Thursday, October 26, 2006
OxyContin Man makes silly talk
Monday admitted drug addict Rush Limbaugh attacked a political ad in which Michael J. Fox (who has Parkinson's disease) supports stem cell research and candidates who support the same. Limbaugh, who entered a drug recovery center in 2003 because he mistook piles of OxyContin and hydrocodone for Tic-Tacs, said “that Fox was “either off his medication or acting” while filming the commercial.
Sounds like someone’s been out of the spotlight too long. When was the last time anyone cared what this knucklehead had to say. I’ll tell you when. It was 2003, just a couple of months before Limbaugh was outed as a victim of prescription drugs jumping down his throat, when he said that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was “barely a mediocre quarterback” but everyone in the media was afraid to say it because “what we have here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback can do well—black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well.”
Well, last Sunday McNabb threw for 302 yards with 3 touchdowns and three interceptions... making him pretty darn mediocre. So, suck it Limbaugh!
Look, the point is not whether McNabb blows or not, it’s that Limbaugh crafts these statements to get people riled – and they are always statements that he doesn’t have to back up with facts.
Fox was “either off his medication or acting.”
“The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback can do well.”
What the hell is that? You can’t prove or disprove either of those statements. They are just out there to piss people off. Limbaugh later justified his statements about Fox by saying, “I have gotten a plethora of e-mails from people saying Michael J. Fox has admitted in interviews that he goes off his medication for Parkinson's disease when he appears before Congress or other groups as a means of illustrating the ravages of the disease.”
You see it, right? He’s not saying this. People who emailed him said it. Limbaugh’s just repeating it. Just like when he repeatedly took all those pretty little pills.
Look, Limbaugh has always been - and is now more than ever - a pathetic, small man in desperate need of attention.
You know that if you don’t feed a mouse for a couple of days it dies. Same thing here. Let’s turn away from the mics and cameras for a couple of days and see what happens to Limbaugh.
Sounds like someone’s been out of the spotlight too long. When was the last time anyone cared what this knucklehead had to say. I’ll tell you when. It was 2003, just a couple of months before Limbaugh was outed as a victim of prescription drugs jumping down his throat, when he said that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was “barely a mediocre quarterback” but everyone in the media was afraid to say it because “what we have here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback can do well—black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well.”
Well, last Sunday McNabb threw for 302 yards with 3 touchdowns and three interceptions... making him pretty darn mediocre. So, suck it Limbaugh!
Look, the point is not whether McNabb blows or not, it’s that Limbaugh crafts these statements to get people riled – and they are always statements that he doesn’t have to back up with facts.
Fox was “either off his medication or acting.”
“The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback can do well.”
What the hell is that? You can’t prove or disprove either of those statements. They are just out there to piss people off. Limbaugh later justified his statements about Fox by saying, “I have gotten a plethora of e-mails from people saying Michael J. Fox has admitted in interviews that he goes off his medication for Parkinson's disease when he appears before Congress or other groups as a means of illustrating the ravages of the disease.”
You see it, right? He’s not saying this. People who emailed him said it. Limbaugh’s just repeating it. Just like when he repeatedly took all those pretty little pills.
Look, Limbaugh has always been - and is now more than ever - a pathetic, small man in desperate need of attention.
You know that if you don’t feed a mouse for a couple of days it dies. Same thing here. Let’s turn away from the mics and cameras for a couple of days and see what happens to Limbaugh.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
They’ve learned and adapted…
Florida Boater Stabbed in Chest by Stingray Thu Oct. 19 (personal asides in italics)
LIGHTHOUSE POINT, Fla. - An 81-year-old man is in critical condition after a stingray flopped onto his boat and stung him, (i.e. Flew out of the water and tried to kill him and everyone else on the boat!) leaving a foot-long barb in his chest similar to the accident (Accident? Are these people blind? They've found our weak spot.) that killed "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin.
"It was a freak accident," (Where’ve I heard this before?) said Lighthouse Point acting fire Chief David Donzella. "It's very odd that the thing jumped out of the water and stung him. We still can't believe it." (Believe it, bucko!)
Fatal stingray attacks like the one that killed Irwin last month at the Great Barrier Reef are rare (Not anymore.), marine experts say. (Experts, pfft, what do they know?) Rays reflexively deploy a sharp spine in their tails when frightened, (or thirsting for blood) but the venom coating the barb usually causes just a painful sting for humans. (Death is painful.)
