A Joke of a List

The Telegraph of London published a list of the ‘most influential US political pundits’.  I wonder if they just didn’t have anything better to publish, and apparently, they didn’t. 

Karl Rove as the #1 pundit?  Please.  Chris Matthews as #2!!!?????  Does anyone even watch or pay attention to him?  All I can say is Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

The comments section there at the Telegraph is pretty amusing, since it has broken out into an American fistfight on a British site.  Oh, the times we live in!  I have a list of my own, but I don’t feel like writing it now.

Musical Enjoyment #2 – Scarborough Fair/Canticle

From the September 19, 1981 free concert in Central Park – one of Simon and Garfunkel’s many ‘reunion’ specials. They are among the best at harmonizing. I also think that Paul Simon gets shafted because he wrote songs at the same time as Bob Dylan, therefore not getting his due. Anyway, the great arrangement of the English ballad:

The Overrated and Crappy NFL Draft

I am violating my annually self-imposed moratorium on NFL discussion in order to deliver my annual message of annoyance about the NFL Draft that is being held this weekend.

I have never been able to figure out why people care so much about the NFL Draft.  If there is any draft people should care about, it’s the military one that will probably be headed in our direction within the next 5-7 years.  It is utterly mind-boggling that people will sit and watch the talking heads on ESPN analyze who could be the next pick.  Get a life!  All I want to do when I watch ESPN is watch some highlights of sporting events from last night, not Mel Kiper’s hair discuss the ‘draft board’ of the San Francisco 49ers.  All this for a bunch of players who may not even make the roster in August. 

ESPN is a big part of the problem.  The NFL wanted to make their sport ‘year-round’ (which is a lie), and ESPN was willing to shove their collective noses up the NFL’s rear end and oblige.  Actually, you know what, that’s not a strong enough image.  ESPN was willing to take it up the rear from the NFL in order to ‘stay relevant’. 

Did I mention I hate ESPN?  Or the NFL?

My Energy Plan

I was just reading a story on Yahoo! where Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi asked President Bush to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to temper gasoline prices (I paid $3.37 a gallon on Sunday – it is up to $3.47 now).  My thought on this was: this is like throwing a rock into the river to try and stop the flow.  It occurs to me that the politicians of our country seem to view everything through the prism of oil when it comes to energy. 

M*A*S*H Quotable #2

From Fade Out, Fade In (Season 6 – 1977):

Col. Sherman Potter: You’re not going anywhere!

Maj. Charles Winchester: Sir, my father knows Harry Truman.  He doesn’t like him but he knows him!

Potter: Fine, you have dad call Harry, and have Harry call me, and then we’ll work something out.  In the mean time, vamoose!

Winchester: I am…vamoosing.  But know this: you can cut me off from the civilized world!  You can incarcerate me with two moronic cellmates!  You can torture me with your thrice daily swill but you cannot break the spirit of a Winchester!  My voice shall be heard from this wilderness and I shall be delivered from this fetid and festering sewer!

Musical Enjoyment #1 – Mr. Tambourine Man

One of my favorites – Bob Dylan from the 1964 Newport Folk Festival

Bowling in Norfolk, VA

*UPDATE* I have not been able to get pictures yet, as the wife broke our digital camera.  Anyway, I bowled a 558 series on Sunday in the Team Competition, but we just weren’t good enough to do anything.  It also took us almost 5 hours to do the 3 hour trip, due to multiple T’Storms and Tornadoes in the areas of Virginia in which we were driving.

I am participating in a Knights of Columbus bowling tournament in Norfolk, VA.  I should have pictures up by the end of the weekend.  The place the wife and I are staying is nice, complete with a picturesque view of the waterfront where the James River meets with the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. 

I bowled six games Saturday afternoon – three in doubles competition (with my father) and three in singles competition.  Overall, between the six games, I had a combined score of 1122, which corresponds to a 187 average.  That doesn’t tell the whole story.  The lanes in Norfolk are made of pure wood, rather than the synthetic lane surface we are used to in Maryland (and most bowling alleys).  It took most of us into the third game to adjust and I was no exception. 

Take away the first two games, and the composite score for the remaining four games is 804, a 201 average.  This makes a huge difference.  Thus, you can see how badly I had bowled in the first two games – 150 and 167.  Now that I know how the lanes work, tomorrow’s team competition should be good from the get-go.  Updates and pictures tomorrow!

