Buffalo Boy's Blog
Giving You More Than Just My Two Cents
July 2008 Archives
Rockin' At The Knox 2008
Last year I ponied up the $45 to watch some great and memorable performances from some of the greatest acts in music including Feist, Paolo Nutini and most of all, Elvis Costello. After that line up, the B-52's as a headliner are impressive but no Elvis Costello.
I would like to go, but seeing as Ill be student teaching the cash will be a little too short to venture off unless A) The supporting acts are as good as Feist and Paolo Nutini or B) The tickets for this years are just as reasonable.
For the show that was put on last year, you couldn't argue about the ticket prices, for a line up like that in todays concert world, tickets could have easily been $100 or more.
I like the B-52's but I think Im going to hold off for a bit and see how this one shakes out and Ill decide at the last minute on whether to go or not.
Kate Pierson still looks great BTW.
No More Fees!
California today ruled that it is illegal for cell phone companies to charge a fee to consumers who want to opt out of their cell phone contracts.
Its about friggin time. How many of you have been stuck with a crappy cell phone from a crappy company and couldn't get out of your contract without paying some horrendous termination fee. Its pathetic and its the cell phone companies way of not taking responsibility for offering a better quality product.The land line companies on the other hand used to beg for you to take their service. If you left MCI for instance years ago and went to sprint, MCI would offer $50 or something to take you back and that game would go on and on and on.
Really, the same goes for any other service, you don't like what you are getting you are free to change who you are dealing with. Not so with the cell phone companies. You don't like it too damn bad, pay us first before you leave your shitty service. That is basically spitting in the consumers face before the door hits them in the ass.
Either way now, if you are not happy with your land line long distance they don't punish you for switching providers, you can opt out at any time. I think what needs to happen with the cell phone industry is they need to get rid of this stupid contract system and let customers go where they please for their service. It will probably mean no more free phones for signing up for a plan, or if they do have that type thing they will keep the termination charge in place because you chose that route by getting a free phone. On the flip side, with no more termination fees, cell phone companies may start offering more affordable service and better quality phones and maybe take a little more responsibility for the products they offer.Category: Miscellaneous | News | money
Does Miley Really Matter?
I know I said I was going to lay low for a few days but this tidbit really bugged me. Miley Cyrus at 15 has her second number one album. Does it really matter? Seriously? There have been younger stars to put out number one albums, namely Stevie Wonder which back in the day, Stevie Wonder at 13 was miles ahead of Miley musically. The billboard album charts are so messed up these day that its not about the quality of the music anymore, its about how much it sells. Her album is number one because every bubble gum chewing teeny bopper is begging their parental units to buy the piece of junk which in a few years, half these kids will come of age and realize the crap that they had playing when they were 10. Back in the day it used to mean something to have a number one album, generally it meant your music was of high quality. Lets compare shall we? Miley Cyrus from today: OR Stevie Wonder: I know which one is higher quality music in my book. Stevie put a lot more effort into writing and performing his number one than Miley did into hers. There some soul and heart in Stevie Wonders. At what point did how many units an album sells take rank over how good the album really is musically? I'd say with the first coming of the "boy" and "girl" bands it started. Acts like the New Kids on the Block, Tiffany and one of my favorites Debbie Gibson began that trend. Really, for the reasons above, is exactly why I haven't listened to the top 40 countdown or ever paid attention to any billboard album chart since I really started paying attention to music because honestly, music is rated in all the wrong ways. The best music ever made is music that has never been on a chart or a countdown. Maybe that is how the recording industry has changed, look at who is buying Miley Cyrus's albums, its the 8-12 year old age group. They are who is shaping the recording industry. I honestly can't see any self respecting adult going out and buying Miley Cyrus's albums for their own personal enjoyment. I don't know maybe Im reading too much into this.Category: Music
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait. I read the books way too fast, there is nothing to do while waiting for the movies to come out now.
The new trailer for the next Harry Potter movie is out and it looks awesome. If you think Batman is cleaning house at the box office, wait until the next Harry Potter hits the screens:
Category: Movies
Goofing Off
While I was jumping around on You Tube I had to post this. The casual fan would take Rush as this super serious rock group that never makes mistakes and plays a super tight show with no goofing off. That is totally untrue, this video of them in NYC on the R30 (30th Anniversery Tour) shows Alex and Neil with the funniest and greatest exchanges on stage I have seen any band do and they don't miss a beat. Neil you don't typically see show much emotion on stage but that is because hes so busy hitting the thousands of drums in his kit. This clip is actually from a bootleg which if anyone out there reading this has that boot leg, make me a copy would ya?Category: Music
Along Came A Spider
Alice Cooper was at the Fallsview Casino on Friday October 13th. I had a ticket to it courtesy of my mom and her players club card and honestly wasn't a huge fan, I heard the classics that he is known for and had no idea what to expect other than the fact that he was doing the full makeup routine that he did with Welcome To My Nightmare.
What I got was one hell of a hard rock/heavy metal show. It was Rob Zombie meets old school Alice Cooper. only thing is, Alice Cooper was the first to do what Zombie does. Alice Cooper has a new CD due out tomorrow called Along Came A Spider and in a way that only he can has a trailer out for the CD, Im curious and I might just have to use my $15 Itunes gift certificate to pick it up.
Category: Music
What A Train Wreck
With all the potential problems and current ones for that matter Beijing is starting to look like an Olympic train wreck. The Olympic Committee that chooses sites is usually very picky, I believe Toronto was in the running for this summer games and I bet that they are regretting their choice right now.
From the split pea soup-like pollution that looks like it could choke a horse to the political and terrorist threats, this really looks like the worst possible choice for the Olympic games. Lets hope it goes off without a hitch because of all the sporting events, including our beloved professional sports teams here in the US and Canada, I really believe that the Olympics is the most important sporting event of all.
It truly features the best athletes in the world against one another. Here is a look at that pollution which could severely impact the marathon, cycling and other outdoor event. I wonder if they are not seriously considering moving swimming indoors if it isn't already. The 10 meter diving may have visibility issues with this pollution hanging over the city.
Category: Sports | environment
Jays Should Be Buyers
The Toronto Blue Jays going into the trade deadline should be buyers. They have a plethora of pitching at the minor and major league levels and some real prospects, they should be willing to invest down the stretch.
My reasoning lies in the fact that I see the Yankees and the Red Sox struggling down the stretch. The Blue Jays have already shown they can play with both teams. That only leaves Tampa who I think even if they maintain their pace will have their ups and downs due to inexperience in the heat of the penant chase.
The Jays have the second best pitching staff in the the American League. How many games can you count that they could have won had they had that one big bat in the lineup. That one clutch hit.
There are two guys being talked about, Manny Ramirez and Pat Burrell.
I would take either, and realistically, you are more likely to get Burrell because if Im the Red Sox there is no way Manny ends up in the AL East.
The Jays have a lot going for them, Cito Gaston is back and has instilled a new attitude in this team should take the risk and try to get themselves into the wildcard. Either of the two guys listed above would provide a spark for this offense, and maybe enough to help this pitching staff win and win big down the stretch.
Another option, is the option no one else is considering, Barry Bonds, with two months to go, he is still worth a look. Either way it would be nice to see JP take a chance on not selling and instead, bulk up this lineup to help the pitching down the stretch.
Category: Sports | Toronto Blue Jays
Top 10 Arnie Scenes
Arnold is rumored to be appearing or to have some role in the next Terminator movie due out next spring, what kind of role who knows but it got me looking up what I consider to be his top ten scenes of all time: 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.Category: Movies
Sunday Retro
You hear a lot of remixes to songs from the 80s when you look back at greatest hits collections like Duran Duran or the Cure, but this band you would never think to have a song that is over 5 minutes long or remixed. They were the kings of the 3 chord, 2 minute punk song. The Ramones Sedated Mega Mix despite the 2 minute punk gods that they were, works and it works extremely well. Its one of those tunes that you want to roll down your windows and crank, it provides sampling throughout the mix of most of their hits throughout the five minute mix and it is very up tempo as compared to even the original Sedated track.Today it works on Retro Sunday.Category: Music | Sunday Retro
Who Cares What McCain Thinks
Who cares what Grampy McCain thinks about Barack Obama and has done or hasn't done or for that matter what his reasons are for going on his trip to Iraq and Europe. Its their jobs to prepare themselves to be president to know as much about what is going on, what other world leaders are thinking, and get the pulse of the citizens and our troops are thinking who are in other countries. McCain, if you all remember was the one who was criticizing Barack Obama for not having been to Iraq and then he goes and McCain bitches about that. I guess thats how old ass politicians get in their old age. They become fickle, hard to please, whiners. Obama is overseas gathering as much info about what is going on over there so he can take over the mess he is going to inherit for George W. Bush. Meanwhile, John McCain is now bitching about how Obama failed to make it to a veterans hospital in Germany to visit injured US Troops. Well I guess you can't please anyone, I guess we shouldn't go back to McCain and his failure to vote for funding to provide healthcare for veterans. Shall we review his voting record on that before we lay into Obama for one missed visit overseas? Im not saying that this trip that Obama is taking doesn't have some selfish means behind it and to make him look better in our eyes, I'm sure it is, but the last thing Im going to do is question his intentions. You could argue the same for John McCain who's whining is for his own good about Obama's trip. When you get to this stage in the political game every move they make and every word they utter has some selfish reasoning behind it. McCain's best bet, is to stop his whining and worry about getting himself together, because once he gets into the debates, one on one with Senator Obama, we will all see right through the old man.
