I'm decidedly uninspired to blog today. Probably because it's raining.

So I watched Kerry's speech last night, and it left me with a few questions. Now remember, I'm a Republican who doesn't want to have to be forced to plug my nose and vote for Bush, so if these questions get answered, it might be enough to get me to yank the donkey lever for the first time since 1996.

Convention speeches always seem soooo looooong, but Tom Oliphant still thinks it was rushed.

One thing Kerry did last night that was impressive was that he's forcing Bush to go on the defensive. By pounding on themes like terrorism and the war in Iraq, he's calling Bush out on the very core of his presidency. Think of this whole thing as one giant trial, Kerry's got the burden of proof. My burning questions to follow this weekend or tonight.

We live in a fictitious world, where our Democratic presidential nominee stars in fictitious films...

No surprise here at all. Dems love making up stories.

Not much new and exciting to say today. Sox are playing just awful...they're at their high-water mark for games out of first place. Hay needs to be made, and it needs to be made now.

Today's outstanding columist award goes to Walter E. Williams, who eloquently points out that no matter what side of the aisle you're on, socialism is indeed evil.

Went to the Sox game last night. Good company, great seats, but the game itself pretty much sucked. Got to hang out for 9 innings with Tim, my old boss from my glory days at Sakura Dellsher, and Russell, who now works at the same firm as Tim. Tim and I had a ton of catching up to do, as our correspondence over the past 3 years has pretty much been limited to a few brief emails and occasionally bumping into each other on the street. He's got a sweet gig going, doing bond arbitrage for a guy who used to be a client of his, who from the sounds of it is more psycho than Tim ever was when I worked for him, and that's really saying a lot.

Anywhoooo...Twins played downright dirty last night. Torii Hunter, who I have always viewed as the biggest punkass in baseball, steamrolled Jamie Burke at home plate when Burke was trying to field a throw. The crowd was thristy for blood and wanted to see Hunter get one in the ear, but we didn't even throw near him his next time up, and of course he hit the first pitch he saw. So I'm hoping for a little retribution tonight.

Normally I don't advocate violence in baseball, but sometimes you gotta do something to get your team fired up.

Waiting for the cable guy to show up...we're supposed to get TiVo hooked up today. They blew us off Saturday, and it looks like so far they're blowing us off again. Grrrrrr.

Thank Drudge for these--looks like Ta-RAY-sa used to be a Republican, and had a lot of contempt for the party as a whole and Teddy The Drunk in particular. Also looks like MeatLoaf Moore has quite the hookup for bling-bling seats at the Fleet Center. The Dems were billing yesterday as All-Star day...but the only star they really had was Clinton. What makes Jimmy Carter (one term President who dragged the country into a self-proclaimed "malaise") and Al Gore (dry-as-toast ex-Veep who's been taking ranting lessons from Howard Dean) All-Stars?

 

No surprise here. Looks like the Dem lovefest this coming week is probably going to turn into a whole-lot of Bush bashing instead of a whole lot of idea proposing. I'm still of the opinion that Kerry really doesn't stand for anything other than that he's against Bush...will Thursday be a chance for him to lay out new ideas, or resort to the same tired old rhetoric as Teddy The Drunk and Al Bore?

Went to the Sox game last night...what a fantastic finish, with the unlikely Joe Crede as hero. Everybody contributes at some point when they need to, guess it's all part of the great intangible known as Ozzieball. Crappy performance from Garland today, but the bullpen was even more craptacular. Here's hoping that since we saw Jackson and Cotts today, we won't be seeing them at all vs the Twins.

Headed over to Soldier Field today on our bikes to catch the Man Utd-Bayern Munchen tilt. Always cool to watch top dog European teams play live..but both sides played mostly scrubs the whole way through, which I'm sure let down a lot of the 54,000plus who were in attendance paying at least 40 bucks a pop to watch some footie. Game ended 0-0 with Bayern winning on penalty kicks. Got some serious sun, which surprised me since it wasn't that warm.

More proof Lurch is out of touch with middle-class America, courtesy of the Moonie Paper and Drudge.

Various baseball tidbits....

Looks like Pretty Boy Piazza had a past in Hollywood, and it wasn't catching for the Dodgers.

Also of interest are these fun comments from Kris Benson's wife Anna about what it takes to keep him throwing high and tight. It's kinda odd reading an interview about a guy who spells his first name the same way as my girlfriend does.

