I was watching the X Games for some unknown reason and they were doing the Big Air competition. This is some insane 70-foot ramp that leads to a standard skateboarding tube. For the first two rounds, most of the attempts failed.

Then this guy almost killed himself. Note how his feet hit the top of the ramp.



He came back later and made his jumps to finish second. He'll be hurting tomorrow.

Meal of Links

Some band names really make me chuckle. Here are a couple that caught my eye recently. Joe Buck Yourself and Natalie Portman's Shaved Head.

Lollapalooza is in the AT&T Blue Room starting tomorrow. Nice streaming schedule, I'd say. Gogol Bordello and The Raconteurs on Friday. Wilco late on Saturday. Flogging Molly, Love and Rockets and The National on Sunday.

The Interactive Ben Kingsley Accent Map is rather humorous.

Freddie Prinze helps the creative team of WWE. This quote makes me wonder what is happening: "Bringing on board an experienced Hollywood writer, actor and producer like Freddie Prinze Jr. will only increase the level of entertainment to millions of viewers and passionate WWE fans every Monday on USA." WTF?

South LA has banned new fast-food construction. I understand the intent, but isn't that crossing a line? Of course, I am operating under the presumption of personal responsibility. But I go back to the Papa John's Pizza debate of this year. Sure I'd like to see the inner city folks eat healthier, but I don't think "food zoning" is the way to go.

I haven't ridden a Greyhound bus in years. Not sure I want to revisit that scene. This is horrifying.

Exercise Yard

Not really a surprise. But the recruiting budgets of major colleges has at least doubled in the last decade or so. I find it interesting that Michigan was not in the Top 20, but West Virginia was.

Visitor

15 Across: 1966 N.L. batting champ (4 letters) Answer: Alou

Life is just too exciting recently. Last night, I bought a toaster on eBay. I had a gift card, so the price was right. Wasn't a real auction, as I opted to get it from the KitchenAid store. With reasonable shipping, I thought it was a good deal. My last toaster? It died a death by Italian bread. Not sure what happened, but it bent up mechanically and decided to expire.

Today I bought, not some, but a pot from Bed Bath & Beyond. I needed a decent-sized Circulon pot that was on clearance. Thought I'd get it at Kent, but they still had the display left for the regular price. They'd only knock 10% off. At Ridge Park, it was $20 off plus that insanely big 20% off coupon. They must go the same printer where the golf tournaments get their big checks printed.

Meal of Links

Do I even have Fox Reality Channel? Ewan McGregor gets back on the bike for "Long Way Down". This time, he and Charley Boorman, take the cycles from Scotland to South Africa.

Barney Frank upholds his promise and introduces a marijuana decriminalization act. 100 grams would be the limit. Speaking of that, Cheech and Chong make up. "Dave's not here."

Carry your groceries with a small cloth. Might work, because when I'm at Marc's or Giant Eagle, they treat me as "10 Bags for 11 Items Guy".

Jack White does the new Bond theme. With Alicia Keys. That's a big WTF?

Exercise Yard

Ohio State is now the most hated team. It appears it's as scientific a poll as one man's opinion. However, as Seinfeld says, "I'm not really sure how official any of these rankings are anyway."

Visitor

51 Down: Bandleader Shaw (5 letters) Answer: Artie

Well, it looks like we have a political scandal in these parts, eh? Haven't had one of this scale in quite a while. Can't tell if it's one of those, "Hey, I'll give you this contract, if you construct my pool." kind of a deal. Or if it's your standard skimming money out of some diverted fund account that until recently was thought to be secret.

Bottom line is either someone finally pissed off the wrong person or the corruption was so blatant even the old-timers were embarrassed by its audacity. Too early to tell what's up until more details come out. But public statements lately by Dimora and Russo reflect an arrogance even more abrasive than in the past.

Meal of Links

I saw Billy Mays on another infomercial today. Good grief, does he have a piece of all of these products. Today, it was the Awesome Auger. While watching the demo, all I could say was, "Fuck you!". No way that thing does what it claims for $19.95.

"The Office" had a panel at Comic-Con. This year's Comic-Con was probably the most covered in its history.

Here are 12 foods that you don't necessarily need to be organic. Here are 12 that probably should be organic.

I was surprised to hear the Foo Fighters sing "Big Me" the other day. Last time in town, Weezer was on the bill with them and they sang the song. But I always liked the video.

"Big Me"/Foo Fighters



Exercise Yard

I would think Brad Friedel is the most famous soccer player from these here parts. He just signed with Randy Lerner's Other Team.

Visitor

8 Down: Garr of "Tootsie" (4 letters) Answer: Teri

After I trimmed some hedges this a.m., I set about to do a little grocery shopping. Mainly to get some steak at Giant Eagle. I was trying to buy some olive oil, as well. Thought for sure I had seen some at Marc's and it might be cheaper. I couldn't find it, but I did buy the 625-pack of Q-Tips there. BTW, how do those people stay in business?

Then I went over to Giant Eagle. Couldn't find any there, knew they had it though. Asked a worker, who took me to it. Why is it in the coffee aisle? Bottles of balsamic vinegar are elsewhere, shouldn't they be like peanut butter and jelly? I hate when I can't find stuff there!

