THANK GOD IT'S MY FRIDAY

I'll tell you what: When the Red Sox were down 3-0 to the Yankees the last thing I was thinking was "Oh well, they'll win their next four games in the greatest comeback in baseball history and then sweep the Cardinals to end their 86 year championship drought."

Yikes. Not gonna lie, I had a busy week.

MEANWHILE: Hate those televisions at the airport tuned into the CNN Airport Network or whatever? All you need is this universal power button.

Awesome.

CAPTAIN OBVIOUS

So I have a hat that I got at the Brooklyn Brewery. I was in the grocery store the other day and the guy in the checkout lane looks at my hat and says, "Brooklyn Brewery? Where's that?"

Turns out it's in Brooklyn. The thing is, I had a similar conversation at work a few months ago:

"Where'd you get that hat?"

Brooklyn Brewery.

"What's that?"

It's a brewery.

"Where is it?"

Brooklyn.

Are we not journalists? Shouldn't we be able to figure these things out on our own?

SUMMER OF NEW JOBS, PART WHATEVER

My first week in sports is in the books. With Jerry Rice heading to Seattle and the Red Sox mounting a historic comeback, it's been, um, busy.

But speaking of work, it turns out I am, in fact, replaceable. It was announced Monday that Niranda will be taking over my old job. So, if you have your pencils and your scorecards ready: JR started talking to our Sports editor in January about putting together "Morning Buzz" for page 2 of our sports section every day. Doing this meant that he came back to work full-time and his wife stepped down as Travel editor to spend more time at home. The Features copy chief moved into the Travel job. Josh left Metro to take the vacant Features job. Sal left Sports to take Josh's old job. Amy took Sal's job and then I took her job. Now Niranda is leaving business to take my job. How many careers must be altered to to produce Morning Buzz? So far, the count is at eight. Stay tuned...

I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP: Dave Barry is going to stop writing his column in January. If you like U.S. history, you should read his book Dave Barry Slept Here. Hi-larious.

HOW DID I MISS THIS: The Modern Humorist guys (you've seen them on Best Week Ever, and the Globe just ran a story about them) did a parody of Romenesko a few years ago. Ha! Best link: "EARLIER: Bil Keane still alive."

On a side note, I knew those guys were from Brooklyn, but their old address suggests they were just two blocks away from Dan and Angie's old place. Funny. You know, to me. And maybe them.

IN UNIVERSITY NEWS: DePauw took a pass on Tommy Lee, but the University of Nebraska knows a good opportunity when it sees it... and the University of Colorado knows bad publicity when it sees it. It seems students who talked to newspapers about the heavy, heavy drinking at the school received letters from the Chancellor saying how disappointed he was that would portray the school in a negative light. The truth hurts, eh Chancellor? [Thanks, Ben]

SENDING OUT AN SOS

Holy crap! Old Style is in trouble! Sales have been falling dramatically over the last few years as Miller and Bud have squeezed it out of Chicagoland taverns. Don't let this happen! If ever there was a cause to get behind, it's this one. SOS! Save Old Style!

SUMMER OF NEW JOBS, PART II OR MAYBE III

So yesterday my new boss said he was offended that I didn't mention his promotion in last week's post. Clearly my earlier list wasn't all that comprehensive. I also neglected to mention that my friend Josh got a new job as Features Copy Chief. This left open his job as Night City Editor, which my friend Sal took over, leaving vacant his position as Prep Sports Editor. Which meant my friend Amy got a new job as his replacement. Which meant that I got to take over Amy's job in Sports. See the chain reaction at work here? And now that I left the News Desk, they are going to replace me with... wait. They aren't replacing me.

I guess that must mean I'm irreplaceable.

Yeah. I'm sure that's it...

CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE, PART II

Better than reading a transcript of Jon Stewart calling Tucker Carlson a dick is watching the video of Jon Stewart calling Tucker Carlson a dick. Thanks, VizEds!

