One for the Bills fans

Oh, Henry: Adams says Titans want ex-Vol – Thursday, 05/26/05
“We’re interested in Henry,” Adams said yesterday from the NFL Meetings in Washington, D.C. “He wants to get out of Buffalo. We think he has a lot of ability. We think he has four good years left. Because of where he went to college I think he’d be real popular with the fans. I think he’d be a real good addition.”

The Titans and Bills first began discussing a trade involving the former University of Tennessee star during last month’s NFL Draft, and the two sides continued dialogue on the subject into last week.

The Bills haven’t moved away from their demand for a third-round pick in next year’s draft in exchange for Henry. So far the Titans haven’t been willing to go that high. They offered a fifth-round pick for Henry on draft day.

Does Tennessee want to start Henry though? I thought they were going with Chris Brown. I always thought that Henry’s attitude problem stemmed from the fact that he wanted to be a starter.

He’d have the same problem in Tennessee, it seems.

Just because you are walking…

“Just because you are walking doesn’t mean you have the right to hold up fucking traffic!” – shouted at me as I crossed 5th Street at Spring Street, with the crosswalk signal indicating walk.

“Actually, sir, I am crossing protected by the lights, so yes it does. I’m not going to run across the crosswalk so that you can make your right turn on red quicker.” – what I should have said.

“Up yours!” accompanied by the finger – what I actually said.

DG would have been disappointed that I let slip an opportunity to yell “Suck my shit!”

SAINTS STAYING, still suck

A week after having his lawyer tell San Antonio media that he was pursuing other options, Tom Benson said Tuesday that he is not planning to move the Saints.
“My plan right now is to stay in New Orleans and let my grand-daughter take the club over,” he said.
Benson also said he didn’t even want to consider other and possibly more lucrative offers from other cities.
“We’ve got a contract through 2010,” he said. “They’re the ones talking about breaking the contract. At no time did I say that we were going to leave or break a contract and I’m not going to say that now.”
Gov. Kathleen Blanco has been attempting to get Benson to renegotiate a deal giving the team $186 million over 10 years, saying the state cannot afford it. The contract was negotiated by then-Gov. Mike Foster and approved by the Legislature.
Benson recently canceled additional negotiations until after the 2005 season when the Saints have their first opportunity to negate the current deal and move by repaying the $81 million the team received during the first five years of the contract. The state can opt out of the deal after the 2007 season.
Here’s an idea: Agree to use some of the money to refurbish the Dome, then repay the Saints with the extra cash generated from the nicer and more fan-friendly stadium.

This makes me feel better

ESPN.com – NFL – West Coast offense: Saints owner keeps options open

This is a Len Pasquarelli column that recaps Benson’s meeting on Tueday with the NFL owners. He seems pretty sure that the Saints aren’t moving.

He does also mention the ticket sales figures that Dave has been concerned with:

Saints fans, among the league’s most loyal and long-suffering, have purchased only 26,000 season tickets for 2005. More significant, there is a sense of ennui surrounding the ongoing battle between the team and Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who inherited a bum deal that was negotiated by her predecessor.

There is, for sure, a danger here: During all the bad seasons, and all of the incompetent performances of the past, Saints fans have mostly remained passionate about their team. But in the wake of the political brinksmanship being currently waged, some emotion has waned, and the fan base has taken a hit.

Benson on Tuesday deflected suggestions that slumping ticket sales reflected a backlash from the fans, preferring to assign the slippage to the economy of a severely blunted city and state. But economics have always been a compelling issue for the Saints, and could be the component that eventually opens the exit door for Benson and his team.

Star Wars Episode III Review

Leslie and I went to go see the new Star Wars movie last night. I loved it. Finally, George Lucas came through.

I’ll do my best to not spoil any of the plot here.

Star Wars is such a part of my childhood, as it is for most people my age. I can name all the characters, and recite all the lines. I’m a nerd. I admit it. All the distinctive sounds are permantly burned in my brain: the Tusken Raiders’ howl, the sound R2D2 makes when his circuits are fried, the Ewok song at the end of Return of the Jedi, Chewbacca’s sad groan. I do a pretty good imitation of a lightsaber lighting up, if I do say so myself.

Episodes I and II were a disappointment to me, like they were for a lot of people. Poor acting, overly childish humor, bad writing. Of course, we held them up to such high standards, its partly our own fault for expecting too much. We set ourselves up for a disappointment.

Episode III is such a vast improvement over the two previous films, however. It actually felt like a Star Wars movie. The others had their moments of Star Warsishness, but Revenge of the Sith keeps it up through the entire film. Lucas obviously spent a good deal of time making this movie connect to the original triology. There are early X-Wings, Imperial Capital Ships, TIE Fighters, Imperial Shuttles. Scout Troopers and speeders, and the Emperor’s red-cloaked guards. Even the Correllian Cruiser featured in the opening scene of Episode IV is there. I admit, the stark whiteness of the interior of that ship made me tingly inside when I saw it reproduced in the MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies that I played for awhile, and it gave me the same feeling when I saw it again in Revenge of the Sith.

