Friday, April 30, 2004
this was the slowest week i have ever had at this job. someone lead me to the watering hole. please.
-kenny mayne is clearly the best sportscaster anchor ever. yet he never does the show any more, and this week they had him covering (gasp) the kentucky derby. what the hell did he do to get that crappy assignment? lock al jaffe in a broom closet?
-the other nite we spent $22 and change on mother's day cards. does that strike anyone else as a lot?
-mark loretta and scott podsednik are hands down my favorite mlb players.
-how fuckin great was mike tyson's punchout? honestly, it's gotta be in the top 3 video games of all time. i'll never forget the classic opponents, like soda popinsky or piston honda. oh man, how i loved making king hippo drop his drawers. when i was 9 years old, all i wanted to be was little mac (or don mattingly).
-'like a yard full of chicken nuggets'? yeah, that's really really gross.
-kenny mayne is clearly the best sportscaster anchor ever. yet he never does the show any more, and this week they had him covering (gasp) the kentucky derby. what the hell did he do to get that crappy assignment? lock al jaffe in a broom closet?
-the other nite we spent $22 and change on mother's day cards. does that strike anyone else as a lot?
-mark loretta and scott podsednik are hands down my favorite mlb players.
-how fuckin great was mike tyson's punchout? honestly, it's gotta be in the top 3 video games of all time. i'll never forget the classic opponents, like soda popinsky or piston honda. oh man, how i loved making king hippo drop his drawers. when i was 9 years old, all i wanted to be was little mac (or don mattingly).
-'like a yard full of chicken nuggets'? yeah, that's really really gross.
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
in researching something for work, i just stumbled upon this link that said Simpson's Decision-Making Model. i figured maybe some guy named simpson had an algorithm i could borrow. well, it's not quite what i expected, but it's a pretty awesome presentation regarding linear programming (which is involved heavily in operations research) and other mathematical decision-making models. granted it is on a very simple level, but still. i liked it.
so american idol. it's pretty much the only primetime show other than the o.c. that we watch regularly. and i haven't been able to stomach the last two weeks. that's it, im cashed out on a.i. and it's not cuz i think the show is racist (i'll get to that in a minute), it's cuz they pick these horendous genres and expect 16-24 year olds to perform them well and be all excited. last week was barry manilow. i thought it was a joke, but no, they paraded out the poor man's rod stewart. last nite? yeah, it was the music of gloria estefan. um, and the miami sound machine. the contestants all had this look of "what the fuck is going on here" during their songs. when the judges told them the performances weren't too good or were simply okay, all the contestants nodded in agreement. they clearly were not excited to be singing that crap and knew they didn't do a good job of playing along.
fox and american idol producers need to think about it. they are trying to find someone that appeals to 12-25 year olds, and they have them on stage singing barry manilow and gloria estefan. ugh, just awful. what's sad is that there 3-4 really talented singers on this show and they are marketing them like crap.
and this whole racist business is just ridiculous. 3 judges: one white, one black, one paula abdul. season 1: white girl beats a half-black, half-white guy. season 2: black guy beats white guy. as of last week there were 7 finalists: 4 black, 1 hawaiin, 1-2 whites (i can't tell if jennifer degarmo is part hispanic). then one of the (talented) black girls got voted off, starting this ruckus that even elton john has jumped on board with . first off, the public makes poor decisions. why would this show be any different? second, look at the breakdown: odds were that an african american was going to get voted off. i think it was a dumb decision, but i can see how some viewers might have thought she was too similar in style to some of the other contestants (they had 3 gospel-esque singers in the competition at that point). plus after one of her performances, she said the phrase "it's jenny's world now!" um, i don't know if your 11 minutes of fame stretch that far yet.
on a side note, i want george to win. that guy is just awesome. they need to let him sing some blues type stuff.
fox and american idol producers need to think about it. they are trying to find someone that appeals to 12-25 year olds, and they have them on stage singing barry manilow and gloria estefan. ugh, just awful. what's sad is that there 3-4 really talented singers on this show and they are marketing them like crap.
and this whole racist business is just ridiculous. 3 judges: one white, one black, one paula abdul. season 1: white girl beats a half-black, half-white guy. season 2: black guy beats white guy. as of last week there were 7 finalists: 4 black, 1 hawaiin, 1-2 whites (i can't tell if jennifer degarmo is part hispanic). then one of the (talented) black girls got voted off, starting this ruckus that even elton john has jumped on board with . first off, the public makes poor decisions. why would this show be any different? second, look at the breakdown: odds were that an african american was going to get voted off. i think it was a dumb decision, but i can see how some viewers might have thought she was too similar in style to some of the other contestants (they had 3 gospel-esque singers in the competition at that point). plus after one of her performances, she said the phrase "it's jenny's world now!" um, i don't know if your 11 minutes of fame stretch that far yet.
on a side note, i want george to win. that guy is just awesome. they need to let him sing some blues type stuff.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
im scared of another four years with georgie in office, that goes without saying.
but now it's official. im equally scared of four years with john kerry at the helm. he has recently been making speeches to unions/factory workers, clamoring that it is them (the workers) against the management, that he will fight to keep their jobs on american soil and raise their already high wages. isn't trying to stop outsourcing in essence an attempt to stop inevitable economic progress? isn't fighting it a sure-fire way to put those companies out of business in the long run because american consumers will just buy the cheaper, foreign product? isn't it holding the rights of the workers over the rights of the owners (i.e. to do what is best for the shareholders)? i don't know that outsourcing will be good for america in the long run. but i do know that since the outsourcing floodgates have opened, any company that refuses to play along will be crushed by any competitor that will. i do know that companies getting crushed is bad for the economy.
im disgusted by these candidates. i want some new ones.
but now it's official. im equally scared of four years with john kerry at the helm. he has recently been making speeches to unions/factory workers, clamoring that it is them (the workers) against the management, that he will fight to keep their jobs on american soil and raise their already high wages. isn't trying to stop outsourcing in essence an attempt to stop inevitable economic progress? isn't fighting it a sure-fire way to put those companies out of business in the long run because american consumers will just buy the cheaper, foreign product? isn't it holding the rights of the workers over the rights of the owners (i.e. to do what is best for the shareholders)? i don't know that outsourcing will be good for america in the long run. but i do know that since the outsourcing floodgates have opened, any company that refuses to play along will be crushed by any competitor that will. i do know that companies getting crushed is bad for the economy.
im disgusted by these candidates. i want some new ones.
it finally dawned on harvard that history or literature majors can't do much with their degrees. so they're finally going to emphasize science (rumor has it the alchemy department is growing fast) and introduce an IAP-esque month of january. maybe now when the cross-reg at mit they won't say things like "this accounting class is the hardest one i've ever taken!"