AND WHILE YOU'RE UP: You can read this story in the New York Times about the new Weekend Update anchor team.

SHARING THE LAUGHTER AND LOVE

Here is a complete list of television programming that Stevo the TiVo thinks I would enjoy: Crossballs, MadTV, The Simpsons, Behind the Music, Seinfeld, ER, The Drew Carey Show, The Tonight Show, NewsRadio, Waiting to Exhale, Corrina, Corrina, Made, Something to Talk About, Northern Exposure, Life is Beautiful, Tea With Mussolini, Halloweentown, The Candidate, Rain Man, Deadly Summer, Law & Order: SVU, The Practice, Jeopardy, Friends, NYPD Blue, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Spin City.

That's pretty much true. Nice work, Stevo.

CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE: If you missed Jon Stewart calling Tucker Carlson a dick, read the transcript here.

IN THE ONION: Don't miss John Edwards' column with the headline "You Want To See Some Goddamn Optimism?" It includes some gems like:

"I should add that John Kerry and I will keep America strong. I won't bore you with a bunch of fucking specifics. Just know that, should you elect John Kerry, we'll be able to bounce a goddamn quarter off our border! We'll have big impenetrable gates made of gumdrops and, I don't know, gold. Whatever the fuck!"

Awesome.

NEW JOBS UPDATE: Parsons started work as a teacher and a different Anne has been working at the Denver Post since... I dunno... for sometime now, I guess. (The fact that I didn't manage to work even one "show me that smile" reference into Wednesday's post shows why I only score a 32.)

SUMMER OF NEW JOBS

I forgot to mention that I started a new job this week. Well, sorta. I've headed over to sports full-time, which should be a fun change. I posted a page from my first official day on the job.

It seems to be the Summer of New Jobs. (It's still summer, right? Feels like it...) Everson got a new job educating. Shepherd got a new job in Vegas. Mohl got a new job producing Web sites. John got a new job going to Europe. Ryan got a new job working for Ashcroft. Cheryl got a new job lawyering. Dan and Angie got new jobs in Los Angeles. T-Ball got a new job at the Star. Sniers got a new job where she actually has to work. And Kelly and Anne just up and quit their jobs. Which I guess isn't the same as "getting a new job" but still. Changes were made.

Did I forget anyone?

I SEE FAMOUS PEOPLE

So I was in San Francisco last week having a cup of coffee at the Cafe Niebaum-Coppola and in walks Francis Ford Coppola. He had a glass of wine and walked out. That's it.

But then over the weekend I was at Jupiter in Berkeley with McKelvey and Yoder and the drummer from Counting Crows showed up and sat down with the band. Not that I'd know. But Yoder pointed it out. So there's that. Good story, eh?

CORRECTION: Well, not really. But I screwed up the music on my little SND slideshow. Fixed now.

IN BEVERAGE NEWS: From the "Where was this last week" file, Budweiser is introducing B-to-the-E -- yeah. that's right. you heard me. that's the name. It's a new caffeinated beer. It's also got ginseng and guarana (Guarana? It's like Josta except beer!) I give it six months, largely because no matter what it tastes like, nobody is going to say "I'll take a B-to-the-E."

IN ENTERTAINMENT NEWS: Leonardo DiCaprio will be reprising his role as Luke Brower in the upcoming ABC special Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers. The 2-hour episode will... Wait, what? He won't? Why? Oh that's right. Because the whole concept so pathetic. C'mon, guys. Even Boner Stabone knew not to come back for this one.

IN SPORTS NEWS: Jordan's No. 2 Scottie Pippen retired last week, ending an NBA career that included 6 championships with the Chicago Bulls. If you remember, Pippen always said that he would be a superstar if only he could get out of Jordan's shadow. You might also remember that when he did... we never heard from him again. Look closely, Kobe. See your future.

