The Last Ephor

I've been holding out on my reader(s). I've been playing soccer for the first time in literally a decade. We play once a week at from 8:30 until 10:00ish. I got roped into this by someone we'll call Brian. A few weeks ago when we started this I met Brian at his house so I could follow him to the field. We got there and there were only 7 guys. We took sides and I touched the ball to start the game. Brian took one step and tore his ACL. As he's writhing on the ground writhing in agony I say; "You are in so much trouble." His wife's parting words to us were "Don't get hurt". "I know" he said sucking in air and making sounds like a leaking tire that swears. That was the end of his summer career. In fact, he just had surgery this week to repair his leg. Some guys will do anything for attention. Anyway, back to the story... As we're making the initial introductions, three guys are wearing Red Bull New York gear. As ask one...

I know it appears I've invoked Godwin's Law in the title of this post but I haven't, really. Hear me out. I'm talking about The Other Big Lie and it's codicil. It goes something like this: Your alarm goes off and you hit snooze. Worse yet, you turn it off and tell yourself "I'm just going to close my eyes for a minute and then I'll get up." You know you're lying to yourself but you believe it anyway. Next thing you know, it's 45 minutes later and you wake up, look a the clock and it you're anything like me, drop a few expletives and then get up. The codicil to this lie is the one where you get up and you're positively exhausted. Eyes burning, head hurting, sensitive to light kinda tired. You then tell yourself; "I swear to God, I'm going to be early tonight."

Andrew Sullivan touched on a topic that gave me pause. He's been talking about Jack Chick tracts that you find nutjobs distributing hither and yon. They're not as prevalent in this area as they are in others. My first and only encounter with these things was in Baltimore shortly after the Earth cooled (translation: when I was in college). It was Halloween and I was in Fells Point. For those of you familiar with the sight, no further explanation is necessary. For the uninitiated, my words will fail to adequately describe the bachanalian scene in those days. I understand it's become a bit more sedate over the years as Baltimore's Finest have clamped down a bit. Anyway, I was heading down Broadway toward Max's and as I was waiting on line, some shady looking character was eyeballing me. I was dressed as a priest (of all things). I borrowed the gear from Fr. Perrine who lived upstairs from me. He seemed to think the thought of me as a priest was hilarious. ...

“I want to tell them that France will always be by their side when they need her" The ban on French products is hereby lifted. It will be nice to have a bottle of French wine and some cheese. The upside of the self-imposed ban for me has been the exploration of other regional wines. I've been most impressed by the Chilean wines. Australia seldom disappoints and with their overproduction in recent years the prices have been very good. Maybe if DV can stay sober during the next wine tasting he attends he can make a recommendation. (I'm not holding my breath)