Monday, April 26, 2004
thanks to my job, i think 2004 will be the year i read more books than i ever have. i've finished 7 thus far (yes, im patting myself on the back while i write this), and just started (literally) a book written by my sister's boyfriend marlow. it's called island despair, and it's written in the first person about a time in his life (i think in his 20's) when he lived in alaska working on fishing boats and then at a pizzeria. it's really interesting to read a book written by someone you know personally about a period in their life you know nothing about. i also find it fascinating how his writing style so clearly matches his personality. i guess this is to be expected, but i've never held a novel in my hand written by someone i know. it was published in 2003 by Freedom Voices, but it seems their website hasn't been updated since 2002 (so no luck ordering thru there). it's only 115 pages so i will be done with it probably tomorrow, and in the case you are quasi-interested in getting a copy, let me know and i'll find out how to order. if you have never met marlow, here's his bio at the back of the book:
"M.Mewborn was born in 1957 in Newport News, Virginia. The oldest child of a military pilot, he lived with his family in England, the Phillipines and on numerous air force bases stateside. At ag eighteen, he attended the United States Air Force Academy and ten months later became the first cadet in that institution's history to successfully go AWOL. Joining the Rucksack Revolution four years later, in 1979, M.Mewborn committed himself to a life of enlightened itineracy."
the other book im reading, undaunted courage, is about lewis & clark's adventure. a few quick facts about the state of our nation at the close of the 18th century:
-george washington and jon adams were High Federalists, meaning they wanted to stretch the arm of the government. just 20 some odd years after we freed ourselves from britain under such pretenses as "taxation without representation," washington and adams favored implementing a tax on both the making and buying of whiskey (the main good produced in regions such as ohio) without offering representation to the western pioneers (rather hypocritical of our founding fathers, no?). they also staked claims to the "western" lands like kentucky, etc, for themselves and did not want these regions to be made into states. nor did they provide these american pioneers with defense from indian/british/spanish raids (this and the whiskey tax led to the whiskey rebellion, which threatened a civil war just 20 years after the birth of the US). they were opposed to the louisiana purchase.
-thomas jefferson barely won the 3rd presidential election over jon adams.
-jefferson was a Republican, meaning he wanted a scaled back government that provided defense and not much more. realizing no "empire" in history could never successfully rule colonies, he was a proponent of dividing the western lands into states and granting them representation in the senate and house of representatives. this remedied the threatened secession of the western regions. he single-handedly made possible the louisiana purchase.
-i think more than any one man, thomas jefferson put our country on the road to success. but i bet if you asked 10 random people on the street who jefferson was, 8 wouldn't have any idea.
"M.Mewborn was born in 1957 in Newport News, Virginia. The oldest child of a military pilot, he lived with his family in England, the Phillipines and on numerous air force bases stateside. At ag eighteen, he attended the United States Air Force Academy and ten months later became the first cadet in that institution's history to successfully go AWOL. Joining the Rucksack Revolution four years later, in 1979, M.Mewborn committed himself to a life of enlightened itineracy."
the other book im reading, undaunted courage, is about lewis & clark's adventure. a few quick facts about the state of our nation at the close of the 18th century:
-george washington and jon adams were High Federalists, meaning they wanted to stretch the arm of the government. just 20 some odd years after we freed ourselves from britain under such pretenses as "taxation without representation," washington and adams favored implementing a tax on both the making and buying of whiskey (the main good produced in regions such as ohio) without offering representation to the western pioneers (rather hypocritical of our founding fathers, no?). they also staked claims to the "western" lands like kentucky, etc, for themselves and did not want these regions to be made into states. nor did they provide these american pioneers with defense from indian/british/spanish raids (this and the whiskey tax led to the whiskey rebellion, which threatened a civil war just 20 years after the birth of the US). they were opposed to the louisiana purchase.
-thomas jefferson barely won the 3rd presidential election over jon adams.
-jefferson was a Republican, meaning he wanted a scaled back government that provided defense and not much more. realizing no "empire" in history could never successfully rule colonies, he was a proponent of dividing the western lands into states and granting them representation in the senate and house of representatives. this remedied the threatened secession of the western regions. he single-handedly made possible the louisiana purchase.
-i think more than any one man, thomas jefferson put our country on the road to success. but i bet if you asked 10 random people on the street who jefferson was, 8 wouldn't have any idea.
Friday, April 23, 2004
as i sit here eating popems and drinking coffee, i am very glad it's friday. it's raining, but whatever.
-next on "when nice gestures go wrong": there's a sign advertising mother's day roses in the office break room. it says "delivery on may 7th. pay on delivery." oh, well happy mother's day, mom. now get yur checkbook out.
-now that i have this office at the end of the hall, and everyone can see me, i have to turn my laughter from reading blogs into coughs. so im all "hahaha...hackhack." and then i peek my head around the monitor to see if anyone is looking. can't let anyone know im havin fun in here.
-the other nite on american idol, the contestants all had to sing barry manilow songs. this obviously made for a horrible show, but when the red-haired high school kid from long island started singing "mandy", nina turned to me and with a very earnest look started singing "oh margie, you came and you gave me a turkey." it was the best performance of the nite.
-i don't like that, slowly but surely, college players (like eli manning) can decide who they want to play for in the pros. it defeats the whole point of having an ordered draft. it could easily be fixed by setting it up so that whoever drafts you has the rights to you for 3 years. manning might sit out one year, but not three. also, they should just set a price that every draft pick will make in their first year (i.e. first pick makes $1 mil, second $.9 mil, etc) and eliminate signing bonuses.
-i wonder if max kellerman had a falling out with espn. not only did he leave around the horn, he now two shows on fox sports network (one purely on boxing and one on general sports).
-next on "when nice gestures go wrong": there's a sign advertising mother's day roses in the office break room. it says "delivery on may 7th. pay on delivery." oh, well happy mother's day, mom. now get yur checkbook out.
-now that i have this office at the end of the hall, and everyone can see me, i have to turn my laughter from reading blogs into coughs. so im all "hahaha...hackhack." and then i peek my head around the monitor to see if anyone is looking. can't let anyone know im havin fun in here.
-the other nite on american idol, the contestants all had to sing barry manilow songs. this obviously made for a horrible show, but when the red-haired high school kid from long island started singing "mandy", nina turned to me and with a very earnest look started singing "oh margie, you came and you gave me a turkey." it was the best performance of the nite.
-i don't like that, slowly but surely, college players (like eli manning) can decide who they want to play for in the pros. it defeats the whole point of having an ordered draft. it could easily be fixed by setting it up so that whoever drafts you has the rights to you for 3 years. manning might sit out one year, but not three. also, they should just set a price that every draft pick will make in their first year (i.e. first pick makes $1 mil, second $.9 mil, etc) and eliminate signing bonuses.
-i wonder if max kellerman had a falling out with espn. not only did he leave around the horn, he now two shows on fox sports network (one purely on boxing and one on general sports).
Thursday, April 22, 2004
i've spent a fair portion of today talking about politics at work. in the past few hours, i've been referred to as a both raving liberal and as rather conservative. im pretty confused, but remain convinced i could never align myself with either one of the two horrible political parties that monopolize our government (p.s. shouldn't the green or libertarian party make an anit-trust lawsuit here?). so i'll throw out some of my views in hopes of discrediting both labels ive been given today.
-i believe income tax should be collected as a constant percentage.
-i believe in programs such as welfare, but think they need to be run more logically (such as providing/requiring those on welfare to get some training/education to better their situation - simply throwing them a few bones doesn't cut the mustard. ick, mustard).
-i strongly believe in a separation of church and state.
-i believe education is the #1 problem facing our country. i think we need to either (a) adopt a european style of public education, or (b) offer more options regarding education options (i.e. trade schools, etc). i suppose these two options are similar but whatever. i believe in standardized testing and think that "teaching to the test" is fine as long as the test covers what you want the students to know. i despise social promotion and think standards cannot be compromised (i.e. you fail the test you are held back/repeat the class). i believe education starts in the home but realize you cannot force people to value learning/education.
-i am pro-choice, but realize there is so much gray area here.
-i support gay marriage. i view civil unions as some pathetic attempt at separate but equal which we all know is impossible.
-i don't like bush or kerry and can't stand the sweeping generalizations they make (like "i want better education!" well no shit asshole, what are you gonna do to fix it? "improve test scores!" AARRGGHHH!).
