** brrrrrzzzzzzhhhhh **

Lots of loud roaring and screeching was heard all through the afternoon on the Boulevard. Oh, and there were all sorts of indy-style and drifting cars doing their thing for fans gearing up for this weekend's Long Beach Grand Prix.

The cars looked cool. The fans enjoyed the show. And the Boulevard was once again home to something truly unique. And loud. And smoky.

Did I mention loud?

No. 366 and two aspirin

Yesterday would have been Elvis Presley's 75th birthday. To prove what a fan I am, I had completely forgotten this until, on one of my many strolls through Hollywood I came upon this bright, shiny memorial:

I wished I could say this brightened my mood or elicited some kind of emotional response. Mostly, I was just trying to avoid the great hoards of visitors in the area to watch the BCS Championship game at the Rose Bowl Thursday night. I've not seen so many dark blood red and burnt orange shirts in one place at one time and, with any luck, won't have to witness that hideous clash of colors again anytime soon.

Fighting a ridiculous headache this morning, I'm afraid. I had big plans to wash the car and grocery shop. Blessedly, both chores don't require appointment times. Seems like avoiding garish color combinations and overzealous fans is the only way to ensure a swift return to full health.

Oh, for the love of . .

I had a spiritual awakening soon after the death of my Aunt. Without going into much detail, during her final months I experienced all that is good in humanity, fellowship and faith as well as the dangers of placing one's entire supply of faith into one human whose only focus is on improving the status of his bank account, not in the physical and spiritual well-being of his clients.

As a Christian, I enjoy an unspoken set of beliefs with my fellow Christians. We all understand, even those with limits to their biblical scholarship (or other aspects of the full faith experience), that when you have done something to harm someone, even if it's only to yourself, asking for forgiveness is the first step. If the person harmed is not ready/willing to forgive, we Christians ask forgiveness from God and are granted it. While forgiveness wipes a figurative slate clean, it does not absolve us from any future transgressions. In fact, it serves as a reminder to not repeat the same set of behaviors which led to the transgression in the first place.

All of which leads me to what a certain Fox News personality said earlier today regarding Tiger Woods and his alleged transgressions of late. Sadly, it's all too easy these days to hear/read people invoking Christianity as a "cure-all" or salve for all that ails.

I really tire of media personalities invoking my faith as justification for all manner of transgression. The plea earlier today to Mr. Woods to ". . turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world" may just have worked my last nerve.

Or, maybe it's my impending migraine talking.

While I have it in my head, though, I decided to see if, perhaps, Buddhism was the source of Woods' problems of late. You can even look for yourself. It took me about 47 seconds of reading to figure out that Woods' choice of faith was not the root cause of his alleged infidelity. In fact, after looking over the Four Noble Truths and the Five Precepts, Woods' faith would have clearly informed him of his transgression (see F.P #3 and #4).

While Buddhism doesn't appear to have a cleansing of sin clause, all Woods would need to do is refresh himself of the Three Trainings and get back on track with the Eightfold Path and his troubles will work themselves out, more or less. With corporate sponsors leaving him and his wife weighing her options, he probably has more time to refocus himself in his faith.

As there is no commandment to visit a place of worship on a regular basis and help to support it financially, his best choice may be to remain with his faith.

What, do you suppose, Fox News anchors/hosts do to stay true to their own faith?

and now, a couple more diversions

With many thanks to Huffington Post to turning me on to the Air New Zealand ad and thanks to Yahoo for the story about Joe Mauer of baseball's Minnesota Twins and to twinkietown.com for the great photos of an amazing (and good looking) athlete!  Enjoy your weekend!!

As our week begins, some interesting stories:

On most days during my work week, the last hour of the day has been quite slow, so I get time to surf the 'net and get caught up on stories others may miss.

All of these stores come courtesy of Yahoo! -- my employer's choice of safe sites to visit.

So, there really may be another planet like Earth in the Universe?  Seems the answer is yes.  Though, mathematically, the odds of another planet orbiting a star being close enough to sustain life and that planet being close enough in size and of similar composition to support some sort of life are quite good.  There are A LOT of stars in our galaxy, never mind the entire Universe!

This is sort of like crossing the Mojave by car from L.A and seeing Las Vegas in the last 10 miles of the journey -- it always feels like you can reach out and touch it and it never gets close enough to you fast enough.

