Sox billboard in the news

Every year, the Red Sox have a huge billboard on top on Fenway Park that is easily visible from the Mass Pike. This year's billboard shows three fans celebrating with Trot Nixon. The Red Sox organization selected the photo without any knowledge of the fans' identities, but it turns out that the one of the left in the red t-shirt, Dennis Thomson, was killed in a car accident last year by an alleged drunk driver. Obviously, his parents were shocked to see their dead son on a billboard, but they found it to be a worthy tribute to a devoted Sox fan. In an article in the Boston Herald, the mom says “Leave it to him to be the life of the party even now.”

via Bostonist

Friday Photo

Another repeat offender here, and no, this picture wasn't taken in the 1950's.

The prettiest flower in the pond

Here's an article from the Washington Post about U.S. figure skating champion Johnny Weir, who said that after winning the Nationals in January, he felt like the "prettiest flower in the pond." I just so happened to be watching TV when he won the nationals, and although I mocked his choice of outfit, I was impressed by his skating and look forward to seeing him in the Olympics. Even in men's figure skating circles, Weir is considered a flamboyant eccentric. It's an interesting article, and I was impressed by the overt support Weir has received from his parents, a high school football player and a cheerleader from rural Pennsylvania. Here's how the article ends:

"My child's not weird," he (Weir's father) told a reporter when queried about Johnny's reputation. "Everyone else is."

via The Sports Guy daily links

Forget Kobe vs. Shaq

There's a new NBA feud brewing...Mavericks owner Mark Cuban posted an entry entitled I Own Phil Jackson on his blog. Yes, that's right, Mark Cuban has a blog. Even though he's a dork who doesn't believe in apostrophes, I secretly like Cubes. He's a crazed fan who became a multimillionaire and then bought his favorite team, and he does whatever he thinks it takes to make them better and fun to watch.

Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels

I am certainly not a reader of trashy romance novels, unless you count those preteen ones that always had a girl's name for the title, like Elizabeth or Katherine, and the story about the heroine was based on some sort of historical theme with a heavy side of romance, like the girl who wanted to go west in covered wagons so she cut her hair off and pretended to be a boy and it worked until she fell in love with her handsome wagonmate. I know I'm not the only one who read these things. Anyways, the website Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels reviews trashy harlequin romance novels, and best of all, critiques their cover art. It's sort of like Go Fug Yourself for soft-core fantasy novel covers.
For example:

Dammit, how do these cover artists know that my wildest dreams involve a corpse with testicular elephantitis wearing a scabies-infested robe and slinging his gear in an electric blue speedo?

via Sore Eyes

What's Goin On

Law and Order cop Jesse L. Martin will play Marvin Gaye in the upcoming movie biography "Sexual Healing." Holy crap, Marvin Gaye was killed by his own father? That's messed up. And how did I not know that?
Since Jesse L. Martin sang and danced in Rent, I'm assuming he will do his own singing in the movie, a la Jamie Foxx and Joaquin Phoenix. As an aside, do you think that if I ran into Joaquin Phoenix and called him Leaf he would become furious, thinking that I was mocking him, or would he recognize it as a term of endearment and then we'd start making out? Either way, I'll definitely go see the Marvin Gaye movie when it comes out.

The gym nemesis strikes again

Remember my gym nemesis? Well, he was at the gym again yesterday and committed his worst offense yet. He dripped sweat on me! I was minding my own business, doing crunches on a mat on the ground, and he got off one of the machines and walked by, obviously WAY TOO CLOSE because he was practically hovering over me, and the next thing I know, I felt nemesis sweat droplets hitting my skin. Yuck.

Good news for the lactose intolerant

1. Cheddar cheese is lactose free! Rejoice! Apparently, during the processing of cheddar and other hard cheeses, all lactose is broken down. Check the label to make sure- if it says 0g sugars, you are good to go.

2. Here's a link with a bunch of lactose free recipes. I haven't tried any yet, but the pumpkin bread one looks tasty.

3. I have discovered a soy yogurt that doesn't taste like ass. O'Soy, by Stonyfield Farm. I found it in my regular grocery store, so you don't even need to go to a specialty shop. I haven't eaten regular yogurt in about ten years, so I can't say it tastes exactly like it, but the O'soy is pretty yummy and I'm happy to add some variety to my lunches.

