Pacers And Royals

I’m still struggling with my affection for the local NBA squad. I watched most of the game last night, but was distracted for much of the second half when I heard Randy Johnson was throwing a perfect game and switched over to TBS (no AI in this house). I’ve stated my indifference for Reggie Miller before. Jamaal Tinsley could drive any fan insane with his erratic play. It doesn’t help his case with me that he was 4-0 against KU in his Iowa State career.

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Fun With Search Engines

In the blog template updates last week, I also changed the tracking software I use. I think the service I’m using now, eXTReMe Tracking, does a much more accurate job of tracking who visits on a daily basis as well as telling me exactly who visits. The true coup is the search engine tracking it includes, which is always fun. Here are some recent search engine queries that led people to my site:

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Further Proof Today's Kids Are Spoiled

I stumbled into the kitchen this morning and grabbed a brand new box of Honey Nut Cheerios out of the cabinet. I noticed some Shrek artwork on the box, and words that said something free was inside, but didn’t take time to read them. I opened the box up, and lying on top of the sealed wax bag of cereal was a small package. I pulled it out, unwrapped it, and found a digital watch with the Three Little Pigs from Shrek as the artwork.

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Weiners On The Weekend

We joke often about Will Ferrell’s line in Old School about the big Saturday he and his wife have planned: a trip to Home Depot and maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond. I found another outstanding addition to that lineup over the weekend. Friday evening, we attended an open house for a relative who’s graduating from high school. After the open house, we decided to swing by Super Target to pick up some food for the weekend and get some important things like socks and Lime Away.

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Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood

I picked up my first prescription drug in at least 20 years the other night. It was a strange feeling; it made me feel old! I’ve been blessed with extremely good health throughout my life. I’ve had a couple hair line fractures and ligament tears from sporting injuries, but never anything that required a hard cast or strong pain killers. Never had mono, strep, bronchitis, or any other ailments that required antibiotics.

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Amazing!

I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks that Jesse Palmer uses the word amazing far too often. “What an amazing view, huh?” “You look amazing!” “It’s been an amazing day, hasn’t it?” And that was just with one woman! I think he’s just been watching too much Queer Eye to get his Metrosexual cred in order. Long time Friend of the Blog Dale S. came up with the genius idea of a Jesse Palmer drinking game.

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Dumb

Now I remember why I didn’t watch American Idol for the first two seasons. Tonight was sheer lunacy. The two best singers, by far, get the least votes. The most consistent performer of the competition gets the heave ho. Stupid. Idiotic. Borderline criminal. The only saving grace was the last note LaToya belted out during her goodbye song was better than anything the other three contestants will sing in the remaining weeks, so I don’t have to watch any more episodes this year.

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American Idol

First a note about comments. It was pointed out to me that you’re asked to register. I guess that’s ok; it’s fee and then the system remembers who you are, tracks all your comments, etc. But you can just as easily select the Anonymous option and include your name in your post. So don’t let that registering option scare you away from sharing your thoughts. A couple of people have asked me for my thoughts on American Idol.

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Gifts

I like gifts. I received two outstanding gifts over the past week. Last Friday, the mailman delivered a package from the delightful Mandi R. of Denver, CO. I wondered, “What have I done to deserve this?” Once the wrapping paper was removed, it was clear what I had done to deserve it: I knocked up my wife. You might think Mandi purchased some cute little animal gear, since she’s down with animal rights.

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TV

It’s been a busy TV week. Let’s jump right in. American Idol. I didn’t watch Tuesday’s show, but I can’t say I’m disappointed George Huff got the boot. He’s got a tremendous voice, but he’s a one trick pony. For about the first four weeks, you think, “This guy is awesome!” After that, though, you realize he sings every song exactly the same way. Good guy, nice singer, but not finalist material.

