Typical Big Ten football

Wisconsin beat Nebraska. Nebraska beat Michigan State. Michigan State beat Wisconsin.

We beat each other to a pulp.

Yay, Denmark!

Denmark to deploy surveillance aircraft against Somali pirates

Plat du jour--guest submission

I guess some people might cry because they don't have this Corvette.

Found by Joanne.

TFLNs definitely slow down on Tuesday

There are only two worth repeating today.

(240): Apparently you can coat check a keg. http://tfl.nu/sdmi

(512): That's the last time you suggest we can get our tab wiped by out-drinking the bartender.
(210): It was my card, so what do you care that you lost?
(512): Is your card paying for my plan b? http://tfl.nu/703j

Plat du jour

I think maybe Monday is when all the weekend TFLNs show up

(480): His wife found out about our affair the same day he got fired for it. http://tfl.nu/pwa8

(704): Besides asking our teacher if he enjoyed being fisted did I have any other tragic moments last night? http://tfl.nu/zhm8

(617): What time did you start drinking?
(978): Maybe.
(617): Maybe isn't a time... http://tfl.nu/r4p5

(401): i spent an hour trying to convince my psychiatrist that the fact that i showed up for my appointment drunk was progress, and she does not agree http://tfl.nu/su4s

(630): Upon further investigation it turns out it wasn't blood, but chocolate frosting from the cupcake I shoved in my pocket to "save for later" http://tfl.nu/rgop

Semi-random thoughts

• A high school athlete's "commitment" to attend a certain college should be renamed. They are so often changed they should be called "leanings."
• The Wisconsin football team's hopes for a national championship ended in the last few seconds of the game against Michigan State on Saturday. It was fun while it lasted, even though it was never more than a long shot. At least they can still win the Big Ten Championship and go to the Rose Bowl. Go Badgers!
• I hate websites that give the time of an entry in relative terms, like "1 hour ago." They are inexact and require unnecessary work on my part. If something is listed as happening "14 hours ago," I have to do the calculation myself. A computer could do the calculation much faster. I'm sure the website designer's excuse for not doing this is that they would have to know what time zone I'm in, but is that so difficult?    

Plat du jour--guest submission

Found by Joanne.

Back to Texts From Last Night after a long, long time

(651): raced the clock twice to day to see if i could get off before my computer died and before i left for my noon bar crawl... win, win
(608): lets go back to having secrets in our friendship http://tfl.nu/pq7s

(404): The walk of shame out of a freshman dorm isn't so bad when you're 25, nobody questions you because they think youre gonna bust them for having weed http://tfl.nu/y06v

(530): Anything that comes outta your cooch is bound to be breathtaking
(530): That could use a little rephrasing http://tfl.nu/xfz9

(978): I wonder if they have a "21st birthday" section in the hospital.. http://tfl.nu/5pzt

(704): My phone saved "first signs of pregnancy" as a most visited search. http://tfl.nu/gxvg

(781): One of my students in my 8am class brought me a Tim Hortons cup with a bloody Mary in it. Clearly, I didn't manage to look not drunk when I ran into him at Denny's at 4am. Who decided to let me teach? http://tfl.nu/leuf

(210): My financial advisor filed my girlfriend's abortion under "investments" so my wife wouldn't find out http://tfl.nu/di5z

(509): walked into class wearing my zorro costume. some girl just said "oh my god, i fucked zorro this weekend." I found her. http://tfl.nu/knz9

(231): Uuh, dude you came running out of the bar screaming you didn't want to hear that song, ran face first into a truck, spun around 3 times and hit the sidewalk. I tried to catch you. http://tfl.nu/6utw

(+61): i turned my shower on this morning and passionfruit pulp came out. how did you even do that? http://tfl.nu/m9eq

(512): Just rescued a super cute pair of Gucci heels off the sorority lawn on my way to work. Things are worth two paychecks. Fuck trust fund kids. http://tfl.nu/hflo

Living with bobcats LV

Here's the round-up from the second half of September:

