This is the Broadview parking lot as the sun is rising Christmas morning.
That's all ice under that snow, too.

My Christmas {Ho Freakin' Ho}

It's O'Dark Thirty on Christmas morning. Okay, it's 4:30am and under any normal circumstances, 4:30am is only a perfect time to be snuggled down between flannel sheets and a blanket snoring soundly. And maybe dreaming, although my dreams have been a little weird lately, mostly due to stress. This morning it would be an even better time to be piled under in the bed, as the Metromess was slammed by snow and sleet yesterday - conveniently while I was at work doing a mid shift in preparation for my ungodly hour of the morning trek in today. So because I know what the roads were like last night before everything had a chance to really freeze good and hard, I know it will be a long drive in this morning. When I got home last night, I had to put some weight in the back of the ol' pick-em-up and I found some - books! Boy do I know from my last move that those suckers get heavy in a hurry. [Don't worry, they're in plastic bins with lids, not exposed to the elements.] I guess this is one time that being a book rat paid off. AT LEAST the wind has stopped blowing everything sideways. 'I should have preloaded the coffee pot before I went to bed' I think to myself. Geez, I went to bed at 10:30! I don't remember the last time I was in bed for the night at 10:30 without having a fever, chills or being drunk. I did manage to get about 6 hours of good sleep, so while I will be groggy, I shouldn't be too bad until the caffeine jitters make it impossible to slug down another cup of Joe - probably about noon. People like hardwood floors, but this is original 1940s technology with no sub floor here and sometimes that chill just comes blowing up through those grooves. This is what sweatpants and socks are for, and I stumble out for my med, vitamin and load the machine. I flip on the tube to get an update on the weather and traffic, but all that's on is the national "Pre Our Usual Morning Show featuring the People with No Seniority" news and there and spots to cut to local weather, but being Christmas, I guess all those folks got the day off. I am waiting for the coffee and my mind wanders a bit. I can remember being up once or twice in the late 400 / early 500 hours on Christmas morning and I'm sure somewhere in this neighborhood, the Christmas magic is playing out. I can really still feel the wonder of a room lit up by blinking Christmas tree lights and seeing what looks like a hundred presents strewn all across the living room. Soon everyone is in the living room in pajamas or sweats and a robe and ripping paper and "ooh"-ing,"all right!"-ing and thanking. Memories of Mattel Electronic football and baseball, albums and books and later Cd's, Star Trek play sets and superhero action figures... The smell of a real tree always make me smile, maybe even this year. This year has just been kind of blah, and not for just me this time. I know a lot of people who have all said that their spirit is just lacking this year. I haven't had one in years because I'm lazy. [Mom didn't have a real tree either.] For years, Christmas hasn't been about me anyway. I've been going out on Christmas Eve and making cookies [and watching A Christmas Story] with my nieces and trying to bond a little with them. Then getting to watch them open presents on Christmas morning. The magic is fading from Shelby - 14 and "Too Cool For Christmas." It will fade from Erin in a couple of years and eventually from Meta, too. Talk about innocence lost - when the kid loses the magic of Christmas, innocence isn't far behind. I caught a bit of the news last night before retiring - inches of snow, blizzards snarl holiday travel. I guess we get used to seeing stories like this when Chicago and Denver get socked in every winter - and who in their right mind routes themselves through those two places between October and March? Our office is right under the landing approach for DFW and I know what conditions were like here all afternoon - shitty. The snow and sleet pellets started about one and by the time I went to lunch at 3:30 there was white stuff everywhere. It wasn't sticking to the streets, but my driver's side door was covered in ice and it took a good yank to get it open. I had to get gas and the keypad at the first pump I stopped at was frozen - it would not take my PIN. A Super Bird and some nice chicken soup was a great lunch on a day like that. Dallas - Fort Worth doesn't usually get a lot of snow; we usually get ice. Denton to the north and Abilene out west get snow. Not five inches like Abilene got yesterday. Imagine the poor schlubs who had 6am flights booked out of here that now have to get up at 3:30 to get to the airport by five and get through security to hurry up and wait. And the poor dude who has to be there at the Starbucks to give those cranky people their coffee. At least this will keep traffic down. I had planned to get on the road near 5:20, but this snow pushes that way up. I am out of the driveway at 5:10, about ten minutes later than I wanted, but I did warm the truck up for a change. I go the overland route most of the way - I get on 121 at Harwood and 35 M.P.H. it into Freeport. The worst spot was right at our office turning off Freeport onto Esters - those slow turns little traction. I had just read in The Man's Guide To Life about driving in the snow and ice - higher gears for better traction. I start from every stop in second and I seem to do okay. I jam out to Cheap Trick all the way in - no sappy Christmas carols for me, thank you. Maybe Robert Earl Keen's Merry X-Mas From the Family a few times. I do a couple songs twice - On Top Of the World and I Can't Take It, possibly the best song Robin Zander ever wrote. Hallelujah, I have managed to make it one holiday without hearing Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer! I also managed to quit Forever Young before the edict came that Christmas music must be played non-stop starting December 1st. I do not miss working retail at Christmas time, either. Even a cool place like a record store gets a little hectic at the holidays. Well, I just noticed this on my receipt for the presents. Well, really on the 'bonus receipt' that Borders gives - you know, the one with the cafe coupon or the "buy a book in the next week get 30% off." They have a flippin' ad for Geico on it! And magazine subscriptions. How lame is that? I know the books and CDs business is slow to dreadful - and someone explain to me why my nieces hardback is 16.95 and my Chuck Klosterman is 25.00 - but holy cow! Oh, have you been in Borders lately? IF your Borders still has music, it's down to about a dozen bins. What was once an exciting Oasis [ha ha - see it capitalized like the band?] of deep catalog titles has become Wal-Mart or Target. New titles, greatest hits, that's it! Jazz and it's 80 year history is half a bin. If it's not Miles Davis, Coltrane or Diana Krall, it didn't happen according to this place. Yeah yeah, keep the slow titles in your warehouse Borders and B&N and keep the hot stuff in the stores for quick turnover. I should be pleased about this because it will drive real music lovers to places like Forever Young, but Still I'm Sad [see capitalized like the old Yardbirds tune]. But places like Borders used to have huge music sections manned by people who knew the music. You'd go in and check out the listening stations because you could find something there you'd never heard before [like Medeski, Martin and Wood, Gomez or Martha Wainwright] or listen to the album you've been back and forth about. [And it's not the same hitting the website and getting a random 30 seconds of the song.] Now all of that's gone.Where do the 'hep young dudes' go now for musical interaction? I know they used to go to Sound Warehouse [or Peaches or whatever the hip record store was that was not Musicland or Sam Goody or F.Y.E. or Vrigin Megastore - one cannot be 'cool' hanging out in a mega mall record chain. That's why Sound Warehouse died - Blockbuster bought them and tried to turn them into a major chain... Anyway, is it really all down to sitting at the computer and talking to your Facebook buds and downloading [or filesharing] stuff? Has something as personal as musicaltaste become as cold and impersonal as the internet? Let's get Chuck Klosterman to investigate it! Speaking of Chuck, I am slogging through Eating the Dinosaur [I'm very tired and it's hard to concentrate] and Chuck's on about Nirvana's In Utero, talking about how the record was HYPED as an album people would hate.But he mentions bassist Krist Novoselic and that dude always sets me off. In things I have read [admitting I have never met the guy], he seems like a 100% total asshole. I get the impression that he thinks Nirvana was the pinnacle of the whole existence of rock and roll and that everything before and since is shit. I hoped to rant on some more stuff but I was just too tired. Maybe that's a good Christmas present for you all. Have a Happy and safe New Year's Eve / Day. Let's try and keep everyone around, eh? And hope 2010 is better than 2009 turned out to be. SALEH!

