Taking a Break

This is Moving Week for our household, and while blogging is generally therapeutic for me, I think the time might be better spent setting up shop in the new digs. So, the Gazette will lie fallow for a few days.

Weird Eclipse Photo

I forgot that I had taken some photos of the lunar eclipse a couple of nights back, until I downloaded them this evening along with some house pictures.

I confess that I haven't a clue as to how to take night sky photos. I have a terrible time finding the right focus (you'd think the "infinity" setting would do it, wouldn't you?), and the optimum shutter speed never seems to materialize. Then there's the matter of light pollution in our backyard, thanks to a billion candlepower streetlight the neighbor petitioned the city to install in our alley.

Despite these inadequacies – or, perhaps, because of them – this photo intrigues me. It's almost as if the moon is making a steep re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. I'm pretty sure if that had been the case, I wouldn't have been the only one to notice.

If you want to see the work of a Midlander who actually knows his way around a camera, check out Bleu Chocolate's photo of the moon.

Selling a House: We Disclose; You Deride

Have you sold or marketed a home in Texas recently? It's been more than 25 years since we did, so we weren't too surprised to find that the "Residential Real Estate Listing Agreement" promulgated by the Texas Association of Realtors had grown. What we weren't prepared for were the five pages of "Seller's Disclosure Notice," wherein we were required to attest to the presence or absence of scores of equipment, fixtures, defects, additions, omissions, and so on.

Among the more interesting of such disclosures are:

• diseased trees (and the nature of said disease; we listed "chronic depression" for our sad desert willow)
• hazardous or toxic waste (no, other than that coming through our cable outlets)
• wetland properties (ha!)
• endangered species on property ("oh look...a baby squirrel!")
• lead-based paint ("nah...we've always twitched like this.")

And, as a sign of the times in which we live, there's this disclosure: "Previous use of premises for manufacture of methamphetamine." In other words, is your house now or has it ever been a meth lab? I was tempted to ask the realtor to define "manufacture."

An odd omission in this otherwise overly-comprehensive list was whether our house contained any disruptions in the space-time continuum that might provide ingress or egress to the very pits of Hell, with associated manifestations of various demons, imps and other dark denizens intent on subjugating humankind. I guess we dodged a bullet on that one.

Hooray for Blu-ray

I've never used either a Blu-ray or an HD DVD disc, but I'm excited about the news that the former appears to well on its way to becoming the undisputed winner in the latest Format War. With Toshiba's waving of the white flag, there are no heavyweights remaining in HD DVD's corner, and consumers and manufacturers alike can start getting serious about creating and using high capacity discs.

I don't know if the best product won, based on the technical specs, although it's difficult to argue against Blu-ray's 25 gigabytes of capacity per disc, compared to HD's paltry 15. Make that 50 gig for a dual-layer disc and you're talking about serious storage capacity. The important point is that someone (or something) has won, and we can get on with business.

The biggest problem I see with such high capacity discs – regardless of format – is the time it takes to write them. According to this FAQ, a 1x Blu-ray drive takes 93 minutes to write a 25 gig disc, and a 2x drive takes, well, half as long. But 46 minutes is still a long time to wait for a backup to complete (and we all know how those theoretical speeds translate into the real world). Of course, the real question is how far away are we from 40x Blu-ray burners?

For those who have already invested in HD DVD players, you have my sympathy. I'm the guy who's still waiting for 8 tracks to make a comeback.

Alon Refinery Explosion

Updated at 4:40 pm

Anytime you feel your house shake from an event 40 miles away, you know it's serious. This morning's explosion at the Alon Refinery in Big Spring was a reminder that the oil and gas business is a dangerous one.

Here's a photo circulating through the 'net, uncredited, from the initial explosion. I don't know if this was taken in Big Spring or in one of the nearby communities like Colorado City Coahoma. Judging by the shadows in the photo, the photographer seems to be looking north(ward), so it's probably set in Big Spring itself. My thanks to Kelly Stark for forwarding the image.

Update (3:00 pm): Robert Thomas emailed the following photo, again uncredited. This is a familiar view of the refinery from I-20, west of the facility (as you're leaving Big Spring). It looks like something from Dante's "Inferno," doesn't it?

Update (4:40 pm): Here's another photographic perspective, provided via email by Danny Lunsford. The flame coming from the "tower" on the right side of the photo is a flare of waste gas, a part of the normal operation of the plant. The flame near the middle of the photo is not.

Local news reports are that all employees are "accounted for," but I haven't heard any report about injuries. Update: Reports say that only one person was four people were injured, and no injuries are life-threatening. Amazing.

This refinery is not huge, compared to the big ones along the Gulf Coast, but its 70,000 barrel per day throughput will still be felt in a market where supplies are already tight.

Aerial views of wildfire aftermath

Last week's wildfire could have caused so much more damage than it did. Mother Nature, human intervention, and some well-placed lease roads brought the fire to a halt before it encroached on any neighborhoods, but as you can see by photos below, it came close.

