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This is not a video but it is kind of funny.

Check out this totally awesome magazine ad for a Mercedes 380 SL Convertible from 1985.

Oh wait, my bad. That’s actually me right before I went to prom. Props to my Uncle Bob for funding my wheels that weekend which was very cool.

I really liked that car. I wonder how much one would cost today?

And 5 minutes later, the answer is…. anywhere from $4000 to $29.000.

I’m thinking the gas mileage is probably not too great but how cool would I look driving around in that thing?  Now I just need to go buy a mullet wig.

So I was reading my Entertainment Weekly which comes every, um, week and I read that this famous author, David Foster Wallace, had died.   He suffered from severe depression and reportedly went off his medication because of side effects and committed suicide.

Now, admittedly, my nightstand has been rather bare over the past few years with the exception of the occasional Harry Potter book or Stephen King novel and so I had no idea who David Foster Wallace was.  But I checked out some of his articles online and enjoyed what I read and so I went to the library and got Infinite Jest. Wow. Nearly a thousand pages but I am going to give it a try and so if you don’t see for a few days, call the paramedics.  I am trapped under a hardcover novel.

And that brings us to this week’s quote:

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
~ Joseph Addison  ~

So I finally got around to watching a movie that I wanted to see at the theater but didn’t:
SpeedRacer! It was produced and directed by the same guys that did the Matrix.  And I was expecting corny dialogue, some bad acting and awesome visuals.

This is my angry face!

And that’s exactly what I got.

Seriously cool racing scenes.  A friend of mine described the special effects like a “a rainbow that threw up on the screen.” Hey, I thought it was cool.

PLOT: Hey, it’s Speed Racer, come on! You’ve seen the cartoon, right?

Speed’s older brother “dies” in a fiery collision and Speed follows in his footsteps. Ultimate race at the end to help show that cheaters never win.

OVERALL: Another movie that really pops on HD.  By the way, I don’t have an HD DVD player. (or Blu-Ray, for that matter).  But I do have a progressive DVD Player using component connections and I tell you, it looks great on an HD TV. Anyway, the racing is the best part and fortunately, that’s most of the movie.  If you were a fan of the cartoon, you will enjoy picking out all of the details that Wachowski brothers got right, including the CHa-Cha-Cha sound that the Mach 5 car makes when you push that jump button.

RENT IT: Just for the racing scenes. Very cool.

UPDATE: In its opening weekend, the film grossed $18,561,337 from around 6,700 screens at 3,606 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking third at the box office behind Iron Man (in its second weekend) and What Happens in Vegas… (a new release).^[58] In its second weekend, the film grossed $8,117,459 and ranked #4 at the box office. The results were well below studio expectations^[59], given that production costs of Speed Racer are estimated to be about $120 million USD.^[60] Despite the low box office numbers, Warner Brothers remains optimistic about sales of associated products ranging from toys to tennis shoes.

I am still looking for a red Speed Racer ascot.

• It’s getting dark at 7:15. I saw a bunch of peewee football players still on the field practicing at 7:30. Uh, coach, I think it’s time to stop when you can’t see the ball and it hits you in the face.
• Daylight saving time ends on Nov. 2 this year.
• Bell sophomore team won. Go Bell!
• I can’t believe the horned frogs won last night. Go TCU!  My son and I went to Broncos Sports Bar( after his game) in Hurst to check out some of the purple frogs.  30 screens in the place and they were all on baseball or hockey.  And no hostess in sight. No waitresses. Just a bunch of bored patrons drinking beer and smoking cigarettes.   Woohoo.  I’m not even sure I saw a bartender. Hey guys, when you have a TCU banner up on the wall and you advertise yourself as a sports bar, you might want to check and see if a local college thats ranked in the top 25 is playing that night.
• My sister pointed out that it’s Irvine, CA not Irving.  My bad.  Too many years of doing traffic and typing Irving on the TV CG or producer’s report.
• Missed the SNL thursday night show. Was it funny?
• Just got Speed Racer, The Movie in on Netflix. I am strangely psyched to see it.
• Cool weather rocks.  Not cold. Just cool.
• My dog needs a butt operation.  That’s right, I said butt. He’s got a little growth that’s near his bottom and it’s not going away and I think I probably should get it taken care of. ( not cancer- I already spent $185 determining that it wasn’t earlier this year)
• Ordered a year’s worth of contacts for my son thru his eye doctor. I buy a year’s worth and get a 50 dollar rebate.  The company accidentally sent me 4 years worth of contacts.  I got a sheepish call from the eye doctor today asking if I would kindly return 3 years back. I said it sounds like I am in good shape until he goes to college.  There was lots of nervous laughter on the phone.

