The Winter Olympics are over. And the winner is... Germany. Nothing better signals a return to worldwide prominence than winning a bunch of alpine skiing competitions. Oh and the biathalon. Can't forget that. That's the odd combination of cross-country skiing and shooting. Yes, shooting. I wonder if the New York Road Runners would like to incorporate shooting into any of their races. Just to do something different.

Anyway the morning papers are all running final medal counts for the participating nations. But I feel that a better measurement is a system used by many but not officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee. That's assigning 3 points for each gold medal, 2 points for each silver and 1 point for each bronze. In case of a tie, the nation with the most golds gets the higher ranking. Using that system, here are the Top 10 from the 2006 Winter Olympics!

1- Germany (63 points)
2- United States (52 points)
3- Austria (48 points)
4- Canada (48 points)
5- Russia (44 points)
6- Norway (31 points)
7- Sweden (30 points)
8- Switzerland (28 points)
9- South Korea (26 points)
10- Italy (21 points)

Next stop - Vancouver - 2010. I wait with baited breath.

Last night when Sasha Cohen was finished skating, the TV announcer said "Some skate to the music of Romeo & Juliet. Sasha Cohen IS Juliet." To which I thought, does that mean that she'll be so despondent over her falls that she'll stab herself in the heart with a knife?

Blog News :

Jess is off to California where she will soon be a contestant on Jeopardy. Good luck, Jess!

The Anonymous Blogger publicly reveals that he is now seeing someone. Good luck, T.A.B.!

Some observations...

President Bush's reaction to allowing the United Arab Emirates control of six American ports is that "people don't need to worry about security." Except for all of those times where he told us that we had to worry about security.

How desperate is Donald Trump for publicity? Writing hatemail to Martha Stewart and then releasing it to the media. And then he still has the gaul to claim that The Apprentice is the number one show on television. It was number one for ONE WEEK back in 2004. Since then, it hasn't been able to win its time slot, much less crack the Top 10.

It's been known that U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, holds disdain for the institution. Last night he really punished his fellow ambassadors. He took them to a New York Knicks game.

Finally I feel congratulations are in order for Dick Cheney. He got through the week without shooting anyone.

Resemblance?

Busy day on Saturday!

The first stop was Prospect Park to cheer on the Speedy Beagles at the Cherry Tree Relay Race. They finished first place among the female relay teams!


Then it was off to Union City, NJ for The Anonymous Blogger's birthday party and presidential campaign kickoff. Contractual obligations prohibit showing any actual photographs of The Anonymous Blogger... which will make his candidacy a hard sell - even for an experienced P.R. guy like myself.

So here are some of the other pictures that I took. First, me and Caren.


Then, me and Sarah.


Then, Sarah and Jeremy.


Then, Daryl makes a "point".


Then, Dave and Robyn.


And finally, Valerie and Jon.


On Sunday I slept-in until 11:30 (ah, good times) and then saw my parents. And the 3-day weekend continues today. What's on the agenda? Food shopping!

Yesterday, seeing that it was 55 degrees, I brought my new running sneakers and running pants to work yesterday and at the end of the day went for a run in Prospect Park. For the first time, I ran around the entire park! The total distance of the running track on the park drive is 3.35 miles. It was awesome. The NYRR 4-mile races are looking more and more doable.

The run helped contribute to an excellent night's sleep. I was so tired that I fell asleep with the television on - something that rarely happens. Fortunately, I had already seen "Survivor : Exile Island" and "Everybody Hates Chris" so the only thing that I missed was the Olympics. I wound up waking up at 3 am with the TV showing NBC's late-night replay of their primetime coverage. I could have stayed up to see what happened in the men's figure skating but didn't really care.

Three-day weekend coming up!

The Dick Cheney shooting his friend story is still funny, but slightly less funny considering that the gun pellets caused the guy to have a heart attack.

Which leads us to... The Ten Ways Dick Cheney Can Kill You!

Dick Cheney...shot a friend of his...while hunting for birds. Excuse me for one moment.

BWA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!

Not only that, but Cheney did not even have a license to hunt. And the White House sat on the information leading to this give-and-take, as described by the Daily News.

"The vice president spoke with Mrs. Katharine Armstrong, and they agreed that she should make that information public," McClellan repeatedly stonewalled.

But having a private citizen contact the press deviated from the White House practice of sending out e-mails to the media. In an off-camera briefing marked with name-calling and loud give-and-take, McClellan was repeatedly asked about the delay and the curious method of getting the information out.

"You're totally ducking and weaving here. We don't care if some ranch owner called the local paper," NBC's David Gregory said.

"David, hold on, the cameras aren't on right now. You can do this later," McClellan shot back.

A red-faced Gregory returned fire, saying, "Don't accuse me of posing for the cameras. Don't be a jerk to me personally. When I'm asking you a serious question you should give me a serious answer instead of jerking us around."

Another reporter dryly asked if it was now standard White House policy to release information through private citizens. The contentious scene was repeated at the afternoon on-camera briefing, though without name-calling.

