For some reason, I’m still a sucker for a cap game. I’ve been collecting PepsiStuff Points for the last few months, routinely banking my 18¢ codes in hopes of freely downloading the summer’s hits from Amazon.com. Sucker.

First problem: This summer’s releases have been whack. When Miley Cyrus is 1 of 5 highlights on PepsiStuff’s home page, you’ve got your work cut out for you.

Second problem: Amazon has been selective with its PepsiStuff offerings. Just this last week, I scored only 1 summer jam of the 6 under consideration due to PepsiStuff availability issues. The download was the ColdPlay hit... but these sophisticated bands just give you their music now, right?

Bottom line? You’re better off soaking your Cheerios in Pepsi… maybe washing your hair with Pepsi… so you can rack up 60 for a vintage Pepsi Tee.

Labels: music, rants

Speech quirks are generally cool. But when an individual's quirkiness spreads like wildfire and becomes common lingo within a greater body politic, it's time to squash the quirk.

Case in point, IT's love affair with "straw man," their VP/Chief Officer's vocal treasure. Considering it's intention to foster discussion and argument, straw man's often an appropriate phrase choice. But now everything is a straw man: a list of meeting attendees; a staff brainstorming session; a working copy of a site's navigational tree.

My underlying problem with this newfound lexicon is that I used to draw Straw Man. My illustrations of a pin-striped, overbiting ol' #18 were seemingly well received... "nice Straw Man." Did they like my Strawberry or were they looking to start an argument? Were my depictions of an unorthodox leg-kick perceived merely as a flawed, unpolished first attempt? I don't know... I'm just throwing it out there... as a straw man.

Labels: rants, work

This title may have the makings of a quality “Same Name” Wheel of Fortune puzzle (new season starts Monday, 9/10, with all sorts of new wrinkles), but it actually sums up life as I continue to follow through with ‘07’s resolution: Enter more contests.

Thus far I’ve avoided letting the losses get to my heart. However, after YDR’s handling of their “Summer Photo Contest,” I’ve been sunk to Brittenum Twin status: My spirit has been broken.

“Summer Photo Contest” sounds innocent enough, right? Find a few snapshots of Mallory doing this or that in a seasonal setting and give it a whirl. The contest results were printed last Sunday and we didn’t make the cut. No biggie.

Dejection set in soon after when I checked out the archive of entries online. First of all, my pictures looked dark on a PC, no doubt the format of the machine the judges were using. The poor color representation zapped the sunsation out of a few of my shots, but despite Hodgman’s efforts, that’s just the way of the world I guess.

Then, I really hit rock bottom when I clicked to view my photos and saw a 5-star rating system attached to each pic. I didn't make the paper, now I've got to stand by as the people tell me how close I wasn't? Mally’s face is barely peeping out of the top of a ferris wheel carriage and you’re giving me 1.8 stars? I use my cam’s built-in “Fireworks” setting, but my killer July 4th shot can only muster a 1.7? My daughter’s first steps on the beach warrant a 2.4? This county is merciless!

Labels: Mallory, rants

I'm often asked how work's going and rarely offer much of a response. My reticence isn't due to the fact that it's not going well though. In fact, much to the contrary say these recent emails:

Bill Walton's mastery of hyperbole is more than welcome during any NBA broadcast. Various co-workers' unwitting insertion of the same into my mailbox... not so much. Multiple exclamation points, smiley faces - what I really think when I get a few of these within the span of a day or two is that there is some kind of inside joke going on and the Instituters are just having fun with me. Brilliant? I converted a series of HTML pages into a PDF document.
Awesome? I uploaded a word file to our web site to override the outdated version. I rock? Cool.

By the way, can you take exclamation points and smiley faces into a performance review? "Sir, as evidenced by correspondences saved in my Exclamations and Smileys Outlook folders, I've accrued 427 exclamation points and 88 smiley faces over the last fiscal year. Need we really discuss 'being a team player' and 'future challenges?!?'" ☺

Labels: rants, work

I posted this originally on my fantasy baseball league's message board but wanted to include it on Blah, Blah for posterity. Whether Jason Jenning’s mound mastery leads to the Stros tumble to the bowels of the senior circuit or just really screwed up a decent fantasy week for the Magnificent Maracas, I’ll forever be reminded of my Jennings-induced anxiety.


