Indians and Dogs...

I have a friend who works in an office down in Orange County.

He likes where he works, and he likes his co-workers. The feeling, as this incident points out, may not be quite as mutual.

His co-worker brought in his/her dog one day.

Naturally, my friend was excited since he likes dogs and walked over there to play with said dog.

Not so fast.

My friend was blocked from petting the dog because the co-worker was afraid that people would find out that the dog was there.

"Where are [Co-Worker 1] and [Co-Worker 2]" my friend was asked.

"Not sure." my friend replied.

"Well I want them to pet [Dog's Name]."

"What about me?" my friend asked.

"Well...I would much rather have them pet [Dog's Name]" came the quick reply.

And my poor friend walked away...

You Can't Stop Whut's Comin'!

Wha?

Conservative Kitty Doesn't Like Jon Stewart

The Greatest Game in the History of Mankind!

Sunday, 04 November 2007, 1:05 PM PST.

Oooh...can you feel the excitement in the air?

But wait...the San Diego - Minnesota game isn't over, and the Houston - Oakland game is still going ahead as planned.

The local CBS affiliate couldn't possibly not switch over the most overhyped event in the history of American sports could they?




Update:

Already three things we haven't seen in a long time:
- Adam Vinatieri misses a Field Goal
- Tom Brady gets sacked
- The New England Patriots do not score on their opening drive

Update 2:

Another thing we haven't seen in a long time:
- Tom Brady gets intercepted twice (after being intercepted twice all season!)

Update 3:

Oh no, Tom Brady brings the Patriots to within 3 points after throwing a 55-yard bomb to Randy Moss. Just when you thought they were done...

Update 4:

After being down by 9 points, the New England Patriots are ahead by 4 just like that. Just like that...

Update 5:

Oh no! The Colts turn the ball over and New England gets it back with 2:25 left.

Update 6:

That's it, it's all over. Even though the Indianapolis Colts were leading 20 - 10 at home, they ended up losing 24 - 20.

The Colts are done. They will be happy with that one Super Bowl victory, while the insufferable Bill Belichick (who was extremely rude to Tony Dungy after the game was over) will go on to win many more. I can only hope that Mike Greenberg is right and he walks away after going 19 - 0 at the end of the season.

Sigh, one can only dream...

I Am...Beowulf!

So, Jeff Wells, my favorite slight-chavinistic-and-very-cantankerous movie blogger has reversed his earlier negative impressions of Beowulf and is now saying that it's:

[A]n exceptional film on its own terms, but the 3-D version I saw last night is, no exaggeration, something close to stupendous.

Maybe you should check it out after all.

Links:

Jeff Wells Beowulf Reversal

Giving Up!

That's me giving up during our go-karting race at the corporate retreat...

...with one lap to go (as I was to find out later).

Just my luck!

Corporate Retreat in Palo Alto, CA

Sometimes life is good on a corporate retreat...

Teambuilding: Blue Jeans Baby, Blue Jeans

A friend of mine works for this company which places a major premium on teambuilding. They eat as a team, work as a team, play as a team, sleep...well not sleep as a team, but you get what I mean.

Naturally they chose the uber-trendy The Blue Jeans Bar as their teambuilding events.

My friend naturally assumed that for the $200 or so that was going to be spent on a pair of jeans, they were going to measure, and build the best fitting pair of jeans on the planet.

Nope.

My friend then thought they were going to pick out a pair of jeans and then alter the jeans into the best-fitting pair of jeans on the planet.

Nope.

Instead, what my friend found out was that for $200, there would be people helping to pick out jeans, which would then have to be hemmed (each pair in the store was at a standard 34" inseam) to the tune of $40 (provided the tailor receives the extra denim material).

And no, that $40 would not be covered.

So, inspecting jeans, trying them on in the seclusion of individual changing rooms, finally choosing that perfect $200 pair of jeans, and then plunking down $40+ to have them fit you...that apparently was the perfect embodiment of teambuilding.

Of course, the person who chose this as the teambuilding event, was the only person who did not need to have their jeans altered.

How do you say irony in Corporate America speak?

Blackout in Hermosa

Well, it's not really the whole of Hermosa, just the half block I happen to live on.

Hmm...there may be something to that whole Charlie Brown thing after all...

