9.30.2008

Welcome to the human race

... On a morning when I was convinced things couldn't get much worse -- the economy is facing doom, we're fighting a war with no end in sight, gas prices are guzzling our money, we're afraid of losing our homes, our job statuses are in shambles ...

I got two Mountain Dews for the price of one from the soda machine.

At least our home teams are still playing baseball too -- all of our home teams. The Brewers are in, the Cubs are in, and the White Sox got in tonight ... Holy crap.

I've been drowning myself in music today, thanks to MySpace's nifty new music player. Hush Sound, Ben Folds, Imogen Heap.

Given the circumstances, my friend Laura sent me this. With the words, simply "Watch."

She added, "Imperative."

... Everything is going to be ok.


9.29.2008

The morning after ...

... So it wasn't a dream. I woke up this morning and there on Sportscenter was coverage of the Brewers beating the Cubs and the Mets losing to the Marlins. Yes, indeed the Milwaukee Brewers have made the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

It's been a long time coming.

... Kates and I were glued to the TV and holding the couch covers tight yesterday afternoon while we watched the Brewers game. All the while happy-go-lucky Pheebs was being adorable babbling and bouncing in her saucer, completely oblivious to the baseball history playing out -- though we'll no doubt explain it to her when she's old enough to understand ...

Every time Kates or I sprang up from the couch to celebrate or bemoan a development in the game, Phoebe looked at us like our bodies had been invaded by aliens. "What have you done with my daddy!?" you could see her thinking.

Geez, when Craig Counsell walked in the seventh inning to force in the tying run, I think I tore a rotator cuff from pumping my fist so hard ...

And when Ryan Braun hit the home run to win it -- well, I don't think I need to tell you how excited I got ... And when the Brewers finally claimed the playoff spot and those blue and gold streamers started dropping from the Miller Park roof, I was breathless.

My pop too. He called me a few minutes after the game ended, nearly out of breath too. What a moment ...

I watched the bottom of the eighth and the ninth innings again during my lunch break -- oh yeah, we made sure to save it on the DVR.

I was so swept up in the hoopla yesterday that it didn't occur to me Ryan Braun hit his home run on the first pitch he saw -- immediately after we thought Ray Durham had won the game with his long flyball to right field. And Derrek Lee, who's among the league leaders in double-play groundouts, was the man responsible for that double-play that ended it.

... I also had been split on whether CC Sabathia or Brandon Webb deserved the NL Cy Young. But after Sabathia's performance yesterday, and his two priors starts, I've got to believe the award goes to CC. Three consecutive starts on three days rest!? C'mon, it's unheard of in this era ... He put the Brewers on his back and carried them into the playoffs -- where Brandon Webb's Diamondbacks are not.

Unbelievable and unforgettable. My dream postseason is shaping up ... The quote of the day goes to Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett during the Brewers rally at the Summerfest grounds earlier tonight ...

"With the stock market, with the foreclosures, with people losing their jobs, I think people need joy in their lives," he said. "This is pure, unadulterated joy for baseball fans. People wait for this [in spring] and here we are in autumn,
and we're still hoping."


My condolences, Mets fans.

Desperate no more

... I didn't like last night's "Desperate Housewives."

Talk all you want about the genius stroke of flashing ahead five years, I don't think it worked.

To me, last night's episode felt too scattered, too jumpy. And I thought the storylines -- aside from the somewhat amusing tiff between Bree and Katherine (though I also found it hard to believe Katherine would serve as an assistant to Bree) -- were mostly trite and predictable. ... Gabby's no longer fit for modeling and has two fat monsters for kids? C'mon, surely there was a better story for her than that?

In other ways, the stories were just unrealistic, even for Wisteria lane. As annoying and hollow as Susan could/can be, I can't imagine her being so unfair to Mike. We learned last night that Susan and Mike separated after a deadly car crash and she blames Mike for not checking their vehicle's brakes.

On top of that, none of the women -- minus Gabby -- looked a day older than we left them last season. Did the makeup artists get laid-off over the summer? ... Seems like all the kids on Wisteria Lane got pink slips too; how convenient that Lynette and Tom still have their evil twins, but the rest of their once full house has suddenly disappeared.

Ugh.

The bottom line is it failed to pull me in. And I'm not sure I want to continue watching.

9.28.2008

She's baaaaaack!

So good to see Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin again on last night's SNL.



On a side note, Amy Poehler's getting scary big. I say scary because it's a reminder of how precious little time we have with her on SNL before she has her baby and doesn't return. The Chris Farleys, Adam Sandlers and Will Ferrells can be replaced, but I'm not sure SNL will ever be the same without Poehler.

In case you haven't seen it, here's an excerpt of Katie Couric's sit-down with Palin earlier this week ...

Sunday reading

Some of the reads that caught my eyes during the last week ...

Baseball ...
a Maddon's unorthodox thinking pays off with playoffs for Rays
a To the finish, nothing comes easy for them
a Most valuable half-pint
a Picture quite bright for Rays
a The Dodgers are best in the West, but are they playoff-worthy?
a After Saying Goodbye to Playing, Piazza Returns for Shea’s Farewell
a To Pilots, Shea Is Less Ballpark Than Landmark
a Top 10 immortal years in sports
a Winning slogans sure to inspire baseball's also-rans
a Where Yankees fans thrive
a How Yankees fans survive in Red Sox Nation

TV ...

a Through it all, 'ER' won her heart ... My affection for ER isn't what it used to be, but there's no doubts the show holds a special place.
a 3 Questions about this fall's TV

Politics ...
a Guilty by association
a A father's charm, absence: Friends recall Barack Obama Sr.
a Sarah Palin should bow out ... You know it's bad if a conservative columnist is causing for Palin's resignation.
a Into the wild of Wasilla, Alaska, where Sarah Palin once ruled
a Palin's policies in Alaska weighted toward development
a Sarah, talk. Joe, stop
a McCain’s Suspension Bridge to Nowhere
a Steering the McCain Campaign, a Lot of Old Bush Hands
a Thinking About McCain
a Don’t Blame the New Deal
a The Bush Doctrine?
a The Truth About Politicians? It's At Snopes.com ... Ah, Snopes. Great site ... Though when I tried to reference it in a story once, my editor discounted it as a legitimate Web site. The irony.

