We are all Kipnises. Yes, it's catching on.

Gale and I were at Ubaldo's first home game on Wednesday. I liked what I saw. If he pitches like that through September, there's a gleam, men. The bats are coming around a bit better the last 10 days and just in time. The Tiger series was the first series win since the Yankee series on July 4 and first back-to-back wins since July 18.

One of the lowlights this past week has been the defense of Carlos Santana. Three lazy attempts behind the plate (one in Boston, two in Texas) and two bad plays at first against the Tigers, which all led to runs. Finally, Droobs had to call bullshit on him and let him have it last night.

Hell, on Wednesday, Kipnis called for a foul ball and Santana apparently didn't hear him and eventually caught the ball. But, it was an adventure and Kipnis barked at him for a while. So, it had been festering for at least 10 days. Nice that it came from Cabrera and not the coaching staff. And you better pray this doesn't cost us a playoff spot somewhere down the line.

Now Choo and his Uma Thurman-like thumb is back. The corpse that was Austin Kearns was finally DFA'ed. I'm not sure where Kearns was all year, but he didn't produce at all and when you have Marson, Kearns and Carrera starting, that ain't a lotta pop from one-third of your order. And maybe Shelly Duncan will relax now.

A nice chat with Josh Tomlin.

Meal of Links

How many stories have we seen on AMC and trouble on the sets of their biggest hits. Here's another one.

The R's had a debate last night. Earlier, some old guy at the Iowa State Fair yelled at Mitt. Oh, it's starting already.

Why do new sporting venues in the U.S. lack architectural ingenuity? It's actually a good question, since we foot the bill.

Two months ago, I didn't give two shits about Russell Brand. But, I gotta say, the dude is growing on me. And it has nothing to do with his real job.

I cannot say this enough. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is waking up the echoes, thus far, this season. Last Sunday was a show hitting on a all cylinders. Larry is, indeed, a "social assassin".

Vow of Silence/"Curb"



Klosterman fawns over "Louie". And rightfully so.

Seven fine movies that were 90 minutes or less. Includes "Airplane" and "High Noon".

Three futures for healthcare reform. Individual mandate was struck down today, so it's on to higher courts.

Rick Perry is not a climate change guy. This should be the first item to check off on any sane person's candidate checklist. If it's a "No", you have to start questioning each part of their platform.

That cow is right. Eat more chicken.

Good Grief (the War on Christmas!). I saw this last night, as it happened:



Exercise Yard

I'm worried about Tiger Woods. Did you see any of his play in the PGA? I mean this thing is getting serious.

I wonder if we are starting to go Mike Tyson with him. It's getting like Tyson near the end. We remember what he used to be, and even though we knew better, we always thought he would snap out of it and regain his past glory. Now I get that Tiger isn't biting the ears off of fellow golfers but jeezy creezy, this is painful to watch.

Now this can go two ways. One is post-shaved head Britney Spears and a comeback or the other is Keyser Soze, where he disappears. No way is this a David Duval situation where he schleps around missing cuts in every time zone.

Visitor

53 Across: Team playing in the Big A (5 letters) Answer: Angels

Well, the debt deal finally got done. Here are the political winners and losers.

And, the policy winners and losers.

Meal of Links

Happy Birthday, MTV.

Kings of Leon seem to be having issues. Not breaking up, just pissing off fans.

Come on, is this year's shark attacks the D.B. Cooper case? Still, one of America's greatest mysteries, unless you think Bigfoot ate him.

I'm sure this is the type of interchange that was proposed for I-480 and Tiedeman. Obviously, shitcanned by people who seemingly know better.

HBO premiere dates. "Bored to Death" goes to Mondays in October.

The best time passages in movies. There's that pyramid again. "You know, for the kids." And that beautiful ending from "25th Hour".

"Bachelorette" summary. Great, that saved me a bunch of time.

Getting Bin Laden. Has to be the most revealing account, thus far. "For God and country—Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo."

Exercise Yard

Versus gets its expected name change, which is...NBC Sports Network. Obviously, lots of Olympics, hockey, horse racing and cycling. Don't be surprised if that NFL Thursday Night package (down the road) winds up here.

BTW, the NFL Network and RedZone Channel go to Charter. Seven of the top 8 cable carriers now have the NFL Network. The holdout? Although the public sniping has cooled, it's Time Warner, of course!

Visitor

48 Across: Maine mail order giant (6 letters) Answer: L.L. Bean

Usually, it's only Cleveland that ranks dead last in various and sundry lists. But this time it's all of America.

You see, the North Koreans just did a study and they found the No. 2 place for happiness in the world is...North Korea. They suck up to the Chinese and make them No. 1. Rounding out the Top 5 are noted cheerful places like Cuba, Iran and Venezuela.

The USA comes in dead last at No. 203.

Meal of Links

Bill Simmons and his new website, the ESPN-named Grantland. I think the neat thing is some of the writers are going to get more eyeballs on their work. And adding Klosterman and Gladwell to the roster are certainly not bad moves. I've been reading this guy since the AOL days and the good columns still outweigh the duds by a significant margin.

Your home and renting vs. buying. Obviously, the trend is renting.

Older Japanese are volunteering for nuclear plant cleanup. They feel they can't have the young participating.

Letterman has a "Drum Solo Week" next week. Sheila E. and Neil Peart show up.

If you hate Time Warner, read this. Very funny.

