Egypt 6

R.I.P. Celebrities

2012-02-13T11:37:00.002-05:00

Long time, guys! I'm just now emerging from the seclusion of writing my final project--nice to have a break from the cycle of writing and procrastination.

I'm not normally one who gets all weepy about celebrity deaths, but for some reason I was particularly struck by Whitney Houston's death this weekend. I can't say I was surprised, but I guess I had imagined that her life would be much like Liz Taylor's--she would live hard and crazy, but would be with us for a long time yet. Watching the video below (and the Grammys last night) just made me remember how much I loved her songs as a kid. She missed out on half her life (dead at 48!) and we missed out on many more years of her performances. (If there is any doubt, I submit Tony Bennett and Johnny Cash a exhibits A and B of singers entertaining us well into their old age.)

So, my question for you all: What are the ingredients that cause us to feel the loss of a public figure in a personal way? And was there ever a celebrity (sports, entertainment, or otherwise) whose passing hit you particularly hard?

Whitney Houston on the death of Michael Jackson by RichJuz

You Must Remember This

2011-06-04T11:20:00.002-04:00

This is a bit of a dated issue, but it struck me as interesting. When Osama bin Laden was killed last month, journalists were interviewing all kinds of people for reactions, and it seemed like many twentysomethings felt more emotional about the event than people our age. When it happened I was surprised and relieved, but I knew his death wouldn’t mean the end of the war—it had a strange anti-climactic feeling to it.

What I kept hearing and reading was that people who were kids or teens when 9/11 happened really had their worldview shaped by that event. It seemed like 9/11 was a dividing line between their childhood years and the intrusion of a harsher world. We were 21 and already out of college, so I feel like maybe the impact was different for us.

Then I started to think about the 90s, when we grew up, and what the seminal events were that changed the way I thought about the world. Maybe this is weird to admit, but what I remember most wasn’t the fall of the Berlin Wall or the collapse of the Soviet Union or even the Gulf War, but the televised show trials. I remember people racing home to watch the O.J. Simpson trial, and how the bookstore I worked at sold paperback copies of the Starr Report. Hilariously, I think I also remember the impeachment trials because we had our own mini version at Goucher (when they tried to impeach Ridg Mills from student government). Ah, good times!

I’m curious to know how you guys (and your younger friends) reacted to bin Laden’s death. And what were the big national or world events that made a difference when you were young?

Suckers for Zuckerberg

2011-02-16T21:10:00.003-05:00

I promise to wax philosophical about weightier matters soon, but until then I must ask:
Can you guys tell me what is so great about The Social Network? I feel like I have had the following conversation about 5 or 6 times already:

Unsolicited Advice Giver: Have you seen The Social Network?
Me: Nope.
UAG: It's supposed to be really good.
Me: Yeah, I don't have any desire to see that.
UAG: Oh no?
Me: It sounds like some privileged white guys making money and then behaving badly. I mean, I can see that anywhere, right?

The other thing people say is, "Aren't you interested in Facebook?" Hey, I like a good story about a plucky Internet start-up as much as the next gal, but is there something I'm missing here? Socially awkward nerd + grand vision + started in a garage/dorm room = success and mild megalomania. I mean, I remember liking that idea when it was a TV movie about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

I guess I'm baffled that there are so many panties in a wad over this movie. What do you think? Should I suck it up and go see it?

P.S. Don't even get me started on the Black Swan/Natalie Portman issue ...

Depressing movies

2010-12-23T10:58:00.004-05:00

This isn't exactly topical, but I was listening to the archives of Joe Rogan's podcast and they were talking about it. A film came out in November of 2009 called "Precious." In this movie, a morbidly obese illiterate 16-year old girl has two children that were the result of repeated rapes by her father. Later in the movie, she finds out he also gave her AIDS. Oh, and she was also sexually molested by her mother. And... it won tons of awards. WHAT. THE. FUCK. Who wants to watch this movie??

Now, apparently the real heart of the movie is about the girl meeting a support group, and trying to put her life back together. I'm sure it is very inspiring or some shit. But I reiterate: WHAT. THE. FUCK. Who wants to watch this movie??

On the aforementioned podcast, they were talking about this movie, and how it seems like really depressing movies are always the ones that win awards. Why is that? Why does society reward depressing movies, but not fun movies? Why is it that a comedy or action film will rarely if ever win "best picture," but the Incest Rape Spectacular is a shoe-in for every award under the sun?

(Please note that I don't actually care about what films, actors, etc. win awards. Doesn't interest me in the least. I am just questioning the process by which these awards are given out, and what criteria are being used. I also admit to not being a film buff, so I welcome any disagreements.)

The Death of the Blog?

2010-12-22T10:22:00.004-05:00

Okay, so let me start by saying that the title of this post is a little strange because I just started a new blog (The Back Catalog) about a week ago. So obviously I don't actually think that the blog concept is dead.

However. Let me take you back to earlier today. Earlier today, I saw AJ's post and thought to myself, I should post on Egypt 6 again. Bring it back to life. But then I realized something. I do "blog" all the time. It's called Twitter. All my random musings about life and updates on how my life is going appear in small sub-140-character status updates. And for longer versions, people often use Facebook to describe in detail what's going on or what opinions they have. So I just feel like the average person has a lot less use for a blog (or a personal home page, for that matter), in the current world of "social networking."

However, I think there is still room for blogs with specialized focus. For example, my new blog is a music review site; and there is no good way I could accomplish that by using Facebook or Twitter. I just think that the day of the personal blog may have passed us by.

The Importance of Being Googled

2010-12-21T22:14:00.002-05:00

So I'm talking with my coworkers the other day about the student internship program that we all have a hand in managing, and we begin to discuss one of the assignments where students take stock of their "internet presence." Students have to look at their social networking profiles, online resumes, and even their email address to determine what a potential employer might find when searching for them online. We ask the students to fill out a brief form and then discuss what changes they might make to improve or "fix" their internet presence.

I mentioned that I always respond to this assignment by briefly googling each student and commenting on what I find. Some examples of my previous comments:

"As far as your internet presence goes, I like that you are taking precautionary measures like blocking your pictures on Facebook. While I think your Facebook profile picture is especially adorable, you might want to consider putting up a picture where your bra isn't peeking out. I know that may seem like a minor issue, but you want potential employers to be thinking about your achievements, not nitpicking little details in your wardrobe."

"I'm glad the self-audit made you consider making some changes to your Facebook profile, although my searches turned up nothing but your accolades and group memberships. That paints an impressive picture!"

The strange part (for me) was that one of my co-workers replied by saying that she would never "google" her students without asking for their permission first. I replied by saying that the point of the exercise was to help students realize that anyone could search for information about them at any time. My other coworker suggested that by pointing out objectionable material that students had failed to mention, we would be, in essence, accusing them of lying. I argued that they might not have a good sense of how certain photos or information might portray them, and that we do them a disservice by not going over this information with the eyes of someone older and more experienced. Still, the first co-worker was firm: she felt that googling someone without their knowledge was an intrusion.

Eventually it became clear that we had irreconcilable differences of opinion and I moved the discussion along to other topics, but my co-worker's viewpoint just flat out baffled me. I liken it to someone putting up a billboard and then you have to ask that person's permission before you go look at the billboard.

My question to you guys: Is there any validity to her argument? To me it seems completely illogical, but perhaps I am missing something. And do you think there are many people who hold similar opinions? Trying to see the other side of this thing.

P.S. Also, I think we should have a post about the recently established "The Back Catalog" blog. Putting it in my RSS feed as we speak!

Kids These Days

2010-09-24T18:33:00.001-04:00

Hmmm, I’m sensing a theme here, what with this coming on the heels of Keith’s mall post back in August …

So I’m wrangling a cohort of about 16 undergraduates who are doing internships during their final semester at UMD. Of the 16, 13 are going on to grad school. Of those, 3 are going on to pharmacy school. Most know they want career they want after their academic time is over.

I’m impressed with these kids, but sometimes my inner monologue wells up and says, “WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE? I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING AT YOUR AGE! WHAT THE HECK CHANGED IN THE LAST TEN YEARS TO MAKE KIDS THIS WAY?”

I admit that my group this semester may be an anomaly. But really, I had some basic assumptions about teenage and college years (times of aimless exploration!) that may need to be rewritten. Are these kids really any different from us? And if so, what forces were at work to make that happen?

Or maybe ... it's just me. *Sigh*

The Mall Generation...

2010-08-15T23:35:00.002-04:00

Welcome back to Egypt6...

When we last left our caped crusaders over one year ago, we were periodically blogging about random topics and having some mildly spirited conversation, while no one on the Internet paid attention. For old time's sake, here is a new topic to ponder...

I was at the mall yesterday with Cat having a bite to eat before our movie and I couldn't help but notice that the place was overrun with teenagers. Now, teenagers at a mall is no big thing today, but when I was growing up, no one hung out at the mall. I distinctly remember the King's Plaza Mall in Brooklyn, NY being a scary, filthy place that we only went to when we were desperate for some item we could not by closer to home. Later on I do remember the nice, clean Staten Island Mall becoming a new place to go, but again, I have no recollection of anyone my age actually hanging out there.

This led me to ask the question, "When did you have to be born to think that hanging out at the mall was just something normal?" Cat contends that it may have to do with where you grew up. She did not live near a mall, so it was never something she thought about. Having lived in the city myself, I cannot speak for everyone, since NY did not easily give up its small business mentality, which I think factors in the discussion.

Nevertheless, I think this is still a generational question. According to sources, we (being the authors of this blog), were born at the end of of generation X, which was supposed to have ended between 1979 and 1982. I have always contended that this was a transitional era, which explains why for example, it is considered acceptable by many when someone in our age bracket is not technologically literate. In this case, the thinking was that you needed to have exposure to a computer to learn how to use one. In the same way, you would actually need to have malls to want to hang out in them...

So, bringing this back to the original question, at what point did teenagers start hanging out in malls? I think this didn't really start until the mid 1990's, which would place the birth date for this phenomenon circa 1983-1984. I am sure there are more enlightened milestones people use to judge generations; The Kennedy Assignation, Reagan getting shot, the Challenger Explosion, the first or second world trade center bombing, but alas, I will leave you with something far more superficial...

What do you think?

