The past three weeks

It has been awhile since my last post and I don't want to make any excuses, but there just happen to be two really good excuses:

1) I was in Onamia, MN for a week on vacation with my family.
2) I just started a new job and had my first week of work in over a month.

In regards to the two things above here is some advice. Not working is much better than actually working. I truly can't wait till I retire. This is obviously something I shouldn't be thinking about at the age of 24, but I think that I will be very content being retired. Also, when I do get to the age of retirement I can promise you that I won't retire in Onamia, MN. It was great seeing the entire family (especially the new addition Henry) and relaxing on Mille Lac Lake. However, there is only a Dairy Queen, Grand Casino, a few bars, and lots of liquor stores in Onamia and the surrounding area. That is is great if you want to get drunk, fat and gamble. The cabin was nice, but I think the Malphurs family was in agreement that next year's vacation will be somewhere other than Onamia.

Now that my excuses are out of the way here are my thoughts:

Sports:

• How dumb am I? I haven't given up on the Twins making the playoffs. They are 5.5 games out of the Division after sweeping Baltimore. Needless to say I am not optimistic about them making the playoffs, but I am hopeful that with 6 more games against the Indians and 6 more games against Le Tigres the Twins can make a run.
• I am thinking about doing an Nfl and/or college football prediction column. We will see if I get to that.

Entertainment

• I just bought Madden 08 and played the traditional first game with the Dolphins. My thoughts:
• Dante Culpepper is the Dolphins starting Qb?!? Really? It took me about 0.7 seconds to put John Beck (the next Dolphins Qb of the future) in at starting Qb.
• Ted Ginn Jr is really fast and good in the game. Lets hope that Madden and the Dolphins got it right.
• Jason Taylor is a linebacker in Madden.
• Other than that I haven't played enough of Madden to give it any type of review. It is Madden though, so it has to be good.
• I finished Paul Shirley's new book: Can I Keep My Jersey and it is really good. I recommend it to anyone who wants a quick read that will give you a good insight to maybe different corners of the basketball world.
• I have started Loose Balls about the Aba and so far I have been disappointed. I had referenced this book in another blog post in which I said that I had very, very high expecations. Parts have been good and informative, but overall it has fallen short of expecations.
• Season 2 of 24 is excellent. I am a little more than halfway finished and I have been very impressed.

Random:

• M and I went to Betty Jean's Chicken and Waffles last week and came away pleased with our selection. I haven't had better Fried Chicken anywhere in Minnesota and the entire meal complete with the sweet tea was definitely something that was fulfilling. Check out the website: http://bjschickennwaffles.com/
• If you are in St. Paul and you want great Italian then I suggest going to Cossetta's: http://www.citypages.com/dish/detail.asp?CID=2129
• I just read a great article in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/fashion/26list.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Previously I had made a "life list" when I was a sophomore in college. Unfortunately, I have lost the list, but I think it might be time to create a new one.