As a conservative-leaning friend of mine said to me yesterday, "I can't wait until John McCain runs for president so it can be normal to be a Republican again."

SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!

Here I am right before venturing out into the frozen tundra.


Here is the front of my apartment building (the super said he had already shoveled it three times at this point)


4th Avenue is deserted


Snow covering the trees and church


The view from INSIDE my apartment. First, the fire escape!


And finally, snow piled atop the AC

Last night, someone named Your Old Pal commented "comments are more interesting than the blog these days..."

Well, what do you expect? The blog is still grounded!!!

Grounding will end this weekend though so the blog can go out and play in the snow.

Lynn asked about the pinata incident. I was reluctant to talk about it because the lawsuit is still pending.

Normal posts to resume next week...

I went to the ESPN SportsZone restaurant last night. It was what heaven would probably look like to a sports fan. TVs all over showing every sport imaginable and a menu full of goodies like ribs, chicken, burgers, and root beer. And on the top floor is an arcade with sports-themed videogames, air hockey tables, basketball free throw booths and even a miniature bowling alley! This is currently a slow time of year for sports as we're in between the Super Bowl and the start of baseball. But this Friday begins the Winter Olympics. Luge, baby, luge!

The blog was not allowed to go to the restaurant though because it is still grounded.

This blog wants to apologize for not posting yesterday. Its birthday party got a little bit wild. All I will say is that pin the tail on the donkey is a dangerous sport. The root beer was spiked and this caused all sorts of mayhem. And don't even ask me about the pinata incident. It's a good thing I have renters insurance.

As a result, this blog is grounded. It has to come straight home from school and it is not allowed any TV or video games. We have to learn our lessons somehow.

Happy Birthday to my Blog!!!

It was on this day, February 4th, in 2004 that I started this blog. Two years later it is still going strong. Thanks to all of my faithful readers, everyone who leaves comments, and even those of you who read the blog regularly and never leave a comment!

And now this blog is off to eat birthday cake and play pin the tail on the donkey.

Just in case anyone missed it, yesterday's post was a spoof of the classic Bill Murray movie "Groundhog Day."

Last night on "The Office", the employees left their office environment to interact with the workers in the company's warehouse. As they descended the stairwell that leads to the warehouse, Dwight looks at the camera and says "This is just like that episode of Lost when the castaways encountered The Others."

On "Survivor" they did something different for a change. They divided everyone into four tribes of younger men, older men, younger women and older women. What they did not change is the hokey lines that Jeff Probst says year after year : "Fire represents life", and so on and so on. He's even looking bored saying it.

A&E televised a dramatization of the events of 9/11, centering around Flight 93, the plane that crashed in the Pennsylvania field. Very well done but too soon? It hasn't even been five years. In other basic cable movie news, the Discovery Channel is televising "Grizzly Man" tonight - the story of a man who lived with wild bears... and then got killed by them.

Yay, TiVo.

Super Bowl prediction - the Pittsburgh Steelers will win. The waiter at the Chinese restaurant I went to the other day agrees with me.

Finally, tomorrow is a very special day for this blog!

Today is Groundhog Day. I woke up at 6:00 A.M. My radio alarm was playing Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe." I then enjoyed a nice continental breakfast before going outside where I was accosted by an insurance salesman. I then stepped in a big puddle on my way to work. Something tells me that this day will be repeating itself.

Trivia went well last night. Another large crowd of 70something people attended and The Anonymous Blogger and I had a fun time hosting.

I covered three of the rounds : current events, top 10 and visual. The Top 10 stumped everyone. I asked them to name the top 10 movies ever rented on Netflix. The list is widely available on their website but apparently noone had looked at it. The teams were far more successful with the visual round where they had to identify ten U.S. Senators, namely Barbara Boxer, Barack Obama, Robert Byrd, Russ Feingold, Joe Biden, Rick Santorum, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Mel Martinez, Jim Bunning and Jim Jeffords. And these are the current events questions that I asked with the answer in italics.

1) The Academy Award nominations were announced this morning. Name three of the five Best Picture nominees.

Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Crash, Good Night and Good Luck, Munich

2) What film received the most Razzie Award nominations with eight? These are the awards given to the worst films of the year.

Son of the Mask

3) What billionaire announced today that he will not run for Governor of New York State?

Tom Golisano

4) Samuel Alito was confirmed today by the Senate as a Supreme Court Justice. How many senators voted for him and how many voted against him? (Hint - it adds up to 100)

58-42

5) Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King, died today. How old was she?

78

6) Mike Piazza signed a one-year contract over the weekend with what baseball team?

San Diego Padres

7) According to a survey released today by the Economist Intelligence Unit, what is the world's most expensive city to live in?

Oslo, Norway

8) What former Super Bowl MVP told ESPN that he is leaning towards retirement?

Brett Favre

9) What former Lord of the Rings actor is starring as a government bureaucrat in the current season of 24?

Sean Astin

10) On Sunday, World Wrestling Entertainment presented the Royal Rumble. Who won the Royal Rumble match?

Rey Mysterio