Alice's Restaurant Redux

Time to deliver what I promised...unfortunately, the video is unembeddable. As a side note, McCain won Florida. Oh, and check this out. Hilarious. And one more thing: four hour slot tonight on the radio, 6-10. Listen up, and go ahead and call in a request. Anything but Crazy Frog...and nothing with swears, please. Fort Minor is sadly out...

Alice's Restaurant

Where you can get anything you want (excepting Alice). I've made a decision that my blog titles will no longer have any relevance to what I'm posting about. Things of note recently: I received as a gift a Giants hat from my grandparents, and it's become my headwear of choice. It now accompanies me on all my outdoors excursions, and aside from one recommendation to burn it from a particularly fanatical Patriots fan, I haven't had any negative reactions. I met this Pats fan at the bowling alley this afternoon, which brings of thing of interest number two. I spent a pleasant two hours today bowling with the dorm, and learning that without frequently bowling, my skills have actually regressed to worse than they were when I was ten. I'm fairly sure that I have a score sheet at home with myself scoring a 92, from a good eight years ago. My top score today was an 88. Alas, I cannot bowl as well as I used to. One might assume that it has something to do with my form, which involves the trailing foot kicking up to hip level in the follow through. Of course, it could also be the wrist twist that occurs every single time I bowl.

Oh well...no sense complaining, as I will likely not be bowling for another few months. To continue with the things of note, I have learned all of one thing from this weekend: Bud Light tastes like shit. Pardon the blatant nature of the statement, but I felt it needed to be said. If I don't drink during college, it will be because I can't stand things like Keystone Light and Bud Light and all the other watered down crap that is the staple of a college party. There's something to be said for an imported beer, and that something is this: it tastes better. I suppose that at some level my parents have achieved an ironic success in parenting: by allowing me a taste of good beer, they have dissuaded me from drinking to excess in college for the sole reason that I can't stand the taste. Peer pressure be damned, I'm not drinking something that tastes like toilet water. My apologies to anyone who likes drinking light beer; I'm sure that your tastes are very sophisticated in every other way. With the exception of NASCAR fans. And of course, those dieting with the aid of alcohol.

And that wraps up today's college update. Coming up soon: why staying up until 3:30 in the morning to watch a tennis final is almost always a poor choice. Nevertheless, hurrah Djokovic.

Take a look

A friend of mine has started up a comic on the web. I suppose you could call it a webcomic if you really wanted to...I'll link here. Here's how he describes it:

This is a comic I've been working on, basically about facing up to all the things you wish you could ignore. It's called "Borderline Boy;" the protagonist, Jay Wilder, is a 22-year-old college grad living in an apartment with his friend Lucas. It updates six days a week: Monday through Saturday. Please give it a look, and if you like it, please pass the link on to anyone else you think might like it. Thanks.
Also, please pardon the mess at the website. It's still very much under construction.
- Jackson.

I think it's pretty good, even though it's barely over a week in the air. Just give it a look, see what you think. Oh, and listen to the radio show tonight. Six to eight EST. I have an entire hour to myself (Annie has to go to an FYSS at seven, so I'll have the playlist all my own...mwahahaha.

Oh, and I'm looking into an extension for the spring semester. Unfortunately new station rules dictate that all music has to be off CDs...so if anybody would do me a favor and copy some CDs for me...it'd be greatly appreciated. No pressure, just thinking of a specific someone who may owe me. Send it media rate if you have to.

Shameless begging over and done with, a quick broomball update. After a brutal game that nearly ended badly, team Eastern Promises managed to pull out a 3-2 victory to bring its overall record to a respectable 2-2. With one game remaining, a win would put the team in the playoffs. Yours truly scored twice, with one assist and several key hits on the opposing team. Kneepads were a godsend, as the entire right side from the hip down is a massive bruise. We fight for the glory of a naked Viggo!

Cool

So if you type "ny giants" in to Google image search, my blog comes up as the second result. Sweet. That would explain the 716 visits I've gotten in the past week. It's absolutely insane...and I love Google Analytics for informing me. I now have had visits from 42 states and the District of Columbia, several countries in Europe, and every continent but Antarctica and Africa. And I still average less than a response per post. Ah well...it's going to snow tonight, to top off the foot or so that's still on the ground from last week. It's slightly less frigid than the past couple days, at least, up to the 20s.

Broomball continued last night, with another loss but also our first victory, to put our record at 1-2. With two games left, there's a distinct possibility that we could make it into the playoffs. Of course, if we do, that just means more bruises. It's a hell of a lot of fun, though. The only real pain is being captain and trying to orchestrate substitutions in the middle of play. That and playing teams of seniors who actually know what they're doing.

