You laugh when something is funny

Here's something to think about. Just an amusing story.

So Mrs. Pike pointed out the other day that I have a knack for getting stuck around people with annoying laughs. Her point developed from some occurances that took place over the course of a few weeks.

I recently started a new job and like most jobs in corporate America these days I am in a cubicule all day and my company has people from various different nationalities. There is a high percentage of Russian/Slavic employees in my general vicinity at work. There is one guy in particular who seems to be the focus and gets regular visits throughout the day from his friends. Now I have no idea what they are talking about because they speak all in Russian (at least I think its Russian but it could be another Eastern European language). That's not the issue, people chat, that's the nature of life. You want to get away from the daily grind. Some blog (hello!) and some chat with co-workers. The problem is that the guy on the other side of my cube wall giggles. Not in the cute school-girl fashion but in an annoying, breathy, wheezing fashion. Mrs. Pike and I have come to call them the Giggling Russians (as in, "Yes, dear its been a tough day and to top it off the Giggling Russians are at it again). I don't begrudge his right to laugh, we all have it. It's just he tries to talk while laughing (or giggling, or wheezing, or whatever you want to call it). Have you ever had a friend who tries to tell a joke and laughs through the punch line? It ruins the joke.

That was evidence one. Evidence two came a couple weeks ago when a new woman was hired here. She seems like a nice enough lady. Very loud and boisterous on the phone (you know the type). Once again, not the issue. She cackles. That snorty laughing cackle. The kind when you want to laugh but realize you should keep it under control but can't so it just keep slipping out. It's just a hideous sound.

To finish the evidenciary trifecta. I went to the movies last weekend (saw "Rambo...yes it was cheesy and poorly acted but if you loved movies #1 & #2 then you have to see this one...its the John Rambo we've all come to know and love and it puts a nice little bow on the series). I tend to like to sit a little apart from other people to feel like I'm the only one watching. It doesn't always work but sometimes it does. I have a row all to myself with no one in front or behind. Then about 2 minutes before the previews start an older couple come in (probably in their late 50's). The woman sits right behind me two seats down from her husband and they decide to talk and she has this little laugh that sounds almost like someone going "ooooo" in a very small voice. Once the movie starts she continues a little conversation with her husband. Making comments as the movie begins. The movie shows video footage of atrocities in Burma and she makes "tsk, tsk" sounds like she is chiding a small child. When I finally realize that she's not going to stop I moved down the row to a point that I could not hear her anymore.

It the span of about three weeks I was surrounded by some of the oddest (and most annoying) laughing I had ever encountered in my life. It was just a bizarre sequence of events for me and when Mrs. Pike made the comment I just decided I needed to share. So to the Giggling Russians, the Cackling Secretary, and the Tsking Asian Lady, this laughs for you.

Paper Love

I'm not sure if I am biased because I have spent the better part of my life always feeling like the underdog or if the Boston Globe truly loves BU more than BC. It seems that no matter what happens or how important a game, if both BC and BU are playing on the same night, BU gets the better press.

Last week when BU tied BC, there was a big piece in the Globe talking about how BU had finally turned the corner and was looking to build on their recent success. Let's go inside the numbers on this claim. In the last six games, including the BC tie, BU was 3-1-2. Not sure when things changed but 3 wins in 6 games is not that successful, unless its taken in relation to the rest of the BU season considering they 4-10-4 going into those 6 games.

But even the three wins weren't impressive. They beat Merrimack twice (the joke of Hockey East) and Maine once (who is currently out of the Hockey East playoffs as well). Though one should never underestimate the difficulty of beating Maine in Orono, it's not as impressive this year as it has been in years past. The ties were to Vermont (who recently got smoked in a weekend series with BC and has struggled mightily this year) and BC (in a performance many acknowledged was both Billy Bennett's & BU's best of the year). Not exactly the stuff of legends.

BC meanwhile is the truly hot team in the city as Northeastern has fallen on hard times after their scorching start to the year. In their last 12 games, they are 9-1-2. That is a truly successful streak considering the loss was on the road to Clarkson, where they haven't won since Columbus was a midshipman. I guess its too much for the Globe to write an article about BC turning a mediocre season around especially considering a season ending injury, two full year suspensions, and one transfer.

I must admit it was nice watching UNH take BU apart in the third last night and seeing them get swept after all this talk of their season turning around. Even though it was once again BU getting crushed and BC getting a big 2 points to stay on pace with UNH, the big story in the Globe is once again about BU, while BC is merely the headliner in the College Hockey Roundup section. Typical.

Secrets & Truths

Am I the only one who finds this whole Brady boot thing funny? With a lack of real things to talk about considering the two teams just played each other a few short weeks ago, the sports media has gone crazy over Tom Brady and his booted foot. And from the look of it Belichick is loving every minute of it.

