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!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Out Of Date - Shout Outs
Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted.
So it's Memorial Day - nothing special to me because I have every Monday off, but now most of you are competing for my space in stores and on the road. So fine, I'll just stay in and have a nice Denver omelet with some salsa [maybe a Santa Fe omelet?] and flip between baseball and the NASCAR race. Besides, I have a nasty sinus headache.
But I'm standing in my kitchen flipping the omelet and burning some CDs to my drive and thinking what a lucky guy I am. So shout out to Uncle Rich for indirectly teaching me to cook an omelet [yes, he has a real omelet pan] and enjoying a relaxing day. Shout to to Mom for my musical taste, without which I would have just looked over the Philly Soul of Teddy Pendergrass in the used CD bin. Some days life is indeed a song worth singing. Mom is very proud that I came around on the soul music; for many years I said I didn't like it, but it began turning around when I found her James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone... suddenly, I feel the need for Earth End & Fire's After the Love... weird.
The NHL Playoffs
For those who don't know, my beloved and offensively gifted Pittsburgh Penguins are in the Eastern conference finals and up 3 - 0 on the Carolina Hurricanes. I said the Pens would take this in 6, but Carolina just looks whipped. I was nervous about Pittsburgh and Washington's game 7 because that Ovechkin guy in D.C. - he's pretty good. But the Pens kept forcing a defense that looked like Swiss cheese to try and stop them and they didn't. And it wasn't even close.
This is Pens team on the cusp - they took everything they learned from going to the finals last year and losing to the very committed Detroit Red Wings and applied it. They are blocking shots like the 98-99 Dallas Stars. They are taking the body in the corners - not just the grinders, but Crosby and Malkin, too. Crosby is just shining as a leader. He just seems determined to win. Malkin looked unsure in the first couple of series - not anymore. Whether Crosby told him something or scoring late in the Caps series kind of lifted the pressure on him, he's been on fire in the Canes series and leads the league in scoring now in the playoffs after leading them in scoring in the regular season.
And I would be remiss if I didn't choke down a forkful of crow here. The moves made by GM Ray Shero appear to have paid off in spades. I didn't think the move to get Chris Kunitz for big defenseman Ryan Whitney was a smart move at all. But Kunitz has become the digger on Crosby's line, going into the corners and coming out with the puck and is able to make the passes to allow Crosby to score. Bill Guerin [for a 2nd rounder] has also had a great post season with Crosby. Ruslan Fedotenko has also chipped in in a timely manner and has shown more sandpaper to his game than I thought he had. AND [gulp] Miroslav Satan has been speedy and dangerous - probably playing his best since he was with Buffalo. I said to a lot of people whem the Pens sent him down in March that he was done. But when Peter Sykora proved ineffective in the playoffs Satan stepped in and has contributed. Sorry, Miro.
If things hold as the appear, Pittsburgh will get their rematch with the Red Wings late this week. This is a much more determined and tested Pittsburgh team and I think this group has a much better shot to unseat the Wings than last year's group. With Detroit having some injury issues and the bonus of denying the Cup to Marian Hossa [whom we all recall spurned a hundred point season playing with Crosby all year and took less money than Pittsburgh offered to go to Detroit because "they have a better chance of winning the Cup."], I can see a motivated Pens team knocking off the champs in 6.
By the way, this would be the first rematch in the Cup finals since Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers met the NY Islanders in 1983 and 1984. Edmonton lost the first year, but took notice of what it took for the Isles to win and came back in 1984 and knocked off the 4 time Cup champs to begin their own run at the top of the pile. Detroit [and to a lesser extent New Jersey] have been the top of the heap ever since they met in the 1995 finals - Detroit's 4 Cups in 11 seasons, NJ has 3 sandwiched in there. This could be Pittsburgh's announcement that there is a new king of the hill in the NHL.
