July 31, 2006
Investing In Signs
When a store closes, only the sign company wins.
I think the store was called 'The Country Pantry'. It was an arts and crafts mall...good riddance.
Technorati Tags: photo, sign removal
Posted by JB at 2:52 PM | PermalinkJuly 30, 2006
U.S. Open Brass Band Championship
I'm just mentioning this because it is one of those things that I didn't know existed, sound goofy and it's in town. The Fourth Annual U.S. Open Brass Band Championship is coming to St. Viator on November 4th. The competitors are: Two-time defending Champions, Brass Band of Central Florida, Eastern Iowa Brass Band, Fountain City Brass Band, Milwaukee Festival Brass, Motor City Brass Band, Sheldon Theatre Brass Band, Jaguar-Coventry Brass Band (in their US Open debut) and the host group, Prairie Brass Band.
If you have a tuba fetish, now you know where to go.
Technorati Tags: U.S. Open Brass Band Championship, Brass Band, Arlington Heights
Posted by JB at 12:02 PM | Permalinklinks for 2006-07-30
July 28, 2006
links for 2006-07-28
July 27, 2006
Brian McBride retires from international soccer
Arlington Heights native, Brian McBride announced his retirement from international soccer.
The 34-year-old McBride, who plays for Fulham in the English Premier League, is the second-leading scorer in U.S. national team history with 30 goals in 95 games.
The three-time World Cup veteran has the second-most appearances for the U.S. in World Cup matches with 10, starting all five games in 2002 and scoring one goal each against Portugal and Mexico. He also had the team's only goal in 1998.
Technorati Tags: Brian McBride, soccer
Posted by JB at 11:06 AM | Permalinklinks for 2006-07-27
July 26, 2006
Mmm...Mellified Man
Inga brought me some chicken shawarma from the Pita Inn today (5 star establishment in my book) and I was thinking that it is just about one of the best dishes ever. Now if someone could only make a tofu version...
So, in food induced bliss, I read an entry on Gridskipper by Joshua Stein this evening about an Outlaw Dinner in L.A. where the chef is serving edgy dishes with ingredients that seem dangerous or forbidden (foie gras, absinthe, morel mushrooms, hemp seeds). The piece however points out that none of the dishes served in the Outlaw Dinner are actually outlawed and goes on to list food items that are illegal, the most interesting being mellified man.
So what is mellified man? It was brought to popularity recently in the book Stiff by Mary Roach, which surprisingly was on our bookshelf as Inga had read it a few months ago . The book refers to a recipe from the 1597 Chinese Materia Medica by Li Shih-chen, a compendium of medicinal plants and animals, which says:
In Arabia there are men 70 to 80 years old who are willing to give their bodies to save others. The subject does not eat food, he only bathes and partakes of honey. After a month he only excretes honey (the urine and feces are entirely honey) and death follows. His fellow men place him in a stone coffin full of honey in which he macerates. The date is put upon the coffin giving the year and month. After a hundred years the seals are removed. A confection is formed which is used for the treatment of broken and wounded limbs. A small amount taken internally will immediately cure the complaint.
For the record, according to Roach, Li points out that he does not know for certain if the mellified man story is true. You just get the feeling it is though. With all the weird stuff we humans do, it sounds plausible. I can see some King or Queen, giving this a shot and doing forcing some hapless subjects through the process for their heirs.
If mellified man is true and the process still active, it would leave you with more options as you make out your will. Instead of donating your body to science, you could donate yourself to Hershey.
Technorati Tags: Mellified Man, Stiff, Honey, Mary Roach, Outlaw Dinner, Gridskipper
Posted by JB at 9:41 PM | PermalinkJuly 25, 2006
links for 2006-07-25
-
Abandoned Pod Homes in Taipai
July 22, 2006
The Daily Show On Net Neutrality
The Daily Show has done two poignant and funny segments on Net Neutrality in the past few weeks.
The first piece is about the now infamous Sen. Ted Stevens speech about the Internet not being a truck but a series of tubes.
The second one from this past week features 'reporter' John Hodgeman ( he's the PC from the 'I'm a Mac/I'm a PC commercials ) explaining issue of Net Neutrality.
On a side note, I found out that our Representative Mark Kirk, voted against Net Neutrality.
Technorati Tags: The Daily Show, Net Neutrality, Mark Kirk
Posted by JB at 10:25 AM | Permalinklinks for 2006-07-22
-
Last week was the least-viewed week in the history of broadcast network television in the USA.
July 21, 2006
Email Down!
Hostway's email has been down since about 5:30 p.m. yesterday until a few hours ago. Unfortunately things are so backed up they are estimating that the emails won't all get out until sometime tomorrow. Needless to say, if you have sent Inga or I and email we haven't gotten it.
I'm going through spam withdrawal...
