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.

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