Finally, A Reason to Ski.

clipped from www.thebarleyblog.com

Bones from Morton’s + Dogs = Endless Happiness

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A visit to Morton’s is not complete without asking the waiter for an extra bone.  I couldn’t come home with just one.  The waiter earned himself a big tip by coming back with four bones.  The dogs have never been happier.

The Best Show On Deep Deep Deep Cable You’re Probably Not Watching: Later… with Jools Holland

Later…with Jool Holland is a show that could not exist in the United States.  The sorry state of music in these the Taints is such that only those music acts shoved down our throats via the Dark Sith Lord known as Top 40 can be shown on TeeVee (see Blackeyed Peas, Miley, Jonas Bros.). 

Not so with Later.  Each episode has an eclectic mix of five or six musical acts playing in a circular “stage”.  And, one by one, each plays a song.  Some get to play a second song and bigger acts may play a third.

But the key here is ECLECTIC.  Just look at some of the acts that played on a single episode:

(10.10.08): Coldplay / The Hold Steady / SIA / Glen Campbell / Amy Lavere / John Mellencamp / Cage The Elephant

Half the acts I’ve never heard of and what the fuck is Glen Campbell doing with Coldplay in 2008??

And then the next week we get:

(17.10.08): Tom Jones / Snow Patrol / Eliza Carthy / Friendly Fires / Camille O'Sullivan / Stephen Stills

Crazy, but awesome.

Here’s a quasi-random sampling:

 

 

If you like to discover new acts or just want to see the acts you’re already a fan of AND (big AND) you have deep, deep, deep cable channel Ovation, you must check out Later…with Jools Holland.

Eating Uptown: State & Allen Lounge

Synopsis	My never-ending quest for gastro-pub nirvana took me to Uptown and the well regarded State & Allen Lounge.
The Food	We ordered two entrees, the fish tacos and the steak and frites. The steak and frites topped with a generous amount of blue cheese was (were??) very good.  But lets be fair.  That’s a dish that’s hard to screw up.  Steak and just about anything is a home run. Steak and bird dong is at least a infield single.  The frites weren’t so much frites as they were bar fries – good, but not frites.  The accompanying mac & cheese -- which the waitress promised was “to die for” (could we stop using that phrase please.  the only food that I know of that is “to die for” is Fogo) -- was good, but I can make better and it isn’t even half as good as the mac & cheese at The Libertine.  In fact this whole dish was not nearly as good as the comparable dish at The Libertine. The fish tacos on the other hand were horrible.  Apparently S & A think that the flavor in fish is some kind of enclave of Chechen rebels that must be smoked out at all cost leaving only a dry rubbery barren schoolhouse in its wake.  I might need to start working a little harder on my metaphors.
What I Liked	The cleavage of the hostess was something you had to see to believe.  The beers on tap were not the usual beers on tap you see at a place like this.  They even had some I had not heard of or tried. The steak & frites were good, but not nearly as good as what you get at The Libertine.
What I Disliked	The fish tacos were terrible. The mac & cheese was average at best.
Conclusion	This is yet another Uptown “gastro-pub” that doesn’t live up to the hype.

C+

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This Week in Steve: 2010 Week 2

I guess it’s not a good omen that I bring back a long forgotten weekly milestone and I can’t even get it out in a prompt and timely manner the second week.  Well I do have a bit of an excuse.  Work has been taking up an unusually large portion of my waking hours the passed two weeks.  So there has been little time for blogging.  Which explains the plethora of YouTube clips I’ve been posting.

I’ll have more on the work I’ve been doing and why I need to rant about it next week (which will probably be written tomorrow).  It' will not be a rant about the work itself, but about how it’s been so hard to find a job recently because I didn’t have this one skill that I now possess.

 

This Week’s Highlights

• The week long after glow of a Cowboys victory.
• My first bike ride of the 2010 – once around the lake.  Good Christ I’m out of shape
• Another beautiful winter league Saturday that ended in a victory.

 

Key Stats

• 2 – The number of points I scored at winter league this week.
• 60 – The age of the guy I scored my first point on. 
• 13 – The number of miles of my first bike ride.

Preparing for the End: Lost a la 24

Or here.

The Onion Talks About Me Again

Final Season Of 'Lost' Promises To Make Fans More Annoying Than Ever

Live Blogging the NFL Playoffs: Cowboys @ Vikings

Pregame:  This is a very important game.  The Cowboys must win it in order to maintain any hope of going to the Superbowl*.

Pregame:  Can we get Jimmy Carter out of retirement to broker a deal to put an end to the relentless AT&T/Verizon map wars?  Or at least can we get George DeJohn to put Luke Wilson on his detox program?

---

Q1 15:00 – Fuck this.  There’s a MonsterQuest marathon on the History Channel.  How exactly is bigfoot history?  And was bigfoot in cahoots with Hitler?

Q1 15:00 Cowboys win the toss!! GAME OVER!!

Q1 13:50 – Cool.  Miles  Austin with the running first down, using MB3 as the decoy.

Q1 13:02 – Roy Williams with his first incompletion.  But to be fair that was uncatchable for any receiver.  I just like to bash.

Q1 12:10 – This time Witten is the decoy for Creighton’s first down.  But I didn’t like seeing Romo point to where Williams needed to go after the huddle.  Yes, more bashing.

Q1 10:50 - [Fumble Recover Williams]  Romo coughs up third down fumble after being very careful with the ball for most of the season.

Q1 9:59 - [SACK by Ware]  Way to go  Dallas defense to get a quick three-and-out after the Romo fumble. 

Q1 9:50 – 8 yards for Jones.  Leonard Davis pulled to the left and just slobberkocked a dude.