The Cup Comes Back To Buffalo Boy
Thursday was a great day in some regards. In addition to being my birthday, we did get a shot at the cup on lunch at work on Thursday.
Only, its not a hockey cup. I got one of the mini Stanley Cups and we play clinic volleyball. It is played on a 14X28 foot playing surface and about a 4 foot high 14 foot wide volleyball net.
The ball is a 10" beachball. My supervisor Brian and Lisa P. are the team to beat 99% of the time. Its quite the competitive game and gets rather heated. You have to see it to really appreciate it. Not on Thursday though.
On Thursday it was destiny. For the second time in a month the cup came down to Buffalo Boy's desk. What made this win special was that it was for the second time in a month a student who is really still picking up the subtleties of the game.
I have been saying since I was introduced to it that we should take it out on the road and promote as a team building activity for therapy clinics across the country. For a nominal fee we could travel around the country promoting it and eventually have therapy clinics in weekend tournaments. The possibilities are limitless and would be a fun way to make a buck or two.
This is my longest reign as the clinic volleyball champion as my first reign was less than 24 hours. This one goes through the weekend.
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Category: Miscellaneous | Sports
Simply Baffling
How can you be against something and fight it in federal court yet be funded by the same type of thing you are fighting? Ask the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation. They recently sold stock that they owned in Harrah's Entertainment which owns 41 casinos across the US.
Logic would have it that you can't have it both ways. You can't be against something that you are quite obviously profitting from. They have been fighting the Buffalo Downtown Casino and fighting it with the money they got from selling the Harrah's stock for 75% more than what they bought it for. They have since been funneling it through religious organizations and organizations that would help them fight the down town casino. So, what to do.....DROP THE SUIT! No wonder nothing gets done in Buffalo, we have such hypocrites out there its impossible to do anything that helps this city grow. If im an attorney for the Seneca's that is my number one talking point in court. How can you support Harrah's but trash this project.First To Double Digits
I heard this stat during last nights game and had to do a double take. Matt Stairs hit a home run to help the Jays win again and fourth in a row against the Seattle Mariners. What made that home run unique? It was his 10th. He, 39 year old Matt Stairs on a team with Alex Rios, Scott Rolen, Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay leads the team and on July 25th was the first to 10 home runs.
That stat, tells me three things:
1. The Blue Jays offense is that bad
2. Their pitching staff and bullpen has been that good.
3. They can only get better.
With an offense like this, they have no right being 8 1/2 games out of first place in the American League East. However, they have done it with pitching and defense. They now sit one game over .500 and with two more against Seattle, the worst team in the league by far and then a three game set against Tampa, they are poised to make up some ground.
It has to be some sort of record though for the slowest team to have a player reach double digits in home runs. Anyone want to look that one up and get back to me on that let me know.
Category: Sports | Toronto Blue Jays
Drug Test Comes Up Positive
The last thing the US Swim Team needed heading into Bejing was this. Jessica Hardy tested positive for an anabolic drug. Its a drug called Clenbuterol. It is used for breathing disorders as a bronchodilator. It does however act as a stimulant and can mirror the effects of ephedrine. It is also used as a weight loss aid. Though not an anabolic steroid, it does have anabolic qualities.
Look, Im not saying she is right or wrong yet, the system will have to determine that, but this is a drug that may be used in certain instances and if its being used for say, Asthma and was simply overlooked, shouldn't she be allowed to swim? Maybe there is a perfectly logical explanation as to why there was traces of it in her system. Shes a great talent, a great person and is probably one of the least likely on this team to be doing something like this. It was also reported that her test came up negative-positive-negative, so there could be some issue as to whether her test was mishandled. All this does is put a cloud over the rest of the team, especially those such as Michael Phelps and Dara Torres. But don't judge them just yet, they signed up for the US Anti Doping Agency's pilot program in which they provide samples before during and after and they are saved to be tested down the road as testing catches up with the illegal stuff.35 Today
For some reason, 35 doesn't sit well with me. Its half way done with my 30's and on the downside to 40. Yuck. Anyway, Ill be enjoying my birthday working, 12 hours. Again Yuck.
Last night my car almost had to be towed because the barrel in my ignition needs to be replaced, again, yuck. So, to avoid the possibility of towing my car I am walking to work this morning, however, I awake to see that on my birthday, its fuckin raining again, Yuck.
Can we please have a normal summer instead of this cloudy, rainy crap. We need our quota of daylight or winter is going to suck ass. Is it too much to ask for a little sun on my birhtday thats smack in the middle of the summer? Oh yeah I won't see the friggin thing anyway. Yuck.
Oh yeah, the brakes I just had worked on, squeaking, yuck.
35 is starting out to be a great time. So to cheer me up, Humble and Fred used to do a jingle to the Hockey Night in Canada Theme for birthdays and special events for listeners (well the theme formerly known as the Hockey Night In Canada Theme). No I don't have one of their renditions (that would be awesome) but I did manage to get a clip from Youtube:
Category: Birthdays | Miscellaneous | Weather
Minimum Wage Going Up, Not Enough
Minimum wage is set to go up again from $5.85 to $6.55. Its amazing to think that anyone in todays current economic climate could possibly make a living on $6,55 nevermind what it has been. It is supposed to get another bump up to $.7.25 an hour eventually in 2009.
I think the minimum wage is a joke. It is certainly not a living wage, which by definition is the amount it takes to support a family of four at the poverty line. In 2000 it was determined to be $17,690 a year. Who makes up these numbers?
I couldn't even imagine trying to make a living on that by myself much less having three other mouths to feed. So, its no secret that minimum wage has been lagging severely behind what the "living wage" is defined as.
If minimum wage were set to the living wage (and it should be) it would be in the $10-$15 per hour range. You can't argue that prices would go way up because of it either, it wouldn't be much more than what employers are paying now. Most fast food restaurants are paying well over minimum wage to workers and the prices are not being passed on to us.
When you consider that a lot of those minimum wage jobs also may not come with benefits like health insurance and other things that employers typically provide, it doesn't take much to realize why individuals in this country would rather go on welfare and let medicaid pay their way through. Medicaid and welfare pay that living wage at least plus they get food stamps.Raise the mimimum wage to where it needs to be and maybe as a whole you would have less people in this country taking the so called easy road. Either way, even those on welfare, don't have it that easy and I sure wouldn't want to trade my job for one that pays minimum wage.
So in closing, I leave you with a neat little video for the They Might Be Giants song Minimum Wage
Hip For The Hell Of It
This video is nice because if provides the back story behind this Hip song. Its about a man convicted who 20 years later, learns of his innocence and gets out. He was 16 when he was charged and convicted. Its a story not unlike the Anthony Capozzi story. The song is Wheat Kings, check it out:Category: Music
Secret Congressional Meetings
Word is starting to come out on a secret congressional meeting back in March that apparently discussed what would happen when the US economy tanks, which they are expecting to happen late this year. This is the debate leading up to the planned closed door meeting and my choice for president when the primaries started, Dennis Kucinich stands up to this closed door meeting and demands that it be open to the public.
We as citizens of a democracy have a right to know what congress does at ALL times. Dennis Kucinich grills the congressman presenting this proposed secret session. There are several pieces to this that are worth checking out and makes you wonder what this government is up to. There are rumors now that are being leaked that if any economic meltdown happened in the coming months that marshall law would be declared, that should worry us all. The last two videos are actually sound bytes from the Michael Herzong show.
Its interesting stuff, hopefully not to come to fruitiion, but with knowledge of this, I know one guy I don't vote for come November. I don't want more Bush policies and of course, this mess, has come under Bush policies. Why our country is going down the tubes should surprise no one. It is going down the tubes because $2 billion a WEEK is going into an OCCUPATION of Iraq. $2 billion a week that doesn't go to our schools, our infrastructure and our healthcare.