I am getting tired of writing eulogies. But I have to say a few words again. From the December 2009 Texas Monthly [p. 120]: With the end of every year comes an accounting of life - our triumphs, our disappointments, our hopes fulfilled or yet unmet. It is also a time to reflect on those who won't be coming with us into the next year. Robin Marie Scott passed away Saturday December 12th. I don't know any details. The news in itself is a shock. This is the girl I went to my prom with. The second girl I ever French kissed. And now she is no longer with us. And it's really shaken me up. My sister had a girlfriend she went to school with and was tight with who got ill and passed in a long, slow decline. One of the girls in her class died of cancer probably close to a decade ago now. I haven't kept up with a lot of my classmates, so I don't know how the Class of 85 is holding up. Robin went to school with my cousin Sherri, so she was one year behind me. I'll never forget the first time I met Robin because it was a party at our house - my parents, Sherri's parents and others. The parents were out drinking in the RV until they decided it was time for us to go to bed. Then they sent us out there. Being October or maybe early November - I seem to recall it was near Halloween - it was a little chilly and Robin kept chiming out "B-b-b-baby it's cold!" Next time I saw her, we picked her and Sherri up at Robin's and went to some house party - an empty house with a bunch of 16 and 17 year old kids drinking Budweiser in the short brown bottles and blasting Motley Crue and Ratt tapes. Good gosh she was pretty. And I got her phone number. We spent hours on the phone, me in Burleson, Robin in Arlington - talking about the nothing that high school kids talk about. I'd make Robin tapes and write her notes and try to widen her world view a little. We'd sit on the back of my 79 Caprice and talk when I could get to Arlington. Robin knew how to have fun and I always had fun with her. We went to a concert where she ditched us [the first, not the last].She'd cut school and we'd hang out at her house or go down and sit by the lake at Feather Beach. We went to my prom. We had a falling out and Sherri gave her a black eye over it. She was the first to tell me "You look like this guy on MTV [Roland Orzabal of Tears For Fears]." She was the first to turn me onto U2. She was the first [and so far, last] girl to throw a drink in my face. I liked Robin - a lot. Much more than she liked me. Actually, she probably liked me okay, just much differently than I liked her. I was sad and bitter about that for a long time. The last couple of times I saw her - and this was a good 20 years ago - I guess I realized I was being stupid and mended fences. I'd send emails out occasionally and get replies from the Virgin Islands or Georgia or South Carolina. Robin was too busy to write. She was a go go go, do do do kind of person. Robin did encourage me to write. Eventually, a Christmas card she sent that said "Your talent is wasting away - write something!" that sent me to the computer to compile and edit my writing. I got rid of tons of evil, bitter things I didn't feel anymore and all the Jim Morrison and Bob Dylan inspired ramblings and found my squeaky little voice. I self printed 20 copies of Angels & Devils & Thorns In My Pride at Kinko's. It was dedicated to Robin Scott and she got copy # 2. I hope at some point she read it and enjoyed it. It doesn't matter if she did or not, she got me off my butt for a few weeks and made me do something. When I got occasional email there was always talk of "When I get back to Dallas..." But it never happened. We'll never get those drinks and that catch up talk now. The impact that someone I haven't seen in two decades passing is really weird. But I guess she's the first person near my age that I've known who's passed away in a few years. That stuff shakes you up. Makes you realize just how short this life can be. I like to think we helped each other see things a little differently. The song I always associate with our friendship is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Even the Losers: It was nearly summer, we sat on your roof / We smoked cigarettes and stared at the moon / And I'd show you stars you never could see.... So long, baby and Amen.

"Mills, Robert Edward Age 59, of Irving, TX, died on December 04, 2009."

That's the obituary. That's it. Probably just like Lynyrd Skynyrd's Curtis Leow, "On the day ol' [Robert] died, no one came to pray / Preacher said a few ol' words and they chunked him in the clay..."

Robert was no one to me, but then again, he was someone I considered a friend. Robert was the weekend guard, 6am to 6pm at Broadview. I would see him walking around after I got in at 230. Since our department isn't usually swamped taking calls, he would stop and chat with us - probably the first time was commenting on one of my myriad of hockey jerseys.

Over a year or two, I got to know a little about the man. He was from Michigan, like Michigan football, the Detroit Red Wings and the New England Patriots [despite this, he was a nice guy]. He liked linving in Boston when he was there, like all the co-eds.He also worked in Vegas and a the J.C. Penny headquarters in Dallas.

Robert was always upbeat and in good humor. Looking back, he was someone else at the office you see and discuss sports, politics, work and life with. Being an older gentleman, maybe I would even say a kind of surrogate uncle who tells you about his life and times.

I had finished a project for him, putting some Smothers Brothers and Bob Newhart albums onto CD for him. I never got to give it to him. When he was absent last Saturday, I kind of assumed he had taken a day off or was keeping an eye on the workers in the building. But my co-workers said he wasn't in Sunday either. I went down on my first break yesterday and asked the guard on duty and was told he's passed away. It felt like someone punched me in the chest. My stomach dropped. RObert was a lively, sprightly type. But it was true.

The saddest part to me - besides not getting to give him his CD nor take his razzing for the Steelers losing to two of the worst teams in the N.F.L. in 5 days - is that the man died alone. Whether in his apartment or if he made it to the hospital, he had no friends or family near. He only had one brother in Florida.

And that one line obituary. Did anyone else know his father was one of he Whiz Kids who came to the rescue of Ford Motor Co. in 1946 [Ben Mills, who became President of Lincoln - Mercury]. Did anyone know he was named for Robert MCcNamara? I don't' know.

Robert was no one to me. He was just another one of those people we bump into in our lives at the office or at a shop or restaurant we frequent. But sometimes those people on the edges make a little impact in our lives.

I'd just like to say it was an honor to know you, Robert. So long, baby and amen.