Another great story was the run of the kids in Chicago - Patrick Kane, Cam Barker, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews have played some of the most exciting firewagon hockey that we've seen in a while and surprised everyone by upsetting the Calgary Flames [leading to Mike Keenan's firing] and the fantastic goaltending of the Vancouver Canucks Roberto Luongo... only to run into the many toothed machine that is those pesky Red Wings. But give them couple more years and they will be competing deep into the post season again and challenging for a Cup - first in Chicago since 1961. Wouldn't it be fitting if they won it in 2011?
Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted.
So it's Memorial Day - nothing special to me because I have every Monday off, but now most of you are competing for my space in stores and on the road. So fine, I'll just stay in and have a nice Denver omelet with some salsa [maybe a Santa Fe omelet?] and flip between baseball and the NASCAR race. Besides, I have a nasty sinus headache.
But I'm standing in my kitchen flipping the omelet and burning some CDs to my drive and thinking what a lucky guy I am. So shout out to Uncle Rich for indirectly teaching me to cook an omelet [yes, he has a real omelet pan] and enjoying a relaxing day. Shout to to Mom for my musical taste, without which I would have just looked over the Philly Soul of Teddy Pendergrass in the used CD bin. Some days life is indeed a song worth singing. Mom is very proud that I came around on the soul music; for many years I said I didn't like it, but it began turning around when I found her James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone... suddenly, I feel the need for Earth End & Fire's After the Love... weird.
The NHL Playoffs
For those who don't know, my beloved and offensively gifted Pittsburgh Penguins are in the Eastern conference finals and up 3 - 0 on the Carolina Hurricanes. I said the Pens would take this in 6, but Carolina just looks whipped. I was nervous about Pittsburgh and Washington's game 7 because that Ovechkin guy in D.C. - he's pretty good. But the Pens kept forcing a defense that looked like Swiss cheese to try and stop them and they didn't. And it wasn't even close.
This is Pens team on the cusp - they took everything they learned from going to the finals last year and losing to the very committed Detroit Red Wings and applied it. They are blocking shots like the 98-99 Dallas Stars. They are taking the body in the corners - not just the grinders, but Crosby and Malkin, too. Crosby is just shining as a leader. He just seems determined to win. Malkin looked unsure in the first couple of series - not anymore. Whether Crosby told him something or scoring late in the Caps series kind of lifted the pressure on him, he's been on fire in the Canes series and leads the league in scoring now in the playoffs after leading them in scoring in the regular season.
And I would be remiss if I didn't choke down a forkful of crow here. The moves made by GM Ray Shero appear to have paid off in spades. I didn't think the move to get Chris Kunitz for big defenseman Ryan Whitney was a smart move at all. But Kunitz has become the digger on Crosby's line, going into the corners and coming out with the puck and is able to make the passes to allow Crosby to score. Bill Guerin [for a 2nd rounder] has also had a great post season with Crosby. Ruslan Fedotenko has also chipped in in a timely manner and has shown more sandpaper to his game than I thought he had. AND [gulp] Miroslav Satan has been speedy and dangerous - probably playing his best since he was with Buffalo. I said to a lot of people whem the Pens sent him down in March that he was done. But when Peter Sykora proved ineffective in the playoffs Satan stepped in and has contributed. Sorry, Miro.
If things hold as the appear, Pittsburgh will get their rematch with the Red Wings late this week. This is a much more determined and tested Pittsburgh team and I think this group has a much better shot to unseat the Wings than last year's group. With Detroit having some injury issues and the bonus of denying the Cup to Marian Hossa [whom we all recall spurned a hundred point season playing with Crosby all year and took less money than Pittsburgh offered to go to Detroit because "they have a better chance of winning the Cup."], I can see a motivated Pens team knocking off the champs in 6.
By the way, this would be the first rematch in the Cup finals since Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers met the NY Islanders in 1983 and 1984. Edmonton lost the first year, but took notice of what it took for the Isles to win and came back in 1984 and knocked off the 4 time Cup champs to begin their own run at the top of the pile. Detroit [and to a lesser extent New Jersey] have been the top of the heap ever since they met in the 1995 finals - Detroit's 4 Cups in 11 seasons, NJ has 3 sandwiched in there. This could be Pittsburgh's announcement that there is a new king of the hill in the NHL.
