Tails Is Dead. Call Heads Instead.

Emily's most recent post discusses coin tossing, among other things. Which got me to thinking. Is anyone else like me and still calls "tails" just because of that childhood rhyme tails never fails?

I guess that question should have a qualifying question: when is the last time you had to call "heads or tails?" I think ever since I heard the tails never fails adage when I was around six, 100% of the time I have called "tails."

Probably the last time I had to make this call was five years ago when I was a captain of a parks and rec soccer team.

It turns out tails does fail some of the time. But are people with me on this? It would be interesting to see if more people call tails over heads, and the role the tails never fails adage has played in this phenomenom.

And why isn't there a saying to promote people to call heads? You know, a ying to the tails' yang. I mean, one can counter Whoever smelt it dealt it, with the (somewhat self-incriminating), Whoever supplied the rhyme committed the crime. Why isn't there a rhyming rebuttal to tails never fails?

Meanwhile, Away From the Ranch...

I posted a new list on my blog of top five lists. The latest post is "Top Five Things That People Do When Talking That Piss Me Off." I feel like a cranky old man, just having written it, but it was somewhat cathartic.

Anyway, take a look at it if you feel so inclined by clicking here. I hope you find it to be chock-full-of lots of LOLs!!!

The Coyote Has Left The Building

A story all mascot fans should read. Click here for the story.

Civil War

Who gets to claim the Third Coast? In San Antonio and, I assume, along the gulf states, the third coast refers to the Gulf of Mexico. You got your Third Coast surfing, Third Coast music scene, and, damn there's even a Third Coast peace movement. The list goes on and on, Third Coast hobbies, dance and rhtyhm festivals, adventure tours... All of these Third Coast movements can found in the Austin-San Antonio-Corpus Christi-Rockport polygon. Clearly the Third Coast belongs to South Texas.

But now there's a bunch of high falootin' motherfuckers up here in the Midwest trying to claim Lake Freaking Michigan as the Third Coast. The University of Western Michigan fancies its literary magazine as "one of the nation's premier university-based literary magazines." The name of the magazine? You got it, Third Coast. Chicago Public Radio is even getting into the act, touting its Third Coast International Audio Festival.

I even stumbled across a microbrew called Third Coast Beer during my latest sortie to the liquor store. I was on my way to get a six-pack of Shiner, when Third Coast Beer caught my eye. "No way!" I thought, "Must be a new Texas beer." I should have known better. On the label was not a map of the Gulf of Mexico, but Lake FREAKING Michigan!! Kalamazoo, Michigan hijacked the Third Coast label.

So is this another case of typical carpetbagging Yankees? Are they now stealing the Third Coast title from the good people of Texas? Until someone convinces me otherwise, I can't see it any other way.

Shitbiscuit

So, as I wrote yesterday, Emily were planning to watch Seabiscuit on DVD. Being the go-getters we are, we followed through with these plans.

Fuckin A', was that movie a disappointment. The reactments of the horse races were cool, but that is about it. The narrative was disjointed and if you didn't read the book, there are about 12 story lines you missed.

It also really irks me when movies alter the narrative of a book or historical figure all in the name of a happy ending. John Ford first did it with The Grapes of Wrath because he wanted a "USA ROX!" ending rather than Steibeck's populist theme. Because of Ford's switcharoo with the book's and his movie's ending, his Grapes of Wrath and Steibeck's Grapes of Wrath are too very different works of art (though both masterpieces).

Shitbiscuit, the movie, ends with the jockey Red Pollard riding Seabiscuit to victory in the "Hundred Grander," talking about how Seabiscuit changed all parties involved for the better. Each charachter had his human frailties and this horse helped each charachter overcome his own deamons.

Well, Seabiscuit the book actually bothered to throw in an epilogue. Turns out Red died a poor, arthritic drunk. If Shitbiscuit weren't so fucking simplistic, it could have made room for guys like Red who never could overcome his deamons, despite the life and inspiration Seabiscuit gave him.

My point isn't so much that Shitbiscuit was a bad movie or to reinforce the old cliche that the book is always better than the movie. Rather, I am just getting a pet peeve off my chest. There are some adequate to good movies with really inaccurate portrayals of historical events. Shitbiscuit can join Dances With Wolves, Wyatt Earp and Mississippi Burning in this list of movies that piss me off for forsaking history in the name of either an uplifiting story, or charachters we can sympathize with.

