Five for Friday, round 2

Five for Friday was such a big hit* last time that I thought I'd bring it back for another shot at stardom. Your comments are welcome. I think.

1. I've just been thinking this week that I'd like to check out an event that has circumstance but no pomp. You hardly ever hear about those.

2. This morning, I walked past a former presidential candidate who also happens to be a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, one General Wesley Clark. You know you're big-time when your actual job title - and not some stupid dot-com-era job title that you invented so it would sound like you're soooo out-of-the-box - has "Supreme" in it.**

3. On the way home from the gym last night - feel the burn, baby - we drove past a black SUV with a bumper sticker that made my seriously ravishing wife start cracking up. Luckily, we were on the 405, so of course we were going about 5 miles per hour and we got a good look at it. It was memorable, because it takes a very special bumper sticker to make my wife burst into laughter, let alone proclaim her intent to affix said bumper sticker to her beloved Jeep. What bumper sticker, you ask, could have possibly had such an effect?

Here's the poster-size version for ya'.

But wait, there's more. As we were pulling into the alley behind our apartment, we looked in the garage next to ours and there was the exact car with the crack-up-inducing bumper sticker. Our neighbors have such a good sense of humor. Or maybe they're proud to be Catholic. Eh, either way.

4. It's too bad Blago is out of office now, because when a serious newspaper can have this much fun writing photo captions about him - this image and description were also on the top of the front page of the national edition of today's Times - well, you want that guy to stick around a little longer. (The caption is great not only because The King is in the background of this image, but because G-Rod loves Elvis and frequently talked about him.)

5. My 10 favorite words from the ex-governor's closing statement yesterday? Since you ask, I'll pick these: "I did a lot of things that were mostly right."


* In the same sense that Renee Zellweger's New in Town flick is going to be a big hit.
** Thanks, MediaEmerging.com, for the list of stupid job titles.

Hair today, gone... well, gone today also

Politicians never seem to be able to agree on anything. I have often wondered whether there's any single subject that could possibly get an American legislature to vote unanimously. I wonder no more.

All it takes is a little dab of G-Rod.

As you've surely read elsewhere - unless you're nutty enough to come to SFTC as your first choice for breaking news - the Illinois senate voted 59-0 to unload Governor Blagojevich.

In so doing, state senators clearly answered one of the many rhetorical questions Blago asked during his 47-minute closing argument: "How can you throw a governor out of office with insufficient and incomplete evidence?"

Apparently, the ex-gov comparing himself to Gandhi, MLK and... I don't know, did he mention Jesus and Einstein also?... failed to win over his good buddies in the legislature. I know, I'm as surprised as you are.

To celebrate, here's the front page of the Chicago Tribune's web site from this afternoon. If you click to enlarge, you'll see I've circled the vote tally for your reading enjoyment.

State of their art

So much bad economic news the last few days that I can't - or won't - even begin to digest it.

But then I read about this. Brandeis University is unloading a pretty impressive collection of fine art as a cost-saving move. Now, as sad news goes, this doesn't compare with the tens of thousands of jobs lost so far this week. Not by a longshot. But amid all of the other gloom, the Brandeis story stands out as a particularly bad sign of the shape we're in.

I mean, I've heard of massive layoffs before. Not sure I've heard of a top-tier university - one with an endowment that's probably still around a half-billion dollars - hocking its paintings in order to make payroll.

So, dude: Anyone need a Warhol?

Half the battle is... wait, what?

I remember one time in elementary school, an assistant principal yelled at me for failing to show up for an "important" field trip. I think he told me my absence and blatant disregard for something or other made him feel like he had lost a son. Which was probably a little more melodromatic than the situation called for. (It'll take too long to explain and/or remember all of the details, but the short version of the story is that I didn't show up for the bus because I was sitting in detention. Ironic, right?)

Anyway, I'd think that on any list of "important things to show up for," your own gubernatorial impeachment trial would be high on anyone's list. Anyone, apparently, except for G-Rod.

Speaking of lists, if I keep a list of "favorite paragraphs I read in the New York Times in 2009," I'm pretty sure this one is going to be in the running for No. 1:

“Is the governor present?” Justice Fitzgerald asked the packed but silent chamber. No one answered. An ornate wooden desk reserved for the governor or his defense lawyers sat empty. “Is there anyone present on behalf of the governor?” No one spoke.

(Hey, kids! Don't forget: You can still get your unlimited-edition Free Rod t-shirt right here, from your close personal friends at S and J Market!)

Making short work of the presidency

I thought I'd heard that Obama was 6' 2", but now I'm starting to wonder. Or else maybe Ray LaHood and this Lisa Jackson from the EPA are like 9 feet tall.

No matter his actual height, I was very pleased to read that the new prez is already starting to fix some of the environmental stuff that Bush broke. It's early and these are just baby steps, but they're baby steps in the right direction.

Don't let me down

It would sound like a cliche if I were to write "I can't remember the last new TV show I was actually interested in." But the truth is, I can't remember the last new TV show I was actually interested in.

I guess maybe it was Entourage, but I didn't have HBO when the series started, so by the time I was interested, it wasn't new. And, if you've been following the blog at all (like here, for example), you might get the idea that I really like House, M.D. Which I really really do. But I didn't pick that one up right away either - it wasn't until season two, after my entertainment-savvy and super-gorgeous wife turned me on to it.

That's a pretty amazing failure rate by the people who make TV shows, if you think about it. All of those new programs in the last several seasons - not to mention all of those splashy! edgy! TV ads and bus-stop billboards - and I really couldn't have cared less about any of them.

My point is that I think I'm interested in a new show for the first time in a while. Yes, if tonight's series premiere is any good, I may be seeking a place aboard the Trust Me bandwagon.

It's got your appealing stars, including Tom Cavanagh, who played one of my favorite TV characters of all time and (random fact-that's-probably-interesting-only-to-me alert) who I saw in person in the bowels of Comerica Park* right before the MLB All-Star Home Run Derby in 2005. It's got a promising setting, an ad agency (good) in Chicago (even better). And I don't know how much it matters that the show's producers have a good track record (seems like writers would really be the key), but apparently the show's producers have done The Closer and Nip/Tuck. Neither of which I watch, but I hear they're good.

So if I remember to tune in or set the DVR, I might get you a review later this week. Or view for yourself on TNT, tonight at 10/9 C.

* You're welcome for using the word bowels.

All we are saying

... is give piece a chance.

Introducing the brand new T that will take the nation by storm, just as soon as lots of people start wearing them all over the place, talking about them all the time and ... ah, who am I kidding?

Seriously, wouldn't you feel good about starting that kind of national movement just by buying your very own Piece t-shirt from S and J Market? My sister called it "funny." My superfantastic wife said it was "cute."

And, I'm not kidding: They know t-shirts. What more motivation do you need? Get your own today.