Trivia Tuesday: Mensa Workout Quiz

This is an extra special Trivia Tuesday. Why you may (or may not) ask? Well, today is also the last day of November. With this post, I have successfully completed NaBloPoMo and posted at least once per day for the entire month. Way to go me! If you're worried about there being fewer posts next month, well, that may actually happen. However, I have a bunch of things I'm working on as well as my big announcement which should occur in the next few days.

On to Trivia Tuesday. Mensa is a high IQ society that provides a forum for intellectual exchange among its members. There are members in more than 100 countries around the world. Activities include the exchange of ideas through lectures, discussions, journals, special-interest groups, and local, regional, national and international gatherings; the investigations of members' opinions and attitudes; and assistance to researchers, inside and outside Mensa, in projects dealing with intelligence or Mensa. Yes, I took most of this paragraph directly from the Mensa website.

Anyway, Mensa also created an online workout quiz where you can see if you can be a Mensa member. Well, except for the fact that Mensa states that the quiz is provided for entertainment purposes only, it is not an IQ test and this score will not qualify you for Mensa. Instead, let's just see who is the smartest person to read Sean's Ramblings. Based on this last sentence, it is clearly not me.

The online quiz consists of 30 questions. You have up 30 minutes to complete the quiz, and, fortunately, the actual time taken is not factored into the scoring.

You can click here to take the quiz and then share your results in the comments section below. In case you're wondering, I scored a 23 of 30. Good luck!

Suisham for Mayor (Steelers-Bills Recap)

Yesterday’s Pittsburgh Steelers-Buffalo Bills game likely took several months off of my life. I’m sure that it took several years off of the lives of Buffalo Bills fans. Here are my thoughts from the game:

- The Steelers dominated every possible statistic in the first half, but I’m sure that I wasn’t the only one who was nervous since the team only led 13-0 at halftime. I guess I saw too much football over the weekend with Alabama crushing Auburn early before Auburn rallied to win.

- As a Steelers fan, I realize that I’m biased in that I feel like James Harrison plays the game hard and is one of the best linebackers in the NFL. With that written, I guess I can see how opponents feel like Harrison is a dirty player, and it doesn’t help that the league fines him for anything. Therefore, anytime Harrison makes any play, folks see it as dirty. For the second consecutive week, Harrison was charged with a roughing the passer penalty that I’m convinced would not have been called if the defensive player was anyone other than Harrison.

- Stevie Johnson had a breakout game last Sunday with three touchdowns against the Cincinnati and the “Why So Serious” shirt to counter the Bengals’ “star” receivers.” Johnson’s Q-rating continues to rise among football fans thanks to his drop on what should have been a game winning touchdown. I feel a little bad for Johnson since he seems like a likable guy. I hope he bounces back, particularly in weeks 16 and 17 against the Patriots and Jets respectively.



- By the way, we need a ruling. Is the Buffalo WR going to go as Steve or Stevie?

- Of course, Steve/Stevie’s drop wouldn’t have happened if Leodis McKelvin didn’t run into his teammate during the overtime kickoff return. The game really should have ended on that play.

- While Hines Ward had a nice statistics with 7 receptions for 107 yards, he disappeared after the first half. In the second half and overtime, Ward had only 1 catch for 24 yards.

- We interrupt this recap for another Steelers holding penalty.

- Even though he spells his name incorrectly, Shaun Suisham had a great game going 4 for 4 in field goal attempts, all over 40 yards. If he decided to run today, I think Suisham could win an election to become Pittsburgh’s mayor. Just look how happy he made Daniel Sepulveda!



- When I lived in San Diego, I regularly watched games at a Steelers bar where one guy yelled “Get some pressure on him” during nearly ever pass play when the Steelers were on defense. While I applaud the passion, it got a little unoriginal after a while. On Sunday, a guy yelled “Get off the field” every time Buffalo had a third down. This got old quick.

- I’m not an NFL General Manager, but I’ll play one on the internet. Why did the Bills draft running back CJ Spiller with their first round draft pick? Fred Jackson is a really good running back and the team also had Marshawn Lynch, a former first round draft pick, at the start of the season before trading him to Seattle for two undisclosed picks. With so many needs at other positions, that seems like a wasted opportunity for the Bills.

- I'm also not an NFL coach, but I'll play one here. Why didn't Bills Coach Chan Gailey challenge Troy Polamalu's interception late in the fourth quarter? Sure, Polamalu caught the ball cleanly, but he was down by contact at the one yard line. However, Troy got up and advanced the ball to about the six yard line. Although it didn't end up making a difference, pinning the Steelers extremely deep inside their own territory could have had an impact.

