Fantasy Baseball
To those of you who might be interested, I have found an excellent and
inexpensive fantasy baseball service. I already know of two people who will
play. I'm looking for at least eight and willing to take as many as sixteen. The
league fee is about $70 so the more people who play the cheaper it is. Send me
an e-mail or talk to me in person if you're interested. I'm talking to you,
Duane, Robbie, Blues, Toby, Josh McInnis, Barb's husband. We have to get
cracking soon though. It is a draft league so we'd have to get together with
phones and computers and such, and we need to have the draft by March 20th. Come
on guys - you know you want too.
Did you know that Ferdinand Magelan circumcised the globe with a 100-foot
clipper?
This post comes via an unexpected opportunity to use a computer. I'm still
off-line until Friday. We are doing our best to settle into our new house; by
tonight we should be blessed with the miracle of "flush" toilets. The stinky
freezer is still there along with a lot of other junk that needs to thrown away.
If you feel like you need to mail us something send it to:
303 John Barnes RD
Calhoun, LA 71225
Or, if you want to call us, try this:
318/644-2589
Sorry about being so lame with the posts lately. I've been so busy with the
house and the move that the blog has gotten pushed to the side. What's more is
it's probably going to get worse before it gets better. I may not have an
internet connection until next Friday. But when I do come back I'll be on a
cable connection so I'll be blazing away unchecked. Anyway, I'll leave you with
this thought regarding the racial discussions going on at Language of Lizenby
and verbingnouns:
In keeping with those that want us to tone our terms down a bit, I think that we
should stop refering to each other as "bloggers." The B-word is too offensive
and should be replaced by the more civilized version: Bloggroes.
I'll tell you what I like about those Chinese people: you never have to wonder
what is or isn't allowed at their resturaunts. At all the places here in Monroe
they have a rule for every imaginable situation. They've got the standard
"Please Wait to be Seated" and the rules about checks, but I counted nine other
placards telling you, the customer, just exactly was is or isn't permissable.
You may only smoke in the designated smoking area, which makes sense - afterall
they named the sections, but you may not smoke cigars or pipes, only cigarettes.
And if you get a to-go order you may only have two packets of sauce per saucable
item. Don't even think of asking for more.
How About This?
Amy and I were talking about things our parents (or other autority figures) told
us as children that were not true, but in certain senses we still believe it
today. For instance: Amy was working at the Alexander's at lunch time. One of
the kids asked her why he had to eat the crust of the bread. She said, "Because
that's where the vitamins are." In our conversation last night she said, "I
don't know why I said that. I know it's not true." Kids will believe anything,
but the craziest part is how long it holds on into adulthood.
Odd Thought on Courtship
A father who has to micromanage his daughter's courtship has failed in bringing
up his daughter.
So We’re Survivor People, Okay
There’s a decent number of us Monroe folks that watch Survivor; Amy and I are
some of them. So now that the sixth installment of the big show has premiered, I
thought I make a few comments on it. The hype about men vs. women was true. It
will be interesting to see how the loyalties of the local viewers divide along
gender lines. Now that the show is over, I have to say I’m disappointed the
booted Ryan, and I know Micah has to be crushed. This guy was the heir apparent
to Ethan and Gabriel: the curly headed stud guy. To bad. So far I like Dave the
rocket science guy and Rob the computer nerd. I’m not saying they’ll win – I
just like them and hope they stick around a while. I especially like the
sneaking, lying sort like Rob. I know it sounds weird and some form of
“integrity” is usually rewarded in the game, but to me, this game is about a “me
first” attitude and the dishonesty is one of the tools in the game. Anyway, I’m
looking forward to this season and to the comments from the Survivor faithful.