Meal of Links

The Times of London says, "We don't live there." Has the story of John Edwards sex scandal. Gives every newspaper and network in the USA the greenlight to report it.

We've had some nice weather lately. How about a smoothie or a frozen drink. I must admit the picture of the Banana-Split Cake looks pretty good.





















The gang at Fire Joe Morgan really loves the Casey Blake trade. And I'm speaking of love in a rather snarky way. He did defy the odds by getting 2 hits yesterday. But whiffed twice and hit into a double play today.

The lesser-known 5 Best British Gangster Movies. I've seen "The Long Good Friday", "Sexy Beast" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". Saw a piece (ha, ha) of "Layer Cake" before I had to run off somewhere. All worth the time.

Exercise Yard

Fell asleep before I could see Margarito-Cotto over the Internets. Sounds like a great fight to catch on the replay next week.

So, today I watched the Brickyard 400 from Indy. Mostly after the Indians blew a game in the ninth inning. For some reason this year, games against the Twins have fascinated me enough to watch almost the whole game. Very strange. I think the Indians have lost most of those, BTW.

As for the race. What the hell was with those tires. They called about 7"Competition Yellows" because the Goodyear tires sucked today. They could barely go 15 laps before averting disaster, so the race was kind of a dull one. Not a whole lot of racing.

That's two races where the fans at Indy have been hosed. The F1 debacle of a few years ago also comes to mind.

I'll watch Carlos Sastre take the Tour de France in a few minutes here. And wonder why Cadel Evans didn't attack in the three weeks of the race.

Visitor

None, a rather nice summer Sunday.

Last night, Best Friend and I saw the Foo Fighters. I had seen them earlier this year in Nashville and yes, it is still the same tour, which is finally winding down. Dave Grohl told us he made sure Cleveland was booked on a weekend so we'd be able to sleep in this morning. I made it till 7:30 a.m.

Foo Fighters

As I've said, you know it's a rock and roll show when Dave Grohl is in town. And, in typical Foo Fighters fashion, it was.

The Venue: Quicken Loans Arena. The home of the $12 premium double shots. This venue has definitely improved with the addition the new seats. Of course, I think I sat for one acoustic song, so seating doesn't matter. It's location, location, location.

Dave Grohl: As usual, Dave was quite the entertainer. He went about six songs before he stepped up to the mike for some communication. That's when he promised us "2+ hours" of music.

"We're gonna play old shit, new shit, acoustic shit, rock shit". During the acoustic portion of the program when they use the alternate stage at the other end of the floor, he mentioned, "Hey, these shitty seats aren't so shitty anymore, huh?"

Also during the acoustic set, we got the triangle solo once more! You don't see that very often and now I've seen it twice. Dave, "That's pretty fuckin' good. Especially for an instrument you learn in the third grade." He also introduced Kelly Pavlik, the reigning middleweight champion of the world, as Dave said, "Please, don't hit me.". They brought him up on stage and he greeted us with an "O-H". Here we go. Anyhow, he wouldn't stop talking and they were finally able to get him off the stage. He promised us when he fights Bernard Hopkins the Foo Fighters would be there with him.

Dave (from Warren, OH) also introduced his Dad at the end of the regular set and said without him, well, we wouldn't all be together last night.

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 "7/25 Cleveland". 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. Are they gonna do one song? Then Tyler Hawkins gets into the act. Eventually, they decide three is enough and they come back on stage. Very similar to the Music City show

The Tickets: We were in Section 108, Row B. Awesome seats. this allowed us a pretty good view of the main stage, but an excellent view of the acoustic stage, which was to our immediate left. We were quite close. Their female fiddler looks very nice from that range, I might add. The seats were folding chairs, which we didn't really use.

The Crowd: No need for the chaperone hat. But some of the upper section was curtained off. Not many sections in use up there. The floor was not overly packed, and the clubs and mid-level were not jammed either. I'd estimate about 10,000 were there. Lots of bandwagon room left. Greatest hits album drops in November, so we'll see if there are any latecomers to the party.

Mr. T.

Probably a good time to drop the jibber-jabber and watch Mr. T and the Foo Fighters fighting foos.



The Sound: I really do think the new seats have helped this venue soundwise. I didn't notice any harsh sounds and the acoustic set was especially clear. I was able to hear Dave Grohl's screaming and cussing with no problems. The main band's sound may have overpowered the additions, at times, but didn't distract too much.

They had two opening acts last night. The first was year Long Disaster. The second was Supergrass. We did not arrive until both of them were done. Although the lead singer from Supergrass participated in the Foo Fighters encore. We were in our seats barely 5 minutes before the Foo Fighters started.

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 the area where the circular acoustic stage is slowly lowered into use. As Dave said, 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. While Grohl plays the to "Skin and Bones", walking down the ramp with his guitar, the stage (with full load of mikes and instruments) is descending from the heights. He does the vocals on that stage, and the band follows him down there. They do a really nice job with the arrangement.

As I said in Nashville, the Foos are now an eight-member band for this tour. We have four guitars, including Grohl up front. We have the female strings player, on the right. 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 and all of the acoustic portion.

