More Cowbell!

I did not get to AI last night. I came home at the start of the 3rd period with the Red Wings trailing 3-1. With an awesome 3rd period, they came back to tie it at 3-3. Then what looks like they should have won turned into a fluke (Roloson is cheating again) so into double overtime they went. RedWings lose 4-3. Dangit. Not only was I up until after 1am watching it, but they lost on top of it all. So now what? I still think Legace is the man, someone just needs to kick him in the ass to make him start playing up to his potential. The offense is starting to gel (like Magellin) so there's still a lot of hope for them Thursday night in game 4. Hazel still fails to see the importance of hockey on our culture and society influences.... especially from double overtime. I'll continue to work on her.

On my drive to La Crosse last night, I picked up the hiccups. I caught them at around 5:32 (yes, I looked at the clock) and was still having them around 6:05. So over 30 minutes of the dang hiccups. I get hiccups maybe 2 times a year, but never this bad. I'm not a doctor (but I play one on TV) so I looked up the phenomenon known as "hiccups":

The medical term is singultus. While many cases develop spontaneously, hiccups are known to develop often in specific situations, such as eating too quickly, taking a cold drink while eating a hot meal, eating very hot or spicy food, laughing vigorously or coughing, or drinking an excess of an alcoholic beverage.

Hiccups may be caused by pressure to the phrenic nerve by other anatomical structures, or rarely by tumors. It is still unclear to scientists exactly why hiccups occur, particularly because it doesn't seem to give us any specific benefit. Some speculation exists that hiccups are a remnant of a bodily function that has been phased out by evolution, such as the move from aquatic gilled creatures to land animals. More research is required to ascertain their true nature, origins, and purpose, if any.

While some people who have seen me eat might think it was from eating too fast.... I beg to differ. I had just taken a big cold gulp of water when they occured. So your guess is as good as mine. I did try to "cure myself" on my drive to La Crosse (for lack of anything better to do). I did the deep breaths for a couple of minutes, but that only made me light headed to the point of wanting to pass out. Not good on I-90 going 74 miles an hour (speed limit is 70, btw). Then I tried the hold my breath as long as I could. This also causes light headedness but I was actually shocked at how long I could hold my breath without being forced to. Finally I resorted to my engineering mentality to scare myself. I would set my alarm on my new kick-ass phone and turn it to as loud as it would go. I would then hold the phone next to my ear and try to relax while I was driving (and hiccupping all the while about every 6-7 seconds). Then without warning the phone's alarm would go off and "scare" me. The first one didn't work so I tried it again - finally with some success!

I remember my mom having hiccups once in the car (about a year ago) and while dad was filling the car with gas, I pulled out a $10 bill and offered it to my mom if she had one more hiccup. She couldn't do it anymore. I've done that to Claire before (who would act another hiccup just to take my money) and it also worked. Not sure why it works but it does usually if the person isn't suspecting it. My mom called it "black magic".

Rehearsal went much better last night than last week - so I'm more excited for this concert than I was last week. We also got the 4-1-1 on the music for next year.... more on that later on. Golf league tonight - I'm shooting for sub-50 tonight!

Song of the Day - In researching the next link, I now have Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear The Reaper going through my head. And yes, with more cow bell!

Video of the Day - In one of the greatest Christopher Walken clips (no, not the shiny gold watch), "Bruce Dickinson" (no relation) demands simply.... MORE COW BELL!! Some wonderful words to live by in our daily actions.

Webpage of the Day - Here's a new idea - blacklight ink tattoos!! So you can't see it 99% of the time, but get under the blacklights and instant tattoo! I might have to keep my eye on this idea. See if they can do a kickass Cy tattoo for me to enjoy at Rock N' Bowl.