The challenge
Wow, so at least three people actually READ my blog. I'm very excited about this!!
I have not been at it much, as work has been keeping me extremely busy (and often away from my computer), and I haven't had much to talk about (other than baseball, and I've been trying to avoid boring you all with nothing but baseball talk). Yes, I just said I haven't had much to talk about. Amazing.
So here is the challenge I put forth to all of you (this is for you Brian): double apostrophe's. I am in search of examples of them. Here is what we have so far:
couldn't've or can't've, shouldn't've, wouldn't've...any others?
Here is the link for the day (compliments of Dennis), for all those Cubs fans (or anyone who understands the whole Cubs/White Sox thizang):
Northside vs Southside
IT HAPPENED!
So this is probably only significant to Jon, but I can't tell you how many times, while watching games at the BOB (playing field of the AZ Diamondbacks, for those who may not know) I remarked that it would be funny to see somehow hit a homerun that hit the jumbo-tron displaying the hitters own face. And last night, IT HAPPENED! Richie Sexson smashed the longest homerun ever hit at the BOB right into his own face!!! If you want the full story, here it is:
Sexon's Hit
Ah, satisfaction is a beautiful thing. If only I could have seen it in person.....
Monday night baseball...
Ah yes, another night out at a game, watching the Pirates lose. Oh how I love them.
So, in an upset tonight, William Hung's "She Bangs" finally LOST to "Fire" a la Hendrix. And the paid attendance continued to decline to a lowly 8,500 fans tonight. ouch.
So we decided to sit in the outfield tonight, and there were some teenie boys taunting Ken Griffey Jr. all night (quite poorly too). "Ke....n" :Griiiiifey" "You suck!" were some of the more creative taunts of the night. After about 7 innings, KGJ finally gave them the universal hand signal for jacking off. it was beautiful. I have a new found respect for the man that has nothing to do with his baseball talent (which is not to say that i don't respect his baseball talent).
Just a note, what drew us to the game tonight was the promise of $1.00 hotdogs. mmm...they were worth it. :)
Busy busy busy
Busy day at work today. Haven't had any time to read the news and find anything exciting about which to comment. Ah well....
I want to pass on a big congratulations to Scott and Kristie for (finally) having their baby, Jack. Also, for those who may not know, I became an aunt again two weeks ago (the 13th) when my sister had her second baby girl, Ashley Noelle. I will be seeing her this coming weekend when I make the trek out to the big I-L.
I'm boring today, I know....hopefully I will be inspired later with something fun and interesting.
Just another Saturday night
Despite having to work today (stupid working on Saturdays (though I can't complain about today since only one of my subjects showed up)), it was a great weekend day. After working, Jon and I went and saw "Kill Bill Vol. II." which was enjoyable. Think I like the first one better, but it's hard to say after only one viewing. The two are, despite being really all part of one big movie, very different.
After that we were home for a short while before heading off to Sharp Edge, a wonderful haven of beer (over a hundred to choose from) and greasy food. My personal favorite: honey bbq bites. Yum. They also have a meat lovers' pizza that requires three whole pigs to make. Yum Yum. I went for the bites tonight. There's also this AWESOME Belgium raspberry beer type stuff (Jon could fill you in on the specifics of what it is) called Framboise. However, it's $9.00 per bottle (one bottle is probably a pint...maybe a little less). Didn't have that tonight. Had coke...me and caffeine is often more amusing than me and booze.
ANYWAY...we then went on to Lope's house o' fun for some foosball action! oh yeah! I got to play "Starsky and Hutch" on his PS2 (i'm good at shooting; can't drive for shit though). Played with Reilly (the rat), the 125 pound German Shepherd Botzsy (I may have spelled this wrong, but I do know that it's the northern Spain equivalent of Pancho!), and the skunk Fonzie. The other rat and the cat weren't around much.
So, that has been my exciting day o' fun (everything is o' fun tonight!). on top of that, the yankees lost, the cubs won, and detroit is second in their division (oh, i have promised a friend (Sam) that i would cheer for detroit, as my team number 5 in the order of teams that i will cheer for). picked a good year to start being happy for them i guess. maybe it's because of Pudge? who knows? not me.
i'm tired and off to bed i think. besides, pancho is standing on the arm of the couch next to me, licking my hands as i try to type (no good!). 'night.
Coffee Table Book
For those who may not have heard about my coffee table book (which will never actually come into existance, but I still think it's a fun idea), this is for you: Due to the relatively recent trend of ultra-lowrise jeans, skirts, pants, whatever, I have found myself all too often seeing girls in class, in restaurants, at ballgames, EVERYWHERE with their g-strings, and thongs, other various forms of underwear or lack thereof, hanging out. I proposed the idea of photographing this phenomenon (of course, the people would be anonymous, with no identifying features, etc etc) and turning it into a coffee table book.
