While trying to do determine if it's the Chesapeake or Potomac Primaries...

Hey, the other day I got a phone call from this guy. Since then, I got a flier from "America's Most Courageous Congressman". Who's that, you ask? Well, that's my representative, Dennis Kucinich. He is holding a "Valentine's Fun Raiser" (Fun, get it?) at the IX Center, and it stars Sean Penn, of all people.

$25 gets you in the door. $100 also gets a photo with Sean Penn. $1000 gets you a reception with Penn and a picture. Funny, I never see Penn at the local Marc's.

Meal of Links

Tim Goodman talks about the impending changes resulting from the writers strike. It looks like the networks will reduce the number of pilots, but it'll probably take until fall or perhaps early '09 for things to resemble normalcy.

A sex offender won the Massachusetts Lottery. Party at Chuck E. Cheese, followed by "I'm goin' to Disney World!"

Hey, the best new DVD this week has to be "The Equalizer: Season 1". I absolutely loved this show, from the Stewart Copeland theme, an urbane vigilante, to the New York setting. Very cool.

Honest Valentine's Day cards. Some are funny.

How Google developed their logo. No, they didn't use a glue stick and construction paper to come up with it.

Will Ferrell is developing Jackie Moon into a commercial actor. Check out these ads for Old Spice. "Don't smell like a turtle cage."

Paris looks awesome at night.

Exercise Yard

How to celebrate a soccer win, "Raising Arizona" style.



Last night, a funny thing happened while my brother and I were there to watch CSU stumble to the finish of their season. They decided to play one of their better games of the year and whip up on Wisconsin-Green Bay. J'Nathan Bullock benefited from a more aggressive offensive approach from the team and tossed in 39 points a league-high this season. That rates as one of the all-time best games in CSU history. Game was 37-all at half, Green Bay stumbled at the start of the second half and CSU rolled. Shooting 53% helps, toss in all the Green Bay turnovers and you have a rout.

Anyhow, it was a win against a team directly behind them in the standings, avenged an earlier loss to Green Bay, and set up a potential home game in the Horizon League tournament. There are 4 conference games left. Two at Valpo and #10 Butler this week, Milwaukee at home next week and a roadie to finish out at Y-Town. The Bracketbuster game also got scheduled against Marist to close out the home schedule.

CSU wins, 81-67.

Visitor

47 Across: Singer Benatar (3 letters) Answer: Pat

Tonight, it's "Music's Biggest Night". Yep, it's the Grammy Awards from the Staples Center in LA. In HD.
















8:00: Hey, it's Francis Albert Sinatra talking about the Grammys. He's dead. However, he joins Alicia Keys in a duet on "Learnin' The Blues". He's in black and white. She's in color. So is the orchestra. I think I saw Yoko and Ringo in the same row in the crowd.

8:05: Carrie Underwood comes on and sings "Before He Cheats". Wow, talk about "pimping out", she looks hot. She has a band and what appears to be a "Chicks from Stomp" production going on. They have big sticks, so maybe it's "Chicks with Sticks". Ahem. Anyhow, it looks stupid.

8:09: Prince is on! Best R&B Female goes to, oddly enough, Alicia Keys for "No One". Prince takes off his shades and gives her the award. Mmmmm. I sense Appolicia in the future.















8:17: Jimmy Jam to say a few words. But a reunion of The Time has broken out. Omigod, Morris Day and Jerome Benton come out. I think Morris borrowed Prince's shades. Of course, it's "Jungle Love". "Oh-wee-oh-wee-oh". Jerome has found a mirror! I wonder if it's an original that he found in his garage. Rihanna follows with "Umbrella" and we have another production number featuring...umbrellas. Please don't stop the music seems to be the message. Morris finishes with a "Yay-es" and asks Rihanna if she has the time.

8:23: Tom Hanks inducts "The Band" as Lifetime Achievers. I love "The Band". Robbie Robertson in the house! Hanks then talks about The Beatles.

8:25:: Which evolves into a Beatles tribute. Crap, Cirque du Soleil. It's a "Day In The Life". "I saw these clowns today...I just had to laugh...I'd love to turn them off." Now we have some youth singing "Let it Be". An older lady gives it that unnecessary Gospel treatment. Kinda like next year at the inauguration when Patti Labelle sings "Hail to the Chief". Oooh, peace symbols at the end. Standing O.

8:34: Cyndi Lauper and Hannah Montana. Best New Artist goes to Amy Winehouse. Hey, they got that right.

8:35: Jason Bateman is outside the Staples Center. He tells us the Foo Fighters contest will be on soon. It's between two fiddlers and a cellist. I sense "The Pretender" is the song. He intros the conductor of My Grammy Moment Contest Winner Orchestra as "John Paul Jones... from Led Zeppelin...that's for the morons!" Hah!
















8:45: It's Kanye West channeling Kraftwerk. It appears he has a computer on his suit. He's got cool-looking white shades from the "Max Headroom" collection. Plus, we have fire like the Cavs games. Hey, it's Daft Punk helping out with the electronica. Next, Kanye ditches the glasses (and Daft Punk) and has a tribute to his Mom. No mention of George Bush.















8:52: Fergie with John Legend at the piano. They're former Grammy winners, you know. Why does Fergie look like Rene Russo all of a sudden? Of course, it's a ballad. Best Compilation Album goes to "Love". Sir George Martin and son bring Ringo up.

























9:03: Cher with her new face, introduces Beyonce, who is showing her legs. It's apparently a tribute to every black woman who has ever won a Grammy. Hey, it's Tina Turner! Ike who? His death has seemingly no effect. She hasn't lost much, I'd say. "What's Love Got To Do With It." You know, it's a second-hand emotion. She then goes into "You Better Be Good To Me". No Fixx reunion, though. Wait a minute, Tina doesn't move like she used to, that looked like Tom Jones right there. "Nice and easy". Uh-oh, you know what that means..."Proud Mary" with Beyonce. Standing O.

9:13: Nelly Furtado, former Grammy host Andy Williams, and someone I don't know, make Burt Bacharach an Achiever. It's Song of the Year and it goes to Amy Winehouse for "Rehab". Nice.





















9:20: The contest winner is a violinist. Here are the Foos with "The Pretender". At this precise time, Channel 19 rolls the school closings, taking me out of HD mode. Fockers! The Foos tonight, at least, are a 35-member unit with that orchestra.





















9:32: George Lopez intros the white-hatted Brad Paisley. I like him, he's rather harmless. I'm talkin' about Paisley.

9:37: Chris Brown, A-Kon and some chick give Best Pop Album to Kanye West. He turned the suit back on. He reminds everyone not to release an album when he does, because he will win every time. He is the man these days.


















9:42: Chris "Ludacris" Bridges inducts Cab Calloway as an Achiever. Why not just Ludacris anymore? Anyhow, it's a Gospel session. My God, Aretha Franklin is huge. Officially getting her clothes at Hamiltion Tent and Awning now. OK, everyone should know there is no school tomorrow, as 19 stops the closings and we are back in HD.

9:56: Carole King and Dierks Bentley tell us that Earl Scruggs is an Achiever. Leslie Feist comes on and starts counting. I decide to buy a 32MB iTouch during this performance. I been hypnotized! Of all songs to have no production number. Is that the Canadian Brass behind her? Nope, but it could be.

9:59: Louis Prima and Keely Smith via the Wayback Machine! Why can't someone have a Louis Prima Night? Keely Smith, a Grammy winner from 50 years ago, and Kid Rock sing "That Old Black Magic" or something like it, with Dave Koz on sax. Man, this is a creepy pairing. Where is Andy Williams, couldn't he sing with Kid Rock? Anyhow, Best Rock Album goes to Foo Fighters. Not a surprise...THEY PERFORMED! Why do you think Amy Winehouse is on via the big bird? Dave Grohl with a nice speech.

10:11: The increasingly weird Stevie Wonder, with harmonica, appears. Barry Gordy is an Industry Icon. Is that the same or better than being an Achiever? Alicia Keys is back to sing "No One". She is getting lots of air time this evening. John Mayer, without a VW, plays guitar late on the song.


















