The morning after...

new site is up...

2007-03-18T04:04:00.000+02:00

It's located here.

testing

2007-03-10T22:49:00.000+02:00

Just trying before I move to hairofthedawg.us in a couple of days....of course now it's going to work now that I've re-registered the domain and paid for a movable type installation.

Moving again...

2007-03-09T08:04:00.000+02:00

No, not houses, just websites. I'll post the new address here when I'm sure what it is.

Another Husky...

2007-03-08T07:51:00.000+02:00

who's already pretty good in his own way. I hope he comes close to that on the field.

I read that in the paper last night but after reading some commentary on the dawgman message board, Mike Damone put it best when replying to some who said Locker was his hero...he said "The sick boy is my hero. Locker pales in comparison."

For some reason...

2007-03-08T07:32:00.000+02:00

and I'll probably end up spending the afternoon figuring out why, I can't post from home. That's why the car repair post has nothing in it. The car runs great and Klaus is shipping on Monday dad.

car repair...etc....

2007-03-06T13:20:00.001+02:00

Favorite baseball team?

2007-03-06T08:31:00.000+02:00

I might have to switch, or at least root for another. Read about Tim Lincecum.

blonde jokes...

2007-03-04T18:25:00.000+02:00

Today was kind of different, mainly being that it was a complete day off...not a chance of anything happening. I ended up using a different part of the grater this morning during breakfast and had potato chips with my eggs and chorizo instead of hash browns. I spent part of the afternoon talking with Victoria after asking her opinion on what I should plant in the areas I just cleaned. She gave me a climbing rose and suggested, or agreed with me on more of the same. She also nearly went hysterical when I asked her why the blonde was staring at the can of orange juice. I mean hysterical, and she's not really that type of person. I did have to explain to her what orange concentrate was and that took a bit of time, but once she got it, she "really" got it. I thought it was a silly joke, but she loved it and is hoping she can remember the English of it to try on a blonde male friend. I think I'm going to hire her to paint a portrait of me so don't be surprised if you get something in the mail dad.

Cool...

2007-03-03T18:30:00.000+02:00

UW/UCLA is on tonight at 9 pm. A rare chance to watch the Dawgs and my favorite team aside from them, at least in basketball terms. John Wooden's the man in my book.

Today was fairly busy. Took a sample of the liquid that cools our transmitter this morning, which entails a lot more work than it should, at least if we want to pass, and believe me, we want to pass. Draining and refilling the the thing if it's contaminated is a major pain in the ass. Roger and I then went to some training on some AF software that might actually be useful.

I burned a steak and made some jo-jos and actually planted some flowers in the upstairs planters. I was going to plant spices, but all I could find was coriander and not many recipes I use call for that. Go Dawgs!!

Thanks Grandma

2007-03-02T17:10:00.000+02:00

I had a nice long post written yesterday when blogger died. So, the car's fixed, the walk along the beach is nice and kind of pretty, it was clear yesterday morning and I did some gardening. I think it looks better. I used a lot more words yesterday.

And thanks Grandma, for teaching me to use butter to wash pitch off my hands. It worked perfectly.

One of those days...

2007-02-28T12:19:00.000+02:00

It had a little of everything, the good being I'm off for the most part today and tomorrow. There's some work email I have to deal with, but that shouldn't take too long. My computer's still working, but cytanet, the backbone of Cypriot telecommunications is performing typically, which means unreliable service.

The bad includes taking the bug to the shop. That's not really a bad thing because it definitely needs some work done, but the courtesy car they promised yesterday was still not available, so I'm without wheels. Other good news...it just flashed across the screen that UCLA/UW will be on over here. Bad news is I'll probably be on my way to work. Anyway, the bug is getting new tires, all the filters changed, fluids checked, plugs, points, etc....It's always sputtered a bit in the morning, but recently it's been doing it sporadically throughout the day.

I've never watched it much, but I have to say that MMA is far more enjoyable than boxing, at least most modern boxing. At least these guys are here to fight and most don't come across as prima donnas.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2007-02-27T19:06:00.000+02:00

Yeah, I'm a few hours early, even by my time, but too bad. It's every son's job to embarrass his dad at every available opportunity. I'm not sure I've been living up to that and am trying to catch up.

