Strike/Lockout Avoided
Being an avid fan of US Mens National Soccer, and therefore one who is planning on visiting Germany for the World Cup 2006, this makes me happy. Finally USSoccer and the Mens National Team players have come to their senses. This means that true USMNT players will be called upon for the final round of qualifying matches, beginning February 9th against Trinidad and Tobago. This means that scab players won't be carrying my hopes of a fantastic and victorious trip to Germany on their shoulders. With that out of the way, here's the roster for T&T. Now all I gotta do is figure out how to go about getting the World Cup Tickets from the psychopathic, paranoid fraudsters running World Cup ticketing: According to fifaworldcup.com, tickets are non-transferrable, non-returnable, and cannot be cancelled. There are five ticket lotteries - all applications for each lottery, regardless of when submitted, have an equal chance at ticket selection. Lottery dates are: A. 1 Feb to 31 March 2005 B. 1 May 2005 to 15 November 2005 C. 1 December 2005 to 15 January 2006 D. 1 February 2006 to 15 April 2006 E. 1 May 2006 to 9 July 2006 By entering the lottery, you agree to buy the tickets you requested for the people you requested if you are a lottery winner. Then, if you or they can't use them - fuck off. This hateful policy comes under the guise of "security precautions". I'm gonna go ahead and call some bullshit on that one. I can see that they may want to avoid any hoodlums coming in, fine. I'm sure they'll play the terrorism card as well. But neither of these issues has anything to do with my ability to decide I want to take my cousin instead of my fiancee when the time comes, or that I'd like to give my tickets to someone once I realize I can't afford the trip at that time. Just have me return my tickets or re-register the name on the ticket. How hard can that be?
Of All Things Dork
With the final Star Wars movie "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" opening on May 19th, I think the intergalactic and fantasy crowd is really gonna get charged up this year. So here's what the most creative geek minds can think up: Darth Tater and Tron II.
This might be something worth fighting for. Finally anyone can have a Bad News Bears jersey. As Tanner Boyle said "What do you expect? All we got on this team are a bunch of jews, spicks, niggers, pansies, and a booger eating moron." This is something worth fighting the whole seventh grade for.
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Some demographic detail is required by the PD, but it's soo worth it. Jeff Garcia seems to really be in love this time. Not like that last time when he "became upset with her after learning Hine had lied to her friends that DeCesare had a sexually transmitted disease. Hine also talked freely about her fling with Garcia, he said, which eventually got back to DeCesare and caused a brief rift in their relationship. " I guess it's true love this time. Although I suppose it could be a case of Jeff try to escape the "smells like a rat" homo comments from Terrell Owens. And what better way to do that then: 1. Party til dawn, providing tours of your home "ending up in the bedroom" - yeah, baby. 2. Drop that 32 year old for the Playmate, aged 22 3. Take the Playmate to the... TRAMP Club? Nice, Jeff. I guess it your macho side is coming out these days. Oh, yeah - nearly forgot the the Tramp club is run by some girl named Giglio. Hopefully this trial will drag on and on, so we can be satisfied by at least one thing the Browns do during the offseason.
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Before and after sets of tsunami damage pictures. The beginning pictures showing the receding coastline are most impactful. It's a frighteningly cartoonish windup - like a character twisting himself up tight before raining blows down on another. They reminded me of this article from CNN.com about a village that was saved because generations had taught one another that if the sea recedes - the same quantity will come back in force. I can only imagine those people who went down to marvel at the receding sea. The pictures make you want to yell out to the inhabitants to flee.
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Sterling!
This is quite possibly the best example of web zen I've ever seen. Apparently, a guy was trying to research the Olivia Newton John musical " Toomorrow" - an uncommon misspelling that showed up in this Call Girl business' log. Nice.
Time Honored
Jack Bauer robbing the gas station is a thing of beauty. That guy's got some skills. Kiefer was chasing the terrorist that had Chloe's friend. The terrorist dropped him off with two other terrorists to kill him - but Jack killed them first. All the while Chloe was stealing CTU satellite bandwidth to track the terrorist for Jack. It took time, though, so in order to delay the terrorist before they got on a two lane road where Jack knew the terrorist would spot him tailing - he robbed the gas station that the terrorst stopped in. Classic Jack Bauer. Jack, as the robber, then took the terrorist hostage (a delightful irony) in order to escape the cops before dropping him off by the side of the freeway. By then, Chloe had the satellite up and was tracking the terrorist. But she got busted for helping Jack behind new CTU director Erin's back. Jack Bauer is rogue agent again! Won't they ever learn to just listen to him?
