Buy me last pape?

I mean, for some people, this might be kind of a big deal. For a professional like me, it's just another scoop.



Of course I'm lying! TAMN is the best!

Here's the link to the story

Like I said, no big deal.

Salmagundi (it's a doozy)

"I'll take 'Moms' for 500, Alex."

"Considered by many to be the coolest mother in town, this mom shares her name with a red-breasted thrush."

"Yeah, who is Robin Reichman?"

No, Legolas, your eyes aren't cheated by some kind of spell. These are genuine Snuggies, gifted by our own sweet Mama Robin. They're incredible, and the reading light (batteries included) is without equal (by "without equal" I mean no other reading light has ever come into my possession as an accompanying gift to a blanket with sleeves). The Snuggie is marvelous. I'll admit, it's lack of shape doesn't lend itself well to standing up abruptly and cheering, as the commercial boasts, but for lounging purposes it can't be beat.

Here's some Daily Herald stuff:

Budgeting (this is a big 'un)

The 5 Browns

Joshua James and Will Dailey

One final "Eggs & Issues"

And here's a how-to video I made for my class. It's valuable info, but it's kind of embarrassing, I shouldn't be allowed in front of cameras. That's why I chose print journalism.

How to make a bean shooter

And this is an outstanding article by Rick Reilly, a fellow Coloradan, I might add. Reilly's leaving Sports Illustrated was 99.3% of why I didn't renew my SI subscription last year.

Matt Steven is blind, but he'll still take the last shot

This glitch happened to Moham and Des' "Blitz 2000" game a few weeks ago...

And Amy's hilarious 24 Fitness encounter reminded me of this treasure...

Gallimaufry

Wow, things have really piled up.

Herald stuffs:

American Fork Symphony

Could foreign waste help Utah?

The Foreigner

Phantom

Eggs & Issues

How about this

I have to say, I feel a bit betrayed. Maybe this is only news to me, but I just found out the epilogue to last season's Food Network's "Next Food Network Star of Food Network." Obviously, I was rooting for Kelsey, as was every true American with an ounce of taste and half a brain. Well, Kelsey was a runner-up runner-up, Adam Gertler (right) was a runner-up, and Aaron McCargo Jr. (left) took the grand prize. Now, don't get me started on those placements, we don't have the time. But here's the thing: Old Aaron's show, "Big Daddy's House," comes on on Sundays at 1:30 p.m. If I'm watching anything on a Sunday at 1:30 p.m., it's tennis, golf, or channel 40 (The scrolling TV guide with the pleasant music). Adam Gertler's "Will Work for Food?" Mondays at 9:30 p.m. That's prime time, isn't it? I guess I'm not really sure when prime time really begins/ends, but Monday night is way better than Sunday early afternoon, isn't it? FN'sNFSoFN judges Bobby Flay, Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson are frauds! They irritated me to no end, anyway.

Also, this week's Daily Herald stuff:

Syd Riggs' Benefit Concert

Go, Dog. Go!

Eggs & Issues, week 3

Who's on first?

So Katie and I were talking about "a brace of coneys," as in Samwise Gamgee telling Gollum "There's only one way to eat a brace of coneys," and Amy was very confused. Left = what Samwise refers to. Right = what Amy was imagining during the conversation.

Drawn on my Wacom:

Olio

1) A few days ago at work I saw this Snuggie thing and had some thoughts to share, but now that I've got a free minute to spare/share, I'm a complete blank. I will say this, though: Sometimes I wear my blanket like a lava lava instead of pants (night times around the house). Not my original 

thought, but there you go.

2) This headline has been on Foxsports.com for three days. Dingleberries.

3) I don't even know where to begin with Tyler Perry. Or "House of Payne." Or "Madea Goes to Jail." I would rather bite off one of my own fingers than watch even five minutes of these embarrassments. How did they recruit poor Rudy Huxtable for "Madea," anyway? Cliff and Claire are probably beside themselves. Plus, is there an excuse for Mr. Perry's pretentious habit of titling everything he creates "Tyler Perry's...," like maybe he's afraid Martin Scorsese will somehow get credit for "Madea's Family Reunion?" We get it already, Tyler. I'll bet his family gets really tired of him parading around the house saying, "Don't touch Tyler Perry's sandwich," and "Let's turn on Tyler Perry's TV to watch Tyler Perry's 'Tyler Perry's House of Payne.'"

4) Some "Herald" stuff:

I-15 project still on track (over 1,000 views and a controversial comment to boot!)