Oscar Pissing Statue

The weather is turning to nice, school is still in session, and the Oscars are right around the corner. But still, this has got to be by far the worst ever weekend of new movies released by Hollywood. I meant to blog about this at the start of the weekend, but didn't. But I cannot believe how much shit just got released this weekend. Which movie deserves the the Statue of Oscar the Grouch Pissing In His Garbage Can for worst movie of 2004?

Seriously, consider this. If you had to see any of the movies released this weekend, which would it be? Welcome to Mooseport? What are you thinking Gene Hackman? Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen? Eurotrip? Against the Ropes?

Cripes. I guess I'd choose, ummmmm, uh, wow, let's see, uh Against the Ropes because I like sports.

Thankfully I purchased Seabiscuit and American Splendor on DVD a few weeks back. I watched American Splendor last night and Seabiscuit is in the hopper for tonight.

By the way, American Splendor is a GREAT movie in terms of form, writing, visual, and thematic terms. It's a movie not just for comic book fans, but for anyone muddling through live's daily doldrums and stress, dreaming of bigger things to come (in other words, it's a movie for everyone).

Blame Whomever You Want

But I remember Bush running on the bullshit premise four years ago that he was "uniter, not a divider." One more lie after another. Again, I gave this guy a chance. I was one of the 90% of the American public that thought favorably of him after 9/11. He squandered that.

Click here to see how he's doing with that whole uniter, not a divider premise.

I'm sure the GOP talking heads will blame Democrats as irrational Bush-haters, but it's not that simple. This man had 90% of the American public's support three years ago. Ninety fucking percent and it's gone. He and his administration are AT LEAST partly responsible for the split between Bush lovers and haters in this country.

Mascots Are People Too

The person behind The Coyote has an undiagnosed (or undisclosed) condition that is causing his brain to lose blood. The Coyote is the San Antonio Spurs mascot. No one else has ever played The Coyote except for the present, very ill man. The Coyote is by far the funniest mascot I have seen, in terms of routines and skits. I am saying this as an objective mascot fan, more than a biased Spurs fan.

For example, as a kid, I loved going to Spurs games because I was (and still am) so passionate about the team. I could hardly sit still in school when I knew I'd be going to a Spurs game that night or upcoming weekend. That being said, I'd still often get lost in just watching The Coyote move from section to section working the crowd, even while favorite team was playing right in front of me. I have yet to see another mascot that is so funny that I end up watching it, rather than the game that I paid to watch.


Image from www.gameops.com.

Anyway, the Spurs have revealed his identity so people can send him their best wishes. To show support for their brethren, on Friday there was a mascot parade around the San Antonio Missions' baseball stadium, complete with 26 mascots.

Click here for more information about the mascot parade and The Coyote's condition.

Back In The Day

One of the kids I see at work is a huge baseball and basketball card collector. I lost a bet to him a few months back over the first Spurs/Timberwolves game of the year. As a result, instead of doing work, for two straight appointments he got to look at my baseball card collection.

I had to dig the cards out of the basement, but I found them. I have a couple Barry Bonds rookie cards and Mark McGwire's card from his first year on the A's (the 1988 US Olympic team card set is where to find McGwire's rookie card). What struck me was how much skinnier both Bonds and McGwire were back then. Make your own conclusions about steroids (I wouldn't be surprised either way), but both those guys are MUCH bigger now.

But I digress. I saw this same kid today and when I asked him what he did since I saw him last, he told me how he and his mom went to an antique show. Once there he found some unopened 1988 Topps packs for sale. What? Since when was 1988 considered an antique year? How freaking old am I getting? Over half those cards in the collection I showed this kid were from '88.

The kid then went on to tell me how these 1988 packs even had sticks of gum in them. Which leads to two thoughts:

1. That gum was nasty and hard back in 1988. Can you imagine it 16 years later?

2. The kid thought it was weird that each pack had gum in it. Well, it is weird now that I think about it, but when was a stick of nasty gum no longer standard in a pack of cards?

Is This A Good Thing?

Kerry edges Edwards in Wisconsin.
Click here for the story.

I am disappointed Edwards didn't win. It is encouraging that it was a close race, and now that he gets Kerry one-on-one, I think Edwards will get a lot more attention from future primary voters/caucus-goers, and from the press.

