Red Zeppelin
Archives:
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
11/03 -
12/03
1/04 -
2/04 -
3/04 -
4/04 -
5/04 -
6/04 -
7/04 -
8/04 -
9/04 -
10/04 -
11/04 -
12/04
1/05 -
2/05 -
3/05 -
4/05 -
5/05 -
6/05 -
7/05 -
8/05 -
9/05 -
10/05 -
11/05 -
12/05
1/06 -
2/06 -
3/06 -
4/06 -
5/06 -
6/06 -
7/06 -
8/06 -
9/06 -
10/06 -
11/06 -
12/06
1/07 -
2/07 -
3/07 -
4/07 -
5/07 -
6/07 -
7/07 -
8/07 -
9/07 -
10/07 -
11/07 -
12/07
1/08 -
2/08 -
3/08 -
4/08 -
5/08 -
6/08 -
7/08 -
8/08 -
9/08 -
10/08 -
11/08 -
12/08
1/09 -
2/09 -
3/09 -
4/09
5/09 -
6/09 -
7/09 -
8/09
Sunday: July 01, 2007 - Poker Sunday
Ian put a smackdown on Chris and me but Renee then won a two-hand showdown to claim the win, knocking Jamie into last place in the PCS standings. Before Ian's havoc-wreaking we played a couple games of Euchre and watched the Cubs win. Go Cubs.
Week 13
1) Renee (IH)
2) Ian (MC, CE)
3) Mike
4) Chris
PCS Standings
1) Mike (2.53)
2) Chris (2.92)
3) Ian (3.33)
4) Christen (4.38)
5) Renee (4.61)
6) Jamie (4.66)
[Comments: 0]· permalink ·
· 
· 
Monday: July 02, 2007 - Decipher That Tune
I haven't updated in a while so I thought I would start with something good: a lyrics contest. I took some very mainstream songs and translated them in honor of my nearly complete thesis. First I took the first verse and translated it into French. I then took the French and translated into German before taking the German back to English. Can you figure out what these songs are? Below the lyrics is a form for you to answer. The winner can write a guest entry! Today's image is a hint for Song #1 in case you're not a big Hendrix fan. NOTE: once you submit you'll just get redirected back to this page. Rest assured your form has been successfully submitted.
Song #1
Well, I rise beside a mountain
and I it cut swallow with the edge of my hand
Well, I upwards hold it beside a blow of axe of mountain downwards with the edge of my hand
Well, I take all the pieces and make an island could even raise a small sand
Song #2
each time I look in the mirror
the lines on my face obtaining more clearly
the past suited him
ran out as the twilight at dawn
is not than the manner
everyone obtained their rights in the life to pay
Song #3
I would want that you know
that that I am not lucky for you
I wish anything am it only, but the best for you
is an older version of me it spoiled than me?
Would it go downward on you in a theatre? Does she speak by éloquence
she would have her your baby?
I am sure that she would make a really protruding nut/mother (haha, I laughed hysterically at protruding nut/mother for twenty minutes)
Song #4
Just a small city girl
who lives in an isolated world
took it the train of midnight
to which everywhere it goes
just at Detroit of the south more born and highly
city boy that he took the train of midnight
to which everywhere goes
Song #5
There is a ramme(?) which has surely everything
which sparkles is, but and it buys stairs in the sky
and if it arrives there, it knows whether the shops
with a word are closed to receive that it can
which came it the problem of
OH OH OH OH OH
and them buy stairs in the sky
Song #6 (hint: NOT a rock song)
Here the thing, which we began outside of the friends
it made costs, but that was everything you pretends
yes yes, since you are dedicated gone
you taken up the time was mentioned to I you mine
yes yes since you not, long, had gone
Song #7 (pop, not rock)
Because it inherited the window
which it the noise of a Crescendos
was it inherited left his apartment
it the blood marks on the carpet
it under the table
it see run could that it could not in such a way
put it run in the room it down downward struck
it was their unfortunate fate
Song #8
Everyone aboard!
crazy but that one is
how it goes from the millions the person life
because the enemies too much perhaps
is not it in delay to like in order to learn, how and forgets
how the mental injuries
to abhor welfare a bitter dishonor of the life
I go over from the rails on a crazy course
I go over from the rails on a crazy course
Song #9
Roxan
you may not place the red light above
that these days are not more you your body to the night
Roxan
sell may you this dress carry may not to go this evening
the roads for the money
that you do not worry you, if it is wrong, or if it is correct
Song #10
I see a small shadow a man
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will make you fandango
to coup of lightning, and lightning very awful very much me
(Galilée), Galilée (Galilée), Galilée bar beer of Galilée Magnifico
I is fairly a poor boy, and nobody likes me
it is just a poor boy of a poor family
saves that its life of this monstrosity
Venu simple, simply to disappear
will that you let Bismillah leave me!
Will we you not let leave (to leave it to go!) Bismillah!
We will you not let leave (to leave it to go!) Bismillah!
We will you not let to leave (to leave it to go) it leave not to leave (to leave it to go) it to leave (to leave it to go) ampèreheure
Non not to leave, not, not, not, not, not, not
(Mia. mummy of the OH, Mia. mummy)
Mia. mummy me let to go
Beelzebub leave at a side devil for me, for me for me to place
[Comments: 4]· permalink ·
·
·
Tuesday: July 03, 2007 - Happy Fourth of July!
