This is not your practice blog

Test 2

2005-11-10T20:08:00.000-08:00

Hello

Test

2005-11-10T20:02:00.000-08:00

Green to green

Red to red

Yellow to yellow in the light.

2005-03-07T06:59:00.000-08:00

Do not read this.

Deb's BookBlog

2004-11-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

Whatzis?

Nothing to see here.

2004-05-10T06:53:00.000-07:00

Move along.

ahem whffff

2004-03-16T13:50:00.000-08:00

Is this thing on?

Get out!

2004-03-06T10:43:00.000-08:00

This blog moved -- like, last November, dude. Come join us here.

2003-11-23T19:16:00.000-08:00

NY Times: "Some have said that Republicans were violating a presidential promise not to use the campaign against terrorism for political gain." (from Dave Winer)

Moving out

2003-10-30T05:46:00.000-08:00

This blog is on the move to http://foodisworse.typepad.com/this. I realize this fractures my already-scant readership, but it's time to go. See you over there.

test

2003-10-29T15:55:00.000-08:00

test

2003-10-29T15:53:00.000-08:00

test

2003-10-29T15:20:00.000-08:00

test

Joe Shmo Show ends

2003-10-29T06:50:00.000-08:00

Joe Schmo, basically what would happen if Truman Burbank went on a reality show, finished last night when the lead character found out what was going on. It was fun.

Weight & eating blog

2003-10-28T08:54:00.000-08:00

There's a bunch of fresh posts in my new blog about weight and eating. Joe Bob says check 'em out. Plus, I'm trying TypePad. It's cool! It has comments built-in! They seem to actually work, so leave a comment!

NFL game for free

2003-10-28T08:51:00.000-08:00

The terrible wildfires in San Diego forced the NFL to move its Monday night game to Tempe, Arizona at the last minute. This led to some interesting stories.

Andy Griffith statue

2003-10-28T06:09:00.000-08:00

There's going to be a statue of Andy Griffith and Ron Howard (actually, Sheriff Andy and Opie) in Raleigh, North Carolina. As Gomer might say, "Goll-ee!".

Eating and weight

2003-10-27T06:55:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I'm spending time right now on a writing project about my experiences with gaining and losing weight. I started a blog here for posts and links about that.

Alternate universe World Series: games 6 and 7

2003-10-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

Here. Occasionally brilliant. READ ALL THE WAY TO THE END. Favorite sentence:

Meanwhile, with both teams one victory from a world championship, Lucifer kicked Uday and Qusay Hussein out of Hell to relieve the massive overcrowding that has resulted from the glaciers advancing into the farthest reaches of the underworld.

Rip City

2003-10-24T06:28:00.000-07:00

The recent iTunes/iPod activity has inspired me to resume my CD-ripping project. I'm now up to 1140 CDs and 11,800 songs ripped. iTunes continues to perform OK. I'm sure there are folks with many tens of thousands of songs in their iTunes databases, but I wonder what the limit is.

The Other World Series

2003-10-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

In an alternate universe (thanks, Gardner Fox), the Cubs and Red Sox are playing the World Series. ESPN.com is there. See part one and part two. I can't wait to see how it ends!

Guster Meow Mix

2003-10-22T06:47:00.000-07:00

The poppy Boston band Guster has released a version of its latest album with all the vocals wiped and replaced by somebody saying "meow" over and over, in the proper melody. It's pretty amusing. Check it out here (requires free iTunes).

Nobody in Boston is watching

2003-10-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

As explained here.

Who am I? Why am I here?

2003-10-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

Now that the work of handling my mom's estate is winding down, I'm taking the next few weeks to write down a bunch of words about something I've done a lot of: gaining and losing weight. This is something I've wanted to do for a long time. Once I'm done writing, I'll try to figure out what to do with what I've written ;-) .

Judge writes rap in Eminem decision

2003-10-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

Here.

Voight-Kampff Test for SF Mayoral Candidates

2003-10-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

The Wave magazine used a technique from Blade Runner to find out if the San Francisco candidates for mayor are human or replicants. It's brilliant. Too bad these guys weren't around for the goober recall election. However, there's plenty of time left for the presidential election!

World Series, yawn

2003-10-20T06:50:00.000-07:00

I love baseball, and I'm trying to watch the World Series, but sorry, the thrill is gone. It's Yankees vs. Marlins: the boring rich guys who have it all against the boring spoiled kids and their 10,000 fans. There are a few intriguing subplots, like 72-year-old Jack McKeon, but when it comes to actually rooting for one of these teams, I just can't do it.

iTunes Linkmaker

2003-10-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

One of the little-mentioned but cool new features in iTunes is the ability to copy and paste (or drag and drop) a link to an item in the iTunes Music Store. Here's something related: use iTunes Linkmaker to create a URL, or even a web badge, that links to a music store item.

iTunes for Windows

2003-10-17T06:57:00.000-07:00

Apple announced and shipped iTunes for Windows yesterday. It's remarkably like the terrific Mac version, including support for the iTunes Music Store. In fact, I'm surprised they didn't leave out a feature or two, just to remind folks to use Macs instead of Windows. Maybe in the future, new features will come to the Mac version first. Or maybe Apple is so into selling iPods now that they're willing to have application parity on Windows and Macs. Also, it plays nice with the Macs on my 802.11 network, letting me share music across platforms effortlessly. And it knows about my account at the Music Store, even warning me when I'm about to buy a song that I already bought on a Mac.

No joy in Cubdom

2003-10-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

Once again I refer you to Jayson Stark for the explanation.

