by meta4man on January 6, 2009
Jay Mariotti, may you continue to suck very visibly.
That’s about all I can muster so far as good to say regarding Jay Mariotti and my experience with him. Okay, one other thing, when I was in Arizona and you were “briefly” on ESPN radio and the only voice that spoke glowingly of the Cubs, I liked you.
Since I’ve been back in Illinois, not so much. Do I / did I, regularly read your column, no, but I did read it once in a while. Like him or hate him, the guy can bring up some good points and pose a valid argument. On the other hand, he spends a lot of time picking scabs and prolonging petty arguments, as well as some blatant back-stabbing, as I wrote about before when Mike North lost his job.
I’m not the only one to dislike Jay Mariotti, and have no illusions that my complaining about him just adds to his Buzz ratings, but there can not be enough people pointing out his tactics. In his first column:
Now hear this: I’m a bit too busy to hate bloggers or, really, anyone but terrorists and certain Illinois politicians. I just think they should be writing about Steve Smith, not Stephen A. Smith.
Okay Jay, point taken, but You hear this, you are not unaccountable. I am, because I am nothing, just a ‘blogger’ and not a very prolific one at that, but there are a lot of us. We are part of your argument for moving away from print, don’t discount us, or your readers.
I’d like to see Jay SAY what he wrote about Charles Barkley TO Charles Barkley, but that is an old argument, and his fearlessness is part of what makes him a good journalist. The petty stabs at his old paper and all newspapers in general is not.
by meta4man on January 2, 2009
Today, on my RSS feed, got a picture of this Puppy, named Chupa
Chupa the Mixed Breed
A lifetime or two ago, when I was a minor editor on the AOL Short Stories Board, we were asked to pick a name for our “Offical’ Editor name, which would be tagged as NOVL _____.
My first choice was NOVL Chupa. Mainly because I had been reading about El Chupa Cabra a little bit, and was working on a short story about them. I guess I could have figured out what Chupa meant then, or maybe I even did, but I didn’t really care. To me, it sounded cool, and for some time, I judged and responded to stories as NOVL Chupa.
Then the Powers that were in AOL sent me an email, stating that it had been pointed out that Chupa meant “To Suck” in Spanish, and NOVL “To Suck” sounded a little offensive. Oops, my fault, they asked me to pick another name, and I pickled the simplest, possibly most innocuous name ever, Cub. Again, probably because it was Spring and that is what I am thinking, Cubs Cubs Cubs Cubs. That one stuck for several years, in fact until I quit working there. Now this dog has my old name.
I’m guessing his mom and dad aren’t hispanic.
Some Links back to the old AOL Short Stories Days:
by meta4man on December 31, 2008
For over three months now, the entire Holiday season, as well as preliminary attempts during the summer between stories about the gas-gouging Oil companies, the retail industry has been crying poor.
Aided by the major news organizations, the retail stores have managed to even take over news broadcasts with news of their impending low sales. Meanwhile, crows are showing up at stores in mobs, killing one porr Wal-Mart worker, and I can’t remember doing any type of Christmas shopping this year that didn’t mean waiting in long lines and elbowing around crowds in every aisle. I know merchandise is moving, because the shleves kept chaning between visits. At some point you have to wonder about their actual position.
In one cycle through any of the cable news channels, at least one feature is about the low prices, sounding as much like an ad as a report. A “Retail Financial Expert” is saying that retailers are wantng to get back to
normal pricing. Again, maybe the profit margin they are used to enjoying needs to be adjusted.
I’m becoming cynical in my old age, but there’s no ignoring the feeling that they are manipulating this all to their advantage.
Will I feel guilty about writing this next year if as many stores close as are projected? Nah. Frankly, I haven’t really noticed the 200,000 that they say closed this year already, past the normal attrition of retail stores.
The ultimate insult was a quote I heard today about consumers needing to be retrained to buy again. Isn’t learning to spend within your means a good thing?
by meta4man on December 19, 2008
I thought of this last weekend, and was saving it for a Thursday Thirteen, but all of sudden, it is Friday, see how that happens, and I have broken new ground in creating something completely new, instead of the drab Old Thursday Thirteens I copied from others and wrote myself(once). Behold, a Friday Fourteen, considering the subject matter, coming up with another idiot for this list will not be a problem.