Cheddar and soy yogurt, paving the way for a future free from explosive diarrhea.

Poland

I have been reading the novel Poland, by James A. Michener, for the last month. Normally, I plow through books, so most books only last me a few days, but this one was so densely written that I only got through a few pages at a time. Poland the book is about, well, Poland the country, and traces the turbulent history of the nation across centuries by following three families: one a wealthy member of the nobility, one a member of the landed gentry, and one a peasant family in indebted servitude to the landowners. I knew relatively nothing about Polish history and culture before reading this book, and found my self completely drawn in by the story and I'm now on a big-time Poland kick. I discovered a Polish restaurant in my very own neighborhood and I'm planning to go sometime this week. Apparently, I'm not the only one who became obsessed with Poland after reading this book. My grandmother's name was written on the inside cover (I found the book at my parents' house) so I called her up to tell that I read it and really enjoyed it. She told me that after reading it, she became fascinated with Poland and even went there twice on vacation, and that she "no longer laughs at Polish jokes because the Poles have suffered greatly." Now I'm curious to read other books by Michener. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for the collection Tales of the South Pacific, which later was adapted for the musical South Pacific.

Best Oscar contest prize ever

Enter my former roomate and current Web-Goddess' Oscar contest and you could win your very own gay cowboy sock monkeys!

Super Sunday

The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks to win Superbowl XL (that's 40, not Extra Large). The game itself wasn't that spectacular- the AFC championship when the Steelers beat the Colts was more exciting. I watched the game at Phil and Sue's house and indulged in a super feast that included chili, mini hot dogs, snickerdoodles, rice krispy treats, chips and dip, and a salad, my theory being that ending the night with a salad would counteract and erase all prior consumption of unhealthy foodstuffs. I won $10 after the first quarter but then lost a dollar on a bet I made for halftime. I wagered that the Stones would play Start Me Up, Satisfaction, and their cover of Ain't Too Proud To Beg as a tribute to Detroit motown, and I lost (hah- gambled and lost) despite having correctly identified two or three songs. We also had a discussion on if/when people would have slept with Mick Jagger. I put the over-under at 1985: I would definitely sleep with the pre-1985 Jagger but not post-1985 Jagger, and heaven forbid the current Jagger. I'd still do Keith Richards, though. Kidding. As for commercials, I liked the Bud ones (the magic fridge and the streaking shorn sheep were both hilarious) and Sprint had a couple of good ones (theft deterrent phone), but overall, there were too many TV promos and too much tackling. I like physical comedy as much as the next girl, but come on, come up with something new. At some level, any ad with tackling seems to be a pale imitation of the Terry Tate office linebacker bit.

Boston Biolab approved

The new Level 4 biolab at BU received federal approval yesterday. The facility will conduct biomedical research on agents of infectious disease such as anthrax and Ebola, and has been very controversial. Since my boss is the scientific director, I've seen a lot of the behind-the-scenes planning and protesting. I am fully supportive of the laboratory and I believe that it will provide scientists with a great opportunity to studies level 4 infectious diseases, many of which predominantly affect third-world populations. Hooray, science! I'm not looking forward to busting through lines of protesters on my way to work, though.

This video rendered me speechless

Watch and see. Warning: Contains audio and The Hoff
Happy Friday, everyone!

send to me via Phil, who doesn't get a link because he doesn't have a blog, but he does love The Hoff

P.S. my favorite part is when the Hoff is flying through the air with the geese

Back to the funny stuff

Watch this parody of Brokeback Mountain- Brokeback to the Future. You'll never look at Back to the Future Part III in exactly the same way, if, for some strange reason, you decide to watch that movie again. I actually remember going to see it in the movie theater with my cousins and our moms, way back in 1990.
from Freakgirl

Oh yeah, and it just crossed my radar that the Pres is against "human-animal hybrids." There goes my new idea for a thesis project: creating a centaur.

Oh, the irony

Palestinian gunmen shut down an EU office in Gaza today, protesting the controversial political cartoon depicting Mohammad with a bomb as a turban that has been published in various newspapers throughout Europe.

