Dublin Saab

When Longhorns die...

2008-12-15T13:52:00.001-05:00

They become Buckeye fans!

Preview: #11 Buckeyes visit #15 Sparty

2008-10-17T16:12:00.007-04:00

Well, after over a year of wanting to actually write a preview here I am, finally doing so, and I am a twitter with excitement. No doubt, so are you. For this, and all other posts for the rest of the year, I will be using the BCS rankings. The AP's long history is nice and all but the BCS is the one that counts. The BCS has yet to release their rankings but the numbers and formula are well known, HERE is a simulation of what would be this weeks BCS.

Has there ever been a time when Buckeye nation felt this down and full of gloom when Ohio State was 6-1, ranked #11 and controlled their own destiny in getting the Big10 Championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl? I'm pretty sure the answer has to be no. After last weeks poor showing by the offense, a poor showing that included awful line play, a group made up of the walking wounded at running back and a QB that played like a true freshman many Buckeye faithful are bracing themselves for a defeat in East Lansing.

I hope we get to see this several times on Saturday.
In order to win...

Michigan State's offense needs to give the ball to Javon Ringer more than 30 times with him averaging more than 6 YPC. Since Ringer is almost certain to get the ball more than 30 times it's up to Sparty's O-line to see that there is space for him to run in.

Ohio State's offense needs to open up the offense. The Buckeyes need to show a willingness to throw the ball more than 15 yards deep or the MSU secondary will spend all day cheating up and closing running lanes. The O-line needs to not play like girls.

Beanie likes giving out free rides.
The Sparty D meanwhile needs to put pressure on Pryor as early and as often as they can. Pryor seemed to regress a bit against Purdue and I imagine the MSU D-line wants their piece of the freshman "phenom". If they can get this pressure they will have put themselves in a position to slowdown the Buckeye running game, which could make for a long afternoon.

Ohio State's defense needs to keep on, keeping on. Lost in all the gloom from the Purdue... victory? was the fact that the defense played quite well. MSU lacks any real big play threats and Hoyer at QB is not scaring anyone. The defense needs to stick with an aggressive Man coverage that allows 8 Silver Bullets to keep Ringer penned in. If the running game isn't going and Hoyer has to throw the ball, things could go very well for the Buckeyes.

If James and the defense play well they should make Hoyer feel as blurry as he looks.
My crystal ball says:

Ringer is going to get around 110 yards, which is low for him, and he'll need about 42 carries to get it. That means the MSU offense is going to be bogged down all game. Ohio State's offense will look better, but not all that good. Ohio State will try to go down field with the ball but the receivers will drop the passes. However the Buckeye defense will get a couple turnover's in great field position and the offense will be able to capitalize.

Ohio State 24 - Michigan State 17

Then begins a week of gloom over playing Penn State.

Ohio State 16 - Purdue 3

2008-10-13T15:03:00.001-04:00

I stopped at my regular deli here in Croton-On-Hudson this morning for a breakfast sandwich and the friendly deli man asked me how the Buckeye’s did this weekend. He had to ask because he’s a New Yorker, which means he knows very little about college football, it’s just not a NY thing. I answered by telling him that it turns out that our phenom true Freshman QB is fully capable of playing like a true Freshman and the O-line is more porous than cheesecloth. That sums up my feelings on the game.

Now I know that the Buckeye defense did a fine job and Malcolm Jenkins is the man but are the defense and special teams going to be able to single handedly win games @ Michigan St, @ Illinois and against high power Penn St even though it’s at home?

It is safe to say that I have never felt this poorly about a 6-1, #12 ranked team.

Second quarter Buckeye update

2008-10-13T14:42:00.000-04:00

After the 1st quarter update I was greatly concerned about the year that the 2008 Buckeye’s would have. Now, at the 2nd quarter update Ohio State has put up 3 wins, to move from 2-1 to 5-1 and things seem to be, after changes in QB and on the O-line, moving in the right direction. I am feeling hopeful.

Ohio State 28 – Troy 10

The future is now. In Pryor’s first start the Buckeye looked to put the ass beating by USC behind them and for the most part was successful in doing so. The defense was able to handle one of the hottest offensive teams in America and the O-line, with the true Freshman Brewster at center seemed to make gains.

Ohio State 34 – Minnesota 21

The Gophers came into this game undefeated with absurd delusions of grandeur. The defense wasn’t superb, but capable and the offense made growth and made Buckeye fans a little more hopeful before heading into Camp Randall for a night game.

Ohio State 20 – Wisconsin 17

Wow. The game was hard hitting and the defense again delivered a solid, if not stellar performance. The offense was fully contained in the 2nd and 3rd quarters but that game ending drive with Pryor marching the Buckeye’s down the field for a go-ahead TD with 1:08 left was beautiful.

First Quarter Buckeye Update

2008-09-16T13:30:00.001-04:00

I’ve never been a fan of the preseason ranking. It exists, so even I do it, but without a few games to gauge how the teams are actually performing it’s just a crap shoot. With that thought in mind I decided that I would wait for the first three games to be completed before I began doing any game reviews and previews.

I would say that my plan has paid in spades as I have a much better idea of who the 2008 Buckeyes are than I did in late August. Sadly, this is not a good thing. So, here is the 1st quarter update.

Ohio State 42 – Youngstown 0

A pyrrhic victory that saw entirely too many field goals (what? YSU’s D is too strong to get a TD on?) and the loss of Beanie to the still undiagnosed foot/toe problem. Looking back, the writing was on the wall with this game.

Ohio State 26 – Ohio 14

Without Beanie playing the Buckeye’s looked like shit on offense. What did they have? 6? 7? Three and outs! The defense wasn’t awful, only allowing 7 points (remember a Becker’s fumble in the endzone gave Ohio their other score) but showed an inability to finish on tackles. Buckeye nation consoled themselves with the thought that the team had been looking ahead and that Beanie would be back.

USC 35 – Ohio State 3

Looks like the Buckeyes hadn’t actually been looking ahead. Soft zone defense scheming, questionable offensive play calling and more craptastic play from ol’ Beckers (2 INT, 1 fumble, 0 TD) lead to a smack down. I know many want to look at the play of Boom, Pryor vs Beckers and a few other items as something to build on but the reality is that very little positive can be taken from this game.

Now looking at the quarterly round up you have to ask yourself, if the first ranking ballot came out this week, would Ohio State be in the top 25? I think the answer is no. After 3 games I don’t feel we have a 2007 Michigan style collapse on our hands but I feel talk of 11-1 is misplaced if the Buckeyes don’t turn it around in the next 2 games.

Big Ten 2008: Top 3

2008-08-11T16:41:00.004-04:00

#1 Ohio State Buckeyes

I could almost cut and paste my write up for Michigan last year into this post. A very good season last year that could have been great if not for 2 late season loses? Check. Widely believed to be the most talented team in the Big Ten? Check. A team loaded with seniors that shunned the NFL for one more shot? Check. Preseason top 5 ranking? Check. Opening the season with a 2A(FPS) squad? Check. Talk of being a legit national title contender? Check.

Now I don’t say these things because I think the wheels are going to come off OSU this year but… they could. We have the same team back as we had last year, and they lost a BIG game and a game they should not have (shit non calls from the refs that have now been fired aside). And this is something all the Buckeye faithful that have dreams of Beanie running over Georgia defenders need to keep in mind.

Prediction: 10-2 (7-1) Close loses @USC and @Illinois but winning the Big Ten thanks to head-to-head over Wisconsin puts Ohio State into the Rose Bowl where they spank ASU as Tressle gets his mojo back.

Best Case: 12-0 (8-0) And an undefeated Pitt team as an opponent.

Worst Case: 8-4 (5-3) Loses @USC, @ Wisconsin, @ Illinois and at home to a wide open RichRod lead Michigan team leads spoiled Buckeye fans to register firetressle.com

#2 Wisconsin Badgers

Bucky Badger fans have the feeling that they are the most BSC snubbed team in the land. This year coach Brett Bielema has one of the most loaded teams to ever suit up at Camp Randell, sadly for Badger fans they are not going to be getting over the BCS hump this year.

The defense is a solid and capable unit – I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few shutouts – and the offense is built to play the power game in a way most teams simply won’t be able to handle. This years Badgers will be favorites in every game they play, except one. And it is this one that will keep the BCS door closed for yet another season, because the one team that can handle their power game is the one team in the Big Ten with even more talent. Oh how ol’ Wiscy will hate the Buckeye.

Prediction: 11-1 (7-1) 11 wins and the CapitolOne Bowl, sucks to be you.

Best Case: 12-0 (8-0) Handle Ohio State and you can make the BCS promised land, but may be shut out of the NC game by a 2 lose SEC team.

Worst Case: 8-4 (5-3) If unproven QB Allan Evridge turns out to be a dud this could be a long season of mediocrity.

#3 Penn State Nittany Lions

The only thing around Penn State football that is older than legendary coach Joe Paterno is jokes about Joe Pa’s age. However, as Paterno enters his 456th year at Penn State I’m happy to poke fun. What won’t be fun for most of the Big Ten is playing the 2008 addition of the Nittany Lions as the Morelli era is over and PSU looks to be heading back to the spread offense that Michael Robinson ran to a 12-1 record, BCS victory and #3 finish in 2005. The only real question facing the offense is can Daryll Clark be as productive as Robinson was. On the defensive side of the ball things stack up to be as good, or even better than last years impressive unit.

But a black cloud hangs over Happy Valley and that black cloud wears a police badge. The Lions have had an off season so fraught with legal and other “team rule” issues that even as a Buckeye fan I have begun to feel sorry for them. Have the issues and player suspensions taken the teeth from a potential monster? Or is this team going to fail to come together and create greatness? I’m leaning towards the latter.

Prediction: 10-2 (6-2) Congrats on 10 wins, but don’t even dream of a BCS bid.

Best Case: 11-1 (7-1) @ Ohio State will keep the Lions from threatening a NC game spot.

Worst Case: 8-4 (4-4) The Michigans may make this team an afterthought.

Big Ten 2008: Middling 4

2008-08-11T15:36:00.004-04:00

#4 Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois was the feel good Big Ten team last year. No one saw them beating #1 Ohio State in the Shoe or getting a BCS bid. However, everyone saw them get spanked by USC. The lesson is that all feel good stories come back down to Earth at the end and the end was back in January.

Zook was able to build Illinois from cellar dweller to threat with great recruiting that hinged on the ability to offer highly rated HS players the chance to start as a freshman. For example, Juice went with the Zooker over Tressle because he could play from day one in Champaign vs. red shirting behind Troy Smith. The flaw with this recruiting method is that after the first few years there are no more spots to give way to youngsters that want to play form day one.

This is the wall that Illinois has hit. Zook has turned the Illini into a team that can threaten to win the Big Ten, which isn’t quite the same thing as being a team that can win the Big Ten. Add into the mix a tough schedule and the Illini might be hard put to get the 9 wins I am predicting.

Prediction: 9-3 (6-2) @ Mizzou, @ Penn State and @ Wisconsin leads to a second 9-3 season.

Best Case: 10-2 (7-1) Seriously, the Illini aren’t getting away with fewer than 2 loses from the above 3 games.

Worst Case: 7-5 (4-4) The lose of players like Leman and Mendenhall might hurt more than the Illini faithful are hoping.

#5 Michigan State Spartans

‘Lil brother looks to claim coup over the big bad Wolverines this year as Coach Mark Dantonio enters his second year at the helm of the Spartans with a full cupboard (for MSU anyway). With players like Hoyer and Ringer on offense and a solid linebacker core this is a MSU squad that is looking to make a lot a noise and finally put the late season collapsitis behind them.

With a lot of talent, a good coach and a very nice schedule this is a Michigan state team that has the chance to swell Spartan nation with great pride. If Dantonio can play power ball in their opener at Cal and beat a flaky Bear team then Sparty may be setup for a great year.

Prediction: 9-3 (5-3) Yes, the schedule is that easy.

Best Case: 10-2 (6-2) Yes, this could be a 10 win team.

Worst Case: 6-6 (3-5) Yes, this could be the Michigan State we have all come to know and love.

#6 Michigan Wolverines

Before the season started last year Michigan was considered to be a legitimate contender for the national title. Wolverine fans had their hopes crushed right out of the gate and then watched as one of their most talented teams ever wandered through a season of mediocrity. Michigan fans this year can relax without any fear of having their hopes dashed again, as there is little hope for this team, at least not by Michigan standards.

RichRod (Michigan’s 3rd choice for coach) enters his first season in Ann Arbor after an embarrassing departure from WVU and a massive defection of players who knew they didn’t want to be part of the new régime. We are 19 days away from Michigan’s opening game with Utah and no one has any idea who will be standing in the QB slot wearing Maize and Blue. What we do know is that they will be true freshman green, have questionable skills, may not fit in well with RichRod’s offensive scheme and be surrounded equally unproven skill players. Jr RB Brandon Minor is the only bright spot.

Meanwhile things aren’t so bad on defense, except for the fact that last year Michigan’s defense wasn’t all that good. All these negatives aside Michigan will still be heading to a bowl game, after all, a bad year for Michigan is still better than most.

Prediction: 7-5 (3-5)

Best Case: 9-3 (5-3) If RichRod is the wizard Michigan hopes they have purchased then he might be able to out coach and out fox his young guys into a great opening year finishing with a win over the Buckeyes leading Michigan fans to say, “Lloyd who?”

Worst Case: 4-8 (2-6) Yes kids, the concerns at Michigan are this big. If things don’t jell and opposing teams smell blood then this year could see the end of Michigan’s winning season and bowl appearance streaks.

#7 Northwestern Wildcats

As coach Pat Fitzgerald enters his 3rd year with the Wildcats the long shadow left form Randy Walker’s death is finally fading. This is the year when Fitzgerald will be looking to fully begin his era and put his influence into the team. That influence begins and ends with QB CJ Bacher and RB Tyrell Sutton. Both are veterans and both have the ability to put up all Big Ten numbers. This will be the key to the team’s success this year and where Bacher and Sutton lead the Cats will follow.

Combine this potential with a favorable schedule that misses both Wisconsin and Penn State and you should get a season that will put Fitzgerald into his first bowl game. That said I wouldn’t be fully shocked if the wheels fall off as this is still Northwestern and their coach has yet to prove he can win.

Prediction: 7-5 (3-5)

Best Case: 9-3 (5-3) If Bacher and Sutton have superb seasons and the defense tightens up this could be a shocker top 25 team at the end of the season.

Worst Case: 5-7 (2-6) If there is no improvement over last year this is more likely to be the outcome.

Big Ten 2008: Bottom 4

2008-08-11T13:38:00.009-04:00

#8 Purdue Boilermakers

In Joe Tiller’s previous 11 seasons at Purdue he has built some solid top shelf teams and brought a lot of excitement to the Big Ten and this, his 12th season, will be his last. Purdue has been a regular in the bowls under Tiller and I’d like to think that his boys will be playing extra hard to see that their coach goes out on a high note. But.

