Small Talk: Chili's

[King of Birds]

Voting goes on today- final round for Bracket 1 starts tomorrow morning.

Unfortunately voting has trickled down to just a few.  So that means the voting is close! A few ties exist when I just checked the votes. So if you haven't - get to the links and vote!

BTW I didn't mean for this to kill the thread.  You all enjoying the heat-wave?  It's been around 110* for the last three days. The AC's been cranking. Plus, if you didn't hear about this, there's a fire in Santa Clarita - just north a bit, and all the smoke and ash has been floating over my house.

[Babalu]

I've seen photos of the Southern California sky from some of my Facebook friends. It looks like literal hell. We've had Hurricane Darby the past day or two, but no serious repercussions that I've heard of - just heavy rain in some areas, a temporary road closure, and choppy seas. But it's so humid! I guess I'd better get used to it because we've pretty much decided we're moving from HI to the Gulf Coast of Florida. Most people would think we were crazy, and I kind of do, too, but there's a large inventory of houses that are very suitable for us at about 1/3 the price of real estate here, and it will be SO much easier to visit family/friends. 

[MichelleAK]

10 hours ago, King of Birds said:

Voting goes on today- final round for Bracket 1 starts tomorrow morning.

Unfortunately voting has trickled down to just a few.  So that means the voting is close! A few ties exist when I just checked the votes. So if you haven't - get to the links and vote!

BTW I didn't mean for this to kill the thread.  You all enjoying the heat-wave?  It's been around 110* for the last three days. The AC's been cranking. Plus, if you didn't hear about this, there's a fire in Santa Clarita - just north a bit, and all the smoke and ash has been floating over my house.

We've had a break from the heat. It rained Friday all day, was nice yesterday but not as hot as last week, and then alternately lightly rained and poured today.  It only got up to 60F, and is going to be cool all week.  I hope it cools down for those of you dealing with heatwaves. 

I hope they are able to bring the Santa Clarita fire under control soon, KOB. 

[Kalliste]

All it has done here for the last 2 months is rain and rain some more. June is meant to be one of our driest months but it rained nearly every day. I'm so over this weather and the forecast just keeps saying rain :(

I have also voted for both those rounds on the tv themes and given they end soon I shall leave the tabs open :)

[sacrebleu]

It's crazy hot here in the mid-Atlantic. I was lucky enough to get invited to the Eastern shore (sister-in-law's family has a place) but sadly-- the jellyfish were out early-- so getting in the water was ill-advised.

On the plus side-- spent most of the weekend reading-- which was great.  (boarded the pup -- so I was spared the exercise of walking him). I love my dog- and I've lost nearly 20 pounds from just walking him (better than a personal trainer). But I was so happy to get a break in this weather. The weather app on my phone said the 95 degree heat, combined with humidity, says it feels like 104. It's supposed to hit 100 today.  

Also, the dog park by me was having a raffle to raise money. I won a basket with about $200 worth of dog treats and toys. I never win anything-- so can a Powerball windfall be far behind?

[King of Birds]

2 hours ago, sacrebleu said:

Also, the dog park by me was having a raffle to raise money. I won a basket with about $200 worth of dog treats and toys. I never win anything-- so can a Powerball windfall be far behind?

$200 in dog treats and toys! Wow. That's a lot. You may have upset the Powerball gods and get zilcho. I won a bike at a ticket raffle when I was a teenager and I keep thinking that 'win' is why I never do well on the lottery. Because I've already used up my "lucky chance."

So! Jeffersons vs Muppet Show

and MASH vs Happy Days  /  30 Rock vs Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt!

I am not sure I would have seen these as the final match-ups!

[sacrebleu]

Quote

I am not sure I would have seen these as the final match-ups!

Me neither, I really thought Hawaii 5-0 would go the distance. 

[possibilities]

I'm also surprised by the outcomes. This is a wildcard year, in all voting, apparently.