-i strongly believe in freedom of thought and open-mindedness, which i find essential to making educated decisions. i know this isn't a political view but i find it somewhat contradictory to characteristics of certain "republicans" i have met.
-i am utterly confused by things like affirmative action because it seemingly replaces one discrimination with another.
-i support the legalization of marijuana.
-i believe in soft core pornography, the small of a woman's back, long wet kisses that last 3 days...oh, sorry.
-i believe that government exists to defend the country, provide infrastructure, police/fire departments, provide a judicial system to protect my human rights, etc., but not to determine what days and times i can buy beer.
-i believe private businesses should run themselves based on logic/cost-benefit analysis, but realize that it is their choice to (a) decide who to hire or fire and (b) set whatever requirements they want for employees.
well? bueller? bueller?
-i believe income tax should be collected as a constant percentage.
-i believe in programs such as welfare, but think they need to be run more logically (such as providing/requiring those on welfare to get some training/education to better their situation - simply throwing them a few bones doesn't cut the mustard. ick, mustard).
-i strongly believe in a separation of church and state.
-i believe education is the #1 problem facing our country. i think we need to either (a) adopt a european style of public education, or (b) offer more options regarding education options (i.e. trade schools, etc). i suppose these two options are similar but whatever. i believe in standardized testing and think that "teaching to the test" is fine as long as the test covers what you want the students to know. i despise social promotion and think standards cannot be compromised (i.e. you fail the test you are held back/repeat the class). i believe education starts in the home but realize you cannot force people to value learning/education.
-i am pro-choice, but realize there is so much gray area here.
-i support gay marriage. i view civil unions as some pathetic attempt at separate but equal which we all know is impossible.
-i don't like bush or kerry and can't stand the sweeping generalizations they make (like "i want better education!" well no shit asshole, what are you gonna do to fix it? "improve test scores!" AARRGGHHH!).
-i strongly believe in freedom of thought and open-mindedness, which i find essential to making educated decisions. i know this isn't a political view but i find it somewhat contradictory to characteristics of certain "republicans" i have met.
-i am utterly confused by things like affirmative action because it seemingly replaces one discrimination with another.
-i support the legalization of marijuana.
-i believe in soft core pornography, the small of a woman's back, long wet kisses that last 3 days...oh, sorry.
-i believe that government exists to defend the country, provide infrastructure, police/fire departments, provide a judicial system to protect my human rights, etc., but not to determine what days and times i can buy beer.
-i believe private businesses should run themselves based on logic/cost-benefit analysis, but realize that it is their choice to (a) decide who to hire or fire and (b) set whatever requirements they want for employees.
well? bueller? bueller?
im in two fantasy baseball leagues, one thru my office and one with some of you clowns thru sandbox. the one in my office is an NL only league, and in sandbox i only have 3 everyday AL guys (toby hall, sheff, and percival who's a quasi-everyday guy) in my lineup. when i look at boxscores, i am constantly overlooking almost all the AL games. i peruse them as an afterthought. "texas is playing KC? i'll check it later." it feels very unnatural, like im cheating on my precious american league. "i still like the dh," i tell it. "i really do wanna know how ben broussard is playing this week," i plead. it's a good thing i have an insatiable thirst for baseball knowledge, or else the american league would have completely turned it's cold shoulder on me.
i could swear that a while back, i blogged about how with stadiums being named for companies it was only a matter of time until schools did the same to increase funding. i just scanned my archives and couldn't find where this was discussed, but regardless the time is now. this is a great idea to improve facilities around a school.
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
so barry bonds will tonite have a chance to tie the record of taters in consecutive games, at 8. but wait, really this is all a lie. he homered in 2 straight games, then played (batted even) but didn't homer in one, then homered in 5 straight. if he sat out that third game fine. but he played on april 14th, and more importantly batted. i don't care if he walked in his only time up. i don't care if he walked 8 times that day. he stood in the batter's box and did not hit a round tripper. i don't care who is considering this a streak. it's not. he has not homered in 7 straight games. if joe d walked 4 times in his 57th game and then gotten a hit in his 58th, would/should it have been considered a 57 game hitting streak? not unless you want to redefine the term consecutive game [insert hitting, homering, etc here] streak. nothing at all against the superhuman barry, i just don't see how consecutive game streaks can be conditional. to keep a streak going, you simply have to play/hit in a game and achieve the requisite feat.
also, im pretty confused by this whole maurice clarett thing. the nfl is a private business. can't they can set whatever requirements for entering their business they want? i mean, i think it's dumb cuz you should want the best players available regardless of age, but it is still the nfl's decision rite?
his only argument can be that he is being discriminated against due to age. we do have laws that discriminate by age (drinking/voting/driving) but let's say the supreme court rules in his favor and says he must be draft eligible. if the owners wanted to, they could effectively circumvent this order by all agreeing to never draft anyone under x years old on grounds that they are not good enough. it seems with this "yur not good enough" thing they would avoid collusion, no? not that they would ever do that, but still, it's possible.
also, im pretty confused by this whole maurice clarett thing. the nfl is a private business. can't they can set whatever requirements for entering their business they want? i mean, i think it's dumb cuz you should want the best players available regardless of age, but it is still the nfl's decision rite?
his only argument can be that he is being discriminated against due to age. we do have laws that discriminate by age (drinking/voting/driving) but let's say the supreme court rules in his favor and says he must be draft eligible. if the owners wanted to, they could effectively circumvent this order by all agreeing to never draft anyone under x years old on grounds that they are not good enough. it seems with this "yur not good enough" thing they would avoid collusion, no? not that they would ever do that, but still, it's possible.
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
we saw kill bill last nite. i liked it better than the first one but i imagine i'm in the minority. other than the story line, it was a completely different type of movie. soundtrack was dyn-o-mite, as expected with a qt film.
before the previews at our local theater they show this thing called "the twenty," and it's 20 minutes of commericals, behind the scenes stuff, music videos, and other stuff like that. last nite on the twenty we saw (ready greg) a commercial for aqua teen hunger force. apparently it's coming on tv, april 18th (i think) at midnite. i was so happily shocked by the sight of meatwad on the silver screen that i missed the network (i have to assume comedy central).
i also noticed that the stairs at movie theaters are spaced such that they make for some funny walking. they are spaced far enough apart that you need either a really big lunging step to get to the next stair, or you need two small stutter steps. this gives me another source of amusement while people-watching. check it out next time yur at a theater, i can just about guarantee you see someone almost take a dive trying to maneuver on those things.
before the previews at our local theater they show this thing called "the twenty," and it's 20 minutes of commericals, behind the scenes stuff, music videos, and other stuff like that. last nite on the twenty we saw (ready greg) a commercial for aqua teen hunger force. apparently it's coming on tv, april 18th (i think) at midnite. i was so happily shocked by the sight of meatwad on the silver screen that i missed the network (i have to assume comedy central).
i also noticed that the stairs at movie theaters are spaced such that they make for some funny walking. they are spaced far enough apart that you need either a really big lunging step to get to the next stair, or you need two small stutter steps. this gives me another source of amusement while people-watching. check it out next time yur at a theater, i can just about guarantee you see someone almost take a dive trying to maneuver on those things.
freddy adu scored his first pro goal over the weekend for dc united. it wasn't spectacular (he just tapped it in on a loose ball from like 6 yards) but who friggin cares, he's 14 years old. i hope he helps make soccer a bigger sport in the US because there's no reason it shouldn't be. it's obviously not baseball, but soccer is a great sport and this is one of the few places in the world where soccer gets no due. every one close to me in my life absolutely loves sports yet i think kevin mckenney and i are the only people i know who get pumped up for the world cup (and probably crump too). besides the financial woes (which would be abated if a true fan base grew) i really think that one of the biggest obstacles soccer has to overcome in our country is that there are still so many middle and high school football players who call all the soccer players gay or pussies. it doesn't seem like a big deal, but that's where the negativity towards the sport starts.
a quick baseball note: how awesome is it that the season is finally here? the bliss of so many games every day is just fantastic. and kruk was hilarious on baseball tonite yesterday. i told you (read: ahren) he would come around. although he prolly made you mad cuz he just ripped on pitchers for like 5 minutes. i loved hearing hr and peter trying to muffle their laughter during johnny k's segment. oh and bonds' OPS last week was over 3.000...
a quick baseball note: how awesome is it that the season is finally here? the bliss of so many games every day is just fantastic. and kruk was hilarious on baseball tonite yesterday. i told you (read: ahren) he would come around. although he prolly made you mad cuz he just ripped on pitchers for like 5 minutes. i loved hearing hr and peter trying to muffle their laughter during johnny k's segment. oh and bonds' OPS last week was over 3.000...
