Today's List - 9/30

1. Went to a dinner last night with other people that watch/listen to Wine Library TV. I know how nerdy that sounds, but it was pretty fun, the food was awesome, and I got to try about 20 different wines (most from Spain). A local restaurant - Red, White, and Bluezz - hosted the event. Russ, the manager, set us up with a great 5-course meal and even opened up a 1963 Cockburn's Port. Check the place out.

2. The oldest chef at the restaurant last night was 23. No kidding. We met the executive chef and he may have been 22-23. I'm old.

3. Pete made me play Grand Theft Auto at his place the other night. I enjoyed beating people with a pimp cane. However, I shudder to think that my high school students play a game like this one.

4. I may be making guest appearances over at Life Outside the Rat Race.

5. The U.S. women took 3rd place at the World Cup. I have a few thoughts about this. First, their coach is an idiot. He changed keepers for the semi-final because he thought that the back-up would do better against Brazil's style. The main starter had 300+ consecutive scoreless minutes (3+ games). Second, I think the U.S. became the world power in women's soccer purely because we let them play. Our ladies kicked ass because they had superb technical skill. Now teams like Germany and Brazil not only show technical skill but incredible creativity. Until we stop playing boring technical soccer we will never again compete with teams like Brazil.

6. Newt Gingrich announced that he is not running for President. I'm not sure its really that final. On the other hand, I think he's probably scared of getting torn apart for his abrasive personality and past decisions.

7. I didn't get anywhere close to drunk last night. I tasted a lot of wine, but dumped a lot out as well. Still, red wine can really fuck your head the next morning. Today I was prepared. I bought some Vitamin Water yesterday. Its called "Revive" and it hints that its good for hangovers. My headache was gone pretty quick AND it tastes pretty good.

8. Visiting the niece today. Excited.

9. Fall weather has arrived. Early fall is my favorite time for weather. Lots of people look to venture back out into the world after the heat of the summer. Was it just me or was summer not too bad this year? In any case, today looks to be pretty nice too.

10. Just started listening to Smodcast, the podcast by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier (writer/director and producer of Clerks et al). Its like listening to a more vulgar version of Pete and Randy Moe having a conversation. I laughed out loud many times and highly recommend it. They do swear a lot thought - so no kids.

11. Based on what I learned at my conference I can tell you that we don't need the stupid cowards that run our various governments to make positive changes in our environment. The market is doing more than they ever could. And by "the market" I mean you and me. When you call your power company and tell them that you want more renewable energy resources and are willing to pay a little extra to get it, they generally listen. The person we talked to at Pasadena Water and Power guessed that their energy would be coal-free by 2030. I know that sounds far away, but it really isn't. If you are interested to hear more about this ask me when you see me in person.

12. New "The Office" was pretty funny. Excited about the new season.

Today's List - 9/26

1. Paige is at home. Exciting times - except maybe for the dogs.

2. BevMo is doing their 5-cent sale. I think I've moved on from my anger at them in order to save my wallet. Amanda hasn't figured out yet that I bought 12 bottles yesterday. I am prepared to make an agreement that I won't buy anymore wine until these are done. On the other hand, I payed about $80 for the 12. You buy one for full price and get the second of the same bottle for 5-cents.

3. Enjoyed the hell out of my conference. Went to a water-treatment plant here in Pasadena and to the Power Plant as well. Up to this point my entire knowledge of the world of power production was based on Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.

4. Debates are on again tonight. Same shit as last time basically except they are getting a little more snippy.

5. I mentioned in a previous post that my aunt is doing a lot of work for a charity that does art therapy for children victims of Katrina. They were featured in a New York Times article recently.

6. Galaxy still have a chance after a win this last weekend. Not much of a chance, but a chance nonetheless.

7. Water trivia: If you were to fill the Rose Bowl with water, then pour in 1 and 1/3 cups of a contaminant, Pasadena Water could detect it. The water is pretty clean.

