While waiting for the Dick Bavetta-Charles Barkley race on TNT, the last bit of snow news is the car that was buried in front of my house was finally dug out. Most of that snow ended up on my tree lawn. The remainder of the snow left in the street was then pushed by the plow Thursday night onto my apron (I was with you, PFS, until that happened). So, I had to deal with that yesterday. And, is if on cue, both the truck and the car have resumed their usual spaces this morning.

The weather didn't stop me from going to two of my favorite haunts this week. On Thursday, the men in my family accompanied my niece to an Ice Cream Social at the Happy Dog. Yes, I know, it's odd to have an event like that in February, but I didn't plan it. They promote themselves as kid-friendly and they really are. There were maybe 15-20 kids there. There were balloons for the kiddies, face painting (which I will get next time), a guy sang Wiggles-types tunes for about 70 minutes and there was, of course, ice cream, with all the fixins. And beer for the adults, imagine that. Kind of a neat event and hopefully, they will have another one. And they had a Po Boy special that night that was terrific. I loves me my Po Boys.

Last night, Gale and I went to the Old Angle. Big crowd down there and I was able to peek at vintage soccer highlights via Setanta. Bridge was one of the streets that got paved in a half-assed way because of the parked cars. So there were streetwalkers down there. Not in the usual sense, but folks had to use the street to walk because no one appeared to own a shovel. Had to opt to park at Dave's. On Fridays, they have that Evel Knievel singer and I'm not sure people were paying attention. He tried to get participation on "Sweet Caroline" and it was a slow start, but eventually some of us joined in. Tex-Mex Hummus, of course, was really good and I tried the Pulled Pork for a change. Very good.

Meal of Links

The journey to watch all of these Oscar movies took me to the Cinemark. Oh, but it couldn't be the one in Valley View. No, I had to go out to the one in Aurora to see "Blood Diamond", because Valley View dumped it during the snowstorm. You know you're in Bumfuck when you see a sign that reads "Hiram 11". They have 10 screens there and the one I was in may have seated 85, tops, and nine of us deemed the film worthy of viewing. This movie is the shitstorm that was Sierra Leone in 1999, with the rebels taking over the country. Of course, "No-Conflict" diamonds were the issue. I guess we are supposed to feel bad about diamond rings, but it's an action-packed movie that tells us the story. I like smugglers in movies and DiCaprio plays a great one, who has managed to keep himself alive through all of these conflicts. When you see Leo on the screen, you know he's a movie star. Not many of the younger actors have it, but he does. So, we had lots of chases, gunplay, butchering of the locals, stuff blowing up real good, satphones during wartime, good guys who are bad, bad guys who are really bad, and lots of child soldiers. Jennifer Connelly at least looks the best she's been in a while (not sure about her role) as a journalist and Djimon Hounsou got a nomination for his role, as did Leo. I liked it. It's so old, it's probably on DVD soon and probably worth a look.

Driving all that way made me hungry for some soup, so I stopped at Zoup! for the first time. Bowl of soup with bread and a half sammie cost me $9.90. I had the Santa Fe Chicken Chili with French Bread and a Tuna Salad Sandwich. They crammed a lot on that sandwich, BTW. The chili was good and I thought the bread was better.

Joe Rogan calls out Carlos Mencia for stealing jokes. "Carlos Menstealia", hah! It reminds me of what Bill Hicks said about Denis Leary stealing his act: "I have a scoop for you. I stole his act. I camouflaged it with punchlines, and to really throw people off, I did it before he did."

Video of the Week

Evel Knievel guy with all of his Who numbers made me think of "Happy Jack". The thing that kills me about this video is how young everyone looks here. The boys are gonna crack open a safe with Daltrey as the lookout. Things to look for: Everyone falling on Moon, causing him to limp; Daltrey flipping the coin; "FRAGILE"; Pete and his flashlight; Entwhistle eating the cake; Moon doing anything; the cop glancing at the mirror.

The Who-"Happy Jack"



Exercise Yard

It was great to see 7:30 a.m. soccer back on FSC this morning with the FA Cup fixture of Arsenal and Blackburn. Blackburn goalie Brad Friedel, from Bay Village, is playing out of his mind this year and made some unbelievable saves in a 0-0 draw. Begs the question, is he off the US team of his own volition and is there any way we can get him back on the team?

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