Beyond QB Curtis Painter there are too many weakness, too many questions and too pours a defense for me to be bullish on the Boilers. I feel that Purdue has been slowly slipping for years now and I think that slipping will continue this year and into Danny Hope era that begins at the end of this season. The talent is just not there.

Prediction: 5-7 (3-5)

Best Case: 8-4 (5-3) If the Boilers win all the games they are capable of coach Tiller will be out on a high note.

Worst Case: 3-9 (1-7) If the Boilers lose all the games they are capable of new head coach Hope won’t have to worry much about Tiller’s “shadow”.

#9 Indiana Hoosiers

Of all my predictions form last year Indiana was the one I nailed. Well, almost. I had them winning their first bowl game in 15 years. Anyway, as nuts as it was to say IU was bowl bound last year I’m going on a limb again and saying they are headed to a bowl again. Indiana bowling 2 years in a row? Yup.

But don’t get too excited my Hoosier pals, this isn’t the result of Indiana having turned the corner and building into an emerging power. No, it’s merely the result of a very favorable schedule. And to illustrate the point you can see that Purdue, with a worse overall record outranks IU with a better conference record. Indiana should handle Western Kentucky, Murry State, Ball State and Central Michigan. After that they only need to pick up 2 from conference play and with Minnesota and Iowa on the slate, they will. So enjoy your 2nd bowl game in as many years, but don’t get comfortable.

Prediction: 6-6 (2-6)

Best Case: 8-4 (4-4) If improvements to Indiana’s defense take root and they get good QB play this lofty record is attainable.

Worst Case: 4-8 (1-7) If those improvements fail then this more traditional IU record is also attainable.

#10 Minnesota Golden Gophers

Last year everyone and their idiot brother had the Gophers in last place, unfortunately for the Gophers, everyone was right. After an awful 1-11 season coach Mike Brewster has his entire young team from last year back along with a top 25 recruiting class. So with more experience and better incoming talent the big question on everyone mind is can Brewster translate that into success. Maybe.

After last year getting to a bowl would be a big step in the right direction and get Gopher nation feeling positive. However this team still has a way to go and the schedule isn’t all that kind (@ Wisconsin, @Illinois and @Ohio State). The Gophers will be better, but they won’t be good.

Prediction: 4-8 (1-7)

Best Case: 6-6 (3-5) On paper this can happen and how Gopher fans will be praying that it does.

Worst Case: 2-10 (0-8) On paper this can happen and how Gopher fans will be praying that it does not.

#11 Iowa Hawkeyes

For the last three years Iowa has made everyone predicting them to do well (including myself last year) look bad by playing like shit. Now gentlemen, it’s time for us to make you look bad. Iowa does have good talent on the team but with proven underperformance, horrible off field issues (14 players arrested this summer) and a coach that instills less faith than the UN my gut tells me this is a cellar dweller of a team even if my brain says middle of the pack.

That talent the Hawks have has some people saying that this could be a 10 win team with a schedule that misses Michigan and Ohio State. Sadly, those people are simply fooling themselves. This team is going nowhere. Fast.

Prediction: 3-9 (1-7)

Best Case: 9-3 (5-3) This happens if Iowa plays up to their talent potential. They won’t.

Worst Case: 2-10 (0-8) Iowa has too much skill to possibly be this bad you exclaim? Right. 5 will get you 10 coach Ferentz already knows who he will be using to list his home for sale.

Starting strong.

2008-08-10T13:35:00.004-04:00

This year the US Men's basketball team competing in China have the same standard of success as the Buckeyes do. Win it all or fail.

LeBron says, "再見"

While the Buckeyes have a few weeks till they begin towards possible redemption, the US Mens team has started well with a 101-70 route of host China. Go get'em boys!

Spotted!

2008-05-06T17:37:00.004-04:00

Both spotted on Hamilton Ave on Sunday, May 4th.

1991 Eagle Premier

1979 VW Rabbit

One of these is cool, the other not so much. Can you tell which is which?

Smart car = iMac

2008-03-27T14:29:00.007-04:00

Simply put, the Smart car is a lifestyle purchase, much like an iMac, when a much cheaper Windows machine could do the job, or for that matter a BMW, when a much cheaper KIA can do the job. Also like the iMac Apple-heads there is nothing you can say to sway those who believe in the Smart car. They believe it's the best thing since sliced bread and you just don't get it.

However, no matter how strong their faith, I don't feel that the Smart will be a great success. There are many reasons for my feeling that the car is doomed to failure. The reasons include, but are not limited to the fact that; it is an impractical 2 seater, it's underpowered, it doesn't really get all that great mileage compared with diesels, hybrids and cars like the Honda Fit, it has a 2year/24,000 mile warranty (which makes in the worst warranty in the NA market) and it's not all that safe.

Safety is the issue that really gets the Smart-heads twisted up in a tizzy. The mere suggestion that the Smart is less than a Volvo in safety will result in screams about the Smart's passenger compartment safety cage and pictures of the Smart's cage surviving impacts into barriers, which is what safety testing consists of. Unfortunately in the real world there are more than just immobile walls, there are other cars and they are moving.

Fact: The Smart can hit a wall at 65 mph and the doors will still open.

Fact: The Smart will spin like a pinball if it hits another moving car.

The smart is not a tin can that will collapse, this it true. But F still equals MA and when your Smart meets a sedan in an intersection you are a goner. Not because you get crushed, no, but rather because you receive massive internal trauma from deceleration and centrifugal forces. I could do the math for you but a YouTube video is worth 3,564 words.

There will be a short term rush for the Smart as people buy them because they are cool, different, cute, European, etc. But in the long term the car will not see success. After all, if it's lost money in Europe, the market it was designed for, ever year of its manufacturing, then there is no reason to see it achieving success in the NA market. None at all.

Now who's the boss?

2008-03-27T13:29:00.005-04:00

India was once the Crown Jewels of the British Empire. Now an Indian car company has purchased the Crown Jewels of the once proud British automotive industry. I have to wonder what a small, developing world, car maker wants to do with a small volume, high cost, nameplate like Jag. Do they have the billions needed and the engineering experience required to develop new and competitive vehicles needed to go against Jag's competition? Or did the guys at Tata do this simply to give the British a big old raspberry. Time will tell.

Would you like curry with that?

They don't make them like they used to.

2008-02-18T19:17:00.004-05:00

Philadelphia, July 4th, 1776...
"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

Pristina, February 17th, 2008...
" We declare Kosovo to be a democratic, secular and multiethnic republic, guided by the principles of non-discrimination and equal protection under the law. We shall protect and promote the rights of all communities in Kosovo and create the conditions necessary for their effective participation in political and decision-making processes."

Remember this day little girl... remember.

The ARR® for 2008.

2008-02-07T19:08:00.000-05:00

The Alternative Recruiting Rankings® provided to you by DublinSaab.

The way that recruiting classes are assessed is by giving each player that is recruited by a given team a certain point value and then adding up the total value of all payers ranked to give a total score. It is these scores that are used to rank a schools class.

While this is the industry standard I feel that it misses the point. Under the accepted system a school with a large number of mediocre players can have a class ranking higher than a school with a small number of great players. The problem with this is that a school like USC which only needs a few players to augment the tremendous talent they already have may have a lower class ranking than a school like Alabama, which at the moment needs as many players as they can get as they have little in the way of talent. This gives fans an unrealistic assessment of the future viability of their school.

This is where I come in with my ARR® where I rank the individual score of the average recruit and not the aggregate score. So, with no further a due…

Rank	School	Avg. Player Score	Traditional Ranking*
1	USC	121.68	7
2	Notre Dame	119.30	2
3	Florida	118.18	3
4	Ohio State	117.31	9
5	Oklahoma	115.33	5
6	Georgia	96.71	6
7	Texas	95.95	14
8	Michigan	92.29	10
9	Alabama	88.62	1
10	UCLA	83.65	13
11	LSU	82.08	11
12	Clemson	81.27	12
13	FL State	75.03	8
14	Miami (FL)	74.76	4
15	Colorado	71.90	15
16	Oregon	71.53	19
17	Pitt	62.05	29
18	Texas A&M	61.75	16
19	S. Carolina	60.09	22
20	N. Carolina	59.56	34
21	Maryland	58.95	32
22	Tennessee	57.06	36
23	Mizzou	52.78	26
24	Cal	50.95	35
25	Penn St.	50.00	42

The team that faired the worst under the ARR® was Miami (FL) which fell 10 spots due to having a large class, but not a lot of great players and the team that came out like roses was Pen State raising 17 spots thanks to a small class of decent players.

I believe that the ARR® is a better ranking system because it shows the quality of players a stable program like USC or Ohio State are bringing in without the large class bias of schools with troubles or under transitions like Miami (FL), Alabama or Minnesota which came up #17 in the traditional rankings but pulls up a more appropriate #31 in the ARR®.

Feel free to comment!

*These are the rankings as according to Rivals.com, other sources may have slightly different ranks and scores but you get the idea. Don’t you?

First BCS upset for the 2007 year

2008-01-03T16:35:00.000-05:00

USC 49 - Illinois 17... yup.

Georgia 41 - Hawaii 10... that's about right

WVU 48 - Oklahoma 28... Whoa! That's not what people thought, and it wasn't that close.

White has this thing in his arm and you OU want it... but you aren't going to get it.

Oklahoma was riped to bits by a Mountaineer squad everyone expect to fold after the loss to Pitt and the defection of coach Rodriguez. Congrats to them. I was at the start of the game routing against WVU simply to be able to poke at AngryEeer over at LoserWithSocks but while watching the game I couldn't help but be caught up in the excitement as WVU just wanted it more and pushed OU all over the field.

Busted

2007-12-13T16:06:00.000-05:00

The illustrious former Senate majority leader Goerge Mitchell has released his report upon his investigation of "performance enhancing" drug use in Major League Baseball. Whoopty Doo! It's not like every one hasn't known that players have been juicing for the last 10 years or so. They might as well have had a press conference to announce that the AL was going to continue to use the Designated Hitter. Nothing new here.

Unlike all other 45 year olds Clemens needed drugs to keep playing in the MBL, poor guy, must be a genetic defect or something.
As for the press's "surprise" at Roger Clemens being the #2 guy in the report behind Barry Bonds I have to wonder about their intelligence. Come on, the guy's a 1000 years old and built like a brick shit house. What's the big surprise?

As for the press's concern that this could ruin baseball... PLEASE! This will have all the impact on the future of the game as the Dead Ball era has today.

But I guess it makes for an easy story to get in for their deadline.

The Dublinsaab inaugural FBS playoffs

2007-12-13T14:56:00.000-05:00

First let me lay out my vision for a FBS (formerly Div I-A) playoff.

The playoffs would consist of 16 teams, the 11 conference champions and 5 At-Large slots. The 5 At-Large slots would go to the top 5 teams in a BCS style ranking system, for this hypothetical I will go ahead and use the current BCS rankings. This puts the top 12 teams in the BCS in to the playoffs.

Then the teams are seeded, again using some sort of BCS style ranking. For this I will use the actual BCS for the 14 teams ranked in the BCS and the CBS Sportsline120 ranking for the other two teams. This gives us the following as the seeding.

This gives us a 1st round, quarter finals, semi finals and the TRUE Championship game. In this system the higher ranked team has home field advantage for the 1st round, quarter and semi finals with the Championship Game held at a neutral site.

In order to ensure the neutrality of the Championship Game the attending schools will be given the same number of tickets and the total number of tickets given to the school will not be below 90% of the seats in the host stadium. This won’t ensure that the stadium is evenly split on game day, after all Georgia is going to bring more fans than Hawaii – if that ended up being the championship game – but at least the schools start out on an even field.

Things like how many games should be in the regular season, when the playoff games should be held, etc. are nothing more than logistical concerns that can be worked out, they are not impediments. This is my vision.

There are however those who would disagree with my vision for a playoff, not in the particulars but rather they stand athwart the very idea of a playoff for FBS. Let’s review the main arguments;

Academics: This argument states that most players are not going to ever even get a sniff at the NFL let alone get a big payday so forcing the “student” athletes to play and extra 2 or 3 games in a playoff could cause irreparable damage to their education and harm them later in life. This is a high sounding argument that has some truth to it, the truths being a) most won’t ever play in the NFL and b) extra games could hurt a player’s grades. The big short coming of this argument is that it isn’t so much an argument against playoffs for the FBS as much as it is an argument against playoffs in all collegiate athletics. Further weakening this argument is that the primary pushers of it are the very same college presidents that willingly signoff on playoffs for all their other varsity programs. Do all basketball players in the field of 64 make it in the NBA? Are the students playing in all other sports including FPS (formerly Div I-AA), Div-II and Div-III football all Rhoads scholars and only the players in Div I-A football having trouble with studies? This twisted thinking leaves the proponents of this idea looking like either giant hypocrites, if they apply it only to one sport at one level or silly fools if they apply it to all sports. Argument defeated!

Regular Season: There is an argument that worries that a playoff system would lessen the value of the regular season. Now it may be that in some playoff proposals this could be true, but I have no interest in defending the plans of others. I do feel that in my system not only will the regular season not be lessened, but rather it will be made even more important as a conference championship gets an automatic bid to the playoffs. In the current system you lose a few early season non-conference games your season is over for the MNC, sure you could come back and win your conference but big whoop, especially if your conference doesn’t have a BCS tie-in, and remember 45% of conferences in the FBS do not have a BCS connection. In my system more teams stay in the hunt longer creating more excitement. The proponents of this argument would counter that for the elite programs like a Florida or Ohio State a few loses don’t mean anything because they can still make the playoffs. I would reply with, “Home Field”. Having a chance to win a spot in the playoffs keeps schools who currently are no the outside looking in excited. Having a chance to claim the Home Field keeps the big boys pushing for an undefeated season. In my system the regular season becomes even more important that it is now. Argument defeated!

