January 2011 Archives

Before any NFL game, the teams do some warmup exercises and then they do a walk-through where each team's offense lines up against their own defense and runs a few plays. There's no hitting involved. That's exactly what the Pro Bowl looks like now, particularly on the AFC side. The AFC defense yesterday wanted no part of physical runners like Adrian Peterson, Steven Jackson, and Michael Turner. No one really wants this game any more. The fans are only watching the game, probably with their eyes closed, to see that their guys don't get hurt. They're our best players. The players want the free trip to Hawaii, the paycheck, and the lollies that come with being selected but they surely don't want to risk injury in a meaningless game. Just do away with it.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. 1984 - David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
2. A Warm Place - Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
3. Callas Went Away - Enigma - MCMXC a.D.
4. Going Home [Theme of the Local Hero] - Mark Knopfler - Local Hero
5. There's A World - Neil Young - Harvest

Quote of the Day

I want the gas pedal down.

Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints Head Coach - Super Bowl XLIV

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Then again, it is the Pro Bowl. It’s kind of funny to watch, definitely entertaining. And it does make for a high-scoring game, which is just what you’d expect from the Pro Bowl."

Definitely entertaining? -Rob

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Wonder how nervous the tin pot dictators in the Middle East are at the moment. My guess is very. Remember when Hungary removed their border fence with Austria? Europe was transformed and all of their tin pot dictators were ousted, some quite violently. The events in Tunisia feel the same. The Middle East is changing before our very eyes. Next up? China, North Korea, Iran? China is trying to keep their citizens in the dark about the unrest in the Middle East ... with good reason.

I offer one from the CrabAppleLane Backyard on this dreary Sunday. Kinda like misty days, though.

CrabAppleLane Backyard - January 30, 2011

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Calling Elvis - Dire Straits - In Every Street
2. The Way It Always Starts - Gerry Rafferty, Mark Knopfler - Local Hero
3. Slip Slidin' Away - Paul Simon - Negotiations And Love Songs 1971-1986
4. If This Is Goodbye - Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - Real Live Roadrunning
5. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen - A Night At The Opera

Quote of the Day

But I'm a superstitious man, and if some unlucky accident should befall him, if he should get shot in the head by a police officer, or if he should hang himself in his jail cell, or if he's struck by a bolt of lightning, then I'm going to blame some of the people in this room.

Vito Corleone, The Godfather

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "In the evening the Lakefront in Mandeville is a time to get out and away from the house. Walk the dog, fish, sit and watch the sunset or just contemplate."

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About today's QOTD: I've never heard of hallucinogenic bath salts but now I want to know more. That article doesn't give much detail about how they work. Further research was required. The first link I came to had this:

Some people who have used them reported seeing aliens.

All kinds of awesome.

What will stoners think of next? Speaking of stoners: The BOTD has some interesting products but one item, in particular, caught my eye. Wonder if they have an American distributor. They're only used for medicinal purposes, of course, but I think they'd sell like hotcakes here.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Young Girl - Gary Puckett & The Union Gap - The Ultimate Rock & Roll Collection: The 60's
2. A Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum - The British Invasion: The History Of British Rock, Vol. 8
3. The Galician Waltz, Breton Dances - Maggie Sansone - Music In The Great Hall - Instrumental Music From The Ancient Celtic Lands
4. On the Run - Pink Floyd - Pulse
5. Alone and Forsaken - Neko Case - Neko Case/Live From Austin, TX

Quote of the Day

A Slidell man who was the first person in the state arrested on charges of buying hallucinogenic "bath salts" was ordered to serve 10 years in prison for violating his probation from a prior drug arrest, authorities said Friday.

The Times-Picayune

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "We’ve had a run of orders over Christmas so you may notice our stocks are a little low, including multipacks. Sorry about that! We expect to have a full refresh of stock in the next week."

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Abita Springs - January 28, 2011

You're supposed to read this as you're coming out of a traffic circle. Wonder if people go around multiple times until they get it all. :)

That last one is WELS
Wisconsin
Evangelical
Lutheran
Synod

Yet another reason to hate spam. You know how you're at home in Moscow minding your own business building a bomb to strap to yourself and detonate in a crowded place and then someone, probably also Russian, sends you a spam text message and blows you up? Yeah, well, never mind, I don't really hate it when that happens.

Sad anniversary today. It was truly a national tragedy. It was a "where were you" moment, too. I was at work in New Orleans that day 25 years ago when we heard the news about Challenger and turned on the TV. After the explosion, the camera trained on Christa McAuliffe's parents for a long time. As "What happened?" turned to shock and horror and grief, we all saw it on their faces. I felt like I was intruding. I still feel that way. The way they handled their crushing loss on live national television was quite amazing when I think back on it. Christa wasn't our only loss that day, though. R.I.P., Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnik, Gregory Jarvis, and S. Christa McAuliffe.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Eye - Smashing Pumpkins - Lost Highway
2. Selling the Drama - Live - Throwing Copper
3. Loretta - Nazareth - Close Enough For Rock 'N' Roll
4. Not Fragile - Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Not Fragile
5. Bell Bottom Blues - Derek & The Dominos - The Cream Of Clapton

Quote of the Day

We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of Earth' to 'touch the face of God.

President Ronald Reagan

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "People began to cheer as the rocket rose silently into the sky atop a pillar of flame and smoke. It took nearly 10 seconds for the thunderous sound of liftoff to reach the spectators. A distant crackling quickly built to a pulsating roar that shook my bones."

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I offer two more from yesterday's lunch in the park. Not sure how that structure in the first image is used and the second image is just another one with a sign in it. The park is a little too sign-happy to suit me. Also, swimming was obviously allowed there at one time. I wonder why it was discontinued. Not that I wanted to take a dip yesterday. Was a tad too cold.

Bogue Falaya Wayside Park - January 26, 2011

Bogue Falaya Wayside Park - January 26, 2011

About today's QOTD: Minds out of the gutters. He actually means "sleep". My cat agrees with him. He's always on the bed when I try to get in and he doesn't budge. Says he was there first.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Only You Can Rock Me - UFO - Essential UFO
2. Found Out About You - Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience
3. Belle Starr - Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - All The Roadrunning
4. Tattoo Vampire - Blue Öyster Cult - Agents of Fortune
5. Tall Cool One - Robert Plant - Now And Zen

Quote of the Day

It's been a long haul. But now a couple of "experts" have come forth with yet another don't, a finding that will make the rest of the winter even worse. We're not supposed to sleep with our pets.

Craig Wilson, USA TODAY

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "School Marquee Fail"

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From the Everything is BIGGER in Texas Department: Via Kate. I found a few more.

And this ...

Bogue Falaya Wayside Park - January 26, 2011

From the To Whom It May Concern Department: If I fall in, I'm ignoring that sign.

