Maybe All the Words Might Have Come

After watching the madness of John Madden on yet another Sunday night, I thought I would share the brilliance of a man who can wrap Madden, Pacino, Dubya, and Bill Clinton into a salient whole.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Frank Caliendo:


"And that's what that's all about."

I Don't Want to Be Together, I Don't Want to Be Apart, I Don't Want None of This Love for You Honey Deep, Deep Down in My Heart

Joey, I've thought about your comment on yesterday's post, and I think if "The Boss" could respond to your heinous statement, it would go something like this:

(Channelling the spirit of Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy)

"I'm a MAN!!! I'm 58!!!!You don't come after a kid like Justin Scott, come after me!!!"

Now that the most pressing issue has been dealt with today, on to other matters...

I'll admit it. I watched the Phillies v. Braves game last night like Kevin McAllister watched other families have normal Christmas dinners on Home Alone I. As I watched those Philly fans actually cheering on their team towards an improbable playoff spot, I found myself wishing that I could sit in one of the green seats in Arlington on some late-September night and know that the Rangers had a shot once again.

I'm pretty sure that growing up as a Cowboys and Rangers fan, I was raised in an era of unrealistic expectations. I took it for granted that the Cowboys went to the Super Bowl every January and that the Rangers would have a somewhat realistic chance of making the baseball postseason each and every year due to the 3 A.L. West Championships in 1996, 1998, and 1999 respectively.

Just look at the following paragraph, courtesy of that fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia:

The Rangers (when combined with their predecessor the Senators) are the oldest franchise that has yet to appear in a World Series; in fact, they have yet to win any playoff series. They are the oldest franchise in the 4 major pro sports to never win a championship. In their history the team has only one playoff victory, on the road at Yankee Stadium in the franchise's first playoff game; they have never won a home playoff game.

That's not exactly the kind of history that a franchise wants to carry around, but I think Andy Dufresne had it right when he said "Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies."

I think the Rangers just found a theme for 2008.

Steady as a River Rolls

Congratulations to Mr. Dan Carlson for correctly naming "Thunder Road" by Bruce Springsteen as the Tuesday Song of the Day. Dan, I'll have to look into that Born to Run 30th Anniversary Box Set, because if there's one thing that I've found with Bruce and the E Street Band, if it sounds good in the studio, it's going to sound even better live.

There's always that moment in a season for every team when the choice must be made between mediocrity and a chance at greatness. Not to make too much out of a 4-2 victory at Reading in the 3rd round of the Carling Cup, but yesterday's performance was perhaps the most inspired I've seen from the Reds since their win against Chelsea in last year's Champions League semifinals. Fernando Torres' hat-trick again raised his status as the striking threat that Liverpool have lacked since Robbie Fowler was in his heyday.

Reading 2-4 Liverpool League Cup - Toress Hattrick
Uploaded by SoccerVDO

I don't know if the choice to move towards greatness was completed last night at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, but it appears that the Reds are not going to be satisfied with another finish behind Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United. It's going to be a fun ride.

The Screen Door Slams, Mary's Dress Sways Like a Vision

Congratulations to Mr. Jeremy Masten and Mr. Jacob Straub, a.k.a. "Chicago", for correctly naming "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" by Billy Joel as the Sunday and Monday Song of the Day. Gentlemen, I apologize for not using a different song after Jeremy correctly identified the song and my subsequent failure to keep the revered Song of the Day contest from lapsing into disrepair and disrepute.

It seems that the songs that mean the most to me are not always those that have the most intricate time signatures or the most technical musicianship but are simply those that stand for something bigger than themselves. Songs that can grow out of a simple 3-5 minute timespan, inhabit a universe all their own, and cause me to dream and think.

I didn't grow up as big Bruce Springsteen fan, but I blame that on my parents. If I might digress for a moment: isn't that usually how you acquire your affinity for classic rock, through the conduit of the music choices of your parents during your formative years?

Growing up in the Scott household, we listened to The Eagles and Jackson Browne among others, but for some reason "The Boss" was persona non grata. During high school I began to develop my own musical tastes and through my career at ACU and Baylor, I've learned to value the musical foundation that I found growing up with the new additions that I have made in recent years.

