'Save My Soul' Song

     I finished watching the History Channel series 'The Men Who Built America' with my date earlier today. I had been wondering about the theme song I kept hearing, and finally found it after an online search. The first hit wasn't it, called 'Blood on the Rails' by Silent Comedy. In the Youtube video it had clips from the series though. Eventually I found 'Save My Soul', also called the 'Main title theme'. I liked the mention of getting to Memphis in it, since I was there in 2008. It has prompted me to look up a few things being covered in it, which is a good thing. One of these was the National Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers, as there was a lawsuit between them and Henry Ford. The fifth and final 'robber baron' covered was Ford. I liked them having somebody portray President Theodore Roosevelt as well, since he looked the part. And of course Roosevelt figures into the story since he was known as 'Teddy the Trust-buster'. And the final segment covered the breakup of Rockefeller's Standard Oil.
   After watching 'The Simpsons' episode, which had some references to 'Homer's Odyssey' in it, we watched a syndicated rerun of 'Big Bang Theory'. It was one when Leonard was dating Dr. Stephanie, and insisted she hadn't moved in though Penny kept showing evidence that his girl had. Sheldon also proved to be a hypochondriac in it. I had seen the episode recently but still liked seeing it again.
   We also watched '60 Minutes', which had features about the Boston Marathon bombing, military and police dogs, and a September 11 memorial in New York City. 

Jackie Robinson '42' Movie

    I didn't drive anywhere for the past two days so I needed time to dig out my car before going anywhere this morning. It meant getting out my heavy-duty snow shovel in order to clear a path. This is what I bought the shovel for- to cut down on hearing my wheels spinning and tires smoking when trying to get around on the snow and ice. Then it was on to do laundry.
   In the late afternoon I saw the movie '42' about Jackie Robinson in St. Paul with my date, in the Highland Park section. I liked how it covered plenty of things relevant to the story, like Dodgers executive Branch Rickey speaking of how he didn't help out his catcher enough when he coached at Ohio Wesleyan. So he said he wanted to integrate the game at some point. I didn't recognize many of the actors in it aside from Harrison Ford, who played Mr. Rickey. But for those who enjoy baseball, history, or both, it was well worth seeing. It did say 'Based on a true story' so I expected a few characters and scenes to be invented for dramatic effect. This was true with Dodgers manager Leo Durocher, who was suspended but not for the reason given in the movie. Some notable players of the time were not portrayed but were mentioned, like Hank Greenberg, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, and Joe DiMaggio. Hopefully the previous biopic, called 'The Jackie Robinson Story' from 1950 where he played himself, will be more readily available on video soon like at Redbox. I had also heard of one called 'The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson' but haven't seen it. There was reference to his court-martial in this movie. I did like seeing a chalkboard in the background at one point, which said 'St. Paul' as a reminder of how St. Paul's minor league team was a Dodger affiliate then. So in many ways it was more appropriate to see it in St. Paul than, say, a suburb. Though there aren't many theaters in the city of St. Paul.

Facebook Friend Cleanup

   I got home from work and did the routine things like checking email. Then I turned on the TV in hopes of seeing the local news but the national news was on about the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspect. I left it on there for a while and eventually went to eat at Taco Bell. I like 'the box' they have there, and now there's two Doritos choices on the 'Loco Taco'- as Cool Ranch has been added. 
   During this time I decided to clean up my list of Facebook friends. I was able to eliminate more than 5 percent just by clearing out the inactive accounts! I hadn't looked at the list in a while. When I did a cleanup before I cleared out those friends where I didn't recognize their names. Now when I add somebody I have to know them or have mutual friends, like from comedy. One comedian friend, the showrunner at one venue, responded to it right away about still being here, and then BOOM! Earlier he had suggested that I eat at Domino's Pizza as there was a joke on his comment thread about Domino's while watching the coverage of the manhunt.
   When I was having lunch at the Erbert Gerbert sandwich shop the TV was tuned to CNN and the sound was off but closed-captioning was on. There were updates about the manhunt in Boston. In the background, and I don't know for sure where it came from, I was hearing some music- 'ET' by Katy Perry and Kanye West. For some reason it seemed appropriate for the news that was being covered, since the beat was loud and fast. When I hear the song now I will likely connect it to this event. I fell asleep and missed the ending of 'Nightline' on ABC tonight but I think a big part of their show tonight was about the manhunt. This is typical whenever there is a big news story.

Winter Weather Drill

    I had just returned from lunch this afternoon at work and then there was a winter weather drill. I had a hard time taking it seriously as I knew a tornado was unlikely when snow was falling. I said I was taking my box of popcorn with me. The news said there would also be one in the evening, and there was.
   After taking the bus home from work I stayed in due to the snow. I watched 3 episodes of 'Big Bang Theory'. I think all of them were reruns, even the two in primetime. The syndicated rerun was nice to see, as it was the one that started me watching it regularly during its first season in 2007. It was when Sheldon and Leonard broke into their neighbor Penny's apartment to clean it after being entrusted with a package delivery. I had fallen asleep in my easy chair while watching the news and this is what was on. The first episode in primetime was the one where Sheldon and friends all end up in human resources after Sheldon throws them under a bus. The second was after 'Two and a half men'. It was when Howard was in space and Sheldon doesn't want to keep a secret from Leonard. He later tells Penny 'Don't hurt my friend'.
   After this I decided to read some more from the papers. I had a City Pages from late March and early April, and the cover story was about baseball's fiscal cliff. They made a big deal about the sharp drop in TV ratings for the World Series since 1980. There was also mention in a small article about how the Twin Cities is the 6th best pizza town in America, with mention of 'Punch Pizza', which I have had a few times. In the back was 'Savage Love', an advice column about sexual issues.
   Now for the Minneapolis paper from earlier this month. There was a big front page article about the death of movie critic Roger Ebert. A small article was about pardoning the Scottsboro boys. The political cartoon was about Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann facing ethics charges. A letter to the editor said Eisenhower should we warning us again about the 'Military industrial complex'- about how a big American export is weapons and not electronics. In the sports section was articles about basketball coaches, the new Gopher coach Richard Pitino and Wolves coach Rick Adelman. The latter was closing in on 1,000 career wins, and would be the 8th to reach this plateau. There was also mention of Siebert Field, the new Gopher baseball venue, and I did get to one game on opening weekend. It's rare for college baseball to get media attention in many areas. Another was about Wichita State reaching the Final Four, and their 1981 team had Xavier McDaniel on it. I knew he was somebody who guest starred on a basketball episode of 'The Bundys' (or: Married with Children). In movies, there was a writeup about Brad Cooper's latest, 'A place beyond the pines'. Carolyn Hax was on vacation, so readers were giving advice. In business, the union hall near the former Ford plant will now be a bike shop. The funny columnist had a ranting about going on vacation, asking if he left the iron on. It was also about stopping services like the mail and newspapers. In many ways I 'held serve' by getting one Friday paper read. I would have liked reading more, but at least I'm not falling behind like before. It's more manageable now, as there are just two editions waiting.  

