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November Miscellany

Politics, Race, Comics, Music, Sports, Weather – we do it all

U.S. Thanksgiving Day, we drove from Albany to Oneonta, and saw the temperature rise from 44 and fog to 52 to 68F in a little more than an hour. Then that afternoon, the temperature plummeted, where it’s been ever since.
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I received this question, as did a number of other bloggers: “I’d be interested in your reaction to this: An effort underway to remove Pelosi as Speaker, and make way for impeachment. Details. What flaws do you see with this plan; and is there a way to block this?”

As I’ve made abundantly clear, I favor the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. But the idea of impeaching Pelosi for her “high crimes and misdemeanors” of NOT impeaching them in order to impeaching them seems a bit surreal. Actually, it reminds me of a maneuver of my former church whereby the associate pastor was removed in order to make way for removing the senior pastor, except that it took 10 years to actually remove the senior pastor.

Regardless, the impeachment of Nancy Pelosi is highly unlikely to happen. And even if it did, impeachment of Bush/Cheney won’t happen. The Democrats are too risk averse. And oddly, from everything I’ve read, impeachment might very well STRENGTHEN the Democrats as it did in 1974, and as it did for the Republicans in 1868.
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The current TV Guide lists the current Presidential candidates’ favorite television programs. Will Fred Hembeck support Barack Obama, now that Obama’s come out in favor of SponngeBob Squarepants? And speaking of Fred, read Hembeck: Court Jester of Comics, an interview by Peter Sanderson in Publishers’ Weekly.
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A couple things I learned from ADD, one directly, one indirectly:
Tom Spurgeon’s Holiday Shopping Guide and
an interview with David Michaelis, biographer of Charles Schulz. Oh, and Gordon says nice things about the book about the creator of the Peanuts comic strip.
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I don’t really follow college football, and don’t like how the polls determine rankings; I’m more of an NFL fan. Still, I prefer the way cthe college game settles ties, with each team getting a chance or two (or three, in the case of Arkansas’ upset of LSU last week) to the randomness of the coin toss to determine who’ll get the ball first, and quite possibly, score and win.
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Cracked.com shows video clips of 8 of The 9 Most Racist Disney Characters:
#9. The Merchant from Aladdin
#8. Sebastian from The Little Mermaid
#7. The Crows from Dumbo
#6. King Louie from The Jungle Book
#5. The Siamese Twin Gang from Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers
#4. Sunflower the Centaur from Fantasia
#3. The Indians from Peter Pan
#2. Uncle Remus from Song of the South
#1. Thursday from Mickey Mouse and the Boy Thursday (Book)
The Little Mermaid clip surprised me, but I see its validity on the list.
Even though I feel uncomfortable with Song of the South – I do remember it in re-release c. 1960, I think, the movement to get Song of the South released on video doesn’t bother me. Not to say that I’ll buy it.
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Also from Cracked.com: Ridiculous Overseas Rip-Offs of American Films, including a hysterical “Thriller” from India, a cheesy “Star Wars” from Turkey, and this Beatles Indian riff featuring, of all people, Mark Cuban:

ROG

Pigskin musings

I try not to follow football until the baseball season’s over. There are pennant races to follow – boy, I hope the Phillies aren’t the wild card and end up playing the Mets in the playoffs, because they seem to have the Mets’ number – and milestones to reach – last night, Jim Thome is the third person THIS SEASON, after Alex Rodriguez and Frank Thomas, to reach 500 career home runs.

Still, I can’t help but notice that, after two weeks, the three NY/NJ NFL teams are a combined 0-6, losing by an average of double digits, while the former dregs of the league, the Detroit Lions and the Houston Oilers, I mean, Texans, are each 2-0. Even the lowly Arizona Cardinals have managed to win a game. It’s gonna be a LOOOONG season.

