Ain't She Sweet!
I think I'll have to give her a name when she arrives.
Details: 2003 Paul Reed Smith Hollowbody II, 10 Top, rosewood fingerboard on a mahogany neck, stop tail bridge, locking tuners with ebony knobs, abalone soaring bird fret inlays (a PRS trademark), nickel hardware (obviously) and PRS archtop pickups.
The back is just as gorgeously flamed maple.

I don't love my Santana SE any the less, but now I have (or, shortly will) a guitar that will play as an acoustic when I don't want to plug in.

UPDATE: I'd rather hoped to be getting her today (Friday) but the tracking page shows me that she's only left Knoxville, TN at about 1pm. Egad I love the Interweb! I'd said it before and I'll say it again. Has there ever been a chance in all the world and time to follow physical packages as they make their way to you in very nearly real time? We live in a magical time.

More Music
Jake has a Myspace page which, when loaded will play an mp3 of his version of "Graceland." Now, keeping in mind that Paul Simon so utterly owns the song that it's a risk for another artist to cover it, Jake does a very creditable version. It hews closely enough to the original that the listener is not left behind but he also very much plays his version of it. Damn Jake. Just really nicely done. Can't wait for the new CD next month.
Hmm. I think I may work up a post on artists whose covers I have liked. Or not.

Why Was I Not Imformed?
Donald Fagen has a new CD/DVD combo out: "Morph the Cat" (see the sidebar for an Amazon link). There are very few artists whose output is required to be acquired and Donald Fagen is one of them. Steely Dan, of which Fagen is a third, is also a necessary buy but, strangely, Walter Becker's solo output is not to my taste. On the other hand, Fagen's "Kamakiriad" is quite possibly one of the best discs of all time - top 20 if not top 10. On Steely Dan's "Alive in America" live disc there is a version Becker's "Book of Liars" which is, simply, superb. Yet when I listened to the original on "11 Tracks of Whack," I was not knocked out.
I also finally ordered the CD of Roy Orbison's all-star "Black & White Night" which is a staple of PBS pledge week programming. What can I say? It's the Ooby Dooby man at his best surrounded by the likes of Bonnie Raitt, T Bone Burnett, J.D. Souther and Bruce Springsteen. I think I can honestly say my musical tastes are eclectic.

One From My Files
Years ago in the NBA, one Yinka Dare left George Washington University to play pro hoops. At nearly the same time, Manute Bol, a Dinka tribesman from Sudan was playing the pro game as well. It's just too bad they never had the chance to play against each other because it would have been a Yinka-Dinka do.

I Want
I want to install a steering wheel on my computer but I can't think of what I want it to do. And don't say play GTA! Maybe it should have a horn button as well. I find a good Google or YouTube video and HONK! HONK! Yeah. That's what I want.

Just Sick Cute
The NMSE has sent another picture from Pug Acres North. And this on the day I found that new next-door neighbors have a pug. Her name is Lola and she's feisty. That makes two pugs in the 'hood. "Rabito" has a new friend.
Still and all - the pug at the bottom of this pic has a strange Shar Pei-ish quality. Or so it seems.

New Favorite Waste Of Time
Splash Back. Use water drops to pop water droplet blobs. Addictive gorram it. I've made it to level 23 at my best. Go. See what you can do. Report back.

This
Is not the post I meant to make.

Working On It
Blogging has been light what with the ACC Tournament 'n' all. Yeah, yeah, go Duke, whatever. But I am working on a lengthier post than those in my last few weeks as I read Virginia Postrel's "The Substance of Style." I don't yet have my thoughts in order but I can join in the praise for the book with pleasure. I am not so great a fan of Ms. Postrel's writing style (it seems a little too academic for a mass-market book) but the point of her book is spot on.
More later.

Wherein I Win A Caption Contest
At Wizbang. Sniff. I'm so proud. Clearly, I need to mention boobs more.

Holy Kwap
My weather widget says that the expected high today is 77º. Seventy seven degrees! Gorram (that's a "Firefly" reference for the good-watching impaired) it's hot in NoVa.

Sweet Mother Of God
"Baseball's Best Burger" as brought to you by the Gateway Grizzlies and (wait for it...) Krispy Kreme. I think you can figure out the lay of this land before you even click the link.