OK, so the slaughtering Jason Jennings took yesterday apparently isn't all that rare. In fact, according to JJ's flaming Y! note, some dude allowed 11 1st inning runs just last year for the KC Royals.

You know what? I hope this Jennings thing is a sign that the Astros are soon to be the new Royals... 20 years of ineptness, nary an all-star, laughing stock of the league.

I can't think of another MLB franchise I'd rather see suffer through pathetic season after pathetic season than Houston. They put a hill in center field for crying out loud! And every time I see them on TV, there's dumpy old "this is working out well for them" Babs Bush perched just over the batter's shoulder. And George senior popping peanuts, chirping with his oil cronies... get 'em off my screen! When this godforsaken franchise burns like Enron remember... Jason Jennings lit the fire!!!

Labels: baseball, rants

"I don't know what the hell is going on," Shakir says. "It's crazy."

Following my week-long search for some basic NBA-wear, I must admit that the same sentiment crossed my mind.

What had me puzzled? The white tee, and it's prevalence at the various athletic apparel shops I visited, most notoriously the Foot Locker at the West Manchester Mall. Picture the entire center section of the Foot Locker store covered by 4 gigantic shelving units holding nothing but plain tee shirts, half of which were plain white tee shirts! And their sales-zebras still had the nerve to dress up like refs. You sell white tees... Line Judges are in no way symbolic of me sleeping!

"If you can go to the store and buy five shirts for $25, that's your whole week," explains Myorr Janha.

My eyes and ears have told me that the white tee has become a staple of hip-hop culture. I respect the trend as a spirited take-back mission and figure it was born of inner-city economics. Rather than sweat name-brand, higher-priced merchandise, why not make what many kids in poor areas were relegated to wearing the style? Then if you can pinch enough, go name-brand on the sneakers since you can wear those everyday. It's a sound strategy without a doubt.

But the irony in all of this is that the Foot Lockers and Finish Lines were the stores peddling the then trendy officially licensed league/player merchandise and sneaker brand duds. I guess the take-back is in full-effect. And I'm out a Spurs shirt.


I thought I'd get Googley and see what the tangled web had to say about this white tee shirt trend. The article quoted throughout this post, "XXXXXXXL", provided at-length coverage. (Pun intended!) It's really a pretty interesting and entertaining write-up. They hint at my theory behind the trend, as well as others including:

"There's the idea of not only living large, but living extra-large, and wearing a long shirt that goes down to your knees is a bold statement. You'll get noticed."

"...they mimic and glorify a violent prison culture, where beltless cons stash contraband in the folds of one-size-fits-all uniforms."

"The culture of the customer is so everyone will look the same," says Stuart Silberman, vice president of marketing at Changes, a nine-store chain of urban menswear stores based in Baltimore that has been stocking tall tees since 2002. "If the cops are looking for a suspect, he's invariably wearing a long white T-shirt with long shorts. So they can't be identified. That was the real reason it all started."

The last of which is refuted by my favorite quote of the article:

"In my neighborhood, we all wear the same stuff, so me, I had to change my dress code up," ... "I wear different things from everybody else, so now when [the cops] run up on me, they don't get confused."

Finally an explanation as to why Burlington Coat Factory thought they could sell a Fat Lever college jersey. And at the same time an explanation as to why I can no longer find a Fat Lever college jersey at Burlington Coat Factory.

Labels: rants, research

PennDOT's at it again. Let me start by reminding you that I have a half-hour drive to and from work each day and an even longer ride home on Fridays. Let me also get the link to the malicious source out of the way.

Now, you know where I live, right?

Traffic will be restricted to a single lane in each direction on Route 30 between Kenneth Road and Market Street.

Seriously, you know where I live, don't you?

