summer's over

get back to work



i love michael's summer movie viewing.

see you in september

david beckham will be taking a few weeks off. it seems he sprained his mcl. the galaxy have denied that he actually had arthroscopic surgery today.

well, at least his ankle will finally have time to heal up.

3 year old vs a monster

this three year old is a little better @ answering questions on the spot than, you know, ms. south carolina.

warning, she does say an alternative word for donkey.




via neatorama.


also, here's a clip i saw the other night on kimmel. it cracked me up, so i was glad to see that it was available via teh internets. especially good is his bit on the chalkboard.

infectious groove

cool song from the mitchell brothers. sadly, i checked if they were on emusic. they are not. i'll have to look for them elsewhere. they are on itunes. and if you click on their link here you can check out two others songs via myspace.

grimey.

so how's the weather?

last night, we saw some flashes in the sky but figured it was some street light or something on the fritz. maybe it was lightning. i've seen quite a bit this morning. it's muggy as all get out, and it smells like rain. not too sure if it has rained, but i know the forecast is still for 107. ugh.

superliga final

tonight @ 8 pm. i'll be watching the galaxy taking on pachuca. and hoping that my mls side has it's head straight. if we're not going to make the mls playoffs, which it pathetically looks like, at least we could win this tournament.

Wednesday bloody Wednesday

blogging from the blood bank. My internet connection was slow enough that I actually donated my blood (5 Min) faster than I could get the blog loaded.

john vanderslice + rademacher

for those of you that always want to see rademacher but can't stay up late, this could be the show for you! the doors open @ 9, and i think there may only be two, maybe three bands on the bill. rademacher will be going on first or second.

wednesday, september 5th, 9 pm, $10.

john vanderslice fresno.

movies

so, they're talking about doing a new version of one of the worst movies i've ever seen.

wormser is my friend

so, heather and i were watching revenge of the nerds. not too much on tv tonight. anyhow, about fifteen minutes in, the nerds get kicked out of their dorm and are staying in the gym. enter into the scene, boy genius, harold wormser.

what does heather say? "that's eleanor!"*

now, in her (heather's) defense, eleanor is a smart young lady. she went to uc berkeley @ like 10 years old. okay, maybe it was 16. or 17. hey, i'm not her biographer.

and there is this:



compared with this:





i wish i could have found a picture of young wormser doing aerobics in a sweet leotard outfit.

i know eleanor rented a room @ a frat one summer. maybe it was lambda lambda lambda.



* disclosure - heather says, "i didn't say that for posting on the world wide web!" that joker.


btw, no one is really safe until nerd persecution ends.

bulldog basketball produces again

guess who got arrested for stabbing a man? he's a pro athlete, basketball player even. he went to fresno state. well, i guess that last one isn't any help at all. i mean, what fresno state basketball player hasn't been arrested? this is his second arrest in a month. the last was for attacking a parking attendant at a lot where he: parked illegally; didn't pay; spit on a man.

i <3 stories

"Craig denied any lewd intentions and told police he has a "wide stance" in the bathroom and reached down to pick up a piece of paper from the floor."

that totally explains why he pled guilty for lewd conduct.

for sara

you can order one here.

or if you want to train georgia up to take care of business

lunch review joe's steakhouse and grill

today, i was driving around downtown and decided i would get some lunch. i thought i would sort of drive around the galleria area and see if anything jumped out at me to eat. well, not literally, of course. i saw the new olive press and thought i would give that a try. unfortunately, i didn't have any change on me, so i couldn't fill a parking meter. riding a motorcycle does have the drawback of not having a ashtray full of change. so how do you park in an area that is almost exclusively pay parking without $? you go to a place that validates!



enter joe's steakhouse & grill. i've eaten there once before and had enjoyed my experience. that time, i had the lunch buffet ($7.95). it was good, but i wasn't feeling in the buffet sort of mood. instead, i wanted to order off the menu.

menu 1


menu 2


menu 3


as you can see, they have a pretty decent menu. good selection, from salads to steaks, burgers & sandwiches. my first thought was, "i'm at a steakhouse, why not get a steak?" well, although i could always go for eating a steak, i didn't really feel like paying to eat a steak. to me, they seemed a little pricey for lunch. then again, a good steak is worth the money, and a good lunch is worth the money. but not today. today, i was feeling like paying a little less, and was in the mood for a sandwich or burger.

i was trying to figure out if i wanted the cowboy burger or the tri tip sandwich when the waitress came to take my order. since i wasn't sure, i asked her what she thought. she seemed pretty genuine when she told me that both were very good, and that was a tough decision. she said that if i liked spicy food, the tri tip sandwich would be a little better, especially with the option of chipotle sauce. i was sold. and, i even switched up the cheddar or jack cheese choice with some pepper jack. now, i was almost getting the cowboy burger in tri tip sandwich form. the only thing missing was the onion rings. i solved that by getting rings instead of fries. and for those of you outside of california, here's a little piece on tri tip.

i'm not sure exactly how much time it took between ordering and receiving my meal, but it was a good amount of time. not so fast that i assumed they had everything sitting in the back, ready to go, and not so slow that i was left wondering what happened to my meal.



ah, the food. very good. in fact, much better than the meal i had here on the buffet. the tri tip was tender and tasty. the chipotle sauce was nice, and the combination of spices between the sauce and pepper jack cheese had my lips tingling. it even opened up my sinuses a little, but maybe this is too much info. so back to the food. i even liked the bread. i was a little worried that the bread would be toasted, which i dislike. but it wasn't. instead, nice and soft with good texture & taste. held together well, didn't get soggy from meat juice, sauce, etc. the tomatoes on the sandwich were nice and fresh, and i really think the lettuce was top notch. i'm serious about that one. frequently, the lettuce you get on sandwiches at lunch places are wilted iceberg pieces or shred. i'm not positive, but this might have been romaine or looseleaf lettuce. good stuff. as you can see, i enjoyed the sandwich. one thing, i didn't eat the onions on the sandwich. i like red onions, but i'm not a big fan of raw onions (prefer them grilled). if i had realized that there were onions (should have read the menu a little closer) i might have asked for them grilled, but probably would have just told them i didn't want the onions.

