Everything I Like Causes Cancer

Day One: Sunday, November 4
Post Title/Song Lyric: Here's a little ghost for the offering
Song Title: Man on The Moon
Artist: REM
Tie to content: This post was about the owner of the "Elvis is Alive" museum auctioning the museum contents on e-Bay.
First Correct Responder: LM

Day Two: Monday, November 5
Post Title/Song Lyric: Bicycle races are coming your way
Song Title: Bicycle Race
Artist: Queen
Tie to content: The post was about the first episode of this season's Amazing Race in which the contestants rode high-wire tandem bikes.
First Correct Responder: Little BRR

Day Three: Tuesday, November 6
Post Title/Song Lyric: So take a lesson from a top-notch surfer boy
Song Title: Catch A Wave
Artist: The Beach Boys
Tie to content: The post contained a youtube video of legendary surfer Laird Hamilton's PSA about oceanic pollution.
First Correct Responder: Lori W

Day Four, Wednesday, November 7
Post Title/Song Lyric: I can feel a chill of a cold November wind
Song Title: Good To Go To Mexico
Artist: Toby Keith
Tie to content: The picture I posted was taken on an overcast, chilly November day at my office complex. The caption included the number of days until my friends and I go to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in March. The song is about the chilly November wind prompting a trip to Cabo.
First Correct Responder: Lori W

Day Five: Thursday, November 8
Post Title/Song Lyric: A tip from me take all of your money and give it up to charity
Song Title: What I Got
Artist: Sublime
Tie to content: The post was about LM's silent auction win at Cheesefest.
First Correct Responder: None

Day Six: Friday, November 9
Post Title/Song Lyric: I play their game and then they scream my name
Song Title: American Bad Ass
Artist: Kid Rock
Tie to content: This was the weekly Survivor: China wrap-up, a reality TV game show where contestants are voted off by written ballot.
First Correct Responder: None

Day Seven: Saturday, November 10
Post Title/Song Lyric: Sweetheart, you'll find mediocre people do exceptional things all the time
Song Title: What To Do
Artist: Ok Go
Tie to content: This post was the Herculean list of things I had already accomplished for the weekend.
First Correct Responder: None

So there you have it - the first week's big winner is Lori W!! Congratulations, Lori! I will mail your prize CD at the end of the contest in December. This also puts you into the Grand Prize random drawing for a $50 Bridgeview Stained Glass gift certificate!

Thanks to everyone who played. It was a ton of fun to do, challenging but also rewarding. I hope more of you decide to play this week - you can find the original rules here if you need a refresher.

Things I've already accomplished this weekend:

1. Dusted the entire house
2. Washed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees
3. Washed the bathroom floor on my hands and knees
4. Swept and Swiffered the whole house
5. Cleaned the top of the fridge
6. Cleaned the bathroom (sink, toilet, tub, mirrors)
7. Made both beds
8. Vacuumed the rugs
9. Vacuumed the furniture
10. Made a veggie pizza
11. Made a batch of sangria
12. Drank half a batch of sangria
13. Hosted a successful Southern Living At Home party (hence the cleaning and sangria)
14. Cleaned up after a successful Southern Living At Home party
15. Did two loads of laundry
16. Had the house appraised
17. Swept the porches
18. Cleaned the kitchen (including the top of the fridge and the fronts of all the other appliances)
19. Cleaned both cat boxes
20. Showered and made myself pretty

I'm pooped. I'm going out for a beer.

THIS IS SURVIVOR CHAT - 11/08/07

• I felt bad that Denise was left out of the reward challenge until she used James' absence as an opportunity to rally against him. I get it and I'd probably do the same if I were out there, but from my couch I didn't like it.
• Jean Robert and the immunity idol. He was at tribal council last week when Jamie turned in one of those boards from the pagoda, so what was he thinking? And why did Eric tell him it wasn't an idol?
• I've been wondering how Todd felt about James still having both idols. Remember, Todd gave him the first one as protection and told him where to find the second one. I expected James would return the first one to Todd. I don't think this topic is exhausted between them. Do you agree that James should give the first one back to Todd?
• Courtney isn't good for much, but she sure can ride a dragon. At one point during the competition Jeff said, "Courtney hasn't moved in 32 minutes." I giggled when she flippantly responded, "I am lazy."
• Is Todd's wavering a sign of weakness and panic or is it simply a recalibration of strategy based on new information? I say recalibration.
• James gambled by not using the idol last night, but I don't think he'll do it again. The others were kind of stupid - if you're going to backdoor the biggest threat, you have to make sure you have enough votes to actually get rid of him/her. Now he knows someone tried and will have his guard up. The votes cast for James were from Erik, Peih-Gee, and Jean Robert.
• And just in case you were wondering, here are the words to Frosti's immunity challenge ditty: "Starving artist, on the dragon, balancing on barrels for Jeff Probst."

