Thursday, May 28, 2009

Overnight Music

Been a long time since I have done one of this. So here ya go...

The Henry Clay People - Something In The Water

I Predict Things

I typically avoid all things Cleveland. I'm a Steeler fan for one thing so nearly everything Cleveland usually results in a gag reflex for. However, I like the Cavaliers. I'm not entirely sure when it happened, but I remember watching a lot of Brad Daugherty as a kid. Anywho....I think the series is lost for the Cavs. However, I think we will see a Cavs victory tonight.

Current Prediction Record - 7-5

Dear Conservatives,

Wanna know why we think you are stupid? Cause you are.

Sotomayor also claimed: “For me, a very special part of my being Latina is the mucho platos de arroz, gandoles y pernir — rice, beans and pork — that I have eaten at countless family holidays and special events.”

This has prompted some Republicans to muse privately about whether Sotomayor is suggesting that distinctive Puerto Rican cuisine such as patitas de cerdo con garbanzo — pigs’ feet with chickpeas — would somehow, in some small way influence her verdicts from the bench.
Signed,
me

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

All My Shows Get Cancelled

A nice list of the shows getting dumped and renewed.

There are a couple of real bummers for me on this list. I'm going to miss both The Unit and Flashpoint. I think the mistake The Unit made was two seasons ago when it focused so heavily on the marriage/cheating of that one couple. I can't remember their name which kinda proves my point. People who liked watching The Unit weren't watching it for relationship drama, but nearly the entire season was based solely on that. If you want relationship drama, Grey's is on Thursdays.

Dunno why Flashpoint didn't work, but unless I move to Canada I won't be watching that anymore either. My guess is that sticking it on Friday didn't help. I would love for somebody to explain how Scrubs can get renewed, but Flashpoint is likely to go Canada only.

Smart Law Person Needed

Could somebody explain to me the court ruling on Prop 8 in California? The 18,000 people that got married prior to Prop 8 are still legally married, those who want to now can fuck off to Iowa? Shouldn't it be all or nothing?

I wonder what odds Vegas would have given a couple of years ago that Iowa would allow gay marriage before California.

MIA

Been out working on a project that I will be letting the rest of you (all three of you) in on in the future, but for now I am back to my irregular blogging.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Overnight Music

Been slacking on this, but I found out last night that Dinosaur Jr. isn't dead and are still putting out decent music. So here ya go.

Dinosaur Jr. - I Want You To Know

NFL Wish List

Referring to yourself in the third person gets you fined by the league.
"I've got a lot to prove," Bryant said. "Last year was for the haters ... this year is for the doubters. When you have a year like that, you're going to get more attention. This year, it might not be about me getting the ball. If that means Antonio has to run 89 comebacks and that'll get us in the playoffs, then I'll run 89 comebacks."
Bryant probably deserves a suspension as well considering that he drifted in and out of referring to himself in the third person.

What He Said

TPM

If we need to keep evidence of torture, like photographs, secret, to protect our troops, doesn't that suggest that torture isn't a great way to keep them or us safe?

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Awesome

Awkward family photo blog.

One of my favorites.

Deep Thought

You sound like a giant pussy when you complain about Wanda Sykes being a big meanie.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Riddle

What do Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, actor Nick Nolte and Senator John Kerry have in common?







They're all at the Capitals/Penguins game in Pittsburgh.... Now if you can answer why, you win the imaginary bonus prize. Tomlin I get. For what it's worth, Nolte looked better than Kerry.

I Love America

US Pole Dancing Championship.

Making Cheney Look Classy

I didn't think it could be done, but Specter seems to be making a run at it.
He's touting--and raising money from--a website called specterforthecure.com, which he describes as "a bold new initiative to reform our government's medical research efforts, cut red tape and unstrangle the hope for accelerated cures."

But the money he's raising isn't funding research grants, or advocacy, or treatment for patients who can't afford it. It's funding the Senate re-election campaign of one Arlen Specter.

