trainwreck

you've probably already seen it, but it's so awful, you have to watch it again.

the pretend world of sports

the time is upon us when students are heading back to school, the blazing heat of summer is close to breaking, stores are bringing in fall clothes...and oh yeah, fantasy football is underway.

now, i have learned to tolerate - even mildly enjoy - the everlong season of football. i didn't grow up in a house where football was a big deal, but have learned later in life that most men live for it. now that i've endured a few seasons of it, i realize that there is no arguing with a significant other about whether or not he's going to watch the games that weekend. i've even learned what's going on, and can actually follow a game now and then.

and now, pre-season has started...it's only a short time before every sunday afternoon, saturday afternoon, monday night, occasional thursday night, possibly tuesday night is football. and it doesn't end there.

i used consider myself lucky because my significant other is mostly obsessed with college football. (i don't think he reads this much, but he would appreciate a "go blue" here) so i used to not have to deal with many sunday pro games. BUT - fantasy football took that away from me.

because of the fantasy team, we have to watch every game that is televised in order to check in on the players on his team. and i can't help but think about the fact that it is FANTASY - which means is 100% not real. fake teams, fake plays, fake scores, and in the end, a fake winner. fake fake fake.

and i get criticized for watching american idol...

i'm a tropical storm!

i found out yesterday that a current tropical storm and i share the same name. upon hearing this, i was so honored that the meteorologists of the world think so highly of my name that they are willing to add it to the list of hurricanes. but i came to find out that it was already on the list, and i should have known this much earlier in my life. you see, hurricane names are set alphabetical lists, alternating male and female names, that rotate every six years. names are used so that weather stations can communicate quickly about the storm, instead of using latitude and longitude identification. there is a pacific list and an atlantic list. so there was actually a tropical storm erin in 2001, but i guess it never got big enough to make news. (apologies for the outdated links - they serve their purpose though)

so basically, either you are a hurricane or you're not...with the exception of the newly added names from time to time. when a storm is particularly devastating, they retire the name and replace it with a new one- i.e. katrina & hugo. (retired names)

and, another little tidbit of cocktail trivia - storms used to all be named female names until 1978, when the world meteorological organization starting incorporating male names as well. if that's not equality, i don't know what is.

and that is the science lesson for today, class.

**fall softball game 1 tomorrow night. team name: knocked up - because three of our players are benched due to impregnation. pretty funny, huh.

surface of the sun

after a long weekend of staying indoors for fear of melting upon entering the sunlight, i had my first experience with wii. yes, i was a wii virgin until this weekend. and boy, was it a good time. i'm literally sore from playing so much. if i had a couple hundred to blow right now, that's what i'd get.

anyways, as i realized just how hot it is in st. louis right now, i began to wonder if this is the hottest it's ever been. apparently, it is not. the record high for the area was July 14, 1954, when it reached 115 degrees.

and what is the record high in the u.s., you ask? greenland ranch, california, with 134°F on July 10, 1913. that's just crazy. and they didn't have air conditioning. well, actually - it's in the middle of death valley, where no one lives...so it doesn't really matter. but either way, that's freaking hot.

so i'll be enjoying sitting inside working all week as the temps reach 108...but then dying on the ball field as fall softball starts on friday. we finished spring league at 5 and 5, and won $50 to hooters. just what i wanted.

welcome back, welcome back, welcome back

great news for folks in st. louis who missed their buddy - rick ankiel was called up this week. enjoy this:



and in another fun cards story, apparently the announcer for san diego got caught this week saying something on air that was supposed to be muted. i love it when stuff like this happens. i'll set the scene...san diego's losing bad, it's hot as balls in st. louis. he made a comment about cards fans "driving back to the ozarks in their el caminos" first. then he muted his microphone, to tell the guys in his production van (who are st. louisans, keep in mind), "i'm done with this place...i'm so tired of losing here...it's hotter than shit. we get our asses kicked every time we come here...i'm not coming here next year." but his partner's mike picked up the whole thing.

so 98.1 in st. louis got this guy on the radio the next morning, and i have to say - he really was pretty funny. he explained that he was just trying to get on the guys from st. louis that make digs at him because of the cards beating san diego in post season so many years. and the comment about the ozarks and el caminos...i'm pretty sure that's true.

well, friends - that's about all i have for today. have a good weekend folks. drink lots of fluids and don't stay in the sun too long. you might melt.