God’s Favorite Failure

That’s a great title for something? I think I’m stealing that from the added verse in Bob Dylan’s song Visions of Johanna.

Anyway, I’ve decided that it might be fun to use this page to not only announce new posts on our content pages, but also to spread good music. Unfortunately the only way I know how to do this is to look up the song on YouTube. So if you feel like it you can watch the video for the song or just hit play and then open up a new internet explorer/Mozilla page so that you can go about your digital business while listening to quality music. In this case, I couldn’t find an actual video so there’s nothing to watch; so just listen to Bob Dylan sing Visions of Johanna off the Blonde on Blonde album, which is one of the greatest albums ever made, and open another tab to check your email. Not a bad way to start the mourning eh? Oh and just for fun, listen to the lyrics and tell me what you think they mean because for my money there is no greater lyrical expression of how love works (I’ll explain in the comment section).

New posts:

Society page – Batman or Superman; Who is the Better Super Hero? (seriously, this one better generate some debate)

Sports page – John Calipari represents what’s wrong with college basketball

Politics page – Supreme Court Justices and Your Public and Private Self

Praying to St Patrick

If you’re like me you can’t wait to drink a few pints of Guinness tomorrow. So to get in the spirit here are three clips of The Dubliners. My favorite song is Irish Rover. And if you can’t understand what they’re saying you just aren’t drunk enough. Also, there is new stuff at the Sports and Society page.

Basketball and Boneheads

You can warm up for the NCAA Tournament brackets by playing the ACC Tournament bracket at SP Sports. There’s no money on the line and I of course picked Duke to win it all so even if you barely put any thought into it, you’ve done more than I have. By the way, both the College of Charleston’s men’s and women’s teams made it to the conference championship only to lose. Tough breaks all around.

Also at the Politics page I’ve got the three video clips in which Jon Stewart derides CNBC and the whole financial ‘reporting’ racket, then responds to Jim Cramer’s response to his criticism, then responds again after Cramer went on that asinine show Mourning Joe to continue defending NBC against Stewart and rational thought.

By the way, Cramer is supposed to be a guest on The Daily Show on Thursday. Be sure to check that out.

As soon as MSNBC hired Rachel Maddow I gave up on them. So check out those videos because they are both funny and pertinent.

At Least CofC Won This Weekend

I’ve been updating the content sites, but if I don’t tell you about that on this main page it doesn’t do much good. My bad.

On SP Sports I’ve got the video of Christian Laettner hitting his last second miracle shot against Kentucky in ’92 and the new commercial they made about it. Funny stuff unless you’re a Kentucky fan. By the way, if you’re a UK fan are you not pissed about that movie Glory Road? I watched it the other day and I know Rupp was sort of racist but the movie makes him out to be the basketball equivalent of Hitler. Yikes. And overall the movie wasn’t even that good. So as a UK fan you’re faced with an average movie defaming your legendary coach. Tough break.

Also at SP Sports is my open question about how valuable Manny Ramirez is for fantasy baseball. I think he’s a top 10 pick but Yahoo and ESPN fantasy experts disagree with me. Also at some point I’ll do a recap of the Super 14 Rugby weekend (spoiler alert, the Stormers lost AGAIN).

At the Politics page I’ve just posted a clip from the Daily Show and a link to an interview done on the Daily Show. I didn’t just do this to avoid having to think of something, those two clips are worth posting. They basically rip apart the whole financial ‘journalism’ racket. Seriously, watch those clips.

At the Society page I’ve got a thing about horrible movie accents. So go read that, see the list of bad accents in movies I’ve got, add any that I’ve missed, and try to figure out the top three most egregious ones. Fun stuff.

Lastly, after a week off The Procrastinator, the e-newsletter we do with The AD Hall and anyone that we can coerce into writing something, is back. This issue has a great interview, two subpar pieces by yours truly (I think the week off threw me off my game [of course that assumes that I had any game in the first place]), a brain teaser, a thing about the President going to the Wizards game by The Chairman, an NBA poem, and a special guest column by Betsy Neely. So click here to download it in pdf format procrastinator-3-6-09 or just go to this site to view the online archives. Whatever you do give it a read because there’s something in there for everybody and we put effort into it (even it sometimes doesn’t show, haha).

And if you want to comment about it, volunteer to write something for it, or just tell us to stop emailing you leave a comment in this box or email the people on the newsletter directly.

Nerds Are the New Cool Kids

My broken figure never healed so I’m once again forced to type with my right ring and middle fingers taped together. Please forgive any typos.

At the Society page I’ve instituted The Stormy Present Book Club. I’m trying to read 12 books this year. So lets all recommend good books we’ve read so that none of us waste time or money on a book that sucks. Also the thing about whether or not public officials should voluntarily take a pay cut is under that post.

At the Politics page there is a post about the economic situation that I cannot summarize. Just take a look at it and leave your thoughts.

At SP Sports I’ve got the week 3 results for Super 14 Rugby. Below that there is a link to Bill Simmons’ article about the NBA being in financial trouble. It’s the best article he’s ever written. Enjoy.

I <3 Donna Moss

First of all I only recently figured out that the less than sign next to the three is a heart. But more importantly, when I don’t have to do anything in the mornings I watch West Wing on Bravo and even after religiously watching this show when it was still running many years ago, my crush on Donna Moss has never waivered. Why Josh didn’t date her sooner (ie before the final season) is the most unrealistic and flabbergasting aspect of the show; even more unbelievable than the rampant idealism and sanctimony.

