Top 10 Memorable Quotes of 2007

From the Reuters article (link http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071219/us_nm/usa_quotes_dc)

1. "Don't Tase Me, Bro" - Andrew Meyer

2. "I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and Iraq and everywhere like such as and I believe that they should our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for us." - Lauren Upton

3. "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country." - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

4. "That's some nappy-headed hos there" - Don Imus

5. "I don't recall." -- Alberto Gonzales

6. "There's only three things he (Republican presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani) mentions in a sentence: a noun and a verb and 9/11." -- Sen. Joseph Biden.

7. "I'm not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody (Vice President Dick Cheney) who has a 9 percent approval rating." -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat.

8. "(I have) a wide stance when going to the bathroom." -- Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig's explanation of why his foot touched that of an undercover policeman in a men's room.

9. "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man." -- Biden describing rival Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

10. "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history." -- Former President Jimmy Carter in an interview in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper.

Remember Me by Lizzie Palmer

Foreword: I am not anti-soldier just anti-useless War. Additionally, I am hypersensitive to race.

One of the all time popular videos on YouTube is entitled Remember Me and works to make viewers identify with images of US soldiers (pictures of soldiers with one word titles like "Husband" or "Sister" etc).

Here's my issue...why are all the pictures asking us to identify with soldiers images of white/caucasian people? The only African-Americans on the video is an image of a grieving black family and one image of a black soldier in color guard. I find it disturbing that Ms. Palmer shows many different family member/loved one images of white people but doesn't deign to realize that there is a high percentage of other races serving in the military.

View it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ervaMPt4Ha0

The Complete Mitchell Report (PDF)

http://files.mlb.com/mitchrpt.pdf

Reaction to the leaked Steroid names

The biggest names (stats from Baseball-Statistics):

• Roger Clemens - what can you say about Clemens that hasn't already been dissected...the name most non-baseball fans will recognize.
• Albert Pujols - one of the superstars in the National League, Pujols had a "down" year batting .327, 32HR, 103RBI. In his seven seasons, all with the Cardinals, he's averaging .332, 42HR, 132RBI. An All-Star 6 of his seven years, he's a beloved player...a huge blow to MLB.
• Jeff Bagwell - formed a long-standing triumvirate of Astros position players with Craig Biggio and Lance Berkman, Bagwell was a four-time All-Star and MVP in 1994.
• Ivan Rodriguez - known as "pudge," one of the best catchers of all time. A former AL-MVP and a 14 time All-Star.

Here's the names who are also on the Writer's Ballot for the Hall of Fame

• Brady Anderson
• Mark McGuire

This is truly a sad day for baseball that all fans have been expecting.

Leaked Mitchell Report Analysis

According to WNBC, here are the names that will be released on the Mitchell Report of the players, past and present, who have used performance enhancers (these names have been disputed by MLB):

Brady Anderson
Manny Alexander
Rick Ankiel
Jeff Bagwell
Barry Bonds
Aaron Boone
Rafael Bettancourt
Bret Boone
Milton Bradley
David Bell
Dante Bichette
Albert Belle
Paul Byrd
Wil Cordero
Ken Caminiti
Mike Cameron
Ramon Castro
Jose Canseco
Ozzie Canseco
Roger Clemens
Paxton Crawford
Wilson Delgado
Lenny Dykstra
Johnny Damon
Carl Everett
Kyle Farnsworth
Ryan Franklin
Troy Glaus
Rich Garces
Jason Grimsley
Juan Gonzalez
Eric Gagne
Nomar Garciaparra
Jason Giambi
Jeremy Giambi
Jose Guillen
Jay Gibbons
Juan Gonzalez
Clay Hensley
Jerry Hairston
Felix Heredia, Jr.
Darren Holmes
Wally Joyner
Darryl Kile
Matt Lawton
Raul Mondesi
Mark McGwire
Guillermo Mota
Robert Machado
Damian Moss
Abraham Nunez
Trot Nixon
Jose Offerman
Andy Pettitte
Mark Prior
Neifi Perez
Rafael Palmiero
Albert Pujols
Brian Roberts
Juan Rincon
John Rocker
Pudge Rodriguez
Sammy Sosa
Scott Schoenweiis
David Segui
Alex Sanchez
Gary Sheffield
Miguel Tejada
Julian Tavarez
Fernando Tatis
Maurice Vaughn
Jason Varitek
Ismael Valdez
Matt Williams
Kerry Wood

Source: http://www.wnbc.com/sports/14845845/detail.html

Wow...I'm the Flyswatters

Guess who's back!!

Wow, I've suddenly regained access to blogger from my work computer. Hello, wasting time!

Quick thought...read Peter King's article for this week's football action. Here's the most interesting part for me...the Ravens will have exactly 5 million in cap room in the coming offseason. They have the 2nd worst cap space in the NFL. That's very very bad news.

