HAPPY MARDI GRAS!!!

It's officially Mardi Gras Day. Rex was announced yesterday: he is Mr. McIlhenny, the Tabasco Tycoon. Mayor Nagin gave over the control of the city to him today, & he decreed no work should be done & happiness should reign. Why am I here?

CNN & NBC are doing fairly well. Some slip ups though: When someone says "Happy Mardi Gras", you're supposed to say "Happy Mardi Gras" back. Also, the krewe of Comus is COMB-us, not Co-moo. I'm not from there & I don't claim to be an expert, but if I could know that, they probably could've spent a little extra $$ on research to do it right.

I'll have more update through the day if it warrants. It's supposed to be a beautiful day here in Atlanta and down in New Orleans...I'll look at it through my office window.

UPDATE: I found out today while watching CNN during lunch that the Rex parade was started during Reconstruction by a bunch of NOLA businessmen to drum up tourism for the city after the Civil War. Therefore it seems somewhat appropriate that Rex rolled again this year, partly in an attempt to drum up tourism business after Katrina. NOLA will make approximately $200 million this Mardi Gras (as compared with $ 1 billion normally). It's been a good catalyst as well to get businesses opened up, etc.

Lundi Gras

Happy Mardi Gras everyone! This is a quick turn around from my depression about the Torino Games being over...Mardi Gras is a good remedy for the Post-Olympic Depression Syndrome (PODS). No folks, I did not make up PODS (for example). It is a real thing, most notably in Olympic cities...people trying to adjust to a normal life after all the excitement and build-up of the Games themselves.

Torino ended w/a "Carnival" theme, appropriate being the time of year. Good stuff, except for Ricky Martin!

I woke up this morning & tried to figure out something to watch. Very weird because there were no events, no curling & not even the Today Show (apparently Katie & Co. will be in NOLA tomorrow). CNN had a lot of coverage, reporting live from the Convention Center & Slidell...Fox, my normal news of choice, did not have any Mardi Gras coverage that I could see.

Also, really bad weather on Saturday forced Endymion to roll on Sunday after Bacchus, leading to a Super-Krewe double-header. That'd be some beads! Miles O'Brien from CNN rode in Bacchus & had a segment where he filmed from on top of the float...pretty cool.

Beijing starts in 892 days (I got this from a website...I did not calculate this myself), on August 8, 2008. Then it's Vancouver 2010 & London 2012. 2014 will be picked on July 7, 2007 (you can see a list of the Applicant cities, most of which are European or former Soviet cities, here. I've also added links to the future Olympic sites to the left.

Happy Lundi Gras!!!

UPDATE: Click here to read about tomorrow's "Meeting of the Courts" between Rex & Comus, which is a huge debutante-like deal & signals the end of Mardi Gras. Today Rex will take over the city when he is presented it by Mayor Nagin & will declare that no more work should occur & that revelry shall reign.

Also, we're thinking about doing a half-marathon in Quebec City, Quebec...I don't know where we'd fly into though...it's not really close to any American city.

On LaSalle & Rampart Street, the Combo plays with the Mambo beat...

That's from Mardi Gras Mambo a song you hear on the radio every five minutes in New Orleans on the last weekend before the big day. It just gets everyone in the mood & makes you just want to party in the streets. About this time five years ago we were just walking out the door to get breakfast & then grab a spot along Robert E. Lee Circle (to sit there for HOURS!!).

I was just looking through the pictures from the Muses parade (just go here and then find the Muses pictures in the Galleries section), & I'm amazed how they have so quickly put current events (like Mayor Nagin's Chocolate City speech) into their floats. Very funny. The parade floats (if you can still see them...haha) are a huge highlight. In fact one float was throwing out Hershey's kisses. I so want to be there.

The weather on the other hand for Mardi Gras doesn't look so good...rain tonight after 8 PM & rain all day tomorrow, but much better Sunday for Bacchus.

