Ten Good Minutes

We're Moving!

2010-03-03T21:07:00.004-05:00

Ten Good Minutes has changed to xSK 2SP. Hit the link and change your bookmarks (on your internet browser, not in your books!)

This Post Brought to You by the Letter M...

2009-12-25T22:02:00.003-05:00

I've realized its a good thing that I'm not a drug user (OK, so I suppose I realized that a while ago); come to find out, my in-laws are enablers. Amid the torrent of Sesame Street toys, trains, and clothing that came home in the slightly-larger-than-little car today was a skinny black keyboard - it may seem innocuous enough, but it reality it is enabling my geekiness.
Not only is this post brought to you by the joy that only cookie monster can bring, but its also being written from the comfort of my living room chair, with the output not on the laptop but rather on the TV, and a wireless keyboard in my lap. To squeeze every last bit of geekiness out of this moment that I can, I have The Office playing picture-in-picture in the top right corner. Too bad its a repeat from 2006, and isn't very Christmas-y.
With this level of comfort I may be able to bang out a few extra (read: few) posts - of course, its also a rather comfortable way to play some old school video games, so don't hold your breath...

Right Idea, Wrong President

2009-12-06T11:32:00.004-05:00

Maybe if it was one President-not-elected-by-the-people asking another President-not-elected-by-the-people someone would listen... but unfortunately 2001 George Bush is not available for comment.
Maybe you should get yourselves ready. Just an idea.

Return of the Return

2009-12-06T10:38:00.003-05:00

Things that annoy me:

1) Babies that fuss for no reason.
2) The newest McDonalds commercial. The one on the radio where the woman won't give the other woman a McD's New England blend coffee until she gets a few questions right, and one of them is guessing the sound of a fog horn, but its not a fog horn, its the Island Queen, BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT THE ISLAND QUEEN SOUNDS LIKE!!!! UGH. Get it right McDonalds. You just guaranteed that I will NEVER buy your New England blend coffee.
3) Christmas shopping being more complicated every time you try to make it less complicated.
4) The Indianapolis Colts.
5) Fussy. Babies. Just sayin' is all.
6) My car.
7) Not having a new car.
8) My car.
9) My fantasy team. It was just AWFUL this year. Scarily bad. I'm really hoping that next year I'm in a coma from July - September, so I can miss the research, draft, and heartache of losing the season within the first 3 weeks.
10) Not being able to stay awake past 10 pm. I have things to watch! I have things to do! But fussy babies wake up at 6, and expect me not only to be awake, but mobile and interested in their problems!

In The Words of Lewis Black

2009-10-18T21:51:00.002-04:00

On Boston: "In four days, I experienced five seasons. It was thirty, it was sixty, it was ninety, it was TWELVE! and on the last day, the was lightning and snow... TOGETHER! I don't even think they wrote about that kind of weather in the bible."

Tonight it was snowing. And I saw lightning. Its October 18th. I couldn't have said it better than Lewis did.

Wolf... Uhm Wolf...

2009-09-17T19:51:00.002-04:00

So the O'G family just wrapped up an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy (BUCKFUTTERS!!). Wolf Blitzer racked up a score of -$4,600. HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE? I can't fathom a world in which a prominent news person is... THAT STUPID. I know that there are some dumb news people out there, but -$4,600? Really?

AND YOU LOST TO ANDY RICHTER???

Good bye CNN. You are dead to me.

'Tis The Season II

2009-09-12T22:27:00.003-04:00

I always feel good when I go to use a title for my post and realize I may have already used it, only to find that I used it 3 years ago. That's a good 14 posts ago! Anyway, this time, I'm pumped for the football season. I'll let the videos do the talking. Saturday night before the first full day of NFL; I'm burgeoning with excitement. (Sorry if you've seen some of these here before, but its better than scrolling for pages to find the videos!)

Three More For You

2009-09-12T22:04:00.004-04:00

I can't do much more than non-twitter-retweet this (if that makes any sense, and yes, to me it does) except mention how fantastic the sweater vest is:

I don't have time for any more shows... but I'll still make time for this (even if it does make me ill... then again, wouldn't the unknown remains of 35+ cats make anyone ill?

Also, I know I'm a day late, but its always good to remember, regardless of the day. Via a Sports Guy tweet yesterday, Paul Simon's post 9/11 performance of "The Boxer".

Always loved this song - this is pretty good stuff.

Babyland

2009-09-12T21:38:00.003-04:00

For nine months, I had to listen to people constantly tell me that my life was going to be "so different" when Baby Girl was born. I have to say, there were a LOT of things that drove me crazy for nine months, but this may have been one of the most aggravating comments. Why? OF COURSE LIFE IS GONG TO BE DIFFERENT! No one needs to tell me that a small, screaming, sleeping, eating gooey baby is a life-changer. If you had to tell me this, I probably wouldn't be fit to be a parent. Well, I am fit. And I'm not an idiot. (Idiot? No. Do I have a past/present tense problem? Sure. But I'm not an idiot.)

This being said, life is different. That is for sure. But you know what? Life is pretty good.

Sure, I'll have to see this on DVD.

But you know what? I see A LOT of movies on DVD. (OK, that is untrue. I don't see a lot of movies. But I don't see a lot of movies at the theater, and I do want to see this, so I am likely to see it on DVD. But that's OK!!)

I'm also not likely to see these guys when they come around. I'm guessing that they will tour again though. Hey, its not like I've been to one of their concerts in the past 10 years, baby or not I probably wasn't getting around to it this year!

I'm also becoming fairly acquainted with places like these. That is a fairly big adjustment.

But you know what? I'm OK with all of this! Really, I am! That's kind of what I signed up for, what with the whole parenthood thing and all. You know what's great? Watching your baby laugh herself to sleep, because she just figured out what laughing is. (Its apparently something you do at your slightly crazy, funny looking, balding dad. No wonder I laugh so much...)

Not to go around in circles, but as you can see, there is no reason to tell me how different things are. I get it. And more importantly, I'm living it, and its pretty good. Things will be really different when I don't have to hear about it any more.

Haven't seen this ad on TV yet...

2009-09-12T21:28:00.008-04:00

And I'm pretty sure you can figure out why. But I have no qualms airing it here!

Homebrew, v2

2009-08-30T23:57:00.003-04:00

After a 3 hour drive and a lap around the Mall of NH, I arrived at the annual fantasy football draft on Friday evening. This was, to say the least, MUCH better than last year for me.

Round 1: For whatever reason, I got to pick the first number out of the hat (and by hat, I do mean the cup of the league trophy), giving me the only legitimate 1 in 10 chance at any pick... and for the second year in a row, I ended up with #3. Last year I was happy about this because I didn't have to choose a running back; one was chosen for me as Westbrook was the only logical choice. This year, I wanted a lower pick, because I thought there was more value in the 7th & 14th picks than with 3 and 18. However I was delighted when MJD was picked #1, leaving me with either Peterson, or the more likely, and eventual pick, Michael Turner. Curse of 370 be damned.

Round 2: My original thought (refering to the above) was to go with a WR (likely Fitzgerald or Moss) in round 1 and a RB in round 2. But with the 3rd pick, and Turner in hand, I realized I would have to grab a WR in round 2 instead. What I wasn't expecting was the lunacy that ensued: three QBs in the first 8 picks. As the picks came off the "wrap around" I realized that I might be able to grab a WR in the 3rd round (more on that shortly) and still grab another high end RB. I was even more titillated as LDT wasn't drafted when the pick passed my brother (who went with the suspect Drew Brees/Steve Slaton combo intead of... anyone else), however I was happy to settle for Brandon Jacobs.

Round 3: What with a newborn and all, I once again didn't do much research this year - but one thing I did do was listen to a lot of Matthew Berry on ESPN.com - his advice was to a) get a top flight WR and RB in the first 3 rounds, and b) get a top 9 WR, no matter what (because the drop off after #9 is precipitous). Of the top 9 available, Calvin Johnson, Reggie Wayne, Roddy White, Anquan Boldin, Marques Colston and Steve Smith were all still (somewhat shockingly) on the board. With 4 picks separating my Brandon Jacobs 2nd round choice and my 3rd round pick, I realized that my WR choice could wait until round 3 and I'd still get a top-tier guy. Johnson, Wayne and White did indeed come off the board, but I was happily left with Steve Smith. I immediately felt nervous about this though, remembering that Jake Delhomme is... awful. Still, not a bad pick.

Round 4: Time grab a QB... oh my god I don't have a QB yet! Time to grab Philip Rivers... yikes, he's gone! (Most interesting subplot of the first 4 rounds - my brother Philip's 3rd/4th round choices of Wes Welker and Ledale White... what with Anquan Boldin, Vincent Jackson, Clinton Portis and Thomas Jones still on the board... he claims he hadn't been drinking before the draft... but I'm pretty sure he had to have been to have pulled that one off). And just as I resign myself to getting a crappy QB and my draft going to hell... could it happen... I don't think it will... oh my god Drywallers just took Jason Witten SOMEONE GIVE ME ANQUAN BOLDIN BEFORE YOU ALL STOP TAKING YOUR CRAZY PILLS!!!!

Round 5: Time to go for broke: I'm banging out another RB pick!! My starting lineup is now Turner/Jacobs at RB, Smith/Boldin at WR and Thomas Jones at the flex position. If I can find a servicable QB at any point, this may be an above average team!

Round 6: I was expecting a bit of a run on TEs starting with round 6 (and I was right... because these guys were still on the crazy pills) so I talked myself into grabing Owen Daniels a little too early... but I'm glad I did (WHO NEEDS A QB ANYWAY???)

Round 7: My first potentially disastrous pick. At this point, I've decided I'm going to be stuck with Matt Schaub (or worse) at QB, I may as well tempt fate and wait AS LONG as possible to pick him. I think the Brandon Marshall pick has a lot of upside though... he's a top 40 player with good 7th round value... if he gets to play...

Rounds 8-10: Depth, depth, depth. As backups, I'm happy with all of these guys. (Whistling past the graveyard...)

Round 11: My good buddy Matt Berry (ok, I don't know him at all) has Matt Schaub listed in his top 50. I get him with the 103rd pick! If there is ever a reason to be excited about Matt Schaub, this is it!!

I rounded out the draft with more depth, and played out my strategy of Defense in the 15th round, kicker in the 16th round. And then drove another 2 1/2 hours... but all of that driving was well worth it, if not to draft my own team, than definately to see how Philip cobbled his together. I'm officially ready for football season!

Return of the Vacation Ramblings

2009-08-24T22:55:00.003-04:00

Took me 3 days into my vacation to get the internet working here in Falmouth. Meant to start with the usual glut of vacation posts a bit sooner... but alas 2 month old + being on the CTPP (Committee to Plan Parties) + general laziness = very tardy posting.

I'm the last person to jump on the "Lets Trash Brett Farve" bandwagon. Though the entire world seems to be on it, there's still ample room... that's for devising such a fantastic bandwagon, Packers Fans. I'm sure you were just thinking of yourselves and your size 60 waist, 26 inseam pants, but its really quite plush. I assure you I won't be the first one off the bandwagon.

Could someone please explain to me where this Red Sox season is going? Anyone? Bueller?

Over/Under on TB12 TD passes + Moss TD receptions has to be 60, right? And that plus annoyingly awful, infuriating Joe Buck Fox broadcasts has to be 77?

Don't know how I feel about playlist.com. Seems like stealing. As in, it is... but then again it kind of isn't... Lets just call it ambiguously convenient. And no, I'm not listening to Celine Dion...

Most annoying people of my vacation (thus far) - the people that walk into Wal-Mart in Falmouth, MA and complain that everything is "in a different place". That's what happens when a store remodels. I'm sorry. But I don't want to hear about it. I'm already aggravated trying to find what I'm looking for when its half a store away, I don't want to listen to you complaining. I'm managing to find what I need without opening my mouth. Second most annoying: the people at Wal-Mart that decided to remodel a store in the middle of tourist season. You know, instead of January, like any smart person would. Third most annoying (this is more conceptual than anything): the people at Target who still haven't come "on Cape". Honest to Jesus people, its time for a Target in Falmouth. Bulldoze the Wal-Mart (and its annoying shoppers) if you can't find space elsewhere.

Why is it that the Comcast remote will turn the DVD player on and off when I hit "All On", but when I actually try and turn the DVD player on with the remote, or use helpful functions such as "play" or "fast forward" the remote and DVD player pretend like they never met?

My brother-in-law can drive a golf ball straight 300+ yards. My nephews can out-drive me. I can show up at a golf course successfully. We all have our callings. Unless being really good at chip shots out of the woods and losing a ball of the tee box, taking a drop, and losing another ball into a tall (tall) bush count as skills, golf is not my calling.

But I still want to play the Old Course at St. Andrews before I die.

Further to my earlier point about playlist.com, from their "About" page: "We are in the process of building an index of links to music files posted on webpages that meet reasonable criteria as having the legal right to host music files for streaming to end users". Well that makes me feel better.

I'm not entirely sure how I didn't found about quakelive.com sooner. I think you just lost me for the rest of the night. But I promise to keep the internet working for the rest of vacation.

Two and Half Hour Drive to the Cape

2009-08-08T19:53:00.000-04:00

I'll let the pictures tell the story:

Wait... does that sign... Welcome to Cape Cod??

It does! What the hell???? I HAVEN'T GONE OVER THE BRIDGE YET! To quote the late George Carlin, "Now we’re taxiing in, she says, “Welcome to O’Hare International Airport.” Well how can someone who is just arriving herself possibly welcome me to a place she isn’t even at yet? Doesn’t this violate some fundamental law of physics? We’re only on the ground four seconds, and she’s coming on like the fucking mayor’s wife!"

Ahh! Break lights!!! Time to stop thinking about road signs and start paying attention!!

Wait... is that the bridge over there?

(5 minutes later) yes... yes it is!!

Nice Guys Finish Last

2009-08-05T22:13:00.003-04:00

I'm hoping to do better in my draft this year (don't try to call me on friday night, 8/28, I'm busy) so as to do better in my league this year. So I'm starting the research sooner (though I find the whole thing to be a crap shoot, but I doubt the multi-million dollar industry that's built around draft guides wants to hear that). And I'm going to try and do a few more mock drafts. Here's the early first stab at it. I got to pick second (flex position, snake draft league):

Player	Round Drafted	Overall Pick
Ryan, Matt QB ATL	5	42
Barber, Marion RB DAL	2	19
Turner, Michael RB ATL	1	2
Jackson, Vincent WR SD	4	39
White, Roddy WR ATL	3	22
Keller, Dustin TE NYJ	8	79
Parker, Willie RB PIT	6	59
Rackers, Neil K ARI	14	139
Giants DST	7	62
Roethlisberger, Ben QB PIT	10	99
Mendenhall, Rashard RB PIT	9	82
Driver, Donald WR GB	11	102
Ginn Jr., Ted WR MIA	13	122
Patriots DST	12	119

What I liked:
1) Picking second set me up for Michael Turner. Last year I ended up picking 3rd in my league, which made picking Brian Westbrook a fait accompli. Well, that didn't work out so well (see: shoot, crap). For whatever reason, I like Turner a lot (most have him in the top 4-5 but I've seen him as high as 2), and just like LDT was an automatic for almost everyone last year, Adrian Peterson is the consensus #1 this year. Picking #2 let me get the guy I want without setting myself up for feeling like an idiot if I picked him at 1 and Peterson made me pay for it. (Oh... wait, that's right, this is fake, fake football. Oops.)
2) Getting "Ben" in the 10th round. Just felt like a steal.
3) Uhm... I don't think I have a 3. I like the team... but I'm not feeling great about it.

What I didn't like:
1) Picking up the Pats D. There was a run on second defenses right before I grabbed them. I could have picked the Eagles... I probably should have but I just... couldn't. That's why we do these mock drafts I suppose...
2)Roddy White. I actually was happy about this until the other guys in the draft gave me crap about it. I know he's holding out, but I thought it was a solid pick. So I'm standing by it, even if I don't love it.
3) Donald Driver in the 11th round. Vincent Jackson in the 4th round. Dustin Keller. All of those picks snuck up on me (what's that? snuck isn't a word? Damn you spelll checker. damn you) and they ended up being impulse moves for the best player at the position at the time. I need to spend more time analyzing the mid-round players.

What I'm not sure about:
A lot of things, too many to number.
My ability to draft well, if at all.
Handcuffing Pitt running backs.
Matt Ryan ahead of a host of other (3rd rate) QB's.
Why "Ben" fell so low.
Marion Barber.
Yeah, I'm not sure about a lot.

I think I need some more practice. Let me know if you see anything I missed.

The Best Sox News In a Fortnight

2009-08-01T17:51:00.003-04:00

Yes, even better than Victor Martinez.

Yoooouk!

Now let's see if they can catch the Yanks in the standings...

Anderson Cooper... I mean Draco Malfoy

2009-07-25T19:13:00.004-04:00

I'll let the rest speak for itself.
(I'm sure you've figured it out already, but this is your mature content warning)

To Quote C3PO: We're Doomed

2009-07-24T21:26:00.003-04:00

RT @jacko2323 If Adam Laroche is your answer, I think there are still some questions.

Yanks are going for their 8th straight win... Sox are scuttling. I've never looked forward to NFL training camp as much as I am this year.

Over/Under on the Number of My Groomsmen That Could Have Pulled This Off

2009-07-24T21:16:00.005-04:00

I get the feeling that the Catholic Church may have frowned upon this though...

What You're Callin' The Cause I Call The Cure

2009-07-24T18:17:00.003-04:00

I promise this will be my last bit on this, but this is the best idea I've heard on this topic so far (and I kind of wish I had thought of it). I hope they have their beer, and the rest of us can start to freak out about something else.

RT: Sgt. Crowley

2009-07-23T23:36:00.003-04:00

In case you missed it, here's the interview on WEEI with Sgt. Crowley of Professor Gatesgate (though I did come up with that on my own just now, it already appears to be plastered all over the internet. Damn you, information age). I'm not trying to stir things up (read my prior post on this), but if this were a seesaw competition, having President Obama on one side would be like having the 600 lb 4th grader with a pituitary disorder on one side (no offense to Mr. Obama, he appears to be in great shape), so I'm just trying to even things out as best I can.

