• The famous sea lions of San Francisco’s Pier 39 — those lovable pinnipeds — have suddenly disappeared. For twenty years, the sea lions have hung out at the pier. They started appearing and colonizing the area after their traditional home, Seal Rocks, became less a desirable locale. After 2009 witnessed an all-time high in the number of sea lions counted at Pier 39 (1,585!), 2010 will — for now — present tourists a far, far smaller number of sea lions to count. Zero. I have been lucky enough to photograph and gaze at the sea lions several times in my life, but it will definitely feel weird the next time I find myself near the bay if they are not there. Oh, you crazed beasts of the water, where have you gone? Will you ever return? Does anybody care!? [story]
• Some woman hellbent on giving me a disgustingly painful erection has gone and replicated the Big Mac. And she posted her recipe and instructions online. I kind of want to marry her. I want her to cook me Big Macs forever. Even if she’s ugly. I’ll just close my eyes or bury my head in her shoulder to picture someone else so long as she has a homemade Big Mac on the dinner table for me every night. Those pictures…they’re so…oh, God…so good… [story]
• Jason Bay passed his physical. He’s now officially a New York Metropolitan. I can’t say I’m happy. The front office felt they had to make a move to win back the favor of their fans, and overspending for a good corner outfielder seemed (to them) like the best way to go about regaining support. I wish the Mets didn’t always fall into this trap of paying too much for just “good” players. You would think, after all these years, the powers-that-be might realize that if you consistently put together a winning team you wouldn’t have to make irrational decisions involving trades and signings. If you allow your younger (cheaper) players to develop, instead of blocking them with costly veterans, the fan response could potentially be more positive for an extended period of time than it would be in the first year of a rich contract to a player who might be on the other side of his peak years. I don’t know, I don’t run a baseball team, I’m not a sports reporter, I don’t know much about it. I just think they could have done much better than overpaying a very good player. And this rumored trade of Luis Castillo for Mike Lowell is retarded. I think Castillo’s contract sucks too, but at least he was on the field last year contributing (and putting up some decent numbers, too!). Trading him for another aging dude who is coming off an injury-plagued season (and off-season) makes no sense. [story]
• Last, but certainly not least, the new season of Mario Kart Wii League is underway. Tom, Nate, Pat and I will be battling for the next few months to see who will be crowned the champion of Kart. As always, this (our fourth season) is sure to be a very hard fought season. Anticipate several blog entries being cut short due to my being called away to play Wii for the next few months. And, as always, if you want to keep track of our standings you can click the “standings” button on the little menu bar near the top of this page. I don’t condone gambling, but if you want to place a bet with me as to who will win, I love the idea of being a bookie. Right now I’d set the odds for winning the regular season as follows: Nate (2:1), Tom (5:1), Evan (6:1), Pat (7:1). Nate is 5:4 to win the championship because he’s already won the first three.
• I’m officially the last person in America to see this Avatar movie. So that’s where I’m going now — to the IMAX theater in Universal Studios. Wish me luck…
January 5th, 2010
You’ll need it.
January 5th, 2010
Avatar rocks! And you have to try the new Big mac snack wraps, yumm