Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax

And a bit farther along the Gulf coast

Every so often since Katrina I've been searching the online news to see what became of Dixie Brewing. I finally found an answer:

Not tapped out
Dixie brewery owners plot their comeback

If all goes well -- and there isn't a history of that for Dixie -- there will be Dixie Beer in three to four months. But it will be back, he insists.

They have been seriously snakebit over the years, but for sentimental reasons I will always love Dixie. Anybody sees it for sale, pick up a six-pack or two and I'll pay you back, plus the shipping.

Another Moon Pie-less Mardi Gras

How lame am I, letting Mardi Gras sneak up on me again without getting Moon Pies to throw at people?

I would do it safely, of course. The city of Mobile has guidelines (or more accuarately, an ordinance):

Sec. 49. Public conduct during parades
(a) Improper Throws

It shall be unlawful for any person to throw the following items from Mardi Gras floats or during Mardi Gras parades: Rubber balls, hard balls such as baseballs, wooden handled objects, condoms or similar items, dolls of any construction with explicit sexual organs, candy apples, ice cream or food products requiring freezing or refrigeration, any food stuff in cans, whole boxes of any food, trinkets, etc. All Moon Pies, trinkets and other throws shall be thrown individually or in small numbers.

(b) Throwing Boxes off of Floats

It shall be unlawful for any person to throw boxes of any type off of Mardi Gras floats or any other parading vehicle during Mardi Gras parades and other parades conducted in the City of Mobile. This includes full boxes of trinkets, throws, Moon Pies, etc., and crushed or empty boxes. All empty boxes shall remain on the floats and be removed by the parading organization off of the parade route.

...because it's all fun and games until somebody gets clocked in the head with a frozen half gallon of ice cream.

(Yeah, I admit it. One day a year, I miss living down there.)

Why I'm too tired to blog

I'd like the phone company to add a feature to the phone, one where someone calling at 2 a.m. would need to enter some sort of code to indicate "I know it is 2 a.m. and I certify that this is a true emergency and I have confirmed that this is the number I need to call."

Not only did whoever rang me at 2 a.m. this morning not have that, he or she didn't bother to say "Sorry, wrong number."

The damage was done. I don't spring out of bed in the morning when my clock radio goes off, but when the phone rings in the middle of the night, I'm Roy DeSoto jumping into my boots and sliding down the pole ready to deal with the emergency. Because nobody calls at 2 a.m. unless it is an emergency, right?

True, only once in my life have I ever had a late night (early morning) call really be an emergency. Usually it's a wrong number, once in a rare while it's my buddy on the west coast who forgets that I don't keep the same hours we did twenty years ago.

The ringing phone was a double shot of adrenaline, and my sympathetic nervous system did not return to its slumbering state until about the time the alarm clock went off.

I'm gonna go to bed now.

I'd shut the ringer on the phone off, but what if there is an emergency?

I now return to February, already in progress

My bad luck charm ways continued...I'm sorry, Finland.

I'm kinda bummed that the Olympics are over (well, I understand there's still a Fellini-inspired closing ceremony) although I admit I pretty much immersed myself in hockey (with a few dashes of curling) and caught little of the primetime NBC stuff. I understand a lot of people weren't impressed. I thought they did a good job with the hockey, though, and I particularly liked the commercial-free broadcasts of the USA and gold medal games. (Don't the games fly without all the tv timeouts?)

Maybe I'll start saving now so that I can actually go to Vancouver in 2010.

I say that every four years.

I've always liked Finland

No, really. Ask anybody who knows me, I'm not just jumping on a bandwagon this time. I've been a Finland fan since Timo Blomqvist was my favorite player.

I was pretty much rooting for Russia, but I'm not sorry to see Finland advance instead. I was surprised, when I got home in the opening seconds of the third period, to see Russia down 2-0, and they didn't really test Niittymaki in the third either. That's quite a defense Finland put together there.

(Speaking of Niittymaki, I saw him earlier this season when we played Philadelphia, and my comment to my mom was "I hope they don't let this kid buy a Porsche."*)

John Davidson mentioned during the game that Finland was doing the best job of playing as a team. I'm curious to know how they came together so quickly, since it is also a team of NHLers (from what I gathered over the last two weeks, the Swiss team is the only one that really spent a significant amound of time playing together before getting to Turin). It led back to my not-sure-if-I-believe it theory from yesterday, and just a bit later in the broadcast J.D. quoted Ken Hitchcock as saying something similar. Here are the quotes as I found them on canada.com:

There's a big difference between playing in a World Cup and playing in the Olympics. We're not just playing against a lot of NHL players. We're playing against a lot of flags.

