Fred's not too happy with Mom

I gave Fred a bath the other day, and he's still not "talking" to me. He sometimes have a problem with dander so I have to use a special shampoo that the vet recommended. The big problem is that I have to leave the lather on for 10-15 minutes which seems like an eternity when wrangling a wet cat. Sorry I couldn't provide pictures of Fred in the bath, but I think this photo sums up what Fred thinks of his Mom.

Thanks for the memory

Sorry to see Helen and Martin leave today, but they were ready to sleep in their own bed after being away for 2 weeks. We're going to miss these guys, especially Fred since he seems to like their company (at least their warm laps).

Hard to tell who's related and who married into the family, eh?

pats lose, stream of visitors, Garfunkel, giant squirrels, etc

Hi there. Yeah I know, I haven't blogged in a while. In case you haven't heard: The Pats lost to the Colts in the AFC Championship game 9 days ago, after blowing a 21-3 lead. But I'm over it--I swear.

Irene's sister Helen and our brother-in-law Martin were visiting us from Ann Arbor for the past 2 weeks. They were in town for a Librarian conference (they both work in the University of Michigan Library system). Hot on their heels, our friends Lorraine and Rob from Ireland arrive tomorrow evening. We're not used to having back to back guests this time of year but it's been a fun and hectic month. My sister Geegy was also in town from Christmas thru January 8.


These 2 funny articles from The Onion both mention Beefside, a legit Concord fast food place we used to go to in high school - they were the only local place open past midnight:

10-Percent Tip Teaches Waitress Valuable Lesson

Area Family's Trip To New Hampshire Sparks Rumors Of Presidential Bid


If you've noticed how Irene likes to list the books she's read each month on our little blog here, she's not the first one to come up with the idea. We learned recently that Art Garfunkel has been keeping track since the late 60's. Seems like he's had a lot of time on his hands.


Last thing: Lorraine sent me this pic today - they've had some trouble with R.O.U.S.'s in the Cork area recently:

Click here if you don't remember what R.O.U.S. means

Amazing Race All-Stars

CBS officially announced the teams racing for their All-Star version. I'm happy to see the return of Team Cha-Cha, but there are more teams that I don't personally like. There's only one winning team, Uchenna and Joyce that made the cut. Check out the CBS website to learn who's in play.

More snow

The weather in Seattle has been colder than usual. Today we got more snow; I think this is our third snowfall for this winter, but I've already lost count by now. Luckily for me, the snow stopped in time for me to pick up Helen and Martin at the airport. They're both happily napping now since they had an early flight from Detroit this morning. Let's hope the weather will improve for their visit.


Here's a photo of Carkeek Park from a reader of the Seattle PI.

Fat cat found - and it's not Fred

Who wouldn't want to adopt this cuddly monster of a cat? According to the paper, this kitty weighs about 20 pounds, about 2 pounds heavier than Fred. I guess Fred is just big boned. Click here to read the article in today's Seattle Times.

Becks coming to America

You've all heard by now that David Beckham is moving to America to play for the L.A. Galaxy. I'm sure Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were part of the reason for the move, as they're working to get Posh and Becks to join Scientology. You may recall that Posh and Becks were in attendance at TomKat's nuptials. Let's not forget that JLo and husband #3 were there too. Boy, I guess it's hard to say no to Scientologists.

Seattle = COLD!

Check out the weather section from my.yahoo page today - Seattle is the coldest place on my list, even Concord is warmer, though not by much, and not for long either, I bet:That doesn't happen very often during the winter, though it's pretty common the rest of the year. It's very sunny out though--great view of the mountains today

Reading list for December 2006

Snobs by Julian Fellowes
Jennifer Government by Max Barry
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

ELVIS UPDATE

UPDATE to yesterday's Elvis Birthday post: I was looking for a better image of the Nixon/Elvis photo and found this site from GW University, which shows every(!) photo from the roll that was taken from, including a few where EP is clearly showing off the cufflinks he received as a gift from Spiro Agnew:22 photos, all in vintage, glorious Black&White (makes me think the muddy looking one I posted yesterday has been colorized). This once again proves how great the internets can be!

