Feed Your iPod: Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, "Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)"

It might just be too much for my senses, one of my favorite rockers parrying up with #5 on the “Bushido’s Musical Crush List” cutting an album together (and produced by T Bone Burnett), Raising Sand and touring this summer (the Raising Sand tour-yes hippies, Bonaroo will be one of their stops) right after the news of Zep’s reunion rocking of the Garden. I just saw this video on VH1 (laugh if you must but if you are working on sketches and don’t have a sound-system hooked up on your room, VH1 plays some sweet tunes in the wee-hours of the morning) and ran to the computer to add it. I’ve heard a little bit of the album and it will certainly be an addition later today. Dang, what a great way to start a Friday.

Here’s a link to Rolling Stone’s Robert Christgau’s review of the new album

Friday Funnies: Dr. V, Boon and Muffin performing live @ the Dunes!

Ladies and Gentlemen: Without further adieu, I present to you the hardest working man in show-business, Dr. V, performing live at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club!



And of course, you can’t spell stag-line without Muffin and Boon! Sorry guys, I did what I could to fix the sound, (a camera phone will only do so much) but the acoustics in the room didn’t help. Well that and Jimmy (aka: Chris Farley’s skinnier stunt-double) was deep-throat on the mic, but I thought Muffin and Boon sounded pretty good. Enjoy their rendition of “My Girl”.

Mitchell's Report on Steroids today at 2 pm

With just 75 days from now until spring training, Major League Baseball will issue Sen. George Mitchell’s report on steroids today at 2:00 pm, catch it on the web or on ESPN. (Photo courtesy of misunderestimation.com)

Spoiler alert: there are a lot of players doing it, probably someone all thirty teams and you shouldn’t be surprised to know, they’re not going to stop doing it. As long as multi-million dollar contracts are paid to play the game, players will find the “edge” to put them in front of other players. Case in point, baseball came down hard on anabolic steroid use, but thanks to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) the “clear” a form of undetectable human-growth hormone was developed. It’s a basic human response; if someone tells you they can make you stronger, faster and extend your career without anyone finding out, nine times out of ten, you take the drug. Baseball players might look like gods or supermen hanging on the posters in your room or framed in baseball cards, but the thing is, they are human and they (just like everyone else) will make mistakes.

Wednesday's WTF? WTF is going on in Sia's "Buttons" video?

WTF is going on in this video? Now, you all know, I am pretty liberal, but even this made me scratch my head. If you haven't heard of Sia then you are missing out, granted her video "Buttons" earned this week's Wednesday's WTF? But I really dig her song (as well as performance at Boston's the Paradise) "Electric Bird" from her new album Some People Have Real Problems; enjoy!


Posted by The Bushido

The Beav has Scarlet Fever...

A little get well for the world's largest Superman fan, the Beav! Art work by Jim Trabert

The Home-Brew is done, now where do I get the bottles?

One thing I forgot to factor in was getting bottles in which to put this beer. Does anyone know of a place here in Charleston that sells empty bottles that would suite my purpose?

Imagine-Across the Universe, Reagan, Gorbachev, Rock and Roll and the fall of the Soviet Empire

Today is the anniversary of former Beatle, John Lennon’s death, ironically, a week after the anniversary of George’s death. In remembrance, I thought to add the trailer to the new movie, “Across the Universe”. I am not quite sure what’s the haps with this new movie: looks like a musical with Beatles tunes, and its’ probably one of those flicks you either love or hate, with no in between. That being said, I plan on checking it out this holiday season.

The Legacy
I was chatting with a red-rider friend of mine the other day and he made the remark, “Reagan won the Cold War between the US and the USSR”. To which, I must admit Reagan did play a part (as did the other presidents between Truman and Ronald Reagan) in stopping the spread of Communism. But there are other key players who led to the end of the Soviet Empire: Pope John Paul, Mikhail Gorbachev (probably the most influential leader with his granting of perestroika and glasnost) and of course, Rock and Roll. Indeed, the latter doesn’t seem to get the recognition as being a catalyst to help bring down the Iron Curtain, but when young kids in the Soviet bloc could tune their radios to the BBC and hear the latest Beatles, Credence, Stones, etc. a changing movement was happening, just as it was in the “free-world”. Which is something the “squares” just don’t get, change is bigger than one person, change takes sacrifice and an open-mind to change.

I was giving points to my sister Dani as I proofread her paper on interestingly enough, World Peace and one of the things I thought she needed to address was the universal characteristics of man-kind. As an example, I reminded her of the movie, The Long Way Around with Ewan McGregor, in which McGregor and his comrade “Charlie” ride their BMW motorbikes from England across Europe, through Asia, grab a plane to Alaska from Russia and then ride through Canada, and across the US arriving in NYC. And if there is anything that you should learn from this movie (other than the roads in Russia are rubbish and that America has the most dangerous roads in the world) is that the people across the globe are pretty much the same. We talked about the recent accord at the Annapolis Peace Talks (despite the past failures) to bring peace to the Middle-East between the Palestinians and the Israelis. And then she asked me the million-dollar question: what would it take to a lasting peace? My answer: for someone to give it a chance.

Friday Funnies: The Red State Update

(Warning, this skit contains foul language, “Huckabee, well F’__me," which is extremely fun for those young-parrot like children to repeat). Enjoy. For more of Travis and Jonathan, go to Redstateupdate.com or travisandjonathan.com/RedStateUpdate.

Feed Your iPod: Neko Case's "Live at Disney Hall

The G-Man sent me a copy of Neko Case’s performance “Live at Disney Hall” (11-16/2007) hosted on NPR and I must say, I have embraced Case’s Country noir-Indie style of music. Neko Case (real name) hails from Tacoma, Washington and graduated from the Emily Carr Inst of Art and Design in Vancouver, Canada where she collaborated with bands (i.e. The New Pornographers, The Sadies and Carolyn Mark-whom she tours with as the Corn Sisters) before graduating and losing her student visa.


Case moved to Seattle after school, cutting two records (The Virginian and Furnace Room Lullaby-2002) as Neko Case and Her Boyfriends before heading to the Windy City for a more conducive environment for her work. She dropped her boyfriends in Chicago and released Canadian Amp with six covers on the album, including country and folk legends Neil Young and Hank Williams. It was rumored that her next album, Blacklisted was in response to Case having a “wardrobe malfunction” while performing at the Grand Old Opry in 2001 and not being invited back, but evidently, that’s just part of the “mill”.


A few more collaborations, an election win (32% of the vote) as the "Sexiest Babe of Indie Rock" in a Playboy.com Internet poll, a spot on Austin City Limits in 2006 (see video) and now a performance now, “she’s going to Disneyland”. If you dig on Dolly Parton or the slow deep depression of Neil Young’s Harvest Moon, then pull up a chair and put on some headphones, because Neko Case will be your cup of tea, and while you are at it, go pick up her latest album, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (2006) or get in the holiday spirit with her single, Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis or catch her on tour with The New Pornographers. (Photo courtesy of NekoCase.net)


Case’s performance on Austin City Limits, hosted by RSpaceball on You Tube:



LINKED IN:
Neko Case’s Official Site
Neko Case’s Myspace Page
Case Fan Site

McQueen's Machines

If you are looking for that perfect stocking stuffer for a fan of the King of Cool, pick-up Matt Stone’s “McQueen’s Machines: The Cars and Bikes of a Hollywood Rebel” .From his “detective” work jumping the hills of San Fran in Bullitt, to his POW work jumping a motorcycle over the German lines in “The Great Escape”, to the tycoon (Thomas Crown) racing the dune-buggy on the beach, McQueen always played the character with the cool toys and this book looks to be a catalogue of cool. Anytime a car enthusiast dies with over 100 bikes and 50 automobiles of significance in their garage, someone is bound to write a book about it, enjoy this stocking stuffer for the “gear-head” in your life.