Top Chef, Now With Chest Tattoos

2009-08-13T10:35:00.004-04:00

I was watching the initial interviews for the contestants on the upcoming season of Top Chef, and I noticed that two of the women had significant tattoos on their chests. (See ‘em here and here). Rich played a little devil’s advocate with me on this topic, and I wanted to see what you guys thought.

I argued that possibly these women got inked up in their younger days and, even though they now have mainstream priorities for professional success, the tats are still an important part of their self-image. (Hence the refusal to cover them up.) But, last night, Keith (the authoritative expert on such things) tweeted that “tattoos, it seems, are the earrings of today.” Maybe there’s no need to cover up tats anymore! Maybe there is no stigma, only social cache.

On the other hand, maybe it’s just that the culinary arts are a field where it pays to be “edgy.” Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential certainly made restaurant kitchens sound like a pirate ship. Or maybe chefs are like editors – their appearance doesn’t matter because they work behind the scenes.

I know you guys are both connoisseurs of the television arts, if not Top Chef in particular, and have probably seen your share of celebrity/television chefs (not to mention tattoos!). What do you think? Tattoos for All? Tattoos for Chefs? (Ha, “tattoos for chefs” totally sounds like a hot new charity.)

P.S. I recently saw my first episode of Iron Chef. No one told me it was like American Gladiators with ovens!

Late to the Game

2009-06-25T12:00:00.002-04:00

So yesterday and today I ran the company’s twitter feed. It basically involves choosing recent articles that we think our Twitter followers might be interested in, and then posting a teaser line with a shortened link to the article. The two guys who usually do it are really good, but you can view my meager attempts at http://www.twitter.com/themotleyfool. Everything before June 24 is their handiwork :^)

I was really nervous the first day about not being clever enough or possibly tweeting something inappropriate. But I’d always been afraid of being creative on a deadline, so this was a nice (albeit not-too-stressful) challenge.

This is one of a few recent events that’s changed my mind about Twitter. I realize now that Twitter is just a tool, and that all the annoying narcissism it inspires doesn’t negate the valuable uses. I was moved by all the on-the-ground twittering from Iran in these past weeks, but a more personal use for twitter occurred when my friend got hit by a car. He was able to tweet from the accident and while in the hospital to give everyone updates on his hospital room #, the time of his surgery, how he was feeling, etc.

This epiphany of mine is kind of a no-brainer, I admit. But as I get older I find myself less enamored with new technology unless it enriches my daily life in some obvious, immediate, user-friendly way. The result is that I wait until things have reached the mainstream. I will never again be an early adopter! Is that sad? Or just prudent?

Are you guys the same way in respect to embracing new technologies?

Pizza Quest

2009-06-02T10:26:00.005-04:00

This article made me think of Keith & V.'s on-again off-again quest for terrific pizzas. Any "best of" list is subjective, of course, but I was dismayed that there was no New Jersey pizza, and hoping against hope that he might recommend some great DC/MD/VA pizza (an elusive beast that may or may not exist).

Keith, do you guys still go on the occasional hunt for good pies? And Joe, have you found any worthwhile pizza places in Maryland?

Kindle Me This

2009-05-13T10:59:00.004-04:00

Had a question to put to you guys -- especially since one of you has a Kindle and is no doubt now part of a secret Masonic society of Kindle owners.*

Read a great NYT article about how the Kindle eliminates the possibility that you can see what someone is reading or vice versa. But I take issue with one item:

“It’s really expensive,” she said of the Kindle 2, which Amazon sells for $359. “If you’re going to pay that, you’re giving a statement to the world that you like to read — and you’re probably not using it to read a mass market paperback.”

First off, the first person I met with a Kindle was a total gadget hound; I can see a lot of people getting it just because it's the new new technology.

Second, why wouldn't you use it to read mass-market paperbacks? This reeks of snobbery. Some of the more voracious readers I know are readers of paperback mysteries and genre fiction. And really, what's more likely to be available on Kindle -- the collected works of Stephen King or the new translation of *insert obscure foreign writer here*?

Is buying a Kindle really a proclamation that you are a Reader who enjoys mass quantities of Literature on Serious Subjects? Do set me straight on this one.

*Speaking of Masons, I must admit I am kind of excited for the new Angels and Demons movie. But can it compare to National Treasure?

Goodbye Geocities!

2009-04-23T14:45:00.002-04:00

I just put up a link to my blog about the end of Geocities. Circa 1997, Geocities was one of the greatest places on the web. It certainly lasted longer than my xoom.com account!

Tony "Jesus"

2009-04-22T23:08:00.002-04:00

Just a note... If you notice the rotating pictures that come up each time you go to Egypt6, you may have seen the picture of a bearded guy with no shirt. That's a good friend of my family, Tony, circa 1974.

Tony is actually going in for what will hopefully be minor surgery soon, so please keep him in your thoughts.

Thanks,

Joe

More Unsung Shows

2009-04-09T14:05:00.005-04:00

Picking up on the theme of unsung shows, here are some that come to mind...

Better Off Ted- This show is not necessarily unsung, but rather it is very new and needs more attention. The best way to describe the show would be to think The Office meets Office Space. The show focuses around the title character, Ted, who is in charge of Research and Development for a mammoth, multifaceted corporation, Veridian Dynamics. Their slogan, "We Do That!" as in... Science... We do that! Technology... We do that!

In this show, our title character, who serves as narrator through a series of monologues directly to the audience, explains how he navigates the whims of his boss, played by Portia DeRossi, as well as those of her corporate overlords. In the first episode, Ted is asked to cryogenically freeze one of his employees because, "We just want to see if it can be done." Unlike Ron Livingstone's character in Office Space and Steve Carrell's in the Office, Ted seems to have a golden touch in his office and earnestly tries to to make his employees, boss as well as the audience happy all at the same time.

Standoff- Now this is definitely is an unsung show from a couple of years back. Starring the aforementioned Ron Livingstone and Rosemarie Dewitt, who has been featured on Mad Men, as well as the movie Rachel Getting married. The premise of this show is "If 24 were a love story." If only the Fox network knew how to market this, people may have watched...

Nevertheless, the show is about two hostage negotiators who are partners both on the job and after hours (Livingstone and Dewitt). Each week, they take on another fast pace crisis, which unlike 24, wraps itself up within an hour. The only overarching themes have to do with their relationship. Again, this show only lasted 19 episodes and was not granted a finale, but the action was good and the chemistry was always fun to watch.

Well, that's all I have for now... I should spend some time at some point review my other list favorites, Jericho, Nowhere Man, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (and the list goes on...)

Unsung and Unseen

2009-04-07T16:39:00.001-04:00

Joe and I spent most of the car ride to Jersey discussing television, and last night I saw my first episode of one of the shows he recommended, Boston Legal. Blessedly, it completely lived up to my expectations! I wanted to take everything James Spader said and frame it. And it was good to see Shatner at his bloated best – somehow managing to mix gravitas with outrageousness.

Anyway, I wanted to elicit a few more sterling suggestions for underappreciated TV shows that I should catch up with. I’ll start off with a few of my own.

Boomtown – another show tragically cancelled after just a season and a half. It’s a police procedural set in L.A., but the gimmick is that it shows you one case from several different perspectives. So you don’t get the whole story until you see it from the point of view of the D.A., detectives, beat cops, EMT, etc. More cinematic than your average Law & Order spinoff.

Life – cop goes to jail for a crime he didn’t commit. Twelve years later he gets exonerated and is given a multimillion-dollar settlement. He rejoins the police force that put him away, in part because he wants to go back to being a cop, but also because he wants to find out who framed him. Best part: While in jail, he studied up on zen philosophy, which he now spouts while working cases. His terse, I’ve-got-a-dark-secret female partner treats him like the weird little brother she’s stuck babysitting. And the fact that he’s the weird cop (instead of tough-as-nails or world-weary) is refreshing. Also, the soundtrack is definitely worth downloading.

Burn Notice – Remember before all those Pierce Brosnan-era Bond movies, when spies were fun? So this spy gets mysteriously blacklisted. While he’s trying to figure out who blacklisted (burned) him, he makes money by helping people who’ve somehow gotten on the wrong side of gun-runners/kidnappers/drug dealers/etc. Each ep includes handy spy-on-a-budget instructions on how to, say, make a surveillance device out of a cell phone, or where to shoot the car behind you during a car chase. Best part: It never takes itself too seriously.

Joe, I know you mentioned Jericho and Nowhere Man. (See, I was listening!) Any others to recommend … in the comment box or perhaps a separate post?

Insert "ShamWow" Joke Here.

2009-03-30T12:28:00.006-04:00

I had talked to Joe about possibly putting up a post that outlined the differences between the myriad As-Seen-on-TV product hosts. I kept getting the Slap Chop/ShamWow guy confused with the Kaboom! guy, for instance. (Which, in hindsight, makes no sense.) But then Mr. ShamWow got arrested, ensuring that I would forever remember him.

Anti-Facebook Apology

2009-03-24T11:06:00.003-04:00

I have often been asked why I’m not on Facebook. The reasons are many, but below are a few Pro-Facebook arguments, my issues with Facebook, and why my anti-Facebook resolve was ultimately broken.

Argument: You can play Scrabulous (or whatever the non-licensed version is now).
Rebuttal: A Scrabble game where you can look up words and take a day to make your move is for THE WEAK.

Argument: You can look up all your old friends that you’ve lost touch with.
Rebuttal: I did that on Friendster, and then I never talked to any of those people. NEXT.

Problem #1: It’s not ubiquitous enough. Until everyone and their grandma is on Facebook, it’s not a reliable means of communication. When people I know send out a Facebook invite, they also end up sending out an email to all their friends that aren’t on Facebook. In that case, why not just Evite? Last week, The Richest Man’s friends sent out a Facebook invite Saturday morning to do something Saturday evening. He didn’t check it and thus missed out on an event he would’ve enjoyed. His reaction: “Why didn’t they just call or text me?” Which leads me to my next point …

Problem #2: It’s impersonal. The Richest Man’s friend’s put their “Hey, let’s hang out” request on Facebook so that all 57 of their “friends” would see it. But that’s the equivalent of a mass email. There’s a time and a place for mass emails, but I know I always prefer a personal request to hang out with a small group of friends. Makes you feel less like a friend-minion in the friend-empire. (Also, half the people I know who say they’re on Facebook say they don’t use it; they just feel obligated to be on because everyone else is. LAME.)

