Saturday, November 3, 2007

The Timidity of Wasted (for now) Hope

  • What I'm Watching/Listening To/Reading:
    • "The Soup" had one of the great gags in recent memory this week, superimposing two dancing kids from "Yo Gabba Gabba!" over Obama dancing on "Ellen". I'll try to post a YouTube link when available.
    • As I do more and more text study, coupled with my obsession with Bible shows on Biography and History International, I am quite shocked at how much of a "slave mentality" exists in Judaism. I'm not even talking about how often Egypt shows up in prayers. Much of the idea of Jews being learners and not fighters and laws regarding obeying your local king come from the Rabbis who set these foundations because of the Roman occupation around the time of Jesus. Do Orthodox Jews question why a heck of a lot of their halachah (Jewish law) comes from these extenuating circumstances and whether or not the laws are still relevant today? I doubt it.
  • Random Thoughts/Links:
    • Everyone probably has a person who they don't know, but run into randomly and recognize every so often. Just a face here and there that looks familiar. Weirdly enough, that person for me is Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. He was the sideline reporter on the World Series. It's been a while, since he lives in Baltimore and I have moved out of the area, but I've run into him at the JCC, at a few restaurants, and today at a Bar Mitzvah. I didn't bother him with questions about A-Rod or Johan Santana -- just not an appropriate place/time. It does remind me, however, of the wedding I went to last year of a friend who happens to be Mitch Albom's cousin. Someone actually brought a copy of Tuesdays With Morrie to have signed. At a wedding. Ghetto.
    • NFL picks time (last week: 2-11!!!, overall: 15-24-1):
      • San Francisco (+3) vs. Atlanta: The giveaway at the game? Pillows.
      • Buffalo (+1) vs. Cincinnati: Apparently the NFL is counter-programming against the big game all day.
      • Seattle (+1) vs. Cleveland: Who exactly did the Browns beat to merit getting playoff buzz?
      • Dallas (-3) vs. Philadelphia: The Cowboys are going to turn the Linc into a "touchdown emporium".
      • Detroit (-3) vs. Denver. That win over Chicago has me jumping on God's Team's bandwagon.
      • Green Bay (+2.5) vs. Kansas City: I'm not betting against Favre.
      • Indianapolis (+5.5) vs. New England: Or Manning either. Plus, you get Pats by 3 with this spread and I can't pick against the undefeated Super Bowl champs at home.
      • New Orleans (-3) vs. Jacksonville. They're back.
      • Houston (+3) vs. Oakland: I can't believe all of the hype over this game this weekend. If I see one more clip of Rosenfels buttering up Culpepper, I'm going to cry.
      • San Diego (-7) vs. Minnesota: And they're back, too.
      • Tampa Bay (-3.5) vs. Arizona. Man, the NFL pretty much stinks this year. These are two of the better teams?
      • Carolina (+4) vs. Tennessee: One Steve Smith breakaway, and the Titans won't be able to make up the 7-point deficit.
      • Washington (-3.5) vs. N.Y. Jets: Stop the doomsday talk, Skins fans. They're just fine and they have just the recipe to recover from last week.
      • Baltimore (+9) vs. Pittsburgh: I'm not saying they'll win, but the Ravens always come to play in prime time. Nine is a heck of a lot of points.
  • Daily Rant:
    • I can't find a picture, but Wednesday's "Hardball" included an interview with David Axelrod, chief campaign strategist for Barack Obama. Axelrod was wearing a blood red shirt with no tie and the top button open. The shirt was a little low around his neck, so a bit of chest was showing. Plus, let's just say that Axelrod is a bit swarthy and schlump-y looking to begin with. The outfit was badly missing a gold chain to round it out. I'm not ranting about someone's wardrobe; this was just one more example of the absolutely horrible campaign that Obama and his team are running. I touched on the McClurkin concert earlier this week, but that's just one complaint of many. Obama had everything working for him: momentum coming off his great speeches at the 2004 convention and the Illinois statehouse, high public opinion as a fresh-thinking outsider that got a lot of play in the news magazines, history as he seemed to be the first African-American candidate with a legitimate shot. Well, that shot is gone. He has been boring and meek, like a slightly more electable Dennis Kucinich who's black and doesn't talk about UFOs. I think he's going to need to change one of his book titles, because audacious he most certainly is not. Hopefully he'll learn his lesson when it's time to run again in eight years.

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