A chance to Rip Larry Brown

I don't get the media's love affair with Larry Brown, currently head coach of the Detroit Pistons. This is a guy who's left more jobs, who's left more teams and organizations hanging with little or nothing when he bolts, who's never heard of the word loyalty... but the media loves him. Calls him great. Calls him a wonderful guy. Kisses his ass and falls all over themselves for him.

But Browns a loser. A guy that can't sit still and who leaves every place he stays... if he were a player, he'd be ripped left, right, and center by the media. If he were black... opps sorry! can't play the race card any more! But it's true, if Brown was black, would he even have gotten this far after all the bridges he's burned? All the teams he's left because he just didn't feel like it any more?

So now he goes to Cleveland... but he's in the middle of the playoffs with the Pistons right now... and he's bolting just like that. If I were the Pistons, I'd pull him from the bench and let him go. Screw him.

I'm sick of Larry Brown and the free pass he gets from the media. The guys a bum, and I applaud the few in the media who are ripping him (Chad Ford for one).

Philly? Give me a break

There will be five Live 8 concerts this summer in various European and American locations... London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, and... Philly? Huh?

No Spice Girls in case you were wondering.

France say Non

The French rejected the European Union Constitution yesterday with a strong 55% 'Non' vote. This is a bit of a shocker, but in early March the polls took a huge change in direction and have shown that the French would reject the EU Constitution. Here is an interesting look to what the French said no to, in a short phrase, Europe since the Berlin Wall fell.

So now what happens to the EU? It looks like the Dutch will reject the Constitution on Wednesday. And we can expect to see no votes from the Danes and maybe Poles in the near future. The Constitution as it is looks dead. And trying to rewrite the thing will only be more difficult. But lets face it, this Constitution was complicated, long, and umm, boring. If they want a constitution, may I recommend something a little shorter than a 400-odd article, 191 paged set of laws... really all you need is about ten pages single spaced. It works well, trust me. So the Constitution is dead, but what else?

But the EU? Is the EU in trouble? Probably not, but things could fall apart. Odds are things will continue on as is in Europe. But if for some odd reason France is the only country to vote No, France may have to leave the EU. Or France may leave on her own, and if that happened would others follow? Or would France force a radical reorganization of the EU. Would they go back to the 6 or 10 nation union as it was from the get go? Doubtful, but you never know. But countries like Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romanian must be worried now. Their entrance into the EU is not guaranteed.

But as long as the Euro is around, the EU will be around. Expect the Euro to fall over the next few days, but after that... who knows.

Beat the Snot out of those Oedipus'

The US plays England today in a friendly here in Chicago at Soldier Field. After the fall out from the Man U fans and the English in general, I hope we show 'em what it's like here in the New World.

The smug little jagbags deserve to have the snot beaten out of 'em. So here's to DeMarcus and company to do just that. Yeah, I know it's England's B team, but I could careless... that's their problem and their smugness is too much for me right now. Rip them Oedipus'.

As for history? It may just be on our side.

The game is on at 3pm (eastern) on ESPN2.

Best Sports Writer Out There

In this writer's opinion, the best sports writer out there is Len Pasquarelli who writes on the NFL for ESPN.com. Mr. Pasquarelli is easy to read, fun to read, interesting, and informative at the same time. You can't ask for much more out of a writer. His Friday Tip Sheet is a great and must read for any NFL fan.

Today he writes about the problems the NFL owners are having reaching some sort of agreement over revenue sharing and how it may lead to an un-capped season 2007 (the NFL currently has a salary cap in which teams are allowed to only spend a set amont on players). If that happens, there will be no turning back and the NFL will soon look like major league baseball... which in my opinion isn't a bad thing.

Slow Days

I've been off work for three days which is part of the reason why I haven't had much to say the past few days. Though, there hasn't been much to talk about. There is a man on a crane in Atlanta... but that's really not that interesting. The happenings in Congress are boring politics. The White House hasn't messed anything up in the past few days. The Sox are out in LA playing okay... just one of those weeks.

Liverpool did win the European Cup on Wed in an amazing game to watch. They were down 3-0 at half time to AC Milan, but stormed back to tie the game at 3-3. The match went to penalties, where Liverpool was victorious. Fun game and a great ending to the 2004-2005 Football season in Europe; which started with an upset... Greece winning Euro 2004.

Umm yeah, nothing?

That's how I feel about today's news... nothing. The Guardian tells us the IRA is still recruiting! I say no shit. The New York Times is all pumped about the deal reached in the Senate about the filibuster compromise and votes on judicial nominees! I could careless, this will easily win the most boring, drawn out, and pointless story of 2005. And the Sun-Times is running some stuff on the truck for hire stuff for the 1,384,492th day in a row!

