Obama, The Gays, The Future

On November 4th, the day after Election Day, I was looking at Twitter -- okay, that's nothing earth-shattering, I know -- and I saw the following tweets from one of the accounts I follow, PhilthyBlog:

A year ago today I was EXCITED about an Obama Presidency, and fucking PISSED about Prop 8...

A year later and the only "change" is that gays have lost the right to marry in ANOTHER state... WTF Maine?!?!

You'd think the first black President would champion civil rights and be the national voice calling for equality... SO. FUCKING. SAD.

Thoughts swirled into my head. Actually, some of these thoughts have been in my head for some time, but I thought I'd lay the whole thing out...

First of all, back when the 2008 presidential primaries were just getting under way, I was leaning towards Hillary Clinton. I felt that she would be more likely, if not better able, to fight back aggressively against the attacks by the Republican party. I really didn't feel Barack Obama would be able to win in November. Obviously, I was wrong there.

However, I also had another concern about Obama. I worried that even if he was elected, his presidency would turn out to be more like that of Jimmy Carter: full of promise but ultimately ineffective and leading to a GOP victory after one term. So far, just about a year into the Obama presidency, that concern has not faded.

I feel that Obama has been much too soft on the GOP. This is not the time to play around with bipartisanship. The Republicans have no interest in bipartisanship. They gave up on that long ago. Their sole intention is to get their way, no matter what ugly tactics they need to use. Their only strategy is to block anything that runs counter to their dual agendas: continuing to allow the rich to get richer and to hell with the rest of us, and turning their warped religious beliefs into laws. They aren't remotely willing to compromise. What they want is to win, and then to dominate. All they want to do right now is say "no" to anything the Democrats have to offer. They have no proposals for how to solve the nation's problems except for the same failed policies they've supported over the last 30 years.

The complete insanity of the right wing -- the "birthers," the "death panel" nuts, the "tea party" nuts, Sarah Palin -- should have been countered easily enough. Almost no one in their right minds should fall for this, but the slow start by the new administration allowed this lunacy to gain a foothold, and served to help the GOP, if only as an ongoing distraction.

Look at what's going on now with the health care "reform." The system now is broken, the best available route to start the process of fixing it includes a public option, most people in survey after survey after survey support the public option, yet it likely won't happen because of the lack of guts of the President and the Democratic leadership in Congress. If a bill passes, it won't be nearly enough.

When it comes to dealing with what I like to call the RepubliScum party, candidate Obama talked a great game. President Obama hasn't nearly lived up to those words.

Certainly, Obama inherited a complete mess from the Worst President By Far In U.S. History. Between the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the economic meltdown, I find it hard to make a case that he should be spending more time (and political capital) on issues such as ending the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and the repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. But when he does speak out on gay issues there's a sense that he's pandering. The actions of the administration (and the story I've linked to in this sentence is just the most recent example) have, again, fallen short of the words.

All of this criticism should not be taken to mean I don't like or support President Obama. Especially when considering the alternative, there's no question about my vote every November. Until the GOP is no longer dominated by the hard-right, ultra-Christian factions, no GOP candidate in any election will get my vote. But Obama needs to do better.

Meanwhile, about the fight for equal rights -- same-sex marriage, benefits, legal rights, etc., here's the good news: as time rolls on, the fight for equality will be won. Sure, people are upset and distressed about Prop 8 in California and Question 1 in Maine and how a majority of voters chose to take away equal rights and so on. However, think how far we've come. It wasn't too long ago that even considering the possibility of same-sex marriages was ludicrous. There were fights to even get domestic partnerships in place. We've made massive progress in a very short time. And same-sex marriages have occurred in some states for a while now, and none of the negative effects on marriage and society (as spewed by the ultra-Christian liars) are actually happening. This will serve to pave the way in the rest of the country.

Another factor, which is even more telling, is youth. Young people are much more supportive of equality. They're growing up in an atmosphere of more information, more knowledge, more visibility, and that's helping them to see through the hatemongering and bigotry. The people who are trying to prevent progress tend to be older. Their numbers will dwindle as they get older and eventually die. They're dinosaurs, and they're slowly becoming extinct.

