No, not a recipe for cooking SPAM, the meat-a-like, but a SPAM email that’s actually a recipe.  Not sure of the strategy of this type of SPAM.  No attachments, nothing being sold.  Perhaps, they’re just trying to get me to approve of this message and get around my SPAM filter.  No chance of that.

Recipe for great BBQ Sauce:

INGREDIENTS
1 quart apple cider vinegar
1 (20 ounce) bottle ketchup
1/4 cup paprika
1 pound dark brown sugar
1/4 cup salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup lemon juice

DIRECTIONS
In a large container, mix together the apple cider vinegar, ketchup,
paprika, brown sugar, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder,
Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice. Pour into an empty vinegar bottle,
ketchup bottle or other container and store in the refrigerator for up to
1 month.

From NYTimes.com: No Fortissimo? Symphony Told to Keep It Down

Tests showed that the average noise level in the orchestra during the piece, “State of Siege,” by the composer Dror Feiler, was 97.4 decibels, just below the level of a pneumatic drill and a violation of new European noise-at-work limits. Playing more softly or wearing noise-muffling headphones were rejected as unworkable.

But across Europe, musicians are being asked to wear decibel-measuring devices and to sit behind see-through antinoise screens. Companies are altering their repertories. And conductors are reconsidering the definition of “fortissimo.”

Alan Garner, an oboist and English horn player who is the chairman of the players’ committee at the Royal Opera House, said that he and his colleagues had been told that they would have to wear earplugs during entire three-hour rehearsals and performances.

“It’s like saying to a racing-car driver that they have to wear a blindfold,” he said

It’s great that the Europeans care for their workers, but this seems to be a little bit on the extreme.  Music can be loud.  That’s part of being a musician.  It’s one of the very few occupational hazards of being a musician.

I noticed a new “feature” on CNN.com today.  Next to some of the headlines, there’s a new t-shirt icon.  When you click on the icon you can buy a t-shirt with the corresponding headline on it.
Here’s a close-up of the icon

So if I want a t-shirt that says “Weird fish leave sea, spawn on beach”, I click on the T-shirt icon.

This will yield you a inane t-shirt that if you wear will guarantee you a life of loneliness and sadness.  I wonder if CNN will intentionally try to “pump up” their headlines to make them outrageous enough for t-shirts.

The seems like something more for the NYPost.  At least their t-shirts would be entertaining!

From WWTDD.com: TYLER EXCLUSIVE – THE CAST OF GI JOE

When I heard that they were making a live action GI Joe film, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  But, after seeing the cast photos on WWTDD.com, I’m convinced that this movie is a GOOD thing.  I have no idea what this movie is about and frankly I don’t really care!

Now, my biggest problem is trying to figure out who to root for and how to tell who fights for which side.

Here’s Scarlett, a member of GI Joe

and here’s the Baroness from Cobra

I guess pleathery S&M outfits makes you evil, while lots body armor and a…  ummm breastplate makes you good.

But to me I see Ice Cream and Candy.  Who cares about good and evil?

Oh, and there are guys in the movie.  I’m just not posting pictures of them.

For the rest of the pictures visit:
WWTDD.com: TYLER EXCLUSIVE – THE CAST OF GI JOE

I finally made it over to the new Ikea in West Chester last night.  I’ve always been a big fan of Ikea, but I have always been limited to buying little things that I can fit in my car along with my other road trip luggage.  But, now with Ikea here, I can look for larger items like  furniture, bookshelves and storage organizers.

I had an hour to kill yesterday so I made the 5 minute drive over from my office.  Yes, it’s only 5 minutes away from my office.  I’ve just been a little hesitant about driving over there because of the crowds that I’ve seen it generate.

But, I guess it’s only a place to be avoided now on the weekends.  If you want to go to Ikea and avoid crowds, go on a weekday night, especially if it’s 75 degrees and beautiful outside.


The parking lot was pretty empty.  More cars than your normal store, but the fewest that I’ve seen in front of any Ikea.  There were a few customers, but a ton of helpful staff.  And zero lines at the cash registers.

The thing that I like about Ikea are the example rooms that are set up all over.  It’s useful to see how an item can be used in a room.  What’s helpful is that the same piece of furniture may be used in different rooms that have different looks.

However, I didn’t see this bed in any of the example rooms.  How am I supposed to get my “bachelor” pad looking right without some ideas?  Maybe, I’ll have to just talk to one of the Ikea workers.  Stay tuned!

From Cincinnati.com: Wrigley has Reds green with ivy

Going to Wrigley is about seeing your Cubbies win, but only tangentially. It’s more about the neighborhood, the Old Style, the ivy, the bleachers, Waveland, Sheffield, celebs singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” day games, sunshine, the lake, Harry Caray’s ghost, memories of Sammy and The Hawk and Ernie Banks. Let’s drink two. At least.

This is exactly the atmosphere the Reds have to cultivate to succeed. Because here is a hard truth in Baseball Town: The game’s not enough anymore.

I don’t think I’ve disagreed with a Paul Daugherty column more.

If you look at things statistically, winning is by far the biggest factor in attendance.

Reds Attendance/Record
Year        Attendance    Attendance/Game    Wins/Losses
1998        1,793,649        22,144            77-85
1999        2,061,324        25,292            96-67
2000        2,577,371        31,624            85-77
2001        1,879,757        23,794            66-96

You can see how the attendance grew in 1999 when the Reds had a winning team.  The next year’s attendance is higher because people were excited about the Reds again.  But, when the Reds started losing again in 2001, attendance dropped.

It’s like that for all teams.  You can see the pattern with the White Sox and even the Cubs.  Right now Cubs attendance is strong because of their playoff run in 2003.  The atmosphere may slow attrition due to losing, but it still happens.  In their really bad years in the 1990’s, the Cubs drew less than 2 million people.

Daugherty compares the Reds with the Bengals, but the Bengals have gone to the playoffs in recently.  That’s why attendance is strong.  But if the Bengals lose for a couple of more seasons, I expect sell-outs to end there too.

The basic thing is- winning cures everything!

Reds Attendnace
Cubs Attendance
White Sox Attendance

From CNN.com: Martha Stewart’s dog dies

The 60-pound chow, whose full name was Kublai Khan Paw Paw Chow Chow Chow, was almost 13.

That’s a dumb dumb dumb name for a dog.

From CNN.com: ‘X-Files’ movie title revealed

“I Want to Believe” comes 10 years after the first film and six years after the finale of the series, whose opening credits for much of its nine-year run featured the catch-phrase “the truth is out there.”

Is there an audience for X-Files?  I loved the show for several seasons, but then I remember losing interest.  And with the first movie being a stinker, I’m surprised that X-Files is returning on the big screen.

From CNN.com: Users petition to keep Windows XP

Fans of the six-year-old operating system set to be pulled off store shelves in June have papered the Internet with blog posts, cartoons and petitions recently. They trumpet its superiority to Windows Vista, Microsoft’s latest PC operating system, whose consumer launch last January was greeted with lukewarm reviews.

It’s pretty sad when you have customers that trumpet a six year old version of your software and claim that it’s superior to your latest and greatest.  Way to go Microsoft!