This collection of entries is from February 2008.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
The roller coasterI'm getting tired of this... I'm just not sure of what yet...
At one time late yesterday, I had heard a forecast that said the upper end of the snowfall could be as much as 13 inches.
This morning... MAYBE it was 3"-5".. and the alerts were all cancelled... and the storm was over.
So... am I more tired and fed up about:
The snow storms piling-up the snow in big batches...
The roller coaster temperatures that never seem to get warm enough but sure seem to plummet at the drop of a hat...
The weathercritters who just can't get it right... they can predict the temperatures pretty well... but snowfall? When? Were? How much? NO WAY...
posted at 07:23 AM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
Monday, February 25, 2008
Oh, here we go AGAIN...Still another storm rollls in later today with possibilities of up to 9 inches of snow...
I am SO over this...
read more of this entry »
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
345 AM CST MON FEB 25 2008
...A WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA...
.LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING OVER NORTHEAST COLORADO THIS MORNING WILL INTENSIFY AS IT MOVES TOWARD THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY TODAY...THEN MOVES ACROSS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AND INDIANA TONIGHT. GULF MOISTURE BEING PULLED INTO THIS SYSTEM WILL CAUSE RAIN TO DEVELOP AND SPREAD ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA AROUND MIDDAY. RAIN IS EXPECTED TO QUICKLY CHANGE TO SNOW ACROSS FAR NORTHERN ILLINOIS...WITH THIS CHANGE OVER SPREADING SOUTH AND EAST ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE REGION DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IN EXCESS OF 6 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA...WITH HEAVIEST TOTALS ACROSS FAR NORTHERN ILLINOIS WHERE THE RAIN TO SNOW CHANGE WILL TAKE PLACE EARLIEST. AS THE STORM CONTINUES TO INTENSIFY TONIGHT...WINDS WILL INCREASE FROM THE NORTHEAST WITH GUSTS OF 30 TO 40 MPH RESULTING IN CONSIDERABLE BLOWING SNOW AS TEMPERATURES DROP AND THE SNOW BECOMES MORE POWDERY. THE SNOW WILL GRADUALLY TAPER TO FLURRIES BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON...THOUGH SOME LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST INDIANA INTO TUESDAY NIGHT.
ILZ003>006-008-010>012-251745-
/O.UPG.KLOT.WS.A.0004.080225T1800Z-080227T0000Z/
/O.NEW.KLOT.WS.W.0004.080225T2200Z-080226T1800Z/
WINNEBAGO-BOONE-MCHENRY-LAKE ILLINOIS-OGLE-LEE-DE KALB-KANE-INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ROCKFORD... WOODSTOCK... WAUKEGAN... OREGON... DIXON... DEKALB... AURORA
345 AM CST MON FEB 25 2008
...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 12 PM CST TUESDAY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 12 PM CST TUESDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
MIXED PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...THEN QUICKLY CHANGE TO SNOW. SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES WILL THEN CONTINUE WELL INTO TONIGHT...WITH TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 9 INCHES BY TUESDAY MORNING. THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DIMINISH TO FLURRIES BY MORNING...HOWEVER...STRONG NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS GUSTING TO 35 MPH WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.
A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THIS...COMBINED WITH BLOWING SNOW WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS.
$$ « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 07:48 AM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
Sunday, February 24, 2008
OSCAR® nightAnother trip into the city for the annual Academy Awards party at B&B's.
I just didn't like the evening... wait... that came out wrong... I loved being with our friends and having a good time...
It's just the Red Carpet.. and the Awards... meh
No stellar dresses... STUPID people doing the coverage of the Red Carpet....and with SO many "dark" movies nominated, it was just kind of depressing, and since we don't see those kind of movies, we had no vested interest with anything in the show.
On top of that, no contest this year at the party because "because Michael always wins!!"