The updated list.

The following is a guest post from LM, my good friend and frequent commenter:

This past weekend was Cheesefest, a big annual fundraiser for Shriner's Hospital. It's casual and a lot of fun because there's cheese, music, and drinkin' for the kids. Early in the evening as I look over the silent auction items, I am immediately drawn to "St. Louis County Cop for a Day". I mentioned it aloud to my friend Mary, but passed it up for no particular reason, other than perhaps it's silly for a 38 year old female to want to do such a thing. On the 2nd trip back to the auction table, after talking incessantly about it for the previous 1/2 hour, my friend Mary said if I didn't write my name and bid on it, she would do it for me.

And she did. She wrote my name down and put the minimum bid. All night, in between wine tastings and mouse races, we kept checking back at the silent auction table. With each glance of no additional bidders, my fantasy of living out an episode of COPS (as a good guy, not a bad guy) was becoming more of a reality. The fact that the day comes with a dozen Krispy Kremes, I thought, is the icing on the cake. You see, donuts are one of my top 5 favorite foods of all times. And how beautifully cliche it would be to eat donuts on a cop ride-along.

But as the evening went on, I started daydreaming aloud about what would make my day as a cop even more spectacular? First of all, if it has to be in the County, I surely am hoping for a ride-along in as far north county as possible. I started thinking of the likes of Bellefontaine and Black Jack, and please Lord don't let it be Ballwin or Town 'N' Country. Second, I'm thinking I really hope I get to pick my shift, because I want an action packed Saturday night, not some Tuesday day shift. Lastly, I divulge to Mary my admittedly initial thought: that it would be extra nice if I got a Hot Cop. Mary quickly urged me not to dwell on this, noting that "fun cop" is much more important than "hot cop". I firmly agreed with her. Plus, Hot Cops really only exist in music videos. And on CHiPs. I did not want a stiff for my 8 hour ride along, as this day is about fun. So my vision of a hot cop vanished and I got scared, praying to my lucky stars I'd at least get a fun one who would find me kooky and humorous, and not annoying.

Well, by the time the auction ended I was still the lone bidder- so I WON! I did a little victory dance and then ran to tell my other friends who were there. A lot of high 5s ensued. Then I went in the little room they had set up for people to pay for their auction items. I stood in line vocally flaunting my winnings with the crowd of strangers. One gal heard me and pointed to two men with her and said, "hey, these 2 guys are county cops". The men then told me that the cop who volunteered the ride along, MY cop, was out there somewhere amongst the crowd. Whoa! I was even more excited, thinking he must be halfway fun if he was at Cheesefest.

I got sidetracked from all the chaos in the payment room, but as I exited I snapped back into reality and flung my arms in the air declaring out loud, "St Louis County Cop for a day!". Suddenly a tall, dark, overly neat, and handsome man approached me and asked if I was the one who won that auction item. Despite being in awe of his handsome good looks, I mustered up the ability to say, "Are YOU my cop?!". And he said yes, and there was another high 5 and a hug from my new Hot Cop friend.


I quickly instructed my friend Gwen to come over and get a photo of me with my cop, before this insane dream-like night disappeared on me. See attached photo. His name is Ryan, Officer Ryan to you and me I suppose, but I like to call him Hot Cop because it's more fun. We talked for a bit and I got the scoop.

I can pick my own shift (score!), and he recommended the "power shift" from 3-11 on a Saturday. Bingo - just what I wanted. I said, "you're not in west county are you?", and he replied, "No, far north county, near Spanish Lake and the City border". Double Bingo. He also told me he wasn't thrilled about the donut part of it (not his idea, although the ride along was his own doing) because it's too cliche, to which I responded that is exactly what is so great about it. I not only talked him into polishing off that box of donuts off with me by the end of the 8 hour shift, but I also think I talked him into taking me to get the donuts as our first stop of the day, so that I can document the whole thing on film! Ooh, and I probably will have to hum/sing the theme to COPS at multiple points throughout the day. There's nothing wrong with cliche at times like this.