Will this be enough to get Edwards the nomination? It's a long shot. But he's who I'll be caucusing for here in Minnesota on March 2.

*&%$!#*&$$# the Yankees!!!!!!!

Damnit! The Yankees are reportedly close to trading Alofnso Soriano and a freaking prospect for A-Rod. What a joke. Click here for the story.

Alfonso Soriano is a good player. Great speed. Good power. But he was a real liability defensively in this year's playoffs for the Yankees.

And now the Bronx Jackasses get to trade him for, arguably, the greatest shortstop ever? Well, he'll play third base for the Yankees but this unbelievable. Baseball needs a salary cap big and bad. Sure the Yanks lost a good chunk of their pitching staff and they need to get a second baseman if Soriano is traded, but come on. The rich keep getting richer in baseball and the poor get poorer.

The Twins, like the Yankees, just unloaded a good portion of their talent but they sure as hell didn't get a player like Alex Rodriguez in return. And don't forget the Yankees added Flash Gordon and Kevin Brown to their pitching staff along the way.

I still love the Twins, but part of me will be pulling for the Royals this year. They seem like the best small market hope this year to unseat the rich carpetbaggers in Boston and the Bronx.

Here's hoping that A-Rod is to the Yankees as Ken Griffey Jr. is to the Reds.

Fuck the Yankees! Fuck baseball's George-Bush-style economics!!!

Choking On The Power of the Dog

Guy Clark has a song "Hangin' Your Life On The Wall" where he advises just the opposite in the chorus:

Hang on just as long as you can
Get up whenever you fall
Shake it off, Boys, and go 'round again
Don't be hangin' your life on the wall

It's that last line of the chorus that makes me wonder if he hasn't read Power of the Dog (written by Thomas Savage). I just finished last week and recommend it to anyone. My mom gave it to Emily and me over the summer and I finally got around to reading it.

The book was originally written in the 1960s and re-released in 2001. I had a hard time finding any contemporary reviews other than excerpts. Click here to read the best review I could find.

It's a story about family and siblings, but it's also about internal struggle to resist change and move on and accept progress. There's also a harsh theme about the contrast/struggle between innocence/idealism and reality. Or at least those are the major themes I found.

Now I Know Why Accountability Matters

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia refuses to recuse himself from the case against Dick Cheney. Dick Cheney refuses to release his records from his meetings with Enron CEO Ken Lay and other corporate bigwigs when he set the energy policy.

As many of you may know, Scalia and Cheney went duck hunting together in January and Democratic politicians and editorial boards across the country are crying foul (no pun intended). And rightly so.

I don't get it. As a person who usually votes Democrat, I was embarassed by Clinton's sexcapades.

What is it going to take for Republicans to become embarassed about the behaviors of the Bush administration? Isn't this snug (and smug) Cheney/Scalia arrangement enough to cause embarassment?

And if that's not enough, check out this quote from Scalia (from the Washington Post):

According to the Associated Press, the justice told an audience of about 600 that Cheney is being sued in his official role and so their personal friendship is not relevant.

"It did not involve a lawsuit against Dick Cheney as a private individual," Scalia said. "This was a government issue. It's acceptable practice to socialize with executive branch officials when there are not personal claims against them. That's all I'm going to say for now. Quack, quack."

"That's all I'm going to say for now. Quack, quack."?!?!?!?

Click here for the whole story.

A Supreme Court Justice is actually talking shit like a 7th grade school boy on the playground. Unbelievable. Is this some juvenile taunt? How much more arrogance can this country take before we collectively say ENOUGH? I imagine if Scalia had to be re-elected, we'd see a different public persona. But Bush and Cheney are up for re-election, and this is just one more example why we need to vote these guys out of office. Then Cheney can go duck hunting with whomever he wants, 24/7, for all I care.

The Cuban Olympics

It's easy to be really annoyed by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. But if you look past his authority complex, the obnoxious sound bites, and his petty war against the NBA refs, he has some pretty good insight. He could have found a much more sensitive way to couch his argument that Kobe's rpae charge was good for NBA business, but when you get right down to it, he has a point. And that's typical Cuban: saying what everyone knows or privately thinks, but is too polite/sesnisitve/scared to say.

