Some trust fund prosecutor, got off-message at Yale, thinks he's gonna run this up the flagpole, make a name for himself, maybe get elected some two-bit, congressman from nowhere, with the result that Russia or China can suddenly start having, at our expense, all the advantages we enjoy here. No, I tell you. No, sir. Corruption charges! Corruption? Corruption is government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulations. That's Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the streets.


Corruption is why we win.

Snakes on a Plane. Genius. Pure genius. It reminds me of the SNL skit and all kinds of other things, but the best part is the thought that Samuel L. Jackson is going to be on a plane with snakes.


I just find it hard not to picture the Pulp Fiction Samuel L. Jackson in this movie. Coming up to snakes and pointing a gun in their face and saying things like "And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee." or all grammatical uses for the F Bomb (which I don't think i need to leave examples of here).

i think this guy is as excited for this as i am. and drenching every word with a thick coating of sarcasm, as i am.


be the change you want to see in the world.

well i always cross the line
but i'm working on that i'm working on that
one touch and i am over
it's just that i'm no good at conversations
these silent demonstrations
that i'm already in too deep



the boyish smile hides the battle scars
and you wonder just how innocent we are

i give up














So I close my eyes
And I close my mouth
And do this all in time to the music
That dances like fools set on fire
Flailing their arms in a room full of whores

Now that the US has been eliminated, I just don't know what team to support for the rest of the World Cup. Such a tough decision...

Arena: it is time to face to music. drop the curatains. resign. you have no desire, no focus, you are not a good coach.

and finally, i think you realize it.

be the change you want to see in the world.

Maybe I shouldnt hold it against my parents that they sheltered me from all kinds of the things in my childhood. Take Who Framed Roger Rabbit? for instance. As a confused and naive child in the early 90s (since I didn't actually know about it when it came out in 1988, being only 6 years old at the time. i have been playing pop culture catch up ever since) I was upset that my parents wouldn't let me watch a movie that looked fun and funny and innocent. I mean it had cartoons, right? Like Disney, right? Exhibit A: Jessica Rabbit.

I have no clue what my little mind would have though of her at that time in my life, but I am glad I didn't have to cross that bridge. My innocence was immeasurable. Clearly, looking back on it now, I can see what my parents were saying. She is a seductive vixen with more curves than a Formula 1 track. Ridiculous. This is no typical cartoon character. This is a fabricated, fictional sexy seductress mingled with the live action actors, making them melt on the floor in front of her. one bat of that foot-long eyelash and you're done.

and her famous line from that movie (not that I have even seen it yet) is "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way."

out of control.


So, to my parents I owe an apology. And to Eve 6, I finally know what you are talking about. I mean I kinda knew, but really I had no clue.


Well I kind of sort of saw the sirens coming
She was running toward me wearing almost nothing
And my heart beat skipped when she bent down at the hip
And her lips pressed against mine

Like Jessica Rabbit she collects bad habits gets her drinks for free
Animated vixen stole Cupid's arrow and came to rescue me
In the blink of an eyelid my lid opened up and I could see
That she'd come to rescue me



cartoon characters aren't supposed to make me stumble.

"I am disappointed in the judgment of the referee," Arena said after the game. "We would have liked to come out at halftime even, with a chance to win the game. That was a big call."

dont blame it on the ref. he is one of the best refs in the world, I don't agree with his call, but dont try to shift the blame because of that one call. dont try to weasel your way out of this one.


"Desperate for offense, Arena sent in Eddie Johnson in the 61st minute"

Why didn't he start? Why did you wait till the 61st minute to put him in? Why was there a desperation for offense only in the last ten minutes of the game? not even that. there was a glimmer of hope around the 55th minute, around the time McBride's header went off the post, but then what? the offense disappeared? everyone sat back and passed the ball. there was no urgency, no intentionality, no focus on the goal. YOU HAVE TO SCORE IF YOU WANT TO WIN!!!! play some offense for the love of God. don't wait until you are down a goal or two or three to start thinking about pressing forward. that is futile thinking and it is why there need to be many changes made. set the tempo of the game yourself. play hard, play fast, go to goal, at all costs. make something happen. dont wait for it to happen for you.


