I heart Lee Elia

I heart Lee Elia
It was the 27th anniversary yesterday, Apr 29 2010.
Lee Elia.
Greatest rant ever.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv23pqH9iG0

How can you pick just one? Oh well, I'm not worthy, but...

QOTD

"85% of the fucking world's working... the other 15 come out here."
- Lee Elia, commenting on the Wrigley faithful

Crappy Movie
Movie: "Ghost Writer"
Review: 1 bill-star (out of 5)... yawn

Yawner.
I was trying to give this movie 2 bill-stars on a relative basis... it's better than that gawd awful "Greenberg" that I saw a couple weeks ago.
F that. This movie has nothing going for it.
Yawn.
15 percent... yow, bill

PS - Another anniversary: Hockey player Craig MacTavish retired 13 years ago yesterday. MacTavish was the last player to not wear a helmet in the NHL. Sigh.


PPS - Go Hawk! Round two against the lame canuckle-heads. BTW, another quality rant... Dennis Savard, "Commit to the Indian":

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gM6REx3NVY

Old Europe's weary teet

QOTD

"Disgruntled applicants for civil-sector jobs block the entrance to the finance ministry in Athens Wednesday."
- the debt crisis in Greece, source

The European model, so beloved by the Obama administration, is cracking.

• Debt and deficit ratios in Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Spain are reaching critical levels and are unsustainable.
• As debt grows, bond ratings will plummet and the cost of debt will increase. Or, more simply, would you buy Greek debt right now?
  
• Unemployment in Spain is 20%, but popular concern is low-key because of "generous unemployment benefits".
• One expects that the EU will come to the aid of these struggling countries, but how will that change the fundamental problem?
  

Of course, I say "nuts" to Europe... except for the beaches in Spain (above).
No society worships the government teet more than Europe.
So, live by the teet... die by the teet. He he.
The growth rate in Europe has lagged for decades now as the public sector grows and grows and living standards shrink and shrink. Steve Forbes did a great job describing this in his latest book.

Europe is a wonderful anti-example for the US. Will we live by the teet?
Illinois has already had union and civil-service people protesting for higher taxes to fund even greater benefits for them.

A vote this November against the European model and President Obama and the flippin' teet is a start... reject the European teet model and get back on the course of American freedom, entrepreneurship, leadership and success.
And American beaches.

Huzzah to that!
f the teet... yow, bill

QOTD2

"Yes, I know it's teat, not teet.
But I like teet.
It seems, I don't know, less medical, less antiseptic to me."
- WilliamT responding to many emails on his spelling

Real Change in Illinois?

Ah.
Choice!

QOTD

"If this can work on education, it can work on other things. We have myriad issues from health care to the budget..."
- Rev. James Meeks on school choice

Illinois is contemplating a school voucher program for families living in the worst neighborhoods/school districts: School Voucher Initiative Moves to Illinois House

The WSJ has an excellent editorial, but it's a subscription job: In Post-Obama Illinois, Hope and Change

QOTD2

"That's partly why I don't describe education reform as a 'civil rights issue.' When you do that, it tends to mean blacks have to be on one side and whites on the other. To me education is a moral issue, and we're offering a humane answer from people of both parties and all colors who think it's a moral tragedy to see three generations of Chicago children go without a real education."
- Rev. James Meeks

Also from that WSJ article, "Rep. Darlene Senger, for example, who represents suburban Naperville, has come out foursquare for the bill"... hey, good for her and good for Naperville. Here she is: www.senger.ilhousegop.org. And here's her email: sengerstaterep@gmail.com.

Lyrics OTD

"I'd listen to the words he'd say
but in his voice I heard decay
the plastic face forced to portray
all the insides left cold and gray

there is a place that still remains
it eats the fear it eats the pain
the sweetest price you'll have to pay
the day the whole world went away"
- Trent

"Still"... best of the best.
trent... yow, bill

Obamacare Mulligan

Some tasty WSJ honesty today: Obamacare Mulligan

QOTD

"[Obamacare] will lower costs for families and for businesses and for the federal government."
- President Obama

Barely out of the oven, and the obviously bogus Obamacare cost assumptions are now being discussed in broad daylight. The ObamaAnswer to ObamaCare: Price controls.

When price controls fail, as they always do, perhaps President Obama can combine global warming and health care into one super-charged ad campaign:

Go green!
And skip your scheduled medical procedure

Speaking of WSJ goodness, newspapers (again!) reported major declines in readership (sorry, I lost the link, but who cares anyway)... all the top 25 newspapers decline, except the WSJ. Well, huzzah to that and huzzah to honesty and factual reporting. It's OK to have your position, left or right or whatever, but the WSJ takes its positions supported by facts and reason, as opposed to blather and hyperbole.