In the Olympics, Sasha Cohen got the silver as everyone in the world should know by now. Tonight is the Champion's gala. Last night we were listening to WWL on the radio in the car (isn't that wild that we get it on AM?) & we accidentally heard that Japan got the gold. Oh well...we didn't know about Sasha though. This morning on the Today show they showed live shots of both Beijing & Vancouver (but not London)...the future Olympic sites. Only 29 months until 2008...(the break after the Winter is much longer than after the Summer unfortunately).

UPDATE: I learned something new: The Greasing of the Poles: No, no, it's not something dirty. At the Royal Sonesta Hotel in the French Quarter, they have a big ceremony at 10 AM CST on the Friday before Mardi Gras day where a man in a tux & a woman in an antebellum dress present a jar of vaseline to maintenance workers who literally grease up the poles holding up the balconies of the hotel so people don't try to climb up there.

Also, the Today Show will be in New Orleans starting Monday, right after leaving Torino. Apparently there will be about the same number of press people as there are people in the crowd, and from all over the world. Wow.

Finally, congrats to the men's curling team on the Bronze...it was a surprise & well deserved!

It's Carnival Thursday!

Unfortunately I'm not getting WWL streaming webcast for some reason, but regardless it's the Thursday of Mardi Gras. Bablyon, Chaos & Muses all roll through Uptown tonight...I would literally jump in the car if someone said they were going to NOLA right now. I'm so jealous.

My first year we left on Thursday afternoon & rolled into NOLA on Friday early morning (around 6 AM) & started going after it. Friday is an awesome parade day with Herme, Krewe d'Etat & others. It's the first major day with all day parades. The weather looks pretty good...mostly clouds & in the 60's/70's. Maybe some rain tomorrow night which would stink though. Not like it won't be fun though.

In Olympic news, tonight is my wife's night at the Games. She's estatic to watch the ladie's free skate, which they have been hyping on NBC forever now. I hope we pull it out over the Russians. On an aside, do you feel like the Italian National anthem sounds like a drinking song? They're always so jovial when singing.

Also, the Gold Medal Curling Match will be on during lunch today. Why do I love this sport so much???

UPDATE: Argh: Being without internet for an extended period of time is no fun. As you can see though, I'm finally back now.

WWL also appears to be back up & running. I'm trying to avoid Olympic results though, but trying to hear the latest on Mardi Gras (instead they're talking about Port situation, which is completely overblown, as is everything else talked about as a negative about Bush).

In Olympic news, I spent my lunch hour lifting & watching the women's Gold Medal match for curling. I turned in on in the locker room & when I came back there were people watching. Also some guy turned it on while running on the treadmill, & while I was on the cross-country machine (basically an updated Nordic Track, which is HARD), & there ended up being four people watching...see I'm not the only one into Curling!! For those of you like me who care, Sweden beat Switzerland by a point. Yeah my heritage (Swedish).

Happy Mardi Gras/Happy Olympics

Well, it's definitely parade season in NOLA. Parades roll every day from now until next Tuesday, the big day. I'm trying to listen to WWL at work but it's not streaming for some reason today. Not sure if that's a technical glitch on their end or mine.

I'm exhausted from watching these Olympics. It's much harder when you're working. Way to go USA though. We're approaching our Salt Lake totals (albeit w/the advantage of the addition of more sports we're good at), but this is way better than the last non-US-hosted Olympics, which I think was 13 medals. We're already up to 18 I believe. As per usual the "favorites" often have fizzled, but the randoms have risen to the occasion. The speed skating showdown was great last night. Not quite the "Canadian Pair" controversy, but good for some drama. I know Hedrick was pissed about not beating Shani.

Also, we're officially going to Philly in a few weeks. Come on snowstorm (haha). I'll have to start watching the weather forecasts soon. How cool would it be to get a Nor'easter & get snowed in.

Sums it up perfectly: Read this. Start halfway down where it says "Free at last". It talks about how I live the Olympics. Of course I DO love rowing. I'm some people do the Olympics like I do. I LOVE them, but it will be a relief to get my life back until August 2008 (haha!!!!).

UPDATE:
1) I haven't blogged about UVa much yet, but the basketball team is actually doing decent in ACC play, beating B.C. who was #11 at the time (well I guess techincally still is until the next polls). Usually we do great pre-season & then stink once ACC play starts.

