February 2010 Archives

We started Irma LaDouce yesterday. I have never seen it but I have known about it forever. We're about halfway through this 2 hour 37 minute film and I don't know if I want to plow through to the end or cut my losses and delete it. I'm sure I have some profound defect when it comes to movies because I have never been a fan of Billy Wilder or Jack Lemmon. They've done a few together but they just don't do much for me. I'm about 100 minutes into Irma and it had better get better soon.. There has been about 15 minutes worth of interesting or funny stuff and the rest has been repetitious filler. Disappointing.

Off to watch some hockey now.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. 30 Days In The Hole - Humble Pie - A&M Records Classics Vol. 14
2. Hannah - Robin Trower - Essential
3. The Show Must Go On - Queen - Classic Queen
4. Cajun Song - Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience
5. Word On A Wing - David Bowie - Station To Station [Bonus Tracks]

I offer a few on this lovely CrabAppleLane Sunday. Not wild about still needing heat here on the last day of February but our cats don't seem to mind.

Priscilla enjoying the stove - February 28, 2010

CrabAppleLane End of Winter Textures - February 28, 2010

The Clearing Project - February 28, 2010

The Clearing Project - February 28, 2010

Quote of the Day

If you live on the road
Well there's a new highway code
You take the urban noise with some Durban Poison
It's gonna lessen your load
30 days in the hole
That's what they give you now
30 days in the hole
Oh, yeah

Humble Pie, 30 Days In The Hole

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "When the debate about great leaders in sports comes about, Mark Messier's name is almost always given. His glare, as seen on the cover to the left, is legendary, and the stories of his leadership make him sound more like a Greek god than a mortal hockey player."

Incredible earthquake disaster in Chile today. Hopefully, people around the world aren't too catastrophe-weary to help.

Team USA versus Team Canada in men's hockey tomorrow for the gold medal. I'm not a big fan of the Olympics any more but I will try to catch that. Caught a bit of a women's curling event the other day in my office lunch room because it was on and someone there before me had the controls. I have no idea what that sport is about or who was doing well but it was kinda fun to watch. I'll also add my two cents to what's been said about the Canadian women's hockey team celebrating their gold medal in hockey. Lighten up, folks. It was neither offensive nor excessive. For more and better, go here and here. One other thing from me: Congratulations, ladies.

The You're So Vain mystery never held much interest for me. It wasn't that long ago that I thought it was nothing more than a song on the radio. All music is about someone or something, maybe real, maybe not, I suppose, but if I'm still listening to it many years later, it's usually not that important to me any more. How many people still think of the casino fire in Montreux when they hear Smoke on the Water? How many people ever thought of it or knew it was about a real event?

This is going to be the slowest offseason ever in the NFL. There are fewer than usual free agents of interest this year to begin with but having no collective bargaining agreement in place means teams are going to be a little more cautious than normal regarding them. The top four teams from last year, the Saints, Vikings, Colts, and Jets are having caution forced upon them. I don't expect much movement. Because I'm a fantasy football player, I always have an interest in what's going on with running backs. In today's NFL, free agent running backs are like used cars. The more mileage they have on them, the less interest they command. Chester Taylor and Darren Sproles, who are backups on their current teams, will undoubtedly generate more free agent interest than Ladainian Tomlinson, Brian Westbrook, and Jamal Lewis, who were all starters for most of their careers. Tomlinson declared the other day that he could play four more years. Unless he learns and becomes very good at another position, he's wrong but that's moot anyway. He'll never get that chance. Oh, and one other thing about defensive end Julius Peppers: He'll be asking for $15-$20 million per year from potential suitors. General Manager Rob wouldn't go near him for that kind of money. For one thing, that's top quarterback money. A top defensive end will never have the same impact on a team or a game that a top quarterback will have. For another, Peppers piles up the majority of his stats against 2 or 3 opponents, all outside of his division, that are good matchups for him. He disappears the rest of the time. He can be handled effectively without any special attention and that's entirely too much money for a player as inconsistent and unmotivated as him. Pass.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Terminal Frost - Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
2. Part 2:So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star - Nazareth - Close Enough For Rock 'N' Roll
3. Iron Man - Black Sabbath - We Sold Our Soul For Rock 'N' Roll
4. Tuesday Afternoon - The Moody Blues - Moody Blues Greatest Hits
5. Hocus Pocus - Focus - Rock Of The 70's

Quote of the Day

Maybe he should invite Brees to Indy to serve as his personal representative. Well ... on second thought ... maybe having Brees in Indianapolis while the Super Bowl wounds are fresh isn't the best of ideas.

Drew Sharp, Detroit Free Press

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Slovakia defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, a former King, took his country's semifinal loss to Canada on Friday stoically."

I saw Aerosmith once. It was many years ago at City Park in New Orleans. Rocks had just come out so it must have been summer 1976. They were at the top of their game. Steven Tyler is probably the worst live singer I have ever seen and that was when he still had a little bit of a voice. After the 3rd song in their set, his voice was shot. The music was still top notch, though. When we left, they were playing Sweet Emotion and I don't think I'll ever forgive him for the way he ruined that long and fantastic intro the rest of the band gave him. It would have been a showstopper had he been able to do his part worth a damn. It was that good. Rock n Roll screamers usually sound different live than they do on their albums because they can't maintain their voice night after night if they don't adjust. You just can't scream at the top of your lungs every night for every song. Singers like Robert Plant and Ian Gillan adapted and sounded great live. Tyler never did. I won't waste any of my money on them. Steve Marriott is the lone exception to that screaming rule but that guy was an animal. He lived hard and died hard. Saw him once, too. He was with Humble Pie and I would pay almost anything to see that band again.

Speaking of screamers, Newt Gingrich in USA Today:

Unless fiscal discipline is restored, our children and grandchildren will not inherit a country that leads by principle, encourages a free-market economy and responds to those in need throughout the world.

He doesn't really scream but his rhetoric does. The drinking game catchphrase for Gingrich is "children and grandchildren". It should be childrenandgrandchildren because it is one word the way he says it. He almost never says one without the other and all of his pontifications include it. I think he's running for POTUS in 2012. He's too mean for the job.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Alone And Forsaken (with Dave Mathews) - Neil Young - Hope For Haiti Now
2. Outside The Wall - Pink Floyd - The Wall [Disc 2]
3. I Guess You're Right - The Posies - Every Kind of Light
4. Shadows - Gordon Lightfoot - Gord's Gold Volume II
5. Stormtroopin' - Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent

Quote of the Day

The next day I'm at the ball park in Cleveland, all packed, ready to drive back home to New Orleans. I'm just looking around, killing time, and I walk into this room piled high with stacks of programs to Game 5. Could have taken as many as I wanted. I always regretted not taking one.

Bo Strickland, Cleveland Indians

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "I'm no fan of Rom-Com's unless it's got a Zom in the middle of it or it's the surprisingly decent "It's Complicated", and I struggle to understand what is the point of them as most are so formulaic and predictable but they keep getting made with little degree of success so I entered the screening of Leap Year with little confidence and walked out at the end with little to boost my feelings towards this genre."

Today's BOTD reminded me of our experience with wild turkeys after Katrina. Ours weren't exactly fearless but I also couldn't chase them away. They just wouldn't leave. The male stopped flying. He preferred to run and was eventually killed and eaten by a wild animal around here, probably an owl/hawk/eagle, a coyote, a bobcat, or even one of the Florida panthers we have in the vicinity. A Florida panther is essentially a slightly smaller version of a mountain lion. I found the carcass in the yard. It was picked clean. Nothing left but bones and feathers. It had to be a big animal to do that because he was big. The female hung around for a day or two after and then moved on. It was nice to see these birds at first but they eventually became a nuisance. I didn't want to kill them. I just wanted them to move along. They should have listened to me.

Congratulations to Kelly Kulick. Rick Reilly has a very nice column up on her. The line below from that piece was going to be QOTD but I was kinda flabbergasted by the other one.

Of course, Kulick has been in fewer gutters than Queen Elizabeth.

That one made my day and I totally agree with him. The lack of recognition is not right. Good on you, Reilly, for shining the light at least a little.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. The Dirty Jobs - The Who - Quadrophenia [Disc 1]
2. Sussudio - Phil Collins - Hits
3. Breaking The Law [Live] - Judas Priest - Living After Midnight
4. Rose In The Heather - Nazareth - Hair Of The Dog
5. Locked Within the Crystal Ball - Blackmore's Night - Secret voyage

About today's QOTD: At first, I just wanted it to lie there in all its glory but then I thought there may be a 1 in 258974458784 chance that someone here may think that I agree with that shite. I do not. Whitley's comment is asinine.

Quote of the Day

Rule No. 1 in determining whether an activity is a sport: If the best female in the world can beat the best male in the world, it doesn't qualify.

David Whitley, FanHouse

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Wild turkeys grow to be 4 feet tall and weigh around 20 pounds. Not exactly lightweights! Following their reintroduction, they surprised everyone--including wildlife officials--by being adaptable to residential, even urban, living, with thriving populations in Boston and Cambridge."

The business side of the National Football League sucks. I know revenue and growth are important so there are always going to be price increases and contentious stadium talks and labor/management issues. I hate those parts and they tend to make me angry when I think about them too much. The release of declining players makes me sad, though. The release this week of two such players, Ladainian Tomlinson and Brian Westbrook, reminds me of what us Saints fans went through last year when the Saints had to part ways with Deuce McAllister. They're all fan favorites. ALL fantasy football players know these guys. They've been fantasy stars for years. I had Tomlinson as a rookie on one of my teams. I think both players will have difficulty finding a team this season and I don't think either has much left to give. The NFL took most of it.

One sports pundit wondered if the release of Tomlinson signaled the end of the era of the workhorse running back. I think that transition has been well underway for a while. I think only Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson qualify as workhorses that can last a whole season now but even they have quality backups that give them a spell. At their current pace, Johnson will be the last of the breed. Johnson uses his speed and cutting ability to weave through the defense. Peterson is a contact junkie like Earl Campbell was. It's a blast to watch but it's not conducive to longevity.

Kinda strange that running backs are now considered less durable than in the past even though tough, hard tackling hardly exists in the league these days.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. You're A Heathen Of Love - Marian Bradfield - Celtic Woman
2. Who's Behind The Door? - Zebra - Zebra
3. Hard Cases - A Shot At Glory Soundtrack/Mark Knopfler - A Shot At Glory: A Mark Knopfler Soundtrack
4. Two Hearts - Phil Collins - Hits
5. The River Is Wide - The Grass Roots - 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best Of The Grass Roots

About today's QOTD: I ate a $19 cheeseburger once but someone else picked up the check. I think the most I've ever paid was $14 but that came with fries and a drink. I love cheeseburgers but $250 is way out of my range. I think a good gourmet burger should cost $8-$12 tops.

Quote of the Day

You don't think of paying $250 a person when it comes to trying different forms of cheeseburgers. That's a pretty damn expensive cheeseburger.

Adam Rosenfeld, Financial adviser

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "It is rumoured that my son can, or rather has, travelled in time."

LSU's baseball team is off to a decent start after they swept Centenary this weekend. That, coupled with Texas losing two of three, sent the Tigers to the top of some of the polls. The polls are meaningless at this time of year. Too much can still happen. Overmatched Centenary gave the Tigers some trouble in two of the three games so there is most definitely room for improvement. The polls don't matter until May. I wish they never mattered. If you're still in these popularity contests in late May, there's a decent chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament and the higher up you are, the more likely you'll get to play tournament games at home. There is nothing really fair about NCAA baseball. Southern and western schools have enormous advantages. They're playing and practicing every day right now. Baseball is an every day game. Schools in other parts of the country can't practice or play much during the week due to weather. Boston College and St John's, two northern schools, traveled to New Orleans this past weekend to play games against Tulane and UNO. Those northern schools have to spend a ton of money on travel expenses in order to just get in some weekend games. It's why they don't do well later in the year.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Whistle Theme - Mark Knopfler & Alan Clark - Local Hero Soundtrack
2. A Great Day For Freedom - Pink Floyd - Pulse [Live] [Disc 1]
3. Dobhar - Clannad - Anam
4. Mary's Kitchen - Old Crow Medicine Show - Tennessee Pusher
5. Children Of The Grave - Black Sabbath - We Sold Our Soul For Rock 'N' Roll

About today's QOTD: One could argue anything, I suppose, but anyone arguing that won't be taken seriously here. There are teams in Indianapolis, New Orleans, New England, Pittsburgh, San Diego, and Green Bay who wouldn't dream of trading quarterbacking places with the Eagles. If the Eagles go to camp this season with three starting caliber quarterbacks, their management will have failed spectacularly. Vick or McNabb has to go.

Quote of the Day

It could be argued that no team in the NFL is in a better quarterbacking place than the Philadelphia Eagles.

Vic Carucci, NFL.com

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "LSU's 25-8 rout of Centenary Saturday night was the 1,000th victory of Paul Mainieri's career, the last two coming in the season after he guided the Tigers to the 2009 national championship."

No, not the dreadful last Roger Waters Pink Floyd effort. This is 2004's The Final Cut with Robin Williams. I had recorded it a few weeks ago off of the Independent Film Channel. This is a surprisingly intriguing film. Imagine being implanted with a device that will record everything you see and hear for your entire life. Your parents do this if they can afford it and then they tell you about it at some point in your life when they think you can handle it. When you die, a person called a "cutter" removes the implant and reduces the footage to a few select good memories that your loved ones want to see and they present them in a "rememory" ceremony, which is basically a movie of your life with all of the bad stuff edited out. Robin Williams plays a cutter. The film briefly explores some of the moral and ethical dilemmas of that technology (See QOTD) while also telling his story, which includes a very dark episode in his past. This isn't normally my kind of film and the "science fiction" description in its listing almost kept me away from it but I'm glad it didn't. I liked it a lot.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Walking Towards Paradise - Robert Plant - Now And Zen
2. Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye - Steam - Rock 'n Roll Relix 1968-1969
3. Massacre/Canoes - Trevor Jones - The Last Of The Mohicans Soundtrack
4. Stormtroopin' - Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent
5. Hymn 43 - Jethro Tull - Aqualung

Quote of the Day

This girl was a complete wreck - drinking, drugs, in and out of schools. Then she turns 21... and she finds out about her Zoe implant. Complete 180. She's born again. Her knowing that someone would one day watch... transforms her into this kind, gentle, loving person.

Hasan, The Final Cut

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "It was about 2-3 minutes into this film, that I realized that I am not the target audience for this film."

I know that experience well. -Rob

Crawfish are magically scarce and expensive right now in Louisiana. It's because of cold weather, the position of the moon, too much rain, not enough rain, or the price of gasoline. It has nothing whatsoever to do with people's desire to eat seafood during Lent. The seafood industry would never, ever take advantage of religious beliefs. It is sheer coincidence that they have benefited from this consistent phenomenon for 30-40 years in a row.

New Orleans held a jazz funeral yesterday for the "Aints". Good riddance. Now, if they could just do the same with that Who Dat cheer. This Saints fan has always hated it.

Know what a Fibonacci spiral is? Neither did I. Further study may be required.

I have not watched a single event or even a single report on the 2010 Winter Olympics. One might say that because I was born and raised in the south, I have no knowledge of or interest in winter sports. I loved the 1980 USA Hockey team and watched all of their games but that really wasn't about sports. I don't watch the Summer Olympics any more, either, although I did watch the Gold Medal game in basketball last time. The Olympics just don't do it for me any more. My sports world these days is limited to football, baseball, and just a little basketball. In that order.

Speaking of football, the Minnesota Vikings are sending 60 representatives to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis this week. Geez, do all teams do that? 32 X 60 = 1920 people to look at maybe 200 players? All of that time, energy, and money devoted to evaluate talent and I think they still miss as much or more than they hit.

Speaking of baseball, spring training opens today for most Major League Baseball teams. Not sure why most clubs make the pitchers and catchers report ahead of the rest of the team. I witnessed some pretty horrific fielding and base-running last year. It bothers me a great deal that some players have reached the top of the sport without sound fundamentals. Is it too much to ask that the guy who hits 30 homers also hit the cutoff man once in a while? A little extra practice and instruction wouldn't hurt those guys. Make them report, too. The big question this season, of course, is: Can anyone keep the Yankees from repeating?

Speaking of basketball, the Hornets, our local team, are struggling. With superstar guard Chris Paul, they're fairly ordinary. Without him, they're less. They've been without him for a few weeks now. I haven't kept up with them much this season because there was another sports team in New Orleans having a year that was a lot more exciting.

I offer one from the CrabAppleLane Backyard this dreary Sunday afternoon. Hopefully, things will brighten up around here next weekend when the real yard work starts up.

CrabAppleLane Backyard - February 21, 2010

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Cajun Waltz - Sonny Landreth - South Of I-10
2. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting - Elton John - Greatest Hits 1970-2002 [Disc 1]
3. It Was A Good Time - The Mike Curb Congregation - Greatest Hits
4. 30 Days In The Hole - Humble Pie - A&M Records Classics Vol. 14
5. Paranoid - Black Sabbath - We Sold Our Soul For Rock 'N' Roll

Today's QOTD is from Scott Fujita's diary. What a treat that was to read.

Quote of the Day

I was quite popular with the reporters from Japan. They came an awfully long way to meet the big white guy with the Japanese name.

Scott Fujita, New Orleans Saints Linebacker

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "It's beautiful here at home, but only if you like snow!"

Make sure you click on the picture. Just gorgeous. -Rob

I'll get out in the yard today to make mental notes about what I need to do, what I would like to do, and what I can do. In other words, procrastinating. I have rather simple goals for spring-summer-fall 2010: Further The Clearing Project along, plant a spring tomato garden, and work on making the yard lower maintenance. Progress on the Clearing Project will be done in small increments in my spare time. There is no hurry and I have no exact plan other than to make a space. The spring tomato garden is three or four weeks away. I'll have fewer bushes this season and I plan to take better and longer care of them. I had too many last year, they were too close together, and I kinda got lazy on their routine maintenance late in the season. As for the rest of the yard, the plan is to make it lower maintenance across the board by planting permanent shrubs and trees in areas where I usually plant something annually and making more of the yard accessible to maintenance by the tractor rather than the push mower or weed whacker. Quite a bit extra work this year in order to make a little less work for myself in coming years. The irony is not lost on me. Not a big fan of irony.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Storms - Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
2. Moonlight And Madness - Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Night Castle (Amazon MP3 Exclusive Version)
3. Mama Told Me (Not To Come) - Three Dog Night - The Best Of Three Dog Night
4. My Old Lady - Mark Knopfler & Dave Edmunds - The Booze Brothers By Brewers Droop
5. The Prophet's Song - Queen - A Night At The Opera

Quote of the Day

I dreamed I saw on a moonlit stair
Spreading his hands on the multitude there
A man who cried for a love gone stale
And ice cold hearts of charity bare

Queen, The Prophet's Song

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "I have this "distant view" playing the piano in a garden...just me and the piano and the plants and the morning sun, and the mist....and the music...."

