Song of the Day: It's 5 o'clock somewhere

Early release today in honor of Memorial Day?

A coworker wished a happy weekend and made an inspired suggestion: enjoy a beer or refreshing alcoholic beverage over the weekend.

Come to think of it, I think I will.

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112

I don't think Dice K watched Jon Lester's performance the other day. If he did, he needs someone to translate to him the importance of throwing strikes and how dramatically it improves results. It is utterly maddening to watch (or listen to on the radio) a game in which Dice K (Dice BB?) pitches. To make matter worse yesterday he added wild pitches to his repertoire.

From the Good News/Bad News category: Yesterday I suggested that Ray Allen would become the JD Drew of the Celtics. Granted, it's not a perfect comparison as Drew struggled mightily all season last year before hitting the playoff grand slam while Ray has struggled only a few weeks. Anyway, I hoped Allen was watching yesterday's game and that Drew's latest grand slam would trigger the memory of his more dramatic one last year and get Allen off the schnide. It worked as Allen finally started knocking down jump shots and looked much more confident. Unfortunately, Rondo now looks afraid to take shots, even when he creates opportunities off the dribble. Oh yeah, and the Celtics lost their first home game. Maybe that will motivate them to effort a road win.

At some point, I must post something about the fouling and officiating in the NBA. Mark Cuban is right; they need to have a better way to review officials performance and have them call games in a way that makes more sense. Sure scoring is up, but the logic behind some foul calls is so absurd as to ruin the enjoyment of the game.

Economic indicator

There seems to have been a huge increase in the number of cars for sale in the last six months. And not new ones or those sold through dealers. I mean the "throw them on the front lawn with a sign on them" kind.
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Court: TX should not have taken kids

San Angelo, Texas—A state appellate court has ruled that child welfare officials had no right to seize more than 400 children living at a polygamist sect's ranch.

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled that the grounds for removing the children were "legally and factually insufficient" under Texas law. They did not immediately order the return of the children.

I agree with them. I think there was a rush to judgement and they failed to consider information that undermined what they thought they knew.

Song of the Day: True Colors

Beneath all the dyed hair, outrageous speaking voice and the fact that she was popular in the 80s, Cyndi Lauper has maintained a presence in the music business. She's one of those artists that has a greater influence than her record sales indicate. She's well respected within musical circles and continues to be active and asked to things.

Clearly, there is more substance there than she got credit for back in the day.

She's been on Howard Stern's show a few times, this morning included. She's mature and well spoken, but not self-righteous in any way. With that wonderful accent she displays a wonderful sense of humor about herself and just about anything else.

Here's one of her more popular tunes. Not only was it a hit on it's own, it was featured in (I think) Kodak TV commercials and redone karaoke style by Phil Collins.

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Girl Football

Girls play football. Good for them. I hope the team survies and thrives. It doesn't need to grow into a major spectator sport with a television contract, but I like the idea that if a woman wants to play football, maybe she can.

There needs to be some sponsorship and organization for legit tackle football. It's not a game that can be easily played pick-up style, like basketball or even softball.

If you think about it, there are a BUNCH of minor league baseball teams that generate significant attendence in New England* because it's so hard (or expensive) to get tickets to the Red Sox and attend a game. Doesn't the same problem exist with football in New England?

The logo and uniforms are cool, too. Click on the logo to visit the team's website.





*Minor league BB teams in New England.
Pawtucket Red Sox
New Britain Rock Cats
Portland Sea Dogs
Lowell Spinners
New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Brockton Rox
Bridgeport Bluefish
Connecticut Defenders
Vermont Lake Monsters
Nashua Pride
Worcester Tornadoes

113

Don't count on Bartolo Colon too much, just to be on the safe side. Last night was a solid performance, but any and every start from him should be considered gravy. He's still way overweight and his shoulder and elbow problems could come back at any time. So enjoy whatever the Red Sox get out of him.

The win last night puts the magic number for the Red Sox to clinch the division at 113. They are eleven games over .500 and have the best record in baseball.

Getaway day game today at Fenway before the Sox head west for three against Oakland, three against Seattle and then three in Baltimore on the way home.

Song of the Day: Man, I Feel Like A Woman

Apparently Shania Twain is getting a divorce. And I missed the news by a week.

She'll probably be running around looking for a new man. Maybe listening to this tune while she's hunting.

