Try It, You'll Like It

My Goal Tonight....

...as of 8:37 PM tonight, my goal, before going to bed, is to finish half of this bottle of Gatorade. I have been fighting a MONSTER headache for four days now and fear dehydration is playing a factor. So before the ibuprofen wears off and the acetaminophen kicks in, I have 32 ounces of Frost Glacier Freeze to imbibe. Wish me luck!

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue."

—Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

Sixty-four years ago today, Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured the image of US Marines and a US Navy corpsman raising the American flag during "Operation Detachment"—the battle for the Pacific island of Iwo Jima.

What I Am Reading...Now!

Thanks for the suggestion Lee!

(Why not click the link and follow him on Twitter? or better yet click HERE and buy his condo!)

PS Nan wondered if you like this authour because his name reminds you of what you were called when you live in New Awlins?

kittens inspired by kittens

As seen on "The Soup".

Ranking the Red Sox Roster

From Boston.com. I will try to comment once I get rid of this headache...

25. Julio Lugo
24. Josh Bard
23. Manny Delcarmen
22. Tim Wakefield
21. Brad Penny
20. Rocco Baldelli
19. Javier Lopez
18. Takashi Saito
17. John Smoltz
16. Jason Varitek
15. Ramon Ramirez
14. Hideki Okajima
13. Justin Masterson
12. Jed Lowrie
11. Mike Lowell
10. Daisuke Matsuzaka
9. Jacoby Ellsbury
8. J.D. Drew
7. Jonathan Papelbon
6. Jason Bay
5. Kevin Youkilis
4. Dustin Pedroia
3. Josh Beckett
2. Jon Lester
1. David Ortiz

Top 10 Paul McCartney Solo Songs (Wings Included)

As a life long Beatles and Paul McCartney fan, I have really been enjoying the SiriusXM station devoted to his solo work. Here is a list of ten of my favorite McCartney songs. Like most of my lists, there really is no order to this.

Here are what I consider to be among Paul McCartney's best:

10. Fine Line - This song is from McCartney's last album "Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard." A good song all around.

9. Here Today - An homage to John Lennon, it ended up on "Tug Of War", the album he released after Lennon's murder.

8. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five - It's tempting to choose "Band On The Run" from the same album. But this one edges out for me just based on the piano work and sense of urgency that pervades this entire album. The story of this album's recording in Nigeria is legendary and just helped push McCartney that much further.

7. My Brave Face - This was a single from his 1989 album, Flowers in the Dirt. Written by McCartney with Elvis Costello, their collaboration resulted in some of McCartney's strongest solo work ever. While Elvis doesn't sing on this one (like some of their other songs) his sense of wordplay is evident in the final product.

6. Too Many People - This song is one of several songs from the four Beatles after the band broke up where the band members attacked one another. It is peppy sounding with such a vicious bite.

5. Coming Up - I always hear echoes of "Got To Get you Into My Life" in the live version of this song. Just infectious and fun.

4. Put It There - Also from "Flowers In The Dirt", it describes the sort of relationship I hope to have with my children as they grow up.

3. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey - Even if it wasn't in one of my favorite MST3K episodes this one would make my list. This fun song continues a technique that the Beatles used in "A Day In The Life" and "St. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band." It is multi-layered and it tells several silly stories. A reviewer once wrote "The shear number of changes in the lyrics and music, all woven together skillfully, make it a marvel."

2. Live and Let Die - Has any other movie theme ever evoked that movie as effectively as this song? It just screams James Bond.

1. Mull of Kintyre - Written in tribute of the same named Scottish peninsula, it became the first single to sell two million copies in Great Britain. While Nan and I hate these sort of distinctions, it remains the best-selling completely non-charity single in the United Kingdom.

Snakes...Why'd it have to be snakes?

Dean at Springfield Punx made both of these (I even stole his title for this post). He had the Indy done and I asked if he would ever consider creating the Cairo Swordsman...and he did! I really want to find a way to print them out on some good paper and add them to the collection. I need to ask Lee sometime if Gramps had any real "Simpsons" knowledge.

What I'm Reading....Now.

I have been working my way through this year's DCF Nominated books. Last year, my class was not as interested, nor was Haley, so I only read the winner.

I have read 15 all together and abandoned one (sorry Natalie Babbitt!) but this one is currently vying to be my favorite.

Like lots of these books, the characters are a little too perfect, even in their imperfections. The kids are always a little too self-aware and make the courageous choices you hope your child will make. The adults a little too understanding or the coincidences in their lives are a little too far fetched.

That being said, and even with its heavy New York Yankee undercurrent (it's the late 60's so it's a Yankee team steeped in history and universally loved), this one is pretty good.

"The Seems: A Glitch In Sleep" was really good, but in a different sort of way. And it has spawned a sequel that was just as enjoyable. But right now, Wednesday Wars has my vote.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Right now we are obsessed with "The Price Is Right." Family friendly, so we get a couple built up in the DVR and we just want to vegetate some night or if it is pizza night, we have something to watch.

Valentine's Day is special for Nancy and me for many reasons and money is tight right now....but I just had to get her this....

And a BIG thank you to Haley for getting home quick on Friday to snag it off of the porch and hiding it for me!

