Keith's Amusing Musings

We took Owen to Kirkland City Hall today to apply for his passport. TB had me complete and print the online application beforehand and we both got a good chuckle while reviewing the section regarding his physical appearance.

His passport photo is even funnier.

We heard smiling in passport photos has been forbidden due to limitations in the facial recognition scanners used by security agencies worldwide. We knew not to worry since Owen is so serious in almost all his photos.

It is a sad day for me as a Dallas Cowboys fan. It is no secret I place greater emphasis on all the good T.O. brings to the teams he has played for during his career than the bad. This was as true while he was in San Francisco and Philadelphia as it was in Dallas. I think Dallas has made an enormous personnel blunder.

Call him a ball-dropping, loudmouth, cancerous, crybaby distraction but you must acknowledge he is a competitor and winner. How else do you explain over the last five seasons teams he has played on are 48-20 (.706) with him and 2-10 (.167) without him? Coincidence?

I don’t know what Jerry Jones is up to but keeping head coach Wade Phillips while cutting T.O. is a quick-and-easy recipe for missing the playoffs again next year. You don’t rebuild a winning franchise by cutting the guy who, in week 12, racked up the most franchise single-game receiving yards since 1979 while keeping the entire coaching staff after, in week 17, getting embarrassed 44-6, just missing the playoffs.

Jerry Rice is the only receiver in NFL history with more touchdown receptions than T.O. Jerry can no longer play the game but T.O. can. I hope Cowboys quarterback (Tony Romo), tight end (Jason Witten) and offensive coordinator (Jason Garrett) know who to blame when T.O.’s absence from the roster results in more team absences from the playoffs.

I hear the Arizona Cardinals bandwagon is accepting late arrivals. There is a lot to like about Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. They find ways to win while the Cowboys find ways to whine. Hmm…

I have been giving fair warning for over two years now yet people still haven’t learned. A 200-pound, “pet” chimpanzee attacked and severely mauled a woman today in Stamford, Connecticut. You know you’re in for it when you have a pet that weighs 200 pounds and you can only bench, say, 30 tops.

To me, it’s still not clear who won that battle. The chimp is dead, sure, but not before he bit off both his victim’s hands, completely disfigured her face, got shanked a few times with a butcher knife by his owner, chased a policeman into his cruiser after being stabbed AND took “several” rounds, close-range, from the cop’s firearm. And, if that weren’t enough, the chimp then retreated to his living quarters to die. Brings a whole new meaning to “Live free, die hard."

Similar to my previous Animal Kingdom post, I allocate points as follows:

Travis (the chimp): 1
Sandra Herold (the owner): 1
Charla Nash (the victim): 0.5
Policeman: nil

Jack Bauer has nothing on Travis the chimp. Ms. Herold gets a point for her quick-wittedness and knife work that saved her friend’s life. Ms. Nash gets half a point for surviving the brutal attack. The police officer must have had both eyes closed to fire several rounds close-range and not kill Travis immediately.

All that said, the silliest part of this whole story is the photographer (or Fox editor?) who decided to whiten Travis’ teeth in the photo of him above taken in 2003. Was he auditioning for a Crest Whitestrips commercial?

TB and I are just returned from a mini babymoon in Cabo San Lucas, soaking up sun and R&R before the winter and our little one arrive. The weather was fantastic, in the 80s and sunny, completely opposite the weather in Seattle this time of year. While it was great vacation weather it was not-so-great running weather particularly in the hilly, rocky terrain surrounding the Pueblo Bonito Pacifica resort where we stayed. I kept up my training by running shorter times/distances but more days.

There is a lot I liked about Pueblo Bonito Pacifica and a few things I disliked. Here are my quick lists:

Highlights

• Beautiful location: Located on the tip of the Baja peninsula, one can watch the sunrise and sunset.
• No smoking: With a pregnant wife this is a no-brainer.
• Adults only: We have to enjoy the kid-free, 16 or older, environment while we can. It is quiet and uncrowded.
• Courteous staff: Everyone is very pleasant and accommodating.
• Comfortable quarters: The room is well-appointed very clean with nice furniture and a great bathroom. However, the hard bed and pillows are not the hotness.

Lowlights

• Location, location, location: The resort is remote and isolated. Free shuttles are available into town which is about 30 minutes away.
• Food: While the quality and quantity are passable, the prices are not. Clearly, food is how the operators choose to make their money. Cabo overall is more expensive than Cancun or Puerto Vallarta but $9.50 for a 32 oz. bottle of water? Extreme. Making matters worse, the resort forbids any food or beverage from outside its gates including that 128 oz. jug of the same water sold at the grocery store in town for $2.45.
• The beach: The phrase "fun in the sun" typically conjures up images of the beach with walks in fine, hot sand and dips in calm, cool sea. Here, the sand is not fine and the sea is not calm. The beach seems more an afterthought at Pueblo Bonito Pacifica and, unsurprisingly, most guests sit around the pool or in the Jacuzzi, instead. Doing so makes them prime targets for over-priced martinis and beers, of course.

Maybe it is because I envy the New York Giants perch atop the NFC East divisional rankings. It is true my judgmental side makes me a bit harsh in situations like Plaxico Burress found himself last weekend. But, I mainly question the calculus which lead him to the illogical conclusion that the best way to make an environment safer for himself was to make it unsafe for everyone else. The rich irony being his “solution” backfired (no pun intended).