Big Al

Now, how about this Vikings/Saints game? Whatta game!!! Who came up with the bright idea to punt the ball to Reggie Bush again after he's already run one punt back for a TD? Sure enough, he did it again. IF the Saints win tonight, it'll be because of him cuz apparently their offense hasn't done too much.

You got BOTH right! Coach Candyland thinks it's the MEDIA'S fault that the poor little Boys can't concentrate, and why oh why can't the media just focus on the the fact that the Boys won and they're 4-1? Geez!* *That last word is a direct quote from Coach Candyland himself! The Cowboys have no leadership, but that's what happens when the owner is also the GM and the "head coach." (Technically Jerry isn't the head coach, but every coach since the Jimster (and maybe Barry) has been a Jerry puppet (i.e. everyone except Big Bill Parcells), and Wade Phillips is no exception)

When you've never had a broken bone in your life and nobody in your family has never had a broken bone in your lifetime (except my sister, and even then they said it was a broken wrist), I suppose that's how it could be possible. Sorry Al, I just figured that most red-blooded American males who grow up with a healthy interest in blood and bodily harm would know pretty young what a compound fracture is. I've been stitched together more times than Frankenstein, thanks to perennial clumsiness on my part (but miraculously, no broken bones..... I'm sorry, compound fractures). So, yes, while I have no interest in "blood and bodily harm," it's not as if I'm altogether unfamiliar with them.

When you've never had a broken bone in your life and nobody in your family has never had a broken bone in your lifetime (except my sister, and even then they said it was a broken wrist), I suppose that's how it could be possible.

I wish I was. I can't link it here at work, but I'll provide the link from home tonight. Or just do a Google search of "purple kangaroo shampoo commercial." Or you could just watch TV this morning.

And I had just the opposite reaction in a way: my wife and I felt like we'd just watched another Fargo. The movie just seemed kinda pointless. The performances were good, of course. We also felt like Pitt's character was killed WAY too early. Tilda Swinton was such a bitch we kept waiting for her to get killed (I won't spoil it for anyone wondering if she gets offed or not). This is the second movie we've seen with Frances McDormand and really enjoy her acting; she has such a "lovable goofiness" (for lack of a better term), but at the same time it felt like she was just reprising her role from Fargo (or maybe extending it, like what might happen if that character divorced her husband and started a new life in Maryland). That's funny, I felt the two characters were very unalike. Mainly, the character that McDormand played in Fargo was smart, good at her job, and had a basic horse sense. The character from Burn was basically a flaming moron. Yeah, I see where you're coming from. Perhaps this character was the answer to the unasked question, "What would happen if the Fargo character just let herself go?" I saw traces of that character in Linda Litsky (the name gives it away for starters).

Agree with you there. Sad but true.

My wife won't even let me talk about the Cubs, since she thinks I'll jinx them. They do look good though. Damnit man! You just jinxed them!!! (or is that only if your wife hears you talking about them?) Dunno. I could ask her, but then she'd know I was talking about the Cubs. Guess I'll try to keep shtum from now on. I already jinxed 'em on Saturday when I was talking to my cousin who's Dad lives in St. Pete but is originally from Chicago. "I wonder," I mused in that annoying way that Nat Hentoff uses when he's writing liner notes, "how cool it would be for your Dad," I said to my cousin (stop it, you're no Nat Hentoff), "if the Cubs and the Rays were in the World Series this year? Seems like it's their year, since the Red Sox and the White Sox have broken their curses." So, when the Cubs inevitably collapse, you'll know who to blame. Sorry in advance. Having said that, though: GO CUBS!!!! As of right now, I am keeping my big fat mouth SHUT on anything Cubs-related until they get that ring on their finger. Which means that, very likely, this will be my last post EVER about the Cubs. What a fucking choke job. This team lost the "lovable" from "lovable losers" years ago and seem to have replaced it with "loathsome." Harry & Brickhouse have probably spun their graves all the way thru to the other side of the globe by now....

