lewis and clark had a journal. you, beth-annie, have a diary.

Monday, October 31, 2005
Halloween limbo.
When is trick-or-treating? I wish we knew. When we lived in Racine, it was early on a Sunday afternoon (huh?). In other Wisconsin communities this weekend, we drove through several small towns where it was presently occurring on our way to and from camping in northeast Wisconsin on both Saturday and Sunday. Here, well, there's no word. Like, absolutely none. An exhaustive search of the local newspaper turned up nothing. An internet search finally managed the information that there is "no set time" for our town (as is the same for the city of Madison, apparently). Now, how can that be when trick-or-treating can apparently take place anywhere within a range of over 50 hours? Is it some secret thing where everyone just "knows" when it is, except of course for the people who don't? Did it already happen sometime this weekend while we were gone? Or will there be kiddies knocking on our door tonight yet? The bowl of candy is ready, but I do not appreciate the complete lack of information on when to expect to use it. Grrrrr.
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Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Marriage advantage #267.
Or, specifically, an advantage of being married to someone with whom you have common taste in many areas: birthday presents for him can double as presents for you. So, thanks, Matthew, Kim, and Benji, for the "Firefly" DVDs. I'll really enjoy them. Hee.
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Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Something smells like a fishy rat.
This is something I would have posted about sooner, but it went down right before I had to leave and I didn't have time.

Weekend before last was the LPGA Samsung World Championship, which is a 20-player event reserved for only the top money-earners and major-winners on the LPGA, European, and Japanese tours.  And Michelle Wie.  (Refresher for anyone who is blanking on who she is:  the long-hitting, men-playing Hawaiian 16-year-old golf phenom who's been playing in the occasional LPGA  tournament since she was 13).  Michelle turned pro (meaning she can actually make money and can no longer compete in amateur events) just after she turned 16 and just before this tournament, to which she received a special invitation.  Now, to be perfectly honest, I'm not the biggest Michelle Wie fan.  But what happened to her at the Samsung Championship kind of infuriated me a little bit.

You can read a detailed article if you wish, but I'll summarize the situation for you:  Michelle, who thought she was finishing her first professional tournament in a very respectable fourth place, was disqualified after the final round for signing an incorrect scorecard after her third round.  Apparently, after hitting her ball into a bush during the third round and taking an unplayable lie, she took a drop that was inadvertently too close to the hole (the rules say that no ball drop can end up closer to the hole than the ball's original location).

If she or her caddy -- or anyone, for that matter -- had realized this and brought the possibility up with a rules official before  she signed her scorecard on Saturday, she simply would have been given a two-stroke penalty, signed her card, and been fine.  But the infraction wasn't brought to the officials' attention until most of the way through the final round on Sunday when a "spectator" pointed out his concern about it.  I say "spectator" because this was actually a sports reporter.  A sports reporter who noticed this on the seventh  hole on Saturday and just couldn't find the time to bring it to the attention of a rules official during any of Michelle's remaining eleven  holes that round so that it could be resolved without resulting in a DQ.  When asked why he didn't bring it up sooner, he replied, "That didn't occur to me.  I was still in my reporter's mode.  I wanted to talk to her first.''  Yeah.  You know what I think?  I think Michelle Wie being disqualified in her first tournament as a professional makes a darn good news story.

Poor girl.  Did she make a mistake?  Sure.  Did it have to cost her the whole tournament?  No.  She got screwed.  Not.  Fair.
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Monday, October 24, 2005
She's baa-aaack...
So this is what happens when I leave for almost a week:  my blog gets taken over by football talk.  Yeah, see if I ever do THAT again.  :-P

Also, somehow in the time I was gone it's turned into winter.  Or at least pre-winter.  So of course Josh is dragging me to another sure-to-be-freezing-cold Belleville football game Tuesday night (which will NOT be blogged about on here, I promise).

And what did I do on Saturday after driving back from Chicago?  Less than an hour after I got home, we had to go to a bridal shop for an appointment for me to try on bridesmaid dresses, went shopping at the mall (as if I hadn't already spent the last week shopping, but we needed to kill time doing something in Madison), went out to dinner and then drove up to a small town north of Madison to see the Belleville girls' volleyball team win some regional-something-or-other playoff game.  Which was fun, actually -- moreso than football in the cold, that's for sure.  But, man, was I pooped.  Still am, actually.  And you don't even want to know how much catching up I have to do on my television shows (the only one I watched during the week was "Lost,") and internet reading.  So please be patient with me.
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Thursday, October 20, 2005
A Post by Josh.

I'm taking Andrew's advice and going, Josh, going.

