The Hooters sign near my apartment.
The only thing missing is an "s" to make it plural.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Truth in advertising
The Hooters sign near my apartment.
The only thing missing is an "s" to make it plural.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
No news, but a cool story
Sorry, no time for News in a Nutshell this weekend. But I do offer up this really great story on a 75-year-old woman who recounts her life as a jewel thief. It's a great read; you gotta check it out.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Parsnippets
I made pork pot roast in cider the other day. It was a crock pot recipe, so it was pretty easy to handle. But it involved parsnips, which I didn't have any experience with. (They look like albino carrots, as it ends up.) I also found out that they taste nasty -- kind of bitter or something; strong at any rate. And it kind of gave everything else that was simmering in the crock pot that flavor, too.
Ick.
My advice? Cut out the parsnips when cooking.
I've never really jumped on the Harry Potter bandwagon. I kept meaning to read the books, but have just never gotten around to it. The latest movie opens Friday and a few friends of work are going, so I decided I may as well at least stick a toe in the waters that seem to make everyone so crazy for Harry. But I'm obviously not going to be able to read all the books that quickly, so I've got the first three movies. I've seen the first so far and have until Monday to watch the next two. I'm hoping they get better as the kids get older, because right now, I don't really see what all the fuss is about. (Although I'm sure the books are better -- they always are.)
I started doing a bit of Christmas shopping for family members over my days off this week and ended up getting a couple of gifts for other people, but also:
1) 3 CDs (Kanye West and 2 Jason Mraz albums -- I'm really digging the "Geek in the Pink" song lately)
2) 1 DVD
3) 1 book ("The Dante Club," which has been recommended reading from a friend for some time)
4) 1 box of chocolate covered cherries (What?! They're tasty. Back off.)
5) 1 bamboo plant for my cubicle at the office (easy to care for and don't need a lot of light)
Apparently, I need a little work on the whole giving/getting thing...
Ick.
My advice? Cut out the parsnips when cooking.
I've never really jumped on the Harry Potter bandwagon. I kept meaning to read the books, but have just never gotten around to it. The latest movie opens Friday and a few friends of work are going, so I decided I may as well at least stick a toe in the waters that seem to make everyone so crazy for Harry. But I'm obviously not going to be able to read all the books that quickly, so I've got the first three movies. I've seen the first so far and have until Monday to watch the next two. I'm hoping they get better as the kids get older, because right now, I don't really see what all the fuss is about. (Although I'm sure the books are better -- they always are.)
I started doing a bit of Christmas shopping for family members over my days off this week and ended up getting a couple of gifts for other people, but also:
1) 3 CDs (Kanye West and 2 Jason Mraz albums -- I'm really digging the "Geek in the Pink" song lately)
2) 1 DVD
3) 1 book ("The Dante Club," which has been recommended reading from a friend for some time)
4) 1 box of chocolate covered cherries (What?! They're tasty. Back off.)
5) 1 bamboo plant for my cubicle at the office (easy to care for and don't need a lot of light)
Apparently, I need a little work on the whole giving/getting thing...
Monday, November 14, 2005
News in a nutshell: Oct. 31-Nov. 13
Sound smart
Riots have spread throughout France over the past couple of weeks. About 7,000 cars have been set on fire, almost 2,000 people have been arrested so far and the government has imposed a curfew in many areas. The government was slow to respond to the unrest, partly because about 80 cars are torched throughout the country on a normal, peaceful night.
I tell you, kids these days ... Whatever happened to just cruising Main Street? You know, when I was a kid, we didn't have all these fancy Molotov cocktails and other flammable fuels. No, if we wanted to set fire to something, we had to use the sun and a magnifying glass ... in the snow! And by golly, we liked it that way!
President Bush nominated Sammy "The Gavel" Alito to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. Alito is expected to give senators an offer they can't refuse when confirmation hearings begin.
Pirates fired on a luxury cruiser liner off of Somalia, as armed bandits tried to board the ship. The cruise ship managed to escape but pirate attacks have been increasingly common off Somalia's borders. Word has it they're in search of booty, meaning they may not be pirates after all, just a bunch of frat boys.
