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Heath

I dunno if Heath is going to win the Best Actor award, but what an amazing performance he made in the Batman film. He completely transformed himself into the Joker. He stole the movie. (Yeah, the movie has been out for a while, and all the buzz has already happened.... But it turns out the buzz was warranted.) Too bad the party is over for him.

What do you think?

Posted: Dec 18 2008, 12:23 AM by jimblizzard | with no comments
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80 degrees and a cool breeze

The weather the past couple of days has been absolutely amazing. I have a bad case of spring fever. I hope to take some vacation days starting tomorrow and get outside & enjoy this while it lasts. One conference call on the schedule in the morning then school's out!

I got outside around lunchtime for a little while today: warm sunshine with a light, cool breeze, partly-cloudy but mostly blue skies. Now this is the way it should be all the time.

Looks like we're in store for a couple more sweet days. Time to hang up the "gone fishin" sign.

Miss the PDC?

If you liked DevDays, you'll love the MDC.

Follow the link to find a city near you.

http://www.msdndevcon.com/Pages/start.aspx 

Be there or be square.

Interesting to see where the money came from...

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I hope you took the opportunity to vote. Can't wait to sit back tonight with a bag of popcorn, a beer, and the TV, to watch the analysts dance and dance.

patterns & practices Guidance Explorer

Do you have the p&p Guidance Explorer?

You should.

It contains tons of practical guidance from the p&p team. All in one convenient location.

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The future of Team System

Take a peek today:

Line 'em up

Fay.

Gustav.

Hanna.

Ike.

Josephine.

It's the tropical storm busy season - and this year has had a bumper crop. The folks in south Florida have had a difficult time focusing on anything but the storms that have been rolling in every few days.

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Fortunately it looks like Hanna is going to stay to the east east enough to miss Florida, but NA / SC aren't out of the woods yet. Still to early to tell what's going to happen with Ike & Josephine. . .

We found out last week that at our new place when we lose power we also lose our water. And our well doesn't have one of those old-time pump handles. I have some fresh water stockpiled, but that's not going to help with baths & toilets. (I suppose the pool would work for bathing. ;) ) . Need to consider some type of emergency generator for the house (besides the little one that I bought when we first moved to FL 3 years ago).

Hurricane Gustav and TS Hanna

Poor New Orleans is right there in the center of the bulls eye for Gustav. Forecasted to make landfall sometime early morning to the west of New Orleans, it is expected to grow to a category 4 hurricane.

Ouch.

MSNBC has a nice interactive tracking program here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26295161/

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And we really shouldn't forget about little Tropical Storm Hanna. It's been biding its time out in the Atlantic, slowly creeping westward towards the Bahamas, well under the radar with Gustav getting all the attention. But, the forecast is bringing it mighty close to south Florida.

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Could this be a huge 1-2 punch for LA and FL?

Bowling part 2 (TS Fay makes landfall)

Fay hit the state for a second time this morning a little bit south of Ft. Myers. The good news (for Tampa folks anyway) is that it seems to be drifting more to the east as it heads north.

We haven't had a drop of rain from it yet. So far the prevailing wind keeps shearing the rain eastward as it tries to approach Tampa. The forecast still predicts a bunch of rain, but looks like Fay isn't going to make it beyond a TS.

No complaints here.

 

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Joe Healy has a bunch of good weather links on his site if you're interested in seeing what the latest looks like.

Bowling?

Hmmm. Tampa is usually one of the gutters in the Gulf of Mexico Hurricane Bowling Alley. But this time, it appears as though we're right in the pocket for (currently) Tropical Storm Fay.

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Old school tennis

Around noon our cable TV went out. It's still out now, 3.5 hours later. And today the Wimbledon men's singles final is being played. As a result, I pressure washed the lanai and pool area.

I found Wimbledon Radio online and during rest breaks I've been able to catch a number of points - including the 4th set tiebreaker. British accents calling the match, fans ooh-ing and aah-ing, players (well, Nadal) grunting, the sound of the rackets striking the ball.

I've finished the pressure washing, taken a bath, and am sitting on the couch listening to the match. They're on serve in the 5th set, with Federer serving at 4-4.

Update: Well, Nadal took the match, 9-7 in the 5th set. Amazing tennis from what I heard on the "radio" and have read online. Sad I couldn't have watched more of it, but the sounds of the match will be with me for a while. Called the cable TV company - a technician won't be out until Tuesday morning.

Update2: Just found videos of the 4th set tiebreaker and the entire 5th set on NBCSports.com. Wow.

Posted: Jul 06 2008, 05:38 PM by jimblizzard | with no comments
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Closing in on July 4 and the Rays...

Are back in first place again. The new stadium initiative has died (again), but the Rays continue their winning ways. Last night they took the second game in a series against Boston.

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That's the best record in MLB right now. The All Star break is just around the corner. How long can they keep it up?

Afternoon thunderstorms

I love living in Tampa. One of the reasons? The almost daily afternoon thunderstorms that roll through for an hour or so then go away. Right now the sky is almost pitch black, the thunder is rolling, and the rain is about to come down in buckets.

Dancing

My wife and I like to watch "Dancing with the stars" and "So you think you can dance." This season's SYTYCD has been a bit under-whelming. (Not enough Mia Michaels choreography for one thing.)

But on tonight's show, there was a very moving dance to "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis. Great song. Great interpretation by the choreographers. And marvelous dancing by the couple. They showed such emotion.

Glad I had it recorded on my DVR. I've watched it over and over this evening.

Here it is on YouTube. (The dance itself starts about 2:37 into the video.) http://youtube.com/watch?v=ovjAuBuepVA

Posted: Jun 26 2008, 02:36 AM by jimblizzard | with no comments
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PDC early registration now open!

http://www.microsoftpdc.com/

Posted: May 28 2008, 03:40 PM by jimblizzard | with no comments
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