Monday, April 19, 2004
see what happens when i pick on gabe kapler? not that i was making fun of him so much as pointing out a ginormous mental breakdown. but regardless, the fucker turns around and gets the game winning hit. i bet the cask-n-flagon is a-rockin' rite now...
patriot's day in boston is a great holiday. i miss it. i think every city should have a made up holiday and the whole place should bbq and drink beer and host an 11am baseball game.
i usually eat lunch in my office so i can leave early, but when i can watch the yanks-sox play i drive the 2 minutes home to see it live. we didn't go grocery shopping yesterday though, so i had some slim pickins for eating. i settled on two waffles followed by a microwaved corn dog, with some pretzels in between to cleanse the palate (sp?). washed it all down with a 7up and innings 2-4. yummy.
in the 2nd or 3rd inning, i saw one of the strangest things i've ever seen in a major league game. so with 2 outs gabe kapler was on first, and pokey reese hits a ball down the right field line. it drops in, but kapler was waiting half way between first and second to see if it would fall. he gets to second and they show him with his hands on his head, clearly embarrased for forgetting how many outs there are. this is not that uncommon. but the very next batter immediately hits a fly ball to center and he does the same exact thing again! after taking a few steps towards third, he literally started on his way back to the bag to fake a tag up. pokey reese caught up to him as the ball was caught and just sorta looked at him like he was retarded. very odd. how does francona not pull him out after that? talk about not being in the game...
two side notes here: first, two fighter jets did a fly-by in the 3rd inning. the whole crowd went nuts, waving flags and cheering. you'd think since in florida our gym was 100 yards from the (air force) runway and i saw things like this on a daily basis, i'd be used to it. but im not. when the f-15's went over fenway, i stared in awe from my couch. yes, i really am like an 8 year old. i know it is just a propaganda-ish maneuver for patriotism, but im on board with it. i mean, when david justice uttered "that's just pure power" i have to agree.
second, one of the commercials i saw in between innings was wade boggs advertising hair growth for baldies. he looks so much worse with a few rows of sparse hair sprouting on top. he shoulda definitely signed something saying they wouldn't air that commercial during mlb games, cuz it tainted my opinion of him a little. the other two "pros" endorsing the product were a guy from the '72 dolphins and a pro fisherman (i kid you not).
i usually eat lunch in my office so i can leave early, but when i can watch the yanks-sox play i drive the 2 minutes home to see it live. we didn't go grocery shopping yesterday though, so i had some slim pickins for eating. i settled on two waffles followed by a microwaved corn dog, with some pretzels in between to cleanse the palate (sp?). washed it all down with a 7up and innings 2-4. yummy.
in the 2nd or 3rd inning, i saw one of the strangest things i've ever seen in a major league game. so with 2 outs gabe kapler was on first, and pokey reese hits a ball down the right field line. it drops in, but kapler was waiting half way between first and second to see if it would fall. he gets to second and they show him with his hands on his head, clearly embarrased for forgetting how many outs there are. this is not that uncommon. but the very next batter immediately hits a fly ball to center and he does the same exact thing again! after taking a few steps towards third, he literally started on his way back to the bag to fake a tag up. pokey reese caught up to him as the ball was caught and just sorta looked at him like he was retarded. very odd. how does francona not pull him out after that? talk about not being in the game...
two side notes here: first, two fighter jets did a fly-by in the 3rd inning. the whole crowd went nuts, waving flags and cheering. you'd think since in florida our gym was 100 yards from the (air force) runway and i saw things like this on a daily basis, i'd be used to it. but im not. when the f-15's went over fenway, i stared in awe from my couch. yes, i really am like an 8 year old. i know it is just a propaganda-ish maneuver for patriotism, but im on board with it. i mean, when david justice uttered "that's just pure power" i have to agree.
second, one of the commercials i saw in between innings was wade boggs advertising hair growth for baldies. he looks so much worse with a few rows of sparse hair sprouting on top. he shoulda definitely signed something saying they wouldn't air that commercial during mlb games, cuz it tainted my opinion of him a little. the other two "pros" endorsing the product were a guy from the '72 dolphins and a pro fisherman (i kid you not).
one day last week as i was pulling out of my office parking lot, donkey punch drove by. actually he boxed the square so i got to see him in all his glory for like 15 seconds. i really shoulda layed on the horn, stuck my head out the window a la ace ventura, and yelled, well, like he yells.
on friday nite, after watching that debacle of a first inning in the yanks-sox game, we watched fear and loathing in las vegas. finally. a few months ago, i raved about the book (probably one of my top ten favorites) on this site. naturally, then, i was terrified the movie would be a disaster.
it wasn't. at all. in fact i think they did a great job with it. johnny depp could not have done a more perfect interpretation of hunter thompson. from the way he talked and walked, to his constantly shifty eyes, he reinforced pretty much exactly what i imagined from reading the book. the first part of the movie is almost word for word with the first part of the book (my favorite of the 2 parts), and just when they needed to, some of the rambling in part two of the book was skipped. i was drinking while we watched, but wasn't drunk, and i think this was a good way to watch it. if i was too loaded i woulda missed a lot of little things that i really liked about it. to sum it up, awesomely bizarre. check it out if yur into that. and benicio del toro plays his fat simoan lawyer, so you got that goin for you too...
it wasn't. at all. in fact i think they did a great job with it. johnny depp could not have done a more perfect interpretation of hunter thompson. from the way he talked and walked, to his constantly shifty eyes, he reinforced pretty much exactly what i imagined from reading the book. the first part of the movie is almost word for word with the first part of the book (my favorite of the 2 parts), and just when they needed to, some of the rambling in part two of the book was skipped. i was drinking while we watched, but wasn't drunk, and i think this was a good way to watch it. if i was too loaded i woulda missed a lot of little things that i really liked about it. to sum it up, awesomely bizarre. check it out if yur into that. and benicio del toro plays his fat simoan lawyer, so you got that goin for you too...
Friday, April 16, 2004
so i've phased out minesweeper and have grown tired of solataire. thus on wednesday i started playing freecell. i had never played before and within a few games thought i could never lose. but i stumbled upon not one, but two games that i can't solve. i have restarted them each roughly 50 times and don't see a way to beat them. is every single game beatable? the instructions allude to the fact that this is the case, but that it has never been proven. if you have a few (hundred) hours and want to restart free cell a zillion times until you stumble upon games #13375 or #13656 (im assuming they are numbered the same on all computers), i hope you can prove me a fool.
oh a well deserved friday. finally.