8. Family Guy: Star Wars was really funny. Robot Chicken's version was probably more funny.

9. I'm still deciding between Mac and PC. I think I'm leaning towards Mac. I feel kind of dirty doing it though.

10. Amanda found lactose-free string cheese. I'm in heaven.

11. Vegetarians don't annoy me. Vegetarians that constantly remind me that they are vegetarians do. I don't tell you 10 times every meal that I eat meat.

12. New Office tomorrow.

Today's List - 9/21

1. My little niece is still in the hospital. She's OK, but is having trouble eating. She's the only Austin with that problem. Maybe they need to throw a little ranch in that bottle or deep fry it.

2. That whole "Jena 6" thing is driving me nuts. Lots of stupid shit said by lots of stupid people. My favorite was a lady who said she didn't want the rest of America thinking that Jena was just another racist Southern town. Um, didn't your high school have a tree that only white students could sit under? Didn't people later hang nooses in that tree? Yeah, the rest of us are really judging you unfairly.

3. I think Hillary Clinton has the best chance of winning the Democratic nomination, but I think Obama has the best chance to beat the Republicans in the presidential election.

4. U.S. women in the quarters at the Women's World Cup. That's pretty standard. England tomorrow morning.

5. Still haven't posted tasting notes from the Zaca Mesa dinner. I was pretty hammered though.

6. I've been trying to read Bonfire of the Vanities and its slow going. Tom Wolfe describes stuff in too much detail. I may give up soon. I rarely put a book down without finishing it.

7. Amanda thinks they should make a movie based on the Legend of Zelda video games. She also does a little sword-stabbing motion and says "jab-jab" when she makes this suggestion.

8. If I was married to Brittney Spears and she had two of my kids and looked the way she does now after giving birth to those kids I would be pretty stoked. I think people need to give her a break. She's still stupid as hell though.

9. Saw "Death at a Funeral" the other night. So funny. And lots of British people including the guy that played Spud in Trainspotting.

10. The Galaxy are fucking horrible. I'm still going to games though.

11. Going to a conference this weekend about teaching Economics while using the environment. It should be exciting. And its in Pasadena.

12. Sunday is the start of fall. My sweat glands are looking forward to some time off.

13. Deep fried goat cheese is awesome - that's no joke.

14. I need a new desktop computer. The one I have is dying. Its a PC and Amanda's laptop is a PC. I'm thinking about a Mac. What do you think. I pretty much need it for typing, internet (especially soccer highlights), iTunes, downloading pictures, and playing FIFA.

15. We had a lockdown for almost four hours yesterday because some kids called in a bomb threat. They said they were some other kid that they didn't like. There were three instances where a student pissed in a bucket in a classroom. I honor those three kids.

Enjoy the weekend

Uncle Jeff

This little cutie is my new niece Paige Elizabeth. She was born yesterday morning. Everything went as smooth as planned. She was 5 weeks early so there were some minor complications, but nothing serious.

My brother was the only one that got to hold her yesterday because she's in the NICU for a bit. However, Aimee finally got to see and hold her this morning. My brother couldn't see me since I was peeking through the blinds when he was holding her, but I've never seen him more happy - even when the U.S. beat Mexico in the World Cup.

In any case, I am still weirded out a bit that my brother has a daughter, but I am very excited and will be spoiling the crap out of her because I won't have to deal with it. She's pretty long for 5 weeks early so I'm thinking she'll end up being a target forward or center back. Aimee has a pretty solid left leg so Paige could be very valuable to any soccer team.

Today's List - 9/14

1. Baby countdown: 14 hours. They moved it way up after some mild "complications". They're cutting little Paige out at 7:30am tomorrow. Bought some cigars and prosecco (sparkling wine). I'm a little excited.

2. U.S. got ripped off against Brazil. This was the same ref that screwed over Canada in the Gold Cup. Game ended 4-2 in favor of Brazil, but reality says 3-3 should have been the final.

