Super Bowl's a-comin...

Okay....

I hate the phrase "The Big Game". I realize that "Super Bowl" is trademarked and may not be used commercially. ESPN's Tuesday Morning Quarterback column mentions how the NFL thought about trying to trademark The Big Game. Why is it that NOBODY just refers to it as the NFL championship game?

I gave in to one of my guilty pleasures tonight. I bought a 30-pack of Red Dog. This stuff is pissy American beer, and only $11.99 for the 30-pack, too. And yet, when I need to buy cheap beer, it's what I get every time. Even if that's only once or twice a year, as I switch gears from the "good beer" I tend to purchase.

I'll be making ribs. I often do chicken wings, but I want to stay away from too much stuff fried. Leaves more room for Red Dog. (ha....)

I predict 41-13 for the final score, Patriots over Giants. This will mean NOTHING unless I'm right. But if I am successful in pulling these numbers out of my butt, then hey, it's here in print before the game.

Lost is back on tonight. I like the idea of watching that! And hey, if the writers' strike limits them to only 8 episodes this year, then that means the last 40 episodes will be more compactly aired in just a 2-year window in future seasons, right?

Of course, as much as I like Lost, it's really only my second-favorite show titled Lost, ever. Back before 9/11, NBC started showing a reality show where three pairs of people got blindfolded and flown somewhere. First ones back to New York win. They could walkie-talkie with the producers with fancy phones, and if they guessed where they were, they'd get some cash that was in a safe in their backpacks. They were in Mongolia, of all places. The best was the team that called up and guessed they were in Czechoslovakia. Um, not a country any more, guys....try again. Anyways, the show was getting really good, when 9/11 hit, and all shows were pre-empted for like 3 weeks of news coverage, and so they edited the last 4-5 shows down to 2 hours and it wasn't as good and eventually faded from memory.

Nut ranking

almonds
pistachios
peanuts
macadamia nuts
pecans
cashews
filberts (hazelnuts)
walnuts
brazil nuts

and please, no testicle jokes...

IPA in a can?

That seems weird. It was made by the New England Brewing Company of Woodbridge, CT. Usually beer in cans is mass-produced piss. This stuff wasn't the best India Pale Ale ever, but highly amusing, nonetheless.

I like Venus Williams better than Serena. Maybe it's the "older sibling" thing in me. She beat a rather hot Polish woman in the 4th round today. I found that woman's website, and the server was overloaded, my access was denied because others were using up her allowable bandwidth. Ha!

Couldn't they play the Super Bowl somewhere halfway between Foxboro, MA, and East Rutherford, NJ? Like, Southington, CT? Somewhere close? Oh screw it, the Patriots play better in warmer weather like Arizona. They could easily put up 50 with no wind or cold. Of course, the Giants might put up 30 or so of their own.

Two of my favorite comments from Futurama: The "third and third and third" as something to add to coffee in the year 3000....plus "Admiral Crunch" cereal.

Peanut butter is good with various fruits. I enjoyed a peanut butter and banana sandwich for lunch. What's also good is peanut butter and raisins. Of course, you need to spread the peanut butter on both slices of bread, to keep the raisins from falling out.

Ever go to make grilled sausage links, and realize you don't have any oblong rolls? I had bratwurst this weekend, and without the right roll, I had to cut open the casings, and pack the meat into a patty like a cheeseburger.

ESPN2 has UConn-North Carolina women's basketball on. Occasionally they'll talk about how the UConn home crowd stands until the first basket is made. The women's fans stole this from the men's fans. (Of course, it's really the same businesspeople attending these games.) Anyway, the MEN's fans stole it from Syracuse. They were doing it first and UConn stole it from them, after which the UConn women stole it further.

Parmesan Goldfish crackers....extremely good, but they do not hold even a candle to the best of the goldfish -- Xplosive Pizza....

My wife and I were thinking of doing one of those open mike nights...we'd be like the Eurhythmics or something. This was going to be our set list -- me on guitar but NOT singing...

Love Song by Sara Bareilles
Love will keep us together by Captain & Tenille
Look What you've done by Jet
Zombie by the Cranberries

The hardest part was learning Love Song, and then trying to convert the piano-heavy song to guitar as sole accompaniment. (It's like re-learning it, actually.)

steak-umm

The pride of Pomfret, CT. That one surprised me. There's not much between the UConn campus and Providence.

Of course, they're not real good meat. But ya know, a little american cheese, and you got a ridiculously easy sandwich in 2 minutes. and somehow it works.....

And to wash it down. Hop Devil. The greatest beer ever.

ESPN just showed the 20th anniversary of Jerome Lane shattering a backboard on one of the first ever Big Monday games. I regret, I had the game on in my bedroom and wasn't looking up when it happened. Stupid homework.

here's something weird...

NFL Network is advertising with scenes from "Joe's Diner", where a couple of dopes argue football at the counter of a diner staffed by Joe Montana.

The stupid thing is, they show a list of "homemade pies" available....and the last one on the list is EGG NOG.

What the hell is egg nog pie? Anyone?

Good vanity plate

My wife's just gotten a vanity plate in coordination with her new job. The best vanity plate I think I ever saw was

BQQBIE

because the Qs look like nipply boobies.

Yes, I feel about 14 years old saying that.

Another beer review

This one is called "cold hop" from Boulder Colorado. Makes me think Coors. But it says "Boulder Beer Co." Anyway, it's what they call a British-style ale. I like it, though. Very IPA-ish. I also got a beer called Raison d'etre....sounds French, huh? It's by DogFish, they of the 60, 90, and 120-minute IPAs. This one was funny, because they said it's brewed with golden raisins....which made me think the name of the beer was spelled wrong. Anyway....the two things in this world that give me gas more than anything are:

1. Raisins
2. Beer

So why WOULDN'T I buy beer brewed from raisins, huh?

Anyway, some gas...not the exponentially-ridiculous amount one might expect.

But here are the grades:
cold hop: A-
Raison d'etre: B-

This is kinda gettin' ridiculous..

Let's see....MTV shows soap operas
Now VH1 doesn't show music either
ESPN shows poker
TV Land shows movies
American Movie Classics shows an original TV show
Cartoon Network had something live-action the other day
ABC Family shows the 700 club

Can a network be sued for false advertising? That would be amusing, if unrealistic.

it's just like grape juice

Happy new year to everyone using the popular solar calendar.

So last night I had some shiraz, a full-bodied red wine. My dad used to tell me that wine was just like grape juice that had gone bad. This became noticeable this morning....grape juice used to sometimes have a green coloring effect on stuff (hint hint if ya know what I mean...), and let's just say the wine had the same effect.

Hey, they're playing hockey outside while I type! Sweet deal in Buffalo, an NHL game in the snow!