-maybe it's just me, but im fairly sure that when you bite into a donut it shouldn't feel like you just fell teeth first into the curb. conclusion: 10-day old pastries cannot be salvaged.
-my dad is a history buff. he knows more about that stuff than anyone i know, and it's safe to say presidents are his number one historical fascination. so when he told us last week that he thought dubya was the worst president in his lifetime, i took note. besides the obvious bush blunders, my pops said he had done more to harm the environment than any president ever.
-for every nellie mckay out there, there are hundreds who dropped out and have careers at starbucks. i think these "against all odds" articles just provide false hope and encourage poor decisions.
-how can smoking in indoor public places still possibly be legal? we know second-hand smoke causes physical harm to others (especially the workers who are subjected to it for 8 straight hours). in my mind it's no different than just punching the guy next to you in the face (just replace face with lungs), which would clearly get you dragged off to the county jail. and yes, my resentment is caused by the desire to rewear my clothes.
-jaw, you have given ninja and i a quote that provides us with infinite amusement. i can't tell you how many times we steal your line on a daily basis. for example:
n: where do you wanna go eat?
e: how bout BW3's. what should we do after that?
n: send in more mexicans!
e,n: hahahaha
-maybe it's just me, but im fairly sure that when you bite into a donut it shouldn't feel like you just fell teeth first into the curb. conclusion: 10-day old pastries cannot be salvaged.
-my dad is a history buff. he knows more about that stuff than anyone i know, and it's safe to say presidents are his number one historical fascination. so when he told us last week that he thought dubya was the worst president in his lifetime, i took note. besides the obvious bush blunders, my pops said he had done more to harm the environment than any president ever.
-for every nellie mckay out there, there are hundreds who dropped out and have careers at starbucks. i think these "against all odds" articles just provide false hope and encourage poor decisions.
-how can smoking in indoor public places still possibly be legal? we know second-hand smoke causes physical harm to others (especially the workers who are subjected to it for 8 straight hours). in my mind it's no different than just punching the guy next to you in the face (just replace face with lungs), which would clearly get you dragged off to the county jail. and yes, my resentment is caused by the desire to rewear my clothes.
-jaw, you have given ninja and i a quote that provides us with infinite amusement. i can't tell you how many times we steal your line on a daily basis. for example:
n: where do you wanna go eat?
e: how bout BW3's. what should we do after that?
n: send in more mexicans!
e,n: hahahaha
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
i always knew oscar gamble was one smooth cat.
and to further prove what i said about manny wanting to leave with pedro before the game was over, here's what he had to say about the sox 11-inning game the other nite:
"I told David before he went to home plate, 'Finish this, man. We don't get paid overtime.' And he did it."
cuz yeah, man, those extra 2 innings are absolutely KILLING yur $13,998.31 per inning salary.
and to further prove what i said about manny wanting to leave with pedro before the game was over, here's what he had to say about the sox 11-inning game the other nite:
"I told David before he went to home plate, 'Finish this, man. We don't get paid overtime.' And he did it."
cuz yeah, man, those extra 2 innings are absolutely KILLING yur $13,998.31 per inning salary.
this post is a follow up to my last one.
the only guaranteed way into the playoffs is to win your division. let us assume it is really just the yanks and sox competing for first in the al east (no offense to the other al east teams). if this assumption is true, then the yanks beating the sox (or vice versa) is more important than the yanks (or sox) beating anyone else cuz it is the only guaranteed way to pick up a full game in the standings in one day. therefore, any time either the yanks (or sox) win a head-to-head game, it is better for them in the long run (for winning the division and making the playoffs) than winning a non yanks-sox game. it doesn't matter if this head to head game is in september or april.
also, i suppose i wasn't clear as to why francona is full of shit by not throwing pedro (granted, i am totally happy for this as a yankee fan, but it is totally illogical, and i am sad as a baseball fan in general to not see a vasquez-pedro matchup). francona would in no way be messing up the rotation by throwing pedro on friday. in fact, he'd be getting his rotation back to normal. look. here's their starters by day for the whole season so far:
4/4 pedro
4/5 off
4/6 schilling
4/7 lowe
4/8 wakefield
4/9 arroyo
4/10 pedro (on 5 days rest)
4/11 schilling (on 4 days rest)
4/12 off
4/13 rained out
4/14 lowe (7 days rest) vs. orioles
4/15 pedro (4 days rest) vs. orioles
4/16 wakefield (8 days rest) vs. yanks
4/17 schilling (5 days rest) vs. yanks
given that wakefield could just throw a day early and STILL be throwing on 7 days rest, there is absolutely no way it is better for the sox to throw pedro on 4 days rest against a non-yanks team, than on 5 days rest against the yanks. also, everyone knows pedro needs 5 days rest as often as possible. it seems to me francona is in fact doing everything he can to avoid pedro from throwing in this series.
the only guaranteed way into the playoffs is to win your division. let us assume it is really just the yanks and sox competing for first in the al east (no offense to the other al east teams). if this assumption is true, then the yanks beating the sox (or vice versa) is more important than the yanks (or sox) beating anyone else cuz it is the only guaranteed way to pick up a full game in the standings in one day. therefore, any time either the yanks (or sox) win a head-to-head game, it is better for them in the long run (for winning the division and making the playoffs) than winning a non yanks-sox game. it doesn't matter if this head to head game is in september or april.
also, i suppose i wasn't clear as to why francona is full of shit by not throwing pedro (granted, i am totally happy for this as a yankee fan, but it is totally illogical, and i am sad as a baseball fan in general to not see a vasquez-pedro matchup). francona would in no way be messing up the rotation by throwing pedro on friday. in fact, he'd be getting his rotation back to normal. look. here's their starters by day for the whole season so far:
4/4 pedro
4/5 off
4/6 schilling
4/7 lowe
4/8 wakefield
4/9 arroyo
4/10 pedro (on 5 days rest)
4/11 schilling (on 4 days rest)
4/12 off
4/13 rained out
4/14 lowe (7 days rest) vs. orioles
4/15 pedro (4 days rest) vs. orioles
4/16 wakefield (8 days rest) vs. yanks
4/17 schilling (5 days rest) vs. yanks
given that wakefield could just throw a day early and STILL be throwing on 7 days rest, there is absolutely no way it is better for the sox to throw pedro on 4 days rest against a non-yanks team, than on 5 days rest against the yanks. also, everyone knows pedro needs 5 days rest as often as possible. it seems to me francona is in fact doing everything he can to avoid pedro from throwing in this series.
this week, for the first time since 1998, there will be a nationally televised mlb game on a friday. that's rite, yanks-sox, this friday at 7pm on fox. how fucking awesome is that. i don't care if it's april. i'd rather see this game than the super bowl.
and guess what? pedro won't be pitching. not friday, not saturday, not any day of the 4-game series. for all you non-baseball fans, that means every sox starter will throw except pedro. this is why sox fans should hate him. you think schilling would allow this? or clemens? or any other big game pitcher? no chance in hell. francona is giving every "i can't mess up my rotation" excuse out there, but it's horse shit. he has to throw in this series. absolutely has to.
the other reason everyone, especially sox fans, should hate him is that he left the park after his first start before the game was even over. and you know if manny was pinch run for, he woulda joined pedro. how can guys like millar and trot and all their other hard-nosed, scrappy guys stand this?
and guess what? pedro won't be pitching. not friday, not saturday, not any day of the 4-game series. for all you non-baseball fans, that means every sox starter will throw except pedro. this is why sox fans should hate him. you think schilling would allow this? or clemens? or any other big game pitcher? no chance in hell. francona is giving every "i can't mess up my rotation" excuse out there, but it's horse shit. he has to throw in this series. absolutely has to.
the other reason everyone, especially sox fans, should hate him is that he left the park after his first start before the game was even over. and you know if manny was pinch run for, he woulda joined pedro. how can guys like millar and trot and all their other hard-nosed, scrappy guys stand this?
last nite we saw the pilot episode of queer eye for the straight guy. they had a smaller budget and worked in boston rather than NYC (the culture guy was buying cd's at newbury comics), but it was generally similar to the current shows except in one glaring regard. only 2 of the original fab five remain. apparently the other 3 originals already had "good" jobs and were unwilling to give them up for the show. talk about poor career decisions. i suspect all three have committed hari-kari by now.
we also caught a bit of "one tree hill" which from this point forth shall be referred to as "the poor man's o.c." not that i will ever refer to it again...
we also caught a bit of "one tree hill" which from this point forth shall be referred to as "the poor man's o.c." not that i will ever refer to it again...
