Catching Ducks

From the second episode of series two:


[Mitchell is a vampire who's trying to stop drinking blood. He's talking to his roommate, George, about previous attempts to get clean.]

Mitchell: One of the times I properly tried to quit drinking blood, I was living with this vampire, Carl. And he helped me. He's been clean for, I don't know, twenty years now --

George: You... um, sorry. You lived with someone, before me?

Mitchell: What? Yeah, lots of people.

George: But... who?

Mitchell: [baffled by the question] Vampires? People-people, I don't know!

George: People?! Oh, well, that's it.

Mitchell: Oh, god. Don't get all --

George: What? What?

Mitchell: You! Don't get all "you" about this. Of course I've lived with other people. You think I've spent the past hundred years waiting for you and your three different kinds of upholstery cleaner to show up?

Labels: Being Human

Labels: Leverage

From "Lonely Hearts" (1.02):


Angel: I know you guys have been working hard, cooped up inside a lot. And to show my appreciation, I was thinking, the night being, you know, young and all, that the three of us could... should... maybe, uh... go out. You know, for fun.

Cordelia: Or, we can go home.

Doyle: And you could sit in the dark, alone.

Angel: God yes. Thank you.

Labels: Angel

From this comic:


MY HOBBY: Sitting down with grad students and timing how long it takes them to figure out that I'm not actually an expert in their field.

ENGINEERING:
[Our big problem is heat dissipation.]
Have you tried logarithms?
48 seconds

LINGUISTICS:
Ah, so does this Finno-Ugric family include, say, Klingon?
63 seconds

SOCIOLOGY:
Yeah, my latest work is on ranking people from best to worst.
4 minutes

LITERARY CRITICISM:
You see, the deconstruction is inextricable from not only the text, but also the self.
Eight papers and two books and they haven't caught on.

Labels: comics

From The Same River Twice:


[Svetlana Abrosimova's parents have traveled from Russia to see her "Senior Night" game. Coach Geno Auriemma is concerned about the media attention they may face.]

The other reason for Geno's heightened sensitivity is more personal. As the immigrant son of two parents whose English was either absent or extremely limited, he does not want to see Oleg and Ludmila endure a media circus. Sure, it's a great story -- so is his, and that's why the media used to seek out his parents, Donato and Marsiella. But his father never understood the attention that his son received. When Geno was first hired at UConn in 1985 and told his dad that they were going to pay him to coach basketball, Donato innocently asked, "What happens when there are no game?"

Labels: UConn basketball

Also from "Mountie on the Bounty":

Labels: Due South, music

From "Mountie on the Bounty, part 2" (3.13):


[Ray & Fraser are attempting to apprehend some bad guys. The bad guys are on a cargo ship. Ray & Fraser (and a bunch of Mounties) are on a wooden ship with sails.]

Ray: I don't like this. They got a big metal ship and we got this little wooden boat.

Capt. Thorn: We have the advantage of surprise.

Ray: But they can see us coming!

Fraser: Well, Ray, imagine yourself at sea. Suddenly you find yourself set upon by members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Chicago Police Department in a vessel that is a replica of the HMS Bounty. Wouldn't you be surprised?

Ray: It depends.

Fraser: It depends? On what?

Ray: On if I could SEE YOU COMING!

Labels: Due South

Tonight UConn played the University of Cannonfodder. UConn reporter John Altavilla tweeted:

"Brian Agler, coach/GM of the #WNBA Seattle Storm is here. I assume he is scouting. I mean, why else would he be here?"


Later, he tweeted:

"Seattle coach/GM Brian Agler confirms he is here scouting Kelly Faris. Seattle has 6th pick in the #WNBA draft"


Storm reporter Jayda Evans replied:

"Smart coach"


More info here.

Labels: Seattle Storm, UConn basketball

From his Twitter:


I tried to explain the famous quote from Star Wars' Yoda to my daughter. You know, the one that goes, "Do or do not. There is no 'try.' " She thought about it a second and then said, "And why should I listen to an alien?"

Labels: Star Wars

From "Hunteri Heroici" (8.08):


Dean: All right. Let's gear up. It's wabbit season.

