A Bright Spot

One of the few highlights of the Cubs season so far. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly it didn't occur on the field and a Cubs player had nothing to do with it.



Unfortunately, Eddie doesn't sing at every game.

A Bright Spot

Porch

Just watch.



Don't miss Eddie writing Pro-Choice on his arm, and his additional, revised lyrics, supporting the right of women to tell men who want to control their bodies, "I want to choose."

Still fighting that one, aren't we? Thanks to the anti-sex Christianists of the Republican party.

Porch

2 Words

Shaka Hislop.

West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop came in from the cold for Trinidad and Tobago to do England a massive favour.

Veteran Hislop, a late replacement for Kelvin Jack, who sustained a head injury just before kick-off, made a series of stunning saves to deny Sweden an opening win in Group B.

The fact the World Cup newcomers gained a point was remarkable given that Avery John was sent off in the first minute of the second half.

Wow.

Who says 0-0 games aren't exciting?

2 Words

Life Wasted

Pearl Jam's recent video for "Life Wasted."



Interview with the artist/director who came up with the concept.

I'm officially a big YouTube fan. There is all kinds of cool video out there. Plus, you can upload and share some of your own.

Check it out.

Life Wasted

Achtung Baby!

Come on, America. Really.

Wake up.

Don't be the cliche. There's a reason they call soccer "the beautiful game."

I watched 3 games today and they were all more exciting than any American football game I watched last year.

The only American football game that even came close was last year's National Championship game for college football, and it was only the final minutes of that game, and it was all Vince Young.

Achtung Baby!

Quote for the Day

File this under "Less Angst. More Happy."

From the Happiness Project:

“We are never so much disposed to quarrel with others as when we are dissatisfied with ourselves.” --William Hazlitt

Don't let your personal discontent with yourself start arguments with others, especially your loved ones.

I'm posting this one somewhere prominent to remind myself.

Quote for the Day

Gore Speaks

You listen.

My favorite quote directed at Bush and Cheney: "Reality has a way of intruding on illusion."

Methinks this quote applies to quite a few issues facing the Bush administration. Global Warming. Iraq. Deficits. National Security. Exposing CIA operatives. Katrina response. On and on and on.

They know. That's why we'll hear about the Hate Amendment and the Flag-Burning Amendment this week.

And the media will eat it up. Except for Jack Cafferty.

Gore Speaks

5 days

Time to get ready for the biggest stage for the world's #1 religion.

LONDON -- Christianity, with more than 2 billion believers, ranks second among the major religions of the world.

Soccer is first.

It is not clear how many people attend the church of soccer--or football, as most of the world insists on calling it -- but FIFA, the guardians of the faith, calculated that a cumulative television audience of 28.8 billion people tuned in to watch the 2002 World Cup tournament staged jointly by Japan and South Korea.

[...]

In all, 64 games will be played. The average television audience for each game is expected to be around 320 million. The Super Bowl can only muster a crowd about a third that size.

It may be an exaggeration to call soccer a religion, but it is obviously more than a game. Soccer can topple governments and send nations to war (El Salvador and Honduras, in 1969). The quest for the World Cup, soccer's grail, can humiliate the powerful and make the wretched and ragged of the Earth feel like world-beaters.

It almost always makes England weep.

[...]

The composition of the U.S. team speaks eloquently of the nation. Its players are the sons of immigrants and the sons of suburban soccer moms.

Landon Donovan, Claudio Reyna and DaMarcus Beasley may not be household names, but they are mainstays of a U.S. team that has earned the respect of the soccer world. Reyna, Beasley and others like Brian McBride, who grew up in northwest suburban Arlington Heights and plays his soccer in London, are more famous in Europe than they are in the U.S.

[...]

This year, all eyes will be on Brazil's Ronaldinho, the buck-toothed marvel who once explained that God made up for shortchanging him in the looks department by giving him an otherworldly grace on the field. He plays with a perpetual expression of transcendent joy on his face.

Watch him and understand why the world calls soccer "the beautiful game."

Come on America. Open your minds and embrace what the rest of the world knows is "the beautiful game."

5 days

2 out of 3 ain't bad

It would've been nice to sweep the Cards, but I remember the days when we couldn't win a game down in St. Louis, let alone a series.

Maybe the right field bleacher idiots can get off of Jacque Jones' back now.

OBP: .346
SLUG: .541 (Team Leader, 2nd only to D. Lee)
AVG: .306
HR: 10
RBI: 30

2 out of 3 ain't bad

An Inconvenient Truth

Everyone must see this movie.

If you don't leave the theatre with a new appreciation for Al Gore, something's wrong. The man is the antithesis of our current president. Intelligent. Engaged. Concerned about issues larger than tax cuts for the rich and kickbacks for campaign contributors, not to mention the hate amendment and the obligatory flag-burning amendment.

If you also don't leave the theatre profoundly disturbed about humanity's impact on the planet Earth, specifically the impact of American behavior on our planet, and seriously committed to changing your impact on our planet, something's wrong. Here are 10 simple things you can do to stop global warming.

Now go see the movie.

An Inconvenient Truth

Weekly Update: Nomar Watch

Nomar's numbers:

OBP: .422
SLUG: .611
AVG: .361

And, in the NL, Nomar is trailing only Mr. Pujols in average with runners in scoring position, with a ridiculous average of .477.

Way to go, Nomar! I certainly miss your presence on the Cubs, but am glad that you don't have to share in the misery of being a Cub right now.

Lastly, for baseball stat geeks, this is a cool site. You pull up the MLB leaders in almost any category you can think of.

Weekly Update: Nomar Watch

5 Star Shuffle Friday

5 star shuffle Friday (Saturday edition):

1. Bullet With Butterfly Wings: Smashing Pumpkins
2. King's Crossing: Elliott Smith
3. Imagine: A Perfect Circle
4. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return): Jimi Hendrix
5. Masters of War: Bob Dylan
6. Falling Through Your Clothes: The New Pornographers
7. The Way You Move: OutKast
8. I Remember: Damien Rice
9. The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana): Liz Phair with Material Issue
10. Styrofoam Plates: DCFC

Bonus: Life On Mars: Arcade Fire w/David Bowie

5 Star Shuffle Friday