I've invested a bit more work (well, more than a bit, but then it's a labor of love so i don't really keep track) in expanding my listening statistics page. In addition to being able to view my lists of top played artists, tracks, albums, genres, years, and decades (updated in real time as i listen to iTunes at work or at home), you can now click on any of the displayed information to see play details for a specific artist, track, album, genre, year, or decade. I'm probably fooling myself that this may be interesting to anyone other than myself, but i like it, and it was a fun programming project. And i'm sure there are hordes of bloggers out there who would beat a path to my door to have such a detailed online playlist.

V and i drove north to Sacramento on Friday afternoon for her cousin Marissa's high school graduation. We did it on a spare tire in the Jetta as V had gotten a flat on her way to work that morning. It's always fun hanging with Naomi and her family (and of course Señor Lee). However my fun was cut short as i had to return home late Friday night to see the dogs and get ready for Saturday's 100th anniversary of the Stanford departments of Radiology and Radiation Oncology. It wasn't until halfway home that i saw the warning on the spare that it shouldn't be driven over 50 mph. Being a full size spare i hadn't even thought about it. Doh. I got home around 2am to two lonely dogs and checked to see if FSW was showing the FA Cup final between Manure and the Arse the next morning. Nope, off to bed.

To my dismay i found out (too late) the next morning that the cup final was shown on ESPN2. Oh well, sounded like the Arse sucked and only United's season-long inability to convert chances into goals allowed the Londoners to win on penalties. Now that most European leagues are drawing to a close and the Champions League final will decide a winner on Wednesday, attention turns to the transfer market. As in the last two summers, more than likely anyone wanting to improve their salary will claim Chelsea is interested in them (see Pavel Nedved last summer), so figuring out who the blues are really pursuing will be difficult. Possibilities that aren't complete bulls@$t include Liverpool's Steven Gerrard and Inter Milan's Adriano. What we really need is a left back and a world class striker (someone on par with Andriy Shevchenko, Thierry Henry, or Samuel Eto'o). Chelsea however must first learn their fate for their alleged illegal approaches to Arsenal and England left back Ashley Cole and Manchester United's new teenage signing John Obi Mikel. The smart money is on a stiff fine.

Back to my weekend ... i then had a look at the flat tire in the Jetta's trunk. The thing was completely sheared, no chance of patching. Again, oh well ... i put the doggies in their sunny kennel and headed to Stanford. The anniversary was fun, catching up with colleagues and listening to some good talks by the Stanford Radiology and Radiation Oncology kingpins. There was an interesting panel featuring a Stanford economist and the CEOs of GE Medical Systems, Siemens Medical Solutions, and Varian discussing whether society can afford the latest advances in medical technology. Afterwards we adjourned to the Cancer Center lobby for a reception, boasting some very swank catering. I had a few beers with my departmental chums before heading home to liberate the dogs. Pepe was not pleased, to say the least. At least that kept them from soiling the house. I got in a few hours of Half Life 2 (can i say once again that this masterpiece is in my opinion the pinnacle of the gaming industry?), before V, N, and G got back from Sacramento (they'd stayed up there for a graduation party Saturday afternoon). Geoff and i closed the evening by getting in a few more fun rounds of online Halo 2.

Today went by pretty fast ... got two new tires put on the Jetta, had a relaxing brunch at Stacks with VNG, picked up the sequel to Donkey Konga at Gamestop for some more bongoing madness, and went to Kenneth Cole at the Stanford Shopping Center with my parents to replace my dad's b-day watch (one of the pins was falling out) and get my some nice new Reaction kicks. On deck for this week is a viewing of George Lucas's attempt at science fiction redemption (aka Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith) with V and G (N is off to an all-girls week in Hawaii) and revising my NIH grant for resubmission. It got fairly positive reviews, so i think i've got a decent shot at getting it funded this time around.