These are the Cubs, masters of the unthinkable

2003-10-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

The Billy Goat Curse is real. I know, because I watched it happen on TV last night. Last night's Cubs-Marlins game was going as expected -- the Cubs were on their way to their first pennant in 58 years, leading 3-0 in the 8th -- when the game suddenly moved into the Twilight Zone, or maybe the Curse script kicked in. Cubs left fielder Moises Alou (son of Giants manager Felipe) was prevented from catching a foul fly in the first row of the stands when a fan deflected the ball -- a Cubs fan. That's when thousands of Cubs followers knew it was all going wacky. Soon thereafter, the Cubs shortstop, Alex Gonzalez -- probably their best defensive player -- saw his glove turn to iron as an easy ground ball clanked off it for an error. Next, Cubs starter Mark Prior, who was almost unhittable before that, turned into toast. In minutes, the Marlins had scored 8 runs and the incredible (but inevitable?) had happened. Cubs fans, I feel for you. Hang in there. You have another chance today.

Goodbye to Pacific Bell Park

2003-10-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

Bleh.

Good weight news

2003-10-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

Some rare positive news about overweight in the U.S.

Flyby

2003-10-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

Yikes.

In Dusty We Trusty

2003-10-14T06:36:00.000-07:00

I ordered my In Dusty We Trust t-shirt yesterday, because I like the man and the team. I hope it gets here before the Cubs are done. ;-)

Lots more Americans are getting really fat

2003-10-13T14:48:00.000-07:00

The number of obese Americans doubled from 1986 to 200 -- but the number of extremely obese Americans was up 500%. The whole story is here.

Rush Limbaugh's drug addiction

2003-10-13T06:32:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it over the weekend, radio guy Rush Limbaugh came out as a drug addict on Friday. Here's an opinion on this announcement.

Boston Brawl

2003-10-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

The Red Sox - Yankees series took an ugly turn today: the Yankees won. Oh, and also, weird bad stuff happened.

Cubs and red ivy

2003-10-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

Jayson Stark writes about it here. More about red ivy here.

Customers as thieves, enhanced

2003-10-10T06:42:00.000-07:00

A maker of really lame copy protection for audio CDs is suing a college student who pointed out just how lame their copy protection is (so lame that you can defeat it by holding down the shift key when you insert the CD, or turning off auto-run, or simply putting the CD into a Mac). The doublespeak coming from the company is breathtaking. This is wrong in so many ways, but no more so than in disrespecting customers in the first place by copy-protecting an audio CD.

iTunes for Windows

2003-10-10T06:32:00.000-07:00

Is Apple going to release iTunes for Windows next week? Maybe.

Big Thunder Mountain info

2003-10-10T06:23:00.000-07:00

Chuq points to new information about the Big Thunder Mountain crash.

Jumpers

2003-10-10T00:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a sad, fascinating story about the Golden Gate Bridge and suicide.

Pat Robertson favors terrorism

2003-10-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

Pat Robertson has suggested blowing up the U.S. State Department with a nuclear bomb.

Walking Directions: Bag End to Mount Doom

2003-10-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

Here. (Thanks to Adam.)

Would you like to super-size that coffin?

2003-10-09T06:41:00.000-07:00

Swanson now has "Hungry Man XXL" frozen dinners, featuring around 1000 calories and 40 grams of fat or more (note to those unclear: THAT'S TOO MUCH FOR ONE MEAL). There's even a grotesque "Hungry Man All-Day Breakfast" with over 1000 calories and 231% of your daily requirement of cholesterol! For breakfast! Mark Morford in the SF Chronicle rants about this trash food and its relationship to a new growth industry, enormous caskets.

Curse of the Billy Goat

2003-10-09T06:39:00.000-07:00

Cubs fans are still trying to get rid of their curse. That was me on KFOG this morning (6:15 AM -- you were listening, weren't you?) explaining this curse to the KFOG Morning Show.

Shoot Britney Spears

2003-10-08T06:57:00.000-07:00

The wife of Maryland's governor said she would like to do that. Eh?

Another instant classic

2003-10-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

We baseball fans have been blessed by great playoff games this year (the Giants' performance notwithstanding), and last night was another one. Jayson Stark does his usual terrific job of writing about it as a reporter, fan, and baseball nerd.

Gov. Schwarzenegger

2003-10-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

Hi, I live in a state that just recalled its governor and elected a man with little relevant experience. Talk about out of touch: I cannot figure this out. Why did so many people vote for Schwarzenegger? I assume they have figured out something I haven't about the guy. I hope he does a great job of making the state a better place.

Angry Moroccan teacher throws pupils out of window

2003-10-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

Here.

Don't try this

2003-10-07T07:02:00.000-07:00

The most disturbing Google search in my referrer log: root canal airplane. Hmmm.

Punch a chad

2003-10-07T06:47:00.000-07:00

It's election day, and soon I'll go vote against the recall. Why? Because it's the worst, most cynical example of partisan politics I've ever seen. For Darrell Issa and the recall mongers, this is not about what Davis did wrong -- it's all about getting a Republican in office. The reason elected officials have terms in office is so they're not constantly running for re-election. If this recall succeeds, good luck to whichever sucker replaces him.

Let's go, Oakland

2003-10-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

The A's are finished, incredibly. They have played 9 games over four years in which they could have won a playoff series; they have lost all 9. I'm not sure why I root against the A's. Probably the 1989 World Series is a big part of it. And, I like the Red Sox. But for me, the A's losing takes the edge off the Giants losing.