Sweet dreams

Apple iPhone Announcement

Well they've done it again, Steve Jobs and those smartypants engineers at Apple have come up with a new ipod/phone/web browser, as announced at the MacWorld expo this AM. Not that I'm a huge MacNerd, but this means that the 80Gig ipod that I bought as soon as it was announced, and have had for less than 4 months, is now officially obsolete.

But check this thing out--pretty cool:
and this is the how the iTunes CD search looks:just like a jukebox--sweet!

I thought it was pretty cool that Jobs quoted Gretzky in his closing:

"I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been."

OK I'm done gushing now.

The bad news? Not available til June.
The worse news? 4GB model will be $499, 8GB will be $599.
I'm betting you can't fit too many Pirates of the Caribbean sequels on a 4GB device.

HAPPY 72nd, ELVIS!

Yep, today would have been The King's 72nd birthday. Check out this article about the meeting that gave us this iconic photo (one of the most requested documents from the National Archives), and the story of how the King got his Federal Agent badge that day:

The chain of events that led to the meeting began when a stretch limousine carrying Elvis pulled up outside the White House. One of his guards handed over a letter from Elvis addressed to Nixon requesting a meeting to discuss how the rock star could help Nixon fight drugs — including getting credentials as a "federal agent at large."

"I will be here as long as it takes to get the credentials of a Federal Agent," Elvis wrote. "I have done an in-depth study of drug abuse and Communist brainwashing techniques and I am right in the middle of the whole thing where I can and will do the most good."

I wish I could add something to that last paragraph to make it funnier but that would be impossible.

Elvis Note #1: I have a black & white postcard with that same photo on the wall of my cube at work. I bought it at Graceland when Irene and I went for my friend Morty's wedding in 2003, intending to send it to my dad, but liked it too much so I kept it. Sorry, Dad.

Elvis Note #2: I am now the same age Elvis was when he died. Kind of scary to think of that. I was going to make a dying on the throne joke here but I think I'll hold off on that for now, maybe even until I turn 43, just to be safe.

Oops -- my bad!

With the news of laptops going up in flames last year, I returned the defective battery on our ibook when Apple offered free replacements. Who knew that months later that I would accidently torch the laptop?





Beware of using laptops near any open flames. I'm glad I realized the laptop was on fire before it did permanent damage.

Ipod Project A-Z & NFL wildcard weekend

As I've mentioned over and over again, I started listening to my ipod in alphabetical order at the beginning of 2006, with the goal of hearing every song on it by the end of the year.

I might have made it too but when my original 30Gig model (with ~6500 songs) crapped out in September, I bought one of the new 80Gig ones, which had 11,940 songs on it by the end of '06.

As of 12/31/06 I was up to song #6457 of the 11940, just beyond half way. The song was "Money" by Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas from the "Future Soundtrack for America" CD released by local label Barsuk Records in 2004 to raise money to beat Bush. Didn't work but there are some good songs on it anyway.

Shameless namedrop: Barsuk was founded by Emily Alford, who I worked with at Amazon, and her husband Josh Rosenfeld. They've got lots of bands we like on their label: The Long Winters, Nada Surf, They Might be Giants, and originally signed Death Cab for Cutie (who just moved to Atlantic for major bucks).

Now where was I? oh yeah, since the new one is 80G, I've continued to load lots more stuff on it, like all the Cds Irene and I got for Christmas, and now have 12,486 songs. I don't think I'll ever actually listen to everything on it, unless I stop loading stuff now, but I love buying Cds too much to do that

Pats-Jets playoff game is this Sunday. My prediction? PAIN! sorry - went a little Clubber Lang for a sec there. seriously though, pats will win.

PAIN!

I'll be at the Seahawks-Cowboys game tomorrow night - seems like we'll have another monsoon blowing through this weekend - AWESOME - BLACKOUT BOWL II! Time to break out the long johns & trash bag raingear.

New year's resolutions

1. Get into shape.
2. Try to eat better.
3. Visit a country I've never been to before.
4. Send a birthday card and present to my mom on time.
5. Try a new restaurant each month. Of course, this is something I agreed to do with Jim and our friends, Pat and Robin.
6. See a movie in the theater each month.