Mark Springer forwarded these photos to me, and he's trying to learn the identity of the photographer so we can give them proper attribution. If you know who took them, please let me know.

For what it's worth, our new neighborhood is just outside the frame of the first photo, to the right (which is west, as this perspective looks southward, toward downtown Midland), approximately even with Midland Country Club. Click on the photo to see some labels on a bigger version.

The next photo seems to show the origin of the fire, and the resulting "plume," as it spread to over 9,000 acres in a matter of hours. George, over at Sleepless in Midland, did a good job of summarizing the event.

"They whisper to me that they are Christians, too."

Anne Lamott has written a new book, Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, with a scheduled February 26 release date.

This is Lamott's third book in a series dealing with her Christian faith. The first, published in 2000, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith was a series of candid and refreshing essays from someone exploring the wonders of a newly-found faith, expressing those wonders with winsome fraility, humor and tenderness. It remains one of my favorite books on faith by a secular author (a squishy term meant to distinguish one from someone with formal theological training).

The second, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, was published in 2005 and was also candid and well-written. However, the "refreshing" aspect was replaced by an uncomfortably dark tone of nastiness, expressed primarily in anger toward Republicans in general and George W. Bush in particular. I was not kind to it in my review, and I stand by those observations. I was disappointed to see a writer for whom I had such great respect use her talent in such a context to express hatred.

In the interview posted on Amazon.com, she says she's no longer as angry. It will be interesting to see which Lamott shows up this time. Nevertheless, I continue to respect and admire her, because where she lives – not just geographically but also professionally and culturally – being a Christian is not something for the fainthearted (not that it was ever intended to be).

The title for this post was taken from something she said in response to an interview question – What stories do people tell you, when they've read your books or know you are a writer?. That response is both poignant and frightening: They whisper to me that they are Christians, too.

Those of us living in the so-called Bible Belt sometimes forget how easy it is to live our faith when we're literally surrounded by those of like minds and hearts. In fact, I suspect we're more aware of and sensitive to persecution of the Church in countries thousands of miles distant than those in our own nation. I'm not implying that being passed over for a promotion is in the same league as being martyred for your faith, but the underlying attitude that gives rise to both has the same origin.

So, I'm willing to overlook some of Lamott's occasional New-Agey theology and her political rants because I think it's ever-so-important that someone like her, someone whom I truly believe is a sister in Christ, is publicly available to lend an ear to that whisper. When she does that, she's an agent of grace, and God surely approves.

Technorati tags: Anne Lamott | Grace (Eventually)

Introducing: Fire Ant Personals!

The Gazette has a new feature: helping people renew connections with one another.

OK, not really. But I do have a special favor to ask of you who live in the Midland-Odessa area. I've been contacted by someone in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, about helping to locate an out-of-touch friend whose last known residence was in Odessa. Here's the scoop:

Thanks for considering this rather unusual request. We return you to our regular Content Free™ programming now in progress.

Congratulations!

To whomever visited the Gazette via IP address 9.41.80.# (in Mesquite, Texas) at 3:15:43 p.m. via a Google search.

You were our 500,000th visitor!

Huzzah!

If you're thinking about getting a loan...

...you might want to wait a couple of weeks. This afternoon, we locked in a mortgage rate, which practically guarantees a big drop in interest over the next few days.

Still, I remember moving to Midland in '82 and getting a rate of almost 17%. That makes our current sub-6% deal a little bit of heaven!

Closing? Ten days and counting. This would probably be a good time for me to put up a tip jar.

Shoveling it at Sibley

The groundbreaking for Phase 1 of the Sibley Nature Center's expansion took place this afternoon, and I'm trying to scoop the MSM outlets that were well represented at the event.

Here's the video of the actual turning o'the dirt:

Pretty exciting stuff, huh? Actually, you might (if you live in Midland) recognize several of the folks in the video. Starting on the right, the folks with the shovels include Mark Nicholas, Wallace Craig (yes, that Wallace Craig), Chuck Henderson, Tom Craddick, Hiram Sibley and his wife – whose family foundation helped established the Center, Jan Artley (Board president), Frank Cahoon, Burr Williams (Executive Director, in an exceedingly rare appearance wearing a suit!), Mary Ann Dingus (never could get a photo of her husband, Bill, with Tom), and Travis Durham (I think; please correct me if I'm wrong).

That's the most work I've seen Wallace do in years. ;-)

Anyway, this expansion project is going to be pretty cool, and will be a great opportunity for West Texans to get involved with an educational project that will benefit generations to come. Be sure to monitor the progress via the first link above, and think about becoming a donor.

Making Good Neighbors

The house construction is moving right along, with the near-completion of the back yard fence being the most recent milestone.

The design of that fence was a creative challenge. We wanted something that would be aesthetically pleasing while providing a sense of security. Of course, there are compromises in everything, and our budget dictated some of our choices. Overall, however, I think we achieved what we were shooting for, although the neighbors haven't yet weighed in.

