Musings in Search of a Muse

As if anyone really cares, I've started posting my opinions elsewhere. The latest venue for my "jack-acid" prose is the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), particularly the entry for the game show "Deal or No Deal." Hopefully my opinions will help someone somewhere sometime, but I have to admit a selfish reason: I like writing.

When rumors first spread about an iTunes phone I immediately thought about a device much like the one pictured at left. The touch pad was smaller and closer to the hinge to allow for a phone keypad, but essentially this was it.

The reality of the Rokr phone was exciting in its own right and I rather liked it despite the lack of an iPod-like touchpad. Now there is a 2^nd generation device, the Motorola Slvr, and the touchpad is still missing though the design is much cooler.

Touchpad aside, neither phone has the same ... oh, what's the word? ... ambiance, feel, heft, whatever ... that makes an iPod and iPod. The designs pictured here (and here) are more like I imagined. The odds that we will see a phone along these lines are pretty good, I'd say. It is just a matter of time and commitment. Apple would need a fair economic investment, to be sure, but more so they would need an acceleration of their already unique corporate culture. I'm willing to wait.

Google Video now features some historic movies from the National Archives & Records Administration (NARA) like the Apollo 11 documentary (pictured below), newsreels, and more. It has been a long time coming for content like this on the Internet. By necessity commercialism has thus far driven the growth of the 'Net and its related technologies but now costs are such that quality educational content is now available for free.



A warning to parents: It appears that Google doesn't filter content. An X-rated video was on the same page with a NASA video when I looked through the "popular" selections.

Don Knotts, TV's Lovable Nerd, Dies at 81 - Yahoo! News: "Don Knotts, the skinny, lovable nerd who kept generations of television audiences laughing as bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on 'The Andy Griffith Show,' has died. He was 81."

Normally I'm annoyed when an actor gets stuck in playing the same character over and over. Mr. Knotts would, at first, seem to be the epitome of this. However, only a particular mannerism -- exaggerated nervousness -- is the only trait Knotts brings from character to character. Whether he is seen in his most famous role, Deputy Barney Fife from The Andy Griffith Show, his appearances on The Steve Allen Show, or taking the lead in The Incredible Mr. Limpet, Knotts created distinct personalities.

A world without Mr. Knotts makes me nervous, and not comically. Actors of this quality are always needed but more so in today's culture. Honest, wholesome comedy wanes as stars like Mr. Knotts pass. You will be missed, sir.

For your consideration in the upcoming presidential elections, the first Democrat that I have liked in a long time: Bill Richardson. "He has served as a Congressman, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, and U.S. Secretary of Energy; he is presently the Governor of New Mexico. He was also chairman of the 2004 Democratic National Convention that nominated John Kerry for the presidency" (Wikipedia).

For some time I have had the impression that he is a man of integrity, a rarity in politics, to be sure. And from his resume I would say he has the qualifications. All this puts him on my short list of people I would like to see in the race. The only card not in play is religion. To date I have not heard any of his views.

Long have I said that only economic need will spur development of alternative energy sources.

"Can fungi trim the gasoline habit?" Souped-up microscopic fungi could help cut the U.S. gasoline habit by converting a billion tons of agricultural waste into domestic fuel, while also slashing greenhouse gas emissions. As if that isn't enough, the concept has the blessing of the president -- an ex-oilman (Yahoo! News).

It is welcome news to hear that the petrol paradigm is changing. And it is about time that America takes the driver's seat on the issue. Remember the oil crisis of the 1970s? Fuel sipping automobiles were far from the norm at the time but the Japanese auto industry boomed when gasoline prices soared as American manufacturers were caught with their efficiencies down. Thirty-five years later Japan again leads with hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles. By rethinking from the fuel on outward America has the opportunity to do what our cultural genetics show we do best: innovate. Bring back the spirit of Edison, Bell, and the Wrights!!

The winner in the Apple iTunes Billion Songs download contest is Alex Ostrovsky with his 12:30 am (local time) purchase of Cold Play's "Speed of Sound" track. Hopefully, other school-age youth won't see this as justification for staying up late on a school night.

News of this feat is slow to hit the Web, it seems, and at the time of this post the best story is from Webpronews.com (click here).

