I'm slowly getting over another crushing defeat in the NFC title game. My recovery was hastened by watching parts of the "Newlyweds: Jessica and Nick", which I had never watched at length before. While the stupidity of Jessica Simpson is the main draw of the show (and perhaps, her body), I feel that a lot of the show's value comes from the producers. For instance, the segment when Nick decides he wants to kill the bees and tries first killing them with the hose, is hilarious. Of course he is unsuccessful and runs away from them, but then drags Jessica along to Home Depot to buy Raid and other things. Finally, the producers add in some western showdown music and show Nick emptying many cans of the poison into the Bees nests, while Jessica does some sort of exercises inside. A great episode.



Writing up an entry on The Simpsons vs. South Park is harder than I envisioned. I'll have to save this for when I have a free half hour or so at work to devote simply to that. But don't worry Mattier, its coming.

Playing poker online is nerve wracking, a lot of fun, and just plain infuriating at times. I've started playing "sit and gos", which means you put in five dollars (or ten, or a lot more) to sit at a table with 8 other people. You each start with 1500 in chips, and you play until someone has it all. First place gets like 50 percent, second gets maybe 35, and third gets 15. Or something like that. I vow to do better tonight.

I had so much stuff to take care of at work today I actually made up a list before I got to work, so I wouldn't forget anything. As it stands now, most of it is taken care of, although some of the things I crossed off I am just waiting for someone to call me back to give me a plan of action. We have two MCAT courses starting early next week, and the people who I want teaching them are still in training (with training not scheduled to finish until late next week), so we're trying to organize something for... tomorrow night. Nothing like the last minute.

I got seasons 3 and 4 of Futurama from amazon.com UK today. Can't wait to start watching.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/7744380.htm

*It hurts in the same way as if Duke went to three straight final fours and never made it to the championship game.

*Oh, and that third time they were playing a 13 seed.

*It hurts like a girlfriend (or boyfriend, I guess) cheating on you a third time after you've already forgiven them twice.

*Its like a punch in the gut.

*Its like getting pulled over by the cops when you know you were 25 mph over the speed limit.

I'm out of analogies to describe what I'm feeling right now.

Last year at about this time, the Eagles played the Bucs in the last football game at Veterans Stadium. We all were convinced we would win. We did not. And around a few days ago, I tried to recall what happened that night.

I could not.

I couldn't remember where I watched the game. I don't know who I was with. I don't know whether I had a job the next day to go to work for. I don't know if I was drunk, high, whatever. Nothing.

Apparently, the emotional trauma of that night had forced my mind to black it out.

Which brings us to tonight.

After four beers, a carbomb, and some smoking, the Eagles had lost. So we went back and watched some Family Guy, and now I'm in my house drinking what must be the strongest seven and seven ever created. Funny, it only tastes like defeat.

Ben called and told me he is drinking by himself in his room in Atlanta.

Jim called me from upstate New York and told me he isn't sure if he can root for the Eagles anymore. Its just too hard.

Fishman called me to laugh at me.

I said I might have to pull a Flyers on them. The Philadelphia Flyers (NHL) were a team I was a huge fan of. Then they kept breaking my heart, over and over again. Eventually, I said no more and cut them loose. In much the same way I have certain people in my life. I think I'm better off.

Still, I'll keep the Eagles on. Not that there is any real choice here. The Eagles aren't the heartless crappy Flyers. I'm going to buy a Brian Dawkins jersey tomorrow to reaffirm my alliegance.

5 Things

1) I'm pretty buzzed.

2) I just laughed out loud, I mean echoing through the house loud, at least 3 times, while watching the Craig Kilborn shown.

3) Boy do I like backrubs.

4) This is hilarious. The Lakers are being pummelled by the Kings by 22 points, and the announcers are trying to make things interesting, so they're talking up the Lakers players. They are saying how Kareem Rush cannot miss, and then hilariously enough they are talking up Luke Walton. I think one of the commentators is Bill Walton. Anyway....

5) I like red wine from Marblehead.

One of my favorite things to read on a resume is under software proficiencies (or some similar title), I see "Microsoft Internet Explorer" or "Netscape Communicator." Wow, you mean you can browse the internet? How can I hire you?

Belliott323 (10:25:44 AM): probably
Evan4444 (10:26:37 AM): i'm reading some not nice things about this game sunday
Evan4444 (10:26:47 AM): too much pressure on eagles they say
Belliott323 (10:27:03 AM): im going to have to cry myself to sleep on sunday if we dont win
Belliott323 (10:27:10 AM): or drink myself to sleep
Evan4444 (10:27:16 AM): i'm going with the latter
Evan4444 (10:27:21 AM): i'll be in a bar anyway probably
Evan4444 (10:27:23 AM): and no work on monday
Belliott323 (10:27:31 AM): its the panthers!
Evan4444 (10:27:42 AM): this is the worst eagles team of the last three years
Belliott323 (10:27:49 AM): probably
Evan4444 (10:27:53 AM): definitely!
Evan4444 (10:27:59 AM): if we had westbrook it might be questionable
Belliott323 (10:28:04 AM): westbrook would certainly help
Evan4444 (10:28:07 AM): we need to give them a lot of the duce
Evan4444 (10:28:14 AM): keep correll on the sideline and let him puff
Belliott323 (10:28:28 AM): running game wasnt exactly stellar last week
Evan4444 (10:28:30 AM): duce is very versatile, like westbrook
Evan4444 (10:28:40 AM): except he doesn't make people miss, he drags them along with him
Evan4444 (10:28:44 AM): no, no it wasn't
Belliott323 (10:28:49 AM): its seems like buckhalter specializes in half yard runs up the middle
Evan4444 (10:29:33 AM): with the occassional 70 yard run up the middle to bring up his average
Evan4444 (10:29:40 AM): very rare though
Belliott323 (10:29:45 AM): yep
Evan4444 (10:30:03 AM): who will be our leading WR
Belliott323 (10:30:11 AM): stinkston
Evan4444 (10:30:15 AM): trash, stinkston, bitchell, or probably the more likely candidate
Evan4444 (10:30:16 AM): smith
Evan4444 (10:30:25 AM): maybe duce actually
Belliott323 (10:30:38 AM): i really think the defense is just going to shut them down
Evan4444 (10:30:40 AM): i kind of wish we still had na brown
Belliott323 (10:30:58 AM): that guys probably pumping gas in jersey now
Evan4444 (10:31:00 AM): there was a guy you can root for
Evan4444 (10:31:04 AM): arena ball i bet
Evan4444 (10:33:18 AM): i had a dream that the arizona cardinals hired rush limbaugh as their new head coach
Evan4444 (10:33:22 AM): i don't know quite what to make of it
Belliott323 (10:33:34 AM): strange
Evan4444 (10:33:47 AM): i just remembered it... i didn't even drink last night
Evan4444 (10:33:50 AM): what the hell was that
Belliott323 (10:34:09 AM): i dont know what to make of that one