Another great story was the run of the kids in Chicago - Patrick Kane, Cam Barker, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews have played some of the most exciting firewagon hockey that we've seen in a while and surprised everyone by upsetting the Calgary Flames [leading to Mike Keenan's firing] and the fantastic goaltending of the Vancouver Canucks Roberto Luongo... only to run into the many toothed machine that is those pesky Red Wings. But give them couple more years and they will be competing deep into the post season again and challenging for a Cup - first in Chicago since 1961. Wouldn't it be fitting if they won it in 2011?
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Odd? Disturbing? Weird?
I had to stop by the card shop to get a sympathy card Thursday and I'm pulling in behind one of those two seater little black Honda "wish I was in Faster and Furious-er" cars - like Marty drives. And they turn the corner and there is this rainbow sparkle in the paint job - remember cars in the 70s with that metallic sparkle? I thought it was - well, less than manly.
Then I stop at Wendy's for some - well, breakfast for me. I order and the dude kid at the counter, I notice, is wearing a ring on his thumb, some kind of Celtic band. [But to be fair, he was wearing the latex / food handler glove.] Dudes with thumb rings? I thought that was only for lead singers. This dude did not look like a lead singer - he looked a lot like Elias [Trevor Fehrman] from Clerks 2.
Am I just getting old and cranky?
I had to stop by the card shop to get a sympathy card Thursday and I'm pulling in behind one of those two seater little black Honda "wish I was in Faster and Furious-er" cars - like Marty drives. And they turn the corner and there is this rainbow sparkle in the paint job - remember cars in the 70s with that metallic sparkle? I thought it was - well, less than manly.
Then I stop at Wendy's for some - well, breakfast for me. I order and the dude kid at the counter, I notice, is wearing a ring on his thumb, some kind of Celtic band. [But to be fair, he was wearing the latex / food handler glove.] Dudes with thumb rings? I thought that was only for lead singers. This dude did not look like a lead singer - he looked a lot like Elias [Trevor Fehrman] from Clerks 2.
Am I just getting old and cranky?
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Random Misfires:
You can tell when the weather turns nice in Texas - all the two seater mid-life crisis BMW and Mercedes convertibles come out and you see all these men getting their bald spots sunburned [while thinking they are so cool!] on the freeway.
Telemarketing machine calls my house - the message starts - remember, they are calling me - "Please hold for the next available representative, it is very important that we speak to you." If it's so damned important, why are you calling me and putting me on hold? To see who is was [and get them to stop calling] I held, the gentleman asked to speak to someone who's name was not mine but I didn't catch clearly, I said "I'm sorry?" [meaning 'say again'] and they hung up on me! While on the subject, it is ever really the last time that the machine calls about lowering my interest rate or extending my vehicle's warranty?
If you're looking for an all over them map CD you can pop in and just piddle around the house [other than one of my own compilations], I can highly recommend the Theme Time Radio Hour with Your Host Bob Dylan CDs. Bob is NOT on the CDs, but the selections are just amazing! And all over the map from blues to rock to obscure Motown to the White Stripes. Boders is clearing out a bunch of titles, go see if you can get it for 40% off. Don't go to the store off Hulen and 30 in Ft. Worth - I have all ready raided it. Currently enjoying Johnny Cash's Unchained [American Recordings volume 2]. Johnny Cash and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers? Oh yes!
You can tell when the weather turns nice in Texas - all the two seater mid-life crisis BMW and Mercedes convertibles come out and you see all these men getting their bald spots sunburned [while thinking they are so cool!] on the freeway.
Telemarketing machine calls my house - the message starts - remember, they are calling me - "Please hold for the next available representative, it is very important that we speak to you." If it's so damned important, why are you calling me and putting me on hold? To see who is was [and get them to stop calling] I held, the gentleman asked to speak to someone who's name was not mine but I didn't catch clearly, I said "I'm sorry?" [meaning 'say again'] and they hung up on me! While on the subject, it is ever really the last time that the machine calls about lowering my interest rate or extending my vehicle's warranty?