NOTE: submissions are due by midnight for the Decipher The Lyrics Quiz.For the 4th we went over to Chris' house for some grilling and poker. We also managed to work in a lengthy game of Apples to Apples (Jamie won). Chris and I went in the backyard to throw the football around and were taunted by an upstairs apartment full of nine year olds who insisted we were "gaywads". I'm not sure when I last year that word but I think it was probably elementary school. They seemed to give up once we admitted yes, we were in fact gay lovers. They also reminded me that I have a difficult time catching a football.
When we got home we discovered Ab had been so scared of the fireworks she had tried to escape from her cage. To do this she chewed the bars together and then tried to force herself through the opening. Unfortunately her head was so big she could only get in as far as her snout but she had ripped it all apart pretty badly. Apparently she had also tried to claw the door open and there were shards of toenail everywhere. I'm not sure I've ever been around that much blood in my house and the fact it was coupled with both poop and toenails made it even worse. Because Jamie's arm is still in a sling guess who got to do most of the dirty work. That's right. In her defense though, she did scrub most of the blood out of the carpet while I was giving Ab a bath. Other than a really swollen snout and a couple bad cuts on her feet she is ok. We saw the vet this morning and he confirmed that she was no worse for the wear. Scary though. No one wants to see their pet in distress, let alone covered in blood.
Fourth of July Game
1) Jamie (RH,CE)
2) Renee (J?,CP,IH)
3) Chris (MC)
4) Ian
5) Mike
6) Christen
7) Jenn
PCS Standings:
1) Mike (2.71)
2) Chris (2.93)
3) Ian (3.38)
T4) Jamie (4.43)
T4) Renee (4.43)
6) Christen (4.77)
[Comments: 2]· permalink ·
·
·
Wednesday: July 04, 2007 - TurboTax Promotion Code
I came across my old version of TurboTax from 2005. Man, I used to make a lot of money when I was working for Crazy Man. I've always been lucky with my taxes as until I got to graduate school my dad would do them for me. Unfortunately when I got to FSU I had to start doing my own taxes, which included shelling out a hundred bucks or so each year for Turbotax. This year though I found a turbotax promotion code and was able to get the Florida version for free. Score!
[Comments: 2]· permalink ·
·
·
Thursday: July 05, 2007 - Lyrics Champions
All hail Kathy and Anna, co-winners of the 2007 Lyrics Deciphering Championship. The answers were:
1) Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child
2) Aerosmith - Dream On
3) Alanis Morisette - You Oughta Know
4) Journey - Don't Stop Believing
5) Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
6) Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
7) Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal
8) Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train
9) The Police - Roxanne
10) Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
If Yahoo mail were actually working I'd post all of the people that played with their scores but that will have to come at a later date. As for our winners they each get to write a guest entry whenever they want. If they do want to write a complete entry they can also choose the alternate secret prize, which is likely a Photoshopped picture of them having a beach party. [Comments: 3]· permalink ·
·
·
Friday: July 06, 2007 - Visiting the vL's
On Friday Jamie and I took the back, and I mean BACK road of Georgia to visit the Pharaoh of Cairo (if they don't rhyme, as I learned, you're not pronouncing it correctly) and his birthday-having son. Because we took the most ridiculous route to Cairo we were the last arrive to the pool party. Chris came out to meet us and we forked over our gift-wine. Once inside we met up with Elena (who has suddenly turned very photogenic), Tim, and Trey. After indulging in some catered food and quite possibly the most delicious cake known to man we settled in for some poker (of course). Chris attended to his family but the rest of crammed into the dining room for some action. The game essentially came down to Tim vs. Elena and because it was time to leave Elena whomped Tim in a one-hand showdown. Poor Tim. Anyway, it was really great to see them again; hard to believe it's been a year.
[Comments: 1]· permalink ·
·
·
Saturday: July 07, 2007 - Happy Birthday Chris!
Even though Chris' party was on Friday, his birthday was in fact on Saturday. Happy Birthday! I've been working on a new, top-secret website that I'm hoping to have done in a week or so. I slept in until about 3pm so I didn't really do much else except watch reruns of Man vs. Wild. That show is really addictive. You know he's going to get out ok since he's obviously narrating (and has a film crew to save him just in case) but he seems willing to be dropped anywhere in order to escape. Next Friday he's getting dropped somewhere in the Amazon so that'll be cool.
[Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Sunday: July 08, 2007 - My mouths are so enormis
Look at my big-mouthed dog. Her mouths are so enormis.
Another Sunday, another humiliating poker game. Tim joined us from Thomasville and within about 90 minutes he and I were playing some Narnia game on the Playstaion 2. We were misled into thinking it would a fighting game (I called the Lion and Tim called the Wardrobe right off the bat) but really you were just some kids beating up furniture for coins. Jamie *almost* won back-to-back games but was ultimately thwarted by Ian who finally, and I do mean finally, won a game.
Week 14
1) Ian (JB,CE)
2) Jamie (RH)
3) Chris (MC,TB)
4) Mike
5) Renee
6) Tim
PCS Rankings:
1) Mike (2.80)
2) Chris (2.93)
3) Ian (3.21)
4) Jamie (4.09)
5) Renee (4.46)
6) Christen (4.77)
7) Tim (6.5)
[Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Monday: July 09, 2007 - 2007 Home Run Derby
With the All-Star game on Tuesday I had no baseball to watch except the Home Run Derby. It's cool to see all of the homeruns at first but the novelty kind of wears off by hour three. I'm not sure why it needs to be so long. Before the game the Counting Crows put up a really lackluster performance. By far the worst part of the game is listening to announcer Chris Berman, possibly the third most annoying sports announcing personality after the two White Sox announcers. Actually Chris Berman might actually be second after Hawk Harrelson. Darrin Jackson, while annoying, at least is capable of sitting quietly sometimes.
