Blahg

19 April 2004

Another sighting of Bono: Time magazine's latest issue, featuring the World's 100 Most Influential People. He's a hero and an icon, just like I've been saying for so many years now.

Oddly enough, I didn't make the cut this year. I must be #101 - with a bullet.

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18 April 2004

I stand corrected. The hottest cheerleaders are at the Colorado Rapids games.

The games are a great deal, to boot. You can get reasonably priced tickets close to the field, classic fast-paced action, and GOOOOOOAAAALLLs.

It's just a shame so many of the "fans" have no sense of time. A large number arrived late and even still they repeatedly went in and out for snacks and potty breaks, disrupting our view of the action. Some of them hardly saw any of the game with all their "extracurricular" activities.

The one other downside was the 1-1 draw against the LA Galaxy. But at least my undefeated streak continues...

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15 April 2004

Today's motivational quote: "Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can't buy more hours. Scientists can't invent new minutes. And you can't save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow. Success depends upon using it wisely - by planning and setting priorities." - Denis Waitely

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12 April 2004

"Maybe you need a hard year to have a place to grow from. Maybe it takes painful things to make you evolve. It's not a bad thing, is it, to be strong in some ways and fragile and vulnerable in others?" - Jennifer Garner, Actress/Goddess (Parade, 11 April 2004)

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4 April 2004

"Early morning, April 4, Shot rings out in the Memphis sky. Free at last, they took your life, They could not take your pride

In the name of love, What more in the name of love?" - Pride (In the Name of Love) - U2, Lyric by Bono

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3 April 2004

Zymar. My eye doctor says one drop of this antibiotic's like sending a nuclear weapon after a groundhog. Nice. And I'm putting it in my eyes to cure an infection.

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2 April 2004

The Yahoo! horoscope gurus speak Mattopian:

April 2, 2004 Quickie: Fate taps you for greatness. What else were you planning? This fits in so well.

Overview: You probably haven't been this eager to go out and play for a while, which is really saying something -- but then, you're probably also making up for lost time. Don't deprive yourself any longer -- go party!

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29 March 2004

OK. After closing the tickle.com pop-up ad numerous times when visiting NewYorkTimes.com, I finally took the bait and completed the free IQ test. It was late last night, I was tired, blah, blah, blah. With that in mind, here are the results:

"Congratulations, Matthew! Your IQ score is 129 This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others.

Your Intellectual Type is Insightful Linguist. This means you are highly intelligent and have the natural fluency of a writer and the visual and spatial strengths of an artist. Those skills contribute to your creative and expressive mind. And that's just some of what we know about you from your test results."

Then came the sales pitch...

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28 March 2004

"Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind." - Leonardo da Vinci

Arena football: The latest entry into the frenzy of sorta-xtreme sporting events.

At every stop in play, in addition to the traditional group of gorgeous cheerleaders, there's either a college-esque marching band playing behind the end zone; a group of street kids playing plastic drums a la Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk; dancing street kids in a tepid attempt to revive the fine art of break dancing; video clips from the likes of Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, and Jack Black encouraging the crowd to make some noise; Hooters girls roaming the lower level; or numerous T-shirt give-aways. There's also a half-time show of stunt bikers... It's a non-stop fest of distractions from the game. As a way of getting good press, some of the players and - yes! - the cheerleaders make themselves available on the field for autographs after the games.

From my point of view, all those distractions are a necessity and are rather artificial.

For all of its "street" appeal and pandering to kids, its stunning that the best seats are a whopping $125 "off the field," but there are a few $7 nose-bleeders also available.

Considering it's basically traditional American football condensed to a much smaller playing field, the game lacks punch. Sure, the score can flip-flop as quickly as a basketball game, but considering the size of the guys on the field, I can't imagine the play requires anywhere near their full capability.

Also, since it's still new, there are no bitter rivalries or any sense of urgency, other than to keep the franchises going. To compensate, I'm sure the entertainment value of the Two Johns, the dueling owners Elway and Bon Jovi, will be played for all its worth. At least when it comes to the teams' Web sites, Philadelphia Soul whoops the Colorado Crush.

The game itself isn't the most entertaining thing going, but here's the bottom line: The Crush cheerleaders are among the finest around. Roll out that carpet and play ball!

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21 March 2004

“Even the most fantastic dreams can be realized if we are prepared to endure life's challenges.” - Nelson Mandela

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20 March 2004

Sightings of Bono: Headline on the cover of the April 2004 issue of O: The Oprah Magazine: "BONO ROCKS: Oprah's awed by the brilliant, funny, sexy man who's out to save the world (did we mention sexy?)"

... and Dennis Miller, to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, on Miller's CNBC show: "I want to thank you for issuing the hippest sentence I've ever heard in my life, from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, that Bono told him that Bush was an OK guy. It truly is an interconnected world now when Bono's laying ya down on President Bush."

It was a very funny interview and Archbishop Tutu proved just how cool a man he really is.

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19 March 2004

"If we do not rise to the challenge of our unique capacity to shape our lives, to seek the kinds of growth that we find individually fulfilling, then we can have no security: we will live in a world of sham, in which our selves are determined by the will of others, in which we will be constantly buffeted and increasinly isolated by the changes round us." - Nena O'Neil

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16 March 2004

There are 280 curse words in the movie The Commitments, according to director Alan Parker.

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29 February 2004

"I pity the people who have never had the blow to the ego, who have never been dumped." - Jen Chapin

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25 February 2004

"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do." - Pope John XXIII

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1 February 2004

James Walsh: Good Soul. Visit Starsailor.

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