I have had a bit more time to digest McCain's pick of Sarah Palin as VP. And I'm still not sure I understand it. It is hard for me to fathom that there are Clinton Democrats who would go with the R's just because there is a woman, any woman, on the GOP ticket. I thought recent polling had McCain doing OK with Independent voters, so I'm not sure the choice adds more voters to his side with Independents. We always hear about female Reagan Democrats, I mean, is Palin enough of a choice to get that bloc, whatever those numbers are? Seems puzzling to me. And to add a pro-lifer with abortion as the number one topic with only 3% of the voters is a reach.

And to take Obama's experience off the table by adding Sarah Palin could be a major mistake. As I say, forget about the 3 a.m. phone call, what if McCain can't wake up for his 6 a.m. alarm? She's the next President? I don't think so. Personally, I see it as a major blunder.

And the creepy rumors have begun. Was Palin really pregnant for a fifth time or was
she covering for her daughter? I can't even believe someone came up with that one, but thought I'd let you know. It seems all the stops are gonna be pulled out with this election.

Other thoughts on the choice:

From Politico.

From The Huffington Post.

From an Alaskan.

And, of course, a MICHAEL Palin reference:



Meal of Links

Mr. and Mrs. Mix are in town and we headed late over to The Harp last night. They seemed to have a partially new menu there, I could be wrong. Any, I tried their Root Beer Float. This is Three Olives Root Beer with cola. It was just OK, there needs to be a better companion than cola.

The 20 Best Seasons in the last 20 years of TV. Thought there would be a "24" or a "Seinfeld" in there. I'll vouch for "Arrested Development" and "Twin Peaks" Season One made it. BTW, Monday's ride to work was most enjoyable. Bob Edwards re-ran interviews with David Lynch and Terry Gilliam in the same hour. Great stuff. A list of Bob's recent shows.

Let's hope not. It looks like Nawlins is about to be tested again. This seems like a diagonal hit and not a direct path like Katrina, which means lingering effects.

Exercise Yard

NFL Cuts. Browns let go Travis Wilson, no surprise to me. David McMillan and Lennie Friedman the other names to go. Terry Cousin made it.

Visitor

45 Down: _____ Callender's restaurants (5 letters) Answer: Marie

Browns-Bears Game

Having the 4th preseason game at home is always a pisser. You are basically watching the future mechanics and recreation workers of the world fight to see who will be on the practice squad. But I prepared myself to watch the first half and, hopefully, take away some knowledge. So, here it goes.

Shaun Rogers is one large human being. Not quite the stature of Ted Washington, but close. Against the Lions last week, he was a one-man gang. This week, meh. Handled one-on-one, the Bear center would seal him off to the right, with the back hitting the hole behind him to the left. Essentially, Rogers would penetrate, taking himself out of the play. Didn't see any double-teaming on him.

Brian Griese was known as "Dink". I think Brady Quinn may be "Dink II". Could the Browns have run any more of a vanilla offense early in that game? The only new wrinkles I saw were the quick swing pass to Jason Wright to open the game and the option play to Jerome Harrison for the Browns only TD. Lots of slants and other short balls. Don't get me wrong, the dink game moves the chains and eats a lot of the clock with high-percentage passing. It's just that you won't have the high-stakes offense of Derek Anderson when Quinn is in there. Your RBs and TEs catch lots of balls in that scenario. Effective, but not very exciting.

And Quinn missed an obvious TD pass to Kellen Winslow. I had the view from behind Quinn and you could see Winslow curl behind the defender at the back of the endzone and become wide open. Winslow was "as open as Denny's" and any Quinn pass, no matter how awful, to Winslow's right was six points. He threw it left and it was incomplete. A really bad miss.

Rex Hadnot went down with an injury. Don't know how severe. But we have Ryan Tucker in reserve, shouldn't be an issue.

Travis Wilson had a showcase when Quinn was in there. Caught three short slants, which is a chore for him, I know. Then he went back to his old self and dropped a sure TD from Ken Dorsey. I think he remains in trouble.

Brandon McDonald had another interception on a severely underthrown ball. I am still not sold on him.

Browns depth looked shaky in the second quarter on defense. Although the Bears second offensive unit did have Rex Grossman, the other Adrian Peterson, and Marty Booker in there. They made it look easy, putting up 10 points.

Beer is $7 this year. Hot dogs are $4 and Soda is $5. Each concession stand now has a name like the "Pizza Stop" or "Gridiron Goodies" or some other nonsense.

The Browns typically won't reveal their logo scheme until the opener. The field was logoless, perhaps for the college game this weekend. Two small NFL logos at the 25. And the NFL logo on the referee's caps. Is that new this year? Seemed so.

For the Heroes segment, they brought in all of the current Ohio astronauts. That was kinda neat, as there were nine men and women. They could can the Lee Greenwood song already, but you take what you can get.

Flags were half-mast for Stephanie Tubbs-Jones and there was a moment of silence, as well.

Both teams were introduced as a unit, no individual introductions. The entire Bears team and the Browns offensive unit came out as one.

Pre-game introductions had some new animation, with Brownie the Elf prominently featured, trapping a Bear. Get it? He was also part of a "Dee-Fense" chant, slamming big fists onto the ground, or was it a play table?

Highlight reel featured "Gimme Shelter". Before the introductions of the Browns, "Eminence Front" was played. That was all new. "Thunderstruck" was played before the kickoffs. That was not new.

Oh yeah, it was Bears 13, Browns 10.

Meal of Links

The highlight for me was stopping off at Steve's for some chili dogs on the way home. Way too early for the sideshow, however, as there were only two people in there.

The Obama coronation last night was pretty cool. How can the R's compete with that show? Especially when John McCain can't raise his arms because of injuries he suffered "living in a box for five-and-a-half years". The speech itself was OK. Thought the first 60% was really good, especially attacking McCain, then sort of went deep into policy and sputtered toward the finish. Best audio on the speech was CBS, but it kept cutting out. Thank you, Time Warner Cable!

I give Fox News, yes, Fox News, credit for not starting their analysis until everyone had left the stage, post-speech. CNN, as well. I understand the major networks have limited time, so they need to jump into analysis posthaste. Shame on MSNBC, where is the legacy of Tim Russert? Why would Keith Olbermann declare it the best speech since Moses while they were still on stage? That's Fox behavior. How about some decorum? MSNBC was very disappointing this week to the point of irritation. While they kept saying we are awaiting Obama's speech, C-SPAN and CNN had a clear graphic showing the start time of the speech, including Dick Durbin's intro. Bad production all around.

The Pretenders have gone country. Well, at least, roots. Album drops in early October.

Exercise Yard

Even Roger Ebert hates Jay Mariotti. He may be dying, but he can certainly still write. I love that man.

Visitor

23 Across: Conservative columnist Goldberg (5 letters) Answer: Jonah

With the Olympics and now the convention, I gotta get out more. But this is not your father's Democratic National Convention. I was absolutely shocked to discover that one of my favorite parts of the convention, the roll call of the states, must have started about 5:30 Eastern. WTF?