I love the All-Star game although I could live without it determining which league gets to host the World Series. Obviously, it doesn't matter a whole for the Cubs but still. It's an exhibition game and I don't think it should be worth anything at all. It doesn't seem fair to task the manager to use every player AND win the game. If your starting pitcher has two innings of no-hit ball and you're trying to win you should leave him in. But no. Not in Bud Selig's All-Star world. [Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Thursday: July 12, 2007 - Kathy's 12 of 12
Here are Kathy's 12 of 12. Let's get right to it!
1) 8:40am Breakfast: cheerios with a sliced nectarine, yum!
2) 9:05am Morning commute, bleh.
3) 12:00pm Leaving work
4) 12:30pm Lunch & Sex and the City
5) 2:45pm Going through my old lesson plans to prepare for my interview
6) 3:45pm Online canasta with Mike
7) 4:30pm Lake and Titan chowing down
8) 7:15pm Dinner at Border Cafe with Becky
9) 8:45pm Smitty!
10) 9:30pm Watching "Taxi Driver" with Chris
11) 11:30pm Chris doing dishes
12) 11:35pm Bedtime reading: "Little Earthquakes" by Jennifer Weiner
Bonus from Florida: A special dog getting drunk on petting. [Comments: 8]· permalink ·
·
·
Weekend: July 15, 2007 - Happy Belated Birthday Marty!
Marty shares a secret birthday with P-Chris so he didn't get a special photo for his. Per his request, it takes places in Idaho and his friends are there, as well as Saturn who made a special trip to attend the festivities.
Kathy got the job at GWU! Awesome
Week 15:
1) Mike (IH,CE,RH)
2) Ian
3) Chris
4) Renee
PCS Rankings:
1) Mike (2.68)
2) Chris (2.93)
3) Ian (3.13)
4) Jamie (4.09)
5) Renee (4.43)
6) Christen (4.77)
7) Tim (6.50)
[Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Monday: July 16, 2007 - Mike the Fisherman
Didn't Primus write a song about me? Oh, that was John. I went fishing for the first real time in my life at Jamie's brother-in-law's family's house down in Alligator Point. We spent the morning on a boat and I learned how to cast. I only hooked an on-board chair once so that was pretty good. The gas station where I was supposed to buy bait was out of shrimp so we went out with lures instead. I can only liken this to someone trying to catch me by running around with a fork. What incentive do I have to bite onto a fork? It was fun boating around but we ended up going back to the dock where I was introduced to chopping up bait. I managed to not barf while cutting up fish (barely) and after a few more hours I landed my first fish--a baby black-tip reef shark. Cool. By the time we finished cutting the hook out and taking a couple rolls of film to document my manliness he might have been close to dead but he managed to swim away just fine, no worse for the wear. Aside from being a little sunburned it was a lot of fun. And I'm now a man. So that's cool.
[Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Tuesday: July 17, 2007 - Unhappy Feet
Stop the presses. I can't walk. Seriously, the sunburn on my feet is so bad that I've been crawling around instead of even attempting to walk upright. Yesterday morning, of course, I have to take the dog to the vet for her yearly check-up. After crawling down the stairs I let her out and by the time she was ready to come in, I was safely standing, braced against the mini-island I use to hold the two plants Marty gave me (Jamie actually, but she ended up not wanting them). I struggle to let the dog back in and when she trots in, she puts all 54lbs of her stegosaurus-like weight right down in the middle of my foot. I'm not sure how loudly I screamed but I think it woke the dead. Had she not run away like the wind, I probably would have killed her right then and there.
The vet was fine--I have a healthy pup who needs to eat a little less. I spent the rest of the day working on a clothing website. I also got to see new Cubs catcher Jason Kendall absolutely suck. Can we have Barrett back now? Yeah, everyone hated him but at least he would get out of the crouch to try to catch foul balls. [Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Wednesday: July 18, 2007 - Go Cubs
It's been a while since I wrote about my beloved Cubs. They've traded for yet another catcher, Jason Kendall, who is pretty terrible. I'm not sure why they don't just keep with Hill or Soto. Yeah, they might suck but at least you didn't have to pay more for them. If only Barrett had worked out. Alas. The Cubs are soundly in second place and are closing in quickly on the Brewers. How weird is it to type "closing in quickly on the Brewers". I might have said it in the past but I probably meant, you know, chasing them for fourth place.
In other news, I still can't walk yet. I just kind of crawl around and actually can get going pretty fast. I haven't tried to put socks or shoes on but hopefully within the next few days that'll happen. Wear your sunscreen! Learn from my mistakes! [Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Saturday: July 21, 2007 - License Plate Search
A while back I was searching license plates for the girl across the street who hit Jamie in her crappy 1980's Honda Accord. I used this particular license plate search and after paying a couple bucks learned that the chick had been in prison. Maybe I won't try to fight her afterall. Thank goodness I looked up her license plates.
This photo is for you Brian. [Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Weekend: July 22, 2007 - P-P-P-Poker
After a week of being in bed, Jamie convinced me to play poker. Good thing she did or I would be $20 poorer. For consecutive weeks, Ian amassed a ton of chips only to fall to, as it is known in most circles, the triumphant force (also known as my skillful poker playing). After totally sucking for a month and a half I realized the key to winning is to avoid hands with Renee as much as possible. The only times it ever seems to work out is when we both check through the river. If there's any betting involved, it's almost a guaranteed loss for me. Anyway, here are your stats. Notice particularly how close #2 and #3 are.
