Boston Legal - the End

Last week was the series finale of Boston Legal.  BL is has been one of the best shows on TV for the past few years and we are sad that it won't be on anymore.  I think the best part about it is that it makes fun of itself, it even referred to the last episode "jumping the shark" when Denny proposed to Alan.  Frickin hilarious.  The show was funny, smart, often over the top, and it had William Shatner whose cell phone ring was the Enterprise sound.  Fantastic.  We will miss this show, but at least we still have Chuck.

Being a parent

Specifically a mom, is the best.  Even yesterday, when I got pooed on, woke up at 1 am and 4 am to feed my baby, took care of my husband who had literally passed out from exhaustion from a crazy work week and horrible cold, cleaned up the kitchen, and hosted a playgroup.  It made me so happy I wasn't going back to my insanely boring job and I felt more fulfilled than I have in a long time.  I know that sounds weird but I am so happy to have this life of dirty diapers, dirty dishes, a loving husband and a wonderful baby.

Loganberry syrup

Two years ago, one of our wedding gifts was a sampler of Buffalo wing sauce and a bottle of loganberry syrup.  We have long since used up the buffalo sauce and have ordered more of the medium (there was a mild, medium and suicidal) - medium seems to be just right and we make wings pretty much every Sunday during football season (we're on our 2nd gallon).  The Loganberry syrup remains unopened, purely because we have no idea what to do with it.  I suppose I could be resourceful and look it up online, but if anyone has any suggestions, I would be more than happy to listen.  Thanks again to Scott and Leah for the gift!!

Oh Yeah, I have a blog.

Sorry it's been a while.  We have been a little busy, having a baby and all.  Ethan was born Oct. 27 and is absolutely amazing.  We love him so much it is ridiculous.  Sean was able to be home for 3 weeks straight which was great.  Today is his first day back at work.  We are managing ok, the biggest thing is that I have figured out that even though Ethan doesn't really like to sleep in his bassinet, he will sleep in his car seat so he is napping there right now, although I do anticipate he will be waking up shortly to eat and be changed.  He makes the most adorable sounds when he's sleeping and is a fairly easy baby, we can usually get him to calm down in a relatively short amount of time (knock on wood) and he seems curious when he's awake and has the most beautiful eyes.  We have gotten lots of great gifts from lots of people so thank you all again.  We've had great visitors and my mom will be coming up later in the week so that will be a help.  I would post a picture, but I am using my new computer and therefore have not had a chance to upload any software or anything to it yet.  It is my wonderful baby/anniversary gift from Sean.  Hope you are all well.  I'll try to post more as we get into more of a routine (if possible!!)

It's over

Last night the Tampa Bay Rays won the ALCS 4 games to 3. The Sox put up a valiant fight to battle back from 3 games down to get to a 7th game, they just couldn't get it done. I am bummed, but at least I don't have to listen to those jackasses on TBS anymore.

Playoffs

Tonight is do or die for the Dodgers and tomorrow is do or die for the Sox. Both teams pretty much walked through their Division series winning 3-1. Now each team is losing 3-1 in the Championship Series which is a best of 7. The last three games for the sox have been terrible. Terrible pitching, no offense, lost opportunities. It has been very disappointing. I am hoping the day off, travel to a sunnier state and Dice-K on the mound will revitalize them and they will come off with a win. We will see tomorrow.

As for the Dodgers, it would be cool if they won since I still love Manny, but I really don't care that much.

GO SOX!!!

When it comes to October, no one dominates like Boston

This was a headline on ESPN and makes a few of us question, "Really? Are we in some alternate universe?" The answer is clearly, "NO!" We are the Red Sox of a new generation. A team headed by a great manager in Tito Francona and filled with players who are young, old and in between and who collectively, have the biggest heart and desire to win in the game. They are an exciting team to watch. They're not filled with the feeling of something to prove, nor do they have a chip on their shoulder from sucking for as long as they've been a team (hmmm, Tampa anyone??)

Last night's game was amazing. Two great pitchers (how come no one dares to call Lester our Ace BTW?), lots of strong defense (by the Sox) and hits that mattered. Now we head to Tampa to attempt to beat our nemesis for the ALCS. It should be a great series. I can't believe I have to wait til Friday, but at least it will give me a chance to catch up on my sleep. I know I should be taking advantage of all the sleep I can get right now, but baby understands - he cheers too!!

There's only ONE October! GO SOX!!

Our Yogi and Clinch!

On Friday, Johnny Pesky's number 6 will be retired at Fenway Park. He technically does not meet the requirements set in place a long time ago by former Red Sox owners for retirement, but his personality and his numbers do. Pesky is an important part of Red Sox history and team community today. He's kind of like Yogi Berra is to the Yankees: a part of the greater generation, a ballplayer with great numbers, and someone who has given everything for their team. Pesky has a foul pole named after him in Fenway Park and he is always at the games unless sidelined by illness. I am really happy for him and the Red Sox management for retiring his number.

Oh yeah, and the Red Sox clinched a playoff spot last night!! We'll just have to wait and see if Tampa starts losing and we win the rest of our games to see who takes the division. Go Sox!!

Happy Birthday!

To my friend, Aimee. I hope you have a great day and your kids weren't too obnoxious!

Out with the old, in with the new

Last night was the last home game for the Yankees at their beloved Yankee Stadium. The Yankees beat the Orioles and Mariano Rivera threw the final out of the game. He didn't get a save, since they won 7-4, but it was fitting none-the-less. I didn't watch most of the pre-game ceremonies, or much of the game for that matter, but I did get to listen to Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra in the booth for a while reminiscing about the old days and the best players they ever played with and against. Old clips were played from games of yore, perfect games, World Series wins, the Shot Heard Round the World, and famous speeches. We were also reminded that Yankee Stadium is not just a baseball park, boxing matches were played there, several different Popes came to perform Mass there, football games were held there, movies were filmed there, etc.

Apparently, in the 7th inning, a video of Bob Sheppard was played reading this poem:

“Farewell old Yankee Stadium, farewell
What a wonderful story you can tell
DiMaggio, Mantle, Gehrig and Ruth
A baseball cathedral in truth
Farewell.”

I don't know if he wrote it, but it certainly seemed fitting.

I have a few of my own memories from that stadium. One time a whole bunch of us went there for our friend's birthday and we sat up so high (I'm pretty sure it was the last row) that when it rained, we were covered. Another time, that same friend and I went to a Yanks-Sox game during which Manny hit a foul ball literally straight up in the air in front of us that seemed to hang in the air for 10 seconds. We couldn't see home plate, but we saw that ball hanging.

I know a few of you have many more memories than I do, but I just wanted to share my part of this historic stadium. I didn't get to see Jeter's speech at the end of the game, but it sounded like it was pretty classy, and I agree with the gist of it: share your memories of this stadium with friends and family and carry them with you to the new. I support all of you Yankee fans in this new endeavor. I hope you'll do the same for me if Fenway ever gets replaced.

Good thoughts

Today I am sending all my love and good thoughts out to our great friend LB. She is starting her exciting new job today! We miss you but wish you all the best. Yeah for new adventures!

Death Magnetic

The new Metallica CD was released today at midnight. Luckily, you can listen for free on MSN music. Here is my review if anyone cares:

Track 1: That Was Just Your Life - 7:05 - A very strong opener to the album. Fast, good guitar solos, upbeat. Makes you want to listen to the next song. A good riff, catchy but not lame. I immediately like this song. I think this should have been the first release.

Track 2: The End of the Line – 7:52 - This song is broken up into two parts. The first part is another strong, upbeat song. Good riff, different enough from track 1 to hold its own. Good strong chorus. Nice symmetry in the guitar work. Could do without the distortion. The second part is interesting and then breaks back into the first part like a coda.

Track 3: Broken, Beat & Scarred – 6:25 - What don't kill ya will make you more strong? Isn't that a line from an Usher song? Not really crazy about this song. Too much Lars.

Track 4: The Day That Never Comes – 7:56 - This was the first release from the album. I've heard it a lot on the radio. I like it but it feels confused to me, like the band doesn't really know who they are yet.

Track 5: All Nightmare Long – 7:57 - Reminiscent of some of the songs on Master. Very good. Hetfield's voice sounds great, especially on "luck runs out-ah." I love that. Nice guitar, not overdone, although sounds a little like video game music at one point. Fast.

