Music Releases

It seems to me that all the bands I listen to tend to release their albums all at the same time. Last year, Dave Matthews Band and Audioslave released albums within a few weeks of each other. This year, it looks like a banner year for Pearl Jam, Audioslave and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The hype machine seems to be in full force. I know that no artist would suggest that their upcoming album is not something fans and the public would enjoy, but it is interesting to hear bands say that the next album is always the "best one yet."

That stretch in May-June will be a pretty exciting musical month for me. I'll be seeing Pearl Jam at Continental Airlines Arena on June 1. Pearl Jam's upcoming album can be preordered at their website with the bonus of receiving MP3's to the album at 12:01am on the release date, as well as an additional live recording from a New Year's Eve concert in 1992. I'm leaning strongly towards picking that up, since those Ten-era concerts were probably pretty wild.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers just released a good portion of their recent catalong on iTunes with some pretty intriguing bonus songs from their albums Blood Sugar Sex Magik, One Hot Minute, Californication and By the Way. Unfortunately the bonus stuff is only available if you purchase the album digitally. Since I already own those albums, it's too bad. I wish I could purchase those tracks (2-3 per album) individually.



Pearl Jam - self-titled album, release date: 5/2/06
"It's easily the best stuff we've done but also some of the hardest stuff." -Eddie Vedder


Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium, release date 5/9/06
"...the best thing we've ever done." - Flea

Audioslave, Revelations, release date June 2006 (album art not available)
"My vocal cadence is different, my approach to the vocal is different. And with this band, we have the ability to go into more of a soul/R&B direction and have it be authentic. It's exciting." - Chris Cornell

Tags: Audioslave, Chris Cornell, Eddie Vedder, Flea, music, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, rock music

Yao Ming Playing Well

Yao Ming is playing well, but the Houston Rockets are not. It's too bad for Yao, who is putting up the best numbers of his career, that Tracy McGrady is out. While the games might be relatively meaningless for the Rockets at this point, Yao is playing great, with double-doubles in 12 of his last 14 games, scoring 20 points or more in every game during that stretch. I might have to try and catch a few Rockets games on TV while their season's still going.

Tags: basketball, NBARockets, Yao Ming

Knicks Beat the Pistons

What's that? The basement-dwelling Knicks beat the Eastern Conference Champion Pistons? I would have never believed it. They won the game in green uniforms? Wait a second, isn't there another team (in the same division) that wears Green, Irish-influenced uniforms?

Is this a new Knicks tradition? Those are ugly uniforms. Wouldn't it be embarrassing if they played the Celtics on St. Patrick's Day and broke those green duds out?

Tags: basketball, Detroit Pistons, NBA, New York Knicks, St. Patrick's Day, uniforms

Doughnut Plant

Doughnut Plant
379 Grand Street (between Essex & Norfolk Streets)
New York, NY 10002
Phone/Fax: (212)505-3700

I went to this place on Saturday morning. It was well worth it. Much better than Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts, this store usually sells out of doughnuts by 2pm. We bought a ton of doughnuts including chocolate cake, cinnamon cake, coconut creme, jelly and orange glaze. The cake doughnuts were the worst, and the coconut creme was the best. The doughnuts were huge and I had a sugar high for a while afterwards. Check it out if you're on the Lower East Side. I was going to try and post a photo but for some reason the Blogger photo uploading is having problems.


Tags: doughnut, donut, Lower East Side, New York City, restaurant

Pearl Jam's New Album

Pearl Jam has a new self-titled album coming out in May, their first in three or so years. It's their first with their new label, J records, and it looks like the band is making a pretty big push, with a website makeover, release of their new single, World Wide Suicide, on myspace (it's no longer available) and now the single available on iTunes, complete with a second track from the album, Unemployable. They've also announced a tour. Maybe my favorite band will actually become current again.

This is my first post in March!


Tags: music, Unemployable, World Wide Suicide

Knicks Car Wreck

Watching the Knicks is like watching a car wreck. You can't stop watching but it's so gruesome!

Take this Steve Francis trade. Francis isn't a bad player, but is he going to improve the Knicks? Now they have Francis, Jamal Crawford, and Marbury all fighting for playing time in the guard position. If Francis and Marbury play alongside each other, they'll be undersized at the guard position. Also, they are both are point guards who can score but aren't known for their passing ability.

Larry Brown, who supposedly emphasizes defense, now has Marbury, Francis and Jalen Rose, all players who are considered to think more about scoring than defense.

Contract-wise, things aren't much better, the trio of Francis, Marbury and Crawford are locked up through 2008-2009 season. As an aside, before this trade, 4 of the 12 players on the worst team in the league are locked up through 2008-2009!

The funny thing is, even though I don't want watch this team play much basketball, I'm totally interested in the soap opera outside the court! I don't know who to blame / credit for this mess but Larry Brown, Jim Dolan and Isiah Thomas have put together the best sports version of "unintentional comedy" I've ever seen.


Tags: basketball, Isiah Thomas, Larry Brown, NBA, New York Knicks, Steve Francis

Thirst Quencher

Over one year ago, I pointed out that Poland Spring had a silly marketing campaign where they labelled their water bottles with the tag line, "Thirst Quencher."

Here's the image again.



This absurd marketing line seems to have spread to their sister company, Deer Park.



Water: a thirst quencher. I think the New York Times should put a label on that says, "reading material" and clothes should include a label, "so you don't go naked."


Tags: bottled water, marketing, slogans

Knicks Acquire Jalen Rose

The KFB Sports corner continues...

The Knicks acquired Jalen Rose and a first round draft pick from Toronto (Denver's pick) for Antonio Davis.

I understand the general philosophy of this trade - get rid of a player who isn't going to make an impact on the team in general because he's older and has an expiring contract (Davis), acquire a first round draft pick (because they gave away theirs - see Eddy Curry trade), and get a player with a high, but expiring contract next year (Rose). But at the same time, this strategy hasn't been working!

Let's say the Knicks never made the Curry trade. They would have had at least the fourth pick in the draft, would have had Tim Thomas's expiring contract to trade away and not have to take on Jalen Rose's max contract. They'd also still be bad.

This sort of trade is what has gotten the Knicks into their current hole. I was trying to do some calculations with the help of HoopsHype. If they hadn't made the Curry trade, Kurt Thomas trade or Jerome James signing, I think they would have been under or close to under the cap next year. Isiah's got to have a little patience instead of just prolonging this wait to get under the cap. No single player, short of LeBron James, could make this team instantly better.


Tags: basketball, Isiah Thomas, Jalen Rose, NBA, New York Knicks

World Baseball Classic

With all the players backing out of the World Baseball Classic in March, and questions about how well people will pitch because they haven't warmed up, perhaps MLB should consider moving the classic to November, after the World Series. That way, if a player got a minor injury they could recover in the three months before spring training. The pitchers would also be in shape in general and have less risk of injury.

