Listomania: Air Guitar Heroes

Forget about all that macho shit
and learn how to play guitar.
from "Play Guitar" by John Mellencamp

I was taking a shower the other day, and doing some thinking while I was in there. Now, I shower pretty much every day, and I think every day as well (my wife would disagree with the thinking part), but the shower I refer to here was taken about 3 days ago, and I refer to it because I was making a mental list while cleaning my personal exterior.

The end of a year is always a time to make lists. You see them in the newspapers and magazines, on TV and the Internet: 10 most memorable news stories, 10 most influential people of the year, etc. The lists are almost always in groups of ten, even though there are twelve months in the year. And it’s always the most memorable of something, or the best of something else. Who decides this, and quite frankly, who gives a damn about any of it?

Well, now I’m going to give you something that you can give a damn about. While I was showering the other day, I was reflecting on a matter truly important in the grand scheme of things: What are my favorite songs to play air guitar to?

Not that you’ll ever catch me playing air guitar. It’s an act I performed with far greater frequency in my misspent youth, but there are still occasions when I hear a song on the radio that still makes me want to pretend to strap on an imaginary guitar and be a hero in front of a crowd that’s nowhere else but in my mind.

Here then, fresh out of the shower stall and still dripping wet, is that list:

1. "Crossroads" from Wheels of Fire by Cream. Always loved this song, always will. It's simple blues based hard rock, and the two solos by Eric Clapton are fairly simple as well, nothing tricky, nothing fancy. Just fast fingerwork and that feeling of immediacy that you get with a live performance. Every time I hear "Crossroads" I want to strap on my pretend Fender Strat and go to town. Even if I'm in the car, which leads to some interesting driving.

Cream, from their farewell concert in 1968. Kind of fun to watch the lads, all bad teeth and pasty complexions:


2. "White Room," again from Wheels of Fire by Cream. The best wah-wah pedal on any song, ever. Clapton's use of the wah-wah here is just so much more melodic than anyone else could have done, before or since; it's sounds like an intrinsic element of the song, rather than the contrivance that the wah-wah sounded like so often back in the late '60s. When you hear the wah-wah kick in on "White Room" you won't be able to resist stepping on that imaginary pedal yourself as you play your imaginary guitar. I know I can't.

Jack Bruce sounds like crap here, also from their farewell concert, but the music sounds great:


3. "Great White Buffalo" from Double Live Gonzo by Ted Nugent. This guy was gonzo alright. He was fast and loose and just plain crazy. He was indeed the Motor City Madman. Now, I'm not a huge fan of Nugent. A lot of his schtick seems a little lame, especially his antics from back in the day: swingin' around the stage like a Midwestern Tarzan, shacking up with a teen-age chick, all very silly. Still...on "Great White Buffalo" Terrible Ted makes his axe sound both awesomely heavy and beautifully delicate. Really quite impressive for someone who thinks he looks good in a loin cloth.

4. "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" from Electric Ladyland by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. No other guitarist is so revered in rock n' roll, not even Clapton, and for good reason. This song may have some of the best guitar work ever captured in a studio. There is experimentation and performance of the highest (and I do mean high) caliber, without any boring excess. Nothing, not the guitar work nor the song itself, goes on for too long. Everything is just perfect on "Voodoo Child." How could anyone listen to this song and not want to play guitar, real or air, like Jimi? Oh, lawd, yeah, I'm a voodoo chile...

Hendrix was pretty adept at the wah-wah pedal too. From Woodstock:


5. "Summertime Blues" from Live at Leeds by the Who. Hearing this song always makes me want to smash something. I want to run, I want to jump, I want to windmill my arms and mistreat my guitar until it makes a wonderful noise. This song must be played loud for maximum effect!

Let's face it, Pete Townshend is not cut from the same cloth as a Jimi Hendrix or an Eric Clapton, but he knew how to get such deleriously delightful noise from his guitar, like an angel playing a jackhammer, and it never sounds better than on this cover of the Eddie Cochran song on Live at Leeds.

From Woodstock:


I do have to give a great big shout out to "In a Hand or a Face" from The Who by Numbers. The electric guitar sound on this song, particularly at the beginning, is a pure rock sound, a sound of metal scraping against metal. Do what you have to to obtain The Who by Numbers, beg, borrow, cheat, or steal, but by God, obtain it and blast it out through both speakers, play it all night long.

6. "God Save the Queen" from Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols by the Sex Pistols. Truly the finest hour of British punk. One of the greatest rock albums ever, Never Mind the Bollocks is chock full of great straight forward rock and roll. "God Save the Queen" in particular is just so full of insouciance, and it sounds damn good. Steve Jones is really one of the most underrated guitarists, probably because he really doesn't have too much more than this album on his musical resume, but does any man really need more? "God Save the Queen" is a full frontal assault on the senses; to Jones' credit, he wasn't a one note wonder and was able to change style slightly from one track to another, playing with a wee bit of, dare I say it, subtlety on "Pretty Vacant" while being totally in your face, in a plodding Black Sabbath sort of way, on "Anarchy in the U.K." Every cut is a winner on this classic album, and "God Save the Queen" never fails to get me moving.



7. "Paranoid" from Paranoid by Black Sabbath. From the millisecond I hear the guitar intro by Tony Iommi I want to bang my head. 'Nuff said.

Original music video for "Paranoid"; too funny:


8. "Black Dog" from the untitled fourth album by Led Zeppelin. I suppose one shouldn't compile a list of air guitar heroes without mentioning Jimmy Page. Listen, I have a complicated relationship with Zeppelin. Love some of their stuff, like about half of Physical Graffiti, hate some of their stuff, like "Stairway to Heaven." If I never hear that song again, it will be too soon. While songs like "The Rover" and "Trampled Underfoot" I think represent some of the greatest work in rock, others, like the aforementioned "Stairway' represent some of the worst in self-indulgent excess. But I digress. I came to praise Jimmy Page for his muscular sounding guitar at the end of "Black Dog," not to bury him. That bit Page plays at the end of the song sounds like a guitar on steroids. It sure is fine, man, it's something else.

9. "Mother Knows Best" from Rumour and Sigh by Richard Thompson. Thompson isn't a guy who normally comes to mind when ranking guitar greats, but there aren't too many that are better. And he certainly doesn't look like a guitar god; he looks like an actuary or an accountant or a professor. Whatever. This is a great song with some of the finest playing I've ever heard. There is a fluidity to the sound, sort of like an electric current of water. Thompson has been around since the late '60s and I think you can hear a bit of him in Mark Knopfler's playing.

I like the sepia tone of this film, odd since it was shot in 1991, not 1891; it's grainy and hummy, but you get the gist of Mr. Thompson's genius:


10. "Junior's Farm" by Paul McCartney and Wings; originally released as a 45 (you know, one of those small pieces of vinyl), it can be found on the Wingspan collection. Whaaa...? Wings? What the...? I love this song. I don't care who knows it. It's got great guitar work by the late Jimmy McCulloch and whenever I hear it I imagine myself in front of a crowd, blazing away on my axe like McCullogh did. So there.

I guess the song takes me back to a time, back to whatever was good about my childhood, and that glorious period of time when I first discovered great rock 'n roll:


Honorable mentions: Toys in the Attic is filled with great work by Joe Perry from beginning to end, and the album is, I think, Aerosmith's finest moment, but the brilliance of "Adam's Apple" in particular must be acknowledged. The guitar, especially at the beginning of the song, is like barbed wire being wrapped around your brain. In a good sort of way. And on "Sweet Emotion," when the guitar slams in after almost a minute of foreplay, well, that's just too cool for school.