Drivers using Route 116... may be restricted to a single lane with flaggers assisting drivers through the work area using an alternating traffic pattern.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE I LIVE??

In July, Roths Church Road will be closed on one weekend as will Route 116 on a separate weekend for the final paving of the roadway.

Without an appealing alternate route, I may be forced to suck up the atrocious MPG and wonder what might have been made of displaced moments.

Labels: rants, road-trips

First off, the pretentious chef thing. I may have touched on it briefly in the past, but this issue really got under my skin after reading an email recently from a co-worker. In an announcement about an upcoming culinary event, references to Chef This Guy and Chef That Guy were aplenty. And to top it off, the email was signed by program director Chef Firstname Lastname. The funny thing is, when I first started working here at the Institute, the emailer was in the position of Admissions Director, known simply as Firstname Lastname.

Now I'm going to venture a guess that at least 99.5% of all people past and present know or have known how to cook food. I mean, it's so easy a caveman could do it. Therefore, I reason that doing something professionally that everyone else can do on at least some level is not worthy of a title. In other words... get over yourselves! Identifying the taste of paprika is a far cry from detecting coronary artery narrowing. And another thing... I'll take a Chick (with no pick) over Seared Tuna with Dueling Pepper Coulis everyday!

I think I'll stay in my Inbox for a second as it leads me to my next victim: an old English teacher. Let me tell you something Outlook spellchecker, I know how to spell Monta Ellis' name. He's not Monty. He's not Monte. He's Monta. The red squiggly line under his name reminded me of a paper I wrote in 8th grade about Isiah Thomas. The teacher circled the name in red and wrote "Isaiah" next to it. My '90/'91 Hoops cards must have conflicted with the Bible or something. Bottom line Mrs. Pitzer... mark-up my paper until your Sharpie runs dry, but don't question my NBA authority and expect me to forget about it (17 years later)!!

While we're talking spelling, let's jump into the dictionary. Since coming across The Situationist web site, I've found many of their posts and articles interesting. To keep things straight, I need a dictionary handy and my preference is www.m-w.com. Yo Merriam, Webster, what's up with including defined words in their definitions? In no way have you helped me make sense of "disinhibition." What more do I now know about "heuristics?" Mrs. Pitzer may not know how to attack a 2-3 zone, but she sure knows you can't use a word in its own definition! Turn off Colbert for a few nights and get to defining!!!

Speaking of obnoxious (in this case unintentionally so) on-air personalities, I had the misfortune of tuning into ESPN Radio this morning on my drive to work. Although I rarely listen, I find Mike & Mike to be likeable hosts, but it seems that even they cannot escape the sports-talk agenda. How in the world, with Spring Training right around the corner and so many fans craving their peanuts and crackerjack, can Roger Clemens' situation be such a headliner story deserving detailed analysis?!? It's a simple story that we've seen unfold before. It's older than the On-Star hotline guest delivering the insight. We don't care.

My use of ESPN.com parallels my use of ESPN Radio... you try to stay away for the most part, but sometimes you get confused and think it's the best option available. For instance yesterday, when I saw a line about Dennis Johnson passing away. I thought that the WWL would be a decent place to find a good ol' AP release, which was the case. Additionally, ESPN's trend-following user comments section trailed the standard article. The "conversation" for this particular piece highlighted the silly side of Web 2.0's underbelly. Many readers posted comments to the effect of "Even though I'm a huge Lakers fan, RIP DJ." First of all, I don't know what the whole typing RIP into a message board thing does, but how about the "Even though I'm a Lakers fan" themes? Just plain silly. I guess people talk because they think they have to in the virtual world too.

Labels: bunkum, rants, work

I'm through with this game. Ever since Ken Dodson first proposed a hand of 7/27 a few years ago, I've been at odds with one of the most drawn-out, unimaginative poker games ever dealt.

In fact, I've adopted an early exit strategy for this game which I regrettably veered from when my brother-in-law Tony called 2/22 at a poker table this past weekend. This "reds only" version promises all the frustration, chip reduction and stolen moments of 7/27 and then multiplies it all by 2.

