Freak Show that is the Red Sox

BostonHerald.com - Red Sox: Carnival is back in town as Sox romp: Capture 12-5 win over NY I've made good on my pledge to follow the Red Sox this year and was thrilled to watch some really good baseball this weekend for the Red Sox Yankees series (the games the Sox won, of course). I heard about this thing with Pedro Martinez, who probably has the worst hair in baseball right now, carrying around a midget as a good luck charm. That's getting downright strange. I didn't think much about Pedro slamming Don Zimmer's head on the ground last year (it was sort of entertaining), but this makes me wonder. Anyhow, I need to find a picture somewhere...

I'm so dizzy...

I went to work this morning and for some reason around 10:00 I got completely dizzy. I was going to hang out and see if it got better, but decided to bail around 10:30. I have way too much stuff to do, so it was a bit of a bummer to call it a day. I got home and immediately crashed until about 6:30. Tomorrow, we're having a work picnic, so that's another three hours down the drain. I have been reading my sister-in-law's blog about her trip with my big brother (her husband, Brett) to Hawaii. I am so ready for a vacation. In a couple of weeks, Mike and I are taking off to the coast for a long weekend in Albion at this cottage we're renting. It's great because we can bring the doggies with us. I want to just chill out and relax. It's got this great view of the ocean: so it will be a welcome change of surroundings. The last time we went up this way was when we cast (some of) the old boy Blauser, aka Powder Dog, out to sea in his favorite ocean hangout, Noyo Harbor in Fort Bragg. We'll go down to the same spot with Zero and Fifi and bring some more of Powder Dog with us. There's plenty to go around in that box over the fireplace.

Bill O'Reilly is a big dumb dumb

FOXNews.com - The O'Reilly Factor - Interview - The Jon Stewart and Undecided Voter Connection I don't know why Fox has this on their website. It makes O'Reilly sound like a totally doofus. Anyone who hasn't done so already must see the film Outfoxed.

Excuselist.com

Excuselist.com It's Sunday night and I am thinking about the work week ahead. Here's some excuses I might have to use someday. The guilt would probably kill me though...

dooce: A Story About Someone Else's Ass

dooce: A Story About Someone Else's Ass My sister-in-law Megan knows how much my family tends to drive conversations towards subjects related to the bathroom and bodily functions, so she forwarded this link to me. This story made me laugh to the point of tears, and of course I had to share it with all of my depraved friends who are also poop-obsessed. Browse this blog as well, because it contains topics that are so twisted that I censor out of my own blog in case someone I know read it.

I missed everything on Friday

Friday wasn't a good day at work. I always promise not to get into work here, but there is WAY too much drama going on. End of story. I got home from work and was just burnt. I was vegging out on the couch with the dogs watching TV -- the Apprentice was on MSNBC and since I fell asleep watching that on Thursday, I decided to catch up. While that was on, I missed the following: The Rivercats won their second consecutive PCL Championship!

Barry Bonds joined the exclusive 700 Club!

Those are two huge sports moments for a fan of the Giants (or baseball, really) and for a Rivercats Season ticket holder. Oh well...Saturday's here and half gone. I gotta get out so I don't miss anything else!

My Dog Zero is Way Too Cool

Sacramentans React To A's Brawl

Yahoo! News - Sacramentans React To A's Brawl Here's another take on that baseball "brawl" at the texas v. A's game. I find it hard to believe that the fans did "nothing" to provoke the attack. I will scour the net to try to find out more... Here's the official statement from Bud Selig, Major League Baseball's commissioner. Here's an article where Ken Macha says nothing about the incident.

The knuckleheads at work...

I've really tried my hand at self-censorship when it comes to work. I know some people there know about my blog, and the truth is, if you know me, you'll figure out that this is my blog, so I've really limited talking about work. Today, I just have to say that there are a bunch of knuckleheads at work. Now, if any strangers see this post, all they have to do is take one look at my profile and see "Government Worker Bee" and they'll be like, "Oh, of course there's knuckleheads there." That's all I am going to say. Today was a day full of knuckleheads and drama. At least it's entertaining, for a little while. I'm waiting for Barry Bond to hit his 700th home run. It hasn't happened today, but hopefully it will be soon, so I can move on to other past times. ::signing off::enemy of the knuckleheads

Texas reliever throws chair at fan

FOXSports.com - Texas reliever throws chair at fan Sounds like a good time at the ball park. Doesn't say why he threw the chair though... I loved the description: "The chair hit one man in the head, then bounced and clobbered a woman in the side of the head on her left temple."