Muse Music hosts Acoustic Night for local artists

'Pirates of Penzance' sails again at Valley Center Playhouse

5) Latest "Beyond the Universe" entry: 

Go here for the full thing.

Here’s how to have an incredible Super Bowl party: Actually, let me rephrase that, because what follows is bragging, not instructional. Here’s how I had an incredible Super Bowl party:

First of all, my livingroom was made for sports viewing. Not in the way that Lil’ Wayne’s theater room on MTV’s “Cribs” is made for sports viewing. No, mine is the quintessential college pad, complete with thick green carpet that people see and imagine we must be cleaning our house with split pea soup. We have ample enough room, a decent TV, banana chairs, and a separate TV with Blitz 2000 on the Nintentdo 64 (in our recreation of SB XLIII, the Cards won, 44-36). It smells kind of musty and looks kind of dusty, but that’s what you want for ESPN. You want locker room, not breakfast nook. This kind of den is just begging to be stuffed to the gills with friends, food, and noise. And so it was.

We had approximately eleven cubic feet of tortilla chips, including Santitas, Tostitos, and Mission brands. I made my very own salsa (the secret is toasting the tomatoes a bit on a frying pan). I bought barbecue pork rinds and three 2-liters of Wild Cherry Pepsi, grilled up a couple Lea & Perrins worcestershire-soaked steaks, and topped it all off with Ghirardeli’s brownies. And that was just me! We had chicken & waffles, seven-layer dip, fresh-fried mozzarella sticks, gumballs, chili, nachos, donuts, cookies, and more! If life gets better, I’d never know it. I had to brush my teeth with steel wool at the end of it, and I didn’t fall asleep until 5 a.m., but no matter.

Also, there was a football game. I think half the point of surrounding yourself with food, folks and fun on SB day is that when your team loses, life is manageable. The Cards are not my team (I really like Roethlisberger, actually), but I adopted them for the playoffs (like everyone else outside of Pennsylvania). Now, like everyone else, I’ve been rehashing the game for a cumulative 7.5 hours today, and frankly I’m tired of it, so all I will say is this: Kudos to Larry Fitzgerald and Klassy Kurtis Warner. Kudos to Big Ben, James Harrison and Santonio Holmes. Boo zebras. Boo the review that never was, because everybody, and I mean everybody, wanted to see a hail mary attempt, no matter the outcome. Boo prevent defense and commercials (different topic for a different time, but I swear 75% of the people I know could make better ads). The jury is still out on the Boss, but it’s not looking good. All in all, great day of football.

Olio

Here's my first "Eggs & Issues" coverage at the Herald:

Budget a key concern for county

And here's my latest blog entry for "Beyond the Universe":

LaVell Edwards Stadium, home of the BYU Cougars, photo courtesy of Ken Lund on Flickr.com

I consider myself a fairly loyal fan. Lately, however, I have to ask myself- am I a grateful fan? Example: My freshman year at BYU (2003), the Cougar football team went 4-8. I purchased my student season tickets and went to every single game but one - our home opener against Georgia Tech, which we won (I wasn’t in town yet). That ended up being our only home win of the season. I was there when the Rams torched us 58-13. I was there for the 50-12 Boise State drubbing. And I was there for the Grand Chawhee stinker of a lifetime - the miserably cold, miserably boring, and almost unbearably depressing season coda, the 3-0 Utah game, where I faced the awful truth that I would have to wait at least until after my mission (2006) to personally witness a win at LaVell. Yet I yelled myself hoarse through nearly every minute of that painful season, supporting every one of the 15-odd quarterbacks we put on the field that year (I’m still surprised we didn’t suit up Cosmo for a few downs).

Don’t question my loyalty.

Energy Solutions Arena, home of the Utah Jazz, photo courtesy of Edgar Zuniga Jr. on Flickr.com

My gratitude, on the other hand, is something I’m realizing I need to work on. My Utah fan triad (BYU football, BYU hoops, and the Jazz) has done very well in the past few years - winning seasons and bowl games/tournaments/playoffs ever since I got home from my mission. The thing is, we’re always on the cuspiest cusp of true greatness, but just can’t muster the moxie to get there. We can go 11-2, but can’t quite crack the BCS. We can make it to the NCAA Tourney with a seed that gives us a reasonably beatable opponent, but the second round eludes us still. We can make it to the Conference Finals but no further. The problem is that we’re not good enough to make it to the big time, but not bad enough to celebrate a .500 season. You see, it’s easy to glance around at USC, Florida, or even the whole state of Massachusetts of late, and get jealous of all their winning programs, because I feel like we could be there with some helpful officiating (BYU v ASU), some healthy bodies (The ‘08-’09 Utah Jalopies), some good recruits (au revoir, Manti Te’o), and a pinch of luck. So close, yet so far!