Well... not ALWAYS...
read more of this entry »
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
Best animated feature film of the year
“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Brad Bird
Achievement in art direction
“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Art Direction: Dante Ferretti
Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
Achievement in cinematography
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Robert Elswit
Achievement in costume design
“Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal) Alexandra Byrne
Achievement in directing
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Best documentary feature
“Taxi to the Dark Side” (THINKFilm)
An X-Ray Production
Alex Gibney and Eva Orner
Best documentary short subject
“Freeheld”
A Lieutenant Films Production
Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth
Achievement in film editing
“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal) Christopher Rouse
Best foreign language film of the year
“The Counterfeiters” An Aichholzer Filmproduktion, Magnolia Filmproduktion Production
Austria
Achievement in makeup
“La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“Atonement” (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Falling Slowly” from “Once”
(Fox Searchlight)
Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Best motion picture of the year
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production
Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
Best animated short film
“Peter & the Wolf” (BreakThru Films)
A BreakThru Films/Se-ma-for Studios Production
Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman
Best live action short film
“Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)” (Premium Films)
A Karé Production
Philippe Pollet-Villard
Achievement in sound editing
“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal)
Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
Achievement in sound mixing
“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal)
Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis
Achievement in visual effects
“The Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners)
Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood
Adapted screenplay
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Original screenplay
“Juno” (Fox Searchlight)
Written by Diablo Cody
« hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 11:47 PM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Cinema MarathonThis is so cool. I don't know if a national chain of movie theaters has ever done this before....
Today, starting at 11am, select AMC theaters will start a marathon of movies nominated for Best Picture at tomorrow's Academy Awards.
Michael Clayton 11:00 a.m. There Will Be Blood 1:20 p.m. Atonement 4:20 p.m. Juno 7:00 p.m. No Country for Old Men 9:00 p.m. For $30, you get a free large popcorn with unlimited refills all day. Oh, and there's this "collectible pass" for the event.
I think this would be SO COOL... but... if I have problems sitting through one movie, how am I going to sit for 5 movies over 12 hours?
posted at 10:06 AM | Link | Movies | Care to comment? | § |
Thursday, February 21, 2008
ImpactWell, the military launched that missile and destroyed the spy satellite that I talked about last week. So, gee.. don't have to worry about that deadly hyrdazine anymore...
posted at 09:41 AM | Link | Space | Care to comment? | § |
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Wolves 1 - Moose 2 (Overtime)
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Miscellaneous items first:
The Allstate Arena got a new scoreboard! It looks just slightly larger than the old one, but it has new displays in each corner of the board, plus a small display above the main display to show advertising and then a large ring below where they could scroll messages and graphics around. It's like a real step-up in class for the place.
Went to customer service and got our Season Ticketholder gift which this year is a mini wolves helmet with Darren Haydar's autograph mounted on a base. I expected an actual mini helmet, but this feels like it was made out of the same material (whatever it is) that they make the bobbleheads out of, and it's painted the maroon color of the team - which is not the color of any of the helmets that the team actually wears. Shockingly, this is actually a pretty classy item for the Wolves.
Oh... it's Wednesday, so it's Hungry Hungry Hump Day... tonight's eating contest during the first intermission: donuts.
And now for the pain...
Tied 1-1, the teams struggle into overtime...
Toward the very end of overtime, we're struggling at the Moose net. I can't remember what I saw, but I think it was a Moose tripping a Wolves player. We were controlling the puck, so there's a delayed penalty call. Ondrej Pavelec gets pulled out of the net for an extra attacker. With 56 seconds left in overtime, Steve Martins gets the puck near the net, gets tied-up in traffic so he passes the puck...
... to nobody.
It sails all the way down the ice... into our net. Game over - we score the winning goal for the Moose.
Our well-fought seven-game win streak is snapped.
So, the goal can't be credited to a Wolves player - it has to be credited to the player that last touched the puck: Manitoba's goaltender Drew MacIntyre, marking just the ninth time in the history of the American Hockey League that a netminder has been credited with a goal.
(Game Summary - Gamesheet) « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 10:37 PM | Link | Wolves | Care to comment? | § |
Rusty Moon
Was at the Chicago Wolves game tonight (more on that later) but I HAD to step outside the building to take a look at something - a lunar eclipse, the last one until December 2010 (there is a possibility of a lunar eclipse happening every six months, though it may not be visible from you location, but there's something about the plane of the orbits being off so it won't happen for a while)
Additional cool thing - to the left of the moon was Saturn and sort of above was the star Regulus (a second magnitude star also known as Alpha Leonis approximately 77.5 light years away in the constellation Leo, if you must know).