But there were three stories that caught my attention, all involving teams in the AFC East, sorta. One was the New England coach Bill Belichick spying story. I think I was more annoyed by the “It’s over, and we’re moving on” comment than the actual cheating. “Moving on”, without acknowledging responsibility, is hollow. The one silly thing that came from this is this video that someone found called Leave Belichick Alone. It’s based on Leave Britney Alone. (And if you haven’t seen THAT classic, or its many imitators, go to YouTube and search Leave Britney Alone (or Leave Brittany Alone – spelling doesn’t seem to matter.)

The second is the continuing saga of former Buffalo Bills running back Orenthal James Simpson, accused of stealing sports memorabilia that may or may not have been his. Someone commented, “You know, if he’s convicted, it’ll be a first offense.” That boggled my mind, but as far as I know, the only judgments against him so far are of the civil, not criminal, variety.

The final story is that ultimately heartwarming story of current Bills running back Kevin Everett, who suffered a potentially life-threatening spine fracture in a game last week. But thanks to innovative treatment involving the cooling of the body temperature, Everett, doctors are encouraged that, instead of being a paraplegic, he may actually actually walk again. Damn, I love this story.
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The New York Times will stop charging for access to parts of its Web site, effective at midnight tonight.

ROG

Playing The Whole Album?

Interesting stuff in this past Friday’s Weekend Journal of the Wall Street Journal, even if Murdock IS buying it.

One piece was Hollywood Report: Up Next — Your Favorite Album; In Concerts, Bands Play CDs, First Track to Last; Battling the iPod Effect by Ethan Smith. WSJ. Aug 3, 2007. pg. W.1

Abstract (Summary)
The impetus behind the current wave of live album concerts comes from England, and in particular from Barry Hogan, the 35-year-old London-based founder and director of an influential music festival called All Tomorrow’s Parties. “When you see a band you love, how often are you sitting there thinking, ‘Why are they doing this new stuff?'” Mr. Hogan asks. And after having asked himself that question one too many times, he decided to do something about it. In 2005 he launched a concert series, related to All Tomorrow’s Parties, called Don’t Look Back. That series has presented around two dozen alt-rock artists playing beloved albums in their entirety — from Iggy Pop’s Stooges playing 1970’s “Fun House” to the Cowboy Junkies doing 1990’s “The Trinity Session.”

Despite sellout crowds, Mr. [Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick] acknowledges that in some ways, the concerts were “goofy.” For one thing, the order in which songs appear on an album might not make sense in concert. “If the producer didn’t think there were 10 or 12 killer songs, he’d top load the sequence” with potential hits, Mr. Carlos says. That means that in concert, a band might end up closing with the weakest material of the night. Another problem: There were some songs on the albums that the band had never played live, and they struggled with them. A few were rearranged as acoustic numbers, to give themselves a breather. “We were young men when we did ’em originally,” Mr. Carlos says.

Other artists have taken a more maximalist approach. For the just-completed European tour during which he played his 1973 album “Berlin,” [Lou Reed] was backed by a 30-piece orchestra. Mr. Reed played a brief series of “Berlin” concerts in New York last year, but his manager, Tom Sarig, says he is unsure whether the rocker will perform the album elsewhere in the U.S.

Besides Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Cheap Trick, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters has played live versions of “Dark Side of the Moon”, and Sonic Youth hit the road to play “Daydream Nation”.

This fall, Lucinda Williams will play a week in NYC and LA with each night featuring a complete performance of one of her five most prominent albums, such as 1998’s “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.” But during a second set, she’ll play selections from her 2007 release “West.”

Interesting. I’ve know of other artists, notably Phish, playing a whole album, but not the actual artist, except once in 1989 in Albany when I saw Joe Jackson play the entire first half of Blaze of Glory, then some other tunes, then the entire second half; the audience was unfamiliar, and therefore not very happy, as some folks walked around the Palace Theater, somewhat bored.

