Golf tournament tomorrow. Hopefully no thunderstorms as predicted. Pistons tonight. Hopefully no losses as not predicted. Okey dokey.

Never trust the Pistons. Deeetroit Basket-ball!!! Stupid sports. (If this doesn't make sense, you probably have a life.)

I'm studying for an exam.

Once again, I'm simultaneously watching basketball and posting. ESPN360 might be my new best friend. In other news, Sarah and I had a pretty restful weekend. We mostly hung out at the house, but we also saw a movie (had a gift certificate), ate out (gift certificate), went for a couple of walks, and had take-out from a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant we found while walking. It was cheap and authentic; can't really ask for more (except a gift certificate).

Today in Grad Stats II we were talking about linear regression equations, which sounds scary but is actually just a fancy name for a procedure that allows you to predict one thing on the basis of another thing (e.g., predicting a person's height based on her weight)." Simple, right?

In the course of lecture, my professor passed out this handout (click it to enlarge).

He said, I kid you not, "This should make things a little more clear."

Game 1 of the Pistons-Celtics series is tonight, and I was a little upset about the fact that it isn't on regular TV (just because I don't pay $70 a month for cable, I don't get to watch basketball on a Tuesday night??? Come on!!!!). Then I realized I could watch the whole thing online via ESPN360. I'm watching it right now. And writing this. And eating pie. (You caught me, there's no pie.) Have I mentioned how fantastic the internet is?

Update: although, as of right now, I'm not that pleased with the Pistons being down 11 in the 4th quarter.

Update: I'm not pleased, and the game is over.

Tonight, Sarah and I went and saw the new Chronicles of Narnia movie (Prince Caspian). In general, I'm not a fan of fantasy (see, The Lord of the Rings, etc.), but The Chronicles of Narnia (by C.S. Lewis) are some of my absolute favorite books. Now, I'm not normally the type of person who bashes the cinematic adaptations of literature (if you can tell me the story in 90 minutes and save me 6 hours of reading, more power to you ... ), but ... I'm slightly disappointed with the producers, screenwriters, and directors of this movie.

I'm sure all those people worked really hard on the film, and they certainly succeeded in making an action-packed, family-friendly, blockbuster-sequel-type movie. Unfortunately, they steamrolled Lewis's literary creation. They added 30 minutes of unnecessary action and deleted what probably amounted to 150 pages (out of 200) of Lewis's intricately crafted plot and character development, taking characters in strange directions (e.g., adding conflict and romantic interests where there were none) in the process.

It was clear to me that this departure happened for two reasons. First, Disney (the production company) wanted to appeal to as large an audience as possible so that they could make as much money as possible (hence the extra action and additions of conflict and romance). Second, and more sadly, they had ZERO recognition of the complex theological tensions weaved subtly under the story's surface. (In their defense, I think they understood and referenced the major theological themes, but their changes to plot and characters really shortchanged some important topics.)

Prince Caspian isn't just a tale about a magical world where good triumphs over evil, a lion is king, and some kids kick butt, learn lessons, and fall in love. Prince Caspian is a story about the ultimate failings of reliance on self, about God's command (not ours) over all creation, about the universal human response to the temporary absence of a visible God, about the wrenching struggle between faith and doubt.

I would imagine that 98% of the people who watch the movie won't notice its departation from the book (or will think the changes are positive), and I would guess that many people, both Christians and non, will say that this is a good/great movie. And it was enjoyable to watch, but in the filmmakers' zest to make a maximally-profitable, widely-appealing blockbuster, I think they lost sight of Lewis's larger vision.

I'd guess Lewis himself would be a little saddened by this. I know I am.

I'm pretty sure the cat just barfed. I heard it harking in the other room, and now I'm faced with an unfortunate moral dilemma. Do I go and look for it, or do I wait for Sarah to stumble on it ('slide on it' would probably be a more apt description) when she wakes up in the morning? On the one hand, I don't like cat barf. On the other hand, cat barf isn't liked by me. I think we have arrived at our answer.

It might sound like I'm making this up, but the Vatican's "chief astronomer," the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, said today that the Vatican officially allows people to believe in aliens. To be fair, I'm pretty sure he meant that faith doesn't necessarily preclude there being bacteria in another galaxy (all part of God's creation). I'm actually more concerned about the fact that the Vatican has a chief astronomer. This implies that there's a whole team of them.

Mr. Ratzinger, I'm sure you're reading this, and I'm just wondering, is this the best way to allocate your resources? With so many astronomers, how will you adequately pay your geologists, meteorologists, and acrobats?

To all who sent love, thoughts, and/or gifts: you have my sincere thanks, and I reciprocate your feelings (but I don't not reciprocate your gifts; I'm keeping those). To those who didn't: you 're not getting any cake.

Today Dennis Ferina, an actor and former Chicago policeman, was arrested at LAX trying to board a plane with a loaded handgun in his suitcase. His defense? "I forgot it was in there." He forgot. Oh, okay. He just forgot. Let him go boys.

What?!? In what universe is it a logical possibility to 'forget' that you have a loaded gun stored in your suitcase? Is he suggesting that he always keeps a loaded gun in his suitcase when he's NOT traveling, and then when he needs to use the luggage, he removes the gun? Or perhaps he was threatening his socks and left the gun in there for intimidation, all the while intending to take it out before he got to the airport.

If you're going to lie, at least make it a good one.

Nine-hundred dollars and a new transmission later, the Corolla is back on it's feet. Here's to another 100,000 miles and our forthcoming "economic stimulus" check. We would have just stuffed it in the bank anyway.

... ... ... I've been staring at a blank page for a while, and nothing really is coming to mind ... ... ... I've got nothing.

This evening, I had my first class of the new semester. Psychopharmacology is meant to be the study of how medication treats psychological problems. It's team-taught by two MDs and could be an interesting class, but I wasn't particularly encouraged when one of them suggested that "everything" we learn in the class could be obsolete within "two months." Really motivates me to study hard.

Looks as if my break is over. Regular posting may resume shortly...

Sarah's birthday was yesterday. I did my best to make it a special day: I woke up (for 3 seconds) and said happy birthday while she was getting up in the morning, I cleaned the house for 4 hours while she was away, I made a hastily drawn card, I made dinner, and I allowed someone else to lovingly make her a strawberry cheesecake. Today we're going out for Japanese food and seeing a movie at the dollar theater. My question: did she notice that I didn't buy her any presents?

Update: there may be a cure.