Bowl Tradition: This line of thinking goes that the FBS has a rich and unique tradition in the bowl system and moving to a playoff would ruin all that makes big time college football great. This is however, nothing more than Buggy Whips and Vaporware. Buggy Whips in the sense that it attempts to protect something that has outlived it’s usefulness. After all the first bowl game was played 105 years ago when the US only had 45 states and was still fighting the Indian Wars, Germany, England and France were vying to be the top world empire, women weren’t allowed to vote and the Greeks were still fighting the Ottomans for territory. In the past 105 years much has changed and the game of college football has passed the bowl system by, demanding to hold on to it is like demanding that the government protect Buggy Whip makers from bankruptcy in a world were everyone is driving a car, not a buggy. Replacing the MNC with a playoff won’t ruin the FBS, it will enrich it. Then there’s the Vaporware aspect of the argument, the idea that we shouldn’t mess with the tradition of the bowls. What tradition? For the first few decades there was only one game, the Rose Bowl, then by 1940 there were 5, by 1950 there were 8, by 1970 there were 11, by 1980 there were 15, by 1990 there were 25. Today there are 32 games… THIRTY TWO. This means that 64 of 120 FBS teams will be playing in “richly traditional” bowl game, more than half of the teams. What is so special about the current system? Let’s get more into this tradition we don’t want to mess with. There are 32 games this year. There are 50 defunct, out a business bowl games. With the exception of a few biggies bowl games come and go with more frequency that a banana republic, where’s the tradition? Bowl games once all had great names like “Blue Bonnet” and “Boot Hill” but today all but the Rose either put a corporate name first like the “Tostitos Fiesta Bowl or have one outright like the “Capitol One”, “Outback” or “Chik-fil-A”. Again, where’s the tradition. Bowls used to be played in December with only the Rose in January, then there were a small hand full in January making a “January Bowl” a special thing, but today there are 11 games in January. There is no tradition, outside of the Rose Bowl, in a single bowl game. We shouldn’t protect that which should be part of the past and we should hold steadfast to that which doesn’t exist. The proponents would, seeing their world collapse around them reach out for the claim that a playoff would lead to the death of the bowl games. Really? First do we really need the PetroSun bowl between two 6-6 teams? Second, the NIT seams to be getting along fine in the face of the NCAA March madness tourney, so why couldn’t the 3 hour corporate infomercials, otherwise known as a bowl game, be able to continue. My system certainly wouldn’t outlaw bowl games, just render them meaningless to the national championship debate, which it should be stated they all ready are since the MNC is now taking place in a separate game and not part of any bowl rotation. Argument Defeated!

Now that I have defeated the 3 major arguments against having a playoff I will address the reason why we won’t. Money.

Under the current flawed silly system we have the school presidents control who gets the money from the TV contracts, bowl game and everything else around FBS football. This is in difference to all other college sports where the NCAA controls the purse strings. The college administrators will never agree to give up control of the money to the NCAA, even more so considering that football has more revenue than all other college sports combined, including basketball.

So, there you have my proposal, my refuting of the arguments against it and the reason it will never happen.

Enjoy the bowl season!

Color Theory

2007-12-06T16:48:00.000-05:00

LSU reminds me of mustard and grape. OSU reminds me of blood and steel.

Double HA!

2007-12-04T18:23:00.001-05:00

Rivals (d0t) com has a poll for the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner that we schlubs can vote for. I cast my vote for one Darren McFadden. After casting my vote they showed that amongst the schlubs D-Mac was ahead of Tebow by 42.1% to 41.2% at the time of my vote.

Chris Wells busts off a 62 yard TD run.
But that is not what got the double HA! That was the result of seeing that OSU running back Chris Wells got 2.3% to Michigan running back Mike Hart's 1.4%. Wells shouldn't even be on the Rivals (dot) com ballot and he still got more than Hart. HA HA!

Mike Hart busts off a -2 yard non scoring run.

A few random photos

2007-12-04T17:51:00.001-05:00

A picture of Half Moon bay, where Henry Hudson anchored his ship the Halve Maen for a few weeks back in 1609. I'm expecting that we should have quite the shindig in 2 years for the 400th. We have two spare rooms, make your reservations early.

View across the Hudson towards the Palisades from Croton Landing.

Big Ten Bowl Games Preview

2007-12-04T15:59:00.000-05:00

I am going to get ahead of this one and become an apologist for the Big Ten’s poor showing in the bowl games before a single game is ever played and in the process help explain the Big Ten’s historic poor bowl performance. There are, as I see it, 3 items that are to cause for the failures, past and future. Weather, distance and money.

Weather: All 11 Big Ten teams play in the north and even upper north. As a result the teams, in order to win the conference, must be built to have an offense that will function when it’s 38° and raining sideways. However, bowl games are either all indoors or in warm weather locations and because with a few exceptions the Big Ten has the most northerly and foulest weather and foul weather teams they invariably end up playing teams built to take advantage of warm weather in warm locales.

Distance: Again, bowls are all indoors or in warm climates. As such bowl games often involve Big Ten teams traveling to virtual home games against their opponents.

Money: Butts in seats. Big Ten teams are famous for bringing large numbers of fans to bowl games (this also may have something to do with the whole weather thing) and since bowl games are about generating income for the host community and not about creating intriguing match ups Big Ten teams often find themselves in games playing against a better team they have no business playing against simply to please the local Chamber of Commerce.

With that all in mind let’s look at the upcoming Big Ten bowl slate…

Motor City
December, 26 7:30pm @ Detroit MI
Central Michigan Chippewas (8-5) vs. Purdue Boilermakers (7-5)
W: This is two northern teams playing indoors so this is a wash
D: The Chipps are 154 miles from Detroit to Purdue’s 309 miles. However Purdue’s larger fan base should keep this a neutral site.
M: A mediocre Big Ten team against the MAC Champion, again it’s a wash

Overview: This game already happened back on Sept 15th and Purdue won by 23 points so…

Purdue 45 – Central Michigan 22

Champ Sports
December, 28 5:00pm @ Orlando FL
Boston College Eagles (10-2) vs. Michigan State Spartans (7-5)
W: Two northern teams playing in a warm site; push.
D: BC is 1,295 miles from Orlando and the Sparties are 1,226 away making this a true neutral site.
M: Umm… BS played in the ACC Championship game and while they got snubbed after losing their final game still qualified for a BSC bowl by finishing #14 in the post season BCS poll. Michigan State? Oh my, the Spartans have no business whatsoever playing in this game.

Overview: BC has had a great year and at one point were ranked #2 in the BSC with a chance to make the BSC Championship game. Michigan State is… Michigan State.

BC 45 – Michigan State 27

Alamo
December 29 8:00pm @ San Antonio TX
Penn State Nittney Lions (8-4) vs. Texas A&M Aggies (7-5)
W: This is a foul weather team playing a warm team in a warm site, advantage A&M
D: The Aggies are 169 miles from the game and Penn State is 1,653 miles away. Texas A&M in San Antonio Texas? Home game anyone?
M: Two mediocre teams going against each other? Fair enough.

Overview: This is a home game for the Aggies and Penn State has Anthony Morrelli at quarterback. Also, the Aggies lost their coach and this is Paterno's 500th game. Still...

Aggies 38 – Lions 34

Insight
December 31, 6:00pm @ Tempe AZ
Indiana Hoosiers (7-5) – Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-6)
W: A foul weather team going against a less foul weather team in a warm location, slight advantage Cowboys
D: Indian 1,740 and OK State 1,079 so this is closer for the Boy’s but it’s still quite a haul and Indiana hasn’t been to a bowl game since 1745 so this is a neutral site.
M: Again middling Big Ten and Big 12 teams going at it, push.

Overview: The Cowboys lost to Tory and the Hoosiers are playing for Terry

Indiana 31 – OK State 27

Outback
January 1 11:00am @ Tampa FL
Wisconsin Badgers (9-3) vs. Tennessee Voluntures (9-4)
W: A foul weather team going against a less foul weather team in a warm location, slight advantage Vols.
D: Tenn 670 miles, Wisconsin 1,322 miles, but seeing as few Vol fans have a car in good enough condition to make a 670 mile drive I’ll call this a neutral site.
M: Upper level Big Ten team vs. upper level SEC team, push.

Overview: The Badgers beat Auburn in ’06 and Arkansas last year, which is proof of Wisconsin cheating since no team from the lowly Big Ten should ever beat a team from the mighty SEC. Combine the Badgers cheating with Phil “The Choke” Fulmer coaching the Vols and…

Wisconsin 28 – Tennessee 24

Capitol One
January 1 1:00pm @ Orlando FL
Michigan Wolverines (8-4) vs. Florida Gators (9-3)
W: Foul weather team vs. a warm weather team in a warm location, advantage Gators
D: Ann Arbor is 1,149 miles from Orlando, the Gators are 115. Can you say Florida home game? Can you?
M: Michigan has had an awful year based upon what they had hoped for and was a few plays away from being 6-6. Florida was a few plays away from defending their title. Michigan has no business being in this game.

Overview: Let’s see… all three factors play into Florida’s favor and the Gators run a great spread offense which is a style of offense that always shreds Michigan’s defense and Michigan has Mike Hart playing.

Florida 41 – Michigan 14

Rose
January 1 4:30pm @ Pasadena CA
Illinois Fighting Illini (9-3) vs. Southern Cal Trojans (10-2)
W: Foul weather team vs. a warm weather team in a warm location, advantage Trojans
D: The Illini have 1,994 miles to travel to the Rose Bowl while the Trojans have 10. Ten miles. A short bike ride vs. a 5 hour plane flight. Right. This isn’t a “virtual” home game for the Trojans it is a home game.
M: This one isn’t so much money as it is tradition. The people running the Rose Bowl would sell our state secretes to the bloody Al Qaeda if it would ensure a Pac 10 / Big Ten match up. Illinois did technically qualify for a BSC game by finishing #13 but USC’s only loses are due to injuries earlier in the season. USC is healthy now.

Overview: USC is at home, with good weather and is playing like the monster everyone thought they’d be now that they are healthy. Illinois is a solid club but come on… everyone knows Georgia should be in this game.

USC 48 – Illinois 31

BSC National Championship Game
January 7 8:00pm @ New Orleans LA
Ohio State Buckeyes (11-1) vs. Louisiana State Tigers (11-2)
W: Foul weather team vs. a warm weather team at an indoor location, advantage Tigers.
D: The Buckeyes are 909 miles from the Superdome. The Tigers? 80. Everyone should be so lucky as to play home games for the National Championship.
M: BSC #1 vs BSC #2, push.

Overview: Having been pantsed by Florida last year and then spending all year hearing how bad the Big Ten is vs. the Godlike SEC the Buckeyes will, I repeat, will be ready to play this year. Sadly, it’s still an LSU home game.

Tigers 27 – Buckeyes 21

So my overall prediction for the Big Ten is to go 3-5 in bowl games this year, leading to yet another year of trash talking about how awful the Big Ten is with not one bit a thought given to the inherit disadvantages that Big Ten teams face in the warm weather “neutral” site bowl games.

Big Ten Review 2007

2007-12-04T14:02:00.000-05:00

1 – Ohio State: 11-1 (7-1)
Prediction: 10-2 (6-2) I thought the Buckeyes had 2 loses in them but they made it through with only one and thanks to a wacky season get a second crack at the SEC champ for all the marbles.

2 – Illinois: 9-3 (6-2)
Prediction: 5-7 (2-6) I was expecting the Illini to improve over last year. What I did not expect was for them to be going to the Rose Bowl or beat Ohio State. Dorks.

3 – Michigan: 8-4 (6-2)
Prediction: 11-1 (7-1) WTF? App State? With all their stars coming back for one last crack at a victory over the Buckeye and a bowl win no one saw this coming. The senior class lost #4 to Ohio State but they still have a chance to win at least one bowl game… oh wait… they’re playing Florida, nevermind.

4 – Wisconsin: 9-3 (5-3)
Prediction: 10-2 (6-2) Wisconsin had a loss against a surprise Illini team but was pretty much what I thought they’d be.

5 – Penn State: 8-4 (4-4)
Prediction: 9-3 (5-3) Same as Wisconsin I had the Nits dead to rights except the Illinois loss.

6 – Iowa: 6-6 (4-4)
Prediction: 9-3 (6-2) Ouch, I thought Iowa could be a dark horse for the Big Ten title. I thought wrong.

7 – Michigan State: 7-5 (3-5)
Prediction: 5-7 (3-5) I had the Big Ten part right but I figured Pitt would get the upset (they waited until the WV game to open their bag of upset powder) and Notre Dame… well, who knew.

8 – Indiana: 7-5 (3-5)
Prediction: 6-6 (3-5) I had the Hoosiers down for a bowl appearance this year and they not only became bowl eligible but got the extra 7th win over Western Mich. Well done guys.

9 – Purdue: 7-5 (3-5)
Prediction: 8-4 (4-4) I thought the Boilers would take the Spartans. I was wrong but otherwise nailed their season.

10 – Northwestern: 6-6 (3-5)
Prediction: 5-7 (2-6) They got one more game than I thought but still aren’t going bowling this year.

11 – Minnesota: 1-11 (0-8)
Prediction: 3-9 (0-8) Not much to say. I thought the Gophers would stink up the place, but I had thought they’d beat Florida Atlantic and um, North Dakota State. Oh well, no where to go but up!

Post Season CFB Top 20

2007-12-04T13:28:00.000-05:00

This is my personal top 20 after the season had ended. Please compare it too the top 20 I made before the season started.

Carl gets the BCS right

2007-11-29T15:55:00.001-05:00

Carl, from Aqua Teen Hunger Force goes on a rant against college football's BCS after enduring a complete meltdown by his beloved Giants. The best part of this for me is that the guys behind ATHF, a show I have enjoyed for years now, have turned out to be football fans and not just creative dorks. Yay!

Romantic Street Racing

2007-11-29T15:11:00.000-05:00

"Romantic" as in they are speaking in the 4th, sometimes forgotten, Romance language and "Street Racing" as in tongue in cheek humor. Check this out... it's a classic.

You might not respect the Lada, but you'll love the ladies.

Ebay find of the day

2007-11-29T12:14:00.000-05:00

Actually this was from the other day but I just didn't get around to posting it until now. That delay is a result of procrastination with just a smidgen of apathy. Those are two items that this poor old spitfire is all to familiar with.

A little rubbing compound and she's ready for the road.
Here we have a 1978 Triumph Spitfire that is, in my view, the Right Color®. This car is described as, "running when parked" Running when parked? Good god! How long ago was that you'd have to wonder. Well, fear not, the answer is provided. This little sports car was running when it was parked in... 1986.

1986.

What. The. Fuck. Why, in the name of all that's good on God's green Earth, would you park a running car, any car, and simply leave it sitting for twenty-one bloody years?! How could this happen? It's like someone that has a running 1999 Mazda Miata parking it tomorrow afternoon and doing nothing with it again until 2028! This is pure insanity.

Comes with the rare optional Cotswolds herb garden.
Not only had this car been sitting since the Regan administration but it's been pilfered for parts... and left with the TOP DOWN. Again... WTF? The lister states that the car is in need of, "complete restoration". Me thinks they have a flair for understatement.

The winning bidder, "ispeaktwolanguages" has agreed to pay $305 for this total basket case, which since their Ebay account name is written in English makes me think that their other language is Fool... and that that are ESL.

Quote of the week

2007-11-15T15:19:00.000-05:00

Amy Winehouse, who's tunes I enjoy listening too, is a drugged out drunken flake. It's what she is, I wish it weren't so but then maybe her music wouldn't be so soulful... and thus we are face with one of the innumerable contradictions of this human life.

Anywho... She started her latest tour in Birmingham (UK) the other day after a few months of "health" problems and according to pretty much everyone there it was awful. From this show we have the quote of the week.

"She fell into the guitar stand and dropped the microphone -- it was atrocious. The song dedicated to her husband was so bad it was like swinging a cat round your head."

Like swinging a cat around your head. Classic.

Stick in pipe and smoke.