The Music:: A consistently strong performance once again last night. Terrific version of "The Pretender". The overall setup and conclusion of "Skin and Bones" was a joy to watch. The acoustic version of "My Hero" with the crowd joining in gives me the tingles. Grohl's SOLO version of "Everlong" remains stellar. Of course, "Monkey Wrench" and "Best of You" were also great. They did a slower version of "Big Me" for an encore, which they did not do in Nashville.

Setlist:

(Main stage)

Let It Die
The Pretender
Times Like These (First three songs, same as Nashville)
No Way Back (Not played in Nashville)
Learn to Fly (Folowing two songs, same order as Nashville)
Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)
Young Man Blues (The Who song, not played in Nashville)
Long Road to Ruin (Not played in Nashville)
Breakout (Moved further down setlist from Nashville)
Stacked Actors (Same as Nashville)

From this point forward until the encore, the show mirrored Nashville.

(Acoustic stage)

Skin and Bones
Marigold
My Hero
Cold Day in the Sun
But, Honestly
Everlong

(Main Stage)

Monkey Wrench
All My Life

Encore:

Big Me (Not played in Nashville)
Bargain (Yes, The Who song. Gaz Coombes from Supergrass with the vocals)
Best Of You (Same conclusion as Nashville)

Drops from Nashville:

This is a Call
Keep the Car Running (Arcade Fire)

Additions in Cleveland:

No Way Back
Young Man Blues (The Who)
Long Road to Ruin
Big Me
Bargain (The Who)

It shows how a lengthy tour keeps fresh over time.

Once again, a great performance by the Foo Fighters. Very high entertainment value for the dollar. First-rate music, toss in some antics from the band, and a terrific atmosphere makes for a fun time. Hard to believe you could walk away disappointed after one of their shows.

PD review is here.

Meal of Links

Looks like bombs away in old Bombay. Seems to be a religious reason for the actions.

What's this? The NFL is airing games over the Internets. F-R-E-E, that spells free.

Melt gets some pub. I'm jonesin'.

Exercise Yard

It looks like Casey Blake won't be getting used to that new locker of his, after all. He was traded today to the Dodgers. Not sure there will be a public outcry on this deal.

I believe Jake Westbrook remains the Indian with the longest tenure.

Visitor

14 Across: "I and the Village" artist (7 letters) Answer: Chagall

Here is what Barack Obama said in Germany today.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, McCain didn't forget Poland. No, he forgot Afghanistan.

Actually, I'm not sure either image resonates too much with the average "Americans is stupid" voter.

Meal of Links

It's over. Skip Bayless must be stopped. Why is the Four Letter even covering this?

The French have turned their backs on the 35-hour work week. I'm sure there will be strikes soon.

NASCAR fans are still having trouble stomaching Toyota. Having Kyle Busch drive them angers these clowns even more.

Exercise Yard

Today was the 25th anniversary of the Pine Tar Game. It may have been the only time I thought an umpire was about to be killed by a player. I recall George Brett saying he was "gonna go out there", if they had nullified his go-ahead homer.

Of course, they did. Then he did. The continuation of the game was a mockery as Ron Guidry even played the outfield. Might have been Billy Martin's last gasp as a manager.

Visitor

36 Across: "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" actress (5 letters) Answer: Cates

I just finished watching the replay of today's Tour de France. Today's stage featured probably the most famous climb in cycling, the finish at L'Alpe D'Huez. They hadn't been here in two years and it's always a pretty good time when they show up. This is a stage that packs a lot of history as Hinault has won here. Lance won this stage twice, the last on in insane time trial. The yellow jersey this year coming in was Frank Schleck, who won here the last time.
















It's just an awesome stage. 21 hairpin turns, crowds numbering towards a million, nutbags running aside the bikes. All this after biking about 185 km to climb an Alp. Basically, it's chaos. Today was no different. Carlos Sastre attacks right at the bottom of the hill and swept to a margin of over two minutes to claim the yellow jersey from Shleck the Greater. Keep your eye on Andy, the Lesser Schleck, who finished second today. That kid can fly and looked like he could ride it again afterward.

Really neat stuff. With the final time trial coming up, it looks like Cadel Evans of Australia will win.

Meal of Links

Every once in a while, I'll be watching a music doc and Bob Gruen tends to show up. Who's Bob Gruen? Well, he's a photographer who shoots terrific rock n'roll pics.

I was half-watching a cable news show last night when someone casually mentioned that John Edwards had a love child. WTF? So, I searched the crawls for the next 10 minutes to find some sort of breaking news. It seems the Enquirer broke the story. But I'll be damned if I see any mainstream media outlet touching it.

Rush visits "The Colbert Report". Backstage, they play "Tom Sawyer" on "Rock Band".

Exercise Yard

It's hard to believe the Browns started training camp today. Also hard to believe the EPL starts in three weeks. Here is the fall TV schedule.

Man U and Chelsea at 9:00 on Sunday, September 21. Mark that one down. Browns don't play a roadie until 4:00 that day.