Those elections in California and Maine were close. Sooner than anyone could have imagined, those losses will become victories, and more will follow. The fight for equality will be won. It may not be as soon as we'd like. But it will be won.

Adam Lambert and TV Network Lunacy

So let's sum this up: on Sunday ABC televised the American Music Awards. The show ended with a performance by Adam Lambert. It was wildly over-the-top in his sexual acting-out, including simulated oral sex, among other things. The mildest part of the whole thing was probably when he kissed his keyboardist, another man.

Then the morons took over. ABC canceled Lambert's scheduled Wednesday performance on "Good Morning America" because they were afraid of more of the same. CBS eagerly snapped him up to perform on "The Early Show" the same day, and interviewed him about the controversy. While doing so, they showed a clip from the AMAs, and CBS blurred out the kiss between Lambert and his keyboardist. Moments later, they showed footage of Madonna kissing Britney Spears from the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards -- unedited.

What we have here are two networks so afraid to alienate part of their dwindling audience that they made utterly stupid decisions that end up alienating another part of the audience -- the part with working brains. The broadcast networks are a shell of their former selves anyway. Where there were once only three networks and some independent stations, there are now hundreds of cable networks, the Internet, DVDs, iTunes, cell phones that play video, and so on. The audience is fractured, probably forever. So it behooves a network to not give in to foolishness, to not be conservative and boring. To stand out in the crowd it takes boldness.

ABC struck out by canceling Adam Lambert's GMA appearance without, oh, contacting him on Monday or Tuesday and saying, "Hey, Adam, we loved what you did on our awards show. The ratings were up, which we're grateful for. But that type of performance wouldn't really go over at 7 a.m., you know? You probably know that, so you'll tone things down, right?"

CBS struck out by displaying hypocrisy. It's okay to show two women kissing, but not two men? Double standard much, CBS? Let's refine the question. It's okay to show two straight women kissing each other, but it's not okay to show two men, at least one of whom is gay, kissing?

Two network dinosaurs, slowly dying. With decisions like these, they won't be missed.

Quick Review: 2012

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel...well, not exactly fine, but I survived. After seeing "2012" director Roland Emmerich create so much devastation in movies like "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Independence Day" we pretty much know what to expect here: death and destruction on a massive scale, hokey dialogue, lots of cliches, bad characters who mostly get what's coming to them, good characters (both lucky and plucky) who mostly survive, and a hideous song in the soundtrack (in this one it's "Time For Miracles" by Adam Lambert). The highlight for me (besides all the destruction, of course) was Woody Harrelson in a small role as a conspiracy nut whose ravings about how the Mayans predicted coming disaster help persuade a not-too-successful writer (John Cusack) just in time to rescue his kids, his ex-wife and her boyfriend as massive earthquakes begin destroying California. It doesn't seem like the type of movie John Cusack should star in, but we all have to make a living, I guess. Essentially, I've seen worse. And Roland Emmerich is openly gay according to his Wikipedia page, so there's that. My grade: C-plus.

My Week In Comics 11-18-09

I picked up two more "Blackest Night" tie-ins, and for the next few weeks there are free rings being given out with the purchase of certain of these books. I am now the proud(?) owner of a blue and a green ring. Unfortunately, unlike the power rings in the comic books, my rings don't do a damn thing.

Superman/Batman 66: One of those "Blackest Night" tie-ins. However, it doesn't even feature Superman or Batman. Instead, we get Bizarro (who inexplicably shows up in Gotham City), Man-Bat, some other characters I'm not familiar with but two of them are apparently Frankenstein and The Bride, and Black Lantern Solomon Grundy. Please let me remember to not buy the conclusion of this next month.

Adventure Comics 4: The other "BN" tie-in stars the villainous Superboy-Prime. The end of "Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds" left him back on Earth-Prime, which is supposed to be the Earth where you and I live, reading the same comics books we're reading. So he's reading Adventure Comics No. 4 and finds out that Black Lantern Alexander Luthor arrives to kill him. Naturally, he goes to the comic book store to read Adventure Comics No. 5 to see how it ends. Isn't that what you would do? Of course, Adventure Comics No. 5 isn't out until next month, so Superboy-Prime has a serious problem...

