Interleague play in Major League Baseball began this weekend for this season, with all but two teams — the Cubs and the Pirates — playing against teams in the other league.

(The reason why the Cubs and Pirates are playing is that there are two more National League teams than American League teams.)

Am I the only one who thinks that giant interleague-paloozas are stupid?

Interleague play, I have no problem with. But scheduling every interleague game on the same day? Pointless.

Why not spread interleague love throughout the season? Have two or three interleague series every weekend from the first week of May to the last week of August?

Interleague play doesn’t have to be an event. It’s an event enough that the entirety of Major League Baseball doesn’t need to engage in it at the exact same time.

At least, that’s what I would do if I were major league commissioner.

And get rid of the designated hitter.

Cross-posted to LiveJournal.

Bad President Countdown Calendar, May 16, 2008

"The new issue of Rolling Stone magazine features a cover story about President Bush called 'The Worst President in History.' President Bush said, 'That's not fair, I'm also the worst president in math, English, and geography.'"
— Conan O'Brien, April 2006

It must have been a review in either MOJO or Q. It must have been.

Because, otherwise, how would I have ever heard of Elbow?

Early 2004 I bought their second album, Cast of Thousands. And it was amazing. It was dark and moody Britpop, what Coldplay and Radiohead aspired to but could never quite achieve. “Fugitive Motel” and “Not a Job” were the most amazing songs I’d ever heard. There were sounds I couldn’t describe, and the vocals! Oh, my god, the vocals! Guy Garvey had a voice that sounded somehow ancient, yet mirthful despite the rawness and pain. And the gospel choir! There was a gospel choir! This music was transcendant.

Elbow sort of dropped off the radar for me. Their third album came and went, and I bought it and I listened to it, and I filed it, and I forgot about it.

Sadly, I forgot about Elbow.

Until just about a month ago.

I just really wanted to listen to some Elbow. Only, I couldn’t find any of their CDs. What had I done with them? Where had I packed them away? I had no idea. The only song of theirs I could find? The cover of John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” they did for Q back in 2005, on the Lennon tribute album the magazine had put together in honor of his sixty-fifth birthday. (And yes, as taken as I am by Green Day’s cover of “Working Class Hero,” Elbow’s cover is in a completely different realm.)

Fortunately, iTunes came in handy. But rather than rebuy albums, because I knew the CDs would turn up, I bought the EPs they had for sale.

And it was then that I noticed.

Elbow had a new album coming out.

The Seldom Seen Kid.

I reacquainted myself with songs like “Fugitive Motel” and “Ribcage.” I found my old Elbow CDs.

How could I have ever forgotten about Elbow? How?

I bought The Seldom Seen Kid.

I unwrapped the cellophane. I removed the CD and held it like a totemic thing. I put it in the CD player. I hit play.

I didn’t like it.

I didn’t like it at all.

It’s the way it is with some bands. You find one of their albums, and it’s the first one you listen to, and it’s how you always imagine they’ll be. So, when you buy one of their new albums, it’s both the same because it’s the same band, but it’s different because all the songs are new and unfamiliar, and thus it’s easy not to like it.

But the second time I played The Seldom Seen Kid…

Is it possible? Is this somehow more transcendant than Cast of Thousands? Can you even quantify transcendence?

There are songs, like “One Day Like This,” that are anthemic. “Weather to Fly” is charming.

And then there’s a song, “The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver,” that may be the most perfect song I have ever heard. The lyrics, like most of Elbow’s lyrics, are inscrutably obscure. I have no idea what the song is about — Is it about the fleetingness of love? Is it about the quiet desperation of a poetic soul trapped in an unpoetic occupation, where relationships are imagined instead of incarnated? Is it about anything at all?

Whatever the song is about, the sound. It’s the sound of the song that captures your soul. “The Loneliness” goes through three distinct movements, and there’s a mundanity to the first movement that is a bit surprising. The second movement connects with an instrumental bridge, and then in the third movement, when the instrumentation builds at the 3:45 mark and reaches a crescendo, there’s a moment of pure emotional catharsis that will leave no listener unmoved.

That’s what I love about Elbow. The lyrics are impossible to parse, but the musicianship is so solid and the vocals so raw that their songs connect with the listener’s soul.

The Seldom Seen Kid is an amazing album. If you’ve never heard Elbow, if you’ve never heard of Elbow, this is a great place to start. It will grow on you, and it will never let go.

Elbow. One of my favorite bands. And how could I have ever forgotten them?

Cross-posted to LiveJournal.

