So, you wanna work for the TSA?

This Web page will give you a chance to see how well you'd do if you were a baggage screener at an airport.
Hopefully, if you work for the TSA, you do better than I did.

I also found this ...

Another old favorite from my early teenage years ..

I am not a Twit; Neither am I Tweeting

I have noticed my blog posts follow a trend: they are getting shorter and shorter. Still, I refuse to start using Twitter.

Look what I found ...

He he he he he he he.

New links! New links!

I added some new links to the links page. Here's a brief rundown:

1. WAKY 103.5 FM: Simply my favorite Louisville radio station. Classic rock with a classic radio station feel. They DJs make me feel like they are talking to me, and not purveyors of corporate crap. Plus, they play songs a few tracks deep into an album, meaning you get to hear things you don't on other stations. They stream online, too.

2. The Grand Comic Database: Worth checking out, although it doesn't look like a finished project. It reminds me of Baseball-Reference.com, in that the site is compiling a list of all the comics ever published. Here's how they put it: The Grand Comic-Book Database Project (GCD) is a volunteer project with the goal of documenting and indexing all comics for the free use of scholars, historians, researchers, and fans. I don't have a membership yet, but I may well sign on.

3. Smithsonian Folkways: Looking for some great recordings to peruse and download? There's music, spoken word, sound effects, animal sounds and all kinds of other stuff from all over the world. I'd say, however, their primary focus is folk music, and there's a lot of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly-type music for your pleasure. Here's how they say it: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. We are dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound.

Serial cereal blogging

Today, it was Frosted Mini Wheats.
Last week, I had CoCo Wheats several times.
I have had a persistent desire for good grits lately, though.

Blogging: No editor, fewer revisions

I just had to post something about my last post. I stand by the ideas behind it, but it shows that the immediacy of the Internet may not always be good for clarity of execution.

As I re-read the post, I discovered that I had left out a sentence that should have been present, and I broke the paragraphs up incorrectly. Or, at least, I broke them up in a way that's not as clear for the reader as I intended.

Here it is again, with the changes in italics:

Every now and then, I finish eating and the waitress brings me a credit card bill to sign with a pen from another restaurant.
Signing a bill in one restaurant with a pen from another always makes me laugh a little bit.
(New paragraph) However, if I owned a restaurant, I sure as heck would not want to be advertising somebody else in my own eatery.
What would I do? For what it's worth, here is my contribution to restaurant marketing.
Firstly, I'd confiscate all the pens I could find from other restaurants.
Secondly, I'd buy a whole bunch of cheap promotional pens with my restaurant's name and address on them. (Eliminate a paragraph break.) I'd make sure every customer had one of these pens to sign his credit card receipt.
On a side-note, I'd also encourage patrons to keep the pens in hopes they would use them to sign their bills at other restaurants.

There. Isn't that better? Amazing what looking at something after a couple days will do for you.

Negative advertising

Every now and then, I finish eating and the waitress brings me a credit card bill to sign and hands me a pen from another restaurant.
While it always makes me laugh a little bit, if I owned a restaurant, I sure as heck would not want to be advertising somebody else's place.
Firstly, I'd take away all her pens.
Secondly, I'd buy a whole bunch of cheap promotional pens with my restaurant's name and address on them.
I'd make sure every customer had one of these pens to sign his credit card receipt. I'd also encourage patrons to keep the pens and use them to sign their bills at other restaurants.

Groo-vy (but a little late)

The second issue of the new Groo series is out, but I just found a prequel at MySpace Dark Horse Presents. I should have never stopped linking to those issues, doggone it.
(For some reason that link is going to the current issues of DHP, so you'll have to look for issue 28, which was last month's installment, to find the Groo story. Sorry. It's still worth it.)
Here's a preview of the first couple of pages of issue 2.

25th Anniversary Usagi stuff!

Aren't these cool? They are statues of the Usagi Yojimbo characters. From Roku Toys.
They are awfully expensive, at $89 apiece and $399 for the set.
Here's the PR material:
Star Wars Master Sculptor, Tony McVey sculpted these highly detailed polystone statues in time to celebrate the 25th year anniversary of Usagi Yojimbo. This eagerly anticipated line of statues is sure to delight fans of all ages.
Unfortunately, they were delayed and won't start shipping until January:
Yes, we know it's a drag and we're very, very sorry for the delay. Due to unforeseen manufacturing circumstances, the release of the "Usagi Yojimbo - Series One" collection will be delayed until January, 2010.
Here are some more preview images.
If the statues cost too much for you, go buy some of the comics. "Usagi" is one of my favorite comic books.
Also in celebration of the 25th anniversary, Stan Sakai wrote a fully painted a new graphic novel, called "Yokai." Yours for a little less than $11 on Amazon.com. Here's some preview art.

NFL Head-to-Head (Another Weak Week)

It's underdog week! We are picking underdogs this week:

Dave:
Bengals over Vikings
Panthers over Patriots
Bonus Pick: Navy beats Army

Me:
Chargers over Cowboys
Bears over Packers
Bonus Pick: Mangini keeps his job another week.

Browns beat Steelers (Random thoughts about last night's game)

Been a while since we could say that, eh?
I went to bed with the Browns winning 3-0, figuring it would be all downhill from there. I assumed the Steelers would pancake the obviously inferior team from Cleveland.
I remember thinking, as the kick that put them ahead 3-0 went through the uprights, "Is this the first time all year they have held a lead?"
I wish I had stayed up to watch the rest.
Brady Quinn didn't look all that good, only passing for 90 yards, but the defense looked a lot better than the offense.
If the Browns had played like that more often, Eric Mangini might have a job at the end of the season. Maybe if they finish like that, he still will.
Josh Cribbs may be the best player the Browns have had since they returned. Maybe he's the best since Bernie Kosar retired.

OK, I have been VERY Lax about this lately ...

.. also very busy.

But, that's no excuse!

Gilbert Hernandez rides again!

If you like Gilbert Hernandez of "Love and Rockets" fame, you might be interested in this preview of his latest work, called "Troublemakers."

Is someone trying to tell me something?

I just read a book about Gary Burbank, and another about baseball Hall of Famer Tris Speaker.
Both books dwelled on how they were aggressively hard working about the jobs; single-mindedly pursuing excellence in their chosen fields.
It made me feel like a slacker.

Interesting online comic

I found this through Scott McCloud's blog, but since I you may not have seen it, i thought I'd link to it here.
It's an adaptation by Rebecca Dart of an old murder ballad into a comic book form. (For the record: I have a CD on which Pete Seeger sings the song, called "Banks of the Ohio.")

Beck-oning Glenn Beck

Is anyone else as sick of Glenn Beck's inflammatory alarmist rhetoric as I am?
If you are, you'll probably enjoy this.
It's supposed to be a parody, but I can hardly tell the difference between this eight minute clip and the real show.
In fact, the parody probably had more thought put into it than Beck's show does.

NFL Head-to-Head (Weak Five)

Dave (last week 1-3)
Browns over Lions (Final Score: 6 to 3 - Browns break the film covering the opponent's 45 yard line)
Broncos over Chargers
Jets over Patriots
Iggles over Bears
Bonus Pick:
Buckeyes beat Wolverines
Bonus Pick 2:
Twilight: New Moon is most over-hyped movie of the year

Me (last week 3-1):
San Diego beats Denver (The Broncos still suck, even without John Elway.)
New England over the New York Jets (Belichick still sucks even if he wins.)
Indianapolis beats Baltimore (Art Modell will always suck.)
Detroit over Cleveland (The Browns just suck.)
Bonus pick: Eric Mangini will be fired if the Browns lose to the Lions. How long after that loss, say the day after or the season after, is another question.

Applies in Stereo

A video from a perennial favorite of mine .. the Apples in Stereo.

Serial cereal blogging

In case you haven't noticed, there is a decided shortage of Eggo Waffles in your grocery freezer. Here's why!

For those of you who don't want to click ...
Kellogg Co. says there will be a nationwide shortage of its popular Eggo frozen waffles until next summer because of interruptions in production at two of the four plants that make them.