Visitor

25 Down: Skater Sonja (5 letters) Answer: Henie

I understand it costs a lot of money to produce a sports program. Especially with the Olympics in Beijing. But do you find this trend of not having announcers at the venue disappointing. I thought ESPN should have had someone onsite for Euro 2008 and the broadcasts came off OK, except the match where the thunderstorms knocked it off the air! Seemingly, Plan B was never considered that day.

Anyhow, NBC is not sending over announcers for 10 events on Olympic coverage. They include archery, badminton, baseball, equestrian, fencing, handball, shooting, soccer, softball and tennis. Some basketball games also will be called off monitors in New York. So, do we see these people stand outside of 30 Rock for their intros and follow them back inside for the play-by-play? I realize these are minor events, but why does women's softball (in its last year as an Olympic sport) rate higher than some of these. I'm just askin'.

Meal of Links

Well, it's the end of an era. "At The Movies" (yes, it was still on the air) will not have Richard Roeper anymore. And, of course, Roger Ebert, as well. Cleveland had pretty much given up on this show several years ago, relegating it to odd weekend overnight hours, if at all, on Channel 3. I think the last time I saw the show was on the Reelz cable channel.

I picked up some Frostie Root Beer yesterday. I needed to wash down some Turkish Taffy. Not really, but Frostie is pretty good cold, in a 12-oz. bottle.

Headline from The Onion 39 years ago today. Still amazing today!

Here is the look of the average daily newspaper. Somehow, I thought that Lifestyle/Feature number would be increased a whole lot more.

Exercise Yard

Seems like the University of Iowa athletic department told an alleged rape victim don't report it, we'll investigate in-house. Here we go again. Why these schools continue to mess up is beyond me.

Visitor

54 Across: Barney's Mayberry boss (4 letters) Answer: Andy

OK, I'm back. Been busy the last few days.

It was a Polkaless Happy Hour at the Happy Dog on Friday. Not much of a crowd at all.

Yesterday, it was a packed and significantly older crowd at Polkafest at the Debonne Vineyards. Definitely will go back there.

This morning, Gale and I headed over to Our Lady of Crocker Park for the early Sunday morning showing of "The Dark Knight". Several heathens in attendance. It's interesting when you're convinced Hollywood has run out of ideas, the return to the comic books has resulted in the most interesting stories out there. These days, they must have the best characters. I mean "Iron Man", "Hulk" and "Batman" have been really enjoyable this year.

"Batman" really took a leap to the darker side with "The Dark Knight". It was terrific. I thought it was a pity party with all the pre-release chatter about Heath Ledger. Forget about it. He's as good as you've heard, probably more so. In a year where there aren't a hell of a lot of Oscar candidates, he's on the short list. They wrote him an outstanding role.

And I like Christian Bale in everything he does. Saw him in a trailer for the next "Terminator" this morning, as well. Save that for next year. He is so far from TV Batman, it's ridiculous. I think he fits his role like one of Batman's gloves. Good work from Gary Oldman who becomes Commissioner Gordon and Aaron Eckhardt also does a great job as Harvey Dent. Mix in Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman and there you have it. Like I said, you start getting these wonderfully developed characters and combine that with the acting ability to pull it off, and you have yourself a wonderful franchise. And it looks like $155 million in Weekend One. That is not shabby at all.

Meal of Links

Is Africa becoming a Chinese colony? It seems there are 750,000 Chinese currently living there.










It's Laker Girl tryouts. I think the person on the right is trying out for something else. A SoCal job for sure, but not necessarily for the Lakers.

I'll watch virtually any sport. Not sure about Chess-Boxing though. "Queen's Bishop Hook to Right Side of Face" doesn't have a good ring to it.

Are folks really changing vacation plans this summer? I just realized it's halfway through the summer and I haven't taken any extended time off all year. Oh sure, a day here and a day there, but really not much. Going to have to re-evaluate this. And soon.

Are we done with the financial crises for a while. I could not believe my 401K actually made money for the last quarter. I consider that lucky.

After some polkas last night, I relaxed even further and cranked up The Who. A band I have heard deliver excellent covers of theirs in the past, Pearl Jam (have you heard of them?), does a great job with their music. I'll eventually get to the VH-1"Rock Honors" show, but here's some Pearl Jam.

"The Real Me"/The Who



Exercise Yard

If you can't get near a TV during coverage of golf's majors, I highly recommend (again) Jason Sobel's blog on the dotcom version of the Four Letter.

Padraig Harrington defended his British Open title. And the tournament had a lot of storylines, even without Tiger.

Visitor

None, it was still steamy today.

Steven Page of BNL got busted for cocaine possession. Saw them last year. All I know was the guy lost a ton of weight and was scampering about the stage the whole show. And even the other band members mentioned he may have been the sweatiest person alive.

Meal of Links

Amy Poehler will be on "The Office" spinoff. Which looks like it's not a true spinoff. I don't know what it is, but she's on it.

Bizarre suicide attempt. Gun used in suicide would float away by the use of helium balloons. It didn't work. Oh, he died, but the gun got snagged nearby by a bush.

Ten places in the U.S. that you must see. I'm 1-for-10, as I've been to the Oregon coast.