Internet & media ...
a New Chicago Tribune publisher Hunter called a 'change agent'
a Columnist's 'dream come true' nears the end
a Music Critic vs. Maestro: One Loses His Beat
a Two Stories That Pushed Some Buttons
a Spinning through online entertainment and connected culture
a Some Facebook users aren't fond of website's new face ... Like all changes, it's going to take awhile. I didn't like it initially, either. But I'm learning to like it.
a The Dangers of Auto-Replace

Music ...
a Juliana Hatfield on life after the spotlight fades
a Going Down to Yasgur's Farm, Almost 40 Years Later
a New Kids on the Block soak up love on reunion tour ... Here's a review of their show in Boston on Friday night -- to which Kates and I tried to win tickets. We failed.

Life & other stuff ...
a We’ll Fill This Space, but First a Nap ... Yeah, consider I was up at 5:30 this morning doing "work."

Go green!

Several weeks ago, I got to visit the "Smart Home" exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science Industry ...

Almost from the moment you step inside and get a whiff of the natural light pouring through the windows, or get a feel of the suave furniture made of recycled material, the manufactured home standing tall in the museum's courtyard is an inspiration to go green.

Though some of that shine wears off when you learn the home’s $450,000 price tag — which doesn’t include the structure’s “brain” control center or some of its other material wonders — the exhibit succeeds at teaching visitors about the ways people can save on energy and cut waste. It also is a worthy glimpse of so-called “smart design” and what could lie ahead in building construction.

The structure, which opened in May, is a three-story, 2,500 square-foot modular and sustainable “green” home that could sit on any Chicago lot. It’s built with Midwest climate in mind, as well as eco-friendly materials and plenty of 21st century contraptions.

In a pre-tour video, the exhibit lays claim to the importance of the construction process. The home was build as five separate modules in a controlled environment, before being shipped and attached to its foundation in the museum’s courtyard. By building the home in a controlled environment, workers employed precision cutting, making the home 50 to 75 percent stronger and leaving less waste.

The tour experience begins as we enter the home from the deck — made from a material comprised of sawdust and recycled plastics — and we trigger the home’s automation system. The window shades retract and the lights turn on.

Then, surrounding the living room, is the NanaWall, a glass wall that can be folded away to extend the living room into the home’s open air-porch. The window is made of double-pane glass to save energy and keep the home warm during those cold midwestern winters. But open it during the summer and you get a cool flow of air that circulates through the entire home and acts as natural air-conditioning.

“This is the first example I can show you of smart design,” says our tour guide Jason Hodge, who’s dressed in a lab coat and exudes an energy level reminiscent of a guide you might encounter at Disney’s Epcot Center. “The idea here is that we design the house big as opposed to build it big. We don’t have to waste a whole bunch of materials on a screened porch or something like that, or waste a whole bunch of wood when we can just open up one of our walls and extend our living space on to the porch.”

The living room furniture includes chairs upholstered completely with recycled polyester and a sofa throw made of bamboo, polyester and cotton. One couch was upholstered entirely of recycled T-shirts. Another was purchased at a thrift store and buffed up.

Separating the living room from the kitchen and dining area is the Ecosmart Vision fireplace. It has no chimney and its wheeled frame allows you to roll it to another room. Also, while it burns the renewable resource ethanol, its heat can protract up to 375 feet.

“We don’t need to burn any wood or coal or anything that’s going to make a whole bunch of harmful smoke coming out into your room,” Hodge says. “It’s a very clean burn so basically the only waste products are going to be water and carbon dioxide. It keeps all of our heat from this fireplace right here in the house.”

As we pass into the dining area and kitchen, it’s hard not to gaze upward. The middle portion of the home is completely open, allowing visitors to look up through a bright, spacious pathway to the third floor loft. The design is another way to control the home’s temperature naturally, Hodge explains.

Yet, perhaps one of the home’s most remarkable illustrations of how much energy we still waste hangs a few steps into the dining room. There, a globe-shaped chandelier contains one energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulb that’s surrounded by dozens of blown-out incandescent bulbs representing the number of light bulbs a resident could use during the 20- to 25-year lifespan of an energy-saving compact florescent.

The kitchen features a countertop made of bamboo and recycled wood from demolition sites, all sealed and bound together with a water-based resin formula.

It’s “basically a big stack of paper,” Hodge explains. And the oak cabinets are made of wood purchased from the sustainable forests managed by Forest Stewardship Council.

Like the paint on the walls and all of the other materials used in the house, neither the countertop or the cabinets contain harmful volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. And the home’s designers and builders know exactly where their materials came from.

Then, adjacent to the kitchen, in what’s known as the utility room in our present-day homes, is the control room — another of the home’s marvels. Underneath the glass floor and the home’s foundation, a pair of rainwater barrels collect all of the rain water that pools on the roof and drains from the side of the house. That supply is then used to water the gardens and landscape surrounding the home.

Additionally, a tankless water heater in the control room can be turned on and off on-demand, making it 85 percent more efficient than your standard water heater. The room boasts an energy-efficient washer and dryer and an energy dashboard — a black box for the home that keeps track of your energy captured in the solar panels and other devices on the roof, as well your gas and water use. You can also compare your use to totals from the day before or even last month.

Upstairs, the bamboo is more prevalent. It’s in the floors, a blanket and the bath towels.

