Phillies get Lee (pending a medical exam)

And I’m not terribly disappointed. Of course Roy Halladay, Toronto’s 11-3 ace, would make a great addition to the Phillies starting rotation. But getting Cliff Lee, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, isn’t a shabby replacement - especially in the short-term. Long term we’ll have to see if it was worth giving up Carrasco, Knapp, Marson and Donald – all potential big-time big leaguers.

But hey, this is Philadelphia. We want to win now. With the addition of Lee and Martinez, we’ve put ourselves in a position to do just that. Let’s just hope Halladay doesn’t end up signing with the Yankees, or worse, The Red Sox. For now though, follow Andy Martino’s lead and breathe easy.

More Shaq shenanigans

It’s true. Shaq’s on-court abilities have dwindled a bit. The entertainment value of his off-court antics, however, has not.

Most recently, “The Big Daddy” made an appearance on WWE’s “Monday Night Raw”, setting up five “Beat the Clock” matches before calling The Big Show “Fat Boy” and grappling with him.

Not sure how smart a move this is considering he's trying to win a chip with Lebron this coming season. (I don't think he will).

I suppose acting, rapping and law enforcement simply aren’t enough.

We'll miss you Jim

Longtime Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson lost a six-month battle with cancer Tuesday afternoon. He was 68.

While Johnson gave the nod for Sean McDermott to replace him while he fought, it’s still a big loss.

Over 10 seasons, the Eagles won 5 NFC East titles. Below, from philly.com, was Johnson’s considerable coaching contribution.

From 2000-08, Johnson's units ranked 2nd in the NFL in sacks (390), 3rd down efficiency (34.0%) and red zone touchdown percentage (43.9%), and fourth in fewest points allowed (17.7 per game).

Close Call

The NRA must have been licking its chops when Senator John Thune(R-SD) tossed his Conceal Carry Amendment (No. 1618) on the table. The bill would have given anyone with a concealed carry permit (CCW) the right to pack his or her heat in any state they wanted, even if that state had stricter laws. But alas, only 58 YEAs – not the necessary 60 – were cast. The 38 NAYs (including Specter) combined with three no votes - Mikulsi (D-MD), Kennedy (D-MA), and Byrd (D-WV) - to defeat the bill. Here's how everyone voted.

What the opposition had to say

From today's Los Angeles Times:

“ This is a grave threat to public safety,” said Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.). “ Concealed-weapons laws that work in rural states may not be suitable in urban areas. What’s good for Iowa or Alaska may not be good for California.”

What the defeated had to say

Also from today's Los Angeles Times :

“ An individual should be able to exercise their 2nd Amendment constitutional right and be able to travel through individual states," said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the chief sponsor.

and...

The National Rifle Assn., which has vowed to work to bring the legislation back, said that "the right to self-defense does not end at state lines."

I’m glad to see these tired arguments didn’t get the job done for once. Gun violence doesn’t need an extra boost – especially in Philly.

Golden Boy's former aide gets "sweetheart" sentence

Ronald L. Buckwalter is, for lack of a better word, a yutz. A total clown. The presiding judge over the most storied public office takedown in years, has handed down another gem of a sentence to Ruth Arnao: one year, one day. With good behavior, she could be out in 10 months. Mind you, Arnao, who headed Fumo’s Citizen’s Alliance for Better Neighborhoods, was found guilty on 45 counts of conspiracy, fraud, and obstructing justice. Mind you, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Zauzmer and Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Pease, were looking for a sentence between 70-87 months.

How Buckwalter arrived at this sentence. From today’s Inquirer:

The judge said he considered the public sentiment in the case, but also a variety of other factors – the nature of the offense, Arnao’s character, how to promote public confidence in the law, and how to deter others from engaging in such crime.

“ I have to consider the need to provide a just punishment,” said Buckwalter.

Public shock ensued. But Buckwalter, ever so clever, discounted the outcry and blamed the Inquirer for stirring the frenzy pot.