Another piece, on sports: By the Numbers: The Best at Keeping Batters Off Base
Allen St. John. WSJ: Aug 3, 2007. pg. W.3

Abstract (Summary)
In the American League, the BABE list also is topped by two young pitchers, each of whom were crucial pieces in big trades. Dan Haren of the Oakland A’s, acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals for Mark Mulder, has posted a .378 BABE. (Underscoring Billy Beane’s acumen in identifying promising young pitchers is the fact that A’s draft pick Joe Blanton is third in the AL with a .393 BABE.) Behind Mr. Haren is Josh Beckett of the Boston Red Sox, who’s rewarding the faith that General Manager Theo Epstein displayed when he traded two prized prospects to the Florida Marlins for the hard-throwing righty.

One thing that the BABE list shows us is how volatile the pitching side of the game is. The BOP list of top hitters tends to be quite consistent from season-to-season, with such players as Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez keeping their places at the top alongside sleepers such as Carlos Guillen of the Detroit Tigers. But many of the league’s top pitchers are pretty far down on the BABE list this season. Last year’s National League BABE champ, Brandon Webb of the Arizona Diamonsbacks, is 14th on this season’s list with a .406 mark, two slots behind John Maine of the New York Mets (.402). Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays, the 2003 AL Cy Young winner and last year’s AL runner up in BABE, is 18th on this year’s list — behind journeyman Ted Lilly of the Chicago Cubs. And Oliver Perez of the Mets (.421, 23rd), who a year ago was demoted to the minors by the pitching-starved Pittsburgh Pirates, ranks ahead of two-time Cy Young winner, and defending AL BABE leader, Johan Santana (.423, 25th).

The writer talks about BABE, or bases per batter. BABE starts with a pitcher’s total bases allowed (the sum of his hits allowed plus one extra point for each double, two extra for each triple and three extra for each homer). When you add in walks issued and batters hit by a pitch, the sum is Grand Total Bases. Divide GTB by the number of batters a pitcher has faced, and the result is BABE. The lower that number, the better a pitcher has been at minimizing the number of bases issued to opposing batters.

There’s a third article in that edition, about a Indie Film festival in New Zealand. Also, in the Saturday edition, there’s this: “New Labor Moves: Belly Dancing Hits Delivery Room; Connection to Childbirth May Have Ancient Origins”, which I sent to our Bradley instructor, our doula, and the only belly dancer I know personally; the former, at least LOVED the piece. If you’re interested in the full text of any of these pieces and can’t access them, e-mail me.
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It’s sports Hall of Fame season. First the baseball event with a record 75,000 in Cooperstown, then football in Canton and horse racing in Saratoga. Jaquandor provided not only the football story about a guy who played for the only team in NYS, but directed me to a story about Barry Bonds, which pretty much covers my position. The Buffalo guy also notes: “As for people who suggest that his record carry an asterisk in the record books, wouldn’t any batting title from the steroid era also require an asterisk?…Hell, if as many players took steroids as are commonly supposed, shouldn’t the entire yearly standings of Major League Baseball carry an asterisk in that period?” But I know mine’s a minority opinion; in some AOL instant “poll”, 65% were shocked, shocked I tell you, that Barry Bonds should get any kudos at all.
ROG

Super Bowl revisited

I finished watching the Super Bowl at 11:47 pm Sunday night. Yeah, I know it didn’t run that long. I finished watching the pregame last night.

I don’t think I’m THAT selfish. Most TV I watch pre-recorded. The Grammys? DVR, mostly to see, this year, the re-formed Police. The Oscars? Like to watch for the speeches, not who wins. (Note to self: watch the Golden Globes before Oscar night or delete ’em.) As for the baseball playoffs and World Series, I tended to watch until 9 or so, then get up early the next morning and fast-forward through the rest.

I’ve watched the bulk of the football playoffs on the five-inch black-and-white set, while Carol and Lydia watched skating on the 19-inch color set. I offered to go to a sports bar on Sunday to watch the Super Bowl, but was told that I didn’t need to do that. All I wanted to do was watch about six hours of mind-rotting football/commerce once a year in more-or-less real time, including about half of the pregame.

The wife asked earlier in the week whether she could go to the movies on Sunday, and I’d watch the child. Well…what time? 1 or 4. Yikes, not 4! So she went at 1 to see Freedom Writers, which she liked, BTW. Then she asked me at 4:30 if I wanted to take Lydia for a walk. I’m pretty sure I whined something, and she relented. (It was also COLD out.)

Anyway, I ended up taping the pregame, which allowed me to show the wife the segment about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Hines Ward and his Korean heritage Tuesday night. (She really liked it, as I suspected she would.)

The great thing about the DVR is that I can pause live TV, and I did, several times, to eat with the family, to make Lydia feel better when she had a table crash on her, to change Lydia. The tricky thing about the Super Bowl is that I DON’T fast forward through the commercials, as I do through usual TV.

End of pout.

Anyway, here are this year’s Super Bowl commercials, watched only once each (unless they were broadcast more than once), to ascertain whether I 1) remembered them and 2) liked them.

NFL: Chad Johnson’s Super Bowl Party
Martha Stewart, Janet Reno, Jimmy Fallon and David Beckham all gather together for a Super Bowl bash.
This was so grainy or out-of-focus that I didn’t recognize any of those people in the commercial except Fallon.

Pizza Hut: Cheesy Bites and Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson glides down the red carpet, all for the tasty Cheesy Bites pizza.
My cultural illiteracy is such that I wasn’t sure if that was JS, or someone feigning to be JS. Eh.

Ford: New F-Series Super Duty
The new Ford F-Series gets broken down into tons of tiny pieces.
For whatever reason, I tend not to remember motor vehicle ads very often, including this one.

Bud Light: Rock, Paper, Scissors
Bud Light shows why playing “Rock, Paper, Scissors” probably isn’t the best way to determine who gets the last beer.
There is a bit of a mean/violent streak in a number of these commercials. Here’s one, which I didn’t enjoy, in part because I guessed the punchline before it occurred.

Blockbuster: Mouse
The Blockbuster rabbit and guinea pig are back, but they need a little help learning how to use a mouse.
Have they used these characters during the year? It’s not that it was SO memorable two years ago. They should reprise the characters later in the year to maximize their effectiveness for the SB. That ad was OK. But the poor mouse!

Doritos: Crash the Super Bowl
A finalist for the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest.
Visually unappealing.

Sierra Mist: Beard Comb Over
That beard comb over isn’t fooling anybody. But, Sierra Mist Free tastes just like regular Sierra Mist!
Don’t know if I liked this because I like Jim Gaffigan, or what. It’s very silly.

SalesGenie.com
SalesGenie.com will give you 100 free leads for signing up right now!
This was so cheesy that I thought it was a local ad.

Sierra Mist: Karate Class
How will you defend your Sierra Mist?
I didn’t get the point of this ad, which featured Gaffigan and Michael Ian Black, both of Ed, now that I think of it. Seemed dopey.

Toyota: Tundra Stops on a Dime
The Toyota Tundra has awesome breaking power.
I said that I didn’t pay attention to vehicle commercials, but this one I remember as pretty darned impressive, if you care about that type of thing.

Fedex: Office on the Moon
Behold, the zero-gravity moon based office of the not too distant future.
Better in concept than execution, which is how I find many FedEx SB commercials. The puns were a bit sophmoric.

Bud Light: Auctioneer Wedding
With an auctioneer presiding over the services you can get to the beer faster.
Not big yuck funny, because it telegraphed the joke, but OK.

Snickers: Kiss
There’s nothing more sensual than sharing a sweet, delicious Snickers with your best friend.
The great controversial ad of 2007. I’ve heard earlier versions of this had the guys going at each other with wrenches and other tools after “the kiss”. It wasn’t so much offensive as it was so “Brokeback”, and after a dozen parodies, and aware of hundreds more, it seemed…dated.

Schick: Quatro Science
Super Bowl Ads – Four blades are better than 3, are better than 2, are better than…
Saw it, don’t really remember it.

Pride (Lionsgate)
A new sports drama from Lionsgate.
Vaguely recall.

Chevrolet: Everybody Loves a Chevy (General Motors)
There’s Chevy car for everybody.
Don’t recall.

Bud Light: Language Course with Carlos Mencia
Carlos Mencia teaches all the different ways to ask for a Bud Light.
I’m sure some people were offended by this one. Liked the punchline more than the setup, Holmes.

Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)
David Letterman and Oprah cuddle up to watch the game.
My favorite commercial. Worked on SO many levels: he’s from Indiana, she’s in Chicago; the feud, followed by her blockbuster appearance; the Oprah-Uma thing Letterman did at the Oscars. Sublime.

GoDaddy.com: Marketing
Everybody wants to work at GoDaddy marketing when it’s a room full of sexy girls.
Saw this three times, I think, and each time I went, “Eh.”

Coca-Cola: Grand Theft Auto
It’s the Coke side of life with Grand Theft Auto.
I think I want to see this again. It was too busy on a first watch, but I wasn’t turned off by it.

Budweiser: Fake Dalmatian
A little dog feels down and out, then the next thing you know he’s got his own parade.
Awww! Not as clever as some of the others in the series.

Garmin: Ultraman
Garmin Ultraman will defeat the evil map beast!
Visually irritating.

CareerBuilder: Office Jungle
Do you feel like your job is a horrible jungle?
I’ve been there, so I related to this one.

Doritos Crash the Super Bowl: Checkout Girl
This checkout girl gets a little excited over all the new Doritos flavors.
Need to watch again, because I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

GM: Car Wash Dudes (General Motors)
Stripping gentlemen are here to wash your Chevy!
Here’s the real problem with this ad: I can’t see the car. Reminded me of a segment of The Apprentice (my wife watched, I was in the room) where both teams were supposed to make a commercial for a body wash, and the ads were both SO bad, neither team won the challenge.

American Heart Association: Gotta Have Heart
Diabetes and obesity beat up a poor little heart. Take care of the guy!
This ran at least twice. Yeah, yeah, take care of your heart, but this won’t help me do so. That violent streak in the SB commercials continues.

NFL: NFL and United Way
NFL and United Way want you to step-up and volunteer your time.
I’ve become inured to NFL soft-and-fuzzy commercials. They become like wallpaper.

Bud Light: Slapping
Instead of a handshake, try slapping the other person real hard in the face.
More violence. Didn’t particularly like. Irritating frat boy stuff. (But I can imagine other people actually doing it.)

GM: Robot (General Motors)
A car-building robot is nearly driven to the edge by an insatiable demand for perfection.
Bob Garfield’s position on this was exactly the same as mine, which is that it reminded me that GM is llaying off people, and nobody can build a decent car for them. (See below.)

Coca-Cola: History
Coke celebrates Black History Month.
Don’t remember specifically..

Wild Hogs (Walt Disney Pictures)
A new type of road movie starring John Travolta, Tim Allen, and William H. Macy.
Saw the trailer for this movie in the theater, which I probably won’t see, so didn’t pay the ad much attention.

Sprint: Connectile Dysfunction
Do you suffer from Connectile Dysfunction?
Don’t remember.

Frito-Lay: Enjoy the Game
Frito-Lay celebrates Black History Month.
Don’t remember this, specifically. I remember SOMETHING about Black History Month, but don’t know which ad was which.

Coca-Cola: What Else Haven’t I Done?
When an elderly gentleman tries a Coke for the first time, it acts as a catalyst for all kinds of experiences.
I like the idea of this commercial more than the real thing, but didn’t hate it.

Honda: Ridgeline
The new Honda Ridgeline hauls quite a load indeed.
Oddly fond of this one.

Toshiba: HD DVD
Experience the thrilling new Toshiba HD DVD.
Don’t remember.

GM: Chevy is America’s Favorite
Every twelve seconds, somebody buys a new Chevy.
Don’t remember.

NFL: Making a Difference
The NFL does its part to help make a difference in the community.
Don’t remember.

Nissan: Auto Claustrophobia
The new, and affordable, Nissan Versa puts an end to squashed hair-dos and auto claustrophobia.
Am I not paying attention anymore?