2) That new NBC show Conviction: It looks like the new Grey's Anatomy for lawyers. I really want to watch, but I think it's on Friday nights...eww. In any event I JUST realized that it's a double meaning: Conviction as in putting someone in jail & Conviction as in doing your work passionately. That's after they've played the commercial during EVERY Olympic commercial break.

3) Did anyone see the skater that skated to an elevator-music version of Like A Prayer last night (albeit w/no burning crosses)? Crazy. I can just imagine some cello player slumped down passionately playing that song. Also, I didn't get to see the end of the game, but USA is down to Finland 4-3 w/a tiny bit left in the 3rd (that's Men's Ice Hockey by the way).

Life stinks

Ok, it's not that bad. I'm pretty lucky compared to most, but life is definitely a hassle sometimes.

My computer has been on the brink of collapse for a while & now it finally did. I have this tiny box now that makes SO much noise it's ridiculous. Better than no computer @ all I guess.

My wife's car is in the shop & it looks like the damage (a faulty headlight) might have been caused by an accident she had in October...this may mean a fight w/the insurance company to pay the $400+ to get it fixed.

I'm a bit upset at NBC too for stretching out the coverage until midnight. Don't they know that people cannot stay up until midnight every night to watch Olympics? I know I could have just turned off the television, but when they do half of the events & then hold the rest until the very end, it's frustrating. They're only supposed to go until 11:30, but they've been holding over, which means we lose another 1/2 hour of sleep. Oh well, sleep is for the week (& the non-Olympic fortnights!).

A new Atlantaism: She's the Matt Schaub: translation: When a guy is dating 2 girls & the guy just visits the second girl when he's not with the 1st girl, then she's the backup, i.e. she is the Matt Schaub to the Michael Vick of the Falcons.

Oh well, I'll persevere (do you feel sorry for me...haha).

Yet another false alarm

We were supposed to have gotten some winter weather this weekend, but as per usual, the rain came before the cold weather, & the 2 did not meet. I washed the car Friday night in a T-shirt and then mowed the grass & sweated first thing Saturday morning. After that though it poured rain, as it does every single Saturday & then got freezing cold, not getting above freezing until about 1 PM on Sunday. Oh well. Maybe we'll get a March snowstorm.

NBA All-Star Game: I don't care one bit about this game, but I am very glad it did not happen in Atlanta this year. The year it did (2003?) the traffic was so bad it took us over an hour to get to Buckhead (Moondogs) from the Druid Hills area. Argh. I don't think that will be back any time soon. I wonder if the traffic gets that bad in other cities where it's hosted, or if they decided to do a pseudo-Freaknik.

We're trying to stalk airline tickets...I found this article confirming a rumor I've heard. I hope it's true because right now it's not looking so good...$300/ticket. We're also thinking of flying to DC or Baltimore and having someone pick us up.

The Olympics this weekend was good. The Americans seem to be doing fairly well, although I wish we were better at cross-country, because it is a really cool sport. Bad break for the American Ice Hockey women, but hopefully we'll win the Bronze. I'm going to watch today during a late lunch 1 PM NBC extended daytime coverage during my workout. That will make the day go fast.

Question of the day: Anyone know how to get some cheap pachysandra in Atlanta?

We interrupt this Olympics to bring you this weather message...

A potential for ice & snow this weekend again in Georgia. First, why is it always on the weekend that we get wintry weather? It makes it very difficult to get off work for that!

In any event, there is currently a Winter Storm Watch for portions of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri & Texas. We in Atlanta are under a "Special Weather Statement", which basically means that there's a good chance we could flip over to a Winter Weather Watch or Advisory soon. The Watch currently comes as close as Cleburne County, Alabama. Our Statement expires at 3 PM, but I will update as necessary. Right now, we're expecting rain, snow, sleet & freezing rain mostly Saturday night from a line from Carrollton to Atlanta to Athens, which includes the northern 2/3 of the Metro Area & obviouslly the N. Georgia Mountains. Could be worse...as of 8 Central time it's -21 in Fargo w/a wind chill of -44.