Badger, Mushroom, Snake

Badger Badger Badger This is one of my favorite animations from the web. My friend Peter sent it to me off some Icelandic web site a long time ago and when I went back to find it again, the link brought me to some loop video with a gun holdup in a convenience store. Definitely not the same. I also found this image on the badger's website:

Sundays are for laundry (and Six Feet Under)

I think I washed every piece of clothing that we owned this weekend, and the sheets and blankets and towels too. I was going non-stop since last night. Laundry has become a Sunday ritual, along with bill paying and poop recovery in the back yard. The back yard is a whole other mission we have to deal with now that fall is sort of here. The trees think it's fall although it's still in the mid to upper 90s. All the crap is falling from the neighbors trees into our yard. Mike and I hauled off 3 or 4 farm carts full of leaves and twigs and stuff from last weekend's storm (wind, wind, and more wind). That leaves Sunday evenings for Six Feet Under. Tonight was the season finale. We just got a new lineup on our cable network that includes HBO east, so I got to watch it at 6 on that channel, in case I fall asleep before the 9:00 show on HBO west is over. That show is so amazing -- again I feel let down because it will be so long before there's a new episode. Anyhow...time to pull it all together for another crazy week at work.

God Bless America and Ray Charles

God Bless America and Ray Charles Watching all the 9-11 specials on tv has brought me back to that day three years ago where I sat glued to my TV from the very first report that a plane may have crashed into the first tower. Last night I watched the HBO special narrated by Rudy Giuliani and I was sobbing. Having lived in New York right where all that stuff was happening, it was hard to watch again. I haven't been back since, but I can't imagine the skyline without the towers.

MSNBC - Lexus hybrid SUV orders set record

MSNBC - Lexus hybrid SUV orders set record Now all the fancy pants people who scoff at my Prius will have a car to buy. My car still kicks ass...

Pimp Doggy

I am so excited -- I was at Evangalines in Sacramento today and they had dog halloween costumes. I got Zero a Pimp Doggy outfit. I decided to exploit the poor boy by dressing him up a month before Halloween and making him pose for pictures. He is such a great dog. When I came at him with the pimp daddy hat, he wanted nothing to do with it, but I put the cape on first and the hat followed easily. Secretly, I think he liked it. I just have to get a big ass gold chain and his look is done.

The Retirement of Hurricane Names

The Retirement of Hurricane Names: "Marilyn (1995): Bermuda" Now I remember the last hurricane Marilyn. I guess it was so bad they had to retire it!

Worldwide Tropical Cyclone Names

Worldwide Tropical Cyclone Names I was trying to convince someone that the names for hurricanes are all picked out in advance. Growing up in Massachusetts, we were up on this stuff, especially with Disaster Face for a brother. I have a couple news clippings from the last Hurricane Marilyn, which I think was back in the 80s. Also -- I have had a hard time convincing people out in California that people in Massachusetts actually GET hurricanes. I remember a few thrillers from back in my childhood. Glad I live out here now. Ira and his family made their way back from Birmingham, Alabama today, dodging weather and tornados back in Jacksonville, but they made it home safely. Now they have to wait for Ivan, apparently on its way.

Laboring on Labor Day

It was great having a day off today. Mostly to catch up on some sleep, but also to get some work done away from the office. I am overwhelmed by how much work I have to do. I am preparing for a meeting on Wednesday where we have to request all of the requirements for a software development project. Some of it I could get done from home, but I will have to finish a bunch of it at work. I just needed to get the shell of the document put together so I can get cranking on it at work. Unfortunately, I think it may be over the heads of some of my co-workers, so I will have to rely on the developers for their input. My tattoo is healing nicely. I've had a fairly consistent layer of bacitracin on it since I had it done on Saturday. Tomorrow, I will switch to Lubriderm. It's gotten to that point that it should be okay and a lot easier to manage at work. Bacitracin can be pretty messy. It's starting to itch a little, so I know I'm definitely healing. I spent a lot of time looking at Blogs today. Some of them are almost as boring as mine. Some can get kind of out there. It's amazing how much content there is out there on the web...and how much of it is crap.

The English Patient on TV?

I was amazed to see the network TV broadcast of the English Patient tonight. I haven't watched that film in a really long time. The real test will be whether my credit will be visible or if they'll shove the credits into some tiny little box as they preview the 11 o'clock news. Anyhow, there were some really good lines in that movie, and I guess I won't really ever forget them. Out of context they were pretty funny too. They really hacked it up for TV. Lots of stuff cut out. And...as for the credits, they faded right out after the main cast, so my credit wasn't on TV.

