Quotes!

Speak the truth, but leave immediately afterward. – Slovenian Proverb

Believe those who are seeking truth, doubt those who find it. - Andre Gide

Most truths are so naked that people feel sorry for them and cover them up, at least a little bit. - Edward R. Murrow

It is always good policy to tell the truth unless of course you are an exceptionally good liar. - Jerome K. Jerome

When a thing is funny, search it for a hidden truth. – George Bernard Shaw

Bonus!

If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything. – Mark Twain

…go skydiving.

…cook more.

…go to five new major league baseball stadiums.

…go hiking at least 10 times.

…watch The Wire (TV show).

…explore more (like visit a new country or National Park).

…write more.

…go kayaking.

…finish watching the American Film Institute’s Top 100 Movies.

…play volleyball.

…witness the end of the world (the Mayan 2012 version).

Let’s look at how I fared from my 2011 list:

Success rate: 6/10

…travel to Croatia. Nope, didn’t make it. Should have gone.

…take in the national pastime at four new major league baseball stadiums. Ahhh, sadly I went to just one new stadium, the Angels Stadium in Anaheim.

…hang around in a hammock. Quite. Maybe too much.

…go scuba diving. I don’t have a good track record so far…didn’t do this either.

…start using Twitter. YES! Finally, something I did. I started both work and personal Twitter feeds.

…go river rafting. YES!  I got wet white water rafting on the Mae Tang River near Chiang Mai, Thailand.

…make things happen. Sure, why not? Who’s going to fact check…

…read more books. Yes, I read many, many books.

…run, walk, bike and hike more. Yes, yes, yes and no. I started running. I walked. And I biked a lot. I only managed three hikes.

…be the one your mother warned you about. I was too good. Your mother probably liked me.

I succeeded. In honor of my complete success, I share the best eight books I read in 2011, instead of a mere five. Those extra three are free. You’re welcome.

8. The Snowman (Jo Nesbø, 2011) – I’ve started reading these mysteries from Norway. The protaganist, Harry Hole, hunts a serial killer. So far all of the books I’ve read in this series are good, but this is the best one.

7. The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking (Roger Martin, 2007) – Something you must read.

6. Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II (Mitchell Zuckoff, 2011) – Entertaining and worthy of your time, but lacks the real drama and suspense of another WWII tale (see #2).

5. First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently (Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman, 1999) – If you are not prone to reading, break your rule and start reading this.

4. Out of Captivity: Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle (Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, and Tom Howes, 2010) – The unbelievable story, as told by each of the three survivors, of persevering over five years as prisoners of the FARC.

3. The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins, 2010) – Now being made into a movie, this is the first in a trilogy about a future where children get forced to compete in a gladiator style death match. Only one can survive.

2. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (Laura Hillenbrand, 2010) – Simply an amazing story about an Olympic runner turned airman, whose plane crashes on a routine mission over the Pacific Ocean. Stranded for 47 days on a life raft, only to fall into the hands of the Japanese and held as a prisoner of war for over two years. Talk about the worst luck. Epic.

1. A Game of Thrones (Fire and Ice Series Book 1) (George R.R. Martin, 1996) – With all the hubbub from the new HBO TV series Game of Thrones, I thought it prudent to start reading this epic series (now five tomes strong). Brilliant. Deep. HUGE cast of characters. I’ve gotten through the first three novels. They’re only between 900-1200 pages each. Light reading for sure. Start reading and never sleep again.

May you participate in zero book burnings in 2012. Even if the world ends.

Best

11. Cowboys & Aliens – James Bond and Indiana Jones fight invading aliens! Better than expected.

10. The Secret in Their Eyes – Murder mystery from Argentina. The rest is a secret.

9. Limitless – I just want to take that mind-expanding drug. Maybe I’ll stop forgetting things. What was I saying?

8. Hall Pass - A decent year for comedies. This was among the better options. And who doesn’t hit Applebee’s to pick up women?

7. Cave of Forgotten Dreams - A fascinating look at the Chauvet caves in France. where the oldest known cave paintings are found. Werner Herzog gets in there, which is off-limits to all of us peons, shows the paintings in all their glory and adds in a bit of philosophizing for effect. 

6. X-Men: First Class - An epic load of comic book adaptions hit the big screen in 2011. The ones I saw were all serviceable (thankfully I missed The Green Hornet). The origin story of Magneto and Professor X was the best one, over such tent poles as Capitan America, The Green Lantern and Thor. Thor was a close second.

5. 127 Hours – Watching someone go through the mental process of deciding to cut off his hand to survive is disturbing. A cautionary tale for all adventure seekers.

4. Crazy, Stupid, Love. - An exploration of what it means to be in love. Heartbreak, joy, redemption.

3. The Fighter - Mark Wahlberg – good. Christian Bale – great.

2. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - The Hollywood version with Daniel Craig and Mara Rooney. Remaking foreign language films is always a dicey proposition, because most of the time, why bother? But this is still a great story, and the remake is well done. My only complaint was the opening credits. Why the weird black, stylized James Bond-like sequence that didn’t have any relevance to the movie?

1. The King’s Speech – This won the 2010 Best Picture, but I didn’t see it until 2011. You already know it was good. If you didn’t see it, you probably thought Alvin & the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked should have been on this list.

Worst

5. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Complicated and pointless. And boring. Even hot mermaids couldn’t lure me under this sea. 