Happy new year!

Let's hope there'll be more peace and happiness around the world in 2007.

Look what I made!

Here's the result of my first attempt at frozen yogurt using the ice cream maker I got for Christmas. Guess the flavor? It's blueberry. It's not bad, but I think it could have used more sugar (but then, that would defeat the purpose of low-fat yogurt, eh?).

Kitties love wii

I couldn't resist posting these kitties who look like our Fred. I found these guys on the website, wiikityy.com, where their owners post photos of their wii-loving cats.

I'd Better Pick Up the Pace!

According to a recently published Italian study involving over a million people, drinking in moderation can extend your life, while over-imbibing may shorten it.

I think I can speak for all of us when I say "DUH!" to the second part, but the surprising part to me was that, in Italy, drinking in moderation means four(!) drinks(!) per day(!):

According to the data, drinking a moderate amount of alcohol — up to four drinks per day in men and two drinks per day in women — reduces the risk of death from any cause by roughly 18 percent, the team reports in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Can you imagine if during your next physical, when the Dr. asks you how much you drink, you thought about it for a sec, and said, "oh I drink in moderation, Doctor, never more than 28 drinks per week." They'd med-evac you straight to rehab, and probably start an IV with lactated ringers, like Rampart was always telling Roy & John to do on Emergency!

The bad news? Here you go. Check out the calorie counts on these drinks:
Long Island Iced Tea (780 calories)
Margarita (740 calories)
Big Mac (not an actual cocktail) (704 calories)
Pina Colada (644 calories)
White Russian (425 calories)
Mai Tai (350 calories)
Champagne Cocktail (250 calories)
Fog Cutter (225 calories)
Gin/Vodka & Tonic (200 calories)
Mojito (160 calories)
Cosmopolitan (150 calories)

The good news? A Makers Mark Manhattan has around 135 calories. And Makers on the rocks is just 69 calories per ounce.

So don't be afraid to enjoy Makers up to 4 times daily! doesn't that look good?

Why does it always rain on me?

What is with the weather in Seattle? We broke records with nearly 16 inches of rain in the month of November, and we've had about 6 inches this month when the norm is about 5 inches. It's depressing to know that we have months ahead of us before it'll get nice again. While it's been raining here in Seattle, snow is getting dumped on the passes and further east. I just hope we'll get a break soon, and have some sunny days even if it's cold out.

Jim and I braved the heavy rains last night to do our annual after-Christmas-50%-off calendar shopping at the mall. We, then, realized that we somehow avoided the malls for the entire Christmas shopping season. Online shopping rules!

Merry Christmas to all

It's 9:30 Christmas morning. Jim and I were awakened by Ryan and Emily at 7:55am. They were told by their mom and dad that they couldn't open presents till 8am. It took less than an hour to finish unwrapping all the presents under the tree. Emily could hardly contain herself; I think she enjoyed ripping off the wrapping the most. Thanks to all for alll the great presents; I'm going to be busy making ice cream, trying out new sandwiches, and rocking out to my new cds and music dvds. :)

We'll be hitting the road later today, making it back to Seattle to feed Fred, and spend some quality time with him before the day ends.

Be afraid, be very afraid

The Martels from San Anselmo, CA just forwarded us photos from their trip this past summer. They did a rafting trip in Idaho, and lived to tell us about it. Luke and Will look like they're enjoying the raft trip more than Reed who's sitting between Julie and Jack.

Bart Simpson Picks this week's NFL winners

FoxSports has had a different Simpsons character pick the winners every week this season and have finally gotten around to Bart for week 16 (of 17):

"Yo, Bart Simpson here with my NFL picks for Week 16. I guess they didn't trust me the first 15 weeks 'cause they were afraid I'd say something like, 'Green Bay sucks! If those Cheeseheads wanna stick their heads in something yellow, why don't they try my butt?' Just kidding, I love Green Bay."

