Power = infidelity more often than not
Dude, I’m tellin’ ya……….
So the media kept digging and clawing their way into Tiger Woods personal life until they got what they apparently wanted—-his marriage and reputation in shambles.
As I said the other day, I’m not a big Tiger Woods fan. But I felt the cops should be on his ass a little more regarding his car accident. And I felt the media should focus on nothing more than the accident investigation and little else. They don’t need to know where he was going when the accident occurred very early in the morning. Really, the cops don’t even need to know that information to conduct a thorough investigation of the accident.
We still don’t know where he was going.
But the media, hungry for a good shark attack since the whole Michael Jackson thing died down, went above and beyond Tiger’s intended destination that night. They surmised that the injuries to his face were actually the result of Tiger’s wife inflicting some form of spousal abuse. And in taking the next “logical” step in the media mindset, one has to wonder why Tiger’s wife would be so upset with him?
Of course the answer to that would have to be infidelity. So from there, the media analyzed his travel routines and his vacation/relaxation places and dug up a bunch of people willing to divulge Tiger’s behavior while he’s not on the golf course. We’re talking about the usual array of people willing to spill the beans for a quick shot on Extra. Your hotel employees, bartenders, professional drivers, etc. Maybe a casual acquaintance who was lucky enough to be seated at a dinner table with Tiger and other more important people. And now he’s qualified to tell you who the man keeps company with while out on the town.
Then inevitably, the skanks start coming out of the woodwork. The ones who have had an affair, a one-night stand, or even just another one of those dinners (as a guest of someone else). They now have a story to tell for the right price. These are the ones who always come out only when there’s a profit to be made off of a celebrity scandal or death.
Remember how many wives appeared when James Brown kicked it?
It reminds me of the (great) movie 2000 Miles to Graceland. The cops arrest a skinny little black dude who does an Elvis impersonation. He’s a known scammer and con artist. Obviously the fact that he does an Elvis impersonation for a living is rather comical. But in grilling the guy for information on another Elvis wannabe, they review what really happened when Elvis died. They discuss how most of his fortune was to go to his daughter Lisa Marie, although there was money set aside for any other children the King might have out there. Immediately, dozens of claims were filed. People from all over the world claiming to be offspring of Elvis to try and get a chunk of the pie.
And the skinny, little black dude says, “And naturally, I filed my claim “. Funny stuff.
That’s how it is with the women who start crawling out when the cat is out of the bag on a celeb’s infidelity. Looking for a buck. When they are on the celeb’s arm—and gravy train—the secret is safe in the vault. But when the gig is up and Entertainment Tonite is paying all skanks for an exclusive………it becomes “what secret” ?
So the media dug real deep and has upended yet another high-profile marriage. By all means, it is 100% Tiger Woods’ fault that there are chips in his marriage. If he was unfaithful, then all marital problems start with him. But the media started with a minor car accident where a man hit a tree in his own neighborhood. And now it’s a full blown circus of ex-girlfriends and spousal abuse, etc.
That’s my problem with it.
The truth is like my buddy was saying at football this past Sunday. Tiger is in that highest echelon of celebrity. The very highest. He’s where Michael Jordan was in the ’90s. Or where Magic Johnson was in the ’80s. Alex Rodriguez and his $300 million baseball contracts. They are at the top spots in their field and possess the most power among the people at their level (athlete & endorser…..but not commissioner/owner power). Madonna is another one over the last 15 years. Oprah. David Letterman is a TV icon and actually quite a power player within CBS.
What they want…..they get.
To an even higher degree than a Justin Timberlake, George Clooney, Britney Spears or a Tom Brady. Sure these people make megabucks, have adoring fans offering them adulation and sex, they can get a seat in any restaurant—-or a private room at any club……..but they are one strata lower than the icons like Tiger and MJ.
We are talking real power here. Like in the movie industry, there’s big players like Martin Scorcese, Quentin Tarantino, or Clint Eastwood . And then there are the Steven Spielbergs, the David Geffens, and the Jeffrey Katzenbergs. That’s some of the the real power players. A Tarantino is really just a little guy.
And with king-of-the-hill power comes anything you want. Any woman you want. And they are there throwing themselves at you constantly. Everywhere you go. You can go to a black-tie affair with a supermodel on your arm, and make a hot Grammy winner, a gorgeous movie star, and a Playboy centerfold all jealous. You have your pick of the litter. Go home with any one of them. Or all of them.
Infidelity is going to happen more often than not. It happens everywhere where someone has impressive influence. Look at all the congressmen and senators that have affairs. Presidential candidates like John Edwards and Gary Hart. The President himself like JFK and Bill Clinton. And every name I identified above is on the infidelity list too: Magic Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Jordan, David Letterman, and now seemingly Tiger Woods.
