GOOD TIMES, GOOD TIMES

This morning I spoke at the annual meeting of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, which is meeting in Philadelphia (motto: "The City That Booed The Easter Bunny (Really)." Last night everybody gathered to do what newspaper columnists do when they get together: Drink Network. And lo and behold, I ran into my old buddy Clark DeLeon, who was a columnist (!!) for the Philadelphia Inquirer when I was a reporter for the West Chester, Pa., Daily Local News. Clark now has a website, and he posted an account of our reunion, along with possibly the least-flattering picture ever taken.

Comments

[Eleanor]

It's adorable. ;)

And you're wearing a blue shirt - perfect!

[Eleanor]

FIRST to tell Dave how cute he is.

My day is complete. :)

[Eleanor]

Cute couple too!

Hat trick?

[Eleanor]

OK. Enough.

I know I'm not the only one here.

Come out, come out, wherever you are...

[Kathybear]

Congrats, Eleanor. Good to know I'm not the only female here, aside from judi (maybe) and those rustled marine mammal parts...

[Eleanor]

WHEW!1

*waves hi to Kathy*

[Jeff Meyerson]

Not Just Gay,
Gay Americans

I like it.

You can use it as a backup slogan for the campaign.

[Eleanor]

He called Dave The Gold Standard. How cool is that? *snif*

[Jeff Meyerson]

"When it comes to Gay Americans, Dave is...The Gold Standard"?

Maybe not.

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

C'mon, Dave. You can't just drop a line like "Philadelphia (motto: "The City That Booed The Easter Bunny (Really)." and leave it at that! Do tell.

[Kathybear]

Philly booed the EASTER BUNNY? For shame...

[Kathybear]

And, hey, Eleanor! I thought I was the only person here of either gender for a while!

[Eleanor]

Dave, what was Robin Givham wearing? I always read her Wash. Post column.

[Eleanor]

Kathy, it's Friday and into the evening everywhere but the Left Coast where I live.

There may be people who have lives. :)

[Cat R.]

"Still, in a room full of columnists he was a rock star. "

Well, duh.

[Eleanor]

Exactly, Cat. :)

[Tigger]

Very nice article. Explains that huge bong in the photo.

[Cat R.]

Hi, Kathybear! Do I count as a person of either gender?

[CJrun]

Hahahahahaha! El asked a guy what a gal was wearing.... That's funny no matter who you are!

[Cat R.]

CJrun, you have a point there. Unless she was nekkid, I doubt that question will be answered!

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

Have to reserve judgment on that one, Cat. Wouldn't surprise me to learn there's a bot out there that can carry on blog conversations. I mean, they can't all be as stupid as the one minding the store here...

[Ok, this time when the page wedged, I killed the tab and came back in from the main blog page. If this shows up twice, I give up.]

[KDF]

As I viewed the picture, my actual thought and intended comment was: "Dave, that picture is too flattering; in fact, it's adorable," and then I thought to myself, "Self, that sounds exactly like something Eleanor would say," and then I clicked onto the comments section, and there was Eleanor, FIRST, no less, telling Dave that the picture is, in fact, adorable.

WHOA.

*smooches Eleanor*

[The blog reader formerly known as Matt]

If I remember correctly, Philly also booed Santa.

And an odd fact that the Charlotte Observer dug up a couple years ago was that Philly had the lowest literacy rate of any major city in the country. Sadly, most newspapers are written at a 7th grade level. Coincidence they had the meeting there? Or was it simply because they could write while drinking and no one in Philly could tell the difference?

[The blog reader formerly known as Matt]

OK, I was reading up on the NBA draft, and saw this paragraph. Does it really say what I think it does, or am I hallucinating?

Knight points out that Pachulia and Shelden Williams are the only Hawks who are wide in the thighs. "They are the only two guys we have who aren't what we call narrow butts,'' Knight said. "The other guys are thin guys, slender builds, so you need some physicality on your team.''

So he's looking for one more wide butt?

"It depends on the butt,'' Knight said. In which case Horford may well be their pick.

