Man of the Year - Coming Soon

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Bubbles came to visit this past weekend… and we had an amazing time. Of course, Brutis enjoyed the woods, we enjoyed the casino scene & the music by the Monophonics (a funky band at a free concert at the Crystal Bay Casino), as well as my company’s 1st anniversary office party which included dinner, drinks & dancing. I don’t mean to brag but… I think we were the two sexiest individuals in the place… and there was a LOT of great competition for that distinction. I’d show you some pictures but… Bubbles made me promise not to. She has low self-esteem for some inconceivable reason (being a woman). So yeah… wonderful weekend was had… and we discussed working together again for the first time in three years… and my possible moving to San Francisco… as that was obviously a big topic on my mind… and after she left, I consulted my family & friends… and of course, a higher power (figured it couldn’t hurt). Is this the right move? Will it really be as amazing as I think it will be? Am I just bored? Am I being irrational? Why would I want to leave this place?

Well, the next day, apparently my prayers were answered as after a day that started with a torrential icy rain storm, then followed by snow, and then just more ice & snow… and then driving home in it… and sliding Gretchen into a snow bank even though I was only going about 10 MPH or less all the way home… and digging myself out with an ice scraper… luckily the only thing hurt was the front license plate and my pride… and helping two other cars along the way… and apparently on the drive home, I received a call from my possible future employer but because it took me an hour to get home, by the time I called them back, they had gone home for the day… and then more ice being there in the morning… I kinda took that as a sign. Also, throughout the past few days, apparently word was getting around that the job was mine… except they hadn’t called me yet to inform me… but I was getting calls from multiple sources asking me the details of when I was moving down. “Ugh… they haven’t talked to me yet so… I don’t know.” “Oh… well, that was the rumor so… have you looked into apartments & where you’d like to live yet?” Also, just so you know, my profession is not seamstress… yet it often seems that way with all the rumors in sewing circles that get back to me somehow. So yeah… all I needed was the phone call at this point… and to find out the details on the transition… and practice my surprised reaction, “WHAT? REALLY? Oh my God, that’s amazing, I had no idea…” I’m horrible at faking it…

So the call finally came today while I was at work... and it was the HR assistant basically saying that the Director was in a meeting but she wanted to get a hold of me and let me know... THAT I WAS OFFERED THE JOB!!! "WHAT? REALLY? Oh my God, that's amazing. I had no idea..." Again, horrible at faking surprise. She let me know that I would be getting a call later to discuss the details of the transfer / transition. So at that point, I basically started letting everybody know that I would be moving (yet again) but when and how was obviously still in question. Was I excited? Of course I was. I wouldn't have let it gone this far if I didn't think it was the right choice. Besides, not to sound cocky or anything, but I pretty much knew that the job was mine as soon as I applied for it. They simply were not going to find a more qualified, skilled, dependable or handsome applicant. Period. They're actually getting a pretty great deal... and I think their weather was a major influence... but as well as the office I'll be working with, the culture and sheer magnificence of the city.

As far as the details go though... that second call never came tonight... and last I heard was January 8th (just in time for the Kraft Bowl?) but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense given that it's really two weeks from now with the holidays thrown in... but hey, it'll get figured out in the next few weeks. So yeah... I'm going to San Francisco. What've you been up to? Here's some news...

Person of the Year – So… yet again, I’m snubbed for a major award… but this doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as the Sexiest Man Alive snub because… well, past winners of Time Magazine’s Person of the Year include Hitler, Bush & the Computer. This year though… it was Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg who has been named Time's "Person of the Year" for 2010, joining the ranks of winners that include heads of state and rock stars as the person the magazine believes most influenced events of the past year. At 26, Zuckerberg is the youngest "Person of the Year" since the first one chosen, Charles Lindbergh; he was 25 when he was named in 1927, Time said Wednesday. Zuckerberg beat out Britain's Queen Elizabeth II by just two weeks: She was 26 when she was named in 1952. Incidentally, Queen Elizabeth II has recently joined Zuckerberg's social networking behemoth. Time's "Person of the Year" is the person or thing that has most influenced the culture and the news during the past year for good or for ill. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke received the honor last year. The 2008 winner was then-President-elect Barack Obama. The 2007 winner was Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Other previous winners have included Bono, President George W. Bush, and Amazon.com CEO and founder Jeff Bezos. In naming Zuckerberg, Time cited him "for changing how we all live our lives." In a posting on his Facebook page, Zuckerberg said that being named Time's "Person of the Year" was "a real honor and recognition of how our little team is building something that hundreds of millions of people want to use to make the world more open and connected. I'm happy to be a part of that." Zuckerberg has put himself on the map not only as one of the world's youngest billionaires, but also as a prominent newcomer to the world of philanthropy. Earlier this year, he pledged $100 million over five years to the Newark, N.J. school system. Now, he's in the company of media titans Carl Icahn, Barry Diller and others who have joined Giving Pledge, an effort led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett to commit the country's wealthiest people to step up their charitable donations. Zuckerberg owns about a quarter of Facebook's shares. Zuckerberg has built Facebook into an international phenomenon by stretching the lines of social convention and embracing a new and far more permeable definition of community. In this new world, users are able to construct a social network well beyond what would ever be possible face-to-face. "I'm trying to make the world a more open place," Zuckerberg says in the "bio" line of his own Facebook page. Born in Zuckerberg's Harvard dorm room, the site has in six years grown to more than 500 million users worldwide and a dollar worth in the billions. Facebook was the subject of director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin's film "The Social Network." It features a dark portrayal of Zuckerberg by Jesse Eisenberg, as well as the direction he's taking his company and his status as one of America's most influential figures. The film has been picked as the best of the year by the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review. On Tuesday, it received six Golden Globe nominations, including best picture, drama, going up against its chief rival, the British monarchy tale "The King's Speech," which led with seven nominations. So yeah… welcome to the club… and hopefully I’ll be able to join you shortly… and not just in my imagination with my mirror…

Rock & Roll HOF Class of 2011 – National Treasure Neil Diamond had been eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for several years… but for some reason has never got a nomination to join music's prestigious club. But he was never really worried about it. "I thought about it occasionally, but I kind of figured they'd get around to me at some point," he said in a phone interview. That point came on Tuesday, as the 2011 class for the Cleveland hall was revealed. Diamond, whose hits include "Sweet Caroline," (buh buh buuuuh) made the list, along with the Alice Cooper Band, New Orleans musician Dr. John, Darlene Love and singer-songwriter Tom Waits. Piano man Leon Russell was honored with a musical excellence award, previously the sideman category. Executives Jac Holzman and Art Rupe were given the Ahmet Ertegun Awards. It took three tries before Love, best known for hits such as "(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry" and her work with producer Phil Spector and the Blossoms, was approved for the hall. When reached on Tuesday, an enthusiastic Love said: "I can actually breathe." "Finally it's done," she added. "It still hasn't hit me yet. I still have that nervous stomach, and I'm still excited." The excitement will have to wait for some: Bon Jovi, nominated for the first time, was turned away from the hall, as was LL Cool J, the J. Geils Band, the Beastie Boys, Donna Summer and more. Alice Cooper's name had been mentioned in conjunction with the Rock Hall for years, but the shock rocker hadn't been nominated until this year. Like Diamond, Cooper said he wasn't anxiously waiting. "You know it crosses your mind, but then you think of all the guys who aren't in there, some of them before you, and you go, `Wow.' ... You realize that it's a waiting game," he said in a phone interview. "I don't think you sit around holding your breath on it." Cooper, a heavy metal rocker best known for his dark horror themes, said his band was responsible for bringing show business into rock `n' roll. "There was no spectacle in rock `n' roll, and I think what we did was we kind of brought theater to rock `n' roll," said Cooper, known for a goth look, heavy eyeliner and black shaggy hair. "It was sort of Cirque du Soleil before Cirque du Soleil. It was kind of a weird vaudeville that we did. But it all connected back to the lyrics. ... If we do a 10-hour rehearsal back then, nine hours was on the music, and one hour was on the theatrics." Diamond was on the other end of the spectrum, a singer-songwriter whose first hit came in the form of a song he wrote for the Monkees, "I'm a Believer." His early hits in the 1960s included "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon" and "Cherry Cherry." "The music I was doing was not in vogue. ... I was like a lone voice out there with a guitar, and it was different than what was going on because it was the English invasion and I wasn't doing that," Diamond said. "I think I've had so many hits because what I was putting out and what I was writing was very different for what was being played on the radio." He's kept producing relevant material through the decades; he released his latest album this fall. Diamond said he was gratified to be in the hall and said his first choice to induct him would be a fan. Of his induction, he joked: "I'm glad they did it before I'm dead." Love said she thought two of her biggest boosters for the hall — Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Stevie Van Zandt — would likely do the honors at the March 14 induction ceremony in New York City. She was also happy for some of the other inductees, including Russell, who used to play on some of her sessions. "This is going to be a helluva jam session," she quipped about the upcoming festivities. The induction ceremony will be aired on Fuse. Congratulations, ladies & gentlemen!!!