Problem #3: My cluttered life. This is more of a personal problem, really, but sometimes too much media leaves me jittery and numbed, unable to focus on anything that cannot be passively consumed in 20 seconds. Facebook just seems like one more website to check, and why bother when most of my friends have flickr accounts/twitter/blogs/gchat statuses?

The Internet straw that broke my back: I always said that I would join when my lack of Facebook caused me to miss out on things. Via Facebook, my friend Becky invited everyone to meet her for drinks on her day off. I missed out on drinking, folks. This is now serious.

Also, Vicky tells me that there is some word game on Facebook where Keith dominates, and I am pretty sure there is no way he can be better than me. Or more modest. I need to start establishing my word supremacy.

Was I foolish to hold out so long? Can I now be welcomed into the cult of Facebook with no grudges held?

Either way, I welcome my new social-networking overlords!

Musical inspiration

2009-03-23T00:03:00.003-04:00

As some of you are no doubt aware, I made it a sort of new year's resolution this year to write an album (or at least an EP) worth of songs, and arrange/record/mix an album. Mostly just to prove myself that I could actually see a project like that through from start to finish.

However, recently I've hit a creative wall. I'm two songs in, and it's March already, and inspiration isn't exactly flowing like an avalanche coming down the mountain.

So here's where I ask for help from the Egypt 6 readership. Any song ideas? I'll entertain any ideas, serious or otherwise. My last two song topics/inspirations were 1) exploring Weird NJ sites as a teenager, and 2) H.G. Wells' The Time Machine. So it's not like I'm going for some sort of common theme here. Thanks in advance!

My TV Has Had It!

2009-03-22T22:00:00.003-04:00

I thought I would share the post I put up today illustrating what went wrong with my old TV. (Click Title)

AJ should join Facebook.

2009-03-22T02:31:00.002-04:00

The reason is because she needs to get sucked in and enjoy the loss of free time that I currently experience. This is only my opinion, but it's a good one.

Ireland

2009-03-18T12:18:00.000-04:00

Ireland is a great country for creating delicious ales and stouts for all of us to enjoy.

That is all.

Grocery Eats

2009-02-11T23:40:00.002-05:00

http://groceryeats.com/

I have been following this site for a while, not sure why it took me this long to post something on E6. Grocery Eats is a site basically devoted to eating insane foods. Case in point, the "Big Mac Chicken," in which the main poster, "Grocery," takes the buns off a Big Mac and replaces them with McChicken patties and proceeds to creatively describe the eating process. An honorable mention also goes out to poster "SergDun" who brings profanity to creative new levels. This blog doesn't update regularly, but when it does it's usually a gem.

Some other true classics:
South Philly Love Child
Grilled Beaver
General Tso's Philly Cheesesteak

Sports, real and fake

2009-02-03T09:56:00.001-05:00

So this weekend was the Superbowl, but I only semi gave a shit about that. Rather, the true focus of my sports entertainment watching weekend was ordering the Royal Rumble replay on Saturday night with the one and only Big John. Here's how it went down.

Jack Swagger(c) def. Matt Hardy, ECW Championship
This match was decent; somewhat surprising finish where Swagger won cleanly with his finisher, despite being a heel. I honestly don't remember anything specific about the match, but I remember being happy with it.

Melina def. Beth Phoenix(c), Women's Championship
I'm not usually into women's matches; I think part of it is that the women don't have the same weight behind their moves as the men do. Also for the most part they're hired for hotness, not wrestling ability. However, both women brought their "A" game and this was a solid match. Highlight of the match was Beth putting Melina in a leglock and then KICKING HER IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD WITH HER OWN FOOT. Fucking sweet.

John Cena(c) def. John "Bradshaw" Layfield, World Championship (RAW Brand)
The story behind this match was that Shawn Michaels had been hired by JBL to ensure a win tonight; Michaels accepted because he's bankrupt and needs to put his children through college. Stupid angle to use Michaels for, as he was the main draw for the company for years and years, but whatever. The match was okay, I couldn't care less about either guy so it made it sort of less exciting. The end of the match saw the referee get knocked out, Michaels superkick JBL then Cena, then lay JBL over Cena and walk out of the ring. Of course, by the time the ref woke up, Cena broke out of the pin, and went on to win. Bleh.

Edge def. Jeff Hardy(c), No-Disqualification Match, WWE Championship (SMACKDOWN Brand)
The story here was that someone had been attacking Jeff Hardy for months: beating him up in an alley, running his car off the road, rigging his entrance pyro to go off in his face, etc. Hardy believed it was Edge, but Edge claimed innocence. The match was actually really good, and the finish saw Jeff's brother Matt come to the ring, ostensibly to help him, but in the end waffled him with a chair to enable Edge to take the title (and possibly identify Matt as the attacker, though that's still not been said).

Randy Orton wins Royal Rumble match (winner receives guaranteed title match at Wrestlemania)
If you've watched any wrestling in the last 30 years or something, you know what the Rumble match entails: 30 wrestlers compete; two start, with an additional wrestler entering every 90 seconds; the only way to be eliminated is to be thrown over the top rope to the outside, with both feet touching the floor. There are always surprise entrants; this year they were Rob Van Dam and the legendary (and old) "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. The story of the match became Orton and his two henchmen, Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes, dominating the match. In the end, Triple H eliminated Dibiase and Rhodes, and immediately thereafter was eliminated by Orton. Some highlights included The Undertaker entering, and everyone in the ring stopping to stare in horror; and Rey Mysterio avoiding elimination by walking along the backs of already-eliminated wrestlers outside the ring.

Overall, it was a good pay-per-view. A bunch of decent quality wrestling and a really fun Rumble match. I don't follow wrestling quite as religiously as I have at some points in the past, and so it's always nice when a show can stand to some extent on its own in terms of in-ring action, regardless of storylines going in.

As for the real sports I watched this weekend, it's always nice to have a Superbowl that's competitive; there's so much hype about it, everyone has big parties, and if the game sucks it's extra shitty as a result. So it was nice to see Arizona not going down without a fight, regardless of whether it actually mattered in the end. Not quite as exciting as last year's game, but what can you do.

Watchmen

2008-11-13T08:20:00.003-05:00

The comic book geek world has been a-flutter with the news that a movie has been made based on DC Comics' Watchmen graphic novel (written by Alan Moore). I looked into the book a bit more, and it seemed like hyperbole was running rampant about how good this book is, how it transcends the comic genre, etc. I decided to give it a shot because well what else did I have to do.

What I found was that it is in fact very good, and it does in fact transcend the comic genre. (At least the traditional comic genre; I am aware that there are comics that are quite substantial and meant for adults, but I would say most people are familiar with the traditional superhero books.) While it is about superheroes, even they are dealt with in a realistic manner. The story and storytelling style are most certainly adult oriented, but not in the "porn" sense; rather, in the sense that not only would much of the content be frightening or disturbing to children, but the story in general would be lost on a young audience.

I'm not going to get too into the plot, since a plot summary won't really get into the complexity of the storytelling; however, here's a brief synopsis. Many years after the government forces superheroes to stop their superhero-ing (I guess now we know where The Incredibles got the idea from), former masked avengers start being murdered left and right; one of the former heroes, who many believe has gone insane, is implicated. Which forces the ones left alive to revisit their crime-fighting past, and the skeletons that that digs up; while in the meantime the fate of the world may be at stake.

Like the show Heroes, Watchmen tries to explore what superheroes would really be like; however, the idea is dealt with very differently in each. Heroes deals with people who have super powers, and posits that they would for the most part shun their powers except in extreme circumstances. Whereas Watchmen deals with people without powers who, inspired by comic book heroes, sought to become masked crime-fighters; Moore suggests that there is more than a little bit of psychosis involved in deciding to put on spandex and beat people up. This concept leads to much of what makes the story great, the psychological angst and troubled relationships among the former heroes.

Anyway that's all I got. Bottom line, Watchmen, highly recommended.

New guitar!

2008-11-03T22:44:00.002-05:00

Okay, so this won't matter to anyone else but me :) but I bought a new guitar!

Keith's new guitar

Okay, back to watching RAW.

The Rock interviews

2008-10-29T00:03:00.003-04:00

Check out some hilarious wrestling promos from everyone's favorite, The Rock.

Coheed: Neverender Night Two!!

2008-10-27T23:30:00.003-04:00

Due to popular demand (no kidding!), I bring you my review of Neverender Night Two, in which Coheed and Cambria performed their album "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3" in its entirety! Definitely a superior show overall. I'd say part of that is simply the fact that Vicky and I like this album better than the first one, but I think it goes beyond that. First, it seemed like the band was a bit loosened up after the first show and it came out in the performance. Second, the material was more epic in scope, allowing for what I (and, it seemed, the other fans in attendance) felt was a more cathartic musical experience. In particular, the 10-minute closing track, "2113," was exhilarating to experience, as they'd never performed it live and it really solidified the epic feel of the event. This album also contained their biggest hit single, "A Favor House Atlantic," which became the biggest sing-along of the night. Third, the lack of an opening band actually worked out better; instead, bassist Michael Todd spoke for about a half hour to the crowd about the history of Coheed and even shared some humorous stories from the road and his own love life. It wouldn't have worked for an average concert, but these were by and large die-hard fans of the band, and the crowd ate up every word.

By the time the encore ("Gravemakers and Gunslingers" and "The Suffering") ended, the crowd was spent but happy. And ready for two more nights! Sadly, I would not be participating in those two nights, but hopefully they will release all the shows on DVD as suggested by the cameras present at both shows. Anyway... that's about it. Next up, Every Time I Die at the not-as-luxurious venue known as School of Rock East in Hackensack, NJ.

Coheed: Neverender Night One!!

2008-10-22T23:29:00.004-04:00

Some background. Emo/metal/progressive rock powerhouse Coheed and Cambria created a plan to play all four of their albums, in four consecutive days in New York City; one album per day. Tonight Vicky and I went to see night one, in which they played their first album, "The Second Stage Turbine Blade," in its entirety. They even played an encore of songs off other albums ("In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth," "Welcome Home," and "No World for Tomorrow").

I was really looking forward to tonight's show for a few reasons. One, I had only seen them once on tour for this album (I have seen them at least twice in support of each other album), and it was only a 30-minute set on the Warped Tour. So it was cool to hear songs I'd never heard played live from my favorite band. But second, because of the nature of the shows, I knew it would be something that really attracted the hardcore. People were making plans on message boards to travel from far and wide to these shows; this was going to be quite an event.

I won't talk about the set list, since they played exactly the songs off the album in order. However, I will say there were a couple mishaps. It seemed like new drummer Chris Pennie fucked up the intro to "Time Consumer"... though the band as a whole could have just decided to change it up. Also, this album has a lot of double-tracked vocals, and so they had a keyboard player who tried to sing those parts... unfortunately singer Claudio Sanchez has a crazy voice and very high range, and this backup singer didn't seem up to the task.

But other than that, it was a great show. The band threw in some crazy added solos here and there, which the fans voraciously ate up, but overall kept things mostly by-the-book in terms of replicating the album. Personal highlights for me were "Time Consumer" and "33," two songs I love but had never heard live... but overall the whole thing was just great.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's installment, "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth!"

Fun Blog!

2008-10-13T12:03:00.003-04:00

No, not Egypt 6! Check on this blog that is written by a couple of elderly ladies. They have some funny views on the election:

Here is the link and the recent posts listed below:
http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/

Recent Posts
The Straight Talk Express Just Drove Off That Bridge to Nowhere
BUSH-shit!
Maverick my ass!
Yep. I called her a bitch and I am not taking it back.
Sarah Palin is a Bitch… there I said it.

October concert preview!

2008-10-04T01:37:00.003-04:00

October 2008 may go down as the most concert-centric month in my life. Here's a breakdown:

October 13: Rise Against/Alkaline Trio/Thrice/Gaslight Anthem
Rise Against
Alkaline Trio
Thrice
I don't know who the Gaslight Anthem is, but honestly we're most likely going to miss their set so it's probably for the best. However, every other one of those bands is going to be fucking awesome. Thrice are a band where I loved their first two albums, but didn't really get into the two after that. No matter; I've seen them play live before, and they put on a good show. Alkaline Trio is a band I've been a fan of since my college days; they've changed a bunch since then, dropping their punk style for a more mellow pop-rock style, but the songwriting quality has stayed high. Looking forward to that one. Rise Against... well, I've covered them in another post. Suffice to say, I'm looking forward to this show.

October 22-23: Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria
Coheed are playing 4 nights in a row in NYC, each show is going to be one of their albums played in its entirety. Their first two albums are fucking amazing, so of course I'm checking out those two shows. Their most recent album is probably the best of all, but I saw them twice on that tour so I didn't feel the need to shell out to hear the same songs again. Anyway, this is going to be AWESOME.

October 28: CKY
CKY
CKY are best known as "the band that dude from Jackass's brother is in," but to the wise they are an awesome Stoner Rock band. Vicky is big into them, so we are going to check this one out. I'm definitely a CKY (stands for "Camp Kill Yourself") fan, so this should cap off an awesome concert month.

Honorary mention!
November 21: Every Time I Die
Every Time I Die
Okay so it's not in October, but I am definitely psyched for this one. Every Time I Die have an awesome mix of southern rock and balls-out heavy metal, and they totally kick my ass every time I listen to them. So, needless to say, this show should be intense. Crap, come to think of it, I still need to buy tix to this one. Better get on the ball with that.

I will naturally be checking in after each of these shows to give y'all the low down on how they went.

Adult Swim needs to just stop.

2008-10-04T01:32:00.003-04:00

Full disclosure: I have had a few beers tonight.

All right, so I tolerate Robot Chicken. But I never really checked out the Adult Swim cartoons on Cartoon Network. Oh boy. This shit needs to stop, seriously. I watched Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law and Sealab 2021 tonight, and there really is an argument for just shutting this bullshit down. While none of it is as blatantly bad or blatantly foul as Comedy Central's "adult" cartoon Drawn Together, it is just not really acceptable as entertainment. Just not funny. These people need to stop.

Nudity

2008-09-29T20:07:00.003-04:00

How's that for a title!

So yesterday afternoon Vicky and I are sitting around the house. I look outside my window, absentmindedly, and I see what looks to be a topless woman in the building across from me! Now, I guess I always thought that randomly seeing a naked person would be pretty sweet. But my initial reaction was to turn away! I guess it was sort of half fear of being caught and half embarrassment for her sake. So I look away and am kind of like, "Hey Vicky... is there a naked woman in that apartment?" She confirmed with shock that yes, there was a woman walking around naked in there.

Just something you don't see every day... no real point to this post, I guess, haha. Going to some band auditions in the near future so stay tuned for news about that!

"Three Sheets": the drinking game

2008-09-28T21:31:00.005-04:00

I was introduced to a pretty sweet show last night called Three Sheets (MOJO channel; "check local listings"). Basically this dude Zane Lamprey (right) travels around the world exploring local drinking customs. And he's sort of a comedian type, so it's all presented in an irreverent fashion.

Also, apparently the host devised a drinking game associated with the show. Basically, when Zane drinks, you drink; and there are other rules like when he mentions a certain friend of his you drink, and when his plush monkey is shown, you drink. Stuff like that. Some friends of mine had a party centered around this last night, and it was a blast. Of course, by the third half-hour episode, everyone was drunk and so no one was really paying attention to the show anymore, except to make sure we knew when to drink. I definitely want to check the show out now, because it looked really entertaining and I missed most of even the ones we watched. :)

The hosts of the party also got specific beers from the countries he visited on the different episodes, so it all went together thematically. A lot of fun, though they picked a bunch of pretty heavy beers... and playing a drinking game with heavy beers is tough! But we all made it through the planned 8 episodes alive.

Rise Against "The Sufferer and the Witness"

2008-09-25T21:50:00.005-04:00

This post marks what could be a turning point in the life of Egypt 6. A bold statement perhaps. But in the past I've been concerned with posting material that is of the highest quality, that will start a conversation, that will appeal to the small readership (really one person in the end; two if Audrey still has us as an RSS feed, and three if Jess still checks it out from time to time). But that hasn't been working, so it's time for me to just start posting random crap and see what happens. I've never been good at blogging, but who knows, let's see what happens.

Ahem.

It took me a while to get into Rise Against; I had an album of theirs called "Siren Song of the Counter Culture," and really only liked one song off it. And so when Vicky had been telling me how great the latest album from them is, I kind of shrugged it off.

Holy poop.

This album is seriously a fucking revelation. A real throwback to anthemic skate punk like I used to see on the Warped Tour and hear on Epitaph Punk-O-Rama compilations. I throw this on the iPod in my car and it's like, maybe I can take on the world today. Maybe it is the right day to start a revolution. Of course, then I get to work, sit at my desk, and punk rock dreams fade away. But I digress. :)

I was going to say that every song on here is a potential single, but then I remembered that terrestrial rock radio doesn't play new music anymore. Maybe they're big on Sirius, who knows. Anyway, this album is great. 4 stars out of 5 (I reserve 5 stars for something unique; these guys aren't reinventing the wheel here, just doing simple music well). Joe might even like it... or at least it will bring him back to our wonderful year as roommates! Haha.

Heroes!!

2008-09-21T21:09:00.007-04:00

So... tomorrow is the Heroes season premiere! Who's psyched??

...I mean, someone has to care, right?

Rudy's Bar and Grill

2008-09-20T19:19:00.003-04:00

Went out drinking after checking out a friend's band near Times Square, and of course we had to go to Rudy's. Cheap beer ($4.00 for import bottles on 44th St.??) and FREE HOT DOGS... what more could you ask for? Vicky bemoaned the "tourist" contingent, but that sort of thing's unavoidable in that section of town. I was introduced to this place by The Worst Internet Date Ever (most of you have heard this story before), but have gone back many times despite its inauspicious introduction.

Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.

The Snake

2008-09-18T22:12:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite wrestlers growing up was a man by the name of Jake "The Snake" Roberts. His gimmick was that he brought a big snake to the ring, and then let it crawl on his felled opponents. Exciting stuff as a 5-year-old. When I was a kid, my heroes were not human; they were symbols of something greater than that. My dad was invincible and knew everything, and the heroic wrestlers were sort of an extension of that. Good guys played by the rules, bad guys cheated. Black and white.

In later years I found out that Jake "The Snake" had had a long history with fighting alcoholism; this was covered in a documentary about wrestling called "Beyond the Mat" that came out in '99. But supposedly "The Snake" had put that all behind him, and seemed to prove this when he showed up for a pop at a WWE RAW episode last year.

Apparently the other day he was making an appearance for one of these small-time indie wrestling federations that run shows in gymnasiums and post fliers around town. And apparently he shows up piss-ass drunk. And proceeds to make an utterly ridiculous fool out of himself by coming out drunk, talking to motorcycles, exposing his genitalia to the crowd, and then when the guy comes out to wrestle him, no-selling (not pretending to get hurt by) the moves the guy does to him. A sad end to the legend of "The Snake."

Of course there's video, and if you're morbidly curious, here it is.

Jake "The Snake" implodes

It's kind of funny, but also sort of sad. The best part is when the fat promoter runs out to try and save the thing, and tries to antagonize Jake into hitting him, but Jake just looks confused.

Changing traditions

2008-03-22T11:20:00.002-04:00

Easter's just around the corner; and as my girlfriend (who is Jewish) prepares for her first churchgoing experience with my family, I got to thinking about a position in which it seems a lot of people in our generation find themselves. I grew up going to church every Sunday, and then later on at least on the holidays. Eventually, holiday churchgoing's importance became less about worshiping a deity than about being a family tradition that I still enjoyed for its ties to my childhood.

Now, however, I look forward at my future and I'm uncertain. My girlfriend is a non-practicing Jew and I am, at least currently, a non-practicing (but still believing to some extent) Christian. While a part of me wants everything to be exactly the same as in my childhood, another part of me sort of knows that I will need to create new traditions with my own family one day. This idea of creating new traditions is actually a little bit frightening, like I thought I would be going out on the tightrope of life (yeah similes!) with a safety net, but they found a rip in it at the last minute and had to take it down. Part of it is that I only know one way to raise a child, which is the example I saw when my parents raised me; and that way was inundated with religion.

Has anyone else out there experienced these same kinds of thoughts? For the married out there, if you were brought up with religion in your life, have you thought about how that will or won't be included in your future? Have you discussed this with your spouse? Maybe I'm the only one who's lapsed in my religious life to this extent, but I have the feeling I'm not.

Man, my first post back, and it was a doozy. Expect a return to my roots, aka wrestling PPV recaps, next weekend. :)

Knife shark!

