Comic for Wednesday, July 26th, 2006

Posted: 12:06 am, Wednesday, July 26th

You're actually getting a bonus strip of sorts today - I was having a hard time writing the fourth panel to this one, and honest to God, what follows is the first thing that popped into my mind.

I just thought it would be a weird time to break out the nonsequitor fourth panel, is all.

In a nice bit of serendipitous timing, CK's li'l sister got married this past weekend, and the play-by-play involves a Royals cake and Outkast. Also, an up-do. Reggie Ho is getting married next week, and I don't know if he intends on making me get an up-do. I hope not, because I just got a haircut and I don't think I could comply if I wanted to. Speaking of the Ho, good luck to him as he's beginning the Jersey bar exam today. Yep, the bar exam one week, a weddin' the next. Goodness!

Alternately, speaking of the Royals, I by now consider Deadspin to be so basic and necessary that anyone with any interest in sports reads it more than they do ESPN, so I tend not to link to it often. But this, well, this needs a link.

Oh, back to talking about lawyers for a sec, one of Tree's buddies from Columbia is goin' out there and doing some good - this dude Luke is making up for the weakness in his moral fiber that causes him to root for tOSU by going on leave from his lawyerin' job for a year to be a campaign manager for John Cranley, a Dem trying to take a seat in Ohio. Tree himself may help in the stretch drive in October, and I applaud this incredibly noble and necessary effort. Cranley's mom was a teacher, his dad's a vet, and he himself has a doctorate in theology from Harvard, so I'm sure the Republican slime machine is going to paint him to be an anti-American pro-terrorist baby-rapist or something. Because that's what they do.

E googled herself and found some interesting results yesterday, so I decided to do the same. There's a philosophy professor that I share a name with who hogs most of the results, but evidently another JDC penned a review of Fellowship of the Ring that features all the .html mastery of a MySpace page and decides to focus on the characters smoking pipeweed.

The Hold Steady are releasing a new album in October, and have a hometown show two days before (that I have tickets to). Also, hey, if anyone's not doing anything tomorrow, they've got a free show at Castle Clinton for the first however many can get tickets. I'd be there, except 2.0 and I are going up to Albany Thursday night and I'd rather not start out after rocking for a few hours. Anyone who goes won't regret it, I promise. Here's a b-side and some remixes to whet your appy-tight.

Five years ago right around this time, I took my second subway ride into Brooklyn - the first was in maybe April or May of '01 to visit CK and went disastrously due to my belief in the existence of the G-train - to visit my good friend Lauren. This trip was also a disaster, due to it being the first time I ever saw the V-train (it was right when the Q became a yellow line - previously, it had been orange). I had a co-pilot, so I at least had the comfort of knowing that my trouble getting to Brooklyn wasn't unique at the time. So, four trains and two and a half hours later, my odyssey from Astoria to whatever the hell neighborhood Lauren was in at the time came to an end, we saw the new apartment, and Lauren provided us with food. Unfortunately, it was cold spinach soup, which is not exactly what I was hoping for. I'm not big on cold soup of any sort, but cold spinach soup is just inert and green and kind of frightening in appearance when served from a pitcher. I tell this story because Lauren left the friendly confines of Brooklyn on Monday to trek to Morocco and Budapest and then the streets of Ann Arbor for law school (she promised tickets to next year's ND-UM tilt, so I will not disown her), and Elise ran a recipe for spinach soup the other day, and I thought it would be a nice tribute.

Lemme find a MySpace disaster and get back to drawin' for you all... Oh, man, here we go. Words do not cover it. Make sure to check out his collection of heroes. A more random groupafolks, to quote our douchewad not-president, I've never seen.

bullfrog

That '06 elections map in the NY Times has changed. Montana is now "a toss up."

Viva la Revolution!

with your permission, I have created a drinking game that should be fun for Sox fans trapped around here, Yankee fans who have figured out the complexities involved with turning on a radio, and plain old alcoholics anywhere that I would like to share with the world, using youa s one of the conduits. Just nuke the comment if I've overstepped my bounds and send me to my room without strawberry shortcake, like the Poky Little Puppy: http://soxfaninhell.livejournal.com/

Zero

Ugh, you make me so glad I finally have a computer at home good enough to stream the LiveAudio of the away team whenever the Goat Fuckers are playing. The always-objectionable John Sterling's voice is forever seared into my brain after those first five seasons in the area. My personal favorite is the warning track one - does the man not have depth perception?

By the way, since I haven't listened to a Goat Fucker game recently - do they still do that asinine siren and bell combo every time they score a run?

Another link from Deadspin, evidently Human Goiters can't stand the guy, either.

http://mikekenny.blogspot.com/2006/07/john-sterling-update-still-not-very.html

That doorbell-ringing thing when they score? Yes. DING-DING-DONG-DING, DONG-DING-DING-DING

maybe it's to amuse the 'Bleacher Creatures' after they do roll call but before milk and cookies and the always classy 'Cotton-eyed Joe' dance.

Zero

Don't forget the YMCA.

As Tree said during his first year at Columbia, when we went to a Royals-Goat Fuckers game, "THIS is the grand old flag of ballparks?!"

"Cotton-eyed Joe" Classy? Eww...

At least the Yankees has the PA Announcer of PA Announcers. He could read names out of a telephone book and I'd listen to him. He's got to be as old as Moses, and I don't mean Moses Malone.

Nah, 'tis sarcasm, Miyaa. I don't even think the Rednex think Cotton-Eyed Joe is anything less than drivel. (And I didn't even have to look that up.)

What's with Sheppard's accent, though? Dude's from Long Island and he's got some British aristocrat thing going on there. It's even more jarring at Giants games.

I recall hearing that Sheppard injured his arm early in the baseball season and their stand-in replacement guy did the PA with his own brand of "British aristocrat" accent. Which was just plain weird.

Do they still have that Irish Tenor guy sing "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch of significant games? Or just in the post-season?

Oh, I think I heard about that, too.

They usually have a recording of some chick named Kate signing it, just that Ronan Tynin or whoever (Lemon Kainan?) during the postseason to slow things up.

Incidentally, I do not, under any circumstances, stand for God Bless America. I will stand for the Star-Spangled Banner and Take Me Out to the Ballgame. God Bless America is not our national anthem and should not be played at every conceivable chance.

I'm thinkin that would be Kate Smith, who introduced the song back in the thirties... She's not my style of singer, but it's cool that they use the original 1939 recording.

I love God Bless America, but then I have a soft spot for all things Irving Berlin.

I liked it pefectly fine 'til it got co-opted in the post-9/11 world. Now it makes me nervous - I'm convinced they're trying to make it the new anthem.

Why, yes, this hat *is* tinfoil, thank you for noticing!

Hey, we got you on Deadspin, Zero!

http://www.deadspin.com/sports/leftovers/leftovers-jeffersons-a-gamer-190005.php

Holy crap! I'd like to thank the Academy, and John Sterling for being such an ass, and 5 Bucks for being hip enough to get noticed.

I'm with you on the no standing thing. Separation of God and State, y'know?

Now I have to get work on the Michael Kay Drinking games!

Zero

As much as I'd like to think my site had anything to do with that, I'm fairly certain it was actually the e-mail I sent the guy.

Maybe I can parlay it into a commentor's handle someday...

It's a better song than the Star Spangled Banner. Our National Anthem is really difficult to sing, but what do you expect from a cobbled drinking song? (One more reason to like the Star Spangled Banner: it ties with our national pasttime of drinking.)

Now, the Canadian anthem, that's a cool anthem.