A few quick items before I go and veg in front of the tee vee set.

• 

  This is the view from the in-laws' backyard. Yeah. I know. It sucks to be me.

• Robbo will be pleased to hear that I started Master and Commander today after finishing the interminable Name of the Rose, which I was determined to finish even though that book is like foreplay with a premature ejaculator (and if you don't get what that means, I'm not telling you.) Anyway I'm not very far into M&C but I'm already having a hard time telling why dearest Robbo has a problem with Russell Crowe in the role of Capt. Jack Aubrey.

  {...}The listener farther to the left was a man of between twenty and thirty whose big form overflowed his seat, leaving only a streak of gilt wood to be seen here and there. He was wearing his best uniform---the white lapelled blue coat, white waistcoat, breeches and stockings of a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, with the silver medal of the Nile in his buttonhole---and the deep white cuff of his gold-buttoned sleeve beat the time while his bright blue eyes, staring from what would hav been a pink and white face if it had not been so deeply tanned, gazed fixedly at the bow of the first violin.{...}

  Ummm, what's the dealio here, Robbo?

• I got to experience Arizona viticulture today. We did a tour of wineries in this area and while two out of three sucked bullets, the third was truly something to write home about. Callaghan Vineyards. If you have room for storage, buy their wines. I really mean that. Their wine is nice to taste---and I did enjoy tasting a few---this is wine that will age BEAUTIFULLY. And I really mean that. A few years in glass will do wonders for this stuff---and it's pretty damn good to begin with.

  I tried the 2004 Syrah, Zinfandel and Claire. This Syrah is truly marvelous: rich, full-bodied and spicy, it could give any number of Californians that I've tasted a run for their money. The Zin wasn't as tasty or as impressive as the Syrah---it was a bit on the fruity side---and was a bit weaker than I expected it to be, but it was still quite lovely. The Claire, however, was bloody spectacular. That is a wine that in ten years will be wine you open up to celebrate special occasions, like when babies are born or your children get engaged and you're having a special dinner. It's a wonderful and special wine.

  I know what you're thinking: local winery action, oh joy. That last bit was undoubtedly accompanied by an eye roll, wasn't it? I'm sure it was. Because I know I've thought the same things, but really and truly, Callaghan has the potential to become a very important winery in the years to come. I was floored when I tasted their wines. I was expecting more MD 20/20 that I'd received at the previous two wineries, which shall go unnamed, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

Ok. That should do you for now, my devoted Cake Eater readers.

Oh, and my guest bloggers rock!

Posted by: Kathy at 08:45 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I've got other things to do around here this afternoon, my devoted Cake Eater Readers, but, lest you think I don't love you, I leave you with a bit of Fatboy Slim to liven up this bleak Tuesday afternoon.

Now...I command you, my devoted Cake Eater Readers, to shake that thing!

Posted by: Kathy at 02:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Hey Mom, you'll want to call Dad in for these. He'll enjoy them.

The rest of you, well, you should just take the jump. more...

Posted by: Kathy at 10:05 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Just a friendly reminder for all my fellow House junkies: it's airing this evening, at 7p.m. CST, instead of at its regularly scheduled time on Tuesdays.

Some stupid show that nobody with half a brain watches---coughAmerican Idolcough---- is responsible for this idiotic, but fortunately temporary, move.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:05 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Offer up your suffering for all the poor souls in purgatory.

Posted by: Kathy at 10:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've been forced to suffer this Jessica Simpson Pizza Hut ad more times than I can count in recent days, and, quite frankly, I've had it. If I didn't hate Pizza Hut before---and really, I didn't---this one commercial has put me off Pizza Hut for the rest of my life. I will never again order a pizza from the hut. That's how much I hate Jessica Simpson.

Lest you think I'm a killjoy in the celebrity endorsement department, I present to you an ad Sir Anthony Hopkins did for Barclay's Bank about six years ago. I actively searched the internet for this video. I asked for help when I couldn't find it. This ad was memorable. It made an impact. And, most importantly, it was well made. I'm sure Anthony received a "What's the word?" fee for his work because he sold Barclays well. The unfortunate thing is that Jessica Simpson was probably paid just as much, if not more, than Sir Anthony for her "work," if you can call it that.