Q1 8:11 – Another first down for Jones.  Griffin will have to wait until halftime to find his jock.

Q1 7:40 – Nice 4 yard power run by MB3.  A nice change up to Jones.  Obvious point I know, but I felt like I needed to make it.  Plus not a whole lot has being going on in the first quarter and I just wanted to write a longer item.  So there.

Q1 7:10 – Oh shit!  Fumble recovered by Romo.  Guys, let’s try to hang on to the ball, please.

Q1 6:30 – Oh shit!  Nice recovery by Austin on the tip.

Q1 5:38 – Really???  FG try with a shaky kicker?  Of course he missed.  Another nice drive by Dallas with no points to show.  This has been happening all year.  Will it cost them?  Against Fahvrah, you can’t leave points on the field.

Q1 5:02 – Nice stretch by Rice for the first down.   Also, nice pickup by the Vikings on the blitz.

Q1 4:04 - [TD Rice] What the fuck is Sensabaugh doing?  He’s not even trying to tackle Rice.  And this is why you can’t settle for long field goals (that are missed) when playing the Vikings. [Minn 7  Dal 0]

Q1 4:04 – What is indie movie darling Ellen Page doing in Cisco commercials??

Q1 4:04 – On second look, Sensabaugh had great coverage and I think he thought he had batted the pass away.  There is no recognition on his part that Rice has the ball.

Q1 3:34 – Witten make his first catch for a first down on first down.

Q1 3:16 – Nice MB3 run with him fighting for every one of those six yards.

Q1 2:31 – I had no hope for this play.  Marty B looked lost and confused presnap but caught the pass for the first down.  Aggies!!

Q1 1:57 – Ugh.  Let’s not dip too many times into the very shallow Marty B well.

Q1 1:08 – Is there an more snuggly bankey than Witten on third down?

End of 1st Quarter -  Minnesota 7  Dallas 0

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Q2 14:13 – Wow.  Marty B with another first down.  Ball at the Vikings 9.

Q2 13:32 – WHY???  The Razorback hardly works and wastes a down it seems to me.

Q2 12:49 – SACK by Edwards

Q2 12:14 - [FG Suisham]  Phew.  But you can’t trade FGs for TDs. that wasted Razorback down looms large now.  [Minn 7  Dal 3]

Q2 12:14 – I gotta ask the question, when is DT Pat Williams due and should he be playing when he’s clearly in the fourth trimester.

Q2 12:00 – You can’t let Fahvrah to have that much time.

Q2 9:33 – Dang that Hamlin is firey.  He’s gonna get another fine if he keeps that up.

Q2 8:55 – Barbie can’t get to Fahvrah in time and the Vikings execute the screen perfectly for the first down.  Ugh.

Q2 8:14 – Refs are letting Jenkins play.  His last two defenses could have gone for pass interference.

Q2 7:23 - [TD Rice]  [Minn 14  Dal 3]

Q2 7:18 – WHAT??  We don’t need to get cute with the kick returns.  Let’s holster those until we need them at the end of the game.  Is this Wade waving the white flag that his offense can’t handle the Vikings D?

Q2 7:14 – That looked confusing presnap and it pretty much ended that way.

Q2 6:28 – Fumble #3 by Romo.  The Adams injury may have taken it’s first toll.

Q2 4:44 – Spencer with a nice tackle for a loss.  He looked pissed and that a statement on D needs to be made.

Q2 3:46 - [FG Longwell]  [Minn 17  Dal 3]  I’m losing my live blogging mojo and may start crying soon.

Q2 2:59 – Classic Romo, deftly avoids a sure sack and hits Witten for the first down.

Q2 2:00 – Gerode, snap the fucking ball when the guy is offsides.

Q2 1:45 – Spencer with another run stop for a loss.  He looks fired up to me.  But what do I know.  I’m a spare watching this on his couch in his drawers.

Q2 1:40 – Another run by the Vikings.  Are they content with a 2 TD lead?  Let’s hope this comes back to bite them.

Q2 1:30 – The draw to Taylor is good for a first down.  FUCK!

Q2 1:00 – Sack by Spencer and Barbie Carpenter.

Q2 0:13 – Creighton with the muff.  giggle.

Q2 0:00 – Well that didn’t go well

End of Half  Minnesota 17  Dallas 3

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Your friendly neighborhood halftime sponsor:

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Q3 13:10 – Scandrick gets away with two holds to force a Vikings punt.

Q3 12:55 – I’m not a fan of Newman on punt returns.  He needs to conserve his energy and maybe try to stop Rice for a change.

Q3 12:42 – 17 yard run by Jones.  This is a good start in the second half.

Q3 12:04 – Let’s just keep feeding it to Jones.  And off the field he goes.

Q3 11:30 – Another run, this time MB3, and another first down.  I guess Romo can’t fumble if they’re running the ball.

Q3 10:40 – Great read of the play by Edwards. MB3 dropped for a big loss.  They'll probably pass now.

Q3 10:00 – Another catch by Marty B, but for only 2 yards.

Q3 9:18 – Sack number five of Romo.

Q3 8:54 – You’re fucking kidding me!!!  Another 49 yard miss by Suisham.  This game is over.  The Cowboys can’t get in the endzone and the defense can only hold back the Vikings for so long.

Q3 8:33 – First accepted penalty by Dallas.  Well, so much for reducing your penalties in order to ensure greater success.

Q3 8:00 – Ugh.  Spencer needs to make that tackle.

Q3 5:01 – Ugh.  98 yards to draw to within a touchdown.  And I’ve had way too many Ughs on this live blog.

Q3 4:15 – Ugh.