Turkeylurkey

2009-07-23T23:14:00.002-04:00

I realized that I'm fast approaching as many tweets (90) in just a few months, as I am posts (117). As I've never been particularly good at keeping up with either, I don't always enjoy going back into the archives - I usually feel more like a colossal failure than a nostalgic dope (though you can argue I am indeed both). I did find this post rather funny though, in light of recent events (as usual, the video is broken now... damn you corporate America).

The "fambly" will be doing Turkey Day in Keene once again this year, and with the right amount of alcohol and the proper amount of leverage, you mayhaps will get yet another jovial post out of me - unfortunately too much vino and it may not make too much sense. So an updated list is in order:

I'm certainly thankful for a wonderful family, and a healthy one at that. I'll withhold judgment on screaming fits at 2 am, but other than that, 3 is even better than two was (though my proportional ownership in 800 sq. ft. of hell has certainly reduced).

You won't be shocked to hear this, but I'm also thankful that school is over. In retrospect, I don't know how we did it. Ok, to be precise, I don't know how Meghan did it - but I do know that after the torture that is the UMass grad program, she was well equipped for labor and childrearing (if that is a word). I'm half surprised when the nurses commented on how well she did in labor, Meghan didn't just show them her diploma - she'd already been through much worse.

I'm thankful for the creator of the diaper genie. The baby's room smells... not so diapery. Your moderately priced refills are also appreciated.

I'm thankful for Nintendo and its wonderful Wii. Without it this post might be longer, but I have a date with TW10 and a round at TPC Scottsdale. I'm also ecstatic about the new Mario, and I hope Summer will understand that mommy and daddy need special alone time... in order to beat Bowser.

And lastly (for now), I am (still) thankful for you, my faithful following. I know who most of you are, and can guess on a few others ( though some still remain a mystery, and for that reason I don't espouse my views as to why I have a strong preference for New Balance sneakers -- Reebok, you are ok in my book).

Oh, one last thanks - thank you to the ground turkey that was lurking in the freezer tonight - you made a wonderful stirfry, and were the impetus for this retrospective back to 2007.

All The Rage

2009-07-22T18:56:00.003-04:00

This story makes me angry.

I've been outraged by it for two days, and every time I think about it, my blood boils even more. It's been on boston.com, CNN, and all over both the liberal and conservative radio stations I enjoy. I'm hoping that by adding my two cents now, I can stop thinking about it in the future.

Here's the long version - I promise I'll get over and under and through the woods and back to my point eventually. Anyway, last week, CBS announced that it is axing WBCN and starting an all sports talk station on the FM dial in Boston. I'm excited about this because for the past year, I have spent my mornings driving to work listening to the seething rants of Dennis & Callahan on WEEI.

If you aren't familiar with D&C, they are a duo that can best be described as Conservative (Dennis) and Just-Shy-of-Neo-Nazi-Conservative (Callahan). This of course may seem strange for a sports talk station, but they have massive following of people that both love and love to hate them. Unless there is a major sports story going on, my ride is usually filled with diatribes against the MA legislature (which I always agree with), Deval Patrick (which I almost always agree with), President Obama (which I sometimes agree with) and liberals in general (lets call that on 50%/50%). Though some listeners agree with them, the majority of callers (affectionately called "moonbats", a term that I wholeheartedly agree with at times) argue with D&C and escalate the "conversation" into an all out yellfest.

As you can imagine, this is just quite awful radio. Though MA has more than its fair share of lunatic liberals, the D&C gestapo is just blatantly wrong about climate change (it isn't a myth), recycling (it really isn't that bad, or that stupid) or liberals (some of them are actually decent people). They are even wrong abut the Bush administration - according to them it wasn't conservative enough. Believe me, it was.

The cure for this awful radio? No, its not calling in and contributing to the nonsense. Its as simple as changing the dial. If the moonbats would only get this, and change the channel, maybe they wouldn't be so incensed. Yet every morning they call in and freak out. The moral of the story? Liberals and conservatives enjoy hating each other as much as they enjoy their own points of view. More broadly, there's a certain subset of the population that enjoys conflict and argument, even if (and especially when) it isn't productive.

And that's what I think we have with the Gates case. Do I think this whole affair is his fault (as opposed to the arresting officers?) Well, I can't say for sure. But based on the police report, and his own admissions, it seems like Gates supplied the lighter and the fuel, and the police officer provided the opportunity for the arson to take place. I'm not saying that Gates wouldn't have been arrested if he had cooperated, but the likelihood would have been much, much less. But by creating a scene - and getting arrested - Gates has created a commotion that is more caustic than it is constructive. Gates apparently likes to fight, and the folks in the media that love a fight are loving to fight over this.

And yet while D&C railed against Gates this morning, I found myself extremely annoyed, even though I find myself leaning more on the side of the 5-oh than that of our dear professor. D&C spewed more hate and anger than the situation needed. Its hard to agree with anyone when all anyone wants to do is be angry.

So I'm looking forward to the debut of WBZ-FM. Maybe with a little more sports, and a lot less rage, I'll enjoy my rides to work just a little bit more. And maybe a few listeners will come with me... but I get the feeling that the majority of D&C's audience will remain, if only because there will be less incentive to talk sports with the sports listeners departing, and more reason to argue over why everyone is wrong.

Wait, is there an infant back there?

2009-07-16T17:48:00.001-04:00

I hate these spots. I take them every chance I get. I'm not all about
their forced protected class status. Well now I am a customer with an
infant. I just choose not to bring the infant with me to the store,
but I think I should still qualify.

Summer's going to hate it when she's 7 and I'm still trying to pass her off as a baby...

Moving On

2009-07-15T18:20:00.000-04:00

I had hacked out about ¼ of a post about how bad my prior post was, and that I deleted it, when I realized that the post I was writing was equally as terrible. Yikes. Meghan mentioned recently that my blog could be “really good”… but that would of course require posting. Interesting idea. Thinking about that some more, I’ve realized I have a few options:
1) Stop posting all together
2) Maintain this blog, in its current form
3) Do a better job with this blog
4) Start fresh with a new blog that goes in a different (or any) direction

I know that I missed the boat on making my fortune by writing a blog (by about 8 years), but I’ve realized that I’d rather be somewhere between 3 and 4 on the list above than between 1 and 2, which is where I usually am (some may argue that 1 and 2 are redundant. To that I say “eff you Vallone”).

The Ayatollah says no...

2009-06-19T12:50:00.003-04:00

Pure Evil, Pedroi-whore and more

2009-06-15T22:31:00.002-04:00

Not going down the Cape the past weekend or so has really messed me up... late nights and afternoon relaxing in the back yard are prime blogging times. Ah well, I'll be back soon. I wonder if a 6 week old knows the difference between a stressful week and a relaxing weekend? Hopefully.

One thing that has been keeping my occupied: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010. AKA the disc of divorce. Meghan claims that the character I created looks more like Obama than it does me... which is kind of weird. But I do have to agree, it looks NOTHING like me. The Wii is not exceptionally great at making a good me. But the game itself is really fun.
This however is not fun. It is pure hell. And yes, I want to go on vacation there to give it a shot. (Just let the pics scroll for a few seconds. Now THAT is a golf course.)

I made this tonight. It was good, but I'm pretty sure I managed to burn the garlic. Or at least brown it a little too much. As Meghan noted, that was two home-made dinners in a row that I made. And I'm pretty sure my heart would have been better off with this.

Random note, but I'm pretty sure no one has made more money selling themselves since Pretty Woman. Radio, TV, whatever, all I hear is Dustin Pedroia hawking, well, everything. MLB Baseball on the Playstation. Dunkin Donuts. Sullivan Tire. Salem Five Bank. SALEM FIVE BANK? Dustin, I'm pretty sure after the liberties she let you take with her, you owe your MVP trophy a call the next morning.

New link (at least from me) - textsfromlastnight.com. Completely wrong. Don't show your mother or your local clergy person. Keep those rules in mind and enjoy. And yes, I know its been around for a good 5 months, don't blame me for being late to the party. I've still managed to introduce a couple of people to it, so I wasn't the LAST to know about it.

Of course, I'm pretty sure I was the last person to know about Colbert in Iraq... THAT was hilarious. And the guest editorship of Newsweek was well worth a years subscription alone. Check it out on Hulu if you didn't see it last week.

We're counting down at this point people, I don't know what number to start at, but 0:00 is approaching soon. Expect fewer posts before more posts... and by more, I do mean bleary eyed 3 am rants.

Not So Liberal Cat Blogging Pt. 2

2009-05-30T15:36:00.001-04:00

I tried to get some action shots out of kitty... unfortunately "nap" and "more nap" are the only types of action he really cares for...

DSLR Pt. 2

2009-05-23T21:24:00.002-04:00

I couldn't help myself when it came to the "continuous shoot" function...

DSLR

2009-05-23T18:23:00.007-04:00

Meghan's new camera officially kicks ass. If we usual equation, this is my longest post, at about 5,019 words...

Not So Liberal Cat Blogging

2009-05-23T18:07:00.003-04:00

First in not-quite-a-series of cat related posts:
From last weekend's party in Rockport, this was officially the freakiest. cat. ever.

That Time of Year

2009-05-22T16:17:00.003-04:00

Well, this is the point where I usually bang out about 8 posts and then forget about my blog for another 6 months... yep, its Memorial Day Weekend. And though I have 5 relaxing days this year (a 25% increase over last year), I'm just rolling around to the first post a day and a half in.
So what gives, you may ask?
Well, maybe its just too damn relaxing. Meghan is chilling in the hammock; we did lunch with Senor Bill down in Hyannis, and yesterday was spent getting a few things done (painting a bookshelf, visiting the midwife, ect).much
Or maybe I'm just lazy. I figure that's what most of you will assume anyway, so...

Sadly, my greatest desire right now is to play some boule. I don't know why. But its pretty much all I want to accomplish this weekend. Sadly, I have a few things working against me. My boule partner is 8 months pregnant, which means the idea of throwing a hefty stone about the yard immediately puts her to sleep (similar to many, if not all other activities). Also, I don't actually own a boule set. I understand that there's one across the street at my disposal, and I can easily procure one at many local stores... but that's a lot of effort, especially from the comfort of my chair here in the back yard. So if you are out there reading this over the long weekend, and you are up for some boule, come own down. I'll even spot you two points if you bring your own boule set.

If you aren't interested in the long drive down, well, I guess I have a little more for ya'... I've been hitting up a couple of websites recently. Interfacelift.com has some great wallpapers, which may seem inconsequential to you, as you can find wallpapers anywhere these days, but I've been using the site specifically for their fantastic images that are preformated for dual screens (for work) and also for the iphone. I found the site through another site, lifehacker.com. I haven't poked around lifehacker too much yet, but its already lead me to sites for wallpapers and given me a basic DSLR tutorial... fairly useful that.

Well, that's about all the randomness I can cram into a single post right now. Watch out for (potentially) more this weekend. And, as always, if you can't be good, be safe.

Wishing You Were Here

2009-05-08T19:21:00.001-04:00

The Coming Decade: Brought to You in Part EA Sports

2009-04-21T22:18:00.003-04:00

EA SPORTS: It's in the know.

I haven't been following video games as closely as I used to (... I suppose I'm not 12, or 19, or 7, or whatever, anymore). But I did happen to notice on one of my usual cyberstops that Electronic Arts is ramping up to release the next iteration of Tiger Woods PGA Tour, this year cleverly titled "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10". I've been wondering for a while how we were going to handle the transition into the new decade, at least when it came to naming conventions. Apparently EA has decided for us. We'll just go straight to the two digit year; no "oh-ten", no "twenty-ten", just 10. Apparently Commandante Obama was too busy making peace with, well, everyone, to decide how we'll handle this. I'm just glad someone figured it out.

Now I'm curious to see if this will stick. If you think about it, we're coming into the prime season for 2010 naming rights: "next years" video games, automobiles, zagat guides, designer fashions, you name it, will start to be released in the next 2-3+ months. What do you think? Do you prefer '10, 2010, 10, oh-10, you name it? And what do you think it will end up being? Leave a comment and let us know.

$.50 Coffee Day

2009-04-21T15:24:00.001-04:00

It's like Christmas, Pt. 2!

Canadians

2009-04-18T14:05:00.001-04:00

So. Freaking. Weird.

Note to Jack Edwards

2009-04-16T21:03:00.002-04:00

Please stop saying "mucks for the puck". Too many "uck" words in one sentence... I'm afraid you are going to uck up and get yourself suspended... and that would be very sad for Bs fans.

Posted from my iPhone

Opinion: WSJ should send columnists to Cape Cod Community College

2009-04-08T12:33:00.001-04:00

Stupid Global Warming!

2009-04-02T18:01:00.001-04:00

Road Work Ahead

2009-03-18T10:41:00.002-04:00

Note to the city of Quincy: it is no longer road out of crown colony can get back to work. I'm sick of seeing this project sit unattended to when it's a perfectly clear day and progress could be made! The only reason a project like this takes 3 years to complete is because they only work 1/3rd of the time... At best!

Posted from my iPhone

Still Room, But Tickets Are Selling Fast (or not...)

2009-03-15T14:45:00.002-04:00

Twelve games left in the regular season folks. Not saying you have to get on now, but it's not a bad idea. The B's face off this afternoon against the Penguins in a potential 1 versus 8 first round match-up - anyway, just a quick reminder that the bandwagon leaves the station Sunday, April 12th.

Sushi Night!

2009-03-14T20:17:00.000-04:00

How would you like to be that guy?

2009-03-12T08:28:00.000-04:00

Keep it classy, canton

2009-03-05T19:51:00.001-05:00

Overheard at golden palace in canton center:

"Alright boys, it's time to get drunk. I just broke up with my
girlfriend... Who's buying me a drink?" -one of the four guys playing
pool after coming in from a smoke (and presumably an uncomfortable
phone call).

Posted from my iPhone

Alrighty Then

2009-03-04T19:22:00.001-05:00

I think I finally figured out how to post from my phone. Don't get your hopes up though... Just because I have the power to doesn't mean I will. Or, to put it in Simpson-tongue, I'm like a mule with a spinning wheel... No one knows how he got it, and damned if he knows
how to use it.
And yes, in case you were wondering, pecking out a post on my phone is 1% of the pain of sitting through five groups present on the same topic. Yes, I'm at 101% of my pain threshhold.

Posted from my iPhone

99

2009-03-02T23:05:00.003-05:00

Ok, I don't know why this came up on ESPN, but there was a poll tonight asking which record will be hardest to break. The choices given to the uneducated masses were:

Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game
Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak
Wayne Gretzky's 2,857 career points
Jerry Rice's 208 career touchdowns
Cy Young's 511 career wins

The voting, as of 11:00, is as follows:

Wilt 36%
DiMaggio 16%
Gretzky 6%
Rice 2%
Cy Young 40%

I don't mean to come off as a complete hockey homer here, but this is ridiculous. What I find startling is that people got some of this fairly right, and other parts completely wrong. Staying away from hockey, they were right on:

Jerry Rice - 208 seems like a lot of touchdowns, but with enough years and the right offense, both Moss and TO are in striking distance. Its A-Rod (er, Fraud) to Bonds striking distance, but striking distance non the less. Obviously then, this is not the hardest of the 5 to attain, though it is definitely quite difficult.
Joe DiMaggio - Sure, 56 games is a lot. But doesn't it seem like 9 batters x 30 teams x 365 games in a season, over multiple seasons alone would bring about a similar result once in a while? Again, I'm not saying someone is going to do it. But I'm guessing if baseball is played for another 150 years, it'll happen again at some point. And its not like people don't get close - Pete Rose got within 12 games, and a couple guys this decade made it more than half way. Time is on our side here folks.
Cy Young - I will admit, 511 wins is A LOT. Like, enough to say that it is virtually impossible - with one qualification - the way pitchers are used now is much different than it was in Cy's day. I'm not the most educated person when it comes to this sort of thing (for that, I would refer you here, or here, or even here, if and when its available), but unless major league pitchers go to a four man rotation and grow bionic arms (thank you, Dr. Frank Jobe) people are most likely right about this one. But it may still be more likely (ie, easier) to reach than Gretzky's mark.

So here is where everyone went wrong.

Wilt's 100 may seem insurmountable, but let's not forget that a) Kobe got to 81, b) the NBA isn't known for being the most honest organization this side of the olympics, and c) the Knicks still face 82 opponents every single year. I'm just throwing it out there - someone may get back to the century mark - I'm not saying who or how soon, just that it seems far, far more likely than either Cy Young or Wayne Gretzky's marks.

And that brings us to Gretzky. Let's visit the numbers:
The Great One (TGO) - 1,963 career assists
Mark Messier - 1887 career points
So TGO has almost 80 more assists than the next guy has points... and that guy is retired. The closest active player? Joe Sakic with 1,378 points. To put that into perspective, if Joe played his entire career over, he still wouldn't get to TGO's points record. Incredible.
Ok, so then you'll argue that Sakic isn't as good, but what about Sid or Alex? Well, I think we can all agree that Ovechkin has a higher ceiling than Sid at this point (though time will tell) - and he's doing quite nicely - almost 400 career points in just over 300 career games. But look at it this way - if he keeps on pace (approx 1.3 points per game), it would take an unhuman 3,600+ games to reach Gretzky's mark. (Gretzky played in 1,487 games, or 1.9 points per game - the all time games played record was by Gordie Howe - 1,767). Meanwhile, Sid would have to play 3,900 games, and his teammate Malkin is on pace for 3,600 games. And these are the best young players the game has to offer!! None of these guys are playing for 40 years, and certainly none of them would be any good by the time they were 60 anyway!!
It infuriates me when people, stupid online people, vote for crap like this. Cy Young and Wayne Gretzky are untouchable when it comes to these records. Personally I don't think it matters which you pick, so long as you pick one of the two. But to say that no one will ever get to 100 points in an NBA game again, ahead of either of these two, is crazy. Show me a way that someone can get 2,858 career NHL points; I'm happy to listen to ideas. But until then, stop being stupid.

