Jagshemash

"Greetings!" as Borat Sagdiyev would say. Yesterday Borat, or rather Sacha Baron Cohen, held a press conference in front of the Kazahstan embassy in Washington, DC; it's hilarious. The Washington Post has some video footage. I only wish they included the footage of Borat running to the White House with reporters and cameras chasing after him.

The Terrible M's

Have you seen this mascot recently?

Last night we ended our 16-game season with the M's losing to the A's, 7-6. Of our group of 13, we were missing half of the crew -- the Walshes now live in Virginia, Phil is wandering around Europe with a munchy-red-eyed Rick Steves, and Matt's cavorting in the sun with Amy and hairy Greeks. Shout out to Mark, Pascal, Kris, Ben, and Shelly for showing up. The A's had clinched a spot in the playoffs the night before, so they didn't even have all their top players out there. We did end our season with a winning record of 14-2 13-3 as corrected by Jim; we really lucked out even with a losing team. Let's hope for a better season next year.

It's #%#$# o'clock in the morning

Guess who decided to show up an hour early to work today? Yup, yours truly got to work by 5:20AM. 5:20AM!!! Why, you ask? Somehow, I changed the time on my alarm clock so I got up earlier than I was supposed to. Actually, it was so early when I got up that I don't actually remember hearing my alarm go off. I wonder now if I just imagined it, or simply checked the clock (without my glasses) and thought it was time to get up. I didn't realize my mistake till I was already on the bus and notice that it wasn't 5AM yet. I thought my watch battery was dying and lost time. What an idiot I can be!!!

Of course, I'm going to blame all this on King County Metro. They recently changed the bus schedule, and I was completely caught unaware Monday morning when my usual 6:04AM #18 Express never showed up (it would take about 15 minutes to get to work). I had to take the local bus, so I was 15 minutes late getting to work. For some reason, King County Metro decided that people don't need any express buses leaving from Ballard till 6:30AM. I guess they think people who work before 7AM should suffer a mind-numbing, stop-at-every-freaking-bus-stop-between-Ballard-and-downtown bus ride.

Guerrilla Art

I haven't heard of a famous guerilla artist since Keith Haring. I remember taking the train around New York City, and seeing his drawings at various stations. I loved them then and still love them now.

I recently found out about another guerrilla artist, Banksy. He has sneaked his work into the British Museum, Tate Gallery, MOMA, the Met, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art. He recently had a show in Los Angeles. True to nature, the location of the 3-day exhibit was kept secret till hours before it opening. People weren't given the exact address, merely a street name; I'm sure people had to consult with the Thomas Guides to figure out where to go. BBC posted some photos of the LA show.


Banksy's definitely subversive and provocative, but I love his work. Thanks to Angelina Jolie for bringing him to my attention. No, she didn't call or email about the show in LA. I happened upon a story about her going to the show, and it peeked my curiosity.

YHHABOR!

For those not versed in pirate text messaging, YHHABOR stands for "yo ho ho and a bottom of rum"! Today happens to be Talk Like a Pirate Day! Coincidentally ABC's reality show Wife Swap premieres tonight featuring a "family" of pirates from Seattle.

Now that's a burger!

I had one of the best burgers EVER at the lovely home of Kris, Ben and KPJ. Luckily for us, Kris captured the offerings before they were devoured.

Jimmy, You're So Funny

Jim and I are probably the only people we know that watch Jimmy Kimmel Live. If you're ever up past midnight, you should definitely check out his show.

Better Known As...

Feeling particularly smart today? I came across questions from a local bar's trivia quiz. I asked Jim and Steve, two of the smartest guys I know and they were stumped on quite a few of these.

I'll provide the alternate name for something or something, and you'll have to come up with its more famous name. Highlight the space after the question to see the answer.

Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor Charles, Prince of Wales
fluoxetine hydrochloride Prozac
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu Mother Teresa
The Battle of Pittsburg Landing The Battle of Shiloh
Trimountaine Boston, MA
The Leather Girls and The Mankillers Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Roshambo Rock, Scissor, Paper
The Cynic’s Word Book The Devil's Dictionary
Shoeshine Boy Underdog
Elizabeth Short Black Dahlia

BBC headlines rule

The BBC sure has some talented headline writers - check out these fine examples, all from today's list of most read BBC stories:

Fresh surgery for 'mermaid' girl

Prince jailed for smuggling coke (this one's not about William, Harry or that Purple Rain guy our friend Robin likes so much)

Human heads dumped in Mexico bar

and my favorite of the day:
'Goat-free roads made me speed'

here's one of the goats that caused a Swiss driver to speed by not being in the road

Jimmy 101

No, I'm not teaching an intro course about myself, nor will I be releasing my own version of Depeche Mode's great live album. Nope. 101 is the score I posted yesterday at the West Seattle golf course. Since that represents my best score ever, you'd think I'd be bragging about it, but actually I'm going to complain instead. I had a 91 with one hole to play, only needing only an 8 to finish with a 99, and break 100 for the first time, but I CHOKED badly, carding a TEN(!), to finish with a 101.

oh well, if I played golf more often I'd have the right to be mad, I guess. or maybe the four 16 oz Coors had something to do with it? Don't blame me - they were only 2 bucks. Here I am lining one up like Ty Webb (photo courtesy of Phil Vandecar) and no that's not a putter.

BTW, yesterday was the farewell round of golf with my pal Keith Walsh, of the SeattleWalshes, soon to become the NorfolkWalshes, though I'm not sure if that means they'll be registering for a new URL. Bon Voyage Keith, Julie, & Jackson! Best of luck in Virginia!

Irene's Reading List for August

never drank the kool-aid by Touré
The Ethical Assassin by David Liss
The Big Oyster by Mark Kurlansky

Sox Lose! Sox Lose! Sox Lose!

Yes, it's true. Sadly, the Sox lost all 3 games my dad and I saw last weekend here in Seattle. Can you tell from this photo how things were going?

(Photo courtesy K.H. Chick Copyright 2006)

And look how ashamed Fred is after losing a bet to his kitty pal, Mariner fan Aunt Liza (aka KPJ):