3rd Quarter Updates

As we gently pass the halfway mark of 3rd quarter 2006, I thought I'd update everyone with the goings-on in our lives. I'd like to start off by saying the 3rd quarter started off well when we ran into Lance Armstrong and Matthew McConaughey in downtown Austin a few weeks ago. We didn't have the guts to disturb their dinner together, but we did order drinks and stand at the bar for an hour staring at them.

Elaina got published in the Sept. '06 release of "Neuropharmacology" which is a prestigious journal that publishes high quality research within the discipline of neuroscience. The title of her paper is, "k-Opioid receptor modulation of accumbal dopamine concentration during operant ethanol self-administration," which obviously means "We got rats drunk until they passed out, then wrote the word 'BALLS' on their foreheads and took pictures." Very interesting research. Seriously though, this is a big accomplishment for her and we are very proud of her hard work. You can search for her on PubMed by clicking here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?DB=pubmed

Also, she has finished her coursework and will spend the next 2-3 years focusing on her research. From an elated Elaina, "I never have to take another class in my life. Ever!"

I am working on my 4th week at my new job and am absolutely loving it. My role consists primarily of handling certain accounts that have purchased our software, to make sure their questions are answered and that they are fully trained. Good stuff. Also, I will soon be taking off a week of work for my MBA orientation, which officially kicks off the start of my 3 years of evening MBA classes. Many advanced apologies for not returning calls or emails.

Professor has gone about 5 weeks without using the bathroom in the house. Kudos to him for doing that. I guess the intervention really helped.
What we've learned: crate-training works.
What we haven't learned: how to keep him from jumping up on anything that moves.

That's all for the 3rd quarter '06 update!

King Kong Sucks

I'd like to start by saying we never wanted to see Peter Jackson's vomit of a remake, King Kong. However, my credit card company sent me the DVD as a free gift, and we took it as a sign to watch the movie and sell it if it sucks.

King Kong SUCKS.

I don't even know where to begin. Anyone who said this movie was "okay" must have watched a different movie--or was plain drunk. A movie over three hours should probably have three hours worth of material for it to be that long; King Kong could have been summarized in about 20 minutes, but dumbass P. Jackson decides to draw things out much, MUCH longer than anyone wants to watch.

This brings me to point #1: there is a scene where about eight (8) brontosauruses are running down a narrow path, running alongside some 30 "explorers" on this ancient "SKULL ISLAND." NONE of the explorers gets squooshed, even though it's terribly obvious nobody would live through this thing. The scene lasts for about 5 minutes too long and is completely unbelievable. The rest of the scenes in the jungle are even worse... they are chased, attacked, dropped, slammed, and flown, and barely anyone dies. Now I can suspend my disbelief like anyone else, but this was so ridiculous, I almost thought Peter Jackson was making fun of King Kong. Who would have thought this crap was a good idea?

Point #2: Peter Jackson knows how to make good actors seem like 10th grade drama students. You know it's bad when a 30 foot gorilla is the best actor in the whole movie.

I have many more points but don't want to think about this movie again. Please let me know if anyone out there thought this movie was worth watching. I'm so mad I wasted some three hours of my life on this movie.