Connecticut: Tolland's Resident Bobcat, Large Bobcat Thought Mountain Lion Spotted in Brookfield, School Takes Precautions After Bobcat Sightings

California: Bobcat spotted in Brand Park in Glendale, Bobcat reportedly spotted near Burbank golf course, Bobcat family spotted in Northwest Fresno, Bobcats are sizing up LCF, Bobcat suspected of nabbing family pets

New York: Possible bobcat spotted near Seneca Elementary

Arizona: OV bobcat is ready to pounce, No charges for man who shot bobcat

Idaho: The truth about wildlife in Boise

Plat du jour

A blast from the past: Britannia rules the waves

UK navy seizes pirate 'mothership'

I also liked a bit of related news in the last paragraph:

British and U.S. forces freed the cargo ship [the Montecristo] in a dramatic rescue last week after retrieving a message in a bottle tossed by hostages from a porthole alerting ships nearby that the crew was safely sealed inside an armored area.

A message in a bottle. How high tech.

90,000 visitors!

Tuesday evening this blog received its 90,000th visitor. It was someone in Philadelphia Googling "Pennsylvania bobcat."

Yay, me.

Living with bobcats LIV

Here's the round-up from the first half of September (I admit it: I'm slow.):

Texas: Bobcat in North Dallas!, Bobcat stalking prey in Plano, Denton Bobcat, Bobcat sightings raise concern in Texas neighborhood, Drought has wildlife roaming into residential areas

California: Bobcat seen prowling in Burbank neighborhood, Bobcat Sighting In Lake Elsinore, LAKE ELSINORE: Officers on ailing bobcat's trail, Bobcat Spotted in Burbank After Mountain Lion Warning, Bogue: Sit in your yard for an hour and what do you see

Arizona: Wild animals: better on television, Landowner shoots bobcat on his land, Bobcat recovering from backyard trapping, shooting, Tucson man faces investigation for trapping bobcat

Idaho: Bobcat sighted on Boise State campus

Connecticut: Bobcats Put Families on Alert

Plat du jour--guest submission

New York biologist? biographer?

Found by Joanne.

It looks like the thugs got another one

Italian vessel hijacked by pirates off Somali coast

Santorum

I know I'm 2 or 3 weeks behind on this but I did want to remark on a bit of political news that occurred. Former Sen. Rick Santorum, now a Repugnant presidential hopeful, asked Google to remove the top response one gets when one Googles his name. Which is:

Santorum 1. The frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex. 2. Senator Rick Santorum.

(It's actually a link to spreadingsantorum.com, a site created by sex columnist Dan Savage in response to Santorum's likening of homosexuality to pedophilia and bestiality.)

Google declined, which is its normal response to requests to modify its results.

What really disturbs me about Santorum's request is that he apparently has no idea how search engines such as Google work. (Incidentally, one gets the same result looking for "Santorum" on most, if not all, of the most popular search sites.) These are tools that practically everyone who uses the internet uses frequently. To me it means Santorum is out of touch with how most Americans, whom he wants to lead, actually function. It reminds me how President Bush the First had no idea supermarkets used laser scanners to ring up people's groceries.

Also I am amused by this quote of Santorum's:

If you're a responsible business, you don't let things like that happen in your business that have an impact on the country.

If he really thinks this, he should also be criticizing all of the businesses that build plants in foreign countries or otherwise outsource the jobs of Americans.

(BTW, since I do have some idea of how search engines work, I know very well that my linking to Savage's site, and not linking to Santorum's campaign site, helps keep Savage's one on the top of Google's listings. Take that, homophobe Santorum.)

Plat du jour

Media high definition? Head of media? Media hot dog? I dunno.

Semi-random thoughts

Some of these thoughts occured a while ago.