Fake Hundred Dollar Bill

     I made it to 3 different Superamerica convenience stores today after work. First one was to get fuel, then on to my old neighborhood for dinner before the dental appointment. The third was after the comedy show. They are everywhere in the Twin Cities.
   The show went well, I tried some new material like one about a fake hundred dollar bill I picked up at lunchtime. I said I had nothing to lose, so it was odd that it said 'Nobody would drop one, the joke is in your hand'.
   I got some kind of bonus of nearly $20 in my E-Rewards survey account, so I already have the survey money I need to dump miles into my frequent flyer account when eligible in a few days. I have to wait at least 30 days of course between awards. I tried to click on it when seeing the listing but still not sure how I got it as I don't recall seeing such a bonus before.
   I saw a former colleague at the office, it was nice seeing a familiar face. He is in underwriting again. This was somebody I recalled sharing laughs with before, as he thought it was funny that there was a town called 'Dickeyville' in Wisconsin. There's a grotto in that town and then I had to explain what a grotto is: a man-made religious shrine that looks like a cave. I needed his help as 'Underwriter of the day' on a loan from this town. So I often called him 'Grotto Boy'. I was fairly good at recapping the past few years. This included my move to the vault at the end on 2006, along with getting into comedy less than two years later. And how the passing of an underwriter in 2008 was one factor to send me into comedy. Hopefully I will see him in passing again soon. This was as I went out at lunchtime to take a walk and drop off some mail. Looks like the new downtown post office will have a 'Grand opening' event with VIPs like the mayor, later this month.

Boston Comedian Friend

    I was checking Facebook tonight after being at the comedy club and saw an update from a comedian friend in Boston, who is attending college there. He said he's fine, at home studying. It was in response to those who expressed concern after the bombings at the Boston Marathon. My hat is off to him as he started comedy really early in life, while still in high school.
   I saw the first night of a contest at the comedy club. I was in this contest last year. I knew two of the three who advanced. I liked getting a shoutout from the show runner, who called himself 'the Michael Jordan of shoutouts'. There was one comic who basically fell on his sword since he was doing jokes about the Boston Marathon, which was too soon. He was booed, and when he left the stage it was to the tune of 'Hit the road, Jack'. It doesn't surprise me much how some are willing to try jokes like these, but I won't laugh at them. After the show I did go get a paper which is not typical for a non-Friday, but I tend to for big news stories. The front page of the St. Paul paper said 'No who, no why, just chaos'. There were two articles that started on the front page and had continuations. An online article spoke of the other tragedies that have happened in the month of April, such as Waco, Oklahoma City, Columbine, and Virginia Tech.
   The Lady Gaga gift tags I ordered arrived earlier today, I like having them. I plan on moving them to the office. When I was emailed recently about the merchandise available, it was the only thing that appealed to me. Already have some of Lady Gaga's CDs, as well as a program from the concert. And I didn't want a poster or a shirt. 

Fitted Sheet Replaced

   After I was at the comedy club tonight, I went to Target and got a replacement for a fitted sheet that had ripped. It may not match on color but I could care less. My sets have been mix and match already. It was nice to get a Velcro bag to go with it, easier for storage. I think I got the one I needed to replace at a Marshall Field's sale, before they changed the name to Macy's. So this had already been a little while, about seven years. I decided to take my time weighing the options and even a clerk in the aisle noticed, asking if I needed any help but I said no. If I want a full set of bedsheets later on I can get them. But I don't spend much on this particular kind of household item.
   In the afternoon I first heard the news about the bombs at the Boston Marathon, when a colleague, the lollipop girl, spoke of it to another colleague. So I went into the breakroom for a few minutes to find out what had happened. I said I'm hopeful they find who did it.
  Before I made it over to the comedy club tonight, I did see the clerk at Superamerica had a neck tattoo, and it did make me think of a fellow comic who has one as he does a joke about it. But it was on the other side of her neck compared to his. When I arrived I spoke of this, saying just about anything now makes me think of a joke I've heard.
   One of the newer comics tried to do a joke about sports team names that wasn't funny at all, as it was a cheap joke about shootings in Colorado- along with abortion. Before the show I did see the ESPN newswire which proved how big a deal the bombing at the Boston Marathon is. Multiple sporting events have been postponed or canceled- Bruins hockey and Celtics basketball. The Red Sox baseball game apparently finished before the bombs went off. The Red Sox like to be home on Patriots Day, which marks the start of the American Revolution.