So, today is Earth Hour. The idea is that from 8:30 – 9:30 (whatever your local time is) tonight, everybody should turn out their lights (and as many other things as you can) as a way of “shining a light on climate action to show how much our planet matters to you.” I don’t know how much good that will actually do, but what the hell. That’s pretty much my bedtime anyway, and to be honest we mostly sit around in the dark anyway. When I say we, I mean me and the dogs, since the wife has been away this weekend (three nights of not being relegated to less than a third of the bed) doing some kind of union activity in Cooperstown (where, despite her professed complete disdain and lack of interest in baseball, she apparently went to the Hall of Fame because she sent me pictures). What she probably failed to note, of course, was that a lot of the bats on display from the olden days (like the one George “High Pockets” Kelly of the New York Giants used to hit three home runs in a single game) were made in Syracuse by the Kren Bat Company. Apparently a lot of the guys had to use Kren bats on the sly because they were under contract to Louisville Slugger.
Otherwise, not much is going on here. It’s a sunny, though somewhat chilly day, that started with the dogs deciding they really needed to go out at 3:00 AM. Of course, I never really got back to sleep after that (so lights out at 8:30 shouldn’t be a problem). I’m not feeling like I’ll be accomplishing much of anything today. Maybe I’ll get a jump on my laundry.
Yesterday was a good sports day, though. Both the SU mens and womens basketball teams advanced in the NCAAs. The women advanced by trouncing Army, which is pretty incredible when you stop to think about it. Not that they won, but that Army has a womens basketball team. Considering women weren’t even admitted to West Point when I was a kid, it’s pretty awesome that they not only have a womens team good enough to get into the NCAAs, but that it seems perfectly obvious that they should (which of course it is, but there are a lot of things that should be obvious – like that Donald Trump should never have a chance in hell of becoming President – that apparently aren’t).
Well, looks like the mail woman just pulled up to the mailbox. Now I need to decide if it’s worth the effort to make that 400 foot walk out there in the cold to get it.
I have totally ignored college hoops this year but all of the whining about broken brackets yesterday made me look. I was surprised to see UVa and WVU (out) and VCU and SU all in there. You’ve been pretty quiet about it so I thought it was an off year.
It’s been a tough year for the boys in orange. Kind of hoping they can win at least one more game and make it to the Sweet 16.
Looks like we have a few dawgs in this hunt.
SWEET 16
Thursday, March 24
(2) Villanova vs. (3) Miami, 4:10 p.m. on CBS
(2) Oklahoma vs. (3) Texas A&M, 4:37 p.m. on TBS
(1) Kansas vs. (5) Maryland, 6:40 p.m. on CBS
(1) Oregon vs. (4) Duke, 7:07 p.m. on TBS
Friday, March 25
(1) Virginia vs. (5) Iowa State, 4:10 p.m. on CBS
(6) Notre Dame vs. (7) Wisconsin, 4:27 p.m. on TBS
(11) Gonzaga vs. (10) Syracuse, 6:40 p.m. on CBS
(1) North Carolina vs. (5) Indiana, 6:57 p.m. on TBS
And the women made the Sweet Sixteen for the first time ever, so it was a pretty good weekend for the Orange (except the lacrosse team lost to Johns Hopkins in OT, so that sucked, and womens lacrosse lost, too).
I really wish I could leave work on Friday on Eastern Time, and then watch the game on Pacific. 9:40 is pretty late for me – I’m gonna have to hide the beer.
Supreme Court turns down case that challenges Colorado marijuana law
Already, the plaintiffs and their supporters are looking to regroup.
Hey, Nebraska and Oklahoma, WTF? You just can’t stand to see other people happy?
Meanwhile, in my new little hometown, an African-American xtian fundie mayor is determined to close all dispensaries in V-jo for ‘religious’ reasons even though a vast majority voted here against such measures. Many store fronts have been closed since I moved here in one of the only NorCal cities with massive vacancies in commercial real estate.
Wonder if candling would have worked?
Now that’s a great little fact!