vs.

Ah the age old debate. Well not really so much of a debate as it is Evan vs. a whole lot of people.

For those of you who haven't heard me harp on this topic before, I believe Futurama is worlds better than Family Guy. Now what do I mean when I say "better"? I mean funnier, more pleasing to the eye, better storylines, better character development, and if I had to choose between the two, I would pick Futurama in a heartbeat.

Before you can take sides, ask yourself this question - have you watched a whole season of Futurama? If yes, then I'll listen to any arguments you'll make against it. If not, then please borrow a season from me and then get back to me. I just ordered seasons 3 and 4 from Amazon.com UK for some indeterminite amount of pounds. Why the UK site? Because Futurama season 3 isn't even being released until March, and I guess season 4 will be around Christmas time. I imagine my credit card will take care of the exchange rate.

But for those of you who have watched a considerable amount of both shows, here are a few facts that I think you'll find indisputable.

1) The quality of Futurama animation is much higher than Family Guy

2) Family Guy humor is much more "shock" oriented than Futurama

3) Futurama storylines are much more involved

Now moving past those facts, I think point 3 is the one that is missed by proponents of Family Guy. Family Guy episodes are more or less self contained in those 21 minutes of animation. One episode has very little to zero effect on any other episode. Furthermore, there are no recurring themes in Family Guy. The baby trying to kill his mom is not a theme. Peter Griffin being an idiot is not a theme.

On the other hand, Futurama is more of a continuing series of adventures; episodes have a distinct effect on later ones. Kif's relationship with Amy begins with mere infatuation and then becomes a boyfriend/girlfriend one, and since he is a green alien with no bones and she is a rich asian girl whose family owns Mars, it is awkward and hilarious. The themes of Fry wanting to date Leela and Bender feeling insecure about his friendship with Fry play very pivotal roles throughout the four seasons. And you are actually able to see the progression of the Fry/Leela and Fry/Bender relationships, and they reach their heads in Jurassic Bark and The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings.

While one can point to episodes of each and say that weightier issues are tackled by each show, on average I'd say that Futurama wins this category. Ideas of friendship, the environment, politics, animal cruelty, and discrimination are central themes of many episodes of Futurama. While Family Guy does have shows centered on ideas of drug use in schools, self beautification, and um, building a bar in one's basement, overall I'd say Futurama's impact in this area is much higher, because they treat the topics much more seriously. For instance, in "Amazon Women in the Mood", the crew crashes on a planet inhabited by all giant amazon women. The men predictably act like jackasses, even when the women are clearly in power. The day is saved when Bender (male robot) and the dominant female robot on the planet get together and peace is made between the sexes, dispite the exaggerated differences.

Which brings me to the final point - because of the fact that its a continuing series of adventures, characters in Futurama are able to elicit an emotional response. This sounds corny, but its true. Watch season 1 and then watch episodes like "Parasite's Lost" and "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings", and see how much you are rooting for Fry to finally get together with Leela. Even without a background in the show, Episodes like "Jurrasic Bark" and "Luck of the Fryish" leave you feeling sad afterwards, even though you laughed your ass off throughout the show. I challenge any advocate of Family Guy to show me an episode where I really care what happens to Peter, Stewie, or Lois.

Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy watching Family Guy. It is a funny show that does elicit a lot of laughter out of me. But in much the same way, I enjoy watching South Park too. And I would never equate South Park with the Simpsons. I'd make the analogy of Family Guy < Futurama much like South Park < The Simpsons, but its not really the same thing. If I had to compare Futurama to any show, it would be Friends. It is a very funny show, and you tend to care about what happens to the characters involved in it. This may seem like a very odd analogy; one that makes almost no sense. Just borrow season 2 from me (or better yet, buy it yourself), and you'll see that this analogy is closer to the truth than you think.

Sorry about the change in address... it just makes more sense for it to be evan4444, what with that being my AIM name and all.

"BUTLER, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A woman who was drunk when she killed a man in a head-on collision must carry a photograph of the teacher in his coffin as part of her five years of probation, a judge ruled.

Jennifer Langston pleaded guilty in September to vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and reckless driving.

Prosecutors said Langston was drunk and talking on a cell phone in June 2002 when she crossed the center line and hit a pickup truck carrying Glenn Clark and his pregnant wife, Annette. He died, his wife remains in a coma and their son, born by Caesarean section five months after the crash, is being raised by relatives.

A judge sentenced Langston to 30 days in jail, plus house arrest and probation, and ordered her to carry a picture of Glenn Clark.

But when Clark's mother provided the photo of Clark in a casket, Langston, 27, objected. Her attorney said the 'spirit of the agreement' was that the photo be of Clark when he was alive. "

Obviously there is one thing that stands out here:

30 days in jail for killing a man and putting his pregnant wife in a coma because of drunk driving? I was very under the impression that an offense like this warranted like five years in jail or something along those lines. Having to carry around a picture of the guy in his coffin? While a novel idea, I don't think it will have much effect on the drunk driver, unless of course it is like a framed five by eight photograph.

And how would you even check up on this? Random wallet checks?

30 days in jail? I would be screaming for her head if I was related to this family.