James Bertakis of Lighthouse Point was on the water with his granddaughter and a friend Wednesday when a stingray flopped (or acted like it "flopped") onto the boat and stung Bertakis. The women (bravely) steered the boat to shore and called 911.
Doctors were able to remove the barb during surgeries Wednesday and Thursday by eventually pulling it through his heart (yikes!) and closing the wound, said Dr. Eugene Costantini at Broward General Medical Center.
He said Bertakis' case was different from Irwin's because the barb stayed in Bertakis' heart and was not pulled out. Videotape of Irwin's last moments shows him pulling the barb from his chest. (D’oh! Tell me again how he was this great expert?)
Bertakis was apparently trying to remove the three-foot-wide spotted eagle ray from the boat when he was stung (brutally stabbed), police Cmdr. Mike Oh said.
Ellen Pikitch, a professor of marine biology and fisheries at the University of Miami, who has been studying stingrays for decades, said they are generally docile.
Docile, schmaocile. How much warning do we need, people? The Stingrays are one the move. They’ve tasted the sweet sting of a human kill and they hunger for more. This time it was Bertalis’ boat, but who knows where the next attack will occur. It’s Orange Alert time people.
Don’t be surprised when Stingrays start showing up at your front door.
LIGHTHOUSE POINT, Fla. - An 81-year-old man is in critical condition after a stingray flopped onto his boat and stung him, (i.e. Flew out of the water and tried to kill him and everyone else on the boat!) leaving a foot-long barb in his chest similar to the accident (Accident? Are these people blind? They've found our weak spot.) that killed "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin.
"It was a freak accident," (Where’ve I heard this before?) said Lighthouse Point acting fire Chief David Donzella. "It's very odd that the thing jumped out of the water and stung him. We still can't believe it." (Believe it, bucko!)
Fatal stingray attacks like the one that killed Irwin last month at the Great Barrier Reef are rare (Not anymore.), marine experts say. (Experts, pfft, what do they know?) Rays reflexively deploy a sharp spine in their tails when frightened, (or thirsting for blood) but the venom coating the barb usually causes just a painful sting for humans. (Death is painful.)
James Bertakis of Lighthouse Point was on the water with his granddaughter and a friend Wednesday when a stingray flopped (or acted like it "flopped") onto the boat and stung Bertakis. The women (bravely) steered the boat to shore and called 911.
Doctors were able to remove the barb during surgeries Wednesday and Thursday by eventually pulling it through his heart (yikes!) and closing the wound, said Dr. Eugene Costantini at Broward General Medical Center.
He said Bertakis' case was different from Irwin's because the barb stayed in Bertakis' heart and was not pulled out. Videotape of Irwin's last moments shows him pulling the barb from his chest. (D’oh! Tell me again how he was this great expert?)
Bertakis was apparently trying to remove the three-foot-wide spotted eagle ray from the boat when he was stung (brutally stabbed), police Cmdr. Mike Oh said.
Ellen Pikitch, a professor of marine biology and fisheries at the University of Miami, who has been studying stingrays for decades, said they are generally docile.
Docile, schmaocile. How much warning do we need, people? The Stingrays are one the move. They’ve tasted the sweet sting of a human kill and they hunger for more. This time it was Bertalis’ boat, but who knows where the next attack will occur. It’s Orange Alert time people.
Don’t be surprised when Stingrays start showing up at your front door.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Take Five, Daddy-O
Sorry for not posting in a while. I’ve been trying to come up with stuff to say about the Mark Foley scandal and the recent spatter of school shootings… and found that both topics pissed me off so much that I couldn’t get three paragraphs in without turning maudlin or rambling. So those sit (including one titled "Stop Shooting Kids," see, I told you), unfinished and scattered around my desktop.
However, I did see Dave Brubeck in concert last night. Now, if you’re anything like me, you’re first reaction to that is, “Dave Brubeck is still alive?”
Yup. Eighty-five years old (almost eighty-six, he was born December 6, 1920) and performing in a church. I went to the concert with some apprehension. Time Out was released in 1959, forty-seven years ago. “Is it even possible that he still has the chops?” I wondered.
Yup. He and his quartet members walked on stage (alter, whatever) each with white hair reflecting the lights and launched into On the Sunny Side of the Street. It was fantastic. They then played a second song I didn’t recognize and Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Sounds lame, I know, but it was the best version of the song I’ve ever heard. First, the main tune was buried deep beneath Burbeck’s piano playing, almost unrecognizable. Second, the saxophonist switched to a flute (not an electric flute) for this song only. It was pretty special.
They closed with Take Five. The Rolling Stones were also playing in Chicago that night and I had the thought that I could be at Soldier Field hearing Start Me Up for the fifty-billionth time (and in 40 degree weather, it was friggin’ cold here last night) instead of listening to the Man himself play Take Five live. Trust me, I made the correct choice. I have never seen four old men with such energy and creativity than I witnessed while watching Brubeck (playing piano), his saxophonist, bassist (stand up bass), and drummer play Take Five. The drummer gave an especially lively solo. You would think Brubeck would be bored of the song after forty-seven years. But if he is, it didn’t show. I guess that’s the beauty of jazz, if you’re good you never play a song the same way twice.
My only regret is they didn’t play Blue Rondo A La Turk, my personal favorite. All told they played for forty-five minutes leading to the intermission and the end of the jazz, or so I thought.
Since 1968, Brubeck has composed 10 of what he calls Sacred Compositions, or Christian themed music for choirs and symphonies. And Jazz Quartets, as it turns out.
I wasn’t half as interested in this part of the concert, but it turned out to be quite enjoyable, if a little jarring. I say that because several of the songs were structured so the choir would sing about the poor of spirit and how the kingdom of heaven is their’s, then Brubeck and his quartet would trade fours over the basic tune the choir was singing. I’m still not sure it “worked” but I liked it. The final song they played was a Christmas tune by Brubeck and his wife. It is the coolest Christmas song I have ever heard and I need a copy. Unfortunately the title wasn’t in the program. I’ll try to find it, but if any of you know, please post it in the comments.
All told, it was an incredible night and I feel very lucky to have been able to see a jazz legend who, all eighty-five years of him, still seemed at the top of his game.
Daddy-O.
However, I did see Dave Brubeck in concert last night. Now, if you’re anything like me, you’re first reaction to that is, “Dave Brubeck is still alive?”
Yup. Eighty-five years old (almost eighty-six, he was born December 6, 1920) and performing in a church. I went to the concert with some apprehension. Time Out was released in 1959, forty-seven years ago. “Is it even possible that he still has the chops?” I wondered.
Yup. He and his quartet members walked on stage (alter, whatever) each with white hair reflecting the lights and launched into On the Sunny Side of the Street. It was fantastic. They then played a second song I didn’t recognize and Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Sounds lame, I know, but it was the best version of the song I’ve ever heard. First, the main tune was buried deep beneath Burbeck’s piano playing, almost unrecognizable. Second, the saxophonist switched to a flute (not an electric flute) for this song only. It was pretty special.
They closed with Take Five. The Rolling Stones were also playing in Chicago that night and I had the thought that I could be at Soldier Field hearing Start Me Up for the fifty-billionth time (and in 40 degree weather, it was friggin’ cold here last night) instead of listening to the Man himself play Take Five live. Trust me, I made the correct choice. I have never seen four old men with such energy and creativity than I witnessed while watching Brubeck (playing piano), his saxophonist, bassist (stand up bass), and drummer play Take Five. The drummer gave an especially lively solo. You would think Brubeck would be bored of the song after forty-seven years. But if he is, it didn’t show. I guess that’s the beauty of jazz, if you’re good you never play a song the same way twice.
My only regret is they didn’t play Blue Rondo A La Turk, my personal favorite. All told they played for forty-five minutes leading to the intermission and the end of the jazz, or so I thought.
Since 1968, Brubeck has composed 10 of what he calls Sacred Compositions, or Christian themed music for choirs and symphonies. And Jazz Quartets, as it turns out.
I wasn’t half as interested in this part of the concert, but it turned out to be quite enjoyable, if a little jarring. I say that because several of the songs were structured so the choir would sing about the poor of spirit and how the kingdom of heaven is their’s, then Brubeck and his quartet would trade fours over the basic tune the choir was singing. I’m still not sure it “worked” but I liked it. The final song they played was a Christmas tune by Brubeck and his wife. It is the coolest Christmas song I have ever heard and I need a copy. Unfortunately the title wasn’t in the program. I’ll try to find it, but if any of you know, please post it in the comments.
All told, it was an incredible night and I feel very lucky to have been able to see a jazz legend who, all eighty-five years of him, still seemed at the top of his game.
Daddy-O.
