Come Marching In

• The Monologue:
• We'll start with the easiest and lamest joke of the day. Tiger Woods conquered eighteen holes and finished with a 69. Or, as he likes to call it, a slow day.
• Texas Stadium was imploded. Tony Romo had the honor of pressing the button, but someone brushed against him and he dropped it.
• CC Sabathia flirted with a no-hitter yesterday, putting up 7-2/3 donuts. Because that's all he had left from the two dozen they got him before the game.
• Random Pop Culture:
• In Homicide, The Corner, and The Wire, the modus operandi was to drop the viewer right in the middle of a different world with no preparation and no explanation. It was up to you, through listening for context clues or through repeat viewings, to figure out what the hell was going on. It's the type of art that demands maturity from its consumers. You need an open mind and patience so that you're not immediately lost, because what comes from such an unapologetic presentation is the real, unadulterated version of the world into which you're getting a glimpse. And so, HBO's new series, Treme, starts with a black screen with just these white words: "Three Months After." And then you're dropped into a world of thick accents, second line jazz funerals, and feelings about New Orleans after the storm that would seem fake if the characters came right out and stated them. The preceding sentences that all could be summed up in six words that I'm sure I've said before: "David Simon is a f***ing genius."
• You'd think that having seen When The Levees Broke (and, I know I say this a lot, but I really mean it this time, if you haven't seen When The Levees Broke, watch it as soon as possible) I would not be affected so much by what's most likely a staged version of the houses that took six feet in the flood. But I was, all the same, maybe because it took me back to what the documentary showed.
• When David Simon premieres a show, it's just not worth writing about anything else. So let me finish by saying that I could watch Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters play any role in anything. Man, can they act.
• And the music in Treme is nothing short of sick.
• Random Music Video:
• Happened to have a really bad night's sleep last night for no apparent reason. As I was tossing and turning at 4AM, I decided to throw on the Beatles channel on Pandora, figuring it would be music that I know and isn't too loud, easy to fall asleep to. At one point, "Sympathy for the Devil" came on and, be it the lack of sleep or the stereo headphones, it totally blew me away. I think I sleep on it. Here's a live version from 1989.