2007-09-04T00:20:00.001-04:00

There's really nothing more to say here.

Michelle Tanner Makes Out With Gandhi

2007-08-19T13:41:00.001-04:00

Well, as discussed with one of our blog members, I'm addressing a topic that has irked me somewhat for a long while, but has recently come to the forefront of my mind as a result of recent media press over an upcoming movie staring Mary Kate Olson and Ben Kingsly, titled "The Wackness." Regardless of this unfortunate and poorly chosen title, the film is receiving a great deal of notoriety over the scene in which the 21 year old Olsen (of former Full House fame) passionately kisses the 63 year old Kingsly, who once portrayed society's pacifist hero, Gandhi. The controversy that has erupted over this scene has me rather frustrated. It seems that many people seem to forget that actors are just that--ACTORS. They ACT for a living. It's not as if the two were caught in an abandoned alleyway going at it for unfortunate drifters to witness. They were simply performing a scene in a movie as part of their job. It's a fictional story that was written with a love scene between a 21 year old and a 63 year old, and these two happen to be filling the roles. If this is deemed inappropriate, how many wonderful (though probably controversial films) would never be made?? Movies can make us think, make us feel, and make us notice things we might otherwise never think to pay attention to. Should that be cast aside because society cannot accept the fact that a 21 year old playing a part should not be kissing a 63 year old playing another part? IT IS THEIR JOB. (Not to mention that although the age difference may be inappropriate, they are both, in fact legally adults). In a similar vain, I remember not long ago, when child actress Dakota Fanning was filming a movie in which I believe she was, in one scene, brutally sexually attacked. There was a great deal of controversy over this as well, since a child was being exposed to something when, if she were to go to SEE the movie, she would supposedly not be admitted without an adult. I can DEFINITELY see A BIT more controversy over this, but again, she is a child actress, and shows her maturity when she assured the public that she was simply playing a challenging role, portraying a horrific act, but that it was her job to act and that her fans need to come to terms with the fact that she is growing up and will be taking on more adult roles. This is all paraphrasing, of course, but that was the gist of her argument, and I pretty much agree. Not all kids her age (12 I think??) would be able to handle that obviously, but apparently she is able to deal with it and recognize it for what it is. It's even along the same lines as people being furious back in 1994, with Tom Cruise portraying Ann Rice's vampire Lestat. Many argued that the typical "handsome movie hero" could never play such a dark, disturbing character because it did not fit with his image. Now granted, as a 14 year old, I was biased by my Cruise obsession, but I still feel as I felt back then--that it was simply a chance for an actor to branch out. If an office worker had the opportunity to get a promotion, advance beyond their comfort zone, and move up in a company, I doubt you'd find many opposers. It's a similar situation. I guess it comes down to the fact that I just find it somewhat disconcerting that our society seems unwilling to dissociate ACTORS with the characters they portray. No matter how good the acting is, actors are portraying other people or characters and I think we as a public, need to remember that. Let them do their job, and get what we can from their work. That's the point of it all. Just my opinion. :)

Speaking of Canada- SNOW!!!!

2007-08-14T12:59:00.000-04:00

To steal a line from Office Space, "I treasure his collection." Michael Bolton? No. I am talking about Snow, aka, "The Fakin' Jamaican."

Between Keith's trip to Canada and Jess's note about Snow, I thought I would share my cornucopia of Snow information and Snow Trivia:

Q. Where is Snow from? A. The North York District of Toronto.

Q. What does Snow stand for? A. Super Notorious Outrageous Whiteboy (I didn't know that one.)

Q. Is Snow a one hit wonder? A. NO, NO, NO!!! Snow has released 6 albums with his next due out this year! He has spent time topping the charts in the US, Canada, Jamaica and Japan.

As you can see, Snow cannot be denied. Go tell your friends and be sure to visit his myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/snowtheartist

Thanks to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_(musician))

Gray Matters- DVD Review

2007-08-12T22:36:00.000-04:00

Now that Keith is gone, I have a movie review. This one's mostly for Jess, (so she better be reading the blog again)....

Anyway, the movie is called Gray Matters. Cat rented it as part of a moviefest this weekend. What got me interested was the cast: Heather Graham, Tom Cavanaugh (Ed), Allan Cumming and Bridget Moynahan. (On a side note, I never knew how much I liked Bridget Moynahan. Heather Graham? Yes, I knew liked her, which certainly helped warm me up to the movie, but I really like Bridget Moynahan. Anyway, that's enough of my public service announcement...)

Gray Matters is about an inseparable brother and sister (Graham and Cavanaugh), who become determined to help each find a mate. Enter Bridget Moynahan and a HOT, HOT twist and you have a cool, and under-appreciated movie.

Keith, again probably not for you, but there is hotness; not the kind of hotness on skinnimax, but enough for you to not leave the room if it were on in someone else's home. As for everyone else, there was a good plot, good acting and it definitely has a good feel to it.

As the official least common denominator of movie watching, I endorse it.

I'm off!

2007-08-11T07:36:00.000-04:00

My lovely lady friend and I are off to explore the untamed wilderness known as Canada. Upon my return, I will have a full report of the wondrous creatures and beings we are sure to encounter. I hope to see the blog in full swing when I return, despite my absence. Excelsior!

Shark Week!

2007-07-28T22:30:00.000-04:00

I remember being in junior high and the disappointment I would feel when I realized that I missed Shark Week on Discovery Channel, or only tuned in mid-week because I didn't know it had started already. You're welcome.

I fell in love with a girl at the rock show

2007-07-27T01:13:00.000-04:00

Vicky and I went to see some rock and roll music tonight at a tiny venue near my office called The School of Rock. Apparently it is a music school of some sort that has punk rock/hardcore shows to pay the bills. Tonight's lineup was noodley keyboard popsters Paulson, Hardy hard hardcore band Modern Life Is War, screamy retro southern rockers Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, and hardcore cock-rock purveyors He Is Legend. Apparently some of these bands are into Jesus, but that did not stop the rock from being brought.

I gotta tell ya, man, I must be getting old. But I was amazed at some of the feats of derring-do by these young rock and roll fans. Now I've seen the typical stage dives, crowd surfing, circle pits, arm-windmill-moshy stuff. But tonight I saw two feats that impressed me. A young man ascended to the stage, got behind Modern Life Is War's singer as he was leaning down to get into a lyric, and did a leapfrog thing over him into the pit below. Awesome. Later, I saw half the crowd get up onstage and lift Maylene's singer up into the air, with him standing on their hands and doing the Creed "with arms wide open" stance. Yeah you know the one, quit pretending like you don't.

Anyway, bands rocked the house and I left early because I'm old. Anyhoo, you can check out the aforementioned bands here (though I imagine that this might not be the Egypt 6 readership's cup of tea):
He Is Legend
Maylene and the Sons of Disaster
Modern Life Is War
Paulson

Potter

2007-07-22T22:42:00.000-04:00

As you probably know, the final installment of the Harry Potter series, entitled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, arrived in stores yesterday. Who else over the age of 12 ran out that day and bought it? Please everyone reassure me that I'm not the only one.
(And Joe, I was thinking: it would help a lot in situations like this if we opened up commenting to the world at large. It might be time to make this leap of faith.)

Today's thought

2007-04-17T21:35:00.000-04:00

I was sitting at lunch today when I had a breakthrough. I've noticed -- and I confirmed this with others that this is true for them as well -- that I have a lot of breakthroughs on the toilet. I mean I can be working on a programming issue all morning, no clue how to get something to work... but the minute I sit down on the toilet, the creative juices really get a-flowin'.
Therefore I have concluded that the way to solve all the world's problems is to just make everyone include more fiber in their diets. That way, everyone will go to the bathroom more, and all of the world's problems will be solved much more quickly.
Discuss.

Test for Keith!!!

2007-04-03T15:58:00.000-04:00

Keith,

Let me know if you get a notification of this message.

Joe

Wrestlemania 23

2007-04-01T22:50:00.000-04:00

This post is going to be a little strange; the only person who would remotely care about it might not want to read it because he might be coming to visit to watch the whole thing on tape. So Joe: read at your own risk.
Also: check my Flickr page for pics (not sure if they're legal though, so check 'em out while you can).

Wrestlemania! The flagship pay per view event of WWE. Let's check it out!

Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Ken Kennedy def. Matt Hardy/Jeff Hardy/Edge/Fit Finlay/Booker T/CM Punk/Randy Orton)
This match was your standard ladder match spot-fest. Everybody hits their signature finishing moves in some way made more painful by the existence of a ladder. Edge is taken out on a stretcher after being eliminated by Matt and Jeff; Kennedy wins after everyone else is pretty much decimated. Crowd inexplicably cheers for the evil Kennedy. This begins the weird crowd reactions that would continue for the rest of the night. That's actually one problem with Wrestlemania; only the hardcore will stand in line to get tickets, so they often vote for the best wrestler as opposed to the "good guy."

The Great Khali def. Kane
BUILD-UP [These guys have been feuding for a while. I wasn't really looking forward to this because, while I really like Kane, Khali is a big slow guy with a weird-looking butt who I don't care about. Oh you may think that's a weird comment, but check out Google Images, the guy's butt is so weird.]
Two big slow guys throw a bunch of punches. It sucked but Kane bodyslamming the ginormous Great Khali was pretty cool. Khali wins with the Tree Slam.

US Championship (Chris Benoit def. MVP, Montell Vontavious Porter)
BUILD-UP [MVP has been dodging Benoit for weeks, and his way of trying to prove he's better than Benoit is by facing "world champions" but the champs are like "The Lichtenstein World Champion" and "The Ethiopian World Champion" who are all really skinny and easy to beat.]
Benoit wins as expected, but in much less convincing fashion. I expected Benoit to dominate but MVP outwrestled (!) Benoit in a couple spots. Benoit won with the Diving Headbutt. Will be interesting to see if they continue this feud.

World Championship (The Undertaker def. Batista)
BUILD-UP [These guys have been at each other's throats for over a month. I was very curious how they were going to play this since they're both fan favorites.]
The Undertaker has never lost a Wrestlemania match, so of course he was going to win here. The crowd was solidly behind The Taker here, which I thought was pretty awesome. Solid match, saw the Undertaker win with the Tombstone Piledriver.

