Where have I been all my life?

So I've had a rather busy October. Or not so much. We'll get to that. But first, I thought I'd give out some random thoughts from the past 2 + weeks. About my World Seiers prediction, yeah, that was wrong. I'd feel better if teh Astros at least MADE it that far. And in reality, they were knocking on the door but just couldn't bust it open in St. Louy, so now we have the Bo Sox and the Cards. You don't win 4 straight elimination games against your arch rivals only to blow it in the Big Show, so yeah, I'm thinking the Sox will continue to stroll.

Next, last weekend, I went to Dallas with my brother to see the Steelers in an absoluteyly PHEEEEnominal game against the Cowboys. Great time. My brother and I have made this a tradition, going to a Steeler game every year. I think at the end of the season, we'll be hard pressed to pick a better game to have been at. Firstly, the crowd was about 10-15% Steeler fans, which on the road at a place other than Cincinatti or Arizona is impressive. At Dallas that's unheard of. Secondly, the Cowboy jumped to an early lead adn then went up by 10 late. The Cowboys fans were all up in our faces. Late in the 4th, when the Steelers took the lead, all the people that had been the most belligerantly vocal were gone. Their teams was up and they didn't even stick around with the hope that they'll pull a miracle. So this right here is a collective FUCK YOU from teh Steelers fans taht did not get the chance for reptibution on game day. You celebrate in someone's face, you damn well better be ready to take it. Thirdly, I hate Texas. This was my feeling before the trip and this is still my feeling. We went to the little JFK Memorial they have there. Part of the exhibit included all of the wonderful legacy JFK left behind for the social fabric of the US. I couldn't help but notice the irony that this display was in the same state that produced the president which is in the process of un-doing everything that JFK accomplished. Oh, and JFK was more of a fiscal conservative than W is (that's a fact, as JFK ran on a very early, slightly different idea on teh Supply Side economics). Lastly, for as much as I hate Texas, they have damn good food. I haven't had 4 meals in a row that I absolutely loved like than in a very long time.

Other personal, less interesting (read stressful) things have been going on, but for sooth, they cannot be ruled as the reason for my quetude. The culprit is Star Wars Battlefronts. It's a new computer game and it totally rocks all kinds of insanity.

Here's the thing: Jenn, who I love so much and wouldn't change anything about, is not a Star Wars fan. And my current TV sucks and is in dire need of replacement. Both of those things combined add up to *sigh* I haven't watched the Star Wars DVD's yet. At first it was that I couldn't find a good time to say, "Honey, I know you ahve no desire to watch these movies, but that's what I'm doing tonight." But then after a while, you realize that your TV sux and you've waited this long so you might as well wait a little longer. This was a similar arguement I used in college when I was on a particualrly long dry spell and had the opportunity to go hogging but decided better of it.

However, when you're on such a dry spell, you need something to occupy that part of your mind that NEEDS release, ANY RELEASE. In college, you get Skinemax. For Star Wars, you find Battlefronts. Basically, the way it works is, you're a member of the Rebellion, Empire, a Separatist Droid or a Clone. You then get to go to war against the opposite side. One mode even lets you recreate classic battles in from teh movies. You get to drive and AT-AT. You get to run around on a speeder bike. You get to shoot things. It's just oh-so much fun. And I haven't even TRIED going on-line and playing against live foes yet! The fact of the matter is, I haven't posted because when I sit down at the computer at home, I'll start doing net stuff, but I inevitably wind up playing Battlefronts.

Now, if it weren't for Jenn, I suspect Skinemax would be on in the background while I play.

Reason #284 not to vote for W: He's the anti-JFK.

Except for the whole Vietnam thing.

But not the actual "fighting for your country" bit, whcih JFK did.

Not in Vietnam, but WWII.

And not W who didn't anywhere, except maybe at a strip club while riding the Coke Mobile.

Bush IS like JFK in that he has his own Vietnam in Iraq.

Except he wouldn't fight there either because he's a pussy.

Plus, he should learn from history, the dousche bag.

Back in the USSA

This weekend a friend of mine is coming to town. He's a guy I met through work and he will be helping out with some trianing here during the week. I'm taking it upon myself to show him around Central California and Fresno, such that it is. This is his first trip to the states. It's a shame that it has to e to Fresno. Although, we will be hitting San Fran up on Sunday.