4. The Black Swan – What is this? Awful.

3. Winter’s Bone – Winter can keep its bone, thank you very much.

2. Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - As a kid, this was my favorite book from the Chronicles of Narnia. Now watching the crisp, unreal visuals of the ship, the wooden acting, and the zero moments where I cared about any of the characters, I want to punch someone…

1. Sucker Punch – My eyeballs still need a scrubbing after watching this stupid turd squish before my eyes.

My continuing goal is to eat at all the restaurants on or near Capital Hill. I define this as anything south of H St NE, east of 15th NE/SE, north of I St SE, and west of 1st St NE/SE. This is a big area, and includes such destinations as Barracks Row (8th St SE between D and I Sts), Eastern Market (7th St SE between Pennsylvania Ave and Independence Ave), the Atlas District (H St NE between 9th and 15th Sts) and much more.

Check out the map here: Capital Hill and Surrounding Areas.

Obviously the task doesn’t get easier when new places keep opening left and right. 2012 is already shaping up to be a big year as well. On the horizon: Boundary Road, Sweet Charleston’s, Sol Mexican Grill and much, much more.

Location key: (H) = H St NE, (A) = The Atlas District, (B) = Barrack’s Row, (C) = Capital Hill other, (E) = Eastern Market, (U) = Union Station

19. Khan’s BBQ (H) – The food is fine as a Mongolian BBQ stir-fry, but I don’t like the set-up nor the atmosphere.

18. DC3 (B) - Now serving trendy hot dog concoctions. I probably wouldn’t order the same dog again and I wasn’t enamored with the other options.

17. Inspire Bar-B-Q (H) - Good pulled-pork BBQ and sides courtesy of Groupon. I think the space is too small, even for a walk-up counter, and the staff was friendly but apparently still learning what to do. Will try again.

16. Church & State (A) – I’m not a big fan of pretentious drinks (e.g. those that cost more than $12) and that is about all you can get here. If you want to take a date for a drink before having dinner in the Atlas District, this is your place. It is small and intimate.

15. Red Palace (A) – Combines the old Red & Black and Palace of Wonders into one venue with a decent size concert venue upstairs.

14. Pho Bar & Grille (A) - Really good dumplings and decent pho (based on my limited experience with pho), but they can’t figure out how to serve people. The first time I went, it must certainly rank as one of the most annoying ordering experiences ever.

13. Bojangles (U) – Good fried chicken!

12. Marvelous Pizza (H) – A new late night pizza joint on H St. You can also order egg rolls with your slice.

11. Shawafel (A) – Good shawarmas. Didn’t have the falafel.

10. Impala Tacos (A) – Tacos served in the winter at the Philadelphia Water Ice counter (since it’s closed for the season, why not serve tacos?). I hear they are developing a permanent place for this on H street.

9. Bullfeathers of Capital Hill (C) – This place completely remodeled and is nice space and good food.

8. Tru Orleans (H) -  A New Orleans themed restaurant. Have the catfish reuben and Hurricane slushies.

7. Smith Commons (A) – Three levels with couches and patios. A nice place for a drink upstairs. The one time I ate there, the fish and chips were not what you might expect but still not bad. 

6. Chipotle (U) – The old lunch stand-by. Meat and beans and cheese rolled up in a tortilla. When they have the A team serving, the line zips along.

5. Pound the Hill (E) – A new coffee shop near Eastern Market. They make their mochas with Nutella…mmmm.

4. The Big Board (H) – A small bar a mere two blocks from my house that serves good burgers (try the Chicago Fire) that tries to sell its beers by giving discounts (shown on The Board) to the most popular selling options. Not sure that the concept works yet and they need to get better beer.

3. Senart’s Oyster and Chop House (B) – Didn’t have the oysters. A nice looking building and interior. The menu was a bit pricey, but the Beer Battered Cod Sandwich was the right price.

2. The Queen Vic (A) – Styled as a British pub, it has good, traditional British fare (have the Sunday roast!) and is a fine place to watch a game with a pint of cider in hand.

1. Toki Underground (A) – Excellent ramen noodles and tasty dumplings in a small kitschy space filled with anime figurines and skateboards for footrests. It only seats 20 people at a time, so it seems to always be busy.

Bonus: Biergarten Haus Roof Deck (A) – Though Biergarten Haus is not new in 2011, expanding the capacity of the already largest restaurant in the area by 1/3, it makes for a formidable beer swilling and German food noshing destination.

I added 63 new albums to my library. I attended 18 concerts. I got a new iPhone and haven’t had to use my iPod Touch in months. Although, I didn’t listen to as much music this year as last. Let’s explore some lists. You know I like lists.

Top Albums Listened to in 2011*

1. “Brothers” by The Black Keys,
2. “Wasting Light” by Foo Fighters,
3. “Codes and Keys” by Death Cab For Cutie,
4. “Angles” by The Strokes,
5. “Young the Giant” by Young the Giant,
6. “Something to Die For” by The Sounds,
7. “Body Talk” by Robyn,
8. “Ceremonials’ by Florence + The Machine,
9. “21″ by Adele,
10. “Wounded Rhymes” by Lykke Li,

* Does not have to have been released in 2011.

Bonus #1: Top Concerts of 2011

1. Sara Bareilles (Ram’s Head Live)
2. Mumford & Sons (Merriweather Post Pavilion)
3. Soundgarden (Patriot Center)
4. Foo Fighters (Verizon Center)
5. Death Cab for Cutie (Merriweather Post Pavilion)