Where's that warp drive technology when you need it?

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A new book to read?  What may have turned out to be an exercise in cynicism turned into, according to the article, an interesting semester of a liberal finding common ground with Christian conservatives.  I've been trying to do this very same thing here and wherever I wander on-line -- maybe the author has a few pointers on how I could be more effective.

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Finally, a fascinating story from the world of amateur Mixed Martial Arts (MMA, or Ultimate Fighting) about Kyle Maynard.  I'll link direct to the author's site for this story.  It all comes down to whether a mixed martial arts fighter has a fair opportunity to win matches in spite of issues with his arms and legs.

The interview below was posted a couple of days before his first match yesterday.  Though he lost his match, it was lost after fighting a full match - no TKO, no tap-out.  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an after-match interview with Kyle.  By their and Kyle's account, he had already won by just fighting all of the way through the match and defying those who predicted he couldn't last through the entire match.

The only way in this life that anyone loses is by doing nothing.  Imagine if we stopped looking for planets outside our solar system, stopped trying to infiltrate groups who are not like us then finding common bonds and stopped training for the next fight.

Keep fighting, infiltrating and training.  WTG, Kyle !

@ Yahoo! Video

Two of America's great pastimes in one post!

Undoubtedly, this post will rattle a few nerves.  Or, maybe it would rattle if the last 5 days weren't already so nerve-jangling in the first place.

I've been reading "Watching Baseball Smarter".  With only 40 pages left, only one thing had left me mystified about Major League Baseball.  Then, earlier today on my afternoon break, the question I had around page 30 was answered a little over 100 pages later.

My question:  If bunting is such a terrific batting technique for bringing in a run and throwing the fielding team into a tizzy, why isn't it done more often in the Majors ?

The answer: bunts quite frequently end in the bunting batter adding an "out" to the tally (search this article for Padres' 2nd baseman David Eckstein, who is leading the League in sacrifice bunts).  This then tends to affect their at-bat average negatively, which in turn may affect their salaries at the time of their next contract negotiation (after all, would a team want to pay a batter who has better than a .300 average or one with less than a .250 average).

So, the choice is -- bunt when it permits a run to be scored . . maybe even a game-winning run (and a 9 - 6 win/loss record to date - wtg Padres!)

OR

bunt? really?!? that's hilarious!   now, I need to warm up for my next big out-of-the-park hit -- out of the way!

Interestingly, as I had this "aha!" moment this afternoon, the "to bunt or not to bunt" conundrum brings to mind the differences between our country's last Administration and our current one.

We had a "bunt? are you kidding me?!?" Executive branch these past eight years.  Seemingly, more and more decisions were made based on what could best benefit the decision makers, not the "team" (Americans as a whole).  And, talk about a major payday AND a heckuva four year contract renewal that 2004 Election gave to Bush!

Now, we have a "bunt when it permits the team to score" Administration.  And, for those of us who had stopped fighting the tide of 8 years of "it's all about me!", having to see what happens in our government when its Executive branch does and says (or does not say) some things toward changing our country's course is both encouraging and confounding.

For now, I'm squarely in the "our ultimate goal is for the team to win" camp.  We've seen a fair share of political "bunting" this past week.  Scoring the winning run cannot come soon enough for me!

Fun and frivolity

First up, just read the banner in the above photo. While I'll be in the neighborhood, my guess is I'll miss the ceremony due to having to work!  The nerve !!  Still, I'll see if I can get an "after" photo while the cement is still drying.

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So what, you may be asking, is Metalhead39 reading on his way to/from work these days?  An autobiography of some senior staffer from the Senate?  The latest tell-all on the backstage antics of a popular heavy metal band?

Well, it's actually "Watching Baseball Smarter" by Zack Hample.  Before your imagination wonders, it is a primer for those who played baseball as kids and want to expand their knowledge of the Major League Baseball version of the game and all that happens between the pitching, hitting, running and catching.

So, what have I learned so far?  First, the catcher all but rules the park with only intermittent interference by the coaches.  A pitcher throws around 100 pitches in a given game.  There is a lot of signal giving, signal reading, attempted signal interception and interpretation and plenty of times when someone has to stop the signaling and tell all involved to start over (which, interestingly is yet another signal used).

I also can't put the book down.  The real test will be to watch a game after finishing the book and seeing how much of what I've learned was retained.  I definitely have a whole new appreciation for the game and the intelligence with which it is played!