"Instead, the United States (0-2-1) finished with one point -- its first in a World Cup played in Europe, but not enough to escape the basement of the four-team group."

embarassing. pitiful. shameful. honestly, it makes me sick to my stomach how poorly that team represented one of the largest and most powerful nations in the world. we suck. that is the conclusion taken from this World Cup.


"Soon after, Dempsey tied it -- the only goal scored by an American this World Cup. The goal in a 1-1 tie with Italy was scored by an Italian defender."

he was the only one on the field that looked like he wanted it. he was playing to win. there was no laziness or jogging or wasted touches on the ball. Dempsey rose to the challenge and earned that starting spot. Starting him in today's game is the singular thing I can say good about Bruce Arena's coaching.

"'The worst part is the finality of it,' said midfielder Landon Donovan, a playmaker who failed to score in this World Cup after getting two goals as a 20 year old in 2002. 'Even during the game, you don't get the sense this is it. Then the whistle blows and it's over.'"

that sums it up right there. no desire. no will to win. not even thinking or realizing that this was your last game in this World Cup. What is wrong with you? do you not love this game? do you not want to play on the highest level? do you not want to WIN???? you, Landon Donovan, above all, performed horribly. Yet you stayed on the field in your utter ineptitude and worthlessness. Like a little girl with no confidence, you continually hesitated and pulled back. no intensity, no fire. you even had a WIDE OPEN look at the goal nearing the end of the game, but you didnt shoot. you are too scared to shoot. you cant do it. you have no confidence. on this level of play, there is no room for arrogance that is not earned and there is no place for a lack of confidence in your own ability. you HAVE to take that shot. you had no choice. that moment defines you and your team and your coach. the opportunity of a lifetime is right in front of you, but you wont take it. it is as if you don't care. how can you not be thinking about the fact that it is your last game??? you have to know that you and your entire team must man up and play balls-to-the-wall to win this game.
whether that is a lack of interest and motivation and desire on your part or whether it is your coach failing to inspire, you have disgraced us all. i am ashamed to be a United States soccer fan.


finally, i call for Bruce Arena's head on a silver platter (proverbially of course). FIRE HIM IMMEDIATELY! there must be a message sent that we will not stand for this level of futility in coaching and inability to compete. He must be fired today and announce the search for a new head coach. open the doors to all who would apply. get a great player or great coach. Franz Beckenbauer, Marco Van Basten....hell, call up my high school coach TJ White. He would do a better job, there is no question in my mind. there are great coaches in the United States and in the world. it is time the American soccer community takes its head out of its ass and realize that Bruce Arena is NOT ONE OF THEM! Fire him now. find a new coach. give him free reign over the team. if you suck, youre cut from the team. we have four years to prepare. it is time to start now.



one game changes everything

in spite of the long wait between posts, i will return to the form frequently employed: letting the lyrics speak for me (or to me).

So go on, if this will make you happier

It got you this far, did what you had to

You've wasted every moment of your Saturdays and your Sundays


You're wasted from the boredom, was never supposed to be like this 

I guess what I'm saying is there ain't no better reason
To rid yourself of vanity and just go with the seasons
It's what we aim to do
Our name is our virtue

There's no need to complicate
Our time is short
This is our fate, I'm yours


I know you've been sworn
I read your complaint
you're needing someone older
and though I've been warned to live day by day
there's something taking over

let's bypass the bullshit and move on because
the minute hand moves faster than you think it does
and by no fault of yours and by no fault of mine
the bottom line is laying in the bed that we've been playing in tonight


Now how far have we come?
How come there still are some
Who won't let some march to the beat of a different drum
To face it, it's so hard; you must be on your guard
It's not okay and you're not free to be a different way

be the change you want to see in the world.

It's a world full of cynics
Who say to stay alive in it
You gotta stick with what you know
But the soul is always aching
For the heart to start taking
A chance by letting go

I'll put the emphasis on the evidence
Begging for the proof
Sometimes the hardest thing to believe is the truth


be the change you want to see in the world.