Bonus #2: Most Listened to Songs in 2011*

1. ‘Let the Rain’ – Sara Bareilles (N/A)*
2. ‘Tighten Up’ – The Black Keys
3. ‘You Are A Tourist’ – Death Cab for Cutie
4. ‘Under Cover Of Darkness’ – The Strokes
5. ‘My Body’ – Young the Giant
6. ‘Ain’t No Talking’ – The Pipettes
7. ‘These Days’ – Foo Fighters
8. ‘Dance With the Devil’ – The Sounds
9. ‘Howlin’ For You’ – The Black Keys
10. ‘Paradise’ – Coldplay
11. ‘Dancing On My Own’ – Robyn
12. ‘England’ – The National
13. ‘The Writer’ – Ellie Goulding
14. ‘Codes And Keys’ – Death Cab for Cutie
15. ‘Back & Forth’ – Foo Fighters
16. ‘Cough Syrup’ – Young the Giant
17. ‘Tokyo’ – Wombats
18. ‘Rolling In the Deep’ – Adele
19. ‘Conversation 16′ – The National
20. ‘Make Some Noise’ – Beastie Boys
21. ‘Austere’ – The Joy Formidable
22. ‘Laredo’ – Band of Horses
23. ‘Ruby’ – Kaiser Chiefs
24. ‘Only If For A Night’ – Florence + The Machine
25. ‘I Follow Rivers’ – Lykke Li

*My home computer died, so I lost all the iTunes song stats about midway through the year. So this list is more the 2nd half of the year and a guess at some songs.

Bonus #3: All Albums Acquired in 2011

1. “Brothers” by The Black Keys,
2. “Under the Blacklight” by Rilo Kiley,
3. “Adore” by The Smashing Pumpkins,
4. “Siamese Dream” by The Smashing Pumpkins,
5. “Heligoland” by Massive Attack,
6. “Everybody” by Ingrid Michaelson,
7. “The Chair In the Doorway” by Living Colour,
8. “Hello” by Tristan Prettyman,
9. “Winter of Mixed Drinks” by Frightened Rabbit,
10. “Elephant” by The White Stripes,
11. “Showroom of Compassion” by Cake,
12. “Cease to Begin” by Band of Horses,
13. “A Brief History of Love” by The Big Pink,
14. “Are We All Forgotten EP” by Paper Route,
15. “Tourist History” by Two Door Cinema Club,
16. “In Ghost Colours” by Cut  Copy,
17. “The Big Come Up” by The Black Keys,
18. “Citrus” by Asobe Sesku,
19. “Portishead” by Portishead,
20. “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum,
21. “Full Moon Fever” by Tom Petty,
22. “Willy and the Poor Boys” by Creedence Clearwater Revival,
23. “Lights” by Ellie Goulding,
24. “III/IV” by Ryan Adams,
25. “Young the Giant” by Young the Giant,
26. “Wounded Rhymes” by Lykke Li,
27. “Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?” by Metric,
28. “Something to Die For” by The Sounds,
29. “Angles” by The Strokes,
30. “Earth vs The Pipettes” by The Pipettes,
31. “The Big Roar” by The Joy Formidable,
32. “Crystal Castles” by Crystal Castles,
33. “21″ by Adele,
34. “Little Plastic Castle” by Ani Difranco,
35. “The Lady Killer” by Cee Lo Green,
36. “The Fall” by Gorillaz,
37. “Awesome As F**k” by Green Day,
38. “Kiss Each Other Clean” by Iron & Wine,
39. “Yours Truly, Angry Mob” by Kaiser Chiefs,
40. “Tiger Suit” by KT Tunstall,
41. “Hands” by Little Boots,
42. “Alphabetical” by Phoenix,
43. “Greatest Hits…So Far” by Pink,
44. “Body Talk” by Robyn,
45. “Safari Disco Club” by Yelle,
46. “Move Like This” by The Cars,
47. “Codes and Keys” by Death Cab For Cutie,
48. “Hot Sauce Communication Part Two” by Beastie Boys,
49. “Pop Up” by Yelle,
50. “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry,
51. “Torches” by Foster the People,
52. “Wasting Light” by Foo Fighters,
53. “Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse,
54. “So Jealous” by Tegan & Sara,
55. “The White Stripes” by The White Stripes,
56. “Come Around Sundown” by Kings of Leon,
57. “Zonoscope” by Cut Copy,
58. “No Wow” by The Kills,
59. “The Wombats proudly present…This Modern Glitch’ by The Wombats,
60. “Mylo Xyloto’ by Coldplay,
61. “Ceremonials’ by Florence + The Machine,
62. “El Camino” by The Black Keys,
63. “Live on I-5″ by Soundgarden,

This also is a tell-tale sign that the end of 2011 is nigh, and I could be writing a bunch of end-of-year reviews. Or something. May be time for you to go on vacation. I am.

2011 was a blue year. Very blue indeed for Seattle sports. Blue is the prominent color of many Seattle sports teams, but that is not the blue I refer to. I mean blue as is melancholy. Blue as in sing the blues. Blue as in break out a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and curl up in front of reruns of Hill Street Blues. Get your shot glasses ready.

Seattle Mariners (ML B – baseball)

The Mariners are hard to root for. They can’t score runs. They trade all their good pitchers for hitters that never produce. They do nothing. It’s depressing. Ichiro’s numbers declined. King Felix didn’t match his Cy Young season of 2010. We traded away Doug Fister right when he was pitching well. You can’t finish much worse than 67-95. And no good prospects for next year.

Success Indicator: 2/10. Whiskey shots: 4

Seattle Seahawks (NFL – football)

After improbably winning their division last season (with a NFL history worst 7-9 record), and then miraculously beating the Saints in the playoffs (only to lose to the Bears), the Seahawks looked like they were back in the business of sucking for 2011. They started 2-6. They lost to Cleveland 6-3. Enough said. Yet, somehow they seem to have poured spinach on their Wheaties, because they are kicking butt, winning five of their last six games. At 7-7, they have a very small chance at the playoffs. But small is better than zero, so let’s see if they can pull off another miracle in their final two games.