But, for those of you who are food conspiracy theorists, here's another thing to consider.

The short version:
But ConsumerAffairs.com has confirmed the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) in September found Listeria monocytogenes in a sample of Eggo Buttermilk Waffles made at the Atlanta plant. Health officials took the sample during a routine inspection of the facility.

Fantastic Four: Fantastic again? (We'll see ...)

Here's an article about the new creative team on Fantastic Four.
It seems like every new team is heralded as the greatest since maybe John Byrne, and they all kind of talk like they are going to try to bring to the book what Byrne did, normally without mentioning him by name.
They talk about focusing on the characters a family, and packing in lots of adventure -- exactly what made Byrne's run on FF so special.
Some creative teams succeed to varying degrees, but none fully. No one ever seems to capture whatever that feeling was that Byrne had that made me keep coming back and back and back for more.
Walter Simonson was really good, but he focused too much on adventure and not enough on character.
Mark Waid generally seemed pretty good, but sometimes his FF acted a little out of character.
Byrne once said when he was writing and drawing FF, the characters pretty much wrote themselves. His is the modern version of the FF that I compare all other to since, they are all lacking something.
He left the book in the late 1980s, and probably will never come back. If he did, who knows if would have the same magic as before?
Only Lee and Kirby did FF better than Byrne, and they created the doggone team. Theirs will always been the original and greatest. They did all their titles better than anyone.
I just keep hoping the new guys can capture some of the fun and excitement I remember from Byrne's run on FF.
Sometimes I sit around and wonder: If I sat around and re-read every Lee-Kirby and/or John Byrne issue of FF, and really worked at it, could I write a passable Fantastic Four?
It would probably come down to doing what other writers and artists say they are going to do: focus on the characters and a sense of adventure.
Easier said than done.

I just realized ...

... that cup cake is a term that refers to a small piece of cake in a cup.
I have only been eating cupcakes all my life, and I never broke the word down like that before.
It's what I have heard people call a "BFO:" a Blinding Flash of the Obvious.

NFL Head-To-Head (Weak Four)

OK, sorry, but I skipped weak three because I wasn't home. Here's this week's picks:

Dave:
Browns over Ravens
Colts over Patriots
Broncos over Redskins
Falcons beat Panthers

Bonus Pick:
Dayton Flyers beat Drake

Jeff:
Pittsburgh over Cincinnati (even though I have Cedric Benson on my fantasy team.)
Dallas over Green Bay
Kansas City over Oakland (This week's "Who cares?" Bowl.)
Indianapolis over New England (Peyton for MVP. Oops. Peyton for second, 'cause Drew Brees is better.)

9 from 2005

For those of you who may have seen and enjoyed the movie "9," here is the You Tube version of the original short film by Shane Acker released in 2005 as a student project. Tim Burton saw the film and was so impressed by its artistic vision that he went on to produce the recent film of the same name.
I don't know that I want to do a full-on movie review of the feature-length version, but I will say this: It's a movie that fits in well with "The Matrix," "The 13th Floor," "Dark City," and "Terminator."
The difference is, this one's computer animated. Beautifully computer animated. It's so good, it's just fun to look at, even if you don't like the story.
Anyway, here's the original.

Why don't the Cleveland Browns ...

... hire a head coach and/or general manager away from the Steelers? The Steelers are the best team in the AFC North, and they are arguably the best team in the AFC. You don't get to the Super Bowl unless you beat the Steelers. And, the Browns are guaranteed to play them at least two, and probably three, times every year.
Russ Grimm was with the Steelers for many years. There's probably a few guys on the staff right now who have head coaching ability. Heck, Dick LeBeau was the Cincinnati Bengals head coach for a few years (although he may not like to be reminded of it.).
Instad, we get two consecutive coach/GM hires which, when you really look at it, are almost the same thing.
Why fire Romeo Crennel only to hire Eric Mangini? Trading one Belichick/Parcells defensive coach for another.
Why fire Phil Savage to hire George Kokinis? They both come from the Baltimore Ravens front office.
It seems to me, if the Browns were going to do what they did, they might as well have given a nod to stability for another year.
I still think they should have hired Marty Schottenheimer, but given their 1-6 start, anybody would have been better than the guys they did hire.

(And, by the way, did anybody else notice that Savage recently said the current regime "ruined" both quarterbacks he left them? I doubt Brady Quinn would even bring any kind of draft pick in a trade after all this.)

NFL Head-to-Head (Weak Two)

OK, here we go again, my pics vs. Dave's pics. Straight up, no point spreads or anything. Four picks a week.

Dave: (3-1 last week, but I have no idea if Troy beat Piqua or not.)
Browns over Bears
Packers over Vikings
Broncos over Ravens
Texans over Bills
Bonus Pick:
No Bengals are arrested over their Bye Week

Me: (3-1 last week, with two typos.)
Indianapolis beats San Francisco (Big surprise)
San Diego over Oakland (Another shock)
Minnesota over Green Bay (Favre winning in Lambeau did not used to be cause for a headline.)
Tennessee over Jacksonville (They gotta win eventually.)

NFL picks (This needs a snappy new title)

So, starting this week, Dave and I will square off in NFL picks. Here are the rules: each week, we pick the winner of four games. Whoever gets the most right, wins!

Jeff:
San Diego bears Kansas City (One former Marty Schottenheimer team beats another)
Redskins knock off the Eagles (Jim Zorn saves his job, until the day after the game, when the bye week begins.)
Pittsburgh beats Minnesota (Although both teams will probably get beaten up pretty badly.)
Packers pack away the Browns (and mail them to Abu Dabi!)

Dave:
Browns over Packers
Steelers over Vikings
Cardinals over Giants
Texans over 49ers
Bonus Pick:
Troy Trojans beat Piqua Indians

Something I am going to purchase

Evan Dorkin, of "Milk and Cheese." Jill Thompson, of "Scary Godmother." "Beasts of Burden." That link is to a web comic. The real thing is in stores now!

Don't be in a Rush

This may somewhat fly in the face of some of my recent posts, but it seems to me that if Rush Limbaugh wants to be part of an ownership group to buy the St. Louis Rams (who at one time were the Cleveland Rams, for the record) he should be examined not on the basis of his controversial on-air personality, but rather by how committed he would be to putting a winning team on the field and being a good steward of an NFL franchise.
(That was a really long sentence.)
To consider: Mark Cuban, George Steinbrenner, Marge Schott and Daniel Snyder have been controversial.
Bill Bidwell (losing for a looooong time) or Carl Pohlad and whoever the hell owned the Montreal Expos before they moved to Washington DC (both teams willingly scheduled for contraction by their owners in 2002) certainly have not always been good stewards of their franchises.
And, what about the political activity of Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who was named by President Obama as ambassador to Ireland after openly supporting Obama in the 2008 election?
If Limbaugh can be a good owner, he should be allowed to own the team. If he going to be like Rachel Phelps from the movie "Major League," he shouldn't.
(Boy "Major Leagues generated a lot of funny quotes. Probably more than Limbaugh, and he's been on the air for 20 years!)

Dear MLB Network ...

... will you please stop showing highlights of the 1954 World Series? With the season the Indians had, and the one the Browns are still having, I fear you may be held liable for someone's suicide.

Sincerely,
Jefferson Wolfe

"Jack Staff" will be back right after this ...

Here's a story about Paul Grist, of "Kane" and "Jack Staff" fame, who will be returning to "Jack Staff" shortly after he releases "The Eternal Conflicts of the Cosmic Warrior" in November.
He's long been one of my favorite comic artists, but have to admit, he weaves so many stories together the comic is sometimes hard to follow month to month. He says that himself in the article.
That said, I'd highly recommend the trade paperbacks of "Kane" and "Jack Staff." Kane is a crime series, while "Jack Staff" is a superhero comic.
He uses a lot of parody and in-jokes about the comics world, but the material reads well at face value, even if you don't know any of the background stuff he is referring to.
And, Grist has a unique art style. Nobody in comics draws quite like him. Not, these days, anyway.

