Get Out Of Blogging Free

Not to equate blogging to jail time, but I'm going to pretend that the birth of my nephew warrants a one-week hiatus from posting on this site. And you will nod and not question this logic in the slightest as I gracefully segue to the next paragraph.

In reality, I had a busy week at work compounded by early deadlines and a three-day trip to Boston. So today is really the first day I could catch up, albeit with a cold.

And now I present to you five things I thought about on my Boston trip. (Applause)

1. I saw a Boston Herald newspaper with the headline "Get Out Of Jail Free" on Sunday. I have no idea what the story was about, but I thought about what other Monopoly terms could make for good headlines. The first thing I thought of was "Do not pass 'Go'" which could be a movie critic's review of the Katie Holmes-Jay Mohr movie. But then I got to thinking that that would be an ambiguous sentence. "Do not pass 'Go,'" meaning "Don't miss it"? Or "Do not pass 'Go,'" meaning "Give it a failing grade"? I started confusing myself again so I went back to thinking about beagle puppies. Aww. Beagle puppies!

2. Pasta with sausage can sometimes look like someone decapitated a pig and tossed it on a couple of noodles. Just ask my friend Dennis.

3. The Boston College Acoustics are rock stars and their show Saturday night was fantastic. And their new CD, Fake Instruments, is ridonkulously amazing. I can't pick a favorite track, but I will say that you haven't lived until you've heard Billy Hurley's rendition of "Life Is A Highway" while coasting a mile or two over the speed limit on the Sprain Brook Parkway.

4. A lot fewer Red Sox hats in Boston these days. Always a good thing.

5. I realize that I haven't been keeping up with my Obscure SNL Skit of the Week series. In fact, I only did one. In the meantime, please accept this gift of Wikipedia's solid rundown of some of the most memorable commercial parodies. Although the lack of Velvet Jones commercials is just an atrocity.