Another perspective on baseball fan pain

2003-10-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

You can skip the top 2/3rds of this and just read the list at the bottom.

Another take on Cubs & Sox

2003-10-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

Funny.

Is that all there is?

2003-10-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

The Giants season is over too soon, following two remarkable games in Miami. This series has proven to me that baseball is unanalyzable. Were the Marlins simply the better team? How does the best defensive Giants team in history make 7 errors in 4 games? I dunno. Random thoughts about that series and some of the other amazing games in the division series:

What's going on with all the errors, dropped fly balls, hit batsmen, weird plays in the division series? I have a theory: they've changed the baseball. The worst part of baseball is after a disappointing end to the season, the gutless wonders and naysayers crawl out. For example, Ann Killion has uncovered communication problems in the Giants clubhouse. Where was she all season? And Larry Krueger, the guy KNBR keeps around to piss off Giants fans, announces that they had too many pitchers on the roster. Why didn't he say that a week ago? Here's another thing: this stupid macho bit about "playing hurt". If you're too injured to play, it hurts your team, not helps. Another bright guy: immediately after the game, Bobby Valentine popped up on ESPN to criticize the Giants for not using Jose Cruz Jr. as a pinch-runner and putting in Andres Galarraga to play first base. Only problem: both those players were already out of the game. No wonder Valentine is a grinning idiot on TV instead of still managing. Anybody see the end of game 3 and think that Pudge Rodriguez interfered after scoring the go-ahead run? He was exulting with his arms in the air and Torrealba had to go through him to get the ball while the winning run scored. Giants baseball of the past: this series provided strange echoes of 2000 (losing 3-1 to the wild card), 1997 (losing to the Marlins, two 1-run losses in Miami), and even 1912 (dropped fly ball in extra innings helps blow lead). The Giants finally wised up and figured out how to sell tickets by lottery, instead of browser reload hell. They were planning to do that for World Series seats. Maybe next year. The Sox-A's game 3 was the weirdest baseball game I ever saw. Jerome Williams pitching game 4 was the right call.

Zoom!

2003-10-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

These guys flew right overhead as we were standing on the BART platform Wednesday. It was like getting a pitchfork to the eardrums.

Somebody's keeping score

2003-10-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

If you want to know what I'm usually doing at a baseball game, check this out.

Double-header, guest entry

2003-10-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

The baseball gods laid it out for us: both the Giants and A's had home playoff games on Wednesday. Hmmm, could I go to both games? Hey -- the starting times are 6 hours apart! This can be done! And so, I asked urban adventurer Mark "the Red" Harlan to join me, and...well, I'll let Mark tell the story (with a few of my own comments):

when scott "special k" knaster mentioned he was interested in seeing 2 major league ballgames in the same day, i immediately thought "i wonder if you could do 'em both for $25?" when he followed it with the fact that it wasn't even possible to do this (in one geography, that is) until just a couple of years ago, i became intrigued. scott was playing to my ego ... the reason he was talking to me in the first place was because i have a reputation for getting good deals on tickets, but scott was worried because the giants were sold out ... it took him 2 full sentences before he asked if i was interested in joining him. of course. of course i'm interested in joing him, because i feel exactly like anyone my age without kids feels ... life is nothing more than a set of disjoint adventures, and the the time in between? nothing more than planning, resting, studying, or earning time for those adventures.

[Scott:]Mark and I have somewhat different perspectives on this. I'm a big Giants fan, and a baseball fan. I MUST get in to the Giants and see the whole game. I'm not an A's fan, and I won't spend a lot for tickets there. Plus, I need to see Mark's legendary ticket-acquisition skills in action.

the a's won't be a problem. for some reason the world, the bay area and the san jose mercury news in particular, either hate or ignore the a's. face value there will probably get you seats on the owners' lap. the tickets might be a problem for the giants, though, because these are the playoffs and the game is sold out. of course the world series was sold out and that didn't keep me from getting a *free* ticket. (something that particularly bugs bryan "stearno" stearns, although i don't know why; naturally i bring it up at every possible opportunity.) *** special k shows up promptly at 10:00. of course i'm not ready, but I get there in a matter of minutes ... he drops the key piece of information which is craigslist is showing more sellers than buyers ... this looks good for the kutrate koncert klub (kkk), a spiritual organization of the mind made up of mark "solid" goldstein (weirdly, a shirttail cousin of special k's -- not too surprising since they're both jewish and from denver, but still spooky) and myself.

[Scott:]Officially, Mark G. and I are 4th cousins, on my mother's side.

the idea is to park at millbrae (using my caltrain parking pass that i normally abusively use for free long term parking when i fly out of town [i'm also not eligible to own the pass, but that's another story]), take caltrain to pacbell park, bart to oakland, and then bart back to millbrae. we get to the s.f. train station around noon, an hour before game time, and i hit a scalper immediately. "what is the face value of your ticket and how much do you want?" he shows me a $31 ticket. "40." great. this is the high end of the spectrum. buying from a train station scalper is like paying sticker price for a car. only the stupid, the rich, and those not spending their own money are so foolhardy. so i definitely WILL be getting in ... it's just a question of when and for how much. i set a mental price of $20 or half price, whichever is cheaper. no "standing room only" tickets and i'd prefer seats to bleachers because i like the back support. special k and his i've-grown-into-a-monster son already have tickets. i only need 1. this will be a snap.

