A Message From Stephen Hawking

So, I just discovered audioblogging. What a cool feature. Well, in honor of this new discovery, I invited a special celebrity to record the first audioblog on my site. So, please enjoy!

Crickets and taxes

Last night my car started making the strangest noise. I have worked around cars for a long time and never have I heard something like this. It sounded like there was a big-a cricket living in the vents. I'm talking huge. I don't imagine that I am going to hear it again, but if I do, I can only imagine trying to explain it to the mechanic.

Mechanic: "So, what seems to be the problem?"
Me: "It sounds like there is a cricket living in my car."
Mechanic: "Hmm... Is it a big cricket?"
Me: "Yes."
Mechanic: "Possibly a mutated cricket?"
Me: (Exasperated) "Possibly. Can you fix it?"
Mechanic: "It'll cost you $750, plus the can of Raid."

So I guess what that means is that I need to get my tax return if I am going to be able to pay the mechanic. Which is precisely what I dreamed about last night. After a rousing game of water hockey (imagine water polo with hockey sticks that are mostly used to hit people), I decided to do my taxes. What the crap! I dream about doing my taxes. So much for being a with-it kind of guy. Although I guess I gave that up when I moved to Provo.

Friday Night Treat

Tonight I am treating myself to something that I haven't done in months... watching Conan (the Irishman not the Barbarian). Considering that I have a drawing of his head on my keychain, it is suprising how little I have watched his show lately... I guess breaking my Conan fast is part of some well needed rest. I have been traveling all week long and have been fighting a cold, so I have been pretty cranky. Add to that a ton of frustration at certain aspects of my life not going in the way I have wanted them to and there you go. That's me. I must admit that watching Conan is really just icing on the cake. Today has been pretty cathartic already. I went with a friend to go see Kalai, who other than some pretty inane comments between songs (an understatement), is a pretty good performer. After the concert, we got into this conversation where we talked about a lot without going into much detail, which normally doesn't help with the frustration, but surprisingly this time it did. So T, thanks.

Well, I was going to blog about more stuff, and some of it was pretty funny, but I'm tired, and Conan is starting, so I'll see you suckas later.

Out of town

So, I have been out of town for the past week. It has been pretty crazy. Just to give you an idea, here is my flightplan:

SLC to PHX
PHX to STL
STL to SLC
SLC to LGB

And then a drive from Long Beach to Provo. But, anyway, both the trips to St. Louis and Long Beach were great. I loved WashU, and the weather in LGB was awesome (we pretty much went from the hottest part of the country to the coldest. Yay!). I also found out that I have been accepted to the University of Washington and they want me to fly out to visit. So, in honor of this news, I have upgraded my little logo chart (v. 2.0) to give all you guys an idea of how these things are going.


Anyway, the checks mean I have been invited to interview, the x is a rejecction, the green thumbs up mean acceptance (by them, I'll use a different logo for the school I select) and the ? should be obvious. For those of you who don't know what the actual school seals are, here's the list from left to right, top to bottom:

• Washington University in St. Louis (WashU)
• The Sackler Institute at NYU Med School
• University of Washington
• Boston University
• North Carolina State University
• The National Institutes of Health

Well, there it is. Enjoy! I should be blogging more often now that I am back in town.

Up too late...

Well, I did it again. I'm up too late. I have been programming all day long and I finally finished my project. Yay! I think that the coolest thing that I did today was learn how to use a debugger. Sad to say, I have been doing things the hard way for so long (hmm....), but now I have a new toy! What? Knight Rider is off the air! OK, so I am a bit behind the times...

Please disregard this post.

Too much Hullabaloo

So yesterday, as I was catching up on a bit of reading about my beloved Seahhawks, I ran across an article about a lawsuit that Texas A&M is bringing against Seattle for marketing "12th Man" products. Big deal. Seattle is known for stealing sports mottos. If I remember correctly, the rallying cry of the '95 Mariners was "Refuse to Lose" which we ripped off from some basketball team somewhere. Again I repeat, big deal. We have given this world Gary Larson, Nirvana, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Jimi Hendrix, The Presidents of the United States, Modest Mouse, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Starbucks, Microsoft (yeah, I know...), Costco, Amazon.com, Nordstrom, Boeing, Cinnabon, R.E.I., UPS, Red Robin, Nintendo, Bungie (Creators of Halo), the wave (here as well), Sir Mix-A-Lot, Bill Gates, Paul Allen (who owns the Seahawks), Richard Karn (Home Improvement's Al Borland), we have launched the careers of Ray Charles and Quincy Jones, play home (part time) to Dave Matthews, and are the burial place of Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee! I have a feeling if he were alive today that he would go Jeet Kune Do all over your legal documents. I'm sorry if we ripped off your slogan, but we have been too busy doing other things. Oh, by the way, thanks for giving us "Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck!" "Chig-gar-roo-gar-rem!" and "Gig 'em Aggies!" I use those all the time.

Anyway, where were your legal documents when we retired the #12 jersey in '84 and dedicated it to the "12th Man"? It wasn't until 2004 that we even heard anything from you. Why now rather than when we started the tradition in Seattle? You have been doing this a lot longer than we have, I'll give you that, but don't rain on our parade. We get enough of that already. According to your suit, you won't even let us say, "Thank You 12th Man" to all those who deserve it. I guess most Seattleites can just add this suit to the list of things they don't like from Texas. I'll finish my comments (eh, my rant) by quoting R.C. Merz, sandwich maker at Pike Place Market, who when asked if he thought Paul Allen and the Seahawks would be ok responded, "He can hire a good lawyer." You bet he can.

