Archive | September, 2007

This Hurts

20 Sep

I got an e-mail at work recently making me aware of the fact that September is Pain Awareness Month. Being a Red Sox fan and all, I say, “Yeah, no kidding.” According to the American Pain Foundation (really, there’s an organization for everything), more than one-quarter of Americans age 20 years and over — or, an estimated 76.5 million Americans — report that they have had a problem with a pain of some sort that persisted for more than 24 hours in duration. So let’s see, we’ve now lost four straight games including a sweep by the Blue Jays, we lost two of three to the Yankees last weekend, Youk‘s hurt, Manny’s still hurt, Wakefield’s off his game, Gagne and Dice-K suck, Okajima’s tired, Papelbon’s vulnerable, and now we’re only a game and a half in first place. I’d say the APF can count me in that statistic, even if, apparently, the number doesn’t include those with acute pain.

In honor of Pain Awareness Month, the APF is releasing the Pain Resource Guide: Getting the Help You Need, to help patients find the most appropriate care. Well, I wonder if one of the tips in that guide is to dwell on the positive. Today I read that Gabe Kapler wants to play in the major leagues again. As someone who has been a longtime Kapler fan and was sorry to see him leave town to go coach in the minors, this is very good news indeed. Sure, there’s no guarantee he’s coming back to the Sox. But it’ll be good to see Gabe back in the bigs next year.

Granted, I haven’t entirely given up on this year’s team — like I did last year. But seeing as we haven’t been able to even win the three games it’ll take for us to clinch a measly playoff spot, I don’t have much confidence in our post-season chances. (And yes, I hope I’m wrong.) So what’s the harm in already looking forward to next season?

Incoming!

17 Sep

I found out not too long ago that of all the people in my company, I received the second highest number of e-mails during the time from August 15 to August 30. There were a total of 1,302 incoming messages. Of those, 636 made it to my inbox, 363 were spam and were blocked (they never even got to me), and another 303 were held by a junk filter for me to scan manually. That’s a lot of e-mail. No wonder there are days when I feel like all I’m doing is replying to messages.

Has the Time Come?

17 Sep

As much as I don’t want to admit it — and I’m not conceding entirely — but I think, after tonight’s loss to Toronto, which left us just three-and-a-half games on top of the Yankees, it may be time to be concerned about the Red Sox. (Note that I didn’t say worry.) What happened to the good ole days, when Papi up in the bottom of the 9th with bases loaded and the Sox down by a run would mean an automatic clutch hit and a win for the Sox? What happened to the days just, like, a month ago when Tim Wakefield was an almost-guaranteed win? What happened to the Sox’ winning ways? How did we lose tonight? How did we lose last night? And I still hesitate to ask, but how did we lose Friday night? What’s happening to our team?? Thankfully, we have two weeks to shape up before the playoffs. Let’s hope we begin the road to recovery tomorrow.

Maybe They’re Just Really Messy Eaters …

16 Sep

As I’ve previously written, there is perhaps no greater source for comedy — not including my apartment building — than the Shaw’s in Allston on Comm Ave. It’s like the place is a Bermuda Triangle for common sense (and common decency, but let’s stay positive here for a change).

To wit: Tonight at around 6:30, I got in the line to self-check-out. In a different self-checkout line was a mother with her young son, wheeling a full shopping cart filled with … napkins. I counted as the son slid the 180-count packages of Marcal napkins across the scanner and the total was 10. Ten packs of 180 napkins. Now, I don’t know how many people there are in their family, but based on what else was in their cart, I have to believe these two don’t run a small business or have a large family. So I ask, what do they need with 1,800 napkins? Perhaps they’ll use them to wipe up the case of iced tea bottles they bought. Or to clean their hands after preparing the ground beef they bought. Or maybe, just maybe, they’re having a really big party, or inviting all of Allston to dinner. I don’t know. Either way, it’s not like napkins don’t ever go on sale. I buy a package and it lasts for a few months. Sometime between now and when they finish, oh, let’s say the second package, I’m sure they’ll see the same ones on sale again. And also, if they were going to buy 10 packages of napkins — again, a total of 1,800 napkins — why didn’t they just go to Costco?

