Ugh-ly

Just because a basketball game is close does not mean it was a good game, or a well-played game. Last night's NCAA title game proved that. Basically, Kansas sucked less than Memphis in the end.

So does anyone think the pro or college game is better now than it was 15 years ago? Has anyone benefited from the fact that no makes it past his sophomore year before turning pro? The college game suffers. The pro games suffers. Fans suffer.

Oh yeah, players and agents really benefit big time, and we fans keep paying to watch. So I guess things will stay the same as long as this is true, no matter how much people like me piss and moan.



And now I have that &%*$#@!@! "One Shining Moment" song stuck in my head.

Oh well. Chalmers shot was pretty exciting.

Random Question #890321

Do runners drink more alcohol than the average American?

The Deets already posted about a pizza party Emily and I had at my house last Thursday. Click here for his report on The Battle of Longfellow Pizzas.

We had all this pizza at my house as part of the "closing ceremonies" to an annual workout we run on a track near my house. So there were 12 of us over at my house after the run. After everyone left, I gathered, rinsed, and put all the empty bottles together.


The close observer will note a few Coke and Gatorade empties, but also an empty champaign bottle, to go along with all those beer bottles.

So as I was cleaning, I thought about my non-running friends here in the Twin Cities, my college friends (those who don't run anymore or played other sports), my family, and my high school friends. If you put all those people together, I don't know if all those people combined would have had as many beers as the 12 of us did on that Thursday night.

And this was a very tame social event. No one was even close to being out-of-control. It's just that we all enjoy drinking beer.

So I'm not suggesting runners are drunks. In fact, in all my years of running and knowing runners, I personally know of only one person who actually had a drinking problem. And that was in college. And no formal diagnosis was made. And that dude was never going to be a scoring runner on our team, in part because of his drinking.

So beer is at the center of most running circles, and I don't think it is unhealthy or bad. But I do wonder, is this true for other subcultures? Chess enthusiasts? Bloggers? Cartoonists?

As Good As It Gets

Last night Emily and I went to dinner in Uptown with some friends of ours. On the drive back, as we went down Hennepin Avenue towards I-94, Emily asked about three times if I wanted to go to Sebastian Joe's. As I kept on saying, "No, not really," it dawned on me what she was really saying. She wasn't so much asking me if I wanted to go there, but telling me to.

But I had bought bag of Oreos the night before at Wallgreen's and had eaten many of them earlier in the day. And that was really all the sugar I wanted to subject body to in one day.

Or was it?

As we got on I-94, I realized Izzy's was more or less on the way home. So I suggested we go there. In my opinion, Izzy's is that good. I had overdosed on sugar to the point that I did not feel the need to appease my wife's request for ice cream, with one exception. Izzy's is just too good to pass up.

I ordered Coffee Break with Tiramisu as an Izzy scoop. They also had Peace Coffee flavored ice cream and coffee ice cream with Fine Grind Coffee--the coffee shop next door (thanks Emily for remembering that one). Three coffee flavors. Weird.

I can't wait for the spring to get warm enough for Emily and I to ride our bikes to Izzy's. That will be fun.

So now that warm weather is upon us, it is probably time to rank the best ice cream shops in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

5. Grand Ole Creamery. Maybe it's because the way they spell the word "ole" (a reference to Scandanavian culture?) annoys me, or maybe it's just because the ice cream is actually too sweet for me (I didn't know this was possible), but there are clearly four places I would go to before I go to Ye Grande Olde Creamerye. But I'd still go there if I was in the neighborhood.

4. Sebastian Joe's. Nice range of flavors. Good atmosphere. Maybe I don't go there enough. But in my opinion their ice cream has always been very good, just not as great as the three shops ahead of them. I guess I would describe the ice cream as dutifully delicious. But the Sebastian Joe's in Linden Hills definitely has the best outdoor seating of all the places on this list.

3. Crema. Home of Sonny's ice cream. I love Sonny's ice cream. Crema could probably be bumped up to number two, but they have so many other good desserts that Sonny's ice cream gets lost in the shuffle.

