October 2002 Archives

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October 31

Here's a link Matt Bruce posted about the latest round of Barry-bashing. Barry Bonds and Albert Belle are not role models for human behavior, but despite reports to the contrary, I saw them smile on occasion. On the other hand, I never saw Paul O'Neill smile, not even on Seinfeld. If I had to name one player who didn't look like he was having fun out there, it was Paul O'Neill, not Barry Bonds or Albert Belle. But Paul O'Neill was a white guy, who talked to the press and looked like he was hustling.

For Halloween, here's a practical joke where someone pretends to be an H.P. Lovecraft character in responding to a Nigerian scam.

Instead of no trick-or-treaters last year we got about 20 in approximately seven groups. Miranda did not go out. She stayed home to help give out candy. I was tired and went to bed.

October 30

This man is not to be confused with this man.

SportsCenter attempted to predict the outcome of the 2002-2003 NBA season with a video game, tonight. When I saw they picked the Wizards to win the title, I laughed so hard, I scared my daughter.

October 29

Listening to You, the theme song for CSI: DC. Love Reign O'er Me, the theme song for CSI: Seattle.

U.S. News and World Report profiles Aspen Hill.

So today they're having their annual What's Wrong with Baseball discussion on SportsTalk980's The Sports Reporters. A guy with an English accent calls up and Czaban cuts him off because they guy's a foreigner and probably likes soccer. Didn't even give him a chance to speak. Whatever happened to letting the content of one's words be evaluated rather than the accent he speaks it in? Hey Czabe, I'm turning you off. It's CDs on the way home from now on. You're right next to Jim Rome as Grand Marshalls of the Jerk Parade. Man, even Barry Bonds couldn't carry your boorish jockstrap.

I will give him credit for some funny takes on gambling here and here.

The two most recent episodes of The Twilight Zone were only mediocre. I understand that UPN has asked for a full season.

In "Pool Guy," Lou Diamond Phillips, plays Richie, a pool guy with a recurring dream of being shot by a particular man called Mr. Hunt. I figured it out pretty quickly from many years of reading Analog that the repeating dream of being shot is his punishment for shooting the guy. The program ends with one of the virtual reality technicians saying,"He's getting off easy."

Not to turn this into a political discussion, but isn't lethal injection too sedate a way to deal with a brutal offender? Isn't killing a murderer dragging the state down to his level? I'm sure serial and spree killers consider that they might end in a bloody gun battle with the police. Killing him is just giving him what we wants.

The best argument against the death penalty is the inability to reverse it when mistakes are made. Killing a murderer doesn't give him any time to consider the evil of his actions, but years wasting away prison gives him time to do that over and over and over again. Maybe we should bring back non-lethal forms of torture like lots and lots of paper cuts.

Soapbox over, time for the next episode entitled "Azoth the Avenger is a Friend of Mine" featuring Rory Culkin and Patrick Warburton. Craig Hansen is a nerdy kid we all recognize who gets beaten up by bigger kids and loves sword and sorcery comic books. His father Darrell abuses both him and his mother. With magic words, Craig brings Azoth the Avenger to our world.

Azoth is played by Patrick Warburton AKA the Tick. He defeats the punks who bullied Craig, but is himself beaten up by the father. Azoth explains that he would do more harm by vanquishing Darrell. I have no idea what this means. Craig sends Azoth back to his realm and later uses the same words to send his father to that fantasy world.

I guess Craig is empowered by defeating his father himself, rather than having Azoth do it for him.Will the police start asking questions or will it be like "Goodbye Earl" by the Dixie Chicks where he was a missing person that nobody missed at all?

On Firefly, the episode was called "Jaynestown" where a small colony has built a statue honoring Jayne Cobb. It felt more like Buffy or Angel with multiple plotlines, character relationships and occasional deep thoughts.

As mentioned before, the statue looked an awful lot like Lenin, especially when toppled. Book and River had an interesting discussion on the nature of faith while it looks like Kaylee and Simon are going to hook up. I think Jewel Staite may have out-Willowed Alyson Hannigan.

Has there ever been a captain of a starship, a supposed star of the show, as uncharismatic as Nathan Fillion playing Malcolm Reynolds? Only Alan Tudyk as Wash is even more invisible as "The Husband". Maybe this is Joss Whedon's playing against type - the boring captain and the forgetable male spouse.

October 28

Check out the entries from Matt Bruce concerning the quizbowl circuit.

Congratulations to the Devil Rays for landing Lou Piniella. Just shut up to Mike Greenberg for betting a doughnut that Lou would end up with the Mets.

Went with Whitlock to rent a van. She'll use tomorrow to get the largest part of an exercise table from a doctor.

Isn't this priceless. Lose a lead in the 80th minute on an own goal. And Claudio Reyna left the game on crutches. Wilkinson is highlighting the positives, but I wonder if he's starting to sound like Chuck Tanner.

As if single males out there didn't have enough problems...Charlie's Diary.

October 27

Cut the grass. Used the leaf blower to suck up somes leaves. The vibration left my hands tingly for several minutes. Also, late in the day, my right knee and calf were sore.

The Angels' victory puts this World Series at just above the 1986 Series - two blowouts and four one-run games, including a remarkable Game 6 collapse.

The Indigenous Persons hung on for a victory. I still don't think much of the ball coach, but at least they're beating the lesser teams. Because of their weak schedule, 11-5 is not out of the question without any improvement in the team. Washington fortunately plays the weak AFC South, the Cowboys and Giants twice, as well as Seattle still to come. They can get a wildcard behind the Eagles, but would get fried by San Francisco, New Orleans or Green Bay.

October 26

Miranda and I blew bubbles on the front steps while the wind blew most of them to our neighbors who were washing their cars.

Watched the Buffy episode "Help". Apparently, the character of Cassie Newton has a real web site. This episode harkened back to high school days of Buffy and the high school is hell metaphor. I thought the character of Peter would be the first to ask Buffy out. You think the boys are whispering,"You seen the new counselour? She's hot!" With ducktape across her mouth, Cassie looked a lot like Amy the Witch/Rat. I thought maybe they'd abducted the wrong girl who'd reveal herself to be Amy and a witch

I'll go out on a limb and say the Enterprise episode "A Night in Sickbay" is my favorite. The plot is very simple-Archer spends the night in sickbay while Porthos undergoes treatment for a pathogen picked up on the last away mission. Meanwhile, a response must be formulated to appease an easily offended race. I liked it because the characters, especially Archer, are presented as ordinary people, not superheroes. The diplomatic incident with the Kreetasans represents the dark secret of real working life that most of it is not spent battling serious isssues, but pretty ordinary petty BS. The obligatory sexual quota was filled with another decontamination gel sequence, an erotic dream, and Archer, shirtless with a chainsaw.

October 25

While following the quizbowl futures debates, I noticed Eric Steinhauser running his own state flag showdown. It's got the attitude of the Brunching Shuttlecocks Ratings.

Song after sniper news offends fans.This is another side effect of Clear Channel or whatever conglomerate abomination owns this network. If this station were merely locally run, it would be a one-time, one market screwup, but because the program plays nationwide, it multiplies itself exponentially.

Howard Kurtz does a good job listing the profilers who were all convinced the shooter was a white male. And the white truck was wrong too. And I was convinced the guy lived in Aspen Hill.

CSI: Miami involved a rape and murder with a Kennedy-like family. An unrelated family friend was also a suspect, but they never made clear why he was exonerated. I find this to be the main characteristic of CSI: Miami: they don't explain enough.

October 24

This morning a deer ran across Ridge Road in front me as I drove to the Metro Station.

From Matt Bruce:

Brick seems to have carved out a nice multi-faceted niche. (Can a niche literally have multiple faces?)

I suppose you could use Bryce to wire frame a multi-faceted niche.

Interestingly, Craig Barker chose the blog of Dwight Kidder, rather than his own, for his quizbowl statement:

Do not rec softball leagues have different classifications for different levels of commitment from "softball guy", in his Oakleys with his three different ceramic bats, who laced it up in college, and the beer league, where a bunch of 45 year olds are trying to make it from second to third without spilling until they can get a refill from the third base coach.

I hope they've caught the right people in the sniper case. The Frederick News-Post web site briefly had the unfortunate captioning shown here.

A grey-bearded, balding gentleman, probably in his 60s, sat across the aisle from in Metrorail. Somewhere around Gallery Place, he out took a copy of the Washington Post and glanced at it briefly. I noticed it was yesterday's edition since the headline was the Aspen Hill Ride-On busdriver shooting.

Then this gentleman calmly dropped it on the floor under the seat in front of him. I said nothing, maybe he would pick it up later. At Shady Grove, he was still there, so as he left the newspaper on the floor I said,"Are you gonna pick up that newspaper?"

He said,"That's not mine."

Technically, he may have been correct and picked it up from somewhere else. He may have been trying to mislead me into believing he hadn't dropped it at all. I called out to him as he walked away,"I saw you drop it at Gallery Place."

I left it that, letting the guilt get to him. Other people leave their papers on the seat. Heck, some of them might actually think they're doing fellow riders a service. This man must be married to a doormat who wipes his ass. He looked like anybody's grandfather, not the sort of person who would thoughtlessly just drop a newspaper.

It just goes to show, you don't really know your neighbors, the people you only know by sight. They could be serial killers or snipers or child molesters or fill in your depravity here.

Worked the phones for the live airing of The Doctor's In. Two of the calls came from Larry's fiancée Beverly. I passed on that the first call was Beverly from Germantown, but it came through to him as Pam. Ally Potter said,"Larry's sleeping on the couch tonight."

The second call was from Helen in DC. Now the show was cablecast live, but only available in Montgomery County. You couldn't see it from Washington. The rest of the crew seemed to be disconcerted that she claimed to be from DC. I really don't know why it made a difference as seen on the air.

Since the second show would not be live, Larry wouldn't be taking any calls. Therefore, I left, but passed the newsroom wipeoff board which seemed to have a poignant memorial.

October 23

Just a thought about the quizbowl circuit. Dwight Kidder has invited commentary on the current state. Would it help if the dinosaurs were forced to play on separate teams with newbie teammates?

Most of my thoughts are in the August 15 entry. Perhaps we should look to the model of chess and go tournaments. Local tournament players don't regularly play masters in those games the first time out.

I don't want to kick anyone out of the circuit, which is small enough as it is. I'm looking for new players, which at my stage in life, means folks who are tired of beating their relatives at Trivial Pursuit. We need events for those Jeopardy and Millionaire couch potatoes.

If the dinosaurs are scaring the newbies, then we need stratification. Either tournaments with easy accessible questions where the dinosaurs wouldn't show up or one with tiers so that teams with equal abilities more frequently play each other.

October 22

I heard the sirens south of Shady Grove around 6 am. They must have been responding to the latest shooting. It was near where I used to keep a post office box.

I hope we see these ads soon.

Was Charmed the first Buffy rip-off or is it Birds of Prey? Watched "Slick," the second episode. A guy who can turn into water is drowning cops at the behest of Harlee Quinn.

Escaping from Waterman's wrath, Huntress and Detective Jesse Reese retreat to a sauna where Slick would evaporate. Of course, in the heat, the pair inevitably have to shed clothing, though not enough in my opinion. Unfortunately, I don't think Ashley Scott and Shemar Moore have the acting ability to pull off latent sexual attraction this early in a relationship. For any of a number of Buffy/Angel actors, this would have been easy.

I don't think we've seen enough of Alfred, but I think the actors behind the others role have done a pretty good job. So far Rachel Skarsten as Dinah still plays a credible kid. Dina Meyer as Barbara Gordon/Oracle expresses such an openly friendliness to Wade, that you almost forget how gorgeous she is. On one hand Mia Sara as Dr. Harleen Quinzel/Harlee Quinn plays a vicious executive type and the classic villain with incompetent minions on the other.

With all these slashed names, it reminds me of my days in Markland and early in fandom when I was Isaiah and Jesus as well as Brick. In my case it was 1% Isaiah, 9% Jesus and 90% Brick, since my real name was so distinctive. Other people known better by their medieval or fan names were the myriad of Johns, Debbies and Danas. Brick, Ilana and Neva had to wear buttons that said,"Yes, it's my real name."

October 21

Greykell Dutton announced she has multiple sclerosis.

We're catching up late to our television shows. Finally saw the episode "Ground State" of Angel. Wesley performed suggested oral sex on Lilah. Alexa Davalos as Gwen Raiden is quite the beauty. TV Tome suggests she may be back as a continuing character. Raiden is the mythological Japanese god of thunder and lightning.

Travels with Brick: New Orleans

Our favorite city. We'd retire here if it weren't for the bugs. I went to New Orleans three times in the space of a year - the National Academic Championship bookending the Worldcon.

On my own, I visited the Superdome and the zoo. The big dome is so close to the street that despite its size, it gives no impression of grandeur or power. The event I saw there was a carnival inside the dome.

You have to eat the beignets at the Cafe du Monde. Food is very important in New Orleans. It's almost impossible to get a bad meal, regardless of the cuisine. Fast service on the other hand, is not important. Don't expect to rush through a meal here.

I attended a charity event on Jackson Square to help rebuild the Cabildo. The Dixie Cups sang there. At another charity event, I saw Paul Prudhomme, perched on a moped, signing autographs in front of his restaurant.

We drove across the Ponchartrain Causeway and drove as far as Biloxi into Mississippi. We drove into The University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast. This was Bob Maranto favorite campus to teach at. It's not a normal campus, with its beautiful view and military students.

My favorite moment in New Orleans was described back in January 2001.

October 20

A quick drive up to Frederick to help Whitlock locate her newest doctor.

The fourth time's the charm for The L.A. Galaxy as they defeated the New England Revolution 1-0 in overtime. The Galaxy were bucking for the MLS Red Sox title, having already lost the MLS Cup game three times, twice in overtime. The best moment was watching Veronica Paysse desperately trying to get an interview with goal scorer Carlos Ruiz, even yelling out to him in Spanish.

Another loss by the Indigenous Persons I lay primarily at the feet of the ball coach. He takes too many chances that fail fabulously. Scarily though, this team could run the table except for Philadelphia, without any changes in personnel or strategy.

We read the riot act to Miranda concerning the cat. She sat between us on the couch as Kauai wandered around. The kid has been manipulating the fear to her own advantage.

October 19

Another lousy day for Sunderland. Instead of beating the cellar dwellers, now they are the cellar dwellers. Next up, the next-to-last team in the table.

Went to Capclave this afternoon and evening. Longtime Baltimore fans Jul and Mark Owings took the train down to the convention, which was in Silver Spring.

Walter Miles marveled at my tiny digital camera. Miranda played with her puzzle while Mike Bartman suggested other shapes outside the tray.

We were invited to a big dinner group that included Karen Newton and Risa and Sandy Stewart. Unfortunately, a six-year-old makes dinner difficult, so we respectfully declined.

We tried Sergio's, the more upscale Italian restaurant in the hotel. Despite lots of empty chairs, the maitre'd haughtily told us all the seats were reserved. We've tried to get into full restaurants before and they've always looked full. It was exactly like one of those scenes in the movies or on television when people are turned away from an empty restaurant because they're the wrong race. I won't accuse Sergio's of that, but they probably turned us away because of the kid and just refused to say so. I don't know. You can make up your own mind. We're never going there again.

We went to the other restaurant, the lower scale Capital Bleu. Despite short-staff and slow service, the people were at least nicer and tried to be helpful. A woman saw Miranda try to deal with her broad glass of milk and offered a straw.

I saw fans walk by the window on the street, heading to dinner, and coming back from dinner. My veal was a little too bony.

We didn't stay too much longer, just long enough to hang around the table where Martin Wooster and Gene and Dan Pappas played Super Nova.

Slept through the middle of the first game of the World Series. Woke up for the final out.

October 18

I'd be very curious about what Andy Looney thinks of Auto Focus, the new film about Bob Crane.

Congratulations to DC United for their 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. Here's the story from the viewpoint of United and Spurs.

Finally got to see last week's Monk, which wasn't a good one. Willie Nelson's manager, who has embezzled $400,000 is shot to death with the Red-Headed Stranger the likely suspect. A blind woman, who really wasn't, is eventually revealed as the killer, with the help of a streaker. The streaker also turned out to be a prize-winning architect dating Sharona. They never did explain why Justin streaked to begin with.

Also saw the latest Saturday Night Live hosted by Sarah Michelle Gellar. The funniest moments to me involved Saddam. In one the audience laughs and Saddam is insulted by a particularly portly lookalike double. In another sketch, in the form of a commercial, ordinary Americans talk about their troubles and blame it all on Saddam. The ad ends with the tagline,"You may not be the source of our problems, but you'll do."

October 17

Didn't hear about this story around here because people are still on-edge about the sniper himself. No sideshow please. Thanks to James Quintong for the reference.

Woman wants to barter Giants tickets for sperm. Make up your own jokes.

I wouldn't sign The Big Hurt for $10m, but he'd be a bargain at $6m to a team with no better offensive options, like say Baltimore, Detroit or Tampa Bay. Could Sweet Lou and Frank work together?

Took Miranda to cherub choir where they went downstairs to sing for the United Methodist Women.

October 16

Is Suzette from The Banger Sisters just Penny Lane from Almost Famous twenty years later?

Everyone is focused on Terrell Owens for his end zone signing incident. Doesn't it look funny to you that he beat Shawn Springs to score that touchdown for a financial adviser they both share? Could Springs have let himself get burned for that score? In 10 years, when Springs and Owens have filed for bankruptcy, will we find out that Greg Eastman embezzled it all?

October 15

The ball coach has to get a lot of the blame for Sunday's loss. When a rookie quarterback starts throwing that many interceptions, it's time to cut your losses and start running the football. You're going to lose anyway, better by 10 points than by 20. Slow the game down, get some perspective. Don't play like you're juggling rabid feral kittens. But, nooooooooooooooo, he keeps right on throwing. At least Spurrier took some of the blame.

I won't ever think of the 2002 Division Series on ABC Family without also thinking of Criss Angel Mindfreak.

Birds of Prey was pretty enjoyable. Why is this fantastic New Gotham more attractive to me than Girls Club?

The Buffy comparisons are inevitable. Oracle/Batgirl/Barbara Gordon is the Watcher with Helena Kyle/Huntress as her Faith-like slayer. Detective Jesse Reese is Kate Lockley and Dinah is Dawn.

I hear Dinah will become Black Canary. But she's a blonde! Harleen Quinzel/Harlee Quinn could be Drusilla or Glory.

Rachel Skarsten, although she looks like Uma Thurman, still has the teen clumsiness. I hope she keeps it for a little while before they glam her up. Ashley Scott has the boobs and lips to remind you of Jolene Blalock. Much as the babes are the center of the show, I bet fanboys are drooling more at the cool toys Oracle has at her disposal.

October 14

Travels with Brick: Delmarva Peninsula

Whitlock loves the beach. I never went there until I dated her. We went in October and September because the crowds were gone.

Our first year, we stayed in Rehoboth. In subsequent years we stayed in Ocean City at hotel on the border with Delaware. We could walk across the street and trivially cross the border.

For me, Ocean City means the highest per capita concentration of miniature golf courses. In the last five years, Delaware has also featured outlet shopping.

In 1999 and 2000, we took Miranda to Ocean City in September, before she was old enough to go to school. Hurricane Floyd visited us in 1999. I followed his course on the Weather Channel, but didn't notice anything unusual, just strong winds and rain, even when he was right on top of us.

I was reading The Hundred Secret Senses, by Amy Tan. It could be described as a ghost story. The book appropriately accompanied the howling wind outside the window.

The Candy Kitchen across from the hotel contained the offices for all the city's stores. Although the store was closed, the offices were open. We asked to buy candy, but they said they were closed. "But, we have a three-year-old who really wants some candy." Never underestimate the ability of a cute kid to open the doors of a candy store closed by hurricane. They agreed on the condition that we paid with a credit card so they wouldn't have to open the cash register.

Nearly all the trips included a drive down to Assateague to look at the ponies. Some years, there were foals, nursing from their mothers.

October 13

Craig Barker is running a 128-song tournament. At my age and married, you only care about your own taste in music, not what anybody else thinks. You don't have to impress potential mates, since you've already got one. Your music will always annoy your children, regardless of what it is, so you don't worry about what they think. I listen to what I like, I don't care if anyone thinks it's crap.

Last week, both League Championship Series games were on at the same time. I think MLB sent the message that the games themselves were unimportant. Games go on simultaneously in the regular season, but this shouldn't happen in the post-season.

New Orleans and Washington played today. Just read the game summary. I can't do justice to the entertainment it provided.

A couple of good episodes of The Twilight Zone for surprises, something you don't always see in other shows. In "Time Lapse," Ethan Embry plays Zack Taylor, a hospital orderly soon to get married. After touching an unconscious head wound victim under Secret Service protection, Zack's heart starts to race. He wakes up in Portland, from his Phoenix home.

Zack undergoes a series of blackouts, always preceded by an increased heart rate. They end with him somewhere else, not knowing why. Eventually he finds himself in Seattle, believing his blacked-out self is programmed to assassinate the President's daughter.

At this point, most of us would just check themselves into the nearest hospital, but as the story advances, the blacked-out persona probably would have succeeded anyway. Turning himself in to the Secret Service, Zack escapes in his blacked-out state. He actually kills a bellboy who was the true assassin. His body has been hijacked by the unconscious Secret Service agent.

In the other story,"Dead Man's Eyes," Portia de Rossi plays Laurel Janus, a young widow, still obsessed with the murder of her husband. She discovers he can see through his eyes when she puts on his glasses. Whitlock thought the real murderer was her girlfriend. I guessed correctly that it was Laurel herself.

CSI, had a warning about adult material. A wealthy Las Vegas couple are killed in their house for sale. The cameras found every excuse to show beautiful dead body of the young second wife. A webcam video of the dead woman showed the real estate agent in the background. Turned out it was cardboard cutout. It also featured some unsavory stepmother-stepson sex.

To complete the fetish exacta, a cheerleader is found eviscerated by human teeth. She has E. coli which quickly leads to the suspects.

October 12

Watched CSI: Miami. A human arm inside a tiger shark leads to the investigation of a combined drug and immigrant-smuggling boat. The plot provided enough twists to engage your interest, but there were not enough explanations. Why was the Cuban community so opposed to the inquiry?

I gasped when Bonds hit his home run today, like it was an unbelievable climax to a Hollywood movie. But the Giants lost anyway.

Willow came home on Buffy. The gnarl was an excellent villain, with an amusing mix of Gollum and the Cryptkeeper. The mutual invisibility between Willow and her friends, especially the resolution, left something to be desired.

Allyson looks good in leather, especially lying on the couch. The gnarl over Willow's paralyzed body probably brought to mind some fantasies to fanboys.

Not much of a surprise in Enterprise. The crew, desperate for repairs finds an automated facility that heals sentient creatures as well. Of course, it's all too good to be true.

The station kidnaps a crew member and leaves a dead duplicate in its place. The abductees are put to work where their organic brains supplement the central computer. Never mind that it totally misrepresents the metaphor of the brain as a computer.

This episode gave an excuse to show Mayweather without his shirt on. I liked the coda where the repair station repaired itself.

October 11

From popular blog subject Bill Simmons in a point-by-point comparison between Pacino and De Niro:

Most influential line on pop culture -- De Niro has "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me?"; Pacino has "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in." Which one do you use more? I thought so. EDGE: PACINO.

Maybe it's just me, I sure use the De Niro line a lot. I got a wife who calls both me and the kid "Honey". The kid mumbles a lot. Of course it's De Niro. What is everybody else getting pulled into?

Finally, somebody listened to my suggestions. From the Washington Times:

HKS plans an open-air ballpark seating between 43,000 and 47,000 and probably will incorporate Virginia's colonial tradition of architecture [emphasis mine] to some degree.

Andy Rooney is totally wrong, but he's a professional curmedgeon, the way Howard Stern is a professional jerk. No one should be surprised.

I think there are good and bad sideline reporters, both male and female. However, the worst has to be Veronica Paysse. I can't believe she's as knowledgable a fan as described in her MLS bio. I also don't think Veronica's problem is English, it's the void between those ears. Paysse perpetuates the stereotype Rooney rails against.

