On Tuesday of this week we had our biggest yet trip to Yankee Stadium by Shore Fire Staff and friends. Seen here, from right to left, are Chris Thieke, Laura Watson from CBS, Brian Bingham from CBS, me, and Diana D’Angelo. Not pictured is camerman Brendan Gilmartin, who also used his connections to get us into the posh Mohegan Sun sports bar in center field during the 8th inning.

Sadly, it was a snoozer of a game. The Yankees got pummeled by the Blue Jays, until the 7th inning, when both teams just started pummeling each other. Literally. with their fists. I’ve never before been at a game when a genuine benches-and-bullpens clearning brawl happened; it was quite entertaining. The only problem was that being in the stands, we got no replay and no commentary so it took us quite a while until we finally learned what had happened. All we got in the stands was this incongruous cartoon of some happy dancing flowers in a garden that stayed on the jumbotron for the entire brawl, because Brett Gardner (get it?!) had gotten the base hit that set off the whole fracas.

Anyway, it was a great night.

And while we’re talking baseball, i have to share this insanely cute clip from a Phillies game that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Were you to visit our office today, you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for a beach party. Most of us are wearing shorts, fans are blowing, foreheads are damp, and the freezer is stocked with ice cream bars courtesy of the heroic and saintly Nancie Martin (who ought to be awarded a medal). The reason? The AC in our building has conked out during the worst heatwave of the summer.

No matter though. All this heatwave needs is a little bit of appropriate music. So, here are my top five “hot” songs from my iTunes library:
“Hot Pants”- Norma and the Heartaches
“Hot Fun in the Summertime”- Sly and the Family Stone
“Hot Hot Summer Day”- Sugarhill Gang
“Here Comes the Hotstepper”- Ini Kamoze
“Hot Heels”- The Barbara Moore Sound

and what would a hot playlist be without a cool B-side:
“Cold Sweat”- James Brown
“Youths are So Cold”- Richie Spice
“Cold in the Country- “Rosewood Theives”
“Ice Cold Daydream”- Suggie Otis
“In the Cold Cold Night”- The White Stripes

I’m also working on a Weird Al Yankovic style re-work of the classic Kenny Rogers tune. New chorus: “I just dropped in to see what condition our air conditioning’s in.”

In honor of St. Patrick’s day, I have to post this all-time classic piece of YouTube comedy gold, the Alabama Leprechaun.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nda_OSWeyn8]

You’ve probably read about our pumpkin-decorating contest, but I wanted to toot my own horn about the pumpkin-head version of our office manager Chris Thieke that I did. I had everything- the glasses, the long hair, the beard, the hat, the cigarette, even the arm holding the weekly staff schedule that he brings around every monday.

Sadly, my pumpkin didn’t win any prizes. I demanded a recount, but was denied. At least I’ll have something to talk to Al Gore about the next time I meet him at a bar.

Anyway, here’s a picture of my pumpkin Thieke standing next to the real thing. Can you tell the difference? Me neither.

You may have heard some of the news lately about the large hadron collider, a piece of machinery that smashes particles into each other by rocketing them around a 17-mile loop built at the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland. You may have also heard that it was supposed to cause the end of the world by creating a rogue black hole “that will engulf the planet or produce “quantum strangelets” transforming the Earth into a dead lump of “strange matter”.”

So far though, that hasn’t happened. And in fact, besides for proving or disproving the standard model of particle physics, serious eats has discovered that the LHC could moonlight as the world’s biggest microwave, able to defrost a frozen pizza in, oh, about 30 billionths of a second.

My favorite piece of silliness related to the LHC though is the inexplicably catchy “Large Hadron Rap”, featuring a cameo by my favorite rapper who also holds a PhD in theoretical physics, MC Hawking. Give it a listen below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM]

It’s been warming up over the last few weeks here in NYC, and there are signs of spring everywhere. The farmer’s market is back. The trees are green. And there are once again bands playing in the courthouse plaza across the street.

We see (and hear) it all here- rock bands, gospel choirs, drumlines, high school bands… but the first official plaza concert of 2008, which i’m listening to through my open office window, is a surprisingly good smooth jazz band. And by band, i think it’s actually just one guy with an electric guitar and some backing tracks.

I’ve been enjoying myself trying to identify the songs he’s playing. So far i’ve recognized
“Ignition” by R. Kelly (a bold choice)
“Brick House” by the Commodores
“K-Jee” by MFSB (from the saturday night fever soundtrack- I’m both ashamed and proud to have gotten that one)
“Could it be I’m Falling in Love”- The Spinners
“Ain’t Nobody”- Chaka Kahn

As it’s now lunch, i think i’m going to go down and have a look at the magic close-up.