Saturday, March 31, 2007

Ben Howland's Head

I don't want to be unreasonable, but I must now demand Ben Howland's head. How can we look so crappy against Florida. Isn't this the same team we lost to last year in the Finals. Has Ben not had .. I don't know.. ONE YEAR to prepare for this.

He has now taken UCLA to the final four twice, with no championships to show for it. That is new record for the Bruins. No coach has gone o and 2 in the final four from the Bruins.

I don't mean to sound like an LA fan, but off with his head.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Birthday Opera

Who would have thought that those 2 words went together? I am not, usually, an Opera Fan. But last night we went to see Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance for my birthday. It was the New York Opera show and I had a great time.



The show was fun and very light. I knew about it mainly from the show in the 80's with Linda Ronstat, Rex Smith and Kevin Kline. It was really nice of Ed to bring me.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Oh... should have left the shirt on...

When Eddie and I first met, it was over making fun of a guy (surprise). He walked between us and he was all cute with a wife-beater on, a leather jacket over it and a flannel shirt tied around his waist. Ed and his friend swiveled their heads like they were attached to a lazy Susan.

Well, I went over and we all joked about things, then the guy walked back. He had shed (and apparently had checked) his leather jacket and now he was just a skinny-ish, pale dull guy in a tank top with a shirt tied around him that looked silly. Ed said (and this is when I knew it was fate) "Oh honey. Leave the jacket on. (turned to us) That's just sad isn't it."

You may wonder why that comes up. Well, they changed the ads for Tarzan from abstractly hot. To actually girly. Leave some things to the imagination.



Old Poster
(says to brain: I bet the lead is hot.)

New Poster
(says to brain: fake dreds? really? and why the pointed toe? and what is with the other arm.. you're not dragging a fur coat honey - you are swinging through the forest.. be prepared)

Monday, March 26, 2007

Outsourced Prayer Lines

So there are things that should be outsourced, and things that you don't expect. I expect "Bob" in tech support to be in India. I was surprised, but not shocked to learn that Indian Doctors review your chest x-rays and brain scans overnight. But a Prayer Line? A Christian Prayer line from a televangelist.?

Well, that is where the company India Prayer Solutions (in Mumbai) comes in. Apparently there "There aren't enough Americans willing to sit in the prayer tower and take calls anymore," says a prayer coordinator at a major ministry which jobbed out its prayer lines last year."

But some things need unique sight.

For example, you should not finish a prayer conversation with a poor sad, depressed Evangelical (I assume if you call a prayer line something is probably wrong) like this: Last month, Lori Danes, 43, called the prayer line of a major television ministry and requested prayer for her mother's persistent ulcers. But her prayer representative, who called himself "Darren," prayed in a strong Indian accent that "all the gods would bless her mightily."

How did Lori Danes feel? "I was stunned," Danes says. "It was like I'd called a demon prayer line."

Back from Palm Springs

Well, we are back from LA and Palm Springs for my birthday. More info later, but Lynn, Bradley, Muffin, Kathy, Chris and Tim all came to say hi.

It was great.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Why Being a Liar Matters

Last night Ann Curry was interviewing the President of Sudan about the problems in Dafur. This is a region where genocide (the systematic killing of an entire ethnic group) is occurring. Ann Curry showed pictures and videos of what was happening and asked the President to explain this in light of his assertions that it wasn't happening.

The President answered that these pictures were no different than the pictures of Weapons of Mass Destruction that Colin Powell showed the UN. They were, as those were, lies and fabrications.

This is what happens when your child lies and this is what happens when the administration lies. The difference being that your child grows out of it - and had very little belief anyway. The United States has hundreds of years of international truth and goodwill that George Bush has thrown in the shitcan and we won't grow out of this.

And the US, who should be able to mobilize the international community to work for good, gets to stand aside as hundreds of thousands in Dafur are displaced, killed and raped as a method of war. And that, ladies and germs, is immoral.

Poor Svetlana

The Pacific Life Open is done in the desert Rafeal Nadal became the youngest winner ever. He beat some Chilean to win, but he had to beat Andy Roddrick in the semi's. Here he is consoling Andy.



Scuute.
Here is the women's winner, Daniela from Slovakia is a cute and lithe winner. She is only ranked 14th in the world, but she has won the Pac Life Open twice in a row. She is a cutie. But wait until you see the moose she beat.




In her final match she had to play a Russian. It had all the underdog stories rolled into one. A 14th seed against the number 2 in the world. A Slovak valiantly playing against the woman from a country that had subjectugated them. And, of course, beauty verse the beast. I give you, poor, unattractive (and yet aptly named) Svetlana Kuznetsova.