Was 2001 a good year for music? Missy Elliott, Daft Punk, Jay-Z, White Stripes and Kylie Minogue. With Minogue's great Michel Gondry-directed video, "Come Into My World". Plus his White Stripes stuff.

Palin's back. Trump and his pizza. He's like Mr. Pitt.

Exercise Yard

Here's how you get a World Cup in Qatar. From the Argentina head: "Yes, I voted for Qatar, because a vote for the US would be like a vote for England, and that is not possible." That's like Sam McDowell throwing a curve to Dick Tracewski.

The English still hate Sepp Blatter. But he ran unopposed and "Captain Corruption" gets 4 more years at the helm.

Visitor

61 Down: Big name in ice cream (3 letters) Answer: edy

We officially live in Podunk. How can a simple Motivation Seminar cause major gridlock in town? You would not believe the traffic I saw this morning. The Jennings was backed up to State and it was barely moving. Then the 480 East exit ramp to 77 North was backed up onto 480, because of all the people who were not moving on the Jennings. Coupled with regular 77 North traffic that was, at one time, backed up to 82. WTF?

All that because Rudy Giuliani invited us to this seminar at, not $9.95 per person, but $9.95 for the entire office. Also on the bill were Goldie Hawn and Bill Cosby among others. I can't blame you for thinking "scam' as a description. Because they obviously oversold it.

Anyhow, our little hamlet was completely disrupted by this non-event. Incredible. Come on everyone, get motivated to arrive early next time.

Meal of Links

FCC Commissioner approves the NBC-Comcast merger. Now she steps down to take a lobbyist job. At Comcast, of course.

Weird news from last month.

Good news. More "Family Guy". For a 10th season!

Keith Olbermann is compiling his list of contributors for his new show. Now they have to let us know where Current is on the cable dial. I'm guessing Richard Lewis will be funnier than Dennis Miller on O'Reilly. BTW, you know Al Gore gets a lot of press for his Current Association, but Joel Hyatt is a bigwig there. Yes, that Joel Hyatt.

Reminders of the origins of Social Security.

The Hoff wants to remake "The Equalizer". I, subsequently, want to throw up.

Newt Gingrich for President? You have to be fucking kidding me. He's like Mikey. He hates everything. Best slogan, thus far: "Gingrich 2012: He will always love America. Unless it gets cancer."

Exercise Yard

Brazil is going to host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. So, what better time to ratchet up the fear, then the present.

Visitor

16 Across: Best Supporting Actress before Paquin (5 letters) Answer: Tomei

This is not how you want to see one of your Derby picks at the end of the race. Usually you want to see your jockey still atop the horse. The things we learned about Archarcharch? Well, never will I bet the #1 in the Derby again. Ferdinand won from that slot only because he is a Hall of Famer. So, Archarcharch literally turned into a lame pick.





















Soldat, on the other hand, was near the lead and what did we learn about him? Well, he doesn't like dirt kicked in his face. We know that for a fact now.

Here's a nice race pictorial from the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Meal of Links

Can you cut the cord on cable? Lot easier than it used to be.

This is an interesting Canadian court case. They didn't extradite a prisoner to the US, because we have become and untrustworthy state when it comes to handling prisoners. A superior court upheld the decision.

You'd think prisoners would flock to this Norwegian prison. Tanning beds. Chicken risotto. WTF?

Uh, about that GOP Medicare plan. It kinda sucks.

Exercise Yard

After today, two weekends are left in EPL play. Big three matches today. Wolves beat West Brom, 3-1. So, Wolves have escaped the relegation zone for now. Arsenal lost to Stoke by the same score, so they officially spit the bit today. Leaving it all up to today's featured match, the alleged Match of the Year, first-place Manchester United against #2 Chelsea.

Manchester scored with only 36 seconds gone and eventually won the game, 2-1. So, they are the unofficial official champs this year. Just have to wait for the math the next two weekends.

In other news, Randy Lerner's Other Team officially escaped relegation this weekend. So, they will be back in the Premier League next year. The relegation zone currently consists of Blackpool, Wigan, and West Ham. Blackburn, Birmingham and Wolves are still in danger. Wigan and West Ham is the biggie next week and Wolves get Blackburn on the final weekend.

Coming up next year, for sure, are QPR (Queens Park Rangers), after a long absence, and Norwich (the Canaries), back after a 7-year absence. Those playing off for the last spot are Swansea, Cardiff, Reading and Nottingham Forest.

Visitor

None, on a hopefully turn-the-corner weatherwise Sunday.

Happy 4/20 Day.

In case you haven't noticed, DirecTV is about to premiere Premium VOD for the price of $29.95. This allows certain studios to have their product in your home only 60 days after its theatrical release. Now, I don't know a lot, which includes: Where is all the demand for this type of product coming from?

Certainly, in another 30-60 days, you'll get the normal PPV and DVD release for a much cheaper price. Plus, if you go the hardcopy route, you own the thing. The PR on this stuff seems to include a hard-to-quantify clamoring for "movie nights". Meaning call up the family, neighbors and friends. We're too cheap or inconvenienced to go to a theater. So, we'll spend $30 on the latest Ed Helms flick for a "Movie Night" at home. WTF?

I see this scenario. Good luck with the chip-ins on the $30. And you better have good popcorn and shut these people the hell up while I'm trying to watch this on your shitty TV. Of course, within the prescribed 48-hour download period.

James Cameron and some other Directors are honked off.