It takes a hell of a strong man to bypass the temptations that come along living those highest of lifestyles. Some mega-powerful icons would seem to have avoided the pitfalls like Bill Gates, Michael Eisner, and even Ted Turner.
Then again, what do we know? One or all of them may have had affairs over the years. We won’t find out until one of them is in a fender bender or gets pulled over in a strange neighborhood in the wee hours. Then the media shark attack will take place and before long we’ll know the color of their mistress’ panties and where they bought them from.
The only good thing I can see coming out of the whole Tiger Woods fiasco is that the media might just pick away until his marriage ends in divorce within a year.
At least then I can scratch the “High profile celebrity divorce” off of my Dirty Dozen prophecy list (see prior post: The Dirty Dozen). I think they would qualify. Which would be cool for me….bad for them.
Like it or not, here comes winter
Dude, I’m tellin’ ya………..
So WGN weatherman Tom Skilling says the Chicagoland area is in for some rain/snow precipitation this evening and into the night. Nothing major, but our first little taste of seeing some snowflakes hit the ground. Or at least some frozen sleet. Now normally I have a hard time believing Tom Skilling because of his damn brother. If you don’t remember him, he was a central figure in the whole Enron affair. He was one of the top officers and sleazier guys involved. And if I’m to go along with most people’s perceptions from my own personal experience, brothers don’t fall far from the tree.
At least in most people’s minds, that’s how it is. That’s what I get accused of.
My brother and I have both been accused of exhibiting a certain behavior because one of us clearly behaves that way. But ninety percent of the time, it is an ignorant assumption being made by someone and not true at all of the other (brother). Sure, my brother and I share several traits. We both like to tip a drink back now and then. We’re both rabid sports fans. And then we are radically different as well. He loves cars and engines. I hate ’em. He isn’t much of a reader. I am reading something at all times. He’s somewhat passive and reserved. I have an explosive temper. But people often assume that most everything about you is the same just because your brother has a certain quality.
So that’s how it is with me and Tom Skilling. I used to trust him and his weather forecasts. But thanks to his brother….now I’m not so sure. Society has trained me to think that way. He could be pulling a fast one ! So I looked for confirmation from another source. Someone I can really trust.
Sure enough, local FOX weathergirl Amy Freeze confirmed Skilling’s forecast.
No shit. That’s her name.
Amy Freeze.
You can verify it if you want, but she’s the real deal. Her freakin’ name is Amy Freeze. Kind of cute in her own way too. You could probably say the woman was pre-destined to be a weathergirl, huh? But she covered Skilling’s ass (lucky for him) and agreed with the forecast for rain/light snow tonite.
Which got me to thinking a little bit.
If there is one reason to be happy to be out of work at the moment, it’s to avoid the friggin’ snow. Everything else about being in-between jobs sucks. But avoiding winter cold, and traffic, and snow is a small reward.
Nothing sucks worse than when it starts snowing hard in the late morning or early afternoon while you’re at work. By the time you get out at 5pm or so, there’s six or seven inches on the ground and everything is a mess. The street lanes are covered so the new lanes are simply a game of “follow the leader”. Traffic is so backed up that every stoplight change allows for maybe 2-3 cars to get thru. You get a green light, but you can’t even advance across the intersection because the turners from the previous light could barely get out of the hot zone. You move about one block every five minutes.
Sound familiar?
There’s at least two times every single winter involving a drive home from work like that. What normally takes a person 20-25 minutes takes an hour. And God forbid if you usually have a 45-60 minute drive home. That takes 2 — 2 1/2 hours. You come out of work at 5pm and spend fifteen minutes cleaning off your car and warming it up. Then you spend two and a half hours getting home. It’s almost eight o’clock at night and you haven’t even had the post-work cocktail yet. Or taken a leak.
There’s several other nights though where it isn’t bad out at all. But there might be some heavy winds and some snow drift. So some people have to go 20 mph under the normal speed and keep hitting their brakes. I don’t particularly blame these people; in winter I’m all for extra precaution. But there are many nights where it takes you much longer to get home. Due to “those people”.
And that’s at the end of the day.
(If you park outdoors)…. Warming up the car in the morning is a pain in the balls too. And if you’re a pretty responsible person (like me) and the news is stating there will be some nasty, ugly weather in the morning……you gotta get up extra early and allow at least another half-hour to make it to work on-time. {Although there are “those people” who believe you leave at the same time every day 365/year—and if there’s foul weather, well then it’s OK to be late for work !! The perfect excuse that they’d be downright shocked if it ever got challenged. Getting up earlier in anticipation ?? Not an option !! }
I do have to be honest, though. I look forward to shoveling snow this year. I really do. I’m renting a house these days. And the last 5 years, I lived in condos or apartments. So I haven’t had to shovel in a while. And I’ve got some time on my hands here. It’ll be nice to get out and enjoy some crisp, cool air and get some exercise in. Next year, I may not be so excited about it. I’ve never loved shoveling snow in the past. Usually it’s another pain-in-the-ass part of winter. This year, I’m ready to tolerate some shoveling, though.
