Friday's Best From The Rest

Recapping some favs from the Week In Microblogging over at the "other, other" blog of mine:

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An unsettling thought

anthonydever:

heather-rivers wrote:

If you only get psyched about things you’re not really getting paid to do, you’re getting paid to do the wrong things.

But getting paid for sex is illegal (unless it’s for a porno.)

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Too Sense: The "Bitter" Truth

Income inequality (and the stagnation of real wages for 3/5ths-to-4/5ths of the population since roughly 1976) is the true political third rail.

Not only does it risk the wealthy folks at the major networks…it’s not a pure partisan issue. Sure tons of blame can be heaped on Republicans (the GWB Administration in particular) but the sleaziness of Democrats in DC can’t be brushed aside (remember, four of the Keating Five were Dems, and Clinton’s treasury sec. was instrumental in overturning Glass-Steagall. Afterwards he got a nice cushy job with Citicorp which wouldn’t exist if Glass-Steagall was still around.)

So all you soon-to-be college grads: if nothing changes, look forward to making less than your parents.

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sarahcroberts:

Whaaaaaaaaaat? If you work at the Garden and have a nice enough ass, you too could be in Playboy!

Does this mean Olive Garden is the Hooters of generic Italian food now? (It’s been a while since I’ve been to an OG).

I will admit though, I’ve seen “Girls Next Door” and while Kendra’s hot, her booty is pretty unspectacular. But hell, the waitresses there are wearing “some new kind of panties” that Frank the Tank hasn’t heard of, well, maybe they’re ready for their airbrushed, dear-God-don’t-let-your-labia-get-in-the-shot moment of fame.

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Just When You Thought You've Seen Everything

siddman:

martasparta:

My commute provides me with enough stories to write a novel with. I’ve seen people puke on themselves, on other people, piss in public, rowdy Ranger fans get kicked off the train. But tonight was a first.

A girl was apparently giving guy head and then puked on him.

She got kicked off the train, he went to go clean off in the bathroom. Not sure if he got kicked off. She was no porn star either, so it wasn’t even hot train blow.

Thankfully I didn’t really see this, just all the reactions on everyone’s faces who might’ve caught a glimpse of it.

If it wasn’t for sloppy people on the LIRR my commute would be such a bore.

Meanwhile, I sit on GA 400 wondering when—not if, but when—one of the morons reading a proposal or sales report or the one idiot in the CRV that was reading a romance novel WHILE DRIVING is going to run into me.

I wish GA had better rail transport. It’s not because I hate driving. I thought Atlanta traffic had caused me to hate driving a while back…but then I realized sitting in traffic, averaging 8 mph, that’s not driving. And I can almost understand why people are risking life and vehicle: it’s sometimes over an hour of your time getting nothing done.

One more thing: who are they calling at 7:30 in the morning? And am I just an extreme anti-morning person in that I can’t see a point in talking to anyone that early unless I’m getting paid to do so?

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Talking Points Memo | POLL-McCain even with Obama, leads Clinton-Reuters poll

More disturbing:

“McCain was seen as a better steward of the economy than either Democrat despite their repeated criticism of his economic credentials. He led Obama by 3 points and Clinton by 5 points on the question of who would best manage the economy.”

See, I WANT to believe people aren’t stupid (well, other than some of those 28% that think Dubya’s doing a bang-up job who aren’t in the top 1% income-wise) and something like this comes out.

The man is on record as stating “I don’t know much about economics”. He was involved in the Keating Five scandal which was part of the nasty S & L scandal in the 80s that helped set the nasty precedent whereby if big business (especially finance) fucks up, the taxpayers cover for them (without, you know, getting a say in it. Unless someone came and said to you on tax day “do you want most of this going to fund Bear Stearns?”)

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Stereotypical Tumblr User Checklist

you…

• use a mac: Nope.
• are twenty something: For a little while longer.
• take polaroids: No.
• live in nyc: No.
• wish you lived in nyc: Not right now. Until at least say Feb. 2009 I’d prefer to live in Sydney or Aukland or somewhere not in the US.
• draw sometimes: Not anymore.
• upload videos to vimeo to fit in: Hadn’t even heard of vimeo until earlier this week.
• have a muxtape: Not yet.
• work for collegehumor/vimeo/bustedtees: Nope…used to post on the CH message boards waaaaay back in the day (circa 2000-2003.)
• are a vegetarian: Nope. And I usually supplement with pills or V8 as I don’t eat near enough fruits/veggies still.
• are a photographer by profession or hobby: Nope.
• like cats more than dogs: No.
• like yarn more than cats do: No
• have an interest in typography: Maybe a little.
• would vote for obama if you voted, which you don’t: I already did vote for Obama.
• take pictures of yourself: Yes. But only in the nude (sometimes with erotic props*)

(via everyone)

*note: some things in this sentence might not be 100% accurate.

A Few Of My Least Favorite Things...

