my own worst enemy

Where's the pet store in this mall??

Thursday, March 30, 2006

The other night I was stuck down in Huntington Beach for band rehearsal and had some time to kill. So I jump in the car and drove to the nearest mall. I really have nothing in mind that I want to buy, but I figure I rarely see real people now that I work exclusively with engineers, so it might be a nice change of pace.

As soon as I walk in it dawns on me that every mall has a pet store. Seeing as how it was my birthday, what better gift to myself than to go see puppies? Sure, they're puppies that I can't have, so it's sort of torture in a way, but in a good way. Like masochism. Not that I'm into that.

I start circling the mall, searching for the inevitable store window full of yipping dogs and packed with people cooing over them. I make it around the first floor with no luck, so I move up to the second floor. I'm nearing the end of the circuit and I'm starting to get frustrated. What kind of a mall is this, that doesn't have a pet store? I finally decide to consult a map (I've been on the phone with Ginger this whole time so I haven't been in any hurry). I quickly locate the only pet store on the map and discover that I walked by it several times on the first floor. The best part? It's name is Indogneato! Brilliant! No wonder I couldn't find it!

It took me another five minutes and two wrong hallways to finally locate this store. They really take their pun on incognito seriously! Upon arriving, I find that the store is in fact all dogs, and is in fact neat.

Let's revisit the facts here. All dogs + neat store + hard to find = Indogneato!

I can oly hope that someday I will posess half the genius the founder of that store posesses, or that I become half the tool I am today.

Author: Goat » Comments:

Event Horizon

Monday, March 27, 2006

Function: noun

1. the surface of a black hole
2. the boundary of a black hole at which the escape velocity equals the speed of light and beyond which nothing can escape from within it

The definition above is taken directly from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, and almost perfectly describes the situation in whiwch we all now find ourselves.

We are on an event horizon. We've been heading toward it for some time now at break-neck speed. The bad news is, we're accelerating with every passing day and there's no escape. Some of us have seen it coming for some time now and have tried to make the most of our remaining time by attending bowl games, tailgating in freezing temperatures, filling out brackets and coming down with a case of March Madness. But our revelries will soon end.

The Black Hole of Sports. A time when the great sports of the athletic world fall into hibernation and the lesser sports feed on the hunger and desires of fans across this great nation. Sports like NASCAR, NBA basketball, baseball, and golf (the Diet Coke of sports; just one calorie, not athletic enough) plague our televisions and infiltrate the highlight reels of SportsCenter. Video clips of water-skiing squirrels are necessary to fill out the Top Ten list of plays due to the wholly unexciting nature of this season. It is a pestilence upon Americans everywhere.

And while most of us have seen it coming for some time, there are others who are blind to its arrival. They are an infected race, and were mostly likely infected by their ancestors before them. They will tell you that 117 games in a season does not make any one game less important. They will tell you that it matters whether Kobe or LeBron scores more points. They will tell you that a green jacket is more precious than cutting down nets. Do not be fooled by these people, they will try to infect you, too.

The end is near. We are nearing our own rift in the sports-time continuum and there is nothing we can do about it except hope that we make it through the wormhole that gets us back to the universe of real sports. Until then, we'll have to rely on the World Cup to get us through it all.

Author: Goat » Comments:

Things to do before leaving LA

Sunday, March 26, 2006

So I was having a conversation with my good friend Pangle and we decided that we needed to come up with a list of things to do before we leave Los Angeles. I mean, it is a huge town with a ton of things going on, and it's uber-close to a lot of attractions and National Parks, so we should be living it up! So here's what I have so far. This is a living list, so check back often to see if anything has been added or crossed off.

Oh, and feel free to suggest things to do!

Athletic Events

• Attend a Dodgers game
• Attend an LMU basketball game
• Attend a UCLA basketball game at Pauley Pavillion
• Attend a USC basketball game
• Attend a UCLA football game in the Rose Bowl
• Attend a Notre Dame/USC football game in the Colliseum
• Attend the Grand Prix of Long Beach
• Attend a Mexican wrestling match/Burlesque show
• Attend a LA Galaxy game
• Attend a US Soccer Team game
  

Artsy/Touristy Stuff

• Visit the Getty Center
• Visit the Getty Villa
  
• See the Watts Towers
• See the Hollywood sign
• Walk behind the Hollywood sign
• See the Walk of Fame
• See someone famous in public: Trevor Einhorn (from Sons & Daughters)
• Tour a movie studio
• Visit the Griffith Observatory
• See movie at the Arclave or Chinese Theatre (I am Legend at Chinese)
• Ride the Ferris Wheel on the Santa Monica Pier
• Go to Magic Mountain (Six Flags)
• Go to Disneyland
• Go to a club in Hollywood(Falcon)
• See the LA Philharmonic Orchestra perform
• Go sailing
• Go to Catalina Island
• Go on a whale watching tour
• Actually see a whale on a whale watching tour
• Go to Amoeba music store

Food & Restaurants

• Eat at Tito's Tacos
• Eat at The Old Spaghetti Factory
• Eat at Pink's Hor Dog stand
  
• Eat at Roscoe's Chicken 'n Waffles
• Eat at Mel's Diner
  

Travel

• Drive up Pacific Coast Highway in a convertible
• Go wine tasting in Napa & Sonoma Valleys
• Visit Joshua Tree National Park
• Visit Sequoia National Park
• Visit Yosemite National Park
• Go to Las Vegas
• Lose money gambling in Las Vegas
• Win money gambling in Las Vegas
• Visit the San Diego Zoo
• See the Gaslight District in San Diego
• Visit Tijuana, Mexico (driving through was visit enough)
• Go to a Giants game in San Francisco
• Go to an A's game in Oakland
  

Sports Activities

• Surf Malibu
• Surf Venice Beach
• Surf El Porto
• Surf Manhattan Beach
• Surf Redondo Beach
• Surf Huntington Beach
• Surf San Onofre
• Play basketball at the basketball courts at Venice Beach
• Go skiing at Mammoth or similar nearby ski resort
• Go white-water rafting on Kern River
• Go ocean kayaking
• Camp in Malibu
• Camp on Catalina Island
  

Author: Goat » Comments:

I've been tagged

Thursday, March 23, 2006

I haven't been participating in Blog World for a few weeks now (for several reasons, of which I will inform you later), so I decided to go catch on my friend's blogs. And wouldn't you know it, I got "tagged" by my friend Steph. So I guess I'll continue this crazy yet unnecessary internet fad!

