Generally, watching TV can be safely considered a waste of time, right? I guess you can learn something (of value) from PBS, and maybe Meet the Press and the rest of the Sunday morning circuit can get you some current events, and perhaps Planet Earth (though I've never seen it - I've heard watching the grass grow is "amazing") is valuable for the perspective it gives you on the natural world, and 30-Minute Meals helps you eat healthy on a tight schedule. So I guess this handful of programs could be an exception.

This past weekend (wow! three days ago), I've decided I've officially found another exception: Federer v. Nadal, anywhere. It's the only tennis I ever watch, and it's pure artistry. Awesome. I think it makes me a better person.

I had planned to get to the grocery store by 8 a.m. Sunday morning (taping MTP), returning home in time for the 9 a.m. start to coverage. Sadly, a bit of Saturday drinking left me unable to hit that early goal, and I, instead, got out of the house by 8:40, returning at 9:50...at 4-4 in the first-set tiebreak. And from then on out, it was just fantastic.

In 2006, Federer was clearly better than Nadal. Nadal fought and fought and fought, and you sensed that, whenever he won a point, it took maximum effort. It's exactly the opposite on clay, when Nadal has the mental edge (and the fantastically creepy sneer), and Federer isn't fit enough to hang.

Well, it changed this year. Nadal was his equal. And we got a five-set masterpiece that, sadly, was basically ignored because none of the combatants were American, and none of them have been American for five years. Also, because it's tennis.

(Also, I should note that I happened upon the women's final on Saturday morning. Venus was absolutely dominant - the 18-year-old Frenchwoman Marion (sp?) Bartoli had no chance all match - she labored for every point. But she was so incredibly gracious and eloquent and awesome in her post-match live interview. In her second language. There's no clip at YouTube yet, but it was just cool. She thanked her dad, also her coach, and did it like she meant it. She was asked about beating numbers one and three in the world en route to the final, and she quickly responded, "On grass, Venus is the number one player in the world." It was classy and fantastic. Sadly, she's not particularly hot and probably has hairy armpits.)

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I'll continue writing about sports.

Offseason. I wrote about how I was excited about the Bulls drafting Joakim Noah. I'm quite happy they resigned Nocioni. It seems like they'll be able to keep Gordon and Deng around as well and, if they do that, Paxson's some sort of genius. (First for drafting them, then for keeping.)

Flax asked about Pax wanting to win 71-70 games - after all, there's not a post scorer on the team. (Certainly, not a post scorer at the level of, say, Bill Cartwright, Luc Longley, Dennis Rodman, or jumpshooters Bill Wennington and Horace Grant. This is by no means a comparison of anybody on the Bulls to, say, Jordan or, for that matter, Pippen.)

In what limited NBA I watch, I kind of get the sense that we're going away from the great post scorer. The game's speeding up (becoming eminently more watchable), the players are getting smaller, and the big players are getting more perimeter-oriented. "Garnett-types" aren't the exception anymore.

The best story in the playoffs was the run of the Warriors. Biedrins was basically planted on the bench. Matt freakin' Barnes was a star because of his tats and his hustle. The Raptors are the up-and-coming team in the East (the Bulls have, to an extent arrived). Too-skinny to be a power forward Chris Bosh is basically their center, and that seven-foot Italian named Andrea is their jump-shooting power forward. Phoenix essentially starts two players (Stoudamire at the 5, Marion at the 4) one spot above where they should be, plays Boris Diaw, drafted as a lanky point guard possibility, at the center spot, and plays a 5-11 jump-shooting sixth man.

The Bulls, friends, are ahead of the curve. Or on the curve. More ahead of the curve than most. Spencer Hawes, dudes, would've slowed it down.

I expect the Bulls to run, and run a lot, next year. I think they can average 100 points a game, even with Skiles' commitment to defending. He's not averse to running, you know, and you know Tyrus can run.

I'd imagine they're imagining a rotation like this:
PG: Hinrich
SG: Gordon
SF: Deng
PF: Nocioni
C: Wallace

Off the bench, you've got Sefolosha, who is 6-7 and can play 1 through 3, Thomas, who can play the 3 through 5, and can jump out of the gym. I think they like Curry (JamesOn, not Eddy) a lot. I think they'll get Joe Smith as an undersized five who can move or, perhaps, Mikki Moore as their fifth pure energy guy (joining Thomas, Deng, Nocioni, and Noah). Oh, to have kept Tyson. Oh, to have kept Tyson.

I like them because they'll all try hard. I like them because there's so much versatility. I like them because they emulate their coach, except they aren't as odd-looking. Well, except for Noah. (He tries. And he's versatile. And he emulates. But he's also odd-looking.)

That's not to say that I'll watch them before the playoffs next year, but I'll be excited that they're Chicago's NBA representative.

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Gurs told me Tuesday night that he was embarrassed by my recent post about his visit. Or maybe it just made him uncomfortable. In looking at it again, I've written stuff way more gay than that here, so I don't know what he's complaining about.

Chug it.