After I learned of the contest I didn't download a greater number of tracks than usual and only twice did I try to time my purchases with the countdown window from iTunes. During that period I bought just 0.000000007 of the total numbe of songs Apple sold to the point of Alex's purchase (if I did my math right ... its been a while since I've been in high school).

Some new shirts and goodies from CafePress are really funny (see picture at right). Makes me wish I came across the ideas myself. Sadly, only older folks and political junkies will get the Kennedy reference. But that's the life of political scandals.

Cheney's bad aim isn't a political scandal, though, just a pending footnote in a yet to be written biography or two and some awkward memories for a couple families. So can we drop it now?

But here's a chance for me to ask all those thinking of running for the White House in the next election to not degrade the process and office with tasteless appearances on cheesy television talk shows and late night comedy programs.

Think of it as a jobs program. The fewer appearances are made on such shows the more struggling comedians can work. Sure, that would be just a minor boost to the economy, but it would be a start. More to the point, not repeating last election's escapades might help the public concentrate on important issues and rebuild confidence in government.

Have you been following this news story?

Arab Co., White House Had Secret Agreement - Yahoo! News: "The Bush administration secretly required a company in the United Arab Emirates to cooperate with future U.S. investigations before approving its takeover of operations at six American ports, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. It chose not to impose other, routine restrictions.
As part of the $6.8 billion purchase, state-owned Dubai Ports World agreed to reveal records on demand about 'foreign operational direction' of its business at U.S. ports, the documents said. Those records broadly include details about the design, maintenance or operation of ports and equipment.

The administration did not require Dubai Ports to keep copies of business records on U.S. soil, where they would be subject to court orders. It also did not require the company to designate an American citizen to accommodate U.S. government requests. Outside legal experts said such obligations are routinely attached to U.S. approvals of foreign sales in other industries."

Another report I read today indicated that Mr. Bush knew nothing about the deal before he saw it on TV news. I might be able to buy that idea, but someone with the ear of the president knew about it and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Mr. Cheney knew all about it.

Remember my motto: Vote Da Bums Out!!

Thanks to BBC NEWS I have my favorite headline of the year (so far):

"Can we have our balls back, please?"

But, it is a good story about how easy it is for corporations to lose their souls.

"All over the west coast of America, giant orange balls have been disappearing.

The so-called '76 Balls' are the distinctive signs of Union 76 petrol stations, but the historic spheres are under threat, prompting a web-based plea for their preservation reminiscent of the effort to save London's double-decker Routemaster buses.

The www.savethe76ball.com campaign, brainchild of Los Angeles-based bloggers Kim Cooper and Nathan Marsak, criticises ConocoPhillips, the new Texan owners of the Union 76 gas stations, for removing the iconic spheres and replacing them with more conservative flat signs."

Women are quick to point out that men are easily amused by the smallest things. Men may not readily admit that, but just from our behavior you know it is true. I'll admit it, though, and freely offer the photographic proof at left. A poorly aimed balled-up sock intended for the laundry basket pictured through the doorway here missed but got a 3-pointer on the doorknob. It went on more smoothly than it went on my foot this morning. Yes!!

Every day I pull up Yahoo! News, BBC News, and other sources just to see more headlines that another group of Muslims have protested or rioted and injured or killed someone because of some editorial cartoons published over a year ago in an obscure newspaper from tiny Denmark.

A couple Muslims saw the cartoons and notified a newspaper in Egypt which promptly published the exact same cartoons. No reaction. The same men then started spreading the cartoons across the Middle East and reaction was still minimal. Then a few other newspapers in Europe decided to cover the story of the, well, lack of story.

Then events started to move because the same men who "told the world" of the blasphemy perpetrated a year earlier had become rampant hatred.

Okay, that last sentence isn't exactly the truth, but anyone who has played the "telephone" game as a kid knows that information become distorted the more it is repeated, especially over distance, of only from omission. For example, one of the men who created a briefing book about the first publication of the cartoons to notify the Egyptian press was recently interviewed on NPR's morning program where he repeated dodged the question that some of the cartoons he circulated had been manipulated or outright falsified to create a more lurid image of events. Can I assume something from this? Certainly. And without direct quotation or citation (you will note that nothing in this post has been cited yet) the mere facts of the event can be interpreted with quite some latitude.