Bad President Countdown Calendar, May 14, 2008

That's Why I'm Introducing A Bill That Will Guarantee Federally Funded Target Practice For Everyone Over 18

"For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable. And we're going to do something about it."
— George W. Bush, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 14,2001

Bad President Countdown Calendar, May 15, 2008

A picture page!

First Lady Laura Bush had a bottle of water to her mouth. Her eyes are slightly bulging, her lips are puckered, her cheeks are sunken in due to her sucking on the bottle.

The caption? "It suddenly dawns on first lady what she's gotten herself into."

Times of war are times of sacrifice.

In my grandparent’s generation — World War II — resources were rationed for the war effort. People from all walks of life gave up necessities so that the Axis could be defeated.

President Bush, in our own Iraqi quagmire, believes in sacrifice.

He sacrificed his tee time. He gave up golf.

Let me repeat that.

He gave up golf.

To show his support for the war effort, he gave up golf.

He! Gave! Up! Golf!

Only…

He didn’t.

He lied about it.

Not only is it a hollow, trivial sacrifice at best, Bush’s story doesn’t hold water. While he dates his decision to abjure golf to Aug. 19, 2003 — the day a truck bomb in Baghdad killed U.N. special representative Sergio Vieira de Mello and more than a dozen others — the Associated Press reported on Oct. 13, 2003, that he’d spent a “cool, breezy Columbus Day” playing “a round of golf with three long-time buddies.

“Bush played at Andrews Air Force Base with Clay Johnson, Office of Management and Budget deputy director, Richard Hauser, Department of Housing and Urban Development general counsel and another friend, Mike Wood.”

On that outing, he was typically full of what passes for good humor at the White House. The AP reported: “‘Fine looking crew you got there. Fine looking crew,’ Bush joked to reporters. ‘That’s what we’d hope for presidential coverage. Only the best.’

“He hit a couple of practice balls before flaring his tee-off shot into the right rough.”

Dan Eggen writes in The Washington Post: “Democrats have criticized Bush for allegedly not requiring Americans to sacrifice enough while waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and for urging people to keep shopping as a way to fight terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Bush was also widely criticized in August 2002 when he decried terrorist bombings in Israel while golfing and then told reporters: ‘Now watch this drive.’

“Although Bush says he has given up golf, he is a mountain-biking enthusiast who has been photographed taking part in rides. He took up biking after an injury sidelined him from running.

“Presidential historian Robert Dallek. . . said Bush’s remarks about Iraq ’speak to his shallowness.’ Dallek added: ‘That’s his idea of sacrifice, to give up golf?’”

He! Lied! About! It!

Does the President live in a fucking bubble? Is he tone-deaf to his own abject stupidity?

He gave up golf.

Cross-posted to LiveJournal.

After watching “The Doctor’s Daughter,” I downloaded the latest episode of Radio Free Skaro, to see what Warren, Steven, and Chris thought of the episode.

For anyone who’s not listened to an episode of Radio Free Skaro, they break down a bit like this:

• 0-10 minutes: They talk about the Doctor Who episode
• 10-35 minutes: They talk about anything but the episode. It may not even be Doctor Who-related.
• 35-45 minutes: They surf the internet looking for more things to talk about.

It’s a fun system, and it works.

In the latest episode of RFS, the topic of David Tennant’s musical tastes came up. Apparently, Tennant had given an interview with a Scottish newspaper, and he mentioned *gasp* that he liked to listen to Avril Lavigne. *gasp*

Here we go. It’s not even a recent article. It’s three years old!

Tennant says, and I quote:

I’m quite an Avril Lavigne fan. And I know I shouldn’t be, I’m aware that that’s wrong on quite a few levels. She’s a fine, fine musician. She understands the pop world very clearly. She’s great! So if you’re reading this Avril… I mean, I’m ashamed of myself but you know, I still admitted it.

Okay, I’m going to confess that I, too, enjoy listening to Avril Lavigne.

Now, now, now, put away the pitchforks. Maybe I won’t use the word “fan” to describe myself. I don’t own any of her CDs, and I doubt that I ever will. And I think the song she did for Eragon, which is probably the most recent thing of hers I’ve heard, is an excretable mess. And I thought that “Sk8er Boi” was more interesting when I seriously misheard the lyrics.

Yeah, I’ll turn one of her songs up on the radio. I particularly like “My Happy Ending.”

She has a good voice, and she uses it. Her music is catchy, and it makes me feel happy when I hear it.

There. My confession. Like David Tennant, I also enjoy listening to Avril Lavigne.