Boring but important
The Kansas Board of Education voted 6-4 to approve new science standards that include intelligent design and, because intelligent design isn't really a science by definition, the board rewrote the definition of science.
I'm not joking.
In related news, Pat Robertson condemned the people of Dover, Pa., after they voted out School Board members who had sought to recognize intelligent design in schools. Robertson said the town shouldn't look to God for help when they start facing problems. I, for one, think Pat Robertson's existence pretty much debunks intelligent design and evolution. Is there a "survival of the craziest" theory?
Sorry to say
57 people were killed in three explosions at hotels in Jordan, prompting a call from the king of Jordan for an international war on terrorism.
Umm ... gee, why didn't anyone else think of that?!?
But now for some good news
The San Diego Zoo named its baby panda Su Lin, which translates as "A little bit of something very cute" in Chinese. And if that doesn't make you smile, then you are a cold, cold person...
On Wednesday, Bush awarded the Medal of Freedom to 14 people, including Muhammad Ali for being "The Greatest," Paul Rusesabagina for helping save hundreds of lives during the Rwandan genocide, and Andy Griffith for keeping crime down in Mayberry and solving so many difficult court room cases later in his career.
What the?!?
Denver voters last week approved a measure legalizing small amounts of marijuana. Mile High City jokes about how the city has gone to pot would just be too easy, so I'll just reefer you to the article here.
Police in northern Virginia are looking for a woman who has been robbing banks while talking on her cell phone. You know, it's a sad day when our society reaches the point that we're not even willing to give our full attention when robbing one another. A sad day indeed...
A man found a 1,400-pound meteorite on a Kansas farm. In unrelated news, a nearby farming couple have a new baby! I think we can expect some super things from that kid.
As traffic increases in Southern California, a group of geniuses has proposed building a major tunnel right next to a major fault line. I can see the made-for-TV disaster movie now ...
Scientists have debunked the idea of cow-tipping, saying it would take at least five people and some pretty improbable circumstances, the biggest of which is all five people being sober.
A Colorado man who says he was glued to a toilet seat in Home Depot and sued for $3 million passed a lie detector test after it was alleged he had made a similar claim in another town. If this guy is for real, then just remember: No matter how bad a day you might be having, it could be worse -- you could be the guy who keeps getting glued to the can.
A California man has begun a radio station for pets to listen to while their owners are out of the house. He started it, he said, because his cat told him to. After his first broadcast, the cat gave the man a treat and told him, "Good boy! Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?"
The California man is now working on mastering "shake hand."
Riots have spread throughout France over the past couple of weeks. About 7,000 cars have been set on fire, almost 2,000 people have been arrested so far and the government has imposed a curfew in many areas. The government was slow to respond to the unrest, partly because about 80 cars are torched throughout the country on a normal, peaceful night.
I tell you, kids these days ... Whatever happened to just cruising Main Street? You know, when I was a kid, we didn't have all these fancy Molotov cocktails and other flammable fuels. No, if we wanted to set fire to something, we had to use the sun and a magnifying glass ... in the snow! And by golly, we liked it that way!
President Bush nominated Sammy "The Gavel" Alito to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. Alito is expected to give senators an offer they can't refuse when confirmation hearings begin.
Pirates fired on a luxury cruiser liner off of Somalia, as armed bandits tried to board the ship. The cruise ship managed to escape but pirate attacks have been increasingly common off Somalia's borders. Word has it they're in search of booty, meaning they may not be pirates after all, just a bunch of frat boys.
Boring but important
The Kansas Board of Education voted 6-4 to approve new science standards that include intelligent design and, because intelligent design isn't really a science by definition, the board rewrote the definition of science.
I'm not joking.
In related news, Pat Robertson condemned the people of Dover, Pa., after they voted out School Board members who had sought to recognize intelligent design in schools. Robertson said the town shouldn't look to God for help when they start facing problems. I, for one, think Pat Robertson's existence pretty much debunks intelligent design and evolution. Is there a "survival of the craziest" theory?