Twit?

2009-01-20T21:47:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure what I'm more (or less) surprised by... that its been nearly 2 months since my last post... or that it hasn't been two full months... not bad!!
And with that said... I don't have much else to say.

Oh, right, ok I do have a few things:

Cardinals: Frauds
Big Bang Theory: Funny enough that I'm now following it
Angry Whopper: My favorite ad on TV, which is really, really, really sad
Obama: Dignified, well spoken, said the right things, I'd say I'm sufficiently whelmed.
The Masses: A little over the top with the crying and freaking out - this is why I hate people
The Mentalist: Best. Show. On. TV. So there, I said it.

Anyway, Meghan suggested that I try twitter. What does this mean for you? Well, supposedly it will mean shorter, more frequent updates. We'll see about that. Anyway, hit up the twitter updates to the right for my more frequent posts there, and I'll try to return to this space once in a while for some long-form ramblings. If my mind weren't an empty canvas right now, I'd probably say more.

I'd Make a Decent Lineman...

2008-11-29T19:59:00.003-05:00

But unfortunately there are no linemen in 5 on 5 football in Deerfield NH. So I spent part of my afternoon huffing and puffing and trying to cover my brother Philip and brother in law Tony. I'm going to be in some bit of pain tomorrow. The highlight of the day, at least for the Cambridge Girard/Canton Girard/Stratham Girard/Williams team was my brother Michael lofting a pass that was defended well by Tony of the Williams/Greenfield Girard/Stratham Girard team, only as he deflected it, it landed in the unsuspecting hands of my brother Peter - for a touchdown! Sadly, due to a bad call by the ref (my dad, who called Keith in bounds when he was clearly about 10 feet out of bounds), my team ended up losing, 4-3.
I ended up listening to the last part of the 3rd quarter through the end of the BC game on my way home - I can't believe that I started listing to 2o minutes of a football game in Deerfield NH, and the game ended as I was passing through Quincy MA. What a game though. BC's in the ACC championship game next weekend - go Eagles!!

Movie Night

2008-11-28T22:16:00.007-05:00

Well, now that the cat is out of the bag, and most of you know that Meghan has come down with what we'll call in this space the "affliction", she's been taking in some early bedtimes. Though this generally means that I pass out on the couch watching sportscenter or the celtics, or something to that effect, tonight I decided to take advantage of our new Fios service and watch an on-demand movie (on skinemax). Tonight, I decided on what is sure to be an instant classic, AVP: Requiem. If you aren't familiar with AVP, it stands for Alien Versus Predator, which next to the ligor is pretty much the coolest (couple of extraterrestrial) animal(s).
At the 13:36 minute mark, I realized it wasn't only deserving of being watched, but also being live-blogged about. Here's where we're at:
In 13 minutes, we've found out that we're picking up right after the smash hit AVP, and as the predator ship is leaving Earth, an Alien explodes out of the abdomen of a fallen predator, causes general havoc, and sends the predator ship falling to Earth. And this is the intelligible part of the story line. So far the human parts, some small town yokels in Treeville, USA, have been dittering about, without much direction. There was a supposed coed bouncing around in a miniskirt, which was a highlight, but otherwise we've already had at least 3 unintelligible story lines introduced, which of course is completely unnecessary as they're all going to die. If you aren't seeing the parallels to porn, I don't know what to tell you.
Anyway, now you're caught up. Let's delve in... this should be fantastic!
13:41 Did I mention hat the movie is 94 minutes long? That's still almost 15 minutes longer than that 4 Christmases movie that Meghan and I are bound to go see. Where does Hollywood get off making short movies and charging full price? Unbelievable.
15:06 Did I also mention that a little kid was one of the ones that got the alien-on-the-face job? Sad to see him go. Though he was a whiny little brat. Oh, and we're on new story line number 4. Something about an army mom. Blah.
Sound is no longer emanating from the bedroom... Meghan is asleep. Shocking.
16:55 Storylines 2 and 3 just merged. Somewhat. I'm actually certain some of these guys are in porn, they're acting ability is just about as high. The aliens and the token homeless dude have more acting ability than the "tough guys". Oh, bold prediction. Homeless guy and his dog are the next to get aliens on the face.
19:08 Oh yeah, I was right. 1 for 1. And as a bonus, homeless guys drunk homeless girlfriend got her drunk homeless ass handed to her by a fully grown alien. Here comes Mr. Predator (he prefers the honorific before his name) to save the day. If by saving the day, you mean killing aliens and humans for fun.
Oh, I probably should have mentioned that Mr. Predator flew from his home planet when he got a signal that the last spaceship went down. At least he has something to watch. Fios has channel numbers that go over 1000, and yet there still isn't anything on.
23:26 The bar owner from True Blood has a bit part in story line #4 (have I mentioned that that's 6 storylines too many for a movie of this nature??) He's not quite as creepy here. Then again, he's still kinda creepy. Its all a matter of degrees.
While I ponder why the guys from story lines 2/3 wander through a sewer, I'll move on to the B's stunning 7-2 win over the Islanders this afternoon. Actually, as none of you care, I won't. But you'll all be sorry when I was on the bandwagon first and there's no room in the front come springtime.
28:52 Storylines 1 & 2 just sorta merged. If I had rented a porn and there were this much plot, I would have asked for my money back by now. Lets get to the bloodshed!
Cool moment of the movie so far: Mr. Predator has a special elixir that makes things disappear. Like dead bodies. Like the one he just created. Kind of handy. Bet OJ wish he had had that.
Have I mentioned that i haven't really stopped typing, other than to look up at the screen from time to time? The timestamps happen to be when cool stuff happens and all... but I get the feeling this is turning into a 94 good minutes post...
33:02 Riddle me this: why does Mr. Predator, who came to save the day, destroy the evidence of the prior spaceship crash, the dead humans, and the alien-on-the-face things, and yet when he kills someone, he skins them and hangs them from a tree a la the first Predator movie? Seems a little... I dunno. Overkill. if that's the right word.
Oh and our token blond? acts as well as a porn starlet. Kind of like how I used to say that basketball would be better on ice, with a puck and sticks, this movie would be better with some nudity and hardcore action. Or the massive slayings could just start up, instead of the stupid plot developments. Either way.
39:31 Meh. The first uber cool fight AVP stylee was in a dark sewer. Lame. I could barely see it. Kind of cool however, the dead predator that had the alien explode out of it created a freaky cool alien/predator combo. Kind of like the weird Alien/Human combo in Alien:Resurrection... now that was an effed up movie. But this new hybrid isn't as creepy, just badass.
And that last paragraph is where I realized that between the Alien movies, and the predator movies, this is the 7th I've seen. I can guarantee you that no more than 3 should have been made, and no more than 4 have been profitable for the studios.
43:51 Hotness and loserboy are about to go for a swim. This can only end badly. but at least we're getting closer to the porn side of things. Oh wait. Mr. Fmr BF just showed up, much to hotness and loserboys chagrin.
49:49 Were now location-aware... the action is some place in Colorado. Sweet. No place better for a killin' then Colorado.
52:17 What a mess. Bold prediction #2, because of the poor job being done by Mr. Predator, he's going to end up nuking poor litte town south (or north, or whatever) of Colorado Springs. At this point, all of the plot lines have merged, and about half of the cast is still alive.
Best line of the movie so far - "People are dying. We need guns". Huh, well, when you put it that way, I suppose you're right.
Random plot twist: Hotness, not Mr. Police, knew where the towns stash of guns was. Strange, as she's supposed to be in high school. What exactly is she planning?
55:20 The national guard just showed up. Huh. You would think that this movie was made pre-Katrina with that sort of fantasy response time. Oh, and its raining there too. Kinda funny.
New best line, courtesy of hotness: "we're not gonna make it, are we?" No sweety, you aren't. Now just die quietly.
59:10 And we just crossed a new line - the hybrid A/P just found the maternity ward... and a pregnant woman. And just did something weird. Like, injected something down her throat weird. I feel ill. This is going nowhere good.
Is this a bad time to mention there may be spoilers involved? After an hour of this movie, I'm pretty sure I can safely say you don't want to see this movie. Whoever you are.
1:03:56 I can safely say that after what just happened in the maternity ward, that this movie never, EVER should have been made. And I never should have started watching it.
The director has to be given some credit for taking an utterly disturbing movie, and setting it at night, in the rain, without power. It takes some of the edge off. And believe me, there's plenty of edge. If AVP was a 1 on the 1-10 good movie scale, and a 2 on the wierd crap o meter scale, then AVP 2 is definitely a -4 and a +100 respectively.
1:08:00 New best line of the movie. "THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T LIE TO US!" I don't even need to come up with something funny to make that seem hysterical. Oh, and btw it appears to be the government that's going to do the bombing of the small little town. Right now, the ensemble of F list actors is deciding if road A or road B is the correct path, knowing that the wrong choice leads to certain death. Did I mention that I figured out that both choices lead to certain death?
1:12:32 Our heroes, searching for the helicopter at the hospital, ended up in the maternity ward. I would have started with the roof, personally. One distinction between predators and aliens, if you haven't seen the movies before - the predators apparently are familiar with door handles. Aliens seem to use brute force for, well, everything.
1:15:33 Well, I'm checking out mentally. Hotness just bit the dust. Loserboy is peeved, to say the least. Oops, now he's dead too. Er, almost dead.
I was just wondering who was going to fly the helicopter (they finally found the roof, after much sidetracking), but then I remember that Iraqwarwoman was around to save the day. Cause you know, she knows how to fly a chopper.
1:21:06 We're back to the predator versus hybrid battle. Kind of cool. Invariably one of the aliens will make it on to the helicopter, by the way.
1:24:33 Shocking. The government lied. Instead of sending in an evac unit, it bombed the city. Only our fair friends on the chopper made it out alive. But the government spared them once they were found. Interesting.
1:28:14 Ok, I'll say it. Worst. Movie. Ever. I don't even know how it got made. I want my hour and a half back. I'm sure you want your time back Wow. That was just bad.
Some interesting closing facts: the movie scores a 14 on Rotten Tomatoes. It made 41 million... FORTY ONE MILLION! in the box office, when it came out less than a year ago. And here I was thinking it came out ages ago! I'll have to check out wikipedia to see if there was anything I missed while typing... but I'll tell you what, it can't be much.
Hope you enjoyed the movie as much as I did.

Making a list... checking it twice

2008-11-24T21:04:00.002-05:00

So I've decided to make a list of things that Obama could do to make me enjoy his presidency a little more than I expect to, I'm hoping something, something will catch on.

- Next year, come November, don't pardon the turkey. In fact, he'd get bonus points if he could get a secret serviceman to shot it on the spot.

- Tell every one that he wants to go old skewl, and then declare war on Russia. Just so we know who the real enemy is.

- Smoke. In public. Like, a lot. How would this not be the highlight of his presidency?

- Declare that he wants to make sure his girls are afforded the same opportunities as every other American child. And then send them to public school. In Baltimore.

- Instead of going against Bush's anti-terror policies, embrace them. Arrest all of the prominent scientologists and send them to Guantanamo. If this doesn't work, execute Tom Cruise, in public, for crimes against humanity.

- Abandon the current bailout plans, and instead set up a $1.2 million bail out of the cottage cheese industry. And then tout the plans success.

More genius ideas to come. Or better yet just leave a few in the comments. I'm sure Ian has a few ideas.

Random Musings While Sittling by the FIreplace

2008-11-22T17:16:00.002-05:00

It used to be that it was acceptable to send out Christmas catalogs prior to thanksgiving. Now its ok to decorate and put on Christmas carols prior to Thanksgiving. Either were going to start celebrating Christmas in November, or it will be ok for radio stations to play Christmas music 3 weeks before Halloween. I'm not ok with either of those outcomes.

Boston College football isn't the same without Matt Ryan. Atlanta Falcons football isn't the same without Mike Vick. But one of the teams is MUCH improved.

Watch out for those B's... relevance may be in their (distant) future.

It was snowing in Keene today. Not much, but a little bit. Yikes. Fall never lasts long enough.

I think Ian and I will need to keep track of our consecutive Lux wins. I only lost twice this week. I get really mad when I lose. But not as mad as Meghan when she sees me playing it.

I think the new blackberry is lame. I was afraid that if we got the iphone, and if we switched from (the vastly superior) verizon to AT&T, that I may regret it. But blackberry just came out with a touchscreen that requires you to literally push the screen into the phone for it to do anything. Lame. I don't feel stupid. Yet.

Sitting next to the fireplace in the winter (yes, its winter in Keene) is just about as relaxing as the cape in the summer. Too bad it has to be cold outside to enjoy it!

I'm still trying to figure out my ranking of breweries; I still like Sam and Red Hook... but Shipyard has crept into the mix. Luckily I've been able to drop Harpoon... it just doesn't hold up against these guys, even though I still drink it from time to time. Sam is so widespread... but I don't have Red Hook enough... hard to say at this point.

Speaking of Sam, time to go grab one. An early happy Thanksgiving wishes to all!

This is Our Country

2008-11-18T22:21:00.003-05:00

Yep, why not bring back those John Mellencamp Chevy ads one more time!

I'm glad to see that the stuffed turkey session of congress (or whatever they're calling it) is giving the "Big 3" hell. I don't want to get in to a big, long, drawn out thing here, but I'm not in favor of bailing out the auto industry. I understand that a collapse of any one of the three could be catastrophic... but let's be realists here. If the credit markets had remained frozen, we'd be in a world of pain; without money movement, not only would the financial sector have crashed, but the entire economy would have gone with it. Say what you will about the way its being handled, but I haven't once yet had to barter at the grocery store.
Ford, GM and Chrysler played the game differently than the financials did. The Lehmans and Bear Stearns of the world played fast and loose with the Bush administration and won, a lot. But just like the casinos, the house always wins, and not surprisingly those companies stayed at the blackjack table a few rounds too long. Luckily for them, their even richer cousins, the Goldmans and Morgans of the world, have a little cred with the pit boss, so they're still in the game, its just that now they're in room 1715 in a high stakes game behind closed doors... only its not their money whether they win or lose.
Meanwhile, Lumpy, Dumpy and Grumpy (we'll give that one to Chrysler, because who cared about them BEFORE this anyway?) are at the $10 minimum table, pretending to be big shots. Only instead of playing it like the financials, they played it big, dumb and slow. They smell bad, drink too much, and have been up way too long playing with a small stack of chips, and a big bill on their credit card. And they all have the foresight to hit on 20. And 21.
Unfortunately for them, they don't have any friends at the casino. Just a bunch of mobsters in the back waiting to pound the stuffing out of them when they try to sneak out without paying the tab. No, Toyota won't be able to pick up the slack, be it in employment, distribution or production. But it doesn't need to. None of them do. Without one (or all) of the big 3, demand might actually rally to something resembling supply.
In the end, our glorious lord and president elect will raise his finger and a magic web of hope and bailout will stream upon Detroit; I accept this like I accepted the whupping he gave McCain two weeks ago (I haven't seen that kind of schelacking since my pancake incident), but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it, nor that I won't revel in the weasels from Michigan squirming in their seats for now.

Yep, this is our country. Where every news headline can somehow be told with a gambling analogy.

It Must Be The Wings

2008-11-17T23:48:00.003-05:00

I can't think of any other reason why I always find myself rooting for the Bills when I watch them play anyone other than the Pats. It just doesn't make sense! I don't even want to root for them, but my brain just does. I just got upset when Cleveland hit a 56 yard field goal. FIFTY SIX YARDS!! AGAINST A PAT'S DIVISION RIVAL! Strange but true.

A few other random thoughts for you before I check out for two months again...

Verizon should explain the large, suitcase sized modemyrouter that they install on your wall for FIOS. All is not well in the House of Girard when it comes to this. For now, we still have Comcast.

You can only make so many "caulk" jokes when working in the bathroom. I just don't know how many that is, I never got there.

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. And the two extra days off I have around Thanksgiving. I'm not looking forward to working on my final paper.

Its finally time to start turning the heat on... the floors below us only heat us for so long before it gets too cold outside.

After two months and a combined three hiatuses, I still find myself unable to comprehend 90% of Matt & Ian's blogs.

Fallout 3... first XBox purchase for me in 1+ year, and well worth it. Especially after spending vacation in DC, getting to run amock with a minigun against post-nuclear mutants in the nation's capital is fantastic. Especially when you head down into... L'Enfant Plaza Station!!!

Sounds of the Season

2008-11-17T21:50:00.002-05:00

Heard on NPR that the Salvation Army was going out to start ringing a week earlier this year because they're worried that they can't raise as much money in these economic conditions.

I wasn't surprised then when I saw a ringer at Stop & Shop tonight. What I wasn't expecting was that it would be the Worst. Ringer. Ever. She only rang her bell about 8 times before taking 30 seconds off. I'd say she was mailing it in, but that wouldn't be doing it justice. And its not even Christmas yet, nor is it cold! I'm sure within 5 years the ringing will be handled by friendly money taking robots, but for now, we could use some people with a little pep. I'm just saying is all.

Anyway, I realized, as I shopped (saltines... oranges... fruit cups... granola bars...) that this was (yogurt... milk) a good analogy for how you all feel about my blogging skills these days. And I'm sick of listening to you all moaning and whining, so I'm back. I just can't promise that I won't employ a smarmy money taking robot to write my posts for me.