2. Pumphouse Creamery. A bit overpriced, but they do a nice job of using only (mostly?) locally grown and produced ingredients. They also do a good job of reminding you again and again about this fact. But the ice cream is good, I certainly support the effort to buy locally, and they have some fun flavors.

1. Izzy's. Izzy's has it all. Outdoor and indoor seating. A nice range of flavors. Solar power. The ice cream is creamy and sweet, but not too creamy and sweet. And of course, they have the izzy scoop.

Technical Difficulties

Emily's Reuben Sandwich blog was accidentally deleted. She is trying to contact blogger to get it back on-line. So all you Emily fans take a step back from the ledge. I am confident her blog will be restored soon.

PLAY snowBALL!!

Thanks to the greatness that is Emily's job, she was able to get four seats for tonight's Twins' season opener against the Angels. We had 12th row seats in between home plate and 3rd base. Crazed Twins fan Nasty Nate and his friend, an even more crazed Twins fan (complete with Minnesota Twins shoes with Minnesota Twins shoe laces) joined us.

Sure Torii Hunter made his debut as a non-Twin. And yeah, he did go 0-4 and strike out in the 9th inning. Oh yeah, Carlos Gomez is going to be a lot of fun for us Twins fans to watch this year. And of course TWINS WIN!!!

But none of that was the story this night. The pictures tell the real story of how baseball opens in the state of Minnesota.


Here I am in our front yard as we are leaving for the game. I'm fired up. It's time to tailgate! Are the coals hot enough for me to throw my burgers on?


The woman behind that parka is Emily. You can see the Metrodome in the background. Insert your own isn't-indoor-baseball-great joke here. Nathan got to the game before we did and said they made a big presentation of showing only 162 more home games to go before the Twins play in their outdoor new stadium. Irony.


My car in the parking lot after the game. Nothing sounds like spring more than anti-lock breaks kicking in on icy roads in front of four-way stop signs and baseballs deflecting off the speakers on the roof of an indoor stadium.

But inside the climate controlled Metrodome, it's always spring.


Here is Joe Mauer's first at-bat of the season. My ears survived the spontaneous and simultaneous shrieking of every girl between 12 and 25 years of age as he stepped to the plate.

And this is for folks like the like The Anginator. The Anginator was one of many people who texted us to say they saw us on ESPN when Torii Hunter first came to bat for the Angels. I guess ESPN first showed Nasty Nate's friend cheering and then panned over to me and Nathan taking pictures of Torii with our digital cameras. This is the picture I took of Torii Hunter while ESPN was taking a picture of me.



It will be weird having someone else besides Torii Hunter roaming centerfield. Carlos Gomez has a long way to go, but two stolen bases, two hits, and two runs is a nice start. Immediately after the game, Gomez went back out to centerfield to practice catching pop flies in the Metrodome. The Twins really need this guy to excel to help with damage control from the Santana trade. It's good to see he is doing his part to help with that mission.

Here's to a 162-0 season.

Pancho Has A Question

Is it really supposed to snow tomorrow?

Because I speak for the both of us when I say we are both sick of having to run on days like this...


Especially when tomorrow is Opening Day for the Twins! Give it up for another year of indoor baseball in Minnesota!

And give it up for Emily, who was able to get some pretty good seats. We're going to the game with Nasty Nate. Should be fun. As per usual, the face of the Twins, Torii Hunter will be starting the season out in the Metrodome in centerfield.

What is unusual is the fact that he now plays for the other team, the Angels, who just happen to be opening their season against the Twins. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune ran a really nice story about how Hunter is fitting in with his new team. Click here to read the story.

The Twins will probably finish third in their division this year. Detroit and Cleveland are superior to them. Chicago is overrated, but Kansas City seems underrated. So I see the Twins battling it out with those two teams for third, significantly behind the Tigers and Indians.

But I have to admit, part of me is cheering for the Angels just because Torii Hunter is now on their team. When I was a kid I had one favorite team: whichever team Nolan Ryan was on. Torii Hunter is that kind of player.

I FAILED!!