Here's what's up: my parents will be in the US and A on the 13th for a very extended stay...some might say an immigration, but since they are naturalized citizens, how about we just say they're moving back for good. How am I taking this news? First off, I'm nervous, getting the house cleaned up (well...worrying about getting un-lazy enough to clean the house). Second, I've got to figure out how they'll meet lady ELV. Also, need to inform them that my new roomie is going to be of the female persuasion (and not the virtuous ELV). Finally, got to plan how we're going to get to Arizona for Christmas (last I heard, we'll be driving to Phoenix, which sounds about as fun as nothing).

Other news, work is great. Enjoying it.

Writing is non-existent, other than brilliant screenplays that I compose in my head right before I fall asleep.

Um...that's all for now.

What's going on?

Marriage stuff?

Parents coming back to the US?

Roomie stuff?

Ravens lose to the Pats?

Sucks

Best of 2007 (from noculture.org)

First of all, let's not address the fact that Mr. Kid W is pronouncing 2007 over with an entire month left on the calendar year. Second, let us all boo ol' Kid-dubyu on including a 2005 album to his list. Finally, don't even get me started on the whole applauding the re-appearance of "blue-eyed Motown." Have you heard "Toxic" by Mark Ronson or anything by the Pipettes? I don't care that lady ELV liked rocking out to "Rehab," I still think that I'd much rather listen to actual Motown than some Brit remakes.

Now that I've cleared away some of my objections, I'm going to ape on Kid's idea and offer my own subjective itemization of musical output from the year 2007. Sure, I spent much time listening to "Aladdin Sane" by David Bowie this year, but I'm not so self-involved to think that it merits a listing on the top 2007 albums. Man, not having access to my personal blog at work makes me mean…especially to Kid W. Sorry, I promise my next insult will be directed at kim e.

Um...that kim e is crappier than Zeitgeist.

First off, the one-off awards:

Worst album of the year that had some critical acclaim and a lot of legal purchases by the American public: Kanye West's "Graduation." I've been a fan of Mr. West since the first album dropped…hell, I can even say that I'm an appreciator of many of his beats that he did before he was the Louis Vuitton don. However, I'm pretty saddened by the lack of lyrical prowess coming from Mr. West since his first album. Sure, he's good at puns and ribald humor, but the main thing that wow'ed me about "College Dropout" was the interplay of rap's vain machismo and West's morality. There was a serious thread of moral intrigue in his rhymes, but unfortunately, West's writing has become focused on money, rims, and hoes. "Graduation" features some decent tracks, but seriously, who can't sell a single using Daft Punk's awful "Bigger, Stronger…" beat.

Person most likely to die in 2008: Amy Winehouse. Seriously, have you watched the YouTube video of her snorting up in the middle of a performance? She's pathetic.

Best album that I'm never going to listen to again: Black Kids "Wizard of Ahhhs." If you like fuzzy, pop-punk with a serious infatuation with the Polyphonic Spree, this is the album for you.

Best hot chick album that still supplies some form of indie cred: "Under the Black Light" by Rilo Kiley. I only like it cause Jenny Lewis is hot and has a hot voice. Same for why I like Shivaree.

ALRIGHT, ALREADY: HERE'S MY TOP SEVEN OF AUGHT-SEVEN

7. "The Reminder" by Feist – I'm very sorry that Apple decided to use 1,2,3,4 for that omnipresent commercial.
6. "Boxer" by The National – Fake Empire is an amazing song.
5. "Sky Blue Sky" by Wilco – Best show that I went to this year. First listen makes you kind of hate Jeff Tweedy and his slippery ways, but repeated listenings are rewarding. Just a warm sound that's a welcome tonic to my ears.
4. "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" by Spoon – This is a great album with propulsive energy. Way to follow up the tuneful inclusion on the "Stranger than Fiction" soundtrack with a seriously good album.
3. "In Rainbows" by Radiohead – This is probably the best Radiohead album since O.K. Computer. Seriously. It's pretty amazing that the guys took a step back from surreal paranoia toward reality and they don't come off sounding old/boring.
2. "From Here We Go Sublime" by The Field – I don't normally like this kind of music (see "Quiet is the New Loud") but I fell for The Field a few years ago with a single called "I'm Tired." Usually, someone uses the word "techno" and I just lose interest immediately. However, this is minimal techno, so you'll like it.
1. "Armchair Apocrypha" by Andrew Bird – I have to award the album of the year simply on the strength of "Heretics." Such an eminently listenable album…

The few that contended: Panda Bear "Person Pitch," Brother Ali "Undisputed Truth," El-P "I'll Sleep When You're Dead," Of Montreal "Oh Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?"

Here's my mix-CD for 2007, with outstanding tracks on albums not on my list (no order)

National "Fake Empire"
Spoon "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb"
Wilco "Sky Blue Sky"
The Field "Silent"
Feist "My Man, My Moon"
Radiohead "Body Snatchers"
Justice "D.A.N.C.E."
Of Montreal "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger"
Andrew Bird "Heretics"
Brother Ali "Uncle Sam God Damn"
Caribou "Melody Days"
Menomena "Wet and Rusting"
Talib Kweli "Hostile Gospel, Pt. 1"
Modest Mouse "Dashboard"
Peter Paul and Bjorn "Young Folks"