Castiel: I don't think you pronounced that correctly.

Labels: Supernatural

I saw this on HoneyBee, where the pictures help sell it. I always enjoy a Buffy / Twilight comparison:


Lessons from Twilight:

Edward: I will stalk you, manipulate you, physically abuse you, treat you like an incompetent child, and contemplate killing you regularly.

Bella: That's okay, I will just internalize your abuse as my fault. After all, you're a man so you must be right.


Lessons from Buffy:

Angel: Hey Buff, you need me to bust in and save you at the last minute?

Buffy: No, thanks. Let me just slice this misogynistic bastard in half, starting with his balls first. Then we can snuggle.

Labels: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, movies

And for your daily quota of adorable, I present these two videos:





My favorite moment is in the second video, when the older boy corrects the younger boy's sign for "frog" (~0:36).

Labels: ASL

From "Asylum" (3.11):


[Turnbull is trying to explain curling to Ray.]

Ray: Anything that moves that slowly is not a sport.

Turnbull: [incredulously] Not a sport...?!?!

Ray: This is not a sport; it's housework.

Turnbull: [passionately] It is a calling.

Ray: It may be a pastime, it may even be a hobby, but it is definitely not a sport.

Labels: Due South

Wil Wheaton recently shot a commercial (that will air during the Superbowl) at a desert location that has been used many, many times by the various Star Trek shows:


"It’s so cool to work here,” I said to the director, “because even though Star Trek always came here, those sons of bitches never let Wesley on the landing party.” (I didn’t ask him if they’d been on the lookout for Gorn, because I didn’t want to be too nerdy.)

Labels: Star Trek

A cat's first experience with snow:



[h/t AfterElton]

Labels: random silliness

From "Dumb-Heart", by Darby Conley:


Bucky: I don't like this color of this fish. I'm not eating it.

Satchel: Oh! Fish racist!

Rob: Bucky, do you know the story of the princess and the pea?

Bucky: Obnoxious chick can't sleep in a bed with vegetables in it, sure.

Rob: Well... you're the obnoxious one here.

Bucky: You calling me a princess?

Rob: No, picky.

Bucky: I thought the moral of that story meant don't sleep with vegetables...

Rob: Whatever it is, you're picky.

Satchel: Vegetables? I thought it meant don't wet your bed. OK, spell "pea".

Labels: Get Fuzzy

Click the link. Stare at the black & swirl for thirty seconds. Then look at the picture of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" below the black & white swirl.

Fun!

Labels: random weirdness

From "Dead Guy Running" (3.09):


Fraser: What happened to your ear?

Ray: It's a long story.

Fraser: You know Ray, that thing with your ear kind of reminds me of a wrestling match I once saw in Great Slave Lake where Yukon John actually bit off Haystack Calhoun's ear. Although my friend Innusiq, who knew such things, said it was entirely fake, and that the next night Haystack Calhoun would bite off Yukon John's ear.

Ray: What is the point of that story?

Fraser: It's just an ear anecdote.

[later]

Fraser: You know Ray, I had another friend, well, acquaintance, really. Anyway, one day he was fishing and he ripped off his ear with a hula popper. He was able to sew it back on with some eight pound teslon filament. Unfortunately, he sewed it on backwards, and from that day forwards he claimed he was dyslexic.

Ray: What is the point of that story Fraser? I don't get it.

Fraser: There is nothing to get, Ray, it's just another ear anecdote.

[later]

Fraser: How's your ear?

Ray: It's fine. Why?

Fraser: Oh, I was just thinking of a relative of mine, well, distant relative, actually: fourth-cousin-three-times-removed, to be exact. Malach Einer was his name. Anyway, one day he had a seashell up to his ear and he was listening to the gentle lapping of the surf when a narwhal poked the surface and shoved the seashell deep into his eardrum, and from that day forward instead of the gentle lapping of the surf he had a rushing torrent raging through his cranium. Relatives, eh?