The sound of Ron Asheton on Raw Power by Iggy and the Stooges is the blueprint by which Steve Jones worked. The playing itself is nothing fancy, but "Raw Power" and "Search and Destroy" always gets me to my feet and jumping around, not playing air guitar so much as leaping like an electrocuted lizard, like an Iggy Pop.

On a more refined note, the playing by Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp on King Crimson's Beat LP is outstanding, particularly on "Neal and Jack and Me." Check it out, if you can find it.

Who wouldn't want to be Keith Richards? I mean, not all the time, that would be a bit much, but just once in a while, like when he's playing "Happy."

I could go on, but I'll stop with Neil Young. Most people probably don't think of him in the guitar god mold, but check out his monster chops on Rust Never Sleeps. The guitar on "Hey Hey, My My, (Into the Black)" sound positively heavy metal, but the delicate fluidity on "Powderfinger" is something to behold.


I'm such an addendummy: In my original post, my brain froze and I forgot to mention AC/DC. What better band to play air guitar to than these Three Stooges of rock 'n roll. Any song will, because they're all essentially the same but if I must pick one: While I played "Rock 'n Roll Damnation" every day before high school my junior year, I think no one born with a living soul can sit perfectly still while listening to "Whole Lotta Rosie." That song was meant for head banging and air guitar playing.

Eartha Kitt 1927-2008

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Merry Christmas

The 25 Videos of Christmas: What Christmas is all About, Charlie Brown

The 25 Videos of Christmas: The Lone Ranger, the Meatball, and Love

I watch "The Late Show with David Letterman." Beneath Letterman's offputting persona you will find a sentimental man, a man who believes in tradition, especially Christmas traditions. "The Late Show" Christmas tradition is a three-part affair. Part one, Jay Thomas tells "The Lone Ranger" story:



Part two, Jay and Dave try to knock a giant meatball off the top of a Christmas tree with a football:



And part three is the great Darlene Love performing "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)."



When I've seen the Letterman Christmas show, I know Christmas is here.

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Put a Little Love in Your Heart

Everybody looked young and pretty darn good twenty years ago, especially Annie Lennox. The song is from one of my favorite Christmas movies, "Scrooged."

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Irish Drinking Song!

The 25 Videos of Christmas:Frosty the Snowman

Yo yo yo, gonna do it old school again, y'all. Yeahhh, boyyy, it's "Frosty" before the makeover.

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Winter Wonderland?

Winter wonderland, my ass. Winter hasn't even officially begun and I'm already sick of it. Here's some unedited video from earlier today on the Chicago roadways.



OH MY GOD!!!!!!! The following video is even more horrible than any weather or traffic today could possibly be! It is one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen.



Ozzy's voice is so horrible now in his decrepitude that he makes Jessica Simpson sound great. Well, wash your eyes and ears out with Jewel singing a lovely version of "Winter Wonderland."

The 25 Videos of Christmas: The Bells of St. Berwyn

Christmas is the season when you hear those bells ringing and no bells ring louder than "The Bells of St. Berwyn."

For those of you not in the know, or not from Chicago, or both, this is Son of Svengoolie, host of a show that presents low budget horror movies, as well as old-time classics like "Frankenstein," on a local TV station. Berwyn, if you have to ask, is a suburb of Chicago.

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Suzy Snowflake

Another blast from the retro cartoon past, "Suzy Snowflake" is not necessarily one of my favorites, but my wife likes it. Must be a girl thing.

The 25 Videos of Christmas: The Twelve Pains of Christmas

Once again, here's Bob Rivers, this time with his Twisted Christmas take on "The Twelve Days of Christmas." This video certainly has a home-made quality about it, but it is clever and surprisingly captivating.

The 25 Videos of Christmas: The Twelve Days of Christmas

Here's an a cappella group called Straight No Chaser. Talented and humorous, they do an interesting version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Incidentally, they were founded at Indiana University, and one of their founding members is Dan Ponce, who is not only a TV news reporter in his own right, but son of Phil Ponce, host of the WTTW (PBS) news program, "Chicago Tonight."

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Bing Crosby "Ave Maria"

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Good Will to Men

"Good Will to Men" is the Hanna-Barbera remake of the 1939 animated short, "Peace on Earth." When "Good Will" was made in 1955, the world had something it didn't at the outset of World War II: nuclear weapons. The nuclear option instilled fear in people because these new and terrible bombs could accomplish in a matter of minutes what man had yet to do in thousands of years, which is totally and completely destroy itself. "Good Will to Men" shows us, in animation of remarkable quality for Hanna-Barbera, what the world might look like if those fears become reality.

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Hardrock, Coco and Joe

A blast from my past. I misspent my youth watching television. Now I'm misspending my middle-age watching YouTube.

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Return of the Thin White Duke

Bing Crosby and David Bowie. A strange pairing, but it works.

The 25 Videos of Christmas: White Christmas

The Illinois governor has disgraced himself, his family, and pretty much everyone in the state of Illinois. (Just remember, we're not all corrupt here, just the politicians.) One of the corrupt acts Blagojevich is accused of is introducing a bill to the Illinois legislature that would provide Children's Memorial Hospital with $8 million in funding. When the chairmen of the hospital board didn't agree to a massive "donation" to Blago's campaign fund, the gov tried to kill the bill. Just in time for Christmas, we find out exactly who Scrooge is.

Well, to paraphrase Paul Harvey, wash your eyes and ears out with this: Bing Crosby singing the classic, "White Christmas."

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Merry Christmas, Governor Blagojevich

The Feds gave Illinois Governor Rod Blagojech an early Christmas gift. He was certainly deserving.



Additional video:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Rod Blagojevich Is a Jagoff

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Do They Know It's Christmas Time?

Don't look now, but it's 1984 again! It's Band Aid! Feed the World! "There won't be snow in Africa this Christmas-time." Well, duh. It's Africa, not Chicago.

But seriously, folks, Band Aid was a noble effort, put together by Bob Geldof, to help African famine victims. "Do They Know It's Christmas Time?" is actually not a bad song, and the video is a hoot to watch. Bono, Boy George, the guys from Duran Duran, the chicks from Bananarama. How young they all looked. How stupid Sting's haircut looked. Speaking of hair, Phil Collins still had some!



The unfortunate flipside to hope is despair: 1984, 2008, how different are things? Africa is still a continent devouring itself, still rife with famine and disease, warfare and bloodshed. "Tonight, thank God it's them instead of you."

The 25 Videos of Christmas: White Winter Hymnal

The band is Fleet Foxes. They are indie, and their sound is groovy. The song is "White Winter Hymnal." While not directly about Christmas, it does indeed sound hymn-like, and puts you in the mind of Christmas, or at the very least, Festivus. The video, however, seems to be about protecting your forest grown mushrooms from the cold weather. Whatever. I still like the warm feeling this song gives me.

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Peace on Earth

"Peace on Earth" is an MGM animated short (fancy talk for "cartoon") from 1939. It's fairly dark for a Christmas cartoon but 1939 was a dark time for this planet. Little did the animators know how bad things would actually get in the next few years, and how close this cartoon came to being an actual portrayal of what might have happened.

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Happy Repeal Day!

