tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324312452008-07-03T10:03:40.849-04:00Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comBlogger121125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-6511002986234385562008-06-23T15:33:00.002-04:002008-06-23T15:33:55.591-04:00

Got beat again playing doubles yesterday (new racket notwithstanding), George Carlin died, and Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita” is stuck in my head. If that don’t just mean it’s Monday.

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-17609198595443378742008-06-19T15:49:00.001-04:002008-06-19T15:50:26.328-04:00

I’m not a huge fan of the Celtics, but I do loves the Kevin Garnett. So glad he finally got a ring! And it’s just too much to embed the Youtube vid, but I can’t help linking to it: his postgame interview with Michele Tafoya was beyond description. As I was watching it live, I feared for my safety even though the dude was a couple of zip codes away.

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-42030514294983527342008-06-14T09:13:00.000-04:002008-06-14T09:13:35.287-04:00

Due to the heat wave we just suffered through, I haven’t gotten around to posting in a while. Here are some ruminations on a few topics. Obama! Wooot! A tale of three tennis rackets: Finally, finally, I got around to demoing a few new tennis rackets to try and replace the craptacular no-name brand I’ve been playing with for the last seven-eight years. (Raoul, you will be especially happy to

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-57845862876554383032008-06-04T23:06:00.001-04:002008-06-05T10:08:06.611-04:00

Man, the further I read in this article, the more I could have sworn I was reading the Onion. Rock on, hacker dudes. Aren’t we all tired of Comcast’s shitty service?

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-45253828730989456052008-05-19T19:38:00.000-04:002008-05-19T19:39:06.357-04:00

Yesterday I did what was probably the most challenging physical thing I’ve ever done: I cycled a half century (that’s fifty miles to you non-cylist types). It was a crazy day, pretty emotional and not just in the expected ways. Expand/collapseI was really questioning my sanity in the morning when the alarm went off at 7 a.m. That’s an hour earlier than I get up on weekdays, for chrissakes. (I

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-70715327711462047312008-05-07T22:19:00.001-04:002008-05-08T09:53:24.918-04:00

Rather than attempt to be coherent, I’m going to do this in a more stream-of-consciousness style, because I’m still buzzed and not interested in making sense. First, I want to thank the Swami for indulging my need to go to both shows, even though they were on a Monday and Tuesday, because I really couldn’t have lived with myself if I’d missed one. Expand/collapseFirst night (setlist, although see

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-57499635945422914992008-05-04T20:24:00.001-04:002008-05-04T20:30:08.898-04:00

I feel obligated to respond to the suggestion that LeBron James is not overhyped, as I claimed over here. A short discussion of semantics is called for as a preliminary. Labeling James overhyped has nothing to do with whether he’s a good basketball player; it would be downright idiotic to claim that he has no skill or talent. Let’s just get that out of the way. It’s about the hype. In the

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-35408755580657221142008-04-30T21:38:00.000-04:002008-04-30T21:38:45.991-04:00

They won! They won! A close one, too. Agghh, I am prematurely aging watching these guys play. LeBron is overhyped, big time. Glad I could track down this clip of Soulja Boy doing the DeShawn Stevenson’s “I can’t feel my face” thing from Game 3 in DC. Heh!

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-44684987556216673472008-04-23T19:56:00.001-04:002008-04-23T19:56:47.303-04:00

Hm, I need to stop thinking about how badly the Wizards are playing in the playoffs. Because they are playing very, very, very BADLY. It’s killing me. But I can’t blog about that, it’s really too painful. So yesterday Elvis Costello released his latest album as vinyl only (though there is a promise of a CD version to come out later). It’s interesting to watch the reaction of the fans, because

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-57325295963438697532008-04-15T12:41:00.001-04:002008-04-15T12:41:33.962-04:00

It’s that most momentous of days today, tax day. Funny how income tax in the US reveals so much about us, both in general and individually. Let’s start with the former and move to the latter, in an orderly, linear fashion that upholds the spirit of the tax forms themselves. Expand/collapseFirst, I noticed that it was a complete mob scene at the post office yesterday, which suggests that a lot of

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-4573557164020793962008-04-11T11:37:00.001-04:002008-04-11T11:37:22.720-04:00

Hmph, I just learned over here that what everybody calls wasabi is not actually real wasabi, but some kind of concoction using regular horseradish. More can be read about this diabolical conspiracy here. I feel cheated! Although this will in no way prevent me from having huge sushi cravings at least once a week. And there’s a restaurant in Waltham named Ponzu that serves little nuclear bombs

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-54998158288018779152008-03-30T11:35:00.002-04:002008-06-04T23:07:29.980-04:00

I made a special trip with the camera to capture this one.

