Boy, is that windy out there this evening. I saw lots of shit blowing across the road on the way from the movies. I ventured over to the Cinemark at Valley View, where there might have been 15 in attendance.

And the movie I came back from was "Michael Clayton". I'd say this was a pretty good thriller. You see, you have this ADM-type company who kinda made a bad product which ended up poisoning some people. An incriminating memo was found, and voila, there's your movie. George Clooney again was very good as a lawyer who doesn't do a whole of litigating. He's a fixer, a janitor, and gets folks out of trouble. As Sydney Pollack says, "You found a niche."

Tilda Swinton probably deserves her Oscar nomination. Hard to figure how Tom Wilkinson got his. But the movie probably deserves its Best Picture nomination. Except for that one part where Clooney is investigating. Jeezy creezy, a cop yells "Freeze!" quite unexpectedly. Man, I haven't jumped in a movie like that in a long time.

Meal of Links

Here is an opinion of the 10 Best at Sundance. The two that jump out for me are the Hunter S. Thompson doc and "Be Kind Rewind" by Michel Gondry.

Time for the annual Pazz and Jop list from the Village Voice. I always look to this list as a way to catch up on music I may have missed, because while there are some obscurities in here, I think it's a true reflection of what's going on. For instance, "Icky Thump" is at #11, and I believe the last list I posted neglected it. Face it, that's pretty stupid. Spoon and Amy Winehouse with a couple, that's cool. I see Against Me! (who I just saw) in the top 40 singles and #21 on album, OK. It's a good read every year.

Another nutjob, Deion Sanders, gets a reality show. Hope they have his Hot Dog Maker on there. Get the popcorn ready.

Exercise Yard

The Seattle Times has an unbelievable series going on about the 2000 Washington Huskies. Browns draft pick, Jeremiah Pharms, gets a chapter. Pharms was the Butch Davis pick that was being investigated for murder and the Browns embarrassingly had to drop him. Excellent stuff.

Visitor

21 Across: First name in cosmetics (5 letters) Answer: Estee

Well, it looks like the Kennedy family (at least some of them) have endorsed Barack Obama. I guess that's news, although I wonder how much cache that really is these days. If the young continue to vote for Obama, are they looking at Teddy Kennedy (even as he attacks "old politics") as part of the problem in the Democratic party? It's like, hey, we're happy some of the old geezers are with us, but we're carrying the day this time around.

Although, that is the difference between the parties because of the superdelegates. A politician's endorsement on the Democratic side carries much more weight than one from the Republican side. So, it is important from that standpoint. But it is also important to look at John McCain's endorsements from this angle. If the more right-leaning Republicans go his way, he may be able to convert those within the party who don't really think he is a Republican and not split the vote.

Meal of Links

It is the 50th anniversary of that favorite building block, the Lego! Here are some final products.

Since our President was talking on TV today, here are some secret societies that aren't so secret. The He-Man Women Haters Club must have too much publicity.

A couple of more Foo Fighters items. Drew informs me that Mr. T once admonished the band for not fighting foos.

And their Arcade Fire cover.

"Keep The Car Running"/Foo Fighters



Exercise Yard

Roger Clemens uses a sleep-inducing defense. Please do not read this into the Congressional Record.

Visitor

67 Across: Infamous Amin (3 letters) Answer: Idi

I just flew back from Nashville and boy, are my arms tired. I dropped in on Mr. and Mrs. Mix and their dogs and took in the Foo Fighters concert. Unfortunately, life issues took over and Mr. Mix had to visit his sick Mom in the hospital, so he scurried back to Cleveland on Saturday morning. But Mrs. Mix and I maintained the previously scheduled events and they went on as planned.

The Dogs

The dogs were OK. Apparently, Daisy had some...ahem..."anal gland" problem recently, but is better now. My goodness, that's a phrase you don't want to hear. And Penny, a Rottweiler so rough and tough, she sleeps at the vet.

An action photo of those two:

















BTW, they are also terrified of the Roomba. I witnessed that. The other Rottweilers probably walk around muttering, "What happened?"

New Word

The new word that I learned our friends to the South use is "toboggan". Mrs. Mix told me they have codes at the hospital for all sorts of things. When patients decide to take unauthorized smoke breaks, it's announced with a description that doesn't panic anyone, but leads everyone to find the culprit. This week with the cold snap in Nashville, one was described something like "wearing a green jacket with a toboggan." Being from the North, she declared, "They should be easy to find carrying a toboggan." It was explained to her that's a knit hat, not a sled. I don't know, that's so "cattywompus".

MapQuest is The Devil

The Devil of All Navigation Tools reared its ugly head, not once, but twice this weekend. Being in Music City, we had lots of music to hear. Through a friend of a friend, we headed over to a coffee shop near Music Row to hear some guy on Friday. Me, in a coffeehouse? I'll explain later. Anyhow, MapQuest led us on an adventure to non-existent alleys and we ended up chasing our tail a while. Then we phoned for real directions.

On Saturday, the Foo Fighters were at the not-often used venue of the Nashville Auditorium. The address listed led us to the parking lot of the Country Music Hall of Fame on 4th Street. Then we phoned for real directions. They went as follows: Take 4th to Broadway, then go to 5th and go down 5th for EIGHT BLOCKS! Thanks, MapQuest!

Our love of MapQuest is like the lure of a Siren, we keep going and meet with eventual doom.

Friday Night

On Friday when I first arrived in Nashville at home base for the weekend, I didn't even unpack and was already munching on Brisket Sliders and sipping Old Grand-Dad. You know, why can't every weekend start like that?

Then the three of us headed over to Edgehill Studios Cafe to see some guy singing. He reminded me of a Teddy. Not Teddy Kennedy or Teddy Ruxpin or Teddy Atlas, but Teddy Geiger. Anyhow, they served beer, so I was down with that. We were the last ones to leave. Note: Bud Light born-on date was 1/4/08. Not bad!

Eventually, we made it to La Hacienda, a Mexican favorite in Nashville (Dig that musica loca, amigo). The easiest descriptor of this place would be that it is like the Luchita's of Nashville. I had the Enchiladas Supremas. You got your beef, your chicken, your cheese and your bean. I ran out of petrol before I got to the bean. It was very good.