2007-11-15T13:59:00.000-05:00

For the last few years now the Greenies and their dupes in the main stream media have been holding up Toyota as a cute, fuzzy and environmentally responsible company while ignoring the monster gas guzzling trucks and SUVs they make like the Tundra and Land Cruiser. At the same time they have been attacking GM for making gas guzzling trucks and SUVs all the while ignoring GM's multiple hybrid offerings.

But a monkey wrench has been thrown into their template. GM has won the 2008 Green Car of the Year with the new hybrid Chevy Tahoe.

“The importance of GM’s accomplishment can’t be overstated,” says Cogan. “For years, consumers have been buying SUVs in increasing numbers because of their functionality, making them the number one class of vehicle on the market. The problem has been obvious: With larger vehicles generally comes poorer fuel economy because of greater size and curb weight. An ‘equalizer’ has been needed…and the two-mode hybrid system in the Tahoe is clearly that equalizer.”

The 2008 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid. I'm big, bad, can tow over 3 tons and "green". Eat it!

This monster truck gets the exact same EPA city mileage as a 4cyl Camry!

I'm glad to see the Greenies, at places like the Sierra Club give applause to the Tahoe Hybrid because I have always maintained that if you want to make a difference in your grocery bill getting the lard ass gamer in the basement to eat 30% less will be a much better improvement that getting the twiggy runway model upstairs to eat 30% less. A steak flavored rice cake is one thing, but a steak with the caloric intake of a rice cake? Well give me a sec while I fire up the grill.

And next year? GM will have the first fullsize pickup hybrid with the 2009 Silverado. Now, if they can get the Volt out on time then GM might really be able to grab the Green throne away from Toyota.

SEC / LSU fans shut up about weak teams

2007-11-05T18:14:00.000-05:00

I am so tired of hearing about Akron, YSU and Kent St. when SEC/LSU fanboys have been ripping OSU over the last few weeks. LSU has Middle Tennessee, Tulane and Louisiana Tech on their schedule this year. As if those pansies are some how so much more impressive than our pansies. Christ guys... look in the damn mirror if you want to complain about weak non-conference teams.

As for all this talk about how LSU would eat up OSU in the Championship game you need to remember that there are still a few games left to play and no guarantee that either team will be in the BIG game. So shut up and wait until you actually make the game before trash talking (and that's assuming we make it... which is no forgone conclusion)

BOTD: Backyard IPA

2007-10-24T12:42:00.000-04:00

In conjunction with the Indians poor performance in the last 3 games of the ALCS today's beer comes to us from the Cooperstown Brewery located in Copperstown, NY, the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

This one gets knocked out of the park. heh.
The beer is bottle conditioned and contains a good amount of sediment in the bottle producing a cloudy brown color in the glass. The nose of the beer has a nice balance of malt and flowers with just a hint of apple. The front is malted and smooth, with no bite and still with a hint of apple flavor. The back is clean with a strong hop finish.

Brewery: Cooperstown Brewing
Year: 1996
Origin: America (Cooperstown, NY)
Style: IPA
Content: 6.1%
Rating: A finesse IPA with a classic finish.
Recommendation: An excellent drink for anyone looking to expand their ale pallet.

Ha Ha!

2007-09-28T19:32:00.000-04:00

Chevrolet's Silverado, the official truck of Toyota's Truck Racing Team.

An American Revolution indeed.

Their commercials might look cool doing the balance swinging ramp trick but when it comes to pulling a load Toyota buys a Chevy to get the work done. Classic.

He was just too darn busy.

2007-09-27T18:46:00.000-04:00

In an AP article that sounds more like something from The Onion one of the top officials of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge stated that he was simply unaware of any genocide taking place.

Unlike some other war-crimes suspects from the Khmer Rouge and other regimes who said they were simply following orders, Nuon Chea told the tribunal that his position, the top aide to late leader Pol Pot, insulated him from the killings across Cambodia from 1975-1979.

"We did not have any direct contact with the bases and we were not aware of what was happening there," the 81-year-old former Khmer Rouge ideologue told two investigating judges after his arrest Wednesday, according to the detention order, which lays out the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and the defendant's response.

If only the Nazis at the Nuremberg trials had thought up this excuse.

"Whoa! What was that? They were doing what?! Oh man, I like totally zoned out on that one.", said Nuon Chea upon being informed that his buddy and boss Pol Pot had slaughtered 1.7 million of his fellow citizens.

BOTD: Wagner Valley IPA

2007-09-21T18:53:00.000-04:00

Sweet lord has it be a while for the much beloved (for me at least since I get to drink them) Beer Of The Day. In fact it's been over two years! As if I haven't had any beer in the past 24 months, ha! I even had to go back to the last BOTD (8/17/2005) to see what the format was. Anyhow...

Well today we have Wagner Valley's attempt at an American IPA, the Yankee version having more hops and kick than their current English namesakes. Also, according to their web page all their beers are made in accordance with the Reinheitsgebot.

One good brew to awaken the BOTD back from the dead.
The beer pours a bit thick with no scent during the pour. The nose is soft and malty with only a little hint of flower. The beer crashes across your mouth with a strong sharpness, almost biting. The body of the beer is medium to high maltiness with bread like yeast undertones. The beer finishes with a strongly bitter and hopped taste that lingers on like some old rusty Buick. The shocking part is the hoppiness is hidden until the very end and boy did they hide a lot of hops.

Brewery:Wagner Valley
Year: 1996
Origin: America (Lodi, NY)
Style: IPA
Content: 6.2%
Rating: Hoppy performer.
Recommendation: This is not a beer for IPA beginners but has the ability to kept Malt and Hop heads happy stranded on a desert island.

Bathroom gutted

2007-09-21T18:45:00.000-04:00

Well our much anticipated bathroom remodel has begun. The bath has now been gutted. (NOTE: the exterior walls are not gutted because they are solid block)

Plaster and lath taken off ceiling.

What's that darkness around the poo hole?

Now: Shop Vac Next: Vanity

Spotted: Ice truck on US 17 in North Carolina

2007-09-17T23:13:00.000-04:00

I am not sure what to add to this picture. It was an old F150, laden with a bed full of ice cubes. "WTF" is the only thing that comes to mind in this situation. The really odd part was that I followed him for about 40 miles, melting out dribbles the entire way. I guess you have to drive far in NC if you want to get good ice.

uh... what?

2007-09-17T16:23:00.000-04:00

Mark Hemingway, a staff reporter for National Review Online, visited the big anti-war rally in D.C. on this past Saturday. While most of America was getting together for college football's week 3 a few thousand folks went and had a "die-in" to send the single to Capitol Hill that the US is bad and wars that involve the US need to be stopped no matter what, which is pretty much the same single they've been sending since about, oh, 1967.

Anyway, Mark took some photos that can be seen here and here and there is one in particular that stopped me cold.

How, exactly does one sacrifice liberty for freedom? Now Mark takes the time to point out that the quote should be, "Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither." But I think Mark may be jumping to conclusions that the holder of the sign was in error in substituting the word freedom for security. I think it's quite possible the sign holder meant what he wrote and I for one agree with the sign.

Think about it for a second. If you are willing to trade liberty for freedom you are obviously lacking the needed mental acumen to be allowed open access to society at large and do in fact deserve neither.

If MoveOn had been arround 65 years ago.

2007-09-17T15:35:00.000-04:00

Click to enlarge the image. HatTip to RedState.

Things could have gone much, much worse.

2007-09-16T16:34:00.000-04:00

In what is becoming a rather disheartening habit Mila, for the second time in a row, had a break down on the way back home from visiting Jeremy in Wilmington. These two occurrences have both happened after Jeremy formalized his relationship with Rachel, who has the worst car luck of any person I have ever met. The women is a walking black hole of CARma, with an emphasis on walking. Now I’m not saying it’s Rachel’s fault per se. I’m just saying.

The last time Rachel’s gremlins waited until I was on the NJ turnpike before popping a hole in a coolant line, leaving me stranded in one of the worst areas of the US over a hole that would later cost me $1.25 to repair. This time they struck while still in NC and with potentially deadly consequences.

I was north bound on I-40, rolling along at about 70 mph and making good time when there was a slight “pomp” sound and Mila suddenly wanted to cross the median in a very emphatic way. I usually roll with a finger or two lightly keeping the car on track, especially in a pancake like the plains of NC but by lucky happenstance I did, at the moment of the “pomp” have a good grip of the wheel. God only knows what would have happened had I not and even with a good grip I still ran halfway into the passing lane before reigning her in.

I pull over onto a wide burm and run off into the nearby woods to change into my “car clothes”. After removing the front passenger wheel I found that the sway bar had popped out of its mounting bushing. WTF? Well, I knew I could pop it back in so I got the tools out and started to crank under the rising NC sun. Fortunately I didn’t have to get too sweaty because I quickly spotted the reason the sway bar had popped out. I had a severely broken lower A-arm, it had snapped clean in two.

The offending A-arm.

Resigned to the fact that I wasn’t going anywhere I put the wheel back on and called my new Allstate Roadside Assistance number, having chosen them over AAA after moving to NY. I was on hold waiting for someone to pickup for almost 30 bloody minutes. The message said they were experiencing “unusually” heavy call volume. Again, WTF? At 10am on a non-holiday Monday? What could be so unusual?

Having made a mental note to switch back to AAA I reviewed my options. A) Wait and see if someone, preferably a state trooper, to pull over. B) Wait on hold for Allstate while my phone battery drains away. C) Walk four miles to the next exit. D) Limp Mila down to the next exit. D wins.

When I got off the exit I was confronted with a wasteland. There was nothing there. There wasn’t even an old closed down gas station. Just tobacco fields as far as the eye could see. Which way to go? Mila made the choice simple, with the failed lower A-arm she could only turn right.

Now is when I began to laugh, but not the warm welcoming laugh of a humorous joke, rather the cold maniacal laugh a man makes on his walk to the gallows. I was traveling a hidden back road in the tobacco fields of BFE central NC, limping along at 5 mph in an esoteric old Swedish car that had a major part failure and while I had no idea where I was going to end up, I did know it was to the right.

I passed a few ramshackle old homes that looked like no help. I then came across a steel pole barn that was set back 60-70 yards from the road that I would have passed had it not been for a tiny sign at their driveway entrance that said, “Car Quest Auto Parts: Tune Ups, etc.”. So I pulled in the drive to check them out.

There were 3 guys working there. An old black man who never said a word and two middle aged rednecks that between them, might have had a full set of teeth. No one of them seemed at all bothered or interested in my having pulled up and walking into the work area of their shop where 5 difference farm tractors sat in differing states of disassembly. But it wasn’t a rude cold indifference to my existence but more like they figured if I was there I must have had a good reason and the last thing they wanted to do was get in my way. More deference than indifference.

I was first greeted at the shop by two fat old Labs, which I'm sure are required of back woods repair shops under law.

I tracked down the nearest guy, one of the “some’r” toothed white guys, and began to explain my situation. He then pointed me to the office and Bruce. Bruce it turns out owns the shop and seemed quite clean cut with a full set of chompers. I explained to Bruce what was up and suggested a call to a junk yard to inquire about getting a replacement part. He seemed willing and directed the grandmotherly lady working the computer (this fills out the complement of 5 employees) to call all the junkyards in the entire county… both of them. Not surprising both calls when something like, “what kind of car?” followed by laughter.

My options now consisted of A) Spend all the money having Mila transported to NY while I get home in a rental. B) Abandon Mila in NC and get a rental home. C) Spend the night a get a new A-arm overnighted. None of these were good options as I hadn’t won the lottery and had to be at work the next morning.

Bruce broke the silence and offered up the fact that even if I had the part I’d still need to get the car to a front-end shop as they need to press things on, do alignments and what not. I then informed him that was not correct. That the lower A-arm on an old Saab 900 was a bolt on part. Bruce gave me a look that said succinctly, “you’re nuts and I’m too polite to tell you so”. He instead offered to put Mila up on “the” lift and take a look at “what’s going on”.

You know you are in the south when the repair lift is outside!

Getting Mila over to the lift required more trips into reverse than a bulimic at a smorgasbord as it involved a left turn but I get her there, eventually, and Bruce was able to look for himself. He counted the 6 bolts – 3 times – and was genuinely surprised that the A-arm did just bolt on and off. He then took a look at the damage and said “well heck”. This is when things began to turn in my favor.

Bruce suggested taking the A-arm off and that he could take it, “into town” – what town I have no idea – and get it welded up. That sounded like a fine idea to me. I assisted Bill, one of the white guys, in removing Mila’s A-arm. He was most affable with the help as he had never seen a C900 before, let alone worked on one and I was not afraid to get dirty. With the A-arm off and in the back of the truck Bruce was off to town to get it welded up and lunch.

During this down time I was given a good ribbing over being from “New York!?”. It’s like something Hollywood comes up with but never really happens. The sophisticated urbanite lost deep in the southern back woods with a automotive break down. However I ruined their dreams by pointing out that I was from Ohio farm country and did not live in NYC. They easily accepted this as I was not put off by their rough nature and could cuss just as well.

I spotted this beauty behind the shop and thought I can't be that far from civilization. Too bad it's a kit car on a Mustang frame.

When Bruce got back it was lunch time, I had a chopped steak with sautéed sweat onions, whole kernel corn and roasted sweet potatoes. After lunch Bill and I got back to work putting the A-arm back on. The A-arm was solidly welded but not quite correctly with there being about ½ an inch of play in the slot the ball joint went into when it should have been a very, very sung fit. We got it on, tightened everything down and cleaned up the work area.

While Bill lowed the lift down I went to Bruce to find out the damages. Bruce asked me if $100 was fair.

$100? I had his lift and a 1/3rd of his work force for half of the day and he fed me lunch and wanted $100. I wish I had been the rich city slicker, I’d have paid him more.

As for the rest of the drive home, it was enjoyable uneventful.

Spotted: 1987 Nissan Maxima Wagon

2007-09-06T02:13:00.000-04:00

I don't remember having ever seen one of these before. I wish I could of gotten of picture of the front of this rare ride as it's one car that screams the '80s. This baby was spotted on NY 9 south, near Pleasantville and is in great condition. I bet it's got something like 34k miles on the odometer.

Anarchist ruins Anarchist/Counter Culture festival by disobeying the rules.

2007-08-29T18:16:00.000-04:00

File this under, "I can't even make up shit this good", or if that file is full perhaps, "Life imitates The Onion".

It is alleged that one Paul Addis, 35, burnt the Burning Man a tad early and has been charged with being like, so completely uncool. But the thing I am most shocked with is the overall Ashcroftian like suppression of liberties that the folks at "Black Rock City" are engaging in when they throw this artist in the clink just because they don't like his form of creative expression. I mean since when did Burning Man become a Christian Coalition rally?

'elp 'elp, e's being repressed!

2009 Jaguar XF

2007-08-27T14:30:00.000-04:00

People, and by people I mean Jaguar fans, have long held that Ford has been a bad steward for the leaping cat. I have, with the X-Type and S-Type felt that they had some strong grounds for their arguments. But now, with the release of official pictures of the new XF I realize that they were too kind. The XF looks more like a next generation Buick that it does anything involving Jaguar. Which isn't to say it's bad, per se, but it's just not Jaguar. That cat is dead.

The 2009 Bui... err... Jaguar XF.

DublinSaab's preseason top 20

2007-08-27T13:48:00.000-04:00

1 USC
2 LSU
3 Michigan
4 West Virginia
5 Texas
6 Wisconsin
7 Florida
8 Ohio State
9 Louisville
10 Oklahoma
11 Georgia
12 Rutgers
13 Penn State
14 Tennessee
15 UCLA
16 TCU
17 Hawaii
18 Arkansas
19 Auburn
20 Boise State

On the bubble (FSU, Miami, Iowa, Nebraska, Georgia Tech, Missouri, Boston College and South Carolina)

#1 michigan wolverines

2007-08-27T13:33:00.000-04:00

While it pains me to put the wolverines ahead of my Buckeyes I can’t help but do so. A solid veteran QB back, a veteran RB that simply does not know how to fumble and other key guys back for a 4th year in hopes of getting a win over Ohio State (and a bowl win) this michigan team is loaded for bear. And not some juvenile black in the hills of the UP but some monster Kodiak that eats Buicks.

Adding to this pressure is the fact that this should be Lloyd Carr’s last season as coach. Win it all and he leaves on a high like some drug addled dream. Lose to OSU and the bowl game, again and get shown the door. This team is tough and they really need to win.

Prediction: 11-1 (1-7)

Worst Case: 9-3 (3-5)
Lose to a hot Penn State squad and to OSU – again – and michigan sees a very dark year where most Div I teams would kill for a 9-3 record.

Best Case: 12-0 (8-0)
Lloyd gets the win against Ohio State and a National Championship berth only to lose to USC 49-24 leaving the coach to leave on a down note but a winning record against OSU ( Carr is currently 6-6, 5-1 vs. Cooper and 1-5 vs. Tressle)

#2 Ohio State Buckeyes

2007-08-27T13:11:00.000-04:00

Having lost so much from last years National Championship game team (even though they forgot that they actually had to show up and play the game) this year’s Buckeye team should not be as good. You just can’t lose a Heisman trophy winning QB and most of your offensive talent and not experience a back slide. However the team, built around the core of a strong defense and special teams, should not be bad, at all. In fact, this team, on paper, is better than the title winning 2002 team.

So will Tressle Ball be back in full force? Get a QB that limits mistakes to a minimum, keep Beanie healthy and have a dominate defense and the Buckeyes could find themselves back in the show.

Prediction: 10-2 (6-2)

Worst Case: 7-5 (4-4)
Young talent cracking in an early west coast away game, inability to run and gun at Purdue and a lose to Wisconsin leads to a nightmare “rebuilding” year when everyone was expecting a “reload”.

Best Case: 12-0 (8-0)
Tressle makes it back to the Championship game, only to be told by everyone and their uncle that they have no business being on the same field as USC on route to a 33-27 win over the invincible Trojans.

#3 Wisconsin Badgers

2007-08-27T12:49:00.000-04:00

Last year I scoffed at the idea of Barry Alvarez hand picking his successor at Wisconsin. And then Brett Bielema not only went 12-1 with a nice bowl win over Arkansas (though how a big slow dumb Big Ten team beat a smart fast SEC team still remains a great mystery) but he also took advantage of the asinine new clock rule to run the clock out with out giving Penn State the ball back by being offside, on purpose, during a kick off - several times in a row. Coach Joe Pa went apoplectic, Coach Alvarez said, “that’s my boy”, college fans everywhere said, “HA! Stupid rule.” and the rule got changed back this year. For that coach, you get a tip of the hat.

This year the Badgers are going to miss veteran QB John Stocco but the pieces are all there, as long as the new QB doesn’t make mistakes, for this team to make a lot a noise on the national level and get people talking about there being a Big 3 in the Big Ten.

Prediction: 10-2 (6-2)

Worst Case: 8-4 (4-4)
A disastrous home letdown against Iowa and a half hearted loss to Michigan after an emotional loss at OSU the week before

Best Case: 12-0 (8-0)
Wisconsin gets it done only to be shut out of a USC vs LSU National Championship game, which leads Jim Delany to hire the 47 Ronin to force all the Div I college presidents to agree to a playoff system. Which will earn Brett another hat tip.

#4 Iowa Hawkeyes

2007-08-27T12:28:00.001-04:00

I’m probably expecting too much of the Hawkeyes this year, lacking Drew Tate a other key players the team shouldn’t be as good as last year. However missing Ohio State and Michigan from their schedule is like starting the season with 2 wins.

The offense would be as powerful as last year but the defense, with some returning talent, should be able to make up the difference. But this is still a bubble team and if Kirk Ferentz can’t get things flowing right it could be a down year.

Prediction: 9-3 (2-6)

Worst Case: 7-5 (4-4)
Iowa’s schedule is just too plane old weak for this team to not make a bowl game.

Best Case: 11-1 (1-7)
Kirk makes things happen and gets a BCS slot, along with a job offer from another school or NFL – which he’ll accept. But they aren’t going to get past Wisconsin in Camp Randell.

#5 Penn State Nittany Lions

2007-08-27T12:13:00.000-04:00

A few years ago, with poor season after poor season, Joe Paterno’s team was threatening to become an also ran in the Big Ten. The an 11-1 season followed by a solid finish last year has got the Lion faithful thinking about things other than the nightmare horror of firing old (and I mean old) coach Joe Pa.

This year’s team looks to build upon their bowl defeat of Tennessee and make a run at not just the Big Ten title (of which Penn State has precious few – one – after announcing they would own the Big Ten upon admission to the conference) but a nation title as well.

Prediction: 9-3 (5-3)

Worst Case: 6-6 (2-6)
Losing to Wisconsin, Ohio State and a hot Purdue team are well within the realm of possibility and would leave the deflated Lion fans with the prospect of reviving FireJoePa.com up again.

Best Case: 11-1 (1-7)
PSU is BSC bound if everything comes together for them but they aren’t going to beat Michigan in the big house. Not… Gonna… Do it…

#6 Purdue Boilermakers

2007-08-27T11:54:00.000-04:00

A few years back, with Drew Brees in the pocket, Joe Tiller’s Boilermakers were the latest challengers to the Big Ten’s established powers (Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State). However, that was a few years ago. Awful in ’05 and mediocre last year the ’07 Boilermakers are (get ready for it) trying to get their steam back. (ha!)

With a dangerous passing game and effective runners Purdue’s offense should be able to keep this team in a lot of games. The big question is whether or not Tiller can find any chemistry on defense and it how good the defense is that will make or break this season.

Prediction: 8-4 (4-4)

Worst Case: 5-7 (2-6)
If the defense doesn’t show up then everyone stays home for the holidays.

Best Case: 10-2 (6-2)
The defense does show up and Joe Tiller gets to shake down the thunder… and get a contract extension.

#7 Indiana Hoosiers

2007-08-27T11:39:00.001-04:00

Coach Terry Hoeppner was a true believer in the abaility of Indian to join the upper level of Big Ten teams and he was just the kind of threat to make this happen. Saddly for everyone he succumbed before anyone was ready, to brain cancer and leaves a team behind that was starting to believe in his energy but in the hands of a coach that doesn’t have his zealotious fire.

Yet the teams brings most if its bits back and they are going to be playing for coach (Hoeppner, not Lynch) and as such this team, that just missed getting to a bowl game last year will make it to one this year. And they’ll win it too.

Projection: 6-6 (3-5)

Worst Case: 4-8 (1-5)

Best Case: 8-4 (5-3)
Add in wins @ Western Michigan and Northwestern, a possible top 25 finish and the IU faithful will build shrines to Hoeppner… as they should.

Sell by date anyone?

2007-08-24T16:53:00.001-04:00

So I ask, "Do you have a fire extinguisher?" and the owner answers that she most certainly does. I hen ask where it is located so that I can get a picture of it and she says that she knows exactly where it is as it wouldn't do her much good if she couldn't find it when needed. I agreed with her as she lead me to this...

Please take note of the date the extinguisher was last charged up.

That's April, 1962. Her fire extinguisher was last topped off during the bloody Kennedy Administration! 45 years ago! Yes in deed, you'll want to be sure to know exactly where this is located so that in the event of an actual fire you can remove it to safety as we wouldn't want to see an artifact of the past like this going up in flames, would we?

#8 Michigan State Spartans

2007-08-23T16:09:00.000-04:00

I’d like to have a moment of silence to mark the firing of John L Smith. We will all miss him on the side line in East Lansing. We will miss his kookiness, his explosions, his self flagellation, his freaky answers during the post game news conferences, his second half of the season implosions and most of all his ability to saw defeat from the jaws of victory.

First year coach Mark Dantonio (via Cincinnati and Ohio State) will not be the exciting court jester that that Smith was and his teams won’t suffer from year end collapses. However, I don’t think there is all that much to work with talent wise as the new coach will be breaking in a lot of new players.

Projection: 5-7 (3-5)

Worst Case: 3-9 (1-7)
The curse of JLS causes losses to Indiana and Penn State for a nice 0-6 2nd half after a tempting 3-3 start.

Best Case: 8-4 (4-4)
Mark makes an immediate impression on the young team and Spartan fans get to go bowling.

#9 Illinois Fighting Illini

2007-08-23T15:51:00.000-04:00

Illinois will be much improved over last year’s 2-10 record. But they aren’t yet ready to go bowling. Zook will now be on his second big recruiting class and the fans are going to start demanding results. The improvement will be there but questions remain as to whether or not he can actually coach the talent that he is able to bring in. However, it is easy to recruit when you can guarantee Freshmen a starting spot vs. being on the practice squad at a upper level program.

That said the Illini will play better and closer than last year but come up with nothing to show for it as the schedule (Michigan, Wisconsin and @ Iowa and Ohio State) is weighted against them.

Projection: 5-7 (2-6)
Wins over Western Illinois, Ball State, Northwestern and @ Syracuse and Minnesota.

Worst Case: 2-10 (0-8)
Rinse and repeat.

Best Case: 7-5 (3-4)
Add in wins against Missouri and @ Indian and you get a December bowl game, that you’ll probably lose.

#10 Northwestern Wildcats

2007-08-23T15:30:00.001-04:00

Pat Fitzgerald has a lot of the good pieces from last year’s 7-5 team back. Yet somehow I am not convinced. I have a lagging feeling that last year’s team sort of over achieved due to the sad death of coach Walker.

Returning 17 starters should entail growth from last years bowl team but I just don’t hold out to that assumption. The motivation of winning one for Walker is gone and this squad is going to end up being more traditional Wildcat material that the fans would like to see.

Projection: 5-7 (2-6)
Wins over North Eastern, Duke, Minnesota, @ Eastern Michigan and Indian.

Worst Case: 3-9 (1-7)

Best Case: 7-5 (3-4)
Picking up wins against Nevada and @ Illinois getting young Pat Fitz to be 2 for 2 in bowl appearances in his young career.

#11 - Minnesota Golden Gophers

2007-08-17T21:09:00.000-04:00

There is little to get excited about at Minnesota this year, aside from listening to all the new excuses that new head coach, Tim Brewster will be coming up with to make the Gopher faithful not freak completely out about not winning the Big Ten Championship in the first year after having shown Glen Mason the door.

Brewster is trying to change everything on a team that has a drought of talent at the moment. Their best player, Amir Pinnix, will be fun to watch as he chews up yards but the new spread offense will be otherwise shaky and the defense porous.

Projection: 3-9 (0-8)
With wins over Miami (OH), North Dakota State and @ Florida Atlantic.

Worst Case: 0-12 (0-8)
Yes, it’s that bad.

Best Case: 6-6 (2-6)
Picking up wins over Bowling Green, Illinois and @ Indiana. In this dream like 6 win scenario the Gophers manage to make a bowl game that they have no business being in against some 9-3 mid major that will make quick work of them and lead them off to a long dark winter.

I can almost smell it!

2007-07-30T19:46:00.001-04:00

A view of the open end of Ohio Stadium with the new "FieldTurf" playing surface visible. Only 33 days till kick off!

I aint no Tie Rant

2007-07-25T14:49:00.000-04:00

Hugo Chavez, the hero of the left (think Jimmy Carter) and the enemy of the right (think me) is upset about dirty feriners talking trash about him being a "tyrant". Here is the quote from the AP article,

How long are we going to allow a person — from any country in the world — to come to our own house to say there's a dictatorship here, that the president is a tyrant, and nobody does anything about it?

Hugo Chavez (in the red shirt), who is in no way shape or form a tyrant, points out the next industry he plans on nationalizing.
Yes, how long? Well apparently in an effort to show how he is not a tyranny they will be taking it no longer and kicking them dirty feriners out of the country who dare suggest that he is. I aint no daggum tie rant and if'in you say I is I'm gonna use the power of the state to crush you.

Remember this..
Chavez = Man of the People (keep you mouth shut or get the boot)
Bush = Hitler (Cindy Sheehan running for Congress)

Caveat Emptor

2007-07-25T14:16:00.000-04:00

Ebay is an interesting universe where people of all stripes rub virtual elbows while participating in an underground economy that Congress would probably love to find a way to tax into oblivion. Much ink is spilled over the abuses of shady sellers and buyers looking to scam the innocent. But what is never mentioned is the much larger number of honest players that allow Ebay to thrive and grow.

Many of these honest folk will go out of their way to clearly and openly describe the item they are selling in the most accurate manner they can. It is in that light that I'd like to single out one cruiserhead7 for his striving to describe his 1974 MG Midget in a way that won't confuse the great unwashed masses. One need look no farther that his opening headline description of the car as: 1974 MG Midget not MGB, Trans Am or Mustang 77 78 70 68

"Are we clear on this?" cruiserhead7 wants to know. This is not an MGB. It is not a Pontiac Trans Am. It is not a Ford Mustang. It was not made in 1968, 1970, 1977 or 1978. No. This is a 1974 MG Midget. Nothing more, nothing less. These are the people that give me faith in the Ebay community.

Are you sure there's no chicken on that hood?
I just wish he had, in the body description, gone on to explain that his 1974 MG Midget was not a 1975 Cadillac Sedan Deville, 1936 Auburn Speedster, 2001 Porsche 911, 1986 Saab 900 or 1959 Chevrolet Biscayne. He doesn't take this extra step so please to those of you out there bidding, buyer beware!

UPDATE: I used Ebay's "Ask seller a question" feature to find out if the seller was 100% sure that the car for sale was in fact not a T/A or Mustang and cruiserhead7 responded by saying, "I'm about 99.9999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999% sure.
Thanks for looking". That's not 100% so this could be a Mustang. Be careful out there guys!

The $400 Blender

2007-07-25T13:05:00.000-04:00

Now, I don't know if a blender is worth $400 or not but I have to admit that the Total Bender is one impressive machine and just what the doctor ordered if in your kitchen you need the ability to blend golf balls, iPhones, marbles, die cast matchbox car or a Sony Handycam.

Click here to watch the BlendTec Total Blender make an iPhone release all of its magic dust, and remeber don't breath it in!

Walking the line.

2007-07-23T17:40:00.000-04:00

Barack Obama apparently thinks that the way to appeal to the American voter is to state that he will walk a picket line" for union workers. Now this might have had a great and powerful populist reverberation 40 years ago but today? WTF? Almost no one is a member of a union and a large portion of Americans see unions like the UAW as something that is inhibiting jobs in the US and Obama is saying he's going to help the unions protect their jobs. This is so special interest that it's on par with a Republican hopeful saying that he'll shot an abortion doctor. It's just off the pale and while it may garner some dollars in the short term it will help bury him in a national election.

FOR THE ENVIRON

2007-07-23T15:52:00.000-04:00

It's one thing to single our the H2 (made by GM who makes some of the most fuel efficient cars on the planet, though most of them aren't sold in the US, and is only one of 4 makers of hybrids) as the devil incarnate while holding up Toyota as a defender of all that's green (though they make gas guzzling trucks hand over fist). But it's something entirely different, and stunningly idiotic, to think that you are defending the environment by vandalizing personal property... and here's how.

Damages done:
All windows broken.
All headlights broken.
All tires slashed.
"FOR THE ENVIRON" scratched into the paint.

This guy may have one really dumb ass little pencil thin beard type things but leave his truck alone.
Now this is a very expensive new vehicle and the insurance company will not be writing it off. The evil H2 is going to be repaired and that will require; new glass, new oil based sealants for the new windows, new headlights that are made of plastics that are of course petroleum based, new tires that are both rubber (made from oppressed 3rd world workers) and oil based and a whole bunch of stuff being thrown into land fills as a result of all the repair work. And that's not to mention all the chemicals that are going to be released into the atmosphere during the repainting of the SUV.

If you really do care about the ENIVRON then about the worst thing you could do is attack an H2 like this morons did. But reactionary environmentalists goal is not so much about making things better as it is about making themselves feel better.

Why is Bush thinking of talking with Iran again?

2007-07-23T15:15:00.000-04:00

So according to everything I have heard and read, and this AP Article, the Bush administration is thinking of having talks with Iran.

Is this the same Iran that imprisons Iranians for nothing other than having spent time in America? Is this the same Iran that is "cracking down" on unIslamic dress and hairstyles? Is this the same Iran that has spent the last 28 years being the #1 supporter of international terrorism? Is this the same Iran that wants nuclear weapons in order to wipe Israel off the map? Is this the same Iran that is run by nut job zealots who think it's correct to lie to infidels if in doing so you are attempting to further the cause of Islam?

Or is this some new Iran that I haven't heard of, cause for the life of me I can't think of a good reason to talk with the one I have.

Report terrorist like activity? Get sued.

2007-07-23T15:02:00.000-04:00

Why, in the name of all that's good, did the Democrats block language that would protect people reporting terrorist behavior from being sued? Why?
Was he a bomber or just acting like a bomber? I better keep my mouth shut. Oops.

The last of the Potter books

2007-07-23T14:25:00.000-04:00

Out of shear contrarianism (that's not really a word is it?) I avoided the Potter series like the plague when it came out. After all it was a kids book that everyone was creaming about. It was so popular I figured that it had to be crap. Chalk this up to my general distrust of the advertising media machine that tells us what is the cutting edge in popular culture, think American Idol.

So it was on a flight to Europe where I was given a choice of pretending to sleep, as I am irrationally afraid of flying, continuing to read a book that I had been reading for the last few hours or seeing what all the fuss was about as they were playing the second Potter movie on the plane. 10 minutes into the film I said to myself that when I got home, I needed to get the first movie form Mr. Bussey.

It was, while simple, such a rich and diverse universe that JK Rowling had created, and I could not help myself from enjoying the ride. Since I have seen all the movies, including the recent #5, and read all the books. From book 1 to 6 I could not help but see the character development that even a 19th century Russian writer would think was taking a while to get going, and with the development a darkening of the series as Harry and his friends aged.

Now comes the 7th and last book; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It is the logical conclusion of the darkening of the series. It is in short, a blood bath. The first significant death in the series is when a tangential character, that is friendly to Harry, dies while Harry looks on helpless. In the next book one of the central characters and mentors to Harry dies, again while he looks on helpless. In the last book I lost track of who was and was not dead and the end of the book is reminiscent of an epic Viking poem listing the warriors who died fighting. The last book is so bloody that the movie version will have to really tone thing down in order to keep from getting an R rating.

It's a rich universe, it's a great ride and ends with blood on the walls and bodies littering the grounds of Hogwarts. Sometimes the machine does put out something good.

REVIEWS:
National Review
New York Times

Behold!

2007-07-12T19:30:00.000-04:00

After many hours and $140 to upgrade Helen's G3 iBook to Tiger I finaly have her iPhone up and running. And while it seems that her UK email manu not be compatible with the phone I am making this post on her phone and over AT&T's Edge network. Nice.

Honda copies Scion

2007-07-06T16:37:00.000-04:00

2004 Scion Tc

2008 Honda Accord Coupe

Is it me or has Honda mailed this one in?

Well how about that

2007-07-06T15:58:00.000-04:00

It must be worth noting that now the richest man in the world is from Mexico, one of the poorer nations in the world. Talk about a disparity between rich and poor! That said I must agree with news article that uses the word "staggering" to describe his 53.1 billion dollar wealth. Ouch.

If his worth was converted into cash he could buy General Motors... and Toyota.

That wacky Horseman

2007-07-06T14:29:00.000-04:00

I came across this sign while north bound on Old Sleepy Hollow Road between Sleepy Hollow and Briarcliff. The extra 1 seems to be made from black electrical tape and at first glance made me do a triple take. I guess someone has once again stolen the Horseman's head and in lieu of any murderous intent has him going around town playing practical jokes.

This is one upcoming turn speed suggestion sign that I will not be exceeding, ever.

My Fireworks

2007-07-06T14:04:00.000-04:00

This year I had my best overall fireworks experience to date. Why the best? Well all I had to do was walk down to the end of the street and into the back yard of the funeral home that has a million dollar panoramic view overlooking the Hudson River. The night started with the fireworks in Ossining and then when they finished we could watch the finale of the Tarrytown fireworks a little farther down the river. Then through a valley dip in the Palisade mountains we could see the New City works, and then over the range flashes from West Nyack. After that was all finished they started the fireworks in Harverstraw that is directly across the river from Croton. In all it was an hour and 15 minutes of fireworks and when it was all over I had to face the daunting 38 second walk home. I checked on Google Earth and it's a 525 foot hike, that's a tenth of a mile! I mean you got to pack a lunch.

Anyway, while the works were off in the distance when I remember sitting for hours in traffic to and from Red, White and Boom this was a much better experience.

Chinese Quality

2007-07-04T19:07:00.000-04:00

So far 2007 is starting to stand out as an amazing year for Chinese exports to the US.

The year started with poisoned pet food, then moved onto children's toys with high lead content, then counterfeit Colgate tooth paste made with ethylene glycol (automotive anti-freeze), then back to food with tainted fish and now as summer gets into full swing it looks like it's next going to be exploding tires. Just what in the hell is going on you ask?

Chinese manufacturers are having difficulties with the concept that dead consumers are less likely to make purchases than living ones.

Well the short answer is that between China's incomprehensibly large population and 5,000 years of capricious totalitarian rule from the first emperor through to the Communists of today the nation has, as a whole, a complete and utter disregard for the sanctity of human life. The question now is this the beginning of a trend that ends with people in Europe and North America simply avoiding anything made in China for fear of their own safety or will the Chinese buckle down and clean their act up? I'm not a particularly paranoid person but I'm not too far off from beginning to avoid Chinese products myself. And what happens to China and its economy if they do ruin their reputation?

Which gets us to where Chinese quality and cars meet... the crash test. Idiots in the press have been writing mindless articles that worry about the doom that Chinese auto makers spell for Detroit. After all the Japanese and Koreans make good cars and since the Chinese are also Asian their cars much be great too. Right. If you believe that then I have some great Spanish beers to sell you because they're European just like the Germans.

Exhibit 1 - The Jiangling Motors' Landwind

The test broke the dummy.
That's ZERO stars

This midsize SUV was trying to be the first Chinese car in the European market. It failed the crash test. And I don't mean it did "poor" on some overly cautious rating system like the IIHS, no, I mean it did not pass. Jiangling Motors was told to go away and redesign the SUV. Think about it. They knew the SUV was going to be tested and they knew what the tests were going to be and the car still failed. The only reason for such complete failure is that they either have some really lousy engineers on staff at Jiangling or they simply never even tried.

Exhibit 2 - The Brilliance BS6

You'll want to be a defensive driver in the BS6. "BS"?

This missize $30,000 sedan got one star. One. We in the US wonder what's wrong with Toyota with the new Tundra gets 4 stars, the BS6 got one. At $30k the BS6 is in no way an amazing bargain and at 40mph it collapses in on itself and kills the driver. This car, while approved for sale in Europe - barely - performed so badly that at least one dealer as decided that he in fact will not be selling the BS6.

Now from Business Week and Brilliance of North America comes word that they will be the first Chinese auto maker to penetrate into the US market. And with it Business Week worries, " As if Toyota's (TM ) overtaking General Motors (GM ) as the world's biggest car maker weren't enough distraction, Detroit is now bracing for an invasion of Chinese cars. Brilliance China Automotive". Bracing for the lose of loved ones involved in an accident in a Chinese car perhaps.

Just look at their website for one thing, none of the links work. How hard is that? More or less difficult than designing cars that implode on impact? And what's with the names of the cars? E series? E3, E5 and E7? Why don't you just rename the company Mercedes-Bavarian? Or maybe Benz Motor Works?

Quality, safety and reliability are, for the Chinese auto industry nothing more than works cut and pasted from the advertisements for cars made in other countries and while Chinese cars may, in some future date, pose a threat to the Big3, it won't be any time soon.

News Round Up - I

2007-07-04T01:08:00.000-04:00

I know that The Onion has to be pissed that they didn't think up this headline first, "Michigan Woman Claims Starburst Candies Are Dangerously Chewy in Lawsuit". Only it would have been funny had it been an Onion story, while this real lawsuit is just plain sad.

Here is a catchy headline from the Ann Arbor News, "< ; FEFF> ; < ; FEFF> ; < ; FEFF> ;I enjoy my summertime colle". WTF? The article is dated July 1st and as of the 4th still shows that utter gibberish as the headline. But appropriately enough the headline does in fact set the tone for the rest of the article which seems to have been written by a 6th grader. Of course as a Buckeye fan I am in no way surprised to see such high brow journalism coming from Ann Arbor.

The AP is reporting on the terrorists in the recent UK bombing attempt as, "Diverse group allegedly in British plot" Okay, let's see. They are all men, all young, all work in medicine and all radical Muslims. My friend I was force fed a diet of diversity growing up watching Sesame Street and I can tell you with great assurance that this group of "alleged" would-be mass murders is in no way, shape and or form, diverse.

USA Today should stick with the weather.

2007-06-26T15:57:00.000-04:00

Main Entry: im·pact
Pronunciation: \im-ˈpakt\
Function: verb
Etymology: Latin impactus, past participle of impingere to push against — more at impinge
Date: 1601
transitive verb1 a: to fix firmly by or as if by packing or wedging b: to press together2 a: to have a direct effect or impact on : impinge on b: to strike forcefully; also : to cause to strike forcefully

It's hard to find people that can offer a sound defense of the USA Today newspaper publication, just as it's hard to find people who get their rocks off when someone drops a load in their mouth. Oh be sure they are out there, it just that you don't want to have anything to do with them. One of the great examples of bad journalism that runs through USA Today is their obsession with lists. Now normally I wouldn't even read one of the said lists but this one crosses the line into my world, that of automobiles.

Someone, who probably doesn't know a damn ting about cars, has at the direction of the editors, come up with a list of cars with the most impact (that's a nicely subjective term) in the last 25 years. Allow me a moment to Fisk this silly list.

First, why 25? On right, 25 in 25 years. I get it. It's cute and completely arbitrary and forces the writer to come up with 25 when perhaps the number of car that were truly impactful may be something wholly different than 25. Now, onto the list.

1) 1992 Toyota Camry - Huh? Impactful? Under what definition? I'll agree that it marked the beginning of Toyota's rise to become the #1 auto maker on Earth but it was an evolution not some sudden surprise that overtook the market... and it was outsold by the Ford Taurus. The 1997 Camry which took the #1 spot away from the Taurus would be a better choice but still weak considering that it was the horrible all new '96 Taurus that drove people away more than the Camry stole them, and still just another chain in the Camry evolution. Where's the impact?

2) 1991 Ford Explorer - Okay. This was the first SUV to have a softer ride and with the Eddie Bauer option came well appointed. While the SUV itself predated the Explorer by decades this was the first to sell in truly huge numbers and in doing so got the ball rolling.

3) 2001 Toyota Prius - No. Nope. No way. Hybrids, with the exception of the Hybrid-only Prius don't sell all that well and going into the '08 MY - 7 years after the Prius hit thew market - it's still the only Hybrid-Only car on the market. The Prius sells only because, as a Hybrid-only car, it is conspicuously green vs. say the Honda Accord hybrid (which Honda has dropped due to poor sales) which was privately green. I do not, at this time, see any great impact. It's had an impact on for Toyota's green credentials, in effect making gas guzzler's like the Tundra and Sequoia simply disappear but beyond that no impact on the US market.

4) 1984 Chrysler Minivans - Oh ya. It hit the market like a lightening strike and created an all new segment of vehicles that still represent a huge number of units each year.

5) 1986 Hyundai Excel - What are you smoking? The Excel was such a turd that Hyundai was contemplating leaving the US market altogether after having their reputation ruined by it. The only reason the Hyundai is still here is a gusty CEO who said offer a 100,000 mile warranty to hold over until quality could be improved. The car can not be given any impactfulness without rendering the concept of impact meaningless.

6) 1986 Ford Taurus - Yes! The jelly bean is a giant. I'd say the most impactful of the 1980's. It started the entire "organic" styling language and was the #1 seller for 10 years.

7) 1990 Lexus 400 - Well executed and more upmarket that Acura but still Toyota was beat to the punch by 4 years making Lexus a copy cat and not an impact maker.

8) 1990 Mazda Miata (MX5) - Absolutely! Single handedly revived the small British sports car genre of the 60's and 70's and lead to the creation of cars such as the Honda S2000, BMW Z3 and Pontiac Solstice.

9) 1986 Acura Legend - Showed that the Japaneses could make an up-market car and lead to the creation of Lexus, Infiniti and the failed Millennium (Mazda).

10) 1996 Toyota RAV4 - The first unibody, car based SUV, creating the "crossover" segment. Yes.

BREAK: Okay, so far USA Toady is playing .600 ball which is great in baseball but pretty shitty in definitive lists.

11) 1994 Ford Mustang - ... No. And how did it "save" Ford?

12) 1991 Saturn SL - Come on. You have to be kidding me. How many plastic body cars are on the market today including Saturn? ZERO! And the Aura?!? It's a rebadged Opel and not a Saturn. Saturn was a failure and had no impact at all. While Saturn may do well with the Aura and Astra (I'd like an Astra) they don't have a thing to do with the '91 SL.

13) 1997 Frod F-150 - The "first stylish modern pick-up"? This will come as news to owners of a 1994 Dodge Ram.

14) 2003 Hummer H2 - Grabbing headlines and being the anti-Christ for environmentalists does not equate to market impact. It's a niche player and after the failures of the Ford Excursion and Jeep Commander can not claim any real impact.

15) 2002 Mini Cooper - The Mini remains the only high end compact in the US market so again, where's the impact?

16) 1998 Lincoln Navigator - It beat the Escalade to the market as the first luxury giant ass SUV. While it's now a joke compared to the Caddy it was first and that counts for me.

17) 1986 Yugo - No. Don't even try.

18) 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser - Sold like hotcakes and lead to the creation of the Chevy HHR so sure, but just.

19) 2001 Pontiac Aztek - Oh really? I don't see anyone else making overtly ugly SUV crossovers outside of the Chinese market so no.

20) 2001 Cadillac CTS - Yes. Marks the moment that Cadillac again became a serious luxury car.

BREAK: Now the USA Today is running .450 which sucks in baseball to.

21) 1986 Suzuki Samurai - How? This is a joke. Where are all the mini SUV's on the market today?

22) GM Impact - WTF? There was no car ever call the GM Impact. There was the GM EV1 but it was not, at any moment, called the Impact. This is a make believe car that shows just how astoundingly unqualified the writer is for this task. As for the EV1 since it's gone and on one else, not even the god of Greenies Toyota makes an electric car there is no impact... from the mythical Impact. Dork.

23) 1998 VW Beetle - Started the whole "reto" thing. That's an impact for me.

24) 2005 Scion Xb - Well how much impact could a car have in 2 years? Not much. Nissan might bring the Cube over from Japan to the US market but "maybes" don't count in my book.

25) 2002 BMW 7 Series - Well sure, I mean everyone is copying the Bangle butt and iDrive. Aren't they?

So now USA Today stands at an awful .400 for their stupid list. The only upside is that USA Today readers probably were only looking at the pictures.

Stuck on the NJ turnpike.

2007-06-26T15:10:00.000-04:00

Some people wouldn't think of taking a 1,300 mile road trip in a 18 year old car with 144,000 miles on the clock but not me. See I try to maintain Mila in proper running condition so that she's ready to go anywhere, anytime.

The girls back together again!
However sometimes even the best maintained car will have something go wrong.

I choose the underpass so I could hide behind the bridge supports.
Mila had a hard coolant line crack (about 3/4 away around the circumference) and begin to leak out precious fluid. It would have been nice if the leaking coolant could have steamed off something and loudly announced that there was a problem but no and that's why we like temperature gauges and hate silly temperature idiot lights.

Anyway, I had to wait about 2 hours for a tow on the NJTP (you haven't really broke down until you've broke down on the NJTP during evening rush) and when I suggested being taken 55 miles back to Westchester the driver about choked on his chaw. The driver called into the office and they came back with $550 + tolls to take Mila home. He could have just said that they won't tow a car to that far instead off trying to see if I would buy them a new iPhone. So I ended up shelling out $110 (cash only my friend) for a 3 mile tow to the nearest parts store.

By then Mila had cooled off enough to get a good look at the failure point and the leak rate which was, with the engine cool, about a drop every 5 seconds. I decided to load up with 3 gallons of nasty green stuff and head home with all the cooling fans on and very slowly (no boost).

The offending part.

Can you see the crack? It's there, trust me.
Turns out the part that has failed is not available anywhere, for any price. The part simply isn't made. Some people suggested JB weld and others brazing but the crack seemed too large for me to trust either that JB stuff or my brazing skills. So I cut out the cracked area including the mounting bracket and slipped on a bit of fuel line.

Don't lose sleep Keith!
While not a proper fix it has held for 1,400 miles in some very hot, high boost driving and hopefully will keep going till I can find a replacement part.

2007-05-18T11:51:00.000-04:00

Well we had a little bit of a wind storm on Wednesday afternoon. A strong gust front came across the river and hit little Croton with 60+ mph winds. Everyone in the nieghborhood was talking about it being a tornado. It was not. But, it still ruined a lot of peoples day.

Womble out in the thick of it.

I'm not sure what tree that came from but I saw it bounce off the power lines. That was fun.

This was at the end of the street.

And this was at the other end of the street. Ouch.

All we got was a silver dollar sized dent in Womble that should be able to pop out.

Swedish Stump Puller

2007-05-10T16:02:00.000-04:00

Part of the process of turning 7 Hamilton into a pleasant home and increasing the curb appeal was the removal of 9 rather natty and over grown bushes. The first 5, while ratty and nasty looking, were still small enough to allow for easy removal. The second 2, which flanked the front path where it met the sidewalk needed the chainsaw to cut down and then a goodly portion of elbow grease and a maddox style pickaxe. It took a few days eating away bit by bit but I got them out.

Now the last two, which flanked the stairs to the front porch, were monsters. I stared with the smaller of the two and after hours of work, spread liberally over several days of course, I had only got the damn thing loose enough to wiggle, a bit. Enter the Swedish Stump Puller.

I have always thought it rather silly for a Saab 900 to have a "Reese" style receiver hitch but I'm sure glad some ninny put it on there. After hooking the chain up I leaned Mila into the job slowly, taking up the slack and once taught started to lay the power down. What happened? Nothing. The stump, with multiple roots cut free and able to wiggle - a bit - by hand, held firm against Mila's pull. So I leaned in a second time and really brought the power up, right up until the wheels began to lose traction. The stump still held. Getting a little pissed I backed up till there was a good amount of slack in the chain and then dropped the hammer down, surging forward to give that bastard stump a jolt it wouldn't soon forget. Slam! The stump held. Again, slam! The stump still held. For the next try I power dropped the clutch as much as I thought I could without ripping up the grass, which isn't much. Slam! Crack! The stump is now only half in the ground and listing sickingly. I get back in Mila and pull forward slowly enjoying splintering sound of wood failing to resist applied power like a cat with a cornered mouse.

The second and largest of the 9, was near the driveway meaning that Mila would be able to gather some great traction to rip the bloodsucker out of the earth. Too bad the gas line ran directly underneath. Thanks to my fear of blowing myself to kingdom come I was reduced to a shovel and a small hand saw to keep from damaging the gas line. About half way through the process of digging the bugger up I discovered a great reason to go and buy a new shovel, when I broke mine. Not to be deterred I ran to the hardware store and got back to work. It took about 5 hours of digging, sawing and tugging but I did finally tear the stump free by hand. I now had 250+ lbs ball of stump roots and earth at the bottom of a 3 foot deep hole. Now where did I put that Swedish Stump Puller? I had it out earlier...

I guess it just goes to show that you can take the boy out of Ohio but you can't take the Ohio out of the boy... which I am sure just has my neighbors thrilled as they are all born and raised down in "the City" and only moved to Croton-On-Hudson later in life.

Cold Spring

2007-05-07T09:48:00.000-04:00

This weekend we had one of Helen's friends up from The City so on Sunday they wanted to have a brunch. Helen was opened to ideas so I suggested we check out Cold Spring, about 25 miles up river from Croton-On-Hudson.

Main Street in Cold Spring, consisting of cafes, bookshops, art galleries and antique stores, which are the primary industry of all the Hudson river towns it seems.

Looking up river from Cold Spring's water front park.

Helen enjoying her lobster Benedict as the 12:42 to Poughkeepsie rolls past. The place we ate at is located at the old 1890's train depot which as been converted to a cafe and beer garden. The modern train station is about 100 yards down track from the cafe. The commuter line pulling out of the station is quaint. The Amtrak express, which neither stops or slows down, flying past at 115mph is an experience. The food at the Depot, as they have so cleverly named the cafe, was pleasant enough but it's the atmosphere that top shelf.

There's even a few model train shops... Michael.

All in all a nice place to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon.

More progess made this weekend.

2007-05-07T09:19:00.000-04:00

So the kitchen guys did not come this weekend but guess who did! The painters. They showed up on Saturday morning to start was what paid for 3 weeks ago and if that delay can be rationalized with concerns over the weather what about them bringing the wrong paint? Yes. I looked out to see them painting the house almost the exact same baby poop brown it was when we bought it. The crew understood enough English to stop painting but had to get the "boss" on the phone to discuss the issue.

The boss informed me that it was the correct color as we had requested to have the house repainted the color it already was. BS! I got livid with him explaining that the house was being painted because we hated the color it was and wanted a different one. WE had requested Cromwell Grey and that poop stain color was most certainly not Cromwell Grey. He then asked to speak to Helen, I assume thinking that it might be easier to get by with the wifey, not realising that a few weeks ago Helen had made some lady shit cabinets. So, 30 minutes later, and with the right color, the guys were back at the job.

Here are some SPLers that are most certainly not celebrating the Sinco de Mayo.

Helen relaxing under the Dogwood while the house gets painted

Oh, and isn't it funny that of all the colors available from all the paint manufactures in the US Helen finally landed on "Cromwell" Grey?

And more on the kitchen

2007-05-07T09:14:00.000-04:00

Here is the kitchen as of May 5th. As you can see the cabinets are starting to go in. The plan has the counter template being made this Thursday and then getting installed on Friday the 18th, which means the project should be done the week after leaving us all summer to enjoy.

More on Kitchen update

2007-04-16T15:13:00.001-04:00

More on the kitchen, this will probably be the first time you can associate yourself with someone demoing (MS Word Dictionary tells me “demoing” is not a word. I say it’s behind the time and that the modern proliferation of “sweat equity” in home improvements has in fact truncated the word demolishing into “demoing”) But then I also say the Saab C900 is the bestest car ever so you can take that for what it’s worth.

Where was I? Oh ya, this will probably be the first time you find yourself associated with someone destroying both a GRANITE counter top AND tumbled marble back splash. How fancy are we?

Helen was concerned with the potential difficulties in removing a GRANTIE counter top. I explained to her that it’s all about material science and that while granite is profoundly strong in compression its torsion strength is about as serious as a Tom& Jerry cartoon. A $20 sledge, a 5gallon bucket and 10 minutes can make your $7000 counter top vanish. But then granite isn’t about longevity, it’s about good looks.

PS: Some Tom & Jerry cartoons dealt with Hitler’s Nazi regime in Germany which actually makes them significantly more serious than granite’s ability to resist torque.

The upside

2007-04-16T14:49:00.000-04:00

No tax dollars will be spent prosecuting this f#ck.

Kitchen 1.5

2007-04-16T14:11:00.000-04:00

Kitchen 1.0

2007-04-16T14:03:00.000-04:00

What I don't like about the new FIAT 500

2007-03-21T11:40:00.000-04:00

The list of things I DON'T like about the new FIAT 500:

1) Not available for sale in the US.

2) Not available for sale in the US.

3) I think you understand.

Only took 7 hours

2007-02-05T18:40:00.000-05:00

Well mark it as official, I live in New York.
Mila, with her new tags.

But how did it get to this?

I’m not talking about Helen’s job, et al, but rather what did I'd have to go through to get those lovely NY plates on Mila.

For starters I had gone onto the NY-DMV web page, last year, to see what all rigmarole I’d have to go through to get my license, title and plates transferred. The web page talked about a “point system” where you needed 6 points worth of documentation in order to get things done. They also gave examples. One example was a US Passport, SS card and your out of state license. Check.

So off to the nearest DMV, (7 miles away in Peekskill) where I wait just over 2 hours in 3 different lines only to find out that since my US Passport does not have my middle initial in it the supervisor is not willing to accept it as a valid ID. I ask to speak to the supervisor and am directed to window number 6. There I am greeted with, “Well hello Mr. Chad Joseph”. That is a name only my parents have the right to use, and only when I’m doing something bad, this women, whom I have never met, using my middle name in the familiar has me hot from the word go.

This supervisor is a textbook show and tell of how to treat someone with drenching condensation. From looking over the top of her glasses at me, to her tone of voice, to her shit eating little grin, to her use of my name in the familiar to her comment that she doesn’t understand how I could have thought the missing initial would be okay I was shaking with rage when I left the DMV. As we go back and forth, “get the Social Security Administration to take the J off your car” or “Have the State Department ad a J to your Passport” I get well if you had your birth certificate it’d be okay. Okay. So I go off fuming (she adds a nice “thank you” as I walk away) and head home.

After running a few other errands I am back at the DMV with my birth certificate. I wait in line like a good little plebe and afterwards and informed that while my papers are now in order a birth certificate is 0 points, leaving me 3 points shy of the 6 needed. I am handed a paper showing the point value of every imaginable form of ID and sent on my slightly less than merry way.

This time when I come back I bring everything, from Helen’s UK birth certificate, her UK Passport, mortgage documents, cell phone bills, everything. Everything that has one of our names and our new NY address.

In order to reach the points total I have to use my Ohio drivers license, my original Social Security card (which as the ubiquitous “not to be used for identification” on it), a health insurance card, a credit card, my Ohio AAA card, a bank statement and an utility bill. W T F

Now I pay $175 for a NY drivers license and two years registration for Mila. But do I get a new DL? No. I get a little print out and am told my real license should arrive in 2-3 weeks. ?!? What takes Ohio $50 and 10 minutes takes NY over 3 times as much money and 3,024 times as long. Well at least we pay more taxes for less service.

Wait a minute…

Now comes the emission test. Mila is set for a test this Wednesday. I have 10 days to get her done. Watch this space to see how that goes.

Bad detector

2006-12-08T23:20:00.000-05:00

Well after only 3 short weeks in Croton tonight we had to make a second call to the police department. Earlier in the day the CO detector had been going off and I had to reset it. Then after we got back from dinner it was going off again. Helen wanted to know what to do and I found a NY state webpage that said to call 911. I thought that was a bit much so I called the local police on their non-emergency number.

They told us to get out of the house and sent out 2 cruisers, a heavy rescue and a ladder truck. They swept the house with 3 different CO detectors and all showed low. Seems the detector that came with the house went bad. On the upside we gave the nieghtbors something to watch.

Merry Christmas Mr. Fireman.

Heavy rescue dwarfs Mila.

Going to Home Depot

2006-12-07T23:56:00.000-05:00

Today we get to see what it’s like to go to Home Depot. In Columbus there was a Lowes 1 mile from the house. In Croton it’s Home Depot and it’s up in Montrose, which is due east of Peekskill. Today I took the back way up to the store and then came back the shorter route through Peekskill and along the river.

There is not quite the same as the drive to the Lowes in Columbus.

This is along the New Croton Reservoir.

This is route 6 west, Main St., as you start to drop down into Peekskill. The ridge in the back ground is on the other side of the Hudson.

This streach of 9 is just as you get into Croton.