Clearly this is getting out of hand to the extent that I didn't even bother to find out which American newspaper from somewhere west of the Mississippi River recently published the cartoons as rioters had already started attacking American embassies and citizens at least a week prior. Nor did I even wonder why Saudi embassies haven't been attacked despite a newspaper in that nation publishing copies of the cartoons in just the last few days.

At this point I'm just going to sit back and watch the reputation of the Muslim community be ruined by a few who seem to have no concept of the teachings found in the Qu'ran. Let peace, tolerance, and wisdom be washed away in the madness if that is what they wish. But just once I would appreciate someone pointing out to the Muslim community the Golden Rule is an idea right out of their culture. Be careful, effendi, for you shall reap what you doth sow.

There are many reasons why I like to watch movies that date before the 1960s, not the least of which are the great character actors. One of the greats had to be Alan Hale. For the most part, he played just one character -- a jovial, dependable buddy with a lust for all that is good and entertaining. If he wasn't the first in a long line of side-kicks, then he was certainly an archetype. He was so good at it he "played either a supporting role or a cameo in 12 of his friend and fellow actor Errol Flynn's films" (IMDb). Who can forget seeing him as Little John next to Flynn as Robin Hood in 1938s The Adventures of Robin Hood? Hale was no mere stock player, but a true delight in every role he took.

While looking at goodies with which to customize my Google home page, an interesting tidbit turned up -- Gullible Info. For a sample, look at the bottom of the left-side column on this page (but come right back). Strange take on verity, huh? The stuff I've read so far seems plausible, but I don't want to be gullible.

Which reminds me. Which chair-bound Pentagon mental midget bought into the idea of converting little-used military assets into rental property (see at left) with the aim of supplementing the defense budget?

A common mistake by wet-behind-the-ears reporters is burying the lead, or putting the most important fact(s) anywhere but at the head of the story. That's how I see the following segment from a CNET News.com story about embedding information chips in state-issued driver's licenses:

... national ID card may soon find itself used for other purposes than verifying credentials of Americans, the panelists warned.

The issue of "function creep" could arise, much like it has with the use of driver's licenses, said Paul Kocher, president and chief scientist of Cryptography Research. He noted that driver's licenses are used for more than just verifying the ability of a person to drive a car--they're also used as a form of ID when writing a check and as a way to verify that a person is old enough to drink alcohol ("Driver's licence or national ID card?" February 16, 2006, 2:04 PM PST).

It is not likely that anyone reading this blog remembers a time when your Social Security number (SSN) had just one purpose: redeeming your government benefits. Since then it has suffered from "function creep" and has almost become a form of national identity marker. Countless times a day I have to enter the last four or five digits of my SSN into a piece of hardware or bit of software to identify myself as an authorized user. And customers that want to do certain things with their accounts have to recite the last four of their SSN to me for access (Disclaimer: I work for Cingular Wireless). The reason I know they gave the right information to me is that I see their whole Social Security number.

Allocating more functions to the SSN has made it more vulnerable to criminals who which to use it fraudulently. Some of the 9/11 hijackers had driver's licenses. You need to show an SSN to get one of those. Consider that carefully enough and you'll become a bit paranoid at the thought of giving out your information. Unfortunately, the people involved with turning our driver's licenses into national ID cards are not nearly paranoid enough.

For your consideration:
ID cards in the UK (click here)
A CNN report from 2001 (click here)
A Christian Science Monitor report from 2002 (click here)
The CATO Institute's take on the issue (click here)
FAQs from Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (click here)
Another great report from CNET News (click here)

In a 2004 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer mention was made of nipping out to get a copy of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen on DVD. During the advert break after that the first spot was for a showing of the same movie on that channel later that night.

Who plans this stuff?

Here's a perspective I hadn't thought of before now ...

After a few moments of thinking to myself "well that makes sense" I realized that with logic like this we could simply tuck Israel (20,770 km²) into Montana (381,156 km²) and no one would notice. There's lots of free space there. That's why the Postal Service abbreviates the state name MT. Do you think that there is anyone in the Treasure State that would mind?

According to MSNBC.com, "Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, spraying the fellow hunter in the face and chest with shotgun pellets. ... It was not reported publicly by the vice president'?s office for nearly 24 hours, and then only after the incident was reported locally by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times."

Yet when Mr. Cheney's prostate is acting up or some other such event occurs his office immediately issues a press release. This is just one more example of why a major shake-up of the political arena is needed. I don't mean to imply that the shooting was anything but an accident, but I am stating the that the delay in releasing the news was intentional.

What is coming next is inevitable: an investigation. Despite what has to be the obvious reason why the report was delayed, someone somewhere is going to start asking the obvious anyway. And it doesn't need to be said -- so I will anyway -- that ethics and judgment will be questioned.

So let us get it over with right now. It was an accident. An aide felt that the news would be harmful to the vice president and "forgot" to tell anyone. Life goes on. Now make some jokes and get back to whatever you call normal.

Joke: Well, it is pretty clear that Dick Cheney doesn't believe in gun control.

Those who work in the bizarre world of partisan politics are often accused of misleading the public and abusing the public trust. A couple recent news stories about tampering with articles at Wikipedia, one of the best examples of trust on the Internet today, show that said accusations have at least some basis in truth.

BBC NEWS: "Congress 'made Wikipedia changes'" - "Online reference site Wikipedia blames US Congress staff for partisan changes to a number of political biographies.

Computers traced to Capitol Hill removed unpalatable facts from articles on senators, while other entries were 'vandalised', the site said.

An inquiry was launched after staff for Democratic representative Marty Meehan admitted polishing his biography.

Wikipedia is produced by readers who add entries and edit any page, and has become a widely-used reference tool.

But it also says its investigation showed the vast majority of edits from Senate IPs were 'beneficial and helpful'."

AFP/Yahoo! News: "Wikipedia reviewing US, Canadian and British political bios" - "The founder of the vast online reference site, Wikipedia, said that volunteers were checking the biographies of American, Canadian and British lawmakers following some online spin-doctoring."

Stories like this only encourage me to measure by a much greater degree than previously required the lack of turpitude candidates and their staffs demonstrate in future elections. A government cannot be just or righteous if its leaders cannot be considered as such.

We Americans seem to forget with alarming frequency that our nation was founded because of political and moral differences with our progenitors. Also forgotten is that the responsibility ultimately falls to the people. If we allow our leaders to behave like cads then we must accept the consequences.

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness (U.S. Declaration of Independence).

In the elections to come over the next few years it is time to reclaim the moral high ground by making sure that we put those people in office who best reflect the intent and spirit of the Founding Fathers. This mandate must extend to all levels of government, not just the highly visible national offices.

Normally I'm not one to gush over things, though technology or gadgets are usually the source. Even people who know me casually are well aware of my excessive fondness of Victorinox knives, Apple iPods, and now -- TiVo.

You see, one of the worst things about watching TV is that whenever it is something I'm interested in I get interrupted. Now with my new friend TiVo hitting the Pause button has quickly become 2nd nature. For example, my neighbor Andy has either called or dropped by several times today. Not that I mind because he needs help with some things now and then. But each time I didn't miss a moment of the TV show that I was watching, thanks to TiVo!

And since it has a 30-minute memory for live TV I can head over to Andy's right about now to help him with something that he just called about without missing the rest of a show that is on now. Cool! But I promise to not write about it again unless something really important happens.

BBC NEWS reports that "archaeologists have discovered an intact, ancient Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Kings, the first since King Tutankhamun's was found in 1922." Apparently the new tomb was about 16 feet away from the famous Howard Carter find. The tomb is relatively intact with five painted sarcophagi.

And this, boys and girls, is why history always seems to change. As new discoveries are made existing ideas are tested. If found worthy they are kept as theories. If found otherwise they are discarded in favor of new ideas. Either way, the quest continues.

From the stories I've read, I don't expect a huge change in what we understand about Egyptian history or burial practices, though one scientist mentioned in the BBC News story speculates it could be the previously unknown burial site of Queen Nefertiti. Still, I'm glad a major find has occurred in this generation so that a new spirit of exploration might be kindled.

Without the energy to even get a bowl of cereal, I opened the box of Pop-Tarts® that I bought for the larder at work and "Oh! My Goodness!" I haven't had a Pop-Tart® this fresh and yummy in soooo very long. These tasty pastries are a lot like sex. Even when the are bad they are good, but when they are good they are fantastic. Thank you, Kellogg!