Growing up in Kenner, Louisiana, I could hear the ships on the Mississippi River sound their horns. Living around the Mississippi in the Greater New Orleans area all of my life, I have read about people who fell into, jumped into, or even tried to swim the Mississippi. The next thing you read about that person was about the body being recovered. For every one of those stories I read about or saw on TV, I "heard" about 5 or 10 others, not one of them a tale of survival. The Mississippi in New Orleans and south Louisiana is not the same as it is upriver in Minneapolis, St Louis, or even Baton Rouge. It is much wider, the current much swifter, and the whirlpools and undertows much more treacherous. Old Man River is not to be trifled with.

The Reeds grew up in this area, too. They know all of the same stories I know. Ed Reed is a famous, All-Pro, potential Hall-Of-Fame football player for the Baltimore Ravens. His brother, Brian, lived a different life. I don't know what his sins were because I still have only read the headlines and that's probably as much as I'll ever read about Brian Reed. The only thing I can be sure of is that if he thought jumping into the Mississippi River to escape from the police was a better option than taking his chances in court, he had to be pretty desperate. Condolences to the Reed family.

Dumbass move of the day: Stepped out of the house and it didn't seem that cold. I was not expecting a thick sheet of ice on the windshield. Got the defogger going and sprayed washer fluid but it wasn't doing much. Sometimes, I can drive down the driveway and up Crabapple Lane and the defogger and washer fluid start doing their job before the blinding sun forces me to stop. I had to stop this time. I didn't see my scraper immediately. Rather than spend any time looking for it, I tried the wiper spray one more time while I was getting back into the truck. The wiper nozzle sprays the whole windshield and about six inches to either side. I sprayed myself right in the face, mostly in the eyes. Thankfully, it was diluted enough not to cause any discomfort.

So Drew Brees was injured earlier this year and played through it. Doesn't much matter now although it was a bone of contention amongst sports pundits and fans at the time and it was used against Jay Cutler this past weekend. The inference was that Drew played through it and Cutler didn't. Even though I am a huge, huge fan of Drew Brees and no fan at all of Jay Cutler's, I'm not sure that's fair to Jay. These things are a matter of degree. We don't know whose injury was worse although I don't see Drew ever coming out of a championship game with anything less than a Joe Theisman injury (I can't link to that. Proceed with caution if you want to see it. It's pretty gruesome.). The past matters. Brees and Cutler have different slates. Jay's toughness was called into question mainly because he whiny-babied his way out of Denver. Still, I'm not sure what was gained by concealing Drew's injury and denying it all year but you can add Sean Payton to the list of head coaches who are less than forthcoming about his team's injuries. I think that makes 32 head coaches in the NFL now that do that.

About today's QOTD: Politicians on all sides have been saying something like that for about 50 years. When should we take them seriously?

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Is There a Ghost - Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
2. From Baltimore to Murfreesboro - Kim Novak - Pancake Bellyache
3. Seasons Of Wither - Aerosmith - Get Your Wings
4. Just What The Doctor Ordered - Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent
5. Give It Time - Bachman-Turner Overdrive - The Anthology

Quote of the Day

Our nation is approaching a tipping point. We are at a moment, where if government's growth is left unchecked and unchallenged, America's best century will be considered our past century.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Religione a mano armata"

I don't speak Italian and the only reason this is the BOTD is that image. Not particularly squeamish about guns but I find that image disturbing in a way that I can't entirely explain. -Rob

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I know the comment system here is very slow sometimes. It's only on this blog and I may just end up moving over to WordPress because of it. The other CrabAppleLane blogs here work fine. I'm sure it has something to do with the volume of the content, the nature of the content, and the amount of spam trying to get through. However, I was amazed with the speed it worked this morning when I had a gigantic error.

Speaking of comments, I offer this one that must have hit the spam folder by accident:

I'm amazed, I must say. Truly rarely will i experience the blog that's both educative and entertaining, and without a doubt, you've hit the actual toe nail about the mind. Your idea is outstanding; the problem is something which insufficient people are speaking smartly about. I am happy that I stumbled across this during my look for some thing concerning this.

And here I was pondering my insignificance.

Sometimes, you just find yourself speechless for all the right reasons.

Some things just hit me at the right time. I needed a laugh last night, I suppose. The commercial below did that. I don't know that it will make me watch any more ESPN but I'm not sure a commercial has that power anyway.

About today's BOTD: I'm going to have to find some time to read more of that. They're letters from an English soldier serving in Europe during WWI.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) - Blue Öyster Cult - Agents of Fortune
2. You Keep Me Hangin' On - The Supremes - The Ultimate Collection
3. Mellow Yellow - Donovan - AM Gold: The '60s Generation
4. Lady Love - Robin Trower - Bridge of Sighs
5. Imelda - Mark Knopfler - Golden Heart

Quote of the Day

Why would you even install that?

Derrick Rose, ESPN

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Dec 1st 1917

I have just received a small packet from you and was very pleased with it. It was a good job it was something that would keep as it was the dated Nov 8th. I have also received a letter Nov 14th. The lady you are marrying I can remember quite well. Well I hope you are married by now."

Lovely. -Rob

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Before I turn the page on this NFL season, I'd like to go back to last season just one more time. A year ago today, the Saints and Vikings met in the NFC Championship game in the Louisiana SuperDome. For Saints fans, the hype and the anticipation were almost unbearable. For most of the season, the Vikings and Saints were the two best teams in the NFC. Mike Tanier of the New York Times said it this way:

The N.F.C. has become a two-team conference. The brutal, efficient Vikings are in one corner and the electrifying Saints are in the other. All other contenders are just fodder.

The two teams had lost some of their luster over the last few weeks of the season. It was thought the Cowboys and even the Cardinals were playing better football down the stretch. 31-point beatings on those two in the divisional round put an end to that talk. The Saints and Vikes were the only NFC heavyweights. No ifs, ands, or buts. They had pushed each other all season and this was the matchup everyone wanted.

It was not a particularly well-played game. There were too many turnovers, mistakes, penalties, and questionable calls. Both teams were aggressive and both teams were very physical. After 60 minutes of intense, emotional, gut-wrenching, and wildly entertaining football, they hadn't decided anything. The score and the teams were still dead even. The Saints went on to win in overtime. Those were the two best teams in football and that game was easily the most intense, dramatic, and hard-fought game I had ever seen involving my team, the New Orleans Saints. The Vikings would have beaten the Colts, too.

Looks like a great matchup on paper and has real potential for a shootout. Much is said about the defenses these two teams have but the truth of the matter is that they're built to win their divisions and they both struggle against good quarterbacks and good passing teams, which they don't see much. The Patriots, a good passing team, beat both of them. The Packers and Steelers have good quarterbacks and are both good passing teams. Figures to be fun.