the onion rings, good as well. seriously. the flavor was good, and they weren't over-battered like some places do. also, they weren't too greasy. i mean, they are onion rings after all. fried food is going to have a little bit of grease to it. the rings tasted great when they were hot. what surprised me was how they tasted after they had cooled down. you know how sometimes the last few rings you eat just taste gross because the oil has all cooled and the flavor changed? not these. after i finished my sandwich, i still had four rings left. i ate two of them and was happily surprised that they still tasted as they should. at that point, i was pretty full and left the other two behind. sorry guys.

to drink, i just had a soda. that was refilled 2 times. hey, it was warm outside, i was thirsty. whatever. but, i did skim the wine/beer list. i'm not a wine connoisseur, so i don't know how good of a selection it is. but, in looking at it, i thought it was cool that they featured california wines. i did think that the beer list was a good selection.

wine list 1


wine list 2


beer selection list


finally, i felt that the service at joe's was great. really, the waitress was very friendly and helpful. i appreciated that she gave me an honest opinion on the options, and that they accommodated my substitutions without any problem. also, she was on top of drink refills, something that is my unofficial measure of service quality. the restaurant was clean, the temperature in the restaurant was cool and nice. the music playing wasn't too loud, and although i don't really listen to new country, i didn't mind it in a steakhouse. and, as i mentioned before, they validate. let me say that a third time, they validate parking! that's really cool to me. and, since i decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator in the garage, i got to work off a little bit of lunch right away.

so, to sum it up, joe's good. food good. lunch prices fair (i don't know about the dinner menu). service great. validated parking. you should definitely go and eat there. honestly, next time you're downtown (an event on the fulton mall, a game or concert at the chuck, jury duty, the philharmonic, concert @ selland, need your marriage license, whatever) and want to get a bite, go to joe's.

Joe's Steakhouse & Grill
831 Van Ness Ave
Fresno, Ca, 93721
559 486-3536

(btw, this is cross posted here.)

job openings

oh my, what a wonderful page to "open" up the fresno bee online to. alberto, who has been doing a "good job," and, "working hard," has resigned.

thank you very much mr. gonzalez. i say again, thank you. of course, if you're stepping down, i imagine it's to c.y.a., rather than whatever bogus reasons you're giving.

i guess this will stop those calls for your impeachment.

and you're boss' take on it all,
"After months of unfair treatment that has created a harmful distraction at the Justice Department, Judge Gonzales decided to resign his position and I accept his decision," Bush said from Texas, where he is vacationing."

of course he's on vacation. why would he ever be actually on the job?

and michael vick plead guilty? what a day for good news.

i wonder what this does for the national unemployment figures?

swing batter swing

congrats to the little kids from somewhere in georgia that won the little league world series. hey, maybe someone we know in atlanta will go to the ticker-tape parade. that is, if there is one.


marriedtothesea.com

motorcycling for the environmentally conscious

maybe you remember my post about bamboo bikes. if not, search for it. i saw this, and thought i should post it, too. how cool is a helmet made out of wood, but it's so strong that it meets the european standards (which are higher than the u.s. ones)?


and a hybrid vespa? wow.

is it caturday?

my igoogle page pointed me to a fun little site, called funny cat photos. i thought i'd load a few pictures for people.

for mike



for jd



for jay



for woody



well, this one's for me because i always wanted a monkey.


as you can see, they have some that are the lol cat version, others that aren't. good time wasters, 2384 pictures in all.


btw, i notice blogger has a video button now.

all teh kool kids are doing it

bacn. yes, bacn. not bacon. a group of people have coined this new term to refer to mail that's not spam, but it's not really what you want to read. it's newsletters, it's junk from lists your on, etc.

in the words of woody, "who?"


cares.

she's no lol cat, but we like her

"i iz in ur tie, lookin cuut."




recognize this tie? we saw the woody's last weekend, and georgia decided that she wanted to get dressed up. she's a funny baby, and generally in a sweet mood. i like kids like that.




oh, here's who else wears that tie.

8 questions meme

so, generally i'm not into doing memes. but, whatever, i got some time right now. how's that for a ringing endorsement on a blog post. anyway, thanks to lefty for the initial tag.

Here are the rules:
- Each player starts with eight random facts about themselves.
- Those who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight facts and post these rules.
- At the end of the post, choose some people to get tagged and list their names.


So here are my 8 facts about myself:
1. i sleep on the right side of the bed. that is, if you're standing at the foot of the bed, facing it, i'm on the right. this is true when we go to hotels and stuff. it feels very odd if i switch it up.

2. my favorite color is black.

3. i teach a litany of subjects. and yes, english is one of them.

4. when i write informally, i don't use capitalization (you've probably noticed) as an intentional deference to God. when i was in seminary, one of my profs was talking about how our societies language rules were changing, and that God was commonly uncapitalized now (he was pissed off or ranting). but, the word "i" remained capitalized, and it's the only pronoun that receives such treatment. there was more to what he was saying, but this started me thinking about it all, and i thought, "hey, this is a subtle thing i can do to show deference to God in my own life." so, i started doing it in all of my online writing. it also helps that i like how it looks stylistically.

5. based on a recommendation by the jay, i am drinking much more water right now. the jay and becky said that you should take your body weight, divide it in half, and drink that number of ounces a day. i'm not huge, but i'm a big cat. so, since we last went to vegas i've been trying to drink a lot of water each day. it's going alright. it's odd, during different times of the day i will drink more. so, this results in times when i need to "go" more (ah, a quaint colloquialism). i need to work at spreading out my water consumption a little better.

6. i've broke the law several times this week. you see, after a 5 hour work period you're required to take at least a half hour break (meal time). i have yet to be able to comply with that during the first 3 days of the week. in fact, only once this week have i even been able to take the time @ all, even though it was late. oh well. the job is getting a half hour more of my time for free. then again, i am doing this at work.

7. i prefer cake to pie.