10:17: Ringo Starr and Eurhythmic Dave Stewart, with Prince's shades. Best Country Album goes to the non-performing Vince Gill. "I've just had an award given to me by a Beatle. Have you had that happen yet, Kanye?" Choice!

10:25: Itzhak Perlman and Max Roach are granted Achievement status by Joe Mantegna. Of course, we have Herbie Hancock and is it Lang-Lang? Why no Yo-Yo Ma? Why no T-Bone? Anyhow, they proceed to tinkle their respective ivories on "Rhapsody In Blue". I proceed to book a flight on United during this performance.

10:33: Who are these ding-dongs presenting Rap/Sung Collaboration? Jay-Z and Rihanna for "Umbrella". Shut up! Didn't see that coming. Damn 19 has been running those school closings for a while again. WTF?

10:41: Cuba Gooding, wearing Amy Winehouse's underwear, intros Amy via satellite from London. I get to sing along with that instant classic, "I'm No Good". Oh, we get a bonus track, "Rehab". With all of her publicity lately, give her credit for singing this and the Grammys for allowing it. I'm sure she'll pick up a Tanqueray off camera.
















10:47: Natalie Cole and that shrinking Achiever, Tony Bennett. They intro Doris Day as an Achiever. Doris Freakin' Day. Morris Day comes out by mistake. "Once I had a secret love...". Anyhow, Record of the Year goes to Amy Winehouse for "Rehab". I'm back in HD. The crowd shouts "Amy!". "To my incarcerated Blake", she says. They can't get out of that feed quick enough. Let's party!

10:57: The Recording Academy CEO talks about all the good they do. You know, Music Cares, the Grammy Museum, they want to be comped for radio airplay, as well. Grammy, not just an award show. Hey, Beldar is playing an Oscar Peterson tune. Naw, it's Eldar. It's the Dead Person Honor Roll!

11:03: They end with Pavarotti and some guy intros a tribute to him and all the other dead people. Josh Groban helps with the honors as the other guy sings, too.
















11:12: Bonnie Raitt brings us John Fogerty, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. Fogerty sings a verse of one of his songs and can still rock. Jerry Lee actually sings "Great Balls Of Fire".

Elvis: "Jerry Lee, do you think I sing the Devil's music?"
Jerry Lee: "Son, you ARE the Devil."

When he sings, "Kiss me, baby" though, it just does not seem the same.

Little Richard kicks ass on "Good Golly Miss Molly". Fogerty helps with Verse 2, but I'm tellin' ya, Little Richard is pretty strong here.

Other Grammy winners just in: Barack Obama and The Flight of the Conchords!

11:27: Usher and Quincy Jones present the final award of the night. Album of the Year. It goes to Herbie Hancock for "River: The Joni Letters". Did this vote count take place in New Mexico? Kanye West should go up there and beat the shit of someone. Seriously. I'm sure it's a fine album, but come on. And on that note, the evening ends with a buzzkill.

All the winners!

Meal of Links

Hillary dumps her campaign manager. On a strange note, a Nobel laureate says if Obama is elected, he will also be assassinated. Well, that's confidence in the electorate.

Don't the Cavs salary cap issues make you wanna puke? They couldn't even trade for Jason Alexander this year with this bunch. We're gonna have to dance with the one who brung us.

I like caramels, too.

Exercise Yard

Boxing has been a bit lame thus far in '08. But HBO took over the schedule and two pretty good bouts on "Boxing After Dark" last night. In the first, one of my faves, Andre Berto, took on Michel Trabant in the Welterweight division. Berto made him quit on his stool after the sixth. Berto emptied the arsenal with Trabant, hitting him with almost every punch known to man, including some exceptional uppercuts.

In the main event at Welterweight, it was Carlos Quintana against Paul "The Punisher" Williams, the champ. Unfortunately for Williams, he fought more like Paul "The Songwriter" Williams. He just didn't have it. Quintana dominated the first two rounds and consistently beat the champ to the punch. It went the distance, which always brings that pit to my stomach. There's that old convention that you have to KO a champ to take his title and that would have been very unfair to Quintana. He was the better fighter and deservedly won a unnanimous decision.

It starts a good stretch of boxing with Pavlik-Taylor 2 next week and a Klitschko fight later in the month. Then we have Marquez and Pacquiao again in March. And last week, the publicity machine started for Calzaghe-Hopkins for their April bout in Vegas.

Visitor

None, it's Sunday.

Last night I found myself at Harpo's. I wanted to drink some beer and Gale said why not try that sports place, Rivals. But it was insanely crowded over there. Don't know too much about the place, but something must be happening. Can't be everyone there for the Cavs.

Anyhow, we moseyed over to Harpo's. They had trivia there. So, I was able to break out the mad skills and try to beat everyone. One problem, I think we led every game going into the last question, where I proceeded to choke like a dog. Even one of those games that took several rounds. I won every round until the last one, where you had to wager up to 50% of your points. Of course, I said, "Howie, that's a lot of points, but No Deal!" as I bet the 50%. Then they asked some lame-o question about animated lion voices. The answer was Walken did not do a voiceover, but the likes of Matthew Broderick and Ben Stiller did. How the hell am I supposed to know that?

My coup of the evening was knowing the title of Rockpile's 1980 album. Sadly, I have that on vinyl and it's "Seconds of Pleasure". At the time, it gave me enough of a cushion to eventually blow a big lead. Bah!

Meal of Links

Check this out. A place in Nicaragua thrives on cocaine tossed overboard by smugglers, about to be caught. Even the fisherman are on the prowl for "la langosta blanca", the white lobster.

I went to my new doctor yesterday and am trying to figure out why my body temperature was 97.5. I mean, nary a comment from the nurse. Oh well, I guess it's not bad and I'll live. Except for the potential of Brain Fog. Oh well, I guess it's not bad and I'll live. Except for the potential of Brain Fog.

This is something I will definitely try and see. EPL games in America! Regular season games that count. Regardless of the ultimate motive of greed, I think it's great to have an additional game abroad.

Exercise Yard

My brother notified me that Rick Pitino also sold ice cream a la Good Humor, in another one of those "White Out Nights" at the Louisville-Georgetown game tonight.































My Dad and I took in the latest CSU game (the second of three in five days), this one against Detroit-Mercy. What an ugly affair, as UDM is the worst team in the conference, with only one win. This was one of those games when you keep a bad team around and let them off the hook, you are presented real danger of actually losing.

The numbers...really bad. CSU shot 36% from the floor, but missed only three foul shots, which saved their bacon. They were an awful 3 for 22 on three-pointers. It's become apparent, outside of J'Nathan Bullock, CSU has no inside game and the zones they are facing are really packed in down low. That results in open jumpers, which they are failing to hit.

In a great escape, CSU wins, 60-56.

Visitor

15 Across: Fictional mustache twirler (15 letters) Answer: Snidely Whiplash

I guess I got it wrong. Moe Green is still alive! And that was Alex Rocco in the Audi commercial during the Super Bowl. I thought he died after that "Famous Teddy Z" TV series of yesteryear. I still maintain there is too much going on to figure out they are selling Audis, but good to see Moe Green is still kicking. Now, if we follow "The Godfather" correctly, shouldn't we all get an Audi?

Meal of Links

Here I am, minding my own business, when this comes across my desk. Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz in a lesbian scene. I don't even care that this is in a Woody Allen film. As always, I'm hoping Ms. Cruz doesn't speak, or in this case, moan in English in the flick. I'll see this one, oh, probably the minute it shows up in town.

The Bonnaroo lineup. I'd say it's very good. The SXSW lineup is here. I love that band name, Scissors for Lefty.

Animals that have somehow avoided entering my house, so far. Chimps in clothes! And, of course, "Maybe the dingo ate your Peppermint Jo-Jos." I still have one box left.

Jeezy creezy. "American Idol" as a theme park attraction. Isn't that karaoke?