MARDI GRAS: This is the first big weekend of Mardi Gras. New Orleans has no money whatsoever to pay for a police force & sanitation equipment though. If you've ever been you know that the trash can get to a foot or so deep. It's pretty nasty & you have to make sure you wear old pants and old shoes & plan to throw those clothes away at the end. No matter what though, I think this will be very good for the city, since it is their big yearly event...it'll show the world that NOLA is back. Also, Galatoire's , a famous restaurant where people usually pay homeless folks to sit outside to wait days before the Friday lunch before the main Mardi Gras weekend (did that make sense?) is auctioning off the seats this year to make money for other NOLA restaurants which are struggling after Katrina. Pretty cool.

OLYMPICS (sorry I can't do the colors anymore): Johnny "I'm here I'm" Weir finished in 5th last night behind fellow American Lysacek (sp?). As expected, Yvgeny Plushenko won, so not that exciting. Snowboard cross is pretty cool though...any sport where there are crashes is fun (although I do not really like short track speed skating for some reason, but I think it's because I'm a traditionalist for the long-track). Ice dancing starts tonight (yuck), but overall there'll be a lot of coverage this weekend. The best news (at least right now) is that USA will be on during lunch today so I can watch and work out at the same time. Assuming I can find a cardio machine after weights w/a TV not being watched!

QUOTE OF THE DAY (from WWL talking about housing assessments in Orleans Parish): "It's not like the old days when you could give the assessor a bottle of Jack Daniels to lower your taxes".

UPDATE: Call off the dogs on that winter storm coming. We just were issued a new statement and the storm is weaker than previously though. There is an Advisory for a handful of counties in far NW Georgia near Chattanooga. We are supposed to get only light freezing rain but the front won't get close enough to us to drop temperatures enough before the precipitation comes. As usually, we'll just be in the high 30's w/cold rain, which is probably the worst weather I can imagine. Knowing that you're so close to ice & snow, but denied yet again. Argh.

Olympics Day 6

1) Why do people insist on STOPPING when there is a flashing yellow light? The rule is you stop if it's flashing RED or if it's completely off. If it's yellow flashing, you proceed w/caution. I was about 5 minutes late for work b/c people were just blindly following the person in front of them. Also, what's with people from out of town turning in a lane that is clearly marked no turns???

2) As per usual the "favorites" last night in the Moguls didn't do so well. Jeremy Bloom sounded like he didn't care so much, as long as he can get back for the NFL. He skiied well, so I can't fault him, but he didn't seem too sad about not winning gold. I might not be either if I was about the enter the NFL & I had a modeling contract.

3) It's supposed to be 72 here today. It felt like spring this morning. I feel like we need to grill out tonight & sit on the back patio!

WEBSITE OF THE DAY: http://gethuman.com/us/. It's great if you need to get in touch with a company, ESPECIALLY those pesky Internet companies that don't want you to talk to them!!!

UPDATE: They are changing around my entire gym. Apparently some new management company has come in to improve things. As long as there is a television in front of the cardio machines...I'd hoped to watch the Olympics during lunch, but since it's on MSNBC only, I can't. I think though next week it'll be on the lower-numbered channels during lunch (i.e. USA & CNBC).

Can I tell you how much I LOVE going home every night to watch curling? It is so fascinating. The other night I went to a party, turned it on & everyone was glued to the television set. The US men up until last night was 2-2. They lost a tough one to Italy, the host country. They all have the Minnesota/Alberta accents too. I love it.

How do you feel after winning the Gold Medal? Sick!

That was the response this morning of Ted Ligety from Salt Lake, who won the Gold in the Men's Alpine Combined last night (that's skiing) to Katie Couric asking him how he was doing. He wasn't referring to a cold...he was referring to going out WAY too late last night. I'd do the same!

I had to watch the Torino edition of the Today Show this morning b/c there was no Olympics on except for MSNBC which I don't get (& even if we did get, we wouldn't get on the bedroom television b/c we don't have a cable box up there). Last night though I got to watch some more curling and then of course the Primetime broadcast. I fell asleep during the men's figure skating though, but it was just the short program so I don't think I missed too much.