I had to observe one of my teachers this weekend... I was supposed to do it awhile ago, but things always kept popping up. He only teaches on Sundays, and thats football time. Luckily, this week the Eagles game wasn't on until 4:45, so his 2 PM class wasn't too hard to sit in on for an hour.

What really amazed me was the venue - it was our Peddie School class. The Peddie School is a college preparatory school (read: pricey private high school). According to their website, the Peddie School's mission is:

"The Peddie community commits itself to the intellectual, social, and moral growth of our students. Remarkable for the range of their talents, abilities, interests, and backgrounds, our students distinguish themselves through their excitement, curiosity, and character. They help make Peddie an open, dynamic community where a passion for learning thrives."

Peddie costs $22,400 a year, and $30,400 if you want to live there. This is even more astounding when considering:

"In 1993, Annenberg gave $100 million to Peddie, the largest donation ever made to a secondary school. His gift provided an endowed fund for financial aid, enabling students from every walk of life to receive a Peddie education. The ambassador died in 2002, just after giving the cornerstone gift for the construction of the Lee and Walter Annenberg Science Center, which is expected to be completed in fall 2005."

Driving into the campus of the school, I saw a theatre, a student center, and then I reached Annenberg hall where the class was running. I found the room and sat down, and I'd have to say the room was nicer than ninety five percent of the rooms at Duke. I suppose it better be for students whose parents are paying that much.

I know I've stated this many times before, but I will not be sending my child to a private school. No matter how much money I have. Seeing a school like this only reinforces my previous notions. Going to a public school, I probably received a slightly inferior education. When I first walked into CHM23L as a freshman at Duke, I had no idea how to use a TI-83 calculator. This may be partly because Cinnaminson High School had such bad financial problems that we ran out of paper my sophomore year. Our teachers had to bring in their own paper, and sometimes our tests would be photocopied on the back of the morning announcements and other recycled pieces. But I think public school gave me the tools to deal with a lot of issues in my life; something that is lacking when every classmate of yours comes from a family that can afford to spend $20,000 on a glorified high school.

And seriously - would going to a school like Peddie really help your chances for getting into college? It might signal to admissions officers that your family has a lot of money, but thats probably about it. If I were looking over an application, and saw that the child went to Peddie but had SAT scores of like 860, I'd think one thing - "Rich idiot". Which I guess is better than being a poor idiot, but you're probably screwed either way.

www.peddie.org

You tell em Duce.

Thoughts from today's Eagles/Packers game:

*This is the Donovan McNabb that I have wanted to see all year. The QB with the Vick type running style who makes opposing head coaches think about putting a spy on him. With Westbrook gone, the only true Eagles playmaker is McNabb, and he apparently decided today that his running ability is indeed a weapon that should be utilized. If he just sits back int he pocket he is an average QB. Allow him to mill about and make plays, and he becomes as dangerous as anyone in the NFL.

*With that said, he did get sacked 8 times. And he almost was sacked near the end of regulation when the Eagles had no timeouts and needed that FG to tie. Dangerous.

*Brett Favre's INT in overtime may have been one of the worst passes I've ever seen. It was like Favre wasn't playing football, but was instead playing "If I get sacked we lose". It was similar to that horrendous INT he threw against Chicago near the end of the regular season.

*Duce Staley's run in OT was a think of beauty. What replays tend to miss is the incredible juke he put on the second man (not the guy who hit him in the backfield). Staley kind of stops running and plants, and the Packer just falls backwards. Its really hilarious to watch.

*That 4th and 1 call to punt by the Packers head coach was probably the wussiest thing I've ever seen. And it cost them. Serves them right.

*Another horrible call was the Packers deciding not to blitz on 4th and 26. McNabb had been sacked five of the last eight downs. And with 26 yards to go, a blitz forces McNabb to pretty much throw it before any of his receivers can get into their routes. Of course, there is the chance that the Eagles pick up the blitz, but they hadn't really picked it up any of the last 8 downs! Compounding this was the fact that the Packers decided to not play defense in the middle of the field. Finally, the refs decided to spot the ball 2 yards past the first down marker, when at best it was a half yard past the marker. Interesting spot.

*Did the Packers players not watch yesterday's St. Louis / Carolina game? In overtime, the announcers specifically stated that a team is not allowed to call two time outs in a row. Yet Darren Sharper was frantically jumping up and down trying to call a time out, right after the Packers already had called one. The rest of the team, apparently convinced of Sharper's ability to get the timeout called, decided to not rush Akers. Luckily, the rest of the Eagles decided to continue with the play and that was game over.

From Ms. Maier

"topic for the blog:
how trampy michelle branch looks on the maxim cover and how poor of a decision
it is for her image of a legit singer to stoop to aguilera levels of nastiness
in a B lister last ditch effort for publicity sort of way.
i sense you might be the con in a debate on this. "

Yes, I am on the con side of this. I don't feel like posing for Maxim has really any effect on whether or not you are seen by the public as trampy or not. Think about it: did anyone see Christina Aguilera in Maxim and then, just at that point for the first time, think "hey this girl is trampy!"? I think everyone way before the pictures had decided of her trampiness. Same with Anna Kournikova. Meanwhile, there are plenty of covergirls for Maxim who have posed and not taken a negative hit at all. Jessica Alba. Jennifer Love Hewitt. Lara Flynn Boyle. And those are just to name a few. I think this will actually be very helpful to her career. She was seen as this sweet sort of cute singer, which is good and all, but has limited market potential. Now that everyone has seen a little of her very nice T & A, more people I think will be interested in The Spirit Room and Hotel Paper and her other works. And that probably was the intent of it all along.

I remember reading a few Fox Trot cartoons a while back. The plot line was that Peter Fox had issues with his wife's choice to cancel this comic in their local newspaper because it wasn't funny anymore. Peter reasoned that since it was funny in the past it will always be great and should never be cancelled. Eventually his wife convinces him that kids these days shouldn't be subjected to something that is way past its prime.

And then there is Family Circus. Which to the best of my knowledge from 20 years or so of accumulated comic reading, has never, ever, been funny. Not once.