Bath and floor tiles are made of recycled glass, using chardonnay bottles to give a green tint. Sinks and countertops are made of recycled toilet and porcelain aggregate.

Meanwhile, a Kohler showerhead uses 30 percent less water “without sacrificing performance” and the toilet uses a button built on the No. 1 or No. 2 concept to control the gallons of water used in your flush. Believe it or not, the two-button actuator can save as much as 25,000 gallons more than a standard toilet.

“People think, ‘oh, wow, who thought of that?’ ” Hodge says. “And apparently everybody before the Americans because they’ve been in Europe forever, so we definitely need to catch up.”

9.27.2008

It's all debatable

Some week.

Six people got laid off in my office. Six hard-working people who are passionate about their work. Done. Gone.

We knew it was coming. Every employee received a letter from the company last month -- a two-page letter that is now legendary within our company hallways for the way it rambled on about the state of our industry and then buried the real meat in the last two paragraphs: staff reductions will be made.

Though, as some in my office have pointed it out, it is amazing we’ve survived this long. When you look at our competitors in the region and others across the country, everyone’s facing the same dilemmas. We’re a dying breed … On “The Daily Show” this week Jon Stewart referred to our product as “the printy thing that smudges your fingers.”

* * *

We watched the debate last night ...

In addition to keeping a close eye on the Brewers game, of course.

I thought Barack Obama was the winner. Everything McCain fired at him -- or really, fired at Jim Lehrer -- Obama had a ready answer. I can't remember McCain ever facing his opponent to talk to him directly.

Obama really held his own, I thought.

Still, the line of the night might have been the text about the debate I recieved from my friend Matt ...

Every piece if clothing John McCain is wearing was given to him by the family of a person killed in a tragedy. That jacket -- owner trampled by a horse.
He's ha-larious.

9.26.2008

Does anybody really know what time it is?

... Kates's parents tipped me off to this one today ...

Ready or not, here it comes

Here it is, that time of year when the new TV season rushes over us like a wave ... We get drenched whether we're ready or not.

Monday night … I skipped out on the two-hour “Heroes” premiere so Kates and I could get our laughs with the CBS shows. Monday night’s comedy lineup: Highly recommended! “The Big Bang Theory,” “How I Met Your Mother,” and “Two and a Half Men” each returned strong. And “Worst Week,” the only new show that garnered any interest from me, had Kates and I laughing non-stop. We loved it!

… It was Thursday evening before I finally got around to watching “Heroes” …

Not bad. I’ve resigned to the fact it’s never going to be as fresh and gripping as its first season, but I remain a huge fan of the show. And like “Lost,” I’m sticking with it in hopes all the questions will be answered in the end …Now, it looks like we’ve got a whole new set of villains to watch. But Sylar could be, arguably, one of the creepiest characters on television; I’m not sure he’s done.

As for the premiere … I never guessed Peter being Nathan’s assassin at the press conference (Did they reveal that at the end of last season? If they did, I missed it.) … I didn’t like the way Claire allowed herself to be so vulnerable against Sylar in her house -- really, what was she doing hiding in the closet!? … And I really didn’t like suddenly-stoked-up-on-steroids-man Dr. Suresh. And the steamy scene with Maya? C’mon.

On the bright side, I’m gonna love that new speed demon chick.

Later Thursday night, Kates and I managed to split time between “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Office” -- which seemed to take a little of the hilarity out of “The Office,” on top of the sketchy signal for our NBC affiliate. Ahh! ... We caught the first half of “Grey’s” on our DVR, then went back to watch “Office,” before catching the second half of “Grey’s.”

But, “Grey’s Anatomy?” I totally called the whole dream thing with Meredith watching Derek die on the surgical table. Blah, blah, blah. … And why the heck was it snowing?!

Aside from those developments, I thought the first 45 minutes or so of the episode were uncharacteristically low-key for “Grey’s,” especially for one of their two-hour escapades … Then Christina went and got stabbed by a falling icicle. Ah yes, that’s the over-the-top “Grey’s” we’re used to. Meredith whines about her love life until tragedy strikes in front of them, they spend an eternity watching the icicle fall without making any attempt to avoid it and then waste the next 10 minutes figuring out what to do about it …

About the second half of the episode? Christina and Big Tough Soldier Guy are so hooking up. Not digging the whole Izzie-Karev vibe. Lexie and George are going to end up just being cute friends … Callie and Hahn, on the other hand, are so hooking up. I think that’s cool ... Bernadette Peters, Mariette Hartley and Kathy Baker were welcome guests to the episode, too. (Read EW's best and worst of Season Four)

On “The Office,” the whole weight-loss contest was pretty funny. Kelly nearly starving herself to death was hilarious … Jim’s proposal to Pam in the rain was pretty sweet … But perhaps the best kick I got out of the premiere was watching Angela dial Dwight every time Andy tried to pitch to her a wedding idea … (Read EW's Season Four recap)

Coming up, we'll be all over the premieres of "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters" on Sunday night. And we're looking forward to the long-awaited return of "Pushing Daisies" on Wednesday.

Who's No. 1?!

Last night’s games are all you need to look at for evidence how stellar this weekend is going be …

Three races are going down the wire, and all the games that mattered last night were won in the final at-bats …

The Twins beat the White Sox in 10 to take over first place in the AL Central ... The Mets scored the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Cubs. And Ryan Braun hit a grand slam for the Brewers to beat the Pirates in the bottom of the 10th inning at Miller Park.

That’s one fantastic night in baseball.

And now, with the Dodgers in, already some of the most exciting and storied franchises are shaping up for an October for the ages -- The Dodgers, the Cubs, the Angels, the Red Sox and yep, even the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Get the Brewers in there and all my dreams come true.

Well, 80 percent of my dreams. The Tigers sure aren’t getting in.