- Mike Wallace scored only a 2.5 on the judges’ scorecards for his overtime dive.

- Remember when Lee Evans was a decent wide receiver for Buffalo? Now all he does is recover a teammate’s fumble and go out for coin tosses.

- Did you happen to see Rian Lindell wearing sweatpants over his uniform pants on the sidelines? I’ve seen baseball pitchers put on a jacket to keep their arm warm, but I’ve never seen a kicker put on sweatpants to keep their legs warm.

- I’ll take a 151-yard rushing performance, even if it was on 36 carries, from Rashard Mendenhall any day.

- I really do appreciate the fact that CBS provides player statistics for other games during its telecasts. (Fox, you are welcome to do this as well instead of spending money on the ridiculous jumping robot.) This is huge help when I’m watching the game at a bar/restaurant and don’t have internet access. However, was it really necessary to include players from the Thursday night games in your fantasy leaders? If you didn’t know that Tom Brady had four TD passes on Thursday, you should stop playing fantasy football.


It was an ugly win, but a win nonetheless. The Steelers are now 8-3, and just as important, are 6-2 in the conference. Next week is the monster Sunday night game against Baltimore, who is also 8-3. Fortunately, unlike the Steelers previous Sunday night appearances this season, the Ravens did not lose to (or even play) the Cleveland Browns the week before the primetime game.

For more about yesterday's game, check out the game story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and ESPN.

Metro Times App

Tiny350Z is a long-time reader and commenter and recently asked me if I could promote an iPhone application. Even though I don't own an iPhone and barely know what an app is, I'm certainly happy to help. Anyway, Tiny350Z has a friend who developed an iPhone app called Metro Times specifically for folks in the Washington DC area. Want to find the nearest Metro station, and know exactly when the next train is arriving for that station? This app is for you.

This sounds like a great app, but again, with no iPhone, it is somewhat useless for me. However, I may have a code if folks want to try it for free and help spread the word. If you're interested, please leave a comment below or contact me at seanramblings at yahoo[dot]com.

The Ohio State University President Is Wrong

I hate Division I college football. I love the games and the atmosphere, but I hate the system. It's all about money, yet, every once in a while, someone comes out and says something stupid about the current Bowl Championship Series system because they don't want to admit that it's about the money. This week's winner is The Ohio State University President Gordon Gee, who believes that that even if TCU and Boise State go undefeated, they don't deserve to be in BCS title game.

"I do know, having been both a Southeastern Conference president and a Big Ten president, that it's like murderer's row every week for these schools. We do not play the Little Sisters of the Poor. We play very fine schools on any given day."

Really? You play Indiana who just received $3 million to play a "home" game at FedEx Field outside of DC against Penn State. You play the 59th-ranked schedule in the country. You pay schools hundreds of thousands of dollars to travel to Columbus for an almost guaranteed victory (see the 73-20 win against Eastern Michigan, a team that also lost at home 71-3 against Northern Illinois).

Dr. Gee said the current system is better for the student-athletes. "It's not about this incessant drive to have a national championship because I think that's a slippery slope to professionalism," he said. "I'm a fan of the bowl system and I think that by and large it's worked very, very well."

A slippery slope to professionalism? Have you noticed that your conference created its own cable station, the Big 10 Network? You just added Nebraska to the conference so that you can have a conference championship game. Both of these moves show that you are already at the bottom of the professionalism slope.

Once again, it comes down to money. Division 1 football is the only college sport without a true championship. You could easily have an 8 or 16-team playoff system if the number of regular season games was reduced to 10 or 11. However, doing this would prevent Ohio State and other major college programs from hosting 7 home college football games. Ohio State makes millions of dollars for every home game. Why give up that paycheck or the money you receive from BCS games to allow schools from non-BCS conference (like Boise State or TCU) to get a share? You won't because the system works well for you.

In full disclosure, I earned my Masters degree from The Ohio State University. I have contributed money to the institution and consider myself a fan of the football team. I just think that President Gee is completely wrong here. Perhaps he should refrain from talking about the BCS and spend more time lobbying the Ohio legislature to give the institution more money.

By the way, tell me that this doesn't get you pumped up for the Ohio State-Michigan game? Go Bucks!

Woodland Hills Makes National News

I've given Express a hard time lately for various errors into their publication. Apparently, they got their revenge by featuring my school district on page 2.



I did some research, and sure enough, a bus driver for my former junior high school stopped at a police station to quiet the kids down. Lovely. Here's the entire story courtesy of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Woodland Hills school officials said yesterday they will discipline students who got so rowdy on an after-school bus ride the driver took them to the Swissvale police station.