[Scott:]I managed to acquire 2 decent tickets at face value when I was at the game the day before.

we get to the ballpark, i get some cash, search a little for paper to make a sign and get to work. the sign is very important because it: 1. keeps you from having to walk around everywhere and lets people come to you. 2. indicates immediately if you're a buyer or a seller. 3. subconsciously establishes that you are NOT a scalper, because scalpers never use signs. (the kkk almost never deals with scalpers and vice versa.) 4. gives people a level of assurance. when you walk around saying "i need 1 ticket," or holding a finger up, it makes people uncomfortable ... "does he want a ticket or is he going to rob me?" that's always in the backs of people's minds. it's worse after dark, but it's always the case. but wording is important here. it's still 45 minutes to game time and most people will be expecting face value or more for their tickets. some will get it from dopes that aren't thinking things through, or those that are simply not willing to ask their fellow man to share the financial burden of the ticket; but most will not. you need something small, succinct. need 1 cheap perfect.

[Scott:]Later, in Oakland, a scalper will summon Mark by hollering "Hey, Mr. Cheap!".

i chat to special k while i hold my sign up, rotating it slowly once, and it takes about 90 seconds to get a response. "i've got a reserved. $40." "what's the face value?" "$40." "I'll give you 20." he looks incredulous. i've seen this exact look 1000 times in my life. in the early days of the kkk it used to bother me -- now i just think it's funny. he shakes his head and walks away. another seconds later. "i have bleachers." "what's the face value?" "$25." "i'll give you 10." he just walks away.

[Scott:]During this whole process, while we're standing in Willie Mays Plaza, the few cops walking around pretty much ignore this illegal ticket market.

another immediately. "i've got one for $40. that's what i paid." "i'll give you 20." "20?! dude, you insult me!" can't have angry citizens here ... he could cause a ruckus for other customers, and there's always an outside chance he'll still sell. most people would disengage at this point, but that couldn't be more wrong. i start up, "i have $23 on me," which is true, but i also have $280 in the *other* pocket, "i need money to get home. i'm out of work right now," which is not exactly right, i'm working, i'm just not getting paid AND i'm paying others, "i guarantee that you made more money this week than i did." i'm staring at the spider web he has tatooted on his hand as i say this. he looks a bit like ceasar rosas from los lobos, only even more pockmarked in the face, as hard as that is to imagine. he stops and considers. i can tell this was exactly the right thing to say. he shakes his head, but is muttering in a conspiratory way now, "no dude, i lost a lot of money this week." but it's said in the you're-forgiven tone of voice. it wouldn't surprise me if he came back. i look at scott and he's looking a little embarrassed. like the way the *other* person looks at a restaurant when one person of the couple launches on a waitress. no time to calm him. the next possibility is immediate: a thin, older white guy. he looks at my sign before speaking. "do you just want a ticket to get in the stadium, or do you want a good seat?" "i'm just trying to get in." he hands me a ticket, "i'll sell you this one for $15." it's got a face value of $31. i look at it and hand it to special k, "does this look right to you?" before he can even answer, the guy just nods, "yeah, it's good. i'll walk in with you if you want." i've bought, probably 100 tickets this way in my life. i know in the very pit of my soul he's right. this is where solid g and i differ. solid would counter offer here, but this is well within my tolerance AND i'll get in before the game starts ... not always a certainty with the kkk. "sure." the deal's done. from sign complete to ticket in hand it was about 3 minutes, tops. i turn to scott, "let's go in," and look up to see him quasi-stunned. he considers then speaks, "my third eye has just opened. i've been going to sporting events my whole life ... and now ... now i feel like a whole new world has been opened up to me." right.

[Scott:]Yup. Most of my experience is going with Barbara and our kids, and we need more certainty that we're going to get in. Watching Mark was like entering a parallel dimension.

the seat itself is amazing. it's section 336, row 11, seat 12. it is, literally, half way up the topmost section, immediately in front of the 3rd base foul pole, and on the very end of the section. if i look to my left, i see a 4 story direct drop. i love it. if there's an earthquake, i am THE very first to die. to my left is mccovey cove, almost straight left is the scoreboard (still readable) and below and behind me is coca cola slide, in front of that, the mini kid baseball diamond where they occasionally whack whiffle balls out of the tiny park. it's a foggy day, with patches of sun. almost cold, but not too windy. in other words, a great day for half priced baseball. at this very moment, the giants are down 9 to 5 at the bottom of the 8th. my double header day, in the baseball sense, is almost half over. and i couldn't be happier. giants lose and it makes no difference ...

[Scott:]There's that difference of philosophy I mentioned... ;-)

we make our way to the bart station, stopping by a chinese deli as part of the journey. the bart train is crowded to the point of uncomfortable and once we get to the station it's a steady stream. we get to the oakland stadium 75 minutes before gametime. the traditional oakland scalpers are working the bridge in their overly aggressive style ... we set up a sign and start working it. and nothing. and nothing. and nothing. we're still about an hour from the game but it's become clear that, weirdly, tickets are going to be harder to get here ... even though they still have some for sale. solid g shows up and we decide to try for single tickets instead of a block of three. we score a $20 ticket for 10 almost immediately and then go cold. the game starts, jets scream overhead and we still don't have our quota. one inning passes, then another ... i finally cajole g and k into buying the $15 mount davis seats and going in ...

[Scott:]These are the football seats 500 feet from home plate that are only opened when the rest of the park is sold out. And as a bonus, you can't see the deep half of the outfield from there.

we play musical seats for an inning and a half, trying to better our nosebleed seats and finally settle in a row above the cheapie press seats. we get a full eagle eye view from above home plate, and by watching the tv monitors in the press seats we're able to see both the live broadcast and instant replays of the game. i eat pretzels, special k eats his diet cowpie cookies and solid peels red grapes. it's now top of the 8th, the home team is losing 3 to 4 and the world is very very good.

