With a game like this, I may never leave the house again.
Did I really say next week? I could've swore I said next month. I came home today only to discover I had no running water due to a main break down the street. I can still see the DOT vehicles out my window, which I'm sure will still last a while. So with that, I give you my vacation in Electric Laurieland.
Saturday - I'm gonna have to bullet-point this one since we traversed a lot of territory between Laurie's office building and her apartment
- I must throw the obligatory picture of yours truly in front of the CN Tower. Yes, it was freezing.
- The next landmark along the walk was Brookfield Place (located in the financial district) w/ the modernized Allan Lambert Galleria, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The arched ceiling is supposed to evoke an "avenue of trees" as Calatrava calls it. Crazy Spaniards.
- Further within the financial district lies the TD Centre, which also contains some inanimate livestock amongst the surroundings. Yes, it was freezing.
- We also hit up some bookstores to do some Godblog hunting. However, the only store I remember seeing a few copies on the shelves was "Chapters." One of the employees asked if we needed any assistance finding a particular book, to which Laurie replied, "Not really. I think I know where I can find mine." Needless to say, she was all aghast when Laurie showed her the book.
- By this time, the sun was in mid-set over the horizon and the temperature was dropping faster than an anvil on Wiley Coyote. So we made our way back to the apartment for some much-needed warmth, and some grub.
Later that evening, Laurie treated me to a wonderful dinner at the Biermarkt along The Esplanade. She chose the restaurant since they were in the middle of their Wild Game Culinary Festival. I want to say she chose the Manitoba Boar Loin, while I wussed out and dined on some salmon. Almost as bad as Jerry Seinfeld in the episode where he orders "just a salad."
Hypothetically speaking, what
if SixApart ever adopted guidelines for maintaining a blog? For instance:
members must post at least once per week, - or - at least every 20th
post must include a multimedia add-on. Needless to say, there are those
who are competent bloggers. And there is - well - me. I recall
in my younger (more ignorant?) days forcing myself to blog at least
once per day. For a while, I kept a steady pace of composing at least
one post per day without any constraints to speak of. Those days are
long gone now, given the changes that have occurred at work and outside
of.
So with that, here I am now summarizing the highlights of the past two
weeks, beginning first with my quick trip down the Metropolis trail & back.
Last Friday evening, I barely made it down to the city in time to catch
a train headed for Union Station in Washington D.C. This worked out
to my advantage since I had gone one week without even scratching the
surface of a significant
novel on my shelf.
I say "significant" in reference to being the first American
recipient of said novel by way of personal hand-delivery by the author.
She happens to also double as my special lady-friend.
The business at hand, in reference to the D.C. trip, was purely a response
of gratitude towards an old friend who invited me to her 30th birthday
party. On top of that, there was no getting around a *quasi-Vox meetup
with Dabysan, Hotrod, and CarrieNation the next morning at the coffee shop.
I was pleasantly surprised to be a witness of a major moment possibly
rivaled only by the Fall of the Berlin Wall or the Apollo 11 mission.
This one I call: Hotrod's Last Stand since it marked the long-awaited
payment of Hotrod's Fantasy
Football League
entrance fee to Commissioner-san.
I saved this post as a word document earlier, and I'm just now revisiting it after a lengthy stay at Casa de Laurie in Toronto. And yes, I am a slacker, procrastinator, and any other synonym that comes to mind. But this explains the sudden change in font.
The Godblog...er...Blog God(?) decided to postpone my return train northward by a mere 90 minutes, allowing me ample time to churn out another eight or nine chapters. By this time, I was about 50% through the novel. Fab.
Once I returned to the City of Brotherly Love, I made my way out west to meet Cranky and Dora just before they adjourned to see the Kings of Leon show. And yes, I was as lost as a so-whore-ity girl in the Maze of Mirrors for maybe half an hour until Cranky's Magellan-esque skills came to the forefront.
More to come, later on this weekend from my most recent vacation up in Toronto...