Sorry to say
57 people were killed in three explosions at hotels in Jordan, prompting a call from the king of Jordan for an international war on terrorism.
Umm ... gee, why didn't anyone else think of that?!?
But now for some good news
The San Diego Zoo named its baby panda Su Lin, which translates as "A little bit of something very cute" in Chinese. And if that doesn't make you smile, then you are a cold, cold person...
On Wednesday, Bush awarded the Medal of Freedom to 14 people, including Muhammad Ali for being "The Greatest," Paul Rusesabagina for helping save hundreds of lives during the Rwandan genocide, and Andy Griffith for keeping crime down in Mayberry and solving so many difficult court room cases later in his career.
What the?!?
Denver voters last week approved a measure legalizing small amounts of marijuana. Mile High City jokes about how the city has gone to pot would just be too easy, so I'll just reefer you to the article here.
Police in northern Virginia are looking for a woman who has been robbing banks while talking on her cell phone. You know, it's a sad day when our society reaches the point that we're not even willing to give our full attention when robbing one another. A sad day indeed...
A man found a 1,400-pound meteorite on a Kansas farm. In unrelated news, a nearby farming couple have a new baby! I think we can expect some super things from that kid.
As traffic increases in Southern California, a group of geniuses has proposed building a major tunnel right next to a major fault line. I can see the made-for-TV disaster movie now ...
Scientists have debunked the idea of cow-tipping, saying it would take at least five people and some pretty improbable circumstances, the biggest of which is all five people being sober.
A Colorado man who says he was glued to a toilet seat in Home Depot and sued for $3 million passed a lie detector test after it was alleged he had made a similar claim in another town. If this guy is for real, then just remember: No matter how bad a day you might be having, it could be worse -- you could be the guy who keeps getting glued to the can.
A California man has begun a radio station for pets to listen to while their owners are out of the house. He started it, he said, because his cat told him to. After his first broadcast, the cat gave the man a treat and told him, "Good boy! Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?"
The California man is now working on mastering "shake hand."
Friday, November 11, 2005
Playing in the shallow end of the pool hall
I went to a new place last night with a friend from work who was writing up a short little piece on where to go to play pool. It's basically a pool hall/sports bar. It has more than a dozen pool tables, about 30 TVs showing hockey or football, skeeball and other arcade games, food (including pizza by the slice) and ... barely-of-age waitresses dressed as cheerleaders.
I believe my initial comment of disbelief was: "They dress their waitresses as cheerleaders?? Seriously?!?!?" Granted, they were wearing low-slung, hip-hugging pants rather than cheerleading skirts, providing an iota of modesty, but it did little to hide the preponderance of lower-back tattoos of the girls who mostly looked too young to be serving alcohol. But then again, most of the people in the place looked like they were in high school to me, which probably means they were in college.
My friend at one point wanted to flag down our waitress but almost grabbed the wrong one. After she dismissed the wrong waitress, she turned to me and whispered: "They all look pretty much the same; I can't tell the difference."
So yeah, it was sort of like a slightly less skeezy version of Hooters in a way.
But they had food and pool that you pay for by the hour, which I've been missing for a while. The music that was playing seemed to be the soundtrack from my high school days, which was a little weird, but cool because I knew all the words to the songs.
I also managed to prove that while I can be one ball short of running the table on the first turn, I will still regress to my habit of sinking the cue ball at inopportune times.
But at least I was able to scratch my pool-playing itch as well...
I believe my initial comment of disbelief was: "They dress their waitresses as cheerleaders?? Seriously?!?!?" Granted, they were wearing low-slung, hip-hugging pants rather than cheerleading skirts, providing an iota of modesty, but it did little to hide the preponderance of lower-back tattoos of the girls who mostly looked too young to be serving alcohol. But then again, most of the people in the place looked like they were in high school to me, which probably means they were in college.
My friend at one point wanted to flag down our waitress but almost grabbed the wrong one. After she dismissed the wrong waitress, she turned to me and whispered: "They all look pretty much the same; I can't tell the difference."