DC Wrap & The Ensuing Market Madness

2008-09-15T22:35:00.002-04:00

Ok, so today is the 2 week anniversary of our return from the DC trip. I figure anything outside of that timeframe, and I'm not even allowed to comment on days 5 & 6. But as all of it is still kind of hazy (margaritas + time = fuzzy memory), I'll just say this:
Day 5 - Like everything else in DC, the zoo was half closed, so we could only half enjoy it. Of course, the fact that it was 180º made us enjoy it half as much as we halfly did. We did a twilight tour of the city that night. This on the other hand was fantastic - we got to see a few monuments again, and also made it to the Jefferson Memorial and the FDR Memorial. Cool stuff at night. The WWII Memorial is VERY cool at night.
Day 6 - We did a tour of Arlington Cemetery on Monday morning. The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is always cool. We also went to the White House visitors center, which I'm assuming has considerably less security than the actual White House does. Oh, and we went to Old Ebbitt Grill for our end of the trip lunch. It was much more relaxed in there on a holiday, that's for sure! One last note, the Dunkies coffee stand in the terminal at DCA is a pour-your-own, which was legitimately strange. But it was ok, and I really needed some DD after 6 days without.
Anyway, it seems like a year ago since we went. I can't believe its only been two weeks. Oh well. Anyway, a few random thoughts on the state of the world since then.
- Thank you, Apple for IPhone 2.1. Better. Not great, but better. Keep working at it.
- Thank you, Matt Cassel. Thank you.
- What exactly is the point of a zune, and has anyone ever bought one? Just wondering.
- If I have a great fantasy team one week and lose, and a terrible one the next and (potentially, as of writing) win, does it mean anything? Ok, well, don't take that question literally. Of course it means nothing. But its kind of annoying. For me.
- Why do bars have to be loud? I'd be so much more inclined to go if I could hear. Anything. Else.
- And I'm not waiting in lines. I didn't wait in lines in DC, I'm certainly not doing it in a bar that I've already gotten into. Lame.
- I've got a great new idea for a facebook game: a word jumble with all of the ticker symbols of failing banks. LEHBSCAIGMER. I mean, there's gotta be something in there, right?
Anyway, that catches us up. Now I've got to go and get caught up on everyone elses life. I'll be sure to update again when my thoughts are near-expiration.

DC Day 4 - Smithsonarific

2008-09-03T22:22:00.003-04:00

Ok, so we're past the DC trip. In fact, a week ago, I was writing a post about day 1, and today I'm just exhausted from work, and school. But here were the day 4 highlights:

- Meghan and I have differing views on breakfast & lunch. But one thing is certain, if neither of us eats, we get a little grumpy after a couple hours.
- Of course, when you get up late, lunch comes quicker than you would think, which really solved that problem.
- The Museum of American History, and Arts & Industry were both closed. But we hit up all the others.
- And the Museum of Space & Aviation, though open, should have been closed about 15 years ago. Lets put it this way... one of the star attractions was brought to you by Digital Equipment Corporation. WOW. Now that goes way back. Please send your donations. They need it.
- The Museum of Natural History is great and all... if you're interested in the heretical ideas that they display. Evolution? Wow. Just plain evil. The next time I go to Washington, they best have put up signs at the Smithsonian saying that evolution is but one viewpoint, and that it is not widely regarded as correct.
- Rounding out a Smithso-tastic day, we did the National Portrait Gallery. This was actually very cool. And who knew we had so many former presidents? I swear there were at least 37 of them.
- We went to the Union Grill in Union Station for dinner, and we were the only people sitting outside on a beautiful night. People in DC are weird, that's for sure.
- And then we went to Thunder Grill, also in Union Station, for an after dinner drink. I had an 1800 margarita (or two). Uhm, and we made it home, later. But the details may be a bit hazy... mmm...ritalicious.

DC Day 3 - Introducing Mrs. Palin

2008-09-01T00:16:00.003-04:00

I'm a little behind at this point. There's reasons, but none of them are good. Read on and you'll (eventually) see why I'm writing about Friday on Sunday. Here's a recap of Day 3:
- Third day in a row that our foray into DC starts with the Federal Triangle Metro stop. Its getting old at this point. And once again its raining. What the flippity-eff!
- The National Aquarium seems at first to be a $7 scam. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in butt ugly fish. Its nothing like what we've got back at home in Boston, but it was a good way to spend some time in the AM.
- The Metro is an interesting system. Its like each line works on the buddy system. Anyway, we took the LONG way out to the Pentagon for our 1:00 tour. The Blue Line goes ALL the way around the north western part of the city before crossing the Potomac, and shooting down to the Pentagon via Arlington. Still, its a hell of a lot faster than taking the Red Line from Boston to Quincy, so it has that going for it.
- I was expecting "airport" security virtually everywhere down here, and I've been conveniently disappointed. The Pentagon definitely had the toughest security of every place we've encountered, but we were able to crack it with two forms of ID, and a handy reservation email.
- Nothing like military precision. Our 1 pm tour started at 1:20.
- Nothing like military accuracy. The nice enlisted gentleman that lead us around didn't bump into a single thing while walking backwards for 45 minutes.
- The woman in the yellow "Jazz-ercise" t-shirt on the tour that didn't understand the well armed military man's instructions to "STAY TO THE RIGHT, ESPECIALLY ON ESCALATORS" annoyed me greatly. He would have done the world a favor if one of his buddies with an MP5 had put a couple in her for her insolence.
- Exiting the Pentagon: more rain. Yay.
- Big night out on the town (don't worry, we came back to the Courtyard for a quick afternoon nap before going out!), we hit up the Regan International Center for a performance by the Capital Steps. It wasn't until we were seated in an auditorium that reminded us of the Dana Center at St. A's that Meghan and I realized that we've been Capital Steps before. At St. A's. In the Dana Center.
- It was still well worth it (definitely go if you are in DC on a Friday/Saturday) - they managed to work Sarah Palin into their show, even though her nomination had been announced just hours before.

DC Day 2 - The Yeungling Effect

2008-08-29T08:16:00.003-04:00

After a pitcher of Yeungling, I'm posting a little late, and I'll have to make this brief. Here's a recap of day 2:
- Apparently it rains in Washington.
- When you walk out the door, and you've checked the forecast, and it says rain, and you're outside, and it is lightly raining, this is generally a sign you should buy an umbrella, or two. Most people would take that sign and stop at the local CVS... not hop on the train.
- Getting to Nat Geo in the rain? Not very fun.
- There aren't enough Dunkies around here, and not nearly enough near me.
- Nat Geo. I'm disappointed in you. Not because the exhibit wasn't cool, but I was just expecting a lot more!
- Red Line, Green Line, Yellow Line, Orange Line, Blue Line, they all make the same stops it seems. Just get on a train.
- OK well its not that simple, but it seems it at times.
- Went to an authentic Mexican restaurant for lunch. Cows tongue and grasshoppers on the menu. You'll be shocked to find out that I had a chicken taco.
- Congress, its not just for congressmen anymore. Apparently they have congressladies these days too. Interesting tour. Kind of. Meghan was disappointed with the tour, but I like that it was brief.
- Newseum? She wanted me to go into a place called a Newseum? Well, it was very cool. Check out the better half's blog for more details.
- Found a sports bar for dinner. It was fab, and I got to have Red Hook, which is always a bonus. Red Hook in DC! Who knew!
- And then there's that pitcher of Yeungling in the hotel bar last night... well, lets just put it this way, after a few glasses, Obama almost seemed appealing to me... and not just politically...

DC Day 1 - Nationals Baseball - Feel the Excitement

2008-08-27T22:23:00.003-04:00

Here's a quick recap of day 1 in DC:

- 4:20 AM is WAY too early for anything, especially getting up to get on a plane.
- Random made up word of the day: bobulate. Meghan told me that I was all out of sorts while we were waiting for our 9 am flight (I call it sleep deprived). She said I was all discombobulated, and that I should take a walk around the terminal, until I was "bobulated".
- The walk worked, oddly enough.
- Commuter flights are my new favourite way to travel. Nothing like an empty airplane for a 1 hour flight that lands 10 minutes early.
- I hear Vegas was taking bets on whether Meghan would grab the diet coke cans that they gave us on the plane and recycle them when we got home. Degenerates everywhere were disappointed to hear that she didn't.
- Navy Yard, Washington, District of Columbia. From the looks of it, it used to be, well, a rough neighborhood. To say the least. And its going to be a fairly nice area in a couple years right now. But while we're here? Its a bit of a mix... brand new Courtyard where we're staying, with the ballpark (more later) virtually right next door. Yet its still a bit sketchy. Yeah, I'm still triple deadbolting the door...
- In all of our geekdomly genius, we broke out the phones to look for a place to eat near the White House. We decided we'd take a quick walk around the WH to start out our trip, but we needed lunch... and before I could come up with anything, Meghan found Old Ebbitt Grill. Come to find out, it wasn't exactly a tourist-showing-up-in-jeans-and-shorts type of place... but the food was very good, and they didn't rush us out the door to make room for Capitol Hill's movers and shakers (ok, i just wanted to say that.) Overall I give it an A- for food/presentation/snootiness of the maître d'.
- Walked around the White House. Its still white. I found it amusing that there are hardly any tourists at the fence at the back of the building, which provides a great view at a reasonable distance, and yet there are hoards of tourists out front, where you have to wedge yourself in for a much more distant photo op. Strange.
- World War II Memorial, very well done. Expansive, tranquill, water fountainy.
- Korean War Memorial. More peaceful, more tranquill, kind of creepy with the 125% of real life size soldier statues. But still, very nice.
- Vietnam War Memorial. Wall. Really, we've got to stop getting ourselves into so many wars. Also, do people still rub the names of the fallen onto paper? Didn't see anyone doing it today, but I did when I was a kid (back then that was about the only war memorial the city had...). Can I get a verdict on this?
- I understand not putting Metro stations underneath all of the important buildings... but what is the point of having a subway if you can't get to it when you are sick of walking?
- One other note on the subways... Boston should look into the creepy dark carvernous approach to train stations. Very cool. I forget how much the T sucks until I go anywhere else.
- Nationals Ballpark. Wow. I mean, Fenway is great, but WOW. Tix are cheap (beer, dogs and the like are still pricey enough to necessitate a second mortgage though), and the stadium is just beautiful. I hear that they'll get a big league team in there one day. Wait, what? Oh, right, that was a National League team out there... riiiight.
- Gotta love any oportunity to boo Manny.
- Sad moment of the night, after moving seats a couple of times, and each time Meghan dutifly grabed and moved them for me, I forgot the Nationals commerative beer cups that we got with our hot dogs. I probably could have gone back for them, but we were already half way down from the top level (oh yeah, that's WAY up there in these new fangled stadiums). I guess I won't be able to show off my Nats pride at home.

Next up: Congressional follies, Nat Geo, and attempting to find lunch at a place that doesn't employ a wait staff of 200.

Blame Canada

2008-08-09T19:49:00.002-04:00

so I suppose you wonder why you haven't heard from me in a while. I won't make excuses. This summer, I just suck at posting. And I do apologize. But there are just so many things going on.
Ok, well maybe not that many things, but the olympics are on, and we all know that I was a little disturbed that I almost missed the 2002 Olympiad, so you best be sure that I'm not going to miss this one.
So what is coming soon? Well I'm sure i'm are I'll have something to say about the iPhone, on which I'm writing this post, as well as the upcoming pats season. Stay tuned.

Confessions of a Coffee Addict

2008-07-22T19:55:00.003-04:00

I sometimes find the conversations I have to have with Dunkin Donuts employees to be the most unbelievable experiences of my life. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but I quite frankly enjoy (read: freak out if I don't get) my daily coffee. I've probably written about all of this before, but in an effort to be a little more "healthy" (whatever that is) I've cut back to only one medium coffee a day. So I'm a little short on brain power. Stay with me though, it gets funny, I promise.
Meghan and I went up to Dunkin Donuts after hitting a couple buckets of golf balls on Sunday. As she details, it was about 200º outside, with 150% humidity (these numbers are slightly rounded). I needed my coffee.
As usual, something had to go pear shaped.

I drove up to the seemingly innocuous speakerbox device, and ordered in the least confusing way possible:
"I'll have a medium iced, extra skim, two splenda". DD - anything else? "Yeah, a medium iced coconut the same way". (I always managed to suppress the gagging noise that reflexively comes to me when I order Meghan a coconut coffee, but I mention it here for effect).
I'm beckoned by the disembodied voice to hither to bring myself to the magically slidey window.
Now, Meghan's dad has a term for our order - he says we order coffee with lots of "words" in it. This may be true in a sense (yes, I've used the term "iced mocha latte lite" before, but never have I used the word moccachino while ordering), but the kind orange shirted folks at DD never seem to be frazzled by too many words (just a certain lack of understanding of the english language as a whole, in some instances). And as I mentioned, it was hot - sunny, muggy, nasty hot. So I had my sunglasses on.
Yet as I pull up, I notice that one coffee, perched temptingly on the ledge like a warm apple pie cooling in the breeze, is regular extra-skim infused-colored, that is to say it is mostly dark with a hint of milk, and the other one is startlingly only-Michael-Jackson-is-whiter-than-the-cream-in-this-coffee white. I stare at the girl who's about to charge me for an erroneously made coffee and ask her what is in each - she looks down and reads the crayola chicken-scratch on the side and informs me "this one is the coconut (the one on her right) with skim and splenda, the other one is skim and splenda".
Meghan almost had to jump in at that point, either to speak with the girl, take the wheel, or both. As Lewis Black would put it, "the left side of my brain looked at the right side of my brain, and said 'its cold in here... and we may die".
I recovered within moments (I realized that Meghan was having the same brain issue, or was trying her hardest not to laugh in the poor dumb girl's face, I'm not sure which), and informed her that there was NO WAY the coffee on her left, which I'm fairly certain was white enough to reflect 99.7% of the visible light spectrum, was made with skim milk.
She looked down. It was as if I had given her a new pair of eyes, as she realized at once that I was correct. And I would forgive her her transgressions, save that she had had to look down and discern everything about the maker's handwriting, written on a transparent plastic cup, but didn't find a way for point A to connect to point B. Again, these are conversations I shouldn't be having. All I want is my freaking coffee... now.

Big Day

2008-07-12T21:28:00.002-04:00

So its 9:28 ET and Meghan just pointed out that it was a big day.

And then I realized, wow, it kind of was:

7:30 - Up, but not to happy about it.
8:15 - On the bike for 7.2 miles of Cape Cod.
11:00 - Meghan and I took the boat out, just the two of us, up to Falmouth harbor and back. Nice, nice ride.
1:30 - Lunch, pool at Grandma Dot's
4:30 - Meghan & I hit up Falmouth Country Club and walked nine holes.
7:30 - Dinner in power-less East Falmouth - steak and shrimp on the grill.

Ok, so it doesn't look like much when I put it in a post, but that was a LONG day, and a very very good weekend day, and the power is back on, so I figured I owed you, my curiously loyal reader, an update.

So what's on the docket for tomorrow? I don't know if we can top that... but anything to take my mind off of work on Monday would be great!

Road Closed

2008-07-03T09:03:00.004-04:00

There are times I really, really, really hate Canton. It doesn't happen often, as a) I don't spend much time there, b) its a relatively nice place and c) it isn't Stoughton (ok, Stoughton isn't that bad, but you have to agree it rolls off the tongue kind of funny). Last night I was furious with Canton though, because of its sheer stupidity.
As we were driving down Washington St, Meghan and I came up to some road work that has been going on since about 1998. Most nights, I'm coming home from work, so this road work is on the other side of the street and only inconveniences me so far as to force me way to the right of the rather narrow lane, in order to avoid hitting a construction worker or police officer.
Well last night was a little different. I had to go TO work at 9:30 at night, to write a couple last minute emails. We're down the Cape for five days, and I had a final exam at Brandeis last night, so I rather hastily ran out of work. Heading to work, we ran into the construction, and a rather helpful sign:

ROAD CLOSED

Not, DETOUR, with some helpful hints as to where to go. Not that I don't know Canton that well, but I don't just travel in random 1930's neighborhoods for no reason either. So I made my first attempt to go through the neighborhood and loop back to Washington St, only to hit Washington St. right where another police officer was standing, only all to glad to tell me that I couldn't turn in the direction that I wanted to go, waving his little orange stick and telling me to turn left.
Ugh. I hate Canton. So I went back to the original road I had turned onto, traveled a good mile to a mile and a half out of my way, and then finally made it to the highway.
Is it that hard for one of the 5 police officers that manage to scam detail off of this job to maybe put up a couple detour signs? How can you just close a road? I'm pretty sure in most civilized towns, cities and nations, they give you a hint as to the best way around.

(Red is the road closure, blue is my original attempt to get around it, green is my eventual route. Its a complete coincidence that its labeled with green dots, because going all the way around because they don't know how to close a road properly isn't very "green" at all)

Who Needs a TV to watch TV?

2008-06-26T23:37:00.002-04:00

I vowed, solemnly, to myself, that I would take some time this weekend to actually sit down and post a few thoughts.

That was before I found out that they added all six seasons of Highlander to hulu.com. Wow. All I can say is, well, wow. I guess you get the short end of the stick on this one... because you know, there can be only one... and by that I mean only one thing I do online at a time.

But on that note, at what point do we just get rid of the TVs? You can watch all of the seasons of Lost @ ABC, Family Guy and Colbert @ Hulu, and I'm pretty sure that crazy Japanese game show is online as well (and yes, I'm downright giddy about that one, and I'd be sad I didn't see the premier, but, well, you know, its online).

I don't have anything else to say, 'cause I have to go watch Highlander. But I'll do my best to revisit this non-video web site once or twice again this weekend.

The Internet. Short for Idiots with Keyboards

2008-06-22T22:45:00.003-04:00

Steve Jobs had me at hello. I'm not kidding. I've been infatuated with the iphone since it was announced, and now that its price point is dropping, its service is getting better, and our Verizon contract is just about up, I'm very seriously considering getting one (er, a couple).
Here's the thing; they're coming out in less than a month, and its almost impossible to get info directly from Apple or AT&T... you know, important stuff like how much will a plan cost, can you get a family plan, ect. I don't particularly like AT&T but I'm willing to sacrifice my dislike for a snazzy iphone. I still can't abide their website though, with 3ish weeks to go until release they should provide plenty more info.
So what do I do? I go to the tech sites (my fav Engadget, or gizmodo) to see if they have any insight to my not so pressing questions.
What annoys most about having to do this though is the comments that are involved... half of the posters HATE Apple, and the other half have filed papers to be adopted by Jobs. They're fighting is annoying and petty; its beyond reproach and I'm disgusted that I bother to read it.
But then again, why do I bother to read it? As always, the lesson is that the internet is full of good information, bad information, but mostly a bunch of idiots. Ugh. And I just want to know how much text messaging will cost.

