Tag / Boiler Up!

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You Ought To Be In (13) Pictures

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Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, it is time to look at all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of May 30th.

Today, we continue with the 5 actors that have starred in 13 movies that I have seen.

Cameron Diaz

I first encountered Cameron Diaz back in 1996, when I saw her in a little indie film called The Last Supper.  She managed to get 2 films on my list in 4 different years, most recently in 2010.  I’ve drifted away from her output in recent years, as the last one I’ve seen was 2011’s Bad Teacher.

Brad Pitt

In 1994, I saw a little film called Kalifornia, which introduced me to Brad Pitt.  While he would become a mega-star over the next few years, I was a bit of a late comer to his films.  Other than watching A River Runs Through It in 1997 during the Sports in Literature class I took during my last semester of college, it was 2000 before I saw another Pitt film.  Making up for lost time, I plowed through 3 films in 2000.  Pitt currently has a 4 year streak on the line, starting in 2010 and continuing through last year, when I saw World War Z.

Natalie Portman

The first starring roles of Natalie Portman’s that I saw were in 2001, when I watched a double feature of Where The Heart Is and Anywhere But Here.  Her appearances in the Star Wars prequel trilogy and the Thor franchise have accounted for 31% of her overall total.  2011 was a big Portman year for me, as I saw a whopping 4 of her films.  My last experience with her work was last year’s Thor: The Dark World.

Keanu Reeves Continue reading →

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Always The Fool

04Mr. Michael celebrates his 9th birthday this month, and this photo is from his birthday last year, when Minecraft was still a thing.  In addition, he got three other photos of himself in the calendar from his younger days, one enjoying a nice red cup, one miniature golfing, and one from Purdue’s 2011 homecoming victory over the Fighting Illini, all of which we will enjoy after the break. Continue reading →

by jim

It’s Tournament Time

It’s that time of the year again, as the nation’s attention turns to the college hoops scene for the next couple of weeks.  I’m in three different pools again this year, one at work, one at my mom’s work, and one run by a friend.  Once again, Purdue is sitting out the tournament, but I can take some solace that IU is as well.

2014SouthNot much in the way of upsets here in the South region, as I have overall #1 seed Florida making it to the Final Four.

2014EastI see Michigan State making it out of the East region. Continue reading →

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Concert Flashback: Stone Temple Pilots

97stpWith about a month to go before graduation, I headed to the Elliott Hall of Music to take in a performance from Stone Temple Pilots with opening act Cheap Trick.  I don’t even remember who I went with, though I have to imagine that either Tracie or Courtney had to have been involved.  Cheap Trick were between their late 80s comeback and their soon to come That 70s Show renaissance.  My memory tells me that they skipped their 80s hits and instead focused on their 70s anthems along with a few tunes from whatever CD they were trying to push at the time.

My main memory of the Stone Temple Pilots portion of the show is them breaking everything down for a short acoustical set in the middle of the show, including a giant wooden rocking chair from which Scott Weiland would sing.  The show must have rocked at least somewhat since the band had to fork over $8500 in damages after inciting the crowd to head towards the stage.  Everything seemed to be repaired by the next time I was in the building, which would have either been for a final or for graduation less than a month after the show.

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Concert Flashback: Bush

96bushIn the spring of 1996, Bush brought their headlining tour to the campus of Purdue University to perform at the Elliott Hall of Music.  Their opening acts were No Doubt, who hadn’t become No Doubt yet, and the Goo Goo Dolls.

No Doubt kicked off the show and, while they turned out to be my favorite band on this bill, I hadn’t heard of them yet.  Their first hit, Just A Girl, had just come out and this was my first exposure to it.  If there was any show I could relive later in life, this would likely be it.

After No Doubt came the Goo Goo Dolls, who probably played a few songs other than Name, but I think anyone would be hard pressed to tell you what they were.

Finally, Bush came out and played all of the hits from their debut album.  I don’t really remember much about their performance, but I’m sure it was a perfectly fine show.  At worst, it was a decent way to waste away a night with about a month to go before finals.

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Concert Flashback: Veruca Salt

95verucasaltIn the spring of 1995, I made plans, along with my friends Tina and Kelley, to travel from West Lafayette over to Champaign to see Veruca Salt, who was playing one of the bars at the University of Illinois.  The task of acquiring tickets was left up to my sister, who joined us at the show.

Neither opening act, Hazel and Squash Blossom, were well known at the time, or have been heard from since.  The headliners were just starting to make a name for themselves as part of the burgeoning Chicago alternative music scene.  Their first hit, Seether, would have dropped the previous fall and they were just about to wrap up their first headlining tour.

The show itself is a bit of a blur all these years later, but I do remember that either Tina or Kelley went home with a guitar pick and we all ended up with some of the tape that kept the extra picks attached to the mike stand.  Exciting, I know.

After the show, the girls headed off to stay with a friend while I crashed in my sister’s dorm room.  The next day, we headed back to good old Purdue, with a stop off in Danville for what I fondly remember as the greasiest pizza I’ve ever seen.  If you can’t trust the Danville Pizza Hut, who can you trust.

