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Monday, October 29, 2001
I have a CD to recommend. "Is This It" by The Strokes. It's fun music that kind of combines punk and pop and old fashioned rock and roll. The weird thing is, EVERY song on the CD is good. There are no token "skip over" tracks. Unfortunately it's only about 35 minutes long. I guess some people could argue that a lot of it sounds the same (because it probably does), but when the melodies are this catchy I certainly don't care. My favorite songs are "Someday", "Soma", "Alone Together", and "Last Nite".
The other day I saw the video for "Last Nite"... the Strokes seem like some cool blokes. No pretentious Hype Williams-style crap, instead simple footage of the band performing the song. It kind of had an Ed Sullivan Show feel to it. This reminds me of a theory I'm working on... when you hear the radio or TV play a song which is familiar to you but not previously thought of as "popular", that makes you like the song a lot more. It might just be for the duration of the song, or it might have a more lasting effect. It's as if we need other people to tell us whether a song is "good". Or is it just me? Am I making any sense? Saturday, October 27, 2001
Speaking of old video games, there's a classic computer game called "Daleks" (based loosely on the show Dr. Who), which I used to enjoy playing quite a bit. Here's a nifty Halloween shockwave version. I just played for the first time and got tenth place overall... look for "Lenlow" a few more times in the near future.
Friday, October 26, 2001
80's arcade games! Another cool thing about that site (besides the classic games) is if you put your mouse over the row of arcade game characters, the whole screen shakes like this. That scared me. I thought Donkey Kong was gonna jump out of the computer screen and maul me.
Thursday, October 25, 2001
IMHO, "LOL" gets used way too much. For the chat-impaired, "LOL" stands for "laughing out loud". I'll admit it is an easy way to convey amusement in the instant message arena, but I've never used it. I've never used any of those acronyms. If I want to tell someone that I will talk to them later, I type "later", which is only one more keystroke than "ttyl" (and the same number as "TTYL"). I refuse to adopt those stupid acronyms, simply because I wouldn't say "laughing out loud" or "rolling on the floor laughing" in normal verbal conversation. To convey amusement I type "ha". Not only is it easier to type than "lol", but it's how I would react in real life.
One time at work I was looking over the shoulder of a coworker (whose last name rhymes with "Bergman") as he was instant-messaging another coworker. As I watched, he typed something that may or may not have been amusing... but the important part is that he typed, with a straight face, "lol". I pointed out that he was not actually laughing out loud, and he actually stopped to think about it. Then he LOL. Typical Yankees fan... except for the computer literacy. And the literacy. A few minutes ago I was cyber-chatting with a client... here's a transcript: LE: i fixed those views, can you verify? PD: that you i'll check it right now PD: you are great :) .. thank you it works again :) LE: sweet PD: lol I looked back to see if I had accidentally said anything that could be construed as funny... nope. I imagined her at her desk "BAAAAAHAHAHAHA" just because I had said "sweet". That made me almost LOL. I think in reality she was a pulling a Bergman. later Wednesday, October 24, 2001
Last weekend I went up to my grandfather's cabin in New Hampshire to do some yardwork. It has become an annual event in the Petersen branch of our family to go up in the fall and help Grandpa clean the place up, and spend some quality time with each other. It hardly seems like work when you spend the whole day joking with your brother and uncles and catching up on each other's lives.
 The core group of workers is usually me, brother Matt, Uncle Tom and Grandpa, since we are the family's manly men in the greater Boston area. Sometimes Grandma and Mom will come along (as they did in this case) to... make us lunch. (I just tell it like it is.) What made Saturday extra special was Uncle Paul was making the trip from Illinois for some male bonding and family reunion action. But on top of that, Uncle Dan from Seattle showed up, surprising everyone but Mom and Tom! It was an emotional time as the stunned Grandma and Grandpa suddenly had all four of their children in one place, and it was a place that was both beautiful and sentimentally valuable to us all. Matt had his digital camera along... and he used it. Check out his site for some good pictures from that weekend, like the one above of Grandpa heading home after the work was done. You could also check out Matt's take on the weekend via his posts Thursday and then Sunday. Monday, October 22, 2001
Know what makes me laugh every time I see it (so far)? The preview for "Shallow Hal" where she jumps in the pool, makes a huge splash, and the Dad can't find his kid and the kid's up in the tree and cries "Daddy." That kid is a comic genius. And for me, apparently simple pleasures are the best.
Public Service Announcement:
The opposite of "win" and the opposite of "find" is spelled L-O-S-E. "Loose" can be used as a verb, but it means "unfasten", "release", or "detach". When did this become a problem for people? I've seen about ten different instances of this over the last several months. Does this misspelling just stand out because spell-checkers won't complain about it? Speaking of stupid people (no offense to bad spellers, or to the stupid people out there)... Years ago I was driving around with my Driver's Ed instructor. He asked me to do a three-point turn, so I did. Then he said "Sometimes the street's really narrow and you need to go in reverse and then forward again... Do you know what that's called?" I immediately responded "a five-point turn." To which he replied "No, it's a four-point turn." End of discussion. It wasn't worth it.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... the 1990 Bancroft School Junior Varsity soccer team!
