the pod bay door

:: In my youth, I was an avid Montreal Canadiens fan, I lived and died by their Cup wins and losses. I was also a huge baseball fan, the Minnesota Twins being my team of choice. I was thrilled when The Twins won the 1987 and 1991 WS, followed by the Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993.

In my later years, hockey has fallen considerably as a sports interest, although the Habs remain my team of choice. I’ve lived in Edmonton since 1978 but maintain no allegiance to the Oilers. Strikes, idiot owners and greedy players aside, I still love baseball.

The possibility of a Cubs/Red Sox World Series loomed large two days ago. Today it will be a Yankees/Marlins World Series. The Yankees have won 26 WS, 4 since 1996, the last in 2000. The Marlins have been in the league for 10 years, and won in 1997. The Cubs last won in 1908, the Red Sox in 1918. You tell me which series would have been more exciting.

I think, for the first time in years, I will pay little attention to the World Series next week. The Yankees, a team fueled by 180 million US in salaries, are becoming as predictable and boring as the Atlanta Braves. The Marlins?? Can you name one player on the team? Their fan support this year was pathetic, averaging under 17,000 per game. The word was that Fox Sports was hoping that at least one of the two sad sack teams made it to the WS, so as to assure a large TV audience for the games. Now with the NYY and Marlins, chances are the ratings will match last years’ WS, the lowest in decades. The Yankees? It’s like a broken record. You need a better position player? Well, buy the player. Combine deep pockets with great management and media revenue that does not get redistributed to poorer teams, and your team, in this case The Yankees, will be there every year.

It’s no surprise that fans have turned away from the WS in recent years. The small market teams can’t compete without the income. But more importantly, in the World Series, there are few, if any, surprises. Some of the players on the Yankees are entering their sixth WS in eight years. It would be cool to see players from other teams get their once. But the Yankees, as players, are not to be faulted – they won, they worked hard to get there, they deserve to be there. At the same time, don’t fault the fans who are losing interest in the World Series each year because there are few surprises left for them.

:: Last night around 3:00 am, I woke with pain in my upper right arm, near the shoulder. It hasn’t subsided. I’m heading to Calgary in 2 hours, and will stop for a chiropractic check on the way in. I hope the chiropractor can help. I don’t know what’s wrong. I may have been sleeping on it or something, but it sure hurts like hell.

:: Me, given what I wrote below. I returned from the Y, having thought about the last entry while I was working out on the cross-trainer machine. I thought about the lyrics to Grey Day (gotta love Madness), and then H�sker D�’s These Important Years (by Bob Mould). Then I thought of the baseball playoffs, and of the delicious possibility that the Red Sox and the Cubs could end up in the World Series, which would be infinitely more interesting than the Yankees and Braves (bor-RING!!!!!) I also gave consideration to removing the entry below, but noticed that Derryl offered a comment, so it will stay.

The left-click function on my mouse isn’t working well, and I want to pound sand. Hey you, yes, YOU, tell me what is important to you. I’d love to know. Then tell me why it’s important to you.

:: I’m backed up answering e-mails, and checking out web sites and articles of possible interest.

:: This Scientific American article discusses the Six Degrees of Separation theory, suggested by sociologist Stanley Milgram in 1967. The project at Columbia U is called Small World, and you can participate if you like.

:: Michael Moore‘s new book, Dude, Where’s My Country?, is due out on October 3rd. Hot on the heels of Al Franken‘s Lies and The Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look At The Right, the book is sure to continue to tick off the right and get them dutifully steamed. Franken, of course, was sued by Fox for using the expression,”fair and balanced” in the subtitle of his book. Interesting that Moore’s book title is a play on the movie, Dude, Where’s My Car?, which happens to be a Fox production. Lawsuit, anyone? Franken’s publisher, Penguin, moved up the launch date of his book from mid-September to late August, in hopes that the publicity and fallout from the lawsuit might help sales. Duh. The book opened at #1 on the NYTimes Best-Seller List, and remains there to this day.

It’s an interesting time, where we are seeing more books from the left attacking the right. Also out there are Joe Conason’s Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth, and Eric Alterman’s What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News, among many other titles.

:: While it appears this site may no longer be updated, check out The Useless Pages.

:: I absolutely love it! I mentioned earlier that Fox News is suing Al Franken, one of my favorite comedians and political satirists, for using the phrase “Fair and Balanced” in the subtitle of his new book, “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look At The Right.” Now Paul Newman has joined in the discussion, with a short but brilliant op-ed piece in the NYTimes. Paul Newman is still HUD! (ID and PW: podbay) Full text of the editorial is below:
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:: Fox News is suing one of my favorite writers, comedians and commentators, Al Franken, for using the phrase “fair and balanced” as part of the subtitle of his new book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look At The Right. The New York Times reported on the story, and it’s been discussed on CNN. Even better, it made the Op-Ed page of the NYTimes (ID/pw: podbay). My favorite line from the editorial: “For years now, liberals have wrung their hands over the fact that the right wing had a monopoly on acerbic, unfair and entertaining political commentators. Mr. Franken is clearly attempting to fill the gap, and for some reason the Fox people appear to be doing everything they can to help pave his way.”

With this lawsuit, Fox News, never known for being fair and balanced, has helped push the book (not being released until September 22, to #1 on the Amazon Best Sellers List (at least today, August 13th).

I saw Franken perform in NYC last November. He is brilliant, funny, and accurate in his observations. Go, Al, go!

:: The largest rock concert in Canadian history happened yesterday at Downsview ON. The Rolling Stones and 15+ other musical acts performed a show to support the city of Toronto, hammered on many fronts, mostly tourism, since the SARS breakout earlier this year.

The television coverage in Canada, well, SBT’d: Sucked Big Time. Broadcasters from Much More Music and CBC interviewed teenage girls and aging hippies for their (constant, non-stop) moronic perspectives of the event, as if anyone gave a rat’s ass. At one point during the CBC’s waste-of-time two hour broadcast, Ralph Ben-Mergui “interviewed” a beautiful, waif-like young thing from Florida who looked as if she just left a casting call for Blue Crush, asking her dumb question after question, getting close and closer to her each time. It was a sad performance from someone who knew better.

In addition, the MMM VJs often interviewed the performers, and again, like, who cared? I wanted to see the concerts, the performances, the music. Live Aid, anyone? Remember how pathetic the coverage was for that in 1985? Didn’t the CBC or MMM learn anything? Ooooops, sorry, I forgot: contractual obligations! Must show commercials endlessly. Must show idiot interviews. Must show videos of old concerts. Toronto rocked, the rest of Canada was passed over.

:: Derryl advises that Bill Maher is blogging. This is a good thing, I love Maher. But Bill: c’mon, let us comment on your postings – DUDE!