Summer has arrived in Seattle

It's been in the low 80s most of this week, and I don't think the warm weather is going away. It was less than 2 weeks ago that it was still cool in Seattle (jackets optional).

It's been a weird week with Jim gone to attend the funeral of a college roommate and me working a lot of hours (including on 4th of July and today). I'm picking him up at the airport shortly. Since coming home after working a few hours today, I've been a lump on the coach watching Live Earth on Sundance and Bravo. There's been a lot of great acts. Too bad I forgot to watch this morning when they were broadcasting the concerts from Sydney, Tokyo and Shanghai. I've had to settle watching acts from Hamburg, London and New York -- Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, Akon, Yusef Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), Madonna, John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Chris Cornell, Joss Stone, Kanye West, Pharrell. I hope to catch a few more bands before leaving for the airport. Go to http://liveearth.msn.com/ to check out some videos.

Murph Photos attempt #2

For some reason the photos I posted of Murph from out 20th GU reunion aren't displaying correctly--I blame google. Here's attempt #2:(click image for larger view)

Raph, me, Kelly, Murph, Joe, Booter and Sad Clown at Millie & Al's

Rest in Peace Murph.

We miss you already.

Here's to Murph

My Hoya buddy and housemate Pete Murphy died this past weekend of a heart attack at age 42, leaving a wife and 3 children, 2 boys and a girl. They were on a beach in Mexico celebrating Sheila's 40th and their 10th wedding anniversary. This hurts--a lot. I just can't believe it. I've known Murph since we were 18 and never knew the guy to be sick a day in his life.

I'll be taking the redeye to DC tonight and for the wake and funeral on Wednesday and Thursday, back on Friday. Here are a couple shots of Murph from last month, when Irene and I were in DC for our GU class of '87 20th reunion

Raph, me, Kelly, Murph, Joe & Booter at Millie & Al's

Rest in Peace Murph.

We'll miss you.

ALSO: my buddy Scooter just sent me these 3 classic photos from our college days:

Pirate Party Senior Year

me, Murph, Laplante, Clare, Kresse, Scooter, Kroter, Bruce


Senior Ball
back row:Clare, Scooter, Kroter. middle: Murph, me, Kresse. front: Pete Clare's dad


The aftermath of senior week, front steps of 1648 33rd St. Note the bloated puffy faces that result from excessive alcohol consumption (mine & Kresse's, mostly)
top: kroter, Stefano, Murph, Clare, Bones. middle: Me & Laplante. front: Kresse & Scooter

More dumping on the sox

I had to post this picture; it's too funny (and no, it' not Eddie Odey). Check out the writeup too, http://seattlest.com/2007/06/28/the_boston_mass.php. I find Red Sox fans annoying too but at least they know how to stick with a team through wins and losses. I have one more observation about Red Sox fans -- they sure love to drink. At Tuesday's game, practically every Red Sox fan had at least 2 beers in hand at any given moment. Maybe that's how they've learned to cope watching the team (win or lose).

Sox Swept! & NBA Draft tonight

What the hell??!! It's gotten ridiculous around here. The sox come to town and lose to the Mariners every game, and that just the way it goes. They've now lost 8 in a row at Seattle, which is no fun for me or Eddie or the rest of the Sox fans out here. I'm just glad the rest of the AL east is so awful this year, and that we still have a 9 game lead after a brutal June travel schedule that included 2 west coast swings in a 3 week period.

Thanks to Irene too, for noticing the Sox were playing at home when we were going to be in NH over Memorial Day weekend--we got to see them win a game this season.

The Sox will be back in August, and hopefully Terry Francona will remember to send up a pinch hitter next time we're in an 8th inning, tie game, 2 on, 2 out situtation. He didn't seem to remember he could do that yesterday & sent up SS Julio Lugo, mired in an 0 for 31 slump or something like that, who managed to turn a 3-0 count into a strikeout. End of "rally", end of sox last best hope to at least take one of the 3 games this week. And then when Piñeiro came in to pitch the 11th, everyone in the place knew the game wouldn't last much longer.

Tip of the cap to Ichi - he recorded 11 put outs on fly balls yesterday - only 1 shy of the all time record. Not that I enjoyed a single one of them, but he is a great player. Too bad for all the Ms fans that this is the final year of his contract & the team doesn't seem to be very interested in re-signing him. I just hope he's not wearing pinstripes next year.

NBA draft is tonight - Sonics have #2 pick, celtics the 5th. Smart money says the sonics will get Kevin Durant but you never know - maybe Portland will take him & the Seattle/Las Vegas/OK City Sonics will have Greg Oden for the next 10-12 yrs. Weirder things have happened. I hope Jeff Green ends up on the Celts but they're probably going to take Yi, the 7footer from China, described by the sports guy's dad as the Chinese Brad Lohaus. Hooray!