Track 6: Cyanide – 6:39 - Catchy. Possibly the next release. Not a big fan. Not very cohesive. The middle drums try for some sort of transition. A little confusing - not in a good way. Pretty much all over the place.

Track 7: The Unforgiven III - 7:46 - I was wary of this song from the just the title. As it starts out though, I am afraid I may have judged a book by its cover. Another poor transition from the intro to the beginning of the song. The intro is beautiful. Strings are a nice addition. Nice bass work by Trujillo. Builds to a nice guitar solo. Baby seems to like this song the best so far. Weak ending.

Track 8: The Judas Kiss - 8:00 - I listened to this song yesterday and liked it the best of those I had heard so far. Nice intro. The instruments work well together unlike in some of the other songs where it sounds like they are fighting each other. Great chorus. A good song for a live video. Nice dual guitar work, solo sounds a little like it should be in the Twilight Zone and then Hammett ramps it up into overdrive.

Track 9: Suicide & Redemption - 9:57 - Great intro. Not old school though. Really great. Only orchestral track on the CD. Tempo changes keep it interesting. Fantastic despite another weak ending.

Track 10: My Apocalypse - 5:01 – The only song that mentions the title of the album. A strong song. Nice and fast. How does Hammett play like that? Strong ending to the album.

These are my 1st impressions of the album. I think I will go out and get it (yes, I still buy CDs). Hetfield's voice sounds great on all the tracks where he sings and overall the band sounds good. They still don't sound completely cohesive despite having been the same line up now for about 5 years. Some of the tracks sound weary of the listeners, with the feeling of "ooh, I hope they like this," causing confusion and lack of confidence in the song. All in all, Rick Rubin has yet again, helped create a great album.

Baby setlist

The place we are planning on giving birth is going to be a brand new hospital wing with private rooms with jacuzzis, a bed for Sean, a TV, a music player, etc. Some people suggest you bring music to listen to while you are laboring. I have been thinking about this for a while and am not sure if I will want music playing or if I will want it to be quiet, but I figure I should be prepared either way. I have been trying to think of stuff to put on the birthing setlist. This is what I have so far:

The Ode to Joy choral section of Beethoven's 9th.
Music for Royal Fireworks by Handel
Hallelujah chorus by Handel (if I could time it right, it would be awesome for this to be playing when Baby makes his debut - and yes, I know this is completely unrealistic unless I just have it on repeat)
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart

I also like a lot of requiems, but that doesn't seem quite appropriate for a birth. I was trying to remember which Mass the Chorus sang that Bunky said was a Mass for the Living. Anyone have any ideas here? Bee. Mass in C? For some reason Gounod is sticking in my head, but I don't think that's correct. Google isn't helping me much in this matter.

I'm going for stuff that I am really familiar with since they say you should be able to distract your mind and let your body do the work it's supposed to do. This is going to be difficult for me, but I am just going to work on trusting my body and not being in control (insert laughs here). Since my brain will need something else to do, I guess it makes sense to have it concentrate on something else.

Any other suggestions? For you moms out there, what do you think about music playing? A good distraction or annoying? Do you wish you had music playing or glad you didn't?

OTH off the TiVO

**WARNING - SPOILER ALERT**

New shows have started for certain TV series. I started watching One Tree Hill last year and thought it was a decent show. After watching the first show of this season, it is now deleted from my season's pass manager. Too many crazy people on the show, certain people leaving the show, and a woman getting attacked are just not the things I want to be watching right now. Plus, Lucas picked Peyton who I have always found annoying from the beginning of the show.

On the other hand, Gossip Girl looks like it's off to a good start.

Little league players

Some of you may have heard that a 9 year old Little League pitcher in New Haven has been banned from pitching because he can throw a 40 mph fastball. That is pretty awesome for a 9 year old. The league has said he can play another position, but he can't pitch. Apparently, parents of players on opposing teams were upset because they thought it was dangerous. Now, I don't know this kid's stats, but all the articles I have read about this say that he has not hit a batter. The idea that the league wants him to play a position that he is not good at gives this kid a bad message. Yeah, you are too good at something so we want you to play a position that you aren't good at so other kids aren't scared to bat. This also sends a bad message to the batters on the other teams. We'll take care of you and protect you from something you are scared of, you'll never have to face anything scary in your life.

As a prospective parent I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, yes, I want to protect my child from everything scary in this world. On the other hand, I know this is an impossible task so I want to be able to prepare my child with the best resources available to face anything scary that might come his way. If you allow kids to face challenges and obstacles, won't they be better prepared to face them as they get older?

I can see that to a 9 year old batter, a 40 mph fastball would be scary, but it can also be a challenge. The batter can decide to bat against this pitcher, and yeah, he might strike out a bunch of times, but maybe, just maybe he'll get the bat on the ball. He might foul out, but at least he'll have made contact and that in itself is a victory.

All I have to say is shame on you league officials in New Haven who banned a kid who was really good at something he likes. Let him play in the next age group up, but don't ban him. Don't punish him for being good at something.

Sports?

Some of you may be wondering, "Hey, the title of this blog is Sports, Music and Life. Didn't the Olympics just happen?" Or maybe none of you were thinking that, but I figured I should at least mention that, yes, the summer Olympics did just happen. They were held in Bejing, China and Hong Kong. Michael Phelps became the winningest Olympic athlete ever (16 medals in 2 Olympic games), and beat Mark Spitz's record of most golds by a swimmer in any Olympic games this year, winning 8. It was pretty impressive. So impressive, in fact, that when we were at a Washington Nationals game a few weeks ago and Phelps' Butterfly race was on, everyone was watching that instead of the baseball game in front of them (granted it was the Nationals and the Rockies). The other person who is worth mentioning is Usain Bolt, now the fastest man in the world. This guy is from Jamaica and is literally as fast as a bolt of lightening. Ridiculous.

Honestly, I'm not that into the Summer Olympics. I mean, how long can you watch someone run a race during the marathon? I am from the US so I'm not crazy for soccer (i.e. football) like the rest of the world. I do enjoy watching the equestrian jumping competition, only because it's usually the only time this sport is on TV. There was no crazy Bella Karoli to watch during the gymnastics (although he did commentate) and Bob Costas has become more like a robot than a commentator. In addition, I am a bit confused about some sports being actual Olympic sports - BMX biking anyone? Badminton? Finally, I think it is total crap that professional athletes get to compete in the Olympic games. Professionals get their spot in the limelight when they play during their season. Let the little guy have the stage for 17 days.

So yes, the Olympics did just happen. They just weren't that interesting.

The Dark Knight

Last night, Sean and I finally went to see The Dark Knight, the next movie in the Batman series (technically the second movie), but I don't think they really go in chronological order except for Batman Begins, and you don't really need to see that one before you see this one. This was Heath Ledger's last movie as he passed away earlier in the year after the filming. Christian Bale plays Batman/Bruce Wayne again and Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman play their respective parts as well. In addition, Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal play other characters. All in all, a great cast.

The plot was good. The acting by Ledger as the insane Joker was superb. The effects were great. The problem with the plot was that it felt as if the movie could have ended at least three times before it actually ended. It was quite a long movie, over 2 hours. I won't give anything away, but it seemed curious that they introduced a new villain toward the end of the movie, only to get rid of him before the movie ended. I did enjoy this movie more than Batman Begins. It was more of a typical superhero movie which I enjoy.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes superhero movies.

The Day That Never Comes

A little while ago I posted that Metallica is FINALLY releasing a new CD Sept 12. I finally heard the first single from this album titled, "The Day That Never Comes." The radio version that I heard was about 8 minutes long. I obviously haven't heard the rest of the album but it struck me as an interesting song to represent the album. It starts off as a ballad and then ends as classic Metallica with Kirk's signature guitar riffs and Lars' strong drums. At first, I wasn't crazy about the song. I was wondering why Metallica would release a ballad as their first single from this long awaited album considering they got so much flack for the Black album and especially for St. Anger. I thought they would've released something with more bite to it. I will have to hear this song again but right now I'm not too impressed.

Update

JAMM's supervisor never called me to apologize. Am I surprised? I think not. Add the supervisor to the jackass list.