I remember that one of the first times I told you how much I loved and respected you for the sacrifices you made while Bob and I were growing up...over gumbo at the Oyster Shanty next door to the Hog's Breath Saloon in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. I was nervous about it but needn't have been. You've always been easy to talk to and in fact sometimes hard to get to shut up. Don't change.

At least one your step-daughters loves you as much as I do and that says a lot more, at least to me, than my expression of it does.

It doesn't change my feelings though. You're one of the good guys. Happy Birthday! Gayle, it's a pretty significant milestone...hiring a stripper or are you going to be brave?

Love,

Dick

Cooking sausage...

2007-02-27T17:00:00.000+02:00

No, this has nothing to do with my kielbasa, which was delicious and surprisingly not a magnet for cats. Shortly after I finished eating Victoria came home. She's an artist, Russian, very sweet, attractive but not a stunner and a good neighbor so far. She also likes rock and roll so we should get along fine.

She asked me, since it was her first time using a gas grill that the previous tenant gave her when he left, how to cook a sausage. Being the dirty old man I'm slowly becoming, my first thoughts were less than pure, but I quickly over came those to tell her to use her nose. Mine are done when the smell won't let me sit and wait anymore. She brought up a point that she applied to Japanese chefs that also applies though...use your ears, when the sizzle is right the sausage is cooked. I showed her how to clean the grill and start it and told her to start at a low heat until impatience and the smell took over.

She also mentioned a Bavarian deli that I used to drive by when I lived in the middle of town and bragged about its sausages. I always thought it was a restaurant, but it's really a deli so I'll have to check it out. The Cypriot sausage, or maybe it's Greek, is Sheftalia and it's pretty good as well. I'm not sure what it's made of , but it resembles hard hamburger in its texture and is pretty tasty. It goes well with a village salad, minus the damn tomatoes.

Other news...Alienware's customer support was pretty darn good when I finally got around to calling them. Being somewhat stubborn, I fought the new computer myself for a few days, not doing anything to void the warranty, but fighting it nonetheless. It turned out that I had done everything right and the only thing left to do was flash the motherboard BIOS with a new version. It's worked for over 24 hrs. so far.

This should be fun...

2007-02-27T14:37:00.000+02:00

I'm initiating my new grill this afternoon with a nice fat kielbasa. They're not as good as the one's grandma and grandpa used to make, but neither is most bacon either. What should be fun is chasing off the neighborhood cats. I have a hose at the ready. Most are strays, but Victoria, my artist neighbor, has given me free rein to train her pets. They're already learning what cayenne pepper is, at least they haven't slept where I don't want them to in quite awhile.

I did this yesterday...

2007-02-26T16:31:00.000+02:00

but for some reason, this program wouldn't let me publish it. These are very large photos taken from and of the new place. I hope you enjoy them.

Here's the view from the upper balcony on a normal day. It's zoomed so I'm not really that close, as are some of the rest of these photos. I think you can tell why I like it here.

Another shot from the balcony...this time you can see the Akrotiri peninsula in the background and several ships in the Limassol harbor.

Here's a clearer shot of the peninsula. We're at the left end of it, and yes, Dad, I forgot about the t-shirts, but not completely. This one's clearer and the sea's in it's normal state...Dickie don't surf...here anyway.

Except on days like these, although the generally rocky shoreline is a bit daunting even if I really wanted to try surfing.

Just your average Cypriot hillside...

Here's a view to the east. The earlier ones are from the south and west.

I thought I had some photos of when it was messier than this, and, believe me, it was, but here's a fairly organized mess anyway.

Slowly but surely I'm getting there. It really did seem bigger before I moved my stuff in.

A view from the other direction...does it look like a guy lives here?

Here's the odd man out, chair-wise, sweat stains and all.

The final product, plus or minus a few minor changes. Oh yeah, the table on the flokati is no longer there.

For me at least...

2007-02-23T21:26:00.000+02:00

the ones where Lileks begins and say he has nothing, zip, nada...often turn out to be the ones I link to. I wish they had raccoons in Cyprus so I could make me some goulash. Read it...and smile.

Another timewaster...

2007-02-23T17:47:00.000+02:00

timewaster

It's not a virus, but you treat each color like one and try to make the screen all one color in the fewest moves. Just click on a few colors until you figure out what's going on.

So much for woodies...

