Journeys of Jack Tripper

Posted by Timothy at 09:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

SunTrust building, downtown Tampa, Thursday night.

Posted by Timothy at 08:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of my favorite professors at OU has been murdered.

At Ohio, seniors are required to take what's called a "Tier III," which is one of only a handful of classes offered each quarter that are "synthesis" classes; while they focus on one particular subject, they are designed to incorporate knowledge from a variety of fields and culminate in a capstone project that has both collaborative and individual aspects.

My Tier III was with Dr. Bebb, and it was titled The Renaissance through Machiavelli. It synthesized literature, politics, and history and was an amazing class -- we focused on The Prince of course, but my favorite part of the class was reading Machiavelli's comedy play La Mandragola in the original Italian. It was a memorable class, one held in blistering-hot Ellis hall in the Spring... I seem to recall it being the only class I earned an A in that term.

What's really sad is that police are investigating his son, an OU grad student, as the murderer.

Really sad.

Posted by Timothy at 11:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The Grapefruit Gal and I were watching TV the other night -- barely paying attention, really -- when I recognized immediately a song that was playing during this Jeep ad:

Yes, that's Steve Poltz, with whom I've been interacting in some fashion for several years now. That's the first single from his album Chinese Vacation, by the way, and you should totally buy it.

So that was pretty amazing, and I hope Steve makes lots of money on the deal. But it gets better! The other night during The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, I caught this Volvo ad:

That is, of course, the unmistakable voice of Stephin Merritt, whom you might know from the Magnetic Fields or other projects.

The question, of course, that is raised regards whether these two gentlemen, whom I admire greatly, are "sellouts."

I don't feel that way, but others on the blogosphere disagree.

Posted by Timothy at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

That's a huge deal, especially to me, and even bigger to other people. It will be ignored by the media, and the few sources that do report it will be speaking to an audience of Americans who have no idea what it means.

No idea whatsoever.

Posted by Timothy at 02:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Time won't stand by forever if I know it's true
And I've learned not to say never
Or else I'll seem the fool
Twenty-nine you'd think I'd know better
Living like a kid
When my lies may seem less than clever
Is when I fall for it
Only time will tell if wishing wells
Can bring us anything
Or fade like scenes from childhood dreams
Forgotten memories
Some rides don't have much of a finish
That's the ride I took
Through good and bad and straight through indifference
Without a second look
There's no intentions worthy of mention
If we never try
So hang your hopes on rusted-out hinges
Take 'em for a ride
Only time will tell if wishing wells
Can bring us anything
Or fade like scenes from childhood dreams
Forgotten memories
Only time will tell...

Posted by Timothy at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

OJ Simpson is in trouble again.

A news station in Las Vegas, Nevada is reporting that police are questioning Simpson in connection to a burglary at the Palace Station Casino.

Police in Las Vegas are expected to make a statment sometime Friday.

Posted by Timothy at 08:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I am, by my academic upbringing, an ethnographer. In this sense, I ventured outside my comfort zone of mid-major football and 24,000 seat stadiums to attend the Florida-Troy game on Saturday in Gainesville. Ben Hill Griffin stadium is a bit obnoxious, so I thought I'd make a video that tries to describe the experience from someone used to much smaller and quieter surroundings.

Thanks to the Grapefruit Gal for scoring the great tickets.

A captioned slideshow of the weekend follows after the jump.

Click any of the photos to see the full-size version.

This is the Grapefruit Gal's dog, Madeleine. She is a beagle.

The photographer in his natural setting, The Devil's Millhopper, a giant sinkhole in Gainesville.

Looking down the stairs... the many, many stairs.

And looking back up the stairs, which seem to have multiplied since we made it to the bottom.

The wacky camera takes wacky photos.

The Grapefruit Gal takes better photos than I do.

Mmm... Chicken Empenada.

PIG SOOOOOOEIIIIIIIIEE... wait, wrong SEC team.

It is a massive mass of humanity entering the stadium.

Troy fans, awaiting the slaughter. I remember what that was like. Actually I don't. It was my 21st birthday.

More UF students heading into the game.

WHERE IS TROY?? this guy asked. ASIA MINOR!!! I yelled back.

I am told this formation is significant, but I have no idea why.

This is like 10% of the UF student section.

These guys are showing their love for famed Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Steve Sax.

More of the Gator student section.

This was easily the most interesting part of the day. A sheriff's deputy told us to stop standing on the seats. Many of the fans around me received "tickets," though I didn't get a chance to take a photo of one. The cop told me to stop taking pictures of him. So I took video instead.

Drama ensued when everyone immediately stood back up on the seats, except for me, meaning this was my view for most of the second quarter. I suppose there are worse things to look at.

A little-known fact about Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is that it is haunted by ghosts.

Florida's band kind of sucks. They use flip folders. That is my metric for determining the suckiness of the band, so, the Gator Band sucks.

more suckiness. They played Marching 110-type music, but didn't dance. They just stood there. Borrrrrrr-ing!

I am cajoled into doing the gator ... snap? chomp? What is it called?

The ghost returns.

I cannot fathom why this woman enjoys spending time with me.

Not only do they suck, they copy all the Marching 110's traditions.

That's all. I did other things this weekend, like hit golf balls at Gainesville Country Club, go to dinner and a movie, watch USF's beatdown of Auburn, and other things, but this is what was important.

Posted by Timothy at 01:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I've talked to a lot of people about my dreams, my screenplay ideas, and my pie-in-the-sky hopes of making a movie some day. So I had this idea for a scene, maybe from a Mocksession movie, where the camera is dollying across the sullen, empty faces of people sitting at a bar, first their faces, then their drinks, then their feet, curled up in the bar stools. Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" is playing, and then at the appropriate moment, all the people in the bar start playing the air drums.

I have told many people the details of this genius scene, and maybe I've told too many people.

My first response is "how have I not heard of a new show starring Jerry O'Connell?" My second is, THEY RIPPED ME OFF.

Damn you, ABC!!!!

Posted by Timothy at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Grapefruit Gal and I have been doing all sorts of fun things lately, and I've been using my cameras (both the nice S3 and the Lomo-like Polaroid) to take plenty of pictures.

So here's some pictures, featuring yours truly, knitting, the Grapefruit Gal, eclipses, Nazi CD racks, and wacky photos from north Florida springs.

http://www.entertainmentweakly.com/lynn/index

Posted by Timothy at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

and bourbon

Posted by Timothy at 07:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm in Gainesville, and leaving in about 12 minutes to make it back to Clearwater in time for GameDay. Have a terrific Football Christmas, everyone, and GO BOBCATS! GO BULLS!

(looks over his shoulder for Grapefruit Gal)

GO HILLTOPPERS!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Timothy at 07:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)