There's nothing like watching each state have someone who drops names of their favorite in-state politicians, toss in their state nickname, perhaps throw in a celebrity from their state, give some historical perspective, then proudly pledge delegates for the candidates. Only to be followed by that creepy lady, who repeats the vote total in an absurdly enthusiastic manner.

The other part of the coverage this year I do not like, is the constant talking over of speeches. C-SPAN obviously shows all, with CNN showing the most, by far, of the cable news networks. John Kerry spoke tonight while Chris Matthews was simultaneously holding court on MSNBC. Jeepers, he was the nominee last time. He failed, but how about a smidgen of respect?

Meal of Links

I set aside my bunting and put down my straw hat and stopped convention-ing a bit to watch the latest installment of "Dinner Impossible". In this episode, Michael Symon went down to Nashville and cooked a dinner based on the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". Of course, he had to cook that for Charlie Daniels pre-concert and 300 post-concert Opry guests.

Could not have been too tough, I mean, have you seen Charlie lately? Not exactly on the South Beach Diet. These shows are fairly harmless, in that any crises that may come up, seem to be concocted. Everyone gets fed, fed well actually, and then goes home happy. But it is neat to see what type of a menu they come up with.

I am not Dr. Sci-Fi, by any stretch of the imagination. But here are 10 Underrated Sci-Fi Movies. I agree with "Gattaca" being on this list. Hardly even see this one on cable anymore. "Sleeper", "Silent Running", and "A Boy and His Dog" also good choices on the list.

Angel from "Dexter" talks about acting. He used to be an NYC cop.

Anthony Bourdain talks about everything. Including Rachael Ray. Again. I never get tired of that.

Labor Day Marathons:

Jerry Lewis, consult your local listings.

"Scrubs" on TV Land.

TNT has "The Closer", while TBS runs "House of Payne". What, no "Family Guy"?

"Mad Men" runs on AMC on a catch-up Season 2 Sunday at 5:00.

The "Fred Essentials" has already started on XM Radio today.

VH-1 has "80 hours of '80s" starting on Friday.

SciFi has "Star Trek: TNG", while Discovery has "Dirty Jobs".

Travel Channel has "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations".

Spike has "CSI", but isn't that every day on Spike?

But the weather is supposed to be fine, so get out there!

Exercise Yard

Why the biggest stars of the NBA will never go to Europe. A nice economic study.

Different in the EPL, where Abramovich seems to be buying the entire free world. The latest being a $58 million deal.

Visitor

52 Across: Mayberry gas station attendant (4 letters) Answer: Pyle

Wait for it, wait for it...punchline!

Some random thoughts.

I made meat loaf last night. Not parade-worthy, by any means. But I do recall my Dad, all of a sudden, not liking my Mom's recipe, claiming, "I dunno, it tastes different." Very Frank Costanza-ish. Thus, the quest for the ultimate meat loaf took place at several establishments, most ending in obvious disappointment. Especially when said loaf was accompanied by "smashed potatoes" unbeknownst to he who ordered it.




















I was reminded today of this Russian Olympian, pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva. Trust me, NBC showed her for maybe a minute. Clowns.

Let's hope this does not happen. It's early, but Hurricane Gustav may hit New Orleans the first night of the Republican Convention.

The story of Tom Brady's assistant. I guess it's not creepy. He's some sort of Svengali.

Time Warner Cable gets the Big Ten Network. Will somebody remind them the NFL Network is not on their system? And why did I get USA in HD for the Olympics, only to be yanked when U.S. Open Tennis starts? The "lack of bandwidth" excuse is wearing thin.

World Weekly News proclaims Obama's brother-in-law is Bat Boy! I have my doubts.

Meal of Links

"The Big Lebowski" nears its 10th anniversary with a new DVD. Jeff Bridges still has the sweater.

15 types of prison inmates. Sounds unusually like college to me.

The best movies of Robert Downey, Jr. With they hype of "Iron Man", they limited it to seven. Good inclusions on "Wonder Boys" and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang". Probably missed by not including "Two Girls and a Guy".

I don't know if it's that popular, but the last two times I've visited Giant Eagle or Marc's, they have no Kozy Shack Chocolate Pudding. That is good stuff and it kinda sucks when you see only tapioca or rice available. I hate tapioca. I'd even eat the Soy Pudding, if it was available.

Exercise Yard

Might be the first time that "Dancing With The Stars" has no athlete advance very far. I think Maurice Greene will probably go the longest. Don't they know Ted McGinley is the Show Killer?

Visitor

48 Across: Ross MacDonald sleuth (9 letters) Answer: Lew Archer

It's so tough being Becks.




























































Although it appears to be from two different time events (venues? years?), he has that, "Oh, Christ! How much is this gonna cost me?" look going on at the end.

Well, the Olympics are finally over. I'm typically not a fan of the closing ceremony. You know, the athletes all come in as one under no flags and everyone's supposed to be happy. Just gives people an excuse to look stupid in front of the cameras. But, it was nice that NBC finally aired boxing on the big network today and showed the finals. And they even showed a "Teddy's Corner". Cool.

Meal of Links

Here is a woman who has 200 orgasms a day. This was from an article a while back, there doesn't appear to be an update. She was probably busy.

Blaine is back! This time, he's hanging upside down on a highwire for 60 hours and obviously the finale is on TV.

Check out SI's series on what their writers will remember about the Olympics. Nice stuff under the "Olympics Memories" header. Great quote from a Chinese soccer player: "We play soccer like the Brazilians play ping-pong."

This is so funny, you would think it's fake. Fox News sends a reporter into the middle of a protest at the Democratic Convention in Denver. Reporter: "Hey, that's not necessary." after "Junior Melendez" swears at him. He keeps saying, "Don't you believe in free speech?". Yeah, they have the right not to talk to you, clown. And nothing like asking masked protesters, "What's your name?". Then a "Fuck Fox News" chant starts.



Exercise Yard

I happened to catch the USA-Spain game for the basketball gold medal this morning. Not live, but on the HD Olympic Basketball channel when I woke up. It was a surprisingly close game, at times, in the 4th quarter until Kobe Bryant took over.

But what I take away from the basketball tournament was the medal ceremony. The Argentina team with their bronze medals and Spain with their silvers, and both squads looking absolutely tickled with their medals. No disappointment there. And the U.S. team, all of those mini-corporations, looking like little kids who just won their first prizes of any kind. Makes you wish for the good old days in a way, when sports was not run like the big business monster it has become.

Visitor

None, perhaps the laziest day of the year.

Today pretty much concludes Olympics viewing, except for men's basketball (at 2:30 a.m.) and water polo. Saw Argentina win the gold in men's soccer. Saw some men's diving. Happened to catch the last round of dives. A USA guy hit the water shaped like a 7 on his last dive. Now, I'm no Klaus Dibiasi, but even I know when you hit the water shaped like a 7, that ain't a good dive.

And no one calls a field event better than Dwight Stones. So, what does NBC do with the women's high jump? Gives it short shrift, that's what. Women's jumpers, of both the high and long varieties, have the best female athletic bodies going and they show, I don't know, six jumps. Idiots! I want more jumping shown from London, dammit.