The Flash: Rebirth 5 (of 6): I probably mentioned this before, and probably in relation to the last issue of this miniseries, but because it's been delayed I hardly remember what transpired in the previous issues, which takes away from my enjoyment of this book. I hope the final issue is released in a timely manner. If I go back and re-read the other issues maybe the whole thing will make sense.

Supergirl 47: Supergirl has taken Reactron back to New Krypton to stand trial for the murder of Zor-El, but some Kryptonians want him dead without bothering with due process. How will Alura, acting leader of New Krypton and Zor-El's widow, handle things? Interesting stuff.

Simpsons Comics 160: The format is similar to "Treehouse of Horror" and other recent episodes of the TV series such as "Simpsons Tall Tales" -- short stories are presented, united by a theme. In this case it's stories involving the family pets (even Plopper, a.k.a. Spider-Pig!) spoofing things like "Jumanji" and "Charlotte's Web."

Quick Review: Pirate Radio

I'm sure I'm not the first to say this, but the best part of "Pirate Radio" was the soundtrack. Originally called "The Boat That Rocked" when it was released in the UK, the new title plainly spells out the subject matter. In the mid-1960s, to counter the BBC's lack of rock music airplay, pirate radio stations sprung up to fill the void, broadcasting from ships located in international waters. The movie tells the story of a fictitious station, Radio Rock, and various subplots involving those on the station's boat, including DJs (among them an American played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, hamming it up), other station personnel, the ship's lesbian cook, and the young godson of the ship's captain, sent there by his mother after being expelled from school. While all this is going on, a government minister (Kenneth Branagh, also hamming it up), extremely offended by the station's antics, tries to find some way to shut down the station. It's amusing at times, but ultimately kind of a mess, and takes a ridiculous turn after the Branagh character's assistant finds a way to persuade Parliament to enact a law banning the stations. This boat may not rock so much, but the music definitely does. My grade: C.

Adam Lambert: Going Down?

Since I was watching the football game last night, I missed Adam Lambert's performance on the American Music Awards when it aired, but caught up with it via YouTube. Watching it on the computer was not the best venue, but from what I've read the sound mix on the TV broadcast was poor so it certainly wasn't improved by listening through my PC's speakers. Having said that, between last night and the times I've seen him on American Idol, that was the weakest vocal I've heard from Adam Lambert. The rest of it -- the simulated oral sex (pictured) and the rest -- was just so over-the-top that it wasn't sexy, which was what he promised it would be.

I'm not complaining about it, unlike the assorted prudes and right-wing nuts. I just wasn't that entertained. Considering that this was his first major post-Idol performance, I can't help but think it wasn't the best route to promote the new album. On the other hand, it makes the Out magazine editor who felt Adam wasn't being gay enough look like even more of an idiot.

Entertainment Weekly had two different takes on it, both pro and not-so-pro.

I'll Take Housecleaning For Nothing, Alex

As it turns out I'm not having a houseguest after all. My friend managed to find accomodations that are more convenient for him. While this means my own little routines won't be disrupted (and I don't have to worry if I happen to run downstairs while naked), it also means that I cleaned up my house for no good reason. That is, if you don't count "because you should have a clean house anyway" as a valid reason.

Feel free to make your bets about the date I next run the vacuum cleaner.

Eagles Show Some Life

I mentioned in my "Coming Attractions" post that the Eagles were a combination of frustrating and boring. The frustrating part is obvious: inexplicable losses caused by the same problems over and over -- poor clock management, wasted timeouts, wasted replay challenges, a cavalcade of penalties, inconsistent quarterbacking, atrocious playcalling, mediocre special teams coverage, subpar punting, failure to make proper in-game adjustments, failure to overcome 4th-quarter deficits, failure to win close games, failure to score touchdowns in the red zone, failure to convert on third-and-short...what have I forgotten?