Back to the topic at hand...recently I began listening to a sampling of Springsteen's work and the one song that I cannot get out of my head is "The Rising" from the album with the same name. The song essentially tells the tale of a New York City firefighter on 9/11 but is filled with spiritual and dreamlike imagery that paints a vivid tapestry of devotion, loss, and ultimately, hope.

Here are the lyrics:

Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile line

Come on up for the rising
Com on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Left the house this morning
Bells ringing filled the air
Wearin' the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Spirits above and behind me
Faces gone, black eyes burnin' bright
May their precious blood forever bind me
Lord as I stand before your fiery light

I see you Mary in the garden
In the garden of a thousand sighs
There's holy pictures of our children
Dancin' in a sky filled with light
May I feel your arms around me
May I feel your blood mix with mine
A dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancin' on the end of the line

Sky of blackness and sorrow ( a dream of life)
Sky of love, sky of tears (a dream of life)
Sky of glory and sadness ( a dream of life)
Sky of mercy, sky of fear ( a dream of life)
Sky of memory and shadow ( a dream of life)
Your burnin' wind fills my arms tonight
Sky of longing and emptiness (a dream of life)
Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life ( a dream of life)

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

As if those lyrics don't paint enough of a heartbreaking yet hope-filled picture, Springsteen and the E Street Band manage to pull out all the stops in live performances of the song. Here's a video of a live rendition of the song at a concert in Barcelona in 2002.



Enjoy:

Things Are Okay With Me These Days

Just a few links on a Monday night:

• "He said that there were no homosexuals in Iran — not one — and that the Nazi slaughter of six million Jews should not be treated as fact, but theory, and therefore open to debate and more research." President Ahmandinejad's visit to Columbia earlier today.
• "Tired of certain people downgrading college athletes who are good people," Gundy said about the newspaper story on Reid. "If you want to comment on his play, comment on his play. But don't comment on something that's outside of his play that is downgrading or belittling to a young man who is trying to do things right and he has to get splashed all over the newspaper in the state of Oklahoma. And on a game day." Mike Gundy delivering the most intense press conference speech since Dennis Green.

• "Ms. Hess’s quandary is becoming more common for many young women. For the first time, women in their 20s who work full time in several American cities — New York, Chicago, Boston and Minneapolis — are earning higher wages than men in the same age range, according to a recent analysis of 2005 census data by Andrew Beveridge, a sociology professor at Queens College in New York."

A Bottle of Red, A Bottle of White, Whatever Kind of Mood You're In Tonight

"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that...he is gone."--The Usual Suspects
At the outset, let me state that I don't think Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the devil, but it's difficult to watch his current escapades and not think he's trying to embark on one of the world's great personality makeovers. Even though you can read the transcript of Pres. Ahmadinejad's interview with Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes, the true nature of the exchange was captured only by watching the Iranian President's mannerisms and facial expressions.

Here's a sample of the interview that aired tonight:

"The American Army has captured Iranian missiles in Iraq. The critical elements of the explosively formed penetrator bombs that are killing so many people are coming from Iran. There's no doubt about that anymore. The denials are no longer credible, sir," Pelley pointed out.

"Very good. If I may. Are you an American politician? Am I to look at you as an American politician or a reporter? This is what the American officials are claiming," Ahmadinejad replied. "If they accuse us 1,000 times, the truth will not change."

"Are you saying that it is not the policy of this government to send weapons into Iraq? Sir, forgive me, you're smiling, but this is a very serious matter to America," Pelley said.

"Well, it's serious for us as well. I daresay it's serious for everyone," Ahmadinejad told Pelley. "It seems to me it's laughable for someone to turn a blind eye to the truth and accuse others. It doesn't help. And the reason that I'm smiling, again, it's because that the picture is so clear. But American officials refuse to see it."

After watching Ahmadinejad's interview while simultaneously working my way through William Manchester's The Last Lion, Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone 1932-1940, it seems many of his methods of dealing with the press and opposing leaders bear a troubling resemblance to the way that Hitler charmed and manipulated the leaders of Europe until he finally was able to wage war on his own terms.

This Land is Mine, This Land is Free, I'll Do What I Want but Irresponsibly

Congratulations to my Dad for correctly naming "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" by Crosby, Stills & Nash (but no Young) as the Wednesday Song of the Day.

A little over a week ago I ran across this article in the NY Times. It tells the story of a number of teenage boys who have been banished from towns controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS for short) in southern Utah and northern Arizona and sought refuge, and a new start, in surrounding communities.