It's different playing a Finn in the NHL than playing a Finn over here who has the flag on his jersey. You see players over here who play out of character, you see players who are skilled but make the distinction to be workers over a short period of time...

Maybe I was onto something after all.

*I didn't mean that to be a tasteless remark. I admired Pelle Lindbergh, and I was saying that I thought Niittymaki has the potential to be in that class.

Maybe this shows that I understand hockey about as much as I understand curling

When I was a kid, I remember somebody knocking the European players in the NHL, saying that they didn't play all-out in the playoffs because the Stanley Cup didn't mean anything to them. I don't remember if the criticism specifically said that the European guys cared more about Olympic medals or if that was only implied. (I also don't remember the critic...sounds like something Don Cherry would have said, but I wasn't able to find anything with a quick Google search.)

Anyway, I was reading a few of the "what went wrong" columns in the US and Canadian papers today. I can't help but wonder if maybe you could apply the logic of the obnoxious criticism...maybe the European players have more motivation than the North American guys when it comes to the Olympics.

I don't necessarily believe that. I also don't necessarily think that not winning a medal has to boil down to "what went wrong," either. Maybe the other teams are just better?

And when Czech-Slovakia is over, I'll put in the Miracle DVD

I was so meh about the return of the NHL this year that I did not hop on the Alex Ovechkin bandwagon right away. I was reserved for a few weeks, didn't go buying a number 8 jersey. I've been burned by can't-miss kids before, ya know.

So I can't really go saying "Did you my boy Alex with the game-winning goal over Canada today?"

That kid is fun to watch. So is Evgeni Malkin...the only thing not to like about him is that the Penguins have his NHL rights. (I guess it'd be worse if it were Carolina, but old rivalries die hard.)

Time to go catch the third period of the Czech-Slovak game.

Yum, words

Allow me to eat my words again, specifically these words:

I'm not as excited about the men's hockey. I don't particularly like having the NHL players in the games...it lacks a certain...passion, maybe. It will never be 1980 again anyway, but too often the pro players are just too businesslike. Although I've seen a few interviews with Alex Ovechkin, and clearly he's passionate about going. I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep myself from rooting for Russia. (I told you, it will never be 1980 again.)

I got home today in time for the third period of the Russia-USA game. This was the last game of the preliminary round, and unimportant in regards to the semifinal standings. Except that both teams were playing backup goalies, this could've been a medal game...there was no question during the final seconds, as the US players pulled out all the stops trying to tie it up, that they cared. I apologize for suggesting otherwise in my earlier post.

I guess I cared too (to echo Victor's observation after the Slovakia game). When Scott Gomez scored the goal that tied the game at 3, I was out of the chair with my fist in the air before I realized what I was doing.

I wish I didn't have to work tomorrow, because man oh man...Russia-Canada should be good, and think there will be some emotion with the Czech Republic playing Slovakia?

I am worried about our chances against undefeated Finland, but I'm certainly not going to predict anything. I hear they don't play these games on paper anyway.

I don't get why anyone would watch guys drive in a circle all afternoon

I said earlier that I wasn't very excited about the men's Olympic hockey. I have officially changed my mind, because wow, those were some good games this weekend. More physical than I remember from previous years, and a lot more closely matched. And how about the goaltending?

I do think I need some Visine...I haven't watched this much tv in 48 hours since...I'm not sure if I've ever watched this much tv, because I don't think we had hockey coverage this good from Salt Lake City.

Last night we had dinner at the neighborhood pub, and I mentioned all the games I'd seen to a non-hockey fan friend. He thinks I'm crazy, but he was all geared up to watch the Daytona 500 today.

But you play the game on ice, not on paper, part 2

Swiss shock Canada with hockey win

I would have given that one goal to Canada, but other than that, I think the officiating, while awfully tight, was applied evenly. At first I thought the Swiss were nuts to come out so physically against a team of much bigger players, but it worked. And Gerber, before the game I thought they were just throwing him to the lions to give Aebischer a rest for the game Germany. Which hot goalie do you start now?

I also caught part of the Russia-Kazakhstan game (I wanted to see Ovechkin and Gonchar, but not bad enough to get up at 5:30 on a Saturday to see the start of it), and two periods of Italy-Germany. I could be watching Sweden - Latvia now, but I'm taking a break before the US-Slovakia game. I'm not sure if a full ten hours in front of the tv is a healthy thing...

But you play the game on ice, not on paper

Women's Hockey: Swedes stun USA

I was "watching" the game by hitting F5, F5, F5 on a results page on NBCOlympics.com (most unsatisfying...in this day and age should we not be getting webcasts?). A co-worker came in to get me to do actual work while I was trying to find out what was going on in the shootout, and she really didn't know what to make of my reaction to the loss.