Anyway, his latest rant is against NBA players (his investments) playing in the Olympics. I think he has a good point. And in the process, he can tell Karl Malone where to stick his patriotism (Malone has been chiding the younger NBA stars who avoid the Olympics as being unpatriotic). Specificially:

Cuban is right, too, on the nature of the Olympics themselves. "Patriotism? The Olympics are about money first, second and last," he said this week. "They charge billions for broadcast rights, billions for sponsorship rights, and there are bribery charges in multiple countries to get access to Olympic money."

This is from San Antonio Express-News columnist Buck Harvey. Click here for the whole story.

Maybe It's Because I Mumble Too

A couple days ago I read a review of REM's retrospective album on Salon.com. Click here to read the review.

This review made me realize I had been neglecting REM over the past few years. I had an older sister who kept me in contact with what was cool. When she brought the Murmur album home when I was in junior high, I was addicted. Other bands have hooked me like that, but not to the degree that REM has, or for as long.

Driving home from work I loyally listen to the same talk-show. A couple days ago the host was talking about the timeless quality of The Beatles. A listener called in and said each week or even day his favorite song or album changed with his mood. I agree The Beatles have that quality. And REM is my personal equivalent of The Beatles. Every day, week, or month my favorite album or song changes. There are plenty of artists I listen to now way more than REM, but none has matched REM's staying power. So I wonder if everyone has their own personal Beatles band, be it U2, Rush, Willlie Nelson, Prince, or Perry Como.

By the way, right now my favorite album is Adventures In Hi-Fi.

Bush's Finest Fifteen Seconds

Came in the 2000 debates when Bush repeatedly said Gore trusted government and he (Bush) trusted the American people. That struck a chord with me, and a few events of late had made me realize there's a lot to be said for the conservative ideology. Specifically, a simple market force can be stronger than pages and pages of government laws and regulation.

Here's two examples:

1. Microsoft is researching ways to prevent spam. One idea is for a computer to be forced to solve a mathematical problem before the e-mail can be sent. Ideally, this would cause a ten second delay before the message is sent, which is no skin off Joe Six-Pack e-mailer's nose. But it would be devastating to spammers who need to send out tens (hundres?) of thousands of e-mails a day to be profitable.

Click here to read mor about this project.

Is this system perfect? Not yet. But I am willing to bet the farm that an industry-driven solution will cripple spam in ways that pansie-ass government regulation can't. Especially when you consider just how watered-down this regulation would be once special interests help sculpt the bill. Market forces are stronger than the government in this case.

2. Emily and I are in the home-buying process. We hired a home inspector our realtor recommended to us and he found a) a dislodged pipe in the water heater and b) cracks in the furnace. These cracks were so bad that when the repairman came to look at it, he said he was shutting off the gas until a new furnace was brought in.

The significance of this story? The Minneapolis city inspector missed both of these issues. These are huge oversights. Will these oversights affect his paycheck or his job status? I'm guessing "nope."

But our inspector's paycheck depends solely on the quality of his work. His job is governed by the market forces and the city inspector's isn't. Look at the difference in the quality of their work.

Emily and I talk about "voting with our dollars" to create change. Why? Because the market, at times, is much stronger than our vote.

And just to make things interesting, I would also like to say that I as much as I think HMOs are out of whack and need to be reigned in by government regulation (sometimes government can be a good thing), I do NOT think a single-payor health care system is the answer. It's a nice idea in theory, but in practice I think it's a horrible idea.

I do think there can be basic universal health care coverage (which is different than signle-payor), but I think the results of such a system could also be disastorous. A lot of us who have shitty insurance through our employers would suddenly have much shittier insurance. Why? Our emploer may not be in a market that has to offer its employers quality insurance since Uncle Sammy is providing us with the basics.

Does this mean I'm suddenly voting for Bush in 2004? No way in Hell. But, I don't think we should write off all conservative economic ideologies just because some neo-cons are scary as all get out.

Spin City

I missed Bush on Meet the Press but I read the AP summary of it. Click here to read the story in full.

I cannot be clear enough about this: I am not a Bush Hater who is out to get the guy. I really gave him the benefit of the doubt, but he really seems to be fucking every thing up and then shirking his beloved concept of accountability.

Anyway, two things jump out at me from the story:

1. The story quotes Bush as saying:

"I repeat to you what I strongly believe, that inaction in Iraq would have emboldened Saddam Hussein," Bush said. "He could have developed a nuclear weapon over time — I'm not saying immediately, but over time. ... We would have been in a position of blackmail. In other words, you can't rely upon a madman."