Note: The FLDS is not synonymous with the mainline LDS church which is based in nearby Salt Lake City, Utah.

I found the article particularly interesting at this moment because of the ongoing trial of FLDS leader Warren S. Jeffs and Jon Krakauer's insightful book Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith which I read two years ago. I realize that Into Thin Air was the book that catapulted Krakauer into the public spotlight, but in my opinion, the depth of his research and reporting makes Under the Banner of Heaven the finest writing he has done to date.

I Am Yours, You Are Mine, You Are What You Are

I've never written anything in this space on the endless debate between those touting the dangers of global climate change and those who are given the moniker of "climate change deniers", but I did run across this column by the earlier referenced Thomas Friedman in today's NY Times (free to you courtesy of the abolition of Times Select).

From what I have read from friends such as Patrick Vincent, who recently returned from a year teaching in China, all of the changes that the G-8 and other developed nations attempt to make in the area of energy consumption are the equivalent of the Dutch boy's finger in the levee. I understand the truism that "every little bit helps", but it would seem that the only true solution is some type of system that applies across the global spectrum to developed and developing nations alike in the realm of energy consumption.


The only problem with this approach is that we begin to deny the same freedom to developing nations such as China and India that we once had when we began our rise to a higher standard of living. There was no one standing over the shoulder of the United States, Britain, France, Japan, and others as we began to consume energy in ever increasing amounts.


I'm not sure how to balance the competing values of a higher standard of living for those currently in poverty with the need to be good stewards of the natural resources that we have been given. Any thoughts?

Sendin' All My Love Along the Wire

It seems that if Liverpool wants to return to the Champions League Final, they must play at much higher level than they did today in drawing 1-1 at FC Porto on Matchday Numero Uno for the 2007-2008 UEFA Champions League Final.I'm pretty sure I learned at an early age that a red card is what some people call "a big no-no", but apparently Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant forgot this characterization and decided he would like to be sent off with 30 minutes remaining in the match while his teammates were forced to fend off the greatest Portuguese rally since Magellan's shipmates blew that popsicle stand known as the Philippines.

With that said, I'm glad that I was not able to view the match on television, since I might not be able to write to you currently due to nervous nibbling on my cuticles. And to think, I choose to follow this team and tell myself it's fun.

On September 21, 2005, I expressed my disdain for the Times Select feature initiated by the New York Times, and it now seems that it only took two years for my displeasure to filter through the appropriate channels all the way to the office of publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. At midnight, Times Select is thankfully going the way of the DoDo and Michael Richard's public speaking career.

For goodness sake, even Thomas Friedman, one of the paper's most prominent columnists once said in an interview that "I hate it [Times Select]. It pains me enormously because it has cut me off from a lot of people, especially because I have a lot of people reading me overseas, like in India...I feel totally cut off from my audience." If Thomas Friedman hates it, who am I to stand in the way?

And This Is How the Story Goes

It's not exactly like Smalls losing the ball autographed by "The Babe" in The Sandlot, but Barry Bonds' 756th homerrun ball might end up in a place that not even the Beast could go. Fashion designer Mark Ecko revealed today that he was the highest bidder at a recent Sotheby's auction featuring the record-breaking homerrun ball.

Ecko reportedly bid $752,467.20 for the collectible,but he has decided that he will not be the ultimate owner of one of the most controversial homerruns in history. Instead, he has put the fate of the ball in the hands of the voting public courtesy of the website Vote 756. On the site Ecko has set up a poll which gives voters three options concerning the ball.

You can vote to:

• Send the ball directly to the Baseball Hall of Fame in its current state,


• You can vote to literally affix an asterisk to the ball much like cattle-brand and then send it off to Cooperstown; or


• You can attach the ball to a rocket and send it out into the wasteland of outer space.

These are your options. Now, it's up to you to make your voice heard. For what it's worth, I voted for the asterisk, but you all probably already know how I feel about Mr. Bonds.

Listen but Don't Be Afraid

It's okay. You can admit it to yourself. You're wondering what happened to the incessant Liverpool coverage that this blog provides, right? Well, my friends, don't worry too much. The Reds are back in action after a two-week international break and the coverage will resume right about.........now.

