If you thought the pig was gross...

...you should see the pictures I could have taken at the Bay to Breakers race in SF on Sunday. K wanted to check out the race for her birthday, and many of the city's sedentary consumers of pizza and beer showed up in their commemorative birthday suits. After about 20 minutes, though, you stop noticing them, and the costumes really are great at Bay to Breakers; imagine Halloween in Chapel Hill on acid and with warmer weather. My personal favorite was the group of people that dressed up as a school of salmon and then went the wrong way on the course.

The presentation of K's birthday present is delayed until Friday, when her twin sister gets here. The suspense about the present is palpable in the arranging your lamp household this week.

I received an empty diploma holder and an inside out hood on Friday at graduation. Grades should go final in the coming days, thus making my status as a Master of Theology official. It's nice to have a break from the academic grind, as I worked right through Winter Break and really haven't relaxed since last summer. The primary goal now is to move to New Jersey.

Thanks to those who participated in the hat survey earlier this spring. I received a Lookouts hat as a graduation gift. K says it looks like an Elmer Fudd hat. I think it's just fine.

Sacre bleu!

Click on the pig to see more creepy ads.

Teach your children well

Smoking is now on the list of things that can get a movie a more restrictive rating. I wonder when murder, pathetic female role models, misrepresentation of Native Americans and Virginia geography, bondage, or implied doggy-style sex will affect such matters...

Hi Roger,

Welcome back to the American League. Please feel free to choke on your overbloated ego any time you'd like to. Also, if you could criticize some marginalized group or make some really lewd comments, I'd appreciate that more than you could know. I don't like you, and I hope you have a terrible season, followed by an overweight retirement. Thanks,

SJL

This is Greensburg, Kansas today.
I used to have nightmares about tornadoes.
This is why.

Good Sign, Good baseball.

As an Orioles fan, it's been a while since I heard one of our players say something like this. Let's hope Peter Angelos understands that he needs to keep Nick Markakis around for a long time. "You got to love it, being in that situation, the game in your hands," Markakis said. "I was just up there looking to hit a fly ball or hit it through a hole, and that's what happened." He tied the game in the 8th, and won it in the 10th.
I watched a certain local NL team play last night, and greatly enjoyed their "clutch" hitting in the 7th and the 2-out rally in the 8th (which was started by an ill-advised 2-out intentional walk of Barry Lamar). Good baseball, even if it was against Philly.

Yesterday in a seminar class, we devoted the class time to our term papers. Each student took a few minutes to present their topic, and got feedback from the faculty, of whom there are 3, and the other 9 students. Mine went well; I got compliments on the development of my topic, and in general I feel fine. Another kid, and this post is really about him, blew my mind. He wanted to analyze the use of Tillich's treatment of the concepts of eros and agape, and the subsequent criticism of Tillich in feminist tradition. Don't worry if you're not up on that stuff; you're not alone.
He got Tillich wrong. He actually was incorrect about what Tillich said. Then, he got all three of the feminists he dealt with wrong. In short, every aspect of his paper was wrong, and everyone in the room told him so. Faculty, students, all of us told him that he had misread every source for his paper.
I felt a little ballsy because I had written 10 pages of mine before presenting the topic to the class, but I figured I could fix it if I needed to. My fellow student had already completed his paper, and handed it in. The professor he handed it to said, "Oh, wow, you're handing that in already? You have another week to make revisions. Are you sure you want to do this?" His reply was just spectacular. "Yep, I have no intention of making any changes." I just had to mention this on the blog because it's probably the dumbest thing I've seen someone do in my time at school, including undergrad and high school. We shredded that paper, and he had a week to fix it. Instead, he insisted that he was right, even though the people who will grade the paper disagree, and arrogantly handed it in. The same kid added a year onto his M.A. program because he didn't get in to any of the schools he applied to for a Ph.D.. Two of his academic references teach the class I've been talking about. It's not looking good for him.
I know this post sounds trite and pompous, but I still can't believe that this actually happened, and I actually think it's funny. 25 more pages of writing and I'm out of here.

Professionalism

Since I now know that at least one practicing journalist and a couple of journalism junkies read this blog, I'd like to submit the worst piece of writing I've seen published by a major media outlet in a while. Just remember, someone got paid to write this piece, which I am quoting in its rather brief entirety off of ESPN.com. No stone is turned, and no detail is left clarified.

Tom Brady has already made a connection with Randy Moss.

The Boston Globe reported on Tuesday that the quarterback restructured his contract to create cap space so the Patriots could acquire the receiver.

On Sunday, the Patriots sent their fourth-round pick, the 110th selection overall, to the Raiders for Moss. With the draft choice acquired in the deal, Oakland drafted cornerback John Bowie from the University of Cincinnati.

Moss

Brady

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports that Brady did not take a pay cut; rather, he restructured his current deal that runs through 2010.

As part of the trade, the Patriots were required to take on the $9.75 million that Moss was scheduled to earn. After the deal, Moss tore up his old contract and signed a one-year, $3 million deal that could be worth up to $5 million with incentives.

On the second day of the draft on Sunday, the Patriots received permission from the Raiders to speak with Moss about a possible trade.

Derivative Post

I like Big Country's list of his favorite beers, and think that parroting him would be an apt way to unwind this evening. Without further ado:

1. Left Hand Sawtooth Ale. The Springs of 2004 and 2005 were good times, and the discovery of this beer during that time means it will forever be associated with good times and confusing minor league baseball schedules. It's also a fine, well balanced beer by a Colorado brewery that can do no wrong. This is probably my favorite beer that comes in bottles. Disc golf is probably my favorite sport to play while drinking a one that is cold.
   
2. Tie. Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA/ Drake's IPA. Two India Pale Ales, crammed full of hops, pretty strong, and somehow creamy. Dogfish Head is made in Delaware, Drake's is made in Oakland. Neither is from India; IPA knows no geographical bias.
3. Fuller's 1845. My junior year of college, a parent in the youth group I led gave me a sizeable gift certificate to Whole Foods for Christmas. I was 20, so I scouted out the single bottle beers and gave my roommate a shopping list, including a decent amount of whatever he wanted to drink. The winner of the batch was Fuller's 1845, a bottle conditioned ale from England. Bottle Conditioned means it has active yeast in the bottle- no preservatives needed, and the beer actually improves with age. This was the first beer I tasted that I thought was complex in a good way.
4. Tie. Moosehead Lager/Saranac Black&Tan. Moosehead was my first favorite beer, and Saranac was the first dark beer I liked. Most of the bets I won in college were paid off with one of these two beers. You know who you are.
5. Red Hook ESB. I get a little too excited when this stuff goes on sale at the store. I just like it a whole lot.
6. Brother David's Triple Abbey Style Ale. Here be dragons. This stuff comes in a big bottle, and clocks in at 10% abv. I had already had one beer, and poured this while I watched a baseball game... alone. My wife came home to find me having had a reversal of fortune (in the proper receptacle) and then passed out on the couch... alone. You mess with Brother David, and he lays your ass out.