Yes, it's time for another decade list and this one is about sports. Since it's so hard to pick, I've decided to make a very specific micro list of great sports moments for ME this past decade.
10) June 9, 2008: Return to kickball glory. After several years of retirement, I returned to the kickball diamond where I was an adequate player at first base.
9) January 14, 2006: Getting a really good hot dog at Kohl Center.  I don't remember who the Badger basketball team was playing, but I do remember the line at the concession stand was unusually short and the hot dog seemed to taste a lot better.
8) Sept. 17, 2007: Finding a sweet spot near Camp Randall. I was going to a game with my folks when Bucky was playing The Citadel. Somehow we scored a legal spot on Lathrop Street. Probably because no one really care about getting to Camp Randall on time to see The Citadel.
7) December 10, 2001: Short line at the men's bathroom at a Packers game. Yes, I was at a Packers game. Somehow the line was extra short and I didn't miss much of the action. Were they playing The Citadel?
6) August 7, 2007: Too much change given back to me at White Sox game. I ordered a piece of pizza and a coke. I didn't realize the guy gave me an extra nickel until I was already back at my seat!
5) June 7, 2004: Great bike ride on the John Nolan Drive path. It wasn't too windy and I didn't get too winded.
4) April 14, 2006: I guessed correctly which of the three Brewer hats had the ball hidden under it on the Jumbotron at a Miller Park in the middle of the sixth inning.
3) Nov. 12, 2003: Came out of the kitchen with my plate of home made nachos at the exact second the Bears were scoring a touchdown. I didn't even have to wait for the replay!
2) March 7, 2006: Crumbled up a piece of paper and banked it off a wall into the recycle bin, but no one saw it!!!!
1) Oct. 22 and Oct. 23, 2005: Sitting in U.S. Cellular Field watching the Chicago White Sox win the first two games of the 2005 World Series against the Houston Astros. The Sox went on to win the World Series, but I had to watch the last two games in my living room. That was cool too because there was no line for the bathroom.
As we look back on the 2000's, I can't pass up the chance to pick out the best episodes of the Simpsons for the decade. I've decided to choose one from each year.
Behind the Laughter (May 21, 2000)
The Simpsons are featured in a parody of VH1's Behind the Music. They even used the same narrator as the real show. The best part was when the revealed the Simpsons are from Kentucky! Throughout the show they've never really said what state our favorite yellow family lives. However, in re-runs of the episode they always change the state.
Worst Episode Ever (Feb. 4, 2001)
You know it has to be great with a name like that. Comic book guy has a big role in this episode and the one scene that still makes me laugh is when Comic Book Guy hooks up with Seymour Skinner's mom (who looks like she's about 80 years old).  The music Comic Book Guy puts on so he can get it on with Agnes is Bread's Baby I'm A Want You.
How I Spent My Strummer Vacation (Nov. 10, 2002)
I'm not always a big fan of famous guest appearances on the show, but this one is classic. Homer goes to fantasy band camp and gets to mingle with rock n' roll royality including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Joe Strummer, Lenny Kravitz and Brian Setzer. Perhaps the funniest scene is Tom Petty's giant car that's in the shape of a devil's head.
Today I Am a Clown (Dec. 7, 2003)
This one stars Krusty who finally decides he should have a Bar Mitzvah. Jackie Mason is back as Krusty's disappointed rabbi father who had a hard time understanding why his son got into showbiz. Krusty decides to put the ceremony on television and spruce it up a bit. It includes a cameo by Mr. T. Krusty is happy that the show is a rating success.  Probably the best line is when Krusty refers to how well the show did. He says:  It's "Everybody Loves Raymond re-run good".
The Way We Weren't (May 9, 2004)
This is another episode where Marge and Homer talk about their past. They discover that they had a brief fling when they were both 10-years-old and at overnight camp. Marge didn't know it was Homer because he pretended to be someone else. The name he makes up? Elvis Jagger Abdul-Jabbar.
Milhouse of Sand and Fog (September 25, 2005)
Bart is trying to help Milhouse get his parents back together, but in the process almost breaks up his own folks. The best part of the episode is a reference to the television show The O.C.  The cast of the show is going to Knott's Berry Farm with a giant snoopy. For some reason Snoopy holds them up at gun point and makes all the characters take money out of an ATM. Priceless.
Girls Just Want to Have Sums (April 30,2006)
Springfield Elementary decides to divide the school by gender. Of course, Lisa wants to learn math with the boys.  The opening scene is what really made me laugh. The Simpsons go to see the musicial "Stab a Lot: The Itchy and Scratchy Musicial". It's a great paraody of the Lion King and includes Marge trying to avoid being noticed by the actors who are walking through the crowd. She says something along the lines of "Looking through my purse so I don't get noticed". Of course, she's picked to participate.