Oh yeah, and I did catch the end of that Oregon State upset of USC. I’m surprised we’re not seeing any reports of trampling deaths with the strength of that orange-clad crowd pouring onto the field last night …

9.25.2008

Les Misbarack

This video came to me this morning, compliments of my friend Liz.

Very cool. Very funny. Genius.

Suspending his campaign?!

... I was scrolling though our DVR menu late last night when I noticed John McCain was listed as a guest on Letterman. Yeah, right, like he's going to show up after the stunt he pulled, I thought. ... I decided I would catch the show at a later time and went to bed...

Turns out I missed one of Letterman's greatest rants yet. Everybody was talking about it this morning ...



Seriously. What is McCain doing suspending his campaign? ... He's got Sarah Palin as his running mate. Send her out to continue the campaign. Send her to speak on Letterman ... I was thinking it before I even thought about watching Letterman's rant ...

And I was so glad to see him say it with millions of people watching. His lack of fear to say what's on his mind is one of the great things about his show ...

His blistering Top 10 about McCain's absense was just as good ... My favorite? No. 8: "Can't you solve this by selling some of your homes?"

McCain passed on a major opportunity to talk about the economy and get his message across right there last night on late night television ...

Sarah Palin's gotta feel like the dorky bench warmer; Coach won't put her in no matter how lop-sided the score is.

While I'm on the subject, boy did Campbell Brown have a good rant about Sarah Palin on Tuesday night ...

9.24.2008

122 years in the making

Check out this new commercial for Hovis bread, compliments of Very Short List ...

It represents 122 years of the bread in 122 seconds. Pretty cool.

9.23.2008

Obama Deletes Another Unread MoveOn.org E-Mail

From The Onion, this one was particularly amusing to me -- especially since I too get two or three MoveOn e-mails a day and -- after skimming through their contents and deciding whether it's an issue I want to read further -- usually delete them ...

A guide to the new Chicago Tribune

The buzz is buzzing about the the Tribune's new look.

I'm really intrigued.

9.22.2008

Following-up

... I think last night was the first time in my life I had ever rooted for the Yankees ...

And it was totally worth it. Great game. Great memories. Great stories by the legends who were visiting the booth all night long ... My favorite: Whitey Ford telling the story of Don Larsen's perfect game and how he warmed up every inning during the last half of the game because the coach told him "Don tends to get tired after five or six innings."

The New York Times had a really sweet -- and interactive -- panoramic today of the game's opening ceremonies ...

Bob Ryan had an interesting perspective on the closing too.

And in case you missed it -- Derek Jeter's good-bye speech ...



* * *

This was the news we woke up to this morning ...

A helicopter crashed early Sunday morning, killing the pilot and a passenger.

But what makes this story shocking, if not miraculous is that the helicopter crashed through the roof of a house, barreled down the staircase and burst out the front door before skidding to a stop in the front yard across the street ... The family of five who were asleep in their bedrooms on either side of the staircase were unhurt. And the house, reported one story this morning, was about a centimeter's worth of nails from collapsing ...

Of all the photos I looked through today, this one from the Chicago Tribune was the most astonishing to me ... It looks like something out of a cartoon, the way you can make out the outline of the helicopter and the way it fell through the roof ...



* * *

I didn't watch any of the Emmys last night. Good thing, because everything I heard and read about them was that they were horrible ...

Reading about the political remarks was fun though ...

I especially liked Laura Linney's comment ...

... following her win for best lead actress in a miniseries or movie in HBO's "John Adams.'" In a clear dig at Palin who mocked Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's roots as a community organizer at the Republican National Convention earlier this month, the actress said her experience in working on the miniseries made her "so grateful and thankful for the community organizers that helped found our country."

Tina Fey, who played Palin on SNL last weekend, had some good words too ...

"I want to be done playing this lady Nov. 5. So, if anyone can help me be done playing this lady, that would be good for me."

Keep laughing

... Studies have shown laughing at least 15 minutes a day can not only keep you happy but also add years to your life ...

So here's one I stumbled across on MySpace today while I was writing about a comedy show swinging into town ...

... Not that suicide is a funny subject, this video is more about those frustrating automated lines. My favorite part is when the caller gets put on hold and "Bohemian Rhapsody" pipes through the phone ...

Suicide Hotline

9.21.2008

Sunday reading

I'm watching the final game at Yankee Stadium tonight. What else could I possibly watch? Tonight's Emmys or the Packers-Cowboys game couldn't possibly be this good ...

OK, maybe I'll flip over to catch a little of the Packers game.

... I've had ESPN's coverage on for most of the day, and the pre-game ceremonies are underway as I type this ...

It's pretty awesome to see the greats together on one field. We may love to hate 'em, but this is truly their night.

If there were any blemishes, think the whole idea of having actors trot onto the field as the starting lineup for the 1923 was a little ill-conceived. Every fan and player the cameras showed seemed to be thinking the same thing: "Uh, this is kind of lame, I hope the whole ceremony isn't like this."

That, and I got a kick out of the AIG billboard in center field that reads: "The strength to be there." ... Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

On a night when everybody's sharing their favorite Yankee Syadium memories, mine has to be the 2001 World Series -- the aftermath of 9/11, the late-inning home runs, playing in November, Derek Jeter ... Aaron "Bleepin' " Boone's home run to win the 2003 pennant would have to be a distant second...

Here's the collection of good reads that caught my interests during the last week ...