Week 16:
1) Mike (IH,JB)
2) Ian (RH, CE)
3) Renee
4) Jamie
5) Chris
PCS Rankings:
1) Mike (2.58) 2) Chris (3.05) 3) Ian (3.06) 4) Jamie (4.08) 5) Renee (4.35) 6) Christen (4.77)
7) Tim (6.50)
[Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Monday: July 23, 2007 - I hope Michael Vick dies.
I'll say it. I hope Michael Vick is electrocuted. I'm not sure if that's a slow enough death for him but I (and I suspect many others) would take it. While searching for a good picture to use in today's graphic I came across the picture of a post-fight dog (search Google Images for "Michael Vick") and I very nearly threw up on my desk. Even now, a good twenty minutes later I'm still right on the verge of honking all over the place. God I hope this guy dies. Even if I didn't own an adopted, abused pit bull I'd still want him to die. You're a piece of shit, Michael Vick, and if someone murders you I'll max out my credit cards throwing the biggest party I possibly can. Really, your whole family is pretty worthless and if you and your brother died the world would be a better place. Man, I hope someone kills you, you piece of shit.
[Comments: 35]· permalink ·
·
·
Tuesday: July 24, 2007 - Miller Ale House
If you're hankering for some dry, chewy meat in between foot-long sections of fat, we've got the place for you: The Miller Ale House. Last night Jamie and I went there for dinner and it was absolutely disgusting. Seriously, you might think you've eaten at the worst places in town but until you've been to the Miller Ale House, you've been eating heaven on kaiser rolls.
I'm back to walking almost regularly again after over a week of crawling or, at best, limping noticeably. Christine picked me up for lunch (I wasn't ready to drive just yet) and was kind enough to buy me a meal at the Red Elephant (much better choice than the Miller Ale House).
I've received a lot of positive feedback on yesterday's post about Mike Vick being killed so I guess I'm not the only one who wants to see his demise. [Comments: 6]· permalink ·
·
·
Wednesday: July 25, 2007 - Sicko
Last night Jamie convinced me to stop watching my beloved Cubs and go see Sicko with her. I have always appreciated Michael Moore's "little guy" attitude but I've never really cared for how preachy his movies are. His movies always seemed to tell you, "Gee, the government should stop thinking for me" but he spun things so hard that I always figured he was just as guilty with his manipulation of facts.
Sicko's not like that. He takes a much more objective approach to things and, at least between Jamie and I, his mission was accomplished in that we talked about the state of health care for the next few hours. Some of the Spanish sections were mistranslated to sound more anti-American than they actually were (replacing words like "western hemisphere and north america with "The United States") but on the whole it was really good. I'm sure it was the most extreme example, but seeing that a certain medication that cost $120 in the United States was available in Cuba for $.05 was pretty disconcerting. The movie isn't going to crack my top ten or anything but with the utter crap that's out there now, it's probably the best movie available. [Comments: 3]· permalink ·
·
·
Ian put a smackdown on Chris and me but Renee then won a two-hand showdown to claim the win, knocking Jamie into last place in the PCS standings. Before Ian's havoc-wreaking we played a couple games of Euchre and watched the Cubs win. Go Cubs.
Week 13
1) Renee (IH)
2) Ian (MC, CE)
3) Mike
4) Chris
PCS Standings
1) Mike (2.53)
2) Chris (2.92)
3) Ian (3.33)
4) Christen (4.38)
5) Renee (4.61)
6) Jamie (4.66)
[Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Monday: July 02, 2007 - Decipher That Tune
I haven't updated in a while so I thought I would start with something good: a lyrics contest. I took some very mainstream songs and translated them in honor of my nearly complete thesis. First I took the first verse and translated it into French. I then took the French and translated into German before taking the German back to English. Can you figure out what these songs are? Below the lyrics is a form for you to answer. The winner can write a guest entry! Today's image is a hint for Song #1 in case you're not a big Hendrix fan. NOTE: once you submit you'll just get redirected back to this page. Rest assured your form has been successfully submitted.
Song #1
Well, I rise beside a mountain
and I it cut swallow with the edge of my hand
Well, I upwards hold it beside a blow of axe of mountain downwards with the edge of my hand
Well, I take all the pieces and make an island could even raise a small sand
Song #2
each time I look in the mirror
the lines on my face obtaining more clearly
the past suited him
ran out as the twilight at dawn
is not than the manner
everyone obtained their rights in the life to pay
Song #3
I would want that you know
that that I am not lucky for you
I wish anything am it only, but the best for you
is an older version of me it spoiled than me?
Would it go downward on you in a theatre? Does she speak by éloquence
she would have her your baby?