I normally post a funny video on Thursday but yesterday I was going through some files and I came across a picture of a strikingly handsome young man doing his impression of Tom Cruise from the movie Risky Business at some sort of high school talent show where the teachers made him wear camouflage shorts under his long sleeve button down.

Yeah, that’s me. Back in 1985. Where did all the hair time go?

Here’s a clip from the movie in case you forgot the scene.

I have done more travelling (spell-check is saying it’s one “l” but that doesn’t look right to me and dictionary .com says it can be spelled both ways) for this job in 3 months than I did in my previous job for 3 years.  And next month I am headed out to Chicago,  LA (Irvine, CA to be more specific) and back to lovely Baltimore which is where this week’s picture comes from:

I always clean my horse with fire.

So, I have about 30 minutes to kill after my co-worker and I checked out this fancy art museum where my company is having a fancy award ceremony next month.  It’s actually quite extraordinary (The Walters Art Museum) and I was very impressed with their collection.  Now the museum is located in an area called Mt. Vernon place and the Washington Monument.  Well, not THE Washington Monument (which I visited back in June) but the original and first Washington monument seen here:As I was walking towards that monument I came across a guy in a cherry picker lighting up a bright flame and scraping the underside of a horse.  Not a real horse, of course, of course,  but rather a statue that was in need of a little “fall” cleaning.  Now, I am not sure if this statue is also Washington but I thought it would make a cool shot and I only wish I had one of those telephoto lens so I could get in real close with the details.  In fact, as soon as I saw it, my first thought was, “Hey, there’s my Wednesday picture day shot!”

Here is this week’s quote:

“Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he/she wants to do it.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower

That is so true. That quote actually reminds me of another quote that I remember that said “a sale is simply a transfer of enthusiasm. ” Hey you get two quotes for the price of one today.  Being able to impart your vision to someone and have them want to take that vision and improve upon it, I believe, is the mark of a good leader.

Hey, it’s Friday. Been one of those weird short/long weeks for me because I was out of town in the middle of the week experiencing a train ride gone bad and a flight back to Dallas involving a 3 year old and a 5 year old who sat right in front of me.

Yea! The words, “My ears still hurt” continue to echo in my head. (that’s what the cute little 3 year old girl kept repeating.)   As a parent, I have sympathy for those with kids- I have been there. But seriously “Lady Who Thinks It’s Funny”, get your kid to stop kicking the seat in front of her, give her some gum and tell her to be quiet and stop repeating the same phrase over and over again. I’ma  grumpy old man! Grady Niblo!

Oh and the train ride? A one hour ride from Wash DC to Baltimore ended up taking about 2 1/2 hours because of something?  Track humping? Huh? Sounds dirty to me.  I kid you not, for about half the ride, I could have jumped off the train and ran faster. And it wasn’t even a nice train like DART or the TRE. It was called MARC. Must Always Ride Congested.  Hah- I just made that up. Genius! Maybe not.  On with the random thoughts!

• I wish we had a Legal Seafood Restaurant in DFW. Awesome crab cake.  Just wow.
• Heroes on NBC is fun to watch but I don’t really get into it like I used to.
• I went to an acting class last weekend and I really had a good time.
• I am afraid to look at my 401(k) from my last job. I have yet to transfer it to my new job.
• Somebody advised me 2 years ago that I should buy gold. Wish I had listened.
• I really really love Tina Fey’s impression of Sara Palin.
• I don’t want my blog to get political.  So there you go again, Joe! You betcha!
• I have watched every Scrubs episode at least 4 times.
• Who had Pacman Jones would get in trouble by the 4th game? I missed it by two games. Dang!
• I grew my goatee back. If I fill in for Chip again, I am not going to shave unless somebody at Fox asks me to.  That’s right, I am sticking it to the MAN! Take that establishment!
• One of the big VPs at my company has a goatee so I don’t have to worry about them saying anything.
• There is a chance I might be in LA, Chicago, Baltimre and Miami in the next 2 months.
• I need to buy one of those cool little “I’m a “business traveller” rolling suitcase thingie that fits in the overhead bin.
• My 2 year old iPod can’t hold a charge if I watch videos. It only lasts about an hour. I know, life is rough.

Okay, cool website to visit is here: Lifehacker
Rock on and have a safe weekend! Oh and a new poll on the right side. Take 2 seconds and pick an answer, would ya?