So I guess that’s the latest update in the lives of great men (and my sister from another mother Darlene Love) over the past few days.Yeah, so… I guess I’m officially moving to the West Coast… cuz you and I know it’s the best coast… California Love… nine-five plus fo’ pennies… yeah, it should be an interesting few months while I get transitioned over there too. Boss Man K sounds really stressed out about it… but he’s supportive… it’s just I think he knows how valuable an employee I am (like they’ll have to get two with lots of previous experience to even come close to what I can do). Oh well… on to the next one… have a great day everybody!!!

Of Mice & Men

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Bubbles will be arriving in the morning because she got off work a little late & was skittish about driving with the rainy weather we’ve been having… and it might freeze overnight. Frankly, I’m feeling a little better about it too. You know her safety is a top priority of mine. That’s why my buddy Oswald watches over her… unless I end up moving there soon. You guys remember Oswald, right? The one-footed pigeon crime fighter & defender of the innocent (and Bubbles)? Well, I’m sure that you’re not interested in all that. You probably want to know about the interview, don’t you?

So… I don’t want to jinx it… but I had probably better start REALLY checking out apartments this next week. The interview was done via Skype, so my first web cam experience… and I think it went pretty well. I answered the questions (in my humble opinion) splendidly, met a few of the people I would be working with, we answered each other’s questions about the position, expectations, etc, you know… a pretty standard interview. I was my usual charming self with job experience flowing out of every orifice that I’m sure they could tell even with grainy visual footage & a choppy vocal connection. They will probably be contacting me in the next few days… and I guess we’ll see how it goes from there… but of course, I’m optimistic… because seriously, LOOK AT ME!!! I’d get this job on looks alone… and my skills are even more impressive. It’s in the bag like two-for-five… and if you don’t know, now you know… what? Yeah, no big story to tell or anything about it… but I think it went very well… like VERY well. So in the meantime, I guess I’ll share some real news with ya…

Shark Attack - A single female whitetip shark (aka single white female) has been linked to at least three out of five attacks on tourists at a popular Egyptian Red Sea resort, and is still in the area, an expert helping investigators said on Thursday. Three Russians and a Ukrainian were attacked off Sharm el-Sheikh in the space of two days last week, suffering severe injuries (must have a taste for meat marinated in vodka). On Sunday a 70-year-old German woman snorkeler died after a shark tore a piece out of her thigh and severed her forearm. It was the first death from a shark attack in Egypt since 2004. Officials had just lifted a ban on swimming in the area imposed after the first attacks. A whitetip seen minutes before the first attacks on two of the Russians has been identified as the shark photographed when the German woman was attacked five days later, said Elke Bojanowski, an expert on the Red Sea's whitetip sharks. She said the shark still appeared to be in the area. "Instead of briefly grabbing for testing or tasting purposes, this female apparently considers human swimmers as a potential food source," she said. An international team of scientists was interviewing witnesses, studying the environment and gathering data from local divers to understand the shark's behavior. Speculation has centered on the practice of luring sharks with bait, or chum, to film them, causing them to associate humans with food, or a depletion of fish stocks that could force them to seek alternative food sources. Some experts suggest that sheep and cattle that died while being shipped in for last month's Muslim feast of Eid el-Adha might have been thrown overboard in the Red Sea. If they had drifted to shallow waters, this might have encouraged sharks to bite anything unusual floating on the sea surface. There are even rumors that the Israeli Moussad fighters have trained the sharks to attack Egyptians. I am not joking… but then again, it’s pretty much standard practice over there to blame everything on Israel anyway. "There are lots of rumors going around here in Sharm but few facts," said Jochen Van Lysebettens, head of the Red Sea Diving College in Sharm. "My personal view is the behavior of the sharks must have been triggered by their feeding off something unusual in the water -- chum, fish or carcasses." Egypt's government said on Thursday it would pay $50,000 in compensation to each of the Russians who were attacked. By the way, does anybody else find it amusing that this is all occurring in the RED Sea? And some are blaming these “Jaws”-like attacks on Jews? Maybe Steven Spielberg gave them the idea while he was filming “Munich” and the sharks are finally trained & ready. Now if they could just get the Egyptians into the water instead of pasty white tourists… I know, it sounds crazy. That’s why I’m saying it. Hopefully they figure out what the issue is because… I’d really like to visit Sharm el-Sheikh someday. I consider it one of the few places in the Middle East that isn’t completely crazy… but that may soon change.

Taxing the Oldest Profession - Challenged with a 100 million Euro ($133 million) deficit, one western German city has introduced a day tax on prostitutes to help fill its budget gap (pun certainly intended). The new "pleasure tax" requires prostitutes in Dortmund to purchase a 6 Euro "day ticket" for each day they work… or face a potential fine. The city estimates that the new tax will add some 750,000 Euros to its coffers each year (that’s about 350 sex workers per day on average). "Dortmund has financial problems like many cities in Germany," city spokesman Michael Meinders told Reuters. "We considered several sex taxes but this was the most practical proposal." Really? Okay. The new tax went into effect in August but the day tickets have not been available until this week. An alternative proposal was to charge a 1 or 2 Euro fee to anyone entering Dortmund's red-light district, but this idea got little political support, Meinders said. You know… to protect people that just go there for the pastries and souvenir shopping, I’m sure. Such taxes are not unusual in Germany where prostitution is legal and sex workers must pay tax on their income (hint hint). Cologne (the muskiest smelling city in the world) introduced a 150 Euro "pleasure tax" on sex workers in 2004 and later added a 6 Euro day tax option for part-time prostitutes. So basically, the German government has realized that they need a pimp’s cut on this game. Is it a perfect solution? Of course not. We’re estimating that this tax will only cover less than one percent of the deficit (unless business is-a boomin’ over the next few months). Is it a start? Certainly. Just thought you all might like to know about it. Do I approve of prostitution? Not particularly… but the way I see it, we’re all doing it for the money. No matter what your job is… unless you’re one of the lucky few who genuinely enjoy what you do… you’re basically a corporate prostitute… but obviously a title with a better connotation.

