Friday, September 29, 2006

Let's Play 163!

I am not breaking my own rule here -- now that we have tonight's baseball games settled, I can say this for sure:

The Dodgers will be playing baseball next week. Even if it is only on Monday against the Phillies, that's still Game #163.

(I haven't even looked at a football game yet -- I just can't get into it with this much baseball action going on.)

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Baseball Tonight (& Tomorrow, etc.)

Ok, the following news is, from what I understand, only semi-official, and may not be the final word on the subject, but that has never stopped this blog from reporting anything as an absolute truth, so... here goes:

The Los Angeles Dodgers (yay) have ended their Class A affiliation with Vero Beach and will move their Class A affiliate (back) to ... San Bernardino!!

Actually, that is only partially correct, as after they left last time, the San Bernardino Stampede became the Inland Empire 66'ers.

This is almost totally a good thing. First off, as much as I love the Vero Beach Dodgers, this will make all of the swag I have from that team instantly limited memorabilia. Second, the Dodgers need to get a A-ball club locally again. The Padres have Rancho Cucamonga, the Angels have Lake Elsinore (yay.... oops, formerly yay), and the closest the Dodgers had was AAA ball in Las Vegas. This will be good for the team and, most importantly, good for me, because the Angels suck the life out of baseball, and it was killing me to root for Lake Elsinore.

As for the 66'ers, well, you can read this post if you didn't hear about our last experience there, but I think this will drag me out to a few more games. Also, we will probably get more local rehabbing assignments for the Dodgers this way (I still remember seeing Orel Hershiser's last Win ever when the Stampede, with Hersh starting, beat the Quakes at the Epicenter).

As for the current season, expect NOTHING out of me regarding what is or isn't happening in the NL West or NL Wildcard races until it either does or doesn't happen. Got that?

Fun with Google Earth

A lot of us have been discussing Google Earth, and Microsoft Virtual Earth (or whatever it's called) a lot lately, and one of the things that has come up is how few people you see in the shots. Cars, trucks, and inanimate objects are all there, but I couldn't really recall seeing any people in the photos. I think this news story should put that idea to rest.

(Yes, it's a foreign clip. It is not in English. Deal with it. If you have ever used Google Earth you will understand exactly what is going on, and will hear enough key words to get the whole story.)

This is another reason we know that no one is actually looking for Osama bin Laden. We, the peons, can see this with Google Earth. You know that is crippled to the point of uselessness. So, how good, and how hi-res, do you think the real surveillance photos are? Does anyone really think, anymore, that the CIA (or whoever) they couldn't find anyone, or anything, they wanted while sitting at their desks?

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Changing the Subject...

If my records are accurate, today is Bryan Ferry's 61st birthday.

Sounds like an excuse to play some music!!




Stunning

I guess we'll be hitting his harder than I had intended.

Keith Olbermann speaks for me. He also speaks for all Americans with any part of their dignity remaining.




Monday, September 25, 2006

Smoke, Mirrors, etc.

I'm not going to hit this subject too hard, because apparently, if you have even a passing interest in the news, which I guess I do not, you've seen the clip of Clinton on Chris Wallace's show on Sunday. Honestly, I didn't think it was going to be a big deal. I read the early transcript on Friday, thought 'fine, wonderful', and forgot about it. Today, late in the day, someone told me that all hell was breaking loose over the interview. Now that I have actually seen it, I naturally want to comment, but I don't think I could do a better take than this:


Saturday, September 23, 2006

Stupid Stuff from the Past

This is a post that is going to appeal to absolutely no one, except maybe ashleys.mommy. While perusing BoingBoing.com tonight, I saw another post about a topic they have been writing about from time to time: replacing the "76" balls at Unocal (formerly Union 76) stations here in SoCal with rectangular signs with a 76-ball logo on them. It isn't something I have worried too much about, except that the 76-ball was something that I grew up with, and for a lot of us, used as our first antenna-ball (they used to give them away in the 1980's -- screw you 'Jack'). There was also the big one in the parking lot at Dodger Stadium that a lot of us remember.

Anyway, when I read the first story about the 76-balls coming down, I thought about the Unocal station right next to our old apartment in Encino (near where another friend of ours now lives), and how that was the only real 76-ball remaining that I could remember. Sure enough, there it is on BoingBoing tonight, being replaced. Just west of the corner of White Oak and Ventura Blvd. I still remember having my 1984 Fiero towed in there after it died on the 101 Freeway trying to drive the two miles home from work. I also remember trying to tape my cooling system back together in that parking lot just to get to work for one more day.

This is one of those times that I think there is too much information available. No one needs to know all of this, but here it is. Just a weird intersection of memories vs. random reality poking its head in.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Introducing the Pepproncinitini

I have a theory that since all humans have (basically) the same genetic makeup, that we tend to experience the same feelings and same thoughts at the same times. This is usually expressed in such eloquent comments as "Everyone thinks the same" and "No one ever comes up with anything different." Imagine my surprise, then, when I discovered, tonight, that I may have actually come up with something so screwy that no one else has thought of it.

I am not a big drinker -- anyone who knows me can tell you that. I've had my problems with other stuff, but not booze. I don't have the stomach, or the head, for it. The one type of alcohol I do love, however, is gin. I think it runs in the family. But, I digress.