I caught it just after it was the peak ( I had forgotten about it during the game). The eclipse started at 7:45 pm local, ended at 11:09 local with the peak at 9:01 local.
posted at 09:42 PM | Link | Space | Care to comment? | § |
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Crappy sunset
OK... sunset.. creating long shadows over my front lawn...
Does NOT make the situation more... ummm... "palatable"
posted at 05:22 PM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
Changes in the cityAs my memory seems to have been going haywire over the past months, it's nice to find things that jog the memory.
I was reading this post I wrote back toward the end of 2005 that referenced a list (and VOLUMINOUS comments) at Eric Zorn's blog at the Tribune of stores, shops, buildings, institutions that have left the Chicago landscape. (I think this was in reaction to MARSHAL FIELD'S leaving the landscape, a move that I STILL think is WRONG... but... I digress...)
I was SHOCKED to find out that people are STILL commenting on that blog entry for things that they remember that are no longer around...
But what a GREAT way to reminisce about ... "the old days"...
... and, are you old if you talk about "the old days"?
posted at 11:47 AM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
Monday, February 18, 2008
Closer crap
Oh god...
The sun is out.... I open the drapes on our patio door...
and there it is...
They've laid waste to the backyard too...
My blood is boiling...
posted at 09:58 AM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Oh crap
OK... I'm am SO NOT HAPPY... and I'm not sure how to go about talking about this, but let me summarize:
Neighbor. 2 Golden Retrievers. Neighbor lets the dogs out, while he either stays inside the house or stands in the garage and smokes.
Dogs do not stay on his property - they go to the neighboring properties...
... and proceed to... ummm... dump... their waste.
Neighbor calls dogs back inside... DOES NOT CLEANUP AFTER THE DOGS. EVER.
So, during the snowfall season... they've been crapping on my lawn... and now that the snow has melted a bit... I can see them... everywhere...
We've had this issue for years now. During the summer, our lawn mowing service would come weekly to mow... and ... well... that would.. umm... dissipate the issue...
We've had TruGreen ChemLawn come out to fertilize and treat the lawn and leave us messages that we should clean-up after our dog.
OUR DOG.
Do you have any idea how ANGRY I am right now?
posted at 03:55 PM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
Friday, February 15, 2008
Rockstar Curling?OK... saw this today... and it just FEELS like it's something out of The Onion... but... could it be true?
Somebody is floating the idea of a reality show that can actually produce - as a winner - an Olympian.
So... what kind of sport would work for that? How about... curling!
Now, it has turned into a American Idol reality thing with five male and five female slots to produce the entries to the Olympic tryouts.
The cool thing, that was unfortunately false, is that at one time they were talking about "closet curlers" that are rockstars would be involved - specifically John Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen. How cool would that have been? How cool would it have been for those guys to expose more people to the sport?
posted at 01:32 PM | Link | Olympics | Care to comment? | § |
Thursday, February 14, 2008
The color of rosesYou know... Valentine's day.. make me think of roses... and just how damn confusing they are when you try to buy flowers for someone and have to be worried about the damn color of the rose so that the gift doesn't get misconstrued... and not only color, but how many as well. It's not like everybody agrees on all the colors, too. It's insane.
read more of this entry »
According to the "language of flowers", certain rose colors carry specific symbolic meanings.
Red: love, used to say "I love you," but also stands for courage and respect.
Red & White Together or White Roses with Red Edges signify unity and togetherness.
Pink: symbolizes grace, sophistication and elegance. Also symbolizes gentle feelings of love and friendship.
Dark Pink: Gratefulness and appreciation.
Light Pink: Admiration, sympathy
White: Innocence, purity, secrecy, friendship, reverence and humility.
Yellow: Often akin to joy and deep friendship or platonic love. In German speaking countries, however, they can mean jealousy and infidelity.
Yellow with red tips: Friendship, falling in love
Orange or Coral symbolizes enthusiasm and desire
Burgundy: Beauty
Blue: Mystery
Green: Calm
Black: used to signify death (black being the color of death) often of old habits. In a positive light it signifies rebirth after death. Also, slavish devotion (as a true black rose is impossible to produce).
