Early this morning, while watching some soccer and addressing the crossword before Beck-A-Palooza, two noteworthy things occurred. The first is, I got a call on my cellphone which actually had the ringer on, so I answered.

The second was that Cousin Kevin was on the other end of the line and he had some news. He actually got engaged to Lisa. He said she finally put him into submission. I asked if it was the Figure 4 Leg Lock that finally got him, he admitted it was the Sharpshooter.

So, congrats to the happy couple. Looks like some 2011 nuptials for them.

Meal of Links

Katrina anniversary coverage. From the locals.

Major Garrett talks about moving on from Fox News. He and Shepherd Smith were about the only islands of sanity on that network.

A look at some guests on a new episode of "The Simpsons". Includes Flight of the Conchords.

Hungover owls! There are some gems here.

As I mentioned, I watched some of Beck-A-Palooza. You should always watch the other side, so you know what they are up to, and C-Span obliged. Anyhow here are some musings on the strange appeal of Glenn Beck. I think the guy is bonkers.

Parts of Mexico are pretty violent these days.

"Twin Peaks" revisited. Again. And I lap it up. Again. I love the clip they included. Lynch lingers on the pain of Laura Palmer's mother, where other directors, especially on TV at that time, would have cut away much sooner.

Sufjan Stevens has a new record. I will buy it, of course.

Chicks dig the geeky gadget guy. I think there is a TV show about that.

Public photo shoot turns into personal video shoot. Then the word "goober" is used.

Exercise Yard

Was over at Paul's for the Browns third exhibition game aka the GLC, or as Jake Delhomme called it, the dress rehearsal. Delhomme looked pretty good, however, this appears to be the same offense the Browns ran last year. Although, we now have someone at the helm who goes through the progression quickly.

As evidence, I point to the fact the Browns have not really thrown the ball deep in this preseason. Keyword may be "preseason" and they are not showing anything, but what are they doing? Mainly the Dink and Dunk of years gone by. The only medium-range throw, and it has been effective, is the tight end running the seam downfield. We've seen Evan Moore and Royal Roberts make that catch. Otherwise, it's a ton of the short stuff mixed in with dumpoffs. The only other pattern is the sideline up route that cuts off as the ball is thrown to the outside. We see no wideouts running deep over the middle. The only time the Browns do attack through the air are some redzone patterns.

That type of offense can be effective. But you have to keep the chains moving or it becomes a snoozefest. And as Gary said, if the Browns fall behind by 10-14 points, there are not a lot of signs currently that point to any big comeback ability. That, combined with an obvious lack of speed on defense, allows hope for only some slight improvement by the team this year.

Visitor

19 Across: Mystery author whose work has been translated into more than 100 languages (8 letters) Answer: Christie