QOTD2

"Yes I took this picture in the bathroom, but I'm not on the toilet!!"
- girl-fishie profile on plentyoffish.com

he he... yow, bill

Todd Riley RIP

A guy named Todd Riley passed away last Friday. (Obit)

Todd worked at 5 Tool in Naperville and gave Ty batting lessons for a while last year.
He was only 44. Todd was a nice nice guy, outgoing, a Sock fan (always hassled Ty about his Cub garb), and a really good hitting instructor with the kids.

And he looked just like the ghost in "Polar Express":


QOTD

"Coach Todd Riley has gone on to Baseball Heaven"
- email announcement of Todd passing away

good guy... yow, bill

Redemption

QOTD

"Redemption?
Sure.
But in the end, he's just another dead rat in a garbage pail behind a Chinese restaurant."
- Mr. Fox, link

Recipe #1
Recipe: Broccoli Chicken Casserole, link
Review: 4 bill-stars (out of 5)... yummy.

As usual, I followed some of the comments in the recipe thingie:

• 3/4 cup milk instead of mayo
• 2 cans soup: cream o mushroom & cream of chicken
• Add some spices and Italian-style bread crumbs on top

Very good... even an 11 yo liked it.

Recipe #2
Recipe: Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce, link
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)

Good, but not great, but it was fun to make.
Beware... that recipe is a double batch, so cut everything in half.
Oh, and throw as much garlic in as you have.

I wonder what the last recipe this girl tried out.
Grab a sammich, sweetheart!
he he... yow, bill

Birthday bopper

1. Birthday Bopper
Andruw Jones hits two homer for the Sock on his 33rd birthday.
The last dinger was in the 9th for the walk-off Sock win.
Great picture of it:
I know baseball is a job. And I know the pressure is great. But in how many jobs do grown men get a reception like this one? Excellent.
The video is fun too: chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=7620537

QOTD

"If you swing the bat good... I will play you."
- Sock manager Ozzie to Andruw Jones, source

I heart Ozzie.

Andruw Jones had everything in his early 20's as a Brave. He was a can't-miss superstar. I (and every other baseball fan) remember Brave manager Bobby Cox benching Andruw in the middle of an inning because he didn't hustle after a flyball. Indeed, Jones' underachievement seems largely self-inflicted. I'll bet there were some steroids thrown in there as well, but whatever.

I wonder how sweet this comeback is for him. Does he really appreciate it (baseball, success, his good fortune, life) now?

2. D-Rose v. Lebron
Game 3... Bull win.
The Bull were up and D-Rose was shredding the Cav. So, with 3-4 minutes left in a close game, Lebron said he'd D up on D-Rose. Lebron may have slowed D-Rose, but he certainly didn't stop him... and Bull win. It was a great show.

Rose Stands Tall with Lebron

Go Bull!
Go Hawk!

3. Wimpy Kid
Movie: "Diary of a Wimpy Kid"
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... very good.

This was a fun, positive movie that Ty and I both enjoyed.
The"Wimpy Kid" is around 12 yo and starting junior high.
It's funny, but it's also pretty rough because junior high blows so hard.
[BTW, what was worse: junior high or high school?!?! Blech.]

Two of my fave great scenes in the movie:

1. The wimpy kid's baby brother sitting on a potty chair at the dinner table, and
2. The wimpy kid is on the steps of the school, happy to have survived his first day of middle school, when his friend yells down in front of the whole school, "Do you want to come over and play?" He he.
   

Very fun.

4. Not on my blog
There was a story a couple days ago about some IL union guys protesting in Springfield with a chant "Raise My Taxes". The level of cynicism of these losers yelling for higher taxes solely so they can get paid... well, I don't know... it, it, like, short circuited my head there for a couple days. So negative. So self-serving. So stupid. So difficult to even read stories like that.

So, I'll pass. Other than to say shame of these liar union types. But hey, it ain't all their fault... shame on the system that promises these guys pensions and pay that 1) they don't deserve, and 2) that the state can't afford.

I wonder if the Cynic in Chief is catching any of this?
I think not.
The WSJ this morning compared ObamaCare to the new Coke... a mistake better replaced as quickly as possible. Snarky, but what the hell. Not as snarky as a lot of stuff going on these days.
sock win... yow, bill

PS - Bikini cure for any cynic. Huzzah!