Baseball & sports ...
a Last rites for the Cathedral
a Melancholy in Bronx, but Not Because of Stadium
a Yankees Don’t Want Fans to Be Doing the Demolition ... The guy mentioned in the lede must be a piece of work.
a Cubs warm to idea of new park ... I'm thinking Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs were just drunk on adrenaline from Carlos's no-hitter. You can't tear down Wrigley.
a 104-year-old Cubs fan won't get to toss first pitch
a Finally, this could be Santo's year
a Could Sabathia and Ramirez win in new league? ... If they did, I would love it.
a Rodgers on right track ... This one come from my friend Raechel. Indeed, Aaron Rodgers has been impressive.
a Rodgers slips farther out of Favre's shadow

TV ...
a Series get a new post-strike lease on life
a With Tina Fey's impersonation of Gov. Sarah Palin a smash, will she make an 'SNL' encore? ... the question of the week.
a NBC's 'Heroes' delves into villains
a 'Heroes' tries to recover from truncated sophomore season
a Michael Emerson's 'Lost' world

Music ...
a A Jukebox on MySpace That Takes Aim at Apple
a A Total End To an Era In Pop Videos
a Richard Wright dies at 65; founding member of Pink Floyd

Media & the Internet ...
a Are 'Real' Journalists Jealous of Jon Stewart? ... Especially now during this presidential campaign, I look forward to watching The Daily Show more than ever ...

Politics ...
a Pointing fingers on the economy ... This is a good one outlining the truths and fibs of both campaigns in the light of last week's banking mess.
a Lipstick Bungle ... EX-cellent read.

"In a New York Times/CBS News poll conducted this week 77 percent of Republicans said that they had a favorable opinion of Palin. But when asked what specifically they liked about her, their top five reasons were that she was honest, tough, caring, outspoken and fresh-faced. Sounds like a talk-show host, not a vice president. (By the way,
her intelligence was in a three-way tie for eighth place, right behind “I just like her.”)
a McCain’s Radical Agenda ... This one's about health insurance.
a McCain Camp Calls Fey’s Palin Impersonation ‘Sexist’ ... oh, c'mon!
a Sarah Palin installed a tanning bed at the governor's mansion
a What kind of accent is that, anyway?
a Hillary fans aren't bonding with Palin
a A Letter About Sarah Palin ... my friend Matt tipped me off to this one. Very insightful.
a Gibson and the 'Good-Looking' Governor
a Hackers break into Palin's e-mail account
a The Big 'What If'
a Here's a dilemma: smitten by both Obama and Palin ... Kathleen Parker makes some good points.

Life & other stuff ...
a The Joneses and the Joads
a Tooth fairy gives less during credit crunch ... This also is a good one from my friend Matt about how the economy is affecting one profession.
a Wax Hitler returns to museum after beheading ... Another from my friend Raechel.
a 50 years later, Rockwell's 'Runaway' is still an arresting image ... Cool story. This is the second one in three weeks I've found about a Rockwell painting. Thinking about it, Norman Rockwell might very well be my favorite artist of all time.

The Onion ...
a Hey, Where Did All My Stuff Go?

9.20.2008

Go Cubs Go!

Ok. I‘ve officially got Cubs fever …

The Cubs clinched the NL Central tonight. And they’re looking like a team of -- dare I say -- destiny (Their division title this year marks the first time they‘ve won back-to-back division titles since -- oh look, the last time they won a World Series -- 1908).

Meanwhile, the Brewers lost again and they’re looking like … well, like a losing team.

Kates and I talked about this earlier tonight: Last year the Brewers were in it until the final weekend of the season, and we got so wrapped up in the surprise and drama of the Brewers run, that we hardly got to enjoy the Cubs success. Actually, I can’t even recall watching the Cubs clinch last year (That’s the price we pay for our proximity to both teams and being such strong supporters of both, even amid their heated rivalry.). … Then the Cubs had the wind knocked out of them in the first round of the playoffs. I barely got to watch any of those games. And suddenly it was like the Cubs division title didn’t even happen last year.

Knowing that, I wasn’t going to miss today’s game … It was a gorgeous day. I got up early. Did some errands, scouted out some garage sales (Didn’t find anything worthwhile) and washed our cars. I could’ve stayed outside longer to work on a cabinet I’ve been trying to refurbish …

But with the Cubs magic number at 1, and even after the shellacking they took yesterday, I told Kates “Today’s going to be the day, and I’m going to regret it if I don’t watch it.”

And it was good. Getting wrapped up in the game. Enjoying a clincher. Soaking in the sound of the Wrigley fans singing “Go Cubs Go!” Watching the players do a lap around the field. And knowing this could actually be the year …

By the way, we started spoon-feeding Phoebe today. Kates and I deemed it a success.

She was really happy about the Cubs clinching the division too. Watch …

9.19.2008

Ben Folds Five plays again

… So I didn’t get to see the Ben Folds Five reunion performance last night

Kates and I were running around the house trying to get Phoebe fed, trying to get ourselves fed. And I was bent over the sink washing dishes, more specifically baby bottles, when the thought of the concert hit me like a brick …

I bolted to our downstairs office and logged on to MySpace …

Only to find out MySpace wasn’t even streaming the show. Ack!

However, internet stories and rumors have it that the show will be streamed sometime next month, and we can only hope that it will be released on DVD, same as the MySpace gig Folds did a couple years ago, shortly afterward …

By the accounts I’ve read, it sounds like it was the show of a lifetime. The guys played Reinhold Messner --complete with Dean Folds stepping out for “Your Most Valuable Possession” -- and some real BF5 classics in an encore set …

Just reading about it makes my heart melt ...

Here's a review of the show ...
a Ben Folds Five Revive “Reinhold Messner” at Inaugural MySpace “Front to Back” Show

And here’s some other good reads I discovered surrounding last night’s show …
a Ben Folds Five is reuniting and Paste will be there
a One more time around for Ben Folds Five
a Ben Folds Five Reunion: “The Chemistry Is Back”
a Ben Folds Can Sing for the Lovelorn, Then Spoof His Own Act

And while we're celebrating Mr. Folds, check out the new video for his first single from the new album, featuring the one and only, Miss Regina Spektor ...

