Not much going on. I’ve actually been going to bed at a decent hour this week (usually around 11 PM). Don’t know why—maybe this week has just been so exhausting I don’t have a choice.

I saw some city guy on the local news crowing about how well traffic has been flowing since they closed off that lane for reconstruction. I guess it’s a total mystery why it took me 45 minutes (as opposed to the usual 15) to get to work yesterday.

Looks like the 8 Minute Dating was a bust. Ah well, back to the drawing board.

Check this out. It’s the harassment lawsuit filed by the ex-writer’s assistant on Friends against the staff. Easily the funniest thing the Friends franchise ever produced.

WARNING: The link contains very graphic language. If you’re easily offended, or even if you’re not, you may want to think twice before clicking.

On a nicer note, check out Crap From The Past, a super fun radio show out of Minnesota that plays all sorts of stuff. The DJ isn't afraid to mix Damn Yankees alongside Billy Bragg. The website has a metric ton of archived shows. Check out the history of rap show--it makes the work day fly by.

Watched the Red Sox complete the sweep of the Evil Empire yesterday. It’s quite comical watching online Yankee fans slamming the panic button in late April. Granted, they’re playing like the most expensive little league team ever, and it’s never fun when you’re team is stinking up the joint. But the last time I checked, it’s only April. They have plenty of talent and there’s plenty of time to turn things around. Not that I’d complain if they stayed the course, mind you…

Celtics got swept. I’ll say this, people were happier about the Sox than they were upset with the C’s.

The Simpsons was okay yesterday. A little silly, but not bad for an Ian Maxtone-Graham episode. It was also the second time the word “ho” was used in two weeks. I was baffled by Law and Order: Criminal Intent afterwards. Did Connie agree to a plea bargain? If not, how are they going to convict him when the two other girls confessed to the crimes? It was pretty funny when he slapped Goren, though.

So yeah, yesterday…

I went to the dentist. Most people go twice a year, lucky me gets to go four times at least. I have bad gums (even needing a couple of surgical procedures) so I have to go every three months to keep and eye on things. Everything seemed okay, and the whole thing was about as good as a trip to the dentist can be.

They’re doing major work on I-290, basically shutting down the right lane and closing down a few exits. Traffic now officially sucks ass at all times. Even driving home at 10 PM I saw that traffic heading east was almost completely stopped. There are few things that aggravate me more than sitting in traffic, but now I find myself stuck in a jam no matter when I leave in the morning.

Went to a speed dating thing last night. Almost passed out when I thought I saw my ex there (but it wasn’t her). Met some nice people. We’ll see how things work out.

True to my word, I finished Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay on Saturday. It's really a wonderful book. It's about two young men, Sam and Joe, the former from Brooklyn and the latter his cousin from Prague, who create a superhero called the Escapist (based on Joe's escape from the Nazis in Europe) that becomes a smash hit. It seems to be loosely based on Jerry Schuster and Joe Siegel, the creators of Superman (even though Superman exists in the book alongside the Escapist).

If you hear "comic books" and want to pass, don't. Comics are only a part of the story, although it does help to be a fan to spot all the references and subtle homages. But Chabon's style is wonderful, and if your still doubting, he won the Pullitzer for it. Highest recommendation.

Big Boston sports day. I went down to the gym and got to see the end of the Red Sox game, then saw the winners of the Boston Marathon cross the finish line (the male winner puked on camera, and apparently the female winner pissed all over herself. Makes you want to get a pair of running shoes, huh?). The Bruins lost, which would bother me if I gave two shits about hockey.

Big week coming up, Thursday in particular. More later.

Remember that post where I was devastated when I blew the chance for a 51? (I hope so, it’s right below this one) Well after shooting a 53 in the second round, I tried again last night. Had a tough start as I parred two holes on the front nine (and birdied the rest for a -7), then caught FIRE on the back nine with four eagles (two on par fives, the other on par fours (one I reached the green with my driver and holed the other from 150 feet out)). I had the birdie putt on 18 again to cinch the -20 round, haunted by the miss two days ago. I putt. Maybe ... maybeee ... YES SIR!!!!!!! SWEET REDEMPTION. Definitely a highlight of my gaming career. After three rounds I’m at -57 on rounds of 52, 53, and 51. I’m on pace for -76 for the tournament, but I’ll probably top out at -70.

Here's a fantastic timewaster: people beating old NES games in record times. Some guy blows through Ninja Gaiden (one of the all-time impossible NES games) in 18 minutes and only gets hit like 4 times. Cripes.

