Blame Canada

During Lost tonight (and while we're on the subject of Lost, here's a question for you: is Locke's dad the "real" Sawyer?), ABC showed a commercial for the latest reality show that I'm completely ignoring, American Inventor. "One hit show has captured America's heart," voice-over guy says as we watch various people demonstrating their assorted new inventions. "I absolutely love it," continues some other guy that I don't know from Adam. Maybe he's on the show. Maybe he's just talking about Malt-o-Meal, which is tasty and deserving of love. Who knows? Then voice-over guy is back. "It's almost impossible to stop watching!" This last is a quote, which I know because they displayed it onscreen as voice-over guy was saying it. They have to speak them out loud when they show them, you know, because we're too lazy to be bothered with actually reading them. Anyway, this quote is attributed to the Toronto Globe and Mail.

Does anyone else find it rather amusing that as proof that this show has "captured America's heart," ABC offers us a glowing quote from a Canadian newspaper?

the slipper. still. fits.

George Mason is going to the Final Four. Oh my.

Now that is what this tournament is all about.

On a completely unrelated note, another link has been added to the links section in the sidebar. It's this one right here, in case you feel like checking it out but are far too lazy to go through all the trouble of scrolling down and figuring out just what's new there. This is my friend Kent's page at deviantART. He's a supercool guy and he draws some neat stuff - lots of comic book- and/or anime-type art, although he's certainly not limited to that - so if you're interested in that sort of thing then you should definitely go check him out.

Man, I didn't get paid for that plug or anything. I need a better agent.

updated at 9:40 pm: There's a Final Four survey over at ESPN.com right now, and one of the questions is "How many teams did you correctly pick to reach the Final Four?" Of the nearly 25,000 responses at this point, 2% of the respondents (roughly 500) said "4." I'd be shocked if 2 people in America had George Mason's name pencilled into their Final Four when they filled out their brackets, let alone 2%. And that doesn't even touch on the fact that there are no #1 seeds left, and who fills out a bracket without picking at least one of them to go that far? In fact, I don't know that there's even been a Final Four (at least since the tournament field expanded to 64) that didn't include a single #1 seed. Liars, every last fucking one of you. What's the point of lying to an anonymous poll? Who does that impress?

Good grief.

update part 2, Monday at 8:30 am: So ESPN released some details about the entries in their Tournament Challenge bracket contest. Out of over 3 million entries, a whopping four of them got the Final Four right - although 1,853 entries actually had George Mason getting there. Which means I underestimated the number of people nationwide who would actually pick GMU, basically because I didn't think about the alumni factor - those people who pick their old school to go all the way no matter how "realistic" it may seem to be. But still. Four out of 3 million is a far cry from 500 out of 25,000, no? Like I said. Liars. Too funny. America, you suck.

And I'm at work way too early because we're supposed to go pick up some stuff, and of course the guy we're supposed to get it from isn't answering the phone and it's looking like it's not going to happen and I coulda just stayed in bed. Awesome. Like I needed to lose a few extra hours of sleep at the beginning of a 60+ hour work week. Oh, hurry up, Friday afternoon.

And then, Duke choked.

Thanks, guys. Now I want a smoke even worse. :op

day two

Ohmigod this sucks. Suckity-suck-suck-sucks. I haven't had a cigarette in... let's see, about 42 hours. Wow. Grrrrr. Kill, kill, blood makes the grass grow.

Actually, though, it's not nearly as bad as it has been the times I've tried to quit in the past. I can really tell that the Wellbutrin is making a huge difference. There were entire hours today when I didn't even think about how badly I needed a smoke. Then I remembered and got all superbitchy again. ^_^

Here's a bonus, though - in the past, whenever I've made a remotely serious effort to quit, I've lost weight. Every single time. Weird, isn't it? Everyone else on the planet gains weight when they quit. Leave it to Todd to do things completely differently and totally ignore the laws of time and space. So hopefully, the extra 15 pounds or so that I've been carrying around for a few months will also soon be history. Yay being back at my fighting weight!

Go Duke.

Sinus infections rock.

