July 2008 Archives

From NOLA.com:

So, too maybe the days of gas for under $4 a gallon, with some economists predicting the price of gasoline tipping toward $7 a gallon by 2010.

At those prices, the economy is the only thing that will be going in the tank. Any industry that depends on people getting out and about will be suffering and that's just about all of them.

Good news for bloggers, I think. From USA Today:

People who tend to overthink things might be protecting themselves from Alzheimer's, according to research presented Wednesday at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease.

If there's one thing bloggers do, it's overthink. I knew someday I'd find the real purpose to this hobby.

Greenmail? That's one option I hadn't considered. Doubt it will work. What would THAT say about Brett if did?

I know I'm late to the party but watching YouTube videos of and listening to Old Crow Medicine Show has brightened my days for the past few weeks.

35 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

Well, I went to Mr. Lehman's in a lope
He's got a sign on the window said, "no more dope"
Hey hey honey take a whiff on me

Old Crow Medicine Show, Cocaine Habit

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Check Out This Baseball Manager Ejection Tirade"

Bennigans is a trendy restaurant chain I won't miss. We lived about a half mile from one when we lived in Metairie. The food wasn't bad but it was pricey and the service was always awful. Kinda liked Steak & Ale though.

If you're the Green Bay Packers, what do you do with this guy?

Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN says:

The bottom line is this: If you believe in Rodgers as much as you say you do, you trade Favre. And it shouldn't matter where. If NFC North rival Minnesota offers the most comprehensive package, you trade him to Minnesota. If Chicago comes up with the best deal, then off to the Bears he goes. That way you get Favre's name off the roster and draft picks in your pocket. It's a win-win.

If Gene doesn't understand why that's not going to happen, he needs to go back to school and take Self-Preservation 101. Yeah, let's trade him to a team where he can hurt us more than he already has ... and in front of our fans ... twice a year. While we're "spitballing", I think the Jets have the most comprehensive package to offer. It would go something like this: We'll give you a 7th round pick in 2010 that could escalate to a 6th round pick if he plays two seasons as our starter and we'll keep him away from you unless our teams meet in the Super Bowl. Oh, and you pay the lion's share of his salary. Unfortunately for the Packers, Brett would have to approve it. If something like that doesn't present itself, I think they'll just let him report, keep him off of the field, and just eat his salary. There are no good alternatives.

36 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

What Favre didn't realize is that he didn't own the title to the throne he sat on. It was leased, just like the ones built for Montana, Elway and Starr. And when the lease is up, the throne is disassembled, turned to velvet scraps and kindling while a new, royal ass-holder is commissioned for the incoming King of Titletown.

Jeff, Green Bay Packers blog

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "And then after much suffering and anguish, managed to get the wings of the cube done. So now can solve it like a regular 3x3 cube."

I only got the 3X3 once. Wouldn't even attempt that one. -Rob

I had a question about my account. This is one of those accounts that I can only access at home. If I login at work, it doesn't recognize my computer and directs me through their security obstacle course. They'll want to send me a confirmation link to an email account that I won't access at work, or they'll text my cell phone that I don't bring inside to work or, finally, the one they really want, they'll ask me to call them during their work hours, which quite naturally, coincide with my work hours. None of this is convenient or secure so I only access it at home. Their website has a "secure message center". When you click on that link, you have to login again. I'm not really sure what that step achieves but there you have it. I asked my question there in their secure message center from the privacy of my home during non-work hours. Their initial, automated response was that I'd have a response from a representative within two business days. I think that's ridiculously slow but I was OK with it. Their follow-up response? Call them to discuss it ... during their work hours, which coincide with my work hours, which means calling them from work, where I'm not supposed to make personal calls and where I have no time or expectation of privacy, yada, yada, yada. Making that unavoidable call at work is like eating lunch at work. The instant you get involved is the instant you'll have people and tasks hovering over you.

37 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

Their 17 other children range in age from 20 months to 23 years old.

Associated Press

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Places I will never seek permanent body work at, number one: Pricks."

The headline said, Philadelphia Soul wins ArenaBowl XXII, 59-56. The 59-56 part didn't amaze me quite as much as the XXII part. They've been at it for 22 years? Doubt I've invested more than a minute and a half of my TV time in those 22 years. Carry on.

Spent a portion of a lazy weekend gearing the website up for fantasy football aka procrastinating from doing the yardwork.

38 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

Now I'm the Sexiest Man Alive's chunky cousin.

Matt Damon

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Super Chef got a sneak peak of the premier episode that addresses tough questions like: What is the best way to cool your mouth after eating spicy food?"

Decided to go for my yearly look-in at Useless Usenet today just to see if anything has changed. Of the 1800+ messages in my 6 subscribed groups, I would estimate that 1780+ were spam. One group only had about 15 messages but about 10 of them were spam messages that appeared in every group. Conclusion: Nothing has changed. I'll check back next year.

The Brett Favre saga continues. It says here that it cannot end well for Favre, the Packers, or any team he's traded to. He's going to be a giant distraction wherever he ends up.

I offer one today from the CrabAppleLane scanner:

Postcard from a thoughtful friend - July 27, 2008 - Postmarked June 11, 2008 - I hadn't gotten around to thanking her ... until now. She's on an ambitious quest to visit and photograph all 50 state capitols.

About today's QOTD: Tried to open the cabin door.

39 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

Two drunken British women went on a rampage on a charter plane, hitting one flight attendant with a bottle of vodka and trying to open a cabin door as the aircraft was cruising over Austria at 10,000 meters (32,800 feet), police said Saturday.

BERLIN, Germany (AP)

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Eric Camp sent us a photo of Willie Nelson at last night's blockbuster pairing with B.B. King at the Riverfest Amphitheatre."

Warning: Today's silly rant just got bigger and bigger in my head as I typed along. It is not complete because I'll cut it off for length before it gets anywhere or profound because I'm really not all that good at this.

When I was a kid, Burlington used to end all of their TV commercials with the catch phrase, "Making machines do more so man can do more." That was the positive spin on the once widely-held fear that machines will ultimately replace man. Burlington's spin was right on the mark. Machines do more now so that we can do more. One of the machines in our lives every day now is the computer. Unfortunately, for all of us, it is still a rather fragile machine dependent on electricity or batteries, fiber optics, and man-made software among other things. It is also extremely sensitive to heat, dust, and electrical surges and interruptions among many other things. Because of what they do for us and what that allows us to do, many businesses can't do many simple things without them. The word simple is the key word here. The tasks aren't all that simple, especially if the task is answering a question. The computer made them simple. That leads me to the dumb question that still gets asked whenever the computer is not available to us:

What did you do before computers?

Let's assume for the moment that the person being asked is old enough to remember what we did before computers. You get extra points for asking a 17 year old part-timer. I'll only touch on a few things.

The biggest loss would be instant access to information. The question "When will you have it?", assuming an "I don't know" answer will be unacceptable (A very safe assumption in today's instant gratification world), used to set in motion a long chain of queries and follow-ups that would be impossible today because the computer is now responsible for things that people used to be responsible for. The long chain of queries includes the following:

1) Is it already on order?
Without a computer today, there may be a record of this in some companies. Probably not, though. This will take time. If there is a record, please continue. If not, this is the end of the line.

2) If yes, was it available?
Without a computer today, there may be a record somewhere or a phone number or numbers to call if not. This will take quite a bit of time. If there is a record somewhere or a number or numbers to call, please continue. If not, this is the end of the line.

3) If it is not on order, is it available?
Without a computer today, there may be a number or numbers to call. This will take a lot of time. If there is a number or numbers to call, please continue. If not, this is the end of the line.

4) If yes to was or is it available, where is it coming from?
Without a computer today, there may be a number or numbers to call. This will take time. If there is a number or numbers to call, please continue. If not, this is the end of the line.

5) If no to either, when will it be available?
Good luck getting a timely or accurate answer to that with or without computers.

6) If it was available, when was it shipped?
Without a computer today, there may be a number or numbers to call. This will take time. If there is a number or numbers to call, please continue. If not, this is the end of the line.

7) If it hasn't been shipped, when will it ship?
Without a computer today, there may be a number or numbers to call. This will take time. If there is a number or numbers to call, please continue. If not, this is the end of the line.

8) What carrier?
Without a computer today, there may be a number or numbers to call. This will take time. If there is a number or numbers to call, please continue. If not, this is the end of the line.

9) If it has been shipped, where is it now?
Without a computer today, there may be a number or numbers to call and it will take time. Tracking shipments today WITH COMPUTERS runs the gamut from pretty good and accurate to wildly inaccurate and haphazard. Without computers, it was pure guesswork.

You'd also have fewer choices. The floor space now being used to display the products you want was dedicated to mountains of files and records and a lot of staff to keep track of them. You'd be paying more for those products because more staff would have to be paid. You'd be waiting longer because, in most cases, people can't write as fast as a laser printer can print and they can't add or calculate sales tax as fast as computers.

As you can probably tell by now, I get asked "What did you do before computers?" a lot. I find it easiest to just say I don't know or I wasn't around then. Do you get asked this? What do you say?

About today's QOTD, I'm not that surprised about a $19 grilled cheese sandwich, no matter how fancy, because I kinda thought yesterday's $8 iced tea was amazing enough.

40 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

I have 32 versions. We take people's basic perceptions of the grilled cheese and blow it out of the water.

