World Baseball Classic

So the first (and hopefully last) World Baseball Classic is here. I love baseball, but I think this is a dumb idea. First of all, it's spring training time for these players, which usually means non-competitive games to get in shape. Players in this tournament will be expected to go all-out. Expect injuries. Sure, they are well-paid athletes who should be able to run, throw and swing a bat without immediately pulling a hamstring or spraining an achilles. But you know it will happen. Then there's the problem the Cubs face, with both of their regular catchers playing in the WBC. So while they should be getting "in sync" with their own pitching staff, they'll be working in more of an all-star type environment. And what the hell are the rules on this thing anyway? Mike Piazza playing for Italy? He was born in Norristown, PA! Why not have Johnny Damon play for Mexico? I hear he likes tacos. Either have un-signed amateurs play in an Olympic-type event or do this after the season, not before.

Firefall

Whenever I have a complaint about flying I will now think of Firefall. The band put on a great show Saturday night at the Hoogland Center. It was 3 of the 5 members, no drums or flute but wow, these guys sound as good as ever. And they get extra points for humor. They introduced "Just Remember I Love You," by saying "you've heard this in a doctor's office or elevator somewhere." They were very gracious in meeting fans and singing autographs too. Now for the airline story. First, their flight was cancelled and they had to take a later flight. But even worse, one of their guitars was mangled. It is not the guitar pictured, but you get the idea. This isn't an inconvenience of not having your swimsuit because your luggage got routed to Topeka. Or those souveniers you were bringing home for the family wound up in Hoboken. This is the musician's bread and butter. Fortunately they bring more than one guitar to their shows and they managed just fine, but what the heck happened? Did some screener think there was a bomb inside and decide to kick it around to make sure? Were Moe, Larry and Curly loading luggage into the plane? Did the plane encounter massive turbulance in the luggage compartment only? We may never know. Hope their flight back is less eventful.

Democrats and Republicans finally agree!

There's a headline you never thought you'd see! Outside of dire circumstances, like following September 11, or for frivolous things like declaring "National Potato Chip Day" the two major political parties in this country don't agree on much. Yet many on both sides agree the deal to turn control of several US ports over to a company from United Arab Emirates makes no sense. Let's forget for a minute that it's a middle-east country. My question, why are we outsourcing control of ports (and therefore US security) to begin with? A British company had controlled these ports in New York, Baltimore, New Jersey, Philly, New Orleans and Miami. Why not a US company? Or could we make this a federally controlled operation, like the NTSB? After all, how closely are these companies monitored? Who has ultimate say of who is working there? Granted, the Coast Guard is still in charge of security, but let's make sure all the bases are covered to prevent nuclear or biological material from getting in. By the way
this New York Daily News article explains why this may be happening. Two administration big wigs have ties to the UAE firm. Money talks, but maybe not this time.

Updating the Olympics

Have you been following the Olympics? I have been watching here and there. It seems viewership is down this year. In fact, the other night American Idol beat the Olympics for total viewers. Well, that gives me an idea. Perhaps it's time to update the games. How about an American Idol type competition to determine who goes to the big show? I can see it now, Simon: "That is the worst skating I've ever seen, you call that a triple-axle?" Randy: "Congratulations, dawg, you're going to Torino!" Brian wrote on his blog about his fascination with curling, how about combining it with another ice sport, hockey? Imagine trying to line up a shot and pow! someone gets checked. A fight breaks out on the ice. I'm just saying it could improve the ratings. Well, I'm going to be watching this weekend, but I'll be dreaming of the day "extreme figure skating" becomes a reality.

Send someone a Valentine butt!

Happy Valentine's Day! Did you ever wonder how the valentine heart shape came to be? It looks a little like a human heart, without all the yucky veins and whatnot. But no less an authority than Discovery Channel has posted a theory that perhaps the shape is meant to symbolize a woman's butt. Read the article
here. The Greeks apparantly worshipped the "goddess with the beautiful buttocks." Bet the pews were never empty!

Get out the crazy glue!

Did you hear about the guy in Britian who was visiting a museum and broke "three Qing dynasty vases, dating from the late 17th or early 18th century." He tripped on his shoelace and just knocked them over! Seems they should have been behind a glass or something. I am occasionally klutzy but I can't top this. The unfortunate guy has been banned from the museum. I was just thinking of some other businesses that better beware when this guy comes a-callin'. Imagine you're a car dealer and he wants to take a test drive. Will he even make it out of the parking lot? Lincoln's home, look out! He might track mud on the carpet, spill something on a historic document, maybe even set the curtains on fire! I'd have him in for an interview but first, he's in England and second, there's way too much expensive equipment around here!

Super Bowl

Well I watched the big game, even though I'm not into either team. I think that sums it up for most of us. You watch because it's an event. The spectacle is what you're really watching and in my opinion this one didn't disappoint. The Stones proved they can still rock, kind of. I wish they had done some kind of medley though, instead of just 3 songs. And thanks to Vicki for sending me Mick's quote "I'd rather be dead than singing Satisfaction when I'm 45." He did that song last night...at 62!
The commercials weren't all great, but I thought there were some standouts. You can watch most of them
here.They're missing the Leonard Nimoy Aleve ad, which I liked. Make sure you check out the Budweiser Clydesdale dream, if you haven't seen it and the Fed Ex commercial too. Oh, and I was fortunate enough to be at a friend's house watching in hi-def. The dinosaurs in that commercial looked great in HD! So did the game, of course. Nice to see Bettis get a Super Bowl ring and play in his home city before retiring. Maybe the Bears will be in it next year and I'll be a little more excited about the whole thing.