Q3 2:55 – Sack by Ratlif.  The defense has showed up in the second half.  Now we need to see some offense in the second half.

Q3 2:00 – What the fuck?!?!  Sorry, I was tired of the Ughs.

Q3 1:07 – Ugh!! What the fuck?!?!?!  [INT Leber]  It’s been a fun, but this season is over.  Goodnight everyone!

End of the Third Quarter  Minnesota 17  Dallas 3

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Q4 15:00 I’m going to drown my sorrows in a fine scotch.  If there’s anything worth noting it will be noted.  Otherwise I’ll be off on my first bike ride of the 2010.   mmmmmmmm drunken cycling.

Q4 14:23 [FG Longwell]  [Minn 20 Dal 3]

Q4 10:56 – I wonder what else is on.  Ooooh.  Psychic Kids on A&E.  The Idiocracy continues to creep upon us.

Q4 7:32 - [TD Rice] [Minn 27  Dal 3]

Q4 1:55 - [TD Shancoe] [Minn 34 Dal 3]  I don’t know why anyone should be upset about this touchdown.  If you don’t want to get scored on Dallas, do something about it.

Q4 0:23 – Why was Lost Executive Produce Damon Lindleoff standing next to Brett Favre?

End of Game  Minnesota 34  Dallas 3

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Thanks to both of my readers for your support of these live blogs.  Stay tuned this April when I live blog all 162 games of the 2010 Texas Rangers season.

And if you’re too cheap and selfish to click on one of my Amazon links to support me and my precious dogs, please at least click on this link and donate to the Red Cross Haiti relief, if you haven’t donated already.  I’m looking at you guys Pat and Rush.

 

* A stupid and obvious sports point.

Blu-Ray Review: Terminator Salvation

 

I’ll be back.

Synopsis	A death row inmate from the past is resurrected in the future as an infiltrating terminator.  But his humanity ultimately saves the day.  Oh, and lots of shit blows up good.
What I Liked	CGI Arnold:  Maybe they should make one to replace the California governor.
What I Disliked	Cancer:  The movie starts with a death row inmate, moments away from execution, chatting with a cancer ravaged Helena Bonham Carter.  I guess it’s important we see she’s got the big C so that later, when we see her in the future, we’re blown out of our seats.  And the only reason she’s in the movie at all is so that she can provide.. Exposition:  The movie stops down near the climatic final battle so that HBC can explain to one of our heroes and the popcorn munching hoopleheads in the theater what’s going on and why it’s going on. Helena Bonham Carter:  Seriously, has she ever been in a good movie?  And don’t give me any of that Merchant Ivory/Shakespeare bullshit. Endless action sequences where technologically superior robots are defeated by our heroes.
Conclusion	It’s movies like this that make me want to fly to LA and kick Hollywood in the nutz.  Tedious CGIed up action sequence are strung together by a gossamer like plot.

• 1 breast
• dozens of mechanical beasts
• robot-fu
• redneck-fu

D

King Wally says “meh”

Blu-Ray Review: Adventureland

No one ever wins a giant-ass panda.

Synopsis	Summer in 1987 Pittsburg never looked so much fun. After a family financial crisis, James (Jesse Eisenberg of Zombieland) must get a job at Adventureland where he meets Em, a pre-Twilight Kristen Stewart.  Hilarity and heartache ensue.
What I Liked	Two words:  Husker Du.  Early on, Em pops a tape in her car and it plays my favorite Du song, Don’t Want to Know If You Are Lonely.  The music over all is very good, focusing mostly on the emerging alt-rock of the mid to late 80s while mocking the MTV songs most 80s nostalgia movies wallow in. Kristen Stewart – she’s real nice to look at. 80’s Nostalgia – I’m not gonna lie to you, I love the 80s.  Of all the decades I’ve experienced, it’s my favorite of the 20th Century. Evoking the motifs of the great 80’s teen movies, particularly The Last American Virgin, The Sure Thing and Secret Admirer.
What I Disliked	Kristen Stewart – I’m not convinced she’s a very good actress.  Her emotional range seems to span having just awakened from a long sleep and having just awaked from a nap.   I also couldn’t quite figure out why her character behaved in the destructive manner she did. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig – These are my two favorite performers on the current cast of SNL.  But for some reason they have to be in every “funny” movie these days.  And every time they show up on the screen I’m immediately taken out the 1987 moment.   Also, they’re just not that funny in this movie.  Although Wiig did deliver my only laugh-out-loud of the film. Ryan Reynolds – why is he in this movie.  Why is he in any movie? Jesse Eisenberg – Nothing against this guy, he does a good job at what he does, but it’s obvious in the two movies I’ve seen of his that the following sentence was spoken in pre-production. “Michael Cera is unavailable at this time”.
Conclusion	An essential element of a teen comedy is that it be funny.  I mean it’s right there in the name of the genre.  In fact, it’s half of the genre’s name.  And while I found myself enjoying the movie, there just weren’t that many laughs.

• 0 breasts
• 0 beasts
• Scrotum-fu
• x-fu
• Acacademy award nomination to Kristin Stewart’s ridged white wife beater tshirt.

A very generous and nostalgic B-

King Wally says check it out

It’s Time To Snuggle

The Snuggler - watch more funny videos

Bad Santa 2009

From the “Better Late Than Never Department”, today we present the pictures from our almost annual Bad Santa charity drive.  This year Bad Santa and his naughty helpers raised $200 for the North Texas Food Bank.  Who knew being bad could be so good?

And thanks to Meesh digging through the Bad Santa archives up near the north pole – well, Seattle – we now have these pictures from the very first Christmas*.

 

Facebookers follow this link.