"U2 3D"

On Saturday, Mrs. Mix and I forged ahead as best as we could, given the worry in the air. So, we headed over to the Regal Beagle IMAX at Opryland as planned to see "U2 3D". Once again, it's the Vertigo tour revisited. I have now seen this live, on the Chicago DVD, and now in 3D. But this is not your father's 3D. You know, the "Monster Chiller Horror Theatre" knife lunging at you. No, thirteen dolla and an ICEE purchase later, this is IMAX and Bono and yellow-rimmed 3D glasses, baby. Here comes the science.

Boy, IMAX is in a bigass auditorium, isn't it? Anyhow, it was a bit chilly in there, I don't know if that's to keep the equipment warm or what. They needed yellow-rimmed blankies, I'd say. That was another thing. The Nashville weather folk said it would warm up on Saturday. They lied or I missed that revised forecast.

Anyhow, the opening credits start rolling and what's this name I see, David Modell? As one of the Executive Producers? Brother John Modell as Producer? No. Could it be? Sure enough. In the closing credits, under "The Producers Would Like to Thank the Following", who do you think got top billing? Yep. Arthur & Patricia Modell. Bah! All, I could think of was Raven Money.

As for the movie. Awesome. Filmed mostly at an outdoor stadium in Buenos Aires without much of Bono's preaching. Mostly musica. Trust me, you have never seen 3D like this. From the beginning credits, the words are right in your face. There was a dude about four rows ahead of us and I'm telling you, it seemed there was movie action that was behind him! When there were audience members (on the film) sitting on someone's shoulders, or water being splashed or one of the mic stands up close, my God, it was like you were there. The only time Bono played to the camera was during "Sunday, Bloody Sunday". "Wipe your tears away...". Here comes his hand. I thought I could touch it. Or maybe slap it. Then everyone jumping during "Where The Streets Have No Name" is incredible. I'm tellin' you, this was tres cool.

Oddities:

Larry Mullen, Jr. looks like he drinks Hawaiian Punch Orange during the show.

Bono kissed Adam Clayton on the lips. In 3D. Huh?

Does The Edge ever take his toboggan off?

Guys were on other guys shoulders on the field. Not sure that happens up North.

I think everyone in the audience had a cellphone and was taking pictures.

For most songs, The Edge uses Fender, as does Clayton. Bono plays a Gretsch.

The Modells.

This may actually come to Cleveland, as I think it will be at some 3-D digital theatres in a few weeks.

We followed the movie up with lunch at Five Guys. It's a burger joint that has a couple of locations in NE Ohio. Great burgers. When you order a burger, remember it's two patties. That's real ground meat with that bun. I had A-1, grilled onions and mustard. And some Cajun fries. This was good and someone with a brain had the sense to build one diagonally from Vanderbilt. Oh, they'll get hungry walkers.

Foo Fighters

Well, you know it's a rock and roll show when Dave Grohl is in town. And the man did not disappoint.

The Venue: Nashville Municipal Auditorium. Not sure how much this is used these days. Upcoming events there include the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Tournament, Sammy Kershaw, Bell Biv DeVoe and the Doodlebops. Not exactly a stellar lineup, as most head over to the Sommet Center and the Ryman. Anyhow, it's an old bowl with no elevators to the top. We have ramps!

Oddly enough, when we arrived, we see two long lines of people going in opposite directions. Wait a minute, it's 20 minutes before showtime and no people are inside yet? WTF? Someone didn't have the keys or something. Mrs. Mix and I join the line going away from the entrance because we figure there will be an end somewhere. After walking halfway around the building with no end in sight, we just cut in. These lines reminded me of "Midnight Express". People just walking with no clue as to what the hell is going on. Once inside though, gee, this building reeks of old. Since there aren't many events there, don't ask "employees" anything. They must contract them all and no one knows about seats, directions, etc. Even official looking-people. Mixed drinks were $7 and $13 for a double. Trust me, get the single Crown Royal and soda. I got Kevin pours for the $7.

Dave Grohl: There's something about Dave Grohl. Man, he is quite the entertainer. First things out of his mouth after a couple of songs: "How long do you think bands play? Hour fifteen, naw, that's barely a show. Hour-and-a-half, anyone can do that. Hour forty-five, if you're lucky. I'm thinkin' TWO FUCKIN' HOURS!"

"We're gonna play old shit, new shit, acoustic shit, rock shit". God, he makes me laugh.

I can't remember which song he did this for, it was early in the set. But the audience was singing along, and he stops the music. He said, "Look, it's my song, I fuckin' wrote it. I get to fuckin' sing it."

During the acoustic set, he mentioned when you come to Nashville, there's a lot of pros in the audience, guys who can play music. So, you have to show something extra, like a secret weapon. He mentioned KFC and the 13 spices and introduced his percussionist as his special sauce and made him do a...triangle solo!

He also introduced the folks in his band during the acoustic set. Some were "bad motherfuckers", even the strings woman, by this time on violin. Others were "fuckin' genius".

After the last song when everyone's waiting for encores, the video screen comes on. Night vision camera shows a wall backstage. It has sheets of paper taped to the wall. One reads "1/26 Nashville". People cheer. Then the next long sheet has the setlist. So, the camera scans from top-to-bottom over the list of songs. Louder cheering. You see after the finale, there is a sheet of paper covering the encores. Then who do they switch to? Of course, it's Grohl standing there pondering with hand on chin. Are they gonna play. He cups his ear to the crowd, they go crazy. This goes on for a while and it is funny. Then Tyler Hawkins gets into the act and eventually they decide to come back. It was pretty unique.

The Tickets: We were in the Balcony in Section H-2 in Row S. Worked out great (Thanks, eBay!). It's not really a balcony, it's the section behind the main aisle, but you have to use the upper portals to get to your seats. Row A starts at the floor, so you can see, we were not really that high. They had no seats behind the stage. Our section was the second one being used on that side, but the first one fully in front of the stage. The crowd was a fairly typical one, but slanted toward the younger set.

