In relation to this, check out this article in the news today (not that I agree with this idea, but I was amused nonetheless):
Lowrise
The Skirt
A spring/summer fashion trend that seems to be budding all over the country (well, at least in Pittsburgh and in Madison, WI....other sightings are welcome) is making me crazy. All those Paris Hilton wannabe's out there....
The Skirt: a short (sometimes RIDICULOUSLY short, don't know how one could even sit down in it short), low-rise (sometimes RIDICULOUSLY lowrise, could make my coffee table book (more on this later) lowrise) skirt, that is moderately fitted around the hips, and just below the hips (or mid hip, perhaps) it bells out into a pleated, slight flaired skirt. It's sort of a whore-nextdoor look, i guess.
ANYWAY...it's EVERYWHERE! While being visited this past weekend (which, incidentally had beautiful weather) by Brian (my source in Madison), we were accosted left and right by the Skirt.
The silly thing about this skirt is, even the cute little girls, with the cute little bodies who can wear just about anything they want look silly in the Skirt. it's just not attractive on ANYONE (try finding someone wearing the Skirt who makes it look GOOD...not likely).
Ah, the SKIRT!! okay, here is a whole page of variations on the Skirt, sold by (surprise, surprise) Abercrombie and Fitch:
The Skirt
Please share your thoughts about and your sightings of the Skirt....I'm curious as to popular opinion and how widespread this plague has become.
Another rainy morning bus ride
After being rained out of the game last night, i had a very good dinner at Primanti Brothers (a place that only those who have frequented Pittsburgh would understand). To give those who have never been there some idea, it's a sandwich place where all the sandwiches come on huge slices of bread (about half an inch thick), with french fries (the greasy, medium-fat kind) and cole slaw (the german, peppery cabbage kind...not the mayonaisey-american kind) ON THE SANDWICH. If I knew how to import a picture, I would right now, but I'm not yet that advanced. I got my favorite, the cheese combo (all of the above mentioned ingredients along with three kinds of cheese all melted into a fried cheese-patty-o'-goodness).
Okay, so that was supposed to be a brief lead in to my main story for the day....ah well. I was riding the bus into work this morning, as always, and I noticed a guy sitting by himself, no headphones, no phone (I even checked for the ear-piece phones that always make people look like they are talking to themselves)....anyway....the guy kept smiling and sort of chuckling to himself. It got me really curious as to 1) if he realized he was chuckling out loud and 2) what he was thinking about that was so funny. As it was a rainy morning and I was riding the bus into work, I wasn't personally giddy about much...I wonder what this guy's secret is?
So then I started to look around more, and all over the bus (at least the back half where I was sitting), people were making all kinds of expressions to themselves. Some other guy would smile, and then look all pissed off, and then smile again. The lady next to me kept sucking in and chewing on one cheek, then the next, then back to the first, all the time with a quasi-puzzled expression on her face. The chuckling dude I've seen before (he frequents the bus in the mornings and gets off at the same stop that I do), though I can't say I've ever seen him quite so amused.
I guess on the bus everyone is in their own little world. While someone's ass may be in your face (if you have the fortune of getting a seat at that time in the morning), or the big dude next to you is taking up half your seat, causing you to hug your backpack and suck yourself into as narrow a position as you can, somehow it seems easiest just to tune them out...drift into your own world of personal space and comfort. yes, yes, the buses in the mornings are a
frotteurist's dream.
Alas, my work calls (banana's successfully consumed; work must begin).
Movies
This is such a bad time of year for movies. I keep waiting for SOMETHING to come out that I'm interested in seeing. True, true, "Kill Bill Vol. II" is out now, and I do want to go see that, but what about my other options: "The Punisher", "Scooby Doo II", "Ella Enchanted"???? I yearn for the summer when, along with all of the major blockbusters, there is usually a rush of independent and foreign films that make appearances at my beloved Manor (the theater about two minutes walk from our apartment). Somehow even a really BAD movie doesn't seem quite as bad when not in English....
Biggets movie disappointments of the last year or so (basically since i've lived in PA) for me (and these would only include movies that I HAVE seen):
Matrix 2 which was quickly and hugely overshadowed by the GARGANTUAN disappointment of Matrix 3.
Bend it like Beckham.....why did everyone think this movie was so great???
My Big Fat Greek Wedding....sure, a laugh here or there, but overall nowhere NEAR the hype.
Camp...why the hell did i see this? honestly, there was NOTHING else playing of interest and i had never heard of it before (often a good sign).
I'm sure there are more, but it's hard to be disappointed when I go into a movie expecting it to be pretty stupid (which does not mean it can't be entertaining).
Some of the pleasant surprises and/or highlights:
21 grams
Lost in Translation
Intolerable Cruelty (can't go wrong with the Coen Brothers)
Adaptation
Secretary
She loves me, she loves me not
Pirates of the Caribbean (believe it or not, this was a pleasant surprise...besides, Johnny Depp is one fine lookin' man).
ooh ooh, i'm forgetting something obvious and important. ah well...I will think of it.