• Serena Williams is just plain obnoxious. She's the one who's "out-of-control" (her description of a referee who applied the verbal interference rule against her). No matter how many titles she wins, she'll never be a champion to me. 
• Five Napkin Burgers, with half-a-dozen restaurants along the east coast, is guilty of false advertising. They give you only one napkin--which is all that is necessary for its excellent hamburgers.
• WQXR, the classical music radio station of New York City, is now a listener-supported public station. Like all public radio and television stations they have periodic fundraising drives, which interrupt their regular programming. Nobody likes to tune in to hear music and get people asking for contributions. WQXR, though, has come up with a way to capitalize on this dislike--they offer to cut their on-air drive by one hour for every $8,000 they raise before the drive starts. 
• I went to refill my back-up Metrocard, and the machine informed me my card would be expiring shortly, and offered to transfer the money I had on it to a new one. As far as I know, this is something new. In the past, I always went to an agent to do this--though I only remember doing it a couple times. When you got 20% additional for purchases over a certain amount, it was pretty easy to keep your card at an even amount of $2.25 fares. (It was even easier when the fare was only $2.00.) When a card was close to expiring, I just used it until it was empty, and then bought a new one. Now that you only get 15%, it's practically impossible to do this--there's always some odd amount left of the card.   

Good advice

Source

Animal headline of the day

Hairy, crazy ants invade from Texas to Miss.

Thugs strike on land again

Kenya: Alleged Somali pirates abduct Frenchwoman

Plat du jour

It certainly is. This was on a tiny Smart Car.

Thugs lose two

Japanese tanker comes under rocket attack in Red Sea

Plat du jour--guest submission

I didn't realize vampires drive.

Found by Joanne.

Overspecialization

So what do you do about the other eight nails?

Plat du jour

212 is one of the area codes for NYC. So?

Yawn headline of the day

Pope defends traditional values

This is like saying "The sun rises in the east."

From the Jumping the Gun Department

I see there's a Facebook account for a friend of a friend's unborn daughter. But I can't see what's on it (ultrasound photos?) because the privacy is set high.

Animal headline of the day

Squirrel Causes Three-Car Pile-up on Washington Street

Plat du jour--guest submission

A dentist, I assume.

Another one found by Joanne

Catching up on Overheard in New York

My favorites from the last month:

Gangster chess player: You're cute, but let's see how smart you are.
30-something career woman: I'd play you, but I'm on a lunch break from my job. Checkmate.

--Union Square

Eight-year-old boy, showing his dad game he is playing: Daddy, daddy, she won't come!
Dad: Keep going, she will come eventually.

--F Train

Guy #1 at bar: I was driving all day today. My groin is really tired.
Guy #2 at bar: How were you driving?!?!

--Heartland Brewery

Enthusiastic cowboy-hat wearing teen tourist, indicating subway car: We need one a these in Texas!
Friend, sullenly: We got no place to go in Texas.

--1 Train

From Overheard in New York

Somali thugs try something new

British Tourist, Kidnapped in Kenya, May Be in Central Somalia

Animal headline of the day

Hero rabbit saves owners from house fire in Alaska

Public service announcement

Estimated taxes are due tomorrow.

(I, however, am not sending in a thing because I've done enough of my 2010 taxes to know that I greatly overpaid for last year.)

Thuggery spreads to the other side of the continent

23 sailors kidnapped in tanker attack in W. Africa

9/11, ten years after

I worked across the street from the World Trade Center. I was there on 9/11. I have written of my experiences previously, so there's no need to do it again.

There are recent developments I could write about, such as Mayor Bloomberg's call to stop using the term "ground zero" for the World Trade Center (which I applaud), to a movement to put the twin towers on New York license plates (to which I object), but they are relatively trivial. I prefer to write about something much more important.

My feelings today are a mixture of resignation and hope. Resignation that we continue to let the media and politicians exploit the attacks for their own purposes. Hope that perhaps, with the opening of the memorial, we will be able to de-emphasize the mourning of the families of the victims, and view the events of 9/11 in a less-emotional perspective.