Non-baseball tidbit: I can't stand Mark Morford. He's the Michael Moore of opinion columnists, in fact I think he coined the asinine phrase BushCo to refer to the Bush administration. But today he's got a funny (albeit still lefty) piece about iPods.

Completely unremarkable Thursday. Actually somewhat quiet and peaceful at work for the first time all week.

So what's up in the world?

The 9/11 commission report is out, and pretty interesting, if a bit macabre. Odd that the initial report pointed a lot of the blame on White Houses past and present, but the full report seems to focus more on the intelligence community. I'd like to get a copy of the full report, but have no idea how to do it. Does one buy it at a newsstand? At Amazon? And who gets the profits?

Looks like Gerhard Schroeder likes his beer.

Also looks like MeatLoaf's movie has some elephants running scared. I'm sticking with my initial gut feeling that it's not going to change anyone's minds...because people of my ilk aren't going to see it.

Lance Armstrong is nothing short of amazing. It's like he knows when he's gonna strike, and when he does, there's no stopping him. I heard this morning that some French and German fans were spitting on him as he climbed L'Alpe d"huez yesterday. What a bunch of crybabies. As in politics, so as in cycling I guess.

This poll  is somewhat surprising. In the past, Hispanics have tended to vote Republican because of their emphasis on religion, family values and all that other wholesome shite. But now, as more and more of them become citizens, I guess they want big government.

Mark Buehrle was nothing short of sensational last night. With Freddy taking the bump tonight, I wouldn't rule out a sweep of the short set. This weekend's going to be tough with the no-longer-doormat Tigers in town, and the matchups don't really favor us.

Come Sail Away Indeed...
 
I gotta find a way to get on this cruise! Sounds like a blast. Lots of ripped shirts and skanky women smoking Merit 100s while they drink sloe gin fizzes.

The funniest part about it is the FAQ section, where you can get answers like these:

Can I meet the band(s)? There are several ways to meet the bands: 1) by purchasing certain platinum packages, you will be included on a meet & greet with each artist; 2) there will be drawings nightly where winners will get a meet & greet or cocktail party with the bands; 3) the band members will be on the ship and you can always go over and say hello.

Will any band members be attending any shore excursions? We cannot guarantee that band members will be on the shore excursions but they will certainly be invited.

God I'd love to go island-hopping with Dennis DeYoung AND Steve Perry!

Reopening Old Wounds...
 
Why? Why? Why does ESPN have to bring this up?

I still remember watching Super Bowl XXV in the living room of our house in Webster with my dad, and Dad jumping out of his chair after the miss with such force that he knocked it over.

It's Monday...
 
...and I'm home sick. Only the 2nd sick day of my 2 year career at Townsend Analytics. I was feeling pretty off most of the day yesterday--just kind of achey and feverish. I initially thought that it was from being in the sun all day Saturday, but come on, I'm anything but fragile.
 
So we went to Arlington yesterday, and in spite of feeling like crap, I still managed to have a good time. Whatever this mystery ailment is that I'm battling must have infected the gambling portion of my brain, because I couldn't pick a pony to save my life. I play really conservative--I usually just pick a horse I like the odds/money flow on and bet it $2 across the board. I'll place maybe one or two exacta or trifecta boxes over the course of the afternoon...hardly high stakes. Yesterday I had one horse show in 8 races and that was it. Russell won two and Kris won one...so guess who paid for pizza last night?
 
Russell and I also bet a bunch of the races at Calder in Florida. Their post times were all about 1/2way in between the Arlington races, so it killed time rather well. We watched the Sox game on the TV in our box, and left with them having a nice lead. But alas, yet another miserable finish in Oakland.
 
I'm psyched about getting Crazy Carl back. He was a great addition last year down the stretch and should give us much needed left handed (BONUS!) pop especially in the absence of Frank. Even when he's not hitting that well (yeah, kinda like this year) he's a really tough out who wears pitchers down, especially late in games. I'm not crying about losing Jon Rauch at all. He was a bust before and after his surgery...I could care less about all his accolades in the minors. If you can't win in the majors, the accolades don't mean shit.
 
If you wonder why he's referred to as Crazy Carl, just read this.
 
I like the matchup tonight against Joaquin Benoit. Every time I've seen this guy pitch against us, we've just lit him up. No time like now to get the offense hot again.

Weekend Update...
 