[Scott:]The A's tied things up in the last of the 9th, and as the contest wore on toward midnight, we wondered what would happen if the game was still going on past BART's midnight closing time. We had a brief discussion and unanimously agreed that we we NOT going to leave the game early. That's just wrong. As it happened, the game ended at 11:47, so the urban crisis didn't happen. We got back to Millbrae at 1:00 AM after an awesome day featuring 21 innings and 8 hours of baseball. Seeing that no more games were scheduled at that time, we headed home.

Fish fry part 2

2003-10-03T06:25:00.000-07:00

...in which the Fish fry the Giants, 9-5. In a grotesque bullpen/defense implosion, the Marlins evened the series at 1-1. The interesting and maddening thing about these best-of-5 series is that they can turn with every game. The Giants are in some trouble now, but if they win today, the Marlins are on the brink of elimination.

Fish fry part 1

2003-10-01T06:14:00.000-07:00

The Giants squeaked past the Marlins yesterday 2-0 in an amazing pitchers' duel that had only 6 base hits, and only two of those hit to the outfield. You can read all about it here. Other stuff:

I wonder if Marlins manager Jack "I'll walk him every time" McKeon realizes how much Barry Bonds is in his head. Worrying about him affected Josh Beckett's pitching to Rich Aurilia in the fateful 4th inning.
Another absolutely gorgeous day at Pacific Bell Park. The fans were too riveted and nervous to get into big chants and cheers.
Aside from three terrible misplays (two by the Giants), the defense was impressive. Naturally, the game turned on the Marlins' one error.
Barry Bonds, frustrated at being walked and aching to contribute, was picked off in the 8th inning when the Derrek Lee bobbled Chad Fox's low throw, allowing Bonds to get to 2nd base. Of course, Bonds then scored, so misplays led to both of the games' runs.
Felipe Alou is priming the second-guessers by pitching Sidney Ponson today instead of Kirk Rueter. Alou has usually been right about those things this year.
The Giants are advertising the hell out of their "I See Orange People" t-shirts, but they're sold out. BOO! I did score a very cool post-season media guide, which includes recaps of every 2003 Giants game and box scores of all Giants post-season games ever.
Whole teams introduced on the foul lines, flyby, fireworks, bunting, Huey Lewis and the News singing the anthem: I love the playoffs.

Fish fry today

2003-09-30T06:38:00.000-07:00

The Giants start the National League Division Series today at home. Thanks to CJ, I have a ticket! Most of the "experts" are picking the Giants to win. Ahhh, whadda they know. Oft-forgotten factor: the current Marlins owner used to own the Expos, and he lamely fired Giants manager Felipe Alou a couple of years ago. Felipe didn't like that, although he downplays it now.

Drive-by eating

2003-09-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

Ah, the drive-thru fast food experience. You sit in your car and yell at a billboard, then get nasty food thrown at you by someone who usually doesn't even look at you. Here is an industry magazine report that ranks the joints.

Springsteen exorcises Bambino?

2003-09-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

It takes one Boss to triumph another. Ceej, could this be the year?

The Man Who Saved Baseball

2003-09-29T06:53:00.000-07:00

Giants fans, don't miss this interview with head honcho Peter Magowan, one of the coolest owners ever and the reason there are no Tampa Bay Giants.

There we go again

2003-09-29T06:47:00.000-07:00

If this poll (which gives results that are very different from other polls) is right, California is about to void an election and install a glib, inexperienced mega-rich guy as governor who usually doesn't even bother to vote, to replace our boring, experienced kinda rich guy. We'll either get 3 years of reducing state problems to movie sound bites, or else recall after recall. Hmm, I wonder what other states I could run away to.

Google News

2003-09-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

I use Google News all the time and it's great. But why, when I search for a story that's been picked up by a bunch of different sites, do I get page after page listing all 47 million copies of the exact same story? Google, please fix. Thank you. That is all.

Antici-pation

2003-09-29T06:25:00.000-07:00

We went the the last Giants game of the regular season yesterday, and it was a great tune-up as the G's whacked the hell out of the Dodgies, 12-3. After early fog, it turned out to be another perfect day at Pacific Bell Park, where the wind stops when you enter, the Cha-Cha Bowls are delicious, and all the children are above average. The Giants ended up conceding the best record to Atlanta so that they wouldn't have to fly cross-country and back on the eve of their playoff opener. I hope that turns out to be a good decision. I'm cautiously (no woofing here) excited about the Giants chances this year. This time, they're entering the playoffs with a great team, high expectations, and the pang of unfinished business from last year. That's a formula that worked great for the A's in 1989.

Playmakers

2003-09-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

I've been watching the drama series Playmakers on ESPN and I'm hooked by its writing, acting, and verisimilitude. It's an over-the-top portrayal of an NFL team and some of the shenanigans that go on in its orbit, including drugs, sex, and violence. Some NFL players think this is unfair, because the show exaggerates the bad stuff. Dear NFL players: this is FICTION. That means it's MADE UP, like ER and NYPD Blue. I like the theme song, which you can download here. Another catchy tune used in the show is Get Busy by Sean Paul (thanks to my son for identifying that one).