Nevertheless, I caught a red 5 down and a red 8 up off the deal. My adversaries' hands lent themselves more to playing for the 2 rather than the 22 for the most part, so I thought I'd stick around and see another card or so. After a black face card, I landed the other red 8. Hmm... I think that gives me 21, which is close enough to 22 to start hammering the pot and expressing supreme confidence in my high hand. Eventually, my competitors folded and half the pot was mine - or so I thought. Turns out I was too occupied with my disgust for this game when the dealer announced the rules that I didn't catch the "without being under" addendum.

I was still given parts of half the pot, which in hindsight I realize I had no business accepting. But please understand, if you're playing cards with me and either 7/27 or 2/22 is called, I am only staying in the game if I am dealt exactly 7 or 2. If I'm betting, you better be going high!

Labels: poker, rants, threats

The General

First off, the real "General" is Sherman Douglas. No one ran Jim Boeheim's show quite like Sherm, and Douglas enjoyed a nice little 12-year NBA career. Nevertheless...

Did you see Bobby Knight punch that kid? Look at that balled up fist in the picture! How can this be referred to as "raising a chin", "flipping up a chin" or "a quick lift?" He punched him! But let's not get technical, Bobby was just helping the kid be a more confident player. Hey, I agree the kid is now oozing with something, but it ain't confidence!

The Radio

The honeymoon's over between me and that Warm 103. At 11:00 AM today, they flipped the switch. Contemporary adults no longer want to hear "Unwritten" or "that McPhee song that no one knows the actual title to or artist of" 5 times a work-day, they want to hear Christmas music and Christmas music only. Not only are these songs so 6 months ago, they're so 10:59 AM this morning ago too.

Let's check the math: Today's November 15th and Warm claims they will play these cover-bands non-stop through the season, which is probably January 1st. That totals 48 days, which means I'll be wished a Merry Christmas in so many ways roughly 13% of the year.

Maybe they need some help understanding how inharmonious this proportion is... whose chin needs raised?

Labels: music, rants, the college game

Since moving to a new shared office environment, Warm 103 has become part of my work-day. As usual, my thoughts are random:

Ads in heavy rotation

• The Phil Avillo spot didn't work for the state as much as it worked for me. PA didn't send in a marine.
• The Wawa "wah" pedal thing drives me nuts.
• Sounds like the York Revolution hired the Piston's PA guy to do some voice-work on their ad.

DJ Mix

• West is back in the mornings, Garder takes you from AM to PM and Sten is now on 106.7.
• I think Melanie's playlist is decent - she throws in some good 80's stuff.
• This jury's still out on the afternoon guy.

The Tunes

• It's funny how these Soft Rock stations frequently mix in songs that were on trendier pop stations a year ago... why not just play these kinds of songs when they come out?
• Occasionally they drop a slogan that goes something like "From John Mayer to Phil Collins to Rod Stewart"... thanks for the variety?
• And they're not kidding about Phil Collins - I think I might have to start a spreadsheet on him.
• The Kid Rock/Sheryl Crow duet is still a station fave. Strangely enough, "cocaine" is not edited out. I guess Contemporary Adults won't go crazy if they hear the word.
  
• For some reason, Tracy Chapman is averaging 1.5 spins a work-day.
• Keep that Ambrosia coming!
  

Today's Trivia

• I'm not terribly proud of this, but I nailed the lunchtime trivia question today. The answer? MacDonald Carey.

Labels: music, rants, work

• What’s Wrong With Playoff Baseball Pt. 1: The first thing I noticed about these ’06 MLB playoffs was the sun in San Diego. Some of the Padres/Cards NL Divisional Round games started in either the 11:00 or 12:00 hours, earlier than regular season day games in SD. This created shadows entirely new to the hitters causing them to struggle, according to the game announcers. The Padres offense struggles enough as it is, why change the game conditions during their most important games of the season?
  
