No Beaks

Seriously... The Sox Just Don't Want It

I have been optimistic all season...  and to be honest, how can't you when your team has remained in 1st place for the majority of the baseball season.  But last night, the last little flicker of optimism burnt out.  We're screwed. 

Like years past, while this Twins team is in no way better than the Sox talent wise, they want it more...  at least when they play the Sox.  When they're playing Tampa Bay or Detroit or New York it seems like they don't want it either.  However, what do you expect with two teams that have bullpens who have yet to see a home run they don't like to give up (i.e. Boone Logan and Matt Guerrierlast night)!

Seriously...  if the Sox lose tonight they will slip closer towards not making the playoffs.  But, even if they are swept in this three game series they will end up only a half game back of Minnesota.  Then, imagine this...  they win all three at home while the Twins sweep K.C. at home.  This puts the Sox .5 games back with a make up game to play with Detroit!  If the Sox win that one they will be in a tie with Minnesota which will require some sort of playoff and a further extension of the season.

This is what a crazy person thinks of when they are hooked on a win and the playoffs.  At this point I've dedicated so much time to this team, to see them give up the 1st place division title and the playoffs is enough to make me want to pack up, move to Minnesota and become a Twins fan!

There...  I said it!

I sent a text to the Squad last night which read, "These ass****s f***in suck!"

His responded, "Agreed."

The End...

Who are Anonymous?

Have you heard about these protesters to everything Scientology?  Now I've had my own stabs at Scientology in the past, but these people seem a little too much into being anti-Scientology...  Case in point.

The Speak-N-Spell voice really has an impact on that video.  But why Scientology?  Not fans of Top Gun...  I guess.  And that movie alone is why I give Tom Cruise a pass on the whole thing.

Anyway, now Anonymous has wielded their protesting ways at Sara Palin by hacking into her private email. Inside they found several recipes for Moose Pie, several email news updates from NHL.com and a welcome evite from Planned Parenthood Anchorage!

Good one right...  just like my other joke, McCain is going to lead us in the White House?  He couldn't even get out of a wood box in Vietnam...  how is he going to get us out of this economy?!?!?

I might have to keep working on that one...

Later!

Alright... I'm going to let it fly here!

I have to admit it...  90210 is the best show of the fall season.  I finally made it through the pilot and I must admit that I'm absolutely riveted.   I can't wait to get to the next episode and the third episode is on tonight!  I love it all!

The Kelly and Brenda reunion was perfect and the best is the Joe E. Tata appearance as the still in charge Nat who is running the Peach Pit and The Pit?  Which also make appearances.  There is also Kelly's younger sister Silver who I believe was the offspring of Kelly's mother's affair with David Silver's father!  And it just keeps coming...

In the first 20 minutes there was the drop in of Andrea's daughter with Jesse when the news is given by a girl who gives her last name as Zuckerman-Vazquez!  You missed that one didn't you?

I know many of you have watched this and are afraid to own up to it!  We loved Beverly Hills 90210.  It was a show that defined our generation.  Every Wednesday night was 90210 night and this new season does just as well or even better with racier language and topics and much better looking girls.  Hell, Kelly looks better than ever now with the full womanly body!  I think she is like 40 now...  right?

Anyway...  give the show a watch on the CW at 7 tonight!  I'm tellin' you...  you won't be disappointed.

Summer of Art Season 5: Fall Vacation!

My 10 week paternity leave has begun!

As many of you may know already, I've filed my papers and taken a 10 week leave of absence from my position as a molder of minds to care for the Lil' Boss.  Today is the first of what should be a truly momentous adventure in the annals of fatherhood.  It's either going to go really, really well or absolutely horrible and I'll be shamed back to work by a disappointed wife and baby!  I'm fairly certain it will be more of the former rather than the latter.

Anyway...  here is what's on tap in the upcoming weeks.  We will be taking several adventures weekly as I plan to show the Lil' Boss a little part of the city once a week.  Our first adventure has yet to be decided...  but I'm working on it.  It depends on whether we'll be having any more monsoon type weather patterns.  Some TBD'd locations are Millennium Park so that the Bean can see the "Bean," a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts on the free Tuesdays so the Lil' Boss can see a Monet, as well as the Museum of Science and Industry to see a Mummy! 

I know she won't remember it...  but what the hell!  So make sure to check out Lilboss.net for these and any other adventures the Lil' Boss and I and Bascom take over the next several weeks! 

Don't worry... you'll also hear some bitching about the Sox and Bears and Badgers and politics and current events and Spencer Pratt as well... right here at No Beaks!

Lata!

Intriguing Ideas

Here are some things I've been thinking about over the last few days...

I think Sarah Palin is the anti-Christ.

There are many different ways one can tell somebody to wash your car and not get the intended result.

Jewish people are usually much funnier than Catholics or others who believe in Jesus.

The Army is much tougher than the Navy.

If you tell jokes and people are laughing, that's much better than telling no jokes.  But if you're telling jokes and nobody is laughing, it's probably better to just shut up.

My boss talks A LOT and never makes sense.

Meetings were created to make anybody's life seem MUCH better than at work!

Babies really don't change your life that much...  I mean not for the worse, only the better.

That's it...  have a good hump day.

The Long Haul...

This is the month of September...  there are 23 games left in the 2008 White Sox season.  As of this afternoon, after a 4-2 victory in Cleveland, the Sox own a .5 game lead over the Twins.  They lost last night just like the Sox.  All in all, it seems like nobody seems very in to winning the AL Central and making the post-season.  Maybe all the Sox players just feel like the Cubs should get their shot and that two teams in the playoffs from one city would be "too much."  Or maybe they are just too involved or interested in the CalebHainey story... to worry about the post-season.  They may just have hurt hands or backs, but lets be honest, when you want to win you just play right through it.  But maybe the team has been influenced by the biggest pussy in MLB history   Tightness in my back!  I mean really...  everyone knows how you get tightness in your back!