Seven questions about the service.

Theater owners hate the concept.

I still like going to the theaters. Love that timpani.

20th Century Fox Fanfare



Meal of Links

"Restrepo" is such a gut-wrencher to watch. One of its co-Directors, Tim Hetherington, was killed in Libya today. Lots more online, if you are interested.

What a cool project. They want to make an app for Matthew Modine's "Full Metal Jacket Diary". I hope they meet their funding goal.

News organizations are turning more to outside help for comment moderation. Troll through cleveland.com for some local gems.

Have you thought about locating some obscure movie or music? As this article states, everything is available. Nice mention of Dylan's "Hard Rain".

I have never seen "Top Gun". Well, the 25th anniversary is coming up and it's in theaters. But not locally. Whew!

Reddit has this AMA (Ask Me Anything) Feature. I think Danny Pudi showed up recently. Today, I was thinking, crap, I remembered this kid being interviewed in the aftermath of Columbine. 12 years later (yeah, time DOES fly), it's interesting to read his thoughts.

Columbine



A chat with Morgan Spurlock on his new doc. All about the promotion. Pom being the title sponsor. His suit reminds of Greg Kinnear in "Mystery Men". Hey, Sheetz is in it! Just had lunch there on Monday. I call it "The Grassy Knoll" because, well, that's where they are located. The flick debuts here in 2 weeks.

The descent of Charlie Sheen. From the crew.

Exercise Yard

Remember the tased guy at PNC Park. There was a woman yelling in the background to stop it. Well, she's a KDKA producer and yelled other things, as well. She's guilty.

Visitor

42 Down: Thurman of "Kill Bill" (3 letters) Answer: Uma ("Uma, Jerry, Uma!")

Opening Day 2011

Got my first look at the Indians of 2011 yesterday. Naturally, they lost. This time though, it was embarrassing. The White Sox absolutely pounded Fausto Carmona on their way to a 15-10 win. Gale and I had seats in Section 109, and I got to be "End of Row Boy".

Progressive Field was a beacon in the distance, two hours before game time.





















Things of note: Typically, everyone wants to know what's going on inside the park. No, I didn't go all the way around, but virtually everything inside has gone up in cost. Opening Day Parking, BTW, was stable. I paid $20 in the traditional Hanna Garage spot, and most places were charging that price.

Rabbi Feldman's grilled hot dog stand in right field has changed this year. It's a bigger grilled dog slathered in onions, called a Slugger Dog, and that'll set you back (gulp!) $8.50. Not sure if other grilled dog stands exist. We'll find that out later. You can get a Brat or Italian Sausage there for $6.75. Not sure about the price of vendor dogs.





















Cracker Jack is $4.00, Peanuts are $4.50, so Marc's still cannot be beat. New this year is multicolored Cotton Candy. This comes in a bag for the amazing price of $6.00. A unique concept of a product kids love, but don't like to share, at exorbitant prices! Bottles of water were $4.50 and Gatorade will set you back $5.00 a bottle.

But, what about the beer? OK, I didn't see the foreign beer stand where, in years past, you could get Guinness and others. The Leinie Lodge had $7.75 Leinenkugels.

Dad's Beer Stand, predictably, had the longest lines. You could wash down Andy Capp Fries and Beer Nuts with a 12-oz. Blatz, Gennesee, Iron City, Natural Light, Pabst, Rolling Rock, Schaefer or Stroh for $4.50. I honestly don't get the nostalgia here. There are some lousy beers in that bunch.





















Beer from a vendor? This is where the variable pricing model has run amok. You can get a 24-oz. can (yes, they are back this year) of beer for $10.00. Yes, beer has hit $10 at the park. Or you can get a 16-oz. bottle for $7.75. Even more choices, a Gennessee vendor has 24-oz. cans for only $8.00. That would be Gennesee, Genny Cream or Gennessee Ice.

Bob Feller Salute

I'll hand it to the Indians, they did a much better job with the Feller salute than with the Herb Score Tribute a couple of years back. Big time ups on the video. The team wore Number 19 uniforms in the pre-game. Mrs. Feller put the ball of the first pitch on the pitching rubber. Bunting. Balloons. Bigass Flag. As Always. Real nice stuff.





















The Game

Can we quit with the White Sox as an opener. Chicago's Mark Buehrle now has 9 Opening Day starts. Six against the Indians.

Even though I was in the park, I have yet to see the Indians score a run in person. in a tribute to Bob Feller...Redass, we did a "five-and-fly". We had good seats in right-centerfield, but our row should have been renamed Row P. Our row seated 24 people, but it might as well have been 100, because I have never had to let that many people out to buy a beer or pee in all of my years attending sporting events. Ever.

Combined with a joke of a game, where I think I saw Austin Kearns flag down seven balls in the leftfield corner and watch two homers fly over his head. And, while it was 14-0 in the fifth and watch the Tribe look at only four pitches in their half of the inning, it literally drove us to drink, cheaply, at Alesci's. Where we got to see whatever faux comeback fall short.





















White Sox kill the Tribe on Opening Day. Loss No. One, 15-10. Today, the smallest crowd in the history of the park watched them lose again. It's a shame, but that's Baseball 2011.

Meal of Links

I realize I am a bit late to this game, but I went to Outback Steakhouse for the first time on Thursday. Kind of impressed with the place. My Dad had been there before and got a 6-oz. size and enjoyed his potato soup. I opted for a 10-oz. ribeye that was chargrilled over an open flame with a baked potato and salad. At the very least, I'll consider this as a dining option and no, I have no idea why it took this long to get there.