Last week, I stepped into a bear trap when I foolishly made a Don King-esque promotion to have Dabysan and/or Hotrod live-blog tonight's Pittsburgh-Washington Monday Night football game from either one of their two locales. Considering Hotrod's ever-loving devotion to the Stillers & Dabysan's unwavering allegiance to the Redskins, entertainment was sure to follow in the form of a knock-down, drag-out live-blog.
Alas, Daby is somewhere riding camels in the Sahara Desert, and Hotrod felt it necessary to donate a portion of his hard-earned money to Republican recipients. Therefore, it's my responsibility to fill the void as the neutral party. Well - not entirely. You see, the Redskins have this annoying little habit of predicting the winner of the presidential election based upon the results of their last home game before the election. Of course, the only outlier was the most recent election in 2004 when, despite a Redskins loss, the incumbent party remained in office. I'd like to think how the Redskins perform on the field is mutually exclusive to what occurs inside the curtain. However, I'm not taking any chances tonight. Somewhere I have in my possession a white Phillies rally towel. I'm mulling over whether I want to paint it black & gold.
Due to a previous obligation outside my control, I owe my g'mother a telephone call to wish her a happy 92nd birthday this evening. However, the rest of the family is treating her to dinner & dessert. Therefore, I'm not able to reach her until she returns to her room at the assisted living facility. Right now the tarp is out on the field, with an 8:30 kickoff for live-blog up in the air. Will report back later as the evening transpires...
8:34 EST - Nary a word from the family. Although, should be soon. Fuck this...I can mult-task. Hey, how about that? ESPN already unveils the Redskin/Election rule. Hard not to see that one coming.
8:40 EST - Someone maim Hank Williams Jr., please.
8:41 EST - Redskins in the burgundy? What gives?
8:43 EST - Mike Tomlin's Omar Epps' plan for onside kick backfires. Hotrod immediately starts biting his towel.
8:45 EST - Steelers escape with only allowing 3 points. The towel is spared for now.
8:48 EST - G'ma-ma is turning in for the night. Let the real show begin now...
8:49 EST - The most unusual of interceptions. What was the Steelers offensive lineman Max Starks doing? Praying the football wouldn't hit him in the helmet?
8:51 EST - Two gift possessions for the Redskins beginning in Steeler territory and only 2 FGs. Very ominous for the home team. Only a matter of time before Pittsburgh decides to show up.
8:54 EST - It helps having a spare Redskins fan on IM stand-by.
electrolite1011: hopefully Suckelsburger sucks tonight
4:01 E(gyptian)ST - ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
9:14 EST - The Steelers franchise seems to have this affinity for buns and patties. Ben Roethlisberger, Mitch Berger, Pittsburgh...er. The plot thickens.
9:20 EST - A few Steeler punts, and no mention yet that their new long snapper lifted couches up until a week ago. Attention Parents: Don't teach your children to be quarterbacks or running backs. If you can snap a ball 15 yards through your legs, you're set for life.
9:28 EST - Redskins defense standing tall so far, despite no margin of error thanks to the inept offense.
9:37 EST - One third of the way through the 2nd quarter, and the Stillers are finally in Redskins territory thanks to a penalty on Washington.
9:38 EST - Contrast in analysis: Ron Jaworski talks about the brilliant blanket coverage by Carlos Rogers to break up a TD pass. And Tony Kornheiser talks about Rogers' shoes.
9:43 EST - Pittsburgh is on the board with a Jeff Reed FG. Hotrod waves the towel with gusto. 6-3 Redskins lead.
9:49 EST - The more the ESPN crew keeps mentioning "Jason Campbell has thrown 0 INTs all year," the more likely a black cat crosses his path.
9:56 EST - A close-up of Daniel Snyder & Roger Goodell appropriately draws the ire of our stand-by Skins fan.
electrolite1011: FUCK YOU SNYDER!!!!
9:57 EST - A golden opportunity for the Steelers! Punt blocked and recovered inside the Skins 20 yard line. Either Pittsburgh will lead going into halftime, or at least be tied.
