Month: February 2002

Sunday I put up my brief opinions of all the Super Bowl commercials. Sunday night PBS had a half hour discussion of five of the ads, which I watched and thought was tres condescending, but thanks to iFilm, you can see all the ads yourself. Don’t miss the Budweiser New York, Levi’s Crazy Legs and Cadillac Zeppelin spots. Bad Company and Rudy Guiliani Tribute are cool too.

Jason over at Q gave his opinion that the curtains scrolling the names of the lost during the show was tasteless. I disagree, in fact that’s what I was watching when I blogged the comment “I don’t usually cry at football games.” Some commentators are saying that Americans are already forgetting the emotion and sadness of what happened to us on 9/11 but I disagree. I think that as with any tragedy the mind tries to soften the pain, and Jason being a doctor probably knows this, but this tribute was simple and elegant. I wonder what people like Jason think an appropriate tribute in this forum would have been.

Can’t live another day without knowing how to make this delicious dish yourself? I served it over fresh long grain white rice. Here goes, portions for two:

Ingredients

1 lb beef, cut into thin strips suitable for stir fry

3 broccoli crowns, cut into florets

2 shallots, thinly sliced

8 oz white mushrooms, thinly sliced

4 oz soy sauce

4 tablespoons oyster sauce

4 cloves garlic, chopped up fine

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon oregano

Instructions

Mix garlic and two tablespoons oyster sauce all over beef in a bowl and let stand 30 minutes to marinate

Add four tablespoons of olive oil to a hot wok, flame to medium

Add marinated beef after oil is warmed, stir until both sides are browned

Add shallots, keep stirring

Add broccoli, keep stirring

Add soy sauce (stir a little more)

Add salt and fressh ground pepper to taste, stir stir stir

Add rest of oyster sauce (don’t make me say it)

Stir for another two minutes

Add mushrooms, stir well

Add oregano

Stir more

Lower flame, let simmer for five minutes, stir occasionally

SERVE!!!

Is the world a safer place? Nope. But no matter. Beau over at DentedReality in Australia posted PHP code to call the Blogger API and I decided to play around with it a little. After looking his fine effort over, I decided it needed the billsaysthis touch and converted it into a fine OOP PHP class. Don’t know what that means? Don’t worry. Just check out the result on my Springsteen page; I use it to pull in all the Springsteen weblog entries. And you can use it too if you use PH and Blogger. Thanks Beau!

Neither network NBC nor producer Warner Brothers want this eighth season to be the last one of Friends, although a few months ago that’s how the situation was shaping up. Reports this week though say that negotiations are going on to bring the cast back and that the talks wouldn’t be going on if the six friends weren’t open to the notion. This year each of them gets $750,000 per episode for 22 episodes. The rumor says to come back will cost $1-1.1 million per episode per friend. That’s at least $22 million per friend for the season, $132 million for the lot. But this year has seen the show come back with strong storylines, especially Joey/Rachel and Rachel’s pregnancy, so next year dealing with the baby in this triangle could be ripe. I’m open to the idea.

1. mlife: Stomachs, we all got them but some are cuter than others. And hey, it’s ATT after all.
   

2. Budweiser how ya doing: funny/not funny
   

3. It’s like competitive ass-slapping at midfield
   

4. That was not pass interference, the ball has to be catchable, and I can’t believe Belicheck didn’t challenge the call
   

5. Bud Light teddy and satin: now this is what I call funny!
   

6. 40 Days and 40 Nights: Scary Movie 2 was not this stupid
   

7. Hotjobs.com: okay but I am not sold
   

8. Patriots defense is beginning to make a believer of me; I thought the Rams were on the move for a score before the sack and blocked pass to get back in the game.
   

9. Universal Orlando: good commercial but I’m not a theme park person
   

10. Subway: less fat, less humor
    

11. How many people are rooting for the Patriots now?
    

12. Austin Powers: no title but mad funny laughs, got to see this one
    

13. Taco Bell S class: the handheld was funny, the Mercedes latch-on isn’t
    

14. Blockbuster: animals aren’t sexy no matter how they dance
    

15. Cadillac Escalade: still like the song better
    

16. Did anyone predict the Rams would have three points after three quarters
    

17. Budweiser tushy: be proud parents, get over it
    

18. Jack in the Box: Carnivores are pretty good and check out their stadium
    

19. 4th and goal, I’d go for it, no need for a timeout to talk it over, three points does diddly for the Rams
    