Other than that, I saw a bunch of Kenyans win medals. Men's marathon, men's 5,000, men's 800, women's 1500. Thank goodness, the USA won both 4 x 400 relays, that was good stuff.

So, with the Olympics winding down, what did we learn? Change the scoring in boxing! No trampolining. No BMX racing. My reply to the greenlighting of "action sports" to increase viewership among the young, is why not have competitive eating? You could have a different food item each day for two weeks, ending with hot dogs. That is how preposterous some of these events are. And with 2012 from London, how about more live events? Of course, by then, who knows how they will be delivered.

This may be my favorite moment from the games.

Cuban taekwondo guy, a former gold medalist mind you, gets banned for life for kicking a judge in the head! You get a minute for injury time and he took longer. The dude's coach later said the ref was too strict. Hah!

(I take no responsibility for the soundtrack.)



Leona Lewis sings and Jimmy Page plays "Whole Lotta Love" later. And even Becks shows up.

Meal of Links

I like Obama's choice of Joe Biden as VP. Sure, he can be verbose. But he's got the judiciary and foreign relations credentials that look very appealing. Probably forces McCain to go with Romney, but he knows.

Toronto's infamous bike thief is behind bars. Reminds me of that Flobots song I hate, "I can ride my bike with no handlebars, no handlebars..."

Creep factor ratcheted up to high last night. So much so, I had to turn the Olympics off and watch. Why? Because IFC decided to show "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer". In primetime, no less! That's usually slated, literally, for the graveyard shift. But there they were at 9:30 p.m. Henry, joined by his friend Otis once in a while, littering the Chicago landscape with bodies. Apparently, the entire police community of the Chicagoland area was on sabbatical for months at the time. This is one of the disturbing movies ever.

Siskel and Ebert review "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer"



Exercise Yard

What's to say about the Browns? They didn't look so good today. I will stick by my guns and say it's only exhibition season, let's not panic yet.

We have to realize we didn't have some starters at the skilled positions on offense. That will be more worrisome against the Cowboys in the opener, but not today. Brady Quinn looked so-so. And not much happened on offense. They really didn't show a lot, either, but the execution was not good.

On defense, the first-string looked pretty good against the run, except for one bad pursuit that resulted in a 35-yard TD. That also happened late in the game on a 40-yarder. What remained shaky was the pass defense, especially at the corner. Not ready to say we are in serious trouble there, but that may be an issue come September.

I'll be at Thursday's "playing for spots" game.

Visitor

49 Down: Tomahawk twirler in a memorable "Tonight Show" segment (6 letters) Answer: Ed Ames

Without any boxing on the Olympic broadcast when I arrived at home after work, I decided to tune into the train wreck that is MSNBC's lighter look at the Olympics. This program is already an Internets legend. Bad scripting, awful ad libs, bickering between hosts results in a fantastic collision of things that result in perhaps the worst television production ever.

It is hosted by Tiki Barber and someone named Jenna Wolfe. They have as good a chemistry as Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman had in "The Avengers". They are hideous together. I happened to see a segment on Olympic fashion. OK, whoever the producer was who decided this was a good idea should have known how the hosts would handle it. They had a highlight of synchronized swimmers and Jenna asks Tiki if the sequined outfits would influence the judges. He went from a firm "No." to "Maybe." in the course of 40 seconds, which included stammering, dead air and further insipid prodding by his co-host.

Then they bring up what Michael Phelps wears, basically saying he's in the pool half-naked. First of all, he has no judges in his sport, and second, the clip they show is Phelps at an event where he is wearing the full bodysuit! I mean, is anyone in charge or at the very least, paying attention to the crap they are putting on the air. It's only day 13.

I guess they also have a piece of the "Today Show" as well. I saw a clip where the talk surrounds medal count. Jenna reports she doesn't care about medals, because unbeknownst to Tiki, she's been wearing his Super Bowl ring all week. Tiki then dutifully replies he's never won a Super Bowl, rendering that joke immediately lame. Later on, it's Jenna and Tiki joined by Brian Williams to talk about medal count. Jenna gives Tiki some grief for arguing with her, but not the exalted Brian Williams. I believe Tiki then tells Jenna, "See you next Tuesday!".

I'm telling you, this is epic TV.

Meal of Links

Keeping on the Olympic theme. The 50 Hottest Female Olympians. I conducted the Hope Solo Test and was about to render the list incompetent. Then I saw Hope Solo (gold medalist, BTW) at #2. The list is now deemed, "Very nice!".

We were talking about Pop Tarts at work yesterday. I am always confounded by the fact it is difficult to find the non-frosted ones, of which I believe there are three flavors remaining (Strawberry, Blueberry, Brown Sugar Cinnamon). Now they've gone to the ones with the tops split into two types of frostings. Sheesh!I am not buying these every quarter or anything like that, but once in a while, they taste OK toasted. But here are some foods that probably tasted better when you were young.

Hey, Snoop got busted for weed.

Exercise Yard

Gene Upshaw died today. Of course, keeping with the Cleveland tradition of getting the lesser relative, the Browns didn't get Gene, we got cousin Willie.

When I was a kid I was a huge Raider fan and Upshaw was a large part of the Raiders success for a long time. Played in Super Bowls in three different decades. Clearly one of the best guards to ever play in the AFL, then NFL. Should be on tons of all-time teams. Think of that left side of the line: Jim Otto at center, Gene Upshaw at guard, Art Shell at tackle. I think even I could gain positive yards behind those guys.

Probably gained more fame as head of the NFLPA, hammering out the current labor deal. But he was one of the all-time greats. Al Davis chimes in:

"The Raider Organization, the National Football League, and the world have lost a great man. Gene Upshaw’s career successes as a professional football player and a union leader are unparalleled. He is as prominent a sportsman as the world has known. He was and will remain a part of the fabric of our lives and of the Raider mystique and legacy. We loved him and he loved us. We will miss him. Our hearts go out to Terri and the boys.”

Visitor

62 Across: Manfred ___ Richthofen (The Red Baron) (3 letters) Answer: von

I think I've stumbled upon NBC's formula for their prime-time schedule. Sure, they sprinkle in track & field events, but basically they are showing long-form events. First week, NBC scheduled lots of swimming and, good for them, they were able to convince the authorities to roll with swimming events in the mornings of Beijing. Therefore, live events meant you could tune in to see Michael Phelps as it happens.

But this second week has gone kinda goofy. They still were able to sneak gymnastics in there again tonight. It's a long-form event, because of all the different competitors and teams means different scores and on and on, but tonight was an exhibition. I hate exhibition sports, because, uh, they don't count. As a matter of fact, I'm already dreading next week's Browns game.



























Beach volleyball (and it's about time I used a gratuitous adjustment shot), same thing, games up to 21 keep some people interested. Hell, I even watched the women's marathon on Saturday, mainly because it was live and even though one woman ran by herself for ten miles to win it. And tonight, it's diving. Live, but again, an event that goes on interminably. I think they decided to have longer events on that may keep folks tuned in for the outcome. Then they can switch to track for 10 minutes at a time and head right back to the silly stuff. Thank goodness, I haven't seen any trampoline or BMX yet. They are eliminating baseball and softball for that. I was wondering today, is field hockey still an Olympic sport? How about team handball?

