Middle of the Night Battlestar Galactica Theory

I'm doing this while Michelle is asleep, so as not to be influenced by her theories any more than I already have been. I'm typing this at 0200, so pardon my spelling errors and incoherent thoughts. I'll try to edit this when I get a clearer head.

First of all, I think Michelle is right. The fifth Cylon is the doctor, but whoever turns out to be the final Cylon is not really material to my theory.

My theory starts with the Opera House vision. In the vision, Baltar and Caprica Six leave the Opera House with Hera, Athena and Helo's child. It has been postulated elsewhere on the Internet that these three will be the only three who survive to make a new life on earth. 

I think they're on to something. Many of the images on BSG have Biblical parallels. In this case, Baltar would be Adam. Caprica Six would be Eve. Hera, possibly Nicolas Tyrol, and Six's child would be the offspring of Adam and Eve. (Who says the off spring can't be adopted.) Six's child is an offspring of the original five Cylons, thanks to Saul Tigh's hard work. So the lineage of the original five Cylons can carry on to earth. Hera is a combination of human and new Cylon DNA. You have all three DNA lines carrying on to earth. To start the cycle again.

Let's talk for a minute about the cycle. The show says, often, that this has all happened before and will all happen again. What has happened exactly? My theory is that humanity has created artificial life before and that artificial life has at various times through the cycle rebelled against and combined with their creators to start life anew. The final five Cylons, in my estimation, are representative of the last cycle. 

So creating artificial life would be similar to the knowledge of the God/gods, which causes the current incarnation of humanity to be cast out from their "Eden" and into the wilderness. I think the journey through the wilderness is very similar to the flight of the Israelites. There is a lot of wondering to get to the promised land, in this case earth. I think the writers are grabbing from both the ejection from paradise and the journey to the promised land to tell their story.

So I think earth will be the next Kobol. Life anew will start there with Baltar, Caprica Six, and several of the human-Cylon and old-Cylon/new-Cylon hybrids. Eventually, just as it did before, the new race will push out to other planets from earth. Once they reach these new planets they will once again discover the forbidden knowledge, creating artificial life, which will result in ejection from their paradise, and they'll once again start their journey to a new promised land.

-Jim

If it weren't for wrong numbers...

..I'd get no phone calls at all.

Unfortunately, the latest wrong numbers seem to be coming at 0130 in the morning. And they're coming from, of all places, North Carolina. The fact that they're coming from North Carolina isn't as outrageous as it seems at first take. The part of North Carolina they're coming from is the 252 area code, which is just south of Norfolk, and my cell phone does have a Norfolk number.

The obvious problem is getting a phone call at 0130 in the morning is very disconcerting. We expect emergency calls at that time of night, not some broad looking to get with her honey. And yes, that's what the phone calls are about. The woman in question (I don't think she classifies as a lady if she's calling a man at 0130.) left the following text message the other night:

"hey baby if ur not 2 busy can i cu 2nite 100%M!$$!NMYG".

If you don't read text message lingo that well, allow me to translate: "Hey baby, if you're not too busy can I see you tonight. 100% missing my guy."

So let's recap to this point. The first night we get a phone call, she doesn't leave a message. I doubt she hung around on the phone to hear that the voice mail was for someone other than the person she was trying to contact. The second night, we get the text message.

Then there's the third night. We get one phone call, again at 0130. She obviously hangs up when it goes to voice mail and redials. This time Michelle is lying in wait. The mystery caller calls back and Michelle answers. To be honest, my sleep was hardly disturbed so the events are second hand.  Michelle says she was surprised that it was a woman. Michelle thought the caller was a man. (I don't know why I had it pegged and Michelle didn't. She's usually much better at this than I.) Prepared to ream some dude a new one, Michelle is thrown off her game somewhat. The caller says that she must have the wrong number. Michelle confirms that in her ever-so-gentle way(sarcasm) and says that she would appreciate it if the caller would stop calling at one in the morning. 

We'll see if we get a call tonight or not. If so, I think I'll answer and have a little fun. I am tempted to reply to the text message I got though with something like "I told you never to use this number," and then give her another number to contact me at in the future. What number would I give her? Oh, I don't know. I'm thinking Michelle's cell phone number. ;-)

-Jim 

Rhode Island Errata

I thought I'd take this time to address some questions we've had concerning Rhode Island.

Q: I see by Google Maps that your house is near an airport, is it loud?

A: Not really. There is what I would call light general aviation traffic. So a couple of times a day, during the day, you'll hear a Cessna or a small helicopter fly overhead, but nothing obnoxious. Obnoxious is defined as a C-5 Galaxy flying overhead at all hours, which is what we used to experience in Norfolk.

Q: Does Rhode Island feel small?

A: Not really. The town of Newport feels cramped, but that's due to it being a very old city. The streets are narrow and there aren't a lot of parking lots because the city was built 300+ years ago. It gets much more reasonable the further from Newport you get. 

