For a snowstorm that was supposed to last for 36 hours, most of the little snowfall I had, occurred between 7:00 and 9:00 last night. Barely had to shovel and probably could have gotten away without having to pick that new shovel up at all. However, the plowing yesterday morning left a lot to be desired. Even the turnpike didn't have its normal pristine surface. Let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come this winter.

Very strange. I noticed the weather folks in town were not going out on a limb as far as snow totals go. I mean what can you do with a forecast that calls for between 1 and 6 inches of accumulation. Can you narrow that down a bit. Knock on wood though. That's two snow events that called for major accumulation and I hardly participated in either one.

Meal of Links

Sometimes you have 57 channels and something IS on. I stumbled upon "End Of The Century", a doc about the Ramones this a.m. and it was well worth the time.

Let the conspiracy theorists take hold. Rothschild Investment Bank makes record profits. I guess they do run the world.

Pick up your free Dr. Pepper. Starts at Midnight tonight. Thanks, Axl.

Where in the world can you smoke Hippy Lettuce legally? Pack the Reynolds Wrap.

Exercise Yard

I was in attendance at the Cleveland State-Kansas State game this evening. First visitor to the Bart from a big conference since Cal came here several years ago (excluding OSU at the Q last year). And 800 more people showed up this week than last for a crowd of 2800. And they all seemed to be in our row, as it was one of the few times my brother and I lost our coat chair. That's a sign of the times when that happens. All of a sudden I'm looking forward to "friends and family" games later in December to get my personal space back.

As for the game, well, CSU has some things they need to work on. Especially coming out of the gate and shooting well. Again, a dismal first-half effort had the Vikings down by 12 at the half. CSU shot 22% from the field to start. That's becoming a broken record in the first three games. They were also outrebounded, although they had 14 on the offensive end and many of those I apparently chose not to remember, because I thought the number was much lower.















Two side notes. K-State's coach, Frank Martin, I think might have the best stare I've seen in a long time. Besides, no question, he's psychotic. I had to yell at him, "Hey, Coach Bates, Relax.". Haven't seen a coach rip his players like that since Bruce Pearl was at Milwaukee. Although Coach Huggins is always good for that, too. Martin was an assistant under Huggins, so he learned from the best.

And right when it appeared CSU was making a run in the second half, the officials got involved and called an intentional foul on J'Nathan Bullock. strange call in that the K-State player clearly retaliated and escaped unscathed. thought for sure the double foul was coming. So, K-State turned a three point lead into an eight-point lead with the subsequent foul shots and three on the next possession. Game over, man, game over!

Maybe they need to get back to the Horizon League, because the Vikings are currently leaking oil. Bad starts, decent second halfs, but not much out of the star players, Bullock and Cedric Jackson. Jackson shot 1-for-12 tonight. Ugh.

A disappointing loss drops CSU to 1-2. The final was K-State 69, CSU 59.

Visitor

15 Down: '80s Peppard co-star (3 letters) Answer: Mr. T

I went to see a sneak preview of "Four Christmases" last night. This was at the Cinemark in the valley. I'd file this one under cute. It clocked in at a rather speedy 85 minutes or so, so don't order any Twizzlers, you'll have leftovers.

This was a movie about a couple, Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon, who always ditch their respective families around the holidays. You know, "You can't spell families without 'lies'." But this year, getting ready for Fiji, weather forced them to stay around for Christmas and visit each of their divorced parents. Robert Duvall, Mary Steenburgen, Sissy Spacek and Jon Voight play the parents. Jon Favreau and Tim McGraw play Vince's UFC fighting brothers. We also get Dwight Yoakam who seems to be resembling Clint Howard these days in the role of Pastor Phil. Nothing put me on the floor and there are a few chuckles, mainly the ones you see in the hideous trailer for the movie.

So, if you have a spare 90 minutes or so during the holidays, it may be good for a laugh or two when you see this one. Nothing great, but fairly harmless entertainment.

Meal of Links

The Most Underrated Muppets. I always thought Rowlf was massively underappreciated, especially as Doctor Bob. Kinda like Goofy on the Disney side. Always reliable and funny, can't remember a bad outing by either one.

Elvis Costello's new show opens in a couple of weeks. I am there.

A visit to Prince's house. Not royalty, the symbol guy.

They found the remains of Copernicus. I didn't even know they were missing.

Monty Python now has a YouTube channel. Some good stuff to begin with.

Independent movie posters. Omigod, "The Machinist". If you catch that one late at night, I guarantee you'll stay up to see the end.

Now go out and conquer that clutter!

Exercise Yard

Why is Phil Savage e-mailing fans and dropping f-bombs? He was allegedly at a tailgate when the Browns were at Jacksonville, too. I am sure he was not drinking, but trying to drop in on the regular folk, I guess.

Someone should tell him, it isn't working.

Visitor

4 Down: Longtime Georgia senator (7 letters) Answer: Sam Nunn

Quick Browns thoughts. Brady Quinn is quickly approaching “Saint Tressel” status after only two games. Compiled a few games for comparison between Quinn and Derek Anderson.

Browns/Bengals: Anderson 15-24, 138 YDS/TD/INT/74.7 QB Rating
Browns/Jaguars: Anderson 14-27, 246 YDS/TD/Sack/95.6 QB Rating
Browns/Ravens: Anderson 17-33, 219 YDS/2TD/INT/Sack/80.2 QB Rating (His last start)
Browns/Bills: Quinn 14-36, 185 YDS/Sack/55.9 QB Rating

Note that I tossed the Giants game as an aberration. Anderson’s last 5 starts, 4 sacks. Quinn’s first 2 games, 1 sack. So the problem was not Anderson holding the ball and getting pummeled or being a statue. They went to that dink passing attack after the first Ravens game, which we are now getting with Quinn. I'll give you the fact that Quinn is more mobile, hence the bootleg and rollouts we saw last night.

In Anderson’s last 5 starts, his QB Ratings were:

Bengals 74.7, a road win.
Giants 121.3, a home win.
Redskins 57.9, a road loss.
Jaguars 95.6, a road win.
Ravens 80.2, a home loss.

In Quinn’s two starts, his QB ratings were:

Broncos 104.3, a home loss.
Bills 55.9, a road win.

“Quinn was 14-of-36 for 185 yards. Not great, but not bad.”-This is a Terry Pluto quote in today's PD. WTF? Barely 5 yards per attempt. No touchdowns, no long balls. If that was Anderson, he’d be hearing it today. Especially after having 11 days to prepare. The Browns certainly let everyone know Quinn’s QB rating against Denver was 104.3. I’m pretty sure we will not hear much about this week’s 55.9.

Any argument about "Quinn would have been better had not Braylon Edwards dropped passes" holds zero water. Because you could flip that argument to the two biggest drops that Anderson threw this year. One against Dallas, another against Baltimore.

All I’m saying is, if we are going to denigrate Anderson as mediocre, let’s not conversely anoint Quinn for doing basically the same thing. He's two games in, let's wait a while. Remember, we thought Anderson was the man after game 2 against the Bengals last year. And, yes, I am still not on the bandwagon, but am holding a reservation.

And don't get me started on the Browns run defense giving up 185 yards last night.

Meal of Links

Google is now hosting the Life Photo Archive. Why here's Joe DiMaggio at Dinky Donuts!






































Bruno strikes again. You'd think people would wise up.

How The New York Times met "The Simpsons".

Family Guy Spelling Bee

This put me on the floor.



Exercise Yard

Even Desmond Howard is not too sure about this Rich Rodriguez guy. Rodriguez has probably hired a food taster, at this point.