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Foolishness has run amok this week with the new season of the show about "rich California fucks whose biggest problem is which plastic hot chick they are going to fuck tonight." An apt description of The OC by a renouned poor California virgin whose biggest problem is getting a job so he can get rich and have plastic asian barbies to select from for evening fucking purposes. Nevertheless - the criticism of popular television is warranted, but premature. Because two hours of my time will be spent Sunday and Monday night watching the premier episodes of the new season of 24. Ahhhhhh television bliss. The good: no more of Jack Bauer's daughter Kim and her Meet the Parents-like fuckupishness that is neither funny nor intriguing. The bad: no more of Jack Bauer's daughter Kim and her skimpy white tank tops. Although I learned to live without them during season 3. Ohhh how I long for the days of season two. "Can I give you a hand with that cougar trap, Kim?
Ahhhhh MartyBall!
As an ex-Clevelander, stuck here in Chicago where I can only empathize with those sports fans around me, this makes my heart warm. At no time in my life was sports more influential than when Marty was running the show in Cleveland. Then that fat fuck Art Model (JUMP ART!) ran him out of town. At the time I was too young to realize just what a good thing Marty was for the Browns and sided with the fat fuck. Youth is wasted on the young. As the article above describes - Marty went on to KC and started his own elite "coaching tree" that you hear about all the freaking time with Parcells, Bilicheck, et all. Well, you know what? I still believe Marty's the best coach of them all. Marty Ball - Catch It!
Things I find Foolish: Entry #1
Labor disputes rearing their ugly head in... National Team Soccer??? The US National Soccer Team goes into the third and final round of World Cup Qualifying on February 9th. However, the collective bargaining agreement between the players and the US Soccer Federation (USSF) expires on February 1st. So what we've got here is a Mexican Standoff that could jeopardize the US Nationals 2006 WC qualification. The USSF refuses to lift or delay the February 1st deadline and is threatening to use "untested" (read: unqualified, bad, dumpy, prepubescent) players in the qualification game. Now, I know it's Trinidad and Tobago, but the US has a real chance at (gasp) winning the World Cup next year and putting qualification in the hands of a pack of MLS rejects and Blast, Sidekicks, and Force players is a little extreme. Don't get me wrong. I love me some Hector Marinaro, and that Force logo is the best in sports; bar none. But isn't there a donkey we can put out there younger with a better foot, er hoof?
Spamalot Review
Well, not a review, acutally. Given that this journal is new hat for me - and that the fiancee has now turned her attention to Ghandi on the TiVo - how 'bout a review of a reviewish sort of thing? That do the trick for you? Here's the reviewish sort of thing. I just got back from a 2:00 matinee of Spamalot at the Schubert Theater in Chicago. Now I've seen my fair share of shows here - mostly just the big headliners like The Lion King - and I know as much as the next casual observer. That is: good singers sound like good singers, good costumes and sets make you wonder 'how', and good writing makes you cry, get inspired, or laugh. Spamalot makes you laugh and laugh a lot. The reviewish sort of thing is dead on about that. All the old jokes and characters from 'The Holy Grail' are included, plus the dialog is drawn out sommore - the taunting French knight's extended dialog being the best ("I pop my pimples at you!". It's truely hilarious. What's also fantastic is the new mockery of all things Broadway. While I enjoy theater I get a little confused over how every gushes like a cheerleader over the quarterback every time a show gets a decent review. I can't possibly imagine that there are that many people who truely enjoy the breadth of entertainment that theater provides. I know I don't. But I love sarcasm, especially the thinly veiled kind - and it's laid thick here. In particular is the role of the Lady of the Lake - who's entire role is new and written to be the diva that get's the "SARA RAMIREZ STEALS THE SHOW!" headline screamers in the NY Post. Damn that girl can sing. There, I said it. What's the reviewish sort of thing wrong about? Well - saying that there's a plot - or that there was any real effort to get all the scenes to make sense together. While I do count Eric Idle as one of my favorites - and one that all should be exposed to - there's no plot here. It's still just a bunch of funny scenes put together and acted out by the same characters. It's still a Holy Grail. And it's still great. Most interesting to my peculiar fascinations - seeing how the crowd reacted. You see, there were a lot of people who knew 'The Holy Grail' and 'Life of Brian' backwards and forwards, and there were a lot who had no idea, and nobody in between. I couldn't help wishing that I could have it both ways. Both to be able to appreciate the jokes I've seen before as live theater, and to enjoy the whole thing with fresh eyes. I just hope those who weren't familiar with Monty Python caught everything. It couldn't have been made much easier.