Yesterday's Family Circus cartoon had two of the kids in the circle. They were apparently talking to each other, and the caption was something like "Ask mom for 10 cookies, but then say you'll settle for 2."

No, you're not missing anything from the picture. Its just two of them standing around. One of them isn't holding a book titled "Negotiations for Dummies" or even a cookie monster stuffed animal. That was the only line, and this is supposed to pass as, well, something worthy of the comics pages in newspapers nationwide.

The Philadelphia Inquirer every now and then runs a little vote off, where a few new comics are run for a week or two and then readers vote to see which new comic should stay. At the same time, the old comics are also rated and the one rated lowest is booted out. And yet on the times I've seen this go on, not once has Family Circus been booted out. I can't remember if it received many votes to be kicked out and simply squeaked by (which would be concerning) or if it didn't receive any negative votes at all (even more concerning). Whatever the case is, I can't figure out how anyone would want to see this thing in the paper.

I just thought of that Seinfeld episode where Elaine doesn't understand this cartoon in the New Yorker, and she goes to the editors and they try to tell her its a social commentary, or something else. The editor actually tries making up a word to describe it and Elaine says "thats not a word." And at this point, the editor concedes he doesn't understand it either but he likes the picture. Maybe newspaper editors across the country like the way Bil Keane draws whiny kids.


Insert your own punchline here. It doesn't have to make sense. Here are some that I thought of just now that I think are very appropriate.

"I like cake!"
"Its hot outside!"
"I didn't do it!"

The current quote at the top of the page comes from when we were duct taping ourselves and a partner to a 40, and one person's hand had to be on top. Only perverts would find any type of sexual innuendo in this innocent statement by everyone's favorite innocent girl, Anna.

For idiots who believe that Shoeless Joe Jackson is somehow equal to Pete Rose:

"But the evidence suggests that Jackson did not try his best. The White Sox and Reds played eight games in the 1919 World Series. The evidence suggests that the conspirators tried to win three games, and they tried to lose five. Jackson hit .545 in the three games he wanted to win.

In the first four games the conspirators wanted to lose, Jackson hit .250 with zero RBI. In the fifth fixed game, Jackson was hitless until the Reds were ahead 5-0, at which point he hit a solo home run. Later, with the Sox trailing the Reds 10-1, Jackson hit a meaningless two-run double.

In the field, Jackson's play was questionable, too. Triples are rarely hit to left field ... yet in the 1919 World Series, three of Cincinnati's nine triples were hit to left field, where Jackson was stationed. And there were other things, too. White Sox pitcher Dickie Kerr, who won twice in the Series, later commented, "Our outfielders fielded base hits slow, allowing the Reds to take extra bases. And, there were times when the fielders played the Reds just opposite of what they were supposed to do. In that way they left gaps for the ball to fall safely." - Rob Neyer, ESPN Baseball Columnist

I really think this sums it up pretty well. As long as Rose never bet against his own team, I can't see how any person who knows the facts could equate Shoeless Joe and Pete Rose. And yet, writers like Steven Smith of the Inquirer still manage to put jabs in about how great Shoeless Joe is... it just riles me up.

Also, Rose should be reinstated and put into the hall of fame.

Alright this is the last post about the situation.

Pete Rose, after many years of denying gambling on baseball, has admitted that he did indeed bet on the Reds many times when he was managing them.

While it is certain he violated the letter of the law, is it certain that he violated the spirit of it? I suppose that matters on the interpretation of the spirit of it.

Clearly, if he was betting against the Reds (which he says he did not do), that would be a violation of the highest regard, since that comes in direct conflict with his managerial position and authority. That would be similar to what Shoeless Joe Jackson did. Shoeless Joe intentionally did his worst to lose games for his team. However, there isn't any evidence that shows or suggests he bet against the Reds, so that is why him and Shoeless Joe are worlds apart.

What he did do, is bet on the Reds, which is still troublesome. While he is managing to win every game, people state that he might be managing a bit too much to win a certain game he bet a lot on. Maybe his starting pitcher, crusing along but throwing a lot of pitches (such that he will be less effective in his next start, or perhaps risking career injury), stays in the game longer. Maybe... but maybe not.

Back in the 1980s managers did not care about pitch counts and really didn't have any conception of extreme overuse leading to career shortening (see Burnett, AJ). So it doesn't seem likely that he could manage any "harder" to win now; two decades ago, baseball players were more or less used on a "win now" basis anyway. Closers could be sent out there almost every day, and the only reason they wouldn't go out for like a week straight would be diminished effectiveness, not concern for their long term well being. And that diminished effectiveness would be just as powerful a deterrant (if not more of one) to a manager betting on his team to win than one that isn't betting at all. If anything, it would make a manager make better moves that would make his team more likely to win. Heck, if managers in this day and age had such a vested interested in winning every game then we might see closers used in much more effective situations than "top of the ninth, three runs up, nobody on base."

Putting yourself in a 1980s manager's shoes, its hard to imagine a situation where a manager, betting on his own team to win, manages any differently. Maybe a player doesn't get a day off when he would have liked to, but those are minor issues. In all likelihood, Rose managed his team exactly the same way he would have had he not bet on the game. And I think that is a point that needs to be publicized.

I got nothing here. I'm not feeling good and I've had a terribly busy day at work. And its too damn cold out there. Ice cold.

1 - Number of one lane tunnels on semi main highways we passed through in West Virginia on the way to the cabin. I don't think I could ever live in a place like West Virginia. Its just so... barren. While certainly it is possible that there is some form of human habitation there, I didn't see much of it. There are no factories, office buildings, hospitals, malls, and it really seemed like there weren't any homes. Cell phone usage was impossible. The only economy seemed to be cows, goats, and the occassional horse. I could never get used to cars (and people) being a rare sight. Also, I couldn't get used to the few hicks that were around.

