Ridgeline

I'm impressed with Matthew Gilbert's prodigous output today in the Boston Globe (covering both Lost and American Idol before deadline). Despite my enjoyment of Lost , and Gilbert's writing, though, I have to give the season finale a grade of 'incomplete'. It was loose, draggy, and commercial laden (was it the Super Bowl II?). And Lost has always been taut. Kudos to the explosive opening, and Walt's high seas kidnapping. But we still don't know what's down the hatch. And I'm starting to worry that series creators Abrams and Lindelof don't know, either.

The Media Gates How, you may ask, can I not post on the dynastic ascendancy of the Patriots and weigh in on this topic? Good question. My family and I were going to head back to NY last weekend to see the "Big" gates, but Nate's 24 hour stomach flu made a 9 hour car trip sound like less fun. So, instead, I'll have to satisfy my curiosity with something closer to Boston -- say, in Somerville? When Hayley first sent me the link, I laughed out loud (sorry, bloggists, I mean LOL). So I wasn't surprised to see it turn up in the Boston Globe. I am, however, amused to see that story traversing its way from the NY Times to other sites across the world. So I'll do my bit. This was the most amusing thing I've seen since the Onion reported that Ben & Jerry's had rejected "Hefty Lefty" as the title for their new line of Michael Moore-themed ice cream. Enjoy.

Madden 2005 -- let the computer play Eagles vs. Patriots at Jacksonville. See if TO plays. Convince yourself that Madden is in on the anti-Patriots "conspiracy" Do not purchase brats or, God forbid, cheesesteak -- visit sausageguy.com to get that perfect New England tailgate flavor. Visit the Weather Channel site (http://www.w3.weather.com/activities/other/other/weather/tenday.html?locid=USFL0228) to check local temperatures in Jacksonville on Game Day; make mental note to actually go one of these winters. Plan ahead! Work on your ultimate football mix CD: Rock and Roll Part II, For Those About To Rock, the Monday Night Football theme....umm, why not Rock and Roll Part II again? Two words: face paint. Revisit travel web sites to check one day advance purchase fare to Jacksonville -- $$$$(TK). Contemplate selling car. Reconsider -- according to Mapquest its an 18 hour drive, so you've got time. Trip to video store. Completely out of Three Games to ...

First, let's start by congratulating the New England Patriots on the 20-3 victory over the Indianapolis Colts today, 20-3. Peyton Manning is a great quarterback, and some year, he should get a Super Bowl ring. Just not this year. Kudos to Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel, Corey Dillon, Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi, and all the rest.. Go Pats! A recent writer called me on excluding The Killers from my random sample of good music in 2004. My apologies -- total oversight, since I don't have all my music with me at work. "Nobody Told Me" would make any list from last year. On the subject of the Killers, how about that performance on SNL last night? Smoldering. Rock is definitely back with a vengeance in 2005. And, apparently, eyeliner. Here's hoping that this is the second coming of Scott Weiland -- but without the (Sid) vicious addiction problems. If you read the Sunday NYT today, can you say Iraq is ready for an election, espe...

Boston.com / News / Odds & ends / Students told stripping is career choice : Students told stripping is career choice "SAN FRANCISCO -- School officials in Palo Alto are reconsidering their use of a popular speaker for an annual career day after he advised middle school students that they could earn a good living as strip dancers. William Fried told eighth-graders at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School that stripping and exotic dancing could be lucrative career moves for girls, offering as much as $250,000 or more per year, depending on their bust size." Fried seemed surprised that his comments were questioned by parents and school officials. Well, sir, what do you get if you flip the seond and third letters in your name? F-I-R-E-D. Get used to it.

I wont post a link to the dubious toucvhdown "celebration" by Vikings WR Randy Moss from Sunday's game in Green Bay. That was a great way to make people forget your walking-off-the-field tirade a week earlier, Randy. I used to think Terrell Owens was over the top. Then I remembered that football is entertainment. So dancing, spiking the ball, signing autographs and making calls no longer seem out of line. Some of TO's off-field comments may be self serving, but he can play. Randy may be a playmaker, but I don't recall TO ever running down a police officer with his car.

I love Katahdin's Knife Edge -- yes, that's a trail along the top of the ridge. This picture was taken from the top of Pamola looking ahead towards Baxter Peak. The first col -- about 200 feet, opens up in the lower left. I've climbed Mt. Washington in the winter, not sure I'd want to try this though... 

ABC News: U.S. Ends Fruitless Iraq Weapons Hunt White House Says Iraq Weapons Search Over; Evidence That Bush Used in Argument for War Not Found. "WASHINGTON Jan 12, 2005 - The search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has quietly concluded without any evidence of the banned weapons that President Bush cited as justification for going to war, the White House said Wednesday." Really? How very...odd. Then that would mean...oh, never mind.