I was going to call back the lady who said she would have JAMM's supervisor call me and tell her that no one called me. However, I think it would just piss me off more so I am going to write a letter to United and try to let this one go. If I ever see JAMM again, I might have to tear him a new one. Hopefully, we will never have to fly out of this small airport again.

I just googled "united airlines complaints" and there are about 848,000 site dedicated to this. Ridiculous. Don't fly United!

Flying sucks part II

** WARNING** This is a ranting post, but I tried to make it humorous so read on if you also think that flying and customer service in general, has gotten significantly worse.

So it turned out that the idiots at United never delivered my bag yesterday so I went to the airport to pick it up. This literally would have taken me less than 5 minutes if the jackass meter maid wasn't such a jerk. As most of you know, I am pregnant so I didn't want to park in the garage far away from the airport and I didn't want to have to pay for parking to pick up my damn bag that should have been delivered anyway. There is a short term/cell phone parking area where you can park as long as your car isn't left unattended to wait for passengers to arrive. It was only me so the car was unattended. The baggage office I had to go to was right inside the door next to this parking area so I parked there. I made the mistake of asking JAMM (Jackass meter maid) if he was going to give me a ticket if I let my car there. He said that if I entered the building he would give me a ticket (he said this not so nicely while stepping between me and the building). So I said fine and left that area, went around the airport and parked at the curb. He again came up to me and said if I left the car he was going to give me a ticket. I said I literally have to run in for 30 seconds to get my bag. JAMM said he was still going to give me a ticket. I told JAMM if he wanted to give me a ticket , fine, I went in the building and of course, no one was in the stupid office. So now I had to go down to the other end of the airport (it's not that big of an airport, but remember, I am pregnant and had to walk all the way down there) to the ticketing booth to get someone to let me into the damn office. As I came out of the building JAMM was writing my ticket. I told him I now had to go down to ticketing so it would take me about a minute. JAMM said that if I left he would call the towing company. I asked him if he was serious and he said he was, so I left the curb and parked in the short term parking garage where I had to freaking walk all over the place to get my damn bag. So I get to the ticketing booth and see the same guy who I gave my form to last night and he, DABG (Dumb Ass Bag Guy), asked me my name and after I told him, he said, oh yeah, we called and left a message. To which I replied, yes, I had gotten the message, and I called right back (literally 4 minutes after the message was left), left a message to make sure they had the correct address and no one ever called me back. I continued to call EIGHT times throughout the afternoon to see if SOMEONE would pick up the damn phone. I also called the 800 United baggage number twice to make sure they knew the correct address, figuring they could get the message to DABG. It seems they had the same luck I had. I then asked DABG if the airline was going to pay my ticket and parking fee because I had to go all the way to the airport to get my damn bag and they messed up delivering it and he just shrugged his shoulders and said nope. I then asked if there was any petty cash since the garage was only going to be $2 and again he shrugged his shoulders. DABG never gave me an apology. Finally I got the stupid bag and I saw JAMM again and asked him for the name of his supervisor. He said he was the supervisor on duty (which I totally didn't buy) and I said that there must be someone above him and he said he guessed I could call the airport and I told him I would absolutely do that. He was so rude and obnoxious to be I couldn't believe it. It was like he had nothing better to do than harass the pregnant lady. What a jackass.

This morning I did indeed call the airport to complain about JAMM. The woman I spoke to was quite apologetic (finally!) and said she would look at the video tape and talk to JAMM and his immediate supervisor and have him call me to apologize. I told her I had no interest in ever talking to JAMM again and she said that the supervisor, not JAMM would call me. She was also surprised I had to pay $1 for parking since I was only in there for 12 minutes. 12 minutes to walk all the way from the garage to the terminal, get my bag and back out!! If JAMM had just left me alone I would have been in and out of there in less than five which is less time that those other people sitting in the passenger pick up lot had been waiting. It's not like the airport was busy and I was taking up space. What a jackass. Flying sucks. I have decided I am never going anywhere I have to check a bag again if it involved this small town airport.

Flying sucks

The past few days, Sean and I were in the DC area visiting family and Sean took a class. It was a wonderful trip. I got to see my sister and her husband, saw some friends who had their baby in July, saw some friends who just got engaged, played mini golf and generally hung out. The days were relaxing and fun only to be up-ended by crappy air travel. Our flights were on time, however, once on the plane, we were stuck on the plane on the runway FOR AN HOUR before we left the ground. Luckily, the AC was still on so it didn't get too uncomfortable. Finally, we got off the ground and landed. However, once we landed, we were stuck on the plane for at least 20 minutes since there was only ONE baggage handler. OK, so fine, we finally got off the plane. I had to check a bag since we were gone for more than a weekend. Yup, you guessed it, my bag didn't show up. So then I had to wait in line with the other passengers whose bags were also still in DC to fill out a form. Now, I am waiting for them to show up with my bag, but since I put my home address on the form and not my work address I am wondering if they will just leave the bag at my home or actually deliver it to my work since I did call this morning to tell them to deliver it to my work. We will see. Flying sucks.

Belated birthdays (again) and thoughts

Happy belated 90th birthday to my grandmother and xth birthday to my mother. I love you both.

My thoughts are going out to my friend's mom today as she has surgery. We are thinking of you!

The Weasel

Bud Selig must be bored out of his mind to attempt this. When will MLB ever get a new Commissioner? Let it go Bud - it's over and done with!

Manny being LA

Yesterday as the trade deadline approached, the Red Sox were involved in a major deal in which Manny Ramirez was traded away to the Dodgers, Jason Bay was received from the Pirates and the Pirates got 4 players, 2 from the Sox and 2 from the Dodgers. The Sox are also paying the rest of Manny's salary for this year. No word on if the Dodgers will be required to pick up Manny's option(s) or not.

This is a sad day in Red Sox Nation. Manny is a Hall of Fame player and always puts up great numbers. Lately, though, he has been a royal pain in the ass in the clubhouse, getting into a fight with one of his own teammates, getting into a scuffle with the PR guy over a request for a ridiculous amount of tickets, and to put the icing on the cake, taking himself out of the lineup of the first game of the Yankees series last week.

Manny has been one of my favorite players since Nomar left in 2004. Manny helped the Sox win the 2004 and the 2007 World Series. I was at his first game at Fenway where he hit a home run in his first at bat. Sure, Manny has his antics, his weirdness when he cuts off relays to home and allows an inside the park home run, throws the ball into the stands when there are only 2 outs, hi-fives a fan after catching a fly ball, etc. Despite his playing style, his numbers are irrefutable: 2318 hits, 510 HR .312 avg over 16 seasons.

It will be an interesting second half of the season without him. Jason Bay has some big shoes to fill. Good bye Manny, we will miss you - say hi to Derek Lowe and Nomar for us.

Comments

Yesterday, someone at work (who doesn't have any kids) saw me and said, "You look hot and uncomfortable." To which I wanted to reply, "So do you." However, being a superior to me and me being the nicer person, I just responded, "I still have a Red Sox hangover from Sunday." SERIOUSLY?!?! Would anyone say that a non-pregnant person looked hot and uncomfortable? Is that supposed to be a compliment? A sympathy greeting? Come on people - as one of the books I read says - the only thing a pregnant person wants to hear is, "You look great!" Or, if we really don't look great, just don't say anything about our looks, just ask us how we are doing or how our weekend was.

Sweet Setlist

Aerosmith isn't on tour this year so I live vicariously through their website and updates. Recently, Steven Tyler played with Billy Joel at Shea Stadium as a final farewell to Shea (it's the last year of this ballpark too). Check out the setlist:

July baby update

Clara Jean
Owen David
Sadie Eleanor

Congrats to all!

Belated and not so belated

Birthdays to my brother in law (ha, you are older than me!) and to my good friend LB. I hope you both had and have wonderful birthdays!

2008 All-Star game

I finally had a chance to watch what I had of the All-Star game (up to the 10th inning). I really enjoyed the pre-game ceremonies with all the Hall-of-Famers there and the tribute that was paid to Yankee Stadium. The unfortunate thing, was that the Yankee announcer, Bob Sheppard, was not able to do the announcing. He has been the voice of Y.S. for 56 years and is not in very good health right now. The even more unfortunate thing, was that Joe Buck filled in for Sheppard. You would think they would at least have another current ballpark announcer do the honors, possibly Vin Scully (since he's from the Bronx), or maybe share it with the Red Sox announcer and the Rockies announcer. But seriously, just because it was on Fox, we got stuck with Joe Buck. During the pre-game when he was introducing all the HOFers and the starting players for each team at each position, he did ok. Until he FORGOT to introduce the catchers. Who he then did introduce after the managers. Dumb ass.