The last thing the world needs is another Wal-Mart but trying to prevent one from being built "near" a historic Civil War battlefield is a bit too much. Near? What does that mean? Three blocks over? Same zip code? Preservationists need to, ahem, pick their battles better. There is a real danger that developers will someday land a strip mall on a historical site like Antietam or Manassas. Some of the Civil War sites are on prime real estate and will always be under pressure from developers. That temptation needs to be removed entirely but the Feds will have to do that. States are too busy wooing those developers for business for their state and state reps are too busy wooing those developers for campaign money.

5 song iTune shuffle from the "Purchased" list since April 3, 2010:

1. Tornadoes - Drive-By Truckers - The Dirty South - 10/12/2010 10:52 PM
2. Waitin' for the Bus - ZZ Top - The Best of ZZ Top - 12/8/2010 8:53 PM
3. Where the Devil Don't Stay - Drive-By Truckers - The Dirty South - 10/12/2010 10:27 PM
4. The Great Salt Lake - Band of Horses - Everything All the Time - 1/23/2011 9:54 PM
5. Poison - Alice Cooper - Alice Cooper Classicks - 10/24/2010 9:21 AM

Quote of the Day

At least 23 people were killed and more than 130 injured in a blast at Moscow's Domodedovo airport on Monday, state-run RIA news agency reported, citing the Russian Health Ministry.

MSNBC Breaking News

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "The news that Osama bin Laden, or someone impersonating him, released a new audio message on Friday has been greeted with as little fanfare as reports on Thursday that Terry Jones, the pastor of a Florida microchurch, was denied permission to enter Britain to address 30 fans of his work.

That so little attention is now paid to these two men, who have been largely tuned out by most media outlets, is a reminder of how important the oxygen of publicity remains, even in an era when everyone has access to the digital megaphones of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube."

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Not knowing what The Reader was about was the only way I would have watched it. The collective guilt of a generation of Germans over The Holocaust and the various degrees of moral outrage later generations of Germans feel towards that generation, except for maybe their own parents, grandparents, and great grandparents, is something I really have no desire to understand and the shame the two main characters felt over the choices they'd made didn't reach me. I don't care.

The performances in The Reader were OK but one casting choice was curious. David Kross as young Michael Berg speaks with a pronounced German accent and Ralph Fiennes as the not much older Michael Berg speaks with a posh British accent. I stayed to the end but it was all pretty depressing. Not what I'm looking for on a Saturday night.

Pulling for the Packers today and just ever so slightly for the Steelers. Don't really care about the AFC.

Caught the tail end of an Austin City Limits show featuring Band of Horses. I came in during the middle of the finale. It was a song called The Funeral. Fantastic. Enjoy.

Got rid of the smilies here. What a pain that was to accomplish. I may install a better version of them at some point or might install the version I have in a better way.

I offer a few from the CrabAppleLane Backyard.

CrabAppleLane Backyard - January 23, 2011

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. The Funeral - Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
2. I'd Love To Change The World - Alvin Lee - A Space In Time
3. Tears - Rush - 2112
4. Crossroads - Cream - The Cream Of Clapton
5. Walk The Line - Live - Live At The Paradiso

Quote of the Day

What we feel isn't important. It's utterly unimportant. The only question is what we do. If people like you don't learn from what happened to people like me, then what the hell is the point of anything?

Professor Rohl, The Reader

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Here's some of what you'll see if you take a look at A Fire in My Belly, the video by David Wojnarowicz that the National Portrait Gallery removed from Hide/Seek, its current exhibit about "sexual difference" in American portraiture: a legless beggar dodging traffic on his stumps, a mouth being stitched shut with a needle and thread, a bowl of blood, and fire ants on a crucifix."

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Thought it would be fun to do another one of these. It's a truly neat thing available to FlickR users. If you're interested in more and if you have a FlickR account, click on the image to see where those objects are located in these pictures. That's my garage roof illuminated by our living room light in both images. Orion has always been my favorite.

CrabAppleLane Night Sky - January 22, 2011 - Image 1

CrabAppleLane Night Sky - January 22, 2011 - Image 2

CrabAppleLane - January 22, 2011 8:25AM CST

My northern friends and relatives would probably love temps like this today but I'm here to tell you it's a little bit too chilly for my CrabAppleLane latitude. I have some things to do outdoors today. I don't think I'll be working up a sweat, though.

Old Reliable - January 22, 2011

I had lamented a few weeks ago about how my new grease gun had wonderfully explicit step-by-step instructions for how to load the grease for the first time but had no instruction whatsoever for how to get the empty cartridge out. I've been tinkering off and on with it for a few weeks to no avail. I tried various screwdrivers, needle nose pliers, regular pliers, channel lock pliers (Never mind), and a few other tricks I've since forgotten. Hammer Time: I must confess that I had other thoughts about what to do about that grease gun when I first picked up the hammer. Just on a whim, I stuck the hammer inside the grease gun and pulled. The cartridge came right out. It's still the best tool in the box. Ask any mechanic. :)

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Golden Heart - Mark Knopfler - Golden Heart
2. Forever Young - Chris Isaak - Heart Shaped World
3. The Fox - Nickel Creek - Nickel Creek
4. Blowin' Free - Wishbone Ash - Argus
5. True Love Will Never Fade - Mark Knopfler - Kill To Get Crimson

Quote of the Day

Stock the refrigerator full of champagne and get ready to celebrate

James Ihedigbo, New York Jets

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Luc Herbots just sent us this wicked awesome shot of Monk posing in his best Bruce Lee/Uma Thurman duds."

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Knowing is one of those movies that takes itself pretty seriously. Roger Ebert took it seriously and gave it four stars. I can't make up my mind if the filmmakers were just making a movie or trying to convey a message. The film has mysterious aliens, normally a reliable indicator of CME, and at least one spectacular action scene. I still cannot decide whether I liked it or not. I wanted to but it had so much of a Close Encounters of the Third Kind vibe to it that I was squirming in my seat toward the end. Close Encounters dropped me off at the second to last stop. So did Knowing.

Today's QOTD comes from an article titled "Why buying coffee with your iPhone matters". Not sure what Upton is talking about but I'm sure mobile phones are going to play a more prominent role in our lives. It will be a bigger nuisance than smoking ever was.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Why Ya Wanna Do Me? - Cowboy Mouth - Mercyland
2. I've Had Enough - The Who - Quadrophenia
3. Boom, Like That - Mark Knopfler - Live From The Ryman
4. Rock 'N Roll Widow - Wishbone Ash - Wishbone Four
5. I'm Shipping Up to Boston - Dropkick Murphys - The Warrior's Code

Quote of the Day

It does … give us some of the market differentiation in terms of consumer adoption, behavior, preferences (and) perceptions by moving to some of the other markets.