If you're looking for an all over them map CD you can pop in and just piddle around the house [other than one of my own compilations], I can highly recommend the Theme Time Radio Hour with Your Host Bob Dylan CDs. Bob is NOT on the CDs, but the selections are just amazing! And all over the map from blues to rock to obscure Motown to the White Stripes. Boders is clearing out a bunch of titles, go see if you can get it for 40% off. Don't go to the store off Hulen and 30 in Ft. Worth - I have all ready raided it. Currently enjoying Johnny Cash's Unchained [American Recordings volume 2]. Johnny Cash and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers? Oh yes!
Monday, March 16, 2009
March Madness - SHUT UP!
Oh Lord, how long do I have to listen to this shit just to get my NHL highlights? It's not bad enough during football season, then post football free agency, then baseball training camp and Manny "I Can't Work for 42.5 mill, I Need 45" Ramirez and all that hype - now it's this time of year again. There's not enough beer to drown it all out...
"Contractually Obligated" Bonuses
Hey, here's an idea to anyone else crawling to the government for a loan or complete bailout - declare bankruptcy. Restructure all those contracts. "We can't keep top executives without this bonus structure..." There's a recession on - WHERE THE FUCK ARE THEY GOING TO GO?!?!?!?!?!?
It was bad enough that the banks paid dividends and bought out small, weak competitors with their assistance money {and I will say shame on the Bush Administration, particularly Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke, for not putting "Thou Shalt Not..." rules on the money} but AIG is pulling the fastest fast one. And the really really sad part is the people who are getting bonuses ARE the people who planned the strategies that brought the company to the brink of failure in the first place.
And I say the same goes for Detroit. Anyone else remember when 'The Big Three' ignored the Japanese import market and the growing demand for higher gas mileage cars - right up until the 1979 oil embargo? That made them change their marketing strategy - A LITTLE. For the last ten years or so, it's been about SUVs and oversize trucks - things that have the largest profit margins. Guess what - now the playing field has shifted again and they're once again unprepared to play ball. They were all ready afraid of the new mileage rules that were coming, now there's one more thing on the plate.
It occurs that to streamline, you have to chop off the dead weight and a lot of dead weight is at the top. I'm not saying that sacrifices don't need to be made on the lines where people hang onto those jobs for 35 - 40 years. But Let's see some top brass and middle managers merged and downsized and humbled - maybe even put back on the lines, if they were ever there in the first place.
And airline pilots need to be paying attention, too. Yeah, not everyone can do it, but a slowing economy is lowering demand for your services, too. Yes, you made concessions to keep your jobs a while back - you still want those $ 130k / year jobs, right?
Tax My Health Care Benefits, Lose Your Job
One more thing - this talk about taxing the health care coverage my employer chooses to provide me as 'income' is a bunch of horse shit. I am lucky that my employer does choose to cover much of my health care. I pay my premiums - pre-tax. And this should all remain pre-tax if the government doesn't want every employer to drop health care coverage and put everyone on government heath care. Oh, but the government does want everyone on the government dole for their health care.
OH, I know a lot of other people who want everyone on the government train for our health care, too - poor misguided souls. The government can't run the government or the fucking post office and you want to trust them with your life and death decisions?
I promise, right here, right now - anyone representative, Republican or Democrat, who votes for this is not getting my vote.
You want to know how to stop that nonsense? MAKE IT APPLY TO CONGRESS TOO!
And finally - Having Their Cake and Eating It, Too.
There was a lot of talk about the 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill just passed - another 480 Billion Congress had to pass to keep the government running through September 31st - being loaded with pork and pet projects known as earmarks. And a lot of Republicans stood up for 'Fiscal Responsibility in Tough Economic Times" and didn't vote for the bill "On Principle" knowing full well that the Dems had enough votes to pass it along anyway.
What got overlooked is that a bunch of the Rs slipped their projects in with the 8570 [disclosed] earmarks - totalling $ 7.7 Billion reported Taxpayers for Common Sense on 3/13. Taken with the other spending bills passed last year for Fiscal 2009, you get $ 14.3 Billion total. Surprisingly, this is down $ 500 Million from Fiscal 2008, but this does not include the Obama "Economic Recovery" bill.