 

* in which drunken ultimate players dressed up as Santa and his naughty elves.

This Week in Steve: 2010 Week 1

It’s back!

A feature of the blog I quickly abandoned around the time of my trip to Europe last year,  This Week in Steve attempts to highlight the things that make each week a little special.  Or I’ll just make shit up.  Either way, it’s blog fodder.  And if you’ve ever given your mudder some fodder, then you have found yourself trapped in an Abbot & Costello routine.

Regrettably, nothing much happened this week.  I guess the holidays really took it out of me.   I didn’t even make any progress on my resolutions.  That’s not a good demonstration of commitment to myself or my readers. 

 

 

This Week’s Highlights

• Predicting correctly that, despite the predicted sub-freezing temps for Saturday, we would have an amazingly fun time out at Winter League.
• The jalapeno chips at The Barley House.
• Cowboys! Cowboys! Cowboys!

 

Key Stats

• 2 – The number of games my Winter League team won this week.  Cold == Fun!
• 2 – The number of gallons of hot cocoa I brought out for my team.  Such demonstrations of love, no doubt caused my team to mercilessly destroy  our infidel opponents.  After which we heartily drank cocoa from their empty skulls.
• 2 – The number of times the Cowboys beat the vile Eagles.

Craziest Woman Ever or Worst Husband Ever?

Both?

Video

Dead Blogging the NFL Playoffs: Eagles @ Cowboys (Part Trois)

I can’t really call it live blogging since it’s the next day and I’ve already watched the game.  The Sports Book at the Wallagio was closed for remodeling and I had to watch the game with friends at the Carlson Mansion.

Pregame:  Nothing.  I’ve fast forwarded to the beginning of the game.

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Q1 15:00 – Fuck this there’s a Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations marathon on The Travel Channel.

Q1 14:54 – Your first false start of the playoffs brought to you by Kyle Kosier.  Oh, and I hope everyone has their ticket to the Gun Show cause it’s an Ed Hercules officiated game.

Q1 14:10 – Whoa!  Roy Williams makes a catch.

Q1 12:52 – MB3 gets stuffed again.  He appears to have nothing this game.  I can say this this early because I’ve seen the whole game and know he had nothing.

Q1 12:15 – Whoa! Roy Williams makes a second catch and then runs for a first down.

Q1 10:55 – I hate the Wildcat/Razorback.  Even though, this time, it lead to a first down.

Q1 10:05 – Felix Jones has his playoff slippers on.  His first great run (off a screen) of the game and a great job tippy toeing to stay in bounds for more yards.

Q1 8:22 – In retrospect, these Witten penalties could have cost the Cowboys this game.  [oops, spoiler alert] This one cost the Cowboys a nice pass to Ogletree down to the Two.

Q1 8:02 – Sack.  3rd and 32.  Yikes

Q1 7:45 – Incomplete.  Now they have to punt.  They went  from being on the Two yard line to having to punt.  Not a good start.

Q1 6:34 – Philly offense picks up where they left off last week with another three-and-out.  How exactly is Andy Reid a genius??

Q1 6:10 – Felix Jones – BOOM.  His first big true run of the game.

Q1 5:41 – Sack.  It look like both Bennet and Witten misread the blitz and released early and then Colombo missed his man completely giving Romo no time to do anything but duck.

Q1 5:01 – MB3 with nothing.  I didn’t really notice this on first viewing.  But he really didn’t have anything and it makes sense now why we didn’t see anything  of him in the second half.  Oh, I mean, will see nothing of him in the second half.

Q1 3:42 – Nice punt coverage to down it at the 3 to give the Eagles another possession starting deep in their own territory.

Q1 3:02 – I hate this defenseless receiver penalty.  Celek was falling forward awkwardly.  Hamlin was not intentionally trying to hit him in the head.  It was a good call, just a bad rule.

Q1 2:12 – Intentional Grounding.  McNabb had nothing to throw to.  Great coverage by Dallas.

Q1 1:25 – Oooooh.  Creighton was a shoelace away from beating the punter and taking it to the house.

End Of 1st Quarter [Dallas 0 Philadelphia 0]

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Q2 14:50 – Miles Austin make his first playoff play with a nice slant to convert the 3rd and 8 into a first down.

Q2 14:15 – Pass Interference.  Cowboys at the 1 yard line.  Interesting that the back judge looking right at the play didn’t throw the flag

Q2 14:10 - [Touchdown Phillips]  Great play.  Phillips fought his way open for the touchdown.  Something that the very disappointing Marty B would not do.  [Dal 7 Philly 0]

Q2 14:05 – More Ogletree please.  He blew up Macho to give Philly another long field to start a possession.

Q2 13:10 - [Touchdown Maclin]  Philly finally scores in the Death Star.  Vick on the wildcat and buys time on the run fake and when Jenkins fell down Maclin is wide open for the 70+ yard catch and run touchdown.  Well I guess it finally paid off for Philly to sign the human garbarge that is Michael Vick.  He threw the only meaningful touchdown pass in a playoff game the Eagles will ultimately lose.  Yeah, that seemed to work.  Charma is a bitch, Philly.  [Dal 7 Philly 7]

Q2 13:10 – This is probably the key play of the entire playoff run.  If the Cowboys ultimately go on to the Superbowl, it will be Wade’s throwing of the red flag that overturned this interception that changed everything.   The Eagles quickly scored to tie the game up and on the next play intercept Romo.  But that gets overturned and the Cowboys go on to [spoiler] score 20 more points in the quarter and the game is over.

Q2  13:02 – Another nice run by Jones and then a facemask penalty on top.