I said getting him to join the party was stupid.

Rebranding

The GOP is the midst of rebranding. The problem is the rebranding looks a lot like the old brand.

A Democrat, making the familiar point that the most prominent Republican faces aren't the new ones, sends over the bookings on the Sunday shows:

This Week: John McCain

Fox News Sunday: Newt Gingrich

Face The Nation: Dick Cheney


Hehe.
DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan:
1996 called. They want their GOP Sunday show lineup back.



Very Special Condiment


Sean Hannity is a very special journalist.

Now, the Gateway Pundit blog pointed out that plain old ketchup, well, it didn't quite cut it for the president. Now take a look at him ordering his burger with a very special condiment. ... Dijon mustard?

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Elizabeth and John

I used to have a good deal of respect for both Elizabeth and John Edwards. The key phrase there is 'used to'. While I still respect them and admire the work they have done, they pissed away a lot of that respect.
Edwards denied the affair, but Scher and other loyalists from his 2004 campaign doubted his word, made excuses, and stayed out of the 2008 presidential race when Edwards launched his campaign after Christmas.

A few days later, Edwards made a partial confession to his wife Elizabeth, of a single, regrettable encounter with Hunter. Like Scher, she asked him to drop his bid, to “protect our family from this woman, from his act,” she writes in her book.

But Edwards went ahead with the campaign — and Elizabeth Edwards put her reluctance aside to drive his campaign forward.


You don't run for president with an unexposed affair hanging out in the background. Had John Edwards won the nomination and then his affair was exposed, John McCain is our president and much of what John and Elizabeth believe in is immediately put on the back burner if not back in the refrigerator for four to eight years. They risked that because they wanted John to be president.

I want to be clear that I could give a shit about a candidate having an affair. I don't like it, but it really isn't any of my business. I could also give a shit about a candidate using drugs, what church they do or don't go to and a whole host of other issues that are nothing more than low hanging fruit for stupid chatter. The problem is that the vast majority of voters do care about such things. John and Elizabeth knew this and ran anyway.

Pretty Cool

The Dust Jacket Project.
Dust Jacket is a record by Joel P West that is currently available by trading something you have made, and this gallery is an anonymous collection of everything that has been exchanged.

Dear Brett Favre,

Just go away already.

Sincerely,
Me

On a more serious note....

A number of sportswriters like to portray Brett Favre as a brave gunslinger of a quarterback. I'm starting to think that the more acurate portrayal is somebody who just doesn't want to leave the spotlight.

Facts

1. Beauty pageant contests are good for two things. 1) Modeling of skimpy swimsuits. 2) Mockery. End of list.

2. Those influenced by the shallow thoughts of beauty pageant contestants are good for one thing. Mockery. End of list.

Fact submissions are welcome in the comment section or via email where they will be reviewed by the OATs board for truthiness. All decisions are final.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Maybe it's Ray Allen? More sensationalism

A few days ago, Celtics G Ray Allen was supposedly hotter than anyone, according to a goober on ESPN's Sportscenter. Tonight TNT color commentator Reggie Miller said this after a shot by Ray Allen in what was nearly a great comeback by the Celtics (down 28, cut it to four with 40 seconds remaining);

"You could not have shot that any better than Ray Allen just did."

The shot rimmed out.

This SCOTUS Crap Is Gonna Make My Head Explode

Example A
Jeffrey Rosen has an article for The New Republic that is being advertised as...
the first in a series of reports by TNR legal affairs editor Jeffrey Rosen about the strengths and weaknesses of the leading candidates on Barack Obama's Supreme Court shortlist.

To spare you the time reading the article the takeaway is that Sonia Sotomayor is stupid. To prove it, Rosen uses nothing but a bunch of unnamed sources. Hooray for journalism!

Rosen is sure to assure us that this isn't a case of people disliking Sotomayor.
...they're not motivated by sour grapes or by ideological disagreement--they'd like the most intellectually powerful and politically effective liberal justice possible.