The Republicans stuck their hands out for $ 1.88 Billion - with their names on them. There's no telling how much they're getting of the $ 3.18 Billion earmarked by "Unknown". And isn't that a crock of shit? You want the money, you want credit for it in your district, right? But you don't want to be accountable?
How about Alabama Senator Richard Shelby voting for the spending bill and his $ 114 Million from the trough - including "$800,000 for oyster rehabilitation at the University of South Alabama to $380,000 to the city of Tarrant, Ala., for streetscaping and walkways" according to Conservative website Human Events. Other big spending Senators included Thad Cochran of Mississippi [$ 76 million], Kit Bond of Missouri [$ 86 million] and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska [$ 74 million - what the hell is there to spend $ 76 million dollars in Alaska???]. All crossed party lines and voted for the Omnibus bill. Of course the disappointing Arlen Spector of Pennsylvania disappoints again - why he doesn't just switch parties and get it over with I don't understand.
You can't say "I'm a Republican and a Conservative and I want less government and less government spending / waste" and then do this. Pat Buchanan often says the Republicans lost their gains of the 90s because they came to Washington on a mandate of change and instead got changed by Washington.
This is exactly why we need term limits - in spite of what Joe Barton thinks - yeah, he was one of those Reagan cot-tail rider who was all for term limits until he was there and his self set time limit was about up. We need to roll those clowns over every few years and get fresh ideas and keep the debates going. I say 12 years each - 12 in the House, 12 in the Senate. Run in the House for a while, move over to the Senate if you can. If you can't, tough shit, get a real job again. Politician and career are two words never meant to go together.
That's my big mouth rant for a while.
Oh Lord, how long do I have to listen to this shit just to get my NHL highlights? It's not bad enough during football season, then post football free agency, then baseball training camp and Manny "I Can't Work for 42.5 mill, I Need 45" Ramirez and all that hype - now it's this time of year again. There's not enough beer to drown it all out...
"Contractually Obligated" Bonuses
Hey, here's an idea to anyone else crawling to the government for a loan or complete bailout - declare bankruptcy. Restructure all those contracts. "We can't keep top executives without this bonus structure..." There's a recession on - WHERE THE FUCK ARE THEY GOING TO GO?!?!?!?!?!?
It was bad enough that the banks paid dividends and bought out small, weak competitors with their assistance money {and I will say shame on the Bush Administration, particularly Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke, for not putting "Thou Shalt Not..." rules on the money} but AIG is pulling the fastest fast one. And the really really sad part is the people who are getting bonuses ARE the people who planned the strategies that brought the company to the brink of failure in the first place.
And I say the same goes for Detroit. Anyone else remember when 'The Big Three' ignored the Japanese import market and the growing demand for higher gas mileage cars - right up until the 1979 oil embargo? That made them change their marketing strategy - A LITTLE. For the last ten years or so, it's been about SUVs and oversize trucks - things that have the largest profit margins. Guess what - now the playing field has shifted again and they're once again unprepared to play ball. They were all ready afraid of the new mileage rules that were coming, now there's one more thing on the plate.
It occurs that to streamline, you have to chop off the dead weight and a lot of dead weight is at the top. I'm not saying that sacrifices don't need to be made on the lines where people hang onto those jobs for 35 - 40 years. But Let's see some top brass and middle managers merged and downsized and humbled - maybe even put back on the lines, if they were ever there in the first place.
And airline pilots need to be paying attention, too. Yeah, not everyone can do it, but a slowing economy is lowering demand for your services, too. Yes, you made concessions to keep your jobs a while back - you still want those $ 130k / year jobs, right?
Tax My Health Care Benefits, Lose Your Job
One more thing - this talk about taxing the health care coverage my employer chooses to provide me as 'income' is a bunch of horse shit. I am lucky that my employer does choose to cover much of my health care. I pay my premiums - pre-tax. And this should all remain pre-tax if the government doesn't want every employer to drop health care coverage and put everyone on government heath care. Oh, but the government does want everyone on the government dole for their health care.
