One more for the road

A million years ago, it seems, my mom and I were playing the original Trivial Pursuit and the answer to one of the questions was "Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy." We laughed heartily at that answer and it became a running joke as a default answer when we didn't have a real one.

Anyhow, a decade plus has passed since then. A recent Discovery Health program documented the medical conditions of "sideshow freaks" and first up was said Dog-Faced Boy. Turns out he had severe hypertrichosis.



Don't know why I posted on this, but it's just interesting (if not a little creepy, in all honesty).

From the ridiculous to the sublime

Thanks to Ilana Mercer of Barely A Blog for this quote, which is, I guess, rather self-deprecating, given that I'm posting it, in theory, as a "commentator":

The commentariat, of course, is a mirror image of the political class, reflecting and reinforcing the opinions—and the reality—of the elites. More often than not, the chattering classes are as privileged—and protected—as their masters.

Perhaps "self-deprecating" isn't the right term - more like "self-critical" or something along those lines. That said, I'm fairly sure that I'm not particularly "privileged" or "protected."

Sign of the apocalypse, number 581

From PerezHilton.com via All Headline News via The Fix (Salon's, not WaPo's):

"I may not have the type of voice you like, but I can sing. You can't take that away from me, 'cause singing is a gift from God, and when people say I can't sing, it's kind of like insulting God."
-- Fergie (BEP, not HRH) in Vibe

I'll take "Messianic Complexes" for 800, Alex.

Giving back (a little) to our troops

I got wind of this from an e-mail forwarded to me by my mom. Apparently, Xerox is sponsoring Let's Say Thanks, on which:

...you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services.

Frankly, it is a neat (and free) idea (and yes, I'm starting to sound more and more like my father every day [if only the "saving money" part took...hmm]), so I encourage you to take part. Besides, if Wayne Newton and Whoopi Goldberg can do it, why can't you?

ABTMNE, Part II

Following up on my previous post, I did some more digging around and found videos of people (not sure if they're scientists who invented this thing or just random guys off the street) "playing" a guitar, tambourine, and guiro (percussionists everywhere beware!). I can't believe there's now such a thing as "air guiro"; that's like saying we've been at war for 1,294 days since a president declared the "mission [to be] accomplished" (thanks, Keith Olbermann [I have found him obnoxious on his news programs and long for those heady days of the early- and mid-'90s during which time he partnered with Dan Patrick to form a very entertaining Sportscenter anchor duo]).

A boon to music nerds everywhere

A fellow Wonderjack fan, general music maven, and MySpace blogger par excellence, Melissa DePaulis, has made known to me (and now, you) a new article of clothing, which, if functional as advertised, may change the lives of millions of wannabe Jimi Hendrixes, Eric Claptons, and Yngwie Malmsteens around the world.

More representative government?

Thanks, Democracy in America, for pointing me toward this site, which has a good animated demonstration of instant runoff voting, or IRV. In my younger days, I discussed this topic amongst like-minded North Star Staters via FairVote Minnesota.

SEO

Yesterday (11.15.06), I was reading Caps majority owner Ted Leonsis' blog, Ted's Take, and was made aware (or, at least, more aware) of the concept of search engine optimization, or SEO. I really don't understand it at all as yet, but with a little reading, maybe I'll get it.

Anyhow, the reason I bring it up is that I've "re-branded" my blog. It's no longer "The Big W Blog," but now has a title including my name and a word a lot of folks may not know (which: (1) given the intellectual elitist that I am, is spot on; and (2) should not be confused and/or affiliated with the Jack White band of that name). It's lame, I know, but only having four hits come up on Google when one types in one's name (with the middle initial and in quotes [if I don't do that, I'm inundated with country music junk]) is pretty sorry.

Instant replay in baseball?

At the general managers' meetings in Naples (Florida, not Italy), the MLB bigwigs are considering the possibility of using instant replay.

At this point, there are no criteria for when and how replay might be implemented into Major League Baseball. The committee was just asked to explore all areas.

* * *

One of the main stumbling blocks may be the opposition of Commissioner Bud Selig, who has often stated that he's against the use of instant replay, which he believes takes "the human element" out of a sport.

If you ask me, MLB owners took "'the human element' out of [the] sport" when it elected one of their own to be full-time puppet, er, Commissioner in 1998. Before Selig was the "real" Commissioner (i.e., 1992-98), he messed baseball up by:

• splitting the leagues into three divisions, thus necessitating the inception of the "wild card"; and
  
• introduced interleague play, thus lessening the allure of the All-Star Game and, of course, the World Series.

Since '98, we've had the Barry Bonds fiasco(s), the '02 All-Star Game (played in Selig's old stomping grounds, Milwaukee [by that point, Miller Park [where three workers died in a horrific crane accident in '99] instead of the old County Stadium]), and the "this time it counts" All-Star movement, which has furthered devalued the World Series by making an exhibition game the determining factor in who has the home-field advantage in the Fall Classic. And I haven't even gotten to the part about him wanting to contract my childhood team or the bit about allowing a team that later became my hometown team to be owned (and to be gutted for the better part of a decade) by his chums in the egotistical, over-monied cabal that is MLB ownership. As Alton Brown, my favorite Food Network personality, would say, "But that's another show."

