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Well, we're not really on the left coast any more, but I wanted to close out this series (at least before enhancing the original entries) by talking about the place we stayed while out there.

We had the priviledge of staying at the Smuggler's Cove Roost, a very nice cottage in Greenbank, WA on Whidbey Island. The owners, Dick and Dee Fulcher, were excellent hosts and our stay exceeded our expectations. Not only did we have a quiet place to stay each evening, but we had a great view of the Puget Sound as well! The Roost was well-furnished with furniture, pots, pans, utensils, and even DirecTV. The Fulchers stocked the kitchen with a variety of breakfast foods, including fresh orange juice and literally farm-fresh eggs from their henhouse! (Ryan loved the rooster!) Each day our hosts replenished the kitchen, put away our washed dishes, and gave us fresh towels. Their service was great.

We were away from the cottage quite a bit, but did get a few chances to converse with the Fulchers and meet their friendly dog, Sedona. They are very pleasant people providing an excellent lodging experience in a beautiful location. If you're considering visiting the Seattle area, I definitely recommend a stay at Smuggler's Cove B&B.

Floyd Landis 'B' test is positive

Tour de France champion Floyd Landis' backup urine sample confirmed high levels of testosterone, cycling's governing body said Saturday, raising the prospect that he could lose his title.

Following the results of the "B" sample, Landis was fired by his Swiss team, Phonak. He also faces a two-year ban from USA Cycling, which is responsible for sanctions against the American rider.

I'm certainly no expert, but I find it hard to believe that these positive tests prove Landis is guilty of doping for the following reasons:

• The tests have been alleged to show a high ratio between two naturally-occuring substances (testosterone and epitestosterone), but not the presence of foreign substances.
• Several other tests were performed on Landis' samples during the Tour (he says eight times) and presumably none of them were positive.
• In eight years of professional riding, Landis has never failed a drug test.
• Why would one dope and then perform at such a blistering pace as he did on Stage 17, knowing the attention that would draw?

Perhaps I'm just naive; what do you think?

Update: Floyd has detailed comments asserting facts about the tests that don't appear to have made the mainstream press (yet). He alleges that his epitestosterone levels were low, and that caused the imbalance. That's a lot different than the assertions that he took synthetic testosterone to boost his levels.

Update 2: Boy, the media seem eager to villify Landis without even attempting to obtain more substantive information about the tests. It's so depressing I don't even want to link to the stories I'm seeing.

I've had the opportunity to power-watch assorted preseason games thanks to the DVR and the NFL Network's re-transmissions. I caught some of the beginning of the Bills-Panthers preseason game and it showed two things: the Panthers look great and the Bills stink. I really hope they're going to put a team on the field in week one that performs better than the one that played in the first quarter this week.

BDFL: BD Podcast: 2006 Preseason 1:

This is our second 2006-season Brutal Deluxe football podcast. Scott and I review the first full week of NFL preseason games. Some rookies made an impact, and some veterans looked good as well. Listen to see what we think. Also, Scott makes his yearly case for overlooked players who should be in the Hall Of Fame.

Melissa and I are still greatly enjoying Rock Star: Supernova. The band chose last week to do the now-standard "double-boot" week, getting rid of two contestants, Josh and Jill. I enjoyed Josh's performances, but his style and delivery were too clean for Supernova. I enjoyed a few of Jill's performances, especially Heart's "Alone", but her occasional yell-singing and tendency to copy original artists' visual performances (most notably Courtney Love and Tracy Bonham) didn't appeal to me.

This week's "unplugged" performances (three of which used electric guitars - shame!) really separated the final eight for me into the final four and those who won't make it. The final four of Rock Star: Supernova will be:

• Dilana
• Lukas
• Magni
• Storm

I'm half-tempted to pick Zayra instead of Storm, but I have to think that after performing her Latin-feel original song last night the band has to know what they're getting with her. I thought the performance was great and showed the type of music she's most comfortable with & sounds best singing. I don't think she would sound good as Supernova's lead singer.

As to a final two prediction, let's say Dilana and Lukas.

Melissa and I took the day off together today. Once we got Ryan to camp and my car dropped off for maintenance (and a successful diagnosis/recharge of its A/C) we headed down to the shop in Lancaster where Melissa purchases her bulk oils for Manolas. I don't get down to the Lancaster area very often, and I'd never been to downtown Lancaster. Since we'd planned nothing but the oil-shopping trip, we headed over there.

Downtown Lancaster was informative to tourists without being overly gaudy. After getting our bearings, we found a lot to park at (Queen and Chestnut) and headed to the center of town. We thought the Central Market was great; certainly the place I'd go to buy fresh food if I lived in the area. We also checked out the Cultural History Museum, which had a number of artifacts of the area from the past 150 years. It also shared info about Pennsylvania's German settlers, which includes the Amish and the Mennonites. We had lunch over at the Lancaster Dispensing Company; I had the chicken corn noodle soup and tacos and Melissa had the turkey/bacon/cheese croissant. All the food was tasty and relatively cheap.

We explored a number of shops, especially taking notice of all the PA-based handcrafted soaps. There's a lot of people doing that. There was also a good amount of handcrafted wood products and artwork. In just our few gorgeous morning/afternoon hours there, Lancaster seemed like a nice, quiet place to live and work.

