Terps in ESPN Power 16

Looks like I wasn't alone in being impressed by the win at Illinois two nights ago. ESPN has the Terps as the 2nd-highest ACC team in its first Power 16 of the year. Yeah, I know, that and $5 will get you a Grande Mocha Ginseng Latte at Starbucks. But still, kinda cool.

Luke Winn over at Sports Illustrated digs the Turtles also.

Venezuelan Amphetamine

When I read about Gary Williams' freshmen this pre-season, gaurd Greivis Vasquez was described as someone who plays with a lot of emotion. Uh-oh, that's sportswriter code, meaning that he makes up for a lack of talent with a lot of high-energy play, right?

Not really. Turns out, at least in the early going, that the kid has plenty of talent. And describing his game as high-energy doesn't quite do it justice, either. Anyone who watched Maryland's solid win in Champaign, Illinois last night could see it; this guy loves to play almost as much as Gary loves yelling at his players! I know, hard to believe, but true. He was also the best player on the floor in the second half last night; he was the difference in getting the win in a very hostile road environment, and with the Terps missing one of their starters. Win or lose though, he'll be fun to watch over the next few years.

Terps are 8-0, up next - Notre Dame in D.C. on Sunday.

Dusting off the Carboy

It's been years since I've done any homebrewing, but that's changed for the better in the past few weeks, as I now have a partner in brewing. Barry has already proved to be a bit impatient about the whole process - no Dad, we can't drink it yet - but it's more fun (and less work) with two people, so I think we'll be able to sustain operations and not have another three year haitus.

We've got two batches going now, a Scotch Ale that will be ready to drink just before Christmas, and a German Dunkel that will be ready...when it's ready.

Let's see, what else; the new Bond film, Casino Royale, is excellent, if a bit on the long side (2 1/2 hours).

I saw this bizzare boat docked at the Inner Harbor last night when I went running - certainly doesn't look like any boat I've ever seen before, and it runs on biodiesel. In March it begins an attempt to break the record for circumnavigating the globe by boat; the record is currently 75 days, set in 1998.

Finally, for the uninitiated - an explanation for this post's title. Here are some carboys, aka fermentation vessels.

Who's a Big Winner?

The Dems have taken back the House, and have at shot at the Senate as well. But other than the obvious winners (Dems) and big losers (GOP), who else wins, if the Democrats do their jobs? Here are my thoughts:

• The United States. I was worried after the 2004 election that the nation, collectively, wasn't too bright. It appears as though we do have the capability to vote smartly, we're just a bit slow.
• The World. Any checks on His Shruberiness' power are good for the world at large; one never knows who may be next on his hit list.
• Science & Technology. Honest, factual discussions about global warming and alternative energy sources may actually make their way to Capitol Hill!
• Nancy Pelosi. As the first female Speaker in history, she's poised to bring the radical homosexual agenda to Washington. Thank God! The radical warmongering criminal tyrannical cowboy agenda hasn't been working out too well, time to try a new direction.
• Stewart & Colbert. Their Midterm Midtacular election coverage was better than anything on CNN and MSNBC by far.
• James Carville. If not for him, that bloviating gasbag Bill "one-armed-bandit" Bennett would have displayed even more arrogance during CNN's coverage, if that's possible (how full of yourself do you need to be to write multiple books on morality? What a prick). Fortunately, Carville shut him up for a few minutes with the subtlest of jabs - a mention of an inconsequential casino ballot initiative. The Rajin' Cajun' strikes again!
  

Return of the Weekend, Electioneering Villainy

I was studying for the PE for a good two and a half months, and while I certainly wasn't in total seclusion, large portions of my weekends were eaten up. This past weekend was busy too, but in a good way; a birthday party for a former co-worker Friday night, an awesome afternoon in front of the TV Saturday afternoon, watching every minute of the Terps' big win at Clemson, and a challenging yet fun cross-country 8K on Sunday. Plus, we met my parents' new kitties, Csaba and Zigana - and introduced them to Marty - and we also got the final craptacular Star Wars prequel out of the way (no, I don't think it was better than the first two, it was just as insufferable; thankfully I'll never have to watch any of those three ever again!). This is the part where I promise photos on Flickr, but honestly, I doubt I'll get around to it anytime soon. That's just how it is.

Today is, of course, Election Day [Sponsored by Diebold - "Gee, we really hope all this crap works"]. And what better way to extend the Halloween season, than with some election day tricks? Seems that during the last few elections, it's the GOP that has been caught trying to suppress votes, while in the 60's, it was the Dems inflating votes all over the place. So which is worse, stopping a live person from voting, or ensuring that a dead citizen's vote is counted? And what do these styles of electioneering say about the respective parties? It sure would be nice if the Greens/Libertarians/etc. got in on this; then perhaps we'd have an alternative to two-party rule at some point.

Back in Business

Now that I have the PE (Professional Engineer) exam out of the way, I can get back to some writing. Unfortunately, I probably won't have much time today, so I'll just link to some solid, if somewhat intuitive, observations about next week's election, courtesy of one of the bloggers over at Balkinization.