8. in junior high, i took two years of photography. apparently, the instructor had enough of me in those two years. when i tried to take the class during high school, he wouldn't let me.

so, there it is. i'm tagging woody, rebecca harp-sligh, adam, tom, becky. the rest of you can do it as well, but i'm just not specifically calling you out. but i will give you one of these.

wii're wii'ning

nintendo is about to overtake microsoft in sales. and it's due to the wii revolution (i got mine last saturday). sony killed their brand with their overpriced gamble (ps3), which people still tell me is technologically superior, but does that make it worth it? xbox has had it's advancements, and is still a good system, but even it's expensive. the wii? hey, let's not kid ourselves, cost a good amount of money. but, it slides in @ the least expensive of the new systems.

what makes wii worth it? i mean, the graphics aren't as good. the game selection isn't there yet (although they do have a lot of games and have the biggies like madden 08). it's not in hd or blu-ray. but what wii does, it does well. they keyed in on more interactivity. you get involved with the game physically as well as mentally. it's more like actually doing the activity. sometimes you work up a sweat. your arm is sore. honestly, i'm getting a minor work out playing wii. i've considered learning to use the controller with my other hand so that i get a little more balanced work out. sure, there are games you're just using the buttons, but most take a very active hand. really, the wii works mainly off your movements. and, it gives you input back through the sensor (something sony claims that they couldn't manage with their responsive controller).

this system is drawing in people that normally wouldn't play games. my wife, heather, will play the wii, although not as much as i do. gamers like it as well. i know 2 semi-serious gamers (jimmy & adam) and they both have them. i have two other friends (nick & kasey) that may play video games, but i doubt either obsessed about the ps3, game release date of madden or whatever. but they both have wii's. and, since the wii connects to the internet, we have the ability to play online. or, like adam and i have done, trade characters wii've created. shoot, we send messages, too.

the wii offers different channels you can check. i have the news channel on mine. i was surprised the quality of news (from national to international to celebrity stuff). i also loaded the everybody votes channel, where you can take part in polls, and predict what other people will vote for. silly, but fun. the online also offers a chance to buy other games, but i'm not going that far yet.

and as for games and graphics, they're still good. it's not like the quality or quantity is bad, it's just not quite as good as these other "super" systems. but i'd venture that they're as good as the ps1 and the first xbox. and game development takes time (ask ps3).

"Almost 10 million Wii consoles have been sold since it went on sale at the end of last year and it is poised to overtake global sales of the Xbox 360 within weeks. Perhaps more crucially, it will reach the 10m mark in half the time it took Microsoft."

wow, that's amazing. so, if you make a quality product, and price it right, it sells? unheard of. honestly, when the both ps3 and xbox 360 were coming out there was so much hype. we had a large scrum break out at the best buy in fresno at the ps3 release. all i heard about the wii was that it was going to be more interactive. and the gamers i heard talking all were dissing the graphics. shoot, i echoed these same sentiments. what's happening with those other systems? well, they're sitting on shelves in stores. they're slashing their prices. the wii? it's out of stock. really. try and find one. no retail outlet (best buy, target, walmart, circuit city, etc.) carry them in their online stores. you've got to wait for them to be advertised in a sunday ad, and then hope you get yours quick enough. they'll be back out of stock within a week, and not restocked for probably a month. in the fresno area, we have 7 target stores. now, i don't know how many each store gets in, but when they advertise, they sell out. once i decided i was going to plunk down the money, it took me about 3 weeks to successfully locate one in fresno. i know other people have been able to get them quicker, but that's just a matter of the right store in the right week.

wiki

in case you need help.

Vega$

hey, in case you forgot, or didn't see previous invites, i'm meeting up with tim (you know, from pa.) in vegas for the weekend of sept 14-16. if you're interested in joining us, give me a holler.

chavez

adam, kasey and i were talking about hugo chavez and some interesting parallels between him and bush. i, for one, hope that chavez isn't on his way to becoming a dictator. i've appreciated his progressive reforms, his stance for the people of his country, and his vigor. but, i've also been very skeptical of some things that he has done, like quelling dissenting voices (shutting down opposition news networks). to me, free press needs to be protected. anyway, we were discussing the changes that were being proposed in their constitution. it looks like some, if not all, will happen. chavez (or whatever future president) will have 7 instead of 6 years in office, and the term limit has been removed. the hope in making these changes is that the country will have time to continue to make change and progress. the fear is that chavaz will never lose power, become an evil tyrant, and abuse privilege.

it looks like we'll have a chance to see. shoot, i'm almost surprised that ol' bush hasn't proposed similar changes to extend his vacation of a career.

all the news that's fit to glean

this morning i saw several stories on the l.a. times website that i thought i would comment on, or at least mention.

the first was about a brother and sister that were recently shot, both randomly, at the same birthday party. of course, the story is told with some semi-sappy details and journalism, but it's still sad. these two were @ a party, not standing near each other, and someone opened fire through the fence. both were stuck and killed. sad stuff. the story also stood out to me because i've been places recently, and you're just standing around, enjoying yourself, and some random stuff like this could just happen. generally, i tend to believe that crime follows criminals. that is, you usually don't end up in trouble like this if you're not mixing it up. and, generally, statistics show this. but, random stuff does happen. sad stuff.

the second story that i wanted to comment on was about a new reality tv show. it's about a "news anchor." basically, the producer of american idol and some other shows took this actress/model/dancer/whatever and plopped her into some town in texas. of course, the other news anchors are upset about this. it wipes away what little credibility that these "journalists" have. especially upset are the other females at the station, who are mortified that a barbie-esque woman is being plopped into their situation. but, can they complain? or, do they become shrews or worse for "hating" on this blond? so, what is a news anchor other than a pretty face, or a voice that reads a teleprompter. let's be honest, it's not like most anchors are out researching stories. they have something written for them, and they deliver it like a well versed pitch. frankly, it doesn't bother me at all that this show is exposing the "news" for what it is: a glorified dog & pony show. perhaps i'm being too harsh. but i'll allow myself to do that. the nightly news is barely any different than any other nightly television program. it's just not as funny as the comedies and the story lines often aren't as interesting as the dramas. anchors are chosen for their look, their voice, their delivery. and if they don't fit the look, they change. if you don't believe me, ask kopi soteropolis about his amazing hair regeneration (or, if you prefer, toupe). or ask yourself why it seems like every news team has a blond and a brunette on it?