Q2 11:47 – Creighton on the slant to pick up an important 3rd and long.  He picks up where he left off last week as well.

Q2 10:13 – Whoa!  Roy Williams makes a catch.  Where the fuck was this the first 16 games of the season?  Williams didn’t give up on the play and actually came back for the ball.  Totally unlike anything he’s done all year.  Good for him.

Q2: 9:30 – Witten down to the one.  Seriously, this guy is a Jedi.  He must whisper to the Eagle safeties “I am not the tightend you’re looking for.”

Q2 9:27 - [Touchdown Choice]  No MB3 on a short yardage situation.  Interesting.  [Dal 14  Philly 7]

Q2 9:07 – Sensabaugh with dubious pass interference.  He just got there a bit early.  Is that so wrong??

Q2 8:26 – My man Jenkins breaks up the pass for the incompletion.  This is notable because McNabb does a great job scrambling to extend the play.  Usually by this time a DB will have lost his man – but not Jenkins.

Q2 8:16 – Sensabaugh makes up for his pass interference by tackling his man short of the first down.  With the Dallas blitz, Sensabaugh had no help being one-on-one with his man.  He had to make that play, or else!!!

Q2 7:27 – Huge mistake by Austin on an otherwise great play.  He had blocking to his right from Williams, but inexplicably he goes left and gets tackled.  It could have been an easy 6.

Q2 5:51 – Whoa!  Roy Williams makes a catch.  And this too was a great catch.  It was quite a bit over his head, but he still came down with it.  Since his rib injury, Williams has been reluctant to catch anything over his head.

Q2 4:24 – Whoa!  Roy Williams makes a catch.  Unfortunately he slips on his own shoelace and avoids an easy touchdown.

Q2 3:44 – It’s interesting that they went to Williams all three times once they got 1st and goal.  He was overthrown, then he slipped, then overthrown but covered.  I’m not blaming him here.  He’s had a great game.  But he should have scored on the first two throws.  But it just didn’t happen.

Q2 3:40 – FG Suisham [Dal 17  Philly 7]

Q2 3:36 – In the original watching of this game the pizza guy arrived.  So, we paused it in the middle of the play and it look for all the word that DeMarcus Ware was about to assfuck Donavon McNabb.  To his credit, once we unpaused, McNabb stepped up and avoided the assrape he so richly deserves.

Q2 3:23 – [Fumble Recovery Carpenter]  Oh my, there’s so much to say about this play.  Firstly, let me reiterate that charma is a bitch. Vick in the Wildcat.  The first time they tried it, charma must have been sleeping because Vick threw for a long touchdown.  This time, charma was wide awake causing the human pile of pigshit, Vick, to fumble.  And on top of that Barbie Carpenter makes the biggest play of his career by wrestling the ball away from said pile of pigshit.  Good Times.  Andy Reid is a fucking genius, the fat fuck.

Q2 3:13 – More Felix Jones greatness.  1st and goal!!

Q2 1:55 – Touchdown Austin!  [Dal 24  Philly 7]

Q2 0:51 - [Fumble Recovery James]  Philly had been moving the ball well with their 2-minute offense.  But Brady James forces the fumble after the Weaver reception.  Just enough time for a field goal.

Q2 0:21 – Classic Romo!  Scrambles, avoids a sack a couple of times.  Then throws it out to Choice who gets the pass interference call.  Although, it looked to me Choice was initiating contact.

Q2 0:05 – FG Suisham.  When was the last time Dallas made a second field goal in a game.  It always seemed like Nick Folk would make his first one of the game and make everyone feel good about him.  Then he would grossly miss his second.  Suisham hit this one from  48 yards out.  The route is on!  [Dal 27  Phil 7]

End of First Half  Dallas 27  Philadelphia 7

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Halftime is Brought to you by:

 

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Q3 11:08 – It took almost 4 minutes for me to find something to write about in a mostly boring third quarter.  But I have to mention it when my man Jenkins makes a play on noted Twitterer Desean Jackson.  Dude, have you even made a play today??  It’s easy to Twitter, but hard to make a catch when Mike Jenkins is in your jock the whole game.

Q3 8:16 – Spencer finishes his best series of the game with a sack.  Also on this possession, a ball batted down and and a run stop for a loss of yardage.

Q3 6:18 – Creighton picks up another first down on third and long.  If he could play the Eagles every week, he’d be in the Probowl.

Q3 5:33 – Touchdown Jones!!  HOMERUN!! 73 yard run by Felix Jones.  Samuel is still searching for the jock Felix juked him out of.  [Dal 34  Philly 7]

Q3 5:09 [INT Jenkins][Fumble Recovery Brown]  The wackiest play of the game.  Jenkins makes the easy INT on the underthrown McNabb pass.  Desean Jackson makes his best play of the night by stripping Jenkins as he’s inexplicably about to lateral it to Newman.

Q3 4:07  Long pass defended by Sensabaugh.  Seriously, the Eagles can’t make a big play against this powerful and mighty Dallas defense.  All hail the Dallas D!!

Q3 3:42  [Over on Downs]  McNabb is hurried by a Hamlin blitz, incomplete.

Q3 2:47 – Does Romo need to be running the ball up by 27?? There are potentially three more games to play.

Q3 2:04 – The real Roy Williams is back.  A ball through his hands almost results in an interception.

Q3 0:08 – Brian Westbrook finally makes an appearance in tonight’s game with 27 yard catch and run.

End of Third Quarter  Dallas 34  Philadelphia 7

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Q4 14:33 – Another failed Wildcat play by the subhuman dog killer.

Q4 14:28 – Sack by Ware.  He wares down left tackles (rock me!) and seems to get his sacks in bunches in the 4th quarter.