I believe it was Voltaire who said "the art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." Which is usually true, but the drugs my doctor gave me this morning amounted to something more than just clowns pouring out of a Volkswagen (German engineering in da haus) - after the coma-like nap I fell into upon returning home and calling in to the bookstore, my headache is gone, I can almost breathe again, and I feel like eventually I may be up to becoming a relatively productive member of society once more. Thanks, doc.

I've really spent a lot of time this "winter" under the weather, which isn't cool. I've taken to writing it off to two things - the weird weather we've had here and the fact that I sincerely need to quit smoking. The weather I can't do anything about, but the smoking I can, and will. I've finally moved past the talking about it stage and into the doing something about it stage, and the doing something about it consists of this little tiny white pill I'm about to swaller. (gulp) Yes indeed, Todd's on Wellbutrin. As of Wednesday morning, I should be done smoking. I hope I hope I hope, anyway.

So consider yourselves warned - I may be an incorrigible grump for the next couple-few weeks. If you deal with me in day-to-day life, I apologize in advance. If you don't - well, then, just sit back and laugh at Mr. Grumpy Blog as he regales you with his bitchiness. ^_^

Dear Steve Alford:

Your #3 seeded Hawkeyes just blew a 17 point lead with under 10 minutes to play. Due to your switching them to a slow-it-down style, which every sports fan in America could tell you never works. Ever. This was your final chance. And boy, did you blow it.

Have fun at Indiana. I can't wait to beat your team's ass every year until they kick you out too. Buh-bye.

In Heaven There Is No Beer

While I was busy doing other things this weekend (but I still found time to watch the games, oh yes I did, you bettah believe it), my beloved Iowa Hawkeyes stormed their way to the Big Ten Tournament title. So the selection committee promptly gifted them with a #3 seeding for The Dance. That happens to be their second-highest seeding ever - they were a 2 once, and just missed going to the Final Four that year (by virtue of blowing like a 20-point halftime lead on UNLV). And I've actually even heard their name come up in national title contender discussions, although not by very many people. Or very often. But I've heard it. And that rocks.

I love The Dance. The upsets. The close calls. The storied rivalries. The amazing finishes. The no-names who suddenly have names. The announcers going wild. The crowd going wilder. The filling out of the brackets. The office pool shit-talkin'. The heartbreak when your first Final Four team goes down in the second round. The ecstasy of that 12-seed that you picked going to the Elite Eight actually doing it. The madness of the first four days, where it seems like they're playing basketball somewhere in America at any given minute. Ahhhhhhhh. I loves me some Cubbies, and I loves me some Bear and Hawkeye football, but there's nothing quite like these three-plus weeks in March.

Now if they'd just stop sticking Iowa in Duke's regional every stinkin' year. At least this year it won't matter until the Elite Eight, if at all... but if it does end up mattering, I'm going to be ticked. Bad enough that my two favorite teams may have to face off for a spot in the Final Four, but even worse that my second-favorite is very clearly the better of the two. But let's burn that bridge when we come to it, shall we? I'm still basking in the glow of that 3-seed.

Learn to drive!

Three times today I got cut off in one way or another and had to slam on my brakes hard enough to lock 'em and leave pretty black stripes behind me on the pavement. Three. Twice on the way to work this morning - the first one less than a mile away from my place, meaning it was probably only about 15 minutes after I got out of bed. That's not the greatest way to start your day. And it was the worst of the three, too. It required swerving and lawn-driving and everything! #1 Super Genius decided that he wanted to take a shot at turning left across the road in front of me when I was, oh, maybe fifty feet away. And moving about 45. Go right ahead! I'll only fuck up the passenger side of your car! You never sit over there anyway! Whee. I love Tulsa drivers. (Although at least I won't feel the need to pay for a reflex test anytime soon.)

Can you sue the city for failing to properly test and license people? Hmm.

ION, I love Harry Potter. 2007 is tooooo far away.

I'd like a large mushroom pizza, hold the Jesus

Every Domino's pizza I ate before 1998 helped pay for this.

I can't even begin to tell you how not right that is. I'm never eating pizza again.

Speaking of song lyrics

Doctor, doctor, give me the news
I got a bad case of lovin' you

...

So...

Robert Palmer's in love with his doctor?

I guess I'm just not romantic enough

Because you know what? I totally would mind spending every day out on your corner in the pouring rain.