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Finally, I laughed myself to tears over this "ad" created by Stephen Colbert.  To add hot fudge, whipped cream, nuts and a cherry on top to the hilarity, check out the response by the group whose actual ad was lampooned by Colbert.  That, apparently, you cannot make up!

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

You pick the story, I'll supply the outrage!

OK, "outrage" may be too strong a word.  Lots of things have popped up from the satellite as I drove home from the Park n Ride today:

Baseball fans were surveyed recently by the Associated Press.  They were asked what the biggest problem with Major League Baseball was.  45%, the largest percentage listed, said the cost of seeing an MLB game live at the ballpark is the biggest problem with MLB.

Fans also mentioned player salaries, steroid scandals and the length of games as other problems.

I'm still somewhat of a novice baseball fan.  I do understand how the game is played.  I have no problem at all with players using steroids.  I imagine fans will be able to spot the tell-tale physical signs of regular steroid use quickly enough (if they don't already see them by now).  Fans can decide if they want to support teams with a large number of steroid users or not.

Vote with your admission tickets.  Which brings me to my other semi-informed opinion.  I wish MLB well with increasing ticket prices.  If prices are a barrier, then there will be more empty seats over which TV cameras may pan as the games are broadcast.  If the trend continues, I would expect to see more "fan appreciation" nights OR "family nights" where kids get in for 1/2 price, etc.

Not that I'm becoming a bigger fan or anything . . .

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Fox News' Glenn Beck is either stark raving or just crazy like a . . .well, you know.  I'm having problems thinking of the liberal equivalent of this guy.  So, I'll entertain suggestions as long as you back your suggestion with links to transcripts and/or audio/video.

Here (thanks to C & L), Beck carries on about wind power's impractically.  Mr. Amato kindly posts Wikipedia's write-up on overcoming issues inherent with wind power.  It gets a little technical, but I'm sure that's just fine.  It would be quite presumptuous to insist that Beck, oh, I don't know, research for maybe 10 minutes to see that a method exists to harvest wind power without needing to build more nuclear power plants.

For hammy acting and needless carrying-on, I'm sure a Sci-Fi (or SyFy) made-for-TV schlockfest (I say that with much love) will work just fine for me.

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If big-business sports and TV news-ish hosts aren't your cup of tea, try this.  Good article and plenty of pictures to click and view.  Ooh, so pretty !

All around the blogosphere for 3/22/09

A "leftover" from yesterday's events:

In between protesters, police, tourists and residents, pairs of people were quickly hustling in, out and around as part of The Great Urban Race.  Something of a cross between a scavenger hunt and CBS' "The Amazing Race", I kept seeing stranger and stranger costumes from the race's participants.  The walls finally cracked when I saw a young Asian male duo both dressed as Power Rangers (one blue with the hood encasing the head and the other in yellow with the hood down).  I could not stop laughing in the midst of the light rail station and didn't let the odd stares bother me.

On a more serious note:

News from Raw Story:   a woman recovering from surgery related to cancer is suing one of the bailed out banks for wrongful termination.  I liked that her goal seems mostly to create awareness of the needs of employees on disability within the Human Resources department of the bank.

I've known far too many family members who battled with cancer.  I cannot imagine having to wrestle with the physical and emotional challenges of cancer AND having to stress over losing my job which provides my disability income and health insurance.  Shame on this bank!  She seems well on her way to having her day in court based on what is in the article and I cannot wait to see her victorious!

Oh, what a shocker?

Newsweek has an article about contributions made to sitting Congress members' campaigns after having received bailout monies.

In comparison to bonuses paid to the banks' Financial department employees AND the money paid to banks based outside of the U.S., the dollar amounts are miniscule.  Still, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck . .

More grist for the mill: 

The Boston Herald published an Op-Ed from Bill O'Reilly about an article that has not been written yet, only talked about in front of an audience at a university.  So much has been published about so many of the activities of the previous administration (there are more coming this week) -- couldn't O'Reilly have (been fed) formed an opinion on something there?

Well, if nothing else, tomorrow or Tuesday's Countdown airing will give Olbermann a chance to whip out the O'Reilly (bumbling Mary Tyler Moore news buffoon Ted Baxter) impression.  Why is this just so easy to do?

Ted Knight as Ted Baxter - More related videos from Asterpix