Anderson Cooper... I mean Draco Malfoy

I'll let the rest speak for itself.
(I'm sure you've figured it out already, but this is your mature content warning)

To Quote C3PO: We're Doomed

RT @jacko2323 If Adam Laroche is your answer, I think there are still some questions.


Yanks are going for their 8th straight win... Sox are scuttling. I've never looked forward to NFL training camp as much as I am this year.

Over/Under on the Number of My Groomsmen That Could Have Pulled This Off

I get the feeling that the Catholic Church may have frowned upon this though...

What You're Callin' The Cause I Call The Cure

I promise this will be my last bit on this, but this is the best idea I've heard on this topic so far (and I kind of wish I had thought of it). I hope they have their beer, and the rest of us can start to freak out about something else.

RT: Sgt. Crowley

In case you missed it, here's the interview on WEEI with Sgt. Crowley of Professor Gatesgate (though I did come up with that on my own just now, it already appears to be plastered all over the internet. Damn you, information age). I'm not trying to stir things up (read my prior post on this), but if this were a seesaw competition, having President Obama on one side would be like having the 600 lb 4th grader with a pituitary disorder on one side (no offense to Mr. Obama, he appears to be in great shape), so I'm just trying to even things out as best I can.

Turkeylurkey

I realized that I'm fast approaching as many tweets (90) in just a few months, as I am posts (117). As I've never been particularly good at keeping up with either, I don't always enjoy going back into the archives - I usually feel more like a colossal failure than a nostalgic dope (though you can argue I am indeed both). I did find this post rather funny though, in light of recent events (as usual, the video is broken now... damn you corporate America).

The "fambly" will be doing Turkey Day in Keene once again this year, and with the right amount of alcohol and the proper amount of leverage, you mayhaps will get yet another jovial post out of me - unfortunately too much vino and it may not make too much sense. So an updated list is in order:

I'm certainly thankful for a wonderful family, and a healthy one at that. I'll withhold judgment on screaming fits at 2 am, but other than that, 3 is even better than two was (though my proportional ownership in 800 sq. ft. of hell has certainly reduced).

You won't be shocked to hear this, but I'm also thankful that school is over. In retrospect, I don't know how we did it. Ok, to be precise, I don't know how Meghan did it - but I do know that after the torture that is the UMass grad program, she was well equipped for labor and childrearing (if that is a word). I'm half surprised when the nurses commented on how well she did in labor, Meghan didn't just show them her diploma - she'd already been through much worse.

I'm thankful for the creator of the diaper genie. The baby's room smells... not so diapery. Your moderately priced refills are also appreciated.

I'm thankful for Nintendo and its wonderful Wii. Without it this post might be longer, but I have a date with TW10 and a round at TPC Scottsdale. I'm also ecstatic about the new Mario, and I hope Summer will understand that mommy and daddy need special alone time... in order to beat Bowser.

And lastly (for now), I am (still) thankful for you, my faithful following. I know who most of you are, and can guess on a few others ( though some still remain a mystery, and for that reason I don't espouse my views as to why I have a strong preference for New Balance sneakers -- Reebok, you are ok in my book).

Oh, one last thanks - thank you to the ground turkey that was lurking in the freezer tonight - you made a wonderful stirfry, and were the impetus for this retrospective back to 2007.

All The Rage

This story makes me angry.

I've been outraged by it for two days, and every time I think about it, my blood boils even more. It's been on boston.com, CNN, and all over both the liberal and conservative radio stations I enjoy. I'm hoping that by adding my two cents now, I can stop thinking about it in the future.

Here's the long version - I promise I'll get over and under and through the woods and back to my point eventually. Anyway, last week, CBS announced that it is axing WBCN and starting an all sports talk station on the FM dial in Boston. I'm excited about this because for the past year, I have spent my mornings driving to work listening to the seething rants of Dennis & Callahan on WEEI.

If you aren't familiar with D&C, they are a duo that can best be described as Conservative (Dennis) and Just-Shy-of-Neo-Nazi-Conservative (Callahan). This of course may seem strange for a sports talk station, but they have massive following of people that both love and love to hate them. Unless there is a major sports story going on, my ride is usually filled with diatribes against the MA legislature (which I always agree with), Deval Patrick (which I almost always agree with), President Obama (which I sometimes agree with) and liberals in general (lets call that on 50%/50%). Though some listeners agree with them, the majority of callers (affectionately called "moonbats", a term that I wholeheartedly agree with at times) argue with D&C and escalate the "conversation" into an all out yellfest.

As you can imagine, this is just quite awful radio. Though MA has more than its fair share of lunatic liberals, the D&C gestapo is just blatantly wrong about climate change (it isn't a myth), recycling (it really isn't that bad, or that stupid) or liberals (some of them are actually decent people). They are even wrong abut the Bush administration - according to them it wasn't conservative enough. Believe me, it was.

The cure for this awful radio? No, its not calling in and contributing to the nonsense. Its as simple as changing the dial. If the moonbats would only get this, and change the channel, maybe they wouldn't be so incensed. Yet every morning they call in and freak out. The moral of the story? Liberals and conservatives enjoy hating each other as much as they enjoy their own points of view. More broadly, there's a certain subset of the population that enjoys conflict and argument, even if (and especially when) it isn't productive.

And that's what I think we have with the Gates case. Do I think this whole affair is his fault (as opposed to the arresting officers?) Well, I can't say for sure. But based on the police report, and his own admissions, it seems like Gates supplied the lighter and the fuel, and the police officer provided the opportunity for the arson to take place. I'm not saying that Gates wouldn't have been arrested if he had cooperated, but the likelihood would have been much, much less. But by creating a scene - and getting arrested - Gates has created a commotion that is more caustic than it is constructive. Gates apparently likes to fight, and the folks in the media that love a fight are loving to fight over this.

And yet while D&C railed against Gates this morning, I found myself extremely annoyed, even though I find myself leaning more on the side of the 5-oh than that of our dear professor. D&C spewed more hate and anger than the situation needed. Its hard to agree with anyone when all anyone wants to do is be angry.

So I'm looking forward to the debut of WBZ-FM. Maybe with a little more sports, and a lot less rage, I'll enjoy my rides to work just a little bit more. And maybe a few listeners will come with me... but I get the feeling that the majority of D&C's audience will remain, if only because there will be less incentive to talk sports with the sports listeners departing, and more reason to argue over why everyone is wrong.

Wait, is there an infant back there?

I hate these spots. I take them every chance I get. I'm not all about
their forced protected class status. Well now I am a customer with an
infant. I just choose not to bring the infant with me to the store,
but I think I should still qualify.

Summer's going to hate it when she's 7 and I'm still trying to pass her off as a baby...

Moving On

I had hacked out about ¼ of a post about how bad my prior post was, and that I deleted it, when I realized that the post I was writing was equally as terrible. Yikes. Meghan mentioned recently that my blog could be “really good”… but that would of course require posting. Interesting idea. Thinking about that some more, I’ve realized I have a few options:
1) Stop posting all together
2) Maintain this blog, in its current form
3) Do a better job with this blog
4) Start fresh with a new blog that goes in a different (or any) direction

I know that I missed the boat on making my fortune by writing a blog (by about 8 years), but I’ve realized that I’d rather be somewhere between 3 and 4 on the list above than between 1 and 2, which is where I usually am (some may argue that 1 and 2 are redundant. To that I say “eff you Vallone”).