Money Can Buy Happiness

What's really cool, and comes in an awesome blue tin?
...
...
...
Give up?

Why, it's the first 15 episodes of Voltron, of course! It's the Blue Lion collection. And the next collection will be out in November. This was my all time, bestest ever, most favorite cartoon when I was kid. And now I own it on DVD. I may just have to hide under the blankets and watch TV all night tonight.

Form feet and legs. Form arms and torso. And I'll form the head! Let's go Voltron Force!

Let the Healing Commence

I had my very first Physical Therapy session this morning. The first of at least 8 to be exact. All in all, it wasn't a bad experience. I have my own "case-worker" -- for lack of a better word, that will evaluate me each and every time I go to the clinic. There's also a PT instructor assigned to me, who's given me very specific excerises to do while I'm there, and also 2 times a day when I don't have PT.

I'll admit I was a little leary of the whole PT thing at first. It seems/ed a little too granola/she-she-la-la for my tastes. I guess at heart I'm a cut-em-open and slice out the offending problem type of guy. But I am willing to at least see if this PT stuff will work.

And Sarah will love the fact that part of my training routine involves the arm-bike ... otherwise known as the Arm-a-lator 4000. We used to watch the people across the alley in our old office on the Armatron and make fun of them. I deeply regret that -- the arm machine is no joke. That thing hurts! After 5 minutes my arms were on fire.

I'll keep a running update of my PT-saga. And to date, I don't think they like anything about me. I was told I need to improve my posture, my work space, and how I sleep. I can't even sleep correctly. And here I thought all one had to do was lay down. Apparently, laying on your stomach is verboten.

Here's to a new and improved me.

How not to do business

I'll try to keep this one short and sweet.

Nintendo has been working on the latest Zelda Game, for ages. It was due out in 2005, but they announced a delay to improve the title, and told fans to expect it in early 2006. Well, at E3 they announced their new news:

The Wii (their new console)[and what the hell type of name is Wii, anyway?!?!) will be released later this year (date to follow). Also, we've decided that the Zelda game will be released simulataneously for the Game Cube and the Wii on the Wii's launch date.

We now have a launch date for the Wii -- November 19th. But Nintendo has decided that only the Wii version of the Zelda game will be released on November 19th. Game Cube owners have to wait until Dec. 11th to get the game.

So, in summary -- you announce a game for a specific platform, then delay that game by over a year to improve it. During that year you're not really improving it, you're porting it to your new game system (which costs $250) and then you decide that you're going to make your currently installed user base wait 3 extra weeks for the game in the hopes that they'll buy a Wii and the game for the Wii, instead of waiting for the Game Cube game.

Well, Nintendo -- you lose. You fail. You see, I am going to by the Game Cube Version because I own a Game Cube, and over the past 3 years that I've owned one I've bought exactly 4 games for the system. You are not getting any more of my money outside of this next Zelda. And with your new controler the "wii-mote" where you actually have to hack and slash with the remote to make your character do things? -- that's a gimmick, not good game play. That'll get old real quick.

East Siiiiiiiiii-de!

I like following hurricane news. I like reading about natural disasters. I like reading weather.com. And I must say, I'm very disappointed with the Atlantic this year. What's wrong with you Atlantic? You're only up to Hurricane Gordon (no threat to land) and Hurri-something Helene (which may or may not destroy things.)

I'd like you my dear Atlantic, to take a good look at your sister -- the Pacific. She's been busy this year. She's already up to Tropical Storm Lane. That means she's 4 storms ahead of you. Yes, you may have produced Katrina, Rita and Wilma last year, but the Pacific gave us Typhoon Longwang. -- We'll call that one a draw. But you're losing this year, and you just can't rest on your laurels.

Besides, the "k" storm for you this year is "kirk," and I want to see the following headline:

Hurricane Kirk (Cameron) blows and blusters in South Beach.

So get to churning! My edu-tainment is depending on you!

Doctors always ask the wrong questions

I had a nice little 2 hour expedition to the Orthopedic Doctor's office yesterday. I brought them the results of the MRI I had done last Friday and they told me what the plan of attack is going to be for fixing my broke-butt neck. As an aside, MRIs are one of the most heinous forms of torture medical proceedures that exist. It's like the Iron Maiden minus the spikes.

Anyway, my doctor was a little surprised that the MRI technician never told me the results of the MRI, and he explained to me that I do indeed have a herniated disk (C 5-6). I get to go to physical therapy for the next 4 weeks and also have injections of steriods directly into the affected part of my neck.

Which brings me to my point about doctors asking the wrong questions. He asked me "Are you OK with needles?" I honestly responded "Yes, they don't really bother me." The question he needed to ask was "Are you OK with needles in your neck?" Which, of course, I'm not. But it's a lot better than surgery.

Finally, my course of treatment has elicited all sorts of unwanted "advice" from my boss. First there are the stories about how "so-and-so had this proceedure done and it wasn't so bad" to stories about "PT is useless." There's also the "you don't need all those drugs, just Motrin will suffice." And my favorites: "You should use the PT in the same complex as our office," and "You need to schedule your PT appointments around when I want you at work -- it'll mean you have to take more sick and/or vacation time, but that's what I think you should do."

Everyone's a critic.

Nerd Phantasia

Ecce Geekonem: Rejoice!

Voltron is coming to DVD this September.
Dungeons and Dragons (the cartoon) is coming to DVD this September.
Battlestar Galactica Season 2.5 is coming to DVD this September.

Steven Erickson's new book House of Chains is out in bookstores now.

Square-Enix's sequel to Valkerie Profile is coming to the PS2 in late September.
Final Fantasy XII for the PS2 is coming out in November.
The new Zelda for GameCube, et. al is out sometime this fall.