One other thing I love, for the last few years, is spicy food, peppers, and things goosed up with salt & vinegar. I had always thought that the perfect drink was a martini (gin, not vodka, and not any of that other crap they pass off as martinis now), with an olive. But, one night, I needed a fix of salt, spice, and booze. In a fit of inventiveness, I came up with the Pepproncinitini. Basically, it is a dry gin martini (made with Sapphire, although regular Bombay will do in a pinch), with a sprinkle of vermouth, and a few splashes of pepproncini brine, shaken not stirred (bastard Bond), over ice, garnished with an actual pepproncini, sliced to break the skin.

I'm sure that 99+% of the people who try it would declare it the most revolting drink in the world. It is spicy, salty, and weird overall. Needless to say, I love it. And, based on a search of Google tonight... IT'S MINE! I came up with this over a year ago, but I will post that as of today, September 21, 2006, the Pepproncinitini (or, alternately, the PeppronciniTini or Pepproncini-tini) was created by me.

Once again, the ingredients for a PeppronciniTini:

Bombay Sapphire Gin (or whatever sub-par generic brand you can tolerate, I guess)
Dusting of dry vermouth
Splash of pepproncini brine (I prefer Guiliano's)
Serve over ice
Garnish with pepproncini with sliced skin.

Laugh now, but someday.... future generations will look to this post.

(imagine Battle Hymn of the Republic playing here.)

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

A Cure for Blogger's Block

Ok, so I'm back. I have not been able to think of anything that seemed worthy enough to say recently, but tonight I found something that may have re-motivated me to start writing again. Yes, it's political, and it's local (but national, too), so anyone local (from the 951) who pops in here as a result of my blogwhoring may actually care, but I'm not going all-political-all-the-time again. I can't take that -- and I'm sure you can't either.

Anyway, the 2006 mid-term elections are now 48 days away. Of course, every seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is up for election (2 year terms, remember that from Jack Moore's Civics class?). The vast majority of the time, these elections are won by the incumbents, probably because no one really cares or gets involved enough to know who the "other guy" is, and the voter might recognize the sitting Reps name from a newspaper story, or a wanted poster, or something. Regardless, here in the CA-44th District (of which I remain in by about 500 feet, from the best I can tell), our Representative, for the last 14 years, has been Ken Calvert (R). As far as I am concerned, Ken Calvert is the worst kind of politician. Of course, I don't agree with him on the great majority of his views (support for the Occupation, the idiotic fence around the border, etc.) but I think his 100% rating from the Christian Coalition is the most important thing.

Here's why: Mr. 100%-Christian-Values-Calvert has prided himself on his righteousness and belief in 'family values'. However, Mr. Calvert was also caught by the Corona Police, in 1993, receiving oral sex from a prostitute while parked in a car on Howard Street (not the nicest neighborhood). He explained to the police (who recognized him, of course) that he was merely ministering to a distraught woman. Of course, at the time of his explanation, his pants were down, and when the police first observed the car, the prostitute's head was in his lap.

This is not conjecture -- the story was reported by the Riverside Press-Enterprise (check the archives for 1993/1994 -- there is a charge to actually read the whole story) and is verifiable here, here, here, here, and here, among other places.

Now, to be clear on this, I don't care that he was getting blown by a hooker. Not so great that it was in his car, but... I guess that's his thing. As long as he was on vacation, I don't care if he was screwing two guys while methed-up on the roof of Wal-Mart. What I care about was that he lies about it, not just by his words, but by his actions! This is a man who voted to impeach Clinton over the same act. Remember, as the Republicans said, "It's not the sex, it's the lying." Indeed.

This year, it appears that we have a candidate who wants to make a serious effort at unseating Calvert. His name is Louis Vandenberg. Here is his website. To drive this point home even harder, and get people totally insane, here is his post on Daily Kos!

We like him. We like his views (check his website, I'm getting tired). We are endorsing him (go fig). It's our second endorsement ever, and our first local one.

(Imagine a pretty graphic here, like the one we ran for Lamont. We don't have one for Vandenberg, but if they gave us one I'm sure it would be super-nice.)

To reiterate: LOUIS VANDENBERG (D) for U.S. House of Representatives, CA-44.


(Programming note: Be sure to check future posts for our twelve-part series examining the intense power struggle in the election for Comptroller of the Lee Lake Water District, and the potential effects on the thirty-nine people who live here.)

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Demand ABC Correct Their 9/11 Film

Tell ABC to tell the truth about 9/11 - A project of ThinkProgress.org

Demand ABC Correct Their 9/11 Film

Learn More About The Path to 9/11 at:

ThinkProgress.com
MediaMatters.com

ABC is planning to air a two-part mini-series entitled The Path to 9/11 this Sunday and Monday.

In spite of its claim to be based on the 9/11 Commission Report, the film reportedly includes numerous inaccuracies and lays the blame for the September 11 tragedy on the Clinton Administration. One scene reportedly depicts a senior Clinton Administration official calling off the capture or killing of Osama bin Laden. This depiction of events has been refuted by former Bush Administration anti-terrorism chief, Richard Clarke.

It also has been reported that the film blames the intelligence breakdowns on bureaucratic obstacles allegedly created by the Clinton Administration, even though Republican 9/11 Commissioner Slade Gordon has previously refuted that claim.

Because of my concerns that false and inflammatory information would be widely disseminated to the American public, I, along with Representatives John Dingell, Jane Harman and Louise Slaughter, asked ABC to correct the film before airing it.

The more people the network hears from, the more likely they are to correct the errors in the film. But we do not have much time. Contact them now to let them know they should not politicize this tragic event in our nation's history.

Thank you again for your commitment to a stronger democracy.

Sincerely,

John Conyers, Jr.
Conyers for Congress
P.O. Box 17204
Alexandria, Virginia 17204
Phone: 313-438-2004