I am sure that she would make a really protruding nut/mother (haha, I laughed hysterically at protruding nut/mother for twenty minutes)
Song #4
Just a small city girl
who lives in an isolated world
took it the train of midnight
to which everywhere it goes
just at Detroit of the south more born and highly
city boy that he took the train of midnight
to which everywhere goes
Song #5
There is a ramme(?) which has surely everything
which sparkles is, but and it buys stairs in the sky
and if it arrives there, it knows whether the shops
with a word are closed to receive that it can
which came it the problem of
OH OH OH OH OH
and them buy stairs in the sky
Song #6 (hint: NOT a rock song)
Here the thing, which we began outside of the friends
it made costs, but that was everything you pretends
yes yes, since you are dedicated gone
you taken up the time was mentioned to I you mine
yes yes since you not, long, had gone
Song #7 (pop, not rock)
Because it inherited the window
which it the noise of a Crescendos
was it inherited left his apartment
it the blood marks on the carpet
it under the table
it see run could that it could not in such a way
put it run in the room it down downward struck
it was their unfortunate fate
Song #8
Everyone aboard!
crazy but that one is
how it goes from the millions the person life
because the enemies too much perhaps
is not it in delay to like in order to learn, how and forgets
how the mental injuries
to abhor welfare a bitter dishonor of the life
I go over from the rails on a crazy course
I go over from the rails on a crazy course
Song #9
Roxan
you may not place the red light above
that these days are not more you your body to the night
Roxan
sell may you this dress carry may not to go this evening
the roads for the money
that you do not worry you, if it is wrong, or if it is correct
Song #10
I see a small shadow a man
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will make you fandango
to coup of lightning, and lightning very awful very much me
(Galilée), Galilée (Galilée), Galilée bar beer of Galilée Magnifico
I is fairly a poor boy, and nobody likes me
it is just a poor boy of a poor family
saves that its life of this monstrosity
Venu simple, simply to disappear
will that you let Bismillah leave me!
Will we you not let leave (to leave it to go!) Bismillah!
We will you not let leave (to leave it to go!) Bismillah!
We will you not let to leave (to leave it to go) it leave not to leave (to leave it to go) it to leave (to leave it to go) ampèreheure
Non not to leave, not, not, not, not, not, not
(Mia. mummy of the OH, Mia. mummy)
Mia. mummy me let to go
Beelzebub leave at a side devil for me, for me for me to place
[Comments: 4]· permalink ·
·
·
Tuesday: July 03, 2007 - Happy Fourth of July!
NOTE: submissions are due by midnight for the Decipher The Lyrics Quiz.For the 4th we went over to Chris' house for some grilling and poker. We also managed to work in a lengthy game of Apples to Apples (Jamie won). Chris and I went in the backyard to throw the football around and were taunted by an upstairs apartment full of nine year olds who insisted we were "gaywads". I'm not sure when I last year that word but I think it was probably elementary school. They seemed to give up once we admitted yes, we were in fact gay lovers. They also reminded me that I have a difficult time catching a football.When we got home we discovered Ab had been so scared of the fireworks she had tried to escape from her cage. To do this she chewed the bars together and then tried to force herself through the opening. Unfortunately her head was so big she could only get in as far as her snout but she had ripped it all apart pretty badly. Apparently she had also tried to claw the door open and there were shards of toenail everywhere. I'm not sure I've ever been around that much blood in my house and the fact it was coupled with both poop and toenails made it even worse. Because Jamie's arm is still in a sling guess who got to do most of the dirty work. That's right. In her defense though, she did scrub most of the blood out of the carpet while I was giving Ab a bath. Other than a really swollen snout and a couple bad cuts on her feet she is ok. We saw the vet this morning and he confirmed that she was no worse for the wear. Scary though. No one wants to see their pet in distress, let alone covered in blood.
Fourth of July Game
1) Jamie (RH,CE)
2) Renee (J?,CP,IH)
3) Chris (MC)
4) Ian
5) Mike
6) Christen
7) Jenn
PCS Standings:
1) Mike (2.71)
2) Chris (2.93)
3) Ian (3.38)
T4) Jamie (4.43)
T4) Renee (4.43)
6) Christen (4.77)
[Comments: 2]· permalink ·
·
·
Wednesday: July 04, 2007 - TurboTax Promotion Code
I came across my old version of TurboTax from 2005. Man, I used to make a lot of money when I was working for Crazy Man. I've always been lucky with my taxes as until I got to graduate school my dad would do them for me. Unfortunately when I got to FSU I had to start doing my own taxes, which included shelling out a hundred bucks or so each year for Turbotax. This year though I found a turbotax promotion code and was able to get the Florida version for free. Score!
[Comments: 2]· permalink ·
·
·
Thursday: July 05, 2007 - Lyrics Champions
All hail Kathy and Anna, co-winners of the 2007 Lyrics Deciphering Championship. The answers were:1) Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child
2) Aerosmith - Dream On
3) Alanis Morisette - You Oughta Know
4) Journey - Don't Stop Believing
5) Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
6) Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
7) Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal
8) Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train
9) The Police - Roxanne
10) Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
If Yahoo mail were actually working I'd post all of the people that played with their scores but that will have to come at a later date. As for our winners they each get to write a guest entry whenever they want. If they do want to write a complete entry they can also choose the alternate secret prize, which is likely a Photoshopped picture of them having a beach party. [Comments: 3]· permalink ·
·
·
Friday: July 06, 2007 - Visiting the vL's
On Friday Jamie and I took the back, and I mean BACK road of Georgia to visit the Pharaoh of Cairo (if they don't rhyme, as I learned, you're not pronouncing it correctly) and his birthday-having son. Because we took the most ridiculous route to Cairo we were the last arrive to the pool party. Chris came out to meet us and we forked over our gift-wine. Once inside we met up with Elena (who has suddenly turned very photogenic), Tim, and Trey. After indulging in some catered food and quite possibly the most delicious cake known to man we settled in for some poker (of course). Chris attended to his family but the rest of crammed into the dining room for some action. The game essentially came down to Tim vs. Elena and because it was time to leave Elena whomped Tim in a one-hand showdown. Poor Tim. Anyway, it was really great to see them again; hard to believe it's been a year.
[Comments: 1]· permalink ·
·
·
Saturday: July 07, 2007 - Happy Birthday Chris!
