Steve Fischer's Random Blog

Random thoughts from a random technology guy

  • Worst Santa Ever…

    OK, I wasn’t that bad. It’s not like I was drunk or anything. It’s just that at six feet, 164 pounds, there’s some serious padding missing. And the pillows just didn’t cut it.

    Our nanny and her circle of nannies always get the kids together for presents before Christmas. They get someone to play Santa and give out the gifts. This year whoever was going to do it fell through, so I became the last minute sub.

    The danger here is that at 5 years old, Danielle has a decent chance of recognizing me. And it’s not just her, all of her friends know me reasonably well.

    I get to the house where they are doing this. I sneak into a bedroom and start to get dressed up. Then I hear two of the older boys sneaking around saying “let’s find out who Santa really is this year”. Their mother manages to shoo them away.

    So I make my grand entrance. Lots of “ho, ho, ho’s”. I hear one of Danielle’s friends say, “I think that’s Danielle’s daddy”. Uh-oh. But I stay in character and it goes relatively well. I read a story (on the right kneeling is Danielle and her best friend Cordelia):

    DSC00433

    I hand out presents (that’s Danielle getting hers)

    DSC00437

    Some of the younger ones are afraid of Santa. But Victoria wasn’t:

    DSC00446

    Afterwards the nannies apparently convinced the girls that Santa just looked a bit like Danielle’s daddy. The funny part was that Danielle told me later that this Santa had green eyes. I have blue eyes. So that clinched it with her that this Santa wasn’t me. Though she did say he sounded like me. But since this Santa had green eyes and Danielle knows that Santa has blue eyes (not sure where she got that, but she’s quite adamant about it) she knew that this one was one of Santa’s helpers. And that made sense because she knows the real Santa is very busy.

    So maybe not the worst Santa ever, but I need to gain weight if I’m going to keep doing this…

  • Packer fans are nuts…

    OK, I’m a huge Packer fan and a huge Brett Favre fan, but $150 for a knit Packers hat just because Favre wears it?

    Crazy…

  • Twitter on the campaign trail

    There’s a political journalist who is posting on Twitter. If you aren’t familiar with Twitter, think of it as a combination between text messaging and blogging. It’s real time short posts that lots of people can follow.

    Some of the funniest lines from the Republican debate:

    Alan Keyes is here. There will be yelling.

    If Rudy were really a tough on crime guy he would have arrested Alan Keyes

    And my favorite:

    The problem with twittering is that people you have dinner with already know your lines

  • Vegas Odds

    My morning paper, the NY Daily News (not as good as the NY Times, but better sports coverage) always posts the Vegas betting lines. Purely for entertainment purposes, of course.

    The Patriots being favored by 23 1/2 points over the Jets is pretty amusing (I’d bet on the Patriots). But what I like is when they print unusual odds.

    For example, you can now bet on whether the AFC or NFC team will win the super bowl. The AFC team is a 11 1/2 point favorite. You have to assume they are thinking either the Patriots or the Colts against the Cowboys. Sorry Cowboys fans, Vegas isn’t giving you much of a chance.

    The paper also posted the presidential election odds. Hillary is still the favorite at 5-2 with Rudy next at 7-2. Obama is 5-1 and Romney 8-1. Huckabee is 10-1 and it drops after that. It’s hard to believe McCain has fallen to 20-1 and Fred Thompson is down to 25-1. They’ve got Gore at 25-1 and he’s not even running.

    I can’t wait for the super bowl when they post odds on crazy things like the over/under on how long the national anthem will be…

  • Unwatchable

    It’s a good thing that the Packers are good this year. And that Indiana University basketball should be good. Because I just can’t watch the Knicks anymore.

    It’s just sad. This is a storied franchise. Playing in Madison Square Garden. Season ticket holders are having a hard time getting rid of the seats. No one wants to go. The only fun in going to a game would be to chant “Fire Isiah” anyway.

    Sad, sad, sad…

  • Fast cars…

    I just got a brochure from a Lamborghini dealership in Greenwich Connecticut. Someone has an inflated opinion of my income…

  • I Hate the NFL Network

    My Packers are 10-1. The Cowboys are 10-1. They meet in a nationally televised Thursday night game. Two explosive offenses. Should be a total shootout. First team to 40 wins. What could be better?

    Hmm, how about actually being able to see it?

    The game is on the stupid NFL network. Almost no cable companies carry it. I can’t see it unless I go to a bar somewhere. Lame, lame, lame.

    Normally I’d be the first to blame the cable companies, but this time I think it’s totally on the NFL. They are asking the cable companies to pay them for this network but insisting that the cable companies give it away at no additional fee. Well, duh. No wonder the cable companies balked.

    So I’ll be “watching” this game on nfl.com and listening on the radio. Go Packers.

  • How ’bout them Packers?

    If you had told me at the beginning of the season that they’d be 9-1 I would have laughed at you. Honestly, who thought they be this good? And I’m a huge Favre fan.

    I still think part of it is that the rest of the league stinks. Honestly, are there only four good teams? Patriots, Colts, Cowboys, Packers? OK, maybe the Giants, maybe the Steelers. It’s much easier to be 9-1 when everyone you play is lame.

    We’ll see how it goes on Thanksgiving. Maybe Detroit is for real. I keep wondering if the Packers are for real but at 9-1 it’s hard to think otherwise…

  • Young Frankenstein

    We went to see the new Broadway show Young Frankenstein last night. While the reviews have been mixed, I loved it. Of course, I loved the movie too. It’s really just the movie with a bunch of wacky songs thrown in.

    Of course the one song from the movie is still there. For those who recall the “Puttin’ on the Ritz” number, Dr. Frankenstein does the singing until the chorus when the monster simply yells “Puttin’ on the Ritz!”. Even knowing it was coming, it was still hilarious.

    The reviews generally compare it with The Producers, since it’s Mel Brooks’ next effort. But The Producers won more Tonys than any show ever and broke every box office record. Young Frankenstein definitely isn’t The Producers. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t great fun.

    The cast was great. I’m a big Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman fan, so I was wondering how the Broadway cast would compare. They were excellent. As was Frau Blucher (horse neighing in the background – if you don’t get that you didn’t see the movie).

    And thankfully it’s one of the few shows that is unaffected by the stagehand strike.

    So regardless of what the New York Times theatre reviewer thinks, I give it a big thumbs up.

  • Multi-tasking Humor

    This Doonesbury cracked me up…