… upon further review, that does not say what I thought it said.

What Dad got:

What Dad thought he saw:

Love gut explosions. These strings were what I was using when The Magic Night happened (a tennis Magic Night of Sublime Awesomeness, not one of those romantic Magic Nights). Yes, I will be using this setup again.

Main: Tecnifibre Black Code @ 52
Cross: Gaucho gut @ 55

After a loooong time between breaks (winter has cramped my schedule), I broke 3 in one day. The other two looked pretty pedestrian, so no need to display.

Side note: taking off the headtape on one of the other racquets took off the graphics with it. Boo in that cheapass decals come off/aren’t underneath a layer of lacquer and boo that its resale value was just trashed, but yay in that the graphics just became much less embarrassing. Don’t quite know how to feel about that one.

The TIME piece is, however, more evidence that we’re the biggest collection of whiny ass babies in our country’s history though. So we’ve got that going for us.

I thought they were going to be a what-if-Kid-A-never-happened version of Radiohead, but instead appear to be closer to Rent fans who happen to have an electric guitar handy.

Maryhill Winemaker’s Red 2006. ~$15

Well rounded blend of reds, the resulting wine was full, smooth, and tasty. Not too acidic or harsh, it was a perfect compliment to salad and marinara pasta. It was a complex flavor without being overbearing, without any real variation in sensation from early taste to aftertaste.

I fully enjoy both Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal (who, along with Federer, are my favorite 3 to watch), but the player I most enjoy is Murray. His court movement is fantastic (it’s better now than in the video above), his 2-handed backhand is the best I’ve seen, and as you can see in the above clip, his down the line forehand is monstrous. Plus, I think Murray and Fed are the best strategists currently on tour (watch the above when Murray starts throwing in soft shots amongst all the pace), which is fun to watch and think about. Like a great jazz soloist or chess champion, it becomes apparent down the road what the setup was all along. Fed has better technical footwork, but Murray glides … like a dancer. There’s a grace there you don’t see often. I’m absolutely jealous of Murray’s footwork. And backhand. And talent.

Here’s their 2008 US Open match (Murray won). Watch Murray’s footwork:

Watch Murray’s movement, court coverage, and return of serve preparation – all way above where they were a year before. He’s still improving and will be, I think, the next new #1 player in the game (Fed may retake it again, I don’t see Rafa having a multi-year stranglehold on the spot, and I don’t see Djokivic in the top 3). Unlike Rafa, Murray’s serve is a strength (Rafa’s is merely adequate), which is a great help on hard courts and non-2008 Wimbledon (which was slower than in previous years, to Rafa’s benefit and Federer’s detriment). As a side bonus, unlike Rafa, you can actually learn from and attempt to emulate Murray’s technique.

Rafa’s one of those singularities – an inimitable freak of nature (among other things, he’s actually a righty who plays lefty). He’s all energy and enthusiasm and fun, and he’s no slouch in the strategy department, but to-date he’s never really had to strategize as his sheer physical skills and refusal to give up on any point keep him matches that could be a bit shorter if he thought ahead a couple more moves. I think he’s a great player, but until he gets a better serve he’ll be limited in success on hard courts. He seems like a really genuine, nice guy … with OCD, some mania, and a supreme focus on tennis.

Federer is, of course, amazing and probably the best player of all time. But that’s for another day. Or another writer.

Back to Murray. Here he is practicing groundies – notice the footwork and the pace even when he’s just practicing. That he probably has 6″ precision throughout is standard for the good pros, but still a sight to behold for someone like me. Good times.

This entire aughts have been a rough, not so very good happy fun sexy time for most. So you know what that means, bitches – time to turn this decade around and rescue its reputation by having a majorly kickass year.

Get to it.

… actually, I’m calling fake, but it’s a good un.

Check it out, though, it’s … remarkable.

I can go to 11. Best location was 13 8 4 3 km from the target (St. Petersburg) The map needs to be bigger (in terms of pixels), for sure.

Update: Finally made it to level 12 (traveler IQ of 130, 553,000 points). Hooray for me!

Washington has highly consistent weather and wildly inaccurate forecasts.

Discuss

I’ll be working on the boobies, beefcake, and gams posts later.

… nice to have the site back. Fuck you, skr1p7 k1dd13s.

If you want to donate in accord with my wishes, it would be Medicins sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders

.

Join a rec soccer league
Start studying kendo

We’ve got other things, like max out the Roth and 401(k) and the like, but I’m focusing on the fun ones right now.

FOUR JOBS I’VE HAD IN MY LIFE:
1. camp counselor
2. resident advisor
3. conference coordinator
4. porn star. or maybe it was internet consultant. one of the two.

FOUR PLACES I HAVE LIVED:
1. Ogden, UT
2. Cedar Park, TX
3. NYC
4. Lacey, WA

FOUR TV SHOWS I LIKE TO WATCH:
1. The Office
2. Friday Night Lights
3. The Colbert Report
4. Footballer’s Wives

Actually, that just about covers the entirety of TV shows I like to watch.

FOUR PLACES I’VE BEEN ON VACATION:
1. Cancun
2. Victoria, Canada
3. Orange County. No, seriously. It sucked.
4. El Reno, OK

FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS:
1. pizza
2. thai
3. almost any kind of bread
4. pizza!

I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:

1. Wherever ghostfinger’s at. I can hear your cutesy-pie groans from here. Quit it.
2. NYC
3. Paris
4. Tropical beach. With good service and no party peeps. Perhaps on the med. Whichev

FOUR FRIENDS I THINK WILL RESPOND:

none

FOUR PLACES I LIKE TO SHOP:
1. Bookstores
2. Funky boutiques in the artsy sections of towns
3. Real estate websites
4. Shoe stores

Better questions:
FOUR RECENT BOOKS YOU’VE LIKED
NAME FOUR PRESIDENTS WITHOUT LOOKING ANY UP
FOUR FAVORITE NUMBERS
FOUR FAVORITE TOES
FOUR FAVORITE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS, AND IF YOU SAY BUSH V. GORE I WILL HIT YOU
etc.

Anti-speeding ad wags fingers
An Australian anti-speeding TV ad features young women making hand gestures at a speeder that imply the target has a small penis.

The campaign features young women, an elderly woman and other young men not in the drivers seat wiggling their little fingers in a gesture that implies the speeder is poorly endowed

Gee… if only I could recall whom this brings to mind. Hmm. Nope. Wow. Drawing a blank here.

But … I’ve got a new job… which will keep me super busy and I’ll be a Very Important Person and all that now, but also requires moving to a whole new area where I figure I’m going to have nothing to do in the evenings except comment about the world. And how hot it is there.

Like, seriously hot.

Have I mentioned it’s hot yet? Because it is. Supposedly. But I trust those in the know. And they say it’s hot. So… hot! Hotty hot hot hot. This kind of hot:

Not Jessica Biel-kind of hawt. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Anyhoo, I’ll be back, bitches. Prepare yourselves.

Here’s the deal, 10% off for Mother’s Day:

Enjoy

(there’s a bunch of useful links to products and places I use anyway on the Help Me Help You page)

Karma
Choosing your own reality
Free will
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Hope

Nothing like having a noveau riche climber obsessed with ostentatious displays of prosperity and having ‘made it’ with one-half your brains and one-third your talent being in a position of gatekeeper to your career. Frustrated? Moi? Ohhh… a tad.