Michael Upton, Bank of America

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Anyhow, most if not all of my superiors pronounced it as “rae-vel-lee”.

The standard British pronunciation should be “ri-VAE-li”. The stress is on the second syllable."

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Quite amazing to me that the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers have only met once in the playoffs and that was almost 70 years ago. I have never been a fan of Jay Cutler or the Bears, although I give them a lot of credit for playing hard in the last game of the regular season this year when they didn't have to. That may pay off this weekend. I have always been a big fan of Aaron Rodgers, though. I love the way he plays. I'm expecting a hard-fought game in this Sunday's NFC Championship. I'm pulling for the Packers.

Today's BOTD is referring to a dust up caused by Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio. He did later apologize but that seems to be the latest shtick amongst sports reporters. Make an outrageous accusation and then later apologize if they have to. He took an easy, dirt cheap shot at Aaron Rodgers. Based on a 3-second video clip, he went to print with a story that Rodgers doesn't care about his fans. The fan in question this time was a breast cancer survivor. The horror. What I saw in that clip was a player walking to the locker room, listening to his iPod, head down, not making eye contact with anyone, alone in his thoughts, and totally focused on the task at hand. Baseball pitchers basically do the same thing. That's why no one tries to talk to them in the dugout when they're pitching. He was not ignoring her, specifically, he was ignoring everyone and everything. Florio should have seen that, too. Turns out Rodgers knew her and had done other things for her. She wasn't complaining. He simply didn't see her. Quite understandable in the game day state he was in. That Rodgers had to take time out from his preparation this week to address this thing is the worst part of it. Shame on you, Florio.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Tiny Broken Heart - Alison Krauss & Union Station - Live
2. Scarborough Fair/Canticle - Simon & Garfunkel - Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits
3. Rock Candy - Montrose - Montrose
4. Behind Blue Eyes - The Who - Who's Next
5. Have A Cigar - Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

Quote of the Day

The band is just fantastic
That is really what I think
Oh, by the way
Which one's Pink

Pink Floyd, Have A Cigar

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Florio’s original post was high on fact-free moralizing and short on actual reporting. He used a three-second clip of Rodgers walking past Cavanaugh to indict Rodgers’ character and draw sweeping conclusions about the character of the Packers’ quarterback. It was a cheap attempt at character assassination. And it failed."

Florio did later apologize for his remarks. -Rob

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With really good digital cameras available to the masses and with self-publication being so easy, the internet has become flooded with pictures. No complaints here. I wonder how many of those amateur photographers have noticed about themselves what I've noticed about myself. What has become obvious to me is that the really good photographers have an understanding of photography and a level of skill that I still do not possess even after years of practice. Some images just take my breath away not just for the image, itself, but for what I now know had to go into it. That the photographer had the patience and skill to capture a moment that was only going to last for a second is what separates that guy from someone like me. I need to get in the habit again of bringing my camera wherever I go. I'll try not to bore the handful of readers here with the results too often.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Smackwater Jack - Carole King - Tapestry
2. End Titles Suite (Closer You Get, The) - Rachel Portman - Closer You Get, The - Soundtrack
3. Maybe She's Human - Kathy Mattea - Walking Away A Winner
4. Take It Back - Pink Floyd - The Division Bell
5. Day After Day - Badfinger - The Very Best Of Badfinger

Quote of the Day

I was photographing hummingbirds when I heard the sharp, alarming noise of the birds reacting to the presence of a predator. Sixty feet away from me this green-crowned brilliant was fearlessly attacking a small viper. The long shutter speed and shallow depth of field made it difficult to make an image with both animals sharp. This encounter was one of the most interesting ones I had ever seen, and I quickly set up two flashes to increase the light and shutter speed, using one flash fired from the background and another from the camera.

Photographer Bence Máté

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "While being called an expert photographer might not be your goal, the fact is that practice is the core of what will make you a better photographer, just like anything else. For practical purposes for most of us, that means that we should at least be carrying our camera and shooting every day. Doing this allows us to get that experience in shooting under different conditions as well as thinking about composition and getting to know our cameras."

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Via Mom: Like model trains? You could probably observe this thing for weeks. More at its website. Since no one can really take it all in, every minute detail has to be perfect. Visitors are going to stop wherever there's an opening on the railing. Looks like an expensive production requiring constant maintenance. No idea how something like that pays for itself at the relatively nominal prices they charge.

Former Saint, Scott Fujita, who is now most famous for the best Super Bowl trash talk ever (To Peyton Manning: "Peyton ... I can eat Oreos faster than you"), lays out the player's side to the upcoming NFL lockout. The thought of labor strife in the NFL, whose goose lays the goldenest golden eggs in history, is LUDICROUS. I don't have much sympathy for the players but I have even less for the owners. They have not issued a single compelling statement to support their argument that the current system is broken. The game is more popular than ever and everyone is making money. The owners opted out of the current agreement. They should be in nonstop negotiations right now and they should lose the 18-game season proposal. Most of the players can't stay healthy for 16 games. This is really a squabble between owners if you ask me. Jerry Jones and the owners of his ilk simply hate revenue sharing. They feel they're putting more into the pot than they're taking out. They are ... and that's what really needs to be addressed. I side with the players but I don't need to see Congress involved.

5 song iTune shuffle from a CrabAppleLane iTunes "Genius" playlist:

1. America - Simon & Garfunkel - Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits
2. But I Might Die Tonight - Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman
3. Monday, Monday - The Mamas & The Papas - The Best Of The Mamas & The Papas: 20th Century Masters
4. Out On The Weekend - Neil Young - Harvest
5. If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits

Quote of the Day

I wish we won, to shut 'em up, but we didn't.

Tom Brady, New England Patriots

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Scott Fujita wasn't shy about criticizing owner Jerry Jones on Tuesday. Fujita's a member of the NFLPA executive committee and wasn't pleased with some of Jones' comments during a recent "60 Minutes" in which he said a lockout would not be "devastating" to the league."

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Bogue Falaya Wayside Park - January 17, 2011

This person is probably better at fishing than I'll ever be ...

Fish Need Not Fear Me

Bogue Falaya Wayside Park - January 17, 2011 - Same tree

The Super Bowl could be a matchup of the two lowest playoff seeds. Won't that send the purists, pundits, and knee-jerk-rule-changers into a tizzy? The Jets beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh just a few weeks ago and the Packers simply have the look. For my money, they're the team to beat.