Success Indicator: 6/10. Whiskey shots: 3 (5 if they don’t make they playoffs)

University of Washington Huskies (College football)

The Dawgs started strong at 5-1. Then they started playing good teams. And they got crushed three out of four games. Then they lost to Oregon St. (WTF?) and it looked like the wheels had fallen off. To just salvage the season, they had to whip the Cougars in the Apple Cup. They finished with a 7-5 record, good enough to get a bid to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas against #15 ranked Baylor. Robert Griffin III, Baylor’s QB, won the Heisman Trophy, so it should add a bit of heightened excitement to the game on December 29. But they should have been better.

Success Indicator: 6/10. Whiskey shots: 6 (One for every loss, and two for losing to OSU)

Seattle Sounders FC (MLS – soccer)

The Sounders had their best season ever. That’s why it’s also the worst. Expectations were high. But not fulfilled. They finished 18-7-9 (63 points), 2nd best in the league. Yet they lost again in the first round of the playoffs. Three years in a row. Erg! There was a silver lining. They won the US Open Cup tournament for a 3rd straight time, tying a record for most consecutive times a team has done this and the first MLS team to do it. They also played extremely well in the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions league tournament (24 of the top club teams in North America, Central America and Caribbean) and have a spot in the knock-out stage that starts next April.

Success Indicator: 7/10. Whiskey shots: 5 (would have been 6, but for the secondary tourneys)

Other teams I follow:

Washington Nationals (MLB – baseball)

The Nationals had the 2nd best season since they’ve moved to Washington, D.C. (80-81). I managed to attend 10 games (two doubleheaders) while eating lots of nachos and Shake Shack burgers. Teddy Roosevelt continued to lose in epic ways in the 4th inning President’s race.

Success Indicator: 7/10. Whiskey shots: 1 (for Teddy)

University of Washington Huskies (College basketball – men’s and women’s)

The men’s team was solid (24-11) and won the Pac-10 Tournament Championship for the 2nd straight year. They beat Georgia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament but then lost a close one to North Carolina.

The women’s team (11-17) continued to suck.

Success Indicator: 7/10

Chelsea Blues (English Premier League – soccer)

The 2010-2011 Chelsea team (71 points) was up and down all year. And finally they were too far behind Manchester United and finished in 2nd place 9 points clear of 1st.

Success Indicator: 7/10. Whiskey shots: 2 (for letting Man U win)

Seattle Storm (WNBA – women’s basketball)

Yep, they still play professional women’s basketball. Seattle finished 21-13 and got bounced from the playoffs in the first round. Blah.

Success Indicator: 6/10. Whiskey shots: 0 (no reason to waste any here)

Washington Capitals (NHL – hockey)

The Capitals continue to be an enigma. In 2010-2011 they were again the best team in the Eastern Conference (107 points). They beat the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs, but lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning four games to zero. Another season wasted.

Success Indicator: 6/10. Whiskey shots: 4 (one for every loss to Tampa Bay)

DC United (MLS – soccer)

DC United played better this year, finishing 9-13-12 (39 points). But they failed to make the playoffs despite a weak Eastern Conference.

Success Indicator: 4/10. Whiskey shots: 0 (Can’t. Drink. Any. More.)

University of Washington Huskies (Capital Alumni Network - co-ed flag football)

Year two of DC Dawgs’ (UW Alumni) participation in flag football went better. We finished 4-6 (playoff seed #34 out of 58 total schools). Our division was stacked with a few of the best schools in the league so in a different division, we would have done even better. We played #31 Cornell in the playoffs, but lost a close game 20-12. They stopped us on the goal line at the end of the game. Also, we were shorthanded as many of our players were in NYC for a UW vs. Duke basketball game. There’s always next year…

Peace and may the sports be with you.

My goal was to have cream tea. Simple. Elegant. Sophisticated. I failed (sort of). Let’s find out why.

After soaking up the British culture in Newport Pagnell for a week doing work, I hopped on a train to London. The plan: spend a few days, see some places I hadn’t been to, eat some proper British food and down a pint or three.

The first full day was to meet up with friends and explore Hampstead in North London.

Fenton House - after a late lunch off the high street of Hampstead, we peeked into a historic house (turned museum) with a large garden and orchid. The owner had collected harpsichords and clavichords like they were going out of style. Actually they were, because do you even know what a harpsichord is?

The house was also full of paintings and other such things that accumulate in old houses over hundreds of years. A small deck on the top floor overlooked downtown London. The garden and orchid were quite nice for a stroll. Cream tea sightings = 0.

Hampstead Heath - you could call it a massive park full of rolling fields of grass and shrubbery, clear lakes, and walking paths lined with weeping willows. Or you could call it heath. Either way, after cavorting on an oddly fallen tree and using the heathland as my stage for a Julie Andrews (a la The Sound of Music) impression, we spied a singular looking mansion in the distance. Luring us. Beckoning us. Tea or not to tea.

Kenwood House & Estate – a set location for the movie Notting Hill (which is not that impressive unless you like Hugh Grant), this gigantic house is surrounded by more idyllic lawns, pathways and lakes.

The house itself boasts an imperial number of paintings and other things snobby, rich people revel in. Such as ballrooms and candlesticks and beauties in gowns and beasts in ruffled suits. After wandering about the museum part aimlessly; maybe perusing the china and baubles, gazing at the portraits of stuffy, unamused people and admiring the art with snobby aloofness; one could be tempted to visit the garden café on the ground level. Maybe something teaish or creamish will be on offer.

Walking along the outside, you soon come to a stone gateway and stairs. The sign on the inside of the gateway says ’Flask Walk’. My kind of place. You take the stairs down and then walk to the café and the large, spacious outdoor seating areas. This place must have cream tea. It’s gonna happen!