 Top row, from left: Thom Howland, Rich Apostolou, Eddie Fernandez, Travis Percival, Alex Haddad, Luke Enlow, A. Stanton Barter, Tim Whitney, Ben Josephson, Coach WHO THE HECK WAS OUR COACH??? Kneeling, from left: Chad Percival, Adam Del Rossi, Mohan Renganathan, and I don't know (could it be Jeff Krintzman?) Thanks to Bob "Mr." Stein for sending me this gem. Has there ever been a punier ninth grader than I?
A couple weeks ago I went out to Wheaton for Homecoming. Well that might be misleading... the only "Homecoming"-sanctioned event I made it to was the soccer game. I didn't even step on campus proper. Oh well, I had a good time. My buddies Nathan, Lisa and Becka made the treks from L.A., Columbus and Boston, respectively. So it was good to see them all at the same time, and to hang out with sister Kate, and other friends Sam and Josh who live out there now.
 At any rate, I was finally sent some pictures from the weekend, which reminded me that I never even mentioned the trip on LenLowLand. So I thought I'd do that now. So I just did. The picture you see here was maybe the funniest moment of the weekend. Josh took us to the Lincoln Park Zoo and we rounded a corner and were greeted by this happy little scenario. At first we thought this frisky takin was just resting on the barrel, but then we noticed some... movements... that made it clear he was doing anything but resting. We watched in amusement as he flipped the barrel over a few times, and watched in amusement as parents would approach the "exhibit" and after a moment, whisk their little ones to more G-rated fare.Oh and I suppose lots of other funny things happened involving my friends. Who knows. Here's a picture of Josh, me and Nathan. Here's a picture of me "takin" notes as our furry friend is "takin" liberties with the big blue barrel. Sunday, October 21, 2001
Many moons ago I asked Karen who the last pitcher was to retire the side with three pitches. Yes it was a difficult question... but now I know the answer. Mariano Rivera did it for the Stankees five minutes ago.
...and now they've won the game. Well if they make it to the World Series, at least I'll care who wins.
I haven't seen or heard much involving the attacks on America that has amused me, but this is funny and well done.
Friday, October 19, 2001
This is comedy. A cleaner at a museum threw away a modern art exhibit because he thought it was garbage.
U.S. ground troops move into Afghanistan.
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld on the disclosure of too much information: "My interest is not to simplify things for the other side but to complexify them, if that is a word." Thursday, October 18, 2001
I'm going to England next month!
I've got a week of vacation that needs using... Karen's over there... I've always wanted to go... The most foreign place I've ever been is Nova Scotia... It's footie season... I found a good ticket price... Looking forward to it. Wednesday, October 17, 2001
 Well that would explain why I enjoy doing the robot so much. From now on, I shall be referred to as "Big Hunk of Metal Love". P.S. Thank goodness I'm not really C-3PO or Data under my skin.
How long has "judgement" been an acceptable spelling for "judgment"? I had a lengthy, condescending post all prepared on the ubiquitous misspelling (last night's culprit: "Love Cruise"). Why don't people tell me these things? I feel like I'm back at college, a senior math major, finding out that Fermat's last theorem had been proven a couple years' prior. Why don't people tell me these things???? Granted I didn't (and don't) have my finger on the pulse of the math news, but come on people... Fermat's last theorem! Did I miss all the flyers for a raging math department party, with DJ Jazzy Josephson on the wheels of steel? Yeah in my generation that's right up there with the Challenger, the OJ verdict, Princess Di, 9/11... "Where were you when you heard that Fermat's last theorem had been proven?" (My answers, respectively: Mrs. Gilvar's fourth grade classroom; the Three East lounge; Nathan's house watching "Waiting For Guffman"; sitting down to a root canal; interrupting Dr. Brabanec's lecture so my classmates could laugh at me).
So anyway... "judgement"...Who knew? Oh wait... everyone knew. And now there's one less thing for me to annoy people with. I guess I'll have to settle for "If I would have known" et al. to pick on. Example: If I would have known "judgement" was an accepted spelling, I still would not have enjoyed "Love Cruise". Tuesday, October 16, 2001
Ack.
What's... happening... to... me... I find myself slightly tempted to ease up on my anti-Yankee sentiments. Especially my anti-Jeter sentiments, after the two great plays he made in the last two games, the first of which probably saved them the game and the series at that point. And the unlikely comeback was impressive, after the two home losses. I should have known my taunts from several days ago would come back to haunt me. Also there was the sentimental and somehow patriotic nature of the team's efforts... maybe Bergman was right, maybe God is a Yankees fan. I feel dirty. Did I just write that paragraph? After a month of trying to get my life back to normal, I go and write that garbage. Let's go Mariners... Monday, October 15, 2001
As soon as Osama's video statement was released about a week ago, I said to someone "They should get some geologist to take a look at those rocks." And it turns out that's just what they're doing.