1. Cedric Benson- The idiot who inspired this entire list, after his tirade about the year that Matt Forte is having:
“He is having a great year, but when I see the highlights, I see holes,” Benson told NFL.com’s Thomas George. “I see them using him in the slot, something they didn’t do with me. If I was there right now with the holes I see, I probably would have 1,800 yards. I definitely would have 1,500. I congratulate him on all of his success. He is taking advantage.”
Hey idiot! The amazing thing about the “holes” he is running through is that he doesn’t trip on the white lines like you did every time. AND, he manages to get by better tacklers than the girl that took you down and handcuffed you on your boat last summer.Honestly, I watched you trip on the three yard line last year, and you were as open as anyone could be. I could have run out there, gotten the handoff and run back into the endzone from my endzone seat in the 67th row. You are not even close to the same level as Matt Forte. The line was actually better last year than they are this year. The one who has a beef as a comparison is Anthony Thomas, A-Train, who is almost matched up with Forte in stats for his rookie year, short only in the receiving area. We can only hope that Forte doesn’t go off the tracks next year like Thomas did the rest of his career.
2. Scottie Pippen - I know, I know, 6 Championships and all, but this guy seemed to loathe Chicago the entire time he was here, and for our part, we sort of loathed him back. On the court, I quickly became a fan of his after he was drafted, but over the years, through rumors of his behavior( No tippin’ Pippen), to the guns charges, and the refusing to go in during a playoff game against the Knicks, Scottie wore out his welcome and nobody was sorry to see him move on.
Sorry Scottie, Michael was better, and you should thank him for allowing you to complement him as perfectly as you did. He may not have done it without you, but there is NO WAY you could have done it without him.
3. Sammy Sosa - Although, in this hilarious internet meme, Adolf Hitler bemoans the loss of Sosa - ” At least he hit the Fucking Ball!”, among other things. I was tired of Sammy by the end of his last season, when he walked out of the game, leaving his teammates to badmouth him and destroy his boom box. The Garrett Morriss, “Baseball been very good to me,” bit was funny, but wore thin. His me-first attitude and love of the camera got old as well. Sammy jumped the shark when he came back from Japan and tried to add a bow at the plate after a homer to his repertoire.
4. Mark Prior - Talk about wasted potential, this guy was supposed to be the next Tom Seaver, he had perfect mechanics, the scouts said, through pinpoint fastballs in the mid-90’s, and then the other shoe dropped. Mark Prior is soft, soft soft. This guy will miss a day pitching for something that wouldn’t even warrant a time out in a tee ball game. [click to continue…]
by meta4man on December 15, 2008
Update - 12/28/2008
After two-thirds of the tests came back negative, one set of blood tests, and the MRI, the Genetic Screening came back from the Mayo Clinic Friday. Though it is not 100%, the results show a possibilities of genetic defect. In the report, the result is called equivocal, but also recommends further genetic consultation. The defected gene is VPS13B, aka COH1, OMIM #607817. Googling COH1takes you to a lot of information about Cohen Syndrome, but there is another test to confirm Cohen’s syndrome, which the Mayo clinic does not do. Many of the traits fit, and compared to some of the other syndromes they were throwing at us as possibilities, I feel better than I did before about this. They key is that though she is behind, she is continualy progressing, we have a veritable army of therapists working with her, and she has two parents that love her more than anything.
On Monday, Lisa will be getting the next set of tests set up, wherever they have to be done, she works in a lab and this is all right up her alley. I’m hoping that if I put this out there a little, I can possibly get in touch with others that have experience with Cohen’s syndrome. It is
Cohen Syndrome Links:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s been a couple weeks now since I nearly lost my mind taking my daughter into a hospital, and there’s no big news, so far every test has come back negative for anything out of the ordinary. She just might have 
her own pace, it is truly starting to seem, and the therapy can help with that just fine. I just wanted to show her off a little and let all those that gave their support before know that she’s fine.
The First picture is of her Sunday. Her mommy works every other weekend, and I get her all to myself. Usually Sundays are the day it’s just the two of us in the house and I let her roam and get into stuff for a while, returning to photograph every once in a while. One of her favorite things to do is get to my magazines in the bathroom, I sometimes try to keep the door closed, but don’t care that much if she gets into them. Like all activities, it’s good for her to do stuff like that. I didn’t notice the open magazine in front of her when I took the picture until I looked at the pic on my phone later, but it surely applies in this case.
by meta4man on December 10, 2008
I’ve written about Kevin Smith before, more than once. It has been a while, but I’ve been busy, and so has he. A quick trip to his website shows that he has a little bit on his plate. Ongoing promotion for his last movie, “Zack and Mary Make a POrno,” a guest spot on a Batman Comic story, some Q & A Shows, and probably another movie in the works called “Red STate,” though I am not in tune enough to know the exact status of that. I’m guessing the movie is the reason that he isn’t updating his Smodcasts lately.
Me, I’ve been going around mulling over what I think about the whole Zack and Mary Make a Porno situation. Well, I don’t know that I would call it a ’situation’ because it really never got into a full scale issue. Sadly, the controversy didn’t really heat up. That might have sold some more tickets, but it hasn’t. The mild controversy over trying to rate it NC-17 and the hub-bub over the title was overkill. I think the controversy made this movie seem like something it wasn’t, a block-buster. In truth, this is another one of Kevin Smith’s nice little movies, a very good one.
I’m seeing the domestic gross at $31M, and seem to remember seeing that the film budget was around $23M, so it made money, but that’s just over a third of what Seth Rogen’s other movie, “Pineapple Express,” ($89M) made. If I’m Kevin Smith, and I am most definitely about a ton of talent and business savvy short of that, I’m a little disappointed, but I, as myself now, am not sure if that should be the case.
Possibly, with the big star power, there should have been bigger numbers, but really, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, etc. didn’t pull that for him either. On the other hand, this wasn’t a bad movie at all. It was a really good movie, my favorite of his so far. The fact is, you can bring in Porn Stars, budding movie stars, and controversial titles, and there’s still Kevin Smith’s heart and sensibilities beneath it all. Anyone going in to find some of the usual low-brow humor in movies right now, found a love story, surrounded by a mall coffee shop, along with their low-brow jokes. It’s more than worth seeing, it’s worth getting to know it.
My favorite scene was the one with Seth and Elizabeth Banks, supposedly making the money scene for the movie. To anyone watching and filming, the scene has all the appeal of walking in on your parents but to the two of them, it was magical. Nice catch there, Kevin. Of course, you have to love the poop joke from the porn star.
Unfortunately, middle aged fat guys like me that wait until out after the wife and kid are asleep to go see it aren’t going to get you more box office than even one of the biggest wastes of time ever, “The Love Guru($32M).”
Was it really the title? Really, the only media I heard about it was ‘just’ about the title. It was tiring, to me. I don’ think that anyone even bothered to review it. I agree with Kevin that the title did serve a purpose in that it kept people out of the movie that might not have appreciated some of the language and the humor. The nudity and sexuality was less than say, “American Pie,” except for the gratuitous shot of Jason Mewes towards the end.
If you haven’t, go see it at the theater. Movies like this one deserve support.
by meta4man on December 2, 2008
I’ve never been one to rush to the sites and stories about children that are in peril, from illness or anything
else, and I am hoping this is not one of those stories. My daughter has been slow in developing, she is now two years old and not quite walking or talking, although she continues to make progress. She also has hip dysplacia, which has mostly gone away but she wore a brace for most of her first 18 months at night.
Her slow development, low body tone, and other symptoms have had us taking her to therapy 4 times a week for the last year, and with her turning two, she went to a new set of Doctors that say she needs neurological and genetic testing. That is why she is getting the MRI.
This last set of tests has gone from what was posed to us as, “Lets just help her catch up.” to “There are several syndromes.”