The Ball Breakers
Irvine WTT League

Tie 2: Vs. Underdogs

The Team

Jenny “Captain Courageous” Estebo

Lindsey “Maize and Gold” Jenniches

Flora “Big Backhand” Lee

Brett “Big Guns” Hall

Stephen “Make Mascott Proud” Lee

Priscilla “Big Stretch” Lau

Pratik “Bottom of the Net” Basu

Match 1: Men’s Singles

Men: Brett / Stephen vs. Gotta Hit It Hard

Brett softened up Gotta Hit It Hard for Stephen’s unique brand of get-the-ball-back consistency, no doubt fueled by his intense desire to make Mike Mascott proud. GHIH came this close to imploding, but a last minute surge helped him overcome Stephen.

Score: 2 – 6

Match 2: Women’s Singles

Lindsey vs. Ms. I Only Play With My Husband / Ms. Along For the Ride

Lindsey brought the kind of fire and passion that Lloyd Carr can only dream of bringing the wood to not one but two members of the opposing team. The fear was evident in their eyes.

Score: 6 – 1

Match 3: Men’s Doubles

Pratik & Brett vs. High School Tennis Team & Takes It Too Seriously

Could Pratik and Brett’s performance have been a bad sign of things to come that weekend for their respective alma maters USC and UCLA?

Score: 1 – 6

Match 4: Women’s Doubles

Jenny & Flora vs. Ms. I Only Play With My Husband & Ms. Along For the Ride

The evening of Girl Power continued in full force as the single bagel was applied with startling ferocity.

Score: 6 – 0

Match 5: Mixed Doubles

Pricilla & Stephen / Pratik vs. I Only Play With My Husband / I Only Play With My Wife

The Husband-Wife team had to resort to the cheap trick of plugging Priscilla at point-blank range to secure a win. We may have lost the tie, but after seeing the look in Priscilla’s eyes I was afraid for the next team we faced. Very afraid.

Score: 1 – 6

Final Score: 2 – 3

The Ball Beakers Won-Loss Record So Far: 0 – 2

Tie 3: Vs. Without Julie

The Team

Jenny “Bonita” Estebo

Dwight “Our Savior” Tran

Flora “We Need To Practice” Lee

Brett “Clean The Beach” Hall

Stephen “Gotta Make Mascott Proud” Lee

Priscilla “You Won’t Like Me When I’m Angry” Lau

Pratik “Too Intense To Quit” Basu

Match 1: Men’s Singles

Brett / Dwight vs. Actually A Nice Guy

The 1 – 2 punch of Brett and Dwight fought valiantly, but that lefty spinning serve from Actually a Nice Guy proved to be a bit too much. By the end of it though, Dwight was this close to painting the corners…which bodes well for us next week…but bodes badly for our opponents next week.

Score: 1 – 6

Match 2: Women’s Singles

Priscilla vs. Happy To Be Here

Like I said, our opponents should have been scared, very scared after Priscilla was so brutally attacked by a tennis ball to end last week’s tie. She made short, brutal work to get us off to a winning start.

Score: 6 – 3

Match 3: Men’s Doubles

Stephen & Pratik vs. Actually A Nice Guy / The Other Guy

Pratik felt awful when he thought Actually A Nice Guy was questioning his line calls. Turns out Actually A Nice Guy was, um, actually a nice guy who stayed behind to practice with our team. Of course he did say that Pratik was “very intense.” When Pratik asked him if that meant he was good, AANG paused a bit too long to think about the answer.

Score: 2 – 6

Match 4: Women’s Doubles

Flora & Jenny / Priscilla vs. Happy To Be Here & Not Really A 3.5

Flora and Jenny brought the same kind of excitement they had for Jars of Clay (who they were seeing after the tie) and that combined with Priscilla proved to be a combustible combination. HTBH & NRA3.5 squeaked through…barely.

Score: 3 – 6

Match 5: Mixed Doubles

Brett & Jenny vs. Actually A Nice Guy & Not Really A 3.5

After the heartbreaking Women’s Doubles loss, Brett & Jenny made the courageous effort to play dead-rubber match.

Score: [Confidential]

Final Score: 1 – 4

Things are looking up. We are getting better. I think our next week’s opponents are in for the hiding of a lifetime.

A lifetime!

The Ball Beakers Won-Loss Record So Far: 0 – 3

Me: King of the One-Liner

(L) Me (R) The Man

I was talking to The Man the other day about working from the regional office which is only 9 miles away from where I live, instead of working from the regional office which is 40 miles away from where I live.

The Man: "No."

Me: "Why?"

The Man: "Because your presence is crucial to foster the kind of team spirit we are trying to build here."

Me: "Actually my absence will probably do more to foster that team spirit."

Crickets.

I guess The Man doesn't have a sense of humor.

Speaking of Don Joh


My former classmate from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, the legendary Don Joh, was featured in the recent issue of Editors Guild Magazine.

Don Joh is an editor on The Office, the NBC show that would be as good as the superlative BBC original if it weren't for the execrable Jim-Pam story.

