Sox Sweep Series

It's been a long time since I've watched such a great World Series and the Chicago White Sox definitely earned the championship title. They played solid baseball, even during the wild Game 3 which went 14 innings with both the Sox and Houston Astros going through so many pitchers.

It wasn't luck, just consistant solid ball playing and teamwork, as well as management. To me, naming one person as MVP is really hard. The whole team is MVP

For me, one of the best moments was watching the broadcast from Jimbo's near Cominsky Park after the Sox won. Everyone was standing or sitting behind the reporter singing the chorus to Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye). Reminded me of Fall semesters at my alma mater, Illinois State University.

So the only team that still has a "curse" is the Chicago Cubs. I would say there's no such thing as a curse but for the Cubs? Probably.

Na-na na-na-na na na na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Hey hey-hey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye [repeat many times and fade out]

Razors in Candy? A Myth!

Yahoo News has a story from LiveScience.com about those rumors we've heard from the dawn of time, or at least when the concept of Trick or Treating came about, regarding razor blades and other stuff being in candy or other types of tampering with Halloween candy. Bottom line, it's probably one of the strongest urban legends going out there.


It is the same deal every Halloween, kids dress up in outfits, walk through the neighborhood, knocking on doors and yelling "Trick or Treat!" when the person opens the door. The neighbor does the neighborly thing and comments on how scary the kids' costumes look and not say anything about knowing this or that kid set fire to his trash can the other night (confession time: my friend Gary did that in the 5th grade). The neighbor then puts candy in each kid's bag and they go off to scare another neighbor.

When the kids get home, parents inspect the candy for any sort of tampering, remembering their mothers reminders every Halloween about sick people in the world tampering with Halloween candy. Sometimes, parents will go to the hospital emergency room to have the candy X-Rayed.

Benjamin Radford, of the Skeptical Inquirer, reported that

Despite e-mail warnings, scary stories, and Ann Landers columns to the contrary, there have been only two confirmed cases of children being killed by poisoned Halloween candy, and in both cases the children were killed not in a random act by strangers but intentional murder by one of their parents. The best-known, "original" case was that of Texan Ronald Clark O'Bryan, who killed his son by lacing his Pixie Stix with cyanide in 1974.

There have been a few instances of candy tampering over the years—and in most cases the "victim" turned out to be the culprit, children doing it as a prank or to draw attention. With the exceptions noted above, no child has been killed or seriously harmed by contaminated Halloween candy.

And what of the candy that the X-Ray machine deemed to be safe? It is now contaminated with a small amount of radiation. In effect, you tampered with your own candy.

X-raying candy helps parents feel like they are protecting their children, but in fact parents are simply wasting resources and feeding children's fears unnecessarily.

This is perhaps the saddest part about this myth: children are given the message that their neighbors might try to poison or hurt them. In fact, a child is in far more danger from his or her own parents than from strangers. Surely there are better uses for the X-ray equipment and film than battling a myth. Clinics would do more good offering free or low-cost X-rays to needy families than scanning candies.

If you have doubts about a piece of candy, just throw it out. The only thing that will come out of taking the candy to the hospital to be X-rayed or calling the police is that you will find out your HMO will not cover the cost and the cops will be taken away from real emergencies.

First Snow Of The Season

As I speak (10:50am) snow is falling and sticking. We didn't have a first frost or first snow flurry. Because of that, I am now officially not looking forward to Winter. The predictions of a cold and very white Winter may come true.

Bond, Batman and Jack

With all the recent news and PR surrounding Pierce Brosnan being dumped for a blonde...errr...the producers naming a new Bond, Cinematical has made a list of what they think are the best Bond flicks. I tend to agree but I'd omit any Roger Moore flavored movies. Simon Templer is not James Bond.

Oh, and by the way, there are lots of rumors about the next Christian Bale (Batman Begins) flavored Batman movie, notably, who will play The Joker? The best guess is Michael Keaton. he played Batman/Bruce Wayne in the first Tim Burton bat-flick. At first, I thought it was a wild pick but then it grew on me. Just look at Keaton in BeetleJuice, he could really play The Joker, and I'm not dissing Jack Nicholson's version at all.

Which, of course, reminds me of when I watched the Oscars one year when they gave a lifetime achievement award to Jack Nicholson. A montage of his movies was shown but instead of showing him as The Joker, they showed Batman. Nicholson just wouldn't let this go at the film's end saying something to the effect of "A movie about me and they show the G******ed Batman," on live TV. Of course, he was wearing that famous grin of his but noboby thought he was joking.

Jack rules.

Mickey D's Quality Food But...

Sure, I'll agree with McDonald's press release about the high quality of their food but healthy is a different matter.

Mickey D's Quality Food But...

OK, I'll agree with McDonald's claims of their food offering high quality. But healthy? Ahhhh...

We're Getting There

We must be at some stage in technology when a guy notes in an online discussion that he has a PDA set to remote control his stereo and does so while he's in the bathroom.

There is a program, Salling Clicker, for the Mac that allows you to control it via a Bluetooth wireless enabled device, in this case a Palm Treo 650. The Mac can either have a really good speaker system or be connected to the home stereo (you can get very hi tech in this regard).

The next big step will be to have iPods Bluetooth enabled. Then hookup in cars will be simplified, as well as remote control of the iPod connected to the home stereo.

Still, remote control of the stereo via your PDA and computer. Yeah.

Music Video Made on Apple II

Blair Witch Project and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow were done on Macs with all the latest, at the time, tools?

Pfffthhpth, forget that noise, Stewart Smith made a music video for Jed's Other Poem by Grandaddy using his 1979 vintage Apple II+ that has a whopping 48K of RAM. The video is actually pretty cool, check it out.

By the way, I know Bob Leonard, the father of the main Blair Witch actor, Joshua Leonard. Pretty interesting tales about how Josh got into the movie business.

Cure For The Cold

Time to get ready for cold and flu season. Here's what I use as part of my cure by way of food:

• Gatorade - Orange and lemon-lime flavors work for me.
• Hot & Sour Soup - I haven't been able to find Knorr Hot & Sour. Great stuff.
  
• Coca Cola - You could substitute seltzer water but I like Coke to help clear out the throat congestion.
• Tea - Earl Grey or other black teas
• Ramen Noodles - At 25¢ a packet, hard to beat Chinese noodles to help provide a cure.

I probably should get a box of Sudafed (made by Pfizer, the folks who brought us Viagra).

Sudafed/SudaCare has a product, Vapor-Plug, that works in the same manner as a plug-in scent dispenser. Instead of some sort of fragrance like Amazon Rain Forest, Clean Laundry or Bachelor Apartment (probably prohibited by the Geneva Convention), it emits a menthol smell.

Shower Soothers is similar but is a big tablet you have in the shower with you. A plug-in with electrical cord might present some safety issues and legal litigation Pfizer would probably want to avoid.

Wonder how the Vapor-Plug would affect my cats. The Shower Soothers could be a good idea but only in a shower before going to bed. I'd hate to walk around work smelling like a menthol cough drop. "Hey, nice aftershave!" "Gee, every time you walk into our office, our nasal passages clear up immediately."

But always, hot & sour soup is my cure. Dump in some Frank's Red Hot and your nasal passages will surely have smooth sailing afterward. Don't worry, Frank's is not as fiery hot (we're talking the original flavor here) as other sauces but is great for cooking. Try it as a baste on hamburgers or on scrambled eggs.

My only prayer though is that the bird flu pandemic predictions don't come true. It's been said that it's not a case of whether or not there will be a repeat of the 1918 pandemic but when.

Richard Widmark Still Here

I just read a note at another blog that Richard Widmark is going to be awarded the career achievement award by the LA Film Critics Association. The biggest news is that Widmark is still very much alive. So why does the guy have to wait until he's 91 years-old and 74 movies later to get an achievement award? Just goes to show how underrated an actor he is. He should have gotten his due a long time ago.

Something Wicked This Way Hops

On Sunday, I saw Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

The movie took something like 5 years to make and it shows. So much detail for clay figures and small sets. The jokes are funny but I think what Marcella said at the end of the movie sums it up pretty well, "It was cute."

The RIAA...greedy?

While listening to XM Radio on the drive home from work, one DJ mentioned that the RIAA only allows three songs from an album to be played on services like XM Radio.

The RIAA is really doing their darndest to avoid new technology. Anybody like Apple or Microsoft have a rough and tumble time dealing with them. They don't like XM because of it's digital broadcast quality, the onslaught of some satellite radio receivers that can record a broadcast.

Now Slashdot is reporting the "RIAA may seek $1 billion plus in music rights fees for a new contract covering 2007 to 2012 to replace the current $80 million pact that expires in 2006."

The RIAA is a dinosaur that not only doesn't get it, they refuse to get it. They won't even buy the clue if you gave them $1 million. They' probably demand $100 Million and when you walk away, they won't get that money.

What I'm trying to say is that XM Radio, Sirius, iPods and iTunes Music Store are helping to sell tunes in ways the RIAA cannot.

The RIAA claimed that CD sales suffered because of illegal downloading but when they lowered CD prices, sales picked up.

They just don't get it.

Folger's Coffee had a new tugging at the heart strings ad during Law & Order last night (an average, predicatable episode) in which they have various employees reading off cue cards and telling the world that well, our plant in New Orleans got hit but the hurricane and we are working to rebuild as fast as humanly possible. There's even a website with further info.

One little side note for all you eight cups a day addicts/drinkers, since about 50% of Folger's coffee comes from the New Orleans area expect the price of coffee to go up.

On a bright note though, Folger's said the New Orleans area employees still have jobs. Did you hear that Mayor Ray Nagin?

Cold Turkey

This past Sunday, there was an ad from a local grocery chain, Weis Markets, announcing that their free Thanksgiving Day turkey promotion is now under way. Just collect enough points after each purchase and you'll have a free bird.

This reminded me that I have a cold turkey still in my freezer from last year's promo. According to ochef.com:

in terms of safety, frozen turkeys will keep indefinitely in the freezer. Quality is another matter, however, and is said to decline after about a year.

I think this weekend will be good time to borrow Mom's roaster and get ready for a month of turkey sandwiches and turkey rice soup.

Weis says that if you spend $250 at their stores, you can get a free turkey. How about if I spend $20, I can get a turkey. Besides, Weis is the most expensive grocery store in town. They are even more expensive than Wegman's.

Subway Maps On Your iPod

iPodsubwaymaps.com is sort of like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Many people who make use of subway systems have iPods. So why not have subway maps on your iPod? Tada! Website born!

iPodSubwayMaps.com has had some start up pains though. Both San Francisco and New York City have siced their lawyers on William Bright, the guy who started the website, sending cease and desist letters. NYC said he could use their maps so long as he obtains an annual license, $500
per year.

Maybe San Francisco and New York City should buy a clue from Washington D.C. They said Bright can use their maps for free. They should help Bright. Any way to increase usage of public transit systems should definitely be encouraged. And really, is San Francisco or NYC losing money by allowing people to download the maps for free?

In fact, I did a little bit of research about which subway has free maps online:

New York City MTA - Downloadable PDF
San Francisco BART - Downloadable PalmOS or PocketPC guide
Washington D.C. Metro - downloadable PDF

When I visited the nation's capitol about a year and a half ago, with my cousin Alsona and her husband Alan, we used the Metro to ride from Falls Church, VA into the city. I fell in love with the D.C. Metro line. Clean, easy to use and now I can have the map on my iPod without legal issues. Cool!

The Monster...On Tour

Halloween is right around the corner and before you start thinking the photo here is Frankenstein's Monster, think again, it's really Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. And that, folks, is scary enough.

The Rocker In Autumn

I just finished converting the new CDs by Neil Young and Sheryl Crow to my computer and viewing a couple of scenes from the DVDs included with both albums. I did the same for Paul McCartney's new album released few weeks back.

I'll have to agree with an Amazon.com user review of Neil Young's "Prairie Wind," too many reviewers are labeling this album as part of some sort of trilogy along with "After The Gold Rush" and "Harvest Moon." These reviewers forget about other similar albums in Neil's eclectic catalog.

Neil Young is sort of a rock and roll carmudgeon. When he did MTV Unplugged for example, he refused to submit a play list to the producers so they could figure out camera angles for each song. Instead, Neil laid out all the instruments on stage and would play whatever song he was in the mood to play. I've heard that's pretty much how he is in concert. Another time, during an interview, live, on MTV, the reporter made the mistake of calling Neil's music "classic rock." Neil let fly with a few colorful words and said he hasn't retired, he's still putting out fresh stuff.

Neil has always followed his own lead, or his own muse. Much to the irritation, at times, of record companies (he was famously sued by Geffen Records for being "uncreative"). So here, Neil once again takes a turn putting out a country/folk/rock album.

Prairie Wind certainly seems to be somethng of a Autumnal album. The songs have a retrospective, introspective, reflective, comfortable feel. I'm still listening to the album but "The Painter" and "This Old Guitar" are early favorites.

Neil Young is in his own class, it's very hard to put a label on him and I'm sure he'd be happy to hear that. "Prairie Wind" is a solid effort. The DVD edition features a making-of-the-album movie that shows a band that is comfortable with each other, which helps to make this album so solid.

The Apprentice: Martha's Take

I saw part of the series opener for Martha Stewart's "The Apprentice" and the first thought was that her PR spin crew worked overtime with this series. At the start, we see Martha walking through the offices, saying hi and one employee running up to her to show off some layouts. So cute and Martha seems to be so nice and calm. Nothing like what we saw on the television movie that starred Cybil Shepard as Martha.

So we don't get to see Martha raging at the contestants, pity. Martha said the Shepard portrayal was a bunch of hooie but after reading about her temper and controlling nature, I'm sort of wont to believe the television movie wasn't too far from the truth. I've endured a manager who wanted to scream and cuss up a storm at employees, belittling them and telling them the company did that employee a favor by hiring them.

What we do get however is Martha's take on Donald Trump's "You're fired!" (and that little "cobra snap" of the hand when he said it). Her phrase is "You just don't fit in."

"You just don't fit in?" That's like when I was laid off at Gateway and the HR rep was trying to smooth my anger by saying "We didn't lay you off, just eliminated the job." That only made me angrier and I asked, "so I'm still on the payroll with my current salary?" "Well....I wouldn't say that."

Julie Hinds, at the Detroit Free Press, has a great article about how "You just don't fit in" is such a bad phrase. The best reason:

It's not delivered with panache. Trump's serpent-like flick of the wrist and his brusque delivery give his catch-phrase a campy charm. Stewart is still too icy on camera, her emotions as frozen as a Botoxed forehead. Maybe if she got angry and threw tiramisu at the departing players, it would perk things up.

Throw tiramisu at the axed contestant? Can you imagine what that would do for ratings? Heck, secretly replace Martha with Cybil Shepard and definitely watch those ratings skyrocket. She can yell and be more intimidating that R. Lee Ermy. Then again, the scuttlebutt I've heard was that Cybil really didn't have to stretch to act as Martha.

Hinds definitely hits the nail on the head with her last reason. Isn't it true that the ones who don't fit in are the ones that come up with innovative ideas? That's the whole idea behind Apple's Think Different ad campaign.

I'm sorry Martha but your flan is overcooked.

Bond Confessions

I love the James Bond movies and love to talk up which actor has done the best job of playing Bond. Here's my list with the first being the best:

1. Sean Connery
2. George Lazenby
3. Pierce Brosnan
4. Timothy Dalton
5. Roger Moore

Picking a favorite Bond movie is tough, I just can't do it.

I've only read one of the Ian Fleming books, The Living Daylights. I've read several of the Bond books by John Gardner. I really should read more of the Ian Fleming books, especially From Russia With Love. It is said that book was John F. Kennedy's favorite. That was also the last movie JFK ever saw. He screened the film a couple days before flying down to Texas.

"To Be Continued." Noooo!

"To Be Continued."

"Battlestar Galactica returns in January..."

No. Freakin'. Way.

Sure, we can have a couple months between two seasons of a television series but to have almost as much time between two parts of one season and especially after the halfway point episode ends on such an incredible cliffhanger (I won't say anything that may spoil it for timeshifters).

January. January? January!

Ack!

I've never been a huge fan of science fiction but Battlestar Galactica has been great and season 2 is much better than season 1.

Argh! January!