What I will enjoy more than anything in the next few months is sleeping in just a little bit later…..especially when I hear the wind whipping and howling outside. Hunker down under the blankets just a little bit more. Then get up and look outside and see the snow all over and the messy streets——and know that I don’t have to do a damn thing other than scour the internet for jobs and reach out to my contacts/networks. With a nice cup of hot chocolate. Jamming some music.
And then watch eight more inches of snow start falling around one in the afternoon and be really glad that I won’t be driving home in it.
Sweet.
No shit. The broad’s name is Amy Freeze. And she’s a weathergirl.
Another enjoyable Thanksgiving
Dude, I’m tellin’ ya……..
Before I get into yesterday’s relaxing (and delicious) holiday, I just have one last warning to offer you NOT TO MISS the show tomorrow night for the Dick Ourada Band. The show starts at 9pm up at the bar in the Rolling Lanes bowling alley on Joliet Road in Countryside. They usually do 3 long sets and play until the bar tells them to shut it down. The band has a terrific opener in “Big Deal” Andy Plzak and throughout the show they are joined by other guests on some of the songs. They have slide show with pics of the band and their fans that plays throughout the night.
It’s always a really good time and they always pack this bar full. So check it out and have a great night out with a bunch of Dickheads.
So how was your Thanksgiving?
Mine was pretty damn good. I’m actually still stuffed full this morning and have no desire for breakfast or doing much of anything. Just continuing to digest my meal(s) and enjoy the holiday weekend.
Like most “younger” people in the US, my Thanksgiving holiday started on Wednesday. I went to a job interview which always makes for a good day. It seemed to go well, so when I was finished in the late afternoon, I celebrated with a few cocktails at home. Some friends stopped by to toast the holiday and share some good karma. And then the Blackhawks pummeled the San Jose Sharks 7-2 which I enjoyed with a few more cocktails.
A really enjoyable Wednesday night—–safe from the police fundraising scam in the comfort of my warm, cozy house—–to start the Thanksgiving holiday.
Thanksgiving Thursday started out with my brother and I meeting up with our friend at his home to toast the day and our friendship. We’ve known each other over 25 years and we honor that bond with a few shots of Wild Turkey. We toasted my departed cousin whose hijinks I described in the Thanksgiving Memories post a few days ago. And we toasted my friend’s mom who is now 82 and still kicking ass. There were many other toasts, but you get the idea.
It was the perfect way to start the day.
Then my brother and I moved on to my sister’s home where she and her family were hosting the dinner. Her in-laws are in from Boston (where sis’ hubby is from originally). I enjoy seeing these folks. It’s funny because I get a little kick out of their hardcore Boston accent. And I’m sure they get a kick out all of our Midwest “flatlander” accents. To me, they sound like Mayor Quimby on The Simpsons. But they’re very warm, engaging people.
While we (somewhat) watched the afternoon football games with hors d’ oeuvres, there were some cool conversations about Fenway Park and going to see the Red Sox. Apparently parking around Fenway is about as expensive and as much of a hassle as it is at Wrigley Field in Chicago. They said you might have to pay as much as $50 to park anywhere in the close proximity. That’s even worse than Wrigleyville. I have a parking lot I have found about 4 blocks from the stadium with very orderly parking for $15. And every time I leave, you can get out of the small lot in seconds and be back on Lake Shore Drive.
So it was very interesting to hear about Fenway and the area around it like Beacon Street and some of the confusing cross-streets around the ballpark like Commonwealth.
My parents phoned in from Vegas to chat with everyone there and we all took turns passing the phone around. They were having dinner with some neighbor friends of theirs and watching football. Did some good-natured bragging about the nice weather out in Nevada as they usually do.
Eventually, we sat down to a (as usual) wonderful feast that my sister and her whole family contributed too. Her mother-in-law baked two traditional apple pies to go with the customary pumpkin. My brother-in-law made a tasty parsnip side dish and carved the turkey. My sister had prepared a small salad for everyone to begin with that included butternut squash and chunks of blue cheese.
She makes a veggie dish that is rather simple actually, but the family has loved it for years. I believe my mother introduced it a long time ago. But we have collectively come to call it “fantastic veggies”. It’s really a simple mix of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots cooked into one of those big-ass blocks of Velveeta cheese. There might be an element of milk, sour cream or cream cheese or some other ingredient. I have no idea. But I asked my sister to make two of the cheesy casseroles because we always demolish it and I always find myself wanting more.
And it’s also one of those dishes that men-folk love, but only seems to make one appearance per year. You know what I mean, guys. I think I can speak for all men here (right now, most men are taking a hard GULP ! )……….women seem do this to us on purpose. They have a wonderful recipe. A real treat that we just love and look forward to. And it only seems to get made when they need to bring a dish to a social club meeting or a relative’s house. Only then do their own men get to partake and enjoy her wonderful cooking of this special dish.