Even though Chris' party was on Friday, his birthday was in fact on Saturday. Happy Birthday! I've been working on a new, top-secret website that I'm hoping to have done in a week or so. I slept in until about 3pm so I didn't really do much else except watch reruns of Man vs. Wild. That show is really addictive. You know he's going to get out ok since he's obviously narrating (and has a film crew to save him just in case) but he seems willing to be dropped anywhere in order to escape. Next Friday he's getting dropped somewhere in the Amazon so that'll be cool.
[Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Sunday: July 08, 2007 - My mouths are so enormis
Look at my big-mouthed dog. Her mouths are so enormis.
Another Sunday, another humiliating poker game. Tim joined us from Thomasville and within about 90 minutes he and I were playing some Narnia game on the Playstaion 2. We were misled into thinking it would a fighting game (I called the Lion and Tim called the Wardrobe right off the bat) but really you were just some kids beating up furniture for coins. Jamie *almost* won back-to-back games but was ultimately thwarted by Ian who finally, and I do mean finally, won a game.
Week 14
1) Ian (JB,CE)
2) Jamie (RH)
3) Chris (MC,TB)
4) Mike
5) Renee
6) Tim
PCS Rankings:
1) Mike (2.80)
2) Chris (2.93)
3) Ian (3.21)
4) Jamie (4.09)
5) Renee (4.46)
6) Christen (4.77)
7) Tim (6.5)
[Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Monday: July 09, 2007 - 2007 Home Run Derby
With the All-Star game on Tuesday I had no baseball to watch except the Home Run Derby. It's cool to see all of the homeruns at first but the novelty kind of wears off by hour three. I'm not sure why it needs to be so long. Before the game the Counting Crows put up a really lackluster performance. By far the worst part of the game is listening to announcer Chris Berman, possibly the third most annoying sports announcing personality after the two White Sox announcers. Actually Chris Berman might actually be second after Hawk Harrelson. Darrin Jackson, while annoying, at least is capable of sitting quietly sometimes.
I love the All-Star game although I could live without it determining which league gets to host the World Series. Obviously, it doesn't matter a whole for the Cubs but still. It's an exhibition game and I don't think it should be worth anything at all. It doesn't seem fair to task the manager to use every player AND win the game. If your starting pitcher has two innings of no-hit ball and you're trying to win you should leave him in. But no. Not in Bud Selig's All-Star world. [Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Thursday: July 12, 2007 - Kathy's 12 of 12
Here are Kathy's 12 of 12. Let's get right to it!1) 8:40am Breakfast: cheerios with a sliced nectarine, yum!
2) 9:05am Morning commute, bleh.
3) 12:00pm Leaving work
4) 12:30pm Lunch & Sex and the City
5) 2:45pm Going through my old lesson plans to prepare for my interview
6) 3:45pm Online canasta with Mike
7) 4:30pm Lake and Titan chowing down
8) 7:15pm Dinner at Border Cafe with Becky
9) 8:45pm Smitty!
10) 9:30pm Watching "Taxi Driver" with Chris
11) 11:30pm Chris doing dishes
12) 11:35pm Bedtime reading: "Little Earthquakes" by Jennifer Weiner
Bonus from Florida: A special dog getting drunk on petting. [Comments: 8]· permalink ·
·
·
Weekend: July 15, 2007 - Happy Belated Birthday Marty!
Marty shares a secret birthday with P-Chris so he didn't get a special photo for his. Per his request, it takes places in Idaho and his friends are there, as well as Saturn who made a special trip to attend the festivities.
Kathy got the job at GWU! Awesome
Week 15:
1) Mike (IH,CE,RH)
2) Ian
3) Chris
4) Renee
PCS Rankings:
1) Mike (2.68)
2) Chris (2.93)
3) Ian (3.13)
4) Jamie (4.09)
5) Renee (4.43)
6) Christen (4.77)
7) Tim (6.50)
[Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Monday: July 16, 2007 - Mike the Fisherman
Didn't Primus write a song about me? Oh, that was John. I went fishing for the first real time in my life at Jamie's brother-in-law's family's house down in Alligator Point. We spent the morning on a boat and I learned how to cast. I only hooked an on-board chair once so that was pretty good. The gas station where I was supposed to buy bait was out of shrimp so we went out with lures instead. I can only liken this to someone trying to catch me by running around with a fork. What incentive do I have to bite onto a fork? It was fun boating around but we ended up going back to the dock where I was introduced to chopping up bait. I managed to not barf while cutting up fish (barely) and after a few more hours I landed my first fish--a baby black-tip reef shark. Cool. By the time we finished cutting the hook out and taking a couple rolls of film to document my manliness he might have been close to dead but he managed to swim away just fine, no worse for the wear. Aside from being a little sunburned it was a lot of fun. And I'm now a man. So that's cool.
[Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Tuesday: July 17, 2007 - Unhappy Feet
Stop the presses. I can't walk. Seriously, the sunburn on my feet is so bad that I've been crawling around instead of even attempting to walk upright. Yesterday morning, of course, I have to take the dog to the vet for her yearly check-up. After crawling down the stairs I let her out and by the time she was ready to come in, I was safely standing, braced against the mini-island I use to hold the two plants Marty gave me (Jamie actually, but she ended up not wanting them). I struggle to let the dog back in and when she trots in, she puts all 54lbs of her stegosaurus-like weight right down in the middle of my foot. I'm not sure how loudly I screamed but I think it woke the dead. Had she not run away like the wind, I probably would have killed her right then and there.