17

2008-06-18T00:40:00.001-04:00

Wow - what a night.

A lot more entertaining and interesting things will be said in the various corners of the internets, so I'll simply add my favorite sentimental moment of the night.

It got a little dusty in the O'Girard household right after midnight. After 2 minutes of being harassed by the ESPN reporter shortly after winning, Kevin Garnett spun around and found himself hugging Bill Russell. Garnett's words:

"I got my own now. I hope we did you proud"

Again - wow.

Sublog: The Most Hated Man on the Train: Part IV: How Many G&T's Does It Take?

2008-05-25T22:34:00.003-04:00

So I've always wondered (and by always, I mean for the last twenty minutes) how many Gin & Tonics it would take for me to think that I'll actually miss the commuter rail.

As a day in-day out affair, its a pretty painful existence, and I'm quite sure that I actually despise it. But after 4+ days off from work, I realize that its something that I'll probably miss.

Why?

Well, I'll miss the nice conductor in the morning, who lets me move from the 4th car to the vestibule between the 5th and the 6th so that I can be the first person off the train (and into the dunkin donuts...)

And I'll miss it because it holds a lot of my memories from my first few months of my first real job (before I realized that it was better to beat everyone else off the train and to my car)

And because even though that box car that hit us hurt like hell, it makes for a great story (even though I have to put up with people asking me why I didn't file a claim... i just didn't so get over it!!! I had to get to class!!!)

And because I'm going to hate driving within a week... and then I'll just end up being the most hated man on the road...

(oh, and the answer to the aforementioned question is 5... fyi.)

Return of the Random One-Off Thoughs

2008-05-24T23:37:00.005-04:00

I'm all for Bill Simmons going out and doing his own thing... even if he did kind of rip off my joke about the Bill Engvall Show. Don't get me wrong, I love the Worldwide Leader and all but I've never been more into the NBA and more aggravated by the lack of BSG material. If he has to wipe my hard drive due to the spyware that the ads on his own site would create, that's fine. I'll jack the USB port into my wrist and download the virus into my body if I have to.

One of my top ten albums of this decade? The Jay-Z/Linkin Park CD... it should therefore come as no surprise that I'm downright giddy about this new Busta Rhymes song with the guys from LP... even if I'm a month late.

To Meghan's point, if you are over the age of forty, please stay out of the self-check-out lane at the supermarket/target/anywhere-else-there-may-be-one. You don't know how to work it efficiently, you don't know how to work it with any ease or skill, in fact, you just don't know how to work it. You're dealing with people who want to wait for literally nothing, let alone your fat ass figuring out what direction the bill needs to go in to the bill feeder, when in fact it can go in any direction just so long as you aren't a complete idiot (and rest assured if you're having difficulty, you look like a complete idiot trying to use it). Do the rest of us a favor and keep the 17 and under crowd from being unemployed and hit up the 12-items-or-less lane.

I don't get the obsession with cars. I know a lot of people that trip over their own feet at the sight of a "sexy" car... or whatever the kids are calling it these days. I'm so done with this its not even funny. I've never cared about cars beyond which ever is the nicest that I can afford (and I drive a Nissan Sentra, so as you can imagine I don't dream big). There are so many things I want from this life, and a nice Hybrid Lexus or a well appointed Audi may be one of them, but you'll never see me go into full swoon mode over a Saleen or a Maybach, I just don't have it in me. Let's agree to a) agree to disagree on this one, and b) not talk about cars when I'm around. I don't care and if you haven't noticed I'm tuning you out.

Hilary had a point you know. You may not like it, and she shouldn't have said it, but she had a point.

Which reminds me to send you here.

Matt on Kevin Drum on Jonah Goldberg on George Packer. It may make sense if you follow the link, but trust me, you may not care (sorry Matt, I couldn't help myself on that one... but I do generally enjoy your blog and even understand it 20% of the time!)

I do agree with Matt here on the other hand.

One more week until the big work move to Quincy. I think I've finally got a handle on the exact name of this particular stretch of road:

I'm just not saying what it does (but it does sum to 222).

I was thinking about the Pats-Giants Superbowl last night... and when I concentrate on it just for a minute, I realize that I'm still not over it. I'm pretty sure I'm scarred by it, and I know that next season isn't going to be easy to deal with.

Bees!

2008-05-24T16:02:00.002-04:00

I'm not surprised that as I delve into my own archives (why exactly would I bother with your boring updates?) that many of the videos that I've posted from youtube have since disappeared off their site. Its sad that everyone is paranoid of copyright violation - I know this stuff isn't free, but I wish the networks/studios/professional sports establishments would be a little more accepting of peoples use of old material. Ah well. Enjoy it when it goes up i guess is the lesson here.
On that note, I noticed that comedy central doesn't pull their own videos, and though I haven't watched Colbert for a good year now (not really sure why...) I did enjoy this:

\

On The Line

2008-05-24T10:40:00.002-04:00

Every so often (I like to call these times "long weekends") I find that I try and reach out to people I know through social networking sites. Generally I find these to be a complete waste of time, and as such my profiles and pages lay dormant with e-weeds growing upon them. And then, a good 2 or 3 times a year, I decide it would be fun to pretend like I keep in touch.
Today i sent a good 10 or 15 friend requests on Facebook. And who knew that I didn't have a picture! Well, I didn't know that, but I suppose that everyone else did.
Myspace? Haven't checked it in ages. Friendster? WTF? Does anyone still use that? Linkedin? Well, once in a while I add a new person, if only because it seems like the only logical networking site to be a part of.
Anyway, today is the day I decided that I was going to be a social butterfly. Let's just move past it because you know I won't keep it up and I won't care that I don't, and pretty soon I'll devolve into an anti-social caterpillar.
In other on-the-line news, I've finally started using Pandora. You may not care about this, but know that it has saved my sanity recently. Last summer, my nearby co-workers had a playlist with all of the hottest jams (let's pretend I didn't just say that, but it really was the best way to describe it), and I heard the same 20 songs over and over again.
Since then, they've all quit and I've had to fend for myself on the music-entertainment front to get me through the day. I've tried repeatedly to use Rhapsody's in-browser application to listen in, but that never works. So I've had to switch to online radio streaming.
WAAF works from time to time, but its not always what I'm looking for at work. WBOS is good, but it kind of freaks me out when they play 10 second Linkin Park clips on a loop during the broadcast commercial breaks - its cool at first but then it just seems weird. And I'm certainly not about to listen to JAMN or KISS, so I finally moved over to Pandora.
I've got to say, it is a bit repetative at times (I do hear a few songs more than once a day), but it does a great job of staying within the parameters of artists/songs that you tell it to play. One thing I've always disliked about these types of radio stations (if you haven't used Pandora before, its basically internet "radio", in that you tell it what you like and it plays those artists/songs and those that are like it, without commercial interruption) is that they have a very wide range of songs they feel "fit" into the genres you really like, and they don't play the artists you select nearly often enough.
Pandora has been quite different - I hear OAR, Linkin Park, 311 & Dave Matthews quite a bit (the artists I selected), and surprisingly it doesn't stray too far from this mish-mash of artists. And the audio quality is excellent, which is another benefit.
One problem - my new computer in Crown Colony (where my office will be moved to this coming Friday) doesn't have a built in speaker. I've got to fix this... I've gotten too used to my music at work recently.
Wow, what a boring post. Sorry about that folks. I promise to come up with something a little more clever later. And I'll buy you a treat if you accept me as your friend on Facebook... that is, if you do it in the next 25 seconds... otherwise I may have stopped caring.

White. Doughy. Happy.

2008-05-23T15:33:00.002-04:00

I'll defer to Matt's blog when it comes to explaining the title of this post. (you may want to watch the clip before proceeding). I'm sure you'll agree on the two main points:

1) Republicans ≠ The Change You Deserve
2) Republicans = White, Doughy, Happy

You may wonder why I have a McCain link on my page, when I have been quite outspoken regarding our current dictator (though generally not in this spot, but if we've ever talked politics face to face you'll know what I mean). There are a number of reasons for this, and unfortunately I'm not as well versed in the language of politics as my comrades, so its explanation may be a bit of an awkward read. I apologize in advance for this.

In early 2000, I stood outside WMUR studios in Manchester, NH, chanting with a few hundred other idiots for my preference in primary candidates, in my case John McCain. This, in retrospect, was in interesting choice for me. I spent my formative years in the Democratic sector of an otherwise traditionally Republican state, growing up in a family that was otherwise Democratic leaning, though politics was never really discussed. I voted for Bill Clinton in my first mock-election (Clinton defeated Bush I according to the 6th grade class at St. Joseph's School, but only by a couple votes. Even then I'm pretty sure a few of those kids were listening to the Church telling them who to vote for...).
As the 2000 election was going to be my first "real" election though, I decided it would be best to be open to ideas, and, well, basically let the best speaker that came to St. A's sway my decision on who to root for. It just so happened that John McCain spoke to my sensibilities a little more than everyone else did - his message was more moderate, less aggressive, and had the general feel that it came from someone who would do a descent job.
These days I'm not so sure. I don't feel that the intervening 8 years has done a lot for McCain's message, and it certainly hasn't done much for his weary body. But one thing remains certain: he's still more moderate than Bush II, more moderate than Bush I, less creepy than Huckabee and most likely more qualified than any of the other Republican also-rans. (Side tangent: what ever happened to the term "also-ran"? Is it sort of like high-fashion, where its so "2000"? You never hear it before, especially when it seemed like everyone was an also-ran... Bill Bradley, the 1999-2003 Red Sox, abstinence, ect).
So what then, when I don't have strong feelings for the Republican party, its candidate, or its message, and agree that its best described as "White, Doughy, Happy", and have a promise from the Democrat, which I was "raised", of real change, makes me support McCain at all?

Well, I'm fairly certain its that little promise of change. Let's face the facts in front of us:
1) Gas is expensive. Ask my wallet.
2) Food is expensive. Ask my bank account, now that my wallet is empty due to the gas.
3) The housing market is in the toilet. Consult zillow, or your Sunday classifieds.
4) We're slowly killing the planet. Look up at the O-Zone layer (don't burn your retinas, the authors of Ten Good Minutes will be held harmless for any damage you do if you stare at the sun).
5) The very moral fiber of our society is fraying before us. (Ask your friendly local California clergyman).

Things aren't too good right now. But I'm willing to throw my weight behind McCain instead of the presumptive Democratic front runner Obama for 3 reasons. The first reason is really broken into two essential parts, a) how much of this is and will continue to be solely the fault of our furless dictator Bush II, and b) how much worse can it possibly get?
I suppose you can make the argument that it can get much, much worse. This I suppose is true. But on a scale of 1 to completely screwed, we're already "pretty screwed" and moving closer and closer to "completely screwed", and really, once we get beyond "completely screwed", are you going to be trying to measure things things in degrees? Let's put it another way, if my scale isn't working for you. If you're in an earthquake, and it measures 4.5 on the Richter scale, you're pretty happy that it wasn't a 7.9, even though it make have startled you a bit and knocked the picture of Aunt Petunia off the credenza. But the last thing you're thinking if you're in an 8.9 earthquake is "thank God it wasn't a 9.1!", ie you're completely screwed, and it doesn't matter whether you were kind of completely screwed, or really completely screwed. I hope this makes sense because I'm running out of analogies. Anyway, right now we're hovering around a strong 5.5-6.0 on the Richter-screwed scale, and once we go beyond that, we might as well just start rioting and pillaging, because we're really screwed.
I don't think we'll get to that point. And I don't think it will be because of our President.
That brings me to point #2 - I'm not so sure that "change", a 180° switch in the way we're doing things, is going to make everything better. I am, as stated, rather moderate, and even somewhat conservative leaning. I've got a lot of friends on either side, and not just to the left and right, but somewhat extremely so. The thing is, I don't agree that much with any of them. This becomes problematic because if I'm having a discussion with two of them, one representing each side, I oftentimes will end up making one of them thinking I'm defending their side and arguing with them, when in actuality I think they're a complete dolt when it comes to their politics and feel a bit queasy about agreeing with their argument.
At any rate, that's how I feel about Barack. A bit queasy. I'm all for the "good ol' days" of having a Democrat romping around the oval office again, but Obama takes it too far. I want someone to pull us back towards the middle, not all the way across to the other side. And as I'm not a viable or eligible candidate to do so, I've found a doughy old white guy to serve as my proxy. I'm not thrilled about this folks, but its the only choice I feel I have.
And then there's this, my third point - I feel there's a 3-4% chance that Barack Obama is actually the anti-christ. I'm not saying this to be either theo-philosophical or inflammatory. I hope I've entreated you in a discourse that is open and honest and isn't driven by strong feelings for candidates or parties, but rather sound personal opinions, and when I say that Obama may be the anti-christ, I mean this solely from the perspective of a reasonably intelligent person who'd prefer to see the end-of-times held at bay a bit longer.
You have to admit though, once you've calmed down about my otherwise outrageous claim, that he does seem to fit the bill of the anti-christ has always been portrayed: a young, handsome, charismatic man that is extremely articulate and intelligent, who has been delivered to us at a time when things look that they won't become any more bleak, with a promise of change, radical change for the better good.
Yeah, I'm officially creeped out by him. I'm not saying he is the anti-christ, but don't complain to me if you vote for him and then don't get taken in the rapture. I'll go to battle with the doughy white boys that'll hopefully only screw things up marginally.

The Dude

2008-05-22T20:44:00.006-04:00

I love the internet. Without it, we wouldn't be able to create our own clips... and here I thought youtube was great...

Even if it does mean selling out to the man... it was still the best 4 minutes I made you spend today.

Checking In

2008-05-12T22:15:00.003-04:00

As I don't have a great number of long, coherent thoughts to string together, I'll hit you with a few things that have been on my mind recently:

- If you watch enough basketball on TNT, you'll eventually convince yourself that the TBS original programming that's advertised every ad break might actually be worth watching. I won't go so far as to say that it actually is worth watching, and I'm fairly certain I never will watch it, but "The Bill Engvall Show" et al seem... quirky. And I'm always convinced when I see the My Boys ads that it will be billed as "The White Tyler Perry's My Boys".

- I think HBO should seriously consider a channel dedicated entirely to their own promos. Here's one reason why:

Their previews and promos get me so pumped to watch TV, its scary. I'm pretty sure I could watch an hour of that and not get bored - I'm not going to lie, when I got home tonight a movie had just ended, so I kept it on the looping promos so i could hear it in the kitchen while I made myself dinner... and then continued to watch once I sat back down. Someone needs to bring this up to the folks at HBO.

- I never thought I'd watch this much basketball. Amazing what a good team can do for a fanbase.

- I don't really know why, but I'm addicted to this ad. I'm pretty sure I hate the song, and I'm also fairly certain that the actual video is pretty stupid. And I love every second of it when its put together.

- I don't agree with fouls in basketball. I hockey, if you commit a penalty, your team loses a player. In football, if you commit a penalty, your team loses yards. In both cases, instant replay generally shows a flagrant violation of the rules. Basketball? Eh. If you bump someone, you send them to the "foul line". Both sides of that equation are lame. I may be enjoying basketball more this year, but I'm still fairly sure it'd be better if it was played on ice with sticks and a puck...

- We've got a long weekend down the Cape coming up over the Memorial Day holiday. You can most likely expect my usual long rambling posts filled with assorted and sundry mirth and entertainment then... I apologize for the sparse posting since and in the interim...

Binary Minds

2008-04-29T22:58:00.004-04:00

I'm not as stupid as I look. I'd like to think that my brain is more complex than a computer CPU, and certainly has a little more mystery.

The folks at Nabisco, or Hershey's, or General Mills, I'm not sure exactly where, are, however, not of the same mind.

Apparently my brain, much like that of a computers, understands a basic language of Ones and Zeros, and builds on everything else from there.

Why do I mention this? Because apparently EVERYTHING from here on out must be broken down into 1-0-0 calorie packs. Can my brain get around 150 calorie packs? 90 calorie packs? Could I resist a 123 calorie pack? NO! Of course not! I have a binary brain, obviously! And OBVIOUSLY if it says ONE ZERO ZERO Calories, it MUST be good for me.
I'm sure by now you've figured out that I'm not really serious about the binary thing. My problem is this: where does the hundred calorie pack madness end? It was a great idea - at first - a few crackers or chips seemed like a good idea for those that wanted the snack without the excessive snacking. But it has gotten quite of out hand.
I swung into CVS this afternoon - I was having a terrible day, and I needed a beverage (no, not that type of beverage, though it would have been useful), and, should I find one, a snack.
What do I find? A box of 100 calorie pack REESES PIECES SNACK MIX.
Naturally, I couldn't resist. There was a box with 7 supposedly delectable snack packs (a nice, even number, so i figured it could get me through the rest of the week). I love peanut butter more than just about anything (save for life, liberty, wife and football, in some order... strike that), and I love fake-reprocessed-delectable-quasi-gelatinous-hard-candy-coated-peanut-butter nearly as much. Not only did the packs promise reeses pieces though, but also some form of crunchy peanut-buttery cereal, some wierd, round, crunchy, peanut buttery... uhm, other cereal... and I'm pretty sure the point is that its basically cap'n crunch & reeses pieces.
So by now, you are asking two questions:
How much do you get for 100 calories?
and
Where can I get mine???
The answer to the first? about 1.2 ozs. Yup, 100 calories doesn't get you what it used to. Which gets me to my final (have I made one yet?) point: where does the madness end? When do we stop bagging everything into what seems like healthy portions, even when it was never healthy to begin with?? I'm looking forward to a 100 calorie bacon package... the 100 calorie big-mac portion, well you get the idea.
And of course, now that the un-healthy experts have started finding that healthy marketing means people will buy your product, we can only expect more. The best part of the whole equation? Because you think you are eating better, you're more inclined to eat more - if one is good, isn't two just as good? You get to pay more money for more packaging and less food, only to want to buy more.
Strangely, I think this whole argument has come around to a subject that is near and dear to someone that is near and dear to me - eating better via more organic food, and saving the world by reducing the extra packaging. In my opinion, and yes, this is my opinion, let's stop the madness, and start packaging our own food - I can handle it if its actually 114 calories - and stop needlessly throwing money away towards crap like this.

