not knowing players, but you should know your division rivals. Cleveland/Detroit has been a big rivalry for as long as I can remember. I would think the Indians announcers would do better. The only reason I listen the the Indian station, is that I get it on all of the radios in the house. The Tiger station, I need to be in the car, or get my daughters battery powered portable to hear it. Even then, it is very touchy as to location, and direction of the antenna. Tiger’s just won!

Need to get some time off work soon. I enjoyed the 3 day weekend, but I would like to get time off to see my family all over the country. I guess I need to talk with the peoples in charge at work.

I’m looking forward to a movie or two with my girls this weekend. I’m going to have some time with both daughters at home so it is possible.

Suffering from a sore back for the past few days (it seems like weeks). Not much I can do about it other than resting it. Slow walking, moderate stretching, and making sure my back is supported while sitting are all helping. Not sure what I did to pull the muscles, but it was nagging for a while.

I haven’t watched much network or cable TV (other than part of a ball game) all summer. Can’t say I miss it. I went a few years, while working 2nd shift, without TV, I am guessing I could continue for a long time. Being in the middle of the woods, I don’t have cable (to far in the country) or satellite (too many trees). I don’t see myself getting those anytime soon. I really think I could live without TV. Owned or rented movies, well that is a different story.

I really guess that is about it. I am thinking of upcoming days that will be happening in July so I will have more to write about at a later date…

(Sorry If I disappoint fans of the Marvel Comics’ character).  Tonight was another fun evening of auditions at the community theatre.  The Nerd came under my radar my sophomore year at BGSU.  I performed a scene as Rick Steadman in an acting class.  After reading my copy of the scene, I immediately searched out a copy of the full script (and not from the college library).  After reading the play, I was immediately enamored with the over-the-top character and said if ever I found a chance to audition for it, I would soooo be there.  I nailed the scene in school and was told in my comments from the instructor that if he ever needed a white Steve Urkel, he would look me up.  I guess that was a compliment.

At the audition, I saw some returning thespians and one or two newcomers (always nice to see).  On the audition form, I listed that I would like to try for Rick and Thor (an 8-13 year old brat).  I did get to read the part of the brat while kneeling.  I was told that if I could shrink about 3 feet, shave, and grow some hair on my head I would be considered.

When the time came to read for the title role, I attempted to fit in a few snorts where applicable, roll the eyes a bit, change my voice slightly so it had a bit of a “adenoidal” sound (which the stage directions call for) to it.  The first scene was the scene in which the cast is introduced to the nerd.  Hilarious.

The second bit was a solo part in which Rick makes himself comfortable in his  ‘Nam buddy’s apartment.  He unpacks  a music stand, book, and tambourine (of which none were provided) and proceeds to butcher “The Star Spangled Banner.” I made like I was banging the instrument at opportune moments on the sofa, my head, leg, etc. while doing my best to ruin our National Anthem.  A friend mentioned that I could be arrested for such a travesty.  I thought being booed ala Roseanne would be enough.  I hope that I was “over-the-top” enough to please the director.

Although some would balk at the opportunity to play a nerd, I relish the chance to bring Rick Steadman to life once again, this time for a paying audience.  Hopefully, a great friend (who I was actually surprised to see since he and his wife are expecting some day soon) will be cast with me.  Usually, he has been directing or directing and acting; but I really would like to be cast in a show where he does not wear so many hats.  But even if neither of us get a part, there is always the next show.  More auditions tomorrow night.  Then what a nice birthday present it would be if I get any part (similar to last year after I found out that I was cast as the standout character in a previous show… although some do say I stand out in whatever part I am given… dunno) 😀 .