I know Uncle Rich hates when I talk politics on my little Blog, but I have to say something here. I was listening - well, I had the Sean Hannity show on my radio as I was only about five minutes from work and they started talking about "What's On My Tivo" on the Ticket. So Hannity is doing his usual shtick, "The Obama administration will pass the GW Bush's record of foreclosures 3.9 million to 3.2 million." Then he pipes up against "The Government" setting limit on Executive pay and bonuses on companies who took Federal bailout money at $ 500,000. "This isn't fair, this isn't America. Half a million sounds like an obscene amount of money -and it is - but these people took out mortgages and loans based on having 2 or 3 million coming in! You're going to force these people into default. Do you know what will happen to the economy when these people stop buying boats and stop taking expensive vacations?" Look - these people still HAVE jobs because the American taxpayers bailed them out. They still have jobs after they ran their companies right to the brink of bankruptcy and crashing the American economy into a tree. I have no problem limiting their compensation at all. They obviously need to learn how to budget anyway. So they have to give up the luxuries like country club memberships and trips to Europe. {And they've all ready stopped buying boats and private jets.] This is akin to you or me turning off the HBO on our cable, or turning off the cable to make ends meet. If it forces some of these people into default, then GOOD. Give them a taste of their own bitter medicine. You can bet none of them have escalator loans with the down payment and taxes and fees rolled in like they sold to the folks on the streets. I didn't get to hear anything after that, but I'm guessing the next words were "These companies need to pay these extremely big bonuses to keep their executives from going elsewhere." Poppycock. You're going to leave a good stable job right now when everyone [except Congress] is tightening the belt? Not on your life! Speaking of our fine representatives on Capitol Hill, when will it be time for them to cut up the credit cards and learn to live on a budget? I was down on the Bush administration when they poofed [printed] 100 billion into existence and gave us all a check to do whatever we wanted to with it. What they hoped was that we'd go spend it - I guess at bars or buying American products - the only thing I can think of made in America these days are strippers and booze. But most of us, who were looking at the way things were going spent a little extra at the grocery store and gave the rest back to Visa. Or tried to catch up the mortgage. Shame on us! Then the new year brought out an emergency spending bill double that of the Bush Stimulus package [and let's not forget setting aside 700 billion to bail out AIG, GM, Chrysler and other entities that are "Too Big To Fail [Though It Looks Like They Are Doing Exactly That]." So over the past two years, the Congress has maxed out their credit by spending approximately 200 million million dollars that we do not have. And the jobless rate has continued to climb and the economy is growing worse by the day so the Congress is talking about ANOTHER stimulus package! Is it any wonder that China and the Arabs don't want to extend us any more credit? We're spending like a drunken ex-wife of Donald Trump! Want to see what's in store for the U.S? Go to the bookstore [or library if you are so inclined] and turn to pages 30 - 31 in Dick Morris's book Catastrophe. Look at the time line of the Japanese government following the Kensyian economic plan and trying to spend your way into prosperity. All the stuff that was tried back in the 30s that didn't work is the same path being followed today. Large and persistent deficits did not end the depression - people knew those temporary jobs could go away in a heartbeat and they didn't spend. With the shape this economy is in now, no one is spending. Even if we get another stimulus check or 'early tax rebate' that money will dry up like a rainfall in the desert. People will pay down dents with it, which doesn't stimulate the economy one whit. Oh, and let me add a huge thank you to the Federal Reserve for low interest rates. The low interest rate that allows me to make maybe $ 0.12 in interest on my saving this year. Lower interest rates for loans equals lower rates on savings. So I do the smart thing and keep money around for an emergency, which the bank loans out, and I am supposed to make money on. I never thought I'd YEARN for the days of 3.25 % interest on my savings! Yes, the Fed is trying the Friedman approach to solving the slowing economy - lowering interest rates to increase the supply of money and credit. Yes, when the economy heats up again there will be inflation and then the Fed creeps up those rates again to slow everything down. That's not working this time because interest rates are at new lows, but the banks are holding their cash as a hedge against losses. They're sitting on the money. That's why we need tax cuts again. Priming the pump is not working - give the people their money and let them work their way out. As far as healthcare is concerned - latest CBO numbers on the Reid [Senate] plan show we will still have 24 million people without heath care coverage. This boondoggle isn't about healthcare - it's about expanding government and it needs to be stopped. In Catastrophe, Morris quotes Ken Lee of the Canadian Conservative Party [p. 112]: Canada's model of universal health care is failing. With unlimited demand for free services and a virtual monopoly delivering limited health services, the result has been an unsustainable level of publis spending [up to 43 % of gross governemnt revenue] and increasing rationing of services in the form of waiting lists [my emphasis]. ...There is no accountability to the patient. The patient does not come first; unfortunately, the system comes first. This is what Congress wants to do to you. I truly wish we could throw all of the rascals out - both Houses - and start all over again. WITH TERM LIMITS AND A BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT. And lobbying reform. And no more earmarks. It's an impossible dream, but I wish it were so. A quick word on the Republican Party itself: Get new blood as the face of the party. Republicans have a tradition of everyone waiting their turn to be on top: Goldwater, Nixon, Reagan, Bush 41, Dole and McCain. And that's fine. But you're not going to energize anyone by putting 60 and 70 year old men who still think it's the 1980s as the face of the party! We need to start seeing some young folks and pretty soon. I like Mitt Romney - he's a fairly young dude and he's had real jobs before. Sarah Palin, like her or not, is a young and fresh face that energizes people. Learn this lesson. Fast. Final thing on politics: A governor takes the State's plane and tells some aide's he's going hiking, but instead take the plane chasing some Latina tail in Argentina. And is gone for a week. Did I mention with the State of South Carolina's plane - and I assume a pilot or two. And they taxpayers probably paid for the gas. and let's not forget the taxpayer funded trip in 2008. But he's not going to be impeached for this. What the hell is wrong in this country? This is not a 17 year old kid defying his parents and going to see some girl he was hot for in Arlington [like I did]. This is an elected official neglecting his duties, lying about his whereabouts and misusing a plane that is not his! I got grounded for my indiscretion - the Governor should be, too. Impeach. Out of office i disgrace. But I guess that is saved for people who don't pay taxes on their illegal alien nannies or cars and drivers provided by their employers. My friend Jim just recommended a good new law - if a politician is caught having an affair with anyone - man, woman, Congressional Page, secretary, Chief Of Staff, hermaphrodite hooker, camel, etc - you are not allowed to bring your wife [or husband] up on the stage to look uncomfortable while you admit to your mistakes. Spare us that photo op. Let your significant other hide away and plot of ways to really kick the chair out from under you. That's it, I'm out.

Today would have been my grandfather's 90th birthday. I almost said it should have been, but who really knows when you start talking about ages after 80.

It's been a year and 3 months since he passed away. To think about "well I haven't seen so-and-so for a year" and you know it happens all the time, right? Of course there have been times I have not seen my grandparents for two or three years. But to know you won't be able to speak to them or write letters or anything...

To my nieces and my baby sister a year seems like a long long long time - I know it did when I was a teenager too! But as I've gotten older days and weeks and years just seem to all melt together and I really have to think about a year and try to remember who I was with or who I hung with or who lived where and try and tie all my memories together. And some things I just gave up on.

It is getting a little easier to deal with. There are still times I long to hear the old man's voice and laugh. I get a little quiver sometimes when I look at pictures. I think about lessons, like the oil filter lesson. To poke myself, I grabbed a wrong oil filter off the shelf one day and Grandpap pointed out that the one I was about to put on didn't look anything like the one I took off. But being a smart ass 17 year old I snapped off "Oh it's a GM product, it will work" and started the engine, dumping 5 quarts of new motor oil onto the driveway. So I learned "Get the right part the first time!"

Once we were out on the yard and Grandpap bet me a quarter or a dollar that he could jump higher than a fence post. Now we had barbed wire [then] around the field and those posts were a good 4 and a half feet high, so I thought this was an easy one. He jumped about four inches off the ground and said "Now let's see the fence post jump." And I paid. And I learned "Don't trust Grandpap!"

He always had wit and liked a good clean joke. He always liked music [not the "noise" his kids and grand-kids listened to - once when I was up in Pennsylvania for two weeks with no rock and roll! My aunt Becky loaned me a couple of eight tracks and I got to listen to them down on the radio in Grandpap's workshop - but not too loud.] and could often be heard whistling or humming around the house.

In later years - after I turned 30 - I just liked talking with him. I learned a lot about the family history and some stuff about the war because I asked. Sometimes he would just talk about how life was when he was young. Sometimes we'd just sit and smell the fresh air and enjoy the sunshine and just chat about nothing, too.

He was always proud of his family - eight kids, sons and daughters in law, grandchildren, great grandchildren... as he got older his tolerance for noise and tom foolery went down, but he could usually find a few good minutes for the even the youngest.

I've often said I felt the old man was at peace with fate. We all know we're going to go sometime sooner or later and my grandfather was no exception. Probably every winter since 1990 was going to be his last. Going through periods of a year or three not seeing my grandfather [a lot of my family actually] the changes that occur gradually would shock when I did get 'home.' The shaking of the hands while raising a cup of coffee. The gradual stoop of an old man as gravity pulls at in invisible millstone around his neck called "age." I'd say graying and balding, but he's been gray and bald as long as I can remember! The frustration of not being able to do what he wanted! His body was failing, breaking down, but in his mind he could still do what he could do what he could do a decade ago. I'm sure that betrayal drove him mad, though in the last couple years I think he sort of resigned himself to and accepted it.

I know in my mind's eye I will see sometimes remember him stooped and using a walker, but I will want to remember him as the "Grandpap" of my teens, when he could still hit the road and do most of what he wanted to do.

I miss you a lot, sometimes, Grandpap. I miss kissing you on the top of your bald head the way I'd sometimes miss your scratchy beard on my face and the smell of Old Spice when I was a kid. I miss your wit and loving advice and your laugh and the twinkle in your eye. I miss your enjoyment of life!

My NASCAR Day

My long time friend, Lt. Col Scott A. Downey [USA - Ret] was unable to attent the Friday and Saturday events at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend and entrusted me with his tickets. I was able to give the Friday truck race tickets to one of my co-workers and Jennifer and I set out for the Saturday Nationwide Series Race.

The first problem, of course, is that the race is set to start at 1130 a.m. - about half an hour after I usually get up for the day. But I was excited about the adventure of my first trip out to the Speedway and hopped up at 730 and we were on the road at 830. We opted to take the Fort Worth T Park and Ride so the driving would be someone else's headache. I think it was a good call because after the race I was so tired and sore from walking that I could not really handle some nice post event road rage. By the time we got back to the parking lot I was mostly calmed, although a headache had popped up. And since I KNEW I didn't want to try getting back on I 35, we scooted back to Casa de Chaz by taking Jacksboro Highway / Henderson St. back into downtown. A Heineken at the casa and I was O-U-T out for a long nap.

So we got to the Speedway about 930 and we walked what I guess I would call the midway for about 45 minutes. This is the rows of sunglasses huts, scanner renters, sponsor booths and the driver merchandise trailers. Lots and lots of NASCAR folks here - lots of Junior lovers, Jeff Gordon folks and a few Smoke fans. Jenn and I each got a Tony Stewart cap and I got the program package. We could hear the Sprint Cup practice going on, so we headed for our seats.