About today's QOTD: I remember when news broke about Tiger Woods getting in an accident. I thought then that it was much ado about nothing. Man, was I wrong. Woods still hasn't recovered. Elin seems to be doing OK, though.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Like Crying - Fleetwood Mac - Then Play On
2. Maybelline - Johnny Rivers - Johnny Rivers - Anthology 1964-1977
3. Freewill - Rush - Chronicles
4. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head - B.J. Thomas - All The Hits
5. Radar Love - Golden Earring - Harley-Davidson Cycles: Road Songs

Quote of the Day

The adage that diamonds are a girl's best friend apparently no longer rings true for Tiger Woods' ex-wife, Elin Nordegren.

Tom Weir, USA TODAY

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "But it doesn’t really take much to set someone off. A lot of people are angry over a lot of things — usually when they don’t feel as though they’re getting their fair share — and sometimes the release of that anger is a combination of motivation and opportunity."

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Political, religious, social commentary in this space ... deleted. Didn't like the way it was going and didn't care to deal with whomever may have stumbled upon it. Not what I like to do here.

The Kids Are All Right is the kind of movie, well, let's just say that I didn't pick this one last night. It is appropriately named but there's another part to the title. The Kids Are All Right ... The Adults Are Screwed Up. Movies that tend toward characters over stories get an extra star in all reviews. Bear that in mind if you're perusing them looking for a movie to rent or go see. This one had everything a critic wants but almost nothing an audience wants. Movies that want to make me think lose a star in my eyes unless they're very good. The Kids Are All Right does not reach that level.

After watching the Falcons get pummeled last night by the Packers, my guess is the Saints and their fans are seething even more this morning about that lousy defensive effort the team put forth last week. I know I am. They'd be playing the Bears in cold and snowy Chicago today and a tough win there would have sent the NFC Championship to the SuperDome. The Saints hung 51 points on the Packers the last time they played in the SuperDome. None of these would have been givens, of course. Sean Payton's Saints have never won a game in Chicago and the Bears are currently kicking the Seahawks asses, 28-0. These are fun ifs and buts and they're all moot because the defense DID put forth that lousy effort last week. Grrrr.

Homer alert: Today's QOTD comes from Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It is quite an admission and he's right. I commented on the Saints mental toughness earlier this season. It goes into remission once in a while but they do have it and they'll be stronger next year because of it. The Falcons don't have it and their fortunes will still be tied to which way the ball bounces. The two playoff teams out of the NFC South next year (If there is a next year) will be the Saints and the Bucs.

I offer one from our lazy Sunday afternoon. The plan is to read a little or watch some TV and then go find an inexpensive place to eat.

A Lazy CrabAppleLane Sunday Afternoon - January 16, 2011

5 song iTune shuffle from a CrabAppleLane iTunes "Genius" mix:

1. Harry's Game - Clannad - Anam - New Age
2. The Mummers' Dance - Loreena McKennitt - The Book Of Secrets - New Age
3. Miss Clare Remembers - Enya - Watermark - New Age
4. Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24) - Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve And Other Stories - Holiday
5. Sacred Ground - Craig Chaquico - Harley-Davidson Cycles: Road Songs - Rock

Quote of the Day

They’re not as close as we thought they were.

Jeff Schultz, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's game day, and I'm sure you'll be in agreement with me when I say that this game makes me really nervous. We could easily win or lose this game based on just a few plays, so here's to hoping we bring our A game this week. Specifically our (A)aron Rodgers game. Har har har, see what I did there/shazam/etc."

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I was a bachelor last night for a few hours while Patsy was out serving on her elementary school reunion party committee. Decided to watch a movie I knew she didn't want to see. Salt was about what I expected. Had some nifty action, some interesting twists, and ends up about where you expect it to. No Way Out did a better job of pretty much the same story. Nothing new or original to see here but a little better than a poke in the eye. About these deep undercover sleeper agents you see in spy novels and films: Ever wonder how reliable an enterprise that would be if it's really still done? You ask someone to create a life for themselves in a new land but be ready when we call. By then, they may prefer their new life to their old one.

Coolest tat ever ... even if you're not a Mark Knopfler fan. :)

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. On Every Street - Dire Straits - On Every Street
2. I Can't Hold Back - Survivor - Greatest Hits
3. Killer Queen - Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
4. The Load-Out - Jackson Browne - Running On Empty
5. Somebody To Roll - Nazareth - Play 'N' The Game

Quote of the Day

Let me guess, you're one of those people who thinks everyone is who they say they are?

Evelyn Salt, Salt

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Last night was clear and bitterly cold in New York harbor. Wind chill from the northwesterly breeze made the temperature feel like it was in the single digits. A new layer of snow from a storm two days before added to the existing snowbanks. Nevertheless, as darkness fell, groups of hearty New Yorkers began lining up along the promenade at Battery Park to watch the Royal Rendezvous, the three Queens of the Cunard fleet sailing in company out of New York harbor to music and fireworks."

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Finally ordered a Kindle. Got it mainly so I could read in bed before going to sleep but I'm sure I'll use it at other times, too. I pretty much stopped reading before bed because I was having so much trouble creating a comfortable reading environment. My eyesight currently requires that I have a lot of light and the light has to hit the page a certain way. Paperbacks, in particular, were giving me headaches. I'm disappointed that the model I got requires a light source at night. You cannot read mine in a dark room. It does not need as much light as I was needing to read books, though, and being able to resize the print is a major plus. My vision is not so bad that I can only read the E on the chart but it's not as good as it once was. I probably could use bifocals but I still only use reading glasses. When I asked my lovely wife this morning for confirmation that E was at the top of the chart, I got the QOTD.

I don't intend for it to completely replace book reading and it saddens me that, someday, readers like the Kindle and the Nook will entirely replace books. I think turning the pages of a good book is an essential life experience but publishers won't be able to stay in business making books for just the handful of us dinosaurs who want them.

I haven't bought anything for it yet. One of the things that postponed the purchase this long was the limited content originally available and the price of said content. More is becoming available and the prices are coming down. I will probably make my first purchase tonight. My eyes have sufficiently recovered from that 640-page waste of trees I finished the other night so it's time to start another. One of the things I've discovered already that I like a lot is that you can download a substantial sample of a book that you're thinking you might buy. I don't know how the samples are chosen but the two samples I downloaded last night were two whole chapters each. That will give you a feel for the story and the writing. I like that.

By the way, that's not my hand you see in that image. That hand implies that the Kindle offers one-handed reading. I've had it a couple of days now and have not mastered that technique yet. I still have to use my other hand to turn the page.

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. Beachcombing - Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - All The Roadrunning
2. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp - Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III
3. Mississippi Queen - Mountain - Hard N' Heavy: 70's Greatest Rock Hits, Vol. 1
4. Rock 'n Roll Soul [Live] - Grand Funk Railroad - Caught In The Act
5. Pictures Of Matchstick Men - Status Quo - STATUS QUO The Collection

Quote of the Day

Why? Are you planning to cheat?