Liverpool traveled to the southern coast of England on Saturday morning for a match with Portsmouth, but were only able to come away with a 0-0 draw. Trust me, even for someone who is learning to love watching soccer, this game was not exactly one that is going to be filed away for promotional purposes, but those kind of matches come along at some point in every campaign and the best hope is that you come away with 1-pt. from a draw rather than a loss.

The Reds will return to action tomorrow night as they travel to Portugal to face FC Porto in the opening match of the Champions League Group Stages. Porto won the Champions League in 2004 under the leadership of current Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and the Estadio de Dragao is always a tough place to play. With that said, I'm still seeing a 2-1 Reds victory courtesy of goals from Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.

The journey to Moscow, site of the 2008 Champions League Final, begins in earnest tomorrow night.

Where They Can't Tempt Us With Their Lies

Congratulations to Mr. Dan Carlson for naming "Diamonds on the Inside" by Ben Harper as the Friday Song of the Day. I would like everyone to know that another recent Song of the Day winner (whose identity will be withheld) stated that the honor of winning such an illustrious contest is probably resume-worthy. I'm not really sure which job market would place a high value on winning inane contests on scarcely read blogs, but I do know this: That's the job market I need to learn more about.

The game last night between Southlake Carroll and Miami Northwestern was a great experience, but unfortunately for the Dragons, the team from the Sunshine State was just too strong and won the "Clash of Champions" by a final score of 29-21.

This loss was the first one for the Dragons in 50 games. The previous loss was a 1-point setback to Katy High School in the 2003 5A Division II State Championship which remains the only loss that the Dragons have suffered to a Texas opponent in the 5 years that they have inhabited the largest classification in the state. All in all, an 80-2 record with 4 State Championships in your first 5+ years in 5A is nothing to hang your head about, and I don't think Southlake will let this one get them down for too long.

I would provide you with my own photographic documentation of the event, but I seem to have left my camera in the car of friends that I rode to the game with, so those photos will be appearing at some point in the future.

Current Listening

All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone--Explosions in the Sky

I Knew a Girl, Her Name was Truth, She Was a Horrible Liar

In the name of creativity and sheer self-promotion, I'm bringing you the inaugural "Fall Movies that I'm Excited About" list. I know, I know. The title leaves so much to be desired, but it's all I have right now.

I blame my current dearth of creativity on the fact that so many of the cases I'm reading this quarter deal with the dissolution of marriages, death, and business partners suing each other for anything and everything. I need some more cases where dance studios attempt to swindle old widows into exorbitantly priced dance lessons. Just look what law school has done to me.

Anyway, back to the list:

• 3:10 to Yuma
  
  
• We Own the Night
  
  
• The Kingdom
  
• American Gangster
• Michael Clayton
  
  
• No Country for Old Men
  

I know, it looks like the traditional run of blood, guns, and thrills, but it's been a long time since I've been this interested in a string of movies. I know that 3:10 to Yuma is already out (and is apparently excellent), but if anyone has any thoughts on the other movies on the list, I would love to hear them.

If We Holler Loud and Make Our Way

Beat for beat, my favorite Led Zeppelin song is "Rock and Roll", but on Nov. 26th in London, everyone is just going to be waiting to see Jason Bonham bring in his Dad's famous drum-fill at the 6:40 mark in "Stairway to Heaven". (Led Zeppelin IV studio version)

Not that anyone's counting exactly or anything.

Also, in this video, I'm pretty sure Robert Plant is hopped up on enough coke to satisfy Tony Montana for years. I was never there, but I'm the mid-70's were a great time.


If you're at the O2 Arena in London on November 26th, what is the one song you have to hear the latest incarnation of Zeppelin play?

From This Town, We'd Escape

Make fun of me, say what you will, but here's where I'll be at 6 p.m. on Saturday night.

Since the game is taking place at Gerald Ford Stadium on the SMU Campus, I thought the following video was oddly appropriate:

Gerald Ford Dead
Uploaded by Killstain

I Think I Need a Sunrise, I'm Tired of the Sunset

Congratulations to Mr. Andrew Tuegel for correctly naming "Sparks" by Coldplay as the Sunday Song of the Day.

If you are a blogger, today just seems like one of those days where you feel obligated to post something simply because of the historical weight of the day itself. As I tried to gather my thoughts I went back and read what I wrote last year, and it seems that the usual method of approaching these mammoth historical events in retrospect is to trot out the whole "I remember where I was when [insert historical event here] happened." Since I did that last year, I feel the need to take a bit of a different tack this time around on the topic.

As I have been working my way through The Last Lion, Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone 1932-1940, I have been struck by a very interesting storyline that William Manchester highlights in describing Churchill's time in the political "wilderness". It seems hard to fathom in the beginning of the 21st century that many of the leading diplomats in Depression-era Europe believed that Nazi Germany, and Hitler in particular, were simply engaging in old-fashioned saber-rattling regarding rearmament after the Treaty of Versailles at the close of World War I, but time and again Manchester points out that Churchill was one of the only voices in England that would not be silenced regarding the potential danger presented by the Third Reich.

I'm not sure if there are any nations that are currently a perfect fit for the role played by Nazi Germany in the 1930's and 40's, but it does make me wonder what my children and grandchildren will regard as obvious in hindsight and marvel that we did not see the potential danger that could have been averted through vigilance.

Did I Drive You Away?

Congratulations to Ms. Kara Buckel for correctly naming "Not For All the Love in the World" by The Thrills as the Friday Song of the Day.

As all of you know, Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, will deliver their joint assessment of the U.S. military operation in the Middle East to Congress tomorrow. With the continual onslaught of information regarding Iraq, I often find it hard to see the forest for the trees, but I found this op-ed piece by Kimberly Kagan in the Wall Street Journal very helpful in seeing the big picture.

Thought of the Day: I wonder if you placed the real John Madden announcing a game alongside Madden '08 with the gamers replicating the plays, could you tell the difference between real Madden and Video Madden?

I'll tell you this, it won't be nearly as difficult as seeing John Madden's eyebrows in HD.

You Crave Recognition, but The Key to the City Went Missin'

Every so often in life you have the opportunity to meet amazing people. One of those opportunities in my life was when Gamma Sigma Phi partnered with Mark, Laura, and Matt Phillips to raise money for the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation through our Bike Ride to Pepperdine over Spring Break 2006.
Matt has osteogenesis imperfecta, which is more commonly known as "brittle-bone" disease. When Matt came out to speak to us before we departed from ACU that Friday afternoon, each and every one of us participating in the ride understood exactly why we were going to ride bicycles all the way from Abilene to Malibu in just 3 days.
I had heard rumors that Matt represented Abilene this year at the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee, but I had not seen any video footage until now. I know that I post many videos on this blog, but even if you skip all of the Liverpool highlight packages, this is one that deserves your time.

You Can Make It Up Next Time

If today is one of those days when you come to Running Down a Dream to receive a polemic from yours truly regarding the pressing matters of concern in our world, I have bad news for you. It's just not happening tonight. What you are going to receive instead is something that made me more confused than George Will at a Jay-Z show.

Last night as I wading through the TV morass during dinner seeking something to view while I dined, I came across the ESPN miniseries "The Bronx is Burning". The series is based on Jonathan Mahler's excellent book Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics and the Battle for the Soul of a City (which I highly recommend) and recently finished airing on the Worldwide Leader. I caught was the final episode, which chronicles the 1977 World Series between the Yankees and Dodgers and culminates in Reggie Jackson's 3 homers in 3 pitches performance during the Game 6 clincher for the Evil Empire.

As the episode opened, I was trying to accustom myself to John Turturro playing Yankees manager Billy Martin and Oliver Platt attempting to capture the essence of The Boss, George Steinbrenner, when I was caught more off-guard than the Hessians on Christmas Day in Trenton. The camera quickly cut to a shot of a man dressed in a suit walking up to the ticket office outside Yankee Stadium in order to retrieve tickets for Game 1. The man emphatically announces himself solely by his surname, DiMaggio.

Now, I know what you're thinking. This is the Yankee Clipper. The man who was briefly married to Marilyn Monroe and immortalized by Simon & Garfunkel. The man was the epitome of class, so he must have been portrayed by someone equal to that task, right? Well, in a word, no. Who did ESPN select to play Joe D.? What's that? Yes, you heard correctly, it was Christopher McDonald, Shooter McGavin himself.

Well done, ESPN. I hope you can sleep at night with the sound of Joe DiMaggio spinning in his grave.

