I just wrote a long-winded treatise on the Space Shuttle program, and the US Sapce Program in general, and lost it all... every word... god damn it...

Mike and Mary dropped by unnexpectedly so Mike could try to "fix" the iMac, and his presence seems to have made it behave again, although I wish he could have seen how it was acting most of the day -- it's just like when your car stops making that sound as soon as you take it to the garage. Mike, of course, thinks it was just me, but I know it wasn't, and it only started working properly because he showed up. It will inevitably start going nuts again, and Mike will need to come back to whip it into shape.

On a different note, I got a call to come in to an interview tomorrow at NW Brewwerks, a "brew your own beer" brewpub-type place in Kirkland. I was so excitied that they were actually calling me, I acted like a bit of a spazz on the phone -- I am incredibly bad at first impressions -- so they probably think I'ma bit of a ranting lunatic, not that I'm NOT, per se, but, you know, I could've not left them with that impression within 30 seconds. Hoepfully things will go well tomorrow...

after a couple of pretty lousy games, it was very refreshing tonight to be reminded I can Play (I'm talking indoor soccer here) I had a couple passes which set up goals, and scored myself on a great play... I won't bore y'all with any more details...

and on a completely different note... I like beer...

I'm beginning to think I should have watched Bush's "State of the Union" speech last night, as strange as that is to say, but I completely forgot about it until it was almost over, and then I just couldn't bring myself to watch any of it. But let me explain what I am thinking.

A few months back I decided that I just Couldn't ideoloigcally/philosophically support goint to war with Iraq. It seemed to me the foreign affairs focus should be firmly on a "war on terrorism" under the umbrella and support of the UN, and with the North Korean revelations, it was just starting to look stupid -- and this is all aside from the fact that maybe some more attention should be placed on domestic issues, particularly the sagging economic climate.

But here we were, pushing along on a path towards uniltoeral action against Iraq, with all this shit involving weapons inspectors, the UN security council, and trying ot build European support just looking like a show. It just seemed to me the Bush administration should just call a spade a spade and start dropping bombs willy-nilly -- at least that whats it seemed we were going to do regardless of how things turned out.

But I still harbor hesitation, for in my mind there is a caveat to all this. If the Bush and his cronies have information that the Iraqi leadership -- aka Hussein and his cronies -- have taken an Active role in developing and helping administer terrorist plots in general, and Al Queda specifically, then some sort of action against this regime becomes almost mandatory.

Imagine the following scenario. Things aren't going well in your life, maybe you've lost your job, your car's broken down, you're just a little down on your luck at the moment. Instead of trying to help cheer you up, your best friend keeps telling you that you should dump your girlfriend. Granted, the relationship hasn't exactly been splendid lately, but you just think there are Bigger and Greater problems in your life that need fixing, and dumping your girlfriend will be an uneeded distraction from what you feel you need to concentrate on. Your friend continues to persist, repeatedly telling you, "You know, what you need to do to improve your life right now is dump your girlfriend." You get so sick of hearing it, and his introduction of what you feel is a false and unnecessary negativity into your life, that your friendship begins to falter and deteriorate.

Finally, when things just aren't looking any better for you, your friend, who has just plain pissed you off by now, fesses up. He tells you that your girlfriend has been cheating on you, and he's known for some time.

And now you are doubly pissed. Why the Fuck didn't he Tell you this a lot sooner?!!? Knowing this really doesn't make things any better, but he was right, you should dump your girlfriend.

So, you see where I'm coming from here?

I am officially an iMac user now... the old PC is unplugged and sitting usused in the corner... is this a change for the better??? I don't know, what I Do know is that there are a number of thing I am annoyed with about this iMac right now...

on another note, it is rainy and depressing today...

I just thought I would log in and write something that Wasn't about the Stupor Blow...

�it�s time for my Official report on that Unofficial National Holiday, and transcendent cultural event known as the Stupor Blow:
�but first, an editorial. I swear I�m going to punch the next person who says the Bucs are �World Champions.� How in the hell can you call a team that wins a sport that is only played in one country world fucking champions???! They are NFL Champions� for the love of all that is good, stop calling them �World� champions.

