Yeah, about that war

So, yesterday there was a local protest against the war in Afghanistan, which I attended with my friend. Along with about eight other people (although one of them may have only joined to bum smokes). Not sure if there actually was a "march", as my friend and I decided that entering a pub for a cool beverage was a better use of a Sunday.
Afghanistan is certainly no Vietnam, as the lack of a real "anti-war" movement proves, but we've been fighting this stupid thing for eleven years now. Has anybody noticed?
It's a sad commentary when even an old hippie like me finds himself drinking beer and watching football instead of protesting...but at least my beloved 49ers won big.
And, later, we had a really good pizza.

Playoffs!

Yes, my beloved San Francisco 49'ers are going to the playoffs for the first time since 2002! This makes me quite happy, as it has been a while since the glory years of Montana and Young (I grew up a Niners fan back when John Brodie was the quarterback). Needless to say: Go Niners!

Housekeeping and the Stupor Bowl

Just to let you know that I'm still participating in blogroll amnesty day, but I'll be...well...just a little late. I spent most of yesterday engaging in "non-internet related activities" and will be spending a lot of today watching some obscure sporting event. So the blogroll update, while still coming, won't be done today. Again, if you'd like me to add your blog to the 'roll, leave me a comment.
Yeah, I'm a traditional American male, so I'll be watching the Super Bowl. My favorite pub is having a potluck party, and I'm in a couple of betting pools too. Although this years contest features two teams, the Steelers and the Packers, that I dislike but don't despise. So I'm just rooting for a good, close game. One highlight that we won't be seeing this year:

Football and Beer

This post is further evidence that I am shallow and easily amused, but it's playoff time. For those who don't follow football, tonight's game between the reigning champion Saints and the Seattle Seahawks looks like a fluke. The Seahawks won the wretched NFC West with a losing record, which had never happened before.

But tonight, the Seahawks will be putting every ounce into the game:

"We received a copy of the YouTube video showing the quantity of liquid served in the 16 oz. beer cup is the same quantity that fits into the 20 oz. beer cup. This is the first time we have been alerted to this fact. Upon our internal investigation this afternoon, we discovered the cups that are marked 16 oz. hold 20 oz. of liquid.

"Fans who purchased a 16 oz. beer actually received 20 oz. of beer for the 16 oz. price. Fans that purchased the 20 oz. beer received the amount they purchased. We are working with Levy Restaurants to follow up with the cup vendor about the measurement and to determine how long this has been occurring at Qwest Field.

"We are determined to find a solution as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we will serve domestic beer in the 20 oz. cup at tomorrow's playoff game to ensure all fans receive the amount they purchase, and we will charge the 16 oz. price."

Here's the YouTube video exposing the difference -- or lack of difference.

Quite the oddity. As most regular bar patrons know, the standard bar "pint" holds 14 oz., not the 16 oz. of a true pint, making this is opposite of the standard practice. So Seahawks fans should have at least one reason to be happy.

Football Bounces Strangely

(non-Football fans feel free to ignore this post)
Somewhere in the brain trust of rich white men (Roger Goodell) who run the NFL it was decided that it would be a good idea to play a game in London, England's Wembley Stadium. OK; that's not such a bad idea, in and of itself. But the game that was chosen to try to sell the Brit's on American Football? The New England Patriots versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; a truly awful matchup. Tampa Bay hasn't won a game yet this year, although in fairness they've actually looked worse than that. New England won their last game 59-0, but it wasn't really that close; the Pats took the second half off. So this game may be the most one sided battle since Godzilla vs. Bambi.
But my real question is which marketing genius consulted his history textbook and thought it would be a good sales pitch to send the "New England Patriots" to London? I know the British love satire, but I doubt this game will have the subtlety to qualify as "humor".
(and on that note, I'm off to my local pub to watch my beloved 'niners take on some texans. Kinda early for a beer, but I'll manage)