The café boasted a British line-up of options. I darted between the various refrigerated displays…seeking, searching. I spied a scone and suddenly stopped. Cut in half with jam and some light, frothy cream (not clotted) inside. Arrggghhhh! So close, but not proper cream tea at all! I bought one anyway, cursing under my breath. I ate it but my quest was in shambles. Time to move on.

Rose Hill – it was time to head over for some evening activities and our lengthy walk passed through Rose Hill, with a nice view of the London Zoo and other things. As the evening dusk began to settle, we continued our quest to…

Camden Town - where we learned upon arrival at the first bar that Amy Winehouse was dead. Her house was mere blocks away. We could have walked over. But that just seemed way too depressing, so we headed over to Hawley Arms Pub, where she was a regular, and had a number of pints that totaled more than one. Some may have been in her honor.

Tea requiem - other things happened in London, that’s another story, but my quest for cream tea did come full circle, in a surprising way. As I was waiting in Heathrow Airport to board my flight home to DC, the customer service desk announced my name. I walked up and they proceeded to upgrade me to FIRST CLASS for FREE. Yes, read that again. Because that’s how I roll. With a cheesy grin on my face, I tested all the various doodads and whatchamacallits and entertainment options that make up the 5% of the plane my lavish seat occupied. Then shortly after take off, the flight attendant brought me…wait for it…CREAM TEA! Warm scones, strawberry jam, clotted cream and a spot of tea.

The End

Happy harpsichord

A Fenton rose by any other name...

Fenton House Garden

Apple Orchid

 

London, there it is

Heath 2

Hampstead Heath

That looks like some heath over there

Oops, it fell down

Take a walk on the wild side

Not Cream Tea

View from Rose Hill

Camden Town

How about the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl pitting unimpressive UCLA (6-7) vs. Illinois (6-6)? Top notch!

Or how about the BBVA Compass Bowl where surly SME (7-5) will clash against powerful Pittsburgh (6-6)? Not impressed?

Surely the badass Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl tilt between fiesty Florida International (8-4) and mighty Marshall (6-6) will make your pulse race with anticipation? Not your cup of beef?

Ok, at least see how you feel about the Belk Bowl (not a typo) that gives Louisville (7-5) a chance to crush N.C. State (7-5)? No? Man, you’re tough to please. Sigh.

There are 35 bowl games ready for your enjoyment. What do you want? 70 universities (out of 120) go toe-to-toe. Are you not entertained?

Maybe you want to see #8 Boise St. (11-1) still smarting from having to play Arizona St. (6-6) in the MAACO Bowl, instead of a top-tier BCS bowl berth? Nah.

Or maybe you want to get a slice of the Little Caesar’s Bowl where Western Michigan (7-5) can punish Purdue (6-6) while enjoying pizza, pizza on the sidelines? Too cheesy?

If you’re still hungry, maybe the Idaho Potato Bowl baked between Ohio (9-4) and Utah St. (7-5) will give you enough carbs to sit through? Pass the ketchup, please.

What if I tuned you in to the Music City Bowl match-up against Mississippi St. (6-6) and Wake Forest (6-6)? Sing it loud, sing it proud!

Or maybe you’d trade a polished turd to peek at the GoDaddy.com Bowl in the titillating tussle between Arkansas St. (10-2) and Northern Illinois (10-3)? Who are these schools you ask? Don’t be coy, you know you want to watch.

Sadly, this year’s slate of bowl games is about as boring as a curling match between Krygyzstan and the Gambia (that is if you can be bothered to unpack this analogy – don’t worry, neither was I).

One thing I will do is watch the Alamo Bowl where Washington (7-5) and Baylor (9-3) will get busy. I will, of course, pull for the Huskies, but the future Heisman Trophy winner (just maybe) is the QB of Baylor – so an added bonus.

The BCS sucks…how about we just get a playoff system already?

LSU vs. Alabama in the BCS Championship? Yawn. We already saw that game. LSU won 9-6 in Tuscaloosa, AL. I hope Alabama wins, so we can have more controversy. A national champion that didn’t even win its own conference? The system is whack!

In this spirit, I proclaim today ‘Universal Leaf Day’! Let the parties start!

Since this is such a special day, let’s celebrate by looking at some leaves.

It’s the 11th day of November (being the 11th month), in the 2011th year after that Jesus guy was born (actually he was probably born around 2 BC or so …so it really should be like 2009). Also, for you numerous Chinese readers, it is the year of the tenderly cooked and elegantly seasoned Rabbit, in the 4709th year since some dynasty or other began.

In other news, today marks the 3-Year Anniversary of this A Random Journey blog. Woo. Or more accurately, it’s a future National holiday. A day to go down in infamy. A day to replace Veteran’s Day.

I hired the crack research team, Kuma Consulting, to do some trending analysis and feed me the stats about this blog I most want to believe. 

Random Stats

1) Total posts: 132

2) Total posts with an audience benefit ratio of +/- 20%: Three

3) Total posts about wieners: Nine (88% of those included the word ’dog’)

4) Total posts posted in the presence of an adult beverage: 103 (48% of those as a direct result of)

5) Total posts about nothing: Zero (the legal department recommended falsifying this stat to avoid being by sued by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld)

6) Love connections made by reading this blog: Data withheld (the legal department asks for your cute interns to call in to arrange for an info swapping meet and greet)

7) Total number of people impacted by this blog: Six (apology letters are already in the mail) 

8 ) Number of random music playlists: Nine

9) Minutes wasted by readers searching for valuable nuggets of content in this blog: Varied results

10) Number of posts featured on ‘Freshly Pressed’ (on the WordPress.com homepage): One

11) Number of @ARandomJourney Twitter tweets: 199

12) Most posts under one category: 49 (Category: Travel)

13) Google ranking when you type in ‘A Random Journey’: #1

Here’s a pie chart to give the appearance of evidence-based data:

Official Pie Chart

In order to say anything useful here (as if), I had to invent a few observations. Just keep that between you and me. I don’t want my Junior Scientist of the Week Award (from 2nd Grade) revoked.