Red Sox in town

Tonight starts a 3-game series with the Red Sox in town. Of course, Jim plans to go to all 3 games. Tonight it'll be Jim and Keith (a former Amazon who now lives in VA). I get to suffer through the loud obnoxious Sox fans (including Jim) on Tuesday night. The bummer is Wednesday's game; Daisuke is scheduled to pitch and I'll be stuck at work. It's a day game starting at 1:35PM.

Considering how much talk there's been about Daisuke, there's no mention of him pitching here this week. Our lame newspapers have been occupied by the return of Griffey Jr. It was great seeing him back in Seattle, but we need to stop being so nostalgic and start focusing our energy into fixing the Mariners. Feierabend (who the hell is this guy?) is scheduled to pitch for us; his record is 1-2 with a 8.20 ERA. Though I'll miss the game on Wednesday, I don't think I can suffer through a Sox win.

When nature calls

Squat toilets are always puzzling to me. It's simple to figure out to use IF there is toilet paper, but what do you do when there's only a pitcher of water? I came across an article that explains how to use a squat toilet. After reading it, I'm not sure I can still do it. It really makes me think twice before signing up with the Peace Corps. If you're curious, check out the article, http://www.worldhum.com/how_to/item/use_a_squat_toilet_20060923/.

Weaver is da man!

hey - to all the haters and naysayers out there who have been on Jeff Weaver's case this season, people just like me, in other words, he got win #1 last night - a complete game 4 hitter against the powerful Pittsburgh Pirates!

for this magnificent start, I'm awarding Jeff one Schrute buck

Netflix guilt

Jim and I have hundreds and hundreds of titles in our Netflix queue. We're in no danger of running out of things to watch. Now, if we can only have the time to watch the dvds we get from Netflix.

We've had 2 movies in our possession since early March, and they're beginning to gather dust on the shelf. We can't simply return them without watching them. Our third movie has only been around since early May. I think the longest we've had a movie in our possession before watching was 6 months; it was Das Boot. Can anyone top that?

Seven years of bliss and counting!

It's been awhile since I've posted. We're still recovering from a weeklong swing out to the East Coast to see friends and family. Jim and I were in New Hampshire to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary on May 27th. The following day we went to Fenway to see the Sox beat the Indians. Check out what Jim's dad did for us.

The End Of An Era

After 35 years, my hero Bob Barker is taping his last episode of TPiR today (it will air next Friday, June 15) and people have been lined up waiting for days to attend. Read about it here.

Tis a very sad day indeed, and will be even sadder if someone like Rosie O'Donnell or Mark Steines is the new host. But then again I'll probably turn off my tivo season pass no matter who they pick.

"Mindfreak" tonight!

Cami Diaz's new boyfriend Criss Angel escaped from a cement box in Times Square today to coincide with tonight's 3rd season premiere of his show "Mindfreak" that I sometimes watch, for unknown reasons:Illusionist escapes cement box in Times Square

By Michelle Nichols Tue Jun 5, 10:20 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. illusionist Criss Angel appeared to escape on Tuesday from a cement box suspended above Times Square in New York after it crashed to the ground without anyone seeing him emerge.

Angel, 39, was enclosed for 24 hours in a clear box that was encased in cement as fans and reporters watched. The box was hoisted 40 feet above the ground in a parking lot just off Times Square.

Hundreds gathered to watch his escape and a big screen showed Angel inside the box, kicking at the walls and dejectedly holding his head in his hands. When a countdown clock hit zero, the box was sent plunging to the ground.

As organizers called for paramedics and fans went quiet, Angel appeared atop the screen's nearby scaffolding, waving to the crowd and with his hand across his heart.

While much of the crowd cheered, several people were heard asking: "Was he actually in the box?"

"Well, I was in it when I fell -- that's the truth," Angel told Reuters, adding that people should be asking how he got from the fallen box to the scaffolding.

The stunt was meant to draw attention to the third season of his show "Mindfreak," which starts airing on U.S. cable channel A&E on Tuesday night. Angel said the first episode would reveal how he escaped.

"You never know with me. You're waiting for something and I flipped it on you," he said.

Angel has been building a career as a magician since he was a teenager in New York and grabbed the spotlight in 2005 with his show, which has included levitation, walking on water and lying on a bed of nails while a vehicle drives over him.

After his stunt, Angel turned to a television camera to tell "my very special person"-- actress Cameron Diaz -- that he loved her. Gossip magazines have been speculating about a romance after the two were seen together in Las Vegas.

2 recent Onion articles that could have been about me

1. Employee's Multitasking Doesn't Include Work

2. Gaze Upon My Baseball Cap Collection And Try To Remain Unmoved
(except this guy only owns 11 hats & 2 of them are A's and Mets--I would never own either of those)

a little salt in my wound

just got this email from the very, very lucky Seattle, Oklahoma City or Kansas City Sonics:

The lone piece of good hoops related news for me today is that Roy Hibbert will return to lead the Hoyas to next year's national championship, though he'll have to do it without Jeff Green, who has decided to remain in the draft. I hope the Celtics take him with that #5 pick.