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Gurs also brought me a CD. I don't know what's on it. But he told me that he operates on the "16 tracks, One Pavement, One GbV" policy when he creates a CD. I think this is a pretty nice policy.

I've chosen to adopt the policy, and I used it last night. A Pitchfork Music Fest-bound friend, though it's not a Pitchfork Music Fest-centric CD (though, you see, "Chicago" by Sufjan is the centerpiece, appropriately). This friend likes The Hold Steady. And The Streets. That's a pretty good start. I also threw a few epics on their, so it exceeds an hour in length, which is longer than I planned. But, again, these are epics we're talking about.

1) Islands - "Swans (Life After Death)"
2) Guided by Voices - "Official Ironman Rally Song"
3) The Strokes - "12:51"
4) The Magnetic Fields - "A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off"
5) R.E.M. - "Man On The Moon"
6) The Hold Steady - "Most People Are DJs"
7) The Mountain Goats - "The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton"
8) Sufjan Stevens - "Chicago"
9) The Streets - "Fit But You Know It"
10) The Shins - "Turn On You"
11) The Walkmen - "We've Been Had"
12) Belle & Sebastian - "Mayfly"
13) Yo La Tengo - "Sugarcube"
14) The Arcade Fire - "No Cars Go"
15) Pavement - "Give It A Day"
16) Weezer - "Only In Dreams"

The Weeze song is kind of a downer, but it's maybe my favorite album closer ever. So it works.

I've decided I want to rank my 1,000 favorite songs. I'm hoping this decision is fleeting, because that would be a total waste of time.

I think Wilco or GbV would be most-represented, based on depth of catalog and my fandom of the band. If I were to actually rank 1,000 songs, Robert Pollard's "Good Luck, Sailor" probably wouldn't make it. And that would hurt, a lot.

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I'm also Chicago-bound, though not for Pitchfork. I get to hang with my sister less than a month before she leaves us forever. Or, at least, a year or so. I think it'll be pretty awesome. (I'm writing at midnight. In 24 hours, I'll be home. In 40 hours, I'll be running through the fountain at Millennium Park. In 47 hours, I'll be eating Margie's Candies. Jenny likes Margie's Candy's quite a bit, I seem to recall reading. Perhaps we'll take photographs.)

Last Tuesday, I got this fantastic string of four rambling messages from my sister and her former roomie and her current roomie. They were hanging with The Boy. Grapes were flying everywhere, and winding up in his mouth. The four messages were about the coolest thing ever. I was sad to have missed it.

I'm excited to be not missing this weekend. Quite, quite excited.

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I'm kind of out of things on this here uneventful blog.

However, I should list new things that I've prepared on the grill:

Fajitas, fantastic fantastic chicken fajitas, on Monday night. I used my makeshift fajita marinade of some Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, ground red pepper, a bit of garlic, and cumin. I put the marinaded onions and peppers in foil and left them on the grill about 25 minutes. The chicken got about four minutes per side, and it was beautiful and grill mark-y. Add the pinto beans, rice, and salsa, and it was a near-perfect dinner (and two days' worth of lunch!). (Grade: A)

On Sunday night, I did a crusted whitefish. Whitefish, skin on. Dijon mustard and bread crumbs on the non-skin side. I cooked, only on the skin side, for about 15 minutes. I wish I had sprayed the skin a bit, because it was tough to remove from the grill, but it was pretty good. (Presentation: C. Taste: B+)

Twice, I've done thin-sliced carrots. Some balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Once, I've done zucchini. Same spices.

Tonight, I did sweet potatoes and a burger. I thin-sliced the potatoes - first, the entire potato in half, then slices no more than a centimeter thick or so. Long, thin, fry-like slices. Some olive oil, some sea salt, some rosemary. About eight minutes per side, on high, and then I let them sit for about eight minutes. So, so, so good.

The lesson here: I'm awesome, and you should own a grill.

Next up: I'm not sure.

I've done: (Cheap) steaks, burgers, chicken breasts, chicken tenders, bone-in quarter chicken (barbecued, and awesome), pork chops, hot dogs (well, turkey dogs), whitefish, salmon steaks, tuna steaks, zucchini, carrots, onion, sweet potato, red potato, corn on the cob, peppers (but only in foil), and perhaps that's it.

I'd like your ideas. Tilapia might be next, though I think it might be too flimsy, and I might benefit from pan-searing, as I usually do. Lamb's coming up, but I only buy that when it's ultra on-sale, which is to say, almost spolied, and needs to be prepared that night. It's a crapshoot.

Maybe I'll do French toast. Is French toast doable? Would it be noticeably better than on the pan?

Also, my grill is pretty filthy, already. But it's filthy out of love.

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I'm going to go watch Flight of the Conchords on-demand. It's not great, but it's pretty good. I think you should give it a shot, especially if you have HBO on-demand.

Also, Spoon is about to play on Letterman. Their new record is pretty good, though it ranks behind The Arcade Fire, The White Stripes, and Bloc Party this year. I'm so faux-hip it's ridiculous.

I have no edge, dudes.