English Word/Phrase Of The Week:
Wanker whan-kher. Literally someone who masturbates. More usually, someone who is a "dick" in the American vernacular. May be used in a positive sense ("he's a jovial wanker") but usually not, ("Raider fans who lot a paintshop because they are 'upset' at their team not showing up for the Superbowl are huge wankers").

The Columbia Disaster
I've been trying all day to find words to express my sadness at the Columbia disaster. I was angry but after reading the reports, I realized that my anger has subsided to just plain, organic, sadness. If the early reports are to be believed, the accident looks like it may have been caused by insulation stripping from the solid core boosters (the twin boosters that sit either side of the main tank and the shuttle itself) and hitting the underside of the left wing. This, in turn, probably led to some stripping of the insulation tiles that line the shuttle's body and which protect the aluminium sub-frame from the tremendous stresses of re-entry (typically +3000 degrees at the leading edge of the wing). There's not much else to say except that it seems like we forget just how dangerous spaceflight is and it takes a disaster roughly every 20 years for us to forget and need a reminder (Apollo 1 caught fire on the pad Jan 27 '67, the Challenger disaster was Jan 28, 1986, Columbia was destroyed Feb 1, 2003).

"Sometimes, in reaching for the stars tho we may fall to the ground, we must continue to reach for the heavens, as the souls of those who went before us will hold our hands, lest we stumble again" - Bozz, 2003

Well its been a strange week. Obviously the highlight was the Bucs taking the Raiderettes apart piece by wondeful piece. It's so strange, after all these years of never quite been good enough, never quite having enough offense, never quite getting the defense to synch at the right time, to be in the position of winning it all. It was a great day, and although I wasn't in San Diego, it was great to spend the day with (most) of the people who were there when I started this journey seven years ago. Its taken me a week to write this, and even as I type the words I realize how flat it must sound, how divorced I must sound from it all. I guess I feel a little ... anti-climatic! I remember talking with Phil (my best friend - next to Heather -, my best man and the man who made me a Bucs fan all those years ago). We both felt that we had had our Superbowl the week before when we had beat the Eagles - at the Vet, below 40, against McNabb, in the playoffs, all the things we weren't supposed to be able to do. And yet we did it and going into the big game, both Phil and I knew that we would win. I don't mean know in the usual sense of the word when applied to rabid fans who believe that their beloved team of humans are somehow supernaturally brilliant, but knew in the sense that it felt after beating the Eagles against all odds, it was pre-ordained that we would win. And win we did, in fine style.

It was strange how much it felt like the Eagles game - crappy start to come back with early success, slow loss of momentum, bad (horrible) special teams play, especially on punting, that leads to the other side making gains in the 3rd, defense takes them apart, we win. And we sat and we screamed and we drank champagne and we won and we felt ......... human. Very human.