Tiger Bear Wolf at the Reservoir

Before I go on vacation, I need to point out that Tiger Bear Wolf will be playing in Carrboro at the Reservoir on July 3rd. While they continue a tradition to play in the Triangle on a Monday, the next day is a holiday so there's not really an excuse to miss the show (unless you have kids). Please make plans accordingly.

Past, Present, and Future of TV

I saw the appropriately titled The Dark Side about Dick Cheney's role in the war on terror last night. Did you know Iraq was the reason for 9/11 attacks. Sure it's been discredited that they played any role in the attacks, but that doesn't mean they weren't the reason for them. You can watch the full program online (about 85 minutes) starting Thursday. Richard Clarke comes out smelling like a rose, but that can be attributed to him agreeing to be interviewed for the program. There are lots of people interviewed who hold the title ex-CIA important dude. That should give you an idea of the decisions the Bush administration has made about using intelligence gathered by professional spooks when an entire program is filled w/ people who quit their jobs b/c their work was marginalized by the decision makers who were supposed to use it.

ESPN Classic will re-air the US vs Ghana match on Thursday at 5pm. I guess DVR and Tivo make this unnecessary for lots of people, but I plan on forcing my kids to watch it anyway.

Caught up in the whirl of Stanley Cup fever, Dave had the idea to have a reality show that follows the exploits of the Stanley Cup when players get their day w/ it. I thought an even better idea would be to have a sitcom w/ the same premise. Of course Dave and I will play the guys in charge of handling the cup and we're working on getting Norm MacDonald doing his Burt Reynolds impersonation to play our overbearing boss. If there are 2 things that will get tv executives exicted about this ratings gold it's the comedy stylings of Norm MacDonald and another chance to have hockey related programming on tv. Don't worry I'll still talk to you when I'm a big UPN star.

Hope, Despair, and Cooked Cassettes

Hope - I was reading an article on MLSnet.com where the prognosticator picked the US to lose to the Czechs and then beat Italy and Ghana. That may seem overly optimistic, but I'm hoping that he's right. I'm also ignoring that in his picture for MLSnet.com he's wearing sunglasses and a bandana across his mouth and nose. We're all outlaws in the world of soccer.

Despair - I've got poison ivy again. It's not as bad as some of my previous instances (I don't have to take steroids to combat it), but I thought I was smart enough to avoid it. I try to poison it while scorching the rest of the earth, but this time it was growing next to the carrots planted along the fence. I think buying a $1 bag of carrots at the grocery store would be well worth avoiding this week of discomfort, but I'm trying to be way more self sufficient than I'm capable of. Scratch your knees for me.

Cooked Cassettes - My loaded 89 Cavalier has a state of the art cassette player and a state of the art tape holder. What it doesn't have is a way to keep the car cool w/ the windows rolled up sitting in a hot NC parking lot during the summer. I noticed the Raw Power tape was fucked up about a year ago, but I didn't do anything to save the other tapes in the car. Today I discovered the only thing worth listening to on Daydream Nation was the electronic beep that comes on when you start the tape from the very beginning. There's been a 10 disc stereo from the old car waiting to move in for the past 5 years, but I'm convinced that the engine will blow, the axels will break, and the transmission will drag across the ground as soon as I put in a decent stereo.

USA! USA!

I'm glad I didn't post my World Cup predictions (other than the champ) b/c I was sincerely convinced the USA would move on to the next round. Now they have to get some serious help and at least draw w/ Italy to even stand a chance to do that. I watched most of the first half before being so discouraged that I went back to work. Even Desmond's soccer coach told his group of 4 year olds that they need to put the ball in the goal. It reminded me of my own basketball playing days and my biggest weakness putting the ball in the hoop. Unlike me playing basketball the US did a pretty good job of passing and dribbling. I'll still watch the World Cup, but today took a lot of air out of the sails. When is the Stanley Cup on?

Recent thoughts

I'm picking Argentina in the World Cup. I guess Brazil is the favorite and Germany has the home country advantage, but I'm thinking you need to go against that logic in this day and age. And who doesn't like South America's most arrogant nation of escaped war criminals. Of course I'm pulling for USA and have planned on working around their games (thank you for the noon game on Monday, Mr long lunch). And the African teams are all cool. If Cuba can't make it, you might as well cheer for Angola, right.

I saw The Conversation w/ Gene Hackman this weekend. It was the movie Francis Ford Coppola did b/w Godfather Parts 1 and 2. John "Fredo" Cazale was in it. The guy only did like 5 films (Godfather 1 and 2, Deer Hunter, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Conversation but you already saw that on IMDB) and they are all awesome. Anyway The Conversation was pretty much not what I expected and before I spoil anything you should go see it and then get back to me.

My friend Laurie O'Neill was featured in the newspaper in her quest to fufill the eat local challenge. I've gotten behind the Homeland Creamery and would eat at Bistro Sofia every night if I could afford to, but it is seriously hard to do what Laurie is doing. I cyber salute her.

The kids are out of school for the summer. Please pray for Maria. I know they planned to go see Cars on June 9, and if you have kids and they haven't been bugging you to go see it on that day I guess you don't let them watch as much tv as I do.