So yeah, it was sort of like a slightly less skeezy version of Hooters in a way.
But they had food and pool that you pay for by the hour, which I've been missing for a while. The music that was playing seemed to be the soundtrack from my high school days, which was a little weird, but cool because I knew all the words to the songs.
I also managed to prove that while I can be one ball short of running the table on the first turn, I will still regress to my habit of sinking the cue ball at inopportune times.
But at least I was able to scratch my pool-playing itch as well...
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
News in a nutshell: Oct. 24-30
Sound smart
On Thursday, Harriet Miers, whom Bush had picked for the Supreme Court, withdrew her nomination before confirmation hearings had even begun. Miers had come under fire from both parties for not seeming to have an opinion on anything -- except how totally dreamy Bush is.
On Friday, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the vice president's chief of staff, resigned after he was indicted in the investigation of who leaked CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. After the whole "Brownie" debacle, this was strike two against guys with elementary school nicknames in positions of power. And it doesn't bode well for Scott "Snot" McClellan...
Mother Nature is still on the war path with Hurricane Beta battering Nicaragua on Sunday. And Hurricane Wilma hit southern Florida on Monday as a Category 3 storm, cutting power to 6 million people, causing a lot of flooding and killing 10. The storm's strength surprised many people who had chosen not to evacuate.
Gee ... if only there had been some past event to indicate that we should be taking hurricanes seriously ... oh, if only ...
The president of Iran said Wednesday that Israel should be "wiped off the map." So ... does this mean we're not going to have peace in the Middle East soon?
Boring but important
To be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, President Bush nominated Ben Bernanke. If confirmed, he would replace Alan Greenspan who is retiring in ... oh, hell, I lost you at Federal Reserve, didn't I?
The final report on the United Nations' oil-for-food program accused more than 2,200 companies, along with major politicians, of working with Saddam Hussein to swindle almost $2 billion from the program. Proving that you can eat your cake and starve other people, too.
Sorry to say
Rosa Parks died on Monday at the age of 92.
The number of American troops killed in the Iraq war hit 2,000 on Tuesday.
But now for some good news
The Chicago White Sox swept the World Series, winning the title for the first time since 1917. But to be honest, that entry on the Federal Reserve was more interesting.
On Thursday, Harriet Miers, whom Bush had picked for the Supreme Court, withdrew her nomination before confirmation hearings had even begun. Miers had come under fire from both parties for not seeming to have an opinion on anything -- except how totally dreamy Bush is.
On Friday, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the vice president's chief of staff, resigned after he was indicted in the investigation of who leaked CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. After the whole "Brownie" debacle, this was strike two against guys with elementary school nicknames in positions of power. And it doesn't bode well for Scott "Snot" McClellan...
Mother Nature is still on the war path with Hurricane Beta battering Nicaragua on Sunday. And Hurricane Wilma hit southern Florida on Monday as a Category 3 storm, cutting power to 6 million people, causing a lot of flooding and killing 10. The storm's strength surprised many people who had chosen not to evacuate.
Gee ... if only there had been some past event to indicate that we should be taking hurricanes seriously ... oh, if only ...
The president of Iran said Wednesday that Israel should be "wiped off the map." So ... does this mean we're not going to have peace in the Middle East soon?
Boring but important
To be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, President Bush nominated Ben Bernanke. If confirmed, he would replace Alan Greenspan who is retiring in ... oh, hell, I lost you at Federal Reserve, didn't I?
The final report on the United Nations' oil-for-food program accused more than 2,200 companies, along with major politicians, of working with Saddam Hussein to swindle almost $2 billion from the program. Proving that you can eat your cake and starve other people, too.
Sorry to say
Rosa Parks died on Monday at the age of 92.
The number of American troops killed in the Iraq war hit 2,000 on Tuesday.
But now for some good news
The Chicago White Sox swept the World Series, winning the title for the first time since 1917. But to be honest, that entry on the Federal Reserve was more interesting.
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