Guys, can I get a “Hell yeah !!! ” on that one?
But my sister honored my request from earlier in the week and made two of these fantastic veggie casseroles. I have a heaping serving in my fridge with all of the other leftovers I brought home with me. Thanks, sis.
After the meal, we retired to the family room to let our bellies rest. A few cold beers, some music, more warm conversation and lots of laughs, memories of holidays past……….
It was a wonderful Thanksgiving and as I said at the dinner table…..(like many families, we go around the table and identify something we are very grateful for)…….
I’m just thankful I have a cool sister with a big, loving family and a warm, inviting home to go to on Thanksgiving. She does 90% of the work, although her husband and kids all really enjoy making a contribution (dish) to the meal. They let my brother and I drink and watch our beloved football—as long as we’re social at the same time. Without them and their love and hospitality, I’d have few places to go on Thanksgiving.
I hope your holiday was as enjoyable and fattening as mine was.
See you at the Dick Ourada show tomorrow night !!!
It’s a big party night & a big fundraiser night too
Dude, I’m tellin’ ya……….
Tomorrow night, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, is now widely acknowledged as perhaps the most popular night of the year for people to go out. I first heard this in the early ’90s when I was a regular on the bar/party scene. I didn’t hear it so much when I first starting going to bars in the late ’80s. But by the time I was in my early-mid twenties, people were saying this more and more.
It’s not hard to see why it is a popular night for somewhat younger people to go out and let their hair down. Basically, most people with jobs are off the next day. You can sleep in a little bit. Unless you are hosting the family gathering on Thanksgiving, the biggest expectation on you Thursday is to eat like a pig and be merry. Of course, if you are hosting the big day, well….that’s a little different. But if you are just expected to show up at someone’s house with a bottle of wine and an appetite (like me), then it’s easy to see why Wednesday night is such a busy social scene.
It has surpassed New Year’s Eve, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, and Super Bowl Sunday on the party scale. According to reports.
The NFL has missed the boat for over three decades by not changing the Super Bowl to Saturday night. Scheduled on Sunday afternoons like it is now, everyone has to work the next day. Parties break up as soon as the final tick of the clock happens. If the game is a blowout and sucks, some parties start to dwindle even sooner. And even with the game on Sunday afternoon, look how big of an event it is. Imagine the bar parties and the house parties if it were on a Saturday night? They would continue going long after the game ends.
But the NFL is kind of dumb that way. So it’s probably not even being considered.
I also wonder why July 3rd hasn’t grown to be a huge party night too. Basically everyone is off the next day for that holiday too. At most, you have to strike up the BBQ and take the kids to a fireworks show the next day. Or even easier, replace the bottle of wine with a case of beer and go to someone else’s BBQ !! Like me.
But back to the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. I myself very rarely go out on these kind of days. Haven’t been out on St. Patty’s Day in years. And I’m staying in Wednesday night as well.
One of my closest buddies really put it in perspective a long time ago when he started staying in on nights like this. We all partied pretty hard back then. I’m talking real hard. One week for us was a whole year of the craziest nights out for many people. We were in our 20’s. We’d go out 4-5 nights a week and chase women. Tie one on. Maybe smoke some funny things. Get into fights and get banned from the local bars. And on weekend afternoons, we might be up at the forest preserve having a softball game and grilling some food with a keg of beer.
As my friend put it…..”Dude, nights like the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and St. Patrick’s Day are for lightweights and amateurs. People that go out a half-dozen times a year gotta go out on nights like that. The bars are over-crowded. It sucks. They go out five times a year and party like rock stars. At least they think they are. Listen, we party like rock stars six days a week. And we still get up at the crack of dawn and go to work the next day. These people are amateur hour. Then they hit the road all drunk cuz they’re not used to it. And then the cops come out and have a field day with all of the idiots out there.”
What he said made so much sense that I immediately stopped going out on most nights like that. The boys and I had a lot more secret incomes and scams to hide back then and sure didn’t need any extra attention. For the most part, we tried to fly under the radar. So many of us stopped feeling it was mandatory to be out on those “special” nights.
Probably the most important thing in his philosophy is the end part. It is one of the biggest fundraising nights for suburban police forces and their communities. They are licking their chops. Can anyone say roadblocks? Can anyone say quota?
Remember what George Carlin said about bullshit. I mentioned it once before. The police are NOT your friend. They are NOT there to help you. They are out to get you. They are not to be trusted. The chief function of suburban cops is to raise funds for the community coffers. And boy, do they love nights like the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Watch out. Beware. Be very, very careful. I can’t stress it enough. Of course you should be careful and respectful of the law just out of respect for your fellow man and society’s rules. But the police don’t follow the rules. They are there to fill a quota and maximize profits for the evening. Like a corporation. In our laughable court system, they are the judge, jury, and executioner right there on the side of the road. When that red light goes on behind you——you are guilty. The truth doesn’t matter. Facts do not matter. You will be making a contribution to that suburb’s community chest. Remember that.