What An Elitist
Talk about elitist, John McCain's visit to Buffalo yesterday should be viewed as a slap in the face for anyone still undecided. He came, had dinner with about a hundred people then went the Albright Knox Art Gallery and met with another 200 people. All told, he got out of here with $1.3 million.
The first 100 he collected $10,000 a head, the second meeting with the Albright Knox crowd he collected $1000 a head. No chance for an average, working class citizen to see him or hear his thoughts on Buffalo. All high class, elitist stuff that no one could get close to except for the rich conservative jack asses that still support him.
Well, if I am sitting on the fence, and Im not, Im looking at that "visit" to our community and taking my vote to Barack Obama. It showed just how little he thinks of this area and our citizens. All he cares about is the money.
Sleep When Im Dead
This is the official video for the new Cure single called Sleep When Im Dead, the more I hear from their up coming double disc, the more I am looking forward to it, the songs seem to get better as they release them, have a listen:
Category: Music
Thank You Jay....For Leaving
Thank god hes leaving. For 17 years I haven't turned on NBC after 11:30 because I can't stand Jay Leno. Conan O'Brien on the other hand, incredibly funny and a great performer on the Late Night show.
There is just something about Jay Leno that I never really could take, his humor was never really funny to me and he is to be honest one of the worst interviewers ever in late night talk show history. Just awful. Maybe I haven't put enough time into watching him.
Now what will be nice is Conan being on at a reasonable hour and Jimmy Fallon will follow him which may be worth recording to watch later, once he gets in there. Apparently they are going to run the Late Night with Fallon on the internet until he is up to snuff. Amazing what television can do now. Not ready for the big time, practice on the internet.
Jay's last show? May 29, 2009, it can't come soon enough.
Category: Television | comedy
Thus The Reason For Government Intervention
This news piece only confirms the need for the federal government to step in and roll back any tax breaks the oil companies are getting from the Bush administration. Its a bunch of crap and they know it. A windfall profits tax is exactly what is needed and it can't come too soon.
The fact that they are not putting their profits into finding new oil or any new sources of energy should surprise no one. They are the epitome of greed. Instead of investing in new oil or new sources of alternative energy they are buying back stocks and dividends. Why? because they are greedy money hungry pigs who are okay with sucking every last dollar that they can out of us before the oil markets crash either by the price becoming so ridiculous the market forces new alternatives from new companies willing to do the research and invest or when the price drops because of new oil deposits and reserves. Personally, for the environment I hope its the first, but either way the oil companies need government intervention to roll back their tax breaks. If the oil companies are not going to reinvest their astromnomical profits in alternative energies and new oil, then maybe the American tax payers can do it for them and put them out of business in the process. The percentage of their profits that they have invested has remained the same for years while the money they invest on stock buybacks and dividends has gone from 1% in 1993 to 55% last year. Thats crazy. There is no defending big oil folks. They deserve what ever heat they get and what ever consequences the new democratic regime doles out to them. The gravy train will be over when the next president takes over. No more tax breaks, no more ignoring pollution laws. Either invest it back into the energy market and produce more and new energy or give it back to the American public in the form of tax dollars. Of course, they confirm from the big oil companies exactly what I have been reading and researching, the easy oil is gone. What ever is left is going to be via expensive projects in deep water. Either way, its time for some action and for that money to be redirected toward the energies of the future.Happy Birthday Katie!
This is last year's duel birthday celebration. On the right is me, on the left is today's birthday candidate, my sister Katie. She is also getting married this year on October 4th.
She is 26 years old today so make sure you wish her a happy birthday! As for everyone on the Buffalo Boy Mike birthday list, she gets the traditional birthday tune:
Category: Birthdays
Sunday Retro
I haven't been posting much the last couple days because, I have been a little busy, that and not much that a particularly wanted to write about. I can now see where there is some writers block at times with the bloggage. With that said, its officially birthday week around here, today is my sister Katie's birthday, Thursday is mine (however I am still working a 12 hour day), so the bloggage will be spotty at times but keep tuning in.
There will never be writers block with the Sunday Retro thing. I was thinking about potential candidates for this week and then one came on The Fuse music channel last night and though not an 80's retro, it qualifies as an early 90's retro tune.
I liked this song initially because of the Terminator reference. But really who didn't like this one hit wonder rap song. I didn't like a lot of rap back in the day and still don't now, there was Cypress Hill, Beastie Boys, certain stuff from NWA, Public Enemy and then the one release from House of Pain. They had one hit song of that record and that was "Jump Around":
Category: Music | Sunday Retro
More From The Colbert Report
This is the first part of the Colbert Report from the other night and is one of the funniest beginnings to the show, which featured Rush as the special guests. Like I said, it was all about Rush:Category: News | Television
We Got Our Guy!
Everyone who was doubting whether Darcy and Co. could get our guy signed long term has seriously underestimated the Buffalo Sabres GM. He has made his share of mistakes but many of what people called mistakes over the past year and a half or so are more what I would call necessary yet unpopular moves.
Ryan Miller is now signed long term. Think back to last year when Briere and Drury were getting ready to become free agents, if they signed either one of them, Thomas Vanek is playing with Edmonton, same holds true for Ryan Miller. If they sign either Briere or Drury last year, they are having one hell of time trying to sign Ryan Miller. Even if they sign Campbell this year, it puts them in a spot they do not want to be in.
So, we got our goalie, locked up and in the lineup through 2013/2014, everyone can chill the heck out and get ready for a great season and wait for Pominville to get his extension..
For Those Of You Who Missed It
Rush on the Colbert Report was awesome. The whole show was about Rush for the most part. The cameraman kept inserting Rush references throughout the show and they were hyped from start to finish. They even made a little joke at themselves about their seemingly long songs, I didn't get that but never the less it was a great show and a nice thing to see the guys on US Television again for the first time in 30 years. Here they are, interview and all, Rush and Colbert:Category: Music | Television
I Lost A Bet On This
About a week or two ago, I lost a bet to our student at the clinic. Martin suggested that Hee Haw ran into the 90's. I thought no way, no way did that show last into the 90's. I was wrong and forked over one dollar. Hee Haw, although it had its glory days back in the 70's and 80's, actually lasted into the mid 90's. Its popularity dropped off significantly but it remained on the CMT or other channels until it finally was choked off the air. There are still re-runs floating around on TV Land or the Country Music Network Im sure. Im no country music lover, in fact it is probably my least favorite of all music, but when I was young, I knew no better, I watched it anyway:Category: Television
Bush A Complete Failure, Right On the Money
Nancy Pelosi will draw attention to herself with these remarks about President Bush but I say good for her. Its about time someone came out and spoke the truth. He is a failure and the Democrats need to say that and make that point. Bush lost any and all support of even his own party. This is the interview by Wolf Blitzer that features those comments. Its very interesting and many of the points that have been coming up over the last few days. Some of those on oil like opening up the strategic petroleum reserve. It makes sense, listen to her and comment away: This is part two that features the comments about Bush:Terminator Salvation
How cool is this, Terminator Salvation, the fourth installment of the Terminator movies. No Arnie, Christian Bale will take the reigns on this one. Its set for a May 2009 release, let the hype machine begin on this one being the big boy of next summers blockbusters.
What A Shock
What an incredible shock as I was getting on this morning to see that of all people, Stephen Page of the Barenaked Ladies was arrested last night in Syracuse, NY for cocaine posession and drug charges.
If you have followed him and the Barenaked Ladies over the years, this is the last thing you would think of this guy doing or being involved with. I was looking forward to hearing or seeing what Humble and Fred would have to say about it.
Anyone from Toronto or WNY who listened to CFNY back in the 90's knows the connection between the Humble and Fred show and the Barenaked Ladies, Humble and Freddie knew these guys well and helped them along to stardom. Freddie commented today on his radio post on Rock 95.1 in Windsor, Ontario. You could tell it was tough for Freddie because he likes those guys (the Ladies that is). As for me I was completely shocked by the news and as a fan of them for the past 17 years, we can only hope that things just don't add up because it couldn't happen to a nicer guy who has provided us with some great listening moments over the years. Stephen, we are with ya man, get through this healthy and well! Who knew that the man who wrote about Brian Wilson's saga with the same sort of thing would be potentially going down that road himself.Category: Celebrities | Music | News
Rush on Colbert
Tonight at 11:30 I will be glued to the Colbert Report on Comedy Central. Rush, the Canadian rock band will be on performing Tom Sawyer. I had to do a double take.They have not played US television since 1975. I have seen them on each of their last two tours including this most recent Snakes & Arrows tour and believe me these guys still rock even close to 35 years into their careers. Tune in tonight on Comedy Central and you will be in for a treat! The worlds greatest drummer will be showcasing his talents behind who in my book is the world's greatest band of the last 35 years behind the Rolling StonesMy Music Posting Skills
Yesterday I posted a Beach Boys tune and something didn't work initially, so if you want to go back and listen, with the help of Mike Boon I got it straightened out.