I also wonder why sometimes after I vote, the system gives me a "Thank you for voting!" message and other times it doesn't. I wonder if the drop off in voting is because some aren't being recorded?

[King of Birds]

Hear ye, hear ye!

After your careful consideration and voting, the winner of bracket 1 ...

 

The winner is.... THE MUPPET SHOW!!!!

 

 

BRACKET 2  is down to

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt vs M*A*S*H!

Edited July 28, 2016 by King of Birds

[possibilities]

Whew! Tough choice between Bracket #2 finalists.

[King of Birds]

The voting is supposed to end sometime during the night - vote count is low... and it's TIED as of now, tonight.

I'm gonna try to extend the time til mid-Monday morning because tie= page declares winner based on how I entered tv shows instead of votes. (Learned this early on in Bracket 1)

ETA: extended!

Edited August 1, 2016 by King of Birds
confirming

[Kalliste]

I voted, it would be interested if it came out in a tie.

[possibilities]

A tie! I voted already, but I hope a few more people come along to tip things. I wonder if the finalists are both so popular that it's hard for people to choose between, thus the lack of people voting.

[King of Birds]

OMG. Only half an hour to go, just two more votes ... but split so it's still a tie.  Some lurker out there could determine the fate of the bracket! There ain't no "super delegates" and no electoral college here to sway the vote.

Edited August 1, 2016 by King of Birds

[possibilities]

So who's the Speaker of the [Chili's] House, and gets to cast the tie-breaking vote?

ETA : or are we more like the Senate, and the VP gets to do it?

Edited August 1, 2016 by possibilities

[King of Birds]

I don't know, but someone voted for MASH, so that won by a single vote over Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt! 

So the two winners were MASH and The Muppet Show. What, are we all living in the 1970s??

Thanks to all who played!

[possibilities]

Woohoo!! Drop the confetti!!

[King of Birds]

Personally, I'm upset, as I voted for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt in every round.

So, if I had been able to do a 128, one bracket vote-off (instead of 2 brackets of 64) ... what say you voters?  MASH or Muppets?

[sacrebleu]

I would totally vote for The Muppets!

 

and many many thanks to @King of Birds who put in some significant time to make this thing happen-- certainly Dundie worthy.

Edited August 1, 2016 by sacrebleu

[Babalu]

I voted for Kimmy, too, but in a Muppets vs M*A*S*H contest, I'd vote M*A*S*H.

[Kalliste]

I think I'd vote MASH too. And my teenaged crush on Alan Alda had nothing to do with it. Even if, by the time I was watching re-runs of MASH, he was in his 60's (he was 40+ when they filmed that? Woah! It's like that time I realised my Mum's crush on Luke Perry circa 90210 was more appropriate than mine). Also, if you haven't seen this it's quite good:

I don't assume anyone has seen it, it's from a presentation he did at the uni in my city that I really wish I had gone to.

And lastly, this. I actually did not know until today that the theme was an instrumental version of a song with vocals.

[King of Birds]

On 8/1/2016 at 1:36 PM, stewedsquash said:

I am ready for the next bracket voting topic. It is pretty fun to do. Thanks for taking time to do these polls KOB. 

Well, I know how to do bracket-type voting now - plus the regular polls. I'm a regular Neilsen, eh? So- throw out some ideas. If @sacrebleu hadn't mentioned TV theme songs, what else would you have done for the last ... 3 weeks ... instead of clicking and voting on all important issues? Say the word and remember you don't need 64 or 128 things.

Oh yeah, Suicide is Painless (the MASH theme) has lyrics. They're pretty bad, written by the son of the director of the MASH feature. I'm guessing Kalliste has never seen the movie?

Quote

(from wiki) The song was written specifically for Ken Prymus (the actor playing Private Seidman), who sang it during the faux suicide of Walter "Painless Pole" Waldowski (John Schuck) in the film's "Last Supper" scene. Robert Altman had two stipulations about the song for Mandel: first, it had to be called "Suicide Is Painless"; second, it had to be the "stupidest song ever written". Altman tried to write the lyrics himself, but found that it was too difficult for his 45-year-old brain to write "stupid enough".[5] Instead he gave the task to his 15-year-old-son, Michael.