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-26885556501360247202008-03-25T15:45:00.001-04:002008-03-25T15:46:35.003-04:00

I was clearing out old emails at home the other night and came across a good discussion we had on the Elvis Costello mailing list back in 2006. The question was, what books have you abandoned reading? Now, I have at least one good friend of steely resolve who finishes everything she starts, no matter how painful the experience. I, on the other hand, have a lot less resolve—okay, let’s be honest

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-14610665393627137692008-03-11T21:37:00.000-04:002008-03-11T21:37:45.656-04:00

Relax, that’s a line from a song. So I’ve turned the big 35 today, and I got this awesome peep cake from the Swami earlier, so I’m totally jacked on sugar right now. I took the day off work, which was schweet—now that’s a constitutional amendment I could get behind, that everyone should get their birthday off of work. Paid, I might add. Who’s with me!

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-86424235090998996052008-03-06T15:27:00.000-05:002008-03-06T15:27:48.857-05:00

The last few weeks have been slowly crushing my soul, what with late winter weather (crappy, with extra crap on weekends) and some actual work at work (the horror!). But today was a much-appreciated break. Swami managed to scrape us both out of bed and we went cycling for only the third time this year. Even though it was only 30F, the sun was up and the roads were dry. Oh, and the wind was calm.

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-14735687990655569552008-02-29T11:56:00.001-05:002008-02-29T11:58:13.750-05:00

Well, I gots to post on February 29. By the time the next one rolls around, we’ll probably all be brains in jars with terabit wireless implants for communication and virtual interactions in Fourteenth Life. In contrast to the futuristic tone of that paragraph, things have been pretty retro this week. This morning I saw the video for Rick Springfield’s “I’ve Done Everything for You,” which is

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-41682598840497880582008-02-20T21:33:00.000-05:002008-02-20T21:33:45.175-05:00

I blame Danielle for sending me this link. I got past level 10 once! Highest score so far: around 420K. Swami is kicking my ass up and down, of course. Prepare to waste massive amounts of time Pardon me, I need to go scrutinize a map of Africa.

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-52182393315628920112008-02-14T12:33:00.000-05:002008-02-14T12:33:09.104-05:00

As a graduate of William and Mary, I had a front-row seat to this week’s debacle of President Nichol resigning. He was the target of a lot of irrational right-wing blustering about a few topics; you can read about it all here (among other places, I’m sure). When I was there in the early 1990s, W&M was a mix of a few goofy braniac weirdos like me and a whole lot of Young Republicans studying

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-38097160689111228652008-02-08T11:21:00.000-05:002008-02-08T11:25:55.910-05:00

Here’s what Mitt Romney said yesterday when he dropped out of the presidential race: I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating al-Qaeda and terror. If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-69511762328132784972008-02-01T16:24:00.000-05:002008-02-01T16:44:16.575-05:00

I can’t pinpoint the exact moment when I realized that Larry Sanders was the best comedy show on television, ever. But I do know that it is true. I think I first became aware of this universal truth near the end of the show’s run, around 1996 or 1997, when I managed to watch the entire series without much trouble thanks to the relentless rerun policy of HBO. What can I say about Larry Sanders?

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-2792489245207668782008-01-27T12:11:00.000-05:002008-01-27T12:14:31.924-05:00

I’ve been meaning to write one more post about the Philippines trip, and finally have gotten around to it. Ignoring any sense of narrative, I give you a completely unorganized list of things that I remember the best, now that it’s been a whole month since we got back. Expand/collapseTropical tennis: One of the most fun things we did while we were there was play tennis with Kaskasero and his

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-58676984107182917012008-01-15T17:43:00.000-05:002008-02-04T22:44:41.144-05:00

We interrupt the Philippines report to mention that Swami and I went to the Celtics game versus the Wizards last night. It was the second game in a home-and-home series, and the Wiz managed to beat the Celtics at home last Saturday, despite the fact that Gilbert’s still out healing his knee. Man, with Garnett on the team this year, it’s been looking damn good for the Celtics so far. I won’t even

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-26907108187727266392008-01-04T22:42:00.000-05:002008-01-04T22:43:04.396-05:00

It’s high time I talked about one of my favorite subjects in the context of the Philippines trip: food. I consider myself pretty adventurous for an American, which I admit isn’t saying much, here in the land where ketchup is considered by some to be spicy. But growing up, we ate all kinds of weird things: tongue, liver, kidneys, and every imaginable vegetable, including the infamous brussel

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-531130036016645302008-01-01T15:49:00.000-05:002008-01-01T15:50:00.552-05:00

First off, happy new year everybody! And now back to the Manila report. I should backtrack a bit from the previous post and spend a little time describing our arrival on Monday night. It was a four hour flight from Tokyo, which definitely qualifies as insult to injury. We arrived around 10:30 pm local time, and you could feel the warm humidity from the jetway, of course. It was probably about

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32431245.post-62645214403638805492007-12-30T23:04:00.000-05:002007-12-30T23:25:15.761-05:00

I’m back on the blog at last! First, a technical note. At first I thought of methodically going through each day of the trip, but then I wondered whether it might make more sense to do themes instead. In the end it looks like this first post has a little of both. Anyway, over the next several days I hope to post as much about the trip as possible, and if it appears at all organized, so much the

Snorklewackerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278523863943628915noreply@blogger.com