Of Mice & Men - US scientists have used stem cell technology to create mice from two fathers, an advance that they say could help preserve endangered species (pandas) and even help same-sex couples have their own genetic children one day (speaking of San Francisco…). According to the study published Wednesday in the journal Biology of Reproduction, reproductive scientists in Texas were able to manipulate cells from a male (XY) mouse fetus to produce an induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell line. These iPS cells are adult cells that have undergone some genetic reprogramming in order to enter an embryonic stem cell-like state. Still with me? Okay. Some of the cells that were grown from this new line spontaneously lost their Y chromosome, turning them into XO cells. Those XO cells were injected into embryos from donor female mice and transplanted into surrogate mouse moms who gave birth to babies with one X chromosome from the original male mouse. Those babies grew and later mated with normal male mice. Their offspring, both male and female, showed genetic contributions from two fathers (daddy and… the guy whose goo was processed through a centrifuge, filtered, injected into random chick’s embryo, transplanted into mommy and you bear his genetic information). The study was led by Richard R. Berhringer at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Researchers said that with a variation of their technique, "it may also be possible to generate sperm from a female donor and produce viable male and female progeny with two mothers." However, the study cautioned that the ability to replicate the findings in humans was a long way off. The "generation of human iPS cells still requires significant refinements prior to their use for therapeutic purposes," the study said. Previous research has found ways to create mice without any fathers at all, as well as ways to create mice with two mothers. It’s the future, ladies & gentlemen. The only question that I have is… where’s the stork during all of this? And the diamonds? And the cabbage patch? This is an abomination!!! Sigh… you know I’m just playing, right? Children are the future (whether we like them or not). Call me old fashioned… but I kinda prefer the ways of making babies the way that nature intended… not these fancy birth control methods like… pulling out. (Tehehe… watch “Dirty Work”) But yeah, I know that Love, Marriage, Children and all that other stuff sometimes doesn’t line up perfectly… and I’m glad that scientists are finding a ways for us & other species to reproduce. Say what you will about stem cell research and all that… but I approve of it.

As you know, with recent developments included, I would like to start a family someday. Sure, I’m a few dozen MAJOR steps from even considering stuff like that (i.e. finding a stable home & job situation, a woman who I enjoy spending my time with, care for deeply, is willing to have sex with me, can stand living with, convinces me that I can see spending my life without her, she feels the same way, marriage, deciding to have children, etc) but you know me, I’m insanely optimistic. All I have to do is get out there, be around people, let them realize what a true wonder of nature I am (and humble), and then the ladies will flock to me, literally flock to me. I’m an amazing human being… but I’m also terribly shy sometimes & rarely make the first move. Living in the city though, may change all of that. Hopefully it won’t turn me into a douche… but please be sure to keep me in check if it appears that I’m turning that way. Well, I guess this weekend there will be a lot of decisions made. Do I take the job? Do I move yet again? Is it really a better situation? Is the juice worth the squeeze? Will the job even be offered to me? What would the timetable be? What’s the next step down the road? Why am I so ambitious? Why do I never seem to be content with a good situation & want great? What to get everybody for Christmas? What’s for dinner? Do I really need another drink? This is free, right? How am I going to get home? Where are my pants? So many decisions to make & questions to answer. Have a great weekend everybody!!!

Interview Tomorrow

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Tomorrow is a big day. I’m scheduled for an interview with the job opportunity in San Francisco… and then probably after that, I’ll have a pretty major decision to make. Luckily I’ve had a lot of practice in these kinds of things over the past few years, so it should be pretty simple by now. You know, the weighing of the Pros & Cons, logistics, timetables, all that fun stuff… but first, they have to win me over. I’m not in a horrible position at all. I’m content with my current situation. Great job, good roommate, good apartment, etc. and moving is a pain the arse as I’m sure most of you know. Again, I have a lot of crap… and chances are, I won’t be able to find a place to store all that crap for a reasonable price in the greater San Francisco area (maybe Oakland). I guess what I’m saying is… there may be a possible yard sale in the Tahoe area if anybody’s interested… but most of my stuff is back in Utah anyway. Sigh… never would’ve thought that I’d be in situations like this just a few years ago. Oh well, life keeps you entertained, I guess. So yeah, interview tomorrow, Bubbles coming this weekend, after that… who knows. Got a call from my stepsister in Dayton last night & I might be going to visit them next weekend to say hi for the holidays. Apparently my oldest nephew is on the 7th grade basketball team now so I may have to show him a few moves and drills that helped me when I was his age. The week after that, I’m heading back to Utah for Christmas. That’s right, Christmas is two weeks away. Hope you did your shopping… and made a lot of macaroni pictures for the family like I did. “It’s a duck!” “That’s great, $teve. I especially like the use of glitter on the water.” Here’s some news…

Vick Update – So… Michael Vick is among the leaders for Most Valuable Player and probably Comeback Player of the Year since he was arresting for the whole dogfighting ring thing a few years back. However, there is no doubt on one popularity contest. He is the leading vote-getter for the Pro Bowl (football’s All-Star game for those who don’t know). Michael Vick leads Pro Bowl voting just a year and a half after he was released from Leavenworth prison. The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback had 729,838 fan votes, nearly 39,000 more than second-place Peyton Manning, the NFL said Wednesday. Manning topped the balloting two weeks ago (but has thrown a career-high 11 interceptions in the past three games). “I think it’s just a credit to everything I’ve tried to accomplish on and off the field, just working as hard as I can to change things around, be a part of the solution and not the problem,” Vick said. “I changed my life and it just goes to show anybody can do it. It’s an unfortunate situation, the things that happened, I wish I could go back and change it all. I wish I could take it all back. The only thing I can do is move forward.” It’s the latest evidence many fans seem willing to forgive Vick for the vicious dogfighting operation that sent him to prison for 18 months—and embrace his stunning return to NFL stardom. A backup to start the season, Vick has led the Eagles to first place in the NFC East, accounting for 21 touchdowns and throwing just two interceptions. “I appreciate my fans, man,” Vick said. “Couldn’t do it without them. Been very supportive over the last three years. What more can you ask for?” Manning had 691,146 votes, which led the AFC, followed by New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (623,074), Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (591,598) and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (547,340). Online Pro Bowl voting ends Dec. 20. The teams are picked by a vote combination from fans, players and coaches. Vick, a three-time Pro Bowler with the Atlanta Falcons, pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges in August 2007. He was released from federal custody and conditionally reinstated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in July 2009. But it wasn’t clear how much interest teams would have in the quarterback who once wowed fans with his unique skills, yet frustrated them with his inconsistency when he last played in the league in 2006. The Eagles signed him before last season, when he was the third-string quarterback and had limited playing time as a change of pace. Even after Philadelphia traded away Donovan McNabb, Vick was expected to back up Kevin Kolb. But when Kolb was hurt in the opener, Vick took over and showed a newfound maturity as a passer. Added to his running skills, he’s made the Eagles a contender at 8-4. The Eagles, averaging 28.7 points per game, are the second-highest scoring team in the league, next to only the New England Patriots at 31.6. “It’s a great honor, a great position to be in right now, because I haven’t made the Pro Bowl yet, but it’s a credit to my coaches, a credit to my teammates, (backups) Mike Kafka, Kevin Kolb, guys who just helped me get through this season,” Vick said. “I can’t do it without my team, I can’t do it without my teammates, I can’t do it without the offensive line, (wide receivers) DeSean (Jackson) and Jeremy (Maclin), can’t do it without them. I’m just thankful to have these guys in my life, these coaches in my life.” Sound like he’s learned his lesson? Redemption!!! Preferably with a Super Bowl win this year… but we’ll see.

Panda Update – I just wanted to share these pictures with everybody… because I’m a nerd. A researcher dressed in a panda costume puts a panda cub into a box before its physical examination at the Hetaoping Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan province last week. The 4-month old cub, the first in the centre to be trained for reintroduction into the wild, is monitored by hidden cameras. Researchers performing physical examinations on the cub wear panda costumes to ensure that the cub's environment is devoid of human influence, according to local media. So yeah, here you go… I won't even start on how creepy that all is & how it's probably not doing much with regards to preparing them for the wild but... in the meantime, enjoy!!!