The ECW Originals (Rob Van Dam/Tommy Dreamer/Sabu/The Sandman) def. The New Breed (Elijah Burke/Kevin Thorne/Matt Striker/Marcus Corvon)
BUILD-UP [The story is that The New Breed do not respect the ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) veterans. For those not in the know, ECW is a cult-favorite wrestling organization that existed during the 90s. They were bought out by WWE and re-launched as a WWE brand. The "Originals" are guys who were ECW wrestlers, and the "New Breed" are newer guys who were not a part of the original ECW; they are the bad guys in this.)]
Short but sweet match with a surprising lack of weaponry. Van Dam pinned Striker after the Five Star Frog Splash.

The Battle of the Billionaires (Bobby Lashley w/ Donald Trump def. Umaga w/ Vince McMahon, special referee Stone Cold Steve Austin)
BUILD-UP [This match got some mainstream media attention due to Trump's involvement. Basically the loser will get their head shaved, which is apparently a big deal since both are very proud of their coifs. They each picked champions to fight it out since they're old dudes and Trump probably doesn't know how to wrestle.]
This match was a lot of fun, as I expected. Ref got knocked out, Shane McMahon comes in to referee, delivers the Van Terminator to Lashley, etc. but in the end McMahon eats a Stone Cold Stunner and Lashley hits his Running Powerslam for the win. McMahon gets his head shaved.

Women's Championship Lumberjack Match (Melina def. Ashley Massaro)
BUILD-UP [Melina was angry that Ashley was getting more press from being in Playboy than Melina was from being the WWE Women's champion.]
A lot of people expected Ashley to win because she was just on the cover of Playboy, but Melina proved them wrong, winning with a rollup with a bridge. I've actually been really impressed with Melina as a wrestler, and I was happy to see her retain the title here. Hopefully she will go on to feud with an actual wrestler like Mickie James or Victoria as opposed to eye candy like Ashley.

THE MAIN EVENT
WWE Championship (John Cena def. Shawn Michaels)
BUILD-UP [Cena and Michaels are the Tag Team Champions, and kept refraining from fighting. But then last week Michaels hit Cena after a match with his signature move "Sweet Chin Music."]
An enjoyable match, but nonetheless your typical Cena match. Michaels dominated for most of the match, and Cena came back at the end to win via his STFU submission hold. This match, like last year's main event featuring Cena, was apparently held in Bizarro World. Cena, while not always the overwhelming fan favorite, was unanimously booed out of the arena tonight. DESPITE the fact that Michaels wrestled heel (wrestling speak for the fact that he sort-of-cheated and really stretched the rules) -- piledriver on the ring steps, choking Cena on the ropes, etc.

Overall I'm satisfied with the $50 I spent. All the wrestlers give their all at Mania, and this year was no exception. Not the best matches I've ever seen, but all had good build-up and none sucked.

The End of the Telethon Look

2007-03-03T23:15:00.000-05:00

As some of you may know, when I am in a formal dress situation, either a formal event, or now mostly work related affairs, I often have a specific look by the end. This is where I have unbuttoned my collar, undone my tie, and have it hanging around my neck, with my suit jacket still on. I call this my, "End of the telethon" look, as it is how Jerry Lewis and many of the beleaguered TV hosts look at the end of a grueling 48+ hour telethon.

Today, this look returned and with it a funny story. At around 5:50 on this beautiful Saturday morning, I have the privilege of getting up and reporting to the semi-annual faculty meeting, which I have to help run. My job for the most part is to help ensure that the A/V for the day works smoothly and that anyone having a special breakout session with their academic discipline has what they need throughout the day.

By 2:45, the day is mostly over and I am just waiting for some equipment to return so I can pack up and go home... in fact I am waiting for only 1 piece of equipment and am getting very excited. By 3:15, my excitement has turned to anger and the real exhaustion of the day and my 5 hours of sleep per night for the last week is beginning to kick in. To help remedy the situation, I decided to don, "The Look" and make a comment that it is nearing the end of the telethon to my colleagues. Obviously, I had to explain myself and they all kind of laughed....

By 3:45, we were still waiting and the session that needed the equipment was still not over and someone asked me, "Does this mean the Telethon is still going? Did we make our goal?" I replied, "The telethon is over! We did NOT make our goal, and the children are dead!"

My friend's response was, "Maybe you are taking this job a little too seriously."

Oh well... that's me.

Movie Review

2007-02-17T22:33:00.000-05:00

I don't normally give alot of movie reviews, mostly because I just haven't seen many movies. However, I wanted to endorse an unlikely film, Music & Lyrics. Once I give you the description, you will know why I like it...

Music & Lyrics is about a washed up singer (Hugh Grant) from the 80's band, POP!, which supposedly began the 80's pop genre. After years of trying to relive the glory days by playing amusement parks and tractor pulls, he gets a chance to become relevant again when a Britney Spears-like singer decides she wants to pair up with a "retro singer." The first catch, she needs the song within a week. The second catch, he hasn't written a thing in 10 years and was never very good... Enter Drew Barrymore, who plays a ditzy plant waterer (if that is a real job), who in her spare time writes marketing material for her sister's weight loss franchise.

As you can expect (or not expect), the result was a light and fluffy chick flick that worked very well for a movie to see on Valentine's Day.

Again, if you get trapped on a desert island and are forced to watch this film, you will be OK.

Missing Contributor

2007-02-10T21:51:00.000-05:00

I know this blog is near dead once again, but have you noticed that Jess is no longer listed as a contributor?

I guess she never signed up once I converted the blog to the new blogger.

Oh Well.

The Return

2007-01-30T08:23:00.000-05:00

Man! First I go on vacation for a week and then my computer dies. Someone doesn't want me posting on here! :)

Hopefully I'll have some vacation pictures up on here (or a link to Flickr or something) within the week.

KW CARES!

2007-01-13T15:24:00.000-05:00

Just a note that I saw a license plate the other day that said, "KWCARES"

My response was, "Yes, he does."

This one was for you, Keith.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

2006-12-25T17:07:00.000-05:00

Just passing along a big Merry Christmas and Aloha to everyone!

Paradise Part 2

2006-12-18T16:10:00.000-05:00

Greetings from Beautiful Hawaii!

We are back in paradise, this time to celebrate Christmas. It is weird being in shorts to celebrate the holidays, but at least it doesn't feel like 1000 below zero, like everyday in Boston. (Yes, Jess... take offense :) )

Anyway, we leave for the cruise this evening, so I don't know how much I will be posting, but I figured I should at least send one to keep up my vacation posting streak.

As for everyone else, what are your holiday plans?

Summer in December

2006-12-01T12:24:00.000-05:00

Just checking in to report that it hit 70 this morning, December 1st, in the general Maryland area. I had to put my air conditioner on last night!

This is CrAzY!!!

Subtle Changes

2006-11-27T16:56:00.000-05:00

Although there has been little to no activity on the blog as of late, sans Keith getting pumped (for which we need an update), I have since made 4 subtle changes to the blog.

I dare you to find them.

Hint: 1 was made several weeks back, the others were made on Sunday.

GETTIN' PUMPED

2006-11-08T09:08:00.000-05:00

Today I started sessions with a personal trainer who is going to make me look like Arnold, as opposed to my current "Democratic Girly Man" look. Wish me luck!

Happy Halloween!

2006-11-02T10:56:00.000-05:00

Here, I lay the smackdown on evil.

Wendy's Training

2006-11-02T00:27:00.000-05:00

We start shrinking when we hit that grill! You know we will!

Casualties of war

2006-09-24T22:19:00.000-04:00

Half a bottle of Southern Comfort
Half a bottle of Skyy Vodka
6 bottles of Stella Artois beer

We did good, Joe. We did good.

Also, here's a picture of my turkey. :D

One Day.

2006-09-21T20:07:00.000-04:00

Three Days.

2006-09-19T08:43:00.000-04:00

The Countdown Begins.

2006-09-17T20:49:00.000-04:00

Five days.

Another Article from the Egypt6 News Wire...

2006-09-13T13:19:00.000-04:00

After reading Keith's post, I found a great article about a backup punter for a college football team stabbing the starter in the leg. It was too good to keep to myself, so I thought I would share!

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2585781

"Moderate drinkers end up better thinkers"

2006-09-12T23:09:00.000-04:00

Jess thought I should post about this...

I've decided that I need to drink more.

ANU researchers Dr Kaarin Anstey and Dr Bryan Rodgers found that people who had drunk moderate amounts of alcohol (14-28 standard drinks a week for men and 7-14 standard drinks a week for women) performed significantly better than those who were heavy drinkers (over 28 and 14 standard drinks for men and women respectively) and those who rarely or never drank. This relationship was found in participants in their 20s, 40s and 60s.

In the interest of my own personal health, I guess I need to start drinking more. I started tonight!

New car

2006-09-10T20:24:00.000-04:00

Joe: I'm not trying to undermine your serious post below at all... hope this doesn't come off that way. Just want to share my own personal joy of the moment.

Anyway... I own this now.

A Strange Day (Take 2)

2006-09-09T23:44:00.000-04:00

(I apologize for my premature publishing of this post, as I am writing on a different computer than I am used to. Anyway...)

What was supposed to be an exciting day turned out to be not quite what I had expected. (I apologize as parts of the story become vague, but I do not want to disclose too much about the person involved. Suffice to say, I am referring to neither Keith, nor Jess.)

Today I had the opportunity to partake in an activity that I really enjoy with an old friend (The activity was not sex... I am married). What makes the activity the most fun is the fact that I am sharing the activity with that friend and that whenever we get together it is like we haven't missed a beat. Over the years I have always enjoyed being around this person, he/she is someone who I go to for advice, and is someone I truly admire.

Today however, was a different experience. I found out that my friend is having some major life issues (not health related) and for the first time I really saw this person in a vulnerable state. It was very strange for me and it made me feel very bad. All I wanted to do is help this person, but I felt like there was nothing I could say or do. It was even worse since this person has always been there for me. Again it was just a strange day that left me with a strange feeling. It is always unsettling when you go into what you think will be a familiar situation and something unexpected happens. Part of me feels bad for thinking about it in terms of how I feel and not about my friend, but trust me that I do feel bad about their situation. I am just trying to focus more on the oddness of the experience, as I find the whole thing upsetting.

