• 27Oct 09

  It's Time for a Blog

  Hi Everyone,

  I'm looking at my last blog and realizing that autumn has come and gone.  It doesn't take much in Calgary to miss it.  We've had three snowfalls already, temperatures are currently hovering around freezing and the forecast is for 2-4 inches of snow overnight.  It's not that bad because I love snow.
  

  On the sports front, the NHL's Flames are off to a good start (tied for fifth overall), our CFL football team is in first place in the West and my favorite team, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, is 5-2 and ranked #23 in America this week.

  To be honest, I can't think of anything to blog about.  It's been a pretty quiet summer with a lot of routine things going on.  Caroline and I did get out to Vancouver in September for three days to visit my mom, which was nice.  My health hasn't been the greatest the last 2+ months.  I have this persistent cough which turned into a chest infection awhile back.  Antibiotics took care of that, but the persistent cough is, well, persistent.  I've been resting and taking good care of myself: drinking lots of water, having naps and so forth.

  When in Doubt 1, Blog About TV
  One of the things I've been doing lately is watching lots of TV, especially NCAA and NFL football and some hockey.  I also have editor duties coming up as the World Series starts on Wednesday and that's one of my guides.

  Here's a list of the shows I've been watching this fall: Bones, Castle, Cold Case, CSI:NY, The Forgotten, Hank, Law & Order, Little Mosque on the Prairie, The Mentalist, The Middle and Numb3rs.

  CSI:NY has a story behind it.  I had only seen one episode of the show a few years back and didn't like it and I've never been partial to the other two.  This summer, a station called Spike began airing the first four seasons at a rate of two per weekday.  Somehow I got hooked and have now seen all of Seasons 1-4 and most of Season 5, which is currently airing.  So, I'm waiting to catch up on Season 6.  I have seen the season opener and was shocked at everything that had transpired. Anyway, not bad for three months.

  When in Doubt 2, Blog About TV.com
  One of the most relaxing things that I have been able to do is work on my guides here.  I edit nine shows and five people now.  By far the most involved guide is the NCAA March Madness one, which is comprised of 1,902 games (episodes).  It has every game played from 1978 (the first year the tournament was televised in its entirety) to the present, which entails a tremendous amount of detail. My friend Gabriella has been helping me out with the guide.

  I also got my hands on the Stanley Cup Finals guide, which was in horrible shape.  As a good Canadian, this simply had to be fixed!  A lot is left to do, but at least I have every game in there from the television era (1953-present).

  The World Series guide is done.  Every game from 1947 (first telecast) to 2008 has complete information, including full play-by-play, box scores and starting lineups.  There are also tidbits in there about MVP's, records and quotes where available.  One of the neat things I've been doing is trying to track down the full 25 man rosters for each team for each year.  All of the main sites only list the players that actually made it into a game, which can be as few as 13.  I've been doing a lot of research reading through the Google News archives and emailing reporters in various cities that cover the teams.  I even had a nice chat with the L.A. Dodgers historian!  The guide only got done with of the help of Madison and Gabriella, whose help I am grateful for.

  Now I know it takes a nerd to find all this relaxing, but I am one and it's been a ton of fun.  It's really neat when you can say that one of your guides has information that's nowhere else on the Internet!  All this has landed me at Level 72 and close to 33,000 submissions.  I've even managed to write a few reviews!

  Country Story
  The only other thing that's new is that I have been playing a game called Country Story on Facebook.  It's a fun game and Caroline and I both play.  Sometimes, she steals my crops.   When I tried to steal some back, her dog bit me!   I don't have a dog, but I do have a brown cow.

  The Beauty of God's Creation
  These are Great Smoky Mountains, which sit astride the Tennessee and North Carolina borders in America.

  

   

  Quote of the Blog
  It's from CSI:NY
  Danny: Why do we do what we do, huh?
  Flack: What do you mean?
  Danny: Why do we wake up in the morning at three o'clock, stand at a crime scene in the freezing cold, living paycheck to paycheck, for what? To protect and serve? Serve who, the public? Sometimes it seems like they hate us, and then here we got the brass ready to throw us to the lions.
  Flack: (shrugs) We do it cause we're good at it. Maybe we'd be lousy at anything else. I don't know. Maybe we do it for the one or two times somebody actually thanks us for finding their son's murderer.

  Wisdom From The East
  If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.
  Buddha

  Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child – our own two eyes.  All is a miracle.
  Thich Nhat Hanh

  I hope all of you are doing well.  Thank you for reading and I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
  Karl

  • Posted Oct 27, 2009 1:46 am PT
  • Category: TV
  • 33 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
• 23May 09

  A Summer Sabbatical and the Fall Schedule

  Hi Everyone,

  A Summer Sabbatical

  Summer is finally arriving in Calgary and I mowed our lawns for the first time this year a couple of days ago. Along with the warmer weather comes a reminder that I need to get outside more and be more active in taking care of myself.
  

  I have been reevaluating my various personal commitments and the things going on in my life these days and while I love my online life and especially our community here, I have decided that in order to look after myself in the way that I need to I will be taking a break from blogging and commenting on blogs for the summer. I will see in September how things are going.