2007-02-22T15:30:00.000+02:00

They always get me in trouble anyway. The new computer lasted about two more hours and then reverted to it previous behavior pattern. I did get a new phone so I can call them now. My mobile doesn't work in the chair nearest my computer and several other spots in the house so I figured I'd better. Send me an email if you want the number. Right now I'm waiting for a grill to be delivered and don't want to get caught in the middle of getting the computer fixed when the delivery guys show up. And yes, I do have a ton of photos to post about this whole ordeal when I finally get the computers working, so save up some time to waste downloading them.

Woodies...

2007-02-21T18:10:00.000+02:00

No, I don't have one, but after the past few days of negative happenings, I'm surprised I don't. I've been experiencing major problems with a brand new computer that worked perfectly for about two weeks, blue screens of death. I know a bit about fixing computers and probably should have tried this earlier(sorry, guitar riff from "Love is Like Oxygen"...love it) but, knocking on my wooden head as I type, it appears to have been a power issue. Like a lot of places over here, there aren't enough outlets, especially when you play with as much electronic equipment as I do so the computer ended up on the same outlet as my freezer and the transformer I use to power some American cooking staples. Like I said, I'm knocking on wood, but so far I have triple the previous length of time it's worked after an attempted fix.

I'm also impressed with the Classic Rock station on the Arab satellite I'm using instead of Sky.

Hey, I'm workig on it...working too... :)

2007-02-21T13:48:00.000+02:00

Busy at work and at home. I've got visitors from the plant in to upgrade our system and my new computer is tits up, a position I like in some respects, but not with an expensive new computer. Things are fine and the move is generally done except for minor practical adjustments.

Finally...

2007-02-14T16:01:00.000+02:00

I'm mostly done moving. A few minor things, but this is more or less home for now. I've got one of my dishes working and when it quits raining, Boris is going to run a cable for the other one. I did have to get rid of the pinball machine and one of the recliners, but oh well. This place sure looked bigger than the old one, but it's not, or then again, it could just be the way I wanted to arrange things. Time to relax and remember what it's like to sleep on my flokati. It's folded in half here so it should be especially comfortable.

Conspiracy...

2007-02-08T19:07:00.000+02:00

against me moving. I don't know why, but aside from the internet fiasco, I woke up early this morning to swap my bug for Roger's truck and get an early start on things. I made the mistake of stopping to fill up the bug on the way. I think that in my early morning stupor I put the card in upside down. Normally it kicks it back and I pull my head out and move on, but it was stuck. I tried to pry it out with another card to no avail and headed down to work to wait for Roger. We swapped keys and I went back up to see if maybe the machine had kicked it out and hopefully, wait for them to open at 7.

The previous manager of 47 years recently passed away and the hours have changed so I went back to work and borrowed a pair of needle nose pliers, but I had no luck with them either. It gets worse, or better, hard to say. I returned the needle nose and headed back up to see if they opened at 8 instead, but on the way I noticed that the post office was open and since I had a package, I thought my new cell phone, I stopped in to pick it up.

Well, and you know me and my wells...it turned out to be my new computer, which I've thought for two months was being shipped to my parents and then to me. I wasn't disappointed, just a bit confused. I'm sure you can guess, which won out, playing with the new toy or moving a bunch of heavy awkward stuff. Needless to say, got a late start, but the computer is nice. It's made by Alienware and is so quiet I was scared when I first turned it on, half thinking the power in the new place fried something, but it's been great, aside from a minor head up ass moment configuring my proxy. Now tomorrow's the big moving day...yeah, right.

Welcome to Cyprus...

2007-02-07T10:06:00.000+02:00

Let's see...I've had an application in for internet service since 1/23 and was told back then that maybe they would come tomorrow or the next day to install it. It's now 2/7. I called on 2/5, thinking that they had had enough time to both lose and find my application and was told that they would be there yesterday. I called late yesterday afternoon to see what was up and was told that they'd be there this morning. I waited a couple of hours and noone showed up or called, so I called again and was told that I would be called back in 10 minutes. I gave them an hour and called again. Now they're coming tomorrow again. Island paradise my ass!

I learned a very important distinction...

2007-02-07T06:08:00.000+02:00

between the words lost and gave while watching and listening to this. The Intrepid Center. Thanks Rantburg for finding the link for me.

Nasty...

2007-02-05T12:49:00.000+02:00

No, I didn't do anything of that nature after waking up at 0100 and drinking through the game, just the weather. It's been raining pretty hard and late this morning got pretty windy too. I love it and hope to go up to the new place and get some photos of the surf later this afternoon. It looked pretty cool this morning when I was up there.