Let’s get to some hard-hitting and earth-shattering observations with a bit of analysis and evidence thrown in at random.

Observation #1: The proportion of women sporting sundresses in July is 1000% greater than in January. Also, so is my attention.

Observation #2: 70% of all people alone on the street stare at and text on their cell phones. The other 30%? Joggers listening to their iPods.

Observation #3: A wiener dog’s primary goal in life is to lick your face. The only difference between individual wieners is how aggressively they pursue this goal.

Observation #4: I have access to infinite information via countless modalities, yet I am dumber than I was 10 years ago. Evidence: I assume, because I can’t remember 10 years ago.

Observation #5: Our children, with their texting and tweeting, will give the keepers of dictionaries a heart attack. The English language will revert to the dark ages of spelling. Evidence: IMHO they r teribl spelrs n r PPL w/o a POV. RBTL. WTF. #typosforever.

Observation #6: Mother Nature was extremely peeved at the East Coast this summer. Evidence: Hurricane Irene, a 5.8 earthquake and multiple 100+ degree days.

Observation #7: Hurricane Irene was more bark than bite. More Charlie Sheen than warlock. More scorned first date than scorned wife. More chihuahua than wiener dog.

Observation #8: People overreact to the slightest things. Evidence: New York City closed down its metro service for the first time in history to avoid getting blown away and flooded by a hurricane. Analysis: Wusses.

Observation #9: Give me an umbrella and I’ll give you a milk carton with a ‘Missing Umbrella’ notice on the side.

Observation #10: If you pay someone a small kindness that goes wrong (like breaking their leg while saving their life), they will still have no problem suing you.

Observation #11: I prefer to talk to people after they’ve had their coffee.

Observation #12: If you typically wear full body paint to a sports game, you probably don’t care what people think of you. Or your father dropped you as a baby. During a game.

Observation #13: People that complain about the weather in the Pacific Northwest, didn’t grow up in the Pacific Northwest.

Observation #14: The default setting for many people these days is as a self-centered, lazy, unmotivated procrastinator. Evidence: No World Peace. People dying of hunger. Animal cruelty. US politicians saying nothing and doing less. Child trafficking. Pollution. Epic amounts of waste (trash and food). Yet we accept these things as normal. Analysis: Do something. Change your setting.

Observation #15: Observation #14 was a bit of a downer.

Observation #16: Puppies are cute. Evidence: Observe a puppy at play.

Observation #17: People that wake up by 5:00 am every morning are old, farmers or crazy. One can be all three.

Observation #18: Most corporate meetings are a colossal waste of time. Evidence: Dilbert.

Observation #19: You are smarter than you look. Evidence: I really hope this is true, because otherwise you need to start worrying.

Observation #20: I didn’t have anything good to blog about. Evidence: This post. Analysis: I’m self-centered, lazy and unmotivated to the point of procrastination.

Obseration #21: People that demand perfection, need to get out in the real world more often.  Evidence: That bumper sticker saying ‘Nobody’s Perfect’. Analysis: I left some tipos hear to realy miess with u perfecktionolists.

Observation #22: I’m directly responsible for wasting 2:20 minutes of your day. Evidence: You are reading this last observation (assuming you didn’t just skip to the end). Analysis: You won’t sue me, because you’re smart.

Every year I look at the crop of new TV shows and pick out a few that I would like to watch. I likely won’t, because I don’t have time for new shows (still trying to catch up on the regular shows I watch…). But here’s to dreaming. Here’s my ode to what could be, should be and may be.

Terra Nova - Dinosaurs! Steven Spielberg! Time travel! T-Rexs! This show has been delayed for some time as it works out its epic scope and monster special effects. There’s a chance it won’t work, but of all the shows on this list, it will be the one that I do actually watch from the beginning. I liked Jurassic Park. I liked Land of the Lost (as a kid…). I liked Avatar. I like science fiction. I am a geek. This is geek gold.

Pan Am - Going for the 1960′s appeal, this follows the lives of Pan American World Airways flight attendants and pilots. Scripts were often taken from true accounts from real flight attendants. Because nothing is stranger than real life.

Person of Interest – J.J. Abrams! Michael Emerson of Lost! Jesus Jim Caviezel! This show looks at what it takes to stop criminals before they commit a crime. Very Minority Report of them.

Prime Suspect - A new detective show (one of millions on air at the moment) with Maria Bello, as a remake of a British show that starred Helen Mirren. Why bother with a tired formula? Because I said so.

Free Agents – Hank Azaria, newly divorced, takes on the whole romance in the workplace shtick. Could be funny. Also a British comedy remake.

Bonus shows to not peek at since time won’t allow: New Girl and Revenge.

peace

(has anyone seen my remote?)

foursquare - This allows you to ‘check-in’ at businesses, restaurants and other places to earn badges and allow friends to see where you’re at. If you check-in enough times you can become ‘mayor’ of a place. It’s set-up as a bit of a competition - for points, mayorships and number of badges you earn. I like the competition aspect, but the primary reasons I like to use this are; a) it will keep an electronic record of places I’ve been (so I don’t have to write them down as I’m wont to do if I ever decide to write about it), b) sometimes you get free stuff for checking in or being mayor, and c) it has a ‘recommendation’ and ‘trending’ feature that shows you the places that are hopping nearby. This is especially useful if you’re visiting a new city or in a neighborhood you’re not familiar with. We’ve found a couple good places in New York using the ‘trending’ feature.

