big on rules?

****Updated******

Thanks Tony for the info. After further investigation, here is the original. I guess he wasn't trying to be funny-

I am not sure what this exactly means, but referee Ron Cherry is pretty funny. I have definitely never heard of that infraction on the football field. I do wonder if he modified the name of the penalty because of the jersey number of the player who committed the foul. Maybe not, and possibly football rulebook junkies around the county know exactly what foul he was referring to. I do not. It would also be pretty entertaining if he had been waiting years for a player with the number 69 to commit that exact infraction, just so he would be able to say what he did. If that is the case, i give him props for not cracking a smile. There is no way I would have been able to say that without laughing.

oh Brad

I can't say I was that surprised last night by the decision made by Brad on the finale of The Bachelor. And from the looks of the poll [results shown below] it appears a few of you readers are also not surprised. including Morgan, who correctly predicted this days ago...

give Jenni a rose (14%)
propose to Jenni (14%)
give Deanna a rose (28%)
propose to Deanna (0%)
select neither (42%)

My opinion of Brad changed somewhat last night. I have thought, and still think, that he is a good guy. He doesn't seem to be shady, creepy, gross or annoying. He also gave the impression that he was very motivated to find a wife and was taking the show very seriously. But I didn't enjoy the way he handled his final decision to not keep Jenni or Deanna. Why can he not pick just one of them? He didn't need to propose, couldn't he just give the girl a rose and they could keep dating? Were things with both girls going so badly? He clearly said many times how serious he was taking things and how much he really cared for the women.

It seemed to me that he probably didn't change his mind at the very last second as it appeared. I just have a hard time believing that he honestly did. If he is as genuine and honest as he says, I can't believe he would do that. He always says how much he is struggling over his decisions, but I don't think that he would switch his decision at the last minute. If he did change his mind at the very last second, I would expect him to be more apologetic towards Deanna for leading her on the way he did at the ceremony. And that is what I didn't like about his actions. Assuming he knew before hand that he wasn't going to pick either one of them (although I am sure he would probably say he changed his mind at the last minute) then what he did is pretty messed up. He teased Deanna, even going so far as to mention that he just sent Jenni home. And also his presentation looked weak. His collar wasn't even tight yet he was like fake adjusting it as if it were too tight. It appeared that he was trying to make it look like he was under enormous pressure and freaking out when he really wasn't. Including his walkoff to catch his breath, and returning to say something that seemed rehearsed. It was inconsistent with his demeanor during all other rejections. I don't believe that he actually called an audible at the very last minute.

It doesn't really bother me if he (or any contestant) doesn't fall in love. If anything maybe he is just normal. I have always thought that its strange that these people fall so madly in love in such a short time and under crazy circumstances. So maybe his decision isn't all that surprising, being that he has always seemed like a pretty normal guy. The thing is, what I remember most about this season is how he always treated all the girls. He was always a gentleman, and always very careful with his words. He hated hurting any of the girls along the way. It seemed like more than anything he always wanted to do the right thing and say the right thing. He loved that these ladies were falling for him and he always talked about how serious he was about finding a wife. But I don't think he was as serious as he thought. If he were really being true to himself, then he would have opened up more, and been willing to take risks and fall in love. His decision shows me that he wasn't really ready or willing to fall for a girl. He had two beautiful women that he got along with great, falling for him and chose not to lock it up. The funny part of it is that all he ever tried to do is look like a good guy and do the right thing. And the way he went about revealing his final decision made him look like anything but that.

Honestly, until he makes some changes, I don't know how he is ever going to find a wife. He was in a good situation, but decided not to take a chance. Its like he enjoys the thought of marriage and the chase more than the relationship itself.

tonight's finale of The Bachelor

Tonight is the finale of the The Bachelor. Like the previous 11 seasons, you can search the web all you want, but you will have a hard time finding out who will win. They seem to do a pretty good job about not leaking any information and preventing a spoiler. All I was able to find was a bunch of predictions. They are advertising it as the most shocking finale. I know they probably always do this, but this also sort of makes me think something out of the ordinary may occur. That would mean he either choses neither of them or the one he chooses says no. Or maybe, he chooses both and they go right to the hot tub... I am rooting for Deanna although I think both girls have a chance to win. All along I have felt that they were the two leading ladies. Clearly there has always been a physical chemistry between Brad and Jenni (the Phoenix Suns dancer.) They have always gotten along very well and have a lot of fun together. I am just not convinced that is enough. Unlike most previous Bachelors, Brad seems to value more than just the physical things. And I think that is where Deanna has the edge. She appears to be more independant and perhaps Brad sees traits more consistent with that of his ideal wife. Or maybe that is just abc misleading the audience... In any event I was a bit surprised last week when the women told all. At the end of the show, the host asked all the other girls who they expected to be selected and the votes were split nearly 50-50. I understand a few of the girls probably voted based on personal experience (Jenni and Deanna weren't the two most popular girls in the house) but I also expected them to come to more of a consensus. Feel free to cast your vote on the newly added Bachelor Poll on this page; then watch tonight to see if your prediction is correct.

the joys of coaching

i never really had much of an opinion on phil jackson; i didnt really like or dislike him. that is, until now... after surrendering a loss to the spurs on tuesday night where his team gave up 13 three pointers, jackson said "we call this a 'brokeback mountain' game, because there's so much penetration and kickouts." for once i dont know exactly what to say back to that, other than its pretty funny and i can see how it was an inappropriate thing to say. he redeemed himself the following night before the teams next game, saying " if i've offended any horses, Texans, cowboys or gays, i appologize." i did find this picture of phil instructing MJ how to accept a pass...

in other news the wyoming football coach flipped the bird to his opponent on saturday. joe glenn was unhappy with utah's coach kyle whittinghams decision to kick an onside kick with a 43-0 lead over his team. and on the surface i can see why joe was pissed, but glenn had no one to blame for the poor sportmanship but himself. it was he who publicly guaranteed a victory over utah- with the utes and their coaching staff obviously taking offense. to see more, including the incident itself, check out this video.

something i dont think is cool

i typically read cnn.com during the day sometime, just to check out what is happening. well today i feel i was mislead. on the main page, there was a link in the latest news section to a story that said "9-year-old shoots, kills playmate"

and so i clicked on it. it turns out that two young kids were playing in an attic and one accidentally shot the other. it is a very sad story, but it angered me. i wasnt mad at the story itself, but a the news station who provided the article to cnn.com. I understand that if two 10 year old kids are playing, they are playmates. but i also feel that the title of their article is misleading. they used the word playmate because people think Playboy Playmate.

on one hand i appreciate the savvy used by the writer to attract interest to the article. after all, isnt that the purpose of a headline? (and yes, it worked in this case, i probably wouldnt have clicked on a story about a kid shooting another kid. but this is news, and their job is to report it not to trick people) i think that as a news reporter, one should be respectful. in this case there is a kid who was accidentally killed, and a mourning family and community, and it seems to me that all someone cares about is getting page views (or links, referrals, shout outs, whatever...) i am basing that soley on the word choice in the headline. and dont get me wrong, i love good puns and love to make jokes and laugh. i just dont think this type of story is an appropriate one to be sneaky.

i am also purposely not providing the link or the name of that station. however, if you are interested here is the story as reported by a competitor: AltoonaMirror.com

i wonder if there are any professional news reporters or journalists out there reading this that have an opinion...

what month is it?

