Comic for Friday, June 29th, 2007

Posted: 7:00 am, Friday, June 29th

Huh, I got this thing in the mail the other day about rewards for donating blood. Generally, I do this out of some sort of sense of obligation - I don't need it *all*, I suppose, and I'm O-neg, so, you know - but these rewards are surprisingly good. I've never given a platelet donation, since I imagine I would really antsy if I had to try and give blood for two hours, so I'm probably limited to a silver or bronze gift. Good enough for me.

Man, Posh Spice has some of the most insanely fake boobs I've ever seen. And, more importantly, I guess, the Spice Girls are reuniting for a tour. Tree probably can already tell us when tickets go on sale. The rest of you can go here to register to pre-sale, or something. I can't believe London is not their first stop. The Verve, the Spice Girls... Who will reunite tomorrow? Hopefully Sleater-Kinney.

Man, I only ever played Civilization II for an afternoon before realizing how dangerous it was and that I'd better delete it immediately if I wanted to pass any of my finals. But the news that the franchise is console-bound is exciting. Also exciting is that Henry Rollins will be narrating it. Wild. Actually, I'm not sure if he's just narrating the trailer or what. Still, though, wild. Also wild was the GTA IV trailer, but I think the first one was more mind-blowing, since I got to see more of New York/Liberty City.

So I joined the Uni Watch membership.. club, and got my sweet, sweet card in the mail the other day. The 37's in honor of Space Man Bill Lee, as is my softball number. It is *also* the number I inflicted upon Crownover for her company softball game. Which, if you believe this, is being held at Yankee Stadium. She works at an investment banking firm that is apparently drowning in money or something, because, if you missed it the first time, they have rented out of the Pit of Hell for their company summer outing. Man, I'm thinking of getting a job in the mailroom there or something just for the summer so I can urinate all over that field. Anyway, Crownover, being a good egg, is wearing a Sox jersey numbered 37 (oh, they also get a free jersey of their choosing for wearing during the game). A Mets jersey would've made more sense, since she's a Mets fan - did they not offer those, Crownover? I forget.

I'm listening to the Dodgers-D'Backs right now. God, I totally forgot Grady Little is the manager of the Dodgers. I can't believe that fool got hired by someone again. By the way, Vin Sculley is utterly freaking fascinated with the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest. He's mentioned it two games in a row.

Does anyone have interesting weekend plans? 2.0 and I are going to pre-Cana, this pre-wedding requirement the Catholic church makes you suffer through. Ought to be fascinating. I'll tell you all about it on Monday. And set a low-water mark for traffic that day.

This is embarrassing - the iPhone hits at six o'clock in the afternoon, not at 12:01. I hate it when that happens. On the other hand, I also found this weird time-lapse of the opening of the Fifth Ave Apple Store, which is pretty cool.

This looks so much cooler than the movie. (NSFW audio)

bullfrog

Miyaa -- Friday, June 29 2007, 08:37 am

How do you tell the difference between real and fake boobs? Is it basically size, or are there other characteristics?

Civilization IV has Leonard Nimoy narrate the opening sequence (a scientific version of Creation) and all the quotes that comes with every technology you discover or trade for, which is very, very cool.

You know, you could just elope to Vegas. I'm just saying.

Basically the fact that gravity has absolutely no effect on them.

Also, Posh in '97:

http://www.celebitchy.com/4257/spice_girls_reunion/1/

Posh in '07: (slightly NSFW)

http://www.idontlikeyouinthatway.com/2007/04/victoria-beckhams-implants-are-still-stupid.html

We did our pre-Cana with the Dominicans here in Oxford, and the former-southern-Baptist spouse-to-be was delighted when our wedding preparation friar sat us down for the first meeting, opened a cupboard, and started pouring out the sherry. The Catholic Church got a huge boost in its favor with that.

Hope your pre-Cana includes wine!

Heading to Kaufmann Stadium in K.C. for our annual baseball roadtrip (leaving from Chicago Suburbs). Should be fun, for the BBQ alone... and I'll be lacking several thousand brain cells by Monday morning.

Oh... Ginger Spice... what you do to me....

Dear God, I hope it includes wine, too. I didn't know that was a choice. Oh, please, please, please include wine, pre-Cana!

Kaufmann's still on my list.

Ginger was always my favorite, too.