Bye, music

2003-09-26T06:44:00.000-07:00

I decided to check out BuyMusic.com, the music-for-sale site that makes fun of Apple's iTunes Music Store ads and only works with Windows. There is stuff that Apple doesn't have, such as Radiohead's "Kid A", although it does cost an absurd $16.69. I decided to buy a track for .79, "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow. Searching wasn't bad, and signing up for an account was only a little annoying. Unlike Apple's store, there's no one-click to buy, so you have to "check out". When I did, I was informed that BuyMusic would have to do further checking on my credit card before allowing me to download my song -- "for my protection", of course. This process would probably take about one day, it said! I would be notified by e-mail when it was done. Three and a half days later, I got the e-mail saying my purchase was ready. I went back to BuyMusic and downloaded the track, which came in Windows Media Audio protected format. When I tried to play the track, Windows Media Player informed me that I needed to download a license for the track first. So I went through another step -- does this happen every time you buy a song? Finally, I played the track. All in all, it was a lousy customer experience. I have always appreciated Apple's ability to making things easy, but I have a new appreciation for the way the iTunes Music Store hides the details, including one-click purchase, credit card authorization, and digital rights management. Bow wow! Lots of other folks seem to have issues with BuyMusic.com.

Rare feat

2003-09-26T06:35:00.000-07:00

Carlos Delgado of Toronto hit four home runs in one game yesterday. That's one of baseball's classic records. How rare is it? Delgado is only the 15th player in the 128-year history of Major League Baseball to do it.

Wrong number

2003-09-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

The RIAA sued a 65-year-old woman for sharing music via KaZaA. But she has a Mac, which doesn't run KaZaA. What happened? Bad IP snitching by Comcast? Did dynamic IP addressing screw up the identification?

People are gonna come from all over

2003-09-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Major League Baseball players, organized by state or country of birth here. 1698 from California, 8 from Alaska. 5 from Italy, but none since 1962.

Tracking baseball online

2003-09-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

You can watch baseball play-by-play on ESPN, Fox, MLB, and Yahoo (others too?). They're all OK. ESPN's is unreliable with Safari, and Yahoo's seems to switch among games most quickly. It would be cool to be able to set up audio alerts when something happens, like a run scoring (in games you really care about) or the lead changing hands. Much work remains to be done on game trackers.

Giants fan diary

2003-09-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

Another day, another slightly important game. This one was a 2-1 loss to Houston. The most important fact about this game is that Sidney Ponson pitched very well, but just well enough to lose, unfortunately. The regulars had the day off, although Barry Bonds pinch hit and struck out against Billy Wagner. Off day today, then four more of these bleh games against the Dodgers until the PLAYOFFS.

New administration

2003-09-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

The West Wing started up again last night, with a whole new creative team. It's still good, but different, more dramatic, more melodramatic, less nerdy. I myself, being a nerd, don't like it as much so far.

Good day!

2003-09-24T07:27:00.000-07:00

You can listen to Paul Harvey whenever you want!

Ten-Run Field

2003-09-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

The Giants kicked Astros 10-3 last night, scoring all 10 runs in the second inning thanks to some timely hitting, lousy pitching, shaky defense, and those wacky Crawford Boxes. Jason Schmidt and the bullpen pitched well for the G's. Over in Oakland, the A's did exactly what the Giants did last Wednesday: won their game, then waited for good news from Southern California before clinching the division title. Eerily similar, except, why were there only 23,000 people in Oakland for this game?

Neil, Neil, Neal

2003-09-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

Three of my favorites, Neil Young, Neil Gaiman, Neal Stephenson, all releasing new work at about the same time. Coincidence?

Something's up with Barry

2003-09-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

...Bonds, that is. He looked mortal last night in taking an 0-fer, grounding into a double play with the bases loaded and breaking a 58-game on-base streak. In the past, a visit from his dad would fix him right up. Now, I dunno. In other Giants news, Pedro Feliz and Ray Durham unloaded 9th-inning homers on practically untouchable Houston closer Billy Wagner as the G's topped the Astros 6-3. Playoffs, please start soon!

A cooler day around the bay

2003-09-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here enjoying a lovely cool breeze wafting the scent of Gilroy garlic in through my window. Nice!

Last week of the regular season

2003-09-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

The Giants took two of three from the Dodgies at their place over the weekend, dropping Sunday's game in which they had a 5-2 lead and started only one regular. Kevin Correia gave up 3 straight home runs in the game's notable meltdown. We listened to much of this game on the Dodgers station. The Dodgers broadcast, led by Vin Scully, is unique and highly stylized. All Dodgers broadcasters must say the team nickname the same way, the Vin way, roughly "Dodyers" (very light on the "g"), and with a lilt in the first syllable. Vin tells little anecdotes about each player, and his ad libs are precious and sometimes brilliant. Here's what we learned:

Andres Galarraga was once known as "El Gordito".
Nobody calls Eric "E.Y." Young by his given name, except his mother, when she's mad.
Pedro Feliz went to spring training two years ago and got his wisdom teeth pulled, "so he wasn't eating any steak".
Neifi Perez's brothers and sisters are physicians, but of course, "you think any of them is making $4 million a year, like Neifi?"

And when Todd Linden homered with two men on, Vin ad-libbed: "If I remember my German, 'Linden' means 'tree', and Todd Linden just hit a 'tree-run homer'". Fun.

Dost thee want an iPod?

2003-09-19T06:54:00.000-07:00

Maybe you haven't heard about the Silicon Valley-Amish connection.

Inspirational and incredible

2003-09-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

Neil Parry is a football player for San Jose State who suffered a horrific injury 3 years ago that led to the amputation of part of his leg. Yesterday he played in a major college football game for the first time since that happened. Way to go, Neil!

