Enjoy it while it lasts

NBC’s Kings is an entirely unique show, a retelling of the story of King David in the modern world. Ambitious in scope, Kings is filled with professional actors, starting with Ian McShane of Deadwood fame. There are scenes here and there that don’t really work, particularly those with David’s family, but for the most part this is a smart, well made show that is well worth watching.

Of course, since it is on NBC, it’s not getting a fair shot. Already it’s been pulled from it’s lame Sunday night spot, and been moved to Saturday night. Still, there are 8 more episodes, and you can watch the first four on hulu.com. Catch it while you can…

Been gone a while now…

It’s been over seven months since I last wrote, longer since I wrote anything consistently, and even longer since I wrote anything worth reading. The first few months off were intentional, as I felt like I was getting stale, and losing whatever little originality I once had. Since around November, my absence has been a little different, more of a forgetfulness combined with an addiction to Facebook, plus the very real fact that I kind of forgot how to write. At the very least, I lost the rhythm that regular writing brings. So I’m going to try to get that back, at least a little bit, because I have missed the blog. Neither my personal life or my work life are overwhelmingly filled with creativity, and the writing kind of filled that hole for me.

Will it again? I hope so. My work like has been busier than ever this past year, as we are more short staffed than ever, and I’ve taken on slightly different roles at the workplace. It’s been a while since I haven’t simply worked straight through lunch, and that is when a lot of my writing has happened. I’m just coming out of what’s been one of the busiest stretches I’ve had in years, so I should have enough time to write at least a little bit…

Normally when I’ve taken breaks from my blog writing over the years, I’ve gone and re-vamped, usually with a vague attempt at a new blog. I don’t think I’m going to do that this time, mostly because some of the things that were frustrating to me about the old versions of the blog are fixed with just my last switch from blogger to wordpress.

As for topics? I don’t imagine they’ll change much. Don’t look for too much from me on Politics or the collapse of our financial system, as I get to spend plenty of my work time working on just these things. Recently I’ve been watching some pretty good tv shows, so I’ll probably write about them. I’ve read a few good books recently, so I’m sure I’ll get to those as well. Other that, I’m really just looking forward to stretching out my writer’s muscles again, and seeing if I’ve still got it.

Summer winding down…

Officially, there’s a month or so of summer left. In reality, summer for me ends when my wife goes back to work, or Labor Day weekend, whichever comes first. Today, the wife has students back in the classroom.. So summer is winding down. It’s been a pretty good summer. I’ve played a ton of golf, including my first tournament last weekend. (Where I did not finish last, which was my only goal..) We took a great trip to NYC, including a Yankees game, old friends, museums, good food, and a Broadway play. We didn’t spend as much time at camp as I would like, but we did get up there a few times. We never did make it down to Portland, nor does it look like the Lawn Game Olympics are going to make it back for their fourth year. Still, as summers go, this was a pretty good one.

Still..

Still, I am not quite ready to be done with summer. I haven’t quite gotten the sun out of my system. I’m not quite ready for raking leaves, or football. I am absolutely not ready for snow, darkness at 4:00, or gallons of red wine.

So I’m feeling a little melancholic today. It’s warm out, but not summer warm. It’s more that, last gasp of summer warm, where you need to bring a coat anyways because it’s going to be cold out at night even if it’s not cold right now, sort of warm.

Oh well. This is the life we choose, living in Maine. Summers are gorgeous, fickle seasons, filled with stifling humidity and blue skies, ending almost before you get used to them. Fall is blink of the eye, colorful maybe, but impermanent, and not nearly enough of a buffer to make up for the fact that it is a season that serves in Maine merely as a bridge to an interminable winter. Spring is so far away right now I can barely remember anything but the mud, intermixed with the first green sprouts, and baseball in other parts of the country.

Is it a bad sign that this summer is barely over, and I’m already looking forward to the next one?

So.

Since the first incarnation of this blog, I’ve always been a little streaky. I’ll throw out a blog or more a day for weeks and months, and then stop again for weeks at a time. (That’s just kind of how it is kids, I’m a streaky sort of guy.) This time wasn’t quite like some of the others. This time, I felt like I needed to take some time off to possibly regain some element of creativity.

I’ve never really had any interest in writing a sports blog, or a book blog, or a movie blog. Rather, I’ve always wanted it to be a combination of all those things, plus some music, some pet peeves, some “what’s going on in my life” stories.

So..

I’m going to try to get back to there in the next couple days. Tonight, I’ve got a bottle of gin nearby, several things to write about, and my wife is out until later, so there’s nothing stopping me. Except maybe the gin. And tornadoes. Forgot about the tornadoes.

17

What a whuppin.

Good lord, what a whuppin.

Finally, the Celtics played a complete game, with the fully intense defense, and an offense firing on all cylinders. The big three all showed up last night, as did Rondo and Perk, as did everyone else the Celtics threw in there.

Belated, and reluctant, Game 5 thoughts

This’ll be quick:

• Lakers needed to win more, and the Celtics let them.
• Gasol sure looks more agressive when Perkins is out, doesn’t he?

Slightly more coherent Game Four Thoughts

I just re-read my postgame ramblings, and man, I even confused myself. I thought about taking it down, but whatever, that’s kind of how I felt after that game. A little emotional, a little exhausted, but happy, and more than anything, rewarded.

There’s all kind of Celtics praise to go out, and I fully plan on getting to that in a minute. But first, the Lakers. More specifically, Kobe. Here is where we can finally learn about Kobe’s character. He’s been taking some heat this morning, but I think a lot of it is undeserved. He’s not Michael Jordan, but nobody else is either.

On being a fan (Or Game Four Thoughts)

It’s midnight right now, and I should be in bed. Really, at this point in my life, I should have been in bed hours ago. Problem is, I just watched the Celtics come back from a 21 point first quarter deficit, battle back, fighting, playing absolutely stifling defense like nothing I have ever seen..

Maybe tomorrow I can come up with some rational thoughts about this game. Maybe. Right now, all I can think about is that this.. This game was why we are fans. As often as not, teams let us down. Sometimes though, sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you follow a team through their down times, develop an appreciation for young players learning the game during losing seasons. Most years, the successes are on a relatively small level, maybe a tough win on the road mid season.

Game Three Thoughts

Watched this game while playing bar trivia, so my thoughts are a little muddled. And not just because of the g and t’s I was drinking, either. Watching this game basically confirmed for me that I hate people. Watching this game with at the same time as us, in the Bear Brew, was a crew of maybe ten girls who were maybe 21, and were fully decked out in their brand shiny new KG and Paul Pierce jerseys. Belligerently drunk, they spent the whole time talking like they must imagine people from the “hood” talk, my guess was they were all from Maine. They screamed loudly at the wrong things, cursed incessantly at the top of their lungs, and were oblivious to the fact that everybody else in the bar wanted to stab them in the eye.

They weren’t the only people there, there were plenty of people that I didn’t hate there too. Just not as many.

Some actual game thoughts after the jump.

Game two thoughts

I was a little worried about last night’s game, right up until the moment where Kobe started the game with two ticky tack fouls that never should have been called, and Pierce hit a clutch three. At that point, I started feeling better.

Unfortunately, I’m 105 years old, so I couldn’t make it through the whole game.