19 June 2008

Belated Addiction

So it's Friday rather than Tuesday, but here's another edition of "My Current Addictions":



The Bugle Podcast: This is the most hilarious 33-47 minutes of my week. Hosted by John Oliver (of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart) and Andy Zaltzman (who I've never heard of before, but is a comic genius), it's tagline is "An Audio Newspaper for a Visual World." The ascerbic British wit, combined with moments of pure innanity, produce a highly entertaining show that covers everything from American politics to British social mores. I cannot recommend this any higher.

17 June 2008

Plug

For all of you who were unaware of, or want to find out more about, the latest addition to the Wolfe family, check out the baby's blog at babywolfeslair.blogspot.com. I will keep things updated as they happen, but will refrain from commenting on our impending parenthood in this space.

16 June 2008

Sunday Recap (A Day Late)

I would like to argue that I postponed this post to wait on the result of the US Open and Game 5 of the NBA Finals, but that would be similar to what Stephen Colbert termed "truthiness."

I woun't go into great detail, as the death of one of the last advocates for accountability cast a pall over the weekend. However, here is my take on the week that passsed:
  1. US Open: I am not much of a golf fan, but with a gimpy knee, Tiger won his 14th major tournament (the record is 16) in sudden death on Monday- and I watched! Ridiculous. He is the most dominant athlete of my generation, more so than Gretzky or Jordan or Sampras or Armstrong. At 80% (or worse- he winced in pain after drives!), Tiger managed to beat the field. Again. Impressive.
  2. Speaking of impressive, the Netherlands advanced to the quarterfinals of Euro 2008 on the strength of a 3-0 victory over Italy and a 4-1 thrashing of France. Under the direction of former Dutch star Marco Van Basten (my favorite plater from the 80's), Holland plays a fluid, attacking style that is a joy to watch. If you like to watch world-class football, watch the Orange.
  3. I will freely admit I despise Kobe. He is the best player in the world, but is a horrible teammate, and trys too hard to "be like Mike." One of the good things to come out of this series is the collapse of the argument of Kobe v Jordan. Jordan would never have let his team give up a 24 point lead in ANY game, let alone a Finals game AT HOME. So, for all you Kobe lovers, it's done. Stop.
  4. I find my self rooting for the Celtics, not only becasue I hate Kobe and love KG, but because I like the way they play. In a series that pits two very flawed teams for the title, the C's have shown more heart, more hustle, and more determination. The Lakers constantly wait around for Kobe to do something. I saw this kind of behavior first hand the year the Steve Franchise played at Maryland. I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now. So, despite my desire to depreive Boston fans from winning anything else, I am unabashedly rooting for the Celtics. Maybe it's the tie to Bias in me.
  5. Unfortunately, Marcus Vick was arrested again on Friday in Norfolk. I wanted the Vick brothers to succeed. Oh well. They are the Anti-Mannings.

In politics, everything was overshadowed by the death of Tim Russert. Earlier in the week, all the pundits blabbed on about how Hillary lost the nomination. Yet none of their reasons included her vote authorizing Bush to go to war. Duh! That vote is what gave Obama his opening, and Americans are war-weary. In the mid-term elections, GOP lost seats and gave back majority control to the Dems. Not that the Dems can do anything productive (you really need 60 vote to do anything in the Senate), but it is noteworthy that Bush was rebuked in an election that he didn't rig or was appointed. The fact that corporate media refuse to acknowledge that Americans are against the war is best illustrated by this omission.

14 June 2008

RIP

Just wanted to take a few moments to express my shock at the death of Tim Russert on Friday. I respected his tenacity and style as political wonk. While I thought "Meet the Press" was almost unwatchable at times, it was never due to Russert. RIP.

10 June 2008

Sabbatical

Okay, taking months between posts was not what I envisioned when I started this. But here we are. So I am unveiling a new format (for me, not for the blog). I will post at least 3 times a week- Sunday with a recap of the week in politics and sports, Tuesday with a "my current addictions" plug, and Thursday with whatever I feel like. At least once a month, I will post an extended essay (this is the part that will most likely fall by the wayside, but goals never hurt).