Grad School...

Well, I thought I might let all of you know what has been going on with grad school stuff. The past few days have been interesting, as I have been finding out who wants to interview with me. So, to make this fun, I thougt I would represent things in pictures (OK, fun for me, not you so much...). So, anyway, here are the pictures! I should mention that I haven't been accepted anywhere yet, but if there is nothing on the logo, I am interviewing with them. Anyway, enjoy!

Japanese Jetpacks, Moles and Pizza

I have often thought about blogging about relationships. I always come back to the thought that given my current location and station in life, it would just be too cliché, and therefore I don't. So, even though I have had occasion to spread some of my thought on the matter several times today, you won't find anything here, unless popular demand requests it. Just thought I would throw that one out there.

So, right now I am thinking of some good 'ol New York pizza and Arrested Development. I'll tackle my thoughts on the latter first (yes, I know, I always have to do things the hard way). I was reminded in an email about one of the funniest scenes I have ever seen and just thought I would put up a little bit of a preview for those of you out there who haven't seen the show (for those of you who have seen this, hopefully you found it as funny as I did). This photo comes from the-op.com, which is a pretty funny site if you are in to the show. If you go there, you might see where I got the inspiration for the name of my blog.

Well, as for the pizza... if you have ever had real NY pizza, you know what I am talking about. I had rice for dinner. No curry, no nothing, just rice. Maybe that explains why I am thinking about the pizza. If you are in New York right now (you know who you are), eat a slice for me, please. If you have a picture of me handy, don't hesitate to take it with you. I like am partial to sausage, white and anything with a good helping of basil.

Insert clever title here

Before I say anything else, let me just say, "Go Seahawks!" Ok, I said it. I have to confess that I am pretty darn excited about the Hawks first trip to the Super Bowl. When I was a kid, there were certain things that were just accepted: the Mariners would never go to the World Series, and the Seahawks would never go to the Super Bowl. Now if the M's could only prove me completely wrong. Patience, I know, patience. Obviously, I am picking Seattle to win, but the Steelers won't be easy to beat. They are the "team of destiny." They want it bad. Well, so do we. There aren't many things that get Seattleites going (other than double tall non-fat caramel macchiatos), but having lived through the '95 Mariners, I know how crazy Seattle can get about its sports. It is electric. Forget the fact that we are in the middle of nowhere (sports-wise), forget the fact that Seattle has only won one major championship (the '79 Sonics... OK, the Storm won too), all of that means aboslutely nothing. Anything can happen in the Super Bowl.

We become our parents

Well folks, if you haven't realized this before, we really do become our parents. Now, I don't necessarily consider this to be a bad thing. I consider it a compliment to be called my father's son. But there is an aspect of this that I find troubling. I have always considered that one of my greatest character traits was my taste in music (which might be troubling in and of itself). I think I have a pretty good handle on what is "good" music and what is "bad" music. But I have also indulged in my share of guilty pleasures (ABBA, Themes from James Bond Movies, the original "Lady Marmalade"). So, I have a new guilty pleasure thanks to my father. When I woke up this morning with "Cracklin' Rosie" stuck in my head (who knows how it got there), I realized that I kind of like Neil Diamond. You don't know how painful it is to admit that, but the truth must be spoken. As a Red Sox fan, I can justify liking "Sweet Caroline," but I don't think there is any way to justify my blasting "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show" and dancing like a fool. Now don't get me wrong, he isn't nor ever will be my favorite, but sometimes I just can't help myself. Blast you, Mr. Diamond. Blast you.

NewsRadio on the couch

Well, I'm sleeping on the couch tonight (and not doing a very good job of it according to the time stamp). My roomate is sick and having a hard time sleeping, so I'm keeping away. But I am watching one of my favorite shows while I type this. That's right: NewsRadio. I won't regale you with the details of how much I like the show, but what a great cast! Well anyway... here are some of my favorite quotes:

Bill: "How come no one thinks I'm funny?"
Lisa: "How come no one thinks I'm female?"
Bill: "We're misunderstood, I suppose. That's why guys like you and me gotta hang together."

BILL: "Women, can't live with them."

DAVE: Can't live without them?"

BILL: "I don't know about that part... especially when they're sneaking around behind your back.."

JIMMY: "I am a cipher, cipher....wrapped in an enigma, smothered in secret sauce..."

BETH: "I did NOT get into this business to make photocopies on just plain white paper... I just didn't."

BILL: (To his cigarettes) These guys are my little friends. They're always there when I need them. My reliable little buddies."
DAVE: "Hey Bill, I'm your friend."
BILL: "Yeah? Where were you last night around 3 AM when I was watching Steel Magnolias and crying my eyes out?"
(LATER)
BILL: "If you ever tell anyone about Steel Magnolias, I'll kill you. It would take a robot not to cry at that movie."

Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Behind the Music

So the mail key is lost. I'm sure you know what that means. Yeah, we have to wait for the landlord to make us a new one. So the mail gets checked infrequently these days. So it wasn't until yesterday that I got one of the coolest things to ever come into my mailbox. It was the Miller 10 CD. I realize that few of you will fully appreciate the majestic splendor of such a thing, but for those of you who do, you understand why I am posting news of its arrival to my new blog. So, to Casey, Tom, Michelle and especially Daniel, thanks. As I was listening to it, the new things that Daniel added gave me an idea. I have some video clips from that night, which I want to get to you guys, but maybe as as little video documentary. Something like "VH1 presents: Behind the music of Miller 10." It is just an idea right now, but I think it has potential. Let me know what you think.