Matt Fish

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "This cat's diggin' me. Face and all"

So I'm looking at a lunch menu. Next to each item is a number. There's an 8 next to one, then a 12 by the next one, and a 17 on another one. I had never seen it before last week but now I've seen it twice. These were really trendy restaurants and those were prices. They have dispensed with cents and the psyche value of selling an item for $7.99. That $7.99 we used to see is now just 8. I don't mind this except that I'd like to see a few more 4s and 5s. The only ones I saw at those places were preceded by a 2. I think that 8 was for iced tea. Left and went to Subway. $6.29 for a nice hot roast beef, thankyouverymuch.

41 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

I'd rather be known as the Pine Tar Guy.

George Brett, Baseball Player

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "well, as the late philip larkin once said, "i think a poet should be judged by what he does with his subjects, not by what his subjects are." with that in mind, which of these poets would you judge "less likely to make you totally vom"?"

Asking, even ordering, someone to evacuate is no guarantee that they will do so is the gist of this study by the Harvard School of Public Health. Well, I could have told you that without ever picking up a phone. I'm not really sure what the mystery was.

For one thing, evacuation has taken on a whole new meaning since Hurricane Katrina. It used to mean secure your house, pack for a day or two, and then come home and clean up the mess. Now it means, "OMG, whatever I can't take with me is probably lost forever." It also means massive, overwhelming traffic jams, even with contraflow in place in a timely manner. Here's the kicker: You may go through all of that mind-numbing panic and fairly significant expense ... for nothing. Even with all of the technology at our disposal, hurricanes are still unpredictable. There are also the people that did evacuate and whose homes were left with minor storm damage only to have them looted and/or vandalized. There are people who would die protecting their things. "23 percent of people in Katrina-affected areas" and "27 percent of coastal residents in eight states" would likely not evacuate. Look at these evacuees in Iowa and multiply the number of people mentioned by at least 10 if a hurricane hits a small Gulf coast area and by 1000 or so if one hits New Orleans again. Federal/State/Local emergency planner is not a job I'd want.

42 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

We're from the Midwest. We're tough.

Dan Voss

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "But in the meantime, I am going to unleash our 25th version of demotivational posters for you to enjoy. Consider it a b-day gift from us...."

Trying not to become a football blog but that's what's on my mind again today. With most teams reporting to training camp this week, I'm not alone. The first paragraph of an ESPN article:

The Green Bay Packers got busy making phone calls Tuesday to several teams after being encouraged by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to resolve the controversy surrounding quarterback Brett Favre before they begin training camp Sunday, according to league and players union sources.

Why does Roger Goodell feel the need to get into this pissing contest and what form did his "encouragement" take? Favre belongs to the Packers. Cut and dried. If Favre plays this season, the Packers will decide where. Goodell has no say in the matter.

However, this, to me, was the most interesting part of the article:

Meanwhile, a source told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on Tuesday that Favre has continued to use a cell phone issued by the Packers, and when the team checked the phone records, they showed "repeated calls to coach Brad Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell."

The Packers filed a tampering charge against the Vikings last week, and while talking to Bevell, his former quarterbacks coach in Green Bay, might not show much, discussions with Minnesota's head coach may raise red flags.

Two things struck me about that, if true. 1) Are you really that stupid, Brett? Using a Packers phone? 2) The Vikings and Favre have some splainin to do. I honestly don't think anything will come of this but I like two NFC rivals having to deal with the distraction even though that distraction will be long past when the Saints hook up with those teams on two Monday nights in the SuperDome. Dave has a humorous take on it.

43 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

This is how my dog, Mingus Rude, enjoys New Orleans: she somehow maneuvers her way onto the cushiony areas of our house while convincing unsuspecting humans to sleep on the hard floor.

Jezebel, Jezebelsriot

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "With 10 years of camp experiences, I can easily tell you that no camp compares to ours in Jackson, Mississippi. For some unknown reason, the temperature goes up at least 20 degrees when the Saints arrive. The air grows thicker so you have to gasp for breath."

The Saints traded for Jeremy Shockey yesterday. I think most Saints fans are excited by this move. Saints tight ends have been inconsistent the last couple of years. Ernie Conwell had a good career with the Rams but never made an impact here. Eric Johnson had a good career with the 49ers but developed the dropsies here. I know three things about Jeremy Shockey. He's outspoken, he's injury-prone, and he can play. The Saints use an offense that is better suited to his skills and his temperament. I think it will work. We'll know soon. The Saints report to camp tomorrow.

44 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

There's a strong left-handed whip again by Pincay. He goes to it time and time again ... but Ronnie Turcotte has his whip put away and Secretariat has 'em put away.

Chick Anderson, 1973 Preakness

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Repeating as Super Bowl champions is nearly impossible, but the Giants' chances dramatically improved Monday when they dumped Shockey, an All-Pro distraction, on the Saints."