If the writer's strike ends soon, here is what may happen with the remaining schedule. Looks like "The Office" is the only one that may have more than 7 episodes.

Who knew that G.O.B. was the voice of GMC Trucks? So, he can't do the voice of K.I.T.T., because it's a Mustang. BTW, Will Arnett is still alive.

Why Pete Doherty matters.

Exercise Yard

My Dad and I attended the CSU-Wright State game this evening. A scant three weeks ago, it was the high of beating Butler and Valpo back-to-back. And there were people there. Today with Wright State in town, after CSU dumped four in a row on the road, it was back to normal as I parked on the street. Although they listed the crowd at 2,793.

While "What a difference a day makes..." was playing in our collective heads, Wright State jumped out to a 15-2 lead. They never gave up that lead. It got as close as two in the second half, but in about 20 seconds, it was a Wright State three, a CSU turnover and another Wright State basket. "Game over, man, game over!" Five losses in a row have now marred a pretty promising season. 34% shooting by CSU tells the story.

CSU loses, 55-49.

Visitor

22 Across: He came after Jimmy (6 letters) Answer: Ronald

It's Super Duper!





















Gee, it doesn't rain like this in the summer anymore. Lightning in February? Come on. But with each page leaving the calendar, we gotta start thinking of Spring. Hey, I recognize that our largest snow last year was on Feb. 14, but we keep inching toward that return to standard time.

Today was Super Duper Tuesday and Fat Tuesday. I got to eat some sausage and red beans and rice and beer to take care of the Fat part. As far as the vote is concerned, Barack Obama is hanging in there (actually splitting delegates at this point) and with his fund-raising ability, suddenly our little hamlet here in Ohio and Texas play the next biggest role on March 4. But why do his crowds think they are at a taping of "The Jeffersons"? Great line: "We are the ones that we've been waiting for." Listening to Limbaugh at work today, a woman calls in and says I can't vote for Obama because he's a "wild card". Why not just say because he's black? We laughed at that one.

But the Clinton machine is tough, churning out big wins in New Jersey and California. The schedule being more spread out means...look out! We are gonna be bombarded with ads. And, hopefully, I'll get a chance to hear the combatants live at some point.

(Side note: Hey, Amy Vining died! "Gossipy nurse" in some obits, hah! Also passing, Lt. Gerard.)

Speaking of ads, could Joe Cimperman find a worse picture of Dennis Kucinich for his congressional ad? BTW, a very funny ad and effective, too.



The Republicans look like they've finally buried Mitt Romney. I voted for John McCain in the 2004 primary when I had doubts about John Kerry, so I know what he's been about for a long time. But McCain looks like he's having major trouble, because the South is rejecting him. The R's are really gonna have to have a talk with themselves, because if they remain fractured, the D's might have a chance.

Meal of Links

Hey, another contest for Super Duper Tuesday. Travel with Bourdain! How about going to Montreal and eating smoked meat with him.

You know Amy Winehouse has hit rock bottom, when she gets her own "E! True Hollywood Story". Great talent, but future sales depend on you actually breathing.

Some Floridians wanted to vote on Super Tuesday. Hey, thanks for participating, but your primary was last week.

Exercise Yard

Charley Rosen breaks down the Cavs win over the Celtics. Ira Newble! Miami grad, BTW.

Visitor

3 Down: "Wicked Game" singer Chris (5 letters) Answer: Isaak "Bullets ain't got no eyes."

Today was one of those wasted days you run into now and then. Yes, I had to call a plumber. And, of course, it's not a job that lasts a couple of hours. No, eight-and-a-half hours later, the job is done. Don't get me wrong. The work is actually well done, it's just that with some old galvanized pipe, you get yourself curveballs in their repair. Probably something that should have been taken care of a while ago, but so easy to put off until necessary.

Meal of Links

FBI wants to track all of your characteristics. Hey, that goes against the very idea of one's rights of privacy.

Not only did the Super Bowl suck for three quarters, the commercials were subpar. Typically, you can find several gems, but yesterday's ads were either creepy or caused me to say WTF a lot. Especially for the most-watched game in the history of the Super Bowl.

Tired ads:

I'm really bored by the Clydesdales these days.
Can you find someone more relevant than Carmen Electra to sell your product?
The theory that it's tough to sell cars during the Super Bowl was hammered home, wasn't it?

Good ads:

NFL with Rashaan Salaam and Chester Pitts and his oboe.
Bud Light's fire-breathing guy got the proceedings off in a good way.
FedEx carrier pigeons.
Stewie and Underdog balloons fighting for a Coke that goes to Charlie Brown.
Tide's interview with a stain.
Barkley and Wade for T-Mobile was hilarious.

Bad ads:

Planters ugly chick.
SoBe. When you spend the whole ad wondering...Is that Naomi Campbell?
CareerBuilder, especially the heart one. What were they smokin'?
Audi. Great Godfather reference. Two weird things. I was fascinated by what type of grill it was and God, that guy looked like Moe Green and I know he's dead.
Dell Red. Nice cause, awful ad. Too much butt slapping.
Garmin. A bunch of French things with Napoleon as the punchline. Way too much for America to handle.

20 Geeky pop culture obsessions. My favorite whipping boy, The Renaissance Faire, clocks in at Number Two. Sadly, "The Simpsons" and Zappa make the list. Fanfic is really bizarre, especially when your favorite TV characters are having sex. Ewww!

Exercise Yard

Well, I was really wrong about the Super Bowl and that's why I don't bet on football. That game, for three quarters, was dull, but very quick. Then things got interesting. Not mentioned too much is that Tom Brady actually delivered big scoring drives when he had to the last two seasons. And he still got eliminated in both games. Last year, against the Colts and then yesterday.

Some thoughts:

Giants defense was overwhelming.
New England should have attempted a field goal, instead of going for it 4th and 13.
Belichick is still an ass.
David Tyree's catch still amazes me. If not for Rodney Harrison underneath him, that ball would have slammed into the turf. Greatest catch in SB history? Maybe, but I have to see the NFL Films treatment before I vote.
New England gave up on the run pretty early, I thought.
Why couldn't Randy Moss get open in the first three quarters?
Eli Manning was good in the playoffs, but I'm already tired of "he grew up before our eyes".

A Patriots fan perspective.

Visitor

30 Across: Middle Corleone brother (5 letters) Answer: Fredo BTW, look at John Cazale's movies:

"The Godfather"
"The Conversation"
"The Godfather, Part II"
"Dog Day Afternoon"
"The Deer Hunter"

Word of advice. Do not go to Giant Eagle on Super Bowl Sunday. You'd think it was Y2K or something going on. I actually saw adults pushing around those "car carts", because there weren't any regular ones. Hey, I draw the line on that and would rather wait for a conventional one. Nevertheless, it was madhouse status in there, rivaling Thanksgiving week.

Meal of Links

Stilettos help women's sex lives. Wow, what a surprise.

Stalking at the Super Bowl. I laughed.

When will this happen? Or at least move the game to Saturday. Especially this year, when you Super Bowl, Mardi Gras and Chinese New Year in the same week.

Exercise Yard

Brock Lesnar wasn't much of a wrestler either. He lost his UFC debut. I don't watch UFC, I'm still hanging on to the Sweet Science. But there's been a dearth of good boxing matches lately.

Visitor

None, it's Super Bowl Sunday!

The Super Bowl always screws up my Sunday routine, which is whatever Sunday evening show I watch, plus laundry. The beauty of HBO On Demand is that Super Bowl XLII won't foul up my weekly visit with "The Wire", because they have the Sunday episode available the previous Monday. Saw that today and we're halfway through the final season already.

The creator of "The Wire", David Simon, talks about Baltimore. The city where it is filmed. BTW, Steve Earle, who also has a role, has the theme song (Tom Waits' "Way Down in the Hole") for Season 5.



Meal of Links

Reader's Digest publishes a list of weight-loss ideas. But shouldn't it be less than 50 ideas, given their raison d'etre?

Hey, the Browns were unbeaten once. 60 years ago. But it never happened, because the NFL does not recognize AAFC records. And Jim Brown speaks.