Us polkateers went to the early morning viewing of "Polka: The Movie". So popular, the Film Fest had two showings this morning. I figured at least 300 people were there to see this one. Kind of an average movie, which suffered from some decidedly poor editing. We get it, the Slovenian neighborhood of Cleveland is in decline. They really needed more music here. It was like they got to the '70s and said OK, who still plays this stuff? If it was a history lesson, you never got the full version. Not even any "Polka Varieties" footage. Hell, even Paul Sciria was in "Kill The Irishman".

After the movie, we visited P.J. McIntyre's in West Park. Heavy Irish vibe, but really good food, liquor and beer selections here. Not a surprise, it's a popular place. I shared some Reuben Egg Rolls and followed that with some Angus Beef Sliders. Homemade chips, too.

Your cell phone as wallet. Coming soon.

Record Store Day is in two weeks. Here are the most interesting releases. Check out the new license plate in Tennessee.

It's the Ramones. Always good, no matter what is recommended.

Looks like Eddie Izzard will have another go at an FX series. "The Riches" first season was superb, I thought.

They have announced the 2011 Peabody Awards. Those you may have heard of: "Justified", "Men Of A Certain Age", C-SPAN, "Degrassi", "If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise", and ESPN's "30 For 30".

How to play well with drugs. Mainly, don't mix your drugs.

New book is out. "The Oxford Book of Parodies", which asks the question, "Mickey or Bugs?" As a cynic, I am solidly in the corner of Bugs.

Exercise Yard

Who won the World Cup of Cricket? Why, that would be India.

Visitor

30 Across: Mattingly's predecessor (5 letters) Answer: Torre

We've sure come a long way since you had to find a place with a satellite dish to watch March Madness. Then there were times you hoped CBS would show your alma mater on local TV. Then there were times you had to find a place that would show your alma mater via the dish. Then it moved to taking off work to watch the games. Then that moved to the incredible development of March Madness On Demand. But now that CBS has outsourced its coverage to truTV and Turner, what's up this year?

Coming to the rescue, SI has posted a viewing guide. To get eyes on truTV, the play-in games are on that channel this year. I finally located the regular truTV channel. Shouldn't I have that in HD by Tuesday? Like Marv Albert, apparently Time Warner Cable says, "Yessss!". I mean, I need my car chases in HD.

It looks like Cleveland will probably get the Nooners on both Friday and Sunday. I'll be there for both days, always a great time in person.

Meal of Links

It's the 35th anniversary of "Taxi Driver". AMC Theatres are showing it around the country, but not here.

Life sucks? Here's how to deal with the most annoying problems.

Juliette Binoche is in a new movie. What is it about Tuscany? I didn't think there were any rooms there.

Don't touch me.

Michelle Bachmann visits New Hampshire. She's Palin II.

Iron Man is taking advantage of his newfound fame. He's selling his house.

Tomorrow's anniversary? Microsoft had its IPO 25 years ago. If you sat on 100 shares at $21 per until today, you'd have $750,000.

Exercise Yard

With March Madness coming up, I have watched many games this week. I was especially interested in San Diego State and how they would play BYU today. They handled them nicely. SDSU is very athletic and can hurt you several ways. Only 2 losses this year, both to BYU.

For bracket purposes, be mindful San Diego State has never won an NCAA tournament game. Last year, I had BYU going a long way. After today's game, I'm not sure I'll go with them again. If you shut down Jimmer Fredette or he gets no help, it turns out to be along day for them.

Visitor

58 Across: Band with the 1997 double platinum album "So Much for the Afterglow" (9 letters) Answer: Everclear

What do you do when there is no real football (Pro Bowl doesn't count) since September? You watch TMZ Weekend and laugh your ass off. I don't see the daily show very often, because they keep moving it around locally. So the weekend effort is chock full of funnies.

Oh, I could also talk about the hefty lesbians in line in front of me (boy, were they jolly) at the grocery, but I'll save that for another day. If you thought fake laughing was rampant on NFL pre-game shows, you had to witness this.

And you see there is already a Winter Storm Watch posted for Monday night through Wednesday morning. Am I the only one who thinks these postings are coming earlier and earlier?

And, last night, I watched that old classic. "Bad Day at Black Rock". Man, they don't make 'em like that anymore.

Meal of Links

How many Twitter Revolutions have there been already? Stop it.

This is a no-brainer. I have tons of cable channels I don't watch. But it's probably time for Al-Jazeera English to be added.

By now, we should probably bank on this being truthful. That Spider-Man musical must blow hard.

Finally saw the Season 2 opener of "Archer" from last Thursday. Trust me, it has not lost a beat since last year.

Exercise Yard

Qatar had a test run for the World Cup by hosting the Asian Cup. The result? Uh, not so good.

Visitor

None, on a decent winter Sunday.

I got my new front doors installed today. Well, almost. The drywall was not drying sufficiently (too cold in the foyer), so the guy has to come back and do the necessary sanding. Plus, I need a different sort of hinge on my storm door, so it can open up like it should. But it was a long day, as they got here at 9 and were finally wrapping up until almost 8. And, as I suspected, it was probably wishful thinking that it would take only one day.

Already had a neighbor call and she liked the way the doors looked. And I must say, from the inside they did a hell of a job of reconfiguring my round-top entry way. So, it'll just be a bit longer to have this project finished.

Meal of Links

Hot chicks at the Snowsports Industry America Show. Scull Candy sells headphones and earbuds, but who noticed? If they sold hot water, I think I'd buy it. Actually, the slide show was kinda disappointing.

It's the Renewal Scorecard. Which of your network TV favorites will get renewed?

John Lydon lives by the beach. And wouldn't we all like to do that?

Egypt is all fouled up. Al-Jazeera English was the place to be online earlier today.

I've seen their commercial and, trust me, they don't emphasize it enough. Denny's has $4 all-you-can-eat pancakes!

"Restrepo" airs February 2. On the National Geographic Channel. Terrific doc.

The movie, "Series 7: The Contenders", is awesome. I saw this over at the Shaker Cinema, where it was up for maybe a week. Surprisingly, this came out 10 years ago, before Reality TV really got going. In this movie, the contenders try to kill each other. Hey, now.

Charlie Sheen finally goes to rehab. I stuck up for him the other day, saying how I don't think he's missed any work. But that's good that someone decided to have an intervention.

The New York Times explains its WikiLeaks connection. Lots of cloak-and-dagger stuff, publishing-style.

Exercise Yard

A must-read from The New Yorker. Football and concussions.

Visitor

31 Across: 2008 Libertarian presidential candidate (4 letters) Answer: Barr

I think we've all heard about the homeless guy who has these great pipes and then there's a video by the side of the road in Columbus, then there's a job offer from the Cavs, acceptance of work from MSNBC and Kraft, then there's also visits to the "Today Show". All the time, my spider-sense is tingling (well, maybe my cynical side) about this guy's past.

I mean, no one ever stepped up immediately and said, yeah, used to work with him, a peach of a guy, but he fell on some hard times. Nothing. Not one peep. Now, the truth is coming out bit by bit and no one wants to pee on the parade. I guess, because these feel-good stories sometimes have a dark side to them. And no one wants to admit that.

I get that this has an "Only in America" feel to it, but jeezy creezy.

I think the worst part was other local media outlets looking for talent among our homeless. Shameless.

Meal of Links

A very special episode of "The Tonight Show". Clips show Johnny Carson in a visit to LA before the permanent move a few years later.

Cable TV doesn't really like Netflix. They will be denied lots of content.

Fireworks. Hooray.

More Top 10 Movies. Love for "Scott Pilgrim".

Italy bans plastic bags. Only biodegradable going forward.

Who knew they still gave out the People's Choice Awards? Looking at the winners, it may be time for an overhaul.

Rich vs. poor. The poor do not exist in the eyes of the rich.

Exercise Yard

The upcoming BCS National Championship Game is the best-selling game in StubHub history. They had to pull the game, because of some sellers who didn't have tickets.

Visitor

41 Across: Reliant Stadium NFL team (6 letters) Answer: Texans

On the Sixth Day of Christmas

It shocked me a few weeks ago when I heard a Pogues song used on a commercial. The times they are a changin'. But "Fairytale of New York" is the most unconventional one that gets some play around the holidays. I really enjoy this one as Shane and Kirsty do a bangup job on it. Plus you get Matt Dillon as a cop.

"Fairytale of New York"/The Pogues with Kirsty McColl



My brother and I went to the Cavs game tonight. We are streak breakers. The Cavs definitely took advantage of the Knicks having two tough games with the Celtics and the Heat and won in overtime, 109-102. Anderson Varejao proving to be the star of the game with 14 points and 17rebounds.

The Knicks could not shoot straight in the second half and the Cavs somehow scraped enough points to get this one. It appeared to be Tsingtao Beer Night, as the Tsingtao Girls danced at halftime. Yes, they were showing their Tsingtaos. I assume they sell that beer there, but I got a Bud Light from the Beer Guy.

Meal of Links

How to find better answers online. Google alternatives, that is.

Here is the easiest path to an Oscar for a woman. It's scientifically-approved.

Pitchfork has the top tracks of 2010. Well, you can't go anywhere without hearing "POWER" by Kanye West.

Best new beers. The Goose Island one with the 13% ABV looks outstanding.

DADT was repealed. Joe Lieberman deserves credit and how about President Obama who could have kicked him to the curb 2 years ago. And Voinovich was a yes. Maybe they should name a bridge after him. But this is the Senate and they are actually doing things this week? Too bad the DREAM Act went down. Next, it's the START treaty.

Turner gets it right with their Blake Edwards tribute. These are the essentials.

Remember when they turned off Niagara Falls? We have proof.

Exercise Yard

In the first of two big Cleveland basketball games today, Cleveland State visited West Virginia. They lost, 74-63. If they had won, they would have been ranked, as they would have remained unbeaten.

So, in typical fashion, the fans who may have whispered about them, perhaps be intrigued by them, maybe see them in person, will now be distracted by other things. And the crowds will remain small and then everyone will wake up when they have a shot at March Madness.

Visitor

9 Down: Plastic ___ Band (3 letters) Answer: Ono

On the Second Day of Christmas

Asleep At the Wheel can really grow on you. Keeping that Texas Swing alive. This song is kinda funny, the video kinda lame. But the story is Ray Benson has too much to drink and ends up in jail for Christmas. I'd say that's a modern seasonal original. "Everybody's havin' Christmas turkey. Bring me bread and water to eat."

