All Over The Place

Thoughts while waiting for the World To End Today (6/6/06)…

Ummm, how is 6/0/06 the end of the world? Doesn’t this happen ever 100 years? And didn’t we make it though the year 666? I’m not worried.

Missed Game One of the Stanley Cup last night but from the highlights it looked to be the best game in all of sports so far this year. That means we’ll probably be watching Game Two. But just to see how ‘pumped’ Canada is about this we did some internet searching… first the CBC BLOGGED the game. Reading this is list reading a bizarre hybrid of what a ESPN minute by minute report of a game AND what the Guardian produces during there minute by minute reports of soccer. This here has more than you’ll ever want to know about the Stanley Cup Finals… and if you care what they Edmonton newspaper is saying… well here you go.

And btw, just looking at the CBC website… and then the BBC website… why can’t we here in the US produce one kick ass, all in one, website? Why can’t we get on this? Why must we fight about Gay Marriage when we could be putting together a great website like the CBC or BBC. Sigh.

Now that Lori from the Real World: Back to New York is moving back to Boston, does that mean the Sports Guy will follow suit? Can we dream? Hope? Wish? …And speaking of the SG, we were actually sort of happy to read that he feels he only has about 18 months left in him

Just some quick fast facts and math… if since the start of the Iraq War an average of 50 people died violently per day in Iraq, an average that is probably a bit conservative, that comes out to about 20,000 people over the course of the year. So since the end of the war three years ago at least 60,000 Iraqis have died. But according to the Iraq Body Count website though, the figure is about two thirds that. It should be noted that IBC tracks the deaths of civilians that are reported by the media. Therefore the figure is closer to the 60,000 than the 38,000 that IBC reports. But CNN is reporting that 6,000 Iraqis have already died this year in Bagdad alone, which means that 20,000 figure might be low. The truth is, we’ll probably never know how many Iraqis have died since May of 2003, but the number is fast approaching 100,000 if it hasn’t already. [How many people did Saddam kill? The number itself is uncertain, but according to this Op-Ed in the NYTimes the figure is about 200,000 not counting the Iraq/Iran war.] (Also here is a list of the over 2,400 Americans killed in Iraq). And for the record, I’m not drawing any conclusions or making any points. Just saying “Remember”.

Our crush on Jenny Lewis continues to grow by the day, partly because “The Big Guns” has become the song of choice for us at the moment. Anyway, Jenny’s about to over take Kim Deal on the “Rockers I wouldn’t mind dating list” along with Annie and Liz Phair. And actually, on second thought, Kim Deal isn’t on that list; she’s too cool for that shit. And she’s too old for me.

How great are those guide dogs? You know the ones that the blind have? I love those dogs. They’re really the coolest things out there. I wish I could say “Thank you” to them and they would nod approvingly.

If you need to get pumped for the World Cup on Friday or Saturday… well this is for you. I’m sure I’ve linked it before, but I just love it… only the English. Could you imagine an American crowd saying anything some what controversial at a sporting event? Like would Uncle Sam’s Army ever chant “Mow our lawns” to the Mexican national team or “We’ve got the Cup” to the Canadians? Of course not… but the English openly Goose Step in front of Germans AND sing songs like the one bellow… not to mention “Two World Wars, One World Cup”.


Have we ever seen an administration back petal like the White House is right now? Sort of amazing isn’t it? They’re on the back of their heels, every clip and sound bite and quote you read… all of ‘em are “things are THAT bad” or “give us more time!” or “We’re right, just watch!” Everyone talks about how Bush is a leader and how he’s decisive.

We aren’t going to let this go because we like to be right… but the Al Gore, Presidential Nominee 2008 is not only gaining steam, but it’s starting too look like a real possibility. We here at VFLOAB were one of the first to bring this up back in February, and we’re going to keep hammering this home since it’s starting to look more and more like Gore is going to pull off this Nixon like run. His new movie is getting rave reviews and this will probably only make him more personal and likeable in the eyes of most people here on Earth. So follow Gore’s actions carefully, that’s all we’re saying.

The Catholic Church still has a ways to go… I appreciate their consistency, but at the same time, it might be time to realize that some of their ‘practices’ and teaches might be misguided. And if they want to bring people back to the Church, then I strongly suggest that they once again look at "Humanae Vitae" and, of course, find a much larger role for women in the Church. It’s insulting to women and lay Catholics that the role of women in the Church is completely marginalized and near ignored. I know it’s hard for fellow Catholics to see this since we’re raised in this culture and women aren’t openly locked out (well besides, obviously, at the alter) by the Church. We don’t see repressive measures taken against women, instead there is nothing. I guess it’s sort of like the ‘ugly chair’ that a family keeps in the basement instead of throwing away… that’s sort of how the Church treats women. The Vatican ‘tolerates’ women. But women should be on the front lines, in the intellectual discussions, and at the table when documents and encyclical are being discussed and written. The completely male dominated culture of the Vatican is out of touch with society… and so arrogant that they expect us, the lay people, to come to them because their ‘right’.

And here is your World Cup Bone for the Day… how one day; someday soon, the USA will dominate soccer. That’s right, get ready for a lot of US v Brazil finals starting about 2014… doing what he’s doing now. We like it when guys realize that there time has come to move on. We’ll miss him big time when he does finally say good bye next fall, but it was an awesome six year run. So good for Simmons we say.