I basically went back and uploaded the audio file again, it probably didn't take last night as I was having some connectivity issues, and re-entered the music player code into the post and holy crap it worked. I thought I tried everything last night and I did, I just didn't have the file uploaded properly.Thanks Mike!Category: Blogging
What An Idiot
Listen to our President in todays news conference. He is such an idiot. As he talked about oil and the economy today, the stock market plunged, GM is coming out with bad news and the banks are screaming for the feds to bail them out. The man just doesn't get it. Every answer he gave was a line of BULLSHIT.
He and his administration do not care about you and me. The smartest thing to do would be to release oil out of the strategic petroleum reserves, that would lower oil prices right away by about $8 a barrel. Then they have to use the 60+ million acres that are already there waiting to be tapped, not open up new lands like ANWAR. Use what ya got first. Why aren't they using those 60 million acres? Because they don't even have the rigs available to drill with.
Here ladies and gentleman is the leader of our nation, George W. talking about a magic wand:
Boycotting Allstar Game
Im not a huge fan of the Major League All Star Game to be begin with, but Im boycotting tonights because Terry Francona is a jack ass.
Cliff Lee will get the start and maybe he deserves it, but there is a guy from Toronto that deserves it even more. Roy Halladay should be the starter hands down.
He has an 11-6 record, the only reason he has 6 losses is because he doesn't come out of ball games. Many of those 6 losses came in games the Jays anemic offense couldn't muster more than a run or two. He has 7 complete games this season and 3 shutouts. No team has 7 complete games amongst all their starters, no team has 3 complete game shutouts on its roster.
Halladay should be in there as the starter because he is and has been the best pitcher in baseball since 2003 year in and year out, the only thing he is proving this year is that he is all that and more.
Category: Sports | The Doc Watch | Toronto Blue Jays
The Made Their Own Bed
I've been saying it for months and Ill say it again, what went down with GM today was brought about by poor management and a refusal to be proactive when it came to auto design and technology.
Our auto industry is killing itself by being reactive in a time when Toyota, Volkswagon, Honda, Nissan and just about every foreign car company worth its salt has been proactive to the rising gas prices.
GM insisted on big big big. Why? because we, the American consumers wanted big big big. So it is partly our fault as consumers. But GM should have been the leader and said we are going to have a line of small cars that are good on gas. They were not proactive and now they are paying the price.
A guy on WBEN's the Ron Dobson show called in swearing by the American car and we should buy American no matter what, and if you go to Japan you don't see American cars on the road there. What he didn't say because of his obvious ignorance and lack of knowledge is the reason you don't see American cars there is because many of our manufacturer's don't build cars that meet the fuel economy that foreign countries like Japan have set forth.
Gee, there is a novel idea that our government just got wind of over the last several months. Setting national fuel economy standards. That way, we don't have to worry about whether or not our car companies lead the way, they have to build them more efficient.
But, Im willing to bet the reason why that idea took so long, because Bush and his administration are content with the American public driving around in Hummers, Chevy Tahoes and big ass trucks sucking up all the oil and gas they can. What Bush wasn't counting on was a huge sector of our economy, the auto industry is now suffering because our government failed to set fuel standards earlier.
Either way, someone dropped the ball and for that they deserve being in the financial tank.
The Beach Boys Party!
The Beach Boys- Party! album was and still is by far and away one of my favorite records to listen to. When I was a kid, it was one of the records my Aunt Peggy had spinning in her record player. It was that and Pet Sounds. One of the Beach Boys greatest hits of all time came off Party! It was a cover of a tune by the Regents called Barbara Ann. I like the Regents version but every once in a while a cover is played by a band and it is better than the original, I think the Beach Boys were a group capable of doing that. Party! while it did have some Beach Boys classics on there, was recorded live during a party and most of it is covers they do at the party. It is a unique live record for its time. This audio clip is Barbara Ann, not the Barbara Ann that you'll hear that fades out, this is the Barbara Ann from that Party! record and unless you have that record or CD, you won't hear the real unfaded ending to Barbara Ann as it was recorded back then as only the Beach Boys could do :Category: Music
Your 2008 US Olympic Swim Team
Mark Gangloff who is introduced in the first ten or so, was coached by one of the coaches of the Stingrays Swim Club, the club I currently coach for. Dave Finger has been a long time swim coach in the Niagara District coaching for 27 years. Most coaches could coach their entire lives and never coach an olympian or anyone that ever becomes an Olympian. Dave, our head coach, not only coached Gangloff, he is the only current coach in the Niagara Swim District who can say he coached an olympian. This will be Gangloff's second Olympics, his first was in 2004 and he won gold one of the relays.
I don't know about anyone else, but I think thats something to be pretty damn proud about and to me, it shows the caliber of coaches that we have on the Stingrays coaching staff. If your kids are interested, feel free to bring them by one of our practices. We do learn to swim all they way to elite level competition. (theres my shameless plug).
Anyway, that was my interesting aside, the biggest thing was introducing the 2008 team. They are going to be pretty damn good, probably the best we have seen since Matt Biondi and Janet Evans swam.
Category: Swimming
A True Champion
No matter what this kid does over the next 6 weeks or so, he deserves an Olympic medal just for getting this far. Eric Shanteau will be the biggest story of the Olympics hands down, and if he does anything significant, he may well get sportsman of the year for his bravery of doing what he is doing.
A week before Olympic Trials he discovered that he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. That news in and of itself would be enough to get most of us to quit doing what ever it is we were doing and focus on getting ourselves cured. Eric on the other hand acknowledging the risk hes taking, realized that he won't get this opportunity again and chances are he thought he wouldn't even make the games. So he swam trials. Instead of having surgery, he made the Olympics in the 200 meter breaststroke. He never expected that and now he will get blood work done every two weeks through the Olympics to insure that nothing abnormal is going on with the cancer and that it isn't spreading. If it is, hes done.Irregardless of what happens, if he swims or doesn't he deserves a medal for even going to trials and then deciding to take a shot at the games. If he ends up being able to swim, this whole country and for that matter, the world will be on his side. Yet another reason to watch as this US swim team gets ready for the 2008 games.
Category: Swimming
Sunday Retro
Today I'll be at the Cheektowaga Town Pool for the RAYS swim club home long course meet. I missed yesterday because I had two exams at Southside Elementary. So before I head out I am leaving you all with a classic Sunday morning treat. This song just embodies the spirit of what the All Request Breakfast used to be on CFNY. This is Kate Bush and Running Up That Hill
Category: Music | Sunday Retro
How Does This Happen?
How does a seemingly attractive young woman with seemingly everything going for her get as low as Cara Dickey has?
She was a teacher, had a husband, kids and seemingly respect from her colleagues and yet she went off the deep end with a 14 year old boy? You have to wonder what was going on in her personal life at home to want to be desparate enough to run off with this kid.
No wonder why parents don't trust the people that work with their kids. Cara had a supposed suicide pact with this kid and was sending suggestive text messages back and forth.
Again, why does this 14 year old have a cell phone, that partly contributes to the situation in that this kid has a private means with which to communicate with her with out his parents knowing and by the time they do, its too late, things have already gotten bad.
I am curious to see how this shakes out, how will Cara be punished in this is anyones guess because usually its a guy in this situation. This time, a woman is the pervert. She should get the book thrown at her. If this had gone on too long her and the kid might have been dead.
Her, as we are finding out, we could probably do without. I wonder what she is going to plead. The fact there was a suicide pact could bring with it insanity or some mental nut job claim in court.
Rios With Other Priorities
Look, I understand that baseball players and other professional athletes have lives outside of their respective sports, but Alex Rios has taken it to another level.
His fiance gave birth yesterday to a baby and he took full advantage of an allowance for him to leave the team for 3 days to be with her in Puerto Rico. This all takes place just at the time the Jays are finally starting to look like a baseball team again and Cito Gaston has them playing some decent baseball. They had a chance this weekend to catch up to the Yankees and get to .500 or better.