Will anyone remember the Pizza Hut commercial, though, in six years?

Posted by: Kathy at 02:21 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 I don't remember it now! I've never seen it you must be seeing my allotment or something.

Posted by: Ith at February 17, 2006 02:50 PM (2EfyX)

2 I should have probably mentioned that it wasn't aired on American tee vee. I saw it when I was in London.

Posted by: Kathy at February 17, 2006 03:11 PM (P4rMX)

3 Thanks for finding that. An excellent example of a commercial can be good. Unfortunately those are all too rare.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at February 17, 2006 09:46 PM (DdRjH)

4 Let's see. One has class and talent, the other has ultra bright teeth and shit-for-brains... Hmmmm.

Posted by: Chrissy at February 18, 2006 10:23 AM (fvP3J)

5 Ah! That would explain why I've never seen the fair Jessica selling pizza. I'm actually not sure I'd know her to see her, to tell the truth. But I can't remember the last time I saw a Pizza Hut advert anyway. It's always Dominoes and Round Table.

Posted by: Ith at February 18, 2006 02:07 PM (7gtAp)

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Robbo's at it again with the historical naval postings.

On the Fox Report this evening, they covered the same event and I mentioned to the husband that Robbo, being the landlubber naval history geek that he is, had posted about it as well. (C'mon kids: it's not everyday you get two doses of arcane naval history, is it?) The husband then proceeded to ask when Robbo's biography of Admiral Halsey, titled The Fighting Sailor was going to be released.*

Accordingly, I laughed like a loon and figured out precisely who Robbo wants to be when he grows up. Although, he's serving in the wrong part of government and needs to move over to Langley to keep pace.

*bonus points to whomever gets the reference.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:53 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Two things relating to the Winter Olympics.

• The husband has suddenly taken to watching curling every day. Now, the husband grew up in freakin' Iowa: like most people who grew up south of the forty-fifth parallel, he has absolutely no idea what is going on in this game. It's not like he cares, though, either. At five o'clock, he's in front of the tee vee, watching and rooting on whichever American team is playing. Currently the women's team is playing Sweden.

  I wonder if these two have had any influence on his decision to watch.

  

  Methinks the answer is "yes." I believe his nonchalance was feigned when I told him they weren't twins.

• Bryant Gumbel is a racist sack of shit.

Posted by: Kathy at 05:53 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 Hmm! I think I'll start watching the Olympics! (you have email)

Posted by: EveningStar at February 16, 2006 06:37 PM (xr/uv)

2 Yeah, the hot sisters are the reason why you're husband's watching. But don't worry, you ain't too bad yourself (I checked your bio thingy). It's why I started watching. But then I realized I have no idea what's going on so I had to go online. Now that I know, it's interesting even when the ugly girls are throwing. Be sure to read my seminal post on women's sports... http://impleader.com/2006/01/michelle-wie-golfs-anna-kournikova/

Posted by: Contriburor X at February 16, 2006 08:26 PM (G14RP)

3 Nope. They're too skinny and too blonde for my tastes, you know that. If I were going to watch the Winter Olympics for hot babes, it would be all about the power.

Posted by: MRN aka "The Husband" at February 16, 2006 09:05 PM (P4rMX)

4 The husband has suddenly taken to watching curling every day Oh. My. God. I had no idea how bad this was until you let the messy facts out. I'll start putting together some football and baseball footage right away. We'll get him into de-tox ASAP. He'll be (almost) as good as new before you know it. Why, God, Why couldn't he have gone for Snowboarding or Speedskating?! Why did it have to be (shudder) Curling?!!

Posted by: Doug Williams at February 16, 2006 09:50 PM (7P5xE)

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This is going to sound really, really odd, but I'm jonesing to see a particular commercial.

My devoted UK/Worldwide Cake Eater Readers might know what I'm talking about when I link this article and say, "I want the Anthony Hopkins one, thanks ever so much."

Unfortunately, I can't find the bloody thing anywhere on the internets. The husband got serious and really did some down and dirty searching on usenet this afternoon, and he didn't have any luck either. Same with searches of many different torrents, limewire, etc.

