New England's Finest

With my partner in crime out of the Loosh loop for awhile, I have to do my part to spread the gospel of Bill Simmons. Currently you all have the opportunity to read some of his finest columns of the year.

My favorite column of the bunch is entitled the Surreal Life at Fenway. This column gives you a bird's eye view into why Boston fans are simply the best. We are never finer than when we are the underdogs (and with all of the playa haters in the sports media today, that is often).

If you don't want to take my word and that of Big Bill as to why Boston sports teams and fans are the best, trust ESPN which ranked Boston as the number 1 sports city in America (I would argue maybe even the world) by an overwhelming margin.

So Blessed...

It is so easy during the holidays to forget to stop and reflect on how incredibly blessed we are but the extent of the blessings in my life is all the more obvious in the face of the suffering of those in Southeastern Asia. I am so blessed beyond all measure and am so fortunate to have never known anything near the devastation that people in Southeastern Asia are experiencing now. I cannot even fathom what is must be like suffer the loss of over 50,000 people (and probably many more) in a matter of moments. My heart is literally breaking for all of those who are suffering in such a tremendous way right now.

I wish there was some greater way to help, but the best that we can do is offer up prayer to the God who comforts all who mourn and who is able. We can also give:

• American Red Cross
Contributions should be sent to International Response Fund, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013. For more information about donating, call 800-435-7669.

Snow White and the Four Dwarves (+ 2 dwarf like puppets)

In a desperate act of cost-cutting, a German theatrical production of "Snow White and Seven Dwarfs" had to lay off three of its dwarfs. They were replaced by puppets. The theater said it had attached two puppets in dwarf outfits to a background wall to give the production six dwarves. The actor playing the prince was supposed to double as the seventh dwarf but only made one brief appearance on stage. "The seventh dwarf wasn't on stage the whole time because he was stuck down in the mine working overtime," theater spokeswoman Susanne Kreuzer told the newspaper.

Seriously now...what are we coming to when dwarfs are being laid off.

A Ban on Indoor Nudity?

My family, as well as a few unlucky houseguests, can attest that I would surely have run afoul of the law in the Mexican City of Villahermosa, which just made indoor nudity illegal. Apparently citizens here will have to figure out what I never did--how you keep towels on hand in the bathroom if everyday you wear them back to the bedroom. (??) Opposition party councilman Rodrigo Sanchez dissented, accusing the majority party of "taking laughable measures" in threatening to penalize citizens who like to make their living rooms a pre-sin Garden of Eden. "I have no idea how you detect the naked," he said. "You'd have to have a big operation to try to bring it under control." I'm not sure enforcement is quite as hard as Mr. Sanchez imagines--my sisters would have tipped off local authorities several times in our house.

In case you are looking for a last minute Christmas gift...

...better act fast.

The U.S. Justice Department is trying to destroy about 63,000 copies of the controversial "Ghettopoly" board game. The knockoff game, which retails for $39.95, describes "elements of the game" as, "buying stolen properties, pimpin hoes, building crack houses and projects, paying protection fees and getting car jacked." In "Ghettopoly," players land on properties like Chico's Bodega and Smitty's XXX Peep Show, instead of Boardwalk or Marvin Gardens, and the game pieces include a pimp and a machine gun. When "Ghettopoly" debuted last year, black leaders nationwide decried it as racist and criticized game creator David Chang, who has defended his creation, saying it "draws on stereotypes not as a means to degrade, but as a medium to bring together in laughter."

So hood rich...I can't imagine why the feds would want to destroy it.

As if we needed more proof...

...That the French are weasels.

In Football Recruiting News...

Always love to see a good Brown grad like Coach Paterno get great recruits...

New From The Post
Top Recruit Williams Picks Penn State

By Dan SteinbergWashington Post Staff WriterWednesday, December 22, 2004; 4:15 PM
After navigating through one of most intense recruiting battles in Maryland high school football history, Eleanor Roosevelt High School star Derrick Williams announced today that he will play football for Penn State University.
"That whole state is Joe Paterno's state," Williams said in his live televised announcement today, referring to the Nittany Lions' legendary head coach. "It's a great school. The facilities, the people and the alumni -- all of that was great."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19904-2004Dec22.html

Add to the "Only in Kentucky" File

It's true. A Kentucky girl is suing because she was barred from her high school prom on account of her dress--a giant, sequined Confederate flag. She may actually be right, in a constitutional sense, but goodness gracious what a tough cause to jump behind. As expected, there are many bonus highlights within the story.

• The girl, Jacqueline Duty, 19, "worked on the design for the dress for four years" and apparently "didn't have another one."
• In a brazen effort to shed the redneck connotations of the flag, Ms. Duty selected a lawyer named Earl-Ray and, as the AP article informs us, "The Sons of Confederate Veterans has promised to help pay some of her legal expenses." A shrewd tactical move.
• The lawsuit alleges that when Ms. Duty arrived at the dance in her shimmering rebel flag "she was met outside by two police officers and principal Sean Howard. She said the principal intimidated her by striking the vehicle she was in. "

Before you laugh at the car-slapping principal, ask yourself this--what did you do the last time a girl wore a confederate flag to your school's prom?

Exactly.

Justice in the NBA?

The Arbitrator reviewing the suspensions from the Pacers/Pistons fans brawl has reduced Jermaine O'Neal's sentence by 10 games. That means he can come back this weekend (unless the NBA successfully appeals in Federal court). I would have liked to see all of the suspensions reduced, except maybe Stephen Jackson; that dude is nuts. I mean it seemed like even before Artest had grabbed the horrified, bespectacled, tremendously unlucky bystander he randomly selected for beer-toss punishment, Jackson was already two rows deeper into the crowd throwing full punches at anything that moved. And what exactly was he reacting to? Not clear. It seems he just saw his homie run into the crowd and was elated at the opportunity to mix it up with the dregs of Detroit. Cute. I would have banned him for the whole season and let wild-eyed Ron back onto the court sometime in early February, but perhaps I'm a softy for former Bulls.

Read the Sportsguy's take on the initial fracas here.

favorite quote:

...If you scrolled through the lineups of all 30 teams before the season, then asked yourself, "What pair of teammates would be the most likely candidates to start a fight in the stands, eventually leading to the ugliest sequence in NBA history?", the heavy favorites would have been Artest and Jackson in Indiana, with Zach Randolph and Ruben Patterson a distant second in Portland. Those are the facts. That might have been a shocking night, but at no point did anyone who follows the NBA on a regular basis say to themselves, "I can't believe Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson are taking on Row 3 in the Palace right now!"

A Blog at Last

I've long wanted to have a blog, and in my 6 months since leaving Brown I've been dying to write creatively again (and not just in ranting e-mails). So I have made the self-indulgent leap of quasi-publishing my thoughts. I intend to spew forth political analysis, philosophical reflection, theological ponderings, and vehement sports opinions. Think Andrew Sullivan crossed with Bill Simmons. That is my idea of blog perfection. Reading Sullivan makes me process events and issues in ways I hadn't considered. Reading Simmons makes me laugh out loud at work. This blog will be my feeble attempt to do the same for others.