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Yawn

Wimbledon is a racket.

I look forward to it every year, and watch every moment of tennis that my schedule allows.

But this year?

My actual body clock reset itself to make sure of it.

I normally wake up around 7am every morning — without an alarm — to walk the dog.  But this year during Wimbledon, I have been popping out of bed between 5:30-6:00am

I know that the first hour of Wimbledon coverage on ESPN is bogus chit-chat, and the matches don’t start until 8:00am.  But my body doesn’t.  And I especially know that the weekend coverage doesn’t begin until 9:00am.

Go back to sleep.

(I’m not listening.)

In the noodle

Would you take a punch for some pad thai?

It is yummy.

Stir-fried rice noodles, eggs, bean sprouts, and any combination of shrimp, chicken or tofu, garnished with crushed peanuts and lime juice.  When I’m at a Thai restaurant, I find it hard to order anything else.

But would I willingly get in a fist fight for my fav?

Two ladies in a Manhattan Trader Joe’s did.

The altercation started when one woman’s son ‘interfered’ with the other’s husband’s attempt to pick up a pad thai in the produce section.  Words were exchanged, followed by a slap.

Now the two families are continuing the clash in court, contesting an attempted harassment charge.

All over a package of pad thai — and vegan pad thai at that.

And I here I thought vegans were all about peace and love and serenity.  Just goes to show you…

Eating all that tofu makes you testy.

Lock me up

Every two years, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University publishes their “Freedom in the 50 States” index.

This year’s most free state?  It’s a virtual tie…between New Hampshire and South Dakota.  And the least free state?

New York

Lady Liberty, look the other way.  (Oh good, she is.)

Turns out my beloved Empire State got dinged for our particularly high taxes, health insurance regulations, anti-smoking laws, lack of medical marijuana and no same-sex marriage (only one vote away!).

Oh…that.

Jason Sorens, co-author of the study and assistant professor at CUNY Buffalo — who (ahem) lives in New York — admits the state has other benefits.

“New York City has a lot going for it…if you like culture, the arts, music, having lots of things to do, nightlife — you’re going to value having more things to do even if you feel more impinged upon.”

Exactly, Jason.  And the things that may make other people feel ‘impinged upon’ — not being able to smoke in Central Park, for example — don’t make me feel any less free.

That’s the beauty of the USA.  There are 50 different states.  If you don’t like the one you’re in, you can move to one you like better.

Like I did.

Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose…” Me & Bobby McGee, Janis Joplin

Refreshing, ya’ll

Happy National Iced Tea Day!

Today we celebrate the official drink of summer, that mother’s milk of the South — iced tea.

I grew up drinking my iced tea brewed with boo-coo’s of sugar, but today I prefer it with a just a touch of the pink stuff (Sweet ‘n’ Low).

Now, I know there are a lot of coffee drinkers out there who have never tried iced tea, or who simply consider iced tea the ‘second-class citizen’ of caffeinated beverages.  If that is true, I ask you this:

Which drink is so popular it has it very own piece of flatware?

Iced tea 

(It has its own long-handled iced tea spoon.  Coffee?  No such utensil.)

So, when the next heatwave leaves you feeling parched, consider a tall, thirst-quenching glass of sweet iced tea.

If you’re lucky, you might just pick up a sexy Southern drawl along the way.

The best things

Last night on The Middle, the family did a bit of spring cleaning.

Since I had just killed some rather heinous dust bunnies myself under the bed, their pain spoke to me on a very personal level. Then the daughter Sue had trouble throwing away an old set of hair rollers because she ‘didn’t want to hurt their feelings.’

Why don’t I watch this show more often? Clearly we are on the same wavelength.

I too understand how ‘things’ can have feelings.  So does Tom Hanks.  Remember Wilson the soccer ball in Castaway?  I do.  When they got separated out in the ocean, I cried like a baby.

Snuffles and I love that movie.

Snuffles is a small, white Gund bear that has lived with me since 1990.  He was originally a gift from me and my sister to our mother when she was in the hospital having surgery.

He was very good to our mom, that bear.  And after she died, Snuffles came to live with me.

Snuffles is not your ordinary stuffed animal.  He talks and dances — “Blister in the Sun” by the Violent Femmes is still his favorite song — and has accompanied me on every trip I’ve taken, business or pleasure, for the past two decades.  (This photo was taken when he went with me to Ireland in 1997.)

Rory Dog will tell you.  That’s no stuffed animal sitting on the bed.

That’s his older brother.

Dynamic duos

Ricky and Lucy.  Ross and Rachel.  Sam and Diane.   Every generation has had its seminal TV couple.  But not today.

We gots all kinds of ‘em!

Thanks to a really strong lineup of sitcoms — and dramas, too — the current television landscape boasts multiple couples with great chemistry, fun banter, and unconventional relationships.

Do I have favorites?  You betcha!  (Thanks for asking.)