Scott's suite - and just what the heck are we paying Army officers these days, cause this place was sweet - was as far from the parking lot as you could get and still be on TMS property. I mean we were way down at turn number four with the start/finish off to our right. Scott's seats are front row in the suite though. Suites are a cool deal too - they had barbeque and fried chicken and sodas and water and cookies - all gratis! There are TVs and the broadcast is piped in so you can see replays and pit stops and stuff. We watched about half an hour of practice - the color scheme for Montoya's 42 sucks eggs. The introductions and everything are piped in... we could see the portable grandstand but not really anything going on over there. The colrs and a moment of silence for our fallen at Fort Hood, the National Anthem and it's "Let's go racin'" time!

The race - well it was a foregone conclusion by about lap 50. It wasn't EVEN close. I berated Lt. Col. Downey for leaving early the year Carl Edwards just smoked everybody from the get go, but I see why he would. Kyle Busch was driving this race like he had a date with Jessica Simpson in Dallas at 230 - he was just driving the wheels off! He was lapping people 20 laps in. It was like everyone else was driving '75 Monte Carlos out there and he had a 2009 Mustang. The analogy I came up with is this: Imagine you're a fighter pilot over Germany in 1944, a fighter ace in your P-51 Mustang and you are the hot shit in the skies - then an ME-262 jet goes screaming through your formation and you go "WHATTHEFUCKWAZAT?!?!?"

Still, I had a good time watching the race. But this was the Nationwide race. There were a lot of empty seats in grandstands and suites and in the parking lot and it was still a LOT of people. I looked at the crowd as we were booking back across the midway to the buses and said "Imagine tomorrow when there's three times as many people!"

Thanks Scott - I though I owed you a dinner when I got the tickets, but I'm not sure what I owe you now. Although you got me into this cockamamie NASCAR thing doing the fantasy league - we'll not talk about this year's standing, right? A thousand GRACIAS, senor, hope to see you very very soon!

My Uncle Rich, one of my favorite people in the whole world, was giving me grief a while back, complaining I've only been addressing music and hockey on my little Blog here. Okay Uncle Rich, for you and in honor of the House Democrats rolling out their massive plan today - here's a little health care debate.

First of all - let's get real about all of this- you're going to pay more taxes. You're either going to get ripped out of your hands before you even see it like you do now with Medicare and income taxes OR you're going to pay in new property / county hospital district / city service taxes. It's going to happen. Even if you rent, when your lease comes up, "The Man" is going to raise your rent because those new taxes ain't coming out of his pocket, right?

So, the House Dems rolled out their big package today including a "Public Option" [and let's get real about this - it's a big new entitlement, okay? Another giant bureaucracy overseen by the guys in Washington, D.C. when the laws of physics and budgeting do not apply.]. According to AP / Fort Worth Star Telegram [Oct. 29], the cost of new coverage will be "slightly over $ 1 Trillion" but did not include billions for disease prevention, nor a $230 package for higher Medicare payments that was stripped out of the bill for separate voting.

Also, the bill that was supposed to cover 'everyone' only covers 96% according to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Of course the Speaker revealed that she's been sipping some of the late Hunter S. Thompson's Kool Aid when she said "the legislation will reduce federal deficits over the next decade by nearly $ 104 Billion..." And the bill relies heavily on $ 400 Billion in cuts in Medicare spending.

I don't deny there are problems within the system. I have neighbors and friends who don't have health insurance and they HAVE to go to the county run hospital for emergencies, for shots for their kids. In an altruistic society we could still barter for services and everyone gets everything they need. But we're not altruistic at all. We're totally materialistic greedy pigs who keep score of our lives with little green pieces of paper in our wallets and numbers in out bank book. Doctors do something most people can't. Airline pilots do something most people can't. People with training and skills like that command high pay because they are so well trained and educated.

But let's face fact here. The Government can't run doodly squat. Social Security? Going to be broke in a decade. Medicare? Heading down the same road. So the Government ain't going to be able to take care of you after you retire and it isn't going to be able to make you well when you get sick as it is. And I say again, how's that postal service? The only thing the Government is good at is creating more Government jobs and bureaus. And hanging onto the old ways because that's what we've always done.

Do you know the Government maintains outdated radio beacons for naval navigation? These things were made obsolete by GPS, but the Government can't cut a meager $ 1 million out of the budget for them for some unknown reason. That's like cutting 1/10th of a penny out of your home budget, but they can't do it. It's someone's pork. Tea cup museums, bridges to nowhere, flood control zones, mixed development deals for the Congresswoman's brother in law... we all know what goes on in D.C. And we bitch and moan and call them all rats and dirty pigs, but the fact is we keep re-electing the ones that bring the bacon home, don't we?

Of course this is our fault, too. The Post Office announced they wanted to close 9 branches in Tarrant County and suddenly people were up in arms. "Don't close MY post office! I'll have to drive an extra two miles and that causes hardship!" Hey - they pick up your mail at your damn door, you can order and pay for stamps on line and have THEM delivered to your damn door - what more do you want?

I know, we want EVERYTHING to be perfect. Just like on TV, where your problems are solved in 48 minutes and everyone is cute and funny. Jesus, listen to the people complain about the bad umpiring in the World Series. And what's the solution? MORE instant replay! Two challenges per bench per 9 innings, like football! Phew! You know what? Anytime you have people making judgement calls you're going to have blown calls. Balls and strikes, receiver in bounds, phantom calls in basketball and hockey and obviously missed calls in all sports. It's called "The Breaks" and you either get them or you don't. When we learn that we aren't going to get every call 'Right" and sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles, we'll all be better off. And don't get me started on BASEBALL going into November.

The infrastructure is crumbling - from the interstate highway to the lowly alleys of your town. I think the amount of watering done by industrial business parks is rotting the streets around them - who designed a street to be rained on an inch a day, 365 days a year? We've had 6" of rain the last week but the sprinklers come on each and every night along Freeport Parkway.

There's an analogy there - the infrastructure of our culture is decaying. We have information superhighways and better faster and more communication but what are we doing with it? We're staring at naked bodies and putting each other down and drawing further into shells of isolation.

Worth the Hype or Not? - The Beatles Remasters

For the last month or so, you've been bombarded with commercials for the Rock Band version of the Beatles and infomercials pushing the remastered re-issues of the whole catalog, but has anyone [who wasn't paid to do so] actually told you IF and/or WHY the remasters are worthy of your hard earned bucks? I thought not. So, in the interest of the true listening public, here 'tis: My review of the best Beatles album, remastered - 1966's Revolver.

First of all, the little booklet that comes with the CD has some great photos from the sessions. But not worth the price of admission [$13.99 + tax, f'ing taxman!, at Best Buy]. But it points out one of the problems the technical people must have had. The Beatles were recorded [until Abbey Road I believe] on a 4 track machine. Which means most of the basic tracks [bass - guitar - drums] were all recorded onto one track with no separation - no way to repair or re-equalize a bass without doing the same to the drums and guitars on the same track. Then the remaining three tracks would be utilized for vocals and overdubs. With computers and high dollar software things may be possible that I can only think about.

And of course, the second issue for judging these CDs is familiarity. I was lucky that I got turned onto the Beatles when I was about 12, so I've been living with these songs for 30 years now and I know most of them backwards and forwards. The CDs we've had for 20 years now - God I still hate the awful separation on Rubber Soul, vocals on one side, instruments on the other! Even the most casual fan has to wonder if it's worth going out and shelling out for the music you all ready know. I know, we did it for the Stones, but those first CDs that CBS put out were fraught with problems. And even though ABKCO did remix and remaster the original London albums [up to Get Your Ya-Yas Out] I much preferred the vinyl of those albums - until the 24 bit remasters came out a couple years back.

But hey, enough of my yakking ... let's let the music do the talking.

Taxman: Oh geeze, McCartney's bass just pumps right out at you all ready and you can hear how locked in with the kick drum he really is. It's lockstep precision. Nice runs, Macca, in the middle eight! Never noticed that guitar line in the last two verses and I've been known to listen at ear splitting volumes in the car.

Eleanor Rigby: Well it's just Paul and a string quartet - the cello drone on the choruses stands out. There does seem to be more warmth in the vocals.

I'm Only Sleeping: Again, the bass has real tone here. Wonder who Macca paid off to fix those bass tones? Really, I've enjoyed his bass playing for years, it's crappy songs like Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Hello Goodbye I have issues with. Anyone else notice their trick there on the middle bits - John's voice goes down and Paul's goes up and it sounds so cool! [They do the same thing with the strings on the fade out of I Am the Walrus.] Backwards guitar solo. The 12 string chords seem to ring and shimmer a bit.

Love You To: This is the Indian song you skip in the car and only listen to when you're at home and don't have a remote to skip over. And it's a George song. You really don't care.