On Saturday, we went out for the first time to Little Buffalo State Park to have a picnic lunch and swim at the pool we'd heard good things about. The pool was great for kids. There is a large spray area, zero-depth entry, and it never gets deeper than 5 feet. There are two waterslides in the deep end. The water was a little chilly for the time we were there, but once we got used to it, it was fine. About 10 minutes after we got out and changed, it started sprinkling. Our time there ended with a bit of time in the nearby playground. We're definitely going to be visiting that park more next summer.

On Sunday I rode 50km with my mom in Lancaster Bike Club's Covered Bridge ride. I hadn't been riding enough to attempt the full 100km, but my dad and his friend Jack did that ride. It was fun to ride with my mom; something we hadn't done together in years. The more relaxed pace was well-suited for all the gorgeous scenery we got to soak in: farms, fields, and, of course, bridges! Being in Lancaster county with a few thousand cyclists, friends of Floyd Landis were there showing their support. Yellow Floyd "TDF Champ" t-shirts were available for a donation to Floyd's favorite charity (which I didn't get the name of). It was a well-organized ride, but after Bike Virginia and the Tour de Cure I wasn't expecting water-only rest stops. Good thing I brought some goodies with me. ;)

When we heard Cingular was going to impose what amounts to an "old technology" tax on TDMA and analog customers, Melissa and I decided to find different plans. We both ended up staying with Cingular. I got a work-sponsored GSM phone and Melissa got one of the GoPhones, also GSM. We've both noticed that call quality is not superior to the TDMA service we gave up. We've heard the same thing from others who have done the same thing. Has anyone else out there experienced the same thing after switching? After hearing all the GSM hype, I'm underwhelmed. It's nice to have a new, smaller phone, but what's the point if the network isn't better at handling voice calls?

BDFL: BD Podcast: 2006 Preseason 2:

This is our third 2006-season Brutal Deluxe football podcast. Scott and I review this week's NFL preseason games. We continue to size up the fantasy landscape and look forward to this Friday's BDFL Draft!

Dream Theater - Score: 20th Anniversary World Tour Live with the Octavarium Orchestra

by Rhino / Wea

I recorded VH1 Classic's condensed broadcast of Dream Theater's upcoming Score DVD (it hits retail this coming Tuesday) and what I saw looked and sounded great. It's a recording of the show that Don and I both attended last April, and it'll be a while before the uniqueness and power of that show leaves my memory. What a fun experience. I pre-ordered Score a while ago and will be watching the mail closely this week for its arrival!

Thanks to Scott for hosting yet a another fun draft last night. His new basement handled the four of us in attendance quite well, and we even got to check out the Steelers-Eagles preseason game! I didn't have enough time to set up an audio recording of the draft this year, but with only half of us owners available by voice (two were on our Skype call), it wouldn't have represented the whole league anyways.

My team's draft was good; my strategy was to pick based on our league's unique scoring, which last year featured lots of defense/special teams units in the top 100. So my first pick was the Chicago Bears' D/ST. After that I addressed RB, WR, TE, and K positions to fill out the skeleton, got a heck of a steal as my second QB, and got a good variety of players to fill out my team:

• QB MCNABB,DONOVAN PHI (keeper)
• QB WARNER,KURT ARI
• RB DILLON,COREY NE (keeper)
• RB DUCKETT,T.J. WAS
• RB JONES,KEVIN DET
• RB LEWIS,JAMAL BAL
• WR GALLOWAY,JOEY TB
• WR GIVENS,DAVID TEN
• WR JOHNSON,KEYSHAWN CAR
• WR MOSS,SANTANA WAS
• TE MILLER,HEATH PIT
• PK GRAHAM,SHAYNE CIN
• DEF CHICAGO CHI
• DEF DENVER DEN

Our complete draft is posted here.

Three words: go see Invincible. Melissa had the great idea to go see this movie that I'd just heard about and it was great. It tells the story of Vince Papale, a Philadelphia Eagles fan who was convinced to try out for the team when new coach Dick Vermeil held open tryouts in the preseason of 1976. Before the movie, I'd never heard of Papale's story, so it really interested me. If his Wikipedia entry is correct, the lead-up to his being picked up by the Ealges was embellished in the film. I'd like to know how much of the movie was "inspired" and how much is the true story.

Regardless of its accuracy, the film was well-made and clean; it's rated PG and Ryan went with us. I had no idea the NFL had six preseason games back then; today's 4-5 games seem like a long preseason. I thought the acting was great and the football looked real. It's definitely not a football movie that requires you to know the game all that well, and there's not that much gameplay until the end of the film. The story was entertaining and it was a treat to watch. Highly recommended.

BDFL: BD Podcast: 2006 Preseason 3:

This is our fourth 2006-season Brutal Deluxe football podcast. Scott and I review this week's NFL preseason games and last Friday's BDFL Draft. I talk about the new football-related movie Invincible. And we both are ready for the season to begin.

I've averaged just shy of 250 entries per year to reach this point: happy to be a small cog in a large blogosphere.