I am thrilled the red sox won the world series again. even better is that i was lucky enough to attend game 1 of the WS in boston (read more about it here.) but if there is one good thing about baseball season ending, it is the end of those horrible commercials. yes fox, we know each month occurs only once per year. although i am curious how fox would fit multiple octobers into a single calendar year- would they shorten other months or lose a month all together... and where would they put it? the other issue i had with those commercials is i think the address was http://www.actober.com/. and they never really addressed this. i always assumed it had something to do with acting but i wouldnt know because they never mentioned anything about it. they clearly said (many times) there is only one october but the address was a different word.

in any event the end of october signifies the beginning of national beard month. so happy Noshavemeber!

also if you are looking for fun ideas for this month check out this page. pay special attention to the november extras listed on the right side of the page.

good times with referrals

while on blogcation for 6 months, i gave up blogs all together. it wasn't just my blog that i neglected, i didn't read any blogs other than those on espn, which don't really count as blogs. in my book, those are columns- that is you are an expert in the field paid to write regularly about that specific topic.

well it was the baseball playoffs that brought me back to blogville. i had been discussing the playoffs with the writer of mlbbaseblogg and he encouraged me to check out one of his recent posts. i agreed and not surprisingly began casually perusing other blogs. my original reason for the cold turkey approach to all things blogs was that i felt like if i had time to read other blogs then i had time to write my own. after i found myself reading blogs again, i decided to get back on the horse.

anyways, during my blogbbatical i also stopped checking the sitemeter stats on this blog. during my peak traffic times (such as mustache day) it was fun to check out how various people had found my blog. i saw a post on erics blog about a search that led someone to his blog. naturally i checked my stats and was shocked to see that someone was lead to my blog through this search. thats right, if you google "mack looks like" you get this webpage. while part of me feels like that is pretty cool, the other part of my cant help but wonder what the searcher was looking for.

for those of you who watch the bachelor, who do you want to win? i have liked the two finalists the most the entire season, so i am happy that they have made it this far. i also think its worth noting that they were the only two ladies who openly said they wanted the other girls to go home. i was sort of glad they said that when they did. while they were being kind of competitive and a case could be made they seemed like they wanted to win more than they wanted to fall in love, i can't hold their honesty against them. after all, they aren't there to make friends.

new music

i love when two things you like come together to form another thing you like. like for example, enrique iglesias and ping pong. everyone knows i have liked EI and his music for a long time. i also enjoy playing table tennis, although i havent played much recently. anyways, for those who havent heard it, i suggest you listen to Do You Know? by Enrique.

you know you missed me

hi friends, if you are still out there. i want to appologize for not posting in half a year, i have just been busy with things more important than this blog. and there is no one to blame except my blog itself. it got jealous of all my activities and told me to chose between it and other stuff. so i sat it down, looked it right in the monitor, and asked it if it saw the redskins game last weekend.

after 6 lonely months with a story about falling, it emailed me last week and told me it was sorry and asked if i would come back to it. i agreed, explaining that it would only be a part time thing. i asked the blog if it had a problem with me writing less often than in the past. it responded with an email that was only three words. the email said: It's Not Wrong

Miss USA falls to fifth place

I was watching the Miss Universe pageant the other night when Miss USA fell down. I was absolutely shocked and super excited at the same time. I have known for years that if I were in one of those competitions, that I would trip on purpose. I have been taking intentional spills for years. I have done it in restaurants, amusement parks, movie theaters, even in touch football games. And while Miss USA's was likely accidental, I would like to share my thoughts on intentional falls. (I hope there isn't an unwritten code among fallers and if so i apologize for what I am about to share...)

Let me say right off the bat that pretty much anytime there is a group of people watching it is appropriate. It starts with some subtle action that gets attention. If you are in the movie theater this means a louder than average whisper to everyone around you notifying them that you are going to the bathroom (or to refill your drink or popcorn, etc.) This slightly disturbs everyone around you, but only enough for them to notice you, not enough to bother them. If you are in a restaurant, when getting up from your chair you would want to bang it into the table or make some noise while pushing it in after you have stood up.
Now that the stage is set, you need to look intense. If you are having trouble understanding this, simulate that you need to get to the bathroom immediately or are going to answer the phone. There needs to be some urgency and intensity for a good fall. Before you move into your fall, you also need to check around the area for potential causes like steps or a change in flooring(you need to convince your audience it is real.) The other advance scouting that you need to do is for items that can cause you harm. You need to stay clear of sharp objects, edges, and slippery surfaces that can do damage. The entire joke is on you if you injure yourself while fake falling (reminds me of Jim Edmonds playing the outfield...)
The most important falling technique that you will want to employ is exceptional body control. In a real fall peoples arms and legs flail, sometimes uncontrollably (also feel free to spill a drink or throw popcorn...) I know I sometimes look for this body motion when watching soccer. There are tons of people diving trying to draw fouls but when someone gets taken down for real its not graceful and their legs are rarely straight and together. To reiterate, you don't want to risk injury. This is just a tip for experienced and advanced fallers.
The last crucial element to a good fall is how you handle the fall. You have to remember that you are trying to look like you didn't fall on purpose so you need to act exactly how a person who fell on accident would look. In other words you need to look embarrassed and be trying to play it off so keep your head down and quickly get out of sight without smiling. You want to make the audience think that they caught you falling. You can't ever let them know that they fell for your joke. The best falls are the ones where people don't believe that you did on purpose. For people who don't know you, they may never believe you. So you have to understand this going in and be able to accept that you might be the only person who actually knows. In that sense it is a very unselfish joke. You may be the butt of many future jokes, but you will always know that it is you who has the superior ability to create laughter.

you know what they say about big hands...

After reading this article it should be no surprise to anyone that knows me that my hand looks like this:

American Idol Finale

With the finale of American Idol on tonight, I thought I would share my view on the two finalists. From the beginning I have liked Blake, especially his ability to modernize otherwise boring songs. Some probably fault him for this, claiming all his songs sound the same. And to those I say that you are right, but at least he has a style that is his own. I get the impression that when he does make his own records that is what they will sound like so it doesn't bother me. Jordin has also become one of my favorites as the season went along. I think it was because of her combination of singing ability and youthful charm. All the other good singing contestants were old and boring. I never found myself rooting for any of them no matter how well they could sing.

I think that Jordin will win, but that in the end it won't matter. It seems like most seasons there are a few singers who launch themselves into the music scene and start a career. And I think that will happen for both of these contestants.

For those who can't resist, check the prediction website that I linked once before in this post.

one of those guys you just know you dont like

the two main reasons that i never liked the band Creed was because of their music and because of their lead singer. luckily i hadn't heard anything about either in a long time until i read this.

interesting video

The creators of this video left a comment left on MBB about the mini-beard.