Friday, October 12, 2001
I have finally met my match where word games are concerned. There's a game at pogo.com called "Word Whomp" which involves quick thinking, a large vocabulary, and anagramming skills. It could keep me entertained for hours, mostly because it's so challenging... I have only gotten all possible words like three times out of twenty. Definitely check it out if you like that sort of thing.
Speaking of meeting my match at word games, Karen beat me twice at Boggle this summer. That was out of maybe 20 rounds, but you must understand... literally no one else had taken even one round from me in my Boggle career. And this includes the French exchange student against whom I played in French. The good news was that I finally found someone who wanted to play it with me, the bad news.... well no need to dwell on the past. P.S. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but HONK HONK
Those of my audience in the greater Boston area can catch my Mom (Krenlow?) on the Channel 7 news tonight. She'll be on the left end of the white stripe just below the "field" of a huge human flag that her school made for their annual all-school photo. Then she'll be doing a cooking segment about Oogie Mush.
 Yankees lose again! They need to win the next three in order to stay alive. Not bloody likely![pictured: Waaaaaaah! Somebody's diaper is full. Wah!] Thursday, October 11, 2001
I am devastated to find out my least favorite holiday is actually equivalent to my favorite holiday. Here's the mathematical proof:
Convert 31 base 8 to base 10. 31 base 8 = 3*(8^1) + 1*(8^0) = 25. 31 base 8 = 25 base 10. Octal 31 = Decimal 25. Oct 31 = Dec 25. Halloween = Christmas. Quod Erat Demonstrandum. Monday, October 08, 2001
Of all the Shockwave games I've recommended, this is one of my favorites. If you like puzzle games, you'll love... "Gears". The other puzzle games on shockwave.com are quite good too... like Blix and Loop.
A lot has happened in the sports world since my unintentional blogging hiatus began a week ago. Jordan's return is official. Bonds hit 73 and reached the highest slugging percentage ever. Henderson got 3,000 hits and the most walks ever. Ripken and Gwynn played in their last games. The Mariners tied for most wins in a season. The Red Sox sucked. Since most of these are no longer "news", I won't write much about them. But there were some less conspicuous stories that were notable. Like Brian Urlacher of the Chicago Bears, who yesterday returned a fumble 90 yards for a TD, had 5 tackles, intercepted a pass, blocked a pass, forced a fumble, and shot lightning bolts from his eyes. Or the U.S. soccer team, who thought they realistically had to win both of their remaining games to make it to qualify for the World Cup, but four minutes after their tie with Jamaica were celebrating the conclusion of two other upsets which clinched their berth in Korea next year. Or all the "crappy" football teams which seem to be winning lots and lots of games.
 Karen is now in England... her classes start tomorrow. Don't worry, I assure you that she's still on the LenLowLand payroll in her "Ask Karen" capacity... in case you were all panicking. She doesn't have an internet connection yet, and she won't have much spare time in general to surf, so it may be tough for her to handle the hundreds of questions she usually gets daily... but feel free to ask her anything. She enjoys the challenge, and she is usually quite successful.It was snowing on my way to work this morning. Did we skip autumn? Friday morning I flew for the first time since September 11. And boy are my arms tired! But seriously... I wasn't that worried, because I tend not to worry about anything. But I did find myself watching the Boston and Chicago skylines pass below and imagining the plane veering toward the tall buildings... and several other grim scenarios that kinda gave me the chills. Also it was weird to see MP's in Logan with large guns. And it was weird that security was confiscating matches and shaving cream, but I was allowed to keep my phone charger which had a long cord and two protruding prongs. And with dinner I was given a metal fork and a plastic knife. I'm no Blue Rajah, but isn't a metal fork more dangerous than a metal butter knife? ... For my entertainment on the flight I curled up with a nice book: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, about international terrorism and plane hijackings and special forces and stuff. I am not so surprised that Tom Clancy was interviewed soon after the 11th; he knows a lot of poop. Monday, October 01, 2001
Speaking of brain teasers... every weekend NPR has a word puzzle on their Sunday show, and it's usually challenging. I have posted a few on my site in the past; here are the two most recent ones.
Take 2 digits on a standard telephone dial, which together have six letters of the alphabet. Ignore Q and Z. Rearrange these letters to spell a familiar word. What word is it? Take the name of a mammal in 5 letters. Add a name of a fish in 6 letters. Rearrange all these letters to get a two-word reptile in 11 letters. Hint: first word has 4 letters, and second word has 7. What reptile is it? |