End OT

[Kathybear]

Are we talking about tight ends, TBRFKAMatt? Or is that a whole different ball game?

[Doug-O]

I think we all need to hear how Dave feels about the National Society of Newspaper Columnists 'Code of Conduct.'

[Kathybear]

And, hey Eleanor, it is the Bomb pops and the cat - well, now I've moved on to ice cream sandwiches and possibly Maker's Mark aqt some point... That's part of why I'm here on Friday night...

[Kathybear]

Well, that and the tight ends on some blogits...:-) Where is Wyo anyway?

[The blog reader formerly known as Matt]

Apparently wide ends. And I think the position is "Power Forward". Yep, whole new ballgame. I'm guessing especially in their locker room.

[SW]

Isn't anyone going to agree with Dave? Actually, his jaw doesn't look too bad for someone who just had oral surgery. (Not that he did; it just wouldn't look bad if that were the case).

[SW]

...and what's a Grecian urn, anyway?

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

...and what's a Grecian urn, anyway?

Oh, what the heck, I'll take it: About 1000 drachmai a year, I think. (*badump-bump*)

[The blog reader formerly known as Matt]

I have as much of a life as anyone else in Vernon, Texas. Of course, it Vernon, Texas. Population 10,000. But hey, we just got a SECOND chinese buffet! And one of the biggest of those evil chains destroying small town America.

Besides, I have to watch the series finale of Stargate, SG-1 tonight.

[orcel]

okay, okay, okay. We didn't boo Santa...we threw snowballs at him

[Bethie]

I always wonder if I should tell someone they look just fine in a picture of themselves that they say looks horrible. Does that just make them think, "So I always look that bad?" No. But still! The picture is great, and I cannot even imagine the fun and frivolity at a newspersonguy convention!

[CJrun]

OK, this is a fun diversion for a Friday unwind....

[Cat R.]

I'm a real person, Richard. Of either gender, even. Actually, I think the bot is smarter than me. Not as nice, but smarter.

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

Boy, CJ, that link brought back memories. I, too, have recoiled while singing the first example. Even worse than "loud boiling test tubes" is "loud rushing planets".

[Cat R.]

CJrun, two of those baaad lyrics are my personal peeves -- Neil Diamond's "songs she brang to me" and Moody Blues' "Senior citizens wish they were young."

Hilarious!

[Eleanor]

*snork* at KDF!

You always make me laugh - in a really good way. :)

Robin Givhan writes a fashion column at the Wash Post, so it stands to reason (*wonders why reason never sits*) that would be a notable thing about her, just like Dave and his blue shirt!

[Cat R.]

CJrun, two of those baaad lyrics are my personal peeves -- Neil Diamond's "songs she brang to me" and Moody Blues' "Senior citizens wish they were young."

Hilarious!

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

Boy, CJ, that link brought back memories. I, too, have recoiled while singing the first example. Even worse than "loud boiling test tubes" is "loud rushing planets".

[Eleanor]

*snork* at KDF!

You always make me laugh - in a really good way. :)

Robin Givhan writes a fashion column at the Wash Post, so it stands to reason (*wonders why reason never sits*) that would be a notable thing about her, just like Dave and his blue shirt!

[Eleanor]

trying for the third time to post

*snork* at KDF!

You always make me laugh - in a really good way. :)

Robin Givhan writes a fashion column at the Wash Post, so it stands to reason (*wonders why reason never sits*) that would be a notable thing about her, just like Dave and his blue shirt!

[Eleanor]

Gee, a triple, 3 and 4 minutes apart.

I'm so proud.

*eye roll*

*zips out*

[Cat R.]

sigh.

Once.

[Doc Rick]

Just a question, are Edgar and all of his aliases out of the room yet or is he still being a hit and run weenie?

[CJrun]

*zips bot*

[Bethie]

Great link about bad lyrics! Wholly hell there are a lot of 'em out there aren't there?

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

Aaargh! Mental note to self: No more posting to blog while wireless.

[CJrun]

RtWH: Did you try switching to Firefox? It seems to be the answer for the problems that cropped up when I switched to Verizon wireless.....