A few thoughts on the pre-game:

I think Yogi, Whitey Ford and Willie Mays got the loudest cheers from the crowd.

Joe Buck is a dumb ass.

Sheryl Crowe is a good singer, but her rendition of the National Anthem was too slow and boring for the All-Star game - what about Bon Jovi who was in town the night before?

Wade Boggs is still an asshole - all the hall of famers wore the cap they were inducted into the hall with except Boggs. Yes, we all know you played for the Yanks and won your World Series there, but wear your Sox hat and bring your Yanks hat - that's what all the classy players did!

Rollie Fingers has the best mustache in baseball.

Yankee fans are mostly stupid. When Paplebon came in when the game was tied they started shouting for Rivera. First, wouldn't you want your guy to come in during a save situation? Paplebon shut up their "overrated" chant pretty quickly.

Yogi Berra is the most adorable ball player around.

The titty fairy cometh

I blogged a while ago about my new bra size. Currently, I am reading a book called the Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine. It's pretty funny and seems to have some good advice in it. One chapter talks about the physical changes your body undergoes while pregnant. One of these is the fact that your boobs get bigger to accommodate for the milk glands and to prepare to feed the child you are carrying. She writes that some of her girlfriend's SO's (significant others) call this time the visit from the titty fairy. I told this to my husband and he thought it was hysterical. It is pretty hilarious. Especially for those of us who didn't have anything to begin with, it's a new and exciting feature to have. All those push-up bras now have something to work with and cleavage is a possibility. During this time I will be taking some advice from one of my own girlfriends and buying a couple of low cut shirts. (Hey, even though they're maternity shirts, I still look cute!)

Pregnancy and emotion

One of the side effects of being pregnant is that you can be extremely emotional. I remember hearing stories from my friends who, when they were pregnant, couldn't watch a Hallmark commercial without a box of kleenex. I heard these stories and thought to myself, "Ha! That won't happen to me! I am in complete control of my senses." Stupid me. The All-Star game was on Tuesday night and since I had to work, I TiVoed it. Before I went to work last night, I started watching the pre-game show and practically fell apart when Yogi Berra came on the screen. That's right, I started getting teary when I saw a Yankee. I literally had to turn it off so I didn't show up to work all bleary-eyed. Stupid hormones. God forbid they decide to tear down Fenway and I decide to get pregnant again. I will be a wreck.

The All-Star game was ridiculous. I added an hour to the recording and still didn't get it all. It lasted 15 innings and finally the AL came out on top thanks the JD Drew and no thanks to Papelbon. The game was played in Yankee Stadium. As I blogged about before, this is the last year of The Cathedral. It was a fitting tribute to the grand old park, especially with the AL win.

Weekend trip

This weekend we traveled to VT to visit with some of Sean's family. It was fun and relaxing. They have a sailboat on Lake Champlain so we hung out on that for most of the day on Saturday. In my current state, I can't really reach my back to apply sunscreen and immediately forgot about it upon arrival at the boat. Needless to say, my back is VERY red - OUCH! But the weather and company were beautiful and Sean's little 2nd cousin is wicked cute at 3 years old and loves the beach.

Our trip back was not that much fun due to the traffic, but at least the Red Sox game lasted a long time and ended with a win, so that slightly helped pass the time. The evening ended with some wings and a viewing of the day's stage of the Tour-day-France. A grueling climb and fun descent. Luckily there were no crashes - which is good for the riders, but boring for the viewers.

If you haven't already, go to http://www.coldplayontour.com/wwdc/ and vote for my friend's band: Honor By August (their video is third from the bottom).

Wimbledon 2008

Nadal wins: 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7
The best tennis match ever was played yesterday in the men's finals at Wimbledon. Roger Federer (1) was going for his 6th straight Wimbledon record to try to beat Bjorn Borg's reign of 5 straight (which Federer tied last year). Rafael Nadal (2) was trying to beat Federer at Wimbledon, a feat he missed last year, barely, plus he was trying to become the first man to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year since Borg. Nadal has always had Federer's number on clay at the Roland Garros, but he never could quite outsmart Federer on grass. The match was the longest in Wimbledon history, 4 hours, 48 minutes, it survived two rain delays, numerous challenges and strong winds. Every type of swing was used, both players played strong, at net, at the baseline, with grace and athleticism. Both players were dressed in the required white, they survived shadows cast by the setting sun, exhaustion, and played the game of their lives. It was a clinic in perseverance, strength, determination and skill. It will be shown again tonight on ESPN Classic, as it was one of those matches that was one for the ages. If you like tennis, even just a little, watch the match. You'll be happy to have witnessed one of the great, if not the greatest, match in men's tennis history.

Update

Baby name born in June: Freya - Congrats!
Another born in June (who I thought was being born in July): Noah - a boy!
Ava Grace (also in June)

Congrats to everyone!

Lincoln and Darwin

I just read this article comparing Lincoln and Darwin. It was quite interesting. They were both born on the same day in the same year. They both changed the course of history - one for a nation, one for science. They shared personal issues: depression, loss of a mother at a young age. They were both magnificent writers. The article goes on to ask who was more important. The author brings up the point that it is like comparing apples and oranges - with which I agree. They were both extremely influential in their respective fields, but Darwin lived in England and was a scientist and Lincoln lived in the US and was a politician (to this day, politicians don't listen to scientists - at least not the ones that they haven't paid). However, he decides he must have a winner and decides that Lincoln was more important. His argument is that without Lincoln, who knows what the state of our union would be, but with Darwin, someone else was bound to come along and think up the theory of evolution (this is true as Alfred Wallace indeed did also come up with the idea); but who is to say that no one else would have come along to abolish slavery? Also, Darwin's idea influenced scientists world-wide, Lincoln preserved the nation, which eventually gained world-wide influence, but not until half a century later. I just say they were both extremely influential, intelligent men, without who, we would be ther poorer.

Baby count 2008

As I mentioned in a previous post, I know a lot of people who are having babies this year. here is the update so far (and yes, they are all girls!):

Jan: 1 (Caroline)
Feb: 2 (Grace and Katelyn)
April: 2 (Nell and Darciana)
June: 1 (waiting for confirmation)

Just wait for July - there are 4 coming!

Great trip!

A few weeks ago Sean and I took a trip to Paris. We figured it would be a good time to go before I couldn't walk or fly anymore. We left on a Tuesday evening from Portland to Newark then to Paris. It was a little tricky leaving from Portland because we were delayed about three hours so we were very nervous that we wouldn't make our connection in Newark. Luckily, we got into Newark just as our plane was boarding so we made it. After breathing a sigh of relief once on the plane, out flight was fairly uneventful and we arrived in Paris around 12:30 pm on Wednesday. We bought our train tickets to get into the city and got to our hotel around 3 or so. That afternoon we went to the Louvre since I knew it was open late on Wednesdays.
It was really cool. It is an amazingly huge museum with lots of stuff you've seen in movies and in books, but to see it in person is really cool. Even the Mona Lisa, which, even behind glass, has such a quality to it, you can't help but stare at it for a while. That night we had a crappy dinner as some bistro near our hotel.

Our hotel was great. It was near the Arc de Triomphe. It was nice to see the Arc every day on our way to the metro. The next day we went to Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. It was a great day and we did lots of walking. Notre Dame was beautiful. I think it was my favorite thing we saw while we were there. It has such an amazing history and such beautiful architecture. Notre Dame has wonderful stained glass windows, cool gargoyles and a huge bell called "Emmanuel," (the one that Quasimodo rang in the story) and it weighs something ridiculous like 3 tons.

The Eiffel tower was also a cool building with amazing architecture. You get great views of the city from the tower and you get to be 900 feet high.








The next day we went to Versailles. It too was spectacular. The space of it is huge and the paintings and architecture of it are beautiful. We saw the Hall of Mirrors, the doors which Marie Antoinette escaped through to safety for one night, her Hamlet with a mill and farm. The gardens are extravagant, there are statues everywhere.