Ultra Concentrated

1. Great Product
Dawn Soap may be the best product ever, of all time.
Why? You ask.
Well, I'll tell you.
Even with a bogus baby seal on the front and a promise to send $1 to some loser leftie group if I buy the stuff... I still buy it.
QOTD

"Ultra Concentrated"
- Dawn soap

That Dawn stuff is incredible to me.
How does it just rip grease and blech off my plates, and yet leave the plate and the skin on my hands intact. He he.
So, I put up with the faux environmental shenanigans. But it ain't easy.
Did you know that Dawn saves wildlife?
Yup. They do: www.dawnsaveswildlife.com

Well, I guess that's only half the story as it seems Dawn is gaming the whole environmental thing and may be almost as cynical as me (I did say "almost"):

• To donate $1 to not clubbing baby seals, you have to go to a website and enter some code in from the bottle.
• Also, there's a cap of $500K on the thing.
  

I was surfing for this post and found some teeny-bopper-blogger (ha!) who was all in a snit about it. What Dawn Soap doesn't want you to know. The kid talks about going into Walmart to steal Dawn codes and enter them into the website. What a hero.

If some poser tourist environmentalist teeny-bopper is in a snit over Dawn, then I'm happy.
Bring on the baby seals!

2. Not So Great Product
SportClips offers, what seems like, a can't miss proposition: get a haircut, from a hot chick, while watching sports of TV. Um. Not.

I tried SportClips twice. So, that's a double dop.
Poor service and cranky girls!
I wanted to chew my leg off to get out of there.
I wanted to chew my leg off to get out of there almost as much as the girls who work there.
dawn... yow, bill

The uber-tax

QOTD

"It is the sense of the Senate that the Value Added Tax is a massive tax increase that will cripple families on fixed income and only further push back America's economic recovery."
- Senate resolution that passed 85-13, source

The Value Added Tax (VAT) is the holy grail of taxes, the uber-tax. For two reasons:

1. It would allow the feds to (explicitly) tax every product and service in the land.
   
2. It would allow the feds to massively expand (again) its size to account for these new taxes.

The WSJ article also mentions that Americans oppose the VAT 60-22 percent. My question is who the heck are these 22%? "Yeah, I'd like my every purchase, my every action, taxes by the federal government." Amazing.


Do you think this Illinois bikini girl is hot?
60-22% say "yes".
yow, bill

Animal Stories

Beware.
This is a dinosaur post.
Into the wayback machine we go...

QOTD

"I'm ashamed to be here.
But not ashamed enough to leave."
- Larry Lujack

Ah, Animal Stories... back in the day.
I've never laughed harder at anything in my life.



QOTD2

"I've meant to write to you... however, with the lure of bright lights, demon alcohol, and a constant parade of floozies, I'm having the time of my life."
- letter to Animal Stories, track 7 "Animal Stories 2"

"Animal Stories" was a radio show in Chicago on WLS in the 70's/80's hosted by Larry Lujack and Little Tommy. It was 9:45 am. Just 5-10 minutes or so.

You can still buy Animal Stories CD's (which I own, yes thank you): www.animalstoriescd.com
Oh, jiminy. I believe the proper 21st century is LOL.
old uncle lar... yow, bill

20,000 Little Felixes

QOTD

"Will the Rangers be intimidated by 20,000 little Felixes?"
- King Felix bobblehead promo

I know this isn't the weirdest bobblehead (as I peer over at my Adam Dunn in a leisure suit bobblehead), but hey, every bobblehead is funny. I reckon it's tough to get those soggy Seattlers out to the ballpark, so God bless the pointy heads over at Mariners marketing. He he.

BTW, even funnier.
Go here, while it lasts, and you can ask the King Felix Bobblehead questions.

King Felix Bobblehead Night

he he... yow, bill

Actress

I love this one.

QOTD

"Actress"
- Q Richardon's nickname for Kevin Garnett (link)

Winter Castle

Some 12 yo kid from Detroit wore a Pistons jersey every day for 1,460 days:
www.nba.com/pistons/news/jersey_boys_100413.html

QOTD2

"We had to go shopping."
- 12 yo Eric Matecun on ending his 1,460 day jersey streak (link)

Here's a list of NBA champions, year by year: www.nba.com/history/finals/champions.html

I was just curious. If Cleveland/LeBron wins this year, is it a big deal? I mean LeBron has no "sidekick". No one on the Cav is All-NBA or future HOF'er or anything like that. I mean, the Cav's 2nd best player is Mo Williams, for crikey's sake. That's, um, not good.

So, the question becomes... if the Cavs win, is it especially noteworthy achievement for LeBron?

I guess no.
The San Antonio Spurs of the 2000's won 3 times where Duncan had no real sidekick. Tony Parker. Manu Ginobli. Both are nice ballplayers, but neither is a top 10 player in the league or anything.