I guess we just have to take Rosen's word for it since he doesn't really name who all the quotes are from. He also doesn't give any actual examples other than more unnamed sources saying Sotomayor is a stupid head. Of course, I feel pretty confident that anybody who grows up in the South Bronx and ends up going to Princeton probably does have an IQ problem.

The real kicker for me is this part.
I haven't read enough of Sotomayor's opinions to have a confident sense of them, nor have I talked to enough of Sotomayor's detractors and supporters, to get a fully balanced picture of her strengths.

One would think that when writing an article that is supposed to be 'about the strengths and weaknesses' of the leading candidates for the Supreme Court that Rosen could at least be bothered to do some work other than leaning on unnamed sources.

I would just like to add that an unnamed source told me that Rosen is a fucking hack journalist who makes Sotomayor look brilliant and he likes to kick puppies.

Why I Will Rent Wolverine

I like a good comic book adapted for film movie as much as the next guy. Ok, maybe not as much as the next guy because a lot of people went to see Wolverine this weekend. Yglesias sums up pretty well why Wolverine will go in my Netflix queue, but I won't be spending the 10 bucks it would take to see it at the movies.
Wolverine isn’t a character whose origins we’re curious about. Wolverine is a character whose origin is that he has no memories and we don’t know where he’s from other than that at some point he was mixed up with a shady covert ops program that bonded adamantium to his skeleton. That’s the origin. That’s the character.

City Of Thieves





As far as my reading goes it tends to be a mixed bag of things. I read a fair amount of David Baldacci and Michael Connelly, writers more known for their ability to tell a story than their skill as writers. I also read guys like Richard Russo, who I think at times lack the story telling ability, but makes up for it in their ability to write. The exception for Russo is Straight Man which is one of my favorite books. Of course I also read a fair amount of trash, zombie and end-of-the-world type books. Hey, somebody has to be ready now that we are all about to be overrun by Swine Flu regardless of what some random blogger might be preaching!

David Benioff's City Of Thieves is one of those rare finds that manages to be a good story told by a writer that really knows his craft. It is the story of two unlikely characters thrown together during the Nazis' siege of Leningrad sent on an unlikely mission to find a dozen eggs for a wedding. The story is based on his grandfather's experiences during the seige and should be on your reading list or you suck as a human being.

Why I Love The GOP

Stuff like this.
Republicans looking to recover from Bush-era defeats are turning to an unlikely source for advice: top aides to former President George W. Bush.

The Sky Is Falling - Oh wait, it's just the flu

Paging Y2K fanatics. Please put down your jugs of water and read this courtesy of Time Magazine.

One of the more telling sentences that likely many people glossed over: A pandemic doesn't mean that a new virus is unusually deadly, only that it spreads easily.

Hope you saved that bomb shelter receipt.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Janet Jackson's Titty

While I write a lot of poetry and attend a fair number of poetry readings, I have never been much of a fan of slam poetry. Too often, slam poetry becomes more about an over the top performance rather than about the poem itself or it morphs into a contest of who can be the most shocking. I have been to several poetry slams and enjoyed a good number of them, but I usually tend to walk away thinking.....'when are they are going to do the poetry part?.' Still, I have always enjoyed this.

A Western Zombie Flick?

Really? I'm a pretty big zombie fan, but if I see one zombie riding a horse I will burn something.

At least it has Megan Fox in it.

Mark Halperin Is Stupid

I stopped reading Mark Halperin's The Page a long time ago. Part of it had to do with The Page looking more like a well done myspace page rather than a new site. The big reason is that Mark Halperin is stupid. I give you this example as proof.

There have been 110 Supreme Court Justices. Of those 110 Justices, 106 of them have been white men. Mark Halperin is stupid.

A little perspective, please

Some Sportscenter guy last night: "There was no one hotter than Ray Allen in the first two periods."

How about this woman?

Joakim Noah on the Bulls 3OT win last night: "We were really close to death..."

How about this boy?