Paul and Storm teach us how to count to 10

Limbaugh, or leg waxing: You decide!

Everybody has opinions: I have them, you have them. And we are all told from the moment we open our eyes, that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Well, that’s horsepuckey, of course. We are not entitled to our opinions; we are entitled to our informed opinions. Without research, without background, without understanding, it’s nothing. It’s just bibble-babble. It’s like a fart in a wind tunnel, folks.
-- Harlan Ellison

Here's a story pertaining to what started the whole anti-christ thing: How mean-spirited today's political debate has become.
A snippet:
"The environment is much more extreme today because of the level of public involvement, the level of incivility among both the political elite and the public," said Chris Dolan, a political scientist at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa.

Here's an article about Rush Limbaugh telling people not to take him so seriously.
A short quote:
“My objective is to satisfy [my] audience so they come back the next day,” Limbaugh told TODAY national correspondent Jamie Gangel in a wide-ranging, three-hour interview, excerpts of which air on TODAY Monday and Tuesday.

I think it's important to remember what most political pundits, Limbaugh, Bill O'Riley, Sean Hannity, Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddow, really want: Ratings.
What makes a good talk show doesn't necessarily make good politics or good policy.
What makes good radio is taking up a position that leads to an on-air discussion that gets people to keep listening, and keeps them coming back tomorrow to hear more compelling discussion. The problem is this: what's more compelling than a good old fashioned mean-spirited argument?
From the first article:
At Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C., Clyde Frazier said, "It is nasty and getting nastier." While he believes American history is littered with dirtier political periods and nastier claims among politicians, Frazier, also a political scientist, sees today's climate partly the result of the "media culture. Vitriol seems to sell. If you are telling people the end of the world is at hand, they watch."

Some of these people, also known as sheep, follow these acts so blindly they miss this completely.
In the past, it used to be encouraged that a person read or listen to a variety of perspectives in order to form an intelligent opinion.
Now, in some circles, if you don't hear it from Limbaugh or Hannity or Glenn Beck, it's liberal, communist, socialist, fascist propaganda. The same goes for people who only pay attention to leftist commentary.
People who did this used to be known as extremists.
Now, they see themselves as purists who are uncontaminated by the garbage spewed out by their opposition.
That's why I listen to ESPN Radio and it's ilk these days.
I think people who argue about sports are at least as well-informed, if not more well-informed, than people who argue about politics.
And, who wouldn't want to hear Mike Golic having his legs waxed on the air?

I have not mentioned Paul and Storm lately ...

I had to fix that with "Nugget Man."

More people who (probably) aren't the anti-christ

Bill Gates?
Bono?
Sarah Palin?
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Nancy Pelosi?
Joe Biden?
(That post and this one seem to contradict.)
Derek Jeter?
The Pope?
David Hasselhoff?
Need I continue?

Sometimes the past makes the present a little more clear

In this week's Newsweek, there's a really interesting article about Somalia at the turn of the 20th century, and the man they called "The Mad Mullah." The author draws an interesting parallel between what was happening then, and what's happening with Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda now. There's also a lot of insight as to why people might follow, and even admire, a brutal killer.

An interesting passage:
His story sheds light on what is now called the "forever war," the ongoing battle of wills and ideologies between governments of the West and Islamic extremists. There's no simple lesson here, no easy formula to bend history in a new direction. It's clear, even to many Somalis, that the mullah was brutal and despotic, and that his most searing legacy is a land of hunger and ruin. But he's also admired—for his audacity, his fierce eloquence, his stubborn defiance in the face of a superior power. Among Somalis, the mullah's sins are often forgiven because he was fighting an occupier, a foreign power that was in his land imposing foreign values. It is a sentiment that is shared today by those Muslims who give support to militants and terrorists, and one the West would do well to better understand.

Here's another:
"Intensely as the Somalis feared and loathed the man whose followers had looted their stock, robbed them of their all, raped their wives, and murdered their children, they could not but admire and respect one who, being the embodiment of their idea of Freedom and Liberty, never admitted allegiance to any man, Moslem or Infidel." (Douglas Jardine, who served in the Somaliland Protectorate from 1916 to 1921 and later wrote a history of the conflict.)

Bye-bye, Braylon

After Browns Coach Eric Mangini traded Braylon Edwards for a wide receiver, a special teams player and, reportedly, third-and fifth-round draft picks, my opinion of Mangini increased exponentially. Getting anything for Edwards was a bonus, because they could finish in last place with him.
Oh, wait. Last year, they did finish in last place with him.
I'll be right back. I just dropped my mouse.
Oops. I dropped it again.

Elvis-loution!

OK. After mentioning Mojo Nixon yesterday, I had, had, HAD to find this and post it for you. It's a horrible copy, but it this fails to make you laugh, you are either dead, or the anti-christ.
Remember, we are all moving in perfect peace and harmony toward perfect Elvis-ness. Even the anti-christ, I suppose.

Mojo knows the anti-christ (too bad everybody else seems to think they do, too)

At work, we were discussing how political discourse has gotten so angry and mean spirited in recent years. Democrats call Republicans "Nazis," Republicans call Democrats "Socialists." (It is worth noting that the Nazis were officially the "National Socialist German Workers Party.")
Anyway, we got to discussing how some extremists have called President Obama the Anti-Christ, which is a silly notion.
Especially when everyone knows it's really George W. Bush.
Or, is it Hilary Clinton, as popular host Glenn Beck would have us believe?
Or, was it her husband, Bill?
Singer Robyn Hitchcock says it's Dandy Don Rumsfeld.
One person bet me I couldn't find a Web site that said Jesus was the anti-christ. He was wrong.
I, however, don't believe any of these people. I believe the real anti-christ was found back in the 1980's by Ohio's own Mojo Nixon, the singer (sort of) and songwriter who penned the classic "Elvis is Everywhere." It is his picture that adorns this blog entry.
If you look a little farther down this album, you'll find a track called, "I'm living with a three-foot antichrist."
I think Mojo Nixon has more credibility than the rest of those nut-bags, especially Glenn Beck.
Just to bring this full-circle, Beck, who has been known to call Obama a Communist or a Socialist, dresses up like a Nazi on the cover of his latest book.

The next manager of the Cleveland Indians?

I have not commented about Eric Wedge's firing here because I said pretty much all I had to say in this post.
I haven't changed my thinking much. But, I hope the Indians management picks someone good. Or at least entertaining.
You know, former U.S. Congressman Jim Traficant (D-Youngstown) is out of jail, unemployed and is obscenely popular in Northeast Ohio.
Can you imagine those post-game press conferences?

" ... I will grab a sword like Maximus Meridius Demidius and as a Gladiator I will stab people in the crotch." -- Jim Traficant

What to do, what not to do when traveling

Christopher Elliott, apparently no relation to the comedian Chris Elliot who once drank a bottle of cooking oil on "Late Night With David Letterman," tells us six things to do when traveling, and six more things not to do. I think if he adds six more, it may be a subtle clue that the airlines are the anti-christ.
His advice boils down to be nice, be sincere and don't be mean.
Kind of intuitive, but some of his examples are interesting.
More on the anti-christ thing tomorrow ...

A few minutes with Gary Burbank

Off the air, but never forgotten.
I wonder how Mom and 'ehm are?

Ferguson wins!

In the latest "Mistercellaneous" poll, Craig Ferguson is the top late night host, by a 4-2 margin over David Letterman.
Anybody who voted wanna say why you like him best?

Some of the best art in all of comicdom

You can see it in this wonderful preview of the latest issue of Detective Comics!
J. H. Williams III the doing things that no one else does with the comic page. If he's not the most creative artist in comics today, he's darn close.

I had something really funny to post here

But I forgot what it was. Sorry. When I remember, if I remember, I'll post it.

Serial cereal blogging

The other day, Izzy, now 2, was watching me eat Fruity Pebbles out of a bowl. She asked for the same thing and I gave her the cereal and a bowl and some milk, and she ate it. This marked the first time Izzy ate cereal out of a bowl with milk using a spoon.
She also seems to like Apple Jacks.
And apple juice.
And applesauce.
And cooked apples.
Just thought you'd like to know.