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Concert Flashback: Bon Jovi

93bonjovi-1Back in early March of 1993, I came home from college for the weekend to take my sister and one of her friends up to Rosemont to see Bon Jovi at the Horizon.  The opening act was the Jeff Healey Band, most notable for their blind lead singer and guitarist and a favorite of one of my high school teachers.

I will be honest and say that I don’t remember much about the show itself.  Looking at setlists on the Internet, the boys from New Jersey seemed to put on a pretty good show that night, performing 20 different songs over the course of the night, 6 of which were from their new album, Keep The Faith.

My main memory of this show was roaming around the Horizon once the concert was over, trying to find where we had parked.  After more than 20 years, I guess that is better than nothing.  As things would turn out, this would be my last trip to the Rosemont Horizon for any reason until the early 2000s.

by jim

iTunes Top 100 Artists: #31-40

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My latest desktop computer arrived in late 2007, at which point I transitioned all of my music off of my laptop. 2 iPods, 2 iPhones, and an iPad later, that computer is still my main repository of music, with iTunes updating its stats every time I listen to something.

Having already gone through cassette tapes and CDs, and digital music, it’s time to roll everything up with the Top 100 artists that I’ve listened to as of 8/21/2013, according to iTunes. Today we look at the the the next batch, numbers 31-40, which includes a nice mix of musical genres.

#31: R.E.M. 95

iTunes stats: 95 plays

The boys from Athens, GA tie Avril Lavigne with 23 songs to make up their total.

#31: The Monkees

iTunes stats: 95 plays

The made for TV band used 17 songs to make up their total.

#33: Guns N’ Roses

iTunes stats: 91 plays

Axl Rose and friends use 19 different songs to make their way on to the list.

#34: Purdue “All-American” Marching Band

iTunes stats: 86 plays

3 songs, including 2 versions of the fight song, puts the Purdue Marching Band on the list.

#35: Stone Temple Pilots

iTunes stats: 83 plays

17 songs make up the total for the California-based alternative rockers.

Continue reading →

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GlobalFit III: Week 12

Y3Week12Well, what do we have here?  A pretty decent week, for once, with 5 days over the 5000 step mark, 3 days over the 7000 step mark, and 1 day even creeping across the 10,000 step plateau.  The week began with a pretty decent total for a Sunday, with just under 4000 steps.  The work week definitely benefited from a few trips to North plaza, either for smoothies, lunch, or just for a walk.  Thursday also benefited from the kickoff of the bowling season.  The big day was Saturday, which was homecoming down at Purdue University.  I made the trip down to meet up with some friends for what turned out to be an atrocious football game, as the Boilermaker got their asses handed to them by the Northern Illinois Huskies.  I traipsed up and down campus, which made up the large total.

Total steps: 42,712

Weekly average: 6,101.7

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Goodbye, iPhone 4S – Music Edition

A little more than a week ago, I upgraded my phone from the iPhone 4S to the newly released iPhone 5S.  The biggest difference, aside from a slightly bigger screen, is the jump from 3G (or 4G, if you believe AT&T’s hype) to LTE.  I had the 4S for a little under 2 years, and in that time, we traveled the world together (well, at least going back to the UK) and have listened to a lot of podcasts and music. Here is every song (all 2079 of them) I’ve listened to on the phone, with some (ok, very little) bonus commentary.  Godspeed.

 

Let’s Go-Go-Go White Sox Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers 33
He’s a Pirate Klaus Badelt Pirates of the Caribbean (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) 32
Take Me Out To The Ballgame Harry Caray 31
Thunderstruck AC/DC The Razors Edge 31
Gordon Beckham Intro 29
Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye Steam Billboard’s Top Rock ‘n’ Roll Hits: 1969 29
Don’t Stop Believin’ Journey Journey’s Greatest Hits 27
sox05_montage 27
We Are The Champions Queen Queen: Greatest Hits I & II 27
Your Love The Outfield Play Deep 27
2008 White Sox Central Division Champs Montage Chris Tannehill WSCR 670 The Score 25
Take Me Out To The Ballgame Nancy Faust 25
Harvester Of Sorrow Metallica …And Justice For All 20

You would hope that these numbers would have been higher, but this past season’s miserable performance by the White Sox has put the songs on their playlist out of mind more often than not.

Cannonball The Breeders The First 1000 Years- Rock 19
Man Or Muppet Jason Segel The Muppets 15
It’s Time For Our Song Miss Piggy The Muppets 14
Get Out There And Help Those Guys Jason Segel The Muppets 13
Main Title LOST Soundtrack LOST Soundtrack 13
Are You A Man Or A Muppet? Amy Adams The Muppets 12
How Charming, A Finale Uncle Deadly The Muppets 12
I’m On A Boat (ft. T-Pain) The Lonely Island Incredibad 12
Down At The Ole Barbershop Kermit The Muppets 11
Me and Drugs David Cross Bigger and Blackerer 11
The Antichrist Howard Stern Private Parts: The Album 11
Continue reading →