I don't know if it works. I mean, I'm still in "My Dinners With Teddy" mode and boxing is long-form. Four two-minute rounds and then the next bout starts. But that's on non-prime time cable. The network schedule probably makes people mad. Then NBC looks at the ratings and flips us off.

Meal of Links

What if ESPN had the Olympics? Well, they would not be tape-delayed. I could see wall-to-wall coverage over the family of Four-Letter networks. Of course, let's see their bid for the EPL first.

Ah, Kate Beckinsale is on vacation. This, of course, after more talk about her vagina. Seems she went out commando-style, and thought maybe the paparazzi had some photos.

The best songs in Olympic commercials. Of course, The Killers for Nike is in there. And Marvin Gaye, too!

These lights seem OK. But is it worth the effort? I dunno.

I think she's talented:




A school in Maryland has named their stadium after Art Modell. Surprisingly, the words "fucker" or "asshole" do not appear on the signs.

Exercise Yard

Usain Bolt wins the 200 meters. I am astounded by this guy's speed. And, by God, track and field needs a boost like this.

Visitor

24 Across: "Romeo+Juliet" costar (11 letters) Answer: Claire Danes

I was watching the Olympics tonight and saw a boxer bite his opponent! More of a Dracula attempt on the neck, probably because of the headgear. With Evander Holyfield in the house, no less.

Am I hearing things or did The Who allow one of their songs for a commercial with both Nissan and Honda simultaneously? I am confused. But I'm sure they are leaders in the clubhouse with the most songs ever used for ads.

And finally, I saw some Olympics ping-pong, er, table tennis. Did you know Nigeria once dominated African table tennis? I did not. But I did see a Nigerian beat an American. They play best-of-seven, up to 11. And no, they didn't play in Mao's basement.

Meal of Links

Russell Crowe is going to play Bill Hicks. Sounds early in the process, but I'd see it.

Here are some items you think are photoshopped, but they aren't. The most intriguing one has to be that airport in St. Maartens.

McCain is Bush, says Jack Cafferty on CNN. Excellent summary.

Exercise Yard

Could you imagine the Indians doing this? The Cincinnati Reds sent a letter to fans apologizing for the season. And it's not over yet.

It's like "I know in the last 12 months, we hired Dusty Baker as manager. We also traded Josh Hamilton, the Home Run Derby star, but we got a good pitcher in that deal. And two of our well-known players, Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey, Jr., well, we traded them too, because, quite frankly, we weren't winning with them. But don't forget about us, tickets are sold through September. See you at the ballpark!"

It'll never happen with the Tribe.

Visitor

51 Across: "Float like a butterfly" boxer" (3 letters) Answer: Ali

It's the new David Byrne/Brian Eno album:



Here is the website, if you desire more info.

Meal of Links

Thay have run out of ideas. The Banana Splits return. Only works if they play The Dickies cover of the theme song.

Hey, what's going on at the Olympics? This is startling to see. Anyhow, the USA swept the hurdles. Always a cool event, Angelo Taylor overcomes a lot and duplicates his gold medal from eight years ago.

The diet that works. Cut out: bread, muffins, bagels, pasta, rice, potatoes, cereals, vegetable oils, beans or anything in a package—empty, high-calorie foods with a high carbohydrate content.

Exercise Yard

The Browns? Relax, it's an exhibition game. Damn Brown pants. Burn them.

Visitor

53 Down: Bryan Ferry's band, ____ Music ( letters) Answer: Roxy

A song that must be played loudly, I think. Check out Eno in the video.

"Do The Strand"/Roxy Music

I actually went to the Target at Steelyard Commons. Hadn't visited Steelyard since last October, but I must say, there were plenty of people shopping down there. I don't know if it can be viewed as a success, but the turnout surprised me. Looks like plenty of room for growth down there, as well.

Zoiks, a Chick-Fil-A opens there in November! Hey, that's cool. They have a Jimmy John's, IHOP, Chipotle and Steak 'n Shake already for food intake.

Meal of Links

I read an obit like this and I think hoax right away. It's on the website of the Vallejo Times-Herald though, I guess it's legit. Must have been some kind of woman.

Obama tells Wesley Clark, we don't really need you anymore. He isn't even going to the convention.

Can tastelessness sell at the box office? "Tropic Thunder" does $26 million this weekend. We'll see if it's sustained after school starts.

Exercise Yard

Cheating in NASCAR. I didn't think the Nationwide series ran in China.

BTW, I watched even more Olympic boxing over the weekend. Sort of an exercise in self-torture because the scoring is so bad. For everyone. Only one American left.

Visitor

None, the EPL started today.

Starting to watch more Olympic coverage. I saw the Raynell Williams fight at the Olympics. As I said, he seems like a nice kid from Cleveland, but lost a controversial match to end that dream. I watched it and I didn't notice anything particularly heinous about the decision. I would have loved for that to be the case, but it only underscored how difficult, bordering on unfair, the scoring can be in these bouts.

Once more, both fighters seemed to land blows that the judges failed to score. Williams was tied after the first round, 1-1, where even the announce crew said it could have been 6-6 at that point. He had to make up ground in the final round and his French opponent got on the bike and that was all she wrote. I think Williams has some good pro potential. He's very active and I think his style fits the pro game. I hope to see him continue boxing.

Meal of Links

I noticed that Sweet Basil Pizzeria had been getting some good pub lately. It's on the corner of Center Ridge and Canterbury. so the men in my family took a drive. Awesome pies, man. Thin crust in 12 or 18-inch size. Fresh ingredients are the hallmark here. I had my standard-bearing pepperoni and jalapeno to try it out. Short beer and wine list. Maybe 12-14 tables with a few booths. Doing a brisk business. I recommend it highly. It'll make you forget the chains.

A Woody Allen primer. And they actually mention "Love and Death". And "Zelig" gets a shoutout.

The Bigfoot press conference. It sounds pretty much like a hoax. Again.

The Obama campaign continues to rake in the cash. July results: Obama-$51 million, McCain-$27 million.

Exercise Yard

OK, now that Track & Field has started in the Olympics, I am there. Tip of the hat to Nike for having Steve Prefonatine in their commercial. Anyhow, I saw Usain Bolt win the Men's 100 Meters. This dude is incredibly fast and he's only run the race a handful of times. World record in 9.69 and he was out for a stroll and even pulled up at the end. This was the most insane track event I've witnessed since Michael Johnson's 200 in Atlanta in 1996. Absolutely stunning.

Look at the distance Bolt won by. Incredible.


















Visitor

30 Across: Noted club founder (9 letters) Answer: Sam Walton

I was at the Indians game where they were soundly thrashed by the Orioles. Again, the bullpen screwed it up. This time Perez and Mujica blowing it up in the eighth. Mujica still recovering from that Tampa debacle, it seems, and Perez was due for a bad game.