Congrats to Blazers & Sonics; Giambi=Lying Cheating Hypocritical Scumbag

Congrats to the Blazers who won the Greg Oden NBA draft lottery last night, and to the Seattle/OKCity Sonics, who got the 2nd pick consolation prize of Kevin Durant. This despite having only the 6th and 5th best chance of winning, respectively.

BUT...I'm very disappointed & angry that the Celtics, who had the 2nd best chance of winning the #1 pick, have to settle for the #5 choice. WTF?! I guess it'll be another 10 years of mediocrity in Boston & of me not really caring about the NBA.

In other news 'roid boy Giambi failed a test for amphetamines within the past year, it was reported today. This less than a week after he called for baseball to make a blanket apology to its fans, despite never apologizing for his own steroid use. what an ass!

I love Frank Robinson's reply to 'roid boy's disingenuous comments last week:

Hall of Famer Frank Robinson took issue with one of Giambi's comments, saying the Yankees first baseman should speak for himself.

"If Jason wants to confess, then he should come out and say: 'I'm guilty. I apologize. I apologize to baseball. I apologize to all the fans that have supported me and supported baseball over the years. And I will clean up my act and promise you I will not do anything like this again,"' Robinson said during an interview on ESPN. "He should not drag others into [it], because when he says baseball, that includes everybody in baseball."

Happy Norwegian Constitution Day!

Today's the big Syttende Mai parade in Ballard (our neighborhood in Seattle, which is full of Scandinavians of all type, but particularly Norwegians), so I thought I'd send along my warmest holiday wishes to everyone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Constitution_Day

Bob Barker's Farewell

Since I am a HUGE TPIR fan, as many people can attest, I wanted to remind you all to watch Bob in his farewell tour over the next couple months, and in prime time this Wednesday and Thursday nights at 8PM:

• Wednesday May 16, 8-9PM: The Price Is Right Million Dollar Spectacular

Contestants play for bigger prizes than ever to commemorate the retirement of longtime host Bob Barker.

• Thursday May 17, 8-9PM: Bob Barker: A Celebration of 50 Years on Television

Longtime show host Bob Barker reminisces about his 50 years in television, most notably his tenure at "The Price Is Right."

Here's the NY Times take on Bob's retirement

Even Less Shocking

I've been singing the praises of Mariners Fan Favorite Jeff Weaver since his first start this season. He continued his perfect start today, and is now 0-6!! The good news for Ms fans is that he lowered his ERA to 14.56 with a quality outing today--only 6 earned runs in 5 innings pitched! Sweet! He's gonna break through for that first W any time now

Here he is almost getting Magglio Ordonez out!

Today's Less Shocking Headline: Fistfight mars Boston Pops' opening night

Whenever Irene and I are at a Sox game in Fenway, we try to guess when and where the fight will be, not whether there will be one.

I wonder if either of the Pops pugilists were the Fenway Pizza Tosser from the Patriots Day game earlier this year. (heh-heh -- I said tosser)

Fistfight mars Boston Pops' opening night


BOSTON (Reuters Last update: May 10, 2007 – 9:03 AM) - A fistfight in the balcony stopped the music on opening night at the Boston Pops, drawing gasps from hundreds of well-heeled guests at one of the country's oldest and best-known city orchestras.

Famous for light classical music and family pop tunes from decades past, the orchestra briefly halted its performance on Wednesday evening as two men wrestled in the side balcony of the 107-year-old Symphony Hall.

Concert-goers looked up after a woman's scream interrupted a rendition of the Hollywood musical "Gigi" about 20 minutes into the performance.

Shortly afterward, conductor Keith Lockhart stopped the orchestra with a motion of his hand as the murmuring crowd turned to watch the scuffle, apparently caused after one man told another guest to be quiet.

One of the men could be seen with his button-down shirt ripped open as a security guard pulled the two apart, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene. A man had his arm wrapped around another's neck, pulling him backward.

"House security and Boston police stopped the fight, and the audience members were escorted out of the hall," the Boston Symphony Orchestra said in a statement on Thursday. "The concert resumed and ended with cheers and a standing ovation."

No charges were filed against the men.

The Pops, comprised of the Boston Symphony minus its principal players, is perhaps best known for July 4th concerts along Boston's Charles River that began in 1974 and include fireworks accompanying Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture."

Its concert hall is considered among the best in the world.

Shocking News Headline of the Day

`Dukes of Hazzard' car buyer doesn't pay

For some reason the person who bid over $9.9 million for one of the General Lee Dodge Chargers did not actually pony up the money.

I'm shocked! Shocked! and Jon Schneider is pissed!