Wednesday's WTF? Sh** The Bed Fred And His God Givin Rights!

Honestly, I almost sh_crapped my pants when I heard the Fred Thompson say the line, “Remember friends our rights come from God and not the Government”. WTF Fred? Now, I know that he wasn’t this in touch with his “church” side whilst in Congress and I am sure this commercial is only airing in the South (read: “Bible Belt”) but WTF Fred? Have you forgotten the Age of Enlightenment when our fore-fathers involved themselves with separating Church and State? The point where most new of a higher being, but believed in Science and the Metaphysical Nature of Man? Good grief, Thompson’s campaign becomes more of a joke to me each and every day!

As you know, we here at the Bushido are steeped in tradition, but alas, respectful of the rights and feelings of others. So the question on everyone’s

As you know, we here at the Bushido are steeped in tradition, but alas, respectful of the rights and feelings of others. So the question on everyone’s mind as we near our state’s biggest rivalry, considering the recent fire-related deaths of South Carolina and Clemson students in Ocean City is should the Univ of South Carolina cancel the annual “Tiger Burn”, the pep-rally celebrated with burning an effigy of a Clemson Tiger? Clemson canceled their somewhat more morbid “Big Thursday” (a mock funeral of Gamecocks’ mascot, Cocky, who is set ablaze after being buried). Obviously, with Clemson canceling “Big Thursday”, U.S.C. would look like huge “Cocks” if they went on with the “Tiger Burn”, regardless the Administration and the SGA will decide today. Your thoughts?
(Photo courtesy of the Daily Gamecock)

Happy Halloween!

A picture from our friends over at MOKB trip to the Big Easy! I guess this is “Good-Bye Kitty”!

Red Sox Win The World Series!!!

If there was ever a year since 1776 that it was great to be a Bostonian, this is the year! Well that is for Boston’s sports fans anyway: Boston College is ranked second in the nation in college football. The Patriots are embarrassing every team they play and even my beloved Celtics (who’ve been laughed at since the early 90’s) present a positive outlook (with a charming nick-name-the PGA Tour) for the coming season. And of course, there’s also our beloved Boston who Red Sox won the 103rd World Series last night, sweeping the Colorado Rockies in four games: Game 1: Red Sox won 13-1 @ Fenway. Game 2: Red Sox won 2-1 @ Fenway. Game 3: Red Sox won 10-5 in Denver. Game 4: Red Sox won 4-3 in Denver.

They say Boston’s 2004 World Series win (the first in 80+ years) was for the older fans of the team who’d waited patiently, last night Terry Francona and the Sox won one for won one for the Red Sox Nation (from the Dominican Republic to Japan to right here in the States).
Hats off to the World Series Champs and the World Series MVP, Boston’s third-baseman, Mike Lowell! Let’s not talk about it right now, but I don’t see how you can give up the team RBI leader, World Series MVP. Then again, this is a business and it would appear that Bill James’ protégé Theo Epstein is onto something.

Btw, I love what Dan Shaughnessy wrote in the Globe today: “If you go to a high school graduation in New England in the Year 2026, you will hear a lot of Jacobys, Dustins, Jonathans, and Hidekis when they call the roll.”-I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Georgia Wins Against Florida!

Dubbed the largest outdoor cocktail party in the world, Georgia has now owned the Gators in JAX all time (45-35-2) and this year as the #20 Bulldogs upset the 9th ranked and 8.5 point favorite Gators 42-30! I wish I could tell you has on the helmet, but Bulldog fans like to remain anonymous and keeping with Bushido tradition, we'll respect that!

SABA

I am sure you could have deduced by my lack of posting (unreliable narrator) that I had taken a couple of weeks off to go on sabbatical, holiday, riding the couch reading and watching baseball, search for enlightenment-give it a name.

Things I learned on my search for enlightenment:

1. Baba Ganush is a Middle-Eastern eggplant dish and not just a cool nick-name that most guys started calling their pals after watching the movie “Wedding Crashers”.
2. Chuck Norris taught me that the symbolism in the final fight scenes in every martial arts film. Did you ever notice that in the final fight scenes the weapons malfunction, the swords are thrown to the side and the final fight is hand-to-hand-combat? As Chuck would say, “That’s how we all have to face our problems that beset us; when are hands are empty, what will decide the fight is what is inside our minds.”
3. I know that he is in Cooperstown and he’s one hell of a guy, but Tony Gwynns’ voice annoys the sh_crap out of me. Come to think about it, Gwynn’s voice is the same voice used by black comedians when they impersonate a white male’s voice.

Red Sox win Game 1 of the ALDS

There is a reason Josh Beckett is the only twenty-game winner in the American League and he showed it tonight, allowing just four hits in his complete game shut-out against the Anaheim Angels in Game 1 of the ALDS. After giving up a hit in the first, Beckett retired 19-straight, blast you Vlady! This is Beckett's coming out season and he hasn't thrown this well since four years ago when he showed the Yankees that fanning isn't just something that gets rid of the vapors down in Florida.

Most Citadel guys will tell you that the name John Lackey will strike fear in any cadet's heart (he gave the Bushido 120-tours, no cuts, no amnesty), but alas, there was no Assistant Commandant Army Colonel on the mound for Anaheim and the Red Sox didn't fear this Lackey-they just treated him like the definition in the dictionary. The Cincinnati Kid, Kevin Youkilis smacked a 92-mph pitch from Lackey deep in the first for a solo-home run. Big Papi followed with a two-run shot in the third inning. After Lackey walked Manny Ramirez and then he advanced to second-base on a wild pitch, Mike Lowell did what he does best with a RISP (Runner-in-scoring-position) he hit a single up the middle to knock in Manny.

For the record:
(Stat: Lowell is currently leading the Red Sox with 120 RBIs) I hate to think about it now, but I hope Theo brings Mike back next season. Also, Boon was at the game tonight, I'll edit in a picture from him as soon as I get them.

Game Two:
Matsuzaka, aka: Dice-K (15-12, 4.40 ERA) will face off against the Angels' Escobar (18-7, 3.40 ERA) on Friday for game two, in the best of five, of the ALDS.
Posted by The Bushido

Wednesday's WTF? WTF Did Rob Fowler Shave The 'Stach?

I don't know what it is, but I just can't get used to local weather-csar Rob Fowler shaving his 'stash. Grow it back Rob, you're scaring the kids and freaking me out too. Dang, WTF Rob?

