As a baseball fan, I love this time of year: the trade deadline.  Teams wheel and deal because they're usually going in one of two directions - hoping for a playoff push or planning for next season.

If you know me, you know I am no Yankees fan by any stretch, but I'm impressed with the moves they've made so far, stealing Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady from the Pirates last week, and then this afternoon getting an aging but effective Pudge Rodriguez from Detroit for Kyle Farnsworth.  Two steals for the Pinstripes, and Yankee fans should be happy that their GM Brian Cashman is trying to acquire the pieces he thinks are necessary to continue their October push.

I'm a Mets fan at heart, so I'm interested in the Manny Ramirez rumors.  Now we all know Manny loves being Manny, and in the last few weeks his relationship with the Boston Red Sox has deteriorated to the point where the franchise is apparently seriously looking for suitors for the former World Series MVP.  The Mets need an outfield bat, the Red Sox have one they might trade, and BINGO, you have speculation and rumors. 

Here's my issue: Ramirez has a $20 million option on his contract that the Red Sox most likely will not exercise, virtually guaranteeing he'll be a free agent this winter.  He's all but said he wants to test the market, but it's not known how or if that would change if he changes addresses by tomorrow's 3pm ET deadline.   That's an awful lot of money to potentially tie up in an aging outfielder who is a defensive adventure.  It'd be great to see him in a Met uniform for his production, but do we really want the headache?

This was taped backstage before their Colbert Report appearance last week on Comedy Central. 

Having seen Rush for the fourth time in 5 years last Saturday at PNC, I can honestly say they continue to blow away  just about anything else I've seen live.  There aren't many bands who can still bring it on a nightly basis at their age, and I think the really cool thing is they don't show their age at all. 

They played for over 3 hours Saturday evening (there was about a 20 minute intermission between sets), and they wrapped up the encore 5 minutes before the venue's 11:30pm curfew. 

I brought a friend with me who was just starting to get to know Rush, pretty much the same position I was in about 4-5 years ago, and I'm pretty sure he was as blown away as I was.  Needless to say, whenever Rush hits the road again and comes through the area, he'll probably be coming with me. 

That said, did you see the Rush appearance on the Colbert Report the other night?  The way their appearance was woven into the storyline of the show was amusing, and the performance sounded great, but didn't it seem like Colbert was making an ass out of himself late in the performance?  After the bridge, he comes out as if to segway from the song to a commercial or something, and then he realizes "oops, the song is still going!" and runs off the stage.  Seemed like he ruined a perfectly good rendition of Tom Sawyer.  Am I taking this too seriously?  Am I being a party pooper?  They also cut off the end of the song at the show's conclusion.  I mean, they did a hell of a job during the show to ramp up the importance of Rush's first U.S. television appearance since 1975, and then it seems like they kind of $#&% on it towards the end. 

I wonder if they'll do the same for CSN on July 30th

It's going to be a hot weekend.  Would you rather have this or 6" of snow? 

I'm addicted to Tiger Woods PGA Tour '07 right now, and I've gotten Rob Ryan hooked also.  And that's saying something, because Rob has never been a videogamer since I met him in 2002.  It's the only under-par golf I'll ever play in my life.

I mistakenly purchased a snack food containing Olestra.  Remember when that first came out some years ago, and certain packaging even admitted it "may cause anal leakage"?  Not only does it have an unpleasant taste, but it leaves behind a slick in your mouth reminiscent of an oil spill.  On the other hand, that stuff would probably go great on the bottom of your sled, similar to Clark Griswold's crunch enhancer. 

I'm hoping to go see The Dark Knight this weekend.  Me, and just about everybody else in this country.  They're predicting a $100 million opening weekend. 

Think we've got it bad with gas prices around $4 in NJ, and higher in PA and NY?  Be thankful you don't live in a remote Alaskan village. 

Crap.  Just not good news at all this morning, listening to Demeo's newscasts, giving me the lowdown on the death of George Carlin.  Talk about a punch in the gut. 

Lots of stuff on the net about George.  Entertainment Weekly has a nice posting about him here.  Director and New Jersey's own Kevin Smith writes a poignant tribute here.  Jim Gaffigan and Ron White, two of today's better comics, have a few words in this article.  Plus, with a little google searching, you can find lots of other articles on the late great George.

One thing that is startling about everything I've read - and I never really thought of this.  Carlin never wrote topical, period material.  Everything he wrote transcended time.  Something that garnered laughs and provoked thought in 1972 does the same today.  We're the same uptight, wound up society now as we were then, and Carlin's comedy proves it. 

In fact, it wasn't just comedy.  They were observations.  There was a psychology to what he did.  And it's a level that very few comics get to today. 

We've lost another great American artifact.

You won't find this video on our site, so I felt the need to post it here.  As a Pink Floyd fan, I kind of feel the need to defend the Momentary Lapse of Reason album.  Yeah yeah I know Waters didn't play on it, but he's the one who removed himself from the band - were they supposed to just throw it in too?  Of course not, so they made another album.  "Sorrow" is the last track on the album, a low, haunting tune that achieved higher levels of awesomeness when played live.  I personally enjoy this version, from the Venice concert in '89.  I also love Gilmour's hair in it.  And his guitar work.  Yes, I have a giant mancrush on David Gilmour, okay?  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  Jeez...

Enjoy!

Not sure what it is, but this song always lifts my mood.  Maybe it'll do the same for you... who knows?  You can find this video and many more in our video section at Keyword: Video.  Simple, no?