Jobs Goes 'Mini' with Mac, Flash-Based iPod : "SAN FRANCISCO - Apple CEO Steve Jobs is taking the concept of 'mini' to the Mac computer and a flash-based iPod. During his keynote Tuesday at the Macworld conference and expo here, Jobs introduced a Mac computer that almost fit into the palms of his hands and that is Apple Computer Inc.'s latest answer for Windows users wanting to switch platforms. " This sounds cool to me -- I like having more songs with me than can easily fit on my PPC. But I also like having my home base with permanent storage on my "real" system. Wonder if a Windows-oriented variant is coming. Or a $99 kit that I could add to my Dell Axim (most of the cost for the flash memory card). In addition, I do wonder about the amount of "real world" battery time on the Flash IPod. The Axim gets fussy after a day or so out of its base station. Also, on the base station front, adding iPod adapters to cars so...

The Suffolk Times Fire at the inn Saw this news online from one of my hometown papers. The Soundview Inn, in Southold, NY, suffered a major fire shortly before New Years' Eve. Love it, hate it, its a North Fork institution, and I hate to see even part of it in ruins. Especially when I used to take dates for a "big night" at the restaurant back in my post high school/college days. Thank God no one was hurt. And thank God no one is talking about rebuilding it as the W Hotel Soundview (yet!) Source: Suffolk Times

What in the name of Rozelle is going on??? 8-8 teams entering, let alone winning, in the playoffs??? To be fair, this is happening in the NFC, the junior varsity (this year) of the NFL, and it remains to be seen if the Rams do anything against Philadelphia or Atlanta. Also, Seattle been nothing but inconsistent this year. Nonetheless, this should be a warning to owners on the NFL's all powerful, super-secret Competition Committee. Several times in the last few years, some 10-6 teams have been home for January, leading to calls to open up the playoffs to 14 teams, two more than the current format. Let's not go there. Expanding to 14 teams means one day, we'll see a 7-9 team square off against 12-4 -- or, as we like to call it, an everyday game. Getting into the "tournament" (Bill Parcells' term) is supposed to mean something. More than the false inclusiveness of "everyone's a winner". Please, next year, limit the playoffs to winning teams...

Happy New Year -- my son Nathaniel on New Years Eve (after pouring a drink on his head!)

In 2003, my wife gave me two CDs for my birthday -- Fountains of Wayne's Welcome Interstate Managers and the Shins' Chute's Too Narrow. In my rush of discovering all of FOW's great songs, I unfairly neglected the Shins. Wow. Yesterday, I loaded it up on my drive to work. A little late to the bandwagon, I know, but let me just rave a little about its mix of deconstructed Radiohead meets the Beatles, with its really cool altcoustic guitars -- and little mid 80s Robert Smith thrown in for good measure. This is what alternative music was supposed to be -- funny angles and twists, the constant joy of new surprises. One of my top ten for 2003. Sorry for the delay. P.S. Clever CD liner booklet, too...

Nate and Devin, Christmas morning in New York.

On further review, I just don't get US Secretary of State Colin Powell's comments to George Stephanopoulos of ABC News last week. Stephanopoulos asked if the US had missed an opportunity to mend fences with disaffected Muslims around the world, particularly in Indonesia. Powell adamantly insisted that we had not. I enjoy watching tough questions put to politicians, but the proper response should have been "this is not about opportunities for the US. The only goal that matters here is helping the people affected by this terrible strategy. Its not a situation we should be trying to leverage to improve our standing in the world." Then again, I'm not sure how much the Bush Administration understands the importance of Indonesia. Indonesia is an extremely populous nation, with sizable oil reserves and national wealth. However, that wealth is far from equally distributed throughout Indonesian society, there is a history of civil war, and the Muslim population...

Franconia Ridge, NH 

Freeport, Maine 

On my high school web site, someone opined that there had been no good music made since the 80s -- the poster lamented that all his daughter liked was hip hop, although she was partial to Fountains of Wayne. Fountains of Wayne is great -- Welcome Interstate Managers has been in heavy rotation in my CD player since my wife gave it to me for my last birthday. Was ecstatic that NFL Network lifted "All Kinds of Time" for a quarterback commercial. As parent of a 10 year old, I'm not quite sure what to make of the fact that her favorite artists are Hilary Duff, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Who and Avril Lavigne. (Cannot push the Pretenders on her.) Although I was incredibly proud when she thought a track on Elvis Costello's last album remuinded her of Revolver. In truth, there's plenty of good music out there in 2004. Here's a quick list from my system here at work: Bring on your comments. Danger Mouse - The Grey Album - 05 99 Problems Darkness - Per...