There's nothing quite like starting the work week knowing thousands of kids (including people I know, who aren't really "kids" but I'm using the word anyway, because it saves time--unlike this semi-lengthy aside) are on Spring Break, and that a scant two days ago, my alarm would have gone off at 4:50 in order to wake me up as early as I was up this morning. There's nothing quite like getting kicked in the crotch either. And so I decided hey, why not start Monday off with some nice complaining about things that suck (call it my own personal On Notice Board--sans Bears, who haven't really bothered me, so I have no beef with them.)

(Felt a bit like this, earlier today)

Daylight Savings Time
Why can't Georgia follow the lead of Arizona and parts of Indiana and realize how abjectly useless daylight savings time is? Why keep around a relic that predates mass quantities of streetlamps? Why force millions into Mondays like this one, where we start the day even more tired than a normal Monday, and then find ourselves not at all hunger when 1 o'clock roles around? (Probably because it's not 1, damnit.) Schools no longer wait for sunrise to get started (or at least for the bus to come around, as there are huddled masses of young'uns lurking in the pitch black of the asscrack of dawn most mornings.) It was light when I got out of work (and sometimes from when I'd get out of the gym) anyway. If they want us to get more light, step in, offer Federal requirements for employers to offer Flex-Time. Let folks (like, say me) come in at noon and leave at eight during winter, and come in at 7 and leave at 4 in summer. Less traffic, more time by the pool, more time to sleep in when it's cold=fitter, happier, more productive.

(Yes technically she works for Fox News, but she's highly intelligent, a graduate of an SEC that's not a hated rival, and admits to poor financial numbers, so I can over look the FOX part.)

Inflation In General, Gas Prices In Particular
I read this morning that wheat prices are up another 40%. This happens right as I'm in the midst of shopping at Whole Foods more, cutting out fast food almost entirely, and loading up on whole grains (including wheat). Meanwhile, I'm paying as much for a half a gallon of milk as I paid for a gallon in 2006. These things suck, and are at highly statistically noticeable levels (yet oddly enough, don't get computing when the Federal Government calculates inflation...hmmmm.) And then there's wildly attractive Fox Five financial corespondent Sandra Smith warning of $4.00/gallon gas this summer. Diesel fuel meanwhile, is already almost there (one place was up to $3.90/gallon yesterday.) My commute is no fun (I average about one fill-up per week) but beats the hell out of the heady days of 2005 when I figured that, at $1.45/gallon diesel was cheap enough to make a 144-mile roundtrip commute from Athens work 5 days a week. And remember when we were told those $2+/gallon gas prices were the result Katrina-related damage and once repairs were made they'd be back down? If so, remember when the Georgia DOT pitched making GA 400 portions toll, they said that'd be temporary too. And that was over a decade ago...

Overhyped Blog Bands That Don't Live Up To The Hype
Over the weekend, I caught a bit of SNL (yes, my weekend was lame--this coming weekend being St. Patty's, will be the make-up for that). The musical guest was Vampire Weekend--who I had heard much blog-based praise of, but hadn't really bothered to check out. Part of this that I've found so-called blog bands (bands that get hype/fame/record deals based on largely blog-based hype/praise) to be a middling lot. Sure, I've found some great music that way--Subtle, Spank Rock, The MGMT--but there's also been a fair amount of crap. Or, if not crap, just something that made me go "wait, you heard what I'm hearing now, and wrote that about it?" (In fact, that was my response when I finally heard Peter, Bjorn and John for the first time.)
Suffice to say, Vampire Weekend fell into the "why are these guys the next big thing?" category for me. No wonder the music industry is falling apart, when people can call--with a straight face--a bunch of kids that look like refugees from Groton playing music that wouldn't have sounded out of place in the early 60s "fresh and innovative." It just supports my as-yet-totally-posted theory that the vast majority of music critics have no real musically background (either in overall music history, nor music theory.) And if it turns out Vampire Weekend really is a bunch of trust-funded, private school kids (like The Strokes), I shall be royally pissed.

Sports Doldrums
By Friday, Georgia's basketball season should mercifully be over (Ole Miss I believe is slated to perform the mercy killing.) In about two weeks, March Madness starts, then MLB kicks off. Until then we get...well...nothing. Which sucks because AM sports radio has been my calmative against the insanity and torture that is metro Atlanta traffic. Yet it doesn't help much when all they have is NASCAR, the NBA, and hockey talk. And a memo to their advertisers: French Canadians and Russians make lousy pitchmen.

And ok, here you go Nation:

...To Hide The Circumcision Scars

UGA vs. SoCar (they aren't USC--check the link, and feel free to oogle the Song Girls while you're there...I know I would.) - The Cumberland Report:

It's Spurrier. That's the first problem. Sure, he hasn't beaten UGA as a (Game)Cock HC yet, but we should realize that he hates us almost as much as we hate him (see for example, the stop-pulling to rival a professional organist vs. UGA in 2005--and yes, I know, I need to make some hipper references). Sure, they looked like shite against Louisana-Whothehellcares last week. But their starting QB wasn't playing. And MTSU looked shitty a week ago and looked like vintage, Klinger era Houston against Louisville. I'm not saying class-skipping dumbass QB Blake Mitchell is going turn into 96' Vintage Wuerffel, but that's probably what SOS is shooting for.