Visitor

27 Across: Brother of Curly (3 letters) Answer: Moe

Hey, it's Sunday a.m. and what better opportunity to see "Bond, James Bond" than at the early show at Crocker Park. A grand total of 10 people showed up. Day not starting well because they forgot to turn on the ICEE machines. Ugh!

Anyhow, I dragged my Dad and Gale to attend "Quantum of Solace". Why my Mom and Dad once took my brother and I years ago to a drive-in to see Bond. Listen, I don't know what the hell this movie was about. Who or what was Quantum and why he or she was Solaced or any of that. One of the few Bonds where you had to be into the first of the Daniel Craig Bond movies to remember what was going on. Something about oil, then diamonds, but really about water rights. And, as always, M suspecting Bond of going over the edge. Bond Chick was a Bolivian, I think, and rather saucy. Seriously, this town needs hot foreign chicks to pull up their cars aside you as you're walking down the street yelling, "Get in."

The PD review though had it spot on. Bond has been Bourned, as in Jason. Constant action all over the globe. At the end, he was in a snowy landscape, I half expected it be Cleveland. During one fight scene, I thought Bond would use the phone book as a weapon. Plus, he's leaping an alley from a roof to a balcony below across the street. I think I saw Jackie Chan do that 10 years ago. No new gadgets to speak of in this one. I loves Bond gadgets.

Plus, security of all kinds was not in evidence anywhere. A guy worked with M for lots of years and she had no idea he was the enemy. Bond takes a cycle and sits across a pier to spy on a guy in broad daylight. A hotel in the middle of nowhere is evacuated for a secret meeting and Bond and his friend basically stroll in to commit mayhem. Bond infiltrates a bizarre setting where a Toscan opera is performed (don't ask) by entering through the Artists Entrance. WTF? Security was rather Col. Klink-like. The villain was some wimpy French guy that Sean Connery would have disposed of before a 9:30 a.m. movie of his choice. But, in this movie, he actually puts up a fight. Aaaargh!

Having said that, Bond is Bond. So, he beat up guys, wore tuxedos, drank and knows how to move about in this world of ne'er-do-wells. Also, we have car chases. He used a boat, a motorcycle, an Aston Martin, an airplane and a Land Rover as transport. He even walked across a desert in his tux. They gave away his martini recipe and the chicks still dig him. Looks like a record opening at the box office, as well.

Afterward for us, it wasn't martinis, but Bloody Marys at Art's Pub for $2.50. You can make your own, but the staff did a fine job. So, we drank a bit, failed at the obligatory Keno, watched some football and had some eats. I had a Rib/Wing special that hit the spot. That was a fun day and it had just started.

Meal of Links

In case you missed it. Scene had an article about a potential suspect in the Amy Mihaljevic murder case. Interesting to hear about the case, all these years later.

The 10 cars that sank Detroit. I never did understand that Taurus neglect. And 10 cars that can salvage Detroit.

More than 60 beautiful videos. Aphex Twin, no doubt. I have always loved the look of that Lenny Kravitz video for "Are You Gonna Go My Way?". Doesn't hurt that it's a great record too. Other standouts on the list: Beck's "Girl"; Lego-fied White Stripes on "Fell In Love With A Girl"; "Sabotage" which must be played loudly; "House of Cards" by Radiohead is an awesome song to have on when it's raining, especially in your car; we have Weezer!; and I like Richard Ashcroft walking on "Bittersweet Symphony", which has to be on everyone's Top Ten list of '90s songs.

Gas prices still down. I noticed in today's PD, they are dropping the gas surcharge for deliverers.

Exercise Yard

Tomorrow, let's see what Brady Quinn does against an NFL defense. Additionally, there will be snow and Buffalo went apeshit last year on a Monday night when they played Dallas. It was their first Monday nighter in ages and the atmosphere was insane. Not ready for the Quinn bandwagon yet, even with the extra prep time.

Visitor

None, methinks it is about to snow.

Looks like I bought an ergonomic shovel just in time...

I took my Dad to the season opener of CSU basketball tonight. The opponent was the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland University, picked to win the Summit Conference. Big expectations for CSU this year and you could tell the city was behind the team with a huge crowd of...2078. See, LeBron was playing down the street and well, it's the same old, same old.

Anyhow, Cleveland State had some issues in the first half. They were getting outrebounded and shot a John Carroll-like 21%, including 2 of 14 from three-point range. Yeah, that's ugly. Oakland shot only 32%, but that was good enough for a 31-24 halftime lead.

In the second half, it was still a struggle. Oakland went up 46-36 with 15:44 left, but only scored 9 points the rest of the way. CSU finally went ahead, 55-53 with 3:12 left, as Norris Cole hit a jumper. Ninety seconds later, he hit a three for a five-point lead and the eventual win. He had awesome defense on the shooter in the final ten seconds as Oakland missed their potential game-tying shot.

The Vikings need some work. Shooting heated up to 47% in the second half, but was only 35% for the game. Fouls shooting was 8 of 14, with not one attempt in the second half. They were also outrebounded by 4. This was a tough game, the type of game you have to pull out in the end, that you'll face many times during the season. Actually had excitement for the few people that were there.

Next week, it's out west to the University of Washington and back home for Kansas State. CSU wins, 58-55.

Meal of Links

How to run a con. Or you could watch any David Mamet movie. Speaking of cons, here's Joe the Plumber's website.

Breakout movie performances from 2008. I missed this many movies? Anyhow, ditto on Toby Kebbel in "Rock N Rolla" and Danny McBride in "Pineapple Express".

Michael Lewis has a long read about Wall Street. Excellent article.

Will Maury Eventually Kill Someone?



Exercise Yard

The Browns may be done, but Randy Lerner's other team had its biggest win to date of his ownership. Aston Villa 2, Arsenal 0. A game in which the Villans did virtually nothing wrong.

Visitor

23 Across: "Lonely Days" group (7 letters) Answer: Bee Gees

While contemplating that it's the 30th anniversary of Cheap Trick's "Live at Budokan" and they have released a reissue:

Strangely enough, as I was driving home tonight, 1st Wave actually played "Stories For Boys" by U2, so I rightfully can sing, "I've got the pow-er."

My niece likes Kid Country, I mean, Kid Rock. And knows Taylor Swift songs. I may have to plan an intervention.

Why does that guy on the BeepBeep.com commercial sing "easy" like "E-Cee" not "E-Zee"? Really bugs me.

Until I see a "Ganley Man" commercial, that is.

On "The Office", why did they so easily discard Pam's graphic artist foray? That seemed to take a turn to wrap things neatly in a bow in the span of 10 minutes.

And speaking of Jim Halpert, he is the voice of those Blackberry Storm commercials. "It clicks...".

I'm glad Romeo denied the Browns quit last Thursday. I think that word is tossed around way too much these days and covers up a severe lack of talent. Early in the history of Browns 2.0 you could say that, but not last week.

Do you laugh when the graphic on "Larry King Live" commands you to "Blog"?

Could C.C. Sabathia command $140 million? And, if so, what would Manny Ramirez get? I wonder what the Indians bid will be? Oh right, there won't be any, because we'll go after Casey Blake.

I watched "Kitchen Nightmares" for the first time last night. The first hour with an Italian restaurant from Stamford, CT. I think I found the real "Uncle F-Bomb". Jee-zus, even if the restaurant turned around by the end of the show, why would you ever give that guy any of your money?

The restaurant in question.

Meal of Links

A list of the "100 Movies I'm Embarrassed I Haven't Seen". I still have not seen "Forrest Gump" or "Top Gun".

We are now in the W's. That means The Who, White Stripes, Wilco and X.

I don't watch "Real Housewives of Atlanta", something about these Reality TV shows I guess. But I understand the wife of former Cav Eric Snow is on the show.

Exercise Yard

Lenny Dykstra is still making money. Yes, "Nails" is surviving the recession quite nicely.

