My Sick Mind

If I'm good at anything, it's complaining about things that will never change. Some would say it's wasted energy. Others would say it's an emotional outlet. Whatever it is, most of the stuff on this blog wouldn't exist if it weren't for complaining about things that will never change. Today's complaint: The structure of professional sports. Why are there divisions? Every pro sport is broken down into divisions. East, West, South, Midwest - whatever. They're in every sport. Presumably, it's to encourage regional rivalries and promote the idea that we like to divide things into regions. It goes back to the good old days, in baseball especially, when the winners of each 8 or 10-team league would go on to the World Series. Now, there are two other rounds of playoffs with the division winners meeting a wild card team, presumably the fourth best team, or the team that finished second in one of the divisions. Why not just lump the National and American...

The new James Bond movie is called "Quantum of Solace." I'd be lying if I told you I knew what that means. Quantum means "a specified quantity" or a "fixed amount of energy." Solace means "an easing of grief" or "something that eases or relieves." So, I guess it means a specified quantity of ease. I'm never going to see it, but it's advertised so much that I'd like to know what I am choosing to ignore. Meanwhile... If you're looking for a nice film to enjoy with your over-17 year-old family, might I suggest one that might have flown under your radar called "Smart People." If you're like me (again, God forbid) and you like films about people instead of things or things flying or exploding, maybe you'd like this. It stars Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church and a before-"Juno" Ellen Page. It's an interesting character study about people, some of whom are too smar...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday she was confident that lawmakers would consider "emergency and limited financial assistance" for the auto industry under the $700 billion bailout measure that passed Congress in October. She urged the outgoing Bush administration to support a compromise. "In order to prevent the failure of one or more of the major American automobile manufacturers, Congress and the Bush administration must take immediate action," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California . If you bought a brand new Chevrolet Corvette last year, your $47,000 investment is worth about $30,000 today; just by the virtue of driving it around for a year. However, if you spent that same $47,000 on General Motors’ stock last year, your investment is worth about $4,500 today. What’s wrong with a company whose products are worth more than the company making them? Everything. Now, it seems our Federal government is readying a bail-out, based on the idea that we don’t w...

For those of you who have grown weary of my ranting (of which I am one) I'll give you a break from the nonsense today. I was one of the lucky slobs who had Veterans Day off, so rather than waste it in a gym or on the sofa, I took off for a little Photo Safari in Philadelphia. If you click on the photo it should come up in full screen, but I'm never sure how this Blogger thing works. The first stop was the 8th and Market SEPTA station at The Gallery. I'll call these "See-through trains." It's that screwy fisheye lens on a long exposure. I could tell you how to do it, but then I'd have to kill you. The trees are nicely colored in the city, when you can find them. I noticed a strange vehicle driving down Arch Street. It turns out someone was shooting a movie in the city and this 3-vehicle caravan rode up and down the street at least a half dozen times. One of the extras told me it was being shot by Dallywood Films from India. I must admit, in the entir...

We love our holidays. Usually, we love them because we get the day off work or there is some big sale at the local (soon to be bankrupt) store. But you just can't arbitrarily give people the day off or have a sale - can you? You could. You could just say, "It's the first Monday of the month, take the day off." It would be National First Day or something, and Circuit City would have a sale. Hurry. But we don't do that, because we like the symbolism of a dead president or some guy who we are told "discovered" America. Don't get me started on that. We like our religious holidays too, but they're a little different because they usually involve candy, a big rabbit or a fat guy in a suit. Religion. Almost all of them involve a day off from work, unless you have a shit job in the service industry, in which case you work on all the days - even the first of the month one. Most stores and restaurants are open on Christmas and President's Day...

ONE: SYDNEY (Reuters) – Two of Australia's largest bookmakers are refusing to pay out on bets that Barack Obama would win the U.S. presidential election, citing fears he could be assassinated before his inauguration, a report said Saturday. The two bookmakers, Sportsbet and Centrebet, told the Sydney Morning Herald they would not pay out on the bets until the first African-American U.S. president takes office in January. Bullet-proof screens were put up on stage when Obama made his victory speech to jubilant supporters in a Chicago park. Two white supremacist skinheads were arrested in the U.S. state of Tennessee in October over plans shoot Obama, although the plot appeared unsophisticated. TWO: GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan - The scene Saturday was a retailer's dream: Wall-to-wall customers, skyrocketing sales. But the approaching holiday season didn't spark this rush. Barack Obama did. His election triggered concerns by gun enthusiasts that his administration would push restr...

NEW ORLEANS – People with low cholesterol and no big risk for heart disease dramatically lowered their chances of dying or having a heart attack if they took the cholesterol pill Crestor, a large study found. The results, reported Sunday at an American Heart Association conference, were hailed as a watershed event in heart disease prevention. Doctors said the study might lead as many as 7 million more Americans to consider taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, sold as Crestor, Lipitor, Zocor or in generic form . If you're like me (egad) you wanted to know who financed the study. After all, "large studies" don't just grow on trees, do they? I had to scan way down the article (past where normal humans would read) and find: AstraZeneca paid for the study, and Dr. Paul Ridker (leader of the study) and other authors have consulted for the company and other statin makers . What a coincidence. Crestor costs $3.45 a day versus less than a dollar for generic drugs. Tha...