The Doctor actually told her mother after a day of questioning, “Well, there are some syndromes that I have in mind, but I want to wait until after testing to say for sure.”
Bedside manner, Doctor??
So today we got up very early and drove to a Chicago Suburb with a huge Pediatric Hospital Complex, and they sedated my daughter and put her in that machine. Right in this picture she is about to have the anesthetic put through and she is out in less than ten seconds. This part of it went well, they were done and we were home less than two hours later.
Here she is in the recovery room.
She actually stayed awake for the hour drive home, and until after she was able to eat. We(her mommy) fed her at 11:30 PM the night before because she had to fast for the test after midnight, and so she was HUNGRY.
I try not to make this blog about any certain thing, but more than once I have blogged about her, because she is the best thing that ever happened to me.
I’ll surely post updates when things happen with her, but for now, I post her pictures more as something that moved me today. These images, they still do. They are powerful, and as a writer, I tryo to recognize moments like these and note them.
I posted the first picture on Plurk this afternoon, and several people responded. I’m not looking for sympathy, just trying to share a moment. I got support, and appreciate that very much.
Most of the time, my blog is about trival things, rants, comic books, TV shows, book reviews, all things that are fun for me to write about. Today, I just had to post this.
by meta4man on November 12, 2008
by meta4man on October 23, 2008
Ender’s Game - The story that keeps NEVER GETtingS tOLD.
I didn’t intend to write two of my last three columns about comic books. I have a web site for writing about 
comic books, even if I hardly use it, but in my semi-weekly trip to the comic book shop to pick up the ones they save for me, I found something that might make the last few years of collecting comic books worth it.
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card - if you haven’t read it, rad it. Arguably the best piece of science fiction to come out of the last 30 years - (tho it only makes 22 on this list , #1 on this one , and one of the books that I think everyone should read. And unlike The Stand, perfect for a comic book.
Orson Scott Card is a very prolific writer, but never enjoyed the success with later plot strings that he had with Andrew Wiggins, the boy. He even rewrote the story from a different perspective in Ender’s Shadow, which was also excellent. There 
were sequels in each perspective, all of them impressive and admired, but none were Ender’s Game.
I didn’t know anything about this coming out, but I’m ecstatic that I found it on the rack. This first issue cover’s Ender’s encounter on the playground, and then with his brother, and his sister Valentine. Thought I’ve read it several times over the years, it’s been long enough with this story as well that I can just enjoy it. The art work is a little anime style, but not over the top, and the scripting paces well. Reading it tonight, it truly did add to the story for me. This is a story so full of plot lines and perspective, that it is interesting to see another interpretation. Thanks Marvel, this almost makes up for all this stupid Skrull War crap you keep trying to forcefeed to me.
by meta4man on October 22, 2008
Corn Silage
When you live in the midwest, you take your fests for what they are, and for many years, Cornfest has been a proud tradition of DeKalb, Illinois. It was an event that brought people to our downtown area, to fill the bars, rummage through the shops, buy food at vendor booths, and enjoy some mid to lower level live entertainment on the sound stages.
Neighboring small towns have embraced festivals like this, catering to visitors, fine tuning the traffic and security considerations, and seen their downtowns, most remarkably Sycamore, Illinois, our closest neighbor, prosper from it. Sycamore has “expanded” it’s downtown activities, despite being located on a highway with nearly the same volume as the one running through DeKalb.
DeKalb, Illinois, five miles away, on the other hand, has seen fit to constantly fiddle with their fest, swinging from one extreme to another in terms of promoting alcohol, visiting, and vendors, culminating this year in what can fittingly be called “Silage”-fest, instead of Cornfest. How can you sully a name like Cornfest so that it should not be completely associated with that simple name?
This post, as you might guess, has sat in the draft pile for more than a month, but I’m not clicking it into oblivion. In the time since I started writing it, I’ve read through the local papers, and gauged the reaction of others. The reaction is mixed, one downtown vendor took the time to comment on the local paper forums that his business was better and he was glad to be rid of the fest downtown. From vendors at the fest I heard the sales were slow.
My lingering thoughts, heartless, lost.
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