20. Blade 2: this is exactly the kind of movie I pay $9 to see Wesley Snipes
    

21. M&Ms hotel: cute!
    

22. Good choice
    

23. He fumbled the ball, I can’t believe it! Touchdown the wrong way.
    

24. But a penalty gives the Rams life, they better take this gift from the gods!
    

25. Budweiser family: time to feel good
    

26. Quiznos: Geeky
    

27. Roche: I have no idea if this was good or bad
    

28. Volkswagon Turbo: not my taste in humor
    

29. Good play call, it’s a game again and a better laugh than the VW commercial
    

30. Bad Company: good band, bad Ellen Barkin movie, but Rock and Perkins look like a big summer action movie hit
    

31. Bud race car: nice
    

32. Note: I think NASCAR, and most car racing, is about as much of a sport as boxing. Which I don’t think is a sport at all.
    

33. Why did New England take a timeout at 4:01? They don’t need to score again, just run the clock out, and how likely are the Rams to pick up a 3rd and 25? Plus it gives Warner an extra minute to get past the pain in his hand. Make it 3rd and 20 after a stupid rookie penalty.
    

34. Patriots gave the Rams 45 seconds of game clock with that timeout, wonder if that gift will come back to haunt them
    

35. Drug money supports terror. So why not legalize drugs? I bet Republican party buddies like Philip Morris and the like would appreciate the new revenue source
    

36. Do you go for two? I do, win now, forget OT. But Mike Martz disagreed and he’s the coach. But I was right.
    

37. If you wanted a close game, you sure as hell got it.
    

38. Cadillac CTS: Finally a commercial worth selling the song rights for!

• Now that’s what I call a montage!
  

• Bono: no college education, came out of the projects, now he lectures world leaders on international finance and runs the highest grossing music act
  

• I don’t usually cry at football games.
  

• There hasn’t been a better rock and roll band than U2 since 1987. Not in my opinion. The music was great. But if this game was celebrating America, why wasn’t there an American band (calling Bruce!) playing this gig?
  

• Terry Bradshaw and Paul McCartney: shoot them now

(only ones I haven’t seen before)

1. Schwab Bonds/Aaron: Made us laugh, made the point without going overboard
   

2. Bud Light MegaFridge: more laughs, god play on a hot show
   

3. e*Trade: sorry but nope not the monkey, not the faux ballerinas
   

4. Pepsi Britney: yummy, which I suppose is all they were going for anyway; I like the belt (or at least the effect of it) on 2002 Britney.
   

5. Scorpion King: not my kind of movie, never did see either of the Mummys
   

6. Monster.com Guiliani: touching
   

7. mlife farmer: not in the dictionary next to funny
   

8. Bud life Cedric: funny? sort of
   

9. Quiznos: darts in the neck not funny, I thought this was a celebration of America coming together
   

10. Bud Light Falcon: impressing neither the women in the commercial nor me
    

11. mlife musician: I see a trend here
    

12. Yahoo! dolphin: okay, not great and can they great rid of the yodelling yet?
    

13. Visa checkcard Kevin Bacon: six degrees of repetitiveness
    

14. H&R Block Tax: about as exciting as the speaker
    

15. mlife kids: trend confirmed
    

16. signs: not giving me the desired scared witless feeling
    

17. Budweiser Clydesdales: elegant, touching, this one will have me buying a six pack
    

18. Lipton Brisk: Danny Devito: bad puppets! funny commercial!
    

19. Visa race: umm, a chuckle.
    

20. Pepsi ’58: Britney still yummy, I want to be that sweater
    

21. Cadillac: Love the song, not so hot on the cars although the coupe that was barely shown at the end seemed intriguing
    

22. 7-3 Patriots, who would’a thunk it?
    

23. xXx: looks hot! Vin Diesel, vroom vroom bang bang
    

24. Budweiser valentines: predictable
    

25. Dockers: what?
    

26. mlife grandfather: huh?
    

27. No commercial after the Brown bad fair catch or the Rams 2:13 timeout, which is weird
    

28. monster olympians: okay
    

29. Levis Latino dancer: my legs don’t bend that way, buddy
    

30. 14-3, is this the upset no one thought was possible? Summerall: Shockbowl XXXVI.
    

31. Faulk, what stupidity was that fielding the kickoff when it would have gone out of bounds!
    

32. Nissan Pathfinder: Ramones? Horse? Earth to Nissan: report for a smacking
    

33. Computer Associates: convincing? don’t think so
    

34. Smirnoff Ice: ditto
    

35. 24: Not watching yet? Start now!