The beef I had with Wedgie is he knows the bullpen sucks but doesn't give the team a safety net by automatically backing a pitcher up. In other words, Mujica enters the game. Why not have the next guy start warming up immediately? I mean, what track record of Mujica's gives him confidence that he can survive an inning unscathed? It shows me they need some arms out there. Everyone is probably gassed. Although Wedgie pulls this crap as early as Game 1, so go figure.

Meal of Links

Hey, they found Bigfoot. Well, at least we think it's Bigfoot. Press conference on Friday.

StubHub has the 20 most rockin' U.S. cities. Miraculously, Cleveland ranks 20th, with the upcoming Jonas Brothers show the Number 3 best-seller here. Richmond and Indianapolis rate higher.

College? Bah! Waste of time. Save your money, buy a house, learn a trade.

The DNA hair samples from Anthrax Guy don't match. So, they still can't link him directly.

Exercise Yard

Well, the EPL starts this weekend. A look at the financial situation of all concerned.

Visitor

23 Across: "Sevastopol Sketches" author (7 letters) Answer: Tolstoy

I was going to Cinemark at the early evening show to see "Tropic Thunder" and at the eleventh hour, the men in my family joined me. A good thing, too, because it was hands down, the funniest movie of the year. I liked "Pineapple Express", but that was a short reign. And "Tropic Thunder" was pretty good film making, as well.

The main characters are introduced by various means. The rapper-turned-actor, Alpa Chino, in a commercial for a drink called Booty Sweat. Then the fake trailers started. Jack Black as Jeff Portnoy in the Eddie Murphy-like "The Fatties: Farts II". Ben Stiller as Tugg Speedman in the action franchise "Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown". And Robert Downey, Jr. as "5-time Academy Award Winner" Kirk Lazarus and "MTV Best Kiss Award Winner" Tobey Maguire as two monks who fall in love in "Satan's Alley". All of these parodies were excellent. As was an Access Hollywood report on their current film detailing trouble on the set, which delved into the actors pasts.

Black is pretty good. Stiller is the old Stiller (finally!) and I haven't seen him this funny in years. Downey is well, you have to see him in this one, truly a comic genius. But it's got all the elements. Number one, a comedy that actually produces mega laughs throughout. It also has memorable lines that will sustain it, like Downey's advice to Stiller about his acting in "Simple Jack", "Never go full retard", the "R-word" being the source of many protests. I think it hits on all cylinders.

And the supportng cast, outside of Steve Coogan who was merely OK as the director, not a dog in the bunch. Danny McBride (the highlight of "Pineapple Express") is back as a demolition expert who almost blinded Jamie Lee Curtis on "Freaky Friday" and can't afford another movie mistake. Nick Nolte as the grizzled war veteran who wrote the book the movie was based on. Matthew McConaughey as Tugg's agent (Speedman's name appears as "Tuggernuts" on his phone), Rick "The Pecker" Peck, is quite good for a change. And in an absolutely over-the-top role as the studio mogul, Les Grossman, is Tom Cruise who reminds an assistant "a nutless monkey could do your job". I'm tellin' you, every time you think Cruise is finished due to bad publicity, he comes up with a gem and gets back on everyone's good side.

I think this is the strongest comedy to hit the theaters since "Borat". A great time at the movies.

Meal of Links

This guy really likes condiments. I mean, a lot.

Another commentary to legalize drugs. This one from the UK.

You wanna learn a foreign language? Try Norwegian, it's easy.

Exercise Yard

NBC thinks China is Fantasyland. Probably won't speak negatively, until everyone is back home. And the checks have cleared.

Visitor

45 Across: "A German Requiem" composer (6 letters) Answer: Brahms

Cue the Olympic theme, despite the wrongly-displayed flag by someone who should know better.
















Now that the Olympics are upon us, it's 2 weeks of "My Dinner With Teddy". Yep, CNBC is once again doing boxing fans a big favor by running boxing from 5:00 to 8:00. Bob Papa with the call and Teddy Atlas doing the analyzing. This time, it's also being simulcast on Universal HD. Where else can you hear Teddy say, "When you are in the ring, you want to be the ocean. You do not want to be the log."

Of course, Olympic-style boxing is so frustrating to watch because of the scoring. Several clean blows by one participant do not get counted, while some shady blows by the other do count and then it switches the other way. And once someone attains a clear lead, that guy gets on the bike virtually eliminating any chance of a comeback. I've seen some interviews with members of the US team and it's a good group to rally around. Raynell Williams from Cleveland won his first bout easily and in his interview looked like he collected every Olympic pin he could find. Seems like a really nice kid.

Time Warner also getting into the action by adding USA Network in HD and offering two additional HD channels for the Olympics. One shows all the soccer, the other, basketball. In addition to Universal HD and NBC HD. Saw some archery the other day. They are pointing those arrows directly at you.

And it has nothing to do with boxing, but the cheerleaders are back at the beach Volleyball venue.































Meal of Links

I saw "Pineapple Express". I must say, it's the funniest film of the summer. OK, not much competition out there, but, you'll laugh at this one. And Seth Rogen is only the third funniest guy in the movie. Danny McBride steals the movie as "Red", a drug distributor. And James Franco, as Rogen's dope dealer, is the best stoner in the movies since Brad Pitt in "True Romance".

Good supporting work from Gary Cole and Rosie Perez, and Kevin Corrigan and Craig Robinson ("Darryl" from "The Office") as Cole's henchmen are choice. They also found a girl who reminded me of a young Scarlett Johansson, Amber Heard. Ed Begley, Jr. with a memorable scene, as well.

I really enjoyed this one. Some hilarious scenes involving getting high and it eventually turns into a buddy flick. The final scene where the three guys talk about what just happened in the movie is so unforced, because that's what guys do. Talk about stupid shit they never forget. I think this one's got legs on the DVD and cable circuit.

Here are the Top 75 Sports Movies. Surprisingly, "Murderball" is No. 1. This documentary is so good, I just caught it again on cable within the last two weeks. It is followed by:

"Touching The Void"
"Bigger, Stronger, Faster"
"Offside"
"Raging Bull"
"Million Dollar Baby"
"Bull Durham"
"Hoop Dreams"
"Lagaan"
"Surfwise"

With all of the celebrity deaths lately, one that got lost in the shuffle was the passing of Bernie Brillstein. His book, "Where Did I Go Right?" is a classic. And, fittingly, his memorial service was a hoot.

Exercise Yard

Olympic track and field is next week. That's when the real fun begins.

Visitor

22 Down: James of the Old West (5 letters) Answer: Jesse

My Pittsburgh Visit

I spent the last few days in Pittsburgh. Specifically to attend the New American Union Festival. This was sponsored by American Eagle and was curated (is that the right word?) by Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Not sure how he hooked up with them or vice versa, but there you go.

The thing that always strikes me about Pittsburgh is when they undertake construction projects, it's not the local truck filling potholes with hot patch. No, they tend to rip up roads that alter lives. As you can imagine, I used Google Maps, recalling the devil known as Mapquest. Unfortunately, they don't update construction-laden routes, as I soon found out.