I only caught the first hour of "24" last night, and the show is just so ridiculous that I'm not too upset that I missed the last hour. I think it would be kind of cool if the SLOWEST ROCKET EVER BUILT (launched from Iowa at about 4:00am it still hadn't hit anything as of 6:00am) hit a target just because it would be totally unexpected, but I'm pretty sure Jack figured out how to stop the SLOWEST ROCKET EVER BUILT. (Seriously, think about this, it's about an hour and half flight from Chicago to DC, Iowa isn't too much further from Chicago by air, and wouldn't a rocket travel faster than 737 or 727 Boeing? Easily the most ridiculous show on TV, you have to throw reality out the window when watching "24").

Liverpool vs Milan tomorrow at 2:30pm EST. Is this the biggest sporting event of 2005? Or were those cricket matches between India and Pakistan bigger?

Pitchfork ran their summer reading list of books about music. Books on music or music culture may be the dullest books ever written, until the figure out how to get audio integrated into books on music they will continue to suck. I guess bios are okay, but please people, don't write any more books on music. They just aren't interesting and usually the person writing the book either LOVES the music he/she is writing about or KNOWS NOTHING about the music he/she is writing about. Spare us.

News of the Day

In the news... I'm not sure what to make of this or Iran, but they aren't cool, that's for sure. The entire country is a crock and it's hard to find any positives in the country at the moment. They've got some oil and natural gas right? But is that even a positive? I guess it would be cool to check out the ancient sites there... but umm, not going to be doing that any time soon.

I’ve been wondering this for a while… but why and how is Donald Rumsfeld still Secretary of Defense? Bob Herbert wonders also today how Rummy still has his job. It seems somewhat obvious that Rummy is tight with either Bush or Chaney or both, and that he’s really the third (or second) most important man in DC. I do wonder what Rove thinks of Rummy and if he’s had any say in the matter. No matter, what has gone on under Rumsfeld watch just looks horrible for W and the USA. The abuses that have been going on in American prison camps from Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay to Afghanistan is beyond disgusting and shows how hypocritical that the current administration has when it comes to “non-Americans.” We preach about freedom, liberty, and justice for all… but in fact we do whatever we please to others. I have to question if we, or rather our leaders, actually show respect for anyone in this world. The treatment of these prisoners seems to be more Soviet or Nazi like than “American”. It’s inexcusable and a shame, to the point where I don’t feel proud to be an American. And the man who is over seeing all this, Rumsfeld will stay on as Secretary of Defense because… I’m not sure why. But what a disgrace to this country he has become.

Album of the Day:
The Dandy Warhols “Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia”

Dear Machester United Fans...

Dear Machester United Fans and most of England,

Please read this.

Thank you.

Now shut up.

Loves,
Bobby

PS I love the UK and London and would love to live in London. But get a grip.

Milt Rosenberg

I'm not sure why I didn't write about Milt from the get go, or link his blog from the get go, but no one is perfect. Today I'm finally giving props to Milt Rosenberg. He has the best show on radio, maybe all of media, in Extension 720. Every weeknight from 9 to 11pm (CST), Extension 720 touches on just about every subject imaginable, politics, society, Hollywood, religion, psychiatry, history, culture, travel, jobs... everything. The show is radio, education, and intellectualism at its finest, something I enjoy listening to almost every night. Now that the Cubs are playing, Milt takes a back seat to them on many summer nights, but Milt's a great listen and I encourage everyone to give him a listen over a few weeks. You can get him over the air on 720AM or if you're too far away from Chicago, he also broadcasts over the Internet. Enjoy!

Jonathan Safran Foer

Jonathan Safran Foer's new novel came out about a month ago. I haven't read it. His first novel got a lot of good pub and people seemed to really like it. So I picked up "Everything is Illuminated" around Christmas of 2002, started it, couldn't get into it, and gave up. I picked it up again about a year ago, finished it this time, but didn't see what was so great about it. It was sort of funny, but it wasn't anything amazing or to write home about. I figured that he got all the pub because he knew the right people, he was well connected and therefore he was given a ton of press clippings.

His new book, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" has gotten even better reviews. And now I'm tempted to read it. It's not like I hated his first novel, I just didn't see what was so great about it when compared to say, "The Corrections" or "The Known World" or Dave Eggers or 21st century novels/novelist. So maybe I'll pick it up... I don't know. But I still don't get why he gets so much pub and attention. Are we blinded by something sort of interesting but not necessarily good? Does For really just know the right people? Or is it something else? Because Fore writes about somewhat depressing events (the Holocaust and 9/11) and tries to put a "21st century" spin on these events, are we willing to forgive his some what boring and to a degree mindless writing because he's taking on these subjects? I'm not sure. But by judging by his first novel and comments about his second... I think it's a little of everything.

Anyway here is an interview with him from the Guardian. It's sort of interesting... I still think he's a bit overrated and has the help of knowing the right people.

Love the Sox, Hate the Cubs

Yep, it's my favorite weekend of the year to be in Chicago! Cubs/Sox weekend when the games are at Wrigley. I like the fact that the Sox have to go to Wrigley and play the Cubs a lot more than when the Cubs come South, partly because things get rowdy at the Cell (Sox fans beating the crap out of Cub fans) and it's also fun to go up north and see just how big of losers Cub fans really are.

Anyway, I say the Sox take two of three this weekend. The Cubs just can't score runs and their bullpen stinks. Plus no one on the Cubs staff scares me, Prior would if he didn't throw so many pitches. But here is a breakdown of the two teams, position by position.

And if I read one more article about how much cooler the area around Wrigley is than Bridgeport, I'm going to bite my fingernails off. Yeah, the North side is a trendier, hipper, and has more going on in terms of bars... but that's also the beauty of the South Side. It is what it is, and unless you live there, you don't know how great it is. And crime is lower around the Cell than in Wrigley. Bascially, we don't want nobody that nobody sent on da South Side.

Go Sox!

A mess in Uzbekistan

What's going on there? Does anyone know? Does anyone care? It's hard to find information on what's going on in the NY Times and LA Times. Thankfully the Guardian is coving the story.

After the unrest and protests in Kirgizstan two months ago forced the government from power, the Uzbek government was going to take any chances of that happening to them. Protest have been seen in parts of the country calling for social and economic changes. Then over the weekend Islamic rebels took over a town in Uzbeckistan hoping to create an Islamic state after taking over the town of Korasuv over the weekend. The Uzbeck government today said that they took the city back, but some rebels are saying they'll keep fighting, "If the troops return, we will fight them," said a local farmer and now turned rebel.

But it seems as if there is more to the protests. Reports saying that the Uzbek military open fire on protesting civilians killed hundreds, including women and children. NATO wants to know if Uzbek troops opened fire on protesting civilians.

More to come...

i-Pod 20

It’s been over a month, and therefore it’s time to look again at the My i-Pod top 15… though this time it might be the entire top 25. Too look at April’s click here. On to the top 25, if you want to know what I said about some of these songs the first time, again click on that link…

1) “Letter from an Occupant” by the New Pornographers – no change, this song may be in the lead for a long time.

2) “American Baby” by Dave Matthews Band – Someday I won’t be living with my roommate any more and this song won’t be on this list any more…

3) “Nothing” by Mason Jennings – Down a slot…

4) “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand – Still nothing new or much movement…

5) “Whatever Happened” by The Strokes – Jumps up a bunch of slots, but still cracked the top 15 last time.

6) “The Laws Have Changed” by the New Pornographers (new)– I’m not sure what I enjoy the most about this song… the fact that it sounds like a fun dance song, one where you swing your arms in some sort of 1950s dance, or because I love Niko Case’s voice, or because this band writes catchy, kick ass songs. Maybe it’s all three.

7) “Where is my Mind” by Pixies – The more things change…

8) “The Late Greats” by Wilco – the more things stay the same.

9) “Dedicated” by Amps – Let’s pretend I’m in a bar with a sort of cute girl and we’re talking about music and I says, “So anyway, my goal in life is to get drunk with Kim Deal and Liz Phair…” would she still give me a chance?

10) “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” by The Arcade Fire – Just buy the album if you haven’t… trust me.

11) “Float On” by Modest Mouse (new)– The second song that didn’t crack the top 15 last time… This song just is cool and chill. Just a great whatever song, “we’ll all float on, alright.” And their American but don’t sound American, so that’s kind of cool too.

12) “Maps” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs – This would make it four songs on the list where the lead signer is a female.

13) “Someday” by the Strokes (new)– this is easily the best drinking song of the 21^st century. Just a great song to put on with a few close friends, drink beer, and yell “Someday… I ain’t wastin’ no more time!” In the post 9/11 world, how ture.

14) “Picture Book” by the Kinks (new)– Are the Kinks and Roy Davies the most underrated band in this history of rock/pop? I mean, most people know the Kinks, but do we realize how many bands they’ve influenced, besides like every British band of the last 30 years… amazing. Good song too.

15) “B.O.B.” by Outkast (new)– It’d be easy to argue that this is the best song of the 21^st century, Pitchfork certainly did. No matter, Outkast is the best American group of the 21^st century, and maybe the world.

16) “Nowhere Again” by the Secrete Machines (new)– “Cellophane flowers never happened for me” and then add in the pounding bass in the back round and you’ve got a great start to a song. What the hell cellophane flowers are and why they never happen for this dude, I’m not sure, but who cares when you’ve got a bass line like that.

17) “Romeo” by Basement Jaxx – When Friday doesn’t come fast enough.

18) “If We Could land a Man on the Moon, then Surely I Could Win your Heart” by Beulah (new)– What a great title. And the trumpets that get this song started… I’m a sucker for horns in songs. Part of the reason why I love the Who’s “Quadropehnia”. So this song has horns, a nice voice saying he’ll do whatever for a girl, and then the song explodes into some pissed off moments of why won’t you check me out, and then the horns keep blasting and I enjoy it all.

19) “Clocks” by Coldplay (new)– I’m flying and I’m in London watching the BBC. That pretty much sums up “Clocks”. And when I really feel crazy I’ll play “Clocks” and Air’s “Surfing on a Rocket” back to back and I feel like I’m floating for like six minutes.

20) “Two Step” by Dave Matthews Band (new)– Whatever. At least my roommate is a nice guy and drinks beer with me.

The only question is, is he your hero?

"I've always been competitive, I've always been in sports. I couldn't see myself not being the biggest dope man." -- Nate Newton on selling drugs

First Ever Food Tournament

This is the first ever Food Tournament. Each nation has had their cuisine seeded and placed into brackets. This being just like the NCAA tournament, but with only 32 nations, each nation will face off in this tournament. Feel free to vote… here are the 1^st Round Match ups…

Group1
(1) French vs (8) Madagascar

(2) Ethiopian vs (7) El Salvadorian

(3) American vs (6) Swedish

(4) Jamaican vs (5) Kosher

Group2
(1) Mexican vs (8) Fijian

(2) Thai vs (7) Czech

(3) Spanish vs (6) Argentina

(4) Senegalese vs (5) Japanese

Group3
(1) Italian vs (8) Hungarian

(2) Greek vs (7) Korean

(3) Brazilian vs (6) Lebanese

(4) German vs (5) Vietnamese

Group4
(1) Chinese vs (8) English

(2) Indian vs (7) Algerian

(3) Moroccan vs (6) Venezuelan

(4) Turkish vs (5) Egyptian

The tourney will play out on a later date, but those are the seeds and first round match ups. Feel free to vote.

I'm pumped about this. The Italians are the early favorites, but the Mexicans and French are hip picks. If you're looking for an upset, the Vietnamese feels they should be a #3 seed. The English are pissed that they couldn't get Indian food and curry as their own, even though they claim there are more curry restaurants in London than any Indian city.

As for the first round match ups, the 4/5 match up in Group1 should be interesting, Jamaican vs Kosher. The Spanish can’t be happy about having to face former colony Argentina, who should be pumped and looking for the upset. A lot of people think the Koreans can upset the Greeks in Group3, and the Brazilian vs Lebanese match up is fascinating. Both the Turks and Egyptians are not pleased about having to face each other in the first round. The two Arab nations would rather face off against a non-Arab nation, but that just happens to be the luck, or unluck, of the draw.

Wait what’s this!? Oh my, we’ve just received word that the Venezuelans are giving up their place in the competition… and oh my! Unbelievable! Chavez has decided to give up the Venezuelans spot to the Cubans! Change your brackets everyone, it’s now:

(3) Moroccan vs (6) Cubans

This could change everything! Okay people, vote if you’d like!

A Good day for the Chicago Tribune

I was taking lunch in the U of C library today and there was a Trib laying around. I picked up a front section and read it for the first time in years. I seen it off and on since 2000, but never really noticed anything special about it... but today I was impressed. Very impressed.

My dad started boycotting the Trib back in the late 80s, we didn't get a Chicago daily until about the mid 90s when I, with my mom's backing, put our foot down (I just wanted to read the sports) so from about fifth grade until I went off to college, I read the Sun-Times every day while eating breakfast. Once in a while in high school I'd take the Trib from the library to read and do the cross word. I always thought it was just aiight. It lacked the Showcase/entertainment, sports, and metro coverage that the CST had; and while it's news coverage was better, it wasn't the NYTimes which I read on weekends or when my dad didn't take it to work.

But after reading today's Trib, I'm impressed. I really enjoyed this article on Muslims at Benedictine University. And I couldn't agree more with this editorial on the dollar bill and the dollar coin. And I agree with the Trib here, for different reasons of course, but the dollar coin is easy to use and much easier to carry. The fact that a dollar doesn't buy more today is yet another reason why to get rid of it.

What are you going to do about it?

The US threatened North Korea yesterday saying that if they preformed a nuclear test, they along with other countries in the Pacific region, would take action. What sort of action no one knows. But if I were to take a guess, it would be to point a finger at North Korea and beg them to stop after dropping a few bombs. Seeing that all our troops are bogged down in Iraq, it seems to me that besides flying a few bombing missions from an aircraft carrier, there isn't much that the United States could do. Good to know. I feel so much safer knowing that Saddam is gone and that Bush is President. I could careless if North Korea has nukes now... Saddam is gone! Did you hear me? Saddam is no longer in power! I don't care that North Korea may or may not test their nukes and bin Laden is still free. Saddam is gone and the Iraqis had elections! All is well!

Oh wait, my bad. Maybe all is not well in Iraq. Their newly formed government may or may not be powerless and the insurgents seemed to have stepped up their efforts. It's been two years since Saddam was ousted. But the country is far from being peaceful or free. Rice is in Iraq right now, and there are a few signs of hope, but I'm taking the "I'll believe it when I see it" out look on Iraq. Call me a cynic.

They just Couldn't Wait

Well let's clear the date on the calendar, Pope John Paul II is on the fast track to becoming a saint. My only question is if that means the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center is going to have to change their name to the Saint Pope John Paul II the Great Cultural Center.

Someone Punch this Man in the Face

Geeze, just when you think this pill popping, minority hating, anti-American couldn't get more outrageous... he does. Rush Limbaugh called out students at Evanston High School and their knowledge of historical events such at World War II. Why? Because Rush thinks that they are too focused on a multicultural curriculum.

Guys like Limbaugh should just be punched in the face and kicked out of this country. It's pretty clear he hates the United States and our unique culture and history. I say let him live on some island with a picture of W, a dart board of Clinton's face, and his white skin. The man makes me sick.

Album of the Day:
"Funeral" The Arcade Fire

Good for Voinovich

John Bolton is going to receive an up or down vote in the Senate. The question is now if he'll get the appointment to the United Nations. Senator George Voinovich (R) Ohio said that he thinks the US could do better and will be voting against Mr. Bolton. The Senate Foreign Relation Committee is not even endorsing Bolton. It would appear that Bolton's chances of becoming ambassador to the UN are dying very quickly. He still may get voted to the position, but who knows, Bolton may even pull his name from the race.

United Airlines

For reasons I’m sort of unsure about, a judge ruled yesterday that United Airlines could terminate their employee pension programs. United, which is in bankruptcy, argued that it could not emerge from bankruptcy without cutting it’s pension plan to employees. I guess, instead of letting the ‘free market’ run it’s course, the judge in this case decided to take away the pension of thousands of people away. So now the federal government is responsible for those pension plans… your tax dollars at work. Maybe it’s time to let the market run its course and get rid of a few of these airlines. It’s a sad case where a big company can just fault on their pension just for the sake of keeping them afloat. I like United, but this one is a little bogus. The damage has been done with the United case, but hopefully Congress will act before other airlines and car makers also make the same steps. Why pay when you can have the government to it for you? Hopefully not too many employees will be affected by these developments.

This seems like an interesting story to follow over the next few days. Free trade in the Western Hemisphere has been a goal of the United States since basically the 19^th century, and with pacts like NAFTA we took a step in that direction. Now the leaders of many Central American countries are making their case to join in on the program in DC.

Glazer is going to try and by Manchester United! Make this stop! Do people realize this has been going on for like a year! Just buy the damn team and piss off everyone in the UK even if they hate ManU because a rich American bought the team…

Today’s album of the day is…
“Mass Romantic” by the New Pornographers

On to the News! Bush on a bike!

This is one of the sadder stories I've seen in a while. The two girls that were killed in Zion, IL this weekend appear to have been killed by one of the little girls father. This is so sad.

But I've got to ask... what is this guy doing around the house? He just got out of jail for taking a chain saw and threatening to kill his wife, in Texas no less. And after that he's back around the family after serving his jail sentence? I don't get it. Still this is a sick man with major problems. I too hope he rots in his cell.

More bombings and death in Iraq. How bad does this have to get before the American public just goes nuts over it? How many people have to die before the public starts protesting and college campus become something like they were in the 1960s? And why does it always have to be conservatives that have to mess everything up, cause the problem that pisses people off, and then twenty years later say, 'those radicals really messed things up twenty years ago' when it was their fault to begin with?

A small plane flew too close to the area it's not suppose to fly into in DC today causing what DC does best... But here's the interesting part of the story... W was biking in Maryland at the time! This man is the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES and last I checked it is WEDNESDAY, not the weekend. What is this man doing on a bike on a Wednesday during the middle of the day? I mean, I don't mind if he's doing this at night or on the weekend... but he realizes that most of the country is at work at the moment? We don't have time to go biking because we have to work. And let me remind you again, THIS IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. This isn't the CEO of Cessna or something. President of the United States... and of course that also brings up the question... what if they had to shoot that plane down? Who's giving that order? You guessed it, Dick Cheney... no way Bush is able to make that call because HE'S ON A BIKE IN MARYLAND. And I don't care how the White House tries to spin this, it's a joke. How did we elected W twice (well one and a half times)? And are we at all surprised that he didn't get anything done on his trip to Europe this week?

And now for some good news, baseball officials are soon to announce that the Baseball World Cup will be next spring. This is fantastic news and one which will probably find yours truly looking for tickets and attending a few of these games. As for an early look at the starting line ups for each country; looks like the US, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela have the best teams. Remember pitching wins... have to worry about Venezuela then.

The Greats and being a Renaissance Man

I'm listening to Exile on Main Street and reading rock reviews... I'm not sure if this is a good combination. But anyway, I came across C.S. Lewis' name in the review of Radiohead's "Kid A",
and I got all flustered. Yet another author that I really haven't read. I've read The Chronicles of Narnia and loved them and even reread them a few years ago and enjoyed them even more (they're making movies to them). But besides that, I haven't read any Lewis despite him being British and Catholic (thus making him a favorite in my mind... not sure why I love Catholic Brits, but nonetheless)... I did see Shadowlands and it was pretty good and I won't go into it because I want to get back to my point... So I haven't really read Lewis and then I started thing about all the things I haven't read, all Russian authors, Being and Nothingness, most of Kierkegaard stuff, I've started Ulysses but that's next to impossible to read on one's own, Lolita, Catch-22 (though I know the plot), I've started Faulkner and Sound and the Furry but it's a hard fucking book to really read, Steinbeck, Theodore Dreiser, Saul Bellow (Saul Bellow! I've never read Saul Bellow!), most Hemingway (but people say he's shit), Kafka! I haven't read Kafka either!... I haven't read Kafka... how can I even write if I've never read Kafka? I own The Metamorphois, but have yet to read it. I wonder sometimes.

And even though I consider myself well read, there's more that I haven't even come close to reading that what I've read. It's annoying, it's frustrating. It it makes me feel like I'm wasting my life watching the White Sox and playing video games. But then I think, I like the White Sox and I really don't spend that much time playing video games, it's just that I haven't found a good book in a few weeks, but it will come and I'll read again... and I guess that comforts me.

But it's frustrating to live in a world like we do. One where there is so much to do, so much to see, so much to read, so much to listen to... from pop culture, to sports, to the news, to books and novels, to science... to be a Renaissance Man in the modern world may be impossible. And that might be the most uncomfortable thought I've had in a while.

I once read that Thomas Jefferson was able to talk about anything and everything in some detail. He was a true Renaissance Man, he could talk to you about farming, science of the day, religion, literature, history, politics, philosophy, political theory, and on and on... and I was amazed and awed. I was 15 and I decided that I wanted to be like Jefferson, that I too wanted to be as accomplished of a person or intellectual. And in the eight years since, all I've discovered is what Jefferson's contemporary John Adams once wrote to his wife (Socrates said something similar to this also)... that the more he learns the more he realizes there is so much more that he doesn't know. It's frustrating to say the least.

A day that's a little slow

It being a slow news day, in this writer’s opinion, I’m left trying to search for something to write about since my goal is to post at least once every weekday and if I have time, during the weekend also. If you read this, bless you. If not, then it’s for my own intellectual curiosity.

I thought about writing about Dave Matthew’s since his bands new album comes out today, but my feelings about Dave are weird. I enjoy some of his stuff, but find him vastly overrated and his lyrics as wantabe Paul McCartney cheesy love lyrics that frat-boys find some romantic truth in. (Speaking of McCartney’s lyrics, I’m not sure why they are so enjoyable. If someone were to write what he’s written today, we’d probably laugh, but some how McCartney was able to write lyrics that were so innocent and pure that we don’t care. “I Will” is probably the greatest ditty of all time, and ironically one of Dave’s best songs is a ditty ala “I Will” simply called “Oh”). Jim DeRogatis may sum up my views on Dave best here in this review. He’s fine for what and who he is. Why he people treat him like a mini-god, I’ll never know. If people just let him be who he is, maybe he wouldn’t be so bad.

The fall out of the elections in the UK has begun. Blair is going to stay on, Labour lost a bunch of seats, blah, blah, blah… and now some Torrie wants to turn the Conservatives into the Republican party. Good lucky buddy, should we tell him that the GOP wins here because of moral and ethical scare tactics, gay marriage, abortion, and telling people that they may get rich some day and therefore they should let the rich stay rich because they may be rich?

File under the “this sort of sucks” column today is news that Firefox has a critical flaw. Yes I use Firefox, and yes I hope they fix this soon.

And finally, just cus I can and I’m feeling very late 90s right now, here is the Tragically Hip's official website. I love these guys.

Best Team in Baseball, the South Side Nine

The White Sox are playing out of their minds right now. They are 24-7 and clearly the best team in baseball at the moment. They won again yesterday sweeping the Blue Jays and winning their 8^th in a row. This team is playing great baseball. They’re getting amazing pitching; they are third in the majors with a 3.04 team ERA and first in the American League. They have had the lead at some point in EVERY game they’ve played this year. About the only thing you could complain about with this is that they have had some trouble scoring runs and have been winning a lot of one run games. But they are getting the job done in every which way.

Kenny Williams, the GM, has built a team that does a little bit of everything. They are well balanced and play good baseball or as their manager Ozzie Guillen says “smartball”. They can steal a base if they need to. They hit behind runners. They find ways to get runs across the plate when they need to. They can hit a home run or make a good defensive play to save a run. Their bullpen has been fantastic. Their starting pitching has been even better.

They Sox have played 31 games, almost 20% of the season, and are on pace to win 125 games. That’s not going to happen, but they’re looking like they’ll play some October baseball. Here’s some food for thought, if the White Sox play x% baseball the rest of the way:

X% - Wins
.650 - 109
.625 - 105
.600 - 102
.575 - 99
.550 - 96
.525 - 92
.500 - 89

Even if the White Sox play .500 ball from here till the end of the season, they’ll win 89 games. Odds are they’ll play a little better than that and 90 wins seems like something they’ll do.

By the numbers…
The Sox have the highest RPI in baseball at .563.
They’ve played the 17^th hardest schedule, .493
And they are expected to play .669 baseball according to their stats, so they’re playing over their heads and getting a little lucky. But that .669 would be a 21-10 record (108 wins over 162) and would be the best record in baseball.

I don’t want to get too excited about all this, but it looks like the White Sox are going to be playing baseball in October.

Labour Wins

Labour won a historic third term yesterday and Blair will be heading back to No. 10 for a little while longer. But let's let the Gordon Brown count down begin! But not all is rosey for Labour. Their majority was cut by 100 seats, and now stands at only 60 seats. And even worse, they received only 36% of the vote, the Torries recieved 33%.

The former MP I worked for in 2003, Louise Ellman, held her seat in Liverpool-Riverside. Yay for her. You can find a full interactive map here.

Howard said that he would step down from Torries leadership before the next election. It will be interesting to see if he steps down and a new leader is chosen before or after Brown takes over at No. 10.

Finding information on the election in the US press is a bit difficult. Job creation is much higher on the list of things to report than Blair's election. Bush did congratulate Blair today, that was nice of him since he almost cost him the election.

White Sox won again. I think I'm in Heaven.

Song Lyrics

Instead of getting WAY too excited about the White Sox, I thought today I’d hunt down some of my favorite song lyrics from over the years, explanation for some of them included, it's a weird list I know, but just sort of fun for the moment:

Angst on the planks, spittin' from a bridge/Just to see how far down it really is.

Me debunk an American myth? And take my life in my hands?
The Tragically Hip; I love this lyric just because it’s so Canadian and so liberal at the same time.

Why I wonder is my heart full of holes… It’s a drag I snag, I’m always in love. – Maybe Jeff Tweedy at his finest. It’s sort of a throw away line at the end of “I’m Always in Love”, yet it works perfectly.

…Whatever you do take care of your shoes – I got sick of goofy Phish lyrics years ago, but this one still makes me smile.

And I was waiting over here, for life to begin. I was looking for the new thing… - Pete Yorn’s “Life on a Chain”; I think this pretty much summed up my first two and a half years of college. Standing in the corner of a bar and waiting.

Just want a girl as cool as Kim Deal. – The Dandy Warhols; pretty much self explanatory
I never thought you'd be a junkie because heroine is so passé. – I’ve always enjoyed this lyric for it’s truth and comedic reasons.

And maybe Marlon Brando/Will be there by the fire/We’ll sit and talk of Hollywood/And the good things there for hire/And the Astrodome and the first tepee/Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me/Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me/Pocahontas. – Neil Young “Pocahontas”, maybe my favorite verse in music. I love it. Just love it.

I want a boyfriend,/I want a boyfriend./I want all that stupid old shit,/Like letters and sodas,/Letters and sodas./I can feel it in my bones,/I'm gonna spend another year alone – Liz Phair at her finest.

The Mississippi Delta was shining like a National Guitar. – This is when Paul Simon announces, listen up, this may be the greatest album ever boys and girls.

Now that my role-model is Gone, Gone/He ducked back down the alley with some
roly-poly little bat-faced girl./He looks around, around/He sees angles in the architecture/spinning in infinity/He says Amen!/And Hallelujah! – Maybe it’s the way Simon sings it.

Hope I die before I get old.
No matter how much I booze,/there ain't no way out
Two tormented Townshend lyrics. One tormented him most of his life, the other was him at his most honest. Always when Pete was at his best.

Pictures of Lily, made my life so wonderful.
This song got me though my sophomore year of high school.

It was so hard, so hard to find, whatever. Nevermind. – the defining quote of the 1990s. Thank you Nirvana.

What you want, baby I've got it... All I'm asking is for a little respect. – Otis laying down the law.

Do they still play the blues in Chicago? When baseball season comes round. – Yes they do.

Until we're talking in whispers again. – Gordie and the Hip again. I like the idea of this lyrics… I’ll see you next time we sleep together.

Labour Expecting to Win

Looks like Labour and Blair will win today's elections in the UK. If only they had close, nailing biting elections in the UK like they do here in the USA. The voting booths close at 10pm there, 5pm/4pm central. If you're looking for a place to follow the results, click here.

London (Westminster) Calling

Yay! I love elections! I wonder if W will be talking up the elections in the UK tomorrow. It looks like Labour and Blair will win this with some ease, even the Economist endorsed Blair (Sorry if that's a bad link). Today was the last day of the campaign in the British Isles, it by all accounts Blair was his usual amazing self. So Blair probably wins tomorrow, though I'm sure Labour will lose a few seats, look for the Torries and Liberal Democrats to pick up some seats. In fact, the Lib-Dems may be the most interesting party to watch tomorrow. Are they ever going to be a serious threat in British politics? This election may give us some insight into that. I say they do pretty well and close the gap on the Torries. With Labour basically becoming a free-market, socially concious party, the Torries are being squeezed out of importance. Can the Lib-Dems become the Left party in Britain or will Labour be able to forever hold the Leftists and stay in the center?