I watched The Kingdom Saturday night alone. It's just as well that Patsy was away. This is not her kind of movie. It's a Peter Berg film and I found the background music hauntingly similar to his Friday Night Lights. It's a thriller that pushes just about every hot button most Americans have about Saudi Arabia and terrorism. The last 30 minutes of the film are as taut as any I've ever seen. If you've already seen the film or don't ever care to see it, Wikipedia has sections on western reception and middle eastern reception that I found interesting. I wondered about that because The Kingdom looks like it was shot on location and it's not at all flattering to the two most influential groups in Saudi Arabia, the Royal Family and the religious extremists. The rest of the Wikipedia piece is loaded with spoilers so beware. I liked the film for the action but it was mainly the performances of Ashraf Barhom and Ali Suliman that set it apart.

45 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

Does he know where Bin Laden is? That would be a huge promotion for me.

Ronald Fleury, The Kingdom

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "My sluggishness was soon remedied with a WONDERFUL breakfast sandwich from the deli down the street. Ohhhhh it was greasy goodness!"

It was 39 years ago today. The Earth-rise images are my favorites from the Apollo moon program. I was down at a friend's house witnessing this awesome piece of history. When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon and said those famous words 39 years ago today, I was 12. I'm not sure I will ever grasp the historical perspective of that particular human accomplishment because every time I think of it or see it on TV, YouTube, or whatever, I'm 12 years old and thinking, "WOW, I saw it when it happened". On second thought, maybe that is the historical perspective. Are you old enough to remember it?

Today's BOTD and new addition to the CrabAppleLane Blog II blogroll is from a new New Orleanian. She captured some of the essence of New Orleans in just a few paragraphs and I've read it about 15 times now. I'm talking about the New Orleans that New Orleanians, myself included, took for granted before Hurricane Katrina. My friend, Charlotte, put it a little more succinctly: "She so gets it".

I offer one from the CrabAppleLane yard today.

CrabAppleLane Charlotte and a portion of her web - July 20, 2008 - Click here for some perspective

46 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

Neil Armstrong, Astronaut

Blog of the day via Charlotte is here.

Quote from said blog: "The most unique and distinct kind of beauty I've ever seen in a city. It is striking in its limping determination, its deterioration, lovely even in its most derelict and downtrodden parts of the city because the houses are almost all scrolling and cursive and lavish no matter how tiny."

I suppose every generation has the same paradox. They want and they work hard to make life better for the generation that follows and then they lament when it actually is better. The latest to do so is Jack Nicklaus:

When I started on tour, maybe one or two guys might have made enough money to make a living. Then it got to five or 10. Now there's a couple of hundred guys who make a living playing golf. We had to really play well and scratch it out to be in a position to get endorsements. But we worked to try to build the tour so they didn't have to do that.

And then:

You try to create a system that allows a lot of people to be able to make a living doing something. And they're successful doing it and then your system destroys the desire for guys to have to work.

If you really think that's the case, Jack, who's to blame? I don't think it's the case, though. I think today's big money and the game's popularity rests squarely on the shoulders of Tiger Woods. The game was on the wane. Nicklaus, Watson, Trevino, etc were good players in their day but their day was past. With the exceptions of Lee Trevino, Seve Ballesteros, and Chi Chi Rodriguez, the tour was seriously lacking in charisma. It was boring. Tiger changed all of that. He has charisma out the wazoo and the game to match. Golf soared to a new level of popularity because of him and the money just naturally followed it. It's not easier money, though. Today's tour players have to play against full-time professional golfers and if they don't do well or "gut it out" as Nicklaus might say, they lose their sponsorships. There's not just 1 or 2, 5 or 10 professionals any more and technology has almost leveled the playing field. It's a tougher game now than when you played it, Jack.

47 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

Who's to say the way
A man should spend his days
Do you let them smolder
Like paper in fire

John Mellencamp, Paper In Fire

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "The weather is the great wildcard at The Open. Today, the morning weather was borderline illegal."

When I was pondering switching jobs in December/January, I based some of my calculations on $3 per gallon gasoline because it wasn't much more than that then and I stupidly thought it would go down, not up. Economics wasn't the only factor in my decision but it was certainly part of the equation. My current commute saves me about 5 gallons per day over my former commute. At $4+ per gallon, I suspect there will be more people doing that same math and finding a job closer to their house or a house closer to their job. Many/most large cities depend on a large commuting work force. There was a time when cities were trying to find ways to tax those workers. They were thought of as a drain on the urban economy. I doubt anyone thinks that now.

48 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

People used to tease me about the 'Jobing' mobile, and now they're like, 'Oh, we'll get Misha to drive.'

Misha Di Bono

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Second, I would like to see something about fiscal responsibility. Deficit spending during recessions is fine. But it would be nice to go back to the good old days of the late '90s and run surpluses when the economy is surging."

The Dark Knight opens today in some markets but wide release starts tomorrow. I don't remember a movie being as hyped as this one.

The Brett Favre saga is moving into surreal territory. I enjoy NFL drama whenever it isn't in New Orleans. Please carry on.