PS Clicking on the title of this post takes you to a Burlington Free Press Valentine's Day article that quotes Lee!

"Sorry Bill, I'd rather kiss my new boss."

The more you look at it, the funnier it gets...

A-Rod Backs Stimulus

A-Rod Backs Stimulus

Says Economy Needs Shot in Arm

President Barack Obama picked up support for his stimulus package from an unexpected source today as Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez said that he was "totally in favor of stimulus."

"Sometimes when you have to get the job done, you need a shot in the arm," said Mr. Rodriguez at a press conference in the parking lot of Yankee Stadium. "This stimulus sounds like it could be that injection."

The slugger, known to his fans and detractors alike as A-Rod, said that the U.S. economy may not seem very muscular at the moment, but that "juicing the economy" could change that overnight.

"Mark my words," he said. "If the economy gets the right injection, its muscles will bulge to monstrous proportions."

Mr. Rodriguez's words were in stark contrast with remarks made last week by another athlete, swimmer Michael Phelps, who said that the economy "just needs to chill."

"As far as the economy goes, I'm comfortably numb about it," Mr. Phelps said. "Dude, did I just say that out loud?"

At his press conference today, Mr. Rodriguez bristled when asked questions about steroid use, at one point throwing a car at a reporter.

*from The Borowitz Report

The Joys of Home Ownership

Now, I am nowhere near as articulate as Marc in general, nor can I upload photos like Lee, but I want to share this weekend's home improvement project horror story.

Nancy and I decided that it was time to replace all of the outlets in the house that were near a water source with GFCI outlets.

It seemed relatively straight forward. I had already replaced about a dozen standard outlets throughout the house, several light fixtures, and three ceiling fans. I felt confident that I could do this.

Our first obstacle was determining which switches in the panel shut off which rooms in the house. We had found out over the years that some of the wiring is a little bit squirrelly.

We figure out how to shut off the kitchen and we get to work on the first outlet, which shares a box with a light switch. We had bought new outlet covers to deal with the larger size of the GFCI outlets. It all goes well until I attempt to attach the new cover. I give it one turn too many and crack the casing.

I yell and unlike Marc, I curse a whole lot (as Logan is asleep) and then move to the other side of the sink to work on a single outlet.

I remove the old outlet cover and I hear some skittering down the wall...it turns out that this box was sort of floating with a minimal attachment to the drywall and the two small clips holding the box in place fell off as I took off the cover. And instead of using any sort of electrical tape, the wires were taped with masking tape...brittle, decades old masking tape.

I do my best to fix the floating box, but this, coupled with the change in the size of the GFCI outlet gave us this wonderful, non-flush look...

So I quit for the night as this project took way too long and I decide to tackle the bathroom in the morning.

The plan in the bathroom is two-fold. Where we have two switches and one outlet now, I am going to tie off one switch (for use as a venting fan this spring), move the other switch, and add the GFCI outlet.

I wish I had taken more pictures because the wiring was insane. I finally figure out which wire goes where (including one that goes way out to the foyer!), move everything around, get the box looking pretty good, when it becomes obvious to us that the tile around the box will not allow the outlet cover to fit snuggly. Nan spends about an hour chiseling away pieces and finding some extra long screws, but this one...this one came out pretty good. I changed over to a flat switch, blanked out one slot and put the GFCI in rather nicely.

Bottom line, a project that should have filled me with pride and taken about an hour, ended up leaving me ashamed and took up the larger part of two consecutive days...and I still have one outlet to do!

Barack Obama hates Honey Pie!

Click to embiggen. Click to embiggen.

From Mirth Canal

Hey Lee!

No you don't!*

*EDIT: You changed the punchline

Where's Howard Jones when you need him?

When your day starts with this (and in reality, BOTH pictured items)...

meeting with this...

...you know it ain't gonna be a good one.

Really??

These two items appeared, separately, in this past Sunday's edition of the local "newspaper", The Burlington Free Press.

The first story concerned a man who named his three children JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell, Adolf Hitler Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell (a girl named for Schutzstaffel head Heinrich Himmler). The children were taken by New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services. The man claims he is shocked that the children were taken.

Really? He had no inclination that it might happen. Or was he shocked that it took three years for it to happen? I'm not a fan of government intrusion but c'mon, somebody should have stepped in before this person was allowed to breed.

The second was an obituary. Now, I am not laughing at the death of this man (I've changed his name, city of residence and date of death), as he was obviously beloved by his family and friends, but that it contained this line: "Mr. John Doe, age 100 years, a lifelong resident of Colchester, died unexpectedly on Tuesday."

Really? I'm not trying to be cruel, but he was 100 years old. Was it really that unexpected?

This will always make me think of my grandfather...

I remember being at "Lums" in Rutland with Justin and probably my dad having lunch with Nana and Grandpa in 1981 after "Raiders of The Lost Ark" (the correct, true title) had come out.

Gramps had recently seen this with my cousins Marc and Lars. I clearly remember him telling us about this scene, reenacting it and laughing, deeply and honestly, at the scene and his own retelling.

I've been recently buying the toys based on this scene and found these two on clearance at WalMart in Plattsburgh yesterday:

They join these guys I got for Christmas:

And these I got at Disney two years ago: