Game Theory

The theater guy spoke of how one of his friends said they didn't like the TV show 'Big Bang Theory' saying it was too simplified. This friend's craft is in the sciences. Then he reminded the friend of what he called 'game theory', about wanting to appeal to as many people as possible. It was the trump card. When I spoke of how a couple I had hoped to see a movie with had already seen it he said it was 'lame sauce'. I hadn't really heard either term before.
   Tonight I did something that wasn't typical, as I saw just part of the comedy show I attended. I went out to call my dad as I prefer to do so within 24 hours after getting a voicemail. When I was on the bus checking messages, I noticed he called me last night when I was at the club. He wanted to know if I was traveling to Iowa for the Thanksgiving holiday, I said no. He also told me my sister has plenty of 'livestock', didn't know what he meant. Found out she has 3 dogs and 3 cats now apparently, I didn't know it was that many now. One would think that it would be too hard to take care of so many pets.
   After the show I went to a Superamerica to get some puffcorn, I like how it's available when popcorn isn't. When I came out and was about to get into my car I noticed off in the distance how a raccoon was feasting from the dumpster. It may have been far away from me, but I couldn't take my eye off of the critter.
   I've been trying harder to keep track of my loyalty programs as I've acquired some more lately. To the best of my knowledge, I have seven. Some I use more often than others. I use Superamerica the most since I need food and fuel. All of them currently have balances except Erbert Gerbert sandwiches as I had just reached the standard for redemption: buy 10 sandwiches and get number 11 free. I don't keep all of the cards on me as it would be too hard to do. One of these is Best Buy, as I don't go there much. I have been offered a loyalty card with Walgreen, twice so far, but haven't accepted yet. I want to know that what I commonly buy there, namely soap and toilet paper, are eligible items. It's a free card, so I may eventually decide to have it. But I prefer to be educated about the benefits in advance.
  I will admit that I do shop fairly often at Walgreen, as they have plenty of small items that I like and not just soap and toilet paper. I also like doing photos there and they have a nice seasonal candy section. I may end up discovering plenty of items are eligible. When it was most recently offered to me I said I didn't get pharmaceuticals much and was unsure what else was eligible. But this is just a small part of what they do. There's even a Rebox movie kiosk at most locations I've been to.

Wireless Microphones

The theater guy likes telling stories, and I like hearing them. When I spoke of my Planned Parenthood visit he said he once ordered a shipment of condoms from them. I then had to ask what the need was, and he said it helped with preventing wireless microphones from shorting out if the mics are wrapped in them. Sounded like the performers were fine with it. He also said at first it was sent to student life, as he did theater in college at Mankato State. When he picked them up he said he went through 20 of them a night. Which sounds crazy without qualifying it like he did with me.
   When I arrived at the comedy club tonight, I found out it was no joke when a friend said his folks were there in the crowd. He even made references to them in his routine. I liked being able to meet them after the show. Since he was show closer it means he will be there all week, and I am hopeful to make it to one of the shows.
   Other notable things was deciding to cut in half three CDs or DVDs I had no use for, all of them were given to me. One had the ABC affiliate's 2009 fall lineup on it, which I got at the State Fair. The other two were from a band called Profuse that I saw at Canadian Days in Little Canada. Not sure the year, maybe it was my first year, which was 2004. I recalled how one of them didn't play at all so a replacement was sent to me. I had wanted to move some more CDs into a nice folio many of the others were in. Though there still may be more that I can part with due to lack of use, including those that were free samples sent to me in the mail. I got those from a college-level course catalog.
   I just converted some more of my survey money, dumping 500 more miles into my Delta Airlines frequent flyer account. I had to wait 30 days from the last one, and have $25. Well the 30 days had just passed today, and I just had enough after answering a short survey. So now the survey balance is down to 22 cents. Since the surveys yielded less than last month, it might be slightly more than 30 days until I dump more miles again. I know this has happened before, but I do my best to answer every survey right away or otherwise it might close real early and I get nothing. 
  Also notable today was seeing the grouch on the bus. Except she actually tried to make conversation this time instead of jsut complain to everyone. She spoke to a woman who was studying to be an LPN and had a child with her.

Bangles Song 'Manic Monday'

I was driving home from the comedy club tonight and heard the Bangles song 'Manic Monday'. Nothing unusual there, except it was repeated and then it sounded like some type of system malfunction. It seemed to be an appropriate song for many people out there. Hadn't heard it in a while, found it on an oldies station.
   The day didn't start out well, as I was on my way to the office and about to go inside when I slipped and fell. I was asked if I was all right, I said 'just my pride' and got up and went on my way. Winter arrived this morning, making it more slippery.
   After work I went to an open house at the new Planned Parenthood facility in St. Paul. I got the invitation in the mail as I am a contributor. There were cookies and two different floors. I arrived during the final 30 minutes, likely why I heard from one official 'Take as many cookies as you want.' But I decided on having just two, along with some milk.
   I liked how there was plenty of art there on the wall, some was outdoor scenes and others were pictures of people like family photos. In one room there were kids coloring in a page that looked like the new building. Contributors were listed in the hall and near the front desk. There was even a  mention of Governor Mark Dayton receiving an award. I got a picture of it and the sign out front.
   I get to go onstage at the comedy club tonight, I was number 7 in the lineup. I like how I'm farther down now when chosen. It went fairly well but I could tell my voice was slipping a little, likely due to finishing my drink too soon. But for some it was hard to tell, as I did get many laughs. I notice how jokes about my dad go well, so I did two of those and I did try one about falling this morning.

Ike LaRue Books

This weekend I got another Ike LaRue book. I already had 'Detective LaRue' but now I have 'Dear Mrs. LaRue'. I think it is so funny that there's a children's book series with a dog personified, especially this way. 'Dear' was about the dog being sent to obedience school, 'Detective' was about the dog solving his own mystery about why he was in jail, being accused of abducting the neighbor cats. According to my online research, there are at least four books in this series by Mark Teague. There is also one about the dog running for mayor, and another about sending postcards home from traveling all over America. There are many things on my list to get, hard to say where this one ranks.
   I went with my date to an art event this afternoon, and I told myself that I could easily do what the performers were doing. Many of them just weren't that good at all at public speaking, The first wasn't speaking directly into the microphone. Another was tripping over words and pretty much stuttering despite being in college, and another said 'and, um' a lot. Comedy is public speaking, so I have plenty of experience in this area.
   Before leaving for this event we did watch a Halloween episode of 'Little House' on DVD. It was one where Laura thought she saw a woman's head being cut off, but it was just a mannequin.
   I did watch some of the Bears-Texans football game on NBC tonight, the Texans won 13-6. I still had some errand running to do, like dishes trash and recycle along with groceries. Also decided to do more of the 'picture shuffle' as I just had acquired another photo album. It meant deciding to shred 9 more pictures as they were too dark to see what was in it or redundant and irrelevant. This was true of getting multiple pictures of welcome signs from stockyard days in New Brighton in 2007. Quality over quantity is what I want to stress. I'm moving right along on it, as I have pictures moved up through August 2007. I'm in the middle of those from my vacation in Seattle that month. Still hopeful to get the 'school binder type' photo album eliminated soon and have nearly every photo I know of to be in an album somewhere. But I still have a ways to go, as the 'binder' is the 8th album.

Embassy Suites- MSP Airport

Went to a conference today at Embassy Suites hotel near MSP Airport. I got a postcard there of the hotel in the gift shop. There are four smaller images on it. The first is the hotel as it looks like outside, then what a room looks like, the indoor pool, and finally the eating area in the middle. I got a picture of the hotel outside during a break, at lunchtime. I saw the pool as well but didn't go into the pool room. I liked seeing plenty of good art at the bar, such as of Met Stadium in Bloomington when the Twins were in the World Series in 1965. In addition, there was some of the last event at the Met, a Vikings game. One image showed fans stripping the scoreboard for souvenirs. I know other places in this area of town have these reminders, even though the Mall of America is on the site of Met Stadium and Ikea is on the site of Met Center where the NHL's North Stars played.  
  At one point I was paying attention to seeing a critter on the table, a ladybug if I'm not mistaken. So I got up and killed it, crushed it with my napkin. Plenty of food there, first with breakfast pastries and then bars, brownies,and cookies during and after lunch. Had to pace myself, waited until I was leaving to get the big cookie. I told myself to wait to have the second Dairy Queen Blizzard treat for another day after having all of these sweets.
   In the evening I did see my date, we stayed in and watched a DVD. I had found one at the library that looked catchy called 'The Winning Season'. According to my online searches it was a made for TV movie from 2004. I liked the premise to it, how a Honus Wagner baseball card led to a boy being sent back in time to the 1909 World Series where Wagner's Pittsburgh Pirates played the Detroit Tigers. Ty Cobb was a villain in it, no surprise there. Since it was a fantasy movie, it did remind me of the likes of 'Field of Dreams', 'Back to the Future', and 'It's a Wonderful Life'. I could tell that the baseball cards used were replicas, as the image looked way more like the actor playing Wagner, which was Matthew Modine.