Anyway...  here is how I see the season ending up!

We take 2 out of three from the Angels, split with Toronto and sweep Detroit going 7-3 on homestand.  Meanwhile, I see the Twins being swept by Toronto and dropping 2 of 3 in Baltimore as well as sweeping Detroit  and taking 2 of 3 from KC at home.  That puts them at 6-4 over the same time period which puts the Sox up 1 by their 7 game road trip to New York and KC.  They will sweep both of these series while Minnesota will take 2 of 3 in Cleveland but get swept by Tampa Bay.  This puts the Sox up 6 games with 6 to play.  The Sox will get swept by Minnesota at the Dome only to take 1of three from the Tribe at home and clinch the AL Central title on the last day of the season... as the Twins sweep KC at home and finish one game back!

Got it?  Good!  Now go watch.

Are the Republicans just throwing in the towel?

Barack Obama spoke in front of about 100,000 people last Thursday in Denver.  Last night, President Bush and VP Cheney backed out of Prime Time speeches because of Hurricane Gustav.  Is it me or do the Republicans just seem to realize they don't have a shot in the next election?  It almost seems that they've given up before the real election has even begun...  which sucks! 

I was looking forward to some really deeply disturbing attack ads this fall.

Like McCain's, "Yeah, he says he's up for Change!  But C'mon don't you see that Obama's black?!?!?"

Or the Obama response, "I am black, and I thank John McCain for his efforts in the Civil War to set my people free!"

Seriously...  I think we're really going to get gipped this year!  But then again, we've been gipped pretty much every year since 1996...  those of us who turned 18 in '96.  I mean Clinton vs. Dole?  That was an easy one.  And while Bush vs. Gore in 2000 was "controversial" it didn't really pack any big time punches.  This could've been the year for some really down ol' dirty politics.  Black vs. Old,  Young vs. White...  Reality vs. Senility!

Anyway...  just thought I'd share my disappointment.

The Official End of the Summer of Art Season 4!

I'll be going to what I hope is a short but most likely will be long and pointless meeting.  Then, tomorrow will be the first day of school for all of the teachers.  We used to only have two institute days before the start of school...  now we have three.  And usually get very little self directed time to set up our rooms with the whips, chains and other torture devices to keep the students in line.

While it is kind of sad to be done with the Summer of Art Season 4 which included The Boss, Bascom the Wonderdog and our newest addition the Lil' Boss, all good things must come to an end!  You can feel it in the air...  it's the little bite in the breeze symbolizing a playoff run in baseball and the beginning of football.  It's in the darkness creeping in during the evening hours and taking away our summer daylight.  It's the end of summer.

The end of summer was effectively and officially called on Saturday at the 1st Annual D. Cassata Picnic in the Woods where we celebrated the Squad's B-Day in the thick and humid air of the Pioneer Forest Preserve.  It was a fitting end, which you can read more about at www.SpeedyWillie.org , where we battled the rain and humid air to party through the final afternoon and evening of summer.

Then... the next day the humidity broke and summer was over.  Back to reality for us teachers!  Bring on the Fall of '08!

Friday Questions...?

What do you give the guy who has a lot?

Happy 30th Squad!  See y'all tomorrow in the forest reserve!  That doesn't sound good.  See you all at the picnic!

And here...  for Squad's B-Day:

How Well? Swimmingly Well Thank-You!

So how about that Michael Phelps?  Hunh...  As a former competitive swimmer for nearly 10 years, I must say that not only did Phelps win 8 Olympic Golds, but he did it in some of the most difficult events.  This is a point that is lost on the non-swimming world.  The 400 IM, 200 IM, 200 and 100 Butterfly are the most difficult events in swimming.  A person who swims the Butterfly is either nuts or very talented...  Phelps is obviously the latter of these or very talented and a little nuts.

In other Olympic news, the baseball game between the US and China was probably one of the better  baseball games in history.  If I told you that one of the greatest baseball games in history was managed by  Jim Lefebvre and Davey Johnson, you'd probably say, "The Mets and Mariners never played one another?" or "A Cubs vs. Reds game?, Hunh?"  And I would reply China vs. the US!

Basically China has really bad pitching and hit 4 US players by the 5th inning.  Then the fireworks started.  Chinese catcher Wang Wei was knocked out of the game with an ACL tear after a collision at the plate with Matt LaPorta.  This led the Chinese reliever to his LaPorta in the back of the head in his next at bat.  Then, American Nate Schierholtz completely leveled catcher Yang Yang at the plate in a play reminiscent of a Ronnie Lott hit in the open field!  Finally, losing 9-0 Yang comes up in the 9th and hits a solo home run...  the first home run for China in Olympic play and continues to run around the bases with his finger in the air and stomped on home plate emphatically in the 9-1 loss.  It was great...

I also watched table tennis or "ping-pong" the other day and discovered that only Asians play the game.  Austria was playing Korea in the semi...  and even the Austrian was an Asian guy, which was creepy.

Finally, I watched some guy life 515lbs in the clean and jerk to which the announcer described as, "Going over to your neighbors and getting the family and putting them all on a bar and lifting them on over your head!"

Which in the case of the Belarusian who did this...  probably is how they spend their Friday nights!  There not being any cable in Belaruse that is!

And that's all folks!  Good Day!