Now isn't every country in the world capable of building nukes over time? That gives us reason to bomb the shit out of freaking Laos. As Steve Earle likes to sing in concert when performing America 6.0, "Hey, let's go blow up Iraq! I mean Iran! I mean Syria! I mean North Korea!"

Now speaking of North Korea, remember what Bush said about Hussein?

"He could have developed a nuclear weapon over time — I'm not saying immediately, but over time. ... We would have been in a position of blackmail. In other words, you can't rely upon a madman."

Ummmm, you mean like Kim Jong-Il in North Korea? But Bush will go ahead and downplay that entire fucking country and issue and put all of his eggs in the Saddam basket. Why? This doesn't make sense unless Bush knew he could contain Saddam but has no idea what to do with Kim Jong-Il.

2. Later the story talks about Bush's spotty military service and missing year in Alabama. Now admittedly, I didn't see the show, so I don't know how much time was spent on this topic. But the story says only this:

"I served in the National Guard," Bush said. "I flew F-102 aircraft. I got an honorable discharge."

The president dismissed news reports saying there is no evidence he reported for duty in Alabama during the summer and fall of 1972. "They're just wrong," Bush said.

A nice short answer. But it doesn't do justice to the work the Boston Globe has put into trying to verify his time in Alabama. Click here for the story. Salon.com also did an in-depth look at Bush's military service. Click here to read it.

These stories have a lot of detail and Bush has yet to release his military records (even though all Presidents before him have). I hope this story has legs because Bush saying "They're just wrong," isn't enough. He needs to show some proof. And the public and the press need to hold him accountable.

Didn't he run his campaign in 2000 based, in part on accountability? Oh I forgot. 9/11 changed everyhing. Maybe in the "Post-9/11 World," accountability applies to impoverished school districts but not wealthy Presidents.

Bachelor Party!!!!

Emily is Las Vegas for the weekend. As I have blogged about before, when she's gone, I see what I can do to re-live the bachelor days, but end up being really bored and missing my wife. I did have a pizza and potato chips for dinner last night and watched the Timberwolves on TV, and that was very satisfying.

Today I found a way to take of advanage of being Emily-less. I picked a movie she would be reluctant to go to. I had at my disposal 21 Grams and Monster. But I chose to be in Las Vegas spiritually with Emily and opted for The Cooler.

Good movie with some great acting. William H. Macy, Maria Bello, and (no joking) Alec Baldwin all played characters that really suck you in. The script depended on quality acting, or it would have been run-of-the-mill. I say they pulled it off. As an aside Ron Livingston (the male lead from Office Space) also has a big role, but I couldn't stop thinking of his role as an Initech stiff, so I couldn't take him seriously.

One more thing: it really made Las Vegas look like a depressing city, making it a little easier to forget that I'm missing out on all the fun Emily and Co. are having in Las Vegas.

One More Reason To Get Cable

"Currently Residing In The Where Are They Now File...."

The quote is from Spinal Tap and VH1 has opened the "Where Are They Now File" on 80s bands like Flock of Seagulls and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. They have a show called Bands Reunited where bands like these get together for one more concert. It sounds like pure genius.

Click here to read a story about the show. If you grew listening to 80s pop (or were subjected to it), the story is worth reading.

Incidentally, the very first concert I went to was Flock of Seagulls, but this was two or three years after "I Ran" was a hit. My sister took me because she knew one of the guys in the warm-up band. I remember feeling sad for the band, trying to rock out at an all-ages show in some shitty San Antonio bar. It was kind of pathetic, the way the lead singer still had his ridiculous hair-cut, trying to hold onto the past.

I have one small "Frankie Goes To Hollywood" memory. I was at a sleepover at my friend's house in 7th grade when my friend's neighbor came over to hang out with us for awhile. He was our age and said if I wanted to, I could get my hair cut like the lead singer of "Frankie Goes To Hollwood."




Back then I had KICK ASS long hair that I thought made me look like a rock star, even thought it really made me look like a girl. But I didn't know this, and I was insulted he wanted me to go for the Frankie Goes To Hollywood look. So I told him "Yeah I could go for that look, if I was a fag." At which point my friend said, "Dude be cool. That's his favorite band." At the time I felt bad for insulting the guy. Now I feel bad about using the word "fag." I wonder when I last used that term without irony.

Andy Roddick Sets Record Fastest Serve Ever

Click here for the story.