the third story somewhat follows. it seems that mattel is suing a porn site. china barbie is apparently not a chinese barbie. or, at least mattel doesn't want you to associate their barbie with this porn star. they believe that this other company, "used a domain name containing the word 'barbie' in a 'bad faith attempt to profit from Mattel's Barbie trademarks." i think i have to agree.

since i'm talking about women, why not mention the fact that the l.a. times has a female motorcycle reviewer. i always thought this was pretty cool, and have linked to her reviews before. the bike world is dominated by men, which i am one of. i would imagine that most bike journalists/reviewers/etc are also men. so, i'm pretty impressed that the times hasn't been afraid to use a woman where it would be so easy to just go with a man. anyway, to the story. a custom motorcycle company has a pretty nice bike that they designed just for the ladies. pretty cool idea. i especially enjoy her semi-practical suggestions for improvement of a "ladies" bike.

finally, i think i'll end with a story about a possible credit crisis. this, apparently, may be the straw that breaks the camel's back for the republicans. what? an unwinnable quagmire isn't? the systematic disregard for our rights and constitution isn't? the continual impeacheable acts committed by the president, vice president and attorney general aren't?

dream a little dream

so, last night i had a dream. it included much that i don't remember any more. what i do remember is that i was playing soccer in some sort of post-apocalyptic world. the other guy playing fullback with me: malcom (mike) from rademacher. i can't say whether or not he was good, as i woke up shortly after the game started.

party police

so, i found a new, interesting program. there wasn't much on, so we were flipping through the channels and something caught my eye: a little show called party police. this particular episode was Wild on the Water 2. they were @ biscayne bay on columbus day.

now, i don't really like the show cops. and basically, this was very similar. yet, it was strangely enjoyable. i don't know why it's interesting for me to watch drunks, in boats, get bothered by the cops.

toxic

you know you want to know

walk your cat on a leash

not just pic a nic baskets

Silly corporate policy stops me from using the work computer to blog, so I'm using the phone. Which takes a little more work and I can't create links.

So, I'll just tell you about a man getting drunk and climbing into a bear cage. The 2 bears ate him. The zoo director said,"only an idiot would jump into a cage with a bear."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/world/Europe/08/20/bear.death.reut/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

mac vs pc

two great videos for it's always sunny.

perfectly symmetrical



and something much less appropriate



take 2



it gets worse?



tight pants



dennis has strange dreams

66237

66237 was the reported attendance tonight for the match between the galaxy and the red bulls. that's a lot of people. beckham had 3 assists. sadly, my galaxy lost 5-4. such a wide open game. plenty of space. very little defense.

i was sad that xavier pavon didn't play. that probably would have helped the galaxy back line, which was a mess most of the night. he's another one of the galaxy players that doesn't really want to play on field turf. i've played on field turf. it's not terrible. but then again, it's not the same as playing on a good grass field. and, watching the game tonight, there were some ridiculous bounces of the hard field. but, i've also played on some rock hard fields in my time as well. what are you going to do? well, i guess at the top levels of sport you should be playing on the proper surface.

i'm hoping that the galaxy somehow manage to make it into the playoffs. it's looking grim right now. but, even if we miss out this year, to have guys like beckham, pavon, xavier, donovan, and more for the next few years, i'm confident the galaxy will be hoisting the championship trophy more than once over the next few years.

yowza!

holy cow, i was so busy thinking about tomorrow night that i almost didn't see what was happening tonight. el olio wolof at club fred. that is literally a good stone's throw away from my house. and sleepover disaster is good, too.

i think i'm going to try and go here. after superbad, of course.

little pimpin

local fav rademacher are playing tokyo tomorrow night. $5.

if you haven't gotten the chance to see them live, do it now. and if you've got plans earlier, don't worry, they'll go on last. i'd guess 11:30 at the earliest.


(if i go i'm going to try and bring back video for the rest of y'all.

jack white is elvis - i could chop a man in half

this looks funny as a trailer.



i don't think i could actually sit through the whole movie

delusional

steve seagal thinks that the fbi killed his career. i disagree. it was his terrible acting.

he wants an apology. well, you know what steve, i saw exit wounds, on deadly ground, under siege, marked for death, hard to kill,
and above the law and i want an apology. and, maybe i should slap myself.

i think i might have even seen out for justice. good grief. even if i saw most of these movies on video or for free on some saturday afternoon, sheesh. what was i thinking?

but i will thank you for showing me that knife technique in under siege.

it's always sunny in philadelphia

dear friends of comedy,
especially those of you who have been privileged enough to watch fx's it's always sunny in philadelphia. they are preparing to run season 3 of the show. i highly recommend that you head over here and watch a pre-season episode. funny stuff. good throwbacks to previous seasons. quick hitting, witty lines. and carmen.

and charlie day is one of my myspace friends. and he asked to be added to me, not the other way around.


"pepper jack love fraggle rock."

"john wayne gacy, he did excellent work."

thanks jay

btw, you've all just been rickrolled. pass it on.

welcome back

my iphone is ifixed and back in my ihands.

i think i've found a replacement

so, i've had this pair of glasses for about 6 years. well, i've actually had two pairs of the same ones. i got the first in 2001 and wore them until they just too many scratches to see through them without getting a headache. so, a few years back, i managed to get a second pair. why did i like these glasses? well, i'm a fan of big square glasses. and, these were that. they also had really nice, clean lines too them. and, they were super light. a lot of big glasses are clunky, heavy things. not these. the main drawback to them is that they are just plastic lenses and they're not polarized. so, they don't really offer any uv protection. just shade and style.





now, i still like these glasses a lot. but, they're starting to get a bit scratched up. and, i've noticed that some of the tint is flaking off in some areas. so, i've been looking for a replacement of similar styling, weight, but with uv protection. polarized if possible. and i think i've found them: oakley gascan's.