Visitor

16 Across: First name in a Beatles title (7 letters) Answer: Eleanor

Today is a rather anxious day in XM nation. That's because the new channel lineup, post-merger of XM and Sirius, takes hold. I always listened to Fred, Ethel and Lucy on XM. They have been replaced by 1st Wave, Alt Nation and Lithium respectively.

My first thoughts are they have effectively killed Fred. Why last night I was able to hear groups like the Charlatans. This morning, I had this stretch:

"Eyes Without A Face"/Billy Idol
"I Will Follow"/U2
"Ball of Confusion"/Love and Rockets
"Rush"/Big Audio Dynamite

I like Billy Idol in his Generation X days, not that crappy tune. The U2 song, a classic for sure, but rarely played on Fred. How about "Stories For Boys" or something like that? I get the last two selections, although "Rush" would probably be played on Lucy. The first two could be heard virtually anywhere on terrestrial radio.

On the trip home, I heard "Kinda Kute" by Joe Jackson. OK, that's an amalgam of every one of Jackson's early tunes, but not often played. Good choice. And nothing wrong with hearing "London Calling" or "Fashion" by Bowie. But, "Voices Carry"? I only stick with that so I can sing, "Hu-u-u-u-u-sh, hush...keep it down now...voices carry". I'm afraid the songs of the Fred Essentials era are going to be tossed.

Disappointing Day One, I'd say, because the "Classic New Wave" that they play is just going to cover the "hits". I don't think I'll be hearing The Damned or Nitzer Ebb anytime soon. Conversely, the little bit I paid attention to the others, I'd say Alt Nation and Lithium were truer to the charter of their old XM counterparts. Although these channels always play Green Day and Social D's "Ball and Chain" which fit into almost any format, so they can act like they have a harder edge. I'll let ya know if I hear "Ring of Fire" by Social Disorder.

Thank God though, a punk channel is back. And pick an artist, they have a channel. I now get Margaritaville, Bruce Springsteen, Jam On, Little Steven's Garage, and the Grateful Dead 24 hours a day. I also get BBC Radio One and that's pretty cool, just because it's the BBC. Sports-wise, I picked up NBA play-by-play.

The station that I got to hear all of Sarah Palin's speeches live, POTUS '08, has changed to POTUS. So, I liked it that the channel has remained. And I picked up an NPR channel, as well.

I'll be listening to see what else has changed.

Meal of Links

Dave Grohl will be a judge on a Thanksgiving version of "Top Chef". I hope he screams.

Malcolm Gladwell has another book coming out. A long read about him.

The Raconteurs have gone goofy with "From Old to Gold". Cool song from the last album, so I'm not sure what they are promoting.

Looks like HBO is hooking up with Anthony Kiedis. I could get into that story.

A short history of the bagel. I went to Bruegger's today. I ask you, why are they so expensive there?

Smoking movies. Cannot believe "Good Night and Good Luck" is not on this list. And where is "Cold Turkey"?

Old: Red vs. Blue. New: Educated vs. People Easily Fooled by Propaganda.

Nate Silver talks about his new found stardom. FiveThirtyEight was really the go-to site for all of the election polling. Plus, when you hear fantasy baseball geeks talk about PECOTA, well, Nate invented that, too. And don't forget, we still have three Senate races going, so Nate's still got it going on.

Fox cancelled "Mad TV". This show was really strange. Sometimes it was absolutely hilarious, other times it was pretty embarrassing.

Exercise Yard

Herb Score died yesterday. What can you say about Herb? The man watched more bad baseball than any human deserved to endure. Look at some of the players he had to chronicle on a daily basis for over three decades. I mean, Joe Lis? Seriously, his only claim to fame was he could sign his name twice as fast as Jack Brohamer.

Here are some of the funnier things I remember about Herbie. I once heard some local wag, after hearing Score for probably the millionth time, claim his first words out of the womb were probably, “Throw to first, back safely.” I recall driving back from Columbus one time and tuning in the Tribe on the radio. Channeling Feagler, you kinda did that sort of thing back then. Anyhow, the Indians are playing the Oakland A’s and had the catchers, Mickey Tettleton and Terry Steinbach, at the time. Herb called the Oakland catcher, “Mickey Tettlebach”, for only about six innings before correcting himself. (I believe that was in the PD today, I actually heard that as it happened.) And finally, his call in the 1997 ALCS of the go-ahead homer by Tony Fernandez in extra innings against Baltimore, “And the Indians are going to the World Series…Maybe.” Herb forgot they were in Baltimore and had the bottom of the inning to get through. But everyone loved the guy.

It was a crime the liner off the bat of Yankee Gil McDougald that hit him in the eye started his downfall from what, early on, looked like a surefire Hall of Fame career, as this SI cover story from 1955 attests. He was really that good, piling up the strikeouts at a record pace and being mentioned with the all-time greats at a young age. Here’s a look at the early comeback in 1958 and a quite painful read of when it’s obvious he had nothing left as a pitcher in 1961.
















Truly a sad time for all Tribe fans.

Visitor

30 Across: "Seinfeld" stumbler (6 letters) Answer: Kramer

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 went to Cinemark in the valley to see "Rachel Getting Married". Lotta buzz about Anne Hathaway (and who doesn't like her?) in this movie and she'll probably get Oscar consideration. Speaking of Oscar, what else is worthy up to this point? Only Heath Ledger, I'd say.

Anyhow, Hathaway plays a drug addict who gets a pass out of rehab for her sister's wedding. Anne's an "It's all about me" kinda gal, so it's interesting to see how the family interacts. And we get to see the rehearsal dinner, the wedding itself and the reception. You're in tight with the group, because Jonathan Demme used a lot of handhelds in filming it. It's very different and Altman-like. Not exactly a laugh riot, but there is some humor. Hey, Fab Five Freddy and Robyn Hitchcock make appearances and the TV on the Radio singer was the groom, so there were many forms of music represented. The wedding ceremony was some of sort of Jewish/Hindu/Rasta. I somehow see my Dad at this type of wedding saying, "What the hell is this?".

Meal of Links

The perils of "Populist Chic". OK, I am checking myself into Palin rehab.

They may have found a cure for AIDS. Bone marrow plays the leading role.

Chrysler has talks with Hyundai. Yes, we all saw that coming, didn't we?

Exercise Yard

Salma Hayek paid for ball juggling lessons from Becks at an auction. And now he's off to Europe. She paid $350,000. You'd think they could sneak in a hour somewhere, don't you?

Visitor

62 Across: 1950 Tony winner born in Rome (9 letters) Answer: Ezio Pinza

If you thought Barack Obama becoming President was going to tone down racism around these parts, well, I don't think that's happenin' soon. Case in point was before last night's Browns game. I was enjoying my pre-game ritual of Corona Lights when this guy and his wife sidle up to the bar next to Kevin and I, putting Kevin in the middle between us.

I guess this dude felt obligated to chat. Oh, he was a talker. So much so, Kevin had to find other victims as a buffer. He found friends that he knew and gave up his seat to a female, then her and her friend moved on when a table opened up. Then Lisa, who picked out my glasses, showed up and she occupied the chair for a while. I happened to mention Sarah Palin and the dude's ears perked up like a dog.

Let me backtrack a bit. When he sat down, the guy mentioned he was a Cowboy fan. And he was wearing a DuPont NASCAR jacket, so I probably shouldn't stereotype, but you know where this was heading. He went on and on about how he saw the Dallas-Cleveland game and how great the Cowboys are. To the point of annoyance. Then he mentioned the tired line about "Bill Cowher bought a home in Strongsville." This pisses me off to no end, so I called him out on it and challenged him, "He did not. OK, what street is it on?". Of course, he has a trusted friend who knows and blah, blah, blah. Thank you, sports talk radio and you, you Internets.

So, with the rotating seat next to me, he finally started eating and was quiet for a while. I happened to mention Palin. By this time, Lisa and I had our backs to the bar. But I hear the dude ask Lisa if I mentioned Palin. And she said yes. So, the guy turns to us and asks. "Who did you vote for?" and we responded. I told him, "I voted for Obama and, you know, he actually won." He said, "I give Obama credit. I really do. For having half a brain. Because he's half white." Lisa and I just looked at each other and shook our heads and turned around. How could you dignify that with a reply? Not very often that you meet someone and within 20 minutes, they admit to being a racist.

So, there is still much work to be done.

Meal of Links

Everyone hates those Toyota "Saved By Zero" ads. Everyone. Not one person likes them. I've never minded the song, but I wish they hadn't used it though. It'll stick with you.

Is Obama leading the Fourth Republic? Looks like Bush destroyed the third one.

Here is Tina Brown's new venture, The Daily Beast.

Exercise Yard

John Cleese explains the offside rule in soccer. Pay attention!



Visitor

33 Across: Emmy-winning scientist (3 letters) Answer: Nye

Randomness from tonight's Browns home game:



























Special Guest: Kevin. I went to a game with Kevin two years ago. It was in December. He made a sign and I think it became useless after a few minutes, because it was kinda cold. Last year, we were scheduled for the Buffalo game and I bailed on that one since it snowed quite a bit. So, the weather should be much better tonight. Plus, he gets out of school at 6:00, which probably means no signage.

Tonight's Opponent: The once-hated Denver Broncos. Sure, 20 years ago, we thought this team was the devil. We always seemed to come up short against these guys. The 1986 AFC Championship game here ("The Drive"). The 1987 AFC Championship game there ("The Fumble"). The 1989 AFC Championship game there (We never got around to naming that one). But both teams are a far cry from that era. The Broncos have no discernable defense. They are horrible on that side of the ball. Can you imagine a Denver Bronco team with no running game? Well, they are here tonight. It's basically Jay Cutler at QB and if he is successful, they move the ball. If not, they really suck. Amazingly, with all of that, they still lead their division at 4-4.

Browns Version 2.3, however, is in turmoil once again. Brady Quinn, the People's Choice (or as I like to call him, "Dink II"), is now in charge of the Browns offense. For the record, I am not yet a Quinn fan. He needs to do something more on the field, instead of being shirtless and doing commercials off it, before I hop on his bandwagon. With only one day of practice before this game and limited reps all year, what should we look for tonight? I'm telling you, if you thought the short passing game was prominent with Derek Anderson, watch tonight's game. I expect lots of slants, short outs, swing passes out of the backfield. I expect less deep passes than when Anderson was in there. And last week, he threw only one and we saw how that worked out. Doh!

On paper, this would have been an easy Browns win before the QB change. Since the change was announced, I still think the Browns will win. Though I have this nagging feeling that it'll be ugly.

Parking: East 6th by the Board of Education. Ni-i-i-ice.

Browns Player on Ticket: D'Qwell Jackson, arms folded.

Pre-Game Festivities: The Browns Spirit Flag was unfurled once more. We also had the flag that wasn't really a flag. You know, the one with red, white and starred blue strips of varying length.

At halftime, the Browns old AAFC championship teams from 1947, 1948 and 1949 were honored. Names you would recognize: Ara Parseghian, Dub Jones and Dante Lavelli were in attendance.

Worst Feature (For Me): "Hang on Sloopy" at the end of the third quarter. I'm really tired of this.

The Weather: Hollie Strano had the unfortunate experience of trying to do her weather gig, while chants of "Brady! Brady!" resonated throughout the Stadium as Brady Quinn was entering the game for his first series as a starter. No one heard her and she stiffed me on that radar again. The weather was as perfect as could be for a November night game. This was one of those days that closer to the lake it was much cooler than inland. But the temperature was steady throughout and was in the mid-50s. Outstanding.

Today's Giveaway: There wasn't any.

Section 345: Nothing happened. Probably the tamest crowd in years. Not even a threat of anyone risking ejection.

Best Browns Play: Once again, the best Browns player was Josh Cribbs. Absolutely loved his end around in the 4th quarter for 21 yards. It's a shame our best player is only on the field for maybe 15-20 plays per game, and most of those are in the return game.

































Best Broncos Play: The 93-yard touchdown pass from Jay Cutler to Eddie Royal. Cutler did a fake and Brandon McDonald, who else?, bit on it. By the time he recovered, Cutler had delivered the ball to Royal, who was well behind the defense. Royal had to wait for the ball, but still caught it and outsprinted everyone to the endzone. This brought Denver right back into the game at 23-20.

Worst Browns Play: The fumble by Kellen Winslow with 12:48 left. The Browns had started the drive on the 50 after another good return by Cribbs. On 3rd-and-6, Quinn hit Winslow with a pass for an apparent first down. But he fumbled at the Denver 38. It took Denver less than 3 minutes to score a touchdown to go up, 27-23.

Second Worst Browns Play: The bad tackling on Daniel Graham's 28-yard touchdown catch for the Broncos. Pitiful.

Worst Broncos Play: Repeatedly kicking to Josh Cribbs. Fools.

Best Line from Me (at halftime): "Omigod, Dante Lavelli looks horrible. Dead Pool?"

Best Line from Kevin (after another big Denver gain): "Swiss cheese, baby. Swiss cheese."

Best Line from a Random: Denver fan says, "I know you guys have Kellen Winslow, but we have Tony Scheffler."

Oddest Browns Jersey: 17 Gardocki, 29 Turner, 34 Droughns, 75 Fraser. There was also 80 Postal Dawg.

Food Items: Kevin got me a $4.75 bratwurst. We learned these babies are really hot (temperature-wise) last Sunday. Try one.

Best Fan Cam Feature: The "Beware of Dog" sign that you could purchase at your local five-and-dime was held up.
























The Fuckin' Run: The Browns only gave up 123 yards rushing today. Normally cause for celebration, right? Unfortunately, this was accomplished mainly by Denver's FOURTH AND FIFTH-STRING RUNNING BACKS. Cutler even chipped in with 26 yards, including a huge 18-yarder up the middle with two minutes left. Putrid.

Worst Stat: The Browns defense, the unit that has let us down for how many years now?, gave up 564 yards tonight. Cutler had a career-high 447 yards through the air. Couldn't stop them.

2nd Worst Stat: Denver punted one time. The only defensive stop the Browns had all evening. Cutler had an awful interception ending one drive and they had a missed field goal on their opening drive. Halftime stopped another drive. The Browns had no three-and-outs.

Most Interesting Stat: Conversely, the Browns only punted twice. The Winslow fumble and the Browns inability to get a final first down on their last drive were the other times they did not score.

Penalties: Another offensive pass interference penalty on Kellen Winslow was the killer. This was on the first play of the fourth quarter, nullifying a first-down catch by Braylon Edwards. The Browns punted, setting up the long Royal TD.

This loss drove the final nail into the coffin this year. The season is over. Oh, we knew it was done early this year, but the tease of the Monday Night Giant win and the tough win at Jacksonville kept the charade going. Finally, at 3-6, we can breathe easy. Now we know we suck, for sure.

































Can't pin this one on "Dink II". Those games, with tougher defenses, will eventually prove my point. Nope, this one is pinned solely on the defense, who for the second game in a row, were handed a fourth quarter lead and proceeded to perform dismally when it counted. Both times at home to compound the misery.

So, where does the season go from here? We've seen it numerous times. Some teams play to the end under these circumstances. Others do not and the team slides into a steep decline to finish out the season. Is the coach in jeopardy? Remember, his forte is defense and it just ain't working right now. Is the general manager in jeopardy? He hasn't addressed linebacking needs when that unit has been crying for an upgrade for years. And his free agent signings have been hit-or-miss.

Whatever happens it's because the team had their season on the line with back-to-back home games against teams, that if the Browns are as good as they think, should have no trouble beating. And the defense, as it does for as long as I've been watching the Browns, let everyone down. Again.

I can't believe I'm typing the Browns lost to the dismal Denver Broncos, 34-30.

Meal of Links

Seriously, Sarah Palin thought Africa was a country and did not know the countries involved in NAFTA. Yet, women (and many men) across the land claimed they identified with her and she was "one of us", etc. Good grief.

I got to see some daytime TV yesterday that I normally don't see. I stumbled across some of the Judge Shows again. Nearly fell off the chair when I saw Bruce Cutler, famously John Gotti's lawyer, hosting a show called "Jury Duty", where three "celebrity jurors" adjudicate cases. Two of the jurors were Melissa Rivers and Bruce Vilanch, just to give you some flavor. Quite the awful program, I say. Then I watched old favorite, Judge Extreme Akim, in "Eye For An Eye" rule on some obviously phony case.

Forgotten names for everyday items. Like the "aglet".

10 songs that resemble 10 different songs. Some of these are blatant lifts. Kinks vs. Kinks is one my faves, as well.

Exercise Yard

The Boston Bruins decide to fight the Dallas Stars. Jack Edwards, the formerly mild-mannered ESPN anchor now Boston Bruins homer/announcer, seems to have gone a bit over-the-top with some of his descriptions.



Visitor

47 Across: Perennial 1950s-'60s NBA all-star (6 letters) Answer: Pettit

I have a few days off and cannot believe this Indian Summer weather we have been having. Really good these days.

Do not go the Circuit City liquidation yet. Looks like the liquidators have jacked up everything to retail price before taking the discounts. Music and movies were 20% off, cameras 15%, TVs 10%, I think PCs were only 5% off. I think the better deals are coming, but frankly, it shows why the store is dying. Not much of a selection and prices blow. And there are much better deals online if you take the time to find them.

And I didn't see Joe Biden at Home Depot. I think he's busy.

Meal of Links

Bill Ayers talks to David Remnick. "They made me into a cartoon character."

Don't forget Poland. Russia is thinking about lining up missiles at the border.

Lookee here. Girls do have cooties.

Election News; Obama beats McCain, Franken appears to have tied Coleman, and Bacon beats Fries. Every time, in my opinion.
















Exercise Yard

Soccer rockets! And, of course, the ubiquious rioting after the match.

Visitor

45 Down: Nixon adviser Nofziger (3 letters) Answer: Lyn

"Honest to goodness
The bars weren't open this morning
They must have been voting
For a new president of something"
-"The New World" by X

And so it goes.

I walked over to the polls this morning. The Trio Tavern had an "Open" sign on, but they were closed. I was out the door at 6:30 a.m. and arrived about 6:40 a.m. And the lines were already out the door. I chatted up a guy about Brady Quinn, but the line moved quickly and I was in line for a booth by 7:00 a.m.

A few thoughts. If you recall last year, I was shocked that people were sitting at tables filling out their ballots. Whatever happened to the idea of the secret ballot? They offer this to you in my precinct as a way to vote without waiting in line. I don't quite understand it. Maybe we need a bigger polling place.

This year, it was even worse, if you can believe it. We have people at tables, we have people sitting in chairs, we have people standing in line while waiting for a booth to open, all out with their pens coloring in the circles for who they voted for. It looked a lot like Thistledown. My God, are we in that much of a hurry? Besides, I don't want the guy next to me looking at who I am voting for. It's more proof that Election Day needs to be a national holiday every four years. I will sign every petition and back every initiative until this becomes a reality.

That wasn't the half of it. I actually had to talk to the Voters Rights person outside of the polling place. God bless the woman in front of me. It was pretty chaotic inside, but she was actually reading the "Ballot Privacy Folder" (which they neglected to give me, BTW) before they scanned her ballot. I guess that's supposed to keep your ballot private, after you sit out in the open and vote at a table, I add snarkily. Anyhow, the procedure was we were supposed to hand the guy by the scanner a stub from our ballot. Then we could scan. She was the first person to notice this at our precinct's scanner (we have four precincts, that means four scanners): WE HAD NO STUBS!

And she was determined to fix it. She said she had always had a stub in all her years of voting, so they could check if there were problems. I then joined with her. We checked the scanner. 26 had already voted and God knows how many others had been given ballots without stubs from our precinct's table. Let alone the other precincts. The worker claimed, "They opened the doors before we were ready." Trust me, that is not what you wanna hear on Election Day, especially in Ohio. But that's really not an excuse. Make the people wait, instead of handing them ballots they can fill out in the open. Their solution was to take a bunch of stubs and just throw them into the envelope.

I presume one of those stubs was mine. So, I guess my vote counted. My parting shot to the scanner guy was, "You're sure I didn't just vote for Canadians, but Americans, right?".

On the way out, I noticed the woman talking to the Voters Rights person, so I felt obligated to join the fray and file a report. Jeezy creezy, I understand it's hectic at the start and all, but my goodness, you'd think ripping a ballot from the tablet with the stub intact is a pretty important step in poll worker training.

Even with all of that, I walked back home and arrived here at 7:25 a.m.

So, perform your civic duty and vote today.

But before you vote:

Please Be Informed



Election Night
























4:00 p.m.: I just realized 4 years ago at this time, I was reading those dreaded exit polls. I thought John Kerry was ahead? W'happen?

4:45 p.m.: Breaking Election News: Bill Richardson shaved his beard.

6:00 p.m: I turn on MSNBC, the Place for Politics. Also decide I'm going to have leftover Chinese.

6:45 p.m: Lester Holt is manning the Senate desk. I imagine he'll get very limited air time. Ann Curry rears her ugly head, much like Putin.

7:00 p.m: First results. McCain gets Kentucky, Obama takes Vermont for an early 8-3 R lead.

7:10 p.m.: Morning Joe calls it a complete repudiation of Republicans. Gee, that's early.

7:30 p.m.: I vow by 8:00, I will start paying more attention. South Carolina goes to McCain. He's up 16-3. That sounds like a playoff game that C.C. Sabathia pitches.

7:45 p.m.: Indiana intrigues me. Still has not been called for McCain. Highly unusual for Team Donkey to be close here.

8:00 p.m.: Pennsylvania and its 21 electoral votes go to Obama. It's over, baby. (Happy Dance ensues.) Chris Matthews: "The McCain plan for victory has crashed." Obama needs only one red state at this point. Maybe Colorado at 9:00. This may be an early night.

Oklahoma and Tennessee go to McCain. Obama picks up Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire, Maine, Delaware, New Jersey, Massachusetts and the District. Obama zooms to a 103-34 lead. I break out the Lays Kettle Cooked Potato Chips.
































8:24 p.m.: Florida STILL cannot design a simple ballot. Or Palm Beach County residents is just plain stupid. Ann Curry and Howard Fineman have the same hair color.

8:27 p.m.: Fox Business Channel shows a graphic of Maine results: "Obama 2, McCain 1".

8:39 p.m.: Headline News crawl: Tim Robbins waited five hours to vote in Manhattan. Poll worker said his name was not on the register. He says he's voted every year there since 1992. A judge intervened.

8:45 p.m.: Alabammy and Georgia go to McCain, making it 103-58.

8:57 p.m.: Fox News seems very sad.

9:00 p.m.: More polls close. New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Rhode Island to Obama. McCain takes Arkansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Kansas. Team Elephant is losing, 175-76.

