doodledee

For those of you who were wondering why kids were knocking at your door demanding candy, it was Halloween tonight. We didn't get nearly as many trick-or-treaters as in past years, so I'm stuck with like 4 bags of candy. I guess I overbought. Oops.

On a bright note, the little girl next door Zoe has apparently warmed up to me. She used to be scared of me for some reason. Tonight, of all the people hanging out with her when she got back from trick-or-treating, I was the only one to get offered a piece of candy. Then again, she may have just been trying to get me to stop crying.

I finished the triplog and posted some additional pictures from our New York trip. Have a look.

We're back in one piece.
The flight home was super bumpy and I ate some gross food-court Chinese food in the Pittsburgh airport. For those of you taking notes at home, that's not a good combination. Especially when you're one of those people - like me - who can get carsick sitting at your desk. Thank god for the holistic healing powers of Diet Sprite.
The trip was a blast.

It's the afternoon and we're taking a break in a broadband enabled coffee shop in Greenwich Village. Trip is going great so far. Tons of pictures, tons of stories, tons of fun. I've written-up a triplog that I'll add to the site when I have some free time. (It's hard to squeeze quality geek time what with all this vacation stuff going on.)
There are lots of people here. And they're all nice.

I see that Dave hasn't updated in a couple of days so I thought I'd share one of my recent irritants with you. Every once in awhile I get a wrong number call. I really don't mind them since I myself occasionally misdial. What I mind is when the fool on the other end offers no apology for their mistake! Sure, they're a little embarrassed. But all the better to say, oops, sorry! because I'll probably never meet them. When this happened last weekend, I had half a mind to call this person back (via the magic of caller ID, another reason to apologize since I know who you are) and request said apology. Is it too much to ask? Is mild politeness disappearing from our culture?

In a stroke of shitty planning, I attended a Pork Tornado concert tonight at First Avenue. Fishman's group is my least favorite of all the side projects, but it was still a good time. Some groovin' funk numbers were especially nice.
Despite persistent rumors that Mike Gordon was in the joint, I left early to get home in time to get at least a couple hours of sleep before we leave for NYC. If it turns out Mike was there, I'm going on record right now and saying I'm a total dumbass for leaving.
Here are some pictures I took with my stealthy little camera. As promised, low light situations totally suck, but at least you can see the huge dude with the blue hair who played saxophone. He came out for the second set with pink hair, so I'm thinking it was maybe a wig.
Maybe I should get a blue and/or pink wig?
So we're off in the morning. I've got three guidebooks, two sets of broadway tickets, a huge list of restaurants, and a belt with holes to spare. Waa-hoo!

From last Tuesday's story Van Pictures Released in Sniper Case.

... Manger said police were on the lookout for a light-colored Chevrolet Astro van with a burned-out left rear tail light and a chrome ladder rack on its roof.

Then yesterday, Sniper Van Story Said Not Credible.
Can I stop standing like this now?

Today, Timothy Belden, a former top dog energy trader at Enron, pled guilty in federal court to charges of wire fraud. I'm no lawyer, so I don't understand all the legal mumbo-jumbo, but I'm pretty sure it all boils down to him admitting that Enron screwed the state of California. The screwing included such sneaky things as:

• Telling California state authorities that Enron would be sending more energy than Enron knew the state's transmission lines could handle. As a result, the state had to turn down energy that Enron was charging them for. In many cases, Enron never actually had the energy, but they sold it anyway, knowing California wouldn't be able to buy it even if they wanted to. Sneaky and risky, eh?
• Circumventing California's energy price controls by shipping local energy out of the state before selling it back to them. Out-of-state energy wasn't subjected to the same price controls. Get it out of state, raise the price, sell it back. Sneaky.

There's tons more stuff like this, but right away you can tell this dude is a straight-up jackhole. He and many of his colleagues cheated the system and the people of California out of billions and billions of dollars. That's probably why California is suing a group of energy producers for $9B.

But I'm still confused.

Back when the energy crisis was ragin', people were convinced that energy deregulation in California was the driver for the huge price increases and the rolling blackouts. Naturally, un-deregulating quickly became the popular side of the fence to be on. Now, 2 years later, it's more than obvious that jerks working at Enron, Dynergy, etc. acted amorally and [most likely] illegally and in effect created the energy crisis. Yet strangely, un-deregulation remains as popular an idea as ever.