Oh, and as to where you can get yours? YOU CAN'T! Keep your grubby hands off my peanut butter!!!

Juice

2008-04-27T21:38:00.002-04:00

Meghan: Why don't we have juice?
Me: You don't let us have juice.
Meghan: There's lots of sugar in juice.
Me: There's lots of sugar in lots of things.
Meghan: But why have juice when you don't need it?
Me: But sometimes you just want juice.
Meghan: Why don't we have any juice?

You can't make this stuff up people.

My Random Act

2008-04-07T21:29:00.003-04:00

Call it kindness if you will. Maybe it was. But I always feel like kindly punching people in the face when they talk about random acts of kindness. So we'll just call it random, what I did. And it probably won't happen again for quite some time.

If your not familiar (and I'm not sure why you would be), the elevators in the Hancock Tower are double-deckers. Going up, you can only request even or odd floors, depending on whether you get on in the lobby or the mezzanine. Going down, its always a crap shoot, whether you'll get a "lobby" or a "mezzanine" car, ie, whether you're on the top or the bottom (though no one thinks of it that way).
The nice thing about being (near) the top of my elevator shaft (the southern-most shaft services L-16, and I'm on 14), is that you can push the button for both up and down, and generally you'll get two cars at the same time (there are six bays, or a total of 12 cars, if you do the math), and generally the "up" elevator will be a lobby, and the "down" elevator will be a mezzanine. So by pressing both up and down, you have a good chance of getting a lobby.
Of course, I haven't mention why this is so important. It is important because no one, for some strange reason, likes to have to walk the 15 feet from the elevator door on M to the escalator down to L. I'm not kidding. Its really 15 feet. And the escalator does the walking down for you.
Anyway, just about everyone on 14 (though not every last person, as you still get an occasional odd look when its 6 pm and you press the "up" button) presses both buttons to go down at night after work, so that they can avoid the dreaded M.
This wasn't my strategy tonight however, as I had the one circumstance that required an actual "M" elevator - I needed the UPS drop box, of which there isn't one on "L". Still, I pressed both buttons, as you never know when you might press "down" and still get an "L".
Coincidentally, a girl who I don't know that well, who works on the other side of the floor, walked into the elevator lobby on 14. She too had a UPS package.
As the two cars arrived nearly simultaneously, one on each side of the hall, the strangest thought occurred to me: I could do something quasi-sort-of nice for someone; hoping that she new the up-elevator "L" trick, I offered to take her UPS package to "M" on the "bad" elevator, while she got the good one to the Lobby.
Momentarily I thought my so-called-kindness had been mis-understood - she gave me a bit of an odd look - before she said "really? you would do that?" Yup, that's how much people hate going to the mezzanine (did I mention that the UPS drop box is right next to the escalator, which is right next to our elevator?). Yes, I said. No reason for both of us to have to suffer.
So next time you see me walking around the Hancock Tower, or any other public place for that matter, don't expect me to be nice. In fact, I may try to trip you.
You know, to but the Universe back in balance.

Sam Adams, John Adams

2008-04-06T20:51:00.003-04:00

Sam Summer is back. You may have heard. I may have had one. Or five. In the past hour.

And I'm back to. For now. A few quick thoughts:

Selling "division champs" hats with a Celtics logo is LAME. The only thing worse: buying one.
John Adams has to be one of the most enjoyable tv events in some time.
A movie is good when Meghan gives it this review: "That was one of the five worst movies ever. I can't think of the other four right now, but its definitely up there. It may be the worst." Needless to say, you should see Michael Clayton, if you haven't already. I'm sorry I waited so long.
Pirates of the Caribbean III, better than II. Still, there's always something to be said of the novelty of the first of anything's kind that makes it better than the rest.
And Johnny Depp really really needs to lay off the peyote.
I'd like to say that the B's have a chance against the Habs. I'd also like to say that Al Gore ended up winning his rightful place in 2000. Neither is true.

But I'll still watch both sinking ships with earnest interest.

Sublog: The Most Hated Man on the Train: Part III - In The Unlikely Event of a Water Landing...

2008-03-25T21:41:00.006-04:00

I had an interesting story about how I managed to make about 50 people hate me this morning as I managed to wedge my way through a gaggle of standing passengers, exit the train, and reenter it at a more advantageous spot, all to beat them off the train and to Dunkin Donuts, but that was before my commute home. Maybe I got what I deserved. But if I deserved what I got on the ride home, and got out of it as fortunately as I did, there must have been a LOT of people that angered the commuter gods today, because there was a LOT of blood.
I've been taking a lot of random late trains recently, as work has required, but Tuesday afternoons are the exception; due to class at Brandeis, I take the 4:45 train back to Canton.

As I may have mentioned (once or twice) in this space before, the MBCR is not known for its swiftness or timeliness. This should be surprising to no one. So I was contently discontent with our trip home; we made nice time out of Ruggles and people deboarded relatively quickly at Hyde Park (at Route 128, though why we have to stop there when another outbound train make stops there 5 minutes earlier is for another, long, ranting discussion.) There's a big bend probably a mile out of 128 station; we usually slow for this bend, because the train tends to tilt quite a bit, and I'm assuming its not good to go fast + tilt, especially if a train is coming from the other direction. Today, we moved through the curve quickly, and then started to slow.
Naturally, I saw all of this as I manned my post, protecting the door of the rearmost car from people that threatened to detrain before me.
We came to a dead stop (again, not surprising), and I waited to get going, knowing we weren't too far out of Canton Junction. What happened next was certainly the most surprising and startling moment of my life, as there was no advanced warning of any kind - suddenly I found, in one swift yet disjointed motion, my head thrown against the glass pane of the door, and my entire body lurching in the opposite direction - and not just away, backwards, but down.
The lights were out, my hat was thrown clear, and my IPod wasn't playing; in fact, my headphones weren't in at all.
And upon further inspection, I realized I hadn't been resting uncomfortably upon a middle aged Hispanic woman shortly before being thrown onto the ground either.
She seemed none to pleased with this outcome.

That was the first 4-9 seconds after my train was hit by a box car rolling in the wrong direction. Everything after is a bit hazy, but I remember the following; people with bloody noses, a lot of pain, and a lot of anger.
I got of the train and looked down the track - I assumed we had been hit by an oncoming train. It felt like we had been hit by an oncoming train. I couldn't see anything though - it was only as I walked down the track later that I saw the single box car.
The conductor yelled for everyone to get back on the train (I'm glad to see that even though he knew we wouldn't be on time, he still had a schedule to keep). I did, briefly (I had to retrieve my hat, of course). But as people started to gather themselves (and, as its been 5 hours since, I'm confident to say that I still haven't gathered myself fully), everyone started clamoring to get off the train.

I was definitely confused - I called my wife, she told me something, but I didn't really figure it out. I saw some people, presumably people that weren't seriously hurt, walking down the tracks to the train station. I started out to follow them - I didn't know what else to do - the conductors had started creating pools of people, those who needed medical attention and those who didn't - and all I could think of was 1) WHAT THE HELL!! and 2) I NEED TO GET TO CLASS!!

I could hear sirens, lots of them, and a helicopter overhead. Help was on the way. I was dazed, and continued to walk down the track, leaving the wreckage behind. I'd say I'm not particularly proud of this, but I quite honestly don't know what I could have done - I was working on instinct and that instinct was to get the eff away. I checked in with the other people that had self diagnosed and made their way to Canton Junction - asking if they were ok and if they had seen anything I hadn't (such as a logical reason for a box car on the track of a major train thoroughfare). I called my boss (why? not sure, still not sure.) I called my wife again. She said to stay put (I think this was reiterating the previous message), but I was already way past that.

I had and still have a few lingering questions - why didn't the engineer warn the commuters? I can only imagine that the panic that would have caused though. What would a real train crash be like? How fast was the box car moving?? It couldn't have been going too fast - but if it caused that much havoc at low speeds, I can't imagine what it would be like to be in a real high-speed collision. And of course, the most important question, HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? How did a train heading to Providence 10 minutes earlier pass through unscathed, and yet a box car appeared seemingly out of nowhere, likely a mile away from the nearest track split and on a track it shouldn't have been on.

A lot of people, I'm quite sure, are very angry and very upset. I feel quite fortunate to have been able to walk away, without serious injury. And I feel quite concerned about the fact that I have to get back on the train tomorrow morning.

The Madness of March

2008-03-21T17:31:00.002-04:00

Meghan's parents have a 2000+ sq ft condo that we've been cat sitting in for two days, so it may seem surprising to you that Meghan, the cat and I are all cozily sitting on the same, small couch. But considering that the weather is also a bit surprising (its been right about at freezing today), and this place gets a bit chilly when you don't crank the heat on a cold day, I bring you my long awaited follow-up post to my... last post. Ok, yes its been a while, but l've been busy, leave me alone about it. Anyway, I've had a lot to say recently, and forgotten most of it. So here's what I'm thinking right now instead.

I think its great that I'm blogging, streaming the UConn - San Diego game, and listening to Linkin Park on Rhapsody, all wirelessly on the laptop. I don't know why this impresses my so, especially because Meghan is making fun of me for being so proud of it. Whatever, the cat is watching the game and he seems to appreciate it.

Of course, I'd be enjoying it a lot more if UConn would just finish off San Diego; instead we're going to overtime. The brackets have taken a bit of a hit today... but I'm still towards the top of the list for my group on Yahoo.

What I don't get, I've never gotten, and probably won't ever get, is why these brackets are frowned upon, in general in the work environment, and specifically in the financial world. It just doesn't make sense to me. You can "bet" on stocks, mutual funds, derivatives; you can invest in energy, commodities, even volatility, yet you can't wager on sports? It just doesn't make sense to me.
I know gambling can be an addiction and I understand why we don't have slot machines next to the cafeteria, bathroom or watercooler, but at work, I can go down to the convenience store in the building and buy a scratch ticket; why can't I go online and wager on the Celts this weekend, or Tiger on Sunday, is just beyond me. Oh well.

I think a few people at the Fours in Boston this afternoon weren't too worried about the legality of filling out their brackets - when Western Kentucky nailed a 3 pointer to close out the game and upset Drake, there were a few hoots and shouts of astonishment. Also, random note - where did the huge building come from accross the street from the Fours?? Weird.

And what are the chances that when W. Kentucky won that game, as a 12 seed, their first thought was immediately, maybe we'll be favored in the next game - UConn versus San Diego (a 13 seed). Well, now that SD has won in overtime, that'll happen on Sunday. I'll take "Throwing my Bracket in the Trash" for $500 Alex.

Daylight Slaving

2008-03-10T21:08:00.002-04:00

Every day keeps getting shorter
As my sleeves start getting longer

My love for autumn is well known (and if I was better about posting, it'd probably be well "published" too), and the lyrics to Daylight Slaving remind me of fall, but I was singing them a bit again today; as I walked out of the office, a few lasting rays of light were spilling around the Pru and stretching up Stuart Street. Chilled, I zipped up and ran over to the train station.
This would have seemed all very normal had it not been 6:30 pm.
It didn't look like a late winter night, it looked, and felt, like a late autumn afternoon.

We can play with the clocks all we like, but there are a few things we can't change. We can't change the number of hours the sun hangs above us, nor its peak position, only the slow orbital churn will accomplish this; we can't change having to get up in the morning, or going to bed to greet the next day; what we can do is "change the time", a human contraption that makes us think something good is happening.

Well, it may "seem" good, but that doesn't mean it is, and it doesn't mean it isn't cold.

Superdelegates Are For Idiots

2008-03-06T00:09:00.003-05:00

Stupid people believe in a lot of things, mainly because smart people tell them these things to make everyone else's life a lot easier. How else can you explain creationism, reality TV, and Area 51? Smart people know the truth, and stupid people are comfortable with the lies that they are told. (I hope this makes sense to you... if it doesn't, we're probably going to have to sit down soon and have a little talk about why I write these crazy things - you see, Ryan Seacrest makes me do it).
Anyway, one of my favorite smart-people creations for stupid-people is the idea of a "Superdelegate". This is hilarious to me; people are now up in arms because they feel the whole system of primaries and caucuses may be overthrown by a group of ne'er-do-wells that would subject us to 4 years of Hillary when what we really said we wanted (as voters for not-so-super-delegates) Utop-Obam-ian reign.
Here's the thing; these superdelegates aren't designed to ruin your life, they're there to make it easier. Let's make it easier for the stupid people by pulling it out of the political realm.
Pretend for a moment that there are two classes of shareholders in a company; the "A" class shareholders (powerful and wealthy executives and and the like who already control the company), and a more populous group of "B" class shareholders, essentially holders of common stock. In this company, the "A" class shareholders give power to the "B" class shareholders to make decisions about leadership, so long as they can reach some form of agreement as to who should be chosen. Meanwhile, the "A" class shareholders retain the rights to make all of the pertainent business decisions.
The "A" class shareholders basically just hope to do a good enough job that the "B" class folks don't make them shuffle their seats around too much. The problem comes in when the "B" class can't make up their mind as to who should be running the show - that's when the "A" class exercises their final right - to add their vote to that of the "B" class to decide the leadership.
The "B" class is fully aware of the situation. They understand the consequences going in. And if they don't decide, they may or may not be overridden in their deadlock.
So the next time I hear that the nation is going to alienate the youth movement that's been happening at the polls this year by having the "superdelegates" override the popular vote, I'm going to breath, count to ten, and then not get too upset. Because if any of the nations "youth" is interested in moving out of stupid-people status, (and maybe get an "A" share vote one day), they'll accept the system the way it is. It may not be a comfortable truth, but its the one that smart people understand.
(And if you still don't get any of that, sit down and close your eyes. I have a piece of candy for you hear in my pocket, and Survivor: Zimbabwe will be on soon.)

Lou Dobbs, Wolf Blitzer, and Larry King. What's Not To Love. (Unless you're not into old dudes)

2008-03-04T23:57:00.004-05:00

I've only watched CNN election coverage this time around, mainly because its the only one in HD, and what I really need when I watch election results is a TV that is just FULL of statistics. It almost makes me forget that Lou, Wolf, and the rest are giving me brain damage.
Case in point:
Lou Dobbs to second-tier-desk-middle-seat co-co-co-host. "Clinton currently holds a 50,000 vote lead in Texas, but that is by no means safe, now is it?"
Wow. What a statement. Let's not forget that all of the votes are cast, so it doesn't really matter what order they are counted in here. Because if we did that, we couldn't make a statement quite like that!
As for the battles:
Good for McCain. He finally got Huck out of the way. I think its best for all of us that we got rid of that guy - and that's the beautiful thing, pretty soon, no one will remember him. Well, we may not forget him entirely, but when I ask 8 years from now who took McCain to the 6th round in a fight between a bulldozer and a Nissan Versa, its going to take you a minute to remember. And then you'll just think to youtube, or google, or wikipedia, or zingbang it. (Don't you wish you knew what a zingbang was now? Too bad, you have to wait)
John King versus the creepy "Magic TV Screen". Oh, John is the master of this thing. He can zoom in on a county in Texas faster than I can type Mississippi. Or even Missouri. I wonder if they let him take it home with him to practice on the off-nights. Or maybe they just tell him to play with an IPhone.
Clinton versus Momentum, Barack versus Rhetoric. Oh, he just kills me. The pundits were proud of him for making more policy statements than usual. I'm pretty sure on the other hand that he's still making the same speech that he did in the summer of 2004 - yup, we get it Obama, you'd be swell. And I have to say, after listening to Hillary for a little while, she makes some sense once she takes it down a notch - her painfully shrill excited voice is just unbearable; her new campaign strategy should be to keep an excitement level just between keeping a pulse and Joe Buck calling a football game...

Well, Meghan said I was a fair-weather fan when it came to this campaign, that I didn't care now that the bigger races were over. I hope that I've been able to prove her wrong by putting her to sleep with this diatribe. So it goes. I'm off to get my Larry King on. Uhm, nevermind. Eww.

A Bit More About Meghan's Brunch

2008-03-03T21:41:00.003-05:00

So if you read ADITLOM (aka mdl.b.c) on a regluar basis, you'll know by now that we went to Sunday Brunch yesterday at the Cheesecake Factory. There is some dispute (read: Meghan thought this was brilliant while I thought I was asleep. She apparently was right, as she woke me up for this) as to whether this would be a good idea, but in the end it was; I had some really good Eggs Benedict (obviously as a Good St. A's boy I stayed away from the Eggs Franciscan), and Meghan had the best fusion of Mexican and Breakfast that I've ever seen.
And while I do love overpriced, overhyped brunch, my heart lies with breakfast. Real, honest to goodness breakfast. Like, breakfast diner type breakfast.
Growing up I loved going to Timoleons in Keene - I went there (or alternatively to one of the two Friendly's that Keene has) every Saturday morning with my dad, and I would always order French Toast with a side of Bacon. You may not be aware of this, but its pretty much the best food ever. You should try it sometime. Especially at Timoleons.
Nowadays, I love going down to the Cape on the weekends, and I love going to Betsy's Diner for breakfast. Its definately what you expect when you hear the name, with old school styling (mainly because it was decorated, you know, during the old school... or something), and the sort of angry at the world wait staff that just makes you want another cup of coffee.
While thinking about this, I was reminded of something that Matt had mentioned to me recently (though at the time I think we were talking about rap artists and Andrew Laney, so I don't know how my mind wandered here) - but I ended up at the blog that he had mentioned - Stuff White People Like. Once I read #36, I just about broke down in tears. Yup, its funny 'cause its true.
Anyway, to steal one of Meghan's tricks, I'm going to link it. For now. So long as they promise in turn to add Stuff White People Like to the list of Stuff White People Like.