This blog may be the last outlet on the web to show ot link to this video, but so be it. Five different people e-mailed this to me. Well, I guess I passed the last four times I took the test.

Happy Holidays Yall

A belated Happy Easter. I am always interested how a holiday of such spiritual and religous siginificance like Easter seems to seemlessly allow for such a secular or commercialized aspect. For example, how Peeps can be associated with the day marking the rising of our Lord Jesus Christ is beyond me. I guess it has also been a holiday for some to mark the upcoming Spring, though it's hard to believe that when it snowed all weekend up here in Minnesota.

Either way, the Pagan Peeps may have to get a holiday of their own. The St. Paul Pioneer Press now has an annual Peeps Diorama Contest. The winner gets a toothbrush for a trophy.

Click here for pictures and the story. There's a Peeps Goodnight Moon, Peeps Gulliver's Travels and Peeps doing yoga, to name a few. Very clever.

Pinche Gatos!!

A few months ago, I was unpacking from a trip, I left the room for two minutes and came back to this.




Make yourself at home, Nacho. A lot of those clothes were clean. The operative word ther being were.

And then about a week later I entered the kitchen and saw Toonces found a new place to hang out. Some of you may think this picture is cute. I know someone who doesn't.



I'll hand it to Toonces: she broke nothing on this sortie to the top of the kitchen, which is full of fragile items. No harm, no foul, I say. But still, seeing her with those crack-addled eyes, like a strung out bull in a china shop, makes me want to scream "Piiiiiiincheeeeee gaaaaaatos!".

Taking My Place In The Human Race

For runners in the Twin Cities, The Human Race is like the first day of school. The weather has a hint of a new season in the air, everyone is back in one place together again, we all have uniforms on, we're all excited to see each other, and we are all back to our cliques (but we have no problem being friendly with the cooler kids in the cooler cliques).

Before I go any further, it is time for full disclosure: a week ago I had no interest in running this race whatsoever. So, I gotta send a shout out to Chad Austin for being the straw that broke the camel's back as it was a conversation I had with him that convinced me to race. Chad and I are both on a committee for Twin Cities Marathon and we had a meeting last Wednesday. At the end of the meeting Chad said he'd see me Sunday at the Human Race.

"Yeah I'll go watch," I told him, "That's what I do every year."

I can't speak for Chad, but he basically looked at me like I had just told him I was going to skip the first day of high school because "I don't feel like going."

So I ended up running the race.


While I'm doling out props and love, I gotta give it up for Gene Niemi for sending me this picture of me he snapped near the finish line.

So like I said, Chad was the straw that broke camel's back. But my two Boston Marathon training partners Nasty Nate and Fancy Kirk also helped. They never pressured me, but each week they reminded me the race was coming up. So when we went for our weekly run on Thursday they made it clear to me how much fun it would be to run the race and be with the team. Especially because the beer and burgers would taste that much better post-race. So, I'm sending a shout out to them too.

I guess I was hesitant to race because I was less than happy with how I ran at the Frozen Half. I just wanted to get back to running for fun and not worry about place and time.

But then I wondered if I was being selfish and realized I'd be missing out in all the fun of running and racing with my friends. And that is way more important than how fast a 36 year-old bald never-was like me runs 8000 meters.

A funny thing happened on the way to the finish line. I ran over a minute faster than I thought I was going to. I knew the Human Race is a ridiculously fast course, but I factored that in, and I figured I break 28:30 and be okay with that.

So I was freaking shocked when the finish line clock was first close enough to read, and it said 27:15. I ended up running a 27:21. One more shout out to a very savvy veteran runner in Apple Valley (sorry Chad, it's not you) who told me if I opened with a 5:45 mile, and then get aggressive at mile two, and I'd end up running a 27:30.


This one came from Fancy Kirk who lent his camera to that Apple Valley savvy veteran runner.

So I opened with a 5:45 mile, felt good and decided at that point to start running aggressively, a mile ahead of schedule.