Why not just fix the problems with the rules of deregulation? Why not close the loopholes and throw the cheaters in jail? What's wrong with consumer choice again? What's wrong with smallish alternative energy producers getting in on the action? Why are we so attached to oil and natural gas?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

So the other day I watched the first episode off my recently purchased Sex in the City Compete First Season DVD. While doing so, I [again] wondered what so many guys see in Sarah Jessica Parker. Apparently back in the 80's a lot of dudes must have been secretly attracted to Dee Snyder and today still need to an outlet for their fantasies, because that's who she looks like to me. Eww.
I was amused with myself for figuring out that SJP looks like Dee Snyder, so I naturally wondered if others had figured it out. After all, I can be slow sometimes.
A quick check of the internet confirmed that, at least in this case, I'm like 3 years behind the joke. Oh well, maybe next time.
While searching, I did find a site that compares Christina Aguilera to Dee Snyder. That's good for a few yucks, so check it out.
Oh, and hey Christina, eat a sandwich.

Wallace and Gromit are back!
After six years without any new material, Nice Price's company Aardman Animations has revived the pair in 10 new animated shorts. The first one is available online at the BBC, or alternatively, just download it from me*.
Hmm... Six years ago I was driving a 2-door Honda Civic hatchback, living in a house with a pool, and staying up late watching claymation movies about some English dude and his dog. Today, I drive a Jeep, have no pool, and am excited to watch claymation movies about some English dude and his dog.
The more things stay the same, the more they don't change.
* - It's a QuickTime movie. If you have problems streaming it, just right-click and 'save as' so it saves on your computer and then watch it. Sweet.

This letter from the Strib on Sunday was great:

Good grief! Gov. Jesse Ventura might have been golfing on Sept. 10 -- a day when the vast majority didn't bother to vote in the primary? Shocking news.
It's clear that the Star Tribune has never liked Ventura. But he's only governor for a few more weeks. Can you get over it already?
How about checking into the personal lives and primary voting records of candidates for governor and U.S. Senate? That would be slightly more useful news to voters.

I guess I don't have much more to add. It's a good point.
I also see that Pawlenty got zinged - to the tune of $600k - in the gubernatorialcommercialgate scandal. This means that down the home stretch, Pawlenty will be in the same frugal spending mode that Moe is apparently already in.
This all suddenly turns Tim Penny into Candidate War Chest. Naturally, I have some advice. First, drop any thoughts of ratcheting-up a massive media blitz. Sure, you could outspend the competition, but what fun is that? Instead, why not take the money you've saved and buy everyone in the state a Krispy Kreme doughnut.
Sure it's illegal, but Pawlenty already cheated. And I like doughnuts.
Come on, Tim, lets make this happen!

I'm typing this on a laptop while sitting on a couch in my living room. Earlier, I uploaded pictures of Mikey's wedding from this same laptop. Yet there are no cables anywhere to be seen.
That's right: my new wireless network is functional.
It's faster than I thought it would be.
It's secure as all get out.
It's totally bitchin'.
I think I just had a geekgasim.

Made it to the big homecoming parade this morning. It was all crappy out when I left, but by the time the parade started it was beautiful. Libby didn't go, so I went with a group of folks from PDX. (I'm a close personal friend of a high-ranking alumnus, so I am allowed to mooch friends, doughnuts and coffee. Booya.)
The parade was great. We stood right near the beginning, so all the people in the parade were in great moods and loaded down with stuff to give away. We got a huge haul.
It was an especially active parade due to it being a big election year. Nearly all the major candidates walked in the parade and - again, since we were at the beginning - all shook our hands.
When Tim Pawlenty shook our hand, he looked at all our coffee cups, and said, "We're just drinking coffee, right?" >wink<
Yes, sir, we are. But I appreciate the respect you give the next generation.

My neighbor's tree looks like this every fall. It rules.
More fun fall stuff:

• why leaves change color
• current minnesota leaf conditions
• fun things for kids to do with leaves

It's homecoming over that University this week and that's always fun. They have a parade, they have a huge bonfire, they have a pancake breakfast, and they have a football game. This year, in a departure from what must be 100 years of tradition, the game is being played tonight. At first, I thought it must have had something to do with television, but I found a press release that explains that it was done to ensure the Metrodome would be available for the Twins and their bandwagoning fans.
It's lame that we have to play on Thursday night. It's even lamer that the poor parade stays on Saturday morning. (Is anyone going? I'd like to go, eh.) But what's lamest of all is that the game isn't even being televised.
Oh well. I guess I'll at least be able to read the summary of the game in the Daily. Maybe when the Gophers get their new stadium they'll be able to play on Saturdays every week. Man, that'll be sweet.
Rah rah rah, sky U mah.

