Mostly Internet Famous

• It’s really sort of incredible how people react so angrily if someone even hints at making a joke or observation about someone’s race or sexual orientation, but those same people will make the most vicious comments about people’s weight. Seriously, think whatever you want and judge all you want, but making fun of people’s weight is bullshit and I hate you if you do it.
• I may have just impulsively booked a trip for September (that will in no way interfere with MITU) because. “Because” is a perfectly good adult reason, you could look it up.
• I watched the Champions League final yesterday at a Wild Wings (because when we called our favorite “English-style” pub they were showing….steeplechase….which is fine if you like that sort of thing but ugh, seriously? Only plus? They have 8$ buckets of Corona…so….yeah.) It’s always fun when you meet an American “supporter” of an English club, and then casually drop a name (like say, Vinnie Jones or Ron Harris) and watch them look at you blankly because they’ve only just started with the club. It’s fine, it amuses me to make them a bit uncomfortable, but hey, at least they’re watching and they’re engaged. Usually, if they really like the club, they’ll go back and sort out the history part.
• We were trying to think who the third in line for a “having a really strange conversation with Siri” commercial would be. Consensus fell to Taylor Swift or Howard Stern.
• I feel like something is really building to a big Pete Campbell moment at the end of this season of Mad Men. Which, of course, means that something big will happen to someone else and Pete will still be douchey little Pete Campbell. Anyway, Mad Men tonight!
• I guess finding out about prominent deaths via Twitter is pretty much the way of the world these days. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
• For those asking, I brined the chicken for two hours (2 parts sugar, one part salt, half a gallon of water). I made the sauce myself from the following recipe: 1/2 an onion minced, 3 cloves of garlic minced, 3/4 cup bourbon, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 tablespoon of salt, 2 cups of chili sauce, 1/4 cup of tomato paste, 1/3 cup cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons liquid smoke, 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce, 2/3 cup packed brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of tabasco. Simmer the onion, garlic and bourbon together for 10 minutes. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium and simmer for 20 minutes. Put sauce into a food processor and pulse until smooth.

• I’ve spent a super-sexy afternoon with the heating pad on my upper back. LADIES?
• I’ve probably talked back to the Zooey/Siri commercial more than any commercial ever. She doesn’t want to put on real shoes but she had time to put on makeup AND lipstick? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS? I have a really weird thing with Zooey. It’s complicated.
• Horse racing fascinates me. There was like a ten hour long pre-race show for a two minute long horse race. The equivalent time for the Super Bowl, which is like four hours long, would be a 3 and 1/2 billion hour long pre-game show. You can check my math because it’s totally right. Oh, and it only FEELS like ESPN talks about the game that long. Anyway, horse racing. Everyone pretends to be an expert on horse racing for three weekends a year (or four if you get into the Breeder’s Cup too) and then goes right back to not giving a shit. Perfect. 
• Just based on my twitter feed, I’m sensing a disturbance in the Force as it pertains to Tim Burton’s latest opus. I *think* he might have pushed his luck with this one.
• The Union (our local MLS team) lost AGAIN yesterday, and things are so bad that I basically nodded grimly when my friend Jay said without any irony whatsoever that Abby Wambach would be the best striker on the club right now if they were to give her a kit. It’s bleak.
• The Tom Shales SNL book is really good, but about 100 pages too long. Conversely, The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman could have just kept right on going.
• I feel bad every time I see a Spotify song posted, since apparently Canada decided that their country is just a bit too awesome to use that service. Or something to that effect. I’m going to keep trying to use mp3’s and the sound cloud search. SOLIDARITY EH?
• The candy store thing is on life support. They have decided to delay selling until after the Summer ends. Oh well.
• Mad Men tonight!

