PERSONAL Lindsey, The Talking Sausage
Tuesday afternoon, I was walking back from having lunch with Chelsey, when I saw three costumed people standing on a street corner (a street corner which I was approaching). As is my gameplan against panhandlers, I approached and ignored... looking straight ahead. But I heard one of them say "... in a show with my friend Heather" and so I turned to see if I knew this person and... I did. It was Lindsey, a friend of the Heather I've done two shows with in the skybox, wearing a sausage costume. She was standing on the corner with a man dressed as a baby, and another person dressed as a bird in a cage, for CareerBuilder.com. The promotion/pitch goes something like this "Don't let it happen to you. Get a better job than I've got." It was actually hilarious once I heard the pitch... it just looked funny to have a sausage, baby, and caged-bird on a street corner. So I stood there and hugged a giant talking sausage... then she and I talked for a couple of minutes and she let me cross and I let her go back to creeping people out in a giant sausage costume. As I crossed the street, I overheard a guy saying how hilarious the promotion was, but that the "baby" had it made. "You get fed and sleep... I'll take the baby's job."
PERSONAL Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinoooooooo!!!
Tuesday night I went to a free event at The Second City. Norm had invited his friend and one time colleague Dino S. (names have been changed to protect the innocent) to speak to students about his experiences as a writer in the "biz." Now Dino was one of the writers on one of my favorite shows (and easily my favorite sketch show) of all time--Mr. Show with Bob and David. He has a new project as part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim--Moral Orel. We were shown three episodes of the show and it's hilarious. It's about a boy, Orel, who wants to do things the right way... the way he thinks God would want him to do things. But Orel gets confused and ultimately does funny things. The show is moral and ethical, even if it is seemingly blasphemous towards certain religions (read: Christianity). It's actually an amazingly intellectual view on the difference between religion and morality. Regardless, Dino looks like the lead singer of System of a Down and it was fun to hear from him. The was another guy who was there, who I'll call Nick. He was in charge of putting Orel on Adult Swim... and he basically fell into his job. It made me really jealous... but also gave me hope that I might be able to be in the right place at the right time, just like he was. I hope so... because I'm awesome.
PERSONAL A Mocha Frappacino: The New Crack
On Monday, I met up with my friend Jenny from my improv class. We discussed and rehearsed a scene she had written that she wanted me to be in with her. It's a hilarious scene... and I feel very thankful that she wanted me specifically to be in it. Regardless, we went to Starbucks *cue evil music* afterwards. She said coffee was on her--anything I wanted. I don't know Starbucks very well (or any coffee place, for that matter). But I have recently realized that I like the bottled mocha frappacino thing that Starbucks sells. So I told Jenny that I like mocha/chocolate taste... and I told the worker woman that I'd like her to make it a "frappy kinda cino thing" which made her laugh. But I had this drink and it was so damn good: Chocolatey with a not-so-overpowering coffee flavor. Yum yum... and I actually went out of my way to get another one on Tuesday. At $4 a piece... this is probably not a good habit to start. Someone intervene!
FOOTBALL Where Is Favre Going?
There have been a couple stories about Favre going around lately. Most of the stories have Favre leaving the Packers to go play for Miami or Kansas City or someplace that isn't Green Bay. Honestly, we've seen this kind of thing before, where a great player leaves the team on which he was great so that he can play another season or two--Joe Montana to Kansas City, Jerry Rice to all over, Emmett Smith to Arizona, Bruce Smith to Washington, OJ to San Fran, and so on. It seems to be a trait most attributed to quarterbacks though, like Montana (Niners to Chiefs), Van Brocklin (Rams to Eagles), Unitas (Colts to Chargers), Tarkenton (Vikings to Giants), and Namath (Jets to Rams) to name a few. As such, there is a precedence for this sort of thing... and Niners fans don't hate Montana for leaving/Jets fans don't hate Namath for leaving, but I have a feeling that Packers fans would feel betrayed if Favre left. I don't know that they're mature enough. Mature isn't the right word... but the Packers fans very much have their hearts on their sleeves... and would be noticeable emotionally hurt if Favre wanted to leave Green Bay. My personal feelings? If Favre wants to play for another championship, he needs to leave. Green Bay is probably a decade away from another championship run... and at least a few years away from being able to even make a playoff run. Where do I think he should go? *shakes head* I don't know. Miami seems to be at the forefront of places that make sense. On the other hand, there are places that would kill Packers fans... like Dallas. Don't go to Dallas, Brett. We know where you live.
FOOTBALL NEWS Kornheiser To Head To MNF Booth
ESPN has announced the Monday Night Football crew for next season: Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann, and Tony Kornheiser. Who does this leave off? Al Michaels, who has been with ABC since 1976 (Hint: before I was born and, therefore, as long as I've ever known him). Michaels will be heading to NBC next season, and I think will be the play-by-play announcer for the Sunday Night Games... which will be on NBC next year (Madden is moving to NBC as well). Well, what do I think of the Monday Night crew? Let's start with the obvious. I've heard Theismann do Sunday night games and I enjoy him very much. I've also heard Tirico do play-by-play for sporting events (the Michigan/Nebraska bowl game comes to mind) and he's very solid. Fair, honest, and knowledgeable... Tirico is quiet good. Now the wild card: Kornheiser. I love Tony on PTI... I love that show. Everything they do on that show is great. Here's the problem I have with Kornheiser: he is a "star" whore. If you were to get a game with two teams without big name stars, what is Tony going to talk about. I mean, he is a Kobe man... and people who like Kobe Bryant DON'T like teams. Additionally, Tony likes to run PTI his way. Wilbon is great, don't get me wrong... but it's Tony's show and Tony does what he wants. I have reservations about Tony in an environment that he doesn't control. I keep hearing the Kornheiser is the closest personality to Howard Cosell that's out there... and MNF is looking for a Cosell-replacement. So, if Tony can resurrect Cosell, looks like everything will work out swimmingly for ESPN. Congrats to the new MNF crew.