Is this rock bottom? Seriously, it's a vomiting reality show called "Hurl!".

Is Andy Dick channeling Robert DeNiro in his latest mugshot? Look at it closely. I say, "Yes."


















Bruce Springsteen stopped the Cold War and finally gets some affirmation. I am still waiting for my naming of Fred McGriff, "The Crime Dog", to be acknowledged.

Bjorn can't remember he was in ABBA. Probably a good thing, as I heard "Mamma Mia", the movie, sucked. Pierce Brosnan actually frightens me in that preview, BTW.

Randy Newman is apologizing for a song on his new record. It's called "Korean Parents".

Exercise Yard

Babe Ruth's last living teammate doesn't like the modern ballplayer too much. Calls them "caterwaulers". 1930 may have been the last time we saw that word in print. The word actually means to make noise like a cat in heat. Isn't that noise usually coming from the fans?

Visitor

16 Across: Baseball's Felipe (4 letters) Answer: Alou

Barack Obama is in the news today. First, there is a Newsweek poll that 12% think Obama is a Muslim and 39% think he went to a Muslim school and 12% think he was sworn in on the Koran. Because Americans is stupid.

And, of course, the The New Yorker magazine cover is causing some ado. I love it and think it's a genius example of satire. Why the hubbub? Who do they think reads The New Yorker? I hope that editor David Remnick does not issue an apology.

Meal of Links

Recast roles. This covers them all, I'd say.

"I'm at my Crib, MTV-style. Check out my "whips". Shhh, they're rentals."

Ten drunk people you do not want to meet. With picture goodness.

I give you the story of the Waffle House Wedding. Please watch the video. "Waffle House is as much a part of our life as our kids are." Apparently, smoking rates highly, as well. And the white shoes the one dude is wearing have to be the ones from the "Jimmy" episode on "Seinfeld". You know, the one where they thought Kramer was retarded. BTW, there's nothing like an ex-con making you breakfast.

Hey, it's July 14. That means...

"Bastille Day"/Rush



Exercise Yard

I just saw Josh Hamilton hit home runs for what seemed to be a half-hour or so. Not to take away anything from him, but he was hitting the pitches of a 71-year old. Grady Sizemore should have enlisted Bob Feller as his pitcher.

Here's a look at Hamilton's pitcher. It's pretty cool the guy got to participate. And the legend of Hamilton from crack addict to All-Star grows even more.

BTW, the best line from Home Run Derby was uttered by Chase Utley of the Phillies: "Boo? Fuck you!"

Visitor

9 Down: Hathaway of "The Devil Wears Prada" (4 letters) Answer: Anne

Yesterday, my Dad and I went to our family reunion, north of Pittsburgh. This is actually my Mom's side of the family. Attendance has been dwindling over the years and I think this year's count ranged from 22 to 25. Not sure where the extra three people came from or who did the counting or if alien abduction was involved, but that's what I was told. I ran out of fingers and toes to continue beyond 20.

There are a couple of things that usually happen. Since, it's always in July, it's guaranteed to be hot. It has been as high as 105, and normally flirts with the lower 90's. Same thing happened yesterday, but we were saved by some cloud cover and it wasn't as awful as expected. Oh, it was a scorcher, but not death-defying. The other thing is since it is so hot, the threat of rain is usually at a peak. No lie, some of the worst rain I've ever driven through has occurred on the way back from this event. Of course, last evening, I barely got to Streetsboro before the skies emptied.

But we are in quite the quandary of wondering if we should continue the reunion on an annual basis. Because attendance is really taking a hit. I am in the camp of once you start skipping years, it's too easy to blow off. Kind of "out of sight, out of mind". For instance, the last one I made was in 2005. We skipped '06 and I had a conflict in '07. So, I felt obligated to make this one. Honestly, something better comes along in 2009, I'm probably not there again. Therein lies the problem.

The food remains wonderful, but we have it in a place that does not allow the serving of alcohol. Sure, that's a detriment, and not a real reason not to attend. But it would be nice to have a beer or two. The older everyone gets, there is a sense of not wanting to do any activities. You don't have enough people, it's too damn hot, etc. These days, it consists of driving, or in my case, speeding there, eating, chatting, then speeding back. Yesterday was the earliest I've left, right before 5:00. So, there remains a sense of is it becoming worth it on an annual basis. My time in the car yesterday was starting to get close to how long I was actually "reunioning".

For once, I don't have any answers. I think the younger folks just aren't interested anymore. Sad, but probably realistic. Cleveland is always proposed, but that means a higher percentage of attendees needs to hit the road and there were rumblings of gas prices. Shoot, 240 miles isn't gonna kill anyone's budget, I'd say. But attendance would dwindle even more if it were here. And I just don't agree with skipping years. So, it's a stalemate.

So, back home today, what happens? I get the dreaded flat tire! I was coming back from Marc's (where I saw Marc himself today) and I avoided a large piece of debris in the road. However, I hit something else and started hearing things. Pretty much sensed it was a flat. I wondered if it was the slow leak or hissing variety. Got out of the car and crap! It sounded like a train whistle. At least I got it home to change the tire. It appeared that I had driven over a Ninja star. Didn't see any lurking about, but I must have been targeted somehow.

