Ireland

Ireland

Thursday, February 4, 2010

thoughts on stuff

I went to the great city of New Orleans a while back, to attend our mandatory annual company meeting. One evening they brought in Caterers for our dinner.
I walked up to the table and there was this guy, serving craw-fish, a local delicacy, with what looked like a snow shovel. I swear, he was actually shoveling those little buggers onto our plate like he was spreading mulch. This was my first run in with crawfish. People were raving about them.
There's just something unappealing about food that is shovelled to me.
I passed.

I'm reading Andre Agassi's new autobiography. I was sort of tennis fan from a distance in the 90's, but he caught my eye because he was such a shot of adrenalin to an otherwise fairly conservative sport at the time.
He was a rebel of sorts, wearing cut off jeans and earrings to go with his long hair while smashing laser like backhands down the line . Cannon, the camera company, seized the opportunity and signed Agassi to shoot commercials stating, "Image is everything."
They marketed a camera after him, called "The Rebel."
At the matches, the girls would scream like he was a rock star, the boys would dress like him and wear long blond wigs. They were more like him than they thought.
He also wore a wig.
Interesting.

Our company Chief Operating Officer, made a surprise visit to the boat the other day. The way everyone was acting, you would have thought the Pope was coming. He's a guy we all know. If your doing your job, what's the worry?
I walked into the galley to find him talking to 4 crew members who were standing like Catholic High school freshman who were just summoned to the disciplinarian's office. I wanted to shake each guy and yell, loosen up!
I walked up to him, shook hands with him and said, "Carl, nice to see you. If I knew you were coming I would have made a cake." He responded with a witty retort, as my fellow crew members looked like they were about to have an aneurysm.
Jeez, lighten up!

I try to work out at home as much as I can, just to stay fit. For the first time I decided to workout on the boat too.
I get up an hour before my watch to do my workout.
I thought it would be good for me.
As of now I can barely hobble up the stairs.
I should go back to my old routine...Coffee.

8 comments:

Marilyn Miller said...

Good luck with the work out. It is a very good thing.

Now I have a Canon Rebel and I didn't know that story. Thanks for the story, I loved reading it.

Jerral Miles said...

Mark,
I didn't know the Aggasi connection with the Canon Rebel camera. Thanks for that. I like your interaction with "the Pope."
Have you ever tried yoga as something you can do in a small space. I've been doing it first thing in the morning... has made all the difference in my physical well-being... and then I have the coffee.
Jerral

Sueann said...

ROFL!! So much for working out, huh? I also didn't know that about the Canon Rebel...I have one. Love it! And I didn't know he wore a wig too?? Sheesh! I must have my head under a rock!?! Did he wear this wig while he played?? If so, how did he keep it on?? Inquiring minds want to know?
Hugs
SueAnn

beth said...

I don't eat food that's been shoveled either...well, even if they served a single crawfish on a crystal dish, I still wouldn't eat it....

and I didn't know that's where the rebel got it's name....did you know andy roddick is my cousin ?

my back is killing me today from the treadmill yesterday, if that helps with your pain :)

and to answer sues' question...he did wear that wig while playing, didn't he ??....becasue he was going bald, right ?....or did I dream that ?

Melinda Owens said...

I can understand that the presentation was lacking, however, you're missing something delicious if you've never tried crawfish.

I tried the morning workout, too, and had to take a nap by 9:30am.

Still laughing at the "made a cake" comment...I always say that, too. Is that from a song or just an old saying? Or a movie? I can't remember.

dcpeg said...

Silly, silly man! Crawfish are like miniature lobsters and taste fabulous. As for shoveling them, I can see the lack of appeal there, but next time, give 'em a try. Langostinos, sold in the frozen fish department, are just a fancy name for crawfish. All they need is a bit of melted butter and lemon juice. YUM!

beth said...

well, for me being from wisconsin....we have the best cheese curds ever and if you fry them, even better and people are all ewwwww, curds....what's a cheese curd ?

do you know what a cheese curd is ? I think you would eat a whole basket of them with me :)

AND I would totally do the scrapple before the crawfish any day :)
even though your description grossed me out a little bit, I'm a midwestern girl and we're tough that way !

beth said...

oops....crap !
that comment was supposed to be on your newest post....
hmmmm...wonder if I can cut and paste ?