SUPERBOWL!!!

And the Giants do it in style. Honest to God, I nearly punched a hole in the ceiling when that kick went through the uprights. Just like when I nearly punched a hole in the wall when the other kick went wide. The game was amazing; I absorbed so much football that I'm actually glad to have two weeks before the Superbowl. Of course, I'll be in the heart of Patriots country, so I might have to tone down the cheering a little...nah. I'll risk it. So many things went right and wrong in the game today...interceptions were fumbled, fumbles were fumbled, Bret Favre was picked off and Eli Manning was not. In short, the game was beautiful. I don't think anyone thought that kick was going through...but whaddya know, it was perfect. Tynes, you are forgiven your previous two trespasses and earn a full reprieve. Vinatieri you are not, but you came through when it counted. I'll see you in two weeks! Oh, and Kevin Boss and Plaxico Burress are my heroes. Freakin' sweet!

McCain the McMan

I don't often enjoy talking politics, but this is big for me. My official nominee for the Republican presidency is John McCain. I get to vote this year, for the first time ever, and I intend to use that right to the best of my ability. Absentee ballot voter, I will be. And my choice for president will be *******.

Not telling yet, not sure who it'll be. If Huckabee or Romney come up as the Republican candidate, the choice will be easy. If McCain winds up by some chance as the nominee from the GOP, it'll be a little harder. Read a little something something on him and tell me what you think. He knows what he would do with the war and I see him as capable leadership material. His platform is reasonable, and even though I disagree with his thoughts on Social Security, chances are good that no reform would get through on that front. I'm not saying he's got my vote, but I would be very interested to see him face Hillary in a debate.

On a completely unrelated note, other than it being the reason for why I'm composing this post at almost twelve thirty in the AM, I just finished playing my first broomball game. I captain a team called Eastern Promises (we're all from East Quad, it was one in the morning, and I got to pick the team name. So there you go), and we just played our first game. We lost 1-0, which was a respectable score when you think about this: We play one guy for forty minutes (me) and five girls who rotate so four are on the ice at all times. Against a team of three guys, all over six feet tall, and two girls. So losing 1-0 isn't so terrible when you consider the fact that I did the face-off to begin the match against a guy a foot taller than me and at least twice my weight. I wouldn't say my body is a mass of bruises, but there are certainly places that hurt. No worries, though - helmets are worn at all times.

Ah, but I haven't explained what broomball is yet. Well, it's simple. Playing on one half of a hockey rink, two teams of five wearing tennis shoes and holding straight sticks with a little rubber flare at the bottom try and hit a little fluorescent orange soccer ball into the opposing team's goal, which is a regulation size hockey goal. Amidst much slipping, sliding and falling, the teams fight over possession, which often changes second by second. It's a hard-played game, made harder by the fact that I was running/sliding up and down the ice for forty minutes straight. Several falls and bruises later, I'm tired and sore, and ready to play again. Right now, though, sleep seems like a good plan. No class tomorrow means I get to sleep in until I have to go to work at one. And then it's the weekend...and more work, this time from noon to five at the bookstore. Then no plans until Sunday, when I'll be watching football all afternoon, evening and night. At some point during all this (probably tomorrow evening) I'll be writing my second paper for my German lit course, about Gottfried von Strassbourg's Tristan.

One last thing: the college had a guest speaker two nights ago who formally warned us about MySpace and Facebook pages, and how companies are using them to evaluate potential hirees. That's fine; nothing to worry about. No pictures with alcohol, no sex poses, no communist propaganda. But what about this blog? Dare I continue waxing liberal (well, not this post, obviously), saying what I think and not editing (except for swears, of course)? I personally think I'm safe. If it comes down to it, I'll make the thing private. It'll cut down my readership (still at record highs), but I'm willing to make the sacrifice. In a world where grocery carts will recommend things to buy based on your purchasing record, anything is possible, including employers screening the blogs of potential employees. By the way, join the Red Army.

I am Brian

Which Family Guy Character Are You?
	You are Brian. You are smart, sophisticated, and somewhat of an alcoholic.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Cool.

Oh, and radio show, tonight, 6-8 on this site. Listen, call in...we'll play it if we've got it. The music library is a literal jungle...

In which I make of mockery of someone else

My own album cover.

With a lack of any knowledge of how to artistically and tastefully alter a picture (other than in Microsoft Word), this was wonderfully made in Paint.

The Battle of Sipe-Sipe was a battle in Bolivia in the South American Wars of independence in which the Spanish defeated the insurgency.

The quote is by Eric Hoffer, an American social philosopher.

And the picture is by some random person, naturally.

I've showed you mine, thanks for showing me yours.

Hot Damn!