The other thing today was I am making my daily rounds and while I was walking, I see a neighbor I hadn't seen in a while. As I passed, I asked him how he was doing. Unbeknownst to me previously, he reached up to his throat and while he didn't have the cancer kazoo, it sounded like one. OK, if that wasn't bad enough, I noticed myself actually watching his hand slowly, agonizingly, go to his throat. Subtlety is my game, you know. Ugh! I hope my transitionals (and boy, do I like the photographer chick on that commercial) were dark at that point. What a stupid I am.

Meal of Links

Terrorist threat? What terrorist threat? You know if we think that, the terrorists win.

"Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues." The blues is dying a slow death in Chicago.

In Japan, people are dying from working too much. Maybe they should move to France.

Canadians aren't all that interested in having a melting pot. Don't worry, they still like pot.

Exercise Yard

The All-Star Game is being held at Yankee Stadium, in its final year. But how about some love for Shea Stadium, in its final year?

Visitor

None. Another sunny Sunday.

Well, Ronnie Biggs could get out of the can by Valentine's Day. That means, my Dead Pool may be responsible for Kevorkian and Biggs getting released. Currently, I have Jimmy Traficant. Look for him to serve his full sentence and be released.

My Dad had some tickets to the Tribe game tonight, so I tagged along. The good thing was Cliff Lee was on the mound. I have been to three games without a loss and now make it four, as the Indians won, 5-0. It was a game of agonizing length, because not a whole hell of a lot happened.

Oh yeah, Tampa's Jonny Gomes misplayed three balls in rightfield and that led to some runs for us. Not sure he has played much out there, but he was a butcher out there tonight. Jhonny Peralta homered and doubled early. Other than that, it was a yawner. My Dad still has only one less RBI than Andy Marte. But on the way in, I high-fived some kids who were hanging out of a window at the Thirsty Parrot. Then I asked my Dad if that made me a kid toucher and we decided no. Hey, we also got a glowstick. I guess for the fireworks we didn't stay for.

Meal of Links

Even pilots hate the TSA. Just get me through the line quickly. Thank you.

How did I miss this? Elvis Costello gets a show on Sundance. And there's also "Architecture School". I remember using our Architecture building's bathroom many weekends after drinking. And seeing people I knew on occasion, slaving over their projects. Not in the bathroom, but in the big room where the exit door was located.

Jerry Springer gives up on freaks. "And here's to you, Maury Povich. Our nation turns it's lonely eyes to you. Woo woo woo."

You can see the "Dark Knight" at 6 a.m. I like these sort of breakfast meetings.

The Superficial (NSFW) always makes us laugh. Read the comments for a laugh riot.

It is rather annoying when the House DJ plays shitty stuff after a good concert. I am reminded of the Jacobs Field days when the last out was recorded in a loss. What comes on? "Can't Stand Losing You" by The Police. Instantly.

Exercise Yard

If you think you can order dog in Beijing during the Olympics, you can't. At least, at official Olympic eateries. Which means there will be plenty to go around elsewhere.

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53 Down: Two-time N.L. batting champ Lefty (5 letters) Answer: O'Doul

I started to watch the Tour de France again this week. I got to see protesters on the course the other day, so outside of doping scandals, it's business as usual. Chipotle is sponsoring a team and I'm not sure if you want to ride behind them.

Take a peek at tomorrow's stage, Stage 6. That should be fun to watch.

Meal of Links

20 healthy foods for under a buck. Well, I did have broccoli today.

Seven movies based on true stories that are complete bullshit. Even though "Hurricane" is fictitious, I knew that goin' in and I still liked it. I'm a sucker for anything boxing-related on film.

The Four-Letter gets an earful. Somewhat of a rehash, but can we get them to show less poker? I see "World's Strongest Man" is in heavy rotation currently, but I'm down with that.

Speaking of sports on TV, how about 3,600 hours of Olympics? Doesn't that seem like overkill? However, 75% of it will be live (including primetime beach volleyball). They've even roped in Oxygen as one of their family of networks that gets some coverage. CNBC gets the boxing again from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m. Teddy Atlas did a great job on the Sweet Science in Athens and hopefully he'll be along this time.

Check out the folks running for this British election. Mad-Cow Girl is running, so is the current Miss Great Britain, one guy thinks Bush is the anti-Christ and so on.

Exercise Yard

This got near zero coverage in the States as far as I know, but Randy Lerner did a fairly noble thing with his Other Team. As you know, soccer franchises sell the marketing rights so a company can advertise on a team's uniforms. Aston Villa had an Internet gambling company as its uniform sponsor since Lerner took over. It's a fairly big deal, as most teams get upwards of 2 million pounds.

But this year, Lerner tried something different a la Barcelona, what with all the money pouring into the EPL these days. Aston Villa will have their uniforms adorned with the name of a local Birmingham children's hospice called Acorns. That is pretty cool. Plus, the jersey looks really nice.

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20 Across: "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" host (12 letters) Answer: Ty Pennington

It looked like Armageddon on the way home this evening. Lots of wind and rain. Easily a couple of inches around the Turnpike and 77. It is a bit disconcerting when mayhem is all about and then the Polecats come on with "Make A Circuit With Me". Hard to concentrate on the task at hand.