Instead Rios, is in Puerto Rico and most of us would probably take the same liberties he is. The only difference is that he, as a professional athlete and arguably the best offensive weapon on his team, is paid millions of dollars and just got a substantial raise earlier in the year to be on the field in a crucial series before the All Star Break.
The Jays were within 10 games, a magic mark right now, beat the Yankees 2 out of three or incredibly enough sweep them (which after todays 9-4 loss eliminates that option) and you look really good, even if you don't have Vernon Wells, Aaron Hill and two of your better pitchers for the foreseeable future.
This team has young pitching who they can call up to do the job, John Parrish is a veteran lefty who will fill in nicely, and yet, here is Rios with probably the worst planned pregnancy in the history of this team.
Im not saying don't have kids, or family isn't or shouldn't be important to these guys, but here we are, one of if not the most important series of the season that could determine what this team does at the trade deadline, after you sign a long term extension worth big bucks, you could plan your pregnancy with your fiance a little better next time Alex. Thats all.
I guarantee you, Jeter wouldn't even think about having a kid with his wife between April and November. I guess thats the difference between the Yankees and the Blue Jays, some players and organizations have their priorites straight when it comes to their professions and the relative dollars they get paid to do their "jobs".
I wonder how Cito feels about it. Rios could be back tomorrow but he won't be, he will take full advantage of the three days he gets, which means hes going to get a good long All Star break.
Let's hope this good long break is what he needs to get his head on straight, the distraction of his pregnant fiance is over, now lets get on to mashing baseballs like we saw him do last All Star game in the home run derby. In the meantime, the Jays need to salvage tomorrow's rubber match with the Yankees and head into this thing on a positive note and who knows, maybe, they get more good news with a return of Aaron Hill too.
Category: Sports | Toronto Blue Jays
Sabres That Deserve The Hall
The recent mediocre class of Hockey Hall of Fame inductees got me thinking, There are probably several Sabres who have better stats than both Glenn Anderson and Igor Larionov that should be in the Hall.
Igor Larionov won cups with Detroit and had a long career but still only managed to put up 169 goals and 475 assists for 644 points. He had only two 20 goal seasons and only two seasons in which he amassed 60 points.
Glenn Anderson, had a better career on an Edmonton Oiler team that would have inflated anyones stats. Anderson compiled 498 goals and 601 assists for 1099 points with the majorit of that with the Oilers and the later part of his career with the Leafs, Rangers and Blues. He scored 50+ goals twice and had 100+ points in three season. While his stats were much better than Larionov, he too, never truly dominated the game. He was the benefactor from playing with Gretzky, Messier and Kurri for those great Edmonton teams of the 1980's.
Here are three Sabres I think should be shoe ins if Larionov and Anderson were both considered as Hall guys:
Dave Andreychk- Better numbers than either Larionov and Anderson and though he is not eligible yet, some would argue when it comes time whether or not he deserves it. He does. He won his cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Big Dave also holds NHL records for most power play goals (astonishing considering the players from his era (Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier), 11th all time in goals scored with 640, 5th most games played in NHL history with 1639, he had 640 goals and 698 assists for 1338 poitns. He should be a first ballot hall of famer.
Danny Gare- While Gare may not have the points, he inched by Larionov's totals and Gare did it in a shorter career. Gare finished with 354 goals and 331 assists. He unlike Larionov had two 50 goal seasons in which he was one of the top wingers in the NHL. Gare he also had a 46 goal season and a few 30 goal seasons. He accomplished those numbers in 12 seasons that saw him with several injuries along the way. If he stayed healthy in some of those years, he probably would have had closer to 500 goals/1000 points.
Mike Foligno- While again not a glowing career, he managed better numbers than Larionov. Mike finished with 355 goals and 372 assists for 727 points. He had one 40 goal season and for the better part of his career was a lock for 20-30 goals. Better than Larionov any year he played.
So, this past years inductees have lowered the standards for the hockey hall of fame. Im sure we could look for more candidates on all teams throughout the league that deserve to be there based on what they have allowed in this year.
Instead of calling it the Hockey Hall of Fame, lets call it the Mediocre Players Retirement Home. Because allowing Larionov in and to a lesser extent Anderson, opens up the doors for several players that should be complaining that they are not sitting next to them.
A Little Advice We Could All Use
Britain is not a starving country by any means, however, their government is requesting that their people use a little more frugality when it comes to food waste.
They are encouraging their people to use leftovers and store their food better to avoid waste and buy only what is needed (planning better for meals).
We here in the US could probably take that advice as well in all areas of our life. Think about it, how much do we waste on a daily basis? Do you finish what you put on your plate? Do you buy things you don't necessarily need? What about the car you drive? The electricity you use?
I would bet we could take that advice in all areas of our lives. I remember my mother used to get on my case for leaving lights on or leaving the door open with the heat on. Now, in this age of rising prices, I now know why she was pissed about that stuff. Things were no where near as expensive as they are now, but she had a point.
Every thing we do uses energy or some other precious resource. Food, though it is renewable, can only be produced in so large a quantity to feed so many mouths around the globe. Then you have a tomato scare, a jalepeno scare, corn used for ethanol and all of a sudden, food prices are going up and food shortages are popping up all over the globe.
The fact that Britain is implementing this should send a warning flag that it could happen here too. Britain is not Africa, India, or any other developing third world country. They are relatively well to do. We should and need to conserve on all fronts in order to better manage resoruces that we take for granted.
Category: News
The Doc Watch Continues
The Joba Watch crossed pathes with the Doc Watch and of course, since the Doc Watch is about quality pitchers doing quality things, we will only mention that the Joba Watch, well, it was nothing special tonight.
The Joba Watch got steam rolled by the Doc Watch as Halladay went the complete game, his 7th of the season already, dealing a two hit shut out to the evil empire.
Doc, has 33 complete games since 2003, that leads the universe in complete games, as does his 7 so far this year.
To add to the Doc Watch, "The Canadian", Matt Stairs hit his 250th career home run to give the Jays the 5-0 lead and win. Its starting to come together boys.
Category: Sports | The Doc Watch | Toronto Blue Jays
Nice Comparisons
This is a little website that I discovered via Mike Boon's site that will really compare the last 7+ years of George W. Bush to the previous 8 years of Bill Clinton and a democrat regime.
Folks, the numbers don't lie, George and the Repubs, have not been good for this country the last 8 years, sorry but we need a progressive minded democrat to break this trend up.
Here is the link to the numbers
Category: Miscellaneous | Politics
Jays Are Moving Up
Cito's got the boys going good right now. Yesterday they swept Baltimore. Despite that, injuries are taking their toll on this team again. Vernon Wells and Dustin McGowan both are on the DL now joining Shaun Marcum and Aaron Hill.
Get through this Yankee series with two of three and get to the All Star Break on a good note and who knows what can happen after.
The Jays have a lot of division games in the second half and a lot of opportunity to move up in the standings. 10 1/2 back is not impossible, its close to impossible but not quite.
My immediate thought for the last month has been, get Aaron Hill back healthy after the All Star break and who knows where this train will go. Im sticking to that.
The injuries to the pitching staff while unfortunate do something I have said they needed for a while, it is probably going to get two left handers in the rotation, something I have been saying all year would be good for them. John Parrish and now Brian Tallet have both thrown well in spot starts over the last few weeks.
So we are now in fourth, with any luck, we can take it to the evil empire and all their distractions and come within a game or two of tying them in the standings.
In the immortal words of Dr. Marvin, baby steps.
Category: Sports
NO NO NO TO MORE LAND TO DRILL
Here the idiot goes again. What does he not get about the fact that we already have leased out MILLIONS of acres to oil companies that are currently NOT in use and could be used FIRST before opening up NEW and very ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE LANDS to drill in.
Bush and republicans keep beating Alaska drum and honestly, we should all be wiser for saying no to this. We should all realize that there are already millions of acres of land already leased that oil companies simply have not drilled yet.
Use what you already have. Im not willing to allow oil companies to have free reign over our land, water and air just so they can get 100,000 barrels of oil a day in 10 years.
Besides, the answer to our energy problems is not oil, its using less energy, researching and developing alternatives to oil and ensuring that we don't need oil in the future. Look, I realize that we still need the stuff, but if they can't find it on the millions of acres of land already opened to them, then maybe there is no more oil to be found.Category: Energy | News | Politics | environment | oil/gas
Get Ready To Bail Out The Banks
Today was probably one of the worst days in years on the US stock markets because the Feds are putting up the money to bail out the banks. Thats right, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are being bailed out by us, the tax payers.
Stocks are down because the US Government, can't back up those loans to the banks. This country is broke. Total flat broke and yet we are being so bold as to bail out these coorporate greedy banks.
