Moving Again ...

Not me, just the blog. I decided to move the blog over to Wordpress, for two reasons. You can decide which one was more important:

1. It used to cost money, now it is free.
2. I just got an iPhone, and they have a great iPhone app that lets you post directly from the phone, and I couldn't pass up the oppportunity to use it.

Here's a hint. It was reason #2.

From now on, come visit me here. Thanks!

Vince Young Is Still the Wind Beneath My Wings

(I might be abandoning the "song lyric for every post title" format. This a test.)

I was going to write something after Tom Brady's injury about how now we're going to find out if Bill Belicheck's coaching genius had more to do with Brady's on-field excellence, or if he really was a great coaching mind, and compare that to the situation in Austin with offensive coordinator Greg Davis, who everybody seemed to think was some sort of offensive genius himself, despite the fact that right around the time everybody (everybody but me, that is) was saying this, he was fortunate to have Vincent Paul Young, Jr., running the show and singlehandedly (SINGLEHANDEDLY!) winning games. Not just games. Rose Bowls. Not just Rose Bowls. National Championship Rose Bowls. Not just National Championship Rose Bowls. National Championship Rose Bowls against a team who had won 34 straight games and two national championships. Singlehandedly winning those games and beating those teams. Maybe that had something to do with Greg Davis's success. Maybe.

Anyway, in light of what is going on with VY right now, maybe that's all I'm going to say about it, and just remind everyone that he might not be the sharpest pencil in the drawer, but he's not an investment banker. He's a football player. And if he is battling some sort of depression, I feel for the guy. You never want to know that your heroes are fallible, but they are. It's tough for him that he has to go through this under the microscope, though, because he probably just needs to chill out a bit and have some attention deflected elsewhere, but it doesn't seem like that is going to happen anytime soon.

Get better, big guy.

I probably could have expanded on that quite a bit, but I just didn't feel like it. But, I needed to write something, since it's been a long time since my last post. So, just for the hell of it, and because I'm a bit lazy, I'm going to throw another list out there.

The Ten Worst Songs on My iPod (in no particular order):
1. One Week, Barenaked Ladies. This song was evidently written on a dare. That's the only explanation. That, or they tried to see if they could cram twice as many words into a song as a song should have. I have no idea how this song was ever popular. To steal a line from Micah, this song is Tucking Ferrible.

2. Stiff Upper Lip, AC/DC. I like AC/DC. They rock, man. Just about everything they touch turns to rock. This song is awful. I don't know how else I can say it.

3. Peacemaker, Cowboy Mouth. The last song on what is by default their best album (since more than 3 of the songs are listenable). This song is such a steaming piece of crap. I think it's about a former cop, who may or may not be the father in law of the singer, who doesn't know what to do with himself now that he is retired. Riveting stuff.

4. High-Fiving MF, Local H. The lyrics of this song are as follows: "You high-fiving motherf*cker. You high-fiving motherf*cker. You high-fiving motherf*cker. You high-fiving motherf*cker." Who am I kidding, this song is awesome.

5. Walking Song, Meredith Monk. This song is on the soundtrack to the Big Lebowski, and seems to consist solely of some woman breathing heavily and whispering jibberish. If I'm wrong on that, somebody correct me. Listening to more than 45 seconds of it makes me want to smash something.

6. This Is the Time, Billy Joel. Trust me. This song is worse than Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You," which is somehow not on my iPod.

7. Window of My World, Guided By Voices. This is another prime example of a horrible, horrible song by a great, hard-rocking band. Robert Pollard has put out something like 7,500 songs, though, so one or two of them are bound to suck.

8. Extraordinary, Better Than Ezra. See: One Week, Barenaked Ladies. These songs are basically interchangeable for me, in that I hate them both equally, however this has the added negative of being from one of my favorite bands, which makes me feel a little embarassed about admitting that I'm a fan. The other reason I'm embarassed to admit I'm a fan is that they haven't had a legitimate hit song in over a decade, and that was their only one. I have seen them more times than I can count (or remember, to put it more accurately), though, and they put on one hell of a show. So, you know what? I'm not embarassed. Say it loud. I like Better Than Ezra.