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. Systems Engineer - Northrop Grumman (Los Angeles, CA)
2. Teaching Assistant - Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN)
3. Engineering Intern - Boeing Satellite Systems (El Segundo, CA)
4. Cashier - Furrow Building Materials (Middletown, KY)

Four movies I could watch over and over:

1. The Hunt for Red October ("A god-damned cook!")
2. Tombstone ("I have two guns, one for each of ya.")
3. Super Troopers ("Mother of God.")
4. Rocky IV ("I must crush you.")

Five places I have lived:

1. Crestwood, KY
2. South Bend, IN
3. Lafayette, IN
4. Marina Del Rey, CA
5. El Segundo, CA

Five TV shows I love to watch:

1. The Office
2. My Name is Earl
3. South Park
4. Scrubs
5. Lost

Four websites I visit daily:

1. NDNation Backroom
2. CNN.com
3. Google Mail
4. Fark.com

Five places I have been on vacation:

1. Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Denmark)
2. Pawley's Island, SC (pre-Hurricae Hugo)
3. Jekyll Island, GA
4. Sanibel Island, FL
5. Denver, CO

Four of my favorite foods:

1. Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce
2. Country Fried Steak w/ white gravy
3. BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich with cornbread
4. Sweet Tea

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Louisville, KY
2. South Bend (visiting the Animal House crew)
3. Bora Bora (why not?)
4. Surfing (instead of working)

Four friends I am tagging:

1. AniMal
2. Lizett
3. Booter
4. Nips

Author: Goat » Comments:

March Sadness

For those of you who know me well, you know that this is normally one of my favorite times of the year. Why? Sixty-three games of the greatest sport crammed into three weekends. It's a veritable orgy of finger rolls and buzzer beaters, alley-oops and cinderella stories. And normally I'm all about it.

But this year that's not the case.

You see, I have three teams I root for in the college basketball world: the University of Louisville Cardinals, and the Notre Dame Men's and Women's teams. Of those three teams, only one remains in post-season play (Louisville).

To be honest, all three teams were pretty mediocre this year. I actually stopped keeping up with the ND Women's team about two thirds of the way through the season; not because I was angry with them for being mediocre, but because I ran out of time and energy to keep up with them and both men's teams. It's kind of a shame, too, since it seems from the stats and awards that Megan Duffy (aka, "Tiger Teeth") had a great senior year. It's just too the team as a whole was having as great of a year. They finished the regular season on a three game winning streak with a record of 18-10. They made it to the second round of the Big East Tournament by beating South Florida, but ended up losing to arch-rival Connecticut for the second time this year. Then, in a lack-luster performance they fell in the first round of the NCAAs to red-headed stepchild Boston College. Final record: 19-12.

The Irish men had probably the most frustrating season of any team in Division I-A ball. They had 10 losses in the regular season by a combined total of 31 points. They played in four regular season overtime games, two of which were double overtimes. The season wasn't all bad tidings, though. Chris Quinn became the leader that he could never be with that ball-hog Chris Thomas on the court, and Torin Francis finally stepped up and became the big man at the post he should have been his sophomore year. The team eked out a bid to the Big East Tournament, but faired no better than during the regular season, losing a close game to Georgetown. An NCAA bid was out of the question, but the NIT extended an invitation to the not-so-lucky Irish. As a five seed, Notre Dame beat Vanderbilt in the first round, but ended their season in a way that seemed only fitting: losing to Michigan on a buzzer-beater three pointer in double overtime. Final record,

The Cardinals came into this season with a high ranking thanks to last year's Final Four berth, but it did not last for long. After playing a brutally easy out-of-conference schedule, Louisville entered gruelling Big East play for the first time. They started conference play with a paultry 2-6 record and were soon bottom-feeding for a Big East tournament bid. Despite a close loss to UConn in the season closer, wins over old C-USA foes Marquette and DePaul ensured a trip to Madison Square Gardens. The Cardinals came out extremely sluggish against Pitt and soon accumulated a 28-point deficit. The clawed back in the second half and with under a minute to go were only down by three. That would be as close as they got, however, as they watched their NCAA berth fly away. The NIT was more than happy to invite the Cardinals to come play and ranked them as a one seed. So far Louisville has wins over Deleware St., Clemson and Missouri St., and will face rival Cincinnati in the semi-finals next week. The Cards lost a lot of great players last year, so it's not surprising to see all the makings of a rebuilding season evidence themselves in the statistics. The team is getting better and will be a force to be reckoned with next year. The only thing sad about this season is that Taquan Dean is a senior. The kid is all heart and gives 100% every game; he deserves better than a 12-loss season on his way out. Let's hope he can at least get an NIT championship in there.

Author: Goat » Comments:

Cute & Cuddlies

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Thesis: Adam Morrison is uglier than the Eborsisk (the two-headed monster from the movie Willow).



Disprove it.

Author: Goat » Comments: