Retire #21

I'm in a fantasy NBA league and I named my team "The World B. Freeze".

World B. Free was the ONLY reason to see a Cleveland Cavaliers basketball game for a few years in the early 80's. Oh yeah, and he single-handedly saved pro basketball in Cleveland. If it weren't for Lloyd "World" B. Free, Lebron would not have a hometown team to even be lucky enough to get the chance to play for. He was about as cocky as they come and never met a jump shot he didn't like. He played sort of like my late uncle Jackie "Radar" Tidrick. When playing "Barn Ball" (I'll explain that some other time) Uncle Jackie used to yell "pass it to me, I MIGHT pass it back". He never passed it back. Anyway, the Cavs are going to honor him (World B. Free, not my uncle) before the game against the Clippers tomorrow night. Terry Pluto of the Akron Beacon Journal believes they should retire #21. I agree.

I'm a Liberal - well, duh!!!

If you're confused, take this short quiz to determine your political leanings.
Please reply to this post with your results. I got a 90/20 (personal/economical)

I didn't like the last question. Wish there was a "no" to tax cuts and "CHANGE" government spending but...

Suck Fony

Wheatus is one of my favorite bands. Unfortunately, I apparently am their only fan, though. Their last couple of CDs are nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find in stores around here in Pittsburgh. I have had to purchase the last two from iTunes because I am convinced they DON'T PHYSICALLY EXIST ANYWHERE! They released a "CD" called "Suck Fony" after many problems with Sony Music International.

Now I bought two CDs lately (Neil Diamond's "12 Songs" and Cyndi Lauper's "The Body Acoustic"). They are both great CDs (on Columbia - a Sony subsidiary) but they have this copy protection stuff on them that is PURE EVIL!!! I imported them on my iMac without a problem and have been listening to them on my iPod. However, when I tried to listen to them on my computer at work (Windows, of course), I could not because I had to install a program and I don't have administrator priveleges. Since I could not play them for my co-worker I let him borrow them to listen to at home. He tried to play them on his computer (also Windows) and he agreed to install the program. Now his CD burner doesn't work!! I researched it and sure enough, the program he had to install on his computer has disabled his CD burner.

I have felt for a while that the internet is going to make record companies irrelevant. With situations like this, Sony is just hurrying up their own demise. The moral of the story is to BUY these CDs on iTunes (or some similar service). Eventually the norm will be that artists (especially established artists like Neil Diamond & Cyndi Lauper) will distribute these directly to their fans, cut out the middle men like Sony and the music world will be a better place.

Kids at Play

The last two weekends we got to do fun stuff w/the kids. First we got to visit with my friend Stephanie (who once said "everyone has a 'weird aunt' I want to be your kids' 'weird aunt" - now my kids refer to her as "Weird Aunt Stephanie" much to her pleasure). We ate GREAT Pizza at Luigi's (in Akron, OH-we didn't see Chrissie Hynde this time, though - DRATS!!) and the kids played in the leaves at my dad's...

then this past weekend we went to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum... with our good friends Brian and Viv & their kids...

One of the great things about Brian & Viv is that they always seem to be in such a good mood. They also have great stories when talking about their relationship (their fights & such). They are so open about their idiosyncrosies and laugh about them with others. It's infectious (in a good way!). They remind me of a favorite quote: "Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused." Not sure of the author.

Republicans Love Rosa Parks

I am amused and infuriated at the same time when I read all of these Republicans praising Rosa Parks.

Any thinking person knows that if Rosa was to commit her defiant act TODAY, she would be criticized by all conservatives as being anti-American. I read a funny post from August on Huffington post about how Fox News would have treated Ms. Parks. Good stuff