THINGS WE LEARN WHEN WE STAY HOME SICK AND WATCH TV (typed mostly by Al (aka Dad) with many hilarious ideas by Nathan; sorta written on Thursday, October 2, 2008) 1. Any shampoo that is pooped out of a kangaroo (and not just any kangaroo, a PURPLE kangaroo) cannot even possibly be a good thing. Who came up with this? The worst part of this commercial was when the girl (who apparently used this crap.... so to speak) caught it! And as if THAT wasn’t bad enough, she said, “Now that it’s soft...” EEWWWWW!!!! She even said it was more bouncy! Who thought of this??? Somebody was either drunk, or thought it would be funny to play a silly joke on their boss and had no idea their boss would say, “What a great idea!!!!” We wish we were that person! 2. Who changed all the cool stuff on The Price is Right? The wheel’s changed, the signs have changed, the girls have changed (well, I guess that had to change; the old ones were Bob Barker’s age or older!). We wonder if there is a category on eBay for the useless crap (including shampoop... oops, typo.. Who cares?) that people “win” on The Price is Right. Now, cars are cool; trips are cool; girls are cool, but you can't win them. Yet! (That will happen when Gene Simmons eventually owns everything (and everyone) and becomes the host of the show) So anyway, eventually we figure there will be a category on eBay, you’ll see it listed: antiques, jewelry, music, girls, toys, Crap We Won on Price is Right. I mean, who really needs (or even wants) a big ugly jukebox in their house? And dancing lessons! That’s not a prize, that’s a punishment! Eventually, we figure someone (maybe us because we have nothing better to and we’re sick and on drugs (the kind for curing colds, not the other kind)) will come up with the idea of switching out the Barker Beauties (because that’s what they’re still called (and probably still are, he can afford it after all)) for Drew’s Dudes. “Come on down” will have a whooole new meaning. All of this really can be yours.... if the price is right. 3. Speaking of that, we are glad that Nathan still has to ask dad to explain various double entendres like the one we saw on “Two and a Half Men” that involved a choo-choo train in the back room. We don’t think we need to explain. Hopefully. 4. We discovered that you can watch three (3) half-hour sitcoms in just under an hour because of the wonderful world of DVR. 5. On today’s Jeopardy there was a category called “Cheers,” which had to do with alcohol trivia. Someone very close to us loves her alcohol and knows a lot about it. Pity she wasn’t on today’s Jeopardy: she coulda mopped the floor with the competition. Or at least ended up on it! 6. Watching a TV show in the morning whose plotline involves finding the perfect hamburger is not a good idea when you are sick and hungry. ESPECIALLY when those rotten you-know-whats show close-ups of four people wolfing down huge gigantic cheeseburgers on three different scenes! I Can Has Cheezburger? Heck yeah we want cheezburger!!!! 7. We don’t care how successful you are, or how great product is (see item #1), a lousy nickname can kill any product. We mean you, Bathtub Bob. We have no idea what you were selling because we were too busy laughing our butts off at your silly name. Maybe they’ll show your commercial again. Maybe we will have stopped laughing by then. =) 8. Oh, and don’t get us started on sounds from the bathroom. It’s bad enough when you hear someone peeing and farting at the same time; dad does it all the time. But that’s just normal. Hearing it on TV, which actually happened on “Two and a Half Men,” that’s just wrong! Thankfully, Dad isn’t on TV. Yet! 9. Gramma’s cookies are the perfect antidote for any sickness. Once the sickness is over, they go back to being Dad’s, who is going back to the TV and will be back with more stuff we learned. 10. They’re really my cookies (Nathan). 11. Our pet rabbit, Cougar, seems to be a bit agitated right now. We don’t think he anticipated sharing his quiet time with a couple of sick lunkheads like us. To think that we always felt sorry for leaving him alone during the day. Turns out he actually likes it! 12. Mom’s never gonna let us stay home from work/school together ever again! In fact, Dad’s mom would always used to say, “If you’re well enough to be this silly, you’re well enough to go back to school.” Dad’s mom said that to him a lot. Dad hasn’t said that yet to Nathan. Dad has no room to talk! 13. Well, that didn’t take long. See, we had the DVR paused on Bathtub Bob when we started this. Bathtub Bob has been paused for about a half hour now. We sat down, un-paused Bathtub Bob only to find that Bathtub Bob has been hiding Elvis all these years. We wish we could make stuff like this up. As it is, we now know that our lives will be incomplete until we buy a bathtub with Elvis from Bathtub Bob. Hopefully we can go back to the TV now and not have to rush back here two seconds after we’ve hit the save button again. 14. Okay, five seconds later. Whattya know? Who is the idiot at CBS-11 who, with the name of the show right there on the screen that clearly says THE JERRY JONES SHOW (you know: the guy who’s been running the Cowboys for almost 20 years? Maybe you’ve heard of him) and this guy says “Stay tuned for the JIMMY Jones Show.” We kid you not. Again, the wonders of DVR allow us to replay it a few more times, y’know just to make sure that the gunk in our lungs didn’t just jump to our ears, but there it is: the guy clearly says JIMMY. Believe it or not, we really don’t know what to say. We think that kinda says it all, really. Y’know, at least we’re getting some good exercise running back and forth between the TV and the computer. 15. Oh yeah, and thank God for computers, because there’s no way we could write this fast. And make it readable. 16. Okay, here’s a serious one: after 38-1/2 years, Dad learns that a compound fracture is an actual breaking of a bone. Like breaking-in-half break. Dad never really knew what a compound fracture was, only that it was a very bad thing! 17. The Shoe Pavilion is going out of business. Who thought it would be a good idea to fill a Best-Buy-sized store with shoes? We never went in there. Apparently, nobody else did, either! Okay, morning TV is over and we’re going to eat Kincaid’s Hamburgers for lunch. We thought about watching the soap operas to learn more stuff, but after about five minutes, it turned into sensory overload and we almost passed out. We hope this has been informative. We also hope that we get to stay home again someday soon to learn more stuff from TV!