Now some of you might think that this means that Don Joh is doing well for himself.

Well, Don Joh may be editing The Office, but I'm living it!

Who's doing well now...yeah, I thought so...

Links:

Article

Self-Defense Japanese Style




Sent to me by Don Joh and Mark Contreras.

NYT Article

Seinfeld, Arrogant? No...

Jerry Seinfeld on The Larry King Show slipping up and letting that arrogance come right through. It's a good thing Larry King didn't ask him about how his wife plagazied that little cookbook she has on the bestseller list.

Alec Baldwin is Brilliant!

This hilarious clip from the 25 October 2007 Rosemary's Baby episode of 30 Rock showcases the very best of the show (Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan) while omitting the very worst (Tina Fey).

Link:

Video

Early Review: There Will Be Blood!


OMG!

I can't wait for this movie!

And no, I won't link to the review from Variety because I don't want to give away any potential spoilers, but here's just a taste to whet your appetite:

Boldly and magnificently strange, "There Will Be Blood" marks a significant departure in the work of Paul Thomas Anderson.

Heretofore fixated on his native Los Angeles and most celebrated for his contempo ensemblers, writer-helmer this time branches out with an intense, increasingly insidious character study of a turn-of-the-century central California oil man.

I Am an Op-Ed Columnist (And So Can You!)

Bless his heart, Stephen Colbert may have his own op-ed column at the New York Times.

Links:

The Colbert Column

"Be Good or Be Gone" - Fionn Regan

Cute video.

The New India: The Good and the Bad

The Good: Technology Millionaire Altruism

An unexpected consequence of the technology boom in India has been the strong altruistic impulses emanating from those who have benefited (something that has been quite lacking in the past).

Let's hope something really good comes of it.

NYT Article

The Bad: Child Labor


According to a report from The Observer, apparently most of the apparel for Gap Kids is being made by child labor in absolutely abhorrent conditions.

I guess there is some symmetry to Gap Kids apparel being made by kid labor. I wonder what Abigail Breslin has to say about that?

Observer Article

Dravid's Last Stand


As hard as it may be to believe, apparently Rahul Dravid's magnificent career is going to end where it began. All his future hopes are centered on the upcoming Test series against Pakistan, which is a sad position to put your most undervalued player in (he has already been all but dropped from the ODI side).

I really hope he proves his detractors wrong and makes it!

Links:

Dravid in Bangalore
The Strange Case of Rahul Dravid
Shastri Backs Dravid Exclusion
Patil Against Dravid Exclusion
Rahul Dravid Cricinfo Profile

I Heart Mike Lowell

The putative throw-in in the Josh Beckett deal, the underrated, and perhaps no longer under-appreciated, thrid baseman was the World Series MVP.

I have always liked the steady, unflappable, polite Lowell. I thought he was a major part of the Florida Marlins' 2003 World Series win, and I sincerely hope Boston gives him the same kind of home-town premium they extended the overrated Jason Varitek.

Links:

Mike Lowell Toast of Boston
Mike Lowell: An Honest Throw-In
Mike Lowell: Two For Four
Mike Lowell: Better Than A-Rod
Boston Celebrates Another Championship
Red Sox Becoming a Dynasty
Boston Sheds Misery

As the Yankees Turn

Forget the World Series, the real baseball stories all involve the New York Yankees

Story 1: A-Rod Opts Out

Yeah, so maybe the announcement suffered from poor timing, but there has been too much holier-than-thou hand-wringing over this.

A-Rod Not Greedy By Wall St. Standards
Non-A-Rod Options for Joe Girardi
Leagues Criticize A-Rod
A-Rod Not a Champion
A-Rod the Mercenary
A-Rod Subsidy from the Texas Rangers
A-Rod Should Not Have Opted Out
A-Rod Probably Won't Return
Torii Hunter Files for Free Agency

Story 2: Joe...Don't Go!

I am not sure that putting your Hall of Fame repuatition on the line for a low-spending owner in a town dominated by basketball is the best way to go. You're playing with house money Joe, don't do it!

Grady Little Resigns
Dodgers Could Reunite Torre and Mattingly


Story 3: Joe (Girardi that is)...Welcome Back

Let's see, you quit your last job because of meddlesome management, and now you sign with the Yankees?!

Joe Girardi Hired as Yankees Manager

Story 4: The Son Also Rises


George Jr. (a.k.a. Hank Steinbrenner) is trying very hard to become as vaunted a media villain as his father. As Tom Hanks said to Matt Damon in Saving Private Ryan: "Earn this!"

Biggest Change at Top