Busiest. Month. Ever.

Granted, there's a short history here. But I'm happy I've been able to not only post somewhat consistently, but to increase a little bit.

If you're reading this, thanks. Feel free to read back through the archives or even bookmark and check back regularly.

She is woman, hear her roar

Ted Kennedy endorsed Obama the other day. Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray didn’t like that. She didn’t like it at all...

According to the State House News Service, the usually-circumspect Murray is bluntly calling out Ted Kennedy and John Kerry for backing Obama over Hillary Clinton.

"I don't want to be pushed aside anymore. I don't want to be patted on the head, saying, 'You did a good job on that, but now we got this young person, we got this attractive man, because you can't get elected because the media said you couldn't, because the polls said you couldn't. We're going to put this guy out front. And by the way we need your help, and could you organize this or that.' I'm not doing that anymore.... Fifty-one percent of the population, and we've all worked on campaigns, we've stuffed the envelopes, we've licked the stamps for a lot of men in our party and it's disappointing to see the men in our party walk away from a woman candidate."

Some women feel Ted should’ve just stayed out of the race. I’ve been guessing that women would go to Hillary’s side. I’ve made the argument that, women would rally to her side, even though they may not be public about it because of the grief Hillary and her supporters get from Clinton haters. But I felt that when many women stepped into the voting booth, they would think of their grandmothers, mothers and daughters, as well as all the condescending or sexist comments from men, or the doors that were closed on them over the years and that they would quietly smile and pull the lever for Hillary.

We’ll see how it plays out.

*I think many African-Americans will do the same for Obama, but women make up a greater share of voters.

Trash talking media

Globe sports Blogger Eric Wilbur lobs one back over the net at the New York tabloids.

How many times the Giants can get to Tom Brady on Sunday is still of some question, but their fans already have the ability to whack the Patriots quarterback repeatedly.

Newsday.com presents the “Whack a Patriot Game,” in which you too can go after Brady with a virtual mallet. Fun for the whole family. Coming soon, the Michael Strahan dental puzzle.

Santana Saga Ceasing?

Buster Olney reports that the Twins will soon wrap up the Johan Santana trade sweepstakes with Mets, Sox and Yankees, possibly today. Unless they don’t. But he thinks they will. Maybe.

Why this week? With the cities of all three teams enthralled in Super Bowl coverage? I’m going to say bitterness and spite.

Leaps on faith

Over the weekend, someone I generally consider to be a reasonable person said he thinks Barack Obama is a "secret Muslim" and his election will allow terrorists to harm the United States. When I doubted him, he rolled his eyes as if I had questioned that water is wet.

Another person made a half-joking remark that if Obama gets elected, all the women in our country will have to wear veils.

There is no evidence to support any of this. There are only chain emails making the rounds with claims that have been thoroughly debunked numerous times.

I don't know how to interpret this other than racism and/or religious bigotry. It goes beyond simple gullibility, though that's an involved element, too.

I don't like WalMart

I will not shop at a WalMart store. Ever.

I highly recommend Robert Greenwald’s movie about WalMart.

http://www.walmartmovie.com/

Lost update

A little more than halfway through the second season of Lost. Still giving it a big thumbs up.

Didn't think I would make it this far, this fast. I had to watch the first three or four episodes of season 2 online; they were not available in my local library network, nor a convenient branch of the BPL. But then, voila! A full seven disc set of the entire season popped up in a library just off my daily commute.

So I may be able to finish season 2 before season 4 starts. Which means I have to start TiVo-ing season 4 while I watch 3. But if I can get the season 3 dvds from the library again I can whip through six or seven episodes to every one that shows on live tv.

It'll kind of suck to only be able to watch one a week, when I get to that point. But at least I'll be able to participate in the water cooler office talk.

Inside the locker room

Imagined scenario inside the Patriots locker room...

Randy Moss: "Thanks, Tom."

AFC Championship

Patriots win it the old fashioned way: they did whatever it took. Moss took a backseat to Maroney and Faulk shone brighter than Brady.