  
• Zzzzzz: Is it me, or has this been the least compelling group of playoff teams in recent memory? The Dodgers, Mets, Cardinals… all the AL teams except the Yankees. Everyone’s rooting for the Tigers, but I’m not sure “because they usually are terrible” is a good enough reason to get excited.
  
  
• What’s Wrong With Playoff Baseball Pt. 2: Again to the Padres/Cards NLDS… Prior to the game, a talking head actually said something to the effect of: “Jake Peavy’s pitching tonight, he’s their ace. If he can get them 6 solid innings, the Padres will have a shot.” This is a common theme during these playoffs, starting pitchers only being expected to pitch 5 or 6 innings. In fact, the Mets are hoping for 4 solid from Oliver Perez in tonight’s game 7. And to think Orel Hershiser had to analyze some of these performances.
  
  
• Psycho: Steve Lyons getting canned may have been the most interesting postseason storyline to date. In my opinion, he was just partaking in that silly “we’re buddies so we rib each other” thing that sportscasters do. The cool thing about reading the Steve “Psycho” Lyons articles was that it reminded me of my favorite skateboard: “Psychotic."
  
  
• What’s Wrong With Playoff Baseball Pt. 3: With Detroit already advancing to the World Series, and the New York Mets favorites to do so tonight, we’re looking at the season’s most important baseball being played in the Northeast in October, maybe even November. This is absurd. How can teams play approx. 90% of their season’s schedule under certain weather conditions, then play the championship in entirely different weather conditions.
  
  
• Willie and Tony Brought Me Back: Despite all these gripes, I’m unfortunately still plugged in thanks to managerial decisions over the last two NLCS games. First, LaRussa pinch hit LHPH Chris Duncan (a sandwich pick!) vs. the Mets LHRP Feliciano late in game 5 and the rookie smacked a homerun to pad the Cardinals lead. Then, last night Willie Randolph inserted RHRP Guillermo Mota into the game to face LHPH Chris Duncan and the rook bounced into an inning ending double-play, giving Mota the elusive Hold. These decisions are unconventional and should possibly be considered “What’s Wrong With Playoff Baseball Pt. 4, ” however I found the moves refreshing. I guess it’s as close to “expect the unexpected” that predictable baseball has to offer.

Labels: baseball, rants

I know exactly how Allen Heckard feels.

It's not easy having to share your identity with famous sports stars. The double-takes as you're walking down the street. The autograph requests. Kids wanting to see if you can catch up with their heater. It's all in a days work when you look just like Jackie Brandt.

Just like Jackie, I weigh 170 lbs., bat right, throw right, and was born in April. But c'mon people, JB's 5'11", clearly an inch shorter than me!

And to think folks say I am somehow bringing on all of this attention myself. Like I'm the only guy who walks around muttering things like "When I played, we didn't care that we only got paid $100 a week... we just loved the game" while sporting a vintage '58 Giants twill cap. Purely coincidental.

Now, thanks to Mr. Heckard's courage, I'm looking you up Jackie Brandt. You figure my age and you multiply that times the number of people under 40 who heard of you and divide that by how many times you led the league in triples and then I turn around and I figure I'm suing you for $248.11.

Labels: baseball, rants

What's up with ESPN's infatuation with the trade deadline? Thankfully, my exposure to the network's baseball coverage this season has been limited, but the few instances where I had no better choice, all I heard was talk about who's going where before the trade deadline. Last year, this talk started weeks into the season on ESPN Radio as Tim Kurkijan declared which teams were going to take on the big salaries and which teams were looking to dump those salaries. Doesn't this whole Buy/Sell, trade deadline concept cheapen the sport? So why turn it into such a circus? Selling the actual on-field action short by replacing it with rumors and gossip is a disservice to the game.

Looking around the diamond

Looking at Randy Johnson... he's like the anti-babyface. They say he's getting old and losing his stuff a bit, but he looks exactly like he did on his '89 Donruss Rated Rookie - like a 45 year old man.

