Dan the Man

People like to complain about bad announcers, so I figured I'd sing some praises for Dan Fouts. While he is a hall of fame member of the jockistocracy, he's currently doing play by play for the Emerald Bowl. And he's doing a good job w/ it. It's not the first time I've heard him do play by play, and it is something a lot of announcers would benefit from doing. Most would do better to realize that there is actually a game going on while they talk, but to learn to incorporate their talking points into the action of the game well that seems like too much to ask.

Blogger vs MySpace

It seems like there is one huge advantage that MySpace has over Blogger. On MySpace you can be friends w/ Thin Lizzy. I was thinking about creating some fake comments from the various living members of Thin Lizzy and posting them on my blog. Then I started listening to Live and Dangerous and decided I needed to focus my energies on listening to Live and Dangerous.

Judging Shovels

I saw this picture in an article about the Supreme Court renovation. I understand this is just a ceremonial shoveling, but I think it says a lot about each justice. First of all why would they give Sandra Day O'Connor a square shovel instead of a spade shovel. That's not how you want to pierce the hard crust of the earth's surface. At least she has her foot on the shovel to get some pressure on that dirt. William Rehnquist in the middle looks like he's dug a few ditches in his life. Given that he was about 80 when the picture was taken, I'm impressed w/ his form. Look at the bend in his knees to save his back some strain from a long day of manual labor. And he actually has one hand on the top of the shovel and another down the shaft so he can move the dirt. Finally, Anthony Kennedy looks like this is the first time he's every had a shovel in his hands. I mean it looks like he's lining up a putt the way his legs are squeezed together and his head leans over his body. His hands are both on the top of the handle trying to remember what the shovel pro down at the country club told him about adjusting his grip. Sadly, he's the only one who is still on the bench.

Party Recap

To quote Marijuana Wolf, they smoked all the grass and kicked all the ass. They also play at a volume that is acceptable in our quiet neighborhood, so I'd have to say it was quite a success. There were also a couple of people I haven't seen in a long time. Sarah Cooley made the long trip from Chapel Hill (only an hour drive, but days of planning since they needed a babysitter), and Mike Green made it out now that he's moved back to Greensboro. Both are married and have kids (not w/ each other), and I actually got to talk to Sarah and her husband David before the wine started to get to me. I can say that I remember Mike Green telling me to call him the next time Dave and I go out, but I can't say I remember his wife's name. There's plenty of time to learn that. Other than that the usual suspects were around, but that was a good thing. I was particularly happy that most of the food was gone. I think the only things left were things in the refrigerator or cabinets. Oh, and you can never have enough beer. That was long gone.

In a fit of poor planning I agreed to teach the youth Sunday school class at church on the first Sunday of the month. So the morning after the party was my first time doing it. There were only 3 kids there and we made shofars to go w/ the lesson about the walls of Jericho tumbling down. I would have given myself an A for effort, but sitting next to my mom in church she offered me a breath mint. She does this every Sunday, but when I declined she told me "No, you really need one."