Updates

• Today I finally received a check back from the Superior Court for $156. I received notice that I won my traffic ticket case on April 27 (See previous blog entry). Those bastards took nearly 60 days before refunding my money and didn’t even pay any interest. That’s a pretty sweet racket they’ve got going there. The good news is that I nearly forgot about the money, so it seems like “extra” dough. Which is good because I’m contemplating the purchase of a new toy, the details of which will be revealed here as things unfold.

• The roof on my garage is finally covered with wood. No gaping holes. I was worried about punks climbing inside and stealing stuff at night, but no more. I was going to work on it today, but decided to stay away from power tools and off the roof after a foolish accident. I was doing some paperwork when my stapler jammed. I went to fix it and, after a series of unfortunate events, a staple was lodged in my finger about as far in as physically possible. I removed it and iodine was applied. No biggy. But if I could do something that stupid with a stapler, I figured I had better stay away from electric saws.

• My previous blog entry was about the documentary “Grizzly Man.” Good stuff. But that’s not the only recent quality viewing on the boob tube. On Monday we watched “Entourage” on HBO. It’s a 30-minute show, but it’s so enthralling and entertaining that it feels like it goes by in 8 minutes. And then there’s “Deadwood,” which the San Francisco Chronicle critic aptly describes as “Shakespeare in the mud.”



• Today I received a nice card from one of my columnist. On the cover was a photo of Muhammed Ali hovering over a knocked-out Sonny Listen. Great image! What’s weird is that my columnist had no way of knowing that boxing was on my mind. Over the weekend I watched hours of Classic ESPN, which was a free preview on the local cable. I had it on in the background while working. It was a real distraction, almost a curse. This is gripping TV. There were classic Ali fights, but the best was Rocky Marciano. I hesitate to write anything about boxing because I’m far from being an expert. In fact, my knowledge is minimal if not deficient. Still, there’s something about boxing that keeps me interested. It’s a savage sport, in which the ultimate goal is to inflict a brain injury on one’s opponent. It’s also very personal. Marciano and Louis cried together in the locker room after their infamous fight. It was great to watch entire Marciano fights. He had a street style of fighting. Very entertaining.