Long time, no blog

Okay, this is my third time trying to do this post. The first time was last night. I had written a bunch of stuff and lost it all when my computer froze up while I was trying to access Alice Cooper's web site in another window (I'll explain later). And then a few minutes ago, I was all set to blog when Deb needed the computer. So here we go.

I got back from Phoenix late Wednesday night. It was a good trip from a business standpoint. Our exhibit booth was busy and there were plenty of sessions to cover at the conference (the annual confab for a hospital infection control group). We had a lot to do during the day, which was good because it was too damn hot to do anything else. I was surprised at how deserted it seemed, even during supposed busy times of day, but maybe people just stay away when the temps average in the 100s every day. We went to ancient shock rocker Alice Cooper's sports bar, Cooperstown, to watch the deciding game of the Stanley Cup playoffs (hence the visit to his site; I was going to throw a link in, but his site isn't user friendly). The place was cool to look at, but pretty empty. The next night, we hit former Phoenix Sun Dan Majerle's bar to watch game 2 of the NBA finals. That was a little busier, but not much. It was good to get home.

Speaking of the Stanley Cup, I was disappointed for Calgary but also happy for Tampa Bay. They're an exciting team and it was nice to see former Leaf Dave Andreychuk finally win the Cup after 22 years in the league.

HBO keeps rolling out the great shows. The Sopranos and Deadwood both just wrapped up their seasons, and the supoib Six Feet Under premiered its new season last night. Other shows I've been following are The Shield, which has its season finale tomorrow; The Dead Zone, the supernatural thriller starring Anthony Michael Hall which just started another season; and old episodes of The Office, the great BBC comedy.

Just picked up new CDs from Sonic Youth (Sonic Nurse), PJ Harvey (Uh Huh Her), and !!! (Louden Up Now), a New York ensemble that plays danceable, profanity-laden rizzock that is quite infectious. On the SY and PJ releases, which on first listen are both very good, there is a disclaimer on the back of the CD booklet that reads "FBI Anti-Piracy Warning: Unauthorized copying is punishable under federal law." There's a fancy seal that goes with it. Ooh, that'll scare off them crazy kids with the computers.

Hey, the Army's got new uniforms. Those remind me of some jammies I had when I was 6.

Every time I think we're backward on certain issues here, I take a moment to reflect on things like this going on in my ancestors' homeland. Messed up.

You can get orange cauliflower now. That still won't convince my wife to eat it.

Man, did the media go overboard last week with the Reagan death coverage or what? I'm all for giving due respect when a president dies, but this was too much. I wasn't surprised to see the glowing tributes to the man, who I was not a big fan of, but enough is enough. As always, The Onion put things in the proper perspective (the June 9 issue).