Monday – 28 December 2009
Week 2 of vacation kicks off… and I’m trying to decide what to do with myself. Blah.

Today is also the third day of Kwanzaa. Today’s principle is:”Ujima” or “collective work and responsibility”:

To build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together.

Yesterday, we headed over to the in-laws’ to see Meliko before she headed back to sunny (and warmer) California. After that, we came back home for a quiet day. Last night, we watched House of Flying Daggers. For some reason – despite owning the movie – I had never seen it before. If I had to summarize it in three words, I’d have to go with:

  1. Love
  2. Betrayal
  3. Duty

It was very good. I enjoyed the story, cinematography, the acting and the costuming. It also ended differently than I expected, but it was quite fitting.

Instant Replay: Football
So, I got married a couple of months ago. This isn’t exactly “news.” In the process, I not only gained another set of parents (so to speak), but I also inherited a new set of grandparents. Not only that, but grandmother-in-law is a football fan. More specifically, she’s an Arizona Cardinals fan. And she “gently reminded” me that I’ve been… remiss… in covering Cards games in my football coverage. So, starting this week, the Cards will get added to the list o’ teams that I run down.

And with that, on to the games:

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers
20 – 23
I was surprised to see this televised in this market. Pleasantly surprised, yes, but surprised, nevertheless…

The Ravens played a decent game. I’d love to say that they played a “good” game, but they shot themselves in the foot with senseless penalties. How bad were the penalties? Well, let’s just say that they killed two scoring opportunities, which would have secured a win.

Despite giving the game away, Baltimore is still in the hunt for an AFC Wild Card spot, although they have dropped to the #7 Seed. They need a win in Oakland next week to get a Wild Card spot.

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Oakland Raiders at Cleveland Browns
9 – 23
The Raiders dropped this one to… the Browns.

Sorry, SaraRules and [info]1silver_seraph.
Congratulations, .

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Houston Texans at Miami Dolphins
27 – 20
Last week, it was the “former Houston team.”
This week, it was the “current Houston team.”
Both weeks, it was a loss.

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Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals
10 – 17
A late-in-the-game TD by Chad Ochocinco Johnson secured the win for the Bengals.

Congratulations, and .

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St. Louis Rams at Arizona Cardinals
10 – 31
This was another game that wasn’t broadcast locally, but it looks as though the Cards had this one well in hand.

Congratulations, Marr.

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Carolina Panthers at New York Giants
41 – 9
The Panthers went on the road to face the Giants in the last game to be held in The Meadowlands…

…and they came away with a win. A big win, at that.

In other football news

  • The Indianapolis Professional Football Club suffered their first defeat of the season, handed to them by the Jets… after Indy benched all of their starters.
  • The New Orleans Saints also took one on the chin in overtime… from the Buccaneers.

Tonight, the Vikings take on the Bears in what should be a good game.

Stray Toasters

Okay, it’s time to find some trouble to get into.

Namaste.