Nothing says Colts football like...

...motor oil and fuel stabilizers? Lucas Oil has apparently bought the naming rights to the new Indianapolis Colts Stadium. They make fuel and oil additives and are based out of California. They have a history of sponsoring auto racing and are apparently the official Oil Products Supplier for the Indianapolis Colts. Whatever that means. According to the Indianapolis Star, the domain names www.lucasoilstadium.com and www.lucasstadium.com were registered Monday. Lucas Oil Stadium doesn't quite roll off the tongue. Let's hope they don't want to put a big oil can on the stadium like the ketchup bottle at Heinz Field.

Get The Roach Family Blog in Chinese!

For our international readers, you can now get instant translations of the Roach Family Blog through Altavista Babelfish translator. You can get translations to Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, French or Italian. Not that it'll ever be used, but just in case.

If you're curious, the Babelfish name comes from Douglas Adams' Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy book series. From Wikipedia, "When a Babel fish is inserted into the ear canal it allows the wearer to 'instantly understand anything said... in any form of language.'"

The babelfish itself is a reference to the biblical Tower of Babel, which was destroyed by God and the languages of the nations were confused and scattered to different parts of the Earth.

Mmmmmm....buffalo.....

BW-3 has four new suaces. Yum. Maybe I'll try one on my birthday, hint, hint, hint. The new ones are Parmesan Garlic, Honey BBQ, Asian Zing, and Mango Habanero.

New Golden Smog

Billboard announced yesturday that Lost Highway will release a new Golden Smog CD on July 18th. If you've never heard "The Smog", they're a kind of "alt-country" supergroup comprised of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Soul Asylum's Dan Murphy, Big Star's Jody Stephens and the Jayhawks' Gary Louris, Marc Perlman and Kraig Johnson. This is their third full length album. No word yet on any tour plans.

Of birds and briars

OK, sometimes I hate my job and sometimes I love it. Today was a good day. I've been working on a proposed medical park on 190 acres is the southwestern part of Bloomington. Almost 100 acres of the 190 is wooded. I got to spend most of the afternoon traipsing through the woods. The worst part was the Multiflora Rose, a thorny invasive species that has become the bane of my existence. The highlight of the trip though were birds. Yes, birds. Now, I'm not a bird watcher by any stretch of the imagination, but today I saw a gaggle of five Wild turkey and a pair of Eastern Bluebirds. I had never seen either of these before. Both of these species have made a comeback in recent years. Made me wish I had my camera. Doh!

New poll!

There's a new poll on the Roach Family Blog. Tell us, are you sick of only hearing from me? Would you like to read some posts from Cathy? Let your opinion be heard!

The results of our last poll are in. 29% of respondents feel like Parker should be called "Master P." Hummmm. I wasn't expecting that. Good thing this isn't a legally binding vote! We'll probably keep using our pet names for him until he's old enough to be embarrassed by them!

Parker's latest trick

Bring on the ribs!, Originally uploaded by jcroach.

Mmmmmmmm....cereal, Originally uploaded by jcroach.

Parker started eating real food last week! Just in time for his 5 month birthday today. He's just eating rice ceral now. Next week we're taking him to the BBQ joint for some ribs.

They Might Be Giants ringtones

They Might Be Giants have a couple of funny cell phone ringtone available for purchase on their web site. The best is "Call Connected Thru The NSA". Call connected through the NSA, Complete transmission through the NSA, Suspending your rights for the duration of the permanent war.

Jeff Tweedy and Loose Fur get "Born Again"

Loose Fur has a new album, Born Again in the USA, scheduled for release on March 21st. Loose Fur is the sometimes side project of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and Glenn Kotche with one time member of Sonic Youth and frequent Wilco collaborator Jim O'Rourke. From what I've heard of it, this album will be much more melodic and listenable than their first release.

$14 Steadycam

Check this out. This guy from Carnegie Mellon University has built what looks like a plausible $14 Steadycam. I need to build one of these before Parker is walking!