The boring part is that many of these problems have been occurring for just about the entire Andy Reid era, and have been discussed and discussed to the point where I can't stand listening to it. He is not going to radically alter what he does. Sure, for an occasional game the Birds will run the ball more often, but it will never be a long-term change. And he's not going anywhere soon (the Eagles are likely to give him a contract extension before much longer). I'm just tired of it. It's almost impossible to keep hearing and reading and seeing the same old things. Some people call for Reid and/or Donovan McNabb to go; others defend one or both, and so on. Round and round it goes, and where it stops...well, it never stops, does it? Thank God for the Phillies' success the last two years, because otherwise this ongoing Eagles discussion would be enough to make me jab my eardrums with an icepick.

Having said all that, the Eagles broke the mold a bit tonight in their 24-20 win over the Chicago Bears. They won a close game, coming from behind in the 4th quarter. They rushed the ball effectively, and almost as often as they passed. Of their three touchdowns, two of them were scored from the red zone. (The other, a TD catch by DeSean Jackson, is notable because at 48 yards, it's the shortest of his 7 TDs this year.) Despite a boatload of injuries to their linebackers and secondary, the defense forced the Bears to settle for field goal attempts five times and blocked one of the kicks, which kept Chicago's lead at 20-17 and set up the Eagles' drive for the go-ahead TD.

And despite it all -- the aforementioned defensive injuries, the fouled-up offensive line, the concussion issues sidelining Brian Westbrook, the poor losses to Dallas and San Diego the last two weeks, the incomprehensible loss to the pathetic Oakland Raiders -- the Eagles are 6-4, one game behind Dallas in the NFC East and (thanks to tiebreakers) one of the NFC Wild Card leaders. The playoffs are certainly not a done deal, but they're not a pipe dream, either. Of course, the Eagles usually do find themselves in the playoffs. It's what happens after that, the chase for a Super Bowl win, that is another of those issues that are discussed ad infinitum...

Quick Review: Michael Jackson's This Is It

I've been on the fence as to whether or not I even wanted to see "Michael Jackson's This Is It," the documentary cobbled together from footage of rehearsals for the series of London concerts planned by Jackson prior to his June death. There's no denying his talent -- classic hit songs, trendsetting music videos, amazing stage performances. On the other hand, there's still all the freakiness, the Wacko Jacko-ness -- the plastic surgery, the transformation from black to white, the dangling of the baby over the balcony; not to mention the allegations of child molestation (which I tend to believe are true). I figured none of that would be addressed by this movie, but how much of a deification would there be? How many scenes of screaming fans, of people involved with the concert lavishing praise on Jackson? In past Jackson televised productions such scenes were overwhelming to the point of absurdity.

Fortunately, those scenes are kept to a relative minimum. The focus of the movie is truly on the planning for the comeback shows in London. There is no footage of reaction to his death at all. Everything is taken from the rehearsals and other behind-the-scenes filming. The songs are presented in the same order in which they would have been performed live, and the movie includes some of the filmed background elements that would have been part of the show (such as a 3D production featuring zombies and other creatures for "Thriller"). However, at times there's a distinct lack of energy. Whether that was due to Jackson's health issues and/or drug abuse or simply because he was saving it for the actual shows is hard to tell. There's a limited amount of personal interaction between Jackson and the other people on stage. And there's not enough of Jackson explaining his vision for the shows, song choices, how the other dancers were selected, etc., other than a general statement about taking the audience to places they've never been before. Essentially, what we have is an attempt to create a concert film for a concert that never got to take place. It's an interesting attempt, but flawed nonetheless. My grade: B-minus.

Coming Attractions

So I've had a few odd days -- between sleep issues and the housecleaning I previously mentioned (that's pretty much under control, at least) and some other stuff. Thus, again I need to do some catching up here. I did manage to see a pair of movies, and hope to get to another in the morning; I really should write about the Eagles, although they are a terrible combination of frustrating and boring right now; and I actually have a political thought that's been sticking in my head for a few weeks. Oh, and my weekly dose of new comics, not to mention a couple of books I re-read a while back. So, until then, let's look at something nice. But what? Something current, perhaps...

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 11-17-09

Because in these days of modern technology, what is life without the iTunes shuffle function?

