President Obama: Auto industry on right road — POLITICO.com Or as President Bush used to say: Mission Accomplished! Read more →
July 2010
On the Bright Side
The Worst Movie Year Ever?
Coming soon to a theater near you: absolutely nothing you want to see. Go into a movie theater any day of the week and watch as the audience sits listlessly through a series of lame, mechanical trailers for upcoming films that look exactly like the D.O.A. movies audiences avoided last week. — Joe Queenan, Is 2010 the Worst Movie Year Ever? – WSJ.com Read more →
Twitter: 2010-07-31
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. — Bertrand Russell # RT @kausmickey: Just had flash that I maybe I could go to law school. Then realized I've already been to law school. #fb # Read more →
One Eye on the Path
A young but earnest Zen student approached his teacher, and asked the Zen Master: “If I work very hard and diligent how long will it take for me to find Zen?” The Master thought about this, then replied, “Ten years.” The student then said, “But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast — How long then?” Replied the Master, “Well, twenty years.” “But, if I really, really work at it. How long then?” asked the student. “Thirty years,” replied the Master. “But I do not understand,” said the disappointed student. “At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?” Replied the Master, “When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path.” Read more →
Twitter: 2010-07-29
RT @eddiepepitone: wikileaks is releasing the video of me giving the finger to mother teresa. # Read more →
Happy 17th Birthday
My son turned 17 today at the NARCh tournament in San Jose and he went with his teammates to Applebee’s for dinner. The boys know that he doesn’t like to be the center of attention for things like having “Happy Birthday” sung for him in a restaurant so I’m sure they made every effort to prevent that from happening . . . Read more →
NARCh – Day 2
Two more round-robin games on Day 2 . . . Game 3 – Mississauga Mission Rattlers Remember when I said Mission Black Ice is the best 16-and-under team I’ve ever seen? I may have spoken too soon on that. I’ll be shocked if the Rattlers and Black Ice don’t face each other in the final to find out which team is really the best in the universe. The Devil Dog goalie was great yesterday but not today. He gave up eight goals, should have stopped about five of them, but didn’t get much help from his teammates either. Final Score: Rattlers 8, Devil Dogs 0. Ouch. Game 4 – Colorado Dynamite Both teams came into the game with a good chance of slipping in to the playoff round as the fifth and final seed with a victory. It was a very even game — too even. The game ended… Read more →
NARCh – Day 1
The Devil Dogs played two round-robin games on Day 1 . . . Game 1 – Mission Black Ice 93 Black Ice is from New York. They’re a great team. Best 16-and-under team I’ve ever seen. In fact, they’re better than any 18-and-under team I’ve ever seen. What a juggernaut! The Devil Dog kids looked nervous. They looked tight. They didn’t handle the puck cleanly. Black Ice was ahead 3-0 after the first period. The Dogs tightened things up and played a scoreless second period. I wanted to say something encouraging to my boy after the game. “You played them even the second period,” I said. “No we didn’t,” he replied. “Well . . . on the scoreboard you did.” Final Score: Black Ice 3, Devil Dogs 0 Game 2 – Colorado Kodiaks The Dogs matched up better physically with the Kodiaks than with Black Ice although the Kodiaks… Read more →
10 Reasons to Stop Apologizing for Your Online Life
Via Harvard Business Review Read more →
A Bad Start
The tournament is off to a bad start and the boys haven’t even taken the rink yet. One boy showed up yesterday with a 103 fever. I’m hearing this morning that his parents took him to urgent care. Nobody knows right now if he’s going to be able to play. Hang on, it gets worse. I don’t know who knows it yet but another boy went home late last night. His mom, who wasn’t at the tournament, died in her sleep. She wasn’t the healthiest person but she was about the same age as I am and wasn’t expected to die. I heard about it this morning from one of the other dads, who’s a friend of their family. He heard about it last night when the boy’s dad woke him up with a phone call. My son doesn’t know about it yet. He’s still asleep. I’m trying to think… Read more →
Twitter: 2010-07-27
RT @PetrosAndMoney: Pola is the best coach ive ever been around and a better person and a dear friend…he can make great backs-p # Read more →
Hazing
My son’s a high school senior. He’s been playing in a basketball summer league with the school team. When we hear about the Dez Bryant hazing story on the car radio, he says, “We made Norman [a sophomore] put our dishes away at the San Diego tournament.” “Why him?” I ask. “He talks a lot. Pierce [a freshman] is quiet.” Read more →
Twitter: 2010-07-26
RT @joshcomers: May take up smoking again just as a way to get out of terrible indoor conversations. # Read more →
Leaving Tomorrow for NARCh
We’re heading out tomorrow morning for NARCh in San Jose — the grand finale, end-of-the-season roller hockey tournament. The tournament’s actually been going on for a week and a half but Casey’s division — Bantam Platinum — doesn’t start till Tuesday. Bantam is the 16-and-under division, with a DOB cutoff date of December 31, so this season’s Bantam players are kids born in 1993 or 1994. The Platinum division is the AAA division. Most tournaments call the skill divisions A, AA and AAA, but NARCh calls them Silver, Gold and Platinum. So Bantam Platinum is 16-and-under AAA. In order to play at the NARCh final, your team has to play in a regional qualifying tournament. Based on your results in the qualifier, the tournament committee either assigns you to the Silver, Gold or Platinum division, or — if it’s a close call — they assign you to two divisions… Read more →
Fight or Flight
One of my owner’s friends is talking about the fight-or-flight response . . . I don’t have a fight-or-flight response. I have something like a fight-or-flight response, but without the flight. Grrrrrrr! — Lightning Read more →
Twitter: 2010-07-24
RT @flowingdata: 7 Basic Rules for Making Charts and Graphs http://datafl.ws/yi # RT @margaretcho: Why is gordon ramsay always screaming and kicking shit its just fucking food # Read more →
Twitter: 2010-07-23
RT @eddiepepitone: I am so not connected to reality today, but I do have a gun! # Read more →
Pat Haden
Patrick C. Haden, acclaimed civic and business leader and USC alumnus, will become new athletic director effective August 3, 2010. — USCTrojans.com Pat Haden — athlete, scholar, businessman. He’s a lot like me, except for the athlete part. “You’re not a businessman,” my son says. “I’m kind of a businessman.” “No you’re not,” he says. “Okay. So Pat Haden’s a lot like me, except for being an athlete and a businessman.” Read more →
The 6 Most Misguided Causes Ever Made Famous by Celebrities
Via Cracked.com. Read more →