150 miles-per-hour (241 kph for you Brits). Pretty impressive, I admit. But is it good for the game? Is watching a guy get aced with a 150 mph serve that much cooler than watching him get aced with a 140 mph, or even 130 mph?


Image from BBC Sports Academy

At the risk of sounding like an old-fogie, I miss the good old days of tennis, when Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe went at it, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg went at it, and even when Ivan Lendl and Matts Wilander faced off.

Pete Sampras was so dominant for so long and no one cared. But people wondered why no one cared. The predominat theory was that Sampras just didn't have the emotion or charisma to grab people's attention, but that's bullshit. Granted he was a bit stoic, but he was a good-looking, very articulate guy. I think no one cared because tennis (especially men's tennis) has gone to the shitter with the lightweight, over-sized racquets. Also, the athletes are bigger and stronger. The sport has turned into a pissing contest, rather than a game of finesse and strategy.

That's why Roger Federer is my favorite men's player playing today. He is the last of the Mohicans, in terms of a men's tennins players who can play with grace and finesse in this era of speed and power.

And look at how the Williams sisters took over the women's game: through speed and power. It won't be long until the women's game is as boring to watch as the men's.

Very rarely do I think sports should keep from evolving, but I do often think the game of tennis would be better off if it went old school. Bring back the rallies and the serve and volley at the net, even if it means making players use wooden racquets again.

By the way, if anyone wants to learn how to serve like Roddick, click here.

Robot Parade

And just in time for Valentine's Day!!!!

The Science Museum of Minnesota next exhibit is "Robots and Us." It opens February 11th. Second to Matt the Hatt, I don't know of anyone else who likes robots as much as Emily and I do. This is going to rule.

Click here for the link.

Winter Cleaning

I have updated the links on the left, if'n anyone cares.

And if anyone gives a shit, I posted another list on my self-indulgent Top Five blog. Of course aren't all blogs self-indulgent by nature?

Spurs Rule

As if last year's NBA title wasn't enough, here's more evidence. ESPN ranked all the pro hockey, football, basketball, and baseball teams based on seven categories and the Spurs came out as the #1 franchise.

Click here to read why the Spurs rule.

Or, to see the rankings of all the teams and where your team is ranked, click here.

This Blog Endorses...

John Edwards for President. I know I look like one of the rats jumping off the Howard Dean ship. But those of you who have heard me spout my views about this year's horse race know that I supported Dean's grassroots momentum and his stand against Bush, much more than I supported him as a candidate.

If your #1 criteria for a Presidential candidate is one who could beat Bush, the Edwards, and not Kerry, is your man. He can appeal to a lot of disgruntled independents and moderate conservatives in ways that Kerry cannot. He has a positive message but can still has the guts to go after Bush. So there you have it. See you at the February John Edwards meet-up.

Breast Super Bowl Ever!!!

I need to add my two cents about "Janet If Your Nasty" and her mammary gland that was part of last night's Super Bowl halftime show.

We missed the entire thing. I was over at Emily's relatives' house and we chose, in advance, not to watch shitty Kid Rock, shitty P Diddy, and shitty Janet If Your Nasty. Instead we watched a videotape of the 1992 Super Bowl halftime show, I'm shitting you negative.

Context here might help. The '92 Super Bowl (Bills/Redskins) was in Minneapolis and Emily's sister was in the halftime show so her family taped it. She played cello while Gloria Estefan sang. Later in the show, Emily's sister also ran around with balloons rigged with explosives, which she ultimately detonated.

And by balloons rigged with explosives I don't mean Janet Jackson's breast, I mean, well, balloons rigged with explosives.

But I digress. Back to my point. While we were watching the 1992 show we couldn't believe how freaking corny everything was. Gloria Estefan did wear some tight clothes (imagine a rated G dominatrix outfit), but that was it. It was like watching Laurence Welk (sp?). Before I even heard about Janet's escaping nipple, I commented how in such a short time (12 years) the Super Bowl show has evolved from corny shit to pathetic Cinemax shit.

Twelve years ago, the halftime show included an inflatable Frosty the Snowman dancing while a bunch of white Minnesotans rapped "Go Frosty! Go Frosty Go!!" Last night Justin Timerblake told a worldwide audience "Gonna have you naked by the end of this song!" and then ripped off some of Janet Jackson's clothes. How did this happen in just 12 years?