Monday Morning Brain Fart - 7/20

Saturday morning the woman and I went to the New Jersey DMV in Flemington, NJ so that we could renew our licenses. People always talk about how miserable an experience it is when you go to the DMV; the lines, the waiting, the crabby workers. We made sure that we showed up nice and early in the morning so that we had enough time for all the waiting and frustration before it closed at noon. You can imagine how happy I was then when we were in and out of the DMV in about 15 minutes. There were no lines, no waiting, and the women working there were quite delightful. It was the best DMV experience of my life, and one that I imagine can only be attained in the great state of New Jersey.

We also had the good ol' Ford Focus serviced on Saturday. It was the regular 5,000 mile maintenance, as well as a repair of the right front tire, which is allergic to keeping air in it, as well as finding out why the AC smells like burning when it comes out of the vents. Turns out we had a nail in the tire, which I suppose isn't all together surprising considering the commute I have every day. I refuse, however, to blame it on the wonderfully conditioned roads of New Jersey, so I believe that someone stole my car, drove it around in Pennsylvania where it got the nail in the tire, and then returned it the same night.

I went to my first baby shower this weekend for my cousin Chris and his wife Jackie's first baby. Earlier in the week I went to Babies R' Us to get them something from their registry, and let me tell you, Babies R' Us is the SCARIEST place in the world. It is unbelievable how much money baby stuff costs, as well as the sheer amount of it that exists. The store itself is ridiculously unorganized as well, as nothing was where the registry said it was. A pregnant woman who thought I looked overwhelmed (I was) helped me out, which was very nice of her. It's an awful place and I don't recommend you go there. Truly horrifying.

My cousins are big firework junkies, so there was a delightful display of them when nightfall finally arrived Saturday night. The first one went off during the daylight actually, and when it got to its highest point and exploded, my cousins Bryan and Ashleigh's son Jake, who's 5, had the most unbelievably priceless reaction I have ever seen. The firework went off, and he just turned and screamed, "OH MY GOD!!!!!! YESSSSSSS!! YESSSSSSSSSSSS!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!" He then just ran around like crazy for a while. Amazing.

I read an article today about how John Tortorella wants the Rangers to get over their problems with Donald Brashear from last year's playoffs and accept him as part of the team because he believes he can help them. "When they come out of the locker room," he wants them to come out "as a team" he says. Like I said in my Rangers rant, if I was on that team I would have a hard time accepting Brashear after what he did to Blair Betts in Game 6 of last year's first round, but maybe they're better men than I. We'll see how that goes.

I'm watching the 4th round of the British Open, and it just doesn't feel like a major championship without Jim Nantz behind the mic. Now as far as the main story line goes, Mike Tirico can paint as vivid a picture as he wants about Tom Watson bringing us all back to the good old days of golf, but as an average joe golf fan, it remains less than compelling television without Tiger or Phil in contention on Sunday. I take nothing away from Tom Watson as it is a wonderful story, and he is playing some very good golf. It is fun to watch, just not as fun as it would be with Tiger and Phil duking it out. Of course as I say this, Watson just choked on his par putt on 18 to win, so we're going to a playoff between him and Stewart Cink. Again, very good, exciting golf, just not as exciting as it could be to me, the average fan.

My dad and I watched a special on the life and career of Walter Cronkite tonight, and being that I am relatively young, I had never known what kind of an impact he had on television news, as well as on America in general. It seemed as though he was a very special man. What baffles me though is that when a great American like Cronkite, who did so much good and influenced so many people, passes away, people across this country did not react in anywhere close to the manner that they did when a former pop star who may or may not have molested little boys died. Sure Michael Jackson was a talented singer, but I think the last 10 to 15 years of his life has done enough to tarnish his legacy and leave him far from deserving the kind of special treatment he's been receiving post mortem. But maybe that's just me, who knows.

The ESPY's were on tonight, ESPN's annual award show recognizing sports excellence. I really feel no need to watch it, which is partially due to the fact that ESPN releases all of the winners of the awards beforehand, which is so idiotic. The show was taped on Wednesday or Thursday I believe, and after that all of the winners were announced on SportsCenter and on ESPN.com. So after seeing who won, why do I need to watch the show? Very bad job ESPN. I think you're losing a lot of viewers by announcing the winners beforehand. Though once last thing I'd like to throw in here about that: my girl Nastia looked gooooood accepting the Best Female Athlete award, or whatever it is called. Nice.

Ugh. Another week of work. Though this will only be a 4 day work week because on Friday we're off to Ithaca, NY for Rick (last name deleted) and Corie's wedding! Please note as well that because we will be away at the wedding this weekend, and because we will be at the 4th Annual Summer Camp (explanation as to what that is coming later) the following weekend, the Brain Fart will be put on hold for 2 weeks. Regular posts will happen, just not the Brain Fart. My apologies in advance to all 4 of my loyal readers.