Odd Thought on the New House
The house we're buying we got in an "as is" sort of deal. That is to say there's
still some work to be done and some junk to be hauled away. Among the several
large items of junk is an old deep freeze. It might work - I don't know. But I
was over there tonight with a few of my peeps and we noticed a serious smell
coming from the direction of the freezer. Robbie didn't want anything to do with
it, but Chandler and I were just too curios. Robbie vacated the premisis while I
held the flash light and Chandler lifted the lid. We both took very deep breaths
before opening, and it was a good thing. Neither of us actually smelled it, but
I can only imagine. It was at least a third of the way full of liquid and
various containers. The liquid was brown with tan swirls and a few bubbles that
tried to surface and pop but just couldn't do it. (As a point of refernce for
Christin, it looked like the grease trap.) I'm now taking bids on it's removal.
So here's the add:
Free Deep Freeze
All You Need to do is Haul it Away
If you want, I'm sure Robbie will help.
Odd Updates
Amy went to the doctor yesterday. All is well with baby Sophie.
Many of you already know something about this, but for those who don't, we are
about to become home owners. We are in the process of buying a three bed, two
bath house in Calhoun, complete with 11 peach trees in the 1.88 acre yard. We
are scheduled to close Friday. Happy Valentines Day to us.
SOT still has not gotten me a black printer cartridge for my Lexmark Z22
printer. I really need it. Maybe he'll be a little quicker about it now that you
all know how deliquent he's been. Or maybe he was just fishing for a front page
mention in an odd thought.
Finally Christin Has Joined the Team
That's right folks, Christin now has her very own blog, verbingnouns. As we all
know, verbing nouns weirds language. We're happy she's now one of the people of
the blog.
Here's an Odd Question
Suppose you really love butternut squash. I mean really, really love butternut
squash. You go to the store, or farmer's market, and buy three butternut
squashes (small, medium, and large). On your way home you are so looking forward
to eating these butternut squashes. When you arrive at your house you prepare
the medium butternut squash right away. But when you take your first bite you
realize that this particular butternut squash is bad - very bad. This butternut
squash is so bad that you, being such a butternut squash lover, are very upset,
and someone will pay dearly for slipping you such an atrocious butternut squash.
So you go to the lord of squashes seeking reparations. He tells you, "Look, I'm
not that powerful. I'm just in charge of squash. All I can offer you is an
opportunity to take the two remaining butternut squashes [large, small] and
throw them at the two talkshow hosts of your choice." You accept the offer.
Now, my question to you is what two talk show hosts will be the recipients of
your wrath? Who gets the large butternut squash and who gets the small?
Back to Normal Life . . . Maybe
The wedding is over. All went well. Nobody tripped down the aisle, and Courtney
and Lisa are married. The out of town guests are leaving tomorrow. I'd say the
weekend was a success.
In other news, the Mariners reported to camp today. We can now shake the snow
off our boots, look for the birds to return, and anticipate to blooming of trees
and flowers. Baseball will be back soon to bring us the joys of spring and
summer.
Wedding Time
Today I have the lovely distinction of being a groomsman in Courtney and Lisa's
wedding. We had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner last night and they were very
nice - definitely not short on the sauce. On Thursday night we had a bachelor
party out at Robbie's house, and again great times were had by all. I guess,
aside from a certain young lady showing up to the Branson party in a towel, all
of the Rockett/Huntington pre-wedding functions have been fun and tasteful. And
today they're doing the big show. It's great to see the out of town folks come
down, like the Huntington family and especially blog legend Jon Amos. Although
Pastor Steve is out of town and Edward Huntington will be officiating, it looks
like it will be another standard AAPC wedding. And, nothing against the the
musicians who are doing this wedding, but we really miss our core of musical
masterminds that have all left us for Ohio. Anyway, since it's almost 11:00 and
the wedding is at 6:00, I better go - I wouldn't want to be late for pictures.
To the Anonymous Poster
You know what, we've all seen you leaving these author unknown posts in this
blogging circle, making your little jabs, and not having the courage to identify
yourself. In this most recent case, is it because you're afraid to call us
uncivilized to our faces? I'm not afraid to call you a punk. Stand up, sissy.