The state is small, but two things make it feel large. Ok three. Once you get off of the island there is a lot of green space in the southern part of the state. It feels open. There are several islands in the state, so when you go from island to island it is a rather slow process because it is mostly in town type driving. Finally, the speed limits are slow. Streets that would be 40 or 45 mph are 25 mph. It's probably a good thing considering the traffic and population density.

Q: Are the people in New England rude?

A: Not really. I think "folks are folks" wherever you go. I've experienced rudeness in small town America. In small towns if you're not part of the "old boy" network, you're not truly in. In the north it seems similar. You get to know people and you're good to go. There are so many people here, compared to smaller towns we've lived in, there is no time to sit around and get to know everyone. So trying to have small talk with everyone you run into is impractical. But once you get to talking with someone they're usually very nice, just like anywhere else.

Q: What's the most striking thing about Newport?

A: To me it has to be the water. The bottom and shorelines are mostly rock, so you don't get as much silt and sand mixed into the water. As a result the water is clear and beautiful almost everywhere. 

-Jim

Phil isn't the only one

To get a foul ball. Heck, I didn't even have to go to the ball game. Michelle and I were waiting with a couple of friends for Cap'n Nick's pirate tour (Cap'n Nick's nickname is Slack Bladder) to begin when we saw a foul ball come flying out of the ballpark across the street. The ball landed at the corner of the intersection nearest the ball park and rolled all the way to the opposite corner, which was just across the street from me.

No one else was running to get it, so I thought what the hey? That ball must have been towering to get over the foul ball nets they have in place.

There Be Pirates!

So one reason for going to downtown Newport this weekend, other than the reasons stated in the last post, was the Pirate fest that they had today. It was mostly for kids, but we had fun. We went on a tour and heard about pirates from the Newport, RI area.
Our tour guide, Slack Bladder, was in full costume. Hey that's what he said his name was. I can't make stuff like this up. As you can see the kids were very excited. There were three kids on the tour and they tormented the poor man to no end.

He told them to leave the Jolly Roger alone. Which apparently in kid speak means please try to get me. Please wrangle your child. They weren't that bad. Well except for one kid who couldn't seem to shut up!

At one point in time he requested a volunteer. Jim was kind enough to volunteer me by shoving me to the front of the group. Hence the reason I seem to be scowling at the camera.

He of course had to comment on my tee shirt since it said Trouble on the front. And then had to keep mangling my name. Which he thoroughly enjoyed. I couldn't stop laughing. Especially since he kept up the pirate speak and never broke character.

Now he wants me to repeat after him. And that can be difficult when you're still laughing. Plus I know Jim's got that darn camera. If only I knew that he was going to record some of this as well.

Okay I managed to stop laughing, but it was hard. If only I knew what was coming next. He told me how one dastardly pirate would feed his prisoners. And unfortunately I was playing the prisoner.

Let's just say it involved ears, nose, lips and hardtack to be stirred in my hands. Ew! Oh and here's the clincher! The bits and pieces would all be from me! Yuck! I did get a farthing for my trouble though and a round of applause. Thanks Jim for the good natured shove.

And side note to Colten. Sorry buddy no pictures of Uncle Jim with the pirate. We didn't have time.

-Michelle

Here's a clip of Mich-Elle and the pirate Slack Bladder:



-Jim

A View Of Downtown Newport, RI

Today Jim and I went to downtown Newport. I know what were we thinking? I mean it's Memorial Day weekend! The tourists are starting to come out so things are getting busier. We must be nuts. But we had a really nice time. It was lovely weather. Sunny, but not hot. I could go for weather like this 365 days a year, as long as it was not as windy as it was today. We had lunch at The Smokehouse Cafe and were able to people watch while eating our lunch and drinking a beer. Jim took the pictures. I merely pointed out some things that might be neat to have pictures of and then downloaded and cropped them. We were even able to catch up with some friends.


The first is a picture of the Newport harbor. Can't have a picture of a harbor town without the harbor. The second one is a picture of the Newport bridge from a park. We'll try to get a night version of this one sometime soon.


The first one is another shot of the harbor, but you can see some of the shops and in the distance the steeple of the Anglican church. The second one is a close up of the Anglican church steeple. I don't know what my thing is with church's and their architecture. Luckily my husband is willing to let me amuse myself with it.


Another shot of the harbor with all the boats that are docked. Can you tell Jim loves the ocean? It's the sailor in him. And hey summer is almost here so it's very appropriate. The second is another 'city shot'. The Seaman's Church is to the right and I believe the Red Parrot restaurant is in the middle.


I thought this was a lovely shot of an anchored sailboat near a tiny lighthouse. Even if I am sick and tired of lighthouses myself. There are tons of sailboats in this area, just no one seemed to be out and about. For anyone who's seen Family Guy you'll understand the second picture. We got a chuckle out of it. If you haven't seen the show. . . Google it!


This is the Old State house and it is where they did shoot a bit from the movie Armistead. They did a lot to the surrounding area to make it look like it did back then. Covered the streets in sand and removed anything that wouldn't have been in the time frame. For example street lights and and meters. And of course another harbor view. Hey we are in a harbor city!