Well, if I have neglected anything that anyone would like to contribute, please feel free. And now, I must return to work (this has been my foodless lunch break, as I spent a two hour training eating goldfish and now i'm stuffed!).
News of the day
So, in my daily searchings of the news (where I try to avoid anything important and go for all the quirky stuff instead), I've come across the following articles which may be of interest:
The Virgin Mousey:
Males Not Needed
What's next, Saint Mel?
Mel's New Movie?
Wow, that's about it for today, in regards to the news. As I have much work to do...I will leave you all now with one last link to check out (which you can find to the left) entitled "Scott's blog," which will provide many minutes of reading if you are looking to kill some time.
At Home sick
Yes, yes, I am home sick today. The cold finally caught up to me (being at the game last night and getting rained on probably didn't help...).
So, I am going to admit something that I'm rather embarrassed to admit....I have been watching American Idol this year. I missed the past couple of weeks, so I had to go online today to check out who had been kicked off. Can I just say, Camille is FINALLY gone! woo hoo. Any thoughts on who might win? My bet is on Fantasia or George Huff. Perhaps Latoya, but people don't seem to like her as much. So...while I sit at home and eat icecream and watch bad network television (oh the joys of being sick), you can all ponder this oh so important question about our nation's future: who will win American Idol III? :)
oh, on a related side note: for the past two weeks (at least) and running, the William Hung version of "She Bangs" has won the juke box song of the night at PNC Park (the baseball stadium, for those who don't know). Jon and I think that it may go all season. That kid has gotten rich off of his total suckage in auditions...how beautiful, this country we live in.
Cubs Rock
Ah, the game was excellent this evening. Despite fighting off a cold, I would not miss the Cubs while they're in town. And despite having a special place in my heart for the Pirates, the special place for the Cubs is larger by FAR. 9-1...that's a slaughter.
Now if only the White Sox didn't have to go and bow down cowering before the Yankees, it would have been a perfect baseball night.
Tune in tomorrow for some non-baseball related musings... (it's hard to avoid them this time of year). Goodnight!
The epic battle
Okay, so maybe it's not an epic battle, but for the next three days, the Cubs will be in town taking on the Pirates. Woo Hoo! I find that it's rather easy to like the Pirates, as over the past couple of years they've pretty much been terrible, and I have a lot of practice loving a team that doesn't usually win (for those who may not know, first and foremost, I am, have been, and always will be a Cubs fan). There is something about a hometown crowd that is just too much fun to pass up. True, Pirates fans boo their own team as often, if not more than, the other team, but like the guy selling T-shirts on the 6th street bridge always tells me as I walk by, "If you ain't a Pirates fan, you ain't shit" (actually, he says Steelers fan, but that just wouldn't have worked in making my point, so I took some creative license).
So, under most circumstances I would be hardily cheering away for the good old boys in black and gold, but for the next three nights I'll be hoping they lose to the even gooder (oh dear...that's terrible) old boys in blue and red. Go Cubbies!!!!
On a related side note, it wasn't until 2001 when I attended a baseball game in Arizona for the first time that I realized that the official words to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" were NOT "....for the Cubbies" but were "...for the (insert home team here)". The only other games I had been to up until this point (other than Cubs games that is) were White Sox games, and even there everyone sang "..for the Cubbies", so how was I supposed to know? To me that song is all about a drunken Harry Carry singing about five sporadic words (all that he could remember) while we all took bets about whether or not he would fall through the window of the announcers' box. Perhaps you will all laugh at me, but I'm hoping my fellow Chicago-area folk will understand and back me up on this!
Well, I have finished my bagel which means I need to get working (contrary to what it sounds like from what I've said so far, I actually DO have a lot of work to do!). :) Until we meet again....
Clarification
When I said, "I hope it works," I was referring to the posting of the website, not to "Toothing." :)
Monday
For any of you who have had the pleasure of working with Statistical Parametric Mapping (I'm guessing that this is NOT most of you, and for that you should count yourselves very, very lucky), you will understand the need for something to kill the time. Basically, it requires a lot of waiting five minutes here, ten minutes there for the program to finish up doing its magic (I couldn't even BEGIN to tell you what's going on in those minutes...I'm just the monkey who hits "start" and makes it go). As a result of my having to suffer through the frustrations of using SPM, I feel the need to subject all of YOU to the horrors of reading my blog. *evil laughter*
At least I can ease my sense of guilt in doing this to you by realizing that probably only two or three people will actually read this (yes, yes, my adoring fans! I love you all!!). Perhaps I'm overestimating my own popularity? Ah well....
Well, for your enjoyment (and perhaps in order to help prevent any embarassing misunderstandings on public transportation), I have included the following:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=1&u=/nm/20040419/od_nm/britain_toothing_dc
I hope it works! :)
