Le Wife and I have tickets to some Portland Trail Blazer games this year. Last night was the first one we attended this season. It just so happened to be an opportunity to keep the streak going and make it ten wins in a row.

As a gesture of respect, I dropped Le Wife (who is now 21 months weeks pregnant) off right in front of the stadium and I parked the car. That was harder than I anticipated. I guess thousands of people congregating on a single place do tend to make traffic and parking more difficult.

Word to the wise — parking in the under the Oregon Convention Center for $6 and walking 200 yards north is very handy. Its deceptively close; walking under I–5 makes it seem farther than it really is. Plus, this lot wasn't crowded 20 minutes before tip off. I might think twice about parking there in a pouring rain, but it was a pleasant walk for me; a nice brisk evening.

The game went right down to the wire with neither team making it farther than 8 points ahead (if they did, it wasn't for very long). In the end, our guys managed to hold off Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony to make it ten wins in a row. The packed stadium was booming, I'm looking forward to the next game!

At one point the crowd started cheering really loud — just before the end of half time. Up on the big screen above center court was a live shot of Greg Oden sitting behind the Blazers' bench in a sport jacket and white button up shirt. He didn't see the camera and looked around quickly to see the cause of the cheers. Then he looked up at the screen above center court and realized what was going on. He grinned wide and looked down at the ground in the biggest "aw-shucks" moment I've seen in quite a while. Portland is going to love seeing this guy on the court next year!

And perhaps the biggest boon of the game — bobble-head night! I am now the proud owner of a Sergio Rodriguez bobble-head doll. There's a bright warning on the side of the packaging:

WARNING: Contents in box may make a no-look, behind-the-back pass without warning.

LINQ is an acronym for Language-Integrated Query and a new feature in v3.5 of the .Net Framework from Microsoft. This new version of Microsoft .Net reached RTM status a couple of weeks ago — this framework is chock full of brilliant things I can use to improve my efficiency and effectiveness on daily tasks here at Pop Art.

As one of my favorite features, LINQ helps me write data-driven application even faster than what .Net 2.0 brought to the table. A common example starts with launching Visual Studio 2008. After dragging a collection of tables from a SQL Server database onto a surface in my solution, I can see a visualization of the columns in the tables as well as the relationships between them. Click the following thumbnail to see a larger image.

Next, I start writing data access code directly in my C# program as opposed to switching languages and writing in the T-SQL language. Visual Studio gives me Intellisense here too; as I type the name of a table and click the period key, all of the columns in the table appear where the cursor is located. Big time saver. Huge! I'm certain that I didn't misspell a column name and that my code will compile.

The syntax for LINQ in a C# program is very similar to the T-SQL language, which is a "set based" language. LINQ statements are compiled, just like the rest of my C# code. The first thing someone well versed in T-SQL will notice is that the columns normally specified in a SELECT query are at the end of the LINQ statement instead of the start as in T-SQL. The idea is that you're articulating your constraints at the start of the LINQ statement and then pulling out the fields you need at the very end.

Behind the scenes, LINQ is using the relationships expressed in the database to generate T-SQL scripts on the fly. This is a clear line of demarcation for LINQ. If you're using stored procedures exclusively for database access, then LINQ isn't going to buy you much. You'll still get Intellisense inside Visual Studio and you can specify an existing stored procedure instead of using the auto-generated SQL, but you're giving up a lot of acceleration tools. Perhaps more than you're getting in return.

LINQ really shines in multiple table joins and aggregation. The following two blocks of code show a query is performed in LINQ and its equivalent T-SQL script. The query retrieves product information from three tables where the list price is below a given amount and a sub-category name exists. If you go the T-SQL route, you will still need to write some C# code to call your database query.

Which of the following versions would you rather author and support?

LINQ Version

T-SQL Version

MSDN is a great online resource for developers and they really hit a home-run here. They have a page with 101 LINQ samples. This is my preferred way to learn when I already know the surrounding technologies and I want to fill in a specific gap. The page categorizes several ways of retrieving and iterating over information.

I think you're a good person, but I can't be with you. I have to break up. Sure 2007 was a fun year, galloping around the estate with that thick scent of delicious coffee in our hair and eager for the new dawn of a dark roast. We had some good times. The Techni Vorm label made me feel European too and I tried to embrace it, I really did. Its not you, its me.

It wasn't easy with your friend, Virtuoso, the coffee grinder. He never made it simple for us. I don't think he ever really accepted me. What was up with that static electricity? It let forth a brilliant shower of charged coffee grounds after each use. I'm mean really, how can he expect to keep someone around? Sure his sleek exterior and large bean reservoir would make anyone grin, but I've got to think of myself sometimes, I have to ask, what's in this for me? It was just too much of a mess to clean up after every grinding session.

Mocha Master, why did you start spilling over? At first, I was willing to blame it on the other people you saw. There were several accounts sent around on how to properly make coffee. But time and time again, you spilled when no one was looking. The final straw was when you spilled yesterday for me. It was me Mocha Master! I was here all alone with you and yet you forsake me. How could you do it? You know the level of coffee grounds in there was well within the accepted norms. Somehow you clogged up and spilled over the counter just like all of the times before. I have to give you up.

Hello Mr. Coffee, its been a while. I know I've been a bad friend and traipsing all over the coffee producing regions of the globe with my European friend, but its over, I swear.

I see you've gotten some new buttons and they look great, all shiny and in different colors. I've even started using a carafe so you don't need to worry about burning the coffee and ruining the flavor.

Oh, and hello little grinder! How have you been? I sure do miss you. Sure, you're from Starbucks, but that's ok. You're a good little guy and you don't have any static electricity. We love large machines and small machines alike. Sometimes you're abused and blamed for a mess, but its far and few between and I know you mean well. You can't fight gravity! Plus, you can grind your beans in 10 seconds flat. I'm going to enjoy seeing you around.

Mr. Coffee, I want you to know that I'm ready to get down to work and you won't have to worry about any more whimsical adventures from me. We have a simple agreement in place; you make coffee and I'll drink it. We don't need any drama in our lives around this matter and neither of us wants a high maintenance relationship. I'm glad you were willing to come back. I love you Mr. Coffee.