Lebron 21?

I was one of the doubters of Lebron James really being 21 yrs old. He is a man child even more so than the reign man, Shawn Kemp. But unless this is a forgery...someone at espn found the birth certificate and verified it. So I am for the moment will give him credit for actually being 21.

Ralphie Mae

I've seen Chris Rock live, and I've seen Dave Chappell live, but this guy Ralphie Mae is funny!

Quote of the Day - Ode to Marion Barry - 6

To conclude our series on the Mayor for Life, I leave you with the Immortal words of Marion Barry...

"Goddamn bitch set me up!"
- Marion Barry, Mayor for Life

Quote of the day - Ode to Marion Barry - 5

"Even in our finest hour, we got a crack head on the stage".
- Chris Rock, referring to Marion Barry presence during the Million Man March

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday James Callender!

Quote of the day - Ode to Marion Barry - 4

We wish these quotes were actually said by the Mayor for Life, but we love these Marion Barry-isms nonetheless.

"First, it was not a strip bar, it was an erotic club. And second, what can I say? I'm a night owl."

"I am clearly more popular than Reagan. I am in my third term. Where's Reagan? Gone after two! Defeated by George Bush and Michael Dukakis no less."

"The laws in this city are clearly racist. All laws are racist. The law of gravity is racist."

"The contagious people of Washington have stood firm against diversity during this long period of increment weather."

"People have criticized me because my security detail is larger than the president's. But you must ask yourself: are there more people who want to kill me than who want to kill the president? I can assure you there are."

"The brave men who died in Vietnam, more than 100% of which were black, were the ultimate sacrifice."

"What right does Congress have to go around making laws just because they deem it necessary?"
- Marion Barry, Mayor for Life

Quote of the day - Ode to Marion Barry - 3

"There is a sort of an unwritten code in Washington, among the underworld and the hustlers and these other guys that I am their friend."
- Marion Barry, Mayor for Life...Explaining why he was upset at being robbed at gunpoint.

Quote of the day - Ode to Marion Barry - 2

"They made all this up to justify questioning me. It's all made up. I don't know what happened. Whatever they say was all made up."
- Marion Barry, Mayor for Life...responding to allegations by Park Police that he was found with a white substance under his nose and trace amounts of cocaine in his car.

Quote of the day - Ode to Marion Barry - 1

"Outside of the killings, DC has one of the lowest crime rates in the country."
- Marion Barry, Mayor for Life

Ode to the Mayor for Life...

Washington DC was previously known as the "murder capital of the world". Even its basketball team was previously named the Washington Bullets. To stop crime in DC, they changed the name of the basketball team from the Bullets to now the Washington Wizards and viola the killings have stopped (sarcasm, but the name change thing is true). Washington has received renewed attention recently as as there have been 14 killings in the first 10 days of July.

I think in light of having DC's ailments back in the spotlight, it would be worthwhile to take a trip down memory lane and pay homage to the annointed Mayor for Life, Marion Barry.

For those of you who don't know, while in the DC council, Marion Barry was shot by terrorists in the DC district building probably giving his name a rise to fame in DC which he wisely parlayed into a run and victory into the Mayor's Office. Marion Barry was the 2nd Mayor of DC ever, and held the position for 12 years from 1979 to 1991, until he was arrested for cocaine usage in a sting operation orchestrated with the help of his girlfriend (caught on video tape and shown around the world).

But that only sidelined our hero for 2 yrs, as he returned to politics and sought to be re-elected to the Mayor's office. Did he succeed? Absolutely. He campaigned for a council member position and, of course, won under the slogan "He May Not Be Perfect, But He's Perfect for D.C." (i love it) Only to buy time until he could run for mayor again, which he did, winning 65% of the vote, and staying in office from 1995-1999. He's currently a council member in DC, even though he was caught with cocaine (yet again!) last year. To do Marion Barry full justice, we only have to revisit his quotes in history to get a insight into his legacy. So we will begin a series of quotes of the day in honor of Marion Barry.

World Series of Pop Culture

In a night where I couldn't fall asleep, I found myself flipping on to find The World Series of Pop Culture on VH1. Why did I not get a personal invite to this competition? Don't they know that I read Entertainment Weekly (real journalism...not a tabloid), have watched TV religiously as a kid, and love movies? I would be awesome at this thing. In fact, last night I was running approximately 80% hit rate on questions. For example, TV theme songs...2 missed answers by contestants...three's company and full house. I mean come on. Now admittedly this is only the first round, so the questions are likely to get more difficult. But give me time to study and I am confident in domination.

In fact I could put together the 3 man dream team with my be fellow bloggers - James Callender and Code Monkey. I would put Code Monkey on Music, I would put James Callender on Television, and I would put myself on Movies. We would be on our way to the grand prize. Though sadly the grand prize is only $250k (unlike the $1mm shows these days)...split 3 ways and after tax is not that much unless you have a 100% probability of victory. That said my confidence knows no bounds (we'll see if my tune changes when we see the questions in the final rounds).