Nothing's Gonna Change, There's No Need to Complain

Congratulations to Mr. Ben Grant for correctly naming "Farmhouse" by Phish as the Tuesday Song of the Day.

I'll be back with more later, but I wanted to post a link to a new blog that I will be reading, so you should as well. Cris Carpenter is a friend of mine from ACU that just moved to Brazil in order to teach English through the Let's Start Talking Program. Cris was actually born in Brazil so her time in Natal will be a type of quasi-homecoming. I've also made sure that she will use her time in South America to recruit future stars for Liverpool. I know what you're thinking, and, yes, I should probably let people do the work of God without bringing in my personal allegiances, but it's a tough habit to break.

We Are So Very Sorry, There is Little We Can Do But Swat Them

Congratulations to Andrew Tuegel for correctly naming "Babylon" by David Gray as the Monday Song of the Day.

Just so you know, the star of the following video once made me fear for my life, and I'm probably not alone when I make that statement.

Yes sir, Master Sergeant Gibson, sir. Amen.

The Love That I Was Giving You Was Never in Doubt

Well, judging from the appearance of the video icon in yesterday's post, perhaps Daily Motion is not the panacea that I thought it might become. If any of the more tech-savvy readers out there have a suggestion on where I can find reliable video footage that is not subject to numerous claims of copyright infringement, I would appreciate your guidance. Enough of that drudgery, on to what I really want to write about today.

I just finished reading Steven Johnson's Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter, and I thought I would share some of my thoughts on the book before they become stale. The basic premise of Johnson's argument is that a phenomenon that Johnson calls "The Sleeper Curve" (taken from a scene in a Woody Allen film) exists that contradicts what you might have once thought about the interaction between our gray matter and the popular culture that surrounds us.

Drawing from fields as diverse as neuroscience, economics, and media theory, Johnson argues that the pop, or some might say junk, culture that everyone is so eager to dismiss as mindless is actually making us smarter. I can hear your scoffing and snickering, but stick with me here. Johnson acknowledges that a video game will never be a book, but that video games, from Tetris to The Sims to Grand Theft Auto, have been shown to raise IQ scores and develop cognitive abilities that cannot necessarily be learned from books.

Also, Johnson argues that when taken seriously, successful television series-the hit shows of every genre: The Simpsons, 24, Lost, The Sopranos, even The Apprentice-reveal surprising narrative depth and sophistication that make serious intellectual demands of the viewer that we simply did not have from many of the more "sophisticated" series in the past.

If you enjoy the writing of Malcolm Gladwell, and his ability to draw on a variety of different sources in order to craft an argument, I think you will enjoy the writing of Steven Johnson. This is the only book of his that I have read, so I really have no idea if it is representative of his body of work, but I think it's worth a read.

Current Reading

The Last Lion, Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone 1932-1940 by William Manchester

The Brass Was Phasing Tunes I Couldn't Place

Here's a video recap of yesterday's match with Derby County. Goalscorers are Xabi Alonso (26th minute), Ryan Babel (45th minute, a superb goal by the way), Fernando Torres (56th minute), Xabi Alonso (69th minute), Andriy Voronin (76th minute), and Fernando Torres once again (78th minute). Sit back and enjoy the show.

Liverpool 6-0 Derby
Uploaded by lfcredsdotcom

With Chelsea's loss earlier today to Aston Villa, the Reds are now atop the English Premier League for the first time in almost 5 years. Let's hope it ends this way in May 2008.

The Band Marched On In Formation

In the midst of enjoying a Saturday filled with reading for class, doing a little exercising, and watching some college football, I ran across this article in the NY Times about Aaron (probably distantly related to Alan) Greenspan.

He is the founder of a web service called houseSYSTEM, which he claims served as the template for both ConnectU and Facebook, who are coincidentally embroiled in a legal battle in federal court in Boston to decide the future of the social networking world.


In other news on this Saturday, the 1st of September, Liverpool absolutely crushed, and I mean crushed, Derby County by the score of 6-0. I know that many of you out there believe that soccer would be much more exciting if there were more scoring, but you will be hard pressed to find a more crowded scoreline than the Reds' triumph today. One of the best parts about the English Premier League is that each season the bottom 3 teams are relegated to the English Championship (the English version of AAA), and the top 3 teams in the Championship are promoted to the Premier League. Derby County is one of those recently promoted teams, and today they received a rude welcome to the big leagues.