Now that I've seen a few of the controversial cartoons of the Islamic prophet Muhammad published first by a Dutch newspaper and then nearly a year later by other European papers, I just wonder "Are the protesters coming after me next?"

Okay, I don't pose that seriously, but I can see why they would be upset. Regardless that depictions of "Allah's final prophet" are (vaguely) forbidden by the Qur'an (see 42:11), it is just a matter of simple respect for another's culture that the cartoons should never have been published. I have seen far more offensive renditions of other religious figures, particularly the one I'm most fond of, my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

But you don't see me burning down buildings over it. Maybe because Christianity doesn't inherently believe -- despite what was done during the Crusades and the Inquisition -- that non-believers should die. On the contrary, Christians want everyone to come to salvation of their own free will. That's the only way it works. Redemption by spear-point doesn't count. That certainly seems contrary to what supposed followers of Islam are demonstrating.

All my life I have believed that Islam, like the two other great religions that sprang from our common ancestor Abraham, is rooted in peace despite a an initially bloody period (again, much like Christianity and Judaism). Yet the impression that a few Muslims are imparting to the world is one of intolerance and hatred.

For your consideration:
Danish Cartoons: Free Press or Hate Speech?

As a reader of this blog you frequently found posts about the ongoing debate over Evolution and Intelligent Design. With the creation of my religion-oriented blog, Ergo Deus, I hope to expand the debate. When the topic relates primarily to society and culture posts will continue to appear on here on Musings, but when the impact is more theological than theoretical I plan on posting commentary on Ergo. Stop over there sometime to see what is up.

"In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms."
- Stephen Jay Gould

According to a story I saw in Yahoo! News "indicted Rep. Tom DeLay, forced to step down as the No. 2 Republican in the House, scored a soft landing Wednesday as GOP leaders rewarded him with a coveted seat on the Appropriations Committee." It looks like he also has a cushy seat on a subcommittee responsible for one of the biggest employers in his district, NASA.

Thank goodness I'm not the only one who sees the hypocrisy in this. "Allowing Tom DeLay to sit on a committee in charge of giving out money is like putting Michael Brown back in charge of FEMA. Republicans in Congress just can't seem to resist standing by their man," said Bill Burton, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (ibid).

So yet another politician has violated the public trust and gets away with a slap on the wrist. Apparently, power not only corrupts, but does so extantly. It is hard for me to sound anything other than pessimistic because as even a casual student of American political history knows our leaders have been in a regressive slide for some time and the slippery slope has no handholds. The only salvation I see is a massive and complete overhaul of representation. This would get rid of many good and trustworthy people in the public trust, but the collateral damage would be justified by the renewed purpose and spirit that would result.

In other words, it is time to vote the bums out.

So today I'm in my local megamart -- not the insanely large one that has its own ZIP code, just the simply huge one -- to get a few vittles, a Valentine's Day card, postage stamps, etc. and I turned down the "seasonal" aisle to get some Valentine's Day candy for my co-workers. What did my beady little eyes see? Easter candy.

Quick. Look at the date of this post.

Yup. So I asked the gentleman that was putting out the fresh candy if I had missed a holiday. He said "no" and that there was plenty left.

That's not the point. The point is what's the friggin' rush!! Don't these people know that Easter is a long ways away? Cripes!!! This is why I prefer the smaller, friendlier, family-owned grocery store (Karn's Market). Far less pretentious, better customer service, they always have hand baskets (there's another story), and I feel like I'm a valued customer, not a visitor from another planet.

So here's the deal: The megamart is owned by the Dutch so I'm going to show solidarity with my Muslim brothers and sisters on this whole cartoon issue by boycotting the store. At least until I need something that only the megamart has, like a good variety of kosher foods.

Normally I don't look forward to a Superbowl, but this year is different for some reason. Here is a running commentary as I watch the game (in 'publish & edit' mode):

Quarters One & Two

• Why didn't they turn on Aaron Neville's mic?
• First good commercial (pre-kickoff): "I'm goin' to Disney World!"
• Calling the coin before the toss? What are we teaching our kids?!?
• First totally stupid advert: "The Whopperettes"
• Does a team have a good quarter if they gain a lot of yardage but don't score? Sure, it looks impressive, but ...
• Pittsburgh needs to do something about Seattle's Jackson. This could get bad.
• Almost gave this away earlier, but the first really good commercial was the FedEx "Cave Office" spot.
• It's good to see PennStaters in the game. Not sure what I think about high schoolers going straight into the NFL, though.
• Whew! That was close! Jackson had a touchdown until a ref noticed a penalty by a teammie. The Steelers get a reprieve.
• Comcast sucks. I'm trying to do things on the Internet and once again their servers are blocking all sorts of things, including Web search results from Google & Yahoo. I wonder if it is affecting my TiVo's connection to the 'Net. I wish there was a real alternative for broadband in my area, but Verizon DSL is comparatively slow.
• Ameriquest comes through again with another of their great "Don't judge too quickly" adverts - "That Killed Him". Easily on par with the "Cat Attack" ad from last year.

• Crap! Seattle scores. Its only a field goal, but games have been lost by as much. They certainly are looking like they are serious.
  
• Its about time Pittsburgh brought in Bettis.
• Yay! The Steelers just got their first 1^st down. Then another, gaining 17 yards. 'Bout time, guys!
• Crap! (again) Seattle's Boulware makes a big interception. I'm starting to think "I hope Pittsburgh is a 2^nd half team." Even Madden says "It looks like Pittsburgh doesn't have a plan." Michaels agrees: 'Steelers very, very tentative."
  
• Maybe I should stop watching. Usually when I watch a game the team I want to win doesn't. I should be off paying bills.
  
• A sack for Seattle at 4:17 in the 2^nd quarter then Big Ben Roethlisberger did a fabulous job connecting to Hines Ward just short of the goal. Now that's football.
• End of the 2^nd quarter & Roethlisberger scores on the 11^th play of the drive ... if the review team agrees. The slow-mo in close-up shows this to be a squeeker. And the result? SCORE! Seven to three, Pittsburgh with the extra point!!
  
• What a strange last possession for Seattle. "I'm scratchin' my head up here," agrees Madden. This could mean the game should be interesting after half-time.
  
• Okay, don't tell my bosses, but the Sprint "Crime Deterrent" advert was funny. I just hope no one really does that and expects their phone to work.

Half-Time Show

• Alright! They didn't turn on Mick's mic, either! At least not right away. For all the good it did, though, as the Stones could have been just as effective phoning in the act.
• Only the crowd that knew they were going to be on camera seemed excited.
• Nice stage, though. Very clever use of tongue.
• Man! Did I get a lot of bills paid! All it took was not watching TV.
• No, I didn't get a chance to see my neighbor, but I'll talk to him tomorrow.
  

Quarters Three & Four

• That's the way to start a quarter ... 75 yards for a touchdown!! Willie Parker, #39.
• Seattle is starting to feel the pressure. Under other circumstances that 50-yard attempt at a field goal might have worked.
• Cutest commercial so far: The Clydesdale pony pulling the Budweiser cart.
• Can you believe that Detroit wrapped a building for the game? Much like commuter buses are wrapped with adverts, a the top floors of one of the 'wrench' buildings looks like it was wrapped. Maybe the graphics were placed from inside. In either case, it was impressive.
• 'Splain this to me ... 9;45pm and the game is scheduled to end at 10:15pm (all Eastern), but there are 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and 15 in the 4th quarter. And we expect our kids to learn how to tell time.
• Yes! Bettis just had a nice run for a 1st down. It's looking good for the Steelers!
• Double-crap! Seahawk Herndon intercepts and takes it down to the twenty.
• Roethlisberger looked calm after that mess.
• Touchdown Stevens. He was wide open. The Steelers were hurt, but they are still ahead 14-10 now. It was the longest interception return in Superbowl history.
  