I tried to explain that this was like the U.S. beating the Soviets in 1980 (well, minus the geopolitical ramifications). The North Americans have been dominant; the US has only lost to Canada, and vice versa. The gulf between North America and the rest of the countries was considered to be so wide that this tournament was meaningless...play the gold medal game and go home.

Huge! I told her (and anyone else who would listen, and several times.)

The people I work with aren't even sports fans of the regular variety, really. They don't care about the Super Bowl or the World Series of the Final Four, so I guess I shoudn't be surprised when they didn't understand why I was going all Al Michaels over a women's hockey game.

Of course, I don't know if anyone else will get it either. Women's hockey might be even less popular than snakehead fish.

Chicken soup for the inflamed nasal passages

I have a cold. I'm making soup.

Don't take it from me, take it from the American College of Chest Physicians.

Chicken soup significantly inhibited neutrophil migration and did so in a concentration-dependent manner. The activity was present in a nonparticulate component of the chicken soup. All of the vegetables present in the soup and the chicken individually had inhibitory activity...The present study, therefore, suggests that chicken soup may contain a number of substances with beneficial medicinal activity. A mild anti-inflammatory effect could be one mechanism by which the soup could result in the mitigation of symptomatic upper respiratory tract infections.

Chicken Soup Inhibits Neutrophil Chemotaxis In Vitro

But if you were to give me chocolate, I would eat it, just so it didn't go to waste

Found at Owlish's:

Your Candy Heart Says "Get Real"

You're a bit of a cynic when it comes to love. You don't lose your head, and hardly anyone penetrates your heart. Your ideal Valentine's Day date: is all about the person you're seeing (with no mentions of v-day!) Your flirting style: honest and even slightly sarcastic What turns you off: romantic expectations and "greeting card" holidays Why you're hot: you don't just play hard to get - you are hard to get

Or maybe I'll blog my through the Olympics

Ted had a great observation:

So I'm watching Sweden vs. Russia, playing in Italy, and a Mexican folk song sung by an American teenager gets the crowd fired up.

It's a small world after all, eh?

To continue the ugly hat theme from yesterday ..I saw this on Chanda Gunn's online diary:

That reminds me, for the sake of the U.S. Delegation, we did not choose our outfits, especially not the hats. Another reason this was my favorite part was because I got to take my beret off for a while.

Chanda Gunn is one of the American goalies, by the way. Right now I'm mostly concentrating on women's hockey, and enjoying it greatly. Part of that, of course, is just the mere fact that it exists. (During the US-Germany game today, AJ Mleczko mentioned some of the the childhood heroes of the players, like Ray Bourque. She noted that one thing 1998 gave girls was a chance to have women as their hockey role models. Maybe you need to have been a little girl sports fan growing up in a time without seeing women's team sports to really get this, but it still brings a lump to my throat.)

I'm not as excited about the men's hockey. I don't particularly like having the NHL players in the games...it lacks a certain...passion, maybe. It will never be 1980 again anyway, but too often the pro players are just too businesslike. Although I've seen a few interviews with Alex Ovechkin, and clearly he's passionate about going. I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep myself from rooting for Russia. (I told you, it will never be 1980 again.)

This'll mess up reception

But...but...I need to watch the Canada-Russia game!

Actually I was out at 7:30 shovelling, and pleasantly surprised to find that the plow had already been through. There's a reason I like to be out clearing the snow before anyone else...I like the quiet, I get to see the patterns of the snow undisturbed...and I get first shot at the prime snow-piling spots, which are few in my cramped townhouse development. If you are the last one to shovel, you are throwing your snow onto a 12-foot pile instead of a 12-inch one. Oh, and getting out early means getting back inside before the neighbors come out, and relieves me of the obligation to help them.

Victor knocked the snow off the dish with a broom, and I have hockey.

I do wish we'd gotten this during the week, though, so I'd have had an excuse to stay home from work to watch more Olympics.

Not Yay! Hats

Oh yeah. I had a lot of MST-type comments during the Opening Ceremonies last night, but I don't remember most of them. I did just notice the ad on the NBC Olympic page for the ugly hats, though, and that reminded me...why does Team USA have a Canadian company make their stuff? Doesn't anybody in the US make fleece jackets?

Oh, and Slate had a great piece on the ugly hats.

So many sports, so little time

This morning Victor and I went down to the MCI (I wonder when that will become Verizon?) Center for a Maryland-AU women's hockey game, now I'm watching USA-Switzerland. The Maryland-Duke basketball game is on at 1, although now that my blood pressure is down to a healthy level perhaps I should leave well enough alone...that may be too much with a Capitals-Penguins game tonight.