Seemingly hitting every interstate in the region (480-271-80-76-79-579-279-My Ass 79-376), I found myself in Downtown Pittsburgh. My hotel was in Oakland (by some colleges and UPMC medical), on Boulevard of the Allies. Which is great, till you find out your road has been closed (demolished, actually), which means follow the detour signs. Well, these signs keep taking me further away, but I'm not noticing any exits to dive off. Hence, I find myself eventually going through the Squirrel Hill Tunnels. Which worked out, because you can yell "Fuck!" out the windows in a tunnel and it sounds excellent. Upon exiting the tunnels, the detour signs finally appear again, which basically takes me back through the tunnels, only the other direction this time. In a much happier mood, I tested how far XM lasts in a tunnel like that. I got about 30% coverage. Eventually, I made it back to Oakland and arrived at my hotel.

The Quality Inn University Center is one of those reliable hotels that dot the landscape. Nothing exquisite, but it had a bed, running water and air conditioning. Of course, my room was right next to the elevator, silly. But, it also had a Panera attached, for that Asiago Roast Beef craving.

But, I learned my lesson with these roads on Saturday, when I visited IKEA. I decided then that I would take old friend Route 60 North back home to I-76. Much easier and less crowded. You do get to go through the Fort Pitt Tunnel, however. XM gets in that one about 75%, so in case of attack, head to Squirrel Hill.

Andy Warhol Museum

On Friday, I was at the Andy Warhol Museum for several hours. This had been on my list for a while, so I finally got there. It cost $15 to attend and their parking lot is $6. On Saturday, attendance cost only 80 cents, because it was Warhol's birthday week. They had cupcakes, too, on that day. But I'm not that cheap and already had it pencilled in for Friday.

And it was well worth it. They had two exhibits. One was by Piet Mondrian. OK, I'm not enough of an art freak to know why this guy is so special. I see an oil of a house. Then a couple of years later, eh, he does another house.

Then I see this:
















Doesn't that look like something we all could do. Oh yes, we may go over a line here or there, but I'm obviously missing something. They tell me it's special, but did he do this when no one else was painting rectangles? I'm not mocking, I'm just curious.

The other exhibitor was Glenn Kaino. Now, this I liked. 21st Century stuff using items like wave machines, sand, mashups of plastic model kits, a bigass wooden boat, and other really cool sculptures. I think they had maybe 10 or 12 of these things. Some were fairly large, and all of them interesting.

The special Warhol exhibition was Wild Raspberries. Warhol did the illustrations for a cookbook that was a mockup of French cooking, that was becoming all the rage back in the late fifties. They had a lot of original art from the book, that included a lot of items in the editorial phase, including page layouts, choice of fonts, sketches, etc. And they had lots of them, too. As I learned throughout my visit, the Museum does a great job of finding things.

Other Warhol exhibits were his Paintings for Children, one of his Time Capsules, and Early Pop. The kids items are self-explanatory. The Time Capsule project is fairly interesting. Warhol had access to tons of pop items as they crossed his desk. I guess people always sent him things for opinions and knew he hoarded stuff. So, he used to keep these boxes by his desk and upon his death, they learned he had 600 of these. The museum is currently opening them and documenting their contents. They will become available for public viewing in 2014, but if you look through the doors of the collection on the second floor, you see people painstakingly archiving their contents. Using the CSI-glove treatment, it appears.

The Early Pop section had the usual celebrity photos, but this was mid-to-late '80s era. My Dad would be proud, as he had several people eating in the photos. I saw Mel Gibson, Mick Jagger, Sting, and even an early Anthony Kiedis from 1985. That was a long time ago and I wondered how their paths crossed at the time.

There was also an exhibit called Silver Clouds. This was an air-conditioned room that had big foil pillows that you could walk amongst and do whatever you like. Stand amidst them, hit 'em up in the air, bash your neighbor, etc. That was fun.

There are also several back issues of Warhol's Interview magazine that you can leaf through. What would the Warhol be, if I didn't see some video? Each day there are rotating exhibits, with longer films shown on the weekends, I believe. They have hours on Friday nights with reduced admission and drinks, too. I was lucky enough to see two episodes (the pilot and Episode 1) of "Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes", a show I had erased from my memory. Strangely, I think it was produced for MTV. To be frank, the production values kinda sucked. These were probably done in the months before he died, so I think there are only a handful of episodes.

They had a Brady Bunch beginning with Andy and three guests looking around at the other squares. Lots of fashion world people, visits to a drag club, guests like Sally Kirkland, Debbie Harry, Jerry Hall, John Oates(?), Ric Ocasek. The Ocasek segment absolutely cracked me up. He visits Andy at a new studio, where Warhol seems to be in the early stages of renovation. Maybe, it was perpetually the case, but Ocasek is ever-so-polite throughout. He listens respectfully and compliments Warhol on his plans and how neat it looks. It looked to me like they had just got the keys and were still demolishing what had been there.

IKEA

On Saturday, I went to IKEA. I have now deemed IKEA the "Marc's of Pennsylvania". Well, you can't go in there for just one item. I didn't spend that much money, but certainly had a bagful of items to bring back. I needed some new glassware and a pitcher. Then I ended up with a bunch of small items. So, I helped stimulate the economy.

New American Union Festival

The Venue: This event was held at the SouthSide Works. Imagine, if you will, holding a rock concert in the parking lot of Trader Joe's at Crocker Park. Yep, that was the setup. They fenced in an unused parking lot in the corner of this development.

Apparently, the locals had been bombarded with stories about how terrible the traffic was going to be. No one could figure out if the stated goal of attendance of 10,000 each day would be met. Originally, you had to get two-day tickets. The price was not bad. $50 for adults for both days, students only had to fork over $25. I think that had changed to tickets for either day somewhere along the way. It was almost as if the dates were arranged, bands were booked, and then someone figured out they had no details. Of course, there were no logistical horror stories to be had. Acts went on at the appropriate times, there was plenty of parking and no traffic nightmares.

Allegedly, they were going to present films, have artists showing their wares, etc. I saw no evidence of this. Outside, they had a series of maybe five or six booths, selling Mexican food, gyros, pizza, smoothies, and hot dogs. I got a gyro on the way out on Saturday that was damn good. I think they limited the amount of these stands, so the restaurants in the area could do some business. For instance, Claddagh had a bunch of people both days.

My take on this is that SouthSide Works was probably built with a lot of promises. It's like a Crocker Park or Legacy Village. But, American Eagle has its headquarters there. However, I sense that it may not be meeting the original expectations, so American Eagle thought this might be a good promotion for the place. I mean cheap tickets for the young and there are condos available in the area.

Concessions: OK, everyone got a free water bottle and they had stations you could fill it up. For free, that's a good thing. That may have been it for the good. Well, you also had free outs, so if you wanted to take a break and come back, you could. Back to the provisions. For $7, you had your choice of Genuine Draft or Miller Lite. $9 got you a frozen margarita, I had one Saturday. $12 got you a yard of frozen margarita, then you would have to carry the glass. That was it for booze. Oh, bottled water was $3.50.

Food consisted of pretzels, nachos, Southwestern wraps (I didn't ask), veggie burgers (no regular burgers), and hot dogs. I dunno, I thought the concessions overall sucked.

Thank God, the weather was cool. That asphalt would have been a killer if it was 90 degrees.