1. iPhone achievement unlocked. I had to bust stones at the AT&T store but I ended up with the iPhone and two free months for all the BS I’ve been through with them lately. In the immortal words of Kevin Malone, it’s just nice to win one once in awhile. Send me your iPhone must-have app recommendations. 
2. I feel like you should know that if you ever come to a Philadelphia sporting event wearing literally any other team’s shirt, you should expect to have a certain segment of the local glitterati let you know you aren’t really welcome and that you might want to consider going back from whence you came. I saw a gent in a pretty swank Boston Bruins jersey get told that very thing yesterday at the Union match. Why he was wearing a hockey jersey to a soccer match is anyone’s guess, but let’s just say he found out quickly what we think of oppo jerseys ‘round here.
3. I guess I’ll have to make it to one of these CHSH things at some point. Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. Glad to see it.
4. Sadly, I sort of feel like any time a movie promo leads with “From the makers of…[insert former awesome movie here]…” you’re looking at a complete disaster. It’s such lazy marketing. “Remember how much you liked this movie? Well, this movie is by those same people! It will clearly be just as awesome! Get out your cash!”
5. You know, you would think on Jackie Robinson Day in baseball, that the Dodgers would be in the nationally televised night game on ESPN. You would think. Oh hey, the Yankees. Again.
6. I shook off an ugly problem this past week at work. Now we go towards my favorite time of year. The happy period when we have to fill out our “self evaluation”. Mine should be pretty easy this year as I plan to give myself all 5’s and put “WAS AWESOME ALL YEAR” as the justification. TRY TO TELL ME I’M WRONG!
7. Mad Men tonight! Domestic Don is boring me to death, actually. 

• All I’ve watched on television this weekend could be put into two categories. Harry Potter movies and sports. Oh, well, and an Office rerun at 3:30 this morning (Survivorman). I would say this has been a wildly successful weekend of viewing, quite frankly.
• This is going to be a busy week. I’m hoping the new desk arrives either Tuesday or Wednesday. The end of the week is me and three ladies in a hotel room for three straight days. I mean, you know. Because. AWWWW YEAAAAHHH
• Despite a late charge from Spaceballs, Young Frankenstein walked away with a slight upset victory over Blazing Saddles in the Best Mel Brooks category. For me, they’re equally excellent.
• I’m proud of Penn State this weekend. Our charitable endeavor, THON, raised over $10 million for cancer research.
• My friend Alex was in town from Texas this weekend. The boy likes his hot sauce. He emptied half a container of tabasco on his omelette this morning and just kept right on going like it didn’t even matter. Iron stomach, that one.
• We had one of those moments at breakfast today where someone referenced a conversation that had taken place about 15 years ago like it had happened last night and we launched into further points about the discussion. I am always disconcerted by how long I’ve been friends with the same people and how these people can remember discussions from that long ago. I have trouble remembering everything from Thursday.
• I’ll tell you this much. The AT&T people hop to if you even hint at the words “cancel my service”. Tomorrow, they will hop even further if I have my way, which I most certainly will.

• I think I made one of our college friends feel sort of bad last night. He’s got three kids and he brought them and his wife along with him to hang out with our group. I was mentioning my Sunday plans included “sitting around, watching soccer, talking to my Dad and cooking dinner” just after one of his kids had broken a fairly expensive antique candy dish. He gave me that look like “you son of a bitch”, you know the look I mean. Hey buddy, bring some toys for your little monsters to play with, you know? Not my problem I don’t have kids.
• It’s been a fun weekend mostly, catching up with some of our college pals who came into town for a super-secret PSU alumni deal. Everyone is doing well, happy for the most part, and that’s good to see. I got a few looks for still being single but whatever, you know, I’m not sweating it. 
• People will tell you all sorts of things in confidence when they’ve had a few drinks, though. Especially ancient college secrets you weren’t supposed to know, those kinds of things.
• If anyone got a subscription to The Daily, could you put something in my ask box about whether or not you like it, it’s worth it, general thoughts, et cetera? Cheers.
• The Sunday morning three hour mini-marathons of Mad Men on AMC do me a world of good every week. I love that show unabashedly.
• Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder.
• It’s incredible how many “world’s best” pizza places there are. Seems like there’s at least two in every town and hamlet everywhere. Answer: People like pizza.
• Being incredibly selfish and self-centered is the new black.
• Mr. Belvedere = underrated, Growing Pains = overrated.
• Thank goodness for DVR’s, I’d never be able to keep up with all this Kardashian wedding excitement without one.

Sunday things

• I think the fact that I can make a risotto that makes people roll their eyes with delight is a pretty good thing.
• My neighbor likes stopping by on Sundays.
• Those two points may or may not be related.
• I look at my calendar and see so many things coming up that I’m looking at a Saturday in late September before I don’t have something booked. I shrug at this mostly.
• Best Buy is an evil place, full of evil people and evil things. There’s some sort of dark magic there that makes my wallet open and the contents disappear.
• My sister has sent me a package of some sort, it’s due here tomorrow. I hope it isn’t a spider monkey or a box of scorpions.
• There’s been a lot more positive than negative lately.
• We’ve needed this full day of rain for a long time. I actually didn’t mind it a bit.
• How was your Sunday?