If anyone happens to know where I can find a copy of this ad, I'd be forever in your debt. Drop me an email or leave a comment.

Thanks in advance!

Posted by: Kathy at 11:08 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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You know, before I settled into my political science major at college, I had a good whack at art history. It didn't work out because, in their all-encompassing wisdom, the College of Design at Iowa State demanded that you be able to draw if you wanted to be in their stinking college. No, really, I'm not bitter about it. Sniff. Anyway...I did manage to cram in a bunch of art and design history classes and as such, on occasion, I'm usually able to pull arcane bits and bobs about famous buildings out of my you-know-where.

But I will admit to being flummoxed when I saw the aerial photos of Turin...

...and had no idea what this building was.

If Bob Costas mentioned it, I missed it. So, I decided to figure it out. I assumed it was a cathedral---a Catholic cathedral, of course, this is Italy, after all---but I was wrong. It never was a cathedral, but was originally built to be a synagogue. It's called La Mole Antonelliana.

According to Wikipedia:

The Mole Antonelliana is a major architectural symbol of the city of Turin, Italy. It is named for the architect who built it, Alessandro Antonelli. Construction began in 1863.

Originally, it was intended to be a Jewish synagogue, as religious freedom had just been granted to non-Catholic groups, but the relationship between Antonelli and the Jewish community was not a happy one. He immediately began to propose a series of modifications which raised the final height to 113 meters--over 47 meters higher than the dome in the original design. Such changes, in addition to greater costs and construction time than were originally anticipated, did not please the Jewish community and construction was halted in 1869 with a provisional roof. In 1873 an exchange with the city of Turin for other land for a synagogue took place, and the Mole was dedicated to Victor Emanuel II. Antonelli again began construction, which took the height to 146, 153, and finally 167 meters.

167 meters=547.9 feet. That's almost two football fields. Built without the help of reinforced concrete. Don't try this at home, kids.

It's now the home of the Italian national cinema museum.

I love the lines on it. It's neat and tidy; clean and cool. It looks so solid, like it would scoff one of its particularly well-built shoulders at anyone who would dare to suggest it could possibly fall down. The spire is particularly interesting, too, if you take a good look. At the base of the spire is (what looks to be) a two-storey, classical-style temple that I really enjoy looking at and wondering about. Could you really chat with the gods and goddesses if you managed to swing a ladder all the way up there? You'd be close enough, after all; it should be possible if you followed the theory behind the choice of the Acropolis for the Parthenon.

Enjoy looking at it. I know I have.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:57 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Mmmmhmmm.

{...}Seriously, I would say I can't believe anyone would even consider seeing a Pink Panther movie that didn't have Peter Sellers, but we are talking about the country that thinks Keira Knightley is a good choice to star in Pride and Prejudice.{...}

A-bloody-men!

{Hat Tip: Russ from Winterset}

*I was going to title this post, of course, Sense and Sensibility but I decided I'd probably pulled that trick one time too many so I just threw in the first Austen novel title that came to mind. Of course that was after I threw out variations of Persuasion and, obviously, Pride and Prejudice. Amazingly enough, I never got the opprortunity to boycott Emma because, well, she just didn't come to mind. At all. Now that's a memorable character for you, eh, Robbo? Eh? Eh?

Posted by: Kathy at 11:07 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Check out this super coo-el touch screen demo.

{Hat tip: Boing Boing}

Posted by: Kathy at 04:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Whatever title floats your boat, baby.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:26 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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{Insert Team America Voice Here} Take that islamofascists!

I, a non-burqua wearing woman, am going to defeat you bastards by drinking beer!

GOD BLESS WESTERN CIVILIZATION!

UPDATE: Mmmm. Victory tastes like Heineken. Only better---meaning it's smoother and more full bodied.

Posted by: Kathy at 03:26 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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This is code for doing that Bette Midler "Wind Beneath My Wings" thing, isn't it?

Oh, dear.

{Insert grimace here}

You really are twisted, aren't you? And, I might remind you, that you promised I'd never have to do that again. I know you liked it. The point here is that I didn't.