Here are my 2011 Top Five TV Couples:

No. 5Sheldon and Amy, The Big Bang Theory — Call them the ‘uncouple’.  They don’t like to spend too much time together, preferring to Skype.  The terms ‘girlfriend’ and ‘boyfriend’ offend their sensibilities.  And the only kiss they have ever exchanged was more scientific experiment than sexual act.  But their pairing has added a spark to the already smoking nerd fest that is TBBT. Long live Shamy!

No. 4:  Jack and Liz, 30 Rock — We’ve all had that work colleague who is more than a friend.  But in the fantastical world that is 30 Rock, Liz and Jack’s more-than-a-friendship mentor-ship blurs the lines in bizarre, often disturbing, always hilarious ways.  Heck, they even got married by accident.  If I had a nickel…

No. 3:  Castle and Beckett, Castle – This may be a TV drama, but anyone who watches Castle knows this police procedural is sprinkled with a heavy helping of funny, thanks to Nathan Fillion’s take on its namesake.  And his chemistry with Detective Beckett is as Sam and Diane as it gets on TV today.  Will they?  Won’t they?  When?  Hurry up already!

No.2:  Ben and Leslie, Parks & Recreation — My favorite ‘newbie couple’ on TV today, Ben and Leslie are as positive and life affirming as those shiba inu puppies on the web cam.  I love their characters separately; I love the idea of them together even more.  Since the series is relatively young, I thought they’d keep us dangling like a worm on a hook in a lake in a park in Indiana. But did you see last night?  “Uh oh.”

And, last but definitely not least, my choice for the absolute bestest TV couple of 2011:

No. 1:  Claire and Phil, Modern Family – No couple on TV is funnier because no two actors are braver.  The Dunphys’ sexual exploits alone are worth a spin-off.  (Could they be more unsuccessful?  How did they have three children?)   This week’s episode “Bad Dog, Good Dog”  — featuring a brilliant parenting role switcheroo — was yet another tour de force for Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen.  They are, simply put, the very best on television today.

Emmy voters, mark your ballots.



Blech

Why do so many foods have that icky, sticky black licorice-y flavor?

I don’t have any stats to support this, but I don’t think most people like licorice.

It tastes bad.  It smells worse.  And licorice candy — which I have encountered sometimes in unexpected, upsetting ways — even looks distasteful.

Dull.  Dark.  Depressing.  That’s the legacy of licorice.

And it doesn’t stop at the candy counter.  That bitter bite can be found in everything from the Greek liquor ouzo to Rachael Ray’s favorite fennel to the cool looking star anise spice.


But don’t let the nifty packaging or the cool green color or the ‘under the sea’ vibe fool you.

They all still taste like poo poo.


Dyno-mite!

From time to time, The Sticky Egg not only highlights things that are cool, kitschy or culturally significant…

It points out stuff I simply gots to have!

For instance, in late January, I was inspired by an over-sized representation of a Marvel Comic strip panel that I felt had an important message for women everywhere:

“I simply haven’t met a boy yet who interests me! And until I do, I’d rather walk alone than date just anyone.”

I think I held out a whole week before I ordered that one.

And then earlier this month, I got all excited about the new — well, new to me anyway — iPhone icon pillows being sold by Craftsquatch, a store on Etsy.

I wrote that particular blog entry just a couple of days after my birthday, and mentioned what a wonderful gift they would make.

Well, one of my best friends took the bait, and I am happy to report…

There be iPhone pillows in the house!

Just look at them — it’s like the Marvel canvas and the pillows and my red leather couch were made for each other!

Since you are there for me through the silliness and the surreal, I wanted to celebrate my way cool decor with you as well.

And people say blogs don’t amount to anything…

Russian revolution

I love Ray Romano.

And apparently, so do the Russians.

The sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, which was loosely based on the lives of Romano and producer Phil Rosenthal, ran for nine seasons on CBS.  It was nominated for the Best Comedy Series Emmy seven times and won twice.

When they decided to end the series in 2005, it was still in the Top 10, a spot it had occupied since its third season on the air.

Exporting Raymond is a documentary that opened in very limited release in movie theatres last Friday.  It follows Rosenthal’s efforts to produce a Russian version of the sitcom… which is probably even more difficult than you would think.

And really, really funny.

This isn’t a documentary about Ray Romano.  He’s not in it, except in copious clips from the sitcom.   This is Phil’s baby, and he — who I had never seen on camera before — is hilarious in his own right.

He’s wide-eyed and nervous and tentative.  I definitely saw flashes of Woody Allen in his manner (thankfully without the annoying stammer).  But when it comes to Everybody Loves Raymond and helping it come alive for the Russian audience, he is strong and certain and somewhat single-minded.

Goodness knows he runs into obstacles.  The studios there look like bombed out buildings.  The writers and actors are doing two or three shows simultaneously and have extremely limited time and resources.  And the people ‘in charge’ bring somewhat questionable expertise to the table.

It takes a translator, vodka, a kindly driver, a real Russian family, more vodka, and a bit of give-and-take before the pilot episode is complete.   The entire process is really fascinating to watch.

So, how was the Russian version of Raymond received?  I shouldn’t tell you the end.  (Let’s just say it lives up to its name.)