i tried on a pair of the regular gascan's today (not polarized) and i really liked the fit. light, felt nice, similar fit to my gucci's. but, i'm still looking, and some of the others on the oakley site look nice, too. i'm trying to find a fresno store w/a big selection and to try on several different pairs.

friday suggestion

so, i'm thinking old school for friday evening. i'm thinking:
pizza party.

that's right, i think we should get together for some grubbing pizza, but no, i'm not suggesting we head to anywhere with animatronic puppets.

then, i'm thinking we go and see this movie:



signature (manchester) has shows that would work with this plan (7:10, 9:55).

i think i may buy tickets before hand to insure my attendance, so if you want me to grab you a ticket let me know.

of course, heather may nix this plan. i should run things by here first. ooh, maybe she'll wear one of them "hairstyles" from her blog!


btw, all are welcome to come to both pizza and/or movie. just let me know.

beckham goal!

well, beckham has scored his first goal here. bent a nasty ball into the side net. over the wall, got the keeper moving that way and is whipped back to the side the keeper had been.

expect to see a clip of that goal here asap.

here it is



expect to see more of that from beckham.

btw, in the start of the second half a beckham had a nice ball that sprung landon, and he buried it.

morning reflection

ever get the feeling your clothes are on crooked? I've got it right now. I think I need a nap.

grow up now

i guess it's not just parents of little leaguers that do this stupid stuff.

not surprisingly, he used to be a dodger.

superliga semifinals day 1

tonight i watched houston vs pachuca in the semi-finals of the superliga. for those of you who are unfamiliar, the superliga is a tournament between mls and mexican league teams. the winner of this match will face the winner of the galaxy vs dc united.

anyway, the scoring got underway quickly, as dwayne derosario scored an ugly goal. it was a great cross to the canadian international with the spanish sounding name, but he totally muffed it. i think it hit off his shin. fortunately, it took the weirdest bounce i've ever seen. straight up to his head and then into the goal.

then, in the 16th minute one of houston's players got ejected. i thought it should have been a card, but was surprised it was actually a red, especially since it wasn't like it had been a particularly rough game in the first 15 minutes.

at some point in the half, pachuca equalized. nice goal. but overall, it seemed that houston really dominated play despite being man down.

the second half was a different story. houston came out very flat, or perhaps were tired. the rarely had the ball and were constantly giving up chances. it was no surprise to me when they gave up the go ahead goal. good set up, nice shot, keeper a bit screened, defense didn't do enough, back of the net.

what did surprise me was when houston equalized with about ten minutes left. free kick from quite a ways out, sent in to around 8 yards, header goal. beautiful stuff.

then, with about 5 minutes left, one of the pachuca players got his 2nd yellow (red). sides equalized, score equalized, let's see what happens.

overtime. five minutes in, pachuca bends a really nice ball around the wall on a free kick, and it skips just wide.

eleven minutes into the first overtime, on a very odd play, houston gets a second player ejected. it also resulted in a pachuca guy getting a yellow. the houston player was lying down, injured somehow. the pachuca player came over and grabbed his leg, maybe to stretch him out, or to tell him to get up. and the houston player kicked him. gonzo. so, now, it's 9 vs 10. should be plenty of open space on the field now. and a lot of tired guys. and, despite several penalties and an ejection, there was no stoppage time added to this overtime. you have to love referees.

six minutes into the 2nd overtime, a houston guy about rips off the jersey of a pachuca player. yellow card. man, if houston manages to make it through, they're going to have a lot of guys with accumulated yellows. of course, it would be the final so i'm not sure how much that matters.

something odd/funny to note, every time they said brian ching's name, they really emphasized the nature of the word, as if ringing a bell. these spanish announcers sure are interesting.

it looks like houston is playing for pk's. or maybe just a perfect counter-attack opportunity. they really aren't trying to do anything but defend. with 9 men, i can't say i blame them.

and time runs out. pk's.
barret takes the first for houston and buries it. 1-0 houston
pachuca doesn't have names on the back of their jerseys but their guy buries his, too. 1-1
houston's second ricochets off the crossbar but drops in 2-1.
pachuca slides in their next, 2-2.
mulrooney hits, 3-2 houston.
pachuca equalizes 3-3.
brian "ching" doinks it off the woodwork. he had the keeper beat terribly, and just missed it. still 3-3.
ching is redeemed because his keeper just came up with a phenomenal stop. still 3-3.
but ngwenya can't do any better and chips it softly right to the keeper. still 3-3.
onstad must be hating his guys right now, because he's got to come up big again.
and can't. pachuca hammers it home for the victory in pk's 4-3.

tomorrow night: galaxy vs. united. and guess who's coming to dinner: beckham. and, it sounds like he thinks he'll be playing around a half (which is twice as much as last game he played)

in the future

good news! scheduled a show for...january 26-27. i will be displaying work @ a fresno philharmonic concert. they have artists showing. not sure all the details yet, they're sending me out a packet. but it'll be great exposure to a whole new crowd in fresno.

adam, i'm needing to talk to you about some sort of stands.

weird

so, i subscribed to fox soccer channel the other day. today, i'm scrolling through the guide and see that the fox channel (fsn) i already had is showing soccer right now. i flip it over, and it's manchester united vs reading. i knew that fsc also had on a premier league match, fulham vs arsenal. both of these games took place already. right now, as i type and they show taped matches, there is a premier league match happening, tottenham vs everton. and fox sports espanol, they're showing highlights of this week's matches...in argentina.

well, at least it's not a flavor of love marathon.

what makes a difference?

sometimes we do things because we think it helps. and, in some way, a very small way, maybe it does. and this doesn't mean that we should stop doing them, but at least maybe we should stop thinking they're making such a big difference. for instance, i know several people that are no longer using plastic bags from the grocery store. the main reason behind this is that the bags are plastic. plastic comes from oil. all our oil use, bad for the environment. now, these are all true. but, really inconsequential. we import 20 million barrrels of oil a day. if we were to totally ban plastic bags, that would eliminate all of .16% of that oil consumption. less than 1% isn't really huge. let's see, 20 million x 365 days * .16% = 11,680,000 barrels of oil. if you add in the amount of oil that goes into making evil water bottles, that gets us up to .18%, or 13,140,000 barrels.*

these are two seemingly small things that we all would have to do to make this happen. but, we would be better served if we just didn't import oil for one day. i know that's not very realistic. so what are some other solutions?

i guess before we talk solutions, we should discuss the problem. what is the problem? is it just importing oil and foreign dependence? some would say yes. i'm not in that boat. to me, the problem is the environmental impact we're having through our oil usage. cars, factories, everything burning oil has an impact on the air we breathe and the climate we live in. i know, some doubt global warming, but even without buying into that you've got to see the poor air quality we now face.

are the solutions as easy as the old motto, "reduce, reuse, recycle?" i've heard that if we focus on the first two, we would be very well served. thoughts?

btw, i just saw that british protesters are camping outside of heathrow airport to protest against a proposed expansion because they feel it would add to global warming.



