Check out Banksy's opening for "The Simpsons" from last Sunday. Absolutely skewers Fox. Pretty dark. And it was originally darker.

"The Simpsons" Opening by Banksy



Meal of Links

Lots of times, financial issues are really difficult to grasp. But this is the best primer on the current foreclosure crisis.

You know the old saw about Canadians who cross the border for healthcare. Well, it isn't true.

Wes Anderson helps shoot an ad for Stella Artois. That is a beer I seldom drink. BTW, "The Darjeeling Limited" gets the Criterion treatment.

Alec Baldwin texts during a movie. Deservedly, he gets the M&M treatment.

"Castle" Bids Farewell to Stephen J. Cannell



Wal-Mart is already discounting toys for the holidays. Ten bucks for Monopoly seems reasonable.

Songs that mention other songs. Appearances by "Bowie" and Shooter Jennings.

Everything you wanted to know about "The Empire Strikes Back".

Jenn Sterger. The perfect harassment victim?

Anderson Cooper. The accidental gay activist?

Exercise Yard

Confessions of an agent. Good read, but I wish the guy had represented some better-known players.

Visitor

25 Across: Stand-up guy who played Tobias Funke on "Arrested Development" (10 letters) Answer: David Cross

Opening Day 2010

Got my first look at the Tribe on Monday. Of course, they lost to Texas, 4-2, in 10 innings. It appears to get them to have good starting pitching, good relief pitching and good hitting all in the same game this season will be a chore. Gale and I were in attendance with excellent first row seats in Section 102.

Things of note: 16-oz. Beer from vendor is $7.75 (drank at Alesci's); Rabbi Feldman-approved Super Kosher Dog is $6.50; Regular Hot Dog is $4.50. Men's and women's bathroom lines were long. Parking was generally $20 for Opening Day. Biggest cheer was for Mike Holmgren.

Check out the mob scene on East 17th about two-and-a-half hours before game time.

















Must be a big game. The blimp is there.

















Even the grass at the cemetery looks greener on Opening Day.

















Extremely difficult to see this unused parking space by a meter, past the fire hydrant, on the way to Progressive Field. The red vehicle parked there immediately after.

















First look from the seats. Another exciting season of Indians baseball.

















I was like Robert DeNiro in "The Fan" or Crazy Joe Davola. I must have taken 95 pictures of Shin-Soo Choo. He homered, so we got to yell "Cho-o-o-o-o-o!"

















Sell out, my ass.

















Nelson Cruz hammered the game winning homer in the 10th. He also tripled. Basically, he killed us.

















Onion with the halfway lead.

















View from the lowers in rightfield.

















Matt LaPorta hitting.

















Yeah. He's still there.

















Choo, Brantley and Kearns talking about the shitty bullpen.

















East 17th, as I left around 8:05. Much the same as when I arrived.

















Meal of Links

Larry King can't do much right these days. Divorce #8 with rumors he slept with his sister-in-law. Yikes!

The Rubik's Cube is now 30. Had no patience for it. And really, can't think of anything worse than watching someone try to solve it.

Do teachers really want creative little minds in the classroom? It appears they don't.

Oscars for movie websites. Well done.

Jon Stewart does it again. This time on taxes.

18 characters from Warren Zevon songs. "The Envoy" hasn't aged one bit. Everyone else from Springsteen to Roland and Johnny. Always good to listen to some Zevon.

Johnny Marr remembers a lot. With a "(Nothing But) Flowers" mention!

Roger Waters is packing up "The Wall" again. This time in 36 cities. It's only been played 31 times up to this point. And, whaddya know, Cleveland rocks!

29 creative pinball machines. I'm shocked the Kiss machine didn't make it. Maybe not weird enough.

Exercise Yard

The Dodgers had an interesting Opening Day. They arrested people for tailgating in the Dodger Stadium lot. That's a no-no.

Visitor

55 Across: Chicago Eight defendant Bobby (5 letters) Answer: Seale

Cleveland State basketball opened tonight. They put a hurtin' on John Carroll in an exhibition game. In years past, this was a regular-season game, but Carroll looked so bad, maybe both teams agreed to put this into the "doesn't count" category.

There wasn't a whole lot to learn from this game. Oh, the pep band wasn't there. Concession prices seemed stable from last year. Male cheerleaders are present (they still don't do much heavy lifting). And my free parking pass still sucks, as I can't seem to park close and when it's cold, I'll take street parking every time. But from the basketball perspective, it's tough to get a true reading.

Cleveland State owned the boards. They didn't attempt that many 3-pointers. Assists and steals were way up. John Carroll had 24 turnovers and shot 21% from the field, so again, tough to measure Cleveland State's ability.

CSU wins, 81-33, and the regular season starts on Saturday against the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland.

Meal of Links

The best current TV theme songs. "Dexter" is good because you can make up your own words. "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" also make it. "Doctor Who" is Number One, but I don't watch it.

Lots of women love Barack Obama. Now you can have him inside of you. (I'm guessin' NSFW)

Will General Motors die? I go back and forth on this one. The web of the auto industry weaves around so many other industries, I think it would be catastrophic to the region if they are allowed to fail. Even something seemingly unrelated like advertising companies would be hugely affected. However, if they built better cars and could compete on their own, the government wouldn't have to bail them out. It's really a tough call.

Exercise Yard

Josh Cribbs hops on the "some players quit" train. How about someone hopping on the "we don't have a lot of talent on defense and we suck" train?

I'll be honest, I didn't see a whole lot of guys quitting last Thursday. But I did see a tired, limited defense hanging on against a team with no running game they should have beat.

The word "quit" is used way too many times in sports for my taste. It tends to disguise the real issues on these teams.

Visitor

15 Across: Pop singer Lavigne (5 letters) Answer: Avril

I saw my Dad today. I walked in and he was wearing a t-shirt, and I asked him if it was hot. He said, "No, I'm making fudge." Giddy up! I helped him out. If helping means stirring it for 20 seconds and licking the spoon.

On the fourth day of Christmas, it's Luscious Jackson:

Luscious Jackson-"Let It Snow"



Meal of Links

It is the season of giving. But, for God's sake, do not give out toys like these.

Judith Regan gets the boot. First O.J., now Mickey Mantle. Are you kidding me?

"Day Break" and "Show Me The Money" are cancelled. "Day Break" was dumb. Dude, did you ever hear of "Groundhog Day"? And we really don't need any more game shows.

Exercise Yard

This is one of the funniest goals I've seen. From a couple of weeks ago, Ronaldinho rolling the ball UNDER the wall for an easy goal. Oh, the keeper is angry.



Visitor

43 Across: Army leader for nearly 50 years (5 letters) Answer: Arnie