Funny For A Few

If you:

1) Watched "Family Guy" last night
2) Know what a YTMND is
3) Have a sound card and speakers

...then you might find this link ever so slightly funny.

If not, then feel free to shrug your shoulders and ask "WTF."

Thanks to Marko for having way way way too much time on his hands.

Illinois Oeneophiles Unite!

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URGENT: TAKE ACTION TO STOP THE ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE FROM PREVENTING
WINE SHIPMENTS

Dear Wine Lover:

The Illinois Legislature is currently considering two bills that could
impact your ability to purchase wine online or through mail order.
Bill HB4444/SB2750 will let you continue to purchase online or through
mail order and have your order delivered to you. Bill HB4350/SB2180
would ban any shipment or delivery of wine to consumers and require
you to buy wine only at a store location.

We thought you'd like to know about this development so you can take
action to protect your rights and we included on information below on
how to contact your representatives in Springfield.

WHAT IMPACT WILL THE NO-SHIPMENT LEGISLATION HAVE ON YOU?

1. LESS ACCESS TO GREAT WINES: Today, Wine.com services you from
our store located near the California wine country, and we have access
to many unique vintages that aren't always available throughout the
country.
2. INCONVENIENCE: You'll have to go to a store to purchase wine
rather than shop from your own home
3. HIGHER PRICES: Less competition may mean that you'll have to pay
higher prices for wine

WHO ARE THE MAIN BACKERS OF THE NO-SHIPMENT LEGISLATION, AND WHY DO
THEY WANT IT?
Wine and spirits wholesalers want this legislation to limit competition.

WHAT ARE SUPPORTERS OF THE NO-SHIPPING BILL TELLING THE PUBLIC?
Supporters of this legislation are telling the public that this law is
necessary to prevent minors from purchasing alcohol. Wine.com and
other legitimate wine retailers require every wine shipment to be
signed for by an adult of legal drinking age. Wine.com works with
large shipping companies like FedEx and UPS, whose employees
diligently enforce the adult signature requirement.

WHAT CAN YOU DO? THREE EASY STEPS TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS

1. Call, fax or write your State Representative and ask him or her
to vote FOR HB4444 and vote AGAINST HB4350
2. Call, fax or write your State Senator and ask him or her to vote
FOR SB2750 and vote AGAINST SB2180
3. Call, fax or write Governor Blagojevich and ask him to support
your right to order wine and alcohol online by signing HB4444/SB2750
if it passes and vetoing HB4350/SB2180 if it passes.

HOW TO CONTACT YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND STATE SENATOR
Find your Representative's and Senator's contact information using your address
Find your Representative's and Senator's contact information using their name

HOW TO CONTACT GOVERNOR BLAGOJEVICH

SPRINGFIELD OFFICE
Governor Rod Blagojevich
207 State Capital
Springfield IL 62706
Phone: 217-782-6830
Fax: 217-524-4049

CHICAGO OFFICE
Governor Rod Blagojevich
James R. Thompson Center
100 W. Randolph St., Suite 16-100
Chicago, IL 62706
Phone: 312-814-2121
Fax: 312-814-6775

We encourage you to take action immediately to protect your rights. We
appreciate your business and hope to be able to continue bringing you
great wines in the future.

Cheers,

wine.com

One Of The Great Mysteries Of Life...

...conclusively answered.

And using math and science and studies and shit. Impressive.

Swamped with work lately, off to Montreal for work tomorrow. Will try and update one of these days.

Bulls On Parade

I was at the Bulls game last night thanks to a sweet last minute hookup courtesy of our favorite neighbors. I was expecting yet another lackluster game from the Chicago Five, not unlike the 4th quarter-OT collapse they pulled off when I was there on New Year's Eve where Steve Nash outscored them down the stretch like 30-10.

But no, last night they didn't disappoint. Ben Gordon poured in 30 off the bench. Gordon has terrible nights when he starts the game, but is living up to the hype as last year's NBA Sixth Man award winner. Maybe Skiles should just have him come in after like 12 seconds or something--that way he's not in the starting lineup but still has the chance to contribute.