*i got my oil import numbers and such from here.

madden 08

so, the latest version of madden football comes out tonight at midnight. i guess. maybe it just comes out tomorrow when stores open. i'd get one, but i don't have any sort of video game system. but, it's been interesting just seeing different "manly" cable channels talking about the game. or, half-listening to the last podcast from the sports guy, which was about madden 08. it was his worst yet.

i mean, i like video games. and, maybe when i get a system i'll get madden. okay, i know i will. but i'll also get fifa, legend of zelda, raymond's rabbits, and whatever else. and, if i get a wii, i heard they're also backwards compatible to gamecube. so, maybe my friend brian will loan me his copy of mario cart until the wii version comes out (i heard they have a version on the way). but, is the release of a video game so important that you devote a whole night of your network talking about it at each break? or that you devote a whole podcast from a major sports network to it? well, i guess the answer is yes because both were done. come on people. it's a video game. it's a well done video game, but it's still just a source of entertainment.

i think we need to stop overhyping the little things in life.

you know it all along

dick cheney was clairvoyant. too bad he didn't listen to his own advice.



"quagmire."

i don't think he's talking about this guy.

brief thoughts on soccer

oh demarcus. i'm glad you're playing for the rangers. i'm sorry you had to face racist taunts. but i'm especially glad you're scoring goals. hopefully you'll keep it up, and bring that back next time you play for the national side. and keep up the good work with the gers. it makes me happy, in a minor, i follow your team from a long way away sense. good luck wednesday in belgrade.

on an interesting note, that game had 11k people listed as attendance for a tuesday uefa champions league match (last tuesday). the galaxy's match againt dc last thursday drew 45k. and they say there's no market for soccer in the us? it's not every game, but still. and sadly, as i click through other espn soccer scores, that stat is frequently left off. i'd like to see how mls compares on a regular basis.

finally, i find it strange to encounter so many soccer stories about race. this is no naivete on my part. i know that we have race problems in the u.s. and, the rest of the world is nothing different. i also know that fifa has worked hard to really eliminate racism, especially through punishing clubs for the misdeeds of their fans. but really, what are the large groups of fans doing, chanting the taunts? who thinks this is alright? cheer for your teams, cheer against the other club, whatever. but dropping racist blasts? stupid. especially considering that your team probably isn't all one race.

malaise

i'm feeling rather uninspired lately with my art. i have a few pieces that i'm still working on, and i think they're coming along alright. in fact, i think two are done, and just need to be framed. another needs to have the first polyurethane coat applied. then, i have 3 others that i've been working on for some time, but haven't progressed that far. in fact, one needs to be completely restarted. but i just don't have the drive to work on those right now. finally, i have three small pieces that i'm trying to just do simple work on. they're coming along as i would like, but i need to spend probably 1-2 hours more on each.

i think i need to just do some of the little work, spend some time working on things and get myself back into a working groove. i also need to set up a show for sometime soon, like october or november. i work much better with a goal, a deadline. and even if i'm not working on stuff i need to set up a show to get my work out there.

tell us what you think

any of you central california readers (which is most of you) interested in taking part in a survey? it takes maybe ten minutes to complete.

click on over to www.culturalcensus.com and take the survey. you have a chance to win $500 cash. not bad, eh? but, you do have to either live in ca's inland empire or in the san joaquin valley. the survey is being done by the james irvine foundation and will help them decide how to better support the arts in these areas.

more bad news heather

looks like bobby and whitney are back together again.

see here. and this is a blog linking to a blog linking to a celebrity website.

good to see that bobby and whitney love the crab shack. i wonder if they got the bbq crab?

more on the team

woody
nick
julie
jimmy
& justin's food blog,
you've all made the sidebar.

congrats

sorry heather

tomorrow the premier league starts up. today, i added the sports entertainment channel package, which includes fox soccer channel. it also includes a few other sports channels.

Friday night plan

so, i clipped this from fresno famous, because i want to share with you. i'm going to the 8pm show.

Fresno Filmworks presents: The Valet

French master of comedy delivers another whimsical gem

Frenchman Francis Veber has been writing, producing, and directing comedies since the late 1960s. Among his best-known projects, Veber wrote the screenplay for The Birdcage (1996) and wrote and directed The Dinner Game (1998). In August, Filmworks will present Veber's latest film, The Valet, co-sponsored by screening sponsor L'Alliance Française de Fresno. Here's an excerpt from a review by Los Angeles Times critic Ken Turan:

Making people laugh is the specialty of the house where French writer and director Francis Veber is concerned—and he is awfully good at it. A master of cinematic farce, Veber's latest venture, The Valet, makes the creation of deliciously funny comedy look a lot easier than it has any right to.

The Valet marks the inevitable return of one of Veber's most popular characters, the earnest and somewhat clueless François Pignon, a personage so durable that four different actors have played him over the years.

Soulless billionaire Pierre Lavasseur--played by the versatile Daniel Auteuil, who portrayed François in Veber's 2001 film, The Closet--has romantic problems. Because his icy wife, Christine, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, is a major stockholder in his company, Pierre lives in fear that she will discover his secret relationship with the leonine Elena (Alice Taglioni), who happens to be the highest-paid supermodel in the world.

