AtheisTV (Firefly)

Watched the first episode of Firefly the other night.

Firefly was created by Joss Whedon who also created the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the movie of the same name.

Firefly is about the small crew of the Firefly class cargo ship Serenity and their adventures as they try to make a living in a westernesque version of the future.

I'd seen a few episodes before but never really paid it much attention. Apparently the Sci-Fi channel is going to show all of them in order as a prelude to a feature length movie called Serenity that is currently scheduled for a 9/30/2005 release date.

At first glance, one thing I notice is a preponderance of religious references. The main character shows some religious devotion (kissing a cross on a necklace) in the opening scenes where his army unit has been abandoned and told to lay down their arms and surrender. Then in the main story line (6 years later) he displays an animosity towards religion. This seems to be setting up the classic "what turned you against God?" line that a lot of believers like to use. Additionally one of the main characters on the ship is a "shephard" (ie. a priest) played by Ron Glass (whom you'll probably remember as Detective Ron Harris from Barney Miller) so it seems to me that one of the side stories is likely to be a battle of faiths between the captain and the Shephard.

There are only 15 episodes of this series and it'll be interesting to see how it pans out.

Sam Harris

OK. WOW! There is an excellent post by Sam Harris from yesterday (10/6/05) called There is no God (And You Know It). It is fantastic! I highly recommend reading it.

MBCG3AM update: 160 envelopes sent.

Big Surprise

The first half of this entry (the big surprise actually) has been removed)

I've just about got my new editing system set up. I've got a 450MHz G4 with a 200GB drive running Mac OSX Tiger and Final Cut Pro HD. I've also got two 15" LCD monitors so I have plenty of desktop real estate to play with. I've still got a few minor tweaks to make to it before it's completely ready to roll so for now I'm still editing on my Powerbook G3.

AtheisTV

I've got my TiVo set to record anything with "atheis*" in the title or description. As a result, it's recorded some interesting stuff.

This weekend it picked up an old episode of Good Times where Michael (played by Ralph Carter) loses a position on a school council because he has professed to being an atheist. Florida is appalled that her son could be an atheist but he refuses to back down from his stance. She then finds out that he has decided that he's an atheist because the man he works for, Carl Dixon (played by Moses Gunn), is an outspoken atheist. So Florida goes to the shop to tell Mr. Dixon that Michael will no longer be working for him because he has influenced he son in such a way. I really expected the atheist to get a good trouncing and perhaps even "see the error of his ways" by the end of the episode. However, I was pleasantly surprised. They portrayed him as a very thoughtful and considerate (if cynical) man. In the end, he and Florida and the rest of the family are on friendly terms and Michael is allowed to keep working for him. It also seems that Carl became a recurring character for the rest of the season, dating and even proposing to Florida.

My Workout

I thought I might post a bit about my workout routine. I've been working out since February when my Doctor gave me the go-ahead after deciding that we had my blood pressure under control.

I've also been eating low-carb on the advice of my Doctor.

My brother helped me put this routine together.

Day 1 - Chest and Biceps

I start off with 20 minutes on the Precor Elliptical Fitness Crosstrainer.

I've been gradually increasing the resistance. I'm currently at level 4.

Next I go to the Nautilus Nitro Plus Vertical Press machine.

I set the weight at the minumum 20lbs and do 4 sets of 50 reps each. By the last 15-20 reps of that last set, I'm really struggling to complete each rep.

Next I go to the Incline Bench.

I use 5 lb dumbells and again do 4 sets of 50 reps.

Then I move on to the Nautilus Nitro Plus Pec Fly machine

I set the weight for 50 lbs. Again I do 4 sets of 50 reps.

Next I go to the Preacher Curl bench.

I use the curved bar which weighs about 20lbs without any additional weight. I'm trying to do 4 sets of 50, but right now can only manage about 2 sets of 50 and 2 sets of 30.

Then I grab a couple of 5lb dumbells and do 4 sets of 50 standing dumbell curls.

Day 2 - Back and Triceps

Again I start of with 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer.

Then I go to the Nautilus Nitro Plus Lat Pulldown machine.

I set the machine for 55lbs and again do 4 sets of 50 reps.

Next I go to the Nautilus Nitro Plus Compound Row machine.

I set the machine for 50lbs and once more do 4 sets of 50 reps.

Next I go to a flat bench.

I grab a 10lb weight and do 4 sets of 50 bentover rows.

Next I head over to the Nautilus Free Weight Cable Crossover machine.

I set the weight to 50lbs and rig it so I can do Cable Push downs. Again I do 4 sets of 50.

Then I grab a 5lb dumbell and do some one-arm tricep extensions.

Again I do 4 sets of 50.

Day 3 - Legs and Abs

I start out once again with 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer

Then I go to the Nautilus Nitro Plus Leg Press machine

I do 4 sets of 50 with 125lbs.

Next is the Nautilus Nitro Plus Leg Extension machine.

I do 4 sets of 50 with 35 lbs.

Next is the Nautilus Nitro Plus Seated Leg Curl machine.

I do 4 sets of 50 with 35lbs.

Next is the Nautilus XPLoad Seated Calf machine.

I do 4 sets of 50 using only the weight of the machine.

Lastly I go to the Nautilus Nitro Plus Abdominal machine.

I do 4 sets of 50 with 50lbs.