I went to the Belleville football game tonight (moved up from the normal Friday because the playoffs start in the middle of next week).  Belleville beat Oakfield 48-13 and is advancing to the playoffs.  Here are two thoughts I took from the game.

1.  Here's a big sign you are at a lower-class high school football game:

Total number of times the two teams lined up for a placekick: 7 (4 Belleville XPs, 2 Oakfield XPs, and 1 Oakfield FG)
Total number of successful kicks: 1 (Oakfield XP)
Total number of unsuccessful kicks that made it to the uprights but just missed being good:  1 (Belleville XP)
Total number of kicks blocked outright: 2 (1 Belleville XP and Oakfield's FG)
Total number of line-drive kicks that never got more than 8 feet off the ground: 2 (1 XP by each team -- Belleville's went straight into the back of the
offensive linemen and Oakfield's would have scored a goal of they had placed a soccer goal in the corner of the endzone)
Total number of muffed snap/hold exchanges causing the ball to bounce into the hands of the kicker, leading him to attempt to run it in on his own and almost make it: 1 (Belleville XP)

Total number of 2-point conversion attempts: 3 (all by Belleville)
Total number of successful 2-point conversions: 3

2.  You make the call!

Oakfield has the ball with 3rd and 5 at the Belleville 25 and 5 seconds left in the first half.  They attempt a long field goal which is blocked (see above stats).  The ball bounces around at the 10 or 15 yard line until a Belleville player picks it up.   He starts down the sideline, picks up some great blocking, and runs it all the way back.  However, a flag was thrown.  The officials called an illegal block on Belleville and a personal foul on Oakfield.  Both happened around the original line of scrimmage, I assume on the runback and after the clock hit 00:00 (it wasn't entirely clear and Belleville somehow doesn't have a video screen to show replays).  The officials conferred around 90 seconds before finally giving their decision.  What was it?  Did the touchdown count?  Is the half over?  If not, who has the ball and where?

I'll post my answer under the comments, so don't read them until after you decide for yourself the answer.
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Friday, October 14, 2005
Baby Update.  What do you mean that joke isn't funny anymore?

PRISON BREAK (fox mondays)
Episodes seen:  7
Verdict:  Obviously if I've stuck with it through seven episodes, it ain't bad.  In fact, it can be quite interesting (read: scary) and at times downright riveting.  The whole thing may be a little far fetched, but it's all done remarkably well, even if it isn't always pretty.  Think "24."  If you like that show, you'll like this one.  Probably.

KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL (fox mondays)
Episodes seen:  3
Verdict:  Um.  This was one of my high hopes, and it seems they were perhaps too high.  It was supposed to be one of those offbeat single camera comedies, and I suppose it is.  The problem is that it's just not funny (so actually maybe it's just an offbeat single camera).  It thinks it is, but it's not.  It probably doesn't help that it follows the funniest show on television in "Arrested Development," but I have a feeling it wouldn't even be that funny after "Yes Dear."

MY NAME IS EARL (nbc tuesdays)
Episodes seen:  4
Verdict:  Now THIS is an offbeat single camera comedy that IS funny.  Thank goodness.  (It's no "AD," but then nothing is.)  It actually seems to get funnier every week, which is always better than the alternative.  The block of this and "The Office" is probably the only set of two consecutive half-hour comedies that are both actually good, Steve-Carell-hate notwithstanding.

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (cbs mondays)
Episodes seen:  3
Verdict:  Surprisingly good.  (Though perhaps not as surprising when you find out the creators are former Letterman writers.)  The traditional sitcom thing... how do I put this... sucks.  As a general rule.  So imagine my delight when this one didn't.  Not that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread or anything, but it is somewhat reminiscent of a show like "Friends."  Ish.  Upgrade.

BONES (fox tuesdays)
Episodes seen:  2
Verdict:  Also as a general rule I don't like procedurals.  So why do I actually -- yes! -- LIKE this show?  I blame it on the lead actors (Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz), who are so charismatic, both by themselves and especially together, that you (read: I) just want to watch them.  Deschanel's character in particular is fascinating in her prickliness and social ineptitude.  So I suppose I have room for one procedural on my list (oh, fine, two... "Numbers" is good, too).

INVASION (abc wednesdays)
Episodes seen:  3
Verdict:  When I look forward to a show, it's a good sign.  And while the intriguing setting (the Florida Everglades after a hurricane) and Eddie Cibrian's dimples don't exactly hurt matters, I like the slowly unfolding weirdness and interesting family dynamics.  It remains to be seen whether a show like this can sustain things for the long haul, but for now at least I'm sure enjoying the ride.
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Thursday, October 13, 2005
Baby update.
Oh, wait.  We don't have one.  In that case, um... um... they're repaving the street outside our house today.  Which is making the house rumble and vibrate.  That's all I got.