Affair - Cherrelle
Solitary Man - Neil Diamond
Apu In "The Jolly Bengali" Theme - The Simpsons
Primitive - Roisin Murphy
Kid Fears - Indigo Girls
Bless The Beasts And Children - 4 Non Blondes
Take On Me - a-Ha
Would I Lie To You? (Live) - Eurythmics
Reach Your Peak - Sister Sledge
Black On Black II - Heart
Take It To Da House - Trick Daddy feat. The SNS Express
Alive - Dirty Vegas
Work It - Teena Marie

Cleanup Duty

I've been busy working the last few days to make my house reasonably presentable for anyone other than myself. I've got a friend who's going to be staying with me for a little while. If not for that, the dust would continue to pile up and all the things I've got strewn around would continue to sit. This is because when it comes to keeping up with housework and maintenance and such, I'm a tricky combination of lazy and useless. I could really use a maid. If you know any maids that work for free (because that's about all I can afford right now) please send them my way.

Meanwhile, I also have to adjust to having someone around the house. I've lived by myself for so long, I'm very set in my ways. At the same time, since I'm not working, I'm completely free to come and go as I please and do whatever I want when I'm at home. While my friend is staying with me, my normal routines will be changed. They can't help but change. Even though it's my house and that makes me pretty much in charge, I'm still going to try and be a good host. I'm not going to switch channels on the TV if he's watching something. If I'm watching a game I'm not going to mute the sound, put on the radio and listen to music instead of moronic announcers.

It's going to be weird. I hope it turns out to be a good weird.

A Book I'd Like Turned Into A Movie

Consider this a dual sales pitch. The immediate pitch is for "The Alphabetical List Of Would-Be Princes," the second book by Fredric Joss Shelley. (Disclaimer: Freddy and I are on the same softball team in the City of Brotherly Love Softball League, Mikey's Nighthawks, and this season he was not just Most Valuable Player on our team, but of the entire "D" Division. This is a man of many talents!)

This sweet, engaging novel tells the story of one man's path to finding true love with the man of his dreams. Jack Bradley's tale winds its way through the alphabet, in order. "A is for Aaron," "B is for Ben," etc. Not every chapter is about boyfriends, though. The list is actually a mixture of close friends, acquaintances, and a number of random encounters -- a supermarket checkout boy, a police officer -- and in ways both great and small, each person helps Jack along the way.

At the risk of sounding like one of those lame reviewers who come up with cheesy lines designed to be quoted on a DVD cover, as I read the book the first-person narrative reminded me at times of "Sex And The City." I can easily see this book adapted for the big screen. That's the second part of my sales pitch -- I want to see the movie version. I want the story of Jack Bradley to win America's hearts. (Okay, that really sounds like one of those cheesy lines.)

Going back to the first part of my sales pitch: you can order "The Alphabetical List Of Would-Be Princes" through Amazon, but a much more beneficial option is to buy it from Giovanni's Room, our local LGBT bookstore. It's now the oldest independent LGBT bookstore in the USA, and is undergoing a renovation to rebuild one of the store's walls, which became structurally unsound. The cost of this construction is about $50,000, and there are fundraising efforts ongoing to pay for it. From now until the end of 2009, all proceeds from the store's sales of Freddy's new book -- including publishing costs -- will be donated to the renovation fund. The store is also selling raffle tickets for a few more weeks and other events are occurring; check out the store's Facebook page for more info.

Now that I think of it, this is a multiple sales pitch! There's the book, my request that it be made into a movie, my desire that you buy it from Giovanni's Room, the store's raffle and other fundraisers, the link to our softball team's sponsor and the softball league...there's even a link to one of my earlier blog posts. OMG, I've become both a pimp and a whore. ;-)

My Week In Comics 11-11-09

Only one book for the second week in a row. The newest issue of "Red Robin" says something like "The Search Continues" on the cover -- presumably referring to the title character's search for Bruce Wayne -- but a quick glance at it indicated nothing like that was on the inside. I also passed on "Green Lantern Corps" and its Blackest Night tie-in, although there's a pretty big development at the end of it. Seemingly, at least. Thus, just one book:

Action Comics 883: Nightwing and Flamebird get back to their original mission: capturing General Zod's Kryptonian "sleeper agents" on Earth, and one of them ages. Rapidly. Meanwhile, someone finally is wondering whatever happened to poor Jimmy Olsen. And I've said this before, but the "second feature" starring Captain Atom really, truly, emphatically is tied into the rest of the events in the Superman books. I'd probably have enjoyed it more when it started if it were in its own book, instead of parceled out in 8-page bites.

Quick Review: The Men Who Stare At Goats

I'll make this review really quick: don't waste your time or money on this strange, confusing mess. Between the story in which Ewan McGregor's reporter character follows around George Clooney's "psychic spy" or whatever he was supposed to be, the two of them in, of all places, Iraq, and the flashbacks to a secret army unit training Clooney and other "psychic spies" in the 1980s, with narration by McGregor throughout -- even Clooney's flashbacks -- I hardly knew what was going on and lost interest rapidly. I'm not sure where the humor in this was supposed to come from, but it didn't come at all. Worst movie I've seen this year. My grade: D-minus.

Quick Review: Where The Wild Things Are

With the transit strike over, I was finally able to get out to see a movie again (without taking a long walk, which would have been good for my health but uncomfortable in poor weather and much too time-consuming). Although "Where The Wild Things Are" has been out for a while now, it ended up being my first post-strike movie. Why? The bus I was waiting for never arrived after 40 minutes of waiting, so I had to take a different route to the mall. (Why is our transit system called SEPTA? Because everyone gets where they're going, SEPTA you.) Thus, I missed out on my initial choice.

I wasn't overly keen on seeing "WTWTA" but it was more interesting than I expected. It's a bit revised and very much fleshed out from the book. Young Max acts out at home, runs away and (in his imagination) makes his way across the ocean to the land of the Wild Things. Upon meeting them, he becomes their king and declares a "wild rumpus." That's pretty much it for the book, but the movie goes beyond that. Each of the creatures has issues, corresponding to the issues Max is dealing with in his life (as seen at the beginning of the movie). So the movie becomes a little psychological study. I'm not sure kids could sit through it -- it's certainly not flashy and loud like so many animated films -- but it held a definite charm. My grade: B-plus.

Random Stuff About My iTunes Library

I stole this idea from my friend Walt, who stole it from someone else, who undoubtedly stole it from yet another someone else, and so on, and so on, and so on. So, here's what I've got in iTunes...

How many total songs?

9,352. They're not all songs. I have a few sound bites and bits of dialogue from cartoons and TV shows; some artists (I'm looking at you, Janet Jackson) like to put these spoken "interludes" between songs on an album; and I have a podcast or two. At any rate, the total is 9,352 tracks. That's a total of 27.7 days' listening, amounting to 37.09 GB. (Walt puts me to shame with his 57,043 items.)

Sort by song title – first and last…

"A.B.C." - The Jackson Five
"99.9 F°" - Suzanne Vega (all the numbered items follow items beginning with a Z)

Sort by time – shortest and longest…

0:03 - This Means War - Bugs Bunny (one of those cartoon bits)
1:11:50 - Christmas 2004 - Nice (another friend, Gregg, compiled "Naughty" and "Nice" mixes of holiday music in 2004 that are very creative)

Sort by Album – first and last…

Abraxas - Santana
99.9 F° - Suzanne Vega

(See above re: song titles; in addition, I should note that the track from "Abraxas" is the only song I have from that album. That's because I have many downloads of individual songs or, for CDs I own, I may have only copied certain songs into iTunes. Also, I have songs that don't have an album title in the notes -- these are strictly downloads, and I haven't bothered to update the info in the library. I was doing that for a while, and even copying the album cover, but I've gotten off track there and now I can't be bothered.)

Sort by Artist – first and last…

a-Ha
95 North

Top five played songs

"When Love Takes Over" - David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland - 222 plays
"Let It Rock" - Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil' Wayne - 176 plays
"Poker Face" - Lady Gaga - 144 plays
"Shining Light" - Annie Lennox - 133 plays
"If I Never See Your Face Again (Paul Oakenfold Remix)" - Maroon 5 feat. Rihanna - 126 plays

I reset the total at the beginning of every year, so this is only 2009's most played.

Find the following words. How many songs show up?