That said, LeBron has no one as good as either Parker or Ginobli on the Cav this year.
go bull... yow, bill

My fave pol

My current fave pol is big, ole Chris Christie, gov of New Jersey.
Outstanding, 5-star article in today's WSJ:

New Jersey's Failed Experiment

The "experiment" that has "failed" in Jersey is high taxes, big government.
Many great QOTD's here:

QOTD

"While the state lost 121,000 jobs last year, education jobs in local school districts soared by more than 11,000. Over the past eight years, according to Mr. Christie, K-12 student enrollment has increased 3% while education jobs have risen by more than 16%."
- WSJ

"New Jersey taxpayers are spending $22,000 per student in the Newark school system, yet less than a third of these students graduate"
- WSJ

"You're not going to have to spend nearly as much money to start your business in New Jersey"
- Christie on regulation changes he is proposing

"New Jersey's residents now suffer under the nation's highest tax burden. Yet the tax hikes haven't come close to matching increases in spending."
- WSJ on Jersey's $11B budget shortfall

"We are, I think, the failed experiment in America—the best example of a failed experiment in America—on taxes and bigger government. Over the last eight years, New Jersey increased taxes and fees 115 times."
- Christie

Some links:

• Christie for gov, www.christiefornj.com
  
• Christie as gov, www.state.nj.us/governor/
• Christie on wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Christie
  

Great to hear the truth out an unattractive messenger... imagine that.
This is the opposite of our current situation in the White House where socialism's buxom blonde, President Obama, smiles and prattles on toward a larger and large government and toward less and less personal freedom.

And Illinois? We're in a similar situation as Jersey.
Yet the repub party in Illinois is so inept, they don't seem even able to muster a shadow of a candidate with a message like Christie's. If they did, we'd have a repub gov chop chop.

Good luck to Gov Christie.
yow, bill

Toys for Dinosaurs

1. New Toy
Fun new toy at The Castle: www.ihomeaudio.com/iP90

Look, I know this isn't breakthrough technology or anything, but as a dinosaur I like it. Cuz:

• Zero hassle setup
• AM/FM radio
• Plop my Ipod in and go
• Feels solid, quality
  
• Looks nifty in the kitchen
  
• Only $80 at Amazon

Sort of like ole blogger here.
I haven't found and negatives yet, so huzzah to that!

2. Say this 5 times fast
A volcano in Iceland is acting up. Whatever.
The fun part is trying to pronounce where it's happening.
5 times fast: "Eyjafjallajokull".

www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/04/iceland_volcano_eyjafjallajoku.html

Huh?

Iceland has a Wikipedia page on its beers: Beer in Iceland.
Beer was banned in Iceland until 1989?
And they have Beer Day in Iceland every year... March 1.

The other odd thing about Iceland, other than the volcanoes and glaciers, is that all Icelanders are attractive.
very odd... yow, bill

Reform This

QOTD

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "I Have a Dream" speech 1963 (wikipedia)

1. IL Pension Reform, sort of
Village idiot and governor Pat Quinn signed a law modifying some of the pension rules for IL state employees: Quinn Signs Pension Reform Into Law

The gist of the thing seems to be that new hires will have their pensions reduced somewhat, thus saving money. That's fine, I guess. But you and I know the real answer here...

Own your own stuff!

True reform is the state and the feds and corporations contributing to self-directed retirement accounts. No pyramid scheme. No future promises of this or that. This approach has two overwhelming advantages:

1. The state/feds/company only pays for what you can afford... no bogus promises.
2. You, the employee, own your own stuff... no worries about this idiot politician or some company going bankrupt.
   

One of W's biggest failings was not selling private social security accounts to the public.

2. Tea Party Guys
I don't know too much about the tea party deal. The message seems pretty simple: less government, more personal freedom. I know there was a rally in Naperville. I didn't catch any of that.

Fortunately, there are shortcuts when you are bored to tears by the soap opera politics of stuff like this. When the media (or anyone else) cries "RACISTS" or "STUPID" or "VIOLENT" just for the hell of it... you know you're being gamed. So, if it means being on the other side of the "cry racism" crowd, then I'm pro-Tea Party deal.

Measuring the ultimate impact of the Tea Party movement will be easy. November 2010. Will a strong, decisive message be sent to President Obama and the lefties? If so, good. Off-year elections are about motivating your side to get out there and vote. We shall see. If not, then European-style socialism ahoy.

3. NBA Rules
I always wondered about this in the NBA... what if you run out of guys? Like, you have injuries and foul-outs such that you don't have 5 guys left to play the dang game.