Patsy

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Whoa. Google just threw its ginormous hat into the eBook ring. The bell has rung, and the bout between the Kindle and Google Books has started. So, what do we here at Kindle Owners Blog think about it?"

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Kem White was right. I was on the fence about reading it. Sports Illustrated's Peter King recommended it. I almost never agree with King. As if that warning wasn't enough, Kem was even more forceful in swaying me away from it. His is the first comment. Thanksgiving at my sister's place was very pleasant and the book came up. We talked about it for a few minutes. As we were leaving, she gave me her paperback and I was on the hook.

There are three main plots in the book. One is the disappearance of a girl. The resolution was not at all surprising because what was thought to have happened to her was never convincing. The second was the discovery of an unknown serial killer. That one was revealed and resolved about 200 pages from the end. The third, least interesting plot was about a financial empire one of the main characters wanted to ruin. It was basically a 200 page epilogue and I hate epilogues. The only remotely interesting character in a book full of characters is The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Minor Spoiler Alert: That description and that title have no bearing on anything. It would be in the wood pellet stove this morning if it were mine. The BOTD has a different take.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Songbird - Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
2. All That Matters - Mark Knopfler - Shangri-La
3. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who - Who's Next
4. Lunchbox - Marilyn Manson - Portrait Of An American Family
5. Mary Jane - Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill

Quote of the Day

"I want you to find out who in the family ... murdered Harriet, and who since then has spent almost forty years trying to drive me insane.

Henrik Vanger, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "But around about page thirty, Lisbeth Salander, the tattooed girl of the title, made her first appearance, and from that point on I was riveted. I had to cancel everything else I had planned for the day because I couldn't stop reading. It proved a mind-bogglingly good book in the end—yet another triumph in Scandinavian crime fiction."

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Cheap shots should be avoided. They're always fun, usually easy, and not good for the soul. I'll do penance later.

Both of today's shots are aimed at the subject of a BBC news piece.

The first one serves as the QOTD: I thought I was good at connect-the-dots at one time but that one has me stumped. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is afraid the US will extradite him from Sweden to face the death penalty for I don't know what after Sweden extradites him from the UK to face a rape charge? Did they just land on this planet? Assuming they even want to prosecute the guy, the US has prosecuted people (Robert Hanssen, Aldrich Ames) who have done far more damage to national security. They didn't execute them. He thinks a tad too much of himself.

The second one is from his defence (Their spelling) team. I quote:

They also accuse the Swedish authorities of leaking legal documents to the media.

In my best Seth Meyers voice: Really, Julian? Really? Please see previously leaked historical documents regarding pot/kettle, goose/gander, do unto others, etc...

Care to take one? Be my guest in the comments. :)

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. Fire And Rain - James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
2. Maybe Not - Cat Power - You Are Free
3. Robot Man - Scorpions - In Trance
4. Where the Devil Don't Stay - Drive-By Truckers - The Dirty South
5. Jane - Jefferson Starship - At Their Best

Quote of the Day

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who published leaked US diplomatic cables, fears he could face the death penalty in the US, defence documents say.

BBC News

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "The Wikileaks founder could face the death penalty in the U.S."

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It's another feather in the cap for the SEC and I'm sure that's going to gall football fans of other conferences. Too bad. Four SEC schools are responsible for the last five BCS Championships. They are Florida, LSU, Florida again, Alabama, and Auburn. When you take into account Arkansas, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Tennessee, who also have National Championships in their histories, you're looking at a conference that is not dominated by one or two teams and you're pretty much always looking at a well-tested, though not always undefeated conference champ.

In the past, the SEC has been shut out of the national championship conversation because of conference tie-ins, a pronounced sportswriter bias toward northern and western college football powers, and because they almost always had a bloodied and bruised one-loss champion. The year this latest SEC run started, the BCS came within a whisker of ordering a Michigan-Ohio State rematch, which would have boxed Florida out. For lack of that whisker, Florida got to play Ohio State. They mauled the Buckeyes. The pendulum has swung too far towards the SEC now (I would have given Florida's second BCS title to Utah) but sportswriters probably won't be swinging it back via the polls. An undefeated SEC Champion is guaranteed a berth in the title game now and a one-loss champion will be given a lot more consideration than any other conference's one-loss champ and even more than some undefeated conference champions. If those other conferences want the same consideration, more of their teams will have to do it on the field ... consistently.

About today's QOTD: Already looking forward to that one. Wonder who the LSU head coach will be. Les Miles is being romanced by Michigan.

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. Walk The Line - Live - Live At The Paradiso
2. Found Out About You - Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience
3. Brown Sugar - The Rolling Stones - Hot Rocks, 1964-1971
4. Fat Bottomed Girls - Queen - Jazz
5. Miss Misery - Nazareth - Hair Of The Dog

Quote of the Day

The future was already on the Ducks' minds. They open against LSU in 2011 in Cowboys Stadium. That means they face another tough defense with lots of time to prepare.

Ted Miller, ESPN

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Fairley has pretty much been unblockable all season. He was again against the Ducks and then some."

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Showtime had one of their free weekends this past weekend and they happened to have Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds playing. Having to deal with their sales pitches that would come up and cover the subtitles was a minor nuisance. Tarantino makes the most stylish, most absurd, over-the-top films in cinema and this one is no exception. Christoph Waltz, who I'd never heard of, won all sorts of awards for his performance in this and it is that performance that I found simply amazing. A film is usually only as good as the villain and his SS Colonel Hans Landa conveys menace better than anyone I've seen in a long time. Every one of his conversations/interrogations is so well done that I found myself squirming. If you need another reason to see this movie, let me give you one. Inglourious Basterds is a hoot.

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. Communication Breakdown - Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin I
2. Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones - Hot Rocks, 1964-1971
3. I Will Find You - Clannad - The Last Of The Mohicans
4. Christmas Canon Rock - Trans-Siberian Orchestra - The Lost Christmas Eve
5. Rock 'n Roll Soul [Live] - Grand Funk Railroad - Caught In The Act

Quote of the Day

Well, you don't got to be Stonewall Jackson to know you don't want to fight in a basement.

Lieutenant Aldo Raine, Inglorious Basterds

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Is there anyone out there in the world who doesn't like a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack? No need to raise your hands; just stop reading and move on to the next post if you're one of those fun-hating mutants. This isn't going to be big news for you."

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Thoughts and sympathies to ALL of the victims and their families of the shooting rampage in Tuscon yesterday. In the coming days and weeks, you will see some trying to blame others for inciting the violence. You will see some blaming others for trying to make political points out of the tragedy. You will see some blaming guns. You will see others defending guns. You will see some say the gunman was simply deranged and it's just a tragedy. If any of them are counting on me to listen, though, they're wasting their breath and their time. I'm sick of all of them.

Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks on a great win yesterday. They deserve to advance. They outcoached and outplayed the Saints. Matt Hasselbeck and Marshawn Lynch were brilliant and Pete Carroll's game plan was terrific. I'll talk more about the Saints below the jump.

Once again, the weather was gorgeous on Friday so we had lunch in the park. We didn't have the park entirely to ourselves, though. There had to be two or three other people there. I offer one below from that day.

Bogue Falaya Wayside Park - January 7, 2011

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard Of Ozz
2. Peaceful Easy Feeling - The Eagles - Their Greatest Hits
3. Snakeskin Cowboys - Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent
4. Wicked Game - Chris Isaak - Heart Shaped World
5. Misty Mountain Hop - Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV

Quote of the Day

If this was Matt Hasselbeck's Seattle swan song, he nailed it.

Seahawks Blog

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Thud. That is the sound of our 2010 season hitting the ground against the cold fieldturf of Qwest Stadium."

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The Saints open the NFL playoffs in Seattle today. Curious why the NFL chose the west coast game as the early game unless maybe they think the other game will be better and more suited to prime time. The Saints are short-handed and it will probably rain or snow. Even short-handed, the Saints have more talent, more experience, a better quarterback, and a better head coach but the Seahawks are playing with house money. No one expects anything out of them. I think they'll meet those expectations today. The Saints should win this game.

In the other game tonight, the Colts are going to send the loudmouthed Jets home for the winter.

About today's QOTD: That's only part of his rant. My opinion of Hugh Hefner's lifestyle has changed considerably over the years but there's no way I could get as worked up about him as that guy did. Live and let live, Egan.

About the quote selected from the BOTD: People are paying extra for a 20oz beer but they're not getting any extra. Reminds me of this from my youth: Automated car wash machines were still fairly new when I started driving. Back then, they advertised "Hot Wax". They charged you extra for it. There were at least two things they didn't tell you. 1) The machines back then couldn't turn it off. You got hot wax whether you paid for it or not. 2) One of the gas station employees I knew told me that they used mineral spirits when they were out of wax.

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. American Pie - Don McLean - American Pie
2. Enter Sandman - Metallica - Black Album
3. I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band) - The Moody Blues - Seventh Sojourn
4. Welcome to the Machine - Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
5. Stone Cold Crazy - Queen - Sheer Heart Attack

Quote of the Day

Hugh Hefner is repulsive.

Timothy Egan, New York Times

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "We received a copy of the YouTube video showing the quantity of liquid served in the 16 oz. beer cup is the same quantity that fits into the 20 oz. beer cup."

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LSU v Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl tonight. The two universities used to play regularly but discontinued their series 15 years ago. The Tigers have played very well in bowl games under Les Miles and I expect they will tonight. There is considerable speculation that Miles may be headed to Michigan again. This came up three years ago. Then, the Tigers were playing for the national championship and Tiger fans wanted to keep him around. LSU stepped up and offered incentive for him to stay. Now, there are more than a few Tiger fans that hope he'll take it, if offered. Not sure where the university and current AD stand on the issue. Says here Tiger fans will miss that guy when he's gone.

If you're an NFL fan this season and you've seen the Saints and Seahawks play once or twice, you have to love an article that contains a paragraph like this:

And just because top-10 lists are so overdone, I'm going to give you the top 12 reasons why the Seahawks are going to beat, defeat and maybe even pummel the Saints:

That from Jim Moore of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Full speed ahead, Jim.

About today's QOTD: 98.6 was all over the radio one summer when I was a kid (1967 according to Wikipedia). It came up about every third song on the bowling alley jukebox. If you're too young to remember it, you're also probably too young to remember playing a 45rpm record. The link provides that experience. I don't miss the hissing and popping but it's still a fond memory.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Oh, Atlanta - Bad Company - Desolation Angels
2. Spaced - Aerosmith - Get Your Wings
3. 98.6 - Keith - Super Hits 1967
4. Same Situation - Joni Mitchell - Court And Spark
5. In Fortune's Hand - Clannad - Anam

Quote of the Day

Good mornin' sun I say it's good to see you shinin'
I know my baby brought you to me
She kissed me yesterday hello your silver linin'
Got spring and summer runnin' through me
Hey 98.6 it's good to have you back again, oh
Hey 98.6 her lovin' is the medicine that saved me
Oh I love my baby

Keith, 98.6

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Coach Pete Carroll said Thursday that Hasselbeck will start the Seahawks' playoff game against the New Orleans Saints on Saturday, ending a week of speculation and coy responses to inquiries about who would play."

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Just the theme music, though. They've added a couple of characters since I last posted about it and they've added a cool new element to the stories but that doesn't rate a post (As if anything here does ...). Human Target's New Theme vs Human Target's Old Theme. They're both pretty good but I like the new one better. There is considerably more debate about that than I might have imagined. For what it's worth, Human Target is the second best CME on television. Chuck is still the best.

About today's QOTD: I suppose it makes sense to have American women spying on Iran. Women have so much access there.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. The Eyes Of Truth - Enigma - The Cross Of Changes
2. Fading Lights - Genesis - We Can't Dance
3. A Great Day For Freedom - Pink Floyd - Pulse
4. Spooky - Classics IV - Am Gold 1968
5. Wild World - Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman

Quote of the Day

Iranian authorities have detained a 55-year-old American woman on spying charges, a state-owned newspaper reported Thursday.

AP via USA Today

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "How important are Ivory and Thomas to the Saints offense? We'll just have to see how many second and longs Julius Jones puts the Saints into; How many blitzes Joique Bell fails to pick up."

Bell was picked up this week. No way will he be called on to pass protect Drew Brees. -Rob

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Sign on one of the self-checkouts:

REGISTER DON'T ACCEPT CASH CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS ONLY

It was not handwritten.

I have dealt with people whose first language is not English for most of my life. Because of my geography, the vast, overwhelming, 99% majority has been Hispanic. I would estimate that number to be closer to 80% now and I find that interesting. I don't speak Spanish but I think I can safely identify it through a lifetime of osmosis. I'm also no linguist and cannot identify the first languages I encounter with any certainty but I'm guessing southern European in quite a few cases; Romanian, Bulgarian, Albanian, etc ... They're usually very young and don't appear to be laborers. I suppose they could be tourists or students but they don't really seem to be that, either, going strictly on why they come to see me. Wonder if I'm right and wonder if anyone else has spotted a similar trend.

It appears NFL players and NFL owners are willing to ride their cash cow right over the cliff. I'm sure the current collective bargaining agreement will expire without a new one to replace it. I'm also sure that neither side will get anything later that they can't already get now. If this silly dispute doesn't get resolved by July-August-September, we have a problem. Until then, this is just business as usual. It's always hard to take either side seriously but it is impossible to take them seriously if they're not even talking to each other.