Shot 118 at Harborside yesterday. That's a high number, but I'm still pretty pleased...my goal was to keep it under 120. I was hitting the absolute snot out of the ball on the tees (and didn't hit anything right, a real shock)...in fact, I even hit a couple shots really hard to the left. The big problem with Harborside is that they have sand. Lots and lots of sand. In fact, the have one hole named "Sand" and another called "More Sand"...both of which have bunkers that run pretty much along the entire hole. My tee shots never ended up in there, but plenty of my second shots would skip off the fairway and end up on the beach. My putting was awful, and I found the water on both of the par 3s that are on Lake Calumet, but all in all a great time.
 
Watched "The Gift" last night and got really freaked out a few times...I even screamed like a little girl at one point. It's one scary movie--predictable, and cliche, but still scary. Katie Holmes is REALLY REALLY hot in it.
 
Heading out to Arlington with Russell today.  Time to play the ponies!

Alright. It's finally Friday.
 
Spent 3 hours with a developer this afternoon working on the same problem I showed him yesterday. Now I know how Galileo felt when he had to deal with all those skeptics...I'm sure sooner or later someone's going to come down and slap a big scarlet "H" on me for being a heretic.
 
Anyhooo...company party tonight. One thing that cracks me up is how every time we have a company shindig of some sort, half the people show up wearing something with the company logo on it.  I don't ever wanna be that guy. My RealTick shirts are for softball or working out...not going out. We even have these dress shirts with the RealTick logo on the front and Townsend Analytics, Ltd on the side to wear for trade shows...and PEOPLE WEAR THEM AS PART OF THEIR EVERYDAY WARDROBE. Egads!
 
After the party, a gaggle of us are going to check out the Millenium Park opening. It's my big chance to see Da Mare's 400 million dollar setup. Fareed Haque is among the performers and has always been a favorite of mine...I've never seen him live before. There's also going to be some electronic music on the (Bank One) Promenade. Thanks to this link from Big_Stig, I know know house from jungle from trance, and learning about it was fun!
 
Can't overimbibe too much tonight since I have a tee time at Harborside tomorrow. This ought to be downright embarassing. A links style course with gusty winds? Good thing I bought 2 dozen new balls last night.
 
Blogger has changed their format. Looks like it's a lot easier to insert pictures now. OK, just tried it...maybe not.

Random political crap:

Sadly, da Coach isn't gonna run. Not totally surprised, as most of this was all media hype anyway...but it sure would have made for an interesting race.

So does this open the door for my guy John Borling? Borling was the guy I backed most of the way through the primaries. He was horribly underfunded and his campaign was being run by maverick jackass Rod McCullough--whose only redeeming quality was that he was the first guy to get a hold of the Jack! divorce papers.

Borling is sort of a poor man's McCain-socially moderate and fiscally conservative, tough on defense and has an unbelievable grasp of foreign policy. He's pro-choice, which turns a lot of the far right off, but helps him with the female vote. In fact, Kris the Democrat said he was her favorite candidate on both sides during the primaries. So we'll see.

Alert reader Southside Mike sends us a couple tidbits:

Does Mrs. Lurch have something to hide?

And you all know I love to bitch about Bush spending money like a drunken sailor...but it looks like Kerry's plans don't make much sense either.

Sox start the second half in O-town tonight. I can't remember the last time we won a game there. They're facing Billy Beane wunderkind Rich Harden tonight, who's not quite the stud he was last year, but there's just something about that big green coliseum that brings out the worst in us.

On the upside though, here's some numbers that give credence to my "Jon Garland's Gonna Be One Helluva Ballplayer Someday" theory:

Batting averages against:

Shingo: .160
Marte: .183
Garcia: .240
Cotts: .241
Politte: .244
Garland: .255
Schoenweis: .276
Loiaza: .283
Jackson: .283
Buerhle: .285
Adkins: .294

WHIP (walks+hits/innings pitched):

Shingo: .081
Marte: .097
Garcia: 1.18
Garland: 1.30
Buerhle: 1.32
Jackson: 1.38
Politte: 1.40
Loaiza: 1.41
Cotts: 1.45
Schoenweis: 1.48
Adkins: 1.63

Busy busy busy day today, on the saddest day of the year (the one day where no professional sporting events are scheduled...but here's a nice rundown of the AL that looks like it bodes well for the Sox.

And here's a fun little bipartisan dittythat's making the rounds. Takes a loooong time to load, but so worth it.

Ho hum, it's Tuesday.

Rolled out the latest and greatest incarnation of our new trading system at work last night to one of our smallest clients. The trading system works like a charm...but the back office piece (my area of expertise) ain't workin' for shite. So tomorrow I get to spend all morning huddled with developers running through every single scenario that I already ran through today. Joy joy.