I think the World Baseball Classic might be a cool exhibition but the quality of play can't be that good, or at least not as good as it could be.


Tags: baseball, MLB, World Baseball Classic

Super Bowl XL

Unfortunately, I won't be able to see the game tonight. Rather than grace you with an awful pick, here are some questions I have about the game in general:

1) In two weeks, can't you convince yourself of anything? People have invented all sorts of reasons how different things could happen. There's one group that thinks for sure that Pittsburgh will blow Seattle out. Another group thinks Seattle has a chance and can win easily. With two weeks to think about it, I think people can come up with any reason for anything, and convince themselves it's right.

2) Is Pittsburgh's running game that good? It seems like from the playoffs they've done very well throwing short pasess. Their average rush per carry in the regular season was 4.0 yards, which is actually way below Seattle's 4.7.

3) Is the 6th seed in the AFC really better than the 1st seed in the NFC? That's what the oddsmakers say. Granted, if Roethlesberger had been healthy the entire year, the Steelers may not have been #6 (after all, they were 15-1 last year).

4) Will there be any good commercials? Usually there's a ton of buzz for the commercials to look out for. Not so with this game. The pre-game buzz has been fairly low even for the game itself. Did you know Jerome Bettis grew up in Detroit, MI?

5) How good is Seattle's defense? They are 16th in yards allowed and 7th in points allowed. Their rush defense was 5th overall, was that because they were 25th against the pass? Their defense was pretty poor a year or so ago, can a team really turn it around that much in one year?

6) Does it make a difference that Pittsburgh plays a 3-4 defense? Seattle's offensive line is supposed to be one of the best, but they haven't had to match up against a 3-4 this year except for Houston in week 6. The speed and coverages of the 3-4 are a little different than the 4-3, so could this be an edge?

7) The coaching match-up of this Super Bowl may be between two Hall of Famers. Bill Cowher would beat a lot of his demons by winning this one. Mike Holmgren would go down with a select few in professional sports as coaches who have won championships with two different teams. You can check that out - many coaches have brought two different franchises to the championship level but very few have won two with different teams. Of course, the coaches don't play on the field.

8) What happens with the shirts that say "Super Bowl Champions" but are for the losers. For example, there must have been a ton of "Super Bowl XXXIX Champions - Philadelphia Eagles" merchandise. Does it just get destroyed? I think that stuff should be given to the homeless.


Tags: football, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks, Super Bowl, Super Bowl XL

Post Office Shooting

There was a shooting at a California post office facility this morning. I was thinking, why are post offices associated with shootings? What is it about the employees or working conditions that have driven employees to killing their coworkers? Is there something about the hiring practices that are looser than other government jobs, or do they have such horrible working conditions? Certainly it seems like there is a lot of monotony in the job, and customers at the post office aren't particularly nice, but is that any different than other places? It's so bad that if someone is going crazy a common phrase is, "going postal." Nobody ever "goes UPS" or "goes FedEx."

Tags: going postal, post office, post office shooting, postal service, USPS, US Postal Service

Tribal Sovereignty

In honor of the State of the Union address tomorrow, I thought I'd post this amusing clip that I just saw today.

Tags: Bush, George W. Bush, President, President Bush, State of the Union, Tribal Sovereignty

Two Underdogs

Today, two major underdogs vie for Super Bowl berths. I'll try to pick the games. Since the "seeding" format, each Super Bowl has had either a #1 or #2 seed in it. So it seems unlikely that both underdogs would win this week. Also, both home teams are undefeated at home this year, so picking against one of them would be breaking a streak.

Pittsburgh at Denver - If the Broncos can blitz the way they blitzed New England, I think it will be harder for the Steelers than people think. Everyone is high on them the way they played in Indianapolis, and rightly so. Maybe this year the Steelers won't be as tight since they aren't heavy favorites and Cowher can make it back to the Super Bowl (he is 1-4 in Conference Championship games, including several disappointing losses). However, while Pittsburgh's defense should get a lot of pressure on Denver (just as New England did), I think people forget the trouble QB Ben Roethlisberger had with presure last year in the playoffs against the Jets and New England. Denver's front 7 should be able to harass Roethlisberger more than Indianapolis was able to, and I think that will make a big difference. I like Denver here.

Carolina at Seattle - I don't know what to make of the injuries to the Panthers. I have to think they travel well (and Jake Delhomme has only lost one game in the playoffs ever, the Super Bowl versus New England). So I have trouble picking against them, but I think the Seahawks being at home may be the biggest factor. This game is "strength versus strength" with the Panther defense versus the Seahawks offense. I'll go with Seattle, if for any other reason than to cover my ass and get at least 50% of my picks correct. I'd be shocked if both home teams lose.

Another "rule" to watch for - on Conference Championship weekend, one game is usually a blowout and the other is usually close.

Tags: Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, football, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks

You Can Call Us Aaron Burr...

...From the way we're droppin' Hamiltons!

Google video allows embedding of videos on your website. Pretty cool discovery. This is the recent SNL smash hit, "the Chronic." I think part of the reason I find this funny is because it's based in New York.





Tags: Andy Samberg, Chris Parnell, The Chronic, SNL, tv

Iran Bans CNN (then lifts the ban)

Iran banned CNN for a brief period after a mistranslation CNN's translation agency made of a speech by the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I am hoping for Iran to misunderstand the Daily Show in the same way a Chinese paper misunderstood the Onion.

Tags: China, Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

FEMA for Kids

Disaster and emergency preparedness geared towards children. Is this the 21st century "Duck and Cover?"






Tags: duck and cover, FEMA,kids

Bank Robber

This story probably won't inspire the next episode of Law and Order. A man in Massachusetts had been robbing banks saying he had a bomb in his bag. It turns out, the bag had books in it. One book was a phone book, with his name and address on the outside.

I guess this breaks the Spaceballs rule of "evil will always triumph because good is dumb."


Tags: off beat news, offbeat news, robbery

24 Season 5

The fifth season of 24 starts tomorrow night, and boy, am I excited! There are four episodes airing between Sun and Mon, and back-to-back is how I tend to enjoy the show the most. Season 4 is the only one I didn't watch consecutively, and it was the one I enjoyed the least. So hopefully this jammed pack set of episodes will provide some relief! On Black Friday '05 I picked up seasons 2 & 3 for $20 each at Best Buy, so I'm pretty psyched to see Jack Bauer break the rules all over again.