Mockumentaries and Parker news! :)

2006-09-02T15:12:00.000-04:00

So I thought it might be important to announce the coming of a new Christopher Guest film set to open in November. I don't know if you've heard about it, but it is set to star most of the same ensemble cast (i.e. Joe's favorite Posey (and probably most people's favorite Posey--possibly the best Posey EVER though I don't really know any others--details). Anyway, the movie title is For Your Consideration, and from what I gather, is a mockumentary focusing around a group of people trying to make a film about birding and getting caught up in the prospect of an award. Here's a link: http://www.birderblog.com/post.php?id=1470 Blogger field trip anyone?? :)

Lasae.com

2006-09-01T16:32:00.000-04:00

Somewhat weird, vaguely creepy, very sad. That is how I describe this
website's concept.<br />
<a href="http://www.lasae.com/">Enjoy."

HTML?

2006-08-25T13:49:00.000-04:00

Here's a question that both of you could probably answer for me. If someone says, "Are you familiar with html?" what exactly does that mean? I mean, I can open pictures and stuff like that, but I don't really know how to attach anything but word documents. Does it have to do with actually writing content ON a website, or knowing how to construct or set up a site? Anything you could tell me would be awesome.

Snakes on a Plane!!!!

2006-08-24T22:23:00.000-04:00

Although I am not the most discerning movie-goer, I needed to openly endorse Snakes on a Plane as the best made awful movie ever!!!! This movie has everything you want to see in a corny action film... Snakes, gratuitous sex, bad dialogue, snakes and SAMUEL L JACKSON!!! This film was so well made they had to refilm parts, just to make it campier! Imagine that... They tried too hard. Anyway, whether you see the film or not, I thought I would leave you with this image and a link to the Snakes on a Plane Music Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJhuwihy7FE

The TagBoard is Here!!!

2006-08-24T22:09:00.000-04:00

I would like to announce another revolution at the Egypt6 Circle of Blogging! Introducing the TagBoard! What is the TagBoard? It is an opportunity for contributors and non-contributors alike to post their thoughts on the Egypt6 Circle of Blogging. Although these thoughts will not be documented the same way they would on the traditional blog, it allows readers to post their thoughts, ideas and reactions, which will hopefully in turn shape future posts.

In conclusion, I challenge our 6 other readers to post their thoughts and bring our blog to the next level.

Thank you,

Joe

Stuck in my head....

2006-08-18T16:27:00.000-04:00

I know this happens to everyone where they get a bad radio or tv jingle stuck in their head. Well, since most of my readership doesn't live here, I thought I would share our local car dealership oh so catchy jingle with the world:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD8o9bt-eWg

Just remember... at Eastern Motors, your job's your credit!

Keith's own tale of sorrow

2006-08-15T19:34:00.000-04:00

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

So Jess doesn't freak out, yes I am fine. :)

Technology Fest 2006

2006-08-13T21:26:00.000-04:00

I am a little late on this post, but I wanted to share our technological bonanza that took place last weekend. Thanks to Comp USA and their 24 month interest free financing, we were able to strengthen the technological infrastructure of our home...

The bonanza included: a new laptop for Cat, as well as a backup hard drive for Joe, and a new all in one scanner. In case you didn't know about out former printer, it just hasn't been the same after churning out 100+ save the date cards, 100+ wedding invitations, as well as hundreds of other wedding related odds and ends like direction cards and responses. The bonus here is that I have a scanner again. The old scanner never seemed to survive the multiple moves from college until now, and had to be put down last year.

As for the backup hard drive, this is a great boon to my household. For those who either know the musical Urinetown, or my history with computers and hard drives, suffice to say that we will not be reliving the Brad Years... My data has been fully backed up and is secure. It has also led me to begin thinking about future web ventures. I will have more on that when the time is right. (This is the closest we come to cliff hangers here on the blog.)

Tale of Sorrow

2006-08-03T19:28:00.000-04:00

So, I have decided I need to share my awful tale of sorrow that began last evening...

Last night was supposed to be a busy, but productive evening, as Cat was teaching until 8:30 and I had some work I needed to a tend to at home to help me get caught up on my projects.

When we got home however, we were hit with a hard, hot reality... The air conditioner, which we knew was not doing a stellar job cooling the house down has not totally failed. Two days into the heat wave, the house was now 88 degrees at 6pm. This was not good.

With a heavy heart, Cat then left for teaching. I decided I would go out and find something to eat at the grocery store in the hope that the house will begin to cool down. By the time I returned and made dinner, it was nearly 8 o'clock and the temperature was unbearable. Cat called to say she was coming home early and I knew she would not be pleased.

When she arrived she sat and ate some food of her own and we both decided, after I finished loading the dishwasher that we needed to make our escape. I called our friends who we knew would take us in, but there was no answer... After contemplating our options, we thought that Best Buy and then Borders would be the best options... They are cool and would keep us out of the house until a decently late hour.

As I went to the kitchen to get my keys, I noticed a disturbing sensation by my feet... Water! It was coming from under the sink. I opened up the cabinet, began moving items only to find that as the dishwasher began to drain water was gushing out from the seal. At this point, I quickly began to get some towels as it seemed that the worst was over.

As this was happening, the phone rang and Cat handed the phone over to me... It was a collection agency! It would appear that Cingular, who we had recently ended our service with, had decided to send my account to collections, despite the fact I had called last week to ensure that my account was OK. About three weeks earlier I received a letter stating that I owed an absurd amount of money, but quickly called and was assured I would only be responsible for my final payment, and that I should not pay anything until the charge was reversed over the next seven days.

Understandably, the collector didn't not care about this story and just wanted his money. I then had to call Cingular and spent 45 minutes on the phone with them only to find that they could not do anything for me for at least another 2 hours, since these kind of adjustments had to be handled by a manager. He did however assure me that I would get a call from him in two hours.

Well, one trip to borders (where I fell asleep briefly) and 2 hours and 45 minutes later, which would be 11:45 EST, I received a call stating that my account was now reconciled. Of course, I could not receive written confirmation of this, in a form such as a bill, or anything as conventional... And of course an email now has to be sent to billing, which in turn must be sent to collections to get them off my back. They claim this will be done in 72 hours. The guy at the collection agency doesn't seem so confident of this, and I am still sitting in my 90+ degree house right now, with my animals, who I decided should not have to suffer alone, and I have still not been able to get any work done due to the conditions in my house.

Well, that is my story. I didn't share it for "Poor Joe" purposes or anything. I simply think it is crazy, and one of those stories I would burst into someone's room in college and tell them about with my hands flailing and that pitchy sound I get in my voice when I am excited in a not so good type of way.

Thank you for your time.

Joe

"That Guy"...

2006-07-28T22:02:00.000-04:00

I had a random thought this evening that I would like to share. It goes back to a discussion I had with Keith a long time ago, but I think it rings true for all of us.

The basic premise is that no one wants to be, "That Guy." For some "That Guy" is the one who clearly can't hold his liquor in a room of people who barely seem like they have had anything after a healthy night of socializing. For others it is "That Guy" who is talking with a group of people and is clearly the one who doesn't get it. "That Guy" is the person who does all the work only to see others who have done little in comparison get the praise that they rightfully deserve.

In any case, being "That Guy" can be many things to many people. In all cases it means that you are embarrassed and more importantly somewhere inside, you always feared that it would happen to you. That's what I think it means to be "That Guy."

Does this sound familiar? Or is this just a me thing?

I would be curious to see if others feel the same...

My bid for Favorite Blogger

2006-07-24T19:36:00.000-04:00

Hello, all. I realize it's been a while since my last post on Egypt 6, and so I thought I'd take everyone on a trip down memory lane, as we revisit my greatest hits.

Keith recalls a funny e-mail he once received

Keith posts funny pictures

Keith wets his pants over wrestling

Keith's infamous first fantasy wrestling post

Keith's Halloween costume

Keith's return from China

Keith worries about dating a girl who he ends up dating in the end

Keith reminds all of us about the quality of our own lives when he talks about getting drunk again

Keith suggests a humorous response to noise complaints

In conclusion, a vote for Keith is a vote for quality. I appreciate your support.

Vote Now!!!

2006-07-23T16:59:00.000-04:00

Just a note that I have added a cool new voting feature to the blog. Today we can vote for our favorite contributor to the Egypt6 Circle of Blogging.

Enjoy!

Who Reads This Blog?

2006-07-23T16:23:00.000-04:00

I had the most pleasant surprise this week... I found out that our blog has a yet another reader! I suspect we are getting up towards double digits in readership.

In honor of this event, I decided to create a virtual "Wall of Fame" to honor all of our known readers. Since the blog is still closed to comments, if you know of someone who reads the blog, or are a reader of the blog and would like to be listed on the Wall, please email johanismissing@gmail.com

And now to our "Wall of Fame"

Joe
Keith
Jess
Cat
Andy M.
Mei
Douglas (my wedding photographer)
Audrey

Again, thank you to all who read this blog and continue to make our circle strong!

Joe Update...

2006-07-16T18:22:00.000-04:00

Since things have been very busy for me over the last few weeks, I thought I would post a brief update...

Last week I finished my final class for my degree. I am finally done! (I passed too!)

Also, after a couple of weeks of waiting, I found out that I have been Promoted! I am now the Director of Instructional Technology and Assistant to the Dean! It is an exciting time, and I only hope that I am prepared to take on the challenge. Fortunately, I get to bring on some help in the office and once this new individual is up and running, it will be exciting to see what we can accomplish.

Finally, not as exciting as the other news, but fun nonetheless, I have a new game for the computer, "The Movies." It is pretty wild as you get to be a movie producer and build a studio from the ground up. You even get to create the script and edit the movie if you wish. What is even better is that you get to name your studio. Naturally, I went with Egypt 6 Films. It is classy and has the intrigue necessary to be a high quality studio name.

Anyway, that is all for now.

Talk to you soon!

Joe

Andy's Wedding

2006-07-07T19:01:00.000-04:00

Yes, Folks...

It finally happened! After years and years, Andy and Asha tied the Knot!!!!

It was a long, but fun day, as the wedding was an Indian Ceremony, beginning at 9am until 11:30. It was worth it, as the morning began with most of Andy's family looking very confused, but happy nonetheless. As the morning moved forward, they became more comfortable and/or relieved that the ceremony was coming to an end.

Honestly though, I was just impressed how well Andy's family made it through the day and how much they were beaming for their Andy. It was clear they were proud.

In other wedding related news, contrary to initial reports, Andy was not shirtless for the event. In fact he looked rather comfortable in the tunic type thing he was wearing.