Tax payers are going to get screwed bailing out these companies for the mess that THEY created. Let them simmer in it for a while. In fact who cares if they go under? The best thing for us would be to see that this economy is not as strong as President Bush and the Republicans are telling us and that we do need some help from the government.
They are calling the bailout a loan, but please, we won't see a nickel of it paid back. The sad thing is, there is no quick fix to the mess the markets are in right now, it does need government intervention and the only way its going to get solved is with real cooperation from both sides of the aisle, this is not a republican thing, its not a democrat thing, it needs to be solved by everyone working together to come up with real ideas and plans.
That won't happen though because republicans and democrats are too divisive, they would rather bicker and argue over it and get absolutely nothing done. The one that should be encouraging it does nothing but veto shit and threaten to veto everything that comes his way, instead of saying okay, lets look at it and see how we can improve it. Of course that person is George W. Idiot.
Happy Birthday Freddie P
If you have a few spare minutes, make sure you head on over to Fred Patteron's blog today and wish the man a happy birthday. Its a really fun blog and has lots of things to see and hear.
I have been either listening to him on the radio or reading his blog now for over 20+ years now. He was one of the guys who inspired me to start this Buffalo Boy Mike thing and hes a great guy!
Heres to you and many more years Freddie P!
Category: Birthdays
Why Do We Step On The Foot of Progress?
I hope you Anti-Casino people are happy. The federal courts ruled that the Seneca's can not have gambling on the land they purchased in Buffalo.
Now, look, I don't think and I think any of us who think that a casino in downtown Buffalo is the problem solver to the revival of this area, but it sure helps. It would draw tourist, it would bring in people to a city that on most days looks desolate at best and gives people another place to go.
Besides that Buffalo does get a yearly cut from the casino and while its not what it would be if it were say a state run casino, its more than nothing.
The project is supposed to be a $333 million casino complex and hotel. Tell me the last time something that large went up in Buffalo. You can't because nothing that big has ever been built in the city. This would be the largest investment. And while it would take money out of an economically strapped community, I think that by in large, it would create a lot of jobs which would out-weigh the problems that come with gambling.
You hear the horror stories about Detroit and even off the boardwalk in Atlantic City about how casinos have devastated those cities and thats fine, but when you build one, its not going to kill the city. It becomes a tourist attraction. When you build dozens, thats when it ruins a city.
The Seneca's will appeal this and they will stay open for now even though technically, staying open after the courts ruling is illegal. Lets hope for the sake of progress that they get the ruling overturned. The city of Buffalo has a tendency for running progress right out of town.
What A Dick
The EPA is an agency that is supposed to have been created by the federal government to protect human health, the air we breath, water, and the land on which we live. It began operations December 2nd, 1970. And it was doing a damn good job until 8 years ago when the Bush administration took office.
The latest report that will no doubt lend its hand to the horrendous enironmental legacy that this administration is leaving behind is the report out now that Dick Cheney's (from now on Im just going to call him Dick, if the shoe fits, wear it right?) office purposefully tried to and was successful in altering EPA testimony that would have shown adverse health effect to humans from CO2 and resultant global warming as per the Clean Air Act.
Isn't knowing that grounds for punishing this man with prison time? This is our air, our water, our land and they are preventing the EPA from protecting US, U.S.A. citizens from pollutants. From warning us of dangers to our health.
Its sad that there are people out there who are so brainwashed by this administration that they won't even recognize this as serious. This administration is more concerned about coorporate welfare than its own citizens and the environment in which we live.
These men at the top of this administration are as evil as the look on Dick's face up above. They are criminals and have used the White House as their own little lawless, coorporate backed, playground. 6 Months, 10 days till they are gone.
Category: Global Warming | News | Politics | Science | environment
They Want It TOO!!!!!
The democrats have been preaching it, Barack Obama is running on it as part of his war plan and the Iraqi's want it too.
The only problem is George W. Bush and the republicans can't get it through their simpleton minds that pulling out of Iraq needs to happen. The Iraqi's want us out and they want a timeline, yet George Bush doesn't want one and neither does Mr. "I want to stay there 100 years" Grampy McCain. At least we now know that this is precisely what I have been calling it now basically since I started this site. An OCCUPATION. Its not a war, the Bush Administration is occupying Iraq. With no timeline or timetable for withdrawal of our troops, what else can you call it. We are being lied to. We do not need to be there anymore. The Iraqi government is telling us that and they want their country back. So why won't this administration give it back?One word: OIL!
Simply put, lies, lies, lies.
This Is Simply Awful
The new Miley Cyrus video called The 7 Things, is just flat out bad. Shove a pack of Bubbalicious in her mouth and tell her to shut the hell up,Category: Celebrities | Music
Down With The Yankee Empire
Well the beginning of the end could probably be traced back to the one and really only ace on the team going down till at least September a few months back. But, lately, this could be the melting point of a team filled with egos.
Its amazing what Joe Torre was able to do but I think even he would have trouble holding this disfunctional family together. I often half-jokingly say that the Yankees are the only team I would ever wish injury upon, nother serious, just enough to knock them out of the playoff contention.
Well, not only are we getting the physical, but A-Rod is providing the emotional injury that will plague him for at least the rest of this season.
I can't keep track of it, A-Rod is supposedly having an affair or affairs, who knows with the characters that have come out of the Yankee clubhouse (aka Clemens), His wife Cynthia goes to see Lenny Kravitz (where that comes from I have no idea and that was only after A-Rod was supposedly going to see Madonna. Can we get some bigger celebrity involvement here?
At least this wasn't with hookers or something, I mean you could at least see the potential of an A-Rod Madonna relationship, but all it will do is provide A-Rod with the emotional and mental distractions to take him off his game the rest of this season.
It sure is fun playing whos he gonna get caught with next and it also goes a long way towards pointing to the fact that the guy isn't Mr. Innocent after all. Next we will find out A-Rod has been juicing after all.
Category: Celebrities | News | Sports
Why Not Continue Your Ways..... Idiot
No matter what the issue is, no matter where in the world the man is headed and what he does or says, he just doesn't get it.
George W. Bush (The Idiot), has once again contraindicated himself, probably not purposefully because he really hasn't gone out of his way to recognize his other mistakes of the administration but this one totally, goes against himeself. He has defended his decision to be at the 2008 Summer Games by saying that it would be insulting to China if he didn't go.
I have news for him, he has spent the last 8 years insulting the citizens of this country, other countries and political leaders, his peers, the media, and just about everyone who cares about what the US does in the world, so why stop now?
The only difference is that in this case, the insult is probably deserved. The Chinese have acted and behaved poorly leading up to these games with their treatment of Tibet and other factors involved. Maybe he feels sorry for the Chinese government and all they have had to put up with after the earthquakes but come on.
How many times have we needed him to show some sensitivity in situations that called for it, yet he jumped right over the line, whether it came to spying on our own citizens through wire taps to torture at Guantanamo Bay, to environmental issues, recognizing high gas prices or recognizing we were spinning out of control economically about a year ago. But now, so as not to insult the Chinese, he feels he needs to be there. Maybe they can keep him there.
Once again our president misses the point and will show up somewhere that deserves to be protested by our leader. Again, he does what he wants, when the situation begs different. Roughly 6 months, 12 days until hes gone.
Another Shot
Michael Phelps has done it again. Not since Matt Biondi have we seen a swimmer capture our imaginations like Michael Phelps.
Phelps will swim 8 events again at the 2008 summer games and try to accomplish what he could not in 2004. 8 golds. They are all within reach.
Phelps qualified in the following:
100 meter butterfly
200 meter freestyle
200 meter butterfly
200 meter IM
400 meter IM
In addition to the above he will be in three relays. The real threats to his medals will come from relays, however with the depth on this team, I don't see anyone challenging the Americans except maybe the Australians.
The games are only about 5-6 weeks away so stay tuned. Of all the big stories, Phelps will be watched the closest but we also have Dara Torres making the team at 41 and several other big names coming back for another summer games.
Wacky Animal Activists
Look, Im all for the humane treatment of animals, but these people in the Southern Tier have taken things a little too far.
Its the annual "Chain Off" where humans will spend the night in dog crates and chained up. Well keep them there. Someone should go put a pad lock on those crates overnight.
We crate our beagle during the day but its not to be mean, its for his own good. Hes a beagle and chews on everything and anything, when we are not home the chances of him ingesting something he shouldn't are extremely high, not to mention the chances of him destroying our personal belongings.