Sigh.

The Marriott Center, home of the BYU Cougars, photo courtesy of Josh Bancroft on Flickr.com

It has to start with a shift in expectations. I really thought the stars were aligning for me this year. The Jazz should have been better than ever, and with the West Conference in shambles (D’Antoni-less Suns, geriatric Spurs), I started to think a shot at the Finals was a walk in the park for Jerry Sloan. Along come injuries, and kerplunk. I totally bought into Bronco’s “Quest for Perfection,” and the UCLA and Wyoming games were the spoonfuls of sugar that helped it go down all the easier. Then, like all Cougar fans, when TCU clobbered us, I felt like my friend pantsed me in the middle of the cafeteria. I’ll stop there, because I’m tired and growing increasingly more frustrated. The point is, I’m disappointed because I’m setting my sights at Trojan or Gator or Celtic level, and that’s just foolhardy. So I hereby resolve to see my 52-oz Bubba Keg (my sports-viewing cup) as half-full. Also, I’m secretly rooting for the Magic.

Daily Herald Stuff

Every week or so, I'm going to post links to what I'm up to at the Provo Daily Herald, because when people ask about it, it's easier to point them to this blog than it is the Herald website. So there.
Bunraku Puppetry
Lee Bartlett Art Exhibit

Jerry For President

Here's my first blog entry for Beyond the Universe:

During the Cavs/Lakers game on Monday, Doug Collins threw a mini pity party for the poor injury-plagued Lakeshow. He was going on about their changing lineups, and how hard it’s been to stay afloat with their players getting less/more minutes than usual. Brother! I’ve had more injuries than the Lakers this season! Let’s have a look:

Of this season’s 39 games, the Lakers have had their prime starting lineup for 27 of them. Luke Walton stepped in for Vladimir Radmanovic for 11 games, Trevor Ariza came in for another. Lamar Odom also subbed for Pau Gasol for a game. That’s four different starting lineups, with over 2/3 of the total games with their complete dominant lineup, and all but two games played with four regular starters. Give me a break! The Lakers are 32-8 because of their health, not in spite of their injuries. Kobe and Pau are fit as fiddles and sound as dollars, but give either one of them so much as turf toe and L.A. heads south.

You want injuries? Take a look at Jerry Sloan’s ragtag gang. 13 different starting lineups! 13! The Lakers have had four, and Doug Collins says they have injury problems. I’m fairly certain Jerry isn’t just doing it to keep other coaches off his trail, either. It gets worse, though. Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, the Jazz franchise players (Kobe and Pau?) have played a whopping two games together! Out of 40 games this season, Williams has played 28, and Boozer has played 12.

Yet Jerry has somehow eked out a 24-17 season with his infirmary ward on the court. You want to call the Jazz players soft? Go ahead. But the fact of the matter is, you hammer any other NBA coach with the injuries Sloan’s had to deal with and he’ll go to pieces in a second. The Clippers? The Heat? Their frail squads couldn’t even come close to winning seasons last year because their stars were on the mend. Brilliant is the coach that can keep any kind of chemistry going with this kind of revolving door lineup.

Now, when the Jazz make the playoffs this season (they will), on top of all their broken players, well, that spells Coach of the Year for Jerry S. At least it should. Come to that, when they give him the 2008-09 COY, they should retroactively award him at least 10 years’ worth of COYs that he deserves from previous seasons, but that’s neither here nor there.

Less Sabbaticals, More Drawrings in '09

Item the First: My blog sabbatical is o'er (thanks in part to Item the Third).
Item the Second: You can now access this blog at reichmanifesto.com. Neat, huh? Tell your friends.
Item the Third: I got me a Wacom Bamboo. That means at least 500% more crudely drawn (drawrn) pictures, like this one:

UPDATE

Rebekka said...
"so I think your bamboo thing is pretty cool but I just have to know - did you mean to write reichmanisto? Or was it supposed to be manifesto and there wasn't enough room? I was going to leave it alone but now it's just buggin me and I have to know. :) (BTW this is your maebe cousin, Bekki)"

Bekki, if you have to ask, you'll never get it. Actually I'm just a dummy, I have no idea where that phantom "fe" got to, and I hadn't noticed until just now, but I'm too lazy to fix it anyway.