Joyeaux Noel

Ooh. Sparkly.

Holiday Goodness

If there are any fellow XM subscribers out there, I wanted to tip you off on a pretty cool holiday treat they are offering up this year.

Mixed in with all their specialty channels on ch. 120, they are doing something called "Bing Crosby Christmas Radio". This channel replays all of Der Bingle's RADIO Christmas Specials from the 1940s, complete and containing all the skits, guests and songs that orignally aired when the shows were originally broadcast.

It's a fascinating slice of both radio and entertainment history, a look at a period of days gone by. I've been enjoying the shows, closing my eyes and trying to put myself in the period when the shows aired: no TV, no iPods, no internet from Al Gore, Jr. yet - this was your main source of entertainment, and it certianly was entertaining.

And now, back to the Philco Radio Hour from December 25, 1946...

Oh, Those Wacky Illinois Democrats!

Is is any wonder that so many deceased citizens have no problem voting (multiple times) in the fine state of Illinois?

Illinois Gov. arrested on corruption charges

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on corruption charges on Tuesday, including trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by fellow Democrat President-elect Barack Obama, federal prosecutors said...

The case shines a light once again on old-style corruption in the Chicago political caldron from which Obama emerged.

'The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering,' U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the federal prosecutor, said in a statement.

Like, awesome. Totally.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving day and is now fully stuffed and enjoying a nice turkey nap!

All the best from the Pete Sayek show to all of you and yours!

Iowahawk: America Can Take Pride In This Historic, Inspirational Disaster

Good Old Iowahawk never fails to disappoint. His Election analysis is (as always) sprinkled with ironic humor - in this instance, more ironic than usual:

"Less than fifty years ago, African-Americans were barred from public universities, restaurants, and even drinking fountains in many parts of the country. On Tuesday we came together and transcended that shameful legacy, electing an African-American to the country's top job -- which, in fact, appears to be his first actual job. Certainly, it doesn't mean that racism has disappeared in America, but it is an undeniable mark of progress that a majority of voters no longer consider skin color nor a dangerously gullible naivete as a barrier to the presidency."

Read the full piece HERE. It's a keeper.

File Under: You Asked For It

Yes, all that "Hope" and "Change" is ALREADY paying off!

U.S. Stocks Post Biggest Post-Election Drop on Economic Concern

The market's decline came a day after the biggest presidential Election Day gain since the New York Stock Exchange first opened for trading on a voting day in 1984.

That's what happens when the pre-election polls show a tightening race and it doesn't actually happen, folks!

However, Market Watch has some advice to those of us looking to ride out the next four years without ending up in the poorhouse (and keep avoiding those glorious redistribution checks!):

How to Obama-Proof Your Portfolio

"The main theme is not to invest in America...that means non-USA oil and gas companies. The antidrilling prejudice and windfall-profits enthusiasm will drive the United States to actually import more oil..."

Boy, this is sounding great already and it's not even January 20th yet.

To paraphrase the late Bette Davis, fasten your seatbelts...it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

The Pod People Have Won

And the loser is everyone. Major companies are already discussing their hiring freeze and layoff strategies under Obama's wealth redistribution plan. Double-digit inflation rates and increased recession trends are just mere months away. When businesses cut spending growth stops and you know the rest.

Get ready for another round of "healthcare reform" to be rammed down your throat like Vincent Price with a plate full of poodles. The best we can hope at this point is that there won't be too much damage done and that conservatives can get their act together for the mid-term elections.

John McCain is a good man who ran a terrible campaign. He's wasn't really an electable candidate but he squandered any chance he DID have. He took a lot of shit from smartasses on the Left that he didn't deserve. He stuck to his word about not using public funds to run for President (Obama sure didn't) and that cost him in the long run.

More than anything, McCain was a victim of Bush Derangement Syndrome and lost to the guy with the better ad campaign and endless supply of willing media mutton heads eager to do his dirty work to get "their guy" elected.

Conservatives need to get their act together and stop coddling the RINOs and "moderates" and get a movement going for the 2010 elections to start swinging the balance of power back towards where it should be. Since JFK's assassination (keeping in mind that JFK was really a conservative) we've had eight Republican administrations and THREE Democratic ones (with the fourth around the corner). That's 32 out of 44 years, so this too shall pass.

Look at morons like Jimmeh Carter. He did so much damage in ONE TERM that the effects are still being felt today. As Gary (Gretscviking) so aptly pointed out - Presidents come and go. Let's just hope America still looks the same when THIS one goes.

Debate 2 Thoughts...

Well, there were no knockout punches delieverd tonight, that's for sure. McCain didn't come out as forceful as I thought he would (based on yesterday's appearances) but he definitlely stated his positions well and stood up to Obama's never-ending-run-on-sentence style.

JM finally hammered Obama on the financical crisis (THANK GOD) and scored on the things that really matter - foreign affairs (Obama came off as disjointed again on the topic and tried to work Iraq into EVERYTHING), substance and details. Obama repeated the same tired stuff and really went off into scary territory with all the proposed entitlements and textbook class warfare nonsense.

Hot Air has some solid analysis HERE.

Too early to tell what the armchair quarterbacking will be like on this one, but going forward and in the final debate, McCain really needs to hit a home run if we are to avoid the first Marxist regime in American history.

VP Debate Review

As predicted, Sarah Palin wiped the floor with Joe Biden last night!

What the Hell was up with Biden's eye tuck and spray-on tan last night??? He was Halloween-scary lookin'.

Now it's up to JM to take the gloves off! He needs to hit Obamessiah hard on the financial crisis - it's time for the GOP to start reminding people that they were fighting to reign in these horrible lending practices back in the 90s - only to get shouted down by the likes of Blarney Frank!

As the Boston Globe points out, these weasels need to look in the mirror before they start pointing fingers across the aisle. What balls these people have, and media just eats it up like the good little finger puppets that they are.

Come on McCain - there are four and a half week left. The emperor has no clothes. Get out there and 'em Hell the way Sarah did last night! People just need to hear the truth, baby...just the truth.

How Did This Financial Mess Happen?

I know better than anyone that we're not all economic wizards and we don't all understand how things happen - just that they happen.

If you have about ten minutes, this is one of the simplest, clearest explanations of what happened to lead us into this mess. It's important that everyone take some time for a little Economics 101 and watch this clip.

As Fat Albert used to say, "We might even learn something before it's done. Hey hey hey!"...

UPDATE 9/30: Despite several attempts by "interested parties" in getting this clip pulled from YouTube, it lives! Let's see how long it lasts this time...

AGAIN? REALLY?

Oh...my...GOD!

THEY DID IT AGAIN. The Mets were eliminated from the post-season on the LAST DAY OF THE SEASON - and on the day they closed Shea Stadium, no less! Seems like a fitting send-off.

Two years in a row...really? This is unbelievable. I would once again like to thank the New York Mets, their front office and their fans for making it suck a little bit less to be a Yankees fan tonight.

The Yankees may not be going to the post-season either, but at least they didn't get ousted in spectacular fashion. Two years in a row (did I mention that?). I knew the Yankees had no shot a month ago. Despite that, I shall have blissful sleep tonight.

Once again, the gang over at Enough Lupica sum it all up rather succinctly:

Let's Play "Guess The Season!"

Farewell, Old Home

I saw my last game at OLD Yankee Stadium last night - the Yanks won 9-2, but that was secondary. It was a chance for me to say goodbye to a place I spent a large chunk of my life in. I have not done the math but I'd be willing to bet that I've spent about as much time in Yankee Stadium as I have anywhere else.

I was torn...one one hand, I am extremely excited about the new Coliseum-like Stadium being built across the street. If you know me, you know that I have been looking forward to this new Stadium for quite some time. The current Yankee Stadium, while certainly a classic, is a tainted one. The renovation of the early-70s robbed The Stadium of much of it's character; the facade/frieze was taken down, the big scoreboard removed and the open-air "feel" replaced almuminum roofing and clinical, blue-painted concrete. As my Dad was wont to say, "they took all the life out of it". For all intents and purposes, "Old Yankee Stadium" officially closed for good in 1973.

Adding insult to injury, the 70s "renovation" was a slap-dash affair; new structures were built on the 100-plus year old skeleton (a huge chunk of which gave way during the early months of the magical 1998 season), like cement poured on Chernobyl. As a result, the renovation did not stand up to the test of time. Cracks appeared in the new cement within a few years that kept re-forming and getting patched year in and year out. It was only a matter of time before a new Stadium would need to be built.

I took one more walk around the old place before taking my seat. I stopped to get a hot dog and soda from one of the attitude-laden concession stands folks for old time's sake (I won't miss them). As I took my seat in the upper deck - and as the game went on - I scanned for the various places I'd sat in over the years. I rememberd the great games I'd seen here - ALCS-ending HRs from Chambliss in '76 and Boone in 2003...Dave Righetti's no-hitter in '83...Mattingly's last regular-season at-bat in '95 (a double)...a World Series clincher in 1999...all the games I saw from the bleachers (oh, how many second-hand contact highs did I get as a pre-pubescent kid out there...?)...and I got a little choked up looking around at all the places I sat with my Dad over the years.

After the last pitch I walked the same ramps out of the old place just like I had hundreds of times before. This time, I walked slowly, looking around was all the nooks, crannies and signs one last time. "No running". "Slippery when wet". As I walked down to the D train to head to Brooklyn, I turned and took one last look at the old girl, the lights illuminating the now-empty upper deck.

Next year will be full of excitement and pageantry as a sparkling new ballpark, one that corrects the sins laid bare by a quickie renovation some 35 years ago, is unvelied. I will be excited, too - and I am sure my first trip to the NEW Stadium will be full of eagerly-awaited awesomeness - but last night, it was all about remembering the days gone by that will soon be no longer - and saying a fond farewell.

Boycotting 'Us'? We Did!

Published reports say that Jann Wenner-published puff rag 'Us Weekly' has lost anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 subsribers since putting out a shameful smear job on VP candidate Sarah Palin last week. Good for them. This exercise in yellow journalism came less than a month after 'Us' published a hugs-and-kisses softball-tossing love-fest about Barack Messiah Hussein.

Wenner made one tactical error when he decided to reprint bullshit posts from Daily Kos as "sources": the housewives that waste money on his glossy shitrag are NOT the same tired, living-in-the-past hippes and wannabe West Side eletists that read his useless music tabloid Rolling Stone (a magazine that hasn't been relevant since...well, ever).

Mon and I won't be spending a red cent (appropriate term, isn't it?) on any future issues of 'Us', and if you think as I do that bullshit needs to be called out as bullshit, or are not aware of the whole 'Us' controversy, you can read all about it HERE.

As I once told a subscription salesperson from the NY Daily News, if all toilet paper had been abolished and the only thing that kept me from being clean or living with a lifetime of itchy, nasty personal rashes, I wouldn't even wipe my ass with an issue of "Us Weekly'.

It's Kiki-Mania!

It's not quite Kiki - but it IS an INCREDIBLE simulation!

Ninja Kitty

Jenna MySpace Video

(Everyone that knows Kiki knows what I mean!!!)

Two Huge Losses

I guess there's no other way to express how this day has gone, other than "tough".

Earlier today, former Yankee player and announcer Bobby Murcer lost his battle with brain cancer at the age of 62. Bobby fought an unbelievable year-and-a-half fight against something that normally takes people within weeks. The Murcer family had released a statement recently stating the Bobby was not doing well, so while this is not totally unexpected, it's still a shock.

Murcer was one of my father's favorite players. When the Yankees traded him to the Giants back in '74, my Dad was crushed - but he was equally ecstatic when he came back to the Bronx during the '79 season. For those that don't know the story, Murcer retired in 1983 to make room for Don Mattingly. The next night, he was in the Yankee TV booth - a place he would stay for the next 25 years.

For today's generation of Yankee fans, Bobby became the modern version of Bill White and Phil Rizzuto rolled into one; a voice in the booth that became synonymous with summer, baseball and the Bronx Bombers, his Oklahoma drawl drawing you in to one of his stories about days gone by or glory days to come.

Unlike many of his retired contemporaries, Murcer was good friends with many of the current Yankee players, extending the hand of the "Yankee family" that he had been a part of for so long. Today's Yankee players were visibly shaken up when they spoke of the loss of this great man.

By all accounts, Bobby Ray Murcer was as good a man as you could find. His endless work for a variety of charities is well-known, and he addressed everyone with kindness and a wide, ear-to-ear smile. There were many times I'd see Bobby on his way into The Stadium and call out his name. He always responded with a wave and that same smile.

Murcer will be sorely missed by the Yankees, their players, their fans and the baseball world in general. The team plans to hold a special day in his memory; no date was announced yet.

Several hours earlier, former White House Press Secretary, news commentator, radio host and equally good guy Tony Snow also succumbed to his (colon) cancer. Back when Tony started up his radio show, there was a period of time when the outfit I work for distributed the program. Naturally, any time you start up a new network, there are going to be issues, and from time to time we'd have to work with Tony's people about refining certain things.