The point about Senate over-representation by small states has always been a fascinating argument to me, because I believe that the original intent of the Constitution was to ensure that smaller states had an equal say in national affairs. But why? Why should a vote in North Dakota count much more, in terms of the make-up of the Senate, than a vote in New York? And will that advantage in small states that Republicans still be around in 50 years, as Midwest and Great Plains states' traditional industries continue to die out, concentrating populations in those states' big cities, complete with large immigrant populations and racial, ethnic, and cultural -gasp- diversity? This is based on my assumption that the charming people in fillinnameofredstate wouldn't be nearly as terrified of all those people that didn't look and act like them, if they had a few more of them living next door. Call me naive, it's just a hunch.

Charlie Brown for Congress?

I don't know, this guy's head doesn't look round enough. But he's a Dem, and is running against eight-term Republican incumbent John Doolittle, so good luck to him. Hope he wears the yellow and black shirt (he's gotta own one, right?) to his victory party.

Africa Bound!

It's a done deal - we recently sent in our deposit and purchased our plane tickets for our two-week Tanzanian safari in early '07. We're certainly excited about it, now once I get the P.E. exam out of the way, I can concentrate on outfitting for this trip. We've already got most of the clothing and other gear covered, but we're probably going to need some additional photographic equipment; extra lenses for digital cameras - for what that's worth, they're nice cameras, but not super-nice digital SLRs - and some kind of way to store digital photos so we don't have to buy dozens of memory cards and sticks. And then, of course, there's the camoflouge.

That's right, every trip can be spiced up with a little bit of ugly-Americanism. I'm planning on passing myself off as an up-and-coming soldier-of-fortune, in Africa for the first time scouting the terrain and getting to know local customs and wildlife. Then, the last half of the trip will be the training portion, where I practice my fighting skills by sneaking up on wildlife and punching and/or kicking them, and then running away.

Why no weapons, you ask? First, I don't have any. Second, try bringing them on a plane these days. But most important, what kind of soldier-of-fortune would I be if I couldn't fight a lion with my bare hands? How would I expect the UN peacekeepers to hire me on for their secret UN asskicking unit that's going to finally restore order in the Sudan? Tanzania and its carnivores will serve as my proving ground for that conflict. Wish me luck!

I Couldn't Resist

I know, no political posts for the rest of the month is what I promised, so I'll just link to this item w/o comment, and let it speak for itself. Keith Olbermann's ratings on MSNBC are up 69% since August 30, perhaps because of segments like this.

Throwback Baseball

What I dig so far about this season's playoffs - all the old dudes getting the job done:

• Tommy Lasorda's ad spots for ESPN. Corny, yes. But also sincere and funny. Who doesn't like Tommy?
• Ernie Harwell hanging out with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan in the TV booth tonight during the middle innings of the Detroit-NY game. 88 years old, and still sounds terrific - smart, quick-witted, and solid play-by-play during the fourth. Ernie was the original radio voice of the Orioles when they came back to Baltimore in 1954.
  
• The Tigers being up two games to one against the Yankees , after tonight's 6-0 victory. Kenny Rogers pitched an awesome game for Detroit, facing a NY lineup that came into the game hitting .391 against him - he obviously didn't care much for those numbers, since he shut them out for seven and two-thirds innings. Kenny Rogers?!? Didn't see that performance coming, at least not in the postseason.

What I'm not so crazy about: 3 one-sided series (thus far), with one of those already over. Kinda boring.

Hey, if the NYY end up losing this series, what are the odds that A-Rod gets traded this winter?

You Have the Right to Remain Silent

By now you've probably read about this incident in Denver between a citizen daring to speak his mind, Cheney, and the Secret Service. Freedom of Speech, meet Cone of Silence.

OK, gotta take a break from the political/legal/human-rights posts for a while; even thinking about this shit pisses me off. I'm going to try to keep it a little lighter through the rest of this month. Call it my own version of Oktoberfest - oooh, this is so bad it's good...wait for it...Blogtoberfest! Wow, that looks worse on the screen than it did in my head. Oh well.

Remember This Vote in 2008

Here are the votes on the Military Commissions Bill, which gives the executive the power to cancel a citizen's Bill of Rights protections by fiat, never mind the thumbs-up to torture. When 2008 rolls around, I hope that all potential presidential candidates who voted for this Bill are held accountable - Hagel, Frist, and especially McCain, who one would think would know better. Bush commanded them to wipe their collective asses with the Constitution, and they happily obliged, after a token show of resistance. Way to go, guys!

Battery Powered

I'm not sure what possessed me to tune in to the Baltimore-NY game last night. Masochism? After all, they had lost the night before by the humbling final of 16-5. Loyalty to the team? Maybe, but I haven't watched even parts of 20 games since the All-Star break, and have only been to 3 games this year. How many times have I mentioned them in this space all season? I think this may be the first.