Shut your mouth

2003-09-19T06:46:00.000-07:00

Here is the story of a man who was singing along with the radio while driving, got a bee in his mouth, and crashed his car. The lesson here is obvious: it's unhealthy to eat while you drive.

Hung over

2003-09-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

The Giants played the first of nearly two weeks of sorta-meaningless games yesterday, losing 7-3 to San Diego. Sidney Ponson had another mediocre-bad game. He seemed unmotivated, and he had a lot of second-stringers behind him. I hope he knows how to turn it on for the playoffs. Playoff tickets go on sale this morning at 10:00. It's reload city -- wish me luck!

Not letting it be

2003-09-19T06:39:00.000-07:00

There's going to be a new version of Let it Be by The Beatles. This one will be stripped of the Phil Spector production and will reveal "the noise we made in the studio", according to Paul McCartney.

Baseball in a hurricane

2003-09-19T06:36:00.000-07:00

Do you think baseball games are stopped when the weather gets bad? Not always.

Foregone conclusion is concluded

2003-09-18T06:33:00.000-07:00

On a lovely San Francisco night, everything went as planned and the good guys won the National League Western Division. The weather was supposed to be chilly, but it was in the 70s with no wind all night. We managed to get terrific seats halfway up the view level right behind home plate. As we found our seats, we took in the fabulous view of China Basin, the bay beyond, and the sunlight glinting gold off the windows and buildings of the East Bay. Giants ace Jason Schmidt started without his usual fastball and was hammered, batting-practice-like, for 3 runs in the first two innings. He suddenly found his stride in the 3rd and became Jason Schmidt, while Andres Galarraga woke up the rest of the team and the crowd with a 2-run homer. When Marquis Grissom's 2-run shot in the gave the Giants the lead, there was no looking back. Meanwhile, the Dodgers' bats were sleeping in LA, as Arizona held onto a 2-0 lead. As the Giants wrapped up their 8-3 win, the Dodgers were just coming to bat in the last of the 9th. The usual big Pac Bell crowd and the Giants put celebration on hold as the video screen came to life with the Dodger broadcast, complete with the venerable Vin Scully calling the action. In an increasingly fabulous and surreal scene, we saw the Dodgies go down meekly, as Vin announced that we were watching "in San Diego". (OK, Vin is awsome: when 85 years old you are, broadcast this well, you will not!) Then, with 2 outs, the Dodger broadcast put up a shot of the crowd in San Francisco. So, we were at the ballpark in SF, watching the Dodgers game from LA, which showed us in SF watching ourselves watching the Dodgers. Only the Dodgers' lack of offense prevented an infinite loop from trapping the ballpark forever. When the Dodgers finished losing, our place went nuts. Fireworks shot from the scoreboard, players started jumping around and doing the champagne bath thing, and the fans hollered and slapped hands. The train home was a festive blast. Praise Peter Magowan, the Giants now have a couple of weeks to get everything just right for the Division Series. Playoffs, yippee!

Big storm

2003-09-18T06:29:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Isabel comes ashore. Good luck to you if you're dealing with that. I wonder what would happen if we could predict earthquakes a few days ahead of time.

A cleaner, smoother win

2003-09-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

The Giants looked a bit better in smacking the Padres 4-1 last night. They managed a single run on a bases-loaded-none-out in the first, two more on a 2-out rally in the fourth featuring hits by Cruz, Durham, and Grissom, and the last on another Barry Bonds homer, his 656th. Jerome Williams pitched himself into the playoff rotation, allowing just four hits and one run, a Khalil Greene homer in the 7th (and how cool is it to have a shortstop named Khalil?). The magic number is now 2. I'll be there tonight. Go D-Backs!

Not nice...

2003-09-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

...but really funny.

I can't complain, but sometimes I still do

2003-09-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

The Giants slogged through another mess of a win last night, 8-7 over San Diego. Sketchy pitching, sloppy defense, and a lack of clutch hitting led to a 7-5 deficit in the 8th inning, when some even crappier play by the Padres helped the Giants to a 3-run rally. The "highlights" included Gary Matthews Jr. forgetting how many outs there were, and the go-ahead run scoring on a wild pitch. Two earlier Giants runs scored on a bungled sac bunt. Still, it's the Giants at Pacific Bell Park, so they found a way to win. And good things happened: Bonds homered (#655), Rueter pitched well, Worrell got the save, Snow homered and reached base 5 times. Clinching the division (magic number is now 4) can't come soon enough. The team itself seems sluggish and impatient, and I feel that way, too. This September is turning into a long month for Giants fans. I only hope October is long, too! This must be what it feels like to be a Braves fan. ;-)

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman

2003-09-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

Last night I read the first two issues of this new 8-issue Neil Gaiman mini-series. This comic revives the old concept of reconstructing the Marvel Universe in a different time, but instead of 2099, the year is 1602, a very Gaiman-esque choice. Don't expect Sandman when you read Marvel 1602 -- this is much lighter-weight stuff, and a very pleasant read. The plot is coming together nicely, and most of the fun so far has been in recognizing Marvel folks in slightly unfamiliar guises. It's usually not hard: Carlos Javier is a guy with a school for talented youngsters, Sir Nicholas Fury is the queen's intelligence agent, his assistant Peter Parquah is fascinated by spiders, and so on. Matthew Murdoch, Dr. Stephen Strange, and plenty of others are in there too. But there are some twists and mysteries: why is Master John Grey so effeminate? Why is Virginia Dare on her way from the colonies? Who is the Grand Inquisitor? Gaiman has fun fitting his new Marvel Universe in with historical fact and speculation. Oh, and the Andy Kubert art is lovely to look at.

