The Massachusetts State House has a "General Hooker Entrance"

Maybe this is common knowledge.  Back in 2002 I lived next door to the State House for an entire year.  I have walked by it hundreds of times before.  But somehow I only noticed this for the first time last week.  I don't know how I missed it.  It's not like it's hidden or anything, it's right there in front with signs everywhere.

There are so many potential jokes here... But I think I want to go with something along the lines of "Clearly this shows the difference between politics on the local and national level.  At the White House they have a tiny little passageway around back labeled Very Specific High-End Escort Doorway.  Bada-bing.

How has Toronto managed to win 7 games this year?

After going to a Celtics/Raptors pre-season game, my comment then was that Toronto didn't look much like an NBA team.  Wednesday night's game went a long way towards supporting my theory.  With just 55 seconds to go Boston led 100-60.  I thought the most encouraging signs for the Celtics were that they scored 57 points in the first half (a season high in a year where they frequently fall behind early), and that none of the starters played more than 26 minutes, while sitting out the entire 4th quarter.

The highlight of the game was probably Garnett's 3 pointer at the end of the first half, just his 5th as a Celtic.  Something I never realized though, he used to shoot from beyond the arc with some regularity back in Minnesota; even making 37 of them in '01-'02.  However my personal highlight of the game was that both "ridiculously loud guy who makes no sense" (who normally sits behind me) and "permanently angry drunk couple" (who usually sit on my left) were not in attendance.  Don't look now, but if it wasn't for that four minute slip up at the end of Sunday's game against the Cavs, Boston would be on a 7 game winning streak.

Maybe I should have read the rules first...

Apparently my brilliant idea wasn't so brilliant after all.  There is a policy with google adsense that says I am not allowed to ask people to click on the ads.  It makes total sense now that I think about it.  Oh well.  It's a good thing I didn't quit my bar job just yet.  So you can officially disregard what I said 2 days ago.  Add this to the list of things I keep learning about how the magical interweb works.

Unfortunately the SNL "Bad Idea Jeans" add is not on youtube.  I did find this one though:

And here it is on Hulu.

Most likely I'll put up another post later today about last night's Celtics game.

Awesome Old Song(s) of the Week: "Gonna Make You Sweat/Here We Go" by C + C Music Factory

First, please read my update at the bottom of yesterday's blog.

C + C Music Factory was all over the Billboard charts in 1991.  Allegedly these were two different songs; "Gonna Make You Sweat" was their first single, and "Here We Go" was the second.  When I was 14 years old I loved them both, even though I knew they were really the same thing.  And the group basically admitted as much when they went on Saturday Night Live and performed them both simultaneously:

C + C Music Factory had a bit of a Milli Vanilli controversy when it was revealed that a much larger women had actually sang the vocals in their first music video.  Also, from my various web searches today it looks like the internet seems to be implying that the C + C guys (producers Robert Clivilles and David Cole) were a gay couple.  If that is the case, it's too bad they had to hide it.  If not, oops.

I can't believe I didn't think of this before

I've been using "google adsense" on the side of this blog since sometime late last summer.  Basically google just puts ads there that it thinks are appropriate, then pays me based on how much traffic the page gets, and how many people click on the ads.  For a long time I thought it was completely useless.  Then I did a little research, moved some things around, and started to have a very small amount of success with it.  As of two days ago I had made a grand total of $14.54.  And then I had the idea to ask people to click on the ads.

I'm not sure I really believe what google is telling me, or if the current numbers would actually translate to the same degree if there was more traffic.  But according to my stats, 2 days ago 10 people clicked on ads, and I made $9.13.  Yesterday and so far today I've had 12 clicks, and made $10.46.  I can't imagine it's really that easy, but according to google I am making almost $1 every time someone views one of the ads.

In the past 24 hours, 141 people have viewed this page.  According to my current numbers, if every one of them clicked on an ad, that would be enough for me to actually do this for a living.  So please please keep doing it.  And if you haven't yet, do it now.  It's SO easy and takes no time at all.  Just close the window or hit the back button as soon as it comes up, you don't even have to look at it.  Thanks for your support.

2/1 UPDATE:  I'm hearing rumors that google catches on when the same people click too frequently.  So if you really really love this blog and have been clicking on every ad several times, A: thanks for that, and B: one per day is good enough.  My friend today told me that she had a site shut down because the same people clicked on ads too often.

2/2 UPDATE:  Nevermind.  I guess I'm not allowed to ask people to click on the ads.

I'm not reading anything into that Celtics loss to Cleveland

With three and a half minutes left in the Celtics-Cavs game the other night the score was 87-80 Boston.  I turned to my friend in the seat next to me and said "The Celtics only need to score 6 more points to win this game."  As it turned out they didn't make another basket, and Cleveland came back to win 88-87.  Losing by one point when the other team closes the game on a 12-0 run (it was 87-76 with 4:24 to go) is a pretty tough pill to swallow; but as I left the Garden I was surprised how unconcerned I was by it.  After an improbable 4 game winning streak, I had a feeling Boston might be due for a let down.  And if they'd made another shot or two down the stretch and won this particular game, does that really have any impact on whether or not they can beat good teams come playoff time?  I'm just going to give the Celtics a mulligan on this one and choose not to dwell on it.

As soon as a I saw Kyrie Irving start to dribble out the clock with 22 seconds left I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.  Normally teams go for the last shot when the game is tied, not when they're down a point.  Traditional hoops wisdom tells you to take the best shot you can with some time left on the clock, that way you still have a chance if it doesn't go in.  It was a ballsy call by Cavs coach Byron Scott.

For my regular readers who are not big Celtics/NBA fans, I apologize.  Tomorrow's blog will not be about sports, I promise!  But I have been getting a lot of traffic and support lately from other Celtics related media, so that may be the general direction in which this site is heading.

So what do you think about the Superbowl?

I am of the rare opinion that the Patriots should be heavily favored.  Everybody seems to be forgetting that the Giants went 9-7.  That they barely made the playoffs (by winning a bad division that Dallas choked away losing 4 of 5 down the stretch).  That they lost to Seattle, Philadelphia, and Washington (twice).  The general media consensus appears to be that A: in the NFL lately it doesn't really matter what you did all season in, just they way you are playing at the moment; and B: that the Giants are so hot right now (like Hansel hot?).

Ok, well if that's the case, what does it mean that the Patriots have won 10 games in a row?  In fact, their last loss was to the Giants twelve weeks ago.  I think that's a good thing for New England.  Not only does it increase the revenge factor from Superbowl XLII (and seriously can they stop with the stupid Roman numerals already?  Honestly how many people actually know what they are?), I also feel like beating the same good team twice in a row is just a very difficult thing to do.

However, if I was going to bet money, I would definitely take the Giants.  Not because of the 2.5 or 3 point spread, and not because I think they will win, but because this game PERFECTLY fits the profile for my guaranteed way to win at sports gambling.

So anyway, vote in the poll on the right and let me know what you think.  Also, underneath that I have recently added a "pageviews" counter.  And it's intentionally placed directly above the "advertise with LucidSportsFan here" sign, so you think to yourself "hmm, 544 people have been here this week, what if they all saw my webpage/restaurant/candy store/dog grooming business/fill in the blank______?"