Well, it happened last night to the Golden State Warriors. I guess the rule is if your guy picks up his 6th foul, but you don't have a replacement, then you get assessed a technical foul, and then he gets to come back in.

In the Warrior game, Devean George picked up his 6th foul, and then later came back in the game after the Blazers shot a couple freebies because of the technical. Interesting.

Warriors @ Blazers, Apr 14 2010

Also interesting, the Warrior ended up winning the game.
foul this... yow, bill

PS - The latest in NBA technology? The scantily-clad women's tramp-oline dunk contest. WTF?!?!

Source: SI NBA Cheerleaders slideshow

Sluggie me

1. Sluggie me
I heart the Oakland A's... they have to try hard, hard, hard to get you to come to the ballpark.
Ty and I hit an A's game last year, and we sat on the dang field for about hundred bucks. I think another hundo and Ty could have played 3rd base or something.

For example, tomorrow's game against the Oriole is "Sluggie Wearable Blanket Night" (link).
He he.


2. Some Chicago woes
The guy running the Chicago Bulls, John Paxson, threatened to beat up our coach, Vinny.

Bulls VP Paxson Shoved Del Negro

QOTD

"I still hate Paxson for making that shot against us in the Finals."
- Chuckles Barkley's take on the Pax "shove"

Ah, Paxson. 1993 Finals. Bull win.


3. Some more Chicago woes
An unauthorized biography of Oprah is being touted. I love this headline:
Lesbian flings, prostitution & abuse lies: Oprah's 'hidden' life

Frankly, if that shit was on Oprah's show, then maybe I'd watch it. [rim shot]
The tell-all is written by dopey Kitty Kelley, so it's not really reputable.


No, that's not Oprah in the bikini.
he he again... yow, bill

Reaganism v. The Teet

1. New Jersey Gov Christie
New Jersey Gov Christie is lowering taxes and cutting the size of state government.

Reaganism, New Jersey Style

Imagine if we had that leadership at the national level... cutting the size of our bloated federal government v. growing and growing and growing the teet. I'll hazard a guess that we wouldn't have 10% unemployment right now.

QOTD

"A smaller government that lives within its means."
- New Jersey Gov, Chris Christie on his solution to budget woes

I heart the Christie/Obama contrast. Christie is a big, ole fat white guy versus our Paris Hilton President... famous for being famous. Oh, and what a talker that Obama. I'll bet Christie has a lisp or something. He he.

And Christie appears to be fighting for the citizenry, rather the the Obama approach of government at any cost.

I'll take a twinkie in New Jersey with Christie over the Obama's preferred champagne in DC.
Any time.

2. Puritanism in the 21st Century
This is a great picture. He he.

Big Ben Roethlisberger at work

So, a single 20-something guy goes to a bar. Gets drunk. And has sex with some equally drunk chick in a bathroom.

OK, not exactly my cup of tea. But if the guy is famous, then blammo. In the case of Ben Roethlisberger, the girl cries rape and down the rabbit hole we go. The DA announces that Big Ben's not going to be charged with anything, and then gets snarky.

QOTD2

"Here the overall circumstances do not lead to a viable prosecution. If they did, I would be pursuing it vigorously. We do not prosecute morals. We prosecute crimes."
- DA in Ben Roethlisberger case, source

Hey sweet pea, that's right. You're not paid to prosecute morals, so SHUT UP! I'll take care of my business. Ben will take care of his. And you take care of yours.

Sensing the slightest tilt of public opinion, everybody and their mother is Queen Elizabeth, for Christ's sake. And who's next in line? Idiot NFL Commish Roger Goodell, who's going to give Ben a stern talking to... or suspension. Witch! Burn her! Burn her!

She turned me into a newt.
[pause]
I got better.

Look, if this makes you not a Big Ben fan, that's cool. Or me. Ditto.
I am not a Tiger fan these days. He seems more than a little creepy to me.
But it's different when "the man" jumps in that it's wrong and stupid. The DA or idiot in charge of the NFL.
Because "the man" can put you in jail and can take away your dough.
And if you haven't broken the law, then that ain't right.
Super simple.
the grail... yow, bill

5-Star Book and Wrigley Pee Troughs

1st... A 5-star Book!
Book: "SUPER Freakonomics"
Review: 5 bill-stars (out of 5)... OUTSTANDING!

What a wonderful, outstanding book! Even better than the first one.

It is a breath of fresh air to read some guys who are smart and don't have an axe to grind. There's too much to give a quick QOTD, but one of my favorite chapter was their discussion of global warming. It focuses on a nerdy brain storm on some cheap solutions in the unlikely event we actually have global warming.

Some treats: getting rid of hurricanes, are people altruistic or greedy, mosquito lasers, data mining for terrorists, the economics of prostitutes, 60 foot high piles of horse manure in NYNY, and monkeys learning money (which leads to robbery and prostitution).

All of it with tons of data and snarky commentary. Very fun!

The linking of links:

• Ah, 5-star book... SUPERFreakonomics
• And the book's Global Warming Chapter features Microsoft polymath... Nathan Myhrvold
• And Myhrvold has a think tank company... Intellectual Ventures
• And one of IV's inventions in action, the mosquito laser: www.intellectualventures.com/videolibrary.aspx
  

BTW, Bill Gates likes the book too: Thoughts on SuperFreakonomics
Must read!

2nd... The Pee Troughs at Wrigley Field
I heard that the new owners of the Cub spent mucho dinero to "improve" Wrigley over the off-season. I believe that the figure bandied about was $10M.

Well, of course, I immediately worried about the status of Wrigley's pee troughs... the vehicle of male urine removal in "the friendly confines." Well, happy day... it seems the pee troughs were not eliminated as a part of Wrigley's "improvement." Here's the link below.

Wrigley Field troughs to survive bathroom rennovations

Wait!
WAIT!
Go back and click on that Wrigley link for 6 seconds of the funniest pee trough video you'll ever see. Here's the direct youtube link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVn4K7N3xLo&.

I have my own little alcohol-related trough story, but no way jose! I ain't crazy... and I ain't writing that story here. And no, I didn't surf the pee trough. Jeez. It's something else. Gross, but not that gross.
He he!
cub win... yow, bill

PS - Politically incorrect now, the Cub had one of the first hot ball girls sitting by the foul line in the 1980's. Here's the story (link) and better yet, some pictures:
...

I'll take a pint

1. Drinking around the world
Hoisting a few too many pints in Britain these days it seems:

UK Drinking Problem Gets Political

The story is OK, but I especially love this photo of some big, sloppy British girls on a "party bus." The combination of skinned knees and those big-ass cans of Foster's is a classic.


Of more immediate interest, per capita drinking in the good, old US of A is down 20% from 1980. Canada, too. Consumption of alcohol in Germany and France is down around 1/3.

QOTD

"By that time of night you have urine and glass on the street"
- Drinking in the UK

2. Whining about whining
Movie: "Greenberg"
Review: 1 bill-star (out of 5)... brutal

Ben Stiller stars here as a negative, whiny 40-something living in NYNY and visiting LA. Jeez, where did the screenwriters get the idea for this? Oh, and why did I go in the first place? I thought the preview looked funny. Oh well.

This movie had a very Seinfeld-ish feel to it, as it's a movie where nothing really happens. Unlike Seinfeld, the characters are not likable in the least, and it doesn't even have brief moments that are funny.

I hope my review isn't too negative and whiny. Ha!

3. Pistol Pete
Book: "Pistol" by Mark Kriegel
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... OK.

I heart Pistol Pete Maravich. He averaged 44 points a pop in college. Run and gun. Hot dogging it all the way.

This biography of Pistol Pete is good and worthy reading. It was tough slogging sometimes though because Pete's life story is so sad. Pete had incredible demons and led such a troubled and short life.

Here's a happier video of Bill Walton joyously talking about his experience playing against Pete Maravich: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk-JJX2SRHc&feature=related

Thanks Matt for the read.

4. WSJ Headlines
Strong headlines in the WSJ today:

1. "Computer Engineers Hijack Barbie Vote"
2. "After Dropping the Ball, Tiger's Back"... is that what Tiger did? Drop the ball?
3. "Cash Crunch Will Force Governments to Do Less"... starve the beast
   
4. "Insurers go on strike after [MA gov] Patrick imposes price controls"... great idea, just have the gov set prices. Um. Dop.
5. "Unions pressure Florida's governor to veto school reform"

sunny day... yow, bill

PS - He he. When I published this post, Google's context-specific ads showed an ad for Linden Oaks, a rehab place here in Naperville. "Specialists In Addiction And Mental Health". Good one.

After the movin'

Well, I think my move worked.
Let's try a picture, eh.

QOTD

"Testes. Testes. One. Two. Three?"
- Butthead

OK. Let's see.
Publish.
yow, bill

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My blog is moving

QOTD

deprecate
1. To express disapproval of; deplore.
2. To belittle; depreciate.
3. Computer Science To mark (a component of a software standard) as obsolete to warn against its use in the future so that it may be phased out.
- http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/deprecated

Howdy neighbor,

Well, my blog is moving. Soon...