The unnamed driver for A.J. Myers and Sons drove to the station Friday when the group of junior high students refused to settle down, said school district spokeswoman Maria McCool. The driver resumed the route without incident after officers spoke with the kids, McCool said.

"There were kids on board who were acting inappropriately," McCool said. "The bus driver felt they were out of control. They weren't listening to him. He felt it was an unsafe situation, so he stopped at the police station. The police came out, and when the police came out, they calmed down."

Swissvale police would not comment. The bus company did not return a call for comment.

McCool said 35 students were heading home on the bus after basketball tryouts and cheerleading at Woodland Hills Junior High in Swissvale about 5 p.m. The bus was close to the police station when a disturbance broke out, and the driver decided on his own to stop at the station.

McCool said students made threats, but she did not know whether they threatened the driver or each other. Police did not cite any students.

Although several children decided to walk home from the police station, McCool said nobody was ejected from the bus, and all were offered a ride home. She said the walkers had an option to call their parents from the police station.

The district was investigating the incident, and McCool could not provide estimates for how many students were involved or how many walked home. She said the district would identify the offending students and punish them based on the disrict's conduct policy. Junior high Principal Dawn Golden will determine punishment.

Earlier this year, Swissvale police arrested 11 students for fighting in the junior high parking lot, and police agencies reported they were called numerous times to Woodland Hills buildings.

"It's a privilege to ride the activities bus," McCool said. "This is not a service that everyone is just entitled to. You can lose bus privileges if you don't behave. We just want everyone to know that when there's this kind of problem on the bus, we will not tolerate it."

In other news, good luck to the Woodland Hills High School football team in the WPIAL Quad A Championship against North Allegheny on Saturday. Go Wolverines (as long as you're behaved on the bus)!

Thanksgiving Message 2010

On this Thanksgiving, I wanted to share this message for you and your family:

Thanksgiving is a special night
Jimmie Walker used to say Dynomite
That's right



Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Housekeeping

Time to get caught up on a few things.

1. There will be a major announcement on Sean’s Ramblings next week. I hope that you won’t spend the entire Thanksgiving weekend thinking about what I may write.

2. The winner of the Brand New Contest is:



Congratulations to Messiah, who provided comment #2. Thanks to everyone for entering and providing suggestions about places to go for a weekend vacation. Thanks to CSNStores.com for providing this great contest. CSNStores sites are offering exclusive "Black Friday" deals that have already started and will run as long as supplies last. Please make check out their deals on CSN sites such as Every Game Room, Toys & Games Online and Fitness Equipment & More.

3. Thanks to Ile de France for sending me a package Camembert cheese. I haven’t had any yet, but I plan on bringing it as a Thanksgiving appetizer. Remember you can’t say Camembert without Ile de France. (There’s no chance that Ile de France uses this slogan, but I think it is quite catchy.)



4. Since I’m participating in NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month, I’ll be posting here tomorrow, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and for every day in November. After spending hours at Black Friday sales, stop over to see what’s new in my world.

5. Bat-Bat is back on the latest Yinz Luv Da Stillers:

Trivia Tuesday

Your challenge this week is to complete the following sentences by filling in the blanks with two words which are anagrams of each other.

1. The team stopped and ______ for 3 days at an oasis before continuing their journey across the ______.

2. Securing his eye patch, Bob hoped he wouldn’t encounter too many others dressed as _______ at the ______ he would attend this Halloween.

3. The scientist realized he’d _____ something new when the two chemicals _____ in the flask.

4. After the ghost covered the ghostbuster with ______, the ghostbuster no longer had a _______ on his face.

5. _______ members of the audience gasp as the magician moves the curtain and _____ that his assistant has vanished.

6. Much to the ______ of the young skater, she lost a tenth of a point for _____ her back too much during the spin.

7. The old witch had a large spell book that gave her many _____ of spells, incantations and _____ she could use.

8. With no moon out, the ____ was so dark that the hiker couldn’t see a ______.

9. The barista proudly ______ that he can distinguish the _____ of over 100 different types of coffees.

10. The scout told everybody to be ______ so that he could ______ for the sound of approaching hooves.

As always please leave your answers in the comments section below and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

Pittsburgh Steelers-Oakland Raiders Recap

It was a glorious Sunday in Pittsburgh as the Steelers defeated the Oakland Raiders 35-3. In full disclosure, I missed much of the first half, so I didn’t see the Steelers trailing 3-0 after the first quarter and some of the early penalties. Here are my thoughts on what I did see:

- Ben Roethlisberger must have watched Michael Vick put up insane stats against the Washington Redskins last Monday night. How else can you explain Roethlisberger RUNNING for 55 yards and a touchdown to go with 275 passing yards and 3 TDs?