Also from today’s Inquirer:

“We know how accurate the media is, don’t we?” Buckwalter said. The news media he added, “ has such a low reputation in the community.”

“ We have a watchdog in The Inquirer, but we don’t have a watchdog over the watchdog,” the judge said.

Commerical Success

While watching TV recently, an ad for Bacardi appeared. Unfortunately, the spot's song was "Daylight", the opening track on Grand, Matt and Kim's sophomore effort. Unfortunate, because it appears commercials are the new way for up- and-comers to gain exposure (And in turn, their songs are a way of ultimately selling more alcohol. Win, win situation right?) . Similarly, The British foursome, The Kooks, have "Shine On", from their 2008 release Konk, in a Michelob Ultra campaign. While "Fools", a track from The Dodos' first album Visiter, is paired with a Miller Chill ad.

The problem with all of this, is that I like all three of these groups and I can't really blame them. When faced with the choice between "selling-out" and eating, well, there is no choice. It just saddens me a bit that this commercial route seems to be more trend than fad.

There's at least one advantage to being unemployed...

you can go to Ocean City on a Tuesday. It seemed almost wrong, but oh so right. What a beautiful day it was to be jobless. (Though, begrudgingly, I did have to pay a teenage girl at the 5th street entrance $5 for a beach tag). The weather was warm, but not oppressive. And the Atlantic, was unseasonably tepid. All and all, quite a nice return after not seeing the ocean once last summer. Attached are some sun-kissed shots from the day.

Suggestion in passing...

What if Discovery TV's filler show, How It's Made, did an episode about how incense is made. Just a thought. Should be at least as interesting as watching how a rubber stamp or windshield is made. Or maybe I should watch a little less TV.

Man awakens from music coma

After some years, not sure exactly how many, I'm awake. Awake and somewhat confused. You see, for years, more than I'd like to admit, I locked myself away from the current music landscape. By current, I mean the landscape of the living musicians. For some time, I locked myself in the jail of dead oldies-but-goodies. And while I still love, love a lot of that music, I realized I was stunting my music collection. There is good music out there, by artists not yet appearing on any "all time lists". Whether or not this music will ultimately survive I don't know. But I just got tired of always listening to music by artists no longer touring, no longer adding salient perspective. Sure, the classics will continue to be inherently relevant, and I'll never stop listening to them, but there is something almost intangibly appealing about listening to a band that is out there now, trying to be heard. And in the end, a mix of old and new is best.I can't pinpoint which song or group bent the bars back, but new (to me) groups I've been listening to lately and digging are:

1) THE DODOS (though I'm a little upset about the Bud Light Lime commercial)

"Park Song" from Visiter




2) MATT AND KIM

"Cutdown" from Grand




3) THE THERMALS

"How We Fade" from Now We Can See

Been Some Time

Wow. Been some time since last I posted. Don't know what happened. I suppose I tend to forget about things after a little while. Or maybe I just didn't have anything much to say. Not sure that has changed for the moment, but I'll type away nonetheless. Why? Because I've been working a little bit, well fiddling may be more accurate, on this blog. I've been trying to spruce it up a bit - get it ready for a real type blog with some kind of theme, some kind of bent. At the moment, it's really just an outlet for writing, mostly rants stemming from stream of consciousness. I suppose it'll stay that way until I start doing the actual work digging around for things I find interesting enough to talk about. Right now the only topic I've used is my life, which at the moment, is not at its most interesting. And besides, I'd rather talk about things that pertain to my interests. That'd be less self-absorbed perhaps than rattling off my random ideas I'm having in the instant I'm writing. Maybe then people would want to read this blog and follow it. So far, don't have any followers but haven't really done the work to wrangle them in yet either. This coming week will mark the start because I want to have something to work on. Something that I can care about and put some time into. I think working on a blog will help me feel like I'm doing something. People have been telling me to do a blog forever and i've been ignoring them. But now has come the time to heed the advice and get to work. No more dilly-dallying. It's time.