So if you are going out Wednesday night, have fun. Enjoy yourself. It’s been a tough year for all of us. But use your head. Take a cab. Carpool with some friends and do the designated driver thing. Drink responsibly. But most of all…….I implore you…….
…don’t give the glorified meter readers that make up suburban police forces the satisfaction of throwing a hand grenade in your life.
Cuz they’ll do it and laugh among themselves as they process you.
Seen it happen.
Memories of Thanksgiving
Dude, I’m tellin’ ya………..
So Thanksgiving is just a few days away now. I haven’t really mentioned it much, but I like Thanksgiving as much as the next guy. Hanging out with the family, a huge meal, football all day. Having the day off work if you still have a job these days. The whole nine yards.
I actually had a period where Thanksgiving wasn’t that much of a highlight simply because of work. As a 16-18 year old working jobs at gas stations, liquor stores, and the like, I had to work on Thanksgiving every year; at least for a four hour shift or so until the business closed for the day. And then as a young adult, I worked in the retail industry and God forbid you miss Black Friday. It was always ‘all hands on deck’ in retail. Depending on the nature of the job—like when I was in a high stress lending/collection office—-Thanksgiving couldn’t really even be thoroughly enjoyed. The notion of having to go in the next morning and make the same harassing phone calls to people who had the day off themselves took much of the pleasure out of the holiday.
Any time off from that job was a chance for peace and quiet. A chance to clear your head and have some alone time. It was tough to socialize properly being so mentally worn down. I just wanted to lay on the couch and watch football.
Actually, I still just wanna do that on Thanksgiving.
But the socializing, and the playing cards or a board game with the rest of the family is right up there at the top again.
My fondest memories, like many people, are the Thanksgivings of my youth. You were off school for the holiday and Friday at a minimum. So it was a four day weekend and none of us yet had the pressures and stress of adulthood. When we were adolescents, my brother and I would go in my grandma’s backyard and try to kick field goals before the games came on TV. She had electrical lines or something hanging at a nice height over her yard and we would use that as the cross bar. Bro was always better than me at it. He was older too. Maybe that had something to do with it.
Then we’d have the great feast with me, bro, and our two cousins sitting at the “kid’s table”. That was fine, though. Back then, you didn’t want to be in on the adult conversations about work or money problems. The rest of the afternoon was filled in with pro football on TV. And then at night came the turkey sandwiches and we’d all play the card game Screw Your Neighbor. Sometimes it was a different game. Grandma seemed to have about a thousand of ’em.
Grandpa was quite the character too. Had some eccentricities about him—that’s for sure. He deserves his own post sometime down the road.
Once we got to be teenagers, bro and I were more inclined to sneak alcoholic drinks rather than practice field goals. We were pretty successful because no one was really expecting anything the first few years and weren’t paying us a lot of attention. Then when they started catching on, my older cousin would get blamed every year for feeding us the drinks. He never really did at all. But he was a heavy drinker and the partier of the younger family. So he’d get yelled at and lectured by Grandma. It was hilarious, really.
Cousin Bill had a pretty good sense of humor though, and shook it all off as soon as he escaped back to the living room and football. He’d laugh and imitate Grandma. Plus, he was usually half-loaded himself already. Before he passed away a few years ago, he used to love recalling the look of astonishment on Grandma’s face when she discovered the fifth of tequila she had bought for him (for the entire day) was gone about 2 hours after his arrival. He’d imitate her shocked, grandmotherly voice, “You mean you drank that whole bottle already ?? Oh my Lord ! ”
He’d crack himself up recollecting it every time. And then he’d usually admonish me (and bro if he was around) for “always getting him in trouble with our own drinking“. He’d say, “Oh yeah….you guys think it’s funny. I got yelled at every year.”
One of the more memorable Thanksgiving traditions had to do with cousin Bill and the piece-of-shit cars he always drove. Me, my brother, and our cousin Mike (Bill’s kid brother) would already be at Grandma’s house. And if you happened to hear a car muffler backfire or an M-80 fircracker go off, one of us would always say, “Bill’s here !!! ”
Cracked us up. Ten minutes later there’d be another backfire and he really would be pulling in. We’d go to the front door and look at what he was driving and laugh our balls off. He’d get out of the car and ask, “What’s so funny? ”
Now my folks are retired in another state. My mom is now the Grandma of the stories for my nieces and nephews. They come in about every-other-year for the winter holidays. We gather at my sister’s home and she does 75% of the work. We play beer pong and air hockey in the basement before dinner. And afterwards we usually play a new board game that’s popular.
But we still get in all of the football. Don’t think for a minute bro and I would miss that.
One of my greatest Thanksgiving memories ever is when I was 10 years old in 1980. The Bears were playing the Detroit Lions as they were wont to do almost every year on Thanksgiving. The game went into overtime and a little-known player named David Williams ran the overtime kickoff all the way back for the Bears. Game over.
I think that was one of the happiest I’ve ever seen my dad in my entire life.
Then we went to Grandma’s and stuffed our faces.
Have an awesome Thanksgiving with your family and friends everyone !
Russell one of the best Survivor players ever
Dude, I’m tellin’ ya……..
Last night was yet another sweet episode of Survivor. It’s really heating up now. We’ve finally reached the point where the original tribe members (on each side) are starting to think for themselves. They aren’t necessarily going to vote with their original alliance–like Shambo initiated last week. She wasn’t completely exposed as jumping ship though, thanks to the playing of the idol by Russell.
So Thursday’s episode opened with the tribe members returning to camp from the shocking Tribal Council (aired last week). Russell received some congratualtions from many people on his craftines and the shock value of what he did. Then in a personal aside, Laura said, “We should have known the way he sneaks around camp all the time…”
Yeah, no shit. You actually did know. Cutie pie Monica tried to warn you morons. But you wouldn’t even give credence to the idea that Russell could find another idol without a clue. Later, Laura would say some more things that show her to be the narrow minded idiot that she is. And to my small disappoinment, Monica didn’t even express any frustration with any of her tribemates on being stifled about Russell. In fact, she went right back to her blind allegiance to her original tribe. She tried to put a plan in place later to protect Laura from being voted out. I’m a little disappointed in her for being a law student (you assume she’s pretty clever) and being led around the way she allows herself.
She’s still damn cute running around in that teeny, tiny bikini, though.
Somewhat related to that, was that some sort of freakin’ flexibility that Natalie showed in that reward challenge? She must have some damn strong leg muscles to hang on to that swinging gurney the way she did. It’s like she’s got the GI JOE kung-fu grip going on there. Maybe she has a bedroom trapeze back at home or something. But kudos to her and that effort !
After the reward feast in which Russell and the others present were given a clue to the new hidden idol, a comical scene ensued back at camp. Dave tried to follow Russell around looking for the idol. So Russell started running thru the woods to lose him. Eventually, he did. And the nervousness in Dave’s voice was classic when he screamed to Laura, “I lost him !! “
To me, Russell established himself as one of the best players in Survivor history when he found the immunity idol for the third time this season. That’s three idols with a total of one clue. He just got a good, solid meal in him, he’s got Shambo eating out of his hand, and he’s holding yet another ace up his sleeve now. You have to hand it to this guy.
Ya know, one thing kept repeating itself in my head during the last half of the show. One guy seemed a lot more prominent than he has in all the weeks up to now. Where the hell did this guy Brett come from? Talk about flying under the radar for three weeks out there ! Now that the show is down to nine people, obviously he is getting more face time. But when he first said something in last night’s episode, I was like, “Who the hell is that?”
When Mick ended up winning immunity in the individual challenge, the camp maneuvering started to lean toward Russell (as always) and Laura (for the Foa Foa foursome and Shambo). But eventually, the one alliance turned their attention to Natalie instead of Russell. They were hoping to once again flush out the idol if Russell had found it. But the failed ruse by Monica and company to get Foa Foa to vote for John took most of the pressure off of Russell. He no longer felt like he had to play the idol to protect himself. He knew a tie was imminent. And his group seemed to have a strategy to offset the tie. At least they hoped.
And that’s exactly how it worked. After the first vote, there was a 5-5 tie between Laura and Natalie. And in the second vote, John ended up flipping to the Foa Foa/Shambo alliance. The look on Laura and her three remaining cohorts was priceless. That’s three priceless reactions in three weeks. Awesome.
And being the brainless idiot that she is, Laura made me laugh out loud with her closing comments at the end of the show. She is still absolutely oblivious as to why she is gone. She has no clue that she is a conniving bitch. A weak-minded conniving bitch at that. Her voting strategies and attitude have been that of a child. But in the end, she said, “I know there are two reasons that I am out of this game. Number one is that Shambo has had it out for me since the beginning. And number two is that I am such a physical threat. I now know that winning the first two individual immunity challenges wasn’t the best idea.”
Hey clueless !! You weren’t voted out because you won two immunities and are being viewed as a physical threat. If you hadn’t won either of those immunites, you’d already be gone !! You are so freakin’ lucky that you won them. Don’t get me wrong……you earned those victories. But you were lucky to earn them because they saved your sorry hide both times. You were voted out because you are one of those poisonous presences around camp with a bitchy attitude. Quite simply, you are not fun to be around.
In the clips for next week, I gathered that there is yet another all-out assault ready to happen on Russell. It even looked like Natalie and Jaison are ready to get on-board. But I don’t think Russell has shared the fact that he has another idol with anyone yet. So it looks like another entertaining episode next week.