The Czech War on Santa

from my new favorite magazine: The Week

War on Santa
Prague
"The Czech Republic has launched an ad campaign to discourage businesses from putting up Christmas ads that feature Santa Claus. "This stupid, fat guy with the red outfit is taking over our television ads, and we say it's enough," ad agency head Martin Charvat told the London Independent. In the Czech tradition, on Christmas Eve, instead of Santa, it's the baby Jesus who flies magically into the house and leaves presents in children's stockings. Czechs do have a St. Nicolas figure, but he comes by earlier. Each year on Dec. 6, men dress up as St. Nick or the devil and walk around town in pairs asking children to sing or recite. Good kids get candy from St. Nick, while bad ones get whacked with the devil's stick."

I like the reward/punishment aspect of their Christmas tradition--maybe we should start that system here as well. I don't remember seeing any official "Devil's Whacking Stick" for sale among the marionettes and nesting dolls when we were in Prague. Sounds like a marketing opportunity for the nouveau capitalists over there.

Speaking of nesting dolls - they sell them painted every way you can imagine over there--soccer, basketball, football, baseball players, simpsons, shrek, Disney characters, South Park, etc, etc:I regret not buying the one with David "Big Papi" Ortiz on it for my dad for Christmas. Sorry dad--maybe if he wins MVP next year I'll find one for you.

NERD ALERT!

Title of Harry Potter 7 revealed

From the "No Thanks" Department

3 things:

1) Pete Rose has come out in favor of Mark McGwire's Hall of Fame bid. He goes on to mention that he deserves to be in the HoF as well.

McGwire on phone soon after hearing about this: "hi Pete Rose? This is McGwire. SHUT the **** UP!! You're not helping!!"

I bet that when Big Mac looks at the life Rose has made for himself it scares the crap out of and/or depresses the hell out of him. Probably both:

"In the Dec. 16, 2005, file photo, Pete Rose sits at a table waiting to sign autographs at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Rose said Tuesday that both he and Mark McGwire belong in the Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken/file)"

2) Daryl Strawberry has stated that "Jeter must 'embrace' A-rod". I don't think I can add anything to make that any funnier, except maybe this bit straight from the straw's mouth: "He's a sensitive guy," Strawberry said. "He's only played in Seattle and Texas. It's not New York. It's a big difference. You don't get booed in Texas. You don't get booed in Seattle when you play there."

If there's one thing Straw knows, it's when a teammate needs a hug. Check out this awkward moment with a bewigged Joe Pepitone:

3) Lastly, the Iraqi army celebrated the handover of Najaf from US Army control by eating frogs and live rabbits. I guess they didn't have as good a year as the Turkish airport workers Irene wrote about the other day. Either that or they couldn't find a camel.

Sorry but I just had to include a photo of this one too:

Baby goes through L.A. airport x-ray

The morons at the TSA x-rayed a one-month old baby! The grandmother spoke no English, and was confused about the security measures. Somehow the baby ended up on the conveyor belt to be x-rayed, and wasn't noticed till the screener saw its skeleton on the screen. The baby was taken to the hospital to check if it was okay. Duh!

Poor Poor Britney

This girl needs help! When will her friends and family stage an intervention? She looks awful, and she's developed quite a horrid taste in fashion (yes, worse than before). At least she's started wearing underwear again.

A Christmas present bound to be fun for everyone

This is an instant classic -- a SNL digital short as funny as Lazy Sunday. Yes, that's Justin Timberlake in the video. Go to NBC, http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/videos/, to check out the video.

How would you celebrate a job well done? Sacrifice a camel!

This week maintenance workers for Turkish Airlines sacrificed a camel to celebrate a job well done. They all pitched in to buy the camel, and then sacrificed it at Istanbul's Ataturk airport. The camel was seen being led into the airport grounds, and workers were later seen holding up bloody pieces of meat after the sacrifice. Who knew that one camel can provide 1,540 pounds of meat? I'm sure the members of the European Union are just rolling their eyes on this news.

Jolie-Pitt Superbaby Revolution Redux

That Shiloh is sure cute! Angelina + Brad = perfect baby!

Feel free to reread Jim's theory on the superbaby revolution here.

Smart or Stoopid

Take a simple IQ test at http://www.flashbynight.com/test/ and see how you score. You can compare your score to others that have taken the test.