What I'm looking to do is give him as close to a purely American Experience as I can while visiting our fair country. Being an American though, it's difficult to really understands what that means. My friend Blair, currently in Madrid studying, would understand what that means as he recognizes his AMERICANNESS through is experiences abroad. But when you come back, and EVERYTHING is American, how do you convey that, and let people know it ain't such a bad thing and can actually be fun?

So I'm looking for help. There's 2 stages here: while we're in San Fran and the evenings in Fresno.

Stage 1
He wants to do Alcatraz. That's how we picked San Fran. If he were completely indifferent, I would have picked LA because I know that area. I don't know San Francisco. I'd feel more comfortable showing him around Chicago than San Fran. Obviously with Alcatraz, you get to see Fisherman's Warf. I've been to teh downtown area ont eh weekend. Not all that exciting. So if anyone has tips on what to do with a day trip to San Fran, I'm all ears.

Stage 2
Firstly, the thing we MUST do. We're going to Hooters, preferably on a night when there's a good baseball match-up. Even more preferably when it's a deciding Game 5 in one of the opening series. He's already said that he must see a movie. We're going to take him to Team America when it opens on Friday (fear not Blair, I'm taking my camcorder and you'll be getting a bootleg). I'm also going to take him to a local sports bar on Monday so he can see Monday Night Football. But what else? Fresno is limited, so keep that in mind. It has to be something that you can only do in the States. An In and Out burger, obviously. But do we go to Denny's or IHOP? A Friday's or Appleby's (niether place, by the way, I'd go to on my own)? A steak house? He's a tech geek, so I already know he wants to see Best Buy. But what about Target? I'm not going to Wal-Mart, becasue we actually want him to come back.

Anyway, that's what I'm doing this weekend and all next week. Suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Smart-ass comments are neither welcome nor appreciated. Wankers.

Reason #492 not to vote for W: He'd take visitors to Wal-Mart and make them watch NASCAR.

Riding the Wave

Week 4 is over in the NFL. That means that a majority of the teams have completed 1/4 of their season.

Week 78 is over in MLB. That means we're going to be starting up our MLB playffs, and, looky there, each one of my prdictions for the weekend proved true. Still a month left to see if My BIG predictions prove true. But, I figured, I shouldn't stop while I'm ahead, so here are some looks at the rest of the NFL season, Division by Division.

AFC:
East - This one's easy. New England wins it and the Jets are on their way tot he Wild Card (did I just type that!?!?!) But here's teh real fun prediction: there's only 4 wins available for the other 2 teams, and that includes the 2 games they play eachother. I think the Dolphins get 1 and teh Bills will get 3. If the Bills can manage to get their Offense on track in the next 2 weeks, I'll adjust their win total. But right now, I'm sticking with 3.

Another fun fact on the Dolphins. For back ground, in Fantasy Football, you hope your Defense gets you about 10 or 11 points a week. You get points based on the scores they give up (more points for the Offense means less points for your Defense), Turnovers caused (2 points each), sacks (1 point each) and Touchdowns scored on returns of turnovers (6). So you look for them to give up about 10 points (5), 2 turnovers (4) and 2 scks (2). That's 11. In my league, my strategy all year has been find whoever is playing the Dophins and pick them up. I've been able to get that team 3 of the 4 weeks. In those 3 weeks, I've gotten a total of 62 pointsa from the Defense and have won each of those weeks. The one I didn't have them, I lost. Yes, the Dolphins are bad enough to single handedly win me 3 Fantasy weeks.

North - I can't dwell on this one for too long, because my Steelers are in this Division and I'm obviously biased. Baltimore was my pick before the start of the season, but they've lost 2 at home to really bad teams (Browns and Chiefs). You can't do that. As long as the Steelers manage not to (and it looks like that's the very least they will get done this year), they win it. But the Ravens will most likely find a way to get the Wild Card.

South - Wow, the Titans stink. Wow, Jacksonville's playing with heart this year. Wow the Colts can score a ton of points. I'll take the Colts and the Jags JUST missing the playoffs. Barely. That's the only tough pick in the AFC, really.

West - Denver will sneak away with this Division just because there isn't another team worth a damn in it. Really, none of the others are worth mentioning.

NFC:
East - Philly. Hands down. What a damn good team. I'm kicking myself because I decided to keep Santan Moss over Donavan McNabb in my keeper league. The worst Fantasy move I've made in 3 years. Might be the biggest mistake EVER. The other teams - Dallas, Washington and the Giants - yawn.

