Monday, July 31, 2006
Proud of Our Priorities
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Another Good Weekend
In addition to the visiting dog, more yard work was done, including about 2 hours of hedge trimming. Sunday night included 3 soccer games in a row (each 60 minutes long). It was s soccer marathon in about 90 degree weather, 87% humidity. It was a sweat fest with 2 wins and a tie.
Tomorrow, another trip north that includes both NJ and VA. After this week of travel though, I think I am home for about a month. Looking forward to that.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Decision Making
The Mothman Prophecies
he's sitting, he can see a little farther down the road.'
John Klein: 'I think we can assume that these entities are more advanced than us. Why don't they just come right out and tell us what's on their minds?'
Alexander Leek: 'You're more advanced than a cockroach, have you ever tried explaining yourself to one of them?'
(This movie is definitely worth staying up until 2 or 3 am watching.)
Monday, July 24, 2006
Crappy Travel Movie of the Week
Good Weekend
Cleaned out the gutters this weekend. There was a layer of soil in the gutter that was about 2 inches deep. That is soil from decayed leaves. They needed the attention badly.
Headed to Trenton tomorrow.
Update: Forgot to mention - Carlee scored 1 goal! And she had multiple assists! She had a good game this Sunday.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Word Verification
While I am mentioning it: thanks for reading.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Back in Black - Fake News
Lewis Black is great and this is one of the better segments I have seen by him - touching on fake news and real news.
Busy with Spam
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Zidane/Materazzi Verdict
Collect all of the animated gifs of Zidane and his moment of glory that you could ever want over at the Register. You gotta go to page two and check out the Hannibal Lecter version.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Prejean's Review
I had the Crabcake Covington. "100% Blue crabmeat, secretly fried and topped with crawfish sauce Louis. Served with eggplant & okra Creole casserole, dirty rice, and a fresh, garden green salad." Carlee had the Shrimp Diane. "Fresh gulf shrimp sautéed with mushrooms, scallions, & fresh herbs and tossed in a shrimp butter cream served over steamed rice."
The food was good. I could use a little more cajun seasoning in my crab cakes - which is a weird thing to say about a cajun restaurant that is a major attraction for out of towners. Overall though, the food was also a little heavy for lunch. The service was great. The bread was just ok (sorry anonymous). I thought their parmesan vinaigrette was damn good. I would go back again and try the Cajun Rack of Elk. That sounds good. If you are looking for a good cajun restaurant with a great atmosphere, my favorite since I have moved here is the Blue Dog Cafe.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Arena's New Job - Red Bulls Head Coach
Human Space Invaders
I told you I like kottke right? So I am just repeating their content to you because they are hitting on all cylinders for me. You can criticize me if you like. That is...you'll criticize me until you get to watch space invaders created with human stop-motion video. Pretty funny.
In-N-Out Burgers
Somehow, in this vote, Shack Burgers win. Although I just looked and the Shake Shack is not a chain. This distinction is not quite clear in kottke's review. However, if I am ever in Madison Square Park, I know where I will get lunch. If you ever see an In-N-Out burger, I recommend you do the same.
Lunch Dates! Prejean's
Monday, July 17, 2006
The Prestige
Have you heard about this movie? This looks cool enough to get me back in the theater...and it has been close to a year. The Prestige.
Talking with Your Mouth Full
Sunday, July 16, 2006
New Additions
By the way. For $3/month HDTV service is totally worth it. Especially if you are a sports fan.
New addition number 2! The Lawn-Boy. Bought this afternoon and put to use within 30 minutes. This was the second purchase that wouldn't fit in the hybrid so we had to borrow our friend's truck (thanks Retired! - I accidentally set all of your radio presets to NPR...not sure how that happened).
We got the one in the foreground - with the size of our lawn, the self propelled walk behind is perfect. Based on today's first usage, it looks like it is a 40 minute job or so. Getting the lawn mower up and running took about 10 minutes. Figuring out to assemble the gas can so that the pour spout was hooked up right...20 minutes.
New additions number 3 and 4! Hedge trimmer and the "Grass Hog" trimmer. Home Depot was a big fan of us today. We haven't put the 'hog' to use yet but the trimmer did a kick ass job on the bushes in the front of the house.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Civics?
What is redistricting? What is gerrymandering? Get past the first 30 seconds of Ze just being Ze and he gives a pretty damn funny definition with Tom Cruise as a metaphor.
Anthropology?
After I graduated though, I never really followed up on it...
I am not saying that I regret that though. I would have to say that my career thus far has been incredibly rewarding and I love what I do. But sometimes some things make you wonder what might have been - no matter how unrelated they are. So all this goes to say that I found some thing the other day that I thought was really interesting on a site called Anthropology.net.
This site, has an interesting visual representation of 32 different cultures. Here are two examples, Costa Rica and England.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
See Jane Run
58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.
42% of college graduates never read another book.
80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
Wow.
I'm currently on a Tom Clancy kick (I haven't updated my sidebar in months) - Executive Orders. Jack Ryan stories are good brain candy.
ADIDAS Football Fresco - Cologne
Monday, July 10, 2006
Why Zidane Attacked Materazzi
The sporting world continues to be infatuated with the events that took place in the World Cup final. The opinion is almost unanimous, Zidane lost his cool, went crazy and experienced a complete loss of control. But perhaps we all got it wrong. Perhaps we are all missing the real reason. Perhaps Zidane wasn’t driven to rage by a racist remark. Perhaps he just took advantage of a golden opportunity to become the next star of Joga Bonito.