The video's a little weird, but the song's growing on me big time ...

This day in baseball

I’m home early today …

Woo hoo!

Just in time to watch the Cubs finish out their walloping from the Cardinals

So much for seeing the Cubs clinch tonight … Not that I’m doubting the Brewers could win tonight and pull this thing off …

Like I’ve said all season long, I’m totally rooting for the Cubs to win the division, though it’d be nice to at least see the Brewers keep it close and take the Wild Card …

But things haven’t exactly gotten off to a brewing start under Dale Sveum

With Wednesday’s win, we were thrilled, and it looked as though the Brewers could be getting on the right track. Then they blew the 6-2 lead they had in yesterday’s game

I had been monitoring the game at my office. It was great, and when the Brewers took the 6-2 lead into the ninth, I thought it was over. I tuned out … Only to see the Cubs had tied the game in the ninth as I was shutting down my computer and leaving for the day …

I had WGN going on the radio all the way to Phoebe’s daycare and back, and then we caught the 11th and 12th innings at home. Kates also caught the ending on the radio during her drive home…

Great for the Cubs. Not so great for the Brewers.

And if this twisted season couldn’t get any twistier -- the Devil Rays have won 90 games? The Yankees are finished? The Mets and Brewers are collapsing again? The Cubs are unstoppable? Seriously -- I read this crazy rumor today that the Brewers might be willing to trade Prince Fielder and J.J. Hardy for Matt Cain

Though Commenter No. 16 does give the notion some cred. Even if CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets do bolt from Milwaukee after the season, I can’t imagine the Brewers pitching is going to be bad enough to dump Fielder and Hardy too …

9.18.2008

Hits and misses

... I stumbled across this piece a couple weeks ago by Ann Powers in the LA Times ....

Besides eloquently describing her love affair with following and writing about pop music, she discusses some of the bands she caught onto early, and the ones she didn't get soon enough. "In pop, there's always a new chance to miss the boat. Reflecting this reality, here's a portrait of my life in shades of regret ..." she writes.

It's a good, fun read ... Whether you're a teeny-bopper of a fan boy.

She has far many more experience to pull from ... But it got me thinking. About some of the shades of regret in my musical journey. I'm only scratching the surface ...

Shows I didn't see because I was young, and too scared, or too clueless to get in: REM during their Monster tour in 1995 (I was about to turn 16. It would have been my first rock concert, but my mother kept me from going because our area was under a tornado watch -- which never materialized) ... The Cranberries/Toad the Wet Sprocket during the summer of 1996 (A girl who acquired tickets at the last-minute and wanted me to go with her couldn't find my phone number) ...

Artists I avoided due to silly youthful prejudices: Green Day (when my brother came home one summer afternoon with Dookie and blared it repeatedly, I thought it just awful noise) ... U2 (my only excuse is that I was young and didn't know any better. So stupid.) ... I'm sure there's many, many others I'm forgetting ...

Shows I should be able to brag about, but somehow flubbed: Barenaked Ladies during their Maroon tour with The Proclaimers and Five For Fighting, the City Market in Kansas City, August 2001 (Kates and I got VIP tickets and went in with extremely high hopes, but the VIP section was parked on the right side of the stage, with a chainlink fence and the bands' equipment boxes obstructing the view. By the time BNL took the stage, the security had caved and the VIP section had become general admission. It was awful) ... Counting Crows, Municipal Auditorium, March 1997 (The Crows were on their Satellites tour and they were, arguably, the best they've ever been. But the cavernous auditorium seemed to suck all the energy from the room. And I was frustrated things weren't going well with a female in my life at the time.) ... Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds, Carthage College, April 2003 (I waited in line, by myself, in 8-degree weather, for more than 6 hours in February to get these tickets -- which were near the back of the venue. Not the seating, nor the stage were raised. People stood through most of the show. We couldn't see, the people behind us wouldn't shut up.)

Artists I initially dismissed as over-hyped: The Killers (I still kind of think they're overhyped) ... OAR (An opportunity to see them live changed all that in an instant) ... Death Cab For Cutie (And now I can hardly stop listening to Narrow Stairs.) ... Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood (This was before I understood the American Idol machine, and hey, the girls can sing) ... Alicia Keys (I just didn't think she was a big deal) ... Again, I know there's several more that aren't coming to me, and I could go on about dozens of classic rock artists I'm discovering only now in adulthood ...

And finally, artists I need to pay more attention to right now: Duffy, Katy Perry, Charlotte Sometimes, Colbie Caillat, The Bird and the Bee, The Hush Sound ...

Palin's world

Some worthy cartoons I came across tonight ...


9.16.2008

24 Endlessly Quotable TV Quips

... So Entertainment Weekly has a good feature today with some famously classic TV lines ...

While "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" ...

''Save the cheerleader, save the world!'' ...

''We were on a break!'' ...

''It's going to be legen — wait for it — DARY!'' ...

... are all memorable favorites of mine. The feature didn't include my other "Brady Bunch" fave ...

Bobby Brady's "Mom always said, 'Don't play ball in the house!'

And perhaps my all-time favorite ...

Jesse Spano's "There's no time! There's never any time!" ... I couldn't find the actual scene on YouTube ... But there was this -- and about a dozen other hilarious reenactments ...



And check this out ...

11 to go

... Just finished watching the Brewers drop the first game of Dale Sveum's managerial career. A 5-4 loss for the Brewers ...

The Brewers kept it exciting for sure ...

But the Cubs are so good. They had an answer for everything tonight ... They're looking virtually unstoppable.

Here's a good read with reaction from Ned Yost and Bobby Cox about yesterday's firing.

Now and then

What a difference a few months makes ...

Kates and I dressed Phoebe in this set of pajamas last night and were a hit with another sign of how much she's grown ...