Germany real winner of World Cup: report

check out this article from yahoo today

The article talks about how Germany's image improved worldwide because of hosting the World Cup and made lots of Euro$ too, as their GDP growth was 3 times higher than last year's.

But for me this makes the article worth reading:

"Germans were no longer regarded as humorless beer drinkers who ate sausages in their lederhosen trousers. Now there was an image abroad of Germany as a modern, efficient and tolerant nation full of enthusiastic soccer fans."

ummm...yeah, sure, uh-huh. There wasn't any beer drinking done by Germans during the World Cup. nope. Just the Brits. they were the ones.

No more of this:

Here's Germany's new image:

see? no lederhosen here

Wii have a problem

It was only 6 weeks ago that I first ever heard of Nintendo's Wii. Now you can't watch TV without seeing its commercials featuring 2 Japanese guys who randomly show up and introduce the game system to unsuspecting people. Apparently Wii has been selling like hotcakes, and now people have begun posting problems they've had with it. Apparently the remote controllers for Wii tends to slip out of your hands and fly across the room and cause damage to television sets and furnitures. Check out the photo of the busted screen of a 48" TV. Bummer, man!

Zombie Chickens

I haven't completely made the switch to organic cage-free chicken and eggs. After reading an article about zombie chickens, I can't continue to support massive chicken farms and egg-laying factories. Chicken farms in Sonoma County, Northern California alone dispose more than 500,000 "spent" hens (meaning they no longer produce eggs). In the past these hens were processed for soups and canned meat. Processing plants stopped accepting them because it was deemed not cost effective. So now these farmers put tens of thousands of chickens into a sealed box and fill it with carbon monoxide to kill them. Eventually they become compost. The bad thing is that some chickens don't die. Locals near these chicken farms claim that they've found "zombie" chickens wandering on their properties.

Add Sparkles to your life

If you've never seen the show, How I Met Your Mother, you're missing a pretty funny show. You can't go wrong when the show stars Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doogie Howser, and Nick from Freaks and Geeks? It's on Mondays at 8. Last week was one of the funniest ones ever! Check out the myspace page for Robin Sparkles. Her song will be stuck in your head (and that's a good thing). Don't forget to watch the video too. Canadians rock!!!

More Amazing Race than ever

Amazing Race Asia premiered this week to blockbuster ratings in Asia. Similar to the original Amazing Race, teams of 2 persons race for a cash prize. Amazing Race Asia is limited to traveling around Asia, and the grand prize is only $100,000US. It'll be kind of interesting to see how this show unfolds with the diverse cast racing around Asia. The show is in English, but most of them are of Asian descent so they speak at least another language. Will they have problems with foreign languages? Will they have problems eating weird foods? Don't they already do?

Back in the land of ice cubes

Finally back home after visiting Berlin, Dresden, and Prague. Jim and I had a great time, but it was nice to sleep in our own bed after being away for nearly 2 weeks. Everytime we go away for a trip, it reminds us that Americans have it pretty good.

What do we miss when we're travelling?
1. Ice cubes - You rarely get any ice cubes when you order cold drinks. Jim got a soda at a McDonald's in Berlin, and there were probably 5 ice cubes in his "large" 16 oz. soda.
2. Free water at restaurants - Whenever you ask for water, they always ask "with gas" (carbonated water) or "no gas" (mineral water). This means that you're getting water, and they're charging you for it.
3. Double-ply toilet paper - Europeans must come to America and think they've gone to heaven when using our toilet paper -- once they get over the shock of seeing bulk toilet paper available in packs of 24 double rolls.
4. Paper or plastic? - There's no option in Europe. It's assumed that you have your own bags when shopping at the grocery store. They just ring up your stuff and shove it down the belt. You need to ask for a bag, and you'll get charged for it too. We've finally got hipped to this a few years ago, and carry a canvas bag whenever we're out.
5. Alarm clocks - What's up with no alarm clocks in European hotels? We simply pack a travel alarm clock nowadays.