You know, I've learned it's easy to be zen runner when you don't run the time you want; but it's damn hard to stay even keeled and in the moment when you run over a minute faster than your goal time. Emily can attest to that. I was pretty wired when I got home from the race and post-race festivities on Sunday. And Emily gets the final shout out for putting up with all my weekends and nights spent running and talking about running. She also has been encouraging me to race more and have fun with it.

So as you can tell, I needed this race. I realize now that the TC10 in October and the Frozen Half this winter both affected my confidence. My challenge now is to remember what got me here. It was more than just hard work. It was letting go of trying to run certain times and enjoying every run, whatever it would bring. I wasn't doing that last fall.

My challenge is to hold onto that focus.

Here are some other recaps that are well worth reading.

Click here for Nasty Nate's recap. It's interesting to see how both of us needed the Human Race to give us back the confidence that the Frozen Half took away.

Click here for Chad Austin's take. The guy gets the Standard Deviation Award for how similar his performances have been over the past three years.

Click here to see what New Guy Nick has to say. As his name suggests, he is new to Minnesota, new to Team MDRA, but he's an OG runner. He's also good people. Anyone who will sit across me post-race at O'Garas as I deliver my rants, and not get up and leave out of boredom/frustration, is not just good people, but patient good people.

Los Deets

Los Deets tagged for a meme.

Click here to see his post.

Here are the expectations:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.


1. the Onion Ad Nauseum #13
2.Done, but it's hard to type with one hand (my left hand is holding my place in the book).
3. Done.
4. I quote:
However, the 46 year-old delivery for Tyson foods remains modest and somewhat bewildered by his gifts.

"I only graduated from high school and never went to college, so when people say I'm a hero or genius, I have a hard time believing them," Sullivan told reporters. "I did not have the advantages others have, so I am grateful to God for endowing me with this gift. I do not take it for granted, because I know how much it means to so many people."

Sutton then concluded his remark with his customary, keenly anticipated recitation of the 50 states in alphabetical order."

Thank God the meme instructions didn't have me type the first six sentences because the next sentence is the guy saying all the states up to Maine. Ugh, I wouldn't want to have to type all that out.

Anyway, that reminds me of Lower 48 by The Gourds.



Not the best video quality but the best sound quality I could get.
Texas reference at 4:25
Minnesota reference at 3:24
All the other states that don't matter: 1:46
5. And I will tag Fancy Kirk, Reuben Sandwich, Jocelyn, The Anginator, and Deb.

Los Spurs

Spurs rule.

Los Spurs don't.

Today is March 6, the anniversary of the Battle of the Alamo. One hundred seventy-two years ago Santa Anna and Co. topped off a 13 day siege of the Alamo with a final assault of hand-to-hand combat. It took three hours to polish off most of the Texas soldiers at the Alamo. But Texans got the last laugh a month later when they surprised Santa Anna's forces at San Jacinto, and The Republic of Texas was born.

So even though Mexico won the Battle of the Alamo, the battle is regarded as an integral battle in what ultimately lead to Texas Independence. And white boys have been running the show in Texas ever since.

So doesn't it seem like an odd day for the Spurs to celebrate their Latin American fan base by wearing uniforms that say Los Spurs?

Don't get me wrong. I get why they went with a Spanish-themed jersey. Two of the Spurs' players are Argentinian and one of them, Manu Ginobli, is wildly popular. And San Antonio prides itself on its Mexican heritage. So a Spanish-based Spurs jersey makes sense. But maybe having the Spurs market and wear these jerseys in December rather than March 6 makes even more sense.

But that's not what really seems odd to me. My issue is that phrase "Los Spurs" makes even less sense.

First of all, it's not as if their regular uniforms say "THE SPURS" on the front. They just say "SPURS." So the "Los" makes no sense.

Instead, if they wanted a true Spanish version of the uniform it should just say "Spurs" in Spanish. I should look it up, but isn't espuela how you spur in Spanish? Maybe el patron de Los Spurs (Peter Holt, I mean Senor Pedro Holt) didn't want to do that because "Los Spurs" would have to be "Las Espuelas."