[KOW]

He was scheduled to address the convention this morning and I told him I'd be there if I wasn't hung over. I was and I didn't.

This guy needs to visit the blog. He'd fit RIGHT in. I love that quote

[SW]

"But hey, we just got a SECOND chinese buffet!"

Hey, xmatt - do you go there an hour after you've left the first one?

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

Been using Firefox ever since 1.0, actually. It doesn't appear to be a browser issue -- email loses connectivity as well, and traceroute fails due to no DNS. Even though I supposedly have a fairly strong signal, there are periods where it just stops working.

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

*Snork* at S(tevie)...

[Eleanor]

*snork* at Stevie!

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

Ha! Just like KDF, now I'm predicting what Eleanor will say. :-,)

[CJrun]

OT/

Just a guess, but you may be running the original wireless software from the CD. With a decent connection (if necessary, from an ethernet hose or WiFi) you can get updated drivers for the aircard.

BTDT (but all works very well now)....

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

It's a company laptop; came with wireless, and recently had XP reinstalled to get SP2 working. I suppose it's possible they failed to update the drivers in the process; I'll look into it. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Dr. Rickenstein]

Great! Now the Chinese spammers are actually spamming us in CHINESE! Oh for the love of....

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

Well, that's a tough act to follow. CJRun, if you're still here: turns out the driver was from 2004!?!? I've updated; will let you know how it goes...

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

Correction: I was looked at the driver for the wired connection. Wireless one is from 2005 but Windows claims it's the latest. Oh, well; it was a good suggestion anyway.

[CJrun]

OT/
Actually, I was referring to the connectivity software for the service provider. In my case, Verizon. When I first went up with the VZAccess software, problems started up very soon (plus bot problems). New VZAccess software made the connection completely reliable (up to 60 mph). After I installed updated VZ, I still had problems with IE7 (as opposed to connectivity), but FireFox solved those and the the bot problems.

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

Ah! I see. I'll check into it. Thanks again.

Gotta sign off now.

[steph]

I remember West Chester's Daily Local newspaper and I even remember Dave Barry's writing for it. If I remember correctly, it was a horrible paper and he fit in beautifully.
But we both moved to South Florida and he got a hell of a lot better.
Been reading this blog for a long time- this is the first time I had something interesting enough to write.

[Annie Where-but-here]

So if I say that picture is NOT the least-flattering picture ever taken, am I being sucked into insinuating that there exists a less-flattering picture, and by so doing, insult Dave in a roundabout manner.
Does that last statement make my butt look big?
I'm throwing an RL margarita party. Wish you were here....to clean the house.
btw - Giants pitcher just walked our pitcher. I repeat - walked our pitcher, who has never batted in a major league game. Yankees up 3-0.

[Cheryl Howard]

*waves to steph*

[Annie Where-but-here]

Welcome, steph - newbie! What a great FIRST statement to make!
"I rem'ember Dave Barry. Back then, he was no Dave Barry.

[Annie Where-but-here]

ot - Billy Crystal (yankees) and Robin Williams (giants) are sitting next to each other in the stands. Can you imagine? I would snork my nachos...and his nachos...but not'yo nachos.

[Eleanor]

Annie, that was pretty cool, yes? Walked an AL pitcher - VF!

Note to RtWH, even though you're gone: Were you able to predict that I was going to post the lyrics to American Pie in Chinese? Huh? Huh? :-)

[Annie Where-but-here]

El possesses many hidden talents.

[OtheU(manity)]

So, Dave ... in the photo ... who's what's in the urn?

[Cat R.]

OtheU ~

That's Urnest.

[CJrun]

Annie, I'll clean your house if you'll switch that 'an' for an 'a.'

[Annie Where-but-here]

Cj - you touch my spelling and I'll clean your clock.

[Annie Where-but-here]

That vase is full of puns, isn't it. So if you take one out, it's an un-urned pun.