Man gets tazed, turns into Chewbacca!

Exercise Yard

The NFL added six new members to the Hall of Fame today. I gotta say, this is one of the weakest groups I remember.

Darrell Green-No brainer.
Art Monk-Just not sure about him, but probably OK.
Emmitt Thomas-Yes.
Gary Zimmerman-Yes.

But Andre Tippett and Fred Dean? I liked them both and they were good, but I dunno. Especially in lieu of Cris Carter.

Visitor

30 Across: Jazz vibraphonist Jackson (4 letters) Answer: Milt

You gotta play with pain and I've been having some back issues lately. But I feel better today, so let's catch up on some things.

Sarah Silverman is fucking Matt Damon:



I've noticed that Sam Elliott isn't doing the "Beef, It's What's for Dinner" ads anymore. He had been doing that for 10 years. Before him...Robert Mitchum! I think they've tossed the TV promos and are using only print ads and radio spots. I had XM on and heard the replacement. The new voice is Matthew McConaughey. At least they've kept the Copland.

Don't know why I was thinking of the movie "Evil Roy Slade" today. Maybe lines like this:

Poker Player: "I got Jacks with an Ace."
Evil Roy Slade: "I got threes...with a gun!"
Poker Player: "You win! Wow, you are lucky!"

Have you seen that extra item on your pizza? It's GPS. Domino's Pizza Tracker shows the updated location of your pizza after your order.

When was the last time you heard "Dicker and Dicker of Beverly Hills"? Speaking of game shows, "Idol" producers are bringing back "Match Game".

Have you heard the band, Foxboro Hot Tubs, yet? No, this isn't New England-related. They have a song, "Mother Mary", that's getting airplay. Quite peppy, kind of a throwback. But, it's really Green Day.

OK, you must take the Patriots minus the points as your Super Bowl bet. Really, do you see this any other way? Of course, there are the prop bets. Vegas released a disastrous prop when they first came out this year. They had one for punts and the number was only 42.5 yards, a distance which punters were getting even during those bad weather games. I mean only needing one punt traveling longer than that was ridiculous. Of course, the earlybirds were all over it and I think that number is now up to 48.5 yards or higher.

Casey Blake. The Six Dollar Man.

20 of the Meanest Love Songs. "A simple prop to occupy my time..." IS kinda mean, I'd say.

Some food I've tried recently:

Asiago Roast Beef Sammie at Panera. Very good.

Toasted subs at Arby's are pretty good. But the Market Fresh Chicken Club Salad is really tasty.

Old El Paso Fresh Mexican Style Salsa Smooth Roja is out of control good. Marc's had these dirt cheap last week.

Monopoly wants you to vote for the cities to include in their World Edition Game. I don't think the Land of Cleves is gonna make it.

An "Arrested Development" movie? "To the nuts..."

Meal of Links

The AskMen 99 came out today and the Number One on the "Most Desirable Woman" list was Katherine Heigl. She's OK, but I wouldn't have her in the Top 10. Actually, the rest of the Top 10 is fairly accurate. Especially with Kate Beckinsale in at #3.

Michael Wilbon from "PTI", a show I DVR every day, talks about his heart attack.

A day in the life of a dog and a cat.

Exercise Yard

Just in time for the Super Bowl, it's 20 Classic Football Movies. These are the must-sees on the list:

"Heaven Can Wait"
"Brian's Song"
"The Waterboy"
"The Longest Yard" (1974)
"Any Given Sunday"
"North Dallas Forty"

Visitor

44 Across: Teammate of Pee Wee and Duke (3 letters) Answer: Roy

Boy, is that windy out there this evening. I saw lots of shit blowing across the road on the way from the movies. I ventured over to the Cinemark at Valley View, where there might have been 15 in attendance.

And the movie I came back from was "Michael Clayton". I'd say this was a pretty good thriller. You see, you have this ADM-type company who kinda made a bad product which ended up poisoning some people. An incriminating memo was found, and voila, there's your movie. George Clooney again was very good as a lawyer who doesn't do a whole of litigating. He's a fixer, a janitor, and gets folks out of trouble. As Sydney Pollack says, "You found a niche."

Tilda Swinton probably deserves her Oscar nomination. Hard to figure how Tom Wilkinson got his. But the movie probably deserves its Best Picture nomination. Except for that one part where Clooney is investigating. Jeezy creezy, a cop yells "Freeze!" quite unexpectedly. Man, I haven't jumped in a movie like that in a long time.

Meal of Links

Here is an opinion of the 10 Best at Sundance. The two that jump out for me are the Hunter S. Thompson doc and "Be Kind Rewind" by Michel Gondry.

Time for the annual Pazz and Jop list from the Village Voice. I always look to this list as a way to catch up on music I may have missed, because while there are some obscurities in here, I think it's a true reflection of what's going on. For instance, "Icky Thump" is at #11, and I believe the last list I posted neglected it. Face it, that's pretty stupid. Spoon and Amy Winehouse with a couple, that's cool. I see Against Me! (who I just saw) in the top 40 singles and #21 on album, OK. It's a good read every year.

Another nutjob, Deion Sanders, gets a reality show. Hope they have his Hot Dog Maker on there. Get the popcorn ready.

Exercise Yard

The Seattle Times has an unbelievable series going on about the 2000 Washington Huskies. Browns draft pick, Jeremiah Pharms, gets a chapter. Pharms was the Butch Davis pick that was being investigated for murder and the Browns embarrassingly had to drop him. Excellent stuff.

Visitor

21 Across: First name in cosmetics (5 letters) Answer: Estee

Well, it looks like the Kennedy family (at least some of them) have endorsed Barack Obama. I guess that's news, although I wonder how much cache that really is these days. If the young continue to vote for Obama, are they looking at Teddy Kennedy (even as he attacks "old politics") as part of the problem in the Democratic party? It's like, hey, we're happy some of the old geezers are with us, but we're carrying the day this time around.

Although, that is the difference between the parties because of the superdelegates. A politician's endorsement on the Democratic side carries much more weight than one from the Republican side. So, it is important from that standpoint. But it is also important to look at John McCain's endorsements from this angle. If the more right-leaning Republicans go his way, he may be able to convert those within the party who don't really think he is a Republican and not split the vote.

Meal of Links

It is the 50th anniversary of that favorite building block, the Lego! Here are some final products.

Since our President was talking on TV today, here are some secret societies that aren't so secret. The He-Man Women Haters Club must have too much publicity.

A couple of more Foo Fighters items. Drew informs me that Mr. T once admonished the band for not fighting foos.

And their Arcade Fire cover.

"Keep The Car Running"/Foo Fighters



Exercise Yard

Roger Clemens uses a sleep-inducing defense. Please do not read this into the Congressional Record.

Visitor

67 Across: Infamous Amin (3 letters) Answer: Idi

I just flew back from Nashville and boy, are my arms tired. I dropped in on Mr. and Mrs. Mix and their dogs and took in the Foo Fighters concert. Unfortunately, life issues took over and Mr. Mix had to visit his sick Mom in the hospital, so he scurried back to Cleveland on Saturday morning. But Mrs. Mix and I maintained the previously scheduled events and they went on as planned.

The Dogs

The dogs were OK. Apparently, Daisy had some...ahem..."anal gland" problem recently, but is better now. My goodness, that's a phrase you don't want to hear. And Penny, a Rottweiler so rough and tough, she sleeps at the vet.

An action photo of those two:

















BTW, they are also terrified of the Roomba. I witnessed that. The other Rottweilers probably walk around muttering, "What happened?"

New Word

The new word that I learned our friends to the South use is "toboggan". Mrs. Mix told me they have codes at the hospital for all sorts of things. When patients decide to take unauthorized smoke breaks, it's announced with a description that doesn't panic anyone, but leads everyone to find the culprit. This week with the cold snap in Nashville, one was described something like "wearing a green jacket with a toboggan." Being from the North, she declared, "They should be easy to find carrying a toboggan." It was explained to her that's a knit hat, not a sled. I don't know, that's so "cattywompus".