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
we went to my parent's house for easter, which is drastically improved every time we go there. every single piece of worn out carpet and furniture (even the basketball hoop) that took beatings from my brother, sister, and i is long gone. in are the new kitchen, 3 re-done bathrooms, and a front stoop with doric columns. at least they still refuse to get a DVD player, and the main television is the same i grew up with (yup, 15 " screen and the kind with no remote and 12 channel buttons rite on it).
any time we get to see both my brother and his ever-growing family as well as my absolutely wonderful sister, it is a great time. there were 12 people crammed into my parents house. there was so much going on constantly that it was rather chaotic. and completely exhausting. eating, drinking, coloring eggs, 15 conversations going at once, more eating and drinking, egg hunts, eating and drinking. after being there for 24 hours, we were unbelievably spent. little kids have that effect on us. spending time with my brother's family is the best birth control. there are times when we whimsically ponder about having kids in like 2009 (seriously), but then we hang out with his family and know we aren't ready and maybe never will be.
the odd thing is that i couldn't really imagine better kids than theirs. one of his daughters, devon, is five years old. she already understands the concept of negative numbers (i guess that's what happens when yur parents teach AP Calc and AP Physics). i fear for the sucker she plays checkers with in kindergarten. devon beat nina and i in four consecutive games of memory. and she's already a sly little cheater at uno. the other little one, delaney, couldn't be more adorable. and predictably, probably already knows more than devon did at that age. she can be a little moody, though (my dad calls her the dragon lady). i mean, you'd think by 2 1/2 she'd be past that...
they are amazing. but my brother and his wife have almost no time to themselves. ever. as good parents do, they have pushed aside everything on their personal plates to raise their children. and in two years when the last of the older kids graduates HS, they won't have a live-in sitter anymore. so the little time they can get alone/away will all but vanish. though their lives fit them perfectly (nothing could bring my bro and his wife more happiness and satisfaction than raising a family), i basically have a hard time relating to them as adults at this point. i just don't know if there will ever come a time when nina and i don't want the option of going boarding on a moment's notice, spending a whole saturday watching movies or reading, playing in 3 sports leagues at a time, quitting our jobs and moving, eating dinner on tv trays watching PTI, travelling for weeks at a time. i suppose no one wants to lose these options, but at this point i can't even fathom it.
any time we get to see both my brother and his ever-growing family as well as my absolutely wonderful sister, it is a great time. there were 12 people crammed into my parents house. there was so much going on constantly that it was rather chaotic. and completely exhausting. eating, drinking, coloring eggs, 15 conversations going at once, more eating and drinking, egg hunts, eating and drinking. after being there for 24 hours, we were unbelievably spent. little kids have that effect on us. spending time with my brother's family is the best birth control. there are times when we whimsically ponder about having kids in like 2009 (seriously), but then we hang out with his family and know we aren't ready and maybe never will be.
the odd thing is that i couldn't really imagine better kids than theirs. one of his daughters, devon, is five years old. she already understands the concept of negative numbers (i guess that's what happens when yur parents teach AP Calc and AP Physics). i fear for the sucker she plays checkers with in kindergarten. devon beat nina and i in four consecutive games of memory. and she's already a sly little cheater at uno. the other little one, delaney, couldn't be more adorable. and predictably, probably already knows more than devon did at that age. she can be a little moody, though (my dad calls her the dragon lady). i mean, you'd think by 2 1/2 she'd be past that...
they are amazing. but my brother and his wife have almost no time to themselves. ever. as good parents do, they have pushed aside everything on their personal plates to raise their children. and in two years when the last of the older kids graduates HS, they won't have a live-in sitter anymore. so the little time they can get alone/away will all but vanish. though their lives fit them perfectly (nothing could bring my bro and his wife more happiness and satisfaction than raising a family), i basically have a hard time relating to them as adults at this point. i just don't know if there will ever come a time when nina and i don't want the option of going boarding on a moment's notice, spending a whole saturday watching movies or reading, playing in 3 sports leagues at a time, quitting our jobs and moving, eating dinner on tv trays watching PTI, travelling for weeks at a time. i suppose no one wants to lose these options, but at this point i can't even fathom it.
Friday, April 09, 2004
in an attempt to see if bush should've known about the 9/11 attacks, they are declassifying his intelligence briefing. then the committee can make their decision based on something like this:
"we have received intelligence reports from xxxxxxx regarding the activities of xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx. they may be planning to xxxxxxxxx, and will be working with xxxxxxxxxx. there is a chance they will target xxxxxxxxxx on xx/xx/xxxx. the expected accuracy of xxxxxxxx is xx%."
what is the goal here? to find who was at fault for not preventing an unprecedented terrorist attack? i only see two possible conclusions here: bush's team should've predicted the attacks or bush's couldn't have predicted the attacks. either way, it's almost 3 years later and what good does pointing fingers do us now? i for one would rather the government was spending the hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted on this commission for mathematical/probabilistic analysis of potential terrorist targets and determining what measures must be taken to prevent attacks at those locations. at the very least we wouldn't have to see mrs. rice is those hideous yellow suits.
"we have received intelligence reports from xxxxxxx regarding the activities of xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx. they may be planning to xxxxxxxxx, and will be working with xxxxxxxxxx. there is a chance they will target xxxxxxxxxx on xx/xx/xxxx. the expected accuracy of xxxxxxxx is xx%."
what is the goal here? to find who was at fault for not preventing an unprecedented terrorist attack? i only see two possible conclusions here: bush's team should've predicted the attacks or bush's couldn't have predicted the attacks. either way, it's almost 3 years later and what good does pointing fingers do us now? i for one would rather the government was spending the hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted on this commission for mathematical/probabilistic analysis of potential terrorist targets and determining what measures must be taken to prevent attacks at those locations. at the very least we wouldn't have to see mrs. rice is those hideous yellow suits.
last nite when i walked out of mcdonald's with a big mac and 5-piece nuggets, i felt a cool breeze in my lower half. when you have jeans on, that's a bad feeling. yup, my fly was wide open. i mean really wide. wide enough for me to fit the big mac in (which, in hindsight would've made me really awesome had i shoved it in my crotch). but of course, you don't wanna stand there and zip up rite out in front of the entire 15 car parade that is drive thru (you might as well announce "hear ye, hear ye: i cannot dress myself"), so i "nonchalantly" covered myself with the bag, and walked to my car. only then did i realize why the lady with the small child kept staring at me. so while i stood to the left of the line with my arms crossed leaning against the wall james dean style thinkin im all cool, the guy working the register was prolly sitting there like "ok freak, here's yo grub, now zip yo self."
i don't have much for ya today on the random front:
-in its first season without coach mac since 1996, the mit baseball team went 5-3 in florida on it's way to a 7-3 start before hitting a rough patch. they now stand at 8-9, 2-4 in the newmac.