But something made me flip the channel at 9:00, in time to catch Daniel Cabrera overcome a sixth inning error, his no-hitter still intact and nine outs away from reality. Did it happen? Nope. He was unperturbed by two errors and two passed balls in the seventh that gave NY a run, but with two outs to go in the ninth, an opposite-field single by Cano broke it up. What a game to watch though. Ramon "Javy Lopez, isn't he retired?" Hernandez had two homers and drove in four of the seven O's runs (hence this post's title), but it was really all about Cabrera, a pitcher who can be so dominating at times that it makes his inconsistency that much more maddening. A microcosm of the Orioles, a team with plenty of talent and potential, yet to be harnessed en masse.

'Balkinization' Blog

Dan Froomkin linked to this blog during his online chat yesterday; it's called Balkinization, and although I'm not sure who some of these guys are or how they all got together, there's lots of smart, in-depth analysis from a truly wide variety of perspectives. It does have a legal tilt though, since the blog's eponymous founder, Jack Balkin, is the Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School.

Governor Who?

While Charm City Blogger's political reporters usually go after the hard-hitting stories, we are not above having some fun at a candidate's expense, especially if the candidate is a Republican named Chandler Woodcock (his friends call him...Chan).

Danger! High Voltage

While his Shrubberiness is seemingly having his way with Congress when it comes to spying on citizens, he's still having some trouble getting the Senate to come around to his new definition of torture. Here's where it stands now: the Geneva Conventions define torture as "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment", while Schrobbe wants that changed, for the sake of clarity, to treatment that "shocks the conscience".

Let's examine this for a minute. Aside from the clarity issue, which speaks for itself, there are several surprising revelations in this latest language. The first and most obvious: the torture experts at the CIA have not only located the consience, but have figured out how to hook electrodes to it and have incorporated it into their torture techniques! This is big news, although I doubt we'll be getting the details anytime soon. The CIA probably wants to keep these new methods to themselves for a while, before exporting them to Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia. Perhaps in the not-so-distant future, the location of the conscience will be leaked to reporters, along with details on required voltage, and possible variances in conscience size between people of different faiths (my uneducated guess - Hindus have the largest consciences, with Catholics a close second).

Perhaps the more shocking revelation, though, is that the Torturer-in-Chief himself would prohibit these amazing new techniques! Imagine the frustration of the CIA torturers - their boss wants to take away the new toy almost as soon as it comes out of the box.

I'm no political expert, but I think that the Democrats have just had their mid-term election slogan handed to them: Republicans: Soft on the Conscience, Soft on Terror.

Political Losers

Every single candidate that I voted for in the major (competitive) races in yesterday's Democratic primary has lost or is losing! Not a terrible thing in any of the races, but still the results are a bit discouraging in 2 of the 3 races, where the status quo won out.

U.S. Senate: I voted for Mfume, but it looks like Cardin is going to win by 7 or 8 points. I'm not bothered by this at all because I think Cardin will be a fine Senator, however I did like Mfume as a guy who would stir things up a bit; Cardin seemed like more of the same, and I thought Mfume's criticism of Cardin's acceptance of almost $1 million in lobbyist money was quite valid.

Comptroller: Usually not a big race, but any election that could potentially remove crazy (senile?) incumbent Schaefer was an important one. I voted for Janet Owens, since she was polling well ahead of Peter Franchot, the guy I really wanted to vote for, but felt that it was more important for Schaefer to lose. Well, it's close but it looks like Franchot will win after all, so this is actually an ideal result.

MD-3: Long-time Baltimore Helath Commissioner Peter Beilenson was my guy, but unsurprisingly he came in second by 6 points to John, Son of Sarbanes. Sarbanes will likely be perfectly competent in the House, but there are far too many 'hereditary' seats in Congress as it is.

Weekend Fun, Pigtown Style!

On Saturday we had a rather full day; first we headed down to the Inner Harbor - ugh, so many tourists, and NYY fans no less, since the Yanks were in town - to check out the Dragon Boat Races. Kinda disappointing, actual. Basically big canoes being paddled across the harbor.

The afternoon was redeemed though, when we walked over to the Pigtown neighborhood just west of Camden Yards, to take in the annual Pigtown Festival! We arrived just before the Running of the Pigs, which I managed to capture on lo-res video (I had the regular camera with me, not the video camera). But unbelievably, the fun didn't stop there! We also caught the Pigtown Pooch Pageant, possbily the lamest - but still fun! - dog show ever; apparently dressing your dog up in a dress or other costume is the way to go. Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the huge-ass piece of pineapple upside-down cake that we managed to snag for the Baltimore-bargain-basement price of $2.50!!! Look at the size of that brick of cake. We even came close to finishing it!

(Note: I had some additional photos that didn't upload to Flickr due to some problems the site was having yesterday, including a close-up of the cake...)

Bad Fundraiser Idea

I'm not quite sure what's worse, that it's a dove shoot, or that it's on 9/11. Ugh.

Big Brother is a Moron

Here's a real shocker: the RFID chips in California state legislature IDs are apparently not so secure.

This is quite a comfort, considering that the U.S. government recently started issuing e-passports with RFID technology on-board. So if you're in the market for a new passport or passport renewal, you might want to invest in some protection.

(PS - if I mysteriously disappear after this post, it's probably because BB - aka Dick Cheney - was probably not pleased about the title; see you in Room 101...)