Here, There and Everywhere: Great harmonies on the background vocals. That rhythm guitar actually needs muted a little - is that Lennon on that famous Rickenbacker? Maybe he should have borrowed one of George's Gibsons for this.

Yellow Submarine: I go through periods where this makes me smile and periods where this makes me cringe. I'm sure Ringo goes through them to. I swear you can hear the boredom in George's voice in the choruses.

She Said, She Said: Wow, here Lennon's rhythm guitar really comes out of the muck.

Good Day Sunshine: Harmless Macca fluff. Again, the sound on the piano sounds rounder and fuller, less like the upright Dylan played on The Ballad Of the Thin Man.

And Your Bird Can Sing: Love those double stop guitar runs. Lennon's vocal sounds a hair crisper.

For No One: One of my favorites by Paul. Again, instrumentation seems a little sharper. The bass overdub has real warmth.

Doctor Robert: One of my faves by John. Vocals definitely sharper.

I Want to Tell You: The other George song. You don't care. More sharp vocals. Herar Paul straining at the top of his range in the background. Where did those handclaps come from in the last verse?

Got to Get You Into My Life: Paul's ode to pot. The record that gave Chicago the idea to have a full horn section in the band. That brass is really... loud.

Tomorrow Never Knows: Ah my sweet droning Lennon genius. Vocal again defiantly warmer. Wow, you can really hear the kick drum. Gosh, Ringo really was a good drummer. Again, I'm amazed how locked in he and Paul are. Not that this is a hard part, but they're just incredibly tight. Oh that Leslie'd vocal in the second verse sounds even more slippery and mysterious! Wow!

THE VERDICT: I doubt the casual Beatle fan will notice the differences, at least on this CD. Lots of people say the Sgt. Pepper is improved. I can see opening up the lower end will give it a slightly better feel, closer to good old albums.But it's not one of my favorites. I AM curious to hear some of my favorites will sound remastered: A Day In the Life, Strawberry Fields Forever. And I'm sure some of my CDs will get replaced. Probably not the later ones [Abbey Road, Let It Be] but maybe Rubber Soul. I really want to know if they've re-fixed George Martin's original fix for CDs [he remixed Help! and Rubber Soul back in 1987]. And I find I like my With the Beatles and A Hard' Day's Night in mono.

Final verdict: It's your money. But I'm not going to rush out and replace MY catalog.

Someone Explain This to Me

So I'm loading up the ol' MP3 player yesterday, some new stuff like the Heartless Bastards' Mountain and the new Black Crowes After the Frost and the downloadable companion Until the Freeze [they remind me A LOT of the late era Byrds], some old stuff I haven't heard in a while like Superchunk's Come Pick Me Up and I try to pick a couple things I've really never heard from my massive hard drive. And one of the things I picked was Radiohead's OK Computer.

Now this is an album people have been praising to the high heavens forever. It gets 4.34 of 5 stars on Rate Your Music [14,731 rating as of this writing - I gave it a 3.5 for Just Average] and is the # 1 album for 1997. I'm sure those clowns at Rolling Stone rate it high every time they do one of those Best Albums lists... we all know how I love those, right?

And so I put it on tonight - and I don't get it. Maybe 1997 was a shit year for music - I certainly only recognize a couple of artists in the top 50 for that year and I was working part time in a record store then. Whiskeytown, Bruce Dickinson, Pavement, Old 97s... Bjork [BLECH!], Elliot Smith [still never heard it], Modest Mouse and Built to Spill [early albums I guess]... Bill Hicks. Ween. Spiritualized. Maybe I should say I would only listen to a couple of artists in the top 50.

But OK Computer? Meh. Is this another one of those albums like Blonde On Blonde, Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper that people have been told is so great that they just assume it is even though they don't get it? I am thinking so. I can see it might be okay if one is hitting a bong on a rainy Saturday afternoon, not unlike some Pink Floyd or Porcupine Tree in spots, but really, I don't get it. Maybe I'm not supposed to. If I'm not supposed to, then mission accomplished.

I guess next I will have to try and figure out the appeal of Coldplay. Anyone want to intervene on that?

Oh, Public Television...

Hmmm another beg -a thon. Is this going to be a monthly thing? It was August 11th when I posted you were begging again. How about finally giving in and running commercials? Oh, you do at the beginning and end of programs, you just call it sponsorship.

Health Care - What's to Debate?

Let me put this as simply as I possibly can: You want the same people that run the post office to be making life and death decisions about you and your loved ones?

Now, that may seem like a simplistic view of a large problem. But then again, we're talking about the Federal government here, a beast that never gets smaller. Now the Prez and his cronies in Congress want to poof another 900 billion dollars out of thin air to pay for health care. Oh, sure they SAY "Well we can do so much by making savings in Medicare and such..." By the way, how is Medicare going fellas? Oh BANKRUPT soon? How about that Social Security "lock box" you've been keeping my FICA money in every month. You get my point.

I heard Rush Limbaugh today [on a rare trip around the dial in my car] saying that if the government begins taking over health care, we will get a system that is more interested in cost savings than saving lives. And I agree on this point. If the health care is so great in all those other places with socialized health care [and I think we only have to look at the state of dentistry in jolly old England to agree that it's not so great], how come those who can fly to the United States for treatment, especially of big ticket items like cancer and transplants? Sure the weather is better here than a lot of places, but I don't think that's it.

I also agree with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell:


“...the President has an opportunity to reframe the debate, but only if he recognizes that the Democrats’ original plan for health care reform doesn’t wash with the American people. When it comes to health care, Americans don’t want government to tear down the house we have. They want it to repair the one we’ve got. That means sensible, step-by-step reforms, not more trillion dollar grand schemes. It means preserving what people like about our health care system, not destroying it all at once or starving it over time.

..."People don’t want risky, sweeping changes that increase the national debt and don’t solve the problems we have."

Chill Out Right Wing [OR My Turn On the Soapbox]

Okay, this is going to surprise a few people, but the folks saying "The President is going to give a speech to school kids next week to try and fill their mushy little heads with Liberal ideas and agenda and I'm against trying to indoctrinate my little Britney / Jason into the Democratic Party" - NEED TO CHILL THE FUCK OUT!

USA Today is reporting it was the new voice of The Right Glenn Beck who started this talk. I'm not surprised. That guy is so far out in right field he make Sean Hannity look like a bleeding heart Liberal. And I think Hannity is way out to the right of me.

Besides, it doesn't really matter. If you think your kids aren't getting a full dose of Liberal agenda all ready, you need to stop and smell the coffee. What the hell is Earth Day all about? Save the planet, save the whales, recycling good, big corporations bad, bankers the root of all evil [unless the give Chris Dodd a sweetheart deal], yadda yadda. Oh and Global Warming is totally real and totally a man made phenomenon - never mid that the guy who came up with it said we were headed for the new Ice Age in the 70s.

Don't get me wrong - I recycle when I can, even bringing my plastic pop bottles and 7-11 cups home to drop in my bin. I use fluorescent lights in most of my lamps. It saves energy and saves me buck and it's fairly easy. Hell, my Mom brings her glass bottles here so I can send them back through the system!

But really, how can on 20 minutes speech and discussion 'indoctrinate' anyone? And a discussion afterward? Oh no, we can't have little children trying to think for themselves! You know what I think the response from most 1st - 6th graders will be? "When is this crap over so I can go to recess?"

Kids will eventually have to figure it out for themselves. I went from a Reagan Republican to a Democrat back and forth - I even voted for Clinton in his second term! I eventually decided lower taxes / less government is good, so I tend to vote Republican, but I'm not a straight ticket voter. [BTW, what makes me mad is that there's almost always a mood for a tax cut, but nobody in Congress REALLY wants to shrink government or say "No, thanks, we don't need any earmarked pork for MY district." We can't even get rid of radio direction beacons for ships made obsolete by GPS!] And I didn't vote for Rick Perry [or anyone - left it blank!] for Governor in 2006 and I have declared I will vote for a Democrat in 2010. Rick Perry is drip and Kay Bailey needs to stay in the Senate because that junior Senator, John Cornyn, is an asshole!

And it doesn't matter what the President says in his little stand on the Bully Pulpit. Kids can't vote. The ones near voting age have another year to make up their minds or get sick of the whole process and be totally apathetic stay at homes come next November. I would actually say it's good to get the kids interested in the political process and have those discussions with parents and teachers and relatives, but when they go in that booth it's ultimately up to them when they do whatever their voting machine requires. Say this with me: "UP TO THEM." Mommy and Daddy and Grandpaw and Memaw can go spit once the vote is cast.