The oddest thing happened though. While Mrs. Mix went on a drink run, all of a sudden, in my periphery, I see a body come hurtling through the air. Yes, a woman comes flying over the seats and does a faceplant two rows ahead of me, landing between the first and second aisle seats. Uh, the seats were occupied, but I think miraculously, she wedged herself between them and did not have a direct hit on the occupants. It was funny, because she was like a tripod with her butt in the air for several seconds. She finally sat down in the aisle seat in the row directly in front of us. Then male companion finally showed up to get her drunken ass out of there. He had to come back and get her cellphone, which she dropped on the floor. Thought they were done, but no, they later came back and he made her apologize to all that had been troubled. That's when I learned she also had the wrong kind of shoes on. I'm a guy, I don't notice those things. The girl in front of us said she recognized those two from Titans games and they are always drunk. Now that football is over, I guess it's the Foos and then the Doodlebops for drinking.

The Sound: I have no reference point. The first act was an LA band named Hello Stranger. They were playing as people were still circling the building, so we didn't hear a lot from them. Chick lead singer. Their closing song was AC/DC's "Thunder". Seemed like an odd choice, I thought I was awaiting kickoff at a Browns game. Sound was very muddied.

The middle act was Against Me! Love that exclamation point. The sound was much better. They were punky and were the men in black. T-shirts and pants all black. A band with some angry music, I'd say. Vocals remind me of The Offspring. They have a single that got some airplay, "Thrash Unreal". Spin named their album, "New Wave', the best of 2007. I liked them.

The Foo Fighters sounded great. I heard every one of Dave Grohl's screams and F-bombs with clarity.

The Stage: The setup is a rather sparse stage with a platform in the back. Stage juts out into the audience, so Grohl can run up front and a small addition on each side of the stage upfront allows for the typical gesturing and running around with your guitar. Four video screens behind the stage, not very elaborate.

The coolest thing though was a long ramp from the stage that ran down the center to what appeared to be a circle at the other end. Was it a covered pool, a trampoline, a fire pit? No, it was a circular stage. Omigod. It afforded people who thought they had shitty general admission seats, standing in the back, an opportunity to see the "Unplugged" section of the show up close and personal. How about that? As Grohl is playing the intro to "Skin and Bones", walking down the ramp with his guitar, a stage (with full load of mikes and instruments) is descending from the heights. He does the vocals on that stage, as the band has now followed him down there. Awesome.

Here is the band deployment. Wait a minute, the first song starts and the Foos are now an eight-member band. We have four guitars, including Grohl up front. A cellist in a nice little black dress on the right. Yes, she is female. In the back, we have, left to right: Keyboards, Tyler Hawkins on drums, of course, and percussion. This outfit went back and forth, used mostly for the new album, all of the acoustic portion and the first encore.

The Music:: A really strong performance last night, I thought. Terrific version of "The Pretender". The overall setup and conclusion of "Skin and Bones" was a kick. The acoustic version of "My Hero" was spot on. Grohl did a SOLO version of "Everlong" that was unbelievable. A pleasant surprise was Arcade Fire's "Keep The Car Runnin'" for the first encore. Grohl said it was a great song, it isn't ours, but we're gonna play it. Fit the makeup of the larger ensemble quite well. And how can you go astray with some "Monkey Wrench"?

Setlist:

Let It Die
The Pretender
Times Like These
Breakout
Learn To Fly
Cheer Up Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)
This Is A Call
Stacked Actors
Skin And Bones
Marigold
My Hero
Cold Day In The Sun
But, Honestly
Everlong
Monkey Wrench
All My Life

Encore:

Keep The Car Running
Best of You

I will definitely see the Foo Fighters when they come back to our fair city. This was a really, really good show and they are in absolute fine form. They are on the Grammys soon, doing that Justin Timberlake thing from last year, where they will play with a contest winner. I lucked out to see them, because they cancelled shows on Monday and Tuesday of this week, due to illness. Grohl was drinking out of a cup before the encores and said he was a good boy, drinking some tea for his throat. So, maybe it was him.

I've had some strange injuries over the years. Indeed, I have hurt myself during sleep numerous ways, but today may take the cake. My pants attacked me! I had just made some OshKosh B'Gosh reference while sitting down, and for some reason, needed to tug at a belt loop behind me.

I could feel said loop cutting the back of my thumb as it happened, and then "There Will Be Blood". Not quite a gusher, but Mills Lane was on hand, just in case he needed to stop it. Thankfully, we have Band-Aids at my place of employ. I must have offended the Denim Gods in some way, because I haven't had that happen before.

Regardless, I gotta get out of this cold, so I'm heading to Nashville this weekend. Gonna drop in on the Mixes and see the Foo Fighters, as well.

Meal of Links

Here's what made the Hulk turn green. Lots of funny incidents.

Do's and don'ts with babies. Waking Baby made me laugh.

Calm down. Slim Whitman is still alive. You know, he killed Martians once. Maybe I'll see him in Nashville.

Robin Zander's birthday was yesterday. Therefore..."Would you like to do a number with me?"

"Hello There" and "Come On"/Cheap Trick



Warren Zevon's birthday is today. Listen to his cover of Springsteen's "Cadillac Ranch". (Move mouse over link...play!) He kicks major ass on it.

Exercise Yard

Gregg Doyel is tired of hearing from a Manning. Not Peyton. Not Eli. Archie!

Visitor

1 Across: The Miners of Conference USA (4 letters) Answer: UTEP

I'm still perplexed about the death of Heath Ledger. Not so much that he's dead, but the coverage of it. Headline News, for instance, blew up its format yesterday at 5:00 for wall-to-wall coverage. What was amazing was not many facts were available at that time. All I kept hearing was "we don't want to speculate" followed by endless speculation.

Sure, Ledger was a star, but not even close to superstardom. Maybe it was the circumstances surrounding his death, his age, a slow news day, the new "Batman" flick, I'm not sure how his death warrants this kind of coverage. Sure, it's stunning that it happened, but it makes me wonder what would happen if some truly famous Hollywood person died.

Meal of Links

Hitch rips Huckabee. This even got picked up by the PD. It's Hitch at his passionate best.

Every child should read these 100 books. Uh-oh. I'm trying to figure out how "Great Expectations" still costs 8 pounds. I mean, try the library. Sheesh. I think Borders even sells the Classics for cheaper than that.

"Moment of Truth" affirms Paddy Chayefsky. "The only truth you know is what you get over this tube." Yikes!

Combining photos of celebrities with folded money. I especially liked the Johnny Cash Money and the Steve McQueen money.