Looking at Andruw Jones... he looks just like Antoine Walker, who looks like a beefy, battered middleweight boxer. Therefore, Andruw Jones looks like a beefy, battered middleweight boxer. That's like algebra or something.

Looking at Rickie Weeks... I think he's the new Ron Gant. Pop and speed, he's got 30/30 potential. Also, he plays a lousy second-base and will undoubtedly be moved to the outfield within the next few seasons.

Looking at Adam Dunn... call him Hans Solo. He's got 23 homeruns and 43 RBI. What kind of ratio is that?!?** The kind you end up with when you only hit solo shots. I can't find homerun breakdown stats, but when looking at the other NL hitters with over 20 shots, it appears as though Dunn should have at least 50 RBI. Only Alfonso Soriano (49) joins Dunn with less than 50, but he's a leadoff hitter.

** Yes, Adam Dunn is on my fantasy team.

Labels: baseball, bunkum, rants

After unveiling their Video channel on iTunes Music Store awhile back, my immediate thoughts were "I bet Apple will revolutionize the television and music video industry the same way it has the music industry."

I'd like to retract that comment.

If I buy a song on iTunes, I can burn it onto a CD and play it in my car or on my home audio system, in addition to listening to it on my computer and iPod. Sure there are DRM limitations such as purchased tracks can only be burned up to 7 times and can't be copied to more than a few compters/devices, but they are reasonable enough in my opinion.

However, if I buy a TV Show, I only have one option: Watch it on my computer. My iPod does not have video playback capabilities, not that I am interested in watching something on that tiny screen anyway. And the real kicker is that there is no way to burn purchased shows or videos to DVD, the parallel to burning music to CD.

I've spent a portion of the day trying to find out how to accomplish this and I haven't had much luck. I haven't had much beef with the DRM protection that comes with iTunes audio tracks, but this issue will certainly be a sticking point on the video side. I would really be surprised if it were not a sticking point with most potential consumers.

Any thoughts?

Labels: iTunes, music, rants

With March Madness set to begin, I would like to share an observation about the college game: All they do is foul!

I'm usually on my own to defend the NBA game against the college game when discussing hoops with my friends. One of the key points college fans consistently make is that the college kids play a lot harder and with more intensity, which leads to better team defensive efforts.

I'll skirt the "they play harder and with more intensity" argument, and instead focus on the effects of the high-intensity, over-aggressive defensive result: it's killing the game. I've been watching more college hoops recently than I have in years (no league pass) and nothing bothers me more than the constant fouling on the defensive side of the ball. On any given possession, I would guess the defense commits anywhere from 4 to 8 fouls. Reaching, nudging, holding, grabbing, shoving... little of which is called. The officials are naturally reluctant to blow their whistles when they see all of these infractions, the game would take 3 hours to play and half of the players would foul out were the rulebook honored.

So the fouling continues, and offensive basketball suffers. I really think one of the reasons today's players attempt so many three-point shots is because a catch-and-shoot from beyond the arc is one of the few offensive plays where a foul can usually be avoided. The three is the greatest opportunity to score without compromised rules effecting your success. Well, that and the fact a bonus point is awarded for the same shot these 20 year-olds took when they were on the Junior High JV team.

The greater problem in all of this is the trickle-down effect it is taking. Players no longer understand what good defense is. The whole concept is flying over the heads of those who play basketball on any level, including young players just getting started. What's worse is that cleaning up this mess is at the mercy of the enablers - Refs.

When you tune in this weekend to see how you're making out with your bracket, give the defensive side of the ball a look. See how the officials turn a blind eye to contact initiated by defenders. Listen to how the commentators reward high-contact defense by translating it into intensity and aggressive play. Enjoy the hack-fest!

Labels: rants, the college game

As Charles Barkley would say, you've been "bamboozled, hoodwinked, taken to the cleaners." Oprah read a book and she liked it so much she told everyone else to read it and they did and they liked it a lot too. Then The Smoking Gun says this true-story is nothing but a tall-tale which led to the millionaire author getting grilled by the billionaire talk show host and a controversy has been brewing. Well, I've got a few questions:

1) If you read a book and found some entertainment or enrichment from it, does it really matter if it's fiction or non-fiction? I don't read novels, but I can relate. It's just like listening to and enjoying a rap single only to find that the catchy hook is nothing more than a sample from a 70's pop tune. You feel a little duped at first, but you realize that the song is still the song and you connect with it. It's no reason to throw Vanilla Ice off a balcony.

