Iceland Pictures

Last week, I wrote about my experiences watching soccer in Iceland. Consider this part two of my Iceland adventures. Today, I'm sharing pictures from my trip. I know what you're thinking. Sean, you're just going to share amazing pictures and videos of waterfalls, the ocean, and puffins. You're such a tourist, Sean, posting what everyone shares when they travel to Iceland. I hear you, so instead of doing that "boring" stuff, I'm sharing random pictures of the trip.

Ranch is one of America’s greatest culinary accomplishments, so what better way to celebrate Cool America.

Gulfoss is an incredible waterfall. I could show you pictures and videos of it, but I know that you want to see that the visitor center has Heinz condiments.

Meanwhile, a food truck at the Jökulsárlón Glacier lagoon has whatever this is.

While this museum (which was right around the corner from my hotel) has good reviews, it wasn't on my list of things to do. Did check out the gift shop though.

Many, many years ago, I remember being amazed by the Dyson Airblade hand dryer. Apparently, the next step in hand dryer technology is at the Keflavik Airport. It's an individualized Dyson Airblade at a sink!

Of course, I took a picture of cereal at the grocery store in Vik. Seems like Weetos is a better value than Marshmallow Mateys.

The Gruffalo has been one of my favorite books to read to the kids over the years. I saw a version in Icelandic  at a Reykjavik bookstore and really considered buying it as a gift for them, but 40 American dollars seemed a little steep for a book I probably wouldn't attempt to read more than once or twice.

I just want to share that accreditation is important.

The Sun Voyager is a well-known sculpture in Reykjavik. A picture of this landmark doesn't seem to match with the rest of this post. I'm including it here because of the woman in the picture. I waited patiently for her to make all kinds of poses in front of it until finally I decided to take a picture of her in action!

Quick story about the Yoda Cave. We drove a lot of hours the day we visited this and missed the turn to the "road" to the cave. When you miss a turn, it's miles before you can turn around since there's not just an intersection two blocks away. The road to the Yoda Cave itself was gravel and possibly the bumpiest road I've ever been on. I was really worried about potential damage to the car and needing to deal with insurance. So we finally arrived at the cave but were also getting hungry since it was late in the day and frustrated that we missed the turn. We got out, took a few pictures, and left, and I thought of  Leonard Nimoy on The Simpsons while I was there.

This is outside our first hotel room just after 3:30 AM! 

Fine. I'll share a video of puffins.

Yes, there will likely be a third Iceland post, so stay tuned!

No One Cares About My Fantasy Team

Back in April, I wrote this:

I've mentioned multiple times that I have been in the same fantasy/rotisserie baseball league since 1992. I have won the league just twice during this time in 2014 and 2016. My team is off to an amazing start where I'm in first place in 8 of the 10 categories and have a huge lead in overall points. Since it is only April, I figure there's no way that my team can keep up this pace. My apologies in advance to Mookie Betts, Fernando Tatis Jr., Elly De La Cruz, Zac Gallen, Tyler Glasnow, and William Contreras who I expect will all get injured in the next few months.

Sure enough Mookie Betts, Fernando Tatis, Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Zac Gallen, Javier Assad, and now Tyler Glasnow have all been on the injured list. J.T. Realmuto, who I acquired in a trade, is also hurt.

Except for Assad, all of these players are or have been all-stars. Somehow, I'm hanging on to first place with guys like Hunter Goodman, Brett Wisely, Donovan Solano, Michael Toglia, Kyle Freeland, and the corpse of Chris Taylor, all playing prominent roles on my team.

Still, if some of these guys get healthy, I like my chances. (Please come back soon Mookie and Fernando!)

Mission Impossible: Tooth Fairy Edition

The Moose (age 10) lost a tooth the other night. This fact alone isn't worthy of a blog post, but what happened next, well, might not be either, but I still want to share the story.

Several years ago, my sister-in-law bought very cool personalized tooth pillows for my older kids. I write "older kids" since Luigi wasn't around yet. He can borrow one from his brothers when he starts losing teeth. Anyway, when the kids lose a tooth, they place it in the pillow pocket, which is a perfect fit for teeth and cash.

So The Moose put his tooth in a Ziploc bag, placed it in his pillow, and went to sleep. Hours later, I entered his bedroom to perform the tooth fairy duties. I should probably mention that The Moose shares a room and bunk bed with his brother, Pedro Tulo. There is definitely a higher degree of difficulty in the tooth to money exchange on a top bunk! 