Labels: Due South

From "Door to Door" (3.04):


Phil: Okay, huddle up everybody. Your mother's right. She's the quarterback of this family, and we need to protect her like Blind Side did.

Luke: She just said that mom was Blind Side.

Phil: She's confused. Blind Side was the black kid who played Tight End.

Alex: Offensive Line.

Phil: Sorry, "African-American" kid.

Labels: Modern Family

I vaguely remember that Ben Browder (Crichton on Farscape) played Lee Majors in a TV movie about Charlie's Angels. I think I (vaguely) watched it. I just found out that Tricia Helfer (Six on Battlestar Galactica) played Farrah Fawcett! That's both random and awesome. It's randomly awesome!

Labels: Battlestar Galactica, Farscape

I saw it on the Doctor Who Tumblr:


me: What episode of Doctor Who are you on?

friend: Rory just died.

me: ...

friend: ...

me: ...

friend: ...

me: That tells me nothing.

Labels: Doctor Who

Before the 2012 draft, Football Outsiders analyzed the prospects of the quarterbacks eligible of the 2012 NFL draft. They used some fancy statistic programs to figure out which players had the best prospects.

Here they are, ranked from highest to lowest:

Robert Griffin, Baylor: 2,530 DYAR
Andrew Luck, Stanford: 1,749 DYAR
Nick Foles, Arizona: 1,391 DYAR
Kirk Cousins, Michigan State: 1,362 DYAR
Brandon Weeden, Oklahoma State: 1,011 DYAR
Ryan Tannehill, Texas A&M: 730 DYAR
Brock Osweiler, Arizona State: 248 DYAR

You might notice that there's a name missing from that list: Russell Wilson. Tucked at the end of the article you'll find this section:


The Asterisk
Russell Wilson, Wisconsin: 2,650 DYAR

Important stats: 48 games started, 60.7% completion rate, senior passer rating rose 64.1 points.

I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention the ridiculous projection that the Lewin Career Forecast spits out for Russell Wilson. Yes, that projection is even higher than the one for Robert Griffin. No, it doesn't particularly mean that Wilson is a sleeper prospect. There are a few things going on here that the LCF is just not designed to account for.

First and foremost, the change in Wilson's passer rating between his junior and senior years is insane. Remember that earlier I noted that Griffin had a larger senior year passer rating increase than any quarterback in our data set? Well, Wilson's senior year passer rating increase is 40 percent larger than Griffin's. But does it matter when the quarterback is playing in a completely different offense for a completely different school in his last year of college eligibility? At Wisconsin, Wilson got to pick apart defenses that were concentrating on stopping Montee Ball. At North Carolina State, I doubt opponents were quaking in their boots at the thought of Mustafa Greene and Dean Haynes. It goes without saying that there isn't another quarterback in the LCF data set who transferred between his junior and senior years.

There's also the issue of height, another data point where there's nobody in our data set that can be compared to Wilson. At first, it seems strange that LCF doesn't include a variable to discount short quarterbacks, but when you look at the data set that went into creating LCF the reasons are pretty clear. There's no penalty for being 5-foot-11, like Wilson is, because there are no quarterbacks in the data set who are shorter than 6-foot-0. There's no penalty for being only 6-foot-0 because the two quarterbacks who are 6-foot-0 are Drew Brees and Michael Vick.

Quarterbacks who are Wilson's height simply don't get drafted in the first three rounds of the draft, period. The FO master database only includes three quarterbacks who are below six feet tall: Seneca Wallace, Joe Hamilton, and Flutie. That's a fourth-round pick, a seventh-round pick, and an 11th round pick from 25 years ago. Even if we go all the way back to 1991, the only quarterbacks taken in the first six rounds at 6-foot-0 or shorter were Vick, Brees, Wallace, Joe Germaine (fourth round, 1999), and Troy Smith (fifth round, 2007).

Wilson too will probably be drafted on the third day of the draft, round four or later, which would render his absurdly high LCF moot.



Hahahhahahhahahaha!!!!!

To be fair, someone at FO had the foresight to do a little more work on Russell Wilson. The article is called Studying "The Asterisk": "I’m going to show you why Wilson has NFL starter potential and why the 6-foot-0 Drew Brees is a good template for how an NFL team can win with Wilson."