Big Ben nailed the gamewinning 3 with 4 seconds left in overtime.

The Bulls shot 60% from the free throw line, which is about what I shoot when I go up to the basketball court after my workouts to cool down.

Antonio Davis ended up jumping into the stands to confront a guy who was badgering his wife--and I didn't even notice. It's always odd how when you watch a sporting event live, there's a lot that you miss.

Dime Dime Nickel Hook 'Em

1) BET ID=144848907
Parlay (5 Teams)	01/14/06 12:00 ET
25.00/423.31	Result: Pending
Panthers(Carolina) Bears(Chicago)	01/15/06 (16:35 ET) Bears(Chicago) -3 (+110)
Patriots(NewEngland) Broncos(Denver)	01/14/06 (20:05 ET) Patriots(NewEngland) +3
Redskins(Washington) Seahawks(Seattle)	01/14/06 (16:35 ET) Seahawks(Seattle) -440
Steelers(Pittsburgh) Colts(Indianapolis)	01/15/06 (13:05 ET) Colts(Indianapolis) -10
Steelers(Pittsburgh) Colts(Indianapolis)	01/15/06 (13:05 ET) Over 47.5

Yes Virginia, There Really Is a Drive-Through Liquor Store

About 9 years ago, my buddy Fat Jim and I were tooling around Arizona looking for trouble. We were both newly minted 21 year olds, and the concept of buying booze without going through the heart-pounding of using a fake ID was just a distant memory. Fat Jim claimed that somwhere in the vast wasteland that is Prescott, Arizona there was a drive through liquor store.

How cool and novel a concept was that? Drive up, order, pull around to the next window and get your brewskis. Efficiency!

Alas, Fat Jim and I drove around for an hour or so and couldn't find the place. I was disappointed, but no big loss.

So then this past weekend we're up in Whitewater, Wisconsin with some friends skiing. Well, if you can call sliding across slushy yellow rutted ice skiing, then that's what we were doing. As we were leaving, our friend Dan casually mentioned that we should hit the Booze N'Go on the way back to the house to pick up some beer for our football-watching marathon.

Sure enough, the Booze N'Go is a fully operational drive-through liquor store located right on one of the main drags in Elkhorn. I was a little disappointed that you didn't get to order through a clown's nose from a vast menu of Wisconsin's finest cheap swill offerings and instead just pulled up to a window where a kinda surly older guy took your order and then ran in the back to grab what you needed...but hey, I can now cross "get beer from drive through" of my list of stuf to do before I die.

Dan Wetzel, Put Down The Pipe

Yahoo Sports' resident football Yahoo Dan Wetzel says that the Rex Grossman-led Bears can win the Super Bowl.

This is news to me. Yes, the Bears have a great defense. Yes, Thomas Jones has had a monster season. Yes, Bernard Berrian and Justin Gage have both had breakout years.

But in the playoffs, it's one shot, one kill. You can't have an off week against the run like the Bears did in Pittsburgh and then come back the next week with an adjusted strategy. You can't have your go-to guy dropping passes left and right. You can't have a QB who has played in a grand total of 2 games this year not have at least a little rust on him.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see the Bears shuffle to victory 20 years after the Best Team Ever did the same thing. But it's not happening.

Flickr Fun

Those of you who actually click on the picture links that I occasionaly post know that I'm a huge fan of Flickr. Where else can you plunk down 25 bucks a year and upload as many blurry and underexposed pictures as you want?

Anywhooo, Flickr has an API. I'd previously only heard that term in connection with my job as a trading software geek, but I guess that Application Programming Interfaces ain't just for connections to exchanges. Some enterprising folks in Austria (did you know Germans feel about Austrians the same way Illinoisians feel about cheeseheads?) have developed an API interface into Flickr called Retrievr. Just plop a rough sketch of something, anything into the little box on the left and then click the search button...and be mildly awed by the results.