These people are just overdoing it just a bit here.I realize there is the other extreme of crating your dog and leaving them in there for excessive periods, but for all intensive purposes when we are not at home, he is in the crate. He is left with water and something to chew on, we usually come home on lunch and let him out for a few minutes and then he does the second half of the day.
Id love to ask these people what they do with their dogs......I guess they either have perfect dogs or they stay home all day.
Category: Miscellaneous
Sunday Retro
This is right off my list of bands I want to see, Echo and the Bunnymen. One of their best songs lyrically and the best one live. They have others that Ill post but this one ranks right up there with some of my favorite songs of all time:
Category: Music
Top 10 Bands/Artists I Still Want To See Live
I saw the Police and Elvis Costello in May which put a major dent in the bands I have left to see. There are still several that if the chance comes, Im going to jump at the opportunity:
1. U2
2. Echo and the Bunnymen
3. Simple Minds
4. XTC
5. James
6. Peter Gabriel
7. The Rolling Stones
8, The Jesus and Mary Chain
9. Matthew Sweet
10. Morrissey
Its a whos/who of '80s artists for the most part but thats where my musical taste has evolved from. All are active still though many will be tough to get them close enough to Buffalo to make a reasonable run at them unless they do Toronto.
The Stones are getting old, but they still rock live but who knows if they have another tour left, U2 is probably my best shot of the bunch, Echo has been to Buffalo several times so they are the next best possibility, Simple Minds has a double CD in the works so that could happen in the future but most likely to happen in Toronto, XTC doesn't leave Europe very often, James is playing again but only in the UK, Morrissey has a new CD out but who knows if he'll come to Toronto or Buffalo, Peter Gabriel would be sweet and he has a tour or two left, Matthew Sweet would be great and is a possibility and young enough for a few tours of duty.and the Jesus and Mary Chain are still active, though who knows if they'll come close to Buffalo.
Category: Music
Torres Returns for Fifth Olympics
Dara Torres, the ageless wonder of this years version of the 2008 US Olympic Swim Team. It will be her fifth Olympics and her first since 2008 when she was 33 years old. Whats even more impressive is that she is a mother of a two year old. Usually, once there are kids in the picture, the swimming career is over, not in this case.
She won the 100 meter freestyle with a time of :53.78 seconds. Incredible. Natalie Couglin finished second with a time of :53.83.
This is her fifth Olympics which has never been done. Amanda Beard has a shot as she qualified for her fourth at the age of 26 in the 200 meter breatstroke finishing second.
The more I watch these trials the more impressed I am with the depth. The US swimmers are setting records up and down the pool. This could be a dominating year for the US team in Bejing.
Adding to Dara's success was Ryan Lochte and Aaron Peirsol who dueled in the 200 meter backstroke. Peirsol tied Ryan's world record of 1:54.32 with Ryan finishing a very close second with a time of 1:54.34. Peirsol is the best backstroker going into the games until someone proves it otherwise and that person could be Lochte.
Had Torres kept going over the years, she could have been qualifying for her 8th games. They were playing a tune to her as she was waving the flag on deck and at this Olympics, this could very well be her theme song:
This is a news update featuring an interview with Torres. Michael Phelps referred to her as a second mom, she took it well, but considering she is a mom, its pretty close to the truth.
Category: Swimming
Why Stever Bernier?
If I have one question for Darcy about yesterdays trades is this...Why did you have to give up Steve Bernier? Is Max really that worthless? We could have used Bernier's toughness and goal scoring touch on the front line. He's young and has a lot of room to grow still.
So, is giving up Steve Bernier, two second round picks and a third rounder too much for Rivet? You could have given up a lot less for a 35 year old defenseman with a lot of mileage under his belt. Im not saying Rivet wasn't worth picking up, but the round about way it took to get him, you could have gotten without giving up the former first rounder in Bernier and two second rounders. Essentially, the assets gotten for the Brian Campbell trade are gone.
I think they could have tried at least to move Max to Vancouver instead of Bernier. Darcy seems to think that Max will return to form....Honestly Im sick of his form, Id rather have Bernier who adds toughness with the scoring touch.
Anything short of a 30-40 goal seaon from Max this year will be disappointing with all the talk Darcy has been doing in the paper and through interviews about Max and his return to form. Stick him with Roy and Vanek and he better perform.
Stever Bernier to me was never given half a chance, the day he came to Buffalo he played with Roy and Vanek and had a goal and two assists with some big hits, the rest of the season he was on the third or fourth line, how is a guy supposed to produce playing with Adam Mair? No knock against Mair but he can't score and nobody playing with him can either.
So, we can compare Max and Bernier this coming season because Vancouver is planning on using him as a top six forward, I am predicting a breakout year for Bernier, 30-40 goals. Go ahead, laugh it up, he had 16 in 07-08, on the 1st or 2nd line in Vancouver with his speed, size and hands, easy 30, go ahead and make him a sleeper pick in your fantasy drafts, Im staying a mile away from Max.
Craig Rivet Comes To Buffalo
We are familiar in Buffalo with Craig Rivet from his time in Montreal. Last season he was with San Jose. The guy is 35 years old and tough as nails on the blueline. Finally someone who can knocks someones head off in front of the net. He was also an assistant captain with San Jose so Darcy addressed the leadership and defense issues with one move.
This is a little of his toughness courtesy of Youtube:
OUCH!!!!!
Okay, I have worked as a physical therapist for the better part of the last 7-8 years now and I honestly can say I have never seen nor heard of this injury but DAMN it had to have hurt.
Chris Snyder was put on the 15 day DL the other day by the Arizona Diamondbacks with a "Testicular Fracture".
Now what the hell is a testicular fracture? I mean the testicle is not a bone here, so you can not technically fracture a testicle. Apparently it was caused by a foul tip that went off his testicle and caused what is known as testicular rupture or fractured testis.
Officially this is a rip or tear in the tunica albuginea which causes the testicular contents to be extruded. With this comes what anyone would expect, pain (no kidding?), scrotal swelling (of course), nausea and vomitting (hell yes).
Treatment can include surgical "exploration" (again not something I want to hear when I get hit in the nads, we are going to perform surgical exploration? YIKES) and repair of the defect.
Okay, remember kids, wear your cups and protective gear when playing sports that involve hard objects like baseballs and hockey pucks.
We have all learned something new and painful today. Luckily for Chris Snyder, he doesn't require "surgical exploration" and he should be back after the All Star Break.
Category: Sports
Good Vibrations
What says the 4th of July like the Beach Boys at the Washington Monument? Back in the early 80's the Beach Boys played the Washington Monument from 1980-1982. The shows were banned because James Watts, the Secretary of the Interior (one of the Politicians who we can criticize for being a butthead) said that rock concerts brought an "undesirable element".
Those DC concerts were some of the last times we would see the original Beach Boys lineup together as Dennis Wilson drowned in December of 1983 and all the drug and health problems that Brian Wilson was going through.
This is a clip of Good Vibrations from that first 1980 show:
Category: Independence Day | Music
Happy Anniversary!
Look at these two aren't they cute! These are my parents, John and Grace, the two that raised me, they should recieve medals of honor for their courage and bravery in doing so.
Today is not just the 4th of July, it is also their wedding anniversary! So wish them a happy one!
Category: Independence Day
Happy 4th of July!
Often I am very critical of our countries leaders and policies on my site, but, that does not mean I do not love the USA. I do. I just feel it can be run better.
That said, there is no better place I would rather be than this country right here, right now. We have such a diverse nation and for all intensive purposes over the years we have solved many a problem with the system we have.
With the right leadership we can solve many of the problems we have now. So on this Independence Day, Im celebrating the freedom we have in this country with hopes for better leadership come November.
This day is about patriotism and freedom. Part of being a patriot is caring enough to recognize when your leaders are steering the country you love in the wrong direction, the beautiful thing is, we live in a country that allows us the freedom to voice those opinions on blogs like this and other media.
So, with all that said, have a great 4th, and remember: Don't set off fireworks indoors and when you light the roman candle point it away from your face and not at anyone or anything else.
Category: Independence Day
$400 Million for Rush?
There are star athletes who are getting paid huge sums of money some would consider outrageous, others, because of the sport they play or because of their work ethic and talent would say make exactly what they should. Thats fine, I can deal with sports figures getting what they get.