The Office

2006-12-07T00:16:00.000-05:00

I have started in the office. The walls are still the old paster and seem to have 3 layers of wallpaper. The first two layers have a lot of paint on top of them. All I'm going to do is take off the top coat of paper and them do some minor repair before painting.

This is the view out of the office window.

Mila at the dam

2006-12-06T00:23:00.000-05:00

On Michael's first full day in Westchester we started by going to check out the New Croton Dam before heading into the city. Had to get a snap of Mila in the lower lot.

Front Room After

2006-12-05T21:05:00.000-05:00

Now this is the new look to the room. The peach color has been replaced by what Helen calls a mushroomy grey. In these pictures the room still needs to be merchandized.

Front Room Before

2006-12-05T20:44:00.000-05:00

The first room that was takled was the front room. It will, I think, prove to be the easiest.

The room was an awful peach color with a lot of holes and cracks in the walls.

You better not be succeeding over there!

2006-07-20T13:48:00.000-04:00

As I think of the wide open upcoming election, the first wide one since LBJ refused another term in ’68, I wander what tropes will be pulled out. One that I know I will be hearing, one that I’ve heard all my life, is that of the lamenting over the Widening Income Gap. You know, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poor, the tired old influence of Marxist class warfare into American politics. But what does it mean?

If I race a Ferrari the gap between it and Heidi (1986 Saab Turbo) will be “widening” but not as a result of me slowing down.

Let me make a relevant example. Say you make $1,000,000 as a CEO and I make $45,000 as an assistant designer, then 3 years later you are making $1,250,000 and I, after promotions, am making $90,000. My income has doubled, cause for celebration perhaps but not to the class warmongers who are busy pointing out that while your income only increased 25% to my 100% the “gap” still widened.

So what is all this gap talk. We hear it, on TV shows, during speeches, at the local watering hold but does it really mean anything? And further, just what it the point of the gap talk? Is it to get angry at rich folks? How is that supposed to help anything?

But expect to hear it.

Expect to hear how utterly horrible the economy is and how thanks to Bush Americans just can’t afford the costs of living anymore. And expect to see people who lived beyond their means and are now paying the price paraded out for the cameras as proof of the collapse of our nation. And expect the solution to be more government.

USS Giuliani

2006-07-20T13:00:00.000-04:00

President Giuliani? It’s not only not farfetched but while it is very early – 18 months before the primaries – I’m inclined to say it’s likely. Here’s what I’m thinking in a reverse chronology.

The General Election.

Who in the world could the Democrats put up against Rudy that could over take him? Hilary is a known and divisive quantity – who will have her own issues beating back the Dems leftist base in the primaries – who has a tendency to come across as a bit of a cold fish. Now whether this is the result of the feminist idea that in order to succeed women must be harder than their male counter parts or if it’s the natural evolution of living with a cheating husband I don’t know. But what I do believe is that her coldness will be a tough sell against Rudy’s warmth.

Kerry, who every bit looks like he wants to make another run, would get landslided by Rudy. I mean come on, Kerry barely eeked out a 2-1 record in the debates against Dubya! Bush43 has to be one of the worst speakers to ever hold any office in any country at anytime in history and Kerry needed a rubber game. How is Kerry going to do against the effervescent, charming, smooth tongue and quick witted Rudy? Add to that the fact that Kerry has spent the last two years waffling on issue after issue, not to mention calling for the US to surrender to the terrorists in Iraq and you can begin to envision Rudy as a doped up Bonds and Kerry as a T-ball.

Edwards is, from what I have read, also looking. Okay, he couldn’t deliver his own state in ’04 so no threat here.

There are many other unknowns out there who will be taking a crack at the Dem nomination but will be moving to the left of Hilary to fire up the lefties in the base, Kerry is doing the same, and moving left of Hilary pretty much means you won’t be able to get back to the middle. Of course if Hilary doesn’t run…

Republican Primaries.

So I don’t see Rudy losing a GE but can he get there? Partisans like to claim the other side isn’t unified like us and comprises a lose affiliation of disparate groups. They’re right, with the exception of the “unified like us” part. So the question really is can Rudy get enough of the conservative base on his side and I think he can. The only groups that would be strongly opposed to Rudy would be the McCainite RINO’s and the evangelical right. Combined they could be a threat but they aren’t going to be combined. The McCainintes will be voting for, well, McCain and the Fundies will be voting for Whocares. With them split a Rudy run should be fairly smooth with a middle social conservatism, strong foreign policy, iron clad fiscal history (turned a $2.5 billion NYC deficit into a surplus with tax and spending cuts) and his great statesman moment during the WTC attack and aftermath.

Rudy also has a hint of libertarianism in his rhetoric that is reminiscent of Regan’s speeches, and Regan ran away with things in an America less conservative than it is today. Can some Republican unknown beat back a Rudy charge? I don’t think so, but Rudy needs to run first.

Will Giuliani make a play.

Yes. I base this on one thing. His Solutions America is nothing if not a tool by which to get his faces in front of people all around the US and hone his national message. Just looking at the map of states where Rudy is supporting local candidates you see him leaning on swing states, early primary states and big Electoral Vote states(with the lone exception of CA). Small Electoral Vote states that are deeply red or blue are not getting his attention. Why? Cause they’ll either already be voting for him or aren’t worth the effort, but I except him to widen his influence as we draw closer.

President Giuliani? I’m almost ready to put a beer on this call, almost.

1400 year old Islamists war heats up.

2006-07-13T21:47:00.000-04:00

I support Israel. Since the IDF pulled out of the “Occupied Territories”* the citizens of Israel have been under daily rocket attacks by Hezbolla and Hamas. Recently the IDF began to push back into Gaza, the launching point for the majority of the attacks, and the Islamists responded by kidnapping several IDF soldiers. Now Israel is fighting mad and as the Islamist hydra that is trying to push them into the sea is the same one that is trying to extinguish the light of freedom by conquering the entire globe. Go get’em guys.

Cox & Forkum

* Also known as the “Buffer Zone” to keep the Islamists rockets out of range.

Delenda est Islam

Screw CAIR

2006-07-13T20:53:00.000-04:00

This afternoon I saw a TV report on a town in Florida where the local residents are trying to block the construction of a new mosque. The report started with the reported giving the background, then had words of a local leading the protest who spoke of concern over the mosque turning into a center of Islamic fanaticism and then finished with the words of a weasel mouthpiece of CAIR.

The CAIR representative stated that blaming the actions of, “a few bad apples” on a religion would be the same as blaming all Christians for the Crusades. Ah, the tired old tactic of CAIR and muslims in general, when you feel you are losing play the Crusades card and claim victimhood. I would though like to bring up a few points of contention to the Crusades card.

1) Most muslims DO blame all Christians for the Crusades
2) The Crusades were almost 1000 years ago and you won, get over it.
3) But if we are going to hold a grudge then what about the 400 years of constant attacks and invasions committed by the armies of Islam on Christendom that preceded the Crusades?

Delenda est Islam

Bill's short memory

2006-06-13T22:21:00.000-04:00

Not to get into a debate over Global Warming, as it’s not pertinent to this post, per se, but Clinton was recently out giving a speech, that can only be taken as stumping for Gore, in which he laid the blame of Global Warming strengthened sever weather squarely on the shoulders of George W. Bush.

As Tropical Storm Alberto threatened to strengthen into the ninth hurricane in 22 months to affect Florida, former President Clinton predicted Monday that Republican environmental policies will lead to more severe storms.

So since scaring us with threats that the GOP is out to starve women and children, deny the elderly healthcare, take back the vote from women and put blacks back in the field has yet to yield the big Democrat victory it’s time to ramp things up. Now the GOP will destroy the entire planet. Only I’m not sure if that’s before or after they replace the US government with a bible-belt theocracy. Am I being dismissive enough?

But! Then Clinton goes on to say:

"It is now generally recognized that while Al Gore and I were ridiculed, we were right about global warming,"

WTF? When were you ever out campaigning for Global Warming, Bill? Was it when you were fighting to get congress to pass the Kyoto treaty? Oh wait just one second Bill, you never even sent the treaty to Congress for ratification, nor did you sign it so while you contemplate about how no one was listening to you, ponder for just a second that maybe it was because you weren’t saying anything.

Of course he’s hoping no one remember any of that, and so far the press has forgotten.

Taliban v2.0

2006-06-13T21:52:00.000-04:00

Today I saw a fellow walking down my street with a shirt that had a picture of Bush with the words, “The Real Terrorist”. Interesting, but I would say the Islamists are more of a threat to the world than Bush. And a perfect example are the new Taliban, the Joint Islamic Courts (JIC), that have risen up in the former country of Somalia.

The gunmen loyal to the Joint Islamic Courts (JIC), cut electricity, cleared cinema halls and warned residents against watching the football tournament in
areas they control, forcing a violent protest late on Saturday in which two
people were killed, residents said Sunday.

Killing people for watching the World Cup? And it’s Bush my neighbor is worried about.

War produces first fruit

2006-06-12T23:09:00.000-04:00

From the Jerusalem Post:

…after apparently realizing they were holding a US citizen, the captors handeld Bright-Fishbein over to the PA Preventive Security Service which then
transferred him to the IDF at the Hawara Checkpoint.

This guy is a 'tard.

After decades of concessions and appeasement from the West it has taken 5 years of bloody (though not bloody enough) war to finally begin to reverse the contempt the Islamists hold for our lives. Fear of kidnapping an American is a start. A good one.

Can you read this?*

2006-03-28T15:06:00.000-05:00

Here’s an AP article about a “growing fear” amongst immigrants in the US of anti-immigrant sentiment. First of all I’d say it’s a growing anti-illegal immigrant feeling, which is whole heartedly different from anti-immigrant, but lets work with their claim. Growing fear you say? Good. Here’s how to resolve it. Stop protesting against the prosecution of illegals who are here illegally and as such criminals. Stop demanding that the country that you have freely chosen to move to bend over backwards to make things easier for people here illegally. Stop claiming to be the victims of racism when people make the suggestion that immigrants learn English.

And stop waving Mexican flags while claiming to be the “backbone” of America.

Protesters waving Mexican flags, which makes be think they love Mexico.

Well actually, if you are here illegaly then you in fact are a criminal.

Arabic? Is that Arabic on that sign? What the fuck is that about?

* If not then learn English.

Breakfast With: Gordon Cucullu

2006-03-08T10:29:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday morning I had the honor of having breakfast with Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu, who was in town to give a speech for the graduating Ohio National Guard OCS class that a pal of mine is going through. I picked him up, in Heidi of course, and when I gave him a choice of locations in town that I thought could all give a good meal he choose Nancy’s Home Cooking which is both a hole in the wall, greasy spoon dinner and a Columbus institution.

Gordon Cucullu with Heidi.
Nancy’s was packed, the crowd in good spirits and the conversation quiet enjoyable as the good Cornel is friendly and engaging. The conversation ran from South Korean coups to the growing conservatism in America’s youth to college sports. I would look forward to another chance to chat with a man who on the whole has led a rather diverse and interesting life, which give one perspective.

Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu, aside from public speaking, is also a columnist and author of the book, Separated at Birth, which is a book about the spilt up of Korea. The book is entertaining, with a little history, opinion and personal memories mixed together, doing a good job of giving the Korean point of view and explaining how everything got screwed up without pointing fingers. If you get a chance, check it out.

Ununited Nations

2006-03-08T09:52:00.000-05:00

I’m ready to ditch the UN. Just pull out and leave it to fend for itself. Why, aside from my evil right leaning tendencies, you ask? Because, regardless of the lofty ideals in its charter or high minded language used in its gatherings, the UN today is devoid of any ability to affect the world in a positive way, and has become nothing more than a shield to hide the murderous actions of dictators and thugs while pointing fingers at liberal democracies for alleged ills.

Rich Lowery, on NRO, has a good write up on one of the greatest failing of the UN, the Human Rights Commission:

The 53-country human-rights commission’s abiding flaw is that it has no standards for membership. So, bloodthirsty tyrannies sit on it together with liberal democracies. Given the let’s-all-get-along bonhomie of the United Nations, they all operate based on a vaporous consensus that strips the commission of any purpose. China, Cuba, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Zimbabwe are all current members, ensuring ample representation of governments interested only in preserving their ability to jail their dissidents, repress their women and despoil their countrysides.

Human-rights abusers are particularly drawn to the commission so they can eliminate any diplomatic or moral threat it might pose to their misrule. They can vote as a bloc to oppose any strenuous language directed at themselves or fellow abusers. On the inside, they subtly influence the process in their favor. Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the human-rights group Freedom House, recounts how a few years ago the European sponsors of a resolution condemning Sudan reached out to Khartoum to help draft the language. It was duly massaged to remove any reference to “slavery,” even though the commission’s own officials had confirmed Sudan’s involvement in it.

No rules for membership. I believe that when history looks back at causes for the collapse of the UN, they will shine a bright light on how systemically flawed it is to allow small thuggish dictatorships and drug running warlords an equal vote with free societies. Cuba is not the equal to Japan, Burma is not the equal to Canada and Yemen is not the equal to France yet in the twisted world that is the UN they are and the resulting consequences have caused suffering and death for millions of helpless victims of the rouge regimes.

The sad reality is that while liberal societies, like England or Australia vacillate and debate an issue the little thugs in places like Venezuela and the Sudan can act with quickness and determination. These are the same qualities that the oligarchies of Greece used in battle with the democracy of Athens and her client city-states, and with that knowledge comes the lesson that in the end, Athens lost.

It is time to leave an organization that finds Korans in toilets and cartoons in Denmark worthy of vocal recrimination while uttering nary a word on the suffering in North Korean gulags or political oppression in China. It is time to strike out and setup a new entity that restricts entry to free nations and can no longer be used as a shield for evil.

Buckeyes keep winning

2006-03-06T21:28:00.000-05:00

This has been a good week to be a Buckeye.

The lady Bucks started the week as the #1 seed in the Big Ten tournament having won the outright regular season Big Ten Championship. In the tournament they defeated Penn St, Michigan St and Purdue to win their first tournament Championship.

Purdue's Erin Lawless is harassed on the way to a tough 60-63 loss to Ohio St.
The lady Buckeyes are now double Big Ten champs, ranked #2 in the nation, sitting on a 28-2 record, own a 19 game win streak and looking at a good chance for a #1 seed in the NCAA tourney. Way to go girls and keep up the good play!

On the men’s side of the court they started the week with two more regular season games to play, needing to win both for an outright Big Ten season title. In the first game they traveled to Northwestern where they needed a lay-up, with 10.7 seconds left on the clock to win. The last game, against a struggling Purdue was a cake walk. The men are now 23-4, ranked #7 in the nation and have the #1 seed for the Big Ten tournament starting this Thursday.

Senior Terrance Dails takes his turn cutting the nets after the men's team won the outright Big10 Championship.
2006 has been a good year for the 3 major sports at OSU. With the men’s victory over Purdue Ohio St has claimed the outright Championships in both Men’s and Women’s basketball and football. This is the first time in the history of the Big Ten that any one school has pulled the hat trick.

Hopefully this week turns out as good as last.