Q4 13:30 – Touchdown Jackson.  Jackson makes good on this Twittering with a meaningless 4th quarter touchdown. [Dal 34 Philly 14]

Q4 13:30 – Is there a better advertising agency in the world than the guys that do the Geico commercials?  They are never content to stick with the same bit and try new stuff that’s usually as funny as their old bits.  Kudos!!  The only think close is Jack in the Box.

Q4 13:18 – Well, Dallas isn’t going to play conservatively with a 20 point lead with first down pass to Austin.

Q4 5: 23 – A successful drive that ends in a punt??  When i runs off over 8 minutes, yes.

Q4  5:13 – Sack by James, who’s having another great game.

Q4 4:01 - [Fumble Recovery Carpenter]  Sack and fumble forced by Ware.  Game Over!  Thanks for playing Eagles.  Better luck next time.  Now go back to your craphole city and get your fucking shinebox.

Q4 3:28 – Choice, dude, what are you doing?  Don’t go out of bounds.

Q4 2:15 – Hopefully Choice didn’t reinjure his brain.  If there’s something wrong with MB3, they’re going to need him at Minnesota next week.

Q4 2:15 – The Who seems an odd choice for the Superbowl halftime show.  I’ve got nothing against them, they were a great band, but they haven’t been relevant in 25 years.  Were Herman’s Hermits busy that weekend??

Q4 0:35 - [Over on Downs]  But it almost looked like another interception by Jenkins.  Too bad he was out of bounds.

End of Game – Dallas 34  Philadelphia 14

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Lost in 8:15

Catch up as we continue to gear up for the last great show of the 2000s.

Eating Dallas: Dallas Fish Market

 

Synopsis	Dallas Fish Market is a seafood oriented (what clued you in??) fine dinning restaurant in the heart of the Dallas’ moribund downtown.  Admittedly, we went on a Sunday.  But the area was deader than a Johnson & Johnson heiress.  What?  Too soon??
Dishes	Apps – Raw Blue Point Oysters, Maine Lobster Corn Chowder.   I’m not a huge fan of raw oysters.  I’ve only had them once.  But it was Lidia’s birthday and she wanted them.  So, I had a couple and I can say they were the best raw oysters I’ve ever had.  But I’m still not a fan.  The corn chowder was just about perfect. Mains – Parrot Fish, Black Truffle Wrapped Chilean Sea Bass.  As noted elsewhere on this blog, you can’t really fuck up a sea bass.  It was moist, flaky, perfectly cooked and delicious.  The Parrot Fish (please don’t ask, cause I don’t know) was spectacular.  Lightly pan fried with some kind of rosemary encrustacean (huh?) I could easily eat this all the time right now always. I might have to reassess my Top 10 dishes of the Oughts list. Desserts – Brûlée Figs and Espresso Cheesecake.  The Espresso Cheesecake was good but nothing spectacular.  But the figs were amazing --  a wonderfully unique dessert in which the figs are soaking in a rich caramel sauce.  That description doesn’t do them justice, but it’s the best I can do.
Likes	Everything.  The food and service were superb. The staff, knowing that we are sharers, thoughtfully served the lobster corn chowder in separate bowls.
Dislikes	Their espresso machine was broken.  That’s totally unacceptable.  How am I supposed to enjoy my dessert without a nice espresso.  What are we, savages????
Conclusion	Dallas Fish Market is an excellent seafood restaurant that will more than satisfy any fish based yearnings. And if you go on a Sunday you’ll pretty much have the run of the place. Regrettably, I visited DFM in 2009 and can’t use it towards my resolution goal.

A

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Live Blogging Eagles @ Cowboys

Pregame – Yay! Finally a game back on Fox with Troy and Joe!

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Q1 15:00 – Fuck this.  There’s a The Bad Girls Club marathon on Oxygen.

Q1 15:00 – Cowboys win the toss – game over!!!

Q1 14:20 – MB3 has come to play.  32 yards on second down.  That’s got to be his longest run of the season.  Certainly in a long time.

Q1 13:34 – Leonard Davis brings us our first False Start of the game.  1st & 15.

Q1 12:39 – Ugh.  I always clench up when they go empty backfield. 

Q1 12:35 – Pass Interference.  First Down!!

Q1 12:28 – How do you not exploit an LB on Austin. If Philly is going to put a CB on Witten, you gotta make them pay somewhere else.  Look for that later.

Q1 12:21 – MB3!  MB3!!  Another first down!

Q1 11:15 – Felix Jones?? Really??  MB3 is already tired and needs a rest?

Q1 10:35 – TD Witten!! [Dal 7  Phil 0]

Q1 10:35 – Wow.  What a kickoff from Buehler.  He hasn’t been getting as many touchbacks the second half of the season. 

Q1 9:32 – Brady James with the sack and a nice defensive with the three-and-out.  The Eagles score a lot of point on opening drives and in the first quarter.  It’s good to see the defense give them nothing on their first drive.

Q1 9:32 – Question of the game:  Will I watch Human Target just because Six is on the show?

Q1 8:55 – Catch by TE Phillips.  Is Marty B dropping in the depth charts?

Q1 8:11 – Nice burst from Jones for the first down.

Q1 6:55 – Interesting play with Marty B going wide and Felix getting thrown short on the other side.  It was good for a first down.

Q1 6:20 – Marty B with our second False Start.

Q1 5:30 – It’s the Marty B show.  This time, he loses his helmet.

Q1 4:50 – WOW.  Great catch from Austin!  That was thrown hard by Romo to thwart the blitz.

Q1 2:00 – INT Hansen.  Creighton has got to make that catch.  Dallas cannot give up points like this.