3. Saddest episode of Meerkat Manor last week. Two cubs were born. One had a deformed leg so it was hard for him to even get out of the burrow, let alone keep up with the gang. Then they got left out in the open and the non-deformed one got picked up by a hawk. Then, as food became more scarce, the deformed one was left behind to die alone since they couldn't find enough food. The show faded as you could hear his little yelps for help. Heartbreaking

4. Galaxy - ChivasUSA tonight. I'll be watching it taped.

5. Got a wine cooler today. Not like Bartles & James. A fridge made specially for storing wine at a safe temperature. Normally in the area of $450, I got this one for $139 because I drove to their factory in Compton and picked it from the "dented and scratched" selection. It is not dented, but has a few scratches, but those were mostly covered by switching the handle to the other side. This was essentially a birthday gift from my mother.

6. Wine dinner tonight. Super excited. I'll give a re-cap after the whole baby thing is done.

7. I'm tired of shaving, but I don't want to grow a beard.

8. Only three entries in the Emily caption contest. I call weak sauce. There are at least 15 unique visitors to this site every day. Let's be creative. Prize to the winner. Even my cousin entered and he lives in Texas and only met Emily once at our wedding.

9. Steve McQueen says "pppppffffft.. jog on!"

READ A BOOK!

Before you watch this and call me a racist, please realize its from BET. And its funny.

Today's Short List - 9/10

1. I wish I could complain about a full week of work. However, thanks to the Jewish employees of LAUSD I get Thursday off.

2. I was kind of sad that Pavarotti died. I don't listen to his music, but I know 3 things about him: (1) He was a good singer - really freakin' good (2) He did a song with U2 called Miss Sarajevo which is pretty good and on my iPod (3) He sang "Nessun Dorma" at the opening of World Cup 1990 in Italy (also on my iPod.

3. I've got a new drink in my repertoire. Pimm's Cup No.1. Its apparently a gin-based liquor, but its semi-sweet with an herbal/citrus type flavor. Mixed with Sprite Zero or ginger ale and its super tasty.

4. So Fred Thompson is running officially. I give him a less than 1% chance of winning. Entered too late. Too few events. Those events are too focused on raising money - not on the people.

5. I still support Obama despite his partnership with the devil - I mean Oprah.

6. If I had to vote for a Republican I think it would be Mike Huckabee. He was on NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me this past weekend and he seemed really down to Earth and funny. I don't agree with his conservative politics, but I'd almost be willing to trade that to have a normal president. Please note: I am not voting Republican in 2008.

7. They officially released the title of the new Indiana Jones movie. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Not sure what I think of that.

8. Did you know that it is really not safe to recline in the passenger seat of a moving car. Neither did I. However, Slate's Emily Bazelon had a little first-hand experience with this piece of safety trivia. (By the way, I have a little crush on Emily Bazelon because I think she has a nice voice and provides a very reasonable viewpoint of the Slate "Political Gabfest" podcast.)

9. Don't forget to enter the "What did Emily say?" caption contest. I swear she won't get mad at you.

Camping 2007

First, a caption contest. What is Emily saying in this picture? Best entry gets a prize. (I don't know the true answer)

I actually took around 50 pictures, but these are the cream of the crop. Note: At no time in any of my pics do you see all three DeClerk brother. Coincidence? Hmmm...

The bluffs. How nobody has fallen off that cliff in a drunken stupor in these many years is beyond me.
AAAAWWWW!!! Look how cute they are. Just after I took this picture they started making out. Gross. My only question is: Why is Lauri drinking water instead of Bud Light?


Some clouds make nice sunsets...


...other clouds bring an assload of rain and lightning. If there were ever clouds that signaled the coming of the apocalypse it was these clouds.

About 20 minutes after taking these pictures we were in our various cars waiting out the storm. Thanks again to Tim and Lauri for risking their lives to get us beer.


Lauri was the first victim of the mud. Here's her footprint. Unfortunately, there were no pictures of Rhiannon's (sp?) spill because it sounded like it was much better (worse from her viewpoint) than Lauri's "graceful genuflect".


