Munich!

Sorry for the long pause...I am in Munich enjoying wonderful friends and the Christmas Markets. Looking forward to posting lots of pictures soon.

Basketball NCAA vs. NBA

I have actually been missing basketball like crazy - I found myself watching a pick up game at the high school near our house and I yelled at some kid to swing the ball wide - seriously? I have also been shooting by myself at the gym - at my gym there is a real court. I usually shoot around for 10 minutes and then feel like I have embarrassed myself sufficiently (there are windows that look on to the court) and call it a day. It is also football season here so no games are televised on regular channels and we don't have cable....BUT we have made it to 2 games.

Game #1 NCAA: Maryland vs. Seattle
Game #2 NBA: Wizards vs. Raptors

This is a Terrapin - ooh...scary!

The college game was way better. 1st of all there was a band! They played the TMNT theme song...if you don't know what TMNT are then you weren't watching Saturday morning cartoons in the 80s. They play that song because the mascot for the University of Maryland is a Terrapin - some sort of vicious turtle. See pic.

2nd of all, the college student fans are amazing...if not a bit mean. When the opposing team starting 5 was being called out they would yell, in unison, sucks after the name...

Scene: All fans are reading the newspaper and flapping it around.

Fans being disinterested.

Announcer (calmly) : Starting at point guard from so and so high school  is so and so...

Every fan in the stadium (yelling) : SUCKS
They did this for the starting 5 and the coaching staff!!

A few other points of interest:
- College games are dry - most students aren't yet 21
- The passing was terrible, but at least they tried!

This is the mascot G-Wiz - SUCKS!

 So then we move on to the Raptors  vs. Wizards game. Marcius and I wore our shirts - thank to you the Mackenzie people for one of our going away presents! We all know the Raptors aren't great this year but neither is Washington. And...John Wall, the number 1 NBA draft pick was not playing. The Raptors played so badly that in the 4th quarter I took off my Raptor t-shirt.... What did Chris Bosh do to us?

The Zoo

Well - we finally made it to the happiest place in DC - and it's FREE and only a 10 minute walk from our house. Hope these pics make you smile...

A Prairie Dog - I think it saw its shadow.

Embarassingly that is us.

Proud Papa of 7 cubs (2 moms...lucky guy and they are sistas)

They literally walk above your head between their two houses!

Babies don't get much cuter!

She's laughing at my joke!

All it does is eat...

The most non-threatening bear ever - the sloth bear.

Sanity vs Fear

The big hype in DC this past weekend was the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear and of course Marcius and I were there. They anticipate 30 000 people but it was likely closer to 150 000.  Some highlights of the rally include...

1. Awesome musical performances by The Roots, John Legend, Ossie Osbourne, Yusuf (you know him as Cat Stevens), Cheryl Crow and others.
2. Watching Steven Colbert meet NBA Superstar and Muslim, Kareem Abdul Jabbar - there was like a 3 foot height differential! Let alone the obvious religious and political ones!

3. A giant Steven Colbert Puppet.
4. The Wave - the guys from Myth Busters had the everyone on The National Mall do the wave...pretty cool.

5. Lots of laughter and a good time had by all.
Here are a few pics from me but there are better ones The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear website.

Cate came from TO for the occasion!

Street Race???

An annual tradition in DC is the Tuesday before Halloween Transvestite Street Race. Men dress up in drag and sprint to the finish line in high heels.
A very cool and very positive experience.

That is a Barbie Doll still in the package behind!

If you watch the video, check out how fast the first guy was!
High Heel Drag Queen Street Race

Here is a pic of outgoing Mayor and Grand Marshall Adrian Fenty - for those who know me well, know that I love local celebrity sitings!