9:06 p.m.: Decide to check the locals. Bad year for school levies. Most are losing. Hey, it looks like "Dennis!" wins. Yep, he's my Congressman.

9:11 p.m.: Chuck Todd says, "Not so fast, my friend!". Virginia, Ohio and Indiana are still in doubt.

9:22 p.m.: Unbelievably, Ohio goes to Obama. This state we live in, where the Mason-Dixon Line has crept up to I-80, votes a black man for President. Obama up, 195-76. Chuck Todd should have waited 15 minutes. Now, it's really over.


















9:25 p.m.: McCain takes Louisiana and picks up 6. He is still getting whomped, 195-85.

9:30 p.m.: New Mexico actually counts its votes early. 5 more to Senator Obama and he is at 200-85.

9:37 p.m.: Keith Olbermann desperately wants to say "It's over!". I said it a while ago. I think Neil Cavuto's head asploded on Fox Business.

9:42 p.m.: Fox is still hanging on for Florida. MSNBC won't call it, but it's leaning heavily toward Obama.

9:44 p.m.: Wolf Blitzer: Nice man. Wolf Blitzer: Terrible Election Night anchor. I forgot, Kentucky goes to McCain. Obama up, 200-90.































10:00 p.m.: Utah to McCain, Iowa to Obama. It's now 207-129. Fox News throws in the towel.

10:07 p.m.: James Carville on CNN says the R's are in no position to dictate to Obama how he should govern. The rational Republican next to him jokingly says, "If we only had 9 seats on the Supreme Court, we could pull this off." It was very funny.

10:12 p.m: It is now 207-135 for Obama as I miss some McCain states.

10:16 p.m.: Major difference in crowd scenes. Many thousands in an outdoor Chicago park for Obama, a few hundred in a hotel ballroom in Phoenix for McCain.

10:26 p.m.: Howard Fineman talks about a new generation. "Sea change but it's happening on a lake."

10:37 p.m.: South Dakota goes to McCain. You never hear about people in long lines waiting to vote there.

11:01 p.m.: Barack Obama is our next President. Si, se puede! God bless these United States of America!

Randomness from today's Browns home game:

Here are the sheep entering the Cleveland Clinic Gate today:

















Special Guest: My brother Jeff. His record has been not-so-good lately. As the Browns have gotten better, he has witnessed more losses. Some of them of the awful variety, like this year's Dallas game. The postgame Obama rally (playing with fire here, especially if the Browns lay an egg) and resulting parking fiasco has forced us to leave a bit earlier than planned, around 10:00 a.m. But this is the Browns first Sunday-at-1 home game of the year, so I don't really care. Of course, this is followed by a night game this Thursday.

Today's Opponent: The old Browns and hated division rival, the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens have a better record than the Browns this year, at 4-3. The importance of this game cannot be underestimated. The Ravens run defense is top-notch and they are right behind Tennessee and tied with Pittsburgh in Points Against. Oh yeah, they also beat the Browns in Week 2, 28-10.

Browns Version 2.3, however, is near the bottom in Points Scored. Scary place to be, as our neighbors are Cincinnati and Detroit. It's put up or shut up time, as the Browns have two winnable home games within a five-day span. Unfortunately, each time the Browns have saved their season, they have lost the next game.

It all comes down to the Browns offense. If they can put up some points, they'll probably win. If it's a defensive battle, they'll probably lose.

Parking: Short Vincent. The newspaper lied, only portions of East 6th and 9th and Saint Clair seemed closed to parking or traffic.

Browns Player on Ticket: Jamal Lewis, the former Raven, looking mean.

Pre-Game Festivities: The Browns Spirit Flag was unfurled again. National Anthem duties were handled by the Cleveland Opera. We also got a "God Bless America" from them and a flag in the shape of the United States.

















Also, a cool flyover with two jets!

At halftime, Pee Wee Football.

Worst Feature (For Me): "Hang on Sloopy" at the end of the third quarter. Participation was high, because the Browns were still winning at the time.

The Weather: Hollie Strano actually mentioned and showed the radar today. The people have spoken! I like my radar at the games. Although the temperature during the game tapped out around 54, it was like stealing to get weather like this in November. Sunny to start, then some clouds throughout late. Actually got warmer as the evening wore on.

Today's Giveaway: Dick's Sporting Goods sponsored a 2008 Cleveland Browns Team Photo. These were distributed on the way out. I neglected to take one and then pulled a Costanza and picked one out from the top of a garbage can. However, as I was crossing Saint Clair I dropped it and felt as if the football gods really didn't want me to have one. So I left it there.

Section 345: Very few people in Ravens gear all around the park today. Surprisingly so. In our section, the only trouble was actually between Browns fans, near the top. A man and woman were ejected and must have been so out of line, the "Asshole!" chant went up for them. Truly, a rarity amongst your own.

But we had a standing issue in our row, Totally new people all around today, as if the season ticket holders bailed on this one. New people off to our right and above one row, got mad when a guy stood up. I'm not a fan of standing up. Oh, these days, I expect to stand quite a bit, especially on important plays, but certainly not on ordinary first down plays. It was one of these that got some folks riled up. Then the stander himself said some inane things. You know, the typical rants about being a fan, supporting the team, etc. God, I hope he doesn't vote.

Best Browns Play: Easily Josh Cribbs 92-yard kickoff return. Right when it looked like the Browns were gonna lay an egg early, this return puts the Browns right back in the game. The thing about a lot of returners is many of them have speed or they dance around a lot to get the extra yards. But Cribbs not only has speed, he has a unique ability to run strongly through tackles, as he demonstrated on this return. By far, his best game of the year.

Best Ravens Play: For me, it was the Ravens first touchdown by Mark Clayton. Clayton runs a post pattern, beating Brandon McDonald. Joe Flacco rolls right and lofts a nice one and hits Clayton on the money for a 47-yard TD in the first quarter. Flacco tried this in the first game and was intercepted. This time, Clayton beats the single coverage and the result was six points.

Worst Browns Play: The screen pass that Derek Anderson threw to Terrell Suggs for a 42-yard TD in the fourth quarter. The problem is Suggs plays for the Ravens. The play was poorly executed in all phases. The blocking, the route and the throw. When Suggs scored, it was game over. Then the booing and "Brady!" chants started.






















Second Worst Browns Play: Braylon Edwards dropping another potential TD pass. With the score, 27-20 Browns, Anderson only fires a perfect pass about sixty yards downfield, mind you, the only really deep throw he attempted all day. Hits Edwards right in stride and he doesn't come up with it. Gut wrenching to watch.

Worst Ravens Play: After Ray Rice runs for 60 yards with 7:30 left in the game, the Ravens have a chance to put the game heavily in their favor. Inexplicably, the Ravens take a play from the Browns playbook and attempt a pass to the fullback on 2nd-and-goal from the 2-yard line. Obviously, it falls incomplete and the Ravens eventually kick a go-ahead field goal to make it 30-27.

Best Line from Me: None. I was in a serious mode for this one.

Best Line from a Random: The Browns kicked a field goal to tie the game at 10, this guy who has a really unique voice behind up, starts up after the Ravens get the kickoff and start marching down the field. "We should be goin' for touchdowns back there, not field goals. Touchdowns will win you games...Everyone knows that...Except that fatass Romeo."

Oddest Browns Jersey: The nice weather made many jerseys visible today. 9 Frye, 16 McDonald, 29 Turner, 31 Green, 34 Droughns, 44 Suggs, 54 Spielman, 81 Bryant, 85 Johnson, 86 Northcutt, 87 Andre Davis, 92 C. Brown. There was also K9 Muttley, 9 Fast, and 69 Your Mom.