[Kalliste]

haha. And now, @King of Birds I don't think I've seen the movie, at least I don't recall seeing that. 

[King of Birds]

Shall we try to reboot?  I think the kids around here are back to school on this Thursday!  Does this mean vacation season is over?  (if so- BOOOO!!!)

Besides @LiberryLady I know two other teachers who are interviewing and still trying to get a job. Schools certainly do leave things til the very end huh? (No wonder kids do the same thing with homework!)

Haven't done a query lately about movies- y'all seeing any good movies?  I have skipped most of the superhero movies so it seems like I've seen hardly anything.  I know some friends who have done improv groups, so I think I'll catch Don't Think Twice, it looks fun.

[frenchtoast]

We saw Civil War and really liked it. Find Dory was terrific as expected. Ghostbusters was a lot of fun (and Chris Hemsworth is a jewel). Hoping to see Star Trek Beyond and Pete's Dragon. Come November, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Doctor Strange. And Rogue One in December (I think?) So far, have not been disappointed. Would like to catch Bad Moms just because I am so not a good PTO/school volunteer/good mom. It looks like stupid fun (like that Zac Efron movie--So-and-So Need Wedding Dates) but I don't know that we'll have time.

My kids don't start school until September 1. Which apparently is late compared to the rest of the country. But many schools in the Northeast don't have A/C. It's still warm in September but...hopefully bearable. Then again, apparently the furnace/heating system of the high school is crap and they don't have the money to fix it, so winter might be a fun adventure too.

[possibilities]

I've been trying to think of another bracket-worthy topic, but I failed. I considered suggesting something involving favorite TV Doctor or Favorite TV Cop, but it doesn't work unless everyone has seen all the different shows. With the theme songs, you could watch a short ditty and be informed. It's not really as do-able with anything more broad.

I have been really busy lately. This week I'm filling my brain with info about sleep, sleep disorders, impact of sleep on various other medical situations, etc. It's really cool. Basically I'm bingeing this "Summit": http://sleepsuccesssummit.com/schedule/

Last week, I was bingeing a similar conference on "transpartisan politics" which was about people who disagree on issues finding ways to work together and get things done. Way more interesting than I'd hoped. I was actually inspired. The idea was NOT about compromising, but about finding actual common ground where none was previously evident. I did not think certain people would be capable of that, but apparently they were. Gave me hope for the world, in a time when a lot of the news seems totally insane to me.

I've also been trying to finish a blanket I've been knitting for years. It's for a friend of mine who's been a supportive and loyal part of my life since we were both 15 years old. 35 years! I wanted to finish it by her birthday, which was in July. My new goal is to get it done by the time the weather gets cold again (for us northern hemisphere types). Knitting is fun, but slow! I'm making patchwork, and it's 96 squares. Each square takes me approx 2 hours. I am not the greatest technician, but still... I really hope she likes it. It occurred to me after I got started that she might not know how much effort goes into it, and part of why I'm doing it is to show her how much I appreciate her efforts on my behalf. I can't exactly tell her: "hey! it took me X hours to do this, so that's how much I care!!" So now I have to hope she just plain likes the way it looks, on its own merits, and no grading on a curve for effort. I don't know how that will pan out. She's fussy and I'm not the most impressive knitter-- I'm perfectly adequate, but my stuff doesn't look museum-worthy, it's just... nice.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to.

Also, I'm excited because my latest A1C was 5.4-- down from 7.4 in December. For non-diabetics who have no idea what that means: it's awesome!!

And we got a serious rainstorm once last week, which we sorely needed. It's been very droughty around here. We have a deep well so probably won't run dry, but all my perennials were drooping. The rain was a huge relief. I know our droughts are nothing like California droughts, but still-- the local species are not adapted to what we've had going on. So I was excited about the rain and it meant the tomatoes have started bearing a little, which is the best part of summer.