One jazz tune, and one bad-80's-synth-pop tune: "Sweet Sapphire Blues" by John Coltrane. Even at 18+ minutes, it's too short. I could ride A.T.'s groooooove all day! "Love is a Stranger" by the Eurythmics. AFAIC, they never topped this. Icy, sleek, robotic, and CATCHY AS HELL!!!! So... it's... an... obsession!

Current thread at Hoffman forums

Really? Sorry, don't mean to pick on your buddy's sale, but that one made me chock on my sip of water. Yep, the guy's quite the autograph collector.

A buddy of mine is selling his collection of baseball, US football, and hockey memorabilia. I can vouch for the condition of everything, as I've personally seen it all. It's in unbelievably good condition. He took care of his stuff. If you have any questions, PM me and I'll pass them along to my buddy. Pictures available upon request. All prices are BEFORE shipping charges. Because of these prices, insurance WILL be added to the cost of the postage, which will be calculated after the sale. PayPal is accepted. Now for the list: BASEBALL: Bob Gibson signed 16x20 "HOF 81"- $120 Rollie Fingers signed 16x20 "72, 73, 74 World Series"- $100 Don Larsen signed 16x20 "10.8.56"- $75 Doc Gooden signed 16x20 "CY 85" (steiner)- $65 Jerry Koosman signed 16x20 (steiner)- $50 Tom Seaver signed 16x20- $100 Huston Street aigned 16x20 "05 AL ROY"- $75 Michael Young signed 16x20 "Go USA" (WBC photo)- $75 Vernon Wells signed 16x20 "Go USA" (WBC photo)- $75 Kevin Millwood signed 16x20 "99 All-Star"- $50 Frank Catalanotto signed 16x20- $30 Cecil Cooper signed 16x20 "Harveys Wallbangers"- $75 Carlton Fisk signed 16x20 "Stay Fair, Stay Fair"- $125 SOLD Ivan Rodriguez signed 8x10 (tigers)- $30 Derrek Lee signed 8x10 (cubs)- $50 Brad Wilkerson signed 8x10 (expos)- $20 Tony Gwynn signed 8x10 (plaqued with card)- $100 Joe Nathan signed 8x10- $25 Bob Wickman signed 8x10- $10 Lew Ford signed 8x10- $5 Jarrod Saltalamacchia signed 8x10- $20 David Murphy signed 8x10 (red sox)- $25 Kason Gabbard signed 8x10- $15 Ben Broussard signed 8x10- $10 Brandon McCarthy signed 8x10- $10 (I have two) Frank Catalanotto signed 8x10- $10 (also have two) Akinori Otsuka signed 8x10 "06 WBC Champs"- $30 Hank Blalock signed 8x10- $20 SOLD Jerry Hairston Jr signed 8x10- $10 Gerald Laird signed 8x10- $15 SOLD Josh Hamilton signed 8x10- $35 SOLD Vida Blue signed 8x10 "72, 73, 74 Champs"- $45 George Kell signed 8x10- $35 Sean Marshall signed 8x10- $15 Ryan Dempster signed 8x10- $25 Ted Lill signed 8x10- $25 Rich Hill signed 8x10- $15 David Eckstein signed SI (plaqued)- $65 Justin Verlander signed SI- $40 Johnny Damon signed SI- $75 Joe Mauer signed SI- $65 Josh Hamilton signed blonde Big Stick "08 All-Star"- $75 Michael Young signed blonde Big Stick "08 ASG GW RBI"- $75 Scott Rolen signed blonde Big Stick- $60 Al Kaline signed OMLB "HOF 80"- $60 Fergie Jenkins signed OMLB "HOF 87"- $50 Duke Snider signed OMLB "HOF 80"- $50 Jim Palmer signed OMLB- $75 HOCKEY: Willie O'Ree signed 8x10 (steiner)- $25 Adrian Accouin signed 8x10 (steiner)- $10 Brad Richards signed 8x10- $25 Nikolai Khabibulin signed 8x10 (steiner)- $45 Kevin Stevens signed 8x10- $15 Johan Hedberg signed 8x10- $10 Joe Mullen signed 8x10- $25 Bryan Trottier signed 8x10- $40 Jean Sebastian Aubin signed 8x10- $10 Mike Ribeiro signed 8x10- $20 Jere Lehtinen signed 8x10- $20 Sergei Zubov signed 8x10- $35 Marty Turco signed 8x10- $20 SOLD Daryl Sydor signed 8x10- $15 Phillippe Boucher signed 8x10- $15 (i have two) Various signed blank pucks of lesser Stars $10 each FOOTBALL: Steve Slaton signed WVU mini- $40 Gale Sayers signed KU mini- $60 Mario Williams signed NC State mini- $50 Xavier Adibi signed VT mini- $30 Mike Golic signed ND mini- $30 Mike Greenberg signed NW mini- $25 Paul Hornung signed ND mini- $40

