James is...

A couple of my fellow bloggers performed Google searches on their names with the word "is" added to the search criteria, and posted the top ten results on their blogs.

Here's what I found out about myself when searching "James is."

• James is still employed by the Red Sox


• James is apparently fat, old and ugly


• James is good


• James is sympathetic both to the idea that the universe is something we can...


• James is at pains to deny that


• James is the Sidney Crosby of hockey blogging


• James is publishing denegrating info about us on his website


• James is currently working on a book


• James is also an official curry monster


• James, is adaptive and functional

This Year's Oscar Picks

Chuck and I have posted our Oscar picks for this year.

You can see them, and the results, here.

Traveling with Style

I will confess that my daughter has more style than I do. She is always on the go, jetting across the country earning more air miles in a year than I accrued during the first 35 years of my life.

She is pictured here at the Atlanta airport, having disembarked a commuter plane and on her way into the terminal for a connecting flight to Seattle.


Jumper and crew neck shirt by Gymboree. Luggage by Ruff Ruffman.

Images from the Past - Toonces

After a day of flea-marketing, Jolly picks up a kitten and names it "Toonces." The kitten lived with Jolly and Terry and me for a while. Then Toonces lived with me and moved to Seattle.

Once, Toonces became entrapped in the tuned port of one of Terry's giant custom-made stereo speakers.
Left to right: Toonces, Jolly, George and Alan.

Today's Kitchen Tip

My daughter reminds us all to make sure you label all your frozen foods.

Pictured: a frozen steak in a Ziploc freezer bag carefully labeled by a six-year-old.

Got a Book 123

Though not officially tagged by Rickwell, I picked up the top book on my table after reading these words from Rick's blog:

• Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!
• Find Page 123.
• Find the first 5 sentences.
• Post the next 3 sentences.
• Tag 5 people.

This is what I read on page 123 of Mere Anarchy, beginning with sentence six:

Touched by this request for some measure of genuine coin of the realm, Pepkin terminated his treatment, and on the advice of some shyster he plays eight ball with sued me for malpractice.

Unable to handle the sudden downsizing and the hardship that accured when Bergdorf's amputated her charge account, Foxy Brietbart exchanged me even up for an anorexic four-eyed pipsqueak whose computer-chip parent catapulted him, at twenty-five, seven notches above the Sultan of Brunei on a certain list in Forbes. Meanwhile, I was left with a trunkful of sheet music with titles like "The Earthworms of Tuscanny" and "At the Speleologists Ball."

Zen and the Art of Not Caring About the Super Bowl

Huh. I should try not caring more often. Not investing myself emotionally in Sunday's Super Bowl led me to cheer for New York by default, and I ultimately enjoyed the upset. A great final quarter.

Oh - and despite my previous post, I did, as it turned out, have an interest in the coin toss. I had the Giants to win the coin toss, the Patriots to score first, that Brady would not throw and interception, that the Pats would give up the game's first turn-over, that the cameras would show Peyton Manning, I had the Giants making the most field goals, and New England up at the half.

All in all, a nice time was had by all.

And Mitsuru never came home.

Super Bowl Sunday Here Again

Super Bowl Sunday has come round again, and we return to the Mid-Yo's for our annual Super Bowl gathering. I whipped up a cauldron of creamy home-made clam chowder and some artichoke crab dip (my wife reminded me I forgot to add the garlic -- oh well) while listening to the foreboding score to There Will Be Blood (a fantastic movie, by the way) on XM.

My daughter asked me who we are rooting for in today's game. Seattle is out. The Packers, out. Any other team I have an inclination toward, out. Since I don't like the Pats I am pulling for the Giants by default, so I told my daughter, cheer for New York. They have the blue helmets with "ny" printed on them.

It's too bad I don't care about this year's game. The Seattle-Pittsburgh match-up of two years ago made for a good gathering, particularly in this town. And last year, having been in Chicago in the weeks (and week) leading up to Super Bowl XLI it was a no-brainer going for the bears. But seeing as I have a tendency to pull for the underdog (and eventual loser) I suppose that even by my reluctant support of the Giants they are doomed to failure.

I have no bets on the game, though these days you can place bets on the coin toss, on who scores first, and so on and so on. It's crazy. At least I have the commercials to look forward to.

HELP ME

Each year I participate in the MS Walk, an important charitable function for me as my grandmother suffered from multiple sclerosis and two dear people who have been in my life are presently battling the disease.

My friend Jennie is doing a heroic job of fighting her condition, while at the same time raising a toddler and taking care of a husband who works many hours at a challenging job.

If you click on the link to the right, you will go to my MS page. At this writing I am 0% toward my goal of raising $250, and I would love to raise much more.