As always happens in a Veber film, Pierre's worst nightmare comes to pass. A paparazzo grabs a shot of the mogul and his mistress together. When confronted by his wife, Pierre tries a desperate ploy. Elena is not with him, he tells a dubious Christine. She is with a nerdy-looking guy who, in reality, was simply walking by and is captured in the picture completely by accident. The nerdy guy is François Pignon.

Because he is a billionaire, after all, Pierre has the financial and psychological means to persuade both Elena and François to pretend, against all reason, to be a romantic couple. The bulk of the film shows how this ruse is played out and the effects on the flabbergasted people who know parts of the parties involved.

The Valet
Friday, August 10, at the Tower Theatre
5 and 8 p.m.
Rated PG-13, 85 minutes
$10 general, $8 seniors and students
Tickets on sale at WineStyles, The Movies, the Tower box office, and via PayPal on FresnoFilmworks.org

rademacher tonight

for you music fans in the fresno area,



i think i'm going. give me a call if you want to come along.

the greatest game ever played

if you're looking for a feel good sports story, check this one out. i didn't see tin cup or bagger vance, so i can't compare them to this movie at all. it's not as sentimental as rudy, or as dramatic as rocky. but it is a pretty well made, well told story about an amateur golfer in the 1913 u.s. open. the movie starred shia labeouf, currently in transformers, as francis ouimet. it was directed by bill paxton, who also directed one of my favorite movies.

it's also pretty cool to see the fashion these guys were playing in. or smoking a pipe while chipping out of a muddy sand trap.

i always feel like somebody's watching me

it's a good thing that we have a congress controlled by the democrats. otherwise, we might have passed more laws that continued the erosion of the bill of rights and allowed for more spying on citizens without warrant.

oh wait. it's same old same old. bill passed, bush signed. i see that bush is having to defend the bill, but from who? it sure isn't from the people that are supposed to represent us. they already gave up that option.

bored in front of the computer

i can't wait to see this movie



i wonder if adam's brother will rig it to win.

lucky

we went for a walk tonight because there wasn't too much else to do. we happened to come home just in time. i flipped on the tv, and was scrolling when i noticed baseball was on. the giants were playing the nationals. i figured i would flip it over to see what the score was and if bonds happened to hit one out yet. it happened to be the top of the 5th, and it the nationals batter flew out to end the inning. as bonds trotted in, mike krukow announced bonds would be up second in the bottom half. or was it duane kuiper? anyway, it was interesting because during the commercial break they did a split screen and showed bonds the whole time. randy wynn had a nice drive to left, but it came up short.

which brought up bonds. 2 for 2 on the night so far with a single and a double. he got up 2-0. the next pitch was a very well placed strike, 2-1. bonds swung for the fences on the next pitch but got under it, 2-2. that was followed up by an awkward swing and a dribbler foul up the first base line, still 2-2. the next pitch, crushed. gone. out of here. right center field, look at the people scramble after #756.

we only watched it on tv, but we feel lucky to have seen it. it's a small piece of history. and we were lucky to come home and flip on the tv at the right time. had we not gone for a walk, we probably wouldn't have watched the game. which means we would have just caught a replay.

thanks for something special barry. thanks to mike bacsik for actually pitching to bonds. at 2-0, i thought you were just pitching around him. but you challenged the best home run hitter ever, and he mashed it.

for those about to rock

i salute you.

for some reason, i decided to open a facebook account yesterday. cause, you know, i need one more thing to check during the day. so, if you're on facebook, look me up.

help casting your vote

want to know who you should vote for? this site might help. here's the top 5 candidates for me:

Gravel 28
Abortion Rights, Kyoto, Iran Sanctions, Same-Sex Marriage

Kucinich 27
Abortion Rights, No Child Left Behind, Kyoto, Assault Weapons Ban, Net Neutrality, Iran Sanctions, Same-Sex Marriage

Obama 21
Abortion Rights, Assault Weapons Ban, Patriot Act, Border Fence, Net Neutrality

Paul 20
ANWR Drilling, Guns - Background Checks, Citizenship Path for Illegals, Border Fence, Iran Sanctions, Minimum Wage Increase, Universal Healthcare

Edwards 19
Abortion Rights, Death Penalty, No Child Left Behind, Assault Weapons Ban, Patriot Act, Net Neutrality, Iran - Military Action

i'm not sure who this gravel is, but i guess i need to look into it.

you can also check out this flickr site that gives a table on where people stand for easy comparison.
although, i don't know how accurate it is. it says all but two of the democrats are for universal health care, a position i haven't heard them all take.



linkage thanks to boing boing.

on bonds and baseball

so, on saturday bonds did it. he tied the homerun record. i imagine that he will break the record in the next few days at home. as a giants fan, i admit that i have a bit of blinders. i like what he has done for the franchise while he has been there. yes, he's a surly character, but he's our surly character. and really, why does anyone care if he's a jerk to reporters?

but, of course, there are those out there that talk about an asterisk. i know these two are ticked about bonds breaking this record due to allegations of steroid use. and i'm sure there are many more.

here's what i think on the issue:
first of all, bonds has never actually failed a test. i realize that not getting caught doesn't equal not cheating. that would be foolish. i also realize that balco was one of the bigger groups using things like human growth hormone (hgh). there is not a reliable test to discover hgh usage. and so, if bonds was using hgh, there's a chance that he would not have been caught. but, here's the kicker on that: marion jones and tim montgomery (track athletes) were also balco clients. they both have been in trouble with the usoc and aiif due to irregularities in their tests. in fact, montgomery has been suspended, had his world record stripped and since retired. i mention these other two because it is possible to be caught. it is possible to face the consequences.