I wonder if her getting the nickname "Sexy Spice" at the beginning of the Spice Girls shamed Victoria into the boob job?

It's actually the company's anniversary party, not just a summer outing, so bleeding money is totally acceptable :) They did have Mets, but I just love you so much Jeremiah that I had to get the Sox. awwwwww

Wow, CK in Time Magazine!!!

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1637886_1637891,00.html

also, don't get me STARTED on giving blood. I'm so angry I can't do it anymore because I lived in Ireland, despite the fact that a) Ireland has NO documented cases of mad cow, and b) I'm a freaking vegetarian!!! Grr....

You can't ever give again because you lived in Ireland? A) Why is that? B) When did you live in Ireland? I did not know this.

Thanks for the heads-up on the Time article, too. I knew this was coming, just not when. I'm now going to refer to CK as "my studious 28-year old friend." Which I suppose will be nice twenty years from now when I'm still calling her that.

Kaufmann is really nice. They're renovating the place so that there will be things like a fully walk-around concourse and supposedly three-times the number of bathroom stalls.

Whitey, you can't go wrong with just about any Barbecue place in Kansas City in terms of taste. I would avoid Gates only because the girls yell at you with a "Hi, how can I help you?" that sounds very insincere. Oklahoma Joe's is really good, if you don't mind it's basically an appendage onto a gas station.

If you're wanting something completely different than BBQ one night, there's a new restaurant opening in Johnson County (Olathe, Kansas side of KC Metro region) called Amour de Brazil or something like. Basically, Brazilian style food, which boils down to a 250 types of wine bar, a 40 piece salad and sushi bar, and they waiters comes and brings a selection of up to 15 types of meats and cuts and ask if you want a piece of this or a piece of that. Not all-you-can eat, however, keep that in mind. Plus, a lot of scantily clad men and women dancing during the opening weekend. Not too bad, if you ask me.

Lived there for two years during grad school, dude. Seriously, I never mentioned that?

And yeah, the Red Cross is apparently very concerned about mad cow in the UK and Ireland. Grr.

Miyaa -

Thanks for the info... we're more of a "appendage onto a gas station" type group. Any good local brews I should be aware of?

Although you can't go wrong with scantily clad women dancing...

#15 - I sympathize. I'm not allowed to give blood because I lived in Budapest for 5 months 8 years ago (I think 2009 is my magic number). The only reason I can figure out that I'm banned is because the Red Cross is scared of former communist countries.

Nope. But I just found out that someone I've known for ten years was a freaking child actor/model, also, so I guess I've just got the sort of face that make people not want to tell me things.

Give the NY Blood Center a call. They have different standards than the Red Cross. Not sure if this would be one of the differences, but you can never tell.

Yeah, the food-from-a-gas-station aspect interested me, too. There's a pawn shop in Chinatown that sells *awesome* hot dogs.

I can't give because I've fainted twice (low blood pressure)

Whitey, Boulevard Beer from Kansas City is excellent. I also heartily endorse the Hereford House if you're in the mood to go a little more upscale and get a fantastic steak. And even if the Gates people are insincere, dang, the BBQ is good.

The TIME woman asked me what I dressed like style-wise and I said "um, hip librarian?" which I guess is where she got the "studious." Ah well . . .

15 - do you grrr at the red cross when you are there? maybe they would reconsider if they knew what a ferocious donor you would be

15, next time you watch Bull Durham, see if you notice something about the opening still during the title credits.

Another sign of a boob job: the woman has no other fat on her body. Rumor is that Posh Spice is too small for a size 0. Eating disorder anyone?

Weekend plans: friend's wedding at the Sports Memorabilia Museum connected to Camden Yards. Should be good times. I'm a little worried about the vegan-catered food, but as long as the alcohol is free....

Games Radar's breakdown of the GTA IV trailer from yesterday:

http://www.gamesradar.com/us/ps3/game/features/article.jsp?articleId=20070628152634467025

Easy to overlook, at the end:

"You can also clearly see shots of pedestrians smoking, ordering hot dogs, looking at Niko over their shoulders as he brushes by and - in one brief shot - kicking a homeless man on a basketball court. And through it all, Liberty City accurately reflects the gritty gray beauty of the real-life city it's based on."

I realize I don't really hang in dangerous places, but I've yet to see anyone in New York kicking the crap out of anyone on a basketball court in broad daylight. Just sayin'.