Labels: Seattle Seahawks

Tweets from UConn reporter John Altavilla:


Gosh, don't we all love these 9:10 p.m. starts. Thank you #CBSSportsNetwork for inconveniencing us all.

And I'm not just saying that because I'm usually in bed by 10 or that its going to snow tonight.

Come to think of it, yes I am.

Labels: UConn basketball

Due South is probably the only show that has used, or ever will use, a Sarah McLachlan song during a car chase scene:

Labels: Due South, music

A story about a high school team:


"So we work on Shell, a defensive drill that emphasizes being in help, a lot. We talk about it, I'm always yelling 'Be in help' when the other team has the ball.

We have a bad game, and the next day in practice, we're going over Shell again. I say something like 'You know, if we had been in help, if we had done what we do in this drill, we could have won.'

One girl, a junior three-starter, looks at me and says 'You mean we're supposed to do this in games?'"

Labels: sports

From "Robbie Sells Rex":


Andre: You guys worried about Robbie?

Tori: Totally!

Cat: Yeah, he called me in the middle of the night last night and just yelled, "What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?"

Tori: And what did you say?

Cat: "I don't know! I don't know! I don't know! I don't know!"

Labels: Victorious

Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe appeared on The Colbert Report 1/8/13, and explained his job:


Stephen Colbert: You [Vikings] -- no offense -- got your lutefisk handed to you [by the Green Bay Packers].

Chris Kluwe: Yes. In my defense, though, I played well. Unfortunately, when I play well, that's usually a sign the team is not playing well.

Stephen Colbert: Right, because your job is to give the ball away.

Chris Kluwe: Right, right. I'm a professional surrender-er. I go out there -- they call on me and say, "Chris, go give the ball to the other team, but do it in a good way so we're not hurt too badly."

Stephen Colbert: Surrender in the least humiliating way.

Chris Kluwe: Exactly.

Labels: sports

I saw this on S#*! my mouth says:


- i find it pretty fucking inconsiderate that my grandchildren haven’t used time travel to visit me.
- and frankly, i’m a bit offended.
- AM I NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU GRANDCHILDREN?
- WELL FUCK YOU
- MAYBE I WON’T EVEN HAVE KIDS AND YOU WON’T EXIST
- HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT

what if we have tho

what if we just didn’t know they were our grandkids

what if your best friend has to constantly remind themselves not to call you grandma/grandpa

Labels: random silliness

"It's a very distinctive static."

Labels: Leverage

From the book, edited by Jen Campbell:


customer: I need A Few Good Men by Joe Steinbeck.

bookseller: Do you mean Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck?

customer: No, I said A Few Good Men.

bookseller: The movie?

customer: No. It's a classic book! Steinbeck.

bookseller: I don't see that here by him. But he did write Of Mice and Men.

customer: What? Just show me where to find his books.

[later]

customer: Here it is. Of Mice and men. Right there on your shelf.

Labels: books

From Tuesday's comic:


Josh: Cooper, today your priority is to clean and organize the stockroom.

Cooper: Okay.

Josh: Nothing is more important. This needs to get done today.

Cooper: No problem. Who's going to do my regular work while I get it done?

Josh: Ha. Ha. Very funny.

Cooper: ... That wasn't a joke, actually.

Labels: comics

From the Christmas special (2.9):


Sir Richard: I'm leaving the morning Lady Grantham, I doubt we'll meet again.

Lady Grantham: Do you promise?

Labels: Downton Abbey

I tried to recover the data from my dead computer using a Firewire cable, but it didn't work.

It did allow me to eject the install disk, so that's something. Now I'm trying to figure out if Disk Warrior will work for me. I can't quite tell from their website if my situation fits their profile or not.

Blech. I've had some computer problems over the years, but this is officially the biggest mess I've run into.

In happier news, I love my new computer!

Labels: computers

From the twitter of Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe:


"Exit physical in the NFL - 'Your body is beat the eff up. Football's not very healthy for you. See you in April!' "

Labels: sports

Much better results today! But both teams tried to give me a heart attack!