- When was the last time you saw an NFL player ejected from a game? (I remember a pre-game fight between Joey Porter as a Steeler and William Green of the Browns leading to both players getting ejected.) Well, congratulations to Richard Seymour for accomplishing this by giving Roethlisberger a nice cheap shot slap to the face?

- By the way, I loved the way the referee called the penalty. “Number 93 has ejected himself from the game for his actions.” Sure, he initially got the players number wrong, but I love the way he phrased this. I’m going to use this line the next time I give a red card in a soccer game.

- Mike Wallace is fast.

- I really hope Snoop Dogg got paid handsomely for appearing in this Pepsi Max commercial. ("I’m up to my knees in zero calories. Pepsi to the max so let’s drink all of these." Worst rap ever?)



- James Harrison hit Raiders' QB Jason Campbell in the third quarter just as he released the ball. It was not a head shot and Harrison did not go at Campbell’s knees. However, Harrison was still called for a personal foul, apparently, for driving Campbell into the ground. Campbell is 6’5” and 230 pounds. How else is James Harrison supposed to hit him?

- The overall rushing yards for the Steelers (33 carries for 162 yards, or 4.9 yards per carry) looked pretty good. However, the Steelers need to do better with Rashard Mendenhall, their #1 running back, running for only 59 yards on 23 carries and a long run of only 9 yards.

- With the Steelers winning 28-3 late in the fourth quarter, why was Roethlisberger still in the game? Sure, for fantasy football purposes I was happy that he threw a late touchdown pass to Isaac Redman, but there was no reason for him to be on the field with the game out of hand.

- The Steelers defense played great by giving up only 3 points and 182 total yards. Six sacks, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and allowing the Raiders to convert only 3 of 14 third down conversions is definitely not too shabby.

- Congratulations to Shaun Suisham for going 5-for-5 on extra point conversions! Maybe he can spell his first name correctly next week.

- Next week, the Steelers face Steve Johnson and the Buffalo Bills. How did Johnson not know that he would get fined for wearing this?



- By the way, check out the Steve Johnson press conference on the Buffalo Bills website. (The link takes you to the press conference page. You actually have to click on the Steve Johnson press conference once you get to the site.) It’s nice of him to dress up for the occasion.

Finally, last call to enter my new contest to win a $75 gift certificate to use at any of the 200+ CSN Stores websites. All you need to do is post a comment on the "Brand New Contest" post by Monday at 10pm to enter.

Sunday Videos

The Jacksonville Jaguars won last week on a "Hail Mary" on the final play of the game. Do you remember how the Jaguars won on the final play of the game 7 years ago?



Plus, Cotter and Tecmo unveil their [Unnamed] Steelers Preview for today's game.

Random Ramblings

If you missed Alyssa Milano at the Penguins game last night, she will be at the Steelers Sideline Store at South Hills Village today from 1-2pm. Steelers Maurkice Pouncey and Emmanuel Sanders will be signing autographs at the same store from 3-5pm. I guess everyone will eat at the food court between 2-3. [Alyssa.com & Steelers.com]



Ithaca College is seeking a mascot [Ithaca College]

Congratulations to Ithaca (the city not the college) for being named one of "America's Foodiest Towns" by Bon Appétit magazine. [Ithaca Journal]

If you're looking to buy some cool and unique T-shirts, I recommend contacting Doug [Get Fresh Designs]

The Pittsburgh Steelers released kicker Jeff Reed earlier this week. I’m not going to provide an editorial or pile on, but check out this quote from Tuesday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

"I'm not one to make excuses," Reed said. "I'll take the credit for the miss. It was a great snap, a great hold, great protection. It's kind of hard when you plant your foot and the hole -- a piece of ground moves where the ball's under the holder. I almost missed the ball completely.

"I'm not going to make excuses. If you've played any kind of sports in your life, you realize that what we play on is not very good turf. It happens."
Um, isn’t that making excuses? You know, I’m not one to make excuses either. I missed the bus this week. My alarm didn’t go off, and then I couldn’t find my shoes. There weren’t matching socks anywhere. How can there be seemingly hundreds of socks in my drawer but not one pair of matching brown socks? Anyway, Ziggy was also very friendly and wanted to play. Plus, the bus arrived early. I’m not going to make excuses though.

Finally, don't forget to enter my new contest by Monday at 10pm where you can win a $75 gift certificate to use at any of the 200+ CSN Stores websites. All you need to do is post a comment on the "Brand New Contest" post.