What I can't get my thoughts around is Rush Limbaugh making the coin he makes and spewing the crap he spews at the listeners on a daily basis. I listen to AM 1520 which is a progessive and primarily democratic talk radio station. Every once in a great while I will turn to hear what Rush is spewing about and its usually sickening that he thinks the way he does and gets away with it. Listen to him for an hour, hell, 15 minutes and you'll here some of the most incredible bullshit uttered on radio. I guess thats part of his secret, he's so one-sided, so out there to the conservative right, that people who hate him will tune in just to hear what is coming out of the jackass next. Thats exactly how Howard Stern got his audience. You hear stories and eventually the stories get you to tune in for 15 minutes and then all of a sudden, you're hooked, not because you like him, but because you are shocked into listening to someone actually talk this way.No matter what the guy says or how true or untrue it is in relation to the political world, there is one thing that I am thoroughly convinced of. He doesn't deserve that much money. The day he has a democrat point of view to present an argument that he has to defend and someone or something that actually challenges what he says, that is when I will say he is worth something. All his talk show is, is him talking about ultra-conservative issues and his puppets who actually like him calling in and blowing sunshine up his ass.
Keep in mind that the utra-conservative right wing views you are listening to is coming from a $400 million dollar elitist. He has more money in his pocket than you or I will ever dream of. Thats not a conservative talking. He'll say what ever he has to as long as he gets every penny of that $400 million. Rush Limbaugh is so far out of touch with reality and the average American its ridiculous and you can hear it when he talks. He has no clue what the average American is going through.
Ill still tune in every once in a great while, just to see what he is talking about, but believe me, I will never be hooked on him, Ill tune out just in time so that my presence won't increase his ratings. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of having me count to his over-inflated number of listeners.Finally Worth The Trip?
There has been lots of news lately about the Erie Canal Harbor and the "revitalized" Buffalo waterfront. So much so, I feel like its worth a trip down there to see it.
Has anyone been down there yet? How does it look and is it worth the trip? It sounds good, the news is hyping it up like its worth it.
May actually become a good, cheap way to enjoy an afternoon in the city. We will have to reserve a Sunday afternoon for a trip down there to see what all this is about. When I do, Ill bring Youtube footage back with me so the rest of you can see and make up your own minds.
Back Off The Sabres
Im listening to Schopp and the Bulldog on WGR 550 and I want to turn it off because of the negativity of the fans of this team. How can anyone criticize this hockey team or its management?
Plain and simple, this team spent to the salary cap two years in a row following the lockout, so calling them cheap is a joke. Last year, they had two centers who they could have signed. They could have but then you would have lost Thomas Vanek and you would have been looking at not being to lock up Derek Roy long term because you would have had Briere or Drury eating up that money.
If anything last year I fault this team for signing guys like Numminen and Andrew Peters and not going out and finding a defenseman who was younger and ready to play. But these other squabbles over how this team has been mismanaged is a joke.
I would rather have Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy over Daniel Briere and Chris Drury any day of the week if for any other reason than the fact that Vanek and Roy have more productive years ahead of them that either of our former two co-captains.
Brian Campbell's contract even at $5 million a year like he would have taken last year would have taken them over the cap. There is no way this team was going to spend the $56 million it took for Chicago to sign him either.
So going into this season if no moves are made I feel pretty good about this team. They have a ton of depth at forward which someone like Max, Kotalik or Connelly could easily be traded off for defensive help. What other team could say they have 15 NHL caliber forwards (thats five lines worth) ready to go?
Drew Stafford and some of the youth on this team last year should be much better than last year with some playing time under their belt and their young stud defensemen Mike Weber and Andrej Sekera will be better as well.
This is not a dying team. They are a young team and a deep team. Remember, even if they don't go out and sign a defenseman in free agency they can still try Michael Funk, Nathan Paetsch or Marc-Andre Gragnani. They have had incredible success pluging young guys in and getting immediate results.
Their problem isn't management, their problem is they are young. But with the long term committment to Paul Gaustad, hopefully, they signed their new permanent captain who can lead the way. Cut out the negativity and chill out and give this team a chance.
GM And US Automakers Dug Their Own Grave
I got home today and saw this little news piece and honestly, I have been saying this for months now, GM and US automakers have dug their own grave.
Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Volkswagon, Kia and every other foreign auto maker deserves full marks for staying ahead of the curve and being prepared for this rise in fuel prices. Toyota always has had a fuel efficient line dating back to the Tercel. Meanwhile, GM, Chevy and Ford have still been sitting here promoting trucks, trucks, trucks. The cars in their respective fleet that they say do get good mileage are between 20-30 miles per gallon, meanwhile the foreign makers are already at 30-40 and higher with their hybrid lines. So to see GM looking at possible bankruptcy, oh well. They should have seen this coming since 9/11. Gas prices have been on the rise since then and people have been gradually making the decision to make the switch. The first hurdle was the $2.00/gallon mark. Once it hit that GM and the other US makers should have been all over the gas mileage in their fleets. Instead they kept selling the big gas guzzling monsters. So, go ahead, get comfortable, the US auto industry is on its last legs.Category: News
June Numbers
The numbers are in and June was officially the best month in Buffaloboymike's short history. I had 2413 visits to this site in the month of June and it was a nice dialogue which made for a lot of fun. It was also close to 1000 visits better than any previous month.
Thank you all for checking out the site and where ever you are this holiday week I hope you are enjoying the Canada Day/Independence Day festivities.
Keep coming to visit and I hope you all enjoy the content I keep spewing out at ya!
Category: Blogging
Back To Back World Records
If you are not watching the US Olympic Swim Trials you are missing some of the most talented athletes the pool has seen in this country.
Last night Natalie Coughlin and Hayley McGregory went back to back world records. McGregory went first and broke Coughlin's own record, then Coughlin swam the next heat and bested what McGregory took from her in the 100 meter backstroke. That little battle shows how competitive and deep the US Swim Team is going to be.
Four world records have fallen thus far and tonight Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte will meet up for another go at it.
Category: Swimming
The Cure- Freakshow
Another new Cure video clip from the upcoming double CD coming out in September. This one is entitled Freakshow. The more stuff I hear from this project the more I can't wait for it to come out. Guitar laden and Robert Smith sounding as good vocally has he has in years. Take a listen, thank goodness for the music scene that these guys are still going full steam ahead:
Category: Music
Another Monster Contract
Brian Campbell gets over $56 million over 8 years averaging out to $7.1 million a season. Is he the best defenseman in hockey? I don't think so. He has a middle of the road season and now he joins a talented Chicago group that will probably inflate his numbers and make it look like he deserves the money.
Look, if you are going to pay $56 million to a guy, and again Im not dissing Brian Campbell but geez, his 62 points ranked him 4th in the league in points amongst defensemen and he was a plus 8. Good numbers, but the contract again speaks to how this league is going off the deepend again.
Mark my words, if the contracts keep coming like this, expect another lockout.
Category: Sports
The Doc Watch
Im just following up on my answer to the "Joba Watch" because Toronto Blue Jay fans only watch quality players.. Last night the Doc Watch was in full gear. Another complete game and a shutout. So officially for the season, Doc has 6 complete games and 1 shutout. We are not quite to the halfway point just yet are we?
We have to be talking double digit complete games this year. He looked absolutely methodical out there last night and absolutely mowed them down in Seattle.
Category: Sports
Very Rich Sundin
Im not trying to take anything away from the career that the soon to be former Leaf captain has had, but the contract that he is about to reportedly sign is just stone cold nuts.
What is Vancouver smoking and if its legal there, Im moving to Vancouver.
Close to $20 million over two years? Thats close to $10 million a year. Over the money that Sidney Crosby got who is arguably the best player in the game. Crosby makes around $9 million and is probably worth every penny.
Mats though, is he really worth that kind of dough at 37 years old? 39 years old at the end of the contract? This league is going right down the path they were going down before the lockout. Where is this kind of money coming from?
I understand the Canadian teams are making bundles now that the Canadian and US dollars are on par for the most part but come on, the league isn't making that much to justify these contracts. But hey, who am I to criticize Vancouver, I hope it works out for ya, and when it doesn't you'll be struggling for the next two years with that thing the league calls a SALARY CAP.
Category: Sports
Welcome To Buffalo Patrick Lalime
Patrick Lalime just signed on to be the back up goalie in Buffalo for the next 2 years at $1 million per season. Lalime is 35 and last year played in 32 games for the Chicago Blackhawks.
I hope hes ready to play a lot less. The only way he plays more than 20 games is if Ryan Miller is hurt. Lalime should be a major upgrade at backup over Jocelyn Thibault and should provide that capability to play more games if needed.
As last season went on the Sabres couldn't even trust to put Thibault in, they should be able to trust Lalime 100 times more than Thibault. Thibault only had three wins last year, so anything better than that would be welcome.
Happy Canada Day!
To all my Canadian readers, I would like to wish you all a Happy Canada Day, Canada is 141 this Canada Day, Enjoy it!
Category: Canada Day