I am not "for" Obama - I still think he's too inexperienced to be President, but he IS The President now. I don't hope for him to fail because I think in the end that hurts America too much. But I do hope that the agenda of tax and spend is defeated or at least becomes mired in that beloved Congressional gridlock until the 2010 elections. Having said that, I am encouraged by the sudden renewed interest in the political system - with all its rewards and shortcomings.

I hope and think the President is just going to get up and says "Look what I made of myself with the education and opportunities available in this country... what do YOU want to do with yourself? You can do it if you work hard in school." If people don't want their kids to hear that from a democratically elected black / African American President of the United States, I sadly think it shows just how far we still have to go to being the Great American melting pot.

Is anyone else creeped out that they're going to assemble the footage of Michael Jackson's rehearsals into a feature film? I mean really, they guy isn't even cold yet and the vultures have swooped.

God, how can i be "Beg-A-Thon" time on KERA again? Is it me or is this becoming and every 6 weeks thing? Every 9 weeks? It might be interesting if they're run something like an Austin City Limits day and let you Tivo that! Or a lot of American Experience... but they keep running Suzi Orman and bald doctor Wayne Dyer. And Doo Wop Experience - the Last of the Dying Breed where one of the real guys who's left alive from the Platters comes up with "The Platters Mk. 12" and one of the original Coasters comes up with "Charlie Corbin's Coasters." And 60's Folk Reunion - oooh Roger McGuin and the "Eve of Destruction" guy and Peter or Paul or Mary - but even those guys are so sick of each other they're not playing together anymore! It's just fucking pathetic the way they pander to Baby Boomers - sure they're the generation with any money left, but Jeez Louise!

But it gets the same treatment on VH1 Classic! Oohh Woodstock! Again! How many times have I seen Alvin Lee and Ten Years After doing I'm Going Home..."by Helicopter?" More times than I even care to even think about! How come no one ever shows a letterbox, full screen of Woodstock or Monterrey Pop of Last Days of the Fillmore or anything cool? I should take that back - with VH1 Classic it's either Baby Boomer crap OR it's That Fucking Metal Show! [Followed by 5 hours of Metal Mania! See more Ratt, Poison, Warrant, Enuff Z'Nuff, Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest et al than you ever thought you could stand again!] I kind of dug That Metal Show when it started - doing a short half hour show once a week and having some guys come on and talk about then and now and shit... cool! But they're taken it and run it into the fucking ground! I shit you not, it seems like every third time I flip past, it's That Metal Show! GOD TELEVISION SUCKS ASS!

I somehow get by with the Military Channel, the History Channel, BIO [sometimes] - but all the channels that used to have shows - TNT, Bravo - oh God, don't get me started on Bravo and "Real Housewives of Anywhere" or "Fashion Nazi TV" or whatever - I can't stand that shit! - E! and their never ending lineup of pseudo celebrity shows - there are just nights when I have to turn off the TV because I just think my brain IS turning to mush!

*Sigh* I just feel so cut off here sometimes. All you guys are sleeping and having real lives between 5 O'clock to 11 and on Saturday and Sunday and I'm just stuck on the night shift and missing everything!

Take My Baseball Team - PLEASE! [A Plea to Mark Cuban]

It's hard watching a team that you used to love continue to throw itself into and then FLUSH the toilet. But my formerly beloved Pittsburgh Pirates have done it yet again.

They traded center fielder Nate McLouth back in early June - yes, hitting.259 but with an .829 OBP - AFTER he singed a 3 year 16 million extension! - for 3 minor leaguers. Add 1B Adam LaRoche to the Red Sox last week for two minor league pitchers, left fielder Nyjer Morgan back on July 1st for a minor league outfielder. And lets not forget center fielder Jason Bay to the Red Sox last season - .280 hitting, 30 HR power Jason Bay - for a slump prone 3B [Andy LaRoche], a fourth outfielder in Brandon Moss and a couple minor league pitchers. And left fielder Xavier Nady to the Yankees. And super 3B Aramis Ramirez back in 2003 - yes I am still pissed over that! How good would a .290 hitting, 30 HR guy look now? How about Jason Kendall in 2004? A great contact hitting catcher? Who needs that?

Today they traded 9 year veteran shortstop Jack Wilson and the 2 - 8 pitcher Ian Snell to the Mariners for an underachieving Ronny Cedeno and 4 minor leaguers. They then flipped 2006 batting champ and 3 time All Star second baseman - injury prone this year, but still - Freddy Sanchez for another minor league pitcher.

This week alone, the Pirates dealt away almost 24 million - HALF OF THEIR PAYROLL. And their payroll was all ready 3rd lowest in the National League, if not the whole league [Yahoo Sports is unclear].

What they got in return will restock their minor league systems - not bad. But the Pirates have shown a streak for bringing talent to the majors then trading it. And this week just leaves the major league club just decimated.

Manager John Russell, obviously toeing the company line said on Yahoo Sports:

“People now might wonder what we’re doing, but if you keep looking at all the names we’re getting and all the premier talent we’re getting, it’s going to equate to a very solid, very good ballclub in Pittsburgh."

GM Neal Huntington told the Pittsburgh Trib-Review Sunday July 26th that this was good for the team:

"It is (owner) Bob Nutting's intention that any money saved from trades goes back into baseball operations," Huntington said.

It is unclear to me what baseball operations are left.

Let's not fool around here - when baseball talks about contraction again - and they will - let's put Pittsburgh at the top of the list. This is a team headed for a Major league record 17th straight losing season. These guys make the St. Louis Browns look like the Yankees! They make bad teams look... well... okay by comparison.

Let's stop trying to put happy face on an unhappy story. All the Pirates are doing is stocking other major league teams anyway, let's put them out of the misery. Yes they have a great ballpark there and a history, but let's face facts - current ownership is not about to spend one thin dime more than they have to to keep any player worth their salt.

Mark Cuban is a good boy from Pittsburgh - sell him - hell, GIVE HIM the club! I'm willing to bet the team that the 12 Dallas Mavericks could beat the Pirates in a real baseball game. PLEASE MARK! PLEASE! I know you were turned down from the Cubs because you say what is on your mind - but this is Pittsburgh. You're not going to get a hint of national media here unless you're sitting with the Rooney's at a Steeler game or Mario in the owners box at the new Igloo! Please find a way!

Christ, I may have to watch the damn Rangers now. Or the Astros. Or the Cubs. Never the Red Sox or the Yankees, though.

ADDENDA:

I thought the cupboard was bare as Old Mother Hubbard's place, but the Pirates managed to squeeze a little more blood from the turnip flipping lefty reliever John Grabow and lefty starter [and Chicago native] Tom Gorzelanny for Kevin Hart [who had just finished beating the Astros] and two more minor leaguers. This leaves the Pirates short of left handed pitching - not that it matters. The Pirates will struggle now to get to 70 wins.

That leaves Zach Duke and Matt Capps. The deadline isn't until 4 p.m. Eastern. See if the Bucs can get their payroll under $ 20 million by then.

Random Thoughts:

What is this fascination with everything Jack White of the White Stripes touches? The Raconteurs were ok at best and this new thing - The Dead Weather - is just awful. But it gets pushed by the few hype sits - My Space Music and ads all over the place. I'm not even big on the White Stripes anyway, but dude, stick to your own band.

The Michael Jackson Circus has begun. You thought Michael was a freak show while alive, just the way the family - well, Latoya and Joe, not the stablest bananas in the bunch - think there is some sort of conspiracy rather than face the fact that Michael was an anorexic drug abuser.

I had to get a greatest hits of Fishbone recently and I blasted it for two days straight. Why the Red Hot Chili Peppers got huge and these guys are forgotten is beyond me.

As far as Wilco - The Album goes, If you liked Sky Blue Sky, you'll like this. If you didn't, you'll be moaning "Tweedy's no fun since he went to rehab." I recently had Yankee Hotel Foxtrot on my MP3 player and I really really like it, a lot more than I did before.

Another thing I discovered loading random things on my MP3 - Be Bop Deluxe. Haven't listened to much of their studio stuff but their Live at The BBC titled Radio Birdland is really interesting in a Cars / Gary Numan / little 80s King Crimson kind of way.

