Clearing off my desk, at least mentally

Bringing you up-to-date on the 19 Minutes take on things...

I feel a little bad for Houston Astros fans. Not so bad that I'm rooting for their team, but watching Game 5 of the National League Championship series the other day unearthed an uncomfortable vibe - one that I (and fellow Red Sox fans) hadn't felt since Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Namely, watching your team snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. At least the Red Sox had the benefit of losing that game on the road, so the worst visible result (aside from the Sox actually losing the game) was the need for the scoreboard operator to hastily pull down the message congratulating Bruce Hurst, who was going to be named the World Series MVP. Monday night's baseball game featured the somewhat depressing (yet neurotically entertaining) image of 45,000 fans simultaneously express the thought, "WHAA????". And then let out an anguished whine. [And now, this update, 5 hours later: Kudos to the Astros for catching their breath and not following the example of the '86 Sox. I'm still not rooting for them, though.]

Avian flu is not an especially light topic, but it is interesting to note that when you say it out loud, "avian" and "flu" sound vaguely synonymous, along the lines of "nautical" and "swam", or "dyspeptic" and "burped". Maybe it's not that interesting to note.

And finally, newswise, it's a shame that Johnnie Cochran is no longer with us, and thus is unable to participate in Saddam Hussein's defense. I have a feeling that the trial is going to be depressingly devoid of rhyming couplets. Here's one the defense would probably try:

The invasion of his country Hussein didn't support;
That's why he won't recognize this court.

On a related note, something tells me this won't be the first court to reject the "I don't recognize the validity of this trial" defense.

Some other updates that either are or are not worth noting, depending on whether you find them interesting or not at all interesting:

The 19 Minutes podcast returns this week with an interview (mentioned in a much earlier post) with the Sankofa Strings, a band which is working to revive a not-all-that-well-publicized Black string band tradition. The result is infectious, but in a way that's more positive than the whoe avian flu thing.

And finally, to clarify yesterday's post on the Unadvertised Regular Customer Discount and the Nonexistent Large Size I often receive at my local coffee shop -- I meant to indicate that those are the benefits of being a regular customer, not as a result of my weird public radio pseudo-celebrity status. My weird public radio pseudo-celebrity status only yields me free Armani suits. And it causes awkward moments when I'm mobbed by cheerleaders, beach volleyball players, and other big fans of "Talk of the Nation".