Purple: protection (paternal/maternal love)
The rose also has various supernatural and literary attributes.
Pale Colors:convey warmth and friendship.
A Dozen Roses: stand for "there are dozens of ways I care about you."
Two Dozen Roses: stands for the 24 hours in a day and tells that "you think about them every hour".
Three Dozen Roses: signify a romantic attachment unlike any other.
Four Dozen Roses: mean unchanging and unconditional love. « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 01:16 PM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
Shot through the heartIt's Valentine's Day... meh.
But I thought it was interesting to hear about what I would think would be another "shot through the heart" that is being planned, though not from cupid... or Bon Jovi for that matter.
There's this Spy Satellite (identified only as USA 193) that was launched on December 14th, 2006 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on a Delta II rocket. Shortly after reaching obit, ground controllers lost the ability to control the satellite, and have never regained it.
So, this thing is in this decaying orbit. Since there was never any contact, 1,000 pounds of the maneuvering fuel (hydrazine) is still onboard. So, the United States is concerned that this huge thing is not going to burn-up completely when it finally dives into the atmosphere. The hydrazine is deadly, so the United States is going to shoot down the satellite first. With an anti-ballistic missile. To make sure the tank gets ruptured and the hydrazine gets dissipated.
Let's look at a few things. this satellite is about 5,000 pounds. The government is worried about the debris. Larger things have re-entered with little damage, like Mir (clocking in at about 274,000 lbs). Even Skylab, that had major pieces survive didn't do that much damage (about 169,000 pounds).
I'd like to believe the government is worried about the hydrazine, but... come on... truthfully... don't you think it's because they're worried key technology components may survive reentry and be recovered by other unnamed countries? I mean... hello!... Spy satellite!
Still... kinda cool if they could actually hit the thing.
posted at 01:11 PM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
This is getting tiresomeI knew there was more snow this season...
Snowfall this season up through today: 45.2 inches
Snow up to this date last year? 13.5 inches.
posted at 06:16 PM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
UNO !!!!
No, I'm not playing the card game. I'm excited about watching the 132nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden on TV again... because of a 3-year-old 15" beagle named Uno. Well, actually he's Champion K-Run's Park Me In First, but he won Best In Show!
I guess this was a big show this year - 2627 entries in 169 breeds & varieties from 48 states, the District of Columbia and at least six countries, including four new breeds (the Plott, the HUGE Tibetan mastiff, the Swedish vallhund and the Beauceron).
read more of this entry »
Ch K-Run's Park Me In First
Breed: Beagle, 15 In.
Sex: Dog
AKC: HP 16966001
Date of Birth: May 05, 2005
Breeder: Kathy Weichert & Leah Bertagnolli
Sire: Ch Windkist A Walk In The Park
Dam: Ch Legacy's Lil Secret At K-Run
Owner: Caroline Dowell & Eddie Dziuk & Jon Woodring & Kathy Weichert « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 10:42 PM | Link | Dogs | Care to comment? | § |
Monday, February 11, 2008
STH secret presale...w00T! Single game tickets went on sale this morning for the White Sox for Season Ticket Holders (not he general public. I love having the opportunity to get at tickets ahead of everyone else) . We grabbed-up tickets to opening day (since our package doesn't include it) and grabbed tickets for Elvis night in August.
I'm feeling better - it's feeling more like spring again... except for that snow and below zero temperatures...
posted at 11:04 AM | Link | White Sox | Care to comment? | § |
Sunday, February 10, 2008
This is ridiculous...-6°F (about -21.11°C)... -30°F wind chill (that's about -34.44°C for you international types)
It's becoming obvious to me that I've accepted the past mild winters as normal, because this winter is just weighing hard on me...
posted at 10:08 AM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Wolves 3 - Admirals 1
read more of this entry »
A good, but not stellar attendance tonight - 9,431. Nothing much to say about the game itself... but it's your typical Saturday night group outings night again, this time with little kids next to Carol... who ALMOST tolerated them well.. and actually said civil words to one or two during the game...
...oh, and there was one of the Wolves' Post Game Skate parties. We stuck around so that I could take some pictures. One of the first girls to go on the ice fell and hit her head pretty bad. I don't think see ever made it out onto the ice.