Food Items: Had many pre-game Corona Lights at Alesci's, compounded by early arrival. Had a $4 hot dog at the game, courtesy of my brother.

Best Fan Cam Feature: Hot chick by Josh's Cribb sign overshadowed by this Mensa sign: "No Animals Allowed, Only Dawgs".

The Fuckin' Run: The Browns gave up 193 yards on the ground. Seriously, when will this shit end? It's now 10 years and still has not been addressed. Today, it was a rookie from Rutgers, Ray Rice, with the honors. He ran for 154 yards, including the aforementioned 60-yarder.

Worst Stat: Jamal Lewis had 19 rushes for 49 yards for the Browns. Probably to be expected against the Ravens defense, but still unpleasant to witness.

2nd Worst Stat: The Browns were 2-for-12 on third downs and 0-for-1 on fourth downs.

Most Interesting Stat: After the Ravens tied the score at 27-27, the Browns only had one first down.

Penalties: An offensive pass interference penalty on Kellen Winslow seemed questionable live, simply because the defender didn't appear to turn around for the ball. Announcing crews seemed to think it pretty obvious, however.

The strangest turnaround was on a play where Joe Flacco got called for intentional grounding, the Browns had 12 men on the field. Ugh!

The Browns cannot stand prosperity. After taking a 27-13 lead in the third quarter, the team seemed to collapse. One play stands out. With the place jumping after a Browns sack made it 3rd-and-16 from their own 15, the Ravens hit a big pass play for a first down, netting 20 yards. From that point on, it was all downhill, and the Ravens scored later on that drive to make it 27-20. Don't know if the Browns thought it was in the bag or what, but their play became very erratic after that.

So, with the schedule in their favor, for once, this year, with two home games in the next five days, the Browns blow the first leg. It's a rare game that turns so dramatically from one team seemingly in charge, to a team that comes roaring back to eventually win.

This was a tough one to lose. Never did I think the Browns could put up 27 on Baltimore and get defeated. The Browns lose, 37-27. The season has been in jeopardy for weeks since their awful start, but now it becomes a numbers game. Realistically, they are done right now. The trouble is, the word "mathematically" now enters the fray.

Meal of Links

Man dies after bowling a perfect game. My friends, that is NOT a great way to go.

Circuit City is at death's door. The combo of Wal-Mart and Best Buy killed them.

Cheap tickets for travel. Some of these websites are new to me.

Exercise Yard

Don Banks calls for the Browns to start Brady Quinn. Hell, we may see him Thursday if Derek Anderson stinks out the joint.

Visitor

None, a nice day for a Browns game and an Obama rally to mess up my parking mojo.

Well, everyone wants to know how my Halloween went. I tried a different method of candy distribution this year. Best Friend suggested letting the kiddies and semi-adults pick out what they wanted. For the most part, that went smoothly. I never got as many thank yous as I did this year.

As for the neighborhood, I discovered my front light did not work. I'm off for a few days this week, so I can address that soon. But I didn't get out there until after 6:30 and within, say, 50 minutes, all of my candy was gone. All 8 bags of it. Then my niece came over for her swag, and then it was off to Johnny Mango to end the day.

Back to the neighborhood, Mr. Hydraulics severely underestimated the crowds, ran out of candy and unplugged early. As a matter of fact, the decorations are already gone. The other neighbors had a coffin that was lit, but had some sort of stuffed animal peeking from it, and, in general, was not scary. They also were TP'ed overnight. Most of that is gone, as well.

Best costumes I saw were:

Homemade Super Mario Brother, Luigi.
Scream-Both movie and Munch painting versions.
A well-done, but a little late to the party, Borat.

Other highlights:

This one girl was a TV set, with foiled rabbit ears. On her cardbooard box, she had channels and this conversation took place.

Trick-or-Treater: "See, I'm a TV set. I have all these channels."
(She proceeds to flip through these magazine pages.)
Trick-or-Treater: "I even have McCain and Obama. But I couldn't find an Obama, so I had to draw him."
(She goes to a paper with a stick figure drawn on it.)
Me: "Yeah. Pictures of Obama are really hard to find these days."
(Trick-or-Treater then has puzzled look.)

Large pack of kids show up.

Me: "Take which kind you like."
(Trick-or-Treater 1 grabs two, first time all night this has happened.)
Me: "Hey, only one!"
(Trick-or-Treater 1 gives one to another kid. Things proceed smooothly until, later in the pack.)
Trick-or-Treater 8 (holding two bags): "Trick or treat!"
Me (showing bowl): "What kind do you like?"
Trick-or-Treater 8 (selecting Milky Way): "I like this."
Trick-or-Treater 8 (revealing second bag): "Can I have one for my Mom?"
Me: "Where's your Mom?
Trick-or-Treater 8 (pointing to lady on sidewalk): "Down there."
Me: "How old is your Mom?"
Trick-or-Treater 8: "34."
Me: "That's a little old to be trick-or-treating. No, get outta here."

Meal of Links

Studs Terkel died yesterday. One of the most interesting people I've ever had the pleasure of reading or listening to. The guy just reeked of Chicago and the plight of the working man. And he showed up in "Eight Men Out" as the reporter who exposed the Black Sox. Just an amazing guy. Roger Ebert writes about Studs.

All about black holes. They are a strange lot.

Punk and rock go to Christie's. There are some unbelievably interesting items up for sale. No Quickie Board here. Dylan, Beatles, Stones, Sex Pistols, Clash are all represented.

I went to see the latest Guy Ritchie flick, "RocknRolla". This is easily his best movie since "Snatch". Great characters, good soundtrack (The Subways even show up for a live version of "Rock and Roll Queen"), Russians in London (come on, Uri Obamavich sounds a lot like the real-life Roman Abramovich, including the soccer ownership), and goofy violence. And, of course, everyone is double-crossing each other. Thandie Newton recovers from "W." as a corrupt accountant, and Tom Wilkinson is awesome as the head bad guy. Lots of fun.

Exercise Yard

Another No. 1 team goes down. Look at those Top 10 scores yesterday. Not supposed to matter, but this year, when you can, teams are rolling it up. Scores of: 35-0, 62-28, 49-10, 56-0, 59-17.

Even Boise State rolled up a 49-0.

Visitor

58 Across: 1979 Tony winner for "Whose Life Is It Anyway?" (8 letters) Answer: Tom Conti

LeBron James hosts Jay-Z in Last Chance for Change

Last night, Gale and I saw Jay-Z. I had not seen Jay-Z in the flesh before, but thought this would be a great opportunity to check him out. Of course, this was under the guise of a concert sponsored by the Ohio Democratic Party. The agenda was encouraging people to vote and all, but really everyone was there to see Jay-Z.

The Venue: Quicken Loans Arena. This was a General Admission show where gates opened at 6:30 for an 8:00 start. Even the uppers were opened for this one.

Stage Banter: Quite frankly, LeBron looked like a fool for most of the night. He was on stage for virtually all of Jay-Z’s performance. If Jay-Z was on the left, LeBron would be on the right and vice versa. Never really getting in the way, but inserting himself into the proceedings was downright strange. Thank God, he didn’t have a mike. Let me be sure everyone understands. He rapped along with Jay-Z on virtually every song, but did not have a mike. I mean, Jay-Z already has one “rap partner”, Memphis Bleek, on a few tunes, he doesn’t need another. LeBron would stroll to the front or side of the stage and wave his arms, point, or in general look out of place.

Imagine, if you will, you on stage with your favorite artist. You can’t sing, you can’t play an instrument. You’re just there, hogging the spotlight. While people utter, WTF?

Here’s what LeBron said: “You know who I'm voting for, I'm voting for Obama…For real!". Ugh!

Jay-Z chimed in with a: “We're here to have fun tonight, but there's an important election coming up. We the youth are going to show them our power." For real, I say! He also pulled a “Peace and love” comment a la Ringo Starr.

And, of course, he shouted out to all the “niggaz” and “muthafuckas” in the house. More than once. I got lumped into the “Westside” comment.

The Tickets: As I said, this was a General Admission show. I got my tickets from the Obama Election Office in Kent last Friday. I got floor seats. Lower-level and upper-level seats were also distributed, but if you wanted to get a prime location, you had to get there early. No way would we do that. We were able to watch the Obama commercial and then stroll in about 8:40. We set up near the press location near the back of where you could stand on the floor. Wasn’t really that bad back there, lots of room to move and drink my beer in peace.

The Crowd: I have never been in a venue with that many black people before. No lie. Of the 20,000 in attendance, I estimate maybe 1,000 were white. And thank God, Frank Jackson was there. Yes, the mayor saved me from chaperone status. Although the PD interviewed some 63-year old, who was probably cowered in a loge somewhere.

My brother and I saw George Clinton many moons ago at Peabody’s. I’m not sure if the ratio of black-to-white was greater, but the sheer scope of the crowd was something to see.

The Sound: The sound was excellent once again at the Q. It’s all in where you sit (or stand) these days, I believe. Jay-Z has a band that really rocks out and those guys were in fine form. No worries here.

Opening Act: There wasn’t any. Oh yeah, that had a lame DJ who tried to keep the crowd occupied until 7:55, from what I heard. Then the Obama commercial was shown from 8:00 to 8:30. As we walked in, the Politician Parade started. First, Frank Jackson came out. Don’t believe the hype, he got booed. A lot. Then Chris Redfern, the chair of the Ohio Democratic Party, came out representing the white people in the hizzy house. After him, an unknown man came out. Jay-Z came on about 9:10.

The Stage: Awesome setup. He has a video screen on each side of the stage. And a much larger video screen hovers above, almost the length of the stage. Jay-Z has a “rap partner” with him up front. And his band is dressed in ties, black vests and pants, and white shirts.

This band was unbelievably good. In the back, left to right, he has three horns, percussion, drums and keyboards. In the front, left to right, it’s keyboard/DJ, bass, and guitar. Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek roam around the front of the stage, with Lebron there for good measure. Great mix of sound and visuals.

The Music: Jay-Z played for around 80 minutes, the show lasting from 9:10 til about 10:30. I must say, if you ever get the chance, you need to see him live, he is the real deal. I put him on par with Springsteen or U2, where mostly everyone knows the words and sings along to every song. It is quite the spectacle. I know tickets were free, but whatever he would charge for a concert, is fair. The man knows how to put on a show. It’s not hard to see why his music still resonates with the youth, he is an amazing entertainer.

Setlist:

“Say Hello”
“U Don't Know”
“Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)...”
“Jigga My Nigga”
“Can I Live”
“Blue Magic”
"Minority Report"
“Public Service Announcement (Interlude)”
“Swagga Like Us”
“Put On (Remix)”
“Dirt Off Your Shoulder”
“A Billi Freestyle”
“I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)”
“Jigga What, Jigga Who (Originator 99)”
“Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”
“Can I Get A...”
“Show Me What You Got”
“I Know”
“Excuse Me Miss”
“La, La, La”
“Song Cry”
“Memphis Bleek Song”
“99 Problems”
“Jockin' Jay-Z”

Encore:

“Big Pimpin'”
“Hard Knock Life (The Ghetto Anthem)”

Last Chance for Change Video



Meal of Links

Harry Shearer checks in. Catch Le Show, Sundays at 1:00 on 90.3, if you can. I still marvel at how good of a radio show that is.

How can you not like "Rounders"? Great on the big screen. Which reminds me, I should program that Playhouse Square summer movie schedule. I'd get asses in the chairs for sure. This movie turned my opinion, to the better, on Matt Damon. And, absolutely sold me on Edward Norton's acting ability. For being a supporting actor, his scenes absolutely leap off the screen in this one.

Roger Ebert with advice for film critics. Very funny.

The Onion had Roy the Forklift Driver from Ohio 15 years ago. History repeats.

Kids today are not ingenious enough to use the Halloween Candy Code. Of course, they love me around here.

Exercise Yard

I guess this is how you celebrate winning the World Series. With a bottle to the head!



Visitor

36 Across: First name in country (5 letters) Answer: Merle

We've been hearing a lot about early voting this year. I am either a traditionalist or sadist, so I wait til Election Day to cast my votes.

But I must tell you, as I was in the Obama office in Kent last week, they were really stressing that everyone should vote early. I think this is a direct appeal to the youth, who have been termed "erratic voters". You know, folks who say they are gonna show up at the polls, but never do. It's a pretty effective strategy and from the responses I witnessed, a lot have already voted. That ground game of Obama's will be the latest gold standard if they pull this win out.

Meal of Links

What movie should I watch next? Two ways to find something similar.

GM and Chrysler want help to merge. Two wrongs do not make a right.

I Want My MTV. Yes, they are finally putting up the archive of music videos. So, to celebrate:

"Kool Thing"/Sonic Youth



Exercise Yard

Phillies fans are looking for stubs. What if you found one on the ground on your way out the other day?

Visitor

1 Across: Jazzman Stan (4 letters) Answer: getz

The Browns have won two games without Kellen Winslow, so there's been a lot of talk about dumping him. It's pretty much a given that he's gone after this year, because of his actions last week and his obvious desire of a new contract.

But let's see what tidbits the Browns leak to the press. Currently, it's Winslow's lack of blocking. I'm not sure anyone thought he was a great blocker, but we didn't hear much about it the last two years when he set a team record for catches by a tight end and last year when he was All-Pro. A year in which Jamal Lewis went wild running the ball, BTW, with Winslow on the field a lot.

But what I've heard lately is that the Browns are of the mind that Winslow doesn't run the correct routes. Not that he's a bad route runner, mind you. No, they are trying to say he runs the incorrect pass pattern that is called. All I can figure with this type of smear is that they are setting us up to not get what the fans perceive as fair value for him.

If Jeremy Shockey gets a second and a fifth-round draft pick in return, Winslow deserves at least that much in return. They are very similar. Mouthy, oft-injured, non-blocking tight ends whose teams perceived they could win without their services. But to paint Winslow as a non-blocking, inept player that the league knows can't run a route, is setting us up for a bad trade. Let's see what happens.

Meal of Links

Sarah Palin thinks Barack Obama is a socialist. Is it really a bad word? And let's not forget about the check that every Alaskan gets each year before we answer.

BTW, Palin had a policy speech on science late last week and said some strange things. Hitch chimes in. His last paragraph is one that reminds me why I like his writing so much:

"This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist. They are morally and intellectually slothful people who are secretly envious of the educated and the cultured. And those who prate of spiritual warfare and demons are not just "people of faith" but theocratic bullies. On Nov. 4, anyone who cares for the Constitution has a clear duty to repudiate this wickedness and stupidity."

Craig Ferguson hosts Punk Week on his show this week. X, The Dolls and the Damned show up.

All about "Night of the Living Dead". There's a ton here, all week.

Exercise Yard

Mike Singletary, he of those crazy eyes when he played for the Bears, has a memorable first post-game news conference as coach of the 49ers. As a fan, it's great theater. how it works with players is anyone's guess.

Coach Singletary Goes Off



This ranks up there with all of the previous favorites:

"Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs. Are you kidding me? Playoffs? I'm just hoping we can win a game."
"You play to win the game!"
"They are who we thought they were...and we let 'em off the hook!"

Visitor

52 Across Down: Youngest Masters champ (10 letters) Answer: Tiger Woods