Since Dolan complained bitterly about not being awarded an intro song a few posts ago, I've decided to atone. There were several songs I thought about before settling on one appropriate tune. Candidates included Weezer's, "I'm a Loser Baby," Peter, Paul, and Mary's, "Right Field," Phill Collins', "I Can't Dance," and Sarah McLachlan's, "Angel." However, in the end, there was just one song that fits best.
Bendo, your song is officially: The Theme from Brokeback Mountain
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Pact
Jessica - "So you're hanging out in San Diego just for the heck of it?"
Me - "Yes"
Jessica - "I hate you."
Jessica, like a lot of other people, is severely jealous of my ability to go wherever I want, whenever I want, for free. This week I used my benefits to head west to San Diego, where Russell and I enjoyed the second trip of our Pact. For those of you unfamiliar with the Pact, Russ and I have an agreement that each quarter we select a city of mutual interest, go there for 24 hours, see a sight or two, and consume one ridiculously expensive, enormously good meal. Here's the San Diego tail:
Our journey begins in Chicago at O'Hare, where I met up with Russ and we both attempted to jumpseat to San Diego via a United flight. Unbeknownst to us, United's 757's are only equipped with one cockpit jumpseat, as opposed to the standard two jumpseats EVERY other operator of the 757 uses. Since every single seat in the peanut gallery was occupied, we were forced to plan B, the LAX flight next door. Two jumpseats, but one of them occupied. Plan C, Denver and try to connect. Two jumpseats, one of them occupied. Plan D, San Francisco and try to connect. One jumpseat. (All of this gate to gate running around is now taking it's toll on Russ, who's aerodynamicly hairless head doesn't quite make up for his excessive bulk) Plan E, Las Vegas and try to connect. Two jumpseats, both occupied. Plan F, LAX again, almost 2 hours later. This time, we were lucky enough to snag both the jumpseats on an A320. We were supposed to leave for San Diego at 5:30. We left for LAX at 7:20. Thanx to Enterprise Rent-A-Car being accomidating, our reservation was switched to LAX, and when we arrived there at 9:30, we collected the automobile. Our string of bad luck had ended apparently, since they were out of economy cars and set us up instead with a convertable Chrystler Sebring. We took the upgraded vehicle the 2 hours south to San Diego, checked into our hotel, and went to bed.
We awoke to a beautiful morning in San Diego. Sunny and 70 degrees. Out the door by 10am local and we headed for the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier museum. The Midway is a decommisioned ship that is used soley for museum purposes, and it is AWESOME! The free audio tour takes you through several interesting areas of the ship, including the enlisted men's quarters (which are tiny), the mess hall, the infermery, engineering, weapons loading, the bridge, the chart room, the hangar deck, and the flight deck. Several aircraft are on display on the flight deck, and a lot of kind docents are available, most of whom served at one point or another in the Navy. Being the pilot dorks that we are, Russ and I had to try our hand at the F-4 simulators as well. Needless to say, neither of us is any good at dogfighting...
After taking in all the museum had to offer, we set out to locate a battery for my dead watch. The first jeweler we stopped at wanted $60 to swap out the battery. After kindly telling the merchant to pack sand, we located a watch repair shop that did the deed for $10. Go figure...
Well, on to dinner. Since I bucked up for the meal in Seattle several months ago, it was Russ's turn to arrange for the meal in San Diego. He reserved us a table at an establishment called Blue Point Coastal Cuisine, located in the Gas Lamp Quarter. It's a swanky joint, and the menu is a sort of Japanese American mix. We started with an appetizer of shrimp and lobster potstickers which were, to quote Russ, "Oh... My... God!!!" Russell's main course consisted of a seared Ahi Tuna steak, and I chose the roasted rack of lamb. No exclamations were made due to the fact that both of us were far too concerned with the next bite of our delicious entrees. Finally, there was dessert. Russell's selection of a nice Creme Broule was excellent, but I was far more satisfied with my liquid center chocolate cake, which came complete with a scoop of hazelnut ice cream. The only unfortunate part about dinner was our inability to drink an alcoholic beverage due to our status as jumpseaters later in the evening. Dinner, including tip, cost Russ a total of $120.