At this juncture, it's difficult to get amped for the Oscars, but it's probably time to catch up on some of these films with nominations. I believe "Michael Clayton" is re-released this week, so that's a start.

The continuing saga of Amy Winehouse. It looks like she finally has gone to "Rehab".

Herschel Walker claims he has multiple personalities. They all must be keeping a low profile. I haven't seen him in ages. Of course, it has spawned the joke, "No wonder the Cowboys traded him for 5 players and 6 draft choices." Maybe he can replace the Mac Guy in that Time Machine ad.

Exercise Yard

Some of Shaq's divorce proceedings are out. The man watches lots of cable and buys lots of gas. $1500 a month for cable? Must be a Time Warner customer.

Visitor

6 Across: Pollster Roper (4 letters) Answer: Elmo

I can't say enough about the last season of "The Wire" on HBO. This season focuses on the newspaper in Baltimore and the story line mirrors how the paper, much like the police force, has to cope with cost cutting (Internet and outside ownership) and must pick and choose what it can cover, as opposed to what it used to cover.

It is going to be interesting to see if one story can revitalize both.

And it, once again, fits in nicely with my Sunday night of TV viewing. This cycle has worked for years. One show leaves and another one picks up. Brilliant!

How's this for timing. Big news at the LA Times, a Tribune paper. The editor is leaving because the new owner wants budget cuts. Apparently the dispute surrounded expenses of covering the presidential primary season.

Meal of Links

I do not watch "Friday Night Lights". But this was an interesting piece on why the show isn't more popular. Today, NBC announced they have sold 150,000 Dwight Schrute bobbleheads, so there you go.

The Coachella lineup was announced today. The Racontuers, Verve, Jack Johnson, Roger Waters, Death Cab for Cutie, and a little band known as Kraftwerk! I even see Dwight Yoakam in there. And it looks like All Points West ("Coachella East") is on track for August.

We really don't wanna go virtual, do we? It appears we crave the face-to-face.

Exercise Yard

The cheapest shots during the college football season. Poor Jake Locker.

That reminds me of the best thing I saw at the Browns games this past season. No video of Kellen Winslow's cartwheel.

But this captures the essence of a live game:



Visitor

52 Across: King of Swing (12 letters) Answer: Benny Goodman

I woke up with a new hairdo today. Not by intent, but it was sort of a combination of Professor Irwin Corey, Pee-Wee Herman and Mr. Jing-A-Ling. I don't think it's catchin' on anytime soon.

But it was a day for football. Certainly cold enough not to do much else.

Dan Marino, there is an off button on your cellphone. Three times on national TV is oh, I dunno, three times too many. Bud Selig had his phone ring during his news conference the other day. It was his wife and he said he'd punch her out. Yep, he said that. I expect Dan to take different measures and read his manual.

All you needed to know about the Patriots-Chargers game came with over 9 minutes left, San Diego down by 9 on the Patriots 36 and they effin' punted. Are you kidding me? They needed two scores and I said, "Norv, you may not get the ball back." They didn't. I thought that was a horrible call.

How 'bout the G-Men and Manning the Lesser winning in Lambeau? Certainly the Giants did everything they could to keep the Packers in the game. Lawrence Tynes missed 2 field goals. R.W. McQuarters fumbles twice, once after an interception and then again on a punt return, recovered by the Giants but moved well back. But the Giant defense was tough in the second half, while the Packer offense did virtually nothing. Brett Favre threw an OT interception and it ended kinda quickly.

And didn't Terry Bradshaw look cold at the half? He had a problem holding his mike steady. Props to Fox for showing the clips of some of the old Packers and Giants. And I knew everyone of them. And exactly how many movies does Martin Lawrence have coming out?

Look for two weeks of even more hype as the Giants-Patriots revisit their regular season finale in the Super Bowl.

Meal of Links

There was a new energy bill passed in December. Obvious changes are your light bulbs. But appliances will have to meet new standards, as well.

This doesn't seem to be attracting much attention in the States, but the UK is going through a period of examination of their organ donation program The Prime Minister is leaning towards "presumed consent", meaning they will harvest your organs upon death, unless you opt out. Spain and some other countries have this program (or some form of it) in place and it seems to be saving lives.

A hit-and-miss list of Top 10 Discontinued Sodas. There are some oldies remembered here, but where's Jolt and isn't Tab still around? And is it true that in your Hispanic areas, you can get Coke in a bottle with real sugar? I think I'll visit Dave's. My soda theory: Coke tastes better out of a cold bottle or can with no ice...warm or cold Pepsi always requires ice.

Exercise Yard

Bode Miller has now won the most World Cup races in U.S. skiing history. The race was in Kitzbuehel.

Visitor

None, it's a cold NFL playoff-viewing Sunday.

Survived another Polka Happy Hour at the Happy Dog last night, so let's catch up on some things.

The death of chess icon Bobby Fischer at age 64, the number of squares on your average chessboard. You must understand, back in 1972, Fischer was sort of T.O., Britney Spears, and a young John McEnroe, all rolled into one. And all of a sudden, people then started playing chess. WTF? His championship match with Boris Spassky was on PBS, for cryin' out loud. You didn't see the actual combatants, but you saw their moves on this big flat board facing the screen. Hard to believe that now. Although the Cold War aspects have been played down over time, Fischer seemed to get away with a lot. It was like, "Sure he's an asshole, but he's our asshole and he's beating the Russians." You know how they always talk about that thin line between genius and insanity, I think Fischer jumped over that line a long time ago.

Rachael Ray hates Dunkin' Donuts coffee. I still think that was one of the phoniest ads I ever heard.

I think this guy was really upset that the Cowboys lost week. His name? Adolf Hitler!



Seinfeld makes sure Eli Manning (Hitler: "ELI SUCKS!") gets to watch "Seinfeld". Eli is in Green Bay, prepping for tomorrow's loss.

Why do I come across items with this type of headline? And I quote, "U.S. to Study Bizarre Medical Condition". I don't need to know these things.

Sears is in trouble. Roebuck is probably off somewhere, laughing.

Look at all these old computers. Click on the pics for info.

Daniel Day-Lewis is kind of an oddball. Great actor, though. More on him later.

Michael Bloomberg looked at those running for President and isn't running yet. But he's close.