Before the attacks, most Americans felt safe, at least from foreign attack. On 9/11, their beliefs were shattered. They wanted to feel safe again. In less than a day, Mayor Giuliani's control-freak management style went from laughing stock to just-what-the-doctor-ordered. He went from lame-duck mayor, four months from political oblivion, to a national figure with presidential potential. His performance has become legend--literally. I have heard a Circle Line tour guide tell people that Giuliani escaped from the city's emergency control center in 7 World Trade only moments before it fell. In truth, he never set foot in the ridiculously-located place any time that day, and the entire building was evacuated long before it collapsed.

Lamentable as it was, Giuliani's political resurrection was far from the worst effect of the attack. It enabled the federal government, via the Patriot Act, to greatly undermine our privacy. Our phone calls, especially international ones, are under electronic surveillance. So are our e-mails. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the government's expanded powers. Yet most Americans seem quite content to give up their freedom from government spying, in exchange for feeling safer.

Now, ten years later, perhaps the nation can move beyond the mourning by the families of the lost. Perhaps now we can start to objectively analyze the huge loss of privacy that Americans have suffered in exchange for the hope of increased safety. Perhaps now we can come to the realization that the terrorists win when they maneuver us into giving up our freedoms.

Micro movie review

Contagion--catch this one.

Happy Consecutive Day!

I almost missed this.

It's 9/10/11.

Another classical flash mob

I wish there were more shots of the musicians arriving. Somehow the harps, tympani, even the conductor's podium just appeared.



HT to The Bilerico Project

Semi-random thoughts

• I was looking for a tiny brush to clean out the holes in a plastic spatula. I found some on Amazon, designed to clean out baby bottle parts. Now Amazon is suggesting I buy all kinds of baby bottle apparatus.
• I have installed WordPerfect version 15 (I don't care if they call it X5). This is at least my 6th version since I switched from DOS to Windows. Now I'll be able to read .docx documents, and edit PDF files. People keep chiding me about sticking with WordPerfect, but I like it. My only problem comes from file conversion issues like .docx files.
• It is sometimes surprisingly difficult to determine what state a news website is covering. A good number have it nowhere in their logos, their about us pages, even on their contact us pages--an amazing number give only e-mail addresses. There have been occasions when the only way I could figure it out was from the addresses in the advertisements.
• It's always sad when a restaurant you've enjoyed for many years starts going downhill.
• I saw a headline that said "Germany Dominates Austria" and I wondered if I had somehow gotten a newspaper from the 1930's. But it was only the soccer column in the New York Times' sports section.

Micro movie review

The Debt: Gripping? Yes. Believable? Well...

Animal headline of the day

Wayward penguin released south of New Zealand

UPDATE 9/12/11: Happy Feet the penguin missing in Southern Ocean

Living with bobcats LIII

Here's the round-up from August:

Nevada: Keeping Your Child's School Safe

Texas: East Texans on edge after bobcat found in neighborhood, Caged bobcat shot dead by Murphy officer, Murphy police chief, News 8 viewers react to shooting of caged bobcat

Oregon: Bandon Police Report

Arizona: Wildlife visitors

Connecticut: Bobcat Photographed Wandering Through Brookfield Backyard, Another Backyard Bobcat Sighting

California: Oh Baby! Bobcat Kittens in Jamul, Possible mountain lion seen in Chula Vista

Pennsylvania: More reports heard of ‘big cats’ in area

Animal headline of the day

Activists catch Yvonne the runaway cow in Germany

This an update to this.

Plat du jour

Either BELARUS was taken, or they can't spell.

Brilliantly smart-ass responses to completely well-meaning signs

From Happy Place
My favorite:

Runner-up:

Living with wild hogs III

Kentucky: Hogs wild in Lewis County

Mississippi: Farmers getting help with wild hogs

Arkansas: Feral hogs cause more problems due to Ark. drought

New York: Wild hogs gorge on North Country crops

Michigan: Pseudorabies found in feral hog

My new hair

This is my new hair. Everyone seems to love it. I was afraid it might not be businessy enough for my bar association board, but people raved about it there.

These are also my new glasses. At least they're new since June.

The picture is pretty good. It's not quite as good as the old one, which I think was taken at the absolutely perfect angle (and showed me with a very nice, non-posed smile), but it's close.

Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene is heading my way--though I have to wonder if it will still officially be a hurricane when it gets here. According to weatherchannel.com, the highest windspeed predicted for my zipcode is only 47mph.

I'm certainly not evacuating. While New York City has ordered everyone out of the lowest-lying areas, "Zone 1," I'm not even close to the highest evacuation zone--"Zone 3." I'm sure I'll be quite safe right at home.

I did get some extra cash, and filled up a bathtub with water, just in case the electricity goes out. (You read that right--buildings over a certain height here need water tanks on the roof to supply water to the higher floors, and the tanks are filled by electric pumps. So, no electricity, no water, at least not after the tank empties.) I know I have plenty of batteries and some candles, and an emergency radio I can power with a hand crank.

I also checked the emergency food supply my wife put together a while ago. I was a bit shocked to find what was in there. I don't care how many cans of peaches and green beans there are, I think I want more than a 1.3oz can of tuna each day in the protein department. So I went to the supermarket (an hour before it closed), and got some cans of chunky soup.

They shut down the entire NYC mass transit system at noon today--which I think was a bit early. While I realize it can take 6 to 8 hours to move all of the trains to safe locations, I don't see anything in the weather forecast that would interfere with the trains very much before at least midnight. Mayor Bloomberg and company are being over-cautious, after the major criticism they received about the city's poor response to a snow storm last winter. I also have to wonder if Bloomberg realizes that many people do actually go to work on Saturday, and had no way to get home this afternoon.

It did start to rain a half an hour or so ago, not terribly hard from what I hear through the window--though they have added a tornado watch to the things people have to worry about. The rain seems to have tapered off. The forecast says there's a 100% chance of it continuing for the next 9 hours or so, before the probability starts to decrease. But then the winds will pick up, with the maximum 47mpg at 8:00am, and remaining near that until noon. We'll see how good the prediction is.

UPDATE 1:22am Sunday, 9/25: It looks like the weather.com website is having problems, and the wind is going to be much heavier than it says. Accuweather now says 68mph on the front side at 10am, 71mph on the backside at 2pm. This storm is going to be worse than I thought.

Semi-random thoughts

• One day, for half the afternoon I was in and out, running errands, and the summer relief doorman was always jumping up to open the door or scrambling to grab the elevator for me, always super-polite. What he failed to do was the important thing: to give me the package I've been waiting for, which was delivered in the morning.
• Another doorman failure to deliver: upon returning Monday morning from my Sunday night outing, the doorman gave me a package that must have come on Saturday. It contained make-up, which I could have used Sunday, but the Saturday night doorman failed to give it to me. 
• My blog recently got a hit from someone in Abbottobad, Pakistan. That's where Osama Bin Laden was hiding.
• When I get a campaign mailing that doesn't mention the candidate's party affiliation, I know it's about a Republican.

Maybe add another jerk

Well, maybe only a semi-jerk.

Pataki Visit Stirs Speculation About Presidential Bid

Pataki to visit Iowa ahead of possible 2012 bid

He is what passes for a moderate Republican these days. This means he has zero chance of winning his party's nomination. Also, there is the factor that I kept saying about him four years ago: He is a household name only in the Pataki household. Practically no one outside of New York, and not all that many inside New York, has any idea who he is, save for a few professional politicians.

I will say this for him, though: I doubt there is a better public speaker in politics. In 2002 he spoke at the reopening of my then-employer's building across the street from the World Trade Center, and I was really struck by how well he communicated, even though I disagreed with a great deal of what he was saying.

UPDATE: Former Governor George Pataki Won’t Enter 2012 Presidential Race

Earthquake? What earthquake?

I didn't feel anything, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The only time I ever felt an earthquake was in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1968 or 69.

Micro movie review

The Help: Start engraving the Oscars.

One jerk eliminated

Of course, all of the Repugnant candidates seem to be jerks of the greater or lesser variety.

Ex-Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty ends White House bid

Official announcement

I am no longer a blonde.