Making You Hate Me Just A Little Bit More

Sometimes You Wonder
I will admit to many things - not the least of which is a case of sexual confusion. Not about my orientation of course, just about some objects of ... well, I can't call it "lust" because that's where the confusion lies. The point in this case being Suzy Kolber. She does TV ads for Chevrolet and at first her voice just grated on me. Then, after I became accustomed to that, I kept looking at her and I'm left flummoxed. I can't decide if she's just totally annoying or if she's actually turning me on.
I dunno. It is sort of pointless to wonder about such things since I'm never going to meet her, much less paint any part of a town in any shade of red. But since she keeps popping up on my screen (hell yes I'm watching the ACC Tournament), she nags at my increasingly feeble mind.
Anyone else care to comment on this particular sports chick?

Wherein I Channel Cletus

A Dash Of Morning Bile
In my morning surfing I got a pop-under window advertising Netflix. I was seriously considering getting Netflix as the Blockbuster thing is becoming increasingly lame. But screw Netflix if they buy advertising with sites that do pop-unders. At least opo-ups are more honest.
Secondly, I'm glad that "Buttcrack Mountin'" (Jeebus! how many differernt ways can that title be altered?) didn't win the Oskie and that "Crash" - well reviewed on this very blog - did. Ha. I didn't bother to watch the Oskies since I just got my DVDs of "Firefly." I didn't "get" Firefly when it first broadcast because the first episode aired was not the pilot. Fox, for some reason, thought "The Train Job" ep should lead off. Survey says ... BZZZZT! Wrong answer. There was plenty of chewy Joss Whedon goodness in that episode and much slam-bang action. But introducing it without the back story was moronic. Now I understand why the crew of Serenity acted as they did and it's a good show. I thought it was terrible when I first watched it.
A couple of things bear mention in regards "Firefly." First Morena Baccarin who plays the courtesan Inara is a very pretty woman (would have to be for the character, eh?) but more than that, she has just a most wonderful voice to listen to: sweet and soothing, very feminine. And Jewel Staite who plays Kaylee the ship's engineer is just adorable. When she smiles, which she does a lot, she just lights up. And when she feels hurt, it's like you've seen your favorite puppy yelled at. I just looked at her photos on the IMDB and I am struck at how much more attractive she is when she's not overly made up.
After such extravagant praise for the chiquitas of Serenity, I must say that you should at least rent the DVDs of the series and watch them as the makers meant them to be watched, not as they were broadcast. Also, the theme song ("Ballad of Serenity") is much better than I realized when you understand the back story. "Burn the land and boil the sea/You can't take the sky from me..." Lyrics here and listen to the mp3 here.

Stupid Joke Of The Day
Why did the crow divorce his wife?
For caws.

And A Short One To Top Off The Day
There is one thing about my return trip that really must be mentioned: The GA Pig. If you ever are travelling along I-95 in Georgia, you will pass exit 29 (Brunswick). Do yourself a huge, no, a massive favor: get off the highway if it's after 11am. Go east and look for a place that looks like little more than a shack on the north side of the road just beyond the gas stations, which, just FYI, have the cheapest gas for untold miles along the superslab. You will find the GA Pig which has just the most luscious barbecue you could wish to pass across your tastebuds. I can't say that the sides are exceptional but Oh Lord such Boston Butt pork barbecue is what God designed the pig to make.
I usually prefer "Carolina-style" pulled pork barbecue with a hot, vinegar-based sauce. Not any more. While I was getting my "to go" sammich, a couple was buying their lunch and since she was getting the same order I'd chowed down, I talked with them a moment. The male half of the couple told me that they were Carolina residents who regualrly travelled the highway and always stopped at the GA Pig. They too had been turned away from the Carolina barbecue by the seductive wonderfulness that is the product from the GA Pig.
Oh for God's sake! Just go there! Eat! Buy a pound or two to take with you. It's good. I'm only sorry that I didn't get the Brunswick Stew as a side. I will next time though. Oh yes. Yes. I will.