A team of 12 tough guys with a feminine ending? I don't think so.

As it stands, I know of no language where "Los Spurs" means anything.

Jucy E-Mail

I am a fan of...
1. The San Antonio Spurs
2. The Nook in St. Paul.
3. La Tuna in San Antonio
4. Jones, my friend in San Antonio, TX.
5. The Anginator, my friend here in Minneapolis.

So what happens when these five forces of goodness mesh in one evening?

This is what happens. Maybe a little context will help.

About five weeks ago, Emily and I went out to The Nook for Jucy Lucys with The Anginator and her husband. Summit Winter Ale was on tap, I had a Matt Birk burger, and the company was good. I was still a little homesick from my last trip home, so I got to thinking, what would be the eqivalent in San Antonio of going to The Nook, where I can get that warm glow of being content?

Well, La Tuna in San Antonio comes close, but the warmth may be lacking when you go in December, since the place has no walls beyond the bar where you get your drink.

But back to Minneapolis five weeks ago. As the Anginator was driving Emily and I home, I had a few rants. In between rants, I remembered my last trip to La Tuna was with Emily and Jones. After Anginator dropped us off, as I was getting ready for bed, I remembered the Spurs were playing that night. I checked the score on-line and was horrified to see they losing by over 20 points. At home! It just seemed logical to e-mail Jones and e-rant against the Spurs.


With Jones at La Tuna. Find the real south Texas blogger and find the south Texas poser.

Little did I know I my letter would make its way into blognation. If I did, I may have cleaned up the language a little and maybe proof-read it so the former vs. latter agreement at the end of the letter didn't get crossed. Actually, I would have done neither. Fuck it.

Click here to read the entry.

His whole post is worth reading, because as I was getting ready for bed, he was at the game. Oddly, I think we both would agree, even though he had great seats, I had the better experience.

Reading his description of the SBC Center experience makes me nostalgic for the old HemisFair Arena where the Spurs played when I was a kid. I wonder if, decaeds from now, people will yearn for the Metrodome the same way we old Spurs fan yearn for The Arena, as we called it. In retrospect, it was a pretty crappy place to watch a game. But there wasn't one damn corporate thing about the place. And that is one reason it is missed.

Fall of the Empire

Well I knew it was a matter of time before Asics discontinued its running shoe called the Empire. It was a niche shoe for guys like me who need all the arch support they can get. Anyway, today, I learned that the sun has set on the Asics Empire.

I had been running on the treadmill for a week straight. But yesteraday it was finally warm enough for my frostbitten face to be exposed long enough for a run outside. A treadmill really seems to absorb a lot of the shock my 180 pound body can throw at the ground. So it wasn't until I was running on a trail yesterday that it became very appearant to me that my shoes were flat, and it was time for a new pair.

This afternoon, I enjoyed a round of errands with Emily, which included a stop at Run N Fun so I could get another pair of Empires.

As an aside, Run N Fun is like Target for runners. They have so much stuff there, and so many deals, it is impossible to leave without making some sort of impulse or at least unplanned purchase. Case in point, Emily bought some shorts and I bought some $7 gel to put on my face to protect me from further frostbite. We had no intention of buying either of these items when we entered the store.

But as per usual, I digress. So, the shoe guy informed that the Empire was as good as gone. Asics had dropped the shoe, but has a new line of shoes, the 3000. He showed me that the 3000 is basically the Empire with a new name. So my feet are saved. But wait, there's more. He added that he also had some of the original Empires (now over two years old) in the basement he'd sell me for almost 50% off.

Not only, that he had three pairs in my size. Three pairs, at 50% off? Did I buy them all up? Does a bear... oh let's make this more topical. Does a squirrel hoard nuts in a tree?



It's hard to buy this many pairs of a discontinued item without bringing up The Sponge epsiode from Seinfeld

And I'd also like to add that picture verifies what Emily has been telling me all weekend. I need a haircut.

Katrina Inc.

I have ranted previously about the lip service pro sports pays to the re-building of New Orleans.