BSR: I've Been Riding With The Ghost

The Magnolia Electric Co. is good. I have a feeling this “Low-Fi” video won’t do this performance justice. Here is a video of an old Songs: Ohia tune, “I've Been Riding With The Ghost”.
My bad, I totally spaced during the jam and ended the recording. If you haven’t figured it out by now or listened to Songs: Ohia or Magnolia Electric Co. before, I’ll go ahead and tell you, their songs average from 6 to 8 minutes per. People are starting to stare at me as I hold up my phone, either they are impressed with my ability to hold a 2.3 ounce device above eye level for close to 10-minutes at a time (it’s all kinetics baby) or they are quietly judging me for poaching their beloved Indie Rock with obvious plans to put this video on the Bushido Way or even worse You-Tube, then everyone will know about Magnolia Electric Co. And then the band will become main-stream and suddenly everyone in this room right now will lose cool points and we won’t be “sofa-king” clever and ironic.

Byaahhh!!! Blast you Indie crowd-“Well, my name it is Sam Hall, it is Sam Hall, and I hate you one and all, damn your eyes” (Thanks Cash) Or maybe no one is really staring at me, perhaps I should take my foot off the Budweiser throttle and apply some brakes to this Rock & Roll rollercoaster. Best not, I could offend the Rock Gods and they would show their displeasure with something totally un-cool like another Duran-Duran album but this one produced by Eddie Money (Wait, Eddie Money was Money there for a spell).

Whatever, damn these guys are good. I have a feeling that Molina’s voice will probably come over the phone as feedback-distortion, but what the heck. As Goldfinger just said, “A good tune can get you to the next gas station.” And we are well on our way.
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BSR: Watson Twins at the Village Tavern

2 Opening Acts on Monday nite and the Watson Twins just started at 10 PM. Maybe that decision to play-through wasn’t such a smart idea. Goldfinger and I seem to be on a mission to increase the pile of empties in the Village Tavern’s recycling bin. Just ran into Jay-Bird, he’s here with some dudes from Millennium Music. Jay-Bird is chewing gum and not drinking. Obviously, somebody is going to be hurting tomorrow and that someone is probably not Jay.


Everybody Likes Twins
I just had a Brief chat with the Watson Twins after their set; they’re hot in a tall drink of water “Indie” way. The one with the hat-wait they’re both wearing hats, keeps on about them being sisters; hence the name, Watson Twins. You don’t have to sell it sister, I get it. Two over six-foot tall brunettes that can sing, I’d assume in a group of 1,000 people that you were related. Whatever, if solid vocals and rhythm is what you dig in an "Alt-Country Indigo Girls" type of way then you will dig the Twins. This message is brought to you by SunCom iNotes Plus.

It's called levitation Holmes!

Tebowmania? Puulease! Tennessee may not be able to defend the pass (or at least against California "Rocky-Top" had trouble) but they can defend the run and they know how to score points. Basically what I am trying to say is, the defending National Champs have a horrible defense and a lack-luster offense and I think they are going to get their first loss of the season today.

Sime, No Reservations, El Cid, the Badgers and a Brewery!

Sime wrote me today in his usual “black-berry” shortened prose to tell me that “Mr. Bone in The Throat” Anthony Bourdain’s show, No Reservations, on the Travel Channel was filmed in South Carolina and would air on Monday night @ 10 PM. Surprisingly enough, he didn’t mention anything about the El Cid marching into Camp Randall Stadium to face his Wisconsin Badgers this Saturday @ high noon. Wait; is Wisconsin an hour behind us? Because that would make the game actually “high-1 pm” which doesn’t sound as cool.

I digress; I am not sure if it is Sime’s security in the Badgers’ level of play (Wisconsin has the longest win streak in the nation with eleven straight) or the highly endorsed (and scouted) talent of the 7th ranked team in the nation that has the usually loquacious Badger fan so unusually quite. Not a breath of talking smack has transverse between us? And I can’t help but think why?
Normally I am not all that concerned with the objective truths (the why); my interests normally lie in the much more interesting level of subjective truths (the how). As in how it is Sime is so quite? Could it be he fears the “App-State-So-Con Underdog” and doesn’t want to look too far down Championship Alley? Or perhaps Sime knows the Badgers are lacking in their ability to stop the spread offense--Wisconsin allowed an average of 317-yards rushing in their first two games: UNLV and Washington State—and this would be the third spread offense the Badgers would face.

Or could it be he knows his history: that Camp Randall Stadium was named after the Army training camp and Confederate-POW camp that once existed where the stadium sits today. Is tomorrow the day of reckoning for those Citadel grads that perished during the Civil War?

Probably not, but if I could pass along advice to the boys from the Citadel, ride up to Madison, collect your paycheck of $425,000 and skip over to the Capital Brewery in Middleton, Wisconsin, which Playboy just voted in their latest issue as being third on the “Top 10 College-Town Microbreweries”. Try a couple of those unapologetically Teutonic brews (see Bavarian Purity Laws, aka Reinheitsgebot) for the Bushido and enjoy your national spotlight and pay-day. Cheers!

WTF happened to Jenna Jamison?

I know the talk of the town was that she flashed her derriere whilst on the runway--at a New York-oh my!~a fashion show where designers display plastic-wrap clothing on occasion, say it isn’t so. Forget that, I want to know why Jenna went all Kate Moss on me. Actually to Kate’s credit she added a few lbs. and looks pretty good.

Jenna WTF? What’s with the hanger-banger waif look? Whatever happened to our voluptuous specimen of talent on the small screen? Crap, I am so busted because I know Mamma Bushido will be checking out the blog to see the videos of her grands and you know I can’t lie to Mamma Bushido. Hopefully, she too will be so turned off by this look that she will want leave it to her normal desire to feed a skinny person and not ask what films Ms. Jamison has to her credit.
(Photo credits: TMZ.com)

Wednesday's WTF? Why is everyone busting on Britney Spears?

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Uploaded by TstarV

Sure she has been out of the game for a while but I thought Brit looked great! WTF is everyone giving her such a hard time about her body, gurl you look good to the Bushido!

Keith Olbermann reminds us of the true meaning behind 9-11

For those of you who have unplugged or became burned-out by all of the bovine sphincterisms from the Bush Administration, our old pal, Keith Olbermann does one hell of a job breaking it down on this the anniversary of 9-11: those who repent (Colin Powell) and those who do not (Rumsfeld), “No Truth, No Consequences”.

Olbermann rocks the S.S. Bush from the bottom to the top. And the thing about what Keith is saying is that he is not manipulating the facts or selling false truths, he simply doing his job. Sadly, Mr. Olbermann seems to be the only one carrying the torch of questioning authority and seeking the truth in the mainstream media.

And if my Grandfather was right when he said, “Timing is everything”; then I guess this week’s testimony coinciding with the return of the football season is fitting and penciling in General Petraeus’ next testimony for a better explanation of the status in Iraq with “March Madness” is just icing on the cake.

Not to make light of the day

But I think Alabama fans feel sadness for a whole different reason. (Photo credits: I had this photo of Bear Bryant's tombstone sent to me from Gecko a while back)

Feed Your iPod: Feist's 1-2-3-4

As if the melodic banjo and harmonies of Canadian singer/songwriter, Leslie Feist's (aka: Feist) new song ("1-2-3-4") wasn't catchy enough, now it is on the new (3rd generation) iPod commercial.

If bubble-gum drops and lollipops are how you deal with lost love than you just might really dig Feist's entire album.