Woooot !
I don’t mean to ‘diss these Bulls
Dude, I’m tellin’ ya……….
It really just dawned on me last night that so far this season, I really hadn’t talked about the Chicago Bulls at all.
I did make a prediction about them in my Dirty Dozen prophecies. I said they will be 43-39 at the very best this year. They are actually more of a .500 team or a 42-40 team. So I figured 43-39 at best. They will make the playoffs, but by no means will there be a long postseason run. Or the thrills and excitement of last year’s playoff surprise. I see them making the playoffs and losing in the first round, or getting run out of the second round in quick fashion.
That’s not to say that I don’t like the Bulls. Not at all. I’m a big Bulls fan. Was a fan before Michael Jordan ever set foot in Chicago. I just keep my expectations of sports teams realistic. I have to keep an unbiased outlook on team and player potential if I am going to make any money playing in my fantasy leagues. All fantasy players who stock up with individual players from their favorite team usually don’t fare too well. Unless their favorite team is the friggin’ New York Yankees. You have to have a discipline in truly assessing a player or a team on their skill and merit.
And in maintaining such a discipline, you can’t have unrealistic, grandiose expectations about your local teams (or your favorite out-of-town teams) overall talent. If you have this discipline, you are not like a die-hard Cubs fan who firmly and sincerely believes every season that the team has “a great shot at the World Series“. They don’t. No team does. {Except maybe those damn Yankees}.
I don’t want to start a whole WhiteSox fans / Cubs fans type of argument here. I’m just saying that Cubs fans have a wonderfully optimistic view of the team as each season nears…..but serious, realistic, stat-crunching, successful fantasy-playing fans know that those Cub expectations are usually bunk. Same as they are for Sox fans who think the same about their squad. It is bunk just based on looking at the lineup from 1-8, or on the starting rotation, or the bullpen, etc. Not from any dislike of the Cubs. Or the Sox.
And that’s how I view the Bulls this year. Very realistically from a personnel standpoint.
I’m a huge Derrick Rose fan. I’ve always been a pretty good fan of high school basketball. And I watched him play on TV while winning the back-to-back state titles with Simeon. After the first title Derrick’s junior year, I told my father to watch for this kid’s name for years to come. That he would be a college and NBA star like one of my favorite little players ever, Rod Strickland (of DePaul). See, my dad retired out to Vegas some years ago and he misses Chicago sports very badly. He used to watch the high school state tournament for years. So I have tried to keep him up-to-speed since he moved.
So when Simeon won the state title Derrick’s junior year, I told my dad all about their star player. I said keep your ears open for this kid’s name. When Simeon won the state title in Rose’s senior season in what was an easy tournament for them, Rose was now a well-known commodity. He went to college at Memphis for one, single season and led them to the championship game. I’ve been following him since he was about 16 or 17 thanks to the fact he was a local boy. So I’ve always been a big fan of his.
With Rose leading the way, these Bulls would be the best young team with the brightest future in Chicago—-if not for those awesome Blackhawks. But we are one of the youngest teams in the league. Joakim Noah, Tyrus Thomas, Rose, Luol Deng……all pretty young. I was hoping we would pick up a really good player to take the departed Ben Gordon’s place on the roster. I mean, if Gordon was making 6.4 million last year or even just 5 million (I have no idea what he made)……I always expect a team to pick up a player in the same salary range to replace the departed one. That didn’t happen with these Bulls.
However, in this past off-season, I’m completely willing to let that slide. Next year is perhaps the best class of NBA free agents in the history of the league. So if the Bulls not picking up a solid player this year means we can land a Dwayne Wade next year, I’ll take it !!
But that did mean we were heading into this season with the same roster as last year—-minus Ben Gordon. Instead of a new talent, we have a more seasoned Rose in his second year + a healthy Luol Deng, who was mostly a non-contributor last year.
Which all adds up to a 42-40 season. Or a 43-39 at the very best. It is a nice group of players with the ones I’ve already mentioned plus John Salmons and Kirk Hinrich. They hustle. They play defense. They’re fun to watch on most nights. So far, they are 6-4 this year as they play the LA Lakers tonite. But there are many teams better than them. Talent-wise.
Now next year…..if we were to take our extra salary-cap money (from not giving a mint to Ben Gordon) and add Dwayne Wade to the backcourt with Rose entering his 3rd season in the NBA…….then we might really be looking at something special.
But this year, just enjoy the team’s good nights and be happy with a .500 record.
After all, it’s better than the Bears are going to give ya.
Just to keep you updated on things……
Dude, I’m tellin’ ya……….
Figured it’s been a couple of weeks since I took a look back at some of the posts/events in the news and brought us all up to speed.