Mike Ditka May Have Bad Teeth

Former Chicago Bears Coach Mike Ditka is apparently the spokesman for ClearChoice Dental Implant Center. I like the Aliquippa, Pennsylvania native and University of Pittsburgh great, so I’m happy that he picked up an endorsement deal. However, I’m confused by the pictures on this advertisement.



If I understand this correctly, Ditka received dental implants from a company other than ClearChoice, and the entire process took three years. Meanwhile, at ClearChoice, you can get implants and new teeth in only one day. Maybe Ditka is not pleased with his teeth. His treatment took three years, yet he’s afraid to smile in the “after” picture.



Maybe his new teeth doesn’t look good, and ClearChoice doesn’t want him to smile and have people associate the teeth with the company. Conversely, perhaps Ditka does have nice teeth now, but ClearChoice doesn’t want him to smile while standing in front of their logo since they didn't do the work.

Maybe I’m just reading too much into this. However, what's the point of having before and after pictures for a dental company without seeing any teeth? At least you can see Ditka's teeth in this video:



This may or may not be related, but do you know anyone who endorses both teeth and cigars? Yes, Ditka has his own cigar!


Finally, don't forget to enter my new contest where you can win a $75 gift certificate to use at any of the 200+ CSN Stores websites. All you need to do is post a comment on the "Brand New Contest" post.

Brand New Contest

The holiday shopping season is just around the corner. Seriously, go around the corner, look, and the holiday shopping season will be there. Wouldn’t you like $75 to use on a gift for a friend, family member or even yourself? As a CSN Preferred Blogger, I can make this happen.

Here’s the deal. CSN stores are offering a $75 gift code for use on any of their 200+ sites. If there’s something you’re looking for, you will probably find it at a CSN website. For example, I know that you always wanted bar tables and stools. (See what I did there? CSN is promoting their bar tables and stools, so I provided a link to that site. I will now go a step further and show pictures of some bar stools.)

For my fellow Steelers fans, perhaps you would like this:



For non-Steelers fans, this may be more your style:



To enter this contest, all you need to do is leave a comment below. Here’s a topic if you can’t think of anything to write. I’m looking to go away somewhere for a nice romatic weekend and need some suggestions. The location needs to be somewhere that is a reasonable flight or drive from Washington DC. Sure, Hawaii would be great, but I don’t think I’d see much more than the Honolulu Airport departing on a Friday and returning on a Sunday.

Please enter your comment by Monday, November 22nd at 10:00 PM Eastern time. I'll choose the winner via Random.org. Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in case you win. One entry per person. CSN can only ship their products to the United States and Canada, so I’m sorry that my many readers from across the globe, such as Prince William and Kate Middleton, cannot enter. Good luck!

Two Steelers Related Videos

For folks that could care less about my continuous quest of finding mistakes in the local newspaper, I present two videos related to the Pittsburgh Steelers. First, I am happy to present Jim Shearer's latest Yinz Luv Da Stillers.



The second video is a child giving the weather report at a Baltimore TV station. He also happens to be a Steelers fan (starting around the 2:50 mark). [h/t PSAMP]

Minor Express Fail

Part of my recent vacation included a stop in San Diego where I visited San Diego State University, a place where I worked for two years. While I don't consider myself an avid fan of the SDSU, I still follow the Aztec sports teams. Therefore, I knew that the SDSU men's basketball team was playing at Gonzaga on Tuesday night. (San Diego State won!) However, according to Express, Gonzaga faced San Diego last night.



While this may seem minor, a reference to San Diego for college basketball means the University of San Diego Toreros. The Toreros are members of the West Coast Conference and face Gonzaga in conference twice a year. Tuesday night was not one of those times. Again, while this may seem minor, you wouldn't write Michigan if Michigan State was playing or Virginia in place of Virginia Tech.

If you feel like I'm being unfair to Express, please let me know. However, before you do so, check out this story about the Washington Wizards that just ends in mid-sentence.

Trivia Tuesday: Name That Tune

Happy Tuesday! Your challenge this week is to name the song title and artist based on the lyrics of the ten songs below. You may begin, (dramatic pause) NOW!

1. I check myself out in the mirror / I wanna change my clothes my hair my face

2. Tell me are you a Christian child. I said, ma'am I am tonight.

3. Lucky that my lips not only mumble
They spill kisses like a fountain
Lucky that my breasts are small and humble
So you don't confuse them with mountains

4. Let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Let me sleep on it
And I'll give you an answer in the morning

5. You want a piece of my heart
You better start from start
You wanna be in the show
Come on baby lets go

6. We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year.

7. She's just a girl who claims that I am the one
But the kid is not my son.

8. There's pigeons down on Market Square.
She's standing in her underwear.

9. Back in school we used to dream about this everyday.
Could it really happen? Or do dreams fade away.
Then we started singing them. They said it sounded smooth.
So we started a group and here we are kickin' it just for you.