I found the tooth pillow, but the Ziploc was gone. While I put $2 in the pocket, the tooth wasn't there. After less than a minute of unsuccessfully trying to quietly and quickly locate the bag, The Moose woke up. He was drowsy, delirious, and wondered why I was there. My cover story was to make sure that he had covers and blankets on top of him because it's cold. Then, like the Jordan Peele movie with Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams where a character yelled GET OUT, I did GET OUT as quickly as I could. I think the movie was called The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down. 

Fortunately, he didn't remember any of our interaction the next morning. If The Moose did, he didn't mention it. Before leaving for school, he found the tooth which fell below next to his brother's bed. My response was "That's strange." I did not elaborate. So at this point, the tooth fairy isn't coming back to take the tooth. She did her job and rewarded The Moose with $2. I guess he'll get to keep both the money and the tooth.

Hank Azaria- Kevin Michael Richardson-Sofia Vergara

I recently saw several articles (including this one) about actor Hank Azaria apologizing for voicing Apu on The Simpsons.  I like Azaria. He's been a voice on The Simpsons for over thirty years, but I also remember him from Herman's Head, The Birdcage, and many, many, many other roles over the years, including as the title character of the show Brockmire, a highly entertaining (and definitely not suitable for kids) show about a disgraced baseball broadcaster that makes his way back. I watched the early seasons of The Simpsons religiously and even hosted a party for the "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" episode. While I'm glad that The Simpsons are still on the air, I just don't watch it anymore.

The articles also mention that Kevin Michael Richardson is now the voice of Dr. Julius Hibbert. That name looked really familiar, so I went to IMDB. What a resume! Kevin Michael Richardson has been a voice actor for decades in dozens and dozens of television shows, films, and video games. He's also the voice of Crusher on Blaze and the Monster Machines, a show that Luigi (age 3) will likely watch today! What's funny is that I remembered Richardson from his live acting on a short-lived show called The Knights of Prosperity. (KMR is on the right.)

Back in 2006, I picked The Knights of Prosperity in a TV death pool (and even mentioned the show several times on this blog). The reason was simple. The show was supposed to be called "Let's Rob Mick Jagger," and the story that I heard was that the show thought that Jagger would be a recurring character, but he only wanted to be in the pilot. They ended up changing it to the odd title, The Knights of Prosperity. The show starred Donal Logue, Richardson, and an actress in one of her first major roles named Sofia Vergara. Sure, you might know Vergara from the multiple-winning Emmy show Modern Family, but she's also now a Steelers fan.

So, that's the post. No point, just random things that came into my head. This is probably what I envisioned when I named this blog Sean's Ramblings!

2014 Celebrate Fairfax Headliners

Although there's plenty of snow on the ground, summer will be here in no time. While many people consider Memorial Day weekend as the unofficial start of summer, since I moved to Northern Virginia, my summer truly begins with Celebrate Fairfax. Northern Virginia's largest festival released its headlines for 2014, and I'm happy to share the line-up here.

Friday, June 6: The All-American Rejects (8:00 PM)

Saturday, June 7: Cheap Trick (8:00 PM)

Sunday, June 8: The Hunts (4:30 PM)

I recently heard an All-American Rejects song on the radio and thought that they would be a great fit for Celebrate Fairfax. Apparently, the festival staff read my mind! The band had a string of hits in the mid-2000s, but they are young enough that new songs could still be relevant today. Here are my favorite All-American Rejects songs:





I saw Cheap Trick open for Poison and Def Leppard about five years ago and was surprised that they were an opening act. When I wrote that The All-American Rejects had a string of hits, Cheap Trick has some MONSTER hits. Plus, the band was referenced in a couple episodes of The Simpsons back when folks actually watched The Simpsons. (There's a line where Homer says that "I'd rather listen to Cheap Trick," but I couldn't find the video online.)

Finally, I know nothing about The Hunts except that their ketchup is inferior to Heinz. Maybe that's because they focus on music rather than ketchup. At least according to the YouTube comments, this song is used in a Milk Bone commercial.



Super Early Bird tickets for Celebrate Fairfax go on sale on April 1 (the early bird period is April 1-10), with adult tickets for only $7 (vs. $15 at the gate). Please let me know where you can see The All-American Rejects or Cheap Trick for only $7. The Combo Tickets (including rides) are only $25 for adults and $22 for kids during the Super Early Bird as well.

For tickets or more information about the festival, check out the Celebrate Fairfax website.

The War on Halloween

You probably notice all the candy on display at supermarkets. You also may have received invitations for Halloween parties and/or thought about what you or your kids will wear this year. Although the temperatures are falling (although the high is supposed to be around 80 in DC today) and we’re now a month into Fall, there is clearly a War on Halloween in this country. Look around your neighborhoods and especially at intersections for proof. Sure, there might be some places with Halloween decorations, but they are no match for political signs. That’s right; Halloween is under attack from political parties, political action committees and the media.