Still think Rivers is an immature punk, but I have a lot of respect for the way he played while obviously hobbled. As for L.T., his reputation takes a bit hit in my book. Stood on the sidelines most of the game last week and can't quite answer the bell today. Maybe it WAS reall bad. I'll apologize if we find out the leg has to be amputated this week.

Look for Randy Moss to return to form in the sunny confines of Arizona. Especially after Larry tops 100 two weeks in a row.
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Not in my house

I don’t care what the AKC says. The most popular dog in my house is a Basset Hound named Lenny.

Lost

I’ve finished watching Season 1 of Lost and the first episode of Season 2 (watched online).

I like it a lot so far. Interesting characters and interaction between characters. Realistic behavior by characters. Interesting plot twists. Good pace to the story. Not too many high climaxes, but not too many slow points, either. They keep you at a good steady level throughout, it seems.

Still no hope of finishing Seasons 2 and 3 before Season 4 debuts at the end of the month. The pace at which I watched Season 1 can not be continued. There’s only so long you devote every “free” minute to one activity before it causes issues.

Things could get harder, too. Having trouble getting Season 2 from the library, so I have to watch online until I get it. I’ve made a decision not to buy from iTunes or rent. Trying to do this for the donut, financially.

I’m interested to see how the show progresses. I’ve heard from a few people that they jumped off the show because it got too weird. It’d have to go quite a ways to lose me on those grounds. When it comes to my entertainment, I’m pretty tolerant of far-fetched things.

Teal of the River

Teal...Down the River.

And if they were "disrespected" or "flying under the radar screen" the Colts failed to earn that respect (at home with key Charger injuries) and are now OFF the radar screen. Serves their fans right for booing a 13-year old girl participating in the Punt, Pass and Kick competition just because she was from New England. Stay classy Indy.
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What can be said?

That's a damn good football team. But you already knew that.

That's a damn good quarterback. But you already knew that.

That's a damn good game's worth of playcalling and execution. But you already knew that.

There's nothing about this team that is surprising. But that doesn't mean they aren't fun to watch.
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Go Pats!!

Teal. That’s a color for winning football games? Sure, blend in all the black you want, but Teal is the color of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

And the coach’s name is Del Rio. Of the River?

These are the friggin’ New England Patriots. Teal of the River is what you’re bringing to beat the New England Patriots? The only team to ever go 16-0 in the regular season? The team that is quarterbacked by Tom Brady and coached by Bill Belichick?

I’m not saying it can’t happen. But Teal of the River is going to have to go to places it has heretofore not gone.

"Teal of the River can run the ball.” Yeah. Pittsburgh could, too. They lost. Indianapolis could run the ball. They lost. Heck, San Diego has the best running game in the history of last year AND they had “something to prove.” They lost.

“Teal of the River is tough. Teal of the River can’t be intimidated.” Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Dallas, San Diego, Giants, Eagles. None of them intimidated. All of them tough. None of them victorious. All of them defeated.

So Teal of the River comes to town tomorrow night. They are said to be the “kind” of team that can beat the Patriots.

The Patriots are the “kind” of team that wins football games. Lots of them. Trying to define them any more specifically than that distracts from just saying what they really do well; win.

Like I said, Teal of the River “could” win. But I don’t think it will.

All I will say is this: Teal of the River’s secondary is so vulnerable that by next week there may be a charitable group set up to prevent their future exploitation.

Go Pats!!

I'm Lost

I remember seeing the ads for Lost when it first came on the air. It looked like a really cool premise that had great potential. But I missed the premiere. Then I missed a few shows that followed. I was bummed because it looked like the kind of show that you had to follow from the start or not at all. So I gave up. But then it became a hit.

Last year, the same thing happened when Heroes came on. But then eight or ten weeks in, I found I could watch the premiere of Heroes, the eight or nine most recent ones on the NBC website and I could buy any of them on iTunes. So I watched the premiere online, then with a couple of coworkers bought and watched enough from iTunes to catch us up to the freebies on the website. We caught up in plenty of time to watch the last third or so of the season on live TV with the rest of the world. We all watched Season 2 of Heroes and look forward to its return.

