Baseball the Way it Ought to Be

With apologies to my friend Double R, a Cards season ticket holder whose birthday is today, but I haven't enjoyed a sporting event more than when I recently caught a Gateway Grizzlies game over on the other side of the river. Right in the front row, thanks to Timmy. We're talking Frontier League here, where many of the ballplayers might also have second (or third) jobs on the side.

Seriously. Check them out some time.

The parking is free. The beer is affordable. And the chicken sandwiches from Chick-fil-A are delicious.

Why I Hate Collingswood, New Jersey

... Cause this berg stole the "El Train" and "T. Roar" from "the Lou."

Other than this lingering resentment, this really is a charming town in South Jersey and a great place to visit. And I rarely say this about places that don't allow alcohol sales.

Enjoy those deck fireflies, boys, as the sun kisses the lake tonight. Here's wishing you only cool breezes ...

News for Fellow Travelers

For the next time you book a flight:

farecompare.com

kayak.com

Still in beta: farecast.com This site currently only serves Boston and Seattle, but you can request they add St. Louis sooner rather than later by visiting the site.

And if you use Hotline or Priceline, the bidding doesn't have to be blind: betterbidding.com.

Happy travels. Especially you, Peaches.

George is no George

"Some folks look at me and see a certain swagger, which in Texas is called 'walking.'"
-- George W. Bush.

Now compare this with the modesty of George Washington.

Laughing Yoga

As my friends know, I practice Yoga once a week, sometimes practicing Coffee Yoga. Here's a new type of yoga, Laughing Yoga, I'd like to share with y'all.

If you do nothing else today, just spend 1 minute and 12 seconds to watch this! It'll make you one happy baby.

People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive

It's Matthew McConaughey this year.

With apologies to our friend Wally, who is a big fan of McConaughey's talents, I think he was given the honor before his recent vacation in Costa Rica.

I also wonder if Wally knows that his lover knows that he keeps a well-thumbed copy of this issue under his mattress?

There just aint no foolin' Wally's lover.

CBS Sunday Morning

I've watched this show for years, from when Charles Kuralt was the host (and I was a nerdy kid watching a news show instead of cartoons), until today, with Charles Osgood hosting (and I'm a nerdy adult watching a news show instead of Fox News Channel).

I think this show is consistently the best news magazine on TV, mixing culture, pop culture, trends, celebrity profiles, movie and music criticism, opinion segments (Mo Rocca did his first essay a few weeks ago) and (of course) real news. It's worth tivo-ing.

They did a story on blogging this morning.

A source in the piece describes people who read blogs this way:

"Cause the people who are reading blogs tend to be opinion leaders and they tend to be trendsetters. So they are influential far out of proportion to what their numbers are," Darr says.

Pat yourselves on the back, my friends.

But for all those English majors I know: Where's your blog?

You had a bad day?

Click here.

Boo!

Are you scared yet?

The Cup of Joe Announces Corporate Sponsorship

We here at The Cup of Joe are pleased to announce this afternoon the first of several corporate sponsors who will be joining our team.

Starting soon, all 32 metro-area locations of Melanoma Tan® will be advertising as the official corporate sponsor of The Cup of Joe.

Please remember and be mindful of the Melanoma Tan corporate pledge: If you get cancer, all future tans are yours at half price. (excluding Level 5 machines, tanning accessories and spray tanning.)

Moreover, all during July any customer who can display a suspicious lesion to a Melanoma Tan tanning consultant is entitled to unlimited tanning in any Level III bed.

And we're also delighted to announce that Melanoma Tan will soon open dermatopathology labs at each of its 32 metro-area locations, so our patients and customers can get suspicious lesions biopsied "while they tan." No waiting, no fuss, and no worry!

Please patronize our sponsors.

My Declaration to the World

I'm never getting married!

No, I mean I'm really never getting married.

Weapons of Mass Persuasion

Go back, my dear friends at MSNBC, and rewatch your initial reporting from yesterday on the death of Ken Lay. At least for the first 15-minute "breaking news" segment I saw early in the day, it was close to hagiogrophy. (The news reader/ anchor kept uncritically reporting various praise for Lay by the minister of his church and others, droning on about his charitable giving when we all know the courts recently convicted him of acts that have ruined the lives and savings of countless people, "acts of charity" I don't think Jesus would approve of.)

If I had lost my retirement savings or my job because of this man, I'm not sure I could have stomached the MSNBC coverage. (I didn't even bother flipping to Fox.)