A 4 song [plus demo] EP and a new single from Superchunk in the last 3 months - I hope this means the band is gearing up for a full length album really soon!

I suppose it's inevitable - the post season let down. Sure my favorite team won out, but here it is less than a week later and I'm all ready bored. No scoreboards to watch, no rushing home after half a day to sit and watch and bite nails and cringe when the other team scores or slam on the coffee table when your team scores. The phone calls are made, the bets all paid - all that's left is the tattoo to be gotten - sorry Mom! Oh sure, there's Xbox hockey, but it's not the same. And the Penguins goaltending sucks, unlike the real Marc-Andre Fleury. Lots of long late hours doing Poker Stars and exploring the depths of the 1900+ albums on my hard drive [Del Amitri's Hatful of Rain is pretty good, Sara Brightman's Harem is good, Faith Hill's Cry not so much...]. I found myself so bored, I actually went to a movie Sunday night. [Star Trek - interesting premise... no spoilers!] It must have been a while since I saw a non-matinee - when the hell did the price go up to $ 9.50?!? Maybe that's a premium price for the three level stadium seating extravaganza that is Rave at Northeast Mall - I really don't know. Who would have thunk in 1978 when the fourplex or the Forum 6 was a big deal that we'd have these enormodome movie theaters? As I was leaving the Sunday late show - I don't have anywhere to be Monday mornings - I noticed a pack of kids goofing off in the summer worthy heat. Five dudes and one girl standing around yapping, trying to decide their next move because it's summer and there's really nothing else to do. Even on a sweltering muggy summer night, there's only so much to do after midnight on a Sunday / Monday. Bowling? IHOP, Denny's, Waffle House? I smiled to myself as I walked to my truck. Oh, to be young and bored again. I figured they were going into their senior year - they had the look of 17 year old not yet terrified of jobs, SAT's or college. My junior summer started off grand - Cars tickets went on sale the Saturday after finals [though they weren't going to be here until September.]waiting outside Sears [where Ticketmaster was] About a dozen kids on a not too bad early summer morning, yakking about our schools and a whole lot of nothing. That was the summer of the "Limon," my faded green 73 Plymouth Duster. My first summer with a car, lots of going places just to be driving and not at home. First job - sorta waiting tables at this all you can eat Mexican place and sorta being busboy. The pay sucked, but they had a nice garden room I liked to eat in and read on my lunch. First drunk drinking those very missed short bottled Budweiser in the parking lot. Shoe polishing other people's cars. But it was a summer job and after toughing out a couple weeks in dish-washing [I HATED driving home in wet pant, wet shirt, wet socks and squishy shoes!] I quit in mid-August. I wondered if kids are really that much different today - I mean other than being wired to the gills. We had computers - "Trash 80s," "Crapples" and Commodores. We were getting cassette Walkman players [and cheap knockoffs] by my junior year. You could get cable in town [but not in the sticks where we lived] even tough it was only about 30 channels. But the rites of passage are the same - first car, first dates, first kiss - I'll leave it at that - it's all still so Fast Times At Ridgemont High, right? Driving around blasting your tunes, hanging with your buds and going someplace and drink iced tea or coffee beacuse going home is LAME. Isn't that the way kids have spent millions of sweltering Sunday nights?

Okay I am breathing again. Whew! WHAT A GAME that game 7 was.

I wish I could say I was sure of this game, "Never doubted for a second." I wish I could say I could feel that Detroit was out of gas and we were a lock on thins. But I can't.

And while I expected the good fight from the Pens, and I hoped like hell that Marian Hossa would not score the game winning goal, I kinda suspected Detroit would come out like the team they are [were?] and just steamroll four lines over the Pens.

But that's not what happened is it?

I didn't cheer too loud on Max Talbot's opening goal. One is one and it's nice to start the scoring. But the second one I whooped for a while, pounded the coffee table a little, scared the neighbors. But I was on the edge of m seat the rest of the game, too. I definitely howled like a couple of the neighborhood dogs when Detroit scored. [I was watching on Tivo, about two minutes behind real time and had tried calling my brother in law - bad connection - but he was like 'I can't believe you're calling now.' Now I know why.]

It's fitting that Marc-Andre Fleury [he was a #1 pick overall, too -remember?] should stone Niklas Lidstrom on that last shot to win the game. I knew Detroit could and would bring the pressure that came in that last two minutes - just like the end of the second when they got buzzing. But credit the Penguins no name guys - Craig Adams, Hal Gill, Rob Scuderi [ANOTHER monster game for Scuderi - resign him tomorrow, please!], Brooks Orpik, Matt Cooke, Tyler Kennedy and that "other guy" Jordan Staal - for playing hard, dirty defensive hockey, blocking shots and tying guys up. Pittsburgh blocked 20 shots in the game - Detroit just 3.

And hat's off to Jordan Staal - when Crosby went out he stepped right into those minutes and played like a champion on both sides of the puck. I loved just seeing him whoop when he got the Cup.

And congrats to Bill Guerin on his second Cup. Bill was a Dallas Star for a couple of years and was a weekly call in guest on one of the radio stations here and seems to be another one of the great, humble guys in the NHL. I think he can hang them up as a champ.

And I guess I still have a little crow to eat here - Ruslan Fedotenko and Miro Satan both played extremely well in the finals. Fedotenko was a guy who controlled the puck and took a lot of shots on Malkin's line and Satan was pretty good as an energy / 4th line guy.

I did give the TV the finger and curse at Marian Hossa again - "Detroit has a better chance of winning the Cup." HA! But in the morning stories, he does point out that if he had signed, Pittsburgh might not have been able to sign guys who were important to this Cup run. Well, maybe so. Maybe you've learned to keep your mouth shut, too.

In the end, Detroit just looked like a team that was totally out of gas. We'll never know what kind of injuries or pains guys like Lidstrom, Draper and Datsyuk were fighting through. Lidstrom made mistakes in the series that he doesn't normally make - although Pittsburgh finally picked up that the Wings like going up the middle out of the corners and managed to cut a few off - notable on Talbot's first goal. And the adreneline to get on the scorebord led to some bad decisions by Brad Stuart in games 6 and 7. But I don't feel bad for the Red Wings. 4 Cups in 11 years is one hell of a run [and 6 finals in 14 seasons - everyone seems to forget that they lost - got swept - by the NJ Devils in 1995, a year we were all betting on Bowman's Big Red Machine to just steamroll these nobody's from New Jersey. And Draper, Maltby and Listrom were there for that bitter pill] and it's not like they don't have the tools to come back next year. Although someone will have to go to bring up Darren Helm and Abdelkader [Mikael Samuelsson wouldn't be a bad fit in Pittsburgh!]

Anyway, it was a great nail biter of a game and a better series than I even hoped for - capped with a victory by my team! WAY TO GO PENS!!!!

Of course I could be wrong...

The Cup

Okay, we're back to even and I'm in off the ledge - okay, so the ledge is my back porch / deck railing and it's only about five feet up, but I could, you know, fall and wrench a shoulder or hurt my wrist putting it out to break my fall.

My cousins on Facebook are as excited as I am about this series and going into tonight's game 5, I am encouraged. Yes, I know this is now a best of 3 with 2 games coming in the other guy's barn. Yes, "The Joe" is a rough place for visiting teams. And yes, the Red Wings are a veteran team that certainly know how to win the Cup. But I think the Red Wings are tired. Their energy just drained after Pittsburgh's three goals in the second Thursday night.

I think this is the game Pittsburgh can steal from Detroit, if they can weather what is sure to be a big push from Detroit. They will try and feed from a returning Pavel Datsyuk, but I ask again - who do you take OUT of the Wings lineup? Super rookie Justin Abdelkader [yes, I had to look that up] sat so the Wings could insert veteran shutdown center Kris Draper back in the lineup. I don't think Mike Babcock can sit center Darren Helm - he's earned his spot. You'd like to keep some youthful legs in there with Ville Leino, but he is probably going to sit. You could make a case for sitting Valterri Filppula or Jiri Hudler, too, but I doubt Babcock will rest his veterans.

Anyway, I think if Pittsburgh can come out and hold on or even shove the Red WIngs game back in their face - hard forecheck, take the body, make smart plays [this includes NOT shoving pucks up the middle from behind the net!] and be aware of the lively boards at Joe Louis - they can take this game from a tired Red Wings squad. And I say let the Wings match up all night against Sidney Crosby! Let them get Zetterberg and Datsyuk and Nick Lidstrom out there against Crosby. Because Sid can turn you inside out and burn you, but it's clear to me right now that Malkin is going to be the key to the Pens winning right now. He is the hot hand this playoff. And yes, it's going to take an ugly goal from a Tyler Kennedy or Jordan Staal or Ruslan Fedotenko, but if Malkin can get going and feed those guys, that's going to be it for Detroit.