No matter, Blair's days as Prime Minister are numbered. He'll turn things over to Gordon Brown eventually, when no one knows, but eventually he'll step back from the government. But before that, there is a lot to tackle in the UK. By no means is this easy sailing ahead for Blair, lying about Iraq maybe what he's known for in history books fifty years from now, and that will effect how he rules before turning the keys to the Jag over to Mr. Brown.

Here is the BBC's coverage.

Also of note in Britain, Liverpool beat Chelsea in the Champions League Semi's last night. They are off to Istanbul on May 25 for the Final. Go Reds.

Tomorrow it's all punk and BritPop on the I-pod. No Beatles, not British enough for elections.

Emmett Till to be exhumed

One of the most brutal murders and disgusting events in American social and culture history continues to live on. The FBI is to exhume Emmett Till’s body.

Till was murdered in the summer of 1955, almost fifty years ago. There has yet to be a conviction his gruesome murder and one of the greatest shames of the Jim Crow South. Hopefully one day justice will be served, even if it is fifty years later than it should be.

No Oil? No threat to US? We don't care.

Amazing that the White House and the Beltway in general, has been able to just ignore and do nothing about what has and is happening in Sudan. While they fight about gays being able to marry or new ways to wipe the blood off their hands in Iraq, we've watched and sat on the sidelines while thousands of people are killed in the Sudan. Of course Sudan offers very little to the United States strategically. It has no oil. It offers a very limited threat to the US. The country is in such disarray and the economy so weak that selling American products there are fruitless. Despite our 'Christian' values and 'morals' the government sits on this sidelines and does nothing. And the public? There seems to be little outcry for us to do something about it.

Of course other countries could step up to the plate; no one is innocent here. But we are, the United States, the most powerful country. We could if we wanted to try to find a solution to the horrors there. But of course, human life in Africa isn't as important as !?Oh my God!? should gays should be able to marry? I encourage all to write a congressperson and Senators. But as things stand now, little to nothing is being done, and this is one of the great crimes in human history. How we can allow people to die I'm not sure. Maybe it really is one of the brutal realities of democracy. But I pray that isn't the case.

Great Read

This is a great article from the Guardian on the nurse who was with Hitler during his final days. The bastard and jagoff who really created a mess that we're still feeling today and will almost everyday killed himself 60 years ago Saturday. If only he had done it 75 years ago.

Summer Fests and a look at the news

I’m not sure what to write about today, and I don’t feel like going through the op-ed pages today, and I’m in a much more musical mood than anything else. Though I really do enjoy talking to people who live in India. Yay Outsourcing! So instead I’m going to give the heads up on two summer festivals coming to Chicago, the first being the International Festival out in Pulaski Park on July 16-17^th. This festival looks like a great deal featuring: The Decemberists, the Fiery Furnaces, the Wrens, Broken Social Scene, Death From Above 1979, Out Hud, A.C. Newman, Magnolia Electric Co., Four Tet, Xiu Xiu, Andrew Bird, the M's, and the Go! Team. And for ten bucks that’s a great deal.

Lollapalooza decided that they should be a one-time festival this year, and it’s going to be in Chicago the following weekend, July 23-24. Lollapalooza is going to feature: Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., Blonde Redhead, The Walkmen, Arcade Fire, and M83 onstage with Widespread Panic, Cake, Dashboard Confessional, and G. Love & Special Sauce, Billy Idol. Digable Planets. Dandy Warhols v. Brian Jonestown Massacre dust up. Sound Tribe Sector 9. A much better line up, but also 85 bucks at the moment (for both days). It’s also going to be a Grant Park, which should be cool but could also suck.

Personally, I’ll probably hit up the International Fest, but the steep fee for Lollapalooza I’ll pass on. I’m not big on hot, sweaty, July days in Chicago.

Chelsea won the Premiership this weekend, their first step in Global dominance. Watch out, I wonder if they’ll make a run at Becks just so they can grab some headlines in the US and Asia. They again, maybe they think winning is important.

I know I haven’t really mentioned this that often, but despite the spin the White House may want to put on the war in Iraq, things there really are not good there. Yeah, they finally got a government; yeah we made them vote… but people there are dying every day (today at least 11 in three car bomb attacks). Things are not getting that much better, most of the money that the US is giving to Iraq is not being put into the infrastructure of the country, rather still to defense and protection. The war ‘ended’ over two years ago, and progress has been slow at best.

Arnold is in trouble. Didn’t see this one coming.

American’s Finest is to pled guilty. I have two questions, isn’t this case just like “A Few Good Men”? And I wonder what her kid will grow up to do.

British elections are Thursday (5 May as they would write), more in up coming days.

Lee Elia takes Comedy to the Next Level

I should have wrote about this on Friday, but it slipped my mind some how. Anyway, Friday, April 29, was the 22nd anniversary of one of the greatest moments in sports media and Cubs history... the Lee Elia Press Conference Tirade. It's a vulgar speech, but one that is sure to bring a smile to one's face and includes two of the greatest quotes in sports history.

To read and download the tirade hit this link:
http://www.speakeasy.org/~bucky/elia_tirade.html