Alas, our time in San Diego had to come to a close. We headed for Lindbergh Field, dropped off the rental car, and both boarded the next Southwest flight to Phoenix, where we parted ways. Russ headed for Charlotte and me for Chicago, where I had breakfast with the girlfriend, and then on to St. Louis.
Between bites at dinner, as is now Pact tradition, Russ and I discussed options for the next Pact trip. September is the target month, and the front-running destination is Vancouver. San Antonio and San Francisco were also names tossed around, but time will tell as we get closer to the fall...
Me - "Yes"
Jessica - "I hate you."
Jessica, like a lot of other people, is severely jealous of my ability to go wherever I want, whenever I want, for free. This week I used my benefits to head west to San Diego, where Russell and I enjoyed the second trip of our Pact. For those of you unfamiliar with the Pact, Russ and I have an agreement that each quarter we select a city of mutual interest, go there for 24 hours, see a sight or two, and consume one ridiculously expensive, enormously good meal. Here's the San Diego tail:
Our journey begins in Chicago at O'Hare, where I met up with Russ and we both attempted to jumpseat to San Diego via a United flight. Unbeknownst to us, United's 757's are only equipped with one cockpit jumpseat, as opposed to the standard two jumpseats EVERY other operator of the 757 uses. Since every single seat in the peanut gallery was occupied, we were forced to plan B, the LAX flight next door. Two jumpseats, but one of them occupied. Plan C, Denver and try to connect. Two jumpseats, one of them occupied. Plan D, San Francisco and try to connect. One jumpseat. (All of this gate to gate running around is now taking it's toll on Russ, who's aerodynamicly hairless head doesn't quite make up for his excessive bulk) Plan E, Las Vegas and try to connect. Two jumpseats, both occupied. Plan F, LAX again, almost 2 hours later. This time, we were lucky enough to snag both the jumpseats on an A320. We were supposed to leave for San Diego at 5:30. We left for LAX at 7:20. Thanx to Enterprise Rent-A-Car being accomidating, our reservation was switched to LAX, and when we arrived there at 9:30, we collected the automobile. Our string of bad luck had ended apparently, since they were out of economy cars and set us up instead with a convertable Chrystler Sebring. We took the upgraded vehicle the 2 hours south to San Diego, checked into our hotel, and went to bed.
We awoke to a beautiful morning in San Diego. Sunny and 70 degrees. Out the door by 10am local and we headed for the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier museum. The Midway is a decommisioned ship that is used soley for museum purposes, and it is AWESOME! The free audio tour takes you through several interesting areas of the ship, including the enlisted men's quarters (which are tiny), the mess hall, the infermery, engineering, weapons loading, the bridge, the chart room, the hangar deck, and the flight deck. Several aircraft are on display on the flight deck, and a lot of kind docents are available, most of whom served at one point or another in the Navy. Being the pilot dorks that we are, Russ and I had to try our hand at the F-4 simulators as well. Needless to say, neither of us is any good at dogfighting...
After taking in all the museum had to offer, we set out to locate a battery for my dead watch. The first jeweler we stopped at wanted $60 to swap out the battery. After kindly telling the merchant to pack sand, we located a watch repair shop that did the deed for $10. Go figure...
Well, on to dinner. Since I bucked up for the meal in Seattle several months ago, it was Russ's turn to arrange for the meal in San Diego. He reserved us a table at an establishment called Blue Point Coastal Cuisine, located in the Gas Lamp Quarter. It's a swanky joint, and the menu is a sort of Japanese American mix. We started with an appetizer of shrimp and lobster potstickers which were, to quote Russ, "Oh... My... God!!!" Russell's main course consisted of a seared Ahi Tuna steak, and I chose the roasted rack of lamb. No exclamations were made due to the fact that both of us were far too concerned with the next bite of our delicious entrees. Finally, there was dessert. Russell's selection of a nice Creme Broule was excellent, but I was far more satisfied with my liquid center chocolate cake, which came complete with a scoop of hazelnut ice cream. The only unfortunate part about dinner was our inability to drink an alcoholic beverage due to our status as jumpseaters later in the evening. Dinner, including tip, cost Russ a total of $120.