OH, I know a lot of other people who want everyone on the government train for our health care, too - poor misguided souls. The government can't run the government or the fucking post office and you want to trust them with your life and death decisions?
I promise, right here, right now - anyone representative, Republican or Democrat, who votes for this is not getting my vote.
You want to know how to stop that nonsense? MAKE IT APPLY TO CONGRESS TOO!
And finally - Having Their Cake and Eating It, Too.
There was a lot of talk about the 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill just passed - another 480 Billion Congress had to pass to keep the government running through September 31st - being loaded with pork and pet projects known as earmarks. And a lot of Republicans stood up for 'Fiscal Responsibility in Tough Economic Times" and didn't vote for the bill "On Principle" knowing full well that the Dems had enough votes to pass it along anyway.
What got overlooked is that a bunch of the Rs slipped their projects in with the 8570 [disclosed] earmarks - totalling $ 7.7 Billion reported Taxpayers for Common Sense on 3/13. Taken with the other spending bills passed last year for Fiscal 2009, you get $ 14.3 Billion total. Surprisingly, this is down $ 500 Million from Fiscal 2008, but this does not include the Obama "Economic Recovery" bill.
The Republicans stuck their hands out for $ 1.88 Billion - with their names on them. There's no telling how much they're getting of the $ 3.18 Billion earmarked by "Unknown". And isn't that a crock of shit? You want the money, you want credit for it in your district, right? But you don't want to be accountable?
How about Alabama Senator Richard Shelby voting for the spending bill and his $ 114 Million from the trough - including "$800,000 for oyster rehabilitation at the University of South Alabama to $380,000 to the city of Tarrant, Ala., for streetscaping and walkways" according to Conservative website Human Events. Other big spending Senators included Thad Cochran of Mississippi [$ 76 million], Kit Bond of Missouri [$ 86 million] and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska [$ 74 million - what the hell is there to spend $ 76 million dollars in Alaska???]. All crossed party lines and voted for the Omnibus bill. Of course the disappointing Arlen Spector of Pennsylvania disappoints again - why he doesn't just switch parties and get it over with I don't understand.
You can't say "I'm a Republican and a Conservative and I want less government and less government spending / waste" and then do this. Pat Buchanan often says the Republicans lost their gains of the 90s because they came to Washington on a mandate of change and instead got changed by Washington.
This is exactly why we need term limits - in spite of what Joe Barton thinks - yeah, he was one of those Reagan cot-tail rider who was all for term limits until he was there and his self set time limit was about up. We need to roll those clowns over every few years and get fresh ideas and keep the debates going. I say 12 years each - 12 in the House, 12 in the Senate. Run in the House for a while, move over to the Senate if you can. If you can't, tough shit, get a real job again. Politician and career are two words never meant to go together.
That's my big mouth rant for a while.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Years Roll By [Dedicated to the Class of '85]
Years at a time seemed to roll on by
Faces lost and names forgotten
Days we used to spend being young and carefree
Now just memories in my aging, failing mind
Laughter, drink and adventure no longer desired
We take it easy and make it home before midnight
We have become what we feared most
Married and parents and responsible citizens
Safe in our homes in safe neighborhoods with good schools nearby
Diseases hit us hard in our primes and strike fear in our friends
We still think we are so young and we are
But then again we're not.
Did we set out to change the world
Or to not get changed by the world?
Were we fooled by the man who said we could be the change
Or were we surprised when there was no man behind the curtain?
Finally!
If anyone had had told me that I would go 8 months without a radio in my car, let alone some type of CD or tape deck, I'd have laughed in their face and bet $ 50 on it. But it was almost 8 months [July 4th / 5th to March 2nd] I went without. Now granted, at any time, I could have whipped into Best Buy or Frye's, whipped out the plastic and had my unit replaced. But I took my tax rebate money over Monday, paid out of the ol' checking account and was in and out in an hour.