[Eleanor]

I haven't seen Crystal and Robin. :(

*waves hi to newbie steph*

Join the craziness! I post lots of times when I have nothing to say - ask anyone! So you should too. ;)

[CJrun]

Oh and RtWH (when you get back), if you just started using that gadget and it's like mine was, you have 15 days to cancel the service, completely, no questions asked.

When (day 12) I reminded my provider of that, they moved Heaven and Earth to get it figured out. You may have some serious leverage if it isn't the connectivity software. All the same, I bet it is....

EndOT\

[Annie Where-but-here]

El - they were chattering and scarfing down food - hot dogs or something. I figured one was sure to snork food listening to the other.

[SW]

"Giants pitcher just walked our pitcher."

I am not a baseball fan. The only Giant pitcher that holds nmy interest is the one at Annie's margarita party.

[Annie Where-but-here]

El - they just showed Billy & Robin again.

[SW]

BTW Dave, that's a cute photo of you, Clark DeLeon, and Barbara Eden.

[Eleanor]

I was there Annie, didn't see them. :(

My Friday night Norton scan is finished.

Yankees/Giants on Fox HD tomorrow afternoon.

I'm outta here.

*zips out*

[CJrun]

Annie, that un-urned pun makes your 'a' look big.

*sadly shakes head at folks that use firewalls/antivirus clunkies that don't rhyme with Trend Microsystems*

[Just Ducky]

Dave, what a great pic! And Carly Simon showed up, too--you're a lucky guy!

CJ, my daughter's former boyfriend, the computer whiz, introduced us to TM. Another reason I miss him.

[Siouxie in North Carolina]

*drags butt in for a moment*

Dave, it's not THAT unflattering. Just you look a little dark and your nose is shiny. (Who are those two bozos with you??)

That. is. all.

Nite everyone. I ache all over and I have NO energy to *snor ...see?? After today's day in the mts and my "all one with nature" comment last night, I say...WHO THE HELL WAS I KIDDING????? Gimme a cruise to the Turks & Caicos next time! With a hot tub and booze.

I'd stay and catch up but I feel my eyes clos....

zzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Siouxie in North Carolina]

uh...that SHOULD read... you JUST look

back to zzzzzzzzzz

[Just Ducky]

*tucks blanket around Siouxie*
*switches off overhead lights, turns on nightlight*
*sets blog coffeemaker for weekend morning crew*

Nighty-night, y'all! Sweet dreams!

[SW]

*pulls down Siouxie's blankets*
*places life-size photo of Barry Manilow's head on pillow next to Siouxie's head*
*takes photographs*

[ubetcha]

Stevie - I hope you got out before she found her machete.

I haven't read the last few posts or this thread, but before I go beddie bye I had to say that Dave looked cute as a bedbug in that photo, and we know it's him by his blue shirt. All is well in the world, and I want to be Walter in my next life. Or at least judi.

[ubetcha]

*too many Cape (hic) Codders tonight*

[SW]

Welcome back, Codder.

[Brad]

That is the most flatuating picture of Dave this bloglit has ever seen.

[crossgirl]

morning all, mr. shoespammer, i can't afford a pair of shoes right now, can i just get one if i promise to buy it's mate later?

(i like dave's picture. when did he get glasses? ooooooh wait, dave's the other guy...)

[Jazzzz]

cg.....I'll buy one shoe if you get the other. I need flats so I won't walk in a circle.

[Eleanor]

*zips in*™

Morning all, and a special *smooch* to Jazzzz. ;)

Stevie, I love that theme song. Nice way to start the day. :)

private message to Annie - I finally saw Robin but never saw Billy.

[Jazzzz]

*blush* ...returns *smooch*. Hello to El and all you guys. hope to return to life in the slow lane soon. Prospects look better.

[Siouxie in North Carolina]

*wakes up and sees BM photo next to her*

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKBLLLLEEEAAACCCHHHH

STEVIE!!!!!!!!!

*looks for hot wax* I'll get you my pretty!!!!!

[SW]

You just watch yerself, sxi, or I'll post the pictures.

[Siouxie in North Carolina]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

you are a cruel, cruel man!