The Crowd: First off, the Steelers were playing, so people actually wore football jerseys to the concert. That's a no-no to me. Anyhow, there were Ben jerseys and Franco Harris, Parker, Timmons, Miller, and Ward. Some idiot decided to wear a Randall Cunningham jersey.

And should parents go with their kids to concerts? I mean teenagers. Is that normal now. Let the kids have fun on their own. Wait for them at the Cheesecake Factory.

I'm not sure either night hit any mythical projected attendance numbers. It was decidedly older on Saturday because of Bob Dylan. I'd say maybe 5,000 Friday and 7,000 Saturday, I'm not sure. My annoyance was that Friday, it seemed people were into the music a bit more. Saturday became the social hour, maybe because of the longer schedule. From where I was at, very few people were even into The Raconteurs. After they were done, it was an exodus of many of the younger folks. And then many of the older people were still chatting. Loudly. I hope this isn't a trend. I mean, if you're there, pay attention. If not, give your tickets to someone who may enjoy a show. And the sight of babies at this show was a startler. Yes, infants were there. Hopefully with earplugs.

Kiedis says they'll be back next year. We'll see.

Friday, Day One

Tiny Masters of Today

OK, they are kids (brother and sister), but I'll crack on them anyway. I mean, they ARE opening up a rock festival. They were bad. I'm going to say the worst I've ever seen. As soon as I heard the female voice (she's 12), I thought, oh no, I have to endure this for 30 minutes. I guess her voice is supposed to be campy and I'm still searching for a comparison. The male singer (he's 14) had a Dead Milkmen quality to his vocals, which is fine. I think they were all going to wear Burger King crowns, but it was too windy and they blew off. They actually threw shirts into the crowd, probably as riot prevention. Their finale was House of Pain's "Jump Around". Remember the vocal quality I just described. Now picture your favorite cop show theme. "Ironside", perhaps. Remember the siren? Well, that was the part in "Jump Around" that the girl vocalized over Dead Milkmen guy urging us to "Jump around. Jump around. Jump up. Jump up and get down." while STANDING THERE, NOT MOVING! I quickly went for another beer.

NASA

I'm not sure what I saw with these guys, but I liked it. It made me laugh. Yeah, there's probably people who do this better, but I don't frequent their appearances. OK, this is two guys in orange NASA jumpsuits doing mashups on their Apples. Well, I'm not sure that'll hold for 30 minutes. So, they bring out two female dancers in halters and hot pants. Several minutes later, two other "astronauts" show up with water guns and they do break dancing. Finally, a monster appears. To me, it looked like a guy in a Sasquatch suit with a lizard head. More dancing ensues.

Samples, amongst many others, that I recall:

"Song 2"/Blur
"Push It"/Salt-N-Pepa
"Smells Like Teen Spirit"/Nirvana
"Magic Man"/Heart
"Rapture"/Blondie
"It's Tricky"/Run DMC
"Another Brick in the Wall"/Pink Floyd
"War Pigs"/Black Sabbath
"Baba O'Riley"/The Who
"Riders on the Storm"/The Doors
"Seven Nation Army"/The White Stripes
"Hey, Ladies"/Beastie Boys

The Black Keys

OK, now we are finally at a rock show. Akron's own, The Black Keys, were unbelievable. Nice backdrop logo of a Goodyear-looking tire with "Black Keys Akron, Ohio" on it. Kiedis says afterward, "Black Keys, if you're listening, that was insane!". He also said, "That was like watching Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock!" Oh, well. Anyhow, it's not difficult to see why Jack White has named them one of his favorite bands, because it's the duo, one drummer, one guitarist factor. Sort of a Larry and Darryl approach, without the other brother. They kicked ass for 45 minutes. Lots of bluesy type guitar work, but these dudes were great. No question, they were the highlight of the two days. Adding them to the must-see-again list.

The Roots

If you had asked me before this event, I would have said, "I'm not familiar with their work." I tried. Oh, how I tried. They are from Philadelphia and their sound is hip-hop vocals over some soul, maybe a bit of Earth, Wind and Fire and even big band arrangements.

My beef was the vocal style never seemed to change in the part of the performance I saw, regardless of the music. Some of the younger folks seemed into it, but I just didn't get it. After hearing them, I didn't think they should headline. I gave up on them after 50 minutes to grab some chow.

Saturday, Day Two

The Duke Spirit

Duke sucks, didn't see them.

Black Mountain

Didn't think I'd arrive this early, but I did. Again, they did nothing for me. They played for 30 minutes.

Gnarls Barkley

Probably the surprise of the festival. Although, I think the lead singer may need medical attention one of these days. Cee-Lo seemed to get tired real quick and sat for a bit. He and Danger Mouse had the Century 21 sportcoats on. Backup band had the sweater vest and bowtie thing going on. Even with Cee-Lo nearly dying, they put on a high-energy show. My beef and it's trifling, it's too much of asking us how we're doin, are we a party place, etc. It's just a way for a cheap pop from the crowd that irritates me. They are better than that.

But they were fine, both vocally and musically. "Crazy", "Gone Daddy Gone", "Neighbors" all good. They played 45 minutes and they were good.

Spoon

I like Spoon. I think they continue to get more and more airplay. I think "Don't You Evah" was one of the catchiest tunes of the year (hey, it's on their MySpace page). Loved "The Underdog" single. This band is really good live, as well. Horn section sounds good on the songs they were utilized. They mentioned this was the third time they had been to Pittsburgh in about a year. That reminds me, I think Southside Johnny is coming soon. I thought he lived here for a while. Back to Spoon, they also did a Stones cover of "Rocks Off".

They also did 45 minutes and I liked it very much.

The Raconteurs

I'm bullish on Jack White, but it would have been really good if they could have played longer than 60 minutes. Again, just a blistering set from these guys. Guitar work was out of control awesome. As I said, I'm not sure what the crowd was looking for. It appeared that many were drifting off during the guitar solos. I thought maybe Jack might have stayed around for a duet with "Bobby D" as he called him. Nope, didn't happen.

Bob Dylan

As usual, Dylan stands behind the keyboards and it gets increasingly difficult to hear him. Especially with all of the chatter. Overall, a pretty decent effort, but his Cleveland show last year was much better. Thought the band was much tighter that night. He's still in that Western swing mode and if you think he's gonna crank out your favorite hits, buy the records, it ain't happening.

He did "Summer Days", probably his most recent tune I like the best. "Rainy Day Women" was not done the old way, I tell you. And some more of his New Orleans stuff he has kept in the set a while.

Bobby D's ever-changing setlist:

"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"
"It Ain't Me, Babe"
"The Levee's Gonna Break"
"Spirit On The Water"
"High Water"
"Tangled Up In Blue"
"Honest With Me"
"Beyond The Horizon"
"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"
"Nettie Moore"
"Summer Days"
"Ballad Of A Thin Man"

Encore:

"Like A Rolling Stone"

Here's how I would rate who I saw:

The Black Keys
The Raconteurs
Spoon
Gnarls Barkley
Bob Dylan
NASA
The Roots
Black Mountain
Tiny Masters of Today

All in all, a good effort for Year One of the Festival. They claim video will be up on Tuesday. All the setlists should be available at that time. My suggestion is if you take a look at anyone, watch The Black Keys.