"Xmas in Jail"/Asleep At The Wheel



Right on cue. Time Warner Cable comes through with a Christmas present for me. Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Soccer Plus in glorious HD.

Meal of Links

This is pretty cool. Especially if you saw "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford". A Yogi Bear parody! Keep the kiddies away.



Mr. Skin has a decent job. Therefore, he has his list of the Top Ten Nude Scenes of 2010.

Top Tweets of 2010. BTW, I am a huge fan of Miss Catherine Middleton.

"Jeopardy" tries to outdo Adam Richman. They'll have their own version of "Man vs. Beast".

No words for this. Except, "Americans is stupid".

Alan Sepinwall takes a look at the TV portion of the Golden Globe nominations. Mostly run-of-the-mill.

I think Joey Pants is interviewed. Barely any questions, but he talks for a while.

Exercise Yard

Barry Cofield's sack dance is killing me.



Visitor

18 Across: Actress in a classic shower scene (10 letters) Answer: Janet Leigh

Hey, it's still snowing. Today was, by far, the worst snow of this event that started on Sunday. I hardly got any before this. But this a.m., I-77 wasn't even touched as the white-outs started. Got better further to the South, but that corridor from Pleasant Valley up to 82 was pretty bad.

On the drive home, I actually saw the sun for some fleeting moments. But no snow until what appeared to be the boundary, which was 480. And that wasn't that bad until you passed the Jennings. But I was right on the edge, a mile to my South seemed fine, but the further North you went, it was more snow.

Meal of Links

Connie Schultz "is on assignment". But she writes about the death of Elizabeth Edwards.

Wouldn't you like to watch first-run movies the day they are released, on a super-cool system? You got it. It's pricey.

Bananas. Good for the colon. Geez, Ugandans eat a lot of bananas.

It's Christmas. How 'bout a cookbook?

Top 10 Female Detectives. Lisbeth Salander makes the list.

John Lennon died 30 years ago today. And Howard Cosell broke the news to America.

Sex toy ads on TV. Haven't seen one yet.

Exercise Yard

Why does modern sports announcing suck? God, does it.

Locally, we have a sports talk station whose flagship show doesn't talk sports. Or fails miserably at it when they do. I never listen to the Browns radio team. The names "Homer Tom" and "Homer Mike" give you all the info you need on the Tribe. Joe Tait has lost a bit on the fastball, but is still an all-timer, when healthy. STO baseball may be the worst. I think Al Pawlowski is inserted in these broadcasts to prevent Rick Manning from tossing Matt Underwood out of the booth.

There is a commenter here though who nails it.

He brings up some of the underrated football broadcast teams of the past:

Dick Enberg-Merlin Olsen. From the era when they would play Haircut 100 leading into a commercial.

Pat Summerall-Tom Brookshier. Just to hear Brookshier say the name, "Diron Talbert" one more time. Redskins-Cowboys 4:00 Sunday game. Appointment TV.

Charlie Jones-Len Dawson. Before modern technology came on-screen, Jones was the best clock and down-and-distance guy in the booth.

Don Criqui-John Brodie/Bob Trumpy. Criqui is still at it, but the '80s were big for him, as NBC's number 2 guy. Classic Browns games in that era with Trumpy, including the Jet playoff game.

Today's guys:

I like Kevin Harlan on just about anything. Did the Final Four on radio last year and was terrific.

Much like Harlan, Gus Johnson is the man. Should work every night of the year and even do bowling.

MLB Network has long surpassed ESPN's "Baseball Tonight". Roger Goodell wishes NFL Network was this good. And NBA TV is getting better.

There are some others and when I have more time, I'll get to them.

Visitor

59 Across: Former CNN anchor Dobbs (3 letters) Answer: Lou

I took today off, because I still had over a week of vacation that was untouched. Wouldn't you know it, I wake up and I'm having trouble walking. This is very reminiscent of the time I had plantar fascitis.

That sounds like the dumbest thing you can get. But as someone who has flat feet, it can be a royal pain. So, I'm tryin' to stretch that puppy out and keep moving. And I got my repaired shoe back today, so maybe that will help.

Or alcohol.

Meal of Links

Every now and then, I check the Programming Notices on Time Warner Cable. Mainly so I can complain about what I don't have. But, lookee here, Fox Soccer and Fox Soccer Plus seem to be arriving in HD before the holidays.

Boxing and movies do go together. that's why I'm also anxious about the FX show, "Lights Out" in January.

Home stretch for "Terriers". Here's why it should not get cancelled. It's gonna be a fight to the finish, ratings-wise. For the first time ever, I am joining the crusade and writing FX.

(NSFW) Here is how your Playboy centerfold pics are done. It's a thing called Photoshop. As if you did not know.

Your guide to NFL Concession Stands.

All of Pee-Wee's Secret Words are here. Around, whoo-o-o-o-ooo!

Time for Turkey Day TV Marathons. Highlights: "Phineas and Ferb" on Wednesday. "Man vs. Food" on Thursday seems apt. TBS has "Seinfeld" on Friday, same day as "Hitler's Bodyguard".

Black Friday shopping? How about a free Slurpee? 7-11 is calling it "Purple Friday".

Bizarre entries from the ""2011 Guinness Book". Longest handshake was over 12 hours.

The Mayor of London suggests W. avoid a European book tour. Something about that pesky thing called torture.

Alec Baldwin is doing commercials for Wegmans! Fairly straightforward, too.

The payroll tax holiday sounds like a good idea. But what if it didn't expire after one year. Uh-oh.

It's the latest Pew Research News IQ Quiz. Come on, it's not that tough.

Exercise Yard

Yesterday was a great day for statheads. For King Felix won the AL Cy Young Award.

Visitor

19 Across: Cash in Nashville (6 letters) Answer: Johnny

24 years ago tonight...

"Little roller up along first...Behind the bag!...It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight...and the Mets win it! If one picture is worth a thousand words, you have seen about a million words, but more than that, you have seen an absolutely bizarre finish to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The Mets are not only alive, they are well, and they will play the Red Sox in Game 7 tomorrow. "



Meal of Links

Here are 8 things you still need to pay for when times are tough. Bald tires and brakes, too.

The 5 best hotel bars in the world. I was in Puebla once, and trust me, it wasn't at this place. I think we stopped at "Ptomaine Heaven".

Lookee here. It's a Johnny Cash auction. They have a lot of handwritten lyrics up for bid. But I want The Highwaymen-signed guitar.

Meg Whitman Endorses Jerry Brown



Catching up with David Simon. He says he could tell the "Treme" story in 5 years.

Food for thought. What if the R's pick up only 35 seats next week. Is it a failure?

Seinfeldian Economics 101.

Exercise Yard

Time Warner Cable (the Devil) finally allowed me access to ESPN3 today. I almost wept. I saw a replay of Napoli and Milan was on (flares in the crowd obviously), but more importantly Cowboys-Giants on Monday Night Football from the mothership is on. The picture? Outstanding.

Visitor

15 Across: "The ___": placekicker Lou Groza's nickname (3 letters) Answer: Toe

Today was the biggest win in Eric Mangini's tenure as coach of the Browns, defeating the Super Bowl champ. This easily surpassed last year's home win against Pittsburgh, the defending Super Bowl champ. This was also the biggest win since the Browns return in 1999. For this win surpassed the victory against another defending Super Bowl champ, the New York Football Giants, on that fateful Monday night in 2008.

The reason? Well, both of those games were in doubt for a long, long time. But today, the Browns were pretty much an afterthought going in and they grabbed the game by the throat almost from the opening kickoff. Would not be surprised if they were promised some extra time off during the bye week if they had won. Because they were definitely playing as though they had something riding on the effort.

Absolutely not a day to quibble. Although, I will say before we go all Winston Wolf on each other, the Browns offense only had 12 first downs and gained a paltry 210 yards.

So, let's celebrate the "Emptying of the Playbook" today:

Peyton Hillis throwing a pass to Colt McCoy, of all people, for 13 yards.

The Josh Cribbs to Eric Wright pass. ON A PUNT! For only 62 yards.

Reggie Hodges getting 68 yards on an improbable fake punt with the Saints parting like the Red Sea.

David Bowens with not one, but two Pick-Sixes, capping the second one by tumbling over the goal line.

The Browns defense, low on sacks and interceptions coming in, getting 3 sacks and 4 interceptions.

The NFL this year is really a crapshoot, so it's doubtful if this is a sign of things to come. So, for one day or several through the bye week, let's enjoy a most improbable win. Although Drew Brees still has the stats, maybe we had a bit of the Madden Curse on our side.

The Browns actually do a "Whoa Dat", beating the Saints, 30-17.

Meal of Links

We've heard it all before. But is this, truly, the death of Cable TV?

Sony bids adieu to an old friend. The Cassette Walkman.

Mark Cuban loves Netflix. He says Netflix is as smart as shit.

Employers are thinking about their health insurance options. Uh oh.

P.J. O'Rourke says, "This is not an election on November 2. This is a restraining order."

Before you vote, here are some things the public thinks they know. And they are wrong.

Exercise Yard

Wayne Rooney should stop complaining. Chicharito is the real deal.

Chicharito with the Impossible Header

Visitor

None, on a beautiful fall Sunday.

While watching Roy Halladay throw only the second no-hitter in postseason baseball history...

I saw a movie the other day that I don't think old timers would like. Gale and I took in "The Social Network" on Monday. Hey, only $4.50 at the AMC and you put the butter on your popcorn.

It was good, but I'm not sure it lived up to some of the hype that I saw ahead of time. The story is about the founding and subsequent early days of Facebook. Not done chronologically with hopping back and forth between two legal depositions. Because Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had a tendency to screw over people and didn't seem to care. I mean, this guy is portrayed as one giant asshole. An extremely unlikeable character. Of course, why would the real Mark Zuckerberg care. He's the world's youngest billionaire and could make his own movie if he wanted.

Written by Aaron Sorkin, so we were going to get some rat-a-tat dialogue. David Fincher directed and kept things moving along nicely. It clocks in at two hours and it's got a nice pace from the opening chords of the White Stripes "Ball and Biscuit" to the inevitable conclusion. BTW, Trent Reznor with the score.

The two leads, Jesse Eisenberg (as Zuckerberg) and Andrew Garfield (as his best friend co-founder) do a terrific job and nominations may be talked about. Justin Timberlake is along for the ride as Sean Parker, a co-founder of Napster, who convinces a clearly hypnotized Zuckerberg to go to California. Rooney Mara is a friend of Zuckerberg's who provides the original motivation for the development of Facebook. Fincher has tabbed her for his version of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo".