The next day we went up to Sacre-Coeur in Montmartre. Another beautiful church and area, although there were a lot of annoying street vendors. We also saw Moulin Rouge and ate at a nice little cafe for brunch.

All in all, we saw a lot of great stuff, walked a lot and had a nice relaxing trip (except for the start of the trip when we were delayed). The food, honestly, wasn't that great. We went out to one nice dinner, but mostly, we just ate bistro food. We also finally made it up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe - on the third try. Each other time we tried to go there, it was closed, and finally on the last night, we made it. I liked going up the top of the Eiffel tower, but going to the Arc at night, was really worth it. I would highly recommend it if you ever go. We had a great time!

Jerry Remy day at Fenway

Yesterday, the Red Sox organization and NESN celebrated Jerry Remy for his time playing with the team and his 20 years as a broadcaster. Remy is also the president of Red Sox Nation - a group of "citizens" (aka fans) of the Red Sox who pay a minimum (or maximum) fee to have a special entrance at Fenway, their own day at the park, discounts at the store and free MLB radio on the computer. A lot of people think that Remy and Orsillo don't pay enough attention to the game at times, but I think it's their entertaining broadcast that makes the Sox games more fun to watch. Especially when this happens:

Summer movies

There really haven't been very many blockbuster summer movies lately. Sure, there was the latest Indiana Jones - which was perfectly entertaining. But it seems they are either so stupid they're funny (Zohan), remakes of old TV shows (Get Smart), or horror (The Happening). However, on July 18, The Dark Knight will be released. I wasn't a huge fan of Batman Begins, but I am excited to see The Dark Knight. Just watch the trailer.

Today's trivia

What flavor is a mixture of wintergreen, peppermint, vanilla and cinnamon?


Answer: Bubblegum!

Go Green! (Another one for the ages)

Last night, the Celtics handily beat the Lakers 131-92 to win the NBA Championship. The largest point differential in a finals winning game. I only watched the third quarter, but it was ridiculous. The Celtics played amazing defense, and just in the few minutes I watched, had something like 6 steals. This is the Celtics 17th championship - the most won by any NBA franchise. This stat would normally make me wish they didn't win and give someone else a chance, but because of how poorly they did last year, the fact that they haven't won in 22 years, and that they are a Boston team, I am happy for them. Paul Pierce won the MVP, deservedly so - he had an average of something like 22 points per game in the finals and even though he got injured, he came back in the same game to play his heart out. Plus, he put any ego he had aside this year when the Celtics got Garnett and Allen and learned to play well with others to get this team to the championship. They won with Bill Russell and John Havlicek watching - two of the Celtics greats of all time. They won it with Doc Rivers as their coach and with Red Auerbach watching from somewhere smoking a cigar.

They f*$k you at the drive through....

Name that movie? Today I got up a little late so I went to DD for some breakfast. I had to wait forever and they got my order wrong - dammit!

Also I received a call from Anonymous today - I am pretty sure I know who it was, but they didn't leave a message. Leave a message people! How hard is that?

I think I am being tricked - today must be Monday all over again.

New Metallica

The new album (which was promised three years ago) is finally supposed to come out in September. I can't wait!

Bull Durham

Apparently, yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the release of Bull Durham. This is a great baseball movie. If you haven't seen it, see it - even if you don't like baseball. To see interviews with the actors and other movie memorabilia check out this article.

Bad smells, b-cups and babies, oh my!

So, I think the two people who actually read this blog already know my news that I am pregnant! About 20ish weeks along in fact. We are very excited about this new adventure that we will be embarking on. So far, my experience has been great. I wasn't sick, I haven't had any weird food cravings (yet), and in general, haven't had any pregnancy "symptoms." (I hate to use the word symptom as it makes pregnancy sound like a disease or something.) It's bad enough that insurance companies see it as a disability - if you want to get some paid time off to have your baby, you need short term disability insurance, and even then, it's only at 80% of your current salary for 6 weeks, after that, you're SOL.

A few short, funny stories to share:

A few weeks ago, the lab next to me was thawing and dissecting about 20 large cod. Needless to say, this created a big stink - literally. Even with my office door and the lab doors closed, the smell still got to me so I went home to work. Pee yew!

A few days ago, I bought my 1st ever B-cup bra. (Yeah, yeah, bring on the jokes). I think it still might be a little small, but I know the C will be too big.

I've also bought a few maternity items: a pair of jeans, a pair of capris and a couple of dresses. I also got a few things from my sister in law which will be a great help. The jeans currently keep falling down, but I'm sure I'll grow into them (how many times will I be able to say that and be happy about it?). The capris are great and at least one of the dresses is as well. It's weird how certain clothes definitely show off the fact that I am pregnant and others hide it fairly well. The dress, for example, is empire waisted, black and it is fairly obvious what is going on - as witnessed by the man in front of me at Versailles (more on that in another post) who asked if this was our first child (Bold!) - but he was very kind and told me his two daughters have 4.5 kids between them, so I figured he clearly knew what a pregnant lady looks like. I also bought this weird elastic band thing that I can use with my regular pants without having to button them. Who knew pregnancy came with gadgets too?!

I've told a few people at work, but I don't think I'll make a big announcement. I figure I'll just let people figure it out themselves and make them squirm a little if they ask me (hee, hee). Today I am actually wearing a top that makes it fairly obvious - we'll see if anyone says anything.

So I think we make the 10th or 11th couple I know this year who is expecting among our friends. There was one in Jan., two in Feb., one in April, there will be one this month, 3 or 4 in July, one the end of Oct and one the beginning of Nov (me).

Bring on the babies!

In Plain Sight

I usually leave the TV blogging up to LB, but this new show on USA, In Plain Sight, may not be on her radar. There have only been two episodes so far and it's quite a good show. It's about Mary, a US Marshall, and the jobs she takes, her family and relationship. It's on USA so it's not in HD, but the writing seems solid and I think it will be a nice break from summer reruns. Starring: Mary McCormack (Coyote Ugly), Frederick Weller, Lesley Ann Warren. Check it out if you're so inclined.

500!

Manny hit his 500th home run on May 31! Yeah for Manny! Last night, he hit his 505th home run. Go Sox!

The Plastic Ocean Part II

A while back, I posted about how there is a huge amount of plastic out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It turns out, a few people decided to go out with the man who has made this tragedy public, to film the grossness that's out there. From reading the articles, it seems like you would get to the gyre and there would basically be a floating plastic dump. It turns out, the gyre is full of broken down bits of plastic, so at first look, it doesn't look that bad. It's when you trawl with a small mesh net that you see the real problem. Check out this video of their trip (Warning: bad language on the video). Each segment is between 4-5 minutes long, but if you just want to see the problem, segments 9-12 are the ones to watch. As a scientist, I am always skeptical of things people seem to be blowing out of proportion. It's especially hard for me with the video because there are no times or dates on the actual tape. However, due to the passion and expressions on these people's faces (who are clearly NOT actors) makes me believe what they are seeing is real.

Bo Diddley

Today, Bo Diddley, famous rock musician passed away. I must admit I am not too familiar with his music, but I do know that he was a great influence on many of the classic rock artists. Read this article about his music and life.

Am. Idol 2008 recap

David Cook won. Slightly surprising considering the judges had all but crowned Archuleta the night before. During the contest night, Cook sang "I Still Haven't Found (What I'm Looking For)" by U2, chosen by Clive Davis (who will own the winner). He was great. I love U2 and Cook changed it just enough to make it his own, but stayed true to the original. He then had to sing a song from some songwriting contest (who wrote the song? - who knows - for a songwriting contest, you'd think they would tell the audience who wrote the song). Finally, he chose to sing, "The World I Know" by Collective Soul. Another song I love and again Cook did it justice. Archuleta sang three ballads including his version of "Imagine." I love this song and hate the fact that Archie sang it and everyone loved it. Ug.

I'm glad Cook won and hope his career takes off after his stupid obligatory Idol tour.

I know a lot of people think Am. Idol is lame and the singers suck (Burger?), but I have become fans of a few of the contestants of this show, and am glad to have been exposed to them through this show: Daughtry, Bo Bice and Kelly Clarkson. In fact, I am listening to Bice right now and really like the album. I have owned this CD (yes, I still buy CDs) for a couple years now and just noticed that Chad Kroeger (Nickelback) wrote one of the songs. Kroeger is awesome as a singer and songwriter and has worked with some of the best (Santana). Bice also performed on one of the Idol shows this year with a new song, which I am looking forward to being released.