Seriously, darling, I do have my boundaries and I'm invoking them. I just don't think I could face another evening with that on the menu.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:00 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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If you consider multitasking to be important then, yes, gamers probably do have better brains:

{...}A body of research suggests that playing video games provides benefits similar to bilingualism in exercising the mind. Just as people fluent in two languages learn to suppress one language while speaking the other, so too are gamers adept at shutting out distractions to swiftly switch attention between different tasks.

A new study of 100 university undergraduates in Toronto has found that video gamers consistently outperform their non-playing peers in a series of tricky mental tests. If they also happened to be bilingual, they were unbeatable.{...}

Hmmmph.

Doesn't mean they have better social skills, though.

Posted by: Kathy at 09:48 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Yeah. I know. I'll let you in on a little secret. My head sometimes aches from the strain of holding all that throbbing gray matter in. Hey, I could be a rapper: "my cranium strains." Throw that down to a funky beat and you've got a Grammy winning single right there! Anyway...I find that a cold compress helps when the pain gets to be too much.

And if that doesn't work, well, a shot of whisky works even better!

Posted by: Kathy at 10:40 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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If you click on this link, you will have officially reached the end of the internet.

There's nothing more to see. You can stop surfing now. You're done. It's time to find a new hobby.

Posted by: Kathy at 10:10 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Dude, that's like soooo 1995.

Posted by: Kathy at 01:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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We here at the Cake Eater Pad have had some memorable customer service experiences in the past week or so, and because I'm generous that way, I thought I'd share. I shall try to be brief about it because, well, I want to go and read my book with a cup of cocoa.

First off, the sexy coffee pot with the dual water windows crapped out a week ago this past Sunday. There's nothing quite like waking up, expecting to spend leisurely morning in your jammies, and walking into the kitchen to see your husband, wrapped up in his plaid flannel bathrobe, longish hair pulled back into a ponytail, a screwdriver in his hand and the panicky expression of a junkie on his face as he told you the damn thing doesn't work! That's when you sigh deeply, go and---not fussing with underwear---pull on jeans and a polar fleece and walk up to the neigborhood Bou and score the much needed caffeine.

Since it was Sunday there was nothing we could do about the problem since Mr. Coffee's help line wasn't operating. Come Monday, however, the husband was on the phone with them, and when he finally connected with a REAL LIVE HUMAN BEING they just told him that there's a problem with a leak in the brewbasket that caused the chip to short out, hence it would turn on, but wouldn't brew. After confirming a serial number on the bottom of the old brewer, he told the husband to throw the thing out, and that in two to three weeks a new one would be arriving.

Well, my devoted Cake Eater readers, it only took two to three days for the new coffee maker to arrive. It's exactly like the old one, except for the fact that the brewbasket has supposedly been redesigned.

So, YAY FOR MR. COFFEE! We likes the Mr. Coffee people. Well done! A bouquet of lovely flowers to them.

As far as the brickbats are concerned, well, those go to Wells Fargo bank. They lied to the husband. It wasn't a case of they told him one thing, but corporate policy turned out to be another, and gee, we're really sorry about this, but... It was a case of, "If you want x, we need y. Oh, you brought us y? Well, that's fantastic, but that thing we told you we could do for you if you brought us y, well, we didn't mean it. We changed our minds for no real reason at all. Have a nice day."

Not only did they lie about y, there were also some serious whoppers told with the express purpose of getting the husband off the branch manager's back. She lied. And she told stupid lies---i.e lies that are easily verified for being lies. When confronted, she showed no remorse and refused to make things right.

We've had a wonderful working relationship with Wells Fargo for going on four years now and I've been nothing but impressed with them...until now. It's quite shocking, because they've done nothing but keep us happy over the years. I thought when they took over Norwest it would be the usual merger story and things would be goofed for forever, but I was wrong. The merger was a GOOD thing and Wells Fargo has been a wonderful addition to the local banking community. But now? Well, now they've pissed me off and, to put it bluntly WELLS FARGO SUCKS!

I thought you, my devoted Cake Eater readers, should know how I feel about the matter.

Posted by: Kathy at 01:33 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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