The Dearth of Black Baseball Players

As we who are passionate followers of baseball remind ourselves again of the greatness of Jackie Robinson and the things he accomplished in breaking the color barrier in 1947, the elephant currently in the room comes down to the question – why are there not a lot of black baseball players around these days?

Ken Griffey, Jr. says he knows the answer

Thoughts on the DC Papal Mass

Just a few quick hits on what I saw today.  I will post a more reflective entry once the Holy Father has left our country -

The weather was absolutely fantastic – perfect day to hold a large open-aired Mass.

Watching the procession of priests and bishops is always an aesthetic pleaser – especially given their matching vestments.  The reaction to the entrance of the Pope was about as loud as I have ever heard any ovation. 

One of my former colleagues, who is now a seminarian, was one of the candle-bearers in the Papal procession.  Pretty cool.

President Bush, Catholic Convert?

So I am reading along in the Washington Post and I come upon this story – one that speaks of George W. Bush’s affinity for Catholics and the Catholic faith.  I found it interesting, nonetheless.

Problem will be, of course, that the self-righteous of the world will pounce on it and accuse him of bad faith, if conversion is the path he chooses.  All one has to do is read the comments section of the article.  It is amazing how many people are modern-day Donatists.  One has to remember that as long as there are people in the Catholic Church, there will be sinners in the Catholic Church. 

Unfortunately, the holier-than-thou crowd will thumb their noses at this and begin the long and torturous process of ripping apart the man just because he doesn’t fit their numb-skulled version of what a ‘good Catholic’ is. 

Alicia Keys, Conspiracy Theorist

Gangster Rap: Conspiracy To Kill Black People

This is utterly ridiculous!  For starters, it is assuming that the white man invented gangster rap in the first place.  Secondly, she is looking for excuses to sidestep the fact that gangster rap is like most music in the past 20 years: a cynical attempt to make money, nothing else.

I see that she claims the Black Panthers as inspiration.  This will not get noticed.  I wonder what the media reaction would be if Carrie Underwood claimed David Duke and the Klan as an inspiration.  Gotta love double standards.

New Feature

On the right hand column, you will notice that I have a new heading entitled ‘Organized Thoughts!’.  These are essentially full-length essays on things cultural, sports, and entertainment.  It is meant to be kind of a antithesis to the whole idea of the ‘Cluttered Cerebellum’, considering that most of us who blog tend to do so on a quick-hit basis, which is more or less the objective in blogging.  The first essay has to do with Metallica’s legacy and which era in their career has been better.  Enjoy!

My Dad’s Likely Gift For Father’s Day

Why am I going to give him this?  Because it is the perfect gift for the long-suffering cynical Phillies fan.  I would have bought it for myself, but a) I was born in 1982, after the fact, and b) I didn’t grow up in and around Philly.  However, I too, still scream that Davey Lopes was out at first on that terribly called play by the now-retired Bruce Froemming. 

He was out.

You Can’t Choose Your Family, but…

…you can choose your friends.

As I read about Obama’s little speech concerning race relations and how he said he could not disown Rev. Wright anymore than he could disown his white grandmother, something struck me.

Being ‘like family’ is not the same as being family.  Obama actively chose to support this man and his church, along with the ‘Black liberation theology’ that influences it.  HE did the choosing.  Unlike his family – which is not chosen by any stretch.  So it rings hollow when Obama described Rev. Wright as the ‘old uncle’ who says wacky things.

Because you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family.  Rev. Wright is not family, but rather, a friend.

Prayers, Please

I would like to request prayers for my grandmother.  I think she is on the verge of death and has been having an awful time especially since my grandfather died on February 11.

Lord, may you bless her and keep her, may your face shine upon her, and may you keep her in the palm of your hand.  Amen.

The Sabbath vs. Sunday

WorldNetDaily (with whom I have a love-hate relationship) once again reveals (unintentionally) the fatal flaws of Protestant epistemology, especially sola Scriptura.  They are running an article concerning the shift of worship in the early Church from Saturday to Sunday.  It is incredibly slanted against the Catholic Church and buys wholesale into the ‘Constantine paganized the church’ narrative. 

The people interviewed are completely boxed into the tight walls of sola Scriptura and , well, they have to be, because they have no recourse to any other kind of authority other than that of the Bible. 

Religion and Politics – A Funny Mix

There has been quite a bit of space used in the print media, the internet, and on television about Barack Obama and his now former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.  It has also come up that Obama has apparently repudiated the remarks made by Wright concerning the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 

There is an angle that I wish to pursue that really has less to do with Obama, per se, and more to do with religion in America.  Allow me two examples here:

I Am Alive…

…barely

I still haven’t adjusted to Daylight Savings yet and I am on a burn that will go until 9 PM next Wednesday, once bowling is finished and I don’t have school again until March 31. 

Until then, I have to finish teaching the Acts of the Apostles and give a test.

A Few Things I Wonder…

- Do certain people in my family truly believe all the left-wing rhetoric they espouse, despite the fact that some of them work in corporate America and live in suburbia, or is it just a manifestation of the ‘we hate Bush’ chip on the shoulder they have been carrying for the past 7-plus years?

New Age Gobbledygook

Deepak Chopra: Why We Need A New Jesus

How this reads: why don’t we just re-create Jesus in our own image to suit our whims?

Thanks To All

Thanks to everyone who gave their support to my family this past week.  For me, this was the first close relative to die, and as such was an unusual experience. 

Unfortunately, we don’t have complete closure yet.  Because Grandpa was a career military man and a vet of three wars (WW2, Korea, Vietnam) – he will be buried in Arlington National Cemetary with the full honors that come along – color guard, pallbearers, 21 Gun Salute, Taps, and the Presentation of the Flag.  None of this will be happening until March 4.  Until then, we will just have to wait.   

Paul Vinansky, RIP (1931-2008)

My grandfather just died, and so, until everything is settled after that, we here at The CC are going on a temporary hiatus. 

He was a good man, very generous and loving of his grandchildren (all 7 of us), and took care of us as if we were his own.   Yes, there were the hot-flash moments, but none of us will ever forget that he did love us through and through and thought of us often.  Hopefully, he continues to think of us now.  We love and miss you.

Goodbye, Grandpa. 

Garnishing Wages…

…legalized theft.

If one, of his own free will, chooses not to have health insurance, then he needs to bear with the consequences of that.  Apparently, our Intellectual Superiors think otherwise.

More money taken = bigger state

Super Bowl Thoughts

*UPDATE* I was right in that the Giants would score 17 points, but not in that the Patriots would only score 14.  Stunning and perhaps the greatest upset in our time.  I will have more on it tomorrow.  Wow. 

For the first time in my life, I am officially neutral on who to root for in the Super Bowl.  Well, not exactly.  I want both teams to lose, or to have the first ever tie in Super Bowl history.  Since the latter scenario cannot happen and one team has to win, I have decided to declare a pox on both houses.  I will still watch the game and hope for a good game, but because the Giants are a division rival and I am still bitter over Super Bowl XXXIX (Pats def. Eagles 24-21), I just cannot root for either team.

For anyone who is an Eagles fan and is rooting for the Giants (*cough cough* Mom, Dad!), SHAME ON YOU!  Lucky for you all, Lent is right around the corner – go and confess.   Ditto for any Redskins fans that I know.  You cannot root for a division rival under any circumstances, period.  I can understand rooting for the Patriots as a ‘lesser of two evils’ type of approach, even though I will not be doing so.

See, I choose to make the perfect the enemy of the good.  It is in the interest of us all for the Patriots to lose, so we don’t have to hear/see the media fellating that will follow up for the next several months.  It is good for the Patriots to lose, so for them to win makes them perfect, which would be the enemy of the good.  But of course, the Patriots losing means the Giants win, which cannot be allowed, and then I begin this ridiculous sports edition of Catch-22.

So, this is my actual prediction, for good or ill, and even though I don’t want it to be true: Patriots 34, Giants 17.  Excuse me, I need to go shower now. 

Len Pasquarelli is a Moron…

…with his head up the NFL’s ass.

This was probably about the most asinine defense of the NFL I have read in a long time.  Lenny P. has no problem with Congress investigated baseball for steroids, but ‘Spygate’, a matter of integrity as well, is only an ‘in-house issue’?

Please.

Never mind that he questions Arlen Specter’s motives and even tries to make the fact that Specter is an Eagles fan a major issue.  The fact is that without the NFL, Len Pasquarelli is just another nobody.  This article has more to do with Lenny P. protecting his own ass than the NFL’s ass.  If the games are found to be rigged, then no one reads his ‘insight’ (which makes me laugh, anyway) and he vanishes, never to be heard from again.