Barb's Burblings

Shake shake shake the room

I'm kind of bummed because there was a small earthquake in Northern Virginia this afternoon (1.8 on the Richter scale), but I didn't feel it. It did, however, cause quite a stir on Twitter, according to Metroblogging DC.

In a spooky twist of fate, I actually was watching a program on the History Channel this morning about the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Dun dun DUNNN!

Announcer help

I was in the car yesterday listening to the Orioles-Angels game when I heard something I hadn't heard before. Fred Manfra was talking, and I heard in the background a fairly loud announcement, though I couldn't quite make out what it said. Fred then said what the attendance was. Huh, I thought. I wonder if that announcement was telling the media the attendance. Later, I heard the announcer again, and could make out something about Sarfate. Fred then informed us that Sarfate was warming up in the bullpen, so I assume that there is a helpful announcer, at least in Anaheim. I think that's really neat. Now I want to know whether other stadiums have that as well, it's just harder to hear.

Also, you know you watch too much baseball when you recognize the names of the entire umpire crew. And actually have opinions about their umpiring skills.

And we get the rest

There was an article in today's Post about a documentary about the man who walked between the Twin Towers back in the early 1970s. The article has totally whetted my interest in this movie. It's just crazy to think about it, but it never even occurred to me to contemplate the logistics of how you'd walk between them. Anyway, I definitely recommend checking out the article.

It made me think of the "All for the Best" scene in the movie of Godspell, which ends on the top of the World Trade Center, which was still under construction (the movie came out in 1973). You can check it out here--the song starts at around 1:40, and they make it to the top of the WTC around 5:20.

Now I just need to figure out their volumes

This has been around a bit, but is totally worth viewing. I admit I also use corporal cuddling as a punishment. This video has caused both my cats to stare at me suspiciously.

Fear the turtle

I find this video endlessly amusing. I'd feel worse for the turtle, but it just keeps going back for more. Silly turtle.

Door goes smoosh

This just blows my mind. How does it work? It's like magic! The biggest mystery is how the doors can fold up like that and yet look totally fine and not wrinkly. It smooshes but looks normal! How??? And there's glass in there! It's all so mysterious. I have my doubts that it withstands a side-impact crash, but I could watch that video for hours and still be amazed.

I may have to resort to drastic measures

So I was reading a nice story about My Boyfriend Brian Roberts talking to high school athletes about what led him to trying steroids. It was all going along well until I got to this:

"I went to meet my girlfriend's parents for the first time in December," he told the students. "I was sitting on the couch with a bunch of her parents' friends and my name is crawling across the bottom line of ESPN. And she's looking at me like, 'Why did I bring you here?' "

Your girlfriend? Oh, Brian, what about us? Do not make me get a new Orioles boyfriend. Do you want me to promote Reserve Oriole Boyfriend Adam Loewen? Do you know what you made me do? I was watching an interview with Nick Markakis and thought to myself, Wow, he has nice eyes. See!

Of course, now I'm going to blame her for the slump you're in. If you start hitting again, I'll just assume you've broken up.

Maybe she was watching Winged Migration

Now I admit that even when I have plenty of free time, I'm not particularly good at keeping my apartment clean. (Tidy, yes. Clean, no.) But I was a bit taken aback when I looked at my tv the other morning.

Yes, those are cat paw prints on the tv. At first I couldn't figure it out. I've barely watched tv in the living lately, much less watching something that caused one of the cats to paw at the screen. Then I realized that dang, those paw prints are up high. Then I realized that the prints came from Pem being on top of the entertainment center and stabilizing herself on the tv as she jumped down.

At least Colin knows he's not supposed to be up there. (Or the dresser in the bedroom. Or the kitchen counter.) Pem? Doesn't care. Bad kitty!

Town-gown relations: Pro or con?

I heard a commercial on the radio this afternoon that started something like, "Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson is taking a stand on auto theft." And I immediately reverted to those late Wednesday nights in the Gettysburgian office and thought, So, is he for or against it? And the commercial never explicitly says he's against, so I'm going to assume it's up in the air.

Beyond the Limit

Ever since I read Into Thin Air, I've been fascinated by Mount Everest, including watching Everest: Beyond the Limit on the Discovery Channel. So I couldn't help but appreciate this spoof. The only problem is that clearly doesn't summit. He could go higher!

Maybe next climbing season.

Click!

It's early April in DC, marking the beginning of tourist season. (And it amuses me that the cherry blossoms' peak bloom is so early; you have these gorgeous flowers and trees that are completely bare.) You can't go downtown and swing your arms without hitting a tourist aiming a camera at a tree. So why not take pictures of people taking pictures of flowers?

Where book club takes you

There's this girl named Anna who was in my book club. She was there from the beginning, from the early Fametracker days. Like most of the others in the group, she blew me away with her ability to transition easily from discussing the themes of the books we were reading--tying them in to classics and various other books--to gossiping about the latest celebrity scandal and gushing about the dreamy guys in Band of Brothers. I was never really sure what she did, though she talked about having to go to London on business.

In September 2006 we read The Places In Between by Rory Stewart, about a man who walks across Afghanistan (totally worth reading, by the way). Over the next few months, Anna talked about how she had a mutual acquaintance with Rory Stewart, then reported on meeting him. Then she said she was moving to Afghanistan to work for the Turquoise Mountain Foundation. To me, it was totally crazy, but totally awesome. It's not something I could ever do (I've had debates with myself about whether I could move to London, much less Kabul!), but I couldn't help but admire Anna for her decision. I missed her in book club, but was a bit jealous of her drive and guts.

I got an e-mail Wednesday that Anna died in Afghanistan on Tuesday, in a fall from her horse. I still can't quite believe it. It all seems so unreal, and sad, and wrong. It's always sad when someone so young passes away; it's made worse when you know what good work she was doing, and how vivacious and fun she was. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends and everyone whose lives she touched.

In memory of Anna Woodiwiss.

Game tease

Yesterday was one of the cruelest days on the calendar. There's Opening Day; the pomp, the joy. Baseball is back! I'm all set for the next 6 months! And then...a day without baseball. What the heck? The day off after opening day is so mean. One of the beauties of baseball is that it's every day. And even when the O's have the day off, you can generally find a game on somewhere. But no. Mean!

Thankfully they're back tonight, and as I type, the game is just beginning. Phew. I have my boys to keep me company. (Well, until I head off to tap in a few minutes.)

But I thought Jones was...

Play ball, everyone!

Soccer and Chucks

A couple quick links.

--There was a cute entry in the DC Sports Bog about members of DC United rooming together. I just love the idea of teammates living together; it reminds me of the stories of the big baseball stars living together (I believe Mantle and Maris were roommates for a time, though I could be making it up; I'm too lazy to check it out right now). I'm also kind of blown away at the idea of Ben Olsen advertising the room on Craigslist. I'm sure it would be out of my price range, but how cool to have him for a landlord!

--Story in the Post yesterday about Converse's 100th birthday. Yes, my last car was named "Chuck." Yes, after the shoes. Yes, I still have a little pair hanging on my rearview mirror. I started wearing Chucks sometime in middle school, mostly because my sister wore them and therefore, I thought they were cool. I still do. And they're crazy comfortable, and black Chucks go with everything.