  I don't write very many blogs but I really enjoy reading all of yours and always try to leave a comment. I will miss that.
  

  The Fall Schedule
  I was looking at the fall TV schedule yesterday and I guess like most of you, I'm both happy and sad.

  Happy (renewed)
  The Mentalist
  Bones (for two seasons )
  Numb3rs
  Cold Case
  Law & Order
  Saturday Night College Football

  Sad (cancelled)
  Eleventh Hour
  Without A Trace
  Life

  I have to say that Eleventh Hour really grew on me and I'm sorry to see it not given a fair chance. Without A Trace is sad, but we got seven season and 160 episodes and you can't really complain about that. My wife likes Life more than I do, but the season (and series as it turns out) finale was one of the best TV shows I have ever seen. I don't like NBC putting Jay Leno on for five nights. It takes away a lot of time for quality programming and I am sure it's the only reason Life got cancelled. Maybe the show will bomb and we'll get some mid-season replacements.
  

  The Beauty of God's Creation

  

  It's the Grand Canyon!
  

  Quotes of the Blog
  Here are a few quotes from my favorite new show of the 2008-09 season: The Mentalist.

  Patrick: You don't like the way I drive, you despise it.
  Teresa: You drive way too fast.
  Patrick: I drive just fast enough. You hate not being the one in control and yet you're willing to overcome your irrational fears to cheer me up. That's a beautiful thing, Lisbon. Thank you, I'd love to drive.
  Teresa: Never mind.

  Patrick: Ah. Here we have two co-workers recognizing the boundaries of their professional relationship. See, you want to trust me, but there's something holding you back.
  Teresa: Yes. You're untrustworthy. It's my job not to trust you.
  Patrick: Lisbon, I want you to know that you can trust me. No matter what happens, I will be there for you. I will. I need you to know that
  

  Agent Van Pelt: Why do people say "Eureka!" when they do something good?
  Agent Cho: It's Greek for bingo.

  Teresa: Minelli wants me to keep a watch on you.
  Patrick: What are you going to do?
  Teresa: I'm not going to follow you around. Let's compromise. When you get into trouble, call me first so I can try and minimize the damage.
  

  Teresa: Just follow procedure. Have fun!
  Patrick: Where is the fun in that?

  Agent Cho: How is he?
  Teresa: Guess what, he's a bad patient.
  Agent Cho: Who would've thought!
  Patrick: I'm not a bad patient. She's a bad visitor.
  

  Wisdom From The East
  It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
  
  The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven
  Kahlil Gibran

  A parting shot to my fellow Vancouverite: there you go – two blogs in one month!

  I wish all of you a spectacular summer. God Bless each of you and see you in the autumn.

  Karl

  
  

  • Posted May 23, 2009 4:36 pm PT
  • Category: TV
  • 51 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
• 13May 09

  Nice Sayings

  Hi everyone

  I have received recenty these from a couple of friends and I thought you would enjoy them. I highlighted my three favorites.
  

  HERE ARE SOME TIPS THAT MAY BRING YOU A BEAUTFUL LIFE!

  Take a 10-30 minute walk every day and while you walk, smile!

  Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

  When you wake up in the morning, complete the following statement: "My purpose is to ____________ today".

  Live with the three E's: Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy and the three F's: Faith, Family and Friends.

  Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of six.

  Dream more while you are awake.

  Try to make at least three people smile each day.

  Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Pass all your tests. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra cla$$ but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

  Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.

  Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

  Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

  Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

  You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

  Make peace with your past, so it won't mess up the present.

  Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

  Burn the candles, use the nice sheets. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

  No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

  Forgive everyone for everything.

  What other people think of you is none of your business.

  Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.

  However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

  Your job won't take care of you when you are sick, your friends will. Stay in touch.

  Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

  The best is yet to come.

  No matter how you feel, get, dress up and show up.

  Do the right thing.

  Call your family often.

  Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: "I am thankful for _______________" and "Today I accomplished _______________".

  Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

  Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. Make the most of it and enjoy the ride.

  Hope is some extraordinary spiritual grace that God gives us to control our fears, not to oust them.

  Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.
  
  The Beauty of God's Creation
  I'm out of ones that I took, so we move on with other beautiful photos. This one is from the American midwest. I've always loved fountains and will have some more in future blogs.

  Quotes of the Blog

  These are all from one of my favorite current shows, Bones.

  Booth: Did you know that giraffes can weigh up to two tons?
  Bones: Yes. Everyone knows that.
  Booth: And they sleep less than two hours a day.
  Bones: That I did not know.
  Booth: Yes! Pinky stumps The Brain!
  
  Angela: Booth's brilliant at pretending to be stupider than he actually is, most of the time.
  Bones: Brilliant at stupidity?
  Angela: Mhm. Especially around you.
  
  Brennan: I don't wanna be a sexy scientist.
  Booth: Well that's like me saying I don't wanna be a sexy FBI agent. We can't change who we are.

  Wisdom From The East
  Life just is. You have to flow with it.
  It is for us to make the effort. The result is always in God's hands.
  

  Thanks for reading. I hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

  • Posted May 13, 2009 5:25 pm PT
  • Category: Opinion
  • 40 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg

See Previous Blog Posts »