Mr. Askins

He was one of my favorite teachers ...

http://www.therepublic.com/view/local_story/Teacher_lives_legacy_of_Askins_model_10_19_2010

Watching shows more than once.

Probably everybody has seen individual episodes of certain TV series at least twice.  For example, most people have probably seen a few episodes of M*A*S*H more than once.  However, there are certain TV series that I liked so much that I had to see the entire series at least a second time.  Since I am a such huge fan of science fiction, most of the series I watched were science fiction or fantasy:

Battlestar Galactica (2003-2004): Twice.
Stargate Atlantis: Twice.
Stargate Universe: Twice.
Star Trek Enterprise: Twice.
The Event: Twice.
Flash Forward: Twice.
The 4400: Twice.

Stargate SG-1: At least twice. Parts of it I have seen three times.
Doctor Who (2004): At least twice.

House M.D.: Working on the third time.
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Working on the third time.
The Walking Dead: Working on the third time.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: At least three times.
(Although the series starts out uneven, the later seasons are really brilliant.  If there is a single episode of any TV series worth watching multiple times, it is "Once More with Feeling" from the 6th season of Buffy.  You could probably watch this without seeing the rest of the show, although it would be better to have seen the series first.)

Lost: Working on the 4th time.

I would like to watch Star Wars Rebels for a second time.  It has improved with each new season.

You might think from the list above that I do nothing but watch television all day, but if you watch only 1 or 2 episodes per day, then you can quickly run out of things to watch.

For the new shows on TV, the only ones I am watching right now are Colony, The Expanse, Star Wars Rebels, and The Walking Dead.

I especially like rewatching shows while I do my 2 hours of physical therapy everyday.

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

The Bunratty Riesling Gambit

Youtube recommended this video and I took an interest in it:  GM Analysis #13: Williams vs Wells: The Bunratty Riesling Gambit

However, when I analyzed the game with the computer, many of the moves from the game were a little faulty.  GM Williams seems to understand that he was playing a risky gambit line.  Rather than play the most perfect moves, he was going for his plan which he explains really well in the video.

So I think that the game is worth studying.

The computer's analysis with my comments is here.

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Christopher Hitchens, still outrageous

I admire the late Christopher Hitchens. He was a controversial figure, but it is fair to say that he lived an interesting life.

Christopher Hitchens, still outrageous

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Caffeine

The Carbon Cycle

I wrote this article called The Carbon Cycle.

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Movie review: Primer

http://letsallgotothemovie.blogspot.com/2015/12/primer.html

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Fwd: My post to Facebook

If you want to install Windows 7 on pre-2012 Mac computer, then the only way to do it is with a bootable DVD using the internal DVD drive.  Never mind running to store to purchase the flash drive that all the instructions and Bootcamp tell you to use.  It doesn't work.  Neither does an external DVD drive.  If you want to make a bootable DVD from an ISO, then your best bet is a Windows 7+ PC using the Windows USB-DVD download tool.  Not using the tool will fail.  Also, Windows XP is apparently not 64 bit enough to burn the disk successfully, and the ISO I burned from the Mac didn't seem to work.   Fortunately I had a Windows 10 laptop.  And as far as that internal DVD drive is concerned, if yours never worked right from the time you bought the Mac (like mine), or currently doesn't work right, then you are out of luck.  I just had a repair shop order me a new one. 

I should add that if Bootcamp refuses to remove XP from your Mac, and then tells you to boot up in recovery mode to remove the partition, that this is an easy way to turn your Mac into a very big paperweight.  Likewise if something goes wrong with the bootcamp install, your Mac may refuse to boot.  If this happens to you, don't panic like I did and spend $65 at a repair shop to get your operating system reinstalled back to factory settings.   It turns out that if you hold ALT (Option) key on boot up that you get to a boot menu where you can get back to your operating system.

The only reason I bought a Mac in 2010 was so that I could write iPhone Apps.  Otherwise, I can't see why anyone would want to own one.  The 27 inch iMac is a very beautiful overpriced computer with a pretty operating system, but I find that operating system clunky and restrictive to use.   Also, I am too dependent on Windows to not have that as well.

Hello, I'm a PC.

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Ready

Walking Dead Withdrawal

It has been 29 days since my shoulder operation.  My friend Beesley suggested that after the operation that I should binge watch something that I want to watch so as to take my mind off of any pain that I might have.