The Blackhawks, the best sports team in Chicago {See 10/1/09 post: Puck drops at 11AM } as I proclaimed them just before the season opener, are looking awesome at 12-5-2. I know…..that wasn’t the most ballsy proclamation to make. Most rabid Chicago sports fans were in agreement when I said it. But there’s still a lot of Chicagoans who aren’t down with hockey. And there were some blurry eyed Bears fans who thought we secured a deep postseason run with Jay Cutler on board. So give me a tiny, little dab of credit. It was news to a few snoozers.
The Hawks keep chugging along and seem to really be hitting a stride. I was at the game last Wednesday night when they won in a shootout. It was the first win in what is now a 4 game winning streak. They’re 2-0 when I’ve attended the game this year. So send me your tickets, people. And they are still doing it without mega free agent Marian Hossa. He’s due back within a week or possibly even a matter of days. On the TV news yesterday, they announced that the Hawks are in deep negotiations to sign new deals with Jonathan Kane, Patrick Toews, and Brent Seabrook.
Everything is going good with Cold Steel on Ice.
What else is happening?? Oh…….I checked again and just like the last updates on 11/2, balloon-boy daddy Richard Henne is still a Grade A Asshole. {See 10/27/09 post: Asshole of the Month } I’m watching the news carefully for any late contenders for this month’s award. Keep an eye out in the coming 10 days for this month’s lucky winner. Who will it be ??
Absolutely do not forget about the Dick Ourada Band holiday show spectacular !!!!! {See 10/15/09 post: DOB ready to rock out } It’s less than two weeks away. Get that babysitter lined up already for Chrissakes. He plays the Saturday right after Thanksgiving. Here is the info if you lost it:
Dick Ourada Band holiday extravaganza
Saturday, November 28, 2009 9PM
Rolling Lanes Bowling Alley (Bar)
Joliet Road Countryside, Illinois
I talked to band leader Dick O recently and he’s fired up. He’s figuring to see a lot of Dickheads out that night.
On a really good note, I haven’t been ripped off (to my knowledge) in recent days. {See 11/12/09 post: Stop ripping me off } I actually thought they got me at Arby’s the other day. I used a coupon for 3 Beef N Cheddars for $5. And I did check the bag before I pulled away from the drive-thru window. Sure enough, there were three sandwiches. So I went home to eat them and got 90% of the way thru the first one when I realized all I tasted was regular Arbys sauce. I lifted the remaining bun up a little bit and all you could see was red sauce.
So I figured they dropped the ball and gave me regular roast beef sandwiches and not Beef N Cheddars. BUT I WAS DEAD WRONG. I admit it completely. Just to give them the benefit of the doubt, I lifted the whole bun up on the second sandwich. And there it was. The smallest freakin’ dopple of cheddar cheese sauce you can caress out of a squeeze bottle. It wouldn’t have completely covered a quarter ( $.25 ) laying in the center of the sandwich. It wouldn’t cover your belly button. It was the size of a thumbnail. But it was there.
I was wrong. I wasn’t ripped off…..Not really….Well, sort of…..But not as bad as I thought I had.
Kind of.
None of my dead-serious predictions have come true just yet {See 11/05/09 post: The Dirty Dozen }. Although it’s only been two weeks since I made them. But as we discussed, the Blackhawks are looking good so far on that Conference Finals prediction. And with their thrilling last second touchdown to win Sunday night’s national TV game, the Colts stayed undefeated in football. So they’re still looking like a nice bet for the Super Bowl.
The other more long-term predictions are obviously too early to produce yet. But there were rumors of Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas and her hubby Josh Duhamel and infidelity this past few weeks. Could a Hollywood split be in the works? Well, even if those two did split up, it wouldn’t count as a correct prediction for me on the high-profile celebrity divorce. They’re not high-profile enough. So it wouldn’t count. I’m talking about a couple much bigger than them.
Finally, there’s news out of Australia that Hulk Hogan got worked over and beat to a bloody mess by one of my all-time heroes, Ric Flair. And supposedly it is legitimate !! {See 11/3/09 post: You Wrote a Book } I’m not buying that for a second. But allegedly it was a media event to kickstart a “reunion tour” wherein Hogan and Flair will do a series of wrestling matches as the biggest icons of the 80s and 90s. Reports are that Flair and Hogan started making real remarks to each other about their marraige woes. It escalated and eventually Flair attacked Hogan and beat him good. Reporters said they suffered damaged equipment and near-injury when Flair threw a table into the assembled media.
For the love of God, people……..buy this man’s book already !! Maybe he’ll go away then. It can’t be more than $5 in the discount rack if Sarah Palin’s book is already there. Just buy the damn book and maybe the Hulkster will slink away once and for all. Please. I beg of you.
So that’s about it as far as updates go. We’ll check back in a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving, after the Dick Ourada show, after we have a new Asshole of the Month……..and we’ll see how my Blackhawks are faring then too.