During one of these times I mentioned that something Tony had said on the previous day's show made me laugh uncontrollably for the rest of the day. It was suggested that I send Tony an e-mail and tell him this, which I did, never expecting an actual answer.

Not only did Tony e-mail me back, but we struck up a friendly e-mail correspondence for the next several years….snarky little stream-of-consciousness things about the events of the day and whatnot, always good fun. We were both addicted to Smarties, so when he got the White House Press Secretary job, I sent him a congratulatory package of them that would have probably lasted for the next decade. I always meant to go see his band play down in DC, but never got around to it (of course).

The last time I saw him was just a few months ago. He was up at my job, doing some news and commentary. He looked and sounded great, weak but the way you would expect a guy in recovery to look. He was still just a genuine, fun guy to be around. We talked shop over some Chinese food and had some laughs, hoping to see one another again soon. That was the last time I talked to him.

I'm sure he's somewhere right now, chewing on Smarties and laughing at the insanity of it all...meanwhile Bobby, Thurman, Billy and The Mick have a few beers and catching up.

RIP, Bobby and Tony. You'll both be missed.

Some Interesting News

Gallup (who does some of the most accurate and realistic polling out there) offered up THIS little tidbit of information yesterday:

The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update on the presidential election finds John McCain and Barack Obama exactly tied at 45% among registered voters nationwide.

Good news, indeed...yet McCain (in lieu of any actual Conservativism) needs to start pounding away at The Messiah (TM) with a little more direction.

Some days I wish I could just sleep until November 5th and avoid the four months of agita that I have ahead of me. This is gonna be a good year for Maalox.

Not So Strange Bedfellows

From one craptastic former president to one potential craptastic president, a show of support. Can't you feel the love? Or is that nausea?

Courtesy Tammy Bruce:

One Complete Disaster for the Country Endorses Another One

Peanuts in a pod. Now that he has the coveted Hamas endorsement, why not pull in the nod from the biggest failed president of the modern age? Yes we can!

Ahh yes, James Podunk Carter, the last POS President we got saddled with when the vox plumbeus decided to vote based on touchy-feely emotions and not with their heads.

Of course, it's highly possible they did vote with their heads back in '76, but the heads were all on 'empty'. I can sense the same wind whipping through the empty whipperwills right about now.

I know Hillary's supposed to have spoken tonight or will speak or some such nonsense, but I'll read about it tomorrow. There's something about the sound of her voice when she goes off on that shrill, sticatto shouting thing that she does during every speech she makes that makes me want to shove knitting needles through my ear drums, and I'd like to avoid the Emergency Room tonight if I can.

I hope she stays in somehow - or (gasp) even runs on an Independent ticket. Then we'll have some REAL fun around here.

It Snows Everywhere But Here

Unbelieveable. There are blizzard warnings up all over the place, and what do we get here in Joisey?

FLOODS!

Bah! There's no justice, I tells ya. A Friday night snowstorm would have been pretty cool...but it was not meant to be.

Surprise, Surprise!

Gomer Pyle said it best, no? Looks like the Democratic battle just got a whole lot more interesting. That ceratinly wasn't the feeling yesterday morning when one of my co-workers humorously noted, "Tonight we begin finding out all about the devil we don't know". So much for that.

Well, we wake up today and wonder of wonders, Hillary's back in it. I guess all the eulogies and coulda-shoulda-woulda's can be put on hold for at least a few more weeks, if not months.

So what happened? Could be any number of things. First of all, we pretty much know now that polling data is useless. It has been since the 2000 election. Why people still read anything into polling data is beyond me. We know for sure that HillyBill ain't going anywhere now, and things should start getting interesting.

Of course, we still have to wait for the results of the Texas caucases (what is with that state anyway?) and this can flip-flop back on a dime, but did Hillary's sudden aggressive ad campaign (however disjointed it may be) combined with Michelle Obama's unfortunate habit of being unable to control her Marxist maw (and some dirt on hubby beginning to surface in the form of questionable business dealings) make for some of the difference leading up to yesterday?

With McCain having sewn up the nomination now, and Huckabee heading back to his Fender bass, all that remains for him now is the dog-and-pony show of the GOP Convention. On the Democratic side, I think the gloves are about to come off. McCain can sit back and watch the fireworks while HRC and BHO go after one another like foaming pit bulls.

Before anyone assumes that this will be a civilized battle going forward, remember these ARE the Clintons we are talking about. Just ask the fomer White House Travel Office employees about how civil Hillary can be. No, I'm betting that we are going to see a real street fight here, possibly all they way up until the Democratc convention.

As Hank and Jim listener Chris pointed out last night, this upcoming Dem Convention might make the 1968 one look like a backyard tea party. I better go to the wholesale club and stock up on popcorn.

More Ado About Nothing

If you were unlucky enough to watch that entire multi-million-dollar dog and pony show on ESPN yesterday, then you probably feel the same way I do today: completely disgusted.

Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee both appeared before the House Governmental Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday to participate in an ambigiously-defined session of "He Said / He Said". And for what? Clemens was looking to clear his name, and in one of the best examples of our society, McNamee was looking to futher ruin his in an effort to show how "honest" he is.

What we actually saw was among the biggest wastes of time and money that you will have ever witnessed. Two questionable (at best) characters vying for the title of Biggest Bullshit Artist on national television, each not worthy of any benefit of the doubt. Clemens, a loudmouth whose self-serving verbiage is surpassed only by that of the equally-bulky (but somehow uninvestgated) Curt Schilling. McNamee, a scummy, dirty ex-cop who has made a career out of hindering investigations (until now, of course).

After four-and-a-half snowbound hours of my life that I will never get back, my opinion on this matter hasn't changed one iota: Clemens is full of shit and McNamee is probably embellishing what he knows to avoid further jail time. Meanwhile, the guy that distributed the steroids McNamee used in the first place (ex-Met Clubhouse Attendant Kirk Radomski) gets 5 years probation and is laughing at us all.

This whole mess, from the Mitchell Report on down to this friggin' display we were all subjected to yesterday, has been nothing more than a smoke-and-mirrors dance being orchestrated by that Used Car Salesman Bud Selig to keep Congress out of Baseball. Yep, that REALLY worked, Bud. You truly, TRULY are a genius. Of course, after the wonders of Interleague Play and the All-Star Game World Series Coin Toss, we should have all known that already.

I wonder what Congress and Senator "Bawston" Mitchell would say if they realized that the majority of baseball fans could care less about all this. The only people that actually give a shit are the cranky old baseball scribes that yearn for the days when baseball was perfect - and only had alcohol abuse, cocaine, rascism, gambling and homophobia as problems to worry about.

Here's an idea: institute an effective testing policy and let's move the fuck on. Stop wasting my tax dollars on nonsense that can't change what's already been done. Stop showing me trials with no verdict but lots of mud. In the words of North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry (R), "We're facing huge challenges in housing, government spending, taxes and illegal immigration. Congress would be better served to focus on any of those issues instead of inserting itself into a name-calling, finger-pointing, school-yard brawl."

I couldn't have said it any better myself.

Gee, I can't wait until the Justice Department gets involved and this BS starts all over again. Yeah, that will sure help keep baseball clean.

Not.

Super Tuesday Burnout

Well, Super Tuesday is upon us - and if you are like me, at some point today you are going to feel political burnout (despite the welcome distraction of the Giants Victory Parade today). It's to be expected: there only so much blather and rhetoric one can stand about the witch Hillary, empty suit Obama and that robotic animatron McCain before you want to smash your face through the nearest storefront window.

Which is why I am pleased to report that I just discovered a web site I never knew existed before: ENOUGH-LUPICA.COM. If you're a regular reader of this blog, or know me personally, you know I hate that little prick more than I hate cilantro, and that's a LOT of hate. It's nice to know that there are apparently a lot of other people out there that see the little midget for what he is: an egotisitcal dog shit on the sidewalks of sports journalism.

You have to love a web site that points out just what a little, demeted piece of shit Lupica is. I heartily recommend the Photoshop page, which features delightful gems like this:


Good stuff...good stuff.

So - when the Super Tuesday burnout kicks in...go have a couple of laughs at that dipshit Lupica's expense. I know I sure did.

BTW - I've been lax at keeping this thing updated, so I'll try and copy over the entries from my Blogspot blog at some point so you can all enjoy my recent blaterings.

Come on, you know you love it.

2008 Is Doin' Great

I hope everyone survived New Year's in one piece...not a whole lot going on right now, just hard at work on the WHOT Archive and other fun bits of this 'n that. Trust me, when I have something to say, you'll be the first to know!