And my new foster kitty has been delightful.

Basically, I've been in a pretty good mood.

Have not seen any movies. I will see Ghostbusters (I love 3 of the 4 lady leads) and Don't Think Twice (and Keanu) once Netflix gets them. I recently watched Tallulah and loved it. Started Breaking Bad a few weeks ago and... it's OK. I will probably finish it when I am less busy. But I kept thinking: it's like a male version of "Weeds," which is trying to be "The Wire"-- and just isn't.

[sacrebleu]

I saw the new Star Trek and really liked it. I'm not a Star Trek person-- but it was alot of fun.  Probably due to the fact that Simon Pegg was one of the writers. Karl Urban (Bones) made the movie. 

Is anyone getting into the Olympics? I have to admit-- except for streaming the tennis (naturally) I haven't been paying much attention- except for the #Phelpsface stuff-- and all the talk about the DC/MD/VA Olympians kicking ass Woo-hoo!

It's been crazy busy at work. So many people are on vacation-- I'm stuck with a ton of work. 

[MichelleAK]

I think last night was the first night I watched all of NBC's coverage, mostly for the gymnastics.  I had been watching the tennis on Bravo, but with both Williams sisters out, I'm kind of meh now.  I probably will watch some of the tennis this weekend (it's over by the time I get home from work), if it's still being shown on Bravo or other channels I can get.

I really don't care much about soccer, nor too much about track and field or basketball, so I'll probably just watch the highlights when they pop up on ESPN.

[possibilities]

I watched most of The Kitten Games. Mary Carillo is awesome. Plus: kitties!!

[King of Birds]

I saw this movie yesterday. I laughed at a certain scene - and found out the joke is in the trailer! So, check this out.

 

BTW 

1) the movie was better than this trailer. I recommend if it comes up on your netflix queue.

2) come on, you KNOW what joke is the one I'm talking about.

Edited August 13, 2016 by King of Birds

[possibilities]

Jetpacks!

[Kalliste]

Spent the last couple of days in Melbourne, including my birthday. I think I ate myself out of the city. Going home with approx 500gm more chocolate than I came with and then there are all the snacks I had while down here.

Oh and that walking kilometres a day thing, I think my feet may fall off when I get home.

[possibilities]

Kalliste, maybe the walking will cancel out the chocolate weight?

Aaaand: Flying cars! http://bgr.com/2016/08/13/terrafugia-autonomous-flying-car-specs-release-date/  It's not a jetpack, but it's jetpack-adjacent... and maybe better in the rain?

[King of Birds]

You know the saying - "Hater's gonna hate..."  and yeah, this is from twitter where people get snarky so....

Still, it made me laugh.

[Kalliste]

I would sub out "The Office" with "Everyone Loves Raymond" or any number of reality shows before I got to The Office Vs. Hitler.

[sacrebleu]

Hmmmm. I'm sensing a poll question: You have the ability to go back in time and stop production of one tv show? What do you choose?

Full House (sparing us from the media juggernaut of the Olsen Twins?)

Keeping Up with the Kardashians (sparing us all of the K's)

some other reality show?

 

(let's leave Hitler talk out of it)

Edited August 15, 2016 by sacrebleu

[frenchtoast]

Instead of Hitler it could be to save a show that was cancelled too soon. So it's poll and essay question :)

[possibilities]

Yeah, I can't imagine choosing any show over Hitler when it comes to being The Worst or causing damage. It's one thing to hate The Office (or any show), but it's not genocide, you know? Perspective!

[Kalliste]

Cancelled too soon (sort of, maybe.. granted some of these have come back in 1 way or another and then I was sad):

Firefly, Arrested Development, Veronica Mars (lets not talk about the movie), Flash Forward, Community (up until it was originally cancelled), Gravity Falls (Ok, so it wasn't cancelled and was only planned to go 2 seasons but it's too amazing NOT to continue), Futurama (up until original cancellation. It still boggles my mind that something so good could be cancelled multiple times and The Simpsons lives forever).