We hosted the Knossos meeting tonight. Instead of a book, we thought we might watch scary movies. Instead we just talked about books. Not as many people came, either because of the subject matter, the rain, or the sniper.

October 10

On the banks of the Wear, the Black Cats gaffer got sacked, and hired Howard Wilkinson, who has the equivalent of a bye week to regroup the squad for cellar dweller West Ham.

Thanks to Matt Bruce for pointing out this blunder by the Washington State student newspaper on Filipino-American Heritage month. The original article in Pinoy Life is pretty funny if you're a Filipino.

A further comment from Matt is directed at a regular reader who finds the quality of baseball at even the New York-Penn League, Short Season Class A level is too low for him:

This is what I love about student journalism...Following/critiquing a student newspaper, depending on the school, can be a lot like watching one of those rookie league baseball games. Every now and then a ball will go through someone's legs or someone else will make the Worst Baserunning Mistake Ever.

October 9

I'm not prominent or noteworthy, merely just about to write some. Typos are a bitch. Just read this blog.

Congratulations to the original Derek Jeter. I put the over-under on his tenure at the All-Star Break 2004.

Funny that this article doesn't mention the Browns at all.

October 8

Travels with Brick: Columbus

Except for COSI and the ride from the airport, all I saw of Columbus was the campus of The Ohio State University, which for some reason has James Marsters on the splash page. I stayed in the Morrill Tower, which would be an excruciating experience for a freshman. They pack sixteen people in a space that I would put six people in max. It had a great view of the football stadium, though.

This trip also featured my only experience in Michigan which involved a few hours at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

October 7

We stayed home for our 12th anniversary. At school, they were concerned about the rash Miranda had. We took her to her pediatrician who said she had 5ths Disease, a parovirus that is harmless except for pregnant women.

Watched last Friday's Hack. Mike Olshansky is a sap. I found funny Andre Braugher saying over and over,"I'm not on Homicide anymore." The lead, David Morse, once appeared on Homicide as Jim Bayliss, the brother of the partner of Andre Braugher's character. I'll have to ask Whitlock if she wants me to continue to tape it.

On Monk, an earthquake hits San Francisco. Adrian reacts by speaking gibberish that sounds convincingly like a foreign language. Sharona is pretty desperate for men. All the guys she hangs with appear to be frauds any idiot could see through.

Whitlock doesn't like the concept of Angel and Cordelia together. I'm not sure where the series is going. The past year has had the revolving door of producers. I'll wait and see on this one.

October 6

Patrick Ramsey passed the Indigeous Persons to victory. I hope the concept of Danny Wuerffel as an NFL quarterback has been purged from Spurrier's mind.

Went out to dinner with my parents. James Martin, the first victim of the shooting rampage was in a staff meeting with my father Tuesday morning. Prem Kumar Walekar lived on the same street in Olney as my sister.

Firefly took their Western motif to the n-th degree. Whitlock, not a lover of Westerns, doesn't like it and wishes other time periods were mixed in. This was definitely the funniest episode of all.

Next week, Jayne returns to a planet where he is a hero. Immediately this recalls the giant statue of Arthur Dent from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the giant face of the Tom Baker Doctor Who. From the quick look, the Jayne statue looked a lot like Lenin.

October 5

Before the playoffs started, Rob Neyer said that starting Vinny Castilla and Keith Lockhart would eventually haunt Bobby Cox. Given their performance in this series, Cox won't take them out of the lineup. So I think he'll ride them until they lose, which will probably be the next round against the Cardinals.

Give an "Amen" for the elimination of the Yankees.

In the first The Twilight Zone this week, Katherine Heigl, played a woman who must go back in time to kill the infant Adolf Hitler. I thought perhaps she'd find 800 other time travelers in little Adolf's nursery, maybe even all on the same side, with some of them actually wanting Hitler alive. She and the baby drop into the river, but another servant subsitutes the baby with a poor gypsy infant.

In the other segment, Ione Syke plays a woman who, while walking her dog encounters a vehicle that, you figure, might have hit her. She is haunted by a mysterious bus and the "I could not stop for death" poem by Emily Dickinson. By the way, did you know you can sing that poem to "The Yellow Rose of Texas"?