2) If a non-fiction memoir is penned by a pathological liar, is it not still non-fiction?

Anyway, I think this whole controversy is comical. After all, it's not like it's the first time Oprah made a guy rich who didn't deserve it. (Note to Daily Show watchers: I realize there was a variation of this joke on last night's episode, but I had this thing written yesterday. Plus this photo includes a puppet.)

Labels: news, rants

Despite the seating area and single-serving menu options, Wings To Go is not a lunch place. At least that's what they'll tell you if you pay with Credit Card. You see, they accept the plastic, but on orders less than $10, they'll hit you up for an additional $1.50 fee. And while it has been explained to me that this information is clearly posted, it left me in a bit of a bind after ordering a chicken wrap.

Why the fee for using Credit Cards on orders under $10? Well, and maybe this is common knowledge but I had to look it up, it's due to the Transaction Fee. This is a flat fee that is charged for every transaction, usually between 15 and 30 cents according to Ralph F. Wilson. Additionally, a merchant is charged a Discount Rate (usually between 1.5% and 5%) that applies to all transactions as well.

All this means that if the WTG would have accepted CC payment for my $6 lunch without their fee, they would have lost 38 cents on their sale (using a 20 cent Transaction Fee and 3% Discount Rate). Looking at the prices on their menu, my $6 lunch is close to the worst-case scenario for this store. Using the same rates, a $30 Super Bowl order of Suicide wings (which, per Wings To Go, are not as tragic for your mouth as Homicide) would result in a $1.10 loss. Comparing these transactions, the Super Bowl sale is 5 times greater than the lunch sale, while the losses associated with a credit card purchase is only 2.8 times greater.

I'm sure these numbers lead to the thought that you can't really blame the Wing joint for their little rule. Well, I can blame 'em because although they make a great wrap, I can't go there anymore for lunch. And they don't really seem to care.

Additional note: After telling my wife about the WTG CC Rule, she said "that's illegal." I cannot seem to find anything on this world wide web to back her claim, other than this general mention on Wikipedia. I would love to find out for sure.

Labels: rants

The quote of the day from the Dover School District's Biology class trial...

"For all we know, the world may have been created five minutes ago and we've all been implanted with memory chips," Pennock told Gillen.

From what I've been reading the last few days, two more simpler quotes come to my mind when considering this whole case...

1) "Much ado about nothing."
Thinking back on my relatively drama-free high school years, I'm sure there were situations a bit more dicey to handle than a "four-paragraph statement read to students" about intelligent design. Let's just say there are 2 or 3 questions from the kids who always have to ask questions, and you got, what, 25 minutes a year dedicated to this?

2) "Give 'em an inch, they'll take a yard."
Four paragraphs in 2005 leads to prayer circles in '07 and ruler-wielding nuns in '11.

I just wonder if this thing has strung along this far simply due to a small-town school board's power trip? If their intentions aren't to ease into a biology curriculum that ultimately features creationism, how easy would it have been to pull the four paragraphs?

Unless their intentions aren't simply the four paragraphs. In which case, U.S. Middle District Court is where the issue ought to be.

Labels: politics, rants

Why is it that every time I reach for a Band-Aid, my experience is new? Whether it's the material used to make the Band-Aid, the way the Band-Aid is packaged or the Band-Aid's features, it's never the same. Is this something that needs constant developing? A new and improved Band-Aid? More durability? Extra flexibility? This box contains "Advanced Healing Strips". It also contains 30 same-sized strips. This should never happen. Who gets 30 consecutive equally sized flesh-wounds? Every pack of Band-Aids must be an assortment!

That's the Band-Aid post.

Labels: rants