The Botchelor final 2 roses

Last night the Bachelor eliminated Danielle I. I did not find this surprising given that he really likes BHT and that Bevin really likes him. That left normal Danielle as the odd women out, go figure. According to Amanda, A-ball already hit a home run with Bevin. Which reminds me, as a side note to future Bachelor contestants, dont sleep with the bachelor. It does not increase your chances, in fact it probably decreases them. Now AB can select BHT and its a win-win. He got with the girl he was attracted to, but yet he will be able to pick the girl he really wants to be with.

I think the final decision is classic bachelor finale drama. He has BHTessa, who he really likes and gets along with. He is really attracted to her and has been trying to get her to like him the entire season. Then he has Bevin, who has really like Andy the entire season. He seems to really like both of the girls, but he is caught between going for the safe/smart choice, and the risky pick. There is typically one girl who you know really has fallen for him and will do anything for him. Then the other has sort of stood out with her resistance to fall head over heels over him all season. And this only makes the bachelor more attracted to her. But it is a classic final decision.

Here are the 10 bachelors including a-bal and what i remember about their final choices:
Alex Michel (dont remember the choices, but didnt take Trista. no risky choices that i remember)
Aaron Buerge (didnt take the hot southern blonde who was in love with him, instead opted for NJ girl that wasn't as into him)
Andrew Firestone (selected Jen who was a good choice but maybe not as open as other girls)
Bob Guiney (didnt watch this season)
Jesse Palmer (cant remember much of this season either, but i think he took that blonde girl)
Byron Velvick (i think this season worked out for real, probably because he was older)
Charlie O'Connell (cant remember this season)
Dr. Travis Lane Stork (picked the 'safe' choice of sarah, who was rated higher on paper but it appeared he lacked chemistry with...)
Prince Lorenzo Borghese (lobo bozo took jen instead of sadie. what a botch, still dont understand that one...)
Andy Baldwin (BHT or Bevs?)

I think ABal ends up taking Tessa, and it could work out. I think she is normal for being slow to fall in love with Andy and I dont blame her for this. It just makes her unique for these reality dating shows where people fall in love in 2 weeks on 4 dates.

on this date...

On May 15, 1998, Billy Copeland aka "The Rocket Man" (pictured celebrating March 23rd) set a record on a skateboard by going 70 mph. He did this by attaching rockets to his board. If you are interested, you should check out his website.

double bogey

Looks like Todd McCorkle quit his job as the Georgia Women's golf coach. This does not seem surprising considering he showed his team the Paris Hilton sex video. I am trying, but just can't imagine a scenario where that would be appropriate.

guess who's back

I appologize to both of my regular readers for the recent lack of posts. my schedule has been pretty busy and i just havent been able to make time for my blog. as a way to get back into blog mode, i am going to comment on a few random things that are on my mind.

-the survivor finale was absolutely terrible. every year i forget how much i hate the jury part of tribal council. i can't believe how bitter everyone gets. my number 1 most hated thing about survivor is that at the end of the season, all the people who have been voted off try to bring up dirt on the remaining players. they accuse them of lying and being sneaky. now i have never been on survivor, but i am pretty sure that is how you play the game. the reason that those bitter people are asking the questions (and not answering them) is because they were not as good at being shady as the others. i get so frustrated by it. last night it was especially bad, with lici, alex and boo highlighting the annoyingness. and on the other side dreamz was jsut as bad. all anyone wanted was him to admit that when he made the deal with yao that he intended to keep it. then he thought about it and decided against it. instead he tried to act like he was playing yao all along. you mean to tell me that when he was talking to the camera immediately after the deal about having his son watch the show and keep his word, he was lying? i highly doubt it and thought it was totally clear that initially he intended on keeping his word.

-i think that the big-faced girl will win the botchelor. the problem remains that she doesn't like him, but i don't see that being a huge problem until the show ends. i though it was strange that amber (i think that was her name) parents didn't want to be on the show. i can understand that they may not support this type of show, but i thought it was kind of a dagger. instead of meeting the parents A-Bal was stuck hanging out with a couple of college girls. i really think if she had normal parents and it went well that she could still be around. which goes to show you why these shows do not have a high success rate for building lasting relationships.

-i went to this nerd conference a few weeks ago and arrived late. as a result i took the first seat i could find which was cramped between a woman and the orally loudest guy i have ever met. this guy made so much noise that after an hour or two i moved. it kind of reminded me of when my dog eats something he shouldn't. you know, the constant trying to swallow action combined with jaw/saliva motion. or when he is chewing on his bone, you just hear lots of mouth noises. the first few minutes i thought maybe he had dumped a box of nerds, two tablespoons of peanut butter, and some saltines into his mouth and was trying to eat them all at the same time. but then i realized he wasnt eating anything, he was just constantly moving his tongue and lips around. all this noise combined with my physical position of straddling two sets of posts at the connection of two adjacent tables caused me to go crazy.

-monica and dave made the trip down this way last week and stopped by in the LeBaron to meet carlos and eat a meal of food at eggspectations. as usually i was very eggcited to go there and the food did not disappoint. however, the service was eggceptionally slow and the waitress scrambled to keep up with her tables.

the grass is always greener

i have very little tennis experience, but i have never seen anything like this. side note: in case you didnt know i think federer is sweet. mainly because of his total dominance on the court, but i think his awesomeness extends off the court. i cant find it online but there was an article about him in SI from early april (this is the best i could find.)

bears, beets or battlestar galactica?

i have been really busy this week and out of the office three days and have not made time to write, but have a post or two in mind that i will try to work on soon. also i think part of my toe nail is going to fall off soon.

quick thoughts on TV from last night: the office was so great as always. my favorite parts were the very beginning and very ending. on survivor it was pretty entertaining to watch the pathetic attempts of alex and mookie. in the end i was glad that alex stayed. i dont like him or mookie, but i thought alex's strategy of voting for mookie warranted his survival. i dont know why mookie didn't think of that...