• I'll no longer be at www.williamt.com/blog
• I should be (cough) moved to williamt777.blogspot.com

Here's Google's explanation: Deprecating FTP
And this is supposed to be fairly transparent and auto-magic.
We shall see.

"Deprecate" is a fave word among nerds.
We use it when we're getting rid of the "old way" of doing something in favor of a new, improved way. There are typically two reasons for this: 1) the old way is getting creaky and obsolete in view of new technology, or 2) the old way always kind of sucked in the first place. For example, Intel decided to never deprecated their old X86 architecture, choosing instead to contort around, over and through the old X86 technology. Apple has generally decided to ditch old architectures in favor of new in both hardware and software.

It's always a tough nerd decision. Change is uncomfortable. Being deprecated makes users cranky. He he.

Well, Google (the owner of blogger) is deprecating the use of File Transfer Protocol (FTP) in blogs. Don't laugh, but FTP is almost as old as me! It makes Google cranky to have to support it. I originally chose to use FTP for two reasons: 1) I liked my old williamt.com URL, and 2) I wanted my blog files to exist on my ISP server rather than over at Google.

So, I'm a user being deprecated. I'm not cranky as much as wary.
I hope this works.
Google's "Migration Tool" is supposed to copy my (2 1/2 year old, 400+ post) blog over to their servers and my new URL. It's also supposed to (gulp) put forwarding tags in the HTML of these old files pointing your browser to the new location. (gulp gulp)

I'll probably try my migration later today.

My last bikini shot... pre-deprecation... google "ftp bikini" leads you to Bridget Bardot.

So, it's not all bad. He he.
And I heart blogger. So there.
peace... yow, bill

Hunger Games 2

With 3.6 seconds left and just a 2 point lead, Coach K told his player to intentionally miss a free throw. Pretty unorthodox strategy, and it almost cost Duke as the Butler guy narrowly missed a half court shot.

So, why not just make the free throw, go up by 3... then the worse you get is overtime.

QOTD

"I think we lose in overtime."
- Dike Coach K on his decision v. Butler to miss their last free throw on purpose

Gutsy call. I like it.

Book: "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... barely just OK

This is "Hunger Games 2".
More light teeny-bopper reading. This one barely made the cut because of two really aggravating things:

1. We traipse back to the same "Hunger Games" plot of kids fighting each other
2. We get the bogus "to be continued" ending. That's tough to pull off well, and it does not work here.

I'm cranky, but I went with 3 stars because I liked the first half of the book, and I will probably snarf the finale when it comes out. The last of the series is "Mockingjay" and comes out in August ("Mockingjay" on Amazon).
mocking book... yow, bill

Chicago news

Who comes up with this stuff?
God bless 'em... makin' a buck, baby!

Bizarre Souvenirs

For the record, we looked, but did not buy. That D-Rose is creepy. He he.

1. Buerhle Highlight
Mark Buerhle's incredible play of the year on opening day: Yahoo video, MLB video

QOTD

"That one's going to be on highlight reels all year long."
- Steve Stone

2. Chicago Cameras
Truly sad state of affairs as our society comes under more and more surveillance.

Cameras make Chicago most closely watched US city

And nobody gives a hoot.

QOTD2

"[Chicago] could put 10,000 more cameras up and nobody would say anything."
- Paul Green, Roosevelt University

3. $2M Coach at DePaul
DePaul hires a new basketball coach:

Oliver Purnell bolts Clemson to take coaching job at DePaul

How does DePaul University justify paying a basketball coach $2M. They must run the numbers, right? I just can't get my head around it. They shouldn't even be in the Big East.
chicago rules... yow, bill

A cause to believe in

Finally, a cause we can all support: Topless Women March in Portland

QOTD

"I'm really upset by the men… all the men that are here, just like watching it like it's a parade."
- topless march organizer

The march was legal in Portland, ME because they only have laws against exposed genitals, not, um, torsos.

This is a fer-pay WSJ story, but a good one: What's the Next Global Warming
The author chronicles the cracks in global warming across the globe:

• French best seller "L'imposture climatique" rip global warming
  
• Leftie German magazine "Der Spiegel" had a 15 page feature on "scientists who want to be politicians"
• Leading British environmentalist James Lovelock says the planet "will save itself, as it always as done"
• US poll has global warming as the 6th ranked out of the top 10 environmental worries
• In a different article, CA voters will challenge the state's goofy cap-n-trade regulations in the election this Fall.
  

Global warming as religion... the author compares Al Gore's carbon credits scheme ("It's how Al Gore justifies his utility bills") to a Catholic penance.
Good news all.

And finally some real SCIENCE!
Give a bunch of college kids some beers, and their test scores are fine the next morning.