What do you see when you turn on the television? Political advertisements. In the DC area, not only are there ads for or against Obama and Romney, but we see countless commercials for Virginia’s Senatorial candidates and several Maryland propositions. You can’t enter or exit a Metro station without people asking about voter registration or handing out flyers (or newspapers in the morning). Even restaurants such as California Tortilla have contests based on the Presidential candidates (yes, the Obama burrito vs. the Romney burrito). If you want further proof that there is a War Against Halloween, look at The Simpsons. The long-running show features the “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween-themed episode each year. This year, Fox aired Treehouse of Horror XXIII on October 7th. October 7th! That’s more than three weeks before Halloween. Rupert Murdoch, also the head of Fox News, is surely to blame.

It’s time to fight back! We cannot lose this war. Halloween is too important to kids, candy companies, guys who like seeing women in scantily-clad costumes, dentists, women who like wearing scantily-clad costumes, and pagans (including San Francisco Giants OF Angel Pagan) among others. Sure you can vote on November 6th, but don’t let them take away October 31st!

We Need Mr. Plow!

As of 10:00 on Saturday morning, we have received about 16-18 inches of snow in Northern Virginia. More snow is expected throughout the day.

Trivia Tuesday

A few programming notes before Trivia Tuesday. First, today is the official release day of Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels. For more information about the book, check out my interview with author (and friend) Sarah Wendell, Sarah and co-author Candy Tan’s interview on NPR and where you can buy the book from the Smart Bitches website.

Next, I want to congratulate lacips of This Is Getting Old for winning the Rock of Love 3 Fantasy League. He made a shrewd move (even if he didn't know it) by selecting Taya and not Mindy on Sunday's finale. I finished in second place because I chose both of the finalists, but lost 25 points when Mindy was eliminated. That was the difference to give laclips the victory. In case you're wondering, I am not organizing a Daisy of Love Fantasy League!

Trivia Tuesday is slightly different this week. Instead of providing a list of questions, I'm directing you to a different website for two quizzes.

For the first quiz, you have 12 minutes to name the 100 most commonly used words in the English language. I scored a 53.

In the second quiz, you have 10 minutes to name the characters from The Simpsons. I scored a 48 out of I believe 63 and feel like I should have done much better. Mayor Quinby is incorrect.

Please share your results in the comments section. Good luck!

h/t Dan via Messiah for the Sporcle quizzes.

Steelers-Giants Recap

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a lead late in the fourth quarter at home and lost. Ben Roethlisberger was sacked five times, hit at least another dozen times and threw four interceptions. The team was 1 for 10 on third down, 0 for 4 on fourth down and had 8 penalties for 59 yards, many of them pretty stupid penalties. Plus, the Steelers defense who led the league in sacks coming into the game, failed to register a sack and rarely put pressure on Eli Manning. It was clearly not one of their best games.

However, let’s take a step back and put everything into perspective. The Steelers are 5-2 and have a one game lead over Baltimore, who they already defeated, in the AFC North. The 5-2 record is tied for second best in the AFC with New England and Buffalo behind only the undefeated Tennessee Titans. The Steelers are 5-0 against AFC teams, a very important playoff tie-breaker, which along with the Titans, is the best in the conference. Yes, the team has some work to do, but there’s no need to panic...yet.

A few thoughts from the game:

- Why was Dick Stockton so concerned about players getting out of bounds early in the game? Twice in the first half (Heath Miller’s catch on the first drive and Carey Davis’ catch with 12+ minutes left in the second quarter), Stockton stated that the Steelers failed to get out of bounds after making a catch.

- Ryan Clark and Brett Kiesel both played amazing games.

- Stupid Toyota commercial. I’m going to have "save by zero" in my head all day.

- Nate Washington has turned into an extremely solid receiver.

- The Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horror XIX" looks really good. Unfortunately, I feel like I’ve seen the whole episode already during all of Fox’s commercials.

- Am I the only person wondering why Justin Hartwig, the Steelers’ starting center, wasn’t able to serve as the back-up long-snapper? Doesn’t Hartwig make a living snapping the ball and then blocking the guy in front of him?

- Can the Steelers have another bye week? I’m writing this on Sunday night, so I don’t know the health status of Ryan Clark, Greg Warren, Mitch Berger and any other Steeler. Regardless, with Willie Parker and Bryant McFadden already out, it seems like the team could use a week off to get healthy.

I will be at FedEx Field for next week’s Steelers-Redskins game. If I was told that the Steelers could only win one of these two games against the Giants and Redskins, I would gladly take a Steelers win against Washington.

More about the game is available on the Post-Gazette website.

Woo-Hoo

The Simpsons Movie is out today!!!