Lots - the amount of bad smell in the tap water at Creekside. The place we stayed at for the past four days was located near a sulphur spring, so every drop of water we drank or washed with had this nasty sulphur odor and taste. Furthermore, all of the mud outside was soaked with the sulfur water, so playing soccer and ultimate tennis ball in it did wonders for our clothes. Words cannot describe how bad additional sulfur is.

24 - The amount of years I have completed in my life, as of yesterday. Being 24 years old now is kind of frightening, as it is only one year from 25. 25 years old. Such a milestone, if only because it is 1/4 of the big round (not likely to happen) age of 100, which I guess everyone aspires to reach. Many times in the weekend someone brought up about how we thought we'd have more things figured out by now, but haven't. True. But I still think I've got more figured out than 90 percent of the people in this world.

< $4.00 = What I paid for a McDonalds extra value meal in VA. I like that food is cheaper in the south. We stopped at a McDonalds in western Virginia and I got a 10 piece chicken nugget meal for like $3.75 I think. 10 nuggets! I didn't even know they came like that.

152 - Emails received to my Duke account while I was away in WV. 3 of them were not junk.

58 - Emails received to my work account while I was away. 4 were junk.

40 - Approximate number of times I swallowed my saliva in an attempt to stave off throwing up after drinking too much of the Hurricane that was duct taped to my hand. (Janelle's hand was also duct taped to the very same 40, so she probably was equally, if not more, concerned about my unsettled stomach)

0 - Number of times I booted at the cabin.

"It was just one of those unexplainable things, really," Auriemma said. "Other than a total breakdown by us, an inability to handle the ball, and handle the craziness of the last five or six minutes. It was, like, stupid things. I can't even talk about some of the sequences without laughing.

"Players who up to this point were pretty good decision-makers, all of sudden, whatever the worst decision they could make in that particular instance was, they made it. So I guess we're human, huh?"

The blog is on hiatus until January 5th, 2004. In the meantime, check out blog entires on the following dates for enjoyable entries you might have missed.

Wednesday, December 10th - Why McNabb is insanely overrated still

Sunday, November 30th - Review of the new Trivial Pursuit DVD Pop Culture Game

Wednesday, November 12th - Teaching Michelle about sports

Tuesday, October 14th - Why the Yankees defense, especially Jeter and Soriano, sucks

Also, my birthday is January 4th. Readers of the blog may want to send an e-card to etl@duke.edu, or money/trinkets/mail order brides to

Evan Lee
Kaplan Test Prep
390 George Street, 3rd Floor
New Brunwick, NJ 08901

Two money making highlights from last nights excursion to Atlantic City.

1) I've been at the poker table for about 3 hands, and a new dealer sits down. Her name is Kelly and I ask her if she is going to give me a hand to play. She ignores me, but then deals out and gives me a pair of Kings. I raise and am feeling pretty good. Then the flop comes.

K / 6 / 6

Oh baby. A full house on the flop. For those of you who don't understand poker very well, there is like one hand that can possibly beat me, and that is a pair of sixes, and I'm fairly confident that isn't out there. I check it, then start raising on the turn and river, and make around seventy bucks that hand.

2) My grandmom gave me five ten dollar bills to bet with. So I walk over to the craps table where I've been even for most of the night and see Ben and his dad. We're supposed to meet up with Pete, Al, and Caitlin for some very late dinner. Ben and his dad are losing and are about to leave, but I say hold on and drop fifty dollars on the pass line. A 9 point comes up so it seems likely I'm about to lose the fifty dollars.

I inform my side of the table that this is for grandmom. The shooter hits a 9 and I'm now up fifty bucks. I press it (let it ride) and now have 100 dollars on pass. Another crappy point (a 5 I think). And then the shooter hits it! Now I have 200 bucks. I remove 100 and leave 100 down there. At this point people on my side of the table are saying how much they like my grandmom and this old guy next to me keeps saying I'm doing real well and how she'd be proud of me.

5 more passes later, I'm up 600 bucks. I finally do lose one, but have made a quick $500 from the $50 my grandmom gave me.

Don't stories like this warm your heart?

Back in my day I didn't have this all day gift-a-thon that my niece and nephew get.

They wake up at 6 or 7, which seems inhuman to me now. I suppose it wasn't that long ago when I was the same way. Now I have trouble waking up at 10, but I was forced to wake up at 8 yesterday anyway to appease the kids. Anyway, we got to my sister's by nine, and this is for round two of presents opening. Thats right, they've already opened up some gifts from their parents.

So now they are opening up their gifts from myself, my mom, and any leftovers from their mom and dad. They do this by sitting in the middle of the room, and just kind of ripping to shreds whatever is brought to them from their own trees. Thats right, they have their own trees. Not small ones either. Many times during this spectacle they are reminded to not open any toys from their boxes yet until they have finished unwrapping their billion gifts. Its an interesting thing to hear said. "Hey, get back here, you have more gifts to open."

So in theory, the day would consist now of eating breakfast, resting, and then dinner and bed. No. Round 3 of the gifts arrives before dinner, which is my brother and his fiance bringing Lauren and Andrew more things. In this case, its a gigantic sled that they decide to sit in until dinner. Round 4 is after dinner when they open up all the gifts from Marty's parents, who arrived slightly before dinner. These gifts almost outnumber all gifts from the previous 3 rounds combined. Then finally the spectacle is complete.

Of course, I got them both a set of golf clubs, so its not like I'm part of the solution here.

And now for the opposite of annoying things: Things that me like.

1) Technology

Think about it. 10 years ago the Internet was well, there, but pretty crappy. But newer and faster modems would put those 2400 bps things to shame. AOL and Prodigy were the services. Music on CDs was the big new thing, and laserdiscs were going to replace VHS movies in no time flat. It was possible to have more computing power in your home than NASA had for that first trip to the moon.

Now look at us. The Internet is pretty much the only news medium for a lot of people. Newer and faster modems these days make 56K dial up stuff look downright Fishman driving speed like. AOL is still there, but there are a billion other services out there for like ten dollars a month. Music on CDs is the norm, although if you want you can download any song for free. DVDs pack so many extra features it is usually worth it to buy the DVD even if you have the video already. It is now possible to have more computer power in your watch than NASA had for that first trip to the moon.