Now it's someone else's turn. Click here to read Buck Harvey's take on the NBA's PR campaign in New Orleans this weekend, as part of its All-Star Game festivities.

After reading the story, it seems like a lot of the players do want to help and do something, while the corporate side of the NBA doesn't care as long as it looks like its athletes are helping. But don't take my word for it. Below is an excerpt from Buck Harvey's column.

But that's part of the disconnect about this weekend. The NBA had its dunk contests and opulence, and at the same time the league wanted to portray itself as a civic partner.

The league helped post-Katrina New Orleans just by bringing the All-Star Game here. But the "NBA Cares" program has always had the sincerity of a political-campaign photo op, and a marketing idea added to that. Then the league mailed work gloves to the media, when a house in the 9th Ward could have been rebuilt for the price.

The gloves were to promote a Day of Service, which involved putting millionaires to work with cameras nearby. A picture of Jason Kidd on ESPN.com summed up the so-called service; standing on a ladder, Kidd was surrounded by, among other devices, a boom mic.

But some athletes like to be involved, and Yao Ming was...

Click here for the whole story. Oh yeah, and Spurs rule.

What Would Crap Look Like If It Took Steroids?

Who hasn't asked that question at some point in his or her life?

Well the answer is it would look like American Gladiators hosted by Hulk Hogan.

I went to the gym to run on a treadmill for the third day in a row, due to yet another cold snap here in Minnesota. In years past I would have just run outside, but I have developed some spots on my face that are frostbite prone, so running in the cold is to be avoided.

So today as i was running the television in front of me was showing American Gladiators. "This should make the next half hour go by fast," I thought to myself. It actually made the half hour feel like an hour. I was stuck watching the freaking NFL Pro Bowl nd a Lakers/Heat basketball game yesterday. Both, I thought were unwatchable. However, I'd take either one of those games over the new American Gladiators.

So far the best shows for treadmill running in my book are Wheel of Fortune and Law and Order. Both require only half your attention but are interesting.

Reason To Get Cable #23178 vs. Reason Not To Get Cable #4378

One reason to get cable...


Puppy Bowl IV on Animal Planet. Who will win?

vs.

One reason not to get cable...


Non-stop coverage on ESPN 17 of the arrogance and hubris that is pro football. Actually, Tom, you're only going to score 14 points.

What will end up doing? Cable or no cable?

Mikestradamus

Well that was a fun Super Bowl to watch. I am sure there are a handful of people out there celebrating how they predicted the Giants to win the whole time. Of course, no one can be happier or could have been more accurate than Plaxico Burress, the New York Giants wide receiver who a) caught the game winning touchdown and b) predicted earlier in the week his team would win 23-17, which caused the Patriots to mock his brashness.

The final score? Giants 17, Patriots 14. No one could have been more accurate than his prediction.

That being said, anyone can guess and sometimes get right the Super Bowl winner. In fact, some camel in New Jersey predicted nine of this year's 11 playoff games correctly, including the Giants win tonight over the Patriots.

Speaking of animals doing things that humans do....

The close reader of this blog will note that I inadvertently came absurdly close to predicting the outcome of tonight's Budweiser commercial. I'm talking about the ad where a dalmation trains a clydesdale to get in good enough shape to become a Budweiser clydesdale (set to Rocky music). In the end, the horse makes the Budweiser team, and ends up giving the dog a high five.

Those of you who know me well, or have read my rants before, know I hate, hate, hate ads that have animals acting like people. It's trite, overdone, and quite frankly, really lazy writing on behalf of the ad agencies. Yet people must love these ads because they continue.

So, I ranted about this before, and in that rant, I almost incidentally predicted the dog on horse high-five. See for yourself. Seventh sentence/fragment. Third paragraph. It's all there. Back then I even made it one of the labels for the post, just as I did for this one. Granted, I never said "horses high fiving a dog," but I came about as close in my prediction as Plaxico did in prediction of the score.

This would be from October 4, 2007

I can't stand commercials with animals acting like people. I blame CGI and the Super Bowl for the mainsteaming of this style of TV advertising

This evening during 30 Rock or The Office there was some ad with a bunch of monkies riverdancing. Really? Is that the best our creative talent, earning six figures can do?