The vet was fine--I have a healthy pup who needs to eat a little less. I spent the rest of the day working on a clothing website. I also got to see new Cubs catcher Jason Kendall absolutely suck. Can we have Barrett back now? Yeah, everyone hated him but at least he would get out of the crouch to try to catch foul balls. [Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Wednesday: July 18, 2007 - Go Cubs
It's been a while since I wrote about my beloved Cubs. They've traded for yet another catcher, Jason Kendall, who is pretty terrible. I'm not sure why they don't just keep with Hill or Soto. Yeah, they might suck but at least you didn't have to pay more for them. If only Barrett had worked out. Alas. The Cubs are soundly in second place and are closing in quickly on the Brewers. How weird is it to type "closing in quickly on the Brewers". I might have said it in the past but I probably meant, you know, chasing them for fourth place.
In other news, I still can't walk yet. I just kind of crawl around and actually can get going pretty fast. I haven't tried to put socks or shoes on but hopefully within the next few days that'll happen. Wear your sunscreen! Learn from my mistakes! [Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Saturday: July 21, 2007 - License Plate Search
A while back I was searching license plates for the girl across the street who hit Jamie in her crappy 1980's Honda Accord. I used this particular license plate search and after paying a couple bucks learned that the chick had been in prison. Maybe I won't try to fight her afterall. Thank goodness I looked up her license plates.
This photo is for you Brian. [Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Weekend: July 22, 2007 - P-P-P-Poker
After a week of being in bed, Jamie convinced me to play poker. Good thing she did or I would be $20 poorer. For consecutive weeks, Ian amassed a ton of chips only to fall to, as it is known in most circles, the triumphant force (also known as my skillful poker playing). After totally sucking for a month and a half I realized the key to winning is to avoid hands with Renee as much as possible. The only times it ever seems to work out is when we both check through the river. If there's any betting involved, it's almost a guaranteed loss for me. Anyway, here are your stats. Notice particularly how close #2 and #3 are.
Week 16:
1) Mike (IH,JB)
2) Ian (RH, CE)
3) Renee
4) Jamie
5) Chris
PCS Rankings:
1) Mike (2.58) 2) Chris (3.05) 3) Ian (3.06) 4) Jamie (4.08) 5) Renee (4.35) 6) Christen (4.77)
7) Tim (6.50)
[Comments: 0]· permalink ·
·
·
Monday: July 23, 2007 - I hope Michael Vick dies.
I'll say it. I hope Michael Vick is electrocuted. I'm not sure if that's a slow enough death for him but I (and I suspect many others) would take it. While searching for a good picture to use in today's graphic I came across the picture of a post-fight dog (search Google Images for "Michael Vick") and I very nearly threw up on my desk. Even now, a good twenty minutes later I'm still right on the verge of honking all over the place. God I hope this guy dies. Even if I didn't own an adopted, abused pit bull I'd still want him to die. You're a piece of shit, Michael Vick, and if someone murders you I'll max out my credit cards throwing the biggest party I possibly can. Really, your whole family is pretty worthless and if you and your brother died the world would be a better place. Man, I hope someone kills you, you piece of shit.
[Comments: 35]· permalink ·
·
·
Tuesday: July 24, 2007 - Miller Ale House
If you're hankering for some dry, chewy meat in between foot-long sections of fat, we've got the place for you: The Miller Ale House. Last night Jamie and I went there for dinner and it was absolutely disgusting. Seriously, you might think you've eaten at the worst places in town but until you've been to the Miller Ale House, you've been eating heaven on kaiser rolls.
I'm back to walking almost regularly again after over a week of crawling or, at best, limping noticeably. Christine picked me up for lunch (I wasn't ready to drive just yet) and was kind enough to buy me a meal at the Red Elephant (much better choice than the Miller Ale House).
I've received a lot of positive feedback on yesterday's post about Mike Vick being killed so I guess I'm not the only one who wants to see his demise. [Comments: 6]· permalink ·
·
·
Wednesday: July 25, 2007 - Sicko
Last night Jamie convinced me to stop watching my beloved Cubs and go see Sicko with her. I have always appreciated Michael Moore's "little guy" attitude but I've never really cared for how preachy his movies are. His movies always seemed to tell you, "Gee, the government should stop thinking for me" but he spun things so hard that I always figured he was just as guilty with his manipulation of facts.
Sicko's not like that. He takes a much more objective approach to things and, at least between Jamie and I, his mission was accomplished in that we talked about the state of health care for the next few hours. Some of the Spanish sections were mistranslated to sound more anti-American than they actually were (replacing words like "western hemisphere and north america with "The United States") but on the whole it was really good. I'm sure it was the most extreme example, but seeing that a certain medication that cost $120 in the United States was available in Cuba for $.05 was pretty disconcerting. The movie isn't going to crack my top ten or anything but with the utter crap that's out there now, it's probably the best movie available. [Comments: 3]· permalink ·
·
·
Good Things Take Time...
-2 days until FSU Football (2010)
Random Picture...
On this side of the island it looks like we're on the set of Lost.
On this side of the island it looks like we're on the set of Lost.
Time Machine:
09-07-2009
· 09-07-2008
· 09-07-2007
· 09-07-2006
09-07-2009: I'll start with the good news: my death from the swine flu is no longer imminent. Now, onto the bad news.