Sometimes, you just have to stand up for things. Sometimes when you do, you're
in the majority, and other times you're not. I stood up for Bud Light, and now
I'm going to stand up for carpet. Carpet has gotten the bad deal the last few
years, because everybody is all about hard-wood floors. I like hard-wood floors;
I think they look nice. But where practicality is concerned the wood just
doesn't compare to carpet. It's no fun to lay on a wood floor, much less
wrestle. Wood floors are cold. Carpet doesn't have these problems. The pro-wood
people will no doubt bring up cleaning, and it's a good point, but carpet
doesn't get scratched - how about that?
While we're on the subject of floors, I have another complaint. This is not
aimed at anybody in particular. In fact I don't think I've encountered this
since I've left the Northwest, but I just can't stand the "Shoes-off" house. The
floor, wood or carpet, should be something that can be walked on, by normal
people, in normal situations, without a big production. The shoes-off house is
just another version of the couch encased in celophane. "Gee, that's a nice
couch underneath that plastic covering." Anyway, some people don't like other's
to see (or smell) their feet. There are also those that don't want to see other
people's feet. I'm not one of those psycho anti-feet people, but I respect the
fact that some people are. So please let us all keep our shoes on; I promise
we'll use the mat.
Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?
More on the Shuttle
I'm going to get a little out of hand here; if I offend you, get over it. I just
don't see what the big deal is. So seven smart people got blown up Saturday
morning. I'm sure way more people than that died in auto accidents that same
day. We haven't been mourning their loss. What makes these people so much
better? In the response to this "tragedy" Hollywood is pulling the preview for
"The Core" in which a space shuttle is shown having some technical difficulties.
This, of course, is very insensitive. Is this situation more important and media
worthy because NASA lost a multi-billion dollar space craft? If so, I can't see
why; NASA has been throwing billions of dollars away for years.
Regarding Space Shuttle Columbia
My friend Matt Greydanus tells a story about a minor earthquake that happened in
New Jersey while he was a kid. It happened in the middle of the night, and the
town suffered no significant damage. The next morning when he went to school,
all the kids were talking about the excitement of the earthquake, and Matt just
had to play along - he had slept through the quake. A similar thing happened to
me. Amy and I were in Nacogdoches Saturday morning when the shuttle blew up. My
Dad, who was already awake, noticed a bizarre noise. He described it as being
similar to the rumble from an eighteen-wheeler outside your window, but much
larger and the sound lasted for about a minute. My mom and Amy both woke up from
the noise; Amy's immediate thought was that it was an earthquake. But then she
thought she had just woken up and she must have been dreaming. It wasn't until
about 45 minutes later when a family friend from Pheonix called to check on us
that we found out what had happened. At that point they all confessed to hearing
a strange noise that was consistent with the assumed time of explosion. Alas, I
slept through the whole thing. I woke up a mere fifteen minutes later, with no
reports of a strange noise. A lot of debris from the shuttle did fall in
Nacogdoches.
The Modern Age Get's Baseball Too
We've seen this sort of this before. Riverfront Stadium in Cincinati became
Cynergy Field, Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego became Qualcom Park. It's just a
sign of the times. Most of the new stadiums have taken on corporately sponsored
names. In Houston, Enron Field has already become Minute Maid Park. But the
latest name change is just unacceptable: Comisky Park in Chicago will become
U.S. Cellular Field. That's ridiculous. Comisky Park is where the White Sox have
played for 91 years. Grantend they tore the origonal down and built a new one,
but when the did they named it Comisky Park after the original. I understand
that buildings, especially stadiums and the like, get old, need to be torn down,
a new one's have to be built. But to change the name of a classic ball park for
a lousy 68 million over 23 years stinks. Is Yankee Stadium going to become
Ronald McDonald Field?
Matthew Peacock, Matthew Peacock,
You're a muttering bum in a brown beat suit. . .