Dreaming of the Sun

Long time, no post. Things have been pretty busy the last couple of weeks. Here's the update.

Work:
Worst. Project. Ever.

Home:
Been getting ready for the trip to Florida. Flying out Thursday, Mom and I will get into Fort Myers late in the afternoon. We've got Twins spring training games Friday and Saturday, a minor-league hockey game Sunday, another Twins game Monday, and then it's back in the air at the crack of hell Tuesday morning. Provided I can find wireless internet access, I'll be blogging the trip!
I tell ya, I can't wait for the sunshine. There had better be sunshine. I'm starting to feel like one of those weird hairless creatures that lives in the depths of a cave, hunting fish and bugs among the fossilized bear bones. I expect to evolve myself some sonar any day now.

Miscellany:
So I'm listening to the news this morning while I get ready for work, and there's this woman ranting and raving about how there aren't any African-Americans on the Michael Jackson jury and how's a black man supposed to get a fair trial like that? And all I can think is, "Lady, Michael Jackson hasn't been black for years."

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Puckheads

Yet another reason to admire (or relocate to) Canada: hockey as civil disobedience.

Yahoo! News - Vancouver street hockey players protest B.C. government's new highway plans:
VANCOUVER (CP) - About 300 spectators and hockey players of all ages blocked a section of a main Vancouver street on Sunday to protest a proposed highway development.
The street hockey game shut down a part of the city's trendy Commercial Drive for just over an hour on the sunny afternoon.
The puck - actually a green tennis ball - dropped at 1 p.m. with players as young as five battling it out to score a goal in the friendly match.
The hockey group, Cross Pedestrians, refused to let cars through but did clear the way for buses.
'By stepping out on the streets to have a bit of fun, we're empowering ourselves to make the necessary changes,' said organizer David Fields.
He said the group was there to deliver a message to the provincial government.
'We don't want to see Highway One expanded. There are other alternatives available. If they're going to sink a billion dollars into transportation, we'd rather see it put into public transit instead,' he said.
The B.C. Ministry of Transportation has proposed twinning a section of the Trans-Canada Highway between Vancouver and the Fraser Valley community of Abbotsford.
A major concern is the development will cause more cars to be on neighbourhood streets, said player Richard Brooks, 30.
'It's a good opportunity on a beautiful day like today to show people that we should take back our streets, back away from the cars and use streets for what they are meant for, playing hockey," he said.

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Twins Sign Santana to 4-Year Deal

Minnesota Twins News: [The] American League's reigning Cy Young Award winner [Johan Santana] and Minnesota agreed to a four-year contract that avoids arbitration. Terms of the deal were not revealed by the club, but the Associated Press reported it to be worth $40 million. It is still pending until Santana passes a physical scheduled for Monday afternoon.

First time in months I've heard the phrase "four more years" without wanting to cry..

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Better Late Than Never

"I am not a member of any organized party—I am a Democrat."
--Will Rogers

You all know that I've been tearing my hair out for years over the way the Democrats have been giving--nay, flinging--away much of the power and respect they managed to accumulate over the last century or so. Fielding a parade of unelectable candidates, meekly bowing to the propaganda from the Republican Noise Machine (RNM), losing sight of their core values (and allowing the voters to do likewise) and generally being wishy-washy, disorganized and sometimes downright stupid.

This Saturday, the DNC will officially announce that Howard Dean will be its new chairman. To which I say: "About ****ing time, you idiots." To which I feel compelled to add: "I hope you realize I was about three seconds away from giving up and joining the Green Party."

See, Dean is good at all those things the whole party used to be good at, but forgot while they were busy trying not to give the RNM "cause" to use the L-word about them. Dean organizes, inspires and refuses to back down. Which isn't to say he can't compromise, but that's another thing the Dems have forgotten--the difference between compromise and capitulation.

The party has needed a leader like Dean for a long time. Now, the question is, will they let him do what he could do for them, and for us? Time will tell.

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Alas, Poor Constantine

If you're planning on going to see the new movie "Constantine", starring Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, do yourself a favor. Don't give in to the temptation, either before or after the movie, to read the Hellblazer comic book series, which the movie purports to be based on. If you read them before, the movie can only disappoint you. If you read them after, you'll realize you were horribly ripped off. Either way, you'll end up marching back to the theater, demanding a refund, screaming at the manager, and getting thrown in jail. And that doesn't help anyone, does it?

See, here's the thing. Picture Keanu Reeves. His face, his voice, his personality. He never alters any of the three to "act", so you don't have to imagine him trying to actually play a character. Got it? Good.

Now, picture a blonde, forty-something, surly, fiendishly intelligent, British, chain-smoking wielder of supernatural powers. This is a man who spends his life skating on the razor's edge, dodging forces heavenly, demonic and mortal, most of whom would like nothing better than to see him dead. He keeps his head attached to his shoulders with a combination of magic, con artistry and sheer brazen gall.

That is John Constantine. Not some limp, drawling, suit-and-tie conjurer. I can't imagine what possessed them to cast him in the role. Asking the Eternal Surfer to play John Constantine? You might as well ask Leonardo "Inanimate" di Caprio to play a fiery Irish gang leader.

Oh, wait...they did that, too, didn't they?

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(Real) State of the Union

What he should have said:

"Citizens of America, tonight I have not a statement, but a question.

Where are we going, and why are we in this handbasket?

Thank you, and good night."

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