AI is now sans-jaya

i would be remiss to not mention that sanjaya was eliminated from american idol. while this does not upset me, i am a little surprised. i dont think he had been in the bottom 3 in recent weeks and figured he had some support that would carry him a few more weeks.

i am always surprised by how different the voting is from one week to the next. i always though most idol fans picked a favorite and voted for him/her, regardless of performance. i wonder how many voters are actually casting a vote based on the performance of that week. it would seem to me that those voters would not be be the obsessive ones who cast many votes. i am not sure why i think that, but it is my hypothesis that the people voting over and over again are either loser howard stern fans or crazy teenage girls.

good stuff

Those of you who played Mouse Trap as a kid might enjoy this Honda ad. Apparently no computer graphics were used, and it took over 600 takes and 6 million dollars to create.

the ice is extra

I noticed something that bothered me today at Dunkin Donuts. The price of a regular small cup of coffee was $1.19. The price of a regular small cup of iced coffee was $1.39. The only difference is that the latter comes on ice (and as a result less coffee). I don't drink coffee, but I want to go in there and order a hot cup of coffee with ice.

more like The Botchelor

I am not a huge fan of the newest Bachelor. He seems like a decent guy (although at times it can be annoying how giddy he is around good looking girls and i use the term good looking loosely as many of the girls he seems to be attractive to are booty) but I can't believe the choices he is making regarding the girls.

last night he eliminated the two girls who I liked the most. amanda was kind of quiet and reserved, but i still liked her more than the other girls. i do agree with botchelor that she did not really perform when called upon. Botchman would ask her to tell a story (that she just made reference to) and she wouldn't do it. i think she is probably too normal to be on a show like this and she felt kind of uncomfortable. overall i am not that mad she left, because she probably can do better than this guy. the other girl who left last night was erin. she was sort of a turn off because she had fake looking blonde hair and very much reminded me of one of the girls on girl next door. plus she claims to like racing cars but cant drive a stick... last week she was very ditzy but once her counterpart got eliminated got bounced she became more normal. i admit the 'alone time' they had this week was more difficult to watch than sanjaya singing, but i thought she had more potential than i originally thought. also he seemed to initially be in love with stephanie t (aka good uniform, bad helmet- that is a very good picture of her) and despite her slamming body i think she is totally gross. so if you were going to pick someone based only on their body, i have no idea how you can pick steph t and not erin.

my second favorite part of the show was when he had to bounce either peyton manning or big head tessa (who looks quite large if you only see her face.) they were on an aircraft carrier and a helicopter lands (and botchelor looks surprised as if he didn't know it was coming.) then he picks BHT and walks her to helicopter, leaving PM standing there freezing. after escorting MHT he does the in between jog-run hustle movement. for those who missed it it was great. he is moving in a fashion similar to walking, but sort of pumping his arms and trying to go fast without actually running. and the worst part is the camera shows the entire thing, but they really had no choice as the other options were a crying girl about to blow off the deck of a ship and another girl sitting alone in a chopper. so then, after he says goodbye to PM he does it again! it was funny, the exact same thing except this time we see it from behind.

my favorite part of the night (that we watched twice because it was so awesome) was one the group date with GUBH (stephanie t.) she doesn't get picked for the special alone time and she is shocked. the camera catches her reaction which is priceless. she actually opens her mouth while at the same time making the jealous/bitter/hate filled facial flex to show her disapproval. that alone was worth watching the entire 90 minutes.

i think amber is probably the best of the remaining contestants, although for her sake i am not sure i want her to win.

tricycle

The president of Mary Washington, William Frawley, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence (here is a more recent update.) Apparently he was caught while driving a car that had only 3 tires. This sort of reminds me of when D-Train was arrested after going to the bathroom in the middle of the road. This is nothing to joke about, but I think it is a reasonable assumption that you are doing something illegal if you are driving away from police with a tire missing.

you know you made it when

It used to be that only a small group of co-blogging friends (him, him and him) ever read this blog, then over time that group slowly increased. Well it seems now that more people come to this site from a google image search than not. In other words, a very slight majority of my readers are reading my blog for the first time.

Here are the two most popular routes to my blog:

Searching google images for burmese python (click on second image)
Searching google images for shaving armpit hair (check the fourth image)

Keep in mind these are search results, so the order of results may vary or change. But let me be honest, I like being the fourth highest ranked source for pictures of removing underarm hair. And the best part is they are not even my pictures, just pictures I that I linked. I understand searching for pictures of Antonella on the toilet, but I am SHOCKED at the number of people who search for pictures of armpit hair. Why are people not searching for pictures of wet nuts or shaky face? It's like people are actually using the internet for useful information!

taking it off on American Idol

I am not sure if I am the only only one who noticed that it looks like Haley is playing strip American Idol. It seems each week she removes one article of clothing. I heard next week they are installing a pole on stage to enhance the performances. (If that is true MF will probably be there- side note how awesome would it be if that did happen and then MF made it rain like Pacman Jones on American Idol.) If you want my opinion, I don't mind the way she dresses and I hope she makes it far in the competition. I think my favorite is still Blake, but she is in my top 3 or 4.

It should come as no surprise that Sanjaya was safe once again. I have mentioned him before, but his arrogance is really starting to bother me. I admit the thought had crossed my mind that he could be getting tons of votes from people in India. I have called customer service numbers and been rerouted to India, so it seemed like a possible explanation for his survival. But according to this article that is not true. Although I believe that people from India are not the reason he is still on the show, I do not think that the show airing a day later in India is the reason. I think they are certainly advanced and savvy enough to figure it out and vote for him if they wanted.

That discussion reminded me of another book that I am currently reading and recommend. Though not as good as WDIT, The World is Flat is very interesting. To confirm for those of you who know me and my tendencies- yes, that is two books I am reading.

quote of the day

"those pipes were especially wondrous"

I think that is excellent writing, although based on that quote you would probably never guess what this grammatical masterpiece (that also contains the words "crotch" and "sensibilities") is about. Too bad it didn't include the word moist. After Jewel, Christina A is probably one of my favorite female artists. I know it is often talked about these days, but remember years ago when she was in the huge shadow cast by B Spears?

In other entertainment news, I am reading this book and it is awesome.

long commute today

This morning my ride to work took especially long thanks to Zig Ziglar and some others who were getting motivated today. After my 20 mile ride took over an hour, I was relieved to be entering my parking garage. Then 2 of the 3 cars in front of me, who were halfway down a one way, 15' wide entrance tunnel, decided they changed their mind and no longer wanted to store their vehicle in the garage they entered. The best part about watching them all try and back out and then turn around, was that the entrance is at the intersection of 2 one-way roads. Not surprisingly, these navigational experts assumed that since they had no traffic signal they could do what they want regarding turning movements through the intersection. If only we could have been so lucky to have one of those worthless traffic cops trying to save the world at this signal...

American Dagger

I didn't mind seeing Chris S leave AI last night, but I am getting a bit frustrated with Sanjaya. At first it was funny having him on there. He was unique, soft-spoken, innocent, and a decent singer. But now it seems all he can do (when performing) is talk softly into a microphone. In my opinion he is (and has been for a few weeks) the worst singer remaining in the competition.

I understand that some people support that website that tries to have the worst singer win, and then others are trying to follow Howard Sterns request or whatever... And the best part of those people voting is that they are just as bad as the regular voters. I think they think they are so badass and cooler than regular AI voters. They hate AI and everyone who watches it. After all, normal AI voters spend 2 hours voting over the phone every Tuesday night. That is SOO much less cool than the Howard Stern fans who spend their Tuesday nights voting on American Idol!

Even though the Pro-jayas will never understand that, it doesn't really bother me. The thing that really gets me is Sanjayas newfound confidence. At least when he was innocent and sucked I felt sort of bad for him, and there was always a decent chance he would cry on stage. Now he seems to be coming out of his shell more and for some reason thinks he belongs. He has much more of an attitude, and is much more outspoken then in the past. And if he were like that in the beginning it wouldnt bother me. But right when he starts sucking big time and being out sung each week, he now feels like he is in a position to talk back to the judges and get all confident? Basically I can't stand him anymore. I want one of the judges to just be really mean for once... Except I fear that might result in a backlash and the Fanjayas would vote even more.