I didn't want to alarm anybody at the time, but I saw a strange monster in the waves one night at the tracks. I first spotted him wrestling with some seaweed and then swimming in the surf. He never came out of the water, which is good because I saw Pete standing on the beach shortly after taking this picture.

Through rain, lightning, ocean monsters, ice shortages and intense hangovers, one thing remained constant: SLINGBALL.


Once again, nobody got hit by a train, although one of Tom's towels was certainly worse for wear after its run-in with Amtrak.



Again, there may be a prize for the best caption so leave your Emily caption in the comments section. You may enter as many times as you wish.

Today's List - 9/8

1. School started again Wednesday. Two periods of World History and two periods of American Government (which turns to Economics next semester). It looks like a good bunch of kids.

2. I have 4 sets of students with the same first and last names in the same class. For example, in one class I have two kids named Hugo Garcia. I also have identical twin brothers together in a class.

3. Award for the most unique name this year: a girl named Clad.

4. If you are one of those people that goes to the gym: please bring a towel with you and wipe off the machines when you are done. I don't want to deal with your sweat.

5. Countdown to new niece: 26 days.

6. I swear that I am going to put up some camping pictures at some point.

7. Did you see Jerry Lewis call someone an "illiterate fag" during his telethon? No, you can check it out here.

8. Watched "Hot Fuzz" last night. Pretty funny and worth a rent or a Netflix. Lots of fake blood. Incidentally, I had to watch the second half this morning since I went to bed on a Friday night at 9:30. Its too bad we didn't think to arrange to meet some friends for drinks instead - oh well. (That's a jab directed at two people who I know will read this).

9. I recently read two books by Dean Koontz. The first was "Odd Thomas" and then the second in that series "Forever Odd". The first one was a good read during camping. Interesting story with reasonably good writing. The second was not-so-good. Let's just say that an animal enters the story at some point and its completely ridiculous.

The List - 9/3

1. Camping was fun. We were caught in a beast of a thunderstorm that forced us into our cars for maybe 30-40 minutes. OK, it was the Rangers that forced us into our cars, not the storm. We were in the middle of the first game of slingball when they suggested that we find refuge in the cars. Tim, giving maybe the best quote of camping, says "Does he know we are in a tournament?"

2. I'm re-stating my previous belief that I am old. I needed to be in bed by 10:00 or so most nights during camping and woke up with back stiffness each morning.

3. Our new camping stove and percolator worked brilliantly.

4. Students show up Wednesday and its back to the grindstone. I try to make it sound bad so I can get sympathy, but #1: I love my job and #2: I shouldn't complain about actually having to work for the first time in 6 weeks.

5. For me, the ideal temperature for a swimming pool is between 72-76 degrees.

6. I made a list of things to do this summer and only completed about 1/2 of the items.

7. Liverpool is in first place and would look even better if we weren't completely fucked by the referee in the Chelsea game. He admitted his mistakes.

8. David Beckham looks to be done for the season. This may surprise you, but I am fine with that. Our season is shot and I would like him to be back to 100% by next season.

9. I hate to admit this, but I am a Michigan fan. Big loss Saturday to Appalachian State. Never heard of them? That's because they are Div. I-AA (now called something else). However, they are probably the best I-AA team, so there's that.

10. 20 more days until a new "The Office".

11. No more new Entourage until probably June I'm guessing. I was a little disappointed with this season until last night when they had topless chicks snorting cocaine off of each other's boobs. Its not the partial nudity that made up for a mediocre season, but all of the factors put together. Now I am only slightly disappointed.

12. I've been listening to a lot of my old punk and ska CDs again since I loaded them onto my iPod. I miss that stuff. Guttermouth, Lagwagon, Mr. T Experience, The Toasters, Specials, etc.

13. We were completely bombarded by flies last night in the apartment. Our theory is that the next door neighbors leave out a lot of nasty trash and when we made steak the flies came running. Final body count was about 30 dead flies in about 45 minutes. Most squished against various windows. One was mashed into the curtain - not pretty. We won in the end.

14. Man, its hotter than two hamsters having sex in a wool sock these days. (I got that one from another teacher)