Loose Ends
Well, not really loose but part of the little dailiness of life that regular clogs up the blogs of piffling writers such as ... I keep coming back to "me" to finish that sentence. Dang.
File this under "love that interweb thing" or "this doesn't entirely make sense to me." I have a battery back-up for the base station of my house phones. You know the type of phone where there's one main base and three "satellite" phones that only plug into power. I figured it made sense to have the base station on battery back-up since each phone would run on its internal battery in the event of power failure. Of course, after the passage of several years, the battery in the back up device slipped into beeping senescence. Bargle flarg! I have to replace the internal battery. My first try, having found the dead cheapest replacement on the web, funked out as the battery I got was a two-cell version when I needed the one-cell version. But the return process was painless and I was out only the shipping.
Today I finally decided to get the right battery. I checked the manufacturer's website but found the proper battery to be just a wee bit more expensive than I preferred. So, of course, I checked Amazon. Heh. Bezos Inc. not only had it cheaper than the maker, but it was available at a few bucks less from Office Depot via Amazon. But (lotsa buts in the story), after setting up my order for the Office Depot version, I double checked and found that it was actually cheaper to pay Amazon more for the battery itself and opt for free "Super Saver" shipping. That just so rocks. I also bought the DVD of "Firefly" having become a slavering fan-boy upon seeing "Serenity."
Also, I recently ordered one of these headlamps. I gave one to Lycurgus for Christmas by using his wish list. I hadn't seen one in person before. It's the sweetest little four LED headlamp ever because it has an integrated headband. Most headbands are just that - big, bulky bands. This one has a retractable headstrap so you could put it on your wrist just as easily as on your forehead. Damnably clever. My bedside lamp is not really enough to read by but with my cyclopean book light .... Life could be a lot worse.

The Obligatory Sports Post
Oh fer wasted time. I watched a fair amount of the O'limp'ics and a good bit of basquetbol in the last fewweeks and feel compelled to make at least some comments. I'm a Duke fan so it's actually obligatory, right?
I'm so over the Winter Olympics. There was Bode Miller who was a world-class jerk (gold medal in assholery) and skater Johnny Weir who's "diva attitude" made me hate all male skaters just a little bit. It's a sad day when the American makes me applaud the grace, elegance and ability of the Russian fer crissake. I saw, incidentally, in a local paper that Weir is going to skate in some show in the DC area and I said to myself, "Not for a dime of my money." Hey Weir! I hope you marry Tonya Harding! Except I'll bet you're waiting for the defeat of "traditional marriage initiatives." I'm not a homophobe but I hate you.
The women, on the other hand, were wonderful. Kimmie Miessener was a delight - glowing smile and bouncing enthusiasm. I hope she vacuums up many medals and lots of money in her career. I applaud Sasha Cohen's performance but I just can't warm to that bobble head of hers. It's Alexis Bledel Syndrome all over again. But congratulations nonetheless for the silver. And it's impossible to leave off the women skaters without mentioning that for men, there can be no greater thing than a hot-looking figure skater who actually has the word "slut" in her name. And then I immediately apologize for saying such an ugly thing.
I don't ever recall seeing ski courses with sidelines before. Not that it's a big deal but it seemed new to me. Best not say anything more about the skiing except I hope Lindsey Kildow recovers fully from her nasty spill. It hurt just to look at it. Snowboarding. I dunno. Is this really an Olympic sport? Enh. Why not. And let women compete in the ski jump! Dammit. The sliding-down-icy-tubes-on-things events (luge, skeleton, bobsled) also don't do a hell of a lot for me. When you have to measure time in thousandsths of a second to get a winner, we've reached a point where the technology surpasses the human element. The only thing I really liked was a report on an Italian bobsledder who won gold in the previous Italian Winter Games (I think) who was the very essence of sportmanship. When in a previous Games the British bobsled team broke a bolt and had no spare, he, after his run, took a bolt off his sled and passed it along to them and the Brits then won. That is class beyond measure.
Finally, the speed skating deserves mention. Nice to See Apollo Ohno win a good, clean gold. He's a sportsman. And how sad to see the foolishness of Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick. My sympathy is a bit more for Hedrick but both played divo games when they should have sucked it up and skated for the team. Grownups probably would have scored a couple more medals for the US. Oh well (shrugs) whadda ya gonna do?
The best news out ofthe Winter Olympics? That we have four whole years before the next round! Hmm. I guess I went on longer than I intended. The basketball post might have to wait a bit.