So when ads for the upcoming season of Lost started running, I wondered if I could do the same thing. Lo and behold, all three seasons are available online. So I started watching them, but because they are streaming, they hang up and skip sometimes a few seconds at at time. Very frustrating. One of the Heroes coworkers/watchers suggested I check for it at the library. And after some hits and misses, I borrowed the entire first season on DVD from an area library.

I had already struggled through four or five episodes online, but now I'm going to really start flying through the rest of season 1 on DVD. There have been more than 70 episodes through the first three seasons, so there's no way I'll catch up in time to watch the season premiere of season 4 at the end of this month. But since they only show one a week and I can watch more than that, I should catch up eventually.

Good show, so far.

We're gettin there

LSU answers with 17 straight points. It's amazing how many third downs they convert. It seems like every time I've watched them this season. They've converted tons of third and fourth down plays. They certainly don't rattle easily.



This is shaping up to be a good one. Feels like Ohio St is close to breaking big plays every other snap.

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BCS Championship

I love college football, always have. I miss the days when all the best bowl games were on January 1, but having the championship on a day of it's own is cool, too.



I was looking forward to tonight's matchup. Two teams I can root for and two coaches I kind of like. Tressel is all business, but Les Miles is a spirited gambler.



Ohio State threatening to go up by two scores, which would be a disappointment. Hoping for a game like the USC-Texas thriller a few years ago. Haven't figured out who I want to win. I'll feel it soon, I think.



Ohio St bogs down and settles for a FG. 10-0.

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Since I have a blog

I have to fulfill the legal obligation to comment on Britney Spears. So here goes:

I feel bad for her. I think she's had more than she can handle. I think everything going on right now is sad. I fear she will end up dead soon.

I'm not saying she's not to blame for the situation she's in. But it's still sad to see someone who can't pull themselves out of such a dramatic and dangerous slide.

I'm too young to remember; is this what it was like with Elvis? Were the details all this publicly known?

Point of discussion

Could Dolphin fans make the case that the Patriots better record than the 72 Dolphins doesn't mean they are a better team anymore than the record of this year's Celtics team means they are the best Celtics team ever?

Probably not, but it takes a little bit of a jerk out of the knee.
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Edwards

I’m voting for John Edwards for president.

 

I’m making calls on his behalf and will be door knocking tomorrow in New Hampshire.

Fitness or Transportation? Dumb or smart?

Real cold this morning. Really, really.

One of the nice things about my daily commute is that it takes me by the water...the ocean...the Atlantic one. There are always people walking themselves, their kids or their dogs or jogging along the sidewalks. It's always nice to see the number of bodies out there increase and the layers of clothes decrease as the spring weather begins, then watch the crowds dwindle as leaves brown and fall.

Either way, from the comfort of my car, the ocean is always a pleasant view. And sometimes quite interesting. On a count of it's so big and deep and all, the water in the Atlantic Ocean is sometimes warmer than the air. In fact, on days like this, there's so much of a temperature difference that vapor actually starts to rise off of the surface of the ocean, giving it a really cool look.

So while I was enjoying this view this morning, it came as a stark surprise to see a portly fella rollerblading along the sidewalk bordering the beach. Sure there are always joggers--they're nuttiness can be left for another post someday--and there are the regular schmoes who have to walk the dog or walk to catch a train or bus. But rollerblading? With all the sand and mess on the sidewalks these days? On top of the aforementioned bitter cold?

I couldn't help but wonder* if this was a fitness routine or simply a way of getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Maybe it was exercise. But the guy didn't look like he was a regular rollerblader by the shape of his body or the skill in his stride. So if he was just starting some kind of New Year's resolution gambit he was a lot dumber than he was chubby.

So I was left to conclude that he usually has to walk, but figured that no matter how bad he was on the roller blades, they would get him to his destination and out of the cold faster than his sneakers.

And that made me think he was smarter than I initially gave him credit for.

But DAMN he musta been cold!


*Yes, I've watched Sex and the City with my wife many times.

Happy New Year

to you and yours.

from me and mines.