Technorati Tags: Email , Outage
Posted by JB at 8:34 PM | PermalinkArlington Park Passes Inspection
Earlier this week, Arlington Park passed an inspection by an independent consultant and was deemed safe for racing.
"The track at Arlington is remarkably consistent and uniform," Gregory Coon wrote in a letter to the racing board's executive director, Marc Laino
So that turned out as I expected. Now it's time to come down on over-racing and see if the veterinarians catch anything.
Technorati Tags: Arlington Heights, Arlington Park, Race Horse Injuries, horse injury, horse racing injury
Posted by JB at 8:15 PM | Permalinklinks for 2006-07-21
-
The surprising thing is how high these magazine rate on Amazon's sales list. The Gamecock is currently ranked #172 in Amazon's magazine sales ranking while Feathered Warrior is at #2,207.
-
We are seeing the King Tut exhibit next week. Hopefully, this piece will be there.
July 20, 2006
Lester Beats The Heat
Lester found a way to keep cool during the hot spell.
Technorati Tags: Lester, Cat, Keeping Cool, photo
Posted by JB at 9:36 PM | PermalinkGoogle Logo Artist
Inga and I have had many 'Did you see Google's logo today' conversations. CNN has an story about the artist who creates those logos, Dennis Hwang. If you dig those special logos too, Google does keep an archive (or 'online museum' as they put it) going back to 1999.
Technorati Tags: Logo, Google, Dennis Hwang
Posted by JB at 7:03 PM | PermalinkJuly 19, 2006
links for 2006-07-19
July 18, 2006
Message From The Future!
I hate to be a nit picker, this Yahoo! Mail Beta banner ad comes up several times a day and it's getting on my nerves.
See it? The Date? The review is from the future!
To close the proof reading loop, the CNET article referenced in the ad is actually dated Sept 21, 2005.
Sorry, I had to get that off my chest.
Technorati Tags: Yahoo! Mail Beta, Banner Ad, Typo, Mistake
Posted by JB at 11:09 PM | PermalinkJuly 17, 2006
Browns and Green
July 16, 2006
Micky
Technorati Tags: photo
Posted by JB at 12:18 PM | PermalinkJuly 14, 2006
links for 2006-07-14
-
An African archbishop who scandalised the Catholic Church with a 'Moonie' marriage before returning to the fold looks set to shock the Vatican again. Emmanuel Milingo has held a surprise news conference calling on the Catholic Church to allow priests to m
-
Ooops
July 13, 2006
A.H. Library Sells Pirate Ship
I did not see the Arlington Heights July 4th parade (I just don't understand the appeal of parades...), but it looks like the library had a pretty cool pirate ship float to promote their summer reading program. The float builders documented the creation of the float on the site Operation: Eye Patch, documenting the transformation of a 1977 Dodge Titan camper into the pirate-ship float.
The story doesn't end with a dismantling party after the parade. The float was put up for auction on eBay and sold to a Wisconsin Scuba Diving company for $2,550; a $750 profit for the Friends of the Library who put up the money for the project. That is a terrific idea, though the thought of using to plunder the surrounding towns for booty sounds good too...
Technorati Tags: Arlington Heights, Dodge Titan, Arlington Heights Memorial Library, Parade Float, Float
Posted by JB at 10:32 PM | PermalinkJuly 11, 2006
links for 2006-07-11
-
"There are over 60 million people in the United States who use file sharing - more than the number of people who voted for our current President," EFF states. "If we all band together and stand up for our rights, we can change the law."
July 10, 2006
Five Fast Facts About The Chicago Bears
Sports blog 'Kissing Suzy Kolber' (which gave us the great Kyle Orton party photos a few days ago) put out these 'Five Fast Facts About the Chicago Bears'.
Five Fast Facts about the Bears:
-Due to their senior status in the NFL, the league allows the Bears one inexplicable 11+ win season every four years before going back to being fucking terrible.
-Coach Lovie Smith and Kentucky men’s head basketball coach Tubby Smith share a great grandmother named Shamalamadingdong Smith, who gave all 138 of her direct descendants ludicrous nicknames like Lovie, Tubby, Poopy, Bleedy, and Stick.
-3rd string QB Kyle Orton is the only man ever to have a Michelob Ultra and mildly enjoy it.
-Center Olin Kreutz is better known as the second half of a “Wheel of Fortune” before-and-after puzzle with “Alias” star and exotic temptress Lena Olin.
-The Bears use a Cover-2 defense. Unless they’re playing against Steve Smith, in which case they employ a Cover-0.
(It should be noted here that Steve Smith doing the Super Mario on the Bears’ goalpost during the playoff game last year was the single coolest fucking thing I’ve ever seen in an NFL game. Too bad he did with 2:07 left on the clock. Doing it with 2:06 left would have gotten him six extra fireworks.)