Happy Mustache Day

What an exciting day! Here are some of the participants of Mustache Day. Also, the all mustache first team was announced today... See you at happy hour (I will keep updating, please send in your pics)

2 more hours...

Sweet Dreams!

Mustache Day Anticipation

Our friends at SmithGroup would like to wish everyone a happy early mustache day!

Special thanks to Joe (bottom, center) who helped encourage his co-workers to participate in our celebration of the mustache. It is worth noting that I think Smithgroup employs the early favorite for the coveted Mustache of the Year.

3-23=MD

it's kind of official... or it was for a while. there seems to be something hairy going on with the wikipedia page for mustache growing competitions. in any case Happy Mustache Eve Day! Don't forget Mustache Day HH, its BYOM.

return to sender

at some time or another i have made the comment (or joked in some fashion) about calling someone for their phone number. without getting too complicated or technical (*69, cell phone entries, speed dial, etc.) the point is that to be talking you would have already dialed the answerer's number. aka there should be no reason to ask for it. well the reason i bring this up is because i was thinking about email signatures, something i have written about before. i noticed that many people include their email address in their email signature and i don't understand why. the only way for a email reader to see this information in your signature is if you successfully transmit an email to that person. and if that happens, don't they already know your email address?

More Smithgroup Photos

Viva Rock Vegas

to all my loyal readers- i am going to be in vegas this weekend, so i probably wont be posting until early next week. enjoy your weekend!

Mustache Day

Just a reminder, Mustache Day is March 23. To celebrate, there will be a Mustache Day Happy Hour at JD's in Canton at 6:00. Awards (if warranted) may be given for the following categories:

Most Unusual Mustache
Bushiest Mustache
Dirtiest Mustache

and of course

Mustache of the Year

I hope to have pictures to share from the celebration.

American Idol Update- guys

I was thinking about my AI boys prediction and saw I was 5/6 on the guys. The only person I was wrong about was arguably the worst remaining contestant. But I am not very upset about it, because I had Paul (who was my least favorite) moving on instead of Sanjaya.

more news from the district

CUA is back in the news- although this time not because of the American Idol contestant or partying sports team. (Side note, I am pretty sure there are at least a dozen dimple balls in the woods behind right field of the softball field where the remains were found) I find the actions of 'Tony' interesting... he finds a skull and puts it in a bag and walks down the street to 7-Eleven where he shows it off to people. Then he decides he no longer wants it. So he throws it in the dumpster, being described as "acting like he found something he didn't want to find."

At first I was thinking it is strange of him to go from so happy to find it (and carry it down the street to show it off) to not wanting to be responsible for it. But I can't blame him for not wanting to stick around and wait for the police. He could have a history with them or perhaps has done some other things that he doesn't want them to know about. Likely they would be interested in discussing only the head, but he may not know that and just wants to protect himself.

baby daddy

i commented a long time ago about tom b becoming single... and then not long after it was revealed that his ex was pregnant. he since started dating gisele, and today i read this. how crazy would that be?

just some thoughts

-i saw on SI today that there are new nike basketball uniforms coming out that are much tighter than previous versions. I don't think they look that bad, except the shorts seem especially baggy given the tighter shirt.

-my cell phone has a demo version of texas hold em on it and often when i have a few free minutes at work (aka in the restroom) i play. since it is a trial version i can play only 2 hands and then have to quit or purchase the program. one of the options is to play a limit cash game. the blinds are 10-20 and you start with 1000 chips. i am up over 8000 chips which i consider pretty remarkable. granted the play of the opponents is pretty bad, but that is 175 BB. given that its only two hands at a time, once a day (although sometimes i do play 4 or 6 hands) less than 5 days a week that's not too bad.

-i am thinking that it is not that strange for me to use my phone in the restroom but for some reason i feel a bit weird about talking about it. well i know a bunch of other people who work here do it also. in fact, yesterday ben left his on the shelf in the stall and there was an announcement over the intercom in the office that said "if you left your cell phone in the men's bathroom stall, i have it at the front desk..." that was a funny thing to hear and even better when ben told me it was his.

word verification

i dont like when you are doing something on the internet (buying tickets, posting comments on blogs, etc.) and you have to enter text that you see in an image to prove that you are a human and not some computer. i understand why this step exists (some googling led me to captcha) but it frustrates me. i especially hate when i can't decipher the letters. on the right is an example of difficult/confusing word verification.

thoughts on my way into work today

-whenever i am in the elevator, i see a sign that says something like 'persons carrying lighted tobacco products in this elevator are subject to a fine not to exceed $25.' the exact language might be slightly different, but you get the idea. i don't know the origin of that law, but i would have to speculate that when smoking was banned in buildings people started smoking in the elevators. the trouble is $25 doesn't seem like that much of a penalty, especially for smokers who spend tons of money on smoking supplies. if i were a wealthy smoker and the weather was really bad outside, i might prefer to pay $25 to smoke inside as opposed to freezing. basically, what i am saying is that since it is probably rarely actually collected, they might as well just make the fine $250.

-it seems that someone added 4 more air fresheners to our restroom. i don't mind these, but it seems to me that 4 is more than is needed. plus they are all placed next to each other on the sink, far from the toilets. and they are adjacent to 4 other cans of various aerosol air fresheners.

-the bus accident in atlanta happened on an intersection exactly like the one being built in maryland... (that i am working on)

-on uniwatch, there was a post about shoelaces that reminded me of when roger clemens wore ninja turtles shoelace holders on his shoes. i was in 7th grade and i went out and bought them also, and wore them for a few months on my shoes.

interesting predictions courtesy of Dial Idol

Dial Idol predicts that Brandon and Nick will be voted off tomorrow. Based on what I saw, that would not be surprising [then again i have never voted on AI.] That site is pretty interesting though, users can upload the program and use it to speed dial votes via your modem. I guess the analysis it provides is based on the rate of busy signals... anyways, if you are nerdy and care to read about it you can find answers to most of your questions here.