Spotcycle - This shows the number of bicycles and empty docks at each Capital Bikeshare station in the system (for DC and Arlington). It also works for other cities that have bikeshare programs (like London, Melbourne, Toronto and Boston). Since there are so many users in DC now, it is nice to know which stations are full or empty, so you can plan out your riding trip in advance.

Evernote - On the go or in meetings or conferences, this allows you take notes (and add photos, etc.) quickly and easily. What makes this better than the default note taking app? It allows you to sync all your notes and photos for access from all your devices, including your laptop or computer. Take notes for a work meeting on your iPad and pick them up again on your laptop. Edit them, then read them on your iPhone as you’re out and about. With zero effort.

OverDrive - Got library? Now you can check out ebooks from the public library, right on your iPhone/iPad! For free! The selection is not vast as of yet (at least for the DC Public Library system) but how can you beat checking out free virtual books? (Especially those of you too lazy to go to the actual brick and mortar library). It seems you can choose just about any public library system in the USA (it has London, UK; Pierce Country, WA; and DC – good enough for me to make this claim). You do need to have a library card in good standing to check out the ebooks.

RunKeeper - Using GPS, it helps track how fast and far you run, bike, walk and a few other activities. (Someone please explain how you’re supposed to use the swimming option using your iPhone…) It saves your previous activities so you can compare your results. It even sends you congratulatory emails when you break distance and speed records.

Yammer - If you can’t wait to read and respond to all the discussions and knowledge sharing your work colleagues are engaged in, every minute of day, than the Yammer app is a must. No comment will escape your prying eyes with the notifications turned on. You could also grab the Facebook, Twitter and other social networking apps if you so desire.

Flipboard – Read and page through news, your blog feeds and other interesting things (check out the ‘Flickr Interesting’ for some cool daily photos) in a nifty format. Instead of going to multiple sites, read it all from one place.

AppAdvice - Can’t get enough apps? Then you need this app that helps you navigate the sheer volume of options by doing the testing and reviews for you. Need apps for Surviving Tough Economic Times? Read up on their13 lucky recommendations. Want to use your iPad as a TV? See what they have to say. Need apps for a Day at the Beach? There are tons of apps for that. Want to take a nap in your hammock? Well, then put down your device and go outside.

LivingSocial - The daily deals and instant deals are taking over. With Groupon and a truckload of copycats, if you sign-up via email your Inbox is immediately inundated. But rest assured, if you get this app you can access only when the mood strikes. The instant deals allow you to buy a deal for a restaurant or elsewhere, which expires within a limited time. From the daily deals, I bought myself a half-off skydiving adventure – still need to use it!

ESPN ScoreCenter - Need your sports score fix while taking care of business? ESPN’s app gives you an easy way to track the progress of all your favorite teams. Sadly, my teams aren’t making me want to check this very often.

Bonus: Dilbert Mobile – Daily Dilbert comic! Oh yeah!

O Beautiful iPad

iPhone!!

So far estimates are between $7 and $13 billion of damage in the wake of the hurricane. Washington, D.C., consider ourselves lucky. Now get out the brooms.

Moneyball – Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and the inner-workings of baseball.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - I’m interested to see how Hollywood adapts this book after the already brilliant Swedish version set the bar.

War Horse – Steven Spielberg directs this film about World War I. And horses…

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - Like the first Sherlock Holmes movie, the trailer looks great. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law look outstanding. I just hope it’s not quite of a letdown as the first one was.

Come on darling
Put a pretty dress on
We’re gonna go out tonight…’

1. ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’, The Steve Miller Band
2. ‘Stay Young, Go Dancing’, Death Cab For Cutie
3. ‘Come Dance With Me’, Frank Sinatra
4. ‘Let’s Dance’, David Bowie
5. ‘All She Wants To Do is Dance’, Don Henley
6. ‘Dancing Queen’, ABBA
7. ‘Just Dance’, Lady Gaga
8. ‘Dancin’ Fool’, The Guess Who
9. ‘Dance Yourself Clean’, LCD Soundsystem
10. ‘Dance With the Devil’, The Sounds
11. ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin”, The Scissor Sisters
12. ‘Dancing With Myself’, Billy Idol
13. ‘Dancing On My Own’, Robyn
14. ‘Dancing In the Dark’, Bruce Springsteen
15. ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’, King Harvest
16. ‘Dance the Night Away’, Van Halen
17. ‘Flashdance…What a Feeling’, Irene Cara
18. ‘Last Dance’, Donna Summer

‘Together we conquer our planet with DANCE.’

One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I’ll never know. – Groucho Marx

It’s not true I had nothing on. I had the radio on. – Marilyn Monroe

I have enough money to last me the rest of my life unless I buy something. – Jackie Mason

I cannot smell mothballs because it’s so difficult to get their little legs apart. – Steve Martin

First, I purchased a sleek new iPad 2 and have downloaded more apps than there are snowflakes on Mt. Rainer.

Second, I just received my brand new iPhone 4.

Now, all social media and networking possibilities are at my fingertips. I can pump out content like Charlie Sheen pumps out craziness. On location. Live. Every waking second of the day.

I can drop nuggets of truth at the slightest provocation. My wittily crafted missives can clog up your dozens of social networks. Instead of considered and time appropriate content delivered via my laptop, I can overpower your social media feeds with off-the-cuff, stream of consciousness, unrelenting brilliance. My every whim is your new reality. All thanks to Apple and Steve Jobs. A round of applause, please.

How do you benefit?

1) I can check-in and earn badges everywhere I go via Foursquare. Benefit: The cool restaurants and bars will show up on your ‘trending’ searches.

2) I can tweet and retweet until I’m blue in the face. Benefit: You will have access to wisdom beyond your years.