I finally called cytanet and got them to commit to a date(tomorrow) to hook up the web. They complained that I hadn't closed my old account but finally relented when I explained to them that the internet was critical to my work and based on past experience, I couldn't afford to rely on things being cut off at my old place and smoothly transferred to the new one. I needed the new one up and working before I paid off the old account. I also discovered just how poor the mobile phone connection is when talking downstairs at the new place. The battery lasted about 3 minutes and I thought it was fully charged. I'll probably have to get a regular phone too. It's been awhile.

I also broke the damn stylus on my turntable again. I move it in 3 pieces and mistakenly thought I could avoid removing and transporting the cartridge properly. It survived being taken upstairs and placed in the car. It survived being removed from the car and carried up while I pushed the door open. I had already unlocked it anticipating a problem here, but as I bent to push the door open, the zipper on my jacket made contact with something and a heard a soft metallic ting. Sure enough, no more stylus.

Oh well, even though I'll be moving, I've got three days off.

Watching the Super Bowl...

2007-02-05T04:06:00.000+02:00

over here is a bit different. I have two options, either AFN, military TV, or Sky Sports, a British satellite broadcast. Neither have commercials, normally one of my favorite parts of the broadcast, but I read a lot about them lacking this year, so maybe I didn't miss anything.

The AFN version is straight football, with history and geography and life lessons as commercial replacements. It works, and you can use some of the questions they ask in silly drinking games...as if we need an excuse...it's the Super Bowl!

The Sky version is different. No actual commercials, but they show Brits at Super Bowl parties and other commentary during commercial breaks. The commentary is provided by Don Johnson(of Miami Vice fame) and some ex-NFL player whose name I didn't catch. It's pretty lame but at least they use the actual game announcers for the play by play.

At least I managed to wake up in time, although it was tempting to go back to sleep. The game's close and competitive, if not terribly well played, but the weather is quite a contributing factor in that respect.

I wish I could say the same about the rugby I've watched over the past couple of days. I went down to Jonny's for a couple of pints and caught France/Italy and England/Scotland in the opening games of the 6 nation's tournament and was bored. I can't give away scores because Rob is watching them later on tape delay and I'm not sure if he reads this or not, but while Ireland/Wales was closer, it was pretty boring.

I've never tried it...

2007-02-03T10:22:00.000+02:00

but after reading this article, I visited their website. It certainly looks good and their whole story from the first link is kind of a feel good thing. I don't eat much fried chicken, but if you have your oil hot you can keep the oil from reaching the meat and have a relatively healthy meal. I may have to do some experimenting. Paul Prudhomme's cookbook has some things I'd like to try, but it took this article to get me off my butt and maybe give it a shot. I'll probably use my deep fryer instead of the cast iron, but he uses the remnants of the fry for other things and I probably won't. That reminds me...I need another Dutch oven. Time to go shopping.

It's been raining most of the night and so far this morning so I haven't been very ambitious. I should be cleaning the old place, but...you know me and cleaning. Eventually...

Serves me right...

2007-02-02T18:32:00.000+02:00

for enjoying a sport like rugby. I get a t-shirt a month from a company with artwork from clubs around the world on them. Some are cool and some aren't but I got one that made me laugh today. The package has been sitting in my car for awhile and was a bit dirty so I was disappointed when I opened it and saw that apparently whatever had soiled the package had stained the shirt as well. The stain on the package didn't look like it was made by a liquid so I was surprised a bit. I opened up the shirt and, I think, realized that the stains were part of the design, I'm guessing to resemble the stains a shirt acquires at a post match drink-up. Kind of cool looking...

I'm not certain...

2007-01-27T22:24:00.000+02:00

whether I'm advertising my comments or her writing, but being an egocentric ass...hey, make up your own mind. Lili's writing again and writing with a purpose. Please take some time and let her know what you like and don't like. I try to be nice, but see the above...I didn't like what her latest was about...oh well, you can read it there.

Apologize for the delay...

2007-01-27T20:21:00.000+02:00

but I've mainly been moving and thinking and drinking cider, which I've affirmed I'm quite good at. I haven't moved the big stuff yet partially because I haven't quite decided exactly how things will be arranged. I brought 4 ciders tonight instead of three and apparently that was what was necessary as I think I got it right while waiting to see if either the washing machine leaked or the dryer burned up. Dammit, I just realized that I forgot to close the window I stick the dryer exhaust out when it's running. Scott had a mouse run amok due to a similar problem but hopefully I'll be alright for 12 hours. We'll see in the morning.