OK has a dolt for a state attorney general. This guy couldn’t sue his way out of a garbage bag. Lost 10 Commandments, anti-abortion, CO case…. Our last one was smart and efffective. I’ll let you guess their political affiliations.
Probably need one of those big-ass Paschal candles I remember from my brief association with the Catholic church in my youth.
Maron on Stephanie Miller podcast coming up in April !
Todd Rundgren on WTF yesterday. Maybe it was good that Marc was not that big a ToddHead. That could have gone on for hours.
It sounds like Glen is about to leave even though he is already moved on for all intents and purposes. He was a goodun.
That’s very sad. What a shitty disease. Doesn’t seem like part of an intelligent design.
And Joe Garagiola croaked.
Or, as Barry Crimmins puts it….
You know I love me some baseball. This gut and his pal, legendary characters of The Game.
When I finished HS and went to college, I completely abandoned sports of all kinds at every level because it was so right wing in the age of Viet Nam. Fertrümpfsteaks,, Nixxon was sending plays to George Allen for the R**sk**s. I got ‘lured’ back into MLB one chilly evening at Candlestick Park when the Giants won the game 1-0 in the bottom of the 9th from a walkoff homer. Of course by then, the pollyticks of jocks had loosened up a bit. I spent a lifetime of looking the other way in a lot of life part for my own sanity. There was always so many outrages you just had to walk away from some of them. Joe was usually entertaining. I can’t say as much for Joe Buck now. He’s not even one hell of a stud.
Kudos for two Crimmins tweets on one page.
A perfunkytory run at the googles does reveal an incident between Joe and Jackie. Not a helluva lot about Spiro T being a a BFF. Maybe Barry got his veeps confused.
Yeah, I saw that Joe G. did ad spots for Ford against Carter, but that’s about it.
Joe always came across as a good guy to me. People tend to be dumb when they’re young and hopefully evolve as time goes on. Or not.
Looking at this now, you might just be thankful for Gerald Ford, helmet or not. Don Zimmer in red I love and he took some whacks to the head not o mention being slammed to the ground at 72 by Pedro Martinez . My only problem here is Fat Tommy Lasagna.
Gerry always came across as a good guy, too. He pardoned Nixon, of course, but that was probably all arranged before Dicky resigned. And, really, they’d never let an ex-Pres go to prison (well, these days, they might but not back then). Of Nixon’s three VPs, he was the pick of the litter. Governor Rocky was a prick in a lot of ways, but he put a lot of money into the SUNY system, so I’ll give him that at least. I know of no redeeming qualities at all for the other guy.
Ford was pretty much the last decent human being that was a Republican President. You have to give Betty a lot of credit, too.
Thanks for reminding me…
Rockefeller Family Fund hits Exxon, divests from fossil fuels
I really need the Liberal Confessional of AR days. I can’t help laughing at the Repubs even though Repubs in general and Trump/Cruz in particular scare me a lot. Now Trump is threatening to “spill the beans” on Mrs. Cruz ’cause some Superpac ran an ad with the present Mrs Trump naked. It’s like an SNL skit with dire consequences.
Oh, no! Now the White Shadow!
Journalist Dan Baum wrote in the April Cover Story of Harper’s about how he interviewed Ehrlichman in 1994 while working on a book about drug prohibition. Ehrlichman provided some shockingly honest insight into the motives behind the drug war. From Harper’s:
Oh, no. Garry Shandling died.
And now Earl Hamner. Jesus, everybody’s fucking dying. Can’t some assholes croak once in a while, too?
Scalia did.
and Queen B Nancy…
UVa, Syracuse, Oklahoma. Mens, that is.
And the SU women upset #1 seed South Carolina to make it to their first-ever Elite 8.
Remembering Kookie Kracker…
OK, well, both SU men and women make it to the Final Four.
Congratulations BIG ORANGE!!!
And congrats to Oklahoma, too.
But will they meet???
Well, not many people think Syracuse has a prayer of beating North Carolina, so it could be tough.
Sorry. I got excited there.
And Governor Gatling now, too. Geez. Maybe I should start a new thread – people are croaking all over the place here.
Ronnie Corbett. Bummer. Now both Ronnies are dead.