We just bought Marty this new digital camera. It looks to be about as wide and long as a wallet, and as thick as maybe 6 credit cards. It somehow has a zoom lens and this big display on the back. It is totally bad ass.

Technology rocks.

2) Michelle Branch

Remember that Michelle Branch > Britney Spears comment I had senior year in the "things I've learned this senior year" thing I did? I stand by it.

And just scroll down to yesterday's post for links to her Maxim pics from this month. Hubba hubba.

I like her new song "Breathe" a lot too.

3) Fantasy Sports

This kind of should go under technology, but Fantasy Sports are so much fun it should be illegal. When BTM was asked whether he would give up beer or fantasy sports, he stated beer and I thought, well at least there is hard liquor. But I don't think he was even considering that.

And I'd probably have to agree.

There is something just too enjoyable at taunting your friends about their horrible draft. Or how they just got raped terribly in the trade they just made. Or taunting Cooper about his perennial last place finishes.

I know I've posted about fantasy sports before, but here is a confession. Wow that the football fantasy season is over, there is a bit of a void in my life. I better find a girlfriend.

4) My current job

Okay, if you didn't already know here is a description of my job.

I work 11-7.
I take a short bus ride or bike ride to work. Usually my boss or someone will drive me home, which is 3 minutes away.
I work with people all pretty much my age who are pretty awesome.
I schedule and observe teachers, which is pretty fun work.
There is actually room for advancement.

Booyah.

5) Thinking about the cabin for NYE

But then again isn't everyone who reads this blog? Yes all 9 of you. Except Hadfish. If you somehow do read this blog and aren't going to the cabin for NYE, we're renting a cabin in the middle of nowhere in West Virginia from Dec. 31 - Jan. 4. It has a hot tub. It is going to be a drunken mess of a good time that I might not recover from for awhile. Beer pong, survivor flip cup, races to get beer, drinking trivial pursuit, and lots of other fun wholesome activities.

6) Bacon

One of the few food items that is so damn good, it transcends whatever time of the day it is. For instance, most people don't each chicken in the morning. Or eggs at night. Chicken is a very lunch/dinner item, while eggs are a very breakfast items. Most foods you can classify as one or the other. But not bacon. Bacon is good anytime, anywhere, anyplace. Eat it alone, have it with eggs, throw it on a biscuit, make a grilled cheese with bacon, wrap it around meatloaf or filet mignon, add it to alfredo sauce, put it on top of a cheeseburger, put it on a salad, etc. There are so many uses at so many times that bacon may be the greatest food in the history of the universe.

7) At times, being in Cinnaminson

Every Christmas Eve we go over to my friend Chris's house. We being the 20 or so people that were our group of friends (and for the most part, continue to be) in high school. Sure, the people who show up change a little bit. Sometimes new people are added (Jenny and Jenna have appeared). Sometimes people disappear (Duba, who has been turned against us by his girlfriend and we haven't seen in a couple years. Yes I know I saw him on Thanksgiving Eve, but what I saw wasn't the Duba I know, it was a shell of him.) But for the most part, its us, and its a great time. We drink, eat, and then listen to Jimbo, Timmer, and Chris get worse every year at playing christmas songs on the viola, cello, and piano, respectively.

Here's a good story. Jimbo's dad pulls me aside before they start to play. He's telling me of how they tried playing earlier tonight for their neighbors, and the neighbors' daughter who is mentally retarded and has about the equivilence of a five year old heard Jim playing, and said "Ow what is that noise???"

Usually the night ends with us looking at Mr. Anderson's computer, with its slideshow of about 800 pictures of us through the years going on. We laugh and tell stories and its nice.

Routine is very nice sometimes.

8) Not having a child

This may seem trivial to a lot of people. But I really don't think people my age should have kids. I look at it like this. I'm almost 24, I probably am more responsible than like 90 percent of the people my age, and yet I see so many people I know having kids. Well not so many, but a few. And quite frankly it scares me.

Sometimes I'll see these people hanging out with us and think "Excuse me, shouldn't you be with your child?" I guess they just gave it to their parents to take care of, but if it was me I wouldn't be out boozing it up.

I don't know when or if I'm going to have a kid. I'd probably like to one day. But I'll tell you this. I'll have a very good job to support him or her, and so will my wife. Yes, I'll be married. Again, that seems axiomatic. Except that the people I see having a kid aren't married. And that seems troublesome to me.

I remember this one guy I interned with at the PGA TOUR. His name was Gene and he was a really good guy. He was about 28 or 29, and his wife came one weekend from NYC to visit us and eat. So we're at dinner, and she's like, "Don't have a kid! We never go out! We can never do anything!" And this is more or less what I see it as right now. Something to do far down the road. When I'm ready to settle down.

9) Vegas

Vegas baby, Vegas! Our once a year trip for the first weekend of March Madness. This year should prove to be even more interesting as we know the area a little better, and will most definitely avoid the Roundtable buffet and that shady strip club the taxi driver recommended to us last time.

Also I will avoid making large bets on Wake Forest, the weakest two seed in the history of the world.

10) Being a Philadelphia sports fan

At times Sportscenter anchors will talk about the bad reputation of Philly sports fans.

About how we booed Santa Claus (he was drunk, BTW)

About how we threw batteries at JD Drew (he's a punk anyway)

About how we cheered when Michael Irvin landed on his neck and had to be carted off the field (I was cheering)

About the amount of applause we gave Bobby Taylor (I think) when he ended Ike Hillaird's season one year ago with a particularly nasty hit (it was clean)

About the numerous instances of us booing our own players (mostly deservedly)

When I'll tell you this.

We are mean. We are nasty. Booing is a birthright in Philadelphia. At least we have the knowledge to boo Pat Burrell for striking out with the bases loaded for the 12th straight time. We don't just blindly see our players as the epitome of whatever position they are playing (note: see Jeter, Derek, in reference to what NYC people think of him. Especially his 'defense' and I use the term very loosely. Jeter is the worst defensive shortstop in baseball bar none.) We leave our voices at the stadium and get drunk doing so.