If you want to know my opinion of last night, I liked Blake and Chris R the best. I thought Brandon was sort of weak (although he picked another awesome song, just not AI awesome) and Sanjaya was terrible. I think S-jaya has a good voice, but it is so awkward it's almost painful to watch when he sings. Chris S still looks like he belongs on The Family Guy, but he did alright. I just don't like him as much as others seem to. AJ seemed kind of female and diva-like the way he constantly moved his neck. I thought the bald guy Phil was good. Jared did well and sung another money song, but i think it was said that he lives at home with his parents, which he seems kind of old to be doing... Sundance was strong, but he was bad 5 times in a row, so eventually he had to do better. Finally Nick was average. I think SJaya and Nick should be bounced.

thanks for nothing CSP

today something happened for the first time in a long time: i ate lunch alone. when i first started working i often ate by myself. i didnt mind it at all, and would usually pick up a newspaper. from time to time i would meet a friend who worked downtown, but i didnt worry about it too much. then morgan moved to baltimore and got a job down the street and since then we have eaten together most days. also since then eric started working here, as did ben and bingo. so it is rare these days for me to eat lunch alone. but dont think that this is a cry for sympathy, because i am not complaining. rolling solo i had unlimited options for lunch today, and the world was my oyster (i will be perfectly honest i dont not know what that means and cant think of a possible meaning or origin, but i think i used it properly.)

after much contemplation, i settled for cafe saint paul (CSP). it is kind of boring since it is actually in the lobby of my building, but it has been there for almost 2 years and i hadn't been.

when i entered i was optimistic; the place was bumping. there were 3 or 4 people waiting for their sandwiches and another 3 people in line about to place an order. i got in line and scoped out the menu. i breezed down the menu and wasnt sure what i wanted. then i saw the 'specials' board. this was the daily features, although i think all of the things listed on this list were actually listed elsewhere on the menu. aka they werent actually specials. anyways, i get to the third option on this board: cajun chicken wrap. bingo! no need to worry abotu that anymore, so imy eyes make their way over to the chip stand. baked lays with cheddar and sour cream... combine this with a natucket nectars half and half (more appropriately known as the arnold palmer) and it sounds like a delicious lunch. i order my food and slide to the left, heading towards the register. while waiting, i notice the cajun chicken on the menu. the last 3 words in the description caught my eye: spicy honest mustard. i enjoy h mustard, but i dont like mustard very much. also spicy mustard does not bring me pleasure. fearing the H in the h mustard would be too spicy, i quickly place a request to the sandwich artist asking for her to refrain from applying said condiment on my wrap. she smiles :-)

by this point the pleasure i am already getting is great. it is then i start brainstorming a mental list of websites that i am going to read while eating my wrap at my desk. i pay and head back towards the elevators. i see a bunch of annoying looking old guys entering the third elevator, so i intentionally slow my stride to not make it into their elevator (i am not even sure if they would have waited anyways) when the first elevator door opens and my personal express elevator awaits me.

during the walk to my desk i experience scamperitis. for those who don't know, in this phenomenon, a certain feeling that you have grows inversely proportional to the square of the distance between yourself and the source of this feeling. the most common occurance (from which the name is derived) is when you are headed for the bathroom. you could be 10 miles from your bathroom, and the feeling is one of relief. at 10 miles, you want to be at the bathroom, but it is not a big deal. at 1 mile, the feeling is 100 times strong than it was at 10 miles, but it is still tolerable. as you can see, the feeling grows faster and faster, based only on your location. then inside of a tenth of a mile you start moving your body in an unnatural way to avoid disaster. whether you like it or not, you begin to scamper.

anyways, i am filled with excitement to eat my lunch until the time i open it. dagger. it turns out that cajun chicken wrap is apparently freezing cold chicken salad, in a wrap, sprinkled with cajun spices. i am so let down. i dont like chicken salad (or egg salad, or tuna salad, etc.) i was expecting warm grilled chicken. i give it a shot anyways, and manage to get half of it down. it isnt all together terrible it is just not what i ordered. i google cajun chicken wrap and verify that i am not being unreasonable by expecting my sandwich to not have chicken salad based only on the name. my lunch went from awesome to not awesome so quickly. and i will not be eating at CSP again... atleast i got a blog entry out of it.

and i am thinking that the blame might be on me. its likely that the description says something about chicken salad. but i am certain the 'specials' sign did not... oh well. if you want my advice, if you are in the sandwich industry and are serving a cajun chicken wrap, dont use chicken salad. and if you are using chicken salad for any item, include the name 'salad' somewhere.

oh cua...

for those who haven't heard already there is much noise surrounding american idol contestant antonella barba. it seems there are some pictures of her going around on the internet, including one in the bathroom on the toilet and one on vacation with her friends. since i know you are going to search around for them anyways, here they are;
honestly i dont think there are a big deal. my reaction to the first one is why does she need so much toilet paper? i feel like that picture could very well have been taken at a party at the cloisters. there were probably a bunch of college students hanging out and someone thought it would be funny to bust in and snap a picture. its not the worst thing that has happened at a cua party [side note, i am pretty sure i knew i saved those pictures for a reason, i couldnt find them anywhere with a quick google search...] and i am over the second picture. if anything, i feel bad for the other people in the picture, in particular anyone who might find the picture less than flattering.

i could see why in the american idol scene these photos are less than desirable, but they are not nearly as bad as some other things that contestants have done...

American Idol 2007

I just watched the guys perform and here are my thoughts on the contestants:

AJ
I immediately became not a fan because he came out with his collar popped. i thought he sang alright, but nothing too awesome. i was too distracted by his shirt to listen to the music. i dont know if he will make the top 6. its annoying how they always bring up the fact that he tried out 5 times.

Blake
I liked Blake going in, mainly because of his beat boxing. This makes him different, although I was unsure if he could even sing. i think he has a lot of musical experience. tonight he seemed pretty strong when he sang a song that i did not expect. I hope he makes it to the top 6. i

Brandon
He was alright, i think he can sing but i dont like or dislike him. he is fairly normal and like many of the other contestants this season i think he has a lot of experience.

Chris R
I like this guy and he seems solid. And although it was sort of hard to actually hear him sing tonight, i thought he did a good job. i would like to see him make the top 6.

Chris S
He reminds me of a cartoon character, and I cant believe how old he is (like i should talk...) I think his personality got him pretty far, and now its up to his voice. then again, taylor hicks made it all the way and got extra votes for being diffferent. so that will probably help chris s. i cant root against this guy, but he will need to continue to prove he can sing for me to root for him. oh, and lose the stinger. just because its the only place you can grow hair doesnt mean it looks good.

Jared
I didnt really like this guy much, until he sang Brian McKnight. I love BMcK, so I started liking him tonight. I didnt think he sung it that well, but i still found myself rooting for him (note, its so easy for me to like you on AI. either be hot or sing a song that i like...) i also thought it was funny that one of the judges said 'that was how brian mcknight would sing it.' but brian mcK did sing it, and it didnt sound like Jared. am i missing something? despite the song, i dont see him making it without some improvements.

Nick
I still am not sure why this guy quit last year, but you would think they would say since they bring it up everytime he is on the screen. he sung alright, i didnt love the performance but i didnt hate his voice either. i dont really like him too much, although i suspect he is a bosox fan and if that is the case he might be alright. i also liked when he said vote for pedro.

Paul
what is up with the double first name this season? half the guys have it, including this guy. for some reason i really didnt like this guy tonight. i am not sure what it is. it was probably either his singing or his personality. and its also annoying how he is trying to make being barefoot 'his thing.' i am pretty sure that was invented a long time ago. and its about on par with making a self proclaimed nickname. i hope he goes home.

Phil
when he was singing he kind of looked like my dog. that being said, i still liked him (even though he missed the birth of a child for this...) i liked him going in, and i thought he was solid tonight (the judges seemed to like him a lot.) it seems a lot of the contestants are older this year...

Rudy
how can you not root for a guy named rudy? i liked him in the tryouts although i was disappointed to hear that he is a professional singer. fair or not, i expect more from people who are singers before AI. anyways, he lost the soul patch and sung alright. not great, but not as bad as many of the others, so i hope he hangs around a while.

Sanjaya
this guy seems so young and innocent. he has a good voice, but its sometimes awkward and emotionless. which is strange because all they ever talk about is when he cried. i think he should trim his hair. i dont think he should move on, and i will be surprised if he does.

Sundance
all this guy does is not sing well. he sung well once and somehow he outlasted thousands of other people. once again tonight he disappointed. he doesnt seem to have much personality, just the ability to perhaps occasionally belt out a song. i havent seen it, and honestly i dont think he deserves any more chances. if he does stick around maybe he will show what the judges see in him, but for now i am not impressed.

here is who i want to move into the next round:
rudy
phil
jared
blake
chris r
chris s

here is who i think will move into the next round:
phil
paul
chris s
chris r
brandon
blake

here are morgans top 6 predictions
AJ, Blake, Chris S, Brandon, Jared, Chris R

my predicted eliminations for this week: sanjaya and jared

she's not that innocent

as i am sure you know by now, brittney spears went crazy and chopped off all of her hair. in honor of the pop princess, this afternoon kyle and i decided to do the same. here is what the sink looked like afterwards...
and here is how i look now

weekend at wisp

Got back from a long weekend at Wisp with Brian and Joanna. We had a great time ripping the slopes, relaxing in the hot tub, and dominating Racko... The weather was super cold, and I think over a foot of snow fell (it was snowing the entire weekend.) We ate and drank very well, my only advice would be to not hold out for the creme brulee!

celebrate!

Happy International That's What She Said Day!

swing and a miss

i was supposed to attend a meeting tomorrow morning in delaware. since it starts early in the morning, and is about 2 hours away, work got me a hotel room. the timing wasnt great, as it was valentimes day, but morgan was understanding and so i planned on attending. we left work and ate dinner on the way home, because i needed to get on the road.

on our way home, there was more snow, and the roads were not in great shape. i was having second thoughts about driving out there tonight based on what i saw on the ride home. i thought of many reasons as to why i should or shouldnt go. well after about an hour of deliberation ( i am seriously downplaying the time i spent deciding... ) i decided to go. i hurried my stuff into the car and left. as i was leaving my neighborhood i considered getting gas (right across the street) but then decided not to. i didnt really need gas at that moment but knew i would for my trip. well as i approached the bay bridge i decided i should fill up the tank. it was getting low, but more importantly i wanted to get it in a place where i was familiar, as opposed to being low on gas in the middle of the eastern shore (i was going to take small roads for most of the way once over the bridge.) as i exited 50, i reached for my wallet. turns out it wasnt in my pocket. i had changed pants (into jeans for the ride) and forgot it at home. i seriously yelled the word 'dagger' out loud in the car. i checked the change and at first glance i estimated i had slightly over 5 bucks. probably just enough to get me enough gas to get to where i needed to go (total trip about 100 miles, bay bridge being about 30 or so miles in) i usually get about 30-35 mpg...

anyways, after some more consideration, i turned around and came back. i wasnt looking forward to checking into a hotel sans credit card. i think i could have somehow jack bauered it and made it work. but then i am not sure how i would have eaten tomorrow, or how i would have gotten gas for the ride home. not to mention if anything unexpected happened i would be without anything.

and the worst part is that since i waited so long to leave, it is too late now to turn back. i guess ultimately i made my decision. it just sucks because now i have to go into work tomorrow. and even though he wont be bitter, i am sure my boss will give me a hard time about not going. not so much that i didnt go, but that i called him and debated whether or not i should go because of the weather. and then finally decided to go only to end up not going.

at least i got to be home to celebrate valentimes day with morgan! now i need to go watch american idol and lost...

another CUA student

I am rooting for Antonella Barba (right, with her friend) on American Idol because she is a student at CUA. From what I have seen she is pretty good, and I heard through the grapevine a few weeks ago that she made the top 24 (which airs tonight). For anyone interested here is her page on myspace.

After writing that I sort of feel like a stalker. In other AI news I hope the beat-box guy Blake makes it through. He is pretty good I think, and its just fun to watch someone do something different.

to the left, to the left...

I hear that new Beyonce song on the radio a lot, and everytime I notice the same thing:

I could have another you in a minute
Matter fact he’ll be here in a minute

It reminds me of an old Beastie Boys song (Pass the Mic):

Everybody’s rapping like it’s a commercial
Acting like life is a big commercial

I think it sounds bad when you have a song that has words that rhyme, and then you throw in one two-line verse that ends in the same word. I know there are many other songs that have similar conditions, these are just two that came to mind first.

It kind of reminds me of a first grader's poem-

School is very fun
At recess I like to run
Lunch time is neat
My swiss cake roll is sweet
Math is cool
First grade is cool

not what i expected

This is not what I expected Katharine McPhee's first album cover to look like. I am not saying I mind at all, I am just saying it doesn't seem to match the image she portrayed on American Idol last year... I think I remember her lying on the ground and singing barefoot saying that was how she was most comfortable.

I confess that I probably will buy the album, since she was my favorite contestant from last season (along with Pickler). Although part of me does feel like she is 'selling out' a bit. I always got the impression she was not trying to be a pop princess. I assumed that the songs she chose were the type of songs that she enjoyed singing.

That being said, I don’t really hold this against her. Were I in her shoes (or knee length leather boots in this case) I would probably sing whatever song I could to produce a popular record.

shaky face

Here is a picture of Eric and I doing SHAKY-FACE:

Tony Dungy owes me $201

Like many other people, I participated in a Super Bowl squares pool this year. In fact, I was responsible for organizing it. In previous years I charged $1 per square. The trouble is that some people want to wager $5, $10, or even $20. And there is not much excitement when a few people have most of the squares. I know last year we ended up having 3 different pools, all with $1 squares. Inevitably, some people ended up buying more squares than they wanted, in an effort to complete the grids.

To avoid that this year, I made the executive decision that squares cost $5. Well, the first day or so all the real gamblers bought squares. Most bought about 2, with some purchasing 4. The trouble is by Friday afternoon we were stuck around 60 squares. I did a lap around the office and was able to get about 28 more purchased. The Ben and I pretty much bought the rest. I think together we were responsible for about 23 squares. Anyways, we were able to draw numbers before anyone left work so everyone was happy.