Also, if you remember Sean, Andy's friend, whom I also played some basketball with, he was there as well. It was good to see him. It was also good to see the rest of the gang of Mei, Jordana, Jordana and Mei.

The big news was that ROB BAUTISTA was there! That was funny! It was good to see him, however I failed in my mission to get him to take the Dolb's camera phone, shove it down his pants, and take a picture. We were close though.

Anyway, that's all I have to report.

Joe

Weekend

2006-07-06T12:54:00.000-04:00

This weekend, I received a text message from Jess that I was too drunk
to answer and then promptly forget about. So I guess I'll answer this
way! Yes, I was awake. :) But more importantly, what were you doing at
Joe's and how was it??

Louie!!!!

2006-06-20T21:53:00.000-04:00

Hey Kids!

I just took a trip in the Way Back Machine, courtesy of YouTube.com and watch about an hour of one of the greatest shows of all time, MTV's The State. I thought I would share one of my favorite skits here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnZFHzVcfcw

Joe

Brief Hawaii Recap...

2006-06-18T19:00:00.000-04:00

After a long wait, I thought with the help of some pictures, I would give you a brief recap of our trip to Hawaii...

On the way over, we stopped off in LA and our friend James met us a the airport. We ate at Bubba Gump's in Santa Monica next to the Pier. It was a lot of fun.

BTW: Jess, among your requests, you asked me to bring back a hot guy from Hawaii. He isn't from Hawaii, but I thought you would approve.

On the Sunday after we arrived, me, Cat and her father hiked up Diamond Head The views were breath taking, as were the warning signs along the way up.

We also went to Sea Life Park, which some of you might remember from 50 first dates. Yes, Jess... We saw many turtles. Here is a picture just for you...

And back to amusing warning signs... Here is one we saw while at sealife park. I have plenty more of these, but I somehow doubt that these are what you want to see...

While driving around Oahu, we actually saw a rainbow, which was pretty cool. Cat told me that all of the pictures she drew as a child had rainbows because she saw one almost every day. It makes sense that when she moved to Vermont that they could never understand her fascination :)

On a side note... We were very grateful to Cat's dad as he was kind enough to rent us a car for a could of days while we were there. Fortunately we received a free upgrade to a Chrystler Sebring convertible, which is an excellent way to get around the island. Also, in an ironic twist it is the same car that Cat's dad drives. Again, I did not argue :)

And now to the good stuff! Here is a taste of what Cat got to experience when she went out to swim with the sharks. She wasn't in the cage at the time of the picture, since she was the one taking it, but I wanted to give you a good feelk for just how close she actually was. As always with Cat, I was impressed with her bravery as I was safely on the shore walking throughout the town. I think I might need to try it myself next time.

Although I can go on, as we did a ton of cool stuff and took many more pictures, I will leave you with one more picture so you have that "Hawaii Feel" Even looking at these pictures now makes me not want to go to work tomorrow. I think I rather be somewhere else :)

2006-06-07T13:09:00.000-04:00

So I just wanted to post this saying that I tried to add a post last week and for some reason it didn't go through. So I'll keep this short till I see if this one works...it was probalby an amusing post because it was written when I was "beveragized" but it is lost somewhere in the miracle of the internet...btw, Joe, great turtle pics and info...I'm glad I asked for them!!!

pics

2006-05-31T23:19:00.001-04:00

JOE-- TAKE A PICTURE OF A TURTLE IN HAWAII!!!!!!!! YOu should go on a ride on hte back of a sea turtle!!!

Relaxation

2006-05-27T15:27:00.000-04:00

So far, this has been a pretty relaxing trip. Last night we went on the dinner cruise, which definitely had great views, and pretty OK entertainment. It was nice because it was moving toward dusk and Honolulu looked great. It kind of reminded me of Auckland a little bit.

Actually, this whole trip has made us think more about moving away to somewhere exotic. We both know we loved Australia, however with the chances looking good that Cat will be in Grad School here in DC next year, we know we can't go anywhere soon. However, we are still trying to figure whether we loved it because it was our honeymoon, or because we really would like to spend some serious time there. I am thinking it is a combination of both. In any case, with the luxury of time on our side we can see how we feel next year and plan accordingly. We would even consider moving to Hawaii, however I wouldn't do it if it was just a compromise on leaving the country. More to come on this topic in the coming months...

Anyway, back to paradise... Not sure what we have planned today. I know we will be taking Cat's Dad to many of the places we want to visit this week, so he can buy the tickets for us at a discount. It's military appreciation month, and you know how I appreciate discounts!

Talk to you soon,

Joe

Loser in the Yellow Life Vest...

2006-05-26T21:15:00.000-04:00

Today we went snorkeling at Shark's Cove on the North Shore... And yes, I was the loser in the yellow life vest since I have little faith in my swimming ability. Despite my stylish vest and my outstanding pink snorkel and swim fins (don't ask), I had an excellent time. We saw a ton of cool tangs and a big parrot fish. Although we failed to take pictures this time, I suspect we will be out on the water again soon and will be sure to get some then.

Tonight, Cat's dad is taking us on a Hawaiian dinner cruise. It is not quite a traditional Hawaiian event, but it is a nice mix of culture, good food and great views. I am looking forward to it.

Oh, by the way, when someone suggests that we double the recipe for Vodka Cream pasta, as Cat's dad did when she was making dinner last night, the important question to ask is, "How much pasta do you really want?" If the answer is, "enough for 4 people to eat tonight and half of Hawaii to eat for the next month," then yes, double the recipe.

Until next time, this is Joe signing off.

Aloha!!!!

2006-05-25T16:32:00.000-04:00

Greetings,

I am writing from beautiful Hawaii. We arrived last night after a long day of traveling and a 6 hour lay over in Los Angeles. Fortunately, this respite on our trip was pre-planned, so we met up with a friend and hung out by the Santa Monica Pier. We ended up eating lunch on the pier at Bubba Gump's and had an outstanding shrimp po boy sandwich. mmmm.....

Today, we will be going by where Cat used to live when she was here about 20 years ago. I am sure it will be interesting for her. I am just excited to be on vacation.

Anyway, I will try to blog again when I get a chance. Cat's dad's house is a two laptop household, so there should be an opportunity.

Talk to you soon!!!

Joe

Barry Bonds is a Jerk

2006-05-15T09:56:00.000-04:00

I know that the majority of readers and contributors to this blog are not avid sports fans. However, I wanted to share some news going on in the baseball world and my feelings on it.

Within the next day or so, Barry Bonds will tie Babe Ruth for 2nd all time on the Home Run list. This is a huge accomplishment. It does not matter if you make it to this point with beer and hot dogs like Ruth did, with great class, as Hank Aaron did, who owns the record, or even with steroids, like Bonds. (I borrowed that reference from some posters people were holding up at a recent game). In any case, the fact remains that Barry Bonds is a jerk and a morally bankrupt human being. He is bad to the press, he is bad to his friends, as well as his family. He sold his soul a long time ago for this record and I think it is wrong. It is not like others before him haven't cheated, I am sure they have. However the others have done what they needed to do to remain in high regard with the public they entertain.

Without getting into anymore detail, here is my fantasy of how this record breaking day should unfold...

Barry Bonds at the plate... He swings... It's out of here!!!!

And here he comes rounding first, with both arms in the air and his teammates heading toward the field... But wait!!! Barry stumbles, he's down between first and second! I think he is having a stroke! Barry is twitching violently and now he is still. This doesn't look good.

Here come his teammates. It looks like they are attempting to pull his lifeless corpse around the bases... Around second... Around third... And Home!!! Barry has done it!

Wait, the umpires are convening... And Barry Bonds is Out!!! The umpires call interference for touching the corpse!

And so it ends... Barry Bonds is out and Dead on a long single.

If only it could be that beautiful.

My Blog vs. My Space...

2006-05-04T10:16:00.000-04:00

I thought I would share with you an interesting conversation I had with Cat yesterday. It would appear that Cat caved into peer pressure an has created a My Space account. Her office mates all have one and have urged her to get one. Personally, I have never seen My Space and only looked at it for the first time last evening when Cat wanted to show me hers. Overall, I think I have generally been against My Space because every story I have ever heard about it ends with some 14 year old girl getting raped by a pedophile.

Anyway, after seeing Cat's account and several others (apparently many Goucher folks from our class have accounts), I came away largely unimpressed. Cat then asked me, "Why don't you like it? What is the difference between My Space and your blog?" My response was, " 14 year old girls don't get raped on my blog!" I am proud that we can boast that as a key selling point for the Egypt 6 Circle of Blogging.

Noise violations

2006-05-03T22:05:00.000-04:00

I recently received notice that my neighbor has reported me to the condo association for SEVERAL noise violations. I got a letter outlining the complaints, as reported by him.

I thought it might be funny to send a response to the condo association/my neighbor, with a kind of explanation of each unfortunate event. I would list the complaint, and then my explanation afterwards. For example (this is actually one of the complaints):

4/26/06
Loud voices can be heard in my apartment 10:30 PM
I sincerely apologize for this particular violation; I distinctly remember this night! I had assumed that my girlfriend's and my intimate expressions of love for one another were not heard by others than ourselves! I promise that any further occasions of sexual congress will be kept to a low volume, out of respect for my neighbors and the bylaws of the condo association.

What do you guys think?

Blogs of Yester Year

2006-05-01T13:03:00.000-04:00

Hey,
I was just wondering if I'm the only one that ever goes back and reads the blog entries from last year. I like that they are accessible--not that I need help remembering every little thing that happens; in fact, I need more help forgetting, and might be better off for it, but still nice to know its an option...

Reunion weekend!

2006-04-19T23:19:00.000-04:00

Oh yeah, this weekend is going to rule! Your thoughts?

Knee Deep in Work...

2006-04-11T15:26:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone,

Since I am currently knee deep in work and my computer is having trouble loading the programs I need to do this work, I thought I would take the opportunity to see how everyone is?

I know I am excited about the next few weeks, but I know they will be busy... other than Easter and/or reunion, what do people have going on????

Random picture du jour

2006-04-08T22:15:00.000-04:00

Just a note that the random picture du jour is actually really random now, as I have set it up to display one of five different images, (which might be familiar to you), every time you go on the page. I will be adding more pictures and even more "random" ones, as time goes on.

I hope you enjoy it!

Joe