I can't wait to just lay on the couch tonight to watch more. I am exhausted today for some reason...I think it was working all weekend!

UPDATE: Apparently Johnny Weir calls himself a "princess". He's a men's US Figure Skater. I don't think ANYONE, woman or especially man, should call themselves princess unless that honor is bestowed upon them. Strange.

Also, I was looking forward to watching Olympics on my lunch break while working out, except it's only on MSNBC, which is Channel 120 here & requires a cable box. I can't watch the news b/c I'll find the results. Frustrating.

Olympics Tuesday

As an aside right at the beginning, I hate Valentine's Day. I find it, for lack of a better word, tacky. The flower prices are jacked up, the restaurants are packed, and it's not so much that people seem to get joy out of it, but disappointment instead. The women don't seem to appreciate the presents that much and the guys are just mad they shelled out $200 under threat of horrible things. I gave my wife a chocolate bar, a chocolate heart and a card...we agreed that was what she wanted...she was estatic & it was simple. We'd rather spend the money on something more important...like a sprinkler system (just kidding!).

Lots of Olympic viewing last night. I got up & watched Cross-Country and the very beginning of the US Women Curlers. I got home and watched almost the whole mens US-Norway Curling Match, which we lost at the very end even though we had the hammer (last rock advantage). We squandered two shots at the end even though the Norwegian guard rocks weren't in that good of a position. We won a gold & silver in women's half-pipe, & North Carolinian Jeremy Cheek won a gold in the 500 meter speed skating.

I've noticed there have not been as many human interest stories this Olympics. I think it was 2000 they did one about every athlete...apparently to be an Olympian you have to have had a parent die of cancer and fled the country from insurgents at some point in your life. Me, who has had a relatively happy life, would never make it (although I would LOVE to be a speed skater or a cross-country skier).

This morning I watched women's cross country & some biathlon. I threatened to wake up at 3 AM to watch curling but I did not. I wish I had a little TV in my office but I would never get work done.

UPDATE: It's very difficult for me to get Olympics news because www.nbcolympics.com has up to the second updates on the front of its site. However, I usually just go to www.nbcolympics.com/tv which takes me directly to the television listings. It's a choice you have to make...do you want to find out results in real-time or on NBC time? Since I watch so much, I decided I would use "NBC time". Therefore you won't find out any results on this site until they've been shown on one of the NBC networks (unlike some other news networks...(WWL & CNN Headline News!) that don't warn you! At least if they're going to tell you, they should give you the warning that they'll play some music & you can look back when the music is done!!!

Also, going back to the Valentine's day semi-diatribe, I can only imagine what government offices look like today...usually you go into those places & it looks like Hallmark has exploded in there w/roses, helium balloons & candies. Yikes.

Word of the day: Pragelato: This is the venue for Cross-Country Skiing among other things & means "Frozen Field" in Italian. Of course, the NBC guys have taken to calling it Stadio Alto Miglio, or Mile-High Stadium, presumably due to its altitude which is considerably higher than many other Olympic Nordic venues.

Song of the day: Sex Bomb by Tom Jones: The spinning instructor (he is tough by the way!) played a Tom Jones song today & it made me think of this. I remember some friends went to Spain & especially Ibiza during Summer 2000, & apparently this song was all the rage on that tiny, hedonistic island (a techno remake of course, not the original).

XX Olympic Winter Games

Sorry for the lack of posting, but around 4:45 last Wednesday afternoon, the world apparently blew up, at least as far as work is concerned. I had hoped to blog about the Opening Ceremony and the first weekend of the Olympics, but what are you going to do?

In non-Olympic news, the huge snowstorm that hit the East Coast tangentially hit us. We got a dusting of snow on the ground, which our dog was very confused about. It has just barely gotten out of the 30's both Sunday and today. We had snow showers all day yesterday but nothing stuck. The North Georgia Mountains around Rabun County and Clayton got at least 1" however. No more snow is forecast for now. I'm still waiting though. I'm getting sick of these Winter Weather Advisories that don't pan out to anything.