When the Redskins burst out to a 14-0 lead .... oh my goodness! But that was it for Washington's scoring, and the Seahawks offense finally got going. But that early lead made the 24-14 win feel a lot closer than ten points, you know?


Back home in Seattle, the Husky women let Arizona pull out to a 10 point lead in the first half before getting into their groove. They had a small lead by halftime, and after the break pushed the lead to ~20 points. But they let the Wildcats get back into the game, and in the last few minutes Arizona pulled to within four. The Huskies managed to hold on, and won 76-65.

Labels: college basketball, Seattle Seahawks

During the Seahawks game today, Joel McHale retweeted Rainn Wilson:


"We're giving the 'skins a nice cushion to make our certain victory that much sweeter & dramatic. [gulp]"



Bonus tweet, from after the game:

"Andrew Luck and RG3 walk into a bar... ...to watch Russell Wilson in the playoffs next weekend."

Labels: Seattle Seahawks

I had three games scheduled to record this weekend. Today's game was Notre Dame at UConn. Notre Dame won by one point. Damn, damn, damn! UConn reporter John Altavilla reported after the game that:

"Despite 13 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and five steals, [UConn guard] Kelly Faris takes the blame for the loss to [Notre Dame]."

He quotes her as saying: "As the leader of this team I am expected to set the tone defensively. That is what is expected of me. I didn't do it."

I think this Tumblr post summed up my feelings quite well: "Skylar Diggins, you irk me like no other."


Tomorrow there is a UW basketball game (I think they're playing Arizona??) and, of course, the Seahawks game.

I found this article from a guy who went to Russell Wilson's rival high school. Interesting perspective. This video is audio of Russell Wilson from the St. Louis at Seattle game last week.


Let's hope the Seahawks (and the UW women) fare better than my poor, poor UConn Huskies.

Sigh.

Labels: college basketball, Seattle Seahawks, UConn basketball

I finally started watching Game of Thrones. I'm four episodes into the first season, and it's pretty good. I don't think it's something I'll want to re-watch, but I'm interested enough to keep watching.

I'm deeply amused that the three Lannister siblings are played by a Brit, an American, and a Dane. The whole cast speaks in British accents, so having Lena Headey play Queen Cersei makes sense. And hiring Peter Dinklage to play Tyrion Lannister was a no-brainer: There aren't that many quality actors who happen to be little people. But Nikolaj Coster-Waldau to play Jaime Lannister? He does a fine job, but it's a little weird to hear him speak to his "twin sister" Lena Headey....

Anyway. From "Winter is Coming" (1.01):


Jon Snow: You're Tyrion Lannister? The Queen's brother?

Tyrion Lannister: [dryly] My greatest accomplishment. And you, you're Ned Stark's bastard, aren't you?

[Jon starts to walk away.]

Tyrion Lannister: Did I offend you? Sorry. You are the bastard, though.

Jon Snow: Lord Eddard Stark is my father.

Tyrion Lannister: And Lady Stark is not your mother, making you … the bastard. Let me give you some advice, bastard: never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.

Jon Snow: What the hell do you know about being a bastard?

Tyrion Lannister: All dwarfs are bastards in their father's eyes.

Labels: Game of Thrones

Tomorrow Notre Dame plays UConn. The game will be on CBS (channel 7 around these parts) at 1pm tomorrow (Saturday). It should be a good game. These teams DO NOT like each other. They've played four times in each of the last two years: two regular season games, the Big East championship game, and the first round of the Final Four. Two seasons ago UConn won the first three and lost the last one. Last season they lost the first game by three points in overtime, lost the second game by double digits, won the Big East championship game a mere week later, and lost the Final Four game in overtime*.

Rebecca Lobo recently wrote about her excitement for the game:

"Connecticut versus Notre Dame has become one of my favorite rivalry games in women's college basketball over the past few years. The contests have been close and there is always something at stake. And when you add the players' and coaches' distaste for one another, the game becomes even juicier."

She concludes:

"These teams don't like each other. And that's one of the reasons I love watching them play. And since the game isn't being broadcast by ESPN, there's even a chance it'll be close (the Worldwide Leader's track record for close women's games this season isn't great). But no matter the final score, the game, like the matchups within it, will be worth watching."




*Kelly Faris got them into that overtime. She had help, of course, but when I watched it, I was blown away but what an amazing series of plays she made. The play-by-play shows that, with 1:22 left, UConn was behind 65-61:

1:22 Faris steals the ball
1:21 Tiffany Hayes (UConn) misses a layup
1:21 Faris rebounds
1:20 Faris makes a layup

Now it's 65-63.

0:51 Natalie Achonwa (Notre Dame) misses a layup
0:51 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (UConn) rebounds
0:44 Faris is fouled and makes two foul shots

Now it's tied at 65.

0:29 Natalie Novosel (Notre Dame) misses a jumper
0:29 Bria Hartley (UConn) rebounds
0:18 Skylar Diggins (Notre Dame) steals the ball
0:12 Faris steals the ball back
0:11 Diggins is forced to foul Faris. She makes both of her foul shots

Now UConn is up 67-65.

In the last six seconds, Diggins missed a laypup, Novosel got the rebound, and made a game-tying layup to send it into overtime.

But from 1:22 to 0:11, it was the Kelly Faris Show. She had two steals, one rebound, and six points. It was AMAZING. I think I need to dig up my tape of the game.....

Labels: UConn basketball

I know I just did a Due South quote. I don't care. I'm re-watching the RayK years (i.e. season 3 & 4) and it's stuck in my head now.

From "Eclipse" (3.02):


[To get a good spot for a stake-out, Ray bribed a cemetery caretaker with a bottle of scotch. A few minutes later, the caretaker comes back with the bottle.]

caretaker: This thing doesn't work.

Ray: What do you mean it doesn't work? It's just a bottle, it doesn't work or not work.

caretaker: If nothing comes out of it, what is it?

Ray: Empty.

caretaker: But it isn't empty, so it must be broken.

Ray: If it was broken, it'd be empty.

caretaker: Exactly. So it's not working.

Ray: [takes out a pocketknife and smashes the top of the bottle off] There. Now it's broken and it's working.

caretaker: Good man.

Labels: Due South

From "Mr Frump in the Iron Lung", or (as I like to call it), "How I Learned What an Iron Lung Was":


I visit Mr. Frump in the hospital
I see him most every day
And when I see Mr. Frump in his iron lung
This is what I hear him say:

[deep breathing]

Y'know, Mr. Frump is my very best friend
He's never a chump or a tease
He never tells me lies, and best of all
He never disagrees

I bring him candy and flowers every afternoon
Sit down by his side and say "Hi"
And then I ask him his opinion of the world situation
And I wait for Mr. Frump's reply, and Mr. Frump would say:

[deep breathing]

Well, unfortunately, soon it came to be
Mr. Frump's dying day
And now I bring to you the very last thing
That Mr. Frump had to say....

[deep breathing that fades and then stops]

Amen

Labels: music

Labels: Due South

From "Mountie on the Bounty" (3.12):


[The ship is sinking, and Fraser sees a fish out of a port window.]

Fraser: Would you look at that!

Ray: It's a fish!

Fraser: It's a sign, Ray.

Ray: It's not a sign, Fraser, it's a fish!

Fraser: Well, it's a trout, actually, which is a sign that the water quality in the Great Lakes is returning to normal.

Ray: It's not a sign, Fraser, it's a fish! That means the boat's sinking, and we're dying!

Fraser: Well, yes, it's a sign of that too.

Labels: Due South

Yesterday UConn played Oregon, at Eugene. At the end of the game, Hartford Courant reporter John Altavilla tweeted:



"It's 91-45 and my plane leaves Eugene in seven hours"


This struck me as quite funny because at that point, it was 91-45 and my mom and I left Eugene by car (right after we stocked up on some non-perishables at Costco). That's right, we drove to Eugene to watch UConn blow out the Ducks. It was awesome!!!!

Labels: UConn basketball