So far I've met Victoria, a neighbor, who also knows Boris, who will likely move my satellite dishes, an annoying dog with a cute young owner...didn't score any points there because the dog was a wimp and wouldn't agree to peacefully get to know me, and still haven't seen the guy who is supposed to fix the cabinet...or the phone company, but the phone company is normal and the young lady I've been dealing with is pretty hot so I don't mind going back to politely complain.

Anyone who reads this and gets Seahawks ' tickets from me needs to get reservations in early because I've already got two pairs set aside and possibly four depending on my travel plans. Send me an email or post a comment sometime.

Unintended consequences...

2007-01-23T10:22:00.000+02:00

John has a nice story up on his UW football site. I haven't been to the site to which he refers, but I've heard good things about it elsewhere so if you're into minor league baseball and the Mariners, you'll have another link to click.

That kind of reminds me of when I first started surfing the web. I didn't understand at first how the term "surfing" applied to what I was doing but it eventually clicked(no pun intended). Catch a link to a page and follow it as far as you can take it. You'll find some interesting sites if you try it.

I was invited...

2007-01-22T15:18:00.000+02:00

but living where I do, was unable to attend. I'd recommend following their link to Chelsie's site for more revealing footage. I hope to meet up with them and quaff a few during my next visit home.

Idiots...

2007-01-22T14:32:00.000+02:00

I realize they were doing their jobs, and that it's no big deal, but...I got a phone call from the phone company. They were trying to find my house to see if the lines were ok. They should be because Scott moved out just a few days ago. The guy thought it was the one with two bicycles in front but was one off so told him that I'd meet him there in 5 minutes. It took longer. I know there is construction going on and the roads are pretty much one lane now, but when get the the detour point, there's a garbage truck blocking one entrance and another truck blocking the other. After a few minutes the other truck moved, I met the phone guy, and then waited for the garbage truck to leave. They almost looked like they enjoyed blocking traffic because they took their time leaving, talking at length about some aspect of trash collecting.

Good news and bad news

2007-01-21T13:52:00.000+02:00

Good news is Jeff Goldstein is back blogging regularly at proteinwisdom.com. The bad news is he thinks his wife gave him the stomach flu. He wanted an ipod. He recently bought a house and has been concentrating on that, and likely, a lawsuit against a moonbat professor. It's in his archives somewhere. His humor take a bit of getting used to and his politics are his to choose, but it's both an entertaining and serious place. If you stick around long enough, he'll probably post another pic of his incredibly cute kid.

I guess...

2007-01-21T13:37:00.000+02:00

I should put Michelle Malkin's site over to the right since I seem to be finding good thoughts there lately. If you read this piece by Charles Krauthammer and take note of the "plan b" in the second half, I've been in favor of something similar for awhile now. His reasons are much better than mine though.

Sad, but life sometimes is...

2007-01-20T09:27:00.000+02:00

and it goes on. Lebanon is an interesting illustration of the conflict between western and muslim ideals. It obviously hasn't been a successful melting pot, but what Michael Totten writes, and illustrates with his photos, suggests to me that if they'd just quit fighting(DOH!), peace isn't that far away. I could be wrong, but when I smell shit, I try to pull my head out of my ass. Then again, maybe they like the smell.

Pretty amazing stuff...

2007-01-19T12:25:00.000+02:00

I may or may not have met this U-2 pilot, but this article, this one and this, read them in order, illustrates just how much luck and skill it takes to do some of the things that are done in service of our country.

Got the keys...

2007-01-18T13:43:00.000+02:00

Picked them up and paid rent and the deposit this morning and am waiting for the painter to finish to start moving thing. I should probably go charge my camera now that I'm thinking about it. My next big concern is finding a place for my 2-meter satellite dish. Might not be easy, but that's mainly what I'll be doing today, imagining where everything will go.

Iraq: A different perspective

2007-01-17T16:06:00.000+02:00

Michelle Malkin has returned from her stint as an embedded journalist in Iraq and her first report offers a different(honest?) perspective than most other reports you're likely to read. Well, unless you get your news from the net like I do it will. Plus, I think she's cute. Anyway, her site is worth a bookmark on most days.