Curtis Granderson joins the “20-20-20-20 club”

After going 4-for-4 on Sunday against the Mariners, Detroit center-fielder and member of the Bushido Braves fantasy team, Curtis Granderson joined Willie Mays (1957-NY Giants) and Frank "Wildfire" Schulte (1911-Cubs) as the third major leaguer to have at least 20 stolen bases, 20 doubles, 20 triples, and 20 home runs in the same season. This remarkable feat of entering what’s known as the “20-20-20-20 club” was acknowledged with a standing ovation at Comerica Park to which Mr. Granderson responded in a very stoic manner by simply nodding his head and waving to each side of the park.

Make no doubt about it, Curtis Granderson is a class act and that is why he is on my fantasy team. Well that and Granderson has an OPS of .913 with a .301 average. For those of you unaware of the sabermetrics (science of baseball), OPS is On-base percentage plus Slugging. Granderson has a .359 OBP plus a .554 SLG for a total of .913 OPS. And knowing this is one of the strategies (OPS = Winning %) I used to go from last place to second after the All-Star Break.

Who the hell is that?

Exactly, who the heck are the University of South Florida Bulls who beat Auburn last night (at Jordan-Hare Stadium)? News flash, some big teams are going down (see App State vs Michigan) and they are paying for it (both with money and with Poll standings), could we get our act together down there in Auburn and get ready for every game?

FYI: The USF cheerleader in this photo is Jenna Mitcheson! Photo courtesy of SI.com and Jenna Mitcheson.
Posted by The Bushido

This one is for Blackie!

I'm on the road headed to South Bend! Since there won't be a Wednesday's WTF? Here is a truck with WTF on the license plate and with Blackie's 3-favorite teams magnetized on the tailgate. -JET

Alberto VO-5 will resign this morning!

From the WaPo: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will announce his resignation today at 10:30 am. An ally of President Bush since their days together in Texas, Alberto-“VO5”-Gonzales has been at the apex of the firing of U.S. attorneys and wire-tapping controversies. (Photo courtesy of FDL)
With news of Gonzales departure, BushCo needs to find someone who can be embraced (confirmed) by Congress, without linkage to any scandal or prosecution. The name at the top of the list is Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff (link to Think Progress). President Bush will make an announcement (read: “Heck-of-a-job” speech) this morning (from Waco, TX) in regards to Gonzales’ departure. Until Gonzales replacement can be found, US Solicitor General Paul Clement (resume: worked for Kenneth Star at Kirlkland, Ellis; staffed for John Ashcroft and helped pen two of the amicus curie briefs in Bush v. Gore while working with the American Center for Law & Justice) will be acting Attorney General.

Other names such as Larry Thompson, Bud Cummins and Clay Johnson (from the OMB) are also being tossed around as potential Atty General Nominations. If President Bush does announce that Secretary Chertoff will be nominated from Waco this morning, the significance in the circular relationship will be that Chertoff will have the ugliest mug to hang on DOJ offices around the country since Janet Reno (who had her own “incident” in Waco, Texas). Photo of Sec. Chertoff courtesy of The White House. Whomever the President nominates, I just hope he keeps a daily journal, calendar or perhaps has a better memory to recall things than Alberto-VO5 did.
Posted by The Bushido

The Gamecocks Yin & Yang: Brinkley-good news, Blake-bad news

If you are like me, you like to hear good news first:


Jasper Brinkley makes the Walter Camp Football Foundation Watch-List
The Gamecocks middle-linebacker, Jasper Brinkley was nominated by the Walter Camp Football Foundation for its prestigious Player of the Year award, out of the 35 nominees, the field will be cut to 10 finalists in November and the winner will be voted on by the NCAA Bowl Subdivision head-coaches with the announcement in December. The Walter Camp Award (link to official site) created in 1967 is the nation's fourth-oldest individual college football accolade. For those of you keeping score at home, last year’s recipient was Ohio State QB, Troy Smith. Brinkley is also a pre-season selection for the All-SEC 1st Team as well as a pre-season All-American.


Depending on if you like Blake Mitchell, here is the bad news:


Fifth year senior and starting quarterback for the USC Gamecocks, Blake Mitchell was suspended by Coach Steve Spurrier today for missing class during summer school. For those of you keeping score, that is Blake’s third suspension: one for punching a bouncer at a bar in Five-Points and his second for not attending class, albeit the first class-cuts suspension was only for the first two fall practices last season. (Photo credit: Juan Blas)



Advice to Blake Mitchell
Look Blake, I know you think you are “BMOC” and that you don’t have to go to class, but as you can see Coach Spurrier won’t put up with that sort of "lackadaisical attitude". If I were in your shoes, I’d hit the books and play my butt off in your first start. Watch your six Mitchie’, because I have a feeling that Chris Smelley will use the start against Louisiana-Lafayette (September 1st) to showcase his talents for the “Old Ball Coach” and he just might take your job as QB.

CCDP: Night At The Joe

The Charleston County Democratic Party is hosting a picnic gathering during the Riverdogs game at the Joe Riley Ballpark on Thursday, August 23rd – 6:00pm picnic, 7:00pm first pitch.
We will be joined at the gathering by our very own Charleston Mayor Joe Riley! Look for the DEMOCRAT Table at the entrance to Riley Park.

Tickets for the game and picnic will be available for $8.00.

Your $8 ticket includes hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, lemonade, and a general admission ticket into the ballgame. Also, it will be THIRSTY THURSDAY, which means beer is only $1.00!
Tickets for this kind of event are normally $20 – The Charleston County Democratic Party is paying the difference as a gift to Charleston Democrats! Join us as we eat and cheer on the Riverdogs!

Wednesday's WTF? A Bizarre Lesson From Mastodon...

WTF is going on in this video, “Sleeping Giant” by Mastodon?I am assuming this is some form of bizarre, artistic lecture of the abusive nature of the evil of mankind and the effects on our planet and the cosmos, as the two what would be Obi-Wan Kenobi-esque students, taught by, a guy dressed as Dr. Doom from the Fantastic Four (WTF? Obi-Wan Kenobi is in my spell-check?) I digress; the students watch as the life given provides a very primitive group of organisms, incubation occurs and now man is on the micro-planet-building huts, killing dinosaurs etc; incubate again for a growing city-let the pollution begin, incubate one more time, add two-tablespoons of nuclear power, three missiles, a nasty guitar rift, stir and watch as the planet is turned to ash. "Get it people? Quit f'in up the planet or this is what will happen", seems to be the message from Mastodon-now watch this nasty guitar rift, byaah!

After watching this video, après WTF? I got their massage as wacky as the video was and came to appreciate the band’s creativity. I'll even go as far as to wish the band members were high school science teachers; wait they would never make the cut--too much “Evolution” going on in this video. Sorry guys.
Posted by The Bushido

Wednesday's WTF? President Bush makes a dire comparison

As you know the President loves the taste of leather, that is why of course, he should probably fire a speech writer today. Why? Because in his speach to a VFW group in Kansas City, MO, the President made the comparison of the pull-out in Southeast Asia to the growing call for a pull-out in Iraq, stating:

"Will today's generation of Americans resist the deceptive
allure of retreat and do in the Middle East what veterans in this room did in
Asia?"

