Water Me Down

Just checking in while I try not to sweat onto the keyboard. We're definitely getting some summer weather and that's a good thing. We've been enjoying a visit from Deb's brother Matt and his family this weekend. We went on a whale watch out of Gloucester yesterday that was pretty impressive; I had never been on one before and we saw about a dozen whales out at Stellwagen Bank. We saw a bunch of humpbacks, finbacks, and minkes. It was amazing how close they got to the boat. They were definitely playful, going under the boat and coming up to chow down on eels. Very cool.

I went for a 10-mile run today around 3 p.m. and hoo boy, was it hot and humid. About 85 and sticky. I was extremely happy to get that one over with.

Hotter than July:

• The NHL free agent season got off to a rollicking start yesterday. The Bruins made a big splash by signing monstrous d-man Zdeno Chara and center Marc Savard; the Leafs added a couple of defensemen in Pavel Kubina and Hal Gill (ugh); Ed Jovanoski went to Phoenix, Jason Arnott to Nashville, Rob Blake to LA, and many, many more. And there are still a ton of decent players still available. Teams are spending money like in pre-salary cap days. The difference is that it's not just a handful of rich teams doing the spending.
• Congrats to the Blue Jays, who are sending five players to the All-Star Game next week, although only three will be playing because of injuries to Vernon Wells and Alex Rios. Roy Halladay, B.J. Ryan and Troy Glaus are also going to Pittsburgh next Tuesday.
• Mentos and Diet Coke: two great tastes that explode together. These two dudes from Maine somehow discovered that when you drop a couple of the Freshmaker mints into a Diet Coke, the thing erupts like an Aspartame Vesuvius. They created a Web video that has taken the InterPants by storm and appeared on Letterman the other night to do their thing on the streets of NYC.
• So apparently Ann Coulter's a Deadhead. Who knew? Regardless of her political views, she's still freaky looking.
• I was truly bummed to hear that Sleater-Kinney has broken up. They definitely kicked arse. Here's hoping they end the hiatus a few years down the road before they get too old to bring the noise.