Alas, our time in San Diego had to come to a close. We headed for Lindbergh Field, dropped off the rental car, and both boarded the next Southwest flight to Phoenix, where we parted ways. Russ headed for Charlotte and me for Chicago, where I had breakfast with the girlfriend, and then on to St. Louis.
Between bites at dinner, as is now Pact tradition, Russ and I discussed options for the next Pact trip. September is the target month, and the front-running destination is Vancouver. San Antonio and San Francisco were also names tossed around, but time will tell as we get closer to the fall...
Monday, May 15, 2006
Quote of the Week
Since I saw him tonight, the quote comes from a good friend:
"ARE YOU SERIOUS???" - Tim Fisher
"ARE YOU SERIOUS???" - Tim Fisher
Monday, May 08, 2006
Quote of the Week
Two quotes for this week:
"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed." - Carl Jung
"It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter." - Marlene Dietrich
"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed." - Carl Jung
"It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter." - Marlene Dietrich
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Plate Introductions
At any big league ballpark you go to, when a batter from the home team is announced a portion of a song is played to introduce the would-be hero. Typically, the song is the proper mix of non-explicit lyrics and badassness. (Is badassness a word?) Take, for example, Scott Rolen. The Cardinal third baseman walks to the plate to a refrain from Limp Bizkit. "Keep rollin' rollin' rollin'! Keep rollin' rollin' rollin'!" Obviously appropriate, even if the rest of the song might not be. Intros are not just for batters. Trevor Hoffman, San Diego's fearsome closer, is introduced to the sound of "Hells Bells" by ACDC.
When the autopilot is on and there's nothing else to do, I've often wondered about player intro music, and what would be played if the most appropriate tune could be selected. Shouldn't Jason Isringhausen trot in from the bullpen to the sounds of circus music, for example? More often than not however, I end up thinking if any of my friends or I happened to find ourselves in the Show, what songs would introduce us? KP, "As Himself" would clearly have to be introduced to some George Thoroughgood. "One Burbon, One Scotch, and One Beer!" Tim "Are You Serious?" Fisher would come to bat to the tune of Manfred Mann. "Blinded By the Light!" Jim Roach would stride to the plate with Huey Lewis in the background. "The Power of Love."
What about Dan "The Postman" Higa though? Van Halen, "Where Eagles Fly"? Meatloaf, "Bat Out of Hell"? Queen, "I Want to Break Free"? LL Cool J, "Mama Said Knock You Out"? Who knows, but I'm sure several of you will be happy to comment on what I'm sure I'll consider some inappropriate tunes.
On a final note: Albert Pujols is currently introduced to a contemporary Christian song. All well and good, but I think there is a much more fitting tune for "El Hombre." How about the theme from the Natural? As Max Mercy says in the movie, "Everything he wants to hit, he hits. Everything he wants to do, he does!"
When the autopilot is on and there's nothing else to do, I've often wondered about player intro music, and what would be played if the most appropriate tune could be selected. Shouldn't Jason Isringhausen trot in from the bullpen to the sounds of circus music, for example? More often than not however, I end up thinking if any of my friends or I happened to find ourselves in the Show, what songs would introduce us? KP, "As Himself" would clearly have to be introduced to some George Thoroughgood. "One Burbon, One Scotch, and One Beer!" Tim "Are You Serious?" Fisher would come to bat to the tune of Manfred Mann. "Blinded By the Light!" Jim Roach would stride to the plate with Huey Lewis in the background. "The Power of Love."
What about Dan "The Postman" Higa though? Van Halen, "Where Eagles Fly"? Meatloaf, "Bat Out of Hell"? Queen, "I Want to Break Free"? LL Cool J, "Mama Said Knock You Out"? Who knows, but I'm sure several of you will be happy to comment on what I'm sure I'll consider some inappropriate tunes.
On a final note: Albert Pujols is currently introduced to a contemporary Christian song. All well and good, but I think there is a much more fitting tune for "El Hombre." How about the theme from the Natural? As Max Mercy says in the movie, "Everything he wants to hit, he hits. Everything he wants to do, he does!"
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