(Game Summary - Gamesheet) « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 10:35 PM | Link | Wolves | Care to comment? | § |
Friday, February 08, 2008
Painless stickI have to go to the doctor every three months for a slew of things... primarily, because of my Type 2 Diabetes I have to check my HbA1c (or glycosylated hemoglobin) along with cholesterol and liver functions, along with blood pressure (all of which I have meds to take).
So, a fasting blood draw every three months. Not a big deal, but I still have this needle phobia (you think it would get better over time, especially if i am actually injecting myself every night). Maybe it's this whole idea of having something shoved in a vein... I don't know...
But today was really odd...
I'm sitting there, the nurse has me all prepped to do "the stick". I always look away, because... well.. it's easier to cope, I suppose.
Next thing I know, she's changing sample tubes.. she had stuck me and I NEVER felt it AT ALL. I commented on it, congratulated her and I was just generally surprised, perhaps shocked. Don't get me wrong - I still hate blood draws, but this was a pleasant experience... today.
posted at 10:11 AM | Link | Health | Care to comment? | § |
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Early shutdown.. and a struggle...The snowstorm is actually here... heard a rumor that the building actually shutdown around noon. I looked out the window and saw the frontloader moving snow piles around and the parking lot was empty. My office is more of a branch office - nobody is really here to say go home.. and since my manager is actually located across the country, I had to contact her to let her know about the local weather. Needless to say, I left a few hours early.
The trip home was terrible, but actually moved better than I had anticipated, but it was still a struggle to get there.
Perhaps this will be the biggest one of the season... maybe...
posted at 10:13 PM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Super Fat Pączki Tuesday
Who's bright idea was it to schedule Super Tuesday on the same day as Mardi Gras?
I mean... there's too much scheduled today... it's Fat Tuesday... which really is Mardi Gras... which is the last day of Carnival... (that started on Twelfth Night, which is the 12th day after Christmas, January 6, or as the dictionary says "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities and observed as a time of merrymaking"... which also marked the end of a winter festival that started on All Hallows (also known as All Saints) Eve — now more commonly known as Halloween)... but it's also Shrove Tuesday... but that's also Pancake Day? ... and then, in Chicago, it's Pączki Day... but that's only for Chicago, Detroit, Hamtramck, Milwaukee, and South Bend... because it's really supposed to be on Tłusty Czwartek or Fat Thursday which would have been last Thursday... which is also Fettdonnerstag, or Schmutziger Donnerstag in Germany... or Giovedì Grasso in Italy... and all of this is because of Ash Wednesday tomorrow...
THERE IS JUST TOO MUCH HAPPENING WITH TODAY...
... and I'm supposed to go out and vote today?
But... it's only a Primary election... and I don't exercise my right to vote on those days... because it requires me to officially declare a party and I refuse to do that. I always rather vote for a candidate that I believe in regardless of the party affiliation.
I'm just looking forward to the end of all the damn political advertising... at least until we do this all again later this year - for "real".
posted at 08:23 AM | Link | Mundane | 1 comment | § |
Monday, February 04, 2008
Super Fog
Wow... the fog rolled in today.. and it's sticking around... and it's not our usual fog - this one is thick. Tonight the visibility went down to one-tenth of a mile.
I love fog. I love walking in it. And, if the traffic is light, I love driving in it. I loved driving home after work tonight.
It was thick, but it didn't feel dangerous... and it felt great.
posted at 09:51 PM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Super... snow
Went to my sister's house to have an impromptu Super Bowl viewing party. What was REALLY great was that B&B were also invited, and picked-up (and dropped-off) my mom. It was great having them at Diane's.
Now, you know, I love watching the game. There is just so much surrounding it, between the pomp and circumstance of a championship sporting event and then there's the great commercials that are rolled-out just for that event. That means that you really can't take much of a break from watching anything. But that also means that everything could be interrupted with talk... usually loud... at any time. And my family is all about the socializing and between B&B.. and Jack.. and my mom... well, there was a lot that was going on.
I feel that I REALLY never heard the game. I'm pretty sure i saw most of the plays (and I have to tell you, this was a wonderful game to watch... and I found out I was the only Patriots fan in the house...) Really really enjoyable game.. close, well fought, well played. And you gotta love a game - inside a dome (well, the roof was closed) - on grass.