Craig Ferguson interviewed

Time Magazine did a nice interview with late night host Craig Ferguson.

A Paul and Storm video

I think we have done this song before under the heading of gleefully beating a joke to death. But now, we have a video! And, the infamous Robert C. Baker song, too. What more could you, and my other three readers, want?

"Weird Al" brings us a new greatest hits album

Here's Al's blog entry about the album. There are 38 songs -- two discs if you don't download it.
To celebrate, here's a video for my favorite all time "Weird Al" song, "Amish Paradise."

More Walson Army Hospital

Apparently it was an Air Force Hospital until 2001. This is interesting. I keep finding a little bit more every time I Google the hospital.

In case you don't want to click on the link, here's most of the post:
WALSON ARMY HOSPITAL
Walson Army Hospital started with a groundbreaking ceremony in 1957 and opened its doors on March 15, 1960. More than 600 people were present on March 15 as Secretary of the Army Wilber M. Brucker dedicated the $10.5 million hospital. Secretary Brucker, who had been instrumental in securing funding for medical facilities throughout the Army, assured the assembled group that he would try even harder to see that the Army received sufficient funds to enable it to replace the hastily built World War II-type wooden hospitals. Mrs. Walson, widow of Brigadier General Walson, unveiled the plaque at the ceremony.
The hospital was named in honor of Brigadier General Charles M. Walson, Surgeon General of the II Army Corps from November 1940 to July 1945. Born in Laurel, Delaware, on August 24, 1883, BG Walson was graduated from the Jefferson Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1906 and from the Army Medical School in 1912. During World War I, Walson, then a major, served with the American Expeditionary Forces in France as an assistant surgeon. At the end of the war, he served with the Army of occupation at Coblenz, Germany, until 1922. While Surgeon General of the II Army Corps, he handled the enormous task of processing 145,000 American patients and 7,000 enemy prisoner-of-war patients through the port of New York. After his retirement in 1947, with more than 35 years service, BG Walson served as administrator of the American Red Cross blood program for the greater New York area. He died on May 14, 1959.
The hospital, sitting on a 13 acre site, has a floor area of some 327,000 square feet. About half is contained in two 9-story ward wings and a 9-story service wing. The 500-bed hospital can be expanded to 1,000 beds.
Moving 233 patients into Walson Army Hospital from the Station Hospital was completed on March 21, 1960 with a minimum of inconvenience to the patients. Hospital personnel worked around the clock so that the transition would proceed smoothly. In addition
to performing their required tasks at the old hospital, they often stopped by the new hospital in the evening to clean and prepare their own sections. With the opening of Walson, the Station Hospital became an annex of Walson Army Hospital.
Scrubbing floors, cleaning windows, and general sterilization functions were necessary before the first patient could be admitted. More than 700 truckloads of equipment were moved to the new hospital. Aiding in this phase of the operation were the personnel and vehicles of the 4th Field Hospital. By mid-morning, 217 patients had been transferred by ambulatory or two litter-bus ambulances, furnished by McGuire Air Force Base and the hospital's metropolitan and field ambulances.
The ultra-modern Walson Army Hospital made use of the latest medical and recreational equipment and facilities. These were contained in a spacious sunbathed building surrounded by crescent shaped, tree-shaded parking areas at New Jersey Avenue and West Third Street. The medical staff could hear themselves being paged over individual pocket-sized transistor radios. They could dictate letters by telephone to a central dictation pool. Medicines and messages were whisked to all floors through pneumatic tubes.
Patients were entertained and informed by a closed-circuit radio station with bedside speakers, including a channel for television sound. Televisions were available in all wards, room, and lounges. Accommodations for patients included private, two, three, and four-bed rooms and 8, 16, and 24-bed wards. Steam for winter heating and cool air for summer air conditioning was piped through the building from boiler and refrigeration houses on the hospital grounds. A diesel-powered generator supplied emergency power. Surgical facilities included eight fully equipped operating rooms. X-ray, dental, eye-ear-nose-throat, childcare, neuro-psychiatric, and therapy clinics were included. An emergency operating room was located near the ambulance entrance. A central food service section in the hospital handed the preparation and serving of all food, eliminating the need for special diet kitchens.
In its first full year of operation, the hospital admitted 22,999 patients. Four Army doctors were participating in a two-year residency program -- two in general practice and two in preventive medicine. In October 1966, the expanded residency program included four Army doctors in the one-year Pre-Specialty Surgery Residency, four in the two-year General Practice Residency and three in the nine-month Preventive Medicine Residency Program.
Improvements and expansion of the hospital complex were made. The nurses' quarters were completed in 1963 and the enlisted quarters were ready for occupancy the following year. In June 1965, a $1.3 million construction program began on a two-story addition for clinics and a one-story Air Evacuation Section.
The two-story addition, which increased medical facilities by 32,000 square feet, was occupied on June 22, 1966, and contained a pediatric clinic, obstetrics and gynecology clinic, a neuro-psychiatric clinic, a dental clinic, a preventive medicine department, a physical examination section, and a pharmacy. After the clinics moved into the new addition, the builders returned to expand the areas vacated by some of the clinics and modify activities remaining on the first floor of the original hospital.
The 150-bed Air Evacuation Center was a joint operation involving Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base. It became operational in May 1966. The Center provided medical care to Air Evacuation patients en route to their final destination.
At the height of its operation, Walson Army Hospital provided out-patient and in-patient care for personnel stationed at Fort Dix and small units located nearby, as well as Army dependents and other authorized personnel. Air Force and Navy personnel stationed at McGuire Air Force Base and Lakehurst Naval Station provided hospital and specialized clinic services. Specialized clinics included dermatology, gastroenterology, internal medicine, obstetrics, cardiology, radiology, gynecology, orthopedics, urology, neurology, psychiatry, pediatrics, eye-ear-nose and throat, surgery, preventive medicine, anesthesiology, and veterinary medicine.
In 1992, at the recommendation of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC), Walson Army Hospital was transferred to the Air Force (McGuire Air Force Base) and was renamed Walson Air Force Hospital. On 30 April 2001, Walson Hospital closed its doors as the Air Force vacated the building. The former hospital was turned over to the BRAC Committee.
The Fort Dix Museum is undergoing a renovation and name change. It will become the Army Reserve Mobilization Museum. The exhibits are being redone and renovations to the building are set to begin. The museum is currently 17,000 square feet, but will expand to 22,000 square feet.
Daniel W. Zimmerman
Museum
Fort Dix, NJ 08640

"Whiteout" artist interviewed in cartoon form

Here's an interesting interview with "Whiteout" artist Steve Leiber. The move came out last week, but got mediocre reviews. The graphic novel, however, is truly awesome. It came out more than 10 years ago, and is well worth checking out. This is one of those comics I remember, even though it's been more than a decade, without having to find it buried in the pile and think, "Oh yeah! That was awesome!"
It's the first thing I ever saw from writer Greg Rucka, who has gone on to more fame and fortune in comics and elsewhere.
Here's the summary from Amazon.com (I am too lazy to summarize it myself):
You can't get any further down than the bottom of the world - Antarctica. Cold, desolate, nothing but ice and snow for miles and miles. Carrie Stetko is a U.S. Marshal, and she's made The Ice her home. In its vastness, she has found a place where she can forget her troubled past and feel at peace... Until someone commits a murder in her jurisdiction and that peace is shattered. The murderer is one of five men scattered across the continent, and he has more reason to hide than just the slaying. Several ice samples were taken from the area around the body, and the depth of the drilling signifies something particular was removed. Enter Lily Sharpe, who wants to know what was so important another man's life had to be taken for it. But are either of the women prepared for the secrets and betrayals at the core of the situation?

Our pal Sala returns with "Cat Burglar Blue"

Here's the scoop about a new graphic novel by Richard Sala, whose comics are always unbelievably cool.
Here's the Amazon link.

Serial cereal blogging

A few days later (I had eggs and a TV dinner breakfast in between) but the Fruity Pebbles tasted fine this morning. I wonder what was wrong with me the other day?

