Not sure what's going on inside my head these days. My REM sleep has been producing some really strange stuff lately and last night was no exception. I was out at Holden Arboretum drinking beer yesterday and by the time I got home from Best Friend's house, I was able to finish watching boxing as the Tivo was rolling.

Then I have one of these dreams where people you haven't even thought of in a while get starring roles. And I did a lot of driving in this one, for some reason. Unusual, even for me. Maybe it's the full moon.

Then to cap it off, I stopped at Giant Eagle for a little bit and they were playing The Killers. "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier..." as I'm buying crackers. Then, while waiting forever to check out, the Flaming Lips come on! "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song"! Hey, even places that portray themselves as hip don't play that one. On second thought, maybe my dreams aren't that weird.

Meal of Links

"Smells like David Arquette". OK, I stole that, but LA County wants to test celebrity crap in Malibu.

Seven years have passed since Michael Apted's last documentary on his British subjects. It's time for "49 Up".

Did you see those two losers debating for the Missouri Senate seat on "Meet the Press"? Yikes. Anyhow, here's an explanation of how the R's are goofing up on the Foley scandal.

Not much to say about today's Browns game, although I thought Rich Gannon was unusually harsh on the play of Charlie Frye. He had only 3.7 yards per pass, but it wasn't all his fault. It was one of the oddest games in a while. Carolina was 0-11 on third down, the Browns 2-14. The Browns gave up (what else?) another 100-yard rusher. But they had the time of possession, but turned the ball over three times. The absolute worse call was in the third quarter when Lawrence Vickers (that guy again) attempted a halfback option on a 3rd-and-inches call from the Carolina 21. It fooled no one. On the reply, watch how far Julius Peppers is downfield. Again, it fooled no one. Amazingly bad. Browns lose, 20-12.

Exercise Yard

Crowded boxing night last night, as both HBO and Showtime had cards. Showtime had to navigate the embarrassment of Diego Corrales not making weight against Joel Casamayor. They also had Vic Darchinyan against Glenn Donaire in a flyweight match.

Lemme say this, Darchinyan is one bad-ass Armenian. This guy is really cocky and very entertaining, as he comes to fight every time. Donaire was clearly overmatched and went to the "My jaw is broken" card to bail on the fight in the sixth. There were claims of a phantom headbutt, but Darchinyan was mopping up the ring with Donaire and had just connected with a shot to the jaw. Instead of a TKO, it was strangely scored a technical decision. Talk of Darchinyan moving up to 126 would be welcomed, as he is cleaning up at 112. He wants to unify the titles, but the others are running.

The Corrales-Casamayor fight went on as planned, with Corrales stripped of the title. Casamayor, in a no-lose situation, grabs the title if he wins, but remains the number one contender if he loses. I wasn't too thrilled about this one. Corrales seemed lethargic, as he had starved himself earlier in the week. Casamayor delivered an intentional headbutt mid-fight, only to have Corrales follow with an intentional low blow in the next round. I thought the judging on Corrales was a bit harsh, as Casamayor won a split decision. Casamayor did just enough to win and the pre-fight circumstances resulted in a sub-par bout.

On to Chicago, as HBO had a good card on paper. Tomasz Adamek from Poland against the Aussie Paul Briggs in a rematch at light heavyweight. Crowd definitely in Adamek's corner. "Fight of the Year" potential. Merchant: "It almost hurts my eyeballs to watch these guys fight." Ha! Briggs had a knockdown in the 1st, and Adamek delivered two low blows in the 9th, so I'm not sure how he ended up way behind on two cards (probably 10-8 Briggs in the first, but the 9th could have gone 9-9). Briggs also had a big 11th and the 12th was an epic battle. Big 8th for Adamek, and solid work mid-fight. Big shots by both guys. Adamek wins a decision.

The heavyweight bout was Nikolai Valuev and Monte Barrett. Barrett gave up 100 pounds to the 7-foot Russian. OK, it's a freak show when Valuev fights. The staredown even made me laugh, as Valuev towers over everyone. Valuev is vulnerable, but he's so big, it seemed that Barrett, at times, had to jump to punch the guy. Barrett was pretty good in the first half of the fight. But he got knocked down in the 8th and seemed to lose his legs from that point forward. They went 11 rounds, before Barrett finally gave out. Valuev with the TKO.

Visitor

None, it's a great looking Sunday.