But we also have to watch out for the run game. Lost in the haze of 40+ppg offenses SOS ran at Florida during their heyday (or, as Florida fans call it "the first twelve years of our football history") is the fact that his best teams played great D (never forget: asshat OU HC Bob Stoops was a former UF DC) and had a dangerous running game (yes Virginia, at one point Fred Taylor was healthy for an entire season. I also can make strained jokes involving Eric Rhett and Gone With The Wind, but I'm sure you don't give a damn.) South Carolina, sadly, has a good RB this year...which means if we sell out to put pressure on Blake Mitchell, they may run it up the gut against us, leaving the D doing one of it's "we're really not bad against the run, this a once-a-season thing like LSU in '03, GSU in '04, and WVU in '05.

You can never underestimate a pissed-off and motivated SOS. I have mostly blocked/repressed memories of the 1998 UGA-Florida game, but if SoCar scores on a flea-flicker reverse out of the Emory & Henry formation, it won't shock me.

SoCar's D isn't as dangerous as last year's, but with a supremely motivated O scoring points in droves, if they hold Stafford and Co. under 20 this game will be a blowout in the 'Cocks favor.

(Now excuse me, after typing some of that I need to wash with lye and steel wool...)

UGA vs. SoCar - The Rose-Colored Glasses View:

SOS or no SOS, even with Blake Mitchell the 'Cocks can't trot out the talent level OSU trotted out Between the Hedges last week. If a team with future NFL picks at WR and RB couldn't top 14 points or 300 yds against the Junkyard Dawg D, how's a team with a dumbass-hoping-to-be-invited-to-camp QB and no Sidney Rice going to do better?

Let 'em try and run Cory Boyd up the middle. Yes our DEs are undersized, but our DTs are big, mean, and plan on treating Boyd as rudely (or ruder) than Mr. Savage (note: not related to Randy Savage, sadly) was treated last week.

Sure, I may win the lotto before we shut out a Spurrier coach for the 2nd straight year (he'll install a rocket on his kicker's boot and kick a 60-yarder if he has to.) But this weekend may resemble a previous UGA-SoCar game. Not the 2005 game though. Think 2003. Coming off a dominant win against a good (well, decent...calling Tommy Bowden-coached teams good does a disservice to actually good teams worldwide) Clemson team, and on the heels of close wins (and sadly) losses to SoCar, the Dawgs whalloped the piss out of the Gamecocks 31-7. Something similar is brewing in Athens this Saturday.

Gooooooooooooo Dawgs.

Two Football Predictions

(Note: the following should be a regular, pre-UGA gameday feature. The gist of it is this: before each UGA game, I offer the overly optimistic, Kool-Aid-drinking, rose-colored-glasses wearing, “homer” preview, and then the wildly pessimistic, thinks-Munson-is-too-positive, doom and gloom take.

The first take is kind of a throwback to my carefree freshman and sophomore years at UGA, where, despite nearly a decade straight of losing to UT, I would talk smack, and UGA was favored to win every game, by a lot, according to me.

The less optimistic preview gets its name from the infamous Cumberland College game in which the North Avenue Trade School whipped a bunch of scrubs to the tune of 222-0 (currently the most points and largest blowout…until Northern Colorado plays Hawaii Saturday.) It was inspired by The Girl’s less than positive attitude about UGA football last season (which, to be fair, may have just been borne from the results on the field and might not how she starts off each season) in particular when she admitted to me a night or two before the Florida game that she expected Florida to break the Cumberland record against us, because, she reasoned, even if we “only” lost by say, 182 points, it was better than what she thought would happen. She has a far better and subtler sense of humor than I realized at the time.

Anyway, the hope is between the two extremes something—good, ideally—happens.)

Let’s get the bad out of the way first:

Georgia vs. Oklahoma St. – The Cumberland Report

This could get ugly. The last orange-clad team to come between the hedges with a high-powered offense did something only Spurrier’s best Florida team was able to do. And that was against a good D Line where the DE wasn’t 230 lbs. Without Paul Oliver to cover OSU WR Bowman, Reid will be able to torch us deep, opening up huge lanes for the running game. OSU’s D, porous last year, will feast on UGA’s inexperienced O Line, which could result in Stafford reverting to “midseason” form, tossing INTs like he was playing for Mississippi State. It won’t be last year’s UT game part II, but it’ll be close.

Georgia vs. Oklahoma St. – The Rose-Colored Glasses View

What the DLine lacks in size, they make up for in speed, and will blow past the corn-fed, slow, Oline of the cowboys. Stafford and the WRs, along with Bobo calling the plays, will light up the usually porous OSU secondary, freeing the underneath for the RB trio to melt the clock, letting the D rest. It won’t be Boise St. part II, but it’ll be close.