LSU opens their baseball season tonight against Centenary at Alex Box Stadium. They won the national championship last season and are ranked 2nd this year in one poll, 3rd in another. They're loaded with talented athletes in the field and at the plate. They have one stud starting pitcher who figures to be a top five draft pick this season and they also have a stud closer. They need a second and third starter to emerge. I would like to have seen them play someone a little more prominent this opening weekend but they try to play most of the Louisiana universities in baseball. LSU does it mostly as a good will gesture and also to keep the criticism that they get too much attention at bay. Those schools do it for the money. In a sport where most universities lose money, playing LSU is their best pay day. The danger, of course, is that even a small school could have a pitcher who can pitch out of his mind for one game and that lofty ranking will tumble. I plan to go to at least one game this season at The Box but it will be an SEC game this year.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. The Last Day On Earth - Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals
2. All Of Them! - Hans Zimmer - King Arthur Soundtrack
3. Speedway At Nazareth - Mark Knopfler - Sailing To Philadelphia
4. Sookie, Sookie - Steppenwolf - All Time Greatest Hits
5. Easy To Be Hard (Live At The Forum) - Three Dog Night - Captured Live At The Forum (Reissue)

Quote of the Day

New England, Ontario we died in the dirt
Those walls from mid-Ohio to Toronto they hurt
So we came to Road America where we burned up the lake
But at the speedway at Nazareth I made no mistake

Mark Knopfler, Speedway at Nazareth

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Jim Bibby passed away yesterday in Virginia."

Sorry to hear about Jim Bibby. One of the best games I ever saw was a Pirates-Phillies game where he was pitching against Steve Carlton. There were future Hall-of-Famers all over that field that night. R.I.P., Jim. -Rob

Trying to settle into the football offseason. Not as easy to let go this time as in the past but that's a problem I'll gladly live with. Loved the "Run this town" promo in the Super Bowl broadcast just before the second half kickoff. This isn't the exact one but it's close. Don't care for the rap portion but Rihanna's singing is a knockout.

203 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Neighbour Neighbour - Status Quo - STATUS QUO The Collection
2. The Load-Out - Jackson Browne - Running On Empty
3. Til I Hear It From You - Gin Blossoms - Empire Records Soundtrack
4. Dirty Woman - Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy
5. So Far Away - Carole King - Tapestry

About today's QOTD: I was reminded of it yesterday. If you know the movie, Jules wasn't talking to a person struggling with the language.

Quote of the Day

English, motherfucker, do you speak it?

Jules Winnfield, Pulp Fiction

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "On a scale of 1 to 10, this was negative gabillion, which is a very large fake number."

The day after Mardi Gras in New Orleans is always a bit somber. The cold, dreary weather here is appropriate.

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is a good sport. Tip of the cap to you, sir.

Accelerator problems on some models, brake problems on others, and, now, power steering problems on their best seller. The public relations nightmare and consumer outrage that I've seen so far seems awfully small considering the scale and also considering that there are deaths involved. No doubt their years of building and establishing their brand have helped but I still think they're getting a wee bit more forgiveness than they deserve. They didn't even acknowledge the accelerator problem until there was overwhelming evidence and then they blamed the wrong thing: Floor mats that could bunch up. They're standing up and getting in front of their problems now. Better late than never, I suppose.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Breathe - Pink Floyd - Pulse [Live] [Disc 2]
2. Easy Lover - Phil Collins - Hits
3. The Lucky One - Alison Krauss & Union Station - Live [Disc 1]
4. Carefree Highway - Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits
5. Ready, Steady, Go - The Meices - Empire Records Soundtrack

Quote of the Day

I can eat Oreos faster than you, Peyton.

Scott Fujita, New Orleans Saints linebacker in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Their twelve-year-old neighbor Anne Frank can be seen leaning out from the window she is still free to open, looking onto the street where she'll be free to walk for eleven months more."

Lots of people out celebrating on my birthday. It's Mardi Gras in the Greater New Orleans area today. I'm guessing the purple, green, and gold traditional colors of Mardi Gras will have a lot of black and gold interspersed throughout the crowd and it will be the happiest Mardi Gras ever.

Baseball is now on the horizon. It doesn't excite me as much as football any more but I still love the game. I plan to hit The Box at least once this season. The Tigers figure to be very strong again. In the majors, Joe Mauer is really in the catbird seat. He's a yearly MVP candidate in his prime and he's a local guy. Signing him is not only good baseball for the Twins, it's good business. Obviously, he and his people know it. It's going to cost them but I don't think they have much choice. Letting him go to the Red Sox or Yankees would cost them even more in baseball and business. The Yankees and, especially, the Red Sox both need catchers and would open their well-stocked vaults for him and I suspect they'd get into a bidding war. The object of a bidding war between the Yankees and Red Sox? Is that ever the place to be. Mauer and his people know that, too.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. No One Came - Deep Purple - Fireball
2. Mistreated - Deep Purple - Burn
3. Come On, Come On - Cheap Trick - Original Album Classics
4. Crazy Life - Toad The Wet Sprocket - Empire Records Soundtrack
5. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap [Live] - AC/DC - AC/DC Live

Quote of the Day

MIAMI--On the heels of their 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, the New Orleans Saints rose to the third spot in the most recent NFL team power rankings. "With Drew Brees running the offense, this team has what it takes to be among of the best," ESPN.com reporter John Clayton wrote in his entry on the World Champion Saints. "I'm still not convinced their defense can take them all the way to the top, though. As I said in my rankings, I think the Colts are just a better club overall. And of course I like the depth of talent on the Cowboys." Clayton said he expected "big things" from the Saints in the 2010 season.

The Onion

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "The 2010 Mardi Gras celebration marks the 173rd year of parading in New Orleans."

Lundi Gras is the day before Mardi Gras in case you didn't know. It never used to be that big a deal in New Orleans because people were resting up from the big weekend's parades and preparing for Fat Tuesday. There were always some parades on Lundi Gras but they weren't very well attended. Now, there are huge well-attended parades and quite a bit of activity on the day before the day. Some people will be active for all five days of the carnival weekend. I don't know how they do it. At the top of my drinking/partying heyday, I couldn't do a Friday-Saturday-Sunday-Monday-Tuesday bender.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Smoke On The Water - Deep Purple - Machine Head (Roger Glover Remixes) [Disc 2]
2. Get Back Up - Tom Cochrane - Mad Mad World
3. Same Old Song And Dance - Aerosmith - Get Your Wings
4. Summer House - Better Than Ezra - Deluxe
5. Love Under Fire - Tom Cochrane & Red Rider - Tom Cochrane And Red Rider

About today's QOTD: My guess is the owners want the players to relieve some of the owner's portion of the costs, not the taxpayers' portion. A work stoppage of any kind for any reason is ludicrous. There is plenty enough cash in that NFL cow to go around. What's even more ludicrous is that both sides will look to the $5 hot dog, non-millionaire fans like me for support/sympathy/whatever. Bit of unsolicited, unwanted advice for both sides: Don't waste any time posturing for me. Just get it done.

Quote of the Day

The fact is, owners want players to bear some burden for the costs of all the stadiums that have been built in recent years, and players don't want to pay for something they've never paid for before. That's the elephant in the negotiating room right now, and no one's budging.

Peter King, Sports Illustrated

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "In New Mexico, All Roads lead to...Outerspace"

Happy Valentine's Day

Got plans?

There are so many interesting tidbits about Valentine's Day that I thought I might share a few. My favorite tidbit comes courtesy of Wikipedia (From a few years ago. The entry may have been edited since):

In Slovenia, a proverb says that "St Valentine brings the keys of roots," so on February 14, plants and flowers start to grow. Valentine's Day has been celebrated as the day when the first works in the vineyards and on the fields commence. It is also said that birds propose to each other or marry on that day.

I think that last sentence a bit fanciful but who cares? It's harmless fancy and I like it. Another tidbit comes from The History Channel (Also from a few years ago. The entry may have been edited since):

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailer's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today.

Also a bit fanciful. When I was a kid, people used to route their Valentine cards by mail through Valentine, Nebraska so they'd have a Valentine postmark. I don't remember how to do that and I'm not sure that it can even still be done.

They celebrate it a bit differently in Saudi Arabia. Had to include that because it contains a committee with my all-time favorite title: The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

Watch out for these guys and have a Happy Valentine's Day. Have a red Rose on me

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Dance to the Music - Sly & The Family Stone - Dance to the Music
2. One Vision - Queen - Classic Queen
3. Poor Butterfly [Instrumental] - Sonny Rollins - Working Girl Soundtrack
4. Beethoven: Violin Sonata #9 In A, Op. 47, "Kreutzer" - 1. Adagio Sostenuto, Presto - Pamela Frank, Emanuel Ax - Immortal Beloved Soundtrack
5. Upon A Golden Horse - Page & Plant - Walking Into Clarksdale

The Krewe of Bacchus is a Mardi Gras organization that has had an illustrious list of kings over the years starting with that first year's king, 1969's Danny Kaye. It's a list that includes Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, and Kirk Douglas. This year's king will receive the warmest reception of them all. All hail King Bacchus 2010, Drew Brees.

I offer three from the backyard. They offer signs of spring, signs of winter, and signs of neglect. I'll be planting tomato bushes in a few weeks.

CrabAppleLane Backyard - February 14, 2010

CrabAppleLane Backyard - February 14, 2010

CrabAppleLane Backyard - February 14, 2010

Quote of the Day

I'm not greedy, I'm not asking for 80 years, just 60 from the time of the diagnosis. So pretty soon that goes down to 59.

Sally Ainley, 20

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "She lives a life of scrumdillydilly and loves to share."

If the idea was to make me laugh, I guess it worked. If the idea was to put me at ease when I get on your plane, I'm not sure. I have no fear of flying issues but people that do are probably a substantial portion of every flight. Ridiculing their fears doesn't seem to me to be good business, not that I know much about good business.

Last bits of football for a while. Time to enter the CrabAppleLane offseason. I want to thank the Saints for a season that I'll never forget. I'm not a big believer in destiny. They parlayed a little good fortune with a lot of hard work and quite a bit more talent than they get credit for into a championship. With 20 guys, including several starters, coming back off of injured reserve to compete for roster spots next season and with a good and fairly young nucleus in place, they can contend in the NFC for quite a while as long as they maintain their focus. One thing is certain. The Saints will not be out-quarterbacked very often. To borrow a line from Mark Knopfler; "He got the action, he got the motion. Oh yeah, the boy can play."

Because I'm a football junkie, I absolutely love NFL.com and the NFL Network. I'll mention just two examples because I might otherwise get even more carried away than I already am. In this short video segment, you see exactly how and why a player was in position to make one of the the biggest plays of the game. Fantastic, if you're a football geek. In another one, Reggie Bush is calling the touchdown. The Saints ran that screen play all year and it went for a touchdown many times. It's a fantastic play because the linebackers and secondary see those gigantic linemen rolling downhill at them and they have to try to dodge them and find Pierre. Not an easy task.

About Pierre Thomas: He was signed as an un-drafted rookie free agent three years ago. He beat out the 4th round pick that year, Antonio Pittman, for a roster spot even though the team gave Pittman most of the preseason playing time. Thomas was simply the better player then and has gotten even better since. He'll be one of many restricted free agents the Saints have this year. Some of them will be allowed to go out and test the market, see what they can get, and the team will decide if they want to match. I think they'll take the initiative with Pierre, though. He's earned a nice raise and this Saints fan would hate to lose him.

It's great but a little hectic to be Drew Brees these days. Super Bowl in Miami Sunday, Disney World in Orlando Monday afternoon, Letterman in New York City Monday night, and parading in New Orleans Tuesday night. He's also made appearances on Ellen Degeneres in Los Angeles and Oprah in Chicago this week. He'll be King of the Bacchus Parade in New Orleans this Sunday night and, hopefully, be allowed to catch his breath for a few weeks afterward.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. The Bitch Is Back - Elton John - Greatest Hits 1970-2002 [Disc 1]
2. No Can Do - Mark Knopfler - Golden Heart
3. I Dreamt I Dwelt In Marble Halls - Meav - Méav
4. Time [Live] - Pink Floyd - Delicate Sound Of Thunder [Disc 2]
5. What It Is - Mark Knopfler - Live From The Ryman

About today's QOTD: I think I'd resent that if I were a Colts player. You win as a team, you lose as a team. Besides, I thought their offensive line played pretty good.

Quote of the Day

Our offensive line, by our standards, did not have a good game. They were outplayed by the Saints' defensive line.

Bill Polian, Indianapolis Colts

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Things were looking good for the Colts yesterday at the end of the first quarter with them up 10-0. Even at the half with the Colts up 10-6 the coaches had to be happy. But then the roof caved in as the Saints recovered a onside kick to start the second half and they never looked back outscoring the Colts 25-7 the rest of the game."

Still not quite ready to move into the football offseason. The old "wait til next year" cry is still appropriate here but for an entirely different reason. The 2010 Kickoff Classic will feature the Saints versus either the Vikings or Steelers in the SuperDome. Those are the two most attractive games on the Saints home schedule. If Brett Favre comes back for another season, it's a no-brainer for the NFL. It will be Minnesota, who would like nothing more than to bust up the party. For intensity, the Vikings and Saints played the best game this season. There were great plays by both teams, there were mistakes by both teams. There was no separation. It was brutal football between equals. That's how football should be played. The Vikings and their fans are going all out to encourage Favre to come back. I think that effort will succeed. Unlike the Packers, who just wanted him to make up his mind one way or the other, the Vikings and their fans want him back. I think that will be the difference.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Sea And Sand - The Who - Quadrophenia [Disc 2]
2. I Can't Wait Much Longer - Robin Trower - Essential
3. Cheatin' - Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience
4. Returning Home (North and South) - Bill Conti - The Right Stuff / North and South Soundtrack
5. If This Is Goodbye - Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - All The Roadrunning

Quote of the Day

Of course there invariably will be some who will have seen similarly ideal snapshots of New Orleans on TV and will forget them just as quickly as they flashed on the screen. For the rest of us who were here, the images won't just last a lifetime, they may well define it.

Andrew Lawrence, Sports Illustrated

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Down a touchdown late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIV, 5 yards from a first down and 31 yards short of a tie score, Manning tossed his Ruthian legacy into the arms of Tracy Porter, throwing the interception that decided the game and, in all likelihood, cemented Manning's reputation as a big-game disappointment."

Another sports pundit who can't see past his nose. Peyton Manning's legacy is still being written. -Rob

CBS-Sportsline message board quote sent to me by my friend, Hyde:

BLOWOUT. I do not think Indy will turn it over 5 times and have the Refs clearly side with the Saints. It's a shame we have to watch this crappy Saint team when the game real fans wanted to see was Vikes/Colts. Oh well, the commercials ain't bad.

P.S. The Saints are only down 10 .... They will never be this close again. TOTAL BLOWOUT. 48 -7 is my guess.

Alrighty then.

And this one I found at The New York Post in a column titled "Mark My Words":

NFC DIVISIONAL ROUND

-Saints 41, Cardinals 10. The Saints explode. I can even see them scoring 50.

-Cowboys 27, Vikings 21. Tony Romo - maybe one of the most underrated players in the league, believe it or not.

NFC TITLE GAME

- Cowboys 31, Saints 24. No NFC team is that impressive. I always liked Minnesota better than New Orleans anyway but the Vikings can't be trusted right now. I say the Cowboys are going to Miami.

Consider your words marked. How bout them Cowboys?

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Genocide - Judas Priest - Sad Wings Of Destiny
2. Expresso Love - Dire Straits - Alchemy [Disc 1]
3. Some Kind Of Wonderful - Grand Funk Railroad - Caught In The Act
4. An American Hero - Mark Knopfler - Wag The Dog Soundtrack
5. There Goes My Baby - The Drifters - 16 Greatest Hits

Quote of the Day

And I don't think the Saints are going away. No one really thinks Brett Favre is going away either, which keeps Minnesota in the mix.

Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas Morning News

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Go Saints, but more important, please be an entertaining game!"

They're World Champions. I'm certain that will sink in one day soon. I'm sure I'll be alone in my thoughts, probably in my truck driving or on the couch semi-watching some CME, when a wave will hit me carrying all of the emotion and memories and the coulda woulda shouldas that have accumulated over 43 mostly bad, but still glorious, years of being a Saints fan. I know it's coming. It can't sneak up on me. I still won't be ready for it.

A friend went to the Saints victory parade yesterday. I should say she tried to go. She left the NorthShore at noon or so for the hour's commute to the SuperDome. By the 5PM parade start time, she hadn't gotten off of the interstate yet. Don't know how that turned out yet. My sister also headed down there for it. Biggest parade ever in New Orleans is what they're saying.

I'm not liking the things I'm reading all over the web about Peyton Manning. Seems to be coming mostly from Patriots fans and Tom Brady fans. Manning is a class act and a great player by any standard. He doesn't like to lose and seeing the determination and frustration on his face, derided as "The Manning Face", is the ultimate compliment he could pay the Saints. He was all in.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window - Joe Cocker - Joe Cocker!
2. Back Home Again - John Denver - Back Home Again
3. Rock 'N Roll Widow - Wishbone Ash - Live Dates [Disc 1]
4. Take Me Back - Humble Pie - A&M Records Classics Vol. 14
5. On The 4th Of July - James Taylor - October Road

Quote of the Day

The stage is set for Peyton heroics. These next 5 minutes will be remembered forever.

Fletcher during a live chat

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "There is much work to be done in Alameda before the Raiders can even begin to contemplate adding another trophy to the cabinet. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but Al Davis doesn't have a flattering bone in his body. He still desires to do things his way no matter the results."

As if New Orleans needs nice weather for a parade or a reason to celebrate, they have both today. Kinda wish I could go.

About Saints kickers: The Saints traded up to get Thomas Morstead in this year's draft. Count me in the number that thought it was silly. Also add me to the number that was wrong. He's been phenomenal all year. He executed the onside kick to start the second half that shocked the Colts and the rest of the football world. Garrett Hartley, the Saints placekicker is in his second season. Kicking duties for the Saints are in good hands for quite a few years to come.

You would expect the winners of the Super Bowl to get a warmer reception than the losers and they did but I cannot get over how many people showed up to greet the Indianapolis Colts. Indianapolis is probably not as passionate about anything as New Orleans is about the Saints but a turnout of 11 is pitiful if you ask me.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Ramblin' - The Marshall Tucker Band - Greatest Hits
2. Marbletown - Mark Knopfler The Ragpicker's Dream
3. Ode To A Butterfly - Nickel Creek - Nickel Creek
4. Child Of The Night - Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Night Castle (Amazon MP3 Exclusive Version)
5. Calling Elvis - Dire Straits - On The Night (LIVE)

About today's QOTD: There are lots of things you can find on Bourbon Street. Nice article.

Quote of the Day

Fans find religion on Bourbon Street

Dan Le Batard, Miami Herald

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Based on New Orleans performance against Minnesota, I see no chance that they will beat The Colts."

You'd think that a Saints fan who can put to rest 43 years of frustration and disappointment would have a lot to say this morning but I don't. I have a few random thoughts but that's about it. There's not much I can add to a great night. Their play on the field said it all. They've surprised me all year. They find ways to win. They survive. They're the last ones standing this morning. GEAUX Saints.

With the Colts driving and trailing 24-17 late, the announcers were talking like the game might be headed to the first Super Bowl overtime. There was about 5 minutes left at the time. If they had scored and tied the game, there was going to be about 2 minutes or more left. The Colts hadn't slowed Drew Brees and the Saints offense down much since the first quarter and the Saints have a placekicker with ice water in his veins. They should have taken that into account.

Sports Illustrated's Don Banks is singing the Saints praises today but just a few weeks ago when there were still 8 teams left in the playoffs, he had the Saints rated as the 8th best team remaining just behind the Vikings and Colts. Those were the three best teams remaining, not the three worst. He's one of many "experts" that were ridiculously wrong way too many times this season.

Now that the season is over, if anyone wants to talk about the business of the NFL, ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski sums it up for me. Those are my sentiments exactly.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Get The Lead Out - Aerosmith - Rocks
2. I Think I'm Paranoid - Garbage - Version 2.0
3. Poltergeists - Danny Elfman - The Frighteners Soundtrack
4. I Count The Tears - The Drifters - 16 Greatest Hits
5. The Whole Shebang - Grant Lee Buffalo - Velvet Goldmine Soundtrack

Quote of the Day

One thing for sure, on Bourbon Street, Sean Payton will have plenty of company.