.. there's probably more.

Shows that should have been cancelled sooner:

Everyone Loves Raymond, Charmed, Two and a Half Men, Community (hah, I know!), Bold and the Beautiful (how do soaps even last so long? how!), The Jetsons (actually this was only short and I loved it as a kid but as an adult, not so much), pretty much all reality tv, Silicon Valley (don't hurt me).

Again, there's probably more.

[King of Birds]

KoB rants.

The Red Sox are driving me nuts!  (These pretzels are making me thirsty!!!)

Home improvement projects. Ker-RAZY! Right? Hire someone to break up cement to fix cracks around the pool, and find out the electric lines underneath that run to the pool pump & pool light, are corroded and "no longer to code." Panic hire an electrician, price doubles, other issues come up. Just cause I wanted to fix some cracks.

I am not really a 'binge-watcher' so instead of trying to burn through lots of one show, I watched the last few eps for Kimmy Schmidt S2, then 2 eps of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and two of Master of None. Who says I can't program my own network? I also am reading (or finished) four books. It's a whirlwind!

To support a friend, went to a gallery showing and found a great B&W photo from a different photographer - and actually bought it. Have it hanging here in the living room now. (Wait that really wasn't a rant now was it? Oh well)

I ceded Commish of Hateball duties today!  So there's that too.

[possibilities]

I can rant too. I have one I've been saving up....

MY NEW NEIGHBOR IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!! HE PLAYS HIS STEREO TOO LOUD. THE BASS MAKES THE ENTIRE HOUSE SHAKE. I have had nothing but bad experiences trying to negotiate with loud neighbors. I do not believe that trying to discuss it with him or the very checked out landlords will make any difference. So I am reduced to seething hatred and murderous resentment. I moved here specifically for the quiet and it has been mostly quiet for the past 9 years and now IT'S RUINED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It rained!  A few times!! Not enough, but still-- I'm so happy!! Some of my friends have dried up wells, and EVERY BIT OF RAIN HELPS!!!!

I HATE LIVING IN AN APARTMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not only is there the noise issue, but also we share a well and I have no control over whether the other people are conservation-minded or wasteful and if the well runs dry because they're not being careful, I have to suffer even if I'm very careful about trying to prevent it. MORE FRUSTRATION.

I got one of those TV diaries from the ratings people. It is ridiculous because almost every show I usually watch is on hiatus. So it looks like I hardly watch any TV at all, when usually I watch a probably-unhealthy amount. And my watching is not helping the shows I love.

My foster kitty is so sweet and easy-going and adorable!

I turned 51 on Tues!

I finally got a few tomatoes from the garden!

[King of Birds]

Well @possibilities I guess it's just you and me now. I'm gonna start to be all Jeff Garlin/ Dad from The Goldberg's and just strip off down to my boxers in Chili's from now on.

[MichelleAK]

I'm in late summer/early fall doldrums here.  It's been raining pretty much for the last three weeks, with only a break here and there.  It is supposed to be nice this weekend, though.  Plus, it is dark when I get up now, and sunset before I go to bed.  Bleh.

I need to shake myself out of it, though. It's always dangerous when I feel this way, since it makes me want to eat carbs and not work out, which is definitely not good.  

[Pixel]

Keep your pants on. I'm still here. I just lurk more than post because posting is a PITA with my iPad.

Are we currently on random rants? Here's mine - work is driving me crazy. My partner, the first decent partner I've had in 5 years, just gave her notice and I was already buried and behind on work. I feel like I'm perpetually operating in "What the fuck do you want now?" mode these days. I'm usually known as easy to get along with and fun to work with, and lately I just snap at everything and everyone. That's not who I want to be.  