Wimbledon Final - Federer v. Nadal

This match was decided on one point. After losing the first set 6-0, Nadal was playing brilliant tennis and up a break in the second against Federer. At 5-4, Nadal was serving for the set. He would double fault on the crucial 15-30, after having served an astonishing 80% first serve percentage for the match to that point. Giving Federer 2 break points on grass to get back control of the match which at this point in Federer’s career is an impossible thing to recover from. Federer would go on to win the 2nd set in a tie break, and up 2-0 on grass it’s over.

It is abundantly clear how great Federer is and how great he still can be…but it is impossible to ignore what can become of Raphael Nadal. He is a clay court specialist now thriving on the much faster grass surface…something people can rarely do (and rarely do the other way around going from grass to clay). For non-tennis aficionados, it seems weird that there is so much difference between tennis courts surfaces, but they are subtle. Clay plays slower and has bigger ball bounces; grass is much faster as the ball skids on the grass and stays much lower to the ground. To put it in perspective, Pete Sampras won 7 wimbeldons (14 total titles) but no French Opens. Boris Becker had 3 Wimbledons, but no French Opens. The great Bjorn Borg is an exception winning 5 Wimbledons and 6 French Opens (though never winning the US or Australian). Ivan Lendel won every Major except Wimbledon (including the Wimbledon loss in straight sets to Pat Cash – a 1 major title wonder) This is why Agassi is my favorite player – he won on EVERY surface all 4 major titles with 8 total career Finals wins. Federer has yet to win a French despite having won every other major at least once. But Nadal is showing prowess on grass, getting to this year’s final and showing some great volleying skills critical on the grass. The key to Nadal’s success on grass is speed. He chases down balls like Michael Chang which gives him a shot on this faster surface.

It is for these reasons that we need to seriously watch Nadal’s career. If he can master the slow and fast surfaces, he may vault himself into rarified air. Do you know how many times Federer has lost this year? Federer has only lost 3 times in the final match this year…and they were all to Nadal! Though admittedly all on clay. Nadal is proving to be a man that may have as close to as any one can have to getting Federer’s number…and now Nadal can play on grass. Nadal is only 20 yrs old, 2 Majors already won, and much time left to prove how great he can be.

American Idol Career Path

Chris Daughtry, one of my top picks in American Idol, has just signed his record deal. Yes by saying this I admit I watch American Idol. A.M. pointed it out to me, that the reason I like American Idol is because it is just like karoke...and who doesn't like a good Karoke time. I personally choose Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer for my performances. I guess it is no coincidence that Chris Daughtry struck me since one of his performances is a cover of Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive. An outstanding question is will the Code Monkey Master and his music brethren accept Daughtry as the real deal or will he be banished because of his main stream exposure/acceptance?

World Cup Final - France v. Italy

My friend believes that the NBA is rigged (ala the game ending foul calls in favor of Wade in 2 of the Finals games). If France had won, cynics could certainly have believed the World Cup was rigged by giving Zindane a penalty kick in the first 10 min to give France its first and only goal on what looked like a ridiculously simple contact among players. But Italy won and thus it is hard to blame the outcome on officiating, so TSA maybe there is hope for a cynic, after all.

Zindane, Zindane, Zindane…oh mon dieu…what are we to think of you...retiring as the captain of the world cup team with the Final your last game…what a story…wait a minute it gets better, double overtime, and still tied, and you get to kick penalty kicks for the world championship…and what is this I hear – you are the BEST in history! This is your moment…or so the story could have been. Instead, you couldn’t hold your composure for 2 more minutes, you had to headbutt a guy’s chest. What--Did the guy call your mom fat? She probably is, get over it. And so your legacy ends as the headbutt guy. This will now be a lasting memory for big game mental follies and replacing the indelible Chris Webber time out as number 1 on my list. On the world stage, double overtime, a professional – inexcusable. Who knows with Zindane in the line up during the penalty kicks if the outcome would have been any different.

But can the French hate this guy…yes, but not completely. We must remember, without Zindane’s Academy Award winning flop in the first ten minutes, France wouldn’t have scored at all. So we would have never gotten to the overtimes for the head-butt to begin with.

So Congratulations Italy, sorry to Trezeguet of France who missed his penalty kick. And congratulations to Puma for winning the Sponsorship war over its brother Adidas.

And if you'd like to do some of your own headbutting - Enjoy this submission by J.R.

Quote of the day

"I'm hovering like a fly, waiting for the windshield on the freeway."
- Peter Gabriel, Genesis, Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

Quote of the day

Peter Gibbons: I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything I thought it could be.
- Office Space

Quote of the day

Stephen: [speaking heavenward] Him? That can't be William Wallace. I'm prettier than this man.
-Braveheart