MapQuest is The Devil

The Devil of All Navigation Tools reared its ugly head, not once, but twice this weekend. Being in Music City, we had lots of music to hear. Through a friend of a friend, we headed over to a coffee shop near Music Row to hear some guy on Friday. Me, in a coffeehouse? I'll explain later. Anyhow, MapQuest led us on an adventure to non-existent alleys and we ended up chasing our tail a while. Then we phoned for real directions.

On Saturday, the Foo Fighters were at the not-often used venue of the Nashville Auditorium. The address listed led us to the parking lot of the Country Music Hall of Fame on 4th Street. Then we phoned for real directions. They went as follows: Take 4th to Broadway, then go to 5th and go down 5th for EIGHT BLOCKS! Thanks, MapQuest!

Our love of MapQuest is like the lure of a Siren, we keep going and meet with eventual doom.

Friday Night

On Friday when I first arrived in Nashville at home base for the weekend, I didn't even unpack and was already munching on Brisket Sliders and sipping Old Grand-Dad. You know, why can't every weekend start like that?

Then the three of us headed over to Edgehill Studios Cafe to see some guy singing. He reminded me of a Teddy. Not Teddy Kennedy or Teddy Ruxpin or Teddy Atlas, but Teddy Geiger. Anyhow, they served beer, so I was down with that. We were the last ones to leave. Note: Bud Light born-on date was 1/4/08. Not bad!

Eventually, we made it to La Hacienda, a Mexican favorite in Nashville (Dig that musica loca, amigo). The easiest descriptor of this place would be that it is like the Luchita's of Nashville. I had the Enchiladas Supremas. You got your beef, your chicken, your cheese and your bean. I ran out of petrol before I got to the bean. It was very good.

"U2 3D"

On Saturday, Mrs. Mix and I forged ahead as best as we could, given the worry in the air. So, we headed over to the Regal Beagle IMAX at Opryland as planned to see "U2 3D". Once again, it's the Vertigo tour revisited. I have now seen this live, on the Chicago DVD, and now in 3D. But this is not your father's 3D. You know, the "Monster Chiller Horror Theatre" knife lunging at you. No, thirteen dolla and an ICEE purchase later, this is IMAX and Bono and yellow-rimmed 3D glasses, baby. Here comes the science.

Boy, IMAX is in a bigass auditorium, isn't it? Anyhow, it was a bit chilly in there, I don't know if that's to keep the equipment warm or what. They needed yellow-rimmed blankies, I'd say. That was another thing. The Nashville weather folk said it would warm up on Saturday. They lied or I missed that revised forecast.

Anyhow, the opening credits start rolling and what's this name I see, David Modell? As one of the Executive Producers? Brother John Modell as Producer? No. Could it be? Sure enough. In the closing credits, under "The Producers Would Like to Thank the Following", who do you think got top billing? Yep. Arthur & Patricia Modell. Bah! All, I could think of was Raven Money.

As for the movie. Awesome. Filmed mostly at an outdoor stadium in Buenos Aires without much of Bono's preaching. Mostly musica. Trust me, you have never seen 3D like this. From the beginning credits, the words are right in your face. There was a dude about four rows ahead of us and I'm telling you, it seemed there was movie action that was behind him! When there were audience members (on the film) sitting on someone's shoulders, or water being splashed or one of the mic stands up close, my God, it was like you were there. The only time Bono played to the camera was during "Sunday, Bloody Sunday". "Wipe your tears away...". Here comes his hand. I thought I could touch it. Or maybe slap it. Then everyone jumping during "Where The Streets Have No Name" is incredible. I'm tellin' you, this was tres cool.

Oddities:

Larry Mullen, Jr. looks like he drinks Hawaiian Punch Orange during the show.

Bono kissed Adam Clayton on the lips. In 3D. Huh?

Does The Edge ever take his toboggan off?

Guys were on other guys shoulders on the field. Not sure that happens up North.

I think everyone in the audience had a cellphone and was taking pictures.

For most songs, The Edge uses Fender, as does Clayton. Bono plays a Gretsch.

The Modells.

This may actually come to Cleveland, as I think it will be at some 3-D digital theatres in a few weeks.

We followed the movie up with lunch at Five Guys. It's a burger joint that has a couple of locations in NE Ohio. Great burgers. When you order a burger, remember it's two patties. That's real ground meat with that bun. I had A-1, grilled onions and mustard. And some Cajun fries. This was good and someone with a brain had the sense to build one diagonally from Vanderbilt. Oh, they'll get hungry walkers.

Foo Fighters

Well, you know it's a rock and roll show when Dave Grohl is in town. And the man did not disappoint.

The Venue: Nashville Municipal Auditorium. Not sure how much this is used these days. Upcoming events there include the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Tournament, Sammy Kershaw, Bell Biv DeVoe and the Doodlebops. Not exactly a stellar lineup, as most head over to the Sommet Center and the Ryman. Anyhow, it's an old bowl with no elevators to the top. We have ramps!

Oddly enough, when we arrived, we see two long lines of people going in opposite directions. Wait a minute, it's 20 minutes before showtime and no people are inside yet? WTF? Someone didn't have the keys or something. Mrs. Mix and I join the line going away from the entrance because we figure there will be an end somewhere. After walking halfway around the building with no end in sight, we just cut in. These lines reminded me of "Midnight Express". People just walking with no clue as to what the hell is going on. Once inside though, gee, this building reeks of old. Since there aren't many events there, don't ask "employees" anything. They must contract them all and no one knows about seats, directions, etc. Even official looking-people. Mixed drinks were $7 and $13 for a double. Trust me, get the single Crown Royal and soda. I got Kevin pours for the $7.

Dave Grohl: There's something about Dave Grohl. Man, he is quite the entertainer. First things out of his mouth after a couple of songs: "How long do you think bands play? Hour fifteen, naw, that's barely a show. Hour-and-a-half, anyone can do that. Hour forty-five, if you're lucky. I'm thinkin' TWO FUCKIN' HOURS!"

"We're gonna play old shit, new shit, acoustic shit, rock shit". God, he makes me laugh.

I can't remember which song he did this for, it was early in the set. But the audience was singing along, and he stops the music. He said, "Look, it's my song, I fuckin' wrote it. I get to fuckin' sing it."

During the acoustic set, he mentioned when you come to Nashville, there's a lot of pros in the audience, guys who can play music. So, you have to show something extra, like a secret weapon. He mentioned KFC and the 13 spices and introduced his percussionist as his special sauce and made him do a...triangle solo!

He also introduced the folks in his band during the acoustic set. Some were "bad motherfuckers", even the strings woman, by this time on violin. Others were "fuckin' genius".

After the last song when everyone's waiting for encores, the video screen comes on. Night vision camera shows a wall backstage. It has sheets of paper taped to the wall. One reads "1/26 Nashville". People cheer. Then the next long sheet has the setlist. So, the camera scans from top-to-bottom over the list of songs. Louder cheering. You see after the finale, there is a sheet of paper covering the encores. Then who do they switch to? Of course, it's Grohl standing there pondering with hand on chin. Are they gonna play. He cups his ear to the crowd, they go crazy. This goes on for a while and it is funny. Then Tyler Hawkins gets into the act and eventually they decide to come back. It was pretty unique.

The Tickets: We were in the Balcony in Section H-2 in Row S. Worked out great (Thanks, eBay!). It's not really a balcony, it's the section behind the main aisle, but you have to use the upper portals to get to your seats. Row A starts at the floor, so you can see, we were not really that high. They had no seats behind the stage. Our section was the second one being used on that side, but the first one fully in front of the stage. The crowd was a fairly typical one, but slanted toward the younger set.

















The oddest thing happened though. While Mrs. Mix went on a drink run, all of a sudden, in my periphery, I see a body come hurtling through the air. Yes, a woman comes flying over the seats and does a faceplant two rows ahead of me, landing between the first and second aisle seats. Uh, the seats were occupied, but I think miraculously, she wedged herself between them and did not have a direct hit on the occupants. It was funny, because she was like a tripod with her butt in the air for several seconds. She finally sat down in the aisle seat in the row directly in front of us. Then male companion finally showed up to get her drunken ass out of there. He had to come back and get her cellphone, which she dropped on the floor. Thought they were done, but no, they later came back and he made her apologize to all that had been troubled. That's when I learned she also had the wrong kind of shoes on. I'm a guy, I don't notice those things. The girl in front of us said she recognized those two from Titans games and they are always drunk. Now that football is over, I guess it's the Foos and then the Doodlebops for drinking.

The Sound: I have no reference point. The first act was an LA band named Hello Stranger. They were playing as people were still circling the building, so we didn't hear a lot from them. Chick lead singer. Their closing song was AC/DC's "Thunder". Seemed like an odd choice, I thought I was awaiting kickoff at a Browns game. Sound was very muddied.

The middle act was Against Me! Love that exclamation point. The sound was much better. They were punky and were the men in black. T-shirts and pants all black. A band with some angry music, I'd say. Vocals remind me of The Offspring. They have a single that got some airplay, "Thrash Unreal". Spin named their album, "New Wave', the best of 2007. I liked them.

The Foo Fighters sounded great. I heard every one of Dave Grohl's screams and F-bombs with clarity.

The Stage: The setup is a rather sparse stage with a platform in the back. Stage juts out into the audience, so Grohl can run up front and a small addition on each side of the stage upfront allows for the typical gesturing and running around with your guitar. Four video screens behind the stage, not very elaborate.

The coolest thing though was a long ramp from the stage that ran down the center to what appeared to be a circle at the other end. Was it a covered pool, a trampoline, a fire pit? No, it was a circular stage. Omigod. It afforded people who thought they had shitty general admission seats, standing in the back, an opportunity to see the "Unplugged" section of the show up close and personal. How about that? As Grohl is playing the intro to "Skin and Bones", walking down the ramp with his guitar, a stage (with full load of mikes and instruments) is descending from the heights. He does the vocals on that stage, as the band has now followed him down there. Awesome.

Here is the band deployment. Wait a minute, the first song starts and the Foos are now an eight-member band. We have four guitars, including Grohl up front. A cellist in a nice little black dress on the right. Yes, she is female. In the back, we have, left to right: Keyboards, Tyler Hawkins on drums, of course, and percussion. This outfit went back and forth, used mostly for the new album, all of the acoustic portion and the first encore.

The Music:: A really strong performance last night, I thought. Terrific version of "The Pretender". The overall setup and conclusion of "Skin and Bones" was a kick. The acoustic version of "My Hero" was spot on. Grohl did a SOLO version of "Everlong" that was unbelievable. A pleasant surprise was Arcade Fire's "Keep The Car Runnin'" for the first encore. Grohl said it was a great song, it isn't ours, but we're gonna play it. Fit the makeup of the larger ensemble quite well. And how can you go astray with some "Monkey Wrench"?

Setlist:

Let It Die
The Pretender
Times Like These
Breakout
Learn To Fly
Cheer Up Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)
This Is A Call
Stacked Actors
Skin And Bones
Marigold
My Hero
Cold Day In The Sun
But, Honestly
Everlong
Monkey Wrench
All My Life

Encore:

Keep The Car Running
Best of You

I will definitely see the Foo Fighters when they come back to our fair city. This was a really, really good show and they are in absolute fine form. They are on the Grammys soon, doing that Justin Timberlake thing from last year, where they will play with a contest winner. I lucked out to see them, because they cancelled shows on Monday and Tuesday of this week, due to illness. Grohl was drinking out of a cup before the encores and said he was a good boy, drinking some tea for his throat. So, maybe it was him.

I've had some strange injuries over the years. Indeed, I have hurt myself during sleep numerous ways, but today may take the cake. My pants attacked me! I had just made some OshKosh B'Gosh reference while sitting down, and for some reason, needed to tug at a belt loop behind me.

I could feel said loop cutting the back of my thumb as it happened, and then "There Will Be Blood". Not quite a gusher, but Mills Lane was on hand, just in case he needed to stop it. Thankfully, we have Band-Aids at my place of employ. I must have offended the Denim Gods in some way, because I haven't had that happen before.

Regardless, I gotta get out of this cold, so I'm heading to Nashville this weekend. Gonna drop in on the Mixes and see the Foo Fighters, as well.

Meal of Links

Here's what made the Hulk turn green. Lots of funny incidents.

Do's and don'ts with babies. Waking Baby made me laugh.

Calm down. Slim Whitman is still alive. You know, he killed Martians once. Maybe I'll see him in Nashville.

Robin Zander's birthday was yesterday. Therefore..."Would you like to do a number with me?"

"Hello There" and "Come On"/Cheap Trick



Warren Zevon's birthday is today. Listen to his cover of Springsteen's "Cadillac Ranch". (Move mouse over link...play!) He kicks major ass on it.

Exercise Yard

Gregg Doyel is tired of hearing from a Manning. Not Peyton. Not Eli. Archie!

Visitor

1 Across: The Miners of Conference USA (4 letters) Answer: UTEP

I'm still perplexed about the death of Heath Ledger. Not so much that he's dead, but the coverage of it. Headline News, for instance, blew up its format yesterday at 5:00 for wall-to-wall coverage. What was amazing was not many facts were available at that time. All I kept hearing was "we don't want to speculate" followed by endless speculation.

Sure, Ledger was a star, but not even close to superstardom. Maybe it was the circumstances surrounding his death, his age, a slow news day, the new "Batman" flick, I'm not sure how his death warrants this kind of coverage. Sure, it's stunning that it happened, but it makes me wonder what would happen if some truly famous Hollywood person died.

Meal of Links

Hitch rips Huckabee. This even got picked up by the PD. It's Hitch at his passionate best.

Every child should read these 100 books. Uh-oh. I'm trying to figure out how "Great Expectations" still costs 8 pounds. I mean, try the library. Sheesh. I think Borders even sells the Classics for cheaper than that.

"Moment of Truth" affirms Paddy Chayefsky. "The only truth you know is what you get over this tube." Yikes!

Combining photos of celebrities with folded money. I especially liked the Johnny Cash Money and the Steve McQueen money.

At this juncture, it's difficult to get amped for the Oscars, but it's probably time to catch up on some of these films with nominations. I believe "Michael Clayton" is re-released this week, so that's a start.

The continuing saga of Amy Winehouse. It looks like she finally has gone to "Rehab".

Herschel Walker claims he has multiple personalities. They all must be keeping a low profile. I haven't seen him in ages. Of course, it has spawned the joke, "No wonder the Cowboys traded him for 5 players and 6 draft choices." Maybe he can replace the Mac Guy in that Time Machine ad.

Exercise Yard

Some of Shaq's divorce proceedings are out. The man watches lots of cable and buys lots of gas. $1500 a month for cable? Must be a Time Warner customer.

Visitor

6 Across: Pollster Roper (4 letters) Answer: Elmo

I can't say enough about the last season of "The Wire" on HBO. This season focuses on the newspaper in Baltimore and the story line mirrors how the paper, much like the police force, has to cope with cost cutting (Internet and outside ownership) and must pick and choose what it can cover, as opposed to what it used to cover.

It is going to be interesting to see if one story can revitalize both.

And it, once again, fits in nicely with my Sunday night of TV viewing. This cycle has worked for years. One show leaves and another one picks up. Brilliant!

How's this for timing. Big news at the LA Times, a Tribune paper. The editor is leaving because the new owner wants budget cuts. Apparently the dispute surrounded expenses of covering the presidential primary season.

Meal of Links

I do not watch "Friday Night Lights". But this was an interesting piece on why the show isn't more popular. Today, NBC announced they have sold 150,000 Dwight Schrute bobbleheads, so there you go.

The Coachella lineup was announced today. The Racontuers, Verve, Jack Johnson, Roger Waters, Death Cab for Cutie, and a little band known as Kraftwerk! I even see Dwight Yoakam in there. And it looks like All Points West ("Coachella East") is on track for August.

We really don't wanna go virtual, do we? It appears we crave the face-to-face.

Exercise Yard

The cheapest shots during the college football season. Poor Jake Locker.

That reminds me of the best thing I saw at the Browns games this past season. No video of Kellen Winslow's cartwheel.

But this captures the essence of a live game:



Visitor

52 Across: King of Swing (12 letters) Answer: Benny Goodman

I woke up with a new hairdo today. Not by intent, but it was sort of a combination of Professor Irwin Corey, Pee-Wee Herman and Mr. Jing-A-Ling. I don't think it's catchin' on anytime soon.

But it was a day for football. Certainly cold enough not to do much else.

Dan Marino, there is an off button on your cellphone. Three times on national TV is oh, I dunno, three times too many. Bud Selig had his phone ring during his news conference the other day. It was his wife and he said he'd punch her out. Yep, he said that. I expect Dan to take different measures and read his manual.

All you needed to know about the Patriots-Chargers game came with over 9 minutes left, San Diego down by 9 on the Patriots 36 and they effin' punted. Are you kidding me? They needed two scores and I said, "Norv, you may not get the ball back." They didn't. I thought that was a horrible call.

How 'bout the G-Men and Manning the Lesser winning in Lambeau? Certainly the Giants did everything they could to keep the Packers in the game. Lawrence Tynes missed 2 field goals. R.W. McQuarters fumbles twice, once after an interception and then again on a punt return, recovered by the Giants but moved well back. But the Giant defense was tough in the second half, while the Packer offense did virtually nothing. Brett Favre threw an OT interception and it ended kinda quickly.

And didn't Terry Bradshaw look cold at the half? He had a problem holding his mike steady. Props to Fox for showing the clips of some of the old Packers and Giants. And I knew everyone of them. And exactly how many movies does Martin Lawrence have coming out?

Look for two weeks of even more hype as the Giants-Patriots revisit their regular season finale in the Super Bowl.

Meal of Links

There was a new energy bill passed in December. Obvious changes are your light bulbs. But appliances will have to meet new standards, as well.

This doesn't seem to be attracting much attention in the States, but the UK is going through a period of examination of their organ donation program The Prime Minister is leaning towards "presumed consent", meaning they will harvest your organs upon death, unless you opt out. Spain and some other countries have this program (or some form of it) in place and it seems to be saving lives.

A hit-and-miss list of Top 10 Discontinued Sodas. There are some oldies remembered here, but where's Jolt and isn't Tab still around? And is it true that in your Hispanic areas, you can get Coke in a bottle with real sugar? I think I'll visit Dave's. My soda theory: Coke tastes better out of a cold bottle or can with no ice...warm or cold Pepsi always requires ice.

Exercise Yard

Bode Miller has now won the most World Cup races in U.S. skiing history. The race was in Kitzbuehel.

Visitor

None, it's a cold NFL playoff-viewing Sunday.

Survived another Polka Happy Hour at the Happy Dog last night, so let's catch up on some things.

The death of chess icon Bobby Fischer at age 64, the number of squares on your average chessboard. You must understand, back in 1972, Fischer was sort of T.O., Britney Spears, and a young John McEnroe, all rolled into one. And all of a sudden, people then started playing chess. WTF? His championship match with Boris Spassky was on PBS, for cryin' out loud. You didn't see the actual combatants, but you saw their moves on this big flat board facing the screen. Hard to believe that now. Although the Cold War aspects have been played down over time, Fischer seemed to get away with a lot. It was like, "Sure he's an asshole, but he's our asshole and he's beating the Russians." You know how they always talk about that thin line between genius and insanity, I think Fischer jumped over that line a long time ago.

Rachael Ray hates Dunkin' Donuts coffee. I still think that was one of the phoniest ads I ever heard.

I think this guy was really upset that the Cowboys lost week. His name? Adolf Hitler!



Seinfeld makes sure Eli Manning (Hitler: "ELI SUCKS!") gets to watch "Seinfeld". Eli is in Green Bay, prepping for tomorrow's loss.

Why do I come across items with this type of headline? And I quote, "U.S. to Study Bizarre Medical Condition". I don't need to know these things.

Sears is in trouble. Roebuck is probably off somewhere, laughing.

Look at all these old computers. Click on the pics for info.

Daniel Day-Lewis is kind of an oddball. Great actor, though. More on him later.

Michael Bloomberg looked at those running for President and isn't running yet. But he's close.

Meal of Links

Took in "There Will Be Blood" at the Regal Beagle at Crocker today. And there was. Daniel Day-Lewis' voice reminded me of John Huston's in those old RCA Color TV commercials, "Table green, holster black". Major star vehicle for Daniel, who actually played a guy named Daniel.

It's an early 20th century story about the oil business, religion and the crazy people associated with both. Paul Dano provides a nice assist as a young preacher/faith healer type. But it's really a movie for Day-Lewis, who plays the madman very well, and Ghoulardi's son, P.T. Anderson. Old P.T. done made himself an epic movie. Very Citizen Kane-like in its delivery, I think. Plus, bowling makes an appearance near the end. Not to give too much away, but I caught myself saying, "Throw the pins! Throw the pins!". Lengthy and maybe not the most satisfying of endings, but it is a major award contender.

A long day at the Australian Open. The Hewitt-Baghdatis match ended at 4:30 a.m. And you thought "There Will Be Blood" was long.

"Idol" has been taken over by freaks. "Why do I feel like giving the camera the finger, why do I feel like giving the camera the finger."

Exercise Yard

Just because I made my Dad walk a couple of blocks in freezing weather to save a couple of bucks on parking doesn't make me a bad person, does it? Naw, of course not. We took in the CSU game against Valpo, and once more, parking was at a premium.

Tonight there were 4400 in attendance. Geez, my Fan Meter must be off a bit. I thought it equalled the size of the Butler crowd. Anyhow, it was NCAA Take a Kid to a Game Day and Dollar Hot Dog Night and they still couldn't pack the place.

CSU never trailed in this one, slowly building a lead which reached 7 at the half and eventually reached 12 in the second half. Valpo had a rep for hitting threes, but they were defended strongly in the first half and only made 2. They did get 7 in the second half, but by then, it was too late.

The Vikings are now 7-0 in the league. However, the next two weeks see them on the road, with the Wisconsin and Illinois swings. That will be the test of where they might finish, but they are playing really tough team ball right now. Only four league games left at home. CSU wins, 69-63.

Visitor

24 Down: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark (4 letters) Answer: Cuban

I just realized I forgot to honk my horn after tonight's CSU game. Aren't we supposed to do that after any kind of big win? I don't know what started this renaissance of local sports, I'm guessing the LeBron game last June against Detroit, but it seems to have filtered down to the lowliest of them all, CSU. Described by the AP tonight as "a program in disarray for most of the past 20 years".

Yes, the Vikings beat #12 Butler tonight, the first time CSU has ever beaten a Top 25 team in the regular season, and the biggest win since the Mackey Era. A game so big, I actually had to pay to park. Apparently, the days of "Gee, I'm still home and have a game in 25 minutes." are gone. Well, at least for one evening, as a crowd of 5,352 was in attendance. People in front of me, people behind me, even people NEXT to me (Stop touching me!). A game so huge, as the "crowd" stormed the court afterward in typical Cleveland fashion, they tried to steal the head of Magnus! Ha!

















Obviously, Coach Waters has got it through his team's head that if thou playeth defense, good things will be bestowed upon thee. Butler shot only 34% for the game. Last year, they had 20 3-pointers here...this year, they had 6. CSU had more rebounds, 37-32, and led almost the entire game.

The crowd was into the game, probably at its best since the North Carolina game of years gone by. The Vikings played a really good game and didn't crack when Butler had its only lead, 44-42, with 7:58 to play. They benefited from a horrible game by A.J. Graves (he actually missed a foul shot) and the fact Mike Green missed plenty of the first half with 2 fouls. They had really good efforts by J'Nathan Bullock and Cedric Jackson, and we'll kindly overlook his 9 turnovers.

So, what does it mean? CSU remains unbeaten in league play at 6-0. Valpo comes to town next, another threat in the league. If CSU gets by Valpo on Saturday, they may be onto something. CSU goes on the road for the next two weeks and it will go a long way in deciding their fate. Too bad they can't enjoy this game for more than an hour or so.

The final, CSU wins, 56-52. And, once again, it's time for my favorite Bill King quote: "There's no time left...there's nothing real in the world any more!...A man would be a fool to ever try and write a drama and make you believe it!"

Meal of Links

It's official. Kids hate clowns. I bet that's why they never rerun "It". That scared the crap out of me.

"Idol" is back on. Look at these "Idol" products. I've already mentioned that "Take the Cake" ice cream...it's good. Soylent green is people.

Fuck Time Warner.

China owns us. Not owes, owns.

Exercise Yard

When was the last time you read Golf Magazine? Silly, it was the time they put that noose on the cover.

Visitor

26 Across: "Chinatown" screenwriter (5 letters) Answer: Towne

I finally got my TV back to normal. I needed an optical digital cable to get my Dolby on and things are working out great with the new setup. BTW, if you want to make sure you are getting all of the formats you should and you have the devil as a cable provider (Time Warner), there is a quasi hack on the Scientific Atlanta HD box to set you straight. I have the prehistoric 8000 HD DVR box and it works the same on it. The resulting picture is much improved.

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Hunter S. Thompson quotes. Many good, dare I say, better ones are found in the comments. I can still picture Johnny Depp saying that first one.

Dennis Quaid talks about what happened to his newborn twins. They each received the wrong dose of blood thinner. Not by a small amount, but by, oh, about a thousand times the regular dose.

Bourdain has a new blog. Three entries, thus far, but read the Hawaii one for sure.

Exercise Yard

The center on my fantasy basketball team, Chris Kaman, was misdiagnosed with ADD as a kid. He only found that out last year!

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33 Across: TV's Warrior Princess (4 letters) Answer: Xena

During yesterday's NFL action, did you see that horrible Double Stuff commercial with the Mannings? A peculiar choice for Eli to make his debut. Oh, you can also try and...ahem..."lick race" against Peyton and Eli. Yes, I said "lick race". Very disturbing. To paraphrase Jim Rome, isn't there a point during this whole commercial process where you stop and say, "Fellas, I don't think this works."

It probably didn't help that Manning the Lesser won his game yesterday and Peyton did not. I'm not on that Eli bandwagon just yet. I think Charlie Frye may have had three good games in a row at one time. Yep, he's my benchmark.

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"This American Life" has a Season One DVD coming out in two weeks only at Borders. Trying to figure out when Season Two begins seems to be a mystery. Showtime barely mentions the show in ads, as far as I can tell. It's a pretty cool program.

Who doesn't enjoy a good conspiracy. Several former military officers have challenged the government's official version of 9/11.

Buying porn because "a friend is in it". That's what you get for buying it at Borders.

Exercise Yard

In the listings for golf scores, MDF means WTF. New rules for PGA cuts.

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16 Across: Loughlin of "Full House" (4 letters) Answer: Lori

It's the Golden Globes Winners Special...live from Hollywood! But with the current writers strike, I have no idea what this show will look like except for no red carpet, no stars, and no speeches. I skipped the "glib" Matt Lauer pre-awards show, because I'm watching gridiron action and highlights.

9:00: Uh-oh. This looks like it's only going to be announcements of the nominees and then the winners. Two messages at the bottom of the screen are perplexing. "Portions are pre-recorded" and "Rebroadcast of a live program". Hey, we are in the East, you idiots. I think that last message was for our Western friends. I recognize Spoon, Arcade Fire and Beck as some of the background music.

9:02: Christ. It's Billy Bush and Nancy O'Dell behind a Golden Globes podium. This is gonna suck. They also have Shaun Robinson and an EW writer in a different area to give us some pre-award outlooks and post-award "assessments".

9:03: I guess they are gonna go right through the list of awards without much conversation. The first award is the Best Supporting Actress, which goes to Cate Blanchett for "I'm Not There", the Dylan movie. Unbelievably, Bush and O'Dell are gonna offer their opinions after the winner is revealed. WTF? Who cares. Just say "...and the winner is...". Oh, this is hopeless. Can't I go online and find out who won?

I continued to watch, and here some ads I noticed:

Good to see Sofia Vergara with some post-"Knights of Prosperity" work on the new Cadillac Escalade ad. I like the way she says, "Cupholders".

Bob Serpentini will do your taxes!

An odd, but funny Frisco Melt commercial from Steak N Shake.

Kid from "Weeds" is on a very special "Law and Order: SVU" this week.

"Hello Goodbuy" from Target. I think it's the same arrangement as always.

What the hell is COPD with Bronchitis? Sounds like a hip-hop duet.

Hey, the Cadillac CTS is Motor Trend Car of the Year. Who knew? Only saw that ad a 1,000 times today.

Tide Pure Essentials uses Baking Soda. And they also use "Linus and Lucy" from Charlie Brown as the music. Rats.

Gene Simmons proclaims, "I am the King of all women!".

Rare Earth's "Celebrate" is on an AT&T ad.

Beyonce still looks good.

Gee, that Applebee's Apple sounds suspiciously like Wanda Sykes. I can't wait for "Larry David. You a racist.". Seriously, why would they have Wanda do voiceovers for a while, then introduce something called the Applebee's Apple with her voice? Makes no sense.

Hey, "ER" is still on.

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Penn Jillette has started a venture called "Penn Says". He talks about a bunch of stuff, I guess, from time to time.

As I've said, a main argument against "Juno" is its soundtrack. And its dialogue and some other stances. I don't know, it made me laugh a lot. So there.

And you thought the Consumer Electronics Show only had 150-inch Plasma TVs. Williams-Sonoma announced the BeerTender will be available stateside come March 1.

Exercise Yard

It was a pretty good set of tackle football playoff games this weekend. Yesterday went to form as both Green Bay and New England looked really good in their wins. I thought those two teams would win. Green Bay made Seattle look pretty awful in the snow, after falling behind 14-0. You don't get many snow games at Lambeau, so that was fun to watch.

Jacksonville hung in there for a good portion of their game, but New England is so tough this year. I will say this, the drive that Jacksonville had to tie the game at 14, that was a man's drive. They just pounded the ball continually up the middle, and for a minute, I thought it might be the Browns defense out there in disguise. But Tom Brady was almost perfect and I'm really going out on a limb as I think they'll get to the Super Bowl.

Today's games show why you play the game. You had two coaches, Norv Turner at San Diego and Wade Phillips at Dallas, who could exorcise some demons with a win. I had no confidence in either the Giants or Chargers winning. I'm still puzzled at how Indianapolis did not win their game. Going in, who would have thought that it was gonna be a brutally physical game. Big-time hitting. I expected that in the second game, but not in the RCA Dome. Plus, the Bolts scored on a 56-yard screen pass. When was the last time you saw that? I'm not giving the Chargers much of a chance to go cross-country and have anything left for the Patriots.

The Dallas-New York game was pretty physical, as well. The G-Men did just enough to win, mainly playing superb defense and not turning the ball over. The turning point was right before the half after Dallas had a drive that lasted over 10 minutes to go ahead 14-7. The Giants got the ball with 48 seconds and drove for a tying TD. Stole that momentum pretty quick! In the second half, the Giants got that lone TD and hung on for the win. An outstanding effort by them. Wade Phillips still has that nagging record of having good regular seasons (this Dallas one his best), but still winless in the playoffs. They did not play well down the stretch, seemingly when Jessica Simpson arrived on the scene, but I thought they were a better team than to lose their first playoff game. Hard to figure the Giants can go on the road and win another playoff game, despite only one road loss win this year.

Next Sunday it is:

Bloody Marys to start my day.

San Diego at New England at 3:00.

New York at Green Bay at 6:30.

Visitor

None. It's a playoff football weekend.