Big American Party!

One time long ago Laurie saw an animated tv show which she then tried to describe to me. She had difficulty describing it, but she remembered some funny lines. Like "Big American Party!" and "Who is driving? Bear is driving! This cannot be!"

I found it hard to believe something like this existed. And there really wasn't any evidence of it. It faded into the annals of Tom & Laurie lore. And then there was YouTube... Big American Party!

(I'm sure some major studio has the copyright for this video, so could be taken down at any minute).

How Things Work Now

Read this Editorial in the New York Times.  Among the other disasters the neo-cons have brought upon this country, the dissolution of the governments role in protecting its citizens is one of the more reprehensible.

(There's some more info on the Leandro Andrade case here.)

Now, it's highly probably that Mr. Andrade did not have the kind of legal counsel available to State Farm Insurance or BMW.  And so he couldn't make as sophisticated a case to the Supreme Court.  Even still it's hard to imagine how anyone could sentence a man to 50 years in prison for shoplifting.

The problem of corporate bias is not so much in the "conservative" judges on the Supreme Court.  (Though that's certainly a problem).  The problem lies in the fact that the law-making process of this country is directly controlled by corporations.

Making the Move

You might have noticed a change in the appearance of the blog the past couple days. (You might notice that it's better now.) I moved the blog to blogger beta. Which has certain advantages (Notice the recent comments at the top?).

I apologize for any stress this transition is causing my users. I promise it's for the best!

The Magic That Is Google Ads

For all those who wondered where to get a tub of wrestling jello...

This website was advertised on gmail today. (Not sure how it got linked to a conversation between me and my girlfriend. But if she gets the same ads and those ads give her ideas, you know, I'm not complaining.)

I can only imagine that these people are doing a heck of a business.

The Weekend: New Kicks

I had a pretty good weekend. Went into the city on Friday and met Nelly's NYU Law friends. On Saturday Nelly and I went to see the Redbulls lose to DC United in the first leg of their playoff matchup. The Redbulls have a losing record and have been atrocious all year, but they made a good game of it and really had the momentum and more good chances. However, it's only the number of times the ball goes into the net that matter, so DC United stole away from the Meadowlands with a 1-point advantage.

As an aside, I need to say once again that the Redbulls are a great ticket. You can walk up to the teller with 15 minutes to game time and buy tickets for excellent seats (we were down on the 50 yard line) for $25. The game is brisk and lots of fun, even if the Redbulls aren't dominant. They play a good game and it is very entertaining.

After the soccer game, we headed up to the Garden State Plaza for some shopping. Our main goal was to get Nelly some new jeans. But I also got some sweet new shoes.

My old shoes were something like 2-3 years old. And while they are still ok, I was due for a replacement. My new shoes are Vans (like my old shoes). Thus affirming my street cred. Or maybe not.

Sunday we went into Soho to have brunch with Nelly's friend Erica (visiting from DC). We ate at this very nice (and very trendy) bistro that's tucked away inside an alley. The food was delicious and the company was great. And then we headed back out, me to play ultimate with the Your Mom crowd, she to play study-budy with her friend Eileen.

Is This Wedding Pants-Optional?

This past weekend, my good friend Kari got married to Ashton Lamont in beautiful Colchester, VT. It was a nice ceremony and the whole thing went by in a rush. Kari's dress was beautiful and everyone was in good spirits. It was great to see Kari again as she has been living in far-distant Milwaukee for a few years now.

I was pretty excited to get to wear my nice Brooks Brother's suit to the occasion. It's rare that I have an opportunity to wear nice clothing (usually I walk around in pajamas). So I grabbed the suit from the closet (it was wrapped up in a nice Brooks Brother's garment bag) and Nelly and I got in the car and drove for 5 hours.

The best way to get to the Burlington, VT area is to take the thruway up towards Montreal and then take the ferry at Essex, NY. It's actually a very pleasant way to travel and it saves time!

While we were on the ferry I turned to Nelly and said, "How funny would it be if I forgot my pants." And she was like, "Well, why don't you check now?"

So I got out of the car and opened up the garment bag and I was like, "Yup. Pants." And then I got back in the car and said something to the effect of, "How funny would it be if I brought your suit. Thankfully you don't have a Brooks Brother's suit." And Nelly said, "In fact, I do have a Brooks Brother's suit."

And then I thought, "Well that explains where that nice Brooks Brother's garment bag came from." And I went out and opened up the garment bag again and this time I checked the tag. Now I don't know much about sizes, but I am damn sure I am not a size 2. ARRRRGH!

So there we were, in the middle of Lake Champlain, the evening before Kari's wedding and I didn't have squat to wear. Fortunately we knew how to call for free information (1-800-FREE-411) and got the listing for a Men's Wearhouse in Williston, VT. We were able to get over there just before they closed and I picked up a nice blazer and slacks. No one at the party was the wiser. You know, I did like the way I looked.

Ultimate Update

Thought I might take a moment to update you all on how this past weekend went. My team, Crafty, did fairly well. We came in as the 9th seed (after coming in 2nd in our section) and we held that seed. We went 3-3, beating one team that was seeded higher than ourselves (the 7th seeded Dis'Chords) and held our seed, finishing the tournament in 9th place. There were a couple tight losses and some good play.

You can see the full results for yourself.

One notable mystery was that some anonymous person comped our dinner bill (for ~18 people). The list of suspects is long.

I would have liked to have played better and more often, but I am very proud of the team and glad to have been a part of it.

Vast Stretches of Time

Nothing is happening faster than ever before! Actually, that's not entirely true. I can think of one interesting thing to share. In case you don't bother to check the links in the side-panel: Laurie is in Germany. She's there to study deviant germans in the early 20th century (And possibly deviant germans in the early 21st century).

Meanwhile, people are shooting children, North Korea is going to blow itself up, Iran declared its intent to follow in North Korea's footsteps, Bush is still infuriatingly low-brow, and Congress has officially been replaced by the Roman Senate.

And yet, somehow, the human race continues. Honestly, it gives me hope.

Fun things in the future, I think. Regionals. Halloween. I hope you're planning on voting. Not that it matters all that much.