Category: Uncategorized

Quality

Somedays the hopes and dreams of those who sell on eBay just amaze me. This is for sale at a starting price of 45 pounds:


Glentoran Football Club Signed Postcard 1980

Hey! It is signed. And…ummm…its 24 years old and…its from a club in Northern Ireland who “won the Cup” in 1980. Nothing but respect for the team but, holy moly, over 100 bucks Canadian for a beat-up, creased to…wherever creases go…old postcard.

Maybe it is because of the haircuts…or the cheap hotel shorts.

Morning After

So in my world the Red Sox do beat the Yankees and get to the World Series. They got there when I was 23 and when I was 12. Last time when the Mets beat them there was the Gary Carter consolation, the slight measure of a victoy for the Expos. Since then, however, it seems that every winnign team must have the hand of Filipe Alou or perhaps a whisp of a steaméhovering over it – with Francona, Pedro and Orlando, this years Sox are no different. I woke up this morning right after dreaming of calling Chicken out east, a congenital Red Sox fan, apologizing for forgetting the time delay. He said it was ok.

Putting Pedro in in the 7th was either a masterstroke of a head game or the biggest placation of a fading star I have ever witnessed. I think it was the first. I think they wanted to crush the Yankees, let them know we can give you a couple of measley runs because there is high 90s heat to get you out anyway. That won’t happen in the World Series. Please no. You should only wake up Nils’s house once a fall, Mr. God and your Red Sox interests.

Smuttynose Variety

Now that I have spent more than a year having made up with New Hampshire, I can enjoy Smuttynose as I should. These variety packs are great. They introduce you to a brewery’s product for under 20 bucks Canadian, 14 US. Smart marketing. Good labels, too. The two old guys on lawn chairs on the IPA are reason enough to buy that brew.

  • Old Brown Dog Ale: Like Rogue, this brewery displays the smarts to know we, the consumers, also have smarts on things brewing. This info is included on the website:

    VITAL STATISTICS
    OG: 1060, TG: 1016
    Grain Bill: Pale Brewers, Munich, Crystal 60°L, Chocolate
    Hops: Cascade, Willamette
    IBU’s: 15, ABV: 5.7%
    Color/Number: Deep brown-amber, 25°

    I can read this and think – umm. This gives enough to start the homebrewer off to replicate their product. Why? I’d bet it’s because they can figure it out anyway so why not make a pal?

    So what to make of the beer? I’d call it a lighter version of the American brown but still nicely balanced, a notch more than a mild ale. Nice fruity notes, too, almost cherry pie between the bisuity thing and the nutty notes. Nice pale tan head. I talked up the first one I popped over here. I would be very interested to compare it with the Brooklyn Brown, side-by-side, contemporaneously as it were. By gumbo, someday I will.

I will report on the lager, pale ale and IPA later.

Game Seven

Good thing I had one 22 page document to draft today, straight through short break for lunch. Driving home it felt like mid-week halloween with the anticipation of big doin’s tonight. I will try to stay tube-bound. I have a bad habit of making myself busy elsewhere during big moments in sporting events, by the radio.

I fear Boston’s pitching will throw me off. I hope Lowe, left, can pull it off but this is going to be a full bullpen event for both sides. Wakefield will cover two. Foulke one. Who else?

At 8:19 pm, half an hour, the world stops again for four hours. What I have to put up with in the meantime [144 KB .wav file]


12:10 am this morning, men in red hug again.

Half Life 2

Appparently it is coming out in a month. I had a weird experience with my glacial attempt at the original Half Life. I was half way down the collapsed building fighting evil things when 9/11 happened. I just couldn’t pick it up after. Maybe now I will be ready to beat shin-high brain/chicken monsters with a tire iron again. Maybe now that I have kids who can turn on the computer I won’t.

US Election Pool III

Don’t forget to get some picks in for the elction pool. I know I said there was a deadline but seeing as the web is full of rightists and I am picking Kerry – and – as it looks like Kerry may actually win…well, I am just looking forward to the gnashing of teeth, the neo-con v. Tory accusations, the chicken little dire predictions.

Most of what you need to know is here at the Electoral Vote Predictor 2004. The rules once again are as follows with my picks as an illustration…

1.  Electoral college overall: 50 points for being spot on, one point lost for every electoral college vote off +/- for the winner. No points for being 50 or over off score. Total 538 so 270 needed to win.

My picks:  I say…um…285 Kerry and 253 Bush. I do not care if that combination is actually possible. Nearness is what matters.

2.  President: 30 points for naming the winner.

My pick: I obviously say Kerry…not because it is obvious he will win but because I gave him the most electoral votes.

3.  Key States: 10 points for picking the winner in the following states correctly – Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maine, Missouri, Colorado.

My picks: Kerry: Florida, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Ohio; Bush: Maine, Colorado.

4.  Senate: 20 points for for being spot on, four points lost for every senate seat off +/- for the final count of the majority.

My picks: 49 Democrats, 50 Republicans and 1 Independent.

5.  Wild card: Pick your own non-Federal race at any level down to local district attorney for an incumbant to lose. 20 points if you picked right.

My picks: hmmm…this is tricky. I think in the 49th District of the New York State Senate, the Democratic Candidate David Valesky is goin’ to Albany!!!

He’s goiing to win because the right has split the vote with both Republican incumbant and Independent Conservative candidates. Has the right learned nothing from Preston Manning???

Did I mention there are prizes? I always give out prizes. More info here and here.