Today is Repeal Day. On this great day in 1933 the 21st Amendment was ratified, thereby returning to Americans the God given right to get falling down drunk. That's right, one of the greatest evils foisted on American citizens, the constitutional amendment known as Prohibition, was done away with. Prohibition made no one happy, except for the lily-livered busy bodies who tried to force us to stop drinking, and the Mafia, who became wealthier and more powerful than they could ever have imagined by illegally importing alcohol, or making it themselves, and selling it to a grateful public. Anyway, in celebration, here is Bob Rivers and "Carol of the Bartenders."

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Batman Meets Santa Claus

As Batman and his girlfriend Robin are climbing the Batrope up the side of a skyscraper, who would they chance to encounter but good old Santy Claus. Gotta admit, this Santa looks a little creepy and sounds a little like Andy Devine (an actor in many a cowboy movie and TV show, to those of you not in the know).

The 25 Videos of Christmas: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

And now, a musical interlude from Jewel. I have to ask though, why is Ossie Davis in this? Not that I mind, but how did he get roped into doing a video with Jewel and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra?

The 25 Videos of Christmas: I Am Santa Claus

The 25 Videos of Christmas: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Christmas spirit? One person trampled to death, others wounded in a stampede of early morning shoppers at a Long Island Wal-Mart the day after Thanksgiving. Two men shoot each other to death at a California Toys-R-Us. Why, yes, it is indeed beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

December

Here's the deal: I'm going to take December off, sort of, from sharing the Voices in my Head. I need to re-think, recalibrate, reconfigure what I do with this blog and then I'll be back in January renewed and rejuvenated, able to use words that don't begin with the prefix -re and better than ever. Or I'll still suck. Or I won't come back at all. We'll see. Whatever it will be, it will hopefully be something better thought out than it has been. Perhaps fewer, more thoughtful pieces. Or perhaps thoughtful will be thrown out the window and replaced by an hilarious and sarcastic cynicism.

However, December is far from a total loss. It is, you may know, the most wonderful time of the year, and to get in the mood for the holidays I offer: The 25 Videos of Christmas. Yes, a holiday video each and every day right through Christmas Day. Between these videos and the 24-hour Christmas music on the radio and the Christmas music in all the stores and everywhere else you go, you will be sick, sick, sick of Christmas by the time it actually gets here.

Just kidding. Who could get sick of Christmas? Don't answer that, it was a rhetorical question.

I'll be back with deep thoughts in January. In the meantime, check out the videos; if you want to see my football picks and the occasional sports rant, go to my Training Days blog; and don't forget about Other Voices for poetry, fiction, etc.

From the World of Football, Words of Wisdom

"No matter how bad your life is, you can look at the Lions and see something worse."
DEREK RICHARDS, a Detroit comedian on his hometown team, 0-12 this season after losing to the Tennessee Titans, 47-10,on Thanksgiving Day.

Gremlins from the Kremlin

"Russian Rhapsody," a funny piece of World War II Allied propaganda from the great animators at Warner Brothers.

How times have changed: You haven't seen any cartoons with Osama bin Laden, now have you? If only he would show up on "Spongebob Squarepants" I'm sure the tide of the war on terror would take a turn for the better.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's a little something for your Thanksgiving Day celebration: a World War II era MGM Tex Avery cartoon, replete with wartime references to rationing and foxholes and the like. The cartoon is funny and nostalgic and kind of heartwarming in an odd sort of way.



If heartwarming ain't yer cup o'tea, you can always check out William S. Burroughs and his not so nostalgic "Thanksgiving Prayer."

Myself, I'm thankful for all the abundance in my life. Family and friends and health and luck, the kind of luck that allows the likes of me to have a pretty good life.

Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless America.

The President-Elect's Name Game

Austan Goolsbee? What the hell is an "Austan Goolsbee"?

Sounds like one of those fake, contrived by a marketing company chain restaurant names: "Austan Goolsbee's Fun-Time Food Eating Emporium and Drunkery."

Pick 'Em: NFL Week 13

My picks in caps:

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 27

TENNESSEE TITANS at Detroit Lions
Seattle Seahawks at DALLAS COWBOYS
ARIZONA CARDINALS at Philadelphia Eagles

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30

Chicago Bears at MINNESOTA VIKINGS
MIAMI DOLPHINS at St. Louis Rams
Carolina Panthers at GREEN BAY PACKERS
NEW YORK GIANTS at Washington Redskins
San Francisco 49ers at BUFFALO BILLS
BALTIMORE RAVENS at Cincinnati Bengals
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS at Cleveland Browns
New Orleans Saints at TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
ATLANTA FALCONS at San Diego Chargers
Denver Broncos at NEW YORK JETS
Kansas City Chiefs at OAKLAND RAIDERS
Pittsburgh Steelers at NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

MONDAY DECEMBER 1
Jacksonville Jaguars at HOUSTON TEXANS

Babble: I said it before, I’ll say it again -- I have a bad feeling about the Bears in Minnesota...I think Tennessee can resume their winning ways against Detroit...the Eagles are a team in a downward spiral and this may be the last season in Philly for Andy Reid and/or Donovan McNabb...the Broncos are also in a downward spiral and have the misfortune to face a red-hot Jets team...

Why the White Album is Way Better Than Sgt. Pepper

It was forty years ago today...that the White Album was released. It's real title is The Beatles and, quite frankly, it's way better than Sgt. Pepper. Actually, I think Revolver is way better than Sgt. Pepper. Actually, I think a lot of Beatles albums are better than Sgt. Pepper. Ok, maybe just Abbey Road and Rubber Soul. I think Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is vastly overrated from a musical standpoint. Ok, alright, Sgt. Pepper was a psychedelic masterpiece, a great album to drop acid to, or whatever. Blah blah blah. Who cares? Yes, I know, Sgt. Pepper has "A Day in The Life" on it. One of the greatest Beatles songs ever, one of the greatest songs by any rock band. A tad depressing, but great. Top ten in greatest songs ever, by anybody. Still...Sgt. Pepper...I like it, I really do, but it's overrated. I can understand, from an historical standpoint, why it was so important. For rock music, it was like going from watching a black and white television to a color TV. It was a leap forward. But I never liked it as much as I liked other stuff by the Beatles. It felt like art, like something you're supposed to like, but it didn't feel like rock and roll. It didn't feel personal. The music was great, but slightly remote, as the Beatles were standing on another planet, looking at our world through a hazy prism and reporting back to us what they saw.

The White Album felt earthy and personal. "I Will," "Julia," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," those songs are personal. You bet your ass "Yer Blues" was personal. And it was fun: "Happiness Is a Warm Gun, " "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey." It was art too: "Revolution 9," "Long Long Long." And it was great pop music: "Birthday," "Back in the U.S.S.R." And it was terrifying nightmare soundtrack music: "Helter Skelter." This was the Beatles album Charles Manson listened to. Not exactly a great critical recommendation, but an interesting historical tidbit.

I've got nothing against Sgt. Pepper. Really, I don't. I just think the White Album is a masterpiece, something untouched in quality and diversity of musical styles by a rock band since it's release. It's a wonderful piece of rock and roll art that I was able to make a personal connection with in a way that I could with few other albums over the years. I didn't fully realize that until I wrote this.

Long live the White Album.

Pick 'Em: NFL Week 12 the Results

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 20

Cincinnati Bengals at PITTSBURGH STEELERS
PITTSBURGH 27, Cincinnati 10

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 23

CHICAGO BEARS at St. Louis Rams
CHICAGO BEARS 27, St. Louis 3

New York Jets at TENNESSEE TITANS
New York Jets 34, TENNESSEE 13

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS at Detroit Lions
TAMPA BAY 38, Detroit 20

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS at Miami Dolphins
NEW ENGLAND 48, Miami 28

San Francisco 49ers at DALLAS COWBOYS
DALLAS 35, San Francisco 22

Buffalo Bills at KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
Buffalo 54, KANSAS CITY 31

Houston Texans at CLEVELAND BROWNS
Houston 16, CLEVELAND 6

Philadelphia Eagles at BALTIMORE RAVENS
BALTIMORE 36, Philadelphia 7

Minnesota Vikings at JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Minnesota 30, JACKSONVILLE 12

Oakland Raiders at DENVER BRONCOS
Oakland 31, DENVER 10

CAROLINA PANTHERS at Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta 45, CAROLINA 28

WASHINGTON REDSKINS at Seattle Seahawks
WASHINGTON 20, Seattle 17

NEW YORK GIANTS at Arizona Cardinals
NEW YORK GIANTS 37, Arizona 29

Indianapolis Colts at SAN DIEGO CHARGERS
Indianapolis 23, SAN DIEGO 20

MONDAY NOVEMBER 24

GREEN BAY PACKERS at New Orleans Saints
New Orleans 51, GREEN BAY 29

Babble: Not such a good week for my picks...brutal, really...I went 8-8...looks like Favre and the Jets are for real, now let’s see how far they can take it...Denver is going down the tubes fast, and Seattle may not win another game this season...the Giants are rocking and rolling...an all New York Super Bowl might be interesting, but I don’t think it’s going to happen...Dallas is back and it’s because of Tony Romo...just to let you know now, I’ve got a bad feeling about the Bears trip to Minnesota next weekend...stinkin’ Chargers couldn’t score a touchdown in the last two minutes of their game with Indy...San Diego killed themselves with a penalty...apparently, the Packers used up all their defense against the Bears a couple weeks ago...

Fleeing Thoughts: The Big 3 and the Kennedys

-American automakers want our tax money. They haven't gotten their grubby, greedy mitts on it yet, but they will. The president-elect wants to give it to them, and Congress does too, it just wants them to beg for it in the proper fashion. Congressmen don't want to see the heads of the Big 3 flying to Washington in corporate jets to ask for for their multi-billion dollar bailout.

Listen, head dudes of the Big 3, I don't necessarily begrudge your flying private jets. You're important people and many times it's just quicker to get business done when you don't have to wait for a failing airline to get their jet in the air. But if you're going to beg me, the taxpayer who looks for cheap airline seats on the Internet on those rare occasions when I can afford to fly somewhere, for billions, don't come calling in a spiffy private plane. It just looks bad. It's bad public relations. You should have been smart enough to know that, but then again you are the chiefs of companies that are failures.

What should have happened is the heads of GM, Ford, and Chrysler, all pile in to a Buick Roadmaster to drive to Washington, DC.

Of course, the car might have broken down along the way and they would have had to ask for a bailout from a pay phone at a Stucky's in Pennsylvania.

-President Kennedy was assassinated 45 years ago on November 22.. The American public is still fascinated by the murder, and by the Kennedy family in general. Why? The wealth, the large family of good looking people with full heads of hair, the fact that they had a compound, "the Kennedy compound." (That's my aspiration, to someday have a compound.)

All those things make the Kennedy's interesting. But it's not just wealth, and power, that do the trick. The Bush family has those things, yet with the exception perhaps of George H.W., who has turned out to be a far better ex-president than he was a president, we are not all that interested in the Bushes.

The secret is in mortality and morbidity. People eat that stuff up. The Kennedy's had, and still have, a penchant for dying young in alluring ways: Joe, Jr in a plane explosion during World War II, JFK and RFK by assassin's bullets, and JFK, JR piloting his own plane to his doom, and that of his wife and sister-in-law as well. Rosemary, a sister of John, was mentally ill, and was lobotomized and institutionalized. And now, Ted Kennedy has a brain tumor. All captivating, National Enquirer kind of stuff. Sure, there was lots of sex, too, and no one turns away from that, but it's the mortality and the morbidity that give the Kennedy clan a Shakespearean air about them.

-How insane are we about the JFK assassination? Oh, pretty darn crazy. Look at this slideshow on the remembrance of that day in Dallas. The photos were taken by people gathered at the site of the assassination. The second photo is of a man with a t-shirt that graphs the trajectory of the bullet that killed Kennedy and wounded Texas governor John Connally. Now that's just nuts. I'm not sure I could wear that shirt in public. I might buy it just because it's so weirdly cool though. Still, it's a good example of how nuts people are. Me included.

Pick 'Em: NFL Week 12

My picks in caps:

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 20

Cincinnati Bengals at PITTSBURGH STEELERS

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 23

CHICAGO BEARS at St. Louis Rams
New York Jets at TENNESSEE TITANS
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS at Detroit Lions
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS at Miami Dolphins
San Francisco 49ers at DALLAS COWBOYS
Buffalo Bills at KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
Houston Texans at CLEVELAND BROWNS
Philadelphia Eagles at BALTIMORE RAVENS
Minnesota Vikings at JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Oakland Raiders at DENVER BRONCOS
CAROLINA PANTHERS at Atlanta Falcons
WASHINGTON REDSKINS at Seattle Seahawks
NEW YORK GIANTS at Arizona Cardinals
Indianapolis Colts at SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

MONDAY NOVEMBER 24

GREEN BAY PACKERS at New Orleans Saints

Babble: Jets and Titans could be very interesting...the Colts in San Diego should also be fun to watch...the Bears will rebound this week against the lowly Rams, only to be knocked down next week in Minnesota.

NFL Week 11: The Results

The results:

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13

New York Jets at NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
New York Jets 34, NEW ENGLAND 31 OT

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16

Chicago Bears at GREEN BAY PACKERS
GREEN BAY 37, Chicago Bears 3

Denver Broncos at ATLANTA FALCONS
Denver 24, ATLANTA 2

Oakland Raiders at MIAMI DOLPHINS
MIAMI 17, Oakland 15

Baltimore Ravens at NEW YORK GIANTS
NEW YORK GIANTS 30, Baltimore 10

Houston Texans at INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
INDIANAPOLIS 33, Houston 27

Detroit Lions at CAROLINA PANTHERS
CAROLINA 31, Detroit 22

New Orleans Saints at KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
New Orleans 30, KANSAS CITY 20

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES at Cincinnati Bengals
PHILADELPHIA 13, Cincinnati 13 tie in OT

Minnesota Vikings at TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
TAMPA BAY 19, Minnesota 13

ARIZONA CARDINALS at Seattle Seahawks
ARIZONA 26, Seattle 20

St. Louis Rams at SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
SAN FRANCISCO 35, St. Louis 16

San Diego Chargers at PITTSBURGH STEELERS
PITTSBURGH 11, San Diego 10

TENNESSEE TITANS at Jacksonville Jaguars
TENNESSEE 24, Jacksonville 14

Dallas Cowboys at WASHINGTON REDSKINS
Dallas 14, WASHINGTON 10

MONDAY NOVEMBER 17

Cleveland Browns at BUFFALO BILLS
Cleveland 29, Buffalo 27


Babble: What the heck happened up there in Green Bay?...I had a bad feeling about this one, but I didn't think it would end up like this...these guys just haven't been putting their heart into it lately...next week against St. Louis, they should have an easier time of it...a 13-13 tie between Philly and Cincinnati?...they still have ties in the NFL...that should not be...this is football, not soccer...even Donovan McNabb didn't know they had ties in football anymore...told you the 49ers would win this weekend...11-10 is a football score?...11-5 this week, not bad.

