I Was Just Thinking...

Rod Blagojevich looks like he dropped out of a '90s amateur Hungarian porno movie.

He wouldn't have to change his first name either.

The moments before his inauguration is awfully early in his presidency for Barack Obama to be pandering to Jesus freaks who wanna deny GLBT civil rights.

You'd think our first African-American President would not be completely tone deaf on this one.

I still miss Joe Strummer terribly but worse so this month.

Likewise John Lennon.

"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"? - Best. Christmas song. Ever.

Rahm Emmanuel is a badass.

John Stewart too -- ask Huckabee.

George Tenet is most decidely not.

What's with the Bush Administration's mad flurry to screw us all some more before he's kicked out the door? Hasn't he fucked us enough already?

The Red Sox really don't need Mark Teixiera next year.

The seven following years following that are another story altogether.

Dunno how I feel about Bill Clinton's donor list. If this is the way any of the money we've thrown at Blackwater winds up doing some good, it ain't all a bad thing.

The mainstream media is so fucked for thinking that Pastor Rick Warren is offensive solely to "gay groups."

Color million of us straight folks offended as well.

I always liked Coldplay better back when they were called Radiohead. Not so much now.

Now that we've learned Chrysler execs will still get paid while the plants shut down, I'd really like to see breakouts of total salaries for Chrysler's white collar workers versus the same for Chrysler's rank and file.

For tens of thousands of people across the Northeast to still be without power after more than a week is completely unacceptable.

At least our Republican Congress folks are predictable.

Elvis Costello has become mellow, even playful, as he's aged.

Dick Cheney has not.

Can we legalize pot already? Now that would boost the economy.

Go Franken go!

Rachel Maddow is on fire.

George Bush's recent address to the War College was downright strange and patently false. Why change now George, right?

-AF
**12/19/08: Updated with additional links where appropriate.

The Tampa Bay Rays Are A Great Story But...

As a life-long (and once long-suffering) Red Sox Nation native son, it pains me somewhat to admit just how remarkable Tampa Bay's story book season has been. Manager of the Year shoe-in Joe Maddon has done an astounding job as has Tampa's front office. The Rays ability to identify and develop young talent has been text book perfect.

However, I have a coupla major-fucking-problems with the whole Tampa Bay Ray vibe:

1. Due to chronically poor home game attendence, the Rays felt compelled to pipe in artificial crowd noise over the Tropicana Field PA! They've done this for a few seasons now. That is so totally bush league. It works great on the radio but looks foolish when you watch the game on TV and you can see the rows upon rows of empty seats when the cameras pan following fly balls.
   
2. Before the season began, their management dropped the "Devil" from Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Chickens! Apparently they felt it was the "Devil" that was keeping their Bible belt attendence. It didn't work. They didn't come consistently sell out any games not featuring the Red Sox and Yankees. There were a lot of empty seats ALDS vs. the White Sox. The jam-packed ALCS games at the Trop were jam-packed with Sox fans.
3. It irked me to no end to see the throngs of Rays fans agonizing over every pitch or every play that didn't go their way in Games 6 & 7. Please. Where the fuck were you bandwagon-jumpers the previous 166 games?
4. Those goddamn cowbells. Y'all are sure stuck on your artificial noise down there. Look, I know I'm old skool. But first you damn Rays fans are too lame to sell out 98% of yer team's home games this season and then when you do show up clapping, yelling and stomping your feet aren't good enough for you? That's weak.
   

I'm looking forward to watching this World Series despite the Red Sox falter. Me? I'll be rooting for the Phillies. Heh.
-AF
----------------
NP: Dropkick Murphys - Tessie
via FoxyTunes

I'm More or Less Back...

I've come to accept the Super Bowl loss of my beloved New England Patriots. Yes, I'm aware I take this shit too personally. But as one who suffered through the lean years, not to mention the aluminum benches of Schaefer Stadium (Anyone else remember "Shaefer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one!" or or the much later "Pop! Pop! Sitting pretty. All together in Schaefer City!"?), and personally attended the Patriots' second Super Bowl loss, I reserve and retain the right to take my team's losses to heart. After all, football is one of my few true concessions to American popular culture. (I spend the rest of my life snug and smug with the knowledge that my counterculture/underground/indie-cred coffers are overflowing).

Truth is that any other year I'd be excited that my adopted hometown's team, The New York Football Giants, won. I'd be excited if any team finally shut up Bob Kuechenberg and the rest of the '72 Dolphins once and for all. C'est la guerre.

Three things fortify me in the face of such a disastrous end to an historic football season:

1. Former All-World Pats OLB Andre Tippett was finally and deservedly elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Tippett was an extraordinary player overshadowed by the play of NYG's Lawrence Taylor. In the 1984 & 1985 seasons he totaled a whopping 35 sacks -- the highest two season tally by a linebacker ever.
2. Pitchers and catchers have reported. Go Sox!
3. Come July, football will return giving meaning to our otherwise empty lives.

I'll refrain from complaining too much about how the weather here in the NE has largely blotted out the sun and exacerbated the worst symptoms of my chronic disease. Instead I'll re-concentrate my efforts on witty, acerbic, pithy and off-the-wall observations of the world at large. Or something like that.

-AF