Sex: 38 (the search function in iTunes, however, brought up every variation on the word, including titles like "Sexual Healing"
Death: 5
Love: 829 (again, variations, including "lover" and "lovely"
You: 1170
Home: 57
Boy: 79
Girl: 124

First five songs that come up on Party Shuffle...

I don't seem to have "Party Shuffle" any more, not that I ever used it. I just used the regular shuffle mode. Anyhoo, it seems to be called "iTunes DJ" now. And because I hit a button by mistake, I refreshed the list it brought up. So this isn't exactly the first five, but let's pretend:

"Cemeteries Of London" - Coldplay
"Orange Crush" - R.E.M.
"River Deep, Mountain High (Live Unplugged)" - Annie Lennox
"Believe Somebody" (mashup) - Madonna/Cher/Whitney Houston
"If I Could Only Win Your Love" - Emmylou Harris

Jon And Shane Plus...?

As if the mohawk wasn't bad enough, Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino is now showing questionable taste in celebrity friends. TMZ.com reports that bad dad Jon Gosselin has flown to Hawaii to attend Victorino's wedding this weekend. Why, Shane, Why? Aren't there any MMA fighters you could invite instead? Hell, even if you invited A-Rod and his latest skank Kate Hudson it would be almost understandable...

My Weeks In Comics 10-28-09, 11-04-09

I'm combining two weeks' worth of books into one post. That's a total of 8 books, but 7 were from last week. I nearly skipped this week due to the transit strike, but I made my way into town on the Regional Rail, which is still running. All for one book. Soooooooooo...

Blackest Night 4 (of 8): By the end of this issue, the power level of the black rings reaches 100 percent, a character named Nekron rises and about 7 million dead people, killed in Coast City, are about to. Yet I still really want to know why Black Hand carries Bruce Wayne's skull around. There'd better be a good answer to that by the end of this.

Green Lantern 47: Meanwhile, I keep buying this book because of the "Blackest Night" story, yet it just doesn't interest me here, bouncing around as they are to different planets and following the Black Lanterns' attacks on the Red Lanterns, the Orange Lanterns, etc.

Detective Comics 858: The origin of Batwoman, beginning with events from the childhood of Kate Kane and her twin sister Beth. Unless there's a surprise twist, we probably know what eventually happened to Beth, based on the close of issue 857.

Gotham City Sirens 5: The Joker wants to kill Harley Quinn (and if Catwoman and Poison Ivy die as well, so be it). Or does he? It's loopy, flighty Harley who figures out the truth first.

Superman 693: With the various storylines involving New Krypton slowly coalescing, this book finally returns to its focus on Mon-El, believed dead but in reality captured by General Lane. Lane wants Mon-El to join his anti-Kryptonian fight...or else.

Superman: Secret Origin 2 (of 6): Young Clark Kent begins his career as Superboy (in secret) and has his first encounter with the Legion of Super-Heroes. And young Lex Luthor gets bad news, and then good news.

World's Finest 1 (of 4): Back in the day the "World's Finest" title was a long-running book featuring Superman and Batman teaming up for adventures. That series eventually ended but the title's been used a few other times in miniseries and one-shot stories. Since their new series together was simply named "Superman/Batman," it's available for this new four-parter, which will feature various Superman characters and Batman characters meeting for the first time. First up: Red Robin and the new Nightwing.

And finally, this week's entry...

Superman: World of New Krypton 9 (of 12): The cliffhanger from the last issue gets resolved, there's some internal political infighting and a chat between General El and General Zod, and then another arrival, and another cliffhanger. Can we skip ahead to the Earth/New Krypton war already?

Phillies Post-mortem

If you're wondering how I'm feeling in the wake of the Phillies' World Series loss at the hands of the Evil Empire, to be honest the cold I'm currently battling feels worse -- and it isn't that severe a cold.

The 2009 Phillies were a team whose bullpen was beset by injuries and inconsistency; whose young pitching ace apparently spent the offseason making stupid commercials for Comcast instead of working out; whose other starting pitchers at the beginning of the season were serving up runs at a ridiculous pace; whose leadoff hitter -- the so-called catalyst -- spent three months in a hitting "slump" (a week or two is a slump; half a season is a disaster); whose pinch-hitters were feeble pretty much all year; whose high-priced new outfielder got hurt and essentially stopped producing on offense after the All-Star break.

