B Philips and the Cardinals

So Brandon Philips said some things that may not have been meant for popular consumption. So what. The guy is a competitor, he wants to win and maybe he went a bit too far. But the Cards players and St. Louis media reaction was similar to that of an eight year old girl. That mean boy said he didn't like me. Boo freakin' hoo. Get over it, and play the game. Obviously Philips' comments that they whine and (complain) were accurate. Would have been a lot more poetic had the Reds won the game though. Best way to shut up the whiners is to win.

Hopefully with the series finale, Mob lackey (over-rated manager) LaRussa will just fill out his lineup card, keep his hat on so as not to expose that ridiculous toupee and shut up and watch the ballgame.

more on saving - dvr edition

I'm pitiful. The DVR is filling up quick. I hoard tv shows and movies and assume or expect I'll watch them soon. Not sure why I find it necessary to continue recording two episodes a day of The West Wing on Bravo. Two a day. And I've seen the series three times. And it is a great show, especially the first four seasons when Sorkin wrote the bulk of the series ("bulk of the series, Dude"). And it does give me inspiration in writing. Or I think it does. But really. How necessary is that? And movies that I dearly love - miller's crossing, 4 weddings..., vanilla sky, legend of 1900. If they've been sitting there untouched for months, how necessary is it really? Well, they're not.

I'm still not erasing them though.

what's the use of saving

And I'm not talking about money. Though I'd never be accused of that either. Just saving in general. My problem - as if there were but one - is I want to save freaking everything. I have magazines from 20, 25 years ago - i might need an article in there someday; concert t-shirts I haven't worn in 15 years, nor will I ever again - maybe there will be a use for that Poison/Warrant shirt from '88, but there's still a little life in that Dylan 93 rag of cotton; cassette tapes for heaven sake, and thousands, literally thousands of CDs. I'm all for nostalgia. And I'm not quite of the "hoarding" variety. But keeping every last remnant of nothingness is messy, unnecessary and definitely unhealthy. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

politics suck

I can't follow politics. It's not farfetched to say anyone holding political office is a liar, a moron or likely both. Obviously that's a gross exaggeration - like saying all doctors are competent and human, or all cops are part owners of strip clubs - can't make goofy ass generalizations of the like. But it seems for every numbskull on the left, I have to listen to a similar arugment from the right. For every liberal egghead with a pen and an opinion, I have to balance it with the opinion of a dim-witted conservative. It comes to this - they're all the same. They are the same in different ways and different in the same ways. A politician equals a politician. Left or right, I can't tell anymore. They want the general public to believe they are right and good without just cause, without reason and sadly without dignity and humanity.

pay what you want - social-ism

Another pay-as-you-go concept

The skeptic/realist in me says this could never succeed. The tiny part of me that reaches for the stars wants it to be possible. But the concept has tried in the past, in fairly progressive cities like Portland, Denver and Austin. I hope it does work. I hope it's possible that such a thing could work. Some capitalists would argue it's a step backward, that it's literal free trade, that best case scenario would be breaking even. But those capitalist arguments - while likely not untrue - are not the big picture. Doing good. Simple, forgotten concept - it's called doing good.

Those who can, do

Those who cannot, don't. No need to make it any more complicated than that. If I think I should - for health concerns or twisted depravity - stop drinking Dr. Pepper, I would do that. If someone wants to lose weight or get in shape, they either do or they don't. It's ridiculous to think you can get there by reading how-to manuals, gathering research, planning, getting facts together, etc. If one wants to quit smoking, the best way to do so is to ... not smoke. Sure it's difficult to improve oneself. Studying quantum physics is hard too. String theory is hard. Playing baseball is often hard too. Those who can, do. Those who cannot, do not.

Oscar Schmoscar

What's the big deal with this annual schmuck fest? At least the Golden Globes have some drunken entertainment. But that's me. I abhor award shows of any kind. But this is the worst because it's the biggest, arguably. It's the television equivalent to gossip magazines. Good movie, great movie, over-rated movie. Big deal.