The new season of Battlestar Galactica airs new episodes on October 6.

Also, pick up a copy of Valkerie Profile: Lenneth for the PSP it's really entertaining.

All this should be enough to keep me YOU entertained for months to come.

Random Thoughts

I've been trolling the threads over at Fark and things were getting kind of heated (and interesting) in one of the Steve Irwin threads -- so it's related to yesterday's posting, but not really a follow-up.

The farkers seem to be divided into 2 distinct camps: those who think Irwin was a veritable man of giant bronze cajones, and those who think the man was an idiot deserving of a Darwin Award. The cajones camp are irritated that Darwinians are "disrespecting" him in death, and argue that Irwin can't be a recepient of a Darwin Award because he has spawned 2 kids. The Darwinites make jokes and say he can get and is deserving of a Darwin Award. They are fighting like wet cats in a sack. Which brings me to my random thought for the day: The Darwin Awards.

Some farker was kind enough to cut and paste a section from the Darwin Awards website that details what makes one eligible for a Darwin Award, and it clearly states that you can have offspring and still get a Darwin Award. Yet many over there are claiming "Well, those are the "rules" for an Award, but I think they're wrong and they just don't understand Darwinism/natural selection, and I know better, so my beliefs are the right ones." OK, what are these people not getting about the rules that the creator of the Darwin Awards set down? Everything has rules, and whether or not you agree with them doesn't mean they don't apply. It really is that simple.

Besides, the way I understand natural selection is that certain traits/genes end up being eliminated from the gene pool because they have some disadventageous affect for the affected organism(s). So, Irwin had 2 kids -- big deal. That does not mean he passed his "let's go out and poke at venemous spiders" gene on to his kids. They could grow up to be complete non-risk takers. So, you can still have kids sans the defective gene, and naturally select that gene out of the pool (in this case barb to the heart) and that particular trait from your genetic line has not contaminated the gene pool.

Additionally, creatures with maladaptive genes reproduce all the time -- yet over time those better suited to the environment produce more offspring and eventually the trait is eliminated from the gene pool. While it can happen in a single generation, it can also happen over time.

It also makes me think about this. I have an identical twin who has a nephew, but I have no kids of my own. If I die by some stupid act of my own which is Darwin Award worthy -- am I ineligible? Technically, my nephew carries 50% of my genes, so I live on in the gene pool. And what about those people who have may have siblings they don't know about? Because if the fark-darwinianin purists who worship Irwin's giant brass-ones have their say, the trait has to be eliminated completely from the gene pool. In which case, only people with the last existing copy of a Darwin Award gene who kill themselves in a remarkably spectaluar method are eligible for an Award.

And finally, Cojone Purists -- get a grip! The Darwin Awards are loosely based on evolutionary principles and are used as a means to poke fun at the stupid things that people do, which usually results in their (un)timely demise. To wit:

The weather's a little too rough to go out in the deep sea where we were going to film today, so let's take this time to get some footage about stingrays for another show I'm doing. Let's go to a place where we know they are and there are lots of them -- swimming around, hiding on the sea bed, you know just doing their whole manta ray thing in their natural manta ray environment. And then let's take a gander at one of the largest bull male manta rays we can find. Now, no one should be surprised that Mr. Irwin got stung! It is a little shocking that the ray managed a heart blow, but this is not surprising. Smart people avoid dangerous creatures. Smart people don't swim in ray infested waters. Smart people, well, they read the article that is actually linked to at Fark, and get all the facts before they open their mouths!

My Very First Comment

I feel so special. I got my very first comment. Too bad it was spam about making more money. In the post about how I have a herniated disk.

You may all start laughing now.

I'm AJ, and I approve this message.

Man vs. Manta Ray

Frequently I watch those shows on Animal Planet that feature the world's most deadly or venemous animals and I wonder to myself. How much danger are the Steve Irwins and the Jeff Corwins actually in when they're messing around with these nasty creatures? What would actually happen to them if one attacked them when they were filming the documentary?

Thanks to Steve Irwin, I now have the answer to that question:

It was the Manta Ray, in the Great Barrier Reef, with the tail barb to the heart.

The media is calling this a "freak accident." Nothing really freakish about being attacked by a manta ray while swimming in manta ray infested waters with a camera crew and a bunch of other stuff that shouldn't be there. I'd actually call the end result inevitable. Mess with dangerous animals long enough and one of them will eventually kill you.

My condolences to his family.

My congratulations to all the bookies. I bet no one had a bet on "manta ray barb to the heart."

Old 'n' Busted

Once you turn 33, there must be some power (probably the Flying Spaghetti Monster) that automatically goes poof! voila! and now you are old and busted!

My left shoulder and neck have been bothering me for some time, being somewhat stiff and sore and a good day. On a bad day, all bets are off. Friday was a particulary bad day, and after my less-than-happy-making trip to the ER the Friday before, I decided I'd call my Primary Care Provider. He checked me out, looked at the X-rays from the ER, and:

VIOLA! Herniated Disk (no saving throw)

The good doctor ordered up an MRI for me (which is set for this coming Friday @ 11) and then referred me to an Orthopedic Something-or-Other Doctor to review the results of the MRI. (That will probably be on a Friday as well, because all this crap seems to happen on Fridays.)

Right now I'm a little nervous because I don't know what the course of treatment is going to be, how bad the situation is, etc. I've done some reasearch on the net, and I have some idea what to expect, it's just this not knowing what and how this applies to me that's driving me crazy.

Hopefully, this will be easily remedied. But I will say this to the concept of "Injection Therapy" that my doctor specifically mentioned

Ain't no way you're sticking big ass needles in my neck!

DO. NOT. WANT.