Meal of Links

Took in "There Will Be Blood" at the Regal Beagle at Crocker today. And there was. Daniel Day-Lewis' voice reminded me of John Huston's in those old RCA Color TV commercials, "Table green, holster black". Major star vehicle for Daniel, who actually played a guy named Daniel.

It's an early 20th century story about the oil business, religion and the crazy people associated with both. Paul Dano provides a nice assist as a young preacher/faith healer type. But it's really a movie for Day-Lewis, who plays the madman very well, and Ghoulardi's son, P.T. Anderson. Old P.T. done made himself an epic movie. Very Citizen Kane-like in its delivery, I think. Plus, bowling makes an appearance near the end. Not to give too much away, but I caught myself saying, "Throw the pins! Throw the pins!". Lengthy and maybe not the most satisfying of endings, but it is a major award contender.

A long day at the Australian Open. The Hewitt-Baghdatis match ended at 4:30 a.m. And you thought "There Will Be Blood" was long.

"Idol" has been taken over by freaks. "Why do I feel like giving the camera the finger, why do I feel like giving the camera the finger."

Exercise Yard

Just because I made my Dad walk a couple of blocks in freezing weather to save a couple of bucks on parking doesn't make me a bad person, does it? Naw, of course not. We took in the CSU game against Valpo, and once more, parking was at a premium.

Tonight there were 4400 in attendance. Geez, my Fan Meter must be off a bit. I thought it equalled the size of the Butler crowd. Anyhow, it was NCAA Take a Kid to a Game Day and Dollar Hot Dog Night and they still couldn't pack the place.

CSU never trailed in this one, slowly building a lead which reached 7 at the half and eventually reached 12 in the second half. Valpo had a rep for hitting threes, but they were defended strongly in the first half and only made 2. They did get 7 in the second half, but by then, it was too late.

The Vikings are now 7-0 in the league. However, the next two weeks see them on the road, with the Wisconsin and Illinois swings. That will be the test of where they might finish, but they are playing really tough team ball right now. Only four league games left at home. CSU wins, 69-63.

Visitor

24 Down: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark (4 letters) Answer: Cuban

I just realized I forgot to honk my horn after tonight's CSU game. Aren't we supposed to do that after any kind of big win? I don't know what started this renaissance of local sports, I'm guessing the LeBron game last June against Detroit, but it seems to have filtered down to the lowliest of them all, CSU. Described by the AP tonight as "a program in disarray for most of the past 20 years".

Yes, the Vikings beat #12 Butler tonight, the first time CSU has ever beaten a Top 25 team in the regular season, and the biggest win since the Mackey Era. A game so big, I actually had to pay to park. Apparently, the days of "Gee, I'm still home and have a game in 25 minutes." are gone. Well, at least for one evening, as a crowd of 5,352 was in attendance. People in front of me, people behind me, even people NEXT to me (Stop touching me!). A game so huge, as the "crowd" stormed the court afterward in typical Cleveland fashion, they tried to steal the head of Magnus! Ha!

















Obviously, Coach Waters has got it through his team's head that if thou playeth defense, good things will be bestowed upon thee. Butler shot only 34% for the game. Last year, they had 20 3-pointers here...this year, they had 6. CSU had more rebounds, 37-32, and led almost the entire game.

The crowd was into the game, probably at its best since the North Carolina game of years gone by. The Vikings played a really good game and didn't crack when Butler had its only lead, 44-42, with 7:58 to play. They benefited from a horrible game by A.J. Graves (he actually missed a foul shot) and the fact Mike Green missed plenty of the first half with 2 fouls. They had really good efforts by J'Nathan Bullock and Cedric Jackson, and we'll kindly overlook his 9 turnovers.

So, what does it mean? CSU remains unbeaten in league play at 6-0. Valpo comes to town next, another threat in the league. If CSU gets by Valpo on Saturday, they may be onto something. CSU goes on the road for the next two weeks and it will go a long way in deciding their fate. Too bad they can't enjoy this game for more than an hour or so.

The final, CSU wins, 56-52. And, once again, it's time for my favorite Bill King quote: "There's no time left...there's nothing real in the world any more!...A man would be a fool to ever try and write a drama and make you believe it!"

Meal of Links

It's official. Kids hate clowns. I bet that's why they never rerun "It". That scared the crap out of me.

"Idol" is back on. Look at these "Idol" products. I've already mentioned that "Take the Cake" ice cream...it's good. Soylent green is people.

Fuck Time Warner.

China owns us. Not owes, owns.

Exercise Yard

When was the last time you read Golf Magazine? Silly, it was the time they put that noose on the cover.

Visitor

26 Across: "Chinatown" screenwriter (5 letters) Answer: Towne

I finally got my TV back to normal. I needed an optical digital cable to get my Dolby on and things are working out great with the new setup. BTW, if you want to make sure you are getting all of the formats you should and you have the devil as a cable provider (Time Warner), there is a quasi hack on the Scientific Atlanta HD box to set you straight. I have the prehistoric 8000 HD DVR box and it works the same on it. The resulting picture is much improved.

Meal of Links

Hunter S. Thompson quotes. Many good, dare I say, better ones are found in the comments. I can still picture Johnny Depp saying that first one.

Dennis Quaid talks about what happened to his newborn twins. They each received the wrong dose of blood thinner. Not by a small amount, but by, oh, about a thousand times the regular dose.

Bourdain has a new blog. Three entries, thus far, but read the Hawaii one for sure.

Exercise Yard

The center on my fantasy basketball team, Chris Kaman, was misdiagnosed with ADD as a kid. He only found that out last year!

Visitor

33 Across: TV's Warrior Princess (4 letters) Answer: Xena

During yesterday's NFL action, did you see that horrible Double Stuff commercial with the Mannings? A peculiar choice for Eli to make his debut. Oh, you can also try and...ahem..."lick race" against Peyton and Eli. Yes, I said "lick race". Very disturbing. To paraphrase Jim Rome, isn't there a point during this whole commercial process where you stop and say, "Fellas, I don't think this works."

It probably didn't help that Manning the Lesser won his game yesterday and Peyton did not. I'm not on that Eli bandwagon just yet. I think Charlie Frye may have had three good games in a row at one time. Yep, he's my benchmark.