Speaking of the car radio, now that Tony Kornheiser is off the satellite until January, I am back in Bob Edwards mode on XM. Today, Liz Phair showed up. She has a unique experiment currently, because she re-recorded her first album from 15 years ago, "Exile in Guyville", added a few tunes and filmed a mini-doc about it, as well. Good stuff. Hadn't seen Liz since she showed up on a Bob Costas show on HBO a couple of years ago. She's definitely on my dirty list.

Meal of Links

I like Spam. I like sushi. I wonder if I'd like Spam sushi.

Jack White offers up a poem for Detroit. Then again, you have this guy.

How to win arguments. I maintain waving your hand while saying "Bah!" works pretty well. At least in my mind.

Solar-powered TV. Can you imagine lugging that back in from the deck every day?

Bob Barr is polling at 6%. Libertarians rejoice.

"Borat" is back. I mean "Bruno". How are people still falling for this stuff? Anyhow, it sounds like it went off better than they could have planned.

Tim Goodman writes about the San Francisco Giants broadcasts. There aren't enough words to describe the STO effort locally.

Exercise Yard

More announcing. It is amazing how the Internets works. For instance, we have two hilarious guys calling, of all things, NBA Summer League games and they already have a buzz about them. Please NBA, do not crack down on them!

I've always thought you needed the SkySports FanZone concept as alternative audio on local sports. I'm tellin' ya, the right combination of fans would outdraw the regular broadcast teams. Wouldn't you like to hear me say Shin-Soo Choo is the "Asian Trot Nixon" just once over the airwaves?

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20 Across: '60s activist gp. (3 letters) Answer: SDS

I got to watch a lot of the Indians games the past several days. I'll break it down over the All-Star break, but let's say for now, it is a pain to watch them. Injuries offer the easiest excuse, but there's a whole lot more going on. Just a note, it appears that Grady Sizemore decided he couldn't be an All-Star hitting .262. His at-bats the past week have him parroting Manny Trillo's games march to the 1983 All-Star Game, which he started. He ended up going with a .270 average, after banging out 8 hits in the last series before the Midsummer Classic. Six weeks later, he was traded.

Speaking of traded, the Indians finally bit the bullet and traded C.C. Sabathia. I liked Captain Cheeseburger the last few years. I also liked how my Dad always referred to him as "our so-called ace". But it was obvious the way this season turned out, he had to go. I'm wondering if he becomes the first star free agent we have traded during their free agent year. I think he is, but cannot be sure. Milwaukee is smelling playoffs and had to make the deal before someone else did. Their fans are absolutely stoked! Do you think it's a sellout in C.C's first game there? I bet it'll be close.

Looks like the Indians got Matt LaPorta, AA outfielder with some power. This guy's on-base percentage is a shade over .400 and he slugging near .580, but Huntsville has a lineup that is absolutely loaded. Also Taylor Green is a third baseman who was the Brewers Minor League Player of the Year in 2007. Probably worth a September callup on both counts. We also got some other dude, as well.

Meal of Links

Seymour Hersh details the plan against Iran in The New Yorker. It's a lengthy read and don't know how much of the info is new. However, we have your covert ops, secret Democratic permission, and, of course, we are cozying up to dissidents who have been against us in the past.

How Prozac delivered a head fake in the treatment of depression. It might not be the serotonin, but the rejuvenation of brain cells that Prozac helps.

Rick Moranis refused to perform in the "Ghostbusters" video game. Why? Because he's rich, bitch and he's retired.

Exercise Yard

This year's bad All-Star picks. The Jason Varitek pick is really abysmal. He is resembling last year's Trot Nixon at the plate these days.

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None, just a beautiful sunny, summer Sunday.

Baghdad-by-the-Zoo survived another Independence Day. It seems the populace has dissed the louder fireworks for the more professional "puttin' on a show" types. Sounds better until you consider these amateurs have no idea how high these things go (some seemed awfully low before explosion time) or how windy it might be.

I spent most of the day by my Dad's. Where we tore into some burgers, ribs, corn-on-the-cob, slaw, baked beans, watermelon, and his famous iced tea. Later on, my brother and niece stopped by for some root beer floats using that Duetto ice cream. That's good stuff.

Of course, a highlight on July 4th is always watching Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, probably the grossest thing I see all year. This was an event that was mainly seen as a taped special on Discovery for many years. They never hesitated to show people getting ill, known as a "reversal". Maybe not graphically, but you knew what was happening.

Since the four-letter has carried it live the last several years, it is reaching a much wider audience. The color announcer on these broadcasts is hilarious. The guy kills me every year. They had a faith-based contestant he described as the "Billy Graham of Ham". He called the defending champ, Joey Chestnut, the "Clay Aiken of Bacon" and alternatively, the "Chikezie of Greasy". He also said "They attack those dogs like Lindsay Lohan attacks a mini-bar." And the graphics for each contestant are great. The old-timer in the competition once ate a gallon-and-a-half of chili in 10 minutes. Good God!