Meal of Links

There is a new Sad Keanu. It's the Cigar Guy from this Tiger Woods photo at the Ryder Cup:





































I am guessing he was dressed as Miguel Angel Jimenez, the Most Interesting Man in the World...er...the Spanish golfer.

Before the Giants-Browns game a few years ago, I described "The Pit" as a descent into hell. Well, Network Parking is now charging a "Pedestrian Fee" just to walk through or meet friends down there. Plus, it now costs $30 to park there.

They finally got around to Loretta Lynn. Hooray!

"Portland, Oregon"/Loretta Lynn and Jack White



Help with your Halloween costume. Well, Joaquin Phoenix looks original.

Behind the Scenes with "Dexter". Via TV Guide.

Here's an odd anniversary. The NC-17 rating is 20.

Joe Miller incurs the wrath of the Palins. Palin is not exactly helping Carly Fiorina in California either.

The 25 most valuable cable channels. What a crime. Fox Soccer Channel is not listed.

Is anyone guarding Puerto Rico today? The largest police corruption case in FBI history came to light today.

Sun Chips finally gives up on the biodegradable bag, except for the flagship flavor. God, that thing was noisy. Sheesh, sales dropped 11% since the bag was introduced.

Rick Sanchez apologizes.

"Under Pressure"/Homeless Puppeteer Guy



Homeless puppeteer guy is not homeless. But others need help, if you can.

Exercise Yard

Red Sox owners want to purchase Liverpool. They need help, not only financially, but on the pitch.

Visitor

5 Down: Harris of country (7 letters) Answer: Emmylou

OK, it's Air Show practice time. I think I may have been attacked by a jet or was that the New Zealand earthquake....

What kills me about the R's is that every time they think they've found new blood and praise them as forces to be reckoned with, these people have a tendency to implode. From Rand Paul earlier this summer to Chris Christie of New Jersey just this past week. Well, here's the latest from Gov. Jan Brewer. During the immigration law fiasco, she was getting praised to high heaven about her abilities. But take a look at this performance from the Arizona gubernatorial debate on Wednesday.

Jan Brewer Is Puzzled



How do you defend that performance?

Then, during the debate, one of her opponents, Terry Goddard, tried to get Brewer to admit she was wrong on quite a simple fact. See, Brewer conveniently noted during the immigration controversy that crime was so bad there that there were beheadings, yes, actual headless bodies found throughout Arizona. A simple polling of all the coroners in the state rendered that statement patently untrue. But she wouldn't recant.

Afterward, reporters tried to ask her about the beheadings and she would not address it, pulls a Fonzie and walks away.

Of course, we have to deal with Yawn and Yawner for our Ohio Senatorial race. Portman widens his lead.

Meal of Links

Here are the 25 best fall tours. No Roger Waters, but I know Deerhunter is actually at the Beachland in October.

Medical stats. Win an Oscar and you'll live longer than the loser nominees.

Time Warner Cable and Disney made nice yesterday. For me, the benefit is clearly the ability to get ESPN3. Word is, that will be up and running this evening. I think I'm also a Sports Pass subscriber, so allegedly I get a college football (ESPN Goal Line, which sounds like the RedZone Channel for the NFL) and basketball highlight channel. Plus, ESPN Deportes in HD, as well.

Here are your Labor Day Weekend Marathons. "Hawaii Five-O" on Spike looks interesting. And Sunday, there is a catch-up of "Rubicon" on AMC.

Sadly, it has come to this. Pepsi didn't even negotiate with War for the "Why Can't We be Friends?" ad.

Bourdain talks about himself. And with his 100th episode, talks about other programming. He likes "Top Chef".

If you want to get a nice Philly Cheesesteak, go to Original Steaks and Hoagies in Twinsburg. Really good stuff. Bay fries (fries with Old Bay), too.

Uh-oh. One of those Chilean miners has a whole lot of splainin' to do when he gets out.

How Christian Bale was not nominated for an Oscar for "American Psycho", I'll never know. You'll never listen to Huey Lewis the same.

There are some things I don't get. Like this couple.

Awkward first day of school photos. Dogs humping in the background is tough to beat.

How does Netflix endure? Critics have been beating them up for a while, but they keep succeeding.

Exercise Yard

I was just thinking about the Browns escaping the preseason without major injury. Then Monterio Hardesty tears his ACL.

Visitor

31 Across: Three-time French Open champ (5 letters) Answer: Seles

Time Warner may have solved its fee struggle with Disney. We've been getting that creepy ad played more often that Time Warner customers may have to do without all of the ESPN and Disney channels, if there were no agreement.

One would hope ESPN3 is included in these negotiations, which Time Warner still does not provide access.

Meal of Links

The billionaires behind the Tea Parties. Maybe it should read "puppeteers".

This is interesting. Were we born on the wrong continent? A look at life in Germany vs. the US.

How President Obama got rolled by Wall Street. From Newsweek.

This is kind of amazing. Five years out and still no major Katrina movie.

The secret of Silicon Valley engineers. It's all about age.

Luna Vachon is dead. I swear the streets are full of dead wrestlers.

Doc directors who move into feature films. The list continues to grow. Speaking of docs, the Maysles Brothers great "Salesman" is now on Hulu. One of the first docs I remember seeing. Of course, it hooked me.

Exercise Yard

I absolutely loved this Dimitar Berbatov goal for Man U. yesterday:



Visitor

None, on a sunny Sunday.