Here's another perspective, this time from an Iraqi policeman from Fallujah.

Hmmm...

2007-01-16T17:12:00.000+02:00

While I agree that Ahmadinejad out of office would be a good thing, I also wonder if it's merely a ploy to gain more time to develop Iranian nukes.

Gators and snakes and spiders...oh my!

2007-01-16T14:15:00.000+02:00

Sounds like Serenity is adjusting to life in Florida just fine! I wouldn't mind doing something like she did someday. You can find the first part of the adventure in her archives.

Some old photos...

2007-01-14T13:36:00.000+02:00

I posted these on an audio site awhile ago. I think they're fun to look at. It's kind of amazing how simple and orderly true high fidelity audio gear is compared to the useless feature-laden gear marketed these days.

Not much else going on here, just cleaning and packing...

fun to read

2007-01-12T16:02:00.000+02:00

No, not me...follow the link I'll give later.

Most of you know I don't have children...never a goal, but not a responsibility I've consciously avoided either. As John Hiatt sings, "It just worked out that wayeeeeeeeeee!". I get along with them pretty good and there's something that some young ones find amusing about my appearance because a lot of them smile at me. I smile back and wave and then usually grin sheepishly and shrug my shoulders at the kid's parents.

I've mentioned this before about this site I read almost daily, but as a reminder, James Lileks has a way of describing his interaction with his daughter that actually makes me regret not having one to embarrass. He's into collecting a lot of eclectic things and while he's a good writer...he should be, he's a columnist...some of those don't interest me but I always like reading about Gnat and Jasper the dog. In my opinion, he's at his best when being sentimental. For those of you who like old matchbooks, photos, movies and other oddities of our nations popular history, try his main page and keep clicking...especially his bleat archives...enjoy. I have. It's been fun watching someone grow up this way.

moving...

2007-01-11T16:47:00.000+02:00

This will likely be the subject of most posts for awhile, either bitching or crowing, so get used to it. Right now, I'm just filling trash bags with things small enough to be transported that way. It's mostly cooking stuff and spices and general kitchen junk. I think the audio/video system will start coming apart tomorrow, but I have to find a place to store it until I actually move. So yeah, I'm having loads of fun. ;)

Moving and baseball...

2007-01-09T13:06:00.000+02:00

Spoke with the landlord(future) today and thing are coming together.

Also, here's some commentary on a book by one of the authors at USS Mariner, one of my featured websites. I've already pre-ordered a copy of "The Cheaters Guide to Baseball" and if it sounds like something you might like, recommend that you do as well.

Moving soon

2007-01-08T17:12:00.000+02:00

I went up and talked to Scott today about moving in when he leaves and am meeting his landlord tomorrow. It's fifty pounds less and a little bigger and at least I can get rid of some of the furniture that's there to make more room. One problem may be finding a spot for my satellite dishes, especially the 2m one, but I'll figure something out. Now the fun part...actually moving...ugh.

Improbable evening/mornings...

2007-01-07T14:14:00.000+02:00

do happen. I went to a going away party for Scott last night. We were all pretty buzzed, but he was buzzed enough to actually sing karaoke...poorly, but funnily. Had I tried it would have just been poorly. I'm definitely at my best in the shower where the noise masks the mistakes. We had a good time and I'm probably going to move into Scott's place fairly shortly. It's right across the street from the place I wanted, but that place was already rented.

Anyway, I came home and was debating whether to try to stay up and watch the Seahawks or take a quick nap and hope I woke up in time. I ended up doing a little of both, talking with a friend for awhile and eventually falling asleep after the battery in my phone gave up. I eventually woke back up and caught the end of the game, which is where the improbably comes in...you'll understand if you saw the finish. My phone was recharged and a friend was wondering what was eliciting all the curses, groans and triumphal exclamations so I told her to turn the game on. What was odd about it was that she's in Arkansas and I'm in Cyprus and I was seeing things before she did. I tried to tone down my reactions so she could not know what was coming but I didn't succeed completely. It was fun watching the game with her that way and I think I taught her a few new words, none that she need use, but new nonetheless. Compound words...generally consisting of 4 letters combined interchangeably.

At least the Seahawks won, but an odder ending I've yet to see.

Yes, it makes me a bad person...

