Cubs Win!

2 games behind...here we go!

Harry Potter

No, I don't have a review of the new book. I haven't read it. I don't think it's evil or anything, any more than "Glenda the Good Witch" from Wizard of Oz. I'm just not a fan. But I thought having something about Harry Potter might drive more traffic to the site. Wish me luck!

You got your peanut butter on my banana!

Reeses has come out with a limited edition candy and I must admit it's pretty tasty. In honor of Elvis and his peanut butter and banana sandwiches, it's peanut butter cups with banana creme. Good things come at a price. The king sized cups feature 21 grams of fat per serving. Before eating too many, take a look at an Elvis picture from later in his career. Yup, you may want to go easy on those! I'm trying to remember other candy based on famous people. The Reggie bar which came out during Jackson's heyday with the Yankees comes to mind. Any others?

I'm not bitter or anything

OK, Vermont won the Simpsons premiere fair and square. If it was otherwise, it can't be proven. But I had to ask Homer, Vermont? Really? He wasn't much help, staring straight ahead as if in a trance. In fact, the whole Simpson family seemed less than forthcoming with any answers. (Thanks Sue for the pic.) The only semi-cohesive thought I got was from Bart, who told me "don't have a cow, man." Perhaps there is some trickery here. Was something put in the Simpsons donuts that made them so stone-faced? I think they know something about the contest that they're not telling. Look at their eyes. Perhaps a memory-erasing drug was used. Upon hearing my allegation, Homer was heard hungrily mumbling, "mmmmmm, memory-erasing drug!"

Avett Bros

Saw a good show this week. The Avett Brothers were here in Springfield at the Hoogland Center for the Arts, where Men At Work's Colin Hay will be appearing later this month. It's music that's almost impossible to describe. One brother plays a guitar and high hat, the other plays banjo and a kick drum. There's also a standup bass player and a guy who plays a cello (I think that's what it's called.) With that accoustic arrangement, they manage to play loud and get the whole crowd into it. Go see them if they are appearing near you. Oh, the pic is of Chitlin who opened the show along with local favs, Big Fur. Chitlin has a very sweet voice and as you can see, a mohawk. Have a great weekend!

Oh Crap!

There were 3 possible stories to put on here today. One is that Springfield Illinois lost out to Vermont in the Simpsons Premiere contest. Vermont, home of teddy bears and Ben and Jerrys, just doesn't strike me as the Simpsons home. Anyway, the other story was of a wrecking ball that got detached from a crane and went crashing down a street, ultimately smashing into the back of a guy's car.

But by far the one story that I can't get out of my head is of the heroic rescue of a motorist by some sanitation workers. Seems a pickup had wrecked and caught fire. The driver was dead, his passenger trapped and the flames were out of control. How did the sanitation guys put out the fire with their truck full of raw sewerage near by? You guessed it. "Hey, thanks guys for saving my life!" "Uh, no problem...we'll shake your hand later." http://www.wjbf.com/midatlantic/jbf/news_index.apx.-content-articles-JBF-2007-07-09-0007.html

Uniforms

Baseball is the topic today, and one of my favorite topics at that. It's a game I loved as a kid and still do today. I remember the goofy, colorful uniforms of the 80s. I'm not advocating a return of the Cubs light blue pinstripes or the Astros every-color-in-the-rainbow shirts. But some teams do need to take another look at their wardrobe choices. Take a look at the Pirates red or orange-red shirts. They just don't look right. Bring back the black and yellow! And Washington's uniform while adequate, looks similar to Arizona's new duds. Everybody seems to love red these days. We need something different. Just a thought.

Unwanted mail

OK, the spammers got me today. Usually the subject line promising discount home mortgages, free dinner or naked pictures of some celebrity do not fool me and I delete the e-mail without even reading it. But this one had a person's name and the subject "question." Could it be a listener or a blog reader with a question about something? Perhaps a life or death question (like I would know the answer anyway!) So I clicked on it, only to be greeted with the question of whether I wanted a discount on a certain purple pill. Now there's not much we can do about it, even a spam blocker lets some of it through. But if you're tired of the regular junk mail, you can get on a list just like the do not call list. https://www.directmail.com/directory/mail_preference/?ref=G Hey, you might save a tree or two. I signed up. Will it work? I'll let you know.

Doh!

Don't forget to vote for your favorite Springfield to host the premiere of the Simpsons movie. You need broadband and the latest version of Java evidently. And supposedly you can vote once a day, but I voted yesterday and it's not letting me today. Oh well, it's fun to see all the videos. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/simpsons-contest.htm