24 Minutes (May 20, 2007)
This one is a fantastic paraody of the Fox show 24. One of the best lines comes from Apu who can't stand the smell of some really bad old yogurt Homer tries to return to the Kwik-E-Mart. Apu says, ""If a homeless man and a dead fish had a baby, and the baby puked, and a dog ate the puke," the yogurt would smell like "the rear end of that dog."
Treehouse of Horror XIX (Nov. 2, 2008)
Treehouse episodes always have three short stories and I really liked the first and last of the three stories. The first one is a great paraody on Transformers. The second one takes a shot at the AMC show Mad Men and the third is a great paraody of "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". Milhouse plays the Charlie Brown roll and things get rather twisted.
The Devil Wears Nada (Nov. 15, 2009)
I rented  The Devil Wears Prada a few days before watching this episode which may have made it even more funny to me. Homer becomes an assistant to Carl who has become a manager for the power plant. The best scene is Marge and Ned eating strawberries together and almost kissing.
The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it is another gorgeous Monday, fit for another great show at the Crystal Corner tonight.
Through locking ourselves in the barn on Irish Lane, tossing some ideas around, as well as a few choice beverages to...
Hey everybody, we were thrown for a loop by the twist this week, but were able to make one of our "oldie but a goldie" songs fit the mold.
We have a few songs that we have played consistently over the years, and we are very happy that we will be...
We just received word of what this weeks twist is, and...oh boy. We need to take our "signature song" and cut it to only 2:30 without going over. Amberstein does not simply play 2:30 versions of our songs...so this could be interesting.
Last...
In 1984, Rockwell rose to number 2 for 3 weeks in 1984 with "Somebody's Watching Me." The backup singer for the song was Michael Jackson. How did Rockwell get Jackson to help him? Well, Rockwell's real name is Kennedy William Gordy and he...
Have you heard the song "Rumble and Sway" yet on Triple M?
The singer sounds like a raspy blues dude who's definitely been around the block a few times....but surprisingly, Jamie N. Commons is only 23 years old!
He was born in England, but...
Last week, I decided I would try one new, healthy food a week, and asked my facebook friends to make some suggestions.
The first thing I tried was mango. I'm sure I've had other mango flavored things, and mango as part of something else, but...
There's only one thing that might be worse than the Neil Diamond/Barbra Streisand duet "You Don't Bring Me Flowers." And that's Jonathan Suttin doing his best crooning...doing both parts. Most unpleasant.
A lot of people liked this song...
Artist: Alchemilla
Hail From: Boston
Song: 'The Wheel'
Album: Diamonds From The Penny Arcade
Sounds Like: Hole, Pearl Jam
In Their Words: "Alchemilla had been trying to write a ballad for a little while but it wasn't happening. There...
The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it is another gorgeous Monday, fit for another great show at the Crystal Corner tonight.
Through locking ourselves in the barn on Irish Lane, tossing some ideas around, as well as a few choice beverages to...
Hey everybody, we were thrown for a loop by the twist this week, but were able to make one of our "oldie but a goldie" songs fit the mold.
We have a few songs that we have played consistently over the years, and we are very happy that we will be...
We just received word of what this weeks twist is, and...oh boy. We need to take our "signature song" and cut it to only 2:30 without going over. Amberstein does not simply play 2:30 versions of our songs...so this could be interesting.
Last...
In 1984, Rockwell rose to number 2 for 3 weeks in 1984 with "Somebody's Watching Me." The backup singer for the song was Michael Jackson. How did Rockwell get Jackson to help him? Well, Rockwell's real name is Kennedy William Gordy and he...
Have you heard the song "Rumble and Sway" yet on Triple M?
The singer sounds like a raspy blues dude who's definitely been around the block a few times....but surprisingly, Jamie N. Commons is only 23 years old!
He was born in England, but...
Last week, I decided I would try one new, healthy food a week, and asked my facebook friends to make some suggestions.
The first thing I tried was mango. I'm sure I've had other mango flavored things, and mango as part of something else, but...
There's only one thing that might be worse than the Neil Diamond/Barbra Streisand duet "You Don't Bring Me Flowers." And that's Jonathan Suttin doing his best crooning...doing both parts. Most unpleasant.
A lot of people liked this song...
Artist: Alchemilla
Hail From: Boston
Song: 'The Wheel'
Album: Diamonds From The Penny Arcade
Sounds Like: Hole, Pearl Jam
In Their Words: "Alchemilla had been trying to write a ballad for a little while but it wasn't happening. There...
Yes, it's time for another decade list and this one is about sports. Since it's so hard to pick, I've decided to make a very specific micro list of great sports moments for ME this past decade.