2007-01-05T15:04:00.000+02:00

but I can't help laughing when people do stupidly funny things. Hey, it's not my seat! You'll understand when you read it.

More from Wretchard

2007-01-04T13:13:00.000+02:00

You'll likely draw your own conclusions, but there's another thoughtful piece at his site. It's not right, but I've often thought that withdrawing to Kurdistan would be a good option. They seem to be the part of Iraq that has seized their opportunity most enthusiastically. What's not right about it is that doing so would condemn the rest of Iraq to the machinations of their Sunni/Shia religious leaders. Then again, it's their religion...perhaps it's time to practice it, or are they?

It's not often...

2007-01-03T19:14:00.000+02:00

I praise member of the mainstream media. I find far to many of them to have personal political agenda and feel they try to make news rather than report it. A few months ago, the Seattle Times, see above, hired a new sports writer, Jerry Brewer. That particular metro are has a few pretty good sports writers and a few that flat out suck. I remember once sending an email to Art Theil thanking him for reminding me of J.P. Patches and getting a reply.

Anyway, Jerry's been slowly acclimating himself to the NW sports scene while also offering some interesting views on things of wider import. Here's an example. I like the guy.

Good news...

2007-01-02T15:41:00.000+02:00

you know, the stuff American media ignores...from Rantburg.

A bit of description...

2007-01-02T14:35:00.000+02:00

about the sites to the right.

Deadspin is a sports site. A very funny sports site. Nothing is sacred and things, especially in the comments, can get quite ribald. I enjoy that type of humor but it's not for everyone. It's generally run by one guy, but on the weekends a guy called the mighty mjd covers for him. Others cover holidays so it's always being updated and is always funny.

John's UW football site is exactly what it says it is. He also continues it through basketball and covers football recruiting as well. It's a different perspective than most others and I enjoy reading it. Feel free to ask questions in the comments because you'll get the best answer he can give.

Kissing Suzy Kolber is very similar to Deadspin except I think it focuses more on football. I'll have to wait and see on that because I haven't been enjoying it that long. It's run by a group of writers so you'll see quite a few different views on things.

Mariners blog is known as USS Mariner. The contributors to this site are among the best posters to the usenet newsgroup devoted to the Mariners. They left to create the site and the newsgroup went downhill. I'm glad I found them again. They are a bit statistically oriented sometimes but always provide thoughtful analysis of the team. Their comment section during games is a fun way to enjoy the game from a distance and there are a lot of thoughtful posters there as well, game or not.

Michael Totten lives in Oregon, but has lived in the Middle East and has traveled all over it. He focuses a lot on the situation in Lebanon, with which he's most familiar, but has also done some excellent pieces on Iraq, especially Kurdistan. I'd like to visit the place after reading some of his work.

Publius Pundit is a collection of writers brought to together by Robert Mayer. They're a geographically diverse bunch, which is one of the reasons I enjoy it. There's excellent reporting on Latin America and Eastern Europe as well as a lot of other places.

Rantburg...most of the sites I read lean to the right, but are generally fair and even-handed in their reporting. Rantburg's not. I love it. They collect news articles and allow others to add to them, debunk them, make smart ass remarks about them and have a lot of fun doing so. There are some very knowledgeable people on there and even the occasional respectable lefty. Those are few and far between.

San Antonio Rugby is just what it says it is. I enjoyed my time there and recently helped them buy a bus to travel to matches in. I mainly visit their bulletin board.

I found the Wines family website via John's UW site. They're rabid Duck fans, are there any other kind, but I still enjoyed. They play a game called "what is it?" where an odd looking photo is shown between UO reporting and that hooked me. Good people!

Wretchard's real name is Richard and I wish I had thought of that first. All I can say is excellent analysis and commentary on world events.

I may add more sites and will try to let you know what they're about as I do.

Let me direct you...

2007-01-02T14:27:00.000+02:00

to the right, specifically John's UW football site for an excellent recap/preview of some excellent college football games from yesterday. I'm pretty sure he played for UW back in the 70's and offers some great insight into the sport, specifically the Huskies, but also in general.

What I liked most about yesterday, and I know it will never be like that again, was that it reminded me of January 1sts of yore. We, Bob and I, would sometimes spend that holiday with grandma and grandpa and every New Year's day, they'd go to the Raschke's and join some friends to bet on the games and celebrate. It was a lot of fun...non-stop football.

Some of my favorites...