10. We are young, heartache to heartache we stand.
No promises, no demands.

As always please leave your answers in the comments section below and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

TMI Monday: I Haven’t Seen These Movies

Did you miss me? Did you even know that I was gone? I was in Anaheim and Phoenix (with a stop in San Diego) for my annual hockey road trip until last night. I promise to share some stories from the awesome trip over the next few weeks. In the meantime, since I don’t want to discuss the Steelers today, I thought I would admit to everyone that I have not seen the movies listed below. In some cases, like The Godfather and The Dark Knight, I have seen parts of the movie but not the entire film from start to finish.

Inception
The Godfather
The Godfather: Part II
The Dark Knight
Avatar
Fight Club
Citizen Kane
Wall-E
Raging Bull
Heat
Gone with the Wind
Scarface
Annie Hall
Platoon
Gandhi
There Will Be Blood
Saw 3D - I figured that I would be lost without seeing the other Saw films.

Feel free to make fun of me for not seeing these movies. You can also admit to movies that you haven’t watched in the comments section.

Fly from Washington to Baltimore

Ever wonder if you could fly from Washington National airport to Baltimore-Washington International airport? Sure, the airports are only 35.8 miles apart, but traffic can be a nightmare. Well, according to Expedia, you can fly from one to the other on multiple airlines.



Sure, you have to connect through Boston and New York for the Delta flight and Manchester and Philadelphia for the US Airways flight, but airplanes are much more luxurious than buses, right?

Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers vs. Cincinnati

Enjoy the latest Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers. Then, watch the video again on YouTube.



Can we get a ruling on whether watching an embedded video here counts as a YouTube view?

Zingers

Do you remember Zingers, this Dolly Madison Bakery product?



I seemed to have Zingers a lot as a kid (this was a regular post-soccer game treat), but I haven’t seen them in years. When visiting Denver last month, I had one Zinger cake (not the entire pack), and it was quite tasty. However, I was and remain confused about the nutritional information.

Serving size-3 cakes
Calories per serving = 440
Calories per cake = 150

Using my extraordinary math skills, if one cake equals 150 calories, how can 3 cakes equal 440 calories? Is this like a sale where you buy two items and get a reduced price on the third? Perhaps, Zingers believes that you are burning 10 calories by chewing, opening the wrapper and licking your fingers.

Share Your Random Movie Theater Moment

It’s interactive day here at Sean’s Ramblings. I’m looking for you to share a time where you experienced something unusual in the movie theater. Since it’s my blog, I’ll start.

I saw The Fifth Element at the Pyramid Mall movie theater in Ithaca, New York. There weren’t many movie theaters in Ithaca (actually this may have been the only movie theater in Ithaca), so this was a pretty popular place often made up of college students. For some reason, I went to see The Fifth Element on opening night. It was a packed theater to see Bruce Willis in the future. Anyway, the opened credits concluded with “and Luke Perry.” At this moment, there was a collective groan throughout the packed movie theatre which then led to audience-wide laugh. I guess no one realized that Perry was going to be in the movie and no one wanted to see Perry in a movie.



Your turn. Go!

Mario Lemieux Invades Capitals Territory

“Invade” may not be the right word here, but the Mario Lemieux Foundation is building Austin’s Playroom for the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. You’re reading that correctly. The Mario Lemieux Foundation, not the Alexander Ovechkin Foundation, Olaf Kolzig Foundation, or the Rod Langway Foundation, is funding this project, which will support the Wounded Warrior program and provide services to warriors and their families. This new 2,000 square foot playroom will accommodate children from six weeks up to 12 years of age and feature amenities such as a computer kiosk, reading bench and imaginative play area.



I love the fact that the owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins and someone that lives in Pittsburgh after spending his entire childhood in Canada is contributing to a great cause in the Washington DC area. I just can’t see one of the legendary Washington athletes contributing to something in Pittsburgh. Seriously, is there anything in Pittsburgh with the name Sonny Jurgensen, John Riggins, or Wes Unseld associated with it?

There’s much more about the Walter Reed project in this Post-Gazette article and about the Mario Lemieux Foundation on its website. The Mario Lemieux Foundation does some great work, so I encourage you to support them.

Trivia Tuesday

Let’s go right to this week’s quiz. Your challenge is to name the emoticon with the list given below. Yes, it’s a matching game.