Opening Ceremonies: Overall, the Ceremonies were very good and very entertaining and very European. They reminded me a lot of the Albertville Opening Ceremonies b/c they were so "futuristic". My biggest pet peeve was the fact that when the torch was lit, the flame in the torch didn't actually touch the flame in the Cauldron. If you look closely, the semi-circle lit the fireworks inside the stadium, but there appeared to be a second ring of fireworks outside the top of the stadium that came together, up the cauldron & lit the cauldron. The cauldron itself doesn't really look like a cauldron so much as an oil rig, but I mean that in the best way. At least it's better than the "McDonald's" Atlanta Cauldron.

I can already tell that Bode Miller will be the big flop of the Games while that Hedrick guy from Texas will be the darling....which is quite alright b/c anyone that can be drunk @ a blackjack table in Vegas & decide to go to the Olympics in a sport in which they've never competed, and then actually GO to the Olympics and WIN gold less than three years later is cool. They call him "The Exception" & "Paris Hilton" (the latter b/c he's ALWAYS out).

It's surprising to me how big Torino is. Apparently it's about the size of Richmond, Birmingham or Louisville, but we've NEVER heard of it. Some people say that Torino is the "Detroit" of Italy b/c it's economically depressed as a result of heavy reliance on a failing auto industry...in their case FIAT.

Tonight is the scandalous pairs competition...I don't get all worked up over figure skating...I much prefer curling, speed skating, skiing, etc. I will watch though, but I don't think they can top the Sale-Pelletier controversy from Salt Lake City.

Also, will news outlets PLEASE stop giving away results without some sort of warning? That's driving me crazy!!!

As of 9 AM Eastern Standard Time, Twenty-Nine Hours!!!

Can you tell I'm just a little bit excited about the Torino Olympics (btw, I'll be using Torino as opposed to Turin throughout the Games, since it's not like Italian is a hard language to spell or pronounce)? The Today Show was in the Piazza San Carlo, their equivalent of Centennial Olympic Park, albeit WAY older & not specifically for the Olympics.

The weather there is exactly the same as Atlanta today. Strange, but it's below average here & above average there. Plenty of snow though in the Alps around Sestriere & they apparently are very good at making snow in the Italian Alps as well.

Chris Witty, a speedskater who made her debut in the 1994 Lillehammer Games, will be holding the flag in the Opening Ceremonies. For those not in the know, that is a HUGE deal. She also competed in the 2000 Sydney Summer games (From yesterday's Cauldron discussion, that lighting was the COOLEST!!!), which is a very rare thing.

GRAMMYS: Alison Krauss apparently now has more Grammys than any other living woman. She definitely has the talent for it, but I wasn't aware she had the fanbase as well. I've never heard a song of hers I didn't like.

SNOW: They told us we may get some snow. Some of the northernmost Georgia Counties & some counties in North Carolina that for some reason get the Atlanta local stations are closed for schoold today. Apparently though a new system is forming & there is a chance for a good old fashioned snowstorm Friday night. Right now the forecast for us is all rain, but there are Special Weather Statements posted all over Alabama, extreme NE Georgia, Tennessee & South Carolina. We'll see what happens. This same cold air should go down all the way to the New Orleans metro area (or what's left of it), making tricky times for those in FEMA trailers or those with tarps on their roofs.

Was warm weather in January precursor of things to come?

Last night I was watching TV & cruising the Internet on info about potential snow & came information about the 1993 Superstorm. Although we only got 4" in Atlanta, some of the northern suburbs got upwards of 10-20". That's the weird thing about Atlanta...if there is winter weather, it's usually lots of snow in the northern fringes but all rain in the southern suburbs. Apparently though, it was 75 degrees the day before the storm hit, so when they predicted snow, no one paid any attention. I wonder if that could happen again...maybe not another "Storm of the Century" (although it is now a different century), but a good batch of snow in Atlanta. We are overdue...we usually get 1-2" per year, but We've only had about 2-3" in the 6 years I've been here. I have hope!

