For those of us who rock... (long post warning!)

Last night kicked my ass pretty hard. As previously posted, I went to see AC/DC last night at the Allstate Arena (still a shit-hole, tin box) with Dan "the man" Schramer.

The Answer opened up for the boyzz and actually weren't too bad, but I have to apologize to the band, I didn't bother to go to my seats to watch you, but I could hear you. Let's face it, it really WAS more important for me to down my 3, $8 Stella Artois' before seeing the big show.

Look I'm NOT a fuddy-duddy, but holy christ, can these concert venues become any bigger whores knowing that you're a trapped, willing participant? $4 crappy hotdogs, $5.50 small slices of pizza and $7.50 Bud/Light's and $8 "premium" beers? All of this on top of $20 parking! Yeah, the Economy sucks right now, what a load of crap!

What pounding my beers DID allow me to do was to bathe in the pure joy of people watching which was just the real show-before-the-show.

Holy Lord, you know the guy who sat next to you in biology class, you know, the burnout with the long straggly dirty blonde hair, black concert t-shirt, jean/leather jacket, ripped jeans and 5,000 mile stare? Well, he was there last night and he hasn't changed one iota in 30 years!

Also, the chick who used to wear the slutty clothes and pop her gum? She showed up too and has put on a few lb's, still trying to squeeze into a short skirt, jean jacket and shirt that showed some assets. She looked like a sausage that was on the grill and just ready to burst out of the casing.

The "youth" were there too, trying to look like they grew up in the 70's, acting all "the fool". It was just a load of fun watching everyone trying to fit in and enjoy the evening.

So the show finally starts with a classic cartoon video of Angus shoveling coal into a speeding train. Two vixens break their way onto the engine and tie him up (after sexually teasing the crap out of him) and take over in order to crash the train into the station and creating havoc. They jump off the train and Angus breaks free only to stop the train just in time but not before it crashes through the video screen. A massive AC/DC train (hollywood set type) blows through with flames shooting out, smoke, loud noise atop double rows of Marshall stacked amps, and then the boyzz hit the stage with Rock 'n Roll Train. Well, hell, why am I trying to tell you about it, when I some wonderful person posted it on the 'Tube from their tour opener two nights prior in PA.


Angus all decked in his schoolboy uniform, Brian Johnson in his sleeveless vest and trademark flat cap, Malcolm with his gravel-sounding voice, Phil Rudd banging the skins, and Cliff Williams fingering his bass.

From there, it was just a ride through the years of AC/DC anthem rock with just a smattering of the new stuff. Here's the set-list:

1. Rock 'N Roll Train
2. Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be
3. Back In Black
4. Big Jack
5. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
6. Thunderstruck
7. Black Ice
8. The Jack
9. Hells Bells
10. War Machine
11. Shoot to Thrill
12. Anything Goes
13. You Shook Me All Night Long
14. TNT
15. Whole Lotta Rosie
16. Let There Be Rock

Encore:
17. Highway To Hell
18. For Those About To Rock

Let's face it, there's not much more I can tell you about the show if you're a fan. AC/DC has not changed, nor should they, and they know exactly what to deliver to their fanbase. Why f*** with success? Angus is the never stopping, always running, sweat-dripping lead guitarist who delivers each and every night of his life. Even at 53 years of age, it's what he's always wanted to do with his life and with his brother by his side.

Here's a few more videos from the evening and OH, that's the only thing that let me know I've been wayyyyyyy out of the concert scene for a long time now. You can bring cameras into the shows and take pix and video. Had I known, MK's would have disappeared off the counter.

First Halloweens

This week is Aidan's first Halloween. Unfortunately at almost 11 months, I think he'll have fun in his costume and seeing other kids in his costume, but he won't know what it's all about.

One thing he did learn about tonight was carving the pumpkins that we bought a few weeks ago. It SO brought me back to my childhood. But it made me realize what a pain in the arse it is to carve a HUGE one that's really thick. (keep your dirty minds to yourselves)

I had to do the carving on three pumpkins (to be honest, my first ones ever in 42 years of life); one for Aidan, one for MK and I and one for Wrigley, our beloved Golden Retriever. I have to fess up that my damn forearm is tired. We bought the special pumpkin carving tools, which I've now found out have the life expectancy of about 2 1/2 pumpkins, but they really worked well. I had to be careful with Aidan's (his was last) so that the tiny little saw didn't snap off. But because they are tiny, you need to do a lot of "sawing" and turning and well, it's best to say I was well over my pitch count.

I remembered to spread out newspaper on the kitchen table to catch all of the guts and any other spillage. I also remembered to put a notch-mark on the top so that I could line up the cap to the pumpkin again.

I tried to make Wrigley's look like a dog (it's sort of a dog), MK's and mine is a ghost and Aidan's is just your typical pumpkin look. Since Aidan now has 5 teeth (almost 6) in his mouth, I gave the pumpkin a few teeth, so he and the pumpkin have something to bond about. Here's a nice "spooky" picture with them lit up.

So Aidan and my first carvings were a hit with MK and Wrigley. Success at these little things I'll be doing for years. It's nights like these that make any horrible days one could have a distant memory.

The FA Cup, First Round "Proper"

With its victory over Maidstone United in front of 1719 away fans of the Dons, AFC Wimbledon have qualified for the First Round Proper of The FA Cup, the worlds oldest and biggest of competitions.

Like a little school boy with his ear to the radio, but since it's 2008, me, with my ear to my laptop on the Internet, we found out that we'll be up against Wycombe Wanderers who are currently top of the table of League Two and without a loss on the season.

The GOOD news is that they have to come to "the meadow of Kings", The Fans' Stadium to play us.

Thanks to WDON for illegally "simulcasting" the ITV show via the 'net along with a little commentary.

So this is big news and we were mentioned several times on the broadcast for our achievements. Big enough that we'll be a match shown on Setanta, on November 10th, 2008.

"The FA Cup 1st round tie against Wycombe Wanderers will be played at the
Cherry Red Records Fans' Stadium - Kingsmeadow on Monday 10 November kick off 7.45 pm and will be televised live on Setanta Sports 1."

Stay tuned...

Hey, Whaa??? I thought my son was an original!

Damn Google Alerts and all that they stand for!

So in my alerts yesterday popped up that some 4-year old little boy in Tampa, Florida had fun sitting in a parked ambulance at some Safety Day.

His name? Yep, you got it, Aidan LoCicero!

First, our Aidan is born and like 5 days later we find out that Aiden/Aidan/Ayden is one of the top 5 popular names of 2007 (behind Jayden) and now THIS!

Okay, so this Tampa Aidan had the name first (and is a LoCicero, so he's gotta be a very cool kid with cool parents), but I guess we just hope as parents that we give our kids a certain bit of uniqueness that they can carry throughout their life. Well, at least I registered AidanLoCicero.com while ours was still in the womb, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

I'm sure my wife will remind me that she liked Colin as a name. (I bought that domain at one point as well but it's available again if any Colin LoCicero's want it)

Which reminds me that I've seen/met at least 3 other Brian LoCicero's on the interwebs as well. I can imagine all of the Italian Grandparents who cringed at those Irish names when we were all born!!

Burger King Must Die!

Much like the movies:

• John Tucker Must Die
• Romeo Must Die
• Surf Nazis Must Die and of course
• Willie Francis Must Die Again

So I say, BK Must Die.

Since 2004 when they started massive franchise closings, the service at the remaining BK's has just fallen off the face of the Earth. It's like the franchise owners are just saying, "close me next".

Not only is it now costing a fortune just to drive to find one, but once you get there, you wait in drive-thru for what seems like hours. I've had three recent experiences (and many others over the last four years) that really have driven this point home.

• Granger, Indiana: Early afternoon, non-peak. Was 5th car in line in drive-thru. Ordered and just sat in drive-thru as it took them about 4-5 minutes for each car to deliver the order.
• Matteson, Illinois: Post-dinner rush. Waited almost 8 minutes to place order. Two cars behind me when I was one car away from the order board, pulled out of line and out of the parking lot. Took almost 10 more minutes from ordering to getting our food
• Canoe Creek Service Plaza on the Florida Turnpike: Always busy but with Popeye's closed for business in the plaza, it's the only full-service dining option. Waited for almost 15 minutes to place order. Took another 5 to get it. Guy behind me even joked that Popeye's is missin' out on a ton of money tonight.

What's disturbing is that these are all happening during NON-peak time. In fact, they are happening when they should be at their fastest since there's no pressure to make 200 orders "My way". I can understand the occasional slip by a QSR (Quick Serve Restaurant) on having an off day but they are happening way too frequently and sequentially for me to consider BK as a "first choice" when usually they are close enough to other choices from here on out.

I used to LOVE BK because I didn't have to wait to get my special order (I like most burgers plain except for cheese) but now they've truly become just a "royal" pain in my ass. They should stop trying to be cute with their TV ads (kill the King) and stick to fixing their business.

I am NOT Joe the Plumber

..and neither is Joe the Plumber. According to FactCheck.org he made roughly $50K last year and his comments about owning a small business is that he was LOOKING at buying a business worth $250,000, not that he owns one.

It doesn't mean the business would be generating $250,000 in personal income for Joe, it's the pricetag he'd buy it for (which would likely include assets and other fine things). So based on this information, no matter how you'd slice it, he'd get a refund under the Obama tax plan if it were passed.

So now the RNC comes forth with a "I am Joe the Plumber" commercial with a lot of white faces in it. Well, if they are all truly Joe the Plumber than they'd all be getting back refunds. If they are small business owners making over $250K in personal income than it's amazing how quickly the RNC found what ends up being a relatively small percentage of the US Population!!

Eagle Eye - Spoiler Alerts if you read

MK and I snuck away from the house on Tuesday while Aidan was sleeping and could be watched by my folks to see Eagle Eye at the movies.

Shia LeBeouf and Michelle Monaghan star in this non-stop action thriller which was actually pretty good. After they both receive mystery calls from a woman forcing them to do increasingly more dangerous things, they are brought together for some reason to complete the mission being thrust upon them by what ends up being a super computer in "beta" test out of the Department of Defense in Washington D.C.

If you can suspend reality enough to allow that some huge computer is monitoring EVERYTHING on the planet (controlling stop lights, monitoring cell phones, running security systems, etc.) than this is quite the fascinating movie.

You also find out that Shia's twin brother (who he plays) was a good Marine trying to kill off the computer before it got out of control. Fun little roles by Billy Bob Thornton and Michael Chiklis along with Rosario Dawson.

This is a good quicker take on the 2001: Space Odyssey conundrum where computers take over and get personalities of their own as it runs just under 2 hours. About 1/3 of the movie was shot in Chicago which also made it nice for us to watch.

It's worth the price of admission and I'm glad I saw it on the big screen versus waiting until my smaller but still big screen of my 47" in the basement of my house.

Politics around the family

I've known since the first day I met my (then) future in-laws that I would never engage them in discussing politics. Let's face it they are very Republican and I'm socially a Democrat and financially a Moderate. I have a FOID and own guns, am not a big fan of Unions, believe in balanced budgets and no pork but also believe that we need many form of help at HOME first before shipping Billions of our tax dollars to every Tom, Dick and Sadam around the world. So it's not wise when both people are deeply entrenched in their beliefs because frankly, neither is going to change their minds and both might get angry with each other.

But I didn't think there'd come a day when I'd be in constant fights with my Dad about politics. For the most part, my Dad has been a life-long Democrat, although leaning to the right side of the party. Lately though, we fight about politics all of the time and I don't like it at all because they aren't intelligent or "friendly" fights.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm just too goddamn busy to read up on every single topic or to watch enough Sunday morning shows to follow what the latest line of crap politicians from both sides are selling the American people, but for the past 5-6 years now, my Dad almost always has on Fox News Channel and watches Bill O'Reilly avidly.

What used to be relatively decent conversations that didn't escalate into yelling have radically changed with my Dad yelling out "buzzwords" he's having drilled into his head by the GOP's TV Channel. He knows plenty about the topic but he won't admit that what he knows he only knows from Fox.

I think what started his more aggressive behavior towards me about politics is when he found out I had contributed $50 to the Kerry campaign back in 2004. He was really pissed off that I gave ANY money to ANY candidate so I think that's where this all came about.

So it's with much fervor that I'm now a huge fan of the Fact Check website. This will help compliment and call out the b.s. that I'm hearing and let me know what b.s. the Dems are spouting at the same time.

Last week my Dad was almost ballistic about Obama's ties to A.C.O.R.N. and even chided McClain for ignoring this saying that someone at one of his rallies was yelling out "ACORN ACORN" while he was speaking. There's a reason that ACORN hasn't been made a HUGE issue with respect to Obama by McCain and that's made clear on the Fact Check website. Although Obama HAS done work for ACORN, the lies and rumors that Fox News Channel has been spewing have been mostly a whisper campaign stretching the truth.

I actually give McCain credit for not falling into this trap, for it was HE who was a horrible victim of a whisper campaign from his OWN PARTY in the 2000 primaries courtesy of Karl Rove.

As for the link with the "domestic terrorist" Bill Ayers, no one on the Republican side will say out loud that the committee that Obama and Ayers were on, was one organized and RUN by former Illinois Governor, Jim Thompson (R-IL). If Ayers was so radical, why then did Big Jim bring him on the committee???

So you can find out a lot by finding a reliable, impartial website. It's why I encourage all of my friends to use Snopes when they get forwarded horrible chain mails that make scurrilous claims about anything. I've now mentioned the Fact Check site to my Dad several times although not directly and I doubt he'll go to it. I just get concerned that I see him believing and then repeating things coming out of that channel so much. I get more concerned when he truly believes that all network TV are Democrats and advance their agenda in everything they do and that someone is trying to "steal" an election. He claimed that the town hall debate was done to make McCain look bad on his supposed "favorite" style of debating because Tom Brokaw and NBC were behind it.

I also get concerned when he thinks a few Democratic Senators are primarily to blame for the current economic woes because they supported some deregulation of banking. The Economy is just too big and complex of a thing for any small group of people to influence.

Dad, please don't become that "old curmudgeon" type guy that lives in Florida and please start checking some of the "facts" that you are hearing. No matter WHAT they say, it's not always "Fair and Balanced" on that channel.

Weird sports wrap-up

It's Sunday Night Sports Wrap from your good ol' Uncle Duey:

• Tampa Bay is in the World Series. Cub fans, can it hurt any more than this?
• Rollie Massimino is coaching the Northwoods University Seahawks (NAIA) out of West Palm Beach, Florida. 23 years after winning a National Championship and he's coaching a team that will never play on TV!!??
• Dallas lost to St. Louis. We all wait for T.O. to implode yet again
• MLB Players Union wants to sue baseball for collusion against Barry Bonds. Let's see, a highly attitudinal head case, being investigated for steriod abuse and definitely perjury, who could go to jail at any time. Yeah, that's a great idea to sign him and use some of your salary cap. It's not collusion, it's good business sense
• Thanks to the sh*tty economy, the Cubs may NOT be sold during the offseason. Cub fans, can it hurt any more than this?
• San Diego and New Orleans play in London next week. Honestly, do the English people really want this going on? Methinks the NFL's publicity group has lost their minds. What is it with the desire to send our over-bloated sports abroad? NBA was just in China. Other than Yao Ming, is there really other Chinese superstars playing right now?
• Joba Chamberlain got a DUI on the weekend. Do the Yankees just HAVE to make sure they're grabbing headlines when they AREN'T in the post season?
• Milwaukee is going to offer Sabathia a contract. Jake Peavey originally had the Cubs in his sights (on his way out the door from San Diego) but looks like he's going to sign for Houston. Cub fans, can it hurt any more than this?
• BCS Rankings came out. Was this a tough one to call, really?
• Is there anyboy better than Jimmy Johnson at the moment? The dude just seems to have it year after year lately.
• Really bad football played today: Oakland/Jets, Redskins/Browns
• Who the hell knew the Chicago Bears could even SCORE 48 points in one game?
• Boston Red Sox fans, you've become spoiled whiners. No matter HOW bad it gets at Wrigley during the playoffs we never leave early. You should be ashamed of yourselves for Game 5 and I'm sure you'll all sit there and swear on your Yaztremski signed baseballs that you "stayed". You're only 2 more seasons away from being typical Braves fans (as in Atlanta). After 86 years of horrible baseball you've been treated to pure joy and excitement that we, on the Northside of Chicago haven't had now for over 100. Suck it up you morons and stop whining!
• Lastly, Lewis Hamilton looks as if he's on his way to his first F1 Championship. He should have had it last year, but he lost his brains along the last couple of races and made rediculous rookie mistakes. His win in China gave him a 7 point lead going into the last race in Brazil on November 2nd. Barring some massive engine failure and Felipe Massa finishing 3rd or worse, he sets out on a career that could eclipse that of Michael Schumacher. I'll be watching to say "I saw it" when it happens.

Only 4 more full days in Florida before hitting the road for the drive home. I'm starting to get so relaxed that I almost forget what it's like to be at work. I'm sure that'll all crash itself home on Monday the 27th.

In a world of disconnectivity

I am almost always aware when I'm not connected. With a CrackBerry on my hip most of the time, you become keenly aware of when you don't have a signal. Without a signal you don't get email and you can't surf the web.

So it's only been by staying with my parents in Florida that I've come to appreciate how much connectivity I have in life. My dad is still waiting for high-speed down here. He placed the order probably two months ago and now, but because they'll be coming back North for Thanksgiving, he's decided to put a hold on the order until they return in January.

So all of us (my Dad included) have been relegated to trying to steal his neighbors unprotected high-speed access. It was working fine for the first couple of days but over the last few, it's become very dodgy and in fact, last night it was miserable.

So here I sit at the Martin County Public Library having my fun at a very high speed and trying to get everything done in a short period of time because frankly, who the hell wants to sit in a Library in Florida on a Saturday morning?

I guess the next time I want to bitch out AT&T for some slow speeds around the house or some downtime with the signal, I should just be happy that for the most part it's 99% reliable.

Lock, Stock and two self-absorbed idiots

Madonna & Guy Ritchie have separated.

Good on ya' Guy, move along now, 50-year old nutjob leaving England and your life.

Look, almost everyone knows I'm voting Obama, but we don't need THIS kind of help (this is what happened at the 10/15/08 concert in Boston).

Stating that she had been told not to mention Alaska Governor Sarah Palin,
whom she has badmouthed during prior tour dates, Madonna avoided any further
commentary on the Republican vice presidential candidate.

Instead, she simply urged her audience to make their voices heard in
the upcoming election, saying, "I hope you f---ers are registered to
vote."

"Take some responsibility for your f---ing country," she said, adding,
"Just vote for Obama!"

To further her point, she showed the infamous video montage in which an image of
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain was interspersed with clips of
Hitler and other dictators, while Democratic nominee Barack Obama was aligned
with Ghandi.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock," the singer intoned repeatedly, as she implored
her audience to "save the world."

Look, I'm not a big McCain fan, but he's far from Hitler. She's so far out of bounds that every referee would throw a flag for that late hit. Obama isn't going to save the world, no US President can/could do that. We just need someone who is going to look internally here and help solve some of the issues.

Latent childhood memories

For the last two days I've been trying to remember what it was like to learn how to swim. Unfortunately the memories aren't pleasant.

I remember the Central Y.M.C.A (Chicago) where there was an evil woman who would take a large pole (used to help save the drowning kids) and whack my hands as I'd reach for the side of the pool. I guess that's one way of keeping a 5 year-old in the pool (especially a chubby one like me).

I keep thinking about this because we've had Aidan in the pool for both days and he has just been the happiest kid alive in the water. Here's just a taste of him enjoying some splashy splashy.



It's days like this that just make me the happiest person alive. You can bet your bottom dollar that I'm not going to let some crazy woman hit his hands with a pole. Then again, if he's anything like me, he's going to be a swimmer and won't ever have to take "lessons".

You KNOW you're in Florida...

• Dark socks and sandals around the pool - required when over 60
• Coochie-length shorts on women that shouldn't wear them
• You hear a woman (wearing those coochie-length shorts) yell to her kid "Sage, get over here now" and Sage is a 12 year old white kid with corn-rows in his blonde hair
• BOGO dinner specials from 4:00-6:00pm (first definition on the link)
• Local news leads are always some fantastic car/motorcycle incident
• McCain*Palin signs are everywhere inside gated communities
• Weather is always the second lead story on the local news (it's still 'cane season)
• You're seeing loads of Presidential Political Ads (just don't get them in Chicago as the GOP has given up on Illinois and won't waste coin)
• 3 weeks prior to the Election and a local politician is in a sex scandal
• It rains through the nights
• You have slight-to-moderate sunburn after one day in 87 degree sun
• Gekkos are on the patio screen

We made it and with all of our teeth!

As we drove across America this past weekend on our way to Florida, it just really doesn't surprise me why our country is the way it is. Five states, 1400 miles, 21 hours and I have to say that in some parts, I was actually concerned for the safety of my family.

Roads, the infrastructure, actually are really good. However the endless fast food stops and kitschy crap stores that line our highways would have people from outside of our nations' borders thinking that we've lost our minds.