Further more the President made the wrong inference that Pol Pot was able to enforce a genocide on his own people in Cambodia on the Khmer Rouge, because the United States pulled-out to early, not that we stayed too late. I know, sure he doesn't know his history and that of course, President Bush (through GHW Bush's sting-pulling) never served in Vietnam, but many people of his generation did. It seems like a lot of Monday-morning-arm-chair-quarterbacking to make this parallel, especially when Bush was too busy protecting the Rio Grande from a V.C. flank in the Texas Air National Guard (read: Yuppie/Child of Entitlement wasn't there and shouldn't open his mouth, except to obviously insert foot.)

If Ann Coulter wants to label Clinton as a draft-dodger, then George W Bush should get the man-of-privilege badge of dishonor as well. It's sad really that it has come to this kind of grasping at straws by the Administration. There's no excuse really for even making this parallel, especially when so many men still have still have the fear and loathing from this era and most men (ask your Dad, if he was lucky enough to not go) know their Draft Card Number. WTF Mr. President? WTF indeed?

Hurricane Dean Came Rolling In At 4:30 This Morning

Ain't that a kick in the head
According to the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Dean hit landfall this morning near Chetumal, the capital of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. For those of you who've partied in Cancun and Cozumel on the Yucatan Peninsula, Chetumal is just south of these locales. The Category 5 Hurricane is as large as the state of Texas and is the strongest storm to hit landfall since Hurricane Andrew hit Florida. Hurricane Dean is expected to effect the entire Yucatan Peninsula from Belize to Cancun. (Photo courtesy of Broadway to Vegas)

Like the Sailor Said quote, Ain't that a hole in the boat
Luckily, despite the size of this storm most people evacuated for the storm after the government's warnings. Only seven deaths are attributed to Hurricane Dean so far-hopefully, there will only be seven. And hopefully, after crossing the Yucatan Peninsula this storm will not regain strength in the warm waters of the Gulf as Hurricane Katrina did. (Photo courtesy of CNN.com).

Mexico's state owned oil company, Petróleos Mexicanos, aka PEMEX shut down their refineries in the Gulf, but this should not effect prices here in the States as the storm will miss the Gulf refineries that the US gets a third of US Crude production. Oil is dropping for the 2nd consecutive day, (down $1.63, closing at $70.35) trading right now at $70.67.
Posted by The Bushido

Remembering Eddie Gaedel and Blackie rides the Santana-Smoltz train

On this date in 1951, Eddie Gaedel became the first dwarf to play in a major league baseball game. Do I mention this because a FOB just 6-inches shorter than the Bushido had an amazing day with his fantasy team and I am expressing my discontent of being relished back to third place in our league? Of course not, it just happened to be the sequence of the days were the same and I thought what better way to remember Eddie Gaedel than to tell his story. And as a story within a story, we can also honor the recent passing of Yankees' short-stop, Phil Rizzuto.

Fun is so good that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree
On Friday, August 17th, 1951, maverick owner of the St. Louis Browns, Bill Veeck signed all 3 feet, 7-inches and 65 pounds of a young man named Eddie Gaedel. Quite the strategist Veeck was, as even today we find that our government will take a page out of his book: if you want to slide something past the people, announce it at ten till five on Friday, most people won't notice until Monday morning. And that is what Veeck did. Knowing that the Commissioner's office would probably not agree with the contract of a dwarf in the major leagues, Veeck sent Gaedel's contract in on Friday afternoon. And practically nobody did notice Gaedel's name on the roster except for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat sports writer, Harry Mitauer, who found a tight-lipped Browns' PR department.

That Sunday as the Detroit Tigers were in town for a double-header, Veeck sent Gaedel out in between games to jump out of a paper-mache cake in tribute to the American League's 50th Anniversary and as a promo for Falstaff Brewery. The crowd had a laugh, but the folks at Falstaff weren't impressed, that was until the 3rd inning of the second game.

Wearing the number "1/8", Eddie Gaedel was sent in to pinch-hit for Frank Saucier in the 3rd inning. Despite objections, Veeck and his manager had a copy of Gaedel's contract and Eddie was allowed to "step-up" to the plate. With a strike-zone of only one and one-half inch, Gaedel was walked with four straight balls from Tiger's pitcher Bob Cain. Eddie made it to first where he was subbed for a pinch-runner, thus unable to re-enter the game. A.L. President Will Harridge voided Gaedel's contract on Monday, August 20, 1951, on grounds that Veeck was making a mockery of the game. To which Veeck responded that perhaps, Yankees' short-stop, "Phil Rizzuto was just a tall-midget and that Eddie should be allowed to play". Veeck's defense fell on deaf ears and Eddie Gaedel's MLB career was over, with an 0-0 batting average, a 1.000 SLG% and the league minimum of $100 for playing in the game.

Eddie Gaedel died of a heart attack after being mugged in Chicago in 1961. Currently, his autograph is worth more than Babe Ruth's (mainly because Gaedel didn't sign many items of memorabilia) and his number "1/8" jersey is hanging in Cooperstown. At Gaedel's funeral there was only one representative from Major League Baseball, Mr. Bob Cain, the only pitcher he faced during his career.

Even in Fantasy, you've got to be kidding me
The Blackmon Braves lost this week to the Bushido Braves in 7 categories. We tied in 1-category (Wins by a pitcher) but Blackmon's Braves won in two categories: Strike-Outs and Batting average (.245 to the Bushido's .244). You might ask, how did Blackie pull out the strike-outs after trailing by 6 Ks? Two words: Smoltz and Santana.

John Smoltz passed Phil Niekro as the all-time leader of strike-outs as a Braves' pitcher, fanning Mark Reynolds of the D-Backs in the third-inning for Smoltz' 2,913 th K, as he retired 12 batters and walked 3 for his first win since July.

Johan Santana broke the Twinkies' franchise record, previously held by Bert Blyleven's 15 Ks (August 1, 1986) against the Oakland A's with 17-strike-outs in 8-innings as the Twins beat the Rangers 1-0.

Posted by The Bushido

Fantasy Football Leagues: Which One Is Best?

I know, variety is the spice of life and with all of the Fantasy Football sites available our league is having trouble finding a home. Our friend the Google won't tell you, because every site thinks their's is the best. But the guys and I have a draft kit and we want to do a live draft. We tried CBS Sportsline for our baseball fantasy league, but realized that we all had to be logged into different computers to make it happen, which since we were all in the same room, we had to switch to Yahoo. The problem with Yahoo was that they don't update the information quickly and you sometimes are off in a lurch wondering what your standings are. (Photo of Cassie, yes another fantasy, from the Chargers cheerleading team courtesy of Chargers.com)

Need your input
Of the following which one of these do you all like the best? We want to do a live draft with up to date information of the players' stats and team stats. Also, we want to go head-to-head against one another each week. I'd like to do a salary-cap, but the others are not that hot about it. If you know of other sites (preferably free of charge) that I have missed feel free to add them in the comments section. Please leave your responses in the comments section at the bottom of the post or feel free to e-mail me at thebushidoway@gmail.com

• CBS Sportsline has football fantasy
• Sporting News has football fantasy
• ESPN has football fantasy
• Yahoo has football fantasy

Remembering the darkest day in Red Sox history

As a Red Sox fan, one know's heart-break: numerous times of being so close to winning the big game only to fall on their face and this year is no different as the Bombers continue to gain on the AL-leaders, Boston continues to slide. But in life as in baseball, and Boston nothing pulls on the heart-strings as much as when the good die young or when a youngster full of hope for the future is side-lined with a major injury, cut short from their attaining their full-potential. The darkest day the Red Sox Nation had was 40-years ago today, when Red Sox slugger Tony C's career was finished by what retrosheet.org refers to as "The Beaning". (Photo credits: Boston Dirt Dogs)

At age 21, Tony Conigliario was the youngest player in the American League to reach 100-home-runs, leading the AL in 1965 with 32 home-runs and tapped for the All-Star team in 1967. Anthony Richard Conigliario was a home-grown talent, born in Revere, Mass and reared in East Boston; the local kid who made it put rumps in the seats at Fenway ending a previous (dwindling) 9,000 attendance average. The Red Sox signed Tony C at the age of 17 for $20,000 and their investment paid off in droves as the Red Sox Nation tuned in and came to the games.