The Today Show is in Milano today. Torino tomorrow. Very exciting. During the Olympics I'll obviously have updates as they warrant, starting with the Opening Ceremonies. The Coverage kicks off at 6 PM on Friday with Olympic Ice, the Skating recap show. I won't normally watch that during the Games, but since it's the only thing on during that time Friday, I'll make an exception. We're having Linguine alla Carbonara for dinner in honor, and the Ceremonies coverage starts at 8 PM EST.

For those that know me, I'm very into working out...typically I'll do 6 days/week...3 cardio days, mixing up spinning, elliptical and running. The other days I'll do weights...back/biceps/abs, chest/tricep/abs, and legs/shoulders/abs. I think it's a pretty good system. Maybe the Olympics will inspire me to work out harder...not longer, just smarter, more efficiently & harder.

UPDATE: Check out the Torino weather.

Also, know any drinking games for Olympic Opening Ceremonies? We just got invited to a Opening Ceremonies party.

Hurricanes 2K6: There's an area of deep convection near the Canary Islands/Africa that has a slight chance of becoming Alberto. Remember, since it's past 12/31/05, we're using the 2006 list of names (& Greek if necessary).

Today show in Florence, athletes arriving in Torino

I'm getting excited. The Today Show was in Florence today, looking at art, the Medici's & gold jewelry. They're doing reports from Sestriere, the site of the Alpine events, which is 64 miles (or ~103 KM's) from Torino. It's right on the French border & very close to Albertville (1992), Grenoble (1968) and Chamonix (1924).

Atlanta was under a "Black Ice" warning until 10 this morning...I didn't see any coming in to work, but the streets were wet. Another chance for snow on Wednesday night...let's hope this threat turns into something a little more substantial.

Finally, people keep telling me I should get a meteorology degree...Georgia Tech has a Master's program, but it requires lots of calculus, vectors & physics, all of which I'm good at, but don't like. I think I should keep my dayjob & keep weather as a hobby.

UPDATE:
1) I can't believe the audacity: I was approached by a beggar at the CVS near our house last night. He asked for $1.00, and feeling like a good samaritan, I gave it to him. I then walked in the CVS. Then on the way out, he asked for more $$, then a ride. He completely ruined it...now I'll think 2x about giving $$ to anyone if they're going to be ingrateful for getting what they asked for.

2) It looks like it'll be a bit rainy when Today starts broadcasting from Torino (1 PM Thurs ITA time, 7 AM EST). Katie & Bob Costas are doing the Openings...you can find out about that here. I especially think the part about "tidbit ping-pong". You really can learn a lot of useless trivia in the parade of Nations. Here is a picture of the Cauldron (tallest ever & big as a 20-story building). I thought the Salt Lake Cauldron was the coolest though w/its glass structure that kind of looked like the Salt Lake snowflake logo. Here is an article about Cauldrons in general.

3) So I'd never heard of James Blunt before this weekend but now I've heard his songs both in movies and his "You're Beautiful" song a whole bunch. Pretty good.

33 and Cold Rain

That's what it was when I woke up this morning. There was some snow, mainly on roofs in the eaves & such. They showed pictures of it snowing at Piedmont & Peachtree in Buckhead & it looked like it was coming down pretty hard. Oh well. We're still under a Winter Weather Advisory until noon, but it looks like the "worst" is over. There is a chance for more snow on Wednesday, so hopefully the ground will cool down enough so it will stick should it come. Apparently though there will be more travel problems tomorrow as this rain/snow is going to freeze up in the colder temperatures tomorrow.

Olympics: Katie Couric is in Rome now. Thursday is the day that Matt goes over & Katie goes up to Torino. I'm very excited. I've invited everyone I know to come over & watch any time they want to. It'll make it tricky to get the grass mowed and such!

Super Bowl: Go Steelers. The commercials were so-so. I think the Fed Ex/Caveman one was the best, and I did not like the Hummer H3 one...I thought it was too creepy. The dot-com era commercials were the best, even if we couldn't remember the company's name and even if most of those don't exist anymore!

Grey's Anatomy: The Code Black lived up to the hype...I really don't like Meredith Grey that much though...she's just too sad all the time & whiny.