Of course, what was additionally funny was — well, take your pick. Was it watching the mother just stand there while her son scanned all the packages, never quite knowing where the UPC symbol was, even though it was in the same place on every single package(!!!) and then scrambling to put them into shopping bags even though they all couldn’t fit on the shelf? Or was it seeing this twosome leave the store, and struggle to carry all those napkins and the case of iced tea and the ground beef and all the other stuff they bought. I guess they hadn’t seen the pick-up option? (No, I didn’t laugh at the fact that these two were on a line that had a 15-item limit, and they clearly had more than 15 items.)

Shaw’s, that great big melting pot of age, culture, attractiveness, and intellect. When will the laughs end?

Fact: This Is Funny

14 Sep

Fact: This is a pretty dead-on parody of what it’s like to be a fact-checker, right down to the banana-eating editor (I don’t eat bananas, but my editor does). As someone who has spent a fair amount of time fact checking (though not to this extreme), and who manages the team of fact-checkers at my company, I have to give this film high marks. Kudos to its creators, Peter Karinen and Brian Sacca. I particularly love that the editor is played by Kristen Schaal, from Flight of the Conchords. Enjoy!

I Hope I Get a Harmonica

11 Sep

Unfortunately, Adam Sandler doesn’t have a song for Rosh Hashanah, so I thought I’d tell you that I’ll be putting on my yarmulke and wishing my friends Monica and Veronica a very happy new year (the holiday starts tonight at sundown).

Paul Shaffer is just one person who celebrates Rosh Hashanah, and if you do too, then allow me to wish you a L’Shana Tovah as well.

May it be a good, sweet year for all of us.

Happy Anniversary to Me

9 Sep

I don’t have anything particularly exciting to say about it, but today is September 10, the day before the sixth anniversary of 9/11.

It might be just another day to you, but to me, it’s six years that I’ve been at my current company. (Yeah, it was a heck of a first week to start a new job.)

So, I just wanted to give myself a public atta-boy for staying in one place for this long.

Eh

9 Sep

Another VMAs show, another few hours of my life wasted. No comment on Britney’s “performance” is really necessary. And Gym Class Heroes for best new artist, in a year where they were competing against Amy Winehouse and Carrie Underwood? Please. At least the show was two hours long this year instead of the usual three. If I have anything of any substance to say, it’s that Alicia Keys’ cover of George Michael’s “Freedom 90” was alright, but it only reminded me of how awesome George Michael’s own acoustic version of the song on the MTV 10 show in 1991 was. Here’s the clip. It’s better than anything on the VMAs this year was.

Killer Movie

8 Sep

If you’re looking for a man’s man movie, look no further than 3:10 to Yuma. A remake of an older movie (which I haven’t seen), Yuma tells the story of Dan Evans (Christian Bale), a down-on-his-luck rancher, who joins a team transporting convict Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to the town of Contention, where Wade will board the 3:10 train headed to prison in Yuma, Arizona. Crowe is at his charming, but gruff, badass best, and Bale gives a fantastic performance as well. Ben Foster (Alpha Dog, X-Men: The Last Stand) plays a psychotic member of Wade’s gang, and he steals some scenes easily. Director James Mangold (Walk the Line) keeps the action moving, guns ablazing throughout, and doesn’t hold back on the testosterone. Sure, this is a western, but don’t call it classic style; the characters curse and speak like they are modern-day western characters. And speaking of testosterone, there are just two women in this movie. Between them, they have about 15 minutes of screen time — total. Yuma may just end up being one of my favorite movies of the year. I’m giving it an A-.

Smells Like a Winner

7 Sep

For your weekend viewing pleasure, I present this classic horse racing clip. The horse’s name is Hoof Hearted. Enjoy!

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