Now, let's go Sox and Celtics!!

It's good to be green (or Red)

The Red Sox have installed solar panels on the top of Fenway to help heat their hot water. In this day and age where energy efficiency is so important, it is very impressive that a professional baseball organization would take the time or money to invest in such a project when they could just jack up ticket prices to help pay the bills. Check it out. Another reason I'm proud to be a Sox fan.

Another reason why baseball is awesome

Last night, Jon Lester no-hit the K.C. Royals. This is a major feat in baseball (see comment on previous post). Let alone for someone who less than 2 years ago was diagnosed with cancer. Lester has been a Red Sox hero since he won game 4 in the World Series last year. Last night's game was a true no-hitter - he pitched all 9 innings, and despite the two walks he gave up and the throwing error to 1st base, no runs scored (yes, you can have a no-hitter where the other team scores runs). I didn't get to see the whole game, only from about the 6th inning on, but even in the 6th I could tell that Lester was ON. It was fun to watch, beautiful in fact. To see a pitcher and catcher so in tune and the batter baffled by what is being thrown is truly amazing. The game was a real team effort too, Ellsbury had a fantastic catch and the whole team was rallied behind Lester to help him complete this achievement. Whenever I see a no-hitter, I always think of the movie For Love of the Game, specifically the part when Kevin Costner looks up at the scoreboard with some confusion and asks his catcher, "Ain't nobody been on base?" I'm sure that every pitcher at some point during their no-hitter has this realization and I can't imagine the feeling. Fear, joy, trepidation, doubt, adrenaline all must come into play. Lester handled all of those feelings with grace last night, and it was a joy to watch. Congrats to Lester and Varitek (who had the only HR of the night despite a 7-0 score), and the rest of the team. You gave us all something to be inspired by.

Why baseball is awesome

I just read this article about why baseball is the best sport. I agree with most of it, especially the last sentence - a lot of people think baseball players are wussy - but you try hitting a ball with a 2.8 inch diameter that's going 95 mph.

Am. Idol final 3

So the two Davids and Seyesha are the final three contestants on American Idol this year. They are all good singers, although after watching last night's performances, I have to agree with the comment made on my last Am. Idol post that I will shoot my TV (or something to that effect) if David A. wins. He totally killed (not in a good way) "And So It Goes" by Billy Joel. David Cook was not in top shape last night though. The Switchfoot song he sang, was flat and not very exciting and he did not come close to doing Steven Tyler justice on "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing." Seyesha did a fine job on all her songs, but no one hit anything out of the park. I think, in part, it was because of the format. They all sang three songs, one picked by one of the judges, one they picked themselves and one picked by the producers. It was pretty obvious that the producers either a) know nothing about pop music and who actually watches this shoe or b) want one of the contestants to fail miserably, but all of the producers songs choices were so terrible, it was hard to figure out which one. I can't for the life of me predict the winner.

Go Green!

So the Celtics are in the playoffs. In fact, they were the best team in the NBA this year with an .805 winning percentage. This compared to just last year's record when they were the worst team in the NBA bar none. So cool, they're in the playoffs now, but it seems they have forgotten how to win on the road. For a team that was ridiculously dominant all season, it is weird to watch them totally lose it when they are the visiting team. Now, I know the playoffs are very different from the regular season, nerves and all that, but this team is so talented that it is totally perplexing to watch them fall off the wagon when away. I will admit that I did not watch a regular season game, but I have watched some of the playoffs, and even for me (a non-basketball player, watcher, etc.) it is obvious that the home game is completely different from the away game. It's like they think they suck or something. Whatever it is, I hope they figure it out, because this team, and Boston, deserve an NBA championship.

American Idol '08

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know I am a fan of the show American Idol. This year has been quite disappointing as shown by the lack of posts about it. None of the contestants stand out or have had that "knock your socks off" performance. I really don't care about any of them and am not sure if any of them will survive the record business. Terrible singers lasted a long time on the show this year for inexplicable reasons. They are down to the final 3, and luckily the show will be over soon. I know I can just stop watching it, but it's totally addictive and now I need to know which one of the saps left will win.

497

Manny is on his way to 500 home runs. However, since he hit 496 on April 19, his bat has been pretty silent. Ironically, 497 happened when they were away, in Detroit. (Yeah, I know they went to Tampa for three days, but they have been home for all other games). Now they are away from that stupid 486 banner that's up on the Green Monster. You would think by now, Fenway would smarten up to jinxes like that! Go Manny!

How to get ride of a canker sore

I'm sure you all have your own remedy for getting rid of canker sores, stop stressing out, rinse with salt water, orajel until your entire mouth is numb. I found a new one today which kind of combines the last two: These salt and vinegar chips will dry up that yucky canker sore AND make you mouth numb! And they taste good! Man, I had a boring day.

My radio stations

I know, WHO listens to the radio anymore you ask? Well, me. I don't have satellite radio since baseball is on XM and football is on Sirius, it just doesn't make sense to get one until they decide to merge. And oh yeah, I don't have an iPod. Well, Sean lets me use his old nano, but I can't hook it up in my car. I refuse to get one of those tuner devices because the one sound I cannot stand is static. Even a little. Finally, I only have a single disc player in my car and often forget to bring a CD (yes, I also listen to CDs and still buy them) into the car, so unless I want to listen to Daughtry for the 5000th time, I usually end up listening to the radio.

I also listen to the radio at work. If I wasn't able to have music during the day, I think I would go crazy. This is why I love Pandora.com. Usually I listen to Pandora, but some days, I'll listen to the local alt. rock station, like this morning, until the play the lunch bunch during which the crappiest music from the 80s and 90s (Wall of Voodoo anyone?) is played and I have to turn it off.

Just now, I turned on my old radio station from the smallest state. I freaking love this station. They play the Doors, Metallica, Georgia Satellites and Led Zepplin. Where else can you get that kind of variety? I'm not saying it's good day after day, I'm just saying it's fun to listen to. Plus, I get to listen to the cheesiest commercials ever!

A good cause

Some of you may have heard about the Ortiz jersey that got buried at the new Yankee Stadium to try to place some sort of curse on the Yanks by a Bronx-living Red Sox fan. Well, eventually, the news leaked out that he had done this, so the jersey was jackhammered up out of the concrete and was auctioned off to raise money for the Jimmy Fund. Today the bidding closed and it raised over $175,000 for the Fund. As much as I would like the curse the new Yankee stadium, I think this is a greater cause.

Our weekend

Last weekend we traveled to the warmer nether regions of our country to be total tourists in DC. We had great weather on Saturday, saw lots of monuments and met up with a couple of old friends. It was really fun. Lots of walking, ice cream and water. Sean and I took the train down as the plane tickets were ridiculous. Plus, that way, he could get some work done. We took the train from home to Boston, then the Acela from Boston to Baltimore. It took 9.5 hours total - a little less than it would've taken to drive, but we didn't have to drive. It was actually pretty cool to watch the season change from just starting to be spring up here to spring in full bloom down there. We got to go through our hometown and the surrounding hometowns of our friends. We even saw people on the beach in some places! I only have a few suggestions for the Acela: get drink holders - those stupid trays suck. Get satellite radio - how hard can that be? Get better snacks.

It was beautiful when we arrived. We got picked up and headed to Annapolis where we hung out for a while, then had a very nice dinner in town (thanks to Reed) and headed back to get ready for Saturday.

Saturday we headed to the metro to get into DC. It was pretty straightforward to drive to the metro and get into the heart of the city. We walked around for a while and finally met up with one of my friends from college and her boyfriend at the WWII memorial and then we all walked around checking out the monuments. At one point we noticed lots and lots of riot police and people lined up along the street like it was going to be a parade or something. We soon found out it was an Aryan nation rally. As soon as we learned that, we took off, wanted to not be anywhere near such a disgusting cause, especially when the riot police put their face masks down, it was a clear sign to be to book the hell out of there.