A Sight for Sore Eyes

2008-03-03T20:25:00.002-05:00

I am SO glad to see this, and I'm quite sure you might be too. After too many headlines about loss and scandal, its good to see a happy Pats headline. Let's hope its the first of many over the next 12 months.

Here's to hoping we see 24 touchdown receptions.

An Open Letter to the TV Boston Bruins

2008-03-03T19:42:00.003-05:00

Dear TV Boston Bruins:

I don't often watch you, as you have become a shadow of what I used to enjoy about you. I have heard, through written reports, that you have once again been performing at a level that is considered mildly acceptable, and tonight I decided to watch.

You managed to completely destroy any hope that I had in you by giving up FIVE GOALS IN LESS THAN TWENTY MINUTES.

Please do not do this again. Just to be safe, I'm going to once again stop watching. I'd appreciate it if you, in turn, once again stopped sucking.

Sincerely,
Andrew

Where Andrew Happens

2008-03-02T17:40:00.004-05:00

Don't complain that I've been gone a while (that means you Matt) - I should be applauded, I posted 9 times last month. I almost got carpel tunnel. So give me a break.
But as I have relatively little to say, as relatively little has happened to me recently, I'll share a few of my favorite recent clips.

Because I've been watching a little more NBA this year than, well, ever, I must remind everyone that it hasn't always been good for the association:

And just to make sure that I show my true colors (as a recovering NHL fan), I have to give you the classic PJ Stock video as well:

Meghan's been throwing it back to the day recently, which has gotten me playing a few old games. We've come a long way, that's all i have to say. But I was certainly never able to do this back in the day:

Get Flash to see this player.

Random thought: When was the last time i had one of my random thought posts?

2008-02-20T21:32:00.004-05:00

Ok, maybe they were never titled random though threads, but you get the idea. And just to make sure I don't get in trouble with Vallone for not posting enough, I figured this was a good way to get you back into my creepy little mind.

-Saw an ad tonight for a do-it-yourself butterfly kit. I have only one question after seeing this: Is there anyone over the age of 5 that lacks a degree in some form of physiological science that isn't creeped the hell out by butterflies? Think about it. Caterpillars crawl around, eat a bunch of greens, double in size, double in size again, and again, then magically create a cocoon out of themselves, crawl out of it and FLY THE EFF AWAY. Really? This is what nature intended?
Maybe I'll start leaning back to divine intervention, because really, that's some whacked out crap right there. Nature doesn't have that good imagination. That's the sort of thing nightmares are made of, and I'm pretty sure after eons of fighting Satan, God has some crazy dreams. Anyway, if you aren't freaked out by a time-lapsed picture sequence of a catterfly, then I don't trust you.

-Is it weird that I like Kanye West on a purely aesthetic level? No, no, not that type of aesthetic. He's not my version of Meghan's obsession with Colin Firth. No, I just happen to really like his voice. I'm pretty sure if he was rapping a song about driving off the Tobin, I'd get in my car and head north. Ok, maybe I'm revealing a little too much about myself here. And he's a whiny bitch anyway, which annoys me. But if you ever know I'm behind a closed door, and you hear him crooning away, well, assume it isn't safe to enter, or the grounds of "Andrew Alone Time".

-Saw a headline on CNN yesterday, but I didn't snag it to drop here on the blog - but it was a picture of an American soldier who had lost his sight but was learning how to see. Not sure if you've ever been skiing, and seen these vision-impaired folks with their vision-unimpaired guides (and their neat matching vests). And I think its really great that they were taking one of our Heros skiing - but as usual, I'm a terrible person, and all I could think of is Laney being the person teaching the lesson. Wow. Talk about trauma!

-I just found 4 songs by 311 on Rhapsody that I've never EVER (NEVER EVER, NEVER, NEVER EVER! -thank you for that one Ian) heard before! How is that even possible? I'm not sure if in the history of the universe the term "311gasamed" has been used (and how would one go about saying that anyway? I'm pretty sure it can only be typed), but one thing I am sure if that it just happened right here on my couch.

-I've got to say I'm not surprised by this article. Of course, the only delimma that I have personally is figuring out how early is too early when it comes to starting drinking on parade day. But I love the laissez-faire attitude here in Boston (and NY) - now THAT is the way to play indifferent!! Blame the public for the indecency! The church says it isn't responsible for civic celebrations... I'm sure that they'd have something different to say about a cross-dressing transexual parade down the streets of Southie (wait, so what clothing do they wear regularly? help me figure this out), but for now, I'm happy to say that I'll be with the rest of the heathens on Palm Sunday, and I may not have the church's blessing, but at least I don't have their curse either.

-It's funny the things you'll find when you head north... Its not quite an elk... but you know... (thanks again Ian... you keep setting 'em up, I'll keep knockin' 'em down.)

-And lastly, I'm with Matt here. This story is meaningful to a LOT of people, whether they know it or not. 401k plan participants are given a lot of responsibility when it comes to managing their retirement funds (which I completely agree with), but they shouldn't have to deal with irresponsible fiduciaries. I'm not saying that everyone should go out and sue Towers Perrin or Diversified Investments, but the threat of that should hopefully mean that these companies carry out their duties with a little more care.

Calling All Wisconsin Conservatives

2008-02-13T00:53:00.003-05:00

To Meghan's point every time I'm watching election results, there is only so much of the talking heads on CNN, ect, that you can take (though my threshold for pundency is certainly higher than hers). What did we learn tonight? I'll sum up very briefly what you already know: McCain is the Republican Nominee-Elect, if there is such a thing (and there certainly wouldn't be if it weren't for Huckabee), and Obama has catapulted from having tremendous upside potential to leading the race, but, as always, narrowly.
Matt will argue all sorts of fancy things about the media and Hillary, about Obama and speeches, and it will all be far more well informed than what I know and you will read here. That's what a degree in politics will get you. But a degree in criminal justice always gets you thinking, what's the evidence?

Here are the (loosely based) statements of facts: McCain will be the Republican nominee, and though early, he polls worse against Obama than he does against Hillary. Obama is endowed with charisma and momentum (among, I can assume, other things that Hillary is not). And, most notably (more in a moment), McCain is not a true, er, core, conservative, and, up until now, didn't have the support of the "core" conservatives.

Of course, that doesn't really matter now, does it? The "core" conservatives don't have one of their own to choose, and they are acting as if their party let them down. Maybe, just maybe, the "core" conservatives aren't the majority (remember the Moral Majority? They were neither moral nor a majority, yet they donned the title, didn't they?) and the rest of the Republican party, your run of the mill conservatives and moderates, are having their way.
The "core" conservatives are saying that McCain will have to make his mea culpas to their contingency before he harnesses their vote, and yet the tone in their demand belies the problem within; they are in fact the ones that need McCain, and not the other way around. Now that he is the nominee-elect, the "core" can only hope that he is the lesser of two evils (their words, not mine) - when you have one candidate on the left, and one in the middle, the right can't exactly make demands of the centrist and honestly make him believe that if the demands aren't met, they'll vote left, or not vote at all (with the same net result).
So before the "core" is left with no recourse at all, its time to put out a call to all Wisconsin conservatives: you have a choice to make. You can go to the polls next week and waste a vote and hit up Huck for a delagate or two, or you can pull the lever for McCain and fall into line - but you'll be doing this in November anyway.
No, the smart move, in an open election such as yours, is to go to the polls and do what's best for McCain - pick up the Democratic ticket and fill in the circle, punch the ticket, pull the lever, or rig the Diebold machine for Hillary. Your party will benefit twice; by swinging (some) momentum back to Hill, you'll further your own stability in comparison to the Dems, and you'll also give Clinton Jr. a chance to face McCain in November - which, though you'll never admit it now, or ever - is what you really want at this point anyway.
Think about it. The folks on CNN won't tell you this. The Republican party won't tell you this. But I am telling you this. Just think about it. You can thank me later.

Left versus Right, Walgreens, Dumplings

2008-02-11T19:18:00.000-05:00

I may sound like a broken record, but I didn't have a swell day. This is pretty much a constant for me, so I will spare you the gory details (except this one: "2a-7". Don't ask. Unless you are really bored, then google that, plus Money Market, and then bang your head against your CPU tower, or the corner of your laptop, repeatedly, until red liquid dribbles from your temple).
Meghan asked me to stop at Walgreens to see if her pictures were there. Now, you may remember a time when your pictures may or may not be there, mainly because the 1 hr photo shop wasn't as fast as you were dropping them off and then immediately going to pick them up because you wanted to see 500 pictures of your boring cousin on your lame vacation. Its a little different these days, due to the whole internet thing. Now, the process is a little more abstract; we take pictures, store them on a small disc, transfer them to a big disc, upload them, download them, send them online to the store, and then, after two weeks, complete and utterly forget that you've had the poor guy behind the walgreens counter print your pictures, slowly letting the dust settle on the package, until we kindly ask our husbands to just drop in unexpectly on the picture man and ask for our now antiquated snapshots.
Unfortunately, the pictures caught the last dust-bunny express to Albuquerque and the sniviling little man pleads ignorant to your unwelcomed questions about your pictures.
Fortunately, there happens to be a Chinese Resturant right next to this particular Walgreens (the Resturant itself may actually be a comination of steel & pine however, the food served within is decidedly unauthenticly Chinese). Recalling my day (the bloodloss due to conversations about "2a-7" has slowed my brain considerably, so I stood in the cooooold a little longer than is normal), and the relative disappointment about the pictures (relative meaning on a scale from 0 to .001), I decided that a beer and some dumplings might not be all that bad. Especially when recalling the conversation that Meghan and I had 7 days prior:

Scene: 43W 29, 5:30 pm, on a Tuesday
Meghan (phone in hand): I'm getting a calzone. (the period is silent, but not subtle.)
Me: What?
Meghan (reaching for menu, angered by my perplexity): I'm getting a calzone.
Me: Oohkay. Uhm, sounds good. Why?
Meghan (looking downright fierce): THERE'S NO CHOCOLATE IN THE HOUSE. (even less subtle period at the end of the sentence. Making me think its time to go vote and then head to class).
Me (considering the mathmatics of -Chocolate = +Calzone + Delivery, and the physics involved with my response): ...
Meghan (staring): Do you want one?
Me (scared to answer either way): Sure... sounds good (running out door. End Scene).

So when I decided that some dumplings, a wonton soup and a bud light wasn't logical, it did manage to fall into the logic of the above conversation, and coupled with my freezing fingers and nose, and the sudden realization that if I didn't have a beer, I would have to go back to work with one less beer having been consumed between shifts, well, that pushed me over the edge.

Whats great about this particular establishment is that there are two bars and one dining room. The bars seem to flank the dining room, though they are completely different in structure. The one of the left is the length of the building and has a few pool tables, though its most notable for its narrowness and length, as well as its flat screen tvs (Angelina Jolie and Mr. & Mrs. Smith turned out to be just as entertaining as Sportscenter). The other bar is square, small, and is notable for its patrons; locals classified somewhere between the species Cantonae Heartyous and Cantonae Grizzledous. Their enjoyment of all things, uhm, well, whatever locals enjoy every monday night at 6 pm in a semi-sketchy bar, is entertaining. However, like most things these days, I lean left, and head to the wide open, empty, big screened bar where I can enjoy the nothingness that comes to my brain after purging thoughts of my conversations with Bank of America.

Whats my point here? I'm pretty sure its Left Right Walgreens Dumplings. Bloodloss. Time to return the Redbox movie before I pass out.

The Flip Side...

2008-02-11T19:15:00.001-05:00

And then there are those times you wish the video wasn't available.

Five words I never though I'd say as a Boston Bruins fan:

Get well soon, Richard Zednik.

No word on the status of the Sheriff, who was rushed to the ER with a gunshot wound...

2008-02-09T10:33:00.000-05:00

In other news I'm spending the day in Keene... and as Meghan would say, its a "KEENE time!" which in no way makes sense, as keen is an adjective for sharp or acute of mind, but I suppose any enjoyment she finds in coming with me is a bonus.

I just finished Bill Simmons mail bag and i have to say, with each passing day, I find last sunday to be a little easier to handle. Still, I have to wonder, what if Asante had caught that ball... oh well.

But just in case you forgot what it felt like, here's the call, one more time, when they should have made that tackle on Manning (I'm pretty sure this is the actual footage from standard definition tv, however its hard to tell).

In a related story, I left the bathroom relieved.

2008-02-08T00:35:00.001-05:00

What this story fails to mention is that he entered the race a black Jewish communist, however the Republican factory fixed him.

Sadly, this model was defective - apparently it was too good at "managing things". Not that I was a Romney supporter, or fan, or anything, but after 8 years of the current administration, don't you kind of want someone that can "manage"? Even if he's not a charismatic leader, well, isn't it still better than a complete dope??

Times I Wish CNN Video Actually Showed What it Said it Was Going to Show

2008-02-07T22:31:00.001-05:00

One of my greatest disappointments in life is that every time I go to CNN, there's always a leading headline that is only in video form, and you think "WOW, I WANT TO SEE THAT!!". And then you find out that what was cool at first is really a lousy video of someone talking about the really cool event. This annoys me to NO END. I'm officially petitioning CNN to either deliver the goods, or stop teasing us. Case in point:

So tell me, how exactly did they figure out that the baby was thrown 300 feet? Did someone take out one of those measuring wheels and walk it off? Or did they get those construction crew guys to come out with their meauring tri-pod thing and figure out how far it was from Point A (liftoff) to Point B (miracle landing spot). My guess is that the baby was tossed about 10 feet by his older brother, and one town hick told the other town hick some grand story of a flying baby, and now its on CNN.
Of course, we'll never know. Because CNN WON'T SHOW THE VIDEO!!

An Unlucky Shirt?

2008-02-05T23:01:00.000-05:00

I'm sure by now I've said more than enough about the Pats, and there's been a lot said in the local and national media. So I'll spare you another diatribe, this time on the loss. I do want to mention one thing though:
I don't bother believing in these supposed jinxes and curses. Bill Simmons can write an article about whether or not the Pats are the best Boston team ever, even before they play out the Super Bowl, and it doesn't affect the outcome. Meghan can skip the Bruschi jersey and it doesn't affect the outcome. Belichick can wear the red sweatshirt, and it doesn't affect the outcome. I can change my passwords at work, even before the game is played, to a superbowl related theme, and, though its a bit nearsighted, it doesn't affect the outcome of the game. I just don't buy into these things.
Nevertheless, I do believe that in the end, the football gods got their revenge on the Pats. (How exactly can I say that a hoodie doesn't matter, but some fictional gods do? I just can, don't ask questions.) The Giants played an incredible game in week 17, didn't cheat, didn't blow people out, and didn't anger the football gods. They didn't have the best QB (far from, as history has shown), they didn't have the best wide receiver (it will be interesting to see if we keep ours). The football gods said that the Giants should win, and win they did.
Do I get it? Sure. I'm willing to accept it. I'm willing to accept 18-1 (the football gods wanted that too)... what i want to know is, now that the football gods had their way, can't we have them replay the game? Seems like its only fair, now that everyone has exacted their revenge on the Pats...
Ugh, why am I still writing this?? I promised to be brief.

Reflections on Success

2008-02-02T16:32:00.000-05:00

I've been excited for Super Bowl Sunday for a while... a long while. In fact, I think I've been excited for tomorrow since one year and two weeks ago, when the Pats were forced to bow out of the playoffs after the Colts managed to muster the strength and do what they hadn't done before - beat the Pats in a must win game. But we all know that story. And while you can say that the Pats team that was on the field in 2007 was fatally flawed - they didn't have a wide receiver worth the paper his contract was printed on - they were a play away from their 4th Super Bowl appearance in six years.
This year's version of the Pats - NE SB 4.0 - doesn't carry the same flaws - that much and more is quite obvious - and after enjoying all of the success that they have had - they and the Sox and Celts (we'll leave the middling B's for another conversation) - I've found myself thinking more and more about how we all got to this place, how as a 26 year old I'm able to forget about growing up following losing teams and now enjoy some of the greatest professional athletic success that any city has had in such a short time.
When the Pats were finally downed by the Colts last year, I had more than a few conversations with friends and co-workers over whether the run of success in Boston was coming to an end - the Pats were two years removed from their incredible 3-titles-in-4-years, and the Sox were heading into a new season with a lot of hype - can you say Dice-K? (side note: who knew we'd be saying Okee-Do-kee as much as Dice-K by the end of the season?) - but after living through off-seasons of hype, and watching the payrolls expand year after year, it was apparent that the Sox weren't following their blueprint to success that had made the '04 team a champion. And though there was the possibility of a number one pick for the Celtics, the winter sports franchises were the saddest group of over-paid athletes East of Rt. 128. Things, once again, were looking down - but it always comes down to the possibilities once you play the game on the field.

October, 1999. Freshman year at Saint A's - I'm fortunate to be living in Hilary Hall, a dorm generally reserved for Sophmores and upperclassmen that don't live in town-house type livng quarters. Each "room" is generally set up for 4 guys, and includes two bedrooms and a living area - not exactly high-class living, but a far more comfortable, and usually more quiet, abode than the sausage-fest that was Dominic Hall. On this one particular Saturday night however, I'm fairly certain that the roof is going to come off from all of the noise. It was as if the entire building was swaying - with each pitch that Pedro threw - and he was throwing a gem, there was a moment of silience, and then cheering for each strike, each out.
The Sox had just made the most improbable comback (little did we know about what was in store for us come 2004), beating the Cleveland Indians 3 games to 2 in the Divisional Series after losing the first two games. Pedro was everything that we wanted Roger to be - he was our savior, coming into the game in relief (and again throwing a gem) in the Cleveland series, and now, versus the (insert deragotory term here) Yankees, he was turning the series around all by himself.
My most lasting memory from that night is of the door across the hall from my room - the guys living there had printed out "K" cards and were taping them to the door after each strikeout. The door was filled as we worked into the later innings.
The rest of the Sox weren't as good as Pedro though - and shortly after a phantom tag at second base by Chuck Knoblauch (the same Chuck Knoblauch that hit ESPN/MSNBC's Keith Olbermann's mom as she was sitting in the stands and he missed a throw to first base wiiiiiiiiide right), the Sox were eliminated once again. For the first time, I started coming to grips with the notion that it wasn't going to happen - I wasn't going to see the Sox win a World Series during my lifetime, mainly because they weren't going to win a world series ever again.