Look-out! Hardcore Twins fans are pissed!
They're pissed because the Twins are in the ALCS and all the casual fans - and I suppose even non-fans - are jumping on the bandwagon. The dome is full, the hankies are waving, and baseball beats murder as the lead story on the evening news. Go figure, people like a winner.
At the end of the day, I think it boils down to tickets. Tickets that are impossible to get and, once you get them, are too expensive to enjoy. Apparently the hardcore fans feel it's a birthright to get playoff tickets before the more casual fans. Today on the radio, one dude even went as far as to say that you should have to show ticket stubs from the games you've attended during the season to prove you're worthy of playoff tickets. He was serious.
This whole thing sounds vaguely familiar. Hmmm... Oh yeah, that's right, it's the same crap the evil pigs in Animal Farm were spewing:

...he read out to her what was written on the wall. There was nothing there now except a single Commandment. It ran:
ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS

What the Evil Pigs need to understand is that many of us casual fans were - and maybe even still are - disillusioned with the game of baseball. Even those of us who went to a few games didn't forget how, less than 10 months ago, contraction and labor problems were on the horizon and a whiny billionaire was [still] begging us to build him a stadium. Maybe we were finally getting sick of it all.
But now it's the post season. Things are different. It's about the game, not the business. It's about all the stuff it should be about, including the fans and the community as a whole.
So, Mr. Evil Pig, all I have to say to you and your Pig buddies is:
We're here, we cheer, get used to it.

Colin and I went down to the Minnesota Vikings Annual Garage Sale for a few minutes today and man, did it suck. Part of the reason might be that it had been going on for like 4 days and we got there 15 minutes before it closed, but another part of the reason might be because it had something to do with the Vikings, and pretty much everything they do these days ends up sucking.
Oh well, it was fun to see inside their fancy indoor practice facility, which turned out to be a giant pole barn with a full size astroturf football field inside. It's a lot like where I work, only we don't have showers, pads, astroturf, cheerleaders, weight rooms, coaches, televisions, field goals, or golf carts. I think might have some filing cabinets, though, so yeah, it's basically the same.
Tonight I also went to the Twins first ALCS game. We won. It was great.
Check out the pictures.

There's a new French bakery down in Richfield. (It got written up in the Pages recently, but their website is down, so I can't link to the article.) Libby and I stopped there tonight to get something to have later for dessert. We settled on a piece of raspberry cake, which kinda looked like a baseball dipped in chocolate. It was all soft and mushy and full of mousse inside. It had just the right amount of raspberry flavor. It was very good. Go get one and eat it.As a bonus, the bakery is right next door to a Pier 1. It would make me a total chick to say that I am excited by such a juxtaposition, so instead I'll just say that next time I go to get a baguette, don't be surprised if I come home with one of those 50 pound bags of tea lights.I'd like to be a baker. At least I think I would. In reality, I bet it gets old pretty fast.Other things that get old faster than you would think:

• dumb jokes
• some video games
• half and half
• yourself

Some things that never get old:

• dumb and dumber
• good friends
• bitch pants
• swiss cake rolls

What a weekend. On Saturday my sister got married, and today the Twins clinched a spot in the American League Championship Series. (I posted pictures of one of these events... Browse on to find out which one.)
The wedding was a total hoot. There were tons of old family friends that I hadn't seen in years. My favorites were my parent's friends from California who repeatedly claimed to be ex-hippies. Then at the rehearsal dinner, they launched into this 'Republicanism is the One True Path' rant that kinda made my head spin. Or maybe it was the wine that made my head spin, who knows. Either way, it was bizarre. And it was a riot.
Another one of my favorite parts was after the ceremony when a bagpiper played and led us down the street to the hotel where the reception was. In true pied piper fashion, everyone from the church followed the bride and groom in this big mob. It got some funny looks from people driving by us, but it was neat to be a part of.
Beyond all of that, I enjoyed watching Dunn eat like 40 pounds of butter and playing with Conway's new camcorder.

Wedding season kicks into high gear starting tomorrow with my sister's down in Rochester. After that, we've got two more in the next 5 weeks, including one down in Chicago that I'm really looking forward to. (Chicago is another great city, by the way.) Bring on the dress shoes and pleated pants, I'm ready to party. And if by 'party' you think I mean dance and drink and generally behave like a dumbass, you just might be a redneck. No wait, you just might be totally f'in right!
Other things that rock:

• The new Beck CD


• The new Bonaroo 2-CD compilation


• Quarterbacks eatin' dirt


• Halo


• Omondo's new UML plug-in for Eclipse [probably]


• Spice tins

I like big cities.
Actually, I should be careful.
I like great cities.
I like the type of cities that have their own personality. The type of cities that are so thick with character that they live on their own, becoming bigger than the sum of their parts. I like cities that don't empty out at night and that have unique neighborhoods and restaurants and shops. I like the buildings and the people and the diversity and the energy and the opportunity. I like acting like I live there and doing the stuff the locals do. I like strapping on my camera and doing the stuff tourists do. I like it all.
Minneapolis, despite all its pluses, is not a great city.
From what I hear, New York City is the greatest city in the world. Libby and I are going there for a vacation in a couple of weeks. I can't wait.
On a dumbass note, today when I got home and took off my shoes, I noticed that I had walked around all day with one sock on inside out. I am a huge dork. I hope no one in New York is reading this, they probably won't let me in.