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Sorry, Shania, I'm taken. You should've called 9 or 10 years ago. I would've been more loyal than Mutt. But you'll have to turn that sultry gaze in someone else's direction.



Single guys can take a look here and see if they're interested in returning her phone calls.

This video might give you an idea of what she's looking for. And why you might want to return her calls. Might?!?!

115

Despite some tough minor league starts in between, Justin Masterson had another strong outing with the Red Sox last night. Look for the Sox to get him a few more spot starts this year before September call-ups, the way they did with Buchholz last year. Not sure if they'll want to bring him up full time next year, but it should be considered.

If Masterson does get the call for next year, you could be looking at a rotation that includes homegrown younsters Lester, Buchholz and Masterson, backed up in the pen by Paplebon and Delcarmen. A year or so later, we'll be expecting highly rated pitching prospect Micheal Bowden.

Beyond the pitching staff, you've already gotten a good look at Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie. Believe it or not, there's even more reason to be optimistic as the Sox minor league system is now rated one of the best. Bone up here.

In the meantime, the Yankees got A-Rod back last night, but Jeter got hit on the hand by a pitch and had to leave the game. Of course ARod did his best to help out by hitting a two-run home run...when his team was already down 10-0. I think if you take away all the home runs A-Rod has hit when there was more than a five run spread in the score he'd have about 131 career home runs. What a tool.

Check it out

Fellow blogger and BMG poster Quriltai (aka Sabutai) is one of the few visitors here who posts comments, which I appreciate. Always nice to get feedback or reactions.

So check out his blog Quriltai on the Shore. It focuses generally on politics, but there's plenty of other good stuff on there, too. For instance, this gem.

Wild Goose Chase

I don’t care if this guy really did bury more than the Ortiz jersey at the new Yankee Stadium. The Yankees and their fans have already shown that suggesting such a thing has the desired effect. Call back the jackhammers!

Let’s see how they like talk of curses and the most idiotic of their fans doing stupid things because they believe it.

I think all Red Sox fans should start stashing Red Sox stuff in the new place. Tape stuff to the underside of seats, slide things behind signs, etc. If recent trends continue, Red Sox fans might outnumber Yankee fans during games there.

116

Pending the poetic Rays v As game that's just about to get underway, the Red Sox magic number is 116.

I'd love to see them continue to put games between themselves and the Yankees. It's 6.5 now. Let the pressure between Hank's ears keep building until he goes from saying stupid stuff to doing stupid stuff. Remember, new wunderkind manager Joe Girardi was fired from his previous gig, despite winning Manager of the Year, because he didn't get along with his front office. If he starts trading public volleys with ownership the way Joe Torre didn't, this could be a great season.

No No No No No

Happy to see John Lester throw the no hitter, obviously. He can't keep throwing no hitters, but hopefully this will give him more confidence to throw strikes. He only walked two tonight.

espn showed a stat that 4 of the last 6 no hitters in the American League have been thrown by Red Sox pitchers. (Lester, Buccholz, Lowe and Nomo)

I thought Varitek had caught all four and wondered what the record was for the number of no hitters caught by a catcher. Them Tom Carron came on and said the record was 4, by Varitek. Can you believe he's only been an All Star twice?

Song of the Day: The Seed

This joint rocks! Good guitar riff, hard snaps on the snare.

WARNING: Adult themes.
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If Mary drops my baby girl tonight
I would name her Rock-N-Roll

A few years back the wife humored me by getting tickets and going along with me to see the Roots. Unfortunately the day of the show some heavy shhhh went down at work. Some heads rolled and I worried mine might be in line for the following week. So there was a lot of fear of the unknown and stomach churning on the way to the show.

Lemme tell you; if you get a chance to see the Roots, go. Great musicians, great showmen. And if you don't think you're job is in jeopardy, you might enjoy it that much more.

overage pregnancy?

If there were crimes comitted, by all means prosecute them. But I always got the feeling that the crime committed by these folks was practicing a "weird" religion.

Turns out an increasing number of those pregnant teens weren't, well, teens.

Like one cult is better than another.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- When Texas child welfare authorities released statistics showing nearly 60 percent of the teen girls taken from a polygamist sect's ranch were pregnant or had children, they seemed to prove what was alleged all along: The sect commonly pushed girls into marriage and sex.

But in the past week, the state has twice been forced to admit "girls" who gave birth while in state custody are actually adults. One was 22 and said she showed state officials a Utah birth certificate shortly after she and more than 400 minors were seized from the West Texas ranch in an April raid.

The state has in custody two dozen other young mothers and others whose ages are in dispute. If most of them also turn out to be adults, it would be a severe blow to the state's claim of widespread sexual abuse.

Song of the Day: Only Happy When it Rains

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Garbage, led buy singer Shirley Manson. She's cool.

Grindy heavy guitar with a little shriek. Same for the singing. The depression is kind of peppy, angry in this one. Very effective.

Lyrics here.

losing interest?

At this point, I'm losing a little bit of interest--or fervor--regarding the Celtics playoff run. They win at home, they lose on the road. Going into last night's game, I saw a no win situation. Either they do what is expected and win at home or they go back on the road on the verge of elimination. I told someone I was thinking of just waiting and tuning into Game 7.

I might be a little more interested in Game 6 in Cleveland now that the Celtics have a chance to clinch. But I'm worried they'll get down early, stay down and then struggle to make a run that ultimately falls well short.

One of the great things about sports is that the end isn't entirely predictable, like so many things in life. Unfortunately, the Celtics playoff run is becoming almost as predictable as a plot line featuring a misunderstanding on Three's Company.

Song of the Day: Hot, Hot, Hot

Testing a different service for posting songs to the blog. Expand the possibilities beyond youtube and boomp3.

121

Suggestion to Tampa Bay Devil Rays fans: you should be enjoying every last bit of this. Whether your team goes on a 45 game losing streak right now and finishes 38 games out or they go on a 45 game winning streak and sweep through the playoffs to their first World Series title, you should enjoy every second.

You should track the team's magic number. I did the first one for you here. It's at 121. Now you keep track.

Here's a handly link to the standings on mlb.com. Just make sure you select the ELIM # option and the number will show up in the standings. The ELIM # for the second place team is your magic number. The magic number is the total number of your team's wins and that teams losses needed to clinch the division win.*

Nobody ever knows how long this will last. It's your first time. So get as much enjoyment out of it as you can.

*It's their first time. They may never have paid attention to such things in the past.

Song of the Day: Fool on the Hill

In honor of the Gentleman from Pennsylvania.

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Let us not forget

In light of today's headline grabbing senior moment, I thought it would be useful to repost my "Spectergate" post from early February...


Arlen Specter hates the Patriots. He’s a bitter Eagles fan who calls into sports talk radio down there once a week. He wants to embarrass the Patriots leading up to what could be the biggest accomplishment in the history of the NFL.

That’s what we heard about Arlen Specter last week. And it sounded likely enough.

But then I heard Specter gets a lot of money from Comcast (a Penn based company?). Then this morning I heard a clip of him questioning the NFL’s heavy handed way of protecting the Super Bowl by prohibiting game watching parties by social clubs that charge admission. Specter’s “concerned” because some of the common offenders are churches.

So this week I suspect Specter is going after the NFL more than the Patriots and it’s not because he’s an Eagles fan, but because he’s bought and paid for by Comcast. Remember, if you will, the battle between Comcast and the NFL:

Comcast: We want to offer NFL Sunday Ticket to our subscribers. (Watch every game, every week.)

NFL: No, that’s exclusive to DirecTV.

Comcast: Our subscribers will now have to pay an extra $7/month for the NFL Network, which has good programming and weekly late season games.

NFL: How dare you restrict free access to our product.

Then I found a NY Times article that raises the same question about Mr. Specter’s motives. Then Herald Business Reporter Jay Fitzgerald pointed out on his blog another site that made the connection. So now I’m definitely waiting for Mr. Specter to go through a few more issues he has with the NFL before they get down to brass tax: the NFL not playing well with his cable company contributors.

I don't know what to say...

This is short, so I’m going against generally accepted blog guidelines and posting the entire AP story. Also because it is so ridiculous on so many levels that comment, outside of confirming it did not come from the Onion, is probably not needed.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican’s chief astronomer says that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God.

The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, says that the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

In an interview published today by Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Funes says that such a notion "doesn’t contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God’s creatures.

The interview was headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother." Funes said that ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God’s creative freedom.

Song of the Day: Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Are you kidding me? People were singing this song today? In 2008? And someone else heard them singing it and was whistling it in my presence? Seriously?

Yes, sadly, but seriously.

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I don't know what happened to the "story" song. Ran it's course, I guess, but will they come back? You have to be of a certain age to remember songs like "Convoy," or "Devil Went Down to Georgia" that attempted to be more complete stories than traditional songs.

In case you're wondering, Gordon Lightfoot is still alive. And he's Canadian.

Here's a bonus selection you might remember. Bonus being a loosely applied term here.

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Get me out of this post!!!!!!!

I'm getting frustrated with Sox pitching

At what point does some heat need to be thrown in John Farrell's direction? The Sox pitching staff averaged about 3 walks per game last year. This year it's up to 4 walks per game.

Yes, it's still early. Yes, the staff is younger.

But the nibbling is extremely frustrating. I don't know what's being said or not being said, but some of these guys have outstanding stuff. Many of their trouble spots are due to walking themselves there, rather than being "battered" there. In addition to creating more trouble to work out of, they're forcing their pitch counts way too high.

Mabye it's not Farrell's fault. But it's his job to find a solution.


UPDATE: This is post #200 on this blog.

A politician to be proud of...

Thanks to Jay for the lead to an article in the NYTimes about one of our state's best Representatives, Barney Frank.

There are plenty of reason for Dems to like Barney, but what really makes this profile encouraging is how highly Republicans speak of his operating style. (Especially compared with how past Republicans have spoken of him.)

Maybe everyone can't be as smart and witty as Barney. Still, there seem to be things that can be learned from Barney by other politicians...and some bloggers.

Mr. Paulson has said that when he arrived in Washington, he was surprised to discover Mr. Frank's keen understanding of Wall Street, given his lack of work experience in the private sector. In an interview, Mr. Paulson said he had enjoyed Mr. Frank's penchant for brokering deals.

"Because he is looking to get things done and make a difference, he focuses on areas of agreement and tries to build on those," Mr. Paulson said. "He doesn't waste anybody's time, your time or his."

I thought Barney would be a little more partisan. But I'm happy that he's been loyal to the party and his issues, but has found ways to be practical and effective. What more can you ask?

"Barney has been very fair," said Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California and one of the most conservative members of the House. "I think that I have been treated more fairly, and a number of my Republican colleagues have been treated more fairly, since the Democrats have become the majority than I was treated by my own leadership."

I always think it unfortunate that as a gay man he never stood a chance to seek much higher office in his time, even without the scandal. The scandal itself was also very disappointing.

But there is a lot to like about Barney Frank and the way he operates. Plus, like Paulson says in the article,

"It's always more fun to work with someone who has got a sense of humor."

If not for the times and the scandal, think about where he could've gone.

123

The Red Sox magic number is now down to 123.

The question of the season may be not whether Julio Lugo exceeds the 30 error total compiled by Edgar Renteria in 2005, but: At what figure do the number of Lugo errors and the magic number meet? Put me down for 30.

Second question of the season may be: What will be the numerical difference between the Red Sox magic number and the number of Lugo errors at the end of the regular season? I'm guessing Lugo comes out a +34 if he plays the entire season.

Red Sox are the only team in the division that is currently where they were predicted to be. Blue Jays were many people's choice for second or third. They are last. Yankees are second to last, struggling to maintain a .500 record. Tampa Bay is in second, 5 games over .500 and Baltimore is hanging on to a tie for third with the Yankees.

FREE STUFF FOR YOU!!!!

Well, not free. But discounted stuff, anyway.

Twice Upon a Time Books in Middleboro, Massachusetts has announced a discount to anyone who mentions this website when buying a book. They've got a great selection of books for you to buy, including a section called "New England Roots," which features books by or about New England.

Learn more about New England. Find things to do that you've never done before. Gas is really expensive. So help the local economy and save yourself a little money by shopping local and traveling local.

And, if you've got books you're looking to unload, Twice Upon a Time Books will take them. See, they're a buy/sell type operation. So don't throw the books in the trash, RECYCLE them at Twice Upon a Time Books.

Song of the Day: I Am Your Brother

This is a bit more contemporary, I think.

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F Durr

Happy Now?
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Song of the Day: Gimme Shelter

One of my favorite Rolling Stones songs.

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I think I have to start using more recently released music for SOTD.

I do take requests, too.