My belly button keeps trying to heal closed since my tummy tuck, so I'm wearing an earplug in it. I'm having financial trouble because my husband only gets paid when he makes glass, and he's had too much time off recently so we will be catching up with that for weeks.  My entire life is conspiring to make me a very tense, mean, unlikeable bitch. I'm doing everything I can to fight it, but right now I think I'm losing.

Also, I hate Donald Trump.  It's not politics. It's personal. He's a jackhole and I lose respect for everyone I know that admits to supporting him. It tells me something about them I don't want to know.

[Kalliste]

What would happen if your belly button did close over? That could be unique and wonderful!

Sorry to hear about the other stuff :( It sucks when people you actually like working with leave. I find it hard not to scream at their feet "why are you leaving me here?? WHYYYYYYYYY!!"

Today a 12month position opened that is a step up (pay wise anyway) and something I have all the qualifications for and people kept asking me if I was applying and when I said probably not they look at me like I'm crazy and say "but it pays more!" I don't care guys!

Interestingly we're also going through a restructure and my boss came into me and said "these are all our new teams, which would you like to be in? You can be in any and we'll support you" so now I've gone from having no choice about what I'm doing to having about 5 and I don't know what to choose! Ultimate first world probably, having too much choice.

Oh and I totally agree with your thoughts on Trump, Pixel.. Even though if elected he wouldn't be the head of my country I'm still concerned what ripple effect would come this way.

I bought some nice squishy insoles for my shoes today and just realised it has in teeny tiny text "suitable for sizes 4 - 8", firstly.. who has size 4 shoes! and secondly, I"m a size 9 so I'm not sure if I should risk it or take them back.

Lastly, anyone watching/watched Stranger Things?

[Glory]

I, uh, can wear size 4 shoes.

Mostly, I wear a 5 or a 6, but sometimes 4. Also, kids sizes are cheaper. Especially when it comes to Chucks, so I buy those all the time.

Hello! Things are crazy at work, which means less time to lurk and post. But, good news is, craziness paid off! I got a big raise last week. That made me happy. 

Did we talk about this and I already missed? Because I specifically came here today because I realized that John Krazinski is going to play Jack Ryan in the new Amazon series based off my ultimate guilty pleasure books by Tom Clancy!

I'm super excited about this. SUPER EXCITED! 

[frenchtoast]

Congrats @Glory! My daughter wear size 4 shoes. Frankly they don't look much bigger than ladies sizes. She's a right pain in the neck about shoes though. We recently had the exciting adventure of finding black patent ballet flats with no bow or strap. Or quilting. Just completely plain black patent. Finally found on Payless online (don't normally shop there) and order the 4 1/2 but they're too big and the 4 is sold out. I'm telling you, these plain black shiny shoes in her size are really hard to find.

[Pixel]

Well, I really don't want my belly button to go away. I would feel weird not having one. He'll revise it and open it up if it closes, but we are working on keeping it open. 

[King of Birds]

16 hours ago, Kalliste said:

Lastly, anyone watching/watched Stranger Things?

It's part of the to-do list.

LOL on an earplug being the "preserve the belly button" device.

[sacrebleu]

Quote

Lastly, anyone watching/watched Stranger Things?

Loved it. And telling everyone I know to watch it, and I named my Hateball team the Demagorgons, so there's that. 

As for work-related rants. My boss regularly drives me crazy. She's one of those bosses that will call you into her office and quarter of 5 then talk to you for a half hour, then give you a task to do.

No lie. She did this on Friday-- I had requested a half day of PTO for Friday afternoon-- which she approved. She called me into her office 15 minutes before I was planning to leave, talked for half an hour, then gave me an assignment, 10 minutes after I was supposed to leave.

I don't know if it's a test, or she's oblivious, or sadistic. 

Plus, like @Glory works for me is crazy. Everyone takes time off in August so there's more work to do. My vacation starts a week from today. Hello, US Open, we're also entering the Ham4Ham lottery since we'll be in NYC so wish us luck!