I do think it will look better once we've added the broken glass along the top of the concrete block, don't you?

Starbucks to offer free WiFi

Starbucks has announced that it will start offering a couple of hours of free WiFi to its customers who have a Starbucks card. Presumably, this freebie must be accompanied by a purchase, although the press release doesn't explicitly state this.

As an SBUX card holder, I have mixed emotions about this announcement. The downside is that if you think it's now hard to get a table at the Midkiff store, just wait until the Midland College students don't have to pay to get internet access.

The upside is that this will surely force other holdouts to match SBUX's move (I'm talking to you, Barnes & Noble).

In any event, I doubt that I'll start lugging a laptop to Starbucks, as the overall atmosphere is not conducive to business productivity. If I need or want WiFi in that setting, the Harvest Caffé has got Starbucks beat, hands-down.

By making this change, Starbucks joins the ranks of other elite Third Place providers like, um, McDonald's, IHOP, and Schlotzky's.

Programming Note

If you're looking for the Westminster Dog Show on TV and can't find it at its regular home on the USA Network, be advised that hour two is being shown live on CNBC.

Apparently, USA feels that there are more WWE fans than dog lovers.

Remembering the Belt Buckle Building

I started writing this last November but never got around to finishing it. I was reminded of it this morning when I received an email from a friend and former ARCO co-worker providing a link to this video of the building's demolition.

An article on the front page of yesterday's newspaper trumpeted the pending demolition of what many people consider to be the city's biggest architectural eyesore, the so-called "Belt Buckle Building" located downtown at 300 N Pecos.

The building was constructed in 1969, and a fourth floor was added in 1976, about six years before I arrived in Midland and made that floor my home-away-from-home for almost fifteen five years as an employee of what was in 1982 the Permian District of the North American Producing Division of Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO).

The building is a fairly wretched example of groovy Sixties architecture, with big yellow concrete "buckles" bolted onto the exterior serving not only to offend passers-by, but also to provide cozy nesting places for pigeons, swallows, and even the occasional bat, if the stories are to be believed. What you can believe is that there's little that's more unappetizing than having as the primary view from your office the resting place of birds with questionable digestive efficiencies. Building management would occasionally rise up in arms to combat the rats with wings by spreading -- presumably without informing local bird activist Midge Erskine -- poisoned corn around the buckles, so that we were then feted with dead and decaying bodies accompanying the poop.

But, at least the buckles weren't dangerous -- except to aesthetic sensibilities -- unlike the windows, especially those on the west side of the building and on the fourth floor, where I happened to office. This may come as a surprise to many, but we occasionally play host to wind storms in this part of the country. When the wind was blowing out of the west and at a vigorous rate, one could see the window panes bulge inward like some possessed edifice out of a horror movie. On at least one occasion, a window shattered, shredding an accountant's chair in the facing cubicle. Fortunately, the occupant of that cubicle was out at the time. Building management got a clue and reinforced the windows with sheets of Plexiglas. They still bulged and sighed during windstorms, but at least the office furniture was safe.

I have many fond memories of the people and experiences from my time in that building, but the structure itself? Nah, I'm not going to miss it. However, I do hope plans by a couple of locals to save some of the "buckles" and make them into an art project work out. That would be a fitting use for one of the Tall City's more distinctive architectural features.

Invaded AND Sick

There's only one thing worse than having strangers tromp through your house, and that's being sick while they're doing it.

Yesterday was not a good day; fortunately, we had only one showing to contend with, and I managed to keep up a somewhat normal facade. That's a good thing, because while I'm not an expert in this area, I suspect that it's a bit of a turnoff to buyers if the owner throws up on them during the tour.

Remind me sometime to share the story about the meeting I had with a vendor who flew in from Dallas and was unfortunate enough to be in the way when a young child in the adjacent seat lost its figurative cookies.

And speaking of license plates...

...it's nice to see that the Big Bend design alternative for the new Texas plates is kicking the tags of the other designs.

You can cast your vote here. Voting ends on Monday, the 11th.

Along with the change in graphics, the new Texas license plates will carry seven digits instead of the current six, beginning in 2009. This change is primarily due to the intense lobbying carried out by those who recognize the importance of being able to vie for a plate reading "FIREANT".

Invaders

We hoped it wouldn't come to this, but we've had to list our house with a realtor. We had actually reached agreement with a buyer a few weeks ago, but they changed their minds about moving to Midland and we're too consumed with getting the new house finished to do any marketing of the old one. And, despite assurances from others that selling your house yourself is a piece of cake, we never did get entirely comfortable with the idea. I guess I've dealt with too many lawyers and lawsuits through the years.