At SP Sports you can read about the results of Super 14 Rugby’s second week of play. Hey, the Stormers won this week! Anyway, I’ve got quick snippets for every game and the current standings in that post. So check it out. Also, shortly I’ve have another College Hoops Observations.

Meanwhile, at the Politics page there is a thing about whether or not people (in general) are capable of existing without the simplicity of a black and white morality.

And if you haven’t looked at the two articles I linked too, the one on Shane Battier written by the guy who wrote Moneyball (at SP Sports) and the one written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu about America’s global reputation (at the Politics page), then I highly recommend you do so.

That Chimp is No Chump

This doesn’t deserve an entire post, but I feel the need to point this out to you.

Obviously I hope the woman attacked by her friend’s chimp gets better, but I also hope her dumbass friend who owned the chimp goes to jail. It is a wild animal, I don’t care that you feel like it was a son to you, it is meant to live in the wild and has the ability to ‘rip your face off’ as it did to the owner’s friend. Did you ever notice that usually people who own exotic pets like this are maladjusted people who don’t like living in reality? Drug dealers or frequent drug users are the most common perpetrators of this. Look dude, I just came over to listen to Dark Side of the Moon, I don’t want your tarantula crawling around and freaking me out.

Dumb asses like this buy exotic animals because they want to appear interesting. They need a hook to get people to talk to them. There was this guy in Cape Town who walked around with a parrot on his shoulder. Even though I never spoke to him, I hated this guy. What kind of idiot walks around with a parrot on his shoulder? He was just doing it to be ‘weird’ and ‘interesting’ and I guess he assumed this would aide him in starting conversations with people and therefore make friends.

The point is there is no reason to own exotic pets. Either you’re a social retard trying to use them to make friends or you claim to be an ‘animal lover’ but ignore the fact that exotic pets are often traded illicitly and snatched from their habitat and then smuggled in poor conditions to the pet store where you bought it. They are wild animals that most people don’t own for a reason, namely they can rip your face off. Leave them in the wild.

Anyway, go to SP Sports for a rundown of this week’s Super 14 Rugby games and a brief history of South African Rugby. Then at the Society page I’ve compiled a rant in the form of that silly facebook 25 random things about you.

Trey Sings the Blues

Wednesday and Sunday and Friday (my high school team [my dad is a coach] lost to their cross town rival) have me considering going to VH1’s Sober House to cure myself of my love for basketball.

Plus, if you go to SP Sports you’ll see that I’ve posted the results of Super 14 Rugby’s first weekend of games and that my Stormers lost. I wish I could quit sports.

At the Politics page there is an open question to the readers about whether or not Muammar Gaddafi’s assertion that democracy in Africa won’t work are valid. Go there and leave your answer(s) in the comment section.

Similarly, at the Society page there is another open question about which three colleges you’d attend in an ideal world. Go over and check it out, then leave your list in the comment section.

The Day of Days

Welcome to the Heavenly Hell that is the day of the DUKE v unc game. It is a day of mixed and diametrically opposed feelings. I am anxious, excited, nervous, and optimistic. This is why sports is great and why there is no other rivalry in sports or life in general that even comes close to DUKE v unc, especially when it’s at Cameron Indoor.

It’d drops some brilliant prose detailing the greatness of DUKE v unc, but I figure anyone worth their salt already knows even if they don’t fully “get it” on a spiritual level. Anywho, if Duke wins I’ll continue publishing posts at the usual rate. If Duke (I won’t even say it, but you know what I’m implying), then I’ll slip into a deep depression and probably won’t write anything until Monday. If that’s the case enjoy our most recent stuff.

At the Politics page I talk about President Obama’s Press Conference and feel free to jump in with your own thoughts. Also, this weekend marks the beginning of Super 14 Rugby so at SP Sports I’ve posted a list of all the teams and advise you to pick one to support. And a new issue of The Procrastinator is likely coming out on Friday, which as it so happens is Han Solo’s Day (not Valentines Day), so check your email for that.

So stop listening to The Fray (or is that just me) and prepare to watch USA v Mexico at 7 and then realize that you can’t fully enjoy even the best soccer rivalry because you’re breaking into cold sweats as you play out various good and bad scenarios that could occur in the DUKE v unc game at 9 (or is that just me also).

Happy reading, go well, and GO DUKE!!!

I Can’t Watch Two Things at the Same Time

Someone at US Soccer or ESPN owes me an explanation. Why is it that every year they schedule the greatest rivalry in soccer, USA v Mexico, on the same night as the greatest rivalry of all sports, Duke v unc? Is it any wonder that soccer doesn’t catch on in the US when they make scheduling decisions like this?

Anyway, Super 14 Rugby starts Friday so at SP Sports I’ve got a brief explanation of how rugby is played so that you’ll know what I’m talking about in future posts. In a couple of days I’ll do a post so you know all the teams and can pick a favorite for the season. After that there will be one arguing that you should pick the Stormers as your favorite team (or at least pick another South African team).

And at the Society page there is a piece about the myth of educational superiority in which I argue that getting an A at the College of Charleston is better than getting an A at Harvard. Enjoy this picture from a Harvard football game.