Wedding Managment 101
This is not, I repeat, not a guide to how you should conduct your wedding. What you should do is have a small wedding at the church down the street and a reception in your backyard. "Why?" you ask. Because it's easy, cheap, and probably just as much fun. Being someone who's not much interested in easy, cheap, and probable fun - I've gone the difficult, expensive, and spectacle route - not to mention my fiancee is Danish so the wedding's there. Difficult - Everyone wants travel advise and the only thing should say is "There are about 150 ways to get to Aarhus, Denmark they're all equal in that they get you from point A to B, and they all have they're plusses and minuses. Choose your own adventure." What I really do is tell them about all 150 different options. Good practice for me, overkill for them. I enjoy the challenge, though and I'm real excited about helping people get their travel in. Given that it's my wedding, I better be. Expensive - I guess not so much more than a regular wedding - the receptions where the money goes - but folks have to spend a good deal of cash to get there. I'm grateful that I've got so many friends and family members who care enough about me and my fiancee that they'll pony up the dough (and the time) to make the trip. I'm looking forward to seeing their reactions to Aarhus. I think they'll really like the town. Since they're going to such lengths to attend with us, we're trying to go to as far a length to pay them back as we can. Should be a good show when we get there. Spectacle - What choose your own adventure story isn't? If we don't lose at least 10 people in western Europe on their travels I'll be baffled. BAFFLED, I tell you. On top of that, however, will be the actual wedding. The tiniest church ever. Squeezing family and friends in there should be a good show - some larger than others. The reception will be at the oldest town ever - really "Den Gamle By" means The Old Town. Very cool. Should be very fun.
Well, I figure it's time to get the ball rolling on this thing - since I've had it set up for about three months now and I've not done a thing with it. Why the sudden motivation? Well it's New Year's Day, of course. Though I'm not really saying I'm resolving to start a weblog (though I do resolve to eliminate the term 'blog' from my vocabulary - it just feels like a pretty vulgar way to describe what I feel is a revolution in journalism). What I'm really saying is I've got a number of ambitions for the year, probably not enough time or money to work on them all, and should write them down so I can remember what I wanted to do once I got lost in all the details or just neglected to take action later in the year. So here's the list: Get Married - That'd be May 28th. It's gonna have to be top priority. The lovely lady (Anja) is pictured with me here. Get Independent - from my job that is, not from binds of marriage. It's a good job, but it's not what I want to do with my life. So how'm I gonna go 'bout that? Get into a PhD Program - Got one year left on the stellar GMAT score so I'd better make use of it. I want to research how weblogs and 'citizen journalism' is changing the way people consume their news and how that will affect marketers in the future. See " We The Media" by the (former) San Jose Mercury News' Dan Gilmore. I've been really inspired by what I've read lately from him and from the good people of BoingBoing about the technology community providing for free what formerly has been at a premium - I think the altruism behind it is warming and I'd like to get involved. So here I am - hoping I can convince a top university that it's interesting. Get my Own Companies Running - three of them to be exact (I told you I had ambitions). One an advertising firm - where my training and first interests lie. Two a fashion outlet - where my fiancee's training and first interests lie. Three a translation firm - where my fiancee is currently making her coin. The idea being that I can lead a much more flexible and satisfying life this way than through a standard nine to fiver, and that I can use this to... Get More Altruistic - There's gonna be a theme here. Global needs tend to get ignored in the US media and by Americans in general. Totally excusable - there are needs much closer to home that most people have to satisfy. I think I can use some cause-related marketing in the above to draw a little attention to things like Sudanese Genocide. Not necessarily a topic for dinner conversation but I think I could spread the word and help direct some funds - do a small part and hopefully that will grow in the future. OK. So 2005 will be a pretty big year. Pretty stream of consciousness above, but if you're reading this - you're probably the only one - I hope you get the message. Have a great year. I've a feeling it'll be a big one. We'll see if we can't get something going here.
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