Why so long? I really think I got to use the drive home time in silence - well, relative silence since I really was always singing something or commenting on the poor / stupid assed driving going on around me - to really just take a few deep breaths and unwind. No, my job is not that stressful, but... well, it's hard to explain. But to plug in a real CD and hear real music from my collection again felt really good. [I didn't like the earbuds on my MP3 or the headset on my cassette walkman knockoff.]
Admission of Guilt
Much to the "I Told You So" pleasure on one Scott Downey, I bought the new Oasis, Dig Out Your Soul while I was in Best Buy [and a Muddy Waters collection]. The Oasis is a nice slab of rock and roll, some pyschedelic twists here and there, but a damn fine record. I was so impressed, I ordered their 2005 disc Don't Believe the Truth on Ebay. I found that I like Oasis last year., but this is my first purchase. If Scott were in my living room, I believe his comment would be something along the lines of:
"You name Who's Next best album of 1971, now you're buying Oasis CDs... there's hope for you yet, Chaz."
Years at a time seemed to roll on by
Faces lost and names forgotten
Days we used to spend being young and carefree
Now just memories in my aging, failing mind
Laughter, drink and adventure no longer desired
We take it easy and make it home before midnight
We have become what we feared most
Married and parents and responsible citizens
Safe in our homes in safe neighborhoods with good schools nearby
Diseases hit us hard in our primes and strike fear in our friends
We still think we are so young and we are
But then again we're not.
Did we set out to change the world
Or to not get changed by the world?
Were we fooled by the man who said we could be the change
Or were we surprised when there was no man behind the curtain?
Finally!
If anyone had had told me that I would go 8 months without a radio in my car, let alone some type of CD or tape deck, I'd have laughed in their face and bet $ 50 on it. But it was almost 8 months [July 4th / 5th to March 2nd] I went without. Now granted, at any time, I could have whipped into Best Buy or Frye's, whipped out the plastic and had my unit replaced. But I took my tax rebate money over Monday, paid out of the ol' checking account and was in and out in an hour.
Why so long? I really think I got to use the drive home time in silence - well, relative silence since I really was always singing something or commenting on the poor / stupid assed driving going on around me - to really just take a few deep breaths and unwind. No, my job is not that stressful, but... well, it's hard to explain. But to plug in a real CD and hear real music from my collection again felt really good. [I didn't like the earbuds on my MP3 or the headset on my cassette walkman knockoff.]
Admission of Guilt
Much to the "I Told You So" pleasure on one Scott Downey, I bought the new Oasis, Dig Out Your Soul while I was in Best Buy [and a Muddy Waters collection]. The Oasis is a nice slab of rock and roll, some pyschedelic twists here and there, but a damn fine record. I was so impressed, I ordered their 2005 disc Don't Believe the Truth on Ebay. I found that I like Oasis last year., but this is my first purchase. If Scott were in my living room, I believe his comment would be something along the lines of:
"You name Who's Next best album of 1971, now you're buying Oasis CDs... there's hope for you yet, Chaz."
Monday, February 16, 2009
Some NHL Ramblings...
Well, the players got another coach fired in the NHL yesterday, but not the one who should have according to NBC's analysts on the terrible New York Rangers; the Penguins fired coach Michel Therrien. Therrien led the Pens to the Cup finals for the first time in 16 years, but the team is struggling this year. Is it the coach's fault? Absolutley not - Therrien could only work with what he was given.
Unfortunately, he was given a team with its top two defensemen out for extended periods before the season even started [Ryan Whitney, who was out until December, and Sergei Gonchar, who returned Saturday]. Management was outbid for nose for the net guy Ryan Malone, Marian Hossa spurned a chance to play all year with Malkin and Crosby on the power play to try and win a Cup in Detroit and the replacements Ruslan Fedotenko [who did have a couple OK years in Tampa and was warming before being injured] and Miroslav Satan [who hasn't done crap in the last five years] were not the sniper types needed to finish Sidney Crosby's unbelieveable passes. Jordan Staal's 29 goal rookie campaign has proven to be a fluke - so far - but I think he will be a dangerous third line center for years to come; maybe center the second line if the move is made to put Malkin permanently onto Crosby's line.