• Overall it looks like Seattle has better technical skills whereas Pittsburgh is running on luck. Here's hoping it holds going into the 4th quarter.
• Ingram gets a nice run to the 30 at the top of the quarter. The Steelers have some work to do as Seattle works down to the 20 and a 1st down.
• And the luck holds! A foul on Seattle sets up the filed to allow Pittsburgh to make a great interception play.
• Nice gadget play! Randle El, a wide receiver who played quarterback in college, throws for a touchdown! With the extra point, Pittsburgh leads by eleven. That's crucial for two things ... momentum and to keep this an interesting game. The sideline reporter reports the momentum change.
• Matt Hasselbeck makes a nice run and possibly fumbles.
• In the meantime, Honda trucks has a rather clever and amusing advert.
• Yup, the fumble is overturned. Where's the momentum now? And why do amateurs such as myself always focus on that?
• A nice sack got the Terrible Towels twirlin'!!
• Pittsburgh is in the cat bird seat now, thanks to another fine play by Randle El. Under 4 minutes to go.
• Um ... did I see Big Ben's knee go down before the ball crossed the down line? I guess I'm the only one who did. Bill Cowher is very happy.
• Just before the 2-minute warning I voted at Superbowl.com for Randle El as MVP. Even with a poor memory like mine I can recall his crucial involvement in several plays.
• The same site has been rather good at keeping a play-by-play page.
• 60 seconds to go. Didn't the Dolphins pull off an 11 point deficit in this situation?
• Congratulations, Steelers! Your persistence broke the Seahawks! Both teams played a great game.

Last year's Superbowl had fairly good action, an acceptable half-time show, and some rather poor commercials. Let's hope everything is better this time around.

The Seahawks seem to be hungry and too many people already think that the Steelers are going to win. This is a recipe for a blowout. Admittedly Pittsburgh's playoff game was good -- about as good as they get -- but that was a lifetime ago in sports terms. Still, if I were a betting man I'd go with the black and gold, if only so people at work wouldn't beat me up.

During half-time this year I'll probably go visit my neighbor. The Rolling Stones? C'mon! Didn't someone notice that they game is in Motown? Sneaking in Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder at other times is an insult. Detroit has turned out some of the best quintessentially American music ever and the main act is the Stones. I don't get it.

At least the commercials, a Superbowl event in themselves, will have to get better because the adverts from 2005 were that bad. The best was the "Cat Attack" from Ameriquest. It got the point across, was funny, and made the company's name somewhat memorable. I guess too many sponsors were trying not to offend. The exception was GoDaddy and rumor has this they will be back at it this year (click here to see the playoff adverts).

One of the best of the so-called Buddy Movies has to be Running Scared (1986), starring Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal. The story is good -- two dedicated cops getting tired of the danger and thinking of retiring but finding they can't quite stomach the idea -- but the chemistry between Hines and Crystal is superlative. The subtle interactions, body language, and nuances of expression made me truly believe that they had been partners on the force for 16 years as stated in the film and the closest of friends. Honestly, I haven't seen married couples with this sort of intimate familiarity.

Another example can be found in the one-season wonder The Cosby Mysteries (1994). In this instance, Bill Cosby and James Naughton were the perfect pair. The word comfortable comes to mind watching their characters interact. All buddy combinations should be as such, but sadly they are not -- usually.

Alan Sorkin's TV series Sports Night (1998) breaks this mold because everybody in the cast demonstrates a comfortable buddy relationship, even in combinations of woman and man or established character with new character. This is typical of Sorkin's writing, but I think it worked especially well here. However, the scripted (and, perhaps, unscripted) sexual tension kept the best examples in the true spirit of the buddy relationship. To whit, even if an episode was about a male-female relationship, it would only yield true insight or humor when the male in question buddied up to another male character. You'd have to know more about the show and characters to see what I mean so I encourage you to watch for it in reruns or pick up the complete DVD boxed set sometime.

Speaking of DVDs, a recent example of a great buddy movie is in my player right now: Sahara (2005). Like Hines and Crystal in Running Scared, you can't miss the realism of long-term relationship between the characters played by Steve Zahn and Matthew McConaughey. I've written about this before so I won't go into great detail, suffice to say it is rare when a friendship like this comes along.

In each of these examples one sees that being a true buddy goes beyond friendship or even the brotherhood that men feel through frequency of contact and common associations. The Greeks have many words for love, the most familiar being agape and eros, but individually or even collectively they cannot fully express the buddy relationship. Thank goodness for movies like Running Scared.

Hey! I started a flickr account today! And this post was created there. Not sure how I like it yet, but I'll post something with opinions, to be sure.