I don't think Captain Hoody could have asked for anything more than to have the whole world focusing on a minor ankle sprain. This allows him and his coaches to concentrate on football and laugh themselves silly watching three days of stories about Brady protecting his foot for a morning because of a sprain. Let's face it, if it were a real injury then he would have been wearing it all day in New York and not just in the morning while bringing flowers to his Gisele.

You think Randy Moss isn't happy that his little assault problem has taken a back burner? The media is leaving real stories alone and concentrating on this minor incident. It's great. I think it takes pressure off the Pats and I think they are laughing their asses off about it.

But one thing I find really interesting, Captain Hoody seems to be enjoying this a little more than most. Anybody wonder if he didn't suggest Brady wear the boot for a morning just to drum up this kind of hoopla. You wonder if Brady isn't hanging out, outside the complex and waiting for the press to leave and then going into practice and lighting it up. I wouldn't put it past them. Belichick is the king of mind games and this would be a doozy.

I don't think anyone has looked forward to a injury report as much as everyone will next Wednesday. If it even mentions Brady as being "questionable" beyond anything but the consistent "shoulder" that he is always listed with would be a surprise to me.

Life Too Short

Getting off the topic of sports a little (though there will be a slight tie-in I promise), Heath Ledger was found dead at the age of 28 yesterday. I have spent a bit of time, since I heard the news. reading up on the young actor and finding a man who enjoyed the challenge of his work but was in a fight to make his career the way he wanted it.

Ledger made his first big role in the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" which was a teen oriented romantic comedy. He was quickly placed as a teen heartthrob and thrown more roles like this. But in reading up on him, he was never comfortable with this position. He wanted to do things more meaningful and things that mattered to him and not just what would give him the next paycheck as so many young actors before him had done. After those first few films he went with more obscure roles which eventually landed him "Brokeback Mountain" and an Oscar nomination.

Clearly "Brokeback" was something very different and something that went against the heartthrob image that Hollywood wanted for him. He was asserting command of his own career and not being pushed into blockbusters that were box office gold but would keep you typecast forever.

In what will be his final completed film, Ledger stars as the Joker in this summer's "The Dark Knight". I have seen previews for this film, and the snippets I see make me very excited to watch this movie. Not just because it is a new comic flick (of which I will watch almost any one no matter how good - see "Spider-Man"- or how bad - see "Daredevil"), but because the bits they showed of Ledger showed a new Joker that could challenge the immortal portrayal by Jack Nicholson.

Two interesting pieces I saw in reading articles today were that when Ledger turned down "Spider-Man" he quoted as saying he didn't like comics. In addition, he was said to be disturbed by the character of the Joker. His intense psychosis and demented capacity for murder apparently were challenges for Ledger. According to various interviews, he was always looking for a challenge and one has to wonder what type of challenge this must be to take a role that has already been done superbly by one the most decorated actors of all time and to do it in a major blockbuster "comic" film that Ledger had indicated he had tried to stay away from since doing "The Patriot".

All too often, Hollywood seems to be able to chew up and spit out those who try to enter its world. Brad Renfro being another recent young death of someone clearly fighting with his own demons. I'm not suggesting that Ledger committed suicide or was an addict. There were no illicit drugs found in his apartment but according to various articles he was having trouble sleeping lately and even a double dose of Ambien wasn't helping. Those sleeping drugs are powerful and if in desperation, attempting to gain some rest and maybe escape his personal issues he may have taken one too many (this is pure speculation, the cause of death is undetermined and may not be for another 10-14 days). But the pressure to keep up that lifestyle and deal with the paparazzi who he repeatedly took issue with in many interviews may have just been too much to take.

There is an analogy here to steroids in sports (see I told you there would be a tie-in). The pressure to hit the ball farther, run faster, or heal quicker is incalculable. Athletes are expected to excel to keep their paychecks and the competition to be better pushes some to steroids. Even those that may feel it is wrong will still do it because they are desperate to keep their jobs. Hollywood has similar pressures to push people into roles they may not want. Past interviews suggest that Ledger felt this pressure to conform, especially early in his career. Some can't handle the pressure and like Brad Renfro & River Phoenix they turns to drugs and alcohol to make it more bearable. Sometimes, like in the case of Kurt Cobain, even with the drugs the pressure is too much and they decide for the way of the gun. There is a push in sports and entertainment to be want people want you to be rather than who you are. Fortunately in sports, it leads to only cheating but in Hollywood it all too often leads to a life ending way before its time.

Justice is served

With Martin Broduer not going to the All-Star game, Tim Thomas was named to the sqaud. I'm not going to take credit for it but we all know that someone realized the same things I did in my first post on this site. All Bruins fans are just happy that Timmy is getting the recognition he deserves for his fantastic start.