Live tweeting Super Bowl XLV

I'm not much of a sports fan, but I seem to have a special block where (American) football is concerned. Even my ever-patient husband has thrown up his hands and pointed out that although I ask questions, I don't really seem like I want to learn that badly. He's right.

But that didn't stop me from live tweeting the Super Bowl on Sunday evening. I figured my fresh perspective might be just what people need.

17:37

I never did choose a team.

18:07

Apparently they're not called goals. Then why do they call them goalposts, huh? :^p


18:12

The most enjoyable part for me was the tight uniforms until I was told it's nearly all padding.

18:24

18:47

18:53

It's 3 or 6 or 7 points. I think the seventh point is judged on the dance performance.

19:23

20:17

I'm a little disappointed that I haven't received any offers to be a color commentator yet. :^/

The Naked Cowboy

With apologies to Pitti-Sing and W.S. Gilbert:

When the day is cold
A cowboy bold
Is a cheering sight to see;
And it's oh, I'm glad
He was barely clad
And right within sight of me!

Saw the Naked Cowboy in front of the train station this morning. He gets a lot of credit; it's only 23F/-4C out there.

Man struck down in crosswalk

I saw him for the first time this summer, in a crosswalk in Chicago. I wasn't sure if he was friendly, so I walked by without speaking to him.

But when I saw him after they repaved the streets, he just wasn't the same man.

It's a tough life on the streets. (I think this is some sort of meme.)

It's "official"

Today I attended a presentation on the new electronic official personnel file. It's an OPM thing that government agencies are switching to so that we'll all be in the same system. Change is scary, and people are suddenly feeling nervous and protective about their personnel files that they've never valued enough to ask to see before now.

My favorite part is the watermark that will appear on anything we print from this system. It will read:

This is an "official" government document generated from the EHRI eOPF system.

He was just a little green blob of clay...

...GUMBY!!

I'm not sure I should be admitting this, but at some stressful point in my life (grad school, I think) I rented (yes, paid money for) videos of old episodes of The Gumby Show. It was claymation from the 1950s by a fellow named Art Clokey.

I appreciated some of its surreal aspects. I remember Gumby's mother asking Gumby's father to wake him. He stepped into his son's room, and there on the bed lay his boy, but a moment later he morphed into a bat and ball, and then a saxophone, followed by a few more transformations. Father turned to Mother and said, "Aww, I can't wake him now--he's dreaming!"

The theme song has stuck with me, too:

He was just a little green slab of clay... GUMBY!!
But you should see what Gumby can do today... GUMBY!!
He can walk into any book
With his pony pal Pokey, too.
If you have a heart,
Then Gumby's a part
Of YOU!!!

And since that's the song that's stuck in my head, you get to hear about it.

A couple more links for the Gumby-curious:

• Gumby turns 50
• NPR story on the genesis of Gumby
  

Peeps on the brain

This morning I found out that there was a 24-hour contest over at DP Challenge for photos involving Peeps marshmallow candy (you may wish to turn sound down before following this link). Soon I had a couple ideas, and we stopped at Walgreen's on our way back from brunch. We were too late; there wasn't a fluorescent marshmallow left in the store. A quick trip to the next Walgreen's brought success (and a half-price discount). Then unreasonable amounts of time spent on staging and lighting. Peeps seem to bring out the sadist in many people, but I was resolved to play nicely with my mute marshmallow models.

So I posed them for a swimsuit shot:


I swear it was an accident.