Will he or won't he? The Ditka drama continues. I can't remember anything this exciting since Gary Hart back in '88 trying to figure out if he was in, out, or just in Donna Rice. Personally, I think the whole Ditka thing is kinda cool. What a lot of people don't know is that he's done a ton of grassroots work for Da GOP over the past few years and is surprisingly in tune with what Illinois' needs are. But the main reason I like him is that he's a human being: he won't lie about the fact that he likes to drink, smoke cigars, gamble and golf. He's already admitted that he's an "ultra-conservative", so that oughta make the leader loopers happy.

All Star action tonight. Got lunch with Jed tomorrow riding on an AL win.

...and here's the reason why when I used to 'shroom in college, I stayed the hell in my dorm room.

Herbert Piece

Bob Herbert and I rarely see eye-to-eye. But he's got some good points in his column todayabout how it just seems like our anti-terror policy has turned into all Iraq, all the time instead of worrying about the evildoers who've actually done something to us.

Other than that, not much new to report. It's damned hot here today. Freddy and the Hose looked great yesterday, in a game I attended with a pounding hangover thanks to overindulging at Eric's Bastille Day bash the night before.

And yeah...we lost at bocce. : (

Not That Innocent...

Heh heh heh. It says "bed."

Pucker up, pretty boy!

The Vegas Skinny...

I've put this off long enough, and in a couple more days I'll forget to do it completely, so here goes. This will be mercifully short since the notes I took while I was out there are stuffed in the front of the Ty Cobb biography I'm reading.

My original intent was to go with a blow-by-blow recap of the trip (whether I had the notes in front of me or not), but I think I'm going to go with the bullet points version instead...

Friday night:
-bumpy flight, landed about 11:20, took 35 minutes to get luggage. Got stuck behind the drink cart on the plane and ended up talking to some crusty older woman about poker in the galley while we waited to get back to our seats.
-Cabbie on the ride to the Luxor was a Mets fan. I feel a special kinship with them. Talked a little about NASCAR too...I guess they have a couple races in Vegas every year. Boogity boogity.
-Checkin line wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (especially after reading tons of reviews saying it would be dreadful), got nice room in West Tower. Called Rob, he popped in to say hello, but he and Renee had been sleeping and he didn't stay long.
-Went down to casino, lost a little at craps and a lot at blackjack. The only reason I play blackjack is to recoup craps losses...I hate the game. Grabbed drink in lounge and then headed back upstairs...sacked out at about 3 am.

Saturday:
-up by 9 (late late, tsk tsk) and grabbed some decent Eggs Benedict in the Luxor Cafe. Renee's a big eggs benedict fan too as it turns out. Hit craps tables, started out up but finished down. Scoped out Excalibur (really cheesy and tacky, way too many damned kids running around) and grabbed a bite at a burger place in Mandalay Bay, then walked over to Bellagio. Found a really nice tie in Hermes that K wanted to buy for me...but there's no sense in buying a $135 tie for a guy who wears one maybe 4 times a year though. Sometimes I wish I was an investment banker so I could play dressup.
-Dinner at Emeril's Delmonico in my favorite place on the Strip--The Venetian. Simply amazing. I was picturing a clubby old-school steak joint like Gene and Georgetti's, but it's not like that at all...very modern and sleek, plenty of talent working there. My NY Strip was outstanding, paired good with a couple bottles of Kenwood Cab. They also have creamed spinach to die for...which was so creamed that Rob joked it should be considered a dairy product instead of a vegetable. Might be the best meal I ever had.
-Saturday sportsbook action: took the under in the Cubs-Sox game. Lost.
-After dinner, more craps. More losses. Too giddy on wine to care. Went up to Rob and Renee's room for traditional 4 person poker game. Won.

Sunday
-Smarting from gambling losses, spent most of the day wandering, giving K and Renee the chance to see some of the other places on the Strip...went to Mirage, Caesar's (which has great froo froo drinks on the patio but no exit on the north end much to our chagrin), MGM Grand, New York New York, Treasure Island. Caught the famous bellagio water show, which I had managed to ignore in all my previous trips out...it was cool, but not THAT exciting.
-Gambled a little at Paris. Lost. Detecting trend yet? Paris has the best table staff on the Strip though.
-Dinner and fireworks at top of Stratosphere...cool revolving restaraunt and good sea bass. K paid way too much money for pictures of us at the table. Fireworks were amazing..only the 2nd time in my life that I have looked down on them instead of up at them. Pictures to follow. Stratosphere itself is kind of a hole--no good shops, and seedy clientele like you'd see downtown. Caught end of Sox colossal choke job before leaving for dinner.

Monday
-Craps and breakfast at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. More losses. Wandered back to Luxor and decided to try baccarat just for shits and grins...I think I've found my new game of choice. Won back 65% of what I'd lost the past 3 days. Still don;t understand the game entirely (time to do some reading), but any game where you get a scorecard is alright in my book.
-Rob and Renee bolted at 1 to catch their flight. K and I walked up the Strip for a while just to people watch, gambled a bit at Bally's and then took a cab downtown. I stayed in downtown Vegas at Fitzgerald;s once, and that was all I needed to see, but K wanted to see the light show, which has gotten cooler but way more commercialized since my last time down there 5 years ago.
-Drank a bunch of beers at Fitzgerald's and watched Eric Gagne blow his first save in 2 years, grabbed a couple drunken cheeseburgers at McD's (first time I'd eaten a burger there in a couple years) and then headed back to the Luxor, grabbed our bags and shipped off to the airport.

Quote of the weekend, from Rob: "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas--except for marriage and STDs."

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I talked to some young energetic reporter for the Near West Gazette about the Bridgeport 'hood and how it can be made more appealing to Sox fans young and old.

The article starts here and I'm quoted here.

Yes, I still need to post Vegas details. And yes, I still need to talk about the Kerry-Edwards combo. More later.

DITKA!

Back from Vegas...great time in spite of the fact I dropped a big ol chunka chunka burning change at the craps tables. I've got like 6 pages of blog-worthy stuff plus some pictures that I'll try and post tonight.

Meanwhile, sign this petition and let's make da Coach da head of the Illinois GOP.

Can't spell "Fundrace" without "fun"...

Fundrace is a site that lets you poke around and see who's giving money where when it comes to the election.

Naturally, curiosity got the best of me and I started plugging in some big names in Chicago:

Leo Melamed was CEO of my old firm--Sakura Dellsher, and likes to keep his money in the tribe:

Leo Melamed
Chairman CEO
Melamed & Associates Joe Lieberman
$1,000 10 S Wacker Dr
Chicago, IL 60606

Some people say Da Coach would make a fine next Chairman of the IL GOP:

MIKE DITKA
INFORMATION REQUESTED PER BEST E
INFORMATION REQUESTED PER BEST E
George W. Bush
$1,500 161 E CHICAGO AVE
CHICAGO, IL 60611

Chairman Reinsdorf doesn't like signing pitchers to long term deals, but he does like funneling cash to both sides of the aisle:

J. Reinsdorf
Real Estate Exec.
Bojer Financial Carol Moseley Braun
$2,000 33 W 35th St
Chicago, IL 60616

JERRY M. REINSDORF
REAL ESTATE EXECUTIVE
BOJER FINANCIAL George W. Bush
$2,000 333 W 35TH St
CHICAGO, IL 60616

Dennis Flynn's a big mean dude from the CBOT floor...kinda fitting he's an elephant:

DENNIS FLYNN
TRADER
SELF-EMPLOYED
George W. Bush
$2,000 401 S LA SALLE
CHICAGO, IL 60605

More to come...

Real-quick like...

...because I really need a shower.

Went over to Taste last night with Kris, Chris and Linda. Fairly crowded, but not unbearable...no beer lines at all, probably becayse it was Budweiser (which kept my consumption way down). Sampled "taste portions" (the only way to do Taste IMHO, it's still a decent portion and only 3 tickets) of the following local delicacies:

-Ricobene's Breaded Steak sandwich: Chicago classic. Almost got marinara all over my Ben Sherman shirt.
-Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ: "Boss" sauce is the right mix of tangy and sweet, pork was shredded to perfection.
-Veggie Pad Thai from Star of Siam: Kris and Linda both love the stuff. I wish they delivered to the West Loop.
-Mustard Fried Catfish Nuggets from somewhere I can't remember and will look up when I have more time: Simply great.
-Lindy's chili: little bit of kick, amazingly tender ground chuck
-Rainbow cone: featuerd a little orange sorbet to clear the palate.

Walked over to SummerDance and caught some electronic music and then to Boni Vino for a nightcap and the end of the Sox game...saw Takatsu give up the homer, but also got to see Freddy react to his first win.

Vegas tomorrow night!