Overall, Hot Cop seemed very laid back and prepared for a day of fun. He also mentioned a few minor details, such as the waiver I have to sign that basically releases the police from any liability in case I get killed. I must say, if I happen to get caught in some Spanish Lake crossfire, I can't imagine a better way to go out than having spent an 8 hour day in a car with that guy eating donuts and fighting crime.

So, that's the end of my story. I'm just so thrilled about it that I thought I'd share my excitement. And hopefully you'll see the humor in the story even though you weren't there. It will not happen for at least a few more weeks, because Hot Cop is on the day shift until then. I'm hoping I'll have some even better stories/photos to share when it's all over.

LM will be back after she collects from Hot Cop
@LM: I will make myself available to shoot the event, if you'd like.

Only 143 days to Cabo. No worky. No cold.

I understand that Laird Hamilton is a legendary surfer, and I'm all for the message of this PSA, but his delivery is so awkward and rambling that I thought it was a spoof commercial starring Will Forte of SNL fame (pictured left). Especially when he's talking about how bad plastic is and then out of left field says, "It's like plankton."

Their voices and ways of speaking are even similar. If Wil hasn't already spoofed this, he should.

This is the weekly Amazing Race recap post, but since the poll to pick the name is still open, I opted to give it a contest post title.

The players started the race at the Playboy Mansion. They are:

• Marianna and Julia - sisters, Miami
• Ronald and Christina - father and daughter, Tacoma WA
• Kynt and Vyxsin - dating goth couple, Louisville KY
• Nicolas and Donald - 23 year-old airline pilot and his grandfather
• Nathan and Jennifer - dating, Huntington CA
• Azaria and Hendeak - siblings, engineers, New Orleans
• Lorena and Jason - dating, LA
• Kate and Pat - married lesbian ministers
• Ari & Staella - friends and co-workers
• TK and Rachel - newly dating hippies, southern Cal
• Shana and Jennier - friends, LA

Back on the mainland, the teams drove 42 miles to Cloigeann Farms where they had to tandem bike on a muddy track to the next clue.

1. Azaria & Hendekea - PRIZE: trip for 2 to Fairmont Springs Bear Resort in Alberta, Canada
2. Kynt & Vyxsin
3. TK & Rachel
4. Lorena & Jason
5. Nicolas & Donald
6. Shana & Jennifer
7. Ronald & Christina
8. Pat & Kate
9. Marianna & Julia
10. Nathan & Jennifer

• Grandpa Donald is going to be a huge physical liability to Nicolas.
• If Nathan and Jennifer can't work out their trust issues, they won't go very far. I question the priorities of contestants with extreme baggage who think they can endure the additional stress of a contest like this.
• In my mind, an Amazing Race contestant should never forget this: Don't panic. It makes your situation worse by clouding your judgment. And your salvation is probably around the next corner.
• The donkeys being led by the uptight and screechy teams were the ones who stopped walking and refused to move.

Here it is, The First Official Contest Post.

The title of this post, Here's a little ghost for the offering, is a line from a song. To enter the contest, post the name of the song and the recording artist in the comments. Be sure to leave an identity and use the same one through the rest of the contest.

Each weekly contest ends at 11:59 pm CST on Saturday. I don't recommend waiting until the end of the week to post your answers. You run the risk of someone else having already posted theirs before you. In the case of a tie - more than one person gets all seven of the week's answers right - the winner will be the person who responded first. Now, let's get this party started.

Beeny, an evangelist who has preached on radio and television and run missions in the St. Louis area for years, is trading his passion for the King to help the poor, hungry and those addicted to drugs.

"I've enjoyed it, and it does tear out a little piece of my heart to close it down," Beeny said. "I feel I should do something more important."

Items included in the auction?

• A 1974 Cadillac limosine like the one Elvis rode in,
• Legal ownership and rights to the DNA test which compared Elvis' body tissue from two biopsies,
• A real casket with an manequin dressed similar to Elvis, and
• 600 pages from FBI files which document the fact that Elvis worked with the FBI and DEA.

Snap.

The bid has been stuck at $7,300 since Friday. Mr. Beeny won't reveal the amount of his reserve, but it hasn't been met yet. There are 4 days left. I'm going to keep an eye on the bidding until it closes. I'll post a short note when I know the final bid.

I never visited the museum. I wish I had. I wish I had met Bill Beeny. I know Cousin T, Holly and Kel went once. I don't remember the specific story of their Elvis jihad, but I think one of them cried . . . or was it that one of them got in trouble? Probably both.

T: want to guest post and tell it? I do remember it's a good one.