On one stop, we pulled into the gas station and all of the employees were outside sitting in cars smoking cigs. I went in and went to the bathroom and then came out and bought 2 diet cokes. I stood at the counter until one of our bluetooth wearing friends got his arse out of the car and came in to check me out. They ALL had bluetooth sets on. Hilarious.

Let's face it, I love the South, but you just don't do yourself proud based on the service industry employees you put forth. Thankfully we had a clean hotel room in Lake City, Florida but seeing the massive Confederate Flag flying just 20 miles to the North of that reminded us again of where we were.

Staying in Lake City was kind of fun. It's 40 miles North of Gainesville and the Gators were playing LSU in the Swamp that night. The motel was rampant with Gator faithful in their Blue and Orange and I have to say that some of the clothing choices were perfect for college football. Leather belts with the Gator logo on them in silver were fantastic. I want one!! They won 51-21 so all parties were happy upon returning to the motel, which was good as they didn't wake us up at all.

All in all though, it was a good trip. Some very scary people and/or vehicles one meets on the road does have you re-think that flying might be better, but I guess it's something we had to do as a family.

It's HOCKEY SEASON!!

All the phaff that is pre-season is finally over and its finally time to "Hey Koharski, drop the f'in puck"!

The Chicago Blackhawks open the season at The Garden against the NYRangers and I guess, because I've been fighting the urge to give in and go back to being the huge puckhead that I was back in the 80's and 90's, I've only just found out that The Blue Line will be back for one final issue at the home opener on Monday night and then it gives birth to a son, The Committed Indian.

As a mid-20's ruffian who went to the Stadium and then, the UC looking to get juiced and possibly get into a fight, forking over some coin for the "unofficial" program known as the Blue Line was mandatory. Unlike the lame NHL/team publications, this one blasted ownership and always posted a "Fight Card" for the night so you knew who to watch and what their history was of battles on ice. It also had a card that rated the officials so you knew what sort of night you were likely in for. Ultimately though, it firmly set its sights on DeadWing fans of any kind.

The Blue Line would usually end up covered in beer and in tattered pieces on the back floor of my Chevy Berretta but it set the tone for the night no matter who we were playing.

Here's a taste of some of the "new" artwork to come.

Ahh, the good old days are back. I've added a link to the creators blog site for good day-to-day info and stuff (on the right hand side of this blog).

I swear, I'll need to dust off the ole' Indian Head and pull it over my head and get my arse to the UC for a game or two. Congrats again to Rocky Wirtz for pulling this out of the shitter his Father left it in. I think we'll have a good product on the ice as well this year.

How-ya-like-ma-big-sexy-look-NOW?

I just HAD to change up the template look of this blog. It was disgustingly bland before. Lemme know what you think of the "crop circles" template.

I have to say that changing templates is a pain in the royal ARSE here on Blogger. It was worth the 20 minutes I spent ensuring it looked decent at least.

eBay "employees"

(Courtesy of http://www.factcheck.org)
In the debate last night, McCain claimed “1.3 million people in America make their living off eBay.” Actually, only 724,000 persons in the U.S. have income from eBay, and only some of them rely on it as their primary source.

We are a country of "shit buyers" aren't we? I always knew it was a cyber-garage sale, but this fully validates it and my theory that we don't have a GDP anymore. We don't MAKE anything in this country, we just CONSUME everything.

When will we be able to declare someone the first eBay Millionaire?

Even Facebook loves Sarah Palin

So as most of you hopefully know, online advertising can be greatly targeted (how good that works is heavily debated every day around my company).

My brain got to working about how this ad showed up on my Facebook page?

Maybe it's because the a**holes behind me last night decided to argue politics for TWO AND A HALF INNINGS but I immediately thought that there's a target on me for Sarah Palin. Yeah, i'm tired and cranky. Why the hell would I need an Alaskan coupon book?

Then it dawned on me that I have a countdown odometer on my page counting down to my Mediterranean Cruise.

Bullet the Blue Sky

It dawned on me the other day that it was only a few years ago that Bono, lead singer of U2, was traveling around to all of the governments of the G8 asking for them to forgive the debts of some developing nations so that they could get back up on their feet.

When will Bono be touring around asking to forgive the debts of the United States? There's an Onion headline for you. No charge, I'm doing it pro bono!

100! 200! And I can see those fighter planes...............Outside is America!!