Cool T-Shirt Store

Check out VintageCotton.com. This one from Sean of the Dead is my favorite so far:




Also...we're heading off on our 12 day Berlin-Dresden Prague trip tomorrow, so postings may be infrequent for the next 2 weeks but we'll try to post some updates when we can.

Good News & Barker update

first the good news:

















Bob Barker update: I've been thinking of some replacement possibilities, along with how happy each would make me, from 0 - 100:

Seacrest 0 (no tanks!)
Tiki Barber 50 (he's got to do something after retirement, right?)
Andy Richter 80
Tom Bergeron (former host of Granite State Challenge!) 70
Magic Johnson (a longshot, but could be some good unintentional comedy) 75

Irene told me that the fix is in & that they've already picked out some cbs weather man - I hope not. I'll post some more thoughts on replacement possibilities later

Who wouldn't want this for Christmas?

Mr. Potato Head Darth Tater!

A Sad Day for All of Us

The day we all hoped would never arrive has just been announced:

Veteran TV host Barker to retire after 50 years

He's stepping down next June. He is 82, after all. He couldn't do it forever I guess. I'm not sure what else to say--just glad we have another eight months left. Maybe Irene and I can take a trip down there & see a taping in person, but tix will be impossible to get now.

I'm sure not looking forward to when seacrest or some other idiot takes over--No Tanks!


UPDATE from Simpsons/NFL Picks: Monty Burns went 9-3-2 this weekend. I went 4-10. (but he didn't have to pick against the spread)

A Stunner

Despite (because of?) my certainty that the NL champ would not win a World Series game(documented here), the Cards are a win away from shocking the Tigers, and the rest of us, and taking it 4-1. I've never seen a team have every lucky break go their way like the Cards did last night (the centerfielder slipped & fell down chasing what should have been an easy out, a key hit tipped off the leftfielder's outstretched glove, another killer error by a Detroit pitcher, etc,etc), and all without the benefit of even a single blown call, which is headline worthy by itself. Maybe it's just their time to win one. Now they'll blow it for sure.

Another stunner: For this whole NFL season, the Fox Sports web site has had different Simpsons characters picking the winners of each week's games. This week: Monty Burns. Next week: Kang & Kodos. How did I not hear about this until today? Not a clue.

Homer picked them in week one (and went 10-4-2). A sample of his wisdom: "I don't like Miami because the dolphin on the helmet is wearing a helmet that doesn't have a dolphin on it. Which side are you on, man?"

Queue it up

There are over 300 titles in our Netflix queue. I can't imagine ever getting this down to a reasonable number. Each year we add the movies that were nominated for the Oscar's Best Picture that we hadn't seen. As of today, Brokeback Mountain, Crash, and Walk the Line aren't even in our top 50.

Here's a glimpse of our queue, limited to our top 10 foreign language films.
An Amazing Couple
Floating Weeds
Schultzie Gets the Blues
The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi
Monsieur Ibrahim
The Battle of Algiers
On The Run
The Barbarian Invasions
Jet Lag
Empire of the Wolves

Set your Tivo

Tonight is the premiere of the latest celebrity interviews for Iconoclasts on the Sundance Channel. Tonight Eddie Vedder interviews Laird Hamilton. This is the second season of this series with celebrities interviewing celebrities. Last season's highlights was Tom Ford interviewing Jeff Koons, Michael Stipe with Mario Batali, and Robert Redford with Paul Newman.

Fred's Latest Trick

I taught Fred a new trick. I don't have any video to show you but I came across a video of another cat doing exactly the same thing. Check it out!
'

Opening soon at a theater near you

Here's the first 4 minutes of the Borat movie.

It's My Birthday!

I'm sipping Bacardi like it's my birthday. And you know I don't give a f***. It's not your birthday! Oh, that 50 Cent can really write lyrics like no one else. Well, I'm not actually sipping Bacardi because there's none in the house. I am enjoying some rum that the Walshes donated before moving to Virginia. I raise my rum and coke to Keith and Julie and give thanks! And I'm watching/listening to my U2 Live in Sydney dvd that Denise (thanks Geeg) got me; Larry Mullen was looking pretty hot that year. Jim's treating me to dinner at the Met Grill. I hope they have strawberry shortcake because that's what I really want for my birthday cake.

