For Christmas, Max gave Jebus a couple of tickets to the Jets-Chiefs game at Giants Stadium last night and I got one of them. Here's a synopsis of the evening:

• It was a match-up between a 3-12 team and a 4-11 team.

• It was cold.
• It was rainy/sleety.
• They didn't sell beer.
• When I read the quote in the post title, I burst out laughing because Jebus made that exact same statement last night.
• The New Jersey State Police have snazzy uniforms.
• As if the fans weren't miserable enough watching these two teams for four quarters in the cold and the rain, to add to their misery the Jets and Chiefs went to overtime.
• A game winning field goal was nullified by a penalty.
• I had a GREAT TIME!

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I caught two of these plug uglies today, each about one-sixteenth of the size of that bad boy above. Dr. No was the hero of the day-- she somehow caught two salmon on one three-hook line. But man, did the rockfish scare us. All red scales and spines and scary poison bidness.

It's unclear to me exactly how lethal the rockfish can be. Fishbase -- your favorite online fish database, and you know it's mine, too -- lists a bazillion fish with that name. Encarta says some are poisonous and some are not. Our guide was quite wary of the fish and told us to back away, but he still cut them into strips, and when combined with tomato, avocado, grilled peppers and lime they made a heckuva fish taco.

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When we flew over, we waved.

Just landed in Tucson. Tomorrow's plan: Operation Spoil Nephews. Then it's off to Mexico, where these days you need a visa. Yes, a visa. The world has changed.

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I wanted to stand at the prow of the boat, one hand stoically tucked into my coat, the other shielding my eyes against the bright light of the sun. Or was that the light of glory?

Instead, I sat inside the boat and fucked with my BlackBerry. Just like George Washington.

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I dunno. I think "Happy Mothers Day, I Can't Read," "Bi Furious" and "Jews and Mexicans" are great names!

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I've been meaning to see Serpico ever since the scene in Rushmore where Max stages it as a school play. It was made in another era, when Al Pacino was an actor and didn't just shout "hoo-ah!" at the camera. Plus, the wardrobe. Think wide, pink ties.

Curious to see whatever happened to the real life Frank Serpico, I found his blog. Unclear what's going on there, but he seems to think Blogger is trying to silence him. Is Blogger owner Google afraid of the truth?!?

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Anybody read the book? If so, I got some questions.

The movie, by the way, kicks ass.

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Every division at the library has an abbreviation that is between 3 and 6 characters long. The Print Collection's abbreviation is PRN. Everytime I see it, I giggle and think of porn.

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John Darwin, a British man who disappeared and was presumed dead in 2002, turned himself in at a police station in Norlos's favorite English town: Hartlepool!

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Energy Vampire Slaying 101

Do you feel like you’re getting the energy sucked right out of you when you go into work?
In this seminar you’ll learn how to identify and neutralize the energy vampires and negativity in your life and in yourself. Everyone struggles with managing negative people, difficult customers, office gossips, angry co-workers, and egomaniacal bosses. You’ll start at your source, confronting your inner vampire, then you’ll move to putting up your invisible shields against the energy vampires around you, and finally, you’ll receive specific tools and tactics used to defeat and defend against the toxic people and attitudes that surround you.

This workshop will be led by Dan O’Connor, a recognized master of effective communication tactics. He has over ten years experience as an international trainer and educator, and has trained audiences throughout the United States and Mexico in a dynamic fashion and a style that is not only pleasant and entertaining, but highly effective.

The speaker has trained groups in both the United States and Mexico!

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So I was at Music Millennium yesterday picking up what can only be called an assortment of music (Heptones, Dead Can Dance, and Captain Beefheart) and ran across a band called PELICAN, which apparently is part of a genre known as "stoner metal", according to the little card stuck in the CD stacks. I made a mental note to find some of it on the internet when I got home. This led me to a brief exploration into the more general "doom metal" arena, from which spawned (if I may use the that term) my new two musical favorites: "funeral doom" metal and "epic doom" metal. Also, my new favorite album title: "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus". Not surprisingly, some of the doom metal traditionalists disregard these sub-genres as no longer within the fold. But from what I can tell, the funeral doom-ers, particularly, were simply non-plussed by the general lack of doom in the previously available doom-metal options. Interestingly, these are also apparently musical cousins to Noise, which has previously caught my interest here on Norlos.

Man, those heavy metal fans are sure analytical. Oh yeah, and PELICAN pretty much is what you'd expect. It would be hard to go wrong with them if you were looking for a smoke break. Or, you know, some Allman Brothers.

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To Hellx, courtesy Flick.

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A couple of random bits from Lawrence today...

First, some of my co-workers came back from lunch talking about a football game being played outside. It caught my attention since that could be nothing but the Old Man - New Man Football game, this being Stop Day at the computer center adjacent to the playing field. It seems things didn't go too smoothly today. The weather "cooperated" since it's around freezing and there's some snow on the ground, but the co-workers were talking about the ambulance and EMTs strapping some guy to a back board. Not good. Anyway, now's your chance to wax prosaic about personal injuries narrowly averted at OM/NM games of old.

Second, I checked the LJW online and say the front page crime blotter summary said, "bike reported stolen." I thought, "Man this town is smaller than I thought if that kind of petty thievery makes the newspaper's front page, even if it is online." So I clicked to read the story. Turns out some idiot rode a four thousand dollar bicycle to campus and locked it to an outside rack. On Stop Day, no less, when campus is practically deserted. Kids these days!

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...I'm drinking a glass of white wine and watching "West Side Story." Wow, the choreography. Those colors!

I will later make up for it by drinking a cold malted beverage, eating spicy chicken wings and discussing the athletic exploits of young men with whom I feel a tenuous emotional link because they play sports at the same institution of learning that I attended. Humph.

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According to a notice I received today, if you used a credit, debit or ATM card in a foreign transaction between 1996 and 2006, then you are eligible for a reimbursement of fees. The easy refund is simply $25, but you can request a total estimated refund of 1% of the total amount of your transactions.

I'm not going to get a lot, but people like DoubleOhSoul might get a nice little settlement.

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Well, the rider report card for the F train has been released. The C minus it received is a little better than the "D" that I gave it. Here are some variances between the composite results and the results for folks on 4th Avevnue:

Working elevators and escalators in stations C-

For 4th avenue folks, this is an incomplete -- mainly because even though we're one of the only stations with both elevated and underground tracks, there are no elevators or escalators.

Signs in stations that help riders find their way C

MTA earns a solid "F" at 4th avenue. Unless you've transferred from the F to R or vice versa before, you're probably not going to figure out how it's done from the signage.

Station announcements that are easy to hear D
Station announcements that are informative D

Both of these are "F"s at 4th avenue. There are no station announcements. If you're lucky, and he or she is feeling like it, the conductor may yell at you as the train passes without stopping, "find another line...we're not stopping here!" You know, no signs or roping off of the platforms or anything.

I am amused, however, that the ease of use of turnstiles got the best grade: a B-.

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There's a minimally advertised sale tomorrow at Kenneth Cole stores in New York. 20% off everything.

Update on December 6:

I guess a lot of retailers are kind of antsy. My mom just sent me an email with a barcode that would give me 10-20% off stuff at Bloomingdale's in a sale that also starts today.

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I'm going to be a little north of Wichita for a week or so...

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So, I was stuck on the Manhattan bridge inside a crowded B train when my phone rang this evening. It was my mom saying that the family had tickets to the Orange Bowl. If there is one way to help one feel better about spending 40 minutes standing trapped in a subway car, it's to get a call saying that you'll get to see KU play in its first Orange Bowl in nearly 40 years.

I just booked my flight.

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