Technorati Tags: Kissing Suzy Kolber, Chicago Bears
Posted by JB at 11:23 PM | Permalinklinks for 2006-07-10
-
But if you do not find an intelligent companion, a wise and well-behaved person going the same way as yourself, then go on your way alone, like a king abandoning a conquered kingdom, or like a great elephant in the deep forest. - Buddha
July 9, 2006
Rocket Man
The current issue of the Economist has another classic cover.
Technorati Tags: Kim Jong Il, Economist, Rocket Man, North Korea
Posted by JB at 2:17 PM | PermalinkJapanese White Sox Schedule
Found these Japanese White Sox schedules at Mitsuwa last weekend. Having never seen them before and thinking they were pretty neat, I thought they were worth sharing. Tadahito Iguchi gets lost amongst all the big boppers on the White Sox, but he's one of my all-time favorite White Sox players. His game is solid and he never takes a game off. If I ever broke down and got a White Sox jersey, I'd make it an Iguchi jersey.
Click for full size...
Technorati Tags: Japanese White Sox Schedule, Tadahito Iguchi, White Sox
Posted by JB at 2:15 AM | PermalinkJuly 7, 2006
Fast Food Survival Guide
If you are in a position where you cannot avoid going to a fast food restaurant, Dr. Gourmet has a guide to get you through the visit with your diet intact. Dr. Gourmet has created lists of menu choices that have 400 or less calories and less than 15 grams of fat for 10 fast food chains. Giving the lists a casual going over, it looks like Subway has the most healthy options and KFC the least. The lists do have some fluff in them as they list items such as packs of crackers and diet beverages/water. Just going over the lists puts your general eating out choices in general in perspective.
Source: Lifehacker
Technorati Tags: Healthy Fast Food, Dr. Gourmet
Posted by JB at 9:19 PM | PermalinkJuly 6, 2006
Arlington Park's Growing Problem
There is no question that the rash of catastrophic injuries at Arlington Park (17 horses destroyed since May 5th) is a huge problem. The track gets a bad reputation, horse owners hesitate to race at Arlington, and the most important consequence; people stop wanting to go to the track. The good work Arlington Park has done to draw in casual fans and families is going to be quickly undone by the fear of seeing (or the risk of seeing) a thoroughbred break down in front of the wife and kids. This reality might really kick in now that the story is filtering into the national media and is hard to avoid seeing.
We heard the story about the injuries before the holiday weekend, when the number of horses put down hit 15. With this news and thoughts of Barbaro still on her mind, it took some arm twisting to get Inga to the track on Sunday. Had we known that horse #17 broke down the day before (I Love Lisa was the latest casualty), I think it is a safe bet that she wouldn't have gone. Yes, Arlington was packed on Sunday, but the next broken leg is going to be the lead story on the 10 o'clock news and people will find alternate way to spend the afternoon. The equine ambulance that we see when we enter the parking lot has turned into a very ominous sight.
Arlington Park did have an outside consultant inspect the turn for home where all the injuries have occurred said the conditions were fine. The Illinois Racing Board announced today every horse will go through a pre-race physical and increased the number of veterinarians on duty to four. Previously, there was one vet who gave physicals to less than half of the horses.
Now that the track itself has been cleared, the additional physicals will likely bring to light the real reason the horses are breaking down. The majority of people in the business say that the pool of race horses in Illinois is too small and therefore the horses are over raced. Add in over breeding and it's a recipe for problems. I'm putting my money on this being the problem. There may be a lot more scratches, but I'd rather that than more bad news about Arlington Park.
Technorati Tags: Arlington Heights, Arlington Park, race horse injuries, horse injuries, horse racing injuries
Posted by JB at 5:42 PM | PermalinkJuly 4, 2006
links for 2006-07-04
-
It's great that someone who has no idea how the internet works is making decisions about the internet and voted against Net Neutrality. The transcript of Sen. Stevens explaining how the internet works is funny and sad...
July 2, 2006
For The Person Who Has Everything...
Thought I would clean out some links I had lying around.
This Mickey Mantle autographed ball was recently auctioned off at 'History For Sale' with an opening bid of $8,999. If Mantle wasn't such a legendary tool, I would like to think that he gave it to an annoying fan or Yankee employee, but it was probably to a kid. Either way, who wouldn't like to have this ball on the shelf.
BTW I can't tell if the opening bid was met and it so, what it sold for.
Source:Deadspin
Technorati Tags: Mickey Mantle, Autographed Baseball
Posted by JB at 8:52 PM | PermalinkJuly 1, 2006
Note To Self
Technorati Tags: photo
Posted by JB at 11:21 PM | PermalinkRock Star Face 1
Technorati Tags: photo
Posted by JB at 10:31 PM | PermalinkEgg Rage
Jing is not having a melt down. Everytime she sees a camera pointed in her direction, she puts on her 'rock star face'. I hope she never grows out of this phase.
Technorati Tags: photo
Posted by JB at 10:25 PM | Permalink