In the picture on top, taken exactly five months ago tomorrow, she was drowning in these pajamas. We had to keep the cap from falling over her eyes.

Today, in the picture on the bottom, she's filled out the pajamas and the hat barely stays on her head.

Either way, she's still adorable.

9.15.2008

Observations of the fall

Phoebe has a bit of a cold …

More than anything, we feel for her, and wish there was something we could do to cure her. Obviously, she can’t yet blow her nose, and she’s not yet old enough to take any medicine …

On top of that, we’re pretty sure she’s teething …

And yet, it sort of adds to her adorableness -- to hear her laughing through her scratchy, partly-gone voice. She’s still smiling and kicking like there’s not a worry on her mind …Man, when she gets kicking in her crib, it shakes the whole house.

Here’s a video of her playing this weekend …



* * *

I had a couple assignments this afternoon that had me out and driving along the countryside … The leaves on the trees are already changing colors. I love this time of year, the sense of renewal … But, I’m also wondering where the heck the summer went …

I also heard Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long” four times during my driving … I loved that song the first time I heard it at the beginning of the summer. Then I went through a phase of thinking it was a cheap ripoff -- which, really, it is -- of Warren Zevon’s "Werewolves of London" and Lynyrd Skinner’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” Now I’m back to kind of liking it again …

* * *

… I’m still basking in Carlos Zambrano’s no-hitter last night.

With the help of my cohorts Chris and Joe, and Wikipedia, this morning, we pulled up a couple interesting numbers, bits of trivia and childhood memories …

a Zambrano's no-hitter was the first at Miller Park, and the first in Milwaukee since Steve Busby no-hit the Brewers in 1974 ... It also was the first no-hitter to be thrown at a neutral site -- if you want to call it that.

a The only Brewers no-hitter was thrown by Juan Nieves in 1987.

a There have been nine combined no-hitters ...

a 21 rookies have pitched a no-hitter since 1901 ... I remember the Wilson Alvarez no-hitter. In his second Major League start. Unbelieveable.

a I vaguely remember the Pedro Martinez no-hitter lost in extra innings ...

a Nolan Ryan had seven no-hitters. Roger Clemens had none.

a 1991 was an awesome year for no-hitters. And I remember them all -- Alvarez, Denny Martinez's perfect game, the combined no-hitter by the Orioles, Nolan Ryan's final no-hitter (on the same day Rickey Henderson broke the all-time steals record) ...And the best one -- Bret Saberhagen's no-hitter against the White Sox in Kansas City. The next morning my mother and I got so sidetracked by trying to get a Kansas City Star from the box that we locked the keys in the car ...

Then , this afternoon, the Cubs nearly went and did it again. Ted Lily took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up a hit, the only hit of the ball game …

Not to take anything away from either pitcher’s performance, but I’ve gotta think, given all the circumstances -- Hurricane Ike, the decision process of where to play, and then winding up at “Wrigley North” with thousands of fans clad in Cubs blue -- that the Astros were rattled out of their game …

John Kruk just said it best on “Baseball Tonight” -- The Astros had no business playing these games, knowing what’s going on in Houston. Ridiculous.

* * *

Then there was the breaking news that swept across Wisconsin this afternoon faster then Eric Gagne can blow a Brewers’ lead: Ned Yost fired.

It was an interesting turn of events, considering this morning Chris also had forwarded this link calling for Ned Yost’s dismissal. Frankly, the quote at the top of the page floored me, and it was the first moment in the last two magnificent seasons that I thought a managerial change might be good for the Brewers …

Even when a lot of fans starting calling for Yost’s firing last fall, I backed him and thought he was one of the best things to happen to the Brewers in 15 years. I really, really liked the guy. I loved his passion. I loved his loyalty and the way he believed in his players. I loved the shots of him and Dale Svuem or Mike Maddux exchanging strategy on the dugout steps …

Then the last two weeks happened. They’ve started the month 3-11. I haven’t understood Yost’s reliance on Eric Gagne. Or why Ray Durham, a proven veteran, hasn’t had more playing time.

At this point in the season, with 12 games left and the Brewers tied for the Wild Card spot, I like this move. They need something to jumpstart them and propel them in to the playoffs. They’ve got nothing to lose …

I imagine Dale Sveum being the kind of guy that could get them there, too … I’ve enjoyed watching him with the Brewers as a coach. I enjoyed watching him as the Brewers’ steady shortstop during the late 1980s … He’s also got the postseason experience, having been with the Red Sox during their run in 2004.

Even better, Svuem’s bringing back Robin Yount to be his bench coach.

Unfortunately, the most enduring memory I have of Sveum, though, is the fateful night that ended his career. Me and the fam sitting in a hotel room, on a vacation somewhere in Wisconsin, and watching the game. A ball was hit to shallow left field. Svuem and third baseman Paul Molitor went out for it, left fielder Darryl Hamilton came in. And bang, all three of them collided. I’ll never forget seeing Sveum being carted off on a stretcher and Gary Sheffield taking his place, essentially launching his career …

Here’s a good read from the New York Times about Sveum I stumbled across tonight … I hadn't realized his injury occurred in just his second full season in the Majors ...

9.14.2008

Holy cow!


What a night.

… I just finished watching Carlos Zambrano pitch his no-hitter for the Cubs. At Miller Park.