Like almost everyone else, I’m watching Super Bowl XXXVI and I thought the Boston Pops doing Aaron Copeland’s Fanfare for the Common Man was excellent. Who will win? Don’t care, just give me a good game. I’m cooking some Oyster garlic beef and broccoli with rice, should be excellent. U2 or Fear Factor at halftime? Playmates are cool but Bono and the Edge are better.

You have to wonder why some people bother with this stuff. I mean, sending email in all caps went out of fashion about 30 seconds after the first such one was sent. But “MRS. MARIAM SESE-SEKO WIDOW OF LATE PRESIDENT MOBUTU SESE-SEKO OF ZAIRE?” (if she doesn’t know, I sure don’t) wants me to help her and her children outwit the terrible bankers and police of Western Europe: “I HAVE DEPOSITED THE SUM OF ONE HUNDRED MLLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS (US$I00,000,000,00.) WITH A SECURITY COMPANY, FOR SAFEKEEPING. THE FUNDS ARE SECURITY CODED TO PREVENT THEM FROM KNOWING THE CONTENT. WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO IS TO INDICATE YOUR INTEREST THAT YOU WILL ASSIST US BY RECEIVING THE MONEY ON OUR BEHALF.” But I have no interest sorry, even though I could sure use a healthy cut of that kind of gash. And what are “OUT MODALITIES” anyway? Uh oh, me and my big blabber mouth: “MAY I AT THIS POINT EMPHASISE THE HIGH LEVEL OF CONFIDENTIALITY, WHICH THIS BUSINESS DEMANDS, AND HOPE YOU WILL NOT BETRAY THE TRUST AND CONFIDENCE, WHICH I REPOSE IN YOU.” Sorry, guess your secret is out now, but you shouldn’t have trusted a guy with a weblog!

Just think, only a little more than four years until the Number of the Beast Day! So who else remembers the huge afro on Bernie in Room 222?

In the latest Weekend Report, Smart Money gets all up and nasty on my biz-oys at the old hiz-ouse:

“Starting on Wednesday, Sun Microsystems (SUNW) will torture analysts for three straight days while saying as little as possible about its financial targets. It would much prefer to talk about its plans to be the next EMC (EMC), now that it knows it can’t be the next IBM (IBM). Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard (HWP), and Compaq (CPQ) and Dell (DELL) all plan on being the next Sun, because they can’t be the next IBM either. And even IBM hasn’t been its old self lately.”

Last I looked, no one put a gun to the analysts to make them attend these sessions. Quite the opposite, as their jobs are made much easier with this access to company executives. But hey, journalists got to have something catchy to say, right?

OMG, The Onion is just so fucking funny! Did I say fucking? Oh well. It is. Check the story out. One of many examples:

The suit, brought against God by the Justice Department on behalf of a coalition of “lesser deities” and polytheistic mortals, alleged that He violated antitrust laws by claiming in the Holy Bible that He was the sole creator of the universe, and by strictly prohibiting the worship of what He termed “false idols.”

There’s even a cool USA Today-style infographic! The Whumpman gets in early on this sure Daypop classic.

Country musician Marty Stuart is lining up top name artists for a Johnny Cash 70th birthday tribute album. Due out in March, among the songs will be Springsteen performing “Give My Love To Rose,” Dylan covering “Train Of Love,” and Little Richard doing “Get Rhythm.”

Also, I heard on the radio that Springsteen is in the studio now in Atlanta recording a new album. Checking one of the primary Bruce fan sites, Backstreets Magazine reports that guitarist Nils Lofgren confirmed this report on a recent ESPN Radio show. Lofgren “qualified the sessions as the first step of several toward a new album, and that he hoped Springsteen would keep taking the necessary steps toward a completed album and subsequent tour.” Backstreet reports the sessions were “fucking smoking” and feature a harder-edged rock sound. OMG, I can’t wait to hear this stuff. Lofgren has his own new release due out Tuesday, music he composed as soundtrack for the All-Madden Show.

Another example of this mystery pops up with the report that Mike Riley will join the Saints as assistant head coach and secondary coach. Longtime Saints assistant Rick Venturi moves up to defensive coordinator from the positions Riley is taking. I just don’t understand how Riley can work for Venturi but also be his boss.

Other coordinator news: Bruce Coslet comes back into the league, as rumored, with the Cowboys’ offense. Coslet is a West Coast guy so how Emmitt Smith will respond is an interesting question but he knows that Coslet gets results. Kurt Schottenheimer turned down an opportunity to join brother Marty in San Diego and instead took the Lions’ DC slot. I believe this is the first major job for Kurt independent of Marty.