Peter Finney, The Times-Picayune

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Then in the fourth quarter after Colts kicker Matt Stover missed a 51-yard field goal wide left, Brees and the Saints went on a 9-play, 59-yard drive that ended with Brees hitting tight end Jeremy Shockey with a 2-yard TD pass, then Brees hit Lance Moore with the two-point conversion, which at first was ruled incomplete, but then overturned."

Today has been a long time coming for Saints fans. Dad and I were at that very first Saints game in old Tulane Stadium. It started with a Saints kickoff return for a touchdown but ended in a loss. It was the first of way too many. We knew then it would take time to build a team that could win a championship but no one expected it to take this long. Dad didn't get to see this day. I'll be thinking about him a lot as the day wears on. We went to a lot of games together. Most of them were awful losses but there were a handful of great moments, too. We saw Tom Dempsey kick his 63-yard field goal. We saw Archie Manning's first game for the Saints. We saw a lot of great players for the other side, too. We saw The Fearsome Foursome of the Rams, Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo of the Bears, Sonny Jurgensen of the Redskins, Fran Tarkenton of the Vikings, and Roger Staubach of the Cowboys just to name a few. Today will be a bittersweet experience for a lot of New Orleanians.

By now, everyone, including Saints players, has heard all about Peyton Manning, the Colts offense, and how the Saints can't stop them. Everyone has also heard how the Colts defense is fast, better than they get credit for, and that they have players who are banged up and may not be full speed. I don't buy that last part. They're going to play, play well, and play "courageously". The conventional wisdom says the Colts will be all business and the Saints will be all emotion and nerves.

What chance do the Saints have? I don't know. If the moment doesn't swallow them, I think they can play with the Colts. The Saints defense figures to have a lot of trouble slowing down the Colts offense but the Colts defense figures to have trouble with the Saints offense, too. It will be all about confidence. To me, the toughest game they will play this year was the one they just played. If stats are your thing, the Vikings were better than the Colts offensively AND defensively. Stats never tell the whole story ... except when they do. Just one more thing:

I offer one for this CrabAppleLane Super Sunday. Boudin has been good luck for me this year.

CrabAppleLane Super Bowl Pre-Game Meal - February 7, 2010

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Big Brother - David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
2. Copycat - The Cranberries - Bury The Hatchet
3. Lazy [Live] - Deep Purple - Made In Japan [Disc 1] [Live]
4. No Matter What - Badfinger -The Very Best Of Badfinger
5. I Dont Want To Gone On Without You - Nazareth - Play 'N' The Game

Quote of the Day

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "This will be a running blog by quarter. Sorry, I won't be paying much attention to the pre-game. Rarely do. But I can still synopsize everything you'll hear:"

My Super Bowl routine tomorrow will be the same as my Saints gameday routine. I hate the late start. I'll sleep as late as I can (7:30-8AM maybe) and tool around the house, the yard, and the computer. If I watch TV, I'll watch anything but pregame silliness. I'll turn the TV to the game as close to kickoff as possible. I won't be able to be around others except my wife and she had better learn to sit still. We can only have one nervous nellie in the house and I called dibs on it 43 years ago.

We'll have seven layer dip, chips, and boudin. I have a Super Bowl story for those of you who know what seven layer dip is. Patsy made it for the first time ever for a Super Bowl party that our friends were having. We took separate cars to that party because Patsy had to work and wouldn't get there until later. I brought the dip, put it on the table, and went outside, where the guys were all gathered around the barbecue pit drinking beer. The wives and girlfriends stayed inside. No, this was the 80s, not the 50s. For the record, seven layer dip is kept chilled and served chilled or room temperature. When I had finally gone inside, my beloved hostess asked me how long she should leave it in the oven. It had been in the oven long enough to where the cheese had melted pretty good. It wasn't totally ruined but it wasn't the best seven layer dip ever.

Another 7th round steal for the Saints. David Thomas figures to play at tight end a lot tomorrow. I'm fairly certain he thought his Super Bowl chance was staying in New England after he was traded from the Patriots to the Saints. He has played very well this year. It had to be tough on him but there was never a complaint. This fan is very happy to have him. Although the Saints have proven they can draft well into the 7th round, I doubt they could have gotten a better player or better teammate next year with that selection. It was a great move for the Saints.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Shootin' For The Moon 3:33 Sonny Landreth South Of I-10
2. Dennis 5:19 Badfinger The Very Best Of Badfinger
3. Show-Biz Blues 3:55 Fleetwood Mac Then Play On
4. Songs From The Wood 4:54 Jethro Tull The Best Of Jethro Tull [Disc 2]
5. The Weight 4:35 The Band The Best Of The Band

Speaking of a$$holes, I present Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star. Today's QOTD is only a portion of his rail. Apparently, there are some sins that are unforgivable in his eyes no matter how much time has passed, no matter what the circumstances, and I question his intentions. What was the point? He had 23 years to write that article and chose to write it now, the day before the Super Bowl? The comments are letting him have it better than I ever could. Go away, Kravitz, and ...

Quote of the Day

My version of the American Dream doesn't involve crossing a picket line. But that's just me.

Bob Kravitz, Indianapolis Star

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Indianapolis Colts star Peyton Manning is expecting a hard night's work against the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV."

There's not much in the tank for me today so I thought I'd mention a few Indiana-Louisiana-Colts-Saints connections this week that I like. Jim Mora coached both teams. Didn't leave on a high note from either team. Something he shares with his son. I think it's cool that Devery Henderson, Randall Gay, and Joseph Addai were teammates at LSU. All of them figure to play significantly Sunday. A well-informed NFL fan might recognize quite a few players on that Tiger team that are still playing in the NFL today. Colts Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne both grew up as Saints fans. They are both great players. Tracy Porter grew up in Louisiana but went to Indiana to play college football. Drew Brees played college football in Indiana, too. Those two aint bad, either. Just one more thing:

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Rebel Rebel 4:33 David Bowie Diamond Dogs
2. Storm Of Worry 3:57 Sonny Landreth From The Reach
3. Angel 4:55 Fleetwood Mac Tusk
4. Iron Hand 3:10 Dire Straits On Every Street
5. Prologue 4:25 Loreena McKennitt The Book Of Secrets

Quote of the Day

First things first: You need more beer.

Mark Lorando, The Times-Picayune

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "For Mora, if he's talked out, let's hope he at least isn't smiled out. Let's hope he's deriving just a little pleasure in watching the only two teams he coached in the NFL play for the ultimate prize."