2007-01-01T12:31:00.000+02:00

are now listed to the right. Some are frivolous, others fairly thoughtful and you probably won't like everything you'll read on them, i.e., parental guidance, but they're all pretty good at their intended purposes and will provide food for thought. As a special example, click on Wretchard at the bottom and read E Pluribus Unum from his site and tell me that doesn't change a perspective or two at least a little bit.

MMA(Multiple Martial Arts)

2007-01-01T12:07:00.000+02:00

I've seen the ultimate fights before and they were interesting and I've also watched a lot of pro wrestling...hey, there are some really nice fake boobs with really nice natural asses on there. Pro boxing is pretty dull although over here, everything's not pay per view so you get to see some of the contenders without having to pay through the nose. Good fights too, most of the time.

I enjoyed watching it today(MMA). I could be wrong, but it's real and you don't have all the glitz, overhype and soap opera style drama. I could deal with pro wrestling if it were just guys bitching at one another mainly because they take a lot of chances with some of the stuff they do. If they would leave the storylines out of it, I'd enjoy it a lot more. I realize that while I get MMA over here for free and when I'm back in the states I'll probably have to pay, and won't, I'll still enjoy it for now.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T07:42:00.000+02:00

And so begins another year...so far so good except that for some reason the natives decided to shoot off their fireworks at 1 am instead of midnight. I went up on the balcony at midnight to watch but nothing. Of course, once I'm warmly wrapped in my blankets listening to the Husky basketball game I hear them going nuts. I'm not completely certain which holidays are associated with fireworks, but they shoot them off pretty frequently. If I went all the way up to the roof I could probably look across town and see 5 or 6 displays at once.

It was a bad day as far as sports viewing went. Seahawks weren't on, and since a AFN was so enamored with meaningless...to me...NFL games, the UW vs. UCLA basketball game wasn't on either. That 's probably a good thing as the young Huskies got spanked by the Bruins. It's hard to tell listening, but it sounded to me like they played alright except for a couple of stretches where nothing went right. The Seahawks won, but not as impressively, in my opinion, as they could have. They had to settle for quite a few field goals, but again, it's hard to tell watching via a periodically updated computer. Have fun at the game next weekend dad!

Fat, dumb and happy...

2006-12-31T17:44:00.000+02:00

and ready for some football. I just made some burritos and they were pretty damn good. I was going to make tacos, but saw some tortillas when I was looking for the shells and decided to go that route. I really wish you could get corn tortillas over here because you can fry them in oil and make your own taco shell. Very tasty! I guess I could have tried that with the flour, but I didn't. I bought some ground beef, lettuce, salsa, a bean and tomato sauce and Leicester cheese and headed home.

About halfway there I realized that I didn't have any taco seasoning mix and I stopped at a couple of what they call "supermarkets" over here. It's kind of like Korea in that respect as all the 7-11 type stores are called soo-pas there. None of them had the seasoning mix.

You know me and the internet...quick search and I had this recipe. I did the usual, brown the meat, grate the cheese and tear up the lettuce and poured the seasoning mix in. I've never noticed oregano in a mix before and it didn't really add or subtract to/from the flavor, but what was immediately noticeable was the scent of cinnamon. I may try more next time, because although I caught hints of it, it was over powered by the chili powder, cumin and cayenne. I'm not certain whether the heat the recipe carried was due to the "hot" salsa I used or the cayenne, but if you are sensitive to hot foods, be careful. I really like the tomato/bean sauce too. I added it for the last 15 minutes of simmering and I preferred it to straight refried beans, because the flavor permeated the meat and was more evenly distributed than a layer of beans normally is. They probably sell something similar in the states, but I've never looked for nor seen it.

Now it's time to see if it passes the fart test. I guess that tells you about my plans for New Year's Eve...nonexistent...well, aside from belching and farting that is.

Happy New Year!

Might as well bitch a little...

2006-12-30T15:55:00.000+02:00

I have a habit of retiring to the balcony in the afternoon to read books or magazines for awhile and enjoy the sun. As long as the sun's out it's fine but I only lasted about a half an hour today. I should probably start wearing long pants.

If you're here...

2006-12-30T12:40:00.000+02:00

you've probably been to my previous site and know why I moved so I won't bother explaining again. We'll see how this works. Hopefully it will improve the frequency of my posts.

Testing

2006-12-30T12:11:00.001+02:00

title says it all