Gone are the days of hoping to find Northwestern mentioned in the “Others receiving votes” section at the bottom of every weekly collegiate football pool, then counting the number of schools that come before them before declaring “hey, we’re ranked 31st… we’re actually getting some respect.” Luckily for the Wildcat fans out there, SI.com keeps weekly tabs on all those teams that don’t make it into the newspaper. Numbers 26 through 119, every single one of them. I think you can see for yourself: we are in the company of some truly formidable powerhouses.

[SI.com - NCAA Football - Power Rankings: 26-119]

The MS150 City to Shore charity bike ride last weekend went off with only a few minor hitches:

• The 300 mile drive from Boston to Philly took 8 hours on Friday thanks to rush hour traffic from New Haven all the way to Newark. The rain didn’t help either.
• I over-inflated Lauren’s tire at midnight on Friday and we had no replacement tubes. A little min-crisis to deal with on Saturday morning.
• The weather Saturday morning at 5am was less than lovely. There’s nothing like getting poured on in the pitch black while trying to mount bikes on a car with only the light from the tail lights to assist you.
• Lauren was knocked off her bike about 10 miles into the two-day 150 mile ride but escaped with only a bloody knee.
• And finally, the drive back to Boston on Sunday night was brutal. I could have used a pillow on the steering wheel. Following almost 6 hours on a bike with 7 hours behind the wheel is a recipe for disaster.

Despite all the problems, the weekend was great. The team raised over $7,000. The weather turned out to be perfect, and Aunt Theresa made it to the finish line to greet us. I’d do it all over again. In fact, we’re already planning on doing it all over again next year.

I’ve set up another page to cover the goings on of the team. Keep tabs on what the team is up to, check out the events we’ll be participiating in, donate money, join the team, or just look at some pictures from the weekend and marvel at the wonder that is spandex. Check it out here. Enjoy

I hope I don’t get hit…. in the reeeeaaaarrrrr again.

Those Geiko commercials kill me, especially the Burt Bacharach one. I realize some people don’t care for them, like C, who squirms everytime she hears about the licking of the eyeball. And my mom, who’s 100% convinced that they’re all celebrity impersonators because there’s no way Burt Bacharach looks that bad/creepy. Regardless of your thoughts on those ads, this clip here from the Daily Show is top drawer. Top. Drawer.

[YouTube - President Bush uses Little Richard as translator]

On a semi-related note, Mr. Bacharach has a blog on the Huffington Post. I don’t really know why. I think his first post was “Hello. I’m in Delaware. I’m Burt Bacharach.”

The hirrs are arive, with the sound of engrish…

Call it Engrish, call it Chinglish, it’s endlessly fascinating and incredibly entertaining. Here are all the links you need to get you up to speed. I’m a poet and I didn’t even know it.

[engrish - a photoset on Flickr]
[engrish.com]
[my photo album from Japan: Engrish everywhere]

Not to be Nipocentric…
[Flickr: The Chinglish Pool]

Deck the harrs with berrs of horry, fa ra ra ra ra ra ra