My daughter and I went to the Trail Blazers' game tonight. It was against my will -- I'm still in my last year of sharing season tickets with some other guys, and it was my turn to buy playoff seats. The game was a rout, with the Blazers winning, which is bad news to me because it vindicates the team's woeful personnel moves over the last three years. I hate to see the thugs come away victorious.
On Sunday, the Portland squad will try to make league history by becoming the first team to lose three games in a series, and then win the last four. They have set records in many other, more dubious departments, and with the momentum they have now, they have a darned good shot. The Dallas Mavericks looked like a sham tonight, and they will be hearing the footsteps of doom behind them for the next 40 hours, that's for sure.
It was tough to spend a couple of hours with a toddler in the Rose Garden. It was just too loud. A nice concierge gave us some earplugs, which helped us both get through.
Most interesting occurrence of the night: During one of the timeouts, they ran a feature on the big overhead video screen called "Kiss Me." A series of couples are shown live in their seats next to each other, and urged to smooch in front of the assembled 20,000. At one point, they cut to a couple, and I swear, the guy was a dead ringer for rock legend Robbie Robertson. But it looked like Robbie maybe 15 or 20 years ago; he's pushing 60 now. Either it's Robbie having discovered the Fountain of Youth, or a doppelganger.
The crowd was going wild all night, but let's face it, it was a blowout. The Robbie near-sighting was about as close to genuine excitement as this one got.
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Charamba, Douro 2008
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Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
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Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
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Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
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Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
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Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
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Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
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Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
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Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
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Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
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Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
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C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
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William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Most interesting occurrence of the night: During one of the timeouts, they ran a feature on the big overhead video screen called "Kiss Me." A series of couples are shown live in their seats next to each other, and urged to smooch in front of the assembled 20,000. At one point, they cut to a couple, and I swear, the guy was a dead ringer for rock legend Robbie Robertson. But it looked like Robbie maybe 15 or 20 years ago; he's pushing 60 now. Either it's Robbie having discovered the Fountain of Youth, or a doppelganger.
