Thursday, January 24, 2008

I Go to Bury My Father-in-Law

Will be away for over a week as we travel south to put my wife's dad to his final rest.

Back in time for the Super Bowl!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

AFC Championship

The New England Patriots beat the San Diego Chargers 21-12 to win the AFC Championship. It was a cold game, around 20 deg. I believe in Foxboro. There was a wind, and it seemed to affect the ball a fair amount when it was kicked or thrown.

New England won the game, but for three quarters the offense looked lifeless. They appeared to be mailing it in while the Chargers looked like they were playing with heart. New England's defense must be credited with allowing the Chargers only four field goals throughout the entire game.

I am assuming that Brady and Co. will show more life in Glendale, Arizona in two weeks. If they don't, they might just lose the Super Bowl.

But then again, they didn't lose the AFC Championship.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Two Nights of Idol and

I find myself bored.

I feel like I've wasted 4 hours of my week.

Oh, there are nice stories, good singers, hot babes, trainwrecks, crying, freaky people and the regular fare. I've lost interest in it though. I find that what I really want to see is Hollywood and beyond.

At least that's what I think right now. Maybe that will bore me too.

This show needs a good, strong rocker.

No more JT wannabes.

OK?

Get it done.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Aspiring Novelists, Take Heart!

I have read blogs and personal accounts from writers discussing their writing habits. It would seem that most of them have already knocked out about 100,000 words first thing in the morning before coffee - and that they do this every day of the week.

I don't know about you, but I find 2000 words a day difficult to do.

At this point in my writing experiment, my first novel has ground to a standstill at 43,000 words after a little over a year. It really stopped last April and hasn't resumed yet.

I've been writing, putting together more materials for two more books, short stories and poetry. But the big project has been bugging me from the back shelf I put it on last year.

However, I have found some information that gives me hope.

Joseph Heller started writing Catch-22 in 1953.

He didn't finish it until 1961.

That's 8 years.

Mark Twain started Huckleberry Finn in 1876.

He turned it all over to the typesetter in 1884.

That's 8 years.

What I'm writing has nothing near the scope of the two works I mentioned. And it won't be as good either, ha! But I think that I may actually be able to get it done before 8 years have passed.

Keep writing!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

I Don't Know if This is True....

But I found it as funny as all get out!

A post on the Amazon message boards:

by W. R. Laney
How can you say that Emily Dickinson penned 'some of the finest poetry ever?' I thought the iambic pentameter got a little redundant but all of Emily's poetry can be sung to the tune of "The Yellow Rose of Texas." Every one of them. It drives me crazy!

Good stuff there W.R. Great wit.

And They're Off...

Last night, at the midway point of the coldest month of the year, American Idol made it's 2008 debut. Now in its 7th season, the juggernaut show stands to benefit from the ongoing writers' strike. Already, there are numerous news articles about the show, how it's in decline, what needs to happen to refreshen it and yada yada yada.

I will probably write about it again this year - it's more interesting than the presidential primaries!

Quick hits: Katherine McPhee, Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard have all been released from their recording contracts due to poor sales. Last year's winner, Jordin Sparks, hasn't exactly lit up the airwaves with her album release, though I believe she did debut at number 10 on the chart. And we haven't heard anything really, about any of the other contestants from season six.

Hopefully, there'll be no Clay Aiken appearance this year!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

A Considerable Speck

This is a humorous poem by Robert Frost. It decries much of what was passing for poetry in his day.

A Considerable Speck
(Microscopic)

A speck that would have been beneath my sight
On any but a paper sheet so white
Set off across what I had written there.
And I had idly poised my pen in air
To stop it with a period of ink
When something strange about it made me think,
This was no dust speck by my breathing blown,
But unmistakably a living mite
With inclinations it could call its own.
It paused as with suspicion of my pen,
And then came racing wildly on again
To where my manuscript was not yet dry;
Then paused again and either drank or smelt--
With loathing, for again it turned to fly.
Plainly with an intelligence I dealt.
It seemed too tiny to have room for feet,
Yet must have had a set of them complete
To express how much it didn't want to die.
It ran with terror and with cunning crept.
It faltered: I could see it hesitate;
Then in the middle of the open sheet
Cower down in desperation to accept
Whatever I accorded it of fate.
I have none of the tenderer-than-thou
Collectivistic regimenting love
With which the modern world is being swept.
But this poor microscopic item now!
Since it was nothing I knew evil of
I let it lie there till I hope it slept.

I have a mind myself and recognize
Mind when I meet with it in any guise
No one can know how glad I am to find
On any sheet the least display of mind.

Monday, January 7, 2008

The Clemens Cliche

Roger Clemens went before the country in an interview with Mike Wallace on 60 minutes. The day after, there are a lot of articles about the interview - most of them not particularly supportive of Clemens. Now it's being reported that Clemens has filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee.

There are many reasons to believe that McNamee was most likely telling the truth to the Mitchell investigation. And those reasons are covered in print. I have nothing to add to any of that, at least nothing substantial or worthwhile.

However, I note the following quote from Clemens during the interview:

"And that's our country, isn't it?" Clemens asked Wallace. "Guilty before innocent. That's the way our country works now."

Besides the fact that Roger the Dodger... oops, I mean BlueJayYankeeAstroYankee (I left out the Sox intentionally as his alleged steroid usage ostensibly took place after leaving Boston), misquoted the cliche - guilty until proven innocent - he

1. makes a good point
2. makes a lousy point

Yes, the presumption of guilt from accusation alone is endemic in this country. Look at the Duke lacrosse players. And sometimes, even a trial by peers doesn't get it right (re: Charles Allen Chatman).

But if the steroid use was an isolated incident taking place infrequently and limited to just a few players, I think his woebegone comment would hold more water.

The fact is this... Roger Clemens was a rookie in 1984 (23 years ago). That is a looooonngg time to be a player in the major leagues - especially a starting pitcher. Especially a starting pitcher. After 13 seasons with the Boston Red Sox where he won 3 Cy Young awards and had 169 wins under his belt, GM Dan Duquette said Roger was in the twilight of his career.

For all intents and purposes, his stats reflected that as well. I use the following as evidence:

SEASON   TEAM              W L   ERA 
1984 Boston Red Sox 9 4 4.32
1985 Boston Red Sox 7 5 3.29
1986 Boston Red Sox 24 4 2.48
1987 Boston Red Sox 20 9 2.97
1988 Boston Red Sox 18 12 2.93
1989 Boston Red Sox 17 11 3.13
1990 Boston Red Sox 21 6 1.93
1991 Boston Red Sox 18 10 2.62
1992 Boston Red Sox 18 11 2.41
1993 Boston Red Sox 11 14 4.46
1994 Boston Red Sox 9 7 2.85
1995 Boston Red Sox 10 5 4.18
1996 Boston Red Sox 10 13 3.63
1997 Toronto Blue Jays 21 7 2.05
1998 Toronto Blue Jays 20 6 2.65
1999 New York Yankees 14 10 4.60
2000 New York Yankees 13 8 3.70
2001 New York Yankees 20 3 3.51
2002 New York Yankees 13 6 4.35
2003 New York Yankees 17 9 3.91
2004 Houston Astros 18 4 2.98
2005 Houston Astros 13 8 1.87
2006 Houston Astros 7 6 2.30
2007 New York Yankees 6 6 4.18

From 1993 - 1996, Roger Clemens fell from the stratosphere to become a fairly ordinary pitcher for the Red Sox. The next year, 1997, he shot back up to dominance, going on to win 4 more Cy Young Awards and take his win record to over 350.

Can a change of scenery cause that sort of sea change? It's possible. Steroids certainly can as well.

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence to support McNamee's claims. And given the performance-enhancing drug culture that existed in Major League Baseball, it would not be surprising to find the Rocket's post Sox numbers dripping with juice.

It fills all kind of logical holes that would otherwise be clamoring for satisfactory answers.

So when Roger blames the country for its rush to judgment, he comes across as disingenuous.

And for what it's worth - I think he's guilty.