The Call to the Hall


Congratulations to Carl Eller, the Minnesota Vikings all-time sack leader, who was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame today. It was Eller and the rest of the "Purple People Eaters" who first caught my attention as a kid and I'm a fan to this day.

EMPTINESS

Friday Five


You have just won one million dollars:

1. Who do you call first?
    My wife if she's not home. Otherwise, my parents.

2. What is the first thing you buy for yourself?
    A new truck.

3. What is the first thing you buy for someone else?
    A car for my wife and/or a condo/townhouse for my mom.

4. Do you give any away? If yes, to whom?
    Yes...to my family, the National MS Society, the Humane Society,
    the American Library Association, and other charities and causes.

5. Do you invest any? If so, how?
    Yes, with the help of a financial advisor.

Thursday Three


1. What do you prefer. Vinal, Cassette, CD, Minidisc or MP3?
    Um...what exactly is "Vinal"? As for my preference...CD

2. Do you download MP3's? If yes, from where?
    I've downloaded a handful of MP3's from the iTunes Music Store.

3. What's your favourite musical gadget?
    Apple Powerbook computer

Humane
HBO is currently airing an episode of its America Undercover documentary series entitled Shelter Dogs about an upstate New York animal shelter and its owner Sue Sternberg. It's an engrossing and sometimes heart-wrenching look at the lives of the dogs at the shelter and the decisions made about them by the shelter staff, including the sometimes necessary decision to euthanize an animal.

As a volunteer at the Humane Society for Companion Animals in Saint Paul, I connected with a lot of what was shown in Shelter Dogs. It's true that dogs can make a world of difference in someone's life, but it's also true that there are just some individual animals that are not meant to be pets. How to deal with such animals is an ongoing debate, but Shelter Dogs shows how the decisions can be made with a complicated combination of love, practicality, respect and responsibility.

Tiresome
It's currently 15 degrees below zero outside.

Winter has grown tiresome.

Unconscious Mutterings


You say ... and I think ...

  1. Political::Government
  2. Concentration::Camp
  3. Fish::Seafood
  4. Lunacy::Madness
  5. Red::Color
  6. Imply::Indicate
  7. Recognize::Familiar
  8. Sexist::Biased
  9. Commercial::TV
10. Stricken::Ill

Pics
My sister posted a cool picture on her website today.

Her photography skills have inspired me to experiment more with digital photos, and her pine cone pic somehow reminded me of this leaf pic I took this morning:

Comment
intermittent thoughts is now using HaloScan.com to allow you to comment on any post in the blog. Just click on the work "Comment" below any post to try it out.

MAN

Friday Five


At this moment, what is your favorite...

1. ...song?
    Danny Boy

2. ...food?
    Pizza

3. ...tv show?
    The Late Show with David Letterman

4. ...scent?
    baking bread

5. ...quote?
    "When someone asks you a question, the answer you give is yours, not theirs.
    You have no obligation to give them the answer that they want to hear."
      - Jane Alexander in Command Performance: An Actress in the Theater of Politics.

XML
intermittent thoughts now has an xml feed using the new Atom API.

The site feed is at: http://www.visi.com/~kevint/atom.xml

Thursday Three


1. What astro star sign are you?
    Gemini

2. Do you favour your star sign traits?
    I have no idea.

3. Do you read and/or believe the astrological star signs?
    Nope.

Recently...
on the TiVo:
     Airline on A&E
     Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO
     Family Guy on The Cartoon Network

NetFlix DVDs:
     S.W.A.T.
     Narc
     The Hulk

countries visiting this website:
     Uruguay
     Dominican Republic
     Poland
     Saudi Arabia
     Slovak Republic

Dream

"Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart."
    - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Unconscious Mutterings


You say ... and I think ...

  1. Berry::Fruit
  2. Fiendish::Evil
  3. Bar::Liquor
  4. Frank::Gifford
  5. Bend::Break
  6. Fanatic::Obsessed
  7. Belch::Burp
  8. Flagrant::Foul
  9. Burden::Heavy
10. Flimsy::Weak

TCTF
I'm now have a listing in the Theatre and Film Artists & Technicians Searchable Database on the Twin Cities Theatre & Film website.

Jersey
Miramax has released a great trailer for Kevin Smith's upcoming film, Jersey Girl, starring Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler and George Carlin. Based on the trailer and everything I've read about the film, I'm really looking forward to seeing it in March.

MOTION

Friday Five


1. What does it say in the signature line of your emails?
    Until next time...

2. Did you have a senior quote in your high school yearbook? What was it? If you haven't graduated yet, what would you like your quote to be?
    Didn't have one.

3. If you had vanity plates on your car, what would they read? If you already have them, what do they say?
    They would read: Kevin T

4. Have you received any gifts with messages engraved upon them? What did the inscription say?
    Either my initials, Kevin T., or my full name.

5. What would you like your epitaph to be?
    Husband
    Son
    Brother
    Friend
    ...at peace.

Toll
An article published in today's Minneapolis Start Tribune, entitled Multitasking takes its toll, explains how researchers are now finding that multitasking can have potential harmful effects on a person's physical and mental well-being. David Meyer, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, says in the article, "You get exposed to these excessive challenges, that stresses you out; you get depressed, your productivity declines, that stresses you out; you get more depressed." Now that I've moved on and am longer in that kind of environment, I can look back at the stress I was under and say that I couldn't agree more.