The Nightfly's take on Tuesday night's ALL-Star game. I should have mentioned the Papplebon incident yesterday but didn't. What he said was innocuous and blown way out of proportion by New York media. The razzing he got from New York fans during the game is OK but threats to his wife (Don't know why everyone has to mention that she's pregnant. Doesn't make it any worse.) are inexcusable.

49 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

Ninety percent I'll spend on good times, women, and Irish whiskey. The other ten percent I'll probably waste.

Tug McGraw, Baseball player - 1944-2004

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "The National League wound up losing in the longest All-Star Game ever, with David Wright on the verge of being asked to pitch. I was hoping to see a Kazmir/Wright pitching duel, but the AL took the win before it could happen."

After last night's chapter (Turned off here after the 11th inning), it looks like the Major League Baseball All-Star Game needs some tweaking ... again, and it's mainly because I'm mad I didn't get to see the whole thing. Did you?

Some unsolicited, unwanted advice from CrabAppleLane: First, start the game earlier. This is a no-brainer. Starting a game, particularly this game with all its announcements and curtain calls, at 8PM local time on a work night is ludicrous. Second and more important to me is this: Expand the rosters by 5 or 6 players each. Both managers feel obligated to get all their players into the game and are also scared to death to overuse anyone, particularly the pitchers. That's OK in a 9-inning game but it's a real problem if the game goes beyond 9 innings like last night's game did. To be fair, a 15-inning game is going to put a strain on any pitching staff. The American League was out of usable players by the 9th inning and used their entire 12-man pitching staff. Besides, everyone complains about who didn't make the roster. There would still surely be complaining but a little less I'd think.

One more thing: I have to give Major League Baseball some credit for steering their game from the brink of irrelevancy into a modern renaissance. They've done it with new ballparks, interleague play, and a generous infusion of young, enthusiastic, exciting players. The smile on Hanley Ramirez's face last night after his second all-star hit said it all. Baseball is doing something right for a change and the late, great Mel Allen would say, "How about that?". Shut up cynics (That includes me).

50 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

Funniest rebuke I ever got - while we were still just dating, Ladybug nearly bought me an antique wooden soap box: "You can keep stuff in it when you're not standing on it!"

The Nightfly

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "I've been packing up our apartment for the past six hours, and my body has transcended the point of ache and moved right on to total collapse. Some use smelling salts to revive; normally, I would probably head straight for the Pinot Grigio."

I wonder if its possible for The Dark Knight to live up to its hype (See today's QOTD). Josh Tyler goes on to say about Heath Ledger's Joker, "He is at once funny and terrifying.". Bonus points if I'm ever terrified during this movie but I'll give Ledger this: Of the three Jokers I've seen and heard (Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, and Heath Ledger), Ledger has the best laugh. The laugh is such an important part of the Joker that it is reason enough for me to ante up. Circumstance has pretty much guaranteed that it will be this year's biggest blockbuster. I'll probably see it a week or two into its run. You?

51 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

Forget the great things you've heard about The Dark Knight. No matter how lavish the praise or how determined the hyperbole, it's all understatement.

Josh Tyler, CinemaBlend.com

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Coming Soon have sat down and spoken with three members of The Dark Knight cast, Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman."

We went to see Wanted yesterday. What can I say? It was my turn to pick the movie. Today's sage words of advice from CrabAppleLane if you decide to see this film: Check your brains at the door, suspend your disbelief as high as you can, and just go along for the ride. The film is thoroughly absurd from start to finish. It's a blast. I knew about what to expect from Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie and they delivered fine performances but I was thoroughly impressed with James McAvoy. If they make a sequel to this with McAvoy, I'm in. I'll probably have to go alone, though. Bummer.

52 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

Either you make sweaters or you kill people.

Wesley Gibson, Wanted

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "You know you're from New Orleans when... you know way more than one person who lived exactly this kind of life."

The Brett Favre saga has escalated into brinkmanship. Favre wants the uncontested starter's job at Green Bay or an unconditional release. The Packers want him to retire and STAY retired. They don't want him playing anywhere else and that especially includes the teams within their division, who would fight over his services in a big way should he become available. The Packers have decided that the best way to go about it is to bring him to camp if he wants to play but guarantee him nothing. They're gambling that he won't accept it and stay retired. If he does accept their offer, they've got a huge quarterback controversy and a potential $13 million backup QB, which would be ludicrous. If he didn't win the starter's job, they'd have to release him. If they released him right at the start of the season, he could probably play somewhere else but not right away. It would be a pretty dirty thing to do to a future Hall-of-Famer but I don't have a lot of sympathy for him. What he's doing is pretty dirty, too.

The CrabAppleLane yard had been neglected for about a month because of an equipment breakdown. The old finish mower snapped a belt a few weeks ago and then snapped the replacement belt almost immediately. It's not worth sending it to the shop and spending the minimum amount to fix although I may tinker with it in the coming years on my own to use as a backup. It was good to get out in the 99º weather yesterday and get some yardwork done. I don't really mind even that extreme heat once I break a sweat as long as I know I can take a cool shower immediately afterwards.