Crappy Cubs Karma

So, let me get this straight: The Cubs stick with Kerry Wood for 10 years, most of which are filled with injuries and visit to the disabled list. Last year they turn him into a closer. He does well. Now they want to get rid of him. The claim is they won't be able to afford him. They can afford multi-year, multi-million dollar, no-trade clause contracts to the likes of Alphonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez, and Carlos Zambrano, who were nothing but complete failures in the playoffs, but the Cubs prefer not to bring back a fan favorite like Kerry Wood?

General Manager Jim Hendry should have been fired, not given a contract extension.

The only way the Cubs get to a World Series in the next 100 years is if they buy tickets.

Pick 'Em: NFL Week 11

My picks in caps:

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13

New York Jets at NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16

Chicago Bears at GREEN BAY PACKERS
Denver Broncos at ATLANTA FALCONS
Oakland Raiders at MIAMI DOLPHINS
Baltimore Ravens at NEW YORK GIANTS
Houston Texans at INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
Detroit Lions at CAROLINA PANTHERS
New Orleans Saints at KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES at Cincinnati Bengals
Minnesota Vikings at TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
ARIZONA CARDINALS at Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams at SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
San Diego Chargers at PITTSBURGH STEELERS
TENNESSEE TITANS at Jacksonville Jaguars
Dallas Cowboys at WASHINGTON REDSKINS

MONDAY NOVEMBER 17

Cleveland Browns at BUFFALO BILLS

Babble: I know the Bears have done well against Green Bay under Lovie Smith, but I just have a bad feeling about this one...Jets and Patriots tonight should be a good game...I'm liking the 49ers' chances against St. Louis.

America as Cash Station

Barack Obama my have raised close to $1 billion dollars during his campaign for president. He raised $150 million in September alone. Yet...yet...the Obama campaign is still seeking money. For a donation of $30 or more, you will receive a "victory t-shirt" to help pay off the debt of the DNC.

When does the begging end?

TV on the Radio "Dancing Choose"

Interesting venue, interesting band.

Parts and Labor "The Gold We're Digging"

An interesting sound, the sound of late '70s/early '80s punk, a little bit Joy Division, a little bit Pere Ubu.




For comparative purposes (this is beginning to sound like a college class lecture on the Influence of Punk Rock on Modern Culture), Pere Ubu's "Breath." (Not many Pere Ubu videos to choose from on YouTube, but this one is actually pretty good. I must admit I have only the vaguest of memories of this program with David Sanborn.)



Again, for comparative purposes (please, no wagering), Joy Division's "Transmission." (Oh, to be young again, as singer Ian Curtis so obviously was in this video.)

Pick 'Em: NFL Week 10 Results

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 6

Denver Broncos at CLEVELAND BROWNS
Denver 34, CLEVELAND 30

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9

TENNESSEE TITANS at Chicago Bears
TENNESSEE 21, Bears 14

Seattle Seahawks at MIAMI DOLPHINS
Miami 21, Seattle 19

St. Louis Rams at NEW YORK JETS
NEW YORK JETS 47, St. Louis 3

Baltimore Ravens at HOUSTON TEXANS
Baltimore 41, HOUSTON 13

Jacksonville Jaguars at DETROIT LIONS
Jacksonville 38, DETROIT 14

Green Bay Packers at MINNESOTA VIKINGS
MINNESOTA 28, Green Bay 27

New Orleans Saints at ATLANTA FALCONS
ATLANTA 34, New Orleans 20

Buffalo Bills at NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
NEW ENGLAND 20, Buffalo 10

Carolina Panthers at OAKLAND RAIDERS
Carolina 17, Oakland 6

Indianapolis Colts at PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Indianapolis 24, PITTSBURGH 20

New York Giants at PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
New York Giants 36, PHILADELPHIA 31

MONDAY NOVEMBER 10

San Francisco 49ers at ARIZONA CARDINALS
ARIZONA 29, San Francisco 24

Babble: Bad Rex, Good Rex, it doesn't matter, he's just not the guy...time to try Mr. Haney...Mike Singletary ranted, he raved, he pulled his pantaloons down and -- the 49ers still lost, but they were close to winning...did the Rams show up in New York?...again, will the Lions win a game?...somehow I missed making a pick in the Chiefs-Chargers game...doesn't matter, in a week like I had I probably would have made a bad choice.

Obama Win Causes Obsessed Backers to See How Empty Their Lives Are

Chris Matthews is an idiot

Saw Matthews briefly today on "Morning Joe," the MSNBC program with Joe Scarborough. Matthews said, "It's my job to make the Obama presidency successful."

Uhhhmmm...what? Scarborough was smart enough to tell Matthews that he was a journalist, and journalist should be asking questions, as Scarborough was about Rahm Emanuel possibly becoming Obama's chief of staff. Apparently, Matthews thinks it's his job to be a Barack Obama cheerleader.

Matthews really is an idiot.

Chicagoed Up

So Rahm Emanuel will be Obama's Chief of Staff. The Obama White House is already getting Chicagoed up. You know, sort of like getting mobbed up. Well, not sort of...

Change? No. Audacity? Yes.

Pick 'Em: NFL Week 10

My picks in caps:

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 6

Denver Broncos at CLEVELAND BROWNS

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9

TENNESSEE TITANS at Chicago Bears
Seattle Seahawks at MIAMI DOLPHINS
St. Louis Rams at NEW YORK JETS
Baltimore Ravens at HOUSTON TEXANS
Jacksonville Jaguars at DETROIT LIONS
Green Bay Packers at MINNESOTA VIKINGS
New Orleans Saints at ATLANTA FALCONS
Buffalo Bills at NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Carolina Panthers at OAKLAND RAIDERS
Indianapolis Colts at PITTSBURGH STEELERS
New York Giants at PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

MONDAY NOVEMBER 10

San Francisco 49ers at ARIZONA CARDINALS

Babble: Detroit is going to win one this week -- there, I said it, I meant it...what will coach Mike Singletary do if the 49ers lose this one...there's only so many times you can drop your pants and have that be an effective message...I'm not sure how much faith I have in the Eagles beating the Giants, but I'm picking them anyway...Byron Leftwich was pretty darn good coming in for Ben Roethlisberger last Sunday and may start this weekend.

A Sad Day for America

A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE (FANCY TALK FOR A THIRD PARTY)

"The people have spoken, and whenever the people speak, it's a great thing."
Richard J. Daley, Mayor of Chicago, 1955-1976

The people have indeed spoken, as they have for the entire history of our country, and the people speaking is indeed a great thing. The Old Man knew what he was talking about.

Once again, this coming January, there will be a peaceful transition of power, not just from one person to another, but in this instance, from one political party to another. That the United States has been doing this for so long, over 200 years, is unprecedented in the history of the world. That makes it a great day.

History is also being made because of the color of the president-elect. Barack Obama will be the first black president. This comes a scant 60 years or so since "Amos and Andy" made white folk laugh throughout this land of ours at their racist antics. America has matured and grown wiser. That makes it a great day.

It's a great day and it is concurrently a sad day for America.

It's not a sad day simply because Barack Obama was elected president, and he's not someone I particularly care for. Never has a man with so thin a resume gone so far so quickly.

It's sad because he was one of only two presidential candidates with a realistic chance to win the election. We should have more, and perhaps, better choices than just Republicans and Democrats.

It's a sad day because neither Obama nor John McCain are particularly qualified to hold the office of the presidency. Neither one has any great vision for the United States, something that is especially troubling because the times in which we live are especially troubling.

Obama does offer up the rhetoric of hope, and it is this positive message that voters responded to. I do prefer a positive message to a negative one any day.

However, while Barack Obama is a thoughtful and intelligent person, and McCain has served his country admirably and then some, neither offers up anything that we haven't seen before. At his core, if Obama indeed has an ideological core, is another tax raising liberal Democrat. McCain is another in a long line of Republicans since Reagan left office who suffer from stodgy thinking, or in the case of our current president, not much thinking at all. Essentially, while these two candidates seem to be different from what we've been offered before, they are not. And the American public won't be getting anything different until we take seriously the need for a third party, one that will genuinely challenge the status-quo.

LEADERSHIP

What kind of leader Barack Obama becomes obviously remains to be seen, but my hopes are not high. In the manner of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Obama will likely turn out to be someone who was very good at attaining the White House, but didn't know what to do once he got there.

Obama has never really been a leader of anything; for most of his adult life, he seems to have been either running for president, or setting the path to his presidential bid. It will be interesting, and not a little frightening, to see how Obama deals with the bullies of the world. Already, Russia has indicated it will install missiles near the border with Poland, and will attempt to jam any anti-missile defense system we install there. The reactions of Obama to situations like this will be telling. Personally, I would have preferred John McCain to stare down the Russian bear. He would be good at that.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

McCain lost the election for a number of reasons, one of which is that it's a bad year in general to be a Republican, what with that incumbent Republican president hovering at around a 20% approval rating and a war no one wants to think about anymore. McCain also didn't state his case particularly well or fervently. Most important though is that the economy has gone down the crapper. When that happens in an election year, the party in power usually gets the boot. It really is the economy, stupid. Or it's a stupid economy, or something like that.

Obama won the election because he is the current Leader of the Cult of Personality. He is young and handsome and looks good in a suit. He appeared many times to be more presidential than John McCain. Obama is articulate in a way George W. Bush doesn't even bother to dream about and he speaks in positive generalities that seem to both inspire and reassure an electorate yearning for something more from a president than arrogance and ignorant bravado.

For these reasons, and others, of course, the Democrats are In, the Republicans are Out. Good can come out of this stomping the Republicans took though, but only if they play it smart. There are still some smart Republicans out there, aren't there?

If there are, here's what they need to do. They need to get together, hunker down on the ground, and try to remember what it was that once made a Republican like Ronald Reagan so darn popular. Lower taxes for everybody, not just the wealthy. Smaller government, and don't use an excuse like 9/11 to frighten everyone into allowing you to grow the federal government in a way that Democrats would dream about, if they dared.

If Republicans talk low taxes and smaller government and come up with viable ways to grow the economy, they will be able to make inroads with the middle class again. Speaking of whom, Republicans need to figure just who is the middle class in America right now. It's not just white folks fed up with liberal Democrats, as it was back in the early '80s. The middle-class is multi-hued and consists of Hispanics and blacks and all the other colors of the melting pot and if the Republicans can't figure out a way to talk nice to these people, they will never regain power again.

Republicans also need to behave like Republicans again, specifically, like fiscal conservatives. A Republican government that more than willingly gives away over $700 billion is not truly Republican and certainly not fiscally conservative.

Oh, and no fear mongering. Karl Rove types and neo-conservatives need not apply to the Republican party of the future.

SARAH SMILE

Sarah Palin is not stupid. Some people, even Republicans, think she is. She will come back to bite those people on the ass, if she so chooses.

It's obvious that Palin appeals to a certain base of the Republican party. But the energy she exudes and her appeal to average people go beyond that base. She just needs a little "My Fair Lady" type mentoring: No winking at the camera during a debate. That may work with the boys in Alaska, but it doesn't look very professional. Keep the "you betcha's" to a minimum. Learn about Supreme Court rulings and international politics. Do those things, and you'll be fine, Madame President.

IS COME UPPANCE ONE WORD, OR TWO? AND AM I SPELLING IT RIGHT?

The only other good thing about the Obama victory is that Fox News and Rush Limbaugh have been shown to have only marginal influence on anybody beyond their hardcore fan base. You know, these guys can be right about a lot of things, but they're just so damn annoying and smug.

The writing was on the wall for Limbaugh earlier in the year when he saw the candidate of his choosing, Mitt Romney, go down in flames. I think he finally began to understand that while he may have 20 million listeners, they're not all listening so that they can go out and do his bidding like good little Ditto-heads. Limbaugh began to position himself as an entertainer who just happens to talk politics constantly, all day and every day. Whatever.

THE END

It will be an interesting four years. This country has survived many calamities and it will survive an Obama presidency.

Pick 'Em: Week 9, The Results

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 2

Detroit Lions at CHICAGO BEARS
CHICAGO BEARS 27, Detroit 23

Houston Texans at MINNESOTA VIKINGS
MINNESOTA 28, Houston 21

Green Bay Packers at TENNESSEE TITANS
TENNESSEE 19, Green Bay 16 OT

New York Jets at BUFFALO BILLS
New York Jets 26, BUFFALO 17

Arizona Cardinals at ST. LOUIS RAMS
Arizona 34, ST. LOUIS 13

Baltimore Ravens at CLEVELAND BROWNS
Baltimore 37, CLEVELAND 27

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS at Kansas City Chiefs
TAMPA BAY 30, Kansas City 27 OT

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS at Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati 21, JACKSONVILLE 19

Miami Dolphins at DENVER BRONCOS
Miami 26, DENVER 17

Dallas Cowboys at NEW YORK GIANTS
NEW YORK GIANTS 35, Dallas 14

ATLANTA FALCONS at Oakland Raiders
ATLANTA 24, Oakland 0

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES at Seattle Seahawks
PHILADELPHIA 26, Seattle 7

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS at Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis 18, NEW ENGLAND 15

MONDAY NOVEMBER 3

PITTSBURGH STEELERS at Washington Redskins
PITTSBURGH 23, Washington 6

Babble: I understand the concept of “a win is a win,” but you have to wonder about a Bears defense that gives up 23 points to the worst team in the NFL (now that the Bengals have actually won a game)...is the D just not playing all that hard or is there a coaching issue, or both?...how bad is Kyle Orton’s injury, that’s really the question that needs to be asked, especially since they’re playing undefeated Tennessee on Sunday...we don’t need Bad Rex showing up for that one...not all that crazy about the idea of Good Rex showing up for that one either...I know I picked New England to win, but I’m glad they lost...I enjoy the look of frustration on Bill Belichick’s face...again, he's not such a genius without Tom Brady around...8-6 this week with my picks.

ELECTION DAY ADDENDUM: History (football history, that is) shows that, in the last 17 presidential elections, whenever the Washington Redskins lose the game before election day, the incumbent party is thrown out of the White House. Just another reason to hate on the Redskins, my friends.

Ralph Nader: A Government for the People

Palin in 2012!!!!