Immediately after the operation I started rewatching The Walking Dead from the pilot.  I watched it heavy for 4 days and then just 2 to 3 episodes per day after that.  Now I have officially caught up because I just watched last week's episode a second time.  

This current season isn't over. The show has three more episodes this year and then some more episodes to finish season 6 starting February 14th.

I am surprised by how much I really enjoyed watching the episodes again.  This is really great drama.  The show is also more gory than I remember it being.  If one can ignore the gore, then the drama and the characters are really wonderful.

When you watch a series that you enjoy on a daily basis, it becomes something really pleasant that you look forward to.  I am sure that television stimulates endorphins.  Now I am in withdrawal from one of my favorite TV shows. 

Hmmm, maybe I will watch the Supergirl pilot.

BTW, my shoulder is frequently sore, but that is mostly from physical therapy.  I seem to be recovering nicely.  I have about 4 more weeks to go before I can get rid of the sling.

Just for the record, I have watched the TV series LOST three times.

​​

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Shoulder. One week later. :-)

What could I have possibly ordered that would take such a large box?

The Searchers

http://letsallgotothemovie.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-searchers.html

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Cooking experiment #1. On experiment #2 I put the pepperoni *inside* the biscuits and it was great.

Taken at Bloomington IN

my old house

Looks like they completely remodelled my old house.

They moved the laundry from upstairs to the downstairs furnace room which they completely remodelled.  (Personally don't like laundry in the basement)

They redid the bathrooms, even though I had remodelled them. 

They want $385 K for the house which seems completely unreasonable.  

The bought the house for $237K and probably put at least 50K into it.  The house had looked kind of old.  Now it looks more modern.

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Geneva Belding

What year is it?

Seems deeply inspirational.

The first 20 hours -- how to learn anything

It's official. My new chess club.

http://www.indianachess.org/

My new "Office". Three weeks after moving I am still getting organized.

Selling my house.

After I had listed my house at $260K, the buyer's offer last week was 250K which I agreed to. However, after the inspection they claimed a lot of problems with the house which may be true. It is an old house. We were looking at a 10K roof replacement. They wanted me to come down an additional 25K, but my realtor negotiated a deal of $237.6K along with the buyer agent taking 1% less. This is effectively 240K which I just agreed to and is in the ballpark of what I was shooting for. I figured after commissions and fees I might get around $225K.


Best wishes,

John Coffey

My post to Facebook.

What I thought would take less than a day to move out of my house is going to take about 2.5 days throwing off my schedule slightly.

Thanks to my friend Robert. I could not have done this without him. I am tired and sore. I have problems with my foot, knees and shoulder.

Sent from my iPad

Tax day. Salt Lake City

My post to Facebook

I am in the process of buying a house on 860 Wheatfield Lane, New Whiteland, IN.

My choice was a difficult one because my preference was to be closer to Columbus or Franklin, but this got me the best and newest house for the least money.  The location is half a mile from the Greenwood city limits, which means that since I want to start a chess club in Greenwood, this will be convenient.  It is also 7 to 8 minutes from the Greenwood Park Mall.

It was important to me to be walking distance from things because I like to walk.  Franklin would have been better for this, but the location I chose also has 5 restaurants, a library and a car repair place within walking distance.

I would have prefered to be in Columbus somewhere, but the houses in Columbus are either way too old or way too expensive.  There are a couple of nice houses reasonably priced close to the Columbus airport,  but the neighborhood was mostly trailers and manufactured housing.

Five minutes north of the Columbus Chess Club off of HWY 31 was a reasonably priced home that I liked, but I went with what I thought was overall the best deal.

Fwd:

David,

I move in about 4 weeks.  I want to attend the quick tournaments, but have a hard time playing speed chess because of my shoulder injury.  Trying to do physical therapy, but it is

​often painful​

.  My arm and shoulder feel like they have been getting worse, not better.

​​

I play speed chess 2 to 3 times a week, but that is difficult and sometimes I have to use my left arm.

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com​

USCF article about Steve Dillard.

http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12989/806/

He and I were friends, but he was the kind of person who was a friend to everyone.  He was almost always cheerful.

There are many people in the second photograph of the article who I have played while participating in Louisville chess tournaments that Steve ran.

John Coffey

Whiteland, IN. Accepted counter offer today. On airplane back to Salt Lake.

Quick Tournament

Forgot to mention the couch that was part of the deal.