We're off!
Item:
Are you ready for some football? The NFL season is about to begin and that means we can all rest in front of the television again on Sundays. Just like God did.
A few predictions:
Brett Favrvrvrere and Adrian Peterson notwithstanding, the Minnesota Vikings are still not going to make the playoffs. The Dallas Cowboys' season will be determined in the first four weeks: if they are 3-1, look for a 13-win season; if they are 2-2, they'll go 8-8; if they are 1-3 or worse, it will be a very long season in Big A. Don't buy what Eric Mangini is selling. The Cleveland Browns coach claims that the quarterback competition between Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn is still too close to call. Looks from here to be posturing to get a better deal when he trades the loser. Our money is on Quinn winning the job in Cleveland. San Diego Chargers QB Philip Rivers is going to be the MVP this season, Arizona Cardinals RB Beanie Wells, the Rookie of the Year. In fashion, the Lions have updated their look, maintaining the color scheme, adding a little more black and updating the logo a touch. The number font is not great, however. Is this a 51 or a 57? Still, overall not a bad update. The Jaguars though. Wow. The uniforms are bad enough with XFL-looking piping added to the jerseys. But the helmets! They use boat paint now that makes the helmets look black in some light and green in others. Eeek! Hands-down winner for this season's Fashion Award though has to be the San Francisco 49'ers, who ditched the red facemasks, uniform number shadows and all the other gimmicks and went old school. Great look.
As for the playoffs...
NFC
Philadelphia Eagles*
New York Giants
Green Bay Packers
New Orleans Saints
Atlanta Falcons*
Arizona Cardinals
*-wild card
NFC Champion: Eagles over Giants
AFC
New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins*
Pittsburgh Steelers
Indianapolis Colts
Houston Texans*
San Diego Chargers
AFC Champion: Chargers over Patriots
SUPER BOWL: San Diego Chargers over Philadelphia Eagles
~~~
Item:
Here's some food for thought. We seem to be inundated these days with stories of women taking fertility drugs or undergoing in-vitro fertilization, then having litters of children. And while Octomom is certainly the epitome of irresponsibility, these few, highly-publicized instances cast a long shadow on every other couple turning to extraordinary measures in their effort to become parents. By its sheer nature, IVF is a numbers game -- the more embryos created and implanted, the better the chances of conception. But in the media's haste to blast multi-moms (while letting dads off the hook, by the way), they overlook a serious question: what happens to the leftover embryos? For a thoughtful, insightful examination of the issue, click on this link to a piece that appears on cnn.com, written by Laura Biel, of Parenting magazine.
~~~
Fare thee well, Teddy K, we'll see you on the Other Side. Save us a barstool and a coed. Let her drive.
In the end, the youngest brother may end up having the longest-lasting effect on the nation. We've never been fond of Kennedys but, while we may not agree with all of his politics, we do respect the work the late senator put in. And now that we're older, we can only imagine what dude went through, having two brothers murdered and another killed at war. Hell, we'd drink too!
Can we say ultimate donkey payback: Senator Michael Dukakis?
~~~
Item:
At least we do one thing right in the United States. Former "Manson Family" member Susan Atkins, who stabbed actress Sharon Tate to death more than 40 years ago and is now terminally ill with brain cancer, has been denied parole. See how that works? You kill someone, you get locked up and never, ever, evereverever get out. Until you die. Perhaps Atkins should have gone on her killing spree in Scotland.
~~~
Quote of the Week:
“There is no monopoly of common sense on either side of the political fence."
--Sting, in Russians, 1985
~~~
Internet Video of the Week:
With the internment finally occurring this week, we just had to go with this. Fare thee well, Mike.
~~~
Ridiculous Story That Actually Appeared in a Publication of the Week:
Here.
Which pretty much now guarantees we'll be proved wrong, and the story validated, any day now.
~~~
Idiot Criminal of the Week:
Anthony Miller, 39, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Here's why.
~~~
Vintage Album Review of the Week:
Bruce Springsteen
1987
-Ain't Got You (2:11)
-Tougher Than the Rest (4:35)
-All That Heaven Will Allow (2:40)
-Spare Parts (3:45)
-Cautious Man (3:58)
-Walk Like a Man (3:45)
-Tunnel of Love (5:13)*
-Two Faces (3:03)
-Brilliant Disguise (4:17)*
-One Step Up (4:22)*
-When You're Alone (3:24)
-Valentine's Day (5:11)
* - singles
How do you follow up the Album of Your Life? This is the question that confronted Bruce Springsteen in 1987. Born in the USA was a defining moment not only in his career but in the music of a decade. What Thriller was to pop, Born was to rock. And the easy thing to do would be to crank out a Born in the USA II. But Bruce reversed course, disbanded the E Street Band and delivered a stripped down, at times even spartan collection of songs. It's a very personal collection, focused primarily on his crumbling first marriage and the vagaries of entering middle age. Where its predecessor was just flat-out, good-time rock and roll, this album is introspective, pensive and self-doubting.
The listeners' first exposure to the material was through the single Brilliant Disguise, released a few weeks before the album proper. The opening lyrics, "I hold you in my arms as the band plays", seem to indicate this album will be a lot like the last one. But by the end of the song, "Tonight our bed is cold; I'm lost in the darkness of our love; God have mercy on the man; Who doubts what he's sure of", it is readily apparent that the fun times are over.
This is essentially an album of stories and some of them are sweet, like the protagonist haggling with the bouncer at a bar, trying to get in, "because I have a date with All That Heaven Will Allow. There's Springsteen appearing to reference his relationship with his father, while recalling his wedding day in Walk Like a Man.
And some of the stories are heart-wrenching. Whether it's facing one's own demons in Two Faces or the proverbial "first time" on the title track, Springsteen leaves no heartstring unplucked, no emotion protected. Nowhere is this more evident than on a song which absolutely destroyed us when we first heard it. One Step Up is so simple, so beautiful -- so absolutely perfect a song that it transcends the artist and his music and actually places us inside the song when we hear it, and blows us away, to this day.
We didn't really get this album when it came out. We were 17 and the themes, while we understood them, just weren't relevant to us. We thought, "ok, yeah, you're marriage is in the shitter -- we get it". But this album was so much more than that. At 40, listening to this album again opens up an entire world we missed the first time around.
Music: 4 (of 5)
Lyrics: 5 (of 5)
Authorship: 4 (of 4)
Production: 3 (of 3)
Packaging: 1 (of 2)
First Blush: 1 (of 2)
Aging: 3 (of 3)
Videos: 1 (of 1)
Total: 22
Stars: 4.4 (of 5)
~~~
Parting shots:
Irony: ( n ) Matt Cassel spraining his MCL...big props to Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff for approving the Jackson family's request that the Gloved One's estate be billed for all funeral-related expenses, to include police overtime...bigger props to the Jackson family for making the request...Let's hope whatever healthcare solution comes about is managed better than the bailouts that went to seven-figure bonuses and junkets, and Cash for Clunkers...Happy Birthday, internet, on 2 September, you turned 40! DJ Gallo of espn.com did a piece listing 40 ways the sports world has changed as a result of your birth. Here's the link...All we want to know about this last item is WHY?... And with that, we bid you adieu.
Until next time,
Keep the Faith
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