1. ;-)
2. ‘:-/
3. 0;-)
4. :-#
5. :-&
6. :-*
7. :-?
8. :-@
9. :D
10. :-o

(It was difficult typing these emoticons!)

A. Large Grin
B. Angel Wink
C. Kiss
D. Surprised
E. Skeptical Again
F. Tongue-tied
G. Tongue Sticking Out
H. Screaming
I. My Lips Are Sealed
J. Winking

As always please leave your answers in the comments section below and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia. While I'm a huge fan of Stump Trivia, personally, I don't think this is one of their best. Thoughts?

Steelers-Bengals Live Blog

Will Mendenhall have a big game? How will TO and OchoCinco fare against the Steelers D? Will I fall asleep on the couch again this week? Lots to discuss. Go Steelers!

Rally To Restore Sanity

I'm all about current events here at Sean's Ramblings. For example, did you know that the Chilean miners got out successfully? I'm sure that you're hearing about that here first! Please join me in participating in the outstanding country cheer to celebrate, Chi-Chi-Chi; Le-Le-Le!*

Staying on the current events theme, I attended the recent Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. I really don't have anything else to add from other accounts of the rally on the internet (for example, check out lacochran's great entry); however, my favorite part of the rally had to the dueling "Trains" between Yusuf Islam's (formerly Cat Stevens) Peace Train and Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train. Awesome!



* I hate to admit this but Chile's cheer is better than U-S-A. U-S-A.

Yinz Luv Daylight Savings

I hope that you enjoyed the fall back portion of daylight savings and were able to take advantage of the extra hour. To celebrate this one day a year event, check out the first Yinz Luv Da Guins video of the season and the Halloween edition of Yinz Luv Da Stillers. (Please click the link so Jim can get closer to 1,500 video views.)





The videos have nothing to do with turning your clocks back, but Jim Shearer deserves his own post for all of his hard work.

Forever Jessica Simpson's Ex?

Congratulations to Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo on their recent engagement. You may know Nick Lachey as a member of the band 98 Degrees, the host of NBC's The Sing Off, or the co-star of MTV's Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica. Of course, to Yahoo and many other people, Lachey is known as Jessica Simpson's ex-husband.



So is Nick Lachey going to be known as Jessica Simpson's ex-husband for life? It seems to me that Lachey has had just as much professional success, if not more than Simpson over the past five years. He's certainly had more personal success than Jessica.

The End of Empty Netters?

The big news in the Pittsburgh blog world is the possible end of the terrific Penguins blog, Empty Netters, published on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Empty Netters’ Seth Rorabaugh contacted The Pensblog with the following statement:

No sense in making this overly dramatic. I'll get to the point.

Empty Netters might be on its last legs. I'm scheduled to have a meeting Monday with editors at the Post-Gazette regarding the future of the blog.

I won't get into details as to why we've arrived at this point. I'm not sure I have all the answers to be honest.

Regardless, and this is where I ask for your help.

Please contact any or all of the following editors at the Post-Gazette and let them know your feelings - positive or negative - about Empty Netters.

Please be respectful when you contact these people. They have given me an amazing opportunity to create this blog and have allowed me nothing but freedom to write it as I please from day 1.

I can't guarantee this will change anything in the end, but at the very least, I want you to have an avenue to be heard. Ultimately, your voice is far more important than either mine or my editors'.

I’m a big fan of Seth and enjoy reading Empty Netters. Seth has also linked to my blog several times and supported my Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament and hockey road trips. However, I don’t understand Seth’s move here. How does going public about a future meeting with your employer on a separate blog make sense? Sure, I get wanting your readers to side with you, but this seems like a private matter between Seth and the Post-Gazette editors. Look, I want both Seth and the P-G to succeed, but did we learn nothing from pierogi-gate? Yes, pierogi-gate is an extreme example, but the bottom line is that you can't write about your employer and job status publicly.

Sarah Sprague provided a great summary of commentary around the web on Black and Gold Tchotchkes. There's also more on Kukla’s Corner.

The Black Keys -Tighten Up

The rules of NaBloPoMo simply states that I need to post everyday this month. There is no requirement about writing everyday. Therefore, I present to you a cool song and cool video: Tighten Up by The Black Keys. Enjoy!

TMI Thursday: My Maya Angelou Experience

Name a famous living poet. Sure, the title of the post now has you thinking of Maya Angelou, but she’s probably the first person that came to mind anyway. Dr. Angelou is likely best known for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She also served on two presidential committees, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Arts in 2000, the Lincoln Medal in 2008, received 3 Grammy Awards, and upon his request, Angelou composed a poem to read at President Clinton’s first inauguration. So when Angelou came to speak at my college, I jumped at the opportunity to attend. As amazing a life Dr. Angelou has led (seriously, check out her impressive biography), she is equally as eloquent and energetic as a speaker. And I’m sure that I’m the only person who has ever fallen asleep during one of her speeches.