Tags: FOX, Jack Bauer, television, TV

NFL Divisional Playoffs

Well, it looks like we're down to 8 teams in the NFL. I missed last week's games, but from the scores, it doesn't look like I missed that much. Here's a brief analysis from someone who hardly follows the NFL these days except to find out if the Jets will get Eric Mangini, Patriots Defensive Coordinator, as their head coach.

Washington at Seattle
The Seahawks are generally tough at home, but the Redskins have been really tough down the stretch, which reminds me of teams like the 2001 Patriots or 2000 Ravens. So which will be a bigger factor here, injuries to the Redskins or Seattle's recent playoff futility? Seattle the last two years has reminded me of the recent iterations of Colts or Vikings that made the playoffs strongly and then lost tragically. I'm not sure what will be the stronger factor, but I think the Redskins keep this one close. Washington takes the 9.5 point spread and possibly even the game.

New England at Denver
I don't like to bet against Tom Brady who is undefeated in the playoffs. The fact that the Broncos beat the Patriots earlier this year doesn't mean much to me. A strange Monday Night game in 2003 where the Broncos with Danny Kannell as QB nearly beat NE (and Belichek took a safety in the end zone) gives me hope that Shanahan could be the coach to beat the Patriots, but I'm not banking on it. Patriots take this one. By the way, a Patriots victory would further prolong the Jets coaching situation, so my pessimistic inner-Jets fan has to go with New England here. I'll take the Pats. I think if you can only watch one game this weekend, this might be it.

Pittsburgh at Indianapolis
If the Steelers win this, I'd be shocked. The Colts were playing great, got a little derailed, but should be back on track, and at the dome. I'm not so sure about that spread, though. While the Colts destroyed the Steelers in the first match-up, this one should be a little closer, but even closer means the Colts cover.

Carolina at Chicago
This game made me wonder, "what's the over/under?" since both teams aren't known for their offense. I think the Bears can take this one but it's not really based on any fact or observations, other than that the Panthers are pretty inconsistant. I think there's some home advantage here as well. I suspect the game will come down to the turnovers and Steve Smith. If Chicago keeps the ball safe and contains Smith, they should win. This will be a close game where field position will make the difference. I'll take Chicago.

So the KFB predicts that next week we will see:
Washington at Chicago
New England at Indianapolis

Tags: NFL Playoffs, Playoffs

Spider-Man's New Duds

Marvel Comics has just announced that Spider-Man will be getting a new costume, and just released this image of it.



This sort of reminds me of the "Superman Blue" costume (below). When Superman donned these silly duds (along with gaining electrical powers) we all knew he would switch back. Now it looks like Spidey's getting the same revamp.



Of course this isn't the first time that Spider-Man has changed costumes, and the responses have been mixed in general. Perhaps one of the more popular costumes was a black, living costume that he received during the Secret Wars series. After Spider-Man realizes the costume is alive and tries to get rid of it, the costume finds another suitor, Eddie Brock, a Daily Planet reporter. This combination becomes Spider-Man's popular enemy, Venom.

More recently, Spider-Man underwent a pair of unpopular costume changes. The first, pictured was the Scarlet Spider costume, and the second was a modification of the classic red and blue. I'm not sure why the red and blue modification was so unpopular but the hoodie of Scarlet Spider just looks a bit silly. Fan dislike for these costumes is probably related to the fact that they were the result of the awful clone saga crossover that featured other events that were eventually reversed, such as Aunt May's death.




(Comic covers from www.comics.org - the grand comic book database)

It seems safe to say that even though I don't really like the new yellow and red Spider-Man costume, it doesn't matter what I think since it probably won't last and is only a temporary change.

Tags: comic books, comics, Marvel, spider man, Spiderman

The Daily Show / Burger Joint

I went to a taping of the Daily Show tonight followed by a visit to Burger Joint in the Parker Meridien Hotel. Then, I made some ice cream with a new Cuisinart ice cream maker I got for Christmas.

I was going to take a photo of the Daily Show set while we were there but we were strictly prohibited from doing so. I thought I might be able to sneak a glance with my camera phone by why risk getting kicked out?

The show was pretty funny, and the guest was New York Times writer James Risen, who broke the NSA phone tap story. In general, I think the show's quality has declined since Stephen Colbert left for the Colbert Report. There were bits by Rob Corddry and Ed Helms, but no major segment, just a lot of news. The headlines were funny but I was hoping that they might get into the Alito hearings. The main focus was Harry Belafonte's visit to Venezuela and Dick Cheney's recent health troubles.

Burger Joint was the site of an excellent burger, on par with Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. The menu is very limited - pretty much burgers only. Very tasty, tight quarters for seating.

The ice cream maker makes good ice cream. Last night I made strawberry which was pretty time intensive but very good. The consistancy was a little soft (like a thick milkshake) after it came out of the machine but after overnight freezing it was solid. Tonight I made just plain vanilla and it came out like softserve. I think chocolate chip or cookies and cream would be very successful here.

12/26/05 - New York Jets vs. New England Patriots

Ah, from one last place team on Friday, to another on Monday.

There were a few exciting moments for us Jets fans on Monday night. Ty Law brought back an interception to make the game 7-7, and when the Jets drove in the 3rd quarter to bring it a little closer (28-14) it was a nice drive. But the rest of the game was indicative of how bad the Jets have become. There was 4:14 left in the 3rd quarter when they got their first offensive third down. The Patriots drove for what seemed like forever to close out the 2nd and start the 3rd quarters. I believe the Patriots converted 3-4 fourth downs. They scored their first two touchdowns on the exact same goal line play. It was ugly. But we had great seats - check out the photos.



Compare the following two photos - the first taken on my cell phone (LG VX9800) and the second on my digital camera (Sony Cybershot DSC-P1). I think my camera settings must be messed up since the cell phone photos seem better!







Tags: football, Jets, Meadowlands, Monday Night Football, New England Patriots, New York Jets, NFL, Patriots

12/23/05 - Utah Jazz vs. New York Knicks

It's the beginning of a holiday sports weekend for me, because this Monday, I'll be attending my only Jets game of the year, NY Jets versus New England Patriots. Fortunately for this Monday's game it should be pretty warm (mid 40's).

As for the Knicks game, we saw them break their 7 game losing streak, and get their seventh win (and first of December). The tickets were $25 because the Knicks held a "strike sale" but fortunately for us, the strike had ended by game time so it ended up as just cheap tickets. This is from section 321, an alcohol free section. This will probably be my only NBA game this season.

The Knicks looked pretty bad but fortunately the Jazz looked much worse. This game was boring at times, as there were just so many fouls. I think the Jazz racked up 4 fouls in the first three minutes!!

By the way, the last few posts have all had photos from my handy dandy LG VX9800, which I plan to review soon.

Tags: basketball, MTA Strike, New York Knicks, Utah Jazz

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays and the like from the Kitchen Fresh Blog.

This is a shot from the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in New York City. It was taken on 12/22/05, the third day of the MTA strike.

Tags: Christmas, Christmas tree, New York City, NYC, Rockefeller Center

Baby Clothing

This shirt was in a baby clothing section! It says, "Thanks for being ugly. It makes me laugh." Talk about setting your kid up to be a prick at an early age!

Tags: baby clothes, clothes, clothing, prick

Quizno's - Best Subs?

I saw this on the back of a Quizno's cup, and I couldn't help but wonder, isn't Quizno's subs as "Best in State or City" sort of the same as having McDonald's as "Best burger"? A Quizno's sub isn't bad but it must be a pretty sandwich-free state if they're the best in the state, right?

Tags: fast food, sandwich, subs, Utah

Johnny Damon is a Yankee

Johnny Damon is now on the Yankees.

Remember when he made these comments?

"There's no way I can go play for the Yankees, but I know they're going to come after me hard. It's definitely not the most important thing to go out there for the top dollar, which the Yankees are going to offer me. It's not what I need."

Tags:baseball, Boston Red Sox, free agents, MLB, New York Yankees, Red Sox

Arrested Development Tongue Twister

From last night's episode:
Bob Loblaw's Law Blog

Hilarious.


Tags: Arrested Development, Bob Loblaw, tongue twisters

Jets vs. Patriots - 12/26/05

I'm going to this game. I don't want to get stabbed in the bathroom!

Tags: Alcohol, ban, Jets, Meadowlands, Monday Night Football, New England Patriots, New York Jets, NFL, Patriots

Strike!

The MTA workers went on strike last night. I don't know whether or not it was justified, but one thing's for sure, it's going to end eventually. I wonder how long the workers and union can manage to take on the exorbitant fines and if that would mean people will start to cross the picket lines. This is really something, it's amazing how much we in NYC depend on mass transit to do things.

Tags: bus, labor, MTA, NYC, New York City, strike, subway, subway strike, transit strike, workers

Merry Christmas, Yankee Fans!

An early Christmas for Yankee fans as it looks like Tony Womack has been traded to the Reds. This was a move they never should have made, even in the pre-Robinson Cano era. Brian Cashman is back in charge! He even managed to get TWO players for Womack and only picked up a little of the salary!

Tags: baseball, Brian Cashman, Christmas, Cincinnati Reds, MLB, New York Yankees, Yankees

Loud Typers

Ever notice that some people are louder typers than others? And no, it's not related to the clickity-ness of their keyboards, there are some folks who just feel the need to pound on the keys. Where do they get the finger strength? I just want to tell them, "You don't have to destroy the keys each time you press them!!"


Tags: clickity-ness, keyboard, loud, typer, typing

Streamlining

I'm streamlining the KFB a little bit, by removing the predictions section and the NY Times articles. Now, all I need to do is find some way to turn the archive list into a more drop-down type menu that won't take up as much space. Any thoughts?

Tags: blogs, blogging, html, streamline, weblog

Move to Trash or Delete?

I think I am the only one confused by the silent, subtle change that GMail recently made of changing the "Move to Trash" option in their drop down menu to "Delete." It's still in the same position of options (3rd) but makes me do a double take. I wonder why they changed it.

Also, did you notice the little Google Talk ad on the left side of the screen? Maybe nobody's using Google Talk.

I'm going to start trying to tag these posts too to see if my hits increase. Here goes nothing.


Tags: google, technorati

Cute or Creepy

A 101 year-old woman wanted to run her hands through the mullet of an Edmonton NHL player. Cute or creepy? I can't decide.

Tags: 101 year old, hockey, mullet, NHL

Motorola Razr for Verizon

I just recently acquired the LG VX9800 as a new cell phone on my Verizon service, and it's like the Hummer of phones. But now I'm wondering if I should have held out a little while and waited on the Razr for Verizon.

I suppose I'm just like Lindsey on Arrested Development, I only want what I can't have. All told, my VX9800 is pretty darn cool.

Let's hear it for Verizon, by the way, whose tech had been pretty lame until about six months ago or so and now they seem to have some pretty nifty gadgets. Still a little behind Cingular but getting better.

Tags: cell phones, mobile phones, Motorola, razr, Verizon, wireless

Punt Hangtime

While watching the exciting overtime between the Giants and Seahawks this afternoon, I couldn't help but wonder if the "punt hangtime" timer is useful at all. It's not a statistic that's measured and in general it depends on the situation. I think it may be an excessive graphic.

Blue Jays Close to Signing BJ Ryan

Perhaps it's karma when the Toronto BJ's sign BJ Ryan, but doesn't $47M / 5 yrs sound like overpaying for a reliever? Mariano Rivera last year signed a $21M / 2 yr deal.

Subway Performers

I don't mind most subway performers. Often one can see a number of people playing music or dancing inside a subway car in order to try and entertain the crowd. I've even heard of subway stand-up comedy, which has to be very difficult to pull off. But there are some times when a performer strikes a nerve and I don't appreciate their attempts while I'm riding on the subway.

1) Subway Drummer w/ Poetry - This is one of the most annoying performers I've ever seen on the subway. This is a person who has a snare drum around their waist, and plays a beat on it. Then at strategic moments, the performer will intersperse a scat-like poem or rap into the act. I know it's an attempt to do something different, but all it accomplishes is attacking my ears. The subway is loud enough and the drums don't help.

2) Horn Players - For a similar reason that I don't like the drum. By the way, both types of performers don't bother me in the station or on the platform, but when you're in this tight subway car, the horn has to point at someone, and if it's a little crowded, it sure gets loud if the horn is pointed at you. Talented performers but subway cars are not a good venue for them.

3) Subway Magician - This is the strangest guy I've ever seen on the subway. He pushes a little cart around full of magic tricks. What bugs me about this guy is that the tricks involve animals! He has at least a bird and a rabbit in this little cart he pushes around. It can't be good for the animals or very clean. I particularly didn't like it when he made the bird appear out of nowhere and it was free to fly wherever it wanted. If I was the bird I'd try to fly away! I suppose the tricks are neat but I couldn't stop worrying about this random bird flying around the subway car. Another person reported to me that they saw him along with an accomplice who pretended that all the tricks were amazing. I didn't see this accomplice.

Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons

The balloons are inflated near Central Park, so I thought it would be fun to go and see them. Here are some photos from the experience, taken with the handy LG VX9800.


Scooby Doo


Big Bird


Barney


Pikachu, Ronald McDonald


Unknown fish-like character

U2 Concert

U2 played the Garden last night, and I was there. Here's the set list and some photos. The show was excellent! The seats were closer than they appear in the photos.

City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Elevation
The Electric Co. / Send In The Clowns / See Me, Feel Me
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / In A Little While
Beautiful Day / The One I Love
Original Of The Species
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own / The Black Hills of Dakota
Love And Peace Or Else
Sunday Bloody Sunday / Rock The Casbah
Bullet The Blue Sky / The Hands That Built America / When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Miss Sarajevo
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Where The Streets Have No Name
One
MLK

encores:
Until The End Of The World
Mysterious Ways
With Or Without You
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
Instant Karma!

Ocean's Twelve

This movie is not very good and not very interesting. It's sort of like a bunch of celebrities just having fun with each other but not really making a good film. There is some nice stylistic stuff with the way the film is shot and edited but the story leaves a lot to be desired.

The Dreaded Vote of Confidence

For Herm Edwards, from owner Woody Johnson.

Bad Boys 2

This isn't a bad film but it's not a great film. It's actually probably a bit bigger and, dare I say, "badder" than the first one. Throw plot out on the window in this one but there are some nice action scenes, although the final scene is a bit disappointing. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the leads ham it up a little more than in the last film. It's slightly amusing but nothing that special. One thing that was a little frustrating was the blatant corporate sponsorships that popped up throughout the film.

Crappy Sequels Month

There's some days where I feel like I should tell you things you already know. This is one of those days.

Batman and Robin is a bad movie. There's really no way one can justify this movie as good. Even the director has trouble in his DVD commentary. Since I last saw this film (in the theater!) I'd like to report it hasn't changed a bit and is still awful. The director's commentary is awful as well, with Joel Schumacher alternating between taking the blame for the film and passing the buck to the movie studio. The existance of the commentary makes me glad, as at least they punished him one more time for this awful film. I don't think the 60's tv show could have been re-made any better. What grates me the most is how Schumacher keeps describing the stupid plot elements as "comic book." Certainly there are ridiculous comic books but that doesn't mean you need to emulate them, or exaggerate them!

You know, even the animated series has created a better Batman than this film and that was a cartoon!

Okay, enough venting here. Coming soon, I'll pair the same sort of witty comments and in-depth analysis and look at Bad Boys 2 and Ocean's 12.

Bad Idea #3,294,027

Here's a bad idea courtesy of today's NY Daily News.

Oddly enough the headline is paired with this article, which has nothing to do with the Jets.

Gary Myers of the News should have his head checked. This would not be the first time the Jets were involved in a bad idea, a recent example is #3,292,073 - trade a first round draft pick for TE Doug Jolley.

One More Sports Post

Remember how in the last few years the Yankees have tried to have "an All-Star at every position?"

Well, that philosophy seems to have extended to their coaching staff. With some new hires in the fold, here is their coaching staff, full of ex-Yankee stars or former managers:

Joe Torre - Manager (1996 / 1998 AL Manager of the Year with NYY)
Lee Mazzilli - Bench Coach (Baltimore Orioles manager 2004-2005, former Yankee 1B / OF coach)
Larry Bowa - 3B coach (2001 NL Manager of the Year with PHI)
Tony Pena - 1B coach (2003 AL Manager of the Year with KC)
Don Mattingly - Hitting Coach (retired #23 with Yankees)
Ron Guidry - Pitching Coach (retired #49 with Yankees)
Joe Kerrigan - Bullpen Coach (Red Sox Manager 2001 - between Williams and Little)

Side Note: Too bad Mazzilli couldn't stay on with the Orioles to join Sam Perlazzo and Leo Mazzone to fulfill a quest of having a "ZZ" in every coach's name.

Yet Another Pessimistic Comment About the Jets

They won the toss today, and that's probably the only thing they'll win.

Side note: I have a pretty bad feeling about this game. Herm Edwards has a traditionally great November record, but the Chargers aren't a bad team and the Jets are reeling. You know the Chargers have to be out for revenge on last year's playoff loss. Hopefully if K Mike Nugent gets put in a big spot this game, he will be able to convert, it would be ironic if he didn't since the man he replaced, Doug Bryant, was able to convert vs San Diego.

Strange stat of this week: Ladanian Tomlinson, RB on SD, has more TD passes (3) than Vinny Testaverde this year (0).

Basketball Has Started...

...and I already don't care. Wake me when we get to the playoffs.

The one subplot I will be following: how long will it be before Isaiah Thomas makes his next Knicks trade? He has been with the team under two years and already, no player remains from the team he inherited. Examples: Tim Thomas and Nazr Mohammad, acquired February 16, 2004 by Isaiah. Mohammad exited on February 24, 2005, nearly a year later. Thomas soon followed, with the trade on October 4, 2005. When will the Knicks revolving door spin again and who will be moving through it? There must be an over/under for this event (two weeks?)!

My advice to Thomas (who is an avid reader of the KFB, I'm sure): Trade Stephon Marbury. I know he's one of the best point guards in the NBA, but look what happened to Minnesota, New Jersey and Phoenix after he left -- instant success!

T3: Rise of the Machines

I just watched Terminator 3 (in from Netflix). The verdict: not as awful as I had expected it to be but not a great film. They pretty much were able to take a formula that worked in T2 and diluted it down to a bunch of good action scenes. There are some decent chases. The story is pretty awful but don't pay attention to it and you'll enjoy. Also, the new Terminator is pretty lame. I preferred the T1000 from Terminator 2 as a more menacing villain.

Advice to the President

Oh look! CNN.com has a section where readers can give advice to the President.

I know what you're thinking: "Blogman, what advice would you give to the President?"

My advice: Quit surfing the Internet for advice and get back to work!

Nobu 57

Nobu opened their third location in New York City over the summer, so I figured to give it a try. I went last night and had to make the reservation about a month in advance! I've been to Nobu Next Door once before but never to the main Nobu. Here are some photos of the dinner. These photos came from my cell phone camera - the snazzy but big LG VX9800, which I also plan on reviewing in this space soon. The photos are a little blurry but hopefully give a sense of what we had.

Overall the service was friendly and great, the atmosphere was nice but pretty plain and not as amazing as I had read in some reviews and it was a little pricey. The food was very fresh and tasted great. I sat in the back area which looked like it could be shut off for a private party.

I have to admit, I thought it was a little awkward to take photos of my dinner.


Yellowtail sashimi
Yellowtail sashimi with jalepeno - a Nobu standard.



Lobster ceviche - quite good - lobster marinated in a lime-type sauce and served on lettuce. Eaten with hands.



King Crab Tempura "Amazu" Sweet Ponzu - my favorite dish of the night. We started eating it before I took the photo.



Squid "Pasta" with light garlic sauce - not actually pasta, but squid supposed to be shaped like pasta.


Artic char with some sort of peppery (hot peppers) sauce. Artic char is a little like salmon. This dish was a special but I think we should have gone with the miso cod instead.



Dessert - the Meyer Lemon Semifreddo (with pine nuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, almonds and caramelized cinnamon ice cream). The black things are caramelized sesame seeds.



Dessert Bento Box (warm chocolate fondant cake, goma tuille and green tea ice cream). I don't know what the "goma tuille" is.

One Trick Pony?

Ben Mezrich, writer of "Bringing Down the House" has another book out, "Busting Vegas." This new book sure sounds a lot like the old one!

Compare for yourself:


Bringing Down the House
The amazing inside story about a gambling ring of M.I.T.

students who beat the system in Vegas -- and lived to tell how.

Robin Hood meets the Rat Pack when the best and the brightest of M.I.T.'s math students and engineers take up blackjack under the guidance of an eccentric mastermind. Their small blackjack club develops from an experiment in counting cards on M.I.T.'s campus into a ring of card savants with a system for playing large and winning big. In less than two years they take some of the world's most sophisticated casinos for more than three million dollars. But their success also brings with it the formidable ire of casino owners and launches them into the seedy underworld of corporate Vegas with its private investigators and other violent heavies.

Filled with tense action, high stakes, and incredibly close calls, Bringing Down the House is a nail-biting read that chronicles a real-life Ocean's Eleven. It's one story that Vegas does not want you to read.

Busting Vegas
He played in casinos around the world with a plan to make himself richer than anyone could possibly imagine -- but it would nearly cost him his life.

Semyon Dukach was known as the Darling of Las Vegas. A legend at age twenty-one, this cocky hotshot was the biggest high roller to appear in Sin City in decades, a mathematical genius with a system the casinos had never seen before and couldn't stop -- a system that has never been revealed until now; that has nothing to do with card counting, wasn't illegal, and was more powerful than anything that had been tried before.

Las Vegas. Atlantic City. Aruba. Barcelona. London. And the jewel of the gambling crown -- Monte Carlo.

Dukach and his fellow MIT students hit them all and made millions. They came in hard, with stacks of cash; big, seemingly insane bets; women hanging on their arms; and fake identities. Although they were taking classes and studying for exams during the week, over the weekends they stormed the blackjack tables only to be harassed, banned from casinos, threatened at gunpoint, and beaten in Vegas's notorious back rooms.

The stakes were high, the dangers very real, but the players were up to the challenges, consequences be damned. There was Semyon Dukach himself, bored with school and broke; Victor Cassius, the slick, brilliant MIT grad student who galvanized the team; Owen Keller, with stunning ability but a dark past that would catch up to him; and Allie Simpson, bright, clever, and a feast for the eyes.

In the classroom, they were geeks. On the casino floor, they were unstoppable.

Busting Vega$ is Dukach's unbelievably true story; a riveting account of monumental greed, excess, hubris, sex, love, violence, fear, and statistics that is high-stakes entertainment at its best.

DePodesta

Maybe the Yankees should go after former Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta for a position in their front office. He was well-regarded in "Moneyball" to having new and innovative ways of evaluating players, and comes from a similar "new school" of thought as Red Sox GM Theo Epstein. There are probably plenty of "old school" guys in the Yankees organization already. It might be helpful to the Yanks, especially since Gene Michael may not be as influential anymore.

The Saints Will Stay in Louisiana?

For some reason this story sort of sounds like when a team says, "we have full confidence in the coach" and then fire the coach at the end of the season. Anyways, shouldn't the governor be worried about more pressing issues than whether or not the NFL team will stay in New Orleans?

At Least The Jets Can't Lose This Week

It's their bye week.

See the Jets Blog for the state of affairs in Jet fandom. The "fan confidence rating" on the left of 1.8/10 tells it all, I think.

White Sox Win!

Congratulations to the White Sox who finished off the World Series pretty quickly, in four fairly good games against the Astros. Does this mean we will see a ton of White Sox hats now that Chicago has beaten their streak? There was definitely an increase in Red Sox apparel after last year's drought ending victory.

Bud Pong

I don't even know where to start, but I will try by asking, does "beer pong" (or beiruit, if you prefer) need to be encouraged or explained by a major brewery?

They'll probably also have to scrap the "Bud Flip Cups" promotion.

Z's

In the competition to have the most Z's on a coaching staff, it looks like the Baltimore Orioles have gotten a head start.

World Series 2005

Pretty interesting World Series match-up, but sadly, I don't think a lot of people will be watching.

White Sox vs. Astros. The Astros (or any Texas team, for that matter) have never been to the World Series. The last time the White Sox made it to the World Series was 1959, and the last time they won was 1917. Is this karma? Red Sox in '04 after 1918, White Sox in '05 after 1917? If that's so, maybe the Cubs will have a chance soon. On the other hand, the Astros have never won, much less, made it to the World Series, but they are the Wild Card.

The White Sox ALCS victory ends the streak of the team that knocks out the Yankees wins the Series (which has gone on since '01).

I have been enjoying Bill Simmons less and less each day. Statements like this after Houston's game 5 loss are why:

"Once you have the momentum, the other team has to take it back. And they can't do that when they're reeling on the road and wondering what the hell just happened. That's why I believe the Astros are finished, just like that '86 Angels team was."

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/051018

To use an old cliche, "In baseball, momentum goes only as far as the next game's pitcher."

By the way, has anyone noticed all the former Yankee starting pitchers in this series? Clemens, Pettitte, Hernandez and Contreras! Wow.

Ok, I'll try to have some better posts coming up soon. Good night.

I Posted This From My Phone

I am such a loser. Yet my phone is so cool.

Subway Chicken Parmesan

I've been thinking of ordering Subway's chicken parmesan sandwich, the latest way Subway has been trying to straddle the healthy / unhealthy line (I don't think Jared was able to lose any weight eating the chicken bacon ranch sub). But what cheese to get on this sandwich? The typical Subway offerings of American, Swiss or Provalone seem inadequate when what a true chicken parmesan sandwich requires is mozarella. I live a sad life because these are the kinds of things that frustrate me.

Bonus Baseball - Braves vs. Astros

One of the best things in baseball is how there is no time limit and no ties. Granted, in the NFL, there are hardly ties, but the baseball extra innings has got to be one of the tensest situations where just a slight mistake can cost a team.

Consider the Astros-Braves game right now, which has just entered the BOTTOM OF THE 18TH INNING. This thing is a classic already and we don't even know how it ends yet. By the way both teams have had grand slams!

This game reminds me of listening to the radio as a kid and hearing the 1986 Mets / Astros LCS game that went 16 innings. The Mets went on to win the game, and the series, but what was so striking about the game was how see-saw the scoring was even in extra innings!

As I write this, Chris Burke finishes off the game and the series in the bottom of the 18th with a walk-off home run. Wow.

Not a lot of Blog

Sorry there haven't been many posts recently, it's been pretty busy. Hopefully soon I'll be able to discuss more about China (I know, the trip was MONTHS ago), Mr. T Chia Head: The Second Go-Around, 15 Days (or more) with the LG VX9800, and a great comic book, Y: The Last Man.

In the mean time, consider whether or not John Lackey replacing Jarrod Washburn tonight in the Angels / Yankees game is a good thing. Since the Red Sox are out of the playoffs, if the streak of wild card teams winning the World Series is to continue, then maybe it's Houston's year? There is another, longer streak than that of the wild card teams winning the Series, and that is the streak of teams eliminating the Yankees winning the WS - '01 Arizona, '02 Anaheim, '03 Marlins, '04 Red Sox. Of course, twice this occurred in the WS. If these trends were to continue it would mean Houston beats the Yankees in the World Series.

Offensive

Amazing. I thought it wouldn't be wise to start Curtis Martin on my fantasy football team this week since he was playing against the Ravens, and since the Jets don't have a passing game, he wouldn't have a prayer against the tough Baltimore defense.

As it turns out, Martin wasn't my worst RB in fantasy football this week. That honor goes to Fred Taylor, who ran for an astounding 14 yards on 8 carries. Ugly!

Aren't They Taking this "Evil Empire" Thing a Bit Too Far?

(photo courtesy of AP)

Why did Chewbacca throw out Wednesday's first pitch at the Boston / Toronto game?

FOX Box

Here's a little rant about the awful coverage that FOX has provided today's Yankees / Red Sox game.

At present, the fourth inning has just ended.

So far, throughout the game, there have been live cut-in score updates of the White Sox / Indians game at the rate of about one update per half inning. That's understandable because there is a direct Yankee / Red Sox playoff implication from that game. Of course, but the score updates have been updating the fact that the score is 0-0, and also interrupting game play! In addition, the screen already contains a graphic with continuous updating of the White Sox / Indians game scores. So when they go to game break, we know it won't show any scoring because the live score update still says 0-0.

The biggest abuse of all was in the bottom of the fourth, the Yankee / Red Sox game was relegated to the little FOX Box and we were forced to focus on the Chicago / Cleveland game, which was 0-0. Who cares! Nobody watching the Yankee / Red Sox game cares about the specifics of the Chicago / Cleveland game other than the results. While the FOX box would have been annoying regardless, why did the main game we all tuned in for get relegated to see in the tiny box (and audio of the Chicago / Cleveland game)?

As I finish this post, A-Rod has just hit a non-clutch, top of the 5th, one out, solo home run to put the Yankees up 6-2. Fortunately, there was no FOX box to be seen.

Hopefully one of my favorite tabloid news sports media columnists will complain about this in the next day or two, because this was a horrible misuse of the FOX box.

No More Email

Trying to unsubscribe from a mailing list, this page is full of contradictions.



First of all, why does it say "Join the Team" if I'm trying to unsubscribe?



Ah, the best part of it all, we won't send you anymore email... except an email to tell you that we won't send any more email!!

Four-Way Tie?

There's a chance of a tie in the AL Wild Card race, with the loser of the AL East finishing out with the same record as the Indians, which would necessitate a play-in game for the playoffs. But what happens in this unlikely, yet awesome, scenario?

White Sox go 1-4 (losing final games versus Cleveland)
Tribe go 3-2 (winning only games versus ChiSox)
Yankees go 3-2
Red Sox go 3-2 (one AL East team must split their remaining two games versus Bal or Tor, and then come back to take 2/3 in the final series, while the other team must win both games versus Bal/Tor and lose 2/3 in the final series)

This would set up four teams with identical records (95-67). What then? I think it means three play-in games (for the two division titles, then with the losers going for the wild card). That would be the closest MLB ever gets to having a one and done "tournament" style playoff, and that's what I'm rooting for. Couple this amazing scenario with the Red Sox getting eliminated from the playoffs and it would be like a personal dream. The second best scenario eliminates the White Sox from the playoffs because that sort of collapse would be monumental. Hey, if the Red Sox could win the World Series, perhaps we could have this elaborate and complicated tie scenario!

Vinny's Back

Vinny Testaverde is back with the Jets. Brooks Bollinger is going to start, but does anyone expect him to play well versus the Ravens?

Let's face it, the Jets season is pretty much lost. It will take time for Pennington to recover from the shoulder injury (the only other active QB I can recall who's had major shoulder problems is Brian Griese) and while Vinny's a fan favorite, he's not getting any younger.

It was sort of funny to hear that Fiedler and Pennington traveled together to visit guru Dr. James Andrews.

By the way, the over / under for Sunday's Jets / Ravens game is 32 points. Can Anthony Wright and Brooks Bollinger put up those points? Has there ever been a game where the special teams and defenses might put up more of the points for both teams?

Baltimore Orioles vs. New York Yankees - 9/22/05

Wow. The Yankees are back in first place. I would have never expected it.

For the end of the year, it was another $5 night at the stadium, so I got the chance to see the team one last time in '05 (unless some miracle scores me playoff tickets). This was quite a year for me and Yankee games. Please enjoy the photos.


This is where our seats were. Jorge Posada hit his 2nd HR in the area just to the left of this photo.


A-Rod should be the MVP. Let's face it, his offensive numbers are so similar to David Ortiz's and he also plays in the field! This "clutch" stuff I've been hearing about is total garbage. Not to mention, A-Rod, while he won't get a triple crown, is pretty damn close. As of today, 3rd in batting average, tied for 1st in HR and 4th in RBI. Granted Ortiz is 1st in HR and RBI but he's not even in the top 10 in BA.


Bruce Chen pitched very well against the Yankees earlier this year. Fortunately this game wasn't earlier this year.


Mike Mussina pitched a great, great game. But he was limited to under 80 pitches.


These fans were trying to start the wave. I think the people who like the wave the most are the ones trying to start it.


Coaches (counterclockwise from top left) Luis Sojo, Dave Cash, Rick Dempsey and Roy White. Only Dempsey stands in the white box by the base. Why does that box exist? Nobody ever stands in the box.

Overheard in New York

Here's one that I'll post here before submitting.

Overheard in a hospital lobby between two security officers:

Officer 1: Astroglide. Is that the one you use?
Officer 2: Oh yeah. It's much better than K-Y.
Officer 1: Really? I've never heard of it.

Citysearch

I was invited to something at "Top of the Copa." So I looked it up on Citysearch.

My result?

"We assumed you meant Top Of The Cove, instead of top of the copa."

No, in fact I actually meant, "top of the copa."

This reminds me of an old saying:

If you assume, you make an ass out of you and me.

525 posts, Google Talk, Weekend observations

This is post #525. The blog began back in May of 2004, and so I'm esitmating just over one post per day. If you were to combine the funny things or useful observations I've seen over the course of this time period, it would likely come out to less than one per day. That makes me wonder where the rest of the crap on this blog comes from.

Google Talk: I've had Google Talk for several months now but nobody I know uses it. Not sure why this is. In fact, I've never had a conversation using Google Talk. Instead, I just have it in my system tray, allowing it to notify me of when I get new GMails.

Weekend observations:

Two observations from the weekend. The first was on the bus, where a man (who looked a little hungover) took about 6 tries to put his metrocard into the slot but kept inserting it in the wrong direction. This was fairly amusing and betrayed the fact that he never uses the bus.

Second was at Whole Foods where behind the deli meat slicer was a huge sign that said, "do not touch blade directly with hand." While this seems a bit obvious, it was interesting to note such a huge sign. Wonder if some poor deli meat slicer had an incident that necessitated the posting of this sign.

New England Loses, Jets Win!

Of course, it wasn't the same game...

The Patriots lost for the first time since that freak game last December against Miami. The Jets beat Miami and it's a division full of 1-1 teams. The Jets didn't look great against Miami but it's so hard to gauge how good Miami is this year. The Dolphins made a lot of mistakes on offense but seemed to play good defense. The Jets played decent defense and average offense. It was clear the Jets weren't as bad as last week and the Dolphins weren't as good, but I think the degree is still in question. I felt like Peter King made an uninformed pick by picking Miami over the Jets. Of course, that wasn't the only one. In the first 13 games of the week, he went 3-10.

The New Super Size?

I went to McDonald's for breakfast today (a sin, I know) and when I ordered my meal, I had the following exchange with the server:

Server: Would you like another hash brown?
Me: Did you say, another hash brown?
Server: Yes, would you like an additional hash brown?

It took all my willpower to decline the crispy fried golden potato goodness, but I did. Afterwards, I wondered if I had essentially been offered a super size.

As an aside, I meant to order a #2 (bacon egg and cheese biscuit) but somehow ended up with a #3 (sausage mcmuffin). I guess I shouldn't have gone in the first place.

A Few Links

Here's a few links I found fairly interesting this morning / afternoon. Not sure why I noticed a sudden spike in stories I found interesting.

Youppi! changes teams. That's not a metaphor, he actually changed teams, since the Expos moved away.

Football's players union stinks. It's about time someone pointed this out in the press.

On a more serious note, a NY Times story about abortion. Seems like a lot of people have extreme positions on this issue, but this gives some insight into those people who have to struggle with the decision.

Unfortunately, linking to the NY Times may get a little more tricky in the coming days, as their new pay service will launch.

Blander

Just as when you add salt or pepper to make something more flavorful, someone should research into making an anti-seasoning in case food has been made too spicy or too salty. That way, if you're at a restaurant and the food is unbearably spicy you could tone it down a little bit. This could be a big hit.

Over-the-shoulder

First it's crossword puzzles at the Roberts confirmation hearings, now it's notes at the UN. You'd think politicians would be more aware of where the cameras are. Check out this Reuters photo.



"I think I need a bathroom break. Is that possible?"

Do you think the photographer was laughing hysterically up as he was catching this shot?

Roberts Hearings

Trying to avoid political posts, but there was some comedy in the Roberts confirmation hearings the other day. I have to admit, most of this was stuff that was observed on the Daily Show, but I find humorous enough to pass along.

There were a number of long-winded questions asked throughout the session, and a number of Hurricane Katrina references as well. But most amusing was Tom Coburn (R-OK) getting caught doing a crossword puzzle in the middle of the hearing!

Also, he gave this speech (click here for video)

"When I ponder our country and its greatness, its weaknesses, its potential, my heart aches for less divisiveness, less polarization, less finger pointing, less bitterness, less mindless partisanship, which at times sounds almost hateful to the ear of Americans."

Here are some great quotes from Coburn in the last year or so. Maybe he was talking about himself?

“I favor the death penalty for abortionists and other people who take life.”

“The gay community has infiltrated the very centers of power in every area across this country, and they wield extreme power..."

See this link for some more gems.

Let the Overreacting Begin (NFL)

Week 1 is nearly in the books, week 2 is on its way, let the overreacting in the media begin. As we know, and will hear all week, all the teams that have lost their first week games are awful, and everyone who won their first week game is going to the Super Bowl.

Big Games?

This weekend the Red Sox visit the Yankees, and my excitement level couldn't be any less. Jim Caple mentions similar feelings on ESPN.com (although I couldn't stand all those fans who jumped on the Red Sox "underdog" bandwagon last year; hopefully some of them will now go root for the Twins or A's).

Here's more reason to not be so excited. Even if the Yankees were to sweep the Sox, they'd still be one game back in the East, and then they face their nemesis, the Devil Rays, later in the week. The Yanks have lost the season series to Tampa, and that is the difference between being in first and second place. It's hard to imagine the Yankees keeping up a consistant run to make up ground on the equally inconsistant Red Sox. On top of that, the Yankee pitching staff is full of injuries. I still think their best hope will be to make the playoffs as the wildcard and then catch fire in the playoffs. Don't forget, the wildcard team has won the World Series the last few years.

If the Yankees take 2/3 from Boston and then sweep Tampa, then they'll have my attention again. I don't have the patience for the up and down stomach/heartache. I get enough of that from the Jets.

Fantasy Football

My fantasy baseball team is cruising around in 2nd place, but I just had my fantasy football draft. Here's my team, the number of starters at each position listed in parentheses.

QB (1)
Michael Vick (ATL)
Jake Delhomme (CAR)

RB (2)
Deuce McAllister (NO)
Curtis Martin (NYJ)
Kevin Barlow (SF)
Stephen Davis (CAR)
Fred Taylor (JAC)
Ricky Williams (MIA)

WR (3)
Reggie Wayne (IND)
Issac Bruce (StL)
Justin McCareins (NYJ)
Robert Ferguson (GB)

TE (1)
Daniel Graham (NE)

K (1)
Mike Nugent (NYJ)

DEF (1)
Philadelphia

Yes, I have a ton of running backs, but I imagine one of them will get injured soon, and I'll need to replace Robert Ferguson at WR with someone... I have no idea if my team is any good, all I know is during week 8, I have to replace quite a few players since the Jets and Indianapolis have BYE weeks.

A1 Steak Sauce

The people who make A1 Steak Sauce must be losing it. Either that, or I think they hired some marketing "genius" away from the folks at Snapple.



This is not the sort of corporate image I would have expected A1 Steak Sauce to try and build.