At about 5, my friend had to take off so the rest of us headed into Georgetown to hang out and get some pre-dinner snacks. It was a busy place, but we found a cute little bar to get some apps and rest for a little while before heading to my other friend's show. At about 8 or so we got back on the metro to head into Arlington to get to the club. At this point we were all pretty tired from being out in the sun all day, but I was so excited to see my friend it didn't matter to me. We had some dinner at the club (not the greatest food, but it sufficed) and at about 10 or so I finally met up with my friend. I thought I had seen him earlier, but I think it was someone from another band who was playing that night. It was great to see him, but it was really loud so we couldn't really talk much. I got to meet his wife, who is really nice. So we hung out for a while and then his band, Honor By August, went on around 11:30 or so. We didn't stay very long as we didn't have any earplugs (I didn't notice how loud it was - I guess my hearing is already shot) and Sean was wicked tired. It was really fun to see my friend and his band. He just looked so happy playing, it made me really glad for him.

Sunday we had a Segway tour booked for 12:30 so we drove into the city this time, since it's really not that bad on a Sunday, checked in for the tour, got the little tutorial and practiced around in the little courtyard for a bit. Finally, we decided it was raining too much and the tour would suck so we canceled. So, then we headed to ESPN zone for some lunch and games, then headed to the International Spy Museum. It was pretty cool. We walked through the museum and then did an interactive exhibit. At that point it was about 6 or so, so we headed back, had some dinner, then went to the airport. Our flight was delayed about an hour because of the rain, but that wasn't too bad. It's a quick flight so we got home about 12 am I think. The only thing that sucked was that the cabby acted like he knew where he was going, but really didn't - seriously, if you don't know where you're going, just ask!

All in all, we had a great weekend. We had great company and lots of fun. We'll hit the museums next time, and maybe get a tour of the White House.

Aerosmith

Most of you know that Aerosmith is one of my favorite bands. Today I have been able to listen to them all day so far and not hear the same song twice. I have listened to Honkin on Bobo, the two new songs from Ultimate Hits Disc 2, Just Push Play and all 3 discs of Pandora's Box. Up next is Pump and after that Toys in the Attic ( my fav album). When I hit Toys, I will hear some songs that are on Pandora, but that's ok. I love not having an office mate.

New video

If ANYONE has any connections at VH1, MTV, Fuse, etc. SEND THEM THIS VIDEO!

"Into the Light" by Honor By August

The House that Ruth Built

Many of you know this is the final year of Yankee Stadium. The new stadium will still be in the Bronx, but bigger and better (and probably more expensive). I think they are going to do what they did in Foxborough and turn the old stadium into parking, but please correct me if I'm wrong - I don't really keep up on the day to day happenings of the Yanks. I read this article this morning. I didn't realize until I looked at my schedule that the author is right, we (the Sox) close out the regular season of baseball against the Yanks at home (Fenway). I could argue with a few of the author's points (the most famous facility in the history of American sports? I'm not sure about that!) But, it does seem a little wrong that we won't be giving Yankee Stadium a proper farewell - they have to do that against the Orioles. Because, you know, it would be nice to beat the Yanks one last time in their own home*. :)

* and yes, I say this after we got creamed last night

Life and death

Today I went to a funeral. Not the most uplifting event, but in a way, it kind of was. A funeral is really the celebration of a life. The life that was celebrated today was a great, old life. It was a life that cared for his family and made and impression on anyone that it touched. It was a caring life, a loving life, a happy life. A life that survived a few years of WWII in the Pacific, a life that met its life partner 59 years ago. A life that produced 3 successful sons, 3 successful grandchildren, and 3 successful businesses. I am glad that this life was able to be a part of my life, if only on the outskirts and through stories. Knowing how much this life meant to its family, is enough to know how important it was. The eulogies given were heartfelt and meaningful, the song that was performed was beyond compare and the day was beautiful. You could tell that this life was proud to be celebrated. Thank you Mr. A. for having a wonderful life.



sidenote - going to a funeral during Easter made me realize I really don't want to die during Lent - you can't say Alleluia.

Fenway Opening Day!

Yesterday we went to Fenway for Opening Day. It was AWESOME! It was a beautiful day, sunny with a little chill in the air. I got to the park about 11 to wait at a will call window to get my tickets reprinted. The window finally opened about 11:40 and they tried to print my tickets. Of course, there was some printer error which finally got straightened out and I got my tickets to this game and my game in July. YEAH!! While I was waiting there, I talked with a very nice couple from CA who had never been to Fenway before who got tickets from one of the husband's students. They were very excited to be at Fenway. Also, while I was waiting there, members of the Boston Symphony walked in to get ready for their performance later during the opening ceremonies (unfortunately there was no Keith Lockhart as the BSO had a performance that night so they were probably having rehearsal and Fenway got the second string, but they were still great).

After I got my tickets I went across the street into the sun to wait for Sean to arrive (he had to go run an errand). While I was waiting I talked with another nice gentleman who was there waiting for his son. He told me all about Gloucester and New Bedford and said I should make sure to check out Antonio's restaurant the next time I'm in New Bedford. Apparently, they have a rowdy crowd but it's a fun atmosphere and great Portuguese food.

Finally Sean arrived and we went to find our seats. After hitting the bathroom, and getting some food we got to our seats and luckily no one was in them (this was my biggest fear after my tickets never arrived). We had nice neighbors, great seats right in the sun and a perfect view of the field (except for the deepest part of center field). We had to turn around to see the jumbo screen, but that was ok. Around 12:45 they started showing highlights of 2005's Opening Day ceremony and then the post season games from last year. This was great, as it got the crowd all hyped up and ready for the day's ceremonies.

First, they had members of Red Sox Nation carry out flags from lots of different countries representing Red Sox Nation. They marched out the green monster where most of the people entered from. The BSO started playing and the World Series banners were revealed: 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004 and finally 2007. When they unveiled the 2007 banner (which is as big as the Green Monster) it flew up in the wind and took a little while to come down so the people on the ground could hold it straight. It was pretty funny. The BSO played the soundtrack to Jurassic Park by John Williams as this was happening. It's kind of weird when you think of it as the soundtrack to a dinosaur movie, but it really is inspiring music on its own. After the banners were unveiled, members of championship Bruins (including Bobby Orr), Celtics (including Bill Russell) and Patriots (including Tedy Bruschi) teams paraded out onto the field, carrying their respective trophies. Finally, this led to the members of last year's roster to receiving their rings. The rings are awesome. They have the Red Sox as the dominant logo and each ring has the player's name and number on the side. Also, for the players who were on the winning roster in 2004, their rings have 2 trophies on them. They are beautiful.

As the rings were distributed, Dice-K completed his warm-up routine out in right field and the bullpen, so we got a good view of that. After the Sox received their rings, they all marched out to center field to raise the 2007 championship flag on the flagpole in center field. Ortiz was going to do it, but he brought Johnny Pesky out to do it - it was so cute, since Papi is about twice the size of Pesky, but you could tell that Pesky was just to proud to be doing it. Once the flag was up, the rosters were announced. The BSO then played the National anthem and 4 F16 fighter jets flew overhead. Finally, it came time for the first pitch, and who better than Bill Buckner to toss it? And he wasn't even booed. Sean thought it was still too soon, but clapped anyway, and most fans were in enough of a forgiving mood to cheer for him. He tossed a good pitch to Dwight Evans and then finally, Johnny Pesky got to say, "Play Ball!"

All throughout the Opening ceremony, a red-tailed hawk kept flying over the field. Some of you will remember the last post about the kid who got nailed by a hawk. There was some debate as to whether it was the same hawk or not, but once the F16s flew over, the hawk made it out of there, but reappeared about an hour later. Apparently, at one point it had a huge rat in its talons.

The game was great. Steven Tyler sang God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch. Neil Diamond sang from the Jumbotron Sweet Caroline and will be giving a concert in August at Fenway. The Sox won 5-0, Manny scored a run on a triple and an error, Dice-K pitched extremely well and even Delcarmen redeemed himself by not allowing any runs! Sean and I had a great day at the park and can't wait to go back in July. I don't know if my sign made it on TV so here it is:

Some game day stats:

Food consumed: 3 ice creams, 1 hot dog, 1 pizza slice, 2 sodas, 1 cracker jacks, 2 pretzels, 2 waters (no Sports bars available yet)

Sunburns: 1

Pictures taken: 25

Happy red sox fans: 36, 567

Go Sox!