As I mentioned, I saw Angelou speak when I was in college. I had a paper due on the same day as her speech, and like many of my college and graduate school assignments, I stayed up all-night completing the paper. Between classes, my on-campus job, and working on the paper, I didn’t have a chance to sleep during the day. Therefore, I attended Angelou’s speech without sleeping for nearly 34 hours. After running around all day, Angelou’s speech was really the first opportunity I had to just sit. It probably didn’t help that except for the stage, the speech was held in a dark room.

Angelou was terrific. She had the crowd following her every word. She was very funny. So funny that I found myself pretending to laugh along with the rest of the audience when the laughter awakened me from my constant dozing off. While I remember her being an amazing speaker, I can't remember anything about her speech. The fact that I went in and out of consciousness is likely the reason why.

If Dr. Angelou happens to read this, I apologize for falling asleep during your speech. If it makes you feel any better, I think I did well on the paper.

Update: I just learned that Dr. Angelou is speaking at the Warner Theatre in DC on Thursday, November 11th. Is this an opportunity to repent?

Ziggy Post

It has been almost two years since we adopted Ziggy from the Fairfax County Animal Shelter. He has been a wonderful addition to our lives, and I can’t imagine being without him. Yes, I am talking about a cat. When I wrote a post introducing you to Ziggy, he was just a 4.4 pound kitten. While it seemed like Sean’s Ramblings could turn into an all-Ziggy blog, I think I’ve been somewhat restrained in not writing about him constantly.

Since I need to come up with 30 posts in 30 days for NaBloPoMo, I thought I would share a Ziggy update. Our little kitty is now a 13.3 pound cat after getting an official weigh-in from the vet Tuesday night. Ziggy was 12.8 pounds last year, so he’s gained a little weight in 2010, though our vet did mention that Ziggy is “long.” (Yes, that’s what she said!)


(This is still my favorite picture of Ziggy.)

I do have two new Ziggy stories to share. After years of questioning whether he was a Pittsburgh Steelers fan since he refuses to use the Steelers bed we purchased for him, he finally showed his black and gold colors. On Sunday night, I fell asleep during the fourth quarter of the Steelers-Saints game. Ziggy kindly tapped me on my leg to make sure that I woke up to see the Steelers attempted comeback. Sure, he may have wanted his evening snack, but I think he wanted to make sure I didn’t miss any of the Steelers game.

Finally, Ziggy apparently doesn’t want to be showed in such a positive light. In the middle of writing this post, Ziggy climbed up to our fireplace mantle and knocked over a glass candlestick. Only the candle survived. Thanks Zig!

Trivia Tuesday

Welcome to my fairly random edition of Trivia Tuesday. I have spent weeks putting together these questions, so I wish you luck in tackling this week's quiz.

1. Who is the third member of Salt-N-Pepa?

2. Name the only U.S. President with four syllables in his last name.

3. This question is only for folks not from Western Pennsylvania. What does "Kennywood's open" mean?

4. What Jeopardy "contestant" provided "Who are three people who have never been in my kitchen?" as the question to final Jeopardy?

5. Who was the host of MTV's Pimp My Ride?

6. What is the best Halloween candy?

7. What is the worst Halloween candy?

8. Name the best Will Smith/Fresh Prince song. (I think there is only one acceptable answer, so you may need to convince me otherwise.)

9. How many regular season goals did Pittsburgh Penguins RW Craig Adams score in 82 NHL games during the 2009-2010 season? How many goals does he currently have this season?

10. Who is the oldest current player on the Pittsburgh Steelers at 35?

10b. In a related question, how many Pittsburgh Steelers are older than me (I'm also 35)? Name them.

As always please leave your answers in the comments section below and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

NaBloPoMo 2010

In November 2009, I grew a moustache for Movember to benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Livestrong Foundation.



This November, I am participating in NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month. I will post a new blog entry everyday for the month of November. There's no charity or anything, just something new here everyday at least once per day.


I'm going to pass on providing a recap of last night's Steelers-Saints game other than taking a look at the big picture. If the Steelers are going to lose a game, this was a good one to lose, on the road against an NFC opponent. The Steelers are now 5-2 and tied with Baltimore for the division lead. Considering that the Steelers played their first four games without their starting QB, I'm happy about where the team stands after 7 games. Now, let's get ready for the Bengals next week.