Looks like the "War on Terrorism" got a big conviction. Bin Laden's driver. Shouldn't we be taking all this money and effort and put it into actually finding Osama himself? That might put a big dent in the situation. Just a thought.

Meal of Links

I don't know if you saw the U.S. Olympic cyclists upon their arrival in Beijing. They already had their smog masks on. In the airport, for cryin' out loud! Maybe someone was there to bleach them. But it was pretty ridiculous. They apologized.

All about Old Masters and Young Geniuses. Pretty interesting.

Iggy had his gear stolen. That really sucks.

The Top 20 Albums. Again. Sales had a big piece of the criteria. Also, 50 One Hit Wonders.

"Seinfeld" rides the bus. And ever closer to the J. Peterman Reality Tour.

Exercise Yard

I'm surprised Carl Monday never investigated this. Weird headline, stranger story. \

Wait a minute, the Indians played this afternoon? Oh, let's see the score. Huh? They blew a three-run lead in the ninth?

Great game. Ryan Garko gets benched for not running out a grounder. Asdrubal Cabrera injures himself by tripping on the carpet and spraining an ankle. And the Tribe bullpen gave up six runs in the ninth, while getting no one out.

Double-Double-Homer for three runs off of Mujica.

Infield Single-Walk-Homer for three runs off Kobayashi.

I saw the replay tonight. Oh, that hurts!

Visitor

32 Across: Medal-winning Hamm (3 letters) Answer: Mia

He's like Elvis. He's everywhere. Hitler is back! This time, he's ranting about Brett Favre.



Meal of Links

The 5 greatest things accomplished while high. Hey, Dock Ellis clocks in at Number Two.

McCain isn't even trying to tell the truth these days. But he's still hopeless.

25 bands that are making America cool again. Some of these bands aren't so new, so I'm trying to figure this one out.

Blizzards for charity. On Thursday, DQ is donating Blizzard revenues to the Children's Miracle Network. Also on Thursday, the last of the Ruby Tuesdays gets demolished online.

Exercise Yard

Braves announcer Skip Caray died. Was there when the Braves were first on TBS, the Superstation! So, all the early cable adopters got to listen to Skip on the Braves and his Dad, Harry Caray, on the Cubs broadcasts.

If the Braves sucked, it was always, "You have permission to go to bed, as long as you promise to patronize our sponsors." If the Braves won, "It's cocktail hour!"

Visitor

5 Down: Laker teammate of Magic (6 letters) Answer: Kareem

I hope you realize the Indians are in last place. Geez, we are down there with a bunch of Sad Sacks, aren't we? The Nationals, Giants, Padres, and Mariners! Ouch!

But the front office suggests all we need is a "tweak". Last year, all of the area sports teams did well. Expectations were raised. Then the Cavs failed. Now the Indians. Next up are the Browns, whom one respected writer has in the Super Bowl. Then it's Cleveland State, where I have to believe they will be the preseason favorite in the Horizon League. We'll see.

Meal of Links

That Anthrax suspect died and everyone wants the case closed. His scientist friends say he isn't the guy.

Toyota made themselves a Winglet. It's slower than a Segway.

That Greyhound bus attack keeps getting weirder. That was one messed-up dude.

Exercise Yard

Lots of boxing to choose from last night, as both HBO and Showtime had cards. The key fight was the replay of Cotto-Margarito at Welterweight on HBO. Everything that had been said about the bout was true. It was a modern classic. You know, as Cotto had been marching through everyone to remain unbeaten, he had been getting hit quite a lot. Same thing happened in this fight. The difference is that Margarito never lets up, he just keeps coming in. So, Cotto would do some nice combinations, but he never got a break. I thought even in the the tenth round, the fight was still within his grasp. After that round, he asked how many more rounds there were and when the answer came back as two, I think he knew inside, he couldn't take it for two more rounds. He ended up taking a knee twice and it was over.

So, Margarito is now king of the hill. With Kelly Pavlik, that's an awesome 1-2 punch for Home Box. With Cotto's loss, he gets eliminated from the Oscar de la Hoya Last Fight Sweepstakes. No way he takes on Margarito. Have him fight Manny Pacquiao for billions of dollars. We'd all show up for that one.

I don't care for Zab Judah, so I skipped that fight. Joshua Clottey was ahead on points when there was an accidental butt in the ninth round, so he got the decision.

On Showtime, it was old favorite Vic Darchinyan, the baddest Armenian on the planet. He made quick work of Dmitri "Baby" Kirilov,knocking him out in the fifth. He's already signed to meet Christian Mijares at Super-Bantams in October. That should be a good one.

Visitor

None, another beautiful Sunday.

I played Miniature Golf last night for the first time this century with my new glasses. I hesitate to call it Putt-Putt, because I used to be pretty good at it. You know, that dark green carpet with the orange bumpers, nary a clown hole in sight, "Live it up! Play Putt-Putt." Gotta know all the angles to play well.

So, I had an opportunity to join the men in my family and my niece on an excursion to Mr. Divot. They had stationary obstacles, moving obstacles, even one with a Humpty Dumpty obstacle. Ugh! And with my new glasses, I couldn't read the greens properly.

I shot an awful 9 over par and my Dad beat by one. The only holes-in-one were tallied by my niece (who strangely enough shouted out scores of two and three on every hole, where I swear I saw more shots taken) and my Dad. My Dad's actually coming on a hole that involved bowling pins as an obstacle. Go figure. Anyhow, the course was not really a fair test. They had one hole involving a rocket. Actually, you needed to be a rocket scientist to hit up to this ramp to a platform that would empty your ball on the green. What a joke! That hole was responsible for most of my par overage. I may, no, I must take it up with the Commissioner.

I need my orange bumpers! This one is in Willoughby. I am so there.

Meal of Links

This is NFSW. A young lady (but it's the Internet, could be a guy) talks about porn and observes things critically. You don't see the phrase "genitalia spitting" very often.

The most influential indie albums of the '80s and '90s. Really good stuff here, I liked the list.

Did you happen to see the bear at the Senior Open the other day? There were no bear obstacles at Miniature Golf. They also had a muledeer pass through and a fox, as well.



Really bad time for this guy to be pulled over.

Could it be? Seems there might be potential for life on Mars.

Exercise Yard

I saw one of the funniest things ever on "Friday Night Fights" last night. Adonis Stevenson knocked down Anthony Bonsante with his first punch that landed in their bout. Not sure what the hell Bonsante was thinking. But he decided to lay down motionless with his eyes closed, as the ref starts his count. The ref gets to six, than stops the bout. All of a sudden, Bonsante hops up and starts complaining that he wasn't knocked out. I guess he decided to play possum. Why? I have no idea.

Here is the video. Go to about 2:22 for the fight.



Anyhow, the argument was just as funny as the decision. I had never seen that before. The bout lasted all of a minute.

Visitor

60 Across: Film featuring bikers Wyatt and Billy (9 letters) Answer: Easy Rider