Other than that, I don’t have a whole lot to share in regards to world news. You know me, I’m simple. I guess… I’d better think about interview question responses or something… but this ain’t my first rodeo so as long as I don’t start the interview by putting them on “fake hold” and singing “The Boy from Ipanema” because I think it’s Bubbles on the phone, then I should be okay. Sigh… f**k me that was a bad day… but at least I can laugh about it now. I wonder if the interviewer feels the same way about that day. Probably not. She probably just wrote me off as a moron… and I can understand that response. First impressions are key, ladies & gentlemen. Then again… there is a football game on tonight too. Decisions, decisions. Well, on that note, I’ll bid you all adieu… have a great evening everybody!!! And if you don’t hear from me before then, a fantastic weekend as well…

There Will Be Emancipation

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Still no real update on the job situation in San Francisco… but thanks to my “inside man” I know a few reasons for the delay. No worries. I’m confident that I’ll be hearing from them in the near future… and that they will insist on me being a part of their team. Then, there will probably be a lengthy transitional phase where I train my replacement(s) here in Tahoe, in the middle of our busiest time of year, then check out apartments in San Francisco, while learning the fine points of the new job (though pretty much the same) and meeting all the new people, then packing up all my stuff & moving. So yeah… it’s gonna be a busy time once it gets started so… not too worried about all of it. Besides, Bubbles is coming up for the weekend!!! Happy days… and here’s the news…

Eight-Digit Book - To some (like myself) it's just a bunch of bird pictures. To others, John James Audubon's "Birds of America" is a rare blend of art, natural history and craftsmanship, unique enough to sell for more than $10 million at a London auction Tuesday — making it the world's most expensive printed book. Yes, you read correctly. TEN MILLION DOLLARS for a bird-watching book. Some of the world's wealthiest book collectors had been anticipating the auction for months: it represents a chance to own one of the best preserved editions of Aubudon's 19th Century masterpiece, with its 435 hand-colored illustrations. The book sold for 6,500,000 pounds ($10,270,000) at a Sotheby's auction to an anonymous collector bidding by telephone (Batman?), the auction house said. While the Audubon volume holds the record for a printed book, a 72-page notebook of Leonardo da Vinci's handwritten notes and illustrations went for even more. Known as the Leicester Codex, the collection was bought by Bill Gates in 1994 for $31 million (and he’s been using the technological secrets within ever since, since DaVinci invented X Box). Each individual picture in "Birds of America" is so valuable there have been some fears the volume could be broken up and sold as 435 separate works of art. Experts believe that unlikely: the tome is probably more valuable intact. And collectors hold Audubon in such reverence that the notion of ripping apart a perfect copy would be akin to sacrilege. "Audubon's Birds holds a special place in the rare book market for several reasons," said Heather O'Donnell, a specialist with Bauman Rare Books in New York. "The book is a major original contribution to the study of natural history in the New World. "It's also one of the most visually stunning books in the history of print: The scale of the images, the originality of each composition, the brilliance of the hand coloring." Then there's the wow factor. "No one can rival John James Audubon for frontier glamour. The story of his lonely journey through the American wilderness and his struggle to record what he saw there gives the Birds a resonance that no other book can match." Audubon was part naturalist, part artist, and possessed a rare, almost unequaled ability to observe, catalog and paint the birds he observed in the wild. Experts say his book, originally published in 1827, is unmatched in its beauty and also of considerable scientific value, (allegedly) justifying its stratospheric cost. Pom Harrington, owner of the Peter Harrington rare book firm in London, said it has been 10 years since the last complete edition of "Birds of America," with all of the illustrations, has been auctioned — and that was sold for $8.8 million by Christie's auction house, a record for a printed book at auction. He said it is unusual to find a copy not in a museum or academic institution. "If you want to buy an example of a rare work of art, this is one of the best," he said. "It is valuable in its artistic nature because it is so well drawn." He said other historic books — like an excellent example of a Gutenberg Bible — would likely be valued even higher if they came up for sale. Harrington estimated that a complete Gutenberg Bible in good condition would probably sell for between $30 million and $50 million, but none has been sold in more than 30 years. In recent years, he said, a complete First Folio of Shakespeare's works sold at auction for about $5.6 million while a Chaucer collection sold for more than $4 million. "That's getting close to Audubon," he said. Close, but no cigar: the complete Audubon book is more rare than the Shakespeare folio — and much more beautiful to look at, even if Shakespeare is more famous. A Shakespeare First Folio from 1623 is also being auctioned with the Audubon book Tuesday evening. It is likely to be sold for more than $1.5 million. Sotheby's books expert David Goldthorpe said the Aubudon and Shakespeare volumes represent "the twin peaks of book collecting." The books come from the estate of the 2nd Baron Hesketh, an aristocratic book collector who died in 1955. The "Birds of America" plates were printed in black and white and hand-colored afterward. That made the production process extremely expensive, especially, Harrington said, since it was carried out by "the best artists of the time." (Slaves?) The collection, made from engravings of Audubon's watercolors, measures more than 3 feet by 2 feet (90 centimeters by 60 centimeters) because Audubon wanted to paint the birds life size. The size of the illustrations makes them extremely valuable as standalone piece of arts, which makes the complete edition vulnerable to being broken up so the individual prints can be sold one-by-one. Harrington said that the wild turkey that is depicted in the first big plate of the book can be sold for $200,000. But Mark Ghahramani, a rare book specialist at Classic Bindings in London, said it is unlikely the "Birds of America" will be divided up for resale because it is probably more valuable intact. "There are very few copies left of the entire book, so I would think that whoever bought it at the auction would be quite interested in keeping it whole," he said. "Anything to do with American natural history is quite valuable." Audubon, who died in 1851, represents a unique figure in American history, a renaissance man with shades of Huckleberry Finn — like Mark Twain's fictional character, Audubon made an epic voyage down the mighty Mississippi — but with a scientist's inquisitive nature. He made his trip, after his dry-goods business failed, with only a rifle, an assistant, and a drawing pad, making illustrations of as many birds as he could find. He did not find a printer in the United States willing to take on the book, with its oversize illustrations, so he sailed to England, eventually finding printers in Edinburgh, Scotland, and in London. The volume is seen as a vital piece of American history, Harrington said. "It is the most important natural history book for America," he said. "That is the main point. It screams Americana. For an American patriot, it is the greatest book on American heritage — there is no competition." So there you go. Somebody paid over $10 million for a book that’s mostly pictures. Pretty impressive if you ask me… especially since all forms of publishing will probably be dead in the next generation or so…

Old Men Study – Speaking of which, according to Australian researchers, the very oldest men are still interested in sex but illness and a lack of opportunity may be holding them back (sarcastic GASP!!!). The "male" hormone testosterone was clearly linked with how often a man over 75 had sex, and doctors need to do more studies to see if hormone replacement therapy might benefit older men, the researchers said. Zoe Hyde of the University of Western Australia and colleagues surveyed more than 2,700 men aged 75 to 95 for their study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (not “Anals” of Internal Medicine). They asked a range of questions about health, relationships and sexual activity (and then shuddered and/or vomited at the thought of their responses). "The older the men were, the less likely they were to be sexually active, but sex remained at least somewhat important to one fifth of men aged 90 to 95 years, refuting the stereotype of the asexual older person," they wrote in their report. "Of those who were sexually active, more than 40 percent were dissatisfied with the frequency of sexual activity, preferring sex more frequently." GASP!!! What? Men of any age still want more sex (especially when compared to none and/or manual release)? Baffling. More than 30% of the men reported some sort of sexual activity in the past year, but more than 48% said sex was important, suggesting many of the men wanted to have sex but could not. Age was a factor but so were testosterone levels, the lack of an interested partner, and various diseases from diabetes to prostate cancer (to the Plague to Old Man Penis). More than 40% of the men who had not had sex recently said they were not interested… which is obviously a cry to pull the f**king plug. Okay, that last part might’ve been a little harsh… but you get the idea. See? They really conduct studies like this… and some people make a good living at it. How do I get one of these cushy jobs as a studier of widely accepted facts & scientific laws? I’m telling ya, one day, somebody will have the balls to give me the funding to find out the truth behind stereotypes. Hell, if somebody can pay $10 million for a book of color-by-numbers (think about it… and that’s exactly what it is… reproduction… colored by others… see? Not crazy), then somebody might give me seven digits to find out the truth. It’s out there.