I wasn't doing anything in particular this morning, checking my Google analytics numbers for the past few days. Idly checking todays numbers, for Sunday the 13th, I notice that the number of visits is an all time high (for two and a half months of operation), at 26. Cool. Five minutes ago, I checked again. The scale is off for some reason, and I can't figure out why...until I realize that it's been thrown off by a huge number of visits today. On this single day, January 13, 2008, I have had 110 visits. Excuse me, but what the hell happened? Aside from a few direct links, and an equal number from IDTMI (thanks for the link again, by the way), there's nothing I recognize. 94 visits came through referral from Google images. What? How? And why are they almost all from New York and New Jersey? Two searches using the keyword "New York Giants" found the blog. Is that what it is? Giants fans searching for their team, and finding a fan in the blogosphere? Because that's really cool.

By the way, the Giants did beat the Cowboys this evening, and it was fantastic. Nothing like an interception in the endzone to end the game and rub it in Romo's face. Oh, and little Manning is going farther than big bro. We'll always have the priceless pep talks, though.

Stupidity Tries

Have you ever noticed that some people refuse to let reality get in the way of their beliefs? I hear the most ridiculous arguments from people who initially appear completely sane, but once they open their mouths they remove any doubt about their complete lack of sanity. For example, those who deny global warming based on the fact that it's still pretty darn cold in January. Wow, you're right! I never thought of it that way! Gee, all that research compiled by many many scientists is kind of useless in the face of such logic. Excuse me while I go buy a Hummer; apparently I don't need to worry about my carbon footprint.

Of course, fundamentalists who deny evolution are also pretty amusing/scary. There are a few tacts they take in their attack on science. One is attacking the validity of the theory of evolution based on the fact that "scientists call it a theory, so it is not fact, but they believe it still, so it is a religious tenet." Gee, those hypocritical scientists. How dare they attack creationists for their religious beliefs while so blatantly spewing their own religious dogma?! Another strategy is willfully misinterpreting evolutionist theory. From claiming that evolution states that a cat could turn into a man to claiming that evolution is bogus because no monkey could live millions of years and also become a man, fundamentalists misinterpreting evolution and feeling secure in their beliefs is amazingly funny/scary to see. If you want to have a laugh (or be frightened that such people really exist), visit this site.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go spread some sin around the world. It's so much fun to be a godless heathen!

With a face made for radio...

So my radio show (co-hosted with my friend Annie) went on at six tonight. To all who listened: thanks, and I hoped you enjoyed it. To all who missed it: I'll be on next week, Wednesday from 6-8 EST. Listen at this site. We call it "Eclectic Rock," which is our word for indie and everything else.

Oh, those poor Buckeyes

LSU rocks my socks right now. That's all I'm sayin'

This will tell you all you need to know

For what ever reason, the HTML I was trying to use won't work, so here's a link. Look for the new book, Science, Evolution and Creationism. It bashes creationism and explains the theory of evolution in layman's terms. Finally, a book to educate America's idiotic religious masses.

How can he not win?

Chuck Norris has endorsed Mike Huckabee. How can you deny a man the right to be president when he has the greatest man alive behind him? Actually, I say get rid of Huckabee and just elect Chuck Norris.

As an aside: Is this color combination legible? Also, I'm back in snowy, cold Maine. Hooray!

In the Airport

Gotta love free wireless internet access. I'm sitting in the Bob Hope USO lounge in the Cleveland airport, and it's excellent. Also, got to see Wright Pat from the air for the first time. Time to run - flight to Portland is leaving in just over an hour. All I have to do is finish my soda. This is the epitome of shamelessness: arriving at the USO lounge and saying "I'm here for the food."

Whoopdee

Just a quick note: this is the same blog. I was tempted to tell you that your browser screwed up something awful, but you are indeed correct. I messed with the colors and picked a new title, that's all. And now, the feature presentation.

I'll be heading back to school in two days, and already I've noticed something big: I want to go back. Never before have I spent a vacation wondering when I'll be able to finally get back to school, but here I am just wishing I was at Colby.

The explanation I've come up with is simple enough: I had a routine at school, what with the classes and the socializing and the living five minutes from everything and everyone. Being home, no matter how great it is to see everyone, is interrupting that routine, and I want to get back to what I've become accustomed to. So I'll be flying back Friday with a sense of relief that I'll finally be able to return to life as I've come to know it.

Side note: I'm going to try getting into the high school tomorrow after school, seeing as it's my last chance to do so.

Aside side note: If I use a word that is elevated in the society of wordsmiths, will my blog's readability go up? For example, discombobulate. If I type discombobulate enough times, will the complicated lexicon I've adopted create a false sense of lexicographic intellectualism? I wonder...