The Boss

My latest favorite song lyric:

"Mister as I bent and kissed her, she was picked up by a twister;
My Oklahoma woman blowed away."

-Bruce Springsteen, singing "My Oklahoma Home" on We Shall Overcome

Coming Attractions...

It'd been a month, but here's some coming excitement:

• Founders on Friday night with Kevin (and maybe Nick)
• Founders on Saturday with Nick to buy some Kentucky Breakfast Stout on the day that it's released, and then time spent at some other cool GR beer locale
• Determination of the March Madness brackets for college basketball on Sunday, and then all the ensuing hullabaloo

Now that's a weekend to look forward to...

Football Eulogy

Farewell, oh 2007 football season - you were very good to us. You had upsets, suspense, scandal, and you even made history, both good and bad. Thank you for giving us a splendid Super Bowl. It went perfectly with my India Pale Ale and homemade hot wings (thank you, Kevin). I was disappointed not to see a perfect season by the Patriots, but in the end it seemed fitting and just, since they might be big old cheaters. Even my typical disdain for the success of New York sports teams waned a little. Maybe it's because Eli Manning seems like a nice guy (although he and Peyton will probably be in ever commercial during football '08). So, thanks again, football, for being there for me on the weekends. Maybe I'll even see you in HD next year (I can dream). But Notre Dame football 2007 - I'm glad you're gone.

Now, we will just try to survive the next 6 weeks, until March Madness sets in and baseball finally starts.

See you next year, oh noble, glorious football.

LEGOs on eBay

Years ago I bought a large Star Wars LEGO set on clearance - at half price, it was $45. I never even opened it, and I checked eBay to see what they were selling for. Lisa and her sister had been selling a bunch of stamping sets recently, so we added my set to their stuff. As of today (Wednesday around noon), the current bid is $177.50, and there's still more than 4 days to go! If you want, you can see the auction here. Too bad I didn't buy more of them. I wonder what I could get for some of my other stuff...

Music on the Desert Island

The other day I was looking through my ancient webpage and decided that my music page needed to be redone. I was also hungering for some new music. I satisfied the latter urge my checking out the nearby library and getting some CDs. For the former, I went ahead and redid my top ten albums list while watching the NFL playoff games after the kids were in bed. If you're interested, you can go check out my music page, but otherwise here's Mike's Desert Island Albums, in alphabetical order:

• The White Album - The Beatles
• Kerosene Hat - Cracker
• Welcome Interstate Managers - Fountains of Wayne
• Fumbling Toward Ecstasy - Sarah McLachlan
• Bang Masters - Van Morrison
• Monster - R.E.M.
• Illinoise - Sufjan Stevens
• Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet
• Rattle and Hum - U2
• The Blue Album - Weezer

I kind of like the fact that the list is bookended by albums that don't have a name and are simply known by their colors. Also, some of the albums on the list are high-quality musical masterpieces (especially Sufjan), while a few of them (like Cracker) are almost guilty pleasures, but simply full of rock 'n roll that I always enjoy. There were lots of honorable mentions, too, and they're all listed on the webpage.

Every Kiss Begins With [barrrffff]

Christmas brings out many types of commercials, but the jewelry commercials are by far the most nauseating to me. What bothers me the most is that they all feature some cutesy way for the man to present his woman with the gift:

• Immediately following the breaking of the wishbone, as he "grants her wish"
• Holding up the bag from the store to stop a snowball fight
• Hanging it on a tree at the tree-selling lot
  
• Putting it around her neck while she sleeps
• As part of a yucky version of "Twas the Night Before Christmas"

I'm sure I'm missing some...

Every commercial seems to indicate that he has fulfilled her ultimate wish, which makes her look shallow and superficial, like a raccoon that's in love with sparkly objects. I bet he's just trying to placate her with money instead of time or affection so he can go play golf each weekend. I mean, really, ladies, if your significant other spent $1000 on jewelry for Christmas, would you like it or think he's a doofus for spending that much money on a bunch of rocks?

...it can only be JAR-ed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's In The Game!

Annika occasionally asks me to play computer games with her, mostly because she wants to play things like Zoo Tycoon, or some of my EA Sports games. A few weeks ago we played some Madden '04 together. I have it set on "Rookie" level, so I usually win big, and I let her play defense most of the time. She's played enough now to actually run the offense, specifically seeking out the running plays, which are given a different color when selecting them. She hasn't quite put together an entire touchdown drive but she's moved the ball.

Another game we play is Tiger Woods '04. She enjoys playing, but I think the most fun part for her is customizing her player. The hair, clothing, shoe, accessory, and tattoo options are so extensive that number of possible outfits is basically unlimited. Usually she hits the links with a braided blonde ponytail and an array of pink clothing. Today she switched from short sleeves and a skirt to a jacket and pants, since it's winter. Then, while playing, she actually holed out a chip from the rough. I missed it at first but confirmed it on replay.

"Dad, it went in the hole!"