uplifting story/ stupid criminals/ Arrow

Oct. 6 Uplifting story: I found this on Facebook: The Mayonnaise Jar and Two Cups of Coffee When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf ball s. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes." The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. "Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions--and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else--the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. "Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first--the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand." One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend." — with Marisa DiTommaso Chbc. Stupid criminals: Remember a couple months ago I emailed this joke from Daily Silly about a robber who showed his ID to the clerk when he wanted to steal some alcohol?  Then the clerk told the police about the ID and they were able to catch him really soon.  I was watching Jay Leno last night, and he had his segment "Police Blotter."  JL read that news story to the audience and they laughed. Oct. 10 Arrow: Comparisons: Today I saw the pilot to Arrow.  It has that Smallville feel to it.  Both shows are shot in Vancouver (I just checked imdb.com).  I even noticed the Asian doctor in the ep is played by the same actor who plays Principal Kwan (Hiro Kinagawa) on Smallville. The mansion that Oliver lives in looks like Lex Luthor's mansion on Smallville. It's also like The Dark Knight, about a rich guy without any superpowers, and he uses his abilities and resources to save a corrupt city. Actors: I watched the entire ep, and then I was like: Stephen Ammel who plays the lead Oliver Queen/ Arrow looks like Chris O'Donnell (NCIS: Los Angeles). Stephen Ammel: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2193021/ Chris O'Donnell: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000563/ It's very good.  It shows Oliver running on an island.  He shoots an arrow and it starts a huge explosion.  Two Asian men on a boat see it, and rescue him. News reporter: Billionare son Oliver Queen was missing for 5 yrs after a shipwreck.  He is reunited with his mom, and then his little teen sister Thea (Willa Holland from The OC.) Laurel (Katie Cassidy from Gossip Girl) plays Laurel Lance, a lawyer working at a legal aid office.  She seems to have a past with Oliver.  Tommy Merlin, Oliver's old friend is reunited with Oliver.  Tommy tells him what happened in the past 5 yrs like a black President.  He says to throw a welcome back party for Oliver. Mrs. Queen has now married Walter, the best friend of Mr. Queen (Oliver's dad.)  Walter is black, so interracial marriage. Flashbacks of the shipwreck are throughout the episode.  Oliver's dad was on the ship, and so was Sarah, Laurel's sister.  Oliver and Laurel were dating, and he cheated on her with Sarah. Oliver and Tommy go out and they get kidnapped.  There is a good fight and chase scene as Oliver chases the bad guy.  They go to the police and Oliver tells Det. Lance (Laurel and Sarah's dad) and his partner what happened and how he saw a guy with a hood and arrow fought off those bad guys. Another flashback of dad telling Oliver: "I'm not the man you think I am." Oliver apologizes to Laurel about her sister's death and his infidelity.  She's not really happy to see him. There is good ethnic diversity on this show.  You have a Mexican maid Rosa, black husband Walter, and then introduced black body guard John Diggle.  He is a hired guard for Oliver, because Mrs. Queen is worried. Oliver finds and creates his hideout by entering an abandoned warehouse that belonged to his dad's company.  Oliver has a book of names and one of them is Adam Hunt.  The names are enemies. Adam is a bad lawyer who bullies and bribes to get his way.  Cut to an underground parking lot.  Arrow attacks him and his guards. Arrow: I need you to transfer $40 million to this account # by 10pm tomorrow. Adam tells the police.  Adam's guards are getting their guns together.  Across the street is Oliver's party held in this big night club.  Good idea to create some sort of a distraction. Thea and Oliver argue.  He sees his sister buy a drug.  Thea argues about him: "You were gone for 5 yrs.  I thought you were dead.  This is the best I could do with what I had." Oliver manages to get the drug and throws it away.  He talks with Laurel at the party and he tells her to stay away from him.  He checks his cell phone and sees that there is no money in the account and it's 10pm.  Oliver has to lose his bodyguard Diggle, so he beats him up. The police are outside Adam's office.  The lights go out because an arrow hit something.  This is a really good action scene as Arrow does hand-to-hand combat with one bad guy.  There are guns and arrows flying everywhere.  It ends with Arrow unconscious. The police start running up the stairs. Me: What?  No elevators in this big of a building?  Unless the elevators don't work. I know, there's no action if the police are standing still in an elevator as it goes up.  It was done on Castle in a funny shot.  Det. Ryan and Esposito are in an elevator.  An old man in a suit is standing in front (hotel owner) and 3 SWAT team members are standing in the back. Back to the show.  Arrow wakes up.  He breaks out the window and ziplines.  Kind of reminds me of Dark Angel pilot, but Max was flying on wires to get to one building to another.  She broke into Logan's apartment and then she breaks out a window and runs on the building roofs.  Cut back to the club, and the police stops the party.  Oliver is there. Cut to the next day and Adam is on the phone: "$40 million is gone?" There is an electronic arrow on the wall and it's downloading the money. Oliver crosses the name off the book.  I expect every episode has an enemy every week where he crosses off. Flashback: Oliver, his dad, and a guy are on the air boat.  Dad shoots the other guy, and then himself. $50,000 appears in Legal Aid's office.  Laurel and Oliver's friend Tom talk and it seems they hooked up.  Some tension within the relationships.  Arrow overhears them. It turns out Mrs. Queen had arranged that Oliver to be abducted to see what he knows.  Surprise!  Good plot twist.  Kind of reminds me of Smallville again with Lex and his dad playing mind games with each other. Review: My overall opinion is that I will keep watching it, but maybe casually.  When Smallville came out, I was 16 and only watched it because my favorite Edmonton actor Eric Johnson was in it.  I thought the show was mediocre and repetitive with the "freak of the weeks" as in people who keep getting infected with kryptonite and do bad things.  Clark Kent has to stop them. Then EJ was written off after the 1st season because his character didn't do much.  I watched season 2 out of habit.  I saw one ep of season 4 because EJ was on in a flashback.  Then I basically quit because I never really liked it. Oct. 31: Arrow has been picked up for a full season by the CW.