OK... favorite commercials? Bud takes them all again, with FedEx Carrier Pigeons being up there. Oh, and screaming animals in a Bridgestone tire commercial (even a little screaming... grasshopper?)
The surprise of the evening? It was that while we were enjoying the game, eating pulled pork from Sweet Baby Ray's... it was snowing the whole time and we didn't know.
There was 3 inches of snow on my car when we were getting ready to leave. The streets were plowed in places. The expressways were not really clear. A treacherous, slow drive home - I felt the back end slide-out once... made be back off a bit and I wasn't doing anything bad.
Update: You know, I can't complain with this year's USA Today Ad Meter rankings of this year's commercials.
Update: It's official.. .and WOW. An estimated 97.5 million viewers watched the game. It was the second-most watched television program of all time, behind the 1983 finale of "M*A*S*H," which was viewed by 106 million people. The previous most-watched Bowl, with 94.1 million viewers, was Dallas vs. Pittsburgh in 1996. The game scored a 37.6 rating among adults 18 to 49, making it the highest-rated Super Bowl in that target demographic in eight years. The 1996 Super Bowl remains the highest rated with a 41.2 rating.
posted at 10:33 PM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Wolves 4 - IceHogs 2
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Wow ... what an odd game...
First, this is starting to feel like it's turning into a real rivalry. Rockford is pretty physical. They're fast, and every hit just seems to have a little more to it.
The attendance was 11,419, but it felt bigger than that 12,022 2 weeks ago, but that's paid and I knew that there weren't that many because of the cold. Of course, a lot of groups... I got awfully pissed at the guy next to Carol that snatched a Chipotle Stress Ball right out of the air that was coming right at me during the pre-game... I mean REALLY pissed... I don't even come up to his shoulders and he reached in front of Carol to do it... I was robbed...
I'm not used to a team that doesn't shoot all that much. I remember games where we actually had 60 shots for a game just a season ago. In the 1st Period tonight, the Wolves had 3 shots. Now, on the plus side - we had 2 goals on those 3 shots (we both wound up with 27 shots for the night).
We were up 3-2 toward the end of the game. With 4.3 seconds left, Alexandre Giroux had a Power Play goal. (The Power Play was because Rockford pulled their goalie to add a man.. and somehow they eventually wound up with too many men on the ice)
After that, I'm not really sure what happened. I wasn't paying attention... I remember the goal... the teams were skating back to the bench to change lines... i looked away...
... Next thing I know, the benches are fighting... somebody from Rockford reached around the partition that separates the benches and hit one of our guys in the face... the officials are trying to stop the mêlée that ensued. I remember one linesmen going down after trying to step between two combatants as they lost their footing. it's a mess... players are trying to hold team members back. OK, well, goalie Robert Gherson was laughing his ass off holding on to someone... but still, things were bad.
Next thing I know, the ref is skating away from the bench and signals the time keeper by using a finger, pointing downward, and circling it ... sure enough he told him to just run down the clock - this wasn't going to get fixed to be able to play out the 4.3 seconds left on the clock.
By the time everyone gets off the ice, both coaches get a Game misconduct - Coach (75.5(iii)), both Fahey's (there was on on each side) get 10 minute Misconduct - Unsportsmanlike conduct (75.4), one guy on each side gets both a 10 minute Misconduct - Unsportsmanlike conduct (75.4) and a Game misconduct - Unsportsmanlike conduct (75.5(i))... and you just want to know what made a Rockford guy get a 10 minute Misconduct - Abuse of officials (40.4).
(Game Summary - Gamesheet) « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 10:16 PM | Link | Wolves | Care to comment? | § |
Friday, February 01, 2008
Still comin'
Over 6 inches as of this morning. Our area was supposed to be around 4". Somebody didn't see this coming. The snow distribution is nothing like they said it would be. At least it doesn't feel like it to me.
At least the traffic was really light. People must be staying home, schools must be closed.
A good thing, too, since the roads weren't cleared. The plows couldn't keep up overnight.
posted at 08:11 AM | Link | Mundane | Care to comment? | § |
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