Sunday, March 18, 2007

Dog and Cat Food Recall

I don't know if everyone saw the news, but there is a big old recall of dog and cat food. It is all made by Menu Foods, but sold under 40 different brands (including Stater Brothers, Ians, Nutro Max, etc.) It is for dog and cat food that are canned or pouched with cuts and gravy.

If you want to check, here is the recall data and the dog brands.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Scott Barely Avoids Death at the hands of Winter!

Ser-i-ous-ly.

Eddie and I were walking down 43rd street, la la la, happy go lucky. When suddenly people behind us start screaming, "WATCH OUT! WATCH OUT!"

Well, you never know where to watch out from. I assumed something was falling off the new building across the road (the new New York Times 80 story building). So I am freaking out, looking the wrong way. Eddie presses against the building we are at (and doesn't even try to pull me to safety!). And this woman, just steps ahead of us, stops, looks and doesn't know what to do.

Luckily, she had turned under a McDonald's aluminum canopy about 10 steps ahead of me, when a MASSIVE HUGE CRASH echoed in the road. A big chuck of ice fell about 14 stories and crashed on the aluminum canopy. After we were all done pooping in our pants, we walked down the middle of the road where the ice couldn't get to us. We all hurried home toot suite! We talked to the young lady at the end of the road at the red light and she was still a little shaky.

It was freaky! I actually was almost killed by the White Death!

And remember, my headstone should read "I Blame You!" - which of course would have been my last words to Ed.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Nor-what-er

Headline from Weather.com: Winter roars back into the Northeast


MARCH 15TH!

The TV says a "Noreaster" is coming in. That sounds bad....

New leopard species found in Borneo

So, in a world that is all explored and where we know everything, this is cool. In Borneo (which has an amazing ecosystem FYI) they found a new species of leopard.


It's amazing because I tend to think that everything has been discovered, seen and cataloged. Then you see something like this. I expected the new species of frogs and birds and stuff, but a whole new leopard.
Cool.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Yum-Me!

We went to the "Spice Market" for dinner tonight. It was great.



The restaurant was great. It is a spicey, Singapore / Malay / Thai mix with really really good food. It was in the old Meat Packing district and the whole experience was fun. And yes Lisa, we have reservations for when you are here.

It was yummy!

Mcgeevey: The bad juju that keeps on giving

Jim Mcgeevey. Id-i-ot



So, while his wife was in labor, he was fooling around with someone else - a man who has since sued him for sexual harassment. Now, after resigning in disgrace and giving all of us a bad name, he is trying to get custody of the daughter. AND CHILD SUPPORT. Are U kidding me! He was the governor of New Jersey!!! He is a lawyer!!! He sold out his personal life for 30 ducats of gold (allegory). Now he wants spousal support.

He. Is. An. Idiot.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Sometimes I miss the Orange Curtain

Oh My God....

I actually said that and meant it. The new Gwen Stefani song "Orange County Girl" is so cool and I SO miss having someone to diss about it with.



So, just so you get some of the references:

"i know i am living the e-ticket dream": in the olden days Disneyland the best rides were all "E-Tickets" (like the Matterhorn and Space Mountain).

"still feel the wonderland, alice and the tick tock": These are rides in Disneyland, specifically Alice in Wonderland, the Tea Party and Peter Pan (Tic-Toc is the alligator).

"back in the 7-1-4 days": The old Orange County area code. Today, of course, 7-1-4 is so old news. All the whitest cities are so 9-4-9 (Irvine, Newport, Laguna and Costa Mesa (and you know who you are Bleakley).

Immorality Defined: Thank you General Pace



You know me, I appreciate honesty. And, with General Pace you get honesty. The Chicago Tribune asked him about removing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and he was frank. "I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts," Pace said.


I applaud his honesty. I would be interested in the rest of his moral feelings, since these seem to have direct interest on who gets to fit to serve our country. Is he catholic? Because any catholic who has been divorced without proving adultery is immoral. And any catholic who remarries is immoral.

Also, anyone who has a child out of wedlock is immoral and should not be allowed to serve. And I have seen the TV, some of these people are heros. We should hop to and kick their damn asses out.

And, of course, the military has relaxed their recruitment standards and 33% of new army recruits have criminal records now. The 2 most common offenses being burglary and assault. Last time I looked, those were both illegal and immoral. I mean big time, flaming words on the rock delivered to Chuck Heston immoral.

But no, it is critical to our nation to keep out a fag who doesn't have sex and wants to serve his country. The first enlisted man who was injured in action in Iraq (losing his leg) and never had sex in the military, but was gay - he is immoral. Lying to the nation in order to go to war, that is jim freaking dandy.

The words of contempt I have do not belong in public.

This, by the way, is the picture and story of the first marine injured in Iraq. The immoral Eric Alva. Who lost a leg for his country. Too bad he is an immoral Sodomite that is burning in hell.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Halliburton: The Dubai Company

Halliburton is moving their headquarters to Dubai. DUBAI.


They "expect" NO tax benefits from this. Uh.. yea. And, they don't think this will stop any Congressional oversite - they will still gladly appear before Congress -you know when they want since as a non-US company they no longer have to.

Maybe it is time to stop no-bid contracts from Halliburton. How about that. How about we stop pouring money into Dick Cheney's pocket (he is the ex-CEO and has a bunch of shares and options tied with it) with NO competitive bids. How about we finally stop now that this isn't even a US company. How about that?

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Trip up for Mike's Birthday


So this week-end Eddie and I went up to Connecticut for a surprise party for Mike (Shawn's BF). Since we had the car, we drove up through the covered bridges in Connecticut and Massachusetts and through the cute little towns. It was really cool, and will probably be prettier in the green seasons.

The party was fun (but I have no pictures except for one with Ed and his new girl-friend - who is way buff). Today on our way home we stopped at both Target and Costco. It was ...sniff... WONDERFUL. We even bought some new shorts - just because we could.

Trevor was great on the trip. Here is a pick of Trevor and Ed. He was great in the car, and very well behaved in the hotel (where we had to sneak him in). It was fun.




Thursday, March 08, 2007

Popular for a Stroll?



According to CNN, Madison is the best city in the states for "taking a stroll".

I totally get it, Madison is a great little town. It is between two beautiful lakes, and the school is very nice. And, it is not too hilly.

But I think they might be able to find a better stock picture somewhere. Because it is going to be 10 degrees tonight in New York, so I know that when it is butt-cold the last thing you want to do is go for a "stroll."

How long for the "temporary" surge

When he anounced the "temporary" surge - how long was it again? Through the summer? Through October?

Well, it was vague, so the fact that it is now expected to last until February 2008 should be no big deal.

Remind me how this isn't Vietnam again?

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Rev. Albert Molher - Good Job

I haven't blogged on Ann Coulter's use of the epithet "faggot" to describe John Edwards. A man married for 20 plus years to one woman, father of 4 and husband who stood by his wife as she struggled with breast cancer. That is because Ann Coulter is a cancer in the heart of America and even recognizing her hate is to reward the walking, talking, sorry sack of bile.

However, props where props are do. Dr. Albert Molher, conservative President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has commented. And commented well that , "Conservative institutions cannot afford any association with this kind of language or attack. The issues are far too serious to be treated in this manner, and the very convictions Ann Coulter often defends are now sullied by association with her".

Agree or disagree, a discussion and a country united in trying to find solutions to very real problems need to foster a civil dialogue. My guess is that Dr. Molher and I would find much to disagree about. But a civil discussion would also allow us to find much TO agree about. The importance of safegaurding childern, the need for opportunities for our people and the value of a supporting community amoung them. So thank you Dr. Molher, you big southern baptist you. You did well.

March In New York

Scooter's birthday is in March. So I know March. March is sunny and warm, but not hot yet. You have to lay out because no one wants to be pale on their birthday. It's lay outable, but only in the low 80s, so not really warm yet.

March is not this! To quote that old git to Dan Qualye, "I know March sir. March and I were good friends. March and I have been through a lot together. And you sir, are no March." Trevor agrees.


Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Giving Scooters a bad name


Bad Scooter

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby gives Scooters the world over a bad name. Guilty of lying and obstuction of justice. Of course it wasn't important was it? Just the deliberating outing of an undercover CIA operative. In order to punish her husband who did what again. Oh yeah, told the truth about Bush's lie in his State of the Union speech. Of course, the lie was lost in the noise when we found the weapons of mass destruction that Sadam had. Wait, we didn't find those? Really? So the administration was just lying to protect their own asses. Oh...

When reached for comment, Dick Cheney said, "quack quack quack.... QUACK, partisan hacks, quack, quack, quack."