WHERE THE HELL WAS FSU'S DEFENSE?! *I* could have been playing cornerback last night. I can easily ignore receivers as the blow past me or trip on my own two feet as a RUNNING BACK shoots past me for a catch in the end zone. Uggggggggh. On the bright side, the offense looked pretty good--at least Christian Ponder and the vaunted offensive line. The running game looked anemic when Jermaine was in there but his backup looked like a punisher. The fact our receivers c(w)ouldn't catch the ball made life rough. Fortson looked like the only guy who actually was willing to take one for the team and try to catch it, although Richard Goodman's catch on the two-point conversion ended with him getting blasted.
Anyway, where was the bloodthirsty FSU defense? Who were these cowards playing constant zone coverage? It doesn't take a PS2 NCAA Football expert very long to realize there's a time and a place for zone but if you want to win you need to MAN UP. Granted, the man coverage, when "utilized", made the secondary look absolutely stupid, with their coverage at least five yards behind the Miami receivers.
Whatever, we'll be good next year.09-07-2008: It looks like my vice-like grip over NCAA Pick 'Em is officially over. After tweaking "the algorithm" I still finished near the bottom of the picks because I clearly overweighed the section dedicated to "do they like to get upset?". The numbers correctly picked the ECU upset of WV but unfortunately they also picked three more upsets and, knowing that no more than three teams ever get upset in a week, I released WV out of a personal affinity towards the school. I also, until the game started, thought USM was in fact Mississippi State which they are clearly not. Oops.
I went out to Virginia to watch the FSU game with Kathy & Co. The bar had a lot of FSU fans but none that were particularly into the game. It didn't help that there was over two hours in combined rain delays. FSU looked good but I think anyone would look good against Western Carolina. They're not East Carolina, that's for sure. Catamounts, for the record, are mountain lions. They are not horses despite containing the word "mount". We'll know for sure how good FSU is when vaunted Chattanooga rolls into town next week. I took the day off blogging but only because I was thinking of you.09-07-2006: Although not as gratifying as some wins in the past, I was able to fend off tchris and jamie in a little three-way poker last night. At different points in the night we all had huge chip leads and somehow blew them. We're all big bettors so it was a lot of fun despite the low number of people.
I really need a new computer. Mine shuts off after about five minutes of use due to overheating and I still have not been able to find the right replacement fan. I'm hoping by the week after my birthday to have enough money to buy the new one from Dell, even though they won't let me get it without the video card. I talked to their retarded sales/tech guy and asked them simply if they could not charge/install a video card. They do not have dual-monitor options and I wasn't ordering any monitors so I didn't need the card. He replied that they could not and I was out of luck. I replied by asking him if the computers were really built by hand like they say in the commercials. He said yes. I then asked if they guy installing it could just "leave out" the video card (I'd be throwing it out the day I got it) and have the person hand-writing my bill leave off the cost of it. He said no. Oh well.
WHERE THE HELL WAS FSU'S DEFENSE?! *I* could have been playing cornerback last night. I can easily ignore receivers as the blow past me or trip on my own two feet as a RUNNING BACK shoots past me for a catch in the end zone. Uggggggggh. On the bright side, the offense looked pretty good--at least Christian Ponder and the vaunted offensive line. The running game looked anemic when Jermaine was in there but his backup looked like a punisher. The fact our receivers c(w)ouldn't catch the ball made life rough. Fortson looked like the only guy who actually was willing to take one for the team and try to catch it, although Richard Goodman's catch on the two-point conversion ended with him getting blasted.
Anyway, where was the bloodthirsty FSU defense? Who were these cowards playing constant zone coverage? It doesn't take a PS2 NCAA Football expert very long to realize there's a time and a place for zone but if you want to win you need to MAN UP. Granted, the man coverage, when "utilized", made the secondary look absolutely stupid, with their coverage at least five yards behind the Miami receivers.
Whatever, we'll be good next year.09-07-2008: It looks like my vice-like grip over NCAA Pick 'Em is officially over. After tweaking "the algorithm" I still finished near the bottom of the picks because I clearly overweighed the section dedicated to "do they like to get upset?". The numbers correctly picked the ECU upset of WV but unfortunately they also picked three more upsets and, knowing that no more than three teams ever get upset in a week, I released WV out of a personal affinity towards the school. I also, until the game started, thought USM was in fact Mississippi State which they are clearly not. Oops.
I went out to Virginia to watch the FSU game with Kathy & Co. The bar had a lot of FSU fans but none that were particularly into the game. It didn't help that there was over two hours in combined rain delays. FSU looked good but I think anyone would look good against Western Carolina. They're not East Carolina, that's for sure. Catamounts, for the record, are mountain lions. They are not horses despite containing the word "mount". We'll know for sure how good FSU is when vaunted Chattanooga rolls into town next week. I took the day off blogging but only because I was thinking of you.09-07-2006: Although not as gratifying as some wins in the past, I was able to fend off tchris and jamie in a little three-way poker last night. At different points in the night we all had huge chip leads and somehow blew them. We're all big bettors so it was a lot of fun despite the low number of people.
I really need a new computer. Mine shuts off after about five minutes of use due to overheating and I still have not been able to find the right replacement fan. I'm hoping by the week after my birthday to have enough money to buy the new one from Dell, even though they won't let me get it without the video card. I talked to their retarded sales/tech guy and asked them simply if they could not charge/install a video card. They do not have dual-monitor options and I wasn't ordering any monitors so I didn't need the card. He replied that they could not and I was out of luck. I replied by asking him if the computers were really built by hand like they say in the commercials. He said yes. I then asked if they guy installing it could just "leave out" the video card (I'd be throwing it out the day I got it) and have the person hand-writing my bill leave off the cost of it. He said no. Oh well.