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His Name Is Prince

We’re honored to have the following dispatch from blog correspondent Mike “Punkmaster Flex” A., who attended the Prince concert in Kansas City Tuesday night. I’m officially green, or whatever color jealousy is colored these days. Arguably the most talented musician alive hit the stage Tuesday night in Kansas City’s rickety Kemper arena. Buoyed on by 15,000+ screaming Princeaholics (my ears are literally still ringing), Mr. Rogers Nelson and his ultra-tight New Power Generation band did not disappoint.

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I'm Part Of The System Now

I just made my first legal download. I dropped 99 cents to grab The Thrills' “One Horse Town” off of Musicmatch. I feel dirty. I feel like a sell out. I feel disappointed I didn’t thumb my nose at the recording industry giants and continue to grab tracks for free off the file sharing services that are still out there. Now I’m just another consumer who’s taken what the powers that be want me to take.

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Warm The Hell Up

First, it’s far too cold for May 3. I hate that one last cold snap that just ruins some weekend in the spring. Not sure how cold it actually got here last night, but we flipped the heat on at 5:00 yesterday afternoon. So much for thinking the gas bills wouldn’t be something we had to worry about until November. Friday night, we watched a birthing video. I can’t claim I learned much because I was busy ridiculing the fashion of the people in the video, which was filmed in 1987.

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Of Books And Wedding Dresses

Putting some assorted thoughts down while watching Keith Olbermann’s Countdown Wednesday night. The #5 story was about a backlash against the wildly popular novel The DaVinci Code. I don’t know much about the book, other than I may be the only person to fly American Airlines in the past year who hasn’t read it. Anyway, there are several “rebuttal” books coming out that argue against some of author Dan Brown’s plot developments, especially those regarding the life of Jesus.

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April Rules

The perfect adult weekend: ideal weather (sunny, highs in the low 80s, just a hint of humidity but not enough to make it truly sticky), an entire day in the yard, another day spent out on the back deck listening to baseball, and the wife has been in Florida the whole time. Wait, that last part isn’t ideal, don’t quote that line ever. But pretty much everything else about the weekend was perfect.

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Purchase

I bought my first outfit for my daughter last night. I got her a Safari themed bodysuit from Baby Gap. Lions, crocs, elephants, monkeys. How will she not be happy wearing this? In a nursery update, we made the final major additions to her room this week. We had a chair rail put around the top of the wall to serve as a border for the animal alphabet cards we got.

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Happy Monday

There’s nothing like logging in on a Monday morning and finding out someone has been trying to get you to take their place, without your knowledge, at a meeting that would require you to book and get on a place Monday night. Sometimes people are just far too generous. As if ripped from the comments box, we had the proverbial big weekend. Three trips to Lowe’s! That brings us to a total of seven trips in the past seven days.

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Pregnant Conversations - American Idol

Scene: Interior, couple sitting on couch drinking coffee in the morning. Wife: How did you sleep? Husband: Pretty good, you? Wife: Good, Little Girlfriend had to wake up early and play, though. Husband (Leaning over and speaking to wife’s stomach): Your daddy doesn’t like to wake up in the morning. We can work on that once you’re born, ok? This kid is moving around like crazy. Last night, I noticed S’s shirt jumping.

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Baseball, Birds, And Barbecue

If you’re not listening to the Royals-White Sox game today, you should be. Ryan Lefebvre is really on a roll. I’m shocked, SHOCKED, that the Royals lead the American League in home runs. I was perusing the roster of Your Indianapolis Indians and saw that former Royal Dan Reichert is on the staff. It’ll be fun to see one of the Arms of the Future of the Royals from a few years back toiling in AAA.

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The Heartbreak Of...

Heartburn. Or reflux I guess. I’ve got something going on with my stomach that I don’t like. For about a month, shortly after I eat, I’ve been getting these waves of mild nausea. The kind where you think you’re going to throw up in, say, five minutes, but you never get all the way there. I hadn’t had any real feelings of indigestion or heartburn with it until today. I’m pushing four hours of suffering today and the good doctor has the cheery opinion it could be reflux or an ulcer.

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