Serial cereal blogging; or, "Everyone has a Facebook page (except me)."

Did you know that the cereal "Fruity Pebbles" has a page on Facebook? It has 8,296 fans.
Did you also know that the cereal was introduced in 1971?
From Wikipedia:

The cereal started out with three flavors: Orange, cherry, and lemon. New flavors were added over time such as grape in 1980, lime in 1984, Berry Blue in 1994, Incrediberry Purple in 1995 and Bedrock Berry Pink in 2005

Interesting, eh what?
I just opened a box of them this morning, and oddly enough, they didn't taste quite right. They weren't as sweet as usual. I went online to see if they had altered their recipe (perhaps removed gluten?), but there appears to have been no recent change. I am recovering from a cold, and my nose has ben stuffed up, so maybe it's me.
I'll try again tomorrow and see if it's a bad box, or if I was just having a bad taste day.

Just because ...

I just thought we needed a picture of "Weird Al."

Listening to bricks, mortar and deer

I didn’t know anything about Fort Dix until I went there a few weeks ago.
I assumed it would be a run-down Army post, since it was “closed” by the Base Realignment and Closure process in the early 1990s.
I was surprised to find a lively, well-kept training base when I arrived.
There was, however, one BRAC casualty. (I assume it was BRAC, anyway. ) Walson Army Hospital can be seen from almost anywhere in the cantonment area. It’s a nine-story -- now empty -- building.
What struck me about it was how closely it resembled Ireland Army Community Hospital at Fort Knox, where Izzy was born. Ireland opened in 1957.
According to a marker (which looked suspiciously like a gravestone) outside the hospital’s old front entrance, Walson opened in 1960 and closed in 1992. It was built at about the same time, anyway.
When I first saw the old Walson Army Hospital building, I kept thinking about how my dad occasionally says, “If walls could talk … ” I walked around the hospital building several times and drove around it even more wondering what those walls might say.
Babies were born there, doctors put casts on the broken arms and legs of Soldiers and their family members alike. The emergency room patched up people horribly injured in car crashes.
Although it has been closed for 17 years (oddly enough, the same amount of time I have been in the Army) the curving sidewalks and benches are still in the back of the hospital. You can still see where people may have sat while awaiting surgery, or holding a baby for the first time or learning how to walk with a prosthetic leg.
The building is surrounded by a loop road which separates the hospital from its now-empty parking lots. There are still crosswalk signs that caution drivers not to hit pedestrians, even though there are few drivers and almost no pedestrians.
The emergency room doors still looks like ER doors.
The brick on one side has a rust-looking stain below some windows. The letters “WALSON” are still on the side of the building you see first when you come in the main entrance. However, only a stain remains displaying the words “hospital” below.
There were a couple of open windows on the higher floors. I wondered if they were broken or if someone opened them. I wondered if there were ghosts of people who died there watching me walk past.
Looking around the hospital grounds, you can almost picture basic trainees who shuffled past during early morning runs with the warm, yellow sunlight behind them.
Every night, at dusk, a herd of deer ate grass in a field across from the hospital. One night, I counted 14 of them. Several nights, I sat and watched them from my car for quite a while. When I walked around the hospital, four of the deer were eating grass very close to the sidewalk on which I was standing. I felt the wind shift. The deer could smell me. They all turned and gracefully ran away.
Maybe the hospital’s ghosts aren’t on the inside.
What would those old walls tell me?

Interesting link

Go read; go play; have fun.
If this site works, it should be cool. I had trouble getting to see the images.

Said by me during "Food Network Challenge:"

"If I had to make a Disney-themed cake, I'd make a cake of the MGM lion with Mickey Mouse's feet hanging out of his mouth."

OK, it's been a while ...

... but what better way to re-start this thing than with a "Batman" TV series clip?
(Between vacations, schools and trips, I have not been home for any length of time for something like five weeks.)

Usagi Yojimbo on TV

For those of you who never saw the rabbit bodyguard's appearance on TMNT:

One of the few partner-less baseball announcers may finally hang it up

How many guys will it take to replace Vin Scully?
Here's the LA Times story about his future plans.
What I wouldn't give to see one of the networks re-unite Scully and longtime NBC partner Joe Garagiola for a few games before Scully retires.

You know what?

I haven't posted much here lately, have I?

But, this is pretty interesting, eh? It justifies Gary Burbank's joke about conservative talk radio hosts being, "Angry white guys."
As someone who used to listen to a lot of talk radio, I have noticed the change. It no fun to listen to hour after hour of angry people saying unreasonable things to justify their advertising rates and ratings books.
You what the sad thing is? Despite the obvious extremism that pops up on talk radio, there are still listeners out there who think that (insert host here) has all the answers.
Good radio does not equal good legislation. Good radio stirs conversation, so it benefits the host to take up an extreme position from which to argue. Remember that even the famous "Contract with America" was passed with a Republican-dominated Congress and a Democratic president.

And Eric Wedge is still there

The Indians traded Cliff Lee today.
A few days ago it was Ryan Garko.
Who's next? Victor Martinez?
The players who have been key performers on this team for years are getting traded, and yet the manager who has overseen this year's collapse, and last years ... whatever last year was ... is still there.
Maybe Wedge is a great manager, and Lee, Garko, Martinez, C.C. Sabathia, Casey Blake, Franklin Gutierrez, Mark DeRosa and Brandon Phillips are all duds.
Or, maybe the Indians' front office is missing something here.

Eat Mor Chikin

I didn’t know much about “Chick-Fil-A” restaurants before I moved to Virginia. When I was a kid, I thought the name was pronounced like “Chick-FILL-uh,” instead of being a pun on “Chick fillet.” As I recall from my youth, all the Chick-Fil-A restaurants were in malls.
However, since moving last summer to the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, Chick-Fil-A has quickly become a family favorite.
The first time we went into one, we were house hunting. (For anyone who is curious, it was the Victory Boulevard location.)
Izzy was then less than a year old and was sleeping in the back of the car. So we didn't have to disturb her, I went in and brought food out. I think we both had the deluxe chicken sandwiches.
I remember being completely blown away at the flavor of the chicken. It wasn’t as greasy as the famous brand of chicken from the Bluegrass State, and I liked the flavor better. Hallie felt the same way.
Once we completed our move, we went back to the same location at lunchtime one day, and had another great experience. By dining in, we experienced something Chick-Fil-A has that other fast-food chains don’t, namely customer service.
When we sat down, an employee came over and fussed over Izzy, who was awake this time, and gave us a little sticky plastic table mat to put in from of her while she ate. This same person also came to our table and refilled our drinks. Being used to ordering and getting everything for myself at the other fast food chains, I was confused at first, but then very happy to have some friendly table service.
Izzy didn't like the giant cow that was walking around playing with kids, but that was a small price to pay. (A few weeks ago, she saw the cow again, and reached out for him/her screaming, "Moooooooooo! Mooooo!")
We have found every Chick-Fill-A to have that kind of personal, caring service from friendly employees. And, more importantly, the food is always perfect. One thing Chick-Fil-A has that others do not: Waffle fries. Hallie, who tends to be lukewarm on fries, has loved the waffle fries from our first visit.
Everything I have ever ordered at a Chick-Fill-A has been fresh and hot. Sometimes, it’s so fresh and hot that I burn my mouth on the chicken or the waffle fries. I don’t mind, though, after going to various other fast food places and getting old fries or cold fries (there is a difference). They also toast the buns on their sandwiches, which, to my taste anyway, adds a little bit of pleasant texture to make the eating all the more enjoyable.
Late in the evening one December, at the back end of a long return trip from Ohio, we stopped at the Chick-Fil-A in Williamsburg, and for the first time I tried their chicken nuggets. This is the most wonderful of all fast food chicken products. McDonald’s nuggets taste like deep-fried home insulation by comparison. They are perfectly shaped and spiced, and composed of (another surprise for fast food) recognizable chicken meat. The chick strips are variations of the same and are equally as good.
In fact, every time I go into a Chick-Fil-A, I am further impressed.
This is in drastic contrast to my attitude toward McDonald’s. To my taste, McDonald’s quality has dropped since they started assembling their food out of little (I assume heated) drawers. Their service tends to be spotty -- some are very good, some are bad. Some are good at certain times.
By contrast, at every Chick-Fil-A to which I have been, the service has been outstanding. Every time the food has been tasty, hot and well-prepared.
Here’s what I don’t get: Chick-Fil-A makes a profit and keeps opening new locations, and they do at least two things that should hurt them compared to their competitors.
First, they aren’t open on Sundays. Their founder felt the employees should have the time to rest and go to church if they wanted. All their competitors are open seven days a week.
Further, they must employ extra people (maybe they don’t, but it seems like they’d have to) to perform the customer service functions like going table to table and refilling people’s drinks, or giving out little plastic placemats for kids.
Being closed on Sundays should mean they take in less money than a comparable fast food chain, and having extra employees should raise their costs.
I guess when you have a superior product and superior service, you can keep from cutting corners and run the business the way it should be run.
And, for that reason, I will continue to eat at Chick-Fil-A regularly.

Accord-ing to me ...

Nothing says fun like an accordion.

Sotomayor may not ...

... but Senate confirmation hearings just aren't the same without Joe Biden.

Not quite tweeting, but still a twit

My blog posts lately have been kind of like Twitter posts, even though I don't even have a Twitter account. If I had a Twitter account, I think I'd exclusively tweet about the quality of my bowel movements.

From one MAD genius to another genius

Here is an interview with Monty Python-er Terry Gilliam about MAD magazine genus Harvey Kurtzman.
One of my favorite movie directors talking about one of my favorite cartoonists. What could be better?
Here's a key passage:
In many ways Harvey was one of the godparents of Monty Python. All the smart people loved Harvey’s work; the dumb people didn’t. It was the same with Python.
Here's a link to the new book about Kutrzman.

What really worries me ...

.. is not that the government owns 60 percent of GM. What really worries me is that Congress may have to pick the colors for the 2011 models. Can you imagine how long the committee hearings would take?
(This would probably make a much longer humor column. I may get around to it one of these days.)

Serial cereal blogging

Today, I had blueberry pancakes.
(When Barry Manilow makes pancakes, could they be called bluebarry?)

No more Yankees

Attention networks: I shall no longer watch a baseball game on TV if the Yankees are playing. I am sick of Jeter and Rivera and A-Rod and Tiexeira and Pettite.
I don't care if Chen Ming Wong is struggling and getting pounded every night. I don't care if Joba Chamberlain is a starter or a reliever. I don't care who is playing in center field.
I am sick of seeing the Yankees play in meaningless games. I am sick of MLB Network cutting to Yankees games when the evil empire are ahead 12-2 just to we can see Philip Hughes walk somebody.
So, dear Mr. Nielsen, please sign me up to do your television ratings, because I'll put reruns of "The Gong Show" and Anna Nichole Smith's reality show ahead of any game involving the Yankees.

Jon - Kate = ?

After watching bits and pieces of the new season of "Jon and kate Plus Eight," I feel very little sympathy toward Kate.
There's something that really bothers me about someone who allows a film crew into her home to film the intimate details of her family life, but complains about how rotten the "paparazzi" are for taking pictures of her at the grocery store.
During this scene, by the way, her camera crew was taking footage of her entering, shopping at, and leaving the grocery store.
Fundamental lesson from TV: Ya don't want the vampire in your house, don't invite him in.
Lesson number two: Ya don't wanna be famous, don't sign up for your own reality TV show.

Eric Wedge is ...

I'd like to make a site that looks just like this one, except the cations would read, "Eric Wedge is still managing the Indians."

How much longer?

How much longer will I have to stay near the computer and check various sports Web sites until I see that Indians Manager Eric Wedge has finally been fired?

Perusing the Baseball Encyclopedia ...

... which I got a two-year-old version of for a mere $7 at Barnes and Noble, I found an interesting stat from the 1948 Indians.
That team's pitching was really, really good. The league average ERA was 4.72. Theirs was 3.22. Their nearest team, the Yankees, had an ERA of 3.75.
The team threw 26 shutouts. The nearest team to them, the Yankees again, threw 16.
They gave up 567 runs. The nearest team to them gave up 633.
Bob Lemon and Gene Bearden were among the top ten in just about every pitching category.
The team had six hall of famers, including Bob Feller and Satchel Paige, who was signed in the middle of the season.
With all the pitching, the team finished in a dead heat with Boston at the end of the year.
To get to that playoff game, the Indians fought all the way to the end with Boston and New York.
Down the stretch, Paige went 6-1. He pitched in 21 games, seven of them starts. Of his seven starts, he threw three complete games and two shutouts.
This wasn't even Paige in his prime. Baseball-Reference.com lists him as 41 that year. Nobody really knows his age. As I recall, even he and his mother never got the story straight.
Anyway, here's the point: Isn't Paige one of the greatest mid-season pick-ups ever? Because the standings were so tight, the team could easily have finished in second or third place by losing just one or two more games. Without Paige's contribution, who knows what would have happened?

(A side note: I'd highly recommend reading Paige's autobiography, "Maybe I'll Pitch Forever." It's one of the first baseball books I remember reading.)

This blog is G-Rated

Is this good or bad?

Maybe he woulda'

An e-mail from last week:
Something is upside down in baseball when Russell Branyan is batting second (and over .300), for the Mariners.
-- Jim

Here are his 2009 and career numbers as of today:
Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
2009 SEA 53 189 35 60 14 0 14 29 29 57 2 0 .317 .413 .614 1.026
Career 819 2189 318 520 110 7 147 349 310 854 13 4 .238 .335 .496 .831

I wonder, had Branyan been given a chance to play every day for a few years early in his career, if he would be the same kind of player as Adam Dunn -- able to hit 40 home runs and draw a good number of walks every year.

(Edited to add the following)
Dunn's career:
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
Career 1191 4080 730 1010 209 8 295 717 847 1319 59 20 .248 .382 .520 .902

Dunn looks a little better, but he had the advantage of playing regularly from the start of his career. He also probably walks more than Branyan would have.

(Resume original post.)

Here is Branyan's list of most similar players, as calculated by similarity score from Baseball-Reference.com. You'll note that Dunn is not on the list.
Craig Wilson (914)
Bo Jackson (912)
Nick Swisher (911)
Ken Phelps (911)
Phil Plantier (909)
Willie Greene (908)
Don Lock (900)
Eric Anthony (897)
Morgan Ensberg (892)
Bubba Trammell (891)

For what its worth, here's Dunn's list:
Pat Burrell (892)
Gorman Thomas (876)
Hank Sauer (872)
Pete Incaviglia (869)
Kevin Mitchell (869)
Jesse Barfield (869)
Wally Post (868)
Gus Zernial (866)
Cliff Johnson (864)
J.D. Drew (856)

I bet those lists would have a lot more in common had Branyan been with an organization early in his career that was desperate for home runs.
I was surprised not to see Jack Cust in there somewhere. But, Cust got an opportunity to play every day for the past few years. Branyan has remained mostly a part-timer.
For fun, here's Cust's list. Still seems like the same general type of player. I am surprised that Branyan and Cust don't show up on each other's lists.
Jonny Gomes (954)
Sam Horn (952)
Jason Lane (944)
Jon Nunnally (942)
Melvin Nieves (939)
Marcus Thames (937)
Chris Duncan (934)
Mike Simms (934)
Brant Brown (932)
Chuck Essegian (932)

Serial cereal blogging

Star Trek cereal tastes like it was developed to feed Hortas.

Paul Rivoche's are is Spirit-ed

This came out Wednesday. You should buy this too, if only yo encourage Paul Rivoche to draw more comics.
Judging by what I have seen in the online previews at his site, DC should just hire him to draw "The Spirit" in perpetuity.
I'll bet the late Will Eisner smiles at every page.

Don't drive angry ... don't drive angry!

Do you think FX's network schedulers appreciate the irony when they show the movie "Groundhog Day" every day for what seems like a month?