I’ll be done The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay probably tomorrow. I’ll post some thoughts when I’m done. After that, maybe I’ll pick up some light reading.

Back Sunday.

I’m hyper pissed at myself because last night I had a chance to shoot a 51 at TPC but missed a birdie putt at 18 because I aimed right instead of left. ARGH.

In happier golf news, congrats to Phil Mickelson for finally winning and major and getting the monkey off his back (and having a really hot wife as well). I fell asleep when I got back from my sister’s on Sunday so I missed it, but I’ll bet good money he wins another major soon, maybe within this year.

Got my cell phone yesterday—just a basic Samsung, no frills. Sadly, Catherine Zeta Jones didn’t show up and give it to me. I had to talk to some guy named Chuck at the T-Mobile Hut.

This morning I shot a 53 at St. Andrew's playing Tiger Woods Golf '04 (for the PS2). That's a -19 for one round, and the breakdown was 3 eagles, 13 birdies, and 2 pars. So I could have feasibly done even better. Still, a 53 is my all time record. I slumped a little at Bethel Page, only shooting 55 (still a course record) and I'm leading whatever tournament this is by 20 strokes after two rounds. I may be getting a little too good at this game.

Finished my taxes this morning and dropped them off in the mail. Now I'm at work, which kinda sucks, but I'm just cleaning up a few loose ends since I have Monday off. Whoooooo.

Hope everyone has a nice Easter. I'll be back Monday and maybe add a few more links and other stuff. I've added a few blogs that were nice enough to link to me, so check them out.

As promised, here is the link for Bob’s book at the I-Universe site. Maybe now he’ll name an elf after me in the sequel.

In a completely distressing turn of events, Johnny went out and purchased American Idol washout William Hung’s CD (titled Inspiration) and actually played some of it for me. The novelty here is shitty covers of songs that were really shitty to begin with. Yeah, a guy who can’t sing is singing “Hotel California,” har har. This is going to have as long a shelf life as a glass of milk left out in the sun. Plus the CD comes with a DVD including the bonus feature “A Day in the Life of William Hung.” Be still my beating heart.

Not much to update on the Legal Music Download Crusade, as I’m still taking in the five CD’s worth of Jade Tree music. Joan of Arc really is a shitty, shitty band.

Oh, and the Wall Street vs. The Alcohol Industry episode of MXC airs at 10:00 tonight, and not 9:00 as stated below.

Probably no updates tomorrow—how about Saturday? Monday at the latest.

I went hunting for J-Church’s new CD at lunch, but couldn’t track it down. I did manage to find a used copy of the EP (nine songs in twenty-two minutes—is that an EP or an album?) they did for Jade Tree for only five bucks, so it wasn’t a complete loss. I also bought Billy Bragg’s Back To Basics new for only nine bucks, so it was a good day all around.

About 4/5 of the magazine had Kurt Cobain on the cover. Hard to believe it’s really been ten years. I don’t have anything to say that hasn’t been said elsewhere, except that I really liked Nirvana and they made some amazing music.

In other news, Wilco is streaming their new album A Ghost is Born on their website. This is offset by the sad news that Jeff Tweedy checked into rehab for painkiller. Pitchfork has the story here.

Got home to see the last inning of the Sox game, so I didn’t see Curt Schilling pitch, but from all appearances it was a rock solid performance. Thank God they won or I’d never hear the end of it from Johnny. There are only so many Rafael Palmeiro Viagra jokes I can make in retaliation.

(Does Raffy need a bat when he goes up to hit, or does he just pop some Viagra and use his manhood? Hey, why do you think home runs are called dongs?)

It’s cold and wet but at least it’s not pouring rain like it has been the last few days. But I heard something on the news about a snowstorm coming soon. When is spring going to get here?

I’m pissed because I dug out some J-Church albums last night to listen to at work today, then promptly forget them at home. Argh.

The Legal Music Download Crusade continues as I downloaded 107 songs from the Jade Tree Website last night. The Cub Country tunes are really good, as is the New End Original song. Probably too much Joan of Arc (has there ever been a worse band name for a bunch of guys?), but hey, it’s free. This weekend’s project is to burn six hours of music on CD and type out tracklists. And yes, I’m a huge dork about these things.

May see Walking Tall this weekend. I hope it does well, but it'll probably top out at 50 million tops.

I’ll be glad when this week is over.