Meal of Links

"This American Life" has a Season One DVD coming out in two weeks only at Borders. Trying to figure out when Season Two begins seems to be a mystery. Showtime barely mentions the show in ads, as far as I can tell. It's a pretty cool program.

Who doesn't enjoy a good conspiracy. Several former military officers have challenged the government's official version of 9/11.

Buying porn because "a friend is in it". That's what you get for buying it at Borders.

Exercise Yard

In the listings for golf scores, MDF means WTF. New rules for PGA cuts.

Visitor

16 Across: Loughlin of "Full House" (4 letters) Answer: Lori

It's the Golden Globes Winners Special...live from Hollywood! But with the current writers strike, I have no idea what this show will look like except for no red carpet, no stars, and no speeches. I skipped the "glib" Matt Lauer pre-awards show, because I'm watching gridiron action and highlights.

9:00: Uh-oh. This looks like it's only going to be announcements of the nominees and then the winners. Two messages at the bottom of the screen are perplexing. "Portions are pre-recorded" and "Rebroadcast of a live program". Hey, we are in the East, you idiots. I think that last message was for our Western friends. I recognize Spoon, Arcade Fire and Beck as some of the background music.

9:02: Christ. It's Billy Bush and Nancy O'Dell behind a Golden Globes podium. This is gonna suck. They also have Shaun Robinson and an EW writer in a different area to give us some pre-award outlooks and post-award "assessments".

9:03: I guess they are gonna go right through the list of awards without much conversation. The first award is the Best Supporting Actress, which goes to Cate Blanchett for "I'm Not There", the Dylan movie. Unbelievably, Bush and O'Dell are gonna offer their opinions after the winner is revealed. WTF? Who cares. Just say "...and the winner is...". Oh, this is hopeless. Can't I go online and find out who won?

I continued to watch, and here some ads I noticed:

Good to see Sofia Vergara with some post-"Knights of Prosperity" work on the new Cadillac Escalade ad. I like the way she says, "Cupholders".

Bob Serpentini will do your taxes!

An odd, but funny Frisco Melt commercial from Steak N Shake.

Kid from "Weeds" is on a very special "Law and Order: SVU" this week.

"Hello Goodbuy" from Target. I think it's the same arrangement as always.

What the hell is COPD with Bronchitis? Sounds like a hip-hop duet.

Hey, the Cadillac CTS is Motor Trend Car of the Year. Who knew? Only saw that ad a 1,000 times today.

Tide Pure Essentials uses Baking Soda. And they also use "Linus and Lucy" from Charlie Brown as the music. Rats.

Gene Simmons proclaims, "I am the King of all women!".

Rare Earth's "Celebrate" is on an AT&T ad.

Beyonce still looks good.

Gee, that Applebee's Apple sounds suspiciously like Wanda Sykes. I can't wait for "Larry David. You a racist.". Seriously, why would they have Wanda do voiceovers for a while, then introduce something called the Applebee's Apple with her voice? Makes no sense.

Hey, "ER" is still on.

Meal of Links

Penn Jillette has started a venture called "Penn Says". He talks about a bunch of stuff, I guess, from time to time.

As I've said, a main argument against "Juno" is its soundtrack. And its dialogue and some other stances. I don't know, it made me laugh a lot. So there.

And you thought the Consumer Electronics Show only had 150-inch Plasma TVs. Williams-Sonoma announced the BeerTender will be available stateside come March 1.

Exercise Yard

It was a pretty good set of tackle football playoff games this weekend. Yesterday went to form as both Green Bay and New England looked really good in their wins. I thought those two teams would win. Green Bay made Seattle look pretty awful in the snow, after falling behind 14-0. You don't get many snow games at Lambeau, so that was fun to watch.

Jacksonville hung in there for a good portion of their game, but New England is so tough this year. I will say this, the drive that Jacksonville had to tie the game at 14, that was a man's drive. They just pounded the ball continually up the middle, and for a minute, I thought it might be the Browns defense out there in disguise. But Tom Brady was almost perfect and I'm really going out on a limb as I think they'll get to the Super Bowl.

Today's games show why you play the game. You had two coaches, Norv Turner at San Diego and Wade Phillips at Dallas, who could exorcise some demons with a win. I had no confidence in either the Giants or Chargers winning. I'm still puzzled at how Indianapolis did not win their game. Going in, who would have thought that it was gonna be a brutally physical game. Big-time hitting. I expected that in the second game, but not in the RCA Dome. Plus, the Bolts scored on a 56-yard screen pass. When was the last time you saw that? I'm not giving the Chargers much of a chance to go cross-country and have anything left for the Patriots.

The Dallas-New York game was pretty physical, as well. The G-Men did just enough to win, mainly playing superb defense and not turning the ball over. The turning point was right before the half after Dallas had a drive that lasted over 10 minutes to go ahead 14-7. The Giants got the ball with 48 seconds and drove for a tying TD. Stole that momentum pretty quick! In the second half, the Giants got that lone TD and hung on for the win. An outstanding effort by them. Wade Phillips still has that nagging record of having good regular seasons (this Dallas one his best), but still winless in the playoffs. They did not play well down the stretch, seemingly when Jessica Simpson arrived on the scene, but I thought they were a better team than to lose their first playoff game. Hard to figure the Giants can go on the road and win another playoff game, despite only one road loss win this year.

Next Sunday it is:

Bloody Marys to start my day.

San Diego at New England at 3:00.

New York at Green Bay at 6:30.

Visitor

None. It's a playoff football weekend.

Gale and I were convinced by Uncle F-Bomb to head over to Li Wah in Chinatown last night. They had the Cavs game on which was heading to two overtimes. I liked it, but I prefer my Chinese food with a bit more heat. Hot and Sour Soup was really good, but a bit more hotness would have worked better. Egg Roll was OK. Crab Rangoon was very tasty. I opted for the Kung Po Shrimp for the main course. I will say this, you get a generous amount of shrimp and a big portion which I decided would also serve as today's lunch. Again, with a bit more heat it would have been great, but good nonetheless.

Meal of Links

One of the easiest things to make is pancakes and I do know my way around the griddle. Here are some pancake recipes that look pretty good from Yahoo! Food. Especially that one with the Orange-Honey Butter. BTW, another new food item I had this week are these Blueberry Special K Bars. Good snack.