-why are there so many variations for writing the date? there's 4/9/04 or 9/4/04 (the european way?) or 4 Apr 2004. im sure im missing some too. but really, why?
-so i started reading this steven ambrose book called "undaunted courage" about thomas jefferson, meriweather lewis, lewis & clark's epic journey, and the state of our nation around 1800. it's fascinating and i will in future posts be throwing out interesting tidbits from it. here's one: in 1802 it took lewis 3 weeks to get from pittsburgh to washington dc. i guess even back then traffic on the beltway was a bitch.
-there's no water shortage in ohio. therefore, none of my co-workers should be applying the "if it's yellow let it mellow" rule to post-pee decision making. flush the friggin toilet!
-i plan on being drunk on jelly beans for the next 48 hours. my teeth may very well rot before monday.
-in its first season without coach mac since 1996, the mit baseball team went 5-3 in florida on it's way to a 7-3 start before hitting a rough patch. they now stand at 8-9, 2-4 in the newmac.
-why are there so many variations for writing the date? there's 4/9/04 or 9/4/04 (the european way?) or 4 Apr 2004. im sure im missing some too. but really, why?
-so i started reading this steven ambrose book called "undaunted courage" about thomas jefferson, meriweather lewis, lewis & clark's epic journey, and the state of our nation around 1800. it's fascinating and i will in future posts be throwing out interesting tidbits from it. here's one: in 1802 it took lewis 3 weeks to get from pittsburgh to washington dc. i guess even back then traffic on the beltway was a bitch.
-there's no water shortage in ohio. therefore, none of my co-workers should be applying the "if it's yellow let it mellow" rule to post-pee decision making. flush the friggin toilet!
-i plan on being drunk on jelly beans for the next 48 hours. my teeth may very well rot before monday.
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
something fishy is going on here. in the sports guy's latest column, he poked fun at ben gordon's major (scroll down and see that i did yesterday) AND the way charlie villanueva looks (which was printed in the march issue of o.b.). this comes just a month or two after he used that "it puts the lotion in the basket" silence of the lambs joke like 2 days after the february issue of said publication used the same joke...
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
all those who don't believe in evolution should have a furry tail surgically attached to their tailbone.
a couple more opening day notes, and an ncaa comment:
-joe mauer goes 2-3 with 2 bb's in his debut. crosby went 0-4.
-jacque jones goes 0-4 with 4 k's. ouch.
-it's nice to see that jimy williams still has some red sox managerial instincts in him. he goes out to the mound, leaves in oswalt, the announcers utter "oh no," and on the first pitch, bonds hits a screaming 15-foot-off-the-ground laser for a 3-run homer.
-thanks to mendy lopez and damasco marte for taking 10 sandbox points from me and mark buerhle.
-as to be expected, john kruk was a little shaky on baseball tonite. i know i will like him, cuz he's a character, but he was a little unprepared and flustered at certain points. peter gammons looked apologetic when he argued points against krukky. also, it was shocking to see that john had let himself go after his playing career. heh. on a side note about kruk, he owns a bar in philly called third base, cuz "it's the last place you go before home."
-ben gordon, star point guard for the national champ uconn huskies, is majoring in pre-business administration. can i get a what the fuck?
-joe mauer goes 2-3 with 2 bb's in his debut. crosby went 0-4.
-jacque jones goes 0-4 with 4 k's. ouch.
-it's nice to see that jimy williams still has some red sox managerial instincts in him. he goes out to the mound, leaves in oswalt, the announcers utter "oh no," and on the first pitch, bonds hits a screaming 15-foot-off-the-ground laser for a 3-run homer.
-thanks to mendy lopez and damasco marte for taking 10 sandbox points from me and mark buerhle.
-as to be expected, john kruk was a little shaky on baseball tonite. i know i will like him, cuz he's a character, but he was a little unprepared and flustered at certain points. peter gammons looked apologetic when he argued points against krukky. also, it was shocking to see that john had let himself go after his playing career. heh. on a side note about kruk, he owns a bar in philly called third base, cuz "it's the last place you go before home."
-ben gordon, star point guard for the national champ uconn huskies, is majoring in pre-business administration. can i get a what the fuck?
Monday, April 05, 2004
opening day numero tres! franky c (or cat as he may be known) starts the season with a double. and closer to home, z officially makes the padres. he didn't throw yesterday and crappy brian lawrence is the dad's opening day starter, so i'd say there's good odds he will pitch tonite. holy shit.
any time einstein's theories can be tested in the real world, especially in space, im interested. and now the technology exists to send a satellite out to do just that. im really excited to hear the results. seriously, this is just fascinating. we saw an einstein exhibit last summer at the museum of natural history in NYC. it put his stuff on a level you could follow (and only required 2-3 re-reads to understand). i'd imagine the exhibit is gone, but if not you city folk should check it out.
Friday, April 02, 2004
im rather flattered to be credited on a number of blogs by writers who have occasionally adopted my style of random thoughts. to you good folks i say "keep on ramblin!" and well, since it's friday, i'll throw out some disconnected thoughts.
-3/4's of my clothes are either brown or blue. and i have a strange affinity for anything argyle. i started with socks but am trying expand. also, i've started to shop at banana republic. [allow a moment for ridicule] what can i say? they make a mean pair of brown pants.
-paul hornung made some insensitive comments this week about notre dame and "the black athlete." i don't have anything to say on that matter (im all ranted out this week), it just made me think of the fact that i taught and coached his nephew andrew at eau gallie HS in florida. he was a nice kid, a little cocky, but bright and athletic. lots of accolades as a HS qb. apparently his uncle doesn't want him anywhere near south bend though.
-you know what's cool? being the first and only person to comment on one of your own blogs. try it sometime. you'll see what i mean.
-so i caught myself yesterday dancing at my desk to a frank sinatra cd. and as i mentioned previously, i now sit at the end of a long hallway. i wonder how many people saw me. if i had to trade my anonymity, im glad it was for the role of "bouncing weirdo."
-it's odd how just days after our sandbox draft, all these injuries come flying about. i got socked with nomar and trot, both of whom have injuries that have somehow worsened exponentially in the past week. i pity whoever has achilles, i mean mark prior. also on the sandbox front, i am going to find it very hard to ever root against the sin city squad, who should clearly be renamed the new york yankees.
-3/4's of my clothes are either brown or blue. and i have a strange affinity for anything argyle. i started with socks but am trying expand. also, i've started to shop at banana republic. [allow a moment for ridicule] what can i say? they make a mean pair of brown pants.
-paul hornung made some insensitive comments this week about notre dame and "the black athlete." i don't have anything to say on that matter (im all ranted out this week), it just made me think of the fact that i taught and coached his nephew andrew at eau gallie HS in florida. he was a nice kid, a little cocky, but bright and athletic. lots of accolades as a HS qb. apparently his uncle doesn't want him anywhere near south bend though.
-you know what's cool? being the first and only person to comment on one of your own blogs. try it sometime. you'll see what i mean.
-so i caught myself yesterday dancing at my desk to a frank sinatra cd. and as i mentioned previously, i now sit at the end of a long hallway. i wonder how many people saw me. if i had to trade my anonymity, im glad it was for the role of "bouncing weirdo."
-it's odd how just days after our sandbox draft, all these injuries come flying about. i got socked with nomar and trot, both of whom have injuries that have somehow worsened exponentially in the past week. i pity whoever has achilles, i mean mark prior. also on the sandbox front, i am going to find it very hard to ever root against the sin city squad, who should clearly be renamed the new york yankees.