Agree with CK about the Boulevard Beers, particularly their pale ale. They own that and the River Market Brewery, which is also pretty good. I would avoid America's Pub, vastly overrated. If you're into Irish pubs, I would suggest either W.J. McBrides in Overland Park, KS or my personal favorite the O'Dowd Little Dublin on the Plaza. Went with a guy I knew from England, and he said it was the closest to an authentic Irish pub he's been in Missouri. I also like the Peanut, which is just south of the Plaza in the UMKC store. Best $1 Tacos in the city. You can also go to the 810 Zone, which is a local radio station's take on ESPNZones. Not too bad, if you're bored, you can pass the time playing Bejeweled or Monopoly on their touch-pad television screens, or watch television.

Lots of tre-chic restaurants and stores at the Plaza. We also have our fair share of steakhouses, but they're kind of pricey. Kansas City does have a Chris's Ruth, and the Hereford House is always good recommendation as well. Avoid the Plaza III steakhouse, you'll need reservations and a home mortgage to eat there.

Not to go all Rachel Ray on you, but when you get to Kansas City, get a copy of the Pitch, our version of the Village Voice. It's free. You'll find a nice selection of pubs, bars, sports bars (which I tend to frequent the most), and other such places.

I've been going to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Sundays (which is right across from the Convention Center with the really weird four-pronged art towers sticking out of it), mainly because the Monsignors are really good homilist and because it's two blocks away from a Folger's Coffee plant. Damn, coffee never smelled that good. And I don't even drink coffee.

Peanut is not in the UMKC store, it's in the area around UMKC. I think faster than I type.

I've donated platelets a dozen times or so. Their rewards are nice, and they always seem to have some monthly thing going on - i.e., donate four times this month and you get a gift card, that sort of thing. It's nice. They're notoriously picky about donors (whole blood too, of course). When I got my second tattoo, I had to wait a year before donating again. You'd think that if you were in Ireland years ago, that too would be enough time passed..

Oh, man, I am so bummed that the only resemblance this illustration bears to CK is that it's of a Caucasian female.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1637886_1637892_1637877,00.html

this is awesome - http://www.benjerry.com/features/americone_dream_index.cfm

2.0 - i can't donate either. oh well...

I love the variety on today's chatter, all beginning with the letter "B": blood, boobs, books, barbecue, bars.

("Books" was a lame stretch on the Harry Potter stuff.)

What drove me nuts about being turned away for giving blood was that it was done in error... I had been in Brazil - mainly in Rio but also briefly in a resort town called Buzios. When the Lifesource people came to my work, they couldn't verify that Buzios wasn't a Malarial area or something (even though it was close to Rio and Rio was fine). So they turned me away. But then someone called me the next week to admit that I had been turned away in error so could I please come in and donate. Which at first I thought was nice because they actually admitted it, but then they kept CALLING and CALLING and CALLING for me to make an appointment, and I was like, Listen dudes - it was you guys who wouldn't take my blood to begin with, so lay off.

Now I'm sure I am actually banned for having been to India this year. But at least that's legit.

B negative represent!

They call me pretty frequently to donate, and they're always sending postcards exhorting me to. Yep, once you're in their system, they're gunning for you, because there aren't enough donors (a problem to which they contribute, of course).

They really try to pamper you when you do platelets, though, because you can't move your arms for 90 minutes or so. You get to watch a movie on a portable DVD player and you get all the blankets you want. I get really cold, personally...

Miyaa, CK, et al -

Thanks for the info on KC.

And Miyaa, don't worry, Rachael Ray is a staple of my household (and she's kinda cute).

I haven't donated in so long... I need to now. A positive.

I just walked past the Apple Store here in Soho -- people lined up around the corner and down the block for the iPhone. Someone near the front had a "WILL SELL PLACE IN LINE" sign hung up near the barrier.

did you know if you are going to have surgery where they are pretty sure you'll need a blood transfusion you can have people you know donate for you (blood type match, of course) and then they'll give you the "known" blood first? We did that once for a family friend, I thought it was a pretty crazy concept that you'd be walking around with your neighbor's blood in you. I almost think I'd prefer the unknown.

Jerry felt the same way in that one episode of Seinfeld.

I donated for myself once! A few weeks or months before having jaw surgery in high school, I donated blood to be used in case anything went wrong during the surgery. I guess my mom and sister could also both donate for me since they're also B neg.