Could you imagine your office doing this? I could not fathom what my present office song would be. At a previous haunt, it was "Safety Dance" that we used to crank. Sadly, no midgets or animals were present. I'm thinking "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" (without the 90-second intro or 70-second coda):



Whatever happened to those "thirtysomething" people? I never watched the show. Much like "Mannix", it's not on DVD either.

Exercise Yard

I can't believe Costanza got fired as the Browns defensive coordinator.



















Looks like Mel Tucker has taken over. Kind of a curious move. There are a few things that puzzle me. With extensions going to Chud and probably Romeo, did Todd Grantham want more of an extension added on to what he got last year, a la Grandpa Charlie Manuel? I thought our run defense blew chow, but that's a 10-year old story, he didn't have the players. My guess is maybe the development of Kamerion Wimbley. He was kind of a non-entity this year. Whose idea was it to stick with Ted Washington at nose tackle, that might have been an issue. Or was it a complete lack of blitzing the first half of the year? To protect some shaky secondary play, the Browns were getting no pressure on the opposing QB during that time, giving up 45 to the Bengals and 28 to the Dolphins.

Maybe Romeo has decided to start flexing his muscle and demand his own guys in key positions. After one good year, I might add.

In EPL news, Ronaldo just scored for ManU, one of three today, on one of those set pieces where the wall jumps up, and he shoots the ball UNDER the jumping players. Very sneaky.

Visitor

6 Down: Old Ford (5 letters) Answer: Ernie

While contemplating Radiohead's visit to Cleveland this summer (Gee, I wrote that and "Body Snatchers" blasted from the Music Choice channel just then)...

Somehow, I ended up on the Cavaliers call list as a "Preferred Customer". I think I bought one game. It made me wish the Do-Not-Call List extended to organizations you patronize. I must have been repulsed by the concept, because I was extremely uncooperative with the caller. I give her credit for hanging in there, but sheesh, haven't they sold all their tickets yet? And why are they bugging me?

Meal of Links

Another second chance at a TV series. DVRs and TiVos should roll when "Mad Men" returns on January 20. Season 2 will commence this summer.

Did you know that Marvel Comics pulled a "Dallas"? Spiderman's marriage never happened. Wouldn't that be cool to start over again?

Look at who the candidates are getting as celebrity endorsements. I saw Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon with Edwards in NH. I love the fact Wilford Brimley is in the McCain camp, because he's older then McCain and it kills me each time I hear him say "diabetes". And Sean Penn is supporting my congressman.

Exercise Yard

How would you like to coach in the English Premier League? Sam Allardyce lasted all of 21 league matches after being hired at Newcastle. Of 20 teams, 8 have already sacked their managers.

Visitor

15 Across: General Bradley (4 letters) Answer: Omar

Hey, I thought this was the night we were to bury Hillary Clinton. I tuned in MSNBC at 7:00 to get some early spin on the New Hampshire primary. They could not have thrown more dirt on Clinton. Then at 8:00, when they can allegedly start talking about the race after the polls close, all of a sudden, the mood has changed. You see, Obama was in second and all of the exit polling that was talking about as much as a 9-point victory for him seemed to be, I dunno, hogwash. Clinton had an early lead which seemed to grow larger. Maybe crying helped.

I interrupt this because you can't play the theme from "Rocky" for McCain. You see, he can't raise his arms due to his Vietnam captivity. Doh!

Check the "Too-close-to-call" results here.

Meal of Links

A salute to truly supporting actors. They are right. "No Country For Old Men" is full of them.

"Dirty Jobs" is back! Probably a good time to check this show out. When is "Idol" back on anyhow?

The Consumer Electronics Show is going on right now. This always occupies my time this week. Just look at all the goodies to dream about. That 150-inch plasma looks good.

Remember the Q-Ray Bracelet? It's phony.

Exercise Yard

Today's Hall of Famer: Goose Gossage. It looks like Jim Rice is getting closer, but that's no sure thing. Can't believe Bert Blyleven is not in. 287 wins and my God, he won 19 games and had an ERA of 2.87 for the 1984 Indians. A team where every other starting pitcher had at least an ERA of 4.60. Of course, that was the same year that they traded Rick Sutcliffe with 4 wins and an ERA of 5.15 to the Cubs. He then won 16 of 17 games and helped the Cubs to the playoffs.

What's with the lack of votes for Tim Raines in his first year? He should be in. I go back and forth a lot on Jack Morris and Andre Dawson. Sparky Anderson used to say, "I want the guy who wins the 5-4 game, not the one who loses 2-1." That sounds like Morris, who won the most games of any pitcher in the '80s. Dawson, I just don't know. It feels like he should be in, but if he doesn't make it, I don't think that's a bad thing.

Visitor

69 Across: Oil magnate J. Paul (5 letters) Answer: Getty

Ralph Wiggum for President. Hah! A candidate so good, both parties wanted him.



Meal of Links

A reminder that "The Wire" kicked off its last season on Home Box last night. Last night's episode, once again, was really good.

Here's your chance, you non-Showtime types. "Dexter" goes to CBS in February.

The Golden Globes show has been cancelled. Sorta. it looks like they'll just announce the winners or some such nonsense. So, have a drink to honor the only awards show where alcohol is served.

Exercise Yard

Was that the weirdest sports press conference by Roger Clemens and his legal team? One thing to talk to the press, but to play a taped telephone call with your accuser seemed ludicrous to me. This is reminiscent of Floyd Landis.

Visitor

14 Across: Immortal name in daredeviltry (4 letters) Answer: Evel

Time to play catch-up:

Kevin really did me a solid yesterday by constructing my new stereo system. Let's face it, my personal motto should be: "Thou shalt not handle power tools.", so when it comes to speaker stands, speaker wire, handling a screwdriver (non-drink variety) anything like that, I'm, uh, what's the word...challenged. You see, I treated myself at the end of this past year to the Onkyo TX-SR605 receiver. Yeah, baby, this thing rocks.
Matched it up with some KEF speakers and, quite frankly, we will wake up the neighbors. I had some cash saved up and found some Internet ("off-the-truck", perhaps?) deals, and went for it. I love it already.