Frisky, Are We? – Then again, maybe the old guys just know that crazy sh*t that you can get into in a fit of Passion. For example, a Wisconsin woman bit off half her husband's tongue during a kiss… and has been arrested, authorities said on Tuesday. The bitten piece of the husband's tongue was recovered, and he was taken to a hospital following the incident late on Monday, Sheboygan, Wisconsin police said in a statement. The woman, 57, told emergency workers she had "bit her husband's tongue off," police said in a statement. She had blood on her clothing, they said. The 79-year-old victim said his wife bit his tongue while he was kissing her (and apparently the new denture grip was working like a charm), police said. The woman was singing Christmas carols and blowing a New Year's horn when police arrested her on charges of felony mayhem (sigh… delirium… it gets us all). She was being held pending formal charges by the District Attorney's Office. The victim was transported to an area hospital where doctors were trying to reattach his tongue, police said. The victim said his wife had been acting strangely in recent days, said the police in Sheboygan, roughly 50 miles north of Milwaukee. Wouldn’t that be an awkward Christmas dinner with the grandparents? “It’s great to see you all again… it seems like grandma bit grandpa’s tongue off under the Mistletoe mere days ago. Sigh… that reminds me, I should go visit her at Shady Acres after the New Year. That’ll be my resolution.” Be careful out there, gentlemen. You never know when you’re normally frisky sexual partner will be straight bat crackers crazy and rip your face off like Hannibal Lechter.

Selling Kids for Cars - A Florida woman was charged with trying to sell her infant son in order to pay for a new car, police said Tuesday. The baby's grandmother brokered the deal (oh yes, it’s a family affair) and initially demanded $75,000 but agreed to cut the price to $30,000 when told the prospective buyer could not get a bank loan (sounds like some great haggling), the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) said. The mother of the eight-week-old boy, Stephanie Bigbee Fleming, 22, of Bradenton, Florida, was to receive $9,000 of the proceeds, the FDLE said. "Fleming planned to purchase a new vehicle from the money received," an FDLE spokeswoman said. Fleming also needed money to pay court costs for an unrelated probation violation, the arrest documents said. Fleming was arrested Tuesday. The grandmother, Patty Bigbee, 45, was arrested last week with her boyfriend Lawrence Works, 42, both of Holly Hill, Florida. All three were charged with the illegal sale of a child (as opposed to a legal sale of a child), and Bigbee was also charged with communications fraud, the department said. The arrest report said Bigbee offered to sell the baby to a female relative in October, explaining she had been caring for her grandchild but "was not mother material." The relative alerted police and worked with them during the negotiations. Bigbee and Works were arrested when they collected a $30,000 cashier's check and handed over the baby to an undercover agent in a Daytona Beach parking lot, police said. The baby remains in state custody. Wow! This is absolutely unacceptable. So just to sum up, not only did the buyer get 60% off the original asking price… but the mother only got a 30% cut while grandma took a 70% commission. That’s the real crime here. I’m glad that they got arrested. Oh yeah… and the selling your child thing I guess is a little wrong… but isn’t that kind of like adoption. Please don’t make me go into a rant where I compare children to cats & dogs in an animal shelter because it’ll break your f**king heart and mine. There is a silver lining though. The Bigbees will have an opportunity to learn the finer points of bartering & negotiations while in a Florida prison. “In exchange for protection from the other inmates, I will gladly offer you two cigarettes per day. Deal?” “Hmm, interesting… my counter offer is… how about you give me those cigarettes, your fruit cocktail AND oral pleasure… and in exchange, I will refrain from shanking you AND violating you with the same modified broom handle. Are we in agreement?” It’ll be an amazing learning experience for both of them.

Lincoln Update – Okay, for years now, I’ve been anxiously anticipating Steven Spielberg’s biopic about Abraham Lincoln… and I’m not afraid to admit that it was primarily because of what would be a legendary confrontation between Abraham Lincoln (played by Liam Neeson) and his Vice President Andrew Johnson (played by Harrison Ford). Throw in Sally Field playing his crazy wife Mary Todd Lincoln and you’ve got cinematic GOLD!!! However, after years of delays and hearsay… something happened that may make this even MORE of a legendary confrontation. Ladies & gentlemen, Daniel Day-Lewis (“There Will Be Blood” & “Gangs of New York”) will star as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's long-gestating biopic about the 16th President of the United States according to a just issued press release from DreamWorks Pictures. Based on Doris Kearns Goodwin' best-selling book "Team of Rivals" and adapted by multi-award winning playwright Tony Kushner, the film will focus on the political collision of Lincoln and the powerful men of his cabinet (including Johnson) on the road to abolition and the end of the Civil War. The film has been on Spielberg's 'to do' list for years and Liam Neeson had been attached to play Lincoln since at least mid-2005 right up until July this year. Spielberg originally planned to make it his first post-"Munich" project but for various reasons the film kept getting delayed over and over again. Now at last it is finally happening with shooting expected to get underway in the fall next year for a late 2012 release through Touchstone Pictures. I’m getting goose bumps just thinking about it. I can see it now. Bill the Butcher… versus Han Solo. Hawkeye… against Indiana Jones. Daniel Plainview… and the other President Ford (“GET OFF MY PLANE!!!”). It’s going to be AMAZING!!! (in theory) I’m getting more excited every day. Coming soon… Gary Oldman signs on to play General Robert E. Lee… and Jefferson Davis will be played to John Malkovich… and Megan Fox plays the White House intern that through her Love & Full Release Massage would save a nation. My God, it’ll sweep the Oscars AND the Razzies. Until then though… we can only wait…

I guess that’ll do it for today. Not a whole lot else to update at this point. Awaiting word from San Francisco on the job opportunity… and Bubbles is getting REALLY excited about this weekend… as well she should because it’s going to be EPIC!!! Show off the sights of Lake Tahoe, maybe a dash of Reno, elegant workplace Christmas celebration, gorgeous weather (fingers crossed but it should be sunny most of the weekend), should be amazing. Have a great night everybody!!!

Wurst Case Scenario

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

My weekend was full of football, laundry & cleaning… and slushy snow… and I watched “Scrooged” with the roommate (holiday classic). Oh… and I was also checking into apartment pricing in San Francisco… and then I shat myself with shock… and then looked some more… and I’m getting really excited about the possibility of moving to San Francisco. However, nothing really new since the last update with regards to the job opportunity details. They want to interview me obviously (because they probably had the same reaction to my amazing resume as I did with their housing prices) but that’s as far as I’ve heard. Everybody thinks that it’s a good idea if the circumstances are right… even my dad’s lightening up to the idea (probably because I told him that others were willing to help me move & I reminded him that there’s really only two large pieces of furniture that I move now (my couch & an oak dresser… and even that isn’t bad). By the way, how about that Las Vegas Bowl matchup? Utah against Boise State!!! That should be a great game… in Vegas… but alas, the bowl game that I’m REALLY considering going to… is the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl at AT&T Park in San Francisco (where the world champion Giants play) where Nevada’s playing Boston College. We’ll have to wait until I know the situation with regards to… well, everything… but I’ll be sure to keep you posted on that.