Q1 0:40 – You can’t give McNabb that much time. 

End of the First Quarter [Dal 7  Phil 0]

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Q2 15:00 Dallas looked great dominating the first quarter, but have only 7 points to show for it.  This is a powerful Eagles offense.  Dallas can’t give away points like that and hope to win.

Q2 14:13 – Phew!  McNabb missed Jackson for the easy score.

Q2 14:03 – Barbie looked lost giving up that third down conversion. 

Q2 12:52 – Jenkins makes his first great play of the day.  There will be more.

Q2 12:50 – Ha.  that netted nothing.

Q2 12:44 – Phew #2.  Maclin should have had that and maybe even scored.

Q2 12:44 – Geez.  What confusion on the Eagles punt team.  To someone go take a crap thinking the first down was made?

Q2 11:42 – Witten may make it to 100 catches today if the Eagles are going to keep giving him the underneath.

Q2 11:04 – False snap??

Q2 10:30 – Creighton makes up for his earlier non catch.  How was he so open??

Q2 8:28 –Joe Buck said it best.  “Austin fights for the ball.”  What a great catch for 40 yards.

Q2 7:50 – Oh, shit.  Someone broke the Ump.

Q2 6:18 – TD Creighton. [Dal 14  Phil 0].  The funny part of this play was that I too was faked out by Romo’s pump fake to Roy Williams.  I screamed “NO!!!!”.  Then the throw over the CB to Creighton and I yelled “YES!!!!”.  Good times.

Q2 6:05 – What the hell?  Lots of confusion presnap on the Dallas defense.  Call a fucking time out.

Q2 5:25 – Where can I get an MP3 of Fox’s injury timeout music?

Q2 5:02 – Yikes.  Long catch and run by Jackson.  Let’s not cut the lead in half.

Q2 4:39 – Fumble Recovery Ratlif – Bad snap.  Ratlif recovers.  Well that will keep them from scoring.

Q2 4:28 – Phillips again.  It’s real simple.  Phillips makes catches and Marty B looks lost.  Sorry to throw a fellow Ag under the bus.

Q2 3:05 – Creighton again with a great catch on a slant.

Q2 2:25 – It went Dallas’ way.  But if you’re going to call Roughing the Passer on that, then maybe the QBs should carry a box of tampons just to complete the outfit.  I’ve seen more contact at a Catholic School Dance [stolen from Norm].

Q2 1:09 – OMG.  Seriously Roy???  You have no fucking clue where the ball is going??  Put in Ogletree.

Q2 1:04 – FG Suisham [Dal 17  Phil 0]

Q2 0:47 – Jenkins makes a play even when he doesn’t make a play by getting a Personal Foul penalty on Philly.

Q2 0:25 – Eagles receivers aren’t giving McNabb any help.  Can RoyWiliamsitis be contagious?

Q2 0:14 – I believe that’s Barbie’s first tackle of the day as he forces Westbrook out of bounds.

Q2 0:03 – Hey, back to back Barbie tackles.  And this time he keeps Westbrook in bounds to run out the clock.

End of First Half [ Dallas 17 Philadelphia 0]

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And now for a word from out half time sponsors.

Come on.  Buy something.  Daddy needs his medicine.

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Q3 14:50 – Oops.  Alan Ball goes in for an injured TNew

Q3 13:27 – Celik open again for a long gain.  How does that happen??

Q3 12:45 – Wow.  Nice play by Hamlin to bat away the pass.  Yes that was Offensive Pass Interference.

Q3 11:59 – Another dropped 3rd down pass.  It would have been a tough catch, but Celik has been McNabb’s only reliable receiver today.

Q3 11:54 – FG MISSED [Dal 17   Phil 0]

Q3 10:33 – A ticky tack penalty causes Dallas’ first punt of the day.

Q3 10:22 – Six Feet Under’s Alan Ball make a great tackle on the punt returner.  That’s right, I’m recycling jokes.  Another of my New Year’s resolutions is to be more Green and less Blue with my comedy.

Q3 9:13 – Another three-and-out by Philly and their receivers are getting banged up.

Q3 8:13 – Marty B with the drop.  What is it with big tall receivers from big Texas universities that look completely lost?

Q3 7:59 – Another 3-n-Out by Dallas.  Let’s not get complacent guys.

Q3 7:17 – I know the lines that Fox draws on the field aren’t official, but Anthony Spencer looked offsides on this play.

Q3 6:54 – Another Philly 3-n-Out.  All of a sudden this a defensive struggle.  And, yes, I’m taking suggestions on how to write 3-and-Out.  Anyone?

Q3 5:46 – TD Felix Jones [Dal 24 Phil 0]  Wow watta run!  That’s the Felix Jones we all remember and will need for an extended playoff run.  And that was Doug Free blocking downfield.  Nice!

Q3 5:18 – Sack by Spencer.  He’s one of the biggest reason for the great defense lately.  But I thought the Ref blew his whistle too early.  McNabb is strong enough to get out of those predicaments and should be allowed to.

Q3 2:30 – More Ogletree please!  In this one play, he was smarter than all of Roy Williams plays put together.  Does that even make sense??

Q3 1:19 – Witten for the long first down catch.  It’s getting to be ridiculous.

Q3 0:00 – Does no one think to cover the slow white dude with 95 catches??

End of Third Quarter [Dallas 24  Philadelphia 0]  Delicious!!!

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Q4 14:02  -  Ouch.  That screen was sniffed out like eightball at a fashion show.

Q4 12:33 – FG Missed by Suisham.  Maybe it’s the goalposts at the Death Star.