Cross-posted to LiveJournal.

This coming Friday's episode of Moonlight will be the series finale. CBS isn't renewing the series for a second season.

Noes!!!!!

Bad President Countdown Calendar, May 13, 2008

Unless It's Christianity

"That's called, 'A Charge to Keep,' based upon a religious hymn. The hymn talks about serving God. The president's job is never to promote a religion."
— George W. Bush, showing German newspaper reporter Kai Diekmann the Oval Office, Washington, DC, May 5, 2006

Wow, was that meh.

Stephen Greenhorn, the writer of the latest Doctor Who episode, “The Doctor’s Daughter,” said something to the effect that, in writing a Doctor Who story there’s one thing that never changes — the Doctor. So, Russell T. Davies gave Greenhorn the opportunity to write a story that, reputedly, would change the Doctor forever.

Which “The Doctor’s Daughter” doesn’t do.

There are good ideas in “The Doctor’s Daughter.”

But the good ideas are thrown in a blender, and they come out… not good.

This story was two rewrites away from being good.

And that the story screams out for sequel doesn’t exactly help.

And, supposedly, this episode was supposed to feel like a mid-season finale.

Umm, no.

Good ideas. Inconsistent and incoherent execution. Adds up to a giant “meh.”

Cross-posted to LiveJournal.

A FilmThreat blogger, on Speed Racer, the movie:

It’s an overly bright, noisy film that looks like it was edited by a masturbating chimp on meth.

Damn, that's awesome!

Bad President Countdown Calendar, May 10, 2008

As Well As The Importance Of Looking Forward To a Disastrous Past

"We discussed the way forward in Iraq, discussed the importance of a democracy in the greater Middle East in order to leave behind a peaceful tomorrow."
— George W. Bush, Tbilisi, Georgia, May 10, 2005

Bad President Countdown Calendar, May 11, 2008

A picture page! There are three men standing inside a jail cell.

The caption?

"Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz grows wistful for the days when the administration could do anything it wanted to Abu Ghraib detainees."

Bad President Countdown Calendar, May 12, 2008

Trickle-Down Accountability

Forty American soldiers have been criminally prosecuted for abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison. Only three of the 40 have been officers, and even in these cases the doctrine of command responsibility was not an issue. More than two years after the Abu Ghraib scandal broke, no senior commander or civilian superior in the chain of command had faced criminal charges for systematic abuse and torture at the prison.

One of the two civilians in the chain of command, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld (the other one being President Bush), once asked why detainees could only be forced to stand for four hours a day, joking that he himself often stood "for eight to ten hours a day." "Torture?" he exclaimed. "That's not torture!"

Today is Mother’s Day.

Hopefully, it was a restful and gorgeous day wherever you are.

It’s not gorgeous in Baltimore. I watched the Cubs game on WGN; it wasn’t gorgeous there, either.

But I want to think it’s gorgeous where you are.

Mother’s Day began at a church in Grafton, West Virginia. I’d call it a “little known fact,” but I think it’s actually a fairly well-known fact.

I hope you all did something nice for your mothers today.

I didn’t buy a card for my mother. I couldn’t find a card I like. (And people who have received cards from me know that I pick good cards.)

I did, however, find her something nifty and keen.

Mother’s Day.

And a Cubs win.

Makes up for the rainy dreariness. At least, from where I sit.

Cross-posted to LiveJournal.

If I were a Shakespearean play…

Link: The Which Shakespeare Play Are You? Test written by macbee on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(macbee)

Cross-posted to LiveJournal.

You learn something new every day.

Mick Jagger wanted to star as Alex in A Clockwork Orange.

The Beatles wanted to compose the film’s soundtrack.

So says a letter from Mick Jagger’s manager, dating back to 1968. He was writing to John Schlesigner, the director attached to A Clockwork Orange.

Schlesinger passed on the project, and the involvement of Jagger and the Beatles passed along with him.

What a vastly different film that would have been.

I can almost imagine the Beatles’ Lord of the Rings film.

I can’t quite imagine this alternate Clockwork Orange, though.

Cross-posted to LiveJournal.

Ever read something, and your mind just can't wrap itself around the insanity?

This is one of those things.

An Arkansas woman is pregnant with her eighteenth child.

It's not like Arkansas is a third-world, agrarian economy with a high infant mortality rate.

There's simply no sense in this.

Eighteen children?

What woman would want to do that to her body?

And has the husband ever heard of a vascectomy?

Whiskey tango foxtrot.