The other night, I finally watched “Jonah Hex” starring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox & John Malkovich. It only lasted one week in theatres… and I had other plans already… so I missed out on the theatre experience. I’m glad that I did… because the movie was pretty f**king lame. For those who don’t remember, it’s the story (loosely) based on the DC Comic of a former civil war vet named Jonah Hex (Brolin) whose family is burned alive in front of him by a vengeful Confederate general Quentin Turnbull (Malkovich) & he also brands Hex’s face as a memento of the occasion. While left for dead, Hex is found by Crow Indians and brought back to life… and apparently has the superpower to talk to dead people (I guess it has its utility) and he searches the Old West seeking vengeance… but then Turnbull dies… so now he’s a bounty hunter. With me so far? Okay, long story short, inexplicably there’s a superhot prostitute (Fox) who is smitten with Hex… and then they found out that Turnbull isn’t dead… and in fact, he putting together this ultimate weapon made by Eli Whitney (yes, the cotton gin guy) to destroy the North… and so President Grant (Aidan Quinn) employs the services of Jonah to save America. Now, it was definitely better than “Wild Wild West” but had eerie similarities to the overall feel… but with a dash of lots of violence (though PG-13 for the kiddies), writing from the guys who brought you “Crank” and just… a lot of loop holes. Malkovich was pretty creepy as the bad guy (as he usually is) but even then it was… I don’t know, it seemed wasted… like when you see Sir Ben Kingsley in these video game adaptation movies like “Bloodrayne” or something. Josh Brolin was okay given the material (I’m sure direction was “you’re angry… aaaand… action!”) and God bless her, for her four minutes of screen time even Megan Fox did okay… given the fact that she was playing a prostitute in love with a heartless bounty hunter. Eh, it only wasted about 80 minutes of my life… and I got to see Megan Fox in a corset for a few minutes. It could’ve been worse. Now for some news…

Cash Update - "The Man in Black" was dressed in blue as he rehearsed for a 1969 concert at San Quentin. The embroidered blue jumpsuit that Johnny Cash wore to practice caused a bidding war during a memorabilia auction Sunday, bringing in nearly 10 times what was expected. The suit was expected to sell for $5,000, but was eventually claimed for $50,000 by a collector from Belgium, said Darren Julien, president and CEO of Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills. He would not name the buyer. The auction of 321 lots sold for over $700,000, nearly twice what was expected, Julien said Monday. The late country singer was photographed in the suit giving a concert photographer "The Finger." Yes, THAT photo, which was also used in a 1998 Billboard magazine ad purchased by Cash's record company to sarcastically thank Nashville and country radio after he received a best country album Grammy for "Unchained." "Johnny Cash is highly collectible. He's got global appeal, especially for a country artist. He was the first country music artist who was collectible. He set the standard," Julien said. An international group of fans, collectors and investors took part in the auction, by phone or in person, he said. A poster announcing Cash's performance at the prison sold for $25,000, a 1968 passport for $21,875 and a Martin guitar for $50,000. A shirt made by Nudie Cohn and worn by Cash when he was grand marshal of the American Bicentennial Grand Parade in 1976 brought in $31,250 and a pair of Cash's knee-high boots sold for $21,875. Cash died in 2003 of complications from diabetes. Because he performed at prison so often and led a rather rowdy life early in his career, many people believed he served time in prison. He did not, although he battled drug addiction over the years and received a suspended jail sentence in 1965 on a misdemeanor narcotics charge in Texas. Pretty nice, huh? Also, in case I didn’t mention it earlier, Cash’d Out (the Johnny Cash tribute band) will be performing at the Knitting Factory in Reno this Friday. Tickets are on sale if you’re interested… and who knows? Maybe I’ll be bored and go since Bubbles won’t be coming until Saturday. She’s going to be my +1 to my company’s 1st anniversary gala on Sunday. Elegant evening attire, great coworkers, dancing at a very prestigious location & the best arm candy in the place… obviously not all women get to be that lucky, but then again… she’s a special woman in black… like a female Johnny Cash.

Advertising – This next one comes from friend of the blog Lilie who was apparently Christmas shopping when she stumbled on this gem. The holidays are a time for catching up with cousins, stuffing your face with food and, now, gratuitous lingerie. Canadian undergarment proprietor (how fancy does that sound?) La Senza is serving up the Cup Size Choir, a collection of lingerie-clad singers. Labeled A-G (for giggidy!), the high notes are based on the model's cup size. Don't expect any real-life Mariah Careys on here: The models got some serious help hitting the right note. The real goal obviously is to show off the lingerie, which happens every time you press a key, and the model sings as she sinks into her plush, velvety bed… you know, for demonstration purposes. The funky website currently has an automated version of "Deck the Halls," but the real fun is in making your own soundtrack by clicking on the keys and sharing your masterpiece with friends. "Jingle Bells" is cool, but if you can recreate the "Beverly Hills Cop" theme "Axel F" then you will be a golden God in my book. Anyway, feel free to give it a shot… and maybe find somebody for that special lady in your life.

German Repo - A German woman who splurged on breast implants with a loan from her then boyfriend now fears her assets could be re-possessed after she failed to fully reimburse him, the 20-year-old woman told Bild newspaper. Her ex-boyfriend is demanding that she return the 4,379 euros ($5,865) he gave her to pay for her breast enlargement surgery in 2009 or he'll call the police and get the repossessors involved, Bild reported on Wednesday. "It's true that Carsten signed a loan agreement shortly before the operation," the woman named only as Anastasia is quoted saying. "The condition was that I wouldn't have to pay him back if I stayed with him for a year." But the pair split shortly after she underwent the plastic surgery. The woman said she had transferred 3,000 euros into her ex-boyfriend's account last week (probably from her NEW boyfriend) but I guess this will be settled one way or another. The only question is… what exactly WOULD happen if they repossessed her breast implants? I mean… okay, she’s flatter again (which by the way, ladies, not that big of a deal) but… does the guy just get to keep the implants? Do they go back to the surgeon? Does the same surgeon have to be the one to remove them & then he’s reimbursed? I’m just curious about the whole logistics… and who benefits from it. Does the ex-boyfriend get money back? Does the surgeon for removing the implants? Does a notary have to present for the surgery? If so, sign me up for notary duty…

Wurst Case Scenario – Also in Germany, a small-town butcher said on Monday he faces steep bills after a wild boar tore through his shop in an hour-long rampage but will at least recover some of his losses by selling slices of the slain beast. The boar wandered out of a nearby forest and into the shop and caused about 5,000 euros ($6,600) in damage before being shot by a Jaegermeister (local master hunter), butcher Rainer Kraemer told Reuters. "Insurance covers theft and fire, but the butcher shop isn't covered for a wild boar attack," said Kraemer, whose shop is in the town of Hoehr-Grenzhausen near the western city of Koblenz. The 130-kg (290 lbs) boar will only fetch about 400 euros in ham and wurst sales after Kraemer finishes carving it up… but hey, it’s better than nothing. Luckily, there was only one customer in the store during the attack who escaped with only a minor injury. "Once the boar pushed through the door, I quickly helped the customer out of store and then went to try to guard the production equipment," said Kraemer. He and a sales clerk were unhurt in the rampage but unable to stop the boar. It sounds like something out of a Grimm Brothers tale, right? Like there should be a moral at the end like, “Don’t be a glutton in a house of gluttony, otherwise you’ll be on the menu” or something like that. I don’t know, maybe I’m just weird.

