Do they Plan to Call it Blade Runnerz?

It appears that the folks behind Eagle Eye are trying to get a sequel to Blade Runner off the ground.  I love Blade Runner, but I have no interest in seeing sequel made.

Pun Intended

I've noticed that, usually, when someone says "no pun intended," they not only intended the pun, but also only said "no pun intended" to call attention to the pun.

Evil League of Evil Seeks More, Well, Evil

Do you long to be a supervillain, or are you just inclined to costumed singing?  Either way, you might be interested to know that the the Evil League of Evil, made famous in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, is accepting applications for membership.*  The best applicants will appear in the bonus features on the DVD of DHSAB and, I can only assume, will receive singing letter of praise from the Thoroughbred of Sin, suitable for framing.  Applications are due by October 11, so get evil-ing!

* Henchmen need not apply.

Lance Back in the Saddle?

Lance Armstrong is planning a comeback.  That's right, just like Michael Jordan and Brett Favre, the seven-time winner of the Tour de France and former World Champion is returning from retirement, allegedly to spread the message of cancer awareness and cancer survival.  He's already signed a deal with Astana.  Since that team already has Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer as general-classification contendors, and since Armstrong just turned 37, I'm not sure how he is going to find a role for himself.  Could he be content to be a domestique?  I can't imagine that.

Armstrong's first race will be the Tour Down Under in January.  He plans to contest the Tour de France and is considering the Giro d'Italia as well.

PR: Nicole

Tonight I set a personal record on the workout called Nicole.  This workout doesn't come up very often, although it is alleged to be a benchmark, like all the "girls."  I've only done it once in the 20 months I've been doing CrossFit.  That once, just under a year ago, I managed 6 rounds and a total of 99 pull-ups.  Tonight I also completed 6 rounds, but I managed to squeeze out 107 pullups, so I'm pretty happy with my performance.

Cephalopods + Yarn = Fun

Lookie what I made! His legs are poseable! How cool is that?


Here he is about to attack my sunglasses, for scale...


I cannot take credit for the pattern...I bought it along with a few others here on Etsy and they were well worth the few dollars each. Her patterns are very easy to understand...lots of illustrations and explanations of abbreviations and techniques. I'd say that if you can knit socks using double-pointed needles, you can knit one of these little guys. I also made the elephant, and it was about the same difficulty level.

PR: Grace

I set a personal record for Grace yesterday:  19:56.  That's not a particulaly fast time.  I've lost some of the skill I once had at the Olympic lifts, so I took my time.  Still, it's progress.

McCain Flip-Flops Against Stem-Cell Research

Senator John McCain has previously voiced support for federal funding of research on embryonic stem cells, research which has the potential to dramatically improve treatment of many illnesses. This week he released a statement indicating that his stance is now much more in line with the Republican Party's platform.  In particular, he would not only continue George Bush's denial of federal funding for ESC research, but also criminalize somatic cell nuclear transfer, a procedure which yields stem cells that are genetically identical to a patient's own cells and thus immensely useful.

This move by McCain is clearly aimed at winning over religios extrememists in the Republican base, and it adds to my hope that Obama will be elected. 

Too Young to Smoke

Newton, being a dog, enjoys sniffing at the ground and objects thereupon during our walks.  When he sniffs at cigarette butts or cigarette packs, I enjoy telling him he's too young to smoke, because that's the most ridiculous and least relevant reason I can think of.

PR: Fran

Tonight, I managed to knock 41 seconds off my previous best time for Fran, setting a new PR of 5:14. I realize that time is rather slow compared to some of the better CrossFitters out there, but I'm quite pleased with the progress.

Edit: I realized that when I first published this post, the time I reported was a minute too fast. I've corrected that error now.)