Hero

Hero trailer (quicktime via the apple web site) Mike and I hooked up with dad-to-be Peter this morning to go see Hero in Vacaville. I would go see ANYTHING with Jet Li in it. Apparently, this film was made in 2002 as Ying Xiong in China and it received the nomination in 2003 for the Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film. From what I've heard, because of the similarity between Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, it was not released worldwide when it came out and it got lost in the shuffle. Quentin Tarantino somehow got his name put on it in some "presented by" capacity and Miramax has released it here in the states. It was a beautiful film. I recommend it if you're into the Martial Arts genre. Peter and Suzy are going to have son #2 on Wednesday (pre-schedule c-section), and he was pretty mellow considering the upcoming event. It had been a while since we had seen him, so it was good to get out with him while he still has some relative freedom.

Finishing What I Started

When I when to Bill Liberty Tattoo to see about designing a coverup tattoo for my way-too goth dragon tattoo I didn't really know exactly what to expect. This is what I started with. I brought in a bunch of magazines with images that inspired the design: koi, lotus flowers, colors, flames, ocean waves, japanese design, etc. I had also gone out to Bill's website and got some similar tattoos and printed them up. I left a deposit and they said they would call me when the design was done. When I came back about a week later, which wasn't really that long considering I had to wait a month for an appointment, I LOVED the design. Then by good fortune, there was a cancellation which allowed me to get in much earlier for the first appointment. I was amazed at how much I got done in the first 2.5 hour session. What I did learn is that 2.5 hours is WAY too long to sit for a tattoo -- at least for me. There were some real tender spots. Anyhow, here's what happened by the end of the first session: I've since had another two hour session to add most of the color. I am going back today to finish the job. I haven't quite gotten around to take pictures with the color added. I'll have to get Mike to take some before we get started today. I'm not looking forward to the session, but I am looking forward to finishing. There's some pretty tender spots in your shoulder and the backs of your arms! Gotta get motoring....and wake up Mike!

Sweet Home Alabama

My little brother Ira called me this morning. They pulled into Birmingham at about 2:30 am after driving all evening, straight from Jacksonville. Hurricane Frances seems to be getting weaker, but it's still good they got out while the gettin' was good. So, it's Friday night in Woodland. We're listening to the police scanner for entertainment purposes. Last night we heard there was a peeping tom shining flashlights into people's windows. Tonight there's been a foot pursuit, some DUIs and other random stuff that's hard to catch but entertaining nonetheless. Pretty sad....this is entertainment, this is -- fun. ::killing joke::

Weathering the Storm

My little brother Ira is currently driving from Jacksonville, Florida to Birmingham, Alabama with his wife and my baby nephews to escape Hurricane Frances which is scheduled to hit really soon. That's a little nerve-racking for all of us out here, because the California news just says "Florida" without getting more specific about the storm's track projections. I've included a good link to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for some better details. Poor Ira -- we used to call him "Disaster Face" when he was a kid, because he LOVED weather. He even had some little Junior Scientist homemade barometer thingy. I was petrified, but he would be predicting tornados and earthquakes and any other natural disaster that could possible happen in Massachusetts (yes, we had an earthquake once that I can recall). Anyhow, he seems to love this shit now... That reminds me of the time Ira invited us to Florida to see a Jaguars vs. 49ers game. He kept telling us we need sunscreen and it's going to be really hot....well, I was a drowned rat after being in the rain for 4 hours straight. I guess it was my own fault I didn't shell out the $10 for the cheap plastic poncho.

watering the dogs

I went to dinner with some pals from the DMV (no, not Patty and Selma). First of all, traffic SUCKS! I don't know how people can sit in traffic for freaking ever every night. I guess I never really realized how awful it is. I went to Bandera for dinner (which was awesome), and took 50 to the Howe Avenue Exit. It took me 30 minutes to get from the exit over to University. Crazy! Okay, so to people who have no idea where I am talking about, nevermind.... Anyhow, I had to get home to let the dogs outside. Zero piggy was in his crate since about 1:30 or 2:00 when Mike went to work. He was ready to go outside when I got home at 7:30. I then went outside to water my dead plants after watering the dogs. My sister-in-law is a doll for not making fun of my dead plants when she was visiting. Her blog is awesome. My nosey neighbor came outside the other day and said "Marilyn, dear, don't you think you might want to just run a hose at night or something? I think your plants need water." I can't even put into print what I called her. Mike said I used colorful language, but I don't remember. I'm claiming possession disorder.