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  • Hawaii: Lure of the Aloha State

    “Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you’re there but becomes beckoningly real after you have gone”.

    John Steinbeck famously wrote this about Positano, the jewel of Italy’s Amalfi Coast, in the 1950’s. I, however, having visited both Positano and Hawaii in the past 12 months, would venture to say that this comment is far better suited to the glorious archipelago that is our 50th state than the Italian cliffside village. Don’t get me wrong — Positano is a wonderful town, but quite frankly I don’t dream about going back there. I am glad that I took the time to visit it, but there are too many other places to see before I head back.

    Hawaii, on the other hand, beckons me hourly even though I’ve only been gone for a mere 5 days. The beauty and laid-back feeling of the islands is so infectious that it still permeates almost all of my thoughts.

    If you have the means, I highly suggest the trip. From the Eastern U.S. it is quite a hike (~12 hours on a plane), but so long as you spend at least a week (preferably more), it is well worthwhile. Hawaii truly may be the ultimate vacation destination, as it offers a wide variety of activities and adventures. If you just want to relax on the beach, obviously some of the very best in the world lie there. If you are more adventurous, hiking, biking, kayaking, surfing, etc. abounds. Looking for culture? The Hawaiian are a proud people with a diverse, interesting history that begs to be learned and studied.

    In sum, I have dreamed all my life of going to Hawaii. Now that I have finally been, my dreams will instead be filled with ideas of going back. Isn’t it time you went?

  • How “Wack” Are You?

    Yesterday, I saw a woman driving a blue Chrystler Seabring (top down) with a licence plate that read: “IM WACK”.

    That’s all.

  • NBA Trade Recap: Risky Proposition for Heat

    The NBA executed its largest trade ever last week, involving 13 players. The prevalent opinon is that the Miami Heat, by adding Antoine Walker and Jason Williams (white chocolate), were the clear winners — taking a team that came within one game of the NBA Finals and adding two high profile talents to their squad.

    Personally, I think this was a huge mistake for the Heat. Both Walker and Williams are me first stars in what may someday be known as the NBA’s ego era — neither has shown at any time during their careers that they can put the team’s fate in front of their own stats or highlight reel. The Heat were just beginning to gel under D-Wade and Shaq; Adding guys who could easily throw that out of balance is a highly risky move for Pat Riley.

    Of course, if anyone can whip these two into shape it is Shaq, so if the big fella has his way he could easily prove me wrong come playoff time.

  • Pat Haines Sent You a Postcard?

    So I got this postcard in the mail yesterday… It was yellow and looked like something you’d get from the government — it even said “Offical Business” at the top. The telegram-style message read:

    WE ARE TRYING TO REACH YOU. PLEASE CALL US AT THE NUMBER SHOWN ON THE REVERSE OF THIS CARD. THIS IS A FREE CALL.
    SINCERELY — PAT HAINES, SALES REPRESENTATIVE

    (The return address on the card was “N.M.E. / 16120 U.S. 19 North / Clearwater, FL 33764” and the phone number was 1-800-693-9206.)

    Obviously, the moment I got this, my scam sensors went to overload. When I first saw NME, I thought of the music magazine (especially since this site used to focus on music reviews), but clearly they would not have send me a ludicrous postcard like this one. And, they are located in the UK, not Florida.

    So anyhoo, I did some research and found out that N.M.E. is the National Magazine Exchange and when you call they try to scam you into buying a bunch of magazines. The more crappy subscriptions you buy, the better your chance will be to win some GREAT PRIZES!

    Obviously if you have come to this site looking for information on Pat Haines or N.M.E., you’re probably already hip to the fact that this is total BS. Here’s your confirmation.

    Of course, if you like, go ahead and give “Pat” a call and screw with her. Have fun!

    More info via ripoffreport.com

  • Religious Policeman

    Around the time that the Iraq blogs started to get exposure in the MSM and blogosphere, The Religious Policeman popped up. An adult Saudi with enlightened views, he was a true rarity in that he spoke to the frustrations of Saudi everyday life, religion, politics, and the police. Sadly, he’s not posted in over a year. (Update: in an odd serendipitous turn, Alhamedi reappeared on the scene just 2 days after I posted this! Welcome back!) Re-reading his entries in light of King Fahd’s death should raise fresh questions and concerns for anyone paying attention to the source of the juice that runs all our cars (and, apparently, most suicide bombers).

  • Montréal, Quebec

    Just returned from a 5-day trip to Montréal. The wife and I got a really great deal on air/hotel and stayed at the posh Fairmont Queen Elizabeth. Please enjoy these random observations and accept my recommendation of this city as a wonderful place to visit.

    • Local flavor was interesting. I like pistachios, and was pleased to see that Montréal also seems to like pistachios. At the many cremeries (ice-cream shops) I noticed that pistachio was almost always included, a rarity in my area. Of course, crêpes were also widely available both as fast-food and on the menus of more upscale places. While we were at La Ronde, we noticed a woman and her 2-year old eating some french fry concoction I had never seen before and she informed me that it was fries topped with cheese curd and brown gravy (perhaps a distant cousin to the incomprable chips, mushypeas and gravy I had experienced in Northwest England). She informed us enthusiastically “this is a Quebecois meal!” (more…)

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  • Rafael Palmiero is the Karl Malone of Baseball

    Palmiero became only the sixth player to reach 500 home runs and 3000 hits. Karl Malone is statistically the greatest forward in the history of NBA basketball.

    During the Palmiero era, I never once considered myself lucky to have watched his greatness. I never really even cared. (Same goes for Malone.)

    Longevity does not equal greatness.

    Next up: Aerosmith is the Karl Malone of rock n’ roll…

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  • All-Time NBA Team

    I received the following IM from a friend today:

    What is your all time nba team? Mine is kobe bryant at point; michael jordan as 2; tracy mcrady at 3; hakeem olajuwon at 4; shaq oneal as center.

    I don’t even think it is necessary to comment on the absurdity of this list, but I will anyway.

    Um, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are omitted. Enough said. (But I’ll continue)

    Tracy McGrady is a fraud until proven otherwise. Play for a winner and then we’ll talk. Kobe is a great champion, but only as second banana. He needs to win one as the undisputed leader on a team, and then we’ll talk. (He’s also not a point guard, but that is so minor I’ll choose to overlook it)

    Essentially, positions 1-3 are locks: Magic, Michael and Larry. It does get interesting once you get to 4 and 5. The most dominant centers of their time are obviously Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, but the game has changed so much since they played; It is extremely hard to compare these guys to modern day greats like Shaq. Perhaps 70’s stars Kareem or Bill Walton are the ultimate compromise — skilled enough to play a finesse game but tough enough to handle today’s centers. The statistical factor comes into play here as well — Karl Malone, for example, is the greatest power forward of all time based on statistics, but if I were putting together a team I’d much rather have Kevin McHale, Hakeem or even Charles Barkley playing the 4.

    To answer my friend, I told him that my team of Magic, The Big O, Larry Legend, McHale and Kareem would blow his team off the court. Even though Jordan is the greatest competitor and winner of all time, there is no way he could overcome the selfishness of Kobe and T-Mac to keep his team in the game.