9. Taper Jean Girl/Pistol of Fire/Slow Night, So Long (tie), Kings of Leon. This band is a suckfest. I only have these three songs on my iPod because they are part of other compilations, and I didn't want to break up the continuity. However, make no mistake, this band is awful. Take the singer from Rusted Root and get him stone drunk to the point he can't stand up straight, then shove a few handfuls of cotton balls into his mouth, then ask him to sing, and I'd rather listen to that than to Kings of Leon. I don't know if I have been more disappointed by a band in my entire life.

10. Fishing in the Dark, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Oh. My. God. My family LOVES this song, and I can't understand why. The lyrics are so bad they are like a caricature of a song. It's like they wrote a song and said, "Ok, now let's make this song at least 90 times worse that it is now." Absolutely horrible.

Bonus: Rock On, Michael Damian (remake). The original version of this song is pretty badass, by early 1970s standards. Then this soap opera star remade it for the Dream A Little Dream sountrack, and it was shot to hell. As if that wasn't bad enough, in 2006, it was remade again by Def Leppard. I rest my case.

I Don't Mind Stealing Bread From the Mouths of Decadence

(Temple of the Dog, Hunger Strike)

What a weekend.

Friday night, Amanda and I went to Fogo de Chao for David's birthday. That place is amazing! A bit more expensive than I'm used to, but I probably ate my money's worth.

Saturday I got to visit with a good friend who was in town to see her family, and meet her adorable 10-month old son. Later that afternoon our friend Neola came in to visit us, and we had dinner at One Midtown Kitchen, where I enjoyed the calamari appetizer, steak frites, and a warm chocolate truffle cake with a scoop of mint chocolate ice cream for dessert, all for $25 thanks to Restaurant Week.

Yesterday we decided to get out and walk off some of what we ate the night before, so we cruised over to the midtown Obama campaign office and picked up some voter registration materials, then went down to the Grant Park Festival and walked around for two hours or so, getting people to register to vote. It was pretty fun (though we really weren't there for a very long time), and it was kind of exciting to get involved and participate in some of the efforts on Obama's behalf. Then last night we cooked dinner at home (chicken with pineapple and rice) and watched Be Kind Rewind, which was pretty weird, but also pretty funny.

Today I cooked buckweat pancakes with strawberry maple syrup and some turkey sausage for breakfast, and we took Neola over to Decatur and walked around for a bit, then picked up a few things at the Dekalb Farmer's Market on the way home for dinner (my signature chicken with spicy tomato chutney, with rice and curry cauliflower). Right now I'm watching the Tennessee/UCLA game, and then we're probably going to pop in a movie.

I have to say I'm exhausted, and I think that's mainly from eating. I think I'm still tired from eating dinner on Friday night. Seriously, if you have some cash to drop, and a stomach whose boundaries you really want to test, then head to Fogo de Chao. And don't fill up on bread (or even eat any at all).

I Don't Care If You Hurt Me Some More, I Don't Care If You Even the Score

(The Cars, You're All I've Got Tonight)

I'm up doing a little work tonight, and taking a little break to nurse an upset stomach, so I figured I'd check in with my loyal readership. Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad.

I had my second of three fantasy football drafts tonight, and it struck me that I should probably update everybody out there on who I drafted. I'm not sure why, it just seems like the right thing to do. And since I never posted my team from the first draft, I'll go ahead and list them both now, and probably update the third team sometime after it is drafted. We'll call tonight's draft "Team Two" and the draft from two weeks ago "Team One." Clever, I know.

Team One: (starters in bold)
QB Tomy Romo (DAL)
RB Steven Jackson (STL)
RB Maurice Jones-Drew (JAX)
WR Santonio Holmes (PIT)
WR Roy Williams (DET) (hookem)
WR Wes Welker (NE)
K Nate Kaeding (SD)
DEF Indianapolis Colts
RB Matt Forte (CHI)
RB Jonathan Stewart (CAR)
WR Anthony Gonzalez (IND)
QB Matt Ryan (ATL)
WR Donald Driver (GB)
TE Alge Crumpler (TEN)
WR DJ Hackett (CAR)
RB Mike Hart (IND)





