Forget Intelligent Design

All Hail the Flying Spaghetti Monster!!!

May he touch you with his noodly appendage

This is a funny new take on logic and religion. It is worth a great laugh if you have the time to read the letters and check out the pictures that accompany it. Have fun.

My Name is Mike

Well I finally caught the new NBC series starring Jason Lee called "My Name is Earl". Its all about this guy who believes that karma is making him straighten out his life, so he has a list of all of the people he has ever wronged, and he has to go around figuring out how to make things right.

Well as I get ready to leave the craptacular world of Refco, I caught myself reminsing about what I would miss most about here. The sad thing is, outside of a couple of people I work with, the answer was some of the lunch spots. So with inspriation from Earl, I have been working on a list of my favorite eatery's here in the West Loop/Greektown.

So far I have crossed off the following meals.

-Grilled Chicken on pita at Zeus
-Double Char Cheddar Burger at Gold Coast
-Chicken Terryiaki at a Chinese place in Northwest Station
-Ribeye steak sandwiches at Greektown Gyros


Still left on my list
-Half Chicken from Harold's
-French Toast soaking in melted hot butter from G&G's
-Rib tips from Robinson's
-Fajita's from TacoBurritoKing
-Slice of deepdish pizza from Baccino's

I won't be able to hit all of the hot spots before I leave, but thankfully I get to go back to the lunch capital of the world in the Financial District.

2005 American League Champions

What a ride this has been. The White Sox lost game one in Chicago to the Angels, and then unleashed pitching dominance like has never been seen before in an LCS series. They had an unprecidented run of 4 straight complete games, while having the offense cash in with key hits in pressure situations. MVP Paul Konerko set the tone by hitting home runs in the first innings of two straight games, while guys like Joe Crede got huge hits late. Add it all up and for the first time since 1959 the White Sox are going to the World Series.

For me it meant a long night of drinking and sleep deprevation, and tons of phone calls to Sox fans and Cub fans alike. This moment is almost surreal as I have watched other teams in other sports do this, but never my guys. Well this year its our turn.

Right now the White Sox await the winner of the Cardinals/Astros series, with Houston leading three games to one.

Movin on up

Well I finally got what I have been looking for since about February of 2002, a job that has a respectable pay. I am leaving my current job, and just in the nick of time. It seems that Refco's former CEO was hiding losses in shell companies, and then moving them to a certian customer account to hide them from the auditors quarterly. The guy just got arrested last night, and is due for his perp walk on TV any time now. The company is getting beat up in the press and on the NYSE, as it rightfully should. I feel sorry for all of the commision based guys who are seeing all of their labor go down the toilet as people flee with their money out to someone they can trust.

Anyways I am really excited about the new job. I will be back on a trading floor, getting a big raise, and a nice benefits package. I will be starting two weeks from today, and I can't wait. It will be a nice relief to get out of the discount field and into somewhere with a decent paycheck and some opportunity.

ALDS sweep!!!

Another week, another celebration in White Sox-ville. This time the Chicago White Sox swept out the fomerly-defending World Champions Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox were just a completely different team in 2005. They were missing anchor pitchers Pedro Martinez, Derick Lowe, and Keith Foulke from the 2004 team, and it was pitching that made the huge difference in the series.

The White Sox pitching was incredible for the most part, really doing a good job of keeping Johnny Damon off of the basepaths, and limiting the damage done by Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz.

Now the White Sox await the winner of the Angels/Yankees series.

Your truely will be lucky enough to attend Game Two of the ALCS, and I can't wait. 8 more wins to go, hopefully.

Thunderstruck!

Game one of the ALDS is now in the books, and in impressive fashion. The White Sox took the Red Sox out to the woodshed and blistered them to the tune of 14-2. Included in this barrage was a Divison Series record of 5 home runs in one game. AJ Pierynski hit two of them, with Konerko, Uribe, and even Scott Podsednik getting in on the act. The pitching was also stellar with Jose Contreras only giving up 2 runs to Boston's MLB best offense over 7 2/3 innings pitched.

One of the great moments of the game was White Sox legend Frank Thomas throwing out the first pitch.

Everybody loves babies and kittens

So the wife is sitting watching the White Sox game one against the Red Sox. As usual the kitten, Pods, (pictured below)



was in a comfortable seat on her stomach. Pods is a big baseball fan because that means someone is sitting on the couch for hours, which translates to big petting chances for him. While the game is being played, and Pods is getting mucho pets, the baby (only 30 days away from due date now, and pictured below in file footage)



starts to feel the vibrations of the purring going on directly above her head, and starts to move around. This wakes up the still ever-present kitten in Pods, and so he starts to bat at the baby moving around directly underneath him. Definately an "awwwwwwwww that's so cute moment" if I have ever heard one.