Author Archives: Tin Man

New iPhone

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So… I gave in and got the new iPhone tonight. A few hours ago I wasn’t even planning on it, but then the opportunity fell into my lap, and now my new phone is on my desk, syncing with iTunes.

A friend/co-worker of Matt had reserved new iPhones a couple of weeks ago at two different places: a Best Buy and an Apple Store. Best Buy got a new batch a couple of days ago and contacted him, so he went there over the weekend and picked up his new phone.

Then today the Apple Store contacted him to let him know that his reserved phone there was ready to be picked up. He no longer needed a new one, and he thought that I might want one, so he emailed me late this afternoon and asked if I wanted to go there with him and buy the phone.

I decided… what the hell. Despite my annoyances and qualms and my protestation that I didn’t really need one (and I don’t)… I gave in and said sure.

So tonight Matt’s friend and I went down to the Apple store and I bought it using his reservation. They didn’t care that one of us had the reservation and the other one of us was buying the phone.

And now it’s syncing up.

I guess a little materialism now and then isn’t a bad thing.

Happy 25th Anniversary, Back to the Future

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I couldn’t let today go by without pointing this out.

Today is the 25th anniversary of the theatrical release of Back to the Future, my favorite movie of all time.

Here’s the original New York Times review, from 25 years ago today, July 3, 1985.

A few days ago, Universal Studios announced that they’ll be releasing the trilogy on Blu-Ray this fall — on October 26, 2010, the 25th anniversary of the day in 1985 that Marty McFly goes back in time.

I saw the movie twice during the summer of 1985, and since then I’ve seen it more times than I can count. I can recite almost every line of the movie in its proper intonation.

Sam: Ho ho ho, look at it roll! Now we can watch Jackie Gleason while we eat!

Lorraine: It’s our first television set. Dad just picked it up today… do you have a television?

Marty: Well, yeah, you know, we have… two of them.

Milton: Wow, you must be rich!

Stella: Oh honey, he’s teasing you, nobody has two television sets.

(Ralph Kramden appears on the TV screen in his space costume.)

Marty: Hey, hey, I’ve seen this one, I’ve seen this one! This is a classic! This is where Ralph dresses up as the man from space.

Milton: What do you mean you’ve seen this? It’s brand new.

Marty: Yeah well, I saw it on a… rerun.

Milton: What’s a rerun?

(pause)

Marty: You’ll find out.

Thanks to Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale and Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd and Alan Silvestri and everyone else for creating something I’ll enjoy for the rest of my life.