Test-Takers Shrug Off the Effects of Alcohol

I could-a told you that.
he he... yow, bill

Wind. Mill. Eye. Sore.

Windmills in Palm Springs, CA

LA Spars over Green Energy

LA's push to "green" energy has two effects:

• LA power bills are up over 10% to pay for "green" energy options like the windmills
  
• LA residents are treated to the eyesore you see above

Environmentalists, I presume, are all gung-ho on this windmill thing. But how can you look at the photo above and not call that an eyesore? I don't get it.

Baseball is back. Ahhhhhh. Red Sock beat the Yankee 9-7 in Sunday's season opener. Papelbon with the save.
QOTD

“It’s good to get a win opening night. It’s good for the city. It’s good for the fans. It’s good for the players. It’s good for everyone. … But it’s still just one game.”
- K Youkilis, Red Sock

And fantasy baseball is back. Double ahhhhhh.
Speaking of, the Naperville Watchmen will rely on the fine closer corp ever constructed: Papelbon, Mariano, and K-Rod.

Papelbon!

...

...


The finest closer corps... on paper. Now we play the games.
papelbon... yow, bill

Here I go again

Book: "Waking" by Matthew Sanford
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... OK.

He he. Here I go again. This reminds me of my "Avatar" experience.

"Waking" is an inspirational story about a guy dealing with paralysis due to a childhood car accident. It's really heart-wrenching stuff to hear the stories of what this guy went through. And then he perseveres ultimately by learning yoga. It's an amazing story. Anyone dealing with this kind of trauma and disability is amazing to me.

"Waking" on Amazon is a 5-star deal (source) with people about as gushy as I've seen for any book or anything on Amazon.

Sorry, I wasn't that moved. Why?

• Much of the book (2/3?) deals with his accident and the fairly immediate trauma and treatment of his paralysis. It's just brutal reading... because it's happening to a 13 year-old kid.
• Then, we get preachy. If you don't do yoga, then you don't "get it". You're not connected with this and that and the other thing. Jeez. The paraplegic who gets totally into weight-lifting and Special Olympics stuff... he doesn't get it. The doctors don't get it. The therapists don't get it. Whatever.
  
• He also describes how, after winning a lawsuit over his accident, he becomes "enlightened" about not needing to work and that his philosophy and inner-self are more important. Yawn.
  

It's almost universal isn't it... everyone's religion is the religion. Even not having a religion is a religion, as the worst religion these days is people who won't tolerate the religion of others.

What works for me? Running. Working hard. The "life is a game or contest" metaphor works pretty effectively. But am I in your face if you're not running, not working hard, not competing. Heck no. There's a lot of benefits to an alternate approach (including yoga)... just don't tell me yours is better for everyone and I won't do likewise.

Look, this wasn't a terrible book; it was worth the read. Dude, I'm glad that yoga worked for you. But please please please don't tell me that your way is the way. It isn't.

Baseball tomorrow!
Ahhhhhhhhh.
play ball... yow, bill

Sooby 2011

QOTD

"Never buy a used Subaru WRX STI."
- WilliamT

My little Sooby (2007 Impreza WRX STI) is easily the best car I've every owned. Fast. Tight. Reliable. Just solid as a rock and fun fun fun.
2 1/2 years and no tickets yet. Knock, knock.

Sooby

Subaru changed the Impreza to be a hatchback a couple years ago. Blech.
They are coming back with the sedan for 2011. Oh my.

2011 Subaru WRX STI, source

Here's the official Sooby link: www.subaru.com/auto-show/index.html

Now, I paid like $32K for my Sooby, and they have jacked the prices since. The 2011 will come in easily over $40K. I can't blame them, but I might not partake. I have another couple good years with my Sooby and then we'll see.
sooby... yow, bill

PS - A paste on... Red Sock star Bernie Carbo was high as a kite during the 1975 World Series:

• Little Yahoo summary of the deal: link
• The original Boston Globe story is really inspirational about Carbo's overcoming addiction: link
• Youtube of Carbo's 8th inning, pinch-hit, game-tying homer in the 1975 World Series: link

QOTD2

“I probably smoked two joints, drank about three or four beers, got to the ballpark, took some [amphetamines], took a pain pill, drank a cup of coffee, chewed some tobacco, had a cigarette, and got up to the plate and hit,’’
- Bernie Carbo, source

And pardon my geezer moment here... less was more back then. No ESPN. No SportsCenter. No internet. Just WGN and NBC's Saturday Game of the Week. These moment's were treasuries, in part because of their scarcity. Now, they are a commodity.
Young whippersnapper.
He he.