I offer two from the CrabAppleLane backyard this hot Sunday morning.

Old CrabAppleLane mower - July 13, 2008 - After 13 years of service

New CrabAppleLane mower - July 13, 2008 - After its first outing

Today's QOTD is from Patton Oswalt's commencement speech at Broad Run High School. I came across it via Michele.

53 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

I completely ignored the deeper lesson which is do not judge, and get outside yourself, and realize that everyone and everything has its own story, and something to teach you, and that they're also trying - consciously or unconsciously - to learn and grow from you and everything else around them. And they're trying with the same passion and hunger and confusion that I was feeling - no matter where they were in their lives, no matter how old or how young.

Patton Oswalt

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "So it's official: Brett wants out of Green Bay."

Patsy and I watched The Big Country last night. I hope there is a better print of this fine film somewhere. The one we saw was blurry throughout and very dark in some spots even though they seemed to be shot in broad daylight. I recorded it off of our local PBS station's broadcast but I doubt that had much to do with the poor quality. Very disappointing. This is a western with a very familiar theme and an all star cast. The performances elevate it. Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Chuck Connors, and Carroll Baker are all terrific and Jean Simmons could easily have won an Oscar for her performance. Burl Ives did win an Oscar for his fabulous performance in this. We enjoyed it a lot.

54 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

Treat her right. Take a bath sometime.

Rufus Hannassey, The Big Country

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "I know I don't have to go into much detail to explain why this would be scary, but I will anyway, cause what's more fun than talking about widespread public nudity?"

Patsy tells me last night that she isn't receiving nearly as much email spam now as she was before we switched to the new host server. We both use CrabAppleLane email addresses and my spam is way down, too. This is an interesting development. I didn't save any of the previous spam so I can't look at email headers to see what's changed. Just a guess but I'm thinking my former host is a spammer paradise: Ideal place for them to send to and from.

Today's QOTD is about Michael Jackson. He was on top of the world 25 years ago (Thriller came out in 1982). Who'd want to be him now?

55 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

The irony is of course that Jackson is now better known for wearing such ludicrous disguises than not.

Richard Simpson, Daily Mail

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Personalized greetings can give your emails a lift, but they can also trip you up. In this email, my name failed to load properly. On the upside, at least a gobbygook code placeholder."

This is how the sports seasons work for me because I know you're just dying to know.

The New York Giants open the NFL season against the Washington Redskins 8 weeks from today. The defending champion opens the season at home in a new tradition that I like a lot. Hope the Saints get to do it soon. Teams start reporting to training camp in about 2 weeks. Football has been gone since early February and the first preseason game is in early August. That's 6 months between games.

Contrast that to the NBA. The Celtics won the title on June 17. The first NBA preseason game was on July 7. Not even three weeks. I think the reason the NFL is so much more popular than the NBA is there is some anticipation leading up to a season and because it doesn't drag on as long.

Turning to baseball, their season is similar to the NFL's. Just long enough. On a personal note, there was a time when football and baseball had equal places in my heart. I love both games. I think the NFL was going to pass them in popularity eventually but baseball's internal strife sped up the process. I don't think they'll ever catch up but they're rising in popularity again in spite of their steroid scandals.

Speaking of baseball, my friend, Dave, wields some power over his teams. I have the same power over my teams. It's the curse called optimism. The fan's life is not for the faint of heart.

56 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

I laughed out loud twice early in Wednesday's game, watching Manny being Manny in left field. I honestly love watching him play. It seems like everything he does is funny or spectacular, and sometimes both.

Joe Christensen, Star Tribune

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Well, its that time of year again, I have finally released the Top 100 Female Blogger List which is a page on the blog so you can access it on the entire blog or by simply going to www.enkayblog.com/top100."

Interesting list. No idea how it was compiled. -Rob

Or should it be shoes and I? I've recently made some new and rather disappointing discoveries about myself regarding shoes. Let me get this out of the way first and for the record: I don't give a rat's a$$ about fashion. The first recent discovery is that I can't buy any pair of shoes my size and work in them all day. I can't wear heavy work boots because they make my arthritic knee ache. I can't wear cheaper work shoes because they wear out fast and I start compensating, which brings a whole new set of aches and pains to the table. I've got to be a little more selective. Selective in my case means I'll be spending more money on shoes. The second discovery is that I can no longer buy shoes without first trying them on. THAT really bums me out. I've been doing so for at least 30 years. I wear Size 10½. Have since I was about 16. It cost me $9.34 to discover that I can no longer do it and that pretty much rules out online shopping. The Doc Martens Store will ship them to you for free but you're responsible for freight if you need to return them. That's where the $9.34 comes in. Most online stores have a similar return policy. There was a time I could drink anything I wanted, eat anything I wanted, and wear anything I wanted. In baseball parlance, you might say I have three strikes now. Guess I can't play baseball, either.