10) June 9, 2008: Return to kickball glory. After several years of retirement, I returned to the kickball diamond where I was an adequate player at first base.
9) January 14, 2006: Getting a really good hot dog at Kohl Center.  I don't remember who the Badger basketball team was playing, but I do remember the line at the concession stand was unusually short and the hot dog seemed to taste a lot better.
8) Sept. 17, 2007: Finding a sweet spot near Camp Randall. I was going to a game with my folks when Bucky was playing The Citadel. Somehow we scored a legal spot on Lathrop Street. Probably because no one really care about getting to Camp Randall on time to see The Citadel.
7) December 10, 2001: Short line at the men's bathroom at a Packers game. Yes, I was at a Packers game. Somehow the line was extra short and I didn't miss much of the action. Were they playing The Citadel?
6) August 7, 2007: Too much change given back to me at White Sox game. I ordered a piece of pizza and a coke. I didn't realize the guy gave me an extra nickel until I was already back at my seat!
5) June 7, 2004: Great bike ride on the John Nolan Drive path. It wasn't too windy and I didn't get too winded.
4) April 14, 2006: I guessed correctly which of the three Brewer hats had the ball hidden under it on the Jumbotron at a Miller Park in the middle of the sixth inning.
3) Nov. 12, 2003: Came out of the kitchen with my plate of home made nachos at the exact second the Bears were scoring a touchdown. I didn't even have to wait for the replay!
2) March 7, 2006: Crumbled up a piece of paper and banked it off a wall into the recycle bin, but no one saw it!!!!
1) Oct. 22 and Oct. 23, 2005: Sitting in U.S. Cellular Field watching the Chicago White Sox win the first two games of the 2005 World Series against the Houston Astros. The Sox went on to win the World Series, but I had to watch the last two games in my living room. That was cool too because there was no line for the bathroom.
How I Spent My Strummer Vacation (Nov. 10, 2002)
I'm not always a big fan of famous guest appearances on the show, but this one is classic. Homer goes to fantasy band camp and gets to mingle with rock n' roll royality including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Joe Strummer, Lenny Kravitz and Brian Setzer. Perhaps the funniest scene is Tom Petty's giant car that's in the shape of a devil's head.
Today I Am a Clown (Dec. 7, 2003)
This one stars Krusty who finally decides he should have a Bar Mitzvah. Jackie Mason is back as Krusty's disappointed rabbi father who had a hard time understanding why his son got into showbiz. Krusty decides to put the ceremony on television and spruce it up a bit. It includes a cameo by Mr. T. Krusty is happy that the show is a rating success.  Probably the best line is when Krusty refers to how well the show did. He says:  It's "Everybody Loves Raymond re-run good".
The Way We Weren't (May 9, 2004)
This is another episode where Marge and Homer talk about their past. They discover that they had a brief fling when they were both 10-years-old and at overnight camp. Marge didn't know it was Homer because he pretended to be someone else. The name he makes up? Elvis Jagger Abdul-Jabbar.
Milhouse of Sand and Fog (September 25, 2005)
Bart is trying to help Milhouse get his parents back together, but in the process almost breaks up his own folks. The best part of the episode is a reference to the television show The O.C.  The cast of the show is going to Knott's Berry Farm with a giant snoopy. For some reason Snoopy holds them up at gun point and makes all the characters take money out of an ATM. Priceless.
Girls Just Want to Have Sums (April 30,2006)
Springfield Elementary decides to divide the school by gender. Of course, Lisa wants to learn math with the boys.  The opening scene is what really made me laugh. The Simpsons go to see the musicial "Stab a Lot: The Itchy and Scratchy Musicial". It's a great paraody of the Lion King and includes Marge trying to avoid being noticed by the actors who are walking through the crowd. She says something along the lines of "Looking through my purse so I don't get noticed". Of course, she's picked to participate.
24 Minutes (May 20, 2007)
This one is a fantastic paraody of the Fox show 24. One of the best lines comes from Apu who can't stand the smell of some really bad old yogurt Homer tries to return to the Kwik-E-Mart. Apu says, ""If a homeless man and a dead fish had a baby, and the baby puked, and a dog ate the puke," the yogurt would smell like "the rear end of that dog."
Treehouse of Horror XIX (Nov. 2, 2008)
Treehouse episodes always have three short stories and I really liked the first and last of the three stories. The first one is a great paraody on Transformers. The second one takes a shot at the AMC show Mad Men and the third is a great paraody of "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". Milhouse plays the Charlie Brown roll and things get rather twisted.
The Devil Wears Nada (Nov. 15, 2009)
I rented  The Devil Wears Prada a few days before watching this episode which may have made it even more funny to me. Homer becomes an assistant to Carl who has become a manager for the power plant. The best scene is Marge and Ned eating strawberries together and almost kissing.