Anyway, we've now opened our sanctuary up to the world, a situation made more challenging by the fact that I have a home office. I'm sure my presence makes prospective buyers a little uneasy, and I know their presence bugs me. And, of course, we have to mend our slovenly ways and make sure everything is as neat and tidy as possible, which is a real stretch given the inevitable clutter and disarray that comes with packing in preparation to move. Also, if you're seeking an investment opportunity, I suggest Proctor & Gamble, makers of the essential Febreze line of air fresheners, because we're doing a lot of spraying nowadays.

I suppose our best outlook is that this is just practice, and that the real marketing will occur after we move out and the realtors can have open access to the house. Fortunately, we don't have to sell in order to buy, so there's no time pressure – other than that associated with the growing realization that Midland's formerly white hot real estate market is beginning to cool ever-so-slightly.

In the meantime, if I seem more reserved in my postings, it's probably because there's a stranger peering over my shoulder.

Willie's out in the weeds again

I see that Willie Nelson is holding forth again on his belief that the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11 was the result of planted explosive charges.

We should at least give ol' Willie credit for knowing a little bit about destruction. I mean, look what he's accomplished with his own brain cells.

Oh, look...

Get out the Vote (No, it's more important than that!)

As many of you know, Kyle Lent is lead guitarist and song writer for The Justin Cofield Band, and we've just learned that the band has been nominated for rock artist of the year by the music site IndieHeaven.

IndieHeaven sponsors the Momentum Awards, an annual worldwide recognition program for Christian independent musicians. The awards are based on fan votes, and that's where we come in.

First, drop by the JCB page at IndieHeaven and listen to some samples of their music. Then, because you'll be suitably impressed, jump over to the voting page, scroll down and cast your vote in the Rock Artist of the Year category.

The awards will be presented at the CIA Summit in Nashville at the end of March. JCB is going to be there; we might as well make sure they come back to Texas with some major bling.

Did I mention that Kyle is a graduate of Midland High School and Texas Tech? That's for you Midlanders and West Texans who are sitting on the fence.

Dutch study on lifetime medical costs merits close reading

A Dutch study is getting a lot of press over its findings that healthy people actually incur higher total medical expenses than those who are obese or who smoke, because the latter tend to die earlier. However, the conclusions of the study are not as straightforward as some news media reports are implying.

The study, entitled Lifetime Medical Costs of Obesity: Prevention No Cure for Increasing Health Expenditure, does indeed show (statistically, anyway; the study was based on a simulation model, not actual people) that the typical smoker or obese person will incur lower medical costs over the course of their lives than those who lead more healthy lifestyles. And, not surprisingly, a longer lifespan is accompanied by higher total medical costs than a shorter one.

But it's important to understand that the researchers are not suggesting that programs to eliminate smoking or reduce obesity should be eliminated, de-funded, or even de-emphasized, because there's more to the issue than the arithmetic of medical expense. From the study:

So, while some may attempt to use this study as justification for reduced emphasis on these health issues, they'll do so in direct disregard of one of the most important conclusions by the researchers:

In other words, the focus should not be exclusively or even primarily on those lifetime medical expenditures.

If nothing else, this highlights the importance of going straight to the source rather than relying on an AP newswire summary.

Wendy's Gets a Clue

According to the Wall Street Journal, Wendy's is giving up on one of the dumbest ad campaigns in history:

You know, if someone had simply written that last phrase on a whiteboard in the ad agency's conference room, then read it out loud, that campaign would never have seen the light of day.

Super Bowl Contest Answer - And Do-Over

I almost forgot to post the answer to the question I posed during the game in a failed attempt to rid myself of a Fire Ant coaster.

The question went something like this: what Super Bowl record did Tom Brady set around the midway mark in yesterday's game?

The answer, which no one got, is "Most career pass completions in Super Bowls." That was according to the big brain football trivia guys at Fox. I have no idea whether it's true or not.

However, I feel kind of bad about this, for a couple of reasons. First, while I promised "contests," that was the only one I ended up putting forth. I should have realized that liveblogging the game would be too hectic for me to come up with stuff like that on the fly, and I didn't prepare in advance.

Second, it was a lame question anyway. The whole point of liveblogging is to make it where you don't have to watch the event itself, and so what did I do? I picked a question that required you to watch the event. D'oh!

I'd like to make it up to you. If you left a comment on any of the posts during yesterday's game (pre-game and wrap-up included), and you still want a coaster, I'll send one to the first three who ask in the comments to this post. (One of 'em even comes in a fancy-schmancy wooden frame.)

[If you didn't leave a comment yesterday, sorry -- you're not eligible. Even though you might have displayed superior judgment, you still miss out on the chance to win valuable Fire Ant merchandise. I trust you'll learn something from this episode.]

Brits concerned about taffeta shortage; take drastic steps

The British, in their usual no-nonsense manner, have ascertained that the finite supply of taffeta is increasingly strained – bursting at the seams, one might say – as the surface area of bridesmaids increases. Desperate times merit desperate measures.

Complete details here.

Super Bowl Ad Ratings

Here are my picks for the best (and worst) ads from yesterday's Super Bowl broadcast (ads are in no particular order within ratings):

Ant Rating:

• Garmin - Napoleon uses a talking GPS to navigate his car, as he can't see over the dashboard. Bonus points to Garmin for assuming that the audience actually knows who Napoleon is.


• SoBe Life Water - A flock (herd? gaggle?) of lizards re-create the dance moves from Michael Jackson's Thriller. The jewel-encrusted grillz on some of the lizards is great detail.


• Fed Ex - Mutant carrier pigeons do a less than adequate job of moving freight in this spot that finds its strength in its special effects.


• Pixar - Ad for upcoming move, WALL•E, pulls in some of the well-known characters from previous Pixar movies. Nobody makes animation more appealing.

Ant Rating:

• Audi RB - Re-creates the famous "horse head in bed" scene from The Godfather, using the bumper and grille of an Audi competitor in place of the head. Figured Audi was too refined for this approach...which is why it was so effective.


• Bridgestone - Screaming animals (and humans) used to highlight the maneuverability of the tires in emergencies.


• Cars.com - Plan B for car buyer is to pit salesman against buyer's "representative" in a Circle of Death ultimate fighting match.


• Tide Laundry Detergent - Talking stain on man's shirt manages to completely dominate a job interview. Funny and insightful on multiple levels.


• Toyota - Man is locked inside car with badger nursing little ones, in order to test the soundproofing of the vehicle. Another edgy commercial from an unlikely source.


• Doritos - Man sets a mousetrap using cheesy Doritos as bait, and succeeds beyond his wildest nightmares. Very odd ad.


• Cars.com - Sequel to previous commercial has plan B being a witch doctor to shrink the car salesman's head (a schtick that worked well in Beetlejuice, by the way).


• Bridgestone - Tire company gets a second thumbs-up with yet another tongue-in-cheek demonstration of handling skills. Seems serious up to the point where the driver spots Richard Simmons in the middle of the road and has some angst about whether or not to swerve.


• e-Trade - Two ads featuring the same baby lip-synced to a man talking about his investing success. First ad plays up (throws up?) real baby stuff; the second one features a background clown. A lot of companies have tried this baby-as-spokesperson approach, but none have done it as well.


• National Football League - The spot about the oboe-playing Houston Texan was downright fascinating (and this blog's visitor stats are through the roof for "NFL oboe player," so many others were equally smitten).


• Coca-Cola - Parade balloons fight over a Coke balloon. Punch line comes when a Charlie Brown balloon comes out of nowhere to steal the prize.

Ant Rating:

• GoDaddy.com - As always, in a class[less] by itself, GoDaddy continues to play up it's "we're too sexy for Fox" reputation. This year's version features Indy-car driver Danica Patrick unzipping her jacket, then cutting away to a web address where you can view the supposedly uncensored ad. I have no idea what that ad consists of, nor am I the least bit interested. I would feel badly for Patrick, other than the fact that she's surely taking a bunch of GoDaddy's money.

Overall, no "We Are The World"-class ads emerged from this year's Super Bowl, and not many of them will bear repeat views (but that won't stop advertisers from trying to get their money's worth via endless repetition. The trend continued toward edgy, obscure, non-product-trait-specific spots. But, you know, that's fine. After all, it's really hard to get excited about a laundry detergent. But a talking stain? That's another whole story. Just ask Bill Clinton.

And thus endeth another Super Bowl ad round-up. Catch you next year?

Super Bowl 2008: Wrap-up

That was a thrilling game, I must admit. Congratulations to the Giants; if the 'Boyz can't be in the Super Bowl, I'm happy to see another NFC East team make it and win. New York earned it.

As far as the Pats go, if their coach wasn't so...so...um, what's the word? Well, you know. Anyway, they still have nothing to be ashamed of, and the old Dolphins can start breathing once again, their record secure for another year.

We'll have a wrap-up of the commercials later, after my keyboard cools off.

Thanks for hanging with me, guys. I had fun!

Super Bowl 2008: 4th Quarter

Perfection? Nah. I don't think so. ;-)

And I'm no prophet, that's for sure.

***

Although that last sack changes my opinion a bit, as does that long incompletion. But that ball went almost 70 yards in the air.

***

My prediction now? This one goes to overtime. (How's that for going out on a limb?)

***

Great shot of Peyton Manning in a skybox cheering for his little brother following that TD pass.

***

Biggest extra point in NFL history...and it's good. 17-14, Giants.

***

Touchdown, Giants! But, did they leave Brady with too much time to work with?

***

HUGE catch for New York! We've still got a ball game, folks.

***

4th down and game's on the line. This is why they make the big bucks.

And they get the first down...but just barely.

***

TV ad: Amp Energy Drink (Nipples jump start) - Edgy in a bizarre way. Or bizarre in an edgy way.

Ant Rating:

TV ad: Victoria's Secret (uhhh....)

Ant Rating:

***

And Wes Welker makes a big tackle on the kick-off return!