As Meghan constantly reminds me, its really quite silly to spend quite so much time mulling over the doings of the local 9 (or 11, or 6, or what have you); whatever the true reason may be, I like to tell myself that I do it because it is a great escape from the reality that surrounds me.
I suppose that none of our lives are as difficult as we think they are from where we see them at ground level. (Ian may be a possible exception, a) he isn't at ground level, and b) well, you know, he's in Iraq.) For the rest of us, its just a policy, piece of equipment, or electronic funny money (and it belongs to someone else, at that). But on the battlefront that is the day to day grind, the diversion that Sunday afternoon provides is more than welcomed. So if I spend a little too much time thinking about what next season will bring, instead of how well the company reports its next quarter earnings, please forgive me.

November, 2001. Five guys packed into a four person apartment has already made for some interesting situations (not to mention phrase-ology - can you say "andrew lany alone time"?). Though the living situation was less than ideal, it made Sunday afternoon a LOT of fun. The '01 season saw the advent of the Tom Brady regime in New England, and though I'd always been a football fan, living with Matt and dying with each Drew Bledsoe scamper out of the pocket had peaked my interest in the game.
At week ten, with little evidence to support my position other than a hastily drafted Pats schedule on a Post-it note, I outlined to Matt how the 5-4 Pats could lose to the greatest-show-on-turf Saint Louis Rams that weekend, and then roll off four wins in the final six games, and make the playoffs, with an outside shot at the Super Bowl. To my surprise, Matt agreed. I was immediately excited that someone who understood the game a lot better than I did thought my madness might be rooted in some logic.
I was wrong however; the Pats put up a good fight versus the Rams, and rolled off SIX wins in their final six games, to go into the playoffs as the #2 seed in the AFC.

I can't imagine what it was like to work in an office before the rise of the internet. Though doing my job without the online tools that I have access to would be impossible, my sanity would be similarly compromised with out Bill Simmons and Peter King. Their online posts are notable for both their humor and insight as well as the aggrevation that they bring me when they aren't posted in a timely fashion. This of course adds to the sports psychosis that I seem to have (I understand though it seems to be a collective disease). About the only time that I don't get any real joy in taking time out of the work day to read these guys is when the success that our teams have had slips away, and that failure takes the spotlight.
When the Pats lost to the Colts lat year, I would say I was upset, even into the next day (unhealthy? you betcha). However the recent wins and championships have only served to fuel the "there's always next year" mentality. This years disappointment quickly wanes into next years prospects.

October, 2003 The most recent incantation of the Sox-Yanks war has been exhausting, right down to the very end. Out on "my own" for the first time, I'm living on Heavey St. in Manchvegas with a poor job (car sales), poor income, and far too much fun with Madden on the XBox and tv with the guys each day. As the days got colder though, and the baseball season was coming to an end, there was the distinct possibility that the monkey may finally come off the Sox back, and they'd beat the Yankees to go to the World Series.
Game 7, in the living room on Heavey St. was possibly the most stressful few hours of my relatively lax life. We were watching the game on tv but with the local broadcast from the radio.
As Pedro gave way to noone, and later to Tim Wakefield, and Aaron Boone came to bat, the monkey apparently had once again sunk its claws into the back of the Nation and was on board for another long winter of discontent.
As Boone's batted ball left the park to the right of the left field foul pole, none of us had words. I stood, turned off the radio, which doubled as my alarm clock which had to wake me for my early shift at the dealership the next day, and walked into bed. I feel asleep, slowly, and agrily. Never. It was NEVER going to happen. No matter how many other successes the other franchises had. I couldn't even consider being in the same exact spot, 12 months later, after the Sox had been down three games to none, with Champagne in the fridge, ready to celebrate the most improbable victory ever.

As great as experiencing the victories as a fan has been, I've started to realize that the losses can be just as meaningful, which I suppose is what I've been trying to lead up to all along. My nephew Arthur, at the tender age of 9, has not only become one of the formerly most pathetic creatures on earth, a Sox fan, but a sports fan in general, and a Boston sports fan more specifically. And he has been blessed to know little (or none) of the heartache that the rest of us, even the younger ones, have. He experienced a Sox world series win near his nineth birthday, and though he may not recall too clearly, another near his 6th, not to mention the bookending Pats superbowl wins.
For him, a Pats win would be good, but not as great as the feeling of their failure. He's been conditioned in the past year to expect victory at every turn; if the Pats lose, I'll be upset (maybe more than those close to me), and we'll all recover in time (for some, within moments, others, such as myself, in minutes, or hours, or so.) But without having a quantifiable scale to prove my point, I would say that a Pats loss would be better for Arthur to experience than it would be for most of the rest of us (Pats fans). Knowing the heartache that comes with loss is as true a reality as the joy of victory, and until this year, perfection quite literally the least real option available in sports. There's always next year, and if Arthur learns that the hard way, instead of the easy way, it may just make him a better fan. And I'm sure he'll still be able to get out of bed and go to school tomorrow.
Don't get me wrong. I want them to win. I'm just saying is all. It may be good for him if they lose, but for me, I really, really want them to win! We may not be on the field, get to hold the trophy, wear the t-shirts in the locker room or battle it out on the field, but we do get to experience it as fans (its why they're showing the game on TV), and it does create some great, lasting memories.

February, 2002. I was right about one thing when it came to my little sticky notes. The Pats made the superbowl, and once again, they were facing the Rams. The 5-man apartment had become a 15 person orgy of football viewing. Classes be damned, this was one of the best nights I'd ever had, and as the clock was ticking down, the game was everything you could have asked for, if not more.
I may have had a Nostradamus moment with the schedule a few months back, but nothing could have ever tipped my mind to the notion that, with a win slipping out of hand and the game tied, Bill Belechick would have his offense march down the field with moments left to go in the 4th quarter.
The second best memory of the night was watching the ball, rocketed from the foot of soon-to-be hero Adam Vinatari, sailing through the air and between the uprights to seal the Pat's first superbowl. I don't think I've ever, before or since, high-fived, celebrated, or made more sports related phonecalls for the duration that I did that night.
My favorite memory though isn't what was on the screen, but what happened during the celebration there after - as we were watching replays and the presentation of the Lombardi trophy, my brother Philip barged through the door - he had somehow left the party where he had been watching the game, driven to my apartment, and blown through two doors, one that was in all likelyhood locked to such intruders - and tackle-hugged me, and my future wife, in a moment of unbridled joy (and, incidentally a small amount of pain, as we became pinned in between the door, the couch, and Meghan).

To have your team win is great. To be able to celebrate it with friends and family, now thats priceless.

I hope you all enjoy the game, and get to enjoy it thusly. Go Pats!

Defending Against the Forces of Mordor

2008-01-20T09:15:00.000-05:00

I'm sure Matt and Laney will disavow all knowledge of this event, however know that it is true - back in the day (say, 2004), the 3 of us had a multi-day game of Lord-of-the-Rings Risk that took place in that ill-fated dining room that we hardly ever used and was always freezing cold. The game was entertaining for a number of reasons; not only did it prove that we are total losers, but it got us out of the living room and away from the XBox, if only for a little while. And while I had only played old-school risk a couple times in my life, I did the smart thing and took as many starting spaces adjacent to each other as I could - I found my self huddling up in the south - aka Mordor - while Matt and Andrew took the northern regions - Gondor, Rohan, ect. And while they battled for power in the North, I amassed my army in the South. (Scary how they let me do this... did they see and or read Lord of the Rings? Hello!?! I was basically copying Sauron's moves... you know, plotting in darkness, filling my borders with men and orcs, I did everything short of building a mini-tower on the table and set upon a great eye, lidless, wreathed in flame, well, you know.)

Anyway, I tell you all this because I feel like the Republican race is turning into a macro-sized game of LOTR Risk - Matt and Andrew are being played by McCain and Romney, and I am Mike Huckabee. (Come on, you see the similarities between Huckabee and Sauron- fanatical followers bent on destroying the nation/middle earth via unlimited power vis-a-vis a ultrapowerful ring/executive powers). Anyway, Mitt and John are playing a lot smarter than Matt and Andrew did... they seem to be secretly working together to make sure that the Huckster is blocked in certain key states. Most important was a big McCain win yesterday in SC; that plus the Romney win in Nevada has effectively kept the Orcs of Huckamordorbee at bay.

The trouble will come when the forces of good (and Ron Paul) head to the south (again, parallel between southern Middle Earth and southern United States??). Evangelicals would have you believe that we are near the end of days, and we are threatened by the antichrist. I would argue that this is no antichrist, but we are threatened by the forces of Mordor - in other words, the evangelicals.

Let's just hope I'm not making the analogy of Obama being our one hope to destroy the forces of evil and bringing the message of "Change' into the deep south in November.

Chanting: Its Not Just for Gregorian Monks Anymore

2008-01-08T22:59:00.001-05:00

One more thing on tonight's developments: If you thought the term "change" had become senseless, the mindless chanting of the brainless wonders that are the folks at the candidate campaign headquarters has been top notch tonight:

Mitt Romney
"Mich-A-Gan! Mich-A-Gan"
Well, it was better than chanting "Sec-ond-Place!", where he seems to keep finding himself.

John McCain
"John-Mc-Cain! John-Mc-Cain!"
If you went through years of POW torture, your obviously addled brain may need a reminder of your name once in a while, this way, he was assured he knew who he was, and didn't accidentally concede to himself.

Ron Paul
"End-The-Fed! End-The-Fed!"
Obviously, they didn't expect to get on TV, as this was as productive as some other recent unsuccessful chats, such as "Lets-Go-'Fins!" and "Mike-Gra-Vel!"

Barack Obama
"Yes-We-Can! Yes-We-Can!"
...mop the floor! ...drive a car! ...eat an entire... wheel of cheese! This was the worst, really, it was just insufferable. He needs to grow up, people are going to get sick of the "I'm the best thing since sliced bread" routine. Ugh, I can't even be funny about this.

John Edwards
"Mell-An-Camp! Mell-An-Camp!"
ok, I make that one up. But I wouldn't put it past them.

God help us if these nutcases ever get past three syllable phrases... these guys may never get through their speeches!

This Is Our Country

2008-01-08T22:36:00.001-05:00

So much for my idea of a running diary of the NH primary. Its 10:30 and CNN has told me 3 things: 1) McCain won (again), 2) Edwards will come in 3rd for the democrats (they boldly called this one at 8:00:01... wow), 3) they're smarter than the AP, and refuse to say Clinton won the night, mainly because the college towns haven't reported, and 4) thanks to CNN.com, that my hometown of Keene voted for Obama.
Ok, so that was four things, but whatever, I can quite obviously count points as quickly as the good folks of NH can count votes.
Meghan doesn't get why I'm so into this - I didn't care about Iowa, and I probably won't watch the Florida results... there's just something about watching NH report in - I find it exciting. To her point, what does it matter in what order the votes come in, once they are tabulated, the answer will be the answer. Still, I enjoy watching how different towns are voting (and watching the CNN guy try and use his fancy new age telestrator).
The biggest disappointment of the night? Well, I'd say there are 3. First, Bill Richardson did terribly. Which I expected, but he entertained me with his witty, I don't give a flying crap attitude in the debate - every time he was given a chance to speak, he managed to waste half of it pretending to be shocked he actually had the stage.
I'm also wildly disappointed with Ron Paul... I thought he was entertaining too during the debate, but his supporters were chanting "End The Fed!"... I guess I need to pay more attention, but from what I gathered, he wants to rid us of that pesky federal reserve. Huh... seems... iffy. Oh well, my Richardson-Paul November matchup seems to be lost...
But the most disappointing moment was John Edwards being introduced to "This Is Our Country". This wasn't really disappointing for me, because I'm not really comfortable with his "My Wife Has Cancer" platform (I hear he may have other points as well, but that's the vibe I get...), but I gather he's trying to drive votes to other candidates - either that, or NO ONE on his entire campaign staff has bothered to watch a SINGLE NFL GAME IN 18 MONTHS. How can you use that song when there isn't a single person in America that would sacrifice 15-20 years of freedom just to get the chance to put a bullet in Mellancamp's head?? This has to be the biggest political gaff of the century... well, just after the Florida elections, Gary Condit, Iraq, Larry Craig... ok, well, its in the top 10. And his campaign manager needs to be fired, and the new one put in charge of making sure that the footage of that moment doesn't make it safely out of the building.
See? I am capable of saying I have 3 points, and then making them.
Here are the final developments of the night:
-CNN has finally stated that Clinton has won NH...
-Obama has just thanked the people of a number of NH towns for "going out in the winter snow" (it was a good 60 degrees out today) to vote. And now he's rambling again. Have I mentioned that he makes me uncomfortable too?
-I'm still feeling a bit queasy about hearing the Mellancamp song... someone needs to purge that from the Collective Universal Knowledge Base.
-Mike Huckabee still looks like Kevin Spacey, is still as creepy as Kevin Spacey,and I still swear it looks like he has a goatee, even though he's clean shaven, which is really, really weird. And he still came in 3rd (thank god...)
-There's still a shot that John Edwards, Barack Obama or Mike Huckabee might be our next president, and at this point, I'm with my father-in-law, I'm ready to leave the country if that comes to pass
-And lastly, Obama is still acting like he's giving a speech at the 2004 DNC... not a concession speech in the function room of the Howard Johnson.
Yup, maybe they're right...

This is our country.

Sublog: The Most Hated Man on the Train - Part II: Rail Redux

2008-01-07T23:09:00.000-05:00

I spoke FAR too soon.

(Note: Unless you have a relative that works for the MBCR, I doubt I will offend you here, however I warn you now that I can sometimes get a little angry when talking about the commuter rail.)

This sublog was put on hold due to the downward spiral that the commuter rail went into starting sometime last summer - its impossible to be the most hated guy on the train when the conductors are closing cars, refusing to open doors, and being all around jerks about their job. However, the new year started off almost better than could be expected: All seven of the first seven trips that I took managed to depart and arrive on time. ON TIME!! If you don't know about the problems that the train has been having (they lost their collective wrist watch), this may not seem like a big deal, however I would estimate it had been no less than 9 months since I took seven consecutive trips with trains that ran within five minutes of on time.
Finally, with train service seemingly coming back to normal, I could once again explain all the ways I annoy virtually everyone on the train - at least, I would be annoyed if someone else did the things that I did - I'm not sure if the mindless drones much notice me as they head into and out of their beehives daily.
Luckily, I had the opportunity to put in another hour and a half of work tonight, beyond my usual departure time, and I was graced with a train that was 13 minutes late in arriving to Back Bay, and another 10ish minutes (net 23 minutes) late in getting to Canton. This is what I expect from my MBCR (thank God the MBTA extended their contract by 2 years!)
As usual, I spoke too soon. It was foolish of me to think that they'd go 8 for 8 (come on, even Top Brady has an incomplete pass, or forgets to put on a helmet, once every 8 or 9 times, right? Just ask Randy Moss. Or Bridget.)
Anyway, my favorite train moment of the new year happened right in the Canton Junction parking lot. Because of the un-recent-winter-like winter we started out with (ie, there's actually snow on the ground, or at least there was), there are some pretty good sized snow banks about the lot (though not once have I seen the snow bank get its lazy ass up and pay for its space like the rest of us). When the "good" parking lot fills up (the good one is the one on the same side of the tracks as the inbound train) fills up, I inevitably have to park on the "bad" side - but people have started to miss the last spot on the good side - its half covered in snow and ice, and if you back in, the rear drivers tire is elevated a good 8 inches higher than the rest of the car, but its a thousand times better than parking on the bad side.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure the good side fills up by about 7 am... maybe 7:20. By the time I get there, at about 8ish, the good lot is full. Last Thursday though, I lurked around the lot, and found that the hidden space was still open. I backed in (not too hard in the little rubber-band of a car that I have, even with the ice obstacles), and within about 60 seconds, 3 more cars came looking to see if the spot was open. But my favorite moment was the first guy that pulled up... he stopped short when he realized that I had already snuck into the spot, looked over in disbelief (he must be one of the other few that gets it when I don't), then smiled and nodded at me.
Yep, its a sad, sad brotherhood, the poor souls that park at Canton Junction station. For just one moment, I wasn't hated. Envied, maybe, but not hated. At least, not until I probably half shoved him out of the way so I could get off the train first.

I was going to post, but unfortunately I'm out with a thumb

2008-01-07T20:37:00.001-05:00

What was once reserved for annoying sports commentators has now branched out to annoying radio announcers. I was on my way home tonight when I turned to WBZ (did you hear that Polaroid is coming out with a printer that will print pictures? Wow!! Yikes. I'm surprised every time I drive by the Polaroid office off of 128 that they still have employees, and desks, and filing cabinets, and all those other things that I figured the repo men would have taken away by now). Anyway, the guy doing traffic on the 3's informed me that 128 South was slow near exit 2 with a fender.

With a fender? I can only assume that he meant a fender bender... however I'm not quite sure. It may have been a car that had its fender fall off... or maybe there was a slowdown as people watched a guy play a little guitar hero 3 (he was using a fender stratocaster guitar). I just don't know.

Needless to say, I avoided that route. Sadly, the traffic guy won't be in tomorrow, he'll be out with vocal cords. I'll let you decide exactly what I did to them.

For When You Get Sick of the Family Today

2007-12-25T12:08:00.000-05:00

I missed Saudi Arabia by about 4,000 miles and managed to hit mainland India. Yup, I'm that good.

Traveler IQ Challenge

Not that I've ever gotten bored on a major holiday....