The ONLY positive from last night

Well, there really are two.

a) El Bueno Zambrano DID show up, unfortunately the seven buffoons playing behind him need more little league practice
b) I didn't have to suffer through ANY FrankTV commercials. Frank Caliendo, go eat a bag of shit.

Off to the fun and sun of Chavez Ravine. Harden in Game 3 and *if necessary, Lilly in Game 4. Frankly I DO like our chances with these two gentlemen. Only time will tell how right my judgement is.

Kosuke was getting Sammy-like jeers last night. No ichiban for ichiban.

42,136

Number of sufferers sitting and standing at 1060 W. Addison this evening.

7th Inning Stretch

Sweet Swingin' Billy Williams sings. Now there's a guy who could hit. Several boys should be studying film.

Just depressing how everyone is reacting. Don't boo this team. That assinine.

Tighter than a gnat's bunghole

Just no bats again tonight. We're getting to that point of the game where the Dodger's bullpen will take over and it'll just get tougher to produce runs.

Not looking good but I hope they prove everyone wrong.

Now that's the Z

We love. 1-2-3 innings are what we need the rest of the night. Great 3rd inning.

Uh....... Yeah

Well, that was a load of shite. They are playing really tight. You don't make that many errors when you're loose.

1 run an inning and we win 7-5. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Weird

The players seem like they're dragging their feet when they make an out.

The crowd is just frickin weird. The inning ended, Soriano got a HIT for god's sake and everyone is solemn.

I think the crowd is having the reverse effect on the team. This has GOT to change!!!!!!

Its game time!!

Lou switched Fukudome and Theriot in the lineup. This is very good news.

Hall of Famer and 1971 Cy Young winner Ferguson Jenkins threw out the first pitch.

Its feeling good in the air tonight.

Z takes the mound shortly...... Let's go Cubbies.

2 hours to gametime

And you can feel the nervous buzz in the air. Phillies beating Sabathia and the Sox got beat up by Eva Longoria. (Who knew she could hit the long ball. Chicks dig it ya know)

Please Lord almighty above, let El Bueno Zambrano show up tonight.

In the hood

So roughly 1/2 mile from the park parking dudes are asking for $80!!!! I found a guy with a garage for $40 and I get to keep my keys, same distance.

FYI the guy at $80 charges $20 during the season..........

I'm hanging at the Brownstone (Irving Park & Lincoln) which is owned by Mary Kay's cousins Courtney & Matt. Great place, good food but its a "Texas" bar. Meaning a place where Longhorn fans show up in droves to "hook 'em". I have to remember that for anyone coming in town from our Austin location.

True Irony - in a baseball kinda way

So the Shite Sox start their post season today in Tampa Bay. Hmm, Tampa Bay.... that sounds oddly familiar doesn't it?

Sure whilst many around the nation are amazed that the Tampa Bay Rays (they removed the Devil cuz it's the South ya see?!! Even a baseball team can be born again and saved, hallelujah), one of MLB's newest teams has made the playoffs after only a few years of futility (9 of them HAH), I sit here and just remember some facts that will make the Sox-Rays series oh so ironic.

In 1982, the Sox told Chicago that they would leave town if they didn't get a $5,000,000 tax-exempt bond to finance the build-out of luxury suites at Comiskey Park. The city, which at THAT time was under Jane Byrne (an old Daley machine gal), got the City Council to approve it and all was well at the cost of any taxes that should have gone to the city.

1988 rolls around and once again Sox ownership (Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn) say that Comiskey Park is in dire need of renovation and in fact, they want a new stadium from Chicagoans and that if they don't get their way, well, there's a lovely place that was being built in Tampa-St. Pete which will be the Sox NEW HOME, the "Florida Suncoast Dome". "Their way" included clauses that once built, if the Sox didn't hit a minimum average attendance for the year that their rent would only be $1 to the State of Illinois who would fund the building of this new stadium. Of course, at this time, a newly elected Mayor, Richard M. Daley, born and raised on the South Side of Chicago (Bridgeport) made sure that it was approved and pushed through.

So when people bitch and moan about how I have such a bad taste in my mouth about the Shite Sox, it's not really a Cubs/Sox thang. It's a "we were held hostage and still pay for it every day of our lives as residents of Illinois" thang that's so conveniently forgotten by the faithful followers of that team that will continue to have me hot under the collar. The team is privately owned but yet, the PUBLIC funded and built them that mall in the hood. I guess on the side of town that relishes in their backroom politics, this really shouldn't be a surprise.

So this series is really one where the people of Tampa should be angry and ready to take a beating on the Sox. For it took them 6 more years of having an empty facility (except for a few NCAA Tournament games and 3 seasons of the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey club) before they were even granted an MLB franchise and 3 more years from that point before an actual baseball game was played there. That's a lot of tax dollars spent that went unsatisfied for a long time because ownership of the Sox played a political game and got people's hopes up. People down there were angry enough at the team that the Sox eventually pulled out of Sarasota for Spring Training and went to Arizona.

Yet, there are a lot of Chicago transplants down there so I won't surprise me to hear enough of a roar for the Sox when they bat. Unfortunately people have short memories about these things. I don't and never will.

TBS and Advertising

With the Cubs being a huge television draw, I have to ask after watching Game 1.... What the hell does TBS do to sell advertising?

I saw the same MasterCard ad I saw last year with the price of each base across different countries. We suffer through literally HUNDREDS of Frank Caliendo SAME ADS AS LAST YEAR promos for his upcoming series and, since I have DirecTV, I see at least TWO DirecTV stupid ads which they show over "local" ads.

This big of a draw and they can't sell any decent advertising?..........wow, either folks down in Atlanta are getting really lazy or it's just the suckiest network of all times and Big Ted just bought his way into showing the games. Even if it wasn't the Cubs it's Chicago and Los Angeles watching..... #2 and #3 largest DMA's in the country.

You hillbilly morons!

Here we go again!!

One would expect me to rant and rave about the Cubs loss tonight. One might even expect me to predict doom and gloom for the remainder of the playoffs. One could go as far as saying that I've finally drank the last glass of Kool-Aid being handed out at Clark & Addison.

But I really think this club can pull off 3 out of the next 4 and continue on to the next level of the series. The Dodgers aren't all that they are cracked up to be and in fact, if Dempster had had ANY of his stuff tonight (and he wasn't even close), quite possibly we'd be talking different right now. Sure that's easy to say, but we need to be serious here, he looked like crap and we actually didn't do that bad at the plate.

The fear in most Cub fans hearts at this moment is which Carlos shows up tomorrow night? El Bueno Zambrano or El Diablo Zambrano. He's had a very rough go of it over the last couple of weeks since his no-hitter. But I think he's had enough time on the pine to realize that he has to stay focused and pitch how he knows how to.

Watching the entire pitching staff tonight just brought to mind the famous Crash Davis to Nuke LaLoosh line, "Don't think meat, just throw the damn ball". There were so many balls in the dirt that I thought the Cubs were playing Cricket tonight. Geo Soto was half the way to China he was digging so deep.

Other observations:

• Alfonso Soriano. You're now 2 for 19 in 4 post-season games with the Cubs...HELLO!!! Even my WIFE knows you can't hit a low-outide ball...stop swinging at them you moron. Everytime you do that, every Cub fan sees Sammy Sosa in a bad acid flashback.
• I don't know about you, but did Lou Piniella watch the same Kosuke Fukudome that I did this season? He's batting 2nd and Theriot is batting 8th? Seriously? I mean seriously??? I'm not questioning the man who has brought us to back-to-back playoffs, but I'm just askin'.
• Mark DeRosa continues to be this generation's Mark Grace. He just shows up, asks "Where am I playing tonight?" which can be any of 4-5 positions, and goes out and just does his damn job and WELL!!
• Samardzija: I love this kid, but they've really pushed him up way too fast. He's supposed to be one of our Ace starters in another year or two. He was not that great in Class AA ball and they pushed him quickly through Iowa and then brought him up when Rich Hill went to Hell. I just hope we're not ruining him for the future, cuz he's going to be one of the great ones with the dirty stuff he throws at batters.
• Greg Maddux closes out the game against us. Ouch that hurts. Man, how many times can he come back to remind us that we've let him go TWICE? He's MY age and he's still got nasty stuff. God Bless him, but I wish he was able to be in OUR bullpen over Howry, Cotts and Marquis.

So, I'll be at the Friendly Confines tomorrow night. Game time temp is supposed to be 51 degrees. I'll be bundled and probably tired since the start time is 8:30pm!!! Stupid TV. I'll likely be posting FROM the game (lots of short posts, but hopefully "spirit of the moment" ones)

It's Game One!