Winter Storm Watch

Stock up on the milk & bread folks...as of about 4 AM, most of North Georgia is under a Winter Storm Watch. It covers an area from Carrollton to Winder and up to Hiawassee. As it stands now, the area from Rome to the north Atlanta suburbs to Gainesville will get 2+", and people in the city and southern suburbs will get about 1+".

In NW Atlanta, we're supposed to get below freezing around midnight. The snow is supposed to come in around 6 AM, mix with rain by 9 AM, and switch to all showers around noon. I hope the systems gets better organized though & the cold air stays around longer. I could use a day off of work!

It looks like the snow will be confined to North Alabama & North Georgia. More updates as conditions warrant. I'm surpised though that the AJC isn't all over this story...they should be going into 24/7 news coverage for this!!!

In other news, after going to the Mardi Gras party (and eating about 1/2 the King Cake) I REALLY want to go to Mardi Gras now...hmmm.

Commuting in from OTP

For all non-Atlantans, that's "Outside the Perimeter". Being OTP is somewhat of a stigma...they even get their own area code (770) out there. There's even a commercial on the radio where this couple is talking & saying "Wow, I feel bad for Bob...he lives OTP".

In any event, I had to pick up some building materials & the closest place to get them was on the Kennesaw/Marietta line. It was kind of cool to see the fog in the pines though...Sounds like a Ray Charles song. In any event, it reminded me of my Southlake to Farmer's Branch commute when we lived in the [Dallas] Metroplex. It was over 22 miles each way & entering/exiting 3 different freeways, 114, 121 & LBJ (see here).

One More week until the Olympic Games in Torino! My wife & her mom are in talks to come up w/a Northern Italian Meal.

Because I had to go to Marietta, I got up an hour early. We get a call though at 6:30 this morning saying that our friend from North Carolina had literally just gotten to town. We're going to try to hit Piebar, the historic Bank turned Pizza Parlor/Trendy Bar (who would have thought??!). It's one of those places that's always crowded so we've never tried it, but friends in from out of town is a perfect excuse.

New Orleans update: Once again, bad luck. Now 3 tornadoes, 2 F-1's & an F-2, have struck the city. This is a huge rarity for NOLA, & especially for February (see here).

FORGOTTEN SONG & BAND OF THE DAY: Crazy Game of Poker (Who's up for game three? I can barely see the bourbon drowning next to me, and I just lost it all.) & Jimmy's Chicken Shack (my old roommate's FAVORITE band).

Back in the 404

Back from my trip to Savannah. Things went as well as could have been hoped for. Very glad to get my 1st Hearing under my belt. The couple next door kept me up though...some rednecks having fun...really disgusting...haha.

I watched most of the State of the Union Address as well as the ensuing Democrats' Counter-Speech. I thought both were very good. The problem is that the Republicans don't have all the answers, but at the same time, the Democrats just want to oppose anything W puts up. I thought Tim Kaine's "There's a Better Way" speech was excellent...both in writing & delivery, even for a Democrat. Of course, in Virginia a Democrat is really just a moderate Republican. My wife was excited b/c that was filmed @ the Governor's Mansion. The State of the Union speech though just seemed like a contest to see how many times the Republicans could give a standing ovation and how many times the Democrats could boo. It's gotten a little out of hand up there in the Beltway.

I talked to some of my Louisiana friends last night. The Tangipahoa native said that the locals are not happy about Mardi Gras, being unhappy themselves. She says that the visitors are going to come in & be happy while they're still stressed & upset (yes, she said, even NOLA locals have stress). A friend who just returned from Metairie in Jefferson Parish said that everyone is just down & everything is just a nasty shade of brown. Definitely time for the Mardi Gras decorations!!! I think that this will be NOLA's reopening, & they desparately need it, or they are in dangerous trouble of never fully recovering.

The Olympics opens a week from tomorrow!!!

UPDATE: The North is getting more winter & the South, according to Stone Mountain, GA's General Beauregard (who lives in a white-columned antebellum groundhog house) says we're getting spring. Not that we had winter except for a bit of December. Bring on the snow!!! For a more realistic account, Weather Underground says that around 2/10 we're going to get a pattern change & it's going to become more "normal". It would be too bad if we got off for snow during the Olympics, right??