Diary of a Giants fan

2003-09-15T06:50:00.000-07:00

The Giants won another slightly odd game against the hapless Brewers yesterday. Starter Kevin Correia couldn't find his control and was yanked in the 3rd inning after a walk-and-hit-batsmen fest. The game plodded to a 3-3 tie in the 8th when Barry Bonds was ejected for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout, at which point he charged out and went cap-to-cap with the home plate umpire. Because Bonds was already out of the game, it didn't really matter, but, weird. Things looked grim when the Brews took the lead in the 9th, but the Giants tied it with 2 outs in the bottom of the inning on a triple by Pedro Feliz that was almost a game-winning homer. Then, in the 11th, rookie Todd Linden won the game with a timely base hit. Magic number: 5! Andres Galarraga is a little pouty because he was removed for a pinch-hitter. I predict he'll get over it. In other baseball news, Tony Larussa is getting cranky as the Cardinals drop out of sight.

Whiny whine

2003-09-15T06:40:00.000-07:00

I've had a PowerBook G4 for about six months now, ever since I switched back from Windows. The fan basically runs all the time the computer is awake. In my quiet office, the sound is annoying. After some Googling research, and asking some friends, this seems to be normal and expected behavior. Yuck. Apple has always been bipolar about quiet computers. I've had computers from Apple that were dead silent (yay) and I've had and heard others than scream, such as the famous "wind tunnel" G4s.

It's hot

2003-09-12T06:38:00.000-07:00

How hot is it? According to KFOG radio, it's so hot, the Goths on Haight Street are spontaneously combusting. More "it's so hot" jokes here. These are supposed to be about Arizona. They know from heat.

What I remember

2003-09-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

The first news I heard was after the first crash but before the second one. I was mad at the radio news guy for sensationalizing when he speculated that it was probably a terrorist attack. The first reports I heard said a small plane had crashed into the tower. Of course, it was a jumbo jet. I wonder if this mistake was because the towers were so large that they made a big plane look small, or that people couldn't comprehend what had actually happened. When I saw the towers burning on TV, I thought "man, it's going to be a lot of work to fix those." I never imagined they would fall. Who did? I watched the first tower fall on TV and heard a reporter describe it, but it didn't penetrate into my brain until several minutes later. In the days following, I expected everybody to be more open and friendly, like they were after the big earthquake in 1989. But I was disappointed when most people I saw in public avoided making eye contact. An all-sports radio station ran talk shows 24/7 for several days, and the hosts were remarkably intelligent and comforting. I imagined a scenario in which, if another big attack took place within a few days, when we were still raw, public order in our country would collapse. There was a big benefit concert that was on every channel a few days later -- even many cable channels, like HBO. The atmosphere was eerie, with no audience, no narration, no subtitled credits. The concert was at a secret location. I wondered if everything was going to be like that from then on. There were no commercials on radio or TV for many days. It was very exciting when, a couple of days later, planes returned to the skies.

9/10/01

2003-09-11T06:20:00.000-07:00

Today I'm remembering 9/10/01, a great day. I was visiting my mother on the eve of her knee replacement surgery. We had a wonderful time driving all over town, joyriding and visiting old haunts, having a couple of good meals. We finished the day by watching the first Monday night football game of the season and going to sleep early so I could get her to the hospital for her surgery the next morning. Her doctors had tremendous powers of concentration, and the surgery was a success.

Elite Computers -- mystery solved

2003-09-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Wolf, here.

This is not your practice blog

Test 2

Test

Deb's BookBlog

Nothing to see here.

*ahem* **whffff**

Get out!

Moving out

test

test

Joe Shmo Show ends

Weight & eating blog

NFL game for free

Andy Griffith statue

Eating and weight

Alternate universe World Series: games 6 and 7

Rip City

The Other World Series

Guster Meow Mix

Nobody in Boston is watching

Who am I? Why am I here?

Judge writes rap in Eminem decision

Voight-Kampff Test for SF Mayoral Candidates

World Series, yawn

iTunes Linkmaker

iTunes for Windows

No joy in Cubdom

These are the Cubs, masters of the unthinkable

Goodbye to Pacific Bell Park

Good weight news

Flyby

In Dusty We Trusty

Lots more Americans are getting really fat

Rush Limbaugh's drug addiction

Boston Brawl

Cubs and red ivy

Customers as thieves, enhanced

iTunes for Windows

Big Thunder Mountain info

Jumpers

Pat Robertson favors terrorism

Walking Directions: Bag End to Mount Doom

Would you like to super-size that coffin?

Curse of the Billy Goat

Shoot Britney Spears

Another instant classic

Gov. Schwarzenegger

Angry Moroccan teacher throws pupils out of window

Don't try this

Punch a chad

Let's go, Oakland

Another perspective on baseball fan pain

Another take on Cubs & Sox

Is that all there is?

Zoom!

Somebody's keeping score

Double-header, guest entry

Fish fry part 2

Fish fry part 1

Fish fry today

Drive-by eating

Springsteen exorcises Bambino?

The Man Who Saved Baseball

There we go again

Google News

Antici-pation

Playmakers

Bye, music

Rare feat

Wrong number

People are gonna come from all over

Tracking baseball online

Giants fan diary

New administration

Good day!

Ten-Run Field

Neil, Neil, Neal

Something's up with Barry

A cooler day around the bay

Last week of the regular season

ahem whffff