(Just kidding. He no longer has to play on special teams. Although I'm sure he would if they'd let him.)

***

The New York defender fell down and Randy Moss was alone in the end zone for the easy TD. Giants blew this one. So close. (OK, technically, they still have a shot, and plenty of time. I just don't see it happening. [And they should thank me for it, as I've not yet predicted anything accurately in this game.])

***

Third and goal for New England. This is one of the biggest plays of the season coming up.

***

OK, here's the game. If New York can hold 'em to a FG, they have a chance to win in overtime. But I don't think they can do it.

***

Ten catches for Wes Welker. If the Pats end up winning, I think he should be in the running for MVP. Seriously.

***

TV ad: Hyundai Genesis (Again, nothing to distinguish it)

Ant Rating:

TV ad: Bud Light (Will Ferrell as Jackie Moon) - The ad's gotta be better than the movie.

Ant Rating:

***

4th and 1 for the Giants. The way they're playing defense, no need to go for it.

***

TV ad: Gatorade (Dog drinking) - Weirdness taken to a new level.

Ant Rating:

TV ad: Taco Bell (Office mariachis) - El lame-o

Ant Rating:

TV ad: eTrade (More baby talking with clown) - Even better than the first one; great use of clown footage. Clowns are better than spiders any day.

Ant Rating:

***

Big incompletion for Brady/Welker. One of the few times you'll see Welker fail to catch a pass thrown to his area code.

***

TV ad: Some Adam Sandler movie. Not interested enough to rate it.

***

TV ad: Toyota Sequoia (Big Wheel race) - At first, I thought it was a satire. It would have worked as a satire.

Ant Rating:

TV ad: Coke (Carville and Frist) - I never understand political humor.

Ant Rating:

***

Touchdown, Giants.

I wouldn't want to be Tom Brady, having to face the Giant defense protecting a lead.

***

OK, this is getting exciting. New York is knocking on the door (aka the end zone) once again. I'd love to see 'em take the lead.

***

My vote for the most infuriating move in the NFL is the commercial break they take following every kick-off. Just in case you're wondering.

***

TV ad: Coke (Parade balloons compete for a Coke) - Charlie Brown finally scores!

Ant Rating:

TV ad: Sunsilk (Girls known by their hair) - Um, ad guys? Super Bowl? Demographic? Congruence?

Ant Rating:

***

I finally remembered to change quarters on my post title.

Super Bowl 2008: 3rd Quarter

TV ad: NFL (Oboe-playing Houston Texan) - This one probably wasn't designed to compete with the big guys, but it ended up being one of the best of the evening. Great story; great delivery; great ending.

Ant Rating:

***

End of the quarter. Still 7-3.

***

Oops. Just noticed the clock. Time to shoot the dog.

TV ad: Bud Light (Ability to fly) - Marginally better than the ability to breathe fire.

Ant Rating:

TV ad: eTrade (Baby talking) - OK, how many talking baby commercials are there in the world? Having said that, this one is quite well done, very clever, and has the gross stuff that only a baby can pull off and still be charming.

Ant Rating:

***

OK, time for a contest. Tom Brady just set a career record for Super Bowls. The first person to post the nature of that record in the comments gets a coveted Fire Ant ceramic coaster.

What's up with that 4th down call by New England?

***

TV Ad: Wall-E (Pixar movie ad) - Excellent! (But it's almost unfair. No one can compete with Pixar for clever animation.)

Ant Rating:

TV ad: Hyundai Genesis (Nothing memorable)

Ant Rating:

***

Please disregard the previous prediction about NE's touchdown. I was insane.

***

Mick Jagger refers to Tom Petty as "that old guy."

***

New England will score a touchdown within the next three plays.

***

The sideline challenge just about killed me. They used it to get caught up on the ad backlog.

***

TV ad: Careerbuilder.com (Spider) - It had a spider in it. What can I say?

Ant Rating:

TV ad: Bridgestone (Richard Simmons) - Now that's funny.

Ant Rating:

TV Ad: Ice Cubes Gum (Carmen Electra) - Meh, again.

Ant Rating:

TV Ad: Bud Light (Cavemen) - Geico does this better, too. (I've reconsidered the rating, though; it was still better than a "2.")

Ant Rating:

TV Ad: SoBew Vitamin Water (Shaq jockey) - Good concept, but not as good as the dancing lizards.

Ant Rating:

TV Ad: SalesGenie.com (Panda cartoon) - Still lame. They need to re-think using a Chinese ad agency for a American sporting event.

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TV Ad: Cars.com (Plan B: Witch Doctor) - Still funny.

Ant Rating:

***

Kickoff. And I'm still eating dinner. Boy, wasn't Tom Petty scintillating? 8-)

Super Bowl 2008: 2nd Quarter

Halftime score: 7-3, New England. Catch you on the flipside.

***

22 seconds to halftime. Giants recover a fumble, but have no time to capitalize on it. I won't be blogging the halftime, by the way. I'm not that tough.