And now, the Good and Bad:
Bad: Celine Dion and �God Bless America.� Why the hell is a French-Canadian singing this??
Good: the Dixie Bitches version of the �Star Spangled Banner� was rather good, I am reluctant to admit.

Bad: Shania Twain�s mailed-in, clearly lip-synched �performance,� only matched in cheesiness by the guitar �players� in her �band� doing the most half-assed job of �pretending� to play anyone has Ever seen.
Good: the professional, quality craftsmanship of the aforementioned Twain�s brassier engineering team. Bravo, gentlemen!

Good: Although all half-time performances will forever pale compared to last year�s U2 show, No Doubt and Sting weren�t bad� I kinda dug it�
Bad: Can someone tell me what in the hell was the point of bringing out Bon Jovi after the game but Before the Trophy presentation? Those guys should fire their agent for that shit.

[Editors note: I didn�t even start watching the �broadcast� until about 3:00, so I can�t comment on the inevitable overwhelming insipidness of the perpetual pre-game shows/festivities.]

Good/Bad: I�ve always hated the Budweiser �horses playing football� adds, but the zebra/referee watching the replay was a welcome twist�

Good: Terry Tate, office Linebacker� but Who was that a commercial for�? I honestly don�t remember.
Bad: just about every cheap mass-produced yellow piss water American beer commercial that ran� they just don�t seem funny to me any more�

Bad: Cadillac commercials and their general trend in automotive design.
Good: �uhh, you know, the Pepsi Osbourne add seemed forced and hackneyed, Fed-ex �Castaway� was two years too late, and the Visa Yao Ming was a 10-second joke stretched to 30� so no more �Good��s for adds.

Good: Al Michaels, best NFL play-by-play man working today, and he makes Madden tolerable� that is an astounding feat in and of itself.
Bad: Not Nearly enough sideline reports from Melissa Stark.

Good: as usual, ABC came prepared with a handful of �unique� camera angles (like the sky-cam)�
Bad: �but they didn�t seem to USE any of them!!!!???

Hmmm� was there a Football game played???

Good: The Raiders, old adversaries of our beloved but perpetually downtrodden See-Hacks, getting spanked� although it hardly matters what with the switch to the NFC.
Bad: With the NFL being such a copycat league, it means bad things for casual fan entertainment purposes when �conservative team with great defense� kicks the crap out of �wide-open, exciting to watch team.� Hey, the Bucs are great, I bet on them and rooted for them, but�

Bad: The Raiders run defense allowing Michael Pittman, who came in to the game with about 40 career rushing yards, to run roughshod for 120+
Good: Michael Pittman, perhaps the most useless fantasy player ever, having the Game of his Career on the biggest stage� and for that matter, Keenan McCardell, caught in loudmouth Jerk Keyshawn Johnson�s shadow, catching two TD�s� beautiful stuff, people� great stuff�

Good: John Gruden, who has been my favorite coach to watch for the last few years now, winning the Stupor Blow
Bad: Tim Brown doesn�t get his ring� which is too bad, really.

Bad: Another blowout Stupor Blow that lacked in compelling entertainment
Good: that weird Raiders �comeback� that lent the game a sort of temporary sense of competitiveness, but then the Bucs re-pissed their territory with two late Defensive TD�s� it was sort of a weird last 17 minutes�

� well, that�s about it� I�m sure I�ll think of something else to say as soon as I post this, but I guess that what those Comment boxes are for�

the Jake Stupor Blow "pretend money" sportsbook results:
(rememer, we started with $100)

Brewtaro (akr Ryu, aka Mike)
$250

lemurs (aka Mary)
$217.5

one big knife (aka DanG)'s wuus bet:
$0 (I would hardly say the Raiders played their hardest and had fun!)

Tyler
$50

Greg
$100

Laurie
$105

Rich
$0

Jill (but not Corey)
$0

Jake (that's me!)
$125

Thanks for playing, y'all!