Here's something interesting - of course I Tivo-ed the Pens - Canes game last night, but in doing my setup I accidentally hit mute on my Super Space Command Remote Control for my cable. So I have picture but no sound. Which may not be a bad thing. I love 'Razor' Reaugh's color comments as much as the next hockey fan, but I get him for Stars games all year, too and I could do with a couple hours of hockey without a "Lareceny!" or a 'gargantuan rebound.'

SO, I actually picked up pen and paper and decided to totally unlive Blog the game as I watched.

1st period:

18:24 - [Eric] Staal [Carolina] stuffs one. I think this is the first time in the series [this is game 4, Pens up 3 - 0] that the Canes have outnumbered Pittsburgh below the goal line. Rob Scuderi versus three Canes and Staal on the wrap around. Malkin standing there on the boards not helping and Hal Gill nowhere near the net. Isn't the Center the Center's responsibility, Geno?

17:30 - Now the Canes are buzzing and pressing the forecheck. Not a good clear by [Pens goalie Marc-Andre] Fleury! Brind'Amour [that's not a typo] just held up the Pens rush for a good 20 seconds by himself.

14:40 - The Canes full court press keeps the Pens hurrying until Ray Whitney misses a keep in at the blue line -Fedotenko with a nice breakaway! Where's the late man? He had no passing option. Who is that # 28? [It may be my eyes are failing - 287 is Eric Goddard, but he wasn't dressed... but I looked several times to catch a number and that was not Fedotenko.]

11:39 - SCORE! Boucher to a wide open on the back door Ruslan Fedotenko. Not a red jersey, including the goalie, within ten feet of him. How many times have the Canes been burned by the back door play this series?

10:00 - TV just pointed out [Carolina's] Eric Cole has not been every effective in the playoffs - just 5 assists in his last 31 playoff games. So what? I like the way the guy plays the game. He can hit, he can shoot and he can pass. Don't blame him for Carolina's woes - NO ONE has stepped up this series. The Pens are killing penalties at 83 %. That's dedication and hard work and why I'm taking them to upset the Red Wings this year.

8:43 - Fleury just saved his own bacon on his belly and sliding the stick across the goal line. Gotta elevate those shots!

5:25 - Chippy and scrappy in the Canes end. Kennedy [Pitt] just sidestepped a Mack truck of a hit. Jordan Staal [Pitt] levels someone one the boards with a good shoulder! This year's Pens aren't afraid to hit and be hit. Good shift from the third line keeping the Canes bottled up in their end!

3:58 - Pittsburgh has a powerplay connecting 20.5 % of the time and it's only 7th in the playoffs [out of 16 teams]???

2:30 - Jordan Stall again in the corner. He is just a Ronnie Francis starter kit.

1:28 - Breakaway by Talbot, flutter puck of the top of the glove and SCORE! Oh, that's bad. That's Langenbrunner beats Osgood from just inside the red line bad. But we'll take it! hat's the game winner, too. Oh, it went up the defenseman's stick and arched up and over. Shades of Steve Smith. I saw Sergei Zubov put a pass right off his partner's skate into the Pens net when he was in Pittsburgh. That's one of those unlucky bounces.

'Tween Periods - Aw screw the NHL injury reporting process. Detroit can say Kris Draper has a groin injury, Pavel Datsyuk has foot problem, but Nicklas Lidstrom has a 'lower body injury.' Anything from a hangnail to a sprained ankle to a broken leg to a groin... PFFFFT. Can the Wings beat Pittsburgh without Lidstrom? It would be tough. He just never seems to be out of position defensively and he's so smart with the puck. Lidstrom may be the best all around defenseman of his generation. Christine Simpson. Yumm!

2nd Period

20:00 - Canes start with 1:30 [ish] of power play. Big shot block by Hal Gill. Once Gill got past taking bad penalties [for being out of position] he has become a great shut down guy. Rob Scuderi, too. Neither will get a sniff for MVP honors, but both have been fantastic all through the playoffs.

15:51 - Yeah, big obvious high stick there Seidenberg. Go sit in the box and feel shame! Eric Staal and Rod Brind'Amour just killed 20 seconds of OUR power pay and had a couple good whacks short handed. Come on guys! Wake up! Nice deflection by Jordan Staal. Kris Letang is going to be good for a long time. He's got a wicked wrister that finds the top corner. Power play over Canes rush, 5 Pens in front of their own net against 3 Canes, no shot!

12:00 - Another shot off the blocker of [Canes goalie Cam] Ward. He's not playing playing well, not making good clean saves. It looks like he's lunging at the puck. Of course a few years back the knock on Fleury was he can't catch, cover, play the puck, kick rebounds into the corners, cover the five hole or skate. But other than that he's a good goalie. Ward has a Conn Smythe and a Cup ring all ready.

10:17 - What's Bill Cowher doing at the game? Wish I could hear what he has to say. Dumb trip Seidenberg, go sit again. What is this short handed break on our power play again? Gonchar pushed his shoulder at the last second. Why is Bill Geurin in the box?

9:02 - Mark Eaton on a 4 on 4 rush. This guy hasn't scored 4 goals in 2 seasons, but he comes out of nowhere to wire 4 this playoff. Nice. Must be a contract year.

7:50 -Crosby to afresh from the box Guerin, flip to the far post and score! Pitkanen HAS to stop that pass. Bill Guerin with playoff beard looks a lot like Jonathan Frakes from Star Trek: Next Generation.

6:20 - E Staal on the wrap around and stuff try again. He's playing very well tonight. Too Bad the Carolina D isn't. Or most of this series. Where's Frank Kaberle and Joe Corvo? I see Corvo's 77 flashing around once in a while here. [Kaberle was scratched for Anton Babchuck who only played 10:41 of the game, Carolina going with a 5 D rotation?]

1:48 - Well Carolina just played 2 minutes of keep away in our zone. But nothing to show for it. I see Tim Gleason for Carolina. And Nick Wallin.

3rd Period

17:00 - Seems the plan this period is to get the Carolina D active shooting and try to have someone about 10 - 20 feet out tipping shots. Couple of good chances all ready. Matt Cullen on the shake 'n' bake, Craig Adams [former Cane] lifting the stick and hooking and he still gets a shot off! Crosby tries a short handed split the defense rush - he need Mario to show him how to lower that shoulder and plow through. The Pens have killed 11 of 12 power plays this series.

12:00 - great poke check and pick the pocket by Malkin, great pass to Talbot for the one time. Eric Cole got a knee to the head behinds the play. He's a hockey player, he'll be back.

10:00 - the Jordan Staal line again cycling off to the goalie's left. Boy that line has been great tonight.

9:00 - Carolina just win the faceoff to their goalie. Saturday night was the first time I've ever seen a team in an offensive zone faceoff right into their own empty net.

5:45 - Eric Staal on the toe drag short handed breakout, 3 white sweaters converge. Pens in a 1 - 1 - 3 to clog up the blue line. Ron Francis is on the Carolina bench [coaching now], they need him to go lace 'em up!

4:15 - Look at Crosby forecheck. Wow! Canes outnumbered 4 - 3 below the dots in our end.

2:23 - Fleury flip flopping like the Fleury of old. He's been good, not great.

1:10 - Crosby to Adams into the empty net. That does it. Assist to Talbot. It's always great when grinder get points.

Handshakes. Oh, the "Don't Touch It Trophy" presentation. The superstition is you don't touch the Prince of Wales [Eastern Conference championship] trophy or the Clarence Campbell [Western Conference championship] bowl because you only want to touch the Stanley Cup. And it's weird superstition - Jordan Staal did not touch the Cup when Eric brought it home after the 2006 win because you only want to touch the Cup when you win it. [I will not win win it, so I touched it at the Hockey Hall of Fame.] The only person I saw make a deal out of it was Scott Stevens with the '03 Devils. He skated it and had a team photo with it. OH! Crosby touched it! And took a picture with his alternate captains Malkin and Gonchar! And he's taking it to the locker room!

Note: I heard on Sportscenter last night and read today that Crosby touched it this year because he didn't last year and the Pens lost - so he's trying a new superstition.

LET'S GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!