Political Satire Gold - "Austin Powers" and "Meet the Parents" director Jay Roach is set to direct a politically themed comedy which Warner Bros. Pictures just won the rights to reports Deadline. Zach Galifianakis (“The Hangover” & “Due Date”) and Will Ferrell (“Anchorman” & “The Other Guys”) are attached to the film in which the pair would go head-to-head as political rivals hoping to become presidential candidates. I would expect a lot of personal attacks (“You look like a fat Jesus!” “Yeah, well at least I wasn’t in Land of the Lost!!! That movie was an abortion of cinema!” “YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!!”). Further details aren't forthcoming, but it is known that Chris Henchy ("The Other Guys") and Shawn Harwell ("Eastbound and Down") will pen the script. Roach, who directed the award-winning HBO political dramedy "Recount", hopes to get the film in theatres around the time of the 2012 political election. Roach, Galifianakis, Ferrell and Adam McKay (“Step Brothers”) will produce. Sounds like it has great comedic potential… so we shall see. Will it beat out “Head of State” for my highly coveted Presidential Movie List Gold Medal? Only time will tell… but they’re off to a great start.

MACHETE KILLS!!! - The end credits of "Machete" said the character will return in a sequel called "Machete Kills" and everybody took it as an ode to the somewhat campy grindhouse movies that it was based on (like “Shaft’s Big Score”, etc). However, in a recent red carpet interview via Bloody Disgusting, titular star Danny Trejo says things are further along on a potential sequel to the film than you might expect: "I asked (Robert Rodriguez) when he was going to write it and he says it's written, so we can get started pretty quick. We went all over the world with that movie and people kept having me sign these Machete action figures, it was a lot of fun. I don't even think Robert Rodriguez even expected that reception and now everyone is waiting for Machete Kills so hurry up Robert Rodriguez!" says Trejo (who really wants another big paycheck). Rodriguez has hinted before (in the same end credits) of a film trilogy with the third being titled "Machete Kills Again". Well, I’d watch them. I’m already anxiously awaiting the Blu Ray release of Machete… and the greenlighting of “Werewolf Women of the SS” but I’m pretty sure that Machete’s going to happen first.

Well, that’ll do it for today. Again, not a whole lot going on in my world other than the possibility of relocating yet again… but it’s still the early stages of that hypothetical transition. I should know more in the next few days… but in the meantime, have a great night everybody!!!

Another Pros & Cons List

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Well, as promised, some possibly HUGE news. There's a new job opportunity that has come up that has great potential for growth & a significant pay raise within the company. The catch is... that it's in San Francisco. I know what you're thinking. "$teve, you love Tahoe. You love your job. Why the hell are you even considering it?" Well, you're right. I do love my job... very much so, even if they may not pay me what I'm worth, I really enjoy the people I work with, the responsibility that my job entails & the experience that I've gained from it. I do love Tahoe... in the summer. I don't have all the details yet, so this is still preliminary... but I just thought I'd give you the heads up, that your boy Dr. Mookie Love may be taking his talents to South Beach... er, San Francisco. There's quite a number of steps between here and there though... so let's break it down. As usual, when I have a possible life-changing decision, I do two things: First, I make a list of Pros & Cons. Second, after doing some research, I contact my Board of Trustees (family & friends) and see what they think about the idea.

Bubbles told me about the opportunity on Monday, so she's obviously in favor of the idea. Or as she put it, "We'd be like peas & carrots again." Obviously referencing one of my favorite movies. The Wingmans, JL Clyde, K-Fish, Lilie, all seem to be in favor of the idea, thinking that the city would appeal more to my social nature... and I really don't like being snowed in for half the year and barely making ends meet financially. My mom really liked the idea too. She's obviously a little scared of her baby boy in the big city and everything... but I'm sure she won't mind visiting from time to time... any time of year. I even talked to Boss Man K... and he was very supportive of it... even when he knows the amount of work that he would be taking on, especially in the short term until he found someone (or four) to replace me.

My dad was the first person to tell me that I may be f**king crazy. I actually didn't tell him about the idea until late last night. He response was pretty much what I expected, which was why I wanted to have information first... but since it was early on, I didn't want it to be an all of a sudden thing. So I told him. "WHAT? SON, NO!!! Sigh... where is this job?" "San Francisco." "WHAT? Are you f**king... WHY?" So I told him about the job opportunity, that I already knew about the cost of living differences, the details were coming & it was just a thought, blah blah blah. "You know... you get like this everytime that you get snowed in. You know that, right?" Well, to look back, moving to Denver was after a futile 6-month search in Vegas at the beginning of the recession. Then the reason for moving back to SLC was not having a job for me in Denver. Then moving out here was because I didn't like being on the bottom of the totem pole again & I had an opportunity to open an office here in this paradise. He's not a huge fan of traffic & large numbers of people... and San Fran has that. He's also scared of his man-child in the big city. That's just the way parents are. He also REALLY doesn't want to help me move... and I can understand that. The thing is... I've grown up in Utah, lived in Denver, I'm not a huge fan of the snow. In Utah, it wasn't that bad... but it gets ridiculous sometimes here... and ice is even worse. If I were a skier & loved that stuff, then this would be perfect for me... but that's not the case. I've been out here a year. I absolutely love the summers, but I find myself tolerating the winter (mainly because of white gold & it's why I have a job here) and it's awfully lonely. I have a few friends but... it's mostly families out here & all the young'uns are matched up. So in the end though, "Son, you know I love you... and I'll support whatever you decide. Get the details, let me know what you decide, and we'll work it out." He even made a joke, "You know, my leg's all healed up now so I guess that means it's time for you to move again." Referring to when he decided to put a hole in his leg helping me load the LAST THING into the moving van when he helped me move here last year.

So yeah, now comes the list of Pros & Cons for this new opportunity / adventure. Here's how I have it broken down, but feel free to make mentions of other things that I might've missed.

Pros - Going to San Francisco
- Great job opportunity with advancement possiblities
- City of culture, excitement & lots of bridges
- Always something to do at any hour
- Single Women!!! - It seems like Alaska here sometimes
- Bubbles - It's always good to have good friends
- Family & friends will visit often & year round
- Three int'l airports with 45 minutes (and a cruise port)
- Public Transportation (less gas expense)
- I can bike year round (and play basketball & stay fit)
- B**ches... by which I mean beaches
- Napa, Half Moon Bay & Napa are less than an hour away
- Monterey & the Redwoods are two hours away
- Yosemite & Tahoe are three hours away (for summer)

Cons - Staying in Lake Tahoe
- Great job with people I enjoy working with already
- Fresh mountain air
- Less likely to get hit by a tsunami (I like the high ground)
- The Lake is gorgeous (but the ocean is in San Fran too)
- Cost of living is lower (but moreso are the wages)
- I don't have to move (that's a big one)

I'm sure there are many more for both sides that I'm just not typing fast enough or something... but that's a good start. So you see the dilemma, I take it. I like where I'm at... but I don't love it. Is it time for a new adventure? Already? Well, I'll keep you posted on events over the next few days (as much as I legally can) but I'm starting to get a little excited at the idea (except the moving part) but again, not all the details are in quite yet. There has to be enough force to break this ionic bond that I have to this place... but the lowering temperature probably helps with the threshold. Anyway, have a great evening everybody!!! I've got some thinking to do...

Nice Beaver!

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

I’m over the cold now. Yippee!!! And just in time for another storm this weekend. It’s not supposed to be as epic as the last one but… you know how meteorologists are. Besides, the ladies love my Barry White voice… so no problems there. Also, some potentially Earth shattering news may be forthcoming (for those that I haven’t already discussed with) so tune in… I don’t know, tomorrow maybe. In the meantime, here’s the news…

RIP Leslie Nielsen – One of the greatest comedic straight-men in the history of cinema has passed away. Leslie Nielsen, star of “The Naked Gun” and “Airplane!” movies, as well as countless other spoofs… and dramatic roles in the likes of “Forbidden Planet” and “Poseidon Adventure”, was 80. I completely spaced the Naked Gun movies (and the TV series before its time “Police Squad”) when I was making my Guilty Pleasure Movie List the other day… but that’s probably because I don’t feel guilty about it. We’ll truly miss you… but will laugh at your legacy.