Help us out. Five dollars, ten dollars, whatever you can do. Every little bit helps.

You can donate on-line or email me and I can send you an address if you wish, to mail your support.

Thanks in advance to all who join me in seeking an end to multiple sclerosis.

All Hat and No Cattle

My last night in Dallas I went to a rather well-respected local steakhouse (one with the word "cattle" in its name), and ordered a ribeye cooked medium rare.

When the steak was presented it immediately had the appearance of something well-done. But a little searing on the outside that belies a cool, red center is okay with me.

But it was not to be. The steak was not only well-done, but very well-done. It was awful, and I consumed but three or four small bites. When the waitress returned to the table, she could sense by displeasure and realized, by looking at the cut, that it had not been prepared to my specifications. When she asked me, "You don't like the steak?" I replied, "It's all hat and no cattle, friendo."

Images from the Past

Carowinds amusement park, 1986.

From left to right: me, George, Fred.

Call it, Friendo

Quoted from the Urban Dictionary (used without permission): Friendo - An intimidating word you use when you want to shake down or scare someone who actually isn't really a friend.

"Call it, friendo."

- Anton Chigurh (played by Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men), to an old, simple convenience store proprietor after flipping a coin to determine whether the old man lives or dies. Bardem is the favorite to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as the cold, money-seeking hit man.

From Dallas, Texas

Ah, the great state of Texas, where everything is big, including my dinner bill last night.

I received a challenge this week which I will attempt to meet with courage and honor: Mike challenged me to use the phrase “all hat and no cattle” at least once while I am in Dallas. And that I must call someone "Friendo."

I shall make every effort, and report back in this space on my success.

In the mean time, pardner, it's back to work with me.

Images from the Past

Jolly gets his American Express Card. The year was 1989, and I lived with Jolly and Terry in a little house on State Street in Cayce.

That's Randall pictured with Jolly and his AMEX card.

Shortly after this photo was taken, Jolly exclaimed, "Kick it!" and purchased a new set of drums, a Ford Mustang, and a selection of items from the 59/69/79 cents value menu at Taco Bell.

Stuck in the Snow

My friend Matt sent me a few pictures from our recent snowmobiling trip to Hyak, Washington, in the Cascade Mountains. That's Matt's sled sunk in six feet of fresh powder, and that's me trying to dig it out.

Farwell to Favorite Toonsmiths

I have been reading the David Michaelis's book on Charles Schulz, which I am enjoying very much. I have always enjoyed Peanuts, since I was a small child, and Schulz's humor and insight instilled in me a love of cartoons that I carry even until this day.

Schulz died in February of 2000 with instructions that no new artists would ever be allowed to draw or create Peanuts comic strips, though new animated television specials, taken from stories previously crafted by Schulz in his comic strip, will continue to be produced.

We have lost several other cartoonists in the last year whose work I have admired:

• Joseph Barbara, the famed television animator, created and produced memorable shows like The Jetsons and The Flintstones.
• Doug Marlette, a political cartoonist who won the Pulitzer Prize, was widely known for the comic strip Kudzu.
• In April both Brant Parker, 86, and Johnny Hart, 76, died. Parker and Hart created the Wizard of ID and Hart alone was responsible for B.C.
• Iwao Takamoto, creator of Scooby Doo.

And in an unusual and controversial twist, Lisa Moore, a character in the daily comic strip Funky Winkerbean, who was married to perennial favorite Les Moore, died of breast cancer in October.

A Few More Photos from Christmas

A tired child after a busy day, Christmas lights at Disney-MGM Studios, dinner at the drive-in, and goofing over breakfast at Mickey's Kitchen.

A Few Pictures from Christmas at Disney World

The Wilderness Lodge, Cinderella's castle at night, Main Street USA decorated for Christmas, and my daughter and I at the Disney MGM Studios park.

Recent New York Times

Thanks to Tim Hill for the image.

The Year 2008 Arrives!

And here are a few other things that arrived this morning:

• The newspaper.
• A new Washington minimum wage of $8.07.
• A 2007 "wrap-up" column in newspapers nationwide from the mostly-silent Dave Barry.
• The Twilight Zone marathon on the Sci-Fi channel.
• Collard greens and black eyed peas.
• Colds for two of us in the household.
• A new service package from DirecTV.
• A leap year.
• The end of sending and receiving text messages in motor vehicles in Washington state: "texting" is now illegal.
• The Chinese Year of the Rat bringing prosperity with a side of egg rolls to all who embrace the DVD release of Ratatouille.

Oh yes - and a very Happy New Year to you all, of course!