ODDS AND ENDS

I posted a Quicktime slideshow of photos I took at the big SND conference. I also posted a slideshow of photos from Vegas. I have to go back to work tomorrow. I guess I should, as I haven't had an actual honest-to-God shift in 3 weeks.

KLEINTASTIC INDEED: Best Week Ever's Jessi Klein has a short blog over at CNN covering the presidential debate...

NOT JUST FOR BREAKFAST ANYMORE: Look-out Starbucks, a Cereality cereal bar is coming to a town near you. That's right. Cereal bar. They serve cereal. In little to-go buckets. And I'm a big fan of the little ads on their Web site such as "95% of Americans like cereal. 57% like sex. We've got cereal." I like cereal too. Sign me up...

FINALLY, A NEW REALITY TV SHOW: I know this is a month old, but I wonder if the proposed reality show Deadline @ the Philadelphia Inquirer will be any more successful than the last journalism TV show called Deadline. Don't remember it? Neither does anybody else...

FINALLY: Before everyone starts sending me the new Jib-Jab thing, don't. I've seen it.

DAWNING OF A NEW DAY: PART IV

Stevo the TiVo is up and running. But now I've gotta rejigger all my cables so the VCR can record stuff off of TiVo and whatnot. I'd go to the hardware store and buy some coax cable so I could get that done... but I think I'll just stay here so I can play around with the thing. Not gonna lie: It rocks.

DAWNING OF A NEW DAY: PART III

Kabalarian Philosophy says the name Stevo means you have a highly sensitive, idealistic, and intuitive nature. You could be expressive and creative in the arts, music, or drama and you have a great desire to help others.

I think it fits.

DAWNING OF A NEW DAY: PART II

TiVo Service has been activated. My TiVo's name is Stevo. Stevo the TiVo. I plugged Stevo the TiVo in. He's glowing.

DAWNING OF A NEW DAY: PART I

I bought TiVo.

I HAD A SWINGIN' TIME

LAS VEGAS -- Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I've been... oh, you know what? I'm not sorry. I'm in Vegas.

Now, I'm not the kind of guy that's a huge fan of Vegas. I'm just not that big a gambler. (I'm up $150, but still. Not that big a gambler.) However, I'm not going to lie to you: Yesterday I got up, had a massage at the MGM Grand, had lunch at Emeril's, sat by the pool at the MGM and drank margaritas, then went to dinner at Bouchon at the Venetian.

Not a bad day.

But today was even better. Got up. Had breakfast at the Mandalay Bay. Then we spent the day in a private poolside cabana at Mandalay Beach. Not gonna lie: Awesome.

I TERRORIZE SOME WOMAN: So I'm in the elevator in the New York New York and my mind is elsewhere. The elevator stops at the twenty-second floor and I get off along with another woman. I'm behind this woman as we're walking down the hall and she starts to speed up, darts into a room and slams the door. I think, "Psy-cho!"

Then I realize that my room is on the twenty-FOURTH floor and I got off the elevator at the wrong stop. The poor woman had little other explanation for my behavior other than that I was a serial killer intent on stealing her winnings from the craps table.

OTHER STORIES: There are other anecdotes to be told, but as I've said before, this is a Family Blog. So we will not go into them. Plus: Happens. Stays.

CABANA BOY

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I've been ensconced high atop the Fairmont Hotel all week working on the big Society for News Design Convention in San Jose. (SNDSJ, as the kids like to say.) If you want updates on that you can check out the little Web site I put together for the deal over at www.sndsj.org.

The conference has been going pretty well. In fact, one designer from the Chicago Tribune told me that this was the best SND conference she had ever been to. Rock on. Anyhoo... I've been working on this sucker for about a year and a half so it's satisfying to see so many people having a good time. And learning stuff too. Also the learning.

And I'm not gonna lie: This Fairmont hotel is pretty nice. But word to the wise, get a Cabana Room. They are right on the pool and have a private patio. I just got back from a late-nite swim. Check it out: