Sitting on your hands is nice...

...but a much better State of the Union protest would have been if all the Democrats got up and walked out when Bush started talking.

Would it be a huge violation of Washington protocol? Sure.

But it would have made a much bigger statement regarding the war in Iraq, and the general approach that the administration has taken over the past four years or so.

What could Bush do in retaliation? Spend hundreds of billions fighting a war they don't agree with? Deploy a missile defense systems they don't support? Nominate conservative justices to the Supreme Court?

At the same time, the commentators tonight mentioned the previously reported rumours of the Democratic party looking for a primary challenger for Joe Lieberman due to his support for the war. Here's a tip, jackasses, you need every one of those congressional seats you can get. How about you don't waste the time, effort, and dollars needed to take back the seats you don't currently have in an effort to knock off a member of your own side?

Hi Theo

You know the part in the beginning of Swingers when Mikey and the guy who is later in Office Space are talking in the diner, and the guy from Office Space tells Mikey that his ex-girlfriend will only come back once he's totally gotten over her? That's how I feel about Theo Epstein coming back to the Red Sox.

I mean, look, Ben and Jerry's even had a flavor named for his replacements! What, did Theo suddenly get over the whole "I don't care about money, I just want to help the poor like my brother" thing?

Can Jay-Z Ever Stay On Message?

Ok, maybe I'm the only one who feels this way, but seriously, can Jay-Z stay on message?

He seems to have a habit of popping up on other people's songs, only to deliver a cool little rap that bears no relation to the rest of the song he's on.

A prime example is Jay-Hova showing up on Kanye West's "Diamonds from the Sierra Leone." Does he rap about diamonds? Modern day slavery? Or anything else that Kanye is so earnestly talking about?

Nooooooooooo. It's all about Jay-Z, how he used to sell crack, his career isn't really over, etc. It sounds great and all, but what does it have to do with the song? It's the equivilant if Donald Rumsfeld got on the mic at a Pentagon press conference, kicked some knowledge about how great the Iraq war is going, turned the mic over the Peter Pace, the chairman of the joint chiefs, and Pace busted a rap about how much money he's going to make once he retires and goes to work consulting for big defense contractors or whatever.

Another example -- Jay shows up on Beyonce's "Crazy in Love." She's talking about how crazy in love she is (probably with him) and what does he do? Talk about how awesome his rap skills are. It's the equivilant if my wife snuggled up to me and spent a few minutes talking about how much she loves me, and why, and my response was to agree and add a few things she missed.

People Who've Covered "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding Include:

Steve Earle
The Ataris
Keb Mo
Whitney Houstan

05/06 Patriots

Hey, they still won the division. And Flutie's drop-kick made the whole season worthwhile in my book.

Fun with Sports and Bars

While I love football, bar food, and of course, beer, I sometimes crack up at the way bars try to market themselves around sporting events. I'm on the email list for one local place (I've blocked out the name) because they have great food and it gives more coupons for free stuff sometimes. I got this email from them the other day. After you read it, check out the response I was considering sending them.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Yep. Once Again We Predict a Skins Victory!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jeremy

Look at it this way. When they win, where do you want to be?
Home alone or at XXXX with a crowd of Skins fans, a ton
of TV's and all the great food you love to eat (not to mention
plenty of cold beverages) So don't be left out - get in here
tomorrow and watch the game at your friendly neighborhood
XXXX. Oh and enjoy the Skins victory. We will for
sure.

Get your butt in here Saturday and be sure to come early!!!

Okay if you can't make it, don't forget to stock up on Wings,
Chili and Nachos to go. We have the best Wings in town you
know that and your friends will say, "Outta sight man!"

XXXX - General Manager


-------


Dear XXXX:

What's up dawg? I am just as psyched as you are
for the Skin's game tomorrow! I know that they are
going to beat Seattle! Those Starbucks drinking
punks won't know what hit them! The only good thing
that ever came out of that place is grunge music,
and that trend has been dead since like 1996. Am I
right or am I right? Anyway, you KNOW I wouldn't be
watching the game alone, and I always love to watch
it with a bunch of other Skins fans on all those TVs
at your place -- not to mention all the cold
beverages and the wings -- but I've got a nap
scheduled that conflicts with the Skins/Seattle
game.

Maybe next time.
BubbaRay

Random Thoughts from an NBA Game

I attended a Washington Wizards game at the MCI (soon to be Verizon) Center last night with my friend Steve. Like most people there, we had corporate tickets that we didn't pay for. Here are a few things I thought about:

1) We got to our seats about five minutes before introductions/tip-off. There must have been a total of roughly 200 people there at that point.

2) Is it really necessary for the PA system to keep blaring rap music DURING the play?

3) Can anyone reliably hit an open jumper or a relatively uncontested layup?

4) No? OK, can anyone reliably bring the ball up the court without any press going on and not cough up the ball?

5) Those inflatable sticks are fun to bang and stuff, but it's annoying when the guy behind you is doing it in your ear. And no, I'm not being a hypocrite, because there was no one in front of me in my section for the entire game.

6) If some dufus is going to get called out of the crowd and has an oportunity to hit a 3-point shot and if he hits, the whole crowd gets free pizza, and he misses badly (skimmed the backboard, no rim), he's just making things worse if he grabs the ball and follows up with an airball.

7) If little kids are going to be featured in a dunk contest on like 4 foot rims during a time out, they should to more than basic dunks with 2-hands in front. I want to see windmills, behind the back or through the legs moves....is this what dunk contests are going to look like when these kids inherit the earth?

8) However, the young kids (junior high or younger) who played some game at half time were really short, but they appeared to have better fundamentals than the NBA players.

9) So NBA basketball in DC in 2006 isn't what NBA basketball was in Boston in 1986, but from what I've heard, it's not in Boston in 2006 either. Hopefully it's more similar though.

10) One last funny thing before I christen myself Bill Simmons: I'm in the elevator in the parking garage on the way in, and a man is there with his little son who was wearing a Virginia Tech sweatshirt. I look at the kid, then look at the man and say "He's not going to stomp on my leg, is he?"

It took the guy a second to realize I was referring to Marcus Vick's bowl game antics (the look on his face initially was that he thought I was referring to the fact that the two of them were black) but he thought it was funny.

My Blog...Now with links!

Thank you, DanTobinDanTobin!

Too much Toads at Barnes and Noble

I don't think it was very noble at all for them not to carry ANY Thin Lizzy CDs while they had several copies of everything in the Toad the Wet Sproaket oavre.

Has time not been kind to Thin Lizzy? I remember when they were classic rock, and Toad were relatively popular newcomers that could easily be relegated to the "new crap that is on the radio" catagory. Thin Lizzy didn't even have a card marking their spot in the Ts!

It made me mad enough to punch a National's fan in the nuts.

Already screwed up the resolutions

...by breaking the one about "not reading any more books about the 2004 Red Sox."

My will power is really astounding.