Good time to be in the big screen TV business in the Greater New Orleans area. We're all gearing up for a big Super Sunday. I speak for many when I say I could get used to this. The Saints seem to be built for a 4-5-6 year run but there are so many other things that have to go exactly right in order to get to this point that what seems to be is not often reality. There won't be any prediction from me this year. I'm way too close to the trees to see the forest.

The headline reads:

Time to bone up on NFL labor trouble

Respectfully, no, this is not the time to do that. I think it would be better to bring that up sometime next week.

Aside: I have one inquiry for some companies and institutions that I would like answered someday. If your website provided all of the information I seek, I would not ask. Why can't questions and inquiries about your products and services submitted online or in email be answered online or in email? Why must someone call me and talk to me? I don't want you to badger me at home or at work. I like total full service and I like total self service. I do NOT like and there is NO excuse for anything in between.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Under Pressure 44 Queen Classic Queen
2. Organ Grinder 4:22 Marilyn Manson Portrait Of An American Family
3. Intro 17 Béla Fleck & The Flecktones Live At The Quick
4. Slipstream 1:13 Jethro Tull Aqualung
5. The Weight 4:34 The Band Harley-Davidson Cycles: Road Songs [Disc 2]

Quote of the Day

The Super Bowl may be many things. Less is more it is not.

Frank Deford, Sports Illustrated

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Lombardi noted that the Saints likely will want to sign Brees before the Colts strike their deal with Manning. That way, Brees will be under contract before the salary bar for quarterbacks is raised."

The contracts that Eli Manning and Phillip Rivers signed earlier this year already raised the bar ridiculously high. With Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Drew Brees up next, possibly/probably in an uncapped environment, the sky is the limit. There is no way to overestimate their value to their teams. -Rob

I know I'm not the only person who thought Dollhouse descended into confusing weirdness. It could be that some, like me, just don't have the required background to enjoy it. My initial thoughts on Dollhouse were that it was confusing but showed promise. I'm not a big fan of sci-fi or pondering "alternate realities" so I'm not sure I had much chance here. I'm also not sure whose decision it was to wrap the series up after two seasons but that could have contributed to the less-than-satisfactory, to me, direction it took. I think it needed more time to develop and reach its conclusion. Another review has a totally different take than mine. I liked the first season better than the second. In the first season, it looked like the show was going to develop characters and a storyline for a 4 or 5 year run. I think the second season was rushed to cram a lot of information into its final few episodes and that just added to the confusion. I'm a fan of Joss Whedon but I don't think Dollhouse was a great effort.

A thought about something else: I don't think anyone was particularly worried that Peyton Manning was going to get a pretty good deal with his next contract. He looks like he's got 4 or 5 great years left and maybe more. If he were to hit the free agent market, 28 teams would have representatives camping out on his lawn. Good for him. He's earned it.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Paranoid 2:53 Black Sabbath Paranoid
2. Cabaret (Single Version) 2:48 Louis Armstrong & All His Stars Sings - Back Through The Years/A Centennial Celebration (Disc 1)
3. Without You 4:41 Badfinger The Very Best Of Badfinger
4. Where Have You Been All My Life 44 Ted Nugent Ted Nugent
5. Bright As Yellow 3:34 The Innocence Mission Empire Records Soundtrack

Quote of the Day

I peek outside the curtains toward the intracoastal waterway. There is a curious yellow orb in the sky. After a few months of Indiana winter, I'm not quite sure what it is, but it looks inviting.

Bob Kravitz, Indianapolis Star

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "This past weekend I was at a grocery store and they had Saints and Colts logos plastered all over the checkout lanes. Keep in mind that I live in Pennsylvania. It was almost surreal."

My guess is spring is on the way but I yield my pitiful weather forecasting skills to Punxsutawney Phil, who is eminently more qualified.

73%? Surprised that number isn't higher. With more and more sites asking for logins and passwords, most people are simply not going to use different passwords for every site. Even those that do use different passwords will write it down somewhere or get their browser or some other password service to remember it for them. Got security?

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Bell Boy 4:56 The Who Quadrophenia [Disc 2]
2. Things I'd Like To Say 2:22 New Colony Six Rock 'n Roll Relix 1968-1969
3. Hierate Mich (Edit) 33 Rammstein Lost Highway Soundtrack
4. Wasted Words 4:21 The Allman Brothers Band Brothers And Sisters
5. T.V. Eye 5:24 Wylde Rattz Velvet Goldmine Soundtrack

Quote of the Day

Ain't you the guy who used to set the paces
Riding up in front of a hundred faces
I don't suppose you would remember me
But I used to follow you back in '63

The Who, Bell Boy

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Beware Saints fans because Freeney or no Freeney, the Colts are coming!"

Because nothing else was on, I ended up watching bits and pieces of the Pro Bowl. It's a game that resembles football to the untrained eye. They use the same equipment as football players, which would fool the casual observer into thinking football is being played. The trained observer will notice almost immediately that the shoulder pads and helmets these players wore were the dress versions, not the work versions. Those guys had no intention of hitting or being hit. That game is worse than an exhibition game because the guys playing in an exhibition game can't play but try. These guys can play but don't try.

I'm skeptical that Tim Tebow can make it as an NFL quarterback and have been since I first saw him play as a freshman sensation at Florida. He plays hard and works hard but everyone in the NFL does that except Randy Moss. No, his problems are that he has bad habits at the worst position to have bad habits. He has overcome them throughout his Florida days because his team was so much better than their opponent most of the time. On fields where the talent is nearly evenly distributed, he won't fare as well. If a quarterback gets to the NFL with a weak arm or a slow and telegraphic throwing motion, it is already too late to do anything about it. Tebow's arm isn't weak. It's the other thing, which I think is worse.

In bowling, they call it sandbagging. In pool, they call it hustling. It's what people do to make you think they're hampered, limited in some way or, at least, not at their best. Magically, when the lights come on, they're on fire and you're not ready for them. Dwight Freeney will be fine and is going to play Sunday. I don't think the Saints are buying this one, either.

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. White Trash 2:48 Marilyn Manson Smells Like Children
2. Two Hearts 3:25 Phil Collins Hits
3. Knowing Me, Knowing You 42 ABBA Gold
4. Fields Of Gold 3:42 Sting Ten Summoner's Tales
5. Alberta Bound 32 Gordon Lightfoot Gord's Gold Volume II

Quote of the Day

Hargrove is not worried. After the N.F.C. championship game, as celebrations broke out all over the city, he happily sat in his apartment with his older brother, Jermaine, eating double cheeseburgers from McDonald's and watching game highlights on TV.

Karen Crouse, New York Times

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Traditionally, the Pro Bowl has been held the week after the Super Bowl, allowing players from those teams to participate. Goodell acknowledged that not having the Super Bowl players in the Pro Bowl is a "negative," but overall, he likes the new date for the league's all-star game."