Batman and Robin together again

Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely may have done the best Superman book in years when they did "All Star Superman." It's Batman companion, "All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder," by Frank Miler and Jim Lee, well, wasn't the best Batman book in years.
(In fact, it was recently collected in a hardcover edition, leading me to wonder who would pay $25 for that? It's one of the few times I didn't think Frank Miller did not live up to his past accomplishments. Ignore the hyped advertising copy on that link. If you are really interested, wait for the paperback to show up at a used bookstore. You'll almost get what you pay for. Seriously, though, there were a few good moments in the book. But overall, it wasn't what I hoped for. It also failed repeatedly to ship on time and there were huge breaks between issues.)
So, Morison and Quitely have taken their chop on the Dynamic Duo, "Batman and Robin." That link also has a few gorgeous preview pages for you to look at.
I am going to buy it tomorrow.
If it's half as good as the Superman version, you probably should, too.

Whom the blog polls

I'd just like to note I got more votes than usual on this past week's polls. I still need more voters. Recruit for me, people, recruit!
Y'all were really rough on Jay Leno and Jon and Kate, dontcha think?
Well, maybe not so much Jon and Kate. But Leno doesn't deserve that kind of hostility. I mean, really, replaced by yet another "Law and Order?"

They keep bailing, but can they fix the hole in the bottom of the boat

Here's a story that describes the effects of the near demise of the auto industry. It gives you a sense of just how many people are affected as the big three, especially Chrysler and GM, have gone through their big contraction.
I don't want the government running big businesses more than anybody else. I have often joked that the government is incapable of many of the conspiracies some people level against it because it can't even correctly administer the military's student loan repayment program.
That said, a complete failure of one of the country's auto giants would affect far more than the people directly employed by the factories. I think this is instinctively comprehended by people in places like Ohio and Indiana, where so many other businesses depend on the auto industry not only to employ their people, but also to buy things from other factories, as they used to say, if Detroit sneezed Ohio caught a cold.
Here's where it gets even more complicated: There are suppliers to the "big three," and suppliers to the suppliers, and companies who make parts for the suppliers to the suppliers, and companies who make machines who make parts for the suppliers to the suppliers and ... I could go on, but you get the idea. I didn't even mention the dealerships scattered across the country, and the parts stores that sell parts to their service departments. Those examples stay within the auto businesses.
Dare I continue?
Then, you have the communities losing tax revenue and laying off employees. Then, United Ways and other charitable organizations lose contributions that allow them to help the people who lost their jobs. Eventually, even the United Way people lose their jobs because there's no money to pay them.
That's the sort of thing the story tells us about.
Should the government bail out private industry? I don't know. I hope the government bailouts can stave off the worst of the effects, and the taxpayers can recoup some of the money we have invested.
I think it's hard for an elected official to do nothing, even when many people say they want to let GM and Chrysler fail. That may be even worse then watching Congress negotiate a new contract with the UAW. (Now that I think of it, those hearings might be really fun!)
For many years, the corporations and their workers paid taxes to keep the government running. With this program, it's just the opposite.
I admire the leadership at Ford for finding a way to negotiate the tough times without begging for bailout money. I suspect it will probably emerge from this mess the strongest of the three companies, if only because they won't have to repay some eleventy-billion dollars in loans.
(Now that I have wasted all these words saying the same things as the story to which I linked said much more eloquently, go read it!)

Travis Hafner and Mark Teixiera: Not so similar after all

Since I made this post April 12, Baseball-Reference.com has decided that Hafner and Teixiera aren't so similar after all. Strange, huh?

Serial cereal blogging

Yesterday, through a trusted agent, I received a box of the "Star Trek" cereal.
When I eat it for the first time, I shall provide a full report.

Ultimately, Fantastic Four ended

"Ultimate Fantastic Four" ended with issue 60. It hit stores February 18. It took three months before I even missed it.
About two weeks ago, I was standing in the local comic store, saw that issue, and thought, "Boy, there hasn't been one of those in a while." I had bought every issue starting with the first trade paperback, then the monthly series -- every month for five years.
At one point, say most of 2005-2006, I thought it was one of the best comics on the market, superior even to the regular "Fantastic Four" comic.
Neither the art not the writing had been very good for a while, at least since Mike Carey and Pascual Ferry left the book.
In its glory days, with Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar and Warren Ellis writing and Adam Kubert and Stuart Immomen drawing, I thought it was at least as good, if not better than, it's more famous counterpart, "Ultimate Spider-Man."
How far the "Ultimate" line of comics has sunk -- even "Ultimate Spider-Man" has been cancelled. Issue 133 will be the last one. I have a bunch of the hardcover volumes of that, too. I kind of lost interest after the clone saga of a few years ago, but the book still had Bendis and Immomen writing and drawing, respectively. I figured that was the one "Ultimate" book that might continue indefinitely, even if I wasn't reading it.
I am sad about all this, especially because I have refused to read "Amazing Spider-Man" after the "One More Day" storyline and because regular "Fantastic Four" has been very hit or miss for me. These are two of titles I have always enjoyed most.
Maybe there's hope, however, the latest issue of "Fantastic Four" really felt like an FF story -- for the first time in a long time. I am probably just being stubborn about "Amazing Spider-Man." It has such great talent writing and drawing it, it can't be that bad.
This was a rambling post, but I guess it comes down to this: can somebody please make my favorite characters fun to read again? Please?

If you haven't found this site yet ...

... you'll probably be greateful I have given you Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy. One word of note: This site, while funny, has a lot of swear words and senseless cartoon violence. That's probably what makes it funny, actually. Kind of like "Happy Tree Friends," but with more cussing.

Craig Ferguson on Star Trek (well, not literally on, but you get it ...)

Craig Ferguson is funny

I supposed I am way behind popular sentiment, but because of Mark Evanier's blog entry about Craig Ferguson I have watched the Late, Late Show a few times. Sometimes, there are side benefits to waking up in the middle of the night with acid reflux that makes you drink chalky-tasting Maalox and sit up straight in a chair for a while.
I happened on the show amid late-night Extenze infomercials one night and enjoyed watching. His guest was Kathy Griffin, who I enjoy anyway. I'd be way, way more likely to watch "The View" if she had ben picked as a permanent guest host.
Anyway, Ferguson's show generally is standard nighttime talk show fare, but Ferguson brings to the form a new personality and a clever wit. While he seems consistently to get good guests, his personality and sense of humor really carries the show. I tune in just to watch him.
The way he mugs for the camera and not the audience also gives his show a different look than other late night talkers have.
I think giving an accomplished stand up comedian a TV show is a good idea (see also "The Daily Show" and "F Troop" for two different ways to make that work.).
If you are up that late, or own a TiVo, I'd say it's worth checking out (especially if you are like me and you are ten years behind in TV watching and haven't seen the show already).

Serial cereal blogging

I got a box of Rice Chex the other day, and it says "Gluten free! Same great taste!"
Does anybody know what this means, and why it should be reassuring to know the Chex, despite the sudden removal of gluten, still tastes the same?
For that matter, if it still takes the same, why should I care if the gluten has been removed? Would I even know?
How is it a selling point to know Chex are now gluten free if I didn't even know it was gluten-ous?
If gluten is bad, should I be worried about eating gluten-filled Chex all my life?
How much more can I beat this topic into the ground before I stop posting?
I'd say, about this far.
(And, why could I not find any picture of the gluten-free Rice Chex, but I could find a picture of the gluten-free Corn Chex? Should I be wary of a corn-spiracy?)

More "The Cleveland Indians are awful"

From the Dayton Daily News (Thanks, Dave!):
"(Brandon) Phillips basically said he wasted more than two years of his professional life in the Indians organization because they wouldn't let him be himself. They told him to wipe that smile off his face and get serious."

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
"Phillips, who played sporadically with the Tribe from 2002 through 2005, said he had no problem with interim manager Joel Skinner, who replaced fired Charlie Manuel in 2002. But as everyone knows, his relationship with Wedge was not good.
"'But they got a new manager in 2003 [Wedge] and I was put on standby," said Phillips. "I had to be a totally different person. I couldn't do that.'"