I left the room half way through the ad. I did this in part out of protest, but also to get some more food. So I don't know what the ad was about. But it doesn't matter. Cheetas doing the macarena. HORSES HIGH FIVING. Penguins riding their Harlies to Sturgis. A squirrel farts and points to the squirrel next to him to pass the blame. It took me 30 seconds to come up with those ideas. They all suck, but some hybrid of these ideas will air during our next Super Bowl. When will it stop?!?!?!

Me and Plaxico. We should go into the psychic business with Dionne Warwick.

Big Time Indeed

Congratulations to Zander and his partners in crime for being listed in Metro Magazine's "best blog" list.

Specifically, they got best comic blog.

If Metro Magazine ever has a category for "Least Read Blog About Running, Eating, and Other Random Shit No One Cares About," I think I may have a chance of making their list as well.

Until then, I'm just happy for my friend Zandypants.

Stone Age Evaneglist

Ed over at Technology Evangelist has some questions he wants answered.

You want the truth? You can't handle the truth! As a technology evangelist, Ed may be horrified that I still live in a world of paper (in fact part of the reason I am typing this entry is I am putting off all the paper shredding I have to do).

Here are the questions.

When was the last time you:

1. Watched a friend buy a newspaper so he could browse the classifieds? You got me on the one. September 1996. The "friend" was me. I had just moved to the Twin Cities and needed a job.

2. Heard a land-line phone ring at a friend's house? Again, that friend would be me. I answered a phone on my land line 30 minutes ago. Only it was an automated phone call with a recorded voice telling me to vote for Ron Paul because if he's President, he'll get rid of the IRS.

And about an hour before that, Emily got a call from Fancy Kirk on the land line. Now the reason for that is because Kirk knows I lost my cell phone again. And this is why I love the land line. It is a needed back-up for me since I'm always losing that damn cell phone.

3. Heard a dial-up modem connect? Yikes. That is a good one. We used to have dial-up about five years ago. Pre-blogging days. But I can't remember if it made the dial-up noise.

4. Watched someone go to a bank teller to withdrawal cash? That would also be me. The bank in Iowa City that I used had mirrors behind the tellers. So I would say the answer is I saw myself withdraw some cash to close out my Iowa City checking account in the summer of 1996.

5. Bought a book on a computing related topic? I personally last bought a book about anything computer related when I was in either junior high or high school. It was a booklet about how to make it through the 50 hardest levels of   Championship Lode Runner. Matt the Hatt you out there? Jones? You guys may remember how obsessed I was with that game. I think I even wrote a short story based on the premise of that game. Yeah I was pretty cool back then.

But Emily did buy Blogging by Biz Stone about five years ago, which got her and then me into blogging. I'm sure that book is so very outdated and altogether unnecesarry.

6. Used the printed Yellow Pages? I use the White Pages (business section) all the time at work because they are in my office. I am too lazy to log onto the computer to use the web to look up a number. But I did use the Yellow Pages over the summer to find a junkyard to take away my dead 1988 Accord.

7. Received a link from a friend with driving directions from MapQuest? This may be worse than receiving a link: Last Sunday we went to a party and the invitation was two pieces of paper, with the second page being a MapQuest generated map of where the house was.

In terms of actually linking to Mapquest, I personally linked quite a bit when I was coaching the MDRA marathon training program over the summer of 2007. I didn't use the "tinyurl" thing until Ed taught me how. That's how prehistoric I am.

8. Turned on the TV rather than going to the web for more information on a breaking news story? I-35W bridge collapse.  Or the Iowa Caucus, if you consider the results a "breaking news" story.  I did go on-line for New Hampshire primary results.

9. Watched a full hour of television with commercials? Wednesday night. Law & Order.

10. Bought music on a CD? Three months ago? But that probably will be the last time.

Another good question to ask, when is the last time you paid a utility bill, mortgage bill, or credit card bill by mailing in a check? 

Oh well, I should get back to my shredding.