I'm a huge fan of fishing, the ocean, and sea creatures of any kind - favorites include the walrus, whale shark, giant squid [obviously - who doesn't <3 Architeuthis? Pety fools perhaps], and the blue ringed octopus - so, naturally I was pleased to see photographs of a stunning mass migration of golden rays today. Superb.
Spain beat Germany 1-0 to claim the Euro 2008 crown. Having spent some glorious moments of summertime youth in Spain, I can safely say it's one of the greatest places on earth. Spaniards rule, and I've always been fond of the place since visiting, and always cheer for them, so I was really happy to see them win. They were the most skilled team in the tournament, and it's always great to see those championing beautifully skilled football win these things. Espana es la puta cana!!!!
Quite a collection of nutters at the NBA draft. The hometown fans were none too pleased with the selection of Italian Danilo Gallinari. I even heard one particularly enlightened gent in front of me remark that the Italian "doesn't talk English." Not even making that up.
I vaguely remember the Exxon Valdex oil spill from my childhood, that's how long it's taken this case to find its way to the Supreme Court. This is the culmination of a series of appeals efforts from Exxon, which has fought paying a cent on this at every step of the way (which is their right, of course), that ultimately cuts the $2.5 billion they were to pay to $505 million.
I can't imagine what Exxon spent in legal costs to get that reduction!
A probably unintentionally ironic couple of paragraphs I enjoyed from the Reuters article (which I highlighted for everyone's pleasure):
In the majority opinion, Justice David Souter concluded the $2.5 billion in punitive damages was excessive under federal maritime law, and should be cut to the amount of actual harm.
Soaring oil prices have propelled Exxon Mobil to previously unforeseen levels of profitability in recent years; the company posted earnings of $40.6 billion in 2007.
Novak Djokovic, world #3 and Australian Open champion, was upset by Marat Safin in straight sets in the 2nd round today. I grew fond of him watching the Australian and blogged about his impersonations of other players in an earlier Wimbledon post. It's too bad he went down, I thought he'd have a great semifinal showdown with Federer.
A very flash-y and cool new news consuming interface from MSNBC, Spectra, has gone live. While I'm not the hugest fans of web products that flash the user to death, I think they have done a decent job in keeping the flash aspects of this site tight and compact over a nice clean layout. I'm not sure it'd revolutionize the way I consume news online, but it's at least an interesting look into the psychology of a major in the cybernews field and how they'd like to connect with thier customers. Kudos on that effort, for sure.
Never one to shy from awesome sartorial splendor, I took notice when 5 time defending champ Roger Federer, given the honor of playing the first match on Centre Court as the defending champ, rocked a smooth cardigan. What's not to love about this guy?
Imus - racist douchebag? Maybe. Apparently he made some remarks on his show recently that suggested, citing the Pacman Jones incident, that police arrest black people for no reason. More about it and Al Sharpton's video response here.
Really, after the nappy headed hoes incident which dominated the media for months, causing Imus to be villified by Sharpton & Co., and to subsequently issue a slew of apologies. The net result of this little bru-ha-ha was a large settlement from CBS who fired him under contract and a lucrative new deal for a new show.
Begs the question is the media in on it; well, they are, knowingly or not. The covered the bejesus out of that story and netted Imus a windfall of cash and a toned down show with two black co-hosts. Any attention Sharpton and co. bring to this latest alleged trangression would seem to be a surefire way to further prop Imus up, if recent history is any indication.
Curt Schilling, who many Boston sports fans would consider the pivotal figure in reversing the curse of the bambino, is likely done with baseball according to this article. ESPN's Jayson Stark, an admitted fan, weighs on and responds to reader questions on Schilling's case for Cooperstown. I love Schilling as a hero of Red Sox folklore, and know that in his day, he was absolutely one of the best and most feared pitchers in baseball, a terrific leader, and that he did everything in his power to meticulously prepare for all of his outings, including famously keeping detailed notebooks on every hitter he faced. I always loved that cerebral discipline of his game.
Schilling gives his own farewell speech and thank you on his blog, 38pitches. While I would certainly cheer for Curt Schilling to enter the Hall, I haven't compared his career numbers to those of Jack Morris, not in the hall and certainly a dominant pitcher of his own era. Schilling certainly has breaking the curse and 3 world series titles in his favor. Here's hoping he gets in!
Funny man and semi-accidental free speech icon George Carlin passed away yesterday. In the wake of this, I realized what a vast cult following he had; I was a fan but didn't realize how many people liked him, or "[h]is most celebrated monologue, a frantic, informed riff on those infamous seven words, led to a Supreme Court decision on broadcasting offensive language" for his seven words routine:
I just recently received Carlin's new rules for 2008, from my buddy Jeremy, which I gather were gripped from Snopes. A few tidbits of hilarity:
New Rule: Stop saying that teenage boys who have sex with their hot, blonde teachers are permanently damaged. I have a better description for these kids: 'Lucky bastards.'
New Rule: Just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't make you Spiritual. It's right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to 'beef with broccoli.' The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren't pregnant. You're not spiritual. You're just high.
I'd almost forgotten his seminal performance as Rufus in the epic masterwork "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure", too. Shame on me.