Team Two: (starters in bold)
QB Tom Brady (NE)
RB Maurice Jones-Drew (JAX)
RB Matt Forte (CHI)
WR Calvin Johnson (DET)
WR Santonio Holmes (PIT)
WR Anquan Boldin (ARI)
TE Owen Daniels (HOU)
K Phil Dawson (CLE) (hookem)
DEF Jacksonville Jaguars
QB Matt Ryan (ATL)
RB Ricky Williams (MIA) (hookem)
RB DeAngelo Williams (CAR)
WR DJ Hackett (CAR)
WR Kevin Walter (HOU)

One thing I notice is that there are a few similarities between the two teams, notably MoJo Drew, Santonio Holmes, Matt Ryan and DJ Hackett. Another thing I notice is that for some of my players on team one, I also have their counterpart on team two, such as Stewart and Williams (RBs for Carolina), and Johnson and Williams (WRs for Detroit). Hopefully that won't come back to haunt me.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try not to be sick.

New Car, Caviar, Four-Star Daydream, Think I'll Buy Me a Football Team

(Pink Floyd, Money)

/exhale

Thank you, St. Louis Rams, from the bottom of my wallet. Steven Jackson, my first round draft pick in my Chicken & Waffles league fantasy football draft a few weeks ago, has finally gotten the new contract he's been holding out for and reported to training camp.

This guy has the potential to have an absolutely HUGE season. I'm talking awesome numbers. Unfortunately, he's only got another 2 weeks to get himself up to speed with the offense before the season starts. I will say that the Rams did the right thing by paying him big money (up to $49.3 million!!), because he is the best thing they've got going, though I do wish he hadn't been such a punk and refused to report to camp until he signed an extension. I have to believe most of that was his agent's fault, but still, what ever happened to a contract binding both parties?? Why do athletes think it's ok to just refuse to play until their contract is renegotiated? What if a team decided not to pay the player until they scored more touchdowns?

Either way, welcome back, Mr. Jackson. Now get your ass ready for the Eagles.

Two Worlds Collide, Rival Nations. It's a Primitive Clash Venting Years of Frustration

(Survivor, Burning Heart)

United States v. Australia isn't exactly an age-old rivalry, but hey, this is the Olympics. I'm rooting against countries I didn't even know existed (when did Ivory Coast change it's name to Cote d'Ivoire??), so of course I was happy to see the Redeem Team (dumb) pull it together after the first quarter and dismantle the Aussies today, on their way to the semifinals against either Greece (boo!!) or Argentina (boo!! - sorry Manu). Hopefully Spain (boo!!) will beat Lithuania (boo!!) in their semifinal game so we can show those racist dogs who's boss in the final game.

I've been getting pretty into the Olympics this year. I always think I'm not really into the Summer Olympics, but I think I just forget how much fun they are, due to the fact that they're four years apart and only last two weeks. The Winter Olympics are always awesome - skiing and snowboarding are just too cool to forget about being excited for. But this year's Summer games have been great - I'm pretty sure I've never cared much about swimming (thanks, Phelps, you goofy looking bastard), women's gymnastics (check out this video of Alicia Sacramone knocking out some dude in his backyard), women's sand volleyball (Misty May sounds like a pornstar's name), or synchronized diving, but lately, I've been happy to watch it all and pretend that I understand why a 16.45 score is supposed to be so awesome. (Amanda, did you see that!! He got a 16.45!! That is unreal!!)

Of course, I have no idea what separates a 16.45 from a 15.25, nor do I understand why they don't just give them scores of 1-10 and then add them all up like they used to. Either way, keep at it, Team USA. After this is over, it's time for most of you to go back to school or find jobs, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Picket Lines and Picket Signs, Don't Punish Me With Brutality

(Marvin Gaye, What's Going On)



Check out this headline from CNN.com. Dozens of people? Dozens? What do you think they're saying out in Hollywood, while they're reading this article online?

DOZENS! THERE ARE LITERALLY 36 PEOPLE PROTESTING OUR MOVIE!! WE'RE FINISHED IN THIS BUSINESS!! I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE GONE TO LAW SCHOOL INSTEAD!!