***

Also, my apologies to those of you coming here expecting to find something useful regarding the "Talking Stain Commercial."

***

The Gazette is third on Google for "Talking Stain Commercial." I'm so proud.

***

Giants defense is asserting itself in a big way. This game is closer than I expected, so far.

***

TV ad: Doritos (Mousetrap) - This is more like it. A guy in a mouse suit beats up an opera fan. What's not to like?

Ant Rating:

TV ad: Pepsi (Justin Timberlake gets sucked in) - Would have worked better had I been able to recognize Timberlake (I've already established my anti-cool creds), but still pretty funny (and strange).

Ant Rating:

***

TV ad: Planters Cashews (Unibrowed chick turns heads) - Pretty funny, but would have been better had it not been preceded by the Dell commercial with a similar theme. In fact, when it started I thought it was another Dell ad.

Ant Rating:

***

Today is the third Super Bowl in which both teams have names consisting of three words.

***

Tom Petty recorded his first album using a big round rock and a chisel.

***

TV ad: Bud Light (American accent) - Ending line blew it, probably unintentionally, but still...

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TV ad: GMC Yukon (Sisyphus) - What percentage of the viewing audience recognizes the name, "Sisyphus"? (I'll bet it's higher for the Gazette reading audience!)

Ant Rating:

***

TV ad: Parents - The Anti-Drug (Dealer) - Not bad for a PSA.

Ant Rating:

TV ad: SoBe Life Water ("Thriller" Lizard Dancers) - First thought: Geico does lizards better. Second thought: Wow! Loved it.

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TV ad: CareerBuilder.com (Heart) - Intriguing start, if a little gross. Repeat viewings not advised.

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The Giants' punter, Jeff Feagles, is officially the oldest player to participate in a Super Bowl. AARP is so proud. And that might explain the support kicking shoe.

***

Giants are looking flustered now. NE's defense might be having something to do with that. (Stay tuned for more insightful, um, insights.)

***

TV ad: Garmin - (Napoleon drives) - Excellent. Intelligent AND amusing.

Ant Rating:

TV ad: Toyota (Nursing badger) - Just my cup of weirdness. Good mixture of cute animals and face-chewers.

Ant Rating:

***

Oh, great stop by the New York defense! New England has to punt for the first time in the game, and the Giants get a good runback. The INT didn't hurt NY on the scoreboard.

***

TV ad: Budweiser (Hank training for the hitch team) - We've seen this commercial every year for the past decade or so. It works better with a burro.

Ant Rating:

***

Ooh. That's gotta hurt. New England just got an interception on a tipped pass. The receiver messed up, but it goes on Manning's record.

***

Manning draws a delay of game penalty. Giants have the only two in the game so far, but they're also still moving the ball well.

***

I just realized that I was still posting to the 1st quarter post. Boy, is my face red!

***

TV ad: Tide (Talking Stain on shirt) - Pretty high-larious for a laundry detergent ad; also insightful

Ant Rating:

TV ad: Cars.com (Circle of Death match) - Understated and unexpected

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TV ad: Fed Ex (Carrier pigeons) - Great F/X and humor (as always)

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TV ad: Dell (Red laptop makes nerd sexy. Or something.)

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TV ad: GoDaddy.com (Danica unzips) - Typical sleaze.

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TV ad: Gatorade G2 (Derek Jeter) Another "Meh."

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Super Bowl 2008: 1st Quarter

Patriots score a TD (two plays later than I predicted. Slackers.) Score: 7-3

***

TV ad: Dodge "White board - you talk, we listen" - Meh.

Ant Rating:

TV ad: Doritos "Singing Americans" - Very sincere, but not too memorable, and no product tie

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TV ad: Bridgestone "Screaming animals" - Panicked insect at end was the kicker

Ant Rating:

***

End of 1st quarter.

***

First flag...against NY in the end zone. Pass interference. Here comes the touchdown.

***

We made it almost all the way through the first quarter before hearing these immortal words: "it will depend on the spot of the ball as to whether it's a first down or not." Duh.

***

New England will score a touchdown within the next three plays.

***

I know it's early, but there have been no penalties and no turnovers, after 12 minutes of play. These big games are usually error-filled.

Wes Welker just caught his first pass. Amazing guy; played at Texas Tech. Went to high school in Oklahoma, where he did everything: offense, defense, special teams, kicker. The next Steven Largent?

***

Long kickoff return by NE, and now they have a first down. NY is doomed...doomed, I tell you!

***

TV ad: Underarmor "The future is ours" - So serious. So dark. So boring.

Ant Rating:

TV ad: Bud Light "Guys with Cheese, Baguette, and TV" - Any commercial that includes the phrase "that's some serious cheese" has little going for it

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TV ad: Salesgenie.com "Animated cartoon" - All business, nothing memorable

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TV ad: Diet Pepsi Max "Wake Up, People" - Funny, especially the ending

Ant Rating:

***

Great drive for New York, but only three points makes it something of a disappointment. On the other hand.