Neve Campbell’s SINGLE!!! – Somewhere in Idaho, The Mad Scientist is brushing up on his pickup lines (as am I, because she was on my Top 5 Hotties of the 90's list). The “Scream” star, 37, has quietly split from British actor John Light after three years of marriage, according to TMZ (so it has to be true). Citing irreconcilable differences, she secretly filed for divorce five months ago in Los Angeles County Superior Court. She asked that Light, 36, not receive spousal support. The two reportedly first met on the set of the 2001 indie, “Investigating Sex”. Engaged in 2006, they said "I do" the following year in Malibu. This is the actress' second divorce: She was previously wed to Canadian actor Jeff Colt. Campbell returns to the big screen in Scream 4, out April 15th… but that doesn’t matter right now, because she’s back on the market… and by my guess, probably looking for a good old fashioned American man… and I can be an actor if that would help… why not? Aren’t we all just actors on the big silver screen of Life? I guess what I’m trying to say is… holla!!!

Tallest Couple - Their height made Wayne and Laurie Hallquist seem like an ideal match when they met seven years ago, and on Thursday they were matched with something else -- the title of world's tallest living married couple. Guinness World Records bestowed that towering distinction to the Hallquists in a ceremony under the marquee at its Hollywood museum. The couple arrived in a white limousine, with Wayne sporting a tuxedo and Laurie in a white wedding dress. The Hallquists, who live in nearby Stockton, California, measure a combined 13 feet, 4 inches, or 407.4 centimeters, to be exact. He stands 6 feet 10.4 inches, she 6 feet 5.95 inches, the Guinness organization said. "It's a whole different perspective up here, and we can find each other quite easily in a crowd," Laurie told Reuters. "We can see several people going bald that might not know it at the moment," joked Wayne, 57, who works as a telephone company wire splicer (no ladder required). The Hallquists said that when they met at a church singles club in 2003, they could tell that others around them were sizing up a possible love affair because of their height. "She walked in, everyone looked at her, then they looked at me," Wayne said. But while Wayne said it was love at first sight for him, Laurie their first meeting came up short. "He talked about the size of my hands and feet, which is kind of a no-no," said Laurie, 46. "And then the second time we had a chance to talk, I figured out he was a really good guy." They have been married for seven years, but it took the Hallquists until this year to contact Guinness World Records. The couple said they were discouraged at first from making a play for world's tallest couple, because they read online that a man and a woman each standing over 7 feet had married in the 19th century. Only this year did they realize they could compete in another category: world's tallest living married couple. Guinness previously listed a couple in England -- Wilco and Keisha van Kleef-Bolton -- as the world's tallest couple at a combined height of 13 feet, 3 inches. The Hallquists knew they could beat that -- by an inch. So they contacted Guinness, and the organization had them measured by a doctor and a notary to make it official. Laurie, a former college basketball player who now works as a realtor, said she dated shorter men before Wayne (only a 99.9% chance of that), including one "kind of macho" guy who stood 5-foot-7. She described that pairing as "a little awkward" and said that she likes looking up to her husband -- at least physically. If recent history is any indication, the Hallquists may have a limited time to stand out. The van Kleef-Boltons were only named world's tallest couple last year, before the Hallquists stepped up to challenge them. "There may be people who are taller than the Hallquists, but unless we go out and can measure them, the Hallquists have the record all to themselves," said Guinness World Records adjudicator Stuart Claxton. Are you insanely tall? Do you know a girl you could marry who is also insanely tall? Well, come on down to Reno (or Vegas), get hitched, get measured, and get in The Book. I’m just saying… if you’re into that thing. I mean… Yao Ming would only have to marry a six-footer to get the title for the People’s Republic of China. Let’s keep it in America, ladies & gentlemen.

Picasso JACKPOT!!! – Painter Pablo Picasso was both hugely prolific and famously generous with his work, but was he enough of a free spirit to give hundreds of his early works -- an invaluable collection -- to his electrician? That question lies at the heart of a court case over the origin of 271 Picasso works -- a treasure trove of original sketches, paintings and collages that was unknown to the art world a few months ago and unveiled for the public on Monday. Experts have yet to appraise the full collection, which has been placed under lock and key after a judicial appeal by Picasso's heirs. But there is little dispute so far over its authenticity. The works, many of which belong to the artist's Blue and Cubist periods, could fetch more than 60 million euros (about $79 million) at auction. More mysterious is how such an extensive collection could have wound up in the hands of a retired electrician in the south of France who once worked for the Picasso family, or why he chose to hold onto it for so many decades (wait until the artist was dead, the market was up & the time was right, simple enough). "We have questions, legitimate questions about where the paintings came from," Claudia Andrieu, legal counsel for the Picasso Foundation, told Reuters Television. "We are discovering new pieces, completely unknown pieces that had never been printed in any book." The mystery began when Claude Picasso -- son of the artist and head of the foundation named after him -- received a letter from a man who said he owned original Picasso pieces and wanted to have them verified for authenticity. Picasso convinced the man to bring the collection to Paris, saying he would be unable to verify it from photographs. The man arrived by car with the paintings in a suitcase and laid them out on a table. "I felt a great surprise, naturally, lots of emotion at the discovery of pieces with which we were not familiar. But also a deep disturbance," he told French daily Liberation. "Many of these pieces were not dated, which means they never should have left the studio." The man in question was Pierre Le Guennec, an electrician in his seventies who worked on Picasso's property in the south of France during the 1970s. He told Reuters Television that Picasso's wife gave him the artworks. "It's Madame (Picasso) who gave them. But if Madame gave them, Monsieur was aware of it. She wasn't going to do it just like that, was she?" he said, speaking through a gate in front of his property. "What did you want me to do with them? ... They stayed in a box with other boxes that I have, from my job." Yet Picasso's heirs were not convinced. While the artist was known to dash out sketches on napkins at restaurants and make spontaneous gifts to friends, he would not have separated with such a large store of work, his son told Liberation. "It doesn't hold up, frankly," Picasso said. Andrieu of the Picasso Foundation said that Le Guennec had changed his story many times, first telling them he had received the paintings from Picasso himself, then Picasso's wife, and alternately in a box or a trash can (the guy is in his seventies). Questioned by the police, he said the paintings were given to him by Picasso's wife, who died in 1986. Le Guennec denied stealing the paintings and told RTL radio he decided to ask about their value as a possible inheritance for his children. Unwilling to risk losing the works, Picasso's heirs successfully appealed to a judge to have the works placed under lock and key, where experts can study and care for them. Among the works are nine extremely rare Cubist collages, a watercolor from Picasso's Blue period, several painted hand studies, some 30 lithographs and over 200 drawings, as well as portraits of the artist's first wife, Olga Khokhlova. "Mr. Picasso is only interested in the history of art," Andrieu said. "We got the pieces secured, and now it is for the judge to determine how the pieces were obtained." So was this guy an art thief? Just a nice guy who accepted priceless works of art for payment as an electrician? Was he bangin’ Picasso’s wife? Did he find them in a trash can? A bank vault? Did he draw them himself and just bare an extremely similar style to a master painter? I guess we’ll find out… or perhaps the mystery is forever sealed in the mind of man in his seventies who made a long prosperous career on getting electrocuted & being around electromagnetic fields. The world may never truly know… but seriously, if they’re really gifts… JACKPOT!!! $80 million in dirty twisted blue cubic pictures? Damn bro, your kids are SET!!!

Anyway, on that note, I think I’ll end this post on a high note. Again, some possible HUGE news coming tomorrow… but I’m gathering information first… because that’s how I do it. You know me. Also, Eagles are playing tonight against the Texans. You know, I like that Andre Johnson fought back against Cortland Finnegan… but I was kinda hoping he’d get suspended for a game too… but whatever. Have a great night everybody!!! (said in my sexy Barry White voice)