57 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

He tortured many inmates before he killed them at Mauthausen, and he used body parts of the people he killed as decorations.

Efraim Zuroff, Simon Wiesenthal Center

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "I saw the cutest pair of gold strappy sandals on a gal at a street dance last weekend."

Columbia Street Tap Room - Covington, LA - July 7, 2008

Quote of the Day

And I gotta get a move on fit for the sun
I hear my baby callin' my name
And I know that she's the only one
And if I die in Raleigh
At least I will die free

Old Crow Medicine Show, Wagon Wheel

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "It's that time of year, kids. Where knuckleheads from around this big blue marble we call home travel to Spain to run with the bulls."

Couldn't agree more. -Rob

My current favorite YouTube video is a cellphone recording of an amazing performance by Old Crow Medicine Show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville with Gillian Welch on drums, David Rawlings on guitar, and everyone, including the audience, on harmony. The video is disappointing but the sound is great. Makes me wish there was a professionally recorded version of it. I have the studio recording of Wagon Wheel but it doesn't compare to any of the live performances you'll find all over the web. It's rare and very special when a band plays their song and the whole audience joins in word for word. As many concerts as I've been to, I hardly ever remember seeing it. Quite amazing.

59 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

Some police and soldiers who are hostages try to abuse Ingrid because maybe after 10 years in the jungle, they lost their mind. There's a lot of terrible things happening there

Juan Carlos Lecompte

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Also, I don't use semi-colons for the fun of it; I do it because I recognize their proper usage and my obsessive-compulsiveness often gets directed into punctuation and grammar."

We found a washer (We got a white one. The Arctic Blue one pictured would have made Patsy swoon and we'd have had to pay the extra $100 for it ... if they'd had one) yesterday and it is being delivered and installed today. We spent a little more than we intended to (Somehow, we always do) but my rationale is that it's a 15-20 year investment and you might as well get the one you really want ... within reason. It will be a tight fit in our wash room. It's a little deeper than our old top-loader that they're also going to haul away. Free pickup, delivery, and installation were not requirements because I could have done all of this, myself, and I would have had there been a week's delay. But next day? For free? I'm sure it's built into the price but their price was not any higher than their local competition. SOLD.

I think I know a few people, who think like these dial-up users. From that article, John Horrigan says:

It's going to have to be a process of getting people more engaged with information technology and demonstrating to people it's worth it for them to make the investment of time and money.

Yeah? Good luck with that. Having beaten my head against that wall for a good portion of my life, both personally and professionally, I can only offer this: Bring your AAAA++++ game. That's a tough opponent.

I offer one from the CrabAppleLane living room. Pardon the Sunday morning mess. We were expecting delivery this afternoon. They showed up at 9AM. Awesome for us. Too bad for them. They caught us in Sunday morning lounge mode. The old one is out the door and loaded up and they're installing the new one as I type.

CrabAppleLane Washer - July 6, 2008

60 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

Catch a Cannonball now to take me on down the line
My bag is sinkin' low and I do believe it's time
To get back to Miss Annie
You know she's the only one
Who sent me here with her regards for everyone.

The Band, The Weight

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "If you're a serious airline geek like me, you've saved every airline boarding pass you've ever used."

Cool post. Wish I had saved some now. -Rob

It's a CrabAppleLane tradition. Hemorrhaging money, that is. The CrabAppleLane finish mower broke a couple of weeks ago. The 20-something-yr-old CrabAppleLane washing machine broke this past week (After I specifically asked Patsy to stop breaking things :)). Truth be told, I think that breakage is contagious but I'm not sure how it's transmitted. There doesn't seem to be any known contact between these two. The finish mower is always outside and the washing machine is always inside. Patsy goes nowhere near the finish mower and I try to stay away from the washing machine. Our outdoor cat never comes inside the house and the indoor cats never go outside. Tis a mystery how these things always happen in bunches. I dare not ask what's next.

Speaking of mysteries, the changeover here from the old server to the new one is still unstable. When you make the switch, you're told that it will take 24-48 hours for the whole internet to catch up (It's been about 38 hours now) but it's still annoying how things work one minute and stop working the next. Currently, my email accounts are not working but Patsy's are. Last night, mine were working but hers weren't (I prefer this problem but Patsy doesn't care for it as much).

61 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

Well it just goes to show you, it's always something, you either got a toenail in your hamburger or toilet paper clinging to your shoe.

Roseanne Roseannadanna

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "I wish I was on a river, but I don't want to be anywhere near one this weekend, since you'll be able to walk from one bank to the other on drunken sunburned toobers."