In short, if you haven't figured it out already, I think Bud Selig is the worst thing to happen to the National Pastime since, well, the imposition of the "color line." I mean, look at the links on his Wikipedia entry. He should've just stuck with selling cars, lo those many years ago.

Back to instant replay in baseball for a minute: I hate what it's done to the NFL, but, for the most part, like its application in the NHL and NBA. A large part of the "charm" of baseball for me is its contradictory nature; that is, relative simplicity in how to play (basically) and the infinite outcomes and scenarios arising within a game, an inning, or even an at-bat. Of all of the "major sports" in this country (i.e., baseball, football, basketball, and hockey), baseball has the most one-on-one, human-to-human interaction - both between the combatants and between the players and the officials. To me, a baseball game is a lot like a small, liberal arts, public university in the Upper Midwest at which you actually get to know your professors and you see them out at the grocery store or pumping their own gas; it's a throwback to another time. All of this being said, I think if you limit availability of a replay to very specific situations (e.g., whether a ball is a homerun or a foul ball), forbid the teams from requesting a replay, and leaving it up to a dedicated staff of officials in "the booth," it might help...but it might not.

My web tool o' the day

With Google Docs & Spreadsheets, you can:

• Use our online editor to format documents, spell-check and more.
• Upload Word documents, OpenOffice, RTF, HTML or text.
• Download documents to your desktop as Word, PDF and more.
• View your documents' revision history and roll back to any version.

Plus, since its online, you can:

• Invite others to share your documents by e-mail address.
• Edit documents online with whomever you choose.
• Publish documents online to the world, or to just who you choose.
• Post your documents to your blog.

Click here to take "the tour" of GDS (my acronym, not Google's].

And trust me, I'm not shilling for Google - I just think this could be a very useful thing.

Not my Thin Mints and Tagalongs

First New York and Chicago think about it, KFC does it (not that I recommend anyone partake of offerings from that questionable outfit [it wasn't so sketchy when the Colonel was still around]) and then, the Girl Scouts go out and ruin it for everyone! What is the world coming to?

Sports and sports entertainment

(A) Finally, the Nats have someone with a clue in the dugout. (Sorry, Frank.)



(B) On MySpace, the WWE (yes, I still watch this [I think it's some sort of state law in Minnesota that you have to know/watch wrestling {I voted for one once - oops}]) made the following announcement:

WWE attorneys pulled out of a scheduled settlement conference relating to the ongoing lawsuit against WWE filed by Warrior "Ultimate Warrior" Warrior. The conference was on 11/6. WWE's attorneys believed the attempts to settle to be "premature" and "futile" at this point. Warrior sued WWE last February, claiming the "Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior" DVD made damaging statements about him and violated a previous legal settlement between the two parties.

A couple of things:

1. The guy's changed his name to "Warrior Warrior." That's rather frightening.
2. If (1) is, in fact, the case, I find it hard to believe that the "damaging statements" made about him really got through to him anyhow.

No rest for the political

Yes, the 2006 mid-term elections are over and, most definitely, Democrats won the day. Now, however, those of us involved in politics (yes, even the most "apolitical" amongst us) must turn to the 2008 presidential race for grand electoral blog fodder. The Fix does a good job of tying the two events together.

Politics1, long one of my favorite resources for all things election- and politics-related, has a fairly comprehensive list of Oval Office hopefuls for the fall of the next leap year. Off of that list, I think the following is a reasonable estimate of what may be the matchup in one year, 356 days:

• McCain/Romney for the GOP; and
• Bayh/Clinton for the Dems.

As someone who actually likes some differences (and personality) in political combatants, I'd prefer to see Kucinich v. Tancredo or something like that, but I'm also a realist.

What do you think?

An SD primer

For those of you wondering why I like them so much, a song (most of them "slow jams" or "chill-out" joints) from each Steely Dan studio album:

• "Fire In The Hole" (Can't Buy A Thrill [1972])
• "Razor Boy" (Countdown To Ecstasy [1973])
• "Pretzel Logic" (Pretzel Logic [1974])
• "Doctor Wu" (Katy Lied [1975])
• "Don't Take Me Alive" (The Royal Scam [1976])
• "Aja" (pronounced like the continent on which China sits) (Aja [1977])
• "Gaucho" (Gaucho [1980])
• "Almost Gothic" (Two Against Nature [2000])
• "Green Book" (Everything Must Go [2003])

Unfortunately, "Bethlehem Steel" had to go so that I could educate the world as to the wonders of the Dan. ;)

Please vote on your favorite song below and then click on the link back to this page.

Which of the songs in the Steely Dan playlist do you like the most?

"Fire In The Hole" "Razor Boy" "Pretzel Logic" "Doctor Wu" "Don't Take Me Alive" "Aja" "Gaucho" "Almost Gothic" "Green Book"
View Results

Local and not-so-local sports

(1) The Caps looked absolutely lifeless last night against the Canes by a count of what an English football announcer might say of "Capitals nil, Hurricanes five." My friend and I are considering taking in tomorrow night's contest v. the Jagrmeisters, but I'm moderately concerned that the game will be a replay of last night's debacle instead of being reminiscent of their recent dominance of the orange-and-black from the City of Brotherly Love

(2) My roommate, undoubtedly, is ecstatic (if not a little hung over) today following his alma mater's last-second, comeback triumph over the third-ranked Louisville Cardinals. I must admit that when I saw a first half score of 25-7, I wrote off the Scarlet Knights (and turned off the game for at least an hour and 15 minutes), but it's good to see schools that have less than a stellar history of success do well - and, in Rutgers' case last night, to do it on a national stage (in this instance, ESPN).

Senate majority, or is it "majesty"?

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but thanks, George Allen. "Why?" you ask.

• he lost; and
• he conceded, thus forgoing a recount and sparing those of us who reside in "The Old Dominion" weeks more of political posturing.

Here's "the new guy." (BTW, I don't endorse Chuck Schumer in any way, but unfortunately, he shows up on this video.)

Post-election thoughts

1. If it weren't for the fact that the Dems are, in general, so terrible on the issues on which I work (see this post as well as this one), I really couldn't care less. I'm no fan of gridlock, divided government, etc., etc., but some new voices being raised up in some of the debates (e.g., the war, general corruption) is a good thing in this case, I think.
2. So long, Rummy - we hardly knew...well, we knew you too well and for too long, unfortunately. Too bad you couldn't get your old pal Dick to come along for the ride.
3. Stay away from the Limited Edition Chocolate Mocha Kit Kat - not so good.
4. Anybody ever had any luck with "aversion therapy" relative to nail biting?
   

My word of the day (i.e., didn't know what it meant until just now)

Courtesy of Ilana Mercer at Barely A Blog and thanks to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:

I stated in "America's Open House" that, "as a proponent of states' rights and decentralization, instantiated in the Ninth and 10th Amendments, I rarely wish to see federal solons usurp the states. [Big W's emphasis added]

---

solon

Main Entry: so·lon
Pronunciation: 'sO-l&n, -"län
Function: noun
Etymology: Solon
1 : a wise and skillful lawgiver
2 : a member of a legislative body

I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have the Internet to answer all of my questions (save "Why am I here?" and "Where have all the flowers gone?").

Impulse buys

How does one spend one's weekend - as well as the beginning of one's work week - when one has little to do and is relatively flush with cash?

The Best of Blondie

Hits!

Only Revolutions (links to a previous blog entry)

In addition, I've received the following by post over the past couple of days:

Dead Air For Radios

The Beatles 1

Who to vote for this coming Tuesday

I know every faithful reader of this blog has been waiting with bated breath to see who I'm endorsing for next week's elections. Well, the wait is over. Incumbents are indicated by italics and the candidates I'm backing are indicated with an asterisk (*) below.

U.S. Senate - Virginia

• George F. Allen (R)
• James H. "Jim" Webb, Jr. (D)*
• Glenda Gail Parker (IG)

U.S. House - Virginia 8^th District

• Tom M. O'Donoghue (R)
• James P. Moran, Jr.(D)
• James T. "Jim" Hurysz (I)*

Arlington County Board

• Michael T. McMenamin (R)*
• Christopher E. Zimmerman (D)
• Joshua F. Ruebner (G)

Arlington School Board

• Sally M. Baird (I)*
• Cecelia M. Espenoza (I)

Proposed Constitutional Amendments

• Question 1. Defines marriage as solely between one man and one woman - NO
• Question 2. Allows churches to incorporate - YES
• Question 3. Allows tax breaks for new structures in development areas - YES

Proposed County Bond Referenda

1. $35.55 million in bonds to finance the cost of various capital projects for local parks and recreation - YES
2. $31.5 million in bonds to finance the cost of various capital projects for Metro and other transit, pedestrian, road or related transportation projects - YES
3. $27.3 million in bonds to finance the cost of various capital projects for County facilities and infrastructure - YES
4. $79 million in bonds to finance the cost of designing, expanding, improving, and renovating Arlington County's Water Pollution Control Plant, and the water and sewer systems serving the County (including the County's share of capital costs for Washington Aqueduct treatment facilities) - YES
5. $33.712 million to finance the costs of various capital projects and land for Arlington County public schools and community purposes - NO

Just so you know, I'm not reflexively anti-incumbent, but if the incumbents are less than stellar (Allen and Moran, I'm looking in your direction), it's easy for me to vote against them.

Also, if you live in Virginia, but not in Arlington County, here's a link to check out to see who and what are on your ballot.

NOW READING (per my friend Teresa's recommendation)