Sometimes I hate being the person in charge of these types of things. I think that over 75% of the people made the same two comments to me. They picked a square, and as they handed over the money they either "so, how much are you taking" or "i want your numbers." Now I know that nobody said this seriously. Every person said it as a joke. The thing is on the humor scale this joke is a zero. It is not funny. And I guess I just got sick of hearing it. I didn't enjoy spending 2+ hours on Friday struggling to get it filled out. Nor did i enjoy buying 3 times as many squares as I wanted to. Not to mention its simple math. There are 100 squares at $5 apiece. That's $500 in prizes. It said on the grid that the payouts were $100 for each of the first three quarters and $200 for the final score. That equals $500. Where would my cut come from? And 62% of the office was crowded around my desk while someone other than I drew the numbers. So there is no funny business happening there. I know I am taking this a bit too seriously, I am just venting because I was annoyed.

Needless to say I was lucky enough to win the third quarter, so I guess it was worth it. The total prize pool was a dollar short though. One entrant dropped by my desk with a stack of money. They had purchased 5 squares and paid using a variety of bills. I accepted the payment, but was working on something and did not bother to count it. As the person was leaving they requested that I count it to make sure it was all there. I think they counted if quickly and like I said, it wasn't a 20 and a 5. It was a bunch of smaller bills including some 1's. Wanting to get back to work, I fake counted it. I sort of fanned it out in my hands like a deck of cards and nodded. Later in the day I really did count it, and it was a dollar short.

Then I began thinking... was this a test? Did the guy know he was giving me $24 but wanted to see if I would catch it? It is possible that he was going to try and get away with it but felt guilty so he suggested I count it. Then when I made the mistake he felt like he was in the clear. I do not think this is what happened. The guy is an honest guy and I think he wanted me to count it because he may not have. Or he did but wasn't confident in his count. In any case, it was over 2 hours later when I realized. And I had 'counted' it in front of him. How could I go back to him now and say "oh, by the way, remember when I counted it right in front of you... yeah well you are a dollar short."

After winning the third quarter I was pretty happy, but I was in great shape to win the final score also. I had Colts 2 and bears 7. Then Vinatieri did the unthinkable and missed that FG to dagger my chances. But then I thought I was in position again, as the Colts drove down the field with 4 minutes left. All I needed was the Colts to score 3 more points and I won $200 more. They got into FG range and then went for it on 4th down. They were up by 12 points, and they didn't take the chip shot FG. I understand there is some risk in the FG, and that after the FG you would have to kick off to the Bears. But you would also be up by 15 points. You would be assured that you weren't going to lose in regulation. The Bears would need to score twice in under 2 minutes and get the 2 pt conversion on the second score. Instead Dungy opted to turn the ball over on downs and sit on his 12 point lead.

I cant blame Dungy for doing this, but I would have kicked the FG. Despite the early mishap on the extra point, I think the chances of making that kick were over 80%. I understand the counter argument, but I think the chances of the Bears scoring twice in either situation is slim. And so for me, if there is a 2% chance they score twice after a FG and a 1.9% chance they score twice without the FG, I would take the FG because at least those 2% of the time you don't lose. Without the FG, if they gave up two scores they lose. Period.

I think the real reason Dungy didn't kick the FG is the same reason Bill Joel strolled through the national anthem- he had the under (surprise the line was 47 points)

Oh yeah, and guess who won the final score square? The $24 guy...

you want the truth?

here is the latest news on this post from last week:

Toronto Star (thanks kb)
AOL (thanks dp)

nice try heather

check out this receipt i found in my desk at work today (some of you who contributed to the bill may have seen this before):

notice anything different? in case you missed it the waitress tried to pull a fast one. a big tab, to a group of guys... she went ahead and tacked on gratuity and then tried to be sneaky and cover it up, hoping to get tipped twice. i recognize the effort, but this is just shady. expecially when you are getting way too much of a tip for your poor service.

my advice to heather (the name of the server, atleast that is what it said on the top): maybe if you werent such a horrible waitress you wouldnt need to do things like this.

more animal news

Remember last month when I mentioned snakes and lizards? Well, they are both back in the news:

This is a strange solution to a problem. Apparently it is not all bad since he has two. Hmm, I wonder if that means he has four...

I am not sure that this is my idea of a relaxing message.

restroom choices and the people who make them

Before I begin, I wanted to give credit to sparks, who has already addressed this issue. I have thought about this a lot (on a daily basis actually) even before he ever posted about it. While he mentioned most of the key points, I wanted to share a few of my own thoughts.

There are many factors when choosing where to go the bathroom. I remember when I first saw this game, which covered most of the basic strategy. At my work, however, there are only 2 urinals (U) and 3 restroom stalls(S). They are along the wall, and for this discussion lets call them U1, U2, S3, S4, and S5. When using the urinals, the choice is fairly easy; in fact some would contend it doesn’t matter. I tend to agree, but could see why some prefer U1. The reason is only because U2 has the potential to be right up against S3, so in theory your feet might be within a foot of another restroom user. This might be a deciding factor in choosing between U1 and U2, but I actually opt for the cleaner choice.

In any case, the real decisions come in the area of the stalls. I would say that S5 (known as the VIP stall) is the top ranked stall in terms of facilities. It is the widest stall, and has hand rails (although who wants to touch them) on each side. S3 and S4 are equal, varying only in location. All three contain seat covers and dual action TP dispensing. I think that if all three are available, the most preferred stall is S5. It offers the most privacy and the most room. The only obvious negative is due to its location it is the stall that is most often, which increases the chances that someone will try to enter the stall while you are occupying it. This really only adds stress, as the locking mechanism is sufficient.

S4 used to be inoperable, because the lock was not functioning properly. However, due to recent maintenance upgrades the door is back in full swing. Previously you ran the risk of having the door open up while you were using the stall. S3 is what I call leadoff. This is because it is the first option presented when entering Stallville. Also, you are provided the least privacy in that every stall user passes by S3 and also because of the close proximity to U1 and especially U2. Depending on the degree of spread-eagleness used while in S3, it is theoretically possible that U2 and S3 could step on each others toes. Also, I have witnessed several co-workers number 1-ing in S3. I have never seen anyone number 1 in S4 or S5.

These are the physical considerations to make when deciding, but what is really important to an advanced user is the mental game. For example, in the case of emergencies, S3 is preferred. When you need to reach a stall as soon as possible, privacy and location go right down the tube. Another factor would be the mental cleanliness. I mean that if you know a lot of people have used the device before you, it is not delightful. I think S5 is the only choice that has ever ran out of TP, and the reason is because it is the most popular. If you are worried about sharing facilities with certain people, you are better off not using S5. Also S4 is stall-locked. If you don’t like having neighbors, than S4 becomes a non-option. Any future stall user will be located directly adjacent to you. On the other hand, if you are a footwear expert, this might also be called the information stall.

I think that S5 is the most popular, and until recently S3 was a fairly distant second. But as I said, S4 is back on the market and the usage is undergoing a re-distribution. I would say I visit the VIP stall the most, followed by S4 and then S3. I think a lot of S3 are creatures of habit. I don’t monitor everyone’s usage, but I will say I have seen a lot of the same people going into S3, and what’s more interesting is that I have never seen those people go in S4 or S5. I wish I could say I always choose S4, but sometimes it is just too hard to pass up the luxurious S5 and all that it has to offer.

Thoughts?