A team with such problems has no business contending, let alone winning the NL East for the third consecutive season and appearing in the World Series in back-to-back years for the first time in franchise history, with one championship to boot. So who can feel that bad that they lost the World Series to a team that isn't capable of winning without spending hundreds of millions of dollars to buy up every possible player on the market?

So here's to the 2009 Phillies. It was quite a ride. Actually, the last three years combined have been quite a ride -- no Phillies team has ever accomplished this much over a three-year period -- and this particular one doesn't have to end just yet. With so many key players locked into contracts for at least the next year or two, if the Phils make the proper moves to shore up some weaknesses there's no reason they won't be back in the World Series again in 2010. The deal to get Cliff Lee prior to the trade deadline, without giving up their most promising minor league talent, indicates that such retooling is in capable hands. What needs to be done? Glad you asked...

The bullpen: The struggles of Brad Lidge, whether due to knee problems or not, and the multiple absences of J.C. Romero (suspension and injury) had a domino effect on the rest of the relief corps. They need Romero for the full season as the lefthanded set-up option, especially if fellow lefty Scott Eyre retires. More importantly, they need Lidge to return to something close to 2008 form -- or they need Ryan Madson to step up and become consistent enough to take Lidge's place.

The starters: Not much change here. Cliff Lee stabilized the rotation. J.A. Happ may end up as NL Rookie of the Year. Despite his 2009 problems, Cole Hamels isn't going anywhere. I think Joe Blanton is good enough for one of the remaining two spots; for a while he was the only decent starter. The Phils will have to decide on the final spot. Do they bring back Pedro Martinez for another year? See if Jamie Moyer can bounce back from his demotion and season-ending injury? Or will highly touted minor leaguer Kyle Drabek make the leap to the parent club, either at the start of the year or later on in the season?

The bench: Another year of Matt Stairs probably wouldn't hurt, as a lefthanded bat to provide the occasional home run, but if there's a better option -- someone who can also hit for average as well as having some power -- the Phils should explore it. For righthanded hitting, though, they absolutely need better options than Miguel Cairo and Eric Bruntlett. Sure, he scored the winning run in the 2008 Series and turned an unassisted triple play to end a game this year, but Bruntlett's got to go.

The lineup: The only possible change is at third base. Pedro Feliz is an excellent fielder but his hitting leaves much to be desired. The Phils have a 2010 option to keep him at $5.5 million, and it's not out of the question that they could decide against picking up that option. A better bat can be found in free agency, but it would have to be someone who has decent fielding skills as well. And he'll have to be a righthanded hitter, because there are enough (too many?) lefthanded bats already.

Everyone Has Public Transit SEPTA Us

In less than two hours SEPTA, our public transit system, will be shut down due to a strike by the local Transit Workers Union. The buses, trolleys and subways in the city will be out of service. There's a Regional Rail system (commuter trains) that will be running because those workers are under a different union. Those trains, however, only make certain stops inside the city, and with the rest of the system down, it will be much more crowded.

This means that I'm limited in where I can go, and when. Those commuter trains can get me downtown, but that's it for anywhere I go on a regular basis. If I had tickets to a sporting event or concert (as it happens, I was at the Flyers game earlier) I wouldn't be able to go unless I had a ride. The largest of the movie multiplexes I frequent is also now impossible for me to get to now.

It might be worse if I had a job, though. So many people will be more adversely affected than I am. People should be able to get to work, school, etc. even if they don't have a car or aren't able to drive.

As much as I tend to support labor unions (outside of the "unions" for baseball and football players and other professional athletes), this should not be allowed. Between the economic situation and the environmental impact caused by cars on the road, public transit is now as crucial as the police and fire departments. Strikes by police and firefighters are banned by law (at least here, if not everywhere) as a matter of public safety. Their contracts are finalized, if negotiations fail, through binding arbitration. This same law should extend to transit workers as well. It would take a state law, and our legislature is pretty worthless, so I doubt it'll happen any time soon.