Thursday, April 01, 2004
a while back (january 12th in the slim chances you will reference it) i proclaimed my ongoing success in staying under the radar at work. in the subsequent (almost) 3 months, that success is nearly extinct. here's why:
- i got a mailbox. well, it's more of a mail folder, but it serves the same purpose: giving me division-wide newsletters and crappy coupons. im thinking of throwing the folder away.
-as of yesterday, i have a new office. with a window. on a corner (sort of). unlike my old office, this one is at the end of a long hallway, so that when i sit at my desk and lean my head to the right of my computer (naturally my desk faces the door so that i can, for example, write this blog), i can see roughly 15 other offices. that means at least 15 people can tell if im in my office just by poking their heads out of their doors. on a side note, the last guy to have this office was fired just 3 days after moving in to it. [gulp] i am currently contemplating the sacrifice of a live chicken (a la "major league") to get the demons out.
-shortly after blogging about being unknown, i got a nameplate for my office. in hopes of keep some semblance of anonymity, i intentionally left it at the old office when moving. today it was on my new door. fuck.
-my boss occasionally says things like, "i saw your car in the lot, so i knew you were here." he knows my car?? double fuck.
-co-workers seem to know my first AND last name.
-instead of getting strange looks in the breakroom, i get "oh what kind of soup do you have today?" or "left over stroganoff again?" dear god, is nothing about me a mystery anymore?
now that im so well know, there's only one thing i can say. i deserve more money.
- i got a mailbox. well, it's more of a mail folder, but it serves the same purpose: giving me division-wide newsletters and crappy coupons. im thinking of throwing the folder away.
-as of yesterday, i have a new office. with a window. on a corner (sort of). unlike my old office, this one is at the end of a long hallway, so that when i sit at my desk and lean my head to the right of my computer (naturally my desk faces the door so that i can, for example, write this blog), i can see roughly 15 other offices. that means at least 15 people can tell if im in my office just by poking their heads out of their doors. on a side note, the last guy to have this office was fired just 3 days after moving in to it. [gulp] i am currently contemplating the sacrifice of a live chicken (a la "major league") to get the demons out.
-shortly after blogging about being unknown, i got a nameplate for my office. in hopes of keep some semblance of anonymity, i intentionally left it at the old office when moving. today it was on my new door. fuck.
-my boss occasionally says things like, "i saw your car in the lot, so i knew you were here." he knows my car?? double fuck.
-co-workers seem to know my first AND last name.
-instead of getting strange looks in the breakroom, i get "oh what kind of soup do you have today?" or "left over stroganoff again?" dear god, is nothing about me a mystery anymore?
now that im so well know, there's only one thing i can say. i deserve more money.
today when i came in to work, a bunch of people were discussing how someone has been stealing change from everyone's desks. sure enough, my change was gone too. while most people were outraged, all i could think was "damn, now i can't get a snickers at lunch." some people suggested putting in a video camera, interrogating the cleaning crew (who are always the first suspects for some reason), or running some sort of sting operation. actually i suggested that last one sarcastically, and they were like "yeah! let's get em!" so this made me laugh. then one guy, who was on the up-and-up on the nature of my comment, suggests labeling an envelope "change" and doing that rattlesnake trick with wire and rubber bands. i thought this was funny shit. no one else did.
so nina and i talked about the whole muslim girl being persecuted in school thing. and now im more confused than when i started. she noted that if the school just changes the dress code to allow anyone to wear a head wrap, not just the muslims, that's fair. also, no school would ever say "no yammuchas" (sp?), so what is so different about the hijab? very valid points indeed.
one of my contentions on the matter got me thinking about a more far-reaching issue. my central argument was that where can you draw the line? what if a religion (nothing other than a set of beliefs, but somehow more important when given that title) requires that girls only where bikini tops to school? this is a clear violation of the dress code. would it be allowed? even if it is a very small religion, i.e. the beliefs of 1 person, wouldn't it also be persecution to not allow this person to follow their "religious" beliefs?
then i took my example to the next level, saying what if your religion requires you to be naked at all times. this is where our conversation took a right turn. this would obviously not be allowed, as it is illegal in any public place. wearing a head scarf or bikini top is perfectally allowed by the law, but nudity is a crime: public indecency. so we started trying to figure out why this is. our conclusion was that society has deemed certain things "immoral," and they are made illegal. i pointed out that laws are in place to protect you from being harmed (this is why assualt, homicide, etc are illegal due to the physical harm involved) and i wondered aloud how nudity is harmful to others.
the only possible answer we could come up with is that some people find nudity offensive, i.e. it causes mental harm, and thus it is illegal. i then came up with three examples of how this mental harm idea is contradicted by our laws:
exhibit A: nudity, as discussed, is illegal in public, possibly due to the mental harm invoked
exhibit B: verbal sexual harassment is illegal, clearly due to the mental harm involved
exhibit C: neo-nazi's are allowed by law to parade down the street (i.e. in public, which i believe occured with police protection in skokie, illinois in the 60's)). clearly such a demonstration causes mental harm (far more than nudity), but it is deemed okay by the first amendment.
so now i have three ideas bouncing around my oblong head.
(1) is denying the girl her scarf religious persecution? i'm trying to find the official court document/ruling on this issue. any help in the matter would be appreciated.
(2) why are views considered more important when they are "religious"? why is that in the law's eyes someone's beliefs in a higher power are more important (and thus carry more weight in court) than, say, one's political views or party affiliation?
(3) is the first amendment implemented arbitrarily in some cases?
on a lighter note, i hope you all caught the o.c. last nite. great episode.
one of my contentions on the matter got me thinking about a more far-reaching issue. my central argument was that where can you draw the line? what if a religion (nothing other than a set of beliefs, but somehow more important when given that title) requires that girls only where bikini tops to school? this is a clear violation of the dress code. would it be allowed? even if it is a very small religion, i.e. the beliefs of 1 person, wouldn't it also be persecution to not allow this person to follow their "religious" beliefs?
then i took my example to the next level, saying what if your religion requires you to be naked at all times. this is where our conversation took a right turn. this would obviously not be allowed, as it is illegal in any public place. wearing a head scarf or bikini top is perfectally allowed by the law, but nudity is a crime: public indecency. so we started trying to figure out why this is. our conclusion was that society has deemed certain things "immoral," and they are made illegal. i pointed out that laws are in place to protect you from being harmed (this is why assualt, homicide, etc are illegal due to the physical harm involved) and i wondered aloud how nudity is harmful to others.
the only possible answer we could come up with is that some people find nudity offensive, i.e. it causes mental harm, and thus it is illegal. i then came up with three examples of how this mental harm idea is contradicted by our laws:
exhibit A: nudity, as discussed, is illegal in public, possibly due to the mental harm invoked
exhibit B: verbal sexual harassment is illegal, clearly due to the mental harm involved
exhibit C: neo-nazi's are allowed by law to parade down the street (i.e. in public, which i believe occured with police protection in skokie, illinois in the 60's)). clearly such a demonstration causes mental harm (far more than nudity), but it is deemed okay by the first amendment.
so now i have three ideas bouncing around my oblong head.
(1) is denying the girl her scarf religious persecution? i'm trying to find the official court document/ruling on this issue. any help in the matter would be appreciated.
(2) why are views considered more important when they are "religious"? why is that in the law's eyes someone's beliefs in a higher power are more important (and thus carry more weight in court) than, say, one's political views or party affiliation?
(3) is the first amendment implemented arbitrarily in some cases?
on a lighter note, i hope you all caught the o.c. last nite. great episode.