Monday, March 05, 2007

Nasdaq Follies


So my good friend Jocylene invited me to go to Nasdaq today because her new company is ringing the opening bell (from Chenai of all places). So I went and it was a kick.
Also weird. Because Nasdaq is all electronic, there is no crowd of traders, the boards and screens you see from the street are really kind of the hub of the whole thing.
But since they were ringing the bell from India, there was a reasonably good sized group ready to watch. We all had breakfast and played hob-nob and it was pretty cool. Then, about 20 minutes before the bell we walked into a different area with a live feed from India. The CEO spoke, the head of Nasdaq International spoke. The US Chenai console general spoke.
All the while, this heavy woman with a large, low center of gravity, from the Indo-US Chamber of Commerce was taking pictures of the big screens in front of us. The screens were about 20 feet across, so you could take a picture from anywhere, but this woman keep shoving her rather large ass in front of Jocelyn. The first time it happened, I laughed and Joce smiled - annoyingly, but like "maybe she just didn't see me".
However you need to understand Joc and I were some of the few people sitting down. There were literally 5 empty rows ahead of us, and this woman stood DIRECTLY in front of Joce.
Well, after moving to take some pictures, she came back and stood right in front of Joce again! This time I laughed out loud, and Joce (rather nosily) moved over to see the board. Damn if Miss Nikon didn't rumble over in front of her again.
But Miss Nikon with the giant ass did realize Joce was annoyed, so as Joce took a deep breath to tell the photog to get out of the way, the lady with the camera whipped around to take a picture of Joc. She pointed, and focused and pointed and focused and pointed and finally snapped. They she looked at the little screen. Then without moving from in front of Jocelyn starting snapping pictures of the people in the back. All the while blocking Joce from seeing the screen.
It was a very bizarre occurrence. DING DING - Bell was rung
Oh yeah, no more thing. The whole kit and kaboodle is done and everyone in Chenai is standing around on the stage and you hear the Nasdaq lady saying, "That went well" and people milling about - even in New York people are turning from the screen, then this GIANT BANG! and screams in India. Then amid the shots of people ducking you see flying debris and think "Bomb!".
Then it happens again and again and you notice the debris is confetti and it was a surprise part of the celebration. And I am glad that wasn't shown on TV.

Friday, March 02, 2007

Mascot of March: Jamie Anderson


Jamie Who? Jamie Anderson. He plays Cricket for England. Now, I know you say, Crickwhat? Cricket. And this month the World Cricket Cup starts. The website will show that the US doesn't play, but Jane is a HUGE Cricket fan.

Well, when a goof friend is a fan - and when it is the World Cup (even the World Cup of Cricket) then you have to root for them. And what better way to root for the team, than to find a young cutie.

Jamie is that.

Cricket is the forerunner of Baseball - there are some differences.



For 1, Cricket is played in the round, not in the 90 degrees of baseball. There are only 2 bases and they run back and forth.


And yes, his hair is like that on purpose. In trolling around I saw his graduation pictures and his hair was the same way. Slave to Fashion.

I like him because he is usually really a happy guy. So go England! Plus (in a oh-so-gay way) what a cute outfit they wear!

Goodbye Tommy: Good Job

Well, February is gone and so we have to say goodbye to Tommy Hass, our Mascot of Last Month. But, before we do, let me tell you we brought him luck as well. In February he beat Andy Roddrick to win the Regions Morgan Keegen Championship. I thought rather than post a shot of him winning, we would post a shot from his blog - where he was at the local Starbucks in Memphis.



Good Luck in Dubai buddy!

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Let's Just Say..

Let's just say, for shits and giggles, that Clinton had fired perfectly good federal prosecutors. These people had been in place for years with great performance reviews. Rumours were that they were fired so that he could replace them with his political cronies. But, of course, his administration said it was for performance reasons.

When they were caught, they said - "Oh yeah, he was fired so that Carville's friend could get the job, but the rest were for performance reasons. Really!"

Man, if that whole lying-about-a-blowjob thing got him Impeached, this was the kicker!

Of course, it wasn't Clinton, it IS Bush. And it wasn't Carville, it IS Rove. So apparently it's no big deal when it is your side.

Some things are just 4 Me

It makes me laugh.


Ed's New Job


Okay the news blackout (imposed by Eddie) is off. My Eddie was given a new job! He is now the CFO of NBC Universal Sports and Olympics. How Cool!


It is cool in a myriad of ways. First, he gets to go back and work with the businesses where he can make a real difference. He was reporting and "analysing", but the analysis seemed much less part of his job than the reporting. Second, he gets to take his bf (yours truly) to the Beijing Olympics. And if you know anything you know I love the Olympics!


The job is still in New York, so we aren't headed back to LA yet, but it is a really good job. He meet with Dick Ebersol (the guy who started Saturday Night Live and hired Lorne Micheals) and the heads of NBC Sports and the Olympics. He is happy, and that makes me happy.