-Michelle

Dented Cans

I try not to duplicate my posts, but felt that some of these things had to be mentioned on both sites. Jim joined a softball team for the summer. Hence the title to the post. That's the name of the team. It's a long story and one I probably don't even completely remember so I won't be telling it. Once they get their team shirts I'll try to get a picture.

Of course here's Jim at bat. It's a group of guys that are in department head school. And they had their first game on the 19th. We won't talk about the score. Since their first game was actually like a second practice for them.

This is Jim in right field. It was a pretty day, but very windy. Most times the wind would grab the ball and move it back infield or away from where you thought it was going to land.

Jim was able to get a chunk of the ball and run. I'm not saying if he was tagged out or not. Hey I love my man and will keep his pride in tact. I look forward to more games, I just hope I'm not the only person for our team watching at the next game. It gets a little lonely out there.

-Michelle

Wild And Crazy Weekend

On the 17th we went to our buddies John and Ruth's little ones first birthday. Yes I know we are party animals. Hey what more fun is there than watching a one year old eat frosting, whilst you drink beer?

-Michelle

Effects of a Movie

Watch I Am Legend and you'll understand. It's a movie we both wanted to see, but didn't want to deal with people in the theater for. And for that I'm thankful. We're picky about what movies we will see in the theater. I won't give any spoilers. Just know the picture is all I really needed to post.

-Michelle

New Evil

Not too long ago one of Jim's classmate's introduced me to a new evil addiction going by the name of Webkinz. Sure they look innocent enough. It's just a little stuffed animal with a code that you go to this website and type in. You name and adopt the animal and it becomes a virtual pet. Innocent right? Yeah right. That little pet gets a room and you have to feed him, play with him, take him to school and buy stuff for him. It's very addictive.

It was started by teachers for children because apparently there were parents complaining about pets in the classroom. I'm not going to get into all of that. It can be a very educational site. Teaching kids how to manage their Webkinz cash and how to earn more and lots of educational stuff. But it's very addictive for adults as well. Sadly I've become one of those.

Hello my name is Michelle and I'm a Webkinz addict. And I will do all in my power to spread this evil disease among my friends. Insert the evil laughter here! Yes I know I'm warped.

-Michelle

Free Ride!

If this story doesn't make you say, 'Aw isn't that cute?'. Then you have a heart of stone! Every once in a while it's nice to see a fluff article involving the Navy and I'm here to share it with you. See the military isn't evil to nature like the media would like you to believe.

-Michelle

Ain't That How It Always Seems To Go?

This comic is done by Stephan Pastis. Some days his comics are good, other days you wonder what's going on in his noggin. Course if it was me I would snag the happiness from the pig after beating him about the head. But I'm aggressive that way.

-Michelle

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Sunday we went to New York to see a Yankees game with our buddy Phil. He came up to New York for the weekend and saw games every day. We drove up, figuring it would be easier on us and it was. At least going up there it was. Going home was a totally different story. It took us a little over three hours to get there and we found parking fairly easily. Something I was slightly worried about. And that only cost $17.

Phil had found a place for us to meet up and we wandered a bit before going in for the game. I thought this tribute to the Yankee greats was cool and snapped a quick picture. We even went into the 'official' Yankee store and I smashed a penny. Sorry Greta I only had one penny, so I wasn't able to get you one. I wasn't expecting to find a machine here. This was something Phil had never seen before, so he had to try it too. I think it really tickled him.

Here's the view from our seats. We had bleacher seats in center field. The Yankees are taking the field. I took this at the very beginning of the game.

I also took this shot from my seat with the help of the zoom lens. I don't know who's warming up. Maybe Phil could jump in and answer that as this is his team and he knows the roster.

I couldn't do a blog on Yankee Stadium without including a picture of the stadium itself. This is the best shot I could get. Sadly there's a lot of construction blocking the way and screwing up the shot. Grr! Which is one of the reasons we went to the game. It is the last season for this stadium so we figured since we're in the area we really should go.

Of course I thought I should include a shot of the new stadium. I like that this one is of the incomplete facade. What can I say? It tickles me.

It turned out to be a really lovely day. We had expected it to be chilly, but the sun came out. In fact I got a bit of a sunburn. I wish the weather people would learn to actually tell the forecast. We were so pleased to get to see Phil. Sadly we didn't have time to go have a beer with him. And wouldn't you know it Phil saw Shelley Duncan of Yankee fame on the subway platform. And he actually talked to him. Only our Phil. This must have been a great weekend for him. Three Yankee games (which they won), he's going to try and get a tour of Yankees stadium (hope you got it) today and he met a Yankee. Way to go Phil!!

-Michelle

Acquisition #2

Actually Jim ordered this before I even thought of getting the Wii, but the Wii came in the house first. Hence the title it gets. The coffee table actually opens like a trunk. While the end tables have drawers. They go well with the look we're trying for in our living room.

-Michelle