Panasonic: Toughbook
The Panasonic Toughbook can take all the abuse you can dish out.
Nope, don’t remember.

Acura: Dreamer
Acura dreams up new innovations to keep them one step ahead of the rest.
Nope.

Bud Light: What Would Carlos Do?
What would Carlos Mencia do in a situation like this? Hilarious.
Did see this, or maybe I’m confusing it with the previous Carlos ad. BTW, the notion of the minority person giving others as little info as possible reminds me of something I read years ago from a black female writer of note that the character should offer up as little info as possible.

Meet the Robinsons (Walt Disney Pictures)
The latest animated feature from Disney about a quirky family in the not-too-distant future.
Eh.

E*TRADE: Bank Robbery
You’d never guess who the perpetrators are of this bank robbery.
OK, hit me over the head: your financial institution is robbing you blind. Irritating.

Coca-Cola: Happiness Factory
So just what happens when you put your money inside of the vending machine?
OK, on first view.

Bud Light: Gorillas
Gorillas trapped inside a zoo plan to steal themselves some Bud Light.
Better in concept than execution.

Revlon: Sheryl Crow
Revlon challenged Sheryl Crow to go on tour with their new hair color.
This ad had been teased during the pregame. Eh. But I do admire the resilience of the singer, who seems to have recreated herself a couple times. Not enough to actually buy her albums, though.

CareerBuilder: Office Jungle Fight
The office turns into Lord of the Flies when you’re fighting for a promotion.
Good thing CareerBuilder ran three ads, for even though I enjoyed the ad, I still didn’t remember the name of the company.

Taco Bell: Lions
Lions discuss the proper pronunciation of carne asada.
Eh. A followup, I noticed later, of a pregame ad.

Van Heusen: A Man’s Walk (Phillips-Van Heusen)
This guy’s got some stylish clothes.
Don’t remember.

Toyota: Tundra is Powerful
The Toyota Tundra climbs up an extremely steep crane.
Liked. OK, I liked quite a bit.

Emerald Nuts: Robert Goulet
Beware of Robert Goulet, for he will mess with your stuff once you fall asleep.
They should repeat it during the year, could be a successful conmmercial. Bob Goulet, perpetrator of ersatz cool. I rather liked it.

T-Mobile: Dwyane Wade and Charles Barkley
Charles Barkley is old news…Dwyane Wade is where it’s at!
Saw this before the SB. It’s OK.

FedEx: Don’t Judge
FedEx advises us not to judge a book by its cover.
Remember it. Maybe with repeated viewings, it’ll be more interesting.

Nationwide: K-Fed Rollin’ VIP
The now infamous Nationwide spot featuring K-Fed.
What is the problem here? I thought it was fine.

Bud Light: Hitchhiker
Would you pick up a hitchhiker? Would you pick up a hitchhiker if he was carrying a case of Bud Light?
More violence, this time implied. And I liked it, especially the punchline.

Lexus: Gravity
A Lexus gets dropped from a helicopter.
Don’t remember.

Jack in the Box: Just Like Dad
Little Jack follows in his daddy’s footsteps…almost.
Don’t remember.

Footlocker: Kevin Garnett
Meet one guy who isn’t too happy to receive Kevin Garnett’s autograph.
Don’t remember.

Budweiser: Beer-Stealing Crabs
Little sand crabs scuttle away with a cooler full of Budweiser.
Remembered, but have no impression.

Prudential Financial: Rock Solid
Prudential wants to be your rock. How romantic!
Don’t remember.

Honda: CR-V
The CR-V is all glitzy with Elvis playing in the background.
Don’t remember.

HP: Orange County Choppers (Hewlett-Packard)
The boys from Orange County Choppers shill for HP.
Vaguely remember.

IZOD (Phillips-Van Heusen)
The sporty, preppy clothes of IZOD are back.
Vaguely remember.

Budweiser Select: Jay-Z and Don Shula
Jay-Z and Don Shula play a high-tech game of tabletop football a la James Bond.
Remember well. Eh. Slightly irritating, and I’m not sure why.

