Do the Yak

Last night Pedro revisited Fenway, expecting to blow away his inexperienced opponent Josh Beckett, only to have his most suck-ola outing of the year. The hype was big enough that Ben and I decided to eat in front of the TV. the only way to make this fall within our no-food-in-the-living-room-or-you-die guidelines was to make it a picnic on the floor, on a huge beautiful Lands' End beach towel that I actually didn't buy, but that his employer got him at some sort of staff retreat. Anyway, we had pizza, we had beer, we had fun. And then I had more fun when I read Wall Ball Single's hilariously raunchy metaphorical descriptions of the event. Much more fun than the night before, when I had to pick up both girls, which takes an hour and a half due to the locations and traffic, and then tried to collaborate with Ben on an overly elaborate yet pressed-for-time dinner when all I really wanted to do was eat cold cereal, and then for some reason we decided to be hard-line about Sara...

Another flashback to childhood, courtesy of my own child: the site of Sarah making a bracelet out of gimp at summer camp. Her first day was yesterday. She seems to like it and said she made some friends and enjoyed swimming, all of which makes me feel a tiny bit less guilty about stashing her in camp all day five days a week so I can sit here at my desk and play with web pages and worry about the kids but I have to work so I can earn money. For camp. And other things, I suppose. Evil Uses for Photoshop . Recently Overheard Department: "Nine is the last number of a little. Ten is the first number of a lot." (Sarah) "It smells like balloons out there!" (Becky, on her way to preschool with me this morning) "I heard everything! The ear tube really hits the spot!" (Sarah -- the ENT would be beaming with pride in a job well done) "These feather pillows definitely have a down side." (Ben, brushing off yet another feather from his body upon awakening, an...

The Sox lost in classic fashion last night, with Julian Tavarez giving up a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 11th to lose to the Twins. This was disheartening because my softball team had just won 12-11, nearly blowing it after going into the last half-inning with a five-run cushion. But returning to the Red Sox, Wall Ball Single pointed out today that Tavarez should start spelling his first name "Julienne" -- "not because it is effeminate or anything like that... [but] because all season he's been getting shredded." So true. WBS also has a great seriocomic look at baseball and racism in Boston. Heavy Breathing Dept.: I finally convinced my boss to give me a Mac (iMac G5 but not with the new dual processor but who cares). YEAAAH, baby! Love the 20-inch screen, love iCal/Address Book/iPhoto, the widgets, love not having to grapple in the dark under my desk to find a USB port or CD drive in a separate CPU on the floor... and Safari is nice to come home to...

“Poseidon”… Just as I expected, terrific special effects (especially the inversion!) but character development and dialogue were sorely lacking. This version could have used memorable lines like “Mrs. Peter Pan, I’m not” or “ I saw a young officer on deck the other day, and he looked pretty damn familiar -- even with his clothes on!" or the immortal “Life always matters… very much… doesn't it? ERKH!” [head lolls back lifelessly]. We miss you, Shelley. Anyway, rather than bore everyone with yards of prose, I think a simple table should do the trick: “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972) “Poseidon” (2006) Fading stars Pretty much the whole cast except maybe Gene Hackman and the kid Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss Inversion Lame – a model in a bathtub Excellent, thanks to the several thousand people credited with some sort of CGI work Cheesy song “ There’s Got t...