Although I thought Kobayashi won, they called it a tie. He probably couldn't argue because his mouth was full. Then, it seemed rules were made on the fly (A Dog Off?) and Chestnut won again. Then I realized it's only a Hot Dog Eating Contest and decided to enjoy the moment.

Quote from the on-site announcer: “Gas is 5 dollars. You can’t eat tomatoes. But the Mustard Belt will stay in America and that’s good enough for me”.

But my favorite Kobayashi moment is from the late, lamented series "Man Vs. Beast". Kobayashi takes on a bear in a hot dog eating contest, but it's Michael Buffer's intro from the "main scene of cuisine" that has stuck with me since the day I heard it. Remember, the bear "doesn't know he's in a competition".



Meal of Links

All is not great working for Google. Take the price of in-house day care as an example.

This guy says Starbucks is getting what it deserves.

Ruhlman talks about cast iron for cooking. I don't have any presently, but have been thinking of grabbing a skillet. I was watching that PBS show, America's Test Kitchen and they had these selections.

Exercise Yard

I thought the Indians version of the Stars and Stripes cap looked spiffy last night. Too bad they suck. BTW, it's not that Joe Borowski was a bad signing. He was a bad signing for two years. That noodle of his just wasn't cutting it this year. See David Delucci for other signings that were too lengthy. Toronto was not forced to wear a Stars and Stripes cap, because the Blue Jays cap had the Maple Leaf.






















This is what modern athletics has to face with the steroid issue. Dana Torres becomes the oldest swimmer ever in the Olympics and it only takes one to pee on the parade.

The Tour de France starts today. Google Maps with the route.

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Not sure what that was in today's PD. Certainly not a Saturday crossword. Oh, Saturday's solution was in, just not the actual puzzle, which forced me to go online.

13 Down: Joe, first A.L. catcher to win a batting title (2006) (5 letters) Answer: Mauer ("The Chairman")

Happy Independence Day to all! And be careful around those illegal fireworks.

Well, it's getting dark and the illegal fireworks have started. So, let's get crackin'...

Meal of Links

In time for the 4th, Mark Bittman shows us a bunch of dishes to take on a picnic. Looks like some ingredients I do not have at my disposal.

Your July 4th TV marathons. Do not forget the Hot Dog Eating Contest at Noon on the 4-Letter. SciFi with "Twilight Zone". Again.

Someone stole the gravestone of Ian Curtis. "Damn you, eBay!"

A tribute to awful late '90s hits. Lou Bega, Hah! I have hated that Harvey Danger song for a long time, it seems.

"The Fly" is now an opera. Boy, that seems interesting, doesn't it? Can you sing "What's that thing on your back, Seth?" though.

Viacom will soon know everything you've looked at on YouTube. Seriously. So, with that news and because I failed to mention Canada Day the other day, add another one to the list. And someday in a car, if you're lucky, you'll hear me sing along to this song.

"Red Barchetta"/Rush



Exercise Yard

After the NBA's Seattle Supersonics have bolted to Oklahoma City, in the words of Bill Goldberg, "Who's next?". The usual suspects are rounded up.

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19 Across: Obi-Wan portrayer (4 letters) Answer: Alec

"Hancock" was on the bill tonight, as my Dad and I ventured over to the Regal at Crocker Park. I thought the trailer for this one looked pretty good and it sorta snuck into theaters today for the "Special Advance Showing". Ads keep touting July 2, so it's a way to beat the crowds and catch it early.

I am running about 60-40 on old "Hancock", which clocks in at a snappy 92 minutes. The good parts involved Will Smith destroying things while saving LA from disaster. Therefore, most of what little humor there is, fell into his lap. I thought Jason Bateman was pretty good as the PR guy who wants to remake Hancock into a more well-liked superhero. Charlize Theron is just OK in her role as Bateman's wife.

I'm still trying to figure this movie out. The CG was pretty lame, I thought, and the plot takes an unexpected turn about halfway through and I'm still determining if it was for the better. At this point, I'm leaning towards no. The plot veered off into heady territory, as if they didn't know what movie they wanted to make. So, the movie suffers from that point forward, at least for me. Like I said, Hancock in any form, before or after makeover, is good. I'm just not sure there was enough of him.

Meal of Links

WOXY counted down the Top Modern Rock 500 again this year. I think it's a good list and you can listen to the archived broadcast.

Bowie, oddly enough, talks about songs by Bowie. This article accompanied a compilation distributed in Sunday's Daily Mail. My Sunday paper contained an Aldi's circular, for a reference point.

AMC is remaking "The Prisoner" into a miniseries. Why not just rerun the originals again? Caviezel plays Number 6. Ian McKellen plays Number 2, lending a ton of credibility to the project.

We may never see a Starbucks on every corner. They've decided to slow down on expansion.

Over half of those who participated in a psilocybin study say the experience was great. Cosmic, if you will.

The New York Times had some info from Heinen's the other day. Looks like Trader Joe's is now competing with something called Fresh & Easy. Sounds like a women's product.

Exercise Yard

I thought this was interesting. An article on baseball in Venezuela.

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39 Down: Singer Tori (4 letters) Answer: Amos