• @ARandomJourney (personal)
• @ProgEffective (for work)

3) I can share the minutia of my day via Facebook. Benefit: Boredom will never be a problem for you.

• JeremyBailey44 (personal)
• Programme Effectiveness (for work)

4) I can write something once and channel it to multiple social media outlets via Hootsuite. Benefit: You can get the same content multiple times – less risk you will overlook it.

5) I can Skype on the go. Benefit: You can chat with me anytime.

6) I can start doing stuff on Google+ (beware it will be brilliant!). Benefit: Access to uncharted content.

7) I can yam away all day and night on Yammer (for work). Benefit: I am the 9th most influential yammerer, so you know what I say is impactful.

8) I can accept invitations from friends and colleagues on LinkedIn. Benefit: You will see I am also professional or something.

9) I can wistfully remember when MySpace mattered. Benefit: You too can be wistful.

10) And I can of course continue to blog until the cows come home right here on WordPress. Benefit: Life-long learning and knowledge of the world.

There are ways you could benefit even more, but let’s save it for the sequel. Now I need to tweet out the contents of my brain.

Except the creme de la creme, Kuma the wiener dog, only won Honorable Mention in the Most Laid Back category. Clearly not enough bribes reached the right pockets or the attack dogs didn’t terrify the right people to vote the right way. Since he’s too laid back to care that much, all acts of vengeance to correct this slight are on hold until further notice.

An analysis of this year’s contest shows that there were three wiener dogs represented. Given the number of wiener dogs that live on the Hill, this remains a mysteriously underwhelming disappointment. I’ve noticed a healthy influx of new wiener dogs in just my neighborhood alone. (New: Beastie, Otto, Moochie, Dodger, Bo. Stalwharts: Kuma, Gage, Jasper, Mr. Big, Olive).

The goal for 2012 is a 100% wiener winner in all categories. Best Photo? Wiener. Top Dog? Wiener. Cutest? Wiener. Funniest? Wiener. Top Cat? Wiener.

See Kuma’s photo spread:

Most Laid Back Category: Honorable Mention

Cutest Category: Entrant

Woof.

The bigger the summer vacation the harder the fall. – Unknown author

Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. – Russel Baker

The weather is here, I wish you were beautiful. – Jimmy Buffett

Summer is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. - John Ruskin

This collection comes from Thailand, home of one of my favorite cuisines. I recently spent a couple weeks there and happened to find my camera in my pocket a few times. Imagine that. Let’s start off with a cascade of chocolate.

Flowing chocolate in the hotel lobby

Good old Pad Sa Ew

Something to combat the heat

A boat full of bananas

Fish balls on a stick

Duck curry

One evening I followed some ‘foodies’ to Sirocco to attempt their ridiculously priced Chef’s Tasting Menu. Sirocco perches high over Bangkok, with a mighty view from the 64th floor of the State Tower. Featured in the movie, The Hangover Part II, it has a stunning panorama of every inch of the city. For some perspective, a normal beer costs $10 and a typical glass of wine costs $15. If you are curious to read the full descriptions of the tasting menu, go here. Otherwise, have a gander at what silly money gets you.

Green and White Asparagus Velouté

Scottish Salmon Crudo and Tartare

Let's close in on the crudo

Pan Seared Soulard Foie Gras

Cleanse your pallette

Roasted USDA Prime Beef Tenderloin

Yogurt Mousse Cake

Now that you’re warmed up, here’s a random assortment of other foods I’ve consumed recently.

Oh my, a churro with melted chocolate in Costa Rica

Feast of crabs in Delaware

What's a Taco Toss?

Tossed tacos in Delaware

Big ol' mess of nachos at Nationals Park

Blue Smoke BBQ at Nationals Park

Burp.

Chiang Mai Triathlon Course

• Stage 1: 5K – Elephant (Course: Maetaman Elephant Camp/local village)
• Stage 2: 10K – Mountain bike (Course: Muddy, hilly road)
• Stage 3: 10K – Whitewater rafting (Course: III/IV Class Mae Tang River)
• Total distance: 25K
• Completion time: 4:20 hours

Maetaman Elephant Camp

The staging area

Banana station #1

A crooked elephant head whacker

Banana station #3

The jockey and his pony

Get your fresh bananas and sugarcane stalks here!

20 baht or die

Awwwww!

Nap time

Choose your weapon

Pit stop

Pit crew

Only 15 more hills to go

The last leg begins (notice the white shirt)

The water is getting rough

No turning back

Victory!

Not white shirts

The End

The flight of the Cessna set out from Thun Field Airport (Pierce County, WA), flew over the rooftops of our family’s houses, buzzed motorboats on Lake Tapps, flitted by Northwest Trek, invaded the airspace of McChord Air Force Base, ventured over the Puget Sound, escaped the gun sights of the McNeil Island prison, jetted past the Narrows Bridge and had a peek at the top of the Tacoma Dome, all before crash landing on the Lost island.*

Let’s relive the action together…

Too many misters, not enough sisters at Thun Field

Planes of the world

A wing and a mountain

Propeller? Check

Rudder? Check

No banana in the tailpipe? Check

Flight Crew? Check. Pilot (left) and Stewardess (right)

Gauges and yokes? Check

The most beautiful gauge in the plane (depending on the plane)

Whole plane? Check

It's business time

My parent's 'hood

Lake Tapps

Lake Tapps

Somewhere near Enunclaw

Up high, like 2500 feet

Tacoma Narrows airfield and the Puget Sound

Tacoma Dome, I-5 and beautiful parking lots

A smooth landing at Thun Field? Yes!

* The crash landing on the Lost island may or may not have been a figment of the author’s imagination. Much like the finale of Lost, this will remain a mystery.