Joga Bonito, commonly known as the beautiful game, but literally meaning "play beautifully," has been one of the commercial moments of genius during this World Cup – Nike took control of the airways and inspired fans around the world with this brilliant piece of marketing. The commercials glamorize the Brazilian style of soccer – the amazing rhythm and movement of the world’s greatest team. But
In interviews after the game, when asked about his kung fu kick aimed at an abusive
(Check out the faces of the people in the stands. Insane.)
Perhaps, just perhaps, while the rest of the world is busy criticizing Zidane for a moment of weakness, perhaps it really was a moment of supreme clarity. Who better to spearhead the Joga Bonito movement into the 2010 era for South Africa than the man who stole the story, the man who won the golden ball, the man who may just have topped a king fu kick into the crowd by lining up an Italian in his sights and charging him like a bull, rewarding the dives and pretty boy antics of the Italians with a most un-cindrella like finish to a glorious career. His phone may be ringing as we speak, Nike on the other line, plotting the next commercial. So far, the only place that Zidane has fallen short is by not responding to the queries of the world with a French haiku.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
YouTube of Zidane Attacking Materazzi
Animated GIF of Zidane Attacking Materazzi
Headed North
Zinédine Zidane - The Human Defibrillator
The action resulted in Zidane ending his career with a downcast walk past the biggest achievement the sport has to offer. What an emotional and shocking experience. Personally, I was disappointed, angry, proud (not sure why...some sort of "that Italian had it coming and man did he get him good!" reaction), empathetic, sad, depressed, confused. It was simply crazy. I have a ton of respect for Zidane as a player and it remains. I think the dust needs to settle before I figure out how I truly feel about this one. Obviously it was a huge mistake. Don't get me wrong.
The game itself was great. Exciting to watch and dominated by the French. Anyone who tells you otherwise is an Italian.
Congrats to the Azzuri though. Their defense was pretty solid. Their captain Cannavaro was superb and is one of the few Italians I thought shined in the game. He had an excellent tournament and he deserves this moment pictured below.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Tough to Comprehend
a. You are one of the best in the world at what you do.
b. You are given the chance to win the biggest championship in your sport.
c. Your sport is the biggest in the entire world.
d. The championship only comes once every 4 years.
e. Based on frequency, the odds are that you will never have this chance again.
That's how big Sunday is. It is the biggest game in the life for the world's best. Pretty amazing.
"Italian Match Fixing Scandal" Fatigue
Decorating by Proxy
With one room down, the rest of the house seems less intimidating to paint. In addition, we have decided to "decorate by proxy" as Carlee is calling it. As we tackle each room, we will have some on-line blog voting to help make the hard decisions. Not sure when the next room will be up for voting - personally, I plan on taking a week off from painting. I need the recovery time.
For those who are curious, after we get the book shelves back up, I'll post a "finished" picture (probably in a day or two) so you can see what the room looks like when we are done. Thanks for the help!
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
France Advances (defeating Portugal 1-0)
We were so close to having to watch Cristiano Ronaldo roll around on the ground, cry like a baby, step over the ball 6 times in a row with no result or purpose, and make weird smacking faces with his lips for another 90 minutes. Phew. I will give him his necessary props though, he was ripping down the French sideline today and looked very dangerous. Thank God he never converted. Like I mentioned before, an Italy vs. Portugal final would have been too much for me to bear - the diving and acting would have been over the top.
So we all get to watch Zidane for one more game. Let the magic happen.
Monday, July 03, 2006
The Great Paint Showdown (Den Version)
Per request. Your votes can be cast. Pick your paint choice for our new den. My preference is the Rustic Brick. Carlee prefers the Pumpkin Cream. Personally, I feel the Rustic Brick is more fitting for a den.
Carlee may argue that I really wanted Salsa or Nacho Cheese but I will go ahead and remind her now that Rustic Brick was my first choice. Really, it was. And truly, Nacho Cheese is just as cool but I am playing this hand with Rustic Brick.
Catching Up 2.0: The Dilbert Blog
This is "laugh out loud in public thus making strangers eye you like you are crazy" funny.
Pumpkin Cream and Creme Caramel
I spent an hour or so today pretending to pick out colors for the first room in the house that we have decided to paint. I call this room the den but I am not sure it has an official "agreed to" name yet. I say "pretending to pick out colors" because really, my job was just to agree with whatever Carlee picked. Over the cash register was a sign that read: "Husbands that are picking out paint colors without their wives require a note." Very nice. The colors that we walked out of the store with are in the image to the left (recreated on Benjamin Moore's website). I'll be celebrating July 4th with a paint roller in one hand.
Grasmere
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Best World Cup 2006 Goals (So Far)
World Cup Withdrawal
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Emotional Roller Coaster
England Eliminated, France Advances
Following the disappointment, France went on and defeated Brazil. Zidane was a master in the middle and although it is sad to see the Brazilians eliminated, I think the French played more of the beautiful game today than the Brazilians. In fact, most of the tournament has been a little bit of a let down as far as Brazil's style of play. There were moments, but nothing close to the magic that is possible.
I would like to see a France - Germany final. The worse case scenario will be an Italy - Portugal final. I don't think there would be more than 1 minute of play without a dive, whistle, and a crying player on the pitch.