Pick 'Em: NFL Week 9

Picks for this week:

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 2

Detroit Lions at CHICAGO BEARS
Houston Texans at MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Green Bay Packers at TENNESSEE TITANS
New York Jets at BUFFALO BILLS
Arizona Cardinals at ST. LOUIS RAMS
Baltimore Ravens at CLEVELAND BROWNS
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS at Kansas City Chiefs
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS at Cincinnati Bengals
Miami Dolphins at DENVER BRONCOS
Dallas Cowboys at NEW YORK GIANTS
ATLANTA FALCONS at Oakland Raiders
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES at Seattle Seahawks
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS at Indianapolis Colts

MONDAY NOVEMBER 3

PITTSBURGH STEELERS at Washington Redskins

Babble: It looks bleak for the Lions and Bengals...things don't look all that good for the Colts and Cowboys either, who will continue their downward slide...the Titans, on the other hand, will continue their winning ways.

What...

...is in my head: "Goodnight Rose" by Ryan (don't call me Bryan) Adams. This video isn't bad, especially on yer second beer, but I like the version of the song on the CD Easy Rider best. Both that version and the one performed here have a melancholy feel, a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, and put me in the mind of late 60s/early 70s Neil Young.

Poor Rose, out there in the country, in a small town, out on the farm, just looking to get out, just needs a way out, maybe this time we'll win the whole shebang. In the morning light, everything will look better. Good night, Rose.


Goodnight Rose by Ryan Adams - Funny bloopers are a click away

Prognosticate This!

Prognosticating is obviously not my forte. I picked the Cubs to win the World Series in 7 games. Yeah, breaking that 100-year-old curse didn't quite happen, did it?

This evening the Philadelphia Phillies, the team with more losses in it's 123 years history than any team in any major league, won it's second World Series championship. They beat the Tampa Bay Rays, a team that finished in the cellar last year and has never had a winning season in it's ten year history until this year. Of course, I picked the Rays to finish in fourth place, in front of only the lowly Baltimore Orioles, who did indeed end up in last place. So there.

In defense of my prognosticating, I did pick the Phillies to finish in second in their division, behind the Mets, who decided it was better to self-implode at the end of the season rather than end up in first place. So I guess I've got that going for me. And I did pick the Dodgers to win the West, which they did, only to go and beat the crap out of the Cubs, before having the crap beat out of them.

In addition to thinking the Cubs would go all the way this year, I thought the Detroit Tigers would win the American League Central. That didn't work out well at all. It's a bad year for baseball and football in Detroit. I guess there's still hope for the Pistons and the Red Wings.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (it sounds like they're naming a mall or something with that moniker -- "The Baseball Galleria at Anaheim") won the AL West but couldn't get past a team that I thought wasn't as good as them, the Boston Red Sox.

Shows you what I know.

As for the Cubs, dare I say it?

There's always next year.

Next century, more like it.

Football: NFL Week 8, the Results

SUNDAY OCTOBER 26

BUFFALO BILLS at Miami Dolphins
Miami 25, BUFFALO 16

WASHINGTON REDSKINS at Detroit Lions
WASHINGTON 25, Detroit 17

San Diego Chargers at NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
NEW ORLEANS 37, San Diego 32

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS at Dallas Cowboys
Dallas 13, TAMPA BAY 9

Oakland Raiders at BALTIMORE RAVENS
BALTIMORE 29, Oakland 10

Kansas City Chiefs at NEW YORK JETS
NEW YORK JETS 28, Kansas City 24

St. Louis Rams at NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
NEW ENGLAND 23, St. Louis 16

Arizona Cardinals at CAROLINA PANTHERS
CAROLINA 27, Arizona 23

Atlanta Falcons at PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
PHILADELPHIA 27, Atlanta 14

Cincinnati Bengals at HOUSTON TEXANS
HOUSTON 35, Cincinnati 6

Cleveland Browns at JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Cleveland 23, JACKSONVILLE 17

New York Giants at PITTSBURGH STEELERS
New York Giants 21, PITTSBURGH 14

Seattle Seahawks at SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
Seattle 34, SAN FRANCISCO 13

MONDAY OCTOBER 27

Indianapolis Colts at TENNESSEE TITANS
TENNESSEE 31, Indianapolis 21

Babble: 9-5 with my picks this week... Mike Singletary benched quarterback J.T. O’Sulllivan after throwing 2 interceptions, benched another player for being a knucklehead, generally lit a fire under the 49ers and -- they still lost...J.T. O’Sullivan sounds like a name concocted by a marketing firm for a chain of sports bars --”J.T. O’Sullivan’s Booze and Sports Emporium”...what’s going on with the Jets -- they lost to the Raiders last week and barely beat Kansas City and their 3rd string QB on Sunday...the question remains, will Tennessee go undefeated?

What...

...I'm listening to: Danielia Cotton. She is a young lady from rural New Jersey (I didn't know there was such a thing) who can sing blues based rock n roll like nobody's business. She has a CD out called Rare Child and every song is a gem. If I had to describe her sound, I might compare her musically to the Black Crows, although Cotton is a lot less trippy-dippy than the Crows, with a more stripped-down vibe happening. Cotton's lyrics are more personal, and the music more straight ahead rock and roll. For someone from New Jersey, the music has a bit of a 70s southern rock sound to it. So, take the Black Crows, Lynyrd Skynyrd, AC/DC, Aretha Franklin and some funk and you've got Danielia Cotton. Whatever, she makes great music to listen to while you're in the shower or working out or doing something that needs an energetic soundtrack. I hope she makes more CDs and goes on a big honkin' tour that makes her a household name.

...I'm reading: No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin. There's not a lot of people named Doris anymore. Maybe that's why I like Goodwin, because she's a Doris, a throwback to another time. And she's a baseball fan; she's been known to wax rhapsodic (do what now?) about the Brooklyn Dodgers. She's a good writer as well. She knows how to tell a story and takes you to the place the story is happening so you can see it clearly in your mind. This particular book contains a plethora of stories, all about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and what it was like to be in the White House, in Washington, and in America, from the time just before Pearl Harbor through the duration of World War II. It's an excellent read but it's gonna take me awhile; it's over 600 pages. I'm a little slow. (Make of that comment what you will.)

...I'm watching: "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3". I visited New York City for the first time last month and in preparation I wanted to watch a movie I hadn't seen since I was a kid in the 70s. I thought "Pelham" would get me in the mood to ride the subway, which it did, or it would frighten me from ever riding the subway again, which it did not. The film stars Walter Matthau as a transit cop and Robert Shaw as the leader of a small gang of men that hijack a subway train in (or rather, under) Manhattan. The film has a cheesy 70's quality about it, there's a lot of swearing, simply because they could do that in movies whereas they couldn't before, and New York looks dirty and dangerous, the way we like New York to look, the way it should be. Anyhoo, it's enjoyable viewing, and it has an interesting cast. Besides Matthau and Shaw, there are Jerry Stiller (Ben's dad) as a subway cop, and Doris Roberts (Raymond's mom on "Everybody Loves Raymond") as the mayor's wife. The other subway hijackers are played by Martin Balsam, a young Hector Elizondo, and Earl Hindman, who went on to be the guy behind the fence on the sitcom "Home Improvement." "Pelham" was obviously an influence on Quentin Tarentino. In "Reservoir Dogs," as in "Pelham," the bad guys all refer to each other by fake names that are colors, such as "Mr. Blue," and they all dress alike.