Q4 11:55 – Nice sack by Hatcher without his helmet.

Q4 11:36 – WOW.  That’s about as good of coverage I’ve ever seen.  Mike Jenkins is a man among girls.  I gotta think that McNabb was already putting those 7 points on the board in his head.  Jackson was open and Jenkins closed strong to bat the ball away.  Just plain awesome.

Q4 11:30 – Please stop showing the Bud Light commercial where the redhead uses the air gun to secure a boutonniere.

Q4 10:40 – Who would have predicted that it would take three and a third quarters before Philly sacked Romo?  Nostradomus, that’s who.

Q4 8:47 – What is Romo still doing in??  Can’t Kitna handoff??

Q4 7:40 – And Austin shouldn’t be playing either.  Let’s see some Kitna to Hurd!

Q4 4:50 – Creighton.  Yeah.  I don’t have much left.  Just end this game.

Q4 2:05 – This is just crazy keeping these players in when this game is practically over and the playoffs start next weekend.

Q4  2:00 – Yes.  I’m losing interest.  But not my love of Amazon.com.  After the game, how about you read a nice book.

Q4 1:37 – Jenkins defends the 4th down TD attempt and preserves the shutout.  The first ever back-to-back shutouts by the Cowboys.  Good times.

End of Game {Dallas 24  Philadelphia 0]

It’s playoff time.

Countdown to Lost

We’re a month away until the beginning of the end of Lost.  Here are all of the Season 6 promos to get you  in the mood.

Suck it, Facebookers.

Top 10 of 2010: The Resolutions

I’m not much for New Year’s Resolutions.  I didn’t resolve last year to go to Europe.  I didn’t resolve last year to bike over 2000 miles.  Those things just happened.  I prefer to let the game come to me.

But I do like finding ways to bring content to the blog and teach myself a new programming skill.  And in honor of 2010, all of these resolutions will have 10 as their goal.

Therefore I will resolving to do the following in 2010:

• Read Ten Books – In my decade end review noticeably absent was a Top 10 Books list.  I used to be a voracious reader.  But these days I do much of my reading on the interwebs.  I’m not entirely sure I read ten books in the Oughts.  I started dozens.  Finished but a handful.
• Attend Ten Shows – Another regret from my list was the low number of shows I saw.  This should resolve that problem, at least for the first year.
• See Ten Movies in a Theatre – I’m not a huge moviegoer.  But I do love writing scathing movie reviews.
• Go to Ten New Restaurants – This may be harder than it sounds since I do so love the restaurants I love.  And the “new” Green Room isn’t technically new.
• Cook Ten New Dishes – This is probably the easiest of the list.  Between Alton Brown, Mark Bittman and my journey through Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I have more than enough material.
• Spend Ten Days Outside the US – This may be more difficult this year with my limited number of vacation days at my new job.  So I may have to supplement it with a few days in Canada or Mexico.
• Do Ten Things Outside My Comfort Zone – The most subjective item on my list.  This will force me to try new things and relate them back to you, my loyal and extremely good looking readers.  Have I mentioned the Bloggie Awards are coming up?  TheSummerOfSteve has been nominated for Least Read Blog by a Narcissistic  Snarkmeister.  It’s touch competition since it includes virtually every blog out there.
• Lose Ten Pounds every Quarter – also a huge challenge.  But one of my leaders, Alton Brown, has recently dropped a huge amount of weight.  So why not me?  And 10lbs/quarter seems attainable.  Of course, if I’m short at the end of a quarter, I can always do a detox and shed a quick 15.

The other part of the resolution, the programming skill to learn, will be added to the blog soon.  I’ll be writing a little Silverlight widget for the right side of the blog keeping track of all my goals.  If you don’t know what any of that means, I’ll explain some of it when I deploy the widget in the next few weeks – hopefully sooner.

Test Quote

Burning Down the House "You were vaccinated with a phonograph needle!" my father used to tease me. It was his way of saying I talk too much. My friends quickly grew weary of my climate paranoia. Heather found my obsession with the Anthropocene (Is that the right word?) to be tiresome. My older brother, a LimbaughBeckFoxfan(atic), mastered the "global warming is a hoax" style of pushback, an irritating way of telling telling me to shut up. So I read, watch closely, listen carefully and hold my tongue. Resistance has silenced both me and the press.

Human impact on the EARTHs environment continues to accelerate at an exponential rate. Isolated and extreme weather events, witnessed over 20 years, begin to be recognized as climate change. Disappearing glaciers, disappearing Arctic ice, failing Cod, Tuna, Shark and Salmon populations, ocean dead zones, warming ocean temps, continued destruction of rain forests, spreading deserts, extreme droughts, unprecedented heat waves, mild winters, rising oceans, bees, bats, frogs, snakes.....the EARTH will not be silenced so easily.

And I find that people are beginning to approach me. They read a book or a story in the newspaper and need to talk. A recent story in the NYTimes about sea-level rise and Heather is talking about selling the house before it is too late. It is only a matter of 10, 20 years at most, before the probability of 3 foot of sea-level rise in the next hundred years is confirmed. In 30 years a foot of sea-level rise will top the evening news as low lying areas are taken by the sea. Banks will no longer write mortgages for homes near sea-level.

At the same time, the forces of darkness that would deliver all power back into the hands of the most powerful may be in control of our government. They promise both house and senate hearings on climate scientist. They will cut funding for climate science, terminate programs that inform the public, delay space craft essential to gathering climate data and monitoring deteriorating weather.
Is it ironic? As extreme weather is recognized as climate change, as people are beginning to understand the story, the forces of darkness will call attention to the scientists and the science. The forces of denial win the day and the EARTH will not be silent.