About today's QOTD: Add me to the list of people who support the commander. If all of the videos are like the ones I've seen, he did nothing wrong and certainly nothing worthy of removing him from command.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Back Off Bitch - Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I
2. Shootin' For The Moon - Sonny Landreth - South Of I-10
3. Love Over Gold - Dire Straits - Love Over Gold
4. Liar - Queen - Queen
5. Ballad of the Beacon - Wishbone Ash - Wishbone Four

Quote of the Day

The Navy fired the commander of the USS Enterprise on Tuesday more than three years after he made sexually explicit videos to boost morale for crewmembers, some of whom say he did nothing wrong.

Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "With the passage of the 1924 immigration law, supported by the KKK as well as the IRL, Ellis Island’s role as the entry point for new immigrants went into decline. Americans became more interested in slamming the Golden Door shut than in lifting a lantern next to it."

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Someday, we're going to look back at the films George Clooney has made and marvel. They're almost always excellent. It's not just his performances that are superb. He makes great choices of which films to be in, too. The American is a mercenary craftsman, played by Clooney. He makes weapons for assassins. It's pretty dangerous work. His contact is a professional and his clients are professionals. He will always be a loose end. He will be the one person who can connect the contact and the assassin to the assassination. One of his clients does not want loose ends and spends the entire film trying to find him and kill him. The audience figures out what's going on as The American does. This is good Saturday night popcorn fare.

About today's QOTD: That's way too many.

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist starting with "N”:

1. Now I'm Here - Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
2. No Easy Road - Wishbone Ash - Wishbone Four
3. New Slang - The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
4. Never Gonna Change - Drive-By Truckers - The Dirty South
5. Natural Thing - UFO - No Heavy Petting

Quote of the Day

At least nine players will be questionable for the Saints (11-5) heading into the short week leading up to Saturday's wild-card game at Seattle (7-9), including three players that were knocked out of Sunday's loss to the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers: safety Malcolm Jenkins (right knee), tailback Chris Ivory (left foot) and tight end Jimmy Graham (left ankle).

Mike Triplett,The Times-Picayune

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Thanks to the play of team’s backup quarterback, Seattle is the NFC West’s champion and will host a playoff game for the first time since 2007."

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[Soapbox]There are going to be some loud-mouthed, influential sports pundits calling for a change to the playoff format because they don't like the idea of a 7-9 team getting into the playoffs while two 10-6 teams that beat them stay home. It is an anomaly. It's hardly ever going to happen. I don't like the idea of changing rules whenever we don't like the outcome. The teams that made the playoffs did what they had to do to get in. The teams staying home didn't. The competition committee should convene every 10 years, not every year. Leave the game alone. Let it evolve naturally. Safety-related rules changes should still be adopted as necessary.[/Soapbox]

The Saints came out of yesterday's game with the Bucs pretty nicked up. They also turned their drive to win completely OFF as the scores started coming in from Atlanta. Sean Payton pulled Drew Brees early in the 4th quarter. I'm not at all concerned about the loss. The only thing that concerns me right now is that they'll likely be short-handed this week against the Seahawks. We won't know until game day because Payton is very tight-lipped about injuries. Last year, the Saints coasted for the last game and a half like they were ready for the regular season to be over. They turned it on in the playoffs. I hope they remember where that switch is. It will be a longer, harder road this time.

A tip o the cap and a what were you thinking to the Chicago Bears this morning. I kinda like that you played all out to eliminate the Packers in a game that meant nothing to you but you let your quarterback get sacked 6 times. Dumb.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye - Steam - Rock 'n Roll Relix 1968-1969
2. Feelin' Bad Blues - Ry Cooder - Crossroads
3. Right Now - Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - Real Live Roadrunning
4. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX) - Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
5. Supertzar - Black Sabbath - Sabotage

Quote of the Day

There's no reason why we can't go back and do this again.

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Listen. You can hear it already. The murmurs, the whispers that will soon turn into a crescendo on Monday morning. The cacophony of complaints that neither the Rams nor the Seahawks are deserving of a playoff berth."

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Today's QOTD uses a little more vivid imagery than I would have but it's absolutely true. The Saints mauled the Bucs the first time out. Their offensive line simply manhandled the Bucs defensive line. They had no chance. How much chance they have today depends entirely on the Saints level of interest in winning the game. Carolina and Atlanta are hooking up in the Georgia Dome. As soon as that game gets out of hand in favor of the Falcons, Sean Payton will start yanking his starters ... despite his claims to the contrary. It would be idiotic to risk getting important players injured in a meaningless half of football if your team is heading into the playoffs.

I offer one from the CrabAppleLane Backyard. We are being overrun by Goldfinches and Chipping Sparrows. We're OK with that. :) Wish we could find some relatively inexpensive, fresh thistle, though. Goldfinches prefer that to the white millet they're getting here. They won't touch stale thistle and the fresh thistle around here is ridiculously expensive.

CrabAppleLane Seed for a Song Feeder - January 2, 2011

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Top 25 Most Played List:

1. Firefly - Main Theme Song - Joss Whedon - Firefly - 13 plays
2. On Every Street - Dire Straits - On The Night (LIVE) - 8 plays
3. Further On (Up The Road) - Bruce Springsteen - The Rising - 8 plays
4. Lookout Mountain - Drive-By Truckers - The Dirty South - 7 plays
5. Locked Within the Crystal Ball - Blackmore's Night - Secret Voyage - 8 plays

Quote of the Day

The Saints beat the Bucs 31-6 on Oct. 17 at Ray Jay and it was basically a seal-clubbing.

Joe Henderson, The Tampa Tribune

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "This Buccaneer team has had an impressive season, but it still hasn't beaten a team with a winning record."

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From CrabAppleLane

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Top 25 Most Played List:

1. Fall Down - Toad the Wet Sprocket - Dulcinea - 37 plays
2. All Mixed Up - The Cars - The Cars - 7 plays
3. Praan - Garry Schyman & Palbasha Siddique - Where The Hell Is Matt? - 18 plays
4. I Give Up - Elijah Bossenbroek - Carpe Lumen - 14 plays
5. Caleb Meyer - Gillian Welch & David Rawlings - Hell Among The Yearlings - 7 plays

Quote of the Day

The Falcons would welcome a rematch with the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.

D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "When the Buccaneers have the ball: The Buccaneers need to control the clock if they want to have a good chance to win this game. That means they are going to have to feed the rock to LeGarrette Blount against a Saints’ D that is allowing 114.2 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry. Josh Freeman has only thrown six interceptions this year and the Saints only have 9 so he should feel confident throwing the ball down the field to Kellen Winslow and Mike Williams. Cadillac Williams could also have a big role catching passes out of the backfield this Sunday."

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