North - Minnesota have the makings of a really good team. They're not going to beat a team like Philly, though, because of their coach, who seems far too inflexible in a sport where adjustments can let you come back from 21 point half-time deficits. Green Bay's demise is shocking. Especially considering they have such a money RB. I like Detroit this year. Them and the Jags just make me smile. They'll win a Wild Card spot just because there aren't enough teams in this Conference to take it from them. They're a year away from actually deserving it though. And the Bears, well, Chicago is a kick ass city. They deserve better.

South - Atlanta and Carolina will make the playoffs. I catually didn't think Carolina would make the playoffs, but seriously, no one else wants it. My pre-season pick would have been Green Bay and Washington for the Wild Card, but Carolina will do enough to get it. Atlanta is looking good. New Orleans and Tampa do not.

West. Seattle is the only team taht could realistically keep Philly out of the Super Bowl this year. San Fran, Arizona and the Rams are the only 3 teams that could threaten the AFC West as teh worst collection of teams in football. Seattle lets that title stay in the AFC West. (Sorry Jenn, I love you and I look forward to rooting for Sanf Fran in the playoffs in future years).

OK, I'm off to get some nooky. Real quick on the playoffs: Steelers beat Jets, Denver loses to Ravens, they both lose to the Pats and Colts and Pats go to the SB. Atlanta beats Detroit and Minnesota beats Carolina, Minnestoa beats Seattle and Philly beats Atlanta with Philly going on to take the SB title. OK, SWEETIE, I'M COMING!! NO not like that. Yet.

Me Likey the Food

I love food. It's such a wonderful thing to have to do to survive. When you think of the things that we, as animals, have to do to survive, I think eating is by far my favorite. Think of the other things: sleep (feel nice after, but boring as hell), breathe, poop. If I were to design my perfect 48 hours, assuming I was going to survive as long as I didn't jump off a building or something like that, not a single one of those things would be on the list of stuff I'd want to do. But even though I wouldn't HAVE to, I'd still choose to eat.

Yesterday, my friend Chris (of Chris and Katie fame) made me a belated birthday dinner of leg of lamb. This is my absolute favorite meal and was so good that it prompted me to send an e-mail to my friend Pamela saying that if I were forced to pick my last meal, it would be leg of lamb. The whole meal would actually be the leg of lamb, Jenn's mashed potatoes and my mom's gravy. She then followed up with a valid question: what's for dessert!?!?! You know what's really sad? My perfect dessert does not exist.

For my birthday, Jenn made me super yummie cake. Last night, Chris and Katie got some super yummie cheesecake. There are lots of other things I like, too. At a restaurant, dessert is always the toughest part of the meal for me to pick. Right now, at gun point, I would pick Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. I've been to the cheesecake factory dozens of times with dozens of differnt people. It's safe to say that I've tried all of their specialty cheesecakes that I care to (i.e. none of the coffee ones, none of the one's where nuts are a key ingredient and none of the boring ones like plain or strawberry). Now when I go, I know. I get the APBC Cheesecake. I don't know who Adam is or what he did to get a cheesecake named after him, but I hope that I am someday that wonderful a human being. There are 2 things that make this the best cheesecake there: the crust is a slice of dark chocolate heaven and instead of whipped cream they put this whipped peanut butter thing on the top that is to absolutely die for. They have another chocolate and peanut butter combo selection, but it can't touch APBC. Choolate and peanut butter is the second greatest combination of flavors known to man, hence why this would make the current #1 selection.

APBC would get supplanted in an instant if the Cheese Cake Factory ever got the gumption to introduce a dessert which features the greatest flavor comination: chocolate and strawberries. I makes perfect sense, I tell ya!!! You start with the crust from APBC (don't mess with perfection). You then make the cheescake with the strawberries blended in and you swirl in a THICK ring of chocolate goodness (not cheesecake but actual chocolate, like a vein of fudge or something). You then top it off with a second layer of dark chocolate, some fresh strawberries and, if possible, do the thing with whipped strawberries that you did with the peanut butter and add some chocolate syrup for good measure. Give me a glass of milk and THAT, my friends, would be the very last thing I would ever taste. Shove your after dinner mints up your ass, I'm tasting Triple-Chocolate Coverd Strawberry Cheescake for the rest of eternity.

Reason #2624 not to vote for W: After the debate last night, i actually think he believes the load of shit taht he's shoveling. He's so stupid, he's dangerous.

Needed added side note: Fresno is getting a Claim Jumper Restaurant in 2005 and it's going in 2 blocks from where I live. If they opened a Cheesecake Factory across the street to compete, I would be in a diabetic coma in a month. But I don't care. It needs to happen.