***

The Giants are making the Patriots look like the Cowboys.

***

Tom Petty is almost two years older than me.

***

Giants are putting together a pretty decent little drive; good mix of passing, running, and Viennese Waltz. The latter is giving the Pats defensive backs fits.

***

TV ad: Audi R8 "The Godfather" - Great movie reference, very well done. The R8 is a drool-worthy car, too.

Ant Rating:

TV ad: Bud Light "Ability to Breathe Fire" - Lame, although disclaimer at end almost elevates it to three-ant territory

Ant Rating:

***

Bleu thinks the broadcast on Fox looks "mushy." I think he's watching on an $8,000 LCD/Plasma/Boron Plated TV, so I don't blame him for being ticked. Me? I'm watching on a 16 year old RCA tube model with a wired remote control, so, sure it looks mushy to me, too.

***

Giants have the first first down of the game, the first first of this game that is likely to be full of firsts. And I'm the first one to point that out.

***

Troy just referred to the "nature of Eli Manning's make-up." Personally, I thought he went a little heavy on the eye shadow, but that's just me.

***

Patriots are kicking off using a special tee studded with real diamonds. (This is simply the first of many lies, half-truths, and mis-representations, both intentional and otherwise, you'll see on this page.)

***

I'm trying to figure out when the real commercials start, the one's that merit Fire Ant ratings. I assume the big bucks ads don't start until after the kick-off.

***

OK, coin toss. But not before presenting Jason Taylor (Miami) with the NFL Man of the Year award. Bill Walsh's family and some former players are observing the toss, to lend it the appropriate gravitas. My wife recognized Jerry Rice from Dancing With The Stars. I'm sure he would be proud to know. And New York win the toss. Will it be the only thing they win this evening?

Super Bowl 2008: Pre-Game

Oh, she actually won "American Idol" last year. Oops. But, she is the daughter of a former NFL player, so that's cool. I like the simple arrangement of the song, by the way, and wonderfully performed. We like it.

***

My woeful lack of knowledge about Important Cultural Icons has already reared its ugly head, as I had to google Jordan Sparks to find out why she's singing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl.

Should have known it's another Fox marketing ploy.

***

The recitation of the Declaration of Independence by various NFL personalities during the pre-game show was odd but moving, especially the inclusion of Pat Tillman's widow. Wonder how they picked the DoI to recite? The cynic in me says that it was the document that is the right length for TV.

***

OK, the dog's been walked, the recliner situated according to ancient football feng shui, and the laptop fully charged. Joe and Troy are now on-screen, acting as though they're calling play-by-play for Moses's receipt of the two tablets from God's own hand.

According to long-held tradition, I plan to have just one post per quarter, and I'll add new entries at the top of each post. If you are so bored as to come back here from time-to-time, you may need to refresh the window in order to see what new nuggets of wisdom have been deposited.

Please feel free to weigh in on the game, the commercials, and Tom Petty's fashion sense. I'll read all of your comments, but I likely won't have time to reply to them. Don't take it personally. I love you more than life itself.

Are you ready for some Badminton?

Just kidding.

I'm getting warmed up for the 5:17 pm (CT) kick-off, a starting time picked for its significance throughout sporting annals. Do you know why? Neither do I (nor do I know what an "annal" is, for that matter).

Are you really ready for four hours of this?

A National Champion in the Family

We just learned that Texas A&M's Fish Drill Team repeated as military drill national champions in the Mardi Gras Drill Competition held today at Tulane University in New Orleans. This is not exactly new territory for the FDT, which goes into the annual competition with the expectation of winning it, despite being the only all-freshman team and competing against ROTC units across the country...including the service academies. In fact, I normally wouldn't have even commented on it.

Oh, did I forget to mention that one of the members of this year's FDT is The Nephew (a 2007 graduate of Midland High School)? Whoop!

Now, maybe he can get back to studying. [Nag, nag, nag]

M$+Y!=GOOG? [YAWN]

Today's financial news will be dominated by Microsoft's $44 billion offer to buy Yahoo. I tried to get excited about this announcement, but after hammering out 250 words, my enthusiasm gave way to apathy, and I deleted the post. I can't come up with a single reason why the combination of these two companies will make an iota of difference in my life.

I don't own stock in either company (at least not directly), nor in Google for that matter. I don't use Microsoft's or Yahoo's search engines, and I don't believe their combined resources will make Google's any less useful.

And, frankly, I'm not sure the FTC will allow this deal to close anyway. I find it interesting that Microsoft thinks it's in a better position to make this acquisition than Google, because of antitrust laws. Those laws haven't been exactly kind to Redmond in the past.

But there I go again, getting worked up over a non-event. I'll let it go just by saying that I'm skeptical that Microsoft's and Yahoo's common ground of defeating Google is a good reason for combining forces, much less an achievable goal.