10:04 EST - Excuse me while I vomit. ESPN interviewing both McCain and Obama during halftime smacks of overkill to the nth degree.
10:07 EST - Looks like Obama will take a 10-6 lead on McCain going into halftime.
10:23 EST - Uh oh. Starting Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger has yet to come out of the locker room after getting X-rays taken of his throwing arm.
10:33 EST - Backup QB Byron Leftwich leads the Steelers down the field with a long completion to WR Nate Washington, and capped off by a 1-yard TD run by Willie Parker. PK Jeff Reed hears voices in his head as he boots the extra point wide left. 16-6 Steelers w/ Hotrod shouting obscenities at the Skins fans.
10:38 EST - See 8:51 EST. The BOOs starting to emerge from the home team's fans.
10:45 EST - Whatever happened to all those negative political ads based around high oil prices? Notice how once the prices dropped, the ads disappeared, thereby convincing us all that oil prices are entirely regulated by the government. Swell. Now it's just the same boring "higher taxes" bullshit.
10:50 EST - Reverse hex-in-effex never fails. Jason Campbell throws his first INT of the season.
10:53 EST - Check that. We have football's longest challenge in existence going on now. Washington claims Pittsburgh defender never demonstrated possession before losing the football. Expect a decision to be rendered some time around tomorrow morning.
10:55 EST - It's official. Jason Campbell is no longer perfect.
11:00 EST - 3 quarters in the books w/ Pittsburgh establishing their will now. I don't know how Hotrod became the most popular Steelers fan at FedEx Field, but ESPN always feels the need to zoom their cameras on him when the Steelers have a productive play.
11:05 EST - After observing Ben Roethlisberger & Mike Tomlin in the same picture, they both need to turn their hats the opposite way. Tomlin is as bad-ass as a coach gets. Meanwhile, Roethlisberger looks ridiculous with his hat turned backwards. Once you injure yourself in a motorcycle accident, you cease the right to turn your hat backwards, especially if you don't wear a helmet.
11:09 EST - It's turned into a rout now. Another drive led by Byron Leftwich for a Pittsburgh TD. 23-6 lead in the 4th quarter as FedEx Heinz Field begins to clear out. We can all sleep soundly tonight knowing in the future, such legends like Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly will be forced to say "President Obama."
11:17 EST - Steelers give Redskins life after a roughing-the-passer penalty on 4th down which wouldn't have been flagged 15 years ago.
11:20 EST - Washington may close the gap momentarily. But burning 2 early timeouts will come back and bite them later.
11:24 EST - Line Judge or Field Judge forces another batch of commercials while Pittsburgh challenges (and will win it) a rushing TD by Jason Campbell. His knee was down about a light year from the goal line. 4th and goal coming up.
11:30 EST - Redskins head coach Jim Zorn screws the pooch with a play-action call on 4th down. The only spectator faked out was owner Daniel Snyder. All the Steelers need to do is bleed the clock dry. And I'm outta here like Vladimir.
Headed out to a party that will last into the month of November. With that, I present the last addition to Rocktober and Pat Burrell acknowledging a few diehard fans of his along the parade route.
- Head-Cold
- 2 victory laps around the complex
- Out of Shape
- Crying
- Red-faced
- Wide-eyed
- I love everyone, everywhere
- You all are such wonderful people...except for the Dallas Cowboys
- Life IS Good
My blowtorch was at the ready last night for the culmination of a baseball season for the ages. 25 years of bitter frustration were about to disappear into an abyss leaving a community of long-time bleeders with everlasting bliss. Ah, but a funny thing happened on the way to City Hall in the form of a Nor'easter storm rivaled only by a similar plague in Egypt.
The bumbling commissioner once again used all his might to deflect the blame for baseball's latest gaffe onto others, and left us all out in the cold quite literally. Before I turned in for the night, I experienced a fatalistic vision not uncommon to the brethren of Philadelphia of a Tampa Bay DEVIL Rays celebration inside the wreckage also known as Tropicana Field, with all 9 season ticket holders charging the field.
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