Uh, I have spent too much time on this already. I'm having a hell of a time getting son of suckerfish dropdowns to work in IE Mac. I'm fairly certain it's the javascript that is unhappy, but I really don't know. It could be a bigger issue.

Anyway, if any of you CSS gurus have a few minutes this afternoon I'd really appreciate it. I've just spent too much time on the problem this morning and need to move on for the moment. Your amazing reward, beside my undying graditude, is getting to see the redesign of my work site early. Wheeee!

Update: Fixed! It was indeed the javascript and this page had the solution, which he/she grabbed from here originally. On top of that, I was able to hack the flash detection script so it would serve an image for IE on Mac. Damn, that browser blows.

Boing Boing linked to a video of five famous voice-over artists having fun with the clichès in their profession. It's a good time, but my favorite send-up, and favorite trailer in general, is for the documentary on Jerry Seinfeld, The Comedian. Totally original and completely hilarious.

"When your life is no longer your own..."
"What does that mean?"
"...when everything you know is wrong..."
"That's wrong."
"In an outpost..."
"No"
"On the edge of space..."
There is no space."

It goes on. You should definitely watch. Now.

I'll warn you now, all three of these are pop-tastic. If you're looking for music to kill yourself to, look elsewhere.

Aquabats - Charge!

When I told my friend Steve he should check out the new Aquabats record, he said, "Are you serious?" Yes, I was and am. It seems they were once a raging ska super-band, but now they're just a raging super-band. The music is pop-punk, with heavy emphasis on the pop and perfect for edgier President of the USA fans. It's silly, it's fun and requires little to no pride. Buy it.

Real Ones - Home with the Girls in the Morning

Watch out Sweden, here comes Norway. Real Ones are a more straight forward twang-rock outfit, but have that distinctively loud-soft sound of the Swedorway region. Although they pull out the usual stops with sweet harmonies and catchy melodies, Real Ones have a variety of bass lines and beats at their disposal. The album flows nicely, but songs like "Disharmonic Ears" (which happens to be the best on their record) keep your ears perked up. Their two albums are available on iTunes or through Norwegian online stores.

The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers

I listened to The Magic Numbers on three separate occasions at Virgin Megastore, never buying it as it was a pricey import. Thankfully, a friend managed to snag a copy off a coworker's desk (yay connected friends!) and I have been loving it ever since. The Numbers are two sets of brothers and sisters who make light, indie pop songs, which is why I found them irresistable. The first track, "Mornings Eleven", is the standout. The album will be out in the U.S. in the fall, but you could get it online today if you're impatient. Buy it.

Also: Barsuk has posted "Do It Again", the first single from Nada Surf's upcoming album, The Weight is a Gift. Love the song, can't wait for the album.

Earlier this week, Metacritic was purchased by Cnet. Big buyouts of my favorite sites always make me nervous, but I thnk Metacritic could do a lot with more resources behind them.

I have one big idea I'd love to see them implement. First, allow users to log in so they can keep track of their own reviews. This way they can share their thoughts with others in a coherent fashion and will give the site a stronger community aspect. Second, recommend professional and amateur reviewers based on my likes and dislikes. I always forget which writers share my tastes in music and film, so it'd be nice to have an algorithm remind me every now and again.

This would get me to come back to the site once a day or so. Come on Metacritic, do it!

Gosh darned, the Cubs suck right now. It's tough to go from having a decent shot at the wild card to thinking they might have a spot for me on the team. Rich just walked in three guys in a row, two of them for runs. I think we have something like three hits over the last hundred games. A month and a half ago Derek Lee was hiting .390 and now he's hovering around .350. It hurts, especially since I saw them get trounced twice at Shea Stadium this weekend.

At this point, I'm ready to give up. There is always next year. Maybe they'll get rid of Dusty in the offseason and bring in someone who can actually teach the Cubs how to play some small ball.

I have just one shining ray of hope in my sports world &mdasph; the Bears won their preseason opener 27-24 and the offense played well. I think DirecTV rigged that game so I would re-up on my NFL Sunday Ticket package. If so, you win DirecTV. Just promise me you'll help the Bears to win at least 9 games this season. Please?

I'm reading Jonathan Ames' Wake Up, Sir and keep happening upon words or phrases I want to look up. Either it's a word I've never heard or a reference to the characters Tadzio and Aschenbach, whom I now know are from Death in Venice.

I was able to look this up because I had my computer next to me while reading on my bed. Unfortunately, I rarely have it with me on the subway or in the park. Even if I did, it would be a pain to bounce between the two on a regular basis; I'd lose my train of thought.

This is why I'm chomping at the bit for internet-enabled digital paper. This way, I could just highlight a passage or word in a book while I'm reading, right click and have it look it up in google or the dictionary. You'd see a little pop-up window with the relevant information and then could go right back to your book. If I had that, I feel like I'd learn a lot more while reading.

I suppose this is still a few years away, but it's going to be a very welcome addition to my technological repetoire. In the meantime, I'd settle for 120 gig iPod.