I have switched to raven black. I tried black hair many years ago, and I didn't like it. I stayed away from it ever since, going from brown, to brown with auburn highlights, to medium blond with highlights and lowlights. I got the black wig for a costume last spring. People liked it. I started wearing it occasionally. People kept liking it. I began to like it, especially after I got my haircutter to trim the bangs. Now I've decided it's my regular look.

I'll post a picture when I get a decent one.

Now we are 6

Six years ago today I started this blog. There have been 2,067 posts, drawing nearly 87,000 visitors. I haven't had time to blog much the last few weeks, but this should improve a bit before too long.

Happy anniversary to my glob!

Plat du jour--guest submission

Joanne found this last April. I'm just getting around to posting it.

Netherlands locks up five more thugs

Dutch court sends 5 Somalis to jail for piracy

Micro movie review

Beginners: The dog steals the whole show.

Animal headline of the day

Germans foiled by farmyard fugitive Yvonne the cow

Micro movie review

Cowboys and Aliens: More totally ridiculous fun

Animal headline of the day

Lobsters liberated by Buddhist intervention

Plat du jour

Stickers? I dunno.

Living with wild hogs II

New York: Wild boars invade farms, attack pets

Plat du jour

We know what s/he's on.

I like this definition

A purist has been defined as a person who takes great pains, and gives them to you.

Micro movie review

Captain America: Totally ridiculous fun

She asked for it

Burlesque performer Calamity Chang

Micro movie reviews

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2: Predictably thrilling

And I forgot to post this one:

Point Blank: Unpredictably thrilling

Semi-random thoughts

• The price of bacon bits just soared 20%. grump.
• I'm loving the new SwiftKey X keyboard on my Droid phone.
• My glob recently got a hit from the Marshall Islands. That's a first. And I don't think I've seen one from Tunisia before, either.
• I really need to do some stretching exercises before I epilate my legs--especially if I want to see what I'm doing.

Headline of the day

(I guess it's an animal headline, technically, but it's not about an animal.)

Owner of killer bear chokes to death on sex toy

Subhead: Found dead handcuffed to water bed; death likely accidental, coroner says

Murdoch getting his come-upance?

Calls for U.S. to investigate, prosecute News Corp. grow louder

Analysis: Murdoch's newspaper crisis causes jitters in U.S.

I'd love to see Rupert Murdoch and his evil empire taken down a notch or ten. I assume he's insulated himself personally from any criminal liability, but it would be great to see his News Corp. get prosecuted.

Animal headline of the day

I know it's two in a row, but they keep happening.

German police nab runaway elephants at bus stop

Animal headline of the day

Bear-safety lecture in Yellowstone interrupted by bear

Living with bobcats LII (unless it's a mountain lion)

One month's collection:

California: Mountain Lion or Bobcat? Which one is it?

Connecticut: Bobcat spotted in Otrobando Ave. backyard

Texas: BOBCAT......downtown Allen, Bobcats seen in Cottonwood Creek area, Bobcat a welcome guest at Richmond golf course, Bobcat Caught in North Texas Neighborhood

Washington: Bobcat sighting in North Rose Hill neighborhood in Kirkland

Arizona: Fountain Hills Couple Catches Baby Bobcats on Home Video

Illinois: Woman reports seeing possible cougar

Nebraska: For the Record

Micro movie review

Super 8. Not super. Not even an 8. A 7, I think.

Animal headline of the day

Turtles crossing runway cause New York flight delays

I ♥ NYC

From Overheard in New York:

Tourist lady at night: Look at all the lights! There's just something magical about New York.

(steps off curb, looks down) Oh my god! It's a condom!

Random suit behind her: Magical!

--53rd St & 7th Ave

I made it into Overheard in New York

They published my experience on St. Mark's Pl. I actually like their headline/comment.

Plat du jour--guest submission

Another one found by Joanne.

Micro theatre review

Anything Goes: Everyone, go.

Animal headline of the day

'Deer With Wings' Causes East Missoula Power Outage

Flying mammals seem to be a trend this month.