Fitting For A Greek Tragedy
The Red Sox hosted the California Angels at Fenway on August 18, 1967 facing the Angels' pitcher Jack Hamilton who was known as an aggressive pitcher who would throw inside on batters to brush them off the plate. Besides the aggressive nature of Hamilton, he was also known to throw the spit-ball, viewed as somewhat of an under-handed pitch and out-lawed in today's game.

In the bottom of the fourth-inning, with two outs, Tony C came to the plate. The first offering from Hamilton was high and inside, brushing Tony C back from the plate. As if it was fore-shadowing to the tragedy that was about to take place, someone threw a smoke-bomb onto the field. With the smoke lingering across the in-field, Hamilton's next pitch came in on Conigliario hitting the young 22-year old below the left eye, shattering his cheek bones and the orbital-bones around the eye socket, an injury that darkened Conigliario's vision later ending his career and darkened that sad day at Fenway.
Posted by The Bushido

Dice-K and Bedard Riding For The Bushido Braves!

I joined a Fantasy Baseball League this year and one of my first draft picks was the newly acquired (keeping with my Red Sox loyalty) and much hyped pitcher from Japan Daisuke Matsuzaka, aka "Dice-K". I have to say, he's lived up to the hype setting a new record by a Red Sox pitcher with 159 strike-outs. After Curt Schilling went down with injuries near the All-Star break, I picked up Eric Bedard from Baltimore. I was a bit hesitant at first because the O's had just fired their manager and weren't doing so hot. But once again, my instincts proved correct as Bedard is a strike-out machine! Photo credits of Andrew "Dice-K" from Moyamedia.com)

Breakdown:
Matsuzaka --- Bedard
13-8 --- W/L --- 12-4
3.59 --- ERA --- 3.11
159 --- K's --- 199
.240 --- Opp. BA --- .212

Stats as of August 11, 2007
Posted by The Bushido

Feed Your iPod: Breaking Benjamin's "Breath"

The Beav wanted me to share the new Breaking Benjamin video for their song, “Breath”. Here is his e-mail to the Bushido: I'm about to take a ridiculous exam. I'm getting pumped by listening to Chevelle's new one, "I Get It." Followed up with Breaking Benjamin's latest album PHOBIA, which is second to none. I just thought I'd share this with you, being as the Bushido is apparently written by a 13 year-old non-rocking, little J.T. pop music loving little girl. Here's the You-tube link for Breath by Breaking Benjamin
Pretend you bought that cup to actually protect something, p***y! --The mo'-fo’ Beav.

Glavine joins the 300 wins club

Late last night, Tom Glavine became the 23rd player in MLB to earn his 300th career win. From his first win against the Pittsburgh Pirates back in 1987, a game where he pegged a young Barry Bonds for (his signature) crouching in on the plate, to tonight's victory at Wrigley Field, Tom Glavine has demonstrated that great pitchers don't just throw 95 mph; they throw smart pitches, with lots of movement and precision placement. For Tom Terrific pitching is an art, much like the beautiful dance of a bull-fight; treating the poised batter as a worthy and respected adversary instead of a man with a stick that a pitcher needs to sneak a ball past at very high speeds. Much like other greats of the baseball, Glavine is a student of the game, but now we celebrate as the student as become a master. Congratulations Tom!

Baseball Trivia:
Not only is Glavine the 23rd pitcher to reach 300-career wins, he also joins a more elite club, becoming one of five left-handed pitchers who have reached 300-career wins.

1. Warren Spahn (Braves) 363 wins
2. Steve Carlton (Phillies) 329
3. Eddie Plank (Athletics) 326
4. Lefty Grove 300-who is most known for going 31-4 in a season during a hitter's reign of the game.
   

Posted by The Bushido. (Photo credits: Metslifers.blogspot.com)

Here is the video of Contestants #2 & #3 from the Miss September Contest Posted on You-Tube

Which was better quality? You Tube or the Imbedded version?

Big Tex Comes Home

The Atlanta Braves' GM John Schueholz announced Tuesday a seven-player trade with the Rangers that will have Southpaw pitcher Ron Mahay and Georgia Tech alum, 1st baseman Mark Teixeira (that's Tah-share-ahh, Brad & Blackie) would be doing the tomahawk chop this week; in exchange for catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and four minor league players, including infielder Elvis Andrus, right-handed pitcher Neftali Feliz, left-handed pitcher Matt Harrison and left-handed pitcher Beau Jones.

Big Tex
With two-consecutive Gold-Glove Awards, Mark Teixeira is not only an extra (switch-hitting) bat in the line-up for Atlanta; he fills a solid hole at first-base and strengthens the line-up quite possibly making this Braves batting order the most formidable line-up in baseball. Teixeira is durable as well, playing all 162 games in 2005 and 2006 and despite having missed a little more than a month this season, due to a strained left quadriceps, (I know because I have him on my Fantasy Team) Big Tex has played in 81 games. Currently batting .333 for the month, Teixeira has 90 hits in 301 at-bats, 16HRs 56 RBIs, combined with 47 walks for a .398 on-base-percentage, .548 slugging-percentage and a .299 batting-average for 2007. Big Tex went 1-4, with a home-run and 4 RBIs in his Braves debut on Wednesday (see video). Well worth his $9-million salary.

Down on the Farm
If there is one thing the Atlanta Braves have is an incredible front-office and Farm-system. As you Braves fans known, when someone is hurt "and can't work" the AFLAC of baseball fills those holes with players from Richmond (the Triple-A team for the Braves). When Brian McCann was out with injuries we saw rookie, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, advance to the Big Leagues and smack a .284 average with four homers and 12 RBIs in just 47 games for the Atlanta. Which makes the Rangers front-office the "smart-money" for catching on and picking up some players from the Braves' farm system.

Hard Decisions
I hate to see "Salty" leave the Braves and I hate to see the Braves release Julio as well, but as Brian McCann said after the addition of Teixeira, "This Team now has the makings of a National Championship season" and to get there you have to make the tough decisions. Which had I not joined a Fantasy Baseball League this year and realized you have to put aside your "team and player sympathies" and pick the best player for the spot; I would be screaming "foul" at John Schueholz for dropping Salty and Julio. And with that lesson learned, I went from last place to third, two-back from B-Rad and 12-games out of first, but Big Tex just so you know, I drafted you.
Posted by The Bushido

It's A Very Surreal Moment When You Are Just Chillin' And All Of The Sudden A Bikini Contest Begins

I swear it was the wildest thing, we're just chillin' in the back-bar at Lights (On East Bay) meeting B-Rad's new "interest" when all of the sudden they cleared the dance-floor for a Miss September contest and around the corner came some babes in bikinis. So, I said, WTF? I'll throw it on my phone and Brick's new "interest" wanted me to cheer for No. 3-which I was all about supporting. So here you go!