But Therrien made the best of things - Tyler Kennedy looks to be breaking out, Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski learned the ropes and inproved.
In the end, it's easier to fire the coach than replace 15 inderachievers. Still, I think Therrien got the short end of the stick on this one. Finish the year, then talk and see where things went wrong and if there needs to be a philosophical change. Yes, the Pens want to make the playoffs and have momentum and interest going into a new building next fall - but this is short changing the man who turned your team around.
Sorry Michel. Good luck in your future.
Stimulus and Fixes
I was watching the McLaughlin Group yesterday - yes, I like the chaos - and the commentators, both left and right, there were all ready commenting about how this stimulus package is flawed and won't do the job and we will be looking for another $ 500 billion - 1 trillion deal before the year is out. And all I can say is "What the fuck, Washington?"
Don't kid yourselves, this bill was loaded with pet projects and pork out the ass. Euless gets $ 785,000 to improve Softball World?Fort Worth gets $ 383.5 million for the Trinity Uptown Project [mislabeled "flood control" to get earmark priority] and $ 106 for swimming centers? $16.7 for "Zoo Infrastructure Revovantions: Walkway Renovations [2.37 mil]; Parking garage [14.4 m]." We need the Federal govenment to build a parking garage for the CITY ZOO????
What am I getting as a single dude? I get $ 400 of my money back in a tax cut. $ 13 a week! Whew, now I can go buy that gas guzzling car and go save General Motors!
Well, the players got another coach fired in the NHL yesterday, but not the one who should have according to NBC's analysts on the terrible New York Rangers; the Penguins fired coach Michel Therrien. Therrien led the Pens to the Cup finals for the first time in 16 years, but the team is struggling this year. Is it the coach's fault? Absolutley not - Therrien could only work with what he was given.
Unfortunately, he was given a team with its top two defensemen out for extended periods before the season even started [Ryan Whitney, who was out until December, and Sergei Gonchar, who returned Saturday]. Management was outbid for nose for the net guy Ryan Malone, Marian Hossa spurned a chance to play all year with Malkin and Crosby on the power play to try and win a Cup in Detroit and the replacements Ruslan Fedotenko [who did have a couple OK years in Tampa and was warming before being injured] and Miroslav Satan [who hasn't done crap in the last five years] were not the sniper types needed to finish Sidney Crosby's unbelieveable passes. Jordan Staal's 29 goal rookie campaign has proven to be a fluke - so far - but I think he will be a dangerous third line center for years to come; maybe center the second line if the move is made to put Malkin permanently onto Crosby's line.
But Therrien made the best of things - Tyler Kennedy looks to be breaking out, Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski learned the ropes and inproved.
In the end, it's easier to fire the coach than replace 15 inderachievers. Still, I think Therrien got the short end of the stick on this one. Finish the year, then talk and see where things went wrong and if there needs to be a philosophical change. Yes, the Pens want to make the playoffs and have momentum and interest going into a new building next fall - but this is short changing the man who turned your team around.
Sorry Michel. Good luck in your future.
Stimulus and Fixes
I was watching the McLaughlin Group yesterday - yes, I like the chaos - and the commentators, both left and right, there were all ready commenting about how this stimulus package is flawed and won't do the job and we will be looking for another $ 500 billion - 1 trillion deal before the year is out. And all I can say is "What the fuck, Washington?"
Don't kid yourselves, this bill was loaded with pet projects and pork out the ass. Euless gets $ 785,000 to improve Softball World?Fort Worth gets $ 383.5 million for the Trinity Uptown Project [mislabeled "flood control" to get earmark priority] and $ 106 for swimming centers? $16.7 for "Zoo Infrastructure Revovantions: Walkway Renovations [2.37 mil]; Parking garage [14.4 m]." We need the Federal govenment to build a parking garage for the CITY ZOO????
What am I getting as a single dude? I get $ 400 of my money back in a tax cut. $ 13 a week! Whew, now I can go buy that gas guzzling car and go save General Motors!