email from Brooks Brothers

I received this today. Even though I have a few shirts from there,
I'm not sure that they really 'get' me:

Biggest Rat Leaves Bush's Sinking Ship

this says it better than I can:

South Park Kelly

So far my Hoya pal Kelly is the only one

who has sent me a South Park likeness. Here it is:I'm gonna go WAY out on a limb here & guess that
she based it on this photo from our last trip to Vegas:

We recommend the Las Vegas Gun Store if you're down there &
want to fire automatic weapons. 25 rounds for $25,
and it's WAY more fun than a hand of blackjack.

Look how much fun Irene is having:

Sorry, Ladies

Yao is off the market.
Here's the happy couple, measuring in at a combined 13' 8".
He's 7'6", she's 6'2" and also plays hoops, on the Chinese National team:

Irene's Reading List for August

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

Irene's Reading List for April - July

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi
Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner
Beneath the Metropolis, The Secret Lives of Cities by Alex Marshall
A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke

Tommy Girl?

Kris sent me this pic this AM - she says it's the reincarnation of a
deceased former SNL star - guess which one:

But I think that's mean and would never say anything like that

Weaver Makes His Sad Face

Jeffy only went 4 innings in last night's 8-0 drubbing from the Angels. I am doing the unprecedented, and hereby revoking the Schrute buck he earned a few weeks back, leaving him with a grand total of zero Schrute bucks, a 2-10 record, and an ERA of 6.32 for the season.

I looked it up and he was 3-10, 6.29 (thru 16 starts--the same number he's had here) when the Angels gave up on him last year. So he was actually one win better & had a marginally lower ERA than he has this season--and they dropped him. When will Bavasi do the same? I'm guessing never, since that would require the Ms management to actually do something mid-season other than trade a guy like Mateo.

How can a team that thinks it's playoff ready have a 2-10 guy in its starting rotation? When will Bavasi be fired? These are the kinds of questions I'd like to know the answers to.

Lastly, here are the probables for the Sox-Ms series this weekend, according to the Boston Globe:

Friday, Aug. 3
Jon Lester (Red Sox) vs. Horacio Ramirez (Mariners)

Saturday, Aug. 4
Daisuke Matsuzaka (Red Sox) vs. Jarrod Washburn (Mariners)

Sunday, Aug. 5
Curt Schilling (Red Sox) vs. Miguel Batista (Mariners)

Looks good on paper but you'll get no predictions from me--I know how bad the Sox play in Seattle. They've lost their last 8 games at Safeco.

Creepy Cute Cat is Harbinger of Death!

Oscar (no relation to my sister Geegy's Oskar) is a cat who lives at an elder-care hospice (FKA Nursing home) in Providence and "seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die"---CREEPY!

but look how cute he is: Read all about it here

South Park Me

The simpsonizeme.com website that Irene wrote about last week is pretty cool but I think this South Park version of me is a much better likeness (well, it was until I got new glasses & shaved the goatee off):

Go here to make your own South Park likeness, then email it
or your Simpsons one to me and I'll post them on here

It's Drew Carey!

Drew Carey has been chosen as the new host of TPiR, as he announced on Letterman last night.



I'm okay with this choice. Really. I think they needed to hire someone funny, but in a pre-age of irony kind of way, and I think he's a great choice. The 50's dork glasses he's been wearing his whole career probably were the thing that clinched the deal with the suits over at CBS.

Kris, Ben & Barry plus ipod project update

Our friends Kris & Ben were at Wrigley last Thursday for the Cubs-Giants game (Ben's a Cubbies fan from way back) and they weren't even sure if Barry would play, since he was limited to one pinch hit appearance the 2 prior games of the series. But it turned out that Ben bought tickets for the right game --they got to see Barry go 3 for 3 with 2 Homers and 6 RBIs--career homers #752 and 753! NICE! He knocked out the first pitch he saw leading off the 2nd inning, then later popped a 3-run shot to center, right into a into a stiff headwind. The guys on ESPN that night said they didn't think anyone would hit one out to center that afternoon.

here's Barry receiving props from former Mariner Randy "Winny" Winn after HR #2 that day:

and I think that might be Ben holding up that sign,
though it would probably be held up much higher if it really is him:

ALSO: here's the latest update on my ipod a-z project, which I started on January 1, 2006. My goal is to listen to the entire contents of my ipod, al l in alphabetical order.

as of 4:23 PM Monday July 23: Currently listening to "Some Might Say" by Oasis. (I just heard "Some Like It Hot" by Power Station 3 times in a row from a number of 80s compilation cds I have on there--really glad that's over with).

"Some Might Say" is song #10617 of 14412.
I had hoped to finish by the end of this year, and still might but I'll need to focus and stop listening to other stuff when I'm at work. Big thanks to Kris for helping me stay on task with this when we were visiting her family's place outside of San Jose a couple weeks ago--we cranked through a lot of the S's that weekend. (Thanks for hosting us too!)

Intro to Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie

Cool website of the day

Check out this website where you can upload a photo of yourself and Simpsonize it, http://simpsonizeme.com. I haven't tried it personally, but someone did up a version of the gang from The Office.








Here's the Simpson version of Jim and I.

Honk if you want to get arrested

Driving in Seattle has always been challenging, especially with Jim behind the wheel. He seems to attract all the bad drivers when he's on the road, a real "shit magnet" as I like to call him. I know that there are alot of California transplants here which may be part of the problem, but this area is full of passive aggressive drivers that can really frustrate anyone. You never see a cop when you really need them. Drivers that run through red lights, drivers that have a blind spot for pedestrians, ...

But this takes the cake. In one of our local paper, The Seattle Times, there is a Bumper to Bumper column where people can write in and ask traffic-related questions. This past Monday, someone wrote in about being pulled over for honking at an inattentive driver in front of him.

The other day Mark Cruz, of Renton, was waiting to turn left at a green light in downtown Seattle. The car in front of him was sitting under the light, turn signal blinking, but had not budged even though all oncoming traffic had passed.

Cruz honked his horn to urge the driver to move. "Then I was pulled over by a Seattle police officer on a motorcycle. He let me off on a warning for honking at the car in front of me.

"Dumbfounded, I said, 'Of course I was.' What am I supposed to do when someone just sits there at a green light?

"He then told me that use of your horn is only for emergencies."

I'm glad to live in a town where cops have nothing better to do but remind drivers of a state statute(RCW 46.37.380) that a horn should be used only when reasonably necessary.

Mexican Coke at Costco

I've practically given up caffeine during my pregnancy. I'm down to 1/2 cup of coffee each morning, an occasional Diet Coke (sometimes a caffeine-free Diet Coke), and a handful of Hershey's Kisses now and then. Last weekend Jim and I were shopping at Costco and came across Coca Cola from Mexico. We immediately put a case into our cart. How can anyone resist pure cane sugar, as opposed to the corn syrup they use for the American Cokes. I'm totally loving it -- even drinking one in a tall glass with ice. If you know me, I don't even care for ice in my drinks. These really hit the spot when the temperatures in Seattle was hovering in the 90s.

Average Parking Space in New York Costs $165,000

Real estate prices in New York never cease to amaze me. The New York Times have an article about how people are willing to buy one of five private parking spaces for $225,000 in Manhattan (For Parking Space, the Price is Right at $225,000). Guess I shouldn't complain about the over-inflated housing prices here in Seattle.

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