(Btw, I am trying out this new Blogger video here, instead of posting to You-Tube.)

Posted by The Bushido

Miss September Contest: Take 2

And here is where things got interesting...The DJ asked everyone off the dance floor (1-tyme-Fugee style) and here comes all three of the contestants for one more pass in their bikinis before the judges made their decisions. They walked off stage and the DJ played "Rump-Shaker" and we still didn't really know what was going on (i.e. who it was for, who sponsored it, etc) with this contest.

Miss September Contest in Charleston: Take 1

This is how it all began...

Contestant No. 1

Contestant No. 1 was easy on the eyes as well. She must have been at least 6' tall-6'3" with heels.

BSR: Peach Blossom Diner

If you find yourself wanting to get off the beaten path for a home-styled meal, check out the Peach Blossom Diner at the intersection of Hwy-9 and I-85, on Hospitality Road (a frontage road) just outside of Spartanburg. Blackie and I were looking for a place for lunch on Sunday before heading to the Panthers' training camp and the big man spotted tons of cars surrounding a little diner. This of course, peaked our interests.

The full-parking lot was a sign from the Gods that we were about to have stomachs just as full. The Peach Blossom Diner offers a meat and three, with a drink and dessert for a little over $8. If you are ever near Sparkle City and feel the urge, I suggest you stop at the Peach Blossom Diner.

BSR: Carolina Panthers Training Camp

Here is a clip of the Carolina Panthers on the first day of Training Camp (7-28-07) stretching out before their practice. Sorry Maake Kemoeatu for poking fun of your stretching ability in this clip. We all know you are quite limber for a 345 lb defensive tackle.

Panther Highlight Stat: Kemoeatu’s first (NFL) career-sack was against Peyton Manning at Indy on October 13, 2002 for a Colts loss of four yards.

Yo Broseph, It's Like July, You Can Lose the Toboggan!

This is a picture of "Blackie's Brother" working his magic at the Wild Wings. As much as we would have liked to play, "Your Team", there was just too much going on in the bar that night.

For the record, the air-conditioning wasn't "blasting" on Saturday night at Wild Wings and I am just not quite sure why this dude wore a toboggan. Perhaps, Christmas in July....

Say What You Will About Sparkle City

But any town with two Krispy-Kreme donut shops across the street from one another, can't be that bad of a place to live. Full disclosure: We did actually stop for the "Hot & Now" sign as it was conveniently located on Church Street between the local watering holes and our hotel.

(Photo credits: JET/Bushido Staff)

Wednesday's WTF? Lindsay Lohan is busted-again

WTF is Lindsay Lohan doing driving a car with a suspended license, whilst hopped up on alcohol-earning her second DUI in 60-days and with enough Cocaine to warrant a felony charge against her? (Read: Reloaded-just like Herbie the Love Bug) WTF do I even care? Wait, I do care because there are innocent people on the road that she could have hit and injured. So can we pass a law that if you are a wealthy celebrity with a suspended-license (not but 11-days out of re-hab) that you must have a driver transport you (especially on your vehicular chases of the mother of your assistant who just quit)?

I must admit, I was a bit "surprised" to see Lindsay Lohan as #1 on the Maxim's Hot 100 list, but as Lindsay gets just a bit more crazy, my attraction grows stronger and I am beginning to understand Maxim's line of thinking. You go girl!

(Photo credits: The SuperFicial.)

Happy Birthday to Barry Bonds!

Today is Barry Bonds' 43rd birthday. Trailing Hank Aaron's record of 755 by two-home-runs, Bonds and the Giants face the Atlanta Braves tonight. Will Bonds hit one out of the park or two to tie the record? Regardless, Bonds received an early present from Commissioner Bud Selig as Bud (taking the "high road") announced today he would follow Bonds (when possible) until he breaks the record. (Photo credit: Bloodsox)

Trivia: Who had the home-run record before Babe Ruth?
Answer: Roger Conner. Originally signed to the Troy Trojans in 1880 as a third-baseman, Conner was traded to the New York Gothams and became the first batter to hit an out of the park home-run at the (Gothams' home-stadium) Polo Grounds in New York. Conner's record was 138 home-runs until Ruth passed him, hitting almost five-times as many home-runs, holding the record until 1974. Conner would play for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1892 and was traded to the St. Louis Browns in 1894 where he finished his career. After baseball, Conner returned home to Waterbury, Conn. where he died in 1931. Roger Conner is ranked 450th on the career-home-run list.

Historical Note: The record of 122 home-runs was held by Harry (Duffield) Stover of the Worcester Ruby Legs until Conner passed him in 1895. Stover is currently ranked 529th on the career-all-time home-run list.

Stephanie Seymour turns 39!

Happy Birthday to Stephanie Seymour who turned 39 today. She captured our hearts posing for Sports Illustrated, Victoria Secrets and Playboy, then made us cry in November Rain. Ms. Seymour has modeled since the age of 16 and she is still going at it leading the Salvatore Ferragamo campaign. Happy Birthday Stephanie, you made puberty absolutely splendid! (Photo credits: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit)

Joe Simpson Father of the Year Award

If Hooters is delightfully tacky, then Joe Simpson's, Jessica Simpson's father, plans to open barbecue restaurants taking his daughter's most memorable movie role as its' name-sake (Daisy Dukes') will be anything but...how do I say it without seeming too negative towards the ex-minister? How about "delightfully disturbing how he can take advantage of his daughter". Simpson plans on opening the first restaurant in Vegas next year with waitresses wearing, (you guessed it) "Daisy Duke" cut-off jean shorts. Now for those of you who pooh-pooh'd the remarks made by Nick Lachey about his father-in-law being the major cause of the crumbling of his and Jessica's marriage, could we have a 2nd thought please? (Photo credits: Moviesonline.com/poster and webwombat.com/dance floor shot)
















In other news, Jessica Simpson revealed her new swimsuit line at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week: Miami Swim. (Photo credits: Dukes door shot: Hollywoodteenmovies.com Group swimsuit-Imnotobsessed.com)

Destination Wild Does Moab

For those of you missing out on one of the favorite shows of the Bushido's Dojo, Destination Wild with Courtney Hansen, here is a clip that I added "Lazy Eye" by the Silversun Pickups to. Oddly enough this show broad casted just as Mel and Walt made their trip to Moab for some hard-core mountain biking on the slick-rocks of Moab. More on this later.

Friday Funnies: Lilly vs. Louis C.K.'s Dumb Dog

I shot this last month when we we're building Izzy's playhouse and since I didn't have any music to it, I thought about not posting it. But one of the Bushido's favorite comedians (Louis C.K.) has his own dog drinking from the fountain, so I decided to add it. Lilly drinks it much better, so Louis C.K. can suck a bag of "dugans".