From the article:
The gunmen left a notice on the EU office's door that the building would remain closed until Europeans apologize to Muslims, many of whom consider the cartoons offensive. Mask-wearing members of the militant group Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of former Palestinian ruling party Fatah, fired bullets into the air and a man read the group's demands. Palestinian officials said the gunmen were threatening to kidnap European workers if the European Union did not apologize.

Um, hello? This behavior (Using religion to justify death and violence) is exactly what the cartoon, offensive as it may be, was making fun of! Hey, we Christians have done it for centuries, I'm not solely picking on Muslims. I wonder if this sort of thing makes the average Muslim cringe the way I do when I hear about some religious right nutjob using the bible to justify killing gay people or whatever. Probably.

No word on whether or not suicide bombers are planning to protest the fact that they were depicted as Ted Kennedy and John Kerry in a recent Boston Herald cartoon.

Yes, these cartoons are incendiary and offensive, but so is the treatment of women in many Arab nations (zing!). I haven't actually seen the original cartoon, but I'm sure it is distasteful at best and racist at worst, but either way, I'm siding with freedom of speech on this issue. It's Salman Rushdie all over again.

I wish there was onomatopoeia for the din-dun Law & Order sound so I could make it the title of this post

Look...Law & Order: SVU valentines! I especially like the "We make a great team!" with Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni because I heart both of them.

via 6togo

In other notes of the day, one of my coworkers and I decided to hit Mike's City Diner in the South End for a 7AM greasy breakfast before work, only to have our boss show up and sit at the table right next to us. Needless to say, we didn't do any complaining about work...

And bad news, people. Six more weeks of winter.

List #20...Top 10 bands from Boston

10. tie: New Edition/NKOTB (Thank Boston for introducing the world to boy bands and Bobby Brown )
9. The Lemonheads (Evan Dando is like, sooo cute)
8. Mighty Mighty Bosstones (ska is so 1997 but these guys did it best)
7. The Breeders
6. Buffalo Tom
5. Boston (cheesy classic rock guitar riff goodness)
4. J. Geils Band (if only for the live version of Musta Got Lost)
3. Dresden Dolls (punk cabaret rocks so hard)
2. The Pixies
1. Aerosmith

Oooh, look at these cute new stamps

Don't recognize some of your old friends? You can find their bios here.

And the Academy Award nomination goes to...

Oscar nominations are out. Although I've only seen a few of the movies (still hoping to catch Munich), here are my picks for the major categories:
Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix
Best Actress: Keira Knightley
Best Supporting Actor: Matt Dillon
Best Supporting Actress: Michelle Williams

I have a couple of requests. Could everyone please stop referring to "Oscar" as if Oscar were an actual person? As in: "Oscar likes films that focus on the internal struggles of a comnplex character." Stop that! And could Rachel Weisz please not win? The Constant Gardener stunk and her character in that movie was FREAKIN ANNOYING. Also, I thought Matt Dillon did a great acting job in Crash, but I'm suprised that the movie was nominated for so much- it was way too preachy for me. I'll definitely enter the annual Web-Goddess Oscar contest, as well as an Oscar betting pool, which I just so happened to win last year, run by a non-blogging friend.

State of the Apartment

It has been an astounding year for the apartment. We began with domestic reform, starting with the living room and Eileen's bedroom, and extending to the replacement of the kitchen chairs. The apartment is working hard in hopes of one day attaining the goal of actually purchasing new furniture from a store. Over the past year, the apartment has faced the threat of terrorism, primarily of the murine persuasion. We overcame this threat with the help of a feline ally. However, like our predecessors, the apartment learned that the enemy of its enemy is not necessarily its friend, and after accusations of torture and acts of urinary sabotage, our former ally was deported. The apartment also managed to overcome evildoers who sought to sully its reputation for their own financial gain. New alliances were formed, and the apartment benefited from the free trade agreement with the Irish neighbors, which resulted in the acquisition of kitchen chairs, lamps, and assorted articles of clothing at the small cost of a donkey costume and occasional leftovers. The economy has struggled, but the apartment has taken steps to curtail the rising debt. The apartment continues to work towards a brighter future, a future devoid of debt, a future decorated by Pottery Barn or at least Crate and Barrel and Target, and a future that comforts residents and entertains guests. You ask what is the state of the apartment, and I will answer: The state of the apartment is that it is strong, and it will prevail!