The CrabAppleLane Blog is now back at a CrabAppleLane address ... I hope. You can change the URL to

if you're so inclined. Or not. I think the current nethost address will work as long as I stay at this host server. I chose this holiday weekend to make the switch because I know fewer people would be impacted by it. Holiday weekends are slower here than my typical slow weekends. It was a rather maddening interesting migration. At 9AM this morning, my browser brought me here to the new server and I started fixing the broken things. By 10:30AM, my browser was bringing me back to the old server and everything I had fixed was broken. Not knowing where I stand/stood any more and because rebuilding large blogs is tedious, I decided to wait and see. As of this writing, CrabAppleLane is still in limbo. If you put www in the URL, you are taken to the old server (At 1:10PM CrabAppleLane time). If you don't, you come here to the new one. I don't understand the internet.

CrabAppleLane tip for bloggers who post a lot of photos: Start using a storage/share service such as FlickR for your photos. Store them there. I'm only mentioning FlickR because I don't know the policies of any of the others. With FlickR, you can blog your photos as long as you provide a link back to it's FlickR location (Something you'll want to do anyway). I'm on my 5th host in 8 years. Hosting services can be unreliable. They can get overcrowded and unstable like my last one did, they can go out of business like the one before that, or they can be outgrown like the two before that. If you ever have to move to another host, moving image files (Typically the largest ones you have) is tedious and unreliable. Image files do not travel well over FTP programs en masse. One or two? No problem. Several hundred? BIG problem.

A lot of the links at the original blog might not work any more and some of the photos didn't travel well but I thought I'd revisit one entry that I came across that I just had to fix. Unfortunately, it won't be fixed until the migration is complete.

62 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy
A Yankee Doodle, do or die
A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam
Born on the Fourth of July

George M Cohan, I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "I have a rusted, stripped, useless shower head; a disgustingly dirty, ancient medicine cabinet; live wires and a broken lamp in my (one of two) closets; and a fishwife neighbour who shouts constantly at her young kids."

Brett not quite ready to move on. The Packers are in an impossible situation. He's still popular in Green Bay and can still play at a good level. Unfortunately, the Packers prepared all offseason for his retirement. They drafted a QB, spent a good bit of Brett's cap number on free agents, and started adjusting the offense for Aaron Rodgers. Releasing him would be unpopular and keeping him would disrupt their plans. I think I'd have to try to release him or trade him and move on but this team was one overtime loss from the Super Bowl last season and might think they could make a better run this year with Brett. Glad I don't have to make that decision.

63 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

It's all rumor

Brett Favre

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Can't say this one was a shock, as yours truly called it from the moment he called it quits - Brett Favre wants to come back to the Packers."

CrabAppleLane traveling spider - July 1, 2008

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now, shaping your spring summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to.(Volunteers only)

Mine below the jump.

64 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

I drew that glass across his neck
As fine as any blade
And I felt his blood pour fast and hot
Around me where I laid

Caleb Meyer, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "I spent the last four days doing a little housework, but mostly resting and taking DayQuil and NyQuil (the Nectar of the Gods) and recuperating."

Every once in a while, I make a decent prediction. I'm referring to Marques Colston. He's in the last year of his contract with the Saints and has performed well above expectations. He's played himself into some big money and I'm sure something will get done on that score soon. The Saints have been pretty good about that under Mickey Loomis. I'll admit I was very concerned about Mickey when he was promoted to replace Randy Mueller but he has earned my respect. He has done a sensational job. Speaking of the Saints, got an extra $8640 or $18,000 lying around? For a meaningless exhibition game?

Roger Goodell has it wrong. What's new? This squawking about how much money untested draft picks are getting is much ado about nothing. For one thing, we're only talking about first round draft picks and, really, only the upper half of the first round. Every other draft pick is scaled. It is ridiculous for anyone to say that performing veterans aren't getting their share of the pie. One such performer just got a $70 million extension. The owners and the players are both getting theirs. The only ones getting soaked are the fans and the taxpayers.

Patsy and I seem to get the same things at the same time. We had gallstone attacks and subsequent surgeries within four months of each other. Now, we both seem to be experiencing neuromas. Hers was much worse than mine. Hers required visits to the doctor, special shoes, steroid shots, and ultimately, surgery. At the time of the surgery, she also had a plate removed from a previous surgery to repair her broken ankle. The surgeon, who is also her doctor, gave her the plate as a keepsake but only after telling her what a great job the previous surgeon had done. So great, it required a hammer and chisel to remove. I'm not all that squeamish about most things but hearing that made me woozy.

A special thanks to Lana, who has correctly identified a spider I've been mis-identifying for years. What I had been calling an Argiope spider is actually a Golden silk orb-weaver. I was never comfortable with that identification but couldn't find a better one ... until now. We have these all over CrabAppleLane. We're a few miles north of Lana's place.

65 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

The more Goodell talks, the less I think there will be an NFL season in 2011.

Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Spider-Man is whipped."