Although it got some minor play, the most interesting story this week (to me), was the cancellation of the Dakar Rally, because of terrorist concerns. Can you imagine a sporting event cancelled like that? It's straight out of soccer. Dakar is the wildest of the auto races in the world and one of my faves, Robby Gordon, seems to have become a regular now. Here's some race background. It's the kind of race that Versus might cover, to give you a hint to its popularity. So, we'll look for it next year.

Everyone is worried about tiger attacks. What about bears?



David Garrard? Running on 4th down? For big yards? Been there. 2005 Jacksonville game. Browns down by six. Just over two minutes left. Third-and-19. Garrard for 28 yards up the middle. Game over. Threw up.

I can't stand Dane Cook for seven minutes, let alone seven hours. I don't get the guy.

Taylor Hicks lost his record deal. The Soul Patrol is in a hole. Oh, God, that show is back soon.

Meal of Links

Here's how to afford anything. Live cheap, it sees to be.

2007 Gadgets. Some were good, some bad, but do you need them? He liked the Chop Wizard. Wow, it's that easy! I saw an infomercial on New Year's for the Sonic Blade and was in awe. I think it could cut through a building. Salsa in 60 seconds! I wonder what happened to the Deion Sanders Hot Dog Express.

Warner Bros. picks Blu-Ray. Next year's self gift: DVD player.

Exercise Yard

The Cavs? The Indians? The Browns? Now, the Cleveland State Vikings? I don't know what's happening, but it's the third consecutive league win at home. And, once again, handily. And they are in first place. Attendance: 2008. Or did they get that from the calendar? In 2 weeks, it's Butler and Valpo at home.

Best line from my brother after a period in which many fouls occurred: "This is like Mad Magazine's version of basketball." Which has everyone awaiting foul shots. Miss. Foul occurs. Walk to other end of floor. Foul shots. Miss. Foul. Walk to other end. Hey, we're old. If you saw it, you'd laugh.

Visitor

None, it's Big Snow Melt Sunday.

Can you smell what Barack is cookin'? How come as I was watching Barack Obama give his victory speech in Iowa tonight, all I could think about was The Rock and his mic skills?



"Painus in Uranus". Tee hee.

The results are in from Iowa. Looks like the candidate I most closely align with (according to that poll), Mike Gravel, is out. Biden is done. Dodd calls it quits. Obama looks like a big threat now, due to his domination of the under 30 vote and the fact that he took the women's vote, as well. John Edwards, well, he even stated that the vote indicated that status quo was out, change was in. Ahem, isn't he status quo? Uh-oh. Mrs. Clinton poses a puzzle. It is her party and if she doesn't win something, anything, soon, it'll be like Harriet Bird turning her gaze from The Whammer to Roy Hobbs in "The Natural".

The R's had Huckabee win convincingly. Safe to say, Romney is in trouble, especially if New Hampshire does not like him. McCain needs a win there badly. Then there's 9ui1ian1 lurking in the shadows.

Meal of Links

Props to David Cross, who talks about his "Chipmunks" role. It's amazing how we tend to look at entertainers much differently than athletes. I think in each arena you have a limited window and have to grab as much as you can, when you can.

Everything you need to learn about weight loss. Look what they don't want you eat:

Soda (And sports drinks.)
Candy
Fast Food (The majority of it, at least.)
Cookies/Crackers
Chips/Pretzels and other similar snack foods.
Cakes, Pies and other pastries.

Crap.

Sheetz now has an Espresso Bar. Forgetting what we just learned about what not to drink, I think I will try the Caramel Steamer. But couldn't they think of a different name? They used to have a big mug for soda refills called the Fizzinator a while back that was too close to the Whizzinator for me.

Exercise Yard

Seriously, is Mark Shapiro asleep? I mean Nick Swisher to the Sox. Isn't that a bat we could use? Did we even ask if he was available? He would have been the hands-down fan favorite here, especially with his OSU background. Puzzling that we weren't in the mix.

Plus, he made one of the greatest catches I've seen in an A's-Indians game this past June. You have to realize, that was with one out in the seventh and if it landed, well, it would have been two runs for sure. Same inning, Swisher forced a guy at second on a blooper to rightfield. Yep, he's a good one. I guess I should mention that J-Mike then hit a game-winning homer after that play. Didn't want to, felt I had to.

Visitor

48 Across: Writer Rand (3 letters) Answer: Ayn

Nomar Stalker and I were at the Cavs game tonight. And we were in row 1! We had chairs, too, so a little more room. But Row 1 isn't all it's cracked up to be, because we were in Row 1 where the visitors tunnel extends to the locker room, so our view to the court was somewhat obscured. Besides that, before the game a girl comes crashing into my head. What is it with these games where my noggin has become a target?

Not only that, but we were on the aisle. Therefore, the Cavs have a garbage can to block people from using the steps to sneak past the phalanx of security that is watching the game, blocking my view. And it's not a prop. It is actually used for garbage. So, to set the scene, I can't see, my head hurts and I'm sitting next to garbage.

It was not a good first half. Then LeBron woke up. He had the quietest 36 points you'll see. I think he had 4 points at the half. It wasn't anything the Hawks were doing special, he just wasn't looking to do much early. Atlanta has some talent, but it wasn't enough as the Cavs won, 98-94.

Meal of Links

The Iowa Cauci ("Cawkeye") are tomorrow. Here are the GOP candidates in the form of Buffy villains. I just heard Mitt Romney say he was going to Ottumwa.

Jack White chats up Patti Page about "Conquest". Remember to "Shop Victoriously".

Over the holidays, you consume a bunch of stuff you don't normally have. Like bread pudding. Things I liked:

C.F. Burger Lite Egg Nog-not too shabby for a lite. I was an Egg Nog Hog this year.

Edy's Take the Cake Ice Cream-This is insane. It's slow churned and light, but it's ice cream that tastes like yellow cake. Be cheap with the kids on their birthdays and don't buy cake. Just dump this on them. And it's good with bits of frosting and other sprinkly things inside.

And, of course, Snyder of Berlin BBQ potato chips. These are the schnizz, homeskillet!

Exercise Yard

Joe Buck Popcorn. Dude.

Visitor

42 Across: Hall of Famer Durocher (3 letters) Answer: Leo

As Guy Lombardo used to say, "Have a Happy, Happy New Year!"