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Oh how I suck at golf these days. It will not take me long to get back into it, but needless to say I'd have shot about a 90 today if I played the full 18 holes. I had a lovely shank, I popped up a drive, and most of the rest of my shots were nicely ten yards to the side. I have no idea of my current distances and it rained like a banshee. The lightning brought us in.

I had a hand in three championships in my three high school years, was ranked in the state (and the county, of course), and then pretty much just stopped playing. I played last about a year and a half ago, and it shows. My pre-shot routine is dreadfully long - God knows what I'm doing for that 20 seconds, but it's not preparing to hit a shot. Woe is me, woe is me!

On the bright side, the course nearby me has some pretty nice special pricing, and so I think I'm going to be hitting the links quite a bit in the next few days and weeks. I'll get better again. I don't know that I'll ever get back to my 3-5 range, but I'll get better. Golf is too great a game to treat the way I did today.

Question: If you were to be invited to join one current musical group, which group would you join and what instrument would you play?

My Answer: I'd join R.E.M., and I'd play the trumpet because that's all I really know how to play (the piano and the kazoo probably don't count).

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

My sister pointed me towards a new movie called National Treasure. It looks rather interesting. I've always been a big fan of this type of movie, regardless of the facts in which it may or may not be based. I read The DaVinci Code and a few of Dan Brown's other books, and I used to read Agatha Christie (until I read all of her books). This movie doesn't exactly fit the role of a mystery, and thinking about that, I have to say that the mystery genre seems to be rather much dead in American cinema.

That's sad.

Question: If you were given a racehorse, what would you name it?

My Answer: I've always thought the name "Greased Lightning" was appropriate for anything in a race, regardless of the fact that John Travolta sang it. ::shudder::

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

I've "rented" and returned 19 movies in the three months I've had NetFlix. I think my first month was $19.95, and later months became $21.95. Total cost: $64.

Had I rented the same movies at Blockbuster or via DirecTV Pay-Per-View, I'd have paid $3.99 apiece: about $76. Not a big savings, but fairly convenient - and I got to see some older movies I probably wouldn't have seen if I had gone to Blockbuster.

Do you use NetFlix? What do you think?

I don't care for Cleveland, and I don't care for The Cleveland Plain Dealer:

I was wondering if you would make a posting commenting on the fact that the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper published a list of all the people with Concealed Handgun Licenses in Northeast Ohio… In Ohio only the media has access to the list of permit holders. This was to protect the privacy of people who obtained CHLs but allow the media to check to see if permit holders were involved in crimes. Instead of following the spirit of the law, the Plain Dealer just published a list of everyone with a permit in Northeast Ohio in their newspaper and on their website. The list can be found at their website.

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Question: If you could change the mind of one person from history on one issue, who and what issue would you pick and why?

My Answer: The geek side of me wants to say "Steve Jobs decision not to license the Mac OS." But, then again, I really like where the Mac is now, so that may not even be a valid decision. Perhaps I would change the mind of the person who first determined that you could convert oil into gasoline, or that gasoline was even necessary: where would the world - politically, geographically, etc. - be if we didn't need gasoline for our cars? What if an alternate energy source were the norm? Recent history begs that I suggest something about the intelligence committees assessing the likelihood of an attack on September 11, but there have been far more world-shaping events than that, have there not? I've got the girl I've always wanted now too - I can't even hope to change her mind in 10th grade because it's perfect now.

So, then, my final answer is simply this: I would change the mind of the government official who decided that Kennedy was becoming to much of a pain in the ass and who then ordered he be assassinated. How's THAT? 🙂

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

I love iTunes' Party Shuffle mode. I love LaunchBar.

Why oh why can't the two work together? When I locate an MP3 or AAC file to play, why can't LaunchBar allow me to "Play next in party shuffle" as iTunes can?

Short of setting all of my MP3s to open with some AppleScript that accomplishes this, what - if anything - can be done to accomplish this?

P.S. Heh, look on Google for LaunchBar and Party Shuffle and see what you get. 🙂

Carey and I went to the Pirates/Braves game on Wednesday, July 28th. I took a few shots of the game, and this is my favorite. The Pirates left 11 men on base and Perez pitched wonderfully, but a solo HR in the 4th was the deciding factor in the 1-0 loss.

What struck me most, however, was the quality of the fan: I've previously written about the stupidity of south Florida sports fans, but having not lived in PA for about eight years, I wasn't sure if my reactions were appropriate and properly compared. It's now safe to say that they are.

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Question: Should "QotDs" (here, on this blog) continue?

My Answer: I like 'em, so put one in the "yes" column. But, hey, we'll see.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: What's the most unusual meat you've ever eaten?

My Answer: I've had octopus, alligator, and shark. The rest are fairly normal. I've eaten rabbit, too, which may seem weird to some people (it's quite good cooked on a bed of rice). I'm always reminded of a bumper sticker when I think about eating animals… "If you're not supposed to eat animals, why are they made out of meat?" Take that, PeTA! 🙂

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: Are you excited about MovableType 3.1?

My Answer: Yep. I am guessing that the PHP generation will require some exploration, and I think I'm only interested in two of the plugins (MT-B, which I'm currently running, and the graphing one KoalaRainbow). I dunno. I'll know more when it's closer to release.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Carey and I saw The Notebook yesterday. I had a tear or two at the end (which I'll try not to spoil) and we held each other through the entire film. It was a good movie and one I really enjoyed seeing with Carey. I used to watch sappy, romantic, heartstring-tugging movies like The Notebook and hope to some day be in a relationship that felt as good as the one portrayed on screen. Last night I realized that what I saw on screen couldn't even come close to what I have with Carey.

The previous day we took our parents to dinner (yes, all four at once). It may be a bit premature, as it's something you typically do when you get engaged, but we're heading there and the opportunity presented itself. Carey was granted free babysitting, and you've just got to take advantage of that, I've learned!

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Question: What do you remember of the Bernie Goetz situation?

My Answer: I don't remember much, but I've recently done a good amount of reading on the situation (and resulting trial) and am interested to see what people remember. Please answer this question from your memory (i.e. don't go Googling).

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: What one thing do you most wish to do for the rest of your life?

My Answer: Tell Carey "I love you" (and mean it). Of course, my silly answers would be something like "breathe" and "live" and so on, but if I can tell Carey that I love her every day for the rest of my life then I'll be quite content.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.