Oh, and I ordered my Nationals 20-game plan.

Baa da da da da daaaa ba da dada da da da daa da da da

(That's the Olympic theme, in case you couldn't tell.)

I love the Olympics (although these pre-competition sking stories are kinda dragging...can we see some goofy costumes and the parade, please?)

This is just in case I go the next two weeks without posting, so you won't think I got hit by a bus or abducted by aliens. (If either of those things happen, I'll ask Victor to post an update.)

I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here

Victor is bummed about the Rick Tocchet gambling ring story, especially now that Gretzky is implicated.

I'm, like, yeah? Guys with more money than they know what to do with and arrogance to burn. (By arrogance, I don't mean that these guys are necessarily assholes, but to be a successful pro athlete, you need a certain level of confidence and audacity. I'm never surprised when that arrogance spills over into other aspects of their lives. Politicians, same thing.)

I'm not saying an illegal gambling ring with ties to the mob is a good thing, or a nice thing, or a thing I'd like to see my niece and nephews grow up to run. But it doesn't surprise me, nor would it surprise me if football players and basketball players and baseball players and NASCAR drivers were doing the same kind of crap.

Does it make me feel good, that I support an industry where I'm not shocked by this? No, not really. Maybe I should look harder at my own values. In the absence of introspection, though, cynicism will carry me through the rest of the season.

You want fries with that?

I've toyed with the idea of going back to school and becoming a nutritionist. I think I'd enjoy the learning part, but maybe not the working part, especially if I had clients bring me a newspaper with the headline Low-Fat Diet's Benefits Rejected; Study Finds No Drop In Risk for Disease.

It doesn't say Go Ahead and Eat Monster Thickburgers, but I'm sure somebody will take home that message.

What should I have for dinner?

How about that...there's a quiz.

Shanghai in a Box Time= 3 and Cravings =15

Try something fast, yet a little exotic! Mmmm...is Oriental takeout ( Chinese, Japanese, or Vietnamese etc.) sounding good right now? Now where did I put my chopsticks...

I'm offically ashamed of myself

I just spent twenty minutes combing the internet for Lance Armstrong-Sheryl Crow gossip. Yeah. Next thing you know, I'll be subscribing to tabloids.

I could try to say that I saw it first on Velo News, that I was just looking to see who had won the Tour of Qatar, but that would be a lie, and lying is wrong. (Tom Boonen, in case you're wondering.)

Well.

I actually feel better for admitting it. Perhaps confession really is good for the soul. But hey, promise me...if I start talking about what Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are up to, come over and swat me in the head with a two-by-four.

What they said

The longer I wait, the less typing I'll need to do...Ted, Princess Cat, and Victor have already documented the DC blog meet on Saturday.

It was a great evening...thanks for organizing, Cat!

No blog, soap!

There's a line in one of Douglas Adams' books about the number of baths useful in one day. I've given this a lot of thought and experimentation over the years. Most of the experimenting came when I was a teenager, to the chagrin of my father, who had to pay the water and electric bills. He really didn't see why I needed a shower when I got up; a shower following any task which might have caused any part of my body to come into contact with anything remotely dirty, dusty, sandy, greasy, or sticky; and a shower before going out for the evening.

I outgrew the need for constant showers, but I picked up a habit of evening baths. It’s a relaxation thing, and if I could figure out how to keep the water hot all night, I’d probably sleep in the tub.

I go through a lot of soap, and one of my indulgences is good soap. It started innocently enough at a cutesy little gift shop in rural North Carolina when I bought some homemade soaps because they looked pretty and smelled nice, and the lady in the shop was so friendly I felt compelled to make a purchase.
I got hooked, now there’s no going back the giant Irish Spring packs from Costco.

I’m excited today, because when I got home from work, my soap from Rurality had arrived. (Ok, technically the soap is from Natural Impulse.) Victor pointed me toward Rurality last year because she had pictures of some ducks, or a heron, or some other bird I like. Or perhaps it was a snake. Turns out she often posts cool pictures of animals, bugs, flowers, fungus, or neat things around her Alabama yard, plus she's very funny.

I have a hunch I'll like her soap as much as I like her blog. If you need me for anything, don't call...I'll be in the tub.

For those of you who were watching television back in 1980

This is a serious question.

Back in 1980-ish, there was a Steve Martin tv special with a skit where he acted out the Marty Robbins song El Paso with a bunch of costumed chimps.

The question is...what kind of animal were Martin and the chimps riding?