Speaking of hitting the rewind buttons, here's a fun "thing to do when there's nothing to do" for employees at all the major news networks: replay (for the entire newsroom) two or three hours of your coverage of the War in Iraq from several years ago.

Let's just throw out, totally at random, 7 to 10 p.m. March 22, 2003, as the time to rewatch. Did your talking head pundits uncritically accept the Republican talkings points about the war? Were you more like cheerleaders, or like reporters? Are you still wearing your American flag lapel pins? Are you embarrassed about some of the scrolling graphics, and your drama-infused "beating the drums of war" theme jingles?

... Not that there's anything wrong with American flag lapel pins.

New York Times: I'm Not Riding Their Love Boat When They Ignore Corrections

Quick trivia: In the original The Poseidon Adventure, Gene Hackman plays a preacher. What religious denomination was he?

I'm not sure it's ever specifically addressed in the movie other than establishing him as a "generic protestant minister," but I know it's NOT Roman Catholic. (Most Catholic priests I know don't wear turtle necks; to some, it's actually considered a mortal sin.) In the movie he's called a "Rev." by the other characters (not Fr.), preaches "sermons" (not homilies) and is referred to as a minister (not priest).

In a New York Times story back in November, Hackman's character (the Rev. Frank Scott) is described by writer Alessandra Stanley as "the take-charge Roman Catholic priest." We here at The Cup of Joe emailed the corrections desk about the mistake, but they never corrected it. Months later, you can still read her (uncorrected) story here. You can read criticism from Gawker about Stanley's past errors here.

I always thought the Times was pretty conscientious about correcting mistakes. If they incorrectly reported, say, the length of Dick Cheney's nose hairs, or how many heart attacks he had this morning between 9 and 10 a.m., or if they JudyMillered America into believing something about the War in Iraq just a smidgen more significant than Rev. Scott's religious preferences, you can bet they'd correct it eventually.

What does a guy have to do to get a correction around here??? Sounds like a job for Mr. Rogo.

A Fourth of July Rumination

Sometimes, the recipe for success is simple. For example, Warren Buffett has a simple philosophy for living his life and a simple formula for wealth accumulation, and these have made him a billionaire many times over. Southwest Airlines has a simple formula for success, too -- treat your employees well -- and it has worked very well for this airline.

I've always tried to live my life by a set a very simple rules, and they've served me well. They are:

1) No loud talking.
2) No foul language.
3) No fireworks.

However, because this is the Fourth of July, we are going to take a fucking one-day reprieve. I am soo fucking going to be blowing off fucking bottle rockets tonight. And in a big fucking way!!!!

Happy Birthday America! You are one mean fucker!!!

Please, Worried Americans, Try to Relax!

Many Americans are worried, nervous and flustered over the presidential elections in Mexico, spurring much discussion over the family dinner table and around the water cooler at work. This sort of nervous and anxious buzz hasn't been felt here in the United States since Taylor Hicks pulled off a dramatic upset win over Katherine McPhee in American Idol!

Will the winner be Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the fiery leftist and champion of the poor? Or will it be Felipe Calderon, the pro-business-conservative and choice of the current president Vicente Fox?

I know, I know: You can't wait to find out. Well, here's my advice to all "mis amigos" out there reading this. Take a day off from the worry!
Light a candle. Draw a bubble bath. Relax and remember: This is a big day for all 'Mericans, so please enjoy it.

A Public Apology

This is for all those who I may have phoned during the Madonna concert in Chicago and left a "woooooooooooooooooooo" or "woooooooooooooooo-hooooooooooooooooooooo" message. I'm sorry.

I understand if you decide otherwise, but I hope we can still be friends.

Below is some video of the opening of the concert. The first clip is the beginning of the concert when a concealed Madonna was lowered in a disco ball to a small walk-out center stage in the middle of concert floor. Song: "Justify My Love."

Woooo-hoooooo!

The second is her great song "Sorry," also off her new album Confessions on a Dance Floor. The best part is when 47-year-old Madonna leaps from a platform and starts riding a dancer like he's her favorite pony. (The jumbotron, by the way, had video of horses running going through the song.) We haven't heard this all before, and it was pretty cool.

Oh, and one more thing: woooooooooooooo-hooooooooo.

Can You Spare Two Minutes and 38 Seconds Today?

This is for "if you are blue" and you don't know where to go. Well, go to the bathroom first, and then watch.