Every town's fan base should be so good.

11/12) Good friends/ Christmas

Its just a nice time of the year that really needs no explanation.

Here is the big question of the night:

Where is this going to be on the list of things that make me happy?

In the spirit of the season, I will first write about 12 things that really annoy me. Tomorrow, I will write about 12 things that do the opposite of annoy me. In other words, things I like.

1) The shower in my house in New Brunswick

Many of you are accustomed to decent water pressure. And a more or less steady temperature. I once was, but no longer. The water pressure in my house is nonexistent. It may as well be a faucet that is placed at one foot above head level. And anytime anyone in the house (9 of us) turns on a faucet or flushes a toilet, the shower compensates by either becoming scaldlingly hot or ice cold. It also loses most of its already pathetic pressure. Sadly there is no easy solution to this.

2) Buying Christmas gifts for coworkers

How much are you even supposed to spend? Is it a function of your salary? I wish there was some sort of guide out there on this. I bought the three other full timers stuff, and while I believe the two people at my level spent approximately the same amount, my boss went all out and bought me two gifts that both exceed what I got her. She is awesome and got me a box of Pro V1 Golf balls and a big inflatable exercise ball, but if I had known I would have gone all out too. Doh.

3) Rain

Is there anything more annoying than rain as a weather? Its pretty much the most annoying thing that can happen to a day, and this is even after my many crashes during the blizzard. If its sunny you can play outside. If its cloudy you can play outside and not get hot. If its snowing and you are sane you can play in the snow or make some hot cocoa or bundle up and go for a walk, or just sit and watch it pile up. If its windy you can stand outside and be amazed at the things flying by. If its raining you sit inside and wish it was doing anything else out there. On an unrelated note, its raining today, Christmas Eve.

4) "girls who sits on your bed and waits for you to make a move" - thanks to VT for this one.

Seriously, can you step it up? I'm not talking to anyone in particular, but girls please take some initiative and be aggressive. B-E aggressive. Don't just sit there and twiddle your thumbs, go for the gusto! Maybe I should have Michelle make a post here about her aggressive antics and the positive results of them.

5) When I cut my fingernails too close

Yeah, this is my own fault. And girls, you probably don't have this problem ever, but almost every guy has done this, and then gone off and done something like play basketball, go bowling, or whatever. Activities that invariably induce bleeding in the area you just cut. This pain will exist for a few days and is quite annoying.

6) Dry skin

Every year my skin turns super dry right around this time. If only I could remember that advice from that trucker magazine I got for free on my way to the cabin last year for MLK. But sadly, I cannot. So instead I try every possible dry skin moisturizer lotion or moisturizing soap or whatever, and nothing works. And I itch. And then in a few weeks it goes away, and I forget it ever happened until it starts up again the next winter.

Scratch.

7) People who are bad at Instant Messenger

We all know someone who does this. They IM you with "hi." You IMMEDIATELY IM back and say, "hey whats up?"

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

No response. You IM again with "?" or maybe "you there?"

Tick.

Tick.

Reply - "Oh hi! Hows it going?"

And then you type, "Pretty good. How are things with you?"

Tick.

Etc.

Why in the world IM someone and then walk away? Or ignore it? Are you trying to act like you are super busy and have 10 IM windows up? Cmon.

8) Wet socks

If I were to pick any article of clothing that I absolutely had to keep dry, it would probably be my socks. My boxers would be a close second, but seeing as I have never had to wear wet boxers all day (and have had gone with wet board shorts anytime I'm swimming), but have had to wear wet socks for an entire work day in many instances, I'll go with the socks.

9) My glasses

They don't fit right. They are crooked. They pinch my nose. They have this annoying black mark on the bottom of the right lens that came when Julia stepped on them, and that mark will never come off. I always have to check after drinking to make sure I have them. I look better without them.

I could use some LASIK.

10) "Mariano Rivera" Blackjack dealers

For those of you who haven't played this in a casino or experienced a really nasty dealer who gives you a never ending stream of 16s, feel lucky. Now I know that it is impossible for a dealer to control in any way the cards he/she is giving you. But try this next time you go into a casino. Find the meanest looking dealer you can. Either an asian woman who doesn't speak english very well or a tall white male with a little stubble... Those are the usuals, but you can more easily identify them with the looks they are giving out. Then sit down, and watch how many 15 and 16 hands they give you. And even when they give you a 20, watch as they will somehow go K/3/3/5 just to taunt you even more.

This past trip to AC I decided that clearly there is no such thing as a bad blackjack dealer, and I resolved to beat them at their own game. I know basic strategy and play correctly I'd say like 98 percent of the time. I went over to the blackjack tables, found the two meanest dealers, and lost 180 bucks in the span of about 20 minutes. I think I won like 3 hands.

The term Mariano Rivera comes from the Boston Sports Guy. He was referring to when you are on a hot streak in Blackjack, and then the pit boss changes dealers, and in steps the meanest looking person in the world. He looks like he was just released from prison. And he shuts you down hard.

11) When I count wrong and think I've come up with 12 things, but in reality only have 11 and need to make up a garbage number 11 to make it the 12 I said it woudl be

12) People who try to miss the traffic lights

It never fails. I'm on a road like Route 1 or Route 130, and I'm following behind a car, and there is a traffic light like a quarter of a mile down the road. It is green, and for some reason the car in front of me begins to coast and decelerate, or if I'm having a very bad day they will tap their brakes once or twice. Well I don't need to tell you what happens. When they are four seconds away from the light it changes yellow, they hit their brakes harder, and we both miss the light. Why did it have to be this way? Do you people like to spend more time in your car?

The extreme example of this is when a car is like two seconds away from the green intersection, and taps their brakes for no reason, as if they could possibly stop in time if it changed yellow.

While this is annoying in a time-stealing sense, it is also fairly dangerous. If I'm following a car and in a rush, I'm probably closer than I should be. And I'm expecting them to be reasonable (not my driving risk level, but reasonable) in going through intersections. And a couple times (in the same trip, the same car in front of me) recently I almost rear ended some idiot who had to brake so hard to stop she ended up in the middle of the intersection. I looked up just in time and also broke, stopping just before her.