Suggestions?

As many of you know, I am going to Opening Day at Fenway this year. I will witness the ring ceremony, the banner unveiling and the World Champs take the field. I always bring a sign to the game so this year I am soliciting suggestions as to what the sign should say so I get on TV. Something with NESN on it is usually a sure bet. Any unwelcome suggestions from Yankees fans will be deleted. Thanks!

Priceless

BOSTON (AP) — A 13-year-old girl touring Fenway Park on a school trip was attacked by a resident red-tailed hawk that drew blood from her scalp.

She wasn’t seriously hurt, but some observers saw an omen for a certain New York Yankees slugger in the attack Thursday at the home of the Boston Red Sox. The girl’s name is Alexa Rodriguez.

Vince Jennetta, a teacher who chaperoned her class trip from Memorial Boulevard Middle School in Bristol, Conn., told The Boston Globe that Alexa is “a little shaken, but OK.”

The hawk perched on a railing in the upper deck behind home plate as the group toured the stadium. The hawk took flight and swooped at the girl with its talons extended, scratching the her scalp.

A single egg lay in the hawk’s nearby nest in an overhang near the stadium’s press booth.

The nest and egg were removed at the direction of state wildlife officials.


While I think this story is hilarious, I am glad the kid is ok.

For Bon Jovi fans

One of the great songs done very well by Bon Jovi......

Banana rant

This morning I didn't feel like making my own breakfast so I decided to go to a local coffee shop to get a bagel, coffee and juice. I picked out a juice that had Vanilla and Almond in the the name so I thought it sounded good. To my disappointment, the first sip tasted like banana. "What the hell?" I thought. So I looked at the ingredients, and there is was, 5th or 6th, banana puree. Now, I like bananas as much as the next person, in fact, my grandfather swears it's not an apple a day, but a banana a day that keeps the doctor away. My beef with bananas is that they infiltrate everything they are associated with. For example, the juice this morning - if I had wanted a banana drink, I would have gotten a drink with banana in the name. Also, whenever you bring a banana in your lunch and forget to take it out of your lunch box (that's right - I have a lunch box - with my initials on it!), it makes everything else in your lunch box taste like bananas. Now, who really wants banana-flavored brownies?? Not me! I wonder if we can get the FDA to start making manufacturers place a banana warning label on items containing bananas?

Words words words

Does this ever happen to you? You're editing or proofing something that has the same word repeated over and over and after a while the word looks like it is spelled completely incorrectly to you? This happened to me today with the word length. 4 consonants in a row just isn't normal.

Red Sox Win!

Today was MLB season opener. In Japan. At 6 am EDT. It was the Oakland A's vs. my beloved Red Sox. The Sox won in 10 innings. Dice-K started and had a rocky few innings but then settled down. Manny had 4 RBIs. Brandon Moss who got the start due to a late scratch of JD drew, had a great home run. Ellsbury had a fantastic catch in center field. Way to start the season boys! Sweet Caroline!

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a happy Easter. We had a great time visiting with friends and family. We had ham, it was sunny, church was good. It was nice to be home. Some of our friends and family were away so we hope to catch up with them sometime soon....

It was a nice sunny day, but still so cold since it's still March. I can't wait until it's at least 40 when I wake up.

Another week of work. Woo hoo.

Godly Friday

If you don't care about religion, feel free to skip this entry.

Today is Good Friday, aka Holy Friday, aka Godly Friday, aka the day Jesus died. I went to a 12 noon service since I will be in a car at 7 tonight when the other service happens. I think the only other time I've been to church during the day is on Ash Wednesday. It actually wasn't too bad. We still sang some hymns, but there were no Tones or Anthems sung. I go to the Cathedral in the city I live in since it has a great choir and one of the main reasons I go to church is for the music. The noon service today was in the chapel of the Cathedral since only about 30-50 people were there. The chapel is a little weird in that it's a circle and the lectern is directly across from the alter. Fr. Ben gave a good homily. It was vaguely familiar as the lesson of Good Friday is pretty straight forward, but he put a neat spin on it talking about how God gave us Jesus to die for our sins, and as a father, he couldn't really understand that, but if you think about it a little more, in that God and Jesus are one and the same, it was really God giving up himself for us, which he could understand. He also threw in some symbolism in that the horizontal slat of the cross represents the human form of Jesus and the vertical slat of the cross represents the divine Christ. Fr. Ben gives good sermons. They usually make you think. The entire passion was read and we sang an African-American spiritual hymn (yeah - it's in the regular hymnal - 172 or something like that - "Were you there..") which the organist really likes since I remembered it from last year too.

I like Good Friday, even though it's not really good. But it's not really bad, either. And it reminds you why Easter is so great.

5th Anniversary

Today is the 5th anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq. Can you believe it has been 5 years? It has been such a waste of everything. Some quick stats (as of March 9, 2008, from the Brookings Institution's Iraq Index)

3,979 US Soldiers Killed

29,320 Seriously Wounded

Troops in Iraq - Total 164,895, including 155,000 from the US, 4,500 from the UK, 2,000 from Georgia, 900 from Poland, 650 from South Korea and 1,845 from all other nations

US Troop Casualities - 3,979 US troops (more than the number of civilians-2,974-killed on 9/11/01); 98% male. 90% non-officers; 80% active duty, 12% National Guard; 74% Caucasian, 10% African-American, 11% Latino. 18% killed by non-hostile causes. 51% of US casualties were under 25 years old. 70% were from the US Army

Non-US Troop Casualties - Total 308, with 175 from the UK

US Troops Wounded - 29,320, 20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries (total excludes psychological injuries)

US Troops with Serious Mental Health Problems - 30% of US troops develop serious mental health problems within 3 to 4 months of returning home

US Military Helicopters Downed in Iraq - 68 total, at least 36 by enemy fire

Spent & Approved War-Spending - About $600 billion of US taxpayers' funds. President Bush has requested another $200 billion for 2008, which would bring the cumulative total to close to $800 billion.

U.S. Monthly Spending in Iraq - $12 billion in 2008

Cost of deploying one U.S. soldier for one year in Iraq - $390,000 (Congressional Research Service)

Lost & Unaccounted for in Iraq - $9 billion of US taxpayers' money and $549.7 million in spare parts shipped in 2004 to US contractors. Also, per ABC News, 190,000 guns, including 110,000 AK-47 rifles.

Missing - $1 billion in tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces. (Per CBS News on Dec 6, 2007.)

Mismanaged & Wasted in Iraq - $10 billion, per Feb 2007 Congressional hearings

Halliburton Overcharges Classified by the Pentagon as Unreasonable and Unsupported - $1.4 billion

Amount paid to KBR, a former Halliburton division, to supply U.S. military in Iraq with food, fuel, housing and other items - $20 billion

Portion of the $20 billion paid to KBR that Pentagon auditors deem "questionable or supportable" - $3.2 billion

Private Contractors in Iraq, Working in Support of US Army Troops - More than 180,000 in August 2007, per The Nation/LA Times.

Journalists killed - 127 - 84 by murder and 43 by acts of war

Journalists killed by US Forces - 14

Iraqi Police and Soldiers Killed - 7,951

Iraqi Civilians Killed, Estimated - A UN issued report dated Sept 20, 2006 stating that Iraqi civilian casualties have been significantly under-reported. Casualties are reported at 50,000 to over 100,000, but may be much higher. Some informed estimates place Iraqi civilian casualties at over 600,000.

Iraqi Insurgents Killed, Roughly Estimated - 55,000

Non-Iraqi Contractors and Civilian Workers Killed - 548

Non-Iraqi Kidnapped - 305, including 54 killed, 147 released, 4 escaped, 6 rescued and 94 status unknown.

Daily Insurgent Attacks, Feb 2004 - 14

Daily Insurgent Attacks, July 2005 - 70

Daily Insurgent Attacks, May 2007 - 163

Estimated Insurgency Strength, Nov 2003 - 15,000

Estimated Insurgency Strength, Oct 2006 - 20,000 - 30,000

Estimated Insurgency Strength, June 2007 - 70,000

To all of our loved ones who were there, are there, and are about to go there: thank you for doing your part and thank you for coming home safe. I support you with my whole heart even if I do not support this stupid war.