Does this tell us more about Phillips, or does it say something about why the Indians seem to have under-achieved in recent years?

The Cleveland Indians are awful

I thought they'd compete to win the World Series this year. I really did.
What's amazing to me is how complete their awfulness is. They don't really hit that well, although they score runs. Their starting pitching has been awful, and so had their bullpen.
At this point, i think you can stick a fork in them; they're done. Going into tonight's game, they are 9 1/2 games back, but it's actually 11 in the loss column.
They have to win 11 games in a row to get back to .500. If they did that it would:
a. be a miracle, and
b. make me think they might just be contenders after all.
However, I would be surprised if they aren't selling off players by mid-June. The problem with this is I don't see how selling off veterans for prospects helps them contend in 2010. I think Terry Pluto or one of the other Plain Dealer columnists said this earlier. They need good players, because they aren't that far from being good, and a number of their best players are getting closer and closer to free agency.
If I was planning for 2010, I'd start by trying to find a couple of good starting pitchers. Not the Carl Pavano/Anthony Reyes kind, but legitimate top- or mid-rotation starters. How they'll do that I have no idea, but they have Mark DeRosa, Jhonny Peralta, Ryan Garko, Ben Francisco or Kelly Shoppach to trade. Those are all players with talent that other clubs might want.
There also are talented pitchers in the Tribe's bullpen. They've almost all gotten off to monumentally bad starts. Kerry Wood, Rafael Perez, Rafael Betancourt and Joe Smith should be candidates to bounce back, especially if they were supported by a stronger rotation that would keep them from being over-worked and better defense.
Therefore, I'd look for ways to make my defense stronger to support those pitchers, maybe starting by finding a really slick-fielding middle infielder to pair with Asdrubal Cabrera, and then a good glove at third. This next move might be radical, but I wonder if moving Grady Sizemore to left in favor of a Garry Maddox-type center fielder would help? (Remember: Two-thirds of the world was covered by water, and the rest by Garry Maddox.)
With a lineup that includes Sizemore, Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Shin-Soo Choo, they should be able to score runs. Maybe Travis Hafner could be added to that mix, but, at this point, I don't think anyone knows what to expect from him.
The bottom line (which, in this case, really is the bottom line of this post): If they can keep some runs off the board through better pitching and defense, they won't have to score as many.

An odd thought

Since inventors spent a lot of time and effort creating ways to heat food faster (various kinds of stover, crock pots, ovens, microwaves, Foreman Grills), why is it we have never developed ways to cool foods faster? Think how nice it would be if someone invented a way to make a glass of tap water cold instantly. I'd think there was some utility to that idea, and, perhaps more importantly, money to be made.

My Max and Ruby episode

It opens with Max and Ruby at the dinner table. Max is reaching for corn on the cob. Ruby tells him he has to eat something other than corn, because he's had three already. Max replies by saying, "Corn."
The episode ends with Ruby yelling at Max from the hallway while he is in the bathroom. "Max," she says, "You have to eat a balanced diet, or you suffer the consequences!"
From inside the bathroom, we hear Max's voice exclaim, "Corn!"

and, while we are talking about "The Art of Noise" ...

Here's "Close to the Edit." Remember this one?

Remember Max Headroom?

Here's a blast from the past ...

With this post ...

... I have now exceeded the number of posts I made last month.

Serial cereal blogging

I am eating a box of Frosted Flakes, in case you were wondering.

And, that is not the punch line to the joke, "What do you call three blondes in a freezer?"

Mas Espanol, por favor

After watching lots of TV with my 20-month old daughter, I have decided one thing:

Despite three years of high school Spanish, I can only speak it at the "Dora the Explorer" level.

Out with the new; in with the old?

OK, back to the fire Eric Wedge thing ... I hate to beat a dead horse. Wedge probably isn't going anywhere, but if I were running the team, before I did fire him, my thought process would probably go something like this:

Here are 10 questions about the Indians' managerial situation (apologies to Terry Pluto).

1. You shouldn't fire a manager unless you know who is going to replace him and, for that matter, why you want the new guy. To do otherwise is making a change for change's sake and signals to the team and its fans a lack of direction. So, if the Indians were to fire Wedge, who should replace him? There's actually a simple answer, that's almost too easy. Mike Hargrove. He is not managing in the big leagues, and has said he'd like another go-around before he retires for good.

2. Why would Hargrove be an improvement over Wedge? Well, for starters, Hargrove always had good bullpens. He did tend to let some pitchers languish without enough work, and he did tend also to get a little crazy with lefty-righty match-ups for my taste, but the team always seemed to have solid relievers who put up good numbers year after year. Eric Plunk, Paul Assenmacher, Paul Shuey, Mike Jackson, Ricardo Rincon, Jose Mesa (sometimes) and others were fairly consistent under Hargrove. For that matter, Hargrove is a veteran manager who has managed both good team (Indians) and bad teams (Orioles and Mariners). He certainly brings some perspective with him. Besides, he'd be a very popular pick with the fans of Cleveland, who, I think, still love him. It would be nice to hear the late-night Cleveland sports talk show calls from "Mike from Strongsville" defending his moves in the game.

3. OK, Hargrove had good bullpens, but does the Indians current staff have as much talent on it as Hargrove's did? Yes, and maybe more. Hargrove never had a closer as good as Kerry Wood. Joe Smith, Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez both have tremendous stuff, as does Jensen Lewis. Hargrove would probably be able to sort out one or two pitchers from the cast of thousands surrounding those guys.

4. What would it take to settle down the bullpen? I'd say regular work, few one batter appearances and the elimination of slavish adherence to strict roles. (And I am recommending Hargrove? Well, he made it work regardless of whether he did those things or not.)

5. Why do I think those three items are important? Well regular work, but not overwork, would keep the relievers sharp and rested. The problem with one-batter appearances (this point ties perfectly in with its predecessor) is that a pitcher may throw only five or fewer pitches a night. How does one build up muscle memory and maintain a consistent delivery when throwing so few pitches? The third point fits in nicely here: the more pitchers you use, the more likely you are to find someone who is having a bad day. Therefore, maybe it's not prudent to pull a reliever after the seventh inning just because someone else is "supposed" to pitch the eighth inning. I'd probably err on the side of leaving relievers in or using my closer for long saves rather than parading five guys out there every night. Odds are, eventually, one guy just won't have it.

6. Do I really think Eric Wedge has to go? I don't know, but, as Bill Parcells says, you are what your record says you are. Wedge's teams perpetually get off to bad starts. Further, in only two of his seven years has he had a good bullpen. So, he is what his record says: a manager whose teams have been unprepared to start the season and who has not patched together a struggling bullpen.

7. What would the Indians lose if they fired Wedge? In terms of leadership, I have no idea. I am not in the clubhouse. They would, however, lose a manager who has done a good job of producing offense and who also has done a remarkable job of developing starting pitchers and keeping them healthy. Under Wedge, the Indians had two straight Cy Young award winners. Many managers never even have one.

8. Hargrove has said he wants to manage one more season in his independent league before coming back to the majors. What do you do for the rest of the season? Well, if the team tanks, does it really matter who manages them? At this point, the team has sunk so low, it's almost impossible for them to get back into contention, even though their division is weak. Ten games below .500 seems more like 50 games below .500 with these guys.

9. What could Wedge do now to help the pitching staff? One thing he is already doing is putting a better defense on the field. He has started playing Asdurbal Cabrera at short and Luis Valbuena at second, which is a better combination than Cabrera at second and Jhonny Perlata at short. Peralta belongs at at third or DH. I'd also consider putting Matt LaPorta at first and bringing Trevor Crowe back up to play left. LaPorta is a natural first baseman and Crowe is a better outfielder than LaPorta or Ben Francisco.

10. What to do with the players this move would displace? I'd bet that from the likes of Kelly Shoppach, Mark DeRosa, Ben Francisco and Ryan Garko, the Indians could bring in a couple of players who would really help next year's team.