Whenever my Mom does something like this I casually inform her I probably would have crashed into her if I was following her. Its a safety issue.

Here is Evan's good rule for driving - If you are in a reasonable amount of traffic, don't be the last person to stop before the traffic light.

Don't worry, tomorrow's blog entry will be happier.

Stupid rain.

Saturday:

Just the game and a party in Cinnaminson that night.

Sunday:

4:30 PM - Arrive at the Borgata in Atlantic City. The Borgata is the hip new casino in AC, and man is it a sight to see. It is on the marina, and once inside it really does feel like a Vegas casino. I get up to the room that Ben's parents have gotten us and wow. Wow. WOW. It has two big beds, a sofa and semi-entertaining area, and this gigantic bathroom. The bathroom had a sit down shower made of marble, a big separate tub, and then another room for the toilet. Seriously this bathroom was like the size of two big dorm rooms. Great view, great room, great place to stay.


The bathroom.


6:15 PM - Me and Ben meet his sister and her friends (also staying in the room) for a few drinks before dinner. We then meet up with Vijay (Duke '01) and hit the craps table a little bit. I end up maybe +50 before dinner.

7:00 PM - We hit the Borgata buffet, which is probably the best buffet I've ever eaten. Almost every single item I had was the best I've ever had of that type. Pork Tenderloin with candied pears? Best. Mashed potatoes? Best. Risotto with some duck? Best. Sirloin steak? Best. What a great buffet, a definite hit for you if you ever go to the Borgata.

8:00 PM - Back on the craps tables, I end up maybe +80 or so... So I decide to play some blackjack to vary things up.

8:20 PM - After finding a Blackjack table, I am now even for the night. That sure was quick. I head back to craps.

9:30 PM - Me and Ben are around the craps table, and this old guy is rolling. He is taking forever. Not only is he really slow to pick up the dice and throw, but he's been on his point (8 in this case) for like 20 minutes it seems. For those of you unitiated with craps, here is a quick lesson. His first roll was an 8. To make his "point" he needs to roll another 8 before he rolls a 7. If he does so, he hits his point, and all the pass line bets (which we all have made) win. So we are all hoping he rolls an 8. There is like a lot of money down on it, although I only have like 35 on it. So this goes on for awhile, and Ben eventually says out loud what we are all thinking: "Geez I think I'd take a 7 just to get this over with."

Bad.

Bad luck.

You never say something like that.

Instantly, the craps Gods obliged and the roll came 6-1. We all lost. And there were some not happy people who of course blamed Ben. I took up my chips and decided to try my hand at Blackjack again.

10:00 PM - 10 minutes of playing Blackjack and I've lost another 100 bucks. Bringing me to -120 on the night.

The rest of the night is nondescript. Ben continued to taunt those guys on the craps tables, I ended up actually winning some of my money back at blackjack, and then I played poker downstairs at the tables until 3 AM. I went up to the room, found Ben and Kate utterly passed out in their beds, and crashed on the sofa. Kate's friends were MIA, but they didn't have a key and couldn't get up to the rooms, something Kate didn't have an issue with since she was so drunk. So they kept calling her cell phone, and we can hear it vibrating, and me and Ben are like Kate go get your damn friends up here. She ignored us with some sort of gibberish, so eventually they called the room phone and I got up and told the guard to send them up.

8:30 AM - Evan wakes up, showers, and drives to NB to work super hung over.

Friday:

9:15 PM - pick up Ben from the airport.

10:45 PM - arrive at the bowling alley with Ben. We make a few bets on our bowling match.

11:30 PM - Ben wins the first game, an ugly ugly game, 150-145. Not our best efforts.

11:40 PM - Ben is at this point utterly dominating. He has thrown up a 9/ X X X 9/ start for his first five frames, giving him a sizable lead over my first five frames which were 3 spares, a strike, and an open. Ben should win this game approximately 99 percent of the time. But then it happens.

Ram happens.

On the lane next to us, are these three guys, Ram, Amit, and someone else, and they have no idea of bowling courtesy. Bowling courtesy is simply to allow someone who is already on the lane next to you to roll without you walking past them, or even really near them at all. Its distracting and annoying. The three of them have been very annoying throughout our match, but at this point, when Ben is about to roll his sixth frame, Ram walks right past Ben and gets in his bowling stance. Ben gives me a look and has to wait about 30 seconds as Ram takes forever to roll his gutterball. I then walk up to Ben and joke and say not to let Ram get in his head.

What followed was the most monumental bowling collapse ever. And every shot Ben blamed that one moment of Ram getting in his head. It got so bad that if Ram was even near the other lane Ben wouldn't pick up his ball.

11:50 PM - I win this second game, 186-170.

12:29 AM – Ben, clearly infuriated that he is about to lose, and also drunk, starts yelling at the guys on the lane next to us as they interuppt him again. I start cracking up from afar, but Ben is really bitching them out about how they really need to learn how to bowl and be polite and everything. It wasn’t even Ram he was yelling at too. I think it was Amit.

12:30 AM - I win the third game and the match, 160-137.

12:45 AM - We arrive in Michelle's apartment (where we are sleeping), but I decide we need more beer so we go out to the Ale'n Wich, a townie bar closeby. It is very chill, and we get a pitcher of Yuengling and observe this new game... its hard to describe, but essentially you have two joysticks, and the game board is set up so there are all these holes (some have lights) and you have to roll this metal ball into those holes by using your two joysticks to control this metal bar that the ball is resting on. It is very hard to explain... Maybe I can draw a picture here.

*________x__________*

Where x = the ball, * is controlled by the left joystick, and the other * is controlled by the right joystick. So the point is to move the ball up the playfield, while avoiding the bad holes, to get it into the lit hole. Anyway, it is a great game and if any of you ever visit me in New Brunswick we'll go play.

2:00 AM - Sleep at Michelle's in preparation for the Duke vs. Texas game at MSG in the morning.