I visited my doctor yesterday. He had this neat machine for taking blood pressure. The nurse told me they use this machine now to eliminate any factors that may influence the reading. I guess that means if she was Nurse Goodbody or the common white-coat syndrome.

Anyhow, it's on wheels and you sit in your chair instead of getting up and sitting on the table. They cuff you, she turns the machine on and leaves the room. After several seconds, it starts. It then takes your BP at six different intervals and they take the average for your reading. The nurse doesn't do the math, she only has to press a button for the results.

I told her that machine was a great idea. She said, "It has to be. It costs $20,000." I replied, "So much for home use."

The name of the product is BpTRU. Comes from a Canadian company. I thought they bad healthcare up there.

Meal of Links

By taking some time off to get to the doctor in the afternoon, I was able to round up my Dad and we went to a late afternoon showing of "Inglourious Basterds". I absolutely loved this film. It shows that Quentin Tarantino still has it. It has all the hallmarks of his movies: Great casting, superior writing, major soundtrack attention (Sergio Leone stuff, yeah!), character nicknames (The Bear Jew, Aldo the Apache) and, of course, violence. My Dad liked it, as well, and said afterward he had never seen a movie like it.

And what would you expect from a Jewish revenge movie against the Nazis? Brad Pitt, recovered from Benjamin Button, played Aldo Raine (yes, Aldo Ray played in all those war movies). The scene where he speaks Italian is a comedic gem. The SS guy, Christoph Waltz, is a real baddie. You know, the guy who always seems to already know the answers to the questions he asks. Outside of Brad Pitt, B.J. Novak, Mike Myers and a brief appearance by Rod Taylor as Winston Churchill, I don't think I recognized anyone. I heard the voices of Samuel L. on some narration and it was definitely Harvey Keitel on a phone. But it was well-cast and well-acted.

A lot has been written about the violence. I thought it wasn't that bad. Oh, yes, they take some Nazi scalps, there is a bad beating and there is some carving going on. But, in a long movie, these scenes may have taken 2 minutes. Mostly, it's a shoot 'em up.

I had a great time at this one. The tension is there throughout, there are enough laughs in it, and Bowie's "Cat People" gets some prime exposure.

What an anniversary. It's exactly one year since Palin haunted us.

I like these two people. Good for them.

Finally. The VA fights back against these ridiculous charges made by Fox and the Republican Party. This crap about "death panels" and "encouraging vets to commit suicide" is insane.

Speaking of Insane...



Exercise Yard

F1 has something unique in store for the Abu Dhabi finale. They'll finish the race at night.

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23 Across: Barry who played Lt. Gerard on TV's "The Fugitive" (5 letters) Answer: Morse