Louis C.K.'s dog

T.I. Featuring Wyclef, "You Know What It Is"

What can I say? The Bushido is a "real G, homie and you sweat me because apparently I am hot. If you want to know how much I am making just imagine a lot (thanks Goog-Ads and PPPs) and I am probably getting more than you imagine I got", but that's how I roll. And it appears so does T.I. Jimmy Kimmel had a slick joke about T.I. sitting next to T.O. at the Espy awards-"together they make the most unpopular Jackson." Add this to your iPod, great tune for when you are anchored in your boat or cruising around Charleston in your boat.

Ricky Bobby Wins An Espy Award

Here is the video of Ricky Bobby (aka Will Ferrell) accepting the Espy Award for best sports picture ever (that isn't Highlander).

(Video hosted by Trabert on You Tube)

Shef Goats Like Blackie

As Gary Sheffield continues to swing it like a samurai, the Bushido made the comment a few weeks back that perhaps he should grow out a "goatie" like Blackie. And he did. Your thoughts (as always) are welcome in the comments section. (Photo credits: Shef from Babeslovebaseball.com/ Blackie photo from SC DMV.gov)

Julio-Mojo Back For The Bravos

Have the Braves been slumping lately? Yes. Was Julio Franco cut by the Mets last week? Yes. How do we solve the problem? Bring "Rip Van-Franco" back to ATL and let the Tomahawk chop begin. With Julio in the line-up tonight, Andruw hit his 19th home-run and Julio made playing first base in the big leagues look (as Victoria Beckham would say) "Major" as the Braves beat the Cardinals 10-1. Remember earlier this week in the Team USA post when the Bushido gave you the "universal" (baseball/softball) stat that 73% of your runs are scored with 2-outs? Well, the Braves kept the stat alive by scoring 8-runs, with 2-outs tonight.
(Photo credits: Getty Images via UmpBump.com)

The Older the Berry
Some say the older the berry, the sweeter the juice. If that's the case, Franco (who turns 49 on August 23rd) is not only the oldest man in MLB history to hit a home-run, he is also a better ball player then I was at 23-which really isn't saying much. As a Braves fan, I hated it when the Bravos released Franco in 2005 because they didn't want to sign him to a two-year contract. But as the faites would have it, the Braves' front-office could mend the wounds and save a dime or two. Because not only did Julio return to ATL, the Bravos only have to pay him the pro-rated MLB minimum wage of $380,000. The Mets (ever so graciously) will pick-up the rest of Franco's tab ($1.15 million). So good news all around, unless your Scott "Mr. Slump" Thorman who is moving back to Richmond to play Triple-A ball. Welcome home Julio!

Braves Players Not Born Before Julio Franco's Major League Debut (April 23, 1982)

1. Jeff Francoeur
2. Brian McCann
3. Jarrod Saltalamacchia
4. Yunel Escobar
5. Jo-Jo Reyes
   

Bush says, "We're Making Progress"

This video is from the gang over at WeLAMTA, point being, keep your chin up America-“We’re making progress”.
Dubya’s Progress Video

Feed Your iPod: Rihanna's "Umbrella"

With four mega-hits including "S.O.S." and "Unfaithful", it is easy to see why Rihanna (link to her MySpace account) was chosen as Billboard's Female Entertainer of the Year (2006), here is her latest hit, "Umbrella" (pronounced "Omber-ella"-Editor's Note: Rihanna is from Barbados where they speak the "King's English") from her new album, Good Girls Gone Bad (In store now). Granted the Bushido Way is world-wide, but for those of you in the Holy City, this song is quite apropos for today's weather.

Anticipation of Precipitation
On a special point of interest, Rihanna ranked #8 on Maxim's Hot 100 list for this year. Considering all the smoking hot competition out there, the Bushido was glad to see her make it to the top 10, but Rihanna, you are top 5 in my book girl and "I'll always be your friend; I took an oath and will stick it out to the end." Full Disclosure: I love the naughty seductive looks Rihanna gives in this video and the Goldfinger paint job was very "Bondage". I dig the tune and if she was here today, I would have shared my "omber-ella" with her. (Photo credits: Rihanna's Myspace Account)

Rihanna's "Umbrella", featuring Jay-Z (Video hosted by JYFA)

LN Bushido Blogging: Iraq Report Card

If you find yourself discombobulated by all of the information and mis-information in the news regarding Iraq and Al-Qaeda, don't be alarmed-you are not alone, BushCo isn't on the same page, so why should you be? Btw, Tony Blow needs to go, he just might be taking the White House Press Secretary position to new lows. Dubya, come on buddy, you still have 18-months on the job, no sense slacking now.

Homeland Security is in the weeds with a gut feeling
Did anyone else think that Secretary Chertoff's comments to the board of the Chicago Tribune about Al-Qaeda sound like we're fighting weeds in the garden? "We've struck at them and degraded them, but they rebuild." The Secretary continued, "I believe we're entering a period this summer of increased risk. In last August, and in prior summers, we've had attacks against the West, which suggests that summer seems to be appealing to them. I think we do see increased activity in South Asia, so we do worry about whether they are rebuilding their capabilities." And finally, "All these things have given me kind of a gut feeling that we are in a period of increased vulnerability." (Read more at Chicago Tribune.com)

John McCain Hates Gay Sweaters

Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator, John McCain reportedly doesn’t like his v-neck sweaters (thought to make him a more warm and inviting candidate), because they look “gay”. I got your back on this one Johnny Mac, face it folks, McCain is right, the sweaters don’t look "fabulously" warm and inviting on him, but who am I to judge? I can’t pull off the v-neck with the white t-shirt underneath either. If I may Senator, suggest wearing a button-up shirt (maybe something in a checkered pattern) underneath or perhaps, shelving your sweaters all together since it is actually summer.

If you want to destroy my sweater
Instead of the appearance of sweaters, McCain should be focusing on appearance of his campaign's strength including the inner workings of his campaign after losing his two main campaign advisers: Terry Nelson (McCain’s Campaign Manager) and John Weaver (McCain’s long-time friend and senior adviser) and having less than $2-million (read: less than Texas Congressman, Ron Paul has) in his campaign chest. For crying out loud, McCain hasn't even spent any money on television ads yet! Indeed, many people might find it odd that a senator who reams against spending by the government has blown through $22 of $24 million of the campaign money raised in the first half of the year. A majority of this spending was spent on travel, consultants (who told him to wear the sweaters), rent for McCain Campaign offices in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina and paid-staffers (full disclosure: McCain did "tighten the belt" laying-off 80 of 120 paid staffers)

Pull this thread as I walk away
What Senator McCain is missing is the "maverick" attitude he had in the free-wheeling, "straight-talk-express" days of the 2000 election. After McCain cozied up to the "religious-right" he alienated his base in exchange for a weak support from the Party's base. There are so many moderate-Republicans who "don't have enough church in their life" and they are looking for a straight talking candidate who isn't in bed with the (RIP) Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson wing of the party. And to make matters worse, McCain visited Iraq (wearing a bullet-proof vest and accompanied by body guards) and returned saying that he felt just as safe as when walking the streets of Tuscon. Now, I have never been to Tuscon (but the brochures look nice) and I am quite positive you don't need body armor and a security detail to get about town.

You can't write if you can't relate (Yes, I know I am mixing my Beck and Weezer metaphors)
If Johnny Mac wants to get the Republican nomination, he needs to get on the same side of his party with Immigration and the Iraq War. Only then can he slap his turkey-neck and hang it with a pigeon-wing (err, gay sweater) to win his party's nomination.