I was too scared to listen to Metallica before Justice! I was afraid that if I listened to Metallica, my hair would grow long and I'd get acne and I'd look.... weird! Seriously, Cliff Burton looked freakin' menacing, like if you looked at him wrong he'd come down off the stage and beat the shit outta ya with his guitar. All the metalheads at my school looked like the guys from Metallica, like they could get you in a shitload of trouble if you hung out with them. And he was only 24!!! He looked like he was in his late 20's/early 30's. One scary lookin' dude, but that added to the effect. It sure worked on me.

Phil Keaggy's THE MASTER AND THE MUSICIAN 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

***SPOILER ALERT*** I agree, it's just that Swinton's character was someone so cold and vicious that we were disappointed that she DIDN'T get killed. For that matter, it's amazing Clooney and McDormand didn't get killed given that they were just as cold and vicious in their own ways.

Y'know what sux is that I didn't get into Metallica until Justice, so I missed them at their greatest.

I'll never forget doing homework while watching a football game on TV, and they actually interrupted the game to announce that Miles had died. I remember having the same reaction when Art Blakey died: just sadness that it was over.

Burton was to Metallica what Keith Moon was to The Who. He was, and still is, irreplaceable. Had he lived, we would've been spared a shit-"load" (so to speak) of embarrassing music and antics by the band that called themselves Metallica. Having said that, though, I think their new one, Death Magnetic, finally gets them back on the trail they were blazing with Justice, but even then, Justice is no Ride the Lightning or Master of Puppets. At least with this album, I feel like Burton has stopped turning in his grave.

Thanks, ubu! It sure doesn't help that the Verve website's been down for the last couple of days.

Go Blue! Helluva comeback today by Michigan, down 19-0 at the half! Don't you know that guy who was flagged for "ineligible receiver" that negated Wisconsin's 2-point conversion to tie the game up is kicking himself right now! When is UT gonna play a real team? Friends of mine, the husband is an Aggie and the wife is a Sooner (OU). I hate it when they have a good football weekend, like they did today.

Getz/Gilberto from the Verve Originals series. claimed by trane fanatic

And I had just the opposite reaction in a way: my wife and I felt like we'd just watched another Fargo. The movie just seemed kinda pointless. The performances were good, of course. We also felt like Pitt's character was killed WAY too early. Tilda Swinton was such a bitch we kept waiting for her to get killed (I won't spoil it for anyone wondering if she gets offed or not). This is the second movie we've seen with Frances McDormand and really enjoy her acting; she has such a "lovable goofiness" (for lack of a better term), but at the same time it felt like she was just reprising her role from Fargo (or maybe extending it, like what might happen if that character divorced her husband and started a new life in Maryland). John Malkovich looks as he always does, like he's one hour away from dying. It wasn't the comedy I thought it would be, but it definitely had its laugh-out-loud moments.

Nobody knows? Or cares?

PM sent on the Wes