E*TRADE: One Finger
Oh, the things that you can do with one finger.
The better E*TRADE ad; it DOES have that underlying attitude in the implied punchline.

Flomax: Here’s to Men (Astellas Pharma)
Here’s to men and all of their urinary problems.
I’m sure I saw this and ignored it.

Hannibal Rising (MGM)
Hannibal Rising is the prequel to all of the Silence of the Lambs movies.
Saw it. Eh.

CareerBuilder: Torture
Does your job feel like torture?
I’ve been there. Yes. AND I remember the brand name.

Honda: Fuel Efficient
Little Hondas motor around a slalom of gas pumps.
Seemed amateurish.

Snapple: EGCG
A man journeys to find out what EGCG is.
Do remember. Labored.

NFL: It’s Hard to Say Goodbye
For some football fans, it’s very hard to say goodbye.
An NFL ad I DO remember. It’s OK.

Cadillac: Punk Rock
Decades of Cadillacs melt seamlessly into one another.
OK.

Cadillac: Tiki Barber
Tiki Barber explains why he loves his Caddy.
OK.

Netflix: Billions of Movies
Tons of movie characters take over the landscape as they make their way to people’s homes.
OK, though I was VERY unclear at first just what was going on.

fight Girls Return!
The Miller Catfight Girls return to IFILM in a no-holds-barred manfight between two hot and sweaty beasts.
Eh.
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VIDEO: Bob Garfield Reviews the Super Bowl Commercials. “Why Snicker’s ‘BrokeBack Mountain’ Moment Was One of the Game’s Big Ad Blunders.”
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Found two old friends here, one of whom I’ve been in contact with. Happy, happy, joy, joy.

Repent

In answer to Lefty’s question about the Super Bowl, I said 21-17 Colts (the Colts won 29-17), and that at least one TD will be scored by the defense or special teams, when in fact, there were a couple, the Chicago kickoff return and a Colts interception return. It was as though I knew what I was talking about.

I don’t mind people thanking God in these things, but I AM uncomfortable with the notion that God is on a particular coach’s or team’s side. Was God rooting for Tony Dungy, by all accounts a good Christian man, over Lovie Smith, who is theologically likewise? Somehow, I doubt God cares. Maybe, when I get to heaven, She’ll set me straight.

You know the Bible 100%!

Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses – you know it all! You are fantastic!

Ultimate Bible Quiz
Create MySpace Quizzes

Yeah, yeah, yeah – some of these were gimmes. (Hint: George Burns is NOT the correct answer.) But this is what I want to know:

There’s this sign on Albany-Shaker Road in Albany, about twice the height and twice the width of a #10 envelope. It says: REPENT. I want to know, when someone sees this sign, do they actually repent? To whom do they repent? Then what?

When we were driving to and from Charlotte, NC, on I-81, we saw these series of three crosses, the one in the middle taller than the other two. Yes, I do know what they represent. What I want to know is whether they have the (presumably) desired effect?

I found these series of meme questions:

What is the least appropriate thing to pray for?
Stuff, such as a new X-Box.

If God were to appear briefly before you in any form you could choose, what would you choose?
A tree.

What is the first thing you would say to God? (assume you know for sure it really is God)
You picked a sycamore? I thought you’d go with an oak.

What would be the most morally difficult thing you could be asked to do?
Cause someone physical pain.

If you could only repent for one thing when you die, what one thing would you choose?
I suppose not being patient enough with a couple people who were important in my life. One still is, but not the other.

I found this in the WSJ late last month -an Israeli firm that broadcasts prayers for a fee:
IP Service” src=”http://www.po-ip.co.il//images/grafix/poip_s_banner.gif” width=90 border=0>

And speaking of prayer, Carol’s Aunt Vera Throop, my mother-in-law’s sister died this weekend. Vera’s the first in that family of Olins to have passed on. Carol’s going to the funeral, but I’m not, because I have – for the very first time – jury duty.