Marlon Brando Movie 'Wild One'

Last night I picked up a movie from the library, it was 'Wild One' starring Marlon Brando. In the early evening I watched it and I liked the story in it, about the main character falling for the local lawman's daughter. The song of the same name was not in the movie. For some reason I expected it to be, as it is played a lot in other movies like 'Crocodile Dundee 2'. Whenever they're at a biker bar it seems appropriate. Also liked seeing Lee Marvin as Brando's rival.
  I had hoped to return it to the library right away tonight, but the electronically-controlled dropbox was unavailable. It did feel a little like a wasted trip, but I needed to eat and had eaten before getting there. I went to Little Canada, a town I lived in for a year when first moving to the Twin Cities, and ate at a Taco John's. I started trying to think of if I had any old haunts there, but I'm not sure at all. I often went to the malls and libraries in nearby towns- Maplewood and Roseville. In Little Canada it is helpful to know Rice Street, as many businesses are on this street. I had eaten at the Arby's and McDonald's but it seemed like I enjoyed the A and W drivein more. And the A and W has been closed for a while. When I drove past it tonight there is no longer a 'for sale' sign up, but it is still empty aside from one car parked in the lot.
   I had the day off from work to attend a Roosevelt mentoring event at the U. of Minnesota. I had wanted to take the bus and light rail there, but decided to drive in as the first leg- the bus- was 10 minutes late.
   Upon arrival on campus, I decided to go to Mariucci Arena first to get a hockey ticket for a game later this season. I had inquired about how many accounts there were, and said I was fine with having them merged. It was largely due to being locked out of one account, being unable to remember my password, so I just created another account. I did eventually see how they merged the accounts, and it had plenty of events in the order history like the 'Great Conversations' series. One time I saw ex-VP Walter Mondale speak as part of 'Conversations'.
    It was a fairly straightforward event, hearing an admissions rep speak. Then there was lunch, earlier than I am used to as it was before 11:30am. After that there was a scavenger hunt to find various landmarks on campus. After the mentors were dismissed I did stay around to look at the bookstore to see if there were any nice souvenirs. Already had plenty of postcards of the university so I didn't get any more. But I did like a magnet I saw and three little buttons, including one button saying 'Put on your big girl panties and deal with it'.
   Before watching 'Millionaire' and Jeopardy' I did do some errand running, stopping at the post office to get a greeting card. I like how they have some with 'Charlie Brown and Snoopy' themes. I already had three, two were of Snoopy- one blue and one orange-  and the third a Linus. Also saw a Lucy, so I bought that one today. But I didn't see one for Charlie Brown. I tried going online for the listed company but it was hard to find anything in particular. There's a quote on the front, and on the back it speaks of when the character was introduced to the comic strip and some of their personality traits. After this I went to Walgreen and got a frame for the Charlie Brown and Linus postcard that arrived this week. It might have been a little too big at 5X7 but I prefer this over too small. Nothing wrong with seeing a little white space surrounding it, like another frame for it.

Robin Williams and Homer Simpson

Normally I watch 'Nightline' on ABC but when I found out Robin Williams and Homer Simpson would be on 'Letterman' on CBS I watched Letterman instead. Both are favorites and made me laugh, no surprise there. Homer was helping Letterman with the Top Ten list. Robin Williams did an extended interview, hard to keep up with his high-energy comedy. I knew this from seeing his show at Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota in 2008. He had jokes about his travel being diverted due to the hurricane, about kids he saw wanting halloween candy, visiting a bed and breakfast for a wedding anniversary, and a Marlon Brando impression from Brando doing an acting class apparently. I still like any reminders of those connected to my favorite movie, 'Good Will Hunting', which Williams was in.
   I had basically run out of food as I didn't want to eat a can of soup, it was all that was left. So I went to the grocery store and got a meal tonight for real cheap- 2 burritos and a bag of chips for $1.84. I knew I had enough pocket change for that much. I watched two episodes of 'Big Bang Theory' tonight- a syndicated rerun and then a prime-time first-run episode- then went to the library to print some things. The first-run episode had recurring guest stars Levar Burton and Wil Wheaton on it, as both had been regulars on 'Star Trek' shows.
   I'm starting to look like a big shot! I was surprised to get an invitation for a free membership from Enterprise Rentacar. It's for access to 1,200 global business lounges with a company called Regus. It says it can be used to 'Stay in touch with your office and clients.' Well I really don't have any clients, but I do like knowing I may have a place where I can check email for free while out of town. It looks like they have locations in the Twin Cities, once the member card arrives I may want to check out one of these nearby lounges.
   I know some of this is likely due to my Enterprise loyalty membership finally being activated this week. I also got an invite to POPs (Popular Opinions Prevail) from Enterprise, where I can 'view surveys and discussions'. Wonder if it means it's another way I can earn points in my membership account, that would be nice.
  Speaking of 'The Simpsons' I liked the syndicated rerun I saw tonight. It was the one where ex-President Bush (41) became a neighbor to the Simpsons. It ended with another ex-President, Gerald Ford, inviting Homer over to watch the football game, and both tripped.