Public service announcement

Estimated taxes are due tomorrow.

Animal headline of the day

Bald eagles attack post office at Alaska port

Somali thugs win one

Somali pirates free Kuwaiti oil tanker

Plat du jour

An Irish person from the Bronx.

Gingrich campaign implodes

Gingrich campaign in tatters as top aides resign

This didn't take very long.

Animal headline of the day

Flying bear kills two Canadians in freak accident

I'm back

For those who haven't been following my doings on facebook or twitter, I've been in Las Vegas for the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend. Now I'm back home. Posting will recommence in its normal, randomly intermittant way.

Semi-random thoughts

• I see that they're going to be doing a production of Peter Pan in The Theater in Madison Square Garden (the Felt Forum, back in my day) in December. It's starring Cathy Rigby. She'll only be 59 years old. 
• I still have my old e-mail address on mail.com. Occasionally I find it useful, but I don't always check it. Recently they put in a new version, and it is as buggy as hell. In the course of 5 minutes it bounced me out to the sign-in screen 3 times.
• The first car service I called refused to suggest a pick-up time to get me to Newark airport by a certain time. The second one I called did suggest a time. Guess which one I'm using.

Living with bobcats LI

Florida: Melbourne Beach couple wants bobcats evicted from their backyard

Arizona: Family of bobcats captured in Anthem neighborhood, Bobcats Reside In North Phoenix BackYard

Virginia: Rabid bobcat brings fight to Floyd County doorstep

Plat du jour--friend submission

It's very small, so it's hard to read, but it says OKIEDOKI. This must be a relative of OKDOKE. Found by Joanne.

Micro movie review

Midnight in Paris--starts slowly, but eventually becomes quite enjoyable, especially if you're into art history or early 20th century literature. Who'da thunk Owen Wilson would become Woody Allen II?

Fail

Somali thug cops a plea

Somali pleads guilty to piracy, hostage taking

Plat du jour

Hi Carly!

Living with bobcats L and mountain lions X

I haven't done one of these in a very long time. Here are some recent ones.

Virginia: Bobcat surprises homeowner, Bobcat in Caroline was rabid

Florida: Bobcat in family's backyard, Bobcat trapped near Melbourne industrial park

Texas: Wildcat seen roaming El Paso for 2nd time in week

Arizona: Bobcat Makes Surprise Visit at Cave Creek Restaurant

California: Bobcat spotted at Spring Valley Lake

Idaho: Reported bobcat sighting over the weekend

North Carolina: Tryon Woman Claims Bobcat Killing Her Cats

Judgment day?

None of the advertisements for this rapture thing list a time. What am I supposed to do, wait around all day? The people running this are worse than the cable company.

Goodbye Madison Square Garden

Since 1975 I've been going to the Millrose Games, almost every year. It's the sole remaining track meet at Madison Square Garden. But now the NY Times reports Millrose Games Expected to Leave Garden for Armory.

Back in the 70's there were three track meets in the Garden each winter. One ventured across the Hudson to the Meadowlands. It didn't last very long there. The national indoor championships moved to a venue with a longer, faster track. The Millrose Games, however, remained. Now it looks like that will change.

Five years ago, back when I was posting long articles, I blogged about the Millrose Games. Not too much changed since then, except the crowds kept getting smaller. This year they put in a rock band to play while they worked on  transforming the track. They didn't even have a men's pole vault.

Assuming it moves, I'm doubtful I'll continue to attend. With all the problems track and field has had with drug cheaters, I'm not nearly as big a fan as I used to be. Most of the changes the Millrose Games have made over the years make the meet less enjoyable for me, not more. It's not nearly as much fun as it used to be--and really not worth the trip to upper Manhattan.

So, farewell, Millrose. Also, farewell, Madison Square Garden.  After the WTA Women's Tennis Championships left the Garden, the Millrose Games became the only event that I go to there. I have no idea when, or if, I'll ever be back.

It's the end of another era, I guess. There seem to be more and more of these, as I get older.