Forbes' List of the World's Most Expensive Restaurant

Every year Forbes lists the world's most expensive restaurants. Aragawa, a steak house in Tokyo tops the list for the second year in a row. Dinner can be had at an average cost of $370 per person. Looking down the list, I saw the name of a restaurant where Jim and I actually had the liberty to enjoy a meal -- Queue de Cheval. Back in 2000, Jim and I made a trip up to Quebec and Montreal. We stumbled across this steak house in Montreal, and enjoyed lunch. I didn't realize this place was an institution. We would definitely recommend this place if you're ever in Montreal.

Crypted from Jim's Rant on Spezio

I'm posting this from Jim's email.

In case any of you haven't been following this--despite hitting a Cirillo-like .196 during his 2 years here (in Seattle) including a remarkable .064 (that's 3 for 47! - I looked it up) in 2005, Scott Spiezio has been killing the ball during the playoffs, hitting 2-out triples etc etc. Jack Buck said "Spiezio again!" after another big hit. This either proves that the NL really really sucks or that he was seriously tanking it when he was here with his buddy Bavasi. The answer's probably a combo of the two.

Spiezio has even turned into a folk hero in St Louis, like Johnny Damon was in 04 for the Sox, with fans are even wearing fake bright red soul patches to look like him (see attached photo at bottom). weirdo

OK I'll stop my rant now--just remember that I was the first one who told you that the tigers will sweep whoever comes out of the NL (sorry Keith)

I agree that the fad has gone to people's head.

Snakes on a Plane revisited

I know Jim (and Fridge) would appreciate that the USC marching band played the theme song from Snakes on a Plane during half-time. It's quite a catchy tune. Which version do you like -- USC's or Cobra Starship's?

I miss Buster

I across this and wanted to share. I totally love the show, Arrested Development, and I'm sad that it never got the viewership it deserved. I absolutely love Buster.

Irene's Reading List for September

The Red Notebook by Paul Auster
The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster
Istanbul, The Imperial City by John Freely
Little Green Men by Christopher Buckley
The Book of the Dead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

I'M LAME

I haven't blogged in what seems like months - here's what's been happening:

I'm very happy to report that I finally finished reading Don Quixote about 2 weeks ago. It was L-O-N-G, and to me not all that great, to tell the truth. I'm sure it was cutting edge back in 1605 and an important step in the development of the modern novel, but it just kind of goes on and on, and there's not much of a story line carried through the whole thing, other than DQ being Craz-ee. And that whole windmill thing? Done & forgotten in the first 50 pages (of over 1000). I think it may be so well known because that's as far as a lot of people make it.

Much of Part2 (which originally came out in 1615, 10 yrs after part 1) is DQ & Sancho staying at the castle of a Duke & Duchess who play practical jokes on them for laughs, so I guess you could also say it may have important in the development of modern prank TV, like Candid Camera and Punk'd. I say read Les Miserables if you're looking for a brick-sized classic--that was great, a genuine page turner (really!).

Irene and I went to DC this past weekend to see Joe & Andrea. Had an awesome time, did a few museums, dinner with my Hoya buddies at the ginormous new downtown Clyde's and a crab feast at the Quarterdeck in Arlington with our newly relocated friends the no-longer Seattle Walshes, some boozing, a movie (Jackass #2!), saw Robbie Fulks live-- we were busy! We'll be going to Berlin, Dresden and Prague with J&A next month - can't wait for that!

to be continued tomorrow - gotta catch my bus

Lost is back

What's my opinion of the season premiere episode of Lost? I had high hopes, but I soon grew frustrated and annoyed by the show. What was with all the commercials? Luckily we fast forwarded through the commercials since we tivoed the episode. Book club for the Others?! Planet of the Apes thing with Sawyer?! The aquarium under which Jack is held captive?! Kate eating fish biscuits after sitting down with Henry for a meal of eggs, bacon, and coffee? Henry Gale aka Ben?! Eesh -- I hope the season gets better than this.

If you haven't seen ABC's Ugly Betty, you can still see the first episode online.

Guaranteed to put a smile on your face

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):