(Hey, at least I posted.  And tomorrow I should have my mini-reviews of some of the new fall TV shows.  Sorry the blog's been so boring lately.)
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Monday, October 10, 2005
I apparently am not a fan of the moshing.
I love Emery.  They're one of those Christian-mainstream bands (like Switchfoot, as opposed to a mainstream-Christian band like U2).  Now, let's call the "mainstream" part of that Problem #1.  Problem #2 we'll call "The Screamo Factor" (you, know, emo + screaming = screamo), i.e. their sound can be extremely hard at times.  By now you're probably asking questions such as, "Why does Beth-Annie like a screamo band?" and "The deal with these "problems" is what now?"

The answer to the first would be that they make darn good music.  This is the problem I have with labels.  People tend to assume that if you like one screamo band (in this case Emery), you will thus like other screamo bands.  Not so.  Maybe it is for some people, but others of us have more discriminating taste.  Emery is good not because of their genre, but because they are obviously extremely talented songwriters and arrangers.  I love the complexity of the songs, the harmonies, the simultaneous-but-completely-different vocal parts, the wacky time signatures, the way a song can start one way and throw you into something completely different in the middle -- and then again something else completely different at the end, the atypical song titles (each track name on their new album is a continuation of the question, "Where were you when I was...," e.g. "Listening to Freddie Mercury," "So Cold I Could See My Breath," etc.).  This is not your typical screamo band.  And I guarantee that the vast majority of Emery fans have no idea just how good this band is musically.  I imagine a typical Emery fan's thought process on listening to their music goes something like this:  "Hey, catchy tune, man.  And, DUDE!  Listen to them SCREAM!  We can TOTALLY mosh to this!"

I know this because that's what people did at the concert we went to in Milwaukee this weekend.  Which, of course, is the answer to your "problems" question.  The genre Emery falls into unfortunately attracts the type of crowd who... let's just say doesn't like them for the same reasons we do.  You know, the people who don't come to a concert to listen to good music, but to bodysurf and just generally flail around throwing themselves into anyone nearby as violently as they possibly can.  I've witnessed moshing before, but NOTHING to the extent that this was.  It was so bizarre to me that I actually stood there in the middle of the concert, staring gape-mouthed at these people who obviously were not of the same species as I, flinging themselves around the room in what I can only describe as the strangest, most violent dance I have ever seen.  I really don't think I'm that sheltered, and I could.  not.  believe.  my eyes.  Once the morbid curiosity wore off (it didn't take long), my feelings changed to complete and utter annoyance -- mixed with a dash of fear for my own safety for good measure -- at how I kept getting people forcefully shoved into me by these neanderthals while I was just trying to enjoy the music.  Ugh.

Is it wrong that I was secretly (well, not so much anymore, I guess) a smidge happy when one of the idiot crowd surfers banged his head on a speaker on the way-too-low-for-such-hooliganism-ceiling?  Probably.  But I don't care.
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Wednesday, October 05, 2005
So, Kaly, will you settle for this as a wedding  present?  ;-)

Hi!  Click me!  Click me!

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Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Yes, but does he have a window?
When Josh took his job at Epic, we knew the company would be moving soon from its current spread-out-over-many-buildings-across-Madison digs to a brand spanking new campus (oh, let's face it, it's really a little city) on the edge of Verona, just southwest of Madison.  It's one of the reasons we bought a house in a small town south of Madison rather than in the city itself.  Epic's moving process was going to be very gradual, as the construction process is ongoing and will be for quite some time yet (we're talking years before it's all said and done).  But the first building was done enough to move people into last week.  Josh had initially gotten the impression that he would be among the first to move, but that eventually turned into possibly not even moving by the end of this year.

He moved last Tuesday.

It was the first day anyone moved to the new Verona site, and he was lucky enough to be included.  So not only does he have the whole moving debacle behind him and get to enjoy the new digs long before most of the employees, he's also had his 30-minute commute cut roughly in half (especially a good thing with gas prices the way they are).

While at Old Epic he was smooshed into one of those lovely cubicles many office dwellers know so well, at New Epic everyone gets their own office.  With a door and everything.  Many of the offices also have windows, but if you were hired too recently chances are you'll end up with the short end of the stick and be banished to one of the interior offices.  Was Josh there long enough to get a window?  All I'll say is it was close.

And, okay, show you pictures.

Old Epic.

New Epic.

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