1990: Music

I'm not saying that 1990 was the greatest year ever in music- 1958 probably was- but consider the following:

• Repeater- Fugazi
• Momma Said Knock You Out- L.L. Cool J
• Flood- They Might Be Giants
• Social Distortion- Social Distortion
• Sex Packets- Digital Underground
• I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got- Sinéad O'Connor
  
• Blue Sky Mining- Midnight Oil
  
• Bossanova- Pixies
• Hell's Ditch- The Pogues
  
• Fear of a Black Planet- Public Enemy
• Black Sheets of Rain- Bob Mould
• Bona Drag- Morrissey

Not bad at all.

Really?

One of the next superheroes to be featured in a "major motion picture" will be the Norse god of thunder, Thor, in 2011.

The only Scandinavian in the cast (which also includes Natalie Portmon, Rene Russo, Anthony Hopkins, and Samuel L. Jackson), Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard will play...an American.

I have no words.

C'mon people!

I'm only making an issue out of this because I've come across it multiple times in the last few days:

That beautiful island nation in the South Pacific that gave us, among others, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka is called Fiji. Once again, F-I-J-I.

There may actually be somewhere called "Figi" and it may indeed be inhabited by "Figians," but I suspect that it's actually a fictitious place created by the good people at Nabisco.

Seriously, you might not own a dictionary, but if you're reading this you own a computer that's connected to the interwebs.

Try harder.

February 14th

Dear Gram,

It's been four years.

I don't miss you any less.

Love,

Your Grandson

An Olympic Thought

As the games open today, keep this in mind about the Olympics and about elite level sports in general. I'll use an easy example:

When the games are over, look at the statistics for the US Men's Hockey team. See that guy who played the least minutes? The "worst" guy on the team? Think about this-

• He was the best player on his local youth team.
• He was the best player on his high school team.
• He was the best player on his college/minor league team.
• He was- at least- the best American player on his professional team.
• Just by making the Olympic team he is one of the best two dozen our so players in the country.

So, before you dismiss "him" as the weakest link or the bench warmer, remember that he's a better player than you, me, or anyone else we know.

IKEA!

Today I finally got around to using the IKEA gift card I received for Christmas.

Needless to say, it was a pretty good day- I got everything I intended to get and a few other things as well. Here's what I cam home with-

• 1 Kvart clip lamp and bulb

• 5 Grundtal pot hooks

• 2 Dralla flexible cutting boards

• 1 Aspekt knife sharpener

• 1 Leksvik wall-mounted coat rack

• 1 Magasin folding dish rack

• 2 Gosa Slan pillows

• 1 Myskmalva duvet cover/pillow case set

• 1 Vila fitted sheet

• 1 Malou duvet cover/pillow case set

Not bad at all.

I'm not going to say that any of this "transformed" my apartment, but I filled in a lot of holes and it certainly gives me a lot of different bedding options as well as some new toys in the kitchen.

If only I had room for more furniture...