second, baseball is riddled with cheating and has been riddled with cheating for a long time. in some ways, baseball is synonymous with cheating. if you're not cheating, you're not trying. you steal signs, pitchers use things to scuff balls and gain advantage. batters get pine tar outside of the legal area. they use corked bats. people hug the plate and stand as far back as possible, both outside of the legal batter's box. so, you're alleging that bonds cheated, well, welcome to baseball. some would say, "well, those are cheating, but they're not illegal." true. but they're illegal to the game. they are breaking the rules of the game. and, what about greenies? greenies is baseball slang for amphetamines. pretty much everyone (i've seen estimates of 75%) has been using greenies in baseball up until the 2006 season when they were outlawed. not everyone was using illegal amphetamines, but many were. others were getting prescriptions for other problems that they didn't have, like adhd, and using them. because, you know what, steroids, including hgh aren't illegal. you can get prescriptions for them. but, most athletic leagues have outlawed them. if you use them without a prescription, that's illegal.

this brings me to my next point, baseball hasn't always outlawed steroids. steroids have been used and abused athletically for some time now. they were developed inthe 1930's. i'm not sure exactly how long they have been against the rules, but i know that they finally tightened it up in the last round of collective bargaining. i think this was before the 2006 season, when they also outlawed amphetamine use. so, every player in the modern era is tainted. you want to asterisk bonds? well slap that asterisk on every player you've ever watched, because we don't have proof that none of them were using. and, you know what, that includes hank aaron. honestly, i blame baseball for a lot of this mess. the olympics (ioc) [as well as international track & field (iaaf)] have some of the most stringent testing procedures. they catch people all the time. and, since the olympics got serious about steroids and other banned substances in 1972 they've caught about 66 people. so, in the last 35 years (although they're only every 4 years) they've caught that many. and, 24 were caught in connection with the 2004 athens games. they're stepping up their testing with great success, what's baseball doing? hmmm, smells like the money involved may be the problem. baseball can't solve the problem because it would cost them. not cost them to actually test the athlete, but cost them in the revenue as people stopped coming to this farce of a sport. really, bonds has been selling out every stadium that he has played in this season. either so people can cheer him on, or more likely boo and taunt him. but, i guarantee that everyone that was @ petco park the other day will be telling people, "yeah, i was there when it happened." when bonds finally hits 756, people will be telling people about seeing that one, too. when bonds hits his last one, i'm sure people will tell their grandkids about seeing barry's curtain call homer. if baseball actually tested for the these substances they would have to admit that the problem is so widespread that they whole sport is, and has been tainted. you want to discredit bonds' record? then go ahead and throw out every record in the last half-century. pete rose, out. hank aaron, out. cal ripken's consecutive game streak, out. mark maguire, out. a-rod's 500th homer, out. maddux's 300th win, out. or, slap them with the asterisk. where's the clamor for all this?

finally, to completely discredit bonds without proof denies his amazing talent. he has phenomenal bat speed. his hand-eye coordination is off the charts. these aren't power figures, it's just a sick level of ability. honestly, he has to be considered one of the best hitters ever, even without homeruns. he has been intentionally walked more than any other player in history. his career walk total equals over a season's worth of at bats. think about that one, he has been walked for an entire season of at bats? what's that do to your homerun total? sure, he's got a weenie arm (see 3:40-3:51 of this video, it's the sid bream example). hey, why hasn't that improved during his alleged steroid use?

hank aaron played 23 years, breaking ruth's record in his twenty first. it should also be noted that aaron played in the negro leagues for 3 years before that, giving him a total of 26 years of pro-ball. bonds is in his 22nd. he went to college @ arizona state for 4 years, making his career of a very similar length. interestingly enough, bonds was drafted out of college by the giants, but instead went to college over contract issues. perhaps if he had signed directly with them, we could have seen him play in fresno with the likes of will clark, matt williams and other giants players of that era.

so, congratulation barry bonds. you have tied hank aaron's record. you will soon break it. for that, i salute you. and, if a-rod, keeps it up, he'll be breaking your record. i hope that you show up for that. i hope you clap, unlike the classless bungle of a commissioner bud "it's a tie" selig.

iphone - the saga continues

so, as i mentioned the other day, my iphone went on the fritz. part of the touch screen stopped working. this was a manageable problem while i was out of town, but it wasn't one that i was going to live with much longer. i had tried the simple solutions at home, such as doing a reboot, and even went as far as reinstalling all the software and firmware through the itunes. no luck.

so, this morning i went down to our local applestore. within 45 minutes, i was walking out of the store with a new phone. sort of. i chatted with their "genius squad" or whatever they call them (really, it's genius something. that's a bit cheeky). anyhow, they checked it out, hooked it up, and verified that yes, it was broken. so, they have to send it off for repairs. that will take 3-4 days.

here is where i had wondered about what would happen when people would have to be without their phone while it was being fixed. they give you a replacement phone. well, they actually rent you a replacement for $30 while your phone gets fixed. that's pretty cool. even cooler, the guy that was helping me waved the fee entirely. so, my phone is getting fixed for free, and i have a phone to use in the meantime for free. that's pretty good service in my eyes. or is that in my i's?

btw, i skimmed my applecare agreement and it does talk about them either fixing using new & refurb parts or completely replacing the defective device. but, it doesn't say exactly what will cause which. i'm sure they do this to cover themselves rather than openly say what will cause a replacement versus a fix.

how do you like them apples?

where my wasps at?

uh oh

looks like i may have drank too much kool aid. iphone will be taking it's first visit to the apple store for some service. some of the touch screen isn't responding to touch. that's no good. we'll see how well apple care treats me.

ze french controle your cameras

uber american david mcdonald has left the building. that's right, pelco, america's big fat security camera company has sold...to a french company. will the cameras surrender when they spot something dangerous? just kidding, i love the french. i really do.

former pelco owner mcdonald had been denying the rumors of the sale for a while now. i guess he didn't want it to be some sort of public fiasco (see trump & running horse) if it didn't work out right.

i wonder if this will change the corporate culture @ pelco. i don't speak from personal experience, but the few people i have spoken to that worked there really felt the need to toe the pelco (and conservative) line, to support what mcdonald supported (measure z).

on a sidenote, the university i work @ has many pelco cameras. maybe they're the wrong ones for their particular applications (i don't know), but they're terrible quality. you can see someone breaking into a car, but you can't get a good enough look to identify them. or, you can see a truck driving off campus with stolen goods, but can't read the license plate. cutting edge stuff, really.