I watched "Pelham" once all the way through before my trip, and then last week did a viewing where I fast forwarded to all the really good parts, mostly when either Matthau or Shaw is on the screen.

One thing I will say that I found funny in a way, is that the hijackers demand only $1 million for their 18 hostages. A million dollars just is not thought of as a lot of money in a day and age where even mediocre baseball players are multi-millionaires.

America Saddens Me Sometimes

I just read an interesting article from Slate magazine about John McCain and the 1962 missile crisis. McCain has told crowds at his rallies that he was a fighter pilot on an aircraft carrier waiting for orders to attack. McCain then made a statement that this is the sort of situation that prepared him for the presidency. The article's author takes exception to that.

I take exception to the article. True, being a fighter pilot does not in and of itself prepare one to be president. But to be a fighter pilot in a pressure packed situation like that, where if you're given orders to attack you may be taking part in the initial stages of World War III, that does lend itself to preparing one to deal calmly with crises of massive importance. I certainly think it's better training for the presidency than being a community activist or a Harvard educated law professor at the University of Chicago.

I think once upon a time in America we regarded veterans in general, and veterans like John McCain in particular, who gave of themselves above and beyond the call of duty, with more respect and a sense that the service done by a veteran under certain circumstances perhaps gave them a little more wisdom about life than the average citizen. That regard seems to be missing from America right now, and that saddens me. It should sadden all of us.

Football: Pick 'Em NFL Week 8

My picks in caps:

SUNDAY OCTOBER 26

BUFFALO BILLS at Miami Dolphins
WASHINGTON REDSKINS at Detroit Lions
San Diego Chargers at NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS at Dallas Cowboys
Oakland Raiders at BALTIMORE RAVENS
Kansas City Chiefs at NEW YORK JETS
St. Louis Rams at NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Arizona Cardinals at CAROLINA PANTHERS
Atlanta Falcons at PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Cincinnati Bengals at HOUSTON TEXANS
Cleveland Browns at JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
New York Giants at PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Seattle Seahawks at SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

MONDAY OCTOBER 27

Indianapolis Colts at TENNESSEE TITANS

Babble: The game of the week could be the Giants and the Steelers...let's see if there is a rise in the level of intensity of the 49ers play now that Mike Singletary is in charge...I may have asked this before, but will the Lions win a game this year?...what about the Bengals?...conversely, will the Titans go undefeated in the regular season?...if that happens, it will be the second year in a row that a team runs the table...would that say more about the superior quality of the Patriots and Titans, or about the suckiness of many NFL teams?

Another Day at the Races

Things I learned at the races this past Saturday:

-Speed is cool. But you already knew that. Me too. Still, it never hurts to repeat: Speed is cool. Speed makes a car lift off the ground when it’s taking off from the starting line like a bat out of hell. Now this lifting off the ground may actually slow the car down slightly as a second or two in the air detracts from time with wheels on the ground, racing down the strip. But let’s face facts, that lifting of the front end off the ground, like a jet taking off from the runway, just looks, uhmm, you know...cool.

Bat Out of Hell: Our friend, C.J. Williams in his Ford Cobra Mustang. C.J. was smokin' Saturday and beat all challengers in his class. Congratulations, C.J. !


-A dog is a race car driver’s best friend. There were a number of people with dogs at the track, dogs being walked, dogs sitting on the laps of spectators, dogs being held in their owners arms, dogs guarding their masters race cars and equipment. Well, rather than guarding, the dogs may actually have been waiting for belly rubs. Whatever. A dog can be watchful of property and still get his belly rubbed, can’t he? The dogs did not seem perturbed in the slightest by the noise of the cars, or all the commotion. Which is probably why there were there.

You didn’t see any cats at the races. A cat on a leash probably just wouldn’t work at all, at least I don't think it would. It would be kind of fun to observe a napping cat startled by the initial rumble of a race car starting; that would be a sight to see. But really, a cat at the track? Never gonna happen. A cat, unlike a dog, would simply never express enough interest in what his human was doing to warrant a trip to the track. A driver inquiring of his feline, “Muffin, would you like to go watch me race today, would you sweetie, hmmm?” would be met with an indifferent turning away of the cat’s head. A dog however, would be in the car, waiting to go with his head stuck out the car window by the time his human finished the question. The desire to be sociable is what makes dogs more lovable than cats.

Gone to the dogs: A race car driver's best friend. Dogs are also good friends with balding race spectators.


-Don’t forget the sunblock. Just because it’s mid-October and the temperature is around 60 degrees doesn’t mean you can forgo the Coppertone. If it’s a clear, sunny day and you spend that entire day outside without an SPF 45 or better sunblock, you will become a crispy critter by the end of the day.

-Byron, Illinois is home to not only the Byron Dragway, but the Turkey Testicle Festival as well. Just thought you should know.

-Depending on how fragile your hearing is, or how long you wish to remain amongst the hearing, you may want to consider ear plugs when you go the race track. Those of us in my age range (I’m 44) grew up with that loud rock ‘n roll blasted over stereos at home and in the car, we had Walkmans that put the music directly into our ears, as does the iPod and other devices we have now. So our aural senses have taken a lot of abuse over the course of our lifetimes. From the Baby Boomers to Generation X and beyond, we will all morph into one generation. We will all be Generation Deaf. So protect your hearing, because auto racing is loud. Race cars rumble and thunder and roar, all at maximum decibel levels. A day at the races sounds like a Motorhead concert, except that this concert goes on continually, lasting all day, whereas a Motorhead concert just feels like it lasts all day.

-Below are two videos of C.J. in his black Ford, shot on our little digital cameras. Not great video, but they do give one a sense of the sights and sounds of the racetrack.

Football: Pick 'Em, NFL Week 7 Results

SUNDAY OCTOBER 19

Minnesota Vikings at CHICAGO BEARS
CHICAGO BEARS 48, Minnesota 41

Baltimore Ravens at MIAMI DOLPHINS
Baltimore 27, MIAMI 13

Dallas Cowboys at ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
ST. LOUIS 34, Dallas 14

San Diego Chargers at BUFFALO BILLS
BUFFALO 23, San Diego 13

TENNESSEE TITANS at Kansas City Chiefs
TENNESSEE 34, Kansas City 10

San Francisco 49ers at NEW YORK GIANTS
NEW YORK GIANTS 29, San Francisco 17

PITTSBURGH STEELERS at Cincinnati Bengals
PITTSBURGH 38, Cincinnati 10

New Orleans Saints at CAROLINA PANTHERS
CAROLINA 30, New Orleans 7

Detroit Lions at HOUSTON TEXANS
HOUSTON 28, Detroit 21

NEW YORK JETS at Oakland Raiders
Oakland 16, NEW YORK JETS 13 OT

Cleveland Browns at WASHINGTON REDSKINS
WASHINGTON 14, Cleveland 11

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS at Green Bay Packers
Green Bay 34, INDIANAPOLIS 14

Seattle Seahawks at TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
TAMPA BAY 20, Seattle 10

MONDAY OCTOBER 20

DENVER BRONCOS at New England Patriots
New England 41, DENVER 7

Babble: 10-4 on my picks this week...the Bears had quite a game offensively, scoring 48 points, 14 of them coming from special teams...you do have to worry about their defense...you know, that defense that gave up 41 points...Indy seems to be fading fast...maybe Payton Manning needs a third operation on his knee...how about those Raiders, handing Brett Favre his first lost against them ever...apparently, it was a bad idea to pick Denver over the Patriots.