Camp


The Vikings announced today that they will return to Mankato for training camp next summer for the 40th consecutive year instead of moving camp to Fargo, Duluth, or my old stomping grounds of Sioux Falls, SD. The announcement was a long time in coming and although stadium politics heavily influenced the decision, it was fun to think about the possibility of the Vikes training on the same fields where I once practiced football as a member of the old Washington High School's JV football team.

I also have some good memories of attending training camp in Mankato with Harv before it became such a big attraction (which is only going to get bigger with the new deal announced today). Access to players and coaches was much easier then and I remember the two of us talking to Denny Green for a couple minutes alone on the field after the media and all the other fans had left. As we talked to the coach, Fuad Reveiz was running steps in the stadium by himself after practice. And I remember hanging out at the Albatross bar in the evening where most of the team was relaxing after a long day of practice. It was amazing to see them all get up and leave en masse at 10:55 p.m. so they could hustle back to the dorms and not be late for curfew. I remember meeting Brian Billick and Jack del Rio and Jeff Diamond and thought it was a bit pretentious when a big black SUV actually drove onto the field to pick up Randall Cunningham as practice ended, presumably so he wouldn't have to deal with fans or the media.

Despite the stadium issues, I think returning to Mankato is a good choice. There's a lot of tradition there, it's easily accessible to the Twin Cities' fan base, and the city can continue to claim to be the "summer home" of the Minnesota Vikings.

Chance
As I was walking a big chocolate lab from the Humane Society for Companion Animals this afternoon, I noticed a U.S. Postal Service van parked at the curb on Hamline Ave. I didn't think much about it until the Mail Carrier got out of the van and walked toward me. It was Frank Blomgren, who's acted in my productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and How the Other Half Loves! I hadn't seen Frank for 18 months and this was one of those wonderful chance encounters that reminds you just how small the world is.

Payback
Hhhmmm...

The Eagles are facing a 4th and 26 and the Packers give up a 1st down - essentially ending Green Bay's season.

"Impossible".
"Not supposed to happen".
What about fate and destiny and Brett Favre's divine inspiration?

Guess they know now how the Vikings and their fans felt after the Arizona game.

Unconscious Mutterings


You say ... and I think ...

  1. Mitchell::Corn Palace
  2. Mercury::Planet
  3. Cycle::Bicycle
  4. Engagement::Marriage
  5. Alternative::Option
  6. Gang::Crime
  7. Emotional::Feeling
  8. Skinny::Thin
  9. Hypochondriac::Paranoid
10. Insecure::Unsure

WOMAN

Spirit
As if sending a spacecraft hundreds of millions of miles, landing it on another planet, and having it transmit incredible photographs back to Earth wasn't a big enough human achievement, NASA announced today that the Mars Spirit rover contains a plaque that honors the seven astronauts killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy last year and Spirit's landing site will be forever known as "Columbia Memorial Station".

Here is the plaque...



The full story can be read --> here.

Unconscious Mutterings


You say ... and I think ...

  1. Vintage::Old
  2. Longing::Yearning
  3. Specimen::Jar
  4. Mock::Trial
  5. Shit::Swear
  6. Friday::Weekend
  7. Cruel::Mean
  8. Insufficient::Lacking
  9. Pessimistic::Optimistic
10. Grin::and bear it.

Real
Looking for a newsmagazine that's consistently informative, enlightening and even inspiring? Look no further than Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO.

Friday Five


What one thing are you most looking forward to . . .

1. ...today?
    Reading a new book.

2. ...over the next week?
    Getting back into a regular routine after the holidays.

3. ...this year?
    Becoming a better digital photographer.

4. ...over the next five years?
    Re-establishing myself as a freelance director in the Twin Cities area.

5. ...for the rest of your life?
    Being with Heather.

The Pleasure is Mine
Last night I stayed up until 3:30am and read Steve Martin's The Pleasure of My Company in one sitting. It's a wonderful story about a quirky individual that's told in Martin's uniquely simple yet mesmerizing style and includes an ending that is at once tender, profound and completely satisfying.

For those who only think of Steve Martin as one of those "wild and crazy" guys from Saturday Night Live reruns, they're missing out on one of America's most versatile artists. Besides his ongoing recognition as a film actor, he also wrote the screenplays for Roxanne, L.A. Story, and Bowfinger, he's an astute art collector, and both an Emmy and Grammy award winner. He's been the host of the Academy Awards and his writing often appears in the New Yorker and The New York Times.

His play Picasso at the Lapin Agile was the winner of the 1996 New York Outer Critics' Circle Awards for Best Off Broadway Play and Best Playwright. It's a witty, intelligent and entertaining script about a chance meeting in 1904 between Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein in a Paris cafe. It's Off-Broadway premiere featured Susan Floyd, who I worked with when we were both theatre students at the University of Utah in the mid-80s.

His bestselling novella Shopgirl was published in 2000 and is also a well-crafted, perceptive and thoroughly engaging story.

For more about Steve Martin, who has quickly become one of my favorite writers, visit his website at stevemartin.com.

BEST OF 2003

Recent iTunes Music Store Purchases
Adia - Sarah McLachlan: Live Acoustic EP 2003
An Olde Irish Aire (Danny Boy) - The Tony Rice Unit
Angel - Sarah McLachlan: Live Acoustic EP 2003
As Time Goes By - Frank Vignola, Jane Monheit, Jon Burr, Mark O'Connor & Wynton Marsalis
Danny Boy - James Galway & Phil Coulter
Danny Boy - Harry Belafonte
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
They Can't Take That away from Me - Elvis Costello, Tony Bennett