More than the story or the characters, I enjoyed the seeing the evolution of the Star Wars universe in the movie. Even the musical score was well done, mixing the choral arrangements of Episode I with the familiar melodies from the original films. As Revenge of the Sith progressed, the music evolved more and more towards the Imperial March and Luke’s theme on Tatooine. If I had my druthers, Revenge of the Sith would be Episode I and we could watch the Empire evolve from the beginnings of Darth Vader in Episodes II and III. There have been rumors that there will be a TV series based on the time period between Episodes III and IV. I’m hesitant about that though. I don’t really trust television as a medium for quality.

All in all, Lucas planned his new Star Wars series out well. The third film makes the other two better. I would have preferred of course, that the other two could stand on their own merit, but which film of the original triology can stand on its own? Only Episode I. The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi both require a knowledge of the what has come before to appreciate the story and characters. Its almost as if Episodes I and II require a knowledge of what comes after to be appreciated.

There goes the neighborhood

Well, ok not really.

In one of those moments when you realize that some kind of metaphysical laws are chugging away behind the scenes, the neighbor’s car was broken into last night. These laws never explain anything, really. They just manifest themselves as vague coinincidences. This is the neighbor who parks in our driveway without asking for permission or even acknowledging that we are sitting on the porch. She’s got car karma.

At 5:30am this morning, a car alarm went off. Over and over and over and over. Leslie checked if it was ours (since it sounded like a weak Asian car horn), and we struggled to go back to sleep, complaining about the idiot who let it run on and on.

This morning I ran into B on the porch (what’s up with this guy’s work schedule? and when is he going to return our heating pad?) . He told me that the neighbor’s car was broken into. Her door was previously dented, and the window couldn’t be rolled all the way. We agreed that that was probably the reason that her car of all the rest was singled out. All they took was an iPod charger. They left her shoes. I guess they didn’t fit.

Odd that just last night, a cop patrolled down our street for the first time since we moved in. I feel perfectly safe in our neighborhood. We were just discussing this with DG on our way home from trivia Tuesday night.

B was very concerned about who did it; he was full of theories. He was sure it was the guy who goes through the trash in the alley. I could care less who did it. There’s no way of knowing. We haven’t had a car break-in since we’ve been here. Probably because there haven’t been any dumbasses leaving their windows rolled down.

Destroyed

Once again, we held first place going into the final round at trivia night.

Once againg, we screwed up the final question:

What 1933 movie is ranked highest on the AFI’s greatest American movie list that did not recieve any Acadamy Award nominations?

Answer in the comments.

Needless to say, we got it wrong, and dropped from first place to way below third.

Unemployment

The house is so clean you could eat off the floors. The furniture is glowing with lemon Pledge. All windows are without cat-nose smudges. I’m a master at baking. My Nonna’s donated curtains are ironed and smell like her laundry detergent. The bed is made. The bathroom is sparkling and all of the towels are clean. The bills are paid, the picket fence is painted, the cd’s are in alphabetical order. We have plenty of ice, the newly planted herbs are growing. I’m knitting scarves and cell phone cozies for everyone one I know, in bizarre colors from leftover yarn. Papers are filed and I can find anything in the house in 30 seconds. All of our clothes are folded and put away, winter clothes in storage. Reservations are made for vacation in Jersey. There are no pens in this house that don’t write, all pencils are sharpened. I finished all of the Washington Post crossword puzzles in their online archives; I have answered every possible clue about Napoleon’s exile in Elba. There is nothing under the bed except a rarely-used suitcase. I have discarded all old makeup according to Style magazine’s chart. I take extremely long showers. I know every stray cat in a 3 block radius. I have taught my cats to come to me when called. I have seen every Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode at least twice. I have written multiple versions of a cover letter all saved under a different file name for easy access. I’ve tried every exercise program on the Comcast On Demand channel. My personal favorite is Pilates. The Yoga instructor is a lunatic, no one can get in those positions. The woodwork is clean and there are no dust bunnies in this house. The dry goods are stored according to the Joy of Cooking’s ‘Pantry Tips’. I know exactly how many tablespoons of butter equal a third of a cup.

Martha Stewart would be proud.

I am going mad.

How do you get out of a rut?

Ruts suck, and I’m in a big one. Each day is very similar to its predecessor, and neither stimulates me fully. Not to mention smile without forcing myself. But without significant savings, how does one bust loose from the man?
Clearing out your desk and bursting out of the office sounds fun, but it’s probably not the best technique for a successful ressurection of one’s career and social life. My mom says that when you’re unhappy or bored, you should something for someone else. So if anybody needs something done that can be accomplished from New Orleans, please feel free to ask. I mean anyone. There has to be a way for the little folk. Help me.

Paul’s birthday is Sunday. Everyone, whether you know him or not, should call 917-673-7313.

Kent, please add spell check to this thing ….
Leslie, please take your top off ….

Thanks … DP