That's it. I do these three days and then start over at Day 1.

So far I've lost about 20 lbs. But I know I've actually lost more fat than that because I've gained some muscle also.

Rant Rant Rant Rant

Is it just me or are people actually getting dumber out there? On the way to work this morning I happened to watch a lady throw a cigarette but out of her SUV window while her kid was strapped into the back seat. OK, she gets points for having the kid properly restrained in the car, but big negatives for: a) driving a gas-guzzling SUV, b) smoking with her kid trapped in the car with her and c) littering. Of course, she's probably considers herself to be a fairly intelligent person. However she really needs to get a clue.

The Menu

At 7pm last night I asked my wife what she wanted for dinner. I got thestandard response, "I don't know. I haven't thought about it." I get this exact same response 9 times out of 10. It's very frustrating. She's the picky eater. I'll pretty much eat anything that's placed in front of me. We previously made a deal. All she's got to do is say waht she wants and I'll cook it. No problem right? Sounds like a great deal on her part. However I STILL get the "I don't know" whenever I ask about dinner.

So I upped the ante. "Every night," I said, "at seven o'clock we have dinner. And every night at seven o'clock it takes you by complete surprise. Why is that?"

She responds with "There's a left-over pork chop in the fridge and Dee can have a grilled cheese sandwich and I'll get me a sandwich later."

Then she comes into the kitchen and starts fixing those items (a blatant violation of our prior agreement). So I ask her, "do you have an answer to my question?"

"No! I don't!" She says.

No big surprise.

On several occasions I'd tried to talk her into putting together weekly menus. That way we'd know what to shop for on the weekends and I wouldn't have to ask what we're going to eat every single night. Last night after dinner she sent me this spreadsheet:

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
1	WEEK #1	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
2	Breakfast Dee	Yogurt, Fruit & Cereal	Eggs, Toast & Fruit	Fried Ham or Bologna	Yogurt, Fruit & Cereal	Eggs, Toast & Fruit	Fried Ham or Bologna	Eggs, Toast & Fruit
3	Lunch Dee	Grilled Cheese	Tomato "Sandwich"	Salmon Bread	Pasta & Veggies	Veggie Plate	Hot Dog	Pasta & Veggies
4	Supper Us	Leftovers	Hot Dogs or Brats	Pork Chops	--OUT--	Steaks	Chicken	Meatloaf or Roast
5	Supper Dee	Veggie Plate	Hot Dog	Pasta & Veggies	--OUT--	Grilled Cheese	Tomato "Sandwich"	Salmon Bread

YES!!!!!!

Now we're talking! Sure it needs a little fine-tuning. For example: What kind of Chicken is that supposed to be on Saturday? But this is a great improvement! I didn't really need to know what she expects to feed Dee for breakfast and lunch, but if she wants to put it on there, that's fine by me.

Thank you very much, Terri! This will make help to reduce my levels of frustration and stess.

OK... THAT Sucked

My wife has this THING about fireworks on the 4th of July. OK, admittedly a lot of other people do too. By this I mean that she feels the strong need to go out and watch a big municipal fireworks display with about a zillion other people.

I, on the other hand, do not. In fact, I'd just as soon stay at home and watch the Twilight Zone marathon on the Sci-Fi channel. I am definitely an Inside-Dog.

So... we traipse off to the local municipal fireworks show. By local, I mean Southlake. It's about a 30 minute drive from home. That doesn't sound too bad, does it? Drive 30 minutes to hang out at a lake, watch a fireworks show, then a quick 30 minute drive back to the house for a nightcap.

Of course it's never quite that easy. Mostly due to those other zillion or so people who have the same idea. Net result is that it takes almost an hour to actually get there because of all the traffic. The place is packed and no one seems to know exactly where the show is going to be fired from. SO we have to guess at where to hunker down for a clear view. (we're usually off 30-45 degrees). So then we get to sit in the heat (July in Texas remember?) while everyone around us tries to outdo each other at who can be the most annoying.

The prize for the most annoying this year was the woman in the mini-van who decided to park her van in the middle of the road and let her kids out on the side of the road to watch the show while she... get this... sat in the van in the middle of the road... thereby completely blocking traffic behind her until a motorcycle cop showed up to tell her to move along. At that point she had to corral the kids back into the van. But first she tried to back over the cop. Oh! How I love the human element in these little excursions!

So anyway... we watch a very nice 30 minute fireworks show that was accompanied by a simulcast music program on the radio. Fortunately someone nearby cranked up their car stereo so that we got to hear the wonderful renditions of "God Bless America" and all those other God and Country favorites. The country part's OK, but the God part I'd like to drop kick into the lake. Unfortunately they seem to be connected at the hip these days.

After the show we manage to get back to the van without being run over (barely). Then... and this is the really great part... we get to sit in the van for nearly a full solid hour waiting to BUDGE A SINGLE INCH!

Of course this gives me plenty of opportunity to watch even more of the antics of those brain-dead morons that seem to flock to my presence as they all try to maneuver their cars back and forth and around as they try to jostle for the absolute best position IN A TRAFFIC JAM THAT DOESN'T HARDLY MOVE A SMEGGING INCH FOR NEARLY A WHOLE FUCKING HOUR!!!

Next year, I think I'll just stick a roman candle up my ass and hang my butt out the window. WHEEEEEE!!!!!!!