She determines it's a death bus, but it turns out that boarding it would have saved her life. Ione Skye plays a character about 30, but she's still trying to pass herself off as a 22-year-old, albeit successfully.

On CSI, a Brad Pitt-like movie star named Tom Haviland is accused of murder. A high-powered LA attorney seeks to put CSI on trial for their evidence gathering techniques.

October 4

People still quite nervous about the shootings. A man killed just across the District Line last night is also linked to the same spree. This afternoon, a woman was shot in Spotsylvania County in front of a Michael's store. Do they have a vendetta against oil companies and crafts?

CSI: Miami this week had Horatio Caine putting himself in harm's way too often. Megan took on the last name of Exposition as she related the death of her husband. How about "Baba O'Reilly", emphasizing the line,"They're all wasted!" as the theme for CSI: New Orleans?

On Buffy, Anya looks better with her dark, short hair. Could the mysterious hooded figures be killing slayers-in-training around the world? At the season ender, only Buffy, Dawn, Faith and Willow remain to fight the horror. Is Principal Wood a good guy, a bad guy, or a romantic interest for Buffy? This week's episode just moved the arc along.

Must be bomb week. Both CSI: Miami and Enterprise revolved around defusing them. Enterprise was just an excuse to reveal something of Malcolm and Archer's character. The Romulans never appeared in the flesh. I want Doctor Phlox on center stage! Although I liked showing in stark relief that Reed is very different from his captain.

October 3

Some people want Lake St. Clair declared the sixth Great Lake. Georgian Bay has a better claim.

Random shootings in Montgomery County. Explained it the best I could to Miranda that somebody was shooting at people for no reason.

In the first shooting where no one was hurt, the window was shot out of a Michael's store where my mother shopped a lot when it was M.J. Designs. The killing started at a Shoppers Food Warehouse, across the street from from the fire and police department. I used to live behind this shopping center in late elementary school.

The killing resumed this morning near the corner of Nicholson Lane and Rockville Pike. The victim, James "Sonny" Buchanan, used to live across the street from my mother-in-law. Sonny's sister still lives in the neighborhood. He was cutting the grass for Fitzgerald Auto Mall where Jorge, our mechanic works.

The next victim, an Indian cabdriver, was shot at a Mobil station I frequently filled up at when I lived in Aspen Hill in high school and college. It might have been a different gas station then. After our family moved out of the neighborhood, there was a more conventional high school shooting there. Reports are the shooter may have been standing 150 feet away by what was a bank when I lived there.

The killer moved north to Leisure World, a retirement community that looks like the 1964 World's Fair because of the big globe outside. A woman was killed in front of the post office at the shopping center just outside the community. I used to eat at the Burger King and my parents shopped at the Giant there.

This morning's spree stopped in Kensington at a Shell station where a mom vacuuming a minivan was killed. Kensington is a quichey community where Whitlock lived in the first year we were dating.

On the way home I filled up at one of my usual gas stations, moving, always looking over my shoulder. There was a police car in the parking lot.

October 2

Today I am the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.

Joshua Fineberg says that art requires us to submit to an arbiter of taste. In other words, we need editors to tell us what's good, which I have no problem with. Unfortunately, the supply and quality of editors is decreasing.

We went out to dinner at Italian Pines back in our old neighborhood. We pigged out on white pizza.

October 1

Tonight, the Cardinals play the Diamondbacks at 11:00 pm Eastern Time. How about this schedule instead?

             1:00      4:00      7:00      10:00
Mon, Sep 30                      StL @ Ari
Tue, Oct 1   SF @ Atl  Min @ Oak Ana @ NYY
Wed, Oct 2   SF @ Atl  StL @ Ari Ana @ NYY
Thu, Oct 3                       Min @ Oak
Fri, Oct 4             Ari @ STL NYY @ Ana Atl @ SF
Sat, Oct 5   Oak @ Min Ari @ STL NYY @ Ana Atl @ SF
Sun, Oct 6                       Oak @ Min
Mon, Oct 7   SF @ Atl  StL @ Ari Ana @ NYY
Tue, Oct 8                       Min @ Oak

Late night games only on the weekend. Then again, I may be showing my East Coast bias.