The Cubs took it to the Astros and won it 5-0 … What more can I say? He was just two walked batters from being perfect …

I was sort of flipping channels between the Brewers game too, but the Phillies were blowing them out -- again -- and once Big Z was rolling by the fifth or sixth, I wasn’t moving …

Then in the ninth, ESPN picked up the feed and I had to call my pops to make sure he was watching. He wasn’t, but I got him to change channels and we got to share the moment together …

Zambrano deserves it too. He’s been knocking at the door for a long time …

It's always fun to get riled up about a game ... To think what it must’ve been like for Cubs fans to be at Miller Park tonight. The poor Astros were supposed to be playing this game at their home ballpark, then Hurricane Ike bowled over the Texas coast …

Even up until late yesterday the Cubs and Astros couldn’t decide where to play the series … Then I got the e-mail alert late last night that the series was being moved to Milwaukee. And of course, I thought for a moment about trying to catch the game …

I figured the Brewers organization would treat it much like they did the Angels-Indians series that came to Miller Park last year. Tickets were just $10; the true baseball fans -- me included -- ate it up … Then I checked for tickets, saw the prices were regularly priced -- actually the prices seemed higher -- and I quickly dropped the notion of going …

Had I gone, though, it would have been a pretty darn sweet “Hey-let’s-go-to-a-game payoff.”

Last week with Ike rolling in and the questions swirling about where the Cubs-Astros series might be played, the storyline spurred a conversation in our office. St. Louis was being tossed around as a possible spot, but I had a hunch then the series might end up at Miller Park, given the weather-proof facility and the fact the stadium hosted the Angels-Indians snow-out last year …

It also got me thinking about one other “Hey-let’s-go-to-a-game payoff” that I forgot to mention when my buddy Matt posed the question last summer …

Aug. 5, 1994 … The Seattle Kingdome, where the Mariners and Royals were supposed play, was falling apart. So the series was moved to Kansas City … The Royals opened the entire stadium for general admission seating. Tickets were like $4 or $5. It was first-come, first served.

I remember my family getting there early and staking our place in line for a chance at good seats. Then, when the gates opened, my brother and I raced down the aisle … And ended up claiming a group of seats about three rows back from the Mariners dugout on the third base side …

The Mariners were hitting their mid-90s prime with Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez and Randy Johnson; Lou Piniella was their manager. But the Royals -- whose roster was loaded with steady veterans Gary Gaetti, Greg Gagne, Wally Joyner, Vince Coleman, Jose Lind, Brian McRae and that season’s Rookie of the Year Bob Hamelin -- were hot, too …

That night, the Royals put on a hitting display and shutout the Mariners 8-0, to win their 14th straight game. And the crowd was, arguably, as loud as I’ve ever heard it at Kauffman Stadium ... I also remember Piniella going into one of his tirades with the homeplate umpire, and we got a front row seat when a fan got into it with Piniella, too, has he came back to the dugout ...

That win was the last the Royals had during that streak. And the strike ruined the season a few days later …

Sunday reading

Some of the reads that caught my interests this last week ...

Baseball ...
a Memories of historic '98 season now seem a little tarnished

TV & movies...
a Series get a new post-strike lease on life
a Graduation nears for 'High School Musical 3: Senior Year'
a 'SNL' throws its hat into political ring
a `SNL' returns with spotlight on prez impersonators

Music ...
a Catching Up With... Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger
a Gilmour says no Pink Floyd reunion
a Singular Sensations: Some Acts Went to the Top, Then Faded to Background Noise
a New Kids know their way around the block
a Rollin' on Empty: In the World of Rock Music, Songs About Cars Have Lost Their Way
a The Twist Tops Billboard Hot 100 Era

Politics ...
a Bush painted as a failed wartime chief
a TV jokesters warming to Palin challenge
a A Tangled Story of Addiction: Consequences of Cindy McCain's Drug Abuse Were More Complex Than She Has Portrayed
a Daley vs. Daley

Media & the Internet ...
a Just Let Me Check One Last Thing . . .
a Lazy EyesHow we read online
a The Humble Moderator's Grand Goodbye
a Newspaper E-reader to be unveiled
a Facebook unveils new look with a new approach
a Fiddling Around With History: Gene's idea wasn't old, it was well-aged
a Twittering From the Cradle

Travel ...
a Mass. shrines split Lizzie Borden's legacy

Sarah Palin Live!

... So Kates and I just got done watching last night's Saturday Night Live premiere ...

... Kates and I were at a wedding yesterday and last night (... This one was for one of many cousins. Always great fun with the family ...) ...We returned home in plenty of time to catch the show live, but we were terribly exhausted. So we decided to let the DVR do the work and we caught the recording this afternoon ...

... But let's back up a little ... Kates and I had been waiting for this premiere for weeks. Who wasn't -- given SNL's dream team cast for this fall's elections. Granted, I've only been a fan watching SNL since the late '90s, but based on the clips I've seen of older shows, I'm not sure SNL has ever had a group who perfectly plays the day's political characters as well as this current cast ...

And with that in mind Kates and I have eagerly waited for weeks to see who would take on the Sarah Palin role ... The obvious choice was Sarah Palin look-a-like and SNL alum Tina Fey. Kates argued no one else could play Palin, while I figured it'd be too hard for SNL to bring Fey back for the fall and the show would have to settle on Kristin Wiig as Palin ...

... So when we got home last night, despite our exhaustion, the excitement level was, shall we say -- palin-pable.

Kates and I couldn't not at least watch the opening skit ...

And there, lo and behold, was Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler doing her classic Hillary Clinton -- and the real Sarah Palin was watching!. Barely a few seconds in Kates and I were clapping hands in the air and loving it ... Tina Fey hit Palin dead-on. The exaggerrated northern American accent also was a nice touch. And by the end, Kates and I were laughing so hard or sides were hurting ...

We can only hope Fey stays with SNL through the election to do more Palin-isms ...

Watching the rest of the show today wasn't